#she was out of her usual neighborhood so she was probably lost

[forbodium]

today is my big exercise day for the week apparently

first i cut the grass in the afternoon and then found a collared cat in the backyard and she was really sweet but she ran as soon as her mom came to pick her up, so we chased her around until she got tired enough that i could grab her

[jjkamochoso]

I have a Gen Narumi request!

So basically Y/N turned very cold and distant to (almost) everyone, after she lost EVERYONE they care about from a kaiju attack, being scarred both mentally and physically, she closes off from the world trying to protect themself, but they're wonderful, weird, game addicted captain, just so happens to have broken that ice wall a tiny bit (Y/N's even giggled once in front of him!!) , but he's never seen her cry...until one day he heard quiet sobbing from her office, he checks it out being the great friend he is, but sees Y/N curled up in their chair in fetal position ,tears flowing down their face (Gen tries to comfort her obviously, he would be the best friend ever I swear)

Fluff/angst because I've been reading to much unholy stuff :)

Oooh I like this idea!! Angst and fluff is the best combo🤭 thanks for putting your trust in me for this story and I hope you love it!! 🫶❤️

Comfort from Your Captain

Angst, fluff

Gen Narumi x f!reader

Warnings: mentions of death, depiction of panic attack, small instance of cussing

“Hey, L/n! You wanna grab some lunch with us?”

“No, thank you. You guys go ahead.”

That was a common occurrence for you. Your teammates never failed to extend an invite to their favorite platoon leader and you never failed to deny their requests. They were all extremely nice people which was why you didn’t want to get to know them better—it would make life even more unbearable for you when it was their inevitable turn to die on the battlefield against the kaiju. You had already lost your entire family and friends years ago when a kaiju ravaged your neighborhood, that tragic day leaving an irreparable mark on your heart and mind. The attack hadn’t left you unscathed physically, either; you were haunted by it everytime you looked in the mirror and saw the scars littering your face and body, reminding you of all you had lost, all you were too weak to protect. Since then, you had sworn to never get close to anybody because you knew it was only a matter of time before they got ripped away from you as well.

Until a certain captain entered your life.

When you were transferred to the First Division, you kept to yourself as per usual, but somehow along the way, Gen Narumi was able to break down the walls you had built up for so long. Was it because you knew he was strong, so strong that he probably wouldn’t die in the hands of a kaiju? Was it because of those countless nights you spent together, when both of you found sleep evading you, up until dawn, him playing video games while you silently enjoyed his company, just not wanting to be alone for once?

Was it because you finally found someone who understood what it was like to have nothing and no one at all?

It was a mix of all those things, you thought. Whatever the real reason was, anyway, you didn’t care; all that mattered was Gen Narumi had become the only friend you could tolerate having. He was the only person in the past few years to have seen you crack a smile and let out a giggle when he was being particularly ridiculous. And, as neither of you were team players, you worked well together in the field for that very reason. He would always charge for the large honju while you would take out all the smaller yoju surrounding him. It was a silent agreement between you to stay out of each other’s way and you were glad to have that level of trust in someone for the first time in many years.

Oftentimes, especially lately, you wished you could embrace the happier, more communicative side of yourself you’d had to suppress all this time. Your division was comprised of many kind people who you would’ve loved to learn more about, but your fear of loss was much too strong to allow you to be so vulnerable and open with anybody else other than Gen. It pained you to turn down their many offers to dine together or hang out, but you really couldn’t bring yourself to agree to any of it. However, you were starting to tire of being so lonely all the time. Keeping up your cold demeanor around your team was starting to take a toll on your mental health and you found yourself becoming wrought with despair much more often than normal. When you bid the members of your team farewell, your heart began to quicken its pace and your breathing was becoming rapid. Words flowed through your brain at a swift pace, so quick you could barely create a coherent thought.

What is going on? I feel like I’m dying. Why am I doing this? I’m losing control.

I need to get out of here.

Your body was on autopilot—you ran to your office as fast as your shaking legs could carry you. You hoped the slam of your door wasn’t echoing across the base because the last thing you needed was someone seeing you in this state. Throwing your body onto your desk chair, you tried to even your breathing but your lungs weren’t cooperating. All of a sudden, akin to a thundering storm, came an onslaught of tears from your eyes. You began to sob, your body wracking with each cry you tried so desperately to hold in.

“It’s too bad L/n couldn’t make it to lunch with us. Maybe sometime later this week?”

“Maybe. She always seems to have something going on though.”

Gen listened intently to the conversation happening between your teammates as they walked past him, throwing up lazy salutes to the captain on their way to the dining hall. He frowned, letting their words settle into his head. He knew you had a hard time with opening up to others but it pained him to see you so blatantly blow off people who genuinely wanted to connect with you. He knew all the great qualities you had to offer with your friendship and he wished that you could see it was okay to lower your guard sometime.

I’ll go check on her, make sure she’s alright.

He waltzed toward your office, video game in hand. He had just beaten the level he was on when he raised a fist to your door but stopped in his tracks. Holding his breath and putting an ear to the barrier between you two, his heart immediately sank.

Is y/n… crying?

Gen didn’t know what to do. He had never seen you cry, let alone show sadness in any real sense of the word. You favored the emotionless side of yourself, never letting others see what you were going through internally. Now, with only a door separating you two, he hadn’t the slightest clue whether he should barge in or not. He waited for a moment, but you didn’t let up. In fact, it sounded like you were crying harder, if that was possible. With a gentle touch, he tried the door handle—it opened without protest.

She must’ve ran in here in a hurry.

He knocked on the door as he swung it open slowly. “Hey, uh, y/n? You alright?”

When he entered the unlit room, he could barely make out your figure, currently huddled up in your chair. Your knees were drawn close to your chest, your face hidden in the darkness of the arms covering it. Even with the curtains drawn, he could tell you were quaking in your position. When you didn’t answer him with so much as a threat to his well being, he knew you weren’t doing well. Your labored breaths, along with your sniffling cries, hadn’t calmed and it pained him to the core to see you hurting in such a manner. Without a second thought, he quickly ran to you and took you in his arms the best he could.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. You’re alright,” he consoled, rubbing his hands up and down your back. “I’m here. You’re safe.”

“Gen, I-I can’t,” you hiccuped, not daring to show your face.

“Can’t what? It’s alright, you can talk to me.”

“Can’t keep doing this.”

His eyes widened in concern. “Doing what?”

You didn’t answer, a fresh wave of sobs taking over your body. He didn’t let up in his care for you, hugging you tighter to his body. After a few minutes, your crying finally seemed to slow but Gen never loosened his grip, adamant on proving to you that he was there for you in your lowest of lows.

You raised your head from its downward position, tear stains all down your cheeks. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what, silly girl?” He cracked a smile, softly rubbing circles on your back.

“He-helping me. I’ve pushed you away f-for so long but you’re here.”

Gen shrugged. “We’re friends. And that’s what friends do.”

His answer came out like it was the simplest fact in the world to him. The response was almost enough to send you into another spiral of emotions, but you held back as much as possible.

“You know, there’s a lot of other people that wanna be your friend, too. I’m not happy about sharing ya,” he playfully nudged you, “but I will for your own sake. You deserve to be happy and feel loved. I know how hard it is to get to that point of opening yourself up to others, trust me, I do, but we can work on it together if you want. You, me, and the rest of the team. We all have your back.”

You nodded, wiping your bleary eyes. “Earlier, when I was having that panic attack, I was thinking I couldn’t continue pretending not to give a shit. I just don’t wanna see anybody else I love get hurt. I don’t need any more scars.”

“I know.” The captain pulled you closer, resting an arm around your shoulders. “But that’s why we train. We get stronger so we protect the ones we love. This world is cruel and unfair. That can’t stop us from experiencing joy in the meantime.”

“Joy from things like video games and Yamazon?”

Gen stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “You’re already back to being mean to me? After my heartfelt pep talk?!”

“I’m joking,” you said, a faint smile gracing your lips. “Not used to that, are you, Narumi?”

“Not in the slightest,” he answered, his two toned hair flopping around with every word, “but I’m not mad about seeing you smile more.”

You broke out into an even bigger grin. It might take a long time and a hell of a lot of work, but you were ready to open your heart again—thanks to the comfort from your captain.

[softspiderling]

catch me or i go (houdini) | r.c.

summary: rafe witnesses a skilled burglar in the middle of the burglary. also, he can’t quiet seem to stop putting his foot in his mouth when it comes to you

pairing: rafe cameron x reader

word count: 6,6k words oops

warnings: mention of peterkin and what rafe did to her, cursing

author's note: i was listening to houdini by dua lipa and somehow got inspired to write this. also kind of lost myself in this fic bc i enjoyed writing it so much. pls leave a comment/like if you liked it and reblog to share. ily!!!

“Are you sure you want to sell it off? We can put it in storage for you.”

Rafe waved the guy off, pushing a fifty in his hand. “It’s fine, just sell it for me, I don’t want to see it again, it’s gaudy as fuck.”

The guy, Jacob or whatever, scratched his head, but seemed pleased enough with the tip that he got into the car with the rest of his team, the trucks pulling off the property.

“Fucking finally,” Rafe sighed, running his hands over his buzzed hair. The renovation of the house was his first step of distancing himself from Ward and he started by getting rid of the ridiculous furniture Rose had chosen. While Rafe knew that it was going to be a pain redecorating, he’d live in the comfort of his own space, instead of being reminded of his psychotic stepmother whenever he sat in the living room. Rafe was about to go back inside when he heard a loud crash coming from Mr. Jenkins’ property. He hesitated for a split second. Rafe never really liked Mr. Jenkins, he was a nosy motherfucker and always liked to call the sheriff’s department when the parties got a little louder than usual. But if that old fuck died right now only to be found like a few weeks later? That stench would probably sit in his nose for months. So might as well be proactive now.

Ducking between the bushes - he really needed to call the guy who trimmed their greens - Rafe jogged over to Mr. Jenkins’ property, slowing his pace when he reached the property line.

“Mr. Jenkins?” he called, trying to sneak a glance into the house, without being spotted at the same time. It’d just be his luck that Mr. Jenkins shot him in the face for evading his property.

Nothing.

Served him right for trying to do the right thing.

Rafe turned on his heel, ready to return home when he caught movement in the second story window: Someone was climbing out of the window.

Reacting quickly, Rafe ducked beneath the bushes, hiding as he watched a girl shut the window behind her, tiptoeing across the patio roof and then scaling down the gutter, all the while carrying a huge backpack. She must’ve robbed Mr. Jenkins’ house, based on her dark clothing and the red bandana covering half of her face.

Rafe’s curiosity was piqued, and he didn’t even hesitate to follow her as she snuck off the property through the yard. He kept in the shadows, not wanting to alert her to his presence as she kept a rather slow pace to keep the attention off of her. Rafe followed her a few blocks down the neighborhood, until she took a left turn into a small, dark alley, but he hid behind the corner of a house when she stopped, pulling the bandana off. Rafe stared at the side of her face, knowing he’d seen her somewhere before, but not quite remembering where from. The lighting was also not helping, as he barely could make out her features in the shadows, while she tugged a floral shirt out of the backpack, throwing it over her black top. After having fixed her outfit, she kept walking, and right as Rafe stepped out behind the house, his foot caught onto an empty glass bottle, making an unnecessary loud noise.

Rafe froze, noticing how her shoulders tensed, barely looking over her shoulder, before taking off in a sprint.

“Wait!” He called, probably the dumbest thing he could have said, running after her but even before rounding the second right corner, she disappeared.

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself, looking around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, but nothing. One of his neighbors was outside tending to her flowers, giving him a weird look. Rafe only let out a polite chuckle, giving her a wave before he turned on his heel, making his way back home.

“How the fuck did she just disappear into thin air?” He muttered to himself. As he walked through his gate, he couldn’t help to peek over to Jenkins’ house if the old man was home already, but the house was still dark. Rafe tried to get back to work looking at new furniture, but his mind kept going back to the thief. As the sun started to set Rafe finally heard Jenkins’ Aston Martin pull into his drive way, and he figured it wouldn’t take long until the sheriff’s department showed up.

Minutes went by, then hours, and Rafe started to wonder if there was some other case Shoupe had to attend to, must be a real big case if he couldn’t even spare one deputy to check out Jenkins. Then again, Rafe would’ve had heard about it. Kildare wasn’t that big. It was already dark by the time the sheriff’s car pulled up on the street. Shortly after, the bell rang and as inconspicuously as possible, Rafe opened the door, feigning surprise.

“Shoupe. What brings you here at this hour?”

The sheriff only looked at Rafe unimpressed. He was pretty sure that Shoupe still resented him for the entire Peterkin thing, but innocent until proven guilty, right?

“Rafe… There was a break in at Mr. Jenkins’ house and I’m just here to ask if you saw anything suspicious,” Shoupe said, flipping open a small notepad.

Rafe rubbed his chin, sighing. “A break in huh? That sucks. I haven’t heard anything, though, sorry that I am of no help. What was stolen?”

“Jewelry that belonged to his late wife. The thief broke into the safe and completely emptied it. Took all the cash, too,” Shoupe said, scribbling something down on his notepad before looking at Rafe again.

“Bummer… I’ll let you know though, if I happen to remember something,” Rafe added.

Shoupe let out a grunt, stuffing his notepad away and turned to leave. Rafe stood in the doorway, hesitating, before calling out.

“Hey Shoupe.”

He turned around, raising a brow at Rafe.

“What took you guys so long?”

“What do you mean, son? We got here as soon as Mr. Jenkins called us.”

Huh.

“Really?” Rafe said, thinking. “Sorry, I just thought Mr. Jenkins has been home for a while now and you’re just now questioning me. Was wondering how fast you would get here if I had a problem.”

Shoupe eyed him suspiciously. “Mr. Jenkins didn’t notice the break in until an hour ago, his security system was active when he got home, so he had no reason to suspect anything…. You sure you didn’t see anything?”

“Positive,” Rafe insisted. “Have a good night, Shoupe.”

The sheriff stood on the porch for another second before he left with a small headshake, leaving Rafe with his thoughts as he shut the door. The thief must have been a pro. Bypassing the security system and taking just enough to delay the sheriff’s department from investigating? That wasn’t an easy feat. To say that Rafe was intrigued was an understatement. The way she moved with such stealth and precision proved how she knew her way around sneaking in and out. There was no way this was her first hit. He wondered what motivated her to rob the house, if she was just a plain poor Pogue, or a Kook, doing it for the thrill of it.

Rafe had to find out more about the thief. Even two drinks in, he still had to think about her. And when he set his mind on something - or someone - there was no getting past it. He knew it was going to haunt him until he figured it out. Figure her out. Problem was, how the fuck would he? Right, Kildare wasn’t that big, but it wasn’t like he could just waltz around looking for her either. And chances are she was just some tourist, looking for some fun. Before he could start forming a plan to find out who she wa, his phone buzzed, distracting him.

Top: scarlet’s throwing a party tonite. u in?

Rafe thumbed at his screen, having half a mind to decline the invitation, but when he looked up, taking in the empty room, he almost got depressed. Why was he sitting on the fucking floor, thinking about some random girl he was probably never going to see again? Downing the last of his drink, he texted Top that he’d see him at Scarlet’s.

