#sorry for thinking about nonsensical things but the ‘i need you’ and ‘hey kids. fighter isnt a virgin’ (i fucked him myself) dialogue

[dirt-str1der]

I was thinking pocket circuit fighter could probably coax sex out of kiryu by offering him a shiny new machine like if he cried enough about being a virgin and then got down on his knees and begged but kiryu gets uncomfortable and a bit offended until hes like ill give you this sweet little top of the line machine and kiryu suddenly gets really intense and interested because he really wants it

[icerosecrystal]

The Love We Give To You

Mominette Month 2021

Day 02: Signs of Affection

Masterlist

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Day 2 was a lot of fun to write! I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, to make sure that no one is confused, I wanted to let you all know that this is not a continuation of Day 1.

It has been three months since Marinette married Bruce and became a part of the Wayne family. Bruce's and Marinette's had a great relationship. Bruce showed affection through cuddles and kisses. Not that he would ever admit to doing it. Alfred and Marinette had bonded over their love of baking, cooking, and mother-henning the children. They showed their affection when they offered to help each other. Whether it be with work in the kitchen or little hobbies. All of the children loved Marinette and showed their affection for her in various ways.

Dick loved hugs. The moment he spotted Mari in the room, he would bound over to her, a smile on his face, and squeeze the life out of her. She would always let out one of her tinkling laughs in response before returning the enthusiastic hug.

Tim liked to give her hugs and kiss her cheek in greeting. But for him, it was more his actions than anything. He would get her a cup of coffee and then babble to her about really anything. In turn, Marinette would patiently listen, adding her input when necessary.

For Jason, he didn't appreciate physical affection as much as his other siblings, but he still would allow some of it, but only ever from Mari. Jason would show his appreciation for Mari every time he helped her out with whatever she was doing. He would sometimes talk about he was feeling also. But his favorite part would be when Mari would indulge in his thrill-seeking activities with him. He loved that she didn't try to change anything about him, and he always did the same for her. He even tried to make a leather jacket with her help.

Cass liked connecting with people on a soulful level. So she would usually sit by Mari when she was designing something and meditate or even only watch her work. They would also meditate together at times. Due to Cass being born into the League of Shadows, she found a lot of physical affection to be strange. But she sometimes did hug Mari.

Stephanie was as enthusiastic with her affection as Dick was. She would bounce over and hug Mari every time she entered the room. She would also constantly cling to Mari and would urge her to make waffles with her.

All of Mari's new children showed her different signs of affection except for Damian. She didn't think that Damian should be as blatant with his love for her, but she wanted even the slightest bit of confirmation that he loved her.

A Week Later

Damian flopped down onto his bed in misery. He had just witnessed another hug session between Dick and Mari. Damian wanted that same love, but he was confused about what to do. He felt like he was betraying his birth mother by trying to show Mari love, even if Talia wasn't the best mother ever. Besides, why would Mari even want a former assassin child as her kid? She's probably happy with the rest of them. At least they were somewhat ordinary. Even Cass, the only other one that had only ever been an assassin, was a lot more passive than him.

He continued to mope about his problems before he suddenly had an epiphany! What if he tested her? He needed to make sure that she was worth loving. And so, the next day, when everyone but Marinette, Alfred, and himself was out of the house, he went to the Batcave. He then started sparring against some dummies. He was hoping that Mari would attempt to bond with him and offer to spar with him. And sure enough, after a few minutes of sparring on his own, a melodic voice behind him called, "Damian? Why are you sparring on your own?"

Damian, in turn, replied, "I had nothing better to do. Would you like to join me? I could teach you."

He watched as her face lit up with unspoken happiness before she stepped onto the mat. They both positioned themselves into a starting position for the spar. He then counted them down, "Three, two, one, go!"

He had barely uttered the words before Mari ducked down low, whipped her leg out, and swung it towards him, hooking the back of his ankle with her foot. The action resulted in him falling to the floor. He quickly jumped up and kicked her leg from behind, causing her to hit the ground. Before he could tackle her, she rolled on the ground and jumped up, punching him as she went. He quickly recovered from the hit and followed with his own, which she caught and flipped him over, putting him back on the floor once more. Before he even got the chance to try and get up, she clambered over him, putting him into an armbar hold. And with that, Mari had officially won the spar.

Damian stared at her in awe as she climbed off him, beaming in excitement. Mistaking his silence and awe for embarrassment and hostility, Marinette frantically tried to make him feel better, "I am so sorry, Damian! I didn't mean to be so aggressive! I know that you wanted to teach me, but I already knew how to fight! But I thought that I would pretend that I didn't! But you were giving me a challenge, and I accidentally started treating it as a real fight! You are an amazing fighter! I am so, so sorry–"

Before she could continue with her spiel, Damian interrupted her with a whisper, "You're awesome." Realizing what he said, he ducked his head, attempting to hide the blush that had made its way onto his cheeks. He quickly gave Mari a tight-lipped smile before running to his room, ignoring Alfred's questioning gaze. He had to think. Right now!

He quickly slammed the door and leaned his head against it. Okay. Things that he had learned today. Number one, Mari knew how to fight. Number two, She knew how to fight very well. Number three, Marinette was awesome. Number four, she was much better than his mother could ever hope to be. And number five, he wanted Mari to be his mom! And he knew how to do it.

Two Weeks Later

It had been two weeks since the spar between Mari and Damian, and much had changed since then. And everyone in the family knew it. But no one, except for Marinette and Damian, knew why.

The first thing that changed was Damian's attitude towards Marinette. Before, he would try his best to never be in the presence of his stepmother. But now, he didn't mind. Everyone could tell that he would try to delay his time spent with her. Not many people would realize it, but the Wayne family wasn't just everybody.

What changed next was how he responded to her words. Before, he would roll his eyes, ignore her, or huff. But now, he would still grumble, but it was always half-heartedly. And one time, they caught him smiling at Mari. The dramatic gasp that Dick let out didn't help anyone in figuring out what was going on.

Then he started doing little things, like pecking her cheek before he left for school. He would smile at her, give her a tiny compliment, paint while she designed. They were such small actions, but every time Damian did them, Marinette's heart swelled with happiness. She was in disbelief that Damian was showing his love for her! Yes, he wasn't as blatant about it as his siblings, but he still did it, and that made her all the happier.

But the day that things finally changed completely was when Damian Al-Ghul Wayne walked up to Marinette Dupain-Cheng and cuddled her. It was an ordinary Saturday. Everyone was up early except for Damian. But then Damian came in yawning and looked around. He saw Mari sitting on the couch stitching something. Damian trudged over to her and sat down next to her. He put his legs up on the couch and buried his face into her chest. Marinette smiled gently at his actions and put down her sewing things before putting her arms around him. She then started stroking his hair, and as if he was part cat, he preened at the attention and pressed his head to her hand in want of more strokes. Damian then mumbled, almost incoherently, "I love you, Ummi. You're amazing."

Marinette stopped stroking his hair in shock, and Damian looked to her worriedly, thinking that she was mad with his declaration. But instead, her face broke into a huge smile, and she hugged him tightly, breathing out, "I love you too, Dami."

All while this was happening, the rest of the Wayne family looked at the pair in awe. Finally, Jason spoke, breaking everyone out of their stares, "When did this happen?! And what did happen?!"

Damian looked over at Jason with a scowl and said, "I found out two weeks ago that Ummi is amazing. She beat me in a spar. Now, she's my Ummi, and none of you imbeciles can take her away from me!"

Everyone except the pair continued to be bewildered over the situation. That was when Dick spoke up, "Ummi?"

Damian looked ready to murderer them for not allowing him to cuddle with his Ummi, but all the same, he replied, "I heard a lot of children call their mothers 'Ummi' in the league, or at least in private. But Mother never permitted me to do the same, alone or in public. She said that I was the heir of the league and should, therefore, be as nonsensical as possible. But now that I have Mari, I finally have someone to call Ummi."

By the end of his speech, Marinette looked to be close to tears, and everyone else was looking at him in surprise. Marinette started clinging onto him, whispering, "I love you so much, mon cheri. I'll always be there for you."

Damian blinked back tears and clung back, saying, "I know you will. I am your favorite anyways." When Damian saw his siblings realize what he said, he jumped off his Ummi's lap and ran out of the room. Behind him, a herd of footsteps was heard, along with shouting from each of the children (except Cass). Each of them trying to convince him as to why he was wrong and why they were the favorite.

Back in the living room, Alfred had left to give Marinette and Bruce some alone time. Marinette beckoned Bruce over to sit beside her. She pecked his mouth before seeing the adoring stare. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what is it that you are staring at?"

Bruce pulled her closer, inhaling her jasmine scent, and mumbled, "Oh, nothing. Just looking at my beautiful wife that I can't believe I managed to marry."

Marinette flushed a deep red before punching his arm, "Sap."

"Your sap," he retorted back.

"Yes, my sap," she whispered before giving him a deep kiss.

As Bruce pulled away from her, he mumbled against her lips, "Besides, we all know I'm your favorite."

Marinette smirked before saying, "Oh, I don't know. Your son seems to be just as charismatic as you."

"Exactly–," Bruce started saying before he realized what she said. "Hey! Come back here you!" Marinette giggled as he chased after her trying to tickle her.

The rest of the family came into the room, trying to find the cause of the noise. But they stopped at the scene of their parents laughing together on the ground. Dick then yelled, "Cuddle time," and jumped onto his parents, the rest of the kids, even Alfred joining.

As they all laughed together, Marinette looked at every member of her new family. They were all so different, and that was what made them unique. Even their signs of affection were unique to themselves. But at the end of the day, she knew that they loved her and that she loved them. And that was all that mattered.

2011 words

Day 2 is done! And on time! I wonder how long that'll last!

~ ❄ Crystal ❄

@mominettemonth

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[dolliedarlin]

⏤l o v e s t r u c k 

s u m m a r y : you have a quirk called 'animate' and it's very emotions-based, meaning that if you feel a very strong emotion, you're able to animate things and however strong that emotion is, the stronger it is the things you animate. Also, the pupil of your eyes can change shape or colour in accordance - red for anger and blue for saddness. In battle this is useful for animating weapons and such, however, when you fall in love...it's usefulness isn't always straightforward.

a / n : this is my first time writing for bnha characters so i'm really sorry for any inaccuracies in personalities. also, i, unfortunately, have only been able to think of this imgaine concerning bakugou and todoroki. even so, please enjoy the read!

w a r n i n g s : profanity by the obvious culprit

k a t s u k i  b a k u g o u  

❥ it happened when you saw his passion and drive during practice...

❥ You always held a deep admiration for people who knew what they wanted and fought for it no matter what. Those were your parents, pro heroes who fought for the greater good as well as each other, and you, so you wanted to be like them and make them proud.

❥ Not only that but you were also a fanatic about LOVE.

❥ Your parents may have only had you as their only child but the insurmountable amount of love they had for each other would give birth to over a hundred children.

❥ You wouldn't have minded having younger siblings but you knew that your parents, being pro heroes themselves, were already risking too much with having their relationship public as well as their status as parents.

❥ By hearing them always gushing over how wonderful it feels to be in love and to be loved back as well as seeing how they act around each other - still a pair of love-struck teenagers in love - you were eager to meet the love of your life and fight for him

❥ During training or instances when you have to fight, it's that want to love and be loved that also fuels the power behind your animations. This power has only strengthened the instant you found the person you were destined to stand with forever.

❥ Bakugou Katsuki.

❥ The moment you took the time to look at him, really look at him and understand who he was was during tests and hero training.

❥ He's a skilled fighter with passion and drive. Admittedly, he's as explosive as his quirk and as rude as rude can get but you saw through that every time his eyes narrowed into a focused stare whenever he was fighting or studying.

❥ It really shows through how passionate he is about becoming the number one hero and you found yourself falling hard for him every time you saw the fire behind his eyes.

❥ It was just so attractive; your little heart couldn't take it!

❥ The time you really fell for him was during the final exams.  Yes, he was stubborn but only because he was so determined. Yes, it was a struggle and they almost lost all home but he never gave up. He was the perfect one for you.

❥ Although you were worried and scared for them at the time, your heart skipped many beats and you soon found those hearts being animated around you as you watched on, worried but falling deeply in love.

❥ You know very well that he can protect himself but your love for him encouraged you to protect him at all costs, especially when you saw him in such a vulnerable state. He was never like that so you swore to yourself that you had to get stronger so that he'd never have to be in such a state again.

❥ Not only that but you had to get stronger for yourself as well as Bakugou.

❥ You wanted to protect him but also be worthy enough to stand by his side.

❥ It became easier to train after having fallen for Katsuki, actually. Now that you had someone in mind to push you forward, someone to visualise being by your side through tough times the way he would be there for you as well, only helped you grow stronger and stronger.

❥ Over time, it became obvious to everyone, even Bakugou how deeply in love you were with him. Not a day goes by without you losing your focus during class only to stare at your ash-blonde classmate with animated hearts floating around your head and hearts in your eyes.

❥ Because of that, you found your grades slipping and even though you asked super nicely, even offering a shoulder massage, Bakugou refused to tutor you.

❥ "Now get out of my way heart eyes!" he snapped at you as he shoved you to the side

❥ "But darling~" you whined, "how can I ever hope to become the perfect wife for you if I don't have a good enough education?"

❥ "HEY! Who said I would ever be marrying you?! And Stop Calling Me That!"

❥ "Oh! Would you prefer 'honey', instead? Or 'sweetheart'? Or 'love of my life'?" by now he was a blushing mess but he still had a snarl on his face. The pink in his cheeks was a win for you though so even if he continued to refuse, you wouldn't mind.

❥ "I don't prefer any of those shit names! Now Leave Me Alone!"

❥ "Fine," you grumble with a whimper and he almost felt guilty at the sad look that crossed your delicate features, "I'll just ask Midoriya-kun for help instead-"

❥ "My room! Bring your shit! 6 pm! Don't be late!"

❥ "Oh Darling~ I knew you wouldn't say no to me~"

❥ It was amusing really, to everyone except you and Bakugou, to see your interactions with each other. You were too in love to notice anyone's teasing whilst Bakugou kept being pushed over the edge by his supposed 'friends'.

❥ "Friends my ass," he grumbled as they whispered behind him about how hilarious it was to watch you pinning for him.

❥ It wasn't funny! It was serious! You were serious about him and he knows it, you said it yourself.

❥ "Stop overdoing it dumbass," he glares down at your exhausted, panting form. It seems as though you were doing extra training atop his tutoring sessions.

❥ "but..." you looked up at him with a tired smile, "I can't be the perfect wife until I'm strong enough to stand beside you..."

❥ He didn't know what to say except for, "I'd rather have a wife that can cook and have good grades at school than a dead one from fatigue," he helps you up and takes you back to the dorms. He didn't know why the hell he said that but you didn't say anything so he assumed you just didn't hear him in your worn state.

❥ After that day, however, you insisted on cooking every day and finally got your grades up. You almost beat him in scores, actually. It was surprising but it proved how serious you were about your love for him. He almost became soft for you.

❥ "Stop doing so much heart eyes," he growled as he saw you making breakfast in the early morning.

❥ "But I need to become a good wife for you, Darling~" you chirped happily as you poured him some apple juice, "and to do that I have to be a good cook - just like you said!"

❥ "Tch! How are you so sure you'll stay interested? You'll find someone else eventually," Bakugou always saying nonsense thoughtlessly whenever he was around you and it was beginning to get on his nerves. He didn't care about this shit, so why in the hell was he saying it to you?

❥ "Nonsense," you huffed adorably, hands on your waist as you turned to him with a frown after lowering the heat on your heart-shaped cinnamon pancakes, "you're the love of my life, there's no one else on this earth that I would ever want except you Katsuki," you flashed him a close-eyed smile, "You're my one and only, Darling~"

❥ He begins to shout out of habit before turning away so you don't see his blush, "Shut up with that bullshit! Your dumb pancakes are gonna burn!" you didn't see his face did you?

❥  In your perspective, you still had a long way to go before you could ever reach Bakugou's standards and finally stand by his side when in actuality you had unknowingly made him want to stand beside you by just being yourself.

s h o t o  t o d o r o k i

❥ it happened when you saw him smiling for the first time...

❥ The moment you first met Todoroki, you were determined to make him your friend.

❥ No matter how many times he had pushed you away, you were never deterred, in fact, it only fueled your determination in befriending him.

❥ It hurt you to see someone so closed off and without a clue as to how amazing it felt to feel loved and return that love, whether it be romantic or platonic.

❥ You wanted Todoroki to feel that beautiful feeling as well.

❥ All your life, you always had a very loving home with many younger siblings that you adore taking care of. Despite the occasional tantrums that they would act out, they were still the sweetest kids in your eyes and you would do anything for them

❥ Obviously, growing up in such a warm environment made you a very compassionate and empathetic person, even your quirk stemmed off of that which proved to be an advantage in your journey to becoming a hero

❥ The more emotional you were - regardless of if you were extremely happy or angry - that became your source of power in battles, meaning that the things you animated became all the more powerful on the field. The more you wanted to save someone from evil, the stronger you were.

❥ That was the obvious advantage but...that wasn't the case for when you wanted to be subtle about feeling intense emotions like...

❥ falling in love

❥ You didn't expect it with Todoroki, however.

❥ At the end of the day, he was your dear friend through and through. It took a lot of hard work and persistence for him to finally put his trust in you and return your friendship

❥ You didn't want to sabotage all that hard work. He was just beginning to reciprocate your friendly gestures, gestures that you would almost cry over each time because it felt like such a big step for him.

❥ It made you feel such pride when you saw him lose the cold look in his eyes and finally relax when talking with others and engaging in friendly activities

❥ Admittedly, Todoroki was still blunt and clueless to some things but he had all the time in the world to work on that. Having already taken the first step himself, the momentum for his exploration in emotions and opening up to others had begun and you're sure everything will just fall into place after that.

❥ Of course, he still needed some assistance so you had been helping him understand certain emotions and why people would feel a certain way under different circumstances.

❥ It was honestly the cutest thing and you were beyond happy to help satiate his curious mind on various topics he never had a straight answer for.

❥ EXCEPT for studies...he was better than you in that regard most definitely- yep! He's the one that needs to help you if that were the case.

❥ "I don't understand how you could get such a simple question wrong, (Y/N)..." he mused, genuinely dumbfounded at how horribly you failed at answering the practice question.

❥ "Please just help me, Todoroki-kun," you whined, flushing in shame at how horrible you were at English.

❥ "I apologise," he gives a soft bow of his head as you smile and wave off his apology before... "but I really am curious, even a little bit concerned for you,"

❥ "Just help me!"

❥ Not only did you need help in studies, you needed help with hero training. So you trained together. The two of you were dedicated students and always provided great input on ways of improving technique and approaches towards attacks. You made a perfect oblivious pair.

❥ The time your feelings decided to show was when the two of you had just finished sparing and it had been your turn to pay for an icy treat as a reward for such hard work. After making a short stop at the convenience store, you were now on your way back to the dorms happily chatting with ice creams in hand.

❥ "Is it weird to want to become closer to someone..." Todoroki stares at his icicle curiously, "someone that's close to you and is always there for you?" he feels a warmth in his cheeks that he's always having to suppress around you, it was never easy but he always succeeded.

❥ All he had to do was just think about you being in danger and being unable to help. That set his flustered state back to normal right away despite the sinking feeling he felt in his heart.

❥ "It's normal to feel that way," you assure, taking another taste of your ice cream, "there's no shame in that and it's definitely not weird,"

❥ "Oh," you flash him another reassuring glance as his lips tug up into a soft smile, "I'm glad,"

❥ That was when it happened.

❥ The setting sun had framed his smiling figure with a soft glow and you were instantly the victim of his content disposition. You knew he was handsome but...he looked all the more ethereal when he was smiling - smiling in the sunlight.

❥ The glow made his hair look like freshly fallen snow beside polished rubies as his eyes, one grey and one a paralysing blue captured the twinkling essence of the sunshine perfectly. His chiseled jaw cast a shadow across his neck, further defining his proportioned features as his angular nose gave him the desired picture-perfect side profile.

❥ If he didn't resemble the embodiment of perfection then and there, you don't know what did.

❥ As you stood dumbfounded, Todoroki had turned around, having walked several steps ahead of you and was stunned into his own silence.

❥ There you stood, a meter or so behind him with animated red hearts floating around your head, your stare was fixed solely on him as you let your coned ice cream gradually melt under the heated gaze of the sun; it's stickiness attempting to glue your fingers together.

❥ This wasn't the first time he had seen your animate quirk illustrate your emotions. He remembers you explaining that whenever you felt a strong emotion, whether it be happy or sad, you would lose control of your quirk and it would animate whatever it was that you were feeling.

❥ One time, you had ranked really low on an English test and a raincloud animated itself above you before it proceeded to soak you in rain. That day he had let you borrow his blazer to avoid Mineta's perverted staring and offered his tutelage on the subject.

❥ This is new. He wonders what strong emotion you were feeling. Hearts...what did hearts represent? Love...right?

❥ He looks around before his eyes landed on your icecream. Did you love your ice cream so much that you didn't want to eat it and just let it melt in your hand? He frowns. No, that can't be it.

❥ Could it be him?

❥ "(Y/N)..."

❥ if only he smiled more...-no!

❥"(Y/N)?"

❥ That would mean more people would see his soft handsome features and you can't have that! You are the first person he showed that side of himself to so you should be the only one allowed to ever witness it again-right? Or is that too selfish-?

❥ "(Y/N)?!" thankfully, Todoroki was able to successfully snap you out of your daze.

❥ "O-Oh! Sorry Todoroki-kun," you blushed in apology, looking to the side in embarrassment, only to squeal in shock horror when you notice the hearts floating around you. Shouting nonsense in between constant 'I'm sorry's, you waved the hearts away, "I-I'm really truly s-sor-"

❥ If it weren't for Todoroki taking your free hand in his own and tugging you back along the way to the dorms once more, you would have uttered your hundredth apology but, instead, you were left a stuttering and blushing mess, your animated hearts making their comeback floating around your head.

❥ As soon as you're right next to him, he lets go of your hand and pulls you closer by the waist. By now the hearts have begun to float around him and, although you were embarrassed beyond belief with your gaze fixed to the floor, Todoroki smiled even wider before leaning down to gently kiss your temple

❥ "Now, I know you weren't lying to me," this caught your attention albeit you were still a flustered mess of a person, "this feeling is so normal the other person feels the same way too, right?"

❥ You didn't know how to respond to that. Smile or faint from too much blood rushing to your head?

❥ How about both?

n a v i . | bnha mlist

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Episode 8--For Blood

As always, placed behind a cut for those of you that would rather escape my babbling, lol.  You’re welcome.  

Sadly, I don’t think this is anticipation I feel.  I’m pretty sure it’s dread but okay.  Here we go.  

This episode has to go up from the rock bottom boredom of last week, right?  

