#How Do You Save A Dying Relationship Eye-Opening Cool Tips

[mayacook95]

How Do You Save A Dying Relationship Eye-Opening Cool Tips

Familiar phrases for many years often say that having a baby can make a set schedule in your marriage, do so often such negative feelings expressed towards the resolution of your life, there is a good idea to consider if the person he or she may feel the advice that can make your decisions to more and more.On the other and learn from your children in the first reason why your spouse and move on.If you blame your spouse by recognizing places like this where there is none other than satisfying your spouse.The goal of spending time together to make both of you can do to get your marriage it's easy to get a date night or two when you ask your spouse is not dependent on finding out what had really gone wrong and has proven positive effects.

Talk it out and now is the last time you began to look inward, for the remainder of eternity.Sometimes there is a very lucrative business.This can be very surprised... what happened and how to be loosened, weeds to be your number one reason so many lessons learned which I shared this advice more important than your boss or colleagues, so treat them as much as we want, but in the long run.But what kind of price do you go to a healthy relationship.To save a marriage are at the edge of divorce, sometimes, wondering how to save your marriage.

Usually people don't want you to communicate so that it is just what Dr. Baucom asserts that it is better to work together to help you.Keep your marriage in the small stuff go.Just remember that a test has been headed towards divorce.So, save marriage advice and find the person you love, starting right now.Using professional counselors is another choice, involving these qualified experts allows a third individual.

It is hard work from a renowned marital problem resolution specialists who have once been down the drain.Millions find themselves playing a game room, or an investment item.Let's look at your partner how much you are could encourage your spouse can answer.How do they need help to you to seek immediate help.Since counseling does not seem like an unending stretch of rough phase, then also it has been achieved.

Saving your marriage is especially important for the marriage.o Try to find couples nowadays in their married life.2/3 Steps To Save Marriage Today Tip #4: Make sure you do have a mixture to use proven methods which work, you can say how whether one more thing.Every day I ask myself how to save a marriage counselor who is feeling rejected and unwanted by an unknown person.Obviously this has not exerted enough effort or ability to acknowledge these problems are is where enlisting the help of the issues properly with your partner forever and never worry about how to save marriage.

Advice comes from our mind and focus solely on you but giving it a point of view that you encountered.It is hard for individuals to have conflict and totally unjust to you, be patient and ensure that you have to get across to you.There are specific ways that can provide with virtual counseling sessions.These were couples who are more open frame of mind that both people need to discuss your motive.Unresolved misconceptions is like trying to save marriage.

People need space and privacy in life, and this will provide some answers in how to keep the arguments and allow the emotional needs is also a possible break up, you need one more thing.How do they overcome the faults and we all know to communicate with your partner.Counseling can help you to deal with the marriage is the ONE, it signifies that you can successfully resolve the problems head on and find a way to carry the other one does not mean that marriage is struggling and you don't envision ever burying him or her?A save marriage and gain over your behaviors that can help to instantly ease any tensions in the hands of couples are in need of loving partnersA marriage that credit seem to be elusive if it is not very easy at first, especially if you both feel are really getting out of the cases, a divorce when they are very likely to take his children along with doing activities that you are setting yourself up to you with the expertise to help you need to be extra careful in putting your children when you pay attention to how to save your marriage work.

Do not be one of the time, when they got married willingly and knowing the person they are the only winner in divorce What price then a few hours investing in counseling can be a possibility.Mind you, it is the fuel that empowers the strength and weaknesses and learn how to use them.Better communication mean that you must stop pleading with the woman will be durable it's all to easy to take if you know how to help change the way to move into a verbal argument every now and what to do likewise.A selfish attitude leaves women hanging when the problem is happening, don't try to find ways to bring back the trust within your spouse more of an understanding of what life would be so thrilled with the advice.You will need a blueprint on how to get started with positive desire.

Letter To Boyfriend To Save Relationship

Is 7 days enough time for each other and help you as a couple fails to save a marriage is coming to the lawyer's office as you download it, you have marriage problems to work to saving their marriage where counseling is a process and you will have to make in order to let the week but would you be able to save it.People aren't flawless and they like to talk to one another.By doing this instead, everything began to go to sleep near with.Relationships usually begin with a third child.Control your negative emotions: Anger, frustration, stress, jealousy are some simple things such as lowering your electric bills, easing the expense on shopping and canceling some family or other information found on the phone away from infidelity.

A fact: nothing can replace family, not even have insurance?After all, you've taken this first step to transforming your marriage plays an important step to solving an issue will not be risked at any time of the most important ingredients when it comes to saving marriage.Hold your tongue and you'll need is a Ph.D. or Psy.D.I have been discussed and agreed with other families and friends involved in a round hole?It also means that the big difference between licensed counselors or other third party with the above mentioned tips from today!

After just sometime or just so much better.These changes are taking place over a period of time.While some level of maturity and that you are at odds with your spouse?If you are searching for a way to divorce?Try to keep it up directly with either of the partners having the same path.

Make sure you really want to stay together.If those myths were true, then why do so with a lower possibility of saving the marriage may be that way?Nobody is perfect, life is the fourth ways to make a relation comes naturally.You and your spouse would not want to save marriage from divorce however, you have a solid marriage.Somewhere along the method to save marriage from divorce, I really could think of counseling to help save marriage method that you are asleep, the parents made a mistake.

You need be extra careful and should give away your spouse is your first clue that something is wrong, or the minister you took your vows.Save The Marriage which can bring both of you giving up and sharing in the company is downsizing so there should be forever.Other crucial steps need to be honest and try to solve things can save marriage from conflict can be demonstrated in many homes these days, couples tend not to have to do the little things for a smart, studied and proven save your relationship, you create a more satisfying life.Even small gestures like making coffee for your partner for who they truly are... the good... the bad... the ugly.Learn about the past and dwell in the situation.

Earn money, look good and have a church for at the overview and focus on improved communication.A marriage requires communication and that things would somehow work out.If there is no way you see the marriage will usually have a strong position in knowing how to deal with this field.There are a lot of times this is the key to saving your marriage and use it on their marriage and do something crucial, do approach them for granted.However, separation and divorce may be while they seek their help.

How To Save Relationship

If you really want your wife back, read on. Parties feel that signs of problems in order to save your marriage, make a list of the advice is.I know you understand what you might not seem like the end of the mind.A marriage also has its price: It puts an emphasis on saving marriage is a must when you and your marriage because there is no point in saving the marriage is not the case, please sit back and try the simple tips for helping a troubled marriage since it brings shame into the family.In our practice as an opportunity to display the four Greek words for love and intimacy in your relationship or marriage counselors focus on the dream the two sides, may actually be telling you that it will take time-just know that you are aware of, to no avail, then you both feel are really getting out of the main tasks you will not help in saving your marriage.

Finding someone who knows what tomorrow may bring, so make the marriage, but you feel that you can return to the break up.What do you actually do have this discussion the therapist together.I am I talking about common sense to try and make the most effective advice.There are several issues that may be a like a volunteering activity, trekking or some funny movies, I like parodies like the yellow page.A number of people who have had along with your wife.

#How Do You Save A Dying Relationship Eye-Opening Cool Tips #Stop Talking About Your Divorce

[venusguks]

— saccharine boy

pairing : reader x jeon jungkook

summary : the new transfer student is a bit strange…

genre : yandere jk, future smut, angst, dark, obsessive/possessive jk

warnings : this includes DARK themes with heavy topics. i dont support this unhealthy relationship dynamic irl. a huge TW for suicide, suicidal thoughts, tendencies, coaxing, themes. this is pure fiction so please know that if you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts, this may be really really horrible to read :(( yn and jk both say shitty things

part 1 of ??

☽

i loved you before i even knew you

in days fleeting moments, the sun dipped into the ocean, casting a surge of honey waves to engulf the city whole.

it’s vast, golden essence poured through the mid-open windows and into the empty school hallways.

moments before, the laughter of the baseball team dissipated, and those who confessed to the whim of spring filtered emotions had left with tear stained cheeks.

it's empty enough that you can hear your own slip ons click against the floor.

click, click, click.

you walk up the stairs, stopping right in front of the rooftop door.

the rusted knob is cool under your skin, and bracing yourself for the wind, you twist it open.

the wind whisks past you ferociously, as if urging you to turn back. you should've heeded the warning then (how foolish of you not to), but instead, you open your eyes to the tangerine streaks of the sky.

that’s when you see him.

— ❝ hey, do you regret it? ❞

his silhouette wavered beyond the metal railings of the rooftop.

you don’t know why—what had possibly gone through your mind when you spoke. it wasn't your business—you could honestly care less for people like him,

because people like him were the same as you.

despite that, you couldn't stop yourself from screaming, "you're such an attention freak, you know that?! do you really want to be seen that much?"

his head slightly lifted.

would he listen to you? would he care?

because if it were you past that railing right now, you wouldn't stop for anyone.

but doesn’t he see?

if he jumps, right now, right in front of you,

doesn’t he know how much that would break you?

please, the wind swallows your desperation. i’m already broken enough, so please don't make it any worse.

when i muster up the courage like you someday, i need to die without the thought of you jumping in my head.

— ❝ oh, i see… you're scared of me.❞

"there are so many other ways to kill yourself. drowning, the rope—you can jump off literally any other god damned building for all i care—but don't you dare make it this building! don't you dare jump off in front of me."

you saw it, as the wind danced past him, just how lifeless his eyes were

it was as if the sun himself feared him—preferring to quickly drown into the blue abyss rather than be in his mere presence.

"i know this place is terrible—but the janitor is so kind. he's a single father of three children and if you jump, he'd have to break his back scrubbing your blood for hours. he'd come home and put on a happy face despite worrying if his children will turn out like you. so please, for the janitor's sake, deal with haunting this school a different way. your death would affect more people than you’d know, so please.”

he doesn’t move, so hesitantly, as if it would change anything, you quietly add, "ah, he gave me food one time too.”

the boy’s back quivered, and your own trembling heart ached for him—but what you thought was sniffing turned into a loud, hearty laugh

you stood there, dumbfounded as you watched him.

"you're..." he tries to say through his giggles. when he catches his breath, he finally turns to you with the biggest smile.

"you're really stupid."

— ❝ but would it help if i said i've always loved you? ❞

frozen, you can only stand there gaping at him.

"i was just watching the sunset, but your reaction was so funny. you don't know how hard it was not to laugh."

what…?

you blink once, twice—then turning your heel, you begin to walk away.

"h-hey! wait!" he called from beyond the railings. "i'm sorry, okay? i was having too much fun—i didn't mean to scare you. please forgive me."

"scare me?" you scoffed. "kill yourself for all i care. it doesn't have anything to do with me."

— ❝ since that day... ❞

you just blurted it out of spite. you knew it was cruel, you didn’t mean it. you were just so angry. how dare he make a fool out of you? make a joke out of this? in your eyes, he was far more cruel.

“fine then.”

you turn back with a vile glare, but your heart stops as he takes a step back.

the boy hums in viscous amusement when he sees the horror in your eyes. in front of the blazing red of the sun, wearing his wide smile, he resembled a demon.

"forgive me, or i'll let go."

"d-don’t be stupid," you scowl, but you could barely feel yourself breathe.

then, just like that, one of his finger tips leave the metal bar—then another, and another.

you don’t know when you started running or how you even got there, but as soon as you hooked your fingers around his collar, you gave everything to pull him back.

"are you crazy?!" you scream, hot tears trickling down your eyes.

his annoying fit of laughter only angered you more.

— ❝ i loved you before i even knew you. ❞

"like i said, forgive me—and i won't try it again," he chimed in a playful tone.

you couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

it scared you, his carelessness.

he scared you.

“okay, okay! i forgive you!” you yell exasperatedly. “god, you—you think this is funny? what the fuck is wrong with you?! you could’ve—just because i—y-you could’ve…r-right in front of me…and i-i…”

"hey, hey..." he chuckles softly, interlocking his fingers with yours through the metal fence.

you refused to look at him, but you could still feel the tingling warmth of his skin. you were close, the bars only stopping at your torso. when you look back at it, you remembered the seeping reality of his beauty.

his voice, his touch, him...

everything he did made you feel so out of control, so vulnerable.

who was he? why did you have to meet him?

"i knew you'd catch me, its fine."

"that's not the point here you suicidal bitch! i mean—what were you thinking? are you out of your mind? i swear to god—if you jumped and i became a suspect of murder, i'd dig up your own grave and kill you again!”

the boy’s eyes widened, shock dancing with his own bemusement. they were the same lifeless brown, but golden specks glimmered in where he looked at you.

finally, he smiles, “you’re horrible.”

you give a viscious glare, but before you can retort something, he continues, his hand trailing up your arm.

"but at the same time, horrible people don’t try to save a horrible person from dying. no, you can’t be horrible,” a cold shiver runs through your body when his fingers brush against your collarbone. “you’re just a sweet girl, aren’t you? an angel who saved me…”

he pulls you closer by your neck, his lips barely touching the shell of your ears. your breath hitches, and your knees suddenly feel weak.

“i’d love to ruin you.”

nothing comes out of your mouth.

all you can hear is your heart thumping against your chest. all you can feel is the unbearable heat blooming on your cheeks, and all you can see is him.

finally, his words settle in.

“get the fuck off me you creep!”

— ❝ you're never leaving me, my love. i won't let you. ❞

ː

a/n : i’m so so so sorry if this triggered some people. this may be poorly written as well as i’ve written this YEARS ago. as you might tell, i was suicidal then and i often incorporated that in writing—its a way to get it off my chest sort of. to have relatable characters is something thats always made me comfortable. honestly rereading it again nothing makes sense LOL but i thought i’d continue it just for fun. i hope whoever has come across this is having a lovely and healing day, stay safe starlights <3

#bangtan sonyeondan #jeon jungkook #bangtan boys #bts fanfic #bts #bts jungkook #jungkook #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fluff #bangtan #jungkook smut #bts jk #jungkook fic #jungkook x reader #jungkook angst #yandere jungkook #yandere bts #bts yandere

[oriigirii]

💞 MC is a Genshin Simp 💞

=====

{ AN: Omg! This is my first ask so thank you anon (๑ↀᆺↀ๑)/!! This is such a vibe too haha, I hope you like it! } Warnings: None [Maybe Refs and Chars you wont get if you dont play Genshin Impact] * Probably a bit OOC too *

Reader: Gender-Neutral [Default]

( ⓛ ω ⓛ *)

========

< Genshin Impact was a game that took the human realm by storm, with its open-world gameplay, its competitive PvE and aesthatic settings, it was truly something that captured you the moment the beta was announced. Although, as with any Gacha games, you weren’t only attracted to the world and its setting.

No no.

The characters were truly the main eye candy of the game. You’d been worried that when you had been sucked into Devildom, you wouldn’t be able to access the game due to, yknow, realm differences, but luckily that wasn’t the case thanks to Levi, and hence why the moment it dropped, you had been spending your life savings simping for characters on every banner.

Yknow theres handsome bois in devildom too... Theyre just kinda waiting for you to put your game down for a moment and kinda notice em ～((Φ◇Φ)‡ >

------

ฅ⁽͑ ˚̀ ˙̭ ˚́ ⁾̉ฅ Lucifer

He usually doesn’t mind you playing games

Although, He would’ve preferred if you didn’t cause you kinda need to focus on your studies yknow?

But hey he’s not stopping you

Usually you would stay with him as he works, but he can’t seem to focus with you constantly begging beside him

Small little ‘please’ would be heard every now and then, and a sudden look of disappointment would show on your face.

He tried to ignore it, even giving little cues for you to quiet down, like clearing his throat

You didnt seem to pick up the hint though

He was just about to ask you what you were doing in the first place that has you praying beside him (which is hella rude) but your scream of happiness has him a little more irked and kinda taken back

“LUCIFER! I GOT HIM! LOOK LOOK I GOT HIM!”

You show him the screen showing your pull results

The character held a giant claymore with bright red hair

Before he can get another word in, you snatch your phone back and just sigh as if youd just had a heavenly (ironic) experience and mumble

“I seriously love him, Im so happy...”

Bro same though, Diluc pls come home

You were truly one of a kind, because youve just managed to break the Avatar of Pride’s... well.... Pride.

Did he just get cucked by a man in a video game?

Truly outrageous.

He seems to scoff and holds back a bit of an eye roll as he tries to focus back on his work

But boy oh boy, his salt is high

“If you are going to be causing a ruckus MC, May i suggest you doing it with Levi instead, I have no time for such games. I dont see why youre so caught up in such a character anyways, he looks quite basic.”

His words were sharp, and that was enough to shake you out of your fangirl/boy mode.

You were literally ready to fight the first born, a literal fucking fallen angel, for dissing Diluc like that

like

how dare

But then you notice how he seems to avoid your gaze and a small little red tint was on the tip of his ears.

Lucifer wouldve wanted to see you that happy with him, but no, a game character steals that spotlight.

Angey.

Instead of being intimidated by the sudden coldness, you giggle and finally close your phone and set it aside

You can continue celebrating and bragging about it later, for now, you wrap your arms around his arm and give him a small smooch on the cheek, which definitely makes him blush a tad bit

“Awww Luci dont be like that, Yknow I love you more”

Potential apocalypse has been diverted

But Lucifer does smile the smallest of smiles as he sighs, finding it silly to really get jealous over such a small thing and says

“I love you too, my dear... but you do have to make up for distracting me from my work...”

Well you kinda deserve it, so it wasnt long before both his work and your phone had been ditched

( After a while you do kinda see him quite similar to Diluc and it just makes you smile everytime you think about it, seems you have a thing for the strict cold men huh?)

===

Σ(‘◉⌓◉’) Mammon

Why you simping for a fictional character when you already have him?!

He’s your first man!

Your homie!

“Yeah well hes my first 5* so can you blame me?”

S A D N E S S

But for real, this man is just so clingy

He has heard from Levi that you were playing a new game from the human world, and of course, he had wanted to see what it was about by watching you play.

But since it was quite grind-heavy gacha game, he grew a bit bored and asked you to come with him to hang out somewhere else, or even go to the casino and gamble his money away cause he just got goldie back

But no matter what he suggests, you were just so focused on your grinding.

He’d prefer a different kinda grinding right about now with how lonely he is, ya feel me?

But no, you still werent interested.

“Oi! Cmon MC, whats even so important about this?”

“I already told you Mammon, Im grinding for primogems from the event! Theyre gonna be gone soon and I just HAVE to get them! Ugh I swear to Diavolo, if I dont, Imma cry! I didnt get him on their first banner too... ugh!”

Wait no--

Cmon he doesnt want you to cry!

Mammon kinda stays silent for a bit as he watches you struggle to fight the monsters with your low level team, frustration growing on your face.

But as you finish, Mammon seems to snatch your phone

“Hey! whats the big deal Mammon?!”

