#still trying to wrap my head around the fact that hes german somehow

[toerrishumansodontbeone]

newest method of sharpening my german: watching absolutely unhinged interviews with jeremy fragnance on ytb

[mxtantrights]

Can you Do a Dick Grayson x Fem! Reader, where the Reader ends up in the Batverse and both discover they're Soulmates and crisis erased the readers earth, plus family. They bond and starting to talk about everything, he's comforting her and offers her to move in. Both fall in love and marry two years after, reader is a Chinese-German girl

-

a/n: this has been in my drafts for a while and I'm so sorry about that. at first I was stuck because I wanted to write this but I didn't know how to write from the perspective of a Chinese-German reader. So I made the background neutral. I hope that's okay!

so I loved this request thank you so much for sending it in! I didn't focus on the Chinese-German aspect, and left it fairly neutral. As always you can imaging this how you want.

The last thing you remember is going to bed. Everything was fine-everything was normal. You had work in the morning, you had already ironed your clothes and were thinking about which place to go to for lunch. Everything was fine.

Then you woke up in someone else's bed. The sheets were silky black. And the furniture in the room didn't look anything like yours. You try to wrap your head around it-maybe you had a one night stand and forgot to go home?

But wouldn't you remember that?

You get up with a start and look down at your body. Clothes are still intact. No one night stand, you sigh in relief. You crawl out of the bed and look for the door.

Once you find it, you pull it open. And right there waiting for you is the most gorgeous man you've ever seen. Blue eyes. Black hair. Pretty smile.

"Hi baby, I've got breakfast on the stove but I wanted to know if you wanna try the new creamer?" he asks.

You cock your head to the side. You understand every word he's saying, except one. Baby. Baby? Who was he calling baby? Was there someone else he was speaking to in the room? Were you in one of those invisible dreams?

All of a sudden his hand comes up and brushes your chin.

"Baby?" he asks again.

And it hits you then and there that he's talking to you! He's calling you baby! Your mind automatically think it's a dream. That you may have woken up but that was part of this dream. You were still sleeping.

Your only response is to hum. You watch as he glides into the bedroom, he says something about you being able to sleep through almost anything but somehow you were awake right now.

You don't feel like it.

This has to be a dream.

-

A week into this new life, you find out it is not dream. You keep going to sleep but waking up here. Here, in this world with Dick Grayson. Every night he comes home to you, kisses you on the cheek and says goodnight.

You've learned a lot about him while he's busy. When he's at work you look him up freely. Son of Bruce Wayne. Cop. Heartbreaker.

And you do your best to make all this information seem like old news to you. If you can't he'll see right through you.

There's also the fact that he comes in late at night or very early in morning. While you know what his official job is, you don't know what it is he does at night. What causes him to come home with bloody knuckles, cuts to the lip and fresh bruises.

You want to ask but you know that if you do, you'll give it all away. He'll know that this isn't your world. And you'll be out on the street with no way of helping yourself get back home.

So for a week you keep your questions to yourself.

Until you can't help it.

He comes in at two am in the morning. He's clinching his side and wincing with every step he takes. You get out of bed right then and there. You can't stand to see him in pain.

"Okay you have to tell me what's going on." you say.

Dick looks at you sweetly, "It's just a tough case baby. Don't worry."

"I don't think the department has great insurance to cover you getting beat up like this." you reply.

"This isn't that bad." he answers.

"Isn't that bad?! Dick you're barely breathing right now!"

He cocks his head to the side at your outburst. You curse yourself. If you didn't give yourself away this whole week, you just did it. He's a detective after all.

"You're not my girlfriend." he states.

You gulp, "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't lie to me. You've been different since that morning, you're not her." he explains.

You sigh and sit on the bed. With your head dropped to the floor you debate on the words to use. How exactly do you tell him that this isn't your world. That you come from a world where superheroes and vigilantes don't exist.

"I don't know how it happened. I went to sleep one night and then next thing I know I'm waking up on your silk sheets." you answer honestly.

There's a moment of silence. And then Dick grunts. You pick your head up to view him. He's pulling a jacket on over his clothes. You get up from the bed quickly.

"We need to talk to Bruce."

-

You're sitting in the dinning room. It's quiet except for the faint sound of voices coming from the other room. It's Dick and his father, and his brothers. They're all talking about you.

When you first got here, you were met with weary looks. Apparently they could all tell you didn't fit in here. But Dick hadn't caught it and he was the only person you talked to since you arrived.

You explained to them as best you could. And then Dick ushered you into the dinning room. They needed to deliberate the situation. Which meant they were talking about you in a whole other room like you were a problem to solve.

You wanted to go home badly. But you wanted to be a part of the process. What if they ended up sending you to another world? What if you got stuck there?

The door opens and you turn around to see who it is that's come to talk to you.

A man in a trench coat.

You don't recognize him. It makes you stand up from your seat.

"If you're gonna blast me to another world can we make sure it's the right one?" you ask, the words tumbling out of your mouth faster than you can think.

The man laughs, "I like this one."

This one?

You scoff, "This one has a name."

"Yeah, and apparently it's the same one as the woman of this world, but you're not her."

You notice the way he says it. Like he knows you. Or not you, her. The you of this world.

"You knew her?" you ask.

He nods his head, "She and I go back a bit. She'd want to come home."

"I want to go home too. I'd do anything." you admit.

"Good, because I need to look inside your mind."

You decide to not give him any backtalk. Why would you? You want to go home so badly. If you got a headache or a migraine from this you wouldn't care.

The man instructs you to lay on the table. Which freaks you out. But you try to not let your nervousness show. You do as he says and lay flat on the table. You shut your eyes.

He tells you to relax and that the process will be painless.

He lies.

Once you feel him in your mind, it feels like someone is scratching the inside of your head. It feels uncomfortable. And then when eh goes perusing into your memories it feels even worse.

As he gets to a week ago, you feel your skin getting hotter. Your breath shaky.

You can see it.

You go to bed. Everything is normal. Your alarm clock is set. Your clothes are laid out for the next day. All the lights are off. And you doze off.

Behind your eyelids you see it. How the darkness transforms into a blinding light. You open your eye at the last second but you can see nothing. Just a bright light, and how hot everything is against your skin.

You lurch off the table with a gasp.

In-between your distress your eyes catch people running into the room. Dick, his brothers and his father. Dick comes to your side and takes your hand into his.

"You're okay. Everything is fine." he tries soothing you.

You shake your head, "No it's not. None of this is okay."

You look over at the man who looked into your mind. He's looking at you with grim features. Nothing about what you saw was good, but looking at him makes you double sure.

"He clears his throat.

"She's from a crisis Earth. It got erased." he answers.

Crisis Earth? What does that mean? As you look at Dick you realize that it means something to the others in the room. Something bad, based on their faces.

-

It takes time to come to terms with the fact that you can't go home. It's explained to you over and over again but your brain doesn't let you believe it.

You walk around like a zombie for the first few weeks. Dick let's you take the spare room in his apartment. Sleeping in the same bed with him felt weird when you realized that you weren't leaving, and his you wasn't coming back anytime soon.

Constantine, the man who looked into your mind, told you that the mechanics of what happened were are. You came from one world to the next, and pushed the you of this world out. He didn't say if out meant that the other you was gone for good or just lost.

It makes you toss and turn at night. You feel like you're to blame for all of this. Even though you didn't do anything.

Sleep doesn't come easy to you.

One night you have a nightmare. You can picture it so clearly. That night when you went to bed and everything changed. How your skin felt like it was being burned. How you couldn't see anything but the bright hot light.

Dick has to wake you up. He grabs a hold of your shoulders and shakes you awake. You sob and sob. He consoles you the best he can knowing that you're not his. It's odd. It's unshakable. It's not right.

-

About six months in you have a job. You work enough hours to afford a place on your own. Which is what prompted you to get the job in the first place.

But as you're boxing up the few things you've collected since you're arrival, you find yourself not wanting to leave. Maybe it's because Dick is the only person who knows what you're going through. The only person to show you grace and help you out.

You do your best to power through it.

And when you finally get the last box tapped up, Dick comes bolting in your room. You had planned on leaving while he was at work, but that plan is thwarted.

"We're you just going to leave without saying goodbye?" he asks you bluntly.

You swipe your hands on the back of your pants.

"I know me being here is just a constant reminder of what you lost, I thought I'd save you the heartache." you answer sadly.

You pick up the box and move past him and to the other boxes that are pilled up next to the front door. He moves in sync with you. Living with him for six months meant that the two of you coexisted. You learned each other's routines, behaviors, habits.

Dick grabs the box from you before you can put it down yourself.

"I don't want you to leave." he says.

You look at him sharply.

"Dick, I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for me. But I can't stay here, it's not fair to you." you explain.

But you can see with the more words you speak, the more agitated he gets.

"Who said it's not fair? I didn't say that. Ask me what I think about this!" he replies.

You sigh, "You're not thinking straight. I have her face. You want her, not me."

Dick stops for a moment. He places his hands on his hips and gives you a look you can't read. You weren't good at reading him like he is you.

"I want you to stay. I don't want you to move. I don't want you out of my life, and it's not because I think you're her or that you're replacing her."

You look at him then. Confusion is all you have on your mind. Why would he want a constant reminder of what he lost around? Why would he want you to stay?

"I was supposed to sign the lease today."

"Please, please don't sign that lease. Please don't leave." Dick says.

[bestofbucky]

The Signal (1/2)

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: Angst, death, blood, canon level violence, swearing.

Summary:  You go on a mission with Bucky.

A/N: Part 2 will hopefully be up sometime soon.

“You ready doll?” Bucky asked as you were nearing your drop off point. 

You nod back, not trusting your voice. No matter how many times you have had to parachute from a quinjet it will never get easier. Of course, Bucky can tell how nervous you are by the way you avoid eye contact and start tugging at the straps of your harness. He pulls your hands away replacing them with his own as he safety checks your parachute.

You know that you have done it all correctly but having him double check it is the reassurance you need. You watch him, his slightly furrowed brow and tongue poking out giving away how concentrated he is. 

He finishes his final check and looks up at you, “What are you smiling about?” He can’t stop his own grin from spreading across his face. Bucky didn’t just smile with his mouth, he smiled through the crinkles in the outer corners of his eyes, he smiled through the scrunch of his nose and he smiled through the relaxation of his whole body.

“You.” The contentment you feel, that comes from simply being near Bucky, is obvious in your body language and voice. His eyes glimmer as he leans forward pressing a gentle kiss to your lips.

Bucky had joined the team about two years ago. For one of his first missions you were paired up, you worked so seamlessly together that it would be silly not to put you with each other for more missions. This resulted in the two of you becoming close friends, he trusted and confided in you and you felt the same. 

It would be normal for the two of you to be holed up together after a tough mission, looking after the other but not wanting any social interaction with anyone else. You were both extremely similar like that, tending to fall inwards but you both became experts at drawing the other one out.

It was a natural transition from friendship to romantic relationship. You had just come back from mission and you were cuddled up in Bucky’s bed watching a film. Bucky had turned to you out of the blue and asked if you wanted to go on a date with him to which you immediately agreed. The feelings were already there from the bond you had formed, it was just the physical side that was needed.

This wasn’t a difficult thing to develop for either of you. Bucky had never met someone who completely overwhelmed his thoughts and feelings as much as you did. You were always on his mind whether it was a comment Sam made that he knew you would be on the floor laughing at or a mental picture of you sleeping, the morning light making your skin glow softly. He thought you always looked like an angel but especially in those moments.

You had never met anyone who's laughter was so infectious, it had become addicting to be the one to pull those noises from him, to lose yourself in his lopsided grins and crinkled eyes. He drew you in like a butterfly to nectar. You couldn’t get enough of him. His voice, his hands, his kisses.

This mission, on paper, was a simple one. Apart from jumping out of a quinjet and landing onto a moving train, all you and Bucky had to do was stop an illegal trade. That’s it. The mission file didn’t cover who the parties involved in the deal were. From your experience, being trained at the Academy and moving up the ranks of SHIELD before finally becoming an Avenger, you know that illegal trades are normally between civilians who are in over their heads in some kind of criminal group. However, not long into the mission you realised it wasn’t simple at all.

It turns out that one of the ‘unknown parties’ is Hydra, never a good sign. The weapons they are dealing are enhanced with alien technology and they somehow knew that you and Bucky were coming. The only reason the mission didn’t get pulled is because the rest of the team was on standby, ready to step in at any moment.

In fact, the job got so complicated, so quickly, that you and Bucky found yourselves at the back of the train, severely outnumbered and being pushed closer and closer to the edge of the train where the back wall had been blown to pieces by the very weapons involved in the trade.

It was loud, the sounds of fighting were drowned out by the noises of the wheels on the tracks. The train was moving fast and the wind was whirling around the carriage meaning just one misstep could send you flying off the train and landing on the tracks below.

There was a moment when you thought you were a goner, but Bucky managed to haul you back into the carriage, putting himself between you and the edge of the train. A move that warmed your heart, knowing his history with trains was not a good one.

“I fucking hate trains.” You remember him saying when you had first got the mission brief. “Nothing good ever happens on trains.” You had laughed back then, but there was nothing funny about the situation you were in now.

The next ten seconds seemed to happen so quickly. One of the attackers yelled something in what you assumed to be German, he was holding the weapon you recognised to be the same as the one that blew out the back wall of the carriage. Next thing you knew Bucky had wrapped his arm around you and was launching you both off the train. 

Time slowed and you seemed to float mid-air as you watched the carriage go up in flames, shrapnel flying everywhere, the heat burning your eyes and forcing them closed. Then came the impact of the fall, quite luckily Bucky had managed to aim for the snow on the sides of the train tracks and not in the train tracks themselves.

Bucky immediately sits up and sends the signal for extraction, he then starts checking himself for injuries. You are lying on your side facing him, half your body concealed by the snow, the other half just poking out. His eyes travel to you as he looks over your body.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” The concern was clear in his voice.

“No, I think I’m ok.” You try to move yourself but wince slightly. “I think I landed funny though because my side hurts.” You manoeuvre yourself onto your back. As soon as you get your right side out of the snow a gasp causes you to snap your head towards Bucky who is just staring in shock at your stomach.

His eyes are wide, eyebrows slanted upwards and mouth open slightly. You know whatever it is can’t be good. Gathering up the courage to look down at your stomach, you lift up onto your forearms. Finally looking down, the sight causes bile to rise and you have to stop yourself from gagging. A piece of shrapnel about the size of an A5 piece of paper is sticking out of your side. There is so much blood around it that it is hard to tell what it is and how deep it has gone.

It’s as if looking at it made it real because the pain suddenly hits you. Out of instinct your hand flies towards the wound to try and hold it or soothe it but Bucky quickly catches your hand stopping you. It’s like a flip switched in his mind. He suddenly starts stripping off his clothing. He takes his shirt and undershirt off before putting the rest of his gear back on. He moves behind you, placing his legs either side of you and lifting your upper body carefully, so you are now leaning on him. He manages to wrap your wound, careful to go around the shrapnel to try to stop the bleeding, but not push it in anymore. He continues to do the same with as much of his clothing as he can afford to lose in the snow. He takes your left hand and puts it over the clothing, then places his hand on top, telling you to press down as hard as you can, as he does the same.

You start to feel lightheaded, the pain in your side only getting stronger.

“Stay with me doll, backup is on its way. They’ll find us.” Bucky is practically begging and you try your hardest to keep your eyes open.

“You were right.” You say after a while and Bucky gives you a puzzled look. “Nothing good ever happens on trains.” You chuckle at your own joke but quickly stop when it causes shooting pains to fly through your body.

Bucky lets out a sharp breath from his nose. “When you get through this you will be able to join my ‘I survived a fall from a train’ club.” He jokes smiling down at you.

“I can’t imagine there are very many members of that club.” You smile back at him and he laughs, you can tell he is trying to distract you but you let him anyway.

“No, at the moment it’s just me. The events the club holds are very fun though!” His eyes light up as he continues to look down at you. “We’ve had freight night, that was watching scary movies that have a train in at some point. There’s train reaction, which is like the telephone game, that one was quite difficult with one person.” He laughs at himself which makes you giggle, trying not to contract your stomach. It doesn’t work and the shooting pains are back. The smile is still clear on your face and Bucky reaches his free hand up to push a bit of hair behind your ear.

“Bucky.” You whisper to get his attention, the words you want to speak are clear in the look of longing in your eyes. 

“No, baby please I don’t want to hear you say whatever you are going to say. You fight through this and you can tell me whatever it is when you’re better.” A frown is clear on his face.

“But I-“

“Please doll. You want to tell me whatever it is so badly, then use it as a reason to fight this. To come out the other side.” You scan his face and from the crease lines in his brow and the desperation in his eyes you can tell he already knows what you want to say.

You both fall into a comfortable silence. You realise being in Bucky’s arms is probably your favourite place to be. Feeling his chest steadily rise and fall, your head gently moving with it. You feel so protected, cherished, peaceful.

That is until Bucky looks down at your stomach to see that all the clothing he tried to use to wrap the wound has been completely soaked in your blood, he visibly winces. You move your head slightly to try and get a look but Bucky uses his free hand to tilt your chin up so you are looking at him instead. He holds the eye contact as he takes his jacket off and drapes it over you, covering your wound from your sight and warming you up as much as he can.

As secretively as he could, he sent the signal out to the team. The signal only used in extreme emergencies. Three long holds. The signal to say an agent doesn’t have long left to live.

The sharp sting of the cold has faded into exhaustion as the pain retreats from your body leaving behind a numbness you have never experienced before.

“I always thought I’d be alone.” You say pensively, “I never thought about death too much. I just always assumed I’d be alone when it happened.” You were slurring your words. If you were more aware of your surroundings you would have felt Bucky tense up at your words. Looking up into his blue eyes you wondered if death would be as serene as them.

“You’re not alone. I’m here.” Bucky’s once motivational words, convincing you to hold on, shift to words intended to comfort you, to draw out the fear of your final moments and replace them with solace. You had closed your eyes, his reassuring whispers gradually fading away as he cradled you close to his chest. You wanted to be able to hear his heartbeat but all you could hear was the erratic beating of your own heart pounding in your head. 

In the far distance you felt commotion around you so you used what was left of your energy to open your eyes one final time. The sight you were greeted with sent a wave of emotion through you. Your team members, your friends, they were all gathered around you, kneeling or standing in the snow.

“My family is here.” You smile to yourself as you let the tiredness overtake you. The last thing you feel is an ice cold tear rolling down your cheek. An overwhelming sense of calm consumes your body and your worries and fears simply fade to nothingness. 

Bucky knew even before the Avengers turned up that your chances of surviving this were slim. You were bleeding out fast and it was showing no sign of slowing. It killed Bucky to know that all he could do was make you as comfortable and reassure you as much as possible in your final moments of life.

When the team got Bucky’s first signal, the plan was for just Tony to go down and retrieve you both. Then the second signal came in. They all silently agreed they would land the quinjet and all go together, maybe to say goodbye if they had enough time. If not, just to be with you when you take your last breath. They all knew that there was nothing any of them could do.

What none of them could have predicted was Helen Cho and a SHIELD team transporting the cradle from one base to another. The flight path directly over your current location. Their quinjet picked up Bucky’s radio signal and they made the choice to land to see if they could help.

Upon arrival Helen rushed straight to you, checking for signs of life, she must have felt something because she ordered for you to be put in the cradle as quickly as possible.

Bucky was frozen, no he wasn’t cold, he was a super soldier, the cold barely affected him. He was simply in a state of daze, unable to move himself to get you into the cradle. Steve could see this and swiftly took you into his arms carrying you onto the other quinjet and placing you down in the cradle. As soon as you were secure Helen was directing a team of people to all do different things. Steve stepped out of the jet, not wanting to get in the way.

No one spoke, they all had their hopes that you would be ok, but no one was particularly optimistic. 

“We’ll take her to my lab, she’s not in a good condition and this jet can only sustain the cradle for so long, we can take one or two of you in this jet with us, but feel free to follow in yours.” Helen had stepped out and as soon as she finished her sentence it was like a flip switched inside everyone.

The team made their way back onto the quinjet but Bucky hadn’t moved, he was bathed in your blood, a ring of red surrounding him a stark contrast to the blinding white of the snow. Bucky gratefully accepted Steve’s hand helping him onto his shaky legs. He looked down at where he had just been. The red crater left in the snow told the story of what had happened but Bucky still couldn’t quite believe it.

Steve’s hand on Bucky’s shoulder guided him to the quinjet you were in. He sat there staring ahead unable to do anything more, Steve stayed close by his side but knew not to push anything.

“She wanted to tell me something.” Bucky suddenly breaks the silence but his gaze stays fixed ahead. “She wanted to tell me something and I couldn’t let her finish because I wanted to stay strong for her.” Steve stays silent knowing he wasn’t finished. “I didn’t let her say anything because I knew I would have broken down in front of her.” He continues as tears start to fall from his eyes. He feels everything, guilt, regret, pain, loss, hope but at the same time feels nothing at all. His body numb and still in shock.

“What if it was her dying wish to say whatever it was and I took that away from her.” A crack in Bucky’s voice causes Steve’s heart to contract. He pulls his friend into a hug, Bucky gladly accepting the comfort.

“We both know what she was going to say Buck,” Steve takes a deep breath to try to stop himself from crying, “and we know how she is. If she thought for one second you didn’t know what she was going to say, then she wouldn’t have let you stop her from saying it.” 

Of course Bucky knew what you were going to say because he felt it too. He knew, because to kill you both only one of you actually had to die.

Taglist: @vampirewithbedsidemanners @townwitchbitch @velvetcardiganbucky

[latenightartist-author]

Shot In The Dark

Pairing: Zemo X Reader

Summary: zemo,Y/n,Sam, and Bucky need to escape from Madripoor

Warning: Shooting, Blood, Protective Zemo{i’m not sure thats a warning though}, Self doubt, Ex HYDRA, language, TFATSW slight spoliers I went off plot for this

I did research people in sacovia spoke German and russian sometimes a combination.

Requested by: @joyfulinternettraitor

Madripoor was a vile city to Y/n it looked at lot like Las Vegas. Currently Y/n was looking out the window while Zemo negoated with Selby, while Sam pretended to be someone named Smiling tiger and bucky acted like the winter soldier. Y/n was there having to pretend to be Zemo’s ‘pet’ which no one was very thrilled about. Y/n looked aover at Zemo and he motioned for Y/n to come over to him,

“Komm her liebling,” (English: Come here darling) Y/n sat beside him she didn’t know much of Sacovian language but she knew enought to hod a simple conversation. he put his arm arounf her and whispered “apologies” to her. She had to look smitten with him this wasn’t the first time she had to pretend to be involved wth him she had to under cover when she worked for HYDRA but right now she was doing a pretty good job she had managed to fool Bucky and Sam. Things were going well until Sarah called. Y/n moved a bit closer to Zemo when sam was told to put the call on speaker phone. Y/n whispered to Zemo,

“Das wird nicht gut enden,” (English: It won’t end well) she grabbed Zemo’s arm Y/n looked at Zemo then heard a shot and saw Selby on the floor a bullet through her head. Zemo grabbed Y/n pulling them out of the room.

“Follow me,” He grabbed your hand pulling you with him somehow he was still keeping up the act. Bucky and sam werent far behind they got out of the bar and started running right before bullets started flying at them, “Damn it.” he shouted as sam more of jogged had the situation been diffrent Y/n would have laughed at how rediculous sam looked.

“I can’t run in these heels!” sam shouted to bucky who was running infront of them.

“Try being me!” Y/n yelled she was half tempted to take the shoes off and run. through the streets barefoot, “At lest your hells downt slip through a freaking vent!”

“Y/n if I recall corectly you used to fight in worse clothes and shoes than that when we were with HYDRA.” Zemo shouted back to her she rolled her eyes and threw the shoes offas she ran,

“Baron I suggest you shut up and keep yourself from getting shot!” zemo ran off to a side street and Y/n followed him, “If sam hadn’t gotten that damn call!”

“I’m aware, liebling,” he said and stopped since no one was shooting anymore, “I think we’re safe dor the moment-” he looked down and notice her shoes gone, “When did you do that?”

“A while back Baron,” she said then saw something move in the shadows and the shine of light refelcting on a gun pointed at zemo, “Zemo move!” She shoved him out of the way and the bullet hit Y/n and she fell on the ground, “Fuck!”

“Y/N!!” Zemo shouted and shot his gun in the direction the bullet came from before going to Y/n, “Your boys are gonna kill me. Where did you get hit?” She had her hand on her thigh, “I think it’s safe to assume you can’t walk.” he ripped part of his shirt and wrapped it around Y/n’s wound befor carfully picking her up bridal style. He carried her being causous of who was around to find Sam and Bucky. when he finally found them they checked to make sure you weren’t in any life or death danger. Sharon walked towards them. Zemo noticed you were slipping in and out of consciousness, “Apologies for the interupption but we need to get Y/n somewhere where her wound can be tended to.”

They arrived at sharons house and sharon opened the door to a room with a first aid kit. Zemo took her in the room and covered her with a blanket only leaving the area he needed to work on visible. He was getting the bullet out and the pain from it woke Y/n up she tried to sit up but Zemo gently pushed her down.

“I need you to stay down and stay still, schatz,” Zemo pulled the bullet out of the wound and began cleaning it and holding a cloth on it until her blood started clotting, “You are a foolish girl.”

“Oh god now you sound like peirce.”

“Well I’m saying it for diffrent reasons. You shouldn’t have shoved me out of the way. I accepted death many years ago.” he said and got hit on the back of the head, “Ouch! what was that for?!”

“Bad Helmut,” She sat up, “you accepted death because you want to see your wife and son again.”

“How do you know about-”

“Hydra files were released remember? Everything about you, about me, and bucky everything was release. I know you were sent to help defend against ultron and it took two days to find them. I know what it’s like. You met me after my fiance died.”

