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just-a-creep-babe · 1 year

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A Demon’s Ache — Part 11

Eyeless Jack x Reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

Commissioned by @cookiereblogss — thank you infinitely for your continued support, darling ❤️❤️❤️

Requests are closed but commissions are open!

Masterlist: x

The room is so unbearably warm

The smell of sex is heavy in the air—your scent is utterly intoxicating

You’re so tight

And you’re so fucking wet

There’s a mess of slick between your thighs, and every time your hips stutter, every time you grind down against him, he can feel your arousal coating his pelvis

His fingers dig into the plush flesh of your thighs—and god, he fucking loves grabbing you like this

He loves feeling your weight on top of him, loves feeling your thighs shake with every greedy motion of your eager little body

“J-Jack~”

You’re breathless, breath-taking

He presses you down against him, forcing you snug against his pelvis, and the way your stomach bulges from his cock is nothing short of perfection

You moan out a curse, squirming on top of him, wriggling like you’re still trying to adjust to the size of him

He can feel your walls fluttering around his length, feel the way you keep clenching and gushing around him

“F-fuck~ Jack, s’too big~”

He snarls at the sound of your words; pleading and innocent, yet so fucking filthy

“You’re doing so fucking good—taking my cock so fucking well~"

He can't contain the low, dangerous growl of his voice

His instincts are on the very cusp of taking over; it's taking every ounce of willpower not to slam you down onto him

He wants to ruin you, wants to use that pretty little cunt until the only thing you’re able to scream is his name

He realizes the thought has his hands trembling around you

He grips the fat of your thighs in an attempt to steady himself, but your little yelp only spurs him on even further

Deep breaths, deep breaths, he reminds himself

He doesn’t want to lose control—doesn’t even want to imagine what he’d do to you if you triggered a heat right now

But then you bounce on his cock, driving him right into your most sensitive spot, and the way your body seizes on top of him is almost too much for him to handle

“Fuck”

It’s all he manages to say before you repeat the motion again, and the way you moan his name has his whole body igniting beneath you

Somewhere at the back of his mind, he realizes this is dangerous

If you keep this up, he’ll lose it

And so, just barely clinging on to the remaining shreds of his self-restraint, he manages to grab your hips and force you to stop moving

“S-stay still,” he orders, “I can’t—I-I need you to stay still for me”

He swallows down another growl, trying to focus on anything else besides the way you look on top of him, the way you feel wrapped around him

“What? W-what’s wrong?”

Concern flashes on those pretty features of yours

And god, he hates himself for making you worry like this

But it’s for your own good

“I just—just give me a second”

He can't scramble up an explanation in his intoxicated daze

You’re too fucking distracting

Even now, when you aren’t moving on top of him, he can still feel your velvety walls squeezing around him, trying to milk him, and it’s consuming him

He wants to break you in half

Even if you don’t understand why, you do as he orders

You sit yourself nice and pretty on his cock, trying to stay as motionless as possible while he catches his breath

He’s so fucking hard

It’s impossible to calm his instincts down—he's burning for your touch

The image of his teeth sinking into your soft neck won’t leave his mind

He wants your pulse against his lips, your blood against his tongue

His chest heaves with every shallow breath

He’s grateful he put his mask back on; it’s just about the only thing holding him back right now

He wouldn’t be able to stop himself from branding you with his mark otherwise

You're too fucking irresistible

Just like that first kiss, this is so much better than he could’ve ever imagined

He swears you were made for him

He doesn’t know how long you manage to sit still for

All he knows is that the ripples of heat eventually seem to calm down

But waiting like this with his cock still sheathed inside you has only made both of you all the more desperate

There’s that dazed look in your eyes again, your face flushed, your lips parted for every shaky breath you inhale and exhale

His grip around you loosens as some of the tension dissipates from his body

And as soon as it does, it’s like you can’t stop yourself from grinding down against him

Your cunt squelches noisily from the sheer amount of slick drooling out of it

His cock twitches, and even though you've barely moved an inch, he still doesn't know if he can handle your little cunt without snapping

"(Y/n)—" he snarls your name out in a warning, squeezing your hips between his warm hands

But all that does is make you whimper, and he has to choke back another snarl because you keep fucking clenching around him

"Stop moving," he hisses, “need you to be a good girl ‘nd do as I say, yeah?”

He can tell you don’t want to stop, but you still try your best to obey him

And even though it needs to be this way, it doesn’t make it any easier to resist pounding up into you

He wants to turn you into his depraved little whore

He huffs out a breath, trying to chase his filthy thoughts away

He needs to control himself

But knowing you want it just as badly makes it so much harder for him to resist

After what feels like a small eternity of torture, he, again, starts to feel more in control, so he gently moves his hips up just the slightest bit

And fuck, he has to clench his jaw shut to swallow back a string of curses

He wants to ease both of you into it, but you’re making it so fucking difficult when you keep tightening around him

He reminds himself to breathe again, but his head’s swimming and he can’t think clearly

You brace your hands against his chest, fingernails digging crescents into his skin like you're trying to cut him open

And he knows it's just because you're overwhelmed and struggling to accommodate the way he's slowly stretching you out, but it triggers his instincts like nothing else and he swears there's no way he'll be able to go easy on you if you keep this up

“Did I tell you to move?” he asks sharply

"But Jack—" you whine pleadingly, “f-feels so good~”

His hips buckle at the sound of your voice, and the way you moan has his muscles stiffening

He doesn’t know if you’re doing it on purpose

He doesn’t know if you’re trying to disobey him by rocking back and forth on top of him, or if it’s just a lapse of your own self-control

All he knows is that you feel way too fucking good

“S-stop fucking squirming”

Were it any other time, he'd be downright ashamed of the predatory snarl in his voice

But he's way too horny to care right now

"Fuck, Jack, please~ I can’t wait any longer, I-I need you~"

God, do you even have the slightest clue what you do to him?

He swallows thickly, trying desperately not to give in to the temptation of fucking you senseless

"Just—just a bit longer," he groans, "Just need you to wait a bit longer for me, morsel”

You shift on top of him like you're trying to readjust, but he knows you're just still searching for more friction

The fat tip of his cock grinds into your g-spot every time you squirm, and your reactions just might be the death of him

You're way too fucking hot

He takes in another shaky breath, then allows himself the privilege of letting his hands wander up and down your form

Your body's fucking divine

Your skin is so soft, so wonderfully malleable for him to grope however he pleases

His fingertips trace over your sides, feeling every curve and angle before finally resting on your chest

He squeezes at your tits, his thumbs flicking over your nipples, and the way you whimper, the way your walls tighten as he toys with you—it’s better than heaven itself

You bring your hands over his, encouraging him to keep squeezing your flesh, and with a breathless moan, you arch up into his touch, and you look so fucking gorgeous as you do

“J-Jack, please~" you beg, and he feels a pang of guilt in his chest when he notices that you're almost on the verge of tears

Fuck if it isn't one of the hottest things ever though

With a husky murmur of praise, he brings his hands back down to your hips and coaxes you to grind against him

You push your hips flush to his pelvis, and it has his pulsing cock bulging through your stomach again

He groans, bringing a hand to press over it, and the way you clench around him is mouth-watering

He slowly grants you the friction you want by letting you set the pace, letting you ride him however you like

He’s all yours to use

You lift yourself up, then gently sink down onto the entirety of his length to feel every inch of him fucking you open

"H-haah, fuck~"

He squeezes at your flesh, groping at your delicate body, and you gasp, your brows furrowing like you’re adoring every second of this

"Such a good girl for me," he groans, the praise falling naturally from his lips, "so fucking perfect"

A flash of lightning fills the room, illuminating your figure with a pale light for a brief millisecond, and he almost can't believe how beautiful you are

No amount of fantasizing could've ever done this moment justice; you look and feel so much better than he could've ever dreamed

"So fucking gorgeous," he continues with a growl, and he knows he doesn't sound completely human right now, but judging by the way you clench around him, he can only assume you like the demonic lilt in his voice anyways

"So fucking perfect~"

His perfect little mate

The pet name almost threatens to slip up, but he tightens his grasp around your supple flesh, and it's just barely enough to keep him in check

"J-Jack~ So good~ F-feels so fucking good~"

He hums, practically purring

"Yeah, you like that?" he snarls, "My little morsel likes feeling my cock inside her? Likes being stretched out like a good little pet for me?"

You moan his name again, sounding wonderfully submissive and needy, and it has him snapping his hips up in a sudden eager thrust

"F-fuck!~"

You yelp out a curse, gasping, and he hisses at how tightly you seize around him

And then it's like you can't handle going slow and steady anymore, like you just need to feel more of him

Like you want him to ruin your insides

You start bouncing up and down on him harder and faster, your sloppy cunt sucking him in with every frantic thrust

He can almost swear he's hitting your cervix, and the visible size difference between you is driving him feral

"You feel that?" he huffs, "Feel how my cock is stretching you out? Feel how you were made to take me? Made to be my desperate little cockslut?”

Obscenities spill from his mouth, but you don’t seem to mind his possessive praises

More wonderful sounds escape you as he plunges into your warmth over and over and over again like he's trying to fuck the shape of his dick into your bare cunt

He roughly yanks onto your thighs to guide you for every thrust, pushing his hips up to meet you halfway every time

“Fuck, good girl—that’s right, atta good fucking girl for me~”

He grunts out a curse as you clench around him again, moaning his name like he's the one thing you've ever needed in your life

You’re addictive

His head's all foggy, clouded by the sheer intensity of his need to breed you

He loses control of his hips, loses control of his grasp around your thighs until he can’t stop forcing you down, forcing you to meet his every thrust at the pace he wants

And even though you’re the one on top, there’s suddenly no question about who’s in control

You’re all his

His thoughts turn into a scrambled mess, a slew of dangerous growls escaping him with reckless abandon

“Mine, mine, all fucking mine”

The thundering rain outside isn't loud enough to mask the sound of your squelching cunt as he ruins your little hole

Your body tenses, your gummy walls getting impossibly tight around him, and somewhere deep down, he realizes you’re cuming around him, but he’s barely coherent enough for it to register

You cry out his name again, and he knows he should slow down, he knows he should give you a second to breathe, but you just feel so fucking good

Your tits bounce with every brutal thrust, the fat of your hips jiggling every time he slams his pelvis up into you

Mouth falling open with a whine, your eyes roll back and fall close, and the expression on your face is fucking perfect

He can’t take it

His pace is animalistic as the instinct to breed you overwhelms his rationality

He knows you're getting close to your limit, but he can't stop himself—he doesn't want to stop

Choked gasps and whimpers fall from your lips between adorable little sobs about how it's too much

He shifts the angle of his hips, and the way you scream has him throbbing

"F-fuck—so fucking perfect for me—"

With every thrust, he feels himself getting closer, feels his body tensing, feels a knot tightening in the pit of his abdomen until he can’t hold it back anymore

He snarls, something low, guttural and demonic when he finally cums

Hips pistoning forwards, he seals his cock between your tight walls, and the entirety of his length twitches as he pumps you full of his cum

After all this time dreaming about cuming inside you—he just wants to keep going

He'd fuck your brains out all night long if he could

But he knows he has to stop or he'll end up hurting you

He presses you down as snug to your pelvis as he can manage, and the way you shudder from the aftershocks is pure bliss

Even when the ecstasy of his orgasm fades away, he can't help but keep grinding his hips up into yours, like he’s trying to force his cum to stay stuffed inside of you

You keep whimpering, your body shaking, and god, the urge to fuck another round of his cum past your cervix is overwhelming

But he instead forces himself to take a deep breath and stop moving, even despite the way your walls keep weakly fluttering around him

It, admittedly, takes a few minutes for him to calm down from the rush of endorphins

He doesn't want to leave your warmth

But he knows he has to

He helps ease you off of him, and you almost immediately collapse next to him in an exhausted heap

He wraps his arms around you, holding you close, his chest rumbling pleasantly

If there was any good time to mark you, it'd be right now, he realizes

He could lift his mask up, fill his mouth with your flesh and claim you once and for all

The rational part of him knows he shouldn't

But his head's all fuzzy, and his instincts are overpowering his common sense

He's wanted this for so fucking long now

You're all his

#eyeless Jack #eyeless jack x reader smut #eyeless jack x reader #creepypasta #a demon’s ache

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hotgirlgraps · 1 year

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Empty Promises

Synopsis: he no longer kissed you without the taste of another woman on the tip of his tongue

Warnings: extreme angst, cursing, endless arguments, smutty flashbacks, cheating, lying, manipulation

A/N: you guys reallllly wanted angst so here it is! Unlike the rest of the fics I’ve written this far, there’s no happy ending here. If you’re an emotional girlie like me maybe grab some tissues. Enjoy!

(Hes a major dick in this one so if that’s something you don’t like, I wouldn’t read it)

Italics=flashbacks

Standing in front of him now, being forced to feel the complete carelessness he doesn’t bother to hide, you stare up at him through the tears blurring your vision. You couldn’t figure out how you got here. You wondered how you were so oblivious to the signs that giving him your heart was the deadliest choice you could’ve ever made.

His eyes were low and shadowed by the hoodie that had the scent of perfume that was not your own embedded in the fabric. There was no empathy, no remorse whatsoever for what he’s done to you. He can see clear as day that he took a girl who was formerly so happy, so joyous, so naturally herself, and he broke her down piece by piece until she became nothing but a shattered version of who she used to be.

And he would be lying for the thousandth time if he told you that he was sorry for what he’s turned you into.

“I thought you loved me.” You croak, doing everything you possibly could not to let another dam break loose in front of him. “You told me that! You told me that I was the one for you! That it was always going to be me and you in the end, no matter what!” Your strained voice bounced off the walls. Your heart was spilling out of your chest and he just stood there like it didn’t affect him in the slightest.

“I have been there for you through everything!” You reminded him, “From your debut in AEW to now, I’ve been your biggest fan! I’ve been nothing but your biggest supporter! I’ve changed my whole life around for you! So we could be together like you told me you wanted!”

The memories came rushing back right before your eyes. The times when it was simply you, Tyler and all the love the two of you could ever possibly pour into each other. The late night phone calls after his matches when you were the one he wanted to tell everything to and the times you were front row cheering him on. It all came flooding back as you stood in front of him, feeling the impending end.

“This is all I thought about tonight” he whispered against your lips as he cupped your cheek with his taped up hand. His other hand gripped your hip as he thrusted himself into you, rocking you against the closed door he had you pinned to.

You lulled your head to the side and his lips trailed their way to your neck, slowly sucking on your heated skin that was soon to be left with a purple discoloration, a way of claiming you, in his mind.

You had to muffle your moans and used his broad shoulder to do so, biting down on his slick skin when he pulled his hips back just to slam right back into you. There were people walking past the room and you could hear the muffled conversations through the door but Tyler didn’t care. After his debut he was so amped up he sent you a text from where you were leaning against the barricade and told you he needed you immediately.

Having you front row cheering him on did nothing but make his adrenaline rush that much more, which served as the reason why he couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel to have you like this.

Your legs locked around his hips and soon your hands were pinned above your head when he leaned back and picked up the pace, knowing it wouldn’t be long until someone needed to use the locker room.

He watched his cock disappear and reappear with your sweet, shiny juices coating every inch before he brought his sights to your face, loving the way you were trying so hard to contain the loud moans and whimpers threatening to break through.

“You’re so fucking beautiful” he huffed out rather breathlessly, “all the time but especially like this, God I can’t wait to get you back to the hotel so I can fuck you like this all night long” he groaned as he pressed his forehead to yours and brushed his lips over your own.

Hot breaths and low sighs, moans and whimpers intermingled between you before he hit a particular spot that he knew was going to make you scream. He covered your mouth with his hand and snapped his hips into you and out so forcefully that you couldn’t control anything your body was doing.

Blissed out and ever so dazed you were snatched back to the moment as soon as his lips lingered to the shell of your ear and he breathlessly whispered, “I love you, Y/N” for the first time.

The memory that used to make your heart swell now sickened you when you realize he never meant anything he said. The lies he’s told you over the years that you’ve had to find out in the most heart wrenching of ways. The harsh realization that while you were completely and utterly his from the start, he was never yours at all.

The way you loved him was what destroyed you. You put everything on hold for him without a second thought and he never considered to do anything like that for you. You were always there the second he needed you but when you needed him there would be excuses made left and right until it was of his convenience. You gave him everything you possibly possessed and willingly took all of it and let it die in his hands.

“How many times am I supposed to let you do this to me?” You ask, shaking your head. “How many times are you going to lie to me, Tyler?!”

His emotionless state was making you internally plead for something. For anything that showed that he had at least some sort of heart buried deep down. You couldn’t understand how he could watch you fall apart right before his own eyes and not feel a single thing after everything you’ve been through together.

“Fucking say something, Tyler! Anything!” You shout, begging damn near.

He eyes you over before he drops his head and plops down on the couch, staring down at his feet with his head hung low as he shrugs his shoulders. “What do you want me to say, Y/N?” He muttered before he lifted his gaze. “That I’m sorry? Haven’t I said that enough?”

“I don’t give a fuck about an apology anymore because I know you never fucking mean it!” You felt like a broken record replaying over and over again. “I want answers! I want to know why you keep fucking destroying me! I want to know why you keep lying! Why you can’t keep your fucking dick in your pants when I’m not around! What the fuck did I do to deserve any of this?!”

He remained silent as he stared up at you, watching the tears stream down your cheeks. You dropped to the other end of the couch and let your head fall in your hands, mascara staining your palms as you completely fell apart.

“Don’t cry, please.” He whispers from above you as you bury your face in his chest. “It’s only a few weeks. I’ll be coming back to you as soon as I can.”

You pulled back and wiped your eyes, but it did no use. You looked up at him for what was going to be the last time for a while. He was going to be on the road and you were going back to school to finish out your degree. The only time you’d be seeing him was on tv, on FaceTime or all over the internet and it was killing you both.

He looked down at you and swallowed thickly. He was doing his best not to break down too, but seeing the tears on your face was shattering his heart.

“I’m gonna miss you.” You whimpered as you cupped his cheek, and he leaned into your palm. “But I’m so proud of you, and I’ll be watching dynamite and rampage every single time you’re on.”

His lips tipped up before you pressed yours to them. Taz came and tapped his shoulder, breaking the two of you apart. “Planes boarding, bud.”

You unwrapped your arms from around him and he grabbed your hands, squeezing them once before letting them slip. Then he took a step back to let taz hug you goodbye.

“It’ll be alright, you two will be back together again before you know it. Go get that degree, kid.”

When you pulled back, Tyler was standing behind you with his suitcase in hand. His eyes were tinged red but he must have wiped away the tears. You gave him one last kiss as he whispered against your lips, “I love you, and remember that when it gets hard without me.”

You nodded, pulling apart for the final time. “See you soon, champ.”

You remember Taz telling you later on that Tyler was just trying to hold it all together in front of you, but when he got on the plane he bawled like a baby.

You couldn’t understand how he was able to sit in front of you, watching you completely fall to pieces over what he has done and not shed a single tear. You heard him shifting on the couch cushions before you felt him get up, pulling your hands away from your eyes only to see him heading to the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge and casually coming back to take his seat.

“I don’t fucking understand, Tyler.” You sniffled as you tried wiping the wetness off of your cheeks. You looked over at him but he was staring out the window, up at the moon as he tipped his bottle back and chugged.

You didn’t take the time to really process before you reached over and snatched the bottle out of his hands. He cut his eyes at you, “Give me my fucking drink back.” He demanded with an all too non suggestive tone, but you didn’t. You got up and walked over to the kitchen and stared at him as you poured it down the drain.

“Fuck your drink” your spat as you came back over to him. “You owe it to me to fucking explain yourself, Tyler! You fucking owe that to me!”

“I don’t owe anybody shit.” He muttered as he stood from the couch again. You stared up at him, your eyes following him back to the kitchen, where he grabbed another beer and stared dead at you while he tipped his head back and chugged.

Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He grabbed it, looking down at the screen and he had the audacity to let a smirk slip across his lips. You knew who was texting him. It was two in the morning.

“Are you fucking serious?” You felt your eye twitch. He lifted his head and wiped the smirk away with the back of his hand. “Right in front of me?”

“It was my dad.”

“Then show me.” You stood up, crossing your arms as you eyed the phone that he quickly locked and stuffed back in his pocket. That alone told you what you already knew.

“You’re fucking lying again!” You shout, your voice trembling before it cracked. “God Tyler do you ever fucking stop!”

“Do you?!” He shouted back, his voice bellowing out so loud it caused you to take a step back. “You’re always fucking doing this! All you ever want to do anymore is fight and bitch and moan all the fucking time!” His eyes were filled with fury now and it was a stark contrast from the lifelessness you were unfortunately used to.

You found yourself speechless for a moment. You couldn’t believe he was turning the tables on you when he was the one who caused all of this in the first place. You’d gotten in many arguments over the years but it seemed that they just kept escalating and escalating and your brain flashed back to the very first one, and how you were so foolish to believe that you could patch things up under his bedsheets after.

“I told you, I’ve been busy.” He grumbled as he ran a towel through his wet hair.

“I’ve been busy too, but I still make time for you, Tyler.” You point out as you sit on the edge of the hotel room bed. “I’m supposed to be at school right now but I took a few days off for you.”

“I never asked you to do that. You really should be at school right now. I’m not the one who told you to take days off.” He said as he tossed the towel into the hamper and grabbed his hoodie. “I already told Ethan I would meet them in the lobby way before you showed up. Just stay here and when I come back we’ll spend time together. I can’t help that I had plans already.”

Watching him throw that hoodie on felt like you’d lost the argument. He leaned down and placed a kiss to your cheek briefly before he headed towards the door. “Love ya.” He said before he headed out.

You waited all night for him. Around two he stopped answering your texts. You ended up texting Ethan just to make sure everything was okay, but didn’t get a reply back until four in the morning.

You woke up to Tyler’s arms snaking around your waist from behind and the sun peeking through the blinds. The tear soaked pillow stuck to your cheek and peeled from your skin as you rolled over to face him. His eyes were bloodshot and breath reeked of tequila but, at that point you were so exhausted from crying that you didn’t have the energy to tell him how you felt.

His hand trailed down to your thigh where the end of his shirt laid against your skin and he slipped it underneath until he found your panties. His lips latched to your neck, roughly sucking your skin as his drunken voice muttered, “Missed you” against it.

You knew you were putty in his hands and allowed it anyway. You felt the distance between the two of you and that alone terrified you to no end, so whatever you could do to bring that closeness, that connection back, you’d do it in a heartbeat.

That led to him lazily thrusting into you moments later from behind. He held your thigh hiked up on his hip and with every thrust he huffed the strong scent of tequila against your cheeks. He buried his face in the crook of your neck as he slowly pushed into you, and despite how the night began, you couldn’t help but to moan his name as he held you tight.

Despite the way you wanted to tell him just how bad it hurt that he left you for so long, you swept it all under the rug and took the way he was peppering kisses to your skin, muttering your name under his breath and two i love you’s as his apology.

You knew this wasn’t the type of fight that could be smoothed over by a quick and meaningless fuck that only felt like it was passionate at the time.

This was time and time again of multiple arguments, hundreds of lies and infidelities being stuffed in a bottle until the cap blew off.

“You can’t turn this around on me anymore.” You glare at him, watching as he glared right back. “I wasn’t the one who fucked someone else when we were apart! I was the one trying to call you every single night to tell you how much I loved and missed you and you were the one going to strip clubs and parties and fucking every trashy whore you saw!”

“I didn’t just go out looking for bitches to fuck! It may seem that way in your twisted little brain but that’s not what fucking happened!” His chest heaved deeply as his words echoed through the room.

“Then what fucking happened?! Because I recall clear as day what I found out from multiple people except you!”

The text came through while you were sitting in class. It was from an unknown number but you didn’t pay attention to that when you saw the picture of Tyler and a blonde girl in his lap. It took everything for you not to burst into tears in the middle of the classroom. You’d had a gut feeling that things were off between the two of you but he always assured you that nothings changed and he can’t wait to get home to you.

You laid in your dorm room bed with your face buried in the pillows, crying until there were no tears left. Tyler didn’t answer when you called thirty two times and all you could think was that it was because he was with that girl.

Your heart physically ached, feeling like it was being squeezed by stone hands. Everything hurt but not nearly as much as the way his words kept echoing through your mind. All the I love you’s and I’ll never leave you’s, the lies. That’s all they were.

You got one single text from him at one in the morning and all he said was hey. He didn’t bother to answer when you immediately called and you knew he always had that phone on him. He was avoiding you. So you sent the picture and told him to explain it.

You double and triple texted for two days with no reply and for the first time ever you came to realize that it was over between you two. There was no more Tyler and Y/N and there was no closure either. You were in so much pain you could hardly stand to get out of bed but you needed that degree, and you had no choice but to force yourself to get it despite how much you’d rather stay curled under the bedsheets, crying until your eyes ran dry.

You got back to the dorms and drug your feet to your room. When you opened it, Tyler was sitting on the edge of your bed. He lifted his head and his reddened eyes met yours. Immediately you let the tears spill over and he rushed up to you, cupping your cheeks and tilting your head up to look at him.

He stared you straight in the eyes and said, “I’m so sorry. Im so sorry and I’ll never do it again. Please forgive me, babygirl. I know I don’t deserve it but I love you so much and I can’t lose you.”

You held onto every word. You believed him. You unfortunately always did.

“You’re nothing but a liar. You always were.” You shake your head as you feel disgust lurk inside of you. “You still can’t look me in the eyes and admit everything you’ve done. You still can’t own up to shit like a pussy little bitch!”

He scoffed and shook his head, looking away from you.

“It’s funny to you?! Really?!” You glared.

“Kinda, yeah.” He looks back at you and nods. “It’s funny cause you really don’t know shit.” He chuckled mockingly. “But you think you have it all figured out in that pretty little head of yours.”

“I’ve figured a lot more out than you think, Tyler. I just stopped begging you for the truth since it’s clear you’re too much of a fucking bitch to give it to me!”

A smirk played on his face and he dropped his head.

“You’ve figured out more than I think, huh?” He muttered beneath his breath. “So I guess you know about how your best friend tried to fuck me too?” He lifts his head and catches your reaction. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” He chuckles again before he slips past you.

“You’re lying.” You cross your arms defensively.

“Yeah? Am I?” He smirked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll show you the messages right now. She was tryna get me to come to her house when I went back home for the weekend and you were still away at school. If I supposedly fuck everybody, then why would I cuss this bitch out for trying to fuck her bestfriends boyfriend?”

You felt a new set of tears stinging your eyes and he noticed the way you were trying to hold them back. He shrugged. “I told you from the jump that girl wasn’t your friend. But you don’t trust me, so.”

You dropped your head, feeling a million weights bearing down on you. Your mind was in shambles as you stood in the middle of the room, feeling like you were permanently placed there, unable to move a muscle.