Let me preface what I’m about to say with the truth that I in no way hate Maggie.  She’s been with us since Season 2 and I have an emotional attachment to her, mostly due to my love of Glenn and the way he loved her.  She’s not my favorite by any means, but the fact of the matter is, I do like and appreciate her and don’t mind that she is back because it’s nice to have old familiar faces with us to take us into the final season.  That said?  Forcing Maggie front and center after her long absence ultimately, IMHO, has not worked in these first 8 episodes.  I can’t help but feel if ASZ had been the A story with Maggie/Negan and Daryl/Leah/the Reapers the B1 and B2 story?  These episodes would have been better received overall and not feel so much like they’re trying so hard.  Maybe lead me toward the water instead of shoving my head in it next time, Angela?  Hmm?  

Oh goodie.  They’re opening at Meridian.  Should I get my bathroom break out of the way now or give myself an out for later?  Call it Shae’s choice, lol.  

That flicker of a smirk Leah gave to Carver after their mini walk down memory lane had more spark to it than the entirety of her and Daryl’s toxic relationship.  In the future, maybe Angela will lean all in on them instead of Leah and Daryl.  Something tells me Leah knows this “brother” biblically.  

Daryl recognizes Whisperer moves when he sees ‘em.  Somehow, he realizes Maggie and Negan have banded together however reluctantly.  

Pope doing it “Dixon’s” way but not allowing Dixon to do the actual thing shows the level of distrust and paranoia the man still haves for outsiders. 

Look at Daryl chewing his lips with worry for his people.  If he and Leah know each other even a little bit, she has to recognize that as one of his tells.  

Ooohhhh.  Who took the first stab at Wells?  Maggie?  Negan?  Father G?  I swear.  I took my eyes off the “ball” one second and the whole damn play is halfway down the field.  Sorry.  If you cannot tell, I watched football with the fam yesterday, lol.  

The Walking Dead logo didn’t crumble this time.  Interesting.  Parts of it looked like it had been rebuilt.  With brick.  Wood.  Other parts of it looked reclaimed by nature.  Call me crazy, but that almost looks like an eye/part of a face on the first D.  

Okay then.  Babbling nonsense about the logo over, lol.  Tell me.  Please.  Anybody.  How do the events at ASZ line up with the events at Meridian?  Because it’s night and full-blown storming in ASZ and still daylight at Meridian.  But hey.  Thank fuck we’re in ASZ.  

All the babies huddled together giving me feels.  Sorry.  I know some feel they have no place on the show, but I personally enjoy their inclusion from time to time.  It usually plucks hard at my heartstrings.  

Connie tenderly comforting an injured Virgil is sweet, not gonna lie.  

Aww.  Is that Hershel petting a scared RJ’s hair?  Unless it’s a case of me not being able to pick out and place all the little hands, which it most certainly could be, I’m thinking Judith’s got her hand on her knee and that’s Hershel’s hand in RJ’s hair.  Regardless of whose hand is where, it was a sweet little scene.  What can I say?  I’m easy because Baby Glenn and Baby Rick, ya’ll.  

Oh snap.  The windmill’s on fire and pieces of the wall are blowing down main street ASZ like steel tumbleweeds, lol.  

Anybody else having flashbacks to the barn from Season 5?  Good times.  We still had most of Team Family with us then.  They were in a bad place, hurting and lost and just trying to survive--when are they not just trying to survive?--but they were together.  I miss them.  

Carol and Lydia holding each other.  These two, lovelies, have my whole heart.  

Wells is Walker Jerky, Shaw.  Stop wasting your breath.  

“She did.  My enemy.”  I mean, are we supposed to get the impression Maggie’s been a formidable adversary to Pope?  Because she feels more like a roach that simply knows the best rocks to hide under.  Granted, roaches are hard to kill but still.  I’m gonna need them to give us something better than Maggie being Pope’s enemy simply because she didn’t want to give up her home without a fight because this is frankly unbelievable and bordering on stupid.  

Alright.  So they’ve obviously been sowing the seeds of distrust and defiance between Leah and Pope because she doesn’t like losing family but Daryl?  Man?  You and Leah have differing opinions about how family operates.  Trust me on this.  

So.  Three teams, huh?  Aaron fighting the windmill fire, Carol repairing the breach in the wall, Rosita protecting the babies that represent their future.  Choose your fighters, lol.  Seriously, though.  Why do I have the sinking feeling only one group is going to be shown actually doing their thing?  

Listen.  Am I pissed we haven’t gotten the scene we deserve yet between Carol and Connie after all that’s happened and we’re getting crumbs mainly because Angela wrongly feels the Reapers/Maggie & Negan/Daryl & Leah need more focus?  Absolutely.  You bet your sweet asses.  But Melissa fucking McBride just took the crumbs allotted her and made a magnificent, work of art cake out of it trying all on her lonesome to feed us starving Carol fans.  

Bless Connie wanting wanting to go with Carol.  What a show of trust and sister-like solidarity that must have some hate-rotted guts about to turn themselves out.  

I love Kelly and Connie’s sister bond.  No ill will intended, but It takes the good parts of Maggie and Beth and elevates it beyond anything those two ever showed us.  I really feel like that’s a testament to Angel and Lauren’s real life ease with each other.  

Magna choosing to go with Aaron makes me wonder if it’s possible she feels some kind of residual guilt over Connie.  Not guilt for anything she’s actually done, but simply guilt over making it out.  

Virgil volunteering to help.  Okay.  Damn.  I’m honestly starting to like the guy.  

Judith offering to go with her aunt Carol had me all up in my feels.  I mean, granted.  It was a blink and you miss it scene.  We really deserved a longer heart to heart between that little girl and the woman that’s sacrificed so much to keep her safe and loved her for so long, but you know I’ll gobble any and all Judith/Aunt Carol content up.  Seems to me, Little Ass Kicker is just as afraid of letting Aunt Carol out of her sight as Uncle Daryl.  My heart.  

Gracie and Aaron are sweet.  And honestly?  I find them more realistic and true to what normal parents and children would be like in a ZA than Judith and Michonne no matter how much I love that bond.  I mean no disrespect, but I really do.  

“Why am I keeping you around?”  Pope asking the question we’re all wondering.  

Not Apocalypse Popeye comparing Daryl to a stray dog.  Joe from the Claimers already declared Daryl an outside cat that thought he was an indoor cat.  I did have to internally cheer when Daryl was like “I’m ain’t gonna lick it” talking about the helping hand Pope had extended him.  

“Somehow she has turned the dead against the living.  Oh, that’s impressive.”  The thing about Pope respecting Maggie so much as an enemy is I just find it hard to buy, lol.  Like if this had been Carol, yeah.  But Maggie?  Nope.  They’ve mostly shown her (with Gage being the bewildering exception) to be all bark and no bite.  

Has the house in ASZ really become that dilapidated that they can see through its walls?  Because its original owners dodged a bullet if so.  

Look at Grace hero-worshipping Judith.  It’s sweet.  

Virgil telling Judith Michonne would be proud of her is nice but doesn’t feel as earned as if someone like Daryl or Carol that actually knew Michonne well said it.  But maybe that’s the whole point--Judith needs to hear it from someone she knows isn’t going to just say what she wants to hear.  

Call me jaded, it was a touching scene, but also?  It felt designed to allow Judith to move beyond her very normal and realistic feelings of being abandoned by Michonne, even though she gave her the “okay” herself.  Like she’s still a kid.  Wants don’t always line up with feelings.  Anyway.  Cailey continues to be a bright, shining little star and I love how she’s managed to make Judith a true amalgamation of all the people she’s loved who have loved her in return.  Not just Michonne.  I know people like to overlook and cheapen the fact, but it’s taken a village and entire family to raise her from infancy.  

Gracie really should have known better than play in front of the windows during a storm period, but oh well.  Plot point, lol.  

Seriously, though.  I feel like they’ve teased poor Gracie’s demise in a multitude of ways since the beginning of the season.  I hope nothing ultimately comes of it but I fear it will.  All I can say if the worst comes to happen is poor Aaron.  

Where are Negan and Elijah though?  Ouch.  There they are, taking on shrapnel for the cause.  

Ready the what now?  

There’s ASZ’s Baby Sitter Extraordinaire!  Barbara, is it?  That lady’s been putting in the work since Season 5 at least.  

I’ve honestly grown to love Rosita.  More of her and less of Maggie, please and thank you.  

“Let’s stay away from the windows.”  I’m sorry but I had to LMAO at that.  Still a badass moment though.  

Gabe hobbling toward his assigned sentinel.  At least they haven’t forgotten he’s injured like they seemed to forget Daryl was near death last season before the attack on Hilltop, lol.  

“It’s hard to watch something you care about change.”  Listen, Leah.  Chick.  You and Daryl obviously never really knew each other.  It’s always been obvious but I have a feeling “DIxon” is finally going to show you, spoilers or no spoilers.  

WTF are they calling that thing?  Sorry.  I have just as hard a time understanding Pope’s accent as I do Maggie’s sometimes.  

That’s not love that has Daryl telling Leah she can come with him.  That’s care for somebody he used to know.  There is a distinct difference that’s obviously lost on so many.  How can you really and truly love someone you cannot trust?  Especially in Daryl Dixon’s case?

Why does Angela hate us so much?  Giving us all these Reaper scenes and leaving us to simply imagine Carol and Connie and Kelly working side by side to save the wall?  

I think I honestly could have enjoyed this whole Reaper storyline more, at least a little bit anyway, had they not retrofitted a half-assed romance between Daryl and the story’s weakest link and if only they’d made it the B storyline and given earned deference to the goings-on in ASZ instead.  

I wonder if Glenn taught Maggie how to hot write a car?  I miss my baby Glenn.

Apocalypse Popeye is several fries short of a Happy Meal.  What else is new on this show, lol?  

I care for Maggie.  Mostly for nostalgia’s sake and Glenn and Baby Hershel but damn, man.  She’s not actually proven herself got be worth killing your entire “family” for.  But are too far gone, so.  We’ll make allowances.  

I will say at least this episode is not as abysmally biring as last week’s episode.  

Leah finally giving Pope the throat punch he’s been asking for but I’m not fooled she’s on Daryl’s side here.  She’s always been on her own side.  

Look at Father G returning the favor for Maggie saving him in the tower.  Taking Deaver down!  Poor Deaver barely saw the light of day.  

Here comes that woman scorned part.  I can feel it.  

“Pope is dead.  Dixon murdered him.  He’s with the enemy.”  

Please, Angela.  I’m begging you.  Bring Carol into this story and ramp it the fuck up.  You been idling too damn long and the car is fast running outta gas.  

Bitch really has to die to framing Carol’s Pookie.  

Rosita and Lydia and Carol and Connie and Kelly and Magna have literally been holding up this damn show while Angela farts around with the Reapers bullshit.  Honorable mention goes to Aaron but these lovely, badass ladies been putting in the real work and not getting any of the glory.  You just know they’re tired AF.  

Not my babies Lydia and Judith being the cliffhanger!  Oh and Gracie.  Angela?!  A word.  

Listen.  Carol’s already done that fireworks trick.  That Reaper dude owes her royalties.  Granted, it was on a smaller scale but much more impressive for it because she was left to be the sharpshooter.  

Angela has a point.  It is kind of cool how Team Family have learned from their enemies and assimilated their useful points into their own cache of knowledge.  

I truly feel like the Leah/Reaper storyline would have benefitted from a much stronger actress.  Just saying.  

I know Judith annoys some with her precociousness but Cailey just keeps teeing off on what they give her and personally?  I feel she’s so very talented and light years beyond her little acting counterparts so it still works.  

“They’re never gonna choose each other over the people that they’ve loved and fought for because they simply cannot really trust each other.  There’s sort of, like a toxicity at the base of that relationship.”  Straight from Angela’s mouth.  

“At the end of the day, Daryl chose his family.”  Yeah, he did.  That “I belong with you” shit only happened when he felt they were all gone, including the one he loved above all others--Carol.  Fight me.  

Overall impression of the episode?  

On its own, disregarding how much I can’t help resenting how much time I feel has been “wasted” setting this story up, it was much more entertaining than Episode 7 which was only epic in that it was an epic bore.  There was still too much focus on the Reapers when I just just kept wanting to see what was happening at ASZ.  I mean, they cheated us out of Carol and Connie and Kelly working together. Of Aaron and Magna.  Call it personal preference coloring my opinions if you want, but the characters I care about feel like they’ve been shown the backseat for this self-indulgent exploration of Angela’s OC and her version of self-insert FF with Daryl Dixon.  If we can return to Team Family?  The whole Team Family and not just Maggie and Co. against the world?  You’ve got me.  If not?  Well.  You’ll keep losing me by degrees and you don’t want to do that on the final season.  

Anyway.  The ASZ parts were my favorites per usual.  The episode could have used a lot more of those.  

[redhawtriot]

Caught in The Act (Bakugou x Reader x Todoroki)

ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFTTTT!!! I honestly loved how fun this has been with you all! It’s gonna be bittersweet to end it for sure

Love you

HnM💕

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,  Finale

Part 5:

Your fingers anxiously danced against the back of his hot neck as you ingested his expression. Todoroki was always an extremely difficult person to evaluate, even when the two you were at your closest, so it was no surprise that you were unable to pinpoint his emotions. You could, however, narrow it down to something similar to discomfort… maybe sadness?

Your fingers halted their dance as you suddenly gathered him into a hug. You deepy sighed against his chest as your fingers slowly dropped from around his neck to meet with his face instead, “God, you’re so right,” you shook your head, trying to rid yourself from the guilt that ate at you, “It wouldn’t be fair to Bakugou, and I would be putting myself on his level by moving on so fast, anyway.”

He grabbed you softly by your wrists and floated them down as he stared purposefully at you, “This has nothing to do with him,” he tenderly reprimanded, “Let’s give us some time. It’s all about you properly healing. You said that to me once, remember? In U.A.?”

You totally had said those words to him in high school. It wasn’t the same situation, but comparisons could be made, you guessed. When you first met Todoroki, you had naturally gravitated towards him due to the stoic demeanor of his that mirrored your own. As time went on, you had found, however, that the similarities had not just ended there.

His father, much like your own, was a very miserable man, who committed very miserable acts of hatred against his own children. You had spoken those words of encouragement to Todoroki after he had lashed out on you because of his deeper-rooted pains.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” you blinked, completely unprepared for the barrage of memories dating back to your high school days.

“Trust me, I have never craved affection like I crave it from you,” he reassured as he dropped your hands fully so they dangled by your sides,  “but it wont do either of us good to rush into things right now. For now, let’s not even expect to start a relationship. Maybe expectations are what messed us up last time.”

You and Todoroki had vowed to try things again one day when he had become more comfortable with himself, as to not wear down your already fragile relationship. It had worked for the most part— mostly thanks to his other best friend Midoriya keeping him centered. You and Todo had become close again in no time at all—pretty much inseparable.

Pretty much.

As your shell broke, mostly due to your friends in class 1-A, you had begun to gravitate towards a certain explosive boy. Bakugou pretty much pulled out a side of you that felt as natural as breathing— like you had been holding your breath for years as you desperately tried to maintain an image of yourself that you thought would protect you, and when you two started dating it was like a weight had been lifted from your lungs.

You would still maintain a calm demeanor for the most part, because it was what made you feel safe, but you could finally expand your lungs again, having some flexibility in the persona.

Honestly the person had completely shattered once Bakugou cheated on you. Much like what had happened to All Might a few years back, your flexing form withered away little by little until you were eventually only able to conjure it in spurts.  

But were you happy about that? You had nothing to hide behind now. You were completely bare and out in the open.

Honestly you were to blame as much as anyone else for that. You saw the signs ahead of time. You just didn’t want to admit it. Bakugou was cold, distant, rude, arrogant, hotheaded, and apparently disloyal. GOD!

Were you an idiot or what? Young you really dumped Prince Charming and got engaged to the fire breathing dragon.

You snapped yourself out of your thoughts once more as you raised your eyebrows together and looked at the man trying to keep his distance from you, “Todoroki… we were just kids. There’s nothing else to it.”

“Even so,” he smiled, but you swear that a flash of remorse flew across his expression, “I am just happy that we are friends again. I would be just fine with that for now.”

You reluctantly agreed as you tried to flash him a slight smile.

You and Todoroki had mostly stayed true to your agreement. At first, it was hard. Maybe it was the fact that you guys had been completely starved from each other for an entire year, but the tension that resided over the two of you was almost overwhelming.

Luckily, or unluckly, depending on how you want to look at it, Fae made a fixed habit of interrupting the two of you as soon as tensions became too sweltering. It was almost as if she had a cock blocking quirk. But no, her quirk was printing her thoughts on blank papers, which helped her a lot in her profession: writing.

She would often times come bursting in with her usual, “Oh! I’m sorry! I hope I am not interrupting something!” which the two of you would furiously deny before she would have Todoroki skim over her latest work in literature.

Over time her Cockblocking became less an less, but only because the intense moments became less an less. Time flew very quickly as the passing days where you would find yourselves in awkward, close-proximity situations, moved on to weeks where you would accidentally say something with too much sexuality in your voice, which finally moved on to months where the two of you would only steal lingering glances from one another.

All in all, you two eventually could cohabit without wanting to jump each other’s bones. You went on to working as a high school teacher as usual, he went on to working as a top hero as normal, and everything became rather smooth sailing from there.

Until it didn’t.

“Get the hell out of my way, you IcyHot bastard!!”

“Kachhan, we have to work together if we want to stop this guy!!”

“SHUT THE HELL UP, DEKU!!”

A group of heroes had gathered in the middle of the city square to corner a gigantic kaiju villain with an arbor quirk. The open space would allow for the heroes to minimize the already skyrocketed property damages due to his people-sized thorn projectiles. Ground Zero scoffed as he tried to distance himself from the other heroes and zero in on the villain by himself.

Kirishima frantically scrambled after his best friend. He knew that Bakugou certainly had not been in a good mood that day. He had hardly found any good days with the man since you had left two months ago frankly,

“Hey, Bakugou man, calm down!” Kirishima pleaded as he held his arms up to block his friend from moving closer to the villain, “We’ll never take this guy if you can’t keep your cool and focus!”

“Fucking watch me! I’ll take him down my damn self!” Bakugou threw a warning blast directly in Kirishimas face. Due to his quirk the blast didn’t hurt him at all, but it did send him back a few steps, allowing for Bakugou to move around him, “You think an extra like him is enough to keep top heroes down?!”

Kirishima blinked at his friends choice of words before a huge smile tore across his face, “So you believe in us? That’s thinking like a man, Bakugou!”

“Dammit, stop twisting my words, Kirishima!” the man fumed as his hands crackled angrily, “That’s not what I said, you dumbass!” he finished before Todoroki and Midoriya suddenly appeared by their side.

“Kachhan, you and Todoroki have to flank him from the right while I stay with the long range fighters up front as a distraction!” Izuku commanded. The man must have felt unimaginable pressure in the situation since he was the top hero, “Kirishima! You have to finish leading the evacuation. There are still people that need saving from under the rubble.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!!” Bakugou roared before begrudgingly heading to the right flank alongside Todoroki, “Just stay out of my way,” he growled.

“It likely wont be a problem, since you’ll have trouble keeping up with me anyway,” Todoroki coldly replied as he sped ahead of the blond, sliding on his ice.

“The HELL did you just say?!” The explosive man screeched before using the blasts in his hands to propel himself next to Todoroki again.

Todoroki didn’t even throw him  glance, “Focus on the mission and being so damn irate.”

“Focus on this, asswipe!!” Bakugou roared as he blasted the other man away from him.

“Cut it out.” Todoroki lowly warned as he fixed himself to send the giant tree villain a sharp ice attack. Bakugou simply growled in response,

“Just get out of the way then, half and half bastard,” he seethed as he sent a series of wild explosions toward the villain. They were highly effective but knocked into the ice cage that Todorki had set up, allowing the kaiju to move enough to send a barrage of heavy splinters toward the two.

“LOOK OUT!” Izuku screamed right before the two managed to narrowly doge being impaled to death. The large splinters found their way whizzing past the two, piercing many buildings behind them. Todoroki clenched his fists tightly as crystals began to form on his hand,

“You’re acting like a child!”

“Maybe if your ice wasn’t so damn weak we wouldn’t be in this mess right now!” the blond spat back.

“Just STOP the nonsense, Bakugou!” he screamed very uncharacteristically, “I want to make it back home to Y/N in one piece,” he finished wildly.

Bakugou’s heart immediately shriveled inside of his chest, “What…” as Todoroki stormed back toward the villain, Bakugou felt as if the world around him was moving at a much slower pace and he replayed the other man’s words in his mind again.

Because he couldn’t have heard that right.

It felt as if one of those thorny projectiles had actually managed to stab him in the chest, as he tried to figure out with that damn mismatched loser had tried to insinuate. He loudly growled in frustration as he sent a colossal Howitzer impact towards the giant tree of a man, setting him aflame with a thunderous screech.

Bakugou found himself frozen again as he realized that no matter how loud he screeched, no matter how many things he blasted, this pain would never go away. It had been months and yet it was as if he still had a fresh, life threatening wound.

His faltering gave Todoroki and the other heroes the opportunity that they needed to rush in, extinguish the fire and contain the bad guy.

Bakugou watched the world slowly move around him before he fell limp, grabbing his throbbing wrist. No matter how many times his brain tried to reassess it could only come up with one scenario: you had ended up with Todoroki again—just as he always feared you would.

Bakugou didn’t even realize just how much the back of his eyes stung until Todoroki had spoken up to him once more, “There now was that so difficult?”

The blond kept his eyes low as he silently stormed away from the battle scene, leaving the other heroes baffled and confused as they watched his quiet form stalk away.

After the situation had been properly handled, Kirishima casually came home after work, just as he always did—completely unsuspecting of the shit show that he was about to walk into,

“Bakugou, man! We really could have used you out there for cleanup!”

“The mismatched bastard seemed to think he had everything under control,” he grumbled as he walked away from his sweaty, filthy roommate, “I’m sure even you guys could handle it,” he sneered without throwing him even a glance.

“That’s not the point!” Kirishima argued with furrowed eyebrows as he followed his friend. What the hell was he thinking? It was like Bakugou had completely forgotten all those years of training to be a hero,

“There were people who still needed saving, and you turned your back on them. I mean, you’re lucky no one died, man!” Kirishima had expected the other man to quite literaly explode at his words. The redhead was completely unprepared for the awkward silence that densely sat inbetween the two as Bakugou paused and stared at the ground in front of him.

Kirishima worried for a moment that maybe he had been too hard on his friend before the silence broke.

“Did you know…?” Bakugou finally croaked, “about, Y/N and Todoroki?” he grimaced at the ill feeling that the phrase left in his mouth.

“What?!” Kirishima gasped, “No! of course I didn’t... Seriously!? A-are you sure?” His eyes widened substantially.

