#that soft spoken bespectacled man | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

justmediocrewriting · 9 months

Note

Okay hear me out! Koby x pirate reader? I mean, he's so sweet! So imagine how would him react to being in love with a pirate reader

Omg thank you so much for your request sweetheart! Never really wrote for Koby, but I am excited to do so! He’s such a sweetie, I love him so much 💕💕 I’m not sure why I never really thought to write for him before, and writing this was such a pleasure, so I really appreciate your suggestion of this.

I wasn’t sure about gender specifics or which format you wanted (headcanon or blurb), so I did both and kept the terms gender neutral! I really hope this is kind of what you’re looking for dear ❤️

Headcanons ❤️

Your first meeting is one that I commonly like to dub as the ‘marine/pirate love story trope’: the one in which you are captured by Marines.

Koby isn’t the one to officially arrest you — that honor belongs to a one Monkey D. Garp, who was more than frustrated at the disruption your capture posed to his goal, which was to apprehend his grandson; but a pirate is a pirate, and all needed to see justice, so when Garp’s ship intercepted yours he did his duty to curb your devious activities.

Koby was, however, tasked with the assignment of keeping watch over your cell in the brig, and truthfully, you couldn’t have been more delighted by it.

The timid bespectacled man had quickly caught your attention the moment you were loaded onto the deck; and by the way his eyes lingered on yours for longer than what was appropriate, you knew you’d captured his as well.

Conversation didn’t come easily at first, not at any fault of your own; despite Koby’s clear interest displayed on the deck, he was hesitant to engage in any sort of talk with you, no matter how much you coaxed or teased him.

It wasn’t until hours later that you two had any semblance of a conversation, and after getting over his initial hesitation, words and stories flowed freely and easily between you

Koby found himself deeply entranced by your sharp wit and buttery tongue, and was heavily flustered by every compliment and sultry sentence you sent his way. It wasn’t something he was accustomed to, especially not from a pirate, but what bothered Koby most wasn’t necessarily that you were a pirate, but that he was enjoying the attention from a pirate. Koby had closed down a bit after that, but you already had him around your finger, whether you knew it or not, and Koby was unable to resist the temptation to know you more and hear your voice.

Feelings spiraled quickly on both ends; you were so intoxicated by Koby’s bashful reactions to your attention, so entranced by the way his soft features colored so prettily when you’d offer him a compliment or a sultry tease — but the more you got to know him, the more you realized it wasn’t just mindless physical attraction; you liked Koby for Koby, for his admirable dedication to his own dream, for his ideology, for his soft spoken mannerisms, for the way he looked at you with those eyes — eyes that said he shared the exact same depth of feeling as you did.

It was so fast that it nearly caused you whiplash; but Koby was even more affected. Never in his life had he had the opportunity to feel anything other than fear or loathing, and emotions such as love or desire were completely foreign to him — it was even more confusing and irritating for him as you two stood on opposite sides of the law.

In total, you were kept in the brig for three and a half days; and over those three and a half days, you and Koby grew close. He was tasked with guarding your cell more often than not, and to your surprise, not only did Koby spill his entire backstory to you, but you did the same to him. It was something you’d never revealed to anyone, not even your own crew mates, so the fact that you shared it with Koby, who was a Marine, was so baffling and frankly disturbing to you; but the way Koby’s eyes glittered as he paid rapt attention to every word you spoke, as if he were desperate to drink in every single detail about you, made those ill feelings trickle away quickly.

By the time you were to face your sentencing (by now you’d already accepted the fact that you were more than likely going to face justice by means of beheading or a life in Impel Down, though it wasn’t the idea of losing your own life that hurt you, but rather the idea of never being able to speak or see Koby again), Koby was already smitten, and unbeknownst to you, he was already determined to commit mutiny.

Koby was the one assigned to drag you from the brig to the Marine headquarters, but soon as your feet hit solid ground, Koby glanced around nervously and then quickly unshackled your cuffs when he noticed you two were alone. You were completely baffled.

“Punch me.” Koby demanded, and all you could do was gawk at him and then sputter out a single consonant sound in reply.

“Just do it, fast. Punch me and run.” Koby urged again, nerves racking up with every second that passed. You licked your lips as your heart fluttered in your chest. You knew the risk Koby was taking for you, and it made your heart clench painfully.

“You could get in a lot of trouble.” You whispered back, and Koby simply shook his head.

“I don’t care about that right now. I just want you to run. You’re one of the good ones, I can tell.” Koby said sincerely, and the way his crystal blues bore into your eyes made your entire being shake.

You truly couldn’t believe what you were experiencing. You’d encountered many marines, hell, you’d been captured and escaped many times before, but never once had a marine let you escape; and Koby was throwing himself into the fire just so you could have your freedom.

Knowing the risk for Koby and feeling extreme trepidation, but also knowing that escape would mean a chance to see Koby again, and filled with so much gratitude and pure feeling for Koby, you did something you never thought you’d ever do; you grabbed the man by the shoulders and planted your lips firmly on his.

Koby was so stunned that he didn’t respond to the sudden kiss, and just when he was about to you pulled away and nodded at him before wrenching your hand back and clocking him in the jaw.

“I’ll see you again, Koby.” You promised as you darted away, fading away into the distance without looking back; you knew that if you did, you’d run back to the man behind you.

Blurb ❤️

It had been three months since Koby’s last encounter with you; and he swore that he could still feel the phantom pain of your strike and the pleasant tingle of your lips against his.

Every day Koby held your parting words close to his heart, hoping beyond hope that he’d see you again, but as the days turned to weeks turned to months, he began to lose that spark — it will still dimly glowing within his chest, but it was dimmed exponentially.

Koby was fairly useless ever since your ‘escape’; his mind was always plagued with you, with your voice, with your lips, with your laugh, with everything about you. It was irritating and slightly depressing for him, how smitten he was with you. He couldn’t entirely understand it — not only was it something completely new and foreign to him, feeling this depth of emotion, but it was for someone he’d barely known for three days, who was a pirate on top of all that; his sworn enemy, the same enemy he’d promised to capture and bring to justice.

Koby had never even considered mutiny before; not even in the case of Luffy. Though Luffy was a dear friend and an inspiration to Koby, Koby had steeled it within himself that should he meet with Luffy, he would apprehend him the same as any other pirate, and he wouldn’t dare to let him escape.

Yet he let you.

It was very frustrating, and all these emotions within Koby caused him to lose his focus. Garp barked at him many a time to focus on training, but Koby just couldn’t. Even Helmeppo had asked him what the hell was up, if he still felt guilty about royally screwing up on his first ever escort mission, but there was no way Koby could ever tell anyone the truth.

How do you tell your entire branch and admiral that you’re in love with a pirate, and you let that pirate escape, and even held a useless hope to actually see that pirate again?

Yeah, he couldn’t do that. Not in a million years.

On the third day of the fourth month of your absence, Koby laid his head down with the conviction that he’d never see you again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound was rapping but light, quiet but loud enough to cause Koby to stir to consciousness beneath his covers.

Koby reached blindly for his glasses as the tapping became more insistent, and when he finally slid them on and glanced in the direction of the noise, his heart leapt into his throat.

There, perched on the window sill of his window, was you, smiling widely and waving.

Koby threw his covers off and nearly toppled out of bed in his hurry to reach the window. With a grunt he wrenched open the pane and gawked at you.

“Heya, sweetcheeks.” You cooed, absolutely adoring the dazed smile he sent you as his cheeks colored. You wanted desperately to reach forward and bring him into your arms; except there was one problem, and that was that you were still perched on the window sill.

With little to no subtlety you clambered through the window, and Koby sputtered beside you as you did so. His gentle, dazzling smile was wiped from his face and was now replaced by a grimace of panic.

“What are you doing here?” He whisper-yelled, and you simply shrugged and smiled at him.

“I said I would see you again, sweetheart.” You said casually, and Koby glanced around the room warily, as if it any moment another marine would pop out and catch you.

“No, I know, it’s just — how did you know where to find me?”

“I have my ways.” You said, none-too-mysteriously, and Koby resisted the urge to shiver at the implication; he should he freaked out by that, but honestly, he was too overcome with happiness at seeing you again to even consider being freaked out.

Koby fell silent and appraised you; your form was hard to make out in the pale moonlight that filtered through the window, but you were still just as breathtaking as Koby remembered. Still as sultry and mouthwatering, too. The reality of where exactly you were, in his room, with him, alone, hit him like a ton of bricks, and his cheeks flushed deeply. You couldn’t help the grin that pulled your lips at the sight.

“I know it’s a bit unconventional and even risky, but I don’t like not seeing you, Koby.” You said honestly, and the way Koby’s flush deepened even further fueled your ever-present adoration for the boy. Stepping close, you wrapped your hands around his wrists and brought them to your torso. Koby’s breath hitched as you leaned closer, until your lips were mere centimeters apart. Shivers ran up Koby’s spine as you whispered against his lips, your breath tickling the sensitive skin.

“Let’s see each other more, yeah?”

MOAR HEADCANONS (because I can) ❤️

After the first night of sneaking into Koby’s room, it became a bit of a habit. The times and days varied, and sometimes you would go weeks without appearing at his window (those were the hardest times for Koby, but he understood the two completely different lives you lead). It was a little rocky at first as Koby was still unsettled by your status as a pirate, but over time he grew to accept it.

For a long time Koby kept your relationship secret; he knew the dangers of ever revealing it to anyone — it was dangerous for the both of you, and could lead to a death sentence. But Helmeppo, ever observant, noticed the change in Koby’s demeanor immediately, and after months of being pestered by the blonde, Koby finally admitted to your relationship.

Koby immediately regretted it; he just knew that Helmeppo would talk, and that your lives would be over. But Helmeppo didn’t. Instead, he clapped Koby on the shoulder and said simply,

“Good catch.”

From then on Helmeppo kept the secret; he even aided in your secret meetings with Koby, which made things exponentially easier for the both of you. The amount of time you could spend together grew, and before you knew it, you were both completely tied together.

Damn right there’s been many times you’ve tried to scoop Koby away into the life at sea.

And damn right Koby many times tried to coax you to be a Marine just like him.

But neither of you would budge, and within time just became accepting of each others life choices; Koby protected you at all costs, and kept you hidden from the marines. He would never let any harm come to you. That he promised.

The idea to label his love for you as mutiny never crossed his mind; in reality, he felt love could never be a crime, even between a pirate and a marine.

By the time Koby rose through the ranks and became an admiral himself, your relationship had grown so deeply that neither of you could stand the thought of ever being separated and it killed the both of you inside. So what did you do?

You made sure to get captured by his ship at every possible opportunity.

It became quite a thorn in his side, especially when he would have to explain to the higher ups how you somehow ‘managed to escape time and time again.’

No one ever truly caught on, much to your surprise. However, your bounty did raise a few million Berry every time, and the amount of bounty hunters you had to fight off was insane.

But it was totally worth it to have Koby get protective over you ❤️ and the way he would blush when you teased him about it was the best!

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

I just want to say thank you again for your request anon ❤️ this was such a pleasure to write! Ngl I wanted to add some steamy parts in there, but since it wasn’t specified in the request I held back! If that’s something you would like to see, please lemme know!

REQUESTS ARE OPEN!

#opla x reader #opla x you #opla koby #opla koby x reader #op koby #one piece

115 notes · View notes

smokingpotatostuff · 6 days

Text

I don't normally watch the news (more of a newspaper guy), but today I turned on MSNBC and this soft spoken little bespectacled man came on with a bunch of charts and gave a rundown of how Trump was wrong about a bunch of numbers and stats and I was like. Ohhhhhhh. Yeah I get how people fall for propaganda now, this was tailor made to appeal to my demographic

2 notes · View notes

zevfern · 1 year

Text

The cast of Fire Emblem 3 Houses as Pro Wrestlers: The Golden Deer

The last of the three houses at the Officer's Academy, Fodlan's own AEW to the Black Eagles and Blue Lions' WWE.

Hilda Valentine Goneril: Claude's retainer is always happy to boss people around, so the easy comparison for the pink haired girl would be Alexa Bliss, but her deep but hidden commitment to her friends and a mean streak hidden under all that makeup and jewelry make me think of Dark Order's lieutenant at their peak: Anna Jay.

Lorenz Hellman Gloucester: with an air of authority, a stiff upper lip, a refined personality and a surprising capacity for violence, the future leader of County Gloucester is none other than William Regal.

(Considering the fact that in Verdant Wind and Silver Snow, Leicester ends up being part of the greater Unified Fodlan, if Lorenz ends up in control of what used to be the Alliance, he'd very much be in a role like Regal's when he was general manager of NXT)

Leonie Pinelli: as a prospective mercenary, Leonie is an outsider to the social structure of knighthood, so it would be completely reasonable for her wrestling counterpart to also be an outsider. Ronda Rousey sounds like the perfect match for Leonie, even if I do think Leonie has the mental fortitude to stick with MMA instead of changing careers like the "Baddest Woman on the Planet" did.

Marianne von Edmund: this young woman cursed with the Crest of the Beast is normally very kind, soft spoken and reserved. But, as shown on rare occasions in game, sometimes her crest does manifest itself, granting her incredible strength and ferocity. Keeping with this theme of being gentle outside of battle and fierce once in it, I would say Marianne would adopt a different persona in ring, so my two personal picks for her counterpart would be either Rosemary or Abadon.

(Marianne and Mercedes as a tag team like Rosemary and Allie were in Impact would be awesome.)

Ignatz Victor: this bespectacled young man is, to be perfectly honest, a bit of a weenie. Despite this, he's quite capable as an artist, and post-timeskip he's handsome to boot. An unconventional pick for him, but fellow ariste, wannabe casanova and total weenie Ryan Nemeth.

Lysithea von Ordelia: with her life severely shortened by the experiments done on her by the Slitherers, this young warlock wants to squeeze as much as possible out of her time left, often disregarding her health in the service of her country and friends, especially during the post-timeskip period. There are no easy comparisons to a member of the women's rosters at WWE or AEW, but her willingness to risk life and limb in battle is very much like Darby Allin.