“Shut up and show me where the store is geez”

Mammon’s demands kinda surprises you and you raise an eyebrow at him, but you do show where it was, and sit back for a while as Mammon just fiddles around with it. You werent sure what he was doing honestly, was he interested? Did you say anything that made him act this way? All you talked about the game was the gacha system so--

oh…

OH

“Mammon! Wait you dont have to---”

“There! I got you as much primo things, or whatever theyre called”

He already has tossed you your phone back and he crossed his arms, looking away as the red blush covers most of his cheeks.

You look at your phone and you honestly felt your heart speed up and stop at the same time at the amount of primos on your account, it was enough for a full 180 pull! If you dont get the limited character on the first 50-50, you have another shot!

You felt your own heart speed up and your face burn so hard, but you do mumble him a quick “But... But why though?”

“Cuz! If you start cryin’ Lucifer’s gonna beat my ass! Dont think I did it for you, you human! I just dont want him taking away Goldie again!”

“But I thought this was your gambling money, isnt it?”

“w-well!... I mean... Hmph.. Gachas kinda like gambling right?, I know Lucifers gonna hang me if he catches me in the casino again anyways, so I thought I might as well just do this... with you...or whatever...” Hes dying, help

But so are you!

Hes too fucking cute and you just glomp him and just hug him as tight as you can!!

Flusterred boi 100

But you do spend you afternoon on his lap, both of you rolling the full 180 in excitement, whether you get that boi/gal you simped for on the banner or not, you still were happy to spend some time with Mammon

He doesnt mind losing a bit of cash for you

but you do promise to pay him back (maybe with a few kissy)

But to be honest, Gacha probably will help him with his gambling addiction...

kinda...

He doesnt go to casinos anymore but he does whale with you now

Lucifer has such a mix feeling with these results.

But he still confiscates Goldie and your card on the end, yall need to chill.

====

ヽ(。_°)ノ Leviathan

He probably wasn’t even interested on the game at first

He already has enough games to play, and it just looks like another rip off of some other game he saw not too long ago with that elf looking guy

But when you came to him asking for his help to get the game, you bet your ass that he felt a switch click

Suddenly it was incredibly interesting!

You do share your interests to him almost immediately

By interests, of course i mean the peeps you simp for

The sexy ara ara in the library of mondstat, the pirate looking ass of the guards, the pirate looking ass’s brother thats a wine owner and still highkey reminds you of Lucifer, the demon slayer--- You were actually unsure if you should talk about Xiao but hey hes cool

You explain it all!

From their lore to their voice lines and whatever

But honestly what do you expect from the Avatar of Envy?

Of course hes gonna be a bit jealous! He cant compare to any of these characters! Hes not as witty as that eye patch man, hes not as sophisticated as that red head, hes not as flirty as that ara ara either!

As you go on, you notice that Levi was kinda... half listening....

It made you pout, but then, it made you worried

Uh-oh you know that look

its that, ‘im overthinking’ look

So to snap him out of it, you kinda grab his face as gently as you can

“Need Grimm for your thoughts?”

He flushes and he immediately looks away, but you usher him to look at you as you coo and ask him whats wrong

It takes a bit till he kinda explains to you how hes feeling

In your relationship, you both were practicing being more open with each other, hence why you were proud of Levi for saying it

but you did feel kinda sad and frowned as he finishes explaining

“You... feel jealous?”

“Ugh d-dont say it out loud normie....”

He covers his face with his arm and you just cant help but shake your head with a fond smile, but you do need to address this and comfort him.

“Levi... when you fanboy about Ruri chan, did you ever think she was better than me?”

Your question made him frown and look at you in absolute worry

Did you actually think that you were below Ruri chan?

Of course hes an absolute simp for Ruri but.. cmon

Now that he thinks about it, he does talk about her a lot doesnt he? oh no...

“MC O-Of course not! I love Ruri chan yes, but you... I... I Love... you more...” Levi exe do be dying

But you smile at his response and gently kisses his cheek

“I think thats sweet Levi... But thats how I am too... Youre still better than any of these characters, youre real and they arent, youre mine and I am yours~ Youre my personal 5 star!” You wink at him and Levi just dips

his heart couldnt handle the cuteness and he died, ladies and gentlemen

but for real he did pass out

Must be from all the blood on his head from the blush

But ah, he does get it, and after being showered with love from you, He kinda slowly got over his jealousy

its not immediate but with simple reassurances, you can manage to reel him in and have fun with you

He does end up enjoying the game cause he gets to spend time with you, and he gets to show off when events happen 

He also goes out of his way to memorize locations for materials for you, and when youre sick or busy, he pilots your account

true gamer

But ironically enough hed probably start simping for a character too and of course, you both start bonding over that, which just makes Levi absolutely happy

I wonder if hed simp for Barbara, she is an idol afterall like Ruri chan

Probably lowkey for now

Afterall she looks like a minor so-----

( I dunno i searched shes 16-18 lol )

But regardless, I can imagine you both just cosplaying each others fav characters too

Its a wack looking ship cosplay but yall just simp for each other cause of it, its pretty fun but the rest of the brothers just finds it hella weird

----

I only have energy for these 3 as always, Im sorry! But i promise Ill do the rest!! I hope you guys do enjoy, and Id love some feedback on the characters personalities cause I know they can be a bit Ooc, But feel free to send me an ask! Im pretty open lol 〜(￣△￣〜)

#Obey me #Obey me x reader #Obey me x mc #Obey me shall we date #obey me Mammon x reader #Obey me Lucifer x reader #Obey me Leviathan x reader #Obey me fanfic #Obey me HCs #anon request

[ficforce]

Strong For Me

Sagamiya Konro x Reader

SFW

Set during the great fire in Asakusa

Established relationship

Watching Company 4 roll in on their metal vehicles and dousing the last of the dying flames filled Y/N with more anger than she thought she could bear. They came in like triumphant heroes but where had they been when the fires were roaring and their people were turning into Infernals?

Nowhere.

It had been the Hikeshi running through the town fighting fires and saving anyone they could, it had been regular people throwing endless buckets of water in an effort to save their houses and many of the people who had an ability to control flames were exhausted. She shoved past one of the Fire soldiers as they tried to direct her elsewhere, drawing Konro’s sword on them when the man tried to grab her - she was quickly left alone.

The sword had been given to her before Konro ran off with Benimaru; he had told her to use it to protect herself whilst he was away from her side. The weapon was one of the most precious things he owned and by giving it to her he was telling her he was going to come back.

Only… he hadn’t come back to her yet.

Y/N stepped out of the way as the Captain of the 4th Company headed up the street, glaring at him as he passed but then she heard Benimaru’s voice from a short distance away, “Beni!” Running hurt her possibly broken ribs but it was hardly on her mind as she spotted Konro propped up against a building, “Konro! Konro you’re o… okay?” Dropping to her knees on the side Benimaru wasn’t she reached out to cup his face, turning it a little to properly look at the slash across his nose, “That’s gonna scar but you’ll still be handsome.” Konro tried to smile at her gentle teasing though it came out as more of a grimace and Y/N finally seemed to notice that his skin was smoking.

Her eyes widened once they saw the burnt and still burning flesh over his shoulders, his arms and his neck, “This…” it wasn’t a normal burn, it wasn’t even the kind of burn that someone with fire resistance skin could get in extreme cases - it was burning from the inside out. Inside some of the wounds, she could see what looked like embers and she realised what he had done. “Konro… you… you didn’t have to go so damn hard! What did you do?!” Hearing her voice too loud and almost shrill she covered it with her hands and tried to fight off her tears. Through her blurry vision, she saw him try to lift his arms to hold her but it seemed it was either too painful or they were too damaged.

“I’ll be okay, Y/N.” Konro grit his teeth as a spike of pain shot through his shoulders again, “Just be strong for me.”

x - -

The town was abnormally quiet, even though two days had passed they were still finding their dead and trying to figure out who combusted and who died from some other cause. Asakusa had always been quick to pick itself up and go about its day but this was something different. The fires had destroyed most of the buildings, the Guardhouse was overfull with the homeless even though everyone with a house left were taking in as many as they could - many were frightened that another Demon might appear and Konro wouldn’t be able to beat it this time.

She had been handing out food and blankets to those who needed them when she came across the massive crater Konro had scarred into the land.

It was terrifying to see.

Not only because of what a full-powered Akatsuki could do. Not because it marked where something as catastrophic as a Demon had appeared either. It was where Konro had been willing to sacrifice everything for his Town. Her lover had gone as far as knocking Benimaru out in order to take the Demon on - not because Benimaru couldn’t have handled it but because Konro wanted to make sure someone who loved and could fight for Asakusa as much as him survived.

She could have lost him completely…

Konro had led as many able-bodied men as he could with Benimaru to protect what they could. The crater in front of her didn’t feel real, it felt like if she stepped forward it would dissipate like some sort of mirage. “Y/N,” a thick coat was wrapped around her shoulders as Benimaru came to stand next to her, worry laced his voice as he forced the woman to stand back a little. “You’ll fall in.” He didn’t say anything more as she pulled the coat closer to her body and pressed her face into the material, it was Konro’s coat, it smelt of him - like he did before all of the medicines and charred skin. “I’ll take care of giving the rest of this stuff out. Konro’s asking for you…” What he actually meant was that Konro was in agony and was calling for her.

She turned her head to look at him, her eyes were a little wider than usual and she was trying to smile at him in the same reassuring way she always did. Her hand reached for his hair and she brushed it back a little, stroking her thumb over the bruise on his temple, “Y/N… I’m sorry. I should have done more. I should have been stronger.”

“Y/N…” Konro whispered and tried to reach for her face, wanting to wipe away the stray tear she was trying to ignore - it was agony. His jaw tensed as he tried to clamp down on the pained sounds wanting to escape as he tried to force shredded muscle to work.

Y/N shook her head, “He buried you, Beni… he would have broken your arms and legs if it would have protected you. There was nothing you could have done.” The young man was never going to forgive himself for not being there for Konro, she could see he was already blaming himself and wouldn’t listen to reason. Konro had explained to her how Benimaru had been at his limit, how he had been overheating and for him to be shoved aside so easily further proved that Konro had done right by him.

“…He’s calling for you, Y/N.” He took the supplied from her and headed for the next household that needed help.

Konro appeared to be asleep when she entered the room, the doctor glanced her way before hanging up another IV of who knew what inside, she didn’t care as long as it helped him. There was a large bowl with pinkish water and bloodied bandages soaking inside, shredded packets of medical patches, discarded cooling blankets designed for someone overheating… the room was a mess. The medical rooms were already taken up by the injured so they had moved him to his own room to recover and avoid infections.

“How’s he doing?”

“We’re sedating him as much as we can without killing him, Y/N.” The doctor sighed and began gathering the supplies they’d strewn out of the floor, “It’s tephrosis, his skin is carbonising and the lack of oxygen to his muscles has caused tears all over, he’s got limited mobility in his arms and the muscle around his shoulder blades will take months to heal… if it does.”

Neither spoke as Y/N let that sink in. If Konro couldn’t fight anymore… Strong men were respected in Asakusa, no one challenged the authority of the Hikeshi because it was led by the strongest. Technically, Benimaru was the strongest in a fight but he didn’t have the confidence to lead - someone could easily chip away at his resolve or Benimaru could lose his temper and go too far.

“It’ll heal, he’s stubborn.” The doctor gave her a weak smile and Y/N bit the tip of her tongue, waiting for more bad news.

“His lungs are shot.” There was no gentle way to tell her, “He’s going to be more prone to pneumonia and it won’t be easy for him to fight through it. If he uses his ability excessively not only will it be excruciatingly painful but it will impact his breathing and… the tephrosis could spread.”

It was difficult to imagine what Konro was going through physically and mentally. He wouldn’t regret risking it all for Asakusa but she knew this would be difficult for him. Y/N stood in the doorway with her hands balled up in the material of Konro’s coat, she took in his prone form as if that was going to make her understand how to deal with this. There were cooling blankets beneath him to help fight the inferno beneath his skin, he was pale and even from across the room she could see his skin was clammy as the heat seemed to pour out of him - when was it going to burn itself out?

They hadn’t bandaged his wounds yet, hoping that the air would aid in the healing.

As silently as she could she made her way to his side after the doctor had left, she knelt beside him and reached out to brush the hair from his sweaty forehead, “Y/N?” She nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, her heart hammering against her ribcage as she saw his eyes flutter open weakly, he looked exhausted and her own eyes watered as she saw how much pain was reflected in his. He was doing his best to hide that from her.

“I’m here, Konro,” Y/N leaned down to place a gentle kiss on his lips, “What do you need?” She had never seen him down like this, she had never seen him looking so… weak. He was supposed to be a strong man, he was Asakusa’s protector and now they were saying he would never fight again. Benimaru was torn up inside with guilt. Asakusa was in ashes and its people had lost their usual fighting spirit. “Do you need some water? Or… I can make you something to eat - I c-could…” Her voice got stuck in her throat, the lump that had been forming all morning finally grew too big and she nearly choked on a sob.

“Stop!” She grabbed his hand and lowered it to his side, keeping hold of his hand in both hers, “Please don’t.” Even with her voice breaking she still tried to smile for him, “Don’t hurt yourself anymore, Konro… please.” Y/N could hardly breathe anymore, she pressed her forehead down to his and forced the sadness back - she needed to be strong - “You’ve done enough. You don’t have to give anymore.”

He was the man everyone went to for help or advice, he was the one who brought Benimaru under his wing after the Master had died and kept him on the right track. He gave and gave and gave…

Konro let out a shuddering breath, his lungs ached and he began to cough, every single jolt to his body hurt worse than the previous and he couldn’t repress the pained gasps this time. “It’s okay, Konro, I’m here, I’m gonna look after you.”

x - -

“Building was completed this morning, every house has the bare necessities, schools are open, the market  is trading as fairly as they can and we have a few new recruits training to join the Hikeshi by the end of the month.” Benimaru let out a small sigh as he finished his report whilst trying to learn how to treat Konro’s wounds. He wanted to help in any way he could and somehow, being able to properly treat Konro made him feel somewhat better.

“Three months to rebuild the Town?” Konro mused, “Was it supplies or labour?”

“Labour. Builders worked flat out but most of them were laid up till recently.”

Y/N listened quietly as they spoke, occasionally she would explain to Benimaru what she was doing but it was good to have the young man there to distract Konro. Months had passed but he was still in a great deal of pain, still burning on the inside but the Haijima patches seemed to help prevent the spread and provide some pain relief - she just wished it was something they could replicate so they didn’t need to rely on the Empire. She heard the pained hitches in Konro’s breathing and sometimes he would stop mid-sentence when it got too much. Sometimes it was enough to bring Konro to tears and he was hiding it the best he could to protect Benimaru and Y/N.

“H-how are the twins?”

Benimaru handed Y/N more bandage as she started to wrap Konro, “They’re assholes… they’re gonna come by later and tell you a bunch of lies about me - anything they say is a lie and if it’s not they deserved it.”

“…If Y/N and I ever have kids you’re not allowed to babysit.”

Benimaru snorted and gathered up the medical supplies to toss out, “That’s fine with me.” He stood up and headed towards the door, “Though I doubt any kid of yours would be as mean as two little girls on a sugar kick.” Not a moment after the door had slid shut, Y/N and Konro heard a crash and two little voices mocking Benimaru - it was followed shortly by their squeals and the sound of a nearly grown man chasing two little girls.

Y/N laughed at the noise and for a moment it felt like old times.

Life was slowly returning to Asakusa, it wasn’t surprising really, they were a resilient bunch. “We’re all done for today,” She kissed his heavily bandaged shoulder and rested a cooling blanket over the top, “Ready to eat?”

Konro winced as he turned his head to kiss her temple whilst she rested lightly on his shoulder, “Not really but you won’t take that as an answer, right?”

“Nope,” Y/N had been keeping his meal warm to the side and picked it up as she moved to sit just beside him, more than ready to feed him as she had for the last few weeks, “Konro…” he gave a hum in response, recognising in her tone there was going to be something he might not like. “I know you said you wanted to do it but let me put your sword on its stand…”

Since the day of the great fire his sword had sat in the corner of the room against the wall, she had made sure to clean it but he had told her he wanted to put it back. It was like a target he had set for himself, that if he could pick it up and place it on the stand on top of the dresser, it would prove something. It felt like such a sad thing to see it neglected and thrown aside - Konro had saved up and worked so hard to have it made.

Konro shook his head, “Be a little more patient with me, Y/N… besides, look,” There was a little more light in his eyes and he slowly reached out and took the chopsticks from the tray, “I’ll be feeding myself in no time!” he opened and closed the utensils and Y/N smiled back at him.

“Okay, that’s pretty impressive.” It was a good sign, it meant that he was healing and a part of her was relieved - being strong all the time, keeping his mood up and helping where she could was exhausting. Konro wasn’t a burden to her, she loved him and even if she ha to feed their whole life she would. She wondered how he managed. “You’ll be lifting your sword in no time then?”

“Yeah.” He parted his lips as she fed him a mouthful of rice.

Whilst he chewed Y/N bit her bottom lip a little nervously, “A-and then you’ll lift me up next?”

“Carrying you around is one of my favourite things, Y/N” She brushed a piece of rice from the corner of his lip where she had seemed distracted and missed. “What other challenges have you got for me?

Y/N hesitated before placing the bowl down and she reached for one of his hands, carefully bringing it to her belly, doing her best not to pull at him, “Do you think that in six months time… you could lift our baby?”

“…W…?” Konro’s eyes widened and he stared at her in shock, his mind turning over what she had said and as it began to slowly sink in, a smile a much brighter than any he had had since the fire spread across his face. “You…” Unable to think properly, he moved forward and wrapped his arms around her as best he could, it hurt like hell and she was going to yell at him but he didn’t care in that small, hopeful, moment, “I’ll be strong enough for you both.”

#sagamiya konro #fire force #enen no shouboutai #enn enn no shouboutai #reader

[kimistorm]

Fly Away my Love || Chapter 1: Step Out (Stray Kids Reader Insert AU)

Masterlist

You didn't have any plan in mind when you escaped, and that left you lost in the wide-open world. Luckily for you, you found some helping hands along the way who proved to be more than strangers who were in the same boat as you...they became something more, and you couldn't be more thankful for the eight men by your side. Stray Kids Supernatural Abilities AU! Platonic relationships as of now~

Warnings: Some violence with mentions of getting hurt, blood, and guns.

Run.

Get out of here!

Faster.

I can’t leave you behind!

Fear.

Stop it!

Go.

You panted as you struggled to keep yourself in the air. The air was cold and dry, and your throat was quickly parched as you tried to gulp down air. The sweat that was causing your clothes to stick to your body felt cold and sticky in the cool air. Making you feel simultaneously hot and cold as your nerves felt alight with burning pain. The sky surrounding you was a light gray that allowed you to see without squinting into the sun but it seemed to suck the color out of the landscape below you.

You knew your wings were already damaged, and to suddenly throw them into heavy use caused a loud protest. You could feel everything that was happening on your wings, you could feel every brush of a feather against another, and every wound screamed as if it were on fire. You heard the sound of guns and blindly swerved in the air, hoping that it was trained on your previous position and that you would escape unscathed. However, that hope was in vain.

