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alixdelcourt · 2 years

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Maybe other ones opinions matter more to you than ours

Pairing Katsuki Bakugou x female reader x Eijirou Kirishima

Genre : angst to fluff and comfort at the end.

WC and warnings : 1.5 k / Polyrelationship, Angst, feeling down, abandon, injury, mention of hospital and sedative. Please be careful reading this, and skip it if you're insecure or sensitive, you'll just get hurt. Please be careful.

Note : Hey everyone, I am back ! I am sorry, I wasn't on hiatus so I didn't warned you, I was just sick and trying to recover. And now that I am totally healed, I promise that I'll catch all your requests up quickly ! Today's work is @d3nk1x's request. I am sorry it took my like forever to achieve it, really sorry. I hope that you’ll like it, please let me know, and feel free to ask anything else. I kinda like your requests :)

Requests are still open, and since my college year is over, I am totally free to write whenever I want. And I am bored a bit, so please send many requests if you want, I will be happy to oblige !

The heart has its reasons which Reason knows nothing of… What was sure is that you loved them, from the bottom of your heart. But it wasn’t enough for you to be completely at ease with the relationship that you, Eijirou and Katsuki are entertaining. Well, such relations aren’t usual and you prefer to keep it for you. What would it be if people, even your friends, discover this part of your intimacy and feel free to criticize, or worse to judge you and to deprecate it… Would your ‘couple’ survive all of this ? You prefer not to take the risk. A happy life is a discreet one.

But, your significant others are not on the same page. Like, for the boys, you’re all adults and old enough to make your own choices. You chose them, you brought them together, so why couldn’t you assume this decision ? Why three people in love would be so odd ? This subject was the only point of contention for you, that comes up more and more often. Like tonight.

The three of you were in Katsuki’s room, for the usual nightly cuddles. To have some affection before going to sleep, each one in his own dorm room. For the other students not to notice, Eijirou is the first to leave, and after a couple of minutes, you follow him. But tonight, the guys made a big deal out of it. You argue, explaining again for like the thousandth time your position.

“I just… I just don’t feel comfortable with people knowing that I am in love with two guys. Maybe it’s okay for you to share the same girlfriend, but this isn’t was girls do.”

“And who cares about other girls ? They just don't know what they are missing !”

Eijirou winked at you, trying to make you laugh and give it all up as a joke, but you weren’t laughing. He sighed, and let your mutual boyfriend try. And he did. Like Katsuki really tried. He took your hand, and made you look at his crimson stare.

“Please, Y/n. Let us love you in full view of everyone. I am tired, we’re both tired of paying attention to our reactions around you. We just want to give you all the attention you deserve and the love you generate at any time, not bottling it up or botch it between two training sessions. I don’t want to hide anymore, because this means we’re doing something wrong. And we’re not. So please.”

He’s meaning what he’s saying, and you know it. Katsuki Bakugou ain’t one to beg, for anything. But even if this was the sweetest and the most romantic thing he has ever told you, you can’t overcome your fear. Which deeply hurt the boys in front of you. The ash blond haired released your hand.

“Maybe other ones opinions matter more to you than ours”

Usually, when he’s this rude, Eijirou stands up for you, but today he’s way too hurt and he agrees with Katsuki. Too many words jostle on your tongue, but none were sufficient for you to express how you’re feeling. With obvious teary eyes, you stand up and leave quickly before bursting in cries. You try to convince yourself that you’re feeling this way because they’ve been harsh on you, pressuring you like this, but you can’t fool yourself. Nothing hurts like the truth.

But you made it. You managed to sleep, and in the morning, you decide that you’re moving forward and as usual, leave the situation as it is. But you quickly notice that it’s not the case for Eijirou and Katsuki. When you went for breakfast, they were already done and heading to their own classes. Usually, you have your have your meals together and they accompany you before going about their business. Usually, Katsuki cooks in the morning, and you make the boys tea. Usually, Eijirou takes all of the bags on his shoulders because it’s manlier and ‘every little training helps’. But today was nothing like usual. You tried to avoid your paranoia during the whole morning, but you couldn’t anymore at lunch. They literally rejected you. In front of everyone. Maybe you finally ruined everything by yourself.

When you arrived to the cafeteria, you decided to wait for them before realizing that they weren’t late, but they didn’t wait for you. They were already eating with some classmates. Sero noticed you, lining up alone for your lunch and staring, with a troubled expression on your face.

“Why isn’t Y/n with you today ? The three of you are always together… Something happened ?”

“She decided that our company is no satisfying enough for her. We would not want to force her.”

You weren’t that far from them, and Eijirou’s hard words were sharp and loud enough to reach your ears. He said it that loud on purpose.

“I thought that you and her had a thing… Aren’t the two dating or something like this ?”

Katsuki growled at Denki’s curiosity.

“None of your business, you dumbass”

“I was asking Eijirou ! Of course, no one would date your rude ass”

“He’s right, Denki. Our love life is none of your business”.

No one could possibly ask anything after this, even if they took each other’s hand. They ain’t persons to take criticism. They just proved you that you can’t cut off people’s curiosity. You’re just not strong enough. So you ate alone, and reached the afternoon training late, sorrowed and unmotivated.

Since your two regular partners for training were sulking you, you paired up with Midoriya, who needed help for his frontal attacks. You were strong enough to repulse him sometimes, by putting all your frustration into your fight, and you were agile enough to avoid him when he was too strong. It wasn’t like your usual trainings, but it was instructive in that you were learning new things. And suddenly, just when your sadness has eased a little thanks to work, everything went so fast that you couldn’t understand. First, your eyes caught a familiar vision. Second, your turned your head to see that Katsuki was proudly and fiercely kissing a blushing Eijirou, that wasn’t ashamed to kiss him back. Third, your eyes went wide open, and your mouth in awe.

“… - SMASH !”

Fourth, everything faded away.

Before you open your eyes, you can tell that you’re in a hospital. The smell of disinfectant and the beeping of machines weren’t misleading. And when you opened your eyes, The memories came along with the severe pain. You remember… Izuku, Eijirou, Katsuki… Recovery girl… The hero trainer… The ambulance… The injury, the pain and the cries… The sedative… And then nothing. You got injured during the training, you weren’t paying attention and you received Izuku’s attack you were supposed to block or avoid with full force. If you were a villain, he would have neutralized you, which was the purpose of the training. He isn’t the one to blame, nor are the two who caught your attention. From the very beginning, you were the only culprit. And just when you were thinking of them, you heard Katsuki’s voice grunt behind the curtain that was surrounding your convalescence bed.

“We have to see her ! Oi listen you-”

“We’re in a hospital, quieter !”

“Please, doctor, let us see her. We are so worry, and we need to be by her side when she’ll wake up”

Eijirou’s pleading voice was trying to convince the relentless doctor.

“You’re not her family, I can’t allow you to do so. I am sorry, rules are rules.”

Someone, maybe Sero, intervened.

“C’mon, boys, there’s nothing to do but wait…”

However, they didn’t give up. Kirishima begging and Bakugou threatening almost made you cry. You struggled a bit, but managed to talk with a husky voice.

“Please let them in. They are my boyfriends. Please…”

The curtain was withdrawn in a hurry, and in a split second, the blond and the redhead were by your side.

“Y/N ! How are you feeling ! Is everything okay or are you-

“Don’t ever scare me like this again ! I might lose my mind if you ever-

They won’t let you get a word in edgeways, checking on you and their concerned eyes scanning you. You started crying.

“I am so sorry… I am so sorry that I was stupid enough to hurt you instead of overcoming my fear ! I don’t deserve you, I-”

Eijirou hushed to you, while carefully wrapping his arms around you.

“Shhhh… It’s okay now, sweetheart. We won’t talk about this now, and not anymore. Nothing is more important than seeing you happy and smiling…”

“Besides, all those who were waiting heard you… I am sorry…”

“What a plot twist ! Seriously, don’t be… I am not afraid anymore. Today was horrible, and I got more hurt by the truth then Izuku’s hit. I am not letting anything between us again. I love you, and nothing will stop me from doing so”

Katsuki took your hand in his, squeezing it against his heart and peppering it with kisses. Words aren’t for him, so he lets you know his gratitude in other ways. With a kiss on your forehead, Eijirou concludes.

“If it took you approaching death to realize it, you're more of a dumbass that he calls you so”

__________________________________________

Here is ! Please let me know if you liked it or not, and if you did like it, feel free to share so other people could enjoy it as well :)

@d3nk1x @i-heart-fictional-boys @skywalkerstyles (from which I drew inspiration for the polyrelationship, I totally love your work) @katsukichu @kirislilrock

Maybe I’ll try a real taglist… I just need to figure out how does it work…

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audreyimagines · 2 years

Note

i’m so glad you enjoyed the god reader scenarios i sent, they were really fun to think of and i loved how you expanded on them :D

so here i am, with some more-

i like to imagine during Technoblade’s execution Reader thought it was a super intricate/realistic play- like they stood next to Ghostbur and handed him some popcorn saying something like “well we can’t enjoy a performance without some popcorn!” and after the whole thing goes around giving everyone involved some netherite blocks as a gift for an extremely well done performance and asks them to do it again so Reader can invite the god of theater to enjoy their show!

imagine Reader sees Wilbur and Tommy being exiled and decides to create a ravine where a field was before like “since you’ve been exiled i think you should get a cool ravine base! look it’s perfect, dark and gloomy to reflect on your current circumstances! and it’s stone like parts of your hot dog van! :D”

when Dream kills Tommy in prison Reader thinks it’s a ritual people do after an argument to make up with each other so they proceed to do the same to Dream and when Dream asks why Reader just responds “well i was mad at you about that one time you blew up part of my temple so i did what you did to Tommy to show i forgive you! let’s be friends now :D”

in las nevadas Reader offers to create some slot machines and makes them always hit jackpot when someone uses them because “don’t humans go to casinos to make money?” and when quackity explains how they work Reader’s like “oh, okay” and makes all the slot machines rigged so no one ever wins money but quackity tells them sometimes people should be able to win money and Reader’s just so confused and blows up the slot machines since “well everyone here blows up things when they don’t like them why can’t i do the same D:”

philza’s wings get partly blown off? Reader just casually hands philza a double chest full of elytra to use and doesnt understand why he’s so shocked. “philza why are you so shocked? i was gonna give you gliders but my parent says that i can only give you commoner air travel.. are you crying?!?! oh no did i do something wrong D:”

when fundy’s upset about wilbur not being there for him as a kid reader’s just there like “my parent threw me off a cliff when i was born and tried to kill me a few times before abandoning me when i turned two centuries old, and you’re telling me what wilbur does isn’t considered good parenting? humans really are strange”. fundy’s just sitting there like 🧍🏻

clueless god pt 2

pairing - another whole half of the smp x gn!reader

notes - yay yay yay thank you <333 i didn’t do philza just bc it felt like a lot, hope that’s okay

—————————————-—————————————

execution - the musical

“what happens next?” you whispered to ghostbur

he glanced over at you, polite but confused

“hmm?”

“oh you don’t know this one either. well here’s some popcorn, it seems like this act will be long.”

you summoned popcorn out of thin air and handed it to ghostbur, who happily ate some

after the attempted execution happened, filled with your gasps and shouts, you clambered out of your seat to go congratulation everyone

“great show!” you said with a smile, handing a netherite brick to tubbo. he was breathing heavily, and took it without question

you handed them to fundy as well, who gave you more of a confused look

“you’ll have to invite me to the next one! i’ve sure the god of theater would adore to see your plays!”

everyone just stared at you

finally, you appeared next to techno, who drew his sword before he saw it was you

“here you go! amazing performance!” you beamed as you handed him the netherite block, and he hesitantly took it

ravine! (c!wilbur n c!tommy)

“hurry up!” you called. wilbur and tommy were lagging behind, bodies exhausted, while you floated

finally the three of you reached a huge ravine, and the boys gasped

“how’d you find this?”

you blinked at them

“i made it!”

“what?”

“i made it,” you repeated, “i thought you guys could use a base. it has stone like your odd little van thing had! and it’s kinda dark because i figured you guys were sad, and also because wilbur’s trench coat is dark colo-“

you were cut off by tommy’s crushing hug

death (c!dream)

“there. he’s dead,” dream said through a tight smile. you glanced at the unmoving body

“you killed him after an argument right?”

dream nodded, not paying you much mind

suddenly, he was keeling over, unmoving as well

you waited a few hours. that’s what dream had done with the other people he killed

then, you snapped your fingers, and instantly both boys came back, gasping for air

“what the fuck?” dream was choking on his own spit. tommy was dragging himself to the other side of the cell

“we argued the other day! so i killed you! that’s what people do after arguments right? it means i forgive you!” you beamed

dream looked fucking exhausted and so so bewildered

casino luck (c!quackity)

“but don’t people come here or make money?” you were really trying to understand, and quackity was really trying to explain

“but they can’t win EVERY time,” he said patiently

you brightened up

“oh!” you flicked a finger

“what’d you just do?”

“made it so they can’t win,” you said happily

quackity breathed out

“they have to win SOMETIMES,” he said

you frowned

this was so fucking complicated

another flick of your finger, and every machines glass shattered

quackity let out a yell

“WHY WOULD YOU?”

“too hard. wilbur was gonna blow up stuff when everything got complicated! why isn’t it the same?”

bad childhood (c!fundy)

“so where are your parents?” you asked

you and fundy were sitting on a cliff looking over the beach

“my dad abandoned me,” fundy said quietly

you looked over at him, not nearly as upset as he was probably expecting

“oh! my parents threw me off a cliff when i was born and tried to kill me a couple times. then they figured out they couldn’t and left me when i was two centuries old.”

you said this all very brightly, and fundy stared at you

“oh my gosh i’m, im so sorry.”

you looked over at him happily

“what do you mean? that’s normal god childhood.”

you stopped to consider

“wait is abandonment not normal human treatment?”

#c!fundy #c!dream #c!tommy #c!wilbur #c!quackity #dsmp imagines #dsmp imagine #dream smp #fanfic

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ikeromantic · 2 years

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Unexpected Gifts

A Mitsuhide Akechi fanfiction, approx. 2000 words of fluffiness. This scene occurs in the midst of chapter 12 and features Motonari as well.

First: Mitsuhide and the Maiden

Previous: Mad Dogs

Motonari sauntered past the innkeeper with a grin. The man clearly knew something was going on, but he just bowed and went back to wiping down tables and ordering his staff around. The pirate had to wonder what a man like him thought about the rough men filing through his entrance, carrying crates of gunpowder, firearms, swords, daggers, and other implements of war. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to bother him.

Maybe the world had finally gone mad. Fitting, considering his current allies. Only in a mad world would the demon monk, the disgraced captain, and the traitorous kitsune be allies.

He carried just one package, a wooden box. So lightly burdened, Mouri bounded up the stairs. He could hear the little chatelaine ordering his men around, telling them where to set what and how. For such a naive little girl, she could get real bossy. He kinda liked it.

Motonari made it to the top of the stair just in time to see one of his men make a grab for the little Oda princess. The deckhand pinned her up to the wall, leering like she was a dock-front whore.

“Want to tell me where I can put this,” the deckhand grabbed at his crotch suggestively.

She glared at him furiously, but her legs were shaking. “Through the rolling hole of a cheerio,” she spat.

While neither Motonari or his men had any idea what that was, it was clearly an insult. The deckhand drew back to slap her, but Mouri caught his arm first.

“Whaddya think yer doing? Didn’t I tell ya to set tha boxes down and go?”

The deckhanded nodded. “Yeah, but boss, she said -”

He didn’t get to finish. Mouri let go of his hand and punched him in the throat. Hard enough to hurt, not enough to kill. “I didn’t ask fer an opinion.” His men took the hint and grabbed their friend, exiting quickly.

When they’d gone, the spicy little princess sagged against the wall. “Thanks Motonari. I was worried for a second.”

“Ya should still be worried,” he grinned. He closed the space between them, pushing her back against the wall, hard.

“M-motonari. If Mitsuhide sees you, he will kill you.”

“The fox ain’t here, is he? So what’re you gonna do about it?” Motonari lowered his head to her neck, inhaling the smell of her. It was no wonder the kitsune warlord lost his mind for this girl. She was smart, stubborn, and she felt like heaven against his chest. Plus there was something sweet about her. A gentleness absent in most. It appealed to the darkness in him.

The Oda princess considered a moment and then with a breath, slammed her head into Motonari’s jaw. It hurt. He let go with a laugh. “That was good. Not good enough, if I really wanted ta hurt ya. But good.”

Her hands shook as she straightened her clothes. “So what, you were just trying to freak me out by being a creep?”

Mouri wasn’t familiar with that word exactly, but he got the meaning. It only made him grin wider. “Sure did. Yer smarter than ya look.” He shoved the box toward her. “Take this.”

She eyed the box with distrust, but took it from him. “It’s not full of, like, poisonous death toads or something? It won’t explode when I open it?”

“Nah, but that’s a good idea. Have ta remember that.” Motonari watched her, curious if she would take what he’d brought.

The princess carefully opened the box as if she didn’t quite believe it was safe, but once the sunlight hit the polished metal within, she gasped. Inside, lying on a stuffed cotton, a matched set matchlock rifle and dagger. The design was slimmer and lighter than the usual matchlock, and the metal was engraved with tiny flowers, which also decorated the knife hilt.

“Motonari . . . “ she looked at him with wide eyes, wavering between shock and pleasure at the unexpected gift.

“Don’t ya look at me like that. Had ‘em lying around the boat. And ya need ta be able to protect yerself.” The pirate shrugged uncomfortably.

She set the box on the table and hugged him. “Thank you. That was very nice.”

Motonari tensed. “Yeah. Ya better let go before yer fox shows up. Seems ta be the jealous sort.”

The princess dropped her arms and stepped back. “Still. I really appreciate it.”

“Ya can stop thanking me.” He turned away, unsettled. He hadn’t expected quite that reaction. “I’ll have tha boys bring by more powder and shot later. Be ready.”

Then he left, passing Mitsuhide in the hall. The kitsune gave him a flat stare. Clearly, he didn’t trust him, but then, Motonari didn’t trust himself either.

***

Mitsuhide watched Mouri hit the steps at a near-run, hurrying as if he was escaping something. And his face was red, gaze distracted. Strange.

The door to the his room was open, and the smell of gunpowder wafted out. Mitsuhide stepped in. His little mouse was bent over a wooden box on the table. She turned when he came in and hurried over to him.

“You’re back!”

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wider than normal, even for her. “Did I surprise you?” Mitsuhide studied her. Mussed hair, slightly disheveled kimono, nervously fiddling fingers. Something had happened and she was trying to hide it. Silly mouse.

“N-no! Of course you're back! I just, I thought it would take longer.” She glanced back at the table then rushed forward to take his arm. “Look, Motonari’s men came today with more weapons. Are these what you were expecting?”

Mitsuhide let her divert his attention, curious what her end goal was. She showed him the crates of tanegashima, the swords and daggers, and armor. Her words spilled out in an anxious flow, repeating herself and stumbling through descriptions of the delivery.

Finally, she ran out of things to say and stared at the floor. “So, uhm, that looks, ah, about right?”

He took her chin in his hands and gently raised it to look at him. “The delivery is fine. You are not. Tell me what happened today.”

“Nothing?” She blinked up at him, schooling her features to stillness.

It might have been convincing if not for the way she shifted on her feet, and a glance back toward the table. Mitsuhide let go of her and turned back to see what the box was and why it seemed to concern her.

What he found surprised him.