(that's two Golden Deer with face paint gimmicks, even if they're vastly different)

Raphael Kirchner: let's set the scene: Dimitri Alexander Reigns is gloating about his recent success beating the piss out of a jobber, stating that he'll take the fans' dreams and kill every last one of them. Suddenly, a voice rings out from the entrance ramp: "I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!" Enter Raphael Kirchner, the Monster Among Men. Braun Strowman could not find a better stand in to throw office chairs at the Big Hog Dog in Fodlan.

(And to reinforce my belief that these two are connected by screaming, just look at Ralph's supports with Flayn. He's a big ol dude who loves to SCREAM)

Next up: The Church of Seiros. Feel free to reblog and comment with suggestions and feedback!

24 notes · View notes

elysiumheartrp · 11 months

Text

Newt's first and most famous documentary, Me and Olympus, is a deeply personal reflection on how the Olympus Company hurts people. The majority of the footage was recorded with the cybernetic cameras in Newt's pupils, so it's literally through his eyes. It's edited with a LOT of discretion (Newt is a very private person and most of Violetta's crimes against him were of an equally private nature), but it's still clear what was going on between him and Violetta. Though there's footage of plenty of the other inhumane dealings at Olympus (including things like illegal human experimentation), the salacious nature of Newt and Violetta is what pop culture really latched onto.

Violetta was already, as the charismatic CEO of the biggest megacorporation in the world, wildly rich and famous. She was a pop culture icon (like Elon Musk but bigger). People dressed up as her for Halloween. Drag queens did impersonations of her. Her personal life was under huge scrutiny.

She had the power to keep Newt a secret--like many of the evil things going on there, he wasn't allowed to leave the Olympus Building. But Violetta wanted to treat Newt like they were actually dating (even though they both knew she could do whatever she wanted to him) and she was proud of him. She wanted the public to know. She dressed him up in an expensive suit and brought him to a gala with her to debut her new boyfriend.

Pop culture went crazy. Newt was not the image of what people expected a high-powered, beautiful woman like Violetta to date. She could have literally anyone in the world and she chose a bespectacled nerd with a big nose. Everyone was talking about it. It was the subject of SNL skits. Newt's very personal trauma was suddenly the only thing anyone knew about him.

When he eventually escaped with his future wife Camille, it was blasted across all media that Camille had kidnapped him. Camille was another beautiful woman with a big bust. The public could not get enough of this story. He had an image as a hapless womanizer, something out of an 80s sex comedy.

Newt had been recording footage to incriminate Olympus the whole time and decided to edit it together into a documentary about what had really happened. When he released it on the internet, it took the world by storm. It was in a serious, thoughtful documentary narrated by a soft-spoken British man, not usually everyone's thing, but the twists and turns of the real story and the shocking footage of violence and inhumane working conditions made millions of people tune in. Suddenly a lot of Olympus's dirty laundry was on display and the people wanted something done about it.

He continued to make documentaries, which are consistently well-received, but nothing he's done has ever reached the level of fame as his first (though the one about the cult did come close.) He doesn't mind that. He's kind of shy.

#lore #ooc #tw: abuse #oc: violetta mae #oc: camille newton #oc: corey newton

4 notes · View notes

fictionalardy · 1 year

Text

SYNOPSIS

Niragi is taken to a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt and Chishiya is his therapist.

SAVE ME

Chishiya cleaned up his office. Today he was supposed to get a new patient, a special case. It was his first time there, but he had visited many other facilities before. Actually, he was not supposed to come for a few days, but the night before he was pulled out of the Sumida River by a couple. This was, according to his records, his fifth suicide attempt, but Chishiya was almost certain there were more.

Chishiya's office was always sterile and clean, many patients didn't like it, a few even panicked because it reminded them so much of a hospital, usually forgetting they were in one.

A little later than agreed, a soft and hesitant knock sounded. Chishiya opened the door. "You must be Suguru Niragi" Chishiya's voice had no emotion, a ploy he had taken to test how his patients would react.

The person in front of Chishiya was taller than him but seemed tiny due to his head being tucked in and his hands playing with each other. When Chishiya didn't get a response, he stepped aside a bit and gave the bespectacled man room to enter. "I'll take that as confirmation" Niragi entered hesitantly and glanced around unobtrusively. Chishiya, however, had been doing this job for a bit and was watching him closely. The taller one seemed to relax at the sterile sight which was rare.

"Sit down" the blond closed the door and sat down at his desk, where soon a dark blop sat in front of him.

"My name is Shuntaro Chishiya, I prefer to be called simply Chishiya. What can I call you?" Chishiya didn't even expect an answer but was surprised with a soft, slightly slurred "Niragi.”

The corners of Chishiya's mouth strayed towards his eyes for a brief moment before he regained his composure and continued to speak neutrally, "I am a person who always speaks their mind Niragi, and I will now explain something to you," after a small pause he continued, "I am of the opinion only speaking people can be helped. If you don't want to talk to me that's okay, but then you are wrong with me. I don't want to waste your time or mine, if you don't want to talk to me, I can give you the contacts of my colleagues who are specialized in non-verbal therapy, but I can't help you in that case."

Niragi looked aghast. It was the first time someone had told him this directly what to expect. Others would have felt mistreated or would have run out immediately, but Niragi recognized a certain care in Chishiya's words. The blond had chosen this job for a reason.

The bespectacled man’s gaze softened, and he nodded before startling himself slightly as if something had occurred to him. "Okay... I'll talk to you" his slightly nasal, soft voice rang out.

Chishiya only noticed now that Niragi had a cold, but after a couple minutes in freezing water, it was no surprise. The smaller one was pleasantly surprised and smiled slightly, "Very nice. I think it would be best if you first tell me what you want to reveal about yourself so far. I have your records, but I wouldn't want anyone to just read my life story."

And so, Niragi spilled. Not much and not long, in between he got lost in his thoughts, but for now Chishiya was satisfied. When the game designer, as Chishiya found out, fell silent they still had a few minutes left.

"How about some kind of 20 questions? One asks a question and we both have to answer it unless it's too uncomfortable. Agreed?" Niragi nodded.

"Very well. I'll start. Hmmmm, favourite song? Mine is Superbase by Nicki Minaj" Chishiya had barely spoken when the usually quiet man burst into, for him, loud laughter.

"I-I'm sorry but t-that's not what I was expecting." He continued to chuckle quietly behind his hand. Chishiya thought it suited him and he set his sights on bringing that laughter back to life for good.

When the black haired calmed down he spoke, "I like We are by OneOkRock" his voice had returned to the soft whisper.

"Good taste I see" To Chishiya his words didn't mean much but Niragi was shocked. The last serious compliment he had received was years ago.

♠️♦️♣️♥️♠️♦️♣️♥️

A few weeks had past. Niragi had completed half of his stay already and felt better than ever. Far not well enough to be left unsupervised with sharp objects but fine enough to tell Chishiya what happened freely. He cried a lot but laughter weren’t too rare either.

Sometimes Chishiya would hug him, and he would calm down. Other times the blond would tickle him until he couldn’t breathe no more because of laughter. He felt light and relieved in his therapist’s presence, couldn’t wait for the next appointment to spill more. Every time he revealed something to Chishiya he came to understand the flaws in his thinking. Even though it was tough to speak sometimes the blond always waited patiently till Niragi would form sentences, not allowing other ways of expression.

Chishiya was pleased with Niragi’s progress. Every time the black haired laughed he would smile involuntary and tried his best to cheer him up when he cried. Normally Chishiya wouldn’t touch his patients much but with Niragi it felt so natural. He even smiled more which creeped his colleagues out.

“What’s with you lately, Chishiya?” Kuina the sexy secretary asked.

“What do you mean, Kuina?” He mocked her.

She rolled her eyes. “You’ve been in a conspicuously good mood lately. What girl is it?”

“Girl? Firstly, Kuina I’m gay you know secondly no one. I work all the time, remember?”

Suddenly she gasps. ”Is it a patient of yours?!” Now she squealed “How cute!”

“The fuck Kuina? That’s illegal and I know you know that too” The blond sighed.

“You didn’t deny it though” she smirked.

“Yes, I didn’t Kuina” Kuina was shocked. She just meant to tease Chishiya, she never expected him to really like someone a patient on top.

“W-what are you going to do about it?” She asked carefully.

“Nothing” Chishiya answered dejected.

Their story ends here…

Or does it?

#niragi x chishiya #alice in borderland #hospital au

4 notes · View notes

digital-roots · 2 years

Text

The guitarist was a soft spoken man, full of charisma. Loved by all, he was the talk of the town. When he wasn't singing, he would be near bodies of water, admiring the fish. Everyone agreed that his presence was a blessing.

Truthfully, it was actually quite the opposite. Whenever he'd leave, tragedies would start to occur. Diseases breaking out, livestock dropping dead, people randomly killing each other, it was almost like the village would go insane without the man. This, of course, was exactly what was happening, and the man knew the effect he had on this world. He loved how the villages adored him, and ruined itself when he left. Their turmoil was music to him.

One day, after a lovely day of performing, he was looming over a large lake. While he was standing idly, a person with black spectacles called out to him. They asked him if he could sing a small tune for them. The wicked man obliged, not seeing anything wrong with the request. However, when he tried to sing, he found that his voice was suddenly very hoarse. The bespectacled person asked what was the matter with him, to which the guitarist said he was just prepping himself. He kept on trying to sing, but his voice was getting more and more hoarse. He had the idea to strum his guitar instead, but he found out as well that he was out of tune as well. With every time the singer tried to do a simple tune, the other kept on growing impatient. Till finally, they said, "Well that's enough stalling. It seems you're not as great as you think you are. Maybe you should just stay quiet." They took of their spectacles to reveal bright, pure white eyes. With a grin, they uncovered a gun as well and cocked it right at the man. The man in question was now petrified with the situation he has been put into. Too horror-stricken to move, he could only widen his eyes as the person shot him right in the heart, falling to the lake behind him.

Somehow, the lake pulled his body further in, until it was at the deep bottom of it. The remaining person grinned again while muttering something unintelligible, before their eyes turning normal. With an aching head and the confusion on why they were in that place, they left to go back home. And because the villages that loved the guitarist were in ruins, only a few survivors remembered him, although it was hard to when they were too busy trying to move forward from their suffering.

#ok context: this is a VERY old excerpt from a alice of human sacrifice au #for sbi i made back in 2020 #i saw this in my drafts and liked so i thought yeah fuck it just post this #wilbur soot #eret #mcyt #a-maize-ing post

5 notes · View notes

hbalto · 3 years

Text

Fathers Day and a New Family

Rated K+ (in ff.net terms) for a bit of swearing

The day was Father’s Day, the third Sunday in June, the day one certain teenage porcupine dreaded more than any other.

Ash hadn't spoken to her father in over a year and a half. Although it was mostly her mother that spoke for them in voicing her disappointment, she knew that her father shared her mothers disappointment in their little girls decision to follow her dreams and become a rockstar.

Should Ash try and call her father? No, she shouldn’t. Ash’s father did not respect her or her dreams, so how in the world was she just supposed to call her old man up on the phone after a year and a half and say-

"Happy Fathers Day, Dad. You'd love how the place looks now. I love you."

That soft, gentle voice snapped Ash out of her thoughts. She turned to find her boss, Buster Moon, staring at an old photo of his late father. In the photo, the bespectacled koala was standing in front what was now known as the Old Moon Theater, a proud smile upon his face.

Ash smiled. "Hey, Moon."

Buster quickly turned around slightly startled. "What? Oh, hey, Ash. What are you doing?"

"Apparently interrupting a sentimental moment." Ash joked.

Buster chuckled. "Yeah, I was just wishing my ol' dad here a Happy Fathers Day." The koala said, gently touching the photo.

"He must have really meant a lot to you." Ash said.

"Oh, he meant loads to me!" Buster replied enthusiastically. "My Dad wasn't just the guy who got me into theater as a kid, he introduced me to theater as the beautiful art form that it truly is." Buster admirably stated.

Ash chuckled. "That's awesome, Buster, I'm glad your Dad introduced you to your dreams and let you follow them." She looked to the side and muttered "I wish my Dad did, hell, I wish both my parents did."

Buster became concerned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ash looked at Buster bitterly. "Have you ever wondered why I was rooming with-" Ash cringed "him before I lived alone?"

Buster nodded, knowing full well who "him" was.

"Well, the reason for that was because he was pretty much the only one close to me who ever supported my dream of becoming a rockstar before I came here."

Busters eyes widened. "You mean your parents didn't support you?"

Ash continued. "They didn't support me, they didn't believe in me, they didnt even want to live with me."

Buster couldn't believe it. "Oh, you're not implying what I think you're implying, are you?"

Ash sadly nodded. "The day I turned 18, they sat me down and told me that I could either give up my dream, or get kicked out of the house. I said no, nasty words were exchanged, I packed my bags, called Lance, and the rest is history." Ash described sadly.

Buster felt awful for the teenage porcupine; he couldn't imagine what it would have been like to not have your parents support your dreams.

"I...I'm so sorry, Ash. That must've been horrible." The older koala said sincerely.

Ash smirked. "Ah, it's fine, they're both snooty assholes anyway. They wanted me to become a banker, just like them. And if they thought that I would spend the rest of my days cashing somebody else's checks in, they should've known they had another thing coming." Ash stated, trying to lighten the mood.

"Still," Buster walked towards Ash and gently embraced her "I'm really sorry, Ash. You didn't deserve that."

Ash hugged the koala back. "Thanks, Buster."

“You’re very welcome.” Buster replied, before letting go of his and Ash’s embrace to look into her eyes.

“And remember, even if you don’t have a family back home, you’ll always have a family here at the New Moon Theater. Every single person here cares about you, Ash, everyone. Johnny, Meena, Rosita, Gunter, Ms. Crawly, myself, heck even Mike, we all love you so much.” Buster stated as he embraced the porcupine again.

Ash knew Buster was right. Every single person she had met during her employment in the New Moon Theater had become like family to her.