By the time Rafe arrived, the party was already in full swing. Weaving through the crowd, he greeted the familiar faces, gravitating towards the living room where he knew Scarlet’s father kept the expensive stuff.

“Hey Rafe!”

Lifting his head, he saw Topper on the couch with some girl, waving him over. Rafe took his time walking over, because what was he, a dog?

“’sup Top,” he greeted his friend with a light slap to the shoulder. “Give me your drink.”

“Alright, damn bro,” Topper said, handing Rafe his drink, before gesturing over to you, introducing you to him. Rafe gave you a nod as you smiled shyly at him, not bothering to exchange pleasantries. The last thing he needed right now was you simpering over him, no matter how pretty you were.

“Right, so where were we…” Topper said, apparently picking up the previous conversation you were having before Rafe joined them. “Are you leaving for university anytime soon?”

“Uh… No. I could go, but I don’t want to leave my mom all by herself, you know,” you answered, tucking your hair behind your ear. You looked like you’d rather be anywhere else but at this party. Rafe gave you a quick once over as he sipped on Topper’s drink. You were pretty, he figured. Maybe a bit mousy for his taste, with the shirt under your dress and a denim jacket on top? Other girls your age would have worn only the dress and maybe even cut a slit in it, just for the sake of it. Rafe’s brows furrowed as he looked at you more closely, pausing.

“… I know you?”

Topper gave him a very unsubtle look as he chuckled awkwardly, trying to play his friend’s rudeness off, while you just sat there, your back ramrod straight, smiling at him bashfully.

“She used to go to school with us? Then uh… Transferred during her senior year.”

Squinting his eyes at you, Rafe tried to think back to his school years, before realizing.

“Right, your dad embezzled like millions of dollars from his company right?”

Topper cleared his throat, looking up at the ceiling and you only smiled tightly at Rafe, the corners of your mouth not quite reaching your eyes.

“Um.. I think I’ll grab a drink, Topper,” you said, excusing yourself, quickly disappearing between the people. Topper waited until you disappeared to elbow Rafe into the side, who only smirked into his drink.

“What’s her deal?”

“Are you joking?” Topper asked with a sigh, pinching his nose. “You can’t just say shit like that man, it’s obvious she’s embarrassed. Why would you bring up her father?”

“Get off your high horse, it’s not like I embezzled a bunch of money,” Rafe huffed, shoving Topper off of him with an eyeroll. He knew that Topper was frustrated with him, but honestly, why would he care if he hurt your feelings. Topper inhaled deeply and Rafe just knew that an lecture was incoming.

“She’s a good kid. Lives just on the outskirts of the Cut now with her mom. I guess they can still afford to live on Figure 8, but her and her mother are too embarrassed to come back after all of their money was seized and her father got locked up in jail. Which is probably why we never see her around. Now, we’re definitely going to see her less because you’re such a dick.”

Rafe was only half-listening to Topper, processing what he had just been told, the gears in his head turning.

“Wait, what?” he asked, sitting up straight and looked at Topper, finally taking the conversation seriously. “How would they still be able to afford living on Figure 8 when all of their assets were seized?”

Topper shrugged his shoulders. “How the hell should I know? I’m just telling you what she told me.” He glanced to the back and paused, before looking back to Rafe. “She’s coming back. Just… Think before you speak.”

If this was any situation, Rafe would’ve probably bit Topper’s head off for being told what to do, but for once, Rafe decided to lean back and listen. A short while later, you slipped past a kissing couple, joining them on the couch, holding onto a red solo cup with both hands.

“What kind of toxic waste did Scarlet mix you?” Rafe asked as some sort of peace offering.

“Oh this?” you lifted your cup, laughing awkwardly. “It’s juice. Don’t really like alcohol.”

Rafe almost choked on his whiskey, and he let out a cough, trying to hide his surprise while Topper only leaned his head back with an exasperated look on his face, you only stared at him with an open mouth.

“Sorry, went down the wrong pipe.”

After that, Rafe didn’t ask you that much, letting Topper lead the conversation and instead just soaking up information about you. In the brief interaction he had with you, Rafe somehow got the feeling that you didn’t like him that much. He didn’t even know why.

Okay, he knew why. But honestly, he was just asking what everyone would ask, right?

When Rafe got home from Scarlet’s, he didn’t know that much more from you. After he really started paying attention to you, he realized that you never really divulged that much information about yourself, despite answering all of the questions. You were much smarter than Rafe had previously assumed. He wondered how many people you had fooled. But all of this was still a theory, and he had to put that to a test.

The next day, Rafe spent his morning asking the neighborhood about your family, disguising it as friendly neighborhood chatter and it was really far too easy. If there was one thing one needed to know about the people living on Figure 8 is, that they loved to yap.

“- just dreadful. That poor girl. Her mother took her out of the academy in her senior year and now they live next to Franklin Stewart on the other side of the island…” Susannah shook her head as she feigned distress, but Rafe didn’t believe an ounce of the compassion she was showing. She used to be best tea buddies with Rose, that really said it all.

“Oh man… I really hope her family is doing alright,” Rafe said stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Anyways… Thanks for the chat, Mrs. Cooper. I’ve kept you long enough.”

She only waved him off with an obnoxious laugh, “Please, don’t you worry about it. Give Rose my best wishes, okay?”

Rafe gave her a smile, which immediately dropped as soon as he turned to leave. “What a bitch,” he muttered under his breath, walking back to his house. At least it paid off having to talk to Susannah, since he now knew where you lived. He didn’t ponder over it long before he got on his bike, riding over to the Cut. As the mansions and well groomed front yards slowly turned smaller, one might say modest, he couldn’t imagine downgrading from Figure 8 to the cut. Though, now that he thought about it, he figured his family was pretty close from having to give up their life on the north side of the island. Rafe let his bike roll to a stop when he reached Franking Stewart’s house, laying his eyes on the only neighboring house.

It was pretty okay for a house on the Cut. Still on the cut, though.

He took off his helmet, placing it on his bike and getting off, walking in front of his house, contemplating his next move, when the door suddenly opened and a person exited. For a split second, he thought it was you, but upon closer inspection, he realized that it was your mother. She tugged a sun hat on, before pausing when she saw Rafe on the street.

“Can I help you?”

Rafe rubbed the back of his neck.

“Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you… I’m Rafe, a friend of your daughters…” He said, approaching the house to avoid yelling all over the street.

Your mother beamed at him. “Really? I barely get to meet any of my daughter’s friends. She’s not home right now, but would you like to come in for a glass of lemonade?”

Rafe hesitated. On the one hand, it would be a perfect opportunity to find out more about your situation, and if you really were the thief like he suspected. On the other hand, if you happened to come home while he was still there, you’d immediately know that there was something going on. Then again, high risk, high reward?

“Sure, I’d love to.”

Rafe followed your mother into your quaint home, and while your mother was blabbering away, he took the time looking around the kitchen.

“- she’s a good girl, bless her. A bit too serious, though. I always try to encourage her to live a little, you know?” your mother handed Rafe a glass of ice cold lemonade, which he gladly accepted. He was a sucker for a good old homemade lemonade.

“She is a bit shy,” Rafe agreed with your mother, only making her laugh.

“And very headstrong. Which is why it’s so hard for me to get her to change her mind on anything. I’m just so upset that she took the whole thing with her father so hard… The burden of that really shouldn’t fall on her shoulders. Ever since we moved out here, she got more withdrawn, angry. I know she’s still upset, but I really feel like she’d be happier if she got out of her shell again.”

Hm. Maybe you were stealing to help your mother pay the bills, help your family stay afloat.

“Yeah, I’d know a thing or two about that.”

Your mother laid her eyes on Rafe, smiling sadly.

“I was very sad to hear about your father’s passing. I didn’t know him very well, but I’m sure he was a good man.”

Rafe almost scoffed, because only if she knew, but the noise died in his throat when your mother gave him a shoulder squeeze, rubbing his back.

“I hope you’re alright, honey. It’s hard to lose a parent at such a young age.”

His hand tightened around his lemonade glass, the coldness somewhat settling him down. He hasn’t felt the touch of a caring parent for a long time. “Thank you,” he pressed out, giving your mother a stiff smile. “Um… I should go. Don’t want to cause any more of an inconvenience,” he said, standing up.

“Oh please, don’t worry about it, I always love to meet my daughter’s friends.”

Your mother led him out of the house, and when Rafe passed the staircase that lead upstairs, his eyes caught a very familiar floral shirt tossed carelessly on the bottom of the stairs. Your mother followed his eyesight, palming her forehead, embarrassed.

“Oh god, please forgive the mess. I always try to tell her to keep her things in order,” she quickly said, picking up the shirt and hanging it over her arm. Rafe however only waved her off, giving her a charming smile.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s just a shirt.”

After bidding good bye to your mother, Rafe drove to the nearest beach, shutting his bike off to take moment to process. The shirt confirmed his suspicion, you were the thief he saw breaking into Jenkins’ house. He still didn’t know what your motives for stealing were. It was clear to him that your mother was very open about what your father had done, and you still seemed to be doing fairly well, all things considered. Where you paying the bills with the shit you stole from other people’s houses? Rafe stared at to sea for a second, before he got an idea, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

rafe: anything going down tonight?

top: uh

top: i think there’s a party at the boneyard.

top: pogue party, tho

rafe: thats fine.

rafe: you think you can get your friend to come?

top: … why? so you can embarrass her some more?

rafe: just want a second chance, maybe apologize

top: i’ll see what i can do. no promises, tho

“So, why did you really want her to come?”

Rafe was aware that Topper didn’t even have to say your name for him to realize who he was talking about. Rafe took a sip from his drink, wincing a bit. While he did say that he didn’t care about the fact this was a pogue party, they did always buy the cheapest shit. He could feel Topper’s gaze on him, scrutinizing and a little suspicious.

“I didn’t really make a good first impression. Just thought it’d be nice to make amends,” he finally said, his eyes set on the crowd around the bonfire, studiously not looking at his friend.

“Amends, huh?” Topper replied, sounding not at all convinced. “You’ve never been the type to care about stuff like that, Rafe.”

Rafe shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “People change, Top.”

“Or they have ulterior motives,” Topper shot back almost immediately, and Rafe couldn’t help but grin at the accusation.

He finally looked up to meet Topper’s gaze, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “Can’t a guy try to be better without being accused of having a hidden agenda?”

Topper held his gaze for a moment longer before breaking into a grin himself, shaking his head in disbelief. "Just...don't mess with her, okay? She's been through enough."

Rafe raised his hands in surrender, his grin still in place. "Promise, Top. No messing around."

He did intend to make amends, but not for the reasons Topper thought. There were still so many questions Rafe needed answers to, and he was willing to play nice to get to them.

Topper only rolled his eyes at him, looking to the side for a bit. “Head’s up,” he muttered, before straightening his back, greeting you when you joined them.

“Hey guys,” you said, waving at them sheepishly.

Topper gave you a brief hug. “Hey, I was hoping you could make it. You remember, Rafe, right?”

“Yeah of course,” you replied, your voice light, but Rafe couldn’t help but think that your gaze somewhat hardened when you laid your eyes on him. He hoped that he was still able to salvage the relationship.

“Hey. Nice to see you again,” Rafe told you, giving you a charming grin. “You got anything to drink yet?” He looked pointedly at Topper, who stared back at him, his expression unmoving. Rafe inclined his head, raising his brow and Topper bit back a sigh, standing up.

“Let me get you something to drink. No alcohol, right?”

“Uh no, you don’t have to,” you insisted. “I’m not really thirsty anyways.”

Topper waved her off, lifting his own cup. “It’s fine. I need a refill anyway.” With that, Topper turned to leave, leaving you with Rafe.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable the other night,” Rafe started and you looked at him in surprise, your eyes widened. “I might have been a bit insensitive, maybe a bit too forward. I’m really sorry.”

It felt like swallowing gravel, the over the top apology, but he hoped that it came across as sincere.

You let out a breath, your forehead pinched, like you were holding something back. He saw a flicker of something in your eyes, and he realized you didn’t buy a single thing he just said.

“It’s fine,” you then said, smiling at him and Rafe raised an eyebrow, seeing past your facade, though he had to admit that you were a good actor. If he couldn’t get close to you by being nice, it seemed like he had to resort to his back up plan

“We good, then?” he said, offering you his hand, which you shook, after hesitating for a brief second.

“Sure.”

You leaned back against the boulder Rafe was sitting on, and an uncomfortable silence settled over the two of you. Rafe considered throwing himself into the black water, when you finally spoke up.

“My mom told me you came by this morning.”

“Yeah, I was in the neighborhood and your mother saw me outside your house,” Rafe explained, glancing over at you. “Hope you didn’t mind that I called myself a friend.”

“It’s okay..” You trailed off, like you were about to add something else, but hesitating. Usually, he’d be fed up with people not speaking when they want to, but he was intrigued and figured he’d give you the time you needed to spit it out.

“What did you and my mom talk about?” you asked lightly, but Rafe knew how loaded the question actually was. He waited for a beat, sipping on his drink before he answered, enjoying playing with you.

“Not much, really. Just said how happy she was to meet one of your friends… She’s really nice,” he added and you gave him a wry smile.

“Thanks.”

Rafe paused for a beat.

“You guys are doing okay, right? Financially, I mean?”

You narrowed your eyes at him and he was praying to god he was pressing the right buttons.

“Yes. Why?”

“Was just wondering,” Rafe answered nonchalantly, shrugging with his shoulders. “I remember when Ward’s company hit a rough patch and we almost lost our house. But now, we’re better than I ever, and really appreciate my home and everything in it. I can’t even imagine how it feels like to lose everything just like that.”

He turned to look at you, catching how you were clenching your jaw and like the perfect friend he was, Topper returned with two cups in his hand.

“Hey, so they didn’t have juice, but I go-”

“I’m so sorry, Topper,” you said, interrupting him with a small smile. “I have to go. I forgot that I promised my mom I would help her with something early in the morning. But I really appreciate you inviting me out.”

“I- What?” Topper asked, confused but you only gave him a quick wave, almost ignoring Rafe entirely, before you left. Rafe would almost feel bad for pushing you, if he didn’t exactly know where you were going. Topper on the other hand, turned to his friend, glaring at him.

“Bro, what the fuck?”

Rafe drank the last of his drink, clapping Topper on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll explain soon. I gotta go, text you later, okay?”

He didn’t wait for a reply, tossing his empty cup into a trash bag and walking up the dune to get to his bike. Rafe took the straight way home, but decided to turn the engine off a few blocks before he got home, walking the rest of the way. The estate stood in darkness, not a single sound coming from it as he approached it, deciding to heave himself inside through a window, before deciding to wait.

It didn’t take long until he heard tinkering on the backdoor from the kitchen, then the unmistakable sound of the door clicking open. The door shut almost silently, and then quiet steps echoed over the marble floor. The moonlight shone through the window and that was the only reason Rafe saw you when you walked through the arched doorway of the living room. You froze mid step as you took in the complete lack of- well, anything.

When Rafe turned on the light, you barely reacted.

“How long have you known?” you asked with a sigh, pulling down the bandana, uncovering your face.

“Not long,” Rafe answered, as he leaned in the door way, his arms crossed. “You’re good at what you do, I’ll give you that. I was just paying attention.”