A delicate kaiken and a slim-looking tanegashima. Both bore an imprint of flowers, delicate sakurasou blossoms. Mitsuhide lifted the matchlock. The stock was polished maple, the steel barrel rolled from thin metal sheets by a master. This was no common weapon. It felt light in his hands compared to a regular matchlock, and a little small. A tanegashima made for a woman.

“Did Motonari leave these?”

The chatelaine nodded. “He gave them to me.”

“Before or after manhandling you?” Mitsuhide watched her reaction carefully.

She looked down. “After. He said I needed to be able to protect myself. He had to stop one of his men from . . . well, anyway, nothing happened. I didn’t want to mention it.”

Because he, Mitsuhide, could not keep his calm when it came to her. He felt a mix of guilt and jealousy. If anyone should give gifts to his little one, it should be him. And that flower . . . not that she would understand. But Mouri had to know that he would. Bastard.

Mitsuhide set the weapon down and went to her. He took his little one into his arms and held her tight to his chest. “You must not hide things from me, little mouse. I want to know everything about you. Everything that happens to you. Even if you think it doesn’t matter, even if it might be . . . upsetting.”

Her arms twined around him, pulling her even closer. He could feel the beat of her heart in time with his own, and the rise and fall of her breath. It made him feel so frail for the first time since he’d taken up his place as the left hand of the Oda forces. Small in the face of this love that he held. Fragile in knowing how many ways it could break.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you right off. I just didn’t want you to worry.” She looked up at him. “I want you to know I can take care of myself. You don’t have to worry about me when you go off to do what you need to. I can handle myself around men - even ones like Motonari.”

Mitsuhide held her and let her words sink in. It helped, a little. He still wanted to smash the matchlock and snap the knife. Throw them in a gutter. Bury them. Along with the man that brought them.

“I can tell you’re still angry with me,” his little one murmurred. Her voice was muffled against his chest. He could feel the tickle of her breath, the movement of her lips.

“Never with you, little one.” He stroked her hair.

She snuggled into him, her nose and chin pressing. “Then . . . at Motonari? Nothing really happened. One of his men got a little handsy and Mouri stopped him before I had to.”

Her voice was confident, certain of her skill. Mitsuhide had done everything he could to impart to her the ability to protect herself in exactly such situations, but she’d never really been tested. Maybe he worried for her unnecessarily. But he couldn’t help it. “Perhaps you should come with me when I run errands - just to be sure. I don’t like the thought of another man laying his hands on you.”

“Mmmm, now you sound almost jealous. Are you, Mitsu?”

“Yes.” He couldn’t help the way he growled the word, nor the surge of possessiveness he felt.

She kissed the hollow just below his throat. “You shouldn’t be. There is no one in this world for me but you.”

“I know,” Mitsuhide grinned. “You promised to stay by my side, remember?” He sat down, pulling her into his lap. She fit against him perfectly. “But other men see you and desire you. And bring you tokens of love.”

She giggled. “The gun? You can’t think Motonari - I mean - no - just no. He thinks I am some stupid little girl that is going to mess up your mission.”

“And you believe that means he does not also wish to bed you?” Mitsuhide’s eyes flashed gold and hot in the afternoon light.

“I hope not.” She glanced over at the box. “If it bothers you, I can just get rid of them. I don’t need my very own gun. Any of the ones from our stockpile will do.”

Mitsuhide shook his head. “No. Then he would know it got to me. He would see it as a little victory. No - you should keep them and use them. They are fine weapons.” He ran a finger along the curve of her ear. “Just remember that even if you carry a weapon with his sakurasou, it is my bellflower that engraves your heart.”

“Sakurasou? Is that his clan symbol?” She closed her eyes, enjoying his light touch. These moments were his and his alone. Seeing her in pleasure like this.

“No. But he meant to express his desire for you. And that I would see it and know. He is testing me.” Mitsuhide smiled, and it was a wicked grin. He leaned down to place a little row of kisses along her neck. “Perhaps I should leave my own little message - and mark -” he nipped the skin just under her ear.

“M-mitsu! You already left a mark!” She pointed to the fading love bite half covered by her collar.

“Not obvious enough.” He kissed her forehead. “Maybe I should put one here?” Then he kissed the tip of her nose. “Or here?”

“Ah! No! D-don’t you dare -”

“Or maybe a ring of them all around your neck.”

His little mouse looked worried. “You can’t be serious. Mitsuhide - I might die if you do that. My heart would burst from the teasing alone!”

He laughed, feeling at last better. “I couldn’t risk that.” She was his, and the whole world would know it once he finished this mission. Mitsuhide promised himself that he would make her his wife and she would bear his name, his children, and his mark.

“Good,” she smiled up at him. “But . . . that doesn’t mean you have to stop kissing me. I really liked it when your lips were - here - and here -” she pointed at spots on her neck. Then she got a mischievous look in her eye and brushed a hand over her breast. “Here too.”

“Mmmm, I see. Perhaps I should make a study of these spots. Compare your reaction when I kiss you elsewhere?” He let his hand caress her side, slipping down to her belly.

“I support that research.” She shivered and her eyes took on a hungry light.

“Then let’s begin.”

Next: The Greatest Harm

***flower meanings gotten from here

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen mitsuhide #Mitsuhide Akechi #ikesen motonari #otome guys #otome #fanfiction #fanfic #fluff

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aiikawarazu · 2 years

Text

Hourglass Chapter #22

Title: Blue & Grey

Rated: M

Summary: Blue was the color of ocean. Grey was the color of sky in winter. In March of that year, before the cold winter melted into spring, these group of adolescents at the very center of this story experienced love, pain, heartbreak, and joy. Life was a series of choices, after all. And it was as mysterious as it could be.

FFNet here || AO3 here (AO3 is late update)

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

In March of that year, Armin found a ring.

Ymir lost her job, while Historia got a letter.

In March of that year, Ayako finally fell in love, while Mikasa fell into despair.

But for a short while, in March, they had all experienced happiness in various sorts of ways.

March was the moment which witnessed many strange happenings. Some bonds were broken, while others were strengthened. At the beginning, no one could have seen how these seemingly random events were all connected, but then again, perhaps none of them were a coincidence.

Even months, and years after that, Mikasa still sometimes thought to herself – what would happen if she had chosen to do things differently?

If she had given a different answer, would things turn out the way did?

Or, was everything a predetermined setup from the beginning, flowing in one direction towards the inevitable outcome?

If only she had the answer to that.

It was a tale in the strange city of Shiganshina – when the weather was about to turn from piercing cold to warm, when the icy winter was about to give away into spring. Along with the coming of spring, these adolescents in the very center of this story had also melted away their youths into maturity.

It had all started on one chilly winter afternoon, when Armin picked up a lost ring.

- Winter Flower: Daffodil -

At first, Armin wasn't really sure whose ring it was. As usual, he was on his way home from school to the train station. Eren and Mikasa were off somewhere together that afternoon. They had been together a lot as of lately and to be honest, Armin knew what's going on between them. There was such subtle openness in the way they were casually behaving in one another's presence now – as though it was just natural for one of them to be with the other, just like the waves and the sea being of one existence. It was as if they had known each other for all their lives, even those hellish months full of fights and misunderstandings in September last year up to this January now felt like something that had happened a long, long time ago, probably from another lifetime. Indeed, life was as mysterious as it could be – a lot of things were set in motion after he met Eren and Mikasa, and the rest was history.

If only Armin knew, that him walking these streets today was also history in the making. Life was a series of choices, after all.

He was walking in a hurry in an attempt to catch the next train in five minutes – when suddenly he felt his foot kick a peculiar object on the side of the pavement. The small sound of metal clink brought the object to his notice. The circular thing glistened a little under winter sunlight, rolled half a meter away before losing balance and fell sideways, circling a few times before it finally settled down on the ground. Armin frowned. Carefully, he made a few steps to approach the object and slowly picked it up, feeling curiosity rising inside him.

A ring.

He turned the object in his hands. It was a modest ring, made out of metal and silver. Judging from the color, it was certainly not a new one. It had been worn out due to age – but at the same time, this ring was beautifully polished, proof that the owner was taking a good care of it despite of its age. If it was such an important thing – the owner must be looking for it now.

Armin ran his fingers on the outer circle. The size was small, the owner was probably a woman. He tried to turn it around for more clues. Could this ring belong to someone in Shiganshina North? It could be. After all, all the students had to travel past this road if they wanted to reach the station. And Armin knew that for a fact, a lot of students went to school by train.

If this belongs to a student – I could easily give it at school, Armin thought. He tried to look for name engravings, and his eyes glistened in silent triumph when he finally found it. There, on the inside of the ring, was engraved the name of a person, most likely the owner of that ring, in cursive letters.

Annie L.

"Annie…" Armin brows furrowed at the name. He was plunged deep in thought for a few seconds. The name seemed to ring a strange bell in his brain – he had heard that name somewhere… only he couldn't remember it.

Was there a student named Annie in their school? He couldn't recall anyone in his year – but she could be a first or third year. He stood still for a moment, the mysterious ring still intertwined between his fingers. Annie… What if she wasn't a student in his school after all? Shouldn't he be turning this to the police as a lost item?

He tried hard to remember. Every time it seemed like he was so close to remembering, his memories went up and over like thin smokes. He gave out a sigh of frustration. He couldn't let it go.

At that moment, Armin didn't know why he did it. He could have made a detour to the police before resuming his walk to the train station. He could have turned the ring in as a lost item – it was the most sensible thing to do. Armin was usually a pretty sensible person. But this time – just this time, something stopped him from doing it. Probably because he wanted to know who Annie was. Probably because he wanted to find out why exactly she took a really good care of such a modest, old ring. Or probably – because the image of this ring itself had made him curious about the owner.

Whatever the reason was, he squeezed the item carefully inside his hand and slipped it in his pocket. Then, he continued his walk toward the station, as if nothing happened. He had chosen to keep that ring.

- Winter Flower: Plum Blossom -

It was a chilly afternoon indeed. Even though it was March, the temperature was still freezing. Not a weather Jean would have preferred for this activity he was about to carry, but still he couldn't have chosen any other day.

He washed his face with the freezing cold water, turned the tap shut, and faced his expression in the foggy bathroom mirror. He looked scared. Scared, but ready.

"You got this," he said to himself as he slapped both hands to either side of his face. It was an attempt to bring him down to reality, a slap of truth on the face that he needed to have to perform this action. Swiftly he walked out to the bathroom, past the corridors, ran down the stairs, and finally reached the central courtyard.

And there she was, sitting on a bench at the far end of that courtyard. She wasn't looking at him, instead, she was looking upward toward the sky – it was almost as if she was waiting for the skies to open, and snow to fall.

Without wasting any chance, Jean drew in a deep breath and called.

"Mikasa!"

The girl turned to him.

"Jean?" she said, sounding both surprised and confused. He knew why she was behaving that way, of course. He would have to explain it to her.

"Ishijima told me you'd be here."

"Ayako..?" for a moment Mikasa seemed to be processing the fact, until she connected the dots together, and a hint of understanding finally passed on her face.

"She set me up, didn't she?" Mikasa asked, and Jean nodded, looking a bit guilty. "Yeah… I kinda… asked her a favor," he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry for that."

Mikasa drew a long sigh and shifted uncomfortably on the bench, deliberately not looking at the boy standing before him. This air, this awkwardness and tension between them… she knew where this was going and she didn't like it. Damn it, Ayako. Why would she set her up like this? She already knew what's going to happen anyway.

"I just… I have something to say to you," she heard Jean say, and suddenly, her chest seemed to weigh a ton. She drew in another long, deep sigh and closed her eyes.

This was exactly the roots of all trouble, the beginning of it all. All the hurricane that seemed to turn her school life upside down had started from here. It was so simple really, just one event, and one wrong decision from her side.

But that one decision had branched into another mistake, and then another one, and… soon it had developed into a web caused by her series of bad decisions that slowly entangled her and trapped her inside. If there was one thing she did not understand back then when she rejected Jean, it's the fact that what happened between two persons were never only about the two of them.

She had thought that what happened between her and Jean was a matter between them both – but it was a clear mistake. It was not, and it never was. There will always be something, someone else – be it Nanako or other people, who were just as interested, as invested emotionally as both of them –in that relationship. These people's feelings would then become intricated, tangled, and as a result – all the emotions came together to cause complications that happened down the road. She was never an expert in interpersonal relationship – she didn't quite know how to deal with human emotions. A single mistake could cause a whole lot of chain reaction, which triggered the other events. But deep down, she might have known that this was an event that was bound to happen. Sh was going to have to face this, no matter what road she chose.

Slowly, slowly, she opened her eyes again to look at Jean. It took almost all of her to not run away from the spot. Jean looked conflicted, there was a lot of emotions on his face that she couldn't name. For a while, she thought of a way she should end this, in the least painful way possible, but then there was something on his eyes that just left her in a quiet reservation.

His sharp golden eyes spoke neither of hope nor anticipation. Those eyes just spoke of sorrow. They spoke of defeat. Somehow, it was the only emotion that kept her grounded. And in the next moment, she regained her senses back.

"What is it you wanted to tell me?" she asked.

She knew what was coming, she knew she might make another mistake here – just as that time when she rejected Jean but said that they could still be friends, when she accepted his invite but stood him up on their dates, twice – and when she decided to tell Nanako that she knew her feelings for Jean. She knew, and she wanted to offer her support, but Nanako just so mercilessly slapped her hands away, before proceeding to shatter their friendship to pieces. She had made countless mistakes back then – what would happen this time if she made yet another bad decision? When the inevitable happens, what then?

"I want you to know that I've given up on you."

Jean's words prompted Mikasa to look at him in surprise. There was a long silence when she gathered her thoughts, but Jean didn't interrupt her. He was looking at her, but he didn't say anything.

"What?" she opened her mouth, but that was all she could say.

"I give up," Jean repeated. "I give up chasing you, on liking you. I give up trying to make you look at me. I realize… that I am mighty stubborn at times. But I really… I want you to know that… it all ends today. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel uncomfortable before. Sometimes… I just cannot help it. I couldn't control my feelings and I caused you trouble. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry," she said before she could stop herself. "Jean, you're not at fault. I'm –"

"No, listen to me, Mikasa," he interrupted her gently, and she was silent, only her eyes imploring him to go on.

"I know I haven't got a fair chance on you. Even before Yeager came in… before all this shitstorm happened… I told you how I felt already but I got rejected. I should have given up then but I was too stubborn… I couldn't accept defeat, especially, my pride wouldn't allow me to give in. So… I kept going, over and over to chase you. I did like you but at some point…," he paused. "I realized, it might have been more about my pride than my feelings toward you."

His sorrow was replaced by something else now, a quiet, more subtle emotion. It was resignation.

"So… that's why I'm here today. To admit my defeat. Like I said… it all ends today."

"Jean…," she started, but then stopped. She didn't know what to say. She surely didn't expect any of this, but she was even more surprised that Jean would admit that the real reason he kept chasing her was because he didn't want to lose… because of his pride. For a while, she wanted to say sorry – sorry for all the things she did to him, for rejecting him and getting him entangled in her mess… It was almost at the tip of her tongue, but then, another word came up.

"Thank you, Jean," she said quietly. She could see his eyes widened in surprise. "For telling me this," she elaborated. "Thank you."

There was a speck of relief in his eyes. He was not sure how he expected her to take this – to be honest, he was actually prepared for feeling even worse, to admit a crushing defeat, but her words of gratitude set a huge burden off his chest.

"Well I guess…," he said to fill in the long stretch of uneasy silence between them, "I guess I should… thank you too." He shot her an awkward smile, which she returned just as nervously. Again, she heaved a deep sigh, and shot an upward glance.

"It's too cold here, we should –" but at that time, something caught her attention.

"It's blooming," she said almost in a whisper.

"Pardon?" asked Jean, clearly not following her. She pointed upwards, toward the tree branches that stretched above the park bench she had sat on earlier. "The flowers," she said. He followed her finger, and immediately understood what she meant.

When he found her earlier, she wasn't looking at the sky. She wasn't expecting the sky to open, or a heavy snowfall. She was probably looking upwards at these.

"Plum blossom," the said both in unison, and stared at each other in surprise.

"You didn't strike me as someone who knew about flowers," she commented, her surprised expression had changed into a somewhat soft smile.

"I guess… there are some things you might not know about me," Jean shrugged and answered rather bashfully. "I can see why you are excited, though," he shot an upwards glace again at the plum blossom buds, which had begun to blossom silently in the cold weather. "It takes a while for them to bloom this year."

"They bloom in the most adverse weather," he heard her say. "In the coldest winter climate – they survive and blossom. Don't you think it's amazing?" He stared at her face, which had softened considerably. She was still silently admiring the early blooms. He could sense a somewhat deeper meaning behind her words, but he couldn't dare to probe.

"I agree," he said finally. "People say flowers are weak because they live only for a short while, but for sure they're stronger than us. I mean… look at us now." He suddenly realized that he had been shivering. It was damn cold. "Listen, it's been a good talk, but we should probably go inside, yeah? Let's not catch cold."

Mikasa laughed. It was probably the first time ever that Jean was able to make her laugh, and he was taken aback.

"You were the one who asked to meet me here," she said. "Idiot."

Wow. That's two times she made him surprised today. The entire time he knew her, she never used any kind of bad words, even those that people normally considered as mild profanities.

"You have changed," he commented. Only after seeing her look of surprise did he realize that he had been saying it out loud… yet again. He covered his mouth in embarrassment. Him and his big mouth. One of these days, he should really learn to control it. But since he already said it anyway….

"Is it Yeager?" he asked. For a long while, Mikasa didn't speak. Her hand jumped to the red scarf she always had around her neck. It was just lately that she began wearing it, Jean had never seen her with it earlier, and yet, these days she was almost never seen without it. Mikasa tightened the scarf nervously, burying her lower face in it. Jean could still see her face glowing with hint of scarlet. Her reaction had said it all.

"Alright, I won't ask again," he said, sounding resigned. He was somewhat satisfied to have found his answer, though it did hurt a bit. But he had known this for a long while, so what difference did it make? He considered her again carefully, and speak, from the bottom of his heart this time.

"You look happier these days, Mikasa. I'm happy for you."

Beneath her scarf, Mikasa silently thanked him with a grateful smile.

***

"So? How did it go?" Jean just slipped his uniform open to change it with a T-shirt for a drama club practice, when a voice made him turn.

"Ishijima!" he yelled. "This is boys' locker room."

"You know no one cares about that rule," said Ayako, walking leisurely toward him and sitting on the bench nearby. "What did Mikasa say?"

"No – still, this is invasion of privacy, you know."

"What did Mikasa say?" Ayako asked again, more urge in her voice this time. Jean sighed.

"What else could she say? And just so you know, I did not confess. I went there to tell her that I'd give up on chasing her."

"Oh –" this came as a surprise to Ayako. Then, after a slight pause, "Jean… I'm so sorry."

"Don't be – it was my decision." He finished putting on a T-shirt and closed his locker with a clank. "And if anything… I was wrong about her." Ayako looked curious at this statement.

"About what?"

"Well," Jean sent her a sideways glance before continuing. "How should I say it… I think she's changed. The old Mikasa that I knew… she was beautiful but so cold, you know? It was like she never had life instilled in her. But these days, she's more… lively. I mean.. she called me an idiot for having her to meet me outside in the cold." Ayako burst out laughing.

"You probably deserved," she said. "Were you surprised?"

"Took the life out of me," Jean replied sarcastically. "It was Yeager after all… right?" he directed this question at Ayako, who only replied with a discreet smile.

"So you don't want to answer too? Damn it," Jean sighed. "Anyway, I'm over her now, I just wish her plenty of happiness." He shrugged, and began to walk toward the exit.