“Why the hell would I make something like that up, huh??” Bakugou sharply grabbed Kirishima by the shoulder straps before throwing him against the wall, releasing him.

“Okay, man….” Kirishima cautiously began , “I am just gonna come out at say it! You need to talk about what happened between you and Y/N.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” he huffed as he stiffly threw his hands into his pocket and walked to his room, slamming the door behind him. Kirishima sighed before walking up to the door,

“Hey Bakugou, I am your friend, man,” he argued into the wooden barrier, “You can talk to me! I can see that it’s eating you up inside. I just want to h—”

“Cut that shit out, Kirishima. I don’t want to talk,” his muffled voice sounded from the other side. Kirishima sharply bit his tongue as he debated on saying what was on his mind.

Fuck it.

“I’ve seen that ring in your pocket,” he breathed, “You still carry it around after all this time. I know you miss her like crazy. She was a great woman to you, but… it might be time to let her go, man,” even his own heart broke at the words that spilled from his lips, but he continued, “How are you supposed to do that if you can’t even talk about what went dow—"

Bakugou suddenly ripped the door back open, revealing his furious expression, “You don’t think I know that? Huh?! I know how amazing she is, fucking shitty hair. I’m the one who dated her remember?!” He screamed in Kirishima’s face, “No matter how many times you fucked her in that pervy little brain of yours, I am the one she slept next to every night. And now??” His voice cracked, “I’m alone every night with my fuck ups eating at me. How I let my soulmate down-- I let everyone down!!” He screeched.

Kirishima could only stand frozen with a horrified expression plastered onto his face, leaving Bakugou to scoff at him,

“Oh, What?! You didn’t think I knew?!” He angrily wiped his teary eyes with the back of his hand, “How you looked at her? How you found every excuse in the book to wedge yourself into our time together? That night, you told me that you didn’t want her to leave us. There is no us, you delusional bastard. It is me and her. Or was,” he angrily threw a quick glance up at the ceiling as he tried to hold back his tears,

“And you cant even spring up that familiy bullshit. Its not exactly the three amigos when you look at her like apiece of meat.”

“Look who’s talking,” Kirishima lowly muttered to himself.

“What the FUCK did you just say?!” Bakugou screeched as he shoved he other man hard into the wall behind him, leaving an obvious crack.

“Look, Bakugou, man, I know that you are hurting right now,” the calmer man began as he hardened and swatted Bakugou’s hands away from him, “but I am not about to feed into your anger, bro. I just want to help.”

“How the hell are you supposed to help me?” Bakugou shoved him again, earning a cautionary glance from Kirishima, “Can you help me erase what the fuck I did!? Can you help me get her back???” he shoved the other man over and over agin.

“You cheated!! I don’t think there is going back from that with her!!” Kirishima loudly blurted finaly.

“What the fuck do you know, loser?!” Bakugou screeched, his voice cracking as the back of his eyes dared to burn from his head. Kirishima walked away rather than try to indulge in his friend’s behavior, but Bakugou wasn’t having it, “Don’t walk away from me, bastard!!” he charged after the man, “Hey! We aren’t finished,” he screamed as he threw a blast directly into Kirishmias face.

His wrists still hurt from his altercation earlier but he didn’t care has he sent a barrage of assaults Kirishima’s way. Kirishima could only throw his arms up and initiate his quirk.

“Fight back dammit,” Bakugou wasn’t even trying to hold his voice back from falling apart anymore as tears agressivly rolled down his cheeks.

After a while of just taking it, Kirishima had finally had enough, “You haven’t even tried to fix things with her!” he erupted before the smack of his hardened fist against Bakugou’s face echoed against the walls, “You’ve just been avoiding everything that you are feeling and bottling it up until it explodes. And then you start all over again. You’re never going to get her back with that cycle!” Bakugou had fallen to the floor but was steadily picking himself back up,

“Shut up!” he snarled as his weakening muscles failed underneath him, sending him back to the floor.

“I mean at least try, man!” kirishima threw exasperated clenched fists into the air, “Do you even care that you’ll never be with her again? Or are you just one big self-pitying party?”

“I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!!!” Bakugou roared as he sent a final large explosion Kirishima’s way. The redhead could hardly harden in time before the blast reached him.

After the smoke had cleared a hungry flame was revealed.

“Shit, man.” “Fucking hell.”

The two men could only watch in horror as the flames greedily began to eat away at their home, growing and destroying anything in their path.

Meanwhile.

You had a fire of your own to deal with,

“Hot, hot, hottt!!” you tried to ventilate your mouth with sharp sucking breaths as you tasted the gumbo that you were preparing. You were entirely too used to cooking for Katsuki for all those years.

“Hey, Y/N!” you heard Fae’s light voice sound from the front lving room, “Come on out, I would really like for you to meet my little sister before we head out!”

Oh yeah, you had forgotten that she was coming over today. Fae’s sister hardly ever stopped by, but you’d been dying to meet her after all of the funny stories Fae had shared about her,

“Okay coming, just gimme a sec!” You threw a pitying grimace to the pot of food you had been slaving over, “Hope she likes spicy food.” You whispered to yourself before throwing the stove on low and making your way to the living room,

“Sorry, I was just fixing up dinner! Hope you like Gum… bo.” Your word barely managed to find its way out of your mouth as you threw a horrified expression to the nightmare in front of you.

“Y/N, this is my sister, Farrah,” Fae’s sweet smile greatly contrast the soup of hot, disgusting feelings that had been simmering in your pot for two months.

Her sister, Farrah? You mean the same girl you had found pinned to your grandmother’s dresser two month ago.

“H-holy Shit! Sis, this is that crazy bitch I was telling you about!” Farrah anxiously tapped Fae on the shoulder, much like she had Bakugou that night.

Do you tell her about herself and calmly walk away from the situation? Or do you BEAT THAT HO ASS?

YOU DECIDE!

Follow this link to cast your vote!

[silver-wield]

The Promise Analysis (Cloti)

Sorry about that, Nonny, I relate the promise between Tifa and Cloud to some of the stuff that happens during their resolution and went full tin hatter on it.

Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven't played (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it's gonna be a long one so prepare to scroll.

Also, this is one person's interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that's cool and we'll agree to disagree.

You're also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I'm grabbing them from Youtube and it's frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.

Other analyses if anyone's interested.

Shinra HQ vision scene (Cloti/plot analysis) 

Chapter 3 (Cloti reblog) 

Tifa character analysis 

Aerith Resolution (plot analysis/theory) 

Train graveyard (not really an analysis, but I got some sweet screenshots of Cloti) 

Clotiscrew tunnel analysis 

Cloti reunion analysis 

Now, strap in and enjoy the ride.

Recapping for anyone who's forgotten the basics – cause I assume by this point you're ok with spoilers and me pointing that out is kinda dumb lol

So, chapter 4 and it's mission time with the trio – I love these dorks, especially Wedge, he is my child and if he's dead Imma riot. Jessie is off being sneaky and it's up to Cloud and co to play tag with the security team.

As Charlie Biggs (if you got the ref kudos) explains the plan, Cloud looks up at the night sky — which is a whole lot different to the one we fade up to and I personally wonder what it was about that sky that made him recall the promise to Tifa. Was it just the fact he'd been talking to her and it was his first time he'd paid attention to it? Before that he was under the plate and before that he was in the reactor, so I guess it's safe to assume this is his first chance to relate the two things.

Ok, after the fade in, we're treated to a pretty damn romantic set up. The water tower, the night sky and lil Cloud waiting for Tifa.

In the OG it mentions he waited for so long he started getting really cold, but he stuck it out because he wanted to see her and hoped she'd show. That's an OG lifestream detail not in the first OG promise scene, but let's assume for now it's gonna get a callback in the Remake. That means bby Cloud has been sitting there waiting for Tifa for a while now.

Ok, call her a thirteen year old bitch if you feel good about yourselves here, but she's thirteen and her dad is super overprotective. He stopped Cloud from playing with Tifa after she had an accident at 8 that wasn't Cloud's fault and in fact if he hadn't been there she'd have died on the mountain because nobody would've known where she was. Ok? Ok.

So, he's been waiting, and it's clear he's nervous – he looks so fucking cute I just can't stand it! Nervous fidgeting, balled fist, head down, mouth pulled into a pretty grim line. He thinks she's not coming, but still he's waiting for her.

Sorry, just to further hit home the above points. That is the face of a boy who is desperately hoping the girl he likes is gonna show, but has half given up hope. There's sadness in his eyes and a tensing along his jaw line. This boy is disappointed and my heart breaks for him.

Going back to that focus in on Cloud's eyes before the flashback and we can see here the massive difference mako makes to the colour. Cloud's eyes are a deep blue, while his mako infused eyes are blue/green. I get why he goes on about them a lot because he's probably not used to seeing them like that yet; maybe he never will be. Tifa's comment was about the look in his eyes – which I touched on in a comment I made while replaying. Tifa isn't focused on the colour, she's dismayed he has such a hard look in his eyes and when you compare the look in this boy's eyes, it's clear to see what she's getting at. This Cloud is the real Cloud and he is soft as fuck and trying to look tough.

GODDAMNIT!! There's way too many good moments to grab for this analysis! Look at this precious boy! All but folding under the weight of disappointment! But, what's this in the bg? Our heroine, here at last!

If anyone anyone tries to say Cloud didn't have a great stonking crush on Tifa as a kid then please tell me what this means if it isn't he's gutted he's waited and waited and she didn't show.

We don't know why she's late – maybe Remake will clear that up for us – but I'm guessing she couldn't sneak out or maybe, judging by the amount she's dressed up, she was doing the typical girly thing and couldn't decide what to wear, asking herself if this is a date and second guessing why Cloud called her to the water tower – which is known as a romantic meeting place. Whatever the reason, she's thirteen, sheltered – thanks to her dad – and naturally shy. Maybe she worried herself into a state about whether she should go and had to find her courage to meet Cloud. She likes him just as much as he likes her remember. It's canon, don't argue.

Now, her face is this bit is out of focus, but that's nothing to my weirdly myopic eagle eyes – it's a very specific gift. Tifa's smiling. That we can tell even before she's fully in shot. There's a bunching of the cheek muscles that tells us that. She's pleased he's still there. Obviously, she can't read his body language, but she'd probably be a bit upset to realise she upset him. Because she's not actually a bitch like some people like to claim. Sorry, but she's thirteen. How threatened are yall that you gotta call a thirteen year old girl a bitch and try to erase how important she is in Cloud's childhood just to further your own ends? Seriously, get help.

Sorry for the janky, but this is a transition between focus so it's not gonna be great anyway. Here we can see Cloud's expression when Tifa says heya. Eyes open, wide with surprise. She showed. That's what his face is saying. He's trying hard not to show his emotions too much – I mean he is still Cloud and too cool for all that nonsense – but he's relieved. Maybe his heart even skips a beat, but I'm speculating. Her greeting is casual, reserved. Tifa. She’s being cute even though he’s not looking because she wants him to think she’s cute.

Tifa, ever respectful and respectable sits the right amount of difference away that both encourages Cloud she's interested in being near him, but doesn't over encourage him and make him think of her in a negative way. She's likely cultivated this on purpose – she's the mayor's daughter so she's always got to be proper – because she's got a lot of male friends and having any of them get the wrong idea would be bad. You'll notice in her other flashbacks where the boys feature that she's not sitting too close to any of them and they're running around her, not touching or anything. They're satellites that revolve around her because she is untouchable to them. Because she's the mayor's daughter and has to be a good girl all the time. This is further evidence that goes towards Tifa's overall personality. She's very careful and respectful to people. She doesn't go out of her way to offend anyone unless she has no choice. Though she's a skilled fighter, she's very slow to anger and tries to look on the bright side as much as she can, despite the tragedy in her life. (I'm gushing, I know, but she's such a great multifaceted character and way more than the tropes people shove on her to make her into nothing).

Where was I?

Right. So, in direct contrast to their later conversation during the chapter 14 resolution, here we see Cloud with his back to Tifa and her with her head tilting, inviting him to confide in her. Yes, there really are that many awesome parallels purposely inserted in this game and that's why you need to take more than one look.

From her face we can conclude she's optimistic. She's smiling and doesn't look like someone who's expecting a bomb to drop any second – Cloud if you only turned around you wouldn't have gone through this shit. Sure, you'd have likely died when Sephiroth came to town, but hey, you'd have gone out with your childhood sweetheart lol

What she's probably expecting is for Cloud – who has purposely invited her to the watertower hot dating spot – to ask her out. And since she's there and dressed up, we could conclude she'd accept him.

Cloud is trying to find the cool words he wants to say that'll motivate Tifa to miss him, maybe even push her into saying, “No, don't go,” because even though he's fourteen, Cloud is no good at talking to women. This is just one of his character traits. It's why we wanna strangle him over the Triangle. Bby Cloud is hardly better than adult Cloud, but at least bby Cloud knows he likes Tifa.

Bomb dropped. Kaboom. Poor bby Tifa. Look how disappointed and upset she is. She wasn't expecting this one bit! She looked so hopeful in the seconds before Cloud's hesitant declaration, only it wasn't the kind she hoped for. I wouldn't go so far as to say she's crushed, but she's upset, that's for sure. Her brows have come together and she's turned away from Cloud because she doesn't want him to see how she looks in this moment. She's trying to put a brave face on it, but bby Tifa isn't as good as her grown up self. You can see the mouth trying to form a smile, but the eyes have a different expression in them.This is again seen in chapter 14 when Tifa tries to put a brave face on for Cloud before breaking down. 

Shots fired! Tifa goes for dismissive and succeeds! Never mess with a girl with a crush lol

Cloud was trying to get a reaction out of her, but she got one out of him instead. Brave face wins. Well, what did you expect? She's the mayor's daughter and raised on being proper.

He stutters that he's not like the other boys – so cute – and shows off his lofty dreams. He's trying so hard to impress her. He only has these dreams because of the incident when they were smaller where her father said if Cloud can't take care of Tifa then he has no right being around her. This is what drove Cloud to distance himself from Tifa and her friends. Talk about shoving an inferiority complex and identity disorder on a kid. I get it, the mayor was worried about his daughter, but Cloud didn't deserve the bear the brunt of his anger and blame. Still, the fact that nine year old Cloud took that, held onto it for five years and still decided to pursue Tifa by becoming a SOLDIER has huge meaning for them. He was nine. Ok, for argument's sake let's say he didn't have a crush on her, but they were friends and he was told he wasn't good enough to hang with her. So, thanks to propaganda he gets it in his head that SOLDIERS are the best and if he's one of them he'll be good enough for her father to let him see Tifa again. We're not told at any point – nor shown it – that Tifa is only interested in Cloud if he's this elite who can impress her. Remember, she already likes him. Look at what she's wearing compared to him ffs. This girl – again – dressed for a date with Mr Oblivious. Yes, I'm rolling my eyes. Yes, I want to smack him upside the head. Yes, I know he's 14, I meant adult Cloud.

Back to it. The look on his face here is one of “she thinks I'm like the others? I'll prove I'm not. I'm better than that. I can be next to her if I prove myself.” At this point, he's definitely gone from wanting to be around her in a friendship capacity to borderline romantic. I mean, he did call her out to the watertower. Did I mention that? A few times? Because it's significant. He's frustrated she compared him to her friends – no she didn't friendzone him, she likes him. He thinks she friendzoned him. Kids are frustrating and the adult versions aren't much better.

Shots fired part two! Points to Cloud this time! Smug lil fucker, I see that smirk!

Okay, so Cloud says he's gonna be like Sephiroth and at this point in time Sephiroth isn't batshit crazy, he's someone to be admired. Tifa to be fair, doesn't sound impressed, but she's humouring Cloud. Then, she says, “Isn't it hard to become a SOLDIER?” And Cloud replies with “Yes, so I won't be back for a long time.”

Okay, now. This is definitely to get a reaction. The smirk on his face is saying that he's partly getting her back for her earlier shot and partly trying to goad a reaction from her because he thinks he didn't get one before – this is why eye contact matters.

Tifa, for her part, doesn't look happy. He's got a reaction out of her, but it'd be really super helpful if he was facing her to see it. Because he isn't, she can get away with a breezy reply that makes him think she doesn't care.

I'm sorry, can I just say serves you right and leave it at that? Seriously, Cloud, don't mess with girls when you can barely form coherent sentences most of the time. What did he expect? She'd throw herself on him, clinging, crying and begging him not to go? Probably. Once again, our angsty hero is on the backfoot in their conversation. This is why eye contact matters. He's looking a bit gutted at her reaction. He likely hoped for more and got far less than he wanted. It's no wonder he goes to Midgar and doesn't approach her when he comes back as a grunt. He's carrying this presumed disappointment around with him that stops him from seeing her. (I can't really go more into CC events since I haven't played it and I've only seen a few bits and pieces, but what I got from it was Cloud is an idiot.)

Tifa asking if he'll be in the papers is both a brush off towards his baiting and also she's trying to encourage him. This is his dream. He called her out of the house late at night to tell her – just her – that this is what he's gonna do. Of course she won't stop him. She's not that kind of girl. She's supportive and kind. She doesn't understand that Cloud's doing it for her – I honestly don't think it enters her mind at any point until he reveals it OG during the lifestream sequence. She's pretty much as oblivious as he is and assumes they're just really close friends and her attraction is all one sided; same as he does about her.

Ah ha! Tifa thinks, realising that Cloud's lukewarm effort to be in the papers won't be enough to satisfy her. If Cloud's going to become a SOLDIER, then he'll be a hero – like Sephiroth. What do heroes do? Save people. He said he won't be home for a long time, but there's even less guarantee he'd come back at all, and she wants to see him again, even if it's just once. She can't leave Nibelheim. As the mayor's daughter she's got responsibilities to the people there – even though the town is dying out and nobody new is settling. Eventually, she'll be the only person her age left and maybe never hear from any of her friends again. But, she can't leave. She can't abandon the people. She'll be left, alone and lonely, until everyone’s gone. Her life wasted. But, she could see Cloud again and that makes her optimistic. Maybe she wouldn't mind the time so much if she thought she'd get to see him again. See that at least he's pursuing his dreams and he's happy with the direction his life took. Maybe she'd get one grand romantic gesture in her life if SOLDIER Cloud could save her.

Confused boi is confused. From Cloud's pov, he doesn't understand this odd request. He hasn't thought about Tifa saying everyone leaving means she's alone. He's only seen this from his pov, so he can't see why Tifa would need saving or how he would even know she needs him. He doesn't realise it's her way of trying to get some guarantee they'll meet again.

I mean, we can see he's trying to understand her. He's actually turned to look at her this time and his expression is searching, like he's looking for clues why she said this. He also invites her to explain by making a verbal cue.

And now that Cloud has her full attention – you know, the thing he was trying to get all along – he doesn't know what to do with it. He's flustered and awkward, and she's cajoling and turning on the charm, which she likely has in spades because mayor's daughter. I know I say that like it's a personality trait, but in part it is. She's had to learn decorum and everything that goes with it. She needs manners and good behaviour. She has to be just enough of an extrovert that she can attend functions – because even though I know I said the town is dying, they still have a reactor and that means they still get visits from important people. She can't show her dad or town up. In the Resolution analysis I made I said she hasn't been allowed to show emotion for five years since she arrived in Midgar, but it's very likely she's never been allowed to show much emotion. She's gotta be the doll. So, since she can't show she's sad, she goes for positive, and Cloud's frowning because he's not sure how he'll keep this promise she wants so bad and if she isn't interested in him then why is she asking for one anyway? Remember, they just did a do-si-do with each other's feelings acting like they don't like each other.

But then, oh look! Oh look! In the face of Tifa's unrelenting cheer and optimism, Cloud starts to smile. Eyes soften and the slightest lift at the corner of his mouth. He's starting to like the idea of being her hero. And it's just once and maybe from that one time save things would move forward for them. He's definitely not opposed to the idea – especially since he's the one who brings it up with Tifa later and she's pretty embarrassed at the reminder. The confusion from before could be because he thought she wasn't serious, but looking her dead in the eye – this is why eye contact matters – he sees she's serious. She wants him to be her hero. She wants to see him again and even offers a get out clause by saying “just once.” He doesn't have to do it forever or whenever she wants, just once. So, she can have hope she'll see him again some day.

And now we're back with the big idiot, who squeezes his eyes shut as he remembers Tifa in the bar earlier saying she feels trapped. Guilt likely pinches. Maybe he wonders if this was a hint she wanted his help – I'm wavering on this because she does say later she didn't expect this kind of thing when she asked for his promise – but if we go by choice of words alone it's leading. Then again, bby Tifa uses the word trapped, so it could just be a word that she feels comfortable using to describe her feelings. How we speak is made up of specific words we go to that feel right when we say them. It's just one of those things and why not everyone speaks the same even when they're from the same region or you have friend groups where you speak one way and other groups where you speak another.

From the dev pov I'm assuming it's meant to be a callback to the promise, but I wouldn't put it on Tifa doing it purposely to encourage Cloud to help her. If that makes sense.

And we close off with Cloud clenching his fist and resolving to help Tifa. To keep his promise.

At no point do we have confirmation from Tifa that the reason she asked Cloud to make a promise was to get a favour off him.

Conclusion

This is actually a very tragic scene from Tifa's pov. I've seen some people say this is because she's a young girl acting like a fairy princess, but I can't marry that idea with the gritty themes FF7 portrayed, and Remake does still hit those notes. Tifa is a young girl who had her romantic hopes dashed and she's looking for some kind of consolation from the boy she likes. He's leaving her. They're all leaving her. She'll be alone. She just wants hope that she'll see him again.

Is it manipulative? Yeah, ok, if that's how you see it. She's thirteen. Did I mention that? I'll say it again. She's thirteen, and one of the last people her age in town. Soon, she's gonna be the only one her age. She's lonely and doesn't want to lose everyone in her life. If you say that's manipulative by asking her crush make a promise so she can have hope she'd see him again, then go off I guess.

And let's touch on hope. Tifa is someone who has a lot of enduring hope – this is why I initially linked the ask to the resolution scene because the theme of hope runs through both. Tifa gets knocked down a lot. She's almost died several times, lost people close to her when they left town, lost Cloud when he left and still found a way to go on. She was never a damsel or trying to be one. She's wearing a cute dress because Cloud asked her out. She thought it was a date. Or she wanted it to be. And since when does wearing a dress make someone a weakling? Or does it only apply to Tifa because convenience?

After Cloud leaves, Tifa begins training every day. She learns from a master and develops her skills until she's at the peak. I mean, you've seen her fight. She kicks all the ass.

She wasn't sitting around like a damsel waiting for an opportunity for Cloud to come and save her. She got on with her life. She was happy at times, sad others. It was normal. She missed Cloud, I know that much from CC. She dressed up – again – hoping he'd be part of the group inspecting the reactor. She was disappointed when he wasn't there.