Tyler held his eyes on you and the lack of reaction. He expected more than that, but you had nothing at all to say and that wasn’t usual of you.

He was starting to get annoyed by all of the dramatics. All the fighting and the crying, especially. He yawned and outstretched his arms, rolling his head before he stepped closer to you. “Are we done fighting now?” His voice was suddenly no more than a soft whisper. “Cause I just wanna go to bed with you.”

You picked your head up and all he saw was pure devastation in your bloodshot eyes. You were weak and spineless. He’d effectively destroyed every inch of you from the inside out, even though he never intended to. Not from the beginning.

He almost didn’t recognize the shattered girl staring back at him. Those low, dead eyes were nothing like the bright and joyous, round and wide eyes that used to fill with adoration every time you looked at him. You never used to cry. You never used to yell. You never used to even be able to imagine the two of you fighting this bad.

Back when things were way too good to be true. And you wish you’d known that then.

“I’m so proud of you.” You grin from ear to ear as you lean your head on his shoulder. “You are by far the best FTW champion there will ever be.”

He placed a kiss to the top of your head as the two of you sat together on the couch, rewatching him winning the title earlier that night.

“I’m just glad you could be here.” He gave your thigh a squeeze. “It wouldn’t have been as special if i didn’t have you standing front row, supporting me.”

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world, Tyler.” You look up at his relaxed face, and the gentle smile on it just as he looks down at you. His smile widens when he looks into your eyes. One of his favorite features. Didn’t matter how long you were together, he was always going to find himself lost within them.

“I love you.” He whispered before he placed a lingering kiss to those lips. “So much” he hummed against them.

He remembers that night for far more reasons that just winning the title. He remembers the pure excitement on your face the second his music hit and his eyes catching yours immediately in the swarm of faces around you. He remembers not even waiting for the show to be over before he told you to meet him back stage and sending one of the security guards to get you because all he wanted was to see you. All he wanted was to hug you and celebrate with you.

He had to push that memory out of his mind or else. He doesn’t like to live in the past.

You shook your head at him. “No. I’m not going to bed with you. I’m not doing that anymore.” You told him, taking a step back. “I can’t keep letting you do this to me, Tyler.”

He dropped his head back and sighed deeply, running his hand down his face before he found your eyes again.

“I can see how much you don’t care. I already know you never did.”

That’s when you heard another scoff and he looked away from you again, shaking his head. “Never did. Right.” He muttered only barely loud enough for you to hear.

“Yeah. I am right.” You shrugged your shoulders weakly. “I just wish I would’ve realized that you were never going to love me way before I fell in love with you.”

“Can you just fucking stop!” He suddenly shouts, eyes bursting with fire yet darkening by the passing second. “All this fucking talk about how I never loved you, never cared about you, it’s fucking bullshit and you know it! I made mistakes but that doesn’t mean I never fucking loved you, Y/N!”

You shook your head slightly. “If you did you never would’ve even thought about fucking anyone else but me, Tyler. It never would’ve been something that crossed through your mind and I know that because nothing like that ever crossed through mine and I loved you with every fucking thing in me!”

“People fucking make mistakes! I mean fuck what do you want from me? I’m not perfect but I fucking tried for the longest time and it was never good enough for you! You just wouldn’t trust me after that one incident and that pushed me further and further away from you! I can’t help it if I can’t sit here and be questioned all the fucking time like I’m under interrogation by you! I can’t help it if I don’t want to be haunted by the past forever!”

“Shut the fuck up Tyler.” You muttered, silencing him. “If it was one time that would be different, but you and I both know it was way more than that.”

“You did it again.” You whispered. By this point the tears had dried and the screaming match had simmered into an exhausted, dying conversation.

“She reminded me of you.” His eyes stayed on you, wishing you’d spare him a single glance but you couldn’t manage to look into those dark eyes that you loved way too much.

“You did it again.” You repeated, “after you promised me you’d never-“

“I missed you so much, y/n. So much it was painful for me to even breathe.”

“I missed you and I didn’t fuck anyone else, Tyler.” You finally raised your eyes and he caught the heartbreak shadowing them. “I just- I don’t understand. I don’t get why you-“

“Fuck y/n I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did it I just- she was there and she looked like you and she, fuck she even sounded like you and I was so drunk I somehow convinced myself that she was you.”

“But she wasn’t me.” You whispered weakly.

“No, she wasn’t. And I regret it more than any fucking thing. I swear to God I want to go back to that night and change everything, but I can’t baby. I can’t do that. All I can do is show you how sorry I am.”

He was breaking you down and you could feel it. Your heart always wanted him even though he was the worst thing for it.

He reached over and cupped your cheek with his warm hand. Your eyes falling to the floor when he held his gaze on you.

“Look at me, baby. Please.” His voice was pleading, cracking at the end. Your eyes met his and that was your biggest mistake.

“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry and I know you don’t believe that but I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you, and need you if you’ll give me that chance.”

You leaned into his palm, like you always would and caught the flash of relief washing over his face.

That all resulted in slow, sweet and passionate love making until the sun peeked through his curtains.

“I love you so much” he heavily whispered as he hovered over you, his hips rocking into you as a slow and steady pace. He placed warm kisses to from your forehead to your cheeks to your lips as he rolled his hips, driving so deep inside of you that your head was spinning.

“You’re so perfect for me” he breathed out as he cradled your face with his calloused yet gentle hands. “Everything about you, you’re an angel on this earth”

Your hands roamed down his back, nails digging into the same places that another woman’s hands had been. You wanted to feel him in that moment but you only imagined him saying these same things to her. Only imagined her nails clawing his skin. His lips against her cheeks. Her moans echoing through the air. And he didn’t even know that was all that was running through your mind as he intently studied your face, your response to his praises, your reactions to his body slickly gliding against yours.

When he went to sleep, you buried your face in the pillows and let your muffled sobs drench the fabric. But Tyler never knew that.

“I told you a long time ago that your constant questioning was doing nothing but pushing me away.” He tells you. “And you kept on, and kept on until I finally just snapped and said fuck it. If she doesn’t trust me then why should I keep trying?”

“Keep trying? When did you even start trying?” You countered. “You always had lingering eyes everywhere we went. You never even held my hand when other women you work with were around us. You never wanted anyone to think you were taken because you wanted to keep your options open, and still wouldn’t let me go. You should’ve left me alone the first time we broke up, but you couldn’t do that, could you Tyler? Because you needed your solid ground when the other bitches didn’t work out.”

“I couldn’t let you go because I fucking loved you!” He took a large step foward, closing the space between you. “When you left me I was fucking devastated! I tried to move on and everything reminded me of you!”

You rolled your eyes, a scoff of your own passing through your lips. “Yeah, like the other two sluts you ended up fucking? Or was it the stripper shaking her ass in your face?”

His teeth clamped together behind his lips, his jaw throbbing.

“You had a funny way of showing you were devastated.”

“None of them meant shit to me! You did!” His eyes widened. “Do you know how many times I cried to my dad about you?! Do you know how long I waited for you to return a single text?! I was so fucking depressed Y/N I had to take a month off of work!”

He was doing it again. That affect he always had on you. Almost like it was a spell he had casted over you long ago, but you couldn’t let him do it this time. You couldn’t take anymore of this and he was beginning to realize it. That was probably the only reason he was fighting back this time.

“Yeah, I hung out with a few girls because I couldn’t stand being alone with my own thoughts anymore, but every night when I got back home to that empty fucking bed and your goddamned pillow still sitting next to mine, I broke down and begged God to give you back to me!”

You felt your heart being squeezed with a vice grip. His eyes welled up with tears but he quickly dropped his head the second you caught it.

“And I came back to you” you remind him, “and you betrayed me again.”

You watched his shoulders slouch, as if there were weights bearing down on them.

“You continued to lie to me about where you were. You continued deleting texts. You were still liking half naked girl’s pictures on instagram. Still entertaining bitches when you should’ve been only focused on me!”

He lifted his head but remained silent.

“I gave you so many chances and every single time, you showed me why I never should’ve said yes to you years ago when you said you wanted to be more than just my best friend.”

You saw the flash of pain in his eyes and you wished you really meant those words, but he believed you did.

“I can’t believe this is what we’re doing on senior ditch day” you chuckle as you plop a chip in your mouth, eyeing the movie on tv. “Everyone else is at the beach and we’re sitting at home watching a cheesy ass movie.”

“I told you we can go to the beach but you said you wanted to chill at my house instead” he points out as he reaches into the bag of chips sitting between you.

“Yeah, I know. I’m in an introverted mood today.” You shrug.

“Me too.” He says before he leans up and grabs his phone off the coffee table. “But I’m also hungry. This pizza needs to hurry up and get here.”

“What kind did you order?” You asked. “Please don’t say cheese only.”

A smirk spread across his lips but he shook his head. “Not this time. I know you can’t stand a naked pizza. I got pepperoni and meat lovers supreme”

“Thank God.” You chuckled. Just then the doorbell rings and he was quick to get up off that couch. You stayed there and waited for him to get back.

His phone buzzed next to you and you peeked down at the bubble across the screen, brows knitting in confusion when you read a text from his friend that said, “Just ask her out or shut up about it.”

He came back seconds later with two boxes in his hand and a grin plastered on his face as he brought the pizza into the living room and set it down on the coffee table.

“Who are you asking out?” You asked, pushing his phone closer to him. His eyes widened when he looked at you, his cheeks dusting over with a rosy hue.

“Uh- I- I don’t know.” He shrugs. “It’s nobody, really.”

“You didn’t tell me you liked anybody?” You pressed on, placing the chips down on the table and turning to face him fully. “Who is she? Do I know her?”

He grabbed his phone and slid it in his pocket before he shook his head. “No, not really.”

“Well what’s her name?” You asked. “Do you have a picture of her? What does he look like? You never have crushes on people I’m so intrigued right now-“

“It’s you, Y/N.” He confessed, his eyes trained on the floor.

You felt your heart suddenly flutter in your chest, skipping a beat, even.

“Me?” You asked, dumbfounded.

He only nodded, pulling his lips underneath his teeth as he tapped his fingers over his knee.

You were speechless and he was way too flustered to speak himself. You sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes before he finally broke through it.

“If you want me to take you home now, I understand.”

But you shook your head. “No.” You whispered, watching as his head turned to face you and a look of pure astonishment played on his face. “I wanna hang out here with you.” You tell him, reaching over and grabbing his hand. “And yes” you nod. “The answer is yes.”

How it was so simple back then. Two teenagers who fell in love so hard and so fast, thinking they had the world in the palm of their hands.

Life hit fast after he left for AEW and that was always your biggest fear. You held onto him with claws latched but it was never enough to keep him. He was only there when he wanted to be.

You stared back at the man before you. The man who was once, your best friend. Someone you confided in with all your petty high school drama and the crushes you had that never gave you the time of day.

The man who quickly became your first real love the summer after senior year. Many hot nights spent under the stars, laying on a blanket and talking about the future you really thought you would have together.

The man who turned into a quick rising star when he left school to peruse his dream. You were his biggest fan through it all. The pride you felt when he made a name for himself in the company and worked his ass off day in and day out to only make himself better.

All the times that you came to visit while he was on the road and you’d spend hours upon hours making up for lost time behind closed doors. Even got a noise complaint in Chicago.

Somehow that was the same man who manipulated you time and time again. The same man who lied to you constantly. Who took advantage of your forgiveness too many times to count. Who couldn’t be loyal when you weren’t around.

He still had those eyes you fell in love with even before you ever realized you did. He had that youthful face that made him appear so warm and so sweet but that just wasn’t who he was anymore. He wasn’t the same man you fell in love with and you weren’t the same girl either.

As much as you tried to prevent this, you knew you couldn’t anymore. As much as you wished you could bring that former version of him back, he just wasn’t in there anymore.

“Tyler” you inhaled a shaky breath, and he could tell this time, it was different. You weren’t going to get under the sheets with him and he wasn’t going to wake up next to you in the morning.

“You’re leaving me.” He muttered, dropping his head. “I know.”

You watched as he collapsed down on the couch and ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the roots.

Suddenly he was seeing everything that you were, unwillingly, that is.

All the moments that made up such a long, chaotic and passionately painful relationship the two of you built together before he started to tear it apart piece by piece.

All the times he held you in his arms and listened to you tell him all about school and your friends there that are big fans of his. All the times he watched you break down in front of him, much like tonight, and he just stood there emotionlessly and waited for it to all be over because he knew you’d just come to bed with him after the fact and he knew how to make you feel better when you got underneath the bedsheets. All the lies he’s told that you still didn’t fully know and how you didn’t need to, because all it would do is keep you from restoring yourself.

He felt the ache of his heart and the impending emptiness that was soon to replace it when you walk out that door. He knew this was only the beginning of an end he caused himself, and he only just started to realize that when it was way too late.

You had to look away before the tears started streaming down your face again. You looked around the hotel room and took in the scent of his cologne lingering in the air that was unfortunately embedded in your senses now. It would probably haunt you forever.

Your eyes fell on the promise ring wrapped around your finger, one you’d worn since he gave it to you right before he left for AEW, and worn through every trial and tribulation that he drug you through.

The hardest part about looking at that ring was knowing the promises behind it were empty, broken and never true. You twirled it around your finger before you slid it off and it had been on for so long there was a permanent indentation where it should always be. Another thing that’s going to haunt you.

You turned around and saw him watching you, his eyes falling to that ring laying in your palm. His shoulders slouched as if he realized in that moment that this was real, you were already gone and he just gave up on trying to keep you there.

You extended your hand, gesturing for him to take back the ring but he shook his head lightly, looking up at you with tired, low eyes filled with pure pain.

“Don’t give it back. Please. Just keep it as a reminder that what we had was real.”

But you shook your head as you set the ring down on the armrest of the couch and mustered enough strength to say, “I don’t need any more reminders.”

His mouth clamped shut and he simply watched as you took a step back, slipping on your shoes that were sitting next to the couch before you crossed your arms over your chest, attempting to internally comfort yourself but you knew it wasn’t of any use.

The ending was just on the tip of your tongue and as much as he wanted to stop you from saying it, he knew he had no right to do it. He knew he was the reason why you were no longer the girl you should’ve always been and he knew that he was nothing but poison in your veins.

You took one last look at him, taking in the image of this man you were going to spend the rest of your life thinking about no matter what. He was going to be the story you told your future daughter when she has her first heartbreak. He was going to be the one that you would always wonder about no matter where your life takes you.

He dropped his head in his hands the second you spoke.

“I wish it never would’ve ended this way.” You whisper, knowing if you tried to speak any louder your voice would betray you. “I wish it never would’ve ended at all.”

He inhaled deeply and held that breath in an attempt to hold everything in.

“But I think we both knew it was coming. Goodbye Tyler.” You bid him the final goodbye and couldn’t bear to spare one more look at him before you walked out the door.

He sat there with his face buried in his hands, feeling the atmosphere of the room shift the second that door closed behind you. Emptiness quickly set in, the one thing he’s never done well with. The loneliness he always tried to avoid. The racing thoughts crashing through his mind that consisted of nothing except for you.

He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, seeing a text floating on the screen from a random girl he met a couple nights prior, and he chucked it against the wall, watching as it fell to the floor with a now shattered screen.

He glanced to the right where that ring sat. The engraving on the inside of the band staring back at him. The word forever etched into the solid gold now serving as a cold reminder that forever was shattered, much like all of his promises he ever made you.

#hook aew #aew hook #aew hook x reader #aew hook imagines #hook #hook imagine #tyler senerchia #hook x reader #hook nation rise #send hook

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zzencat · 2 months

Note

here for the free mini readings!

🥳, Libra sun, A.D

my question(s) are:

When I do eventually publish (a book), will it have a good outcome?

will I meet my Fs before next year? (I keep getting mixed signals 💀)

what should I be focusing on right now?

thank you so much for your time and energy in advance ❤️ I hope you have a great day/night.

Hello AD!!! Thank you for joining me today! Get ready for a lot of reading bc damn…😳

Q. 1 + 3

Ok so first things first, I’m picking up aggressive energy, frustration towards this book. There’s an air of impatience and dissatisfaction. I’m getting the feeling that it’s less on creativity and more on what the public will enjoy. It sucks bc how the book gets received will bounce back and you may be prone to the negative criticism. “Is it even worth it? What’s the point anymore?” There has to have been inspiration before, but now there’s just a lot of conflict going thru your mind. I don’t think you’re going to publish it anytime soon bc there’s still a lot of dissatisfaction with it, and you’re still very stuck in a period of stagnancy and worrying. Even if you were to release it like “*shrugs* whatever- I’m just glad I got it over with,” you’re still gonna be unsatisfied with it. This could be due to the content of the book being heavily filtered or changed to fit what people would wanna read, instead of writing what you truly want to write about, raw creativity and everything you’d wanted to put in it. You’ll be struggling to find inspiration for a while and this stagnancy could last you well enough until financial issues finally get you in the gut. I have to tell you: put your soul into this project. Welcome your bouts of creativity. Anything can be as inspiration. A part of this huge bubble of stagnation is how competitive people can get in the creative industry, but don’t let that get you down too much either. Don’t worry about time, bc you will align with what you were meant to do if you truly sit down and listen to yourself. Stop worrying about the outcome and just write whatever you want. “Just fucking write.” I felt urged to say that 😂 There also has to be some kind of ego death happening in order for you to finish your book as yourself. Also, if you’re afraid of running out of time for whatever reason, don’t be. If you rush things, they’ll fall and crumble as fast as they were found. Good things take time. I’m urging you to keep that in mind!!

Additionally, if your time is reliant on financial needs, make sure you have something to support yourself on the side to gain extra.

Q. 2 + extra needed advice

Ok so the person who could be a person of love interest is possibly someone from the past (like someone you’d already had a relationship with, someone you knew of, or someone you just knew.) If this is not a returning person, it’s someone that you could’ve known from a past life. Don’t get fooled easily by people who come packed with money btw!

There are too many things atm to figure out, especially internally, before you meet a good future spouse. Otherwise, acting out of desperation and impatience to find the one will bring a worse outcome (especially someone who doesn’t take care of their finances well. Small hint.)

I would HEAVILY advise that if someone is toxic (past or new person) and you know it? Don’t chase after them. Also!!! Avoid possible swindlers or people who try to use/cheat you out of your money. Don’t make yourself vulnerable to these people, and don’t give yourself away so easily. Set boundaries and be more strict with the people around you. Don’t just let anyone in easily.

That’s about it! Thank you for taking the time to send in an ask AD!! Best of luck 😎👍

#mini readings game by teddy :)#tarot reading #tarotblr #intuition #daily tarot #pac tarot #tarot advice #tarot community #tarot blog #free tarot #tarot

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teshadraws · 2 years

Text

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 44]

<< First | < Previous | Next >

Tobias, Nia, and Samir explore the mine and put a plan into motion. But they might find more than they bargained for beneath the town...

Tobias is tense as he leads the way into the darkness of the tunnel, trying to keep his steps light just in case anyone is lurking inside. His tail flame throws bouncing shadows around the rocky walls, showing the remnants of rotting wooden support beams and broken lamp lights.

It’s cool in here, and eerily silent.

Nia and Samir follow him, sticking close to the halo of light he provides. They’re quiet as they carefully step over rocks and debris, the occasional broken tool or remnants of a crate scattered about.

They’ve only been walking for a minute or two, so Tobias is surprised when they reach the back of the tunnel, where a cave-in has blocked off the rest of the mine with a slope of dirt and rock. A lopsided old mine cart missing a wheel sits off to the side of it.

“That’s it?” He asks, tense shoulders dropping.

Nia pads past him, her brow furrowed. “That…can’t be it. I could’ve sworn the mines would have something to do with all this.”

Tobias had thought the same—it seemed like too big of a coincidence to have a network of underground mines surrounding a town suffering from earthquakes.

Samir sighs and shakes their head, sitting heavily on the ground and giving them another tired look. Tobias can just imagine the quiet I told you so.

Tobias crosses his arms, irritated. “Well now what? We just go back to town and hope we stumble on a lead? Lotta good that did us yesterday.”

“I mean…the town probably needs our help with repairs anyways,” Nia points out. She’s been padding around the perimeter of the cave, paw trailing along the wall as if she’ll find a secret switch or something. She drifts over to the rickety remains of the mine cart with her usual brand of curiosity.

Samir gives a nod of approval, and Tobias rolls his eyes. He doesn’t disagree, necessarily, but—

“Oh,” Nia says, only her tail visible from behind the mine cart. There’s a quiet clink, and then she shuffles out backwards, into the light of Tobias’ flame. “Look at this!”

In her paw dangles an oil lamp, unlit but half-filled with a clear liquid.

Samir stands, a bit too abrupt to be casual. Their brow is furrowed.

“Something weird about this?” Tobias asks, suspicious. He glances at it again, making sure it doesn’t look like some kind of trap.

Samir doesn’t look alarmed necessarily, but they do nose the lamp, staring hard at the way the oil within the container moves with the motion. Slowly, they nod, before writing in the dirt.

FRESH

“Right,” Nia says, frowning as she tilts the lamp and watches the oil move around inside. “If this was left behind from the old mining days, it surely would’ve dried up by now. Right?”

“Could Calder or one of the townsfolk have brought it here?” Tobias asks. “Recently, I mean. Maybe when he and Pan were investigating before the cave-in?”

Samir’s eyes flick to the mine cart. They jerk their chin at Tobias, urging him closer to it. Tobias doesn’t like being bossed around by the skiddo, but he moves to the cart regardless, following the grass type’s direction and shuffling behind it to bring his tail flame to the lamp’s previous hiding spot.

In the thin layer of dirt, there are faint circular impressions left behind. Many of them, actually—upwards of ten, easily. Some of them overlap, some of them are a few inches apart from each other. Tobias can tell just looking at them that they would match the bottom of the lantern they’d just found.

The only reason Tobias can think of for such a thing is if someone had been placing the lantern here, over and over again. A quick examination by Calder wouldn’t cause that.

“Did you find something?” Nia asks, trying to peer behind the cart to see.

“What do you think of these?” Tobias shuffles back to the cave wall so his tail will still illuminate the little wedge of space, careful not to step on the rings in the dirt.

“Are those…imprints?” Nia asks, glancing over her shoulder. “From the lantern?”

“Think so.”

“There’s so many…”

Tobias glances up at Samir, whose brow is furrowed. “Finally think there might be something weird going on?”

Samir’s mouth flattens, but they continue to stare at the rings. Slowly, they nod.

“So what do we do now?” Nia asks, crouching to get a closer look. “Do we tell Calder?”

“Then we’ll get in trouble for being here at all,” Tobias scoffs. “No, this isn’t solid evidence. We need to make sure we can convince him that something strange is actually happening before admitting to coming to the mines.”

Samir looks unhappy about that, but also doesn't protest. Since they know Calder better, Tobias guesses he’s spot-on.

“Okay, but how do we find solid evidence? Catch someone in the act of doing something, um…suspicious?” Nia asks, paw on her chin. “Since we don’t have cameras, I guess we would just have to stake out the cave until someone shows up?”

Her tone is half-joking, but Tobias considers it. “...Not a terrible idea, actually.”

Samir gives him a doubtful look, shuffling back into the tunnel proper. Nia and Tobias follow after putting the lantern back in place.

Samir is scratching something into the dirt. Tobias moves his tail closer to read it.

HOW KNOW THEY’LL COME BACK?

Tobias’ mouth twists. “I guess we can’t know for sure. But if those marks are anything to gauge by, they’ve been here pretty often.”

CAN’T STAY ALL DAY

TOWN NEEDS HELP

“We could take shifts,” Tobias suggests, though he’s reluctant. He doesn’t want one of them to get caught alone with someone who could be dangerous.

“Well,” Nia says. “If they don’t want to be seen they’re probably coming here at night, right? We could help out the town today, try to catch a nap in the evening, and then come out here after night falls?”

Samir and Tobias exchange a glance. Tobias can’t think of anything wrong with that plan, aside from them being exhausted come morning. Samir still seems uneasy, but doesn’t protest.

“You think Takeo will let us leave?” Nia asks. “He already looked kinda suspicious after we talked about the mines last night.”

“He’s not our parent,” Tobias scoffs. Still, the spidops could definitely ruin their plan if he finds out they disobeyed him and Granite and went to the mines anyways. “We’ll just have to sneak out. There’s a window in our room.”

Nia clearly isn’t thrilled about that, but she doesn’t argue. Instead, she plays nervously with the collar of fluff around her neck and looks to their companion.

“S-Samir, are you going to join us?”

The skiddo slumps with defeat, but nods.

Tobias nods. “Meet us on the edge of town where we left today, after dark settles in.”

Once they’ve got their plan settled, Tobias leads the two of them back outside (after thoroughly erasing Samir’s words in the dirt), blinking in the almost painfully bright light of late morning. Slowly, the shapes and colors of the canyon and distant town come into focus.

“Nightfall, then?” Tobias confirms with the skiddo.

Samir nods before springing down the rocks and back towards town. Nia and Tobias hurry to follow.

—————————————————————————————

Calder is visibly relieved when the three of them approach him about how to best help the town. The inteleon immediately directs them to where the most dire assistance is needed, splitting them up to cover more ground.

The day after the quake is no less busy, but slightly less frantic. Less damage control for injuries, but lots of deliveries needed for patients’ medication and other supplies. Less huge structural concerns, but plenty of signs needing rehung and planks of wood needing straightened and nailed down.

Tobias, sweat hissing from his skin within the hour, passes frequently by Nia, Samir, and Calder, as well as the town doctor. They’re all busy at work, trying to help the town back to its feet. A few of the townsfolk come forward to offer to help too throughout the day, but most ‘mon are busy enough trying to tend to their own problems.

Aurum, the weirdly cheery hakamo-o, requests Tobias’ help with sealing up some cracks in her bank’s stone steps. She chatters happily to him the whole time, which is annoying, but at least she doesn’t expect more from him than the occasional grunt of acknowledgement.

He’s helping Nia drag some heavy bags of grain to a house down the street when they pass by Pyre, the angry camerupt not even sparing them a glance as he stomps by with some lumber strapped to the small volcanoes on his back. Nia cows away from him, clearly still guilty for suspecting him after learning his daughter was injured in the quakes. Tobias ignores the grumpy old fire type completely.

Tobias helps Samir fix a cracked window next, which apparently belongs to the skiddo's boarder. The lilligant dotes on Samir as the two of them work, making sure the grass type and their “little friend” (Tobias glares at Samir at that) have refreshments. Still, he appreciates the hydration berry she bustles off to find him, and her sweetness is too much like Maggie for him to feel genuinely annoyed.

The three of them take a late lunch when Nia tracks him down whining about their skipped breakfast. They move to grab some food at Deidra’s saloon—not wanting to risk interrogation from Takeo or Granite if possible—until they’re reminded of the terrible damage done to the place when they can see the inner workings of the building from down the street. The building is closed for the day as the construction crew puts aside their most recent project to clear out the worst of the damages.