"You know, Jean..," he could hear Ayako call him from behind, but his words exploded before he could help it.

"I know… I sound like a loser, don't I?"

I wish you plenty of happiness was a bunch of bullshit. It took him a lot of courage to say that. To swallow his own pride, his own feelings for her, and to admit that he would bow out gracefully and declare defeat. It was a defining moment where he decided that he should never look at her again with a different feeling other than friends.

And still, in that damn little corner of his mind, there was a small voice that never wanted to shut up.

I wish you all the happiness. But when will I get my own happiness?

"Don't say that," said Ayako, rising up from the bench. She walked nearer to him, and sent a gentle squeeze on his arm. "How about… a consolation date?"

Jean turned, and regarded the brown-haired girl with a surprised look.

"What?"

"I'm free this Saturday," she said playfully. "So… let's have a date." Jean blinked a few times.

"Are you… are you joking, or…?"

"Really…. Are you seriously going to hurt a girl's feelings after I ask you out like this?" Ayako crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Are you free this Saturday, or not?"

"I –" It took a while for Jean to process her question. She really was serious.

"Of course. I'm free," he finally relented.

"Great!" she broke into a smile, and Jean was taken aback. For a split second, with smile lighting up her face, Ayako did look positively lovely. "Let's decide where to go later after practice then. See you!"

And with that, she trotted out of the locker room, leaving Jean in stunned silence.

- Winter Flower: Camellia -

"You can't do this," Ymir said, half in desperation, as she stared to the person standing in front of her – who returned her plea with a very cold expression.

"I'm sorry."

"No!" Ymir screamed. "What are you saying… you can't just – up and fire someone like that, you know? I'm – I'm the longest employed staff here, I never come late to work, never caused any trouble, why… why are you doing this?"

"Like I said," the staff who stood before her repeated with the same cold, bored expression. "This is boss's decision."

"Then let me talk to boss!"

"No use. That's why he wanted me to talk to you instead."

Ymir clenched her fists, her breath hitched up her throat in frustration. "I've got bills to pay, Takagi-san," she said, trying to keep her voice down, "You know I live alone, you know how my situation is, right? The boss knows too! Why are you doing this to me?"

"Business isn't exactly easy these days," Takagi replied with a sour smile.

"And so is my life!" Ymir's voice rose again. "If you fire me, I won't have any source of income, how… how am I supposed to live?" she clutched the front of her shirt, trying very hard to keep her emotions in check. "Are you telling me to go out there and die, Takagi-san?"

"Enough!" Takagi raised his voice too now. "The boss has already done enough for you, Ymir! Don't you realize it? We're employing an underage kid here, in a bar! We falsified your age and thanks to the boss, we never got discovered though we've come pretty close to it many, many times! Who do you think covered for your ass all those times?" Ymir looked away in guilt. It was true, the boss was the only one who took her in and employed her here despite her being underage after hearing about her situation. Thanks to that, she was able to cover for her rent, bills, and tuition for school. If not for the boss' kindness, she would be wasting away out there in the street since a long time ago.

"You should be in the social service, not here," Takagi told her, and Ymir eyed him with deep resentment. "I'm saying the truth," he said, not wavering under Ymir's look of profound distaste. You are underage, you are still in school. You shouldn't be working here. After shift is over today, pack your things." Ymir didn't say anything, she only looked down with her fists still clenched. Takagi sighed, then slowly put his arms on Ymir's shoulders.

"You need to be where you belong, Ymir."

She shook his hands away. "What do you know about where I belong?" She shot back sharply, her eyes glistened of fury, but also of tears. "In the end, you're just trying to make yourself feel good about this decision, aren't you? You kicked me out, and now I won't have money to survive! What a bunch of bullshit, saying you do this for my sake!" she shouted bitterly, and slammed her fist to her locker door in her anger outburst. She ignored Takagi's hurtful and surprised expression. Why was he the one acting like he's hurt – when clearly she was the one being kicked out here?

"If you want me out, fine! I don't need until the end of this shift. I'll get out now!" She grabbed her bag and her coat, and dashed to the exit, eyes blinded by tears. She felt angry, but more than that – she felt miserable. Once again, someone she thought she knew had betrayed her trust. Once again, she was left with no place in this world.

***

A sound of broken glass from her sister's room alarmed Frieda Reiss. She ran upstairs, and immediately knocked on her bedroom door.

"Historia?" she asked worriedly, "What happened? Are you alright?" after a few seconds of tense silence, she was relieved to finally hear her sister reply.

"Yes… I'm fine."

Her voice sounded a bit shaky and Frieda raised her eyebrows, looking unconvinced.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes… I'm sorry, I'm just a little bit tired. I knocked over the cup when I was moving some stuff," she answered again. Then, after a slight pause, "I'll clean this up immediately and go to sleep, I'm sorry…"

"That's fine," Frieda said. "Do you need any help?"

"No… I'm alright. Thank you," she said politely.

"If you say so," Frieda said, and she began to walk away from her sister's door. Inside, Historia waited until she heard her sister's footsteps going away down the stairs, then sighed in relief. Hurriedly, she gazed down to the letter in her hand. It looked like an ordinary, simple letter. The envelope had an ivory hue, the thickness indicated that it was of good quality. It might have passed for a wedding invitation, had it not been for the wax seal on the front of the envelope bearing an intricate capital letter 'R'. Once Historia saw the wax symbol, she knew who that letter was from, and that's practically why she dropped the cup she was holding on the other hand.

She glanced at the sender's name scribbled on the bottom right of the envelope, her heart racing when she saw the name.

Rod Reiss.

- Snow Flower -

Armin lay on his bed, his hair still damp from shower, carefully holding up the ring he just found back in the afternoon between the thumb and index finger of his right hand.

Annie.

He knew he had heard that name somewhere. He tried racking his brain, tried searching the internet for it – for an Annie that lived in Shiganshina, but there were too many results that he couldn't possibly dig in one by one.

Was he behaving stupid right now? What if the owner was frantically searching for her lost ring? Why didn't he just turn it in to the police station?

Maybe tomorrow I should just wait for the owner to show up near the place I found this ring, Armin thought. She will show up, and I can tell her I found this yesterday and decided to keep it.

Armin didn't know when he fell asleep. He was pretty tired, he didn't even wake up when his grandfather knocked on his door, found his grandson fast asleep, then turned off the lamp. However, just a few hours after, he suddenly he found himself wide awake. He didn't know exactly what woke him up. Floating between his consciousness, he sent a quick glance at the bedside table, and found that it was past 2 in the morning. Armin lay back down and tried to go back to sleep, but suddenly, a strange voice was ringing on his ears.

Annie… what are you doing here?

Eren's voice. Where did he her it before?

Armin tried to focus. Then, the memories came to him all at once.

That breezy autumn day in October, when Eren had just moved to Shiganshina North High, Armin had walked to the school front gate and found a female student waiting for Eren. Blonde hair, icy blue eyes, pale face as pretty as an ocean in winter. She gave him chills when she spoke.

Her name was… Annie.

***

"No."

"Please, please please… can we just ride the Takabisha one more time?"

"Hell no! My life was flashing before my eyes during that ride, you know?"

"Exactly! That's why it's so fun, right?"

"Stop it."

"Oh come on… just once? After the steep drop it wasn't too bad."

Jean regarded the girl standing before him, who was practically bubbling with excitement, jumping up and down, trying to get him to ride the Takabisha one more time with her. He sighed, then sent a dark look over the towering figure of that coaster, which rose straight up toward the sky from the ground level to 43 meters in height. Why would anyone design something so incredibly evil, Jean would never know. Not only it was high, they had to drop the coaster from 42 meters high in a world-record steepest angle of 121 degrees, took them through multiple twists and turns, going from 0 to 100 km per hours in only 2 seconds, before finally stopping in the finish line. It was only roughly a minute ride, but it was enough to scar Jean for a lifetime. He could painfully feel all the regrets in life coming back to him during the ride – and couldn't be more relieved when it was over.

But Ayako seemed to think otherwise. When she said she wanted to go on the ride again, Jean was struck with horror.

"Must you really pick something so scary?" he asked miserably. "Why can't we… have some normal rides or just…"

"Then how about the Haunted House?" she asked, and Jean's heart sunk. This park's haunted house was famous as a labyrinth modelled after some old, abandoned asylum, in which the visitors were responsible to find their own way out, with no guarantee what kind of ghosts or terrors they would encounter on the way. It was a gigantic attraction, and some visitors even couldn't find the way out for hours.

Something about the combination of being stuck for hours in a dark, scary place, modelled after some abandoned mental hospital really didn't have Jean running enthusiastically for it. No, he didn't even want to go inside, if he could. He sighed.

"Why don't we… just sit here, okay? I'll buy us some coffee." He motioned to a bench near them, and was relieved when Ayako finally nodded okay. "Latte for me," she said, and Jean nodded, quickly making his way to the nearest coffee shop before she changed her mind again and try to get him on another scary ride.

He had known that Ayako was pretty energetic and all, she was always such a contrast to Mikasa's calm and collected demeanor. When she suggested they should have their date at an amusement park, he agreed, thinking that it was a mighty fitting place for her. What he didn't know was – how much she was into scary rides and horror stuff. She breezed through all the stuff like it was nothing, enjoying them even, while he could barely even stomach it. After a drop tower ride, a 360-degree vertical rotation, a pirate ship, and finally, the infamous Takabisha which gave his stomach a dangerous turn he was almost sure he'd throw up his lunch – Ayako asked him to get on the ride one more time with such glimmer in her eyes like she'd just experienced her dream of a lifetime coming true, while he felt like he was on the verge of death.

He couldn't believe her.

Thankfully she agreed on his idea to sit down over a cup of coffee. He would have to think what he'd say to her later when they started moving again, though. Why can't they ride something that will plant their feet on the ground, for once? Jean was determined to not go to another coaster or a haunted house.

"Thank you," she said enthusiastically, retrieving her cup of hot latte from Jean, who proceeded to sit beside her.

"This park is so fun!" she commented. "I'm glad you found it so," Jean muttered darkly. He gazed down at the cup of hot americano he held in his left hand, slightly slouching with both elbows resting on his thighs. His dark tone didn't escape her attention. She raised her eyebrows, then, after a few moments of studying the boy in silence, she spoke.

"You were really scared, weren't you?"

Jean turned to face her. She sounded curious, but he saw a look of genuine concern in her face. He had to turn away quickly then, for the sight of her bright hazel eyes and blossoming pink cheeks were suddenly too much for him to bear.

"I'm sorry. I got too overexcited."

He heard her speak, and he blinked. Ayako looked a bit sheepish. "I was so excited to finally come here – I wanted to try everything so I just dragged you without thinking. I'm sorry… I was inconsiderate."

"No, don't apologize," Jean cut in quickly, as he felt his guilt sank in. "I mean I – I should be the one to…" he stuttered out, feeling devastated at her words. He couldn't help but mentally slap himself. Damn it! What kind of guy was he? Why couldn't he have handled a few scary rides? She was having so much fun, and he completely ruined it for her.

"There's a reason I want to go here, you know," she said, playing with the latte cup in her hands. It's… um… but, promise you're not gonna be mad?" she eyed him with a look, and he, feeling curiosity had taken over him, simply nodded.

"It's that… extreme rides trigger an experience that releases adrenaline. And Adrenaline helps you forget the bad things easier," she said, and he frowned, not quite getting what she meant.

"Oh God, you are so slow," she laughed, half in desperation. "I want you to have a good time. I want you to make good memories. I thought after everything that's happened… you would need to unwind, relax, and release the tension. That's why… that's why I chose this place. But to be honest, I didn't know you would be scared instead," she twirled her brown locks in her hand, looking somewhat guilty. "Sorry."

"No," Jean started. He didn't know why she would say sorry – he should be sorry instead, for ruining the experience for her, after everything she did to cheer him up. He felt so stupid.

"It takes a while to get used to, these things," she said, and Jean blinked.

"Roller coasters?"

"No, you silly," she laughed. "Moving on from someone you loved."

Her words were met with a stunned silence. She gave out a sigh.

"It's not like it is something that can happen overnight," she said. "People talk as if it's an easy thing to do – but it's not. That's why you shouldn't worry. Just take your own pace, do one thing at a time. And slowly, slowly you will heal." She smiled. "You have to."

He couldn't bring himself to say anything to her. He'd had this thought a few times about Ayako, but it was always just a fleeting thought. After all, he was always too busy paying attention to Mikasa that he never had eyes for anything else. Despite being in the same club, Jean never even had a proper time to converse with her. It was as though this was the first time Jean had really ever seen her. He knew Ayako mostly from the school rumors, she was pretty, goes to blind-date a lot, easy to get laid with and would probably do it for money. She's an easy-win, that's how guys would often call her. There were still various other names that people used to describe her. But it never really captured the essence of her as a person, and this was the first time Jean realized that Ayako, despite everything else that people might call her, really could be considered quite mature and thoughtful for her age.

"It's nice," he said finally, with a relieved smile.

"What is?" she sent him a curious glance, looking at him through the brim of the latte cup, which she was drinking to fill in the empty silence.

"Discovering a new side of someone we thought we knew." This time it was her turn to not follow his words.

"Sorry?"

"I'm talking about you," he said quite humorously. "Ishijima."

"Oh, just drop the formalities," she said. "You can call me Ayako."

"Ayako," he liked the way that name rolled off his tongue.

"Jean," she replied. They looked at each other for a few stunned seconds, then, a hint of smile began to form at the corner of her lips. He didn't know why, but he suddenly found this hilarious also. As he mirrored her expression, his eyes lit up. And the next second, they both burst into laughter.

***

It's not here. It's not here. It's not here

Annie was searching frantically, retracing her steps back from yesterday, turning every stone, every nook and cranny, but still she couldn't find it.

Her ring was gone.

She clutched at her chest with devastation. She had always worn the ring every day, dangling it on a silver chain around her neck, but yesterday, the chain was broken, and she only realized she had lost her ring when she arrived home.

She couldn't sleep that night and couldn't pay attention at all to school the day after. When the fourth period bell rang, she slipped out of class and retraced her steps back, from the train station to the streets she walked to the places she visited, but none of them resulted in any good news. It was almost hopeless, she knew. But she couldn't give up.

She let fatigue overtake her when she finally rested a bit on the way uphill to Shiganshina North High. She was here yesterday, looking for Eren, but she couldn't meet him. She leaned back against the stone wall on the side of the street and slowly sank down, crouching. The cold of winter was biting her cheeks. She was exhausted. She covered her tired eyes with both her hands, sighing in frustration. What would happen if she didn't find that ring? She didn't want to think. She had to find it… she had to. It was the only memento she had left from her father, from their earlier years together.

From their happier years.

"Excuse me," a voice came up, and she burrowed her face deeper in her hands, hoping it would go away.

"Excuse me," the voice repeated, and she ignored it even further. This voice was quite persistent, so annoying….

"Annie," now the voice called her name, and she immediately looked up. A pair of big, blue orbs were staring back at her, those belonging to a boy of her age. Blonde hair was framing his face, and he looked concerned, but relieved. Annie frowned. She remembered him.

"You are Eren's friend," she said, almost matter-of-factly. "How did you know my name?"

"About that…," the boy reached out to his trousers' pocket, and brought out something inside his fist. Slowly, he opened his hand in front of Annie, revealing the object he was holding. The girl immediately let out a gasp, and covered her mouth.

"It's yours… right? I found it yesterday."

She stretched out her trembling hand to pick up her ring from Armin's hand, her breath seemed like it had stopped in her throat all the while. She had almost given up all hope to find it, but here it was now, by some kind of miracle, this boy had somehow returned this ring to her.

She clutched the ring tightly inside her hands and brought it in front of her chest, closing her eyelids so hard and drew in a deep breath to stop tears from pouring out.

"I thought… it might be an important thing for you. That's why I didn't give it to the police," she heard his soft voice, and she slowly looked up again. She was too relieved in finding her ring back, she'd forgotten to even thank him.

"Thank you," she said, genuinely. For a while, her never-ending cold expression was replaced with a smile, which Armin regarded with surprise. She looked completely different when she smiled. And if her frosty eyes were filled with some kind of cool animosity toward him before, now it was more of a quiet, yet still distant, acknowledgement of him.

"You are welcome," said Armin. He returned the girl's smile with a speck of relief. "I'm glad."

She looked surprised. "For what?" she asked.

"Ah, well… I'm just thinking….," Armin paused. Should he say it? But he's rarely ever going to see her anyway, so… might as well take his chance now.

"I just think… you look really nice when you smile."

She looked surprised, but, Armin noted in huge relief, not in a bad way. It seemed she was taken aback at his comment, but it's not in any way unwelcome for her. She stared at him for a few long seconds, before asking.

"What's your name?"

"Armin. Armin Arlelt."

She seemed to think for a while, then…

"If there is anything I can do to thank you, let me know. I'll do it if I can."

Armin hesitated for a while. "There is… one thing I would like to ask then," he said.

"Yes?"

"Do you mind… do you mind to give me your number?"

- Blue Side -

"An Instax?"

"This kind of thing is all over the social media lately. Gives you the kind of retro feels," Armin showed up his brand-new polaroid camera to Mikasa. He had got an Instax Mini 90, a nice and compact polaroid camera with well-polished black faux leather and silver metal body, which, like Armin said, completely gave Mikasa retro vibes.

"Can I try it? I promise not to waste any films," she asked, and he smiled.

"Don't have to worry about it," Armin handed the camera over to her, and she pointed the camera to his direction, capturing him in the viewfinder window.

"Okay, smile," she said. Armin gave her a huge grin, then she clicked.

The camera produced a whirring noise, then the film came out, still looking like a blank piece of paper.

"It's going to take a while to develop," Armin said and she nodded, setting it aside.

"Eren!" she called out to the other boy, now pointing the camera to him. "Look here."

"What?" Eren was laying on his back on a wide space near the window sill, playing with the basket ball that he had somehow snuck out from the sports warehouse. He threw the ball upwards into the air, and caught it as it came back down, sometimes twirling it on the tip of his index finger. He didn't seem to be paying attention to Mikasa or Armin.

"You're going to break something in this lab with that ball soon, I just know it," said Mikasa.

He grinned. "You wish," he said, and continued to bounce the ball upward and caught it mid-air.

"When that happens, I'm not gonna cover up for you, by the way."

"Me either," Armin chimed in.

"Well, why should we meet up in a science lab anyway?" he protested. "There are other safer places I'm sure. Somewhere we're not at risk of breaking things."

"We are not at any risk of breaking things, mind you."

"Yeah, only you are, Eren."

"Also, everywhere else is full. The third years are having their cram period before the exam so we can't use the classrooms. And the home economics lab is locked cause some students from first year blew up a fuse during their cooking practice today."

"Sounds lovely," Eren commented.

"Hold that pose," said Mikasa finally, when Eren just caught the ball for what must have been the hundredth time. He looked at her, questioning, but she already clicked the camera shutter quickly. She pulled out the polaroid film, and set it aside with Armin's, which had turned out nicely.

"Nice lighting," Armin commented. "Nice use of the window light there, Mikasa."

"I'm bored," Eren interjected, finally rising from his place. "Isn't there something we can do?"

"I don't know about you – but I'm broke," said Armin. "Spent all my allowance to buy this camera."

"I don't have that much too," Mikasa commented. "Have to last until the end of the week with what little I got left."

"How much does everyone have?" said Eren. "Let's put them together."

Armin and Mikasa sent a sideways look, but they grabbed their wallets anyway to pull out their remaining pocket money. They didn't have much indeed.