“You still shouldn’t have taken that bullet!!”

“Because I don’t want you to die!”

“Why!!”

“Because Zemo I care about you I thought you’d know that from The fact that I have vsited you every day for the past eight years. Hell I vistited you on christmas and ditch a new years date with Bucky to visit you. He doesnt know I went to see you.”

“You pity me. No one can understand what I did,” He walked toward the door Y/n got up and grabbed his wrist as a pain shot through her leg she ignored it.

“You really don’t understand do you?” She made him look at her, “I do understand. Pierce’s PA in HYDRA didn’t run away. Starks building didnt blow a fuse. I have been getting reveger on everyone my former fiance knew for years. I finished right before Thanos came here. it’s not the same but it would put me in a cell right next to you if they knew.”

“Y/n...” He turned to her and th silence made her realize the pain shooting through her body. She grabbed onto him so she wouldn’t fall as the the door opened. Zemo picked her up setting her back on the bedto take fix the wound fully. He held a cloth against the wound again as Walker came in the room.

“Well two criminals in one room. Must be my lucky day-...oh it’s just the freak and Zemo.”

“I can beat your-“ she is cutt off by the pain from Zemo stiching it.

“Well you were harboring a criminal so I get to take you and zemo to that prison you Freak.”

“Perhaps you should put your lack of braincells to better use somewhere else I need to help Y/n and your voice is highly annoying!” Zemo snapped at Walker. Bucky heard them arguig and pulled John out of the room. Zemo continued, “Humor me. How much of our under covers was an act”

“lets put it this way most of your apologies were unnecessary.”

“That isn’t an answer that makes sence,” he said and tied off the wrapping on her leg. She sighed,

“for an observant man you are very dull. Maybe youll uder stand this, Ich liebe dich,” (English: I love You) She kissed his cheek before going to stop Bucky and john from killing eachother. Zemo sat there in shock and confused at her action and what she had said. He didn’t know if she ment it platonically or not.

[20moonchild21]

𝗦𝗲𝗵𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵𝘁 [𝗯𝘁𝘀]

⇉ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 9

[pairings]

JK x female!oc, Bunny!JK x human!female!oc, Jin x female!oc, Leopard!Jin x human!female!oc, Jimin x female!oc, white Tiger!Jimin x human!female!oc, Taehyung x female!oc, black Tiger!Taehyung x human!female!oc, JK x Jin x Jimin x Taehyung x female!oc

[warnings]

very grumpy Tae, threats, flashbacks of abusive past, mentions Hybrid auction, traumatized Jimin and Tae, trust issues, mentions of blood, mentions of eating disorder

[words]

4.0k

[author] ⇉ please, read!

Okay, I swear I absolutely love Tae, but he just fits in that grumpy role. I actually want to upload all the other chapters so badly all at once, but I can’t!!!! You and I have to be patient a little while longer!

While waiting for my next update on Wednesday, you could actually check out my favorite author @starlightauroras-main. She wrote that really cute story Inferiority complex. I love it so much, and you definitely have to read it too!

Also, check out my other inspirations below this chapter. Like always, my message board is open for recommendations, wishes, criticism or whatever it is on your heart.

I also want to thank you guys so so so much for always leaving me so much likes and those super cute comments. I swear, I see all of them and they make me so proud and happy, but unfortunately, I cannot answer all of the comments. I wish I could!🥺 💜

PS: People often ask me what 𝗦𝗲𝗵𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵𝘁 actually means, so here is the answer:

Sehnsucht is a German word (I am from Germany, lol), and it stands for „the inconsolable longing in the (human) heart for we know not what ; a yearning for a far, familiar, (non-) earthly land one can identify as one‘s (n.)“

Kind of cute, don’t you think?

Stay healthy and safe!

Mꨄ

[chapter 8 ||| chapter 10]

“Okay, everyone needs to calm down.” She took a deep breath, as she closed her eyes.

“We are calm.” Jungkook piped in from beside her, as him and Jin and sat down next to her on the table. “You – You are the one who makes a scene.”

The girl chuckled nervously, before she opened her eyes to look at the boys. Jungkook had laid his head down on his hands, that were rested on the table. His ears hung loosely bedside his face, while his big, brown deer eyes were looking up at the girl, eyebrows cocking up. Jin beside him had wrapped both of his hands around the hot mug that was filled with coffee, while he cocked his eyebrows up as well.

“Oh my god. I am really making a scene?” She whined while her eyes moved away from both of her Hybrids over to the white tiger, who’s eyes were flickering between the girl and the other two boys.

When his eyes met the girl’s gaze properly, he stopped fiddling with his fingers. A heavy shed of red started spreading over his cheeks, before he quickly shook his head and dropped his eyes. After she had brought him and his brother breakfast, Jimin had carefully asked if he was allowed to leave his room. Taehyung on the other hand had refused to leave his bed. When she had offered Jimin to take a seat at the table, he had looked at her with wide eyes but not taken her offer. He rather stood next to the table, watching the scene in front of him.

“Why are you so nervous, Hope?” Jungkook had lifted his head and was now leaning it on his hands. “You are so smart.”

Hope chuckled at his innocence. She had told them roughly why it was so important to her that her term papers would be free of any mistakes, but she doubt that they had really understood the how much of her future depended on this.

“Thank you, Kookie.” She drover her finger through the thick hair at the back of his head. “But this is really important. If I made the smallest mistake, it might be that I can’t be a lawyer, which means that I can’t defend Hybrids in front of the Judge, you know?”

Jungkook just hummed, as he moved his head against her hand, getting himself a nice massage.

“What – What is a – a lawyer?” The girl moved her eyes away from the bunny.

Jimin was still fiddling with his sleeves, but he was now looking at the girl, his cheeks still covered in red.

“Do you know what a judge is, Jimin?” The girl asked the white tiger, as she kept driving her hand through Jungkook’s hair. Jimin thought for a moment, before he quickly nodded. “A lawyer is someone who tries to convince the judge, that the one who is accused should not be punished. I want to try to convince the judge, that human should be punished for hurting a Hybrid in any way. This is why this term papers are so important to me because if I made any mistakes, they won’t allow me to defend any Hybrids.”

“But she is the smartest girl in the world.” Jungkook had opened his eyes and was now looking sharply at Jimin, almost snapping at the tiger. “That’s why she is going to be a lawyer.”

Jimin, who seemed to be pretty intimidated by the bunnies words, wrapped his tail tightly around his left leg, before he nodded quickly. Hope nudged Jungkook’s arm slightly, gesturing for him to not sound so harsh.

“Don’t worry, Hope.” Jin put his mug back on the table. “You checked your terms several times. There is no chance you made any mistakes.”

The girl took a deep breath and nodded. Jin was right. She had read over the cases so many times, making sure that there was not a single detail left that would cause any problems. She had checked her terms for grammar mistakes or wrong spelled words. It must be bulletproof.

“You are right, Jin.” She whispered and placed her finger at the ‘send’ button. “I will send it out now.”

Jungkook grabbed the girl’s arm, before pulling it down and took her smaller hand in his, squeezing it slightly. She looked one last time towards the leopard, getting an encouraging nod from. With a last, deep breath, she bundled up all her effort and finally pressed her finger onto the mouse.

“You did it.” Jungkook whispered, before he stood up and wrapped his arms around the sitting girl.

“Are you a lawyer now?” Jimin piped in with a small voice.

“Not yet, Jimin.” She watched the tiger, as he carefully walked around the table to take a look at her laptop screen. “It needs time. The committee needs to read my whole term, then they need to check my arguments if they are true or not and then they will decide if I can be a lawyer or not.”

Jimin kept staring at the screen, his eyes flickering over the symbols and letters. Somehow, he reminded her of Jungkook, who would always have the same sparkle in his eyes when he learns something new.

She sighed, as she laid her head on Jungkook’s head, who had leaned his head against her shoulder. It seemed like Jin had accepted the fact that the tigers would be staying with them for a certain am out of time, but she also hoped that Jungkook and the both other Hybrids would get along the time they would be staying here.

She felt her heart tighten when she thought about the two tigers. Where would they go after Taehyung’s injuries were all good again? She didn’t even know what had happened to the two tigers. What if their owners were the same kind as Jin and Jungkook’s old owners? What if they were looking for them and punish them for running away. What if someone would caught them strolling around the streets without someone to look after them? They would immediately lock them away or even worse.

“You are spacing out again.” Jin’s chuckling voice was ripping her out of her thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”

“I – ehm – I” All the three Hybrids were looking at her now. “I was thinking about – ehm – Taehyung. I haven’t looked over his arm yet. Do you think he would allow me to change his bandage, Jimin?”

She felt a slight vibration going through her shoulder, as Jungkook growled at the black tiger’s name. Since Taehyung had showed off his fangs the previous, Jungkook had never left the girl’s side again, too scared that the tiger would hurt her.

Jimin meanwhile, had taken a small step back. He started fiddling with his fingers again, eyes flickering around the ground, before he slightly shook his head.

“I – I don’t think so. He was pretty angry this morning.” He whispered, not looking up. “I am sorry for him. He is scared and unsettled. He – he would never hurt someone on purpose. He –“

“He threatened us with his fangs.” Jungkook quickly interrupted him, pressing his eyes together. “Hope just wanted to help him.”

“I know.” Jimin’s sad eyes were looking up at Jungkook, ears flat against his head. “I will try to talk to him later. But I promise that he would have never hurt you.”

“Don’t worry, Jimin.” Hope tried to friendly smile at him. “It takes time to fully trust someone, but I understand. He will warm up eventually. But I need to change his bandage, or else the infection could get worse.”

To her surprise, Jimin’s mouth lifted up. He smiled happily, before he nodded quickly. He turned around and run down the hallways, entering his and Taehyung’s room. When he was gone, Jin stretched himself. It looked kind of funny, because he not only stretched his arms over his head, he also stretched his ears and tail way from him.

“I will cook something for lunch.” He announced, before he stood up and grabbed his mug.

“Since you started cooking for us I gained weight, you know?” The girl laughed, as she rubber her belly to support her statement.

Jin just shook his head and walked into the kitchen, starting to prepare lunch. The girl smiled at Jin’s eagerness to cook for the three, and now the five, of them. She could see the happiness in his eyes, when he set up he table or when her and Jungkook tell him how tasty his meals are. She was glad that thing with him had turned out in a good way.

“Jungkook.” She mumbled against the bunny’s hair. “Can you try to be nice to them. Jimin is trying really hard to be good. I think you scare him away sometimes.”

“Good, he better is.” Jungkook mumbled back, and she could clearly hear the amusement in his voice.

“Please, Kookie.” She tried again, nudging his arm slightly. “I don’t want them to feel not welcome here. Can you try for me, please?”

The bunny didn’t answer. He just kept his eyes closed, burring his face against her shoulder, mumbling something she couldn’t understand.

Just in that moment, the sound of an opening door rang through the apartment. Jimin came out of the room, pulling a crumply looking Taehyung behind him. Both tigers made their way down the hallway, before they stopped in front of the table, where Hope and Jungkook were still sitting. The girl smiled up at them, before she carefully pushed a protesting bunny from her shoulder and stood up.

“Jungkook, why don’t you and Jimin ask Jin if he needs help, while I change Taehyung’s bandage?” She asked nicely, before she grabbed the first aid kid from the cupboard on the wall.

Jungkook and Jimin looked at each other for a few seconds, before both nodded shyly. Jungkook started walking first, but not before he made a V-sign with his fingers, pointing at his eyes and then at Taehyung’s eyes. Jimin flashed Taehyung a look as well, before he trailed after Jungkook into the kitchen.

Taehyung didn’t hesitate, as he pulled himself a chair back and sunk down on it. He laid his injured arm onto the table, turning his head away from the girl, nose trails went wide. The girl sighed, but sat down next to him, gathering all the supplies she would need on the table. She didn’t tried to start a conversation, she just took off the used bandage and started cleaning up the scratch.

As the wet clothed touched his swollen and sensitive skin, the tiger hissed slightly. He slowly turned his head in her direction, opening his mouth so she could clearly see his fangs. It was just now that she actually was close enough to look at them properly.

From the thick root all the way down to the razor thin and sharp tip, the bright white the stood out from the red gums. They were definitely longer than his front teeth, maybe by one inch, which meant that he could easily cut through her skin.

“I am not scared of your fangs, Taehyung.” She simply stated, looking back down and not stopping to whip the cloth over his injury.

The black tiger didn’t response. Instead, he started laughing quietly and shaking his head. He leaned his elbow that was not injured on the table, before he put his head in his hand, still looking at the girl. He lifted his lips even more, showing her the whole length of his carves, while licking his lips over them.

“Is that so?” He laughed, making Hope looking up once again. When she was directly looking into his deep brown eyes, he started talking in a lower voice again. “Why are you lying to me? I can smell your fear. I can sense your heart beating in fear. I can see the fear in your eyes, little human.”

The way his breath was tickling her ear in combination with his very deep voice, were indeed making her heart beat faster. She gulped slightly and moved her eyes away from Tae’s eyes, looking over to the kitchen, but she couldn’t spot Jungkook or Jin….or even Jimin, who would gave her a safer feeling.

“What?” Taehyung had noticed her desperate attempt to look for help. “Do you want to call your little bunny for – ouch!”

He hissed sharply, as she whipped the wet cloth harder over the sensitive skin. He was right, his sharp fangs were somehow intimidating her, but she wouldn’t let him threaten her like this, and she would definitely not allow the tiger to talk about Jungkook as weak.

“I am really sorry.” She hissed back, throwing the clothe away and opening the tube with salve. “I am just trying to help you, Taehyung. But if you don’t like my help, my front door is always open. You can leave anytime you want to. I won’t force you to stay.”

Taehyung hissed again when she applied the salve without take much care. She didn’t want to hurt him at all, but his attitude was getting on her nerves. Taehyung closed his eye tightly, before he bit the inside of his cheek hard, a growl raising up his throat.

“Oh believe me, little girl, if it wasn’t for Jimin, I would leave immediately.” He opened his eyes, staring directly into hers, whispering in his deep, low voice again. “I am warning you, don’t push me too far. I am not scared of a leopard and a bunny, and I won’t hesitate to hurt them, if they try to harm my brother in any way.”

“So Jimin, how did you come to New York?” Jin put the noodles into the pot, before he closed the lid.

Jimin and Jungkook had asked the older boy if he needed some help, while Hope wrapped up Taehyung’s arm. He gladly told them to cut all the vegetables into small pieces, while he would prepare the sauce and noodles.

“I – ehm –“ He coughed, before he started talking again. “Me and my brother are Bengal Tigers. We are from Korea, but they took us to New York because of an auction.”

Jin didn’t miss the way his voice went quieter with each word. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw how his ears were flatly pressed against his black hair, while he had wrapped his tail around his leg. He know exactly how Jimin must feel. When he was younger, his old owner had bought him at an auction in Korea as well.

“What is an auction?” Jungkook laid his knife down and was now looking with wide eyes at the tiger and then at Jin.

It was the first time since the previous night that Jungkook actually tried to talk to Jimin. The bunny had told Jin the night before about his concerns. Jungkook was a nice guy. He never meant to be mean or offended to someone, but his fear about the Hope getting hurt, or that she would like someone more than him was too much for him to handle.

“Human organize auctions to illegally buy rare Hybrid breeds.” Jimin whispered, not looking up at the bunny. “They locked us in a cage, so that all the visitor can look at us. My brother wanted to protect me, as one of the visitor tried to inspect my tail, but the guards stopped him. They – they hurt him badly.”

Though Jin had never been at an auction, he could feel the pain that the younger tiger went through. He knew what it felt to be helpless if a person you love was hurt by a human. He shivered at those memories.

“The girl –“ Jimin started after a moment of silence. “Have you always been living with her?”

“No.” Jungkook had taken his knife again, cutting the cucumber furiously. “She found me first. A few weeks ago, she took me in. She gave me food and something to drink and a bed to sleep. Later, she bought Jin from our old owner and took him in as well. She didn’t even request something in return, she just gave us anything we could have ever asked for.”

As he spoke, his voice held a tone of bitterness. Though Jungkook had come far since he was taken in here, the past was still sitting in his bones. He didn’t want to admit it, but Jin sometimes noticed how he would wake up in the middle on the night, scared and confused. Jin wanted so desperately to help him, but he had no other choice than to be there for him as much as possible.

“Thank you for letting us stay with you.” Jimin suddenly said. He turned around and looked at Jin. “I know that you don’t like us here, especially if my brother behaves like this, but – but –“

“It’s okay, Jimin.” Jin stepped forward and laid a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “Just a few weeks ago, we were in the same situation as the both of you. We know what you are going through, and we were glad that Hope took us in without any conditions.”

The three boys kept preparing their lunch for another few minutes, still talking about their lives, when suddenly they head the loud noise of a door slamming, followed by a long silence. Jin was about to look what was going on, but Hope was already walking into the kitchen. She flashed the three boys a sad smile, before she washed her hands in the sink.

“What’s going on?” Jungkook’s eyes help panic, as he watch the blood falling down in the sink. “Did he hurt you? I swear if he –“

“No, it’s okay. His wound was bleeding pretty bad, but I wrapped it up so it should be okay.” She dried her hands and turned around. “But he is still pretty unhappy with everything.”

She leaned herself against the counter, wrapping her arms around her waist. Jin didn’t need to ask her if anything was okay, he could smell it in her aura, that she as battling in her head. He knew how much she wanted to help Jimin and his brother, and that Taehyung was rejecting her help was really nudging at her bones.

“Don’t chew your lips, Hope.” Jin bend down to pull the plates out of the cupboard, before he pushed them into the girl’s arms. “Jimin, do you want to join us at the table or are you eating with Taehyung?”

Jimin’s eyes flickered from the stack of plates towards the hallway. He sighed, before he told them that he would eat with his brother. Jin nodded and prepared two plates of food, before adding two bottles of water onto the tray. He passed it to Jimin who politely bowed his head, as he made his way into the room.

“Don’t you want to try, Tae?” Jimin asked his brother, who sat arm crossed beside him on the bed. “It’s really good and look, I cut the vegetables.”

The black tiger breathed out hard, but eventually he grabbed the fork that laid next to his plate and began to eat. He wanted to spit this food out so badly, but he had to admit that it really did taste good.

“Who does this human girl think she is.” He put his plat back down on the tray, slamming fork down next to it. “She hurt me on purpose, Jimin. She asked for me to hurt her. I was just this far away – only this far away from ripping her throat out. Pathetic human.”

Jimin didn’t respond. The older tiger just kept shoving his fork around his plate, not looking up at his brother. Tae was irritated by this behaviour. Normally, they both would avoid to have contact in any way with human. They both shared the same opinion on them, which was why he couldn’t understand how Jimin could hang around with that girl all day long.

“Jimin?” Tae asked annoyed when the older one didn’t look at him. “Why are you acting that way? You agree with me, don’t you?”

Jimin was still not looking at the younger one.

“Don’t you, Jimin?” Tae asked again, bit this time with a quitter voice.

“I –“ Jimin stopped, looking for the right words to continue. “I just don’t think that she is that bad. I mean, Jin and Jungkook seem to be pretty – happy? Maybe she is –“

“Nice? Kind? Different than the other human?” Tae smiled at Jimin, before his face dropped. “Forget it, Jimin. Human are all the same. I don’t trust that little girl.”

How could Jimin be so blind? Hadn’t the past encounters with human had been enough reasons to not trust those creatures again? He breathed out again, adding a growl. Just because that girl and her pets had offered them their help didn’t mean that Tae would jump into her arms.

It wasn’t that he was not thankful for her help, even when he had threatened her earlier with hid fangs. It had made him angry, that he actually hadn’t had smelled any fear at all in her scent. She hadn’t lied at all. But that didn’t change a single thing about his opinion on her. If she or her pets would do one wrong move towards Jimin or him, he could not promise anything.

He watched his brother eating his lunch quietly. It scared him that Jimin looked so pale and skinny. He had always been a skinny boy, but he had loosen a lot of weight while they were out on their own. Tae wasn’t stupid. He had noticed that Jimin had saved all the food they had left for him, so he could get healthy again. Even though Jimin was older that him by a few months, Taehyung had that urge to protect that smaller male from any threats.

He hadn’t lied earlier. If it wasn’t for Jimin, if Jimin wasn’t here with him, if he only had a responsibility for his own, he would have never taken a step inside the girl’s apartment. It was all for his brother.

“It’s just – “ Jimin was still not looking up at his brother, but Tae could clearly hear the bitterness in his tone. “Last night was the first night I actually had a proper sleep since a very long time, Tae. I wasn’t worried about you not eating enough, I wasn’t worried about you being cold, I wasn’t worried about you being in pain. Can we just – can we just enjoy the time we are allowed to stay here?”

“I don’t know about you.” Tae laughed and leaned himself back against the headboard of the bed, arms behind his head, legs stretched out wide. “But I am enjoying my stay.”

Jimin turned his head, but not saying anything. Tae knew that it was harsh of his to talk about the girl’s offers like that, but it wasn’t like he was going to stay forever. So why not enjoying this comfort for once?

“You know what I meant.” Jimin sighed, as he let go of his fork, letting himself fall back on the soft mattress. “Jin and Jungkook are actually nice to talk to. It was the first real conversation I had in a very long time. Beside, I feel really bad to use the human girl like that. Don’t you think we should show some thankfulness?”

Tae had heard a lot of stupid ideas coming out of his brother’s mouth, but this was an absolutely highlight. His whole life, human had threaten him like he worth nothing to them. They had hurt him, they had humiliated him, they had locked him up, and now he should show some thankfulness?

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jimin.” He growled quietly, closing his eyes. “It’s not like we forcing her to help us. Plus, we won’t stay long, so don’t get attached to that human or her pets.”

[recommendations | Inspirations]

@wishesunderthestars

@agustdakasuga

@ditttiii

@angelicyoongie

@starlightauroras-writes

[avinaccia]

A Completely Objective and Logical Ranking of Every Hetalia Character Song

New character songs are dropping,  I have too much time on my hands, let’s go. 

Also here’s a Youtube playlist for the ~✨nostalgia✨~

Bring it on in the tags 

71. Ah Legendary Class⭐The Awesome Me Highway [Prussia]: Absolutely tearing it up on the drums and on the vocal cords alike (I pray for Atsushi Kousaka). Great for the memes. 

70.  Happy Thoughts Museum [???]: This is listed as an official song but I had literally never heard of the title. Then I listened to it and BAM! Smack back to 2013 watching the teasers for the show on Funimation. Not sure I’d count it as a character song though...

69. (Nice)  My Song that is written by me for me [Prussia]: Deafened me but I can appreciate the industrial grind.

68.  My House is...Quiet. ~With the Trolls~ [Norway]: I have never heard this song, nor can I find any version of it online. By default it goes here and I am so sorry Norge.

67.  Make a Wish to Santa♪ [Sealand]: The discordant notes and childish exuberance only serve to make this sound like a demonic plea to Santa to eliminate the singer’s enemies.

66.  Heaven and Hell on Earth [Rome]: Rome sounds like he’s been in the corner of a restroom. Extra points for the metal version, minus points for the fact that the beach scene was replayed like 1764 times.

65. Canada Complete Introduction [Canada]: Quiet af until Kumacheerio shows up and blows out your speakers. they did you dirty my darling 😔

64.  It’s Easy!!! [America]: I don't think any video of this has ever stayed up for more than 20 seconds. Sounds cool, but like I was listening to 20 different genres at once, someone make him calm down.

63.  Bù Zàiyì the Small Stuff ☆ [China]: I cannot for the life of me find the complete song anywhere, clips have a cool beat though

62.  Let's Boil Hot Water♪ [Italy]: Exactly what it says on the tin..though a bit too close to elevator music for my tastes.

61.  The Fragrance of Early Summer [Japan]: Very ‘from the books’ Japan-esque song

60.  Peace Sounds Nice…[Baltic Trio]: All well and good until the radio demon shows up

59.  W●D●C ~World Dancing~ [America]: How a song can sound like it’s from 4 different decades at once is beyond me

58.  Overflowing Passion [BFT]: This is just drunken karaoke and I have 0 clue what’s going on #iconicforallthewrongreasons

57. Ren●Ren●Renaissance♪ [Rome+Chibitalia]: Wholesome Grandpa with Grandson content - barring the fact that Italy sounds on the verge of a nervous breakdown and Rome has had too much wine.

56.  Roma Antiqua [Rome]: Similar energy to any one of China’s songs - there’s a part of the song where it sounds like he’s singing in the shower, and I will never not laugh at [CENSORED]

55.  Country From Where the Sun Rises, Zipangu [Japan]: Very chill, very Japan, but just meh for me.

54.  Moon Over Emei Shan [China]: Good message, okay song.

53.  My Friend [England]: What a mind palace you must have Mr. Kirkland

52.  With Love, from Iceland [Iceland]: Three words: Heavy. Metal. Puffin.

51.  Having Friends is Nice...♫ [Russia]: Russia is the cutest thing ever

50.  Mm. [Sweden]: Smooth transition from WWE Smackdown to shopping at IKEA.

49.  Why don’t you come over? ~Beyond the Northern Lights~ [Iceland]: I don’t want to be mean but...this does sound like the second closing theme to an anime whose first closing was much more popular (à la Soul Eater)

48. Gakuen☆Festa [Germany, Italy, Japan]: Sounds like a 60s song of the summer but oh dear their voices do not go together. Hella cute though.

47.  Wa! Wa!! World Ondo [Main Cast]: One time I travelled 10 hours in a coach bus with a bunch of teenagers to a city of note in my country, and the only souvenir I bought was the fucking PAINT IT WHITE DVD. Perfectly chaotic, UN ĐĕùX~~

46.  In the Bluebell Woods [England]: In the album cover for this song he’s holding a guitar but this is not a rock song. Still has ‘running through the hills’ levels of dramatism though.