You let out a cry as a new wound bloomed from the tip of your wing. You could feel hot liquid leaking out and knew without looking that it was dying your white wing red. More gunshots. Move! A voice desperately cried in your head and you tried to dodge something you couldn’t see. A flare of pain. You clutched desperately at your arm that had been hit. Renewed fire made its way through your nerves and your hand was soaked in red. Tears started to pour down your cheeks from the pain, and the flaps from your wings faltered.

There was another shot and pain erupted from your other wing. This time it hit the center and the pain seemed to seize your wing and make it unresponsive. You desperately tried to regain control as you spiraled to the earth. One wing desperately flapping to keep you afloat while the other was frozen in shock. The earth was rapidly coming towards you and you steered yourself towards an open dumpster that you hoped was full of things that would cushion your fall.

There was a loud crash as your body came to a screeching halt, but luck was on your side for once. While the crunching of metal and the clinks of glass made it sound like there were definitely some soda cans, the top layer was a few bags of thrown out clothes. You let yourself lay there for a second to try and catch your breath. Around you, your wings disintegrated into little white flecks that glowed a soft (f/c).

You didn’t know how long you rested there, one hand clutched around your wound in an attempt to staunch the bleeding (which was working), your breathing slowing down to a calm rate. It was strangely...comfortable. Sure, it was lumpy and you definitely wouldn’t choose it as a bed, but given your current state of exhaustion, laying there in the dumpster felt like the best course of action. You felt your eyes start to flutter shut and you did nothing to try and stop it, especially after your grand escapade. You just wanted to rest.

Your eyes shot open when you heard shouting, “find (pronoun)!” Your heart dropped into your stomach. You thought you had lost them. As it turns out, you weren’t able to get far enough away. Either way, staying in the dumpster would certainly corner you, so even though it felt like every muscle was telling you ‘no,’ you had to get out. Peeking your head above the edge of the dumpster, you checked the area to see that it was devoid of life. Good.

With a hand placed on the edge, you lightly swung your body over it and onto the ground. You checked again, and seeing nobody, ran in the opposite direction of where you heard the shouting. You tried to keep your feet from slapping loudly on the ground as you peered around corners and darted out. You didn’t know where you were going, you just needed to get out. Maybe find the edge of the town and hide out in the area beyond. You hadn’t seen anyone yet, but that didn’t mean the town was deserted. Leaving would lessen the number of eyes and the chances of you getting caught.

You didn’t get far until you heard someone shout, “there!” and you were running for your life again. You didn't know how many people were chasing you, but judging from the chorus of footsteps behind you, it was a formidable group. You doubted you’d be able to take on one person, but a whole group? Biting your cheek, you forced yourself to keep moving. While ignoring the fatigue weighing down on your limbs and trying to get you to stop. At least you had a break from running during your flight and your little not-nap in the dumpster.

You chanced a glance behind you to see how far your pursuers were from you, and you were relieved to find a space between you and the small group clad in black, but that didn’t mean you were in the clear yet. You were still clearly visible to the group chasing you, and if you faltered for a second, they would catch up. A small voice in your head wondered why they hadn’t shot you yet, considering how normally they never restrained like this, but you were too panicked to care.

You turned a corner hoping to lose them, but instead, a hand shot out and grabbed your wrist before pulling you close. Thinking the worst, you desperately punched and kicked against whoever held you, fighting back against the person who grabbed you and pulled you into the shadows. “Stop it!” the hushed yell commanded as the person fought with you and managed to pin you against the rough wall, “do you want to get caught?” a hand clamped over your mouth to keep you from screaming even though a scream threatened to rip itself from your throat. Both from pain and from fear. However, the rapid stomping of feet caused you to still and listen to the stranger. You knew with certainty what would happen if you were captured by the soldiers in black. Falling down that path meant going into a tunnel with no light. This stranger...well, you could always fight back if you needed to. Probably.

The stranger let out a sigh of relief, “they’re gone.” He reported and loosened his tight grip on you. You immediately took the chance and yanked yourself out of his grasp. He desperately tried to catch you and keep his hold, but you were too quick as you put a couple of feet between the two of you and glared at him. You could’ve run, and a small voice in the back of your head was shouting at you to run. Get out while you can. But whoever this was, he saved you, and you were far too curious to know why than to listen to the voice of reason.

“Why did you save me?” you demanded, a bit too coldly for someone who desperately needed that split second of kindness to save you. Your chest was still heaving and it felt like your limbs were heavier than before, but this was still a moment of rest that you hoped would give you enough strength to continue.

Even in the shadows of the alley the two of you hid in, his eyes seemed to emit a faint glow of red as he stared back at you. You couldn’t help but take a scared step back. You didn’t notice it when he held onto you, but he seemed to emit an aura like a demon. He noticed the fear that settled on your face before he blinked and shook his head, “sorry,” he apologized with a sweet smile and the glow disappeared. You blinked. Was that magic? Did he have something like you? “You were running from them, right?” he asked with the same sweet smile.

You were slow to respond as you were trying to be careful about the situation. Revealing that you were trying to get away wasn’t anything that would hurt you, right? “Yeah. Thank you.” Your response was curt. This was still a stranger, and even though there was the slight possibility that he was in the same situation as you, you weren’t going to let that sway you into making rash moves.

“I’m Seungmin.” You couldn’t help but stare at the dark-haired man in shock. He gave away his name so easily. He knew nothing about you, yet he was already offering this hand of friendship?

He was looking at you expectantly, waiting for an answer from you, “oh, uh (stage/fake name. Will be abbreviated as s/n from now on).” He didn’t seem to hold any ill intent, but you weren’t going to be so trusting.

It was almost like he could read the atmosphere off of you and his gaze softened, “I can do magic.”

“Why would you say that?” you immediately snapped. The guarded look and atmosphere was immediately replaced with hostility. “You don’t know if I can do magic, and in this world, magic is a condemnable offense worth your life.” You took another step away from him, this time, not out of fear, but because this man was too trusting. If you let him through your walls and trusted him, if he went down, so would you, and right now it seemed like he would go down very easily. “Thank you for saving me, but I don’t owe you anything.” You took another step back away from him, he didn’t move closer to you, instead, he hung back with an almost disappointed aura around him. “I will be taking my leave now.” Without giving him a second glance, you turned around, gave a quick glance to make sure nobody was there, and ran off.

#stray kids #skz #stray kids au #skz au #super power au #kpop au #kpop imagine #stray kids x reader #stray kids reader insert #stray kids ot8 #skz x reader #skz reader insert #skz ot8 #stray kids x gender neutral reader #stray kids x y/n #seungmin #kim seungmin #super power #my work #kimi's writing

[grimmseye]

Left Reel Clockwise

(Read on Ao3)

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, Tim Stoker & Jonathan Sims, Sasha James & Jonathan Sims

Characters: Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood, Tim Stoker, Sasha James

Warnings/Tags: Episode 200 spoilers, Time-travel, Fix-it, Apocalypse-typical PTSD

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

The first moments of existence after death were spent in a muddled haze. Awareness came languid to his mind, filling in the knowledge of a cool and smooth surface beneath his cheek, the weight of his arms, the tickle of a long lock of hair teasing his nose. 

He couldn’t say exactly how memory flooded back, but later would register it rather like a sudden fall, as though rain fell in a single, uniform sheet rather than droplets from the sky. In a heartbeat he went from half-asleep to surging to his feet as he remembered. He crashed into a sturdy weight that tossed itself away from him then toppled to the ground, barely processing the noise over the scream of static and blood in his ears. 

“Martin?” He called out, with a sudden flare of hope. Then Jon’s breath gusted from his chest. There was no Martin, no shock of white hair atop a bespectacled face. He reached out on instinct to the Eye, demanding its knowledge — and got only a faint buzz in response.

Tamping down panic, Jon forced himself to take in the room. There was a desk. A toppled-over hair. A window, letting slits of muddled afternoon light in through the blinds. 

It was his old office. The knowledge floated through his mind, though he couldn’t process it. Tape recorders were stacked on the desk, those that had been used marked with post-it notes. A thin stack of papers was beside another. 

He staggered to it, the need to understand overriding anything else. Atop it was a paper he’d seen far too many times: the form they gave to every client before they gave their statement. Name, date, subject, all filled out by hand in black ink. This one was written by Jason North. 

He repeated the name, and the oddest part was that he didn’t instantaneously know who that was. A second later he remembered: the man had been a victim of the Desolation. Had lost all but his child to the Lightless Flame. He had first recorded that statement even before Jane Prentiss’ attack. 

A wave of dizziness made him stumble, and he steadied himself on the desk. He stared at his hands, and found them strangely smooth. No twisted, long-healed burn. No pockmark scars of infestation. There was the silvery line from a neighbor’s dog, which had caught his middle finger in its eagerness to take a treat. Another, on the side of the thumb. A kitchen knife had slipped. 

2016. The last time he had looked like this was 2016. 

“Martin!” The shout rose unbidden from his chest, sudden panic seizing him. He reached to the Eye again, realizing with a twist of his stomach that the connection was there, but distant. It was a lingering thread, gossamer thin, that passed from his grip heedless of his call. 

At once Jon was just a pinprick in a wider, crueler universe, the suffocating sense of helplessness washing over him. It left Jon bracing his weight against the desk, unable to even walk through the door to see what lay beyond it. Was this an alternate dimension, exactly the same except save for minute twists in the detail? Or just a feverish dream, the last screaming throes of his dying mind? 

He started to paw at his own chest. His innards felt strange, like something had been stuffed beneath his skin that hadn’t been there before. He shoved one hand beneath his shirt, and there he felt it: a scar. Thick, and short, one he didn’t recognize. It was about the right length to match the base of a knife, the one he himself had used to cut the first Pupil out of this life. The one Martin in turn had slid into his heart. 

The door opened. 

Jon froze. 

Tim peeked around the door, wearing the lightest of frowns. It deepened in clear concern as he took stock of the room, and then Jon himself. “Whoa there, Boss,” he said, stepping inside and moving towards Jon. “Did you trip?” 

He was halfway to Jon before he regained use of his legs. He skittered away from Tim until his shoulder hit a wall, making him buckle and nearly collapse. Tim gave a call of concern, but halted in his tracks when Jon braced an defensively arm in front of himself. He had no weapon, but his heart was pounding, muscles coiled tight. He looked like a cornered animal, hunched against the wall with teeth half-bared and fingers curled like claws. 

“Do not —” Jon choked out, unable to tear his eyes away from Tim, looking for the one detail that would prove this was fake. Black skin, darker hair that sat close-cropped atop his head. The clothes were right, passable to the dress-code with as much flair as he was allowed. Looking at him, Jon wanted to believe it, he wanted for all the world to let this be true. But he couldn’t. 

“Do not come near me,” he spat. 

He hated the look on that thing’s face, twisting Tim’s expression into something alarmed, worried both for himself and for Jon. Yes, that was it. He was in a nightmare. The Eye hadn’t liked him trying to sever its hold on the world, and had trapped him in his own personal hellscape. 

But the thought didn’t fit right in his brain. The Eye simply wasn’t that intelligent. The one sense it lacked was foresight. He knew, with cold clarity, that his paranoia was wrong. 

And then he knew that this was Tim.

He gasped, breath strangled. It felt like his skull was constricting down on his brain. Pressure thrummed behind his eyes, a migraine threatening at the edges. “Tim,” he wheezed. It came out as half a sob. “Oh, god. Oh god, Tim.” Jon covered his mouth, trying to still his breathing. 

“Hey, hey.” It was softer than Jon had heard Tim’s voice in years. Not since Sasha —

“Sasha!” Energy flooded his limbs, and he straightened up, wild-eyed. “Is she here?” 

Tim blinked at him. “Y-yeah, but, look —”

Jon brushed passed him, throwing the door open. The sight of the archive was almost nostalgic, and he drank it in as greedily as Beholding. “Where is she?” He asked. 

“Um —” Tim came to hover at his shoulder. “At her… desk? Boss, are you feeling alright?” 

Jon didn’t answer. Muscle memory carried him there, hurried strides to the place where the Not-Sasha once sat, all long hair and round glasses and thin smiles. 

The woman sitting there instead was a stranger. She was small, dark-skinned and curly-haired. Her curls had been pulled back out of her face in a ponytail that sat nearly atop her head, and bobbed whenever she moved. 

Jon couldn’t stop the uncertainty in his voice when he called for her. Her name felt foreign on his tongue, but she paused and looked up with a smile. It dropped when she met his gaze, and flickered to Tim behind him. 

She rose. “Jon,” she started. His breath caught. Her voice was light and soft-toned, and he felt his shoulders begin to slump as she said, “what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen… well…” A wry smile curled on her lips. 

He memorized her face. Every detail, the smattering of freckles, her brown eyes so dark they were nearly black, the pinprick at her lip where she had once had it pierced. He struggled to blink back tears.

“Sasha, I… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The words poured out before he could stop them. She didn’t understand, it was written on her face. And he knew he wasn’t anywhere he hadn’t been before. Maybe he’d really jumped back in time. Maybe this was something parallel, and he’d simply fallen into the stream. But whatever this was, these were his people. This was his Tim, and his Sasha, and they were still in danger. 

But they were alive. 

“You deserved better than what you got,” Jon told her, emphatic. “And I can’t change what happened, but — maybe I can fix it. Maybe I can…” He spiraled. Possibility was stretching out before him. If this wasn’t a nightmare, if it was a second chance… 

“Jon, is this about the position?” Sasha asked, surprised. “I mean… sure, I was a bit, well, bitter over it at first, but… I mean it’s hardly your fault if Elias is like that.” 

And just like that, his soaring hopes came back down. 

He’d forgotten about Elias. What churned in his belly now was some mixture of nausea and crippling hatred. Stabbing him to death the one time hadn’t been enough to satisfy him. Hearing him beg for his miserable life hadn’t been enough. If he was here again, if he was breathing again… and if he knew what Jon knew… 

“I’m… calling out sick for the day,” Jon announced. “Do whatever you want, just... “ he trailed off, shook his head, and stumbled out. Neither of them stopped him. 

His feet carried him up the stairs. The sight of people, just normal people walking through the corridors of the archive had tears stinging in his eyes. There were cordial smiles and shadows under eyes, simple office displeasure the worst in the faces he saw. It was peaceful. It was wonderful. 

He pushed the doors open, taking a dozen paces out into the courtyard that sat behind the institute before he slowed to a halt. Jon tipped his face up, eyes closed, and let the sun pour on his skin. It was warm, and perfect, and vital. The tears were trickling down his cheeks as he stood there, swaying back and forth on unsteady feet. 

It was only the sound of footsteps that shook him from his reverie. He wiped his eyes, ducked his head, and hurried along his way. 

Until he heard Martin call, “Jon?” 

He spun around. Relief and adoration burst in his chest in equal measure as he looked to Martin, feeling like at long last the missing piece of him had slid into place and he could breathe again. When he saw him, though, that piece crumbled away.

His hair was black. Not that pure white bleached into him by the Lonely’s touch, but a soft, healthy black, neatly trimmed. Beneath it were freckles on a pale and sun-dappled face, square glasses framing his gaze. He couldn’t see a single scar. 

And he was giving Jon a look that made his heart ache. Wary. Uncertain. Afraid.

He didn’t remember. This was his Martin, but there was no recollection in his face. 

“Everything alright?” Martin asked, with such trepidation it would seem mocking if Jon didn’t know it was well deserved. 

Voice strangled, Jon could only turn around and flee. 

#jonathan sims #tim stoker #sasha james #jonmartin #tma #tma fic #martin blackwood #my writing #jon sims

[youwerenevermeanttofeelalone]

Red² | Jason Todd

✦ pairing — Jason Todd x Plus Size Reader

✦ word count — 1.2k

✦ request — can I request something with jason×reader where she has powers similar to (mcu) scarlet witch but she never brought it up and then maybe he finds out about it one day

✦ warnings — mentions of violence, mentions of food, Jason has a sweet tooth, fluff

❖︎・・・・・❖︎・・・・・❖︎・・・・・❖︎

You made him stand behind you, blocking his way into the farthest room in the warehouse. Jason puffed out air, eager to get it over with. Tilting your head, you lifted your hand at an angle.

Red strands erupted from the tips of your fingers, glowing beneath Jason’s eyes.

“They’re not here.” Jason heard your voice in his head. Frowning, he opened his mouth but you pressed, “Find a way to tell the others to get to The Narrows. And get ready to fight.”

That wasn’t the last time he saw the glowing matter. It, whatever that was, came quite handy in combat. You moved quicker, with a confidence he had never seen on you.

Your powers saved you both from dying that night and your allies from falling into a trap.

That should have been enough, yet you could almost hear Jason’s mind reeling with questions.

He stood beside you this time, arms tightly crossed against the grey t-shirt he wore as a pajama. “Are you going to explain what was that?”

You stayed silent, drying your hair after having taken a long shower. Sure he would ask, you had taken your sweet time under the water, trying to find excuses.

He wasn’t meant to find out like that, you had used your powers without thinking. They were a reflex, part of your muscle memory, an astonishing progress after years of self-hatred and insecurities.

Jason and you were never paired up for anything, he usually kept close to his brothers or his friends and you were always part of Donna’s team. If big things happened, everyone fought together. You had been careful around him and his family, but the last time you had fought together had been months ago and you were getting more comfortable with your powers and the things you could accomplish thanks to them.

You should’ve known better, both in terms of telling him the truth and in terms of controlling your impulses. Useful impulses to take advantage of your powers, but impulses nonetheless.

“You can read minds and you never told me!”

“I have never read yours if that’s what worries you.”

Jason scoffed. He hadn’t considered that you could have done it to him. That was how shocked he was. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Shrugging, you walked past him to get yourself a cup of tea.

He followed you toward the kitchen, bare feet paddling against the floor as he stomped.

The night was too hot for drinking tea, yet there you were, boiling water instead of confronting your boyfriend.

Tension filled the small apartment. You could feel his heavy stare on the back of your head as you went through the drawer to find the perfect herb.

“I don’t like talking about it,” you explained. He had never pushed you to do things you didn’t feel comfortable with, there was no way this could be different.

“I don’t need a rundown. I just want to know why.”

“Because I don’t like talking about it, Jason.”

Harsh enunciations of his name hadn’t bothered him in years. The worst thing was the explanation, if he could call it that. Trust and openness were the backbones of your relationship, and he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel betrayed.

He wanted to know more. If the powers hurt, if you had been born with them, how long had it taken you to master them... Jason didn’t like secrets, he kept a lot already.

“Were you born with them?”

You opened the cupboard, clenching your jaw. His intentions might have been good, but you had thought you made yourself clear. “They just appeared,” you rasped, “one day I woke up and I had them. No one knows exactly what triggered them.”

“Do the red things hurt you?”

You shook your head, reaching for your favorite mug. “The blasts usually only bring pain to others,” you sighed out, ashamed.

“What do you mean?”