Rosita was her caring, awesome Mom. All 25 of Rosita’s piglets were like Ash’s little brothers and sisters who she loved to babysit.

Johnny was like Ash’s incredibly sweet, but protective older brother who kept her out of harms way and always stood up for her.

Meena was like the sister Ash had never had, she always prepared for girl talk when needed, she was good at keeping secrets, and just like Johnny, she stood up for Ash whenever she could.

Gunter was like the fun uncle who would get wasted at holiday gatherings and always had a good story to tell. But even during all of his shenanigans, Gunter was still a good shoulder for Ash to cry on when needed.

Ms. Crawly was like the wise old grandma Ash felt as though she needed in her life growing up, always there to give advice, even if it wasn’t always good. That, and she could sometimes make a mean batch of cookies.

Mike was... well, Mike was the old Boomer Grandpa who would tell you like it is, and even though doing so might hurt your feelings, he only has your best interest at heart, right? Mike just had to have a heart deep down in there somewhere.

And Buster Moon, well... he was there for Ash. Buster was the one who supported her the most when it came to her writing her own music and performing, Buster was the one who was probably the most angry when he found out that Lance did... well, that, to Ash, and went to her defense immediately. Buster comforted Ash when she felt useless and talentless and was also one of her many shoulders to cry on. There was no doubt about it, to Ash, Buster Moon was...

“Thanks, Dad.”

Buster was stunned, he pulled back from the embrace. “W-what did you call me?” Buster asked, both shocked and extremely touched.

“I called you Dad.” Ash admitted. “I know that’s a little weird since you’re obviously not my Dad, but since my real dad is pretty much out of the picture, is it okay if I call you my Dad from now on?” Ash asked nervously. “I mean, I’ve really started to consider you to be like my 2nd Dad and-"

The young porcupine was cut off by an abrupt but gentle "yes."

Ash blinked. "What?"

"Yes," Buster repeated. "Ash Johansson, I would be honored to be your father." Buster stated, putting one hand on his heart, and the other on Ash's shoulder.

Ash quickly became touched and teary eyed as she wrapped the koala in a tight and warm embrace.

"Thank you," Ash sobbed. "I love you... Dad." Ash said, tearfully. The young porcupine was happy to have finally said those words after over a year and a half.

"I love you too, honey." Buster replied.

It was official: Ash had a whole new family; one that loved her for who she was, and one that would always be there for her.

#sing ash #sing buster #sing johnny #sing rosita #sing meena #sing 2 #sing movie #sing 2021 #sing 2016

79 notes · View notes

quindolyn · 4 years

Text

Better Kisser || Lily Evans

Word Count: 2228

Note: little bit of James x Reader, but I think it’s mostly focused on Lily, idfk at this point. I questioned my whole ass sexuality today because girls are pretty and we got this. I have come to the conclusion that I would let Lily absolutely rail me and then hold me afterwards.

Warnings: Kissing, alcohol, Lily is hot as shit, sue me, barely edited

Part 2

Masterlist

One thing was for sure, Sirius Black was an upright prick.

And there he was all cuddled up in his boyfriend’s arms, having lost his shirt to Marlene many rounds ago.

“You’re really daring me to kiss your best mate’s girlfriend?” You asked incredulously, hoping you had misheard him. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to kiss Lily. No, on the contrary. You were just afraid that it would make things awkward with both her and James, whom you’d known since the both of you were in diapers.

‘Why (L/N)? You scared?” He taunted, a wicked grin plastered on his face.

“No, course not.” You denied, leaning forward to scoop your glass of water off the floor, you didn’t want to taste like firewhiskey when you kissed Lily. “Are you okay with it Lils?” You turned to her, if she didn’t want to then that was a non starter, James could be persuaded. But Lily’s consent was 100% necessary.

“Sure (Y/N/N), s’not like I’m kissing Sirius,” She jokingly sneered at him, straightening her skirt as she composed herself.

“You okay with it Jamsie?” She crooned at him like he was a child, and sometimes he was, his eyes never leaving her lips, but you could only sympathize because you too weren’t able to pry your eyes off of them. They were plump and red and swollen from alcohol consumption, you wouldn’t really care if she tasted like alcohol.

“Mhmm,” He hummed, his eyes never quite meeting hers, “You do whatever you want baby, you wanna kiss (Y/N)?” He shrugged, she nodded, “Then go ahead and kiss her, s’not my place to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do.”

“Kiss!” Sirius heckled, taking another swig of firewhiskey before Remus pried it from his hands, kissing his cupid’s bow in attempts to calm him down.

“You ready love?” Lily asked, taking a puff from the blunt Marlene passed her, inhaling sharply before letting the smoke billow out her nose, a lazy smile taking over her face.

You nodded meekly before crawling over Dorcas who sat between you and James, where Lily was perched on his lap.

“Come here doll,” She beckoned with the crook of her finger, you hesitantly settled yourself next to her, your side pressed into James’ arm which was wrapped around Lily’s waist.

“Can I kiss you?” You asked her, you faces inches from each other, noses prodding each other’s, you had been right, her breath reeked of alcohol and instead of repulsing you it just dragged you in further. Her eyes flitted down to your lips staying there as James had to hers. You wondered if yours were half as pretty as hers were right now?

Her response came as she leaned forward pressing her lips to yours, they were incredibly soft, her lip gloss tasted like strawberries as you licked it from her lips, the tip of your tongue grazing her bottom lip. Feeling her smirk into the kiss at your boldness, leaning in towards her more you cupped the right side of her face in your hand, savoring how the soft skin felt under your hands. Pushing her tongue into your mouth she grabbed your waist with one of her hands, working her way under your shirt to access your bare skin.

It felt like an electric current surged through your body as your tongues fought for dominance, both of you mounting a fierce campaign, but ultimately you gave into her, letting her tongue explore your mouth at will.

After what felt like a ridiculously short amount of time she pulled away from you, the both of you gasping for air. You were distantly aware of the small whimper you emitted as she broke contact, but you couldn’t find it within yourself to give a damn, you were high off Lily Evans, and you needed more.

“I didn’t think you would actually do it,” Sirius spoke from Remus’s arms which were now rubbing up and down the smaller man’s arms, “I’m impressed.”

“Thank you,” You smirked, quickly regaining your composure.

“You’re an excellent kisser (Y/N),” Lily lilted, brushing a piece of hair that had fallen out of your ponytail, behind your ear.

And just as quickly as you had regained it you lost all sense of what you were doing and quickly fumbled out an awkward thank you to her compliment, you were sure your face was 30 varying shades of scarlet and was quick to hide it from the view of the others in the room. Settling back into your seat on the other side of Dorcas you failed to notice the intense gaze of a certain bespectacled brunette upon you that stayed there for the rest of the night.

The next morning, sitting down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, the last thing you expected was to be immediately ambushed by James. He flew into the seat beside you, straddling the bench before scooping scrambled eggs and french toast onto your plate for you.

Before you could thank him, he opened his mouth and ruined his perfectly pleasant behavior, “I need you to kiss me!”

“I’m sorry what?” You spat out, somehow managing not to choke on the orange juice you had just taken a gulp of.

“I need you to kiss me.” He repeated plainly.

“No, I heard what you said, my bad. I probably would’ve clarified,” You cleared your throat, setting the glass of juice down onto the table, “What the actual fuck Potter? You have a girlfriend.” You swatted his arm turning in your seat so your body was completely facing the table, James was only able to view your side profile.

“And she has a boyfriend but you still kissed her,” He pointed out, you hated when he was right.

Before you could apologize for stepping over the line he continued, his words soothing your woes, “Last night after we all went to bed,” He started quickly, gesturing with his hands as he always did when he was trying to make his case, whether that was to McGonagall about how it most certainly wasn’t him who was hexing Slytherins in the corridors, or trying to convince Sirius and Remus about his idea for a prank, the boy was always moving his hands about like he was trying to direct air traffic, not that he’d know what that was. “Lily was bragging to me about how good of a kisser you are and how much she enjoyed kissing you.”

You blushed at that, moving your hair so that it would hide your face from him, but the boy wasn’t having it and moved it from curtaining in front of your face so he could once again view your side profile. “And that piqued my interest, because watching you guys kiss was,” He paused for a second, looking for the correct word, “Was euphoric.”

“Big word there Potter, Lupin teach you that one?” You tried in attempts to derail where this conversation was heading but he wasn’t having that.

“That was all fine,” He continued as though you had never spoken in the first place, “But then she started talking about how she was sure you wouldn’t have kissed me like that because she’s such a better kisser than me.” You did not like where this was going, “The problem here is that we’ve never kissed the same person, Lily was my first kiss,”

Though he raced over it quickly you couldn’t stop the small smile that bloomed across your face, there was no denying that James Potter loved Lily Evans. Unless you were Severus and couldn’t pull your head out of your ass that is.

“So we need you to help us settle this little disagreement.” He explained as though it were the most logical answer to his conundrum.

“Does Lily know about your little idea?” You finally turned towards him, one leg bent up on the bench.

He hummed, looking down to his hands where he was tugging at his fingers, “Well, no, not yet, I wanted to see if you would be interested in it before I asked her.”

Risking another glance at the boy you were met with his hopeful gaze which quickly morphed into a cocky grin as you nodded your head, “Fine I’ll kiss you, but only if Lily’s in too.”

“Great!” James exclaimed, pulling you up from your seat at the table and dragging you out of the Great Hall as he excitedly jogged towards the library where he knew Lily to be.

“Oi, Potter, slow down my legs are shorter than yours!” You complained attempting to keep up with his long strides.

“Sorry Love,” Though he made no move to slow down for you, if anything he picked up speed.

“Lily!” He announced your entrance when the two of you finally came to the library, earning him a sharp look from Pince. You tried not to look around at everyone in the library not wanting to see the looks they were undoubtedly flashing you, instead burying your head into the back of James’ shoulder, allowing him to guide you through the maze of tables and bookshelves until he finally found the coveted redhead pouring over her potions book.

“What do you want Ja-” She looked up catching sight of you as you tried to hide behind James, suddenly very nervous about what you had previously agreed to. “Oh, hi (Y/N). What’s going on?”

“I was thinking about last night, after we all went to bed,” He moved into the chair next to her, propping his head up in his hand which rested on the table top, “And I love you Flower, I really do but you’re just not the better kisser here, I am. But since you refuse to see that and we’ve never kissed the same person before we can’t really come to a conclusion. Until now that is, because (Y/N) here has agreed to kiss me and then she can tell us who is better.” He motioned to you with a wave of his arm and you felt the blood rush to your cheeks, the way Lily was looking at you, as though she was appraising you, made your legs tremble.

“You sure about this darling?” The question was directed towards you.

You nodded your head, not trusting your voice at this moment.

She sat in her chair a minute longer drinking you in before nodding, turning to her boyfriend who was smiling like an absolute idiot. “Not here though,” She commanded with a flick of her wand that had all of her supplies flying back into her bag, “Our dorm,” She looked at you as she grabbed James’ hand, then yours leading you out of the library.

James was sprawled out on Lily’s bed, the three of you had come to an unspoken agreement that that was where this would take place, it only seemed appropriate. Lying back, James propped himself up on his forearms, his eyes raking over Lily’s figure as she shrugged off her outer robe, leaving her in her tight fitting button down and plaid skirt.

“You don’t have to if you don’t wanna love,” She murmured in your ear, brushing her lips against your skin, “Jamsie’s just being a dick wad.”

A gentle laugh escaped you at your joke but you shook your head, “No, it's okay, I want to.”

“Alright then bub,” She hummed, “Get on J’s lap.”

You scrambled to comply, easily settling into the grooves of his thighs, “Are you gonna sit up?” You asked him glaring down at where he laid splayed out on the bed.

“No was thinking you’d come down here since I’m gonna be doing most of the work anyway,” He smirked smugly up at you as you leaned down to connect your lips thinking, it's only gonna cost you points Potter, go ahead, you’re just hurting yourself here.

You brushed the hair off his forehead as your lips met each other, he tasted like mint and citrus, it left you wondering what Lily usually tasted like when she didn’t have alcohol on her breath. He wrapped his arms around your body, pulling you closer to him as his hands ran up and down your back, soothing you into his touch. His lips were rougher than Lily’s had been, though you suspected they would be, you weren’t sure if you’d actually seen him ever apply anything to his lips aside from Lily’s.

His tongue gently pressed against the seal of your lips before pushing past it into the velvety expanse of your mouth. James let out a moan, you didn’t realize what had caused it until you felt Lily’s delicate fingers slide up from his scalp to caress your face.

You stayed there, in their shared embrace letting James’ tongue have its way with your mouth until your lungs couldn’t take it anymore and you were forced to push away, inhaling deep gulps of air.

James barely let you catch your breath before asking his question, running his hands up and down your arms which were the only things keeping you up.

In all honesty they were both phenomenal kissers and they were lucky to get to kiss the other every day but there was a correct answer to this question, and James wasn’t going to like it.

tagging: @randomoutsiders

#harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter imagines #harry potter imagine #marauders era fanfiction #lily evans x y/n #lily evans x reader #lily evans x you #jily #james potter x reader #james potter x y/n #james potter x you

886 notes · View notes

warcats-cat · 2 years

Text

The Long Road Home (Chapter 4)

A/N: A little bit of a break from the tension, this time we finally get some fluff! In the form of Prince Roman, being his usual Romano-self. Time to give our dear half fairy a little love! (Also, if you’re curious, I included a link to an image of the present that Patton receives, although in a different color.)

Let me know if I need to add any tags, and enjoy the silliest chapter in this fic! :D

Ao3 Link // Previous Chapter // Chapter 1

-------

Prince Roman was alone and he was bored. Logan was out, having finished all of his paperwork and wanting to deliver the summons to the Marquis personally. And Virgil was in the woods behind the inn, using his hunting knives to work out his anger among the trees. His poor storm cloud was filled with emotions lately, of course; the joy of finding a long lost friend, the ever-increasing rage as they uncovered what had been done to said friend. Protectiveness as the fairy healed.