45.  Poi Poi Poi♪ [Taiwan]: You’re telling me that Taiwan, someone whose has *ONE LINE* in Beautiful World (which is criminal tbh what kind of representation-) managed to get an eNTIRE CHARACTER SONG???????

44.  White Flame [Russia]: There’s something to be said for a song that is 3x the length of any Hetalia episode

43.  Ich liebe… [Germany]: Baking cakes for your friends has never been so wholesome.

42.  We Wish you a Merry Christmas [America, China, England, France, Russia]: Nice to see they’ve gotten their shit together since United Nations Sta-hmm.

41.  Ah, Worldwide à la mode [France]: Sounds like a Disney Princess song, hard not to picture France frolicking in a field of flowers.

40.  Che Bello! ~My House is the Greatest!⭐~ [Italy]: Would not be out of place in an advertisement for Sea World.

39.  May You Smile Today [Japan]: THE feel good song of the summer

38.  Let’s Look Behind the Rainbow [Italy]: I will protect you.

37.  I'm your HERO☆ [America]: “Anyone who’s sad or sullen will be arrested” did NOT age well.

36.  Mein Gott! [Prussia]: Alternating headphone effect at the beginning is cool, so is the confidence...the actual singing on the other hand...

35. Nihao⭐China [China]: Listen, all of China’s character songs are great, I just can’t vibe with this one like some of the others.

34.  Pechka ~Light My Heart~ [Russia]: I’m still having difficulty wrapping my head around the fact that this and Winter were released at the same time.

33.  Pukapuka⭐Vacation [Germany, Italy, Japan]: Seems just a bit too much like they’re running on a treadmill that’s picking up speed and trying to sing at the same time. Peppy.

32.  Santa Claus is Coming to Town [Germany, Italy, Japan]: This is unironically the best song sung by this trio; can only vibe with for two months out of the year though.

31.  Excuse Me, I Am Sorry [Japan]: Japan’s character traits speedrun. Gives me barbershop quartet vibes for some reason but is catchy as hell.

30.  The Story of Snow and Dreams [Russia]: A superhero anime opening in the making

29. England’s Evil Demon Summoning Song [England]: Sir that is not how you roast a marshmallow, don’t cut yourself on that edge.

28.  Moi Moi Sauna♪ [Finland]: Exactly the type of song you’d expect and it’s wonderful

27.  United Nations Star⭐ [America, China, England, France, Russia]: This isn’t as much of a song as it is a four minute struggle for everyone to sing without America yelling every 5 seconds...Like a particularly musical episode of Hetalia.

26.  Paris is Indeed Splendid [France]: Paris-pa-pa-pa-paris

25.  Absolutely Invincible British Gentleman [England]: Poppy, rocky, polka-dotty

24.  Vorwärts Marsch! [Germany]: To quote the comment section: “This sounds like a German version of I’ll Make a Man out of you.” There’s some truth to that.

23.  Hamburger Street [America]: The product of America’s rapper phase. 8/10 because he’s trying so hard and because I can unironically sing along to all of this.

22.  Hoi Sam☆Nice Guy [Hong Kong]: A song that would absolutely destroy the ankles of anyone in DDR.

21.  I Am German-Made [Germany]: There was once a version that had Germany and Prussia singing at the same time and it sounded positively demonic and Broadway could never

20.  La pasión no se detiene ~Unstoppable Passion~ [Spain]: Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping...

19.  Fall in Love, Mademoiselle [France]: Sounds like it should be in Mozart Opera Rock, I have kiss kiss falled in love.

18. Embrace the Très Bien Moi [France]: This is the definition of SELF LOVE PEOPLE. 

17. Carrot and Stick [Belarus&Ukraine]: Absolutely DRIPPING in 2000s power ballad energy. The type of song that plays on repeat in the mind of the widow whose millionaire husband ‘mysteriously disappeared’ (and the only legit character song ever acknowledged by the anime)

16. C.B.C (Cowboyz Boot Camp) Vol. 1 [America]: AH MAH GAWWDDD

15. Winter [Russia]: Heavy metal fever dream and the perfect song for an angst-ridden teenager

14.  Seychelles Here ⭐ Vacation Island [Seychelles]: UN👏DER👏RA👏TED SONG👏OF 👏THE 👏SUM👏MER👏

13.  Nah, it will settle itself somehow [Romano]: One day I aspire to reach this level of chill

12.  Let’s Enjoy Today [England]: I will never not feel happy when listening to this.

11.  Einsamkeit [Germany]: Ludwig manages to air every single one of his worries about not being good enough compared to his friends and always being perceived as mean or uptight when he’s actually just a softie and now my heart hurts. 💔

10.  Aiyaa Four Thousand Years [China]: A very poignant and beautiful song about the passage of time and the inevitability of its passing; comparable to an ancient ballad complete with explosive crescendos and meaningful lyrics.

9.  Bon Bon Bon❤️C’est Bon C’est Bon! [France]: Peppy, cheerful, adorable, groundbreaking; has been my alarm tone for six years and I’ve yet to tire of it. 9/10 The moaning interspersed throughout has been an interesting wake-up call.

8.  Let’s Enjoy! Let’s Get Excited! Cheers! [Denmark]: This is on par with Everytime we Touch by Cascada in terms of rage potential unlocked (the good kind)

7.  Dream Journey [Japan]: Whoever’s playing the shakuhachi is absolutely KILLING IT. Dramatic, wonderful, great metaphors.

6.  Gourmet’s Heart Beginner Level [China]: Absolute banger, I’m a vegetarian but this would inspire me to eat shumai.

5.  Always with you...Nordic Five! [Nordic FIVVVVVEEEE]: Everyone harmonizes beautifully except for Denmark. Extremely catchy, number placement seemed appropriate. 

4.  Pub and GO! [England]: I love this trash man

3. Maji Kandou⭐Hong Kong Night [Hong Kong]: If you thought Denmark’s song was a banger JUST YOU WAIT. I WILL BLOW OUT MY SPEAKERS LISTENING TO LO-HA-SU.

2. Steady Rhythmus [Germany]: THIS SONG IS METAL AF. Seriously, if it can be classified as ‘hardcore’ by my father and his group of 50-somethings who have decided to single-handedly gatekeep the metal and hardrock genres, it can do anything.

1.  The Delicious Tomato Song 🍅 [Romano]: Beautiful, absolutely awe-inspiring, poignant, catchy lyrics with an extremely deep meaning that only years of meticulous research and analysis can unlock, Romano I love you.

BONUS: Closing Songs

5. Hatafutte Parade (World Series) 

4. Hetalian⭐Jet (The World Twinkle): The song is good, the dancing is cursed 

3. Chikyuu Marugoto Hug Shitainda (World⭐Stars)

2. Marukaite Chikyuu (Hetalia: Axis Powers): nE NE PaPA

1. Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo (The Beautiful World)

[oscar-lettjohanssonloveme]

The Moon Song (Miss Venable x reader)

a/n: lol i just wrote this a/n in german hahahah i’m so dumb but here we go in english :D pleez listen to the moon song by scarlett johansson (’her’ is such a great movie whoops) well well the second number Nico sent me (i’m so grateful for this idea :3) was also a very good song for a fanfic, so i write one for both songs whoop and this is the first one :D i feel ✨amazing✨ rn, coz i can play this song on my uke 😌..sorry for this long a/n ://

summary: Mina tells you about the apocalypse lol 

warnings: Mina is soft hahah thats it..okay we are talking about an apocalypse 

request: (by @supremeinlilac​) okay so either 13 or 24 for venable (giving you two because ik venables vibe is quite specific and idk think some songs would suit yk) <3

thank you so much for this request :3

momma i’m in love with google translate yikes

I'm lying on the moon

My dear, I'll be there soon

It's a quiet starry place

Time's we're swallowed up in space

We're here a million miles away

You couldn't remember the last time you felt so melancholy. It was one of those moments, when you wished you could stop time, because everything you needed was here: your girlfriend holding you in her arms, the beautiful night sky, that you probably wouldn't see any more soon and that life, that you were used to and would soon have to give up.

The silence around you both was scary. The only thing you could hear was her heartbeat, coming through her chest right to your ear.

You had never argued with Mina before. Never. And the memories of the last few hours felt like pictures from another world. You had yelled at her so intensely, that you had been surprised at how loud your voice could get. And the reason for the argument wasn't her fault at all. After all, she wasn't the one planning an apocalypse, she just knew about it. But somehow it felt wrong. Mina had known for weeks, that all the people she saw every day would die and you wondered how she could endure that.

Your parents, your friends, just everyone, they would die in a few days and you had no idea how to cope with that. There had to be something you could do against it and the fact, that Mina hadn't tried anything was probably the reason why you had been so mad at her. You had begged her so badly to do something against it, at least warning the people or something like that, but instead of answering you, she had just come to you, wrapped her arms around you, and you had cried and screamed against her chest for several minutes .

Now you both lay in silence on your bed and stared lost out of the large window across from the bed. Your mind wandered through all the plans you had had for your life with Mina and you realized that probably none of them would take place as you had planned. You realized how selfish you were, at least you'd survive this shit.

Mina had explained to you how everything would go afterwards. However, she had become the head of an outpost, where a select few would live after the apocalypse. But it was impossible for you, to imagine how the end of the world would look like.

There's things I wish I knew

There's no thing I'd keep from you

It's a dark and shiny place

But with you my dear, I'm safe

And we're a million miles away

"How are you feeling now, Princess?" Mina asked softly and began to play with your hair. Your eyes closed at the feeling and you let the grip on her waist tighten a little. Inwardly you prayed to God, that he would stop time, you didn't want this moment to end.

"I'm scared," you said honestly as you took the fabric of her blouse between your fingers and heard Mina hum in agreement.

"I understand that this is scary."

"Aren't you afraid?"

your voice sounded confused. Of course you knew, that Mina was rarely intimidated by anything, but what the hell, we were talking about an apocalypse here.

"Not really," Mina replied, tapping the tip of your nose with her finger.

"As long as I know, that the two of us will be together, I don't have to be afraid."

You smiled at her words and lifted your head from her chest to look at her sadly. Your girlfriend's brown eyes looked up at you lovingly as you put a hand on her cheek.

"I love you," you muttered, leaning forward to press your lips against her forehead.

"I love you too", Mina hummed softly.

"And everything will be alright."

You both stayed in this position for a few seconds, until you finally pulled away from her to sit carefully on her hips. You grabbed her hands to put them on your legs.

"Tell me about the outpost," you said, trying not to sound so sad anymore. You watched with satisfaction as Mina's confused expression turned into a gentle smile.

"Well, the outposts are designed in such a way, that we won't use technology," Mina began, gently rubbing your thighs.

"You probably think that's stupid, but it's a good thing, trust me. Well, chimneys and torches will provide light and heat and there will be a beautiful library. We will have our own room and there will be a Victorian dress code..Thats are actually all important things. "

You nodded slowly as you absorbed the words.

"You can be happy, that I'm your girlfriend and that I think the dress code is hot," you said with a wry smile on your face and suddenly you became sad again.

"I think the idea with the technology is really stupid, but I am just starting to realize, that a phone wouldn't make sense, after the apocalypse. After all, everyone of my contacts would be dead.

"You will make new contacts", Mina replied quickly.

"I know that's not much of a comfort, but there will be other people there."

A fresh flood of tears welled up in your eyes and you quickly tried to turn the subject onto something else.

"What about food, are we going to cook?"

Mina cocked her head and hummed thoughtfully.

"It's a little complicated," she explained.

"Wait, if that's complicated, what would you call the things before?" You interrupted her and Mina had to laugh.

"You have a point ... anyway, storing food is way too cumbersome, so there will be little cubes, that will replace food."

"Oh," you said, frowning.

"Then I'll spend the next few days eating, I guess."

Mina laughed softly and suddenly she grabbed your hips to whirl you around. Before you could do anything about it, you had switched positions: she was pressing you against the bed while she was kneeling between your legs. You laughed at her action, but your laugh quickly turned to concern.

"Damn Mina," you scolded and hit your girlfriend lightly on the arm. "You shouldn't do something like that, your back-"

"Oh c'mon," Mina growled and leaned over to kiss the tender flesh on your neck. Your hands caught in her hair and you had to hold back a soft scream as she started nibbling at your skin.

"We still have 4 days before we move to the outpost," Mina hummed against your skin.

"Let's spend these days at home, okay? I think it's easier for both of us to let go, if we don't have any contact with other people for the next few days."

"I agree," you muttered as you took her face in your hands to move her away from your neck so she could look you straight in the eye. You stared at her piercingly for a few seconds before speaking.

"Mina, you have to promise me, that you won't leave me alone."

Immediately the smile on Mina's lips disappeared and she looked at you hurt.

"Princess, I would never leave you."

"I know, uhm, I don't mean that you will leave with me this way, it's just-", you sighed and shook your head.

"Just promise me. You will be the only thing I have and I need you. I just want .. uhm that you take care of yourself, I guess. So please promise me."

"Oh sweet girl", Mina cooed and put her hand on your cheek to wipe away the tears, that were running down your face.

"I won't leave you alone, I promise. We'll be fine, okay?"

You nodded slowly, blinking back the tears that still glittered in your eyes.

"Okay".

"Good".

Mina smiled again before leaning forward to press her lips gently against yours.

"I'll make sure we're happy, princess, I promise."

We're lying on the moon

It's a perfect afternoon

Your shadow follows me all day

Making sure that I'm okay

And we're a million miles away

A million miles away

A million miles away

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 65

So this is more focused on the fallout of the last chapter and how Luka is still unsure about who he is. As you can imagine, this will be haunting him for a while. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one :D The next chapter will be Feast, which will be exploring Fu's past and it will force Luka to face that he will have to come to terms with the fact that he is the next reincarnation of Feng.

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

Chapter Sixty-Five: Backwarder (1/2)

~Modern Day London, England~

 Marianne frowned to herself as she watched the news. It was doing a special on the events that were happening over in Paris and the young heroes who were trying to protect it. Some argued that the government should arrest these heroes but most agreed that they were trying to help, especially since the boy had the power to fix everything that had been damaged. The world had learnt of his powers when he restored New York and Shanghai after the cities had been attacked by rampaging supervillains. She had decided to look into it after that but she wasn't sure if she would interfere just yet. After all, she had no miraculous and she was out of practice with her magic. Age had caught up with her unfortunately. She frowned to herself as she thought about the past. She had been quite the talented witch when she was younger and it lead her to meet someone who had opened her eyes to more then just her world. She glanced over at her phone as it rung. She carefully got up and hobbled over to it, picking it up.

 "Hello," She asked.

 "Hey, Auntie Marianne," A cheerful voice answered, making her smile.

 "Bridgette, my dear, it's good to hear from you," She smiled, taking the phone to the sofa so she could sit down. "How is Felix?"

 "Which one?" Bridgette laughed, making Marianne laugh. "Well, my husband Felix is doing well. Bit shaken up about been sent back to the victorian era but overall he's ok. As for my step nephew, he's currently spending his summer at his mother's but will be back a week before the kids go back,"

 "Back to the victorian era?" Marianne asked, frowning.

 "Oh yes. There was an akuma and sentimonster that was sending people back in time," She explained, making Marianne frown. "Luckily, Anatis and Lady Noir saved the day but these days it's getting tiresome,"

 "Oh that doesn't sound very good at all," She replied, making Bridgette giggle a little.

 "We can blame Hawkmoth for that," She replied before clearly her throat. "So I thought I'd phone to give you an update on you know what,"

 "My dear, I have mo-"

 "He comes to the Seine every friday at 2pm and stays for an hour," She stated, making Marianne frown. "I've talked to him. He seems nice and I think he wishes you and him could have elope... why don't you try and talk to him? He misses you..."

 "I don't know, dear..." She replied, frowning as she thought back to the last time she saw Fu. They hadn't parted on the best terms.

~Paris, WW2~

 Marianne ran fast as she and Fu ran down the stairs and headed towards the Seine. They had arranged a boat out of Paris and to the boarder in order to get the miracle box out of the country. Somehow, the german forces had found out about it and wanted to claim it as their own. Marianne suspected that it was to do with the Yǐnshēnyǐnbì were behind it. They were a cult devoted to finding a legendary figure known as the celestial guardian. They wanted to use this person to rule the world. She had heard from her contacts that they were also looking for any miraculous in the world. They had raided multiple countries in order to find them including Japan and Africa. That was why they were running. Somehow, they had found out that a miracle box was in Paris. Since she was part of a coven who helped the resistance, she had lent her magic to help them. It had led her to meet a man called Fu who was the current guardian of the famed Miracle Box. She had been charged by her coven to help and guard him from the enemy. In the time that had passed, they had developed a friendship that soon turned to love but before either could admit their feelings, they received a tip off that their location had been betrayed. Pulling every favor she had, she had secured him a place on a boat that would take them out of Paris. However, it was never in her nature to run away. As they got closer to the boat, she stopped.

 "Wait!" She stated, making him stop. "We have to fight, Fu! Let's use the miraculous! I'll take the Ladybug and you use the Black Cat!"

 "But what if we fail? They'll get the box and it will be the end of the world!" He gasped, making her frown. She could understand where he was coming from. However, she was knocked out of her thoughts when he grabbed her hand. "Come with me. We'll be safe in England,"

 He went to run with her but running away was not her nature. She pulled her hand from his, making him look at her in surprise.

 "Marianne?" He asked, looking at her with concern. "We have to go,"

 "Leave without me," She stated, surprising him. "I'd rather stay and resist... even without the miraculous..."

 Fu gasped as she looked away. He knew she was a natural witch but even with her magic, she wasn't powerful enough to face guns. The miraculous could protect her but he also knew they could fail. He frowned to himself before taking off a charm and placing it in her hand.

 "This will protect you," He whispered, making her look at him. "I hope one day to come back for it and for you,"

 "Fu..." She whispered as he closed her hand.

 "I'll be here every week waiting for you," He replied, making her look at him but before they could say anything, a spotlight highlighted them, making them gasp as the german forces shouted. Fu looked at her before letting go of her and running towards the boat. Marianne could see soldiers running after him so she used her magic to cast a spell to make it look like she had the miracle box before running off as fast as she could as they chased her...

 ~Back to Modern Day~

 "Auntie?" Bridgette's voice snapped her out of her thoughts before she sighed. "Are you ok?"

 "I'm quite ok, dear," She replied, thinking about things. She had never really been angry at Fu for running away. The german forces were dangerous and cruel. She had witnessed their cruelty firsthand but it was never in her nature to run away from a fight. It just wasn't who she was but maybe after all these years, she could find some peace. She could finally go to Fu and make up with him. Maybe even help him with this new villain. She knew it had to be him who activated the heroes and he said he would wait for her. "You know I think it might be time I came to visit,"

 "Really?" Bridgette gasped, clearly happy. "That will be wonderful! Felix will be happy to see you too, Auntie,"

 "I'll be happy to see you both as well," She smiled before they started to arrange when she come by. Within an hour, Marianne had her ticket booked for Paris. She couldn't help but smile as she was finally ready to see Fu again. Hopefully, he would still feel the same way he did all those years ago.

 ~Paris, A Couple of Days Later~

 Anatis sighed as he sat on top of the Eiffel tower. The wind was blowing through his hair and his eyes were closed as he listened to the song of the city. It was a mix of emotions ranging from fear to joy and everything inbetween. However, it was hard to focus when he wasn't sure what to do anymore. Since finding out he was the reincarnation of Hao Feng, he found life more troubling then before. True to his word, Feng hadn't contacted him yet but finding out the truth came with a new set of issues. For one thing, he no longer knew who he was. He had always believed he was just Luka but he wasn't sure. Was Luka just a mask he was wearing just like Anatis? And was that why Issac was so abusive towards him? Did he somehow know Luka was the reincarnation of an ancient mage? He sighed and moved his fingers through his hair, opening his eyes. Just who was he anymore? He frowned as he sensed someone behind him, causing him to look at him. Luckily, it was just Lady Noir. She gave him a soft smile and sat next to him.

 "You ok?" She asked, making him sigh. He didn't even answer but she knew. "Want to tell me about it?"

 "I.. I don't know who I am anymore..." He admitted, making her frown before he sighed. "I'm so confused. I thought finding out what my connection to Feng was would give me answers but all I recieved is more questions..."

 "You found out your connection?" Lady Noir asked, making him frown. He had forgotten he hadn't told her. Luckily, she was good and hadn't pushed him, despite how he was feeling. "Was that why you were upset after meeting him?"

 He nodded, making her shuffle close to him and wrap her arms around him. He instantly hugged back, hiding his face in her shoulder. She really had been his rock recently and he wanted to tell her. He just didn't know how plus she might see him differently. He gently pulled away, making her look at him as she gently moved the hair from his eyes.

 "Want to tell me about it?" She asked, making him frown a little. "You don't have to if you-"

 "You'll see me differently..." He muttered in a small voice, making her frown before she gently took his hand in hers.

 "No matter what it is, I'm not going to see you differently," She stated, making him look at her. He searched her features for any sign of lying but all he saw and feel was sincerity. "You're my best friend, Annie and that is not going to change,"

 "You're my best friend too, Kitty," He whispered, moving his forehead to hers. She smiled and closed her eyes as he linked their fingers together. For a moment, they stayed like that until Anatis carefully pulled away, making Lady Noir open her eyes. He gave her a soft smile and kept their fingers linked. "Ok... I'm going to tell you..."

 "Alright," She nodded as he took a deep breathe.

 "As you know, Feng and I have a connection. Something that I seem to share with Toutai as well," He replied, making her nod. He had told her that he had a vision of him during Miracle Queen's control. "And I also knew what the Renlings were and who Meishi was despite never meeting them before... well... the reason is... I'm... I'm the reincarnation of Feng..."

 Lady Noir went completely quiet as he said, making him worry. However, her emotions told him that she was true to her word. She still cared for him but she was shocked. He didn't blame her. He had been shocked too. Hell, even two weeks later, he still shocked. Lady Noir frowned and looked at him.

 "Are you sure?" She asked, making him nod.

 "Feng confirmed it..." He muttered, not wanting to go into detail on how he found out. "That's kind of why I knew stuff in Shanghai... I knew them before I had already met them as Feng... but since finding out... I'm more confused then ever. The only thing I've found is I can read the journal if I use my silver eyes... but there's still blank pages and what I've read doesn't really make sense,"

 "Have you had any dreams with Feng recently?" She asked, making him shake his head.

 "I asked him to leave me alone..." He admitted, looking down as he freed his hands from hers. He began to play with his hands before he looked over at her. "I'm not sure what to think anymore and I don't know who I am. I believed I was this person all my life only know I find that I'm the vessel of someone else..."

 "Anatis, I don't know who you are under the mask but I know that you are definitely your own person," She reassured, making him feel a little better. "Are you going to talk to Feng at some point?"

 "Yeah..." He muttered, looking over to the skyline. "I just don't know what to say to him. I'm kind of mad as to why he didn't tell me straight away but I kind of understand why he didn't. For one thing, I might not have believed him and he said I wasn't ready. I think he was right. I'm not ready,"

 "Maybe not but you'll take it in your stride regardless," She stated, making him look at her. "You're amazing after all and when you feel like you're not ready or that you'll fail then remember that it was you who saved the city from princess justice and broke out of miracle queen's control without Koro's power so whatever Feng is going to teach you, you're gonna master it like the pro you are,"

 "Thanks, Kitty," He smiled as she held up her hand. He took it and smiled at her. 

 "Whatever the future holds, I'm always going to be by your side," Lady Noir stated, making him smile a little more. "Me and you against the world, Annie,"

 "As always, Kitten," He replied as they pulled away. "I feel better,"

 "I'm glad," She smiled, gently nudging his arm. "Want to do a team up patrol?"

 "Sure," He smiled, jumping up as she grinned. "Or maybe we should have a race again?"

 "Ooh, you challenging me, bug boy?" She asked, grinning. "What's the stakes?"

 "Last one to Sacré-cœur has to buy ice cream for both of us," He declared, making her grin. He smirked back before letting himself fall of the Eiffel Tower. Lady Noir gasped as he fell.

 "That's cheating!" She shouted, diving after him and extending her baton as he threw out his yoyo, laughing as he did. She couldn't help but smile as he laughed. She missed it. She jumped across the roofs, keeping up with him as they ran across the rooftops. Anatis pushed himself off a ledge, diving up in the air as he did. Lady Noir jumped after him, joining him before they both landed on the building at the same time. Lady Noir grinned as she turned to him. "It was a draw... so who buys the ice cream?"

 "Hmm... well I suppose I could," He smiled, making her smile a little. "But you get it next time deal?"

 "Or I could get some nice baked food from our favorite bakery?" She grinned, making him smile a little before she looked at him. "You sure you're ok with buying? I don't mind getting them this time,"

 "Ah but I lost," He replied, making her look at him. "Don't get me wrong... it was close but you touched the building before me,"

 "How on earth did you notice that?!" She gasped, making him laugh.

 "I'm observant," He replied, grinning as he sat down.

 "My name is Andre! Andre Glacier! The Sweetheart Matchmaker!" Andre sung out, causing the two heroes to look over at him. "With one scoop or two, I'll find love for you with magical ice cream flavour!"

 "Looks like Andre's setting up shop here today," Lady Noir grinned, making Anatis smile before the two of them jumped down and landed on the street as he continued singing. A few people stared at the two heroes but Andre grinned happily as soon as he saw them.

 "Anatis! Lady Noir!" He grinned as they got to the top of the que. "So good to see you, my friends,"

 "It's nice to see you too, Andre," Anatis smiled as Lady Noir grinned. "Can I have two ice creams please?"

 "Of course you can!" Andre grinned, taking out a cone. "For you, a choice always so hard. Which side to choose?"

 He leaned in carefully so no one else could hear.

