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animehouse-moe · 1 year

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Undead Girl Murder Farce Episode 7: Free For All

Well, another week of Murder Farce, and another week of an episode that goes by in the blink of an eye. It's truly incredible how quickly time passes while watching this series. Each episode is absolutely packed to the brim with mystery and action and humor and detail. The amount of information you can glean from a measly minute or two is something else entirely. Anyways, enough idle chatter, let's get into the heart of today's farce.

And what a farce it was. I was foolish, overconfident in my ability to pay attention until it was too late. Lupin toyed with Holmes, that's a matter of fact. And I was correct about in which ways he toyed with Holmes, but ultimately missed the mark. Erik was always to be the one that would spirit away the Penultimate Night, but that required Lupin on the inside. Lupin, who intentionally wore a cheap disguise the night prior. I was alert about eye color and other details of course, but it took until the shot of the character's feet after leaving the chamber for it to clue in. Truly, incredible direction that strings you along perfectly. It all has a purpose, a reason for being what it is.

Also, just a quick round of applause for the consistency in storyboarding/direction for this episode. The use of shifting depth of field and off-axis camera angles is used in just the right concentrations in this episode to provide a unique feel that still appears perfectly at home alongside the rest of the series.

Also also, this scene perfectly establishes the mystery! The grate that was atop the chamber is now on the bottom of it, meaning that movement through the air duct is in fact possible. Really, this series is just on another level.

Anyways, Holmes doesn't just take Lupin's routing while laying down. No, he'd already taken the Penultimate Night out of its safe and hidden it on another character. Though of course, Lupin ends up the winner at the end, making out with the diamond behind the cover of a smoke bomb. It's such a classic back and forth, but with a decidedly Aosaki-esque twist where the simplest actions appear on top.

So, Lupin's making his escape, with nobody tailing him as of yet. It's all but a done deal, no? Wrong, that's where Tsugaru comes in with his storytelling prowess, retelling the tale of Goemon Ishikawa.

While I was unable in my shallow search of the character/person able to turn up any real info, I did end up on a somewhat tangential dive into the idea and expression of Japanese Ninjas. Here, I uncovered the fact that Japan was the first to attempt to use the smoke bomb. So I didn't exactly get the correct answer, but in my wanderings I accidentally stumbled upon something close to it. Rather cool.

Did you think that was all? Oh no. Oh no no no. Lupin meets up with Erik, who's carrying the safe, and the pair begin to plan out their exit strategy. Though I should say, they were about to, if they weren't interrupted by Aya Rindo slamming the safe door into Lupin's face.

A hilarious moment that puts an incredible cap on the mystery up until this point. Seriously, expert work to put all those little pieces together to create something so silly but so intelligent. This series absolutely lives up to its name as a Farce, as both mysteries so far have had nearly "unsatisfying" ends to them.

Let me turn back time by an image here, back to the story of Goemon Ishikawa. Tsugaru's retelling was incomplete, interrupted by Erik and Lupin. The piece that is oh-so-important to our Farce here today is not the smoke bomb that I accidentally ran across in my search, but this piece of dialogue from Tsugaru himself. What an incredible detail to sneak in there.

Anyways, the intelligence behind the decision lies in the fact that Lupin entirely underestimated Tsugaru and Aya, believing the former to be a weak opponent and the latter to be a young girl with a bird cage. Personally, I believe from the first moment Tsugaru started that fight that he was playing it up, the very style of combat indicated that to me. As for Aya though, with how Tsguaru handles her birdcage things can get a little easy to miss. However, the episode kindly provides a flashback showing that Lupin never saw the young reporter's mouth and thus believed it was her talking.

With Lupin in the hot seat, and the thieving duo seemingly cornered, Erik takes the opportunity to flee, and in turn creates a rather funny moment. In tune with the idea of a farce, Erik leaves his partner high and dry, as Tsugaru simply watch as he flees.

Also, kudos to whoever took the risk to really play up Lupin's frustration here, it's really fun and feels in tune with the odd sense of humor that wafts through these scenes.

Moving on once more, Royce enters the fray and our characters engage in a free for all battle with each attempting to walk away with the Penultimate Night. But the battle is interrupted before it can begin by none other than Moriarity and his group of... unique individuals.

You know, I've yet to actually provide context to these characters at this point. They're all based on very real people characters. Infamous ones, even.

Take Aleister Crowley, the self proclaimed illusionist. They did exist in England, and they did mess with the occult, numerology, magic and other pieces.

Carmilla... well, I'd have hoped there was no need to explain, but Carmilla is a very old (older than the infamous Dracula novel, though not the first vampire novel) vampire novel featuring Carmilla as the titular (pun intended) vampire that terrorizes a young woman.

Victor.... is also one that I don't think really needs explanation. But for those that are not literature fans, Victor is the name of the scientist in Frankenstein (that is, the scientist's full name was Victor Frankenstein).

And last but certainly not least is Jack. Referred to simply as Jack, and without much to go on, is there really any fictional or real character aside from that one that they could be?

Anyways, it's plain to see the idiosyncrasies of Aosaki mesh with these characters, especially as we get to actually hear from them in proper this episode!

So how about I talk about it then? Well actually first, let's do some fanservice. Carmilla is used pretty damn well for that purpose. Dangerous, deadly, and drop dead gorgeous. She shows skin and provides an air with it. Nothing eye-popping per se, but certainly more than enough to catch your eyes.

Okay okay, on to the interest details. First is (as we later find out) Crowley. In a blink and you'll miss it moment, we see a soldier go down to poisoning. Specifically by a needle that's embedded in his neck. A great addition that keeps the future reveal in the episode factually and stylistically sound.

Moving on to Carmilla, we get this really interesting pair of comments. The first from Crowley, and the second from Carmilla.

But what do these comments mean? Well, they both point towards a single feature of Carmilla's novel: sapphic vampirism. Yes, even back as far as the mid 1800s the idea of vampirism being erotic in nature was evident, alongside the (sort of, in a mixed signal way that virgins are a thing to be coveted) concept of sapphism being equally as erotic.

To clarify, Carmilla will only suck the blood of a woman. Through all the droves of men she has at her disposal, she only partakes in the neck of the young maid.

It's really cool to see this sort of detail and aspect appear in a story hundreds of years after its origin can be discovered.

Alright, let's skip along through these next few pieces rather quick. We come back to the three-way fight of Royce, Lupin, and Tsugaru to see them quarreling over the diamond (and the fact that one is a monster). Before we can really settle into it, the trio flee their current battlefield in pursuit of the diamond, Holmes and Watson fill the gap and pick up Aya, and we cut to Erik vs number 7. Lots going on to establish events and location, but not a lot to comment on. Solid work overall though.

Back to Crowley, when he runs into Holmes & Watson (and Aya) we get a pair of names out of him. Mathers and Yeats are in relation to his time with the Hermetic Order of The Golden Crown. Mathers is one of the three founders of the order, while Yeats is a notable English poet of the era.

It's also during this chance meeting that we get the explanation of Crowley's "ability". Holmes reads it in an instant and saves Watson from being poisoned, exposing the nature of Crowley's snapping. I really love how endearing and admiring Aosaki is of characters like Holmes and Lupin, their portrayals ring so true yet creative.

Following Crowley's "proper" introduction, we turn our gaze to Carmilla. Nothing too crazy here, but I just really love how they extend Carmilla's red and blue color palette through her bloody conquest of Fogg's mansion.

Arguably even cooler than that is how Aosaki places Shizuku in opposition to Carmilla to keep the latter's character true. It has me really excited to see how things play out in the next episode for sure.

And finally, we get back to our odd trio of challengers, fighting it out in the moonlit sky. Very interesting and creative cut that puts the abilities of each on display while they deftly tuck and twist and turn in midair.

With that, our farce for today ends, the Penultimate Night stumbling into the lectern of the property's chapel, outside of the grasp of any of the three vying for control.

I don't really have anything else to add, truthfully. Aosaki is incredible, and this adaptation under Hatakeyama's helm brings out the best in it. Just crazy work, and so many details and pieces of information for people to obsess and get excited over. I really, really can't wait for next week's episode.

#undead girl murder farce #アンデッドガール・マーダーファルス #mystery anime #supernatural anime #anime recommendation #anime review #anime and manga #anime

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wrienne · 2 years

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My Cheating, Amnesic Fiancé

Chapter 15: Tension

So even though you were merely a breath away from Jeon Jungkook’s handsome face, you knew that you had to pull away. Before either you or him did something stupid, something you couldn’t - or worse, wouldn’t - take back.

“I have to get to school,” you said as you straightened. Your hands balled into tiny fists at your sides and you felt your cheeks redden. “I’ll take care of the dishes. You go rest or whatever. When I get back, we’ll start reminiscing.”

“No,” he said quickly, rising after you. Nothing - not even a slight rosiness - in his expression insinuated that the recent, passing moment of exposure and intimacy had occurred. And perhaps it was better that both of you just forgot about it. “Let me take care of the dishes since you cooked.”

“Don’t be stupid,” you told him as you snatched his dishes and began washing them, still feeling your scorching cheeks. “What can you do with that arm of yours?”

You heard Jungkook sigh, but he didn’t voice any other protests. “I found a laptop inside the duffel bag,” he said instead. “I assume it’s mine?”

“That’s right,” you said. “If we could access it somehow, we might find something of yours that will help.”

“But I don’t remember the password.”

“Let’s make that your first daily task,” you told him as a plan swiftly reformed in your mind. Though you had no idea how you would be able to handle your emotions, you did map out a strategy for his amnesia. Only somehow, you would have to solve all your other issues along the road to potential recovery also. “Every weekday, you’ll be tasked with some type of mission or assignment to deal with while I do what I need to do at school. When I get back, you and I will review whatever task it is that you received and see if it worked. It should be obvious if it did, seeing how completely clueless you are at the moment.”

“And during the weekend?”

You furrowed your brows as you finished scrubbing the last bowl. “Glad you asked. I have to ask my parents about you staying here before we lay any plans.”

“So it’s decided? I can stay?”

Finishing up wiping down the counter and the sink, you glanced over your shoulder. Jungkook looked relieved, to say the least. “For now,” you said. “Though I can’t figure out why you would stay with me.”

He frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

What Min Yoongi had told you ghosted through your mind, and a shiver trailed down your spine. “Just,” you began, pointing from him to you. “We’ve never gotten along. And frankly, our relationship only worsened these past few years.”

Jungkook averted his gaze. “It might sound a bit selfish, but since I cannot seem to remember anyone else, I don’t really want to let you leave me.”

“That’s mighty selfish,” you told him, even as your heart accelerated at the last. “But I guess I can empathize. It’s just… difficult to wrap my head around you being like this.”

“Am I truly so different?”

Jungkook’s brown eyes held yours, a hint of fear entering their familiar depths. You shook your head as you exited the kitchen, not able to take much more abuse to your heart and chest. It was unbelievable how much the human body could withstand in terms of emotional turmoil. “Don’t worry, Jungkook,” you said. “You’ll be back to the stupid idiot you were before the accident. I’ve promised you that.”

He didn’t reply.

After taking a quick shower, you dried your hair and went to change clothes. Since you now had a new lodger - and Jungkook, at that - you could no longer wander around the house looking indecent. Fortunately, you had had the foresight to grab a bathrobe before your refreshing.

The screen on your phone said 7:45 by the time you were completely done, which was the usual time you texted Jong-Yeol to come fetch you. You passed Jungkook in the living room, where he sat in the leather sofa watching the news while setting up his computer. With his not yet dry hair, large white t-shirt and lazy sweatpants, he looked almost as if he belonged there. Like he hadn’t been in a car accident and gotten the last four or five years knocked out of him. Your eyes briefly locked and you held up a hand to wave goodbye.

It was comical and so incredibly ironic. If he hadn’t been a bastard to you while growing up, you might have merely been what you constantly tell others that you are, namely family friends. If he hadn’t been so firmly against you visiting him on his music shows, practices and concerts, you might have never been so spellbound and utterly blown away the first time you saw him. If he hadn’t been cheating on you, he would have never ended up amnesic and thus in your home, trusting only you.

If he hadn’t loved Park Yi-Jae, you might have never fallen for him.

Life could truly be cruel.

“When will you be back?” he asked.

“Probably around five,” you told him, checking your vibrating phone. It was Se-Eun, and she was most likely hysterical. You probably needed to answer immediately. “I’ll see if I can bring something to eat. Pizza sounds good, right? Or do you want something else?”

“(Y/N).”

You had just been about to answer Se-Eun’s call when you stopped. You glanced at Jungkook, whose features had assumed an unreadable guise. “Yeah?” you asked hesitantly.

“Why are you helping me?”

You instantly opened your mouth, then closed it just as quickly. This wasn’t the time for you to show off your keen responses.

“I’ve been thinking about if for a while now,” he went on quietly. “I remember our past. I remember growing up with you. It doesn’t warrant this type of… kindness you’ve shown me.”

You considered it. Then, with a smile you hoped appeared nothing but friendly, you replied.

“Because we’re family friends.”

And with that, you hurried out of the apartment, hoping he couldn’t see the pain in your eyes.

School progressed according to a normal Tuesday. Only, Se-Eun was almost tearing out her hair by second period and had probably aged about ten years by the end of last class. She was a gentle girl, but her dedication to BTS could make a mother’s dedication to her firstborn child seem cruel in comparison. She was trying to gain information from you, glean anything from your surprisingly put-together features, but you wouldn’t budge. All you told her was that Jungkook had been in a car accident but wasn’t dying, which she probably knew anyway. She tried to convince you that the two of you needed to see him at the hospital, but you were used to her trying to use you in order to meet him. It wasn’t anything malignant, mostly just taken as a joke on both you and her parts, but she was truly concerned that day.

Not that it fazed you, since you knew Jungkook was alright and you knew she would recuperate. Eventually. Besides, you were buying her food for the rest of the week and if there was something Se-Eun couldn’t resist, it was free food.

You were sitting in traffic with Jong-Yeol, who was humming the melody of songs on the radio, on your way home with two steaming hot boxes of pizza when your phone rang. You had called them twice that day, once during lunch and once while you had ordered food.

“Mom? Dad?” you said, even though the caller ID said “Father”. You never knew with your parents.

“Hey, sweetie,” greeted your father.

“Why have you been calling us?” came the cutting throat reply of your mother.

“I was wondering when Jungkook’s parents was coming back,” you told them as you tried not to get irritated at your mother’s harsh tone. It was difficult, but you managed to pull through. “I thought they were buying tickets back yesterday?”

“Your mother managed to persuade them not to go,” said your father, his voice proud. “She told them you’re taking care of him and since he never got especially hurt, it would be a waste of so much energy and resources just to check on him.”

“What? Are they--” You cut yourself off, realizing you had almost spoke out of terms. You fleetingly noticed that Jong-Yeol had stopped his low singing and gave him an apologetic look. “But he’s amnesic. He needs people he recognizes now more than ever!”

“Hush. You don’t know how long his parents have planned for this journey. Besides, there’s KakaoTalk,” your mother pointed out. “Why hasn’t he answered any of their calls?”

You didn’t know where Jungkook’s phone could have gone. The last time you had heard of its existence was when Taehyung, then Sejin had spoken to you the night of the accident. It gave you an idea. Since the phone probably was configured to recognize Jungkook’s fingerprint, you and him could unlock it and check what kind of information was inside of it. Perhaps he had pictures that might help him remember, but if you, personally, needed to remember something, codes or passwords in particular, you usually wrote it down into a memo in your phone. That meant, you could have a gold mine of things worth remembering according to pre-amnesic Jungkook, and perhaps even the password to his computer.

But where was it?

“I…” You didn’t know if it was a good idea to disclose that you had no idea where his phone had gone. Though perhaps Jungkook still had it. “It probably ran out of batteries. He hasn’t had the chance to charge it until now. You could probably call later.”

“Fine,” muttered your mother to presumably your father. “Where is he right now? Your father was reading the gossip magazines--”

“I did not!” he proclaimed indignantly from quite a distance from the phone.

“--this morning,” your mother continued, oblivious to her husband’s wounded pride. “And everyone’s been talking about Jungkook getting into an accident.”

“Yeah, well,” you began as you scratched your arm, “it’s not exactly news to either of you, so I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

“Not that tone with me,” your mother said sharply. “I don’t know about your father or your friend, but I don’t want to hear it.” She cleared her throat as you remained quiet. “Well, your father and I and Jungkook’s parents were merely concerned. Are you at the hospital or...?”

“We’re at home,” you told her. “That’s also what I wanted to speak with you about. Is it alright if he stays at ours until… whenever he gets better?”

“And when’s that?”

You swallowed hard. “Little more than three months.”

“Do you have any space in your room to fit an extra bed?”

“I will not have them sleep in the same room!” your father exclaimed.

“They’ve done so before,” your mother said casually. “And they need to get used to sleeping in the same room. Soon, they’ll even sleep in the same bed.”

“I’ve already left my piece on that,” you said through your teeth. “We will not get married. It’s as easy as that.”

For a moment it was silent in the other end of the line. Then, your mother’s voice, harsh and unrelenting, crept into your ear.

“For the sake of our families, you shall need to,” she said solemnly.

“What?” you asked, your eyebrows rising up your forehead. “Dad?” you wondered when your mother, somehow, wouldn’t speak up.

“We don’t feel comfortable speaking about this over the phone,” said your father. “We’ll handle it when we get back. Until then, know that Jungkook’s parents and we are trusting you with that boy.”

“But--” you started.

“No ‘buts’,” your mother told you. “Goodbye, (Y/N). We’ll have a lot to discuss this Saturday, but don’t let it or Jungkook’s presence affect your scores. We wouldn’t want you to fail school just to get him back on track.”

You exhaled noisily, hoping it would hurt their ears, though they most likely were listening to you through the speaker setting. “I won’t,” you said. “See you.”

You were fuming almost as much as the pizza when you returned to your parents’ apartment. Paparazzi had been nowhere to be seen, but so now was Jungkook. Instantly, your anger dissipated and concern began twirling around your stomach.

“Hello? Jungkook?” you called out as you placed the boxes on the kitchen island. “I’ve brought food!”

No reply.

Your parents’ apartment was heavily guarded by security guards and surveillance cameras as well as built-in alarms in your father’s study. Not to mention, the apartment was situated on the very top - a penthouse apartment. Still, you couldn’t completely look past the possibility of a burglar. So, you followed your self-preservation instinct and grabbed a kitchen knife before you padded around your home in search for Jungkook.

He wasn’t in the living room, and both the computer and TV were off. You didn’t spot his phone, but then, you were too busy searching for a potential intruder. Continuing through the rooms and hallways, you concluded that everything in the apartment seemed as per usual. It wasn’t until you reached your room that you realized something was off, but not in the ways of you catching a thief.

Sleeping in your bed was Jeon Jungkook.

#MCAF #Ao3 #Wrienne #bts fic #bts x reader #bts fanfiction #bts jungkook

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hawks-supremacy · 3 years

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Golden Swirls

summary: when Sakusa's sister told him how people found their soulmates, he was disgusted. or at least until he found his.

pairing: sakusa x reader

genre: fluff and angst

word count: 3.2k

a/n: i finished this a week ago but didn't like it so i completely redid it. i also tried to write in 3rd pov which i don't think i'll do again, i'll probably just stick to 2nd pov but i wanted to try something new! anyway i hope you enjoy!

Sakusa Kiyoomi didn’t consider himself a germaphobe. Even though his cousin, Komori Motoya, liked to say he was, he still wouldn’t consider himself one. Although he said it in a joking manner it still made him think, do other people see him like that? He didn’t mind sitting or laying on the floor to do his stretches before practice, and dirt outside didn’t bother him much either. It was just other people and their germs that he didn’t care for. He doesn’t know where people have been or who could potentially be in the beginning stages of a cold and not know it. He was cautious around people, and bigger crowds made him nervous.

So when Sakusa learned about soulmates and how people found theirs at the age of 8 he was a little grossed out. What he remembers from the story his older sister told him was that everyone in the world has a soulmate, and the way you find yours was that when you made contact with your soulmate, the area you touched each other would light up in a sort of golden color. She told stories about how people would go around and try to touch everyone they thought could be their soulmate.

That’s what Sakusa thought was gross, trying to touch every single person on the off chance that they're your soulmate. Maybe it’s because he was always sick as a kid and that’s why he didn’t like the idea of other people’s germs. So as he grew up and saw people leaving gentle touches on the arms of everyone they met he couldn’t help but curl his lip in disgust. It wasn’t like Sakusa never wanted to find his soulmate, but he didn’t like the idea of people invading his personal space to find out.

High School for Sakusa was difficult, even though Motoya constantly told him he was a bit brash and abrasive that didn’t stop people from wanting to see if they were his soulmate. He managed to dodge nearly everyone who tried but occasionally there’d be a few who snuck in there with disappointed stares as their touch didn’t cause the warm golden glow signalling that they were soulmates.

Now Sakusa was a professional volleyball player for the MSBY Black Jackals and dodging the fleeting touches of fans only seemed to get harder the longer he was in the spotlight. He watched from a distance as his teammates shook hands and hugged every fan that approached them, watched as the shoulders of fans slumped at the lack of gold in their touch. Watched as fans jealously stared when his captain Meian Shugo found his soulmate in the crowded court after a game.