"We can't go very far with these," said Eren, thinking.

"Told you."

"How about just going to that convenience store down the road to grab some cup noodles and hot coffee?" Armin said, and Mikasa was about to agree with his idea, when Eren suddenly cut in.

"No wait… I got a better idea."

***

"Whose brilliant idea was this to go to the ocean in winter?" Mikasa protested through her chattering teeth.

"Shut up, you already agreed to it anyway, so don't protest!" Eren shot back, annoyed.

The three of them now stood on Shiganshina's open coast, having just exited the bus that took them to this place. The bus driver sent them a look as if they were crazy for going to the ocean in this weather, and Mikasa definitely had to agree.

They set out on the descending staircase that brought them all the way to the beach, the freezing wind blew mercilessly all the while, cutting through their skin, and sending chills all the way down to their bones. Mikasa's hair was blown away by the fearless wind, hopelessly tangled now in all direction. Half of her regretted going here, but she knew anyway Eren wouldn't have let her say no to his plans. She had no choice but to go along with him. Once they had descended all the way to the bottom, she began taking out her socks and shoes, while Eren and Armin sent her a look.

"Might as well," she tried to bite back the cold that seemed to seep through her bones. "Go all the way now that we're here."

She put away her bag, socks and shoes, then ran bare-footed toward the ocean to catch the waves. She winced when her toes came into contact with the waves.

"Cold!" she muttered. "Eren, Armin, come on," she waved at them. "Let's have a contest to see who can last longer in these cold waves!"

Eren already took off his shoes and socks and was now running to catch her. Armin was worried about catching a cold, although he couldn't help but follow in his friends' footsteps.

"Shoot! It's so damn cold!" Eren shivered as he stood now with his feet planted in the sand, waves sweeping freely at his feet. Mikasa, who noticed the close distance between them, quietly bent down, scooped a handful of water, and splashed it at him.

"Ouch! Hey, Mikasa? What the hell?"

"That's for making us going to the ocean in winter," she said, her eyes glinting humorously. Then, she ran away before Eren could have got back at her, smiling as she heard his frustrated groan. From the reverberating sounds of footsteps though, she knew that Eren was chasing after her. He could try – he'd run a marathon before she ever let him catch her. Knowing that it was futile, Eren soon stopped his attempt. He paused to catch his breath. Mikasa wasn't called the fastest runner in class for nothing, after all.

"Eren, Mikasa!" Armin called, waving his hand to both of them. He was standing a little way up, closer to the staircase, where waves wouldn't reach him. "Get here, I'm taking your picture." He had his polaroid camera ready in hand.

Mikasa came close, still slightly wary of Eren, wondering if the boy would somehow try to use this chance get back at her. Eren noticed her, then held up a 'peace' sign.

"Let's call it a truce," he said. She frowned. She couldn't trust him at all.

"Get closer!" Armin shouted over the sound of the wind and waves crashing, "You're not even on one frame!"

So – after sending quick glances toward one another, they began to walk closer, and stood side by side. Armin peeked through the viewfinder, and gave a frustrated groan.

"You guys look like an old married couple who's fighting and haven't said anything to each other in weeks," Armin said. "Can't you just be a little more… peaceful?"

At this, Mikasa felt Eren's right hand circled down her waist. Before she had a chance to react, he had jerked her closer, and now they stood side by side without distance, his chest to her back.

"Now?" he asked Armin, almost as calmly as if they were making a commemorative class photograph. Her breath seemed to have stopped in her chest. She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut in.

"Be quiet," he said, locking his eyes with hers with an obvious grin, "Or else I'll kiss."

She could feel the heat radiating from her face upon hearing those words. God – surely this was his way of getting back at her. Despite how they were behaving in private, he knew how reserved she was when they were in front of others – even if that someone other happened to be Armin. She couldn't find any retort to give him, so she just stayed silent and looked down, until Armin shouted at her to look at the camera.

"Much better," Armin grinned in satisfaction, when she finally did. He clicked the shutter before Mikasa could say anything else, and soon he had flicked the undeveloped film inside his hand. He felt rather amused. Just because he knew what's going on between them – didn't mean he shouldn't give them a tease.

He was about to go up to retrieve more polaroid films from his bag, when he suddenly heard a scream from behind him. Alarmed, he quickly looked back. Apparently, Eren had been successful in getting back at Mikasa by splashing her with a handful of cold, freezing water. And now he's got a very angry Mikasa chasing after him. Armin sighed, and continued his climb. He will not be responsible if both of them catch colds tomorrow.

#eremika #hourglass #snk #snk fanfic #aot #aot fanfic

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r3surgence · 2 years

Photo

→ anyone else but you

↳ in which hyunsu is cornered.

↳ kim hyunsu, han jian, yeon jaewon

↳word count: 2.1k, warnings: blood, body horror, mentions of stalking, kinda unsettling

a/n: a few minor changes.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

Hyunsu’s eyes eased open. He looked over to the bed across the room to see if Jaewon had moved. The boy across the room was still, chest rising and falling gently in lieu of his sleep. He took a deep breath, rubbing his eyes and clicking the home button on his phone. The light was almost blinding as he squeezed his eyes almost shut.

4 a.m.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

He could hear something hard but light hitting against his window, causing the sound. He nearly groaned, realising what the source had to be. He pulled the covers off of himself, easing off the bed so as to not wake Jaewon who was slumped in slumber across the room.

Hyunsu’s feet hit the cold tile floor and he had second thoughts about humouring her. He sighed again, rising from the bed and crossing the room. He unlocked the window and hung himself out of it, the cool spring air hitting his face earnestly.

The night was nearly pitch black save for the streetlamps below. He could just make her out down on the street, looking back up at him. She wasn’t far away, and he could see her face from where he was, only three floors up from the ground.

“Let me come up. I brought something for you.” Her voice felt sweet as it pierced the silent air.

Hyunsu glanced over his shoulder. “You know you aren’t supposed to come here anymore.” he said, hoping his voice projected far enough-- if he was any louder, Jaewon was sure to wake up.

“Please, I came all the way here just to bring this to you. I had to walk, the bus doesn’t even run this late and do you know how long it took me to get here? Just for you?”

“Shit.” Hyunsu said under his breath. He nodded, waving his hand to motion her up.

Hyunsu made his way across the floor, taking light steps and trying to stay silent as he made it to the front door of their dorm. He slipped out, holding the heavy metal block as it tried to swing closed behind him. He waited for her, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

The fluorescent lights that lit up the hallway made him feel anxious-- the lights were dim at either end of the hallway and it almost felt sinister. He couldn’t help but to plead with her in his mind, begging her to hurry the fuck up so that he didn’t have to stand out here longer than he wanted to.

The sound of footsteps approaching him in the dark and silent hallway was ominous, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. She was never the most comforting sight to see in the first place.

Hyunsu wasn’t sure why he kept Jian around or why it had lasted as long as it did. He couldn’t decide if he was lonely or just bored. To be honest, Jian scared Hyunsu. It wasn’t that she was unhinged or violent, but she was quiet. Something about her made it seem like she was always thinking so much more behind her big light eyes. Something about Jian was sinister.

She stepped into the light, wearing an oversized black hoodie. Her bangs were straight across her forehead and her eyes peeked out from under. She never changed much, she always stayed the same. Something that Hyunsu appreciated, especially when so much in his life had changed.

She had a bag hanging loosely in her fingers as she approached him, a small smile playing lightly on her lips as her eyes trained on him. She tilted her head to the side and stepped into him, arms snaking around his waist. He flinched when she reached up on her toes, pressing her mouth against his and kissing him hard. Too hard for where they were.

She drew back, a smile prominent on her features. “I got you a present, Su.”

She stepped back, extending the bag clutched in her fingers to him. He took it from her, eyes gliding down to her leg. Her knee looked like it had holes poked in it. She wasn’t bleeding, but it looked like she had been earlier in the night.

“What happened?” He asked, voice husky with sleep as he motioned toward her wounds.

She glanced down, smile faltering only for a moment. “Ah, nothing.” She shook her head, returning to the face she always wore. “Nothing, I promise. Just open it-- please.”

Jian shifted, moving one leg in front of the other, as if it would make him forget about the holes that were present on her knee.

Hyunsu shook his head, opening the bag and pulling out a box that filled his hands. He opened it up, the smell of cookies hitting him in the face. He smiled, feeling sorry for ever thinking anything bad of her or for regretting being involved with her. She did try to look out for him, regardless of the things she had done. She always thought of him and even did things just to make him smile.

“Cookies?”

Jian nodded furiously, smile growing even more. “I made them myself from scratch, they’re your favourite-- I-I even put something special in there… A secret ingredient you can’t get anywhere else.” She paused, a silence settling over them for a moment as they stared at each other. “Eat one.”

“Right now? It's so late, Jian… I’ll eat one tomorrow--”

“Su, eat one. I worked hard on it and walked all the way here. The least you can do is just eat a cookie for me.”

Hyunsu sighed again, reaching inside the box. The cookies looked fine, and they even still felt warm. He brought it to his mouth, taking a bite and chewing carefully. The flavour melted onto his tongue like butter, settling in his mouth as he tilted his head to the side. He closed the box, setting his cookie on top of it. “Thanks, muffin. You always take care of me.”

Hyunsu reached his hand out, patting her head. She closed her eyes and leaned into it.

“Finish it, Su.” She said, urging him on.

Hyunsu blinked. He picked the cooking back up, putting the rest of it into his mouth and chewing it carefully.

She watched him, eyes unblinking as her pupils shook, hands coming to cup her own cheeks. A small giggle passing from between her lips.

Hyunsu groaned, feeling a stabbing pain in his tongue as his teeth cracked down on something hard and metallic. He sputtered, dropping the box and spitting out the cookie. The stabbing pain didn’t go away as he prodded his fingers into his mouth, feeling something sticking out of his tongue.

Blood dripped onto the floor as he fell onto his knees. “What the fuck?” He said, tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. “Jian?”

Jian looked down at him, crouching down so she could look him right in the face, noses nearly touching. “I put my blood in the cookies, Su. And now it's inside of you too. I’m inside of you.”

She stood up, walking back toward the dark ends of the hallway as he groaned on the ground. He picked himself up, back on his feet and struggled to put the code in the door to let himself back into the dorm. Hyunsu disregarded the heavy door closing behind him this time as he moved frantically through their common space. He kept his tongue sticking out of his mouth, making his way to the bathroom and flipping the light switch on. He looked in the mirror, seeing a needle sticking out of the end of his tongue and he automatically felt dizzy, watching as the blood dripped from his mouth.

He whined at the sight, knowing for damn sure that he wouldn’t be able to get it out on his own. He couldn’t help as the panic set in at the sight-- and he felt like he barely even had a choice of what to do.

He reluctantly stepped out of the bathroom, slipping back into his shared room-- he didn’t even bother flipping on the light.

“Jaewon-- I’m sorry but can you please help me.” He said, not sure if Jaewon could even understand him.

Jaewon jerked, almost like he was fighting as he woke up. “Hm? What’s going on?”

Jaewon looked mad when he rose up, sitting up straight in his bed, the covers pooling at his waist. But his face softened when he looked up to see Hyunsu crying beside him, spit and blood dripping from his lips as his breath caught in his throat.

“Can you please help me,” His hands shook as he reached up to touch his tongue.

“Shit, what the fuck?” His voice rattled deeply in his chest. He rubbed his face, trying to wake himself up. He flipped on the lamp that stood beside his bed and stood up from where he was, looking down on Hyunsu. “What the fuck happened?”

Hyunsu shrugged, unable to speak anymore as he blinked back tears that softly flowed down his cheeks. He was never good with anything like this-- he hated needles and he hated blood. Just the thought of it alone made him feel like he was going to faint.

Jaewon grabbed Hyunsu by his cheeks, his other hand prodding at his tongue and carefully grabbing the head of the pin that was shoved in his tongue. Hyunsu whined when he started pulling on it, his tongue offering resistance for the shaft of the pin as Jaewon carefully slid it out of his tongue. He held it up and let go of Hyunsu’s face, showing Hyunsu how long the small shard of metal was.

“Where the fuck did this come from?”

Hyunsu covered his mouth, pulling his tongue back in his mouth as it filled with blood and dripped out of his mouth. He slapped a hand over his mouth and sniffled, making a break for the bathroom to wash out his mouth and hope to fucking god that he stopped bleeding so much.

He spat the mouthful of the thick sanguinous liquid into the sink and Jaewon loomed in the door, needle still resting between his fingers.

“Jian. Jian brought me cookies and--” Hyunsu coughed, hovering his face over the sink as he leaked into it. He felt like he was going to gag, barely able to use his tongue. There was a searing pain radiating through the muscle. “She put her fuckin’ blood in it and needles too. Fuck,”

“Shit, why?” Jaewon was met with silence as Hyunsu looked at him through the mirror. “You really need to stay away from her, bro. Why the fuck did you let her come here this late at night anyways? She’s weird, you don’t know what she’s even capable of, especially after--”

“Please don’t lecture me.” Hyunsu said, having rinsed his mouth out with water as Jaewon spoke. “I can’t just let her go… She kind of scares me if we’re being honest. I mean, look at what the fuck she did?”

Jaewon shook his head. “You can’t be afraid of a little girl like that. This only happened because you let it happen, Su. Don’t let her come back here.” He crossed his arms over his bare chest, gooseflesh rising on his arms.

Hyunsu said nothing as the taller boy walked away from him. He rolled his eyes, shutting off the water and holding his head in his hands.

This wasn’t the first time that something similar to this had happened. Jian was always like this in some way, but her antics had gotten worse and worse every time he had seen her. It was getting to the point that Jian was scaring him-- but it was hard for him to see just how bad things had gotten. He thought Jian was pretty and she liked him despite seeing every flaw he had. So he couldn’t help but to welcome Jian with open arms every time she showed up to the dorms or in other places he happened to be in.

Hyunsu almost felt trapped, knowing that Jaewon was probably right. He had to put a stop to it sometime, but the thought of that scared him too. What would happen if he did put a stop to it? He was afraid for himself and for Jian… He knew she had a turn to her, something that made her have such a sharp edge. He didn’t know what she was capable of in regards to both him and herself.

But Hyunsu didn’t want to think about any of that. He’d simply worry about it later.

#* ⠀ / ⠀ 𝙁𝙄𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 ⠀ ﹕ ⠀ ❪ ⠀ hyunsu ⠀ ❫ ⠀ * ⠀ i was quiet but i was not blind.#* ⠀ / ⠀ 𝙁𝙄𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 ⠀ ﹕ ⠀ ❪ ⠀ jaewon ⠀ ❫ ⠀ * ⠀ i was quiet but i was not blind.#theyre besties #fic #fake idol #fake idol community #fake kpop group #kpop oc #male kpop addition #kpop #kpop au #au #bts addition #skz addition #addition #male addition #bts #skz

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afeb · 2 years

Text

Bucky Barnes - Salvation

long and kinda slow-burn :)

“Stay safe you,” Matt said as I walked out of the small bookshop.

“Always try.” I smiled back as I skipped down the steps.

I scanned over the books I’d bought on my short walk home, turning the first few pages and already sinking into the stories within. The streets were quiet, sun setting as I hurried home to avoid dark.

I finally stepped foot inside my apartment and immediately went around and turned on all the lamps. I detested the dark, an old habit I found hard to break, as I swiftly checked from room to room. I did this to make sure no one was inside, but in the back of my mind I only looked for one man. Books placed on the side, I was about to sit down when a heavy knock sounded from the door.

“Bloody hell,” I muttered as I walked over. I swung open the door.

Fuck.

Slamming it shut quickly my heart raced and face paled. I could throw up, or faint, and I considered doing both. How did he know where I lived? What was he planning on doing? I bargained that I’d never go to police, and I didn’t for that matter, so why is he here?

“Y/N?” The Winter Solider said through the door.

“I-I haven’t told anyone.” I said.

“That isn’t why I’m here.” His voice was softer than I remembered, he sounded...normal.

“P-Please just go.” I begged, hand still tightly holding the doorknob.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he promised. “I won’t even come into the apartment, I just need to say something.”

I peeped through the spy hole, making sure he was alone. He usually was, however, on one occasion he brought back up. That was the worst of times.

“Step away from the door.” I ordered, to which he readily complied and took two large steps back. I opened the door a crack, waiting for him to pounce. But he remained firmly planted in his spot.

Warily, I creaked the door open. He was dressed in black jeans, a navy top and a black leather jacket. His hair was cut short, his beard was growing out and he no longer donned the muzzle he used to in public. Gloves covered his hand. He looked completely normal.

“My name is James Buchanan Barnes, and I am no longer the Winter Solider,” he said. “Apologising to you is my way of making amends with my past.”

I furrowed my brows. “What?”

He gulped. “I...I did awful things to you, and I’m sorry.”

“Is this...is this a joke?” I asked, peeping my head out a little and looking down the hallway.

He shook his head. “I’m trying to be a better person, and apologising to you is part of that. I could also, do things for you?”

My eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“No!” He said. “No, I meant like...jobs or, I dunno...anything.”

“I’m so confused.” I whined as I rubbed my eyes. “Are you going to kill me?”

He shook his head. “No.”

His eyes looked pleadingly at me. He was alone, he looked normal and I could feel the truth drip off his words. After a long pause, I sighed deeply.

“Do you want to come in?” I stepped aside.

“If that’s okay.” He stiffly smiled and walked past me.

I shut the door and watched him. He looked around the small space, standing in the hallway. I had photos lining the walls, all of friends and family, and he took care to look at some of them.

“You can take off your coat and gloves.” He nodded and shrugged of his jacket, however, chose to leave the gloves on.

“Nice place.” He complimented.

“Thanks,” I had no clue how to act around him. He followed behind me as I led him into the kitchen, turning to face him as he lingered in the doorway. “I was going to cook some dinner.”

He nodded. “Anything special?”

I shook my head. “You could...join, we could talk.”

“That would be...nice.” He smiled.

I cooked in near silence. James took a seat at the small table by the window and watched me as I mulled around the kitchen. Chicken in, salad made, I turned to face him.

“It’ll be about half an hour.” I said as I sat opposite him.

“You’re being very kind.” He said.

“So, what is this?” I gestured between us.

He leant back. “The US Government has pardoned me, and part of that agreement is that I have to go to therapy. My Doc came up with a plan to help me...move on from my past. I have to go around and make amends with the people I hurt, or helped, and that means you.”

I nodded. “How many have you done?” I asked.

“A few,” he said. “I was...I was putting off doing you.”

I frowned. “Why?”

His eyes cast over to me as he took a shaky breath. “I...hurt you. In life changing ways, even if you forgave me, I could never forgive myself.”

I pursed my lips for a moment and didn’t speak. His eyes looked down at his lap, a sad expression coming over his face.

“I hated you,” I whispered. “I always thought in my head that if I ever got the chance, I’d kill you. But then I spent a while researching you, your past. What they did to you, how they treated you, what they made you do. And I realised, it wasn’t really you who hurt me, it was them.”

He gazed at me through his lashes. “Y/N...”

“You have nothing to apologise for,” I smiled, reaching over and taking his hand. “Water under the bridge.”

His hands flexed, squeezing mine. “Water under the bridge.” He repeated.

The gloves were soft against my hands as I peered down at them. “Can I see?”

His face grew uneasy as he shifted in his seat. “Um...yeah, sure.”

He peeled the gloves of slowly, almost waiting to me to stop him. The metal had changed. Instead of the bright silver I was used to, it instead was sleek black with gold details. He rolled his sleeve up as high as it would go, the infamous star now gone. It suited him better, I thought, complimented him more.