 "The hero or the bard?" He asked, winking at Anatis before he straightened up. "Both sides love a girl so true so I shall make an ice cream for you. Strawberry for the pink she loves, blackberry for her hair and blueberry for her skyblue stare,"

 He handed Anatis the ice cream before turning to Lady Noir and smiling at her.

 "Hmm..." He picked up his scoop and fresh cone. "Vanilla for his gentle nature, Cherry for his strong disguise and of course bubblegum for his kind but fun eyes,"

 "Thanks, Andre," Lady Noir grinned, taking her ice cream. "How much do we owe you?"

 "On the house, my friends!" He grinned, making them both protest but he shook his head. "You two do enough for the city so let Andre give you some free ice cream as a thank you,"

 The two of them looked at each other before smiling.

 "Thank you, Andre," Anatis stated as Lady Noir nodded as well. The two of them waved at him before jumping off and finding a place to sit on the rooftops. They sat and ate the ice cream together. Lady Noir couldn't help but notice that Anatis' ice cream basically showed Marinette. She giggled as he happily ate his.

 "Still got a thing for the baker's daughter eh?" She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. He looked at her for a second before smiling shyly.

 "Can you blame me?" He asked, looking at his ice cream. "She's so kind and amazing. How could I not like her?"

 Lady Noir quickly hid her face as she blushed so he didn't see it but he was too busy smiling to himself with a lovestruck but adorable smile. Feeling like her face wasn't burning up to much, she looked back as he glanced at hers.

 "So yours seem to resemble me a little?" He asked, trying not to be too obvious. "I mean I'm guessing that. It probably isn't,"

 "Of course, it is," She grinned before licking a bit of her spoon. "Hmm. You taste delicious... especially for a guy who's over 5000 years old!"

 "Hey!" He gasped before they both burst out laughing. "You know I'm not 5000 years old,"

 "You sure?" She grinned, making him lightly push her arm as she giggled. "I might not know your exact age but I'm pretty certain you're not 5000 years old,"

 "Well, that's good to know," He grinned, finishing his ice cream before the two of them looked over at the Seine. However, Anatis blinked as he noticed a familiar figure taking a seat next to Mr Ramier. He tapped Lady Noir's arm, making her look at him as he pointed. "That's Master Fu right?"

 "Yeah, it is," She gasped, looking over. "Should we go say hi?"

 "Probably not a good idea," Anatis replied, making her nod. "Wonder what he's doing,"

 "It looks like he's feeding pigeons and talking to Mr Ramiers," She replied before looking at him with a mischievous look. "Maybe... we should get a little closer and see what he's doing,"

 "I don't know, Kitten," He muttered, feeling a bit curious. "Spying on him feels... is he looking for someone?"

 "Hm?" She asked, looking in Fu's direction before raising an eyebrow at Anatis.

 "Look, he's glancing around like he's expecting someone," He replied, gesturing to him. Master Fu was glancing around as if looking for someone but he sighed and shook his head before getting up and walked off. Anatis looked at Lady Noir before the two of them got up and jumped over, landing on the ground near the bench Master Fu had been sat on. Mr Ramiers looked over as they walked over, smiling as he did.

 "Lady Noir, Anatis. How wonderful to see you!" He smiled, making them smile back as Anatis glanced around. "Is something wrong?"

 "We're concerned for the man who just talking to you," Lady Noir replied, making Mr Ramiers look confused. "We just happened to be going by and noticed he looked upset so we wanted to make sure there were no akumas around. The solution to them is prevention after all,"

 "Oh, I see," Mr Ramiers nodded. "Well, Mr Chang comes here every week. He talks to me, feeds the pigeons and we chat about the past. He mentioned he was waiting for his beloved whom he made a promise to,"

 "His beloved?" Anatis asked, looking over as Mr Ramier nodded.

 "A woman called Marianne," He replied before sighing. "They were together during the war but fate pulled them apart. He had no choice but to leave for London while she was forced to remain. He said he gave her a pin with the chinese symbol for love on it and that he told her that he would wait for her in the place they departed all those years ago but I don't think you need to be worried about him been akumatized. He's been waiting for years and she still hasn't turned up. I think he's use to the rejection but holds on to the hope that she'll be here,"

 "How romantic," Lady Noir gasped as Anatis glanced around before turning back to Mr Ramier. 

 "Well, thank you for your help but we need to continue patrol," He stated, causing Mr Ramier to nod. "If you do spot any akumas, please log it in the app and we'll be back here in a flash,"

 "Of course, Anatis," Mr Ramier smiled, tipping his hat. "It's good to know we have you two watching over us,"

 "it's our honor to," Anatis smiled before he threw his yoyo and pulled himself onto a building before Lady Noir jumped after him, leaving to check on Paris for the rest of the day.

 ~One Week Later~

 Luka hummed to himself as he played his guitar before a small chill filled the air, making him frown as he came to a stop. He glanced over at Tikki, who was dancing to one of Clara Nightingale's videos and didn't seem to notice. He put down his guitar and got up, heading out of his room. Juleka was sat watching a horror film, making him shiver a little. He was never a fan. He frowned as he made himself a sandwich before eating it and heading back to his room. Once again, he felt the chill.

 "Something isn't right," He muttered, sitting back down. He picked up his guitar and played for a few more minutes before noticing Wayzz at the porthole. He opened it and let him inside. "Wayzz, what's wrong?"

 "Luka, you must come with me right away!" He gasped, making Luka frown. "Master Fu needs you,"

 "Lead the way, Wayzz," He replied, putting his guitar aside and pulling on his shoes. He turned off the computer and scooped up Tikki, gently placing her in his pocket before heading outside with Wayzz hiding in his hood. Juleka gave him a strange look as he walked through the living area. "Just heading out,"

 "Um.. ok?" She asked as he climbed the stairs and out onto the deck. He grabbed his bike and moved it across the gangplank before he got his bike and rode to Master Fu's. When he got there, he headed straight up into Master Fu's apartment, knocking on the door as he did. He walked inside, frowning as he saw a doctor talking to Master Fu.

 "Um... is everything ok, Grandpa?" He asked, making her look over and smile in a reassuring manner.

 "Don't worry, young man," She smiled, turning back to Fu. He was laid on his mattress with his blanket across him. He looked paler then usual. "Your grandfather just needs rest. He's gotten a bit of a cold. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be too bad but he's not a young man anymore. I keep telling him to be careful but he is stubborn,"

 "I am quite fine, doctor," Master Fu gasped, trying to get up before coughing. The doctor shook her head and pushed him back.

 "Mr Chan, you need rest," She ordered. "Close up shoe and take a day off. Doctor's orders,"

 "Does he need anything?" Luka asked, making her shake his head.

 "I've already dropped off his meds. The best thing he can do is rest and drink plenty of fluids," She replied, making Luka nod. "Of course, if he does get any worst, phone 112,"

 "Right, thank you doctor," He smiled as she got up and left. He closed the door and grabbed Master Fu's kettle, filling it up with water and putting it onto boil. He went through Master Fu's herbs, finding dried rosemary and sage before adding it to a tea strainer. Once the water had boiled, he put it in and left it to stew as he looked for a cup and honey. Once he found one, he poured the tea and stirred the honey into it before placing it down next to Master Fu. "How are you feeling?"

 "N-not great but I need to go to the Seine today," He gasped, carefully sitting up and sipping the tea. "I've been going there every week for years. What if today is the day and I miss her because I'm ill?"

 "You need rest, Master," Luka replied, causing Fu to look at him. He knew Fu was stubborn so he sighed. "What if I went? If I see her, I could pass on a message. Maybe help you two meet again,"

 "That's actually not a bad idea," Master Fu replied, trying to get up again but ended up coughing. Luka frowned and made him rest again as he pointed. "In the draw... there is a letter... I wish for you to give it to her... hopefully it will tell her that how much I love her..."

 "Ok, Master. I'll deliver it," Luka replied, opening the drawer and taking out the letter. "Who I am looking for?"

 "A very beautiful woman with a pretty brooch shaped like a chinese ideogram," He ordered, making Luka nod. "Her name is Marianne Lenoir,"

 "Ok, Master," He nodded, putting in his pocket. "You rest and I'll take care of this,"

 "Thank you, Luka," He smiled as Wayzz floated next to him. "But please be careful... I know this might sound paranoid but if people realize you're connected to Mr Chan, Hawkmoth might put two and two together,"

 "And realize I'm Anatis and you're the guardian," Luka nodded, smiling. "Don't worry, Master. I'll be careful. Wayzz, look after him until I've returned,"

 "I will do, Luka," Wayzz replied before Luka got up and made his way downstairs. He got back to his bike and unlocked it as Tikki poked her head out. 

 "That's really sweet of you," She smiled, making him smile back. "Why don't you write a letter to Marinette so you can confess to her?"

 "Well, me and Marinette are... kind of dating?" He asked, frowning a little. Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know if they were. Sure, they had been on some 'dates' but they could also be seen as something friends do. Tikki looked at him with a look. "But I guess the only time I've mentioned actually loving her is when I was high from that magical backlash or as Anatis... maybe I should write her a letter,"

 "I'm sure whatever you do, it will be amazing," She grinned, making him smile as they came to the Seine. He got off his bike and locked it up before taking off his jacket so he was just wearing his hoodie. He put his jacket in the basket and closed it before putting his hood up and looking around. He noticed a old woman sat, watching the Seine while talking to Mr Ramier. He moved a bit closer and noticed a brooch with the chinese ideogram on it, meaning this must be the woman. He decided to put down his sleeves to hide his bracelets and zipped up his hoodie before he carefully walked over as Mr Ramier got up and moved over to the pigeons. 

 "Excuse me, are you Ms Lenoir?" He asked, making her look at him. 

 "Yes, that's me," She replied with a puzzled look. The same chill he got earlier surrounded them, making him look around as he frowned. "Are you ok?"

 "Hm... Oh, sorry, ma'am... I just... it's nothing," He smiled, taking out the letter. "This is for you. I was asked to deliver... from a mutal friend we share..."

 "Oh," She smiled, taking it from him. "Thank you so much... but why did he not deliver it himself?"

 "He's came down with a cold, Ma'am," He stated, making her look worried before he held up his hand. "But he'll be ok. I've got him resting and drinking tea,"

 "I see," She nodded, looking at the letter. "Thank you for delivering this to me, young man,"

 "No worries, Ma'am," He smiled. "It was lovely to meet you,"

 "Likewise," She replied, opening the letter as Luka walked away. He began to walk up the stairs before the feeling in the air suddenly shifted, making him stop and frown. He quickly turned around as Marianne dropped the letter and looked down. He rushed back down and over to her as she stood up.

 "Ms Lenoir?" He asked as she frowned. "What's wrong?"

 "He doesn't love me anymore..." She whispered, making Luka frown. "All these years... I left it too late... I should have told him how I felt back then and now I've wasted all this time... coming here has been for nothing..."

 "No, I'm sure he loves you," Luka gasped, picking up the letter but she had walked off, making him frown. He opened the letter and read it, frowning as he read it inside. It wasn't a bad letter but it definitely didn't scream love. If anything, it was Master Fu rambling about regrets and how things can't be changed. Luka frowned as at the end of the letter, it did say I love you but clearly Marianne had taken it the wrong way. He turned to tell her that at the end there was a confession but she was stood still on the stairs, making him frown. "Mrs Lenoir?"

 "Thank you for giving me a second chance, Hawkmoth," She suddenly stated before the purple smog engulfed her and turned her into an akuma. This one had a clock theme by the look of it. She turned around and pointed her blade at him. "You! It was brave of you to deliver that coward's words but now you'll lead me back to him,"

 She jumped at him but he dived out of the way and jumped over the wall, running up the stairs as she growled. She went to go after him but to her surprise, Mr Ramier grabbed her arm.

 "Leave the poor boy alone!" He gasped, making her growl and hit him with the tip of her cane, causing one of her cracks to disappear. "Enola yob roop eht evael,"

 He let go off her and began to walk backwards as she jumped up and hit a car, sending it back as she glanced around. She growled before jumping away, causing Luka to look out from his hiding spot. He frowned to himself and rushed back down the stairs on the other side before hiding up the bridge. He glanced over as Mr Ramiers walked up the stairs backwards, leaving the area. Tikki flew out.

 "Looks like it's time to fight," He stated, swiping his earrings. "Tikki! Spots on!!"

 He transformed into Anatis and threw his yoyo, swinging out to the city and following the carnage left in her wake. He gasped as he saw a mother walking backwards and heading straight into the path of a car that was also going backwards. He swung over and pulled out of the car's path, landing in the park as he put her down. She continued to head backwards as Lady Noir landed next to him and rose an eyebrow.

 "... She's going backwards?" She asked, making him nod.

 "We have an akuma," He stated, making her frown. "She has the power to make them go back in time,"

 "Oh yay... another time akuma," Lady Noir stated scastically. "So do we know what happened?"

 "It's Master Fu's sweetheart," Anatis explained as they jumped up and landed on a roof, causing Lady Noir to look at him. "He asked me to deliver what was suppose to be a love letter but Ms Lenoir took it the wrong way and I think she thinks that Master Fu doesn't love her anymore and that it's too late,"

 "That explains her powers," Lady Noir replied as they ran across the roofs. "Any idea where the akuma is,"

 "It's in her brooch that resembles a chinese ideogram," He explained as they reached where she was. She was able to hit a young man on the ground. Anatis dived down and threw his yoyo, wrapping it around her sword and yanking it, stopping her from getting the man. He scrambled up and ran off as the two heroes landed on the ground, making the akuma glare at them. "Not so fast!"

 "Ah, there you are, you ghastly bug!" She declared, pointing the cane at him. "Once I've touched you, all I have to do is wait for you to transform back,"

 The purple butterfly mask appeared over her eyes as Hawkmoth talked to her.

 "Not right now," She declared, making him. "First, I'll follow him back to the man who gave him those earrings. I bet he's been in contact with him and that awful boy recently,"

 "Not good," Anatis replied, making Lady Noir look at him with a questioning look. "Um... I wasn't transformed when I gave her the letter,"

 "What?!" She gasped, looking at him. Lucky, the akuma wasn't paying attention and was still talking to Hawkmoth about how she was going to make up for lost time. "Why?"

 "I figured it was safer and would draw less attention," He explained, making Lady Noir nod as she could see where he was coming from. "I was wearing fairly plain hoodie that anyone could wear with the hood up! Watch out!"

 He blocked the attack with his yoyo before Lady Noir dived at her, slamming her baton against her sword as Anatis jumped away.

 "Either way, we can't let her touch me or the guardian or the miracle box won't be safe," He declared as the akuma got back up and charged at him, causing Lady Noir to block her attack. The two of them clashed swords, causing Anatis to throw his yoyo. It wrapped around her neck, causing him to spin her around and throw her into a lamp post. Lady Noir jumped at her but she tapped the lamp post with her cane, hitting her with it. Lady Noir felt to the floor and rolled out of the way as she tried to tap her with her cane before Anatis used his yoyo to throw metal fences at her. Seeing her chance, Lady Noir jumped up and moved away as Anatis threw a car towards her. She hit it with her cane, causing it to fly back at him. He backflipped away as Lady Noir used her baton to throw her into the Obelisk. He throw his yoyo around it and yanked, causing it to crack and fall towards her. However, the akuma sent it back too.

 "Fools! You're wasting your time while I grow stronger," She explained before diving at them. Anatis blocked her attack as Lady Noir jumped away before she managed to trip him up, causing him to fall on the ground. "All I need is one hit then you can lead Backwarder to- urg!"

 He kicked her cane up as Lady Noir slammed her baton into her, causing her to stumble forward and hit the rubbish bin with her cane, causing trash to fly at her, allowing Anatis to get up and jump away, causing Backwader to follow them. She landed down in the park and glanced around as she narrowed her eyes.

 "You can run but you can't hide," She stated, looking around. "Why don't I show you what an old witch can do?"

 "Did she just say she was a witch?" Lady Noir whispered from their hiding place. Anatis frowned as she began to draw something in the sand. He took out his yoyo and whispered for his lucky charm, catching the piping it gave him as Backwarder continued to make her spell before she jumped off. He glanced around, working out a plan before they stepped out. He stopped Lady Noir from walking on the spell before carefully making a cross near it, placing the pipe on it. He grabbed the string off a kite as she looked at it. It was glowing orange. "Um... that spell?"

 "It's a fire rune," He explained, making her raise an eyebrow. "Feng knowledge,"

 "Ah," She replied, making him smirk before he tied the kite string to the pipe. He handed the other side to Lady Noir.

 "Tie that to your leg," He replied, making her nod and do so. "Ok for this to work, we're gonna have to get her to hit you... are you ok with that?"

 "Well, it's not ideal but you'll be able to fix it with your lucky charm and I trust you," She grinned, making him smile. "So what you need me to do to make it work?"

 "I need you to hold your hand out like this," He showed her, causing her to cope him. "Now step back until the string is tight then raise your hand and say Cataclysm backwards... it's msylcatac,"

 "Msylcatac!" She declared, making him grin before he took out his yoyo and pressed a stop watch on it.

 "Excellent," He replied, grinning. "Now pull it the pipe back to you,"

 She did so.

 "Alright!" He grinned, making her grin back. "Follow me,"

 "All the way, Annie," She grinned, running after him but been careful to avoid the spell that Backwarder had casted. They headed to where she was, causing her to aim at them. Anatis gave Lady Noir a wink as he jumped out of the way and she stepped in the path of Backwarder, causing her to get hit by the cane. He stopped the timer before he pressing the backwards option as Lady Noir began to go back in time. He jumped up and lead Backwarder in a chase, knowing she would go after him as Lady Noir made her way back to the point they were. He jumped on the ground and ran towards her. He jumped up as he came to the spell, causing Backwarder to hit it before he landed on the ground, pretending to hurt his ankle.

 "Ouch!" He cried out as Backwarder jumped towards him over for him to backflip over her as Lady Noir kicked the pipe to her, causing Backwarder to trip and lose her balance. She stumbled towards Lady Noir as she lifted her hand.

 "Cataclysm!" She called out, placing her hand forward as Backwarder stumbled towards her and straight into her charged hand, destroying the brooch.

 "No!" She cried out as the butterfly escaped. Anatis throw his yoyo out and caught it before releasing the purified butterfly. He grabbed the pipe and threw it up in the air, declaring the magic words as it burst into the cure. It spreaded around Paris and Lady Noir before disappearing as she blinked and looked around. Backwarder turned back into her normal self as Lady Noir ran over to Anatis. "That was genius!"

 "W-what happened?" Marianna asked as she looked around. Anatis walked over to her and helped her up, leading her to a seat. However, their miraculous beeped, causing them to rush off. Marianne looked down at the letter, frowning to herself. However, Luka ran back over. "Oh, you were the young man who gave me this. I hope I didn't scare you..."

 "You didn't. I'm use to all of the akumas," He explained, making her look at him. "That's what happened to you, Ma'am. I think it was because of Master Fu's letter. I don't think he's much of a poet but he wanted you to know how much he loves you,"

 "But he said it was too late and he wasn't there," She muttered, looking down. Anatis frowned as he saw tears in her eyes. "It doesn't matter..."

 "Ma'am, it does matter," He gasped. "And he does love you,"

 "That's nice of you to say but I know the truth," She smiled sadly. "Fu stopped loving me a long time ago,"

 "He didn't," Luka replied, causing her to look up at him. "And I can show you if you want,"

 "You can show me?" She asked as he sat down next to her. He held out his hand to her, making her blink before she slowly took it. As soon as she did, she felt a wave of love and care. In her mind's eyes, she could hear Fu saying about how he loved her and his regret of leaving her behind. Tears of joy filled her eyes as Luka gently pulled back, making her sniff. "I... he really does love me..."

 "He never gave up," He replied, making her look at him. "He comes here every week, waiting for you with hope in his heart. The only reason why he didn't turn up today was because he's ill. That's why I delivered the letter for him. He wasn't sure if you would be here but he wanted you to know that he loved you and he regretted not trying to find you for years. That's what he meant by his letter,"

 "Thank you for showing me that," She stated, looking at him. "I've never meant an empathic witch before,"

 "I'm not a witch," He replied, making her raise an eyebrow. "I'm just... an empath,"

 "I hate to break it to you, young man but normal empaths can only feel other's emotions," She replied, making him look at her. "Projection and vision sharing... which that comes under... is a witch ability, meaning you're a natural born witch,"

 ".... That makes sense..." He muttered, looking down. He didn't want to admit it but he knew he was. He was Feng's reincarnation, meaning he was a witch regardless of if he wanted to be or not. However, that doesn't mean he was ready to face it. "But I'm not... I can't face that yet so can we change the subject? Why don't I bring you to Fu? Or you could give me a message for him?"

 "Very well," She smiled, making him nod. "But should you require a teacher, I would be happy to show you basic magic. After all, I'm a witch too,"

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

Next Chapter: Coming soon

[archadianskies]

croissant aux amandes

→ on Ao3

@dbhrarepairs​ Saturday Day 6: Meet the Family •  Reverse AU; Mob AU RK900/Simon

Ronan supposes he should be thankful his mother is keeping this particular meeting just between them. He’d rather be uncomfortable in private than openly humiliated though he thinks there’s a degree of humiliation regardless.

“We could do with a connection to the DPD,” Amanda swipes up on her tablet and the screen fills with a detailed profile. “Gavin Reed, former detective, freshly made Lieutenant as of two months ago. Negligible age gap, questionable morals but gets the job done. He likes cats, which is in your favour.”

“With all due respect, mother,” Ronan makes a face, “I’d rather be disowned.”

“Duly noted,” she nods, swiping a new profile onto the screen. “David Allen is your senior by thirteen years, Captain of SWAT Unit 32 and wields immense influence. His team is loyal to him, and he is known to be a kind, honorable man. He likes dogs which isn’t to your favour, though he is not against cats.”

Ronan studies the profile for a few moments- it wouldn’t be a bad match but it still didn’t feel right. “Perhaps in another life?”

“I will put Captain Allen as a ‘maybe’,” Amanda notes. “If not the DPD, then we could accept Carl Manfred’s offer.” The screen populates with a new profile, lengthier and more detailed. “Markus Manfred is an excellent candidate: no age gap, powerful family, powerful connections. Kind, thoughtful, charitable, and very well educated. Not sure where he stands about cats, but he’d be cordial about it I’m sure.”

“I find the older brother far more tolerable company,” Ronan scoffs, turning away.

“Leo?” Amanda says incredulously. “Leo Manfred has nothing to offer, that son squandered his inheritance and spent half a decade high on red ice, disgracing his family.”

“He’s gotten clean and is redeeming himself. He’d be a far better companion than his pretentious, insufferable -”

“Enough,” his mother commands, and Ronan cuts himself off. “There is of course Elijah Kamski, since he is unmarried and of similar age to his cousin Reed. We already have the Kamski connection through your brother, though.”

He tries again. “Are they the only options?”

“They are the best options we have researched,” Amanda turns the screen off. “There are female candidates as a backup but you said you prefer men so these are the male candidates. The gender is of course irrelevant; your fiance must be the one who brings the most to the table.”

“Mother,” Ronan sighs miserably, and Amanda sits beside him. She rests her hand over his, and knowing she is not an overly physically affectionate person only makes the gesture more meaningful. 

“You have submitted no candidates yourself, Ronan, these men are just the ones my team have found,” she reminds him carefully. “I want you to be happy with your choice, whether it be genuine affection, or an amicable arrangement like your brother.”

He knows it could be worse. He knows she could force an arrangement and there would be nothing he could do about it. The Stern family controls this city and it isn’t out of character for his mother to want an advantageous match now he’s turned thirty and declared no intentions to marry yet. It is a kindness, doing all this for him when he has been dragging his feet the past year, knowing this was to come. 

“I can postpone the luncheon, if you would like more time,” she says gently, squeezing his hand. 

“I’ll have an answer by then, I promise,” Ronan vows, because he does not want to disappoint her and delaying it will only prolong this particular brand of suffering. 

 *

Connor finds him under his favourite tree by the pond, and Ronan scoots over to make room on the blanket.

“That bad huh?” His older brother teases, though his smile is apologetic.

“It wasn’t...bad,” he concedes with a wince, “just awkward. And uncomfortable. She suggested Reed at the DPD.”

“Oh, yikes!” Connor laughs and Ronan manages a brief smile. His expression softens as he shifts to wrap an arm around Ronan’s shoulders. “Hey, it doesn’t have to be The One, you know? I don’t- I’m not... inclined romantically or sexually. Chloe is a wonderful friend, and I treasure her company. Our marriage provides her power and influence and security, and safety to nurture her relationship with North under the guise of a bodyguard.”

“You are...happy?” Ronan asks curiously, and Connor smiles.

“I’m very happy,” he nods. “It might not be romantic love, but there’s love in our friendship. You can have that too, brother, if you want.”

 *

It’s a lot to think about. It’s too much to think about, really, and so after too many hours of being stuck in his own head, Ronan escapes to his favourite spot in the whole city: Jericho. 

The cafe is somehow in the heart of town but so hidden it feels like stepping into an entirely different world, and he’s been escaping to its bare brick walls and cosy interior for years now. It’s owned by the Lambert twins, Daniel and Simon. Though the older twin is abrasive and curt, the younger is shy and gentle and always has time for Ronan.

“You look like you’ve had quite the day,” Simon laughs, already reaching for a mug and starting to make him coffee. “Take a seat, I saved an almond croissant for you.”

“You’re an angel, thank you,” Ronan takes the corner booth and watches as Simon goes through the familiar, well practiced motions. It’s close to closing and there’s only one other patron, so Simon decides to sit opposite him with his own mug of coffee.

“What’s got you looking like you’re carrying the whole world on your shoulders, hm?” The blond prods, and Ronan delays answering in favour of sipping the perfectly brewed mug of coffee in his hands. 