A range of emotions played on your feature - surprise, irritation, realization and then resignation.

“You saw me while I was in Mr. Jenkins’ house, didn’t you? You’re the one who was following me.”

Rafe merely raised an eyebrow and you groaned, pinching your nose.

“And you saw the shirt at my house. Damn it.”

Rafe smirked at your reaction. “So. Why are you doing this?”

Your eyes met his and Rafe actually saw a spark of defiance in them and for the first time, he actually believed you weren’t putting up an act. This was the real you.

“What’s it to you? It’s not like you’re planning on turning me in. Shoupe hates you more than he could ever hate me.”

“Well,” Rafe started, pushing off the door frame and walking over to you, “Let’s just say I’m curious. Clearly you’re a pro, but the question why is really bothering me. You need to pay the bills? Are you doing this for money?”

“What?” You asked, exasperated. “No, I told you, we’re doing fine financially.”

“Yeah ‘cause you’re such an honest person to come by.”

You gave him a look and only scoffed, turning on your heel to leave, but Rafe was quick to grab you by the wrist, holding you back.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

“Fine,” Rafe snapped, releasing your wrist, his eyes burning into yours. “But you’re not just getting off this easily. You tried to fucking rob me, you at least owe me an explanation.”

“I wasn’t going actually fucking rob you!” You bit at him, glaring at him with a challenging look in your eyes. Then, you sighed and ran a hand through your hair, a weary expression taking over your face. “Okay! Okay. You want an explanation? Fine.”

Rafe was taken aback by your sudden cooperation, but he wasn’t going to let his surprise show. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at you, waiting for you to continue.

“I’m not doing this for money,” you started, your gaze fixed on a point somewhere over Rafe’s shoulder. “I’m doing this because… Because it’s the only way I can get back at the people who ruined my family.

You finally looked at him, your eyes hard. "The people we used to call friends, the people who claimed to care about us, they were the first ones to turn their backs on us when my father was arrested. They didn't waste a second before they started spreading rumors, tarnishing our family name even further."

Rafe was silent for a moment, processing your words. "So you're... what? Stealing from them as some sort of revenge?"

You shrugged, looking away.

“What about the stolen items? If you’re just keeping them, you’re not really that different from your father, are you?”

“What did you just say to me?”

Your nostrils flared and you glared at him, your eyes burning. Interesting. You stole from people who spread gossip about your family, but at the same time, you resented your father, and his actions, Rafe assumed.

“I sell that shit. I’m not getting caught with stolen items,” you then explained, rolling your eyes at him. “And then I give the money away.”

“Hold up, what?” Rafe paused you, frowning. “What you mean you’re “giving the money away”?”

“I don’t have time to tutor you in English.”

“Shit, you really were putting up a shy girl act, weren’t you?” Rafe huffed in disbelief, shaking his head. You rolled your eyes at him and he was speechless for a moment, not having expected your motive. Personally, he would never steal money just to give it away. Why go through all that trouble to gain nothing from it? He had to begrudge you though, you really had a pair of balls on you.

“I’m giving it to people who need it, people who live on the cut,” you elaborated with a sigh.

“You’re actually insane,” Rafe pointed out. He then froze, thinking. “So what were you planning on doing with the stuff you stole from me?”

“I don’t know,” you said with a shrug. “You were pissing me off and I just wanted to see how far I could get.”

Rafe rubbed his jaw, at loss for words. “You really are something, you know that?”

Your lips twitched in a small smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Figured you would.”

Rafe glanced over at you, taking in your figure, clad in dark clothes, red bandana still in hand. “So what now?”

You seemed to wonder the same, your gaze falling to the floor. “I don’t know,” you admitted. “I never thought I’d get caught, let alone by someone like you.”

Rafe tried to not get offended by that.

“Maybe I should get out of the game while I still can get away unscathed.”

“Sounds like a smart idea,” he said and you looked at him, biting your lip.

“Guess that’s my cue to leave, huh?”

Shrugging with his shoulders, Rafe made no move to stop you and nodded slowly, playing with the bandana in your hand.

“Cool… This was great,” you said, walking backwards. “Let’s not do it again.”

Rafe snorted and you turned around to leave, not before pausing, looking back at him.

“You’re not as bad as I thought you were, Rafe.”

With a grin, you disappeared into the hallway, no doubt leaving just the way you entered the house, leaving Rafe in the empty living room. That was the last time he saw you for a long time. Topper bombed him with questions, wanting to know what happened, but Rafe waved him off, not wanting to spill secrets that weren’t his to tell, but assured him that the two of your resolved your problems. For a while, Rafe though that you had gone against your words and just kept robbing people, but he hadn’t heard any chatter about any unsolved cases. For a while, Rafe thought that you had moved to the main land, but he happened to bump into your mother on a random afternoon, where she promptly thanked him for being such a good influence on you - which left him really bewildered. Because him? A good influence? He really didn’t want to know what that even meant.

When three months passed without a single sight of you, Rafe started to believe that you were avoiding him. Sure, you lived on the other side of the island, but again; Kildare wasn’t that big. He was bound to see you around at least once a month. Rafe wasn’t even exactly sure why it bothered him so much that he hadn’t seen you. Like, okay, he was curious about your story and the motives behind your burglaries at first, but he figured it all out, right? Rafe shouldn’t be wanting to see you anymore. Maybe he should ask Topper about you. But then again, the last time he did, it ended with you walking off.

“What, run out of girls to torment?”

Rafe lifted his head, surprised to see you grinning at him. He blurted out your name in shock like an idiot. He was so deep in thoughts, he hadn’t even notice you approaching him as he was sitting outside on the patio at Kelce’s party.

“What are you doing here?”

“It’s a party, what does one do at a party?” you answered, plopping down on the couch next to him, throwing your legs in his lap like you’ve done it 100 times before. You looked different, too, your outfit wildly contrasting to the nice girl from next door outfit you were wearing at Scarlet’s party. Rafe tried to hide his perplexity by plucking the cup out of your hand, taking a big swig, expecting juice or maybe a coke and nearly choked when he realized it was vodka cran (more vodka than cran).

“The hell?” Rafe coughed, giving you a side eye. “I thought you didn’t drink alcohol?”

“Whatever made you think that?”

You reclaimed your cup, drinking from it like it was water, giving him a coy smile. Rafe ducked his head, smirking. So this is what your mother meant by good influence? You seemed less angry, more comfortable in your skin, like you had unburdened yourself from protecting your family’s reputation.

“Well, you definitely should get your liver checked out if you’re making this a regular occurrence.”

“Yeah, pot, kettle,” you shot back, holding your cup out of his reach when he lunged for it again. If Topper happened to walk out to the patio to see Rafe and you bickering again, he didn’t mention it.

And just like that, you fit yourself into his life like you had always been part of it.

There was rarely a morning when you weren’t in the kitchen when Rafe came downstairs in the morning, never questioning how you got in, building stacks and stacks of pancakes with ingredients from his pantry. You even helped him pick out the new furniture for the house, as the rooms of the Cameron estate slowly filled with interior.

The biggest work in progress was the living room, and Rafe scrolled on his laptop looking for a couch that was big enough and fit in with the rest of the decor of the house. You were sitting on the outdoor sofa next to him, your legs thrown over the arm rest like a damn pogue.

“What about this?” Rafe said, flipping his laptop around to show you the white couch with gold lining. It looked classy and he thought it fit right in with the new wall colors.

You glanced at it, shrugging, before doing a double take, frowning.

“That’s tacky as hell.”

“You know, I think I liked you better when you were acting like you were shy,” Rafe sniffed with a dirty look in your direction, keeping on scrolling. You only snickered, picking up another piece of pineapple on the fork, eating it.

“I don’t think you do.”

Rafe ignored you, frowning at his computer screen as he continued his search. It was harder than expected, and at this point he wondered if it would be easier to hire an interior designer.

“Hey Rafe.”

“What?”

Rafe kept his eyes on the screen, not moving an inch, when you suddenly leaned over, leaning your hands on his thighs and pressing your lips against his in a soft, but very decisive kiss. He let out a soft grunt, not having expected it, before he kissed you back, momentarily forgetting his search for furniture. You licked into his mouth briefly, before pulling away, grinning at him as he furrowed his brows at you.

“Still like me better shy?”

author's note: did you like it?🥹

[redflagshipwriter]

Nest Swap chapter 5 progress

In which Tim flirts with the sad thoughts but is not committed to them.

masterpost

Probably the best thing to do was to make sure everyone was happy with him. If he did everything that everybody wanted, there would be no issues. 

So, Tim finished his experiment for Miss Fox and sent her his report. The groceries arrived while he was finishing up. After he put it away, he made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and ate it one-handed while he looked up the address that Jason had told him about. 

“That's pretty far away,” Tim mused. Some grape jelly dropped onto the keyboard. He swiped it up with his sleeve. He was a little less careful about the apartment now that he knew it was Big Tim’s place and not someone important or mean. 

Huh.

Tim paused mid contemplation. Speaking of important people, where was Mom? (And also Dad.) He turned his head around looking for the most recent post card. He usually kept that on the fridge.

Apparently, Big Tim had lost the habit. The dig post card tacked to the fridge was years old. Tim took it down and read it anyway, smiling at Mom’s handwriting. It was neat and precise, just like her. 

He felt better. He'd figure it out later. Tim put a pin on the thought and went back to focusing on his- on Jason's request. He squirmed in his chair while he thought it through.

The address was in a residential neighborhood, the kind with separate houses and not apartment complexes. The suspect himself lived in a duplex. The other half of the duplex was registered to a retiree who Tim didn't find any digital trail of, other than that her Social security checks were being cashed and her bills were paid on time. Oh, neat, she had been part of Gotham’s historical recreation society. She seemed kinda cool.

She had crazy huge electric bills, though. Tim frowned at that. He wasn't absolutely sure. But he thought that most people didn't have electric bills in excess of $600 monthly. How was she even affording that off of her Social security income? 

“Maybe the neighbor killed her and is using her apartment for nefarious purposes,” Tim reasoned aloud. “He's chasing her check and concealing the death. Maybe he uses her apartment to store his industrial sausage making machines.” 

It was a bit of a reach but it seemed a little more likely than his follow-up idea: her hobby was running every appliance in her house at the same time for all the hours that she was awake.

Focus, Tim! How was he going to surveil this place?

It wasn’t like there were any nice big buildings with dramatic awnings and gargoyles to creep around. It was suburbia. 

Tim spun around on his chair miserably, hands on his head to help him think.

Were there any abandoned homes in the area that he could use as a viewpoint? He checked on that. No. No, there weren’t. Dangit. He looked up everyone who lived in the neighborhood, wondering if there might be like, a family on vacation or someone whose second floor was unoccupied. He didn’t see anything useful like that. There were just a bunch of families with little kids.

He spun faster. Maybe the centrifugal force would somehow jar his brain awake.

“There’s nothing for it,” Tim decided ruefully. “I have to go undercover as a child.”

He put on the light up sneakers that he had ordered, washed his face, and made sure he had enough money for the bus. Then he set off on an adventure with a little notepad in his pocket. When he got to the apartment lobby he realized that he probably should have brought Big Tim’s phone, but oh well. It was too far now.

He took three buses and walked twenty minutes. He arrived in the right neighborhood in the early evening, around 5 pm. He looked for rogue groups of playing kids to join in. He’d do whatever game they were playing, then subtly interrogate them.

Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone was inside eating dinner. Tim frowned at one window. He could see a table being set.

Weird.

Alright, new plan. The old lady neighbor was probably dead, so he could just sneak into her half of the duplex, find a place to hide, and observe whatever sick and twisted stuff Jason’s bad guy did. Then he could tell Jason about it later, and he would like Tim.

He tried the backdoor. It was locked. Tim skulked around the house and tried windows until he found one that was open. He had to scramble a bit to climb up the siding to get into the house but he managed it. He hit the floor with a tumble.

“I have a mace!” said a female voice. “I am prepared to use it upon you!”

Tim rolled over to see the retiree. “Oh,” he said. “Hello.” He was a little disappointed that he was wrong about her being dead, though of course it’s always nice when someone isn’t murdered.

Mrs. Henderson yanked open a drawer and withdrew her mace. She pointed it at him steadily over her walker.

“Whoa,” said Tim. “That’s really cool. That’s Gothic, right?”

She looked at her mace. “...I believe so,” she said. “Get out of my home!”

“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Tim said, deliberately not agreeing. He sat up and crossed his legs. “I didn’t realize that you lived here.”

Mrs. Henderson slowly lowered her Gothic mace, which was probably a replica of one from Western Europe and weighed about 2 kilograms. “...Did you mean to go next door?” she said, sounding more confused and less hostile. 

“Yeah, I got mixed up,” Tim lied like a champion. “I accidentally locked myself out and no one is home.”

Although that really wouldn’t be true for much longer. Hm. Maybe Tim should have waited until tomorrow to come by.

[modanisgf]

005. STUCK ON YOU (WRITTEN)

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haerin sat silently in front of her school, waiting for her best friend. they always walked home together, the two having grown very close over the years. but recently, y/n had been acting different. this school year y/n went into basketball, which haerin was happy for her. y/n loved basketball, she always tried to get haerin into it but she always refused. it's what made haerin think y/n and her were slowly growing apart.

y/n found new friends, people who actually had her interests and haerin felt that she was going to be left in the dust. y/n had helped haerin with a lot of things over the years, and haerin felt differently about her.

sure haerin had other friends like danielle, but she never felt such feelings for them like she did y/n. haerin was confused entirely on the situation, choosing to push those feelings to the side. she didn’t need y/n thinking she was weird, especially if she wanted her to keep being her friend.

but haerin couldn’t help but feel her heart hurt a bit at the sight of y/n leaving school with ningning, the two slowly approaching her.

“hi haerin!” y/n said, smiling widely at her best friend.

ningning simply waved, the girl seemingly stressed over something.

“hi y/n.” haerin said, returning ningning’s wave before getting up from her spot.

the three of them started walking together to their neighborhood, ningning and y/n discussing something about basketball. haerin wished she could contribute but she never really had interest in sports, so she just listened as they ranted on about their stupid coach.

“she stresses me out so bad, i don’t know how karina did it last year. she said she’s glad to be in highschool now and that the coach is actually nice.” ningning says.

“wow really? i can’t wait until we graduate then, i really wanna do basketball but it’s hard to maintain everything else in my life with so many practices.” y/n says, ning nodding in agreement.

“i miss karina too, she made it a lot better. i bet she’d like you.” ningning says.

“she seems cool.” y/n states, averting her gaze to haerin.

haerin’s eyes seemed focused on the ground, the girl was probably lost in thought.

“haerin?” y/n called out to her friend, the girl immediately looking up at her.

“yeah?” haerin says.

“you alright?” y/n asks, a concerned look taking over her face.

haerin had always been quiet but never this quiet, and especially not with y/n.