He had just left the locker rooms and glanced in the gym to see another crowd of fans desperately trying to see if they were one of the team member’s soulmates, another crowd of fans disappointed when the outcome they were hoping for didn’t happen. “You’re not soulmate searching in the crowd of fans?” He glanced over, startled at the sudden voice next to him. He wasn’t used to the new presence quite yet.

L/n Y/n was the new manager of the Black Jackals, having started less than a month ago. They had already begun to learn everyone’s mannerisms and habits, knowing that Sakusa was one to avoid the crowds and interviews after games, opting to keep to himself. They knew that everyone else on the team had no issues meeting the fans and finding out if their soulmates were in the crowd much like Meian’s was.

Sakusa didn’t know a lot about Y/n, but they knew quite a bit about him just from observing their practices and games. Sakusa wasn’t sure if their views on soulmates matched his, if they also thought that the act of having to touch every person in hopes of finding “the one” was odd and not appealing. He wasn’t sure if they had simply just found their soulmate already and didn’t need to bother with everyone else. What he did know was that they kept their distance at practices.

Y/n always greeted everyone from a distance when they entered the gym for practices or before their games had started. When they brought their water bottles they set them on the bench rather than handing them to everyone on the team. When the team was gathering to talk about play strategies they would be sat at the bench, close enough to listen, always jotting things down on their clipboard. To Sakusa Kiyoomi, L/n Y/n was an enigma.

They were someone who kept to themselves, never getting too close to anyone else. On the occasion that they went out for dinner after games that the team had won and felt proud of, they always sat at the end of the table, never saying many words. They were quiet and soft spoken when they did speak. Giving gentle reminders or suggestions to the team. Even though they were quiet and kept to themself they still managed to become friends with almost everyone on the team.

They exchanged excited words with Bokuto as they exchanged stories from when they were in their high school years. They gave friendly but stern scoldings to Atsumu as he did something he knew he shouldn’t have, like swinging from the bars in the gym just because Hinata made a bet that he couldn’t. They gave silent smiles as they listened to Hinata enthusiastically shout sound effects as he described his favorite volleyball plays. They gave Sakusa words of encouragement while still keeping their distance because they knew that people he didn’t really know made him uncomfortable. But Sakusa didn’t know much about Y/n.

So as he looked down at them sitting on the floor across from the back entrance to the gym, waiting for him to answer their question, he wasn’t sure how to approach the conversation. “Or have you already found your soulmate?” They asked after Sakusa still hadn’t responded to their first question. “Uh no I haven’t found mine, have you?” He finally responded as he lowered himself to the ground, still a good distance away from them. They shook their head as they kept their eyes closed and their head leaning against the cold tile wall of the hallway. “Why are you sitting on the floor?” Sakusa asked after a few seconds of silence from both parties.

“I have a headache but Bokuto is my ride home, so I have to wait for him to finish greeting every fan and then he showers. So I’d say I still have a good hour to wait.” They replied, opening their eyes and tilting their head to look at Sakusa, “Why are you sitting on the floor?” He wasn’t sure how to respond, he didn’t have a reason for why he sat on the floor, he just sat there because they were also sitting on the floor.

“I can give you a ride home if you want Y/n.” He offered, changing the topic at hand. He wasn’t quite sure what compelled him to offer them a ride home, he just felt like it was right. “You don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly content sitting here and waiting for Bokuto.” They said, closing their eyes again and turning their head towards the ceiling. “You have a headache Y/n, let me give you a ride home so you aren’t sitting here for an hour.” Sakusa said as he got up and looked at them expectantly. As they opened their eyes they sighed and got up, “Let me text Bokuto to let him know that I don’t need a ride and then we can leave.” They reluctantly agreed as they pulled out their phone to send Bokuto a text. He wouldn’t get it until he got to the locker room but at least then he would know. “Okay let’s go.” Y/n said as they started walking towards the exit with Sakusa still standing in the hallway, only beginning to follow them after they were halfway towards the exit.

As they drove home Sakusa learned a little bit more about Y/n. He learned that they had met Bokuto through Akaashi who was a distant cousin of theirs, so they were closer to Bokuto out of everyone on the team. He also learned that they lived in the same apartment building as Bokuto so they carpooled every morning, which is why they always showed up at the same time. He didn’t learn much about before they joined the team as the manager any time he asked they waved it off or changed the subject.

As Sakusa entered his home, a familiar ringtone started to chime from his coat pocket. Taking his phone out of his pocket he pressed the answer button seeing it was Motoya calling. “Hey Motoya, what’s up?” He held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he slipped off his shoes before correcting his grip on the small device. “Was just calling to let you know we have a game against each other coming up next month. Did you just get home from your game? I thought I heard the door close.”

“Yeah I got home late because I drove the new manager home. They were waiting for Bokuto, but they had a headache and he was going to be a while.” Sakusa explained as he walked over to his kitchen to find something to eat. “Oh you guys got a new manager? Who is it?” Motoya asked curiously. “Their name is L/n Y/n. They just started a few weeks ago, so I don’t really know much about them.” He said as he got out ingredients from the fridge and went to wash his hands.

“You mean L/n Y/n from Itachiyama?” As Motoya asked what he thought was an innocent question, Sakusa felt himself freeze, “Who was that again?” He asked hesitantly. “You don’t remember Y/n? You hated them, or at least it sure seemed like you did.I mean you were cold and distant to everyone but it seemed like it was worse with them.” As Motoya continued to explain to Sakusa who Y/n was he suddenly felt very terrible. From what he remembers Y/n wasn’t always shy and soft spoken. They used to be bubbly and friendly, always trying to include everyone, including him.

It wasn’t that he was mean to them by any means. He didn’t go out of his way to bully them, but one day he had enough of their bubbly and outgoing personality and just snapped. He wasn’t having the best day and hearing them just kind of set him off, and now he felt terrible, because Sakusa knew that sometimes all it took was one person to yell at someone who was outgoing and suddenly they weren’t as outgoing anymore as before. He doesn’t quite remember what he said but he remembers that after he yelled at Y/n, they were more quiet.

“Motoya, I didn’t even recognize them. They’re so different from when we were in high school, they’re so quiet now.” Sakusa said as he leaned on the counter with his head resting in the hand that wasn’t holding the phone. “Yeah they started being quiet after you yelled at them. Didn’t talk as much.” Motoya’s voice got softer the more he talked about it. “I don’t even remember what I said, Motoya.” Sakusa sighed. “Well first of all you told them that no one cared what they had to say, and then you said something along the lines of how you feel bad for whoever their soulmate is if they're going to be that loud all the time. It was pretty bad, Kiyoomi.” Motoya changed the subject and they talked about something else for a bit before Sakusa had to eat something and then shower if he wanted to go to bed at a decent time.

It was the next morning and Sakusa was heading over to Y/n’s house to try and apologize. He wouldn’t see them today since they usually have the day after a game off so that the team can rest. He was suddenly very nervous as he knocked on the door to their apartment. “Bokuto, you have to learn how to cook something at some point, I can’t feed you all the time!” He heard their voice get closer to the door as they walked towards it, and soon the door was pulled open, “Oh you’re not Bokuto. Sorry, he usually comes over around this time every day on our days off. Uh come in?”

As they moved out of the way and opened the door more Sakusa noticed that they wore an Itachiyama sweater and suddenly felt stupid that he didn’t realize sooner. As he stepped in and slipped off his shoes he took note that the apartment was pretty clean other than a few things here and there. “Sorry it’s a mess, I was going to clean today and then well you showed up.” Y/n said as they went through and picked up a few things, “Are you hungry? It’s about noon, have you eaten? I was in the middle of making lunch, but I made enough for like four people because I don’t understand that I can cut the recipe down.” He watched as they rambled and walked around the kitchen to finish cooking the lunch they had started before he arrived.

“Yeah I’ll eat if you don’t mind. I didn’t eat anything before I came over.” He said sitting down on one of the stools by the counter. Even as he was around them for just a few minutes he couldn’t comprehend why he would yell at them like he did. Their presence was so warm and inviting, they were so caring and observant of everyone around them. Now he felt like even more of an ass before he came over to their apartment.

“Not that I don’t want to hang out with you or anything, but why exactly did you come over to my apartment today?” They asked setting down two plates of food on the counter and taking a seat across from Sakusa. Sakusa moved the food around his plate for a bit while he nervously thought about how to start the conversation. “I’m sorry.” He said and looked up, “About what happened when we were at Itachiyama.” Y/n paused, their food halfway to their mouth, and set down their utensils. “Oh, so you do remember that.” They said fidgeting with their hands, “I had honestly thought you forgot. It’s okay though Sakusa, it’s been what? Five years since that’s happened? I’ve moved past it, we’re different people than we were back then. I kinda get it though, I was a little much huh?” They asked, beginning to eat again.

“It wasn’t okay though, I shouldn’t have talked to you like that just because I was having a bad day Y/n. People care about you and what you have to say, and I guarantee your soulmate will love how bubbly and excited you always are.” Sakusa apologized again, he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to apologize enough to them. “Honestly Sakusa it’s fine, I’ve gotten over it, besides I might never find my soulmate anyway.” Y/n said as they finished their food and put their plate in the sink. “I know you got more quiet because of what I said. You’re not as outgoing or bubbly anymore, you’re more shy and reserved than before and I feel awful for that. I didn’t realize that what I said could have that big of an impact on you-”

“Well it did.” Y/n interrupted him, “It impacted me so much Sakusa. I was just trying to include you so you didn’t feel left out during group projects or activities. I was just trying to be nice to you Sakusa, you know it’s really stupid I even had a little crush on you. I know that’s dumb because the chances of us being soulmates is basically zero, but you were nice to me. You talked to me, helped me on the homework, and somewhere along the way I developed a crush. Then you yelled at me.” Y/n took a deep breath and laughed pathetically, “You yelled at me, which is really stupid, because people told me all the time that I was “too much” and needed to calm down. But it was different coming from you, coming from someone who I had thought had become a friend of mine.”

“Y/n I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” Sakusa said as he made his way toward them. “I know you didn’t, Sakusa. I told you I’m over it. I guess I just wanted to yell back at you for it, even if it is five years later. Honestly I forgave you two years after it happened. I’m still bubbly and outgoing, it’s just that I wasn’t sure if you would’ve hated that at practice so I toned it down. Ask Bokuto, he’ll tell you.” Sakusa had felt a little better after hearing that from Y/n. He wasn’t sure he’d ever forgive himself if they had never gone back to their excitable personality.

“Here let me help with the dishes.” Sakusa said as he reached for the plate in their hand. They were about to protest when they felt a warm go on the tip of their index finger where his hand brushed theirs. Sakusa watched in awe as golden swirls danced around both of your finger tips, somehow in sync like a dance that wasn’t quite complete without its partner to help hold the rhythm of the number. The warmth of his hand was nothing like his sister had described to him. It felt like the first rays of sun in the morning on a warm autumn day with more of a comforting warmth than a hot one.

Neither of the two said anything as they watched the golden swirls fade away, but still felt the warmth of them underneath the skin still. “I know I said I had a crush on you earlier and I should be ecstatic that this is happening but a part of me can’t help but find this really ironic.” Y/n said laughing, still staring at their hands. “What do you mean?” Sakusa asked with a confused stare as he looked at Y/n. “You don’t think this is ironic? You literally told me my soulmate would find me annoying and now you’re my soulmate. It’s kind of funny.” Y/n explained, finally looking up at Sakusa.

Sakusa thought for a minute with furrowed eyebrows before realizing what they meant. “Would you be quiet about that?” He asked now laughing at the situation as well, “We just found out we’re soulmates and you’re making jokes? I’m glad you’re back to your old self but come on Y/n.” He gave a gentle shove to their shoulder as they laughed more at the situation and Y/n continued to make jokes and lightly shoved him back.

Outside the apartment Bokuto lowered his ready to knock fist with a smile, deciding to come back at a later time as he heard laughing coming from the inside of the usually quiet apartment.

#sakusa x you #haikyuu sakusa #sakusa oneshot #sakusa x y/n #sakusa x reader #sakusa imagine #sakusa fluff #sakusa angst #sakusa fic #sakusa imagines #haikyuu au #haikyuu drabbles #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu x reader #haikyu x reader #soulmate au

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hobisfavoritespritecan · 2 years

Text

Promise pt. 3

PAUL ATREIDES X READER

You were to remain on Arrakis to aid in destroying the Atreides family: a Bene Gesserit trained assassin working for the Harkonnen House. It shouldn't have been hard to kill The Duke Leto's son with your Crysknife, however, love can be messier than blood.

You were unsure when it hit you as to what Paul was truly trying to accomplish. Was it when you were ready to draw your blade or when he looked you dead in the eyes with that godforsaken beautiful expression on his face? It was just unfair how he was able to halt your motions by looking at you; his grey-blue pupils looking brighter than the Arrakian sun as the moons shone down from above. It would've been an easy kill, really. But something told you that your plan wasn't going to work out.

In hesitation, you removed your hand from the hilt of your knife and allowed yourself to be lost in his gaze. Suddenly, he placed his lips on yours. You had heard of kissing before, but only in the books on the old worlds that the Harkonnens had within their library. Never thinking to experience it, you hadn't prepared yourself to combat it. In a way, it was more difficult than going over battle strategies or studying the history of The Imperium.

But to your surprise....you enjoyed kissing Paul.

He slowly moved himself away from you, looking into your eyes to try and get a glimpse of an emotion from you; any emotion at all would suffice. He felt warm as he enveloped himself into the embrace that was your kiss; thinking over and over his actions and pondering the potential consequences of them. Your eyes glimmered with something that he was unable to make out in the dark but he knew it was a ferocity equivalent to anger. But then, everything changed. Your face had softened and your eyes grew slightly wet. To say he was astonished by the fact that you could have any other emotion than coldness was an understatement. But he did know that he wanted to capture that look into his memory for as long as he lived.

And then- the impossible happened. You smiled.

"Paul..." Before you could get another word out, his lips were upon yours again, this time more feverishly. Your fingers intertwined in his hair as you forgot completely about the mission you were forced to pursue. The only thing your mind was capable of thinking was the boy in front of you.

Pulling away once more, he rested his head to yours. There was a softness that had entered the room now that all formalities had come to an end; the sound of heavy breathing was the only thing to be heard as you allowed the gap between the two of you to proceed once more.

"I've thought about doing that for a while now. I didn't think I would ever be granted the chance." He smiled.

"Paul." You said.

"Hm?"

"You just made my job a lot easier."

Suddenly a large boom could be heard from the outside. Before he had time to ask you what you meant, a brilliant orange light filled the window above and covered the dark night littered with stars. Something was burning.

He jumped up from where he was laying and immediately ran to the hallway, in hopes of glancing at some of the guards who would tell him what was going on. For the second time that night Paul was astonished. There were no guards anywhere in the vicinity. In fact, everything seemed dead besides from the war that raged outside.

You exited the room right after Paul. Heading for the stairs, you ran to make your way outside. This was it. Vladimir must've finally engaged in his plans. The coolness of the slab floor beneath your feet and the crisp air of the hallway was oddly enough like a slap in the face; a universal gesture saying, "This is it. Run for it."

Taking in harsh breaths as he watched your descent, Paul pushed back his hair and beelined towards his room. Throwing open the door in his haste, he quickly threw on a pair of training clothes and started to search for his shield. Once he found it, he would be able to slip it on and use it to withhold enemy attacks. Hopefully, they weren't familiar with technology from Caladan, whomever these attackers were. He quickly remembered the Hunter-Seeker from earlier. That wasn't a typical gadget known to Arrakis. Yet they had known.

Throwing a cape over his shoulders, he made his way to the commotion.

⌛⌛⌛

Jessica threw water over her still features as she glanced at herself in the mirror. There was something odd about the way her face had taken shape over the past couple of days, and she wondered if it could be sinking in due to her stress from the move. Arrakis wasn't her ideal home, but she was learning to make do with what she had considering she didn't have a choice in the matter. If Paul was really proven to be the Muad'Dib, then he wouldn't have been able to fulfill his prophecy on Caladan. Not that that was her reason for moving, but it was definitely an image that plagued her mind. Her son, all grown up. Constantly living in danger.

It was every parent's dream.

Sighing to herself, she fixed the straps on her nightgown and opened the door to her shared bedroom with the Duke Leto. The room itself was a dark brass color with ancient inscriptions on the walls and ceilings and an abundance of space. It was intimate with the way the room was dimly lit with candles; something again that she didn't see a lot of on Caladan. Her home used to be dark and gothic, with a clear view of grey skies and rain through every window. It was beautiful and perfect. And now she was stuck in a summery wasteland.

Sighing to herself, she slipped into the silky sheets that adorned the top of her mattress. The Duke's side of the bed was cold, as usual, meaning that there was something keeping him in the office; he would probably just sleep among the books again if given the change. The truth was, Jessica didn't like being alone, no. It was a type of loneliness that festered within the very being of her soul when it came to the nights she would find herself with only her thoughts to keep her company. Bene Gesserit, Muad'Dib, the Crysknife. Anything and everything that would pull on her heartstrings until awaking the next morning became a feat in itself.

And that mischievous son of hers. There was no way that he was staying out of trouble, not with you around. Jessica saw every glance in your direction that you didn't; Paul had quickly become infatuated with you. Whether it was because of the close proximity in age or if it was the brief conversations beforehand, she was surprised that her son had taken interest in a servant girl. No matter, he would eventually come to his senses.

One thing was for certain though. Jessica did not like you.

She tried to place her finger on exactly what it might be, but she just couldn't figure out why she found you so detestable. It had nothing to do with her son's intentions and everything to do with your demeanor. You were strong and held a face of power that all the servants she had met in her life didn't have. Almost like...almost like a Bene Gesserit.

As Jessica threw back her covers in realization, the house shook with the first blast of the enemy attack.

⌛⌛⌛

"Ataraxia!" Paul huffed after you once he caught a glimpse of your frame on the desert sands below. Cloak whipping around you, you held something close to your chest as you ran across the cool sands and towards the ships that started to invade the sky. With the fire burning behind you and the blaring of the bombs above, it was truly a sight to be seen as chunks of sand and ship debris flew around the night sky. The stars twinkling overhead managed to look so innocent compared to the rest of the setting; Paul being similar. The innocence that filled his eyes upon catching your gaze once you turned around at the sound of your name. His hair flying about and his nervous stance added to his confusion as you started to walk towards him.

"I promised to take your head. But if you wish to go with me entirely, I can't complain. My uncle desires your death more than the Fremens desire that cursed spice." You tried to voice your words with anger; getting closer and closer to the boy who had it coming from the start. It wasn't fair for him to do this to you, not now that you were so far into the game already. This kiss had really set you off and now you didn't know what to make of yourself. It wasn't fair. What compelled you to act like this?

Paul reached for the shield in his pocket and then- it hit him. Why you acted the way you did. What drew him in. You were never an ally to him or his family. The name Harkonnen filled his mind like a violent poison, reaching every crevice of his soul and leaving a dark empty void within him. It polluted the very veins within him, ripping out his heart and leaving a vile taste in his mouth. You were a traitor.

"O-oh." Was all he managed to say as he placed his hand on his chest in hopes to still his breathing. A dark and solemn look suddenly appearing on his face; he composed himself and gathered every ounce of strength within him as he prepared for a fight, remembering back to everything that Hawat had taught him. Turning on his shield, he furrowed his eyebrows and tried to change the image in his mind of you to become the enemy and not a lover, but to no avail. He couldn't hate you even if he tried to.

"Seriously, how dense do you have to be?" You said, expecting to be reveling off the fact that he had fallen directly into your trap. Yet something in you felt off. Paul was hurt and for some reason, it hurt you too.

"Ataraxia -"

"It's (Y/N)." You corrected him, now finally being able to give away your true name instead of going undercover with that stupid alias your uncle had made. "(Y/N) Harkonnen." Another blast of light was seen in the sky with a loud boom that followed. A piece of one of the Harkonnen ships flew overhead and landed about forty feet behind Paul, giving you the distraction you needed to attack. Without giving it too much thought, you ran forward and made a quick motion with your knife to try and slit Paul's throat. He must've anticipated this, for in a second his hands gripped both your wrists to try and hold you down. With surprise, you knee him in the stomach and drop down to grab your knife, placing it up to his throat once more. The shield around him started to burn with the color red as you held the knife in close contact, trying to break the device with the longer you held it there.

"Atara-(Y/N)! You don't have to do this!" Paul managed to get out between huffs. He used his previous training to break out of your grasp and to pin your arms behind your back, both of you falling to the sand. He holds you in place as you squirm in his grip, staring at him from above.

"You know, I might've actually enjoyed this under different circumstances." You kicked him in the face and waited for his natural retaliation before jumping up and pushing him back down, kicking him in the face and spraying blood from his nose onto the brown earth below. He had a gash along the underside of his chin and most definitely a broken nose. However; you hated to admit that he was still beautiful, even all bashed up and bruised.

"Oh fuck off." He spat and swerved out of the way before you could kick him again.

Just then the ground started to shake but in a way that was both familiar....and alarming. Your heart fell into the pit of your stomach as your brain put two and two together, knowing that the imminent threat of danger was Paul no longer. It was the Shai Hulud that buried itself deep within the sands.