“My mother was being a little...overbearing this morning,” Ronan says hesitantly, leaving out the big details. “With the best of intentions, of course. She means well, but I still feel like I’m being slowly backed into a corner.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that, it must be difficult,” Simon frowns empathetically, earnestly, because he is a good and kind friend. Ronan thinks if he weren’t the son of a crime family, he would marry Simon. 

They would have a soft, quiet life full of love and be entirely uneventful and Ronan would manage the business side of things for the cafe so Simon would never have to worry. Maybe they could adopt a cat or two. He wouldn’t even mind a dog, honestly. He’s partial to german shepherds. 

But that’s never going to happen, and it’s with a sinking feeling Ronan realises once he marries he may have to cut ties with Simon completely as he takes on more and more of their family’s work in the criminal underworld. 

“I… am to be married,” he says no louder than a whisper but Simon hears it, Simon’s lovely blue eyes widen at those words. “Well, in the future I mean. My mother is trying to matchmake me with- with certain friends’ sons.”

“In 2038?” Simon asks in disbelief. “Your mother is trying to matchmake you in the year 2038?”

“She means well,” Ronan repeats, sighing tiredly. “She just wants me to marry ‘the one who brings the most to the table’.” He echoes her words with the same regal air and Simon laughs though not unkindly.

“Sounds intense.”

“I have a luncheon next weekend with all of our extended family and friends, and she expects me to announce an answer then.” He picks at the almond croissant, and it’s as perfect as always- buttery, flaky and fresh. The layers are light, the almond slivers paper thin, and the sweetness just right. It feels like a last supper, knowing he probably won’t be able to return. He’d never want to drag Simon into his world of blood. 

 *~*

Danny arrives in time to help him sweep and mop up. His brother is a warm, comforting presence in his peripheral, and Simon soaks it up like warmth from a blanket.

“Saw one of those supervillain black cars the Sterns use on the way here, was it Ronan again?” Danny asks as they’re putting the mops away. “You know he’s getting engaged next weekend, right?”

“How did you know that?” Simon blinks in surprise as he hangs up his apron.

“Leo told me,” Danny shrugs. “The old man said he’s pushing for Markus to marry him.”

“Oh,” Simon tries not to sound so disappointed, and he’s not even sure what for- that Markus is to be married, or that Ronan is the one marrying him. 

“Yeah, I know right? Ugh, gross,” his twin makes a disgusted face. “Poor Ronan, imagine having to marry Mr Perfect and run the criminal underworld.”

“They’re a respectable family!” Simon argues, feeling a twinge of indignant anger on Ronan’s behalf. “The Sterns have transformed the educational landscape of the city- Kara was able to open a kindergarten because of their philanthropy! Imagine having that influence- I’d- I’d completely revamp child services and open shelters and proper mental health centers for abused children and adolescents. I’d make sure no one ever had to go through what we went through.”

“You sweet sweet child,” Danny snorts back a laugh, though it isn’t mocking in the least. “They’re a necessary evil for this city because the senator is an incompetent but dangerous fuckwit. Don’t get me wrong, I like them- they get things done. It’s just the thought of the Manfreds joining that circle that gives me bad indigestion.”

“Markus Manfred is- he’s an amazing man, Danny. Ronan and he would be perfectly matched,” Simon chews his lip, feeling his chest ache. “He certainly would bring the most to the table.”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s just something Ronan said,” Simon flashes an apologetic smile. “He said he has to marry ‘the one who brings the most to the table’.”

“Brings the most to the table ,” Danny repeats, stressing the start and end of the sentence. Simon looks at him, eyes wide. “You don’t think-”

“Oh I do think,” his brother’s grin falters slightly, “But only if you want to, Simon. It’s a pretty crazy idea and uh, we might mysteriously disappear only for our bodies to be found in an underpass somewhere in a couple of weeks.”

It’s a ridiculously crazy idea, Simon knows this for a fact, but it’s so crazy it might just work.

* 

The Stern estate is beautiful, even from the other side of the huge wrought-iron gates. 

“You boys must be lost,” a guard drawls, sauntering over to the driver’s side. “Best you head back down the driveway and forget you ever came this way.”

“We're catering for the luncheon you dumbass,” Danny rolls his eyes. “So best you step aside and let us through so we can set up.”

The guard falters, frowning heavily. “There’s no mention of-” he looks at the side of the delivery van, “Jericho Cafe on the guest list.”

“Because we’re not guests,” Simon tries to mimic Danny’s impatient, snappy tone. “We’re catering for the guests.”

“Hey, listen, honest mistake,” Danny shakes his head. “No harm done. Let us in and we’ll do our job and you can do yours.”

“I-I’ll run it by the boss,” the guard fumbles for his phone.

“Ask Ronan,” Simon says firmly. “He’s the one who booked us, not- not the boss.”

The stretch of time as they wait for an answer feels like an eternity, like Simon is awaiting sentencing where the outcome could very well be execution. Is he signing his own hit? Is dragging his twin into this the worst mistake of his life?

“Alright, sorry about that,” the guard apologises, pocketing his phone and waving at someone up ahead. The gates part, and Simon doesn’t know whether to feel relieved or even more fear. “Go on through, the service entrance is on the right-hand side.”

“Thanks buddy,” Danny salutes lazily before driving through the now opened gates. He’s gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles are white.

“Danny-”

“No, shut up, we’re doing this. He ran it by Ronan and Ronan okayed us to come through,” Danny exhales slowly as he brings the van to the service entrance. A couple of confused kitchen staff come out to see them. 

“Alright,” Simon swallows thickly. “We’re doing this.”

* 

They unload and designate whole delivery trays laden with baked goods to be carried by the staff. Simon leads the way, trying to will his hands not to shake as he carries the feast he and Danny spent all yesterday prepping for, and all this morning from the crack of dawn baking so it would be as fresh as fresh can be for this very moment. 

He enters the dining room and there is Amanda Stern, matriarch of the Stern family. There is Ronan Stern, handsome as can be in a sharp tailored suit, and beside him are a couple- his brother Connor Stern, given the resemblance, and a lovely blonde lady in a periwinkle blue dress.

“Simon-”

“Madam, I have come to ask for your son’s hand in marriage,” Simon commends his voice for not trembling as he sets down the tray on the long dining table. Behind him, Daniel places his tray down and soon the staff follow, more and more until the table is absolutely brimming with food. “This is what I bring to the table.”

Amanda looks at him, expression unreadable and Simon thinks oh, he’s absolutely about to be executed. “You’re the Lambert boy,” she looks him over as if taking him apart atom by atom. “That cafe in Capitol Park.” “Yes ma’am,” Simon nods, clasping his hands behind his back so she won’t see how badly he’s shaking now he isn’t holding anything. She turns her eyes to the spread on the table.

“What is Ronan’s favourite?”

“The almond croissants,” Simon answers immediately, gesturing at them. Amanda nods and he picks one up using a pair of tongs, serving it to her on one of the bread plates. He risks a glance at Ronan who still seems frozen in shock, and it’s as if everyone is waiting with baited breath as Amanda bites into the croissant. Chewing thoughtfully, she sets the plate down and looks over at him. 

“I prefer blueberry danishes, but I can see why he likes these,” she’s smiling now, an amused matronly smile. “Is he your chosen fiance, Ronan?”

“If he would have me,” Ronan replies softly, reaching for Simon’s hands. “If a life with me is what he wants.”

“Yes,” Simon smiles, “I do.”

~*~*~

{ Inspired by [this tumblr post] about the intricacies and formalities of the 'Bride Price'.}

[morgana-ren]

I noticed youd said that you get more shiggy requests. So, if you'll indulge me for a sec.

We've had gatos input on how strade would be if the roles were reversed. Mc somehow had him under their control with the shock collar on.

I want your input because your writing is so detailed i know id enjoy reading what a submissive little bitch he'd become.

Please and thank you Morgana.

ily :3

Oh OH You know me so well! This is one of my favorite things to daydream about when I get angry or annoyed because since Strade is such a garbage human being, it tickles me so much to think about how cathartic it would be to turn the tables.

So as well all know, Strade, while very experienced, is not the brightest bulb in the box. He’s got years of know-how behind his expertise in kidnapping and torture, but there’s some shit that just kind of evades him sometimes. Double checking your ropes after he gets a little too excited and wants a dirty basement floor romp, for example. Thanks to his overexcitement and shit-idiot brain fungus he’s got going on, it’s entirely possible for you to slip your bonds. This mistake, in canon, costs him his life. 

But what if MC wasn’t so kind? 

With a level head, you might be able to scrounge around his torture room for a little bit. Maybe he has a needle with some knockout liquid hanging around for “difficult” catches. Maybe you just wait around behind the door until he walks in and smash him on the head as hard as you can and knock his ass out. Either way, he’s got plenty of restraints, and now he’s the one cuffed to a rusty pole. The look on his dumb face when he comes to is priceless. 

You’re not making the same mistakes he did. He’s triple tied to that thing. You know he’s strong, and you’re playing on his home field. You’ve got to be prepared for everything. At least long enough to get upstairs and find help or call the police. Right? Right? 

But what if you don’t?

What if, after he comes to and is sputtering and howling and hissing things at you in German that would make Lindemann blush, you decide not to go for help? He’s mad. He’s oh so very mad. He does not like this, not one bit. But he’s panicking beyond what you’d expect, even for a serial killer who’s been two-timed by his own victim. There’s something else in those dilated eyes. Something you’ve become very acutely familiar with over the last few days. You can still smell it lingering on you the same way it’s staining his shirt now. 

Fear. He’s afraid. And not of death or capture. 

I mean, he very well might be terrified of those things, but whatever it is he’s feeling right now is far overshadowing that. His face is red, and you can practically see the veins in his neck popping in rhythm with his thrumming heartbeat. He’s sweating extensively, and while that’s not uncommon for him, there’s not that macabre jolly smile plastered across his face. He’s baring his teeth and snapping at you like a feral hound, swearing to end your miserable life in a manner that would make the ghosts of his past shudder in horror for you. 

You don’t put it past him to snap these ropes any second and wrap his hands so tightly around your neck that your eyes pop like overinflated balloons. Even if the cops show up and try to escort you to safety, there’s an unspoken darkness in his glare, something that promises pain in your future even if they manage to subdue him. A promise that you can’t guarantee yourself that he can’t keep.

It strikes you that you know nothing about this man.

Surely someone out there knows about this. Someone knows about him and his little hobby. Monsters run in packs and even if you can’t see them, you know they must be there. Best case scenario, they can’t have him spilling their secrets so they find a way to end his life before the police can. Worst case scenario?  Worst case, they come for you. 

You’ve seen enough Hollywood horror movies to know just how wrong it can go if justice is left to the authorities. You haven’t seen much of it, but this looks like a pretty nice house. If he has money, he can just buy his way out. Who is to say that he doesn’t already have a deal with the cops? Kidnapping people is risky business, especially when folks begin to notice that you’re gone. Surely he has some safety net? 

What if he’s part of a network of psychopaths? There’s been enough late-night conspiracy youtube binges in your existence to know that shit like that is perfectly plausible. What if he’s just one of many? What if they have the pull to see him set free even after you’ve gone through the proper avenues to get him locked away? What if, one night, when you think he’s rotting in a 6 x 6 cement cell miles away from you, you wake up back here in this basement with even more Strades with different names and faces but each one shares the desire to see you ripped apart at the seams and devoured?

No. HELL no. You’re not going to be the cliche victim. He can bark and screech at you until his throat is sore and his gums bleed, but the plain and simple fact of the matter is that you have this monster on a leash, and you’re not about to hand that leash over to someone else. 

How many people has he killed? How many have met their end in this godless basement? How many unsuspecting people has he dragged here only to take them apart piece by piece until their eyes glaze and their final breath moistens his cheek as he watches the light in their eyes extinguish? Do you even want to know? Would it make you feel better or worse to know that, at least for now, you’ve narrowly escaped such a fate? 

You have to know. 

His screaming turns fearful as you ascend the stairs. Again, not for fear of being caught, but because he already has been. It’s so odd to hear the phrase “Don’t leave me here!” from his quivering chest when he’s apparently in the place he values most, and there’s a sick sense of catharsis that settles in your gut as you listen to him begin to whimper and whine. You don’t let yourself dwell on it but you do slam the door behind you loudly enough that he will be forced to acknowledge that his pathetic pleas mean nothing to you. 

His house is painfully average, at least for someone like him. He’s even got portraits up with what must be friends or family or someone that cares enough to pose for a cheesy photo with him. If you didn’t know better, you’d say an upstanding, if a little tacky, upper-middle class man lives here. The furniture is unremarkable and well cared for but lived in enough to not raise suspicion. His kitchen is filled with expensive appliances that might as well be fresh out of the box. His fridge, as expected, is filled with beer and various quick meals. Not much of a cook, you guess.

The car sitting in the garage costs in the six digit range and looks like it’s the most beloved thing in the entire area. It reeks of Armor All and disinfectant, and you’re willing to bet that if he was so inclined, he could put it on a showroom floor right now. He’s got tools and cables of all sorts thrown about, but not the kind you’ve gotten so used to. Maybe he actually does use them for their intended purpose sometimes. 

As you walk the length of his home, you notice a distinct lack of screaming. You can’t hear anything, not even a peep from the basement, and you are very certain he’s crying up a storm down there. Interesting. He’s go this place sound proofed. You’re not sure what you’d expected, but it’s good information to have regardless. 

After you’ve sated your curiosity by observing the dragon’s den, you make your way to the upper level. He’s probably not foolish enough to leave any sort of evidence behind where friends and neighbors can see it, so whatever it is you’re looking for is going to be somewhere a little bit more personal. Perhaps like a bedroom? 

Bingo. 

His bedroom, much like the rest of his house, looks about what you’d expect. King sized bed, wooden dresser with a TV and player on top, and a desk beneath the window. Sliding closet doors with all manner of free range dad apparel inside, and honestly, it’s the closest you’ve been to laughing since you got here. He would wear cargo shorts and plaid, wouldn’t he? A scrounge through the drawers of his dresser and closet reveal nothing remarkable, but you’re willing to bet your injured thigh that there’s something special in the desk. 

Just like you’d expect, the desk is locked, but you’d noticed a pair of keys sitting willy-nilly out in the living room and you’d picked them up. About 7 key changes later and the desk pops open for you like a cheap whore. He really isn’t too bright, is he? Or maybe he just wasn’t expecting this to ever be a problem. Either way, you’re grateful he’s a moron. 

Inside the drawer seems to be loads of DVDs, unmarked except for dates. It feels like you’re the unprepared cop in a serial killer movie as you look down at them. You don’t need to watch them to know what they are, but you’re going to anyway. You have to know. You need to know just who you’re dealing with here. 

You pick one at random and pop it into the DVD player and the scene that greets you seems all too familiar. A hunched figure, bloodied and tied to the pole you’d become so intimate with over the last week. This person was in much worse shape than you, however. You could see shadows moving off screen and the camera fuzzes and refocuses repeatedly as what you assume is Strade messes with the controls. Not long after, he emerges, practically skipping into frame. Even though most of his face is concealed behind a hideous bandana, you can tell he’s smiling. It reaches his eyes. 

He says what appears to be a rehearsed greeting and you’re left wondering just how crazy is he? Is he talking to his future self? You can see him making these videos to relive his sick, sadistic fantasies but talking to himself like an absolute lunatic is just a little disconcerting. However, you also acknowledge that the only reason you’ve even thinking about this is to distract yourself from the fact that you’re watching a homemade snuff film that you almost starred in yourself. 

And then he begins. 

Despite the visceral horror on display before you, the urge to vomit never comes. You watch, blank faced, as this poor soul is faced with every horror a human mind can conceive. It goes on for long. Too long. And Strade never stops talking. 

The realization sets in that’s because he’s not the only one watching. 

He’s not talking to himself. He’s responding. This wasn’t for him. This was for them. 

If you had any emotional energy to give, surely you’d be absolutely horrified, but you don’t and you can’t. You’re not even surprised. Someone like Strade, that bubbly personality and 1,000 watt smile, of course he’d find a way to utilize his talents. He’d found a market. He had a hobby and he made money from it. ‘Love your job and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ and you are just so willing to bet he loves his fucking job. 

You let the video keep playing as you sit up from his bed and leave the room. You make your way down the stairs, back to the living room, and then back to the basement door. You open it and immediately are bombarded with the sounds of his screaming and hateful vitriol. It doesn’t phase you. You’re not sure anything will ever again. 

Calmly, you walk into the room and stare at him. He doesn’t cease his incessant threats until he realizes you’re waiting for him to finish so that you can speak. He finally silences himself, though he continues to rip and tear at the ropes holding him hostage as you tell him you found his little home video collection. 

“Let me out.” He demands, and you realize he doesn’t quite understand that he’s not the one in control anymore. Of course a dog without a tangible leash will continue to run wild. You needed to drive the point home. 

You turn your back to him and begin to ruffle through his various cabinets, searching around the nooks and crannies for something that will help him understand just what position he’s found himself in. You make a very interesting discovery next to his med kit. A collar. A literal collar. 

Poetic justice. 

It’s thick and burdensome and more than a little hideous. It’s definitely homemade, because not even the most fucked of BDSM sites are going to offer something like this. It’s accompanied by a small remote with a large red button and not much else. You push the button and yelp in pain, the collar clattering to the floor as it slips from your fingers. It shocked you. It was so very painful, but you’re smiling. 

You retrieve it from where it fell and pop it open, observing it curiously. Strade watches you through wide eyes and sniveling, trembling lips. The look on his face is a dead giveaway that you’ve found something you really shouldn’t have. The toothy grin you flash him shows him that you understand that. 

Without a word, you approach him, holding the open collar in your sweating palm. His struggles begin anew and before long he’s practically yanking his arms out at the sockets trying to get away from you and your newfound toy. He’s throwing his weight around and doing whatever he can with his limited movements to make damn sure you can’t get that terrible thing around his neck, but it’s all in vain because energy is finite and he’s been expending a lot of it over the last hour. 

He’s breathing heavy and you could swear he’s begging between heaves as you clap the collar around his thick neck. His flesh bulges from the side and you’re fairly certain it was made for someone much less burly than himself in mind. You get the odd urge to adjust it on him like a necklace but he’s still dangerous, even caged. You feel weirdly... proud.

“Stop-! you don’t know what you’re doing!” He hiccups, and as he pulls his head upward, you can see he is indeed crying. “Please! Don’t!” 

You’ve never thought of yourself as particularly sadistic, at least in that sense, but some ghostly force pushes your thumb down on that big red button. Watching his eyes go wide and his body convulse and seize fills you with a sense of sheer euphoria that can’t properly be conveyed. The utterly satisfying clang of his head hitting the pole at mach 5 as he shakes and bumbles almost humorously while the collar sends x amount of volts through his body makes you giggle. 

When you finally pull your thumb off the button, he’s still shaking from the residual shock, drool and mucus bubbling from his mouth and nose and sloping down onto his chin. He looks defeated; utterly pathetic. Is this how you looked to him all those times he stood over you grinning as he gifted you pain the likes of which had been unthinkable to you before you met him? The desire to push down again is overwhelming but you’re determined for him to understand there’s a point to this misery. 

There’s a thousand thoughts going through your mind right now faster than you can comprehend them all, but they all have the same general principal. This man is a murderer. This man is a rapist. This man is contained. This man is afraid. This man is at your mercy. 

And unfortunately for him, you just ran out. 

‘How many’ you ask, despite already knowing. If the videos upstairs are any indication, there’s more than he can probably count. More names and faces than he can practically remember and they’re dead because of him. He looks up at you through wet lashes with a trembling lip, already caught on to the fact that there is no correct answer. Your thumb hovers over that seductive red button and he’s quick to spit out whatever he can regardless. 

“I don’t know! I don’t!” 

You don’t doubt that he’s being honest, but it sickens you none he less. You press that button for half a second and he jolts up off the floor as much as his restraints will allow. When he comes to, his eyes can barely focus in on you and when his slumps over, you can see the burns from the collar already settling in on his tan skin. You’re not sure how to turn down the voltage or how lethal it is, but you don’t really care at the moment. If he dies, he dies. You’ll deal with the complications of that later. 

You could sit here all day and grill him, literally and figuratively, about his track record of atrocities, but it won’t bring you any peace. You’re not sure that peace is something that you’ll ever feel again, all things considered. Meeting the monsters that dwell in the dark is drastically different than simply acknowledging that they exist, and through some twist of fate, you’ve been given the opportunity to show this particular monster that he’s no longer at the top of the food chain. There’s so much you could do, so many things you want to do, and it’s at that moment you realize you’ve spent too long staring into the abyss to try and claw your way out. 

You’re being offered the chance they never were. You’re holding the controls now. He’s already crying and you’ve barely touched him, barely done anything besides shock him a little. You remember that feeling well. If you recall, you were already crying before he put that knife to your thigh on your first day with him. 

Truth is, you decided the second he fell unconscious what you were going to do. 

Maybe a revenge like this isn’t yours to take, but you’re taking it regardless. For yourself, and for every sorry sap that’s met their end in his cement hellhole. They died for you to have this opportunity, and you’d like to think that maybe they’re there with you in this moment. Even if you never knew them, you feel a strange kinship with them. After all, it was almost you. 

He continues to babble underneath his breath, various pleas for mercy or sympathy or any form of compassion you can muster from your still aching body, and though you desperately wish you did, you can’t find any. You’re certain when you look in the mirror next, it won’t be your own eyes looking back at you anymore, but something closer to his. Maybe you did die in this basement, because whoever you were before you met him is long gone and has been replaced with something so much more empty. 

You explain to him, as gently as you can, that it’s your turn now, and his resistance will only make this harder. You don’t delight in seeing him in pain (whether or not that’s a lie has yet to be determined) but it’s a necessary evil for all he’s done. You don’t believe his life is yours to take, but you’d be as terrible as him if you let him loose on the world again. You can’t trust anyone but yourself, and since this situation is so delicate, you need a bit more time to think on it. 

He doesn’t seem to understand, at least until you’re binding his legs and securing his head snuggly to the pole. Maybe it’s overkill considering the man looks like he belongs in a shibari magazine right now, but there’s no precautions you can’t take. You can’t have him escaping. It’s far too soon, and you have such wonderful things planned. 

Were you a kinder soul, maybe you would put him to sleep because it’s so apparent he’s terrified. Being bound like this has really brought out his inner little bitch, and the way he’s looking, he’s going to piss himself. But its a price it’s only fair that he pay, all things considered. You don’t know what time it is or even where you are, but you know you’ll return to him when you’ve been rejuvenated, eager and ready to begin on him. You’re only a few steps toward the door when he begins shouting, words barely discernible between his emphatic weeping and sobbing hiccups. 

“D-don’t leave me here in the dark! Let me go, let me out! You can’t! You can’t leave me here like this!”  You grin softly, turning slowly to face him, and tell him that you can and you will. You ask what he’s so afraid of, but you don’t wait to hear the answer as you step through the frame and shut the door behind you, leaving him to rot in his personal dungeon. It’s only been an hour and he’s already so pliable. You wonder what you can make him do when you really make it hurt. Psychology says it takes 7 years to brainwash someone and coerce them into absolute compliance, but you’re willing to bet you can have it done in a few months. 

You already know one of his fears, and are very clearly not ashamed to exploit it. How many else does he have, you might wonder, already planning tomorrow’s festivities. Maybe you were sicker in the head than you thought. Maybe Strade just brought out the worst in you, stripped away all that made you human and left you with raw hurt and despair. 

It’s tempting. To give in. To sit and massage your aching body while listening to his screams as they echo through the soundproofed basement. But you’re tired, and you haven’t slept in a bed in over a week. His looked awfully nice. Maybe after that, you’d wash the dried blood from your battered body, order some food, and appreciate the niceties that civilized life had to offer. Niceties you took for granted. 

After that?  Well, after that you had a new pet to train. 

[allegra-writes]

“Once in twenty lifetimes”

Tom Holland x Reader

General audiences

Warnings: Implied character death.

“In a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you”

The chaos of stars - Kiersten White

Just a little one shot inspired by the song “Cardigan” and this lovely past life reading by Adora’s light.

MY MASTERLIST

You cursed as your high heel got stuck on the cobblestone, making your ankle twist painfully. It would be just like you to be late, and injured, on your first day. But no, you still had about half an hour to spare, and the building was literally across the street. 

You tried to slow down your pace, and the beating of your heart, it would do you no good to arrive early, shaky and exuding nervousness like the inexperienced rookie you were. A smile broke through your face as you saw the coffee shop. Yeah, an herbal tea would do you worlds of good.

Your bare feet hit the stone tiles of the castle floor, running. People were running in all directions, screaming in terror: the enemy was inside already, the fires raging in the citadel nothing but a mere distraction. You heard the cries of your maiden inside your own bedchamber being beaten for information, you knew what the enemy wanted: You. 

“Meri Rani!” That voice. You knew that voice. “Meri Rani, this way!”

A strong, rough hand wrapped around your dainty one, guiding you behind a tapestry, to the hidden pathways and you could have cried in relief. 

Your brave knight. Your faithful guardian.

You were safe.

You were always safe in his arms.

The music hit you with a wave of melancholy as soon as you opened the door of the shop. That old Elvis’ song always made you strangely nostalgic. You smiled at the bittersweet feeling, stepping in line to order.

You didn’t want to fall into the “I was born in the wrong era” cliche, you really didn’t. And you knew a lot of people thought you were boring, too old fashioned, sometimes even snobbish because of it. But truth was, modern music just didn’t hit the same. The fast rhymes, oversaturated and monotone beats didn’t move you. You sounded like your grandmother, but they just didn’t make good music anymore. Not that good at least. 

“Wise meeeen say” You watched your boyfriend stumble under the streetlights, torn between exasperation and fondness. Drunk. He was drunk. Unbelievable. “Only fooools ruuuuusshh in”

As unbelievable as how nicely those Levi’s hugged his hips, as he twirled around the pole… and somehow managed to slip, face planting on it. 