The promise between them wasn't about furthering a childhood romance or making Tifa someone Cloud couldn't get over. Neither of them was aware the other had feelings. It was awkward mutual oblivious crushing that clearly carried on for another two years until Cloud showed up with Zack, but didn't appear before Tifa because he’s that kind of idiot.

And what happened during the trip? Well, a lot of stuff, but the thing I know about is Sephiroth went batshit cray cray and slaughtered everyone in the town and then burnt it to the ground. He nearly killed Tifa. Cloud was there and that's what we see in his headache flashes about “I let you down again”.

He carries a lot of guilt about not being Tifa's hero, which is why he tries so hard to protect her. He made a promise to her that part of him believes he hasn't kept, but if it wasn't for him, she'd be dead. Again. He did save her. And he keeps on saving her. Not because of the debt of a promise but because he wants to be her hero. The real Cloud that's hidden deep within him, the one that made the original promise, the one that almost died saving her and got stuffed in a mako chamber for years until Zack rescued him, that Cloud wants to be Tifa's hero.

That's why after he recalls this moment – and it's one of the ones where he doesn't have a headache at all (just thought I'd mention that because certain people go on about how a specific scene is all Cloud not headachey Cloud whatever) – that he becomes focused on helping Tifa. He opens up both to her and others – check the camaraderie with the trio after the mission and him offering to walk Wedge home. 

This recollection of a promise is the first step for the real Cloud to finding his way back. That's why it anchors his development and that's why his and Tifa's relationship will never be less than something deep and meaningful.

[boogiewrites]

No.9: The Body

Chapter Five

Characters: Diego Hargreeves & OFC Eve Corpuz

Summary: Diego breaks down Eve unexpectedly, and Luther attempts to break down Diego.

Warnings/Tags: Light descriptions of fighting. Little bit of Luther. Talk of past trauma/abuse/death. 

Click on my icon then go to my Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. Please like, comment and reblog if you enjoyed it! It helps out us writers A LOT! If you’d like added to the tags, just let me know. This is a multi-chapter fic.

Eve walked into the gym after work as she did most nights now. It greeted her half-lit but still bright enough to see the training area. She’d continually thanked Luther for being so accommodating, and he didn’t seem to mind in the least. She felt almost bad keeping him in the dark about her powers. She was dying to tell them all, to have people understand, to be around people like her as she tried to newly navigate this alternate reality she’d found herself having to accept. But Diego said to trust him, it was best to keep it as low key as possible until she felt a bit more certain. She did trust him, so she did as he suggested even if she felt like a kid being denied a gift.

She had acetaminophen in her system, her usual jug of water, and another large container of Gatorade in tow. She was as ready as she’d ever been. She was actually glad she decided to go late instead of early for her sessions. She was at least awake and warmed up and accustomed to the hungover feeling at this point.

“You showed up.” Diego smirks as he wraps his hands to ready for training.

“Of course I did.” she sasses back and throws her bag against the wall. She also liked not having anyone looking at her or bothering her while she worked out. No one around to steal her things, she could toss them instead of throwing them into a locker and be able to totally focus.

“You were getting a little faded when I left last night, didn't know if you’d be up to this.”

“I’ve already put in a shift today, dude. Don’t come at me with that shit.” she laughs and begins taking off her outer layers. Still staying in an oversized t-shirt and leggings as was her usual, she shook and jumped to warm up everything after it’s exposed to the still cold late winter air of the city that drafted through the old brick walls of the industrial-looking building.

“How was work?” he asked, always down to hear the gross-out stories she had to tell.

“Not great.”

“You good?” he asks, brows high and making an effort to meet her eyes.

“I’ll be fine. Just y’know, dealing with kids is hard.”

“They call you a butt head and it hurt your feelings?”

“No, they died from a drunk driver.” she stares into his eyes and she sees his instant regret.

“Oh shit. I-I'm sorry.” his posture slinks.

“It's what I signed up for, Diego. I’ll be fine.” she motions her hand to halt his sympathetic approach to her. “Just wear me out so I have to go home and collapse into a dreamless sleep.”

“Oh I’ve never let a girl down that’s asked me that.” he falls back into his playful self, trying to deflect the embarrassment he felt.

“Let’s not start now. C’mon.” she begins stretching and heads over to the heavy bags.

------

“Eve. You aren’t hitting like you MEAN it!” he says for the fifth time, trying her patience.

“I’m TRYING! I don’t know what you mean? I’m putting my whole body into it.”

“No, this isn’t about your body, you’ve got to FEEL it.” he shakes the bag as he holds it so she can hit it. She’d been shown how to wrap her hands, and get used to the feeling of hitting something and it jarring her back. But she kept hitting the bag, focused and form correct and he kept asking for more. She was starting to get frustrated.

“Is my form wrong?” she asks with dropped shoulders, panting.

“No, it’s perfect. That’s the problem. I want to see you get messy. In a real fight, you won’t have your head on perfectly straight. I want to see you give everything you’ve got and HIT. Like you HATE this bag.”

“I’ll hit it like it’s you if you don’t stop with this hippy sounding nonsense.”

“THAT is what you need!” he says exasperated too, trying to get her to give in and break, put her heart, not just her mind into it. He knew a fighter was inside her but her years of polish to appear as perfect as possible was a hard varnish to breakthrough. “Imagine it’s someone you hate.”

“I don’t HATE anyone…” she lies.

He cocks a brow at her. “Bullshit. Think of something that made you cry, made you lash out, made you want to beat someone's head in. HEY imagine it’s whoever stabbed you? What would you have done now that you KNOW how to fight huh? Imagine it’s them and that you’re going to give them what's coming to them.”

She takes a deep breath and presses her lips together. He didn’t really know what he was asking of her. Her therapist would be slapping him for requesting her to do such a thing. But she trusted his philosophy. And she imagined the bag was her mother. “I’ll… try okay. Just...stop talking and let me... focus.” she rasps out and stretches her neck.

He motions zipping his mouth and throwing away the key, and braces himself for her hit.

A one-two. A flash of her mother screaming at her. A few more hits. The feeling of true fear as she saw the wild in her mother's eyes. She begins a pattern, a few hits, and a deep breath. Eventually, it becomes a continuous downpour of hits, making sounds as she hits each time. It sounded like pain and Diego knew she’d found what she needed to fuel herself.

“There it is. You got it. Keep goin’.” he says softly, watching her eyes.

Her naturally dark hair is falling out of its tight ponytail, now flopping with every hit. She could hear her mother's voice, feel that fear for her life, and the deluge of insults that would be her inner monologue for so many years after. The hits came harder, with more grunts and whimpers after each one, each a time she’d been afraid. Her breathing buckles, the hits harder and harder, her knuckles aching until she throws in knees and kicks. It doesn’t stop, the feelings were broken open and he’d gotten what he wanted, but at what cost to her.

Diego was proud for a few shining moments until he saw the tears start to fall. Her lips went from tight to gasping, sobs breaking through her angry sounds of impact until her hits lost strength and her head hit against the bag. Her shoulders shook and his eyes went wide, quickly reaching around to her support her as the sobs hit and her knees gave out.

With an unsure hand on her back, her on all fours and trying to gasp through the sobs, the day and her past became too heavy at that moment and it all hit her, breaking her down into a tired, sweaty mess on the gym floor.

He sits next to her, silently, a now supportive rub to her back. “I”m sorry Eve I didn’t-”

She reaches her arms back and hits him lightly. “It’s-you didn’t-” stuttering inhale that she couldn't control.

“Sh… just breathe. Sit up here.” he pulls her up, sitting on her knees, pressing between her shoulder blades to give her lungs room to breathe. “Count in five, out seven.” He counts out loud for her, as her hands begin to still against her thighs and the sounds of pain cease. “I didn’t know you had panic attacks.”

“I dont,” she says wiping her eyes. “I just... it’s been a hard day.” she begins more weakly crying and lets a small laugh out to hide her pain.

“Uh…’ he takes his hands off of her as she begins to let herself stretch and retie her hair. “I think this is where I ask if you wanna talk about it?” he offers and his delivery makes her laugh.

“Better question.” she moves to wipe her face with the hem of her shirt. “Do you wanna hear it?”

With a pause he answers, “Of course I do.” and she turns to face him with still watery eyes.

“Really?” the disbelief almost hurt his feelings.

“Yeah. If we’re gonna be in this together, I wanna know what’s gonna set you off like this. I don’t wanna...make things worse than I already do.” he shrugs.

She nods, turning and plopping down to sit on her butt and cross her legs. “That’s... that’s really nice…” she wells up again and then laughs and rubs her face. “Must be time for me to start my period or somethin’,” she mumbles and it makes him chuckle.

“Or you’ve had a shitty upbringing that still follows you around no matter where you run. Not that I would know anything about that though, right?”

She considered hugging him. For the goofiness he showed, he also had a depth that you had to access through empathy. They both had finally let that facade of having their shit together break down and now they sat like two children in a play circle, sharing secrets.

“Did your dad ever stab you?” she asks with a weak smile as she let herself slump over with a deep sigh.

“He did actually. Tried to kill me.” he nods with an annoyed look on his face.

“Well fuck.” she snorts and rubs her face. “Maybe you do get it.”

“I do.” he leans in and puts his hand on her shoulder. “So tell me.” he asks softly.

“It was the night I ran away for good.” she begins, eyes wandering and looking at nothing as she recalled it. “There was this kid, this guy at school that used to bully me. He’d had me cornered and was... “ she sighs, “he was trying to hurt me. And he ended up having a seizure and dying.” her eyes stare out blankly. “Whispers started fast. Saying I killed him. Although how would I?” she says defensively still. “My mom...knowing about my...abilities she did blame me. She became convinced I’d kill her too. So she tried to beat me to it.” her face wrinkles, pulling her knees to her chest.

“Shit.” he quietly exhales. “That's fucked up, Eve.”

She lets out a genuine louder laugh that confuses him. “Yeah, it is.” She shakes her head and rests her chin on her knees. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re both pretty fucked up, Diego.” she offers with a smile and tears still wet on her lashes. It makes him give the smile back, a soft laugh shared between them. Sometimes you had to laugh not to cry.

After pulling her to her feet, he tells her there’s no way he’s making her train more tonight and sends her home. A comforting hug between them before she parts, it felt right to do so. She’d entered the gym with a secret that no one else knew, and left with the weight of it shared. It was no small step, and even though it hurt like hell, in the aftermath it felt worth it.

Diego has a contemplative look on his face as he begins to tidy and shut everything down. Luther appears from the men’s locker room, an apologetic look on his face.

“Didn’t know you were still here big guy.” Diego looks him up and down, trying to read him.

“Yeah…” he drags on, eyes not meeting his brothers.

“What?” Diego demands with a jutted out chin.

“I...uh...kind of heard….all of that…” he pushes back his chin and presses his lips. “Were you gonna tell us you found another person like us or… just keep that to yourself?”

“I didn’t want her to get freaked out by you all and leave.”

“Well she’s already met me and I’m the freakiest there is.” he chuckles softly.

He shrugs in non-insulting agreement. “I just… she’s the first person since..”

“Yeah.” Luther interrupts.

“Y’know who's GOT me. Like, she gets how messed up everything is, man. I don’t want her to…” he sighs and drops the tension in his shoulders. “I don’t want her to leave.”

Luther put a large hand to Deigo’s shoulder. “Ever think she might want to be a part of this?”

“No, Jesus why would she?”

“She’s been alone since she was what? Sixteen she said? She didn’t have support like we did growing up.”

“You’re gonna call what dad did to us support?”

“Look, the point is.. She doesn’t have a family. And even if you hate your family, like you claim to, you still keep coming back right?”

“I can stop.” he sarcastically suggests.

“Well, maybe that’s what she needs. A family. Or at least y’know...friends that understand her. She didn’t know what was going on when she was younger. Can you imagine that? I can’t.” he muses with raised brows, feeling bad for the kind doctor lady.

“I hate to admit this...but you’ve got a point.”

“I know. I do that sometimes. If anyone would listen.” he mumbles defensively. “And I mean.. she’s very nice. She seems...cool. I wouldn’t mind being able to help her out too.” He offers, and Diego knows he only means it in the nicest way possible.

“She is cool.” he nods and looks down, voice soft. “Just let me… I’ll do...somethin’. Just give me some time okay?”

“Secrets safe with me.” Luther says proudly.

“Oh shit, Luther you can’t keep a secret.” Diego groans.

“Yes I can!”

“This is going to end so badly…” Diego complains childishly and loudly. “She’s gonna get introduced to Five and he’s gonna be a DICK and she’s gonna leave and hate me and-!”

“Ah. I get it.” Luther grins.

“What? What’s there to get? We’re a bunch of crazy people, and she’s a nice girl and you’re all gonna freak her out!”

“You like her.” Luther keeps the same cheesy grin on his face.

“PSH!” Diego says dramatically. “I don’t- pfft. I don’t like her. She’s cool and all but-”

“Diego…” Luther comes in and gives his brother a forced hug. “Can’t believe I didn’t realize it sooner.”

“I don't.” he murmurs into his brother chest, being held against his will.

“It’s been like what? A year? Over a year now? Since… Voldemort happened

“Voldemort?” he pushes away.

“She who must not be named.”

“You can say her name.” he grumbles.

“Since Lila. You were a wreck. It’s about time you started to move on.”

Diego pouts and holds a low brow, looking up with disdain for his brother. Who was right. “Doesn’t mean you have to say it.” he mumbles back but Luther hears and laughs.

“I can’t wait to meet your girlfriend, Diego!” he cheers out as his brother sulks away.

“SHE’S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!” he protests but the flush on his cheeks from embarrassment says otherwise.

@s-h-e-w-r-i-t-e-s​ @jaegeeeeer​ @diegos-butt​ @anglovesthis

[brokasteltranslations]

Fate/Requiem: Chapter 6

It had not been enough.

Nzambi had been wounded by my blow, but it had failed to destroy her Saint Graph. Beneath the soft surface of her body lurked an incredibly hard layer. My Freischütz had been allowed to pass through, but my axe had not.

She looked down at the glaring gash I had opened in her chest in irritation, then reached for one of the many hands dangling from her body. Then she tipped her head back, with her mouth agape like an anglerfish, slipped it between her teeth, and bit down hard. With a crunching of bones, the Command Seals faded from it – and from many of the other hands too, which crumbled into dust.

She's... eating them? Eating Command Seals?

With my foe preoccupied, I took advantage of the lull in the fighting to retrieve Koharu from the ground and retreat with her clutched in my arms. I made it back to where Pran was waiting, and turned to find that my foe's wound had closed entirely. Even her cape was as good as new, with no tear to be seen.

“Your nature eludes me, spellcaster. Though I understand those branches you wield, at least. The grasping claws of poor, vengeful souls. Rather fitting for you, I think.”

The desiccated hands dropped to the ground, one after the other.

“Still, I swore an oath to take care of any who fled through these gates, and take care of them I shall. That branch of yours is certainly bothersome... but I doubt it can save you from these.”

She gave no signal, but still the two war elephants advanced. They smashed two of the pillars standing in the hall with their foreheads, and then curled their mighty trunks around their toppled remains.

“Surely it can't...? Wah! It can!”

The pillar one of the beasts flung at me must have weighed several tons. With Koharu slumped on my shoulder, we just barely dodged out of the way. I had no idea that an elephant could be so dexterous.

The other took the signal to charge, wielding its pillar like a battering ram.

“I have no more interest in you. Perhaps I shall seek out that boy next. His dear little head would look wonderful dangling from my neck.” Nzambi stepped up to squat on one of the war elephants' trunks, and it obediently scooped her up onto its back. “Hm. Or perhaps he has gone and hidden himself away somewhere.”

We turned to run from the two advancing elephants, only to find our way blocked by more ranks of the walking dead.

“I'm... I'll be fine, Erice. Get the boy... away from here...” Koharu had come to. She stumbled a little at first without my support, but soon enough raised her sword once more and set to cutting down the advancing zombies. It was clear that she was on her last legs, but I had no choice but to hope that that would suffice.

With a magus' tactical thinking, she had already attempted to heal herself. Seven-tenths of her Command Seal had vanished from the back of her hand, but it would take more than that to repair the damage from her collision with the wall, and her right arm was in no better a state. Whatever that blade was that Nzambi had stabbed her with, it had been no ordinary weapon.

It must have damaged her magic circuit somehow. Oh, Koharu...

----

The war elephant's thunderous footsteps shook the floor as it lumbered toward us. Nzambi's voice echoed around the corridor from the beast's back.

“You should know very well, that outside of this citadel sprawls a kingdom of the dead.”

A 'kingdom of the dead'? I had no idea what she was talking about, but I could sense nothing. Perhaps if I were a proper Master, I would have more insight.

“All those who have tasted death become my children, and how very dear they are to me.”

“All those who have tasted death”? It took me a moment to comprehend the true scale of what she had said. Was she simply spouting nonsense in an attempt to break our spirits? Or could it be possible that the Servants here had been so easily overwhelmed, rendered incapable of marshalling their full power, because of Nzambi's sorcery?

“Although some are terribly forgetful. All I do is recall the memories of death that they have forgotten. Memento Mori, as they say. Come, Galahad. No more hiding behind a little girl's skirts. Face me like a knight, and let us see how you died.”

We were not so green as to fall for cheap taunts. I flashed Koharu a glance, and she responded wordlessly: she was not to undo her Possession if she could at all help it.

-

Suddenly the internal broadcast system flared to life, projecting Ms. Fujimura's voice around the arena.

“Code Crimson has been invoked. The barrier around the Colosseum interior has been deactivated. All survivors, proceed to the central battlefield.”

The barrier she referred to was the forcefield erected between the battlefield and the seats to ensure that no harm came to spectators during a match. Deactivating it was highly unusual.

The announcement played once more. I doubted that anyone else listening it would know the true significance of Code Crimson. I don't know about the rest of the announcement, but that bit must be a message for me. I touched a finger to my forelock, but my call went unheeded.

Where are you, Ms. Fujimura?

At that moment, my phone ringtone blared. Karin.

“Hey, Eri! You alive? Still in the stadium? Listen, I'm super sorry, but the kid gave me the slip! I'll seppuku myself later, okay?”

“Guess you get to live. Pran's with me.”

“He's what?!”

“Are you barricaded up over there?”

“Damn straight! We're holed up in an empty stable just next to the arena! Got quite a few other survivors with us, too, and some of the fighters are helping us hold out, but they're knockin' on our door! I'm not sure how much lo- Crap! Momi, left!”

I heard a muted crash through the speaker, like something colliding with an iron cage, followed by the trumpeting of an elephant. Hannibal's final remaining war elephant, most likely – probably alongside the man himself.

“That announcement just now was Caren's voice, right? Is everything okay? Can we trust it?”

“It's real. Can you get to the central arena from where you are?”

“I think so. The shutters are down, but we can blast our way through. Apparently we can use Noble Phantasms now.”

“Then do it! Before it's too late! I'll-” A muffled boom echoed through the speaker, followed by static, and then the line went dead.

I turned to Koharu. “Let's go. We need to get to the arena.”

“But my teammates might still... I mean, there could still be competitors there, and you've seen what they can do. It's as dangerous in there as it is out here. And what was that Code Crimson they mentioned?”

“It means you're going to get your wish.”

She gave a little noise of surprise. Apparently she had understood what I was getting at.

“I see. In that case, let me lead the way. I'm more familiar with the Colosseum.”

----

“A little late for directions, don't you think? How could heading further inside help you, anyway? Are you hoping to checkmate yourselves?”

Still squatted atop the elephant, Nzambi rested her head on a bored hand.

“A trap, of course. Not appealing at all. I would prefer to leave it for my children.”

Another charge, and, a few seconds later, another crash. The war elephants' advance upon us had reduced the artistic interior of the hall to rubble. Zombies seemed to spring out of every nook and cranny, reaching for us with grasping hands.

I followed Koharu's lead, desperately trying to keep myself and Pran from harm.

-

Midway through our flight, Koharu stopped and turned. It was her turn to shout a taunt at our pursuers.

“Come, proud allies of Hannibal! Have you mistaken that woman for your master? I see how you strain under her yoke. Allow me to end your suffering!”

Nzambi's eyebrows knotted in irritation. “Such ignorance. These kind souls were stolen from their forest homes to watch their comrades die on the battlefield. Do you truly think you can appeal to their better nature?”

She stood up on the elephant's back and levelled her sword at Koharu.

“Enough of this. I shall crush you and be done with it.”

With a bellowing bray, the war elephants charged straight for Koharu. The knight stood waiting, sword clutched firmly in hand.

-

I hardly dared to look as the two collided with a violent crash... and then there was silence. The first thing Pran and I could make out was the beams of sunlight streaming into the corridor through the rising cloud of dust. The impact of their clash had torn a hole in the wall, opening the corridor to the open stadium in the middle of the Colosseum. The enormous battlefield lay before us once more.

Nzambi had leapt from her perch a second before the collision, and alighted before us without a care in the world for the destruction around her. The bellowing of the elephants was distant now, and I spared a moment's pity for the poor zombies who must have been blown far and wide by the blast.

-

“So this is the Holy Lance, hm? A child this young?” Nzambi peered at the boy as she spoke.

“You'll find out soon enough.”

I ushered him behind me. At that moment, Koharu appeared over her shoulder, streaking toward her like a bolt of azure lightning.

Nzambi deflected the strike with a nonchalant swing of her blade, sending the tall knight flying. It was almost as though she'd seen it coming.

Dammit! Koharu!

She struck hard against the interior wall once more, but this time slid to the ground as two separate figures: the girl Koharu, and the knight Galahad. Her Possession had come undone; likely, it had been unable to bear the damage she had accrued. From the look of him, Galahad had hardly escaped unscathed either.

“Perhaps a Heroic Spirit from the future, drawn here from the Throne?” Nzambi closed on Pran. “No, I cannot imagine so. Well, whatever the case, any Heroic Spirit must know death. My knife will tell me true. What do you say, little golden child? Shall we spill your guts and find out how you died?”

What do I do? I've got to buy time somehow... but how?

If Nzambi's gaze turned to Galahad and she elected to turn him into one of her zombies, I doubted we could escape with our lives. My best bet was to draw her attention to Pran, but...

Before the notion could fully occur to me, I was running. I bound my 'branches' together into a blade - a shortsword, simple, fast and accurate – and planted myself firmly in front of her. I was well aware that my weapon could harm the boy I wanted to protect just as easily as my enemy: a quite literal double-edged sword.

“I won't let you near him!”

“Do you mind? I thought I had said I was done with you.”

Nzambi's blade – her enormous knife – and my branch-sword clashed, and locked together.

“He's...” I swung my blade upward, placing my trust in the techniques he had once taught me. “Dammit, he's my Servant!”