They all wanted to see the fairy healed, and finally taken care of. Virgil said it would likely be a difficult subject to broach with Patton, but the throuple had almost immediately agreed to, at the least, bring him along in their travels if he wanted.

But now, they had been in this little village for almost a week with nothing to do, except wait. They had to do this by the book, to keep anything from threatening Patton in the future. And Roman had never been good with patience at the best of times…

In the meantime, the prince entertained himself in his room by laying backwards on the bed for a while, letting his head and upper back hang over the edge, feeling the world around him become just a little more dizzy and unreal in his headrush.

A knock at the door made him sit up far too quickly. Roman shook his head a little, as if that would clear it, and opened the door.

Only to find Patton, his arms now fully healed thanks to whatever magic his brilliant bespectacled boyfriend had mixed up.

The little fairy squeaked, quickly looking away from Romans eyes and wrapping an arm around his middle in a half-hug. He really is small, the prince thought; Patton only barely came up to Roman’s neck, which would make Logan no longer the shortest in their group. Small, yes, but sweetly rounded and soft. Like a beautiful pearl tucked safely in its clam shell.

“S—Sorry to disturb your Highness.” he stuttered.

And the light tremble in his arms, the way he carefully avoided Roman’s gaze. Roman wanted to reach over and carefully tuck the younger man into his arms; he wanted to pick Patton up and hold him, and perhaps never let go. Despite the short time he had known the fairy, the way Virgil had spoken of him even so long ago made Roman feel like he already knew at least a little, and still he wanted to know more.

To treat someone with such a beautiful soul so horribly.

“No disturbance, my dear guest.” Roman tried carefully, leaning into the doorway and out of the fairy’s space. “Would you like to come in?”

“Oh, uh, no. B—but I appreciate the offer! Um...” Patton continued to avoid Roman’s gaze, finding something incredibly interesting in the patterns of the wooden floor. “I was—I mean—I’ve just been in my room all day—and that’s fine, obviously!—But I was hoping Virgil would be back… I wanted to ask, uh, well…” he trailed off, and there was a long pause where neither man seemed to know what to say.

“Well,” Roman said finally, using his most placating voice, “Virgil is off speaking with the doctors in town. But whatever you needed, I would be more than happy to assist!” He flashed a smile despite the lie as Patton finally looked back up, but it seemed only to startle the fairy further.

With his own, much more false and hesitant smile, Patton fixed his gaze carefully over Roman’s shoulder now. “Oh. No, I—wouldn’t want to bother.”

Roman carefully stepped to the side, meeting the fairy’s eyes and reaching over to take one of his hands. “There would be no bother at all. Any friend of my beloved is a friend of mine.” he repeated his words from the stockade that had seemed to set the man at ease before.

And certain enough, though his eyes flicked away over Roman’s shoulder once more, Patton made a face, but his shoulders relaxed, and the fidgeting in his hands calmed somewhat.

“M—My stitches…” Patton said, almost a whisper.

Roman was suddenly concerned. “Do they hurt? I’m certain Logan could take a look at them if they're causing trouble, or we could send for someone.”

“No…” the fairy hesitated, before flushing red and finally admitting in the smallest voice Roman had ever heard. “They’re itchy…”

Roman broke into a wide grin, before throwing back his head and putting a hand to his chest. “Oh! How dreadful! How terrible! I, too, have known the pangs of healing wounds.” He took a now stunned Patton’s hands in his own, taking one knee before the fairy. “Truly, it is a most tragic situation. For I would assist in easing your pains if only I could! But alas! I am forbidden by Logan himself, fearsome man of the laws of medicine.”

Patton stared, confused at Roman’s antics, before letting out a small “Huh?”

“Logan would simply tear me to shreds if I disturbed your bandages. However!” Roman lit up, Standing up again and bringing Patton a little closer to him without realizing. “We can find a distraction! They can’t bother you if you’re doing something else!”

Patton continued to stare, and if he at least no longer seemed terrified, Roman would count it a win.

And the prince had the perfect idea.

“Fair Patton, I would be tremendously honored if you would accompany me into town.”

The fairy’s blank face only barely changed, one corner of his mouth ticking up into a hesitant half-smile, his eyes wide but no longer completely terrified. “What?”

Roman smiled wider, absolutely giddy. They could go down into town, and maybe help Patton get some actual fresh air, and Roman could finally meet the man for whom Virgil would jump from the roof of a carriage to save (no small feat, Roman didn’t have to explain.) Roman released one of Patton’s hands, holding the other and swinging gently. He looked to the stunned fairy, who was now staring at their joined hands, looking unsure.

“Patton?” Roman asked, now starting to worry just a bit. Finally, Patton seemed to shake his nerves, and looked up at Roman once again, with a light but still hesitant smile on his face. “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me?” the prince asked.

“Um... Sure.”

And that was all the permission Roman needed before setting off. Of course, Roman was attentive to his guest; Patton had only had a week of healing, so they ambled rather more slowly than the prince would have alone. The inn wasn’t too far off from the little town, at least, and the weather seemed perfect for a stroll; warm sunshine and light breezes swaying through the grass around them.

Patton kept pace with the prince easily, which Roman was rather proud of, although the fairy was hesitant to answer any questions about town or himself. After a few non-answers, Roman simply decided to swing their joined hands merrily.

Finally, the village was before them, and Roman was delighted to see they had entered at the market-side. This would be so fun.

However, when he looked to Patton to ask where he would want to start, he saw that the fairy had become closed off again; still holding his hand, and standing a little closer to the prince, but his shoulders were hunched just slightly, and he was looking down again. Roman pulled their arms, just a bit, to get Patton’s attention.

The hesitant smile was back, and the blank eyes.

“Is something wrong, Your Highness?” the fairy asked quietly.

Roman rolled the words around in his head for a moment, before sighing, and taking both of Patton’s hands once more. “My dear Patton, I fear I let my excitement get the better of me.” He reached up, tracing just under the fairy’s chin, lifting his eyes to his own. “I fear I am so eager to acquaint myself with you that I neglected to ask your opinion on the matter.”

Patton’s gaze turned away, but the hesitant smile stayed in place. He shrugged in lieu of an answer.

Roman knelt before the other man, tilting to meet his eyes. “I must ask your forgiveness that I have made you so uncomfortable. It is a grave error that I would bring harm to such a new friendship.”

“It’s no trouble, your Highness. I just… haven’t been in town… for a long time.” Patton continued to resolutely avoid him.

Damn. Virgil was going to kill him if he screwed this up...

“Well… then…” Roman grasped for something to say, “We should explore together! If you would be interested?”

The fairy’s small smile seemed to turn genuine, and he quietly responded, “Of course, Your Highness.”

“Just Roman is fine.” He said as he stood, and they were off once more. Roman felt himself bouncing around the market, keeping one hand in Patton’s at all times. It took time, and a fair bit of needling, but the half-fairy finally seemed to be warming up. Once or twice the shorter man seemed to be almost hiding behind Roman, but he had a smile on his face nonetheless. Roman watched the half-fairy investigate tables outside, swinging their conjoined hands lightly.

A little time in the sunshine could do well after all.

Patton opened up little by little, occasionally leaning in for a closer look at one of the trinkets, and Roman was simply enjoying watching Patton. There was a special kind of wonder on his face, like he was enchanted by every new object. Roman had seen so much of it before, and really, he knew by now that at least half of the items of ‘value’ would be fake; but Patton acted like it was his first time seeing so much of it.

Roman offered, several times, to purchase an item that the half-fairy would pick up, but each time the other resolutely refused. He just wanted to look, really, no need to spend any money on excess.

After a few times, it went from adorably demure to pulling on Roman’s heart, just a bit.

Roman took it upon himself to very discreetly purchase a handful of trinkets. It wouldn’t do to leave one of his comrades unspoiled. A bead bracelet here, a soft stuffed toy there. Trifles really.

Finally, it was getting late, and Patton seemed tired without wanting to admit it. And Roman was almost ready to leave, really, he was, when he saw the little tailor shop at the end of the street.

Perfect.

“Most excellent!” Roman said, half under his breath. Patton pulled his hand back from some delicate-looking glass sun catchers and looked back up at Roman.

“Has something caught your eye, your Highness?” he asked softly. Roman smiled down at him, and squeezed his hand gently. The prince nodded towards the little shop.

“I love to investigate local tailoring when we stop in towns like this.” he admitted, genuine. “It’s such a lovely form of craftsmanship. And!” his smile brightened further, “Nothing makes you feel more like a new man, than a new wardrobe!”

Roman couldn't help it, he was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet once more. They had yet to retrieve any of Patton’s clothing or possessions, outside of what had been sent the first day, and from the way the fairy had talked about it, he didn’t have much to collect anyway. His bandages were tight enough against his back that he would have little trouble trying on anything. This could be the perfect way for Roman to give Patton a little of his own freedom.

The fairy made that hesitant smile again, one half quirked up as if unsure. But when Roman asked if Patton would feel comfortable to enter, he only paused a moment before agreeing.

-------

Patton wasn’t unfamiliar with the town at large, he just hadn’t spent a lot of time wandering. His Grace had been very strict about his schedules, and that applied to almost everything Patton had done in the last twelve years. Running errands in town were quick and direct; everything from payments to collections had been arranged in advance. The fairy need only walk down, collect whatever package or basket that needed to be brought back, and return to the manor. Even in his free time, there was little reason for Patton to visit. He had almost no money to spend, and the town tended to look down on him in general as the wild, uncontrolled half-fairy that Marquis Wardenthall had taken in.

His Grace had no small hand in spreading those rumors, of course, but that was beside the point.

Still, as they walked, Patton couldn’t help but appreciate the firm grip that His Highness kept on his left hand. He felt grounded, surprisingly safe, standing next to the Prince. And most of the villagers running their market tables chose to ignore Patton entirely in favor of wooing the Prince into buying their baubles.

Patton only found himself hiding from a glare twice, and thankfully, Roman didn’t seem to notice.

The fact that their hands were joined seemed to also put the market at large at ease, and as the time wore on, Patton found himself honestly investigating some of the trinkets that lined the tables.

There were fresh fruits from all around the region, carefully wrought jewelry, children's toys, and leather crafts. Some stalls offered weapons, others fine liquors. There was so much to take in on such a busy day, and Patton could feel little thrills of delight at doing just that.

Their town wasn’t poor by any stretch, thanks to the Marquis, but Patton hadn’t realized just the extent of all the products people could produce.

There were a handful of times that Patton caught the eye of a shopkeeper, and when he didn’t see scorn on their faces, he reached to bring something closer.

Several of those items were stuffed children’s toys, but Patton couldn’t help it. He loved fluffy, comforting things. And the little frog and raccoon toys were just so cute.

Patton felt a truly wide smile on his face for the first time in a long time, and the Prince seemed to be equally enjoying the excursion. So when they reached the end of the market square, Patton felt that, over all, he had had a really wonderful day. Pun intended.

However, he was tired. This was the longest Patton had been out since being pulled from the stockade; almost three hours now in their wanderings. He was doing his best not to lean on the Prince and risk dragging him down, but it was hard. Patton was busying himself running very careful fingers over stained glass sun catchers when he heard the Prince’s softly spoken,

“Most excellent!”

Patton looked up with an honest, if soft, smile, seeing bright excitement on the Prince’s face. “Has something caught your eye, your Highness?” he asked.

His Highness squeezed his hand, and Patton’s heart hummed a little with the niceness of it; something he really couldn't explain. He almost missed what the Prince was saying, just reveling in the feeling, only catching the end, “Nothing makes you feel more like a new man, than a new wardrobe!”

The buzz was gone.

Patton tried to keep his smile, but it turned a little more cautious. The tailor’s shop. His Highness wanted to investigate the tailor’s shop. And from the way he seemed to be bouncing with anticipation, the Prince would likely be devastated if Patton said no.

Well. He’d had worse audiences when collecting things from the tailors’. Perhaps he could even admire the Prince as he tried on new garments. So, when he asked if Patton would mind the last stop, it only took a moment for the fairy to steel his nerves before agreeing.

The little bell above the door rang merrily as His Highness, ever the gentleman, opened it for Patton. Safe, mostly, within the shop, Patton felt comfortable enough to drop the Prince’s hand for a while. The tailor’s wife, Miss Martha, wandered out to greet them, and she seemed almost excited to see Patton.

“Ah, hello dear!” she said kindly, looking under the counter for a package that Patton knew wouldn’t be there. “I hadn’t seen an order come in, I’m afraid you’ll have to take my apologies to your master.”

Patton flinched, just barely, and stuttered under the Prince’s now darkened gaze. “N—no, miss, there’s no order. I—I’m just,” he was at a loss for words all of a sudden, and vaguely gestured to Roman with a little bow of his head and a step back. He’d done it dozens of times for other guests of the Marquis. Why was it difficult now?

Miss Martha brightened once more, giving a little curtsey as the Prince introduced himself.

“Roman Kenrick, at your service.” He was standing taller now, his arms back and confidence in his face.

Kenrick. The royal family’s name. It took all of three seconds for Miss Martha to realize, wander from behind the counter, and formally curtsey before the Prince, chattering about what an honor it must be for the Marquis to be hosting one of the royal family. Patton let it sort of wash over him, in perfect servant’s position.

It wouldn’t do to sully His Highness’ reputation, after all. Even in a little town like this.

Patton could hear his heartbeat in his ears, speeding up just a little, before he realized he was being spoken to.

His eyes flicked up to the Prince’s, and he felt a light flush on his cheeks as he asked, “Sorry?”

His Highness’s gaze was much softer on Patton, and he repeated himself. “Would you like to look around?” he asked softly, almost so Miss Martha couldn’t hear. Patton looked around the little shop with his eyes, wondering what he was supposed to be looking for.

“Um?” Patton felt so suddenly unsure; what did His Highness want?

And yet, the Prince’s face stayed soft, and he offered his hand to Patton once more, and holding hands with the Prince felt so safe, that Patton was able to take a deeper breath, and look into his eyes without being afraid of not knowing.