“Hurry it up with those!” Eddy shouts to one of his workers. The dewott is busy chopping through lumber with deft, precise slices of his razor shell.

“Just making sure they’re in good,” the primeape they saw yesterday says. Cody the aggron is helping him, using a heavy arm to hammer a huge wooden stake into the dirt.

“‘We don't want 'em coming loose if we get any more rain,” Cody adds.

Eddy barks a laugh. “We won’t get any more rain for now. Keep it moving.”

“Awful confident,” the primeape grumbles.

“He is a water type,” Cody points out, finished with his hammering. He leans back to survey his work with a satisfied swish of his heavy tail. “He would know best.”

“Less talkin’, more working,” Eddy grunts, but doesn’t berate them further.

Samir moves away from the construction crew, gesturing for Tobias and Nia to follow. The skiddo doesn't lead the group back to Granite and Takeo’s shop, but instead across town to the little house where Tobias helped replace that window earlier.

Sure enough, Samir’s lilligant boarder is on the porch, sending a petilil off with a wrapped lunch carefully balanced atop her tiny head.

Tobias and Nia step out of the way for her, and Samir gives the little grass type a smile and a nod as she passes by with a chipper, “Hi, Sammy!”

The lilligant, who Tobias doesn’t remember the name of, notices them with a pleased scrunch to her eyes. “Samir! Oh, and your charmander friend, too. Are you here for lunch?”

Samir almost seems bashful, glancing back at Tobias and Nia as if unsure of their presence.

“Oh, we’ve got enough for everyone, don’t worry! Come on in, kids. My name is Lara.”

The lilligant turns and shuffles inside, and the group follows.

“I-I’m Nia!” Nia says, once they’ve entered the homey little living space. She gives Lara a warm smile and a bow. “Thank you for having us!”

Lara laughs. “Well, ain’t you polite! Nice to meet you. My little one could learn some manners from you. Go on and get comfortable and I’ll find a little something for y'all to eat.”

Samir gives her a grateful nod that Tobias copies. Then, the skiddo sits comfortably one one of the large, flat cushions bordering the nearby low table. They're clearly familiar with the space.

“So this is where you’re staying?” Nia whispers, taking a seat beside them. Tobias follows her lead as she looks around with wide eyes. “It’s so cozy!”

It is. The space is packed close but not tight between the table and walls, the cushions beneath them worn but still soft and comfy. Two bookshelves sit against the walls, holding trinkets, a few books, a stack of board games, cards, and other things like sketchbooks and paint supplies in tiny jars. A stack of well-worn quilts and blankets sit next to the nearest bookshelf, ready to grab on chilly nights. Paintings and sketches line the walls in little frames, and a small table with a vase of half-dead flowers sits beneath the window.

“Here you go, kids. Still hot.”

Lara shuffles into the room with three plates along her arm, cushioned by a towel. She places a steaming plate in front of each of them, which Nia eagerly brings closer. Looks like some kind of thick vegetable stew. It smells pretty good, even if the veggies themselves seem a bit scrawny beneath the savory sauce.

“Apologies for the scrappy servings,” Lara says, wiping her leaves on the towel. “The town is a bit tight on food right now thanks to the quakes messing up our crops and keeping merchants away. I can barely keep our harvest running at half its usual output.”

“You’re a farmer?” Nia asks, clearly surprised. She pauses in blowing off her hot food.

Lara laughs. “Sure am! Fourth generation. I may not look it, but I’m actually quite good with the soil ‘round here. This rain is something else. Never seen anything like it.”

Tobias pauses as he picks up his fork. He’s heard offhanded comments saying much the same thing, and even thought himself that it seemed like a lot of rain for a desert town. Could it be connected to the quakes? If they suspect someone of causing those, could someone also intentionally be causing the rain? He can’t imagine why they would want to, but…

“Could a water type be causing the rain?” Tobias asks, taking a bite. Oh, it’s good. Much better tasting than it looks. He hurries to take a second mouthful, grateful for his heat-resistant mouth so he doesn’t have to wait for it to cool.

Lara smiles at his enthusiasm. “I s'pose a water type could bring in rain like this, but the only water types in town are Calder and Eddy, and they know we don’t need any more.”

Tobias refrains from saying anything in response. There’s not an ounce of suspicion in Lara’s voice, and Samir is glaring at Tobias as if to say that if he starts interrogating the lilligant, he has a headbutt in his future.

But he quietly takes that information in as they eat, thanking the lilligant for the meal.

Calder and Eddy are the only water types in town, huh? Tobias didn’t feel anything particularly off about either of them. Calder seems to genuinely care about the town and is clearly still grieving the loss of his partner. Likewise, Eddy just seems like a hard-working ‘mon doing his best to help the townsfolk after their homes and businesses have been ravaged by the quakes.

Maybe the rain is just a freak coincidence after all?

Tobias mulls it over as they eat, idly listening to Nia and Lara chat. The meal is on the smaller side, but it’s hearty and filling and delicious. By time they finish and say their goodbyes, heading back into town to continue their work, Tobias is full and feels rejuvenated. Nia hums happily as they seek out Calder, clearly feeling the same, and even Samir seems to have an extra skip to their step.

With their newfound energy, they get back to work.

—————————————————————————————

It’s early evening when Calder dismisses them all to go back to their lodgings and rest for the day. Tobias, sore and exhausted and with more than a few knicks on his fingers from a variety of tools, doesn’t argue. He and Nia part from Samir with a whispered confirmation of their meeting later that night, then drag themselves back to Granite and Takeo’s place.

The donphan and spidops are amiable but gruff as usual, and the four of them have a short, tired meal before Tobias mutters something about heading to bed early to get some rest for tomorrow. Nia yawns as she agrees.

Luckily, Granite and Takeo don’t seem suspicious, and let them trudge off to their lodgings with little fuss. When they get to their room and shut the door, Nia immediately flops into their pile of cushions.

“I’m never getting up again,” she whines. “I’m so sore.”

Tobias follows her, plopping down a little heavier than he usually would at her side. He can feel her brushing by him, but he’s too tired to move.

“Too bad,” he grumbles. “Because we’ve gotta get back up in a couple hours to do your stupid stakeout.”

Nia turns her head to pout at him in the slowly setting light. “Hey! You agreed to it.”

Tobias makes a noncommittal noise and lets his eyes slip shut.

“How do we make sure we wake up in time?” Nia mumbles, voice already slurred with sleep.

“I’ll just doze,” Tobias answers, hoping that his usual light sleeping habits will be enough to keep them on schedule.

Nia doesn’t argue, either because she trusts he’ll wake back up or because she doesn’t want to think about it anymore. A quiet little snore escapes her.

Oh. Or she’s already asleep.

Tobias huffs, amused, and lets himself drift into a light sleep, face pointed to be able to see the window if he opens his eyes.

It feels like a brief moment later that a quiet noise wakes Tobias. He startles from his nap, but stays still in the dimly lit darkness of their room. The window outside is a deep gray-black. What time is it?

Another sound makes Tobias realize what woke him: the quiet creak of the door closing. The doorknob settles back into place as it shuts. The gentle, rhythmic thump of footfalls—light and staggered, so it must be Takeo—fades away.

Was he checking on them? Suspicious that they’d slipped out?

Whatever the intent, Tobias is grateful for it waking him up. He waits another few seconds before pushing himself out of the comfy pile of cushions, groaning. He’s so sore. His entire body feels tired and heavy. But they said they’d investigate, and Samir is probably waiting for them.

Tobias peeks out the window, glad to see from how the shadows fall outside that the moon isn’t very high yet. They might be a little late, but not drastically so.

Tobias wakes Nia, basically having to roll her out of the nest completely to get her out of her deep sleep.

“Whuz happening?” She mumbles, bleary-eyed as she sits up.

“Stakeout time,” Tobias answers, grabbing her arms and yanking her to her feet.

She stumbles, but stays up, rubbing at her eyes. “This was a terrible idea.”

“Reminder that it was your idea.”

“My judgement stands.”

Tobias bites back a laugh and moves to the window, unlocking its latch to swing it open. Cool night air drifts against his face and into the room like a blot of ink in water. It wakes him up, at least, and from how Nia whines and shakes out her fur behind him, it does the same for her.

Tobias glances at the door one more time before crawling up and over the windowsill. He makes sure the dirt below is clear before gently dropping to the ground.

Nia slowly clambers out the window after him, clearly trying to be careful and not make extra noise.

“Oh! Wait!” Tobias hisses.

Nia freezes, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Go back in and grab our bag,” Tobias whispers.

Nia nods, slipping back into the darkness of the room and rummaging around for a few moments. Then, she reappears, looping its thick strap over her shoulder and across her body.

“Got it!”

“C’mon then.”

Nia carefully climbs over the sill again, turning to lower herself to the ground and stretching out a searching paw to the dirt.

“We’re gonna have another quake before you actually get out of there.”

“Nope, no more earthquakes,” Nia responds, finally reaching solid ground. “I had enough hiding under bars yesterday, thank you very much.”

Tobias reaches up to close the window, hoping that Takeo won’t think to check on them again yet tonight. Then he turns to lead them to the edge of town, glancing around for anyone who might spot them. Unfortunately, his tail flame makes it a little hard to sneak around in the dark, but they can at least try to avoid the townsfolk.

They dart from alleyway to alleyway, moving between buildings in quick bursts. Two ‘mon are talking loudly the next street over, so Tobias leans back against the wall to wait for a chance to slip across. “I’ve been meaning to ask—how’d you know what to do during that earthquake yesterday anyways?”

Nia is busy readjusting the satchel across her shoulder, but spares him an amused look. “We did a lot of earthquake drills in school. Way too many for living in the Midwest, honestly.”

Tobias frowns at her. “Earthquake drills?” Like a drilbur’s drill?

Nia smiles at his confusion. “Yeah! Like…doing a practice run of what we’d do in an emergency, y’know? We would sit under our desks and put a book over our head and neck.”

Tobias frowns. “Are natural disasters getting more common in the human realm too?”

Nia starts to shake her head, but then hesitates. “Actually, they are, but I think ours are due to climate change. Anyways! No, we just kind of had to cover stuff like that for school regulations. Still don’t know why I was so convinced quicksand would be such a concern in my adult life, though.”

Tobias snorts. The voices of the two ‘mon finally move along, fading into the distance, so he waves for Nia to follow before darting into the next alley.

It doesn’t take them long to reach the edge of town, and Samir steps out of the darkness between some barrels right away. Tied to their back is a bulky brown sack, although the weight of it seems light.

“Samir! Were you waiting long?”

The skiddo shakes their head, but jerks their chin in the direction of the mine, clearly wanting to get going. Tobias can’t argue with that, so he gestures for the grass type to take the lead.

The trip across the canyon is quiet, even Nia too busy watching her feet on the uneven terrain (and sending the occasional nervous glance over her shoulder) to strike up a conversation. The sand and rock underfoot is cooling now that the sun has set, and the path ahead is dark, Tobias’ tail offering the only light aside from the dim glow of the stars and moon. He’s grateful that Samir seems to remember the path to the cave, only having to stop occasionally to get their bearings.

Once they reach the edge of the canyon, Samir hops up the tumble of rocks first, stopping every few feet to look back and make sure Tobias and Nia are following. Tobias lights the way for Nia, grabbing her arm to haul her up one of the larger rocks when she slips.

“Where should we hide while we wait?” She asks, looking around.

“Somewhere I can hide my tail flame,” Tobias says, peeking behind some nearby rocks.

Two distinct taps get their attention, and Tobias looks up to see Samir’s head peering over some nearby boulders, at a slightly higher vantage point than they're currently at. The skiddo gestures for them to come up.

Tobias and Nia do so, scrabbling up the sediment and rock a little too loudly. When they reach Samir they find a little spot tucked away behind some large stones, but with a good view of the path leading up to the mines.

“This is perfect!” Nia whispers, sitting down. There’s a gleam of excitement in her eyes. “Good find, Samir.”

Tobias grudgingly agrees. He sits next to Nia as they all settle down onto the cold, hard ground. Small rocks jab into his skin, and he shifts constantly for a minute or so, trying to get comfortable. He tucks his tail flame away at the base of the larger stones, stacking a few small rocks around it to form a little tent and hide away some of the light.

“Think that’s good enough?” He asks.

“I'll check!”

Nia slips out of their hiding place to make sure she can’t see his tail from the path. After a moment, she climbs back up to them.

“You can tell something is off about the lighting if you’re really looking for it, but I don’t think anyone will notice.”

Tobias isn’t satisfied by that, and carefully restacks the stones around his tail to try to contain the light a bit better. He's used to having his tail free to move around and he really doesn't like the feeling of forcing it still.

By time Tobias finally stops fiddling with the rocks, Nia is already not-so-subtly scoots closer to him, visibly trembling now that they aren’t moving about.

Tobias raises a brow, amused. “Cold?”

“F-Fire types don’t get teasing rights in sub-zero t-temperatures,” Nia chatters.

Samir makes a quiet rasping sound that Tobias realizes after a moment is a laugh. Then they reach back over their shoulder and tug open the tie on the brown sack they’d brought along, shoving their short muzzle right in.

“S-Samir?” Nia asks, giving Tobias a questioning look. He shrugs.

Samir pulls their head out of the sack, a well-worn blanket gently clamped between their teeth. It looks familiar, and Tobias realizes after a moment that it must be one of the blankets from Lara’s house. Samir drops it in Nia’s lap, then gives her a stern look and a point of their hoof.

Nia gasps, gathering the blanket in her paws and unfolding it. “Thank you! I’ll be careful with it, promise!”

Samir nods, apparently satisfied, and pulls out a second blanket for themself. They unfold it with their snout and then tug it over their body until they too are covered.

“Thank God we have someone to remember the important stuff,” Nia says, happily wrapping herself up in the blanket. “You’re the best, Samir.”

Tobias feels a stab of irritation at that, but it dies away just as quickly when Nia opens one arm of her quilt and gives him a pleading look.

“You have to come over here," Tobias points out. "I can’t move my tail."

He stays put as Nia hurries to his side and envelops him in the other half of the blanket cocoon. Some part of him is embarrassed about the close quarters, but the rest of him is just pleased that he still has something over Samir.

“You should pay me for how often you use me as a personal heater,” Tobias grumbles. “Cozy?”

Nia makes a happy hum and presses cool fur against his side. “Yup!”

Samir gives the two of them an amused look, clearly content under their own blanket.

And then they wait.

The night is cold but calm, the canyon walls a towering presence of black around them. After a little while, the town’s distant lights start to go dark, one by one. The only sound is the wind and the occasional shift from one of Tobias’ companions.

Tobias’ tail, tucked away and hidden among the rocks, only offers a small circle of light. Otherwise, their surroundings are doused in a level of blackness he’s unfamiliar with. But thanks to that, their adjusted eyes can see more than usual, too.

Overhead, the ragged circle of sky is absolutely filled with stars. Tobias can see how the night sky is layered with them, like thin sheets of crystal. Nia and Samir have followed his gaze, and the riolu in particular looks awestruck by the sight, eyes wide and mouth ajar.

Tobias loves the sight of the stars, but feels a painful knot of nostalgia tug at his chest. The night sky was like this in the mountains, too, open and endless.

When the skies were particularly clear and calm, Tobias’ parents would take him and Vivi flying. Tobias can recall with painful clarity the breathless feeling of being one with that night sky, surrounded on all sides by galaxies and stars that felt close enough to touch. Close enough to fall into. But he’d always felt safe with his parents, grinning from atop one of their backs and occasionally calling out to Vivi. His family's tails looked like shooting stars as they drifted through the dark sky.

Tobias moves his gaze back down to the black stretch of the land. He takes a breath that is audibly shakier than he would like, and Nia, pressed close to his side, notices. She gives him a concerned look that he ignores.

Nia sighs, but loops her arm through his to give what he thinks is supposed to be a reassuring squeeze. He swallows down the embarrassed heat in his throat, the kind that makes him want to snap and push her away. He’s reluctantly enjoying the sensation of her so close and so solid at his side. It's grounding.

Nia tries to start up a hushed conversation with Tobias and Samir once or twice, but each time she does Tobias gives her a frown and glances towards town, nervous about their voices carrying across the canyon. Eventually, she falls silent again. Probably wishing she had a book or something to pass the time.

Hours crawl by. They must, for the stars to slowly migrate overhead and the moon to rise higher and higher into the sky.

Their hiding spot isn’t exactly comfortable, out in the frigid cold and atop rocky terrain, but they try to keep quiet as they readjust, stretching and shuffling when their muscles grow tight and stiff.

Even Tobias is feeling antsy by midnight, torn between exhaustion from the long day and keyed-up tension from their stakeout. Samir looks as calm and unflappable as ever, gazing out towards the town. Tobias thinks Nia has nodded off a few times, until he sees her ear flick or feels her squeeze his arm in the warmth of their blanket cocoon.

“Hey, Samir?”

The riolu’s soft voice feels loud and out of place after the silence. Tobias gives her a warning look, but this time she ignores him.

Samir glances at her.

“You don’t have to answer, but…” Nia takes a breath, the exhale clouding the night air. “Why are you out here on your own? In Asra, I mean. You’re a Seeker, right? At the Lexym Guild, all Seekers have to have a partner.”

Tobias watches Samir’s face, curious despite himself. The skiddo looks caught off-guard at first, but then they look away, their expression closed-off. There's something there, though, poorly hidden just under the surface. Something Tobias recognizes.

Anger.

“I-I’m sorry,” Nia hurries to say. “You really don’t have to talk about it, I just—“

Nia cuts herself off as Samir starts writing in the dirt with the tip of their hoof. They write one word. Pause. Write another. Much slower than they’ve written anything else.

When they’re done, Tobias leans in with Nia to read.

HAD PARTNER

NOT ANYMORE

“Oh,” Nia whispers, her free paw coming up over her mouth. “I…I’m so sorry.”

Tobias feels a lump grow in his own throat, remembering all too clearly how just a week ago he thought Nia might die from her illness. Leaving him alone again.

But Samir shakes their head, as if to correct them. They write again with sharp drags of their hoof.

ALIVE

DIDN’T WANT

Nia frowns. “Didn’t..? You didn’t want them to be your partner?”

Samir winces. Moves to add a single word to the end of their sentence.

“Oh,” Tobias says, quiet. “They…didn’t want you.”

Samir goes still, staring down at their hoof still poised to write. Their face is hard and almost blank. A practiced kind of expression.

“What?” Nia whispers. “But…why wouldn’t they want you as a partner? You’re like the perfect Seeker! You take your job seriously and you’re observant and nice and—“

Samir looks her dead in the eye, an uncharacteristic spark of hurt in their expression. Then, they tilt their chin up and pat the flat of their hoof against their neck, twice.

At this angle, Tobias can see the edge of a large scar peeking out from the mane of leaves around their throat, even in the darkness. Still pink—relatively fresh. A few months old, if that.

Tobias’ hand drifts up to his own scarf.

“They didn’t want to be your partner because you can’t speak?” Nia asks, clearly bewildered.

“I think they were partners, when Samir lost their voice,” Tobias rasps.

The skiddo nods once at Tobias, looking even more tired than usual.

If that was supposed to soothe Nia, it only does the opposite. Tobias can feel her fur bristle against his side.

“What?!”

Tobias shushes Nia, glancing below them at the dark path.

Nia lowers her voice, but is no less incensed. “You were already partners and they just…gave up on you because you got hurt?”

Samir nods. The skiddo’s discomfort is clear enough that even Tobias is about to elbow Nia and urge her to drop it.

But Nia lunges forward, free paw slapping to the dirt. “That’s terrible!”

Samir looks surprised by the heat of Nia’s comment, leaning back and blinking at her.

“What kind of partner—heck, what kind of decent person does that?!” Nia fumes. “What, they couldn’t learn freakin’ Morse code or something? What a stupid excuse!”

Samir frowns at Nia, but looks more frustrated than anything. They shake their head and hurriedly scribble something in the dirt.

MISSIONS TOO FAST

HAVE TO TALK

Well, it would be a bit difficult to communicate in the middle of a fight without speech. Especially when Samir can’t even use sign language thanks to their hooves.

But Nia fervently shakes her head. “No! No, that’s—don’t make excuses for them. We’ve been communicating with you just fine for days and we literally just met you!”

Tobias’ brows lift. She does have a point. He looks back to Samir.

The skiddo’s eyes narrow. They huff, writing again and underlining the last word with an angry jab of their hoof.

WRITING SLOW

MISSIONS FAST

Nia huffs, crossing her arms. “There are other ways to communicate besides talking, even in the middle of a mission.”

Samir gives Tobias a wide-eyed look, clearly hoping for backup. Tobias just lifts his hands in surrender.

“She insisted on partnering with me. And I used to be even more of a jerk than I am now. Good luck.”

Samir’s mouth twitches like they’re fighting a smile. Before they can write a rebuttal, their ears prick to attention. They snap their head up, looking towards the path to town. Nia’s gaze follows the skiddo's, her own ears tilting forward.

They must hear something. Tobias double-checks that his tail flame is hidden.

“This isn’t over,” Nia promises—threatens?—with a point of her finger at Samir. The skiddo gives her an unimpressed look and bats her paw away with a hoof. Tobias shushes them both.

Sure enough, a half minute later, movement catches Tobias eye. It's hard to make out in the darkness, but as the shape gets closer Tobias recognizes a smaller figure, likely just a bit bigger than himself. Bipedal. They’re in a cloak, hood up, which is suspicious in itself.

The figure picks their way across the rocky terrain and starts the climb up to the mine, just a few feet away from their hiding spot. Tobias holds his breath, Nia and Samir still as stone at his sides.

The figure disappears over the lip of the rocks, into the cave, and silence falls again.

“Should we follow them?” Nia murmurs.

“Let’s give ‘em a minute or two. Make sure they don’t just come back out.”

They wait, tense and gazes locked onto the yawning darkness of the cave. Tobias’ breath leaves him in a quiet cloud of steam. His heart beats steady and swift against his chest.

“Okay, they’ve gotta be doing something in there,” Tobias whispers. “Let’s check it out. Just be ready for a fight.”

Nia slips out from the hiding place first, and Tobias moves to follow. Samir stops him, stepping in his path with a shake of their head.

“What?” Tobias asks.

Samir frowns, then writes something in the dirt. Tobias glances again at the cave before pulling his tail closer to read it.

STAY

TAIL BRIGHT

Tobias’ face flushes, and he flicks his tail self-consciously behind him. “I can’t just let you two go in there alone!”

Nia gives him a sympathetic look. “Sorry Tobias, but, uh…Samir’s got a point. If we’re trying to be subtle, then your tail is pretty noticeable.”

Tobias huffs, crossing his arms. They’re right. Doesn’t mean he has to like it.

“Fine. I’ll wait outside. But call for me if anything goes wrong.”

Nia gives him a smile and a nod. Samir leads the way down to the cave, peering cautiously around the edge of it. After a beat, they slip inside. Nia treads after him on quiet paws, blending into the shadows with her blue and black fur.

Tobias stands just outside the cave, off to the side to avoid being a literal beacon, and strains to listen for any sign of a fight. He doesn’t doubt Samir's (or Nia's) capabilities, but he doesn’t like his partner going in there without him if there’s a potentially dangerous criminal lurking about.

Thankfully, it’s only a minute or so before Nia jogs back to the opening. She looks perplexed, but not panicked.

“We can’t find anyone.”

Tobias frowns. “But the tunnel’s blocked off.”

He follows the riolu in, glancing up at the roof and from side to side as they walk deeper. It only takes a minute for them to reach the same spot they’d hit this morning, with the caved-in tumble of rocks and dirt and the broken-down mine cart. Sure enough, there’s no one here but an equally unsure Samir.

Tobias turns around, suspicious. “They couldn’t have just vanished!”

“Could a ghost type do that?” Nia asks, feeling around the rocky walls again. “Turn invisible or go through the cave-in or something?”

“I don’t think so,” Tobias murmurs, glancing at Samir for confirmation. The skiddo seems like they’re barely listening, also nudging around rocks and debris. Still, they take a moment to meet Tobias’ eye and shrug. Helpful.

Nia has made her way back over to the mine cart, peering behind it. “Tobias, can you come here for a sec? Maybe the lantern moved.”

He moves to her side, pulling his tail around and look into the dark wedge of space where they’d found the lantern this morning. But all Tobias sees are the imprints in the dirt.

“It’s gone,” Tobias confirms.

Samir steps past him, leaning down to sniff at the imprints. Then, their head tilts ever so slightly, looking instead at the nearest wheel of the mine cart like something caught their eye. Nia crouches to inspect it too.

Tobias follows them, brows shooting up as he notices what they have. There’s a faint line in the dirt behind each wheel: drag marks where the cart was scooted over a foot or so before being dragged back into place.

“Oh, good find!” Nia says.

“The cart was moved?” Tobias asks.

“Should we look underneath?” Nia asks in return. She doesn’t wait for an answer, lying on her belly to peer beneath the cart. She slips a paw under and a faint blue light spills out at she uses her aura to take a look.

She gasps. “There’s a hole under here! Big enough for someone around our size to fit through.”

“Sneaky,” Tobias murmurs. “Help me move it.”

“W-We’re following them down there?”

Samir shakes their head, expression hard. The skiddo writes a quick note in the dirt.

DANGEROUS

GET CALDER

“Samir’s right,” Nia says, shifting uneasily. “We don’t know if this’ll turn into a fight or what’s waiting for us down there.”

But if they go get Calder, will he just insist on taking a look himself, without their help? What if Rosalind and Granite don’t count that as Team Scarlet solving the problem, and don’t give Tobias the information they’ve worked so hard for? What if this is nothing malicious and they’re kicked out of town for trespassing in the mines before they really can solve the earthquake issue?

Tobias’ stomach sinks at the thought.

“We'll just take a quick look,” Tobias says.

Samir gives a quiet stomp, shaking their head and glaring at Tobias. They underline the word DANGEROUS in the dirt.

“Samir’s right—we don’t know what’s down there,” Nia hedges, clearly wanting to keep the peace. “Maybe Calder will let us help investigate?”

“And if it’s not connected to the quakes and we’re kicked out of town instead?” Tobias presses, trying to sound rational instead of desperate. “It was only one ‘mon! We can take ‘em if they put up a fight.”

Samir huffs and shakes their head again, but Tobias can tell he’s winning Nia over. He feels a bit bad taking advantage of the riolu’s peacekeeping nature, but he can't risk the possibility of them failing this mission and missing out on Rosalind’s info.

“I’m going,” He decides. He presses his back to the cart and leans his weight into it. “You two can wait up here if you want.”

Samir snags Tobias’ scarf with their horn, yanking him away from the cart. Tobias hisses and swipes at the skiddo until they back off.