⌛⌛⌛

(AN: Part four coming soon! Thank you all for being so patient with the third installment! 💛🦐)

Tags: @die-collective @xoxoloverb @totallynotkaibiased

#dune spoilers #dune film #frank herbert's dune #sand dunes #dune #dune x reader #duneedit #timothee x you #timothee x reader #timotheé chalamet x reader #timothee fanfic #timotheé chalamet #paul x reader #paul atreides x reader #paul atreides #duke leto atreides #lady jessica #dune fanfiction #hobisfavoritespritecan

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kagekitsuneoflight · 2 years

Text

I have been lurking and eating Pokemon Legends Arceus content and I humbly offer you an AU idea of my own that I haven’t seen yet. And if it DOES exits then forgive me. And if this is incomprehensible forgive me again.

It essentially combines two things: one, that the Akari has a twin in Lucas, and that they can communicate telepathically with each other. Same goes for Ingo and Emmet.

Now both sets of twins have telepathy, but the connection is extremely spotty for both due to the whole separation by time and space. They have a maximum of an hour to communicate, if that. And usually, both siblings have to be reaching out to properly communicate (imagine the hell you experience when your twin has the chorus to a song you don’t like repeating in end otherwise). The kicker though, as Emmet and Lucas are spam calling their respective twin, is that both Akari and Ingo have amnesia. Twin? What twin. They just have a daily migraine for an hour. Nothing odd about that. Surely this is normal.

But here, Arceus is kind enough to be their phone operator and connect them after witnessing how badly Lucas starts to freak out. (no, it is not worried that Lucas can and will metaphorically kick its door down if he suspects something. (Get rek’d though Emmet. You don’t even know what an Arceus is.))

However, Arceus makes an oopsie. It’s not it’s fault though! It simply assumed that the similar colored souls would be twins! (So yeah, it is their fault).

Akari is ready to deal with her daily migraine. She’s got her strategy ready (ask her pokemon to faint her). Instead of a pounding headache, she gets “Brother please answer -stir left three times add- please answer- two cubes stir right ten times add cream-“ and she has to pause and blink. “Huh. Auditory hallucinations. I’m sure this is fine.” She gets the mental equivalent of a record scratch, before being flooded by a slew of questions in her mind. Questions like “what are you? You’re not my brother. What is this? Who are you? I am Emmet. I am not an auditory hallucination-“ and Akari, sensing an oncoming headache, goes “Yikes. Braviary use hypnosis.” And Emmet gets to see one of the weirdest fucking Braviary he’s seen before the connection cuts abruptly. He’s left reeling because hey what the fuck that’s just like when Ingo cuts off their twin telepathy??? And he’s back to trying to knock the telepathy door down.

Meanwhile Ingo, whos solution to the “painful headache” problem is to just get dog piled by baby sneasels and Ignore It. This time, he doesn’t get a headache. What he gets is “Dawn Dawn Dawn please please please please please-“ and as a baby lays on his face he can’t help but think. “Hm. Auditory Hallucinations are a sign of poor health. Perhaps I am poisoned?” He gets the mental equivalent of unsuspectingly walking into Cynthia’s beach house for the first time followed by “YOU’RE NOT MY SISTER”. But hey. At least they actually talk it out.

Now for some quick facts.

Dawn and Lucas are twins, but Akari is Dawn’s legal name. Johanna named Lucas, while their father named her Akari, after a distant relative. Dawn hated the name Akari since it made her stand out too much in her opinion, and went by Dawn instead. She forgot this fact about herself.

Emmet and Akari both communicate with words and images, while Lucas and Ingo almost exclusively use words. You would think that because of this Emmet would be the first to realize that his twin is in the past, but Akari keeps spamming hypnosis on herself, or is just too busy doing her best to Not Die. He gets too caught up in backseat driving to remember to actually ask questions.

She eventually realizes that his backseat driving is actually helpful, so she begrudgingly takes the time to sit and talk. She gets to talk about her funky uncle who’s eyes glow in the dark and Emmet is like “THATS MY BROTHER?!?!?!”

Meanwhile, Lucas asks about Dawn, and Ingo just says “sorry. I don’t know a Dawn.”

Emmet involves the one person he knows that loves history in his region because that can really help narrow down where his brother is and also Lenora would murder him.

Lucas does not involve Cynthia. Google is good enough.

Lucas is Bummed, but hey. This could still be a lead! He starts asking about Ingo’s life, Ingo says he’s the Warden to Lady Sneasler, and Lucas goes “alright. Pause. What’s a Sneasler?” And gets told about a tall purple and white weasel like Pokémon.

*one google later* “In hindsight I should have realized Sneasler would be an extinct Sneasel evolution.”

“Pardon. What do you mean extinct.”

Meanwhile, Emmet getting blasted with images of extinct Pokémon “could you look at the Liligant for a minute longer? Lenora will have my head if I cannot complete this sketch.” “Emmet it is trying to kill me.”

#pokémon legends arceus #akari pokemon #warden ingo #so anyways I call this crossed wires au #this idea is a mess too I just thought it’d be funny

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butwhyduh · 3 years

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Last night thing

Jason todd x reader

Summary: he stopped you from stealing a $25,000 watch but missed something else. Part 2 to Late night Thing.

Warning: kidnap, fighting, smut

As Jason pulled up his pants and contemplated his life choices of sleeping with a beautiful thief on a rooftop, he came to a conclusion. You stole his damn tie clip. He had said that he would break your hand if you tried to steal it and dammit, you had. Somehow it simultaneously made him mad and horny. How the fuck had you managed that?

Jason knew that he wouldn’t find you that night. So he went back to his safe house to lick his wounded pride and plan his next move. He needed to get that clip back. It was a gift from Alfred and he would literally kill for it. Though he seriously doubted that he’d need to do that. And Jason would never admit it but he didn’t want to kill you.

He planned to find you sometime during the next week. His tie clip was expensive but not extraordinarily expensive but you had to find someway to sell it without him finding it, which would take time. Jason just didn’t know that it would be the next day that he would find you.

He heard that Bane was throwing his weight around in the drug trade for some damn reason. Wasn’t his venom addition enough for one man? So Jason was snooping around, or investigating as the bats liked to say. He fully expected a boring night of listening in a warehouse for hours and learning very little but instead almost fell through the glass at the sight before him.

You were strapped to a chair with rope. The pretty dress you wore the night before was in tatters but you were covered. Your eyes were red and your nose had dried blood underneath it. You were shivering like a leaf.

“I’m not here to negotiate with you. I’m here for Cat Woman. You are her child and she will come or you will die,” Bane said casually. You gasped.

“She’s going to be mad. Why would she work with you after this?” You asked, braver than you felt. He turned and coldly looked at you before stalking over. His giant fingers wrapped around your throat and you thrashed in the chair.

Jason stood up and moved to jump into the fight despite the fact that he really didn’t want to fight the brute. But Bane let you go and you audibly gasped and sucked air through open lips. You trembled and heaved.

“If she does not care about you, I will move on to her next kitten,” he said and you gulped. You didn’t know if she would save you. Jason looked through the room for a strategy. 2 exits and the skylight he currently looked through. 3 goons that he could easily take out. Oh, and a 300 pound juiced up super soldier. That broke Batman’s back years ago. Fuck.

“Let me go and I’ll do anything you want,” you said and even Jason up high in the rafters could hear the waver in your voice. Bane turned and stared at you and your mind almost couldn’t comprehend the massive size of him. He was easily half a foot taller than Red Hood and almost 100 pounds heavily and Red Hood towered over you.

“What could I possible want from you,” he asked with an icy curiosity. He was watching you for a reaction. You wanted to shrink away but that would be a failure.

“Anything you could want. Information,” you suggested. “About Gotham.”

“I have my sources.”

“Uhhh,” you breathed. “Gems? Money?” He shook his head. Your heart hammered in your chest. He was a man, right? You could sell that maybe? “Me?” You breathed.

He laughed before looking you up and down. “I do not want you carnally, child,” he said. You almost sagged in relief and Jason’s hand released the gun he didn’t know he was holding. “No. We will wait for Cat Woman and if she doesn’t come in 2 days, you are dead.”

You hummed in fear. Bane sat crossed legged and closed his eyes. He threatened to kill you and then fucking meditated. You helplessly pulled at the ropes on your wrists.

Jason tried to piece together how you got there and how to get you out. He knew that he couldn’t exactly call Bruce. ‘Hey dad, do you want to fight the guy who broke your back over a thief he has tied up. Why? I don’t know! I just like fucking her on rooftops!’ Never saying that.

Nope. Instead he would attempt stealth. Against one of the best trained fighters in the world for a woman that robbed him. Yea, maybe Jason should have stayed 6 feet under because he’s a fucking idiot. He sighed before slowly moving towards them. Bane was sitting cross legged with his eyes closed in a meditation back to you.

You suddenly saw Jason out the corner of your eyes and your eyes widened before going back to normal. Bane didn’t seem to notice the slight change in your breathing. Jason snuck over to untie you. He slowly pulled the rope from around your wrists and you were almost completely untied when the end of the rope barely grazed the ground.

Bane snapped his head around as Jason drew his guns. You gasped as Bane launched himself towards Jason. You ripped your hand out of the rope as bullets flew. You scrambled to the floor but was quickly pulled up by the giant man. He clutched you by the shoulder and you whimpered in pain. Jason suddenly froze.

“This is far more interesting that I first thought. I looked for a cat and found a bat,” he laughed. You squirmed in pain. He sat you down but the hand stayed on your shoulder.

“She’s not important. Let her go,” Jason said. The metallic voice from his helmet sounded bored.

“If she is unimportant, she is better off dead,” he said roughly pulling you in his arms and one hand gently wrapped around your throat but didn’t tighten it. You grabbed at his fingers and sobbed pathetically. Your eyes were wide and terror was plain on your face.

“Let’s not. Put the lady down and we can talk,” Jason said and it was weird to see Red Hood negotiating. He was usually the muscle in the situation. It really showed you how fucked you really were.

“Okay I’m intrigued. I will hear your proposal,” he said sitting you down. You scampered behind Jason. Your whole body trembled.

“I know Gotham underground better than you ever will. Sorry but you’re scary as shit but not in a good way,” he said with a shrug. If you didn’t know any better, he seemed casual. “I can get you the venom you need. No cost for a while.”

“How long,” Bane asked. He was the kind so get all the facts before proceeding. He also had the weakness of being completely addicted to venom.

“A months worth.”

“6 months.”

“3 months.”

“Deal. If you break this deal I will crush her windpipe with my hand,” he said with no emotion. It was a promise, not a threat. Jason felt you move closer to him.

“Deal,” Jason agreed. Bane moved closer and you clung to Jason. You were clinging to Red Hood. How pathetic. Jason stood taller and stared at Bane. They shook hands.

Suddenly Bane slapped Jason violently across the face and you yelped. Jason went to the ground but quickly got up to a defensive crouch. You jumped in front of him with your heart beating so fast you would soon faint.

“For invading my space and my business,” Bane said before walking away. “Leave.” He didn’t turn to watch.

You noticed a little crack in the Red Hood helmet. How hard did Bane hit him? Jason stood up and pulled you out of the warehouse with him. He quickly grabbed you and shot his grappling hook out of the area. About half a mile away, he landed on a building. You clung to him and trembled.

“Hey, you’re safe,” he said. “You can let go.”

You pulled off but shivered like a leaf.

“Shit, you’re cold. Here. Here,” he wrapped his jacket around you and it helped your temperature but not your shivering. “Come here,” he pulled you in his arms and you clung. His heartbeat felt reassuring and he awkwardly patted your hair. You could tell Jason wasn’t used to providing comfort.

“He- he,” you started but stopped. “Can we go somewhere safe?”

“Come on downstairs. This is my place,” he said and you nodded. You followed him inside and it was far warmer but you couldn’t stop the shaking. His jacket was replaced by a blanket and Jason sat you on the couch. The helmet came off but domino stayed on. You practically climbed on his lap to be closer. Your eyes were still wide with horror.

You’d been arrested, harassed, even shot at. But never kidnapped like that. And by the giant Bane at that. Jason could feel the fear and adrenaline coming off of you. He rubbed your back softly. You looked up at him suddenly after a few minutes.

“You saved my life. You put yours in danger to save mine,” you breathed. He shrugged, a little uncomfortable under your gaze. “Thank you,” you added.

“Uh you’re welcome. It’s no biggie.”

“Yes it is,” you said before kissing him. Your pace was dizzying and rough. Jason was in shock at first. Your hands roamed his body before dropped down to his belt and he almost jolted up.

“Not today,” he said, stopping your hand. “I mean, normally I’d love to but not now. Give it a few days.”

“Why?” You said with your voice all breathy. Your lips were swollen and eyes dark and he almost gave in.

“You were just kidnapped. You need sleep. Not sex,” he said sliding away from you. “Are you hungry?”

“Wh- you don’t think I could want you?”

“I’m not in the mood. Almost getting killed by Bane really kills the urge,” he lied. If he thought you were in your right mind, he would have fucked you on the rooftop or against the first surface he found. You jumped in front of Bane for him. He found it all incredibly hot. “You need a shower anyways.”

It was cold and cruel but better than sleeping with a traumatized woman. You shook and nodded before using his shower. Jason felt twinges of guilt but ignored them. He knew it was better this way.

You came in nothing but his t shirt that hung like a dress. “Nothing else fit,” you said awkwardly. He could see the scars that covered your legs and bruises around your throat.

“We can lay in bed,” Jason said just as awkwardly. He might know what to do with a woman who wants to fuck him but not just one sleeping over. “For sleeping.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t try anything,” you said with a little smile and he smiled back. You both laid in the bed and it wasn’t long until you pressed your back against his chest and pulled his arms around you. He was strong and safe. You managed to sleep all night with the anticipated nightmares. They had time later to come up. When you weren’t cradled in his arms.

The next morning you woke up warm. The rise and fall of his chest was comforting. His hand held your waist loosely and you could seriously just stay in this moment. But as soon as you moved, you almost giggled like a teenager. He was hard and pressed against your ass.

“Ignore that,” he mumbled.

“Okay... how?” You said after a few seconds. “Because it’s pretty unforgettable for the man I like to sleep with to have his hard dick pressed against my ass. Have to say.”

“We only did it once in a rooftop. Was it that unforgettable?” He said and you could hear the smirk he wore.

“It was alright,” you said playfully but you couldn’t help but press back into him. Jason grabbed your hip to stop you.

“Trying to get me horny?”

“I think you already are.”

“That’s true,” he said before grinding against your ass. You pushed back to do your own rubbing. “And you’re not even wearing any panties,” he said bunching up the fabric of his shirt you wore. He slapped your ass soundly and you gasped.

“What was that for?”

“My tie clip. I hope you still have it,” he said before slapping your ass again. You reached behind you to grasp his cock through his sweatpants.

“I’ll get it back to you,” you said. His pants were pushed down. Jason hummed and rubbed his dick between your thighs. You sighed at the sensation and arched your back so he was sliding between your folds instead.

“You’d better,” he growled but it had no true heat. Not when he was so close to finally fucking you and had his lips leaving little marks on your shoulder and neck. You tried to press back onto him but he stopped your hips.

“Do you deserve it,” he asked running a finger along your hip, every once in a while dipping between your thighs to barely touch your clit. You jumped and grabbed at his wrist to hold him there but he just chuckled and moved away from where you needed him. His thrusting between your folds felt amazing but not enough and he was purposefully avoiding sliding in your hole. Jason quite liked the way your body panted and curved in desperation.

Finally feeling that you had been tortured enough, and he wanted in your wet heat, he pressed his hips forward and filled you. You whimpered and leaned your head back against him.

“Yes,” you breathed. Jason took his time slowly thrusting, letting you fill his full length. His free hand moved from pinching your nipple to circling your clit. You were practically clenching him from the start and he loved it. You were so receptive.

It didn’t take long for him to find a pattern that just got you a little more vocal and focused on that. “God, you’re fucking wet,” he breathed in your ear and you whimpered. You seemed to like what he had to say.

“Taking me so well. Acting like such a good girl,” he said and you breathed out a “Hood” in response. Oh yeah, you didn’t even know the name of the man that you let fuck you. You trusted him enough to sleep in his bed and you’d never even seen his eyes.

His finger circling your clit and cock angled to drag along your g spot had you seeing stars as you came around him. Jason grunted and held your hips tight before quickly pulling out to cum on your ass. He looked as the pretty white beads covered your skin. He wasn’t forgetting that image any time soon. He reached for a towel to clean you up.

Afterwards you turned in his arms and kissed him soundly before lying your head on his chest. You reached up to play with his hair with a little smile on your face. Jason could get used to this. As soon as he thought it, he had the urge to jump up and kick you out. He didn’t do permanent. You were just having fun.

“I need a shower,” he said roughly, getting up. Jason couldn’t help but notice the disappointment on your face that you quickly hid.

“I should get going before my walk of shame gets any later,” you said with an awkward laugh.

“Borough anything you need,” he said before disappearing into his bathroom. While in the shower he had time to think. Yeah, I’m totally not broken to be cool with fucking a woman but not being able to hold her. Not a sign of being fucked up at all, Jason thought. Probably got that from Bruce. Though my real dad probably did it too.

He came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and immediately saw a note on the bed.

Had fun, Hood. We should do it again sometimes, (your number)

💕 Kitten

His tie clip was set underneath it. Jason smiled. Okay, this could be fun. He was young and sowing wild oats or whatever, right?

There was no way this could go wrong, right?

#friday night smut #jason todd x reader #Jason todd smut #red hood x reader #red hood smut #batboy x reader #Jason todd x thief!reader #red hood x kitten

502 notes · View notes

babytaes · 3 years

Text

the grim reaper(my home)

summary: Everyone depicts the Grim Reaper as a bad character, but he didn't kill you. It's just a trip to the afterlife, and he's actually being helpful by walking you there. Consider what it would be like if you had to travel alone. As she battles through life, Jay meets an unexpected figure, yet she doesn't seem to be terrified of him when he comes knocking on her door, why?

paring: jay x female reader

genre: angst, slight fluff

word count: 6k

warnings: profanity, ummmm rock chic jay.

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖎𝖙𝖘: click me before reading!

➳ part of the drunk & dazed series

☆ ҉ ◢▅◣

I wish that everyone knew how their lives ended. It's essentially a game of guessing what will happen to you. Don't even get me started on the subject of Heaven and Hell. You've heard it all, the misery and the heinous methods in which people go out.

But why did death come knocking on the door at such an early age? You'll never know why they chose this age.

You didn't have your entire life laid out for you, nah, what a waste. Seeing it, however, was strange.

Well, there's him, or whatever entity they're referring to. The Grim Reaper.

You didn't notice him until things began to go wrong for you. A black object flashed in and out all of a sudden.

It was more predictable than unexpected.

Usually you would see him after work but I guess he had other plans. Despite your exhaustion, you flopped down on the couch and pulled out your phone to conduct an online search.

You giggled as you aimlessly scrolled through your phone and eventually peeked up to see a dark figure seated across from you.

As you laid your phone down and peered at the figure, you said, "So he finally wants to show his face."

“Don't tell me you can see me right now?” he cocks his head and looks about before returning to you.

“Well, I've only seen glimpses of you for the previous few weeks, but now I'm seeing you in all your glory.”

“Shit” As he hurriedly shot back into the dark shadows behind him, he widened his eyes.

“Wait a minute, don't leave.”

He was still there, hidden from view. He wasn't ready to leave yet. As you moved over to the door, you rolled your eyes at your phone and grabbed your apron. As you put your shoes back on, you exclaim and awkwardly wave your hand in the air before closing the door.

“You better be here when I get back, and keep in mind that we have business to discuss."

He rolled his eyes at your strange conduct as he smiled gently before vanishing back into the dark abyss, now entirely gone from your home.

---

“So Jay, what's on the agenda in Reaper business?” He noticed his old acquaintance gleaming at him as he peered up from his chair.

“Well, Jake, the previous several weeks have been a complete nightmare. They paired me up with this tough guy who was fighting for his life. As he continued, he rolled his eyes.

“It's been quite tranquil since they reassigned me to another case, but something strange happened today. I inadvertently made myself obvious to her, but she was unconcerned.

“Weird.” Jake shook his head and cocked his head to the side as he called out to him.

“So, two pieces of information I just got: it's a girl, and she appears to be somewhat odd. When you get back, I'd like to hear more about this."

As you put on a strange expression, he smiled at the boy as he spoke about jobs he had recently gone on.

“Yeah, there's something odd about it,”

“I also—wait a minute, Jay, I recognize that look.” Jake pauses in his speech for a moment as he approaches you and analyzes your body.

“Please, dude, take a step back.”

He hears on the intercom times for a meeting today for all Reapers to attend, and he laughs at you. Jake makes a peace sign as he hits the door's slab and vanishes from view.

Sitting back in your chair, you raise your feet and begin to formulate a strategy.

“What am I doing here? I'm a doer. Let me just return to her and have that conversation she requested.”

He steps into form and vanishes back to the house he used to be in, softly cheering to himself.

Surprisingly, he can hear your voice but not yet see you, so he emerges from the shadows and takes a stroll through your home, taking in your life.