“I don’t understand what you want.” He admitted quietly, and His Highness’ eyes brightened, just a little.

“I want to purchase some traveling clothes for you,” Roman answered, and continued before Patton could explain that it really wasn’t necessary, “I want you to have something nice. Just one, even. Because you deserve to feel a little spoiled.”

His face turned almost mischievous for a moment. “I am a Prince, after all. Those in my company should be dressed to feel that honor.”

Patton didn’t quite understand the logic in that, but the Prince was pulling him just a little closer by their conjoined hands, and Miss Martha was still standing there, watching over His Highness's shoulders, and there was a little mix of peer-pressure and pride that bubbled up within his chest as he nodded his assent.

The tailor already had his measurements on record, so anything he found could be altered if needed, and he could avoid the awkward and obnoxiously long process of being sized up. Still, Patton didn’t let go of the Prince’s hand as they wandered the little shop, looking over already-made garments hanging from ornate stands. The fairy outright refused to have anything made custom; it would be far too expensive, and take too much time, and Patton didn’t want to delay the Prince’s travels any longer than he already had.

Still, it felt strange, wandering the racks. Everything here was of stronger materials, wools and linens and leather cord. The stitching was careful and strong. The shop catered to more of the upper ring of the village than Patton technically belonged to. He found himself, several times, reaching out to feel the fabric of an item, only to quickly look to the Prince for approval.

In the end, Patton agreed to one change of clothes. A pair of sturdy pants that would befit someone who planned to wear them to the limit and do a lot of walking, and an (incredibly soft) linen shirt colored a pale blue like the sky, or robin’s eggs. The color itself was so different from the rest of his wardrobe; but even looking at it as Miss Martha carefully folded it and slipped it into a bag, Patton thought he might never want to take it off.

It was at the back of the shop that Patton found his true downfall.

The Prince was at the counter, paying for the garments as he insisted upon doing, while Patton wandered among the accessories. Things made for much more wealthy men; someone closer to Logan’s or His Highness’s status than his own. Still, it was fun to look at some of them; Lords’ and Ladies’ gloves in all kinds of colors, vests with patterns woven right into the fabric, and more hats than Patton thought he had ever seen in town.

But there was a stand at the back that drew Patton’s attention the most. There was a strangely made cape of some sort, one that would sit over the collarbone and shoulders, and had a loop on one side for the left arm, while the flowing half-cape hung off the right. Fine ribbons laced up the little collar piece all the way to the throat. It was colored gray, technically, but the fabric had the same shine that Logan’s shirt had, giving the garment the look of liquid silver.

Patton had never been one for long capes, but this was somehow new. Beautiful.

The fairy was so lost just looking at it that he failed to hear the Prince coming up behind him, and he jumped with a squeak at the feeling of the Prince’s hand on his shoulder.

His Highness did him the honor of not acknowledging this, or the scarlet blush that followed, instead giving his full attention to the accessory.

“That would look fantastic on you.” His Highness said, feeling the soft material and inspecting the ribbon clasps. Patton spluttered a little, not quite certain how to respond. At his hesitation, the Prince looked back at Patton and continued, “No, really. It would go beautifully with your eyes.”

Miss Martha came over to assist in pulling the half-cape down from its display, and Patton felt himself tremble, just a little, as the Prince gently draped the collar over his shoulders and tied it securely. That oil on water feeling of the fabric flowed down his entire left arm, and the fairy could do little more than stare at it, feeling the edge of the cape with this forefinger and thumb.

[Image ID: Patton Sanders, as a three-quarters image, with a warm smile and light pink blush on his face. He is looking down at himself in wonder, and wearing a pale blue shirt with minimal swirling embroidery on the cuffs and down the front. A silver-grey half-cape is draped over his left shoulder and down his arm. His ears have small points to indicate that he is half fairy. End image ID]

Without Patton really realizing it, the Prince had paid for this garment as well, and taken Patton’s hand and led him from the shop. Their hands stayed clasped as they walked back to the inn, the Prince enjoying the gentle breeze and the sunset around them, and Patton enjoying His Highness’s relaxed, beautiful face.

All too soon they had returned to the Prince’s room, only to find Virgil in a spluttering panic. The mage gave Patton a soft kiss on his forehead, complimented the new cape, and said he would meet Patton in his room so they could have dinner together.

And then he took the Prince by the ear, and dragged him into their shared room.

Patton couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up while watching them.

-----

Chapter Five

#warcats writes #tssbb2022 #ts fic #sanders sides fic #fantasy au #Long Road Home #royality #tw references to trauma #tw reference to abuse #tw behavior trigger #ts patton #ts roman

5 notes · View notes

bitchassbucky · 3 years

Text

Ｄｉｍｐｌｅｓ (ＳａｍＷｉｌｓｏｎｘＦ!Ｒｅａｄｅｒ)

📎Word Count: 748

📎Warning/s: a smidge of body image issues and insecurity.

📎A/N: prior to Back To You, this is one of the moments that encapsulate Sam and Reader’s friendship <3 this one goes out to my bespectacled buds and people sporting dimples on their thighs and tummy and arms and everywhere. your body is there for you to pet dogs, hug your loved ones, touch plants, and take your brain from room to room.

📎enjoy and all forms of love are welcomed! :)

📎Masterlist || Ask || AFTERDARK

📎 Follow the story: Back To You, Dimples, Inked

It’s been an hour and a half since you moved from your spot on the couch. So engrossed on a TV show playing on the TV, various lights and colors reflecting on your spectacles.

Your best friend Sam sits next to you, proofreading a paper due next Wednesday.

“Tell me if your legs start to fall asleep.” He says, laying down on your soft thighs. For some, the gesture may seem overly sweet. But not for the two of you.

You utter a distracted hum, your eyes trained to the screen before you.

“D’you think Tolstoy would like Orange Is the New Black?” Sam asks you as he put the down stapled papers on his broad chest. He stares up at the ceiling, dragging his gaze to your face.

You look down on him, scrunching your nose, “don’t look at me from that angle.”

“What? Why not? Afraid that I can see your nostrils from here?” Your best friend jeers, poking your chin.

The sweet sound of your laughter making Sam’s face heat up. He then sits up and faces you, squinting and leering too close to your face. Way too close to be considered friendly.

You gulp then, clearing your throat, “Sam.”

He mutters a meek apology, giving you a small smile which you reciprocate as if to say it’s okay.

The atmosphere changed, tension and unspoken insecurities waving in and out. The faint memories of people who made you feel ugly suddenly reappearing.

“Hey, you good?” He taps your thigh, almost reluctant to touch you. He knows when you’re too lost in your thoughts, so he attempts to bring you forth to the surface.

You nod, offering a smile that he can see through, “yeah. Yeah, sorry.” You grab a pillow, covering up your thighs. Your brain telling you that you shouldn’t have worn shorts today, reiterating the textured skin rubbing against the soft material of the cushion.

Sam nudges your shoulder, bopping your temple with his forehead like a cat. “No need to apologize. What’s going on with that huge brain of yours?”

The TV show now forgotten, only serving as background noise. The open window displaying the pink sky as the sun sets over the campus. The bustle of students downstairs offering sounds of liveliness.

“You remember Kyle from my art class?”

“Yeah, lanky dude with the messenger bag. What about him?” Hearing another guy’s name from you made Sam preen, subconsciously fixing his shirt and puffing his chest.

It didn’t go unnoticed.

“Okay, cool it, Rambo. He’s a nice kid; he drew me in class last week.” You say as you stand up, abandoning the pillow to fetch your bookbag. You pull a loose leaf of drawing paper from a yellow expanding folder.

Sam examines the charcoal drawing, the details were exquisite. The shadows on your face were carefully drawn and shaded to accentuate your features. Your delicate hands were curled up around a book and you were sitting cross-legged. Your legs were exposed too, the drawing captured the softness of your curves.

“He drew dimples on my thighs.”

Your best friend looks up then, his dark eyes gazing over your legs, “they’re pretty accurate. Not gonna lie.”

The face you made was a mix of shock and amusement, “I wish he didn’t though. They look wonky.”

Sam is a man made of carefully spoken words, “they’re normal, bub. Lots of girls have ‘em.”

A snort came from you, chuckling as you take the paper from him, putting it back into the folder, “yeah, you’d know, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, come on, now. Lots of people have them.”

You plop down the couch again, half paying attention to the half-finished episode, “I just wished he didn’t draw them on. I don’t know.”

Sam taps your chin to get your full attention, “hey, all I know is that they make great pillows.”

“What does?” You cock your head to the side, making him smile softly.

“Your thighs,” for a second, there was guilt, “oh god, that wasn’t sexual, was it?”

You laugh, genuinely, this time, “you’re good, Sam. It wasn’t sexual.”

The atmosphere changed once again, lighter this time. The sun has fully set, leaving a blue hue on the sky. The bustle downstairs has died down to a minimum.

“Thank you,” it was unprompted but needed.

“For what?”

“Because you’re buying me dinner tonight.” It was a sentiment thinly veiled behind a joke but was caught by prying minds and warm hearts.

#bitchassbucky writes #sam wilson x reader #sam wilson x reader fluff #sam wilson x reader angst #sam wilson x reader smut #sam x reader #sam x reader fluff #sam x reader smut #sam x reader angst #sam wilson #sam wilson fluff #sam wilson angst #sam wilson smut

218 notes · View notes

secretpeachtea · 4 years

Text

Onigiri Miya Tidbits Ch 1

Title: the predicament

Genre: gen fic, reader insert

Word Count: 2.2k

Summary: Onigiri Miya is now hiring and you just happen to be the right person for the job. The business has been gaining popularity since its grand opening, and many customers travel from different cities just to have a bite of Miya Osamu’s delicious recipes. You did expect some craziness from working in food services, but what you didn’t expect was to be bombarded with frequent tomfoolery from a bunch of attractive volleyball players during your shifts.

disclaimer: manga spoilers

“...and that’s about it for training. I might even teach you how to make some of the recipes one day, but for now, you’ll be in charge of register. I’ll be right over there if you got any questions.”

Today was your first day working at Onigiri Miya. After spending countless hours looking for a way to earn some money, you finally scored a part time job in this quaint onigiri establishment. You originally wanted to avoid working at a food joint due to their notorious obnoxious customers, but you didn’t really have much of a choice if you wanted to be able to pay for next month’s rent. As a student, you’re pretty limited on time as well, so it was nice that the work hours matched up with your schedule. Despite your initial hesitance, you lucked out in having such a kind boss.

“Glad to have you here, (Surname)-san.” Miya Osamu gave you a soft smile that almost made you swoon right then and there. Luckily, he was too busy wiping down his work area to catch you staring.

Yup, you definitely lucked out in having such a handsome boss as well.

Your thoughts were interrupted when you heard the bell above the entrance ring, signaling the arrival of a customer. Putting on your best smile, you straighten your posture and fix up your black work hat.

“Welcome to Onigiri Miya!”

“Hey, hey, hey! Akaashi! This place is pretty nice!”

Two men walked into the shop casually and looked around with interest. The one who had spoken adorned a black and grey hoodie that matched the color of his hair, while the bespectacled figure wore a white button down to match his professional aura. Quite the duo as your first customers.

“Bokuto-san, try to keep your voice down indoors. We wouldn’t want to disturb other customers.”

Although the two were unfamiliar to you, Osamu seemed to recognize them almost immediately. “Oh, hey guys. What brings you here today?”

Akaashi adjusted his glasses and responded first. “I heard Onigiri Miya was deemed as the best onigiri restaurant of the year in Japan, so I wanted to come see for myself.”

“Tsum-Tsum said that you make the best Onigiri in the world, so I really wanted to try it out too!” Bokuto sported a wide smile while gesturing his arms for emphasis like a young child.

You just watched the three make some small talk, slightly surprised by how your boss was so familiar with the new customers. You haven’t become fully acquainted yet, so it was interesting to see the type of people he befriended.

It wasn’t until you briefly heard Osamu say your name, did you snap out of your little trance. “(Surname)-san can help you with your orders today.”

Placing a smile on your face, you set your eyes on Bokuto and Akaashi. “What can I get for you today?”

“I’ll have a Miso Onigiri,” Akaashi ordered after briefly eyeing the menu. His friend, however, seemed to have some trouble choosing.

“Um...hmm...mmm.” Bokuto stared at the menu for a few minutes with furrowed brows. One of his hands traced each menu option rapidly while the other hand rubbed his own head in contemplation. “There’s so many flavors! How do I choose?!”

You blinked a couple times at his exaggerated reaction, but quickly made the effort to help him by using what you remember from training. “Well, I can recommend you something. Are you in the mood for meat?”

The owlish male stared at you with sparkling eyes. “I’m always in the mood for meat!”

“If you order the Nikumaki Onigiri* special today you can receive two gyoza* on the side for no extra charge.” You pointed to the small chalkboard sign that stood next to the counter with the mentioned special that was written out by Osamu before the shop opened for the day.

“Then, I’ll order Nikumaki Onigiri because meat is the best!” Bokuto declared wholeheartedly.

Relieved that he was finally able to make a decision, you didn’t really think about the consequence of your next question. “Pork or Beef?”

“Uh...hmmm…..umm…”

You sweatdropped at Bokuto as he once again frowned at his predicament. Osamu just quietly snickered behind you, fully aware of Bokuto’s indecisive tendencies when it came to food. Thankfully, Akaashi was getting a bit impatient himself. “Beef. He’ll take beef. And, I’ll just pay for both.”

“Alrighty! Your total will be 300 yen.” You grab the money from Akaashi and pass him the receipt. “Miya-san will take care of your order soon.”

“Thanks, (Surname)-chan!” Bokuto yelled out.

The two didn’t go far and decided to just sit at the counter space right next to the register as they waited for their food.

Only the four of you occupied the shop at the moment and so far there haven’t been any phone orders since the day was still young. You consider yourself pretty lucky since you aren’t overwhelmed with customers on your first day. You didn’t really have much to do aside from standing in front of the register and daydreaming, so your ears automatically pick up on the conversation next to you.