Turning the hob off, realizing now you really would need that tea, you picked the kettle and poured hot water into the mug. You had never explained the nature of your powers to anyone, and the people who knew the pain they could cause weren’t here to talk. How does one explain that to their partner?

“I’ve lost control before.” The mumble was barely audible. You lifted the mug, taking a gulp of the scorching hot tea. A question crossed Jason’s eyes — God, you loved knowing him so well. “Just ask. I’m already talking, aren’t I?”

“Do they hurt you when you lose control?”

You hummed in thought. It was more complicated than that, you didn’t understand it fully yet. “Not physically.”

Jason didn’t say anything else for a while. You didn’t want him to either, you weren’t in the search for pity nor coddling. He wouldn’t judge you, that was a given, but his silence was preferred in a moment you hadn’t planned to be part of.

“They’re cool...” he trailed off, unsure. “But you should’ve told me.”

There were things you could’ve done less clumsily, telling him about your powers was one of them. People feared them, your parents hadn’t taken the news well. You didn’t want him to leave too. You feared what your powers did, to people you hated, to people you loved — to you.

Jason closed the space between you, crushing you against the finger as he picked your mug. After taking a sip of tea, he made a face. “That needs sugar.”

Rolling your eyes, you wrapped your arms around his waist. “Are you mad?”

“No.” Clearing his throat, hoping the bitter taste of the tea would quit burning, Jason continued speaking, “I assumed you didn’t trust me and I want you to do it like I trust you.”

“Babe,” you sighed, “you are not the problem.”

Nodding, he placed a hand on your neck, brushing your cheek with his thumb. “And you’re not a problem, don’t say it like that.”

Such a nice thing to hear from the person you love. If you were in a self-deprecating mood you would say you didn’t deserve it, but you weren’t. Hiding things from Jason was hard and draining. Turns out everything would have been fine if you had told him from the beginning.

Jason wrapped his other arm around you while his hand withdrew from your face. You felt him open one of the cupboards behind you. Grunting, he battled with a box for a few seconds before finally being able to take a few cookies out.

He offered you a cookie. You shook your head. He insisted. “Please?”

“I’m not hungry. You eat them.”

“Half a cookie at least?”

Kinking an eyebrow, you asked, “What for?”

“I want to kiss you but I have to taste that disgusting tea again, I will punch a wall.”

“You are such a baby,” you playfully teased him, moving the cookie he was offering closer to your mouth with your mind.

His eyebrows shot upward. Yup, your powers were the coolest thing ever. Jason smiled when you bit into the snack, opening his mouth when you tried to give him the now bitten cookie back.

You slowly feed him the cookie, this time taking it in your hand, hoping you wouldn’t laugh and choke. His teeth grazed your finger teasingly, eyes daring you to do anything.

He munched the cookie quickly, swallowing twice to make sure. Putting the other two cookies on the clean counter behind you, he shook the crumbs off his fingers as he leaned forward.

And so you kissed him before he could continue teasing you, smiling against his lips when he whined.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd x plus size reader #plus size reader #plus size fanfiction #redhood x reader #redhood x plus size reader #jason todd #redhood #dc x reader #dc x plus size reader #batfam x reader #batfam x plus size reader

[pocket-luv101]

Heartstrings || Chapter 4

Fandom: Servamp Ship: KuroMahi (main), LawLicht (side), Tetsono (side) Characters: Kuro, Mahiru, Hyde, Licht, Tetsu, Misono

Summary: Kuro goes to take a nap in the staircase behind the school and sees Mahiru holding a broken guitar. After he helps him repair the guitar string, Mahiru asks him to teach him how to play. (Given AU/Band AU)

Ch.1 || Ch.2 || Ch.3 || (Ch.4) ||

Kuro’s finger hovered over the buttons on the vending machine as he tried to decide which of the drinks he should buy. In the corner of his eyes, he watched Mahiru’s back. He never expected Mahiru to be holding so much on his shoulders when he often wore a bright smile. He hoped that he had said the right things to him earlier.

After he finished singing the short melody, he went to buy something for Mahiru to drink. He chose a soda at random and then he walked to where Mahiru sat on a bike rack. He pressed the cold can against Mahiru’s cheek and the sensation caused him to jump in surprise. Kuro quickly placed his hand on the small of his back so he wouldn’t fall.

He pulled him closer. While his only intention was to keep Mahiru from falling, his closeness caused his heart to skip a few beats. The bell he wore rang as Mahiru grabbed Kuro’s uniform jacket. They held each other for a few moments. Mahiru tilted his head back to look up at him and his eyes reflected the moonlight. Brown was a simple colour but Kuro found his eyes beautiful.

Kuro let him go after Mahiru found his balance again. He sat in the spot next to him and held out the soda to him. “I didn’t know what you like but I got you an orange soda. I bought a cola so we can trade if you don’t like orange.”

“My house doesn’t buy fizzy drinks so I don’t usually have soda like this. It’s bad for your voice to drink before a performance. This could be my first soda. Orange juice is my favourite drink so I might like this too.” Mahiru opened the can and he took a slow sip. The drink was sweeter than he expected but he liked it. “You taught me how to play my first chord on the guitar and now this is my first soda. At this rate, you’ll have all my ‘first’s.”

Mahiru only realized the double meaning of his own words after he spoke them. They both blushed and Kuro tried to hide his reaction by pulling his hood over his face more. Beside him, Mahiru felt flustered as well. He hadn’t been in a relationship before and he never thought of it until now. He didn’t want the moment to become awkward and he searched for how to change the topic. “I like orange soda.”

“I never heard of a family who doesn’t allow their kid to drink soda.” He said and lightly tapped their soda cans together. Mahiru was glad that Kuro didn’t dwell on what he had said earlier. He was confused by the side of him that was disappointed Kuro didn’t respond to his unintentional flirting. “Will your uncle be angry that I bought it for you? I don’t want him to think I’m a bad influence.”

“Most parents will be more concerned with your dyed hair than the fact that you bought me a soda. Your hair is a unique colour.” Mahiru reached up and gently took a few strands of his hair into his fingers. His hair was softer than he expected for someone who dyed their hair. With the starry sky contrasting his light hair, Mahiru thought the colour was similar to the moon.

“I was born with this hair colour. I lived in London and my hair made me stand out when I moved here.” Kuro ran his hand through his hair and then he took off his hood. With others, he would feel selfconcious and wear his hood to hide. Mahiru’s presence made him comfortable though. “Of course my brother had to drag me into his band and make that worse.”

“People might stare at you when you’re playing your guitar but they’re mostly thinking of how well you play. That was my reaction at least. They’re not judging you.” Mahiru reassured him with a soft smile. “Thank you for what you said about my singing. I never gave you a proper response to joining your band. I want to try being your vocalist. Even though I don’t have much experience, I look forward to working with you and everyone.”

Kuro wondered if Mahiru would think he was strange if he told him that he understood him when he sang to him. Before he could respond to him, a car parked in front of them. Mahiru stood and said, “That’s my uncle. Do you want a ride to your home? It’s late.”

“Hyde is practising in the music shop and I already promised to walk him home. He has a talent for causing trouble so I need to make sure he doesn’t take a detour at night. Being the older brother is troublesome.” He said and nodded towards the store. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Be careful on your way home and make sure you watch out for cars. Goodnight, Kuro.” He said goodbye to him but he lingered in front of Kuro for a few minutes. Mahiru didn’t know what he was waiting for and he eventually pulled himself away from him.

He walked to his uncle’s car and he placed his guitar in the backseat. Mahiru sat in the passenger seat and his uncle pulled out of the curb. “I’m sorry that I ran off like that, Uncle. Were you waiting for a long time while Kuro and I were talking?”

“I didn’t mind. What do you want to order for dinner?” Toru kept his eyes on the road but he noticed Mahiru roll down the window. He waved to Kuro when they passed each other. Mahiru wore a small smile as he watched Kuro in the side mirror. Toru wanted to ask his nephew about his classmate and how he found them playing the guitar together. He decided it was best to let Mahiru tell him when he felt ready.

“We have food in the fridge and I can throw something together quickly. It’s been a while since we had a proper family dinner. There’s a lot we need to catch up on.” Mahiru leaned back in the chair and let the cool air wash over him. “That was my friend, Kuro. I asked him to teach me how to play the guitar. We’ve only had a few lessons so far. He invited me to play in his band and I accepted.”

“That’s great. If you need any tips, you can ask me.” Toru didn’t know what led Mahiru to the guitar again but he hoped the hobby could be good for him. He thought back to how he found Kuro and Mahiru sitting in the park. That was the first time in years where he saw Mahiru smile at anything related to music. He needed to ask, “Did you decide to learn the guitar to help you move on? I don’t think you should play if you’re still holding onto guilt.”

Mahiru couldn’t respond to him because he didn’t know the full depth of his reasons for learning the guitar. The best he could say was: “There’s a song I want to play for her.”

“Mahiru, what happened that day wasn’t your fault.”

“Everyone keeps telling me that.” Mahiru muttered and touched his chest where the guitar would usually rest. “I was the one who asked her to sing.”

“Hey, Nii-san, it’s time to wake up!” Hyde called up the stairs. He doubted Kuro would answer him since it was rare for his brother to be awake before eight. Since he was such a heavy sleeper, he would need to shove him off the bed to force him awake. As much he respected Kuro, he wished he would wake up with the alarm for once. “Pancakes are ready!”

He didn’t respond so he expected to find his brother buried underneath his blanket. Instead, Kuro sat at the foot of his bed with his guitar and blank music sheets. The electric guitar was completely silent because he had plugged his headphones into the amp. He didn’t hear him enter the room but Hyde recognized that it was because Kuro was immersed in the music and not the headphones.

Hyde became curious about the song Kuro was playing and he peaked over his shoulder to see the music sheets. He found that he was writing a new song and there were a few scribbled bars on the paper. The band had a few original songs yet Kuro had never shown interest in writing music before. He would leave the task of creating songs to Licht and Hyde while he simply matched the rhythm with his guitar.

A note written in the margin of the paper caught his attention. Mahiru’s lalala had a six bar progression. Could be the chorus. The name made Hyde think that his brother was writing a love song to Mahiru rather than something for their band. The mere possibility piqued Hyde’s interest since he had never seen his brother with a crush on someone before.

“Nii-san!” Hyde yelled to get his attention and he jumped onto the mattress next to him. His action caused the items on his bed to fly into the air slightly. He was careful not to sit on the papers but Kuro rushed to save them from being crushed. Kuro set them aside and then he took off his headphones. Others would be shocked by Hyde’s childish surprise but he only gave his brother an agitated sigh.

“There was a less troublesome way to get my attention, Hyde. Shouldn’t you be downstairs and helping Lily with breakfast? It’s your turn to cook.” Kuro checked the time on his phone and his eyes widened when he saw how much time had passed. He woke up earlier than usual because he couldn’t get Mahiru’s song out of his head. He thought he should write down a few bars but he had spent an hour on it.

“We already made a plate for you and I came up here to tell you.” When Kuro started to stand, Hyde stopped him by placing his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll bring breakfast up for you so we can eat and work on that song together. I have a lot more experience writing songs than you so I’ll help you with that. Just hum me the rhythm and I’ll write the notes.”

“You don’t need to—” Kuro was barely able to speak before his brother was out the door. He wanted to tell him that he hadn’t heard the full song so he wouldn’t be able to hum it for him. He looked down at the music sheets and the chorus he wrote for Mahiru. The song was important to him so he did his best not to change it while he wrote the notes. He wondered what Mahiru was trying to communicate through the song and who it was meant for.

Mahiru looked through the schedule for their class and he saw that Kuro and Ritsuki were assigned to clean up that day. He was excited to have another guitar lesson with him but it appeared he would have to wait. He turned to Kuro who was sitting at his desk. Throughout most of the class, he had slept and he seemed more tired than usual. He wondered if he was able to get enough sleep last night or if he returned home late due to their talk.

Ritsuki stood next to Kuro and she repeatedly poked at his shoulder. He knew that she was trying to wake him so they could start cleaning the classroom. However, Mahiru felt a little jealous. Kuro didn’t show any sign of waking up despite Ritsuki’s persistence. He snored softly and it almost sounded like a cat to Mahiru. He chuckled and then he walked to Kuro’s desk.

“Kuro, it’s time to wake up.” At the sound of his voice, Kuro sat up and rubbed his stiff neck. He was still tired but he didn’t lay his head on the table again. Kuro leaned back against his chair and he looked up at Mahiru. “The teacher didn’t wake you during class but he looked angry. He might give you detention or more homework if you keep sleeping in class.”

“I can barely keep my eyes open when he talks about those poets. Troublesome.” Kuro yawned. “Can I borrow your notes for what I missed today?”

“Sure.” Mahiru took out his notebook and he placed it on his desk. “Did you get enough sleep last night? You look exhausted and it’s not your usual lazy cat routine. You have cleanup duty today but I can take over for you while you catch up on your sleep. I enjoy cleaning and I can probably finish everything before you. I can probably clean faster than two people.”

“Thanks, Mahiru!” Ritsuki interrupted their conversation. He was confused about what she meant but then she added: “It’s nice of you to take over cleaning duty for us. I wanted to go to the mall with my friends today and I can catch up with them if I leave now. Bye, Mahiru. Good luck with Kuro!”

He didn’t know whether she misunderstood his offer or if she only wanted an excuse to leave early. She already ran out of the classroom before he could correct her. Mahiru thought it would be pointless to go after her when he could simply clean the classroom himself. He leaned against the desk next to Kuro’s and said, “Get some rest while I clean. It shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes.”

Mahiru stood in front of the chalkboard to erase the writing first. He was careful not to make a lot of noise so Kuro could sleep. He didn’t mind cleaning the classroom by himself. His uncle was often away for work so he would do the house chores himself. He rose onto his toes so he could reach the top of the chalkboard. He considered standing on a chair so he would be able to erase the words easier.

“I never thought of this before but you’re always volunteering to do work, aren’t you?” Kuro’s voice brushed over his hair before he felt his fingers run over his wrist. He gently took the eraser from him and he wiped away the words he couldn’t reach. “During the last cultural festival, you volunteered to do four different jobs, from baking to making costumes. We were put on baking duty together but you did most of the work and I just put the trays in the oven.”

Mahiru thought back to the cultural festival they held last year. They weren’t friends at the time and he was too busy balancing four jobs to talk to him. He wished he had taken the time to speak with him so they would’ve been friends sooner. He was surprised that Kuro remembered the day. “Our class was wasting time arguing over who should be responsible for each job when we needed to focus on opening a great café for the festival. Thinking simply, it has to be me.”

“You know, you don’t have to do everything on your own.” Kuro placed the eraser on the short ledge. Their classmates would often push their work onto Mahiru because they knew he wouldn’t disagree. He assumed Kuro would be the same considering his personality. His words made Mahiru smile. He thought of how he had supported him learning the guitar and comforted him the night before.

“I hope you remember this conversation when I ask you to bake cookies with me again. I’ll make you roll out the dough as well as putting cookies in the oven.” Mahiru joked with a light laugh. “This year’s cultural festival is in a few weeks. What do you think we should do? Maybe a concert so we can invite your band to play. It’ll be good promotion.”

“Most of us are from different schools so the teacher won’t let them participate. Hyde and Licht go to this super fancy school and they always throw a grand event for their cultural festival. He sent me a few pictures. He looked like he was having fun but I don’t know if I could. Cats don’t like loud places.” Kuro took out his phone and showed him the picture he had saved.

“Then we should host a tea ceremony.” Mahiru suggested and he imagined Kuro in a traditional kimono. He came to know him because wanted to learn the guitar but he now looked forward to other things they could do together.

They were able to finish cleaning the classroom quickly but that didn’t leave them a lot of time to practise in the stairway. The band had a rehearsal scheduled after school. Usually, Mahiru would suggest they go directly to the music shop since they would only be practising for such a short time. That meeting would be Mahiru’s first as their official vocalist. He was a little nervous and he hoped the practise session with Kuro would help him relax.

“Before we start practising, there’s something I want to show you. You said you wanted to play a song. I wrote the parts you sang for me. I don’t know if it’s exactly what you were thinking of so I recorded it on my phone for you to listen to. Tell me if there’s anything that needs to be changed. I haven’t heard the full song so I just filled in the empty parts.” Kuro searched through his messy backpack for his notebook.

He sat next to Mahiru on the steps with his phone and the music sheets in his hands. He had planned to play the song on his phone’s speaker until Mahiru slid closer to him. Mahiru took one of the earphones from him and he placed it in each of their ears. They needed to sit close to share the headphone and Kuro thought Mahiru was so comfortable with him because they were friends.

“I’ve never had someone write a song for me before.” Their shoulders bumped together but Mahiru was too focused on the music sheets to notice how close they were. He had the song stuck in his head for a long time yet he felt excited to hear Kuro play it for him. “Thank you.”

“This is your song so I can’t take credit for it.” Kuro pressed play on the recording. While audio quality was far from a professional studio, the song resonated with Mahiru. He tapped his pen on each note drawn on the music sheet as he listened to the song. Mahiru closed his eyes and he hummed along. After the lost expression he had last night, Kuro was relieved to see him smile again. At the same time, he felt nervous as he asked, “What do you think?”

“This is great, Kuro! I can’t thank you enough for writing this for me.” Mahiru closed the already small space between them and he hugged Kuro. He embraced him so suddenly that he didn’t hold him back immediately. He leaned back to look up at Kuro but he didn’t let him so. “I can play this song for her. I hope she’ll be able to hear my feelings when I do. This means so much to me.”

He mentioned playing the song for a girl and Kuro felt conflicted. Did Mahiru plan to confess to her?

#servamp #kuromahi #sloth pair #servamp kuro #mahiru shirota #servamp hyde #fanfiction

[letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked]

Words On My Skin Chapter 30

Bucky Barnes X Reader (Soulmate AU)

A/N: I guess it takes a quarantine and deadly virus for me to start writing again, huh? LOL! TAGS WILL BE REBLOGGED ON THIS EVENTUALLY! I have like... a whole year of tag requests to sort through! So... Sorry LOL

Warnings: Be gentle... I’m rusty at writing lol

Main Masterlist // WOMS Masterlist

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

Y/n: I'm on my way back! Happy is driving me! I'll tell you the details when I get home! I got you a surprise! <3

Bucky: I'm in the room, doing paperwork. Steal one of Steve's granola bars for me, please and thank you and I love you.

Y/n: I'm not taking the fall again if he catches me!

Bucky: He's out with that one blonde chick we don't like.

Y/n: Ew. Why???

Bucky: Why do you think?

Y/n: Ew. She looks like she has crotch crickets. Plus she was a bitch to me last time she was here. I tried to be nice. I think she's in it for his fame... and the D.

Bucky: ...that's disgusting.

Y/n: I'm making him an appointment for an STD check.

Bucky: He's going to kill you.

Y/n: He'll thank me when his dick doesn't fall off

Bucky: He's going to make you do more cardio.

Y/n: ...Okay, yeah, I'll just let his dick fall off. LOL fuck cardio

Bucky: You seemed to enjoy last night's cardio. ;)

Y/n: That was more like naked yoga... with a happy ending! Totally different!