He saw photos of dogs and people he assumed were family and friends, as well as one thing that attracted his attention.

As he approaches it, he enters a familiar room and sighs as he makes his way to the gleaming object. It was a bracelet with scribing on it of some type.

When he reaches out to pick it up, he feels a searing feeling and drops it swiftly, muttering a torrent of curse words.

“What the hell was that?” When he looks closely, he notices symbols that resemble a cross.

“Fuckin Christ,”

“Do all Reapers barge into your house and search through their belongings on the spur of the moment, or is mine defective?”

Jay, who has jumped up in panic, apologizes by turning around and raising his hands. When he glances up, he notices you resting on the door frame, arms folded, staring at him.

“Well, let's just put this inconvenience behind us and have that conversation you wanted to have, hmm?”

“All right, let's go into the living room, and by the way, your style is really fashionable. I had no idea you people dressed up so well to steal souls. Are there any employment openings?”

As he comes to a halt in his tracks, you turn your head to face him and stare at his unmoving form.

“Hellooo, please don't tell me they gave me a defective one. Jeez”

For a brief moment, everything came to a halt as Jay regained his bearings. "That was strange. Why am I blanking out because she's so strange?”

With a shake of his head, he smiles at you and walks into the living room, where he sits across from you, still perplexed as to who and what you are.

It wasn’t human-like.

“Thank you, no one seemed to realize that the original reaper gear wasn't cutting it for me. Also, I'm presuming you're a young adult, so you know what I'm talking about.”

You pull closer to him, laughing at his words, and lay your elbows on your legs, intently listening to him.

“So Grandma was right, you guys do exist. Tell me more; you know I don't appear to have much time left, so give me your answers.”

He let out a chuckle as he hastily covered his mouth, daring not to be affected by the earth.

He'd been doing this work for quite some time and appeared to be quite confident in himself and his abilities.

But there was something about you that made him feel comfortable and at ease, and he didn't feel like he had to hide, very apparent when a patient screamed at him or when they insisted death hadn't arrived yet.

It was strange, but it was great not to have to put on a show. Outside of the Reaper, he almost forgot who he was for a moment.

Maybe this one could get to know you, the cool yet elegant Jay. Not the dark version of himself. Even if his ultimate goal is to accompany you to the hereafter.

Maybe, just maybe, in that slim possibility, he'll take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about this person and why they're so interested in you.

---

“Before we jump right into this game, I have a question for you: why aren't you terrified of me?” As he stared at your blank expression, he spat out.

“Well, as I already stated, my grandma was a firm believer in the unknown. Even though she is no longer with us, she has taught me a great deal about the supernatural and unknown.”

You got up and walked over to the kitchen, motioning for him to follow you before opening the refrigerator and taking some fresh fruit out.

Jay promptly stood up and walked over to the chair, where he sat, watching your every move as you leapt onto the counter and turned to face him, before placing a mango slice into your mouth.

“All right, my turn, what's your name and what's my illness?”

Jay coughed and sat up straight as he removed a piece of paper from his pocket and read it loudly before setting it down.

“Y/N Y/L/N, you've been diagnosed with Heart Disease, and things aren't looking well for you. I know you haven't been to the doctor in a while, which is also perplexing. And my name is Jay.”

You place the fruit down next to you and cross your legs before responding to his comment, shaking your head up and down.

“Well, that's true; it runs in the family, but I'm not concerned because time is never on our side, and we all have an expiry date, which I believe is approaching soon. Right?”

Jay knew you just had one week left, but he didn't want to break your cheerful mood, so he waited.

“Well, I can't tell you when you'll die just yet, but your time is running out. I'm sure it's terrifying, but-”

Before concealing your lips, you chuckle loudly. Jay snickered as he looked up at you.

“Man, you're such a strange person; how do you manage to be so confident and direct? I'm becoming a little afraid, and I'm the Grim Reaper.” You leap from the countertop and walk over to him.

You cocked your head to the side and placed your hands on his face, pushing your face towards him. As you smile, his face flushes, and as he pulls away from you, he coughs before moving his hand to encourage you to continue.

“You have nice eyes, you know. Okay, now I'll tell you my story. Instead of countless questions, I believe it would be simpler.”

He just nods his head and lets you continue talking about your life.

---

As we all crossed the bridge into the next city over, you glanced out the window at the water. You'd always enjoyed being near water. It brought up memories of trips you and your grandparents took together.

When you arrived at your location, you grabbed your suitcase and exited the vehicle, leaving your parents behind.

“Are you sure you don't want to join us?” As they drove out of the parking lot and onto their vacation, you shook your head and waved farewell to them.

Even though you were 17, you still enjoyed going to your grandparents' house because it provided a sense of security that you didn't have at home. So you'd take them in a heartbeat.

Looking up, you notice Pops standing at the door, arms outstretched, waiting for you.

“There is my favorite grandchild.”

“Gramps, I'm your only grandchild,” you said, laughing as you took him in your arms and grinned as you stepped into the house.

“Oh, that's right.” He takes your stuff and starts to take it to your allotted room while laughing together. “Your Grams is out back,” he shouts as he approaches the top.

‘Thanks” When you walk out to the backyard, you'll find her sitting in her iconic chair, surrounded by books, muttering to herself. She puts the book down and leans in to hug you as she stands up.

“Aww, I've missed you so much. There's just so much you can talk about with your grandfather before he falls asleep. Please have a seat; we have a lot to discuss."

There's a sensation you've been missing, a sense of belonging to a place you once called home. They were the only ones who could supply you with a sense of safety and security, and you couldn't get enough of it.

“We talked about witches and wizards the last time we were here. Now we're dealing with Reapers, or more precisely Grim.”

When she stated those two words, your eyes lit up; it was a favorite topic of yours that she brought up frequently, but now you had more time to delve deeper.

“Let's get started; we've got a lot of ground to cover. Allow us to see The Unknown by opening our eyes. “Are you wearing your bracelet?”

“I never take it off,” you say. You shook your right arm and returned your hand to hers, shaking your head.

As you were swept away in a dark mist together, you grinned and took her hands in yours. Even though they appear to be ordinary, decent folks, there is something you should know about my grandparents. They are one of many people who have gained entrance to the supernatural realm, a place where anything is possible.

You tried to inform your parents, but they were skeptical of fairy tales. They tried to prevent you from seeing them, claiming that "they will stunt my growth," which is ridiculous because I've learnt more from my grandparents than from my parents.

Regardless of how hard they tried to stop you, you always managed to find your way back to them. We were linked, and nothing could stop you until YOU chose to let it. That day, however, never came.

You found yourself in a boat, holding your grandmother's hand, as it carried you across a vast chasm and into town. You come upon another boat that appears to be some kind of creature with a scythe. As he traveled down the river opposite you, strands of golden hair protruded from beneath his hood.

“Wait, don't tell me that person on the river was you now that I think about it?”

“I think it was, man, that was a long time ago,” Jay laughed and shook his head. Also, I had no idea you had access to that world?”

“Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to the story.” As you spoke, he grinned.

“All right, honey, let's go; we can't linger for too long.” You both stepped off the boat and walked into town, taking in the sights. As you climbed the slope, merchants' stands and buildings crept up on you. It was weird to see individuals of all kinds here, going about their daily lives in the same way that those on the surface did.

You see vampires, werewolves, angels, and even ghouls all lingering together and with one another as you walk side by side with your grams. Despite the fact that they all had their own lives to live, they could join together to gather supplies and meals.

What a wonderful thing

You both entered a familiar building, and your grandma greeted the old man behind the counter.

“Oh, my favorite customers. What brings you down here and how is life above the surface? Another book you have in mind.”

Your Grams smiled as she let go of your hand and approached the man at the front of the bookstore, “you always know Melvin.”

As they conversed, you strolled through the big store on your way to the second floor. Before reaching the top, you yell out to Melvin.

“I'm hoping you'll let me take one.”

“Anything for my sweet Y/N, go ahead and look, there's a new one up there.” You hurried up the steps and across to the Book Wall, grinning ear to ear. From baby dragons to spell books, there was something for everyone. Anything you can imagine Melvin’s shop had it all.

When you took one off the shelf, you were greeted by a young boy who stood next to you. You couldn't tell if he was your age since down here, time moves at a different pace than it does on the surface. Still he looked quite young.

It was pleasant to see the creatures up close, even if you had never met them before. You stepped away from him, afraid of his reaction, and made your way to the chair sections. You sat down and picked up a book titled "The Origins of Reapers."

“How did you get here? I've never seen a girl human down here before.” You looked up from your book to see the boy you'd seen previously, frightened that he'd do something. You closed your eyes and shook your bracelet in front of his face.

As he waited for you to settle down, he laughed and sat next to you.

“I'm not going to harm you; all I wanted to do was ask a question. My name is Jake, what is yours?”

“My name is Y/N, and my grandparents have access to the world, so I tag along occasionally, may I inquire what you are?” you said slowly as you sat up straight.

He shifted in his seat and grinned, his face more dog-like. How could you be afraid of him?

“Well, don't be afraid of me since I'm a Grim Reaper in Training. I'm fairly innocuous. It's nice to see a human down here; normally, we only see humans when it's their time.”

You hear your grandmother calling from downstairs before he can continue.

“Coming”

You return his gaze and apologize as you rise, book in hand, and make your way to the stairwell.

“It was a pleasure to meet such a lovely human; please pay a visit to the Reaper Realm when you return. Simply request Jake.” He gave you a wave before yelling at Melvin.

“I'm leaving Melvin; my book is on your desk up here.”

As you return your attention to Jake, you hear Melvin's remark, but he vanishes into thin air as you descend the steps. Your grandmother expresses her gratitude to Melvin for the choice and exits through the front door.

“Are you all set to depart, sweetie?” With a shake of your head, you bid Melvin farewell as you close the door and return to the boat, where you sit down and take your gram's hand in yours.

"Let's go home," says your grandmother.

---

“So yeah, I've been traveling there with them ever since they introduced me to your world.” You came to a halt in the middle of your walk and coughed, wiping a tear from your cheek.

“My grandparents died a few years ago, and I haven't been back in a long time because I used to only go with them. It was doubly difficult because they both died on the same day, and she was telling me that she could see him on that day. I'm hoping she meant the Reaper, because they were the last thing to see them leave.”

You grabbed his arms on the spur of the moment and violently shook them.

“I know you must have records someplace, but could you please assist me in locating them as part of my dying wish? At the very least, let me see where they went; I need to know if they're okay.”

So this was the true you, the one in desperate need of a reconnection with the Gone. You received your response and devised a plan.

“Hey, don't worry... I'll see what I can do. But there's no guarantee. I wasn't on the case at the time, so I'll have to do some digging, but I'll try. “Can you tell me their names?”

Wiping tears from your eyes, you rose from your chair and dashed to your room, calling him over.

When you opened a box from under your bed, there were wonderful memories from you and your grandparents inside. You attempted to obtain more, but everything was returned to the Underworld, leaving you with only this.

Jay knelt down and picked up a photograph of you and them. They were regulars, and he had seen them around town. Hopefully, in the short time she had left, you could help her.

“Elizabeth and Albert Marvin were their names. I'm not sure if there's anything else I can do to assist you, but please do your best." As you hurriedly covered your mouth with your palm, a harsh cough came from your throat, and your chest began to throb as you placed your hand on your heart.

It was obvious that time was not on your side. You rise off the ground and walk over to Jay, looking up at him. You wrapped your arms around his frigid body, engulfing him in a hug.

Jay stood there awkwardly with his arms down as he gently moved you off and returned to the couch area.

“Like I said, there's no guarantee that I'll find them, and who knows, they could not even be alive. But I’ll try my best. It was a pleasure to speak with you, but I must depart because we are running out of time.”

He gave you a beeper before vanishing.

“Please page me on here if you need to reach me; I'll do my best to respond. You look after yourself.”

You waved farewell as he left your house and returned to his, where he continued his exhaustive investigation.

He didn't want to let you down because he felt such a responsibility to you. He would complete whatever task he was given. He would do anything for you if he could see that smile on your face.

“Let's get down to business.”

---

“Jay...Jay wake up” As you awoke slowly from your arms, you felt a push on your shoulder. As your eyes adjusted to the bright light, it took some time to figure out who was interrupting you.

“W-What exactly is it, Jake?” You and Jake have been coming in every day for the past five days, attempting to find a solution to your problem. Jake may have discovered something despite the difficulties.

“So, I just had an epiphany, last time I saw Y/N she was at Melvin bookstore, so let's see if he knows anything about them.” You leapt from your chair and snatched a jacket as you ushered Jake out the door and toward Melvin.

For you and y/n, things were starting to look up.

Maybe you were going to do something good for one of your friends souls.

As you and Jake approached Melvin's business, you inhaled deeply and opened the door, eager to hear what he had to say to you.

Melvin's attention was drawn to the bell sound, and he looked up from his spectacles, saying, "Hey youngsters, what brings you here?"

“Well, we had a question for you regarding an old friend of yours, does Elizabeth Marvin ring a bell?” He pulled a photograph from his back pocket and presented it to him; his face darkened as he held the photograph in his hands and smiled broadly at it.

“Oh, my favorite customers. I don't have much information, but the last time they were in here, they were in a hurry and seemed concerned. “We have to make the crossing,” Elizabeth kept emphasizing.

As you and Jake turned to each other, you both had a frightened expression on your faces.

“Don't tell me they took the Crossing, shit,” says Jay You turned around and proceeded towards the door, thanking Melvin, while Jake grinned and waved farewell before heading out the door. He discovered you slumped against the wall, head down, groaning.

“Jay, please don't thin-”

“Keep your mouth shut Jake, because you know no one survives the Crossing without a guide. There are just too many wicked spirits out there, and you and I both know that getting to the finish is impossible. Jay growled as he stood up and kicked whatever was closest to him.

“Ugh, why did I do that?”

Jake approached his friend and patted his back, unsure of how he would react. It was a small gesture. He knew it was impossible, but he didn't want his best friend to know. They still needed to be encouraged.

“I'm going back to headquarters to see what else we can find; meet me back there, okay?” As he watched Jake go from his sight, Jay nodded and thanked him for his assistance.

He didn't know what else to do, so he had to break the dreadful news to you. It turned out to be for the best. He was good at one thing: conveying bad information to others. What an ironic Reaper. With a shake of your head, you prepared to go to Y/N's flat.

Here goes nothing.

Jay was gone in a flash of dust and now stood in a familiar location, squinting as everything appeared to be different. Jay spotted clothes strewn on the floor, dishes scattered in the sink, and the bathroom's random lights flashing.

He was so preoccupied with the status of the house that he didn't see that your time was slowly eating away at you, that you were holed up under blankets in the bedroom with chest discomfort and dizziness that came and went.

Your once-young body was losing its ability to hold on to life. As you coughed loudly and grinned as you motioned for him to come over to you, you looked up and noticed him standing in the doorway.

You quietly sighed as you slowly climbed up, your hand resting on your chest.

‘So-so any news captain. “I need something to take my mind off the pain.”

As he prepared his message, Jay didn't make eye contact with you as he lifted your blanket over your body and patted it down. This felt different than relaying bad news as the “BIG AND BAD GRIM REAPER” As he was going to burst your bubble, something inside ached. What do people refer to it as? Sadness.

What exactly did you do to him?

“So, Y/N, please wait until I finish before you speak.” He took a big breath and continued, his lips curling in. “We've at a dead end; Jake and I spoke with Melvin, who indicated they were discussing the "Crossing," which in Grim Reaper lingo means "no go." That's a place where no one ever returns; it's only conceivable if you have a guide, which I'm not sure they did. They could be lost or worse, stolen by a spirit, for all I know. I-, I'm sorry, but I'm not sure.”

He heard your voice and looked down, avoiding eye contact. "It's okay Jay," He jerked up and glanced at your frail form, perplexed and terrified. In the light of your candle, he could see better, but death was creeping up on him. He just had a day before he had to take you. He wasn't pleased with the situation or with you.

“It was a big ask, but I'm happy you and Jake did your hardest,” you said, a tear streaming down your cheek. That's all I requested, and despite the fact that it didn't work out, I liked the gesture, so thank you.”

“Thanks for doing business with you,” you said with a grin on your face as you extended your hand to him. As you looked him in the eyes, he took your weak hands in his and gently shook them.

“What, do I have something on my face? I don't want to appear unkempt.” You laughed and reached for your hands to be unlatched from his grip. Rather than releasing go, he drew you closer to him and kissed your gentle lips.

As you released each other, he wasn't thinking; in reality, he was panicked.

“Um- I don’t know what that is but I have to go. Sorry, I'll pick you up tomorrow-” “Please don't go,” you said as you took a big breath and clutched his hand. If I'm being honest, I'm afraid, and I could use some companionship before I take my final breath.”

“Sleep well y/n, we have a long walk tomorrow,” he said as he sat down on the bed and took your hand in his again before turning off the lamp. When you felt a squeeze in your palm, you smiled and laid over, allowing sleep to take control.

---

You were startled awake by Jay, who sat across from you, peering at the clock, as though intently staring at it.

You scooted up and waved a hand in front of his face to grab his attention, but he continued to stare at the clock.

“You have a few hours left, you know? Sorry, I was just doing some math." He turned to face you as you stumbled out of bed, grasping the bedside table before lifting yourself up like a drunk woman.

“Oh, well, it appears that my body is shutting down. Fun.” As you pushed him out of the room, you gave him a thumbs up.

“Let me get dressed; I want to look my best for when I DIE!” Jay was startled and furrowed his brows as he walked slowly to his seat, pondering why this generation was so eager to die.

You put on a cute hoodie your grandmother gave you and threw on some pants. As you fumbled about for shoes, you heard Jay ask a question from the other side of the door that made you pause.

'Are you going to call your parents or someone else?'

When you think back on your life, you were in theirs, but not much of them were in yours, which made you resentful of them. You didn't dislike them; you just preferred to spend your time and energy with people who made you feel at ease.

Your grandparents made you feel that way and you didn't have time to waste on people who you could care less about.

“I guess I'll send a text over.” Huffing, you took out your phone and entered your message into an already-created group chat.

"Hey guys, I'm not feeling well, could you come tomorrow?" you say.

(read 10:25 a.m.)

(typing bubbles)

(bubbles disappears)

Mom: This is such a last-minute thing, but your father and I are leaving tomorrow for a business trip that will last a week. Maybe when we come back. I'll send Sylvia over because I gave her the day off. “Be careful.”

Throwing your phone you yelled aggressively as you looked around your space. Even while you're dying, they don't give a damn about you. What is fucking family anymore? You took one final look at your bed before stepping out and calling Jay, as if you didn't care any longer.

“Hey you good, I heard screaming but didn't want to interrupt if you were nude or something,” he said, looking up at your hesitant face. As you passed him on your way to the door, a smile crept across your lips.

“Oh shut up, come on, I got a request.”

Jay got up and walked past you as you turned to see your whole life stored away in a small space. Even if you didn't know where Jay would lead you, you had a feeling it would be better, right?

“Goodbye” As you walked slowly to your car in the parking lot, you grabbed Jay's hand in yours as you closed the door. As you held his hand even more, you felt it tense up.

“Hey what was that for?”

“You whine a lot, don't you? Come on, I've got a few more dying wishes before you take me and send me off somewhere, let's fucking go.”

He saw you let go of your hand as you walked to the opposite side of your car, hopped in, and turned on the ignition.

“Are you sure you're up for this? I don't want you passing out on me.”

Jay rushed next to you as he reached for your shoulder as a cough steadily burst from your throat, causing you to grasp your chest in anguish. You shook your head and gave your body a couple shakes as you waved your hand at him.

“I'm good, you know the exact time, so give me a heads up whenever I'm close.” “Anyway, less about my condition and more on the fun we're about to have.”

You put your foot on the brake and drove out the parking lot and on your way to the boardwalk that was a good distance away.

“Sit back, it'll be around 2 hours before we get to my favorite spot.”

Jay offered you a troubled expression as he laid his head on the window, pondering the time you had left while gazing out the window.

*8 hours left, you had eight hours left*

---

Coming up over the infamous hill, you notice the blue seas and immediately begin to brighten up as you repeatedly punch Jay in the arm.

“Jay... Jay... JAYYYY loook were here,” He grabbed your hand and swung it the other way before slowly turning to face you before your final punch. Don't bother Reapers while they're asleep; they don't get enough sleep as it is, and constantly bringing souls is exhausting.

“Please stopp I heard you the first five fucking times.” As he turned back to face the water, he rolled his eys and chuckled a little. The way the waves drenched the salty surface back and forth was more than simply water; it was an artwork.

Even though this might be your last moments on earth, you were glad you found someone to spend them with as you saw Jay's look. You put your hand on his shoulder and signaled for you to depart.

He stepped out of the car, mesmerized by the quiet waters, and walked over to your side, his gaze never leaving the sea.

“It's strange, I've seen my days of oceans before, and I've probably gone to all of them many times, but this one feels different. For a little moment, I forgot I wasn't human. Oh that remind me”

Jay rotated in a circle as he appeared to you dressed in more fashionable attire to placate the human crowd. He clutched your arm as he lost his footing for a second, then raced forward towards the boardwalk, thanking you.