“It looks nice,” I smiled. “Better than the old one.”

“Thank you.”

“Could I?” He gave me a nod as I ran my ran over the cool metal.

It was really a work of art. Oddly, this one didn’t scare me. The other had felt my skin, brought me to the edge of death so many times, but this one? This one had only gently squeezed me hands.

We both jumped as the oven beeped, giggling a little as I stood and plated up our meal. We ate quietly, James complimenting my cooking one too many times. The evening drew on and soon James was shrugging on his jacket and lingering by the door.

“Thank you,” he smiled. “Dinner was amazing.”

I laughed. “I’ll have to cook it again.”

His eyes glistened with happiness at the chance of us seeing each other again. “I’d like that.”

I opened the door for him. “It was nice seeing you, the real you.”

He nodded. “I meant it you know, need a boiler fixing, walls painted, I’ll do it.”

He quickly scribbled his number in a small notebook and ripped out the page and handed it to me. “I’ll keep that in mind,”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” He danced around me for a moment before enveloping me in a short, tight hug.

Weeks passed and I didn’t contact him. I thought I’d be a painful reminder of his past and thus didn’t want to keep contact with him. That was, until my sink burst and my landlord claimed it wasn’t his responsibility. I’d tried hard to fix it myself, and the local plumbers charged ridiculous rates, so I found myself texting James.

To James B -

Hi! Sorry I haven’t contacted you before, been very busy! Could I pick up the favour you owe me? My sink has burst and I’m in desperate need of a plumber. - Y/N

I didn’t expect a reply, but he text back before I’d even put my phone back on the table.

From James B -

Hey! No worries. Heading over now.

I scrambled to tidy the apartment, dreading to confess I in fact lived like a pig most days. After a frantic half an hour, a knock sounded from the door.

“You’re a life saver,” I sighed as I opened the door.

James offered a lopsided smile, shrugging his shoulders. “No worries,”

“It burst two days ago, I had a go myself but I think I made it worse.” James set his bag of tools on the counter and opened the cupboard under the sink.

“Oh yeah, I see what’s wrong,” he silently set to work, laying on his back and doing god-knows-what.

After a while I went into the living room and read my book, curling my legs underneath me and settling down. James banged about the kitchen and a swear word or two later, he popped his head around the door.

“Done.”

“So soon?” I quickly stood and bounced into the kitchen. I turned the tap and stepped back, expecting water to drown my feet, but instead it simply swirled down the drain. “It lives!”

James chuckled at my remark. “A few bolts came loose and disconnected, easy stuff really,”

“Thank you James.”

“Bucky,” he quickly said. “Call me Bucky.”

“Thank you, Bucky.” I smiled. “Want to stay for lunch?”

“Yeah,”

We chatted mindlessly as we made sandwiches, Bucky telling me about his childhood. When he was the Winter Soldier I only heard gruff orders, but he had a voice that sounded smooth and sweet. His eyes lit up when he spoke of his siblings and parents, of a life that felt like thousands of years ago.

“You got a boyfriend?” Bucky asked, fiddling with the label on his beer.

I cocked a brow. “No, you?”

“No.” Bucky said. “I’ve tried these dating websites but...feel out of my depth.”

I nodded in understanding. “I abandoned those long ago,”

“I’m glad you text me.” He said. “I’ve spent the last few weeks wondering if you would.”

“Truthfully, I thought you wouldn’t want to speak to me.” I confessed.

“Why would you think that?” He frowned.

“I’m a reminder of your past,” I explained. “I can understand that even looking at me must be hard for you.”

Bucky paused for a moment and scanned over my face. “I see you as my salvation, not my damnation.”

I smiled. “I don’t think I said it before,” I shuffled a little closer. “But I forgive you, Bucky.”

His breath hitched, arm dropping to rest behind my head. “Say it again.” He whispered.

“I forgive you.”

Our bodies were close, Bucky resting his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes and waited for him to make a move, but they fluttered back open when I felt the moment slipping.

“I don’t want to push it,” he confessed.

“You aren’t.” I promised.

“I did bad things to you,” his hand stroked over my cheek.

“Then do something good.”

His lips pressed to mine. They were soft, softer than I’d thought, and he went slow and easy. I sighed into the kiss and pressed my body flush against his, my hands planting on his chest. His hand on the back of the couch slid off and looped behind me back, pressing me further into his as the other hand slid into my hair and held me close.

“Please,” he mumbled against me.

“Yes.”

Bucky eased me back into the sofa, lips still pressed tightly to mine as he eased between my splayed thighs. My hands moved up to fist his short hair, causing a quiet groan to escape his lips. Bucky’s hands held onto my hips as he gently, almost teasingly, ground his crotch to mine.

“Lemme make it better,” he whispered, trailing kisses down my cheek and neck.

“You can do anything,” I breathlessly promised, rolling my body up.

His hand slid down my stomach and into the back of my loose trousers, cupping my clothed pussy and flexing his fingers. I gasped and threw my head back, Bucky surfacing to peer down at me with hooded eyes.

“There?” I nodded at his question.

His fingers eased my underwear to the side and felt over the slickness he’d created. The cool metal of his hand ran over my burning cheeks and I thanked god for the relief of coldness in this moment. My eyes widened as his finger tips circled my swollen bud.

“So wet,” he murmured, gazing into my eyes.

“For you.” I whimpered back, cupping his cheeks.

“Me?” I nodded. “Good girl,”

I moaned again at his words, his fingers picking up their pace. My back arched as he eased two fingers into me, stretching me out. He groaned a little, muttering something about my tightness, before pressing his lips to mine.

“O-Other hand,” I said against his lips.

“What?” He pulled back, stopping his movements.

“Can you u-use your other hand?” I pouted my lips.

“Are you sure?” He furrowed his brows.

I nodded. Bucky removed his hand from my underwear, offering his glistening fingers to my lips. I hastily took them in my mouth, small hand wrapping around his wrist as I sucked. He momentarily closed his eyes, losing himself for a second before easing his metal hand between our bodies.

“Really?” He questioned again, playing with the waistband of my trousers.

I bucked my hips. “Please,”

I couldn’t help the loud moan that left my mouth as his metal fingers resumed his flesh fingers task. They rubbed tightly into my clit, causing my eyes to pinch shut and my jaw to slacken and drop.

“Such a good girl for me,” he cooed against my cheek.

I whimpered again. “I-I’m-“

“Gonna cum baby?” He asked, fingers increasing their speed.

I nodded and cried. “Yes!”

“Like feeling my metal hand, huh?” He teased with a smirk.

“I do! Yes!” My nails bit into the skin of his forearm, the other hand running over the smooth metal of his shoulder. “Oh Bucky!”

“Cum,” he shortly ordered. “Please baby, please cum.”

My head threw back and I saw stars. My back arched as Bucky wrapped and arm under me and held me close. He moaned softly into my neck, grounding his crotch against my thigh. My arms loops around his neck as I shuddered against him.

“S-Stop,” I begged, gently coaxing his hand from my underwear.

“Sorry baby.” He sighed into my neck.

We stayed tangled in each other for a moment before I reached a teasing hand down between us. Bucky quickly stopped me, sheepishly grinning down at me.

“I already...just then...” he blushed.

“Really?” I giggled.

“You have no idea how good you looked.” He whispered, pecking my lips.

I smiled warmly, stroking over his cheek. “Would you like to grab a coffee with me?”

He laughed loudly. “I’ll do more than that.”

#bucky #barnes #bucky barnes #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes smut #james buchanan bucky barnes #bucky x reader #sebastian #stan #sebastian stan #sebastian stan fluff #sebastian stan angst #sebastian stan smut #marvel #marvel smut

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jennmurawski13-writes · 2 years

Text

Hard To Get

Pairng: Chris Evans x reader

Warnings: None, except for Chris being doggedly persistent lol

Chris watches as you and a group of your best friends come into the bar, laughing and joking, arms slung over each other’s shoulders.

“Hey, Mike! How are ya?” one of the girls calls out, smiling ear to ear.

“Better than some, worse than others….” Mike, the owner says.

“Annoyed by all!” you both say in unison, laughing.

Mike turns to the server, a young guy in his late 20s who’s only been working there for about two weeks.

“You give this girl whatever she wants tonight, on the house. It’s her birthday.” he says.

You step forward and press a big kiss to his cheek and throw your arms around him.

“You’re the best!” you exclaim.

Chris doesn’t know exactly what it is exactly that draws him in; if it’s your smile, or the way you laugh, or if it’s the mischevious twinkle in your eye, but all he knows is he wants more.

45 minutes later, Chris is watching as you’re bent over the pool table in the corner, trying to find the perfect angle to take your shot. You’re not dressed to the nines or anything, but you make a pair of skinny jeans that make your ass pop, and a purple sequined halter top that affords him a nice view of your cleavage look like the most amazing outfit in the world.

“Would you just go over and talk to her already?” Josh asks him.

“I’m working up to it.” Chris says defensively.

“Well, you better hurry it up before this place closes and you lose your chance forever.”

“Not forever. She obviously comes in here a lot. She seems like she knows the owner pretty well.”

“Yeah, but knowing your luck, you won’t be back in town for months, and by that time, she might be coming in with a new boyfriend. So just shoot your shot already.”

“You’re a real dick, you know that?”

Josh just smirks.

You sit down at the bar to take a break from dancing and to order some wings and more drinks for you and your friends. After a spectacularly shitty week that saw you passed over for a promotion that you deserved and being stood up by a blind date (never again), spending your birthday out with your best girlfriends is the perfect way to unwind and forget about it all.

You’re waiting for your food and sipping your beer when a guy who looks remarkably like Chris Evans sits down next to you.

“Hey, can I get a Stella?” he asks the bartender. He nods and gets the beer from the cooler and then pops the top and sets it in front of him.

“Cheers.” he says. You flash him a smile and touch your bottle of Sam Adams to his beer before you both take a drink.

“So, I heard it’s your birthday.” he says.

You laugh and look down at your watch.

“Only for another half an hour, technically.” you tell him.

“It’s my birthday too.”

“No kidding?” you ask.

“Nope. 39.”

You laugh. “Prove it.”

He pulls out his ID, holding his thumb over the address as you scan it.

Holy shit, this IS Chris Evans!!

Your eyes settle on the date of birth, and sure enough, it’s June 13th, 1981.

“Well, happy birthday to us.” you say with a grin, and you clink your bottle against his once more.

“Did you want to dance?” Chris asks.

“Oh…..I…..” you turn around and look towards where your friends are congregated.

“I’m really flattered, I am, but I don’t want to be an asshole and bail on my friends, you know?”

You feel bad immediately when you see his face fall slightly.

“It’s okay. I understand. You should go have fun. You’re only young once.” he tells me.

You apologize once more before slipping off the barstool and heading back to your friends.

2am finds you outside, sweaty and needing some fresh air after dancing your ass off without taking a break.

You’re just about to light your cigarette when you hear a voice coming from your left side.

“Can I bum a smoke?”

You almost drop your lighter; you really thought you were the only one out here.

“Jesus Christ, make a noise!” you say, holding your hand over your heart.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Chris says.

You fish your pack out of your purse and pull out a cigarette and hand it to Chris and then hand him your lighter.

“You smoke but you don’t carry cigarettes?” you ask.

“I’m more of a social smoker. I try not to make it a habit.” he explains.

You make small talk as you smoke, and you laugh at his cheesy dad jokes. He really is cute and funny and charming, but you’re really not looking for anything right now. Especially not with someone famous. You can only imagine what a headache THAT must be.

“So, you ready to dance with me now?” he asks, smirking.

You laugh. “My God, you are tenacious as hell.”

He shrugs. “Well, I didn’t get this far in life by being shy and keeping quiet. I don’t know what it is….but I saw you and my heart just kind of skipped. I know that sounds so stupid and cliche’, but something just drew me to you.” he says.

You sigh.

“Can I be really honest with you?” you ask.

He nods.

“I’m coming off of a really shitty week. Actually, it’s been a pretty shitty year. It’s kind of just been a string of disappointments all in a row. And I promised myself that I would start off 35 the right way. I’m going to find a new job, I’m not going to get wrapped up in guys and their bullshit. I’ve spent way too much time focused on other people and their happiness, that I’ve completely ignored my own. I like you. I really do, but I’m just not looking to fall into the same habits. It’s nothing against you. It’s just the fact that I’ve been burned one too many times and I’m kinda over it.”

“I get it. Honestly, I do. Trust me, I’ve been where you are now. It’s exhausting being hurt so many times.” he says.

Before you can say anything else, he gives you a beautiful smile before stubbing out his cigarette and turning to go back inside.

Again, you feel like an asshole.

About thirty minutes before last call, all hell breaks loose. Your friends have all decided to call it a night, citing early mornings and needing to relieve babysitters as reasons for bailing, but you’ve decided to stick around a little longer.

A group of really drunk dudes have decided to throw down and you’re just desperately trying not to get in the way. You don’t feel like being smooshed to death by one of the assholes.

A beer bottle gets thrown your way, and before you can even wince or make a move, you’re hitting the floor and there’s a huge weight on top of you. You crack one eye open to see what’s happening, to find Chris on top of you.

“Hi.” you breathe out.

“Hi. Sorry. I saw that bottle headed your way, and I just kind of….”

“Decided to throw yourself on me?” you ask, laughing.

He looks down, between himself and you and shrugs.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

By the time you both get up off the floor, the fight has broken up, and the offending parties have been escorted out.

“Thank you. For saving me from death by beer bottle.” you tell him.

“I don’t think it would have been THAT bad, honestly.” he chuckles.

“Still….thank you.”

You don’t know what comes over you, but you raise up on your toes and press a soft kiss to Chris’ lips.

The two of you just stand there for a moment, staring at each other, trying to process exactly what just happened.

“I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t-”

You don’t get a chance to finish because Chris wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you closer before pressing his lips against yours, and kissing you soundly.

By the time you break apart for air, they’re calling last call, and you’re trying to get the oxygen back to your brain.

“Do you want to get out of here?”

You nod. “Mmmhmm. Yeah. I do.”

The Usual Suspects: @averyrogers83 @wordywarriorwrites @imanuglywombat @joannaliceevans-fanficblog @hlkwrites @reminiscingrogers @mom—nicole @jtargaryen18 @alexakeyloveloki @kelbabyblue @sarahp879 @moonlessnight14 @mojean13 @mrskokitztelford @artisticrogers1972 @southerngracela @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @mybesttobobcratchit @gracethegeek9902 @mdemontespan1667 @marvelfansworld @capslut2014 @dispatchvampire @jamielea81 @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety @nerdy-bookworm-1998 @southerngracela @what-is-your-plan-today @letsdisneythings @theladybiers @lexeeehhh @sweater-daddiesdumbdork @autumnrose40 @donutloverxo @harrysthiccthighss @jessayw

@smediumsmeatbae

Kinktober 2020: @saiyanprincessswanie @superquirky-blog

#Chris Evans #Chris Evans x reader #birthday #shared birthday #drinks #chris is tenacious #I'd say yes in a heartbeat #please sir can i have some more

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jojoboisimagines · 2 years

Text

Josuke x Reader :: Promposal :: Ch. 5

previous chapter next chapter

summary: A strange new transfer student has enrolled in Budogaoka High School. Josuke falls head over heels for her, but has a limited time to win her over before the school prom.

.::.

The accusations thrown at Josuke by his baffled mother were hard to listen to, especially with your face practically burning from it and hearing only ringing in your ears from the shock alone and having to sit in the midst of the two arguing. You decided your best bet was to hurry, pack your stuff and leave. You’d maybe call him later to let him know why you left and tell him that your time together was great, lest he get the wrong idea.

It was easy to sneak past them. They did seem like the types to block everything else out when stubborn. Perhaps that's why some considered him and his friends delinquents.

.::.

About an hour later, you found yourself dialing Josuke’s number (or well, his house number) while lazily lying on the bed of your temporary apartment. He had written it at the bottom of his love letter, which you actually bothered to keep amongst all the other ones.

“Yeah, I see. Thanks for calling me instead of just leaving me hangin’.”

“No problem...I’ll see you tomorrow at school. Sorry for any trouble I’ve caused.”

“No no”, he was quick to disagree, “It’s fine, my mom just gets fussy like that sometimes, its not your fault at all. To be fair I should’ve been paying more attention.”

You frowned. He shouldn’t have blamed himself. You weren’t being entirely courteous as a guest either to fall asleep on him like that. He spoke up before you could say anything about it.

“Did you have fun though---er, get a good study in? I know I did. Cleared up a lot of stuff I was missin’ during class. Thanks a lot for that!” You could hear the grin in his voice. Admittedly, he had a nice voice to listen to. But you convinced yourself that was just a supplementary compliment rather than you starting to have a school girl crush on him like the rest of his groupies.

You wondered what drew them to him in the first place. Was it his hair? It would seem like he’d take pride in having groupies if it was for that reason, being so uptight about his hairstyle and all. Yet he would always look so annoyed whenever they came up to him, so that probably wasn’t the reason. His personality? No, they hardly let him get a word in whenever they bombard him. His height?

...Fair assumption.

“Hey, (Y/N), you there?”

Crap, had you been spacing out?

“Yeah, I’m here.” You replied, rubbing your eyes.

“Do you have time tomorrow for ice cream after school? Its totally cool if you’re not, I understand.”

You did have a bit of studying to do to keep your grades up (and to keep up appearances, but that was less important) but keeping Josuke happy in your friendship did also mean something to you. Skipping one study session wouldn’t be that much of a deal, you could skim through it once you get home anyway.

“Oh no no, I’m down for it.”

Josuke’s tone noticeably turned up an octave after hearing that. “Cool! You wanna come by my house or I’ll come by yours?”

After saying he could pick you up from your own house (especially thinking about how Tomoko would react) he joyfully lets out a ‘sweet!’ and you exchange your goodbyes before hanging up.

One thing you could safely say about Josuke at this point is that he was certainly...interesting. If you had to weigh your options between giving everyone that sent you a letter an opportunity to court you and just only giving Josuke a chance for the time being, the latter set well with you far more.

.::.

Classes had passed by rather quickly. It almost seemed like a blur but you didn’t mind it. At first the thought of instantly going home and looking over the notes you took to refresh your memory came into your head, before Josuke and Okuyasu voices behind you made you realize what you had planned already. You had recognized the other two, but hadn’t bothered to hold a single conversation with either of them.

As far as you knew, they were just ‘the guy who looks like he’s still in elementary’ and ‘the guy that looks like he’s committed a crime before’.

However you would withhold your assumptions for the time being and attempt to get to know them truthfully. They seemed excited to see you, anyway.

“Glad to see you waited for us (y/n!)” Josuke happily said.

You didn’t really. But you forced a smile as if you did anyway.

Josuke stopped behind you and contemplated putting an arm around you like he would his other buddies, but decided against it, thinking maybe the two of you weren’t at that point yet. You didn’t exactly seem like the touchy type either. Instead his hand firmly rested on your shoulder, his face offering a kind, genuine smile towards you.

Gesturing toward his friends, he began to introduce them. “(Y/n), this is Okuyasu Nijimura and Koichi Hirose. They’ve kinda been excited to meet ya ever since we started hanging out.” Josuke lets out quite the cute chuckle as his free hand finds itself sheepishly behind his neck now.

“Yo!” Okuyasu was quick to greet you with quite possibly the biggest grin you’ve seen anyone sport since you’ve gotten to this country. Koichi on the other hand seemed a little more calm and reserved, saying a simple ‘hello!’ with a wave.