“Don’t touch that! You aren’t stopping me!” Tobias growls, a few embers climbing up his throat. He clutches at his scarf protectively.

“Don’t fight!” Nia says, stepping between them. She looks back and forth, nibbling on her lip. “O-Okay, how about we just take a peek, see if we can see anything. Then we can go tell Calder if it looks suspicious.”

Samir is clearly as unhappy about that compromise as Tobias is, but neither one offers a protest.

Nia joins Tobias in pushing back against the cart, just until it rolls a foot or so across the dirt. They try to take it slow to avoid the old rusted metal squeaking too loudly.

When it’s pushed aside, Tobias holds out his tail to see a fairly large hole dug into the ground, just as Nia said. A fraying rope ladder is staked into the dirt at the top, leading down into impenetrable darkness.

“Looks inviting,” Nia says weakly.

Samir huffs, tapping their hoof to one of their previous words in the dirt.

CALDER

Panic gnaws at Tobias chest, and he tries to keep it out of his words as he says, “This could still be something completely unrelated. Let’s just go down to check it out.”

Nia wrings her paws. Samir stares at Tobias with a hard gaze, clearly understanding exactly what it is that Tobias is doing.

“Look, you two don’t have to come with me, okay?” Tobias grumbles, rolling his eyes. “I’ll go check it out myself.”

Tobias doesn’t give Nia or Samir the chance to stop him. He swings himself over the lip and puts his weight down on the first rope rung, feeling it dip under his foot.

“Tobias!” Nia whisper-shouts, clearly freaking out. “Stop! W-We should really go get Calder.”

“You two go get him,” Tobias says, easing his way down one step at a time. “I’m checking it out.” And hopefully whoever he finds will be weak enough for him to handle on his own.

Nia whimpers something under her breath. Then, the rope ladder sways and jerks with a movement not Tobias’ own. He looks up, not entirely surprised but very relieved to see Nia stepping down after him. He wasn’t going to force her to follow him, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t let him go alone.

Tobias continues his descent, taking the next few rungs step by step. The rope creaks under their weight.

The ladder suddenly jerks, a bit rougher than before, and Tobias’ head snaps up again. But Nia is looking up too, lighting a ball of aura in her paw and holding it up as she whispers, “Samir?”

Tobias can barely see the vague silhouette of Samir clumsily making their way down the rope ladder after them, making the ladder sway and shake as they try to hook their legs around the rungs.

Tobias feels more of the nervous weight on his shoulders melt away. A small part of him feels guilty for basically forcing the other two to follow him down, but he shoves it away and continues on. This is important. They’ll be fine with all three of them.

They go lower and lower, drowning in tense silence. The walls of the tunnel close in on them, dark and stifling all sound. Tobias is grateful for his tail flame, letting them see where their footing is.

Finally, Tobias sees a faint glow of light below. He hurries his steps, gripping hard to the rope as Samir’s clumsy movements rock the ladder.

Tobias touches down on cold dirt in a small, enclosed space. As Nia follows, hopping to the ground and helping Samir down the last few steps, he turns.

The smaller space opens up to a much larger, much brighter cavern that is bathed in a low, rosy light. He steps into the cave, craning his head back to take it all in.

Much like the tunnels under the Lexym Guild, the dirt and rock of the cavern is lit by chunks of crystal sticking out of the walls and floor, embedded in both large and small chunks. Some are a deep pink, and some are a golden yellow. Tobias takes a step closer to one to touch it, startled by the warmth at his fingertips.

They almost seem...familiar, in a way. After a moment, he realizes where he’s seen them before. These must be the crystals used in weather-lengthening battle items, like heat rocks and smooth rocks. Huh.

“Tobias!” Nia whispers.

He turns, something in his partner's voice putting him on edge. Nia is hurrying closer to him, staring nervously at the opposite wall of the cave. It’s only after Tobias catches movement flashing along its surface in patches that he realizes what he’s looking at.

“Mirrorstone?” He asks, cautiously moving closer to investigate.

“I thought Granite said the town ran the mirrorstone supply dry,” Nia murmurs, following.

“He did,” Tobias confirms, frowning as he reaches out to touch one of the stones. It’s cool, its reflection clear enough that he can see the minuscule scales of his skin this close up.

Nia whimpers and tugs at Tobias’ arm. He gives her a look.

“It’s a reflection, right?” She whispers. “W-What if Giratina can see us through there?”

Tobias’ heart skips a beat. He hurriedly steps back and away from the wall, Nia stumbling along with him. Samir, who had followed them over, looks between them and the wall, clearly alarmed by their reaction.

“Maybe he can’t find us down here,” Tobias says, more out of a desperate attempt at reassurance than any actual faith in the thought.

Nia doesn’t answer, which tells him he didn’t quite sell it.

Before anyone can say anything else, there’s a distant shout, echoing into the cave. Tobias’ head snaps up to follow the noise, only now noticing the large tunnel dug into one of the walls, leading off to the side and around a bend.

Almost immediately after, the ground beneath them, around them, above them, begins to shake. Tobias curses and grabs onto one of the larger chunks of crystal. Nia huddles against him, and Samir braces against them both.

Tobias fears this will be another big quake, but it only lasts a few seconds, and it doesn’t rip apart the ground like the earthquake that hit Deidra’s saloon. This one feels more gentle, quickly petering off into stillness once again.

It’s not until a second voice, deeper and louder but still indistinguishable, sounds off from the same direction that Tobias registers the vibration for what it likely was.

That wasn’t a quake, was it? It was a Pokemon moving. Digging around beneath the earth.

Tobias shuffles closer to the opening of the tunnel, ignoring Nia’s quiet protest. His eyes trace the walls of it as it leads away from the cavern.

While the cave they’re in feels naturally-made, what Tobias can see of this tunnel looks more…artificial. There are huge, rhythmic grooves set into the walls, and many of the gems embedded into the surface are cracked or sliced in half. As if something very, very big dug this tunnel. Burrowed right through the earth and stone with ease.

Nia and Samir follow his gaze, and Tobias can see them piecing it together as well. Nia’s ears pin to her head, and Samir takes a cautious step backwards.

“C-Could the Pokemon we saw do all this?” Nia asks.

Tobias swallows. The distant voices are audible again. Voices, plural. There’s definitely more than one Pokemon down here with them.

Tobias takes a step towards the voices. Samir grunts and hurries to stand in front of him, head lowered and horns pointing straight at his face. The message is clear.

“W-We should really go get Calder,” Nia whispers in agreement, glancing up at the tunnel walls again. “We don’t know what kind of Pokemon is up ahead.”

They’re right. Tobias knows they’re right.

But the thought that somehow, someway, if they don’t take these guys down all on their own then they won’t get the info that Rosalind promised as a reward…

That thought fuels the determined fire in his chest.

“I’m checking it out,” Tobias says, stepping around Samir.

“Tobias!” Nia grabs his arm, yanking him to a stop. She looks scared. “Please, we can go get help and come back. We—“

“Have to figure this out on our own,” Tobias hisses, pulling his arm free. “If Rosalind doesn’t think we carried our weight, she might not…this trip can't have been for nothing, Nia!”

“It wasn’t for nothing!” Nia snaps, blinking back tears. She glances down the tunnel, then back at him with a frown. “We’ve helped so many people in this town, Tobias! That’s not nothing!”

“But it’s not what I came here for,” Tobias growls.

Before she or Samir can argue further, he spins and hurries as quietly as he can down the tunnel, to the next bend in the path. His reflection follows him in the corner of his eye, showing bits and pieces of his visage in the patches of mirrorstone embedded into the walls.

Nia, of course, follows, though her distress is palpable as she alternates between shooting the walls nervous glances and giving him a pleading expression. Samir hesitates farther back, glancing over their shoulder as if considering going to town to grab Calder. But then they shake their head, visibly angry, and follow.

Tobias checks that the coast is clear, the voices a bit louder but still a bit of a ways away. Then he hurries forward again, stepping carefully around sharp, broken stone and crystal.

He slows considerably as the voices grow in volume. The yellow glow of a lantern—probably the one they’d found this morning—paints the cave walls ahead in a slightly brighter light that winks and gleams in the pieces of mirrorstone. Tobias can hear the voices grow louder and sharper as they approach. One of them, the higher one, sounds vaguely familiar. The second voice with the much deeper tone is completely unknown.

Tobias peers around the edge of the tunnel. After a moment, Samir huffs and ducks under Tobias’ arm. Nia leans lightly against Tobias' back to peer over his head.

Ahead, in another open cavern, are two Pokemon. The figure they'd followed into the tunnels has pulled down their hood, and Tobias recognizes the dark pointed ears and turquoise fur even from behind. Eddy, the dewott construction crew manager.

Facing Eddy, dwarfing his form, is a massive silver face. It’s peering out from the darkness of the tunnels with a heavy jaw of blocky teeth and black-rimmed eyes. The cavern's colorful stones and the lantern’s light reflects off the Pokemon’s thick metallic hide.

“A steelix,” Tobias murmurs, a nervous chill rolling down his spine. Now that's a Pokemon who can cause some damage. Guess they know for sure who dug these tunnels now.

Tobias' eyes trace the heavy split of a scar cracking through the steelix's shell, starting over the Pokemon's left eye and trailing all the way down to his jutting lower jaw. The blood red color of that iris is dulled slightly, clearly damaged from whatever left such a mark.

“You almost took me out with that quake yesterday!” Eddy is snarling, paw waving. “Half of Deidra’s saloon came down!”

The steelix snorts, kicking up dust and grit with his breath. “You asked for destruction. I gave you destruction. Not my fault you can’t watch your own tail. Sounds to me like I’m just doing my half of the job.”

Well, there’s the confirmation they were looking for. So these two are working together to cause destruction aboveground? Who even is the steelix? Tobias knows he would remember seeing him around. Not easy to miss a ‘mon that big.

“Can it. Unless you suddenly figured out how to use rain dance, the quakes won't cause half as much damage without me. Heck, remember that I’m the whole reason this operation even works! You wouldn’t get paid without me.”

The steelix rumbles something in response, looking irritated, but Tobias is occupied decoding that information.

Getting paid? The construction crew is making big bucks repairing all of the damages from the quakes, but could money really be the motive behind this?

Pokemon died due to these quakes. And Eddy just…doesn’t care?

Tobias almost doesn’t want to believe it, but the dewott basically admitted it himself. And Eddy is a water type—it would make sense he would know rain dance, would be able to loosen up the soil so the “quakes” do as much damage to the buildings’ foundations as possible. Add on the steelix tunneling around down here right under the town, and they don’t even need moves to cause massive, devastating damage.

Suddenly, Tobias recalls a few moments from the past couple of days in a new light. Eddy turning them away from interrogating Cody, redirecting their investigation when they were getting too close to the real culprit. The dewott slapping down an obscene amount of poké at Deidra’s saloon. Eddy telling his crew so confidently that there won't be any more rain for a while.

Nia’s paw, balanced on his shoulder, tightens. He has a feeling she’s thinking of the same thing. All the clues they missed.

Meanwhile, Eddy and the steelix are still arguing. The dewott is saying something about bringing in more ‘mon to help mine the mirrorstone in these caves and outsource it to another location. He really does only care about the money, doesn’t he?

Tobias stuffs down his anger and pulls back, glad when Nia and Samir quietly follow his lead. His partner stares at him with a pleading, desperate look. Samir glares at him, clearly telling him this won’t end well if they attack.

Tobias hates it, but he knows the skiddo is right. As much as Tobias wants to rip into these jerks, he knows logically that they need to get out of here and get backup from Calder, threat to Rosalind’s info or not. Tobias is confident they could take Eddy in a fight, especially with Samir’s advantage over the water type. But a seasoned steelix, big as a building and powerful enough to burrow so easily through the desert earth? Even Tobias can admit they aren’t ready for that.

But as if the universe itself were out to spite Tobias for such a thought, a pebble slips from the wall they’d just been leaning against. It bounces to the ground, impossibly loud. Tobias freezes, Nia and Samir going wide-eyed and still as well.

Eddy and the steelix fall silent.

Tobias holds his breath, glad that they’d at least ducked back around the lip of the tunnel.

Until he glances up, to one of the clusters of mirrorstone embedded into the tunnel wall across from them. In its reflection, he can see Eddy and the steelix around the corner, clear as day.

Which means the crooks can see them, too.

It’s quiet enough for Tobias to hear the dewott hiss, “Thought I heard something. Take those brats out or we both go down.”

“Run!” Tobias barks, shoving Nia back the way they came. Samir bolts ahead of her.

Behind them the steelix growls and gives chase, making the walls of the tunnel shake. Tobias doesn’t dare look over his shoulder, sprinting as hard as he can and willing Nia not to trip over one of the rocks embedded in the uneven ground.

Somehow, they make it back to the cavern with the rope ladder. Samir is hopping impatiently from hoof to hoof at its bottom. Stupid self-sacrificing grass type, waiting to start climbing after Nia and Tobias so they don’t slow everyone down.

Nia’s ahead of Tobias, longer legs at work, and for a moment Tobias thinks they’re going to make it. It’s Samir—suddenly stopping their nervous movement, confused eyes trained over Tobias’ shoulder—that clues him in that something is wrong.

And Tobias realizes too, once he notices the lack of noise through his lung-ripping gasps.

Why is it so quiet?

Tobias glances over his shoulder, only to see…nothing. No one chasing them. There are only the faint vibrations of the tunnels. Growing stronger, shaking, and then—

The ground beneath their feet crumbles and cracks.

Nia yelps and Samir hurries to her side to steady her. Tobias curses and stumbles, gritting his teeth against the painful tilting of the attack. And this time it is an attack. Tobias can feel it, feel the ground type energy assaulting his very being.

Then, the ground isn’t just shaking and cracking, it’s opening up beneath him. A yawning maw of black that swallows him whole and steals the breath from his lungs.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon #charmander #riolu #skiddo #pmd seekers of soul

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artblock-tm · 3 months

Note

"That was kind of hot" and it's Krystll saying it. Have fun!

Alright, here it is, finally!

I could’ve used this prompt for a lot of different things, but I decided to do the unexpected thing and use it to write a Krystll and Zerie interaction. Please enjoy!

(Please note that I have not proofread this nor did I write this at a time when I was completely awake, so please forgive any errors.)

Words: 2,369

It was knocking that snapped Zerie out of his stupor.

He frowned and lowered his hand, picking up on the rap-rap-rapping of knuckles just on the outside of his door. Accompanying the disturbance of his quiet came an inquisitive drawl: “Helloooooo? Zerie?” It was Krystll’s voice, muffled by the door.

Zerie frowned harder than he had already been frowning for the past several minutes. Answering her would mean either rolling off the bed, forcing his legs to work one after the other, turning the knob and opening the door, or opening his trap and making noises in the form of the ever-curious thing known as vocabulary. Just considering either option drained him of even the dregs of energy he had left.

So, instead of doing the polite human thing and acknowledging Krystll, Zerie rolled on his bed until his face was firmly pressed into the fabric.

Unthinkably, his problem persisted no matter how hard he ignored it. “Are you okay in there?” Krystll sounded worried now as she tapped against the door some more. “Maroon asked me to check in on you…”

Oh. Wow. What a supportive little sibling Zerie had. Too bad that he didn’t show up in person. But, whatever. He just showed oh so much care for his brother!

Ugh. Even in Zerie’s misery, he couldn’t help but feel bad for thinking such things about Maroon. He seemed stuck in a spiral of hatred toward everyone and everything that entered his mind, no matter how briefly. He sighed deeply into his bed.

At least Krystll had gone quiet again. Maybe she had left. Good. Zerie could get through this alone.

The knocking abruptly resounded again, louder and more persistent than before. “I don’t think you understand how determined I am,” Krystll announced. “Do you KNOW how good I am at knocking? Well, buddy, if you don’t stop me now, you are about to LEARN the hard way! Knockity knock knock knock~”

“OH MY GOD, SHUT UP.” Zerie dug his palms into his bed and forced himself up, craning his back and whirling around on his bed. He rolled off the mattress and stomped over to the door, grabbing the handle and pulling it open.

He came eye to eye with Krystll, who wore a triumphant smile on her face. He scowled at her. “You win,” he huffed. Zerie stepped away from the door and returned to his bed, letting Krystll enter.

She slid in the room and shut the door behind her. “So, what’s up?” Now that they were literally behind closed doors, the provocative playfulness had left her voice. Zerie’s eyes flicked to hers; they were filled with worry.

Worry? For him? Jeez. He didn’t need worry. He’d be just fine. Zerie bit the inside of his cheek before answering. “What did Maroon send you here for?” he asked cautiously.

She shrugged, tilting her head, her curled hair bouncing and shimmering with the movement. “They noticed you weren’t doing too hot after everything,” she said. She reconsidered her words and sighed. “Well, none of us are, but we gotta look after everyone, y’know? Even if you’re fine, it doesn’t hurt to ask.”

Zerie frowned. “Well, you got your answer,” he retorted, crossing his legs and planting his hands on the bed, leaning into the pillowy fabric. “I’ll be fine. I just need some time alone.” For the moment, he was almost glad that Maroon himself hadn’t come to talk. He could picture his brother’s eyes narrowing, darting to meet his, their face carrying the expression they made whenever they caught him in a lie.

…but Zerie wasn’t lying, so why would Maroon call him out on it? He shifted uncomfortably and lowered his gaze. UGH. Stupid hypotheticals becoming real.

“...right.” Krystll sounded just as skeptical as Maroon was in Zerie’s hypothetical. She stepped away from the doorway and joined him on the bed, the mattress sinking with her weight. “Got anything to talk about?”

Zerie’s lips pursed together. How was he supposed to answer a question that he could say both yes and no to? He had plenty to discuss- what was difficult was trying to isolate a single topic from the tangled masses of his mind. The events of the previous days blurred together in a nightmare whirlwind, and he knew that he’d come apart if he even attempted to unfurl individual scenes and examine them.

…come apart…

Strange that Zerie knew what that felt like now. He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to block the memory, but that only seemed to draw forth the images he was working so hard to avoid.

He didn’t clearly remember the moment, but he remembered being burned alive by the force of the sun. He remembered every single particle that made up his body being ripped apart and incinerated, every fraction of an inch of his existence destroyed on a sun’s whim. To describe the experience as painful was to call a hurricane a breeze- the agony that had enveloped him in that single moment was beyond human comprehension, yet it seemed etched onto his very soul. There was no way he’d ever be able to describe it to Krystll, nor to Midnight or Hare. The only one who understood was Maroon, the one who’d shared the same awful fate.

And then… the events of what happened directly afterwards were wispy in his mind and fraying at the seams, but Zerie could recall the emotions running through him in that instant perfectly. They resonated so profoundly throughout his mind that the mere reminder sent searing anger and wild triumph scoring across his brain.

He knew for sure that he’d been less than human then. Zerie had come to doubt that he ever was human, especially recently, but that experience seemed to confirm his suspicions. For a fleeting instance, he’d become a weapon, a stitched-together blade that was rough and frayed at the edges. All the better for rending flesh, for ripping violently and letting things snap at your will. All the better for throwing yourself headlong into danger just for a chance to cut, and cut, and saw, and tear and rip and cut and maybe, just maybe to pierce–

Zerie had become a glowing white inferno, a beacon that arced through the air. They’d become an arrow, nocked and shot, but had never hit their target.

As a weapon, he’d failed miserably, but as a person, how was he supposed to feel about that?

Now that he knew what it was like to be inanimate, did he ever have a chance to go back to feeling like a person?

“Z-r–?”

And was he just supposed to explain these feelings to someone?! Was he supposed to be able to describe what it was like to force one’s own body to come back to life and rearrange itself?

“Z—e!–r-ie?! A—y– ok-y?”

And how, just how, does one even begin to touch on the fear that…

“Zer-e! Y–r han-s— are-yo- ok-y–

…that maybe he’d rebuilt himself imperfectly? Why did the thought linger in his mind that all of his pieces were there, but they didn’t fit together the same anymore?

–erie!”

Had he… degraded? Decayed? Rotted? What if he was broken beyond repair–?!

“Zerie!”

His thoughts unraveled as he came to, facing Krystll’s worried gaze directly before him. He stared back, unsure what she wanted, and still stunned from his wandering mind.

“Your hands,” she said gently. “Well, your fingertips. Are they okay?”

“What do you mean?” he frowned, and looked down at his hands splayed on the bed. Yes, ever since that incident (he had to swallow hard and clench his jaw to keep himself from thinking about it again), his fingertips had blackened and his nails had hardened. He supposed it wasn’t dissimilar from Maroon’s hands… but, curiously, Maroon’s hands had been that way before they’d ever met.

And curiouser still… Maroon’s very hands used to corrode everything they came into contact with.

Cautiously, Zerie lifted his hands from the bed.

He’d left behind five perfect black circular imprints on the bed, all positioned where each of his fingers had been.

He sucked in a sharp breath, clutching his hands close to his chest. A second later, he jerked them away, arms shaking, hands dangling limply at the wrists. He held them far away from his body, or as far as he could without ripping them off of him, but the mere act risked his own touch rotting his very skin.

His fingers twitched, trembling in the air, as if they had gained a mind of their own, anticipating the next thing they brought to decay. Zerie’s lip curled in disgust and his teeth gritted at the very thought of his own body betraying him in such a way. No, no, if he were to be made a weapon again, it would be at his own discretion, not the result of some natural poison–

“-hey! Hey.”

Once again he was brought back to attention thanks to Krystll’s interjections. Zerie flinched in surprise as she suddenly pressed her palm to his and threaded their fingers together. “What are you doing?!” he demanded, eyes growing wide. “Didn’t you see what happened to–”

“The bed? Yeah.” Krystll gave him a hard-eyed look and only squeezed his hands tighter, brushing away all of his concerns. “Calm down. Eyes on me. Let’s take some deep breaths, okay?” Slowly, she started to draw in a breath.

Zerie didn’t bother following her lead; he leaned away, desperately trying to tug himself out of her grip. “I-I could hurt you,” he blurted, eyes darting away, almost fearing that he’d see her wither and crumble right before him. “Y-you’ve seen it with Maroon! Everything he touched corroded-”

“And it got better, didn’t it?”

Zerie shut up.

“It’s only your fingertips that are affected,” she continued. Krystll lowered their interlocked fingers to Zerie’s lap and opened their hands. She cupped Zerie’s palm in hers, using her thumbs to trace the ridges of his sooty fingernails, keeping eye contact. He shuddered, suddenly realizing that he could not feel Krystll’s touch at his fingertips- had his nerves died at the black spots? “And with Maroon, the black gunk went up to his wrists before they could hurt people with it. Even then, he wore gloves, and later it went away.” She smiled, her eyes gleaming softly. “You have nothing to worry about. It’s not going to hurt anybody.”

Zerie’s eyes fluttered back to hers, his hands still shaky. “Wh-what about…” his voice trailed off, but he knew whatever excuse he came up with would easily be refuted by Krystll.

She smirked. “Okay, let’s challenge this train of thought. Let’s say it gets worse and you start rotting everything you touch.” Krystll let go of him with one hand, and held up a declarative finger. “Well, first of all, you have a super cool sibling that’s already been through what you’re going through and is happy to give you advice and help you. Right?”

“...right.” Zerie swallowed hard.

“But let’s say that’s not enough. What then?” Krystll raised a second finger. “Well, then you have a super smart boyfriend that knows all about how your soul works and can probably whip something up to save everyone. Yay Hare! Say it with me. Yay-!”

“Yay Hare,” Zerie finished. He was smiling now. He shook his head at Krystll, who only reciprocated the grin.

“And thirdly, if even that doesn’t seem to work?” Krystll lifted her third finger. “Well, you have a super badass girlfriend who’ll agree with me on this front: That’s kinda hot.”

“WHAT.” Zerie immediately yanked his hands from Krystll’s, giving her a dumbfounded look.

“Y’know?” Krystll gestured at him.

“N-no?!” Zerie narrowed his eyes at her, perfectly perplexed by whatever she was trying to convey. “No, I don’t know! What the HELL?! Why’d you say something like that?!”

Krystll huffed and crossed her arms. “Because I’m right! C’mon, you know Midnight- hell, you’re dating her- but we’ve known each other for years. She’ll definitely think that this is hot.” When Zerie didn’t reply, she side-eyed him. “Admit it: you think so too.”

“No I don’t!”

“Oh, really? You don’t think that someone fighting so hard to protect their loved ones and degrading themself in the process isn’t at least a little hot?” Krystll frowned at him.

“...okay, maybe a little,” Zerie conceded, rolling his eyes.

Krystll’s face split into a grin. “Then I’m right.”

He just scoffed and pushed her away from him. “What you are is a weirdo.”

“A right weirdo!” Krystll laughed, stumbling away. She stood from the bed, brushing off the spot Zerie had shoved her, and beamed at him. “I got you feeling better, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Zerie rolled his eyes, then reminded her, “But only ‘cause Maroon asked you to. You only get some of the credit.”

“Whaaaat.” Krystll’s face fell as she was drifting toward the doorway. “That’s not fair!”

“Too bad.” Zerie stuck his tongue out. “If you have a problem with it, fight with Maroon to get a bigger chunk of credit.”

Krystll hummed, the tune ominous in her throat. “Maybe I will,” she mused. “I bet I can get him to concede… without… well, you know,” she added, shooting Zerie a glance.

He just grinned. “You go do that.”

“Alright.” Krystll pulled the doorway open, spun through it, and waved her fingers at Zerie. “Bye-bye! Love ya!” With that, she shut the door, and Zerie was alone again.

Only now, the solitude wasn’t so pressing, nor did Zerie feel so bad about himself. He fell back on his bed again, his breath escaping him in a whoosh. It was amazing how Krystll always seemed to find the right thing to say; it was a testament to the existence of her natural charms. He was glad that the grudge he’d held against her had long faded by now- hating her wouldn’t have made the scene that just played out go as well as it did.

Speaking of which… Zerie lifted his hands up and took another look at his black-clawed hands.

Huh… I guess Krystll actually was right. I guess they are kinda hot. Damn. Okay.

#writeblock-tm #ask game #cosmoknightchaos #oc #oc: Krystll #oc: Zerie #ambivalent souls

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whatgaviiformes · 2 years

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Fic: The Christmas Exchange

aka - a very TSOF Christmas

Summary: Virgil and Gordon exchange Christmas gifts Characters: Virgil Tracy, Gordon Tracy Words: ~2K Genre: Family Universe: Adventures of Chicken Dad

a/n it’s the hours leading up to the eve of Christmas eve - a little further along for some of you, and I wanted to take a moment to wish the Thunderfam a very Merry Christmas! For those who participated in the TAGSS, I can’t wait to feast my eyes on your gifts to each other. To everyone who supported me this year or read my stories, thank you. I bring you a closing to the year on my blog with a scene from one of the AUs - I know not everyone’s thing, but it’s the story they wanted me to share. Fishtank, because it’s me. You may want to read Tracy Seaside Orchard and Farm before this scene.