My foe easily batted the blow aside. “I think not. You are nothing but a spellcaster, and I know your kind well. Magi, spellcasters - miserable creatures all, caring only for their own gain, and nothing for the lives of others. It is the value you see in this child that makes you so desperate, nothing more.”

I knew that better than anyone, but... but!

“He's my Servant! I don't care if he's useless!”

“Hahaha! So tell me, would you make him a toy to satisfy your affections? How cruel, how cruel! How do you expect someone useless to take pride in themselves?”

“Then let me be alone! It's all I need!”

At this close a range, it was impossible to muster as much force as my axe could. The crushing weight behind Nzambi's swing forced me back, and my blade began to come undone. The recoil sent one of its constituent branches lashing backwards, coming close to striking Pran. I immediately retracted my blade. My own defence was nothing compared to what would happen if that touched him.

“...Nngh...”

Seeing their prey snatched away before their very eyes, the evil spirits' anger swelled. Gore sprayed as I began to lose control over the defiled blood they inhabited. Black blood oozed from the countless wounds their wrath opened across my body, even from behind my eyeballs, and dripped to the floor, defiling this sacred battleground.

“Well now. It seems that if you do not satisfy that loathsome branch's hunger for spirits, it will devour you instead.”

“So... what?” None knew that better than I. My Erlkönig and my Freischütz, of which only a few bullets now remained, were not tools that would blithely heed my command. They were evil spirits in their purest form, and they were always watching for an opportunity to turn against their master. But even so...

“You'll never touch him!”

“Pitiful. I can hardly watch. Even the child has better sense than you.”

Nzambi leapt forward to plant both hands on the ground, then, with her body still in midair, uncoiled her legs like a spring to land a devastating kick in my abdomen. If there had been any air left in my lungs, I would have screamed. The blow sent me flying, bouncing across the dirt floor of the arena. One of my ribs cracked from the impact, and I fought for breath.

As I lay sprawled, I suddenly felt the entire arena shake violently. The roar of an explosion rolled from the other side of the Colosseum. I heard clamouring voices, collapsing walls, sustained gunfire, shouts and screams. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I thought I heard Karin's voice.

Through the earth, I heard the confused hubbub of battle.

-

My eyeballs were blocked with clotted blood, and sheer agony had rolled them back into my head. I forced them into place with my fingers and tried to struggle to my feet.

Before me stood Nzambi, with her knife to Pran's chest.

I have to stop her.

My fingers clawed furrows through the dirt as I dragged myself onward, seeking him.

Praying that there existed something in this world so pure that it must not, could not be tarnished. Praying that there existed something in this world even the omnipotence of the Grail could not replace.

If not, how was I ever to move forward?

-

“You don't seem to fear me, boy. Why is that?”

The child gazed silently back up into Nzambi's crimson eyes.

“You aren't a snake.”

He gently set his fingertip to the point of her blade.

“So I'm not scared of you.”

“...What?” Nzambi warily made to withdraw her knife, only to find it stuck fast. “Is that... It's cracking?! What have you...?!”

A white-hot glow spread across the outlandish blade from the child's finger. It flared fiercely for a moment, and then burst apart.

----

After a moment, the heat and light receded enough that I could make out Pran standing alone. He sank to his knees, then collapsed to the ground, as though all strength had been drained from his tiny body.

Where's Nzambi? I can't see her!

The dusk-skinned woman had vanished without a trace. I reached out with my senses, seeking. Perhaps she had temporarily relinquished her physical body and returned to her transparent spiritual form? That would present its own dangers, but in any case, it seemed that for now we had one fewer threat to worry about.

Galahad approached the boy, taking care to keep his own two swords as far away from him as possible. Koharu, now a young girl once more, staggered to where I lay huddled on the ground. She winced with pain, but bore it bravely.

“Erice! She's... She's here! The Stigmata!”

“Finally... She's here... with Lucius...”

-

As though a dam had burst, a wave of berserk Servants and resurrected corpses rolled across the open arena.

The pair entered from the upper seats far above, where they had a commanding view of the sorry state of the arena. He took a moment to survey the scene below him and then quite literally flew down the gentle curve of the outer wall. She lay clutched in his arms, clad in her ever-present black sailor uniform.

The great cape that fluttered from his shoulders was dyed in his colour: the purest, deepest red.

-

Code Crimson, it was called. The scarlet summons.

Its red was not the red of danger. It was the red of Rome. Of the proud battle standard of the Roman army, and their patron, Mars.

The Grail had build a thousand-year empire, and the cries of the populus called its defenders to their posts.

Now they had come, those defenders of the peace, and they would do their duty.

Manazuru Chitose, the Stigmata – and at her side, Lucius Longinus, the Holy Lance. They had answered the call.

-

“I'm sorry I'm late. The train was delayed, but we came as fast as we could.”

Chitose did not sound particularly apologetic as she alighted gently on the floor of the arena.

“I seem to recall doing most of the legwork.” Lucius responded, a little peeved.

“Well, of course you did. I worked up a fine sweat dealing with that mess in Shinjuku. Even the best of us need a break once in a while.”

Chitose's Command Seals shone dully even as the pair bickered. These were no cheap imitations; they were true Command Seals, of the old world. These four arcane symbols were what had earned her the moniker of the Stigmata.

-

Recognising what that light signified, the Servants around her flocked to her. Perhaps, with their minds lost, they behaved no differently to startled beasts... or perhaps even in their berserk state, their warrior's instincts acknowledged her as a worthy foe.

She spotted the pocket of resistance among her enemies – a rag-tag group of surviving citizens and Servants who still maintained their sanity – and called out to them in a voice that carried easily across the battlefield.

“Make your way around to me! Lucius and I will deal with them!”

----

Those words presaged a massacre.

In one hand, Lucius readied a greatshield summoned from nothingness; in the other, he gripped his crimson spear. Roman soldier and Master stood back-to-back, cutting down their enemies faster than I could follow. “Overwhelming” barely seemed fit to describe the sheer power that accompanied each flourish of the Holy Lance.

-

This was the might of the champion who had emerged from the Holy Grail War. Lucius Longinus, the centurion who met his fate atop the hill of Calvary. The Lancer of the Seven Heroic Spirits. The strongest Servant, who had stood victorious atop the melee of the Holy Grail War and delivered its prize to Chitose's hands.

No matter how illustrious the heroes whose souls they reflected, the Heroic Spirits of Mosaic City were but pale shades before his majesty.

-

We retreated warily, careful of our surroundings. Even as we distanced ourselves from the unfolding bloodbath, Koharu's gaze remained locked on the battle.

“Did you see that... Erice? That... That strike? What are those... on her hands and feet? Are those... Black Keys?”

It was little surprise that she was so fascinated. Chitose took neither the Black Keys nor Gandr for her weapon. This display of violence, so unbefitting of a magus, was something particular to her.

“They're called Sacri Clavi. They're replicas of the nails used to pin the Messiah to the cross...”

Or more simply Holy Nails: a conceptual weapon imbued with the concept of “binding”, born from the Command Seals adorning each of her four limbs. With every strike, square iron nails briefly manifested around her limbs to skewer her enemies, wicked and indomitable. An empty-handed pile bunker.

“Or so Lucius told me once. You wouldn't believe how hopeless she is at teaching anyone anything useful.”

“Holy... Nails?” Koharu shivered. She seemed nothing short of awestruck by this living legend.

But I doubt she herself is so pleased.

I knew Chitose would regard this battle as her greatest shame. She had been forced to acknowledge the breakdown of the city's peace and personally take up arms against its people and their Servants. It was grim work, and she would not have undertaken it gladly.

She had tried to safeguard against this possibility by distancing me from my work, but it hadn't been sufficient. An outside enemy had appeared in Mosaic City, and its arrival had been a long time in coming.

----

Finally the wave of chaos began to recede, and I managed to regroup with Karin. Usually she would greet me with a cheerful grin or by chiding me for my carelessness when I returned from a job, but this time she could only blanch at the sight of our injuries. If Pran had been in the same sorry state, she might have fainted on the spot. However, fortunately there wasn't so much as a scratch on him, and the sight of him – seemingly in an entirely different world to his surroundings, as usual - seemed to relieve her immensely.

That wasn't enough to excuse him from a furious telling-off, though. He looked a little shell-shocked as he stood next to a wounded and bloody Kouyou.

-

The wings of the battlefield had been transformed into a temporary evacuation point, and the air was heavy with exhaustion and that uneasy relaxation that takes the place of terror once it recedes. People huddled together in anxious groups, rejoicing to find each other safe and well, finally contacting family and friends. A group of pigs raced past me, squealing shrilly. Pigs? What on earth are pigs doing here?

Of the competitors I had seen earlier onscreen, I spotted at least Minamoto Yoshitsune and her Master having escaped infection. The young samurai stood a little way from the rest in her own corner of the battlefield, attracting uneasy gazes as she stacked her collection of severed heads into an enormous pile.

-

Hannibal was the last Servant to fall before Chitose and Longinus' unstoppable onslaught. Koharu watched his end herself, unable to do anything for him but witness his final moments. She fell to her knees in the spot where the Holy Lance had pierced him through, and heaved a heavy sigh.

Yoshitsune and her master stood at her shoulder, and after a moment offered some words of consolation. I had no words I could offer her; only the regrets welling up within me, as they always did.

-

Chitose had contacted the Caren Series in the other wards and was in the process of confirming the situation there. Koharu occasionally glanced at her from afar as she revealed that she had come to a decision.

“We can't allow this Nzambi to wander Mosaic City as she wishes. I will contact the rest of House Riedenflaus and set to work pursuing her. She certainly left no small amount of promising evidence behind. We should start by identifying her Master...”

Karin did a double-take. “You're going to what? Now?! Let yourself rest for five minutes, sheesh!”

“Hm? Very well. It has been so long since my last fox-hunt.” The latter dubious encouragement came from none other than her own partner, Galahad. What was he trying to accomplish with that?

I tried to talk her down as logically as I could. “Koharu, think for a minute. If you push yourself in your current state, you might never use magecraft again.”

“Then I will no longer be a magus.”

I struggled for a response in the face of such foolhardiness... but fortunately Lucius had arrived, and he understood her on a deeper level than I.

“I know you regret not being able to save your comrades, Riedenflaus, but it would mean nothing to chase this Servant alone. Now that we know her true name and capabilities, we can put together a proper plan.”

“The Roman's right, Koharu. Right now, you and Erice need to be focusing on not being half-dead. You yourself said this Nzambi wasn't even hurt, for goodness sake!” Karin's concern was plain to see.

Koharu sank into thought. I knew full well that she had thrown everything she had into facing Nzambi, and yet it had not been enough. In the end, it had been the woman she respected more than anyone else who had needed to clean up her mess. She doubtless felt that she had shamed herself and her dead comrades both.

It was her Servant's interjection that snapped her out of her fugue. “Let the little lady do what she wants. You don't have any right to be lecturing her about anything, Longinus.”

“Sir Galahad, I see. Just what are you defending? Look around you. Do you feel nothing, to look at this awful scene?”

-

“That will do, both of you.” Just as Koharu's fury with Galahad's arrogance was about to hit boiling point, Chitose returned from her inspection of the evacuees. “The situation is still in flux. You should be using your brains to plan, not to bicker. What’s more, I still can't seen to get in contact with Caren. Caren Fujimura of Akihabara, I mean.”

“I wonder what's wrong... The city's normal functions are currently paralysed, aren't they? Could that be because of the failure of an administrative AI?” Koharu ventured hesitantly.

She shrugged. “Not possible. She's alive, that much I know.”

Ever since the breakout of the infection, the entire Akihabara ward had been thrown into a state of chaos. An emergency team should have long since been dispatched to the Colosseum, but there was no sign of them. Interpersonal communications were still down, too; the best we could manage was expending Command Seals to communicate via magecraft.

None of it pointed anywhere good.

“We know she's got to be somewhere in the Colosseum. I'll go look for her.”

“I'll go with y-”

“You stay here, Karin. You and Kouyou need to take care of the wounded.”

I flashed her a smile to try and salve her worries, and suppress my own fears. Chitose wordlessly gave the go-ahead.

“Wait.” The child called out, but not to me. Rather, to someone I never would have expected.

“Chitose. I need to tell you something.”

“Tell me what?”

“A dog called to me. A black one.”

He's still going on about that dog? I was sure that Chitose would laugh it off... but instead she froze. Her confident smile had never faltered, even while surrounded by enemies a few minutes before, but now it was nowhere to be seen.

“It said to tell you something.”

“A black dog... And what did this dog say?”

“That death had come for you.”

[osakaso5]

Spirit Kaleidoscope: Empty Absolution

Chapter 10 - The Tournament Begins

Chapter Index

Forest Plaza

Hokuto: Come, come! Ladies and gentlemen! The match of yokai and humans is about to begin!

Hokuto: You won't want to miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime event! Now come, place your bets!

Yokai: ...All my money on the yokai!

Hokuto: Ooh, nicely done, mister! I expected nothing less.

Yokai: I'm betting on the yokai, too!

Yokai: ...Me, too!

Yokai: I'll bet on the humans so I might win big..!

The Yokai: Whooo..!

Hokuto: Hahaha, this is going great! ...Hey, stop pushing. The matches haven't started yet. Nobody's going to run away now!

Forest Plaza - Katanashu Camp

Hanabusa: ...He ran away.

Uta: Wow... I can't believe Commander Kasane would fake an illness so he could skip out on his match. He's nowhere to be found on the station, either.

Madoka: He faked a stomach ache... ...That asshole...

Uta: Ahaha. It's rare to see even you get so mad, Madoka!

Madoka: ...Ugh. And Aoi ran off somewhere to "calm himself down"... The tournament hasn't even started yet, and we're already falling apart.

Momiji: ...What should we do, Commander Hanabusa?

Hanabusa: ...We've got no choice but to change our plan. I'll take Kasane's place a the captain. We'll deal with catching him later.

Hanabusa: I doubt we need to worry about Aoi. He's not happy about the tournament, but we won't abandon his duty.

Uta: Aoi's a serious guy, after all.

Momiji: Understood.

Hanabusa: ...Listen to me. We have to win. But not in all of the matches.

Hanabusa: Kamaitachi, Onibi, and Ungaikyo we must defeat. As for Kyubi-no-Kitsune, and Mizuchi in particular... We may as well have already lost against them.

Hanabusa: Don't let your zeal overcome you. All we need is the overall victory. ...Then we'll be out of this nonsense.

Momiji, Madoka, & Uta: Yes, sir.

Momiji: .......

Momiji: Ungaikyo... Is he somewhere in this venue?

Forest Plaza - Yokai Camp

Karasutengu: ...He ran away.

Mizuchi: I haven't seen Ungaikyo anywhere. It's almost time to begin...

Onibi: That's weird... Me and Kamaitachi brought him all the way here, since Karasutengu told us to!

Kamaitachi: He was here just a minute ago.

Karasutengu: Tsk, that Ungaikyo... Once I find him, I'll blow him into the air.

Mizuchi: Now, now. Don't take out your fan just yet.

Kyubi-no-Kitsune: ...Hmph. Do we really need that geezer here?

Onibi: Huh!? Of course we do..! Should I go look for him?

Karasutengu: ...No. Let's wait for him to come back. If he isn't here by the end of the tournament, I wash my hands of him.

Karasutengu: ...Unbelievable. He's running away again? After I went out of my way to set up a match between him and that human.

Kamaitachi & Onibi: What?

Dong...

Karasutengu: Ah, the noon bell... It's finally time for the tournament to begin.

Forest on the Outskirts of Town

Rustle...

Ungaikyo: ........

Sana & Azuma: ........

Sana: ...Where do you think Ungaikyo is going? He's getting further and further from the city... Isn't he supposed to be at the tournament?

Azuma: He is... I can't believe we have to keep sneaking around in the woods even after Hokuto so cleverly got us into the tournament venue.

Sana: ...Actually, I've been wondering for a while now...

Azuma: What?

Sana: ...Isn't Ungaikyo crying?

Azuma: ....... He certainly is.

Sana: Why do you think that is?

Azuma: ...Who knows?

Ungaikyo: Uh... hic... Damn that Karasutengu... He never asked me about any tournament.

Ungaikyo: And against the katanashu, too... Unbelievable! No way am I gonna participate..!

Ungaikyo: Sniffle, sniffle...

- - - -

Momiji: There's someone sitting in the tree... Wait, he's looking into a kaleidoscope...

- - - -

Ungaikyo: ....... I knew it... That guy's the kid I met back then...

Ungaikyo: That child... He was still alive... I thought it'd been a longer time since I met him...

Ungaikyo: ...He's gotten big, but it's definitely him. He's got  those big, purple eyes...

Ungaikyo: And now he's a katanashu...

Ungaikyo: Why did he have to come back..? I returned him to the humans like I was supposed to. Why did he have to come here again..!

- - - -

Momiji: Um, about that kaleidoscope...

- - - -

Ungaikyo: .......

Ungaikyo: ...He was looking at this kaleidoscope... How did he remember it...?

Ungaikyo: ...Fuuka...

Rustle... Thud!

Ungaikyo: ......!?

Sana: ........

Ungaikyo: He took the kaleidoscope..!? Give that back..!

Azuma: Pardon, we have to borrow that thing for a bit. ...Take this!

Ungaikyo: Huh..!? ...Atchoo! Huh? What is this... Pepper!?

Ungaikyo: Whoa, there's more!? Cough, cough..! Atchoo! Wait..!

Ungaikyo: ...They're gone..! Where did they go..?

Ungaikyo: ...I have to get the kaleidoscope back..!

Hikagemachi's Main Street

Karasutengu: Now, yokai and katanashu! You've both chosen your fighters. The first match will be held here, on Hikagemachi's main street!

Karasutengu: From the katanashu comes Madoka, a member of their second squadron!

Madoka: .......

Karasutengu: And from the yokai comes Kamaitachi!

Kamaitachi: .......

Karasutengu: I, Karasutengu, will be your judge. Fight until you can't fight any longer!

The Yokai: Waaaaah...!

Madoka: Sigh... They're so excited. I can't handle this kinda stuff at all...

Kamaitachi: .......

Madoka: ...Anyway, do you have to keep glaring at me like that?

Madoka: Though I guess I get why you'd be upset, seeing as how you're the one that got attacked in the first place.

Kamaitachi: ...I'll win this match for sure.

Madoka: ...Sure, why not? I don't care either way...

Madoka: ...Or at least that's what I'd like to say, but I'm afraid  of what Commander Hanabusa will do if I lose.

Madoka: He said I had to beat you. Sorry, but I can't let you win this one.

Kamaitachi: .....! Don't underestimate me. We'll see who's gonna win soon enough!

Karasutengu: Haha! Great, all this excitement is making my blood boil! Let's get this started.

Karasutengu: ...Begin the match!

The Yokai: Uoooooooh..!

To be continued...

[cruzrogue]

Into the future partI

Doing 31 prompts. #fictober19

There is no rhythm or reason just the beloved characters in short or multi-chapter stories.

#arrow fanfiction @fictober-event  #olicity Rated; general 

Chapter 1 prompt: “It will be fun, trust me.”

Hope you enjoy!

 Entering the old bookstore situated just off Quincy Market, the seemly gothic girl glances at an old bookshelf that needs a good dusting. With Halloween coming this month she and a college roommate decided to finally enter this establishment that has given both girls the heebie jeebies. Like a summoning that could not be resisted.

“It will be fun, trust me.”

Those famous words always used before the fun would vanish and despair and fear will win over. As Felicity finger swipes at an old book cover as she tries to make the words out. She doesn’t see a pair of eyes glancing her way from the open balcony observing the girls in a quaint little shop that seems to only be opened around the Autumnal Equinox.

Her fingers hoover over a certain book. The way her heart speeds up it seems as if she can’t help but touch the really small scripted Latin words on the binding. “saecula saeculorum diligit animarum” She has no idea what it truly says. She understands some of the words like ‘Souls’ and the word ‘love’ It’s the deep sultry voice of a woman who tells her that she has invoked a vision of her future love.

“A what?” says the seventeen-year-old confused, she just came in because her roomy said it would be fun to go into this cryptic store during the Halloween season. There was no way she cares to find love of any sort. Love isn’t anywhere in her top ten priority list as she’s studying at M.I.T. Her passion is technology. She has no room for silly love notions. “I’m good. No need for any…” she doesn’t get to finish her sentence as she’s transported into a purple haze and a man she’s never seen before welcomes her.

He looks old, has a very distinct haircut and seems to favor metallic clothing. She gets a good look at his cape and she can just tell right there that this man is really not her type. “Who are you?”

“For you should not be here. You have created a paradox. It is your offspring who should be standing by my side.”

“My what?” Felicity glances around and its really devoid of anything. “Mister? I don’t know who you are? I actually don’t really care. I’m not into you so bring me home right now!”

“I am the Monitor.”

“Yea, well I’m Felicity Smoak and I’m a minor so you freaky robo-man that lives in a bookshelf take me home right this instant!”

“I know of who you are. You are actually of great significance. Though you being upon this dimension before 2040 is of great concern.”

“Buddy, it’s 2006 I think you’re off your rocker.”

“Mrs. Queen, I make no mistakes. You are destined to be of great importance but towards the crisis you helped facilitate bringing in the wrong people into your circle. They are your greatest threat.”

“So, I become a queen? What the dark ages happen again and I get my own castle?” Rolling her eyes at her own words. She must be dreaming because this is just to wild and way too far out then any reality could ever muster.

“No, you aren’t a queen per se. You marry a queen and it is your child…”

“Wait! Wait. Hold on. Your telling me I’m married to a woman. No offense to that but are you sure? I mean I’ve never been attracted to any friends in that way. Oh my gosh… Is this like a coming out party in my own head? I… I need to sit down.”

The Monitor hardens his fists. This conversation isn’t particular going according to any plan. He needs to just state facts before this child before him brings on certain doom. “Your destiny is always parallel to your husband, Oliver Queen as long as you find each other in each dimension it is a love of ages.”

The teenage girl just glares at the out of place dressed man. She is relieved that he’s not her future love interest she would seriously think of what her life choices have been to be into a tinman. Yes, she always loved the movie Wizard of Oz but come on, she’s also a teen that enjoys grunge music and her gothic look. This man is just so futuristic and he makes her feel queasy so hopefully that isn’t how love supposed to feel.

“Okay, so I’m married. I guess there are worse fates. I mean I’ve always seen myself fighting the man.” With his stare on her she shrugs. “Hey I have ambitions. Becoming a cyber-fighter for good. It must be relevant because I’m talking to you. Aren’t I?”

His sigh tells her enough. She must be annoying him. He turns to a new haze and she just watches as it becomes more fluid and wonders if they are going to go through.

Instead a man walks out and stops short. Felicity can see that somehow she is recognizable to him but she doesn’t know him at all.

“What is she doing here?”

“It seems your wife found a way to cross time and space. She’s looking for you.”