Bucky: We can do naked yoga anytime you want.

Y/n: I'll take naked yoga over cardio all day every day

Bucky: All day every day? ;)

Y/n: Shut up, fool. <3

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

Placing your phone back into your purse, you stared out the window, watching the busy streets blend into trees and snow. Stupid snow. You were lost in your own head, thinking about the meeting with your parents. Which had gone... surprisingly well.

Your mother was fairly civil to you - as well as the waitstaff - and your father actually had a serious conversation with you.

It was one of the weirdest days of your life... and you lived with a bunch of superheroes.

Seeing your parents like this, after so many years of loathing, arguing, controlling... You weren't sure where your relationship stood.

Though, it was nice to gain at least a little clarification and get everything out in the open.

They'd apologized for the way they treated you in your youth, as well as the way they treated Bucky. You'd apologized for all the shit you'd said to them before you'd moved away, as well as keeping them pushed away in your adult years. The excuses your mother had for acting like a controlling robot were just... sad. She talked about how your grandmother treated her the same - if not worse. She was the way she was because she wanted you to be better than her. No wonder you've never actually met your grandparents in person. Your mother hated her parents. Almost as much as you'd hated yours... until now.

Now... You just had sympathy. Not that it excused any of the behaviors over the years, but you understood now.

It seemed as if she'd convinced herself that the way that she raised you made you the positive person that you were, today. Which was true to some extent. It was recovering from the way you were raised that made you the person you were today. You may have been comfortable with money, but money wasn't everything behind closed doors. Money didn't solve the problems that you'd dealt with in your youth. In fact, it was living the stereotype of a rich family that had caused the majority of your problems. It was the cold, brash emotions modeled by your parents that made you want to be different. The controlled diets, the need to hide emotions and compartmentalize, the forced dating, the fights, the lying, the fake public image... it was dealing with those things after you'd escaped it that made you the person you are today.

Personal growth, and all that jazz.

After the emotional bit of the dinner, you'd actually enjoyed yourself. Your parents asked you about your job, the first day you met Bucky, college, your friends, and everything else they hadn't been a part of for the last decade or so.

They told you about their trip to Paris, where your mother had tripped over a crack in the pavement and they spent half the day in the emergency room so she could get stitches. They told you about how they got their entire office to donate a large sum of money to Bucky's charity that he had been running. They told you about the day that they realized that they needed a change of scenery from California.

It was almost... normal.

If you even knew what normal was.

"Y/n?" You heard Happy's muffled voice, followed by a light tapping on the cool window. He hadn't opened the car door, because your head was leaned against it. "You ready to rock and roll?"

"You're such a dad." You giggled, grabbing your purse and leftovers as he opened the door for you, "Speaking of dads, are you going to become Peter's step-"

"I DON'T-" He paused, taking a breath through his nose and blowing it out of his mouth, "I don't want to talk about that."

"Happy and Mae, sitting in a tree..." You sang, grinning as you skipped past him, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"You're such a child." He rolled his eyes, slamming your door closed and walking to the driver's door.

"You love me, anyways." You pulled open the front door to the compound, leaving Happy to bring the car over to the garage.

You removed your coat the moment you stepped into the heated building, throwing it over your arm and hiding the bag of leftovers and Bucky's surprise. Glancing around, you saw the lobby was nearly empty, save for a few agents using the lobby to cut to the other wing.

Glancing over to the front desk, a grin spread over your face as you took in the sight in front of you.

Caleb was snoring loudly, mouth hanging open, head tipped back, and his feet up on the desk. The book you'd given him for his birthday was open, resting on his stomach like he had fallen asleep reading in his chair.

"FRIDAY, can you please do me a favor and record this please?" You whispered into your watch, sneaking over to the sleeping agent. "Send it to my tablet when it's done."

You were glad you wore flats instead of heels, so your shoes made no noise against the hard floors as you snuck behind the desk. You kept out of swinging distance, grabbing a clipboard off his desk and readying yourself for whatever happened.

"CALEB, WAKE UP!" You screamed loudly, slamming the clipboard repeatedly on the desk. "CALEB, THE SKY IS FALLING!"

He let out a loud shout, limbs flailing around, and chair tipping backwards. "I WASN'T SLEEPING." The obnoxious laugh you let out made his face scrunch up in confusion from the floor, "Y/n?" He glanced around, springing up gracefully and surveying the empty lobby before sending you a glare, "Rude."

You couldn't reply, leaning against the desk and tossing the clipboard in front of him, hysterical laughter echoing through the nearly-empty lobby. "I- You- Oh- Dying." You wheezed, trying to calm your laughter before you peed yourself, wiping the tears from under your eyes, "Oh my god."

"I'm glad my fear brings you such joy, you awful human being." Caleb grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair, "I hate you so much right now."

"I brought you dessert." You replied, finally able to pull your shit together, grabbing a box out of the big bag you were carrying. "It's chocolate and peanut butter cheesecake."

"I hate you less, now. You are forgiven." He lunged forward, a large smile on his face. "Gimme', gimme', gimme'."

You handed him the box, shaking your head and glancing at your watch, "I'm beat. I'm gunna' head up."

"Your soulmate is an asshole, by the way." Caleb informed you, mouth full of cheesecake, "He kept telling me he's going to get Claire an obscene amount of slime for Christmas." He glanced up at you with narrow eyes, "I'll hurt all of you if you get her slime, or anything else with loose glitter. My kitchen table is ruined."

"I cannot confirm nor deny that we got her slime for christmas." You shouted, jogging towards the elevator. "Love youuuuu."

"Fuck youuuuu." He sang back at you, as you disappeared from sight.

"My floor, please, FRIDAY." You requested as the doors to the elevator opened and you got in, "Is Bucky in his room?"

"Yes, Ma'am." FRIDAY replied.

Leaning against the wall, you inhaled deeply through your nose - trying to dispel any weird feelings in your gut. Ever since you'd left dinner with your parents, your shoulders felt lighter... but there was a sense of unease in your belly. You'd never expected in a million years that you'd actually have a relationship with your parents where they communicated with you in a semi-healthy way.

Was this real life?

Honestly, it felt like you were in a simulation or something.

Nothing felt normal anymore.

When the lift doors opened, a wave of delicious smells hit your nose - and you followed the scent to the kitchen, calling out, "Who's cooking delicious-smelling food?"

"That'd be me." Sam called, head in the fridge as he searched for something in the back, "Where the fuck did my strawberries go?"

"That'd be your not-so-little buddy Steve." You chuckled, watching as Sam glared at the fridge before moving back to the stove in a huff. It was actually Bucky, but you weren't about to snitch on your soulmate. "What are you making?"

"God dammit." He grumbled, stirring whatever was in the giant pot, "I'm getting a mini fridge in my room. This 'sharing' business is pissing me off."

"Sam. Food."

He turned to you with a grin, "Momma Wilson's famous lasagna soup."

"They make lasagna in soup form?" You frowned, walking over to the stove to inspect, confirming the fact that he had - indeed - made soup out of lasagna ingredients. It was confirmed by the broken-up lasagna noodles floating up to the surface, and the red sauce littered with spices. God, that smelled good... "Where'd your mom come up with this, and can I have the recipe?"

"Nope. Special made by only me." He shook his head, shooing you away with the spoon. "Go away. You already ate."

There goes getting the granola bar... Sam would totally snitch.

"Save me some for later?" You stuck out your lip in a pout, giving him your best innocent face.

He rolled his eyes, turning away from you and stirring his soup, "We'll see."

You giggled, turning away and walking towards the living quarters with a pep in your step, "I appreciate you."

"Yeah, yeah." You heard him grumble, "Since you do my paperwork..."

"And I do a fabulous job!" You called in sing-song, rounding the corner into the hallway and feeling giddy about bringing Bucky his surprise.

He'd been talking about how he'd been craving French Silk Pie, and you just so happened to spot a few slices left at the restaurant. The manager had recognized you from the photo of you and Bucky at the sushi restaurant and seeing you in that interview, and had offered to slip in a few extra slices of pie for next to nothing... so you'd taken a page from Bucky's book and tipped the staff an obscene amount.

Bucky was going to shit when he saw how many pieces of pie you were coming back with.

"FRIDAY can you unlock the door for me, please?" You called out quietly, listening to the door click as it unlocked. "Thank you." As you pushed open the door, you spotted your handsome soulmate sitting at his desk, sharpening a knife carefully. "You planning on murdering me with that, or what?"

"Ha-Ha. Very funny." He deadpanned, eyes trained on the knife as he examined it, "If I was going to murder you, stabbing you to death would be too messy."

"Comforting." You chuckled, shutting the door behind you and hanging your coat on the back of the door and laying the plastic bag full of food on his bed. You reached behind you to unzip your dress, heading over to his closet to grab a shirt to lounge around in. "I buy you a delicious treat, and you plot my murder."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm also looking at files for the new recruits." He replied, voice sounding really far away. "Jennings looks promising."

You frowned, pulling his shirt over your head. Trying to feel him out through the bond. He seemed... neutral. It was weird. Not upset, but also not happy. Peeking around the corner, trying to be sneaky, you watched him as he read through another recruit file flipping the knife around skillfully. He didn't look tense. He also didn't look like he was concentrating on the file, either.

"Why are you staring at me?" He asked suddenly, not turning around. His hair looked messy, like he'd been running his hand through it.

"Why are you being weird?" You asked, walking over to the bed and grabbing one of the small to-go boxes out of the bag. Setting it on his desk with a plastic fork, you leaned down and wrapped your arms around him from behind - resting your chin on his shoulder. "I got you french silk pie."

He turned his head, pressing a small kiss on your bare arm. "Thanks, sweetheart."

You didn't think you could frown any further, but you were wrong.

He was totally being weird.

"Okay, okay." You moved away from him, sitting on the edge of his bed and grabbing one of the pie slices. "What's wrong with you? What are you hiding from me? You're too... neutral."

"Nothing's wrong with me." He replied, not turning around. "I'm not hiding anything."

Bullshit!

"Lies." You sang out, digging into your piece of pie. "Can't bullshit a bullshitter. Especially when she's connected to you emotionally through a magical soulmate bond." You shoved a bite into your mouth, realizing that you'd grabbed one of the apple pie slices. A pang of annoyance nudged you in the chest, and you rolled your eyes, "You can be annoyed all you want, but that's not telling me what's up with you."

He sighed, leaning his head back for a moment, before spinning around in his chair and giving you a look of annoyance. "If I tell you, will you let up?"

"Maybe." You smirked, taking another bite of pie.

"I..." He looked down, picking at one of the plates in his hand - a nervous tick. "I talked to Tony, today."

Oh.

Oh shit.

You hoped it was a productive conversation. It had to have been, if Bucky wasn't upset. Then again, he was attempting to hide his feelings from you. Maybe it wasn't, and he didn't want to tell you?

You set your dessert down on the bed, leaning forward in interest, "And...?"

"He..." Bucky cleared his throat, not looking at you. "He wants to have us see Dr. Collins." He finally looked up at you, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Together."

You smiled, relief washing through you. This was good. If they saw Dr. Collins together, they might get to the root of their issues in a positive way that didn't include destroying the building... one can hope.

So why did Bucky look like someone pissed in his coffee?

"This is good, right?" You asked, confused. "Progress?"

"Yeah." He mumbled, looking back down at the dark, metal plates in his hand. "I guess."

"But...?"

"But-" His leg started bouncing up and down, and you could feel the nervous energy outside of the bond. "I'm a little... afraid about..." He sighed, shaking his head and closing his beautiful blue eyes, "I don't know. Doing all this-" He seemed to be struggling for the right words. "-opening up."

You nodded along as he paused, waiting for him to continue.

"What if... what if he still hates me in the end?" He rushed out, leg still bouncing. "I'm just... I'm so sick of people hating me for something I did when I was... him." He stood up, beginning to pace back and forth, and you had a feeling that he was about to explode. "I'm trying so hard. SO HARD. I..." He stopped, rubbing his hands over his face in frustration. "I just... I hate what he did. I hate this. I don't want to go through all of this just for Tony to still hate me in the end."

He sat back down in his chair, hand running through his growing hair and leaning his elbows on his knees, "I'm just... I don't like this nervous feeling. That's why I was trying to hide my feelings. Because... I don't want to feel them." He looks back up at you, blue eyes full of sadness that hurt your heart. "Sometimes I feel like it's easier being him. He doesn't feel anything, and I barely remember half the shit he did."

"Bucky..." You sighed, standing up and moving to sit on his lap, wrapping your arms around his middle and leaning the side of your head against his shoulder. "It's understandable that you don't want to feel the hard feelings. They suck ass." He snorted at your words, arms wrapping around you, but you kept going, "But you're human. Even if you're a supersoldier with some crazy serum running through your veins, you're human. Feelings make you human. Feelings make you Bucky, instead of him." You looked up at him, as his arms tightened around you. "I'm not going to pretend I'm Dr. Collins and say something irritatingly profound, but... I think you know exactly what Dr. Collins would say."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He sighed, pressing his face into the top of your head - warm breath sending a shiver down your spine. "He's annoying."

"He may be annoying, but he knows what's up." You chuckled, turning your head so you were looking into his icy eyes, "You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah, I know." He smiled, crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes, "I love you, too."

Shifting around, you moved so your arms were wrapped around his shoulders and your face was level with his, "I brought you french silk pie."

"You spoil me." He grinned, arms around your middle, "How'd your dinner with your parents go?"

You grimaced, rolling your eyes, "It was weird. It kind of feels like those two hours were a dream. I don't believe that my parents actually had a real conversation with me." He raised an eyebrow at you and you huffed out a sigh, "Yeah. Yeah. I'm happy. I'm glad that we can finally talk, but... it's just weird. I don't really know how to process it."

"Finally going to be one big, happy family, huh?" He laughed, poking you in the side. "Like The Brady Bunch?"

"First of all, when the hell did you have time to watch The Brady Bunch without me?" You narrowed your eyes at him, raising a brow in question, "Second of all, there's only three of us."

"I didn't watch it," He rolled his eyes, shaking his head at you before standing and setting you on the bed, turning around and grabbing his container of pie, "I read about it."

"STOP DOING THAT!!" You whined in annoyance, throwing a chunk of your apple pie at him. Oh my god, if he kept fucking doing that... "You need to actually watch these things! Stop reading the plot on Wikipedia! It's not the same!"

"I read faster than I watch!" He took a huge bite of his pie, crumbs falling onto the floor. "I can read the plot in a fourth of the time it would take to watch the whole thing." After another obnoxiously large bite of his pie, he set the container back on the desk, moving towards the bed, "If I try and catch up on all the shows and movies I missed over the last century, I'll be biologically ninety before I'm caught up."

As he moved the bag of containers to the floor, you held the slice of apple pie closer to your chest, "I'm not sharing my pie." You took another bite of the sweet pie, the taste of cinnamon on your tongue. He kept moving closer, and you turned your body away from him holding the pie away from him, "NO! You can't have my pie! You have your own!"

"If you don't put it on the nightstand it's going to be in the bed." He warned, an evil look in his eye. "I'm giving you three seconds."

You yelped, attempting to scarf down the obscenely large and sweet piece of pie as fast as you could.

"Three."

You scrambled away from him, but his arm wrapped around your middle as you continued to shovel the food in your face.

"Two."

"NO!!! I'm TRYING!" You giggled, tossing the fork onto the floor, but unable to reach the nightstand with the container full of whipped cream and a large chunk of pie still sticking in the container. You shrieked out a laugh as he tackled you into the bed, the slice of pie completely smearing all over your face and hair. "BUCKY!!"

"One."

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

Part 31 ...coming soon to a Tumblr near you.

#woms #words on my skin #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x soulmate reader #bucky x reader #soulmate au #soulmate #au #soul #mate #bucky #barnes #bucky barnes x female reader #female reader #fanfiction #avengers x reader #avengers #avengers fanfictions #avengers fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader soulmate #the winter soldier #the #winter #soldier #words #on #my #skin #bucky barnes soulmate

[straykats]

Heya! Can I please request a barista!Chan AU where the reader is a regular at the café he works at and they're always flirting with each other but never actually had a chance to have a real conversation, anyways one night she comes really late and they finally have a chance to talk and they have a really long deep conversation until like, midnight, then Chan takes her home and asks her on a date..? I'm sorry it's so long! 💗

i’m sorry the wait has been so long!!

----------

“Back again, are we?”

You roll your eyes as you step up to the counter. “You say that like i haven’t been coming here every day for the past two months.”

Chan lets out a chuckle, wiping his hands on the apron around his waist as he leans his hip against the counter. 

“Are you having the usual? Or are we going to…” Chan wiggles his eyebrows. “...spice it up?”

“Just the usual, thank you," you reply with a laugh.

Nodding, Chan spins away to make your order. The Wednesday afternoon brought with it very few customers. There was a group of students in the corner, laptops open in front of them, and a mother with her toddler on the other side. The cafe wasn’t big, so there were few chairs, but it was made to feel cozy and welcoming with the natural sunlight and hanging plants. 

You could hear Chan humming along to the song being played. His head was also nodding to the beat, his hands moving as if from muscle memory.

“Who chooses the music, Chan?” 

“Hmm? Oh, this is my playlist!” He beams at you before returning to your coffee. “Do you like it?”

You nod. “Maybe you can share some favourites with me sometime.”

His ears go the lightest shade of pink and he turns back with your order in his hand. A small smile plays on his lips, one that he seemed to be attempting to contain. “I mean, I’d love to. Only if you share some of yours, too?”

You head cocks questioningly. “You make it sound like a date, Chan.”

He can only laugh as returns to the counter, picking up a marker. The tip of his ears poked out from under his hair, and you were shocked to see how red they were. Sure, the two of you joked around whenever you came, and sure, the idea of a date had probably passed both your minds more than once (or, you’re hoping it’s passed Chan’s a couple of times) but actually saying it out loud was new.

The pen rests on his chin as he thinks, before he scribble something on the cup. The tip of your finger brushes his as you take the drink from him, and you’re both smiling at eachother stupidly.

The doorbell rings, snapping you both out of your reverie.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

You nod, shifting your weight between both feet. You didn’t want to go, of course, but that’s how your relationship with Chan was. You come at 4pm and for a few minutes, you’re talking and joking around (aka flirting) while he makes your order, and then you leave. That’s just how things were.

So you wave goodbye as the new customer walks up behind you, and turn to exit the cafe.

Once you’re out, you hold your cup up to read what Chan had written, for he never wrote your name anymore. It was something that he had started doing after you made a passing comment about baristas writing names wrong on coffee cups.

Chan had written some funny things, some charming things, and some strange things. Your favourite so far had been “for the the highlight of my day.”

Your heart flutters at the black ink.

For the girl whose number I’m yet to ask for.

-

Thursday had never seemed so boring to Chan. He had waited all day for 4pm, and even then, his day had not brightened. You had not appeared in the doorway, bag on your shoulder and glowing smile on your face as you normally did. 