***** “This is weird right? Just a little bit?”

“It doesn’t have to be.” From the other side of the holo-screen, Virgil frowned across from him, his brows pinched in concentration at the large box in front of him. “Your wrapping is abysmal. I don’t even know where to start.”

Virgil kept his tone light, the dig wrapped in a warm smile instead of judgment as he looked up at Gordon fondly.

Gordon hated to admit it, but there was a part of him still nervous. It was… nice, being like this and able to casually call up his long lost brother to talk about nothing, and everything, despite the distance and despite the hours. But their journey was far from one that picked up just like old times. He could be comfortable with Virgil and he knew he was safe with Virgil, but their boundaries weren’t ones that could be learned overnight, especially the long distance ones.

Or, re-learn, as it were. They had both changed over their years distanced from each other, which was the phrase he used intentionally because “estranged” now felt too strong and too final when they’d since reconciled, and when his brother was dating one of his best friends.

They talked to each other many times over the holo-vid since Virgil had returned to active duty with the rest of his brothers. It wasn’t uncommon for them to call each other up like this. What felt different about it and what Gordon knew was the cause of this conversation feeling as strange as it did was all because of the weight of the small box that fit into the palm of his hand.

The exchange of gifts felt so heavy this year, their first Christmas together after everything went down. And despite the significance of it all, they were both decked out in a hue of blue atop their Christmas attire, on opposite sides of a digital connection made stronger by the involvement of Thunderbird Five.

Virgil had wanted to do this in person.

Gordon had too, but not on the Island. Not yet.

“Gordon? Relax.” Virgil encouraged. “I just meant I won’t bite. There’s no reason to feel nervous. Besides, it’s Christmas!”

“I’m sorry still.” He unclenched his jaw.

“I’m not. You weren’t ready.” With the gift Gordon sent him propped on his leg, Virgil peeked around the top of the bow Gordon had tied up like his shoelaces. “Never apologize for that. Of course I want to see you, but I offered so you knew you were welcome here. I wanted you to know I didn’t need to be the reason you stayed away, but I understand that there are other reasons you are choosing to.”

“I still want to try. Someday.” Gordon meant that, truly.

“Take your time. There’s no rush. Besides,” he said, playing with one the dangling ribbons on his box by twirling it with his finger and releasing it with a springing bounce, “I don’t think any of us loathe the opportunity to visit the farm. Not when you send us home with enough of your homesteading to stock the pantry.”

They could’ve done that instead – waited until the next time Virgil visited Gordon at the farm and do their exchanges then. But Virgil had just left again two weekends prior and wouldn’t be back again until New Year’s. That’s when IR was finally able to coordinate time off for the whole family to visit between the short notice of Gordon finalizing his Christmas plan, their rotations already in place, and the busier time of year for International Rescue. December was snowstorm season for half the world, cyclone season for the other half, and human stupidity didn’t have a season. Plus, while Scott and John were attending the last few meetings of the year at Tracy Industries, Virgil and Alan were left on call to cover rescues, and though their corporate-minded brothers planned to be done as soon as possible, it was the hours leading up to Christmas New York time and very much already the 25th Island Time.

It was either this or after Christmas, and neither one of them had wanted to wait for New Years. Gordon had his boxes of “TSOF care packages” for each of his family members ready for their visit – an assortment of his personal teas, a combo of their wines, meads, and brews, a stack of honey and honey sticks, and assorted fresh spices and seasonings, with a little bit of customization in each create. This year while thrifting with Scraps, he’d found a Christmas ornament of a chicken walking out from an overturned grow pot, and it looked so much like Ginger who’d taken such a quick liking to Virgil that there were no questions about it. His brother had to own that for his Christmas tree.

As a gift, it certainly commemorated their time on the farm, but it wasn’t the gift.

It wasn’t the one that had him nervously clenching his fist on his knee.

He didn’t know what Virgil’s reasoning was (maybe he would understand once they opened their boxes), but for his purposes, Gordon knew the gift Virgil had on his lap was the one that would be better heard when no one was watching and when the possibilities of Christmas miracles were at their highest – Christmas Eve for Gordon, Christmas Day for Virgil – and the memories of the Christmases of years past close to the heart. Years of running down the stairs to be first to see the tree with presents beneath it, the winters in Kansas and wearing their pajamas inside out to bed as part of their superstition to make it snow for the holiday, and all of them tucked on the couch listening to Virgil’s piano after ripping through wrapping paper.

“So, this gift?” He lifted his palm up so Virgil could see it, making a show to examine outside. Virgil always was super attentive to presentation, and the compostable paper around the outside was folded precisely and perfectly with the tiniest of bows tacked onto the top. “It’s rather compact. Are you sure this one is meant for me?”

Gordon held it between his thumb and forefinger, squinting at the rounded corners of the small box.

“What do you -? Oh.” When it was apparent Virgil had been a little slow on what he was suggesting, Gordon wiggled his ring finger, and he took an immense amount of pleasure at the flush that ran up his brother’s cheeks, even through the hologram. Virgil rolled his eyes at him. “Yes, that’s your gift.”

“Just making sure,” he cackled. “Could’ve been really embarrassing for you.”

“Gordon?”

“Yes?”

“I would really like for you to open your gift now, please.”

"You got it." Banter was among the few languages he spoke fluently, and there was a nuance to knowing when it was time to stop. He nudged his finger under one of the folded sides but stopped short of ripping it open the way he’d done as a child. “Together?”

"No, you first." Virgil shrugged. “It wouldn’t feel right. We’ve always done the youngest first.”

Gordon smiled. When he was younger he hadn’t thought twice about it. He just knew what it was like to wait for Alan who would take a long time because he wanted to keep opening the toy packaging any time he received something to play with. His older brothers had to wait through each of their siblings in age order.

“I think our parents did that because of our patience. Or lack thereof.”

Virgil grinned. “And they were right to do so. Your attention span was terrible.”

Gordon stuck the tiny green bow on the top of his head and felt it fall briefly before catching on the strands of his hair. “’Kay, I’m going in.”

Once he’d made a mess of Virgil’s perfect wrapping, the box inside could still have easily been mistaken for the kind that would hold jewelry inside, but inside was a simple computer plug-in, the size of his thumb and with ribbon matching the bow in his hair tied around one end.

He lifted it out. “I don’t—”

“Plug it in,” Virgil encouraged him eagerly. “It’s about what it holds.”

“A gig is worth a thousand words, huh?” He leaned over to stick the drive into his computer.

“More than that surely. A gig can hold a lot of pictures. That’s not what’s on there, though. I ...uh, saw how you were at the bonfire. When I started playing on your banjo. And I realized” – the light flutter of piano keys began playing from the speakers of his computer – “just how much you missed my music. I figured I’d give you the real thing.”

“Virgil, this is…” His heart swelled hearing the concerto bend under Virgil’s fingers.

“There should be some of your favorites in there too, for you to play along with.”

He understood now why Virgil had wanted this to be just between them. His siblings had the gift of Virgil’s piano anytime they desired. Gordon had been without the timbre of those chords for so long that his expression faltered as he processed his memories and the meaning behind the gesture. He had been taken with Virgil’s playing at the end of season bonfire, enamored by the sounds of his brother’s fingers teasing the taut strings on his banjo.

His talent was magic, and having it so easily at hand… He glanced at the number of tracks that had been saved. “Woah, that’s a lot of music.”

“I had a lot of time to make up for.”

“Virgil, thank you, this is… really beyond special.” He glanced back to the holo-screen and away from the computer monitor, leaving the second song running low in the background. “I’m going to take my time with this.”

“You’re welcome.” Virgil still had his head propped on his hands, leaning into the box that held his Christmas gift, a pleased smile plastered between ears. “My turn?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

It felt a little silly to Gordon, being on the other side when his gift was being opened, suddenly feeling nervous and unsure about it. He hoped it said what it needed to. That it was good enough to give Virgil.

“—my lord, there’s a lot of tape on this thing.”

Virgil had given him a gift that held something he was skilled at. Gordon’s was similarly homemade, but he was in no way at Virgil’s level of ability when it came to this kind of -

“-ordon? Are you listening?”

“Huh, yeah, of course.”

“There’s that attention span of yours. Typical.” Virgil shook his head, as he ripped through the wrapping from the back and pulled out the box inside to allow him to lift the lid. “Oh, there’s a canvas in here.” He gently pulled it from its paper padding, running his fingers along the edge, and did a double take when he saw a peek of paint along the back and sides before the rest of it was unfurled. “You got me a painting? Oh, my God, you painted?”

Virgil tore the paper away.

“Yeah,” Gordon beamed. “Scraps and I made a beverage donation to a local paint and sip. They liked our wine so much that we started getting invites. I know it’s not anything unique.”

“Oh, it absolutely is. It’s yours. A Gordon Tracy original.” Virgil didn’t look up, his eyes still scanning the details within the artwork. Gordon hoped it was without his discerning eye towards technique.

“Not quite. It was still designed by someone else.” He’d been following an artist’s instructions at the paint night, and there were plenty more just like it. Scraps was planning to gift hers to Jules. Though, the artist who designed the paint night had been inspired by their local homesteads, and the farm roof and chicken coop were both distinctly Tracy. “A painting for a painting, it felt right. I hope you like it.”

The loss of the artwork that he’d destroyed years ago weighed heavily on him and was what inspired him to take that first step to the artists’ shop. There was never a doubt when he walked in that what he walked out with would be Virgil’s. It didn’t erase what he’d done, but it was a firm reminder that he’d never stopped appreciating his brother’s hobbies. And this was the gift that carried all the memories of their time on the farm.

They’d both given each other a little bit of home.

“I love it. Thank you, Gordon.”

With Virgil’s music playing in the background, they continued talking about their plans for the holiday, and Virgil laughed when Gordon told him he and Jules would be art twins once the farm celebrated their exchange. In the morning, Scraps and Jules were planning to go over to the Sheridan’s for Christmas brunch, while he and Everett worked on the morning chores before starting on dinner for an evening among the estate residents.

He wouldn’t be alone for Christmas, and he could tell Virgil was relieved to hear it.

“You should get some rest,” Virgil nudged when he yawned for the third time in a manner of minutes while speaking. He promised to call him again tomorrow and wished him a Merry Christmas just in case. It was an IR thing. Gordon nodded, yawned again through an “FAB”.

As they closed the call and he made his way to the comfort of his bed where Skipper was already curled up alongside his pillows, he dozed to the gentle lulling of his brother’s piano, his heart feeling lighter with the excitement to share in the holiday season with those he loved, not just the next day, but the days onward with his family of friends, his animal companions, and his family by blood and by heart in the days to come.

#Gavii Scribit #Virgil Tracy #Gordon Tracy #a very TSOF Christmas #for the love of fishtank #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction

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elffees · 1 year

Text

While the back and forth between TCM and Snow/Bigby in the finale is good, it feels lacking to me because both sides have so many points they never capitalize on.

To be fair, the trial is for The Crooked Man, but given it’s the finale of the entire game, I just feel there could’ve been a LOT more emphasis on the right and wrongs of both sides.

Crooked Man

For example, Snow and possibly Bigby shift blame to Crane throughout the trial whenever TCM talks about some of their actions. “That was Crane”, “Crane was Deputy Mayor when that happened”, “Snow wasn’t in charge”, etc.

Instead of pointing out how even with Crane in charge, Snow was the one at the front desk acting partly as an enabler and Bigby was the Sheriff enforcing Crane’s regulations, TCM only says one line about how Snow and Crane’s leadership is similar. And that’s it.

Snow/Bigby

And on the flip side, Snow/Bigby have ammunition they never use either.

Bigby never mentions the gotdamn bloodied chains still at the butcher shop. Nor does he mention TCM holding him at literal gunpoint.

They never talk about how, while yes receiving help from the Official Office was unfairly difficult, at least you could easily go to ask for help. Meanwhile TCM’s door bounces around and is only accessible to his top favorites.

If you never shifted blame to Crane, then they could say that while things haven’t been the best, at least they’re willing to take responsibility for their misdeeds, unlike TCM who won’t for anything he’s done.

Both

There also just could’ve been more of a tug-o-war feeling. It would’ve been better if the crowd was more evenly split between supporting TCM vs Snow/Bigby, because in the game it feels moreso “being against TCM vs being a little hesitant about it” rather than “opposing TCM vs opposing Snow/Bigby”. And I personally think the latter would’ve been far more interesting to see.

If you ripped off Gren’s arm and was disrespectful at Lily’s funeral, he could’ve been angrier with both sides saying they’re basically the same. Then your dialogue couldve possibly refuted that.

If you kept attacking Beast, this should’ve played a part here and it take a lot more to convince him and Beauty than it does. It feels weird that no matter how you treat him, he’s always the first to stand by Snow/Bigby’s side.

Depending on how Bigby handled Johann The Butcher, he could’ve also spoken up about either trusting them more, or still feeling the need to support TCM.

I also just think it would’ve been interesting to have more “pro-Crooked Man” fables there. Like Tim and maybe Jersey. Just to have more of a split in the crowd. Maybe even Flycatcher, where if you choose to never go the Tweedles’ Office, he sides with TCM. And if you do go and offer him a job, he sides more with Snow/Bigby.

IDK both sides just had some really amazing possible comebacks, and I expected a little more from that trial than what we got. It was still good, just not, great.

#the wolf among us #twau #lexi plays twau

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mask-of-prime · 2 years

Photo

TLG: Proud of You

In honor of Hyena Appreciation Day, as well as the need to express my headcanon connecting Janja's relation to Shenzi's clan and leadership of his own clan at such a young age, I decided to draw and write a complementary fic of basically yet another one of those episodes The Lion Guard should've had XD Not once have I ever posted a drawing of Janja on here, you'd think I would've drawn him sooner lol

(Also, Sita and Saba are a common name headcanon for those extra unnamed hyenas in Janja’s clan)

Fanfic for this picture below:

Somewhere in the deserts of East Africa…

Growing up, Janja developed a bit of an inferiority complex seeing how differently the males -- especially the cubs -- were treated. The misfit youngsters were treated like outcasts among the clan; slow-witted, easily beaten by the girl cubs, just utterly hopeless in the eyes of the adults, particularly that of the mothers, who would ignore them most of the time. Janja's very own mother, Shenzi, was the coldest with him. He was her only child, a son, a problem.

During a planned meetup with his outcast friends, Janja overheard the adults muttering amongst themselves:

"Things sure have gotten pretty bleak since we took down Scar..." a male hyena said glumly.

"Ohh, you don't want Shenzi to hear that name." a female shook her head desperately, "You know how she feels about the whole thing."

Janja stopped in his tracks and listened to the lower members of the clan. He'd heard that name before, snippets of things about that lion murdering his brother and a legendary team of guardians, and something about one day selling the clan out, why the clan had long moved on from a prosperous land called the Pridelands to become nomads. Nomads with no true place to stay... The adolescent tilted his head for more details.

The male spoke up, "I know, but... remember when he led us to the top? Got the first line of the Pridelands' defense out of the way by destroying the Lion Guard, fed us leftovers, promised us more food when he got the throne? We were set for life when he was king!"

Janja was excited by this news. Too excited. What did Shenzi think was so wrong with this Scar guy? He'd taken off before the female had refuted by mentioning that Scar's faults had led to the gradual loss of respect for Scar's unreasonable unfairness, and ultimately his downfall. Dire information which could've talked Janja right out of a new plan…

……

"He really let the clan eat all of that yummy zebra?!” said a wide-eyed, young Chungu.

“And aaantelopes… Mmmm…” added a tiny Cheezi, licking his lips with his perpetually-always-out tongue.

“More than that, fellas! We was his second-in-commands basically!” Janja straightened his stance, but quickly faltered slightly in thought. He suddenly beamed, “But… What if a hyena was first-in-command? With me as leader!”

Two cubs, Nne and Tano, looked at each other doubtfully. The remaining two, Sita and Saba, listened intently with silence, tails wagging in support. Janja glanced to the side, tilting his head slightly.

‘Yeah… that’ll show Ma how good a leader I could be!’ he thought to himself, grinning at his genius scheme…

……

Janja slid into the entrance of the temporary residence the clan had taken up, excited to tell his mother the news.

“Ma! Ma!” he shouted. Shenzi turned around from facing the wall.

“Guess what?! I know a place we can stay! It’s got food, water, beautiful scenery…” Janja continued, bouncing.

“Where within miles of this place have you heard of a place like that?” Shenzi furrowed her eyebrows.

“The Pridelands!” Janja hopped, “The Pridelands!! We could rule it again…”

Shenzi’s eyes widened at the familiar name. She furrowed her brows again, “Janja, we have food everywhere we go. All the dives we can-”

“Yeah, yeah, but I want a place where we can rest! No more sleeping in the rain, no more thunderstorms, no more bein’ kicked out. I can lead us there! L-Like Scar once di-” Janja suddenly felt a force swipe his face.

“DON’T YOU GO SAYIN’ THAT NAME IN THIS CAVE! YOU HEAR ME?!” Shenzi suddenly hollered.

Janja’s slapped cheek burned, tears filled his eyes. “Ma, I-I didn’t mean to say h-his-”

“Scar was a no-good, double-crossing tyrant, and I will not let no son of mine follow that act!” Shenzi ranted, feeling herself becoming overwhelmed with flashbacks of her failures.

Janja scowled, blinking the tears from his eyes.

“When did you start caring about some son of yours?” he finally said.

He stormed out of the cave into the hazy, orange sunset. Shenzi tightened her lip as she watched him leave, incredulous of his impertinence. She never knew it would be the last time she’d see Janja. Her son. Her only child…

……

Janja rallied the young misfit cubs of the clan and marched southbound to the Pridelands over a course of months. They settled in the Outlands for now, brainstorming as they watched the overwhelming amount of surveillance that populated the Pridelands, until Mzingo flew in and gave them the call to begin their takeover, their first move into the Pridelands. Tonight, they strike.

One year later…

Janja had learned by now that Scar was just as his mother said. Scar’s resurrected, fiery spirit had found a way to diminish Janja’s position as leader after he’d worked so hard to get to that point, Scar had rendered him fearful and submissive, and had finally double-crossed him and his clan. Luckily Janja and his clan escaped with the help of Jasiri and the Lion Guard. The aforementioned Jasiri taught him a better life as a hyena. She showed him a now prosperous land that he could stay in, with food and respect for the Circle of Life. It was way better than what Scar had done for the hyenas as king.

Initially thinking Janja to be in the Pridelands, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed searched far and wide until they reached the Pridelands through the Backlands. They were quickly pursued by the new Lion Guard, a reinforcement to Pride Rock that they hadn’t seen since Scar had destroyed them...

“Halt! State your business.” bellowed a rough, feminine voice. It was Vitani.

“Where’s. Janja.?” Shenzi said softly.

Vitani silently tilted her head, as did her lionesses.

“We just want to bring Janja home…”. Shenzi pleaded, with a much firmer voice. Banzai and Ed shared her sorrowful look.

“Wait…” the lioness said, slowly recognizing the faces of the three hyenas that stood before her. She remembered them from her early cubhood, and with the recent help of viewing Rafiki’s paintings on the walls of the Lion Guard Lair. Narrowing her eyes, she took a few steady steps closer.

“I know you, you were the hyenas that worked for Scar… ran off during the fire…” Vitani lunged forward a bit to appear menacing. “What do you plan to do with Janja?”

Shenzi flinched and backed up, not wanting a fight. She was too old for this.

“Look, look, look, we don’t want any trouble with you lions. Not anymore. I’ll find my boy myself!”

“Her ‘boy’…?” Vitani muttered in thought, realizing the implied personal, familial connection. She perked up, calling to Shenzi.

“Wait. Try the Outlands. He’s Prime Minister Jasiri’s enforcer. If you see any Outlander, ask for her.”

“Prime Minister Jasiri?” Shenzi turned to the boys, who shared a confused look. Shenzi slowly turned to the Lion Guard Leader with a sheepish expression.

“...Thank you…”

It had been years since she’d been thankful to a lion. Vitani gave a short, polite nod in response. Shenzi headed in the direction of the Outlands, a path she knew like the back of her paw.

Vitani and the Guard remained in their positions to carefully watch the hyenas until they became specks fading into the hazy summer air. The lionesses turned and marched towards Pride Rock as their mission ended.

……

The trio took in the unfamiliar scenery of the Outlands. Grass and flowers were beginning to grow, animals actually wanted to live there, and even the Elephant Graveyard, their old home, was looking good for itself. Shenzi found herself tearing up a bit. She never would’ve thought she’d see the Outlands in such a way.

Shenzi eventually did as she was told by Vitani, she asked a vulture by the name of Mzingo for directions, and he gleefully led them towards the entrance of Jasiri’s cave, which towered a series of caves that climbed up the walls of the canyon. The residence of the Hyena Resistance.

“Er, Prime Minister!” the vulture called from the entrance, “I don’t mean to disturb you during a time where you need much rest and time to yourself, but I have Visitors who have come to the Outlands for your guidance.”

Jasiri turned to the vulture. She glanced at the older hyenas and smiled warmly, knowing who they were from their features.

“Bring them in.”

As Mzingo flew away to give the hyenas privacy, to the right of the inside of the cave, a hyena stood facing the wall, listening to Jasiri and Mzingo’s exchange. He heard a voice call him.

“Janja…?”

The hyena in question perked up, and slowly turned around. It couldn’t be… it was. His mother, father, and ‘uncle’ were standing at the mouth of the cave. They had hope in their eyes.

“...Ma?”

Janja’s heart sank. He couldn’t believe it, his family had come back after all this time, looking for him. However, a picture of the last interaction he had with his mother flashed in his mind. He pouted and whipped his head to the side, looking away from them.

“Why are you here…?” he grumbled.

Everyone frowned, including Jasiri. Shenzi stepped closer, figuring what Janja must be going through.

“Janja… You have no idea how sorry I am.” Shenzi teared up, “I shouldn’t have driven you away. I thought you could very well have been dead all this time…”

“Huh…?” Janja tilted his head, confused at his mother’s sorrowful voice.

“Mijo, your mother and I want you to come home and be our successor one day, we miss you.” Banzai said softly, putting a paw on Shenzi’s own paw.

Janja’s eyes were big, “What?! No way!”

Banzai glared incredulously, “Janj- !”

“I’ll handle this.” Shenzi interrupted, “Banzai, Ed, Prime Minister-”

“Just ‘Jasiri’, if you’d like.”

“Yeah,” Shenzi said a tad curtly, “can Janja and I talk in private? I think a heart-to-heart needs to be had.”

Jasiri guided the two to a quiet part of the cave. She and the rest of the group then gave the two their space.

……

“Ma, I don’t wanna leave!” Janja begged his mother, “Everything’s great here!”

“I know it might be hard for you to want to come back, I was harsh on you. We were all harsh on you… On all of you…” Shenzi glanced away in shame, “Because of me…”

“What…?” Janja’s ears perked up.

“Janja, ever since we took off from the Pridelands, I realized how much I’d been letting myself get herded around by Scar. I was slacking, not taking my job as leader seriously. All I did was submit to his power over the clan because he toyed with my intelligence.”

Janja’s eyes widened, she said the very name she once refused to hear. He then glanced down, thinking about how much he’d gone through the same exact thing with Scar’s ghost, but that was going to be a hard one to explain. Shenzi continued.

“Once I broke free from Scar’s constant lies and games, I’d been pushing myself to lead the clan as I was always meant to. Just as my mother taught me, and how her mother taught her.” she sighed, “I let myself get carried away with tradition, and I had you and the other boys be treated unfairly. I lost sight of all the people I was hurting in the end.”

Shenzi placed a paw under Janja’s chin, caressing it. She observed how much bigger and angular his face had gotten. He had little whiskers on his chin like his father.

“I want you to be a better clan leader than I ever was, Janja.” Shenzi concluded.

Janja looked into his mother’s eyes. She had prominent eye bags, her face was heavier and a tad wrinkled in some places. Her signature spiky mane had a grayish twinge. It had been so long.

“I already got to be a clan leader, Ma.” Janja finally spoke up, “I learned so much. All I was going for was greed, until I was introduced to something better. Jasiri made me realize the meaning of the Circle of Life, and I realized now how much I preferred that life of balance and patience over fighting for my way through things and asking for nothing but trouble. I guess in the end I did learn to become a good leader, but through a couple of bad ideas, heh.”

Shenzi chuckled along with Janja, pulling him in for a hug. “You learned faster than I ever could, and I’m so proud of you for that. You’ve always been clever, Janja”

They pulled in even tighter, eyes squeezing out tears as their smiles became wider and warmer. Janja was so glad his mother was happy for him.

……

“So, you’re not coming home?” Shenzi asked, walking into the main part of the cave.

“Jasiri’s gotta have her leader of her enforcers,” Janja said, glancing back at Jasiri, who was slowly entering said main cave. Banzai and Ed respectfully followed her in.

“And… someone’s gotta be there for our little one along the way…” Janja smiled.

Shenzi gasped, looking over to the approaching Jasiri. Mouth agape. Her boy was going to be a father!

…She was going to be a grandma!

“Okay, you don’t have to come home for good, but you are still so coming home for visits so I can see my little grandbabies.”

Everyone broke into a cackle at Shenzi’s humored request.

The End.

#The Lion King #The Lion Guard #TLK #TLG #Shenzi #Janja #My Art #My Stories

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quindolyn · 3 years

Note

Hiiii i heard a headcannon that james potter would love shower sex and i was wondering wether you could write something like that? No specific’s do whatever you want with it just sex in the shower ;)

You in Here? || James Potter

Word Count: 2268

A/N: I hate this perhaps more than anything I’ve ever written but I need to write if only to remind myself that I still can because sidofhdfwqifbr. I feel like I haven’t been productive in weeks and posting is gonna hopefully help me with that. I’ve hated other things I’ve posted as well and y’all seemed to react positively to those so who the hell knows.

Warnings: Degradation, daddy kink, kinda proof read, little bit of exhibitionism

Masterlist

“Jamie,” You called out, your voice echoing as it bounced back off the tiled walls of the Quidditch showers.

You hadn’t been able to grab James after the Quidditch game, where he’d led him and his team to victory, before he had headed off towards the locker room, being stopped by Dobson who was subbing in as keeper for the game. The team’s usual keeper in the hospital wing with a bad case of blood poisoning he’d contracted from an unfortunate Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

You’d never really given much thought to the boy as he was a year below you and you didn’t much run in the same circles but neither of those facts seemed to discourage him as he pulled you aside after the game.

His desperate and frankly pathetic attempts to flirt with you, the team captain’s girlfriend, had stalled you too long apparently as by the time you’d managed to break free of his bad pickup lines and clumsy winks James was nowhere in sight and Sirius had to direct you towards the showers where he’d seen him disappear into.

And now stumbling around the locker room looking for your boyfriend you followed the sound of running water to the back corner of the showers.