“yeah, don’t worry.” haerin says, trying to look anywhere but at y/n.

y/n didn’t reply, she knew something was up. she knew haerin too well, she would probably ask later. maybe haerin felt uncomfortable with talking about it in front of ningning.

the rest of the walk was pretty silent, ning and y/n talking about basketball briefly. ningning’s house was the first on the block, so she left before both of them.

ning waved to the two before entering her house, leaving haerin and y/n in a bit of an awkward silence.

y/n was confused about haerin’s behavior, truly being worried for the girl. it felt like they had been set back in time, back to when haerin was y/n’s seat mate the day they met.

y/n couldn’t help but tap haerin on the shoulder, the latter looking up.

“haerin are you really okay? you’re quieter than usual.” y/n asks, concern all over her at this point.

haerin blinked slowly like she always did before speaking up, “do you still want to be my friend?” she asks, eyes meeting her friends.

y/n felt her heart break at the look haerin was giving her, “of course haerin, you’re my best friend.”

“you shouldn’t have to ever worry about whether or not i want to be your friend, i’ll always be even through everything that happens in our future.” yn says, not missing haerin’s small smile.

“i love you, y/n.”

“i love you too haerin.”

—

haerin was waiting at the bus stop, having to take the bus today due to the rain. she never liked the rain, the loud noises and gloomy weather always made her feel sad.

danielle was by her side today, as you were nowhere to be seen.

"haerin, is y/n coming on the bus with us today?" danielle asks.

"i'm not sure, she hasn't texted me anything. maybe her mom picked her up." haerin shrugs.

danielle made a shocked face, confusing haerin until she turned around. there you were walking with woonhak and jaehyun, people who you swore you hated just weeks ago.

"when did they become friends?!" danielle whisper yelled to haerin, the girl didn't respond being too in shock.

the two boys were joking around, making you laugh too as the three of you made your way to the bus stop.

"hi rin, hi danielle!" you say, smiling at both of them.

"sorry i got held up, woonhak and jaehyun wanted to show me some shooting tips." you say, the two nervously smiling at haerin and danielle.

haerin chose to stay silent, waving at you before starting a conversation with danielle. you were confused, but continued talking to woonhak and jaehyun.

"yo, you didn't tell us you were friends with danielle!" woonhak whispers.

"why does it matter?" you question.

"in short woonhak's stupid, he somehow has beef with everyone." jaehyun says, making you realize.

"oh yeah, i used to hate him." you say, not noticing your words.

"wait hello?! what did i do?” woonhak exclaims, making you and jaehyun laugh.

“don’t worry about it, it’s in the past anyways.” you say, the words being loud enough for haerin to hear.

‘it’s in the past anyways.’

haerin had to fight back tears in that moment, she knew you two were growing apart.

TAGS 🏷️ (OPEN) — @jayjj7 @saysirhc @sixflame438 @ajjilhan @amourjins @isither @sserajeans @greenniee @isabbellle @gayforalll @leeohknows @airice @yeetaberry127 @l0l44444 @inosfavgf @emphobics @edamboon @s3mz @newhairnewjeans @xen248 @nooneissheree @wintersgff @haechansbbg @gtfoiydlyj @masuowo @he------len @haerinsloverr

a/n— dear tumblr writers how to not get burnt out!! 💔💔

[kelsstars]

CARL!GRIMES X INNO!READER

Hello Hun!! I saw your Carl grimes smut and wanted to request something, hope you are taking requests rn.

So Y/n has been at Alexandria since the start, she loves wearing skirts and things that would hug her figure thinking it’s alright (she has a lot of confidence) . It’s been a couple since Carl and his group came so like he is (20) while Y/N is (22) just a year older than him. Her parents at a young age were very strict and so she didn’t know about the adult things and so that’s why she’s innocent not knowing about what sex is. Y/n developed a crush on the boy, but was too shy to even speak to him as well as Carl. But sometimes he would try to speak with her.

Carl had these fantasies about her even would think about her every night. That is until he had enough waiting.

CONTAIN: Perverted!Carl, Praise & Degrading!Kink, DOM!Carl, Pleading!KINK, Foul!Language, pet names, SUB!Reader, Hair Pulling, Thigh!Riding, Virgin!Reader, Body!Worship, Dry Humping.

A/N: AAH, OF COURSE I ACCEPT REQUESTS!! THANK YOU FOR THIS, LOVE!! Also, apologies to my fellow non-female readers, my next fic will be gender neutral as I usually intend it to be. :) Physical feminine aspects of Y/N will be mentioned for this fic.

This one-shot is a bit long. 👍

Warnings/Summary: Swearing but the rest have been written above in the requests. :D

You’re a more closed-minded than others, especially considering your age. It’s not like you’re completely oblivious of the fallen world outside of the walls, nor are you new to swearing or shooting gun, but you are definitely somone who people would consider blind to adult situations. Shit, you didn’t know why everyone would make it a big deal when you ask where babies actually come from. Truth is, you were raised beyond strictly under a bubble made by your parents, even before the collapse of society.

Alexandria was an all time safe place for you, but you felt like it was a lot more secure after a certain group arrived. He helped with so much, most people in Alexandria didn’t even notice that a drought was slowly building up, and Rick and his group fixed it. In other words, you were grateful for them entering your home. Especially, a certain someone, Rick’s son, Carl. You were always so reserved that it never crossed your mind that actually speaking to him could help further more in your interest on him. You admired him, you couldn’t lie to yourself, and in your hopes and dreams you wished on every star that he reciprocated your feelings. You had lived most of your life inside these walls, you couldn’t fall in love like the comics you read thousand and thousand of times. Enid, Mikey and Ron were some of the friends you grew up with, you couldn’t bring yourself to like them like that. It didn’t help your case that every time you and Carl had to be in a room together, you would always look away from how your head filled with ‘naughty thoughts’. By naughty, you meant holding hands, complementing and chatting with Carl while you strolled through the neighborhood. Was love supposed to feel this way? You felt as if something was missing. Nonetheless, you didn’t know, and as far you knew, Carl would probably have more knowledge on this topic than you. You completely forgot that you were at a sleepover at Enid’s house, she was old enough to own one according to Rick and others. You always wore simple clothing that showed your body figure, you were proud of it. It was nothing new for other people, you always had tight clothing that could show any of your body’s layout. While you were zoning out with your daydreaming, Enid speaks up to everyone in the room.

“Okay okay. Carl,” she announces as she turned everyone’s attention to the freckled man. “you lost the best, so I decided on what you can do to entertain us. You have to take Y/N to your secret hideout outside the walls.”

You don’t even remember what they were talking about neither did you really pay attention to what Enid had just spouted, but your name was mentioned and that snapped you back into reality, you look around to see the big 3 laughing at Carl as his face turned red.

He hesitates speaking first but eventually comes to it. “Like, alone?”

“Alone alone.~” Enid laughs her ass off right after this, while Mikey whistled in the background, which only reinforced everyone’s laughter. “Don’t forget to tell us details, eh?” She leaves that statement with a grin on her face, they were just teasing him like always.

That must have left Carl mad because the moment he turned to face you and smiled at him, he bolted out of the room immediately, looking red. You didn’t even realize that you followed him outside, until he had turned out to face you walking behind him.

He starts walking away quicker. “Carl, wait!” You raise your voice and he immediately stops his tracks to turn around to look at your face. “What was Enid talking about alone? I know it sounds like a stupid question, I might have gotten lost in thought again.” You half-smiled and chuckle out of embarrassment because this was one of the few few times you had interacted. It was always Carl who initiated all of your small chats, you always gave a half-assed excuse to hide your stuttering voice every time he did so.

“Y/N. I—“ He stops talking to take something to process and mumble to himself, you didn’t know why so you just lifted one of your eyebrows, confused as to what could be troubling his thoughts. In your eyes, Carl always was someone so composed when speaking. “Hey, did little-miss-perfect ever try to sneak out of the walls?” His demeanor changed completely, it just left you shocked, but you still shake your head no. “If you try sneaking out with me, I’ll tell you what Enid was talking about when you were zoned out. I noticed you must have missed that part.” Carl flashes a smile at you, just that made your heart melt, so you smile back.

“Well, as long as you never tell anyone that I actually sneaked out!” Carl eyes your outfit up and down, you didn’t know if it was your imagination but you started feeling weird inside, in a good way.

When Carl was helped you climb over the walls, you could interpret a few strange things might have happened when it was your turn to go down. As you carefully slid down the outer of Alexandria, you managed to somehow trip yourself. Luckily, it was a small fall, you basically landed on your feet, but Carl immediately went kneeling to you and put his hands slowly up and your pants. He slowly rubbed the inner sides of your thighs, your behind and down to your ankles. You may have not probably reacted much to this on the outside, but you were freaking out on the inside, the way he massaged your legs and so so near your core. What was happening to your mind right now?! He could be simply checking for injuries! You were wearing thigh leggings so that must have been it. You look at how he smiles at this act, you try to pretend to hear it, maybe he was lost in something.

You continue to follow him to this small shed, it looks horrible on the outside, and you immediately refused to enter.

“Yeah, Carl, I’m not entering that.” You stop your track.

“C’mon, Y/N. You do realize this is our first time hanging out alone? Let’s make the most of it!” You couldn’t tell if he winked or blinked at you, having a crush on a guy with one eye was harder to take hints from.

You continue walking towards his direction. “Is that what Enid was talking about when she said ‘alone alone’?” Carl stops for a moment and then enters the shaggy shed. “I guess it’s a yes.”

The moment you enter, the shed was actually in good shape, especially with how the outside looks in comparison. Carl tells you he cleaned it up himself and invited you to sit by him, on a bed. You do so as you continue chatting on random comics you have read from Enid’s collection until you run out of topics. For a second, he made you forget about the apocalypse and everything bad about this world, he was the shining light this place needed.

“Ah, Carl, you have no idea how happy I am to be here with you.” You lay your back on the bed, as he turned your gaze upon you. “We need to come here more often.” For awhile, Carl didn’t respond. He just looking at you with a soft look on his face, every part of you, you felt like he could see through your skin with that glare. But suddenly, he got up.

“Sorry, I- I need to use the rest room.” Before you could even answer, he hurriedly goes to the bathroom connected to the bedroom you were in. You wait. And wait. And wait once more. You had enough and get up to knock on the door.

“Carl, is everything okay?” You hear the muffled sounds inside the bathroom stop.

“Yeah, just having to take care of something.” His voice sounded.. frustrated? Like he’s holding something.

“You can tell me, if you want I can help with it!” You happily say, as you witness the bathroom door open and he peaks out.

“Are you sure you can keep that?” He looks like those kids refusing to leave their room.

“A hundred percent!” You giggle and extended your arm to him.

That must have triggered something in him because as soon as you extended your hand out, he grabbed it and pushed you onto the bed. You felt like you were burning up, as he put his long hair on a small low ponytail and got on top of you, smiling from ear to ear.

“Y/N, you can’t be this innocent. There’s no way possible way.”

“I.. don’t get it.” He looked like a walker with the way he was about ready to devour you whole.

“Did you ever get taught about what sex, masturbation, erections?” He raises an eyebrow, waiting for your answer.

“The what now?” You’re confused, to say the least. You heard those words before but you never really taught what they were.

“Fuck’s sake, I want to ruin you by the minute.” His breath is becoming more and more loud, and your heart keeping up with the same pace. “If you want, I can teach you what they are.” You nod almost instantly, if it meant it could get you closer with him. Carl moved his position to siting by the side of the bed again, leaving his hat on the bed side table. “Sit on my thigh. Each leg open on one side of my leg.” He sounds demanding, but also desperate.

You do exactly as what he says, you didn’t know how this would help until he grabs your hips to guide your waist to move along your clit along his leg. Your body doesn’t know how to react. The friction of your legging clothed pussy and his jeans, you never felt such pleasure before, your legs trembled a lil’ as Carl kept guiding you with his hands. Your arms wrap around his neck as you breathe on his neck. He continues to speed up, little by little, as he starts kissing your cheek and eventually, you. It was your first time kissing, you didn’t expect to be in such a place and form. After you break out of the kiss, his teeth beam and he hears you moan out his name and your begging to continue.

“Carl, pleasee- hghn- more! More!” In another moment, you would never utter these words but your brain barely functioned at the hands of Carl Grimes.

“More what, baby?” He whispers on your ear, he obviously wants to tease around you.

“Faster, make the mov..ement fast.” At this point you’re the one moving your own hips, he basically put his hands there as a decoration.

“Beg for it, move them yourself and moan my name. I’ll make sure you’ll be compensated, let me spoil you tonight.” Those words were gonna drive you crazy. You pick up your own pace and speed up the process. He kept making small praises in your ear on how good you were doing, god damn it, Grimes. You definitely didn’t predict he was interested in you.

You finally finish on his leg, catching your breath as Carl fills your face with kisses. “Who’s a good girl, huh? Who’s Carl’s obedient princess?” You couldn’t even properly answer. You gave a weak ‘me’ as you rest you head on his shoulder.

“Why are you resting?” He lifts up your face with his hand. “We’re getting started, didn’t I say I would rewards you?” You thought you were tired but hearing him made you gain energy once more. “What we just did is called thigh riding, I see you enjoyed it.” He places another kiss on your lips, and you return it.

His hands slowly make their way to your shirt and he begins to lift it off your body, Carl also takes notes to take off your bra before lying you down. “Oh, what do we have here?” You rise your head a little to see what he is about to do but your head yanks itself back as Carl’s finger started playing with your nipples. He pinches, slight pulling and sucking around your chest to hear you moan so loud in his ear.

If this is how you acted before he was inside you, he didn’t know how he would control himself when that moment comes.

He goes on your body, eventually reaching your pants. Carl goes back up to face you, eye to eye. “Ya’ sure you want me to go through everything?”

“Carl, hurry the fuck up.” You furrowed your eyebrows, you were happy he contained himself to even ask, especially after everything, but upset that he doesn’t go straight to whatever he wanted to do.

“Well, I tried to restrain myself.” He immediately takes off your soaked pants and panties, putting them somewhere aside the end of the bed. “Look at this!” Carl positions his fingers around your wet pussy. “Don’t you feel like a lil’ whore?” He moves this finger around, doing circles. You felt so sensitive, trembling from the mere touch of his skin near your private area and him degrading you. “What a pretty slut. Do you wish for more?” You already knew the answer. So did he. Carl felt good knowing that he finally could touch you like this and be able to tease you around for your first time. “I can’t wait to show you off when we get back.”

But he suddenly stopped. Pulling his hand away. You, as well, raise up to stand on your knees on the bed, only to notice that he is using his hands to help take off his shirt and pants. It was the first time you noticed his bulge and also your first at seeing a dick. It was directly pointing you, slightly curved upwards, its colors just matched him, a faint red blush color on his tip. You were admiring it so much, Carl had to snap his finger to get your attention again.

“What were you thinking about?” He asks, trying to sound pissed off but he couldn’t smirk at this situation.

“Uh.. Uhm… Your male sexual organ?” You let out an awkward smile.

He laughs. “Call it whatever, but I’m impatient for head.”

“Head?” You question him.

“A blowjob?”

“…”

“You really are asking to be fucked silly. Basically, lick and suck my cock, Y/N.” He smiles at your innocence yet to be crumbled by his hands. You, on the other hand, had to understand how you could give him the same satisfaction that he had given you previously.