“How have you been, Bokuto-san? I heard your team has been doing well this season,” Akaashi began.

Bokuto gave off the brightest smile he could manage at the mention of his favorite sport. “Yeah! We’ve been practicing every day and playing some practice games with other teams. We’re actually starting tryouts next month to scout some new players on the team!”

“Oh? I thought your team had a pretty solid roster this year?”

“My teammates are definitely strong, but after we lost to the Adlers in the last tournament, Coach thought it would be interesting to add some new faces to catch everyone off guard.”

Akaashi nodded his head in understanding. “I do think the element of surprise is very effective in volleyball.”

“It’s gonna be like a fun, surprise birthday party! We’re gonna be up against a strong team but then...BOOM! SURPRISE! They’ll never know what hit them!”

“I suppose so.”

“But, I guess it wouldn’t be as exciting since it’s no one’s birthday…” Although Bokuto no longer transitioned into his depressed phase like he did in high school, he still had moments where he’d randomly fall into a melancholic mood. “And, there wouldn’t be a big party either…”

Akaashi, already sensing the first signs of Bokuto’s altered mood, quickly thought up a solution. He held a certain glint in his eyes as he focused on his former teammate. “Anything can be exciting for everyone if volleyball is involved, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto’s head perked up at the mention of volleyball once again, and you could’ve sworn that his hair spiked up along with his brightened expression. “You’re right, Akaashi! Man, volleyball is really great!”

At this time, Osamu finally finished putting together the two onigiris and set the plates down on the counter, putting an end to the silly conversation. There were wisps of steam coming off of the freshly cooked meat with a heavenly scent that would make anyone’s mouth water. You can definitely make out a thin line of drool threatening to fall down on Bokuto’s chin at the sight in front of him.

“A Miso Onigiri for Akaashi-san, and a Nikumaki Onigiri with a side of gyoza for Bo-san!”

The two guys thanked Osamu for the meal and each took a bite of the savory food. Their satisfied expressions were all it took for Osamu to laugh with a triumphant smile. Even you were affected by the positive reaction.

Before taking another bite, Akaashi looked as if he remembered something and turned to Bokuto. “I almost forgot. You said you wanted to ask me about something you were having trouble with?”

“Oh, yeah! I don’t really know how taxes work!” Bokuto nonchalantly replied with a chunk of meat hanging from his lips.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi paused, “have you not been paying your taxes?”

The volleyball player took another large bite out of his onigiri and stared at his friend while chewing. “Was I supposed to?”

“…”

There was a brief moment of silence, the only noise coming from the appliances in the shop. Not knowing what to do, you just stood still and tried your best not to make your shock obvious. You never thought you’d become a witness to a tax evasion confession, but there seems to be a first for everything. There was a small part of you that also wanted to laugh, but you didn’t think it would be appropriate with the fact that you didn’t know the two men sitting in front of you very well. Although, you think you might’ve heard a soft snicker come from your boss, but maybe it was your imagination.

“Has anyone contacted you recently about finances? Perhaps a bank or, um, the police?”

“Hmm...Not that I know of!” Bokuto scratches his head in thought. “But then again, I might’ve missed some calls during practices. I don’t answer unknown numbers either ever since Omi-kun told me about the scary people that try to take my money!”

With his half-eaten onigiri resting between his fingers, Akaashi’s distressed eyes make contact with yours. You two just stared at one another for a couple seconds, while Bokuto casually finished the last of his onigiri, moving onto the gyoza eagerly.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this, (Surname)-san.” You’d be lying if you said you felt nothing when Akaashi asked with such a pleading tone while trying to maintain his stoic face.

Lips are sealed. Ears are plugged. Mind is clear.

“I didn’t hear a thing, Akaashi-san.”

“Thank you.”

Not wanting to waste any food, Akaashi took the time to consume the last of his meal, albeit with a bit of a stressed aura, before getting up from his seat. Bokuto had finished all of his food as well and just followed suit.

“We should get going, Bokuto-san. It’s going to take a bit of time to help you with your um...predicament.”

Bokuto, still unaware of his situation at hand, turns to smile at you and Osamu. “Thanks for the great food! It was definitely as good as Tsum-Tsum said it would be! Next time I visit, I’ll bring the team!”

Akaashi bowed while Bokuto energetically waved before the two took a step outside and slid the door closed. You could still hear the boisterous volleyball player mentioning how excited he is to spend time with his close friend to do taxes for the day.

You and Osamu share a look before bursting out in laughter together. If this is how your shifts are gonna be all the time, maybe working at a restaurant isn’t so bad after all.

“So, what’d you think of your first day?”

It was now late into the evening and you and Osamu were getting ready to head home soon. Osamu was wiping down his work area, while you were sweeping the floors. Your first day went well, and you surprisingly only made a few mistakes when taking calls. Out of all your first days from previous part time jobs, this one went the smoothest.

“I think it went well! I’ve never worked in an onigiri restaurant, but all your customers seemed pretty respectful,” you responded as you set aside the broom.

Just as you were about to head to the back room to put away your apron, your stomach let out a distinct grumble. Heat rose onto your cheeks because you’re sure that the handsome man near you most definitely heard it.

Osamu let out an amused laugh. “You hungry?”

“Maybe a little?” You put on a sheepish smile, silently cursing your body for betraying you like that.

“How about you get your things and I’ll whip you up something to take home?” Your boss smirked.

“I thought we used up all the ingredients for today? I wouldn’t want you to go out of your way for me.” You ask even though you secretly are dying to actually try one of his godly onigiris.

Osamu just shrugs his shoulders. “I set aside some things for my brother, but I’m sure he can go a day with takeout.”

You get the feeling that he won’t let you leave until you take his offer, so you just agree and head to the back room to gather your things and stop by the bathroom. You eventually make your way back to the counter area and see that Osamu already has a small bag filled with an onigiri and a sweet tea drink. He sports a lax grin as you walk towards him and hands you the bag gently.

“One Minced Tuna and Spring Onion Onigiri.”

Your face stretched into a wide smile, already looking forward to having a taste of Osamu’s recipe. “That sounds delicious!”

“It’s my brother’s favorite. Hope you’re not allergic to fish.”

You shake your head fervently. “No way. I’d be so upset if I couldn’t eat something that smelled as good as this! Your brother has good taste.”

“I guess. He’s still got some loose screws though. Definitely knows how to irritate me to no end.” The man in front of you slouches and lets out a tired sigh.

“Well, I suppose I’ll have to meet him someday to find out.” Now, you were getting a little curious about Osamu’s brother. “I’d like to meet the guy that knows how to make my composed boss look like he’s ready to murder.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Nikumaki Onigiri = basically rice wrapped around meat

Gyoza = dumplings, potstickers, whatever you wanna call them

A/N: super excited to share this series with y’all! I’ve never shared my writing on tumblr so we’ll see how this goes oof. I was originally going to post this later in the week, but it’s the twins’ birthday today, so I had to do it!

#haikyuu #onigiri miya #secretpeachtea #onigiri miya tidbits #bokuto #akaashi #osamu

81 notes · View notes

bellshells · 4 years

Text

Splitting Hairs

Yo, have this absolute vomit I wrote. It’s a Severus x OC I wrote because I hate myself. I actually have quite a few parts written if anyone is interested in reading them. So it’s set the year or so before Haz and pals attend Hogwarts, new DADA teacher comes and Sev is salty about it, until he meets her. Hope you enjoy <3

Word count: 2795 Severus Snape x OC

Next Chapter: here

Another year, another rejection. Severus sat silently in the staff room surrounded by his gossiping colleagues and tentatively sipped his tea. Sunlight streamed in through the windows and it stung his eyes, he had barely slept. He had analysed Dumbledore’s words over and over again as he sat upright in his bed, the fire feebly spitting out flames as dawn threatened to break. “Not this time Severus,” the bespectacled wizard had said patting Severus’ arm, “you will be missed too greatly in the dungeons for me to spare you to Defence Against the Dark Arts.” Severus only nodded before leaving Dumbledore’s office; his cloak billowed sarcastically behind him as Dumbledore frowned.

Severus had pondered that night, what he would have to do in order to prove he was capable to do the job. Would he have to tattoo the words ‘I am not a bad man’ on his forehead? Maybe take a blade to his Dark Mark and cut it out of his arm? The damn thing would only grow back anyway. Severus sat and silently cursed himself. Dumbledore had done the valiant thing in not disclosing who had in fact applied for the now filled position, but everybody knew. He could see them, whispering about the new professor who would arrive imminently with glances over in his direction. Let them look, he thought. He would much rather them look than talk to them.

It seemed his summer had been over in an instant, he had returned to Spinner’s End with the hopes of doing some much-needed renovations to his family home but preparing for his would-be change of department had consumed him. All day and most of the night he would sit in his high-backed chair and pour over book after book. It was highly unnecessary though; Severus had read those books cover to cover so many times he could recite them from memory. But still, it wasn’t enough. Somebody else had been successful and once again, Severus would have to concede. Minerva entered the room in a flurry of green robes, she was followed by Pomona who trailed in a little soil from her sturdy boots. Minerva stopped short when she saw Severus, her eyes softened and she offered him a sad smile, Severus returned a tight lipped almost grimace and Minerva nodded knowingly. She hurried Pomona over to the refreshments table, taking a cup of tea for both her and her friend. Severus had a soft spot for Minerva McGonagall, whilst in the beginning she had been very wary towards him, they grew to have a mutual respect which, over time blossomed into a friendship. She really was a lovely witch, albeit very nosy. Like him, Minerva had faced great sadness.

It wasn’t long after the final gaggle of professors settled that the door clicked open for the last time. Professor Dumbledore swept into the room with a regal air only he could possess. Hot behind him, Severus could hear the click-clack of heels on the cold stone floor. The new professor stepped into the room hesitantly, she was young; maybe twenty-five? Surely too young to be the new DADA teacher. Severus felt like he had the wind knocked out of him. She presented herself to him politely with a warm, earnest smile. She was a whirlwind of red hair and green eyes and Severus felt sick. Her pale face looked up expectantly at him as she held out her hand for Severus to shake. He took it without thinking, her handshake was firm, and her touch sent electric pulses through his veins. She looked so much like her, he thought. If he let his eyes soften only slightly, he could almost pretend it was her, Lily. The new professor moved along the line of his colleagues shaking each hand with a dazzling smile. She wore a tight skirt cut just below her knee and a button-down shirt tucked in at the waist, the top few buttons unbuttoned to expose the top of her chest. Severus winced.

He hadn’t even caught her name; he was so bowled over by her resemblance to his lost love. In an instant he was transported back almost a decade, where he climbed the creaking staircase of on almost silent house save for the desperate cries of a baby. He had stepped over the body of his tormentor, her husband with ease; her body calling to him. And then, he saw her on the floor at the foot of a cot. The baby stood inside of it didn’t notice as Severus had fallen to his knees, he only wept for his mother- just out of his reach. The sob in Severus’ chest erupted into a howl of pain as he clutched at Lily and pulled her into his embrace.

He had no idea how long he had sat like that; the baby had long fallen asleep and Severus watched him, the lightening bolt scar brand new on his forehead looked sore. The baby whimpered in his sleep, Severus watched as the baby stretched his arms out and turned over. It was only the gentle tap Severus felt on his shoulder that reminded him he had to leave. Dumbledore surveyed the scene with a grave look on his face. He made his way over to where Severus sat with Lily and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Severus eyed Dumbledore as he tiptoed over to where the baby lay sleeping and picked him up wordlessly, carefully, so as not to wake him; and left. Severus knew that Dumbledore would be contacting Lily’s sister to arrange the funerals, so with great sadness, he lay Lily back on the ground. He took care to smooth her hair around her face, he picked her wand up from the floor and placed it in her hands that rested on her chest. Then he left.

“What say you, Severus?” Severus could feel the tears threatening to spill from his eyes as his attention was brought crashing back to the present. He was a master of disguising his emotions, in the blink of an eye his cold demeanour returned. He forced himself to look at Madame Hooch who waited for his response. “I must ask you to repeat the question, I’m afraid. It appears I was somewhere else entirely.” Severus said curtly. Madame Hooch was only too happy to oblige, she was asking whether he thought there was any truth in the rumours that the N.E.W.T.S were getting easier; and Severus gave a characteristically dry response which elicited both groans and chuckles in equal measure from his colleagues. But he couldn’t keep his eyes from her. His heart pounded loudly in his chest; he was sure everyone would be able to hear it. It was impossible to deny that she was an incredibly attractive woman, but he found her comments on testing here and overseas derivative, but- she looked like her. They must be some relation. Severus thought if he could work out when she attended Hogwarts, he might be able to place her and then assuage some of his concern. He had taught at this school for nearly decade, he would surely remember a fifth year who looked like her.

“I’m sorry professor,” Severus began, he had interrupted Flitwick mid speech regarding the importance of teaching second years proper duelling technique. Severus’ eyes burned into the new professor he didn’t know the name of yet. “I’m interested to know which house you belonged to whilst you were here. I’m terribly sorry but I can’t place you,” he said coolly. The new professor looked slightly startled as she took a sip of her tea, she the placed the cup delicately in the saucer resting on her knee. “That’s because you wouldn’t,” She smiled, “I went to Beauxbatons.” Minerva clasped her hands in delight; “Beauxbatons!” she exclaimed, “You must tell me how dear Madame Maxime is, I haven’t seen her in the longest time!” The new professor smiled kindly and told Minerva in detail of the last time she spoken with the Beauxbatons Headmistress. Severus’ body filled with quiet rage; she went to Beauxbatons? Isn’t that convenient. A school full of exceptionally beautiful young women? He could see it in her now, the way she trailed her hands up her thigh slowly to reach for her wand so Flitwick could inspect it. The way she gathered her thick red hair and pulled it to one side of her face; exposing her lock neck, her collarbone and oh so delicately the tops of her breasts. She was so sensual in her movements, he watched as the outer corner of her mouth twitched up into a smile and he felt something stir within him, deep in the pit of his stomach. He repulsed himself.