“There you are,” You murmured as his dripping form came into view. Blocked by a sheet of warped glass all you could make out of his figure was the outline of his strong physique as he twisted and turned to let the water wash over his ridiculously toned body.

“James?” Your voice lilted up in a question as you wrapped your knuckles against the glass of the door.

“(Y/N/N)? What are you doing in here?” He asked, his voice rough which you assumed was from screaming over the roaring wind to communicate with his teammates.

What you hadn’t noticed before escaping James’ subordinate was the aforementioned boy lurking a few feet away, jaw clenched, the vein in his forehead pulsing as he glared down the boy who seemed to have abandoned all of his inhibitions.

Though you had missed him, James most certainly hadn’t missed you and heading off to the showers he’d hoped that a hot shower would soothe the possessiveness bubbling up in his stomach but it had not had the desired effect.

“Came looking for you Jamesie,” You explained, “Wanted to congratulate you,” A sly smirk tugged at the corners of your lips, painted a brilliant red as you began shedding the numerous layers of clothing you’d been bundled up in to shield yourself from the biting wind.

“Why don’t you congratulate that Dobson kid?” The edge to James’ voice was impossible to miss.

You frowned as you reached around your now nearly bare torso, having made quick work of your top layers, to unclasp your bra, shrugging it off of your shoulders to let it fall to the ground. Left in only your panties you spared a glance over your shoulder before abandoning those as well and opening the door to the shower.

Even after all this time you still had to stop your jaw from dropping whenever you saw James’ body, the defined muscles of his abs, the way they shifted in his back as he reached for things and just went about with his daily business.

His legs. Those fucking legs.

And don’t even get you started on his arms because you could go on and on for hours about them, about every part of him quite frankly.

You stood dumbstruck outside the shower cubicle before James pulled you in by your arm before someone walked in and saw you naked.

“What do you think you’re doing?” The boy growled, towering over you as he wrapped an arm around your waist, keeping you tucked into his strong chest. You could feel his half hard cock pressing against your stomach as one hand drifted to your ass, squeezing it to the point of pain before releasing and smacking the afflicted area with the palm of his hand. The burning hot water didn’t help either with the pain as it washed over your backside, amplifying the sting from your boyfriend’s harsh touch.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” You asked incredulously, having no clue what he was talking about. “That hurt.”

“Good,” He responded curtly, returning his tight hold on the supple flesh of your bottom, squeezing even more harshly than before, no doubt leaving bruises in the shape of his fingers.

“S’ what you deserve after teasing me like that with that fucking prat, and then right now, standing naked in the middle of the locker room, anyone could’ve walked in at any point and seen your arse.”

“No one was gonna just-”

You were cut off by his fingers meeting the side of your face more harshly than you anticipated.

“Ow,” You squeaked, “Was that necessary?”

Growing more and more frustrated James pushed his index and middle finger past your slightly parted lips, shoving his long fingers further and further until the tips of his rough, calloused digits bumped the back of your throat and had you struggling to breathe as he triggered your gag reflex.

“Shut your fucking mouth,” He grumbled, catching your wrist with his hand before you were able to grab at the wrist of the hand gagging you, “First flirting with that little prick and now talking back to me, who the fuck do you think you are?”

Your response was garbled as you tried to speak around his fingers, but no matter what you were trying to say it was muffled even more as he pushed his fingers even further down your throat.

A sick smile grazed his face as you gagged violently, tears slipping from your tear ducts and rolling down your face in twin rivers, collecting in pools at the curve of your jaw.

“Oh don’t cry baby,” He cooed mockingly, pulling his fingers from your mouth, allowing you to take deep gulps of air as he moved his hands to cup your jaw, his thumbs wiping away your tears.

One hand trailed from your face, down your torso, pausing at your tit to take the nipple between his fingers, pinching harshly and pulling a strangled gasp from your lips as the action sent pleasure mixed with a healthy amount of pain zipping up your spine.

Eventually finding his way to your pussy James ran his index finger through your sopping folds, smiling cavalierly at the pool of slick he found there.

“Fucking pathetic,” He muttered, staring at his finger as it teased your cunt, “You got off on that?” He asked, lifting his visage to meet yours, “You got off on Daddy fucking choking you with his fingers?”

After a beat of held eye contact, you realized that it wasn’t a rhetorical question and that the man in front of you expected an answer.

“Yes, Daddy.”

Satisfied with your response James’ gaze dropped back to your pussy where he was now lifting up your clitoral hood, exposing your sensitive bundle of nerves to his touch.

“What was that you said about congratulating me slut?” He asked, harshly pinching your clit between his thumb and forefinger, smirking as you whimpered and brought your hand up to clasp his bicep, supporting yourself as you felt your knees weakening.

The pleasure he could bring you from just his fingers was enough to have you in a puddle by his feet, clawing at his ankles and begging for more.

“Think as a reward I’d like to mark you up, show everyone how much of a desperate whore my baby is. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes Daddy, wanna be your slut.”

“My whore,” He corrected.

“Your whore.”

At your agreement James latched his lips onto the side of your neck, sucking vicious hues of purple and blue into the delicate skin that resided there.

“Fuck,” You swore, tipping your head back so that he could have even better access to your skin.

A pathetic whine slipped from your trembling lips as James pulled away from your neck, instead attaching them to yours, delicately brushing his against your own. As you tried to lean forward, wanting to deepen the kiss you felt James’ hand bury itself in your damp hair, gripping tightly at the root, using his hold to keep your head in place as he pulled back.

“No swearing pretty girl,” He murmured as his lips brushed yours ever so lightly against yours, “Pretty babies don’t swear, yeah?”

He peppered kisses across your lips as you nodded your agreement, tickling your skin before finally deepening the kiss as you so desperately wanted. You savored the taste of his lips as his tongue delved into your mouth, exploring the warm expanse before mingling his tongue with yours.

You were no match for his aggression as he dominated your tongue pulling a moan from the depths of your belly where you felt a know tightening as the slick between your legs continued to collect in a pool of your own arousal.

“Gonna show you how good I can make you feel,” James promised, crouching to loop his arms underneath your thighs, guiding your legs to wrap around his waist, and moving to support your bum as he backed you into the wall, using that to help support your weight.

“Gonna show you how good I can make you feel when you’re mine.”

“Please Daddy,” You begged, pleading eyes looking up at him as you pushed your bottom lip out in a pathetic display of your submission, “Want your cock please.”

It was funny really, how quickly you went from feisty to his submissive slut. And you didn’t even have his cock yet.

Your begging spurring James on, he didn’t bother restraining himself any longer and instead pushed his cock into your warm, pulsing pussy.

A cry tore its way through your throat as he didn’t even bother to ease his way in, not wanting to wait another second, just wanting to be inside of you.

“Shh,” He hissed, clasping a strong hand over your mouth, hanging wide open as you barely had control over yourself to keep your eyes open, much less make the conscious effort to keep your mouth closed in order to keep in the moans and whimpers that shamelessly tumbled from your agape mouth.

James’ pace was relentless as he thrusted in and out of you, watching as his cock appeared then disappeared as he moved in and out of your cunt, your pussy squeezing him to an almost painful degree.

“So fucking pretty,” He swore, palming your tits with his strong hands, leaving your nipples hard as he pinched them again, just as he did earlier, watching the look on your face as he twisted them to the point of pain.

You snapped your mouth shut so that you wouldn’t let out a curse, not wanting to disobey Jamie.

“Mine, all mine,” Jamie grumbled as he let go of your boobs, preferring to watch them bounce as he sped up his thrusts, the spongy tip of his cock brushing against your g-spot, pulling a strangled sigh from you as you lost more and more of yourself in pleasure.

“All yours Daddy,” You agreed, leaning your head up against the cold tile of the shower wall as you focused on the pleasure James was bringing you with every deep thrust.

“That’s right slut,” James said, remembering his earlier frustration, “If s’all mine, all f’me then what the hell are you doing talking to that little dick?”

His hard gaze met yours and though they were swimming with lust it did nothing to dilute the seriousness they held, making it clear to you that he expected an answer.

“Didn’t mean to Daddy, didn’t mean to be naughty,” You explained, hoping that he would realize that you really had had no mal intent in speaking with the boy, you just hadn’t wanted to be rude.

Seemingly paying your response no mind James attached his lips to your collar bone, laving his tongue over it before retracing his steps and sucking marks that matched the ones he’d previously left on your neck.

As he worked to paint your skin in rich hues he lifted your hips so that he could reach even further depths inside of you, sheathing himself completely inside of you before pulling back out, all while moving his fingers to your clit, where they had once previously resided.

The combined stimulation of him so deep inside of you and his strong fingers on your clit had the knot in your belly tightening as the stimulation on your clit sent tendrils of pleasure shooting up your back.

It was all too much, the overwhelming stimulation from his cock combined with his fingers pinching and rolling your sensitive bundle of nerves between the pads of his fingers, and the steady streams of scalding water warming your skin almost had you forgetting to ask to cum as you felt the pleasure boiling up in the depths of your tummy.

“D-Daddy may I-”

You were cut off by the sound of the locker room door slamming open quickly followed by the rumbling of voices.

“Potter!” One of them called out, “You in here?”

Recognizing the voice as that belonging to none other than the very boy who had landed you in your small predicament you studied James’ face, with wide piteous eyes as the sound of footsteps slapping against the tile floor approached your little enclave.

James smiled deviously at you before responding, “Yeah, we’re back here.”

tagging:@randomoutsiders @weasleyposts @amourtentiaa @kittykylax @superbturtlemakerathlete @oliviashea05 @pinkandblueblurbs @st0nesnglitter @thatvenusbabe @itsmentalillness @zzzfour @greenlyblue @emmaev @temporaryissue @gubleryum @msmb r @miraclesoflove @velmasteas @drachoesimp @ashlovesthemarauders

#harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter #marauders #marauders x reader #harry potter imagine #james potter #james potter x reader #marauders fanfic #James potter smut #James potter x reader #James potter x you #james potter x y/n #James potter imagine #James potter imagines

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rek1s-headband · 4 years

Note

Oh oh! Can we get some hedcanons about cherry adopting a girl who is around miya's age. Like how close would they be and how would others feel about her being his daughter now. Bonus points if uncel Joe and little missy mess with daddy blossom

Xoxo love your work so far, keep it up💙

➯ A/N: This was such an amazing request, I had so much fun writing it! Hope you enjoy :)

Also, i started watching Your Lie in April today, and its AMAZING! So much more than what I was expecting

➯ With a daughter

➯ Characters: Kaoru Sakurayashiki with a young daughter. Reki, Langa and co. are mentioned throughout!

➯ Warnings: none:)

Having a child had never crossed Kaoru’s mind before, but when Joe had teased him about how “you treat Carla better than you would a child!”, the idea kind of stuck with him. And so, he’d spent countless nights awake, wondering to himself if it was something he truly wanted?

He’d pass parks, seeing parents with spewing babies and toddlers throwing tantrums, wondering if he could actually put up with that? But as he passed the shops, he came across a mother and her daughter, who looked around 12. He watched them pass, a grin on the child’s face as she looked into her shopping bag, examining her haul for that day. And so it was settled

He wanted a baby girl he could spoil absolutely rotten

And the search for a child carried on, and this time instead of baby shops and websites, he was browsing the shelves of Claires and other tween clothing stores. It had only occurred to him over a bottle of wine with Joe, as they were discussing if Kaoru was truly ready for something like this. Instead of a crying baby or a messy toddler, he could simply adopt someone a bit older!

It made sense too. For a single parent, an older child seemed much more doable. Of course, he wouldn’t be alone. Joe was always telling him how he’d help out, yknow, if he actually went through with the damn thing.

Not to mention, the older you get, the more difficult it is to get adopted. Babies and young children will get adopted left right and centre, whereas the child he will take home will have been there for a while. Finally, they will have a place to call a home

He spent months trying to get the approval for adoption, and one fateful day he finally got the letter that yes he could go ahead and take one home. He was ecstatic, spending the next few days finding out the location of every orphanage around his area of Japan. He messaged every single one, asking when their next visiting day was

And so it was set: Kaoru would not rest until he had found his perfect little girl

He went through orphanage after orphanage, searching for someone he could call his own. However, none of the children were lighting that paternal flame inside him. It wasn’t their fault of course, they just didn’t click with him, staring at him any time he tried to talk to them. Visit after visit, he’d go to Joe’s, ready to tell him about his recent fail.

It wasn’t until Joe came up to him with a phone number, asking if he’d been to this particular orphanage yet. Apparently they had a few children aged 12 and up, and were available for visit that Saturday. And so there he was, packing a bag and getting ready to travel to the house. This time felt different, somehow. He could feel his palms sweat, as if he could sense he would take one of them home

When he finally made it to the house, he was a nervous wreck. The lady of the house let him in with a smile, telling him the children were in the backyard playing while she bounced a baby on her hip. Cherry winced as the baby gurgled at him, glad he opted for an older child

She led him outside, gesturing at the children who were sprinting around in the vast field, hiding behind trees and bushes. It was clear they were playing a game of hide and seek. He smiled as he scanned over them, but it quickly disappeared when he noticed one little girl sitting on the step, head in her lap while her shoulders gently shook with tears

He walked over to her, bending down with a soft smile. He didn’t know where this sudden calmness came from, but that was his last priority right now. A little gash sat on the girls knee, caked with blood as it trickled down her shin. He frowned, pulling out a tissue to gently wipe it. She jumped, wincing with shock from the fresh wave of pain, and surprise. Kaoru gently wiped at her knee once more before looking up at her to attempt a conversation

“Hello, is your knee alright?” She shook her head frantically, wiping a tear away from her face. A small breathy laugh escaped him as he watched the child stand, gesturing to her leg

“Nope, not at all. I think its broken, if you ask me. All cause of that stupid thing!” She threw her arm out, gesturing to a pink board Kaoru hadn’t noticed before. A skateboard.

That’s when Kaoru realised it: I want this one

Suddenly he felt a new sense of importance, like he had to make a good impression. He walked over to the board, tutting as he looked down at it. “This is what hurt you?” He looked at it with disdain as the little girl nodded her head violently. Kaoru could see how she hurt herself, the thing was massive, especially for someone her age. It looked around the size of a board he would use.

Grinning, he picked up the board. “Well, want to see something cool?” She watched in wonder as kaoru stood on it, pushing off and turning quickly, popping an ollie over a stray toy. The little girl jumped, throwing her arms up as she cheered Kaoru on. He finished with a flourish, coming back to stand beside her. “What did you think?” She was speechless, simply moving her hands, saying scattered “wows” and making various sound effects. Kaoru smiled, certain that he could teach her more.

When he realized visiting time was coming to a close, he proposed the idea to the girl, who’s name he had come to know was Lily: he’d come back next week, and he’d bring his board. He even promised to find her a smaller boar perfect for her to learn on, saying he knew a friend who could make her one. From there he would teach her the basics of skateboarding, even a couple of tricks once she got that down. She was delighted, bouncing up and down and declaring she couldn’t wait, all the energy of someone much younger than her. Kaoru found he couldn’t stop smiling himself either

He made his way back through the house, Lily skipping alongside him. He explained the plan to the Lady, that he would come back next week for another visit. Just as he was about to leave, he turned to the lady to request one final thing from her

“Make sure no one snatches her up from me while I’m gone, yeah?”

Needless to say a bottle of wine was opened at Joe’s that night in celebration of Lily, the potential daughter

And so the weeks turned into months, and Kaoru returned each week with his board and some sweets for her and the other children, teaching her everything she needed to know about skateboarding. After a month or so she could confidently ollie without bailing, and next time he visited she displayed it with delight, watching Kaoru’s face light up with pride.

She had taken a real liking to Kaoru, according to the Lady. She refused to pay any other visitors any notice, declaring they “simply weren’t Kaoru.” This is what finally made him realise that maybe it was time to ask if she’d like to live with him from now on, where she could practice with him every day.

When he asked her, Kaoru could’ve sworn he actually saw stars in her eyes. She simply lit up, throwing herself at Kaoru, tears streaming down her face as she shouted yes, of course she would. she wasn’t the only one crying, Kaoru could barely see from the tears in his own eyes, the lady dabbing at hers with a tissue

Once the paperwork was complete and Lily was his, he felt a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He had packed her a new change of clothes the day he went to collect her, bringing Joe along with him for emotional support. Lily came flying at him the second he got out of his car, wrinkling her nose at Joe

“You never told me you had a boyfriend, Kaoru” she stuck her tongue out at him from over his shoulder while they both tried to convince her that no, they weren’t a couple, before she ran upstairs to get changed. Joe turned to Kaoru, an almost offended look on his face

“Why were you so adamant that we weren’t together??” “I dont need her worrying she’s going home to a Gorrila” “HEY”

Once they all got home, they threw a little party at Joe’s who had closed a little early specially for it. Kaoru didn’t let her out of his sight, making sure she wasn’t uncomfortable with all the new people. Of course, it was only Joe, Shadow, Reki, Langa and Miya, all of whom she would meet eventually, but he still worried in case she got overwhelmed.

She made quick friends with Reki, who was ecstatic from the moment he realised she could skate. The two bonded over it, talking about tricks they’d learned, Reki shouting over at Kaoru because why hadn’t he taught him anything??

Miya was a bit standoffish at first, but when she saw the switch in his hand, the two were instantly bonding over who had better villagers in Animal Crossing, and who had passed more levels in Mario with three stars

As the months went on, Lily really settled into her new life in Okinawa, starting at school in Miyas class. The two were joined at the hip, Miya often coming home to Kaoru’s so they could practice together, or simply study and watch some movies. Reki constantly teased the shit out of the two, talking about how he heard “wedding bells”. This comment earned him a swift whack into the skull from Kaoru, warning him not to tease his little girl

Soon enough Kaoru was making her own skateboard with built-in Carla, who helped her skating improve insanely. As Kaoru said, she was definitely a chip off the old block. Langa and Reki would take her to the skate park with them, helping her land new tricks and would take videos of her to send to Kaoru

Shadow was like a chill uncle to her, bringing her flowers for her room and taking her out to get some clothes and ice cream. Joe was like an uncle too, but a much more untrustworthy one. Would he take her to the park, or would he take her to parts of downtown she definitely shouldn’t have been? Who knows, certainly not Kaoru...

Poor Kaoru can never get a minutes peace. Every second of the day she’s plotting something, waiting for him to let his guard down so she can pounce, scaring the shit out of him. When the others are around its 10x worse, all of them ganging up on him to pull pranks

As well as skateboarding, Kaoru tried to teach her how to do calligraphy. She ended up being awful, blotting the ink and smearing it with her hand. But hey, it was a fun art project that made it onto the fridge

At S, she was watched like a hawk. When Kaoru was competing,the others would be like her bodyguard, making sure no one got within 5 feet of her. She’d watch her dad with wonder, the look of awe never leaving her face since the first day she saw him skate. She can’t wait for the day she can compete, maybe even beating her own dad

The first time Lily called Kaoru “dad” was when he won a race, showing off some amazing skills and winning the insanely close match by a hair. He picked up his board, looking around for Lily. He saw her in the crowd, throwing her arms up and cheering “THATS MY DAD!! LOOK, RIGHT THERE, THATS MY DAD!” When she spotted him, a large grin spread across her face. “Nice job out there dad! You did amazing!! D’you think I can do that one day?”

Everyone was staring at her, she hadn’t even realised she had said anything out of the ordinary. Soon enough Kaoru was lunging at her, picking her up in a hug so she didn’t see the tears quickly forming on his face. With a smile he pulled away, his voice dripping with pride

“Of course you could. You’re my daughter, aren’t you?”

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thesolferino · 4 years

Text

True Calling

⤷ dream x f!reader.

⤷ word count: 3.9k

⤷ requested: yes, by this lovely anon!

— summary: dream meets his favorite singer on an among us livestream.

“Dude, what could go wrong? Just do it.”

“What could go wrong?! Literally so many things, you ass.”

Dream heard Sapnap sigh through the mic right into his headphones, the dim grey of his Discord background doing barely anything to illuminate his features as he stared at his open messages blankly.

“First of all, don’t.. speak to me like that, I am doing you a favour by sitting here and listening to you panic about stupid shit. Second of all, nothing big could go wrong. What, you’re a little awkward in the beginning, maybe, and that’s it.” Dream adjusted his headphones a little bit, Sapnap’s rant flowing into his ears but dissipating somewhere halfway to his brain, because, yes, things could go wrong and he can’t be proven otherwise.

“Did you forget that I’m a public figure? And that my fans are insane? I say one wrong thing and it’ll be memed and haunt me in my dreams. Did you forget that SHE’s a public figure? And that this is live? God…” he retorts back, listening to Sapnap helplessly sigh once again in response. He anxiously switches from his Discord to Twitter, then to YouTube, to Twitch and then back to Discord, frantically clicking around. In reality, he knows Sapnap is right, and it’s anxiety whispering into his ear that he’s gonna somehow fuck up, but maybe it’s simply easier to stay and argue with him into the night instead of actually responding to that message.

The stream is still going. Quackity’s voice speaks over Sapnap’s quiet breathing. “Damn, he’s still not responding. Um, let me try Tubbo, maybe?”

Before he knows it, the opportunity to join the stream is slipping out of his fingers, and Dream isn’t sure if he’s happy about that or not. On one hand, he gets to meet one of his favorite artists whose album he’s played way too many times to count, and on the other, the chances of him embarrassing himself in front of that same artist and a hundred thousand other people are extremely high, and he’s not sure if he likes the odds of that.

“Man, I don’t know. You won’t listen to me, anyway. Don’t join if you don’t want to.” Dream hears the annoyed tinge in Sapnap’s voice, and that’s what pours the last bit of courage into his veins because the best way to do anything in life is to follow Sapnap’s advice after you’ve already irritated him to the point of defeat, and he murmurs a quick “bye” and hangs up before the other can even respond, typing a rapid “Sure, send me the VC link” back to Quackity.

He hears a delighted exhale coming from his Twitch tab just as Quackity forwards him the link. “Okay, nevermind, we’ve got Dream! He’ll join in a second.”

With that, he swiftly closes the Twitch tab and with an encouraging sip of water, he finally joins the Discord voice chat with the rest of the players. Your Discord image sticks out like a sore thumb to him despite being a super basic, Googleable picture of you that he’s probably seen a million times by now, and upon seeing it, reality slaps him right over the face and he realises that, oh shit, he actually joined.

“Hey everyone.” Dream speaks into the mic and a mix of excited voices greets him at the same time as he loads up the game. Your icon is missing the green halo. He stares at it, as if you’ll magically speak up if he stares long and hard enough. That, apparently, works.

Pokimane’s “Dream, hi!” seems to set something off in your brain, and you speak again.

“Oh, Dream?” the green halo appears, and Dream resists the urge to say something stupid or bite his hand or anything of the sort when you say his name. “Aren’t you the guy who listens to my music all the time?” you giggle.

Quackity laughs loudly in his usual fashion, and Dream feels his hands go cold as the Among Us loading page pops up. “Wh-huh?”

“Yeah, you-you listen to my music a lot! Your fans always tag me under that… ‘Dream’s Spotify’ Twitter account, I remember you.” Dream swears his heart is about to jump out of his chest and start bouncing around on the floor because his ribs are way too restrictive for that type of movement, but he tries his best to play it cool and laughs lightheartedly.

“I do! I’m, like, your biggest fan.” he grins, as if you can see him, and you laugh in return.

“Yeah, man, you pay my rent. Thanks.” you say and a couple of people laugh while Dream inputs the code and his character finally pops up, immediately running around like the rest of the group. He runs around your purple character and hears you chuckle as you run around him too, but not for long, because the game starts and everyone mutes themselves. He audibly sighs, because he can afford to, considering he’s not streaming and nobody can hear the amount of courage this whole thing is taking him.

A notification pops up on his screen - the Dream Team group chat seems to be talking. Must’ve already found some way to make fun of me, he thinks to himself as he huffs out a large breath and runs through cafeteria and weapons to do his tasks in navigation. Corpse is hot on his tail the whole time, and not to say he’s an untrustworthy guy, but Dream isn’t really looking forward to getting killed before even speaking to you properly, so he runs around, trying to find somebody to stick with so Corpse doesn’t shove a knife in his back while he’s doing a task.

Thankfully, Karl emerges somewhere from the direction of storage right into communications where Dream was going, too. Just as Dream starts finishing download and Corpse and Karl line up behind him, his screen flashes bright red and white and the bold letters “Dead body reported” pop up. Everyone unmutes themselves and his eyes bore into your character, immediately.

“Alright, the body was in top left of the… uh, upper engine. I need everyone’s positions.” Rae immediately spoke.

“I was in electrical, I-I went through cafeteria to the upper engine with Poki, there was nobody there, we did our tasks, went down to lower engine, then Poki left with Toast, and I went to electrical and the body was reported.” Sykkuno said, and Pokimane confirmed with a hum of agreement.

“Dream?” Rae asked, and he spoke up.

“I never even went that way, I went through weapons to nav, and then to communications, and then the body was found. Corpse can vouch for me because he was following me the entire time and I kinda thought he was gonna kill me. And Karl saw me in communications, us three were all together when you… reported the body.” He rambled, trying to defend himself.

“Yeah, it’s true, he was with me the whole time.” Corpse supported.

“Karl, which way did you get to communications?” Toast asked.

“Uh, through storage.” Karl replied quickly.

“That’s funny, ‘cause I was in security, and I could swear I saw you walk past.” Toast said, and a couple of “ooh”s echo through the call.

“That makes no sense because even if I did go that way, I wouldn’t have time to get to communications and start doing my task with Dream and Corpse if I killed Ethan! And Rae, you-you saw me do my task in storage!” Karl loudly defended himself.

“...that… that’s true, yeah.” she said.

“If you ask me, Toast, you’re being real sus for lying about that.” Karl threw it back at Toast, who protested.

“Listen, I didn’t say you killed anybody, I just said I saw someone run past!” he claimed.

“Bretman and Y/N are being real quiet, though.” Corpse points out, and the green halo around your icon lights up once again.

“Oh shit, I didn’t realise I was muted. Sorry, guys.” you laughed. “Um, I was with… Quackity, in… what’s that shit on the right called?”

“O2.” Quackity quickly jumped in.

“Right, O2. I went to… top left, first, and I did my tasks there, and then to weapons and then to O2, and then the body was reported.”

“You were in top left?” Rae repeated.

“Yeah.”

“And was there anyone with you?”

“Um… no? I was alone, and then I saw Quackity in top right, and then we went to, uh, O2 together.” you said and Corpse sighed loudly.

“That means she could’ve had the time to kill Ethan and run.” Toast points out.

“Hey! I didn’t kill anyone! I don’t even know how this game works…” you whined into the mic and Quackity laughed.

“Yeah, I dunno Y/N, you were dancing real suspiciously around me…” he said, causing you to defend yourself louder.