“Hurry up, I didn't transform into a normal male for nothing, I want to see what you folk do up here.” He sneaked a glimpse at you as you laughed heartily at him, and before he knew it, you were running past him, his hand in yours, and on your way to the boardwalk's many attractions.

Spilled ice cream cups, lost money from arcade games, the sides of yours and his faces scorching from a lack of sunscreen, and not to mention the continual brushing of each other's hands were all part of the day. You took Jay's hand as the crowds filtered off the boardwalk and brought him to one of your favorite areas, the sand. As you approach the ocean now that the sun has lowered somewhat, it feels chilly.

As you stand in the cool ocean, letting the waves wash over your feet and taking a deep breath, attempting to relax, you feel a touch on your back. When you open your eyes, you notice Jay standing next to you, his gaze fixed on you. You laughed and placed your head on his shoulder; he didn't flinch or react this time.

He'd become accustomed to it and even loved it.

“How much time do we have left? Will I miss the sunset? Please say no.” You drooped your lips and glanced towards him, anxiously awaiting his response.

“Don't worry, you'll have time,” he said, taking your hand in his and pulling you down further away from the water as you both watched at the ball of light travelling toward the horizon.

The dazzling and flaming sun began to be swallowed by the sky as nightfall approached. The sky suddenly fills with beautiful, rich colors ranging from soothing blues to powerful reds and bright oranges, and finally thin, melancholy clouds.

Jay drew you closer, which surprised you, but you didn't mind because it was getting colder and fewer people were leaving the beach, leaving fragments of people strewn about. Jay drew your attention to himself before relaying the news to you.

Allow me to speak before I say what I truly need to say; these past three weeks have been incredible and eye-opening. I had no idea there were individuals out there that battled and were as brave as you. I understand how difficult it must be to go through all of these changes, but-”

A tear trickled down your face as you coughed, interrupting his speech.

*10 minutes left*

“Oh don’t start crying,” “All I wanted to say is thank you for allowing me to experience something different than my typical routine,” you joked as you pushed his chest. I don't get out very often, but tonight was enjoyable; I hope it distracted you from your worries.”

As you clasped your chest and pulled Jay out of worry, a fast cough attack hit your system.

*5 minutes left*

“I-i woul-l-d love to talk more about our fond memories but my chest is hurting and I think you need to get to the point.” You unbunched his shirt from your fist and let him continue, smiling despite your pain.

He embraced you in his arms because he was afraid he wouldn't have enough time to relay everything.

“Fuck it”

He drew you in and kissed you again, this time more passionately than before. Your heart skipped a beat as heat rose from your stomach to your chest, and you weren't sure if it was a legitimate emotion or your condition was approaching. As you drew him closer to you, flinging your arms around his neck and smiling, the fragrance of salty sea water filled your nostrils. This moment, the taste of him… It calmed your racing thoughts and made you feel as if your heart was slowing down.

*1 minute left*

As you backed away from his kiss, your eyesight faded in and out, and as you looked about, your vision in the inner corners of your eyes started to go black. It was occurring, and your time was running out. You staggered into Jay's arms as he spoke into your ear, looking back at him.

“See you on the other side Y/N”

---

When you first awoke, you peered around at the dark waters, then looked up to see the real Jay. His Scythe's blade gleamed in the moonlight, and his velvet hood blew in the breeze. Not turning around you heard his voice, distinctly differently than before.

“Get ready, we're closing in on our dock.”

You slowly stood up and felt a prickling sensation on your wrist as you noticed your bracelet was lightly shining, something it had never done before. Perhaps it was the moonlight reflecting off of it.

You observed three figures standing at the dock through the mist and tried to figure out who they were. You didn't realize it until you got off the boat.

“Gramps and Gram, what?” Your voice trembled as tears streamed down your cheeks. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing.

“Is this a joke,” As you grabbed them in a deep hug, a hand pushed you closer to them.

“We missed you pumpkin.” You turned around and went towards the dark figure, making sure not to hit his Scythe as you drew Jay into a hug as you got snot on his coat.

“I thought you said you couldn't find them,” you remarked. “I had given up hope.” His face was obscured by a black gloom, so you couldn't see him.

“Um, sorry but could you change back to your normal self, just this once.” Jay reappeared in his usual body, simply regular old Jay, in a split second.

“I apologize for forgetting about that, but please don't thank me. It was all my pal Jake over there.” You turned around and raced over to Jake, hugging him and almost shoving him off the dock.

“Thank you thank you so much, I owe you one.” “Don't worry about it,” he said as he stepped back.

After letting go of him, you returned to the location where your grandparents were standing and took their hands in yours. It was time for you to leave, and all you had to do was walk away.

As tears streamed down your cheeks, you came to a halt and turned around to face him. It didn't take long for you to run back into his arms.

“I'm not usually this way, but I'm glad I found someone I can call a friend.” Jay, I hope we run across each other. Thank you for everything; I just wanted to let you know that your efforts are appreciated.”

You let him go and wave to him after pulling him into a goodbye kiss. You hear him calling out to you.

“I think I like you Y/N?”

“Well, I think we should talk about that the next time I see you.” You turn back and continue on your journey, giggling at his childish antics as you fade into the darkness.

As he and Jake hopped back into the boat to return home, Jay's smile never faded.

“I told you so”

“Oh shut it.”

He'd finally found that thing you'd always talked about, that haven where you felt so comfortable that the rest of the world couldn't possibly come crashing down around you. He was overjoyed to have discovered his HOME and vowed to do everything in his power to ensure he never lost it.

“See you soon Y/N.”

☆ ҉ ◢▅◣

➳ Navigate to the Maze

#enhypen #enhypen writers #enhypen series #enhypen jay #enhypen jay park #jay park #jay #jay enhypen #enhypen reactions #en-#kpop au #enhypen au #enhypen x reader #enhypen x y/n #enhypen masterlist #babytaes works

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writingwhimsey · 2 years

Text

My Pirate Lord and Our Life Ch. 61

Chapter 61

The night had been quiet. I wasn't sure how long it had been. It felt like it had been hours but it was likely only one since Motonari and the others had parted. The air seemed charged as if there were something wrong…the night too quiet. I could feel the tension in me winding up like a tight coil, ready to snap.

"Ava, I'm sure nothing is wrong. You really need to not stress." Misa said.

"Drink more of your tea perhaps." Miss Mayuko encouraged.

"Come on, you need to lay your head in my lap next to Kotoro's?" Kimi asked, a teasing tone to her voice. "I'll stroke your hair."

I gave her a look and then turned my head to Kotoro. He was indeed laying down in her lap, her fingers playing in his soft hair. I then let out a sigh as I looked at my friends. "I'm sorry. I just cant seem to shake this feeling that…that something is WRONG."

"Don't you worry, Princess." Keiji said, coming over to sit beside us with a jovial smile. He put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure everything is going just fine. Besides, this isn't like you. Where's that brave princess who dove off a cliff to start an alliance, huh?"

"You dove off a cliff?" Miss Mayuko asked.

"Fell off, while trying to climb down…in the dark." I corrected.

"You know, I am starting to think we really should have learned more about your life here before approving of Motonari." Misa remarked.

"Like our approval would have meant anything." Kimi remarked. "Just like how I didn't listen to you guys when you tried to warn me about…you know who."

I sighed. "Guys…"

"We're just teasing of course." Asuna assured me. "We can see how happy you are."

"And that that crazy idiot loves you very much." Misa added.

Before anymore could be said, one of the soldiers that had been outside guarding the castle gate came rushing in. He looked battered and bruised and covered in blood. "My lords…we're under attack!"

"Keiji, Yukimura, get out there and help now!" Hideyoshi ordered.

"On it!" Keiji said, jumping up and taking his spear. "Let's see just who's the best spear handler!" He said this last part looking at Yukimura.

"We may be on the same side…but it's definitely going to be me kicking your butt there." Yukimura replied. the pair were then running off to join the fight.

Hideyoshi gave out more orders. Mitsunari assisted him in coming up with the best strategy for defending the castle. I looked at my friends, worried. Little Kotoro was awake now, but sitting quietly and tensely in Kimi's lap.

"Don't worry girls and Kotoro, we'll keep you all safe." Hideyoshi assured us.

"We might want to find a place to hide everyone." Mitsunari said. The sounds of battle were getting louder and shouts were getting closer. "That…that doesn't sound good." I said.

"No, it doesn't." Hideyoshi said.

"I think we need to get Lady Ava and the others out of here."

Mitsunari said. "We need to find a place to hide you all."

"They have to be hidden separately from me." I said.

"What? No. We are a family and we're sticking together." Kimi said.

"Like hell am I leaving your side now." Misa spoke up.

"You guys have to." I said. "They're here to kidnap me. You're not safe with me."

"We're not separating and that's that." Kimi asserted.

"We stay together." Kotoro agreed.

"No time to argue. Let's all get going now." Hideyoshi said.

The girls were helping me up and then we were all exiting the hall. Hideyoshi, Mitsunari, and guards were with us, surrounding us and keeping a lookout as we snuck through the castle. The sounds of the fighting was quickly reaching us. Getting closer. We were close to an exit when we were stopped by Akari and a group of pirates she was leading.

She smiled at us. "Well, it was easier to get to you than I anticipated, my lady." She said looking right at me. "Captain Hiroto is going to be pleased."

"I don't relish the idea of fighting a woman, but I won't let you harm Ava!" Hideyoshi shouted. "Or anyone else."

Akari looked at him. "No one else has to get hurt here you know. Just hand her over. My captain and I have some tasks we need Motonari to complete…and she's the only way we're going to get that to happen."

"I won't let you take her." Hideyoshi replied.

Akari sighed. "You men are so predictable."

Hideyoshi quickly signaled some of the guards and then looked at me. He whispered to me. "Once the fighting starts and she's distracted, you girls take the guards and run."

I didn't have time to protest as Hideyoshi and Mitsunari began to engage Akari and her crew in battle. Our guards were quickly reaching for us and tugging on us. "Come, we must get you out of here."

I hated leaving Hideyoshi and Mitsunari, but I had no choice as we were pulled away by my guards. I was having a hard time running and was slowing everyone down. I was having a hard time catching my breath and my legs were feeling weak.

We were running down a hall when we encountered another group of pirates. There was a man leading them. He wore a particularly cruel smile. He was tall and wore the fanciest clothing and armor. "Well, looks like Akari did a good job separating you from your warlord guards."

"We won't let you touch the princess or any of these ladies!" One of our guards shouted.

"You should just give her up. You're not going to survive this fight." The man said.

Before I could say anything to stop anyone, the guards were engaged in battle with the pirates. "Run ladies!" The guards encouraged us. Misa was taking my hand. "Come on, Ava we have to go."

"Yes, we have to get out of here." Kimi agreed, holding Kotoro tightly to her chest.

We were then running, well as much as I could anyways. I looked over at my friends. "You guys…you have to leave me." I said.

"No, we're a family. We're sticking together." Kimi said.

"You can..get out and…get help." I replied. "And…think…think about Kotoro."

"You guys go." Misa said. "Don't worry I'll be staying with her. She's right that we should split up." "Alright, we'll get help." Kimi said.

We all quickly hugged and then separated. Misa and I went down one hall and the other girls and Kotoro went down another. We soon heard the sound of footsteps behind us. I hoped the guards would be alright.

I looked ahead of us and there stood Akari with a group of pirates, though it was significantly smaller than the group we had encountered her with. Behind us there running steps stopped and there stood the group pf pirates we had just fled from.

"Look at that no guards now." Akari said.

"You took care of that Hideyoshi?"

"My men are still fighting him, Captain Hiroto." Akari answered, addressing the man from before.

Misa and I were trapped with nowhere to go. God no! I can't…my baby…there has to be something I can do. I thought.

"Alright now princess or do you prefer Lady Mouri?" Hiroto said, looking at me. "Come with us. Don't worry I won't hurt you….so long as your husband does what I ask of him that is."

I felt my flask of water in the folds of my kimono. An idea struck me. I needed to buy time until the fighter could get to me and I had only one trick up my sleeve. I gripped my stomach and doubled over, crying out. "Ah!"

Misa looked at me alarmed. As I doubled over I managed to reach into my kimono and open the flask of water, dumping it out down the front of my kimono and on the floor.

"What…what's going on?" Hiroto asked, stopping in just a few feet from us.

I looked up at Misa and her eyes met mine. She caught on quickly. She then looked over at Hiroto. "She's having the baby you moron." She said, bravely standing up to him.

"Well, then we'd better get her to the ship. Looks like we're gonna have two hostages." Hiroto said.

"Ah!" I cried out. "There's no getting her anywhere." Misa replied. "She is having the baby now. She's not going to be able to walk."

For effect, I leaned against the wall behind me and slowly slid down. Crying out as I did so. Hopefully I could keep them fooled for a while.

"And who are you to know anything?" Hiroto asked.

"I'm her midwife you dumbass." Misa replied.

Hiroto looked at her. "You're either brave or really stupid to speak to me in such a manner."

"Look, you clearly need my lady and her baby alive for your little plan to work. And I am the one who is going to make sure they both survive. So, no matter what I say you're going to let me live." Misa replied.

"She's a fun one." Akari said, smiling.

"You…bastards…aren't getting your hands…on my baby!" I shouted at them. "And you…think Motonari…is going to…let you…get away with…this."

"Oh, he will and he will do everything we ask because you've clearly made him soft." Hiroto said. "The old Motonari wouldn't have let me get into his castle."

"You're…wrong…"

"Very wrong about that in fact. Quite certain she's made him stronger."

I was surprised by the familiar voice that showed up just then. We all turned to see Junichiro standing there with a group of his own men.

"I should have known you'd come to help Motonari out. You always did have some soft spot for him." Hiroto said.

"He's my friend." Junichiro replied.

It was then that Hideyoshi and Mitsunari were coming up from behind Akari and her group. Fighting was breaking out on either side of us at that moment. There was no way for Misa and I to get out. It was then that Junichiro had managed to break away from the fighting and was coming up to Misa and me.

"Alright, let's get you girls out of here. Don't worry, my guys are already helping your other friends." Junichiro assured me. "They're safe."

Misa and I nodded. "Thanks." I said.

Misa was helping me up, but my legs felt like jelly and I was having a hard time standing.. "Ava, are you alright?" Misa asked me.

"I…"

"He's going to kill me for this, but it's the best way to get you out of here safely." Junichiro said before scooping me up into his arms.

"I think…he'll forgive you as long as I'm safe." I replied.

Hideyoshi had managed to fight his way over to us. "Who are you?" He asked, looking at Junichiro.

"He's an old friend of Motonari's." I explained. "Junichiro. He's here to help."

Hideyoshi nodded. "Alright, I'll help you get Ava and Misa out of here."

Hideyoshi and one of Juniciro's men were helping us fight our way out. "You get back here with my hostage!" Hiroto shouted as he came after us.

Hiroto was getting close to us, but a shot sounded and came close to him. "How 'bout you stay the hell away from my wife!"

Relief flooded through me as I turned to see Motonari up ahead, pistol in hand with a smoking barrel. His blood red eyes glared hard at Hiroto. I knew Motonari's words and the glare were no empty threats. It appeared Hiroto knew it as well.

Hiroto smiled. It was the smile of a madman. "Well, looks like we get to fight after all."

#ikesen #ikesen motonari #ikemen sengoku #ikemen sengoku motonari #ikemen motonari #motonari otome #motonari mouri #motonari cybird #motonari ikemen #crybird motonari #cybird ikemen #cybird otome #cybird #ikemen series #ikemen series motonari #otome boys #fanfic #fanfiction #chapter 61

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mggpleasedontlookhere · 4 years

Text

home run

request: Spencer Reid and reader go undercover at a baseball game and their really close friends but then they get put on the kiss cam 👉👈

word count: 1,204 reading time aprox: 4 mins 30 secs

masterlist

“Did you know that essentially baseball is based on the physics of fluid dynamics, and a pitch produces a turbulent wake of air behind the ball. At which gets deflected depending upon which way the ball rotates. The rotation, actually causes the ball to move across the plate according to the same principles-” Spencer rambles, maneuvering his fingers around to motion to a spherical form rotating on it’s axis.

“And why would I know that Reid?” I laughed while playfully pushing him to the side, making sure he didn’t fall sideways on the steps we were trudging on. “You know for a guy who knows about the physics of sports, you don’t seem to actually like the sport itself” I criticized, watching Spencer cringe and crinkle his nose.

“I prefer the sport of chess” He retorted, scanning his eyes over the various crowds of middle age dads, young children, and die hard fans that populated the stands.

We were working a case here in New York City, comprised of a retired MLB investor who’s been suspected of 4 homicides of past athletes that played for the Mets.

I scoffed in amusement at the articulation of his words. “Remind me to educate you on being a normal human being after we’re done with this case” I teased whilst profiling the event. The floors of the stadium were tarnished in the sticky residue of spilled soda combined with leftover popcorn kernels.

“Oh be quiet Y/L/N, you were nowhere close to being normal when we were kids” Spencer commented, referring to my theater phase where I enacted and memorized every line from The Phantom of the Opera.

Reminiscing on my glory days, I remember compelling Spence to drop his physics textbooks when he was studying for his finals in high school, so that he would recite the entire play with me. “Okay but you were an atrocious Phantom to my Christine” I countered.

We both laughed at the memories we’ve made together, taking our seats in the process as the game resumed from it’s halftime show. “Our unsub a 35 to 45 year old white male” I reminded him, examining the game in process. “But that’s literally almost everybody in here” I groaned, seeing the lack of diversity in the stands.

“Yeah, but remember we’re looking for someone in posh clothing with the possibility of being overweight, which matches with the corresponding insecure factor of our unsub” He noted, taking a look at the VIP box that hung just above the top rows of the stadium. “He’s still regarded as a figure of influence so he may be in there” He gestured pointing to the location where many high class individuals usually resided.

“You may be right, let’s go-” I began my sentence but was abruptly interrupted by the sound of the announcer’s voice broadcasted all over stadium. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope everyone’s having an extraordinary time with us-” The man on the speaker said, although I drowned out his words as my focus derived from allocating our suspect in the VIP box.

The man began announcing advertisements and I took that as an opportunity to leave. “Come on Spence, you go into the room and I’ll-” I instructed while maneuvering out of the stands until a man twice my height and size unexpectedly occupied the seat at the end of the row, impeding my exit strategy. I went up to try and tap the individual to motion for him to leave, but instead he brought his legs up and settled them on the spine of the seat in front of him.

What a jackass

I reached for my badge that hung on the hemline on my pants when I felt Spencer nudge at me in hesitance. He then pointed up to the big screen on the opposite side of the stadium when I had realized that both of our faces were shown in pixels. Bewilderment flooded my thoughts until I saw ‘Kiss Cam’ in big bright animated letters lay coolly on the screen.

I gulped, watching Spencer looking at me for answers while he rubbed his hands on the material of his pants. Noticing his panicked state, I waved off the camera, indicating that I didn’t want to be part of the tradition, but was revoked on the choice when the crowd began to chant.

“KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!” permeated both mine and Spencer’s eardrums making my heart race increase. Spencer continued to look at me in apprehension, dread probably running through that pretty little head of his.

“Spence, forget them, we don’t have to anyway” I turned around tugging at his arm to walk away from the cameras, but he took his stance. I peered at him in puzzlement, questioning his actions until he practically yanked my arm to where we were chest to chest.

A red tint had blossomed on the apple of my cheeks as I felt his breath fanning over my face. “Spence I-” I stuttered, not knowing how to go about the situation.

“Just shh” Spencer reassured. “Can I?” He sweetly asked, staring at my lips as I did so to his. I nodded in affirmation, the warmth shared between us making the small interaction more intimate. With my consent, he leaned down pressing a chaste kiss on lips.

Kissing him felt like I was jumping on clouds or floating in space with nothing tethered to me. The skin on his lips were soft and supple as he maneuvered them sublimely against my own. Regardless of the short and affection gesture, he lingered after he was finished, placing another kiss on my forehead.

The kiss cam then traveled to another pair, but time seemed to stop on it’s own as we stood gazing at one another. “I- Spence you didn’t really have to-” I spoke, shaking my head in disbelief at what had occurred.

“But I wanted to” Spencer professed, cutting me off mid sentence and denying me of the radical accusations I’ve made.

“You’ve never told me, that you know, you liked me or a-anything. I jus-st thought that you didn’t like me, especially with JJ when we f-first started and then-” I rambled, unable to produce regular sentences without getting my words caught up in each other.

Spencer reached over, grabbing my chin with his forefinger and thumb to acquire my attention. “I’ve never taken the chance to” He admitted shyly, caressing his thumb over the soft skin of my face.

His hazel eyes emitted nothing but a loving and genuine gaze that made my heart melt right into his hands. In all the years that I’ve been with him, I’ve never noticed his affection towards me.

“It’s funny how you’re a profiler and you haven’t been able to figure it out Y/L/N” He taunted, grinning at me while the blush on my cheeks grew exponentially.

“Shut up Spence, you’re just lucky I even let you kiss me” I retorted, shaking my head at him as we were finally able to surpass the ignorant man wouldn’t let us out of the aisle.

“Yeah I am lucky aren’t I” He praised, wrapping a firm arm around my waist as we walked towards the VIP box.