“Ouch!”

“Yeah, you’re a fool alright, Thomas" 

You rushed to his side, prying his hands away from his face to check his nose.

"It’s all your fault, doll. I’m a fool for you” He winked, but the effect was somehow dampered by the blood falling freely over his lips. “We should go to that Elvis concert next month" 

His warm brown eyes lit up with enthusiasm at his own new idea.

"Hmmm I’m not sure we should” You feigned concern, “I could fall in love with him… he is very handsome”

Your boyfriend snorted,

“No way. You dig me way more than you dig Elvis" 

"Not when you’re all bloody and bruised like this…”

“Ow”

“Sorry!” You apologized, trying to be gentler as you finished wiping at his blood with your handkerchief. 

His arm snaked around your waist, cold fingers sneaking under your sweater, making you jump slightly.

“Is ok, love” he whispered against your lips, “I’ll let you kiss it better.”

“Hi, hun!” Chloe, the cashier, greeted. “Your usual?”

“Oh, no, I’m jumpy enough today!” You chuckled, perusing the tea menu, “I think I’ll have… some lavender tea today. Good for first day anxiety.”

“Wouldn’t lime flower be better for that?” The blonde teen frowned in confusion.

“Lavender is just as good, plus it won’t make me drowsy”

Chloe rang your order, taking a mental note of your words.

“I’ll try to remember that for the next customer that asks for lime flower. How do you even know so much about herbs?”

You simply shrugged, accepting your change,

“I don’t know, I guess I just have a memory for this kinda thing”

“Mama!" 

You raised your head from where you were harvesting berries of bittersweet nightshade, and felt your heart skip a beat. The image of your husband walking to you with your little girl in his arms still managed to take your breath away and fill your whole being with warmth and joy even after three years. 

You stood up, wiping your dirty hands on your skirts.

"See, bumblebee? I told you mama was just outside” You heard Tom’s soft words soothing the crying infant. “She doesn’t like it when she wakes up and you’re not there…” He added to you, the corners of his mouth belying his amusement.

“Is that true, sweetie?” You inquired, extending your arms toward the toddler, who practically leaped into them. Your daughter only nodded in response, hiding her face on your chest, fisting her tiny hands on the top of your dress, holding on as if she was afraid you were gonna disappear any minute. 

“Aye… I think she misses you almost as much as I do when you’re gone” Tom declared, wrapping his arms around both his girls, trying to squish down the uneasiness that had taken over him ever since he had heard…

“Is that so?”

Both your husband and your daughter nodded, making you chuckle. 

“What if mama makes some marzipan cakes tonight? Would that cheer you up? We could go to the village in the afternoon to get some flour”

Your husband’s stomach made a flip, the sound of your daughter’s enthusiastic approval drowned by his own worries and fears.

“Or we could just let your daddy make some of his honey candies. No need to go to the village…" 

You finished stirring the honey in your tea, and hurried to put the lid back to the cup, eager to leave. As much as you loved the little cafe, you couldn’t quite stand it in the mornings. You hated the fact that they served american breakfast. The smell of bacon and sausages, actually the smell of any meat being cooked, never failed to make your stomach churn. That was actually the main reason for your vegetarianism, even stronger than your convictions, your compassion and love for animals. Even stronger than your concerns or your wish for a healthier lifestyle, was your dislike. While most people found that smell mouthwatering and delicious, to you, it only ever smelled of burnt flesh.

Your beloved husband’s face was the only one you could make out in the crowd. His pale, tear streaked face, looking almost blue in the twilight. But no, it wasn’t twilight yet, it couldn’t be with the sun still so high in the sky. 

… Then why was everything so blue? 

The executioner tightened the ropes around you, but you couldn’t feel them. You were numb all over. 

"I’m sorry” He murmured, “but I will have to hurry up. Your husband gave me the tea but I think I used too much. If they realize what I did, they will burn me too" 

You understood then: wolfsbane. He couldn’t save your life, there was no way he could have, the archbishop had watched you like a hawk all the time they had kept you in the tower. But he wanted to spare you the pain. And not even the man of the church could find it in himself to deny you your last wish: a single cup of tea… that you hadn’t requested. 

"Why?” You managed to let out, “Why are you helping me?" 

"You helped me once. Or rather, my girlfriend. Well, my wife now”

You tried to remember. Yes, you were sure that was her, the blacksmith’s daughter. She was supposed to be a maiden, back then. If her father found out, he would have beaten her to death, but with a little pennyroyal you had put an end to her predicament. 

You could see the regret in his eyes as he let the torch fall into the pyre. You searched your husband’s face through the smoke. His agonized eyes met yours one last time.

No. Not the last. Only the last in that lifetime. 

“I love you” You didn’t open your mouth but you knew he had heard you, “forever" 

You tried to shake away the morbid thought, as you stepped into the busy street again. It wasn’t all that hard, as you immediately got swept away by it’s fast paced rhythm. There was something about the city, some hidden beauty in it’s chaos, a siren song, a presence. Almost as if somewhere in its darkest alley, there was a heartbeat calling for you. And in a way, you guessed there was, all of them were always crowded, teeming with life. Yet, unlike in any other city, here you weren’t shoved or pushed around. Here, if someone as much as bumped your arm, you would get a quick and embarrassed "sorry”. And you didn’t quite know why you found that so endearing, but you did. 

Just another one in the long list of things you loved about London. 

You collided with someone, hard, but you couldn’t afford to stop and apologize, so you kept on moving, advancing as fast as you could through the sea of bodies crowding the station. It was almost time, he was stepping into the last train and only god knew if you were ever going to see him again. He had asked you not to come, but you couldn’t, you wouldn’t let him leave without saying goodbye.

You heard him before you saw him. You almost didn’t recognize him from behind, the lush dark curls you loved so much all but gone, the strands shaved around the ears and cut close to the scalp on the back and sides.

“Thomas!”

He turned around just in time for you to jump into his arms, wrapping yours around his neck, hiding your face against his uniformed chest.

“I told you not to come” He breathed against your hair, undone from your race, holding onto you just as hard, “I told you I wouldn’t be able to leave this platform if you did…”

“Then don’t” You countered, “Stay with me. Let’s run away to the countryside, just… just stay" 

You felt his choked sob against your cheek.

"If we don’t stop the Germans now, there will be nowhere left to run. And I rather die before letting them anywhere near you”

“Don’t say that” You admonished, breaking your embrace to get a look at his coffee eyes, “Don’t ever say that!" 

He shook his head,

"It’s the truth, my love. Of all the beauty in this world, yours is the most breathtaking. Of all the kindness, yours is the most honest.” He took your hands in his, placing soft, reverent kisses on your knuckles “You are everything that’s good and pure in this world. You are everything that’s worth fighting for" 

"All aboard!" 

The tears were clouding your vision, when Tom’s brave facade fell.

"If anything happens to me at war…”

“Hush! Don’t say-”

“I must, my love” He interrupted you, urgently, “If anything happens to me, my family will take care of you. Listen-”

“No, you listen” You cut him off, “Whatever you were going to say, it won’t be necessary. Because you are going to come back to me, did you hear me?”

His reply died in his throat. He wanted so bad to be able to promise you what you wanted.

“Come back to me, Thomas. Say you’ll come back…" 

"Yes, ma'am” He finally vowed, before stealing one last kiss.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry!" 

His apology reached your ears even before you felt the hot liquid dripping down your chest, before your distracted mind could process what was happening. 

"I was walking too fast and I wasn’t looking where I was going and neither were you and when I realized, I couldn’t stop on time- Not, not that I’m blaming you for this, no, of course not! I mean, that looks hot” He gesticulated to your chest, talking with his hands almost as fast as he was rambling with his mind. You watched his eyes go big and his cheeks turn red as he realized exactly where he was pointing at, “The tea! I meant the tea not your… your- not you! I mean, not that you’re not… I should shut up now, right?" 

You tried to stifle your amused smile, but you failed, the brunet man in front of you simply too adorable in his awkward babbling for you to be mad. Even if both your favorite vintage tee and brand new phone were ruined now. 

"Probably, yeah.” You confirmed, “You need to stop and breathe, otherwise you might pass out from lack of oxygen. And I don't  think I can deal with that on top of” You pointed at your soaked self, “this" 

Relief washed over him at the realization you weren’t mad. The truth was, the only reason he had crashed into you was that he had been too busy staring at you to realize you were coming right his way. 

"Yeah, that would be just too rude” He let himself smile a little too, “crashing with you, making you spill your tea and passing out on you? So crossing the line…" 

You snorted inelegantly at that. 

And he thought it was the cutest thing he had ever seen in his life.

"Let me replace your t-shirt” He offered, hoping to buy himself a few more minutes with you, “and your tea, of course" 

You were about to refuse, when your eyes found his, the entire world shifting, tilting on its axis, as your irises met his warm coffee ones. 

You knew those eyes.

"I- ok” You cleared your throat, as if that would be able to conceal your shameless staring. “I have…” You checked your watch, “about 20 minutes before work”

“Right. Better make them count then” His boyish smile turned bigger, brighter, “I’m Tom, by the way. And I promise I’m usually smoother than this”

You took the hand he was offering, and it felt like deja vu.

“Y/n. And I hate smooth." 

He laughed,

"Great, cause that was a lie…" 

You walked back inside the coffee shop together, never noticing it was the hand of fate, the one opening the doors for you, all over again. 

[reineyday]

geraskier zoom conference hc's based on that 'and they were video conferencing' post

(this has turned into a fic in point-form oops; also it's more pre-slash 'cuz this quarantine is ongoing and i don't have any specific ideas about how a relationship discussion would go or be handled over zoom haha)

it starts as a group conference call between yennefer and triss and jaskier and geralt probably because yen and triss and geralt run some sort of small business and they need jaskier for something artistic probably (he's a freelancer)

let's say they have some sort of start-up to do with children's education somehow, inspired by ciri, and they want to start a small educational web series and they want music in each episode and so hire jaskier as a composer

geralt is in charge of episode content because this web series is gonna be about mythology and he has a masters in it and has done a fair amount of traveling for it (and lowkey has been learning about different kinds of myrhs and legends and heroes and monsters all his life alongside swordfighting thanks vesemir)

ANYWAYS at first they just talk about work: geralt knows which myths he wants to talk about and how, but can't quite come up with a good narrative because he has a bad tendency to ramble on about very precise specific details that get boring, and he also doesnt know how to set the tone for children despite having one himself

jaskier suggests they make the show centre around a hero that is a witcher who goes off on adventures meeting all these creatures, and jaskier already has some fun ideas for songs

jaskier thinks geralt isnt very forthcoming but he's clearly interested in the project and there's excitement in his eyes when he says ciri will like something they write together

geralt also gets kind of moody about inaccuracies (like a nerd 'cuz he is one lol), and jaskier thinks it's funny and likes to pull his leg by saying they should just change this detail or that detail and that he's allowed bc he's the composer and he's taking creative liberties

about three zoom meetings in, they decide the witcher should have a horse and jaskier says they should give it a name and geralt says "roach" and jaskier laughs and asks about cockroaches and geralt looks... petulant??? and says there are fish called roach too and he meant the fish, and jaskier feels fond and relents and says yes fine the horse's name is "roach"

the next video call they have, they start talking again about work and jaskier's trying not to focus too much on the fact that geralt has shown up with his hair braided but goodness it makes him look softer with the way it pulls back and some strands of hair escape to frame his face

geralt eventually notices and hmms his questioning hmm (and when did jaskier start distinguishing the difference?) and when jask asks about the braid, geralt's face goes EVEN SOFTER and says ciri can't practice braiding on her friends' hair at school anymore so she practices with him and jaskier's like "well fuck that's it this is it ive never even seen him in person but here we are this is a crush oh shit"

the first time geralt laughs is because in one of their meetings, jaskier decided he was gonna be chill and wear a work shirt but just his boxers with stupid cartoon pizzas on them, amd he feels so comfortsble he forgets he's just wesring his underwrar 'till he gets up to grab his acoustic guitar and geralt sounds like he was startled into laughter and yeah, that's right, he's wearing stupid boxers and he flushes but geralt looks pretty amused and jaskier did that so he's not too embarrassed

halfway through the session after that, where jaskier has given up on slightly professional looking clothes but has committed to wearing something over his boxers at all times, he hears some barking and he sees a german shepherd's nose enter the bottom of the frame by geralt's arm

jaskier is obviously like YOU HAVE A DOG and geralt explains ciri usually plays with him during their meetings but they decided to go earlier that day and when jaskier asks what the dog's name is, geralt pauses and looks a cross between irritated and embarassed and then says "roach"

jaskier laughs and laughs and geralt just looks on stoically and it's not on his mouth but jaskier can see the pout in his eyes, but after he's done laughing, all he says is, "like the fish" and geralt smiles a tiny smile and shakes his head and jaskier's a goner, truly

one day, jaskier is caught on trying to find the perfect wording and chord progression for one of the episodes, and focuses on his guitar and keyboard for a while as he toys with this key and that rhyme, and when he looks up, geralt is in a kitchen putting on tea and mixing something in a pot and it's an hour past when they usually hang up

"you could have stopped me, you know?" jaskier asks, but geralt looks at him and hmms and jaskier feels all warm goddammit

he tells jaskier to go take a break and jaskier obliges and brings his laptop to his kitchen and they kind of just have tea together for twenty minutes before something dings and geralt has to go 'cuz it's dinner time for him and ciri

the next meeting, geralt shows up and his daughter's there in the background and she has hair like geralt's and a sunshine personality the complete opposite of geralt (though they both give off disintguished kinds of vibes)

jaskier is charmed; she's a great cheerleader and a wonderful person to run ideas by especially considering she's the target age group for their show, and when she makes a comment about how she wishes she could play the ukulele she got as a gift two years ago, jaskier brightens up and says he can teach her

now jaskier zoom calls a little earlier so ciri can have a short ukulele lesson before his work meeting with geralt, and it's so nice whenever he hears ciri practicing off to the side or roach barking from out of the frame and jaskier wonders what it would be like to truly be in the house with them

the next meeting after, they go a bit too long again bc they were arguing (well, jaslier was actually pulling geralt's leg some more, to be honest, but he can't help it if that's how he flirts), and ciri shows up and says it's time for food and when jaskier says he'll leave them to it, ciri suggests he just stay on amd they can eat together

geralt doesn't immediately say no and actually seems to be waiting for jaskier's answer so jaskier says yeah okay, and he grabs some food and they all have dinner together and they get to talking and jakier and ciri bond over disney movies and ciri says she wants to watch them together the three of them and yennefer and triss

the watch party happens and over zoom yennefer seems deeply amused the entire time and triss keeps giggling and geralt seems extra annoyed for some reason but jaskier enjoys himself and sings along to the movie and he tries not to imagine sitting right next to geralt on his couch on the side not occupied by his daughter

jaskier wakes up with a headache very close to their meeting time one day, and kind of just opens his laptop while he's lying in bed and opens the window to wait for geralt to start the meeting while he reaches over to get his ukulele 'cuz it's the closest instrument to his bed and the easiest on his brain when it's pounding like this

when he settles back against his headbkard and pillows once more, geralt is looking at him with a frown and asks if he's feeling okay, to which jaskier replies he's fine it's not covid he just gets headaches every now and then and it sucks but he can still compose (and he shakes his lil uke at the camera)

geralt says no he should sleep and when jaskier pouts he says he's going to sit here and wait for jaskier to put down the damn ukulele and drink some water and eat a granola bar and then tuck himself back into bed and he looks all fierce about it while he says it and how can jaskier not lug his laptop around while he does these things and fall a little more in love

eventually it becomes totally normal for jaskier to just hang out for long stretches of time, whether or not they talk about their witcher web series, and they cook together and hang out in their pajamas and jaskier and ciri have their music lessons and their disney nights and geralt even starts getting him to work out during some of their work breaks by doing 8 minuts abs

(jaskier was pretty adamant about not exercising but said he's do it just the one time but after 8 minutes of pain, geralt was flushed and kind of sweaty and said he needed to chamge his shirt anf then just took it off right there on the camera before he walked out frame to grab a new one and jaskier had to rush to pick his jaw off the floor before going to change out of his own sweaty clothes and yeah so he does 8 minute abs with geralt sometimes now)

once, geralt sends him a zoom link for a meeting at 2am on a night when jaskier can't fall asleep (his sleeping schedule's been so fucked since quarantine started) and when jaskier joins him, he looks like hell and he apologizes but when jaskier says he probably won't sleep for another three hours anyways, geralt looks the tiniest bit grateful and asks if they can work so they do, and if jaskier writes a song that's a little more like a lullabye dyring their meeting, and feels like his heart is about to burst when geralt, who'd moved from his desk to his couch, nods off while jaskier softly sings to him, well... jaskier doesn't know what to do with himself after he makes sure geralt is properly sleeping and then leaves the zoom meeting

they work and work and really get to know each other and then, all of a sudden, there are no more songs to be written for their witcher series and jaskier says "that's the last song, i think" and geralt hmms but neither of them hangs up

jaskier bites his lip and says, "i'll see you at the team meeting we'll have with yennefer and triss to wrap up my contract, i guess?"

and geralt says, "you should add me on facebook; we should keep in touch for future projects"

jaskier tries not to feel too bummed out because this is still a connection point and also yay more creative projects with the hot man he is probably definitely in love with and also potentially more money! but he's still a little bummed and then he decides if he's going to feel bummed he should at least do something about it and he says, "i will! you know facebook has video chat too"

and geralt hmms again but there's definitely a smile, and it's even an actual smile! "im aware," he says, and then before he hangs up the zoom call he looks stern and adds, "dont forget about ciri's ukulele lessons" and honestly jaskier wasn't expecting to continue with them but he's relieved they can still keep doing those

he shoots geralt that friend request and sates the need to scroll down his wall by going through geralt's past previous profile photos instead (they're usually of him and ciri and they're adorable)

and then, delight of delights, the next day around when they usually have their meeting, there's a video chat request from one geralt of rivia coming through facebook, and even more delightful: geralt's clearly on his phone and he only waits on the screen long enough to make sure jaskier's there and to give him a quirked eyebrow and a trademark hmm before he turns the camera around and jaskier is treated to an outside view and a walk with geralt and roach via mobile

and thus geralt becomes a fixture of his every day life

[mihidecet]

I see You

I’m back on my bs yall. This is meant to be a companion piece to this so if you’re in the mood for some pure and extremely shameless comfort maybe check it out?

I somehow ended up writing 3.8K of Manburg family dynamics, set in an alternate universe where none of the extremely messed us stuff of the canon happened. ((we could have had it all))

Once again do not take this as ship content!! Let’s normalize platonic cuddling and being close with your friends without it being sexual!! Pretty pretty please!!

Contrary to popular belief, Schlatt is not that dense when it comes to feelings. 

His ignorance of other people's emotions is a willing act of defiance. Defiance towards whom, you may find yourself asking?

… Anyway.

Schlatt does notice things. Stuff happening around him. And he does remember them.

He knows Tubbo takes his morning tea with two spoonfuls of honey, and a slice of bread with any marmalade on it except raspberry, which as it turns out he doesn't like. Schlatt stops providing raspberry marmalade, but it never really gets questioned. 

He knows Fundy will get scraped up while exploring during the day, and will always forget to bandage himself up properly, so he makes sure to mention it in passing to whoever is near him at the end of the day - just to know that people will check up on the kid. He doesn't need to go himself, Fundy would never allow him to take care of him directly, and he's not going to subject either of them to that situation. 

Most of all, he notices Quackity - with him being the Vice President, they're around each other a lot. 

Quackity is a bright light in the cabinet. 

While Tubbo is a warm late afternoon glow and Fundy is burning fire, Quackity is sunshine by the seaside on a midday spring day. 

Quackity likes coffee, but only if it's been drowned with sugar. He likes singing, humming tunes to himself as he works or while he cooks - he does it for everyone, whenever he has the time to, and he is one of the best cooks there are. He likes to debate, bringing up topics to talk about during slow times, engaging Tubbo into verbal spars. He makes sure that Fundy has eaten at least three times per day, and that he's gone to sleep at a decent time. 

He smiles to himself whenever he finishes a document. Ruffles Tubbo's hair. Touches Fundy's shoulder to stop him to ask him how he's doing. Taps Schlatt's shoulder to catch his attention.

Quackity is a very tactile person. 

Schlatt remembers him hugging people, throwing arms around shoulders, laughing out loud with tears at the corners of his eyes. 

So it's no wonder that a couple of months into their presidency, with work and paperwork occupying most of their days, Quackity is both overly stressed and constantly fidgeting.

It comes to a point when Schlatt catches him visibly reaching out to people and then backing away, awkward and embarrassed, mumbling excuses before making a joke of being lost in his mind due to work.

That cannot continue. It simply cannot. 

Schlatt finishes his paperwork an hour early that night, then he takes a swig from one of his already opened bottles for good luck and gets to work.

The trip from his study to Quackity's is almost too long - it gives him almost enough time to change his mind, almost enough time to chicken out and just plan something else, maybe unleash Tubbo on him. But before he can formulate the idea in his mind, he's standing in front of the oak door and his hand is already raised to knock. 

Too late to back down. A part of him reasons, despite the fact that it isn't. 

"Come in." Quackity's voice answers after he raps his knuckles against the wood. 

The room inside is dimly lit: the only source of light is a small table lamp that shines a beacon on Quackity’s documents as his pen flies on the paper sheet, the man’s slightly hunched back straightening when he notices him entering, a small tired smile appearing on his face. 

"What are you doing here?" He asks, his head tilting lightly to the side - then bending further, one hand coming up to rub at his neck with a slightly pained expression. Schlatt advances, crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging while Quackity seemingly discovers more and more sore spots along his back. 

"I finished my paperwork, I figured I'd stop by."

"Oh, cool. -” he replies with one final satisfied grunt “- I'm almost done with this."

Schlatt nods absentmindedly, gesturing vaguely with a hand towards a nearby armchair: "You mind?" There’s a moment of confused silence as Quackity looks at him as if he’s grown a second set of horns, a mixture of surprise, amusement and incredulity overcoming his features, then he shakes his head and chuckles to himself. To be fair, any other night he’d have flung himself on his bed the instant his paperwork had been done. Still, Quackity recovers quickly, nodding towards him and swiftly resuming his work.

It’s hard not to fall asleep with the sound of his friend’s pen running over paper calming his nerves, the dimness surrounding them and the comfiness of the armchair under him. He remembers when Quackity had brought it in, slightly old looking and covered in a transparent sheet of plastic: he’d called it a lifetime occasion, found in a yard sale, and Schlatt had doubted its usefulness - after all, they had a couch in the livingroom and multiple chairs for each of their desks. 

And yet, there hasn’t yet been a day when the armchair wasn’t occupied by someone. When the days are cold, Tubbo can often be found curled up in it with a mug of hot chocolate and a blanket safely tucked around his shoulders - by whom should be quite obvious. And sometimes, when the nights are too long and sleep avoids Fundy, he retreats there, silently, and turns the armchair so that he can keep a watchful eye over Quackity as he works - that is, until sleep finds him, comforted by the knowledge that they’re all safe and alive. 

There’s a small bookshelf next to the armchair, filled with tomes both bought, found and written - some in English, most in Spanish. Quackity is nothing but fond and proud of his collection, and while Schlatt’s not going to tell anyone, he has read plenty of poems from the books that looked the most used. He’s aware that his Spanish isn’t the best, but it helps with keeping his knowledge fresh. 

His eyes catch on a thin book that he doesn’t remember seeing before - its title along the spine is a mesh of letters, with way too many consonants, and definitely in a language he doesn’t know. Picking it up, he figures it will help with his task of not falling asleep as he waits, but alas, as on the spine, the whole book is filled with too many long words - is that a whole line of just one? Who made this up?

He starts flipping back to the incipit, in hope of at least finding the author’s name. When he reaches it, though, what catches his attention first isn’t the name itself - Goethe, ah, that’s it, German - but a hand-penned inscription just below. 

“Hey Da Dumbass, I heard you like poetry in foreign languages. Try and read this. Fundy.”

Thankfully, the sound of a satisfied grunt reaches his ears and unknots the tightness in his throat and distracts him from the warmth spreading in his chest.

Behind him, Quackity - he calls him dad - stretches his arms behind his back and sighs. 

"Alright, this one's done! -” he starts, smiling proudly to himself before shooting a somewhat guilty look towards the rest of the documents piled up on his desk “- You know, you don't have to wait for me, I figured since it's not so late I could get a bit of stuff done ahead of time-" Schlatt levels him with an unimpressed stare, then claps the book closed and places it back in its original place before standing up and making his way towards his still sitting friend. 

"Alright, that's it." Quackity looks visibly confused, even a bit worried, as he leans back into his chair, but Schlatt is a man on a mission: he won’t be swayed by it, this is supposed to be an intervention. He stops once he’s close, standing up right next to Quackity, and his friend looks nervously up at him, a high pitched self conscious chuckle escaping him. 

"Wh-what- what's up?" Schlatt gives him a quick look just to confirm his theory, but he knows him. And most importantly, he knows himself, he knows he can manage it. 

"You, in a moment-" He quips, bending down and quickly scooping the shorter man up, one arm under his legs while the other supports his back and then- 

"Wait, hold on- hold on I-” Quackity starts to protest, but by then Schlatt already has a secure hold on him, so up they go, followed by a yelp by Quackity himself as he is quite suddenly hoisted up into Schlatt’s arms, one hand reaching out and wrapping around the taller man’s shirt with a vice-like grip as he splutters, eyes wide as saucers.

“HOLY SHIT-! HOW IN THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?!" 

And to be completely fair, Schlatt is not one to back down from the chance to boast at this type of thing, so he simply shrugs and squeezes him closer with a self satisfied smirk: "I told you I lift, you dumbass."