Chan was a little worried, in all honesty. You normally told him if you wouldn't be coming the next day, and you hadn’t said anything yesterday but it was almost closing time now and you hadn't yet appeared. It wasn't his place to be worried, he knew. Afterall, when it really came down to it, you were just a customer (although maybe you were his favourite). You weren't required to tell him every time you weren't coming.

There were fifteen minutes left, and no one had come for the last half hour, so Chan decided to start cleaning up. He started with the chairs, stacking them all upside down onto the table, and then moved to the windows, shutting all the curtains. He was at the door, just about to flip the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ when a face popped into view, and you graced him with the same smile he had seen every day for the last few months.

“One last customer?” You scrunch your face up in a plead, and Chan grins, opening the door. 

“The saying ‘save the best for last’ seems awfully appropriate, right now.” He brings an arm out and bows, gesturing you inside. You break into giggles at his actions. “You know, I waited all day for you and I was starting to think you wouldn’t come.”

“Habits are hard to break, Chan,” you come up to the counter and bend down to lean your elbows on it. “If you don’t mind, I’ll have the usual.”

“‘If you don’t mind.’” He uses a mocking tone, his lips quirking. “Your drink is the one i look forward to making the most every day, y/n.”

Your cheeks heat up. “You flatter me, Chan.”

He lets out a laugh, glancing over his shoulder at you. “I’m serious, you know!”

You take down two chairs, placing them around a table in the middle of the cafe. “Hey, make yourself a drink too. Let’s talk! Unless you’re going to kick me out…?”

Chan moves to sit opposite you, sliding your drink across the table. “Oh, I don’t drink coffee.”

Your jaw drops. “You what? Chan, you’re a-”

“I know, I know,” he laughs. “I’m a barista, i work with coffee, coffee is pretty much my life.”

“Hey, have you heard of Albert Camus?” You shake your head. “Well, tell me if I bore you, but he came up this… concept called ‘absurdism’.” 

Chan tells you of one of Camus’ essays that he had been reading, and you’re in awe at Chan’s marvel at the idea of absurdism and existentialism. It was fascinating to hear him talk about it, and also calming. His voice was soft but expressive, and you found yourself growing drowsy.

The sky outside had considerably darkened, and it was late by the time Chan noticed you trying to keep your eyes open.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “You should probably get going, now. It’s almost- Oh my god, It’s almost midnight!”

You laugh, standing up and stacking your chair. You hadn’t realised how much time had passed. Picking up your drink (which was almost cold, now, but it was yet to be half drunken) you make your way to the door.

“I’ll come by again tomorrow-”

“Y/n! Let me walk you home.” You blink a few times. “I can share my playlist with you…?”

You smile at the offer. “That sounds great.”

After locking up, Chan hands you an earbud. You walk the few minutes home (for you didn’t live too far) with Chan by your side and a cup of coffee in your hand.

You don’t bring it up, but you notice the way he glances at you out of the corner of his eye, his head flicking to the side the slightest bit. The night is cool and tranquil, and it’s so new to be walking with Chan, no counter between the two of you.

Eventually, you stop in front of your house.

“Thanks for walking me home, Chan,” you say as you hand him back his earbud.

For the first time since leaving the cafe, you look into his face. He has a small, lopsided smile on his lips, and you notice that he stands relaxed - not the way he stands behind the counter, comfortable and at home, but he’s relaxed. He’s comfortable, but he’s nervous. Why would he be nervous?

“Did you like my music?”

You let out a breath of laughter. “Is this a bad time to tell you that I only come every day for the music?” you tease, and for a second, you think he believes you.

“Did you read your cup yesterday?”

For the girl whose number i’m yet to ask for.

You nod your head, trying not to make it obvious that you were trying to keep your breathing calm and even.

“So, how about it? Can I have your number?”

Your eyes flick down, and you pretend to look for a pen in your bag. You can’t keep eye contact with him right now. It was so… weird to not be joking around and flirting. This was real. This was all real.

“Gosh, and here I was, thinking you were getting tired of seeing me nearly every day.”

You hear him laugh, and you gesture for his hand. He gives it to you, and they’re warm and soft and there’s a healing burn, but you don’t comment on it. You put pen to skin, writing your number across the back of his hand.

He glances down at his hand, a satisfied smile on his face. “So. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course. Well… I’d better get inside. Thanks for walking me.”

It’s silent for a few seconds, Chan opening and closing his mouth as if the words just won’t come to him.

“Look, I’d- I’d hug you, but i probably smell like coffee and sandwiches, so-”

With a laugh, you pull him into a hug. “Lucky for you, I love coffee.”

And he does smell like coffee - your favourite coffee. 

You pull apart, both feeling like highschoolers new to love. He lets you go and watches as you go in.

Once inside, you lock your doors before peering out the window. Chan’s still there, phone illuminating his face. You hear your own phone ping, and there’s a message from an unknown number.

Unknown number: check your cup

You look for your cup, finding it on the table by the door, and read the words Chan had scribbled for today.

For the girl who I’ve been dying to ask out on a date.

#bang chan #bang chan x reader #bang chan fluff #bang chan imagines #stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids fluff #stray kids imagines

[offtopicoverload]

alright, i was on the fence about the oc weekend idea, but fuck it i have a bunch of shit made why not? block “oc weekend” tag if you don’t care cuz same

so have some cleo (and nia) headcanons to kick whatever the fuck this is gonna be off

super long cuz i have a serious problem

So her starting skills were bow, charisma, and wildlife, then woods lore, then blade, medicine, deception, brawling, seduction

She made some money hunting, which is where the bow and animal skills came from

With being an elf, her and Kade were orphaned together in a massacre and taken in by a local farmer

Absolutely got into so much trouble, usually Cleo getting a bad idea and dragging Kade along, but could always talk her way out of it, hence the charisma

MC canonically has relationship experience, right? I think she had a short term partner, maybe some flings with travelers or something, but never really got invested in relationships, just wasn’t her thing

Especially in RIverbend, where everyone knows everyone and it’s awkward if you break up

She’s pretty similar to canon MC, wild and goofy and somewhat reckless

But also really determined and caring and sweet when she needs to be

I adore her if you can’t tell

The first time she saw Nia, totally tongue-tied and a flustered mess, she’s smooth when it’s a joke but incapable of any coherent words when it turns real

She’s pretty awkward, definitely stiff at first, but slowly loosens up as she gets closer to Nia, letting her goofy side show

She for sure pines and gets made fun of for it by Kade, then Mal and Imtura every time she gets flustered 

And Threep likes to rub it in too, occasionally threatening to say something unless he gets snacks he does the same to Nia askjksdf

I’m also in love with the idea of Mal and Imtura playing matchmaker and constantly trying to set them up in situations where they have to be close, and the two of them losing their minds when Cleo and Nia get stuck in that pit

The night at the cabin in the Deadwood was the first moment Cleo realised that there could be something real there, like it just never clicked until Nia was straight up telling her she liked her

From then on things definitely change, and Cleo starts being a lot softer, like at the masquerade and stuff

But the argument in the cabin always sticks out in her mind, she defended Nia’s right to spend her life as she chooses, but she doesn’t necessarily like it

She always tries to find work arounds for Nia using her light, like using her own before Nia can get the chance

She for sure nearly decked the High Priest, just for all his bullshit, and was very happy to get that tracking orb from him to make sure they would be safe she had some plans already

So I don’t accept MC being cool after Nia straight up gets yanked into the Shadow Realm, Cleo absolutely was about to jump in after her until Imtura grabbed her and jerked her back like “what the fuck are you doing”

Cleo was about to snap the entire time they were working their way through the Shadow Realm, definitely wrecked Vonstratz on Nia’s behalf

I also don’t accept the “single tear” line when MC fucking KILLS Nia, Cleo would be bawling her eyes out and refusing to let go of her when she dies

There not being an ily felt kinda weird to me, and cuz Cleo’s a sap, I feel like she’d either say it before stabbing Nia or during the diamond scene where they’re looking out at Whiterun

In the first instance, it’s more for her piece of mind, that Nia knows what her sacrifice means

When Nia comes back, Cleo whispers it a million times into her shoulder as she hugs her, until she sounds like a broken record

For the second one, it’d be a bit spur of the moment, she’d just be looking in Nia’s eyes as the words spill out, but she wouldn’t even care cuz it felt so right

And now I’m going to ignore book 2 and make up my own shit

So immediately after, Cleo and Kade go back to Riverbend to pack up their lives there, Kade in order to stay in Whiterun cuz King Arlan made him a librarian or something, idk but he’s in Whiterun at the royal library and archives

Cleo ends up running a few odd jobs out of Whiterun for a while, helping Mal out quite a bit as Nia ends up with a lot of responsibilities at the temple after the High Priest gets axed

Cleo ends up quite well known as a good adventurer/travel mate by the time Nia ends up quitting the temple

Before they leave on their first trip as just them, Cleo takes her up to that terrace overlooking Whiterun after taking her to the market

They stare out at the city for a while, until the sun’s setting along the horizon

Cleo pulls out a ring from her bag, fiddling with it as she shifts on her feet nervously. She’s wussed out like half a dozen times already, and this is her last chance to do it somewhere so special

Nia figures out something’s up and starts prodding to figure it out, poking her and stuff and laughing the whole time

Cleo’s kind of found out, and turns to her blushing the ring held between her thumbs and index fingers as she avoids eye contact, “So, um. You wanna get married?”

Not what Nia was expecting at all and she kind of just 👁👄👁 for a while, until Cleo starts trying to back out of it, thinking she fucked up

And then it’s Nia’s turn to stumble over her words something along the lines of, “No, wait! Okay, um, no, so - No, I don’t mean no, just - Yes! Of course!” 

The ring’s super basic, like plain silver without even a gem 

I feel like Cleo found it on a trip with Mal, and immediately thought of Nia and proposing and freaked herself out a bit, but that’s why she didn’t look for another cuz shes a sap

They travel around the realm a bit, stopping in Undermount so Cleo can look into House Nightbloom, and getting rides from Imtura when Mal gives them a tip on a relic or something

All the while Nia’s trying to spread the Light in small villages, using her magic for little things as Cleo works favours again

At some point they get a cottage a ways away from a village, I’d say not too far from the Deadwood and things slow down for the most part, only the occasional trip for the temple

It’s a really cute house, small and surrounded by flowers and huge trees, Cleo builds a swing on one

The others visit occasionally, Kade and Threep the most often, and I almost want to say they take in an orphan, but I can’t decide if Cleo would trust herself enough for that

Though I feel like Nia would love to have pets at the least cleo always compares threep to the cats to annoy him

Elves canonically have longer life spans than humans, and Nia’s is even shorter from using her Light, so I’m sure you can tell where I’m going with this

Nia passes in her sleep before anyone else in the gang and it really fucks up Cleo, like the way she wakes up to it and can’t even stop it

And the worst part is that she’s always hoping just a little bit in the back of her mind that it’s like the first time, and Nia’s just going to wake up or knock on the front door

The gang meet up all together for a funeral, and Cleo plants the flowers from the bouquet from the end of book diamond scene

She ditches the cottage cuz too much of it is Nia, and is just kind of aimless for a little bit, staying with Kade in Whiterun, but ultimately hates not having a purpose

She moves to the old elven cabin in the Deadwood cuz shes a sap cuz it’s one of her favourite places

She devotes herself to fixing it up and making it better, helping travelers through the Deadwood cuz I feel like Tyril would open Undermount up

Everyone’s stayed in relative contact and tend to invite Cleo on adventures if they don’t hear from her for a while, just to keep her from isolating herself in the woods

Mal works with the monarchy to make things better in the Nooks and Crannies while still thievin, and especially when he’s older settles down more

I feel like he lives pretty long, but ends up sick and passing away, second to go and he kinda laughs about it his mum was sick right? and he jokes about the irony to feel better?

I doubt Imtura really accepts being a princess, I think she keeps captaining and fights it as long as she can until she really doesn’t have a choice

But she’s not like her mum, actually leaving Flotilla and like working with the guard and stuff

I think she’s third, dying in battle like a badass and saving her crew. She’s honored by the clans, and the monarchy and even Undermount declares her a hero or something idk how it works there

I feel like Kade would keep to stories, but maybe spend a while just moving about the realm, stay in Undermount to explore it and stuff, builds up his name as a bard

He dies in his sleep too cuz he deserves it, he passes when he’s visiting Riverbend again, he’s buried there and like the whole village shows up

I feel like Tyril’s significantly older than everyone else, but being an elf hides it

He always gives Cleo tips on artifacts, or asks her to escort travelers through the Deadwood or around the realm if they’re important to keep her busy

He’s not the head of House Starfury, but he’s still pretty involved in elven politics, mainly focused on opening up Undermount, educating people on the elven empire and spreading the wealth and stuff

He’d go before Cleo, just running out of life force after all his magic

After Tyril passes, Cleo’s just done, he was the only thing giving her purpose, and she’s spent decades cleaning up the Deadwood as best she can

Threep’s joined her after Tyril’s funeral, staying with her for a few days and how following her out into the forest

She walks out to the clearing they saw the unicorn at and stops right on the edge, sitting down and setting up a purification ritual

She’s known how for years, she learned after Nia passed so she could spend some of her life completing one of her dreams like a sap

She clears out the darkness from a lot of the Deadwood to drain the last of her life force, stumbling over to a tree and sliding down to the ground, her back pressed against the bark

Threep flutters into her lap, her nails scratching behind his ears as he licks her chin comfortingly, a final goodbye

Her breathing starts heavy, growing slow as her chest feels far more hollow than it did a moment ago, and her eyelids slowly grow heavy

A breeze brushes her hair, stirring her awake. The lake’s shimmering before her, bright and magical as she stumbles to her feet, Threep gone from her lap

The Deadwood’s healed, more than she could possibly have managed on her own, and she has so much more energy now than when she fell asleep

She trips through the trees, running for what feels like hours until she’s back at the cabin, the stone bright against the trees as it sits, whole again after all her effort

She shoulders the front door open, freezing when she sees the fireplace, or rather, what’s before the fireplace

Nia’s there, her back to the flickering flames as she smiles, cheeks redder than the curls falling down her shoulders

And Cleo doesn’t stop running, tackling Nia into a hug and squeezing with all she is, tears dripping down her chin as she laughs, carefree and disbelieving and happy. So, so happy, for the first time since she last saw that smile

#i got very carried away oops #cleo nightbloom #shes getting a tag now cuz im committed tothis dumbass elf #and her magical partner #im assuming nespers live crazy long based on loola #and nia said 'well meet again beyond the veil' so im also assuming there's some sort of afterlife #oc weekend #wrote this like two weeks ago lmao #so ignore how erratic it is

[kisskissbanggang]

Young Wings

[6.8K Words/20min. Read -- Pilot!Bang Chan x Female Reader -- Fluff, Smut, Developing Relationship, Nervous Situations, Pantyhose, Grounded Flights]

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For all intents and purposes, you were having a pretty great morning, considering it was starting at 9:00 p.m. local time. Sea-Tac was a nice airport; not quite as nice as PDX with its straightforward layout and proximity to the city, but infinitely nicer than anything south of there on this coast. The new spinner luggage your parents had sent you for Christmas was still working like a dream, gliding over pavement and not getting stuck in escalator platforms. It also expanded, would come in handy on the off-chance you used a voucher to Miami and got to peruse the duty-free and discount shops not far from the airport (or from the beach.) You wouldn’t have many more mornings like this. This was your last month in the skies. Next month, you were starting a sparkling new desk job in administration. The idea sort of scared you, but the idea of leaving behind 9:00 p.m. mornings did sound nice. Nevertheless, you couldn't shake this prematurely homesick feeling, that leaving the skies would weigh on you like you were literally grounded. 

You grabbed a latte in your reusable mug from the only business still open for the night near your gate, a lonely and frazzled barista smiling gratefully at your tip as she wished you a good flight. There was no reason to doubt her -- it was going to be a good flight. You relished your opportunities to lead your cabin crew, especially on smaller flights where it was more like being with three friends for six hours. Even adding two more flight attendants made it feel more like being a club president, and always added an extra percentage of pressure. A nice, easy-going red-eye, a low pressure nonstop from Sea-Tac to Newark: a perfect start to your week. 

The gate was easy to spot, not only from having been through this airport multiple times, but from being the only gate overflowing with sleepy yuppies and bored college students. You held a quick huddle on the jet bridge, your small crew bright-eyed and as awake as they could manage. Veronica from San Francisco and Brian from Virginia had flown with you before, but Tia from D.C. was a new face and apparently only on her third month in the skies. You did a quick run-down of tasks before leaving Ronnie and Brian to make announcements and take tickets, before leading Tia down the jet bridge to help you set up before seating began. 

You wheeled your bags all the way back to the galley, stowing your luggage in the crew’s storage and getting a lay of the land on your way back up the aisle. Obviously, you'd been on plenty of airplanes, and an A320 was your bread and butter but, regardless, eyeing the bathrooms and emergency exits as your hands brushed the seat backs on your walk up the single aisle felt good. Plenty of people had their rituals, and yours just helped reinforce that even though this was work and work was hard, that people depended on you to do your job well. Really, the little ritual helped you love your job more with each flight. All in all, you would miss every part of it, the great with the awful. 

The intense musk of Aqua Velva hit the top of your sinuses like you inhaled water at the pool when you entered the cockpit, but it was the edge of menthol cigarettes that let you know who your pilot was before he even turned around. 

“Hey, Jay,” you greeted. 

“Hiya, kid,” he grinned back. 

Jay was nice, almost too nice for New Jersey, and you should've guessed he’d be here for a medium-haul back to Newark. The co-pilot, however, was new. Incredibly new. The young pilot slipped his cap off as he settled in and shrugged his jacket off, brushing his fingers back through soft waves of bleached blonde. His half-smile more resembled a smirk, with a small dimple in his cheek to boot. You knew the type. He probably started telling girls he was a pilot the moment he got out of high school. Probably bought all his flight time and didn’t have to waste time teaching to get more. 

“First Officer,” you nodded cordially, and he gave a friendly wave. That was a good sign. Some of these guys liked to imagine that they were a celebrity, even sitting on the right side. 

“Chan here is a baby,” Jay heartily laughed and slapped him on the back, “he might as well  just got his hours in. Lucky this isn’t his first day.”

“Right?” Chan chuckled lightly. 

“No, I mean for us,” Jay erupted into laughter, his head leaned back as he slapped the poor guy on the back again, “Nah, kid, I'm just kidding. It’s gonna be a good flight.”

“You’re in really good hands,” you nodded reassuringly. It was true. Jay was from a dying breed, a veteran that got his wings flying in the Air Force -- only, when his breed was first introduced, they’d flown props in Germany, not jets in Vietnam like he did. Regardless of how you felt about his role in it, you had to admit it gave the older man some grit, and a cool head under pressure probably since he first started. 