You slowly start licking and putting him in your mouth. He silently groans and moans the more you take in, which you make a mental note of. But after it’s all in, you don’t know if you should move. “Sorry, beautiful.” Carl decided for you, as he grips your hair on his hand and bops your head back and forth. You were shocked at how fast he was going, so you work your way to keep up with him. The faster you go, the more lewd his voice sounded to you, it felt good hearing you complement you. “Fuck, baby, you look so pretty with your lips around my dick.” He huffs between your motions. When he finally reached his climax, he came inside your mouth. You didn’t know what to do. Were you supposed to swallow it? Spi-

“Swallow.” And you did so on command. Two hours ago, when you left home for that sleepover, you would have never suspected that THIS would be the outcome of your night.

“Is it over?” You ask him, you were sure you weren’t going to sleep that night.

“It should have but it seems, I can go up for more.” He grins at you as he pointed to his crotch, it was still up. Fuck’s sake, can you ever catch a breath around this lovable pervert?

“I’ll take it care of it.” He smiles. “IF!” His smile drops. “If you promise this is the last for tonight.” You made it sound like you were prepared to repeat this more times with him, which only excited him more.

“Of course, I’m going to respect your wishes.” Carl softly kisses your cheek, before he gets up to get a condom. You were innocent, but you at least remember what your parents called those. ‘Baby preventers’.

After he rolls the condom on top of his dick, he starts making out out until your head is placed on pillows and your body is placed right in-front of his eye. This was a view he wanted to enjoy looking at it for a long time. And hey, you were pretty prideful on your body, but the way Carl had you exposed, you try to hide it the best you can. That only pissed him off because he uses his left hand to lock both your arms in a trance by your wrist above your head. Whilst the other hand explored your naked body.

“You got such a pretty body, it’s perfect for me. This is ten times better than my imagination.” His eye softens as his hand reaches your waist. “May I enter?”

You knew this will mean he will put himself in you, but you were so nervous if he thought of you as gross. This feelings disappears as soon as he slowly places his tip and enters you. You gasp, as then slowly sigh. He stays still, both of you not used to this feeling.

“Can I move, Y/N?” You nod and he starts speeding up his activity. You both moan in synch, then he bites his lip, trying to shush himself to hear you cry out for him. “Jesus Christ, you’re squeezing me alive..” Quicker and quicker, he’s driving your mind somewhere else, not even he has enough breath to tease you, but for you it was sufficient that he just kept giving you that sweet look. He hurried his thrusts into you, making your back arch. You were glad Carl was your first time, who else could be so rough but so caring?

“Y-Y/N, I’m so close, can you handle it just a bit more?” He began stuttering, he was so close to his limit.

“Just keep going, sweetie.” You used your right hand to lift your body a little to kiss his cheek. Carl takes that opportunity to thrust one last time to finish. He re-organizes the bed for you and cuddles with you as he whispers sweet words into your ears, dozing off to your deep slumber.

It’s been a couple of weeks ever since that night at the shed. No one in Alexandria knew , for the exception of the perpetrators themselves, you and Carl. Your relationship and feelings did grow, but you wanted to make sure if he was serious about you, which Carl constantly showed through his actions. He happened to be at your house as you were cooking breakfast.

“Heyyy, Y/N.~” He hugs you from behind, probably plotting something.

“Good morning, Carl. I’m baking pancakes you want some?” You can’t really turn around to kiss him, you were too busy to trying not to mess up these pancakes.

“Oh, y’know… Just wanted to greet you.” He starts brushing his erect crotch against your back.

“Grimes! What if someone walks in?” You weren’t really worried as you were behind a counter but, you were concentrating on not fucking up your breakfast.

“And who will stop me?” He slowly positions your back and starts picking up speed with his crotch, making you put ur hand on your mouth to muffle the lewd noises he liked to hear. “Who could possibly come i-“

“CARL!” Tara just opens my door and walked into the kitchen. “I knew you’d be here. Your dad is looking everywhere for you, get back home, we got a new scavenge layout plan for tomorrow.”

We both look at each other, giving a small smile for how we were relieved Tara didn’t catch us.

“Also, leave Y/N alone, weirdo. Other people might see through your open window.”

“Shit.”

[takeurexam]

what are we? -choi beomgyu x f!reader

warnings: fluff, highschool love, mutual pinning

part 2 here

_____________》》》》》》》》》》》____________

"Where is she?" Beomgyu asks to your classmate because he knew that your classes just ended around this time, and you and him usually walk home together. But you werent answering his messages when he texted you.

Your classmate told him that you were settling some work with the president in the meeting room, so here he is right now, waiting at the door.

'It feels weird walking home without her.' Beomgyu thought as he stared through the buildings window infront of the meeting halls door.

"Okay, so thats it? Thanks for today prez, see you!" He heard your voice echo across the room as a few students walked out the room, but he didnt care, he just wanted to see one person's face afterall.

"Oh my gosh... its Beomgyu!" One girl whispers to her friendgroup as they squeal in unison. He sighs and walks away a little.

'Beomgyu?' You were just dismissed from an meeting and the first thing you heard outside was your close friend's name. 'Oh, I forgot to tell Beomgyu I had an meeting. I probably made him wait.' You walk around and look for the person the girls described: his hair was a little long, brown, he's a tall guy. And had amazing visuals as well. (Something you would never admit)

"Y/N, there you are." Beomgyu smiles at you and waves a little. You smile back and walk to him.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you in advance, before my phone died." You explain to him why you made him wait and you assumed he probably texted you.

"That explains it all then." He chuckles and ruffles your hair. It was a habbit of his because he was one year older, and he acted like a caretaker to you. (But it lowkey hurt you because you want something else)

"Lets go?" You look at him as the sun hit his visuals, he nods and lets go of your hair and walks out the building with you.

Beomgyu and you became neighbors in 7th grade. This sparked a friendship between you two because of you bringing some food as a welcome requested by your mother.

Walking down the street you both always walk in together, you realized how you two have grown up so much, it had been years since you have met and now you two are seniors together.

"Lost in thought? You usually would be rambling about your day." He notices you staring all over the place, which made him pout because he wanted to hear you mumble about your day.

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me." You both arrive where you two usually wait for a ride to your neighborhood, "Prez Soobin was really strict today. I feel like someone hit his nerve or something." You laugh as he laughs along with you, "I gotta ask Soobin then." He says.

"Hmm.. and Yeonjun and Taehyun usually bothered me about their coffee jelly, but I was really hungry so I bought a few, they even laughed at me and told me to eat and take care of myself. They really act old."

"Huening Kai and I became partners for an activity in maths and he and I couldn't focus because we both were laughing too hard, it was really fun and a mood booster for me."

Beomgyu listened carefully, one thing that you liked about him; he listens. He even comments and proves that he did indeed listen to the details and amuse you.

"What a nice day." He chuckled as you both got in a bus. Beomgyu always offered to acompany you, rain or shine. He was worried that something would happen to you if he wasnt there- if he was sick or out of town, he would ask your parents to pick you up instead because he would die from being worried sick.

'Why have I been thinking about Beomgyu so much today?' You notice and realize that he's been so appealing to you lately.

"Here you go again, leaving me." He chuckles as he snaps his fingers infront of your face attempting to wake you from your thoughts, which worked.

"Sorry." You mumble to him as you feel a wave of drowsiness wash you. He notices and pats his shoulder.

"C'mon, you've been doing alot today, sleep." He pats his shoulder again and you hesitate- because you think you would die from being too flustered.

"Are you sure...?" You hesitate. He dosent answer and just pull your head into his shoulder (gently) which has you dying from joy.

You hope he cant hear your heartbeat beating so loud and fast and butterflies swarming your stomach.

But your thoughts get cut off as you black out.

Beomgyu notices you fall asleep as he smiles and attempts to remain calm as he felt butterflies rushing all around his stomach.

"Young man, are you two perhaps together?" An elderly woman asks him softly as she feared of waking you up.

"Ah.. no." He chuckles, "I wish."

"I hope you two get together. Im betting on it." She chuckles softly and waves goodbye and returning on doing her own thing.

He widely smiled and looked at you and wrapped his arm around your body to prevent you from falling.

"Psst, wake up." Your sleep gets interrupted by Beomgyu, you assume. "Were here?" You mumble as you shake your head to gain your conciousness.

"Yeah." He prepares his bag and waits for the bus to stop.

"C'mon." You and him walk up to the bus door and get down to your neighborhoods stop. "See you tomorrow." He smiles and waves.

"See you, stay safe." You smile and wave back.

______________________________________________}

part 2 soon :)

[reborrowing]

curses and confession, part 1 (Stranger Swap)

okayyy this has gotten past 6k and I really want to post so I'm just gonna slice it up since my chapters are usually ~2k anyways!

next | Stranger Swap masterpost Hollow deals with a witch after having an unprecedented close call while checking in on his sibling (probably read that first if you havent!) word count: ~1.8k contains: angst, fear, survivor’s guilt, self-loathing

Hollow

The property behind Glenwood Court apartments had an old, dilapidated shed that the owner mostly used for storage, when they remembered it exists at all. Amid all their junk and forgotten landscaping tools lived an unusual little man named Ely, though most who knew of him referred to him as the garden witch. 

He was a borrower by most metrics: small, secretive, and prone to hoarding any trinkets left unattended. He had a tail and the same sharp hearing you would expect a borrower to have. But he was also quite visibly something Other. Ostentatious, absolutely out of line with a borrower's instinctual pull towards the shadows. He had a love of light and glitter that accentuated the pair of iridescent wings that hung limply down his back. And the tallest borrower he’d ever met had still only been at eye level with his chest.

Most borrowers were afraid of him. Of course they were, they were such a naturally skittish people. But they had good reason to come visit him anyways. Ely was a miracle worker. Something out of a children’s story. A magician. A witch.

He had clients come from all over the neighborhood, maybe even further corners of the city, because he made trades no one else could. The last of your rice for a cloak you lost a decade ago. A secret for a pinch of luck exactly when you needed it most. Give up a warm enough memory and never go cold again. Odd trades for small impossibilities. The prices didn’t always make sense up front, but they always worked out in the end. He didn’t give out anything for free, Hollow had seen that much. 

She watched with a fascinated sort of disgust as the witch molded a stranger’s words into physical paste with a practiced hand. The stranger walked off with a handful of dust and a smile they tried to swallow when they noticed someone was looking.

The witch called Hollow forward. She swallowed nervously and took a seat on a hackysack across from the small giant. The shed was silent for a few seconds as Hollow tried to remember what it was she had planned on saying. 

“You’ve been here before, haven’t you?” the witch said through a thoughtful expression

“Ah, yeah. I–a couple times,” she said. Chai had dragged him here for a sleep aid during the pregnancy, and again shortly after Sunny was born for a sleep alternative.

“I almost don’t recognize you without the piebald. Are they alright?”

“Xe’s fine, I’m not here for…xe doesn’t know I’m here,” Hollow said.

The witch raised a brow as his lips bent into an impish smirk. Hollow tensed as she leaned forward like some housewife gathering gossip. 

“Making trouble, are we? Or are we planning a surprise? I promise I’m quite good at either, for the right price,” he said.

“It’s nothing to do with xem, I just had some questions. About magic. Just questions, I don’t need you to cast…it’s about something I saw happen to someone else. Um, my sibling. Val? I wanted to know, how…did you trade with them?”

The witch drummed his fingers contemplatively against his work table in a quick rhythm, then shook his head. He didn’t remember anyone by that name.

Hollow bit her lip as he worried about where else magic might come from, but he wasn’t entirely surprised. The shed was next door and Val had never exactly been the adventurous sort. Not that Hollow knew about, anyway. She could hardly imagine them climbing through the fence. Although lately, every time she tried to imagine much of anything about her sibling, she fell back into nightmares about Val’s hands punching through the colony walls and burying her in rubble or…or worse. 

“Then, do you know where else they could’ve found magic? Or, however you say that. Bargained for it,” Hollow said.

“Other magic? There’s plenty, if you know how to look. I can’t say I know of many others in the area with my level of expertise, but I can ask around. What is it you think you saw?”

“I know what I saw, I’m not stupid.” Hollow said tersely. She glanced around to be sure there was no one who might overhear. “They were huge. Human.”

“Human,” the witch echoed doubtfully. Several seconds passed as the witch considered Hollow’s claim. 

“You saw this? Were they…solid, do you know? Real?”

“They threw me across the cupboard, so yeah, I’d say they were real,” Hollow scoffed.

“How curious.”

The witch smiled and golden wire bangles clattered down his wrist as he abruptly stood up to jump up onto the next shelf. His wings flared for a second, catching the candlelight, even though the jump onto the bracket was low enough that Hollow could’ve easily cleared it. She fidgeted with the frayed edge of his sleeve, not sure if she was supposed to follow. She didn’t really want to see the witch’s full collection of eccentricities.

There was a cluster of thumps overhead as Ely fumbled with whatever it was he was doing. It sounded like a bag full of pebbles, or maybe marbles. Some nonsense. Hollow hated believing in this shit, that someone could just break reality by waving their hands just wrong. There was enough to fear in the world without worrying about finding magic lurking in the shadows beside her.

The witch came back down a minute later, holding a book of scrap paper with messy stitches for binding. It was about half as tall as Hollow was, large enough to be awkward in even the witch’s hands. He sat on the floor and flipped through it, too fast for Hollow to try reading along, though she noticed there were a lot of symbols that weren't a part the alphabet she did know. A minute passed and Ely hmmed and shook his head, evidently there was nothing useful there for him either. 

“Did your sibling say anything about what had happened?”

Hollow fidgeted with her climbing floss. She felt the witch staring at him even without looking up. 

“I didn’t ask. We…didn’t talk. I just ran when they saw me. And then they…that was when they threw me. I wasn’t there long,” she said.

“When was this, anyway? You went and saw your sibling without speaking to them?” 

Hollow hadn’t spoken with Val since she had abandoned them—10 years, give or take. Even when Ritos had shown up with Val limping along behind him, Hollow had only been able to stare. They were a ghost back then and a monster now. What was she supposed to say?

Sorry I left you with her, but I was sure she was going to kill me. Sorry I didn’t come back, but I figured you’d be dead. I’m sorry I didn’t do more for you.

Please don’t hurt me. I’m sorry.

“I came here for answers, not to be questioned,” she said stiffly.

“Patience, dear. I don’t know any magic like what you’ve described, and wouldn’t it be nice if I didn’t waste time finding you answers you don’t even want?”

“What does it matter whether or not I talked to them?”

The witch took a seat beside her as if they were two close friends instead of near strangers. Hollow flinched as one of Ely’s long fingers tilted her chin so the two were making eye contact. Unnatural. Everything about this man was unnatural.

“What does it matter? If you’re not on speaking terms with your sibling, what does it matter what magics they play with in their free time? Why are the answers so important that you’ll come out and deal with me?”

“It’s dangerous. Them, I mean, or…if they’re h—if they can pass themself off as human like that, they could come after the colony just like any real human. I don’t need to explain why that’s a problem, do I?”

“Fear? Then why waste time coming to me for answers? Your council has its ways to deal with threats, doesn’t it? Even humans,” Ely said. 

“I don’t know if I want them…dealt with. I don’t know where they’d even go or…”

“So what do you want from me?” the witch asked.

“Answers. I want to know what’s going on,” Hollow said stubbornly. 