“Damn straight, Dr. Reid”

A/N

woah two imagines in one day, i must be going crazy

btw, i have one more request to write, then i’m going to be writing pt. 2 of ‘It Should’ve Been You’

#spencer reid imagines #spencerreid #spencer reid #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid icons #spencer x reader #spencer x you #spencer x oc #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x oc #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x reader #matthew gray gubler #matthew gray gubler imagines #matthew gray gubler imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds fic

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trashyswitch · 3 years

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In a Lee Mood? Ask Logan!

Janus and Remus are in Lee moods. One is shy, the other is confident. When Remus finds them a ler, Janus must learn how to gain the courage to ask for tickles. Otherwise, he won't get them.

This fanfic was suggested by @ashleedragon on Tumblr.

Here

I hope you enjoy Ash! :D

Janus and Remus were struggling majorly in the lee department. They were talking about how much they really wanted to be wrecked, but didn’t know who exactly to go to. They wanted someone confident in their goal, and someone who can tickle both of them at once, if possible. Finally, Remus had had enough.

“That’s it! We need to head to someone NOW. And I know just the person!” Remus declared, standing out proudly.

“Who? I’m not intrigued whatsoever.” Janus asked.

“Logan! He’s smart, confident in himself, and he knows how to use tickle tools! He is a MASTER of tickling, I know that for sure!” Remus declared.

“I...Oh…” Janus started curling up, blushing in pure embarrassment. “Okay…”

“Come on!” Remus begged, grabbing Janus’s hand.

“Nooooooo! Let me sit alone in my lee mood like a good boy!” Janug begged.

“But I know you want the tickles just as much as I do!” Remus argued. He huffed. “If you don’t get up, I will bring Logan to us and you’ll have no choice but to face him.”

“Then I’ll act like a little shit.” Janus said with his tongue stuck out.

Remus smiled. “Good.” he said before exiting the room. “OOOOOH LOOOOGAAAAAAN~” Remus yelled to the hallway.

Janus whined and covered his ears as Remus called and called for Logan. Janus didn’t wanna take Logan away from his activity to come and tickle him, of all things. He felt embarrassed about his lee mood as it was. He didn’t need Remus standing up for him and getting them both a ler to make his lee mood go away. Maybe he liked being in a lee mood! What if it actually makes him distracted for a while? What if he likes watching scenes and cowering like a baby in the corner?

...He really doesn’t...It was just a hypothetical.

Janus looked up at Logan as he walked into the room. “Greetings Janus. I hear you two are in need of something rather immediate?” Logan clarified.

“Only if you want to, of course.” Janus said to him, blushing.

“Of course! It is my job to try and organize better strategies for satisfactory reasons with Thomas. And if that involves helping someone, or a couple sides out, then I will happily do so.” Logan told him.

Janus smiled and looked down. “You don’t need to do that…” Janus muttered with an embarrassed expression.

Remus giggled. “Poor Janus! He’s been acting like this all morning! I feel he deserves some teases and jokes, don’t you, Logan?” Remus teased.

Janus whined and covered his face.

“I don’t know...I’m not an emotional person, but it does look like he’s rather more red than usual…A little like a tomato or a cherry…” Logan teased with a smirk on his face.

“Exactly!! That’s what I was thinking!” Remus reacted.

Logan looked at Remus. “Hmm...And didn’t you say you were in the same mood?” Logan asked.

Remus nodded. “You betcha!” He replied proudly and lifted up his arms.

Logan looked at Janus and back at Remus. “Okay. Looks like I’m going here first.” Logan went for Remus’s exposed armpits first, earning him a squeal and a giggle. “Oooooh, This is a good spot, if I do say so myself.” Logan teased, looking at Janus from the corner of his eye.

Remus giggled as his hands were grabbed and pinned above his head. “Ohohoho geheheheez…” Remus giggled.

“What’s the matter, Dukey? Getting a little nervous?” Logan teased.

Remus nodded. “Very.”

“Very well. I suppose I can get this-” Logan paused his words and started tickling Remus’s open armpit.

“EEEEEEHEHEHEHEK! LOHOHOGAHAHAN YOHOHOHOU AHAHAHASS!” Remus laughed.

“Oh? Since when am I a bottom?” Logan asked.

“SINCE NOHOHOHOW!” Remus decided.

“Nothing is wrong with being a bottom, Remus. However, I do have a slight problem with being a lazy bottom. I prefer to be quick, yet precise with my movements. An example: My strategizing associated with my attacks right now!” Logan explained.

Remus laughed and looked over at Janus, who was embarrassed and slightly jealous. “GEHEHEHEHET JAHAHAN, WHYHY DOHOHON’T YAHAHA?!” Remus asked.

Logan giggled. “But you asked first! And besides: I want to keep tickling you! You’re rather fun to tickle!” Logan admitted.

“AHAHAM IHI?” Remus asked.

“Yes! Indeed you are, my evil ticklish friend.” Logan teased.

Remus blushed at that. “AHAHAHAM NAHAHAhahahat!” Remus felt as Logan’s tickles moved down to his upper ribs and ab muscles.

“My goodness! I must admit, I am rather impressed by your abdominal muscle size. It is a little stronger and very well kept compared to Roman’s abdominal six pack.” Logan reacted.

“HEY!” Roman shouted from another room.

“HEHEHE HAHAHAS A POHOHOHOINT!” Remus yelled back.

“SURE HE DOES, MR. GAGGLES.” Roman spat back.

Remus giggled and shook his head. “Meheheheheheanie…” He muttered.

“I know...But he doesn’t understand the true love for tickling as much as you do.” Logan joked.

“Truhue! Yohohohou gehehet ihihit!” Remus mentioned.

“Indeed I do.” Logan replied, looking at Janus.

Janus was looking away, trying not to watch the tickles he really wanted.

“Awww, it looks like Janus really wants tickles too. Should I give them to him?” Logan asked.

“If you want to, sure!” Remus reacted.

Janus lifted his head a little, in hope.

But Logan shook his head with a smirk. “He can tell me if he wants to.” Logan told Remus.

Janus groaned.

“Is something the matter, Janus?” Logan asked.

Janus muttered something, but it was too quiet to hear him.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I can’t hear you. Can you repeat that?” Logan asked.

“Iwantyoutoticclemeeee…” Janus muttered again.

“I’m so sorry...Now you’re saying it too quickly! Can you please repeat-”

“I WANT TICKLES!” Janus yelled.

Logan widened his eyes and giggled. “Nohohow you’re too loud! May you please repe-”

“DAMN YOU LOGAN!” Janus shouted. “JUSTGIVEMETHEMALREADY!”

Remus was laughing at this point. “WOHOHOHOW! HEHEHEHE’S PIHIHIHIHISSED!” Remus laughed.

Logan was chuckling. “Ihihi know! All that just for some tickles!” Logan reacted.

Janus growled and started to walk away. But Logan stopped him. “Come on Janus. Lighten up a little. I’ll tickle you. I’d love to tickle you!” Logan told him.

“W-Will you? P-P-Please?” Janus begged.

“Sure!” Logan replied.

Logan gently grabbed Janus’s hand and led him down to the carpet. “Remus, come here too.” Logan encouraged them. Remus nodded and followed them to the carpeted floor. Logan kneeled down while Janus and Remus both laid down onto their backs.

Janus smiled as his blush deepened. “Thank you. And...sorry about the outburst. I was definitely put together.” Janus apologized.

“It’s alright, Jay. Now lay back...relax…” Logan gently closed both their eyes and used his conjuring abilities to conjure up some blindfolds onto their eyes. Then, Logan tickled Janus’s sides first.

“HAHAHAHA! Hehehehehey! Ihihihihi’m fihihirst!” Janus reacted.

“Of course you are! Why would I go for Remus first when he already got some of his tickles?” Logan asked.

Janus shrugged his shoulders as he did everything in his power to not move his hands away. He feared that if he did, then Logan would stop and move back to Remus.

“Tickle tickle tickle tickle tickle~” Logan teased.

“Whyhyhyhyhyhy?” Janus asked.

“Because it’s fun! And I know that the teasing adds to the tickles tremendously.” Logan added. “And you seem to enjoy the teases!”

Janus covered up his mouth. “Ihihihi dohoho nohohohohot!” Janus reacted.

“Take away the word ‘not’, and you’ll have my response.” Logan told him.

Janus shook his head. “Uhuhuhunfahahahair!” Janus told him.

“Unfair, huh?” Logan clarified. “Let’s see how unfair I could be then.” Logan stopped tickling Janus and started tickling Remus again.

“Ohohokahahahay! Greheheheat! Mehehehe ahahagahahain!” Remus reacted.

“Yup! It’s you again, Remus.” Logan replied.

Remus giggled and rolled back and forth on the carpet while Janus was watching with annoyance. “Come on, Logan! Can’t you do us both?” Janus asked.

Logan giggled. “Only if you say please.” he replied.

“Fine...Can you please tickle us both?” Janus asked.

Logan nodded and gave him a hand. “Sure!”

Logan wrapped his arms around Janus and Remus from behind, and started tickling both of their bellies.

Remus and Jaus were both giggling, wiggling around and loving every minute of it.

“Tickle tickle tickle tickle tickle, my little lees~” Logan teased. “That’s the right word, right?” Logan clarified.

Remus bursted out laughing more at Logan’s question. “YEHEHEHEHES! IHIHIHIT IHIHIHIS!”

“Good, good.” Logan moved down to their lower bellies, earning snorts from Remus and squeaks from Janus. “How about here? Does it tickle more here?” Logan teased.

“YEHEHEHEHEHESS! *snort* IHIHI- *snort* -IHIHIT DOHOHOHOES!” Remus laughed.

“EEEEEEK! YEHEHEHEHES! EEEEHEHEHEHE- IHIHIT TIHIHICKLEHEHES!” Janus laughed as well.

“Ooooooh! I wonder which belly button is the more ticklish of my two lees…” Logan asked out loud. “Remus’s?” Logan poked his belly button.

Remus gasped and squeaked SUPER loudly! “NUUUUUUUHOHOHOHOHO!” Remus screamed!

Logan giggled at the reaction. “Or Janus’s?” Logan asked before poking Janus’s belly button next.

Janus wheezed and clapped his hands a few times. He was shaking his head as he silently laughed, occasionally falling out of quiet laugh and into screeches and cackles!

“Well I see we have our answer!” Logan reacted. “Janus has a more ticklish belly button.”

Janus pushed at Logan’s hand and threw his head back as he kept on cackling like a wild man.

Logan loved seeing them laugh like this. It was surprisingly really fun making them laugh! And it was even fun teasing Janus to oblivion while he tickled Remus and made comments. Even the word tickle was enough to make the boys die of laughter.

Though, his fingers were just as useful too.

Logan decided from then, on to be their ler for when they were in strong lee moods. Remus was over ecstatic like a child over it, while Janus was happy about it but showed it in a more casual way. Logan gave them both a hug, a few more tickles and a farewell as he left the two boys alone.

“So: Would you say that was worth the embarrassment?” Remus asked with a smug smile on his face.

“...........No.” Janus replied.

Remus bursted out laughing at the reply. Such a Janus thing to say!

#ticklefic #ler!logan #lee!janus #lee!remus #blushing #cute #teasing

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samwisethewitch · 4 years

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Coping with religious trauma

CONTENT WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS DISCUSSIONS OF MENTAL ILLNESS, TRAUMA RECOVERY, AND HOMOPHOBIA. The advice in this post is intended for an adult audience, not for those who are legal minors.

A lot of people find their way to paganism after having traumatic experiences with organized religion, especially in countries like the United States, where 65% of the population identifies as Christian. (This number is actually at an all-time low — historically, the percentage has been much higher.) Paganism, which is necessarily less dogmatic and hierarchical than the Abrahamic religions, offers a chance to experience religion without having to fit a certain mold. This can be extremely liberating for people who have felt hurt, abused, or ignored by mainstream religion.

To avoid making generalizations that might offend people, I’ll share my own story as an example.

My family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, better known as the Mormons, when I was nine years old. The Mormons are an extremely conservative sect of evangelical Christianity that places a heavy emphasis on maintaining a strong community that upholds their religious values. The problem with that is that Mormon values are inherently racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic. As a teenager in the Mormon Church, I was told that as a woman, my only purpose in life was to marry a (Mormon) man and raise (Mormon) children. I was discouraged from pursuing a college education if it meant delaying marriage. I was not allowed to participate in the full extent of religious ritual because I was not a man. I was not allowed to express myself in ways that went against Mormon culture, and I kept my bisexuality secret for fear I would be ostracized. I didn’t have any sort of support system outside the Church, which inevitably made the mental health issues that come with being a queer woman in a conservative Christian setting much, much worse.

I left the Mormons when I was seventeen, and by that time I had some major issues stemming from my time in the Church. I had been extremely depressed and anxious for most of my teen years. I struggled with internalized misogyny and homophobia. I had very low self-esteem. I had anxiety around sex and sexuality that would take years of therapy and self-work to overcome. I wanted to form a connection with the divine, but I wasn’t sure if I was worthy of such a connection.

I was attracted to paganism, specifically Wicca, because it seemed like everything Mormonism wasn’t. Wicca teaches equality between men and women, with a heavy focus on the Goddess in worship. It places an emphasis on doing what is right for you, as long as it doesn��t harm anyone else. It encourages sexuality and healthy sexual expression. Learning about Wicca, and later other types of paganism, helped me develop the kind of healthy spirituality I’d never experienced as a Mormon. Although Wicca is no longer the backbone of my religious practice, it was a necessary and deeply healing step on my spiritual journey.

I’m not sharing my story to gain sympathy or to make anyone feel bad — I’m sharing it because my situation is not an uncommon one in pagan circles. The vast majority of pagans are converts, meaning they didn’t grow up pagan. Some had healthy upbringings in other faiths, or no faith at all, and simply found that paganism was a better fit for them. Others, like myself, had deeply traumatic experiences with organized religion and are attracted to paganism because of the freedom, autonomy, and empowerment it offers.

If you fall into this latter category, this post is for you. Untangling the threads of religious trauma can be an extremely difficult and overwhelming task. In this post, I lay out six steps to recovery based on my own experiences and those of other people, both pagan and non-pagan, who have lived through religious trauma.

While following these steps will help jumpstart your spiritual healing, it’s important to remember that healing is not a linear process — especially healing from emotional, mental, and spiritual trauma. You may have relapses, you may feel like you’re moving in circles, and you may still have bad days in five or ten years. That’s okay. That’s part of the healing process. Go easy on yourself, and let your journey unfold naturally.

Step One: Cut all ties with the group that caused your trauma

Or, at least, cut as many ties as reasonably possible.

Obviously, if you’re still participating in a religious organization that has caused you pain, the first step is to leave! But before you do, make sure you have an exit plan to help you disengage safely and gracefully.

To make your exit plan, start by asking yourself what the best, worst, and most likely case scenarios are, and be honest in your answers. Obviously, the best case scenario is that you leave, everyone accepts it, and all is well. The worst case scenario is that someone tries to prevent you from leaving — you may be harassed by missionaries or concerned churchgoers, for example. But what is the most likely case scenario? That depends on the religious community, their beliefs, and how involved you were in the first place. When making your exit plan, prepare for the most likely scenario, but have a backup plan in case the worst case scenario happens.

Once you’ve prepared yourself for the best, worst, and most likely outcomes, choose a friend, significant other, or family member who can help you make your exit. Ideally, this person is not a member of the group you are trying to leave. Their role is mainly to provide emotional support, although they may also need to be willing to run off any well-meaning missionaries who come calling. This person can also help you transition after you leave. For example, you might make a plan to get coffee with them every week during the time your old religious community holds worship services.

Finally, make your strategy for leaving. Choose a date and don’t put it off! If you have any responsibilities within the group, send in a letter of resignation. Figure out who you’ll need to have conversations with about your leaving — this will likely include any family members or close friends who are still part of the group. Schedule those conversations. Make sure to have them in public places, where people will be less likely to make a scene.

If you feel it is necessary, you may want to request that your name be removed from the group’s membership records so you don’t get emails, phone calls, or friendly visits from them in the future. You may not feel the need to do this, but if contact with the group triggers a mental health crisis, this extra step will help keep you safe.

Of course, it’s not always possible to completely cut ties with a group after leaving. You may have family members, a significant other, or close friends who are still members. If this is the case, you’ll need to establish some clear boundaries. Politely but firmly tell them that, although you’re glad their faith adds value to their lives, you are not willing to be involved in their religious activities. Let them know that this is what is best for your mental and emotional health and that you still value your relationship with them.

Try to make compromises that allow you to preserve the relationship without exposing you to a traumatic religious environment. For example, if your family is Christian and always spends all day on Christmas at church, offer to celebrate with them the day after, once their religious commitments are over.

Hopefully, your loved ones can respect these boundaries. If not, you may need to distance yourself or walk away altogether. If they are knowingly undermining your attempts to take care of yourself, they don’t deserve to be in your life.

During this time, you may find it helpful to read other people’s exit stories online or in books. One of my personal favorites is the book Girl at the End of the World by Elizabeth Esther. Hearing other people’s stories can help you remember that other people have been through similar situations and made it out on the other side. You will too.

Step Two: Seek professional help

I cannot overstate the importance of professional counseling when dealing with trauma of any kind, including religious trauma. Therapists and counselors have the benefit of professional training. They are able to be objective, since they’re approaching the situation from the outside. They can keep you from getting bogged down in your own thoughts and feelings.

I understand that not everyone has access to therapy. I am very lucky to have insurance that covers mental health counseling, but I know not everyone has that privilege. However, there are some options that make therapy more affordable.

There may be an organization in your area that offers free or low-cost therapy — if you live in the U.S., you can find information about these services by checking the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine or visiting mentalhealth.gov. You can also look for therapists who use a sliding scale for payment, which means they determine an hourly rate based on the client’s income. And finally, if you have a little bit of extra cash you may want to look into therapy apps like BetterHelp or Talkspace, which are typically cheaper than in-person therapy.

If none of those options work for you, the next best option is to join a support group. Support groups allow you to connect with other people whose experiences are similar to yours and, unlike therapy, they allow you to get advice and feedback from multiple people. These groups are often free, although some charge a small fee.

Finding the right group for you is important. You’re unlikely to find a group for people recovering from religious trauma but, depending on the nature of your trauma, you may fit right in with a grief and loss group, an addiction recovery group, or a group for adult survivors of child abuse. If you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community, you may be able to find a queer support group. (The LGBTQ+ club at my college was an invaluable resource in my recovery!) Depending on your area, you may also be able to find groups for specific mental and emotional issues like depression or anxiety.

Make sure to do your research before attending a meeting. Find out what, if anything, the group charges, who can join, and whether they use a curriculum or have unstructured sessions. See if you can find a statement about their values and philosophy. Make a note of where meetings are held and of who is running the group. Some support groups meet in churches and may or may not have a religious element to their curriculum. It’s best to avoid religious groups — the last thing you need right now is to be preached to.

Getting other people involved in your recovery will make you feel less alone and prevent you from getting stuck in your own head. A good therapist, counselor, or support group can help you realize what you need to work on and give you ideas for how to approach it.

Step Three: Deprogramming

“Deprogramming” refers to the practice of undoing brainwashing and reintroducing healthy thought patterns. This term is normally used in the context of cult survivors and their recovery, but deprogramming techniques can also be helpful for people recovering from a lifetime of toxic religious rhetoric.

To begin the process of deprogramming, familiarize yourself with the way organizations use thought control to shape the behavior of their members. I recommend starting with the work of Steven Hassan — his BITE model is a handy way to classify types of thought control.

The BITE model lays out four types of control. There’s Behavior Control, which controls what members do and how they spend their free time. (For example, requiring members to attend multiple hours-long meetings each week.) There’s Information Control, which restricts members’ access to information. (For example, denying certain aspects of the group’s history.) There’s Thought Control, which shapes the way members think. (For example, classifying certain thoughts as sinful or dirty.) And finally there’s Emotional Control, which manipulates members’ emotions. (For example, instilling fear of damnation or punishment.)

Here’s a simple exercise to get you started with your deprogramming. Divide a blank sheet of paper into four equal sections. Label one section “Behavior,” one “Information,” one “Thought,” and one “Emotions.” Now, in each section, make a list of the ways your old religious group controlled — and maybe still controls — that area of your life. Once you’ve completed your lists, choose a single item from one of your lists to work on undoing.

For example, let’s say that in your “Information” column, you’ve written that you were discouraged from reading certain books because they contained “evil” ideas. (For a lot of people, this was Harry Potter. For me, it was The Golden Compass.) Pick up one of those books, and read it or listen to it as an audiobook. Once you’ve read it, write down your thoughts. Did you enjoy it? Why or why not? Why do you think your group banned it? What was in this book that they didn’t want you to know about? Write it down.

Once you’ve worked on the first thing, choose something else. Keep going until you’ve undone all the items on your lists.

If you want to go further with deprogramming, I recommend the book Recovering Agency by Luna Lindsey. Although this book is specifically written for former Mormons, I genuinely believe it would be helpful to former members of other controlling religious groups as well. Lindsey does an excellent job of explaining how thought control works and of connecting it to real world examples, as well as deconstructing those ideas. Her book has been a huge help in my recovery process, and I highly recommend it.