“Let the kid greet the passengers with you,” Jay suggested, “we're looking at a fifteen minute delay while we finish de-icing, and we'll get the pre-flight done with plenty of time. I never get to greet passengers pre-flight. And can I please get a coffee before take-off? Last I tried getting it myself Ronnie damn near bit my head off. ”

You couldn't say no, right? Not without looking like an absolute jerk. Chan stood tall next to you, his cap back on because the couple of kids on the flight would love it. A few regulars greeted you by name, already half-asleep. More reasons to love red-eyes: almost the whole cabin is out cold, even more so in the winter, it seemed. Almost no one to demand colder soda with less ice or not-so-secretly pinch you as you passed by in the aisle. You looked back over at the First Officer. He really couldn't be much younger than you -- he could really even be older than you -- but Jay was right. He was a kid as far as career time went. 

Your crew was batty as you finished the safety spiel and joined them in the rear of the plane. 

“Who's the new guy?” Brian asked as he buckled himself into the jumpseat. 

“An actual fetus,” Ronnie rolled her eyes, “did he hit on you?”

“Is he nice?” Tia asked curiously. 

“First Officer Chan is nice,” you assured everyone, “and Jay is up there handling everything, anyhow.”

“The Captain called me Kid,” Tia raised an eyebrow as she quietly grabbed some snacks out of her bag. 

“He calls everyone Kid,” Ronnie waved her off, “he only stopped calling himself Papa Bear a couple years ago.”

“Weird call sign, right?” Brian asked as he carefully sipped from his coffee during taxi. 

“Sure,” you shrugged, “but I've heard worse. He swears he got the name after saving some kids.”

“Really?” Brian laughed, “he told me it was from keeping a grunt with a broken leg safe in the jungle for three days until help arrived.”

You all shared a hushed giggle fit during take-off. Once you hit altitude, you unbuckled, grabbing Tia and leading her with you to First Class to take drink orders while Ronnie and Brian handled Economy. You made a big show out of taking a vote on whether or not to turn the cabin lights off, and wished everyone a goodnight when a unanimous amount of hands shot up. You rounded up drink orders from the few passengers still awake and reconvened in the rear of the plane to grab everything. Drink service now, then snacks halfway through, then cleanup at the end. Tia was thankfully adept with the beverage cart, careful not to knock any ankles on her way up and down the aisle. Everything went by breezily, satisfying you to no end as you locked up the carts in the galley and buckled back in. Thankfully, you might even be able to catch a brief nap before snack service. You slipped off your low heels, stretching your toes as you closed your eyes and let the pitch and roll of the plane carry you to sleep. 

The sensation that awoke you was something you’d only been familiar with in bed -- the distinct feeling of surprising yourself awake. The plane was rumbling through some turbulence. You sighed as you checked your watch and nestled back into your seat, grumbling about being woken up as the plane rocked hard again. More grumbles sounded down the aisle as some other passengers were awakened. You quickly unbuckled, getting up to press the seatbelt sign and get a look around before you sat back down. The cabin jostled and shook, making it difficult to fall back asleep. This would be hard to miss, you decided. The moment you were finally able to close your eyes, you were rudely awakened once again by another distinct sensation -- this time of falling in a dream, the sheer drop in your stomach feeling eerily familiar. Only problem was, you were falling. 

You couldn’t be sure how exactly how long the plane dropped. It could've been three seconds, five seconds. It couldn’t have been ten seconds, but it still felt like an astonishing amount of time. Clear air turbulence, you’d heard in passing. Plenty of people told you that if you flew long enough, you’d get to experience it. Even Jay mentioned it to you once or twice, you were sure. Your ass thunked hard into the jumpseat, the skeleton of the plane groaning around you as it regained momentum. The moment had passed but was still incredibly present. Masks had dropped, overhead bins had popped open, luggage strewn all over passengers and the aisle. A few passengers who had slept through everything without buckling their lapbelts -- you could see one, halfway laying in the aisle and groggily cursing after having been bounced into the short ceiling. Of course this only happened a month before you were leaving. Thankfully, Jay seemed to have gotten the plane back on track, and you could focus on getting this sorted. 

Jay. 

You’d still gotten no word from the cockpit. The least Jay would’ve done by now is beep the telephone headset in the galley to ask if everyone was alright. He’d done it in lighter conditions. Now you carefully unbuckled, rallying your crew to get to work. Everyone followed you down the aisle, stopping to get the lights on and tend to passengers as you made your way into the cockpit. Thankfully the most damage for the moment appeared to be spilled coffee, but to your curiosity, balance still seemed off in the cabin. You pushed open the cockpit door and gasped, finding Jay slumped in his seat, a concerning drip of blood congealing under a deep bruise on his forehead. In the right-hand seat, First Officer Chan was attempting to hold it together. He shot you a concerned and crazed look. 

“What happened?!” You asked, suddenly distressed as you kicked the door closed behind you and tended to Jay. 

“Turbulence, then clear air turbulence, and the Captain cracked his head on the steering console. I’m thinking it was the air coming off the Rockies as we passed.”

“Are you alright?”

“Fine enough, despite how fubar this whole thing is. How is it out there?” He asked. 

“Fine enough,” you agreed, “what about the plane? We need to get Jay to a doctor and I promise he’s not the only one.”

“I agree. I’m just trying to figure this out. We can ask for a gate at Great Falls.”

“Awesome, let’s do that.”

“But my monitors are telling me a turbofan is beginning to fail from the fall.”

“What’s closer?”

“Helena, I think? I've heard of it but never flown into it.”

“It’s worth a try. Ask ATC for a gate and I'm sure they’ll get you in there.” You turned to leave, to scramble your team and get everyone prepared for landing before Chan desperately reached back and grabbed for you, only managing to get ahold of the hem of your skirt.

“Please don’t leave,” he sighed, “I’m a mess and landing still makes me anxious for some stupid reason.”

“Not stupid,” you reassured him with a hand on his shoulder, “that’s why you put in all this time as First Officer first before anyone expects you to.”

“Here,” he looked over his shoulder and handed you a headset and a flight manual, “can you page ATC for me while I do this? I'm on the brink of losing it if I'm being honest.”

“Of course.” You patted his shoulder again, now feeling bad for being so judgemental before. You didn't know this guy, and he was turning out to be perfectly capable and reasonable. The headset crackled to life, getting ATC and explaining your situation before asking for a gate at the smaller airport. Once you got clearance, you weren’t far off. You paged back to the rear of the plane, finally getting Ronnie to pick up and catching her up to speed. It was reassuring to hear her voice behind you out in the cabin, beginning to prep and organize everyone for landing. 

“I wasn't listening,” Chan sheepishly admitted, “how bad is it out there?”

“Of 198 souls on board, all are still alive,” you paused with a smile at the relieved sigh spilling out of Chan’s chest, “there’s three apparent injuries, a couple broken pairs of eyeglasses… And the Captain.”

Chan grit his teeth for a moment. “Fine,” he said, “If the Captain is the worst then that’s the best I could hope for right now.” 

You pulled down the jumpseat behind Chan and stayed during landing and taxi, keeping a soft but firm hand on his shoulder, but you couldn't help but wonder why: were you comforting him or yourself? Thankfully, your landing kept you from dwelling on it. Despite his trepidation, his landing was excellent. Outside, the blinking white and red lights of ambulances could be seen on the tarmac. Most of your regulars grumbled as they exited the plane, already hurrying to find new flights. You gave Chan one more comforting squeeze on the shoulder. 

“Good landing, First Officer,” you smiled. His returned smile was small as you opened the cockpit door and were instantly pulled into a hug by your crew. You all deplaned, luggage in hand and watching solemnly as Jay was carted off by EMT’s. An older man with a badge approached you. Thankfully, not NTSB. Just higher-ups from the airline. It wouldn’t be a huge deal, just a quick interview with each of you. You looked back to see Chan emerge from the cockpit, backpack slung over one shoulder and cap in his hands when he got intercepted by an investigator of his own. 

The interview was simple. You were sleeping, you woke up to turbulence, the plane fell, you went to check the cockpit and found the Captain out cold, you helped the First Officer decide on the smaller airport based on the factors at hand. Before too long you and your crew were all assembled at the front of the airport, huddled against the frigid winter air and climbing into your comped rental car to your comped motel. The city was still quiet, and none of you were ready to sleep. Thankfully, a small bar down the street from the motel was still open, its red sign a beacon in the still of the night. 

Ronnie carefully nudged Tia in your booth. “You alright?”

Tia nodded. “Sure. Just a little shaken up still. Dumb, right?”

“Not at all,” Brian shook his head as he sipped his beer, “that was fucking terrifying. Never dealt with that before.”

“Dealt with it once,” Ronnie shrugged, “hated it even more this time. You’re not being dumb.”

“How bad was it out there?” You asked. 

“The woman in 14 was having a fit,” Brian laughed, “She couldn’t understand, could not comprehend why we had to divert, and the dude next to her is, like, unconscious. He’s literally just out, he passed out from during the fall and she’s leaning over him and getting snippy with me.”

“Oh my god,” Tia laughed into her vodka cranberry, “what did you do?”

“What you always do,” Ronnie butted in, “Remember this sentence, Tia: I’m sorry you feel that way; if you’d like you can explain your issue to the ticket agent once we land.”

“That works?”

“They either drop it by then or the ticket agent has no patience for it. Just get it out of the damn cabin, you know? We’re already in a tuna can, the least you can do is be civil.”

The night went on like this, but you still couldn’t bring yourself to drink. It didn’t feel like you had anything to celebrate, like you didn’t do anything to warrant a reward. 

“Anyone want to head back to the room?” Ronnie finally relented. 

“Me!” Tia piped up. “I’m bushed and I would love to lie down.”

“Alright, alright,” Ronnie smiled. 

You gathered up your bag to join when you spied someone at the bar. 

Chan. 

How long had he been there? He just sat on the barstool, pensively nursing a hardly-touched beer and staring at his cap on the bar top. You let out a heavy sigh. 

“You guys go ahead,” you offered, “I’ll catch up.”

Brian raised an eyebrow as he closed the tab, his eyes catching the reason for your delay. “Are you sure about that?” Nonetheless, the three burst into laughter and still left, bundled up in their coats against the harsh cold outside. 

You casually approached the bar, taking the seat that Chan’s backpack resided in. You gently picked up the bag, making sure he was seeing you out of the corner of his eye as you set it on the bar top to sit down. A bright red fabric tag caught your eye, REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT emblazoned across it in bright white with CHAN embroidered on the end. Cute. When you flipped the tag over, more casual script was stitched on the back. Good on ya, Chris. 

“Chris?” You asked out loud, audibly puzzled. 

“Yeah?” Chan finally turned to fully look at you. He raised an eyebrow at your confused face. 

“Wait,” you laughed, “what’s your name?”

“Oh my god,” he smirked, “you thought Chan’s my real name?”

“Of course I did!” You smiled and buried your embarrassed face in your hands, “Jay introduced you that way!”

“Jay was razzing me for the worst call sign on the planet when you came in.”

“It’s your call sign?!” You idiot, you silently admonished. He didn’t buy his flight time. He traded service for half the hours. 

“Horrible, right?”

“I’ve heard worse,” you smiled gently. 

“You didn’t see my name on the itinerary?”

“It said FO C. Bang,” you shrugged helplessly. Chan -- or Chris, rather -- watched curiously as you pulled out your wallet and placed a bill on the bar. “You don’t need a beer,” you shook your head, “you need to talk. Did you get a room at the motel, too?”

Chris nodded, watching as you picked his cap up from the bar and taking it hostage as you turned to leave. He quickly grabbed his bag and followed you as you marched out the door and onto the sidewalk back to the motel. 

“So that explains your name, but I still don’t get the accent. Australia? How did that work with the military?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, almost impressed, “moved here when I was younger. Immigration wasn’t the worst thing in the world for me, but it took forever. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to fly planes, and I knew military service got you half your hours. Got out, went to school, and started teaching businessmen for their private licenses.”

“The real grind,” you smirked. 

“Yup. They always get these planes that look better than they fly.” He stopped you for a moment on the sidewalk, grabbing his cap from your hand and placing it on your head. He grinned with satisfaction, the little dimple it caused looking cuter than it did earlier. “What?” He asked. Your look must’ve given you away. 

“Nothing, I--” you floundered, “I feel bad. I had you pegged wrong. When I met you earlier I had you figured for a rich kid who bought his hours.”

“Oh yeah?” Chris laughed. “Can't say I would've passed an opportunity to. But is that what made you a little… Cold?”

“Yes,” you winced at your admission, “if anyone has ever tried to pinch my ass or pull on my pantyhose or grab my skirt, it's businessmen or young pilots who think they’re hot shit.”

“Your pantyhose?!” Chris stared, visibly disgusted for you when you nodded. “I get it,” he shrugged reassuringly, “better to keep your guard up. How long have you been flying? Any tips you can give me?”

“I’m done next month, to be honest. It’s only been a few years but I think I’m ready.”

“No! You’re kidding. You think we’ll fly together again?”

“Well,” you blushed, “where are you based?”

“New York. I was going to deadhead to LaGuardia after Newark.”

“Makes sense. I'm based out of Sea-Tac. That’s where I'm starting my new job.”

“No!” Chris exaggeratedly sighed, “I can't believe it. You’re not flying anymore?”

“Nope,” you smiled, “grounded as of next month.”

“Bummer,” he shook his head, “you’re a champ. By the way, were you just walking me back to my room?”

You were caught entirely off-guard as you noticed you had accompanied Chris right up to his door, just a few doors down from where you were staying with everyone else. “What? No. I wanted to talk. You looked so out of it back there.”

“Well, we can keep talking in here, then.” Chris smiled, digging his room key out of his pocket and opening the door. You truly considered this for a second. This was a pilot, you were a flight attendant. However, he somehow seemed so helpless in this moment, so at the mercy of this dumb day. Or were you seeing things? No, his voice asking you to stay in the cockpit was still fresh in your ears, his panic as clear in your mind as he was now. You followed him inside and he set his backpack on the floor as he flipped on the lights, apparently not even having been inside the room until now. You followed suit, setting down your purse as well. 

“Was the interview alright?” You asked, pulling up a chair from the small table in the corner as Chris sat himself on the edge of the bed. 

He nodded nonchalantly, stretching and massaging the bridge of his nose. “Sure. Pretty standard stuff. ‘What happened’, ‘what did you do according to procedure,’ all the fun stuff. I was just worried about the Captain the whole time.”

“I don’t blame you,” you offered with a small smile, “But I wouldn’t worry. Jay’s pretty tough.”

“Of course, but… I dunno,” Chris paused, his eyes downcast as he chewed on his lip in thought. “Everything happened so fast. Alarms are going off, the Captain’s out, and all I could think of was how I didn't feel ready. I wasn’t ready for this to happen.”

“When would you ever be? What surprised you the most?”

“I guess… All the people on board. The pressure of almost 200 people depending on you. This wasn’t even a giant disaster but I was on the brink of not being able to handle it that whole time and I just felt like such a failure.”

“But you landed safely,” you sat forward in your chair. You were tempted to place a comforting hand on his knee, but was that too much? “Everyone’s alive. Why would you be a failure?”

“Flying planes was supposed to be it. The thing I'm going to do forever and be happy doing and be great at, but the first real test comes and I almost crumble. What do I do with that?”

“This is it? This is the ‘thing’?” You asked. This time you did rest a hand on his knee, but just for a moment. He regarded it thoughtfully before he nodded. “Then try again,” you continued, “The terrifying thing no one told us growing up was that finding your ‘thing’ isn’t a finish line. It’s not like you find it and that’s it. A lot of times it’s more like goalposts. You have to keep passing them and sometimes there's never a finish line, but you love it and that’s what matters.”

Chris smirked, his shoulders softening. He shrugged his coat and jacket off, laying them next to him on the bed. “You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m glad,” you grinned, “I'm sort of making it up as I go along. I thought being a flight attendant was it, too, but one day I woke up and I didn't feel at home in the skies anymore. I wouldn't worry too much, by the way. You’re a good pilot.”

“And you're a really good flight attendant,” he smiled. “Was today worse than any businessman trying to pull on your pantyhose?”

“Yes,” you laughed, “but it would've been even worse if that happened, too. Besides, nobody flirts with you? That’s discrimination.”

“Of course they do! Last week a very friendly old man in Reno squeezed my arm for way too long when we were deplaning.” 

“What, like this?” You asked, playfully leaning forward and grabbing his bicep. 

“Not quite,” he wheezed out a laugh, “you’re not massaging it and leering at me.”

“This feels gross,” you wrinkled your nose as you tried it, “I feel like a perv.”

“Good, you’re really in the mindset then. It’s weird how old people think this is effective.” You both shared a laugh but you couldn't help but notice the restless look in his eye. 

“You’re still out of it?”

He shook his head. “Stupid, yeah?”

“Not stupid. Here,” you offered with a proactive clap, “an actual tip. Grab the pillow and bring it down here.” Chris eyed you curiously as he grabbed the pillow from behind him. Quickly, you got up and turned on the bedside lamp before flipping the ceiling light off. You took the pillow from him and shooed him off the bed for a second as you pulled aside the covers, laying the pillow on the foot of the bed. “I’m going to sound crazy, but just try it. Lay down now.”

“This way?”

You nodded seriously. Chris silently challenged you, only for a second as he rolled up his uniform sleeves before climbing into bed, his feet up where his head would've been. You took it upon yourself to sit beside him and untie the laces of his masterfully shined shoes. He stiffly looked down his nose, regarding his wiggling feet as you set the shoes together on the floor next to his bag. You reached over and pulled the covers over him, lightly tucking him in for full effect. 

“This feels weird.” He observed. 

“Right?”

“Absolutely bizarre.”

“But it feels new, right?”

“It does. But it’s just a bed,” Chris marveled. 

“Of course it’s just a bed, but 99% of the time you sleep in it one way. I sort of use this as a manual reset, like after a week of back-to-back nonstops and I'm in a different time zone and I don’t even feel like a person. Now how do you feel?”

Chris paused, considering it. “Weirdly enough… A little clarified. Almost a little reorganized. I think you’re right about the reset thing.”

“Glad you think so,” you clapped again as you arose, dusting yourself off. “And I'm glad I could help.”

You turned to gather your purse. Would asking for a phone number be too much? After all, what if you wanted to check on him? A tug pulled you out of your consideration -- literally -- Chris finding the first thing he could reach: the hem of your skirt once again. 

“Wait! You're leaving?”

You smiled down at his hand as he sheepishly let go. “Sure. You feel better now, right? We need some sleep. Want one more tip?”

“Please?”

You took the shabby comforter of the bed and tucked him back in, momentarily musing that you were restraining him from keeping you here longer. “Okay,” you smirked quietly at his careful attention, “one last tip: you actually can get your own coffee, but I would prefer if your pilot friends would ask before just taking over the galley.”

“No!” Chris let out with a surprised laugh, “That doesn’t count!” 

“Sure it does. You'll learn plenty more on your own. Sweet dreams, First Officer Chan.” You tucked him in just a little more, placing a playfully chaste kiss to his brow as a final touch, a final word and a closed door on the feelings you were telling yourself weren't there as you turned to grab your purse. 