"I- I- put me down." Quackity gapes, seemingly still wrapping his head around the sudden switch in situation; the way he leans into the hold is probably unconscious, but it does confirm his theory that his vice president, his closest friend, is in desperate need of being on the receiving end of some care and comfort. And he knows, deep inside himself, that he’s not the best candidate for the job, but if nobody’s going to do it then he is for sure going to. 

"I will in a moment. You need sleep." He replies, tone firm but not loud, reaching out with a hand to turn off the desk lamp - inwardly thanking the low light coming from the torches in the corridor for allowing him not to make a fool of himself by immediately tripping on his feet. 

"I- alright, but I can get to my room on my own!" Quackity protests, sounding flustered, and Schlatt has a moment of hesitation as the sudden fear of having overstepped a boundary hits him. Maybe he shouldn't have done this. Shit, fuck, he's screwed this, hasn't he? 

But as he pauses for a moment to look down at Quackity, to asses the situation, he realises that the man is actually clutching at him, and his head is resting under his chin - the soft fabric of the beanie pushing against his cheek the moment he bends his head to look down. Schlatt lets out a steadying breath: he can do this. 

"I know you can. I don't mind doing this, though." He states, firmly but not unlindly, voice softening, and he holds him close again - one armed as he reaches out to close the corridor's door. A huff of breath warms a spot over his chest. 

"I- you're such a fucking showoff, dude." He murmurs, accepting the situation with what sounds like a small smile on his face.

It takes him a minute, but soon he's opening the door of Quackity's bedroom. The shorter man, who had been slowly relaxing overtime, leaning more and more into his chest, startles as if waking up from sleeping and tenses up.

"Alright, now you can drop me off." He comments, but Schlatt is a bit more preoccupied with losing himself inside his own mind as he thinks about what to do next, so Quackity stays up - it's not like he's gonna wriggle around and risk falling on his ass on the ground. After a moment, he looks down at where Q's hand is clutching at his shirt, and at where his head is still pressed against his chest. A part of him is enjoying this too, and isn't really ready to let go, but still, this isn't about him. It's about what Quackity wants.

So he forces his anxieties down, swallows around the knot in his throat and tries. 

"What- what if I didn't yet, though." Quackity is silent for a moment after that, but his hand doesn't unclench, so he counts it as a good thing. 

"You're not making any sense, man." 

Schlatt is stood in the middle of the room, holding Quackity up, keeping him close, and he feels like he's balancing multiple instincts wanting to drag him in any direction - anywhere else other than here, right now, when stuff is so confusing and worrisome and he's constantly scared of scaring Quackity off with something weird. 

But yet again, he keeps it down, keeps it quiet. For his friend. 

"I've been seeing how stressed you are. Is this helping? Please be honest." If he had a free hand, he would be running it through his hair, a nervous habit he's been picking back up. Yet, his arms are starting to feel the strain of holding a body up, so he's not going to risk letting him fall to the ground. After what seems like an eternity, another sigh in the form of a warm puff of breath hits his chest as Quackity concedes. 

"... A bit …"

Good, he can't help but think. Communication is key in these situations. In all situations really, but he appreciates the fact that Q is opening up and letting him know he is alright with being held like this. Spurred on by this, he ponders his next words perhaps a bit too little. 

"Is it the caring or the touching?"

Quackity visibly flinches at the wordings, leaning back a little - pushing more strain on Schlatt's right arm - to stare at him with a sarcastic frown.

"Shit, man, you are such a wordsmith-"

Too quick, too many variables lost to the moment, and Schlatt is swept up in the frenzy of the situation - he has never, ever been good at smoothing out situations. 

"Will you just answer-"

"It's both! Geeze, are you happy now?!" Quackity's embarrassed outburst manages to at the same time shut him up and quieten the anxious voices in his head - so he was right, Quackity did like this, and he didn't mind it. Now if that wasn't a win in his book … he sighs, squeezing him close.

"Yeah, kinda. See, it wasn't hard. You little bitch." He comments, tone way too fond for him to be taken seriously ever again, but he figures he's allowed to be a bit soft - it's late, they're tired, and they're the only ones in the room.

Schlatt decides he's not going to subject himself to the mortifying ordeal of starting to lose strength in his arms - he has a reputation to uphold - so he quickly makes his way to the large bed, turns and sits down, inwardly relieved that he's managed to get this far. His nerves still haven't betrayed him. Yet. At least Quackity isn't launching himself on the other side of the room the moment he has a chance not to fall on the ground if he moves the wrong way. 

"What are you doing?" Quackity asks, sounding genuinely confused as he looks up at him with furrowed brows, so now it's Schlatt's turn to splutter indignantly, the arm under Q's legs sneaking up to wave confusedly in the air.

"I'm about to murder you is what I'm doing- what does it look like?! I'm trying to comfort you!"

A moment of silence follows, during which Schlatt stares awkwardly at Quackity's shocked face. Then Q's eyes soften and he starts chuckling, shaking his head for a moment before he lets it fall back down against his collarbone, sneaking an arm around his waist. 

"Feeling real fucking comforted, for sure." He comments, humour loud in his voice as he squirms around for a moment trying to find a comfortable position, quieting a moment later and letting out a small sigh.

"I am going to throw you into the river." Schlatt answers, bringing the hand that was holding his back up to the nape of his neck, fingers dipping under his beanie to lightly scratch at his scalp, pressing his friend's forehead against his neck.

When Quackity answers a moment later, his voice is but a murmur.

"I thought you were here to comfort me?"

"Shut up and be comforted, then, you dumbass." He huffs out, but there's a smile on his face despite the way he tries to seem angry. He is still way too soft to be taken seriously, and he'll be mad about it later, when Quackity will keep making coffee for the both of them, but then he'll lean into him while Schlatt's making eggs for Fundy, and he'll call him soft when he remembers to add the herbs the young fox hybrid picked himself; not to mention how he'll suddenly realise who had been bringing Tubbo back to his room after the kid had fallen asleep on the couch. 

But still, it's worth it, as he slowly grabs the hand that is still gripping his shirt, gently pressing against his fingers until he lets go; he places it back on Quackity's lap, rubbing what he hopes are comforting circles into his wrist - he knows how bad it can get when you spend all day writing, and knows his intuition payed off when his friend's shoulders relax even further.

To be quite honest, Quackity hadn't even realised his writing hand had been hurting. 

A joke threatens to rise in Q's throat, a way to diffuse the situation, a mechanism born from ages of repressing wholesomeness because that's the type of things that get you in trouble, because feelings get treated as a weakness, but he squashes it down, closing his eyes with a sigh as he lets himself enjoy the moment.

The warmth of a hug that is truly meant, the comforting weight of Schlatt's head against the top of his, the blissful peace that he associates with having his hair played with - It's been a while since he had the chance to do this, to feel this. 

He could fall asleep like this, he thinks, eyes closing on their own and body melting into the sensation, and he finds himself floating, suspended - but also grounded, tethered by the points of contact between their bodies. 

He feels- he feels like he did when Fundy tried to teach him German, him stumbling over the words while the other laughed with him; or like all the times Tubbo brought him outside in the garden, guiding him through the steps needed to take care of his beloved pets. 

He feels at home. 

And after a moment, he feels Schlatt relax too, his movements less precise, less rithmic, his shoulders sagging a bit as they lean more into each other instead of just Quackity against him - and doesn't that feel poignant, he thinks, but not pointing it out loud feels like a better choice. 

He feels before he hears the low timbre of Schlatt's voice, unusually quiet due to a mix of tiredness and the silent atmosphere surrounding them. 

"I'm gonna lie back. That alright with you?"

It takes a moment for Quackity to realise that he is asking for permission. He wants to nod, but that would jostle their heads. So he hums in what hopes is a notably affirmative way, and just to be sure his message is correctly interpreted, he turns his palm upward, fingers wrapping around the taller man's wrist, and squeezes.  

He feels a chuckle vibrate through the chest under his cheek; again, quiet, toned down, but this time it also feels like he's trying not to move too much - and that right there makes him want to never stop smiling, especially whenever Schlatt pretends he doesn't care. Because if there is one thing Quackity knows is that he cares so much, despite the fact that he still pretends he doesn't know how a doctor found their way to Fundy's room after he scraped his knee, the poor medic armed as if somebody had just lost an arm. 

Schlatt thinks he's so good at hiding his feelings, and then he stops buying a specific type of marmalade because Tubbo joked about it tasting funny. He is nothing but a dork, and this has just done nothing more than confirm his suspicions. 

The hand in his hair gently cups his head as Schlatt leans back until he's laying on the bed, and Quackity has to swallow back a knot in his throat at the pure, unaltered sweetness with which he is being treated - like he's fragile, but not in a bad, diminishing way: like you would treat a fancy ancient vase, or a masterpiece. 

Quackity squeezes his eyes, feeling himself get watery, and focuses on the fact that like this, he's not that comfortable anymore. There's no need for his legs to be both over his friend's body, so he shuffles back until he's more curled up against his side, half laying on his chest, head still tucked under his chin - by god how perfectly safe he feels with that soft pressure against his temple. 

Schlatt lets him wriggle around, the hand in his hair never moving, and once he stills his other one moves back to his own chest, where Quackity's hand rests against his heart, and his fingers gently wrap around his. 

"This alright?" Comes a murmur from above him and Quackity's fingers squeeze automatically in response, finding himself unable to verbalise an answer at first.

"Thank you." He breathes out a moment later, after he's able to reign in his emotions just enough for him to find his voice again.

"Don't- don't thank me." Comes Schlatt's instant response, the fingers in his hair halting for a moment as he pauses, seemingly deep in thought. When he speaks again, his tone is once again slow and hushed, and his fingers are once more rubbing slow circles against his scalp.  

"You can come to me for this. Anytime you want. I want you to know that you can count on me."

And oh, alright, Quackity thinks, eyes widening for a moment - he has to hurry and squeeze them shut before he starts tearing up, fighting against the way emotions squeeze at his chest; pure unadulterated joy at the knowledge that this is true, this is good and this is his. His small, dumb, weird family, made of mostly jagged pieces that somehow fit so well together. Quackity clutches at the fingers wrapped around his, squeezing maybe just a bit too tight, throat thick and feelings running, and then he simply nods into his friend's collarbone. 

Schlatt just squeezes back - and that's just how they are, two dumbass friends holding onto each other, doing their best.

Minutes later, he falls asleep, lulled by the rhythmic rise and fall of his friend's chest and the gentle feeling of being held.

[futurewriter2000]

Flowers don’t grow in the dark - pt. 3

A/N: I know I totally forgot about this fic for some odd reason but I am writing it as you can see. I finished it today. I should be doing german but I am doing this instead because I got inspired. I am going to do german now. 

XX

Sirius always deplored morning. Every morning, he woke up after doing something completely reckless and unforgiving, he lamented to Merlin himself and cursed his own mother as he did. 

He woke up, wrapped in sheets with a pleasing smile on his lips. It was a consequence to the sexual experiance he always had with you. It always placed a pleased smile on him as Van Gogh would paint it himself. The only difference was the fifteen-year gap. 

He sat up, looking around until he found an alarm clock near the window. His eyes went wide. 

10:55. 

He has never slept this late and- “Harry!” he immediately thought of his Godson, who must be freaking out after their last night talk. 

‘ “Why didn’t you tell me!?” he fumed, clenching his fists and glaring at Sirius with his fiery green eyes. 

Sirius wanted to smile, reminiscing on the moment he was always pleased to remember. Harry fuming at him just as Lily did at James. 

But this wasn’t the time to reminisce of old memories. Harry wanted answers and he wanted them now. 

Sirius seized his hand into his pocker and pulled out an old but well-kept wallet. He pulled out a photo- polaroid and gave it to the angry boy in front. 

Harry tooked the photo and immediately relaxed as he saw his parents on it. “It’s mum-” he smiled widely as he saw Lily with an open-wide smile, almost hearing her laughter in his own head like a neglected memory he forgot he had. 

“James and I always made everybody laugh.” Sirius started as Harry looked up at him, then back at the polaroid. “But nobody could make her laugh as much as your aunt (y/n) did.” he simpered, reminding himself of the memories he buried in the darkest of corners. “(y/n) and I used to hate each other just because of your father. I hated how he always went to her rescue, even for the little of things, and she hated how he spent his time with me. Guess we were both a bit jealous of each other.” he pointed at the laughing James in the photo who was holding you in his arms, ruffling your hair as you tried to get out. “She was older than him- an hour or so- but he was always acting more older than any of us. She had a tendency going into more trouble than James and I ever did. Mostly to piss off James for embarrasing her. That was why she befriended your mother and that was why your mother haven’t liked James for so long and why (y/n) have been bickering most of the time.” 

“She didn’t want my parents to be together.” Harry furrowed his eyebrows and Sirius laughed. 

“Oh, she knew they were perfect for each other, she just made James work harder for it.” he continued to laugh and Harry smiled. “I know I never told you about her and I am sorry, Harry. It’s just- I loved her. Deeply.” he smiled as Harry already felt quite uncomfortable hearing Sirius be all emotional and giddy in front of him but at the same time, he felt proud to be the one Sirius trusted into for the secrets he hid. 

“But you said you hated her.” 

“We did but we did fancy each other secretly.” Sirius wanted to wink, implying into the strong sexual chemistry the two of you shared, but he quickly reminded himself that was his godson and he is not ready for the birds and bees talk yet. “She was blunt and direct. She never did me any favors as some girls did at that time. She was mean, pompous and irritating. Also annoying-” he leaned to Harry and narrowed his eyes. “That was a trait James and her showed the most. Both were loud and annoying.” he said and Harry laughed. “But she challanged me the most. She wasn’t afraid to tell me who I was and at the end, I found out all the wonderful traits on her that I was missing before.” 

“Like?”

“Like the one you share with her the most.” 

“You look a lot like your mother and father, Harry but you have a habit of losing your temper quite a lot. Now, when you pissed off you aunt, she popped like champagne and started bursting anything that came into her mind. When you write, you lean your T’s and L’s meanwhile you get most of Lily’s handwriting. You also have your way with getting into trouble without trying.” 

“I thought I got that after dad?”

“Nope. Your dad and I barely got caught meanwhile you, my dear boy, just end up in trouble without even meaning to.”

“It’s not my fault I can hear snakes in the walls.” he said and Sirius laughed, holding onto his stomach. 

“Bet.” he continued to laugh. “She used to use that same line whenever overheard Slytherins gossiping.” he shook his head and Harry smiled even brigher. And somehow, from nowhere he touched his collarbone. 

He used to do that since he was a kid but he never really understood why. It was as if something was missing but couldn’t truly know what. 

Sirius knew that back then and now. He knew exactly what was Harry doing. He stood up, walked to his drawer, opened it and searched under his clothes. It took him a while to find it but when he found the red velvet box, he let it sit in his hand for a while. Somehow it was the feeling- the feeling that felt as near of feeling of you... of the old you. 

He hasn’t opened it in years. He completely forgot it was there in the first place but whenever Harry touched his collar bone, he knew what he wanted. 

So he turned around with a smile and walked back to his godson, pointing at his chest. “You ever wondered why you are doing that?” he asked and Harry looked down on his chest, looking back up and shaking his head. 

“It’s a habit, I guess.” 

“It is a habit.” Sirius smiled, holding the box inbetween his palms. “The same habit your father and aunt shared.” he then revealed what he was hiding in his hands and offered it to Harry. 

He observed it at first, baffiling as if what could this be. A ring? Necklace? Bracelet? A pin? 

He opened the box carefully, revealing a beautiful golden necklace with a charm in the middle. Harry furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at Sirius. “It’s a leaf.”

Sirius laughed again, shaking his head. “It’s not any leaf, you pinhead. It’s an oak leaf.” he ruffled Harry’s hair and continued to chuckle. “There’s a tradition in your family that the grandparents give their grandchildren a golden necklace to secure them wealth, luck and joy in their life. Their grandparents gave them a necklace and when they were both 18 years old, James gave her a charm in the form of daisy, meanwhile she gave him a charm of a cactus.”

“And she gave me a leaf?” 

“Can you just listen. It has a beautiful meaning.” Sirius started to lose patience with this boy. “I’m trying to be all affecting and motherly. You’re ruining the moment.” he joked and Harry laughed. 

“Alright. Go on.” 

“As I was saying... this tradition was important to your aunt but since both of your grandparents passed away sooner than it was expected, she made it her decision to keep the tradition going.” he took the the necklace from the box and put it around his neck. “You can take it down if you want but the day you were born, she promised us all that you are going to be the brave one. She always said you’ll be braver than James and more stubborn than Lily, yet also more troublemaking than her. The next day she bought you a golden necklace- with the leaf.” he tilted his head as he clipped it together and looked at Harry. “An oak leaf- meaning patience, faith, power, endurance, and strength.”

Harry touched the leaf on his chest and it felt like this was it. He felt he warmth and fuzziness as he touched it with his hand. It felt right and up until now, he felt as if he had missed it all his life, not knowing what it is, but knowing and having it brought more than just a memory of you. It brought the feeling of family. 

“Both James and (y/n) always touched it. They both told me the same thing; that it brough them the feeling of family. I took it off you when you were a baby. Somehow I hated how it reminded me of her... after what she supposedly had done to you, James and Lily... and me.” he paused, looking at the smiling Harry. “I’m sorry, I kept it away hidden.” ‘ 

He told Harry he’d leave to catch up with you. He needed to know your intention with Harry and in general. 

Appereantly, his intentions got mixed in the process. He grabbed his clothes, searching for his shirt as he had not found it. 

He popped his head up as he was looking under the bed and narrowed his eyes at the distance. 

You stole his shirt. 

He went down the stairs, finding you in your shorts and his over-sized black T-shirt with a red Converse logo imprinted on it. You looked up innocently from your cup of coffee and grinned cheekly at the shirtless man in front of you. 

“Don’t you look at me like that.” he narrowed his eyes. “Last night was a mistake.” 

“Oh?” you tilted your head. “Was it really when you moaned out my name?” she winked and saw him blush in his pale white skin. 

You still knew the way his buttons worked. 

“You screamed mine.” he fired back but you only laughed.

“I’ve spent 15 years without sex. I bet if I had sex with a goblin I’d scream out his name.” you stood up and walked over to the sink, leaving Sirius shook. 

“So what? You wouldn’t-”

“Sirius.” you cut him off, turning around and standing still. “I stopped loving you years ago. I don’t love you. I don’t love anybody in fact anymore. Yesterday was just sex. Nothing more, nothing less. Just sex and if you think it meant something- anything. You are the most indefinite wrong.” 

“You don’t love me?” he kept his heart quite unconvinced. 

“Nope.” you said as he took a step forward, another and another until he was up front. 

He took a hold of his shirt on you and lift it up. “Then why are you wearing my shirt?” 

You looked down and beamed. “Oh!” you looked back up and laughed. “It suits me better.” you walked out of his reach, uneffected by anything he said and walking to the sink to throw in the cup. 

It was at this moment Sirius doubted his thoughts. Did you really not love him anymore? Did the girl who loved everything and everybody not love anything and anybody anymore? 

“Wait...”

“I’m home!” he heard a shout and turned around to see a man beaming at the door. “I bought food!” 

“Oh, yummy!” you laughed and jumped to the man who appeared in the front. 

He couldn’t quite put a finger on it and it took him a while to notice who this man was. 

The man was tall and slim- extremely slim, almost boney. His cheeks were sinkholes, drowning in blackness as well as his eyes. Beard was long and dark, frizzy and untreated. Hair was long as well but he couldn’t see the rest of the body that was covered in patched up clothes. 

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Black.” the man smiled and Sirius realized immediately who this was. “Now, I know I look like a corpse but I’m not dead yet.” 

“We put some food into you and you’ll be good as new.” you tap the mans cheek and quickly pulled away. “Maybe shave first.”

“Oh, I bought us some sissors and shaving cream.” he pulled out and you laughed.

“Mulciber?!” Sirius couldn’t bring himself from the shock. 

Mulciber pointed his finger at him then smiled at you. “Ah- there it is- wait?!” he looked at you, then kept swinging his finger between the two of you.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“But I thought like later not like the second you got out.” 

“Pay up.” 

Sirius drew his eyebrows together, trying to put two and two together but felt hard time to do so. “Wait-”

“You can leave now, Sirius.” you tucked the money in your bra and walked with food bags to the table. 

Sirius turned to you sharply. “Did you bet me?!”

“I knew sooner or later you would come and find me. More than so, I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist the undeniable sexual tension we have.” you winked as Sirius clenched his jaw.

“You used me?”

“You used me first.”

“It’s not fair!”

“What isn’t fair exactly, Sirius?!” you snapped at him. 

“You being with Mulciber! Having bets with him! Being all friendly with him!!!”

“So, you’re jealous, are you Sirius?!” you took a step closer, watching him be quiet. “You had fifteen years to prove you loved me.” you sneered at him, gritting your teeth. “Fifteen long years but if you hadn’t done anything about me being taken away, you don’t get to be jealous about it. A lot can change in fifteen years-” you glanced behind him, looking at Mulciber. “And he has proven being more of a friend that you ever did as a fiance.” you kept glaring at him as he kept his expression was kept the same. 

You could feel the tension in his muscles, see how his jaw clenched and curses ran through his mind. 

Yes, this was the man you once loved but this man has broken you more than Azkaban ever did.

“Leave.” you growled, looking directly into his eyes. 

And he did. He left.

He left just as you did all those years ago; grieving. 

[lo-55]

Shattered Chains of Fate Ch. 18

Water Fights and Yet More Strays

Ichigo eyed the water speculatively.

“I don’t like this,” he said loudly. Achilles, who was the one who had put him up to this in the first place, grinned like the asshole he was.

“Just try it. You never know, you might have an affinity for water magics.”

“I don’t think I have an affinity for  any magics, but whatever,” Ichigo grumbled.

“Who knows, maybe you have an affinity for Imaginary Numbers,” Cu suggested. Ichigo made a face.

“I still don’t understand how a number can even  be imaginary. It doesn’t make sense in math and it doesn’t make sense in mystic crap. How can anything squared be equal to negative one?!”

“And to think you once missed school,” Medusa teased.

Ichigo flipped her off without looking. They were gathered in the kitchen of his house, with Achilles sitting backwards in a chair while Medusa sat on the island and Cu leaned against the fridge. Ichigo stood above a sink filled with water, with a carefully drawn rune glowing faintly on the back of his left hand.

“Aren’t runes more germanic than greek? I don’t think-”

“Fucking do it already,” Achilles finally shoved his shoulder. Achilles’ orange scarf was draped across Ichigo’s shoulders again. It felt right to have it. He’d had it for the entirety of his last three singularities.

“How do you even know how to do this?” Ichigo grumbled, but dipped his hand in the water all the same. “I thought you were a fighter, not a mage.”

“My mother is a sea goddess,” Achilles reminds him. “Now go!”

Ichigo scowls fiercely but obediently pumps mana through the marking on the back of his hand.The water starts to glow around his hand softly, pale blue and growing brighter and brighter the more he pushed into it until it was borderline silver.

Slowly, Ichigo pulled his hand up, and brought a square of water with him. It shuddered and rippled before it starts sweating down the edges and the whole thing collapsed. It slammed into the basin. Ichigo jumped back with a startled shout.

Achilles howled with laughter while Ichigo glared at him, the whole front of his shirt soaked. Ichigo shoved his hand back into the water, shoved as much mana into it as he could and yanked his hand out and towards the Rider. The square exploded a second out of the water and pelted his servant mercilessly, sending the great hero shrieking and diving for cover.

Ichigo tried to keep a straight face, but when Achilles poked his head up from where he’d dived behind the island, his hair plastered to his skull and dripping water down his sharp cheeks, he cracked.

Ichigo grinned at him. “I don’t think I have an affinity, but you were right. It was fun.”

“I regret answering your summons,” Achilles lied. He stood slowly and grabbed a dish towel to try and dry his hair with.

“No, you don’t,” Ichigo said flatly.

“No, I don’t,” he agreed a second later. Achilles didn’t hold many grudges. At least not against Ichigo.

“You’re both clowns,” Medusa told them, shaking her head at them.

Ichigo subtly exchanged a loot with Achilles, who started to grin and turned away to hide it.

Ichigo turned around to the sink and started the water again. He made sure it was nice and cold before he picked up the spray hose and turned around.

Achilles shoved Medusa off her perch towards Ichigo just in time for him to pull the trigger and spray her straight on. Medusa screamed and threw her hands up to protect her face while her hair whipped out violently in hissing serpents.

Ichigo dove for Achilles, who grabbed him around the middle and shot out of the room with snakes hot on their heels. Ichigo gripped his shoulders tightly while Achilles spirited him away at high speeds into the other room.

They hid out behind the couch, waiting.

Medusa  was a creature of  vengeance. She would never stand for their sneak attack without retaliation.

Ichigo leaned against Achilles, his shoulders shaking with muffled laughter. “That was awful. She’s going to kill us.”

“It was totally worth it. Did you see her face?”

“I did. She looked like she was going to kill us.”

“Don’t worry master,” he patted his head. “I won’t let you die.”

Ichigo puffed at him. “I wonder what’s taking her so long.”

“You know, I have the strangest feeling I’m not gonna like the answer to that,” Achilles mused. He peeked over the back of the couch and paled. “Oh. I was right.”

Ichigo followed his example. Somehow, Medusa had enlisted Cu into helping her, and now each serpent in her hair was holding a ball of water with one of his runes in their mouths, like some horrifying gorgon water balloon launcher.

“Oh. Oh we’re dead.”

“Uh huh.”

The two looked at each other and booked it for the door. Ichigo shoved Achilles behind him, shouting, “Human shield!” and busted out into the sunlight just in time to get beaned in the back of the head with an absolutely freezing ball of water that sent him skidding face first across the grassy lawn.  