They didn’t seem too bad now as you had thought before, but you’d keep your eye on them. After the introduction Josuke had mentioned that itd be wise to get to the ice cream truck as soon as possible, seeing that it might leave the neighborhood soon. You still were a bit unfamiliar with the area, so you followed behind the other three and let them lead the way.

.::.

When the four of you finally arrived to the spot of the parked vehicle, you had just noticed that you’d tuned out the conversation that was had on the way here. Now that you think about it, Okuyasu was pretty swift to wrap an arm around his taller friend’s shoulder and immediately start talking about something else. Maybe it was just your imagination, but you had thought Josuke would’ve been inclined to talk to you during the brief walk. That’s what you were invited for, right? Or is this just what he does with all his friends?

The lack of attention didn’t bother you that badly, as you’re generally used to it, but you still couldn’t help but wonder.

You had walked up to the window to get your own ice cream, before Koichi promptly stopped you, pulling out his own wallet.

“Hey, I can pay for your ice cream for you!”

You blinked, not exactly sure how you were supposed to respond to that. “It’s alright, you don’t have to.”

“No I insist! Don’t worry about it okay?” The small boy smiled at you, a face that was pretty hard for you to resist. Giving a slight nod, he proceeded to pay for it. You did get the biggest size they offered though, who’s to say you couldn’t after he graciously agreed to pay?

You and Koichi walked back to the others, already sitting down in the park with the ice creams and chatting. As you were making your way over there, Josuke looked back at the two of you, his happy grin melding into a guilty wide-eyed frown.

He turned back around when you and his other friend walked past the bench he and Okuyasu sat on to go to another one across from them. Without even glancing at him, you started to eat your ice cream. From the corner of your eye you could see the pompadoured teen lightly tap his clueless friend, motioning them to move to the same bench you and Koichi were.

Trying to prevent things from becoming awkward, Josuke immediately started talking to you as he sat down. “So, (Y/n), is that your favorite flavor?”

You nodded, not trying to get distracted from your melting ice cream.

“Cool, I like that flavor too. I really really like strawberry though, especially the kind they have at the truck.”

“Strawberry’s a good flavor.” Okuyasu chimed in. “But Koichi likes nasty shit, like pistachio. Bleh!” He stuck his tongue out to emphasize his disgust. The shorter teen was slightly offended.

“Hey, its good with the right toppings! At least I don’t bombard my ice cream with everything, if you’re careless like that, you’ll get a cavity!”

Oku dismissively waved his hand. “Whatever. I’ll just go to Tonio’s again and it’ll be good as new, so there’s no problem!” He grinned.

Koichi sighed, and you were left wondering what kind of place “Tonio’s” was.

“Oh right, we need to take (Y/n)-chan there someday!” Josuke added. “Maybe we should do a little tour thing of Morioh for you, would you like that?”

You happily nodded, almost at the end of your ice cream. The three of them had gotten along so naturally

Eventually everyone else got done with theirs and began to throw everything away. Koichi had started on his way home, saying that he was going to start on his studying before his goodbye. Thinking you should do the same, Josuke walked in front of you.

“Hey me and Okuyasu are gonna hang at my house, so we can walk you home first okay?”

“Okay.” Probably the first time you said something in about an hour. You saw Okuyasu about to walk up with Josuke again, but was stopped immediately and whispered something by Josuke. After which, he hung behind the two of you for the remainder of the walk.

When your apartment was reached, The boys asked if you enjoyed yourself and you happily responded with yes and that you’d love to hang out again, before going up the stairs and waving goodbye.

The two of them stood there for a while, making sure you were safe up until you got inside the house. As you closed the door, Josuke let out a groan and his head sunk into his hands. Okuyasu, obviously concerned by this, put a hand on his shoulder.

“Bro? You okay?”

Jojo shook his head. “Ughh..I can’t believe I let that happen. She must’ve felt so left out. I didn’t even pay enough attention that Koichi paid for her stuff..god..That didn’t look good at all.”

“Hey, you’re not obligated to treat her like a queen or anythin’. You’re still just friends right now right?” He tried to reassure his downtrodden friend.

“Yeah but...I still feel like a dick. I invited her there..Plus there’s also the fact that she’s got a limited time here in Morioh..” His blue eyes widened after saying that statement, the realization just now hitting him. It was so silent all the boys could hear was the slight breeze ruffling the trees.

“Huh, now that I think about it, why are you tryin’ to woo someone who’s a transfer student? Seems kinda rough to get someone to fall for you in a few weeks...unless you’re Yukako.”

“Goddammit Okuyasu, I don’t get to choose who I fall in love with!”

His fist balled up again, lips going dry as he resented saying things before thinking about them first.

“Woah...Josuke..”

Before he could say anything else, the teens noticed a slight shift in the window blinds where a light was on in your apartment.

‘Holy crap, i hope thats not her, i’d shit myself if it is!’

“C-C’mon Okuyasu, lets get out of here, I-I’ll race you!” He bolted down the sidewalk in the direction of his house, with his best friend in tow.

It was you who had peeked out the window from your living room, but only because you were startled by the sound of someone shouting. You didn’t see anyone when you fully pulled the blinds back, must’ve been your imagination. Putting the window back as it was, you returned to your studying.

#josuke x reader #Josuke Higashikata #josuke imagine #josuke higashikata x reader #jjba x reader #jjba imagine #jojos bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken

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seokjinsdisciple · 2 years

Text

Riddikulus - fifteen

jungkook x reader, hogwarts!au, enemies to lovers!au

Warnings: language, memory loss, talks of break ups, bullying lowkey, kinda fluffy at the end

Word Count: 1.7k

this update is trash and i hate it

THIS IS UNEDITED

series masterlist

taglist: @nellaphine @elixirguks @softfluffgirl @sensiblebutch, @deolly, @zeharilisharaban, @jungshookmeup, @elliegrace1999tvd, @mybiasforsure, @minsugapie, @betysotelo18, @purpleheartsfortae, @annoyingpessimist

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ON THE TAGLIST SEND ME A DM OR AN ASK

“So here’s the deal,” Tae started, sitting on the couch in the Room of Requirement, “As far as I can tell, we can’t undo the spell without seriously fucking up her brain.”

“Like how badly?” Namjoon groaned, burying his head in his hands.

“Like mush,” Tae said, shrugging as Hobi elbowed him.

“So we can’t do anything?” Yoongi said, letting his head hit the back of the couch.

“Not that I could find,” Tae said quietly, a sigh leaving his mouth as Jungkook walked in.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, walking over to a nearby arm chair, “When I told Madame Pomfrey what happened she made me talk to the headmaster.”

“And what’d he say?” Hobi perked up.

“Well good news is that Seonghwa is being expelled,” he started, watching as some of the tension in the room was lessened, “Jin lost Gryffindor 150 house points though!”

“Seriously Kook? That’s what you’re worried about?” Jimin asked.

“Sorry, it’s just,” He started, running a nervous hand through his hair, “Gryffindor hasn’t lost the house cup since I’ve been in school.”

“Can we focus please?” Namjoon asked, shooting an irritated glare to Jungkook., “What did he say about the memory charm?”

“He said if any one of us tries to remove it he’ll take our wands and make sure we never practice magic again,” Jungkook grimaced, “He said its impossible to undo, and if she really wanted that memory gone, it was none of our business.”

“So we just sit here and pretend everything’s fine?” Yoongi asked, an incredulous look on his face.

“At least he’s getting expelled,” Hobi said, leaning against Yoongi’s side.

“I think I’d kill him myself if he wasn’t,” Namjoon muttered, giving Tae an appreciative smile as he leaned over and started rubbing his shoulders.

“Jin’s a mess, Joon,” Hobi added, “You should really talk to him.”

“I just can’t right now,” he sighed, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand, “I can’t believe he would do something like this without even telling me she was thinking about it. I just need some space from him for a while.”

“We can respect that,” Yoongi spoke up, “But don’t forget that you’re madly in love with each other and literally soulmates. One mistake doesn’t change that.”

The boys huddled around Namjoon as his shoulders shook, the feelings of the day finally catching up with him as he let his tears fall freely. The boys stayed like that for a while, comforting each other as worries and concerns kept coming up. When they finally called it a night, they all went their separate ways, no one noticing Jungkook heading in the direction of the hospital wing.

You woke up in time for your first class, thanks to Jungkook tossing one of your shirts at your head.

“Get up,” he said, running his hands through his extremely unkempt hair.

“Did you sleep here?” you asked with a yawn, stretching your arms before sliding out of the bed.

“Yeah, I didn’t want Seonghwa messing with you while you slept,” he said, throwing off his dirty shirt and pulling a clean one out of his bag. You couldn’t help but gulp as you set eyes on his abs, eyes roaming the expanse of his bare skin, “Stop staring at me and get dressed.”

You shot him a glare as you spun around, heat filling your body at his laugh. You threw your shirt off, your bare back on display as you shimmied your pants off. You smiled a little to yourself as his breath hitched from behind you, a strained cough leaving his lips as you pulled on your shirt. Two could play at that game.

You turned to face him, an innocent look replacing your smile, “Jungkookie can you hand me a skirt?”

“Um, I-, what?”

“Do you mind handing me my skirt?” you repeated, smiling widely now at his flushed face. His eyes looking at everything else in the room but you.

“I-uh yeah. I can definitely do that. Skirt,” he blushed harder, quickly reaching into the bag beside him and handing you the skirt that was in there, his head turned the other way.

“Thanks, Kook,” you laughed, pulling on your skirt. You slipped your shoes on, throwing your hair into a bun before turning back to where he stood.

“Ready?” he asked, hand scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” you said, “Let’s do this.”

Jungkook escorted you to your classes, along with Jimin, for the rest of the day. Whispers following you wherever you went. You half expected your classmates to be understanding about this whole thing, but based on the whispers you had been hearing, it seemed like whatever happened was getting blamed on you. You shouldn’t have been that shocked.

“How did they even find out about this?” Jimin hissed, shooting a glare at a third year Gryffindor who had said some pretty shitty things.

“I don’t know,” Jungkook said, “No one else knew about this besides the 7 of us and Seonghwa. And since he got kicked out this morning I doubt he told anyone.”

The three of you kept walking towards the library, silently pondering how the hell the whole school found out about your erased memory.

“This is giving me a headache,” you groaned, pushing the doors open.

“Don’t hurt your brain, please,” Jungkook said, “I need it for when we study potions.”

“I’ll try to figure this all out while you guys study,” Jimin said, waving you two into the library and hurrying down the hallway.

“Well, there’s no point in wasting time then,” you said, “we’ve been slacking off, Kook.”

“I know,” he sighed, sitting down at your usual table, “and exams are only two weeks away.”

“You’ll do ok,” You said, smiling reassuringly at him, “You have me as a tutor, how could you fail?”

His nose scrunched, fake disgusted face as he snorted at you, “That doesn’t reassure me at all, princess.”

You kicked him under the table, a smile growing on your face as he laughed. You started pulling your books out, quill and ink soon following. Glancing at Jungkook as he bent down to do the same.

He looked as handsome as he normally did, hair messy in all of the perfect ways. Your heartbeat sped up the more you looked at him, and how far the two of you had come. A few months ago you would have never been caught dead sitting across from him in the library three days of the week. But now you were starting to enjoy his company, and honestly, you considered him a friend.

“Are you gonna teach me potions or just stare at me today?” his voice drew you from your thoughts, cocky grin back on his face as he shot you a wink.

“Shut up,” you mumbled, directing him to turn his book to a certain page, and the two of you got to work.

It was a comfortable silence, only talking when Jungkook asked you a question about the work or when the two of you took breaks. With tired, ink covered hands scrawling the last words of your homework you sagged in your seat. You let out a big yawn, glancing at where Jungkook still sat, hard at work. Looking through his potions notes.

“Jungkook,” you whispered, “I think that’s enough for the night.”

“Mh,” he hummed noncommittally, eyes never leaving his notes.

“You’re not listening to me!” you exclaimed, mouth pulling into a smirk, “You’re the worst quidditch player I’ve ever seen.”

You paused, waiting for him to have some sort of reaction, but he sat still reading, scratching his forehead.

“You have a tiny dick,” you said, pouting as he sat with a blank face, “You’re not half bad,” you said, last ditch effort to get him to respond in any way.

Jungkook just smiled, putting his notes down before looking at you, “I’m the best quidditch player at Hogwarts, you wouldn’t know anything about my dick, and you’re not half bad yourself, snake princess. Now if you’re done trying to get my attention, we really should get going.”

You scowled at him, putting your materials away as he teased you.

“How was I supposed to know you could hear me?” you whined, pouting as Jungkook tugged your bag into his arms.

“I responded to you the first time!” Jungkook laughed, holding the library door open for you.

“You hummed! That’s totally not an answer!”

“Maybe not to you,” he grinned, ignoring the pout the was firmly set on your face, “Ah, c’mon, Princess. Who would I be if I didn’t mess with you at least a little bit?”

“A decent human being,” you grumbled, ignoring his laugh as you turned the corner to the dungeons, not even realizing Jungkook had walked you back, “You didn’t have to walk me back.”

“It’s no big deal,” he said, handing you your bag and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“I know I don’t remember everything that happened,” you started, his doe eyes softening, “but I really feel safe around you, Kookie. I was thinking we could try to be friends?”

“Just friends?” he asked, tilting his head to the side, “But what if I want to be more than just friends, princess?”

You swear your heart stopped in the moment, his cocky grin enough to stop it beat in its tracks. Your eyes fluttering shut as he started leaning in.

“Goodnight, princess,” He whispered, voice ghosting on the shell of your ear. You jumped at his voice, eyes opening quickly at the realization that he was not about to kiss you.

When he leaned back, you could’ve slapped the smug grin he had on his face right off, hand coming out to give you a wave as he spun on his heels.

You trudged into the common room, ignoring the taunts of your classmates and walking right past Jimin and Yoongi. Giddy smile never leaving your lips even as your head hit your pillow.

It was the best you had slept in weeks.

#jungkook x reader #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #jungkook smut #jungkook hogwarts au #gryffindor!jungkook #jungkook #bts hogwarts au #bts smut #bts fluff #bts fanfic #bts fic #bts

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vqler · 2 years

Text

A Plush Toy | Haikyuu!! [Kuroo/Kenma]

Welp, my first fanfic. I would say that this is more like a sketch of a cute situation, so I won’t even write a summary (drew something instead). In my head it was planned as NSFW and the situation intends, buuuuuut... Next time would be better 👉👈

A/N: Strange people who accidentally see this while having no relation to the subj fetish - be ready for tikolz. And you, kinky brethren, enjoy reading! I probably won’t write A/N next time, guess nobody even reads it. Sorry for mistakes btw.

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

Another training match against Karasuno had just ended, and with the proud and joyful exclamations the guys lively went together to the locker room. Usually after the game, the captain initiates an active discussion of the past match, but today he is unusually quiet.

Kuroo changes his clothes uncharacteristically slowly, and his attention is curiously greedy for Kenma, which the setter could not help but notice despite his passion for the video game.

It feels like Kuroo intends to talk about something, which makes Kenma involuntarily tense, since Kuroo plus serious conversations are big rare, but Kenma still has a desire to hear certain words, so anticipation is also with him. Feeling fishy vibes from the sitting guy Kuroo avertes the burning gaze with a smile.

Disheveled and lazy, Kuroo pulls up gracefully like a cat, “So, Pudding-Head,” he begins, hoping to see a change on the eternally trunquile face, “what plans for tonight?”

Kenma ignores, cause it would be probably thousandth time the blond asks not to call him like that.

“Well, no is no. Then I’ll stay over your house.”

Indeed, impudence is Kuroo’s middle name. But Kenma doesn’t mind as always.

“Is that what you wanted to say all this time?”

“Huh?”

Kenma sinks barely noticible. It seems that he doesn’t know what words he is waiting for by himself. And why even waiting?

[...]

Outside the window is night.

“Boring,” Kuroo pauses the movie, leans back on the pillows and narrows his eyes slyly.

Kenma knows what will happen next, so he is in a hurry to pause the game not to lose the points he’s earned, like last time. He tenses, but flinches anyway when a warm hand suddenly touches the top of his head.

“Kenma, your hair has grown back,” Kuroo thoughtfully fingering the strands, passing them between his fingers, almost weightlessly touching the scalp. It’s nice and a little ticklish, so Kenma closes his eyes, feeling like a kitten being scratched behind his ear.

“A little bit…”

In moments like this, Kuroo loves to do two things.

“What, you want to compiltely transform into a girl?”

Tease him and touch him. Kenma can’t get used to the former or refuse the latter.

“Hey,” Kuroo picks up a small ponytail with his fingers, “it even suits you. Such a cuuutie~“

Both of these things are very embarrassing. So much that his cheeks burn, and Kenma hides his face behind long strands. He’s willing to bet that Kuroo’s lips are now spreading into a satisfied grin.

"Stop it, Kuroo,” Kenma tries to crawl away, but Kuroo jokingly pushes himself into Kenma’s arms and freezes.

“Got you.”

“Am I a plush toy for you?”

“Plush toy?”

“Yeah, you know, with which some kids sleep at night.”

Kenma is a little outraged, and after a moment regrets own question. In attempt to determine the softness of the toy Kuroo’s hands are starting to move wandering around the body like the excitement of the sea, what makes the shorter guy tremble in a thrill unexpectedly even for himself.

“W-what are you pawing me?..”

“Ha-ha! Like a girl for real,” Kuroo teasingly notes.

“Shut up,” Kenma says quitely, but blatantly showing the growing irritation. “Geez, can’t you see I was trying to beat a record? If you’re bored, you can always do something useful. No need to annoy me everytime.”

Kuroo smirks, makes himself comfortable pulling the victim closer, for a moment squeezes more tightly in his embrace and taps his fingertips on the captured body.

“Don’t you find your behaviour kinda… cocky now?”

An insinuating whisper very close to the ear, which makes goosebumps run through the body. Of course he doesn’t feel cocky, that’s just an advantageous reason for some dork to bother poor innocent. Kenma understands that no matter how he behave, he won’t be able to appease his mate or replay the circumstances in his favor and avoid fate in form of the strongest trap — Kuroo’s hands. Because when Kuroo gets bored, Kenma is completely in his power.

“And didn’t you suppose I forgot about your tiny weakness?”

Kenma gulps. He just closes his eyes, feeling how hard his heart is beating, as if trying to break his ribs and run far away.

“Or maybe you were hoping that I would forget and miss the chance to have some fun?”

“You shamelessly impose yourself on a visit, and then pester me. Aren’t you having a lot of fun already?”

In moments like this one Kuroo loves to do another two things.

“Hmm… Nah~”

Tickle and tease even more. The combination of these two processes leads to a nuclear mixture impact which Kenma can’t stand at all.

“Wait, don’t!”

Kuroo’s fingers dug into Kenma’s ribs and move fiercely, which makes the blond guy wriggle desperately.

“Kuhuhuhuro! Stahahap!”, Kenma laughs and tries to pull his hands out of the tight grip. “You have no right to torture me at my place!”

“Really? Then should I henceforth do it on public?”

“Nohoho! You’re always sohoho mehehean!”

Kuroo’s gaze’s becomes predatory, and his hands are dancing inexorably all over the small body at such a speed that Kenma almost begins to choke with laughter.

“AAAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! KUROOOHOHOOO!!!”

“Shh! Can’t believe such quiet thing like you can yell that loud. Where are your manners?”