“Yes, and I don’t have your answers on hand. How I go about finding them depends on why you want them. It will be a lot more work if you’re looking to imitate whatever spell they’ve used.”

Hollow’s face flushed—she’d thought about it. She assumed everyone imagined being human now and then, even if they didn’t talk about it. Who wouldn’t want to know what the world really looked like from human eyes? And Hollow had a list of giants she’d love to confront face-to-face if given the chance: that girl, the leafblower asshole, the gardener, the dog owner across the street, the miniature maker…but it was a daydream. If this sort of thing was real, then dreaming about that sort of violence could invite it. She didn’t really want to fight every other giant that had ever inconvenienced her, even if she could do it without getting hurt. Aggression was their game. 

“I just want to know what happened.”

Ely tilted his head. He looked unsatisfied, like a cat whose prey managed to get out of reach. Hollow looked back down at her lap and took a breath. She didn’t talk about this. She tried not to think about it. There was no good to come of it, just crushed feelings and guilt.

“And…I, yeah, I worry about Val, too. I’m afraid of what they might have gotten themself into. I want to know if they’re…okay. It’s hardly a sin that I care about my sibling, is it?”

It felt like a sin. How dare she? After everything she had failed to do, how dare she claim to care? She’d abandoned them to a horrible fate and then lied about it so no one would find out what she’d done.

“Maybe this was a mistake,” Hollow muttered. 

Ely rubbed her back and for a split second, Hollow felt like a child getting pulled into her mother’s lap after a bad day. And then the overlarge borrower inhaled deeply, almost dreamily, and Hollow pulled away.

“I do love a good confession,” Ely sighed, “Even when the truth is so...plain. You’d likely be better going back and talking to Val yourself, but I’ll see what I can find out, without harming your sibling. Is this agreeable?”

“What do you want from me in exchange?”

Ely smiled, toothy as any predator. Hollow stood up to put at least a few centimeters of distance between them. 

“Don’t worry about payment. I enjoy an excuse to research with my kin and…this has been even more pleasant. I should have some sort of answer for you after the full moon, but you’re welcome to return any time if you need anything else.”

Hollow shook the witch’s hand to seal the deal, then hurried off the shelf. She didn’t want to spend a second more than necessary in that wretched shed.

~

taglist: @da3dm @whumpsday

[linka-from-captain-planet]

Florrickology, Part 6: "Desire" Florrick? you're damn right I do

In-game, Counsellor Florrick is only ever referred to just that way: her title, "Florrick", or both. Nothing and nobody--not even Ulder, whom she sometimes calls by his first name--ever calls her anything else.

But in the game files, she's consistently referred to as "Desire", implying that her behind-the-scenes full name is Desire Florrick.

... which is extra interesting when you consider the possibility that she named herself.

Of course, the immediate first question is: how do you say it?

Being that Larian is a Belgian company, I would assume it was their intent to pronounce it the French way, said like deh-zi-ray rather than like the flat-out English word "desire." Personally, I'm too lazy to hit an accent key twice, so I always style it as Desiré even though Désiré is probably more correct, to convey the pronunciation I think is intended.

side note: I knew several Desirees growing up in the rust belt USA and they were all uhhhh extremely trashy, so discovering my urbane elven beloved had the same name took me out and was actually really hard to adjust to

Moving on: Prior to checking out the game files, I simply assumed that "Florrick" was her only name, which I was willing to accept based on the scant lore I knew. Other nobles and officials have their full names written out in-game, so there's no reason to expect that she was excluded for some reason. I do figure that it's probably just an oversight, and her first name just got lost in the shuffle between writing the files and developing the final product.

But she has a first name, still.

Disregarding real life and its boring explanations as usual, the question is, in-universe, why does nobody and nothing--not herself, not Yeva or Ito, not Jaheira, not Ulder, not Wyll, not official documents--ever use it?

There are several ways to go with this:

The game files don't count. Her first and only name is truly "Florrick", so there's nothing else to call her.

We only see her while she's acting in some official capacity, where she expects to be called by her rank and/or title by inferiors, and her last name by equal-ranks or superiors. The same people may call her Desiré in private gatherings, but she keeps it formal at work.

She just prefers to be called "Florrick" in any setting.

And more, but those are my top 3, each with merits for my purposes. #1, my original assumption, fed into a lot of the headcanons I developed about her, but I think #2 is my default. #3 is just sort of amusing to me.

But beyond the question of why nobody calls her by her first name, the question remains:

Who named her that?

I'm not, never will be, and don't want to be a lore expert, and it's a moving target anyway, but the consensus seems to be that elves choose an adult name when they reach a certain milestone in their life experience, usually around 100 years old, which replaces their given childhood name.

So... is Desiré Florrick her original given name, or her chosen name? Since my headcanon is that Florrick is somewhere in the neighborhood of 120-130 years old, that would lead to assumption that it's her chosen name.

"Desire" as a virtue name is pretty odd from an English-speaking perspective, and I would not be surprised if the sexual connotation of the word led to the devs choosing it for her (since they randomly decided to sexualize her more than most other NPCs), but it fits. She's a woman of passion and ambition, of loyalty and determination. Her desire to serve the public, to give her absolute all for the betterment of the city she loves, is what defines her. It suits my headcanon that her status and esteem is all the result of hard work, and relentless pursuit of what she wanted out of life.

"Florrick", I'm overall just willing to buy as her original surname. It sounds kinds of woodsy, just lyrical enough to sound a bit elfy. It fits.

But it's also compelling to me to imagine that she didn't originally have a surname, but took one on to fit in better among the upper echelon of Baldur's Gate, where inheritance and family names are important. Florrick being a wood elf wizard who lives in and faithfully serves the Big City is quite the mad libs of a character setup, so I like to imagine it matters and informs parts of her life. Assimilating into a new culture is an interesting experience, so it's a big part of my greater Florrick headcanon.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: They don’t suck at dating when they date each other

I wrote a 6x18 “Pay it Forward” Coda fanfic (linked here) based on the comment Buck made to Eddie while they were in the fire engine in 6x17 “Love is in the Air” regarding Eddie sucking at dating and I decided to expound on it in a blog post.

The truth is neither of them suck at dating when they date each other and that may have been the point the show was attempting to convey to the audience when Buck told Eddie, “So that’s what it is... you suck at it” followed by Chimney agreeing with him.  Did most of the GA pick up on it?  Probably not but the truth is both of them suck at dating but only when they try to date other people.

Eddie

In CANON Eddie’s only dated two women, well he was married to SD and he dated AF but that’s not the point. The audience learned in 6x17 Eddie met SD when he was in the 8th grade, they lost touch but they reconnected when they were in the 12th grade and after he got her pregnant (either sometime right before their high school graduation or shortly after) they got married and started an instant family.  Therefore, it’s safe to say if they did date it wasn’t anything like the type of dates he would have gone on as an adult because they were teenagers when they became spouses and parents.

When he dated AF, they had two actual dates, i.e., the breakfast date in 4x6 “Jinx” and their creepy math date in 4x8 “Breaking Point”. They weren’t shown going on any other dates in CANON because their trip to the suit store and the ambulance ride to the hospital in 5x1 “Panic” don’t count as dates.

Therefore, even though Eddie’s a bit inexperienced, he DID NOT SUCK at dating when he took Buck to play poker in 6x13 “Mixed Feelings” and he didn’t have any performance anxiety issues while they were together.

Buck

Even though Buck has dated more women than Eddie, based on his CANON dates, it appears he sucks at dating too.  In season 1, every time he took AC on a date it ended in disaster.  When they went to a nice restaurant for Valentine’s Day she ended up having to give him a tracheotomy because he choked on a piece of bread.  He also tried to take her on a hot air balloon ride but they didn’t get to do it because she had to leave to deal with her mother.

The hookups he had with TK in 2x8 “Buck Actually” don’t count as dates because they didn’t go anywhere.  He went to the bar to meet Chimney and TK bought him a drink before they ended up in the restroom together.  Also, them almost hooking up in the news van was not a date.  He met AM for coffee at the end of 2x8 after she asked him out but all they were shown doing was talking while they sat in a coffee shop or whatever. 

He met Veronica for a dinner date in 4x7 “There Goes the Neighborhood” but it ended up being a disaster.  When he invited TK to join him, Veronica and Albert for dinner in 4x8, it wasn’t a date because he invited her there so he wouldn’t have to face Veronica and Albert alone.  Once he officially started dating TK, all they did was spend a whole year during season 5 entombed in his loft and they weren’t shown going out to any restaurants or to the movies.  His trip to Oklahoma to surprise her doesn’t count because visiting a prison isn’t a date, right?  The one time they had a “successful” lunch date was in 4x11 “First Responders” but they were just friends and he invitied her there to ask her for a favor.

Finally, him and ND met for coffee in 6x15 “Death and Taxes” but they weren’t dating   She asked him out so she could learn more about the lightning strike and his death.  He called her and they went on two dates in 6x17 but they both got interrupted when LD showed up at the bar and TK and Kameron interrupted their second date while they were at his loft.

But when Buck went to play poker with Eddie in 6x13, he had a great time and there weren’t any mishaps. Their date didn’t suck because as usual they couldn’t keep their eyes off each other and even though they were playing a low stakes game of poker, they were practically pressed against each other while the other players sat with at least one chair’s length of space between them.

The point of this post is Buck and Eddie only suck at dating when they try to date other people but they don’t suck at it when they date each other.

In CANON, their poker date was the best date either of them ever had.

[abstractnaturaldisaster]

Steddie Flower Shop / Tattoo Parlour AU

I literally just finished my first fic ever and I’ve already started on my next. The Steddie brainrot is real. I low key became obsessed with the idea of Eddie accidentally becoming a florist after high school after this tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wbznewsradio/video/7195608049468312874

The idea isn’t original and there’s probably already a bunch of these AUs but I couldn’t help but through my hat in the ring! Enjoy the beginnings -- I’m working on a longer fic (maybe a valentine’s day plot?)

Also available on AO3!

                                                          ***

Eddie hadn’t meant to become a florist. He’d taken the gig originally as a part time delivery boy in exchange for using said delivery van when his high school band had a show and whatever tips he got. Five years and a high school diploma later, Eddie had ended up running the shop when the original owners, the De Lucas, were getting too old to manage on their own. Another five years and Mr. and Mrs. De Luca had retired and given Eddie the shop so they could move somewhere warmer. Eddie didn’t blame them. Chicago winters were almost unbearable even as a twenty-something. 

If anyone asked, Eddie wouldn’t say he loved his job but he did love the De Lucas and owning a flower shop was a little better than your standard nine to five. Eddie certainly hadn’t dreamed of being a florist. He’d spent high school dreaming of making it big in the metal scene but after high school his bandmates had started becoming productive members of society and coupled with the early mornings at the flower market his rockstar days had slowed considerably. Every once in a while the gang would get together and practice or play a gig for old times sake but corralling Corroded Coffin’s busy schedules got complicated. Eddie still kept up appearances and resolutely dressed like a metalhead even when 4 am meant waking up to barter with Mr. Lee instead of getting home from a gig. He continued to show off his stick and poke tattoos and the closest thing he got to a uniform was band tees and ripped jeans. De Lucas’ Flowers wasn’t in the snazziest neighborhood in Chicago but was starting to get more expensive as more people flooded into the city. Eddie was eternally grateful that the small flower shop included an equally small apartment directly above the stall. 

Eddie had taken after the original owners and kept his staff fairly small. After the De Lucases well and truly retired, Eddie had hired Chrissy Cunningham to manage the books and keep the lights on. Chrissy was an old high school acquaintance who was looking for a job to pay the bills while she wrote the next great american novel. They had run in different circles in high school but had bonded when Chrissy had shown up to one of Eddie’s shows at the Hideout. It turned out Chrissy had decent taste in music even though she spent most of her time with the other cheerleaders and their jock boyfriends who thought Journey was hard rock. Luckily for Eddie this also meant that he didn’t have to change the shop’s soundtrack when Chrissy started working. Metal wasn’t usually what people associated with flower shops but Eddie got most of his orders over the phone or online so it didn’t detract from their client base. He still did most of the deliveries in the old De Lucas’ Flowers van that he had driven in high school even though it was definitely nearing the end of its life. Eddie put more work into keeping the van rolling than he did most of his past relationships and wasn’t ready to give up on the old girl just yet.

“If I have to explain to a winter bride one more time that peonies and dahlias are summer flowers, I am quitting, Chrissy,” Eddie said as he came barreling down the stairs from his apartment.

“Eddie, why don’t you just let me take bridal orders?” Chrissy reasoned.

“Because, Chrissy, last time we did that you didn’t realize there was a difference between a king and queen protea and almost lost us a client.”

“Hey! I’ve been practicing. I made flashcards!” Chrissy pulled out a stack of index cards with colorful printouts of flowers on one side and their common and scientific names on the back.

“And I appreciate it. But I think your talents lie with cooking the books,” Eddie joked.

“Don’t say shit like that. One day someone will overhear you and think we’re money launderers,” Chrissy was kidding but Eddie’s general vibe didn’t always inspire confidence that the flower shop was indeed just a flower shop.

“That’s why I have you, babe,” Eddie said as he blew a kiss Chrissy’s way.

“Gross.”

“Rude, Cunningham.”

Eddie found a hair tie nestled between his garden shears and pulled his hair into a messy bun to get started on the day’s orders.

“Did you see that place across the street got rented out?” Chrissy asked as Eddie was putting the finishing touches on an apology bouquet for what had to be one hell of a mistake.

“Ew. New neighbors. Any idea what it’s gonna be?” Eddie scoffed.

“No clue. Just saw they took down the for lease sign yesterday,” Chrissy added.

“Boo. I liked our quiet street.”

“I don’t think anyone would call this street quiet what with the racket you put on the radio,” Chrissy chided.

Eddie didn’t respond except to turn up the speaker a couple notches.

After finishing up the morning’s orders, Eddie started loading the van to go on his delivery route. It was pretty formulaic, a few big skyscraper lobbies nearby, some office deliveries, and the big apology bouquet that was going to a house in Lakeview. Out of the corner of his eye he caught two people carrying a comically large velvet couch into the empty space across the street.

“Chrissy,” Eddie groaned. “It’s going to be one of those fucking hipster places. They have a pretentious couch.”

“You can’t possibly know what kind of place it’ll be from one furniture piece,” Chrissy shot back.

“Look outside, Chris.”

Chrissy went over to the shop window as the giant green monstrosity was being lifted onto the stoop of the building across the way.

“Okay, fine. That’s an asshole couch,” Chrissy agreed.

“See! We’re going to have to move. The neighborhood is going to hell.”

Chrissy shooed Eddie out to start his deliveries. Eddie flipped her off as he made his way to the driver’s side of the van. He looked back over to the shop across the street and scoffed again. At least whatever hipster nonsense was moving in across the way had picked a moving guy with a hot ass.

Eddie settled into the monotony of his deliveries and the familiarity of his Dio cassette and mostly put the new neighbors out of his mind. He gave them six months before the new business moved out.

Part Two

[aalissy]

Injured

Here's day 21 y'all. A lil identity reveal for my daily dose of ladrien hehe. I hope that you like it! Lemme know what you think!

AO3

Chat Noir stumbled into his room through his bedroom window. Immediately, he detransformed, clutching at his injured leg with a hiss of pain. 