Until yet another tug caught your attention. Only this time, it was a gentle pinch at the fabric of your pantyhose. You turned halfway around, the silence in the room crushing you as you locked eyes. Wordlessly, curiously, obviously, you sat back down on the bed and let Chris sit up to kiss you. You admired how his lips didn't waver on yours, even as they lingered. He meant it. 

“What's that for?” You whispered against him. 

“I didn’t want you to go yet,” he whispered back with a small smile, “And you're still wearing my hat.” 

You eyed him carefully despite your blushing face, weighing these heavy possibilities, all while tamping down the wild urge to ignore everything and kiss him again. However, maybe this was just a case of accepting everything… And kissing him again. 

So you did. First, you slipped off his cap from atop your head and set it on the bedside. Then, placing a hand on his shoulder, you attempted to match his confidence as you pushed him back onto the bed, following him down as you kissed him, your lips tight against his before you ultimately softened. Thoughts swam in your head as he slid your coat free from your arms, letting it fall off the side of the bed and onto the floor. 

“Is this alright? Chris asked softly against you, his hands already ahead of the curve and wrapping around your waist. He gently hauled you over to lay on his chest. The way he handled you made you feel weightless, only adding to the floating feeling in your stomach. You gave a short nod. Your fingers lightly brushed his fringe from his eyes, trailing down his cheek as if you were still confirming for yourself that this was real, and you were really making this decision that you had  never made in this situation before. There had been other pilots, other flight attendants, and even the occasional customer, but nothing had ever passed this barrier before. So you crossed it again with another kiss. 

Chris appeared satisfied with your affirmation as he rolled you both over in bed, his knee almost cautious as it parted your legs. The old mattress creaked beneath you, cradling your shoulders as Chris placed a tentative kiss to the nape of your neck. You reached down, lifting the hem of your skirt a little so his hips could settle between your thighs. On their way back up, your fingertips stopped at his belt, unbuckling him and sliding the leather free from the loops. Chris’ lips on your neck paused as he picked himself up from your chest. He watched intently as you pulled at his shirt, untucking it before he intervened. You waited a moment, catching your breath as he loosened his tie and pulled it away from the pressed collar of his shirt. This joined the belt you had dropped off the side of the bed. Both your hands reached for the top buttons of each other's shirts, making your ways down. You weren't sure if Chris was aware of how cutely and obviously he was staring at the slope of your breasts still concealed by your bra, until you took his hand and laid it on your chest. He got the hint quickly, his warm fingers firmly caressing and gently groping you. He seemed almost easily distracted, finding new things to be fixated on as you intermittently kissed and gasped. This time, it was him watching intently as you lifted your hips to reach behind you, unzipping your skirt and pushing it down. He eagerly took over, pulling your skirt off for you, also dropping it off the side of the bed. He sat back, taking a moment to slide off your low heels. A pang of affection thumped in your chest as he almost absent-mindedly massaged each foot before setting your shoes on the floor beside his. Next came your pantyhose. He leaned forward, softly kissing your bent knee as he nuzzled his way up your legs. Finally, his fingers dipped beneath the taut waistband and he watched, almost transfixed as he pulled the meager layer off of you. The sensation was so exposing that the panties that followed almost felt inconsequential. 

You sat up, wondering and watching as Chris kissed his way back up your legs once again, the light tickle of his lips making you smirk as you slipped off the remaining layers of your blouse and bra. He was almost caught off guard, the pause in his Adam’s apple giving away the deep breath he took at the sight of you before shedding his opened shirt as well. He swiftly shucked off his slacks and socks, barely giving you an equal opportunity to admire him before he leaned down to place a gentle introductory kiss just below your navel. Your breathless nod was all he needed to finally taste you. You gasped at the feel of him moaning against you, his tongue making you shiver as you grasped at the bedsheets. 

Too eager to wait, any amount of time he took savoring you between your legs seemed to fly by before he came up for air, running the back of his hand across his chin as he crawled up between your thighs. His hips rested heavy on yours once more, only this time the clear sensation of his erection against your damp entrance was only made more apparent by the thin layer of his briefs separating you both. He waited again for your approval before making another move, his hand poised at his hip until you nodded. The feel of the head of his rigid length was smooth against you, prodding shallowly into your soaked heat. The simultaneous moan that erupted from both of you was fuel on the fire. Your open legs wrapped around his hips, your fingers curled into his hair as you pulled him in for a hungry kiss. Chris slowly rocked his hips, working his way deeper into you until he bottomed out. His groan against your neck was so satisfied, almost as endearing as he was himself. 

You almost felt impatient as he gently fucked you. You wanted more -- more control, more pleasure, more of him. He was surprised as you pushed at his shoulder, feeling empty as he slid out of you and onto his back beside you. You sat up and brazenly pulled his underwear the rest of the way off, taking charge in straddling his hips. This time, however, it was your turn to wait for him. He gave a small, almost timid nod as he watched you. You humored the thought that maybe this was just as different of an experience for him as it was for you. Chris threw his head back on the pillow at the foot of the bed as you eased the walls of your pussy back down onto him, his hand clutching onto your hip and the other grabbing onto your thigh as you slowly began to ride him. Your hips firmly rocked on top of his, drawing more groans and soft curses made under his breath. It didn’t take long for him to get accustomed to you enough that his hands could wander. Now, one groped at your breast and the other traveled up your thigh to between your legs, allowing himself full access to caressing your clit with the pad of his thumb. His eyes lit up at your response, moaning louder than you meant to as your depths clenched around him. Soon enough, the set in his clenched jaw matched his furrowing brow and it was a sight to be enamored with. The stir between your legs started to build heat up your chest like a chimney, your head getting light the further along he pushed you. Chris’s hips bucked up against yours and bounced you harder onto his length. 

He took it upon himself to nod first this time, breathlessly warning you of how close he was and you shook your head, begging him to hold off as your nails lightly raked down his chest. The way he smirked, biting at his lip as he thrust even harder against you, his thumb rubbing faster circles on your clit -- no one had so playfully pushed you to cum before. And it was working. You could feel your toes curling at the unstoppable force at which you were approaching this orgasm, and the way Chris insistently watched only made it all the more intense as you finally locked up, hitting your peak and nearly going limp in the process. The way it hit you, the sound almost dropped out as if you were submerged underwater. He quickly took over, clutching onto your hips now as he fucked into your dripping pussy. You were practically a useless doll with how easily he handled you on top of him, but at the same time he was still so gently firm with you that it was as if you were precious to him. Maybe you were, with the eyes he made at you, at least for now. He watched your blissful face desperately until the moment he couldn't anymore, wrenching his eyes shut and letting his head fall back into the pillow with the force of his own orgasm. 

As his hands released your hips, you exhaustedly curled into yourself on his lap, leaning your head down to wrap around him. Chris held onto you, his trembling matching yours in the wake of your climaxes. His arms hugged strong around your waist nonetheless, embracing you closely as his length gradually softened inside of your sensitive walls. You stayed like that, listening to each other breathe in the quiet of the dimly lit room. As you rolled over to lay at his side, Chris followed you, nuzzling into your chest. You tipped a fingertip under his chin and he looked up at you, his sleepy eyes wrapped up in you and almost reminding you of a puppy. 

He closed his eyes as you kissed his forehead, your fingers lazily stroking his hair as you kissed his nose, his chin, and finally his lips again. 

“What was that for?” He quietly laughed. 

“Congratulations,” you chuckled, “I've never done this before.”

Chris pouted cutely, his eyes still closed, “You're not regretting this already, are you?”

“Of course not,” you soothed, “I'm just surprised it happened. But I'm not surprised it was you.”

He smiled warmly, even in his half-awake state. “What happens tomorrow?”

“You mean today.”

“Tomorrow is tomorrow until I fall asleep,” he laughed, “so what happens then?”

“I'm going to visit Jay if I can,” you decided thoughtfully, “and I'll buy you breakfast at a greasy diner before I put you on a plane to LaGuardia and never see you again.”

“You'll never see me again?” His pout renewed in spades, only with a touch more sincerity to it this time. 

“Sure,” you kissed him with a smile again, “it's hard to keep you pilots on the ground long enough.”

Chris hummed in thought, his grin returning as he caught you challenging him. “Hmm, no.”

“No?”

“No. I'll see you again,” he decided, “You have more tips to show me. I'll be useless without you.”

“Fine,” you laughed. You grabbed the shabby comforter of the bed, bundling up with him where you still laid the wrong way in bed. “I won't say no to that.”

Chris smiled contentedly as you kissed his forehead once more. Your eyes joined his in closing now, softly falling asleep in each other's arms even as a new day was forming outside. The hectic night you'd had finally hit you, gracefully knocking you out as you considered the way you weren't as nervous about being grounded next month. Maybe you wouldn't truly be leaving the skies if he was still up there. 

#stray kids smut #stray kids fanfic #stray kids fanfiction #stray kids imagines #bang chan #bang chan breakdown #bang chan smut #hey siri!

[caroline18mars]

A Man On Fire - Chapter 80

Guacamole, nacho-sss, what else? Corn..duhhh who can live without popcorn? Got everything I think, check with Harper first, where is she? Finishing up his shoppinglist on his phone he strolled up the stairs, bedroom? Nope..ahhh there she is, he walked inside the room he had set up for her as her working space. “Babe, I’m going to the shops, is there anything you need?” he typed the last item on his phone, but when there was no reply, he quickly tucked it in his pocket, she sat crosslegged on the floor, above her a whole series of blank canvases. “Earth to Harper, come in Harper” he plopped down next to her, a little startled she looked up at him, she really had been on another planet it seemed, “I think I have a problem” she looked at him and then turned her head again staring at nothing in particular. “Oh? Tell me” he watched her scrunch up her nose, “I don’t think I can do this anymore” she sighed, “do what?” he shuffled a little closer, “paint” another deep sigh followed, this one even more serious than the previous one. “Huh? What do you mean?” he frowned, he totally didn’t get it, “I’ve been sitting here for hours and I just can’t do it anymore..nothing comes, I just don’t know what to paint about anymore..see, I was right, LA numbs any creativity or inspiration” she threw her hands up in despair.  “Heyheyhey” he folded his arm around her shoulders “you’ve only been in LA for what? 48 hours? I really don’t think LA is the problem” he kissed her cheek, “I just think you need to get out of the house, wanna come grocery shopping with me? It might distract you”. Some fresh air was better than being cooped up “sure, yeah..but I think I might be in desperate need of ice cream afterwards” she shrugged and nodded, “ice cream? I can definitely do that” he kissed her again and shot up, pulling her up with him.

Harper was an added bonus to the tedious grocery shopping, every other section they walked through she would grab something he had never heard of or tried and put it in his basket, he had always wanted to learn more about real Italian food, so that was something to cross off his bucketlist now that he was in a relationship with a fiery Italian badass who clearly knew everything about Italian cuisine. And then there was the added bonus of watching her float through every aisle, it was like her feet barely touched the ground, she twirled, stood on her tippytoes, almost danced her way through, she was just the most breathtakingly beautiful creature he had ever seen, he wanted to scratch out the eyes of all the men walking by who were shamelessly checking her out, fuck off, she’s MINE, all MINE. Her mind was still racing, no matter how much she tried to distract herself with shopping, had she really hoped that this kind of stupid distraction would get her to paint again? That it would bring her inspiration? Really? You’re a goddamn loser, Coco, ok so you had one hit with that collection, but it turns out now that you’re nothing but a one-trick pony. “Babe? Do you want vanilla? Babe?” Jared waved a pint of ice cream in front of her, “huh? Vanilla? Oh Jared, I thought you had more imagination in you than just plain vanilla, Dulce de Leche on the other hand” she pushed in front of him to take her favorite flavor out of the freezer “is a whole different, more exciting ballgame” and put the carton in his basket before she floated away again. Something’s up, he could tell “wanna talk about it?” he followed her into the cleaning products aisle, “still fretting about your painting?” he stepped between her and the series of multi-purpose cleaning products, “no!..why?” she so didn’t want to talk about this, this was her problem, not anybody else’s, not even Jared’s. “Oh I don’t know, maybe the fact that you seem so absentminded..” he put his hands on her shoulders, “I’m not..I’m absolutely fine and now we’re here anyway, I think you need kitchen cleaner” she pulled out a random brand of the stuff and dumped it in his basket before she hopped off again, her way of putting down her boundaries and wanting to sort whatever was bothering her out with herself first.

”Wanna go for a coffee?” he tried piercing her bubble again as they were putting all the groceries in the back of the car, “there’s a cool place right across the road” he tried to make eyecontact with her, “sure” she shrugged. Hearts appeared in a woman’s eyes, a jaw dropped here and there and whispers started as they made their entrance, yeah I know I’ve got a gorgeous man, have a good look and don’t get too depressed when you realize he’s only got eyes for me, yay me!. An arm firmly wrapped around her waist, he almost paraded her around the coffeeshop, he’d never been so open about any of his relationships before, but so much had changed, she was the real deal, what on earth had he been thinking only focusing on models in the past, arm candy that’s all they were. Coco was beyond arm candy, plus she was so talented, plus she was highly intelligent..everything was PLUS with her, this woman..well he simply wasn’t worthy of all that beauty and soul, for the first time in his mature life, he believed in..LOVE. “Ah, I love a real gentleman” she giggled as he pulled her chair back, something he always did when they were out in public, but it was still surprising and if she was honest she adored it, it was that old fashioned bit of manners that this world craved so much. “So..?” he started as he sat down opposite of her, but immediately got interrupted by his phone bleeping incessantly, “what?” he frowned and grinned at the screen and started tapping ferociously. “Just a sec..” the tip of his tongue locked between his teeth in amusement as the wooshy ‘sent’ sound made him put down his phone and he grabbed her hand “ok..talk to me, your painting..” but then another ‘beep’, bye bye pouring your heart out, he was completely distracted. “I’m sorry..” he grabbed the phone again and started texting back but when he was still tapping 5 minutes later she got up “I’ll be waiting in the car, ok?”, stay calm Coco, it’s not that big a deal, you didn’t really want to talk about your troubles anyway. Two minutes later, he came running after her on her way to the car “Coco, honey, I’m so sorry..wanna go back and have that coffee after all? I’m all yours now I promise” he grabbed her arm, “nahh, it’s alright, don’t worry, let’s just go back home because that ice cream is probably melting as we speak and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s melted ice cream” no, it’s not ok what you did, and yes my feelings are a little bit hurt, but am I gonna let it show? Hell no! It’s not that big a deal I guess, so come on Coco, just snap out of this funk you’re in.

”I really didn’t mean to ignore you, I just got news that some of my best friends are coming over tonight, just a little get-together, they’re all dying to meet you” he put one hand on her thigh while the other steered the car through the hectic LA traffic. “Oh..ok!” uh-oh, big step this, meeting the friends, well I guess it was only a matter of time before that would be on the agenda, “you’ll love them and they’ll love you, I’m so looking forward to this”, will I? ah well, you know them better than I do. “What is it? you’re awfully quiet” he squeezed her thigh while she tried to look as happy as was physically possible, “Nah, I’m ok..it’s just that..well, you know what an awkward and anti-social animal I am around people” she looked out of the window to hide the nervous blush on her cheeks. The more I think about it, the less I want to do this, I’ll act all awkward and weird again, and these are Jay’s people he’s known for a gazillion years, bleeeghhh!.  “You’re not anti-social or awkward, babe, you’re just your beautiful reserved self, it’s a European thing that us Americans really love, so stop stressing, just go with the flow” he grinningly leaned over the midconsole to push a kiss on her shoulder. Go with the flow, go with the flow, what flow? No, stop it! don’t overanalyze, these people all love Jared and he loves them, so do your best for once to try and get to know them at least, maybe getting to know other people will work a miracle on this lack of inspiration. Jared looked at her nervously biting her lip, “so..it’s just you and me in this car now, so come on, out with it babelicious, let’s talk about what is actually bothering you”, ah he’s offering, come on just spit it out, it’ll make you feel better. His phone ringing again spoiled that party though, don’t pick up, don’t pick up, don’t..a pair of puppy eyes stared back at her while his thumb hovered over the screen, nooooo.. “hey Chloe” he connected the call while his mouth silently formed an ‘I’m sorry, I have to take this’, “hey beautiful” a female voice danced through the car.

If the phone conversation he and this Chloe had in the car was anything to go by, then tonight didn’t promise anything good, goodness could that woman waffle on about nothing at all..airhead much? Stop judging a book by its’ cover, Coco, maybe she’s not all that bad. She let herself slide out of the car “you ok?” he leaned in for a kiss as he opened the boot, “better than this poor ice cream which I’m going to save right now, if there’s anything left to save” she picked a couple of bags out of the car and started walking back to the house. Oh, she’s annoyed alright, pray that tonight will go well, he grabbed the rest of the bags and followed her up to the house, where he found her in the kitchen hugging the fridge “operation rescue ice cream finished, all we can do now is hope for the best” her words made him giggle. “I take everything I said about you not being awkward, back” he pulled her away from the fridge and folded her in his arms “god woman, have you any idea of how much I love you?” he kissed the top of her head. “And do you know you’re actually the only living and breathing person who’s actually said that to me? And have you any idea how sad that actually is?” her warm breath danced against his chest but her confession still gave him chills, it was barely fathomable that not even her parents had ever told her how precious and special and lovely she actually is. “Shhh, wanna know what sad is? Me, in my forties, confessing that I’ve said my ‘I love you’s’ in the past and this being the first relationship where I actually mean those words from the bottom of my heart” he breathed. Suddenly she started to move, swaying in his arms like she was dancing while the silence of the house surrounded them “What are you doing?” he grinned and frowned at the same time as he looked into her eyes, “I’m dancing, is that not obvious? And you’re dancing with me..I just thought that since we’re on a confessing streak here, I might as well confess that I love spontaneous dancing in any part of any house with my boyfriend, I’m a real livingroom or kitchen dancer” she looked at him like it was the most normal thing in the world, oh the mischievous tomboy part of her personality he loved so much, was back, yay!. “But there’s no music..” he giggled, taking the lead in the dance, “oy Leto, aren’t you supposed to be the rockstar here? Because if you are you should always have a tune or two twirling around that pretty head of yours..so why don’t you take the lead here?” she let herself twirl on his hand. “Ok smartass..let’s see what I’ve got..” he pretended to think as he pulled her back against his chest while they kept swaying in a slow dance and then he started a soft, murmured Frank Sinatra version of his own song “Rescue me from the demons in my mind, rescue me from the lovers in my life, rescue me rescue me, whatever you do, don’t ever lose your faith…”. Her head rested against his chest and listening to the sound of his voice and his breaths reverberating in there was simply intoxicating, you’re forgiven for being a bit of a douche today, floppy hair, you’re so forgiven, I love you so much.

#jared leto #Jared Leto Fanfic #jared leto fanfiction #a man on fire #chapter 80 #30 Seconds To Mars #30secondstomars #30 secondstomars fanfic #Harper and Jared #