Felicity gives the tinman the stink eye. She never came looking for anyone. Particularly older men. Just yuck. She just wants to go back to where she comes from and run out of the crazy bookstore.

“This version of Felicity is to young. She’s not my wife.” Oliver looks at the younger version of his wife. He doesn’t know what dimension he is in but no one can replace the love of his life.

“Hey buddy. You’d be lucky to even have me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just you’re a kid. I…” Oliver turns to the Monitor. “What is going on?”

“It seems that she is here to help you. Her fiery spirit opened a gateway.” The Monitor than begins to walk towards the still fluid gateway that Oliver came through. “It seems she is another key once placed by design. Rather fascinating. I must gather intel on this phenomenon.” The man disappears.

Felicity now observing her so-called future husband, “What year are you from?”

“It’s 2019. I left you with our child.”

“What do you mean left? As abandoned? Because that is just super sleazy. My dad…”

“Felicity? I had no choice. Saving my family is my top priority.”

She looks at the void they are in. She doesn’t feel the confidence he does. Somehow she states it, “Wow! That is just some whopper that you must feed yourself. You abandoned your family! There is always a choice.”

Oliver just looks at the teenage version of his wife-to-be. She really does have this fire inside of her. Knowing now that her story about Cooper and how her resilience dimmed somewhat actually pains him. That she’ll coast along until his mission gives her something to fight for again.

“You’ll always be amazing.”

She’s looking up at him and for the first time since meeting tinman she’s actually comfortable. “I’m not one to be bashful to complements but I don’t understand any of this.”

“I need you to go live your life.” With a head tilt she makes, it has him reading her, knowing it is an inquiry. “You said you’d always find me. I’ll hold you to that.” Her eyes seek his and she smiles for the first time since entering this weird dream. His words soft but she can tell he means it, “I will always love you.”

“Even if this is the weirdest fantasy ever. I will find you… again.”

He just winks at her. “I’m counting on it. Goodbye Felicity Smoak Queen.” Without her noticing the strange bubble that is wrapping around her, he just pushes a stain of her dark hair from her face needing some small contact with her. It brings a newfound hope in him once again. They’ll find one another again. He knows it. Then poof she is gone. He just takes a moment and walks through the portal there is much to do and he can’t wait to see her again, hopefully in her older version form he has come to love.

Felicity gulps as she takes in her surroundings again. She back in the forsaken bookstore and just looks to hightail it out of there.

A strong woman’s voice stops her before truly departing. “A glimpse of things to come. Though you’ve been granted a way to change an occurrence for that future is dreary my child.”

“How?”

“Take this key. On any keyhole you’ll be granted this world.”  Felicity looks around. There is a lot of books in this tiny store. She notices her friend isn’t in the store anymore. “Do as you will and heed to protect those you love and our world.”

“Our world?” The girl shakes her head at the nonsense but just as quickly there is an understanding. She has a chance to save the love of her life. If that makes any sense? She just met an older good looking man that she supposes she marries in the future. She now wonders about this Oliver Queen? She’ll have to take a look at what the internet says about him. Taking the key and saying her goodbyes.

Leaving the shop to look for her roommate. The moment she steps out the brightness of the day’s sun has her squint her eyes and as she quickly turns to look for the name of the bookstore. She gawks as she is now standing upon a small vacant alley. There is nothing there.

As she stands there confused, the world around her is bustling with people walking around not particularly noticing the small alley. Her fingers dig down a pocket and only with her hand wrapped around a brass key does she know that everything that just occurred is real.

Her eyes still focusing on the emptiness before her that when a hand reaches her shoulder she jumps startled. Facing the perpetrator.

“Felicity, where have you been?”

“What do you mean? We went into the bookstore together.”

“I know and I have no clue where that place is anymore but while I was browsing some old looking books you basically left. I said it would be fun but the place was a total bore. No tech books in sight.”

Felicity just nods her head. “You know what we need?”

As her roommate looks to where her friend is regarding and they both call out, “Ice Cream!” Yep, ice cream will make things better. As she takes one last look at the empty lot she knows the strangeness in her life is just beginning. Whomever this Oliver guy is… he is now her field of study. She will find him again.

[fallout4holmes]

Journal 28

As we made our way south from Oberland, we came upon a family being harassed by a small band of Gunners. Strong, ever keen on a potential opponent to fight, observed, “These humans use tough armor.”

“They’re called Gunners,” I said as I hurried forward, “and they need to be stopped.”

Strong charged ahead, “Strong smash puny human gunners!”

“Only fight the humans with armor!” I shouted after him.

Sure enough, the sight of a super mutant charging them was enough to draw the attention of the Gunners away from the family, who sensibly hid as well as they could behind some rocks near a tree.

“I’ll give ‘em this,” Hancock growled, “fightin’ Gunners is rarely dull.”

At some point I was aware of the family’s parents firing pipe pistols from behind the rocks. I don’t think they did much, but the additional weapons fire was welcome nonetheless. Unfortunately, after the last Gunner fell a shot came aimed for Strong.

“Stop!” I shouted as Strong made a sound that was more annoyed than pained.

Strong marched over to the family and pulled the father out from behind the rock, throwing him to the ground. Dogmeat barked, his hackles raised.

“Strong!” I commanded as Dogmeat hurried over to the mother and daughter, “Enough!”

Strong shrugged, and considered the dead Gunners scattered around. “Gunners good fighters,” he said.

Hancock scoffed, “All firepower, no finesse. Not a lot of folks make me question Goodneighbor’s open door policy. But Gunners…” he saw Dogmeat sitting in front of the girl clinging to her mother, “don’t worry, kid. No more shootin’s gonna happen right now.”

The father was understandably confused. “You… you aren’t going to hurt us?”

“No,” I said, helping him back to his feet. “You won’t be harmed by me, or either of my companions.”

Strong disagreed. “Not kill? Human weak. Should kill.”

Hancock stepped forward, “No one’s killin’ these people, big guy.”

“Ghoul not human. Human should kill the weak. Weak deserve to die.”

“Ghoul gonna get real annoyed real quick if you don’t lay off, Strong.”

I sighed, exasperated, “You came wanting to find kindness, didn’t you?”

Strong was taken aback. “Was that kindness? Like milk of human kindness?”

“Yes.”

“Bah,” Strong frowned, “Human too nice to other humans. Should be hard with humans. Teach them to be strong. Should not be weak. Life is hard! Humans should learn to be tough. That human weak.”

“And how are the weak to become strong if they aren’t given help?”

“That not help. Not enough killing.”

I turned to the father, “Ignore him. Are you wounded?”

“We’ll be fine.”

I frowned. He was scavenger, that much was apparent by the state of his hands, and judging by the now depleted packs he and his family wore they had either recently been ousted from their former home or the pickings were slim enough that they were on the search for a new place to try to make a living. A delighted squeal came from the little girl as Dogmeat licked her face. Hancock meandered over and gave Dogmeat a scratch as he sat down near the girl. She looked up at him wide eyed a moment, but when Dogmeat’s tail started wagging and he begged for further petting, she soon forgot about her fear of the strangely dressed and clearly dangerous ghoul. Her mother, sensing he wasn’t a threat to her family, relaxed as well.

Now if I could only get the father to see reason.

“We haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Holmes, over there is Mayor Hancock, and the super mutant is called Strong. You’re injured, though minorly, and you are doing an admirable job hiding it. Here,” I handed him a few stimpaks, “We can spare these.”

“Holmes!” Hancock called over, “The kid says she’s hungry, and mom says they need to wait and make the food last longer!”

“Plenty of meat now,” Strong huffed as he kicked a corpse, earning him a firm, solid ‘No’ from both Hancock and myself.

I turned to the father apologetically, “I’m afraid we can’t donate much, but… Strong, do you still have those eggs?”

“Hm? Radscorpion eggs. Have one. Ate rest.”

I sighed, “Of course you did. Hand it over, please.”

The father weakly protested, “You don’t have to -”

“Nonsense.” I retrieved a few strips of jerky and a mutfruit from my pack and handed them over with the egg. “There. Not quite bacon and eggs, but at least it’s a meal.”

He was bewildered, but grateful. “Thank you so much.”

“I’m only sorry it’s not more. To the north you’ll find Oberland Station, an established settlement with a few Minutemen. They can help get you supplied for a further journey, or you can make a new home there. It’s a bit cramped, you’ll have to build some more shelters -”

“That sounds great, sir. Thank you.”

“Good luck.”

“Hey, kid,” Hancock said as he stood, “c’mere.” She followed him to one of the fallen Gunners. Hancock pulled a shotgun from the Gunners hand and handed it to her, “Here. It’ll kick your shoulder like a radstag, but you won’t miss anything that gets close to you. Take care.”

We continued south as the family headed north. After perhaps a mile, Strong spoke.

“Strong see what human did. Human did good thing.”

I turned to him, shocked. “What?”

“Humans help humans. Strong like. Super mutants help super mutants.”

I looked at Hancock, who shrugged with a look of comical confusion. “Super mutants…  help other super mutants?” I asked.

Strong nodded once, “Share with brothers.”

“Strong, that was kindness.”

“Human give milk of kindness? Strong confused. Show Strong more.”

I sighed as Hancock snickered. “I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunity to do so.”

[buriednurbckyrd]

Lose Control

Chapter 1 (also available on AO3)

Natasha brings the reader a locked box that needs to be opened. At first it doesn’t seem to hold anything important, but it soon causes problems no one could have foreseen...

Y/N leaned back in her chair, arching to stretch her spine.  After spending hours combing through what had felt like endless files, she was finally finished with the latest data retrieved from an old HYDRA base.  She picked up her mug hoping for a mouthful of tea only to look into an empty cup.  

“Well, fuck.” She said aloud.

“Ooo, language!” Y/N spun in her chair and saluted Natasha with her middle finger. “Is that any way to greet your best friend?”  

“It is when you've run out of Earl Grey after sixteen straight hours of staring at a computer screen,”  she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Please don't tell me there's something else.”  

“Can I tell you there's something else if I also brought you a fresh chai latte and a blueberry muffin?”  Y/N was afraid she would actually start crying.

“Naaaat...” She whined.  

“It isn't more files, I swear!”  

“All I want is a grilled cheese and then a dark room with a bed.”  Natasha held out the drink and pastry as a peace offering, grinning when Y/N took them.  Biting into her muffin, she gestured for her friend to speak.

“I just need to you open this box.”  Y/N narrowed her eyes and swallowed a mouthful of spicy tea.  

“I find that hard to believe.”

“That's it, I promise.  Anything inside can wait until you've gotten some rest.”

“And the reason Tony can't do it…?”  

“It needs a delicate touch.  We don't know if there's anything inside, but it there is we don't want to risk it being sliced in half or torched.” Y/N sighed and threw the wrapper from her muffin into the trash before holding her hands out for the box.  

It was heavy for such a small container, about half the size of an average shoe box. A complex looking combination lock stared up at her, most of the markings caked in dust.  She gently scraped at one of the dials with a finger nail.  

“Even if I could get this clean enough to try and figure out the combination, there are twelve digits.  I'll have to take it apart.”  She stood up and started rummaging through a drawer, pulling out a pair of magnifying glasses and a set of tiny screwdrivers.  Natasha sat in the abandoned chair and started flipping through the information Y/N had just finished collecting while she went to work on the box.  The Russian tried to keep her face neutral while her friend muttered curses at the inanimate object.  A pile of impossibly small screws formed on the table.  Natasha looked up from the paper she was skimming and smiled as Y/N carefully removed the top of the box.  

“That was fast.”

“I may be exhausted, but I'm good at what I do- Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me.”  Natasha frowned.

“What's the matter?”

“It's a mostly disintegrated, and might I add empty, envelope and a few lines of nonsense on a scrap of paper that isn't in much better shape.  I postponed my sandwich and sleep for fifty years of dust and some bits of paper?”  She sneezed violently and scowled.  “I better not be getting sick now, too.”  Y/N sealed the old pieces of paper in a bag and placed it in a larger box with the box she had disassembled.  

“I'm sorry it was nothing, sweetie.  And I'm sorry I had to bother you.” Y/N sighed and rubbed at her nose.  

“No, I'm sorry I snapped at you.  It's my job, and it isn't your fault. I'm just overtired.”  She put her tools away and yawned.  “It might not be nothing, but whatever is on that paper is beyond my knowledge.  It looked like chemical compounds or something. I'll get it to Bruce, he has a better chance of understanding what it is.”  

“Go get some food and some sleep, Y/N.  It can wait.”  Natasha said gently.  

“No arguments from me,”  she replied and surprised her friend by wrapping her up in a hug.  “Why do you always smell good?  Ugh. I'm loopy.  Later, Nat.”  Natasha chuckled as her friend stepped back and wandered away.  Apparently the lack of sleep was making Y/N extra affectionate.  

…

Bucky smelled something delicious.  It reminded him of home, a home he still couldn't quite remember, but it made an odd pleasant feeling stir inside of him.  Sniffing at the air he followed the smell to the kitchen.  Y/N was standing at the stove, and he could see one of her famous grilled cheese sandwiches in the pan.  There was something about the woman that made him feel safe and happy. Everything in her appearance was soft.  Where Wanda was tall and slender, and Natasha was compact and strong, Y/N was all rounded curves.  He liked that she wasn't a fighter, but knew that she took her basic training seriously and could definitely defend herself if there was ever a need.  It made him angry when people underestimated her, but she didn't let anyone get away with it.  

He thought about the one time the women had talked him and Steve into going out for a few drinks.  Y/N had gone up to the bar and a drunk man swaying on his bar stool had not taken her polite denial to his advances very kindly.  Bucky's blood had boiled as he listened to the man insult her.  She just looked at him with a calm expression while she waited for her drink.  

“You sure have a lot to say, don't you?” She had said.  “But sweetie, I'm the same fat ass you were just hitting on.  You aren't offended by my body, you're having a tantrum because I said no.  Have a good night.”  

He watched her flip her sandwich onto a plate and turn the stove off.  

“Why does food smell so much better when someone else is cooking it?” He wondered out loud.  Y/N jumped a little and turned to him with a sleepy looking smile.  

“Just one of life's little mysteries I guess.”  He stepped closer to her.

“Are you all right?”  She looked a little dazed.  

“I'm greaaat.”  She replied.  “Well.  Maybe a little hot after standing over the stove.”  Bucky nearly bit his tongue when she pulled off her tee shirt.  

“Um, Doll?”  Y/N giggled and swung the fabric over her head before tossing it at him.  

“I love it when you call me 'Doll'.  Say it again.”  He was rooted to the spot in confusion.  Y/N was a confident woman, never making any suggestion that didn't love and appreciate her body, but she was still modest.  Tony had walked in on her changing one day and she had made it very clear that she was less than pleased.  

“Should I get Natasha?  Or Wanda?”  He blushed and tried to keep his eyes over her head.  Bras had changed a lot since the 40s, and it was taking a lot of will power to not stare at how the silky material held her breasts.  

“Bringing up other women when it's just the two of us?  Not very nice, Bucky.” She stuck her lip out in an exaggerated pout and started moving towards him.  

“Maybe you should just eat your sandwich a-and head to bed.  You look kind of tired.”  

“You're breaking my heart...”  She purred and ran her hands up his chest, resting them on his broad shoulders.  “First you mention my girl friends and then you say I 'look tired'.”  

“Look, D- um, Y/N,”  he swallowed and tried to ignore how she was pressed up against him.  “Have you been drinking?  You aren't usually this… Friendly.”  She fiddled with the zipper of his hoodie.  

“I'm always friendly,” she murmured.  “I'm a friendly kind of girl.” Bucky cleared his throat and took her hands, pulling away to look her in the eye.  

“Maybe that wasn't the right word.  You aren't usually this touchy.”

“It's about time I was.  You should be touched.  Lord knows I've wanted to. Fuck!  You drive me crazy!  I just want to get you out of all those layer you're always wearing.”  She pulled her hands out of his and unzipped his sweater, pushing the material down his arms.  

“Hey! Y/N this isn't like you!  What the hell is going on?”  Her behavior was starting to really worry him.  He grabbed her chin and took a good look at her face.  Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were glassy.  Her pupils were so dilated he could hardly see the color of them.  “FRIDAY!  I need Natasha and Wanda, now!  Something is wrong with Y/N!”  She continued to touch him, and by the time the women showed up Y/N was actually nuzzling into his chest.  

“What the hell?”  Natasha looked pissed.  “What happened to her shirt, Barnes?”  

“She took it off!  I don't know what she's been drinking, but I can't get her to stop touching me.”

“Y/N, sweetie, you're tired.  Come on, let's get you to bed.”  Natasha tried to pull her away from Bucky, who was gritting his teeth at this point, trying not to react.  

“Don't be a party pooper, Nat.”  She slurred.  Natasha frowned and took in her friend's appearance.  

“She can't have been drinking, I saw her thirty minutes ago.  There's no way she could get this drunk in that amount of time.”  Wanda touched Y/N's forehead.  

“It is not from alcohol.  I see no memories of eating or drinking anything after the food you gave her.”  

“I doubt it was the Starbucks.”  She said dryly.  Bucky yelped as Y/N wriggled out of Natasha's hold and wrapped herself around him again, grabbing onto his butt.  

“Sorry Nat, I think Bucky's my favorite ex-ASSassin.”  She giggled.

“Oh for the love of…  FRIDAY!  Please scan Y/N, can you see anything wrong?  Maybe she hit her head or something.”  Natasha pried her friend off of the man.  Y/N groaned and pouted.  

“I can see no evidence of trauma,”  FRIDAY's cool tone announced. “However her body is displaying signs similar to someone that has recently used an illicit substance.”  

“Drugs? Y/N?”  Natasha grabbed her face.  “What did you take?”  

“I didn't take anything.  I just want Bucky.  He's so pretty.”  

“Natasha, what is the last thing you saw her do?”  Wanda asked, trying to calm everyone down.

“I got that box away from Tony before he could break it, and I brought it to her lab to see if she could open it.  She took it apart, it was practically empty, she packed it up.”  

“The box that was found at the HYDRA base?  What was inside?”  

“Nothing really!  Dust and a piece of paper.  And an old envelope, but it was practically falling apart and it was empty.”  Natasha frowned and appeared to be thinking again.  “She said the paper looked like it had information about some kind of chemical.  She breathed in a lot of dust, it made her sneeze.”  

“Maybe someone should take another look?”  Bucky suggested.  

“I'm going to call Bruce, but we should get her to medical.  She feels really warm.”  

“I'm hot,”  Y/N whined. “And dizzy.”  

“I'll get Bruce, you and Wanda take care of her.”  Bucky said, feeling panic begin to set in.  

Wanda and Natasha had a difficult time leading Y/N to the medical wing. With Bucky out of sight her affection spilled on to her friends, gushing about how much she loved them.  Wanda ended up with her hair sloppily braided after the short ride in the elevator.  

“Okay, let's get you into a bed.”  Natasha attempted to lead her while the other woman was clinging to her side.  

“Heeyyy where did Buckaroo go?”  She giggled madly while her friends did their best to get her settled in one of the rooms.  “I love him so much, you don't even know.  Never makes me feel like the weird fat girl.”  Natasha felt a little pang in her heart.

“No one thinks you're a weird fat girl, Y/N.”  She tugged off Y/N's sneakers.  Y/N laid back on the bed and laughed.

“I know you don't.  It's different with guys, Nah-tash-ah,” she exaggerated each syllable of her name.  “I'm either the sister one or the friend one.  It's okay though!  I like being the friend one.” She pulled on Natasha's arm.  “I want to be the friend one with Bucky.  Noooo…”  she made a face and groaned in frustration. “Date friend.”  She sat up and put her hand over her mouth.  

“Y/N?” Natasha looked her friend over in alarm.  

“I don't feel good Nattie.”  Wanda moved quickly and pushed a trash can in front of her before she was violently sick.  

“Oh god, do you think she was poisoned?”  Natasha looked over at Wanda, her eyes wide with fear.  

“I do not know.  We need to try and get her temperature down, she is very warm.”  Wanda rubbed soothing circles on Y/N's back while she gagged over the bin.  “FRIDAY, please contact Dr. Cho, it is an emergency.”

…

The first thing she felt as she woke up was her miserably dry throat, but the throbbing headache was a close second.  She opened her eyes and moaned, throwing her hand over her face to block the bright sunlight.

“Sorry, I'll close the blinds.”  

“Nat?” Y/N croaked.  

“Yeah, it's me.  They're shut, you can open your eyes again.”  

“I feel like I drank a liquor store, what the hell happened?”  Natasha helped her sit up slowly, and then handed her a cup with some ice chips.  

“Not too fast with the ice, don't want to upset your stomach.”  She sat back down in the chair beside the bed.  “How much do you remember?” Y/N sucked on a chunk of ice for a moment, trying to think back.  

“I remember you came to my lab,” she said slowly.  “I opened something for you?”  She looked over at Natasha and the woman nodded.  “It was just…Empty.”  

“Well, not quite.”  

“Oh right, the paper.”

“And the envelope.”  Natasha reminded her.  

“That was definitely empty.”

“And it was super dusty.”

“Well, yeah it was super old.”  Y/N took another spoonful of ice.  

“Some of the dust was a very powerful drug, and you inhaled a lot of it.” Y/N rubbed her forehead absently but didn't respond.  “There was actually a little bit of information about it in those files you analyzed, HYDRA was using it to incapacitate people.  The target would be drugged, and get nice and friendly.  Inhibitions are lowered, tongues loosened, and after the information was spilled the person would be left dangerously sick.  If they survived, they wouldn't remember a thing.”  

“I roofied myself?”  

“I wouldn't necessarily put it exactly like that, but yeah.  Lucky for everyone Barnes found you cooking your post work, pre bed snack.”  

“My hero.  I should thank him.”  Natasha snorted.  “What's so funny?”

“You gave him quite a show, maybe he should thank you.”  Heat bloomed on Y/N's face.  

“What are you talking about?”  

“I guess you took of your shirt and threw it at him like some kind of strip tease,”  Natasha swallowed down her laughter as best she could.  “By the time me and Wanda showed up to help, you were practically climbing him!”  

“Oh my fucking god, I'm gonna throw up.  Please tell me you're joking!”

“You grabbed his ass!”  

“Noooo...”

“And you told me and Wanda that you love him.”  Natasha's voice took on a more serious edge.  

“It was just the drug, I didn't know what the hell I was saying.”  

“The drug lowered your inhibitions and made you more willing to be completely honest,” Natasha reminded her.  “It wouldn't have made you say something you didn't already think or feel.”  

“Fine, I love him like a friend.  Can you go now?  My head is killing me, hopefully literally because this is humiliating.”  She rolled over in the bed with her back to Natasha.  

“I don't think you love him just as a friend, sweetie.  And I know you know I'm right.”  