Idiot. Stupid. What were you thinking ?

Adrien banged the bottom of his palm against his forehead as he mentally chastised himself. How he had managed to injure himself during a patrol with no akumas was beyond him. 

Hobbling, he collapsed onto his couch with a sigh of relief. He flexed his injured leg lightly and was relieved that he could move it. It must just be a sprain then. Blowing out an exhale, he tousled his hair.

“You alright, kid?” Plagg asked, his green eyes wide with concern. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Adrien gave him a small quirk of his lips. “Just need to rest.”

Plagg nodded at him, hovering nearby as he gobbled down a piece of cheese.

Thumping his head back against the couch, he shook his head at himself. Ladybug just had to have looked so beautiful with her pigtails blowing in the wind. Her cheeks were flushed a light pink and so he had stumbled on the rooftop he had been leaping off of, his leg slamming into the building. Ladybug had seen it all with the pair of widest, kindest blue eyes he had ever seen.

She had lifted him up, her brow furrowing with concern. “Are you alright, Chaton?”

He had waved her concerns off before quickly making his way back home, the suit masking most of the pain until he had detransformed. Now that he was on the couch, he didn’t move his leg, allowing the pain to subside slightly. He knew he had to be more careful. Sighing, he looked at Plagg, who was now munching contentedly on his cheese. "I'll be fine," Adrien whispered, more to himself than to his kwami.

Suddenly, a soft tap on his window caught his attention. Adrien’s heart skipped a beat as he turned to see Ladybug peering inside, her eyes filled with worry. He scrambled to sit up straighter, wincing as his leg protested. He noticed gratefully, that Plagg had managed to disappear, probably off to eat more cheese.

Adrien forced a smile, trying to mask his discomfort. "Ladybug, what are you doing here?"

She climbed through the window with her usual grace, closing it behind her. "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by. You know, just to hang out."

His heart pounded in his chest, both from the pain and the thrill of seeing her. She had been doing this more often lately and he had found himself looking forward to her little impromptu visits. "Well, you know it's always nice to see you," he said, his voice warm.

Ladybug smiled and sat beside him on the couch. "So, what have you been up to?"

Adrien shrugged, careful not to move his leg too much. He was desperate for her not to notice. "Oh, uh, you know... just relaxing. It's been a long day."

She nodded, laughing as her sapphire eyes gleamed over at him. "I understand that. So, did you maybe want to watch something?"

He nodded eagerly. Watching a movie was easy. He wouldn’t have to worry about his leg that way. He grabbed the remote, turning on a random movie.

They talked for a while as it played, making idle chatter and little comments as they watched. Adrien found himself momentarily forgetting about his injury, lost in the comfort of Ladybug's presence. However, when he shifted slightly to get more comfortable, a sharp pain shot through his leg. He couldn't suppress a wince.

Her eyes immediately narrowed with concern. "Are you alright?"

Adrien quickly waved her off, forcing another smile. "I'm fine, j-just a little sore from fencing."

Ladybug didn't look convinced. One of her eyebrows slowly rose as she looked at him. "Let me see."

Before he could protest, she gently lifted his pant leg, revealing the swelling and bruising. Her eyes widened in shock. "Adrien, this looks serious! You should have told me!"

"It's really not a big deal," he insisted, shaking his head, trying to move his leg from her grip. "I just need to rest."

Ladybug's brow furrowed as she studied his face, her eyes scanning his. Slowly, she murmured, "T-this reminds me of someone."

Adrien's heart raced. She couldn’t have... "W-what... who?"

"Chat Noir," she whispered, her lips parted as her gaze seemed to light up with realization. "He gets hurt and tries to hide it too. Always putting on a brave face. A-and he injured his leg today too. T-the same leg."

Adrien's breath caught. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

Ladybug's eyes widened with realization. "Adrien, you—"

He looked away, feeling a mix of fear and guilt. "I'm sorry, Ladybug. I-I didn't want you to find out like this. I-I didn’t think you would come over today."

Her hand gently cupped his cheek, turning his face back towards her. "Adrien... you're my Chaton?"

He nodded slowly, his eyes filled with vulnerability. "Yes, it's me."

Ladybug's expression shifted from shock to understanding, then to a tender smile. She glanced away from him, shaking his head. "Wow... everything makes so much sense now."

"I’m sorry! I don’t want to burden you with more secrets," Adrien confessed. "And I-I definitely don’t want you to see me differently."

Her gaze immediately whipped back to him, her thumb gently stroking his cheek. "Adrien... no. You could never be a burden to me. You're my partner, both as Adrien and as Chat Noir."

His eyes filled with relief and gratitude. "Thank you, Ladybug. I was afraid you might be angry."

She smiled warmly. "I'm not angry. I'm just worried about you. You need to take better care of yourself."

Adrien chuckled softly. "I'll try. It's just hard when I'm so used to protecting everyone else."

Ladybug's eyes were warm as she looked at him. "It's okay to let someone else protect you sometimes."

His heart thumped loudly in his chest at her words and he nodded, feeling overwhelmed by her kindness.

She leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "Now, let's take care of that leg."

Adrien smiled, his heart swelling with another large wave of affection for her. "Thank you, Ladybug."

She stood up, looking around the room. "Do you have any ice? We should reduce the swelling."

Adrien pointed to the mini-fridge in the corner. "There should be some in there."

Ladybug retrieved the ice pack and carefully placed it on his leg. "This should help. But you really need to rest."

He nodded, grateful for her care. "I will. And maybe we can spend some time together while I recover?"

Her eyes sparkled as she threw her head back with a loud giggle. "I'd like that."

As they sat together, chatting and laughing, Adrien realized that, despite the pain and the secrets, he was exactly where he needed to be—with Ladybug by his side, both as Adrien and as Chat Noir.

[vimara00]

All thanks to the cat (Shigaraki X F!Reader) by Vi ✨

Hi everyone! It's Vi ✨ Today I decided to write something about our crusty boy, he needs to be loved ❤️ I hope you enjoy! (Sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes, english is not my first language 🙏🏻)

Warnings: mention of blood but fluff anyway

All character reservations to Horikoshi

While the league of villains' location was still unknown, Tomura could walk around the neighborhood wearing a hoodie to hyde his face just in case someone recognised him. He wasn't a morning person so usually all his scapes from the hideout were at night, probably to get coffee or some snacks as an excuse to get away from the others.

On his way to the convince store, he saw a cute kitten in the middle of the street. It looked a little lost and terrified of its surroundings but Shigaraki paid no attention and kept walking. That was until he heard a car speeding towards the cat and, without thinking, he ran across the street to grabbed it and pushed both himself and the animal to the sidewalk. The car stopped a few meters away from them and the driver got out of vehicle to check if everything was ok. Unfortunately for him, Tomura is not one to forgive so, in the blink of an eye, he decayed the guy and left with the kitten. The little thing seem to appreciate his gesture as it started to rub its head on him. That's when the villain realised it had a collar with a telephone number. He contemplated for many minutes if he should gave the cat back to its owner or take it with him. However, he couldn't go back to the league with a kitten, they would saw him as someone weak so he surprisingly opted for calling the owner.

It was 11 PM and they probably won't pick up but he gave it a try anyways. At the second tone, a girly voice sound from the other side of the line and Shigaraki just froze on the spot. He was not expecting for them to respond and even worst, for it to be a girl.

"Hi, is someone there?" The angelic voice said and Tomura realised he should say something before she hang up "Hey I - I found your cat on the street and it was almost hit by a car..." "Omg! Noooooo, did something happened to him?! Please tell me he is okay!" "Yeah...he is here with me, may you pick him up? I'm in front of the convince store" "Yes!! I'll be right there! Wait for me, don't go please" And their conversation ended

Tomura started to sweat thinking that a woman was coming and he didn't know what to say or how to even talk a female. But then he thought about what would happened if she recognised him, he definitely would've to kill her but all those thoughts were out of the window once he saw her. Oh, how he wasn't prepared for such a sight! A curvy short girl appeared from around the corner and her face lighted up once she saw them. Her h/c hair was a little bit messy and apparently, she was wearing a nightgown under a big jacket that cover most part of it. Tomura brain was malfunctioning at this point and his heart beat so fast he swore it would come out his chest.

"Oh, thanks god Sombra (means shadow in Spanish) it's ok! I've been looking for him all day but couldn't find him anywhere! Your are such a lifesaver! Thank you so much" the pretty girl was almost crying as she grabbed her cat while giving it a few kisses and Shigaraki heart almost skipped a beat at the sight.

"What's your name, mysterious knight in shining armour?" She looked at him with a smile on her face and it took a few seconds for him to respond because of how flustered he was "I'm Tomura" "Nice to meet you, Tomura! I'm y/n" She extended her hand waiting for him to shake hers but before he could reacted, the e/c eyed girl grabbed his hand and shake it enthusiasticly

He was staring at her, waiting for the inevitable moment of her turning to dust. However, it never came as she separated from him and kept talking about something he couldn't catch on.

What had happened? Why didn't she turned into dust like the others? He started to scratch his neck as she turned to look at him worryingly.

"Sorry if I'm overstepping a boundary but your neck is bleeding a little bit, let me..." Y/n didn't finished her sentence as she reached her hand to his neck and suddenly, all scratch marks and blood was gone

"How did you do that?" He asked curiously about what her quirk was and also wondering why someone as sexy as her would get near or even help someone like him " I have a sanation quirk! I can cure from a headache to a missing limb and it also makes my body immune to some attacks. Cool, isn't it?" She wink at him and the air left his lungs for a moment. God, was she beautiful! "Yeah, it's a pretty cool quirk"

"Well, it's getting late so I probably should be going" Oh no, it's the first time he found someone who he couldn't turned into dust and also the first girl to look at him and not be disgust and she was already leaving. Tomura thought this was some kind of sick joke fate played with him where it would showed him the best piece of god's creation and then, take it away from him. Because freaks like him never get the girl even if they are willing to burn the whole world for them. But sometimes, fate plays with very interesting cards and makes unexpected happen

"Hey I'm... After all you've done for Sombra the least I could do is invite you to lunch sometime! Maybe somewhere quite where we could talk...What do you say?" She said as her cheeks turned red and she avoid looking at him

Shigaraki was not expecting her to invite him to hang out but he wouldn't complained. He felt flustered that a cute girl such as her wanted to go out with him. He couldn't believed his luck! He actually considered this being a dream and he didn't want to wake up anytime soon

"Yes, I would like that" he tried to smile as her eyes shined with excitement "Great! I'll give you my number so we can communicate and see when or where we could go!" If this wasn't the best day of his entire life, when y/n kissed his cheek as a goodbye, it definitely was!

Let's just say that Tomura came back to the hideout with more than a few snacks

______________________

Bonus

Him: Hi, It's Tomura

Him: Hope you and sombra arrived ok

Cute girl: Hiii Tomura!

Cute girl: Yes we did! He is already sleeping.

Cute girl: Too much adventure for him 😜

Cute girl: Thanks again for saving him! I own you one 🙏🏻

Him: It's ok, he was too cute to ignore

Cute girl: hahaha yeah! He is the cutest

("You are the cutest" He wanted to say but thought it was too early for that)

Cute girl: *picture attached* ( y/n with Sombra on bed)

Cute girl: Ready for bed! Hope u have a good night sleep! See you soon, Tomura 😘

(Oh, his soul left his body after that.

He probably won't admit that he watched that photo every night before bed. He should buy a treat to that cat when he sees it again)

[nunya-sims]

Chapter 1: So, it began.

At a target in upstate San Myshuno, Drucilla Damson walks the aisles looking to do some shopping. She recently lost her job, working as a host at her boyfriend's art gallery. She loved the art that she would see there and the eccentric styles of the artists. She got to talk to people a lot, which she loved. She knew it wasn’t her passion, but after being with her boyfriend for as long as she was and loved him as much as she did, she felt like she needed to stick by him and help him realize his dreams.

Now a week later, she was more upset about the firing than him breaking up with her! In one day, she lost her job and her boyfriend of 4 years. Drucilla was so sure that they were going to get married. She probably should have let go of hope after the second year, but what can you do?

In her sadness she decided to go do some retail and food therapy, she needed to be out of her slump and out of the house. Drucilla, known as Dru to her family and friends, had to move back in with her parents after the initial breakup. Her mother was becoming a bit of a helicopter, more so than usual, so she needed an outing to lift her spirits and get away from mother dearest.

Dru decided to take an Uber to her favorite target about 45 mins uptown. It was one of the nicer ones and it was way more peaceful than the one in her neighborhood.

She finished her shopping and walked the last aisle before exiting the store, but not before stopping.

Drucilla had no idea what she agreed to, but somewhere in her mind she knew it would not be anything dangerous, she just felt it. This is exactly where she was supposed to be today, and she was supposed to meet this man.

The two smiled at each other. If that's what the man called a smile, though it was a completely different look than when he was brooding at the fabric softeners earlier.

As he ushered her out of the store, he asked her how she felt about children.

Dru giggled, "Oh, I love kids!"

Twitter | Tik tok | Tumblr

[chlstarrbaby]

Neighborhood Academy AU Part 2

Part 1  Part 3 (Final)

Trigger warnings: Angst, depressing thoughts, and brief mentions of suicide, unreality.

Another day, another sprint to Homeroom, neck and neck with Eddie carrying Frank over his shoulder like a kidnapped damsel this time, Frank seemed to be getting some last minute studying done.

Oh shoot! Was there a test today? You hoped it wasn’t Marketing, it could get tricky in places when math was actually involved.

“Mornin’ Frank! Mornin’ Eddie!” You greeted politely despite your jagged breaths in keeping up with the absolute powerhouse that was Track Captain, Eddie Dear.

“Morning, (Y/N)!” They replied in unison.

“Congratulations by the way.” Frank mentioned in his usual quite frankly tone.

“For what?” You breathed in confusion. Why the heck was your Homeroom so far from the front of the school anyway? Sure it's a nice way to stay in shape but it's still nerve wracking when you know there’s a high chance that you’ll be late!

“You got Rizzo in that Grease musical, and Wally got Danny so don’t worry, Sally made sure he wasn’t your exact opposite, but it's still oddly fitting.” Frank replied dryly, but well meaning.

“Did Julie get Sandy? I’m gonna feel really bad when I get into character with her.” You asked, explaining your hesitation.

“Yep, she sure did!” Eddie piped up cheerfully. “Seemed pretty excited about it to me!”

“Well, so long as she’s okay with it, that’s all I can hope for.” You mused loud enough for both of them.

Then you suddenly tripped as you simultaneously remembered why Wally would be happy with the roles anyway. That oddly specific old flame tension between Rizzo and Danny was palpable when played right. He would probably look forward to it. But then you really thought about it and…No, he’d look really forward to it if you got Cha-cha instead.

Despite tripping, you stumble instead, quickly regaining enough balance to continue on running. Somehow you saw two different scenarios for an aftermath that didn’t just happen.

One where you definitely fell, hard enough for the skin to come off your knees but not enough to bleed, didn’t hurt any less, but Eddie, bless him and Frank’s awesome friendship with you, didn’t leave you behind as the potential mailman scooped you up and carried you over his other shoulder to Homeroom. You thanked them graciously despite the pain and assured them that you were fine otherwise. You had a small first aid kit in your bag for such emergencies anyway, especially since the school was so darn big that it was a wonder that there weren’t more nurses offices in it.