Severus stood unceremoniously and cleared his throat. “I must excuse myself, I still have quite a lot to prepare before term starts.” He mumbled and swiftly moved towards the door. Professor Dumbledore stopped him in his tracks with a hand, he gestured towards the new professor. “Of course, Severus, but would you mind escorting Professor Valentine to her quarters? She is to make use of Horace’s old rooms and they are of course, on the way to the dungeons.” He said cheerfully. The new professor, or rather, Professor Valentine stood and smiled. Severus’ jaw tightened as he flung the door open and waited for her to pass through.

Valentine.

Her name was Valentine. He threw Dumbledore a dark look as he slammed the door behind them making Professor Valentine jump. Severus kept swift pace down the Ravenclaw spiral staircase, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Valentine struggled to keep up. As the stairs became stone floor he slowed, his mind raced with all manner of things he wanted to say to her. He couldn’t stop himself stealing a look at her from the corner of his eye, she waked silently beside him; taking in the portraits which lined the walls and nodded at those who acknowledged her or flashing a brilliant smile if they spoke. “You don’t sound French,” Severus said, he surprised himself with his forwardness. He was embarrassed then, and brought his pace back up. Valentine smiled thoughtfully; “I’m not, I’m from Wales actually.” She answered. She’s Welsh, he thought. Yet she went to school in France. Still confused, Severus decided to pursue the matter. “May I ask why you didn’t attend Hogwarts then, Professor Valentine?” Without skipping a beat Valentine replied, “My father was working in France at the time, he thought it would be nice if we were closer together. So, I went to Beauxbatons instead.”

She’s lying, Severus thought. Whilst he never practiced his Leliglimency on his colleagues, he still had a strong sense for when someone wasn’t being truthful with him; especially when they were so close to him. They continued their walk in silence, Valentine stopped every now and again to inspect something on the walls or engraved on the floor. She always offered him an apologetic smile and a touch on the arm, and this annoyed him greatly. Not the dawdling, he was used to having to slow his pace when walking with others; but the way she touched him. She acted to familiar with him and it made him uncomfortable. Were she an old witch, short and stout he may have been able to overlook her terminal niceness, but Valentine made the breath hitch in his throat every time her side brushed against his. It was Lily, he knew it was. Severus felt he was being assaulted by his feelings, and here was this woman having she sheer audacity to go around looking so much like Lily Evans and…touching him. It was far, far too much for Severus to handle.

He stopped outside of Valentine’s door. A large-ish wooden door carved into an alcove in the castle wall. This part of the castle lead to nowhere but the dungeons and it was dimly lit, so if you weren’t looking for a door; you would miss one entirely. Valentine’s face lit up as Severus chivalrously opened the door for her, more out of curiosity on his part than anything else. He hadn’t been in there since Dumbledore had offered him these chambers all those years ago, Severus ultimately chose quarters adjacent to his classroom. She inspected the room excitedly; she moved her fingers deftly over the heavy curtains that hung by the big window. These rooms in this part of the castle were some of the last to possess windows and the view outside was very pretty. Her trunks and bags sat in the middle of the room; a desk rested against a wall with more bags atop it. A sofa sat invitingly in the middle of the room and better yet, her four-poster bed partially hidden behind it. Severus cleared his throat, still stood in the doorway.

“Oh Severus!” she exclaimed, “I completely forgot you were there.” Valentine giggled. Severus shifted his weight uneasily from foot to foot as she came towards him. “Would you like to come in?” “No,” he said too quickly. “No, thank you.” Valentine smiled at him and leaned a shoulder against the door frame, the light from behind her framed her silhouette beautifully. Severus swallowed hard. “Thank you for showing me the way down, I never would have found it without your assistance.” Severus nodded curtly and took every inch of her in. “Professor Dumbledore invited me to have a drink in his office this evening,” Valentine said matter of fact, “He said the other professors would be there. Are you going?” “I wasn’t going to; I have to prepare my ingredient lists to give to Professor Sprout first thing in the morning.” Severus muttered wryly. “Oh, of course.” Severus raised an eyebrow. Valentine looked sheepish before she said, “I was just wondering if you would collect me on your way. This castle is truly a maze, but if you’re not going, I’ll just see you-” “I’ll call on you at eight, Professor.” “Elizabeth,” she corrected with a grateful grin. “Elizabeth.” Severus nodded and turned his back. He continued down the corridor, it wasn’t until he heard Valentine’s door close a few feet behind him that he allowed himself to breathe. Why did he say that? Why did he offer to do that? He hated social gatherings with a fervent passion and yet, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse her.

He flew into his classroom and locked the door with a flick of his wand. He made his way through the lines of desks and into his chambers, he shifted the curtains aside which disguised the heavy wooden door. Once inside he unbuttoned his frock coat along with the top few buttons of his tight shirt. He skulked over to his drinks cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whisky and poured himself a generous glass, he then perched on the arm of the blood-red armchair that sat in the fireplace and rifled in the bottom drawer of his desk. Severus produced a packet of cigarettes and lit one, letting his head roll back and his eyes close. His heart was very heavy in his chest, so heavy he could hear his pulse in his ears. He knocked the whisky back and enjoyed the sensation as it burned his throat on the way down. Why was he torturing himself by volunteering his services to Valentine? He didn’t owe her anything and he certainly didn’t want to get to know her. She was too much like Lily and yet nothing like her at all. Her hair, her eyes, the kind features of her face transported Severus back to his youth; constantly fighting the urge to put his hands on either side of Lily Evans’ face and kiss her desperately. And yet, Valentine’s overt sexuality, her fashion and her subtle way of talking was nothing like any version of Lily he had ever seen. Severus was intrigued by this woman but also completely turned off by her. He wouldn’t be a man if he said he didn’t desire Valentine; but he was utterly devoted to his memory of Lily. He couldn’t understand why she would torment him so by looking so much like the woman Severus had lost all those years ago.

He stood slowly returned to his drinks cabinet and retrieved the whisky bottle, pouring another measure for himself. He held his glass in the air to toast; “Elizabeth Valentine,” he said to nobody and took two great gulps until there was nothing left. He set the glass back down next to the bottle and caught sight of the label, sitting wide across the middle of it.

Y Ddraig, it was called. Dragon whisky. Welsh.

#severus snape #snape #pro snape #snape x oc #snape x lily #severus snape x oc #severus snape x lily #harry potter #albus dumbledore #minerva mcgonagall #fanfic #slow burn #eventual smut #pls

82 notes · View notes

vannahfanfics · 4 years

Text

Before you read, here’s the previous chapter. New? Start from the beginning!

Cherry-Orange Blossoms

Ao3

Chapter 2: I’m Fine (But Not Really)

The sweet, syrupy taste of the cherry lozenge bled over Katsuki’s tongue as he rolled it over, holding it securely in his teeth as he bent down to retrieve his school bag from the floor. The numbing medication worked exceptionally fast; as soon as he was strolling out of the classroom, the burning, itching pain crawling the back of his throat had ceased. He shoved the remaining number of the tablets into his bookbag. He glanced down the hallway to see the flash of Izuku’s pine-green hair and Ochako’s glittery purple planet charm disappearing around the corner, and no amount of throat lozenges in the world could spare him the hacking cough the sight stirred within him. Scowling, he pressed his fist against his mouth to catch the small drip of spittle he had hacked up. Maybe it was his imagination, but he swore he found the faint taste of cherry blossoms mingling with the overbearing cherry flavor.

Katsuki’s sneakers scraped against the tile as he pushed himself to follow after the apparent love of his life and the love of hers. He cordoned the incendiary thoughts in the back of his mind, because the last thing he needed was to erupt into a coughing fit with so many people around. The hallway was hustling and bustling with students eager to escape the humdrum of the classroom and head out for some fun on the town, migrate to sports practices, or, if one were as zealous as a particular bespectacled class representative, hurry home for some studying. Katsuki usually didn’t mind the intense buzzing of conversation and laughter in his ears, but today, it seemed louder than usual. The laughter, especially. In the paranoid corners of his mind, he was wondering if the secret was already out. Big, bad, Katsuki Bakugo, who had so much scorn for those with Hanahaki, had finally reaped the spoils of his hubris.

Shut up, he growled and pawed at his ears. A girl laughed loudly, and he whirled with a manic gasp, vermillion eyes wide as he frantically searched the crowd. No one was looking at him, and yet everyone was. Mocking glances, hands barely hiding scornful snickers and amused grins. “Poor Bakugo,” they chirped. “In love with a girl who’ll never love him! Such a shame to see him die, but you know what they say- that’s karma.” Katsuki clutched at his chest, fingers tearing into his loose red tie, as his breath hitched. Fuck, was he coughing up another petal? A full flower, even? His vision grew hazier the longer that the shortness of breath continued. Panting, he slumped into the white brick wall. His palm left a smear of sweat over the smooth overcoat as his hand slid down. I can’t breathe… I can’t fucking breathe…!

“Baku-bro, you all right, man?”

It felt like he inhaled the four winds themselves when Eijirou clapped a hand on his shoulder, and Katsuki sucked in a giant breathe through his teeth. Eyes still red and bloodshot, he peered wildly out of his peripheral vision to see the redhead staring at him concernedly. “You’re really pale, dude. And sweaty! You have a fever or something?” Before Katsuki could stop him, Eijirou pushed up his ash-blond bangs to feel his forehead. Katsuki flushed a little and slapped his hand away, while his friend’s frown only deepened. “You could have a slight fever, bro. Are you sure you need to go to practice today?”

“I’m fine, Shitty Hair,” he snapped and fixed his bangs, which were clumped together with sweat. It left his fingers sticky and grimy-feeling. Like blood, which he would be coughing up soon. Red blood, red like cherry lozenges, and Katsuki’s eyes and Ochako’s hairpins. He gagged those thoughts and threw them in the basement of his mind, locking the door and flinging the key into a mental ocean. Grunting, he shoved himself away from the wall to begin stomping back towards his initial destination- the gym. Eijirou yelped and ran after him, bleating worried protests.

Katsuki was the power forward of U.A.’s basketball team- and the star player. Like hell he would be copping out like a pansy. Katsuki had broken almost every school record to date, and even invented a few new ones. His name was plastered on banners and trophies and plaques displayed proudly in the school’s massive display case in the front rotunda. His name was printed in so many articles that his mom had run out of places to display them. Like hell he was wussing out. With his name on the lips of every professional scout and college coach in the country, as well as being spoken by international big-wigs, missing even one practice for “health issues” was tantamount to career suicide.

Besides, if Katsuki wasn’t there to shine, the spotlight would fall on their speedy and charismatic small forward, Izuku Midoriya. Katsuki clenched his teeth at the vision of the sputtery dorky boy conversing with scouts and journalists, blushing pink and rubbing the back of his head so hard one wondered how he didn’t have a bald spot. Ochako would scamper over and hug his arm and introduce herself as his girlfriend. When did she change to green hairpins? They matched shitty Deku’s shitty grass-colored hair. As his conscious delved deep into infuriating daydreams, his pace became thunderous; his stomps resounded in the now empty hallways, echoing like those of a giant on the hunt. Distantly, he could hear Eijirou running and calling his name, but he ignored him like one would a fly.

You already have her. No way am I letting you have the glory, too, Deku!

“Oh! Hello, Kacchan.”

Katsuki stood in the threshold of the locker room door he had just flung open, red-faced and panting. Without even realizing it, he had maniacally stomped to the gym’s locker rooms. The rest of the team were giving him confused side-eyes, and that green-haired dork had greeted him cheerfully like he always did. Eijirou meekly asked Katsuki to step aside so he could enter, and Katsuki did so, robotically. His red eyes fixated on the fidgeting boy rummaging through his locker; Izuku currently was not paying attention. He always could sense Katsuki’s glares, though, and soon enough, his eyes slid to the blonde boy still hulking in the doorway.

Izuku smiled half-heartedly with that stupid nervous giggle that made Katsuki’s blood boil. “You, um, look a little out of breath. Did you run here? Practice doesn’t start for another five minutes, so there was no need to rush…” He trailed off with a slight yelp as Katsuki kicked over the metal bench in front of him, knocking Izuku’s sports bottle of Gatorade onto the floor. It was a pity the cap was closed, because Katsuki would have relished watching the boy scramble around trying to towel up the blue liquid from the tile.

“Bakugo! That’s no way to treat school property!” Tenya Iida, the team’s point guard and also Class 1-A’s representative, reprimanded him. He shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose and then crossed his arms, mouth opening to scold the grumpy boy some more.

“Shut the fuck up, Four-Eyes. I’m not in the mood,” Katsuki snarled and intentionally charged his shoulder into the thick of Tenya’s arm as he passed. Tenya stammered out something along the lines of “Why I never-!” but Katsuki drowned him out by flinging the door of his locker open. A sharp clang of metal meeting metal cracked through the room like a snapping whip.

“Eijirou, what’s his problem?” Mezo Shoji, the team’s center, sighed as he bent over to right the up-ended bench. Izuku was staring at Katsuki worriedly; he could tell by the way the hairs on the backs of his neck were prickling. That nerd. That nerd is my problem, he wanted to scream, though he knew it wasn’t right. It wasn’t Izuku’s fault that Ochako loved him instead of Katsuki, and it wasn’t Izuku’s fault that Katsuki had gone and fallen head-over-heels in love with the girl anyway. He felt a cough crawling up his throat, so he discreetly unwrapped another one of the lozenges and popped it into his mouth. The cherry numbness chased the cough back down to the depths of his infested lungs, where it would wait to rear its ugly head again. In the background, Eijirou was explaining that he had no idea what had Katsuki in such a mood.

Katsuki silently fumed with self-loathing as he changed into his practice clothes. He could feel the team’s concerned eyes boring into him all the while. He focused his nervous energy into rolling the cherry tablet over his tongue. Once he had tied the laces of his sneakers, he stalked out of the locker room without a word.