“Why would I kill anyone?! I don’t even know how to do that, I’m a nice person!”

“I don’t think she did it, guys.” Dream pipes up, tugging at the wire of his headphones absentmindedly.

“Shut up, you simp.” Quackity fires back instantly, making everyone in the call laugh, including Dream.

“Damn right, I’m a Y/N simp. She can do no wrong. I mean, look at that innocent face! She did nothing, I’m-I’m sure.” He argued, making you cover your mouth and giggle.

“Their face is literally the same as everyone’s! We’re all astronauts!” Rae protested, but Dream kept shaking his head.

“No, hers is more innocent.” he said. “Toast, why are you so set on accusing everyone, anyway?”

“Oh, you’re so not attacking Toast right now-”

“Guys, I think we should skip.” Sykkuno pipes up to calm the conversation, and everyone agrees, even though most of them mumble “sus” under their breath as soon as they mute their mics.

Dream’s tiny green astronaut stomps his way over to the left side immediately, changing paths this time and making his way into the Upper Engine, trying to finish his tasks in time and possibly find someone to accompany him so he at least doesn’t have to argue over his alibi. He had four tasks left, two of them in Upper Engine, so after that he was free to roam around wherever his heart desired. Just as he started doing one of them, he watched your purple character step in and run circles around him, earning you a quiet laugh that he didn’t know he uttered until he heard himself do it and silently scolded himself for getting that flustered at something so simple.

The two of you did your tasks together before going down to reactor. Just as Dream started doing one of his tasks, a dead body was reported again and he unmuted himself as Toast immediately started borderline yelling into his headphones.

“Bretman just killed Sykkuno RIGHT in front of me. I literally watched him do it. He killed Sykkuno in COLD BLOOD.” he confidently claimed and Dream, quite uninterested, grabbed his bottle of water and lightly sipped on it, wiping beads of sweat resting right above his eyebrows with his forearm, blindly looking around the darkness, trying to get his eyes to adjust looking away from the computer screen. His eyes searched for the window - it was open, just enough to let a fresh breeze inside, but it never seemed to do that, letting humid air in with open arms like a welcome guest. Florida is fucking hell, he thinks, gulping down some more water.

“No, I didn’t! I seriously did not, he’s the one who killed him and is trying to frame me now. I swear to God, Toast…” Bretman shouted into his worn mic, trying to argue back.

“Yeah, to be honest, Bretman, you were silent the whole time when Ethan died.” Rae reasoned, earning quite a lot of “ooh”s and causing little “voted” signs to appear next to Poki, Toast and Karl’s names as Bretman tried his best to fight back.

“I didn’t know I was muted the whole time! You know I’m bad at this! Why would I... you know what, nevermind! Vote me! Vote me! You’ll see when Toast kills you all, I don’t care anymore. I literally saw-”

Dream slumps further into his chair, sure that the foam would have a dent of his body shape imprinted even when he’s long gone from it, and unlocks his phone with a quiet sigh. He opens Discord, and wishes he hadn’t, because Sapnap and George are always on the front lines and ready to make fun of him at any chance possible. He types back a stupid joke, calling them losers, but before he can press send, a Twitter notification pops up on his phone that almost makes his painfully sweaty hands lose grip of the phone.

“this is so boring” your message reads, from your official Twitter account. Dream blinks a few times, and looks up from his phone to observe his murky, empty room, eyes flashing from the window to the ripped chocolate bar wrapper that somehow made its way onto the floor to a cup of coffee from this afternoon. Did the humid air finally get to him? Hallucinations?

He clicks on the notification - it proves to not be a product of his imagination, after all. Three dots dance around on his screen cheerfully, but they suddenly stop. His ears tune in. Bretman is still defending his honor. Something else must’ve interrupted you. His shaky hands barely hit the right letters.

He takes a handful of screenshots amidst his euphoria, and forwards them to the group chat with no caption besides an emoji sticking its tongue out - he wants to tell them to suck his dick, or something along those lines, but your message remains a priority as he rushes back to the Twitter app to reply.

“Right” he manages to write without a typo. “They’re annoying”

Three dots immediately return to his screen like a happy memory, and he almost can’t believe you’re texting back so fast. George would probably humble him by saying it’s because you have nothing better to do, but what George doesn’t know can’t hurt him, Dream supposes, and clicks on your profile instinctively as he adjusts his headphones on one ear. By the time you finish typing your message, the group decided to vote out Bretman, who ended up not being an imposter.

The three dots disappear as quick as they came, and so does the anticipation that bubbled up in Dream’s throat as he sourly leaves to finish the rest of his tasks. The rest of the game stays as boring as it started, save for the giggles and hushed laughter that came from you at every few jokes he made - of which he made quite a lot, in a desperate attempt to make you laugh, at least a little bit. Of course, Quackity was there every step of the way to accidentally mention how Dream sounded a lot more hype and alive during this game than he does ever, but you win some, you lose some, eh?

In the next game you actually decided to set up proximity chat, so of course Dream followed you around everywhere, hot on your tail at all times - what else is he supposed to do, when the chance presented itself, really?

“Are you imposter?” His character obnoxiously ran circles around you as you did your wires task slowly and unsurely since this stream was your first time playing.

“No, but I wouldn’t tell you even if I was, dummy.” You replied, running around his own character briefly before running up to do the rest of your tasks, watching the green astronaut follow you close behind.

“Why not?” Dream questioned, eyes following all your movements since he didn’t have anything better to do considering he finished all his tasks.

“Do you not know how this game works?”

“Yeah, but you’d tell me, right? I wouldn’t… rat you out.” He heard a sigh coming through his headphones in response, and his grin widened just a little, watching your character walk away from him.

“I know you wouldn’t.” you replied. “I’ll tell you if I’m imposter, I guess.”

“You wouldn’t kill me, would you?” Dream spoke into his mic, reaching to fix it and realising the way his hand trembled a little, fully aware he was walking the line between flirty and obnoxious more than usual. He lowered his gaze just to see his keyboard reflect the light of the computer back to him - the sweat from his palms seemed to seep onto the keyboard. He refused to think about the mocking things his best friends would say if they found out how nervous he was just to talk to you.

“No, of course not! I wouldn’t be able to kill you.” You chirped just as a dead body was discovered and the two of you were torn from the conversation.

In the next one, his screen flashed an ominous black and red with the word “Impostor” and your purple character stood proudly next to his green one, and he snickered to himself, adjusting his headphones one more time (the more he did it, the more he was convinced it was one of those anxious habits of his).

Shifting in his chair, he started moving and couldn’t believe his eyes when he realised the two of you managed to lock yourselves in a room with Corpse and Sykkuno, accomplishing a double kill in barely the first two minutes of the game. The two of you vented while Dream muttered curses under his breath, breaking out in a sweat wondering if you’re going to get caught or not as you casually hummed to a random tune while faking tasks, hitting the notes in such an effortless way that it made Dream relax and get even more nervous at the same time. It didn’t take too long before the body was found, and you seemed to adapt to the game very quickly, as Dream just sat back most of the time and watched you stretch out a whole essay on why you and Dream could NOT have been imposters.

“Why would they stick together the whole time? Couldn’t they get at least someone else to vouch for them?” Toast complained.

“Girl, Dream wants some… alone time with Y/N, obviously.” Bretman said, despite being the one most sus of you in the first place, forcing laughter out of the whole lobby, Dream’s sticking out the most as his mood constantly swayed from finding the whole thing funny to being worried sick if you actually find him weird.

“Exactly! And we’re gonna have our alone time if we want to, thank you very much.”

Well, Dream thinks, taking a stressed gulp of water from his bottle, at least we cleared that one up.

“I don’t think that sounded the way you wanted it to, Y/N.” Karl pipes up, making Quackity burst into another fit of loud laughter, and you immediately protested.

“It sounded exactly the way I wanted it to! Now, vote Rae or else.”

When the meeting was over, he ran after you through cafeteria, grin splitting out on his face before he even spoke.

“You’re pretty…” his silence extended as he watched your character stare at his. “...pretty smart.”

You snorted. “Right. You’re pretty…” you extended your silence in return, mocking him. “...too.”

His heart jumps. “You forgot a word there.” he says as you stomp out to storage.

“I said what I said, Dreamy.”

He swears this can’t be healthy for his blood pressure. In the corner of his eye, Discord notifications pop up like crazy. The boys must be watching your stream. His heart swells with both pride and dread, knowing he’s about to be called something along the lines of pretty Dreamy for the next two months.

“How do you know I’m pretty? You’ve never even seen my face.” Dream replies as heat creeps up like a spirit rising from soil, from the back of his neck, seeping into his ears and cheeks somewhat equally. His eyes dart to the window again. Of course it’s the stupid Florida weather that has him burning up, flustered. Maybe he should open another window.

“Is this an invitation to see it?” you say, a teasing tone clinging off your voice and he can practically hear you smiling.

“No, I’m just saying! If you want to see it, though, that… that can be arranged.” he bites his lip as a physical attempt of holding back the smile that breaks out as he waits for your response, chest puffing in both nervousness and odd confidence.

“Can it? I mean, I don’t need to see it, I just know already, you have those… pretty boy vibes. But I wouldn’t…” you chuckle. “...be opposed to seeing it, for sure. Don’t count on me not to leak the pictures, though. I want the clout.”

“What do you MEAN you want the clout, you’re Y/N! You don’t need clout from a Minecraft YouTuber!” He argues back, a small wheeze escaping him mid sentence as you giggle and run around, with him following your every move.

“You keep my fucking lights on, man! Whenever your Spotify Twitter account thingy tweets that you’re listening to my stuff, the streams go up! I need your clout.” you say as you run into admin and snap Toast’s neck and run back out casually, as if nothing happened.

“Yeah, that’s how me listening to your songs on repeat works.” he says and you let out some sort of irritated groan.

“Shut up, smartass.” Just as you say that, somebody seems to find the body and you’re pulled into a meeting, where Rae susses both of you immediately.

“No, because both of you are always together! And someone always spots you walking by the place where the bodies are found! At some point that can’t be a coincidence, right?” she accuses, practically yelling into the mic.

“Of course they’re always together, check- check fuckin’ Twitter! They’re trending on like three different spots already!” Quackity jumps in, loud as always, and the lobby gives off mixed reactions.

“What? We are?” Dream asks, and Quackity confirms with a “yeah, man! Check!” and so he complies, quickly pulling out his phone to check the trending tabs. Sure enough, among the politics and sports, “DREAM Y/N”, “PRETTY BOY” and “DREAM FACE” are crammed, sat at 7th, 14th and 18th place, respectfully. A satisfied grin breaks out on his face. At least they see it, too.

“This has to be the first time Dream has trended for something heterosexual.” Karl points out, earning loud laughter from Quackity and Bretman, less loud on your part.

“Exactly! We’re a power couple! Stay mad!” You shouted, with Dream supporting you in the background, although still shyly adjusting his headphones every few seconds, unable to comprehend that oh, this is actually happening.

Both of you get voted out during the next few minutes, but that really means nothing to Dream - they actually do him quite a favor, because the two of you get to excuse yourselves and he sees those three familiar dots dance on his screen again as he leans back into his chair with a dopey grin, playing with the strings of his sweatpants, waiting for your next and next and next message.

He opens Discord on his computer to type one last message into the groupchat before turning it off for the night:

Dream (03:14): maybe Minecraft wasn’t my calling after all

Dream (03:14): can’t believe I just met my soulmate on Among Us

#dream x reader #dreamwastaken x reader #dream imagine #dreamwastaken imagine #dream fanfic #dreamwastaken fanfic #dream fluff #dream x you #dreamwastaken x you #dream x y/n #dreamwastaken x y/n #mcyt imagine #mcyt fanfic #mcyt x reader

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differentkettleoffishalltogether · 4 years

Text

Show Me [Part 2/2]

Summary: Spencer finds out his girlfriend’s a virgin. But she wants him to change that.

A/N: This is Part 2 of an anon request. I was shocked by the response to Part 1, and I’m so excited for you guys to read this one! (I also set up an 18+ sideblog @spenciebabie if you wanna check that out)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Category: Mostly smut, and a lil fluff

Warnings/Includes: smut, graphic descriptions of sexual acts, oral (female receiving), fingering, masturbation (female), penetrative sex, please let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed

Word count: 4.1k

Request: “Omg I’ve just found your account, you’re an amazing writer! If you’re taking requests, could you write something with virgin!reader and like season 13/14 Spencer?”

Masterlist

Read Part 1 Here

He’s booked a hotel room. A nice one. A really nice one.

They spent the whole week hoping that they wouldn’t get pulled away on a case. Just counting down the days until the weekend hit and they could finally release all of the pent up tension that had been building in each of them.

Of course she was still nervous, but the good kind of nervous. The kind that made you giddy more than it made you worried. Since she’d opened up to Spencer he’d been nothing but kind and supportive. It sort of made her want to sleep with him even more than ever, but he insisted that they wait, he wanted it to be special.

And now that she had time to prepare, she did all the things she thought you were supposed to do before having sex. She got waxed for the first time, and it hurt. It hurt way more than she was willing to admit. She bought lingerie. She had no idea what Spencer’s taste was when it came to things like that, but she did what Spencer would do and she made an educated guess. She knew that he liked it when she wore dresses, he would always compliment her when she wore pale colors. He said she looked pretty in everything, but especially in white.

So she picked out a set that was white, with lots of intricate little lace details. No one warned her that lingerie was so expensive, but Spencer was paying for a hotel room, so she figured she could spring for some pretty underwear. It wasn’t just for him, when she tried it on in the dressing room she knew she couldn’t leave without it. Something about the lace and the way it hugged her body just made her feel amazing.

Not that Spencer would’ve minded if she’d done none of that. He’d still find her sexy if she turned up in sweatpants and a t-shirt with stains on it. She was perfect to him. Which is why they didn’t want to jump into it right away. Where was the sense of occasion in that?

Instead Spencer had planned out the evening, he’d pick her up from her apartment, and they’d drive to the hotel, drop their bags, then head out for dinner. When they returned to the room that evening, then they’d have sex.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him that it didn’t sound so sexy when he gave her a regimented list of activities like that. But she knew he just wanted her to have the best possible time, and she trusted him. As always.

And she was right to trust him, but Spencer had been losing his mind about that all week. Stressed that he was going to be a let down. She’d never been with anyone else before and what if he was underwhelming? What if it was the worst first time anyone ever had? He knew the statistics, how few women cum their first time, how few cum from penetration alone. And in spite of himself he was determined. Determined to make this the best it could possibly be for her.

She was perfect, and she deserved no less than perfection.

He thought about filling their hotel room with roses, so many that you’d hardly be able to see the room. Or maybe just rose petals, scattered along the bed and the floor. Would candles be too much?

Instead he stopped himself, and he kept it simple. He bought a bouquet of roses before he went to pick her up. When he showed up at her door, flowers in hand she wasn’t quite ready to leave yet. Her hair and make-up were pristine, but she was still in sweatpants and an oversized jumper.

“Are we staying in tonight? I could’ve sworn we had plans?” he jokes, stepping inside and handing her the flowers.

“Haha, very funny. I just need 10 minutes to change.” she swats his arm, “Aren't you a walking cliche, a dozen red roses?” she admires the bouquet, bringing her nose to them to take in the sweet scent.

“Nope” he says with confidence, “Only 10. While red roses signify love and romance, the number of roses given actually carries it’s own significance.” he explains, “And the message that 10 roses sends is, ‘you’re perfect’, which you are”. He can feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he says it. He feels so sappy but from the way she looks up at him he can tell she’s just as sappy.

“You’re too much” she says, and pulls him in for a short kiss, “Will you put these in some water for me while I get dressed?” she asks, and he wants to tell her not to bother, they should ditch the plan and he’ll just scoop her up into his arms right now and take her on her bed. But he just about manages to stop himself.

When she emerges from her room again she’s in the sweetest little dress. It’s white, and the bodice hugs her while the skirt fans out once it hits her waist. She looks like a fucking princess. He loved her, he loved that this was what made her feel confident, and sexy. And he can’t escape the little gasp that falls from his lips. She just giggles at him.

“Close your mouth” she teases.

“No way, come here” he reaches out for her and settles his hands on her waist, pulling her in close and pressing their lips together, slow and deliberate. Taking his time to taste her, making sure she can feel exactly how excited he is to be with her. It takes longer than it should but she has to press her hands on his chest and push him away gently to break the kiss.

“If you keep kissing me like that we’re not gonna make it out of my living room” she says, and it’s supposed to be a joke but they both seem to know it’s only just shy of the truth.

— —

The hotel’s not far from either of their apartments, but it feels like a completely different planet. It’s expensive looking, and it’s such a stark contrast to all of the motels they have to stay in across the country.

The bed is plush, and high off the ground with crisp white sheets. And even if they weren’t planning on having sex in it, they’d still be excited to sleep in it. As they enter the room Spencer drops their bags while Y/N all but sprints over to the bed, throwing her body onto it with such force that she bounces back up off it just a little.

Spencer laughs at her, and her giddy excitement. There was still a nervous energy present in her, but nothing like before. There was no worry, no uncertainty.

He can’t help but admire her, the way she’s spread out on the bed, her hair fanned out around her like a halo, her dress spread out, blending into the white of the sheets as she giggled, her chest rising and falling with her deep breaths.

“You’re perfect, you know that?” he says, walking over to the bed, standing so that he’s looking down on her. She just shakes her head from side to side.

“That’s you” she turns it back on him and he smiles. He leans down over her bracing his hands on either side of her head as he leans down to kiss her. Her own hands move up to cradle his face, holding it gently as their lips move against one another. When they break apart she’s just looking up at him adoring.

“How did I get so lucky?” she asks this time, and his heart just about explodes in his chest. He leans in again, kissing her with a little more force than last time. Climbing onto the bed instead of hovering over it so that he can be closer to her, feel more of her pressed up against him than just her lips.

He moves so that they’re both on the mattress, so that he can wrap an arm around her waist and pull her so tight against him while they kiss. He uses his other hand to roam around her body, down her shoulder, trailing delicately along her arm. Along the curve of her waist, gripping her hip just a little when he passes it. He uses that hand to slowly pull up the skirt of her dress. Not with an intentions, just so that he can have a hand on her bare skin. Resting so gently on her thigh so that he can feel the goosebumps that he leaves behind.

That’s one of the things he loves most about her, just how responsive she is. It never takes very long before she’s gasping and moaning beneath him, even if his hands are gentle. And that’s exactly how they end up. With her writhing beneath him, tiny moans passing from her mouth into his as his fingers dig into the skin of her thighs. Hiking up her dress, further and further until he could see her panties. Just like that evening on his couch.

“Spence?” she moans out as his hands creep further and further inside of her thighs. He pauses for a moment to look down at her, to check in.

“Are you okay?” he rasps, his breathing shaky, and she nods quickly, putting him at ease instantly.

“I just— could we— can we do it now?” she’s looking up at him completely doe-eyed, her hands draped lazily around his neck, she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth in anticipation. And all he wants in the world is to say yes. Fuck it, yes of course, anything she wanted. But he couldn’t.

They’d waited this long, what was another few hours. Besides, they had reservations, he didn’t want to have to rush anything to make it to the restaurant in time. He wanted to give her all of the attention she deserved. So he shook his head.

“Nope” he says, telling himself as much as her, “We’ve got dinner in 30”

She pouts immediately, and he wants to give in right away but he pulls himself back, removing his hands from her thighs, and freeing himself from her soft grip. She pouts even more as he stands up off the bed completely.

“You’re really gonna leave me like this?” she asks, more brazen than usual, sitting up on her elbows a little so that she can see him as he walks across the room.

“I don’t want to start something I can’t finish” he jokes, but she doesn’t look impressed.

“You already did” she counters, his eyes darting to her exposed white panties between her legs, but he shakes his head again.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom, you better start getting ready for dinner” he points at her as though he’s trying to be stern, but they both knew he was wrapped around her finger.

She’s got absolutely no intention of using this time to get ready. Instead she reclines back in the bed, resting her head amongst the pillows, and she takes up right where Spencer left off. Pulling her skirt up and tucking her fingers into the waistband of her panties to find herself soaking wet. She trails her fingers between her folds, her lips softly parting to let out a small moan at the overall feeling that was building in her already.

She can’t help but cry out just a little as she sinks one of her fingers inside of herself, burying it as deep as it will go and curving it up to hit that spot she knows so well. By the time she’s added a second finger Spencer’s back in her line of sight. And he looks like he’s almost frozen in place when their eyes lock.

“Y/N” he just gasps, so small, she’s mentioned that she was the only other person who'd touched her like that, but for some reason he’d never thought to picture it. And thank god he hadn’t, it wouldn’t have held a candle to this.

“You started it,’’ she whines, “so I’m finishing it” her chest it heaving as she takes in long, labored breaths, her back arching up off the bed as her fingers continue to move inside of her panties. When it looks like she might just be about to cum her intervenes, sitting next to her on the bed and grabbing her wrist softly.

“Let me” he breathes, and she lets him pull her hand out of her panties. Instead of leaving it down by her side he brings it up towards him. Taking the two fingers that had just been inside of her and sucking them into his mouth. His soft lips sealing around them. She didn’t even know what to say.

“I’ve wanted to taste you for so long” he says once he lets the digits out of his mouth, and she's not only speechless, but she’s breathless now too.

With that he repositions himself on the bed so that he’s lying in-between her legs. He pulls at the sides of her panties and slides them down her legs so that she’s exposed to him. Now that he’d gotten a taste of her he was desperate for more.

Reaching further up under the skirt of her dress so that he could rest his hands on her hips, he uses the leverage to pull her a little closer. So that his face is right up against her centre. He places lingering delicate kisses all along the inside of her right thigh, and then her left. Agonizingly slow, teasing his way closer and closer to where she wanted him.

Once he’s run out of spots to kiss he’s finally at her core, and he introduces his tongue in one tentative lick right through her folds, tasting her even better now. Thankfully he’s got her hips pinned down with his hands or else they’d have sprung up off the bed.

“Fuck” she moans already, and that’s a good sign.

“Do you like that?” he asks, not playful or teasing, just genuine.

“So, so much” she affirms, and he dives right back in.

His tongue swiping between her folds, just grazing her clit every once in a while so that he could feel the way she squirmed beneath him. When he wraps his lips around her clit and begins to suck, with just the lightest pressure, she’s moaning so loud they’re probably going to get a noise complaint.

“Oh god, oh god” she starts to whine, “I think I’m close” she manages to force out. So he takes that as his queue to release his grip on one of her hips so that he can slowly push one of his long fingers deep inside of her. The stimulation from it, coupled with his lips in between her legs is enough to kill her she thinks.

Before she can think about it she’s cumming around him, on him, her hands fisting the sheets for any kind of purchase. Unable to control the moans the ripped through her.

When Spencer reappears from beneath her skirt a moment later his lips and chin are glistening, and there’s a dopey smile on his face, so she can do nothing else but pull him down on top of her for a kiss, tasting herself on his tongue. She wonders for a second if this turned Spencer on as much as it turned her on.

“Spencer” she breathes once they’ve broken apart, “that was amazing.”

“Yeah?” he looks at her, and delighted is the only word to describe his expression.

“Yeah” she tells him and he doesn’t miss a beat before he's on her again, diving in and placing feverish kisses all along her neck, down her collar bone, right to the cleavage that’s just exposed at the neckline of her dress. He starts to pull down the straps on her shoulders, doing anything he can to get it off her without having to move from his position, so perfectly situated on top of her.

“Spencer” she giggles, pulling his face up out of her chest, “What ever happened to dinner?

“We’re already 9 minutes late” he just laughs, “fuck dinner” and he dives back in. And she can’t fight him on that one. He’s sick of working around the fabric of her dress so he sits up the the bed and pulls her up with him.

“We’ve gotta get this off” he says, frantically searching for the zipper, and she wants to laugh at his eagerness, and she would, if she weren’t just as excited to be undressed. She has to help him find the zipper at her side so that he can slide it down. The dress goes slack around her just enough that he can pull it off over her head.

And now she’s just lying down in front of him in nothing but a bra and he thinks he might pass out. It’s a pretty one, white, and lacy, with a little satin bow in-between the cups. It’s so gorgeous against her skin that he almost wishes he hadn’t taken her panties off earlier. So that he could properly admire the whole set.

“I like this” he bites his lip, “I like it a lot” she doesn’t have to ask ‘what’ he’s looking so unashamedly at her breasts that she can’t mistake it.

“I bought it for you” she gazes up at him. And it makes this heart melt, she’d bought it for him, for him to see, to touch, to admire, to remove. “Can we take off your clothes now?” she asks then, and he feels stupid that they’re still on. He was so caught up in looking at her he’d almost forgotten he was even there. So he moves quickly, hopping up for a moment to rid himself of his clothes.

Once he’s in front of her in nothing but his boxers she starts to feel nervous again. She’s seen his cock before, she’s held it, tasted it, but this time was different. This time it was going to be inside of her. What if he didn’t like it, what if she was bad at all of this and he hated it.

He takes them off so that she can see just how hard he is, flushed and leaking, so excited to be with her. And it should feel reassuring, but it just feels like pressure. Pressure to be good.

Once he’s hovering over her again, his mouth working against hers as his hands work to unclasp her bra he can feel the hesitation in her kiss, in her touch. So he stops, and he pulls back.

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” he says, his voice laced with equal parts love and concern.

She thinks for a moment before she speaks, “I just don’t want it to be bad for you” she whispers, like she’s embarrassed. And he can do nothing to contain the shock that spreads across his features.

“It could never be!” he rushes out, “This could be the worst sex of all time, and it would still be the best sex of my life, because it’s with you”

She softens immediately, he always knew exactly what to say to put her at ease. To comfort her so completely. So she pulls him back down to connect their lips once again. This time with the passion that she usually did, no apprehension, no worry.

And they stay like that for a few more minutes, him on top of her, their mouths moving against one another. With her bra on the floor his hands caressed and squeezed her bare breasts, fingers gently teasing her nipples in a way that made her gasp.

He has to climb off of her to get a condom from his bag, and for the brief moment that his warmth is gone she misses it more than she ever thought possible. When he returns to the bed, foil wrapper in hand she’s excited. This was it.

“Can I—” she starts, “can I put it on?” she asks sheepishly. And honestly he’s confused, but he hands her the wrapper anyway. She rips open the foil and pulls out the condom. Holding it in one hand as she grips his cock with the other, pumping it gently, softly gliding up and down the length a few times. She leans down into his lap for just a moment and licks up the underside of it, leaving an ever so slight kiss at the tip where it was leaking. Then she starts to slide the condom down his length, all the way down, so, so, slowly until it was at the base. No one had ever put a condom on him but himself, and he had no idea it could’ve been that hot the whole time.

He pulls her in for an appreciative kiss, pushing her back down on the bed so that he was on top of her once again.

“Can you, um— can you be on top?” she asks, biting her lip and looking up at him.