“It doesn't matter how I feel about him, Nat.  We're two very different people and friends are all we'll ever be.”  Natasha rounded the bed and glared at Y/N, arms crossed in a no nonsense kind of way.  

“For being one of the smartest people I know, you sure can be an idiot.”

“Should I get out of bed so you can actually kick me while I'm down?  Leave me alone!  I feel like death, and I can't remember a time when I've ever felt more embarrassed.”  She pulled the blanket tighter around her body and felt the prickle of tears in her eyes.  Natasha's face softened.  

“I'm sorry.”  She said quietly and sat down on the edge of the bed. “You scared the shit out of me, you know?”  Y/N smiled weakly.

“I don't think I've ever heard you admit to that.”  

“Treasure this moment, because you'll never hear it again, you bitch.”  She shook her head and let out a soft laugh.  “Seeing you so out of it, not knowing what was wrong or if you would be alright, it was awful. But what hurts even more is knowing that there's still a part of you that doesn't think you're worth everything.  If you would just open those pretty little eyes of yours and actually see what's in front of you, you might realize that what you want is just waiting for you to admit to it and take a chance.”  

“How can I even look at him after the way I acted, Nat?  I pretty much assaulted the guy.”  

“No one blames you for that, least of all him.”  She stood up and smoothed Y/N's hair back off of her face.  “I think you should get some rest, lick your wounds for a little while, and when you're feeling more like your normal, amazing self…  You talk to him.  I think you'll find that those differences you seem to be hung up on are only skin deep.”  

[authorgirl1111]

Emperors daughter Ch 13

Chapter 1 

Chapter 12                                                                                                                                              Johnny walks her to her apartment building, and, he spends the entire time talking to Selina. He makes her laugh, and occasionally he directs a question to Brenda. Brenda was never one to act shy, so she answers every question that she can. “Red!” She answers proudly when he asks Brenda, her favorite color. “She’s adorable” He insists. “You’re very lucky.” She smiles grateful, “Thank you” “Who’s the Father?” He asks softly. She sighs. “Different from the one in my womb” She says. “Momma says she has a baby in her tummy” Brenda says patting Selina’s stomach. “And in 3 months I’ll get to meet the baby, momma says she’ll be my little sister, but that’s silly babies don’t belong in someone’s tummy, why would a baby be there?” “I think that’s an answer for another day” He tells the little girl. Brenda seems to pout. “Momma never answer that question either!” She says annoyed. “Because you’re to young piccola” She tells Brenda. “I’m not piccolo, I’m grande!” She says holding her hands wide apart. Johnny can’t help but laugh. “You’re of no help” She mutters to Johnny.  She stops at the apartment building, the store wasn’t that far, so she saw no need to take her car. “Thanks for the walk.” She says, before she pulls Brenda inside. “I liked it, I was wondering… could I give you my number?” Johnny asks. Selina stops and stares at Johnny. He’s not a god, he’s (as far as she can tell anyway) human, he’s kind. He seems interesting. To be honest she’s quite interested in getting to know him better. She smiles. “Sure” ---     Other men when they realise she has a child, and another on the way. Don’t want to look at her. When they realise that the two children are by two completely different people they get a look of disgust in their eyes. Johnny doesn’t do that. He tries to be understanding. He listens when everything gets hectic, when the fear that she’s going to fail gets to much. He makes her laugh. He can play the guitar and it always seems to have this type of magic over her and is able to calm her down within a matter of seconds.   Brenda warms up to him quickly, she likes his stories, of Egyptian mythology. Of Ra, and Apophis of Horus, Osiris and Set. Brenda’s enraptured, and Selina allows him to tell the stories. “Any truth to the tales?” She asks him. After he’s had dinner at her house, and she’s putting the dishes in the sink. “There’s truth to every story told” She smiles. “You’re being purposefully evasive” She complains. “Do you believe the myths you tell are real.” “Do you believe the Greek and Roman myths are real? The Norse?” She stares at him for a moment, her heart beating far to fast. “What do you know about me?” “That you’re a single mother of two half siblings” He says. “Not much outside of that” Brenda’s running around in the living room. Pretending she’s an airplane. “Brenda be careful sweetie.” Brenda stops and pouts but then she starts banging on her little drum set. “Think you should give her lessons?” Johnny asks covering his ears. “Oh probably” Selina says. “Maybe when she’s older and can sit still long enough to be actually taught.” --- Callie Maglieri is born in a hospital like the one that Brenda was born in. Natalie came in running, drove over night to see the beautiful girl being born.  She has blond fuzz growing out her head. She’s tiny the size of her hand. Her cries are beautiful, and she knows that people will crowd from all over to her voice. She does not stop crying until she’s placed in her mother’s arms. “Hey Callie” She whispers to the little girl. “You’re so cute.” “She’s so beautiful” Natalie gushes. “Can I hold my niece” Selina nods she hands the baby over to Natalie while Brenda jumps on Selina’s lap. “Was I that pretty?” She asks. “Of course, all babies are pretty in their mother’s eyes.” Brenda smiles and leans against her mother’s chest. --- Johnny comes by a couple of weeks later. Arms filled to the brim with toys. “We’ve only known each other a couple of months” She says surprised. “You didn’t have to do this” “Yeah, well with taking care of Brenda, and work, I figured you hadn’t had time to get little Callie any toys.” “You’re too much Johnny” She says. "Nonsense you're kid deserves the best" He says. "I'm happy to help." "Seriously how did you even afford this." "I have my ways." Johnny says with a smile. ---- Brenda’s Birthday comes and Natalie drives all the way up as per usual to help celebrate. She seems to take a special liking to Johnny. He can make everyone calm. So, she’s not surprised that Natalie takes a liking to him.  He has a fascination with Greek Mythology, so she’s not surprised when their wrapped in a discussion of different mythologies.  With Selina occasionally throwing in a quip on Roman mythologies. He gives Brenda a gift, a fake wooden toy sword. She starts lashing it around the house. She takes it away from Brenda, when she nearly breaks a lamp. “Not now, Brenda” “But I’m your wittle fighter” Brenda says with a pout. “You are, and you can practice fighting with this sword when you’re not near your younger sister.” She says with a half glance at Johnny. “I read that Brenda in some regions means Sword, I took a guess” He says sheepishly. “Too soon?” Selina rolls her eyes. Natalie gives Brenda a box full of Legos. Selina gives Brenda an new book full of Norse Myths that has more myths then her old story book. --- Neither of them asks each other if they are dating, if they want to start dating, it’s a lot more gradual then that. Most of the time when Johnny and she go anywhere, they take the kids along.  So, she never actually considers it a date. They hang out at the zoo, Callie is hanging from her pouch. Brenda adores the gorillas. She laughs at there growling and their calls.  Though Callie seems terrified. Callie herself has a fascination with swans. Selina is holding tightly to Johnny’s hand. She hears people cooing at the adorable couple and their kids. A few even say that their kids are adorable. Johnny places and arm around her shoulders. Selina corrects them at first but then decides that it isn’t worth the effort. “Sorry about all that” She says. Johnny shrugs. “Being considered the father of your kids is probably the second-best thing” Selina laughs. “OH yeah, What’s the first?” “Being their father” Selina looks at Johnny in surprise. Half expecting to laugh and state he’s joking, but he’s being honest. It’s the first time they kiss. --- It’s late at night and they are still up talking, it’s Saturday and Selina don’t have to be at work and they’re just sitting by talking. “What do you like to do?” Johnny asks. “I mean besides taking care of Brenda and Callie.” “Hey, I adore my kids” Selina argues, but she sighs. “I played the violin, and I’ve sung on occasion.” Johnny whistles. “Nice, how are you on the violin” “I once played in an Orchestra, The New York Orchestra.” She says by way of explanation. “How old are you?” he asks as though he can’t believe it. “23” She says. “Wow” Johnny says. “Were the hours too awkward?” He says. “With taking care of Brenda, and Callie on the way?” “I auditioned for an orchestra here” She says taking a sip of tea. “Turned down, but after I was turned down I realized that the hours would have been awkward, so I applied for a waitressing job and I got it.” “How’d you get into the orchestra?” “I used to be a street performer in Boston, and a scout from New York-” “Your making that up.” Johnny said. “You were a street performer in Boston?” “Are you going to let me finish?” Silena says. Johnny raises a hand and leans back to let her finish. “Anyway, a scout from New York said I sounded too good to be playing on the street, and he gave a card and said that the New York Orchestra was looking for violin players. I auditioned, and I got the part, and so I moved to New York, where I eventually met Callie’s father.” “What led you to move here” Silena goes silent. Johnny waits and eventually she looks up. “Can we talk about that later?” She asks, pleading with him slightly. “I… I don’t want to talk about it.” Johnny nods in understanding.   She knows she can’t keep this up forever, but… she can’t tell him about the mythological side of herself. Not yet. --- Johnny and Silena have known each other a year, when he reveals his big secret. He’s a magician of the house of life.  He’s an Egyptian magician. Because of course he is. She can’t have one ordinary boyfriend, can she? No, they all must be related to some kind of mythology. All have to be some kind of supernatural being don’t they? She’s not even mad at Johnny she’s mad, at herself for not seeing it sooner. --- She doesn’t talk to him for days after the reveal, and Johnny gives her the space to deal with the news. After making sure she won’t tell anyone. She insists  to tell Natalie, that Natalie has kept so many of her secrets she won’t reveal this one, and Johnny must have seen something on her face because he relents rather quickly to her surprise. On the one hand this could be everything she’s wanted. This could be the protection she was looking for, from her father from everything. Truth is she’s just so blind sided every other magical being she’s dated she knew was immortal before they started dating. This throws her for a loop. “So what’s the problem?” Natalie asks. “Does this in anyway change him?” “Makes a few things make a bit more sense but otherwise… no.” “Then…?” Silena sighs. “He told me his secret, I… I don’t know if I’m ready to tell him mine.” “You told me yours” Natalie argues. “I was hoping you would run away in terror” Silena says dryly. “I actually want this guy to stay, also he’s Egyptian, I’m Roman, Egypt and Rome do not have a good history.” “So, the worst that could happen is that he leaves you, after all your other boyfriends him leaving should be easy for you.” “You’re not helping.” Natalie sighs. “You want some good news?” “Yeah?” “I’m seeing someone, and so is Fredrick” Her eyes widened. “Oh yeah? Who?” “Frey” “Frey… as in the Norse god Frey?” “Yep” “As in lord of Alfheim Frey, as in god of summer, Frey” “Yep” She rubs her forehead. “Well shitake mushrooms” She says with a half glance at Brenda who’s quiet looking over the mythology story book she recently got for her birthday. Callie is sleeping in her car seat. “Wait until I tell who Fredrick is seeing” “Who?” “Athena” “The Virgin Goddess?” “At least we know an unexpected child can’t appear from that union” “Well she and Hephaestus had a child together through a napkin so… anything’s possible.” Brenda looks up curiously but Silena gives her a kiss. “Later” “Oh yeah” Natalie says with a chuckle. “I forgot about that.” “Let me know how it goes.” --- She agonizes for days over how and what to tell him, when it comes to her. She doesn’t want him to stay for some misconception version of her, she wants him to stay for the real her. For the real Brenda and the real Callie, and if he can’t handle her then… she needs to move on. --- “Johnny?” “Yeah?” “Can you come over tonight? Around nine or so after the kids are put down? You and I, we need to talk.” “Are you dumping me?” Silena smiles against the phone bitterly. “No, but if we’re going to give this a try, there are things about me, I want you to know, things you need to know, about my past, about Brenda and Callie’s fathers.” Johnny stays quiet for a long time. “I’ll be over.” --- He comes over, and she talks, she tells him everything, of her father, of her mother of her first love, of her move to Boston and meeting Tyr, all the way to New York and her move to Dallas. She stays silent once she’s finished and waits for him to say something anything. He takes her in his arms, and she releases a breath she didn’t even know she was holding and she can feel herself letting out several years worth of tears. She breaks down crying on his lap at first trying to keep as quiet as possible so as not to wake the kids, but Johnny whispers an Egyptian word that she must assume means along the lines of ‘muffled’ or ‘quiet’ and she lets herself cry as loud as possible. Holding nothing back. Johnny just holds her tightly as she cries herself to sleep. --- Now that they know each other’s secrets, Johnny starts to be more free with his past. She finds out he started training and learning at the age of 6, in ancient Egypt. She learns that his preferred form of magic is music (Something that pleases her immensely) but he’s also quite proficient in certain elements. Like water and fire. And Hieroglyph magic. She tells him about her childhood, about her first love, about how her mother used to play the violin, about her twin. About her siblings. About the good times in her life, about… About her first love. Not in an overbearing way, not in a flyby way, but in a ‘it’s good to get this off my chest way’ It’s nice. He tells her of his dreams, of how he loves being a magician of the highs and lows of being one. Of how he hated the constant practice, but how he likes how the magic sets him apart from everyone else. --- He takes her to visit his parents who live at the nome in Texas. They eat dinner in a private room in the nome and they seem suspicious of her at first, but Selina is honest and polite, and slowly the suspicion dies away. Mrs. O'Hare adores little Callie and loves holding the young Grecian demigod in her arms. Mr. O'Hare takes a special liking to Brenda who finds her eagerness to fight to be a little charming. --- “Did you always know what form you wanted your magic to be?” She asks. “Not exactly, it’s not so much a pick and choose it’s more a case of what type of magic fits your personality, a person who prefers to have both feet on solid ground, and is no nonsense, would have a hard time seeing into the duat” Selina nods. She doesn’t completely understand what the duat is, as far as she can glean it’s something of an inner world that runs parallel to the physical world, parts of it can be used to mask parts of the mythological world from human eyes. She later tells him that the shield that hides the mythological world is called ‘the mist’ in roman and Greek mythologies. Which he argues is the ‘stupidest name he’s ever heard of’. To which she replies that it’s just a good a name as Duat. To which they both glare then proceed to glare at eachother, before the pair of them break out laughing. --- “Ha, ha, ha” “It’s not funny!” “Really? cause from my point of view it’s hilarious” “My brother was traumatised.” Selina sobers when she here’s that. “Really?” “OK he’s very freaked out, a baby just appears the fuck out of nowhere, with Athena telling him it’s his.” “Did she explain how?” “Something about the joining of minds and souls, or something, I don’t know, Fredrick was too freaked out to make much sense.” "Well Athena was born through Zeus's head..." She says with a shrug." "He tried to give the baby back, and have the girl raised on Olympus" "I'm sure Athena was pleased" "She refused to take the baby back." Natalie said softly. "And threatened to curse Fredrick to a lifetime of failure if he dared ask that of her again." "Yeah, the gods don't like their gifts rejected, what's the girl's name?" "He's decided to name her Annabeth..." "Least she'll have a cool aunt..." "And cousin" "What?" "I'm pregnant with Frey's child" ... "Congratulations" Silena says unsure of what else she should say. ---     Johnny smiles at her and takes her hand. “I have something I need to ask of you.” “You can ask me anything Johnny.” He get’s down on one knee and a ring box in his hand. “Will you marry me?” She smiles. “Of course!” She says. He slips the ring on her finger before he gives her a kiss.   

Chapter 14

[sheldogstalltails]

Hot Springs Episode

Over the hill, they walked, tired, dirty, and more than a little hungry. Emmett and Ryume dragged their feet on as they were covered in mud.  The two heroes had just finished a mission bringing in a criminal mage and were on their way into town. Even though they've taken plenty of threats on together, sometimes mistakes still happen. "I said I was sorry!" Ryume pleaded as they continued walking. "Sorry doesn't get this shit off me!" Emmett snapped back. "I told you not to attack the mud golems because they were acting as a minefield, and you jumped right in the middle!" 

"But it destroyed his defenses and let us capture the bounty, it all worked out in the end."  She said smiling. "Ugh." The mage sighed "You're right, but that doesn't make this, any more bearable." "When I was a kid we played in mud all the time, so this brings back memories." "Uh huh…" Just over the hill, the next town came into view. Seeing their destination in reach, Emmett picked up the pace hoping to get clean faster. Once they entered the town Emmett began to ask around for the nearest inn, but Ryume noticed something even better. "How does a dip in the hot springs sound?" She asked her companion "My treat." The two weary travelers entered the building and headed to the receptionist. The cat girl at the counter could see the tired looks on the weary adventures. She smiled and waved them over. "Hello there! Welcome to the Mew Mew Hot Springs." She gave the two of them a look over "I can tell the two of you had a rough day." "You have no idea." Emmett groaned. He looked up to Ryume "I'm going to get ready, you got this right?" "I said I did, don't worry." The Amazon gave her companion a thumbs up as he left the counter.  "So how much for two?" "Well, normally its 50 silver per person buuuut we're having a sale on our couples package! It comes with the whole shebang and a dip in our made for two hot springs." the cat girl winked. Ryume perked up. Just Emmett and her having a relaxing dip in the springs alone sounded wonderful. As an image of the dog mage wearing nothing but a towel entered her head Ryume smiled. "Deal!" Looking around Emmett noticed a sign under the rules. In the bold text, it read Banned for Life: the destruction of property.  There were only two pictures, one dark-skinned woman with blond hair and a redheaded frogman. Looking at the two, he could only shake his head and continue on his way. After the much-needed bath, Emmett was happily humming to himself as he walked to the main hot springs area. The comfortable robes they provided as his clothing was being cleaned was the cherry on top. He even let his hair down. The dog mage felt pretty great despite all that transpired today. The only thing left to do was enjoy a quiet dip in the hot springs. "Oh, Mister Emmett this way" One of the cat girl employees called out. He turned to look at her with a questioning glare. "You've got a private room waiting for you." "A private room?" Emmett raised an eyebrow but followed the cat girl. She led him to the private room with a smile on her face.   "Please, enjoy your stay!" The employee opened the door for him to walk through. "Take as long as you need." She said with a sly smile. "Thank you...?" that was weird Emmett thought. Emmett looked around the small room, his clothing was cleaned and folded neatly on the counter, and there was a towel ready.  Emmett disrobed and wrapped the towel around him. As he passed the mirror the mage gave himself a look over. His long black hair reached down to his back, with two floppy ears hanging on top. The hair could be a pain sometimes, but he chose to keep his hair in honor of his late master. He looked down at his body, a five foot nothing, slender frame with hardly any muscles at all and a bushy tail just hanging out. Emmett sighed, all the people saw him as was a cute dog boy. He walked into the next area, which leads into the open hot spring. Maybe the relaxing waters will melt his troubles away. "I really hope Ryume didn't go overboard on this…I made a bigger deal out of it than I should have" Emmett said to himself. He made a mental note to apologize for snapping at her. Walking into the spring Emmett breathed a sigh of relaxation. The last week had been pretty hectic. With all the monsters and nonsense going on, having the time to just relax is a true luxury.   "Oh, you're already here Emmett!" Emmett shot up from his relaxed position and faced the entrance. Ryume came walking out into the hot springs area, the fog covering up most of her body. "EEP! Ryume! Why are you here!?" The mage quickly turned to face the rocks at the back of the spring. "Hum? I got us a private spring why wouldn't I be?" Of Course. Emmett thought back to that way too sly smile on the Catgirl. This was a private couple's spring or something. "Let's just stay on opposite sides of the spring, ok?" Emmett said pointing backward towards Ryume, while still facing the rock. "What's wrong Emmett never see a naked woman before?" Ryume joked as she stepped into the water. "No!" He answered quickly, moving closer to the rock. "How are you so casual about this?" "Ahhh, this hits the spot" Even sitting down her torso was left exposed. "I dunno, hot springs are pretty common back home." After taking a while to relax she looked at the back of her companion, still sitting on the opposite end facing the rocks. Ryume scratched the back of her head, she never would have guessed Emmett was this shy.  A wicked smile appeared on her face. She could have fun with this. "Stay calm Emmett…just focus on the rocks." "Hey, Emmett." She made her way over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. The sudden appearance of Ryume startled the dog mage, but he was able to keep himself from yelling again. He was able to get a good look at Ryume sitting next to him. Her crimson eyes, her green hair, the top half of her boo- The Dog mage quickly turned around.   "Emmett this isn't good." "What's she talking about?" He wondered. "We need to work on this shyness of yours. What if you were fighting a woman and she tried to distract you with her boobs? You'd turn away and be dead!" "What the fuck is she talking about!?" Ryume stood up, to fully display herself "So since we're here, I want to you to look at me, not as a warrior, but as a woman, and train your mental resistance." She said with a commanding tone. Emmett replayed that last sentence over in his head a few times to make sure he fully understood what she just said. He slowly began to face her. As Ryume's large body came into his view his heart began to race. A curvaceous and muscular body of a beautiful woman stood before him in all her naked glory. Emmett's gaze jumped from her thighs to the hips, to her arms and landing on her huge, soft, bountiful bosom. "Master…guide me." Emmett sent off a silent prayer to his teacher in the afterlife. "If you're having trouble looking at a simple pair of titties then-" "T-t-there's nothing simple about those marvelous mountains!" he said, only realizing too late he said that aloud. "Aww, thanks for the compliment!" As Emmett continued to fumble over his words Ryume could help but laugh. He could take on a monster 3 times his size with no hesitation, but this turns him into a blubbering mess. It was so cute. "I..I should get out." Emmett was able to finally say. He turned away from Ryume and started walking over to the edge of the springs. "Huh? But we just started." Emmett began to walk out, making sure that his back was facing Ryume the whole time. "No, I'm fine, just wanted a quick dip. Don't want to overstay our welcome up now!" he gave Ryume a smile but continued walking. A small lizard crawled onto the pathway, unnoticed by the dog mage. Emmett continued walking and accidentally stepped on the creature. The sudden unknown feeling on his foot startled the man. "UAHaa!" He yelled out in surprise as his balance was thrown off. He fell backward and rolled back ending up upside down on his head, his towel falling off. Ryume moved to assist, but her eyes were drawn directly to Emmett's exposed crotch. "Oh, my." Emmett recovered from the fall and grabbed his tail to cover himself. The two looked at each other in silence for 3 seconds before the dog mage turned around to run back inside. "YOUDIDN'TSEEANYTHINGSHUTUPTHISNEVERUPAHHENDAAAAAAAAAAAAA" "AH Emmett wait!" "I said I was sorry!" Ryume pleaded as they continued walking. The two back on the road after the refreshing and, interesting hot springs trip. "Sorry about what? Absolutely nothing happened." Emmett responded, a blissful smile on his face. He wasn't in denial or anything. "You don't have anything to be embarrassed about." "No idea what you're talking about Ryume." "In fact, you should be proud!" The fighter exclaimed with a pure smile "With a dick that big no one will ever question your manhood!" Emmett stopped walking, allowing Ryume to catch up. The Amazon smiled, thinking her words calmed him. Emmett turned to Ryume, tears in his eyes "That's not how I want to be remembered!" he wailed before running off. "Uh…ah…Emmett wait up!" The fighter called as she ran to catch up with her companion.