“Yohohou bahahastard!”, unfortunnarly, wrong words frame Kenma, so Kuroo’s nothing left but to step up the attack. “I’ll… GHAHAHAHAHAHA! G-GEHEHET YOHOHOOU!!!“

"Lucky you that parents aren’t home, right?”, Kenma tries to bite, spin with his last strength, kick, but all to no avail, because in response the impenetrable Kuroo punishes poor boy by tormenting the most sensitive places and continues his monologue. “Just imagine the faces of guys if they see by chance how terribly much the stone team’s Brain is afraid of some childish tickling…”

“Nh-no! Dohon’t you dahahare!..Hahhh! Ha…”, Kuroo hears the notes of tiredness in Kenma’s voice and sneers, because it’s just the beginning.

Hands crawl under the guy’s shirt and Kenma explodes with high laughter and unstoppable shiver.

“WAHAHAAAAIT! HahaHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha! Can’t breheathe! CAN’T BREHEHEHEE..AHAHAHA!”

“…so I’m searching for the right place on your body to show them how red faced, loud and helpless our little restrained Kenma can really be. How about there?”, Kuro sneaks up to the armpits and attacks with rapidly moving fingers, after which Kenma’s eyes treacherously come out with tears.

“HAAAHAHAHA!!! STAHHAHAP! NONONO NOHOT THERE! ANYWHEHEHERE BUT THEHEREE! KUHUHUROOOOOOOO!~”

“Hm, good one”, the Captain doesn’t even listening and satisfied with the reaction continues to tickle sensitive armpits with all enthusiasm, “I should definitely try doing this right during a workout. Will be such performance! You’re literally a volcano, Kenma-san~”

“WHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHNNOOOOHOHOA!”

“Hey, I already said to be quite. You’ve changed so much since the last game, you know…”

Bored by only armpits, Kuroo decides to continue his hand-adventure on Kenma’s torso. It happends so fast, as if there were several hands and they were absolutely everywhere. Kenma doesn’t catch a time to concentrate on the points of acceptance, which is the most important for him both on the playground and in interaction with Kuroo, so it starts to wear him down more and more.

“KUHUROHO!..Stahahap! P-PLEHEHEASE!.. NHAHAHA! I’ll DOHOHO… ANY-HEHEHE!! HAHHAHAHAHA!”

This time Kuroo decides to lower his fervor slightly and give Kenma the opportunity to finish his sentense. Big and already hot hands decided to linger a little on the stomach to play with it, giving a ghostly hope that all this can maybe stop soon if Kenma choose the right words.

“Plehease…Kuroo, I’ll dohoho anything. I’m sohoho tired…Yohohou have to understahahand!..”

Surprisingly, the words interested Kuroo so that his hands finally slow down, turning the tickling into intense stroking.

“Anything you say?”

Heavy panting rings out, “Ah… Anything…”, grabbing a chance, sweaty and shaggy Kenma breathes deeply as if this opportunity was on a timer.

Both hands reach to the chest and fully stop, pressing slightly backward, while Kuroo’s nose gently rubs against the top of the head.

“Today you’re letting me sleep with you,” Kuroo’s calm deep voice, and after a pause: “and cuddling you as a plush toy.“

Silence. Odd request.

But not a problem. Not a problem at all. Kenma’s heart is beating like crazy, but in his head all thoughts are in place. He is willing to bet that if he turns around now and and strictly refuses to share his bed with Kuroo, the bruenette, quietly muttering, will lay on the floor and throw a pillow later just once. And everything will remain as before.

But Kenma won’t. He screws up eyes tightly, turns in the ring of the hands and meets with a full of determance look. And then…

Kuroo reaches for him, closing his eyes, and no thoughts remain in his head.

For some reason Kenma is confident: this will be the safest and warmest night of his life.

#tickling #haikyuu!!#kuroo #kenma #fanfic #tickles #tickle community #kuroo x kenma #tickle fic #lee!kenma #ler!kuroo

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jumbojamba47 · 3 years

Audio

I Love You

Pt. 2 of Guest Room

A/N: Thank you for loving my little ball of garbage enough to warrant a second part. I’m feeling warm and fuzzy. Also... I kinda.. sorta.. really got carried away with this. I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry. Shout out to my irl friends who had to deal with my gleefully rubbing my grubby little paws together all day.

A/N PT. 2: TUMBLR QUIT BEING A BITCH AND JUST LET ME UPLOAD MY STORY IN PEACE PLEASE I’M BEGGING YOU. The last try uploaded to my main and my stomach dropped out of my ass lmao. Fifth and hopefully final time. (I’m so sorry for the notifications spam for everyone I tagged)

PAIRINGS: Natasha Romanoff x Reader, Stucky

Warnings: 18+, Angst (like so much I’m sorry), Smut, Swearing, Mentions of Alcohol Consumption

Word Count: 5702

Hollow. It’s the only way she can describe the feeling of deep-seated emptiness that settles in her as she watches the quinjet disappear in the distance. What’s that noise? She casts her eyes around her surroundings when she suddenly feels a dampness on her collarbone. Reaching up a hand, she feels moisture on her face.

Oh.

The sounds were coming from her. At the realization of her sobs, pain wracked her frame with nowhere to go.

What was she thinking?

She wasn’t.

When she left Clint in a hurry, she hadn’t even paused to consider what she would say to you if she caught you. What did she feel for you? What could she have told you? Her life conditioned her to believe love was for children. She wasn’t one.

And yet…

She couldn’t deny that there was something about you that always drew her in to you. Every hidden interaction with you pulled onto all five of her senses demanding her full attention until there was only you in front of her; drawn straight into your orbit like a moon of Saturn. Each and every private encounter made it more difficult for the hardened assassin to pull herself away from you only to act unaffected by your presence in public.

Was that love?

It doesn’t matter.

You were sunlight. You were the warm embrace of home calling out to every damaged member of this family seeking acceptance for their past sins and a place to belong.

And she?

Well, she was damaged beyond repair.

She refused to be the one to tarnish your light. And she knew, if she gave in to her weaknesses, you could never really shine. You meant too much to the team. To her. A part of her could also admit to fear. Fear of what would happen if she hurt you.

If you hurt her.

She could live with never knowing what it felt like to call you hers. To hear you whisper her name in the early morning light your sweet features the first things she lays eyes on in your shared haven.

But she knew. She’d never recover if she could have you and lose you. If she were to tear her walls down, only for you to look inside and decide it wasn’t worth it.

That she wasn’t worth it.

With a steely resolve in her eyes, Natasha turned on her heels and began to make her way back towards the gym. She had a few weeks to get her head screwed on straight. She’ll lock away and bury anything she might have felt for you if given the chance. When you’re back, she’ll apologize for the hurt she’s caused you and maybe, just maybe, you’ll let her stay a part of your life.

If, along the way, she refuses to let her mind wander to thoughts of you with someone else, well, that’s her prerogative.

xxxx

You sit in heavy silence on the quinjet. Thoughts of last night’s interactions with the red-headed assassin plaguing your mind. You still feel a pang of pain when you remember her rejection. With a mental shake of your head, you resolve to table your emotions for now to focus on the mission at hand.

You’ve been tasked with leading a team to infiltrate an underground drug trafficking ring disguised as a bi-monthly art auction. Once you arrive at your destination, you’ll be allotted two months of integration and data retrieval before another team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents will be sent in to assist in the take down. You’re leading the team with Scarlet Witch and Falcon following your lead. Agent Hill was chosen to tag along strictly for backup and onsite supervision should the worst come to pass.

Sam and Maria sit up front; you can hear the sounds of quiet banter trickling back towards you while they try to respect your privacy, believing you to be mentally preparing yourself for the road up ahead. Wanda sits opposite you. Your emotions scream at her from across the jet, but she has the decency not to read your actual thoughts.

Still, she can’t help the concerned glances she sends your way.

Noticing her attention on you, you shift your body to turn towards her.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I could ask you the same. Where did you disappear to last night? I tried to find you after you were pulled away by Natasha, but I couldn’t find you.”

You let out a soft sigh.

“I’m sorry. My heads been a mess lately. I didn’t mean to leave you on the dance floor like that. It was a rough night.”

A hand rises to nervously play with the hair on the back of your neck. You look to the floor.

“I also owe you a bit of an apology for how carried away I got last night. You’re amazing Wan, and I don’t want to lead you on in any way.”

She lets out a light laugh.

“Don’t worry about it, draga mea. We were just two friends who had a little too much to drink, having a little fun. No hard feelings whatsoever.”

You wince and she instantly knows that was the wrong thing to say.

“You know, I’ve been told I’m a pretty good listener. Pietro used to say it’s because I had big ears when we were children.”

She reaches out a hand across the aisle to let it rest on your knee. After an internal debate, you decide to divulge everything to her. From your first interactions with the assassin and your instant connection to the fallout from last night.

Listening patiently, Wanda’s eyes widen slightly when you mention what the events that occurred in the ex-soviet’s room.

By the end, Wanda is livid with righteous indignation on your behalf.

“Well, she’s a fool for letting you go.” She squeezes your leg.

“I can’t claim to understand what’s going through her head, but you have to know her feelings aren’t a reflection on your worth. You are the glue that holds this team together and we all love you. Natasha, she…” she pauses, “she’s been through much. More than any of us will ever know. Her experiences have closed her off. But you’re both strong. Maybe you’re not meant to be, but I know you can bounce back from this. We have a few weeks before we’re due back and, in that time, I guarantee you we can get your spirit back up and bouncing like usual.”

“Damn right, we can!” You hear Sam interrupt from the front of the plane.

You release a breath you didn’t realize you were holding and let out a light laugh.

Yeah, things weren’t okay.

But maybe they will be.

xxxx

The mission goes off without a hitch and it does wonders for your confidence. As soon as you landed at the safehouse, you and your team had set to work securing the perimeter and preparing for your upcoming roles in the undercover mission. Sam moved first, infiltrating the ranks of the dealers as he uncovered the hierarchy of the operation and fed maria intel to pass on to headquarters. You and Wanda were posed as a wealthy young couple from new money, tasked with getting close to the heads of the drug ring in order to gain access to the final auction where you ultimately took down the entire operation with the aid of several agents.

Despite the smooth execution, you all still found yourselves with extra downtime between stakeouts and it led to the four of you growing closer. One of your favorite pastimes became group binge-watches of The Fairly Odd Parents and Wanda had taken to calling you Cosmo, the husband of her cartoon namesake.

“ETA: 5 minutes,” called out Hill.

From your seat, you could see the compound looming over the horizon. You take in a nervous breath and release.

Next to you, Wanda can feel your apprehensive tension and takes a moment to give your hand a firm squeeze.

“You’re okay, Cosmo. Remember our talks. You have strength. You know your worth. You’ll be fine.”

You send her a grateful smile and a nod. Your fingers squeeze her back briefly before you move to stand by the doors of the ramp as you hear the jet begin to touch down.

She’s right. During your time away, you came to terms with the fact that it’s not Natasha’s fault that she doesn’t feel the same way as you do. You know you have no control over other people’s feelings, and you owed it to the both of you to face this head on, maturely.

As soon as the jet’s ramp meets the floor of the hangar, you’re met with a wall of pure muscle that really should come with a warning label. Your feet are lifted off the ground and suddenly you’re swinging in circles. You laugh as Bucky’s long hair tickles your nose.

Wait a second.

Is that?

“James Buchanan Barnes. Put me down this instant.”

He stiffens. That’s his name. That’s who he is. He is James Buchanan Barnes. Former sergeant and integral member of the Howling Commandos. The Winter Soldier. Melted down and reforged by Hydra. He was a legend. He was a nightmare. He was feared. He was… terrified.

Christ. Hearing his full name falling out of your mouth in that tone never failed to instill the fear of God into him. Not even his ma, bless her soul, could quite measure up to the intimidating aura you exuded when he knew you were ready to tan his hide.

You stood before him, hands on your hips, feet shoulder width apart, stance strong, eyebrow peaked… and deadly.

“Did you break into my room and steal my hair mask… again?”

The others stand back, watching in amusement while he starts to sweat.

“D-doll, of course not! You explicitly told m-me your room was off limits while you were go-”

You cut him off as you step closer.

“Don’t you lie to me, Barnes,” your eyes narrow and he gulps when you push your face closer to his.

“I can smell the macadamia oil, you heathen.”

Just as you’re about to launch into a lecture about respecting other people’s belongings, you’re interrupted by the sound of Steve’s voice.

“You gotta admit, at least it’s better than smelling the greasy mop he always ends up with after training.”

Your entire demeanor lightens up as you whip around to take a running leap at your favorite Man with a Plan.

“STEVIE!”

He catches you in his arms. “Good to have you back, sugar. We missed you around here.”

You hear a soft exhale of relief come from behind you.

Tilting your head back from where you’re perched in Steve’s arms, you narrow your eyes at Bucky and make a silent gesture to indicate you’re watching him. This is far from over.

He gulps.

“Well, c’mon then, we’re all dying to hear how the mission went. The others are waiting for you in the lounge.”

You stay wrapped around your friend’s dorito shaped torso but make the effort to wriggle your way around him so you’re clinging to his back like an infant koala. He rolls his eyes but does nothing to deter you, choosing to move his arms in support of your legs instead.

“Onward, my trusty steed!” you giggle.

As one, you all make your way towards the main common area, taking the time to drop off your luggage in your respective rooms as you go. Eventually, you make your way to the lounge and as you’re carried in, F.R.I.D.A.Y. blasts the loud trumpets of a herald through her speakers.

Huh, Tony must’ve upgraded her sense of humor.

Greeting the others, you use your hands in Steve’s hair like an oversized rat with a penchant for cooking to guide him towards your favorite lounge chair. Sam and Wanda move towards the kitchen to look for the good snacks they couldn’t have undercover while everyone else gathers around the remaining lounges.

From the corner of your eye, you can see Natasha hovering off to the side near Clint but you can’t quite get yourself to make eye contact yet. You wait for everyone to settle in. Wanda approaches you with two mugs of tea in her hands offering you one with a “just the way you like it, Cosmo”. It’s punctuated with a wink and she perches herself on the arm of your seat, bringing her own around to rest across the back. Her hand finds its way to your hair playing with a few strands to keep you grounded while you purposefully train your eyes away from a certain side of the room.

Wanda really did become your rock in the weeks away. While you never repeated anything from the night of your party, you fell into an easy companionship with the young mutant that led to you each being comfortable around the other. She knew how hard your return would be for you and made it her next mission to make sure you knew you had a solid support system in place.

Seeing the close interaction between the two of you, Bucky and Steve both shoot you cheeky grins and eyebrow wiggles that have you holding up a throw pillow just under Wanda’s current line of sight. She glances down, smirks and hurls the pillow at the two men using her powers, ensuring she adds a boomerang effect to ricochet off the face of one in order to hit the other stunning both of them.

“Nice!” You give her an enthusiastic high five as she wiggles her fingers at the recovering men.

“I just learned that one on the job. I have to keep practicing for muscle memory.” She states in a faux haughty tone while you snicker at the indignation on your Brooklyn Boys’ faces.

Across the room, Natasha watches you. She knew she missed you while you were away, but nothing could have prepared her for the onslaught of emotions that crashed into her when she finally laid eyes on you after weeks apart. You still had the same mischievous spark in your eyes. Your nose still crinkled just the slightest bit when you laughed. Your smile could still light up an entire room like the Fourth of July.

God, she missed you.

She watches your raucous banter with the resident super-soldiers with a fond smile teasing the corners of her lips. She takes note of the casual arm slung across your shoulders, the hand tangled in your hair, and something inside of her burns. Her jaw clenches.

She’s not yours to have.

Clint nudges her shoulder with a pointed look. She realizes she’s been emitting a soft growl. Focus Romanoff! Where is your training? She strains but ultimately fixes her posture until she’s the posterchild for casual aloofness. Her best friend snickers but chooses not to comment on the slight rigidity he can see in her shoulders.

Tony claps his hands to gain everyone’s attention.

“Alright alright, Hermione’s new parlor tricks aside, we all know why we’re really here.”

In his best imitation of Fury’s gruff voice, he growls out, “Hill. Debrief report. Judgement on (y/hero/n)’s execution?”

Rolling her eyes but playing along, “All objectives executed to perfection. Leadership skills exemplary, sir!” she tosses in a mock salute.

It’s quiet before everyone breaks into cheers and congratulate you and your team on a successful job well done. You’re beaming when you hear Sam chime in with, “You better watch out Cap. (Y/l/n) could give you a run for your money as team captain. We might be shipping you to a retirement home sooner than we thought.

Your best friend grins at you with pride and mirth shining in his eyes and you feel warm inside.

“I think we could come to a truce and work together. Co-captain sound good to you doll?”

“I don’t think so Steve. I’ll leave the captaincy to you. I don’t think I could handle dragging the metal chicken wing over there back in line every day,” you respond with a laugh, sticking your tongue out at Sam. You draw out a squawk of offense and everyone bursts into laughter.

You turn your head slightly and find yourself making direct eye contact with the very same pair of vivid green eyes that still visit you in your dreams. You swallow down the rising emotions and offer her a small smile. She looks startled at first but relaxes slightly and gives you one of her own in return.

Maybe you could do this.

You spend a few more minutes catching up with the rest of the team, learning about what everyone has been up to while you were away. Checking the time, you slowly pull away from Wanda, who still has her weight resting on you, and announce that you’re going to head to your room to wash off and settle in before you have to fill out your mission reports.

Everyone bids you goodnight and you exit the room, walking the familiar pathway towards your own residence. Your ears pick up quiet footsteps behind you causing you to turn your head slightly.

A small sharp inhale escapes your lips. Your eyes betray you with a quick scan of her nervous form standing in front of you. Her hair is a little longer and the circles under her eyes are just the slightest shade darker. She still looks just as breathtaking as the day you walked out of her room. Her presence instantly brings you peace and you curse yourself under your breath.

Mentally slapping yourself, you plaster on a casual smile.

“Hey Nat. Been a while.”

You cringe.

Really? Been a while? Really?

She steps towards you, “Hi (y/n/n),” she responds softly.

“Listen I-”

“Can we-”

You both let out a nervous chuckle.

“Sorry. Go ahead, you first,” she says.

“Listen, Nat. I owe you an apology.”

She stills. What could you possibly have to apologize for? You’re not the one who broke the heart of the love of your life just because you had commitment issues.

Stop that. She’s not your love of anything.

She opens her mouth to interrupt but you press on.

“It wasn’t fair of me to try to push you into something you clearly weren’t comfortable with. You made it clear that you didn’t love me the way I loved you. I never wanted to make you feel like I would demand anything of you. You’re more than entitled to your own feelings and it wasn’t okay for me to project what I felt onto you.”

Frozen in place, her mind could only focus on two words.

Loved? Felt?

And didn’t that sting?

She can feel her throat start to constrict but she goes along with it.

Maybe it’s for the best.

“It’s okay (y/n/n). I understand where you came from and I’m partially to blame for letting things go on for as long as they did without taking your feelings into consideration.

“Friends?”

A small, okay large, part of her brain screamed in agony that this was wrong.

Instead, she smiles and nods opening her arms.

You gingerly step into her embrace, one arm comes up holding her shoulder while the other gently cups the back of her head in a familiar hold.

Her arms come up to wrap themselves around your middle, squeezing slightly.

If either of you noticed the other inhale just a little deeper, neither of you chose to comment.

xxxx

Several weeks go by and you’ve settled back into a familiar routine. Wanda has officially been adopted into you and your boys’ infamous trio and the brunette witch could often be seen joining in on your foolish antics around the compound. At first, the three made a pact to ensure you would never be exposed to prolonged periods of alone time with the woman who damaged your tender heart. Often times, you’d catch yourself alone with the assassin only for one of the others to immediately swoop in to whisk you away and drag you into some activity before you could draw each other into a prolonged conversation

It took you a few days to catch on to what your friends were doing. While the sentiment was greatly appreciated, you couldn’t miss the slight look of hurt that crossed Natasha’s face whenever you were pulled away from her. Eventually, you had to put your foot down, taking them aside one day. You told them that you loved them and appreciated their concern. But you’re an adult and you can handle your affairs well enough on your own.