Step Four: Replace toxic beliefs and practices with healthy ones

This goes hand-in-hand with step three, and if you’re already working on deprogramming then you’ll already have started replacing your unhealthy beliefs. This is the turning point in the recovery process. You’re no longer just undoing what others have done to you — now you get an opportunity to decide what you want to believe and do going forward. This is the time to let go of things like denial of your desires, fear of divine punishment, and holding yourself to unattainable standards. Get used to living in a way that makes you happy, without guilt.

Notice how each step builds on the previous steps. Therapy and deprogramming can help you identify what beliefs and behaviors need to be adjusted or replaced. Your therapist, support group, and/or emotional support person can help you make these changes and follow through on them.

These new beliefs and practices don’t have to be religious — in fact, it’s better if they aren’t. If you can live a healthy, happy, balanced life without religion, you’ll be in a better position to choose a religion that is the right fit for you, if that is something you want.

Your new healthy, non-religious practices may include: mindfulness meditation, nature walks, journaling, reading, exercise, energy work, learning a hobby or craft, or spending time with loves ones — or it might include none of these things, and that’s okay too. Now is the time to find what brings you joy and start doing it every day.

Step Five: Ritual healing

This is an optional step, but it’s one that has been deeply healing for me. You may find it helpful to design and perform a ritual to mark your recovery.

Note that when I say “ritual,” I don’t necessarily mean magic. Rituals serve a psychological purpose as well as a spiritual one. They can act as powerful symbolic events that mark a turning point in our lives or reinforce what we already know and believe. Even if you don’t believe in magic, even if you’re the least spiritual person you know, you can still benefit from ritual.

You might choose to perform a ritual to finalize your healing, or to symbolically throw off the chains of your old religion. It can be elaborate or simple, long or short, joyful or solemn. It might include lighting a candle and saying a few words. It might include ecstatic dance. It might include drawing or painting a representation of all the negative emotions associated with your old religion, then ritually destroying it. The possibilities are literally endless. (If you’re looking for ritual ideas, I recommend the book Light Magic for Dark Times by Lisa Marie Basile.)

One type of ritual that some people find very empowering is unbaptism. An unbaptism is exactly what it sounds like — the opposite of a baptism. The idea is that, if a baptism makes a Christian, an unbaptism makes someone un-Christian, no longer part of that lineage. It is a ritual rejection of Christianity. (Obviously, this only applies if you’re a former Christian, though some of the following suggestions could be adjusted to fit a rejection of other religions.)

If you’re interested in unbaptism, here are some ideas for how it could be done:

A classic method of unbaptism is to recite the Lord’s Prayer backwards under a full moon. (For a non-Christians version, use a significant prayer from whatever religion you have left.)

Run a bath. Add a tiny pinch of sulfur (a.k.a. brimstone) to the water. Get into the bath and say, “By water I was baptized, and by water my baptism is rejected.” Submerge your entire body under the water for several seconds. When you come back up, your unbaptism is complete. (You may want to shower after this one. Sulfur does not smell good.)

The Detroit Satanic Temple has a delightfully dramatic unbaptism ritual. For a DIY version, you will need holy water or some other relic from the faith you were baptized in, a fireproof dish, a black candle, and an apple or other sweet fruit. Light the candle and place it in your fireproof dish. Toss some holy water onto the flame (not enough to extinguish it) and say, “I cast my chains into the dust of hell.” Take a bite of the apple and say, “I savor the fruit of knowledge and disobedience.” Finally, declare proudly, “I am unbaptized.” You can add “in the name of Satan” at the end or leave it out, depending on your comfort level.

Personally, I’ve never felt the need to unbaptize myself. I’ve ritually rejected my Mormon upbringing in other ways. Maybe someday I’ll decide to go for the unbaptism, but I’ve never really felt like I needed it. Likewise, you’ll need to decide for yourself what ritual(s) will work for you.

Step Six: Honor your recovery

Our first reaction to trauma is to hide it away and never speak of it again. When we do this, we do ourselves a disservice. Your recovery is a part of your life story. You had the strength to walk away from a situation that was hurting you, and that deserves to be celebrated! Be proud of yourself for how far you’ve come!

You may choose to honor your recovery by celebrating an important date every year, like the day you decided to leave the group, the date of the last meeting you attended, or the date you were removed from the membership records. Keep this celebration fun and light — get drinks with friends, bake a cake for yourself, or just take a few moments to silently acknowledge your journey.

If you feel like having a party is a bit much, you can also honor your recovery by talking to other people about your experiences. Share your story with others. If you’re feeling shy, try sharing your story anonymously online. (Reddit has several forums specifically for anonymous stories.) You’ll be amazed by how validating it can be to tell people what you’ve been through. `

Another way to honor your recovery is to work for personal and religious freedom for all people. Protest laws with religious motivations. Donate to organizations that campaign for the separation of church and state. Educate people about how to recognize an unhealthy religious organization. Let your own story motivate you to help others who are in similar situations.

And most of all, take joy in your journey. Be proud of yourself for how far you’ve come, but know that your recovery is a lifelong journey. Be gentle and understanding with yourself. You are doing what is right for you, and no god or spirit worthy of worship could ever be upset by that.

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kroerms · 3 years

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Half-way (Part two)

pairing: Akaashi Keiji x y/n (gender neutral, I think I stayed clear of using any pronouns for reader, please correct me if I made a mistake)

genre: angstish with a little bit of an open ending

warnings: aftermath of a break-up. Mentions of unhealthy coping strategies (bad eating habits, kinda isolation), usage of the word death twice, my bad writing skills ^^

a/n: this is part 2 out of 3 of this fic. I really love interactions very much, so feel free to tell me what you think of this :) Reblogs are greatly appreciated. Part 3 will follow some time this week I think :)

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Two weeks have passed by since “the dining table incident”, as you call it. Your days consist of laying in Atsumu’s guest room, refusing to exit it. If it wasn’t for Atsumu bringing you food twice a day and sitting next to you on the bed until you’ve eaten all of it, you would probably have starved to death by now. You just don’t have the energy to go out and do stuff. You just want to lay in bed with the blinds closed and reminisce about Keiji and you and how it all began.

Keiji and you met way back when you first moved to Tokyo. You were a very shy, very anxious, and most of all, very lost young person, trying to find your way to the little bookstore your friend told you about. To be fair, you never were big on orientation. Your father used to say you’d get lost on the way to your bathroom if it weren’t for your flat being so...cozy…

So you were just wandering around the streets of the city, looking like a lost puppy and -just your luck- it started to rain cats and dogs. And of course, you being you, the new umbrella you bought was sitting at home. Just as you found refuge under a hotel entrance, hugging yourself to find some sort of comfort and already wet to the bone, a voice next to you spoke. “Excuse me, but is this your phone?”

You slowly turned to face the person attached to the deep, raspy voice. You locked eyes with a tall, very handsome dark haired man with an unreadable facial expression, holding a (your!) phone in his hand.

“Oh my god, could this day get any worse?” you said, anger evident in your voice as you inspected the broken screen of your very new phone.

“Seems like Murphy’s law strikes again.” The man next to you spoke.

“Huh?”, you looked at the man with furrowed brows. You were absolutely not in the mood to entertain a stranger right now. You let your eyes wander over the young man standing next to you. His dark hair was wet and drops of rain ran down his forehead. His blue eyes were soft and his smile seemed genuine.

“What I mean to say is, it seems that your day is not going all too well, considering you kinda said so yourself. So - Murphy's law.” He smiled at you again, wider this time.

“Oh, well yes, it seems like everything is going wrong today, that is right indeed.” You answered, a small smile making its way to your lips. You bowed to the man with no name.

“Thank you very much for saving my phone. My name is y/n, may I ask yours?”

“Name’s Akaashi Keiji. Nice to meet you y/n. This may be overstepping a bit considering you don’t know me. But would you let me take you out for a coffee to cheer you up?” Keiji’s smile widened at your nodding.

“That would be very nice of you, thank you very much, Akaashi.” you answered shyly.

“Please, call me Keiji.”

You nodded again, a smile spreading across your cheeks.

Keiji led you to a small café. Ironically, the café was right next to the bookstore you were looking for. You giggled as you noticed, making him look at you in confusion.

“Sorry, it’s just funny how I was looking for that store right here for hours today and then I meet a stranger who brings me exactly where I wanted to go.”

“Well, this is fate then, don’t you think?” Keiji offered you an even wider smile as before. You didn’t think it was possible but he became more attractive with every minute you spent together.

The two of you sat at the café for quite a while. Keiji asked you why you moved to Tokyo and you asked him about his job. Keiji seemed very interested in you and you couldn't take your eyes off of him. His entire being intrigued you. It became clear very fast that the two of you had a lot in common. For one, you both liked to read. He told you about his friends and about his time in highschool, you told him about your family and your dreams. Time seemed to fly by, without neither him nor you noticing. It wasn’t until the waitress asked the two of you to leave because the shop was closing that you checked the time on your phone.

“Oh, it’s late already. And I didn’t even get to go to that bookstore,” you say, blushing slightly "don’t get me wrong though, I really enjoyed your company, you actually did cheer me up today Keiji. I really appreciate the effort.”

“Oh, I am sorry you didn’t get to go to that store. It’s actually really cute and they have lots of antiques as well. If you let me, I would like to take you on a date there some time? Maybe Saturday afternoon, say 2pm, what do you say?” Keiji’s eyes held something similar to hope in them. And who were you to destroy that? So you agreed.

The rest was pretty much history.

Keiji and you took each other out on different dates almost every other day for two months before he asked you to be his on a late sunny afternoon the two of you spent sitting and reading to each other in the park. The kiss that followed was a bit reluctant at first but tender and passionate nonetheless.

After that, the both of you became almost inseparable. You met his friends, he met yours and a little after a year the two of you moved in together. Everyday spent with Keiji was filled with love. From cooking dinner together to waking up next to him, his arm slung over your side, chest flush against your back, everything felt like home. Keiji became a home to you when you weren’t even looking for one.

Going through all these memories that connect the two of you makes you tear up again. You just wish for Keiji to come back to you. But since the break up you haven’t heard anything from him. It is killing you, at least that’s how it feels. But death would be too easy, so you are left suffering that loss.

At your shared apartment, Keiji is reading your letter for the nth time over and over again. Tears fill his eyes, the sound of his heart breaking audible in the sobs he lets out. And as if to punish himself, he reads your words again:

My dearest Keiji

I know you think taking a break from us is the right thing to do. And although I disagree, I nonetheless accept your decision. It hurts, I am not gonna lie to you. But I do understand where you are coming from. I just want you to know that I will always be here for you. If you decide that you want to end things definitely, I will accept it. But if you come back to me, I will be here with open arms.

Just know that you always were and always will be enough for me even in times when you don't see yourself as worthy. You are the most kind and most loving person I know and you make me feel so loved. And I can just hope that you feel the same way when thinking about me. If I did something to make you doubt yourself I want you to know that I would never doubt you. Sure, sometimes you annoy the shit out of me but I know for a fact that I not once doubted your love and affection towards me. And that, my love, will never change. I will never see you as anything less than the best part of my life. So if you decide to come back to me, I'll be here.

I love you today, I love you tomorrow and I'll love you every day after that for the rest of my life if you let me.

Forever yours

Y/n

All he can think about is that he wants to hold you again. He needs to, otherwise his life will never feel complete again, this much is obvious. He knows he fucked up bad by sending you away. He needs to make this right, he thinks. So he takes a piece of paper and writes down a plan. A plan to make the heartbreak end. A plan to bring happiness back into his life. The happiness he knows in the form of you.

He knows love is real because he can feel it. He can feel it with every fiber of his being when he thinks of you. He can see it in the way his eyes are dark and lifeless and the bags under them are the embodiment of the loss he feels every night when he can’t sleep because you are not laying in his arms.He knows love is real because it is what he feels whenever he looks at your pictures or when he reads your letter. And all he wants is to make you his again.

#keiji x y/n #keiji x reader #akaashi x reader #akaashi x you #akaashi x y/n #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu angst #akaashi angst #akaashi keiji #haikyuu fanfiction #akaashi fanfiction #akaashi x gender neutral reader

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aprilsrant · 4 years

Text

Lay all your love on me | Oliver Wood x Slytherin!Fem!Reader.

SUMMARY: (Y/N)’s been crushing on the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain for over three years. Now, in their seventh and last year of Hogwarts, her friends are determined to get them together.

WORD COUNT: 2,833.

WARNINGS: underage drinking. (If there are more and I didn’t put them, let me know).

NEXT PARTS:

Honey Honey! (part two)

When I kissed the teacher (part three).

A/N: so, this came out because of a random idea and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. For some reason, I like to imagine wizards dancing to ABBA, of course it’s the muggleborns and maybe halfbloods that know about them. This was written while I listened to Lay all your love on me, slowed down, on repeat. I algo gave the reader’s friends name because it was easier, and I may or mat not based their personality on my own close friends…

English is not my first language so if there are any mistakes, I’m sorry! Reblog if you can, and if you have any suggestions or requests just DM!

Masterlist.

tags: @peeves-a-legend (thank you for everything).

The Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff Quidditch match had ended with a win for the eagle’s house, although the other team did not make it easy for them. The Hufflepuffs were known for their patience and hard working nature, giving up easily was not one of their traits and that’s exactly what everyone had seen on the match this afternoon. They knew their opponent’s Seeker, Cho Chang was getting better with each game she played, so the Captain of the Hufflepuff Team decided their best chance was, if he wasn’t fast enough to catch the snitch that is, to lash out against the poor Keeper.

And so they did.

The Chasers, Preece, Macavoy and Applebee, were unstoppable. On the occasion the Quaffle landed in their hands, which had been like seventy percent of the time, they would use many different strategies to confuse the other players, including the Keeper, and score a goal.

Even after their brilliant performance, Ravenclaw still won by twenty points ahead when Cho Chang caught the snitch. A small distraction from the Hufflepuff Seeker and Captain had cost them the victory, but that didn’t discourage the badgers, hell, (Y/N) thought nothing could after how well they had played. She had never felt so much respect for the usually overlooked House.

That was pretty much the reason why the Ravenclaws were so eager to celebrate their win and had invited the whole school, or at least everyone up to the age of fifteen, to their Common Room. Many people believed they weren’t capable of throwing a good party since they were supposed to be smart and have their head on a book every minute, but (Y/N) never doubted them. One of her best friends was a Ravenclaw and that girl sure knew how to have fun, school and good grades being the last thing on her mind whenever she got sight of the Firewhisky.

If you had asked for (Y/N)’s opinion, she would tell you Ravenclaws were the seconds best at Hogwarts on the matter of hosting parties, Slytherins right up to them. Albeit that may have been biased, she herself was a Slytherin and, thinking about it, she never went to any Gryffindor parties because, well, no one except her other friend wanted a Slytherin there. Many of them thought they were some kind of saints just because they were brave and didn’t realise they were, instead, a bunch of reckless and prejudiced twats. The remaining house, Hufflepuff, took parties to a whole other level and sometimes it became all a little too much. She wasn’t much of a party person but she still enjoyed them from time to time, but they went insane any time alcohol was in the room and started to come up with crazy ideas that would, with no doubt, get them expelled.

After waiting ten minutes for a member of the house to step out and answer the riddle for her, which (Y/N) knew you didn’t need to be part of the house to reply but even as a Slytherin and having, supposedly, a cunning and intelligent mind she sucked at those kind of questions; she, and twenty others, finally entered the Ravenclaw Common Room, which was completely renovated since the last time she had visited it.

The circular and wide room was filled with students from all the four houses making it seem smaller than it actually was. The moon shone, filtering through the arched windows, barely illuminated but some flickering and colour changing lights on the ceiling made it work. The furniture was against the wall on the left side so people could dance freely in the middle, while the tables on the right bursted with food and bottles of alcohol. A muggle radio had been placed on one of the large table’s corner and to (Y/N)’s delight, it wasn’t playing any songs by the Weird Sisters. She loathed that band since last year when some students, presumably Gryffindors, enchanted the speakers on the hallways to repeatedly play one of the group’s songs.

The girl started to move towards the left side of the room, avoiding the crowd growing larger and larger. Trying to catch some familiar faces, she stood on her tiptoes and observed the room, but the lack of light and her problem with seeing things from afar, made her search harder. A couple of minutes had passed when she recognized the trio she was friends with. They were waving and screaming her name, trying to catch her attention, right beside the door that led to the dormitories.

(Y/N) grinned at them while walking in their direction. Once she settled on Isla’s side, her best friend since childhood, some of her nerves were washed away a little. It was easier for her to be in a place packed with people if she had her close friends as company. Dorian, the last one to join the group in their fifth year, offered her a black cup with, judging by the smell, Quintin Black, her favourite. The corners of her mouth quirking up as a way of saying thanks without having to shout at him to make herself be heard through the loud music.

The Multicolour Quartet — name they all despised but stood with it because it was one of Dorian’s drunk comments when he realised how they were all from different houses; (Y/N) was the Slytherin, he was the Gryffindor, and the other two, Isla and Ethan, were both Ravenclaws — easily fell in a conversation about Isla’s brilliant performance as Chaser for her House’s Team, the other three complimenting her whenever she started to list all the errors that almost allowed the Hufflepuffs to win.

Spacing out of her friend’s chat, (Y/N)’s eyes peer round the room looking, nearly in a desperate way, for someone in particular. Answering the comments the other three made with a simple nod of her head or a yes to seem like she was paying attention, her eyes fixated in a figure directly across from them, supporting it’s body’s weight on a wall. He was surrounded by some of his classmates and friends from the same house, but she could still see, albeit with great trouble, his short brown hair and his right hand holding a black cup, equal to the one she had.

She failed to realise that her friends had noticed where her attention travelled to. Sharing knowing glances and smirks they knew it was time for (Y/N) to talk to the boy she’d been crushing on for three years now. Isla and Ethan left saying some people were starting to cause trouble, not that (Y/N) had actually listened to them, too lost in attempting to catch another glimpse of the boy. That ended on Dorian, the most chaotic of the four, finding the way to make them, at least, share two or three words.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her left arm dragging her along the room and pushing people on the way. That belonged to Dorian and it didn’t take long for her to understand what he was doing, his mischievous smile betraying him. Her eyes widened and she shook her head while planting her feet on the floor, putting all her strength on them so he wouldn’t move her. She didn’t succeed. Obviously because of his friend’s stronger hands.

A chant of pleas and several no exited from her mouth, but it was useless. If something got inside Dorian’s head, then nothing could stop him from doing it. A trait they both shared and the cause of a few of their arguments, neither of them knew when to back the hell down. Not even the promise of (Y/N) doing his Arithmancy homework for two weeks made him stop on his tracks. Dorian had really compromised to the cause because she knew how much he detested that subject, only taking it to please his father.

Before she could raise the offer to a month, they were already in front of him and the group he was chatting with.

Oliver Wood smiled at the two friends, recognizing only one of them but still being kind and inviting towards her, whose heart was about to jump out of her chest from how fast it was beating.

“Hey, Wood, how’re you doing?,” Dorian greeted him first and then nodded at the others as if he was saying hi, “preparing for the Quidditch match next week?”

(Y/N) stood awkwardly by Dorian’s side, looking and smiling shyly at people she had never interacted with. She was going to cut this boy’s head of the minute everyone left.

“Yeah, the Hufflepuffs played like hell today.” She heard Oliver say. His words tumbling with each other. Was he already starting to get drunk? “I think I’ll need to book more practices if we want to win next week”.

Luckily, or not, Dorian noticed he hadn’t introduced his friend to the group yet. And even if she didn’t like to just stand there like a rigid stick, she hated the new attention.

“This is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), by the way,” he announced while placing his right hand on the upper side of her back and pushing her body to the front. And the shy smile made an appearance on her face once more.

She whispered a small hello, looking at everyone but Oliver, and instantly felt the need to jump off the Astronomy Tower, not long after making Dorian the next designated Gryffindor Ghost.

“What house are you in? I’ve never seen you before,” questioned one of the boys next to Oliver with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and a lost look on his eyes, as if he was trying to place her and remember the colours of the tie she used daily.

“She’s not a Gryffindor, maybe that’s why you haven’t seen her much,” Dorian answered before she had the chance to, “she’s actually a Slytherin.” A new expression on his face now, intimidating the others to see if they dared to express some kind of negative or stupid comment to his friend about the house she belonged to. No one said anything. She saw Dorian smiling proudly from the corner of her eye, but in that moment (Y/N) had the weird sensation she was some kind of prey to starving lions.

The group began to talk to each again, like nothing happened, all except Oliver, who was looking at her with his eyebrows raised and an intriguing sparkle in his dark brown eyes.

Dorian spoked once more.

Does he ever shut up?

“Remember the other day you said you were falling behind in Potions and Transfiguration?” Oliver nodded at him, signalising her friend to keep talking. “Well, I have the perfect person to help you with that. (Y/N) tutors me from time to time in those subjects too.”

Forget the Astronomy Tower, she desperately needed some kind of magical earthquake that could crack the floor beneath her feet and swallow her whole.