Ichigo spat grass out of his mouth and got up on his knees, water dripping down his orange hair. He shook himself out and sat back on his heels. Behind him he could hear the sounds of an war starting in his house.

Cu came wandering out a few minutes later, looking no worse for wear.

“I can’t believe you’re not getting involved in that,” Ichigo told him. Cu was usually always up for a good fight. The Caster shrugged.

“It seemed like more fun to come see you. I’m going fishing this afternoon.”

“That was a great non sequitur,” Ichigo said idly. Cu gave him a hand up and Ichigo brushed dirt off his shirt. He was a mess, wet and dirty and covered in grass stains. Yuzu was gonna have a fit.

“I’d like to come with, but I’m taking the girls over to Uryu’s this afternoon to start their training. He might not be able to use quincy powers anymore, but he can still see spirits, so he’ll be able to tell us if we’re doing something wrong.”

“Good luck,” Cu patted his shoulder. “You should get out of here before Medusa is done with Rider.”

Ichigo winced and agreed. Yeah, he really, really should.

“I’ll see you later,” he promised, and ran off before Medusa could come after him.

*

Ichigo didn’t like this.

In fact he hated this.

He wasn’t gonna kill a kid! But, this kid hadn’t just put people to sleep. This kid had actually killed people. A lot of people. Like the entirety of Scotland Yard. It was just… she seemed sad. Desperate and desolate. How could he tell Mash to kill her? How could he push his Mana into Mordred and support her swinging her sword at a little kid?

Ichigo wasn’t even mad at the girl.

He was mad at ‘P’.

The idea that he would sent a child to kill people on his behalf made Ichigo’s blood boil.

Which might have been why he did one of the dumbest things he’d done this year.

He launched himself past the the little Assassin and threw a vicious punch at the Caster.

It was a testament to Ichigo’s training, and a bigger testament to the Caster’s physical weakness, that his hit landed so hard it sent him stumbling back with a red cheek.

“Master!” Mash screamed from behind him.

“What’s wrong with you?!” Ichigo roared at him. “You’re over here bitching about the incineration of humanity, as if you’re not complacent in it? Aren’t you the one that ordered Jack to kill all those people? Haven’t you been here the whole time and you’re not doing anything about it?!”

P touched his cheek, his eyes wide and fixed on Ichigo.

“There’s nothing helping it. The incineration is inevitable, whether we do it or someone else does-”

“Shut the fuck up!” Ichigo snapped, lunging for him. A strong, armored arm wrapped around his middle and forcibly held him back. “You can’t say shit like that when you’re not even willing to step up and stop it! Aren’t you a heroic spirit? Doesn’t humanity mean anything to you? People are hurt, people are dying and losing loved ones and you’re responsible for part of it!”

Mordred grunted and dragged Ichigo back, kicking and screaming at P.

“How many people have died? How many kids have no parents? How many parents mourn their children because you won’t say enough?!”

“Master, please calm down!” Mash planted her shield in front of Ichigo so he couldn’t get past and attack him again, no matter how much he wanted to.

Jack, meanwhile, had stopped her attack to peer at Ichigo curiously.

He ignored her and favor of shouting at P further, until he finally teleported away like a coward.

They were left alone with Jack the Ripper, who hadn’t moved since Ichigo started yelling.

“You’re a very weird man,” Jack said. Her grip on her knife’s was loose.

Ichigo forced himself to calm in the face of the child. “I’ve been told worse.”

Jack approached, slowly, the fog growing thicker and thicker. This was different from the demonic fog. It tasted like despair. This was the same thick mist that had come to encompass them the last time they’d been pit against Jack. Ichigo shifted closer to Mash, touching her shoulder.

This wasn’t good. He couldn’t see Jack, or even Mordred anymore. He could barely see Mash and she was right next to him.

“Mash,” Ichigo said quietly. “This isn’t great.”

“I know. Just have faith, Master. No harm will come to you.”

Ichigo sighed. “I believe in you,” he promised. He touched her shoulder and pumped mana into her body.

Ichigo stayed as close by her as he could, but it was hard to see and it was hard to stick close when Mash had to move to swing her massive shield. There was a thin line between staying close and getting in the way, and Ichigo ended up stumbling back one step too far.

The mist closed in and he was alone.

He could hear the two girls he’s come with. Mash’s shouting, and Mordred's clinking armor, but he couldn’t see either one.

He could see the little girl that stepped out of the mist. Her hood was down. Her eyes were two different colors. Her face was covered in stitched tight scars and her hair was short and choppy. Jack. Everytime he lost sight of her, he forgot what she looked like.

Ichigo stared at her warily.

“Why were you so angry? About children without their parents?” she asked, her head tilted. “We don’t understand.”

“Because- Because kids shouldn’t have to lose their parents,” Ichigo said. What was going on? Why was she even interrogating him instead of attacking?

“Look,” he went on, “That P guy said you were looking for your mom, right? Maybe we can help you find her. And even if we can’t, we’re at least nicer people than that guy. Will you know. Morals.”

“We don’t care about morals,” Jack said quietly. “We just want to go back to where it’s warm. With our mommy. But she’s not here…”

“Hey,” Ichigo’s voice gentled. He slowly unbuttoned his jacket. This was probably the stupidest thing he could do but… “Come here,” he motioned to her.

The assassin walked closer to him, her mis-matched eyes looking up at him.

Ichigo carefully took her shoulders and pulled her against his chest. He closed his jacket around her shoulders.

“It’s not a mothers embrace, but it's warmer than the fog at least. Right?”

Maybe he was too soft for war. Maybe he was too gentle to be a proper magus. Maybe all those people frozen on ice in Chaldeas would have done better than he.

In the end it didn’t matter. Here, now, he wouldn’t fight this child. Not when her knifes tucked away and her fingers dug into his shirt. Not when she clung to little heat he could offer her.

The mist departed. The sorrow that swelled around them ebbed. Ichigo stood, for the second time in just as many days, with a little girl who had once tried to kill him in his arms.

He looked up in time to see Mordred and Mash look utterly exasperated. A man with dusty blond hair stared out at them from a window across the street. Ichigo blinked and he was gone.

* *

When Ryuken answered the door he didn’t look particularly happy to see Ichigo. Of course, he never looked particularly happy about anything at all.

Not that stopped Yuzu from bouncing cheerfully up to him.

She took his hand and dragged the poor man inside, already asking him questions about himself and his home.

Ichigo and Karin trailed after them, exchanging a glace. No one could resist Yuzu when she turned up the charm. Ryuken wouldn’t be any exception to the rule.

“I want to make it clear,” he said as he led them into the backyard, “That I don’t approve of what you children are doing. You would be better off if you focused on the living. Not the dead.”

“We’re doing this so we don’t die young,” Karin said bluntly.

Yuzu added, much softer, “And to be closer to Mom.”

Ichigo softened. Yeah. To be closer to mom. That was what this all circled back to in the end, wasn’t it? Ichigo had been nine when their mom had died. The girls were only five. Ichigo had four more years with her than either of the girls did.

For so long it had felt like he had robbed them of their time with her. He had stolen the sun out of their family when she died because of him.

Now, he knows a little better.

Grand Fisher had killed her. It wasn’t Ichigo’s fault. If Masaki, a fully trained Quincy, couldn’t take down the hollow then Ichigo, who couldn’t even form a bow, had no chance. He’d gotten his revenge. He’d killed the Grand Fisher when it showed up and came after his sisters.

Ichigo followed Ryuken and the girls into the backyard, where Uryu was waiting with a thin wooden box.

“I still don’t approved of this,” Ryuken said to all of them.

“We’re not asking for your approval. Or your permission.”

Sparks threatened the fly between the pair of them. Ichigo didn’t know the full story, but he knew there was a lot of tension between father and son.

Somehow there was less between the two of them now than there was between Ichigo and his own these days. Ichigo still wasn’t speaking to Isshin when he could help it, and Isshin hadn’t tried to start any new conversation with Ichigo either. It made the house tense and quiet for the first time in Ichigo’s life.

Ichigo walked up behind the girls while Ryuken left them alone with his son.

“Thanks for doing this, Uryu,” Ichigo offered him a smile. Uryu, who was much less surly than when they’d first met, merely huffed at him.

“Don’t thank me yet. This training isn’t easy, and you’re so old it’ll probably just be harder,” he warned. All three Kurosaki siblings just looked at him expectantly. Uryu sighed. He should know by now, once a Kurosaki has an idea in their head, there’s not changing it.

He turned to the wooden box and opened it up. He turned around and showed it to them. Inside were small pendants attached to short silver chains, like the one Uryu wore on his wrist at all times.

“These are Quincy crosses,” Uryu said. “They’re a tool for focusing spirit energy Quincy use them to help form bows. Each of you take one,” he instructed.

Both of the girls picked one with five points. Ichigo’s had eight.

“...My father probably won’t admit it, but he was the one who provided these for us. He said they belonged to your ancestors, and so they should return to you in turn. Or something like that.”

“I knew your dad liked me,” Ichigo grinned at him. Uryu rolled his eyes, but he was struggling to hide a smile.

“Uh huh. Okay girls, come over here and we’ll start practicing forming your bows. You’re going to draw the reishi from the area around you into your body and convert it into a bow in your hands.”

Yuzu raised her hand.

“Yes?”

“What’s reishi?”

Uryu shot Ichigo a glare. “Didn’t you tell them anything?”

“I’m not much of a teacher,” he shrugged casually. Uryu flipped him off when the girls were looking and started explaining things to them.

Ichigo watched, turning the quincy cross over in his fingers. Tensa had said that his quincy powers weren’t made for combat as much as his shinigami powers were. Yet Tensa himself took the shape of a sword.

There was something strange with Ichigo’s quincy powers. He knew that much. So for now he left that to the girls.

* * *

“At this rate,” Jekyll says with no small degree of fondness, “Even I will run out of space to house everyone.”

“Sorry,” Ichigo says, even though he isn’t. “At least it looks like the authors are going to be cooped up in the same room?”

“If we’re lucky,” Mordred pipes up from halfway up the stairs. Fran, a step ahead of her, nods in quick agreement.

“You have the most horrible habit of befriending people who try to kill you, did you know?” Jekyll asks redundantly. Ichigo rubs the back of his neck and looks away.

“It’s not my fault!”

“Of course,” Jekyll says sagely, “You’re accidentally charismatic.”

“Yes! Exactly! Only I’m not that charismatic. I just… I dunno. I treat people like they’re people.”

Jekyll’s eyes softened. “Sometimes that’s more than enough to make friend.”

“I know,” Ichigo does. “That’s just sad.”

“But it is effective.”

“I guess,” Ichigo shrugs. “It worked on Jack, Alice…Hyde.”

Jekyll’s shoulders tense at the mention of his darker side. Ichigo nudges him lightly.

“Don’t look like that. He’s a degenerate and an asshole, but he hasn’t hurt me any.”

“ Yet ,” Jekyll says quickly. “You have to be careful with him, Ichigo. He’s not a safe person to be around.”

“A lot of people I hang around aren’t. Heroes and villains seem to flock to me.”

“Hyde is different. He has no morals to speak of. He’s violent and atrocious, and he’d as soon kill you as look at you.”

“Yeah. But he’s also protected me at least once,” even if he did hold a knife to Ichigo right after… “Don’t worry about it, Jekyll.”

“Easy for you to say,” Jekyll lamented. “You take so few things seriously, Ichigo, I don’t understand. The world is literally on your shoulders, but when it comes time to fight you’re as relaxed as Mordred is!”

“I dunno. Experience does that to you, I guess. If I worked in a lab and I tended to light things on fire I’d probably stop freaking out every time I saw a fire, too. It’s like that. Just a little more dangerous.”

Yeah, just a little.

Jekyll looks incredulously at him, but he gives up fighting Ichigo, who is apparently insane.

* * * *

It takes him all of five second to realize that Shinji is shanghai-ing him right in the middle of the day.

It started innocent enough. ‘Let’s eat lunch together’. Fine, they’ve had lunch together before. And Shinji still hasn’t stopped coming to his school for one reason or another. He can’t tell you why it’s just a fact. Even though their business should be concluded, Shinji still looks at Ichigo like he’s a crying statue sometimes, when he isn’t pretending to be a bizarre but friendly young man.

So Ichigo agrees. Only Shinji decides that they’re going to get lunch off campus, and drags Ichigo away by his arms, willingly or unwillingly.

When his three servants fall into step around them Shinji looks only mildly miffed.

“Can’t a man get some privacy around here?” Shinji asks irritably.

“Not until we know your intentions for our ma-” a vicious glare from Ichigo has Achilles changing words last second, “-an. Our man.”

“Your man?” Shinji looks over the three. Even though Cu and Achilles are rather laid back in general they don’t laugh or dispute the claim. It’s the truth. Ichigo is theirs, whether he likes it or not. They all know this.

“Did I stutter?”

“...Ya really know how to pick ‘em, huh Ichigo?”

“I have impeccable taste,” Ichigo says firmly. He doesn’t shake Shinji off, or order his servants to attack and free him. Not that he’d need to. Shinji can probably beat him in a serious fight, but that’s not what this is.

This is just a mild kidnapping, thats all.

They make their way down to the docs, where Ichigo is escorted into a warehouse.

It smells like food, cologne, and cleaning supplies.

It’s set up like a house, almost. Ichigo catches sight of a comfortably sitting area, an elevated kitchenette up on a ledge. There are people here. Powerful people, and Ichigo will put money on them being Vizard.

Ichigo ducks when a sandals foot launches itself at Shinji’s face.

“Why did you bring so many people here? Idiot?!”

Ichigo watches Shinji go flying. A young girl, or maybe an old one, lands next to him. She looks wild, nearly feral. Ichigo winces minutely in sympathy before deciding that no. Shinji deserves a sandal to his face.

Ichigo snickers at his misfortune before the girl turns her sights on Ichigo.

“You!” she shouts, pointing at him. “You’re the one that thinks he has a handle on his hollow?”

Thinks? Ichigo is getting really sick of this. He can feel his eye brow starting to twitch in irritation. What’s with these people thinking that he doesn’t know his own mind? Why are they all so sure they’re right?

If it wasn’t such a bad habit to get into, Ichigo would just start stabbing people who started this shit.

“Are we still doing this?” he asks irritably. “Because I’m done with this shit. I’m seriously done. I’m not gonna spend my whole life proving my sanity to you people. I’ve got better things to do. Like going to school. Where we both should be, Hirako,” he shoots a pointed glare at Shinji.

Shinji sat up, nursing his bloody nose.

“Hey, hey, it’s not like I actually need to go to human school.”

“Then you’re just there to hang out with teenagers? That’s so creepy. What kind of pervert are you?” Ichigo asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What is this, bully Shinji day?” Shinji complained loudly. Ichigo ignored him entirely because all of a sudden the girl was throwing herself at him, a sword drawn.

And Ichigo, stuck in his human body, prepared to counter without a single weapon.

He needn’t have bothered. As soon as she was in the air chains snaked out of nowhere and she was slammed bodily into the ground hard enough to crack the cement.

“Now that was just rude,” Medusa said, prowling forwards slowly. Her eyes glinted dangerously.

Cu and Achilles appeared on either side of Ichigo, a staff and spear in hand respectively.

“What the hell-”

“Sneak attacks are unbefitting, especially towards someone as straight forwards as Ichigo Kurosaki is,” Medusa went on, her heels glittering. Ichigo was aware of other people dropped down around them, swords equally in hand.

Ichigo lifted his hand and touched Medusa’s shoulder.

“Easy. That was hardly a sneak attack. Besides, this is a fight for me. Not for you. If she’s so desperate to see what I can do, how can I refuse?”

Ichigo can see the predatory smile creeping over his face in the reflection of one of the men’s sunglasses.

* * * * *

Dull teal eyes look into the depth of the void. A hulking figure stands beside him, and another man stands at the side of the split between worlds.

“Don’t forget,” he says in a voice like velvet. “No matter what happens, you must not kill the boy. Maim him if you please, fight to your own content, but if he dies so too will you.”

“Understood,” says the shorter of the pair. The massive man merely grunts.

“As long as I can get something to eat while we’re there. There’s gotta be a few strong souls there, right?”

“Be quiet,” his companion scolds him. “We will do as we are told.” He bows shortly, and the pair step into the darkness, out of the chalk white city.

* * * * * *

[therainroguefanfiction]

⁂ American Christmas (Axis Powers & Allied Forces)

Genre: Friendship, Family, Comedy, Holiday, Christmas ☁

Word Count: 1,987 ☁

Pairing: None ☁

World: Hetalia ☁

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“Alfred~!” you groaned, following behind your blonde brother as he headed towards the living room. In his hands was a large brown box filled to the very top with various types of ornaments. “Did you have to invite all of them? I can barely stand putting up with you and England, let alone the other idiots!”

Alfred smiled as he set the box down in front of the tall, lush Christmas tree that stood against the wall. It was bare aside from the brightly colored lights that danced along the branches. “You worry too much, dude! It’ll be fun!”

You groaned again, falling onto the couch. “It will not be fun, it’ll be torture! I should go stay with Greece for Christmas…”

When the comment reached his ears, Alfred dropped the little red ball that he was about to place on the tree. It clattered to the wooden floor but thankfully didn’t break. He turned around, lips stuck out in a pout with his eyebrows furrowed and eyes shining with sadness. “You have to be here for Christmas! We’ve never had separate Christmases before!”

“Don’t look at me like that!” you scowled, looking away from your older brother. The puppy pout was too hard to resist.

He whimpered like a lost child, sitting on his knees in front of the couch with his head in your lap, “Y/N~ You have to stay here!”

“Meh, I’ll think about it, Aly dear.”

He frowned for a minute before his lips curled up into a bright smile. He launched himself at you, arms wrapped tight around your neck, “Okay!”

You watched as your older brother bounded back over to the tree, humming happily as he placed the colorful glass orbs on its branches. Apparently, Alfred took ‘I’ll think about it’ as ‘I’ll stay’. You let out a sigh, pushing off the couch and walking over to the box.

Alfred smiled even brighter when you started placing them on the tree. It was fun to decorate Christmas trees, it was one of the best aspects of Christmas, beaten only by the snow and present wrapping, but it was even more fun when you did it with someone you truly cared about and loved.

When the last ornament was placed on the tree, you stepped back to admire their work. The tree was brightly lit, the lights taking turns flashing a rainbow of colors. The star on top was clear like glass. There were various types of ornaments, from round balls to doves and Santa Claus with sleighs and reindeer. Underneath the tree lay several presents, varying in size. Most of them were for yourself, Matthew, and Alfred, but there were quite a few for the other nations, as well.

You were thankful that you had chosen to go shopping before the holiday rush. That way you didn’t have to deal with crazed holiday shoppers that had a bad habit of pushing you out of the way to get what they want – you sore up and down they were barbarians in disguise.

“I’ll start cooking!” Alfred announced, turning around and heading towards the kitchen.

“Hold it!” you grabbed the back of his t-shirt, pulling him back to his original position, “Number one, Christmas isn’t ’til tomorrow. You’re supposed to cook the food the morning of, remember? And number two, what were you planning on cooking, exactly?”

He looked over his shoulder, blue orbs blinking innocently, “Hamburgers.”

The urge to slap him was strong, but you somehow resisted. “You eat hamburgers every day, Alfred. Christmas is special and I will be cooking it, understand?”

He frowned, “But I wanted hamburgers~”

“Too bad. Now, give me your credit card, I have to go grocery shopping.”

Alfred looked at your outstretched hand before whining and placing his silvery-blue credit card in your hand. You simply grinned and left the house. This was one time when Alfred would not get his way – opposed to all the times he did get his way which, according to record, was quite a lot.

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It was Christmas morning and you had woken up around seven A.M. After admiring the small flakes that were falling from the pale gray sky, you headed into the kitchen and got to work. You had plenty of time to cook, but due to how much food you actually had to make – Alfred alone could eat a whole family’s worth – , and the fact that you were cooking alone, made it slightly challenging. You knew you could rely on China for help in the kitchen, but he wasn’t due to arrive until noon. Until then, you’d just have to play the role of superwoman – or, in this case, supercook.

When noon finally arrived, the house was alive with the aroma of standing rib roast, honey ham and dressing, along with the scent of the pine tree in the living room. It truly did smell like Christmas and that brought a smile to China’s face when he entered America’s home. The blonde was nowhere to be found, but you were in the kitchen cooking your American butt off.

“Would you like some help?”

You whipped around, breathing a sigh of relief when you saw China standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Your lips curled up into a smile and you nodded, grabbing his wrist, “I’m so glad you’re here! I could really use a hand!”

“Well, you’ve got two, aru~” He smiled, walking over to the stove where a pot of eggs was boiling.

“Just cut those up and add it to the giblet gravy, okay?”

“Sure,” Yao pulled the pot from the stove and set it in the sink, draining the hot water before running cold water over them to cool them off, “Where’s America?”

“He went to meet up with Iggy, I think. Apparently, he, Germany and Italy all came together.”

“I see.”

Spreading the marshmallows on top of the candied yams, you wiped invisible sweat from your forehead and smiled. Dinner was coming along nicely.

You had told Alfred that you weren’t too happy about all of the nations belonging to both the Allied Forces and the Axis Powers coming to the christmas party, but deep down, you were happy that both groups could come together and share Christmas without trying to tear each other apart. The only ones you were really worried about was the bi-polar Russia and that womanizer France.

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“Good afternoon, Y/N-san.”

“Don’t touch me, you bloody git! Hello, Y/N.”

“H-Hello, Sis.”

“Bonjour, beau.”

“Hiii~ Y/N! Are you making pasta for dinner?!”

“Thanks for having us, Y/N.”

“Здравствулте, Y/N. This Christmas, you will become one with mother Russia, da?”

“Don’t hit on my sibling, Russia~!”

You facepalmed as you watched the Axis and the Allies interact with one another. Japan was standing off to the side of the room watching the idiots argue. England was attempting to shake off America, who was busy yelling at Russia about hitting on you while clinging to his back. Canada was also standing off to the side, holding Kumajirou and trying to add his two cents – though he was blatantly ignored. France was standing beside you, trying to woo you. Why Alfred was ignoring that and going after Russia, you couldn’t understand, but you’d much rather be hit on by Russia than by France.

Italy was standing at Germany’s side; he was singing about pasta and pizza for Christmas, while Ludwig was trying his hardest to ignore him by focusing on the three-sided fight between America, England, and Russia – who simply smiled that creepy little smile of his.

You shook your head and facepalmed again.

China, who was standing beside you, let out an airy laugh and set his hand on your shoulder, “It is good that everyone is together for such a joyous holiday, even if they are arguing, aru~”

“I guess, but…” you glanced at the group before looking back at him, “Is it really worth it if they end up killing each other?”

“Hmmm,” he set his hand on his chin in thought before smiling brightly, his dark brown eyes closing. “Look at it this way: If they do end up killing each other, at least you will have fewer idiots to deal with~”

You watched in disbelief as he walked back into the kitchen. Did he…? China just pulled a Russia! You shook your head and followed him. You didn’t make it far, though, thanks to the auburn-haired Italian who latched onto your body.

The blonde german was blushing and attempting to pull the male off, to no avail.

“When will the pasta be done, Y/N~?”

“She already told you, Italy. We are not having pasta for Christmas, now let go of her!”

“But, Germany! Christmas can’t be without pasta!”

“Sorry, Feliciano.” You turned in his grip and ruffled his auburn locks with a small smile, “If you eat dinner with us tonight, I’ll buy you some pasta tomorrow before you return home, okay?”

His face lit up and he jumped up, his legs wrapping around your waist and arms around your neck, “I love you, Y/N~!”

‘I’m sure you love everyone who offers you pasta’, you thought, patting his back awkwardly.

“Get off of her!” Ludwig shouted angrily, ripping the Italian off. He then turned to you with a sheepish look and tinted cheeks, “I’m sorry.”

You smiled, patting his warm cheek. “No worries, Luddy~ You can’t always take responsibility for Italy’s actions.”

He simply smiled, nodded and dragged Italy away.

You headed into the kitchen. Yao was grabbing plates and beginning to set them up on the large table that had been placed in the kitchen for the holidays. You helped him place as much food as you could fit onto the red-clothed table, the rest being left on the counters and stove along with the dessert and giblet gravy.

It was a tight squeeze trying to fit everyone at the table, but everyone managed to find a spot and the feast began. Some of them were reluctant to try the American food but once they decided to try it, they found it to be quite good. Of course, they still preferred their own country’s food over America’s, but it was edible enough. The fact that China and yourself had been the ones to cook it made it even better – or so you were told by both England and Japan.

“That was great, sis! So, what’s for dessert?”

Everyone froze, staring at Alfred like he had just grown three heads and seven tails. They couldn’t believe how much he had eaten. Alfred had consumed five helpings of food. Not normal helpings, either. His plate had been so full, it was stacked like a mountain that reached over his head. After eating five mountain-sized servings of everything the two of you had cooked, how in god’s name did he have room for dessert?

“Errr… We made three, actually. Apple pie, pumpkin pie and fudge.” you blinked, fork stuck in the air in mid-flight to your mouth. Your eyes were slightly wide as you stared at your older brother. You secretly wondered if he was a cow with three stomachs.

“Sweet! I’ll have all three!”

How had he not gained a single pound over the years? It just wasn’t possible! ‘Meanwhile, I breathe and gain ten pounds,’ You snapped out of it, standing up and rushing after your brother while yelling, “You better not eat all of my pumpkin pie or I’ll bake you!”

“Haha! Whatever you say, sis!” was his carefree reply.

The table full of varied countries erupted in laughter at the one-sided fight over the pumpkin pie reached their ears. Common knowledge was that you loved pumpkin pie, and would fight anyone to the death for it. Knowing that better than anyone, oblivious and carefree Alfred continued to test you.

Their laughter could be heard all around the world~

The all American Christmas wasn’t so bad, after all.

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