They backed off but still continued to keep a wary lookout. They couldn’t help it. You were their favorite.

Your interactions with the devastatingly gorgeous avenger were still a little stunted and you both miss the longing stares you direct towards each other on occasion. Still, you’re getting better.

It still hurts sometimes but you’re okay as long as you still have her in your life. In any capacity.

You think you’re getting better. It stills hurts but you’re okay as long as you still have her in your life.

xxxx

You’re in the gym talking to Sam one afternoon as he spots you in the weights section while Natasha and Clint are sparring on the mats.

“The team’s decided to make an appearance at a new nightclub Aluminum Alloy Man bought out on a dare tonight. You in, sugar?”

You laugh at the latest nickname he’s given Stark but shake your head no.

“Sorry Sam but I’ve got a date.”

You hear a particularly loud grunt come from Clint and turn your head slightly to see Natasha apologizing while he’s doubled over catching his breath.

“Oh? Anyone we know?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

You roll your eyes.

“With myself, you dork. I’ve been dying to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail and I finally have the downtime to sit through it. There’s a bottle of wine and a couch calling my name and I intend to capitalize.”

He laughs but nods understandingly.

“That’s fair. You good here? I better head out to get ready.”

“Yeah, yeah, you go ahead. Have fun tonight!” You wave him off wiping the sweat off the back of your neck with a damp towel.

“(Y/L/N)!” You hear your name called out from across the gym.

“Care to spar? Clint’s tapping out. He’s a wuss.”

You start to hesitate but choose to nod instead, stepping into the ring, setting your towel on the rope to dry.

You begin to circle one another assessing each other’s weaknesses. She makes the first move lashing out with a swift kick to your ankle, aiming to leave you off balance. You dodge out of the way and retaliate with a series of jabs towards her torso. This goes on for several minutes each of you landing several hits when Natasha launches herself off your bent knee, intending to use her signature thigh grip of death to bring you down.

Not today, Satan.

You bring your arms up, wedging them between your neck and her legs before she can get a grip. You latch onto her legs tightly before you swing her around your body, tackling her to the floor. You move your hand to cradle the back of her head to ensure it doesn’t smack into the ground, bringing yourself much closer to her body in the process.

You’re both panting heavily, stuck, mesmerized by the intense look in each other’s eyes. You have one leg between her thighs, knee pressed to her core, puffs of air intermingling between you.

Is she? Leaning towards you?

Oh, you definitely felt that wiggle of her hips against your knee.

You wet towel drops to the floor with a wet smack and just like that, the spell is broken.

You both scramble apart and you move to pick up the offending object.

Behind you, Natasha clears her throat sheepishly.

“So, I couldn’t help but overhear your big plans for tonight while you were talking to Wilson. Is there room for one more? I was actually planning to do the same, but I hear Monty Python is much funnier with good company.”

Everything inside of you screams that this is a terrible idea. But here’s the thing, you thrived off of terrible ideas.

“Sure, why not? We can start when everyone else heads out?”

Sure you would have declined, she brightens considerably and throws you a grin.

She starts walking backwards towards the door.

“Great! It’s a date! I mean- not a date-”

She smacks herself right into the door.

You let out a small laugh.

“I know what you meant.”

“Right. Yes. I’ll see you tonight!” She scurries out the door.

You stay standing there in the ring watching the space she just occupied.

On the other side of the door, Natasha leans heavily against the metal.

What have I gotten myself into?

xxxx

You bid goodbye to your friends and make sure to tell them to call you should they need anything. Once everyone is out the door, you turn around, inhale deeply, and set to work.

Despite everything, and your unfailing determination to not fall down the same rabbit hole, you can’t help but want to take care of Natasha in any capacity you can.

So, you take extra care to grab her favorite snacks, her go-to brand of wine, a couple glasses, and an oversized hoodie you always kept in the back of the closet, on hand just for her. She had a tendency to relax in thinner loungewear, but you knew once she settled in, she stubbornly refused to get up for anything no matter how cold she got.

As you set everything down on the coffee table in front of the oversized, plush couch in the center of the movie room, the beauty in question makes her way towards you in, surprise surprise, a thin tank top and shorts.

You roll your eyes but toss her your sweatshirt and she grins at you before hastily throwing it on, snuggling into the warmth. You both settle onto opposite sides of the couch, the wine and snacks split between you. The movie plays and you find yourselves relaxing. Like magnets, you eventually gravitate towards each other, sharing jokes and snacks, yelling at the large screen in front of you as the Black Knight stubbornly refuses to die.

Without realizing each other’s movements, she winds up leaning against you while your arm is wrapped around alternating between playing with her hair and rubbing soothing patterns across her shoulder and biceps.

You feel a shudder come from the deadly ball of fluff in your arms and only then do you realize your positions. You can’t bring yourself to move.

“Cold?”

“Yeah,” she nods. Attempting to burrow herself further into your clothes.

You pull her closer to you until her legs are resting over yours, head tucked under your chin, puffs of air tickling your sensitive neck.

Bad move (y/l/n).

You forget how to breathe. Natasha turns to look at you when she feels you still beneath her.

Oh. Oh god.

She didn’t realize how close she was to you and from this distance, she can see every detail of your ethereal beauty in the dim light of the movie lighting.

You turn your head to take a quick peak at her but suddenly you’re drowning in a sea of green. Your breath hitches when green is replaced by red and suddenly plump lips are crushing your own.

You moan and your hands scramble for purchase as the angel in your lap twists to straddle you. Fists tighten in your hair while she nips at your lower lip, close to drawing blood. She tugs at your shirt and you get the message. You desperately rip away your top while she follows suit before she pushes you onto your back spreading out on top of you.

A loud groan escapes your lips as the vixen in your arms finds the sensitive space right below your ear. Unwilling to be out done, you wrap your legs around her hips and gracefully flip yourselves over, trailing kisses down the crevice of her breasts, mapping your way down her body. Like Copernicus charting the stars. Reaching your destination, you pull apart the draw strings of her shorts with nothing but your teeth, earning a moan of approval from the writhing redhead. You smoothly slide back up her body, meeting her desperate lips in a searing kiss while your hand finds her center, already feeling the slick wetness ready for you. Natasha’s limbs fly to wrap around you as you set a steady pace pushing her closer and closer to the edge. Knowing she needs the extra push, your other hand moves to pull aside her bra before you deliver a harsh nip and a firm curl of your fingers.

She sees stars.

No.

She sees galaxies.

You continue to move, determined to prolong her pleasure for as long as possible.

You’re rewarded with the crack of her voice as she hurdles into the abyss.

“God, I fucking love you.”

It slips out of your mouth completely unbidden.

But it’s too late.

The damage can’t be undone.

Just like that, she snaps back to reality.

She hastily sits up. Your hand falls back into your lap as she quickly stands picking up her shirt.

“We can’t do this.”

“Natasha, I-”

“No.”

“Natasha, would you jus-”

“I said no!”

You feel like you’ve been here before.

She turns to make a hasty retreat, but you catch her hand in a tight grip before she can get too far.

“Why do you keep running from me? Am I so repulsive that the thought of being with me has you running for the hills?”

“Not everything is about you, (y/l/n),” she bites out.

Neither of you hear the team returning but all of them can hear the yelling coming from your direction and they run towards you.

“No. You always do this! Every time I think we’ve gotten to a good place; you freeze me out.”

“That’s the thing! We were in a good place! We were having fun. We had each other when we needed it and nothing more! We were so good like that. We can still be like that!”

Tears fill your eyes.

“It’s not enough.”

“Why can’t this be enough?!” she cries.

“This has to be enough,” she whispers looking at anything but you.

A hand moves to grip hers gently. The other rises to cup her chin to guide her eyes to yours.

“This could be so much more. Let me love you the way you deserve.”

Staring into your eyes, she can see you dying a little more inside the longer she stays silent.

She pulls away from you.

Okay.

You thought you could be fine with just floating in her orbit. Maybe you underestimated how long it would take for you to heal enough to allow it. Or maybe you couldn’t do this at all.

Your head tilts towards the floor. Your lips break into the softest, most heart-breaking smile she’s ever seen.

“I’m always going to love you Natasha Romanoff. But I owe it to the both of us to know this won’t be enough for me. This can’t be enough for me.”

A whimper is caught in her throat but she can’t bring herself to move when you step back away from her.

“I love you. I don’t want to,” you breathe out.

Natasha swears she hears something inside her shatter.

“I’m sorry I don’t give you the strength you need to pursue your own happiness. I really hope you find someone who does. All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy.”

You make me happy.

Just say it!

Her body screams in protest with every fiber of her being.

“Bye Tasha.”

You turn and only then do you realize that the two of you aren’t alone.

Wanda steps forward. She wraps her arms around your shoulders as she leads you away throwing a glare at the assassin.

Natasha takes a step in your direction.

“(Y/n) wait-”

She stopped by a metal arm blocking her way.

“Haven’t you done enough?” Bucky growls.

“And what do you know about what I’ve done?” She shoves him away.

“I know you hurt them! AGAIN!” he snarls, “You need to get your shit together before I’ll even THINK about letting you come anywhere NEAR (y/n) again, Romanoff.”

Her blood boils. She scoffs, “Big surprise, their guard dog immediately snaps to attention at the first sign of trouble. Tell me Barnes, does your master feed you well?”

She regrets her outburst immediately, but she’s too angry, too frustrated, too exhauseted to take it back.

“Don’t forget who trained you, Natalia,” comes out in a menacing hiss.

Frantically, Clint’s eyes snap from her to the ex-soldier advancing on her. He immediately steps between the two, placing a hand on her arm and turning towards the larger assassin.

“Whoa now, you know she didn’t mean that. Emotions are just running high right now. Let’s all take a step back. I could use a hand, Cap.”

Despite his own roiling emotions, he needs to maintain his professionalism as team captain, releasing a heavy puff of air, he moves to place a firm hand on Bucky’s shoulder, pulling him to his side.

“Clint’s right. We can’t do anything to fix this right now. Everyone, disperse. We’ll regroup in the morning.” He sends a piercing glare at the redhead.

Hearing another growl, Clint whips his head back around, “As entertaining as it would be to make a compound wide betting pool with Tony on a wwe rumble between you and two tag-teaming super soldiers, maybe we should take a second to cool off outside, yeah” he hisses at her.

Gritting her teeth, she nods, allowing Clint to pull her down the hall and out the door.

As she catches a glimpse of the hall leading to your room, all she can think is one thing.

She let you slip through her fingers… again.

Tagging some incredible people who expressed an interest in pt. 2:

guys im so fucking sorry this keeps showing up in your mentions.

@natasha-danvers , @thelastavenger-3000 , @ohfuckno , @imnotasuperhero

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff #black widow x reader #black widow imagine #black widow #guest room pt.2

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rat-father · 2 years

Text

Part 6! FLUFF

No angst, just wholesome.

This one is a bit longer then the others. I wrote 2k words instead of the usual 1.3k

I was just really in a fluffy mood so it's kind of like a treat

Again, I didn't proofread so if you see mistakes then shhh

Tagging; @skunkandgrenade

-- tw;; it as pronoun, pet whump/captivity --

For Cub it was like master never disappeared in the first place, it just went back to its normal self no questions asked. For the others it wasn’t as easy.

Xanzi got some bad wounds that needed bandaging which made it hard to do mundane tasks at time, while Lexi tried her best to treat them. Lo went back to his own place while still being a bit upset with him.

The pet did stay a lot closer to master then before, and always tried to give a helping hand. It was also allowed to sleep in his room for a couple days. If anything it was like its bond with him grew closer. And because of that he wanted to take it somewhere new, to the city! He bought a new harness for it knowing it would be busy as always, even on a quiet day.

“Are you excited?” Master asked, already knowing the answer.

It nodded it’s head with joy. It was allowed to go to the city for the first time! Master made sure it was well hydrated and wearing warm enough clothes before they left. It was gonna be just the two of them, they had the entire day for themselves. I also got to wear a new harness and leash which it thought looked really pretty.

It even enjoyed the ride to the city. It stared out of the windows the entire way.

Xanzi felt bad for the pet to an extend, it had never even seen a city before, or any public place. But then again he didn’t care much, it was a great opportunity to bond with his pet and make it trust him even more, if that was even possible.

The parking lot what surprisingly empty, usually it was filled to the brim but today Xanzi managed to find a spot quite fast. He could see his pet already getting more excited in the corner of his eye.

“Alright, we’re here. I brought water so if ya get thirsty just tell me okay?”

“Yes master!”

“Good. If ya behave well we can go here more often.”

It started practically jumping in its seat, eager to go out and explore. Master stepped out first and took opened the door for it after. He clipped the leash on its harness and they started heading towards the city.

There were still quite a few people around which made it a bit anxious, so it stayed close to master and made sure to check if he was still there every now and then. After a bit of walking it saw a cute little shop selling tons of plushies and stuffed animals. It really wanted to go see it and dragged master along to it.

The walls were pastel yellow on the inside with relaxing music playing through speakers. It immediately went over to the sections with stuffed animals and looked at all of them with amazement. Some of them had pretty pinks, greens and purple mixed in with their fur and were glittery!

A pink narwhal caught its attention, it was big and fluffy and master said it was allowed to have it. It held the narwhal in its arms as it continued looking around the store.

Aside from plushies and stuffed animals, the store also sold clothing. The pet knew it didn’t need new clothing, but a frog hat really intrigued it and it just couldn’t help itself. Everything there was so pretty and it could stay there for hours, but it also wanted to explore more of the city. Master paid for everything and they continued down the city, narwhal in hand and frog hat on.

There were street performers playing outside and Cub wanted to listen for a bit. Of course it never had heard music before so it was very amazed at the songs they were playing. When they were done Xanzi gave them 20 euros before the pet dragged them further.

It stopped in front of a pet shop, it seemed a bit unsure, but hesitantly went inside. At first it walked slowly, until it saw it the toy section which it basically darted to, almost making Xanzi fall out of shock. With its free hand it held up a small mushroom chew toy in front of his face.

“Ya want that one bud?”

“Yes please, master.”

He faked thinking about it for a second. “Alright, I guess you can have it.”

It smiled as they walked up to the cash register to pay. The cashier lady was nice and complimented the pet on how cute it looked as master paid.

It couldn’t wait to see more of the city, everything looked beautiful and the weather was perfect for a walk. Sometimes it would just stop and admire some of the trees or buildings, which master thought was just adorable. He couldn’t help but wonder whether all pets were like this, or if it was just his pet that was this curious.

Cub lightly tugged on master’s sleeve trying to get his attention.

“Hm? What is it pet?”

“It is hungry, can it have food please, master?”

“We can stop at a cafe and get some food there if you want.”

It frowned, looking confused. “What is a cafe, master?”

It didn’t know what a cafe was, of course.

“It’s a place where you can get food and drinks. You’ll see.”

Xanzi knew the city by heart, he lived there for most of his life before buying his mansion. There were tons of cafes nearby. They went to the one that was the most quiet, he didn’t want his pet to get overwhelmed.

In the cafe the pet got a lot of weird stares, pets were a common thing, just not often seen outside. Or in good condition.

Master ordered it a slice of cake and cola, with coffee for himself.

It didn’t take it long to finish its cake, it was starving and it tasted really good. But it waited a bit before drinking the cola, it didn’t understand why there were bubbles going up. Master told it to just try it, that it wasn’t something to worry about. The taste was, odd, but it liked it.

Master suggested they’d go to the nearby art shop too. He thought it might like drawing or painting. It didn’t know what drawing or painting was, but if master said it was fun then it must be fun.

The art shop was significantly bigger then the other stores, it was also packed with all kinds of stuff. The pet wasn’t sure where to look first, this was all new to it. It look at its master, hoping for some directions. Luckily he got the sign and directed it towards a shelf with different types of sketchbooks. They all had things written on them but it couldn’t read. Master picked one out for it and handed it to them. It had a nice yellow cover with a cat on it.

”Do you like this one?”

“Yes master. It’s very pretty.”

Master also showed it some colored pencils, he said it could use them to draw anything it wanted in the book. It still didn’t quite understand but it sounded like fun.

The store also had an upstairs area with big white blocks, master called them canvases. Apparently people painted stuff on them with brushes and different types of paint. It all sounded confusing and complicated.

When they were done there he took it to a book store. He wanted to teach it how to read and needed some books for it.

It didn’t like the book store very much, it felt like there were endless amounts of books everywhere it looked. It was too overwhelming. It held onto master’s arm with one hand and hugged its narwhal plushie with the other.

Master didn’t take long to find what he needed so they weren’t in there for too long.

“Master? Its feet are starting to hurt.”

”Let’s head back home then, I’m also getting kinda tired.”

Master held its hand as they made their way back to the car. It had a big smile on its face, master rarely held its hand, it loved it when he did.

The walk back made its feet hurt even more, but they stopped to get ice cream which made it easier to deal with. Ice cream had always been its favorite.

The drive home was very relaxing to Cub, it had spend all its energy in the city and now it could just sit and watch the sky while cuddling with the narwhal.

Master didn’t talk to it while driving which it was fine with. The soft music playing from the radio made it even better.

It didn’t notice it had fallen asleep until it felt the car stop moving.

“Ya took a nice nap?”

Oh no. It slept without permission. Was master mad?

“Sorry master. It didn’t mean to.”

”It’s fine dear,” he gave it a polite chuckle. “You can sleep whenever you want. I don’t mind, understood?”

“Yes master, thank you.”

He took it out of the car and walked it back to the mansion. It hurried off to its room to put its new plushie and toy away. It was excited to try this ‘drawing’ thing out with master.

It came back downstairs with the sketchbook and colored pencils in hand. Lexi cleared some room on the table for it so it could dump the pencils out of the box. It opened the sketchbook and, felt a bit lost. Where was it supposed to start?

”Just make some lines, whatever you want. There’s no right or wrong.” Master reassured it.

It picked up a purple pencil and went for it. The paper felt smooth each stroke it made, it was a nice feeling. It wasn’t entirely sure what is was drawing at first, but it was drawing it! Next it took a blue pencil and continued scribbling on the paper. It then set the pencils down and held the sketchbook up to master sitting in front of it.

”Master, look! I drew narwhal!” It had a proud smile on its face.

“Wow, that looks amazing! You’re a really great artist.”

He was lying, of course, but it didn’t matter if it look good anyway, the pet was having fun, and that’s what was important.

It giggled and continued scribbling with other colors on the next page. He was right to assume drawing was something it would like. It never got the chance to be a child, so he would give it to them.

Lexi joined them after an hour of the pet drawing various things on the white pages.

“You guys are having fun drawing I see.”

The pet silently nodded, not taking its eyes off the drawing it was working on. It was drawing the mansion, but with all types of colors.

It finished it and showed it to both master and the maid who said they loved it.

Eventually it was time for dinner and Cub had to stop drawing, it didn’t want to stop, but it didn’t want to be a bad pet either.

Master said it could continue drawing after it was done with dinner. It was looking forward to it.

Bonus;

It wasn’t long before Cub became obsessed with art, drawing specifically. It really enjoyed scribbling in its sketchbook and then showing it to its master with a proud smile. And like any good master would do, he put its best drawings on the fridge.

#pet whump #whumpee #whump #comfort #Cub is bean #new skill unlocked: drawing #finally the bean gets the fluff they deserve #I loved writing this #more fluff later??

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