It’s not like Dorian was lying, she had helped him, and still did sometimes, to study for an important test, not only in Potions and Transfiguration, but also in the rest of the subjects they shared. Merlin knew that boy was a disaster when talking about paying attention to classes. But that didn’t mean she was good enough to tutor Oliver freaking Wood. (Y/N) could treat Dorian how she wanted if he wasn’t trying to, at least, know what she was talking about, they were friends and most of their time together was spent hitting each other, but how was she supposed to act around the precious Gryffindor Quidditch Captain?

“Great!,” Oliver exclaimed quickly. A sudden blush crept all the way from below his turtle neck to his cheeks, but she couldn’t identify if it happened because of the alcohol or embarrassment from sounding “too enthusiastic”. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “I was about to start looking for one. McGonagall said that if I don’t get my grades up to an Exceeds Expectations, I won’t be able to play the rest of the matches.”

“That sucks, but you’d found one already so you two can start immediately with the tutoring sessions”, Dorian commented slily while looking at her with the smile of a champion adorning his face.

He was trying exceptionally hard, she had to give him that.

In a swift movement, she drank the whole content of her cup to see if the knot that had formed on her stomach would go away. The blonde girl, perhaps a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, beside (Y/N) noticed her drink was missing and offered her to reach out for one of the bottles of the table across. The Slytherin nodded and asked for the bottle of Quintin Black if there was still one.

“So you like Scottish things?” Oliver observed, with his eyes lighted up and his bottom lip stuck beneath his teeth, when he saw her grab the bottle of alcohol filled to the middle with onyx liquid.

“She sure does.” She heard Dorian mumble, he had tried to hide the smirk burying his face on his cup but (Y/N) took notice of that too. After giving him a pointed look, she turned her head towards Oliver, who, hopefully, hadn’t heard her friend’s remark; if he had, he was good at concealing it.

Her response was interrupted by the starting melody of “Lay all your love on me”, one of her favourite songs, and a voice that could only belong to her best friend, screaming her name. Out of nowhere, Isla took her hand, said something to Oliver and Dorian about returning her to them later, and yanked (Y/N) to the direction of the made up dance floor, making her almost drop the cup she was holding.

It was an unspoken rule between them, whenever one of their favourite songs was on the radio, they would stop what they were doing, important or not, and start to dance and sing, without caring about other people’s opinion. It was something like a ritual that had become a safe space and a signature of their friendship for both of the girls.

A few seconds through the song had played when Celine stopped dancing and approached her friend, whispering something in her ear.

“Okay, don’t look and don’t freak out, but Oliver hot stuff Wood is staring at you.”

“What? What do I do?”

“Just keep dancing, I guess, maybe he likes it.”

“I don’t know how to dance, why would he like it?”

Confusion and panic in her eyes, (Y/N) tried to think about all the logical reasons Oliver Wood, one of the most attractive guys in the school, could be watching her dance. The girl knew she wasn’t beautiful, even if her best friend repeatedly said so, she wasn’t funny or interesting and, on top of all, she belonged in Slytherin, the House with the worst reputation.

“No idea, but whatever it is, keep doing it.”

Her best friend winked at her, a large and contagious smile spreading over her face. Grabbing one of (Y/N)’s hands, she made her twirl around following the fast beat of the song. Seizing the opportunity, (Y/N) glanced at Oliver and discovered that he was, indeed, staring at her while he drank from his black cup.

A random and unexpected laugh flew out of her mouth. Her best friend, carefree as always, began to giggle with her while dancing around the room. She had never felt more alive, and some people would think she was ridiculous for actually thinking it, but singing her favourite song at the top of her lungs, dancing and laughing and just having fun with her best friend. Excitement running through her veins uniting with the nerves Oliver’s attention towards her had provoked; a slight headache caused by the alcohol mixing with the new confidence coming from the same thing.

Aware of the dark brown eyes focusing on her, she turned around once more, but this time she didn’t look away. She kept singing, beaming at him from the middle of the dance floor, and maintaining eye contact. A sudden thought appeared on her mind, if she’d had maybe one more full cup of Quintin Black, perhaps she would’ve been confident enough to ask him on a date.

Don’t go wasting your emotions, lay all your love on me.

Don’t go sharing your devotion, lay all your love on me.

(Y/N) didn’t think that he would take that as an invitation when she whispered the words while looking at him, it wasn’t even meant to be one, but Oliver Wood had left his cup on the table next to him and was now walking towards her.

A little small talk, a smile and baby I was stuck.

I still don’t know what you’ve done with me.

#harry potter #harry potter oneshot #harry potter imagine #harry potter x reader #slytherin!reader #oliver wood #oliver wood x reader #oliver wood x slytherin!reader #slytherin #harry potter fanfiction #oliver wood imagine #fluff #oliver wood fanfiction #oliver wood oneshot #hp imagine

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raleighcarrera · 4 years

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saved by the bell

foreign affairs | m!blaine hayes x mc (kennedy monroe)

blaine springs kennedy from her date in chapter 10.

catch up: knockout (E) / on the ropes (T) / outpoint (T) / parry (E) / pulling punches (T) / ringside (T)

tagging: @pixeljazzy ; @zigtheeortega ; @pixelsandkink ; @writinghereandthere ; @choicesarehard ; @dakotawinchester ; @flyawayboo ; @withbeautyandrage ; @blainehellyes ; @levineseth ; @gryffindordaughterofathena ; @thefirstcourtesan ; @josieplayschoices

~3.5k words | T

he’s not going to look.

no matter how much his phone lights up with incoming notification after incoming notification, he’s not going to look. blaine refuses to torture himself by checking for photos of kennedy’s date, though his curiosity is eating him alive.

it’s a nice reprieve from worrying about her, at any rate, even if it is maddening.

lately it feels like all he’s done is worry about her, though that’s mostly because kennedy looks to be about an inch away from tears every time she’s around -- not that it’s often, anymore. there’s absolutely nothing worse than seeing her suffer from the sidelines; he still feels just as helpless as he did when he watched her give that first disastrous press conference in his dorm, the day after the pictures hit voyeur.

it’s unbelievably frustrating, being forced to sit on his hands and watch everyone else try to control her life. kennedy’s under a microscope like neither of them have ever been before, and for the first time in his life, he’s in the uncomfortable position of having to be careful -- not because he gives a shit about himself or his own reputation, but because of her, and what it might do to her if he was reckless.

he’s bitten his tongue more times in the last week than he has in his entire life. it’d taken every last ounce of his self control not to snap and defend kennedy at the pet store, not to panic when she’d clued him in on her mom’s newest pr strategy, not to keep her locked in the teacher’s lounge with him for the rest of the semester and refuse to let her go when she snuck out to meet him.

already he knows he’ll never forget the names and faces of the classmates of theirs that’d picked on her. if he ever really does wind up in charge in ardona, one day, he’ll come to power with a ready-made list of enemies, all because of the way they’d made her look when she sunk down low into her seat in class, her shoulders hunched in shame.

he’s laying in bed, moping miserably, thinking over it all when peter pokes his head in with a hesitant knock. “how’re you holding up?” he asks, tactfully, given that blaine’s pretty sure he looks utterly awful. “those daily post photos were... rough.”

blaine groans, burying his face in his hands. “i’m not looking at them. i don’t want to know.”

“that’s probably for the best,” peter says sympathetically, and that does it -- seals the deal completely. he reaches for his phone, snatching it off the nightstand.

dionne’s also texted him, which means the photos are as bad as he’s hoping they won’t be. his stomach twists into knots as he navigates to his favorite gossip site, certain the pictures he’s looking for will be plastered all over the homepage.

sure enough -- there they are: kennedy and alexei, huddled together outside of some swanky restaurant, hand-in-hand. she’s all dressed up for the occasion, because with alexei she’s allowed to be; she doesn’t have to sneak out to see him, hidden under a baseball hat in some far away place where no one will recognize either of them. the point of this date is to be seen, and judging by the crowd of flashing lights surrounding them, they’ve done a perfect job selling their relationship to the press.

so the second picture accompanying the story is an unnecessary twist of the knife -- complete overkill. they’re kissing, in this one, lips pressed together chastely just outside the limo. he feels nauseous.

“they’re probably having a terrible time,” peter says, though blaine’s still staring at his phone, eyes fixed on the photo in his hands. “i heard that restaurant is horrible.”

“it’s fine,” blaine says hollowly, tapping back to his texts to answer dionne. she wants to know how he is, too, and he gives her the same answer: fine. everything is fine.

“you’re so full of shit,” dionne says, when she shows up at his dorm twenty minutes later, her arms folded across her chest and her expression unimpressed.

yeah. he forgot she knows him so well. “well -- whatever,” blaine sighs, dragging a hand down his face. it doesn’t matter. it has to not matter, for kennedy’s sake. “it’s not like i can do anything about it. this is the way it has to be.”

the look in dionne’s eyes grows distant, and he sits up slowly as a smile starts to overtake her face, cautiously optimistic while what’s obviously an evil plan begins to unfurl. “no,” dionne says, “it’s not. i think i have an idea.”

so -- that’s how he finds himself sweating through his jacket, overthinking this whole stupid plan while he waits for kennedy to slip out the back of the stupid opera house and meet him and his stupid rental car in the alley. he thinks back over all the ways they’d had to cover his tracks to get him here: how peter’d had to call in the car, how dionne’d had to threaten and sweet talk alexei at the same time, how there isn’t a single hurdle he wouldn’t leap or hoop he wouldn’t jump through for even just half an evening alone with her.

this is probably a terrible idea. at the very least, it’s dangerous, and sure to get them fucking caught again, no matter how careful they all were in making it happen.

maybe he should call the whole thing off. call dionne and get her to tell kennedy to forget it -- to go back to her date and take the easy way out, because who is he kidding, anyway?

the sound of heels on the cobblestones takes the decision swiftly out of his hands. blaine looks up to see kennedy standing in front of him, admiring the rental with a gentle smirk on her beautiful face. she looks even more ridiculously gorgeous than she had in the daily post pictures, as annoying as that is.

she’s alone.

“no limo? that’s not very romantic, mr. hayes,” she teases playfully, mouth stretched wide with a smile.

he leans over to pop the door open for her, grinning to cover up his nerves. just having kennedy around is going a long way towards keeping him calm -- he feels undeniably more sane out here with her than he had in his room, pouting with fruitless jealousy. “take it up with dionne,” he shrugs, eyes raking up and down her outfit. she really does look nice. “now hop in.”

“we have three hours and forty-five minutes,” kennedy says helpfully, as soon as they’ve slipped out of town unseen and headed to the highway, “i have to be back by curtain.”

“i know,” blaine hums, sighing with relief as soon as he glances in the rearview mirror and sees they aren’t being followed, “dionne briefed me. she figured out a whole plan.”

“oh,” kennedy says. she sounds... happy. “that was really nice of her.” there’s a pause, and he fidgets with the steering wheel for a moment before shifting his left hand up to the top to steer so his right arm is free to drape across the back of kennedy’s seat. she leans in closer to the center console and continues, “i really wish it was you in there with me.”

he exhales heavily. more relieving than not being followed, than being with her at all is hearing that -- that he’s not alone in his insanity. lately he feels like a completely different person, and he has no idea what’s come over him, so it’s comforting to know that it’s all for something, beyond just making kennedy smile. evidently, she wants to be his stupid girlfriend just as badly as he wants her to. “me, too. you have no idea. i’ve really missed you, these past few days.”

“i know. it’s weird,” kennedy agrees, “hardly seeing you. not being able to text you, and tell you about my day... i mean -- i barely even get to talk to you, outside of class.”

yeah. he knows. and when there’s other people around he has to watch what he fucking says, too. it’s far from ideal, and he knows he’s gotten sloppy, but...

part of him almost wants someone to catch them. blaine knows it’s selfish and stupid, but he wants it all the same. because if someone found out the truth and spilled the beans... they’d be free, and the impossible decision of what to do next would be out of their hands.

he could never ask kennedy to go public on her own. he would never ask her for that, no matter how badly he wants it. but a slip-up... that would be beyond their control.

blaine shakes his head. “it’s fine,” he says again, clearing his throat, “i’ll plan some secret meet up for us every night, if you want. even if it only buys us a few minutes.”

he glances to the side just in time to catch the look that crosses her face. kennedy’s quite obviously touched by his offer, her teeth digging into her bottom lip as she stares down at her hands. forcefully, he drags his eyes back to the road. “i’d really like that,” she murmurs, so quietly he almost misses it. when he only nods, she raises her voice and asks, “so, where are we going?”

“you’ll see,” he directs, taking the exit that’ll bring them to the drive-in, mentally cataloging the travel time it’d taken to get up here and making a note of the minutes he’ll need to account for to get kennedy back, especially if he has to circle the block until the street is empty before he drops her off.

her eyes light up when he pulls into the parking lot. “a drive-in theater, seriously? i used to love going to the drive-in back home. i didn’t know they had them near vancross.” her nose is practically pressed against the window as she looks around excitedly while he idles.

“this is my first time,” blaine admits, though how eager kennedy is definitely bodes well for the experience. even if it completely sucked, he’d still bring her back every weekend, just to see her smile like that. “we don’t really have these in ardona, but dionne talked it up.”

kennedy finally peels her eyes away from the window to smile playfully at him again, her eyes sparkling. “so you’re a drive-in virgin? interesting.”

his face feels hot, suddenly. blaine rolls his eyes at her, gesturing at the map of the venue in front of them. they’re kind of holding up the line. “yeah, yeah. pick your movie, rutherland. it’s just background noise for the real show, anyway.”

if he’s being honest, he barely hears her make her choice, the instructions on where to go flying in one ear and out the other. all he cares about for where he parks the car is that it’s secluded, and dark, away from prying eyes and any other people in the lot.

fortunately, blaine finds them the perfect spot, and he doesn’t even waste a second pretending like he gives a single shit about the movie at all, his eyes on her just as soon as the gear shift’s out of his hand.

kennedy’s turned in her seat and already looking back at him. she smiles and says, “thanks for doing this. it’s nice to have a normal date. i never pegged you as the type of guy who was all about carnivals and drive-ins and making these fun experiences for us.”

he shrugs, more nonchalantly than he feels. “probably ‘cause i’m not,” blaine answers honestly, “but everything’s different, with you.”

kennedy makes a soft sound of disbelief, lifting her hands to cover her face. when she peeks out from between her fingers, he sees that she’s smiling widely again. “you keep saying stuff like that. it’s so charming.”

blaine laughs, reaching out to tug her hands off her face. “that’s kind of the point.” he clears his throat, then continues more seriously, “but... i want you to know how i feel, you know? you shouldn’t have to guess. the truth is... i’ve been all-in for awhile, now, and -- those pictures were just a shitty setback. they don’t change the way i feel about you at all.”

she reaches out for his hand, and he lets her lace their fingers together, squeezing affectionately. “you have no idea how nice it feels to hear that,” kennedy sighs. “honestly...” the hesitation in her voice makes it clear she’s unsure of whatever she’s about to say, but she continues, “it kind of just felt like i ruined everything. things were actually going pretty well, for once, but now it’s like there’s this... dark cloud hanging over everything i do. i can’t even hang out with you without worrying we’re going to get caught again.”

his expression softens. he’s not usually one for optimism, but for her, and in the interest of getting some of that thick sadness out of her voice, he’ll try. “well, we’ve done a pretty good job avoiding that so far.”

“that’s true.” kennedy’s head tips back agains the carseat, and she smiles at him again. “i guess we’re making it work, in our own way. i love that i can always count on you to be real with me. it’s so -- refreshing, after all the fake posturing we deal with.”

well -- that’s probably as good an opening as he’s ever going to get. he spares a moment to silently thank whatever god is listening for the chance to ask the question that’s been eating at him for hours, the one thing he’s most desperate to know, beyond even the other stuff that usually keeps him up at night, everything from the simple inner workings of kennedy’s mind to why he’s so tripped up over a girl he’s only spent a few short months with. “speaking of fake...” blaine pointedly looks somewhere beyond her, staring out at the parking lot, “how’d your date go?”

kennedy’s quiet for long enough that he has to look back at her. there’s a knowing little glint in her eyes that he decidedly does not like. “are you jealous?”

“what?” he scoffs, “of course not. you left alexei to go out with me.”

“right,” she laughs, one small word injected with endless disbelief. “well, we had a good time. alexei’s not so bad.”

he’s an egomaniac and a self-centered prick, actually, blaine thinks. out loud, he says, “oh. cool. glad it worked out. cool, cool, cool...”

he fidgets restlessly. kennedy’s visible amusement only grows. “you know it was still a fake date, right? neither of us have any interest in the other.”

“i know,” blaine insists defensively. kennedy only arches an eyebrow at him. with a groan, he slumps back in his seat, a hand rubbing at his jaw. “fine, maybe i am a little jealous. give me a break, okay? this is kind of a unique situation for me.”

“if it helps, i think you’re doing a pretty great job.” she’s still smiling at him, but less like she thinks he’s being funny and more like she thinks he’s being sweet. she leans in a little closer, and -- it actually does help. the knots in his stomach that’d been coiled there since she first said her mom’s team was planning a pr relationship for her are finally starting to unwind.

“yeah?” he asks, gratified by the immediate nod she gives. “that’s good. i don’t wanna half-ass this boyfriend stuff just because it’s new to me.”

there’s a long stretch of silence. he realizes what he’s said all at once and starts to feel nauseous all over again, staring silently back at kennedy while he waits for her to say something -- anything.

“boyfriend stuff?”

“ah.” his hand slips around to rub at the back of his neck sheepishly. “sorry. slipped out.” he should probably just cut his losses now -- bring her back early to be on the safe side and go back to his dorm and drown himself in the shower, because he is an idiot and that’s what an idiot deserves. “i know you kind of already have a boyfriend.”

kennedy huffs out a quiet laugh. “i kind of do.” she tilts her head to meet his eyes, forcing him to look at her again. his heart stutters painfully in his chest, picking up into a pace that’s almost frantic. “but... that’s not a ‘no.’”

their hands are still linked together. he looks down at where their fingers are interlaced, hoping his palms aren’t as sweaty as they feel. blaine disentangles his hand to lift it instead to kennedy’s face, pushing a lock of hair out of her eyes with a hesitant smile she immediately returns tenfold.

it’s also not a ‘yes,’ but he’ll take what he can get.

as it turns out, three hours and forty-five minutes is kind of not actually a long time at all.

or maybe it would be, for some people, but with kennedy in his lap, squished between him and the steering wheel so she can kiss him senseless, the time flies by. they watch what’s probably ten minutes total of the movie, they’re so busy kissing and talking, his hands wandering along her new outfit to show his appreciation for it the only way he knows how.

for her part, kennedy gives as good as she gets, tugging his hair out of place and messing up his jacket and making him forget his own name, with the way her hips are pushing into his lap and all the sweet little sounds she makes when he whispers something dirty in her ear and presses her in closer against him.

no amount of agonizing over her fake dates and not being able to kiss her in public is ever going to drive the way she shivers with her whole body when he says something she likes from his mind.

still, the drive back is somber. it’s time to bring kennedy -- kiss-swollen lips and raised hemlines and all -- back to the opera house before he knows it, and he’s really not looking forward to everyone who sees her thinking she spent four hours fooling around in the private box with alexei, of all people. he’s looking forward to driving home alone and going to bed by himself even less.

tomorrow he’ll have to sit by her in class again and pretend like everything’s fine.

because they had tonight, and he knows he should be content with that. the problem is -- he’s not.

“you okay?” kennedy asks, checking the time on the watch on his wrist with a frown. she’s holding his hand in both of hers. “and don’t say you’re ‘fine.’”

“i am fine,” blaine insists, running his thumb across her wrist. “this sucks, but it’s what we have to do. if you’re good, then i’m good.”

she studies his expression for a minute, then sighs. “i’m as good as i can be,” she murmurs, “but things will get better.”

he knows that, too. even if no one ever finds out it’s him in the photos, even if they have to spend the rest of their lives sneaking out and ditching their bodyguards so they can find a few hours alone together -- things are good. the alternative -- winning the fight with his parents to keep him away from vancross, never getting the chance to know kennedy as well as he does... that’s a future that seems bleak, now that he’s seen the alternative.

“it’s really alright,” blaine assures her. “i’ll miss you, but... do what you gotta do.”

something about the way he says the words seems to instill new confidence in kennedy. she straightens her shoulders and glances back at the opera house door with determination. “thanks,” kennedy sighs, squeezing his hand one last time before slowly pulling away. she probably has only seconds until the finale starts up, though he’s desperate for a way to make them stretch longer. an eternity would be a nice place to start.

“will you... text dionne goodnight before you go to bed?” she asks, looking so hopeful he finds it’s impossible to do anything other than nod.

he grins widely at kennedy, leaning in to steal one last kiss. “dream about me, will ya?”

“every night,” she promises, and blaine lowers the window to get a better view of her and the sway of her hips when she slips out of the car and back inside, sighing heavily once she’s gone and he’s alone again, whacking his head against the carseat.

this is some mess they’ve gotten themselves into.

but, he figures, as he pulls away from the curb and starts back towards campus, the image of kennedy walking away in the heels and skirt she’d been wearing playing over and over again in his mind like a highlight reel, it’s definitely not without its perks.

#blaine hayes #foreign affairs #choices foreign affairs #blaine hayes x mc #myfic #long post

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