The other scenario that popped in your head really made you wonder…Wally popped out of nowhere and caught you from your initial fall, slinging you over his shoulder to mimic Eddie with his significant other, and the irony was certainly not lost on you as you protested with kicking and screaming before giving up since you really needed to catch your breath anyway.

Both of those scenarios felt vividly real, visceral even. But neither happened, Wally was nowhere to be seen until you got closer to Homeroom where he was surrounded by fangirls and fanboys again. Still couldn’t actually see him technically but that crowd wouldn’t be there for anyone else, not even you thankfully. Though it was another piece of kindling to your ongoing argument with Wally about how there was no way you were as pretty as he claims you are.

Regardless, the fans crowding around the door to Homeroom was always such a nuisance. You only had one plan to get them out of the way, and honestly it wasn’t a very good one.

“HOMEROOM’S STARTING! NOW SCATTER!” You screeched over the crowd and it worked…slightly against you as now you were swimming upstream against the bunches of students who had to run back the way you came to get to their respective Homerooms.

Eddie barreled through them just fine, but you had to make yourself smaller and brace yourself so as not to get trampled. It got to the point that you ended up standing still and wasted precious time getting to Homeroom, but there were too many students, you couldn’t move…

Until someone grabbed your wrist and led you through the door. When did you close your eyes? You opened them to find that Wally was the one to drag you through the threshold and safety of Homeroom.

His gaze was intense again, but this time you were looking directly at it and it felt ten times worse than having it directed at the back of your head. He was livid. 

But so weren’t you at him for a multitude of reasons, most of which haven’t even happened yet, (and some you weren’t entirely sure if they had happened at some point or not). So you stood your ground while you waited for him to say something.

“What were you thinking, neighbor? You could have been trampled.” Wally’s monotone betrayed what he was really feeling, since he sounded oddly calm.

“I was gonna be late, and so weren’t they, risky as it was, there was a benefit for everyone. Besides, raining on your pretty boy parade is still fun.” You tell him snarkily, mostly gaining confidence on that last sentence. 

His stare softened ever so slightly, knowing him it was most likely from the backhanded compliment.

“You still think I’m pretty after all this time?” Wally asked curiously, clearly flattered as his smirk grew again.

“I may be shorter than you but I’m not blind…You’re still way prettier than me anyway.”  That last sentence was said bitterly, as once again you couldn’t help but make it sting for him a little, though that tended to backfire as the pinprick of tears made their traitorous little ways to the edges of your eyes again, trying to avoid him seeing it by walking past him and over to your seat.

Unfortunately for you he was as observant as ever, and grabbed your wrist as you passed. You didn’t give him the satisfaction of turning your head to look at him. Some deep internal instinct screamed at you to never look into his eyes for too long, as he could hypnotize you at any time.You don’t know where that came from, but after that weird vision of two scenarios after you stumbled, something wasn’t adding up about this year. Lots of little things that you barely noticed until now, but you knew it wasn’t safe to even dwell on them, so you refocused your mind on how you never saw yourself as ever being pretty, as physically showcased by the fact that you decided to wear shorts today, keeping the suspenders since they were nice and classy.

“How can I get it through your head that you really are beautiful, (Y/N)?” Wally asked with a hint of desperation in his voice, silently apologizing for making you cry again but not being able to voice it properly.

You couldn’t help but chuckle darkly as one of those alternate visions gave you a sneaky idea that he didn’t have to go through with… but it would be funny if he did.

“You could carry me to Homeroom like what Eddie does for Frank, but that’s not very neighborly of me to ask and it would really rain on the timing of your pretty boy parade. Otherwise, there just isn’t a way for you to get it through my head since it’s my demon to bear.” You only turned your head a little bit to him so he could hear you, but you still didn’t face him. At the last sentence you snap your wrist out of his hand and head to your seat.

Class was starting, and Wally was out of time to reply to anything you just said.

Mentally you were cursing yourself for one particular wording choice that you had no idea where that even came from. ‘Not very neighborly of you’…You supposed it was another reference to his cutesy nickname for you since his desk was next to yours…but it felt deeper than that when you said it. As if you were spitting the words in his  face without actually spitting, or putting enough venom into it. Too dangerous to do that. You couldn’t put your finger on why that was though…probably for the best.

He was staring at you the entire day of classes. Not that you looked at him directly even once, but it was hard to ignore completely when he’s in your peripheral vision.

You ate lunch on the school roof today, alone you thought. However Barnaby came up to join you. Not surprising, even after a few months you could tell that Wally and Barnaby were absolutely best friends, but in that super comfortable with each other kind of way where they were definitely just friends and not something more like Eddie and Frank. The best analogy you could think of was Mickey Mouse and Goofy.

Regardless, Barnaby was sweet enough to ask to join you first, and though you already had the sneaking suspicion he was here on Wally’s behalf, you did also leave your other friends high and dry too, so he was here for all their sakes too. You couldn’t deny him for checking on you. He even let you lean on him.

“Ya wanna talk about it?” He asked, not beating around the bush, which you inwardly appreciated.

“Depends…what is it exactly that I should talk about?” You ask back, not willing to give in just yet.

“Anything and everything really. Ya look like ya wanna vent but it can only be with specific people, otherwise ya might explode.” Barnaby offered lazily.

“You sure you wanna hear it even if a good chunk of it is about a certain pompadour wearing cactus?” Grateful as you are at being allowed to vent, you couldn’t help but warn him anyway.

“Cactus?” Barnaby questioned in confusion.

“It’s a play on words in this case. Wally’s smile is cat-like, and what are cacti? They’re prickly.” You explain a little, not going further than that and hoping he would get the other half of the joke.

“Oh, so you’re also calling him…?” Barnaby trailed off on purpose.

“Yep.” You answer simply. “Sorry if it seems a bit harsh to call him that, but that’s why I picked a cactus specifically to make it sound more polite.” Surprisingly Barnaby guffawed.

“No, you’re good, it’s really clever!” He chuckled a bit more before getting back on topic. “But anyway, I’m all ears even if it is about him in a negative way, and I cross my heart none of it will go to him.”

“Thanks Barnaby.” You tell him gratefully.

So you rant, leaving out the weird visions from this morning or any other time from little things where you saw an alternate scenario as if it were a highly invasive memory. Even now you saw a version of yourself… jumping off the roof just to get away from…your pompadour wearing cactus. You vehemently ignored it. It wasn’t your reality after all so it wasn’t really your problem. Not now, not yet, and hopefully not ever.

In any case you explain to Barnaby that Wally’s just been insufferable lately even though it's really because of your deeply ingrained insecurity of how you don’t see yourself as pretty even though you have enough sense to know when certain clothes look good on you anyway. You chalk it up to not being complimented very often throughout your life, and Wally’s attempts, especially the elaborate ones (that he had to knock off after a certain point once it got to the principal's ears) just seemed like elaborate but harmless cat-calling.

Barnaby chuckled at the second cat related pun directed at Wally.

“I can assure you he’s not.” He assured you genuinely.

“Thanks, but that brings me to my other fear…but first I have to ask if he really wasn’t into Julie before I came along?” You asked, hesitating because the bigger question was going to sound bad no matter how you worded it.

“Pretty sure he never was, I can see why it would be hard to tell though. We all live in the same area and we all love him dearly as if we were all just family. And sure, he may be highly praised for his good looks by all the fans of the school, but out of every single one of them even after a year, he picked you.” Barnaby explained slowly and succinctly to get his point across. You were all Sophomores so his vague description of the timing made sense.

Doubt bubbled up and through your vocal chords however.

“It could literally have been anyone. I just happened to be a transfer student. A transfer student that ended up in an assigned seat near the rest of our friends.”

Barnaby hesitated, if only because he wasn’t there just yet on that first day of school when you and Wally first encountered each other, he had to hear that from the others.

“Never mind that I know I ticked him off that first day of school twice, and one of those times was when Julie dragged me out of Homeroom to show me where Sally was holding the auditions.” You continued as an afterthought to paint a clearer picture for him. “I’m still surprised he even remotely likes me after that first day, like, I accidentally stopped everyone from fawning over him dead in their tracks at my mere presence, I felt him boring holes into the back of my head after that….I dunno Barns…If he’s really serious about me, I just don’t want to be a tally on a scorecard, ya know? That’s what I’m really afraid of.” You finally admitted to him and to yourself.

Of course that was the base of it anyway, if you were going to be in a relationship, you’d rather it be a lasting one. But you would have to put some effort into it too. As it was, your heart just wasn’t interested in a relationship right now, and if he went as far as to ask for your hand in marriage after graduating and you said yes…it would only be for the tax benefits, and that’s not being honest to him or yourself. That’s no good.

Suddenly you looked up and saw another variation of yourself getting ready to jump off a different part of the roof, definitely a different variation because this one was wearing pants, but you could still tell it was supposed to be you because that was what the back of your head looked like.

Even more suddenly, Wally burst out of the doors to the roof desperately calling out your name…and heading for that alternate version of you.

You only knew Wally wasn’t part of that same vision (this time) because Barnaby reacted to him, and the vibration of the doors opening was so harsh you could easily feel it against your back.

Wally’s desperate screams of your name chilled you to the bone. Of course you got up quickly and screamed his name in turn to get him to stop, to turn around and realize that he was chasing a vision that was only an illusion.

Barnaby followed in calling his name too and running after Wally, but you were faster. Running to Homeroom every morning paid off for something after all. Regardless you had to tackle Wally to get him to stop, he didn’t fall from it, he is taller than you and apparently had enough upper body strength to brush off even physically acknowledging you, so you had to sidestep around him to his front and grab his face, and for safety measures turn him around with his face in your hands so he wouldn’t look at that alternate version of you anymore.

“Barnaby, please stay up close behind me, he’s seeing things that are and aren’t there, we need to limit his view!” You pleaded to the big blue dog behind you.

Directing your attention back to Wally who was still screaming your name and somehow not comprehending you were right in front of him, pleading for you to stay, you had no choice but to do something extremely risky. You reached an arm to cover his eyes.

“Wally? I’m right here, pretty boy! I’m not going anywhere!” You announce loudly but calmly, hoping your voice breaks through his panicking fog with your nickname for him alone.

“(Y/N)?” He whimpered. Oh thank whatever higher being there was out there, he was regaining his senses.

“That’s my name, don’t you dare wear it out. I’m gonna move my arm now okay?” You reply lightheartedly, making sure to warn him of your movements.

“Okay.” Wally said nervously. So you remove your arm and return its position by cupping his other cheek.

His eyes were wide, and his pupils were shaking, not a good sign but you could still work him through this. You walked him through some breathing exercises to help calm him down from his panic attack, and when he finally calmed down enough (that his pupils weren’t going ballistic) he asked if he could hug you.

Of course you allowed it, as you wrapped your arms around his middle to give him more security. Barnaby hugged you both from behind you for extra security. Wally pleads for you to not leave him, he sounded so pitiful, but you couldn’t promise anything.

Surprisingly, over Wally’s shoulder, you could still see that alternate version of you standing on the edge, wanting to jump.

“Hey, (Y/N).” You call out to them. With…great effort, they turn to you, and their face is flickering through different people’s faces, and you realize that they are merely a representative of you, a possibility of you as it were. “I wish you happiness.”

The collective of flickering faces actually smile, and they bow to you before dissipating in the wind.

“I wish all of you happiness, wherever you can find it.” You say to the wind in hopes that it’ll carry to any other alternative versions of you that couldn’t handle the burden of the bigger school that is Life. 

Everyone on the planet is here for a reason, unfortunately it takes too long to even figure out that reason most of the time. It might even be to just exist for the sake of existing to help raise the planet’s vibration.

Ultimately, the meaning of Life is 42, as in, whatever you want it to be. The choice is yours through good times and bad. May you find your happiness soon, dear neighbor.

“C’mon, Wally, Lunch is just about over, let’s go ask Ms. Poppy if we can bake apple pies today.” You suggest lightly, slowly easing yourself out of Wally’s embrace at least.

“Ha ha ha. Okay, neighbor. But I still don’t see how there are apples in them.” Wally replies with his usual monotonous chuckle. You and Barnaby join him in that as the three of you pack up your belongings and head back downstairs to deal with the remainder of the school day.

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[bethanydelleman]

Can you shed some light on how and why Maria's infidelity end up on the paper? I have so many questions. Was that normal? Was it like, celebrity gossip today? Would the Rushworths wealth make them well known enough for their problems to make newsworthy gossip? Or was it like a crime report? Like how a robbery might be reported? Did Rushworth have anything to do with it? Because it sounds humilliating for him, but I'm thinking maybe he'd want evidence for the divorce?

I follow a Facebook group that shares snippets of the paper from the Regency and you can find everything! Like even things that today we would think of as very personal details. So yes, it was normal. For example:

Notice of a Marriage published in The Examiner August 27, 1809

On Monday at Bath, —----- Hartley, Esq., just come of age, and into possession of 6 to 8,000l., per annum, landed property, to Miss Watts, the daughter of the Parish Clerk of St. Michael’s, whose celebrity as a cobbler stands unrivalled. The young man has settled 300l., per annum on his father-in-law, and 600l., per annum on his wife. The ceremony commenced at eight o’clock, the bridegroom had no sooner given his troth than he was taken with fainting fits, and it was not till half past eleven the service was renewed. Shortly after, his uncle arrived to forbid the marriage. On leaving the church they were greeted by the populace.

(This also answers the question of how everyone knew everyone's incomes)

From August 1, 1811 London Chronicle:

[About two years ago the wife of Mr. Badden, a corn-dealer, in the neighborhood of Kingston, was lost from her home, and supposed to have been drowned in the returning from Hampton Court, her bonnet having been found in the river; and her husband and relatives mourned her loss in the usual manner; but on going through Malling, in Kent, last week, to the surprise of Badden, his supposed lifeless rib* presented herself, mounted on the top of a baggage-waggon, with a chopping boy at her breast, in the character of a corporal's wife, with whom it turned out she had eloped from Kingston, and to whom she was afterwards betrothed. Badden had got married also, and it is not apprehended that the lawyers will have any trouble on the occasion. *rib is a Biblical reference, Eve was formed from Adam's rib]

Marriage notice from the 4 February 1810 Examiner

[At Monkwearmouth, Mr. R, taylor, to Miss D. of Southwick. No sooner was the ceremony over, than the fair one seemed to demur, and strange as it may appear, she has not yet deigned to place herself in that situation in which a man's rib ought to be - in plain English, she has not gone home.]

Here is a crime from the London Chronicle Jan. 7, 1809:

[Yesterday three labouring gardeners were committed to the House of Correction, under the Vagrant Act, for begging in the streets They requested the favour to go into a public-house to have some refreshment before they were locked up, which was granted to them, where they divided 5s. each, being the amount of their morning's begging.]

I think the main evidence against Maria was that she left the marital home, so newspaper reports probably wouldn't be necessary. I would imagine Rushworth would rather not have people talk about it, but it sounds like everything became very public.

Also, Rushworth was certainly rich enough to qualify for celebrity gossip-type coverage and Maria was the daughter of a baronet.