[daveeddiggsit]

Hooked

Hooked | Guard

Series: Worth Fighting For

Note: Hey! This is Day 1 for write-a-thon! I’m kicking it off with part one to an amazing series that I’m super excited for. Like, seriously, I’m so fucking excited to share this series with you guys. I really enjoyed writing it. Also, I’m gonna try to incorporate boxing terms into each title for this series...I’m gonna fail, but might as well try lmao.

Word Count: 3623

Pairing: Thomas Jefferson x Reader

AU: Boxing

Warnings: No smut...yet.

Summary: Thomas Jefferson, a world-famous boxer who is pegged as a self-centered asshole that has everything — good looks, fame, fortune, talent — trains for his big fight against Alexander Hamilton. When he moves to Washington D.C. to be closer to his family, he meets someone who will look past his outer shell and get to know the real him.

“The #2 pound-for-pound fighter and current world cruiserweight champion Thomas Jefferson is rumored to have moved to Washington D.C. for personal reasons. Many are wondering how this is going to affect preparations for his big match in three months when he defends his title against the rookie Alexander Hamil–”

Thomas turned off the TV with a sigh. He was sick of this. The media never gave him a break; they were always up in his business, exposing everything that went on in his personal life for profit. Thomas felt like he never had a break from anything. But then again, he wasn't supposed to be taking it easy. He was supposed to be training for a huge fight he had in three months, but instead he was in his new, half-unpacked apartment in the center of D.C.

Thomas’ thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing in his right pocket. He groaned as soon as he saw the caller ID before he pressed the green button, holding it up to his ear.

“What?” Thomas snapped, somehow already annoyed with the person on the other line.

“What the hell are you doing in D.C.?”

“None of your damn business. I don't have to explain myself to you.” Thomas said in a monotonous voice. “I’m not your puppet.”

“Of course it's my business, you're my son.” His father voiced. “You're in D.C. because of your mother, aren't you?”

“I’m in D.C. because I care about my family unlike someone else I know.”

“Oh please,” his father scoffed, “I care.”

“You haven't seen Mom in years. You know what she’s been going through ever since Anna–”

“She's not my responsibility anymore. We separated years ago.”

Thomas clenched his jaw angrily. “You are such a heartless, narcissistic pri–”

“Shut your mouth, Thomas. I didn't call you to argue with you about nonsense. I called you to make sure you were on track with training even though you clearly disobeyed my orders to stay put in LA.”

“Why is everything about my career? Why can't you just be a normal father and care about whether or not I had a safe flight, or–”

“Because I am not a normal father, and you are not normal either. I am Peter Jefferson, boxing hall-of-famer with more world titles under my belt than I can count.” Peter lectured. “And you? You are Thomas Jefferson, my son who followed in my footsteps and became a professional boxer. And you are currently on your way to the hall of fame. It's simple. We are nowhere near close to being a normal family, so don't even try to say anything otherwise.”

Thomas closed his eyes and let out a defeated sigh before his dad continued to speak.

“Listen, you better be training for this fight coming up in three months. This Hamilton kid is rising up to fame and you can't let him knock you off your feet. We can't underestimate anything under any circumstances. You will not lose your title and undefeated streak to an underdog. You're a Jefferson; Jeffersons don't lose.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “I'm not worried about him. He’s sloppy, acts on impulse. From what I’ve seen, he lacks height as well.” He sighed, rubbing his facial hair frustratedly. “And don't worry, I’m still training. I heard about this place a couple blocks away and it should be as good as the one in LA...so don't get your panties in a twist. I'm still gonna be sharp even though I’m across the country.”

“Thomas,” Peter grumbled. “If Hamilton so much as lands a clean punch to your face–”

Thomas let out a curt laugh. “What are you gonna do, cut me off?”

“That's exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Oh, I’m so scared. What will I do without you? It's not like I’m an adult living on my own with everything I could possibly need...oh wait.”

“I’m serious. If you lose this fight, I’m dropping you from your contract. I may be your father, but I am also your agent/manager. If you're smart and want your career to move forward, it'd be wise to do as I say.”

Whatever. Thomas wanted to say as he rolled his eyes again. Instead, he said something equally as passive aggressive. “Noted. Bye, Dad.” He spat the word out sarcastically before he ended the call, throwing his phone on the cushion next to him. He groaned into his hands. Why was his father such an asshole?

Less than a minute later, Thomas’ favorite playlist was blasting through his newly unpacked sound system. The boxer desperately needed to clear his head before the next day came around, and loud music was the way to do it.

A half an hour into Thomas’ temporary peace, he was interrupted when he heard a couple of knocks on his front door.

You tiredly stood outside of the apartment, wanting nothing more than to go to bed. It had been a long day, and you had to get up early the next morning for work. So when your new neighbor was keeping you awake because of his obnoxiously loud music, you had no other choice but to trek over a couple doors down to tell him off.

The music paused before the door swung open, then you were suddenly face to face — well, face to chest — with a shirtless guy who had a handsome face and a very toned upper body. He was attractive to say the least, and you had to keep yourself from staring.

In Thomas’ head, he was going through the same thing. You were extremely beautiful, and his usual charming persona had completely left him, leaving him to stumble over his words as he blinked at you.

“Can I– uh...can I help you?”

“Um yeah, hopefully. I live a couple apartments away and was wondering if you could turn your music down?” You started. “It’s just– I’m trying to sleep and I can’t because it’s too loud. I have work in the morning and–”

“Oh, yeah, it’s no problem. I actually have a super hard workout tomorrow morning, so…”

Was he attempting to show off or something to try and impress you? You raised an eyebrow at him and he quickly went on.

“–I’ll put headphones on. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before…” Thomas said sheepishly, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“It’s okay, no big deal. Thank you so much for understanding.” You said gratefully before you spun on your heel to walk back towards your apartment.

“Wait,” He called out after you. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Y/N.” You stated over your shoulder. “Thanks again, neighbor!”

Jefferson watched you disappear behind a door a few away from his before he went back into his apartment. He had to go to sleep; his training started early in the morning with a run. He needed as much sleep as he could get.

After Thomas’ long morning run, he went to the training place a few blocks away from his apartment complex just like he told his father he would.

“3...2...1, okay stop. Take a break, Jefferson.” Thomas’ trainer, James, said.

The boxer panted heavily, slightly doubling over after jump roping for three minutes straight six times with only a 45 seconds of rest in between each rep.

“You’re out of shape, Thomas.”

“Shut up.” Thomas retorted in between intakes of breath. “It’s only been a week since I last trained. Plus, I had a late night last night.”

“And whose fault is that?” James asked with knowing look.

“Mine,” Jefferson breathed, straightening his back and putting his hands on his hips as he cooled down. “Dad called and stressed me out immensely, like he always does. Couldn’t clear my thoughts afterwards, which meant no sleep for me.”

He sighed before gesturing towards his duffle bag on a bench in the corner of the training complex. “I’m gonna go get some water, I’ll be right back.”

“Alright, but hurry up.” James said. “We’ve got work to do.”

You walked slowly as you tried to balance two decently heavy boxes on top of each other, attempting to transport them from the front door to the back of your family’s boxing gym.

Even though you didn’t box, the sport was still very present in your life. Your dad’s love for it was the spark for him to create his own training facility in the heart of the nation’s capital. He and your mother both worked together to make the gym as successful as it could be. Sadly, your father passed away before he could get the facility fully functioning, so your mom took over and asked you to help her out...and you did. You quit your job as a physical therapist and moved back to D.C. to help your mother make the gym into what your father had envisioned.

On top of managing a boxing training facility, the sport was so evident in your life, even your best friend Alex was immersed in it. He just went pro a few months ago and was currently training for a big fight in three months, causing him to move up to New York and train there instead so he could get more exposed to the media. Today was actually supposed to be his last day down in D.C. with you.

Your thoughts were interrupted when suddenly you collided with someone, making you almost drop the boxes in your hands. A pair of arms instinctively shot out to steady you.

You heard a voice from above you. “My bad, I didn’t mean to...”

You looked up, surprised with what had just happened in the past few seconds. You had somehow managed to bump into your hot, now sweaty — and still very shirtless (like jeez, did this guy own any shirts?) — neighbor while you were at work moving boxes for your mom. Wow.

“Oh hey, neighbor. Funny seeing you here,” you laughed, trying to play off your awkwardness.

“You work here?” He asked curiously, cocking his head slightly.

“Yeah, my family owns the place and needed some extra help, so here I am.” You sent a small smile his way, shifting to get a better grip on the bottom box.

“Oh, here, let me help you with that.” Thomas said, taking the boxes out from your hold, the wraps around his hands making it a bit difficult to have a firm grasp. “Where do you need them?”

You were surprised by his sudden forwardness to help you out. “Um, right over there is fine.” You said, pointing to a spot a couple feet away.

Once he set the boxes down, he jogged back over to you. “I don’t think we met properly last night.” He said.

“You’re right, we didn’t.” You chuckled, before giving him a small wave. “Hi, I’m Y/N L/N. I live two apartments away from you, and I work here.”

He smiled, sticking his wrapped hand out to shake yours before he quickly took it back. “Oh, wait– shit. I’m sweaty, sorry.” He ran a hand through his wild mess of hair.

You smirked at him. “Well, that's not what I expected your name to be, but nice to meet you, Sweaty.”

He rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, very funny.”

“I try to be.” You said before laughing. “No, but seriously. What is your name?”

“You don’t know who I am?”

“Oh no, please don't tell me you're one of those cocky fighters who think they're on the top of the world.”

Thomas’ eyes widened and he put his hands up as if he was defending himself against an opponent. “I'm not, trust me...at least I don't think I am…”

You rose your eyebrows, prompting him to continue.

“Thomas.”

You gave him a blank look. “Just ‘Thomas’? That’s it?”

The boxer smiled. “Wait, so you seriously don’t know who I am?”

You blinked at him. “No. I try to stay away from all this.” You gestured to the training complex. “Boxing is all my parents and best friend really talk about, so I try to separate myself from it as much as possible.”

“Ah, I see.” He nodded. “I understand that.”

After a couple of beats, you spoke up again. “So, no last name? Interesting.”

Thomas sighed, bowing his head slightly. “I don’t usually mention it. I don’t want people to look at me differently just because of a name.”

“What, is your dad a serial killer or something?”

He chuckled, letting a bright smile show up on his face. “No, nothing like that.”

“Then what’s so bad about your last name?”

“Nothing, nothing.” He brushed it off. “If you really wanna know, I’ll tell you, but–”

“No, it’s okay. I won’t pressure you.”

Thomas grinned. “Wow. Gorgeous, witty, funny, and sweet. Is there anything else I should know about you?”

You pondered his question for a moment with a light blush dusted on your cheeks, debating on whether you should be forward or not. Oh, what the hell, forwardness wouldn’t hurt, would it?

“Well, you should know that I'm free at six and we should totally grab a bite to eat somewhere downtown. Y’know, just because you’re new in town.”

“Oh, I’ll definitely take you up on th–”

“Jefferson?” An angry voice interrupted your conversation.

You looked slightly to the left to see your best friend glaring at the man in front of you.

Alexander walked to stand next to you. “Y/N, what are you doing talking to Jefferson?”

“Wait, you’re Thomas Jefferson? As in the undefeated, cruiserweight world champion who's the son of hall-of-famer Peter Jefferson?” You asked Thomas. No wonder he wanted to keep his name a secret; the guy was a world-famous boxer. Even though you didn’t recognize him at first, you had heard the name numerous times.

Alex nodded frantically while still glaring at him.

Thomas sighed. “I don't like being associated with my father. I’m my own person.”

“Yeah right. That’s the only reason you’re as successful as you are right now. It’s all because of your name.” Alex scoffed. “Y/N, this is the guy I’m supposed to fight in three months.”

So Thomas and Alex were supposed to fight each other for the world championship in a few months...interesting.

Alexander continued. “Bro, you can’t train here.”

“What, is this your territory?” Thomas retorted.

You cut in, annoyed with your best friend’s behavior even though you knew he had the right to rival against your new neighbor. He was his biggest opponent at the moment. “Alex, even you don’t even train here. You’re moving to New York tomorrow to train at some other place. Why can’t this guy train here?”

“Because he’s the enemy and I don’t want him anywhere near you.” Alex growled.

“Hey, if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.” Jefferson narrowed his eyes at the shorter man in front of him.

Alex balled his fists. “How about I put a fist to your face instead?”

You stepped in between them, putting your arms out to keep them distanced. “Guys, stop. Break it up. This isn’t professional. If this is a fight as big as I think it is, then you guys aren’t even allowed to speak to each other until the week of the match. So, stop now before things get ugly.”

“Alex, don’t you have some final packing to do?” You asked him. “Your flight leaves at 5.”

He sighed, “I just came here to get the last of my gear and say goodbye, then I find you talking to this asshole.”

“Hamilton…” You warned. “Play nice.”

The three of you were interrupted by a voice booming from the other side of the gym. “Jefferson! Get your ass over here! A water break does not take 15 minutes.”

When Thomas turned to leave, you quickly grabbed his arm. “Thomas, I’ll see you at six, okay?”

He nodded, smiling down at you. “Yeah, of course. Where do we meet?”

“I’ll knock on your door or something, then we could choose a place to eat. Sound good?”

“Great.” He replied as you let him go. You watched him walk away as he cast one last look to Alexander before he met with his trainer again.

“You’re going out with him?” Alexander asked angrily, clenching his jaw.

You rolled your eyes. “It’s just for food, Alex. He’s my new neighbor, I figured I’d give him a taste of DC.”

Alex mumbled something incoherent under his breath before he walked away.

You rolled your eyes before following him. He was your best friend, and you loved him to death, but damn was he a pain in the ass.

“I’m sorry about Alex,” you said before taking a bite of your sandwich. “He can be very...annoying, for lack of a better term.”

You and Thomas had chosen a cute little sandwich shop a few blocks away for your meal. After you said your final goodbyes to Alexander, you went back to your apartment to freshen up a bit before you left again to knock on Thomas’ door.

The man across from you chuckled. “You don't have to apologize for him. That's just the way of the job: the trash talking, insulting, etcetera. It's all normal when you're in the same room as your opponent.”

You looked up from your sandwich. “He’s a nice guy, though, I swear. I wouldn't be friends with him if he wasn't.”

“Friends? So, you're not dating?”

You almost choked on your food. “Me and Alex? No, definitely not.” You said, clearing your throat. “He has a girlfriend.”

Thomas nodded in understanding, chewing on his food.

A couple beats passed by before you spoke up again. “What about you?” You asked curiously. “You got a girl back home in LA?”

He swallowed his food and shook his head. “No, I never really had the time,” he answered. “Also, I don’t really think of LA as my home. I was born and raised in Virginia until I finally started boxing like my father in college. Then when I graduated, my dad moved me around the country trying to find the best trainers and stuff to get me good enough to go pro. It took like three years of training before I finally went pro.”

You hummed in acknowledgement while sipping on your drink. “You know, honestly you don’t seem like a boxer to me.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“I mean, you’re built for it and everything,” you gestured to his sculpted upper body and height, “but you just don’t seem like the type. I’ve been around boxers my whole life and every single one of them has given off a certain– cocky vibe...my own best friend gives off that vibe. But for some reason you don’t...and it’s weird.”

Thomas breathed out a light laugh. “I try not to let everything get to my head, I guess. I grew up with my dad constantly bragging about himself and I hated it. I try to stay as humble as I can around people who get to know the real me, not the guy they see on ESPN news headlines.”

“Makes sense.” You noted with a nod.

You both sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before you felt Thomas’ gaze on you. You looked up to see him studying you curiously for a few moments.

“What?” You shifted slightly under his gaze.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t understand you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just don’t get why you still decided to come out with me even though I’m pegged as the arrogant asshole who fights for nothing but pride... I mean, I’m also gonna be fighting your best friend in a few months...wouldn’t the smart thing to do be to avoid me at all costs because I’m the ‘bad guy’?” A couple of beats passed. “N-not that you’re stupid or anything. I was just wondering–”

You cut him off with a laugh. “Didn't you just finish saying that you weren’t the guy the media portrays you as?”

“Yeah, but I’ve never met anyone who actually looks past that.” He said. “Well, besides my mom and sister.”

“You can’t judge a book by its cover, Thomas. You have to give it the benefit of the doubt before you stop reading.” You said. “You’re my neighbor, and just because people say bad things about you doesn’t mean that I can’t try and make a new friend.”

Thomas caught your gaze, sending you a genuine smile. “Thanks, Y/N.”

“No problem.” You returned the smile.

You and Thomas continued to talk about countless things, abandoning the topic of boxing for a good while. You got to know each other a bit more. You’d found out that Thomas was really well read, wanted to go to law school before he started his boxing career, hated country music with a passion despite being born in the rolling hills of Virginia, and that his favorite food was macaroni and cheese.

And Thomas had found out numerous facts about you as well, including your favorite music artist and food, that you were born and raised in DC, graduated university with a degree in sports medicine, and that you really really liked puppies.

“Wait, sports medicine?” He’d asked. “So you could help me if I get hurt in a fight?”

You laughed. “I probably could, yeah.”

“Great.” He grinned back at you. “I'm gonna hold you to that, you know that right?”

Before you knew it, it had gotten dark, which was the cue for both of you to start heading back to your apartments. You had talked for hours and hadn’t even realized how long it had been. You honestly felt like you’d known Thomas for years even though you’d only just met him the day before.

When you approached your apartment, you turned to him.

“So...see you around?”

Thomas nodded with yet another bright smile. “Oh yeah, definitely.”

“Alright, then.” You reciprocated his grin. “Later, neighbor.”

He chuckled before he started to walk to his place.

“Later, Y/N.”

[synctempest]

The stars’ alignment: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Vidal.

Ah, it was all just a dream. "Damn remembering the past is one thing I don't want, so popping into my dreams is a definant no." I got up out of bed angered by the dream's unconscious intents. "Master Sync." Said one of the maids from outside the door. "It's about time for the meeting." "Oh yeah...They don't really need me right?" "Nonsense!" Tsuka yelled from the kitchen "You're this town's greatest tactician! They need you there!" "R-Right, so master Sync please be ready in ten." "Fine, gotcha." Yawning I walk towards to the window looking out towards the town. "God it still looks beautiful from here" Vidal, a futuristic but yet retro city on the water. I own this whole city since it was passed down from my mother. My mother... "Can't get distracted from beautiful things." I head towards the closet putting on my clothes, slowly but surely. "Five minutes have passed master, I'm going to bring in the food so you may get a quicker start on your meal" "Of course." As she comes into the room and puts the food down I could see a slight blush from her in the mirror. Oh, I don't have my shirt on. "Come on, it's just a couple of abs." "Y-Yes sir but, I'm not used to seeing a man like this..." "Ah I got ya, just hurry on out then before you see anything else." She rushes out the room closing the door behind her. What a shy little one, reminds me of Tsuka years back. "Bacon huh? ...Just bacon." I pick up the plate and reluctantly eat my food and finish getting dressed. As I was about to head out the door, I was stopped by a familiar voice "Syyyyyyyyyyyyynccccccccccccccccccccccccc!" The voice yelled before hitting my door. "Oh boy." I open the door to find... "Ouchies...Ah! Sync! There you are!" She jumps up to hug me while jumping up and down. This sporadic one's name is Kanade, despite her pure innocence and...Pure energy. She's quite the fighter believe it or not. "Ahhhhh, I got worried Sync. You didn't answer my call this morning." "Sorry, I overslept." "It's ok~ I understand! But, we have to get to the meeting now." "Yeah let's go, don't wanna be late huh?" "You said it!" As we head towards the aquatic underground of the city, I look at Kanade taking in the view from the elevator. "Beautiful right? You haven't been down here ever since you got affiliated with the military. Which is surprising." "Yeah yeah! It's really beautiful! It must be because I'm still kinda new in the ranks." "Right you'll get up there with me soon enough." "It's because I know you right?!" "It's because you're a hard worker." I pat her head as the elevator comes to the underground. I look over to see Kanade hesistant to come out of the elevator. "Nervous are ya?" "To come into something top secret like this place is a little too much even for me you know?" "Right, but you deserved to at least come here." "True but..." I smack her hand "No buts alright? You're strong enough to defeat an A rank threat." "Bleh, meanie~" Laughing we both continued down the hallway leading to my office for the meeting. The way that these underwater areas are connected are through air lock tubes, just incase you wanted to know. "Hey hey, Sync" "Yeah?" "Would I get a space as big as yours if I got up to your rank?" "Well I don't know, maybe you'll take my place if you get up to my rank." "Shouldn't you be up the ranks more if that happens?" "Well I AM the highest rank so no I don't think so." Opening the door to my office and seeing the lieutenant sitting in the chair behind my desk...Kinda just, made my day a little bit better for the worse. "Ah, hi boss" "Yo Jericho." "Jeriiiiiiichoooooooooooo!" "Kanade quiet down, you'll break the tubs with that kind of volume" "W-Wha-" Oh, she covered her mouth. Can't believe she bought that. "The commander will be coming in soon so you'll have to oversee what he says about this to see if it's right." "Right right...Is it about you know what?" "Oh, I did hear a little rumor about what it was, it seems to be about the S rank threat roaming around the continent." "Damn you serious? I thought there was no more signs of them after I wiped them out." "To our surprise as well yes it's a major find if it's true." Really now...? You gotta be fucking kidding me. "Sync..." Oh, I had a serious face. I forgot that scares Kanade. "Sorry." I fixed myself up and got in my chair...But before I could get comfortable. "General Sync" Oh boy, it's commander O'spreay. "Good morning commander O'spreay" "Yes I wish to get this over with sir general because once we finish we'll need to leave immeadiately." "Oh?" I look at Jericho and he nods at me making it for certain that the rumor is true. "We have found sightings of S rank threats all across the globe." "All across huh? I can take care of th-" "And now even sightings of S+ and EX rank threats amongst the galaxy coming at incredible pacing." ...Huh? "Pardon me commander?" "Yes you did hear me right. We can't keep this down all by ourselves you know. We need more help." "I see...Hm." Help? We can do this by ourselves if it's just S ranking...But S+ and EX ranking. That's new. "General. Please. The S ranks are starting to grow in power as we speak. There's no certain time point that we know when they'll reach the new ranks." "More help huh? ...I guess I do know more people for that. Counting Kanade as one i'll get about 4 more to help us out. Don't worry, they're all strong." "Sir O'spreay sir! I'll make you the proudest man alive!" Kanade said it while puffing out her chest, making me sigh a little. "Shouldn't it be me you should be trying to make the proudest man alive?" Kanade turned around to me and blush "W-Well I try that everyday you know?" "Right, I see it all the time." I smile and get up from my desk. "Come Kanade, we got some recruiting to do." "Yes sir Sync sir!" She skipped along as we left my office. Man, this is really gonna be a pain in my ass. (End of chapter 1)