“Of course, whatever you want.” he whispers, “You’ve got to tell me if you don’t like something, or if you’re in pain, or not comfortable, or if you just want me to stop for any reason. Okay?” he asks, so sincere, and so full of love. And she’s so unbelievably happy that she waited for Spencer.

“It’s usually more comfortable and enjoyable if the woman has already cum once during the session, so you should be relaxed, but I’ll go slow.” she nods up at him.

“I’m ready” she sucks in a deep breath and pulls him in by his neck to kiss him, her lips open on his right away as she delves her tongue into his mouth. The taste of her arousal still lingering on his tongue. He pushes in while their mouths are still connected and he can feel her short gasp against his lips. She lets out a small wince at the sensation and it breaks his heart just a little.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to stop?”

“No, no! It just takes a little getting used to, you can keep going” she reassures him. And it does hurt a little, but it’s more like pressure. A pressure she hadn’t felt before. He pushes further in, and further in, and further in, until he’s completely inside of her, as deep as he can go. He moves so slowly so that she can take her time getting used to the feeling.

And if he was honest with himself he needed time to adjust too. She was so tight and warm around him, and whenever he’s still he can feel her clench around his length. He’d forgotten just how good this felt. Or maybe it had never felt quite this good before.

He keeps still inside of her, leaning down to litter her neck with kisses. Giving her time, she seemed to be enjoying it a little more now, biting her lip as she looks up at him.

“That feels so good Spencer” she moans out, her fingernails digging into his back as he raises up to look at her, “Does it feel good for you?” she says, and he almost can’t believe she’d even have to ask.

“It feels perfect. You feel perfect, so tight and wet” he lowers down so he can moan it right into her ear and that does something to her.

“I think you can start moving now?” she says

“Are you sure?” he asks and she nods, enthusiastic. And so he starts to move, slow and deliberate, long deep thrusts in and out of her. It doesn’t take long before she really seems to like it, adjusting to the feeling faster than she thought she would. Her legs come up to wrap around him, heels digging into his back to pull him close.

And they’re both moaning in tandem this time, moving together, breathing in sync, becoming one whole in every sense of the word. When she started to squirm beneath him, her hands gripping at his shoulders, his neck, wherever she could, he almost couldn't believe it. She was close.

So he put one hand on the headboard to steady himself and slipped the other down, skimming it along her torso before settling it right in-between her thighs. Circling her clit with his finger, faster and faster to match the speed of his thrusts as he tried to continue pumping in and out of her.

“Spencer, I think I’m—” she moans out, breathless and perfect, “Ah fuck! Right there!”

“That’s it baby” he hums, comforting and reassuring, his hands and his cock continuing their movements, working her closer and closer, “Cum for me.”

A second later she’s writhing beneath him, her back arching up off the bed, her nails digging so hard into his back that it hurt. “Fuck! Spencer!” she cries out as he works her through her high. It only takes another moment or two before he’s there himself, releasing inside of her, and the feeling is indescribable.

He pulls out of her slowly, taking care not to hurt her, when he’s sure she looks comfortable he allows himself to finally lay down on top of her. Collapsing softly, and resting his head on her bare chest.

On instinct she moves her hands to his hair, it’s just a little sweaty but she combs her fingers through it anyway. He was so beautiful.

“That was—” she wants to tell him, but she’s got no words, none that would do it any justice.

“Just the beginning.” he finishes for her.

— —

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fa-headhoncho · 3 years

Text

Untitled TFATWS Fic: Part 1

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Prompt/Background: After turning yourself in to the government following the events of CA:TWS, they lock you up for the crimes you committed during your time at Hydra. Spending years there until Captain America got you on parole during the blip to help fight Thanos. Now, after doing community service acts and helping the broken society, when they give the new Captain America the shield, you’re thrown back into a life you didn’t want.

Word Count: 1871 (ahaha, yea)

Reader: Female

Warning: parole officers might be triggering??? idk

Author’s Note: I’ve decided to end my 141 part Wattpad Sebastian Stan imagine book and post on Tumblr instead :’), a happy day. Also, I’M SORRY THAT I LIKE SLOW BURN SERIES OK? Schedule for this series is every Thursday. ALSO IF YOU HAVE TITLE IDEAS FOR THIS SERIES, LMK! PLEASE

Masterlist

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

=====

The sound of your heels echoed throughout the dimly lit room as you make your way through the exhibit. The walls take you back in time, reading how Captain America came to be and all his past accomplishments. They even updated from the last time you were here, documenting the events on the Blip.

You didn’t even know where you were going, absently letting your emotions and feet lead to where it felt you needed to be.

“For a former spy, you’re not really good at sneaking up on someone.” Rhodes’ voice greets you once you open up the curtain to a different area. A small smile sneaks its way across your face seeing the two men in front of you.

“Bit out of practice.” You spit back, walking towards them. “It’s nice to see you again, Rhodie.” You open your arms out to him and he gladly takes the hug. “Hopefully life’s been treatin’ you well.”

“For the most part,” He chuckles out while pulling away from the embrace. You move on to the other man, him happily wrapping his arms around your waist as you wrap yours around his shoulders.

Sam lets out a breath into the crook of your neck before pulling back. “You doing okay?” You ask, looking at his face for any sign of emotion. He nods but there was something in his eye that told otherwise.

You open your mouth to push him for the real answer but Rhodes cuts you off, “Well, I have to get going. It was good seeing you, (Y/L/N), hopefully, we work together soon. Remember what I said, Sam.” With that, he leaves the room to leave you and Sam alone.

The room fills with silence as the two of you turn to the iconic suit and shield in front of you. You try to watch Sam from the corner of your eye but he just stands with his back straight and his eyes forward.

“You know, I’m sure Steve would understand.” You decide to say, clasping your hands in front of you. “I didn’t become as close as you did, but from my time with him during the Blip, he tried his best to help everyone. He had a lot of responsibilities and issues of his own along with having a whole country looking up to him...

“It was a lot… he opened to me about it one night before… you know.” You admit which makes him finally look at you. “He told me what he was going to do and all I could do is support him… I asked him what he was going to do with the mantle and he said give it to you.” Turning your head, you make eye contact with him. “I asked him if he was sure.”

He lets out a snort at that, shaking his head at you. “Really gotta do me like that?” He wipes his hand across his face then stuffs his hand in his pockets as he turns to face you. “I thought we were having a nice bonding moment and then you had to drop me like that?”

You can’t help the giggle that escapes your lips at his whining. “I’m being serious, Sam, stop.” You hit him on the shoulder. “He said there was no doubt in his mind that you do what needed to be done with the shield. He trusted you and your judgment, Falcon.” You emphasize his hero name which he just rolls his eyes at you.

“Yea, I’m sure he did.” He smiles and then changes the subject, “How’s parole treatin’ ya, still got the collar on?” He gestures to your ankle causing you to lift your dress pant leg, flashing the electric bracelet around your ankle. He lets out a hearty chuckle at it. “Still can’t believe that they have you on a leash.”

“Price you gotta pay for freedom.” You shrug and drop the cloth. There’s a beat of silence between the two of you, both of you taking a glance back at the exhibit and the shield.

“Have you talked with Bucky recently?”

“No, I was going to ask you.” Your heart sinks at the realization. “We’ve been texting a bit but I haven’t seen him since I spent the weekend with him a couple of weeks ago.” You shyly admit and look down at your feet.

“Weekend, huh?”

“Shut it, Sam.” You knock your foot against his. “We didn’t do anything, he doesn’t like me like that. Plus, he wouldn’t even let me spend the night. I had to go to a hotel, he sleeps on the floor, Sam! I’m worried about him.” It took weeks for you to convince him to let you come over and you finally knew why when you step into his apartment. It made your heart sink, it looked like if a Hydra cell got a remodel. “He has two chairs and a tv.”

“Living modestly I see.” He snorts out, covering up whatever he was actually thinking. It’s now your turn to roll your eyes at him, frustrated that he isn’t willing to talk about this. “Hey, he’s still figuring stuff out, okay? He just got all his memories back and he’s still working on living with his past. You should know better than I do to give him time.” His tone is soft as he lightly scolds you. You hang your head at his words, knowing he’s right.

It took some time for you to come to terms with your past when you turned yourself in after Hydra and SHIELD fell. You took accountability for your actions during your years at Hydra and spent a few years in jail before Steve took action to help you get on parole. That didn’t mean you weren’t fully recovered.

“When are you joining me on the field, anyway?” Sam changes the topic noticing how you went silent and your eyes looked past him. “I could use you on some of my recon missions.”

A large smile forms on your face at the mention of your parole. “A couple more check-ins and I’m good, I think.” You excitedly inform, “They actually want to talk to me about something, and then it’s the last three months. Saving the world made my good behavior skyrocket.”

“I’m sure it did.” He smiles, “Well, let me know what happens. I’m heading down to Louisiana soon and my sisters want to meet you. She heard about your work with the soup kitchens in New York and she wanted some insight.”

“Really? Give her my number, you know I’d be happy to talk with her. I’ve been thinking about trying to get my officer to convince the big guys to expand my tracking radar so I reach out more.” You start to ramble about the ideas you’ve been having for more community service actions. During the blip, Steve got you into volunteer work and it sparked something inside of you. He said it might give you a new purpose and he couldn’t have been more right.

The two of you spend the rest of the day together, catching up on everything that’s been going on. You didn’t realize how much you missed his snarky comments and banter until he smothered you in it, “making up for lost time”, he said. He continues the bullying by texting back and forth for the next few days.

It was nice to have a friend after everything that happened over the last few years. Steve and Nat were gone so the friendships you built up during the blip were just a memory now. Yea, Bucky and you were friends but it was a bit more complicated than that.

It’s a few weeks after that and they’ve already named some prick the new Captain America. You were frustrated at Sam but you realized that he couldn’t have known that this was going to happen. Especially since when you reached out to him and he was more furious than you were. Bucky was a whole other story. When the press conference aired, he immediately called you and went off about Sam. You couldn’t offer answers so you just told him to talk to him about it. This didn’t involve you.

Now, you were sat at some random government office in DC. You were beyond nervous, leg bouncing and fingers tapping. Kevin, your sweet parole officer, had called you in for an emergency meeting. He didn’t mention anything about the content of it but he assured you not to worry. It didn’t help, though, your mind was scrambling trying to think of anything you could’ve done to break your parole or anywhere you could’ve gone that went outside your tracking radar.

“(Y/L/N)?” The familiar voice echoes through the lobby makes your head snap up. Kevin, your knight in a cashmere sweater, stands there with his hands in his pants pockets. He nods his head, gesturing for you to follow him.

He leads you down a long hallway, stopping at the end of it and holding the door open for you. You send him a grateful smile before entering the office. It was very different from his usual office. The tall windows lined the wall from floor to ceiling, making the already large room feel even more spacious. It was a bit unsettling compared to his close-knit office space located in an old house on the outskirts of DC.

Kevin moves you two to the large conference table on the other side of the room, having you sit before he does. He takes the chair at the head of the table, sighing as he opens the folder and takes a few papers out.

“Sign these.” He slides them over to you but you furrow your eyebrows in response.

“What’s going on?”

“You’re being released.” He announces, leaning back in his chair with a tight-lipped smile on his face. Your jaw drops and your heart picks up but you can’t help but question it. You quickly compose yourself and look down at the papers.

“Isn’t it a bit too early?” You ask while briefly scanning the papers. “I still have two months left, not that I’m not grateful but where is this coming from?” This was happening too suddenly, Kevin was good with warning you about the activities that go on behind the scenes of your parole and he didn’t even mention the thought of an early release.

The brunette man lets out a sigh, running his hair through his long hair. He then leans his elbows on the table with his head propped up on his palms, he opens his mouth to answer but is cut off by the office door opening.

The new Captain America and his sidekick come waltzing in, a few of his goons following as well. He didn’t need the uniform or shield for you to recognize him since his face has been plastered on every channel since they came forward with him. He’s all everyone could talk about.

“He released you.” You barely hear Kevin as your mind goes into spirals. What the hell did this guy want? Why is he even here? What the hell did he want with you?

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #avengers imagines #james buchanan barnes #james barnes #tfatws #avengers fanfic #mcu #james buchanan barnes x reader

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infernal-fire · 3 years

Text

TAU (1/2)

Summary: Steve Rogers traps you inside his mansion. Your only means of escape? The naïve A.I., Bucky, that is designed to kill you if you ever step out of line.

Pairings: Dark!CEO!Steve x reader, A.I!Bucky x reader, Bucky x reader

This is part of a series of works (not interconnected). I highly suggest you read the description of the series master list to better understand the premise of this story.

Warnings: swearing, kidnapping, mention of sedative, technical Lima syndrome, psychological abuse, violence, blood, character deaths, injuries, mention of depression, suicide & poverty

The chair was on the brink of collapsing, yet Martha folded her arms and leaned back into it anyway. You internally grimaced, waiting for her to fall flat on her ass or give you the bad news. It had to be bad news. You had done this enough times to know that she periodically bounced her right leg only when there was bad news. These days, that was often.

You huffed once, loud enough for her to hear, hoping to hint that you were hanging by the threads of your patience. She took the hint, finally throwing open the drawer in front of you with excessive force. Pens rolled and a notebook slid towards her amid the force. Again, another piece of furniture that was ready to give in. For someone as stingy as her, you aren’t surprised that it hasn’t been replaced - just wondering why she’s treating it like it won’t disintegrate any second now.

Martha’s plump fingers slapped a couple of bills onto the table, her seedy eyes challenging you to pluck them from under her hand. You wrestled the bills out of from under her palm and diligently counted them, only to shake your head defeatedly.

“That’s it?” you snarled.

“Steal better shit next time,” she replied, shrugging.

You slowly sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose, refusing to open your eyes and face her.

“I really need the money.”

When you open your eyes again, it’s because you hear the roll of her weathered chair. Now standing full height, the middle-aged woman shook her head softly, a hint of a smirk playing out on her lips.

“Like I said; steal better shit.” She turned to leave before facing you again. “You could always come and work with our girls.”

She glanced through the door that was cracked open, eyes resting on the table situated in the corner of the adjacent room. Around it, a group of girls set down cards while pushing poker chips around.

“Sell my body? I’d rather die,” you scoffed.

“Suit yourself. Now, get out.”

“Was planning to.” You flipped her the bird, knowing that she was watching you leave.

“Real classy,” she called after you. “You gotta come back here for your next week’s dinner, you whore!”

“That’s all you,” you smiled at her before slamming the door closed on your way out. Oh, the satisfaction of pissing someone off; unparalleled.

Placing your measly wage into a makeshift purse, you made your way back home. You hugged your frame tightly, keeping your head down and pacing through the dilapidated neighbourhood.

Once upon a time, when you were new to the shadier areas of town, you affirmed to yourself every day that this situation was temporary. The hope for a better job, better apartment and better tomorrow kept you going for a long time. Deep down though, you knew it wasn’t temporary, and now you were being proven right every day. What was keeping you going these days? Multiple times, you delayed the contemplation of that question, knowing that if you thought about it… well, it’s better to not go there.

You were careful to double-check the lock on your door and windows when you stepped into the cramped shower. Today, you thanked God for hot water, even though you were sure he didn’t exist. Mind empty like a brand new chalkboard, you shuffled around your one-room housing and put together something edible to appease the churning stomach.

Your ear perked up at what sounded like the creaking of the fourth floorboard from your bed. You locked the door. You were sure of it.

Still, you peeked over the short dividing wall that hid the view of your bed from the kitchen. Nothing. You shook your head at your paranoia and turned back to get to the less-than-appetizing meal waiting for you.

Steve jammed the needle into your neck, expecting you to fall back into his arms. Instead, your forehead hits the edge of your counter and you slump onto the floor. Your eyes shutting down and head throbbing, you reach out to feel your attacker and touch Steve with saucy fingers. He groans in annoyance as he picks up your whimpering form.

Thump, thump, thump.

The nightclubs you frequent were full of snobby, rich kids who didn’t know the value of wealth. You stole to survive. They could survive without their wristwatch for one night.

Thump, thump, thump.

Music turned the speakers inside out, deafening those closest to it, but the youth are resilient to damage in any form. For you, though, it was too loud; too much. It wasn’t uncommon of you to walk away from the scene with a pounding head.

Thump, thump, thump.

The inside of your head resembled the thumping of club speakers. Jaw slack and eyes foggy, you tried to rub your temples. But your arms wouldn’t move.

Sitting up the best you could, you looked down at your hands to see them bound by zip ties, sitting on your lap. It was joke-worthy how your captor thought they could bind you with zip ties, of all things. He would have to do better than this.

You tugged on the end of the tie using teeth and tightened it some more before huddling your knees up to your chest. Bringing your hands down as hard as you can against your kneecap, you awaited the snapping sound of the zip tie. Nothing came. You look at your hands again, realizing that they were still bound.

“Don’t do that,” a voice piped up from the dark corner of the room. Startled, you look to the source of the voice but no light fell in that direction. For the first time, you took in your surroundings: half of the room was divided by a set of bars. The other side had large machinery with wires running towards the jail section. As you trailed your eyes across the wires, you noticed a closed door.

At least you knew it was possible to escape now.

Quickly turning to the place the voice came from, you scooted backwards some more and anticipated the arrival of your captor.

A woman crawled forward slowly with bounded legs and arms like yours.

Seeing that it was just another prisoner, you tightened the strap of your zip tie again and tried breaking it one more time. It snapped. Rubbing your wrists where they were bound, you got straight to undoing the bind on your legs. Beside you, the girl moved closer and repeatedly begged you not to free yourself.

“Shut up, Brit,” you mumbled, referring to her accent.

The bind on your legs gave away and you stood up and stretched. Tentatively stalking around the cell, you noticed the toilet and sink. Why would he have those amenities in here if you were tied up anyway? When you went to touch the bars separating the room, the girl cried out again.

“Stop! Don’t!”

You rolled your eyes and touched it anyway. Electricity surged through you and you yelped, pulling back immediately.

“Could’ve told me it was an electric gate,” you snapped.

“Don’t try to escape.”

You looked at her incredulously. “And sit here like ducks, waiting for him to kill us?”

“Someone will find us!” she pleaded.

“Look at me! Look at you! No one is looking for us. The police won’t blink twice if people like us are gone. And he knows that.” You eyed the door that was inside your cell and looked to the other one outside the bars.

“Do you want me to remove your binds or not?”

The girl sheepishly looked down before sticking her arms out for you.

“My name is Peggy,” she offered as she stood up. She held your arm for support when blood rushed to her head. You shot her a withering look in response and she took her hand off.

“I don’t think we can leave. He can probably hurt us with these implants.” Peggy pulled her hair to one side and showed you the nape of her neck. A glowing red triangle shone from under her skin.

Your eyes widened, immediately reached for the back of your head. You felt around and touched the area that stung a little when you touched it. You compulsively hissed, realizing that your implant was fresh and the skin around it had not healed yet.

“Has he done anything to you using the implant?” you held and shook Peggy’s shoulders while you questioned.

“No, no, but he said it collects brain data and that it was connected to my spinal column, so I shouldn’t try anything.”

“He spoke to you?”

“Once. It’s Steve Rogers, the inventor guy on the cover of all the Forbes magazines.”

“Brain data,” you silently repeated as you look to the other side of the cell again.

“I have an idea. Rip your clothes like this,” you demonstrated.

Using the rags ripped off from both of your prisoner uniforms, the pair of you created a long rope-like contraption with a loop on the end. You stuck your hand through the gaps in the cell and tried to fling the loop to a nook in the machinery. Failing hurt, your arm accidentally brushing against the metal once or twice before the loop finally caught onto a crevice.

“That’s the wrong part,” your fellow inmate breathed.

“Yeah, but that’ll work too.” You pulled as hard as you could and a section of the machine broke off, sparks flying from the source. It crackled and caught on fire.

Peggy was pulling the cell door open, grunting as she tried her best. It gave way and you both looked at each other briefly before dashing out of the room. The jail room went up in flames behind you. Peggy looked over her shoulder, but you yanked her arm, signalling her to keep running.

You flew up stairs and through doors, finally making your way into a clearing. Peggy rushed to what seemed to be the entrance door and frantically banged on it.

“HELP!”

“That’s not gonna work!” you rushed to the door and inspected the lock. On the right side, there was a screen that displayed a handprint.

Do not try to escape. Only Steven can leave the premises.

“What?” you whispered. The new voice was coming from all around you, seemingly through fixtures in the ceiling and walls, but you couldn’t be sure. The situation was tense and you were scared the whole house was going to burn down.

Before you could catch her, Peggy planted her hand on the screen which scanned and turned red. Suddenly, all the lights emanated red, accompanying a booming alarm that blared through the house.

In the distance, what you assumed was a statuesque décor piece, came to life. It reminded you of the spiders from the Maze Runner. A motorized killing machine. It stalked towards Peggy and you with pincers appearing from its side.

Screaming, Peggy ran. So did you, but you weren’t sure if you were screaming. You couldn’t hear through the noise your friend was making on top of the deafening alarm.

The spider machine stuck out its knife-like hands, trying to stab you. As you ran into another room, you frantically searched for an exit. Right now, your priority was to survive this thing.

You pulled open a cupboard in what appeared to be the study and instructed Peggy to climb in. The monster was coming. There wasn’t much time to hide.

You shut the closet door and hid behind a lounging chair in the corner.

The machine came in and scanned the room, looking for your heat signatures. It could see Peggy.

The cupboard door flung open and Peggy shrieked, crawling out of it in attempts to move out of the line of attack. She took 4 steps on her knees and looked straight into your eyes.

“HELP ME-”

You screamed when she was dragged back towards the machine. You couldn’t save her anymore. You mobilized and ran back to the living room area, not even turning back to address blood that splattered across your back. It wasn’t in your best interest to find out how she was killed.

“Aries!”

Frozen in fear, you look to your right to see the entrance door open. There stood your captor, staring at the machine that was now hovering over you.

“Stop,” he muttered and set down his briefcase.

Aries retracted its pincers, making its way back to the little pedestal it was perched on before. It powered down just as the CEO stepped into the house and glared at you.

For a split second, the doors were open, and you considered tackling past him.

“Don’t even think about it.”

You collapsed onto the floor where you were already lying down. Getting out was going to be a lot harder than you anticipated.

Your hands were bound again, but this time, behind you. You were seated on a pedestal like the one Aries was on, except this one had an ugly glass décor piece that extended to the ceiling. You tugged on the bonds, hoping for some leeway, but Rogers had learned his lesson.

You shook your head side to side, trying to get pieces of hair and blood off your face. Eventually, you had to give up, slumping into the post your arms were tied to.

“You cost me 7 million dollars worth of tech,” Steve’s voice sounded from another room.

“If you let me go, I swear on my life I won’t tell anyone. They won’t believe me anyway.”

He appeared in front of you and placed both hands on either side of your thighs.

“Things will work out for you, if you just… shut up.”

You exhaled and turned your face to the right, hoping he’d stop invading your personal space.

“Just… please, untie me.”

He stood back and considered your request before rounding the side of the pedestal and untying you.

“Bucky?”

Yes, Steve.

“Activate Aries if she moves a single inch from her spot.” He eyed you at the end of his command and sauntered away to god-knows-where.

You hoped it wouldn’t be pushing your luck to stand up and stretch, so you did. You mentally considered the various stretches you did as a child, during gymnastics. It had been years since you recalled those, so you did them to the best of your ability. It’s funny how life works. One day you were among a row of girls, learning how to do a cartwheel and before you know it, you’re in a psycho’s mansion as a lab experiment.

About 30 feet away from this pedestal was Aries.

Cautiously, you took a few steps away from your place. No reaction from Aries. That meant ‘Bucky’ and Aries weren’t the same thing. You could also deduce from Steve’s command, Bucky was capable of conversing.

Do not take another step forward, Subject 10. I have been told to inflict pain if you move from your position.

You took another step anyway, wondering how much you could test the limits of this A.I.

Do not take another step forward, Subject 10. I have been told to inflict pain if you move from your position.

You considered making a run for it but reconsidered. Aries would activate in less than 5 seconds and Steve was still in the house somewhere. You needed to play this better. Besides, you didn’t even have an exit point.

You went back to your pedestal and sat down, drawing patterns on the ground with your feet. It would help to know the time or date. A part of you wondered if anyone was looking for you, but you yourself had answered that question long ago. No one looks for people like you or me.

It could’ve been hours or minutes, but finally, Steve called you into a different room. You observed your environment as you stalked towards the kitchen area where the inventor was seated.

“Sit,” he motioned at the chair that was on the other end of the table.

As soon as you sat, tiny robots flew to your seat and placed food in front of you. It was some sort of soup with a side of bread, the only utensil he gave you being a spoon. Smart bastard.

You wanted to hold off on the food; you really did. But you didn’t even get to eat the sandwich that you were putting together before the kidnapping. So you began devouring the meal, ignoring his pointed stare at your lack of table manners. It was only when you were halfway through the meal did you realize that the food may be drugged. Too late now.

“You killed my only other test subject and rendered her data useless.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

Steve dropped his steak knife and fork, shooting daggers into your eyes.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he began. Clasping his hands together, he leaned forward, supporting his weight on his elbows. You could tell by the way he talked that he was used to getting what he wanted. He relished in it.

“Every day, for the next two weeks, I’m going to leave for work. And every day, you’re going to complete the puzzles and tasks that Bucky tells you to do.”

“And if I don’t?”

“It won’t take me more than 10 minutes to kill you, clean up the mess and dispose of your body.”

“If you could kill me, you probably would’ve. I know you considered it,” you remarked, leaning back into your chair and folding your arms.

“Now, why would I waste a perfectly good test subject?” It was his turn to mimic your body language.

“If you want me to do what you need me to do, I need three things,” you announced.

“It’s funny how you think you have any leverage in this situation.”

You kept your face stoic, trying to prove that you were serious about the negotiations. If he didn’t allow you these requests, you would never escape.

“Okay, go on,” he said, clearly amused.

“I need clothes. Regular clothes, not prisoner uniforms. I need to shower. And I need proper food, like what you’re eating.”

“That’s quite the list.” he laughed. Abruptly, his features turned serious. “I hope you know that you don’t hold any cards against me right now, and if I allow any of those things, it’s out of the kindness of my heart.”

It was your turn to laugh. “The kindness of your heart,” you wheezed between laughs. “Sure, okay. Yeah.”

He swallowed the last piece of his meal and gestured towards the sofas.

“Bucky will be guarding you throughout the night. Don’t think of trying anything.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” you beamed at his sour expression right before leaving the table.

Masterlist

#dark! steve rogers #dark mcu #Dark Fic #dark marvel #dark!steve #dark!steve x you #dark!steve x reader #dark!steve rogers #dark!bucky barnes #Bucky Barnes #bucky fic #dark!bucky #dark!bucky x you #dark!bucky x y/n

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