Inside the gymnasium, he fell into some pre-practice stretches, regardless of the fact they would conduct them as a team. As he sank into a lunge, he glanced across the gym to find that the cheerleaders were hauling out their rubber tumbling mats. The team’s captain, Momo Yaoyaorozu, was zealously directing the operation. Katsuki’s eyes shifted to the girl beside her, and the cough came springing back up his trachea again.

Ochako’s cheeks were flushed, and she was wiping sweat from her brow, smiling as she chatted with Momo. The cheerleading uniform fit the curvature of her body so snugly, with just the faintest stripe of her midriff showing under the hem of the fabric. The striped knee socks hugged her a little too well, as the soft flesh of her thighs bulged slightly over the tops. Katsuki instantly tore his face away from the scene as indecent thoughts threatened to bloom in his mind. Godammit, he thought as he cleared his throat, attempting to force the cough back down again. Yet his eyes could not help but trail back to the gorgeous girl. His face flushed dark red when she realized she was staring directly at him.

“Good afternoon, Katsuki!” she called with a cheerful wave. “I hope that practice goes well.” Katsuki ignored her and refocused his attention to his stretching. He had been in the lunge for about a minute now, and his calves were burning. Wincing, he eased himself up and started stretching his arm muscles instead. Ochako was gazing at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“It always goes well,” he huffed haughtily back at her. “Just focus on your flips and tricks, Round Face.” She had learned not to take most of his insults seriously, so she just giggled and nodded. It was such a simple gesture, but it felt to Katsuki like she had thrust a dagger into his sternum. Searing hot pain spiked in the middle of his chest, and he doubled over as he felt that eerie sensation of something crawling up his throat.

“No…!” he gasped out, compulsively swallowing while clenching the cherry lozenge in his teeth. It did little good. Just as his teammates were strolling in to join him on the court, a petal popped onto his tongue. Izuku addressed him, but Katsuki sprinted to the large garbage can by the bleachers, burying the petal under mounds and mounds of trash. He jumped violently as Fumikage, one of the alternates, asked from behind him, “What are you doing?”

“None of your fucking business!” he snapped at the raven-haired boy. Fumikage narrowed his red eyes at the volatile Katsuki but cared not enough to nag. He just shrugged and went on his way. Running his palms up and down his arms to smooth the goosebumps and raised hairs, he tried to forget about the flower petals and focus on practice. That sickly-sweet flavor of cherry remained on his tongue with the melting lozenge.

His worries really did melt away on the court. Playing basketball, Katsuki felt immersed in his element. Driving the ball up the court felt as natural as breathing. The Hanahaki dissolved in the haze of adrenaline and hyper-focus, drowned out by the pure desire to play. For the first time that day, a genuine smile alighted his face, a determined grin that carried all the euphoria and delight of the game. Thirty-seven minutes exactly of nothing but his love, his blood, his essence…

Then came minute number thirty-eight.

Katsuki grunted as Tenya slammed into him, attempting to stop the blond’s slam dunk. The taller boy’s brawn packed a punch, and it would have been a blatant foul. Katsuki crashed onto the court floor with a loud whump!, and the back of his skull cracked against the ceramic-overlain concrete. His vision whirled before him as he reeled in the swimming sensation. His chest was heaving as he hyperventilated from the shock, but it felt like no air filled his lungs. Katsuki came to the terrifying realization that he very much couldn’t breathe, and his hands instantly flew to his throat. He made to scream, but only a choked gargle came out. Is it a flower? Am I choking on a fucking flower? But how? I wasn’t thinking about her! I didn’t look at Ochako at all!

Thinking about the girl made things worse, and then, of course, she had to go and appear in his line of sight. She was calling his name, kneeling over him with those bright big worried brown eyes.

“He’s turning blue! He’s choking!” she sobbed to Izuku as he knelt beside her. Katsuki growled on reflex; well, it was meant to be a snarl, but it came out as another one of those bubbling gurgles.

“On what, though?!” Izuku cried hysterically. Ochako buried her face into her hands with a terrified wail.

“I gave him some cherry lozenges right before practice started because he had a little cough! I was just… I was just worried, you know… E-ever since… Oh, I just got worried!” she fretted. Katsuki’s limbs had begun to grow heavy, like his bones were filled with lead. With another agonized groan, his head sunk to rest against the painted ballcourt. A fog had descended over his mind, white and thick, and he could only coalesce with one single repeating thought.

Don’t cry, Ochako… Don’t cry….

Then he was sitting up, Tenya’s thick arms around his middle with his thumbs jabbing into his sternum. Katsuki lurched forward with a wracking cough, and the cherry lozenge rocketed out of his mouth. It sailed about a yard before crashing into the smooth floor and shattering into several pieces. As Tenya’s grip loosened, Katsuki leaned over, sputtering and hacking and praying that no petals came up in the process. He was still a little delirious, and without knowing it, he was whispering that echoing plea. “Don’t c-cry… D-don’t… ‘Chako…” he gasped between heaving breaths. After about the sixth time, he realized he was actually saying it aloud and looked up at her wildly.

Her typically bouncy caramel hair was wispy about her face from her teasing her hands through it. Her eyes were wide and watery as she gawked at him, with her bottom lip trembling precariously from her holding back sobs. Katsuki flushed, but realized there was no going back, so he attempted to save face. “Don’t cry, stupid. It’s my own damn fault for having one of those things in my mouth during practice. I should’ve known better,” he muttered and wiped the red-tinted drool from the corner of his mouth. Ochako gulped thickly before nodding.

“You’re damn right, dude!” Eijirou suddenly interrupted. Katsuki glared seditiously at him out of the corners of his blood-injected eyes. “What woulda happened if none of us knew the Heimlich, dude?” Katsuki wanted to reply with a barbed retort, but he knew by Eijirou’s pale face and alarmed expression that he was scolding him only because he was worried. Self-conscious and embarrassed at being the centerpiece of such drama, Katsuki drew his legs to his chest and slung an arm over his knees.

“Sorry. Won’t happen again.” It wasn’t often that Katsuki was forthcoming with apologies, so Eijirou’s body sagged, and he just stared at him with shaking eyes.

“Kacchan? Are you sure you’re okay? Ochako says you’re already sick, and you just hit your head really hard… Maybe you should sit out the rest of practice,” Izuku offered helpfully. Every nerve in his body pulsed at once with unbridled anger. Snorting, Katsuki jumped to his feet and glared thunderously down at him. The effectiveness of the angry gesture was undermined by the wobble that gripped his body. The back of his skull flared up with a savage ache, and for a moment, the world seemed to shift. Grimacing, he shuffled his footing and held his forehead, but did not attempt to follow the green-haired boy’s advice.

“Don’t patronize me, Deku. I’m fucking fine. And you-” he snarled and turned his attention to Tenya, “Watch your fucking fouls.” He then shoved his way out of the circle of players and cheerleaders that had surrounded him. “Let’s fucking get on with it already! I ain’t gonna be responsible for us fucking up our first game, ya hear?!” he barked over his shoulder. Reluctantly, the crowd dispersed back to their respective practice zones, but Katsuki did not miss the small moment Ochako hesitated and stared worriedly at him. He coughed into his fist and turned away, but that image of the pure, sweet girl burned in his mind every time he blinked.

~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the practice didn’t go much better. Katsuki was abhorred to find that he was out of breath after the last twenty-odd minutes of practice. He was never out of breath, not to that degree. Back inside the locker room, he was hunched over on the metal bench with a damp towel slung over his heated shoulders, cursing every wheezing breath that passed through his teeth. His head was pounding, both with exertion and the trauma, and that just made him all the more irritable. This sucks! This fucking sucks! You mean to tell me that it’s day one and I’m already feeling the effects? Fuck me. I just need to last the season. One season, a ticket to the Winter Cup, and I can die in peace. Not until then!

“Kacchan…?”

Katsuki looked up with a scowl as Izuku hesitantly squeaked his name. “I noticed you drank all your water,” he frowned. Indeed, Katsuki had guzzled the entire bottle in three seconds after coming off the court- another rarity. Katsuki’s gaze dropped to Izuku’s hand, which was offering a fresh bottle of water to him. It was cold, too, its plastic surface dripping with condensation. Izuku had obviously bought it from the vending machine. “You’re our captain. You need to take care of yourself.”

Katsuki smacked his hand away, and Izuku flinched.

“I don’t need your fucking charity, Deku,” he growled, jumping to his feet and grabbing him by the front of his workout tee. Izuku yelped and dropped the bottle, grabbing his wrist with both hands. His green eyes were wide and shaking… just like Ochako’s had been, as she stared at him with worry. The glass of Katsuki’s mind cracked, letting mania spill forth. “Stop looking at me like that! Stop looking at me with pity! All of you! I’m fine! I’m fine! I’m fine!” His voice cracked with the final insistence. Izuku still had his grip tight around Katsuki’s wrist, and his green eyes swam with fear.

“Kacchan, I… No one said you weren’t,” he whispered. Katsuki realized the gravity of what had just tumbled out of his mouth and dropped Izuku, whom he had lifted off the floor in his ire. Izuku fumbled as he suddenly landed on the flats of his feet, and then looked at Katsuki like a wild animal he had been locked in a cage with. Fear and confusion disfigured his expression, and Katsuki suddenly fathomed that it must have been the same expression he was wearing in that bathroom stall. It felt awful, terrible, god-awful- and Izuku didn’t deserve to feel like that. He really didn’t.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, his throat lodged with both pride and shame. Izuku’s eyebrows knitted with wonder. Of course he was amazed; it was the second time in half an hour that Katsuki had apologized. Katsuki bent down to pluck the water bottle off the floor, flipping it his hand before studying it. It’s not Deku’s fault. It’s mine.

It was just so easy to take it out on him. Izuku had been Katsuki’s rival in basketball since they were children; Katsuki already viewed him as a threat. Throwing in the fact that Katsuki was now in love with Izuku’s girlfriend made their relationship as explosive as a Molotov. Deep, deep down, though, Katsuki knew it wasn’t right. It wasn’t right to take out his shitty situation on Izuku. It’s my own damn fault, and I need to own that.

“Thanks,” he huffed to the boy before pushing past him. Izuku was left rooted to the spot, mouth agape. The other players watched in confusion and awe as he walked bare-chested out of the locker room while popping the water bottle open and draining it halfway. “Getting some air,” he quipped to them before slipping out of the door-

and bumping right into Ochako.

The water gushed out of his mouth and nose as he choked on it. Ochako yelped as he all but spit all over her. “Fuck- shit, Ochako, I- Goddamit,” he babbled and wrenched the towel off his shoulders to wipe her face, thinking she would be infuriated at him. The fluffy cloth smothered her squeaking replies until she pushed his hand away, and he blinked when she began laughing heartily.

“Katsuki, it’s okay. It was an accident- and kinda funny,” she laughed. His hand slowly fell to his side, clutching the damp towel tightly as he just stared at her. One wouldn’t call her the epitome of beauty at the moment- wet, messy hair tied up in a clumsy bun, body red and glistening with perspiration, apple-scented perfume turned acrid by the odor of sweat- but to Katsuki she looked like the sexiest goddess there was. A pink blush began creeping up his neck as she smiled brightly at him. “Did those throat lozenges help?”

It took him a moment to register that she had even asked him a question.

“Oh, uh, yeah. ‘preciate it,” he muttered after several seconds too long. Ochako blinked curiously at him, then reached up to ruffle his sweaty ash-blond hair. “What the fuck? Ochako! I’m all sweaty and gross!” he protested and shoved her hand away.

“Hehe, it’s okay! Me too!” she giggled before giving him a warm smile. “Please take care of yourself, Katsuki. The team needs you to lead them, you know. It’s okay to take a moment to recover so that you’re there when they need you. Izuku is your co-captain! You should trust him to take up the mantle when you need a break.” Katsuki was caught between admitting the fact and stubbornly insisting Izuku couldn’t do shit. He elected just to nod. Ochako thankfully took that as a confirmation, and she smiled harder, her brown eyes scrunching up with pure contentment. “That’s what I wanna hear!”

“Ah! Sorry, Ochako! Did I keep you waiting long?” Izuku gasped as he stumbled out of the door behind Katsuki. The idiot hadn’t even tied his laces; he was in such a rush to join her. It left a sour taste in Katsuki’s mouth, seeing him so bungling and clingy. Ochako snickered and pointed at Izuku’s signature red sneakers. Like hairpins, like cherry lozenges, like blood, coughing up blood- Katsuki covered his mouth as the prickling at the back of his throat returned; meanwhile, Izuku laughed good-naturedly and bent down to tie his laces. Fucking simp. But Katsuki was jealous, oh so jealous, that Izuku was even in the position to be doted on by Ochako. He was too self-absorbed to even listen to what they were talking about, but they looked too fucking happy doing it.

“-Katsuki? Katsuki!” He jumped at Ochako calling his name.

“Wh-what?” The blush climbed higher, as both of them were staring at him expectantly.

“I said, do you wanna walk home together? We can wait.”

“Er, no,” he refused, and awkwardly looked away. He couldn’t help the cough that sneaked out, and he cursed himself. “Just go on without me.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” she frowned, then smiled. “But wait. Lemme give you some more cherry lozenges,” she said, and before he could reject her offer, she was already digging in her bookbag for them. That tacky little Saturn charm glinted in Katsuki’s red eyes as it swung back and forth. “Here we go!” she sighed contentedly and grabbed his hand to dump several of the wrapped candy-medicines in his palm. She closed his fingers over them, and he looked at her, hoping his heartbreak wasn’t showing on his face. “Get well soon!” she said while patting his fingers.

Then she was interlocking her fingers with Izuku’s, beaming brighter than the sun above. As he watched them, strolling down the hallway and looking like a couple graced by Aphrodite herself, Katsuki could feel the sun of his life setting already. He clenched the medicines in his hand, feeling a few of them crack under the pressure.

“‘Get well soon,’” he snorted with a piteous smile. “If she only fuckin’ knew.”

Enjoy this story? Here’s the next chapter! Want more stories? Check out my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @simplybakugou @sadistiks @cellotonin @pixxiesdust

15 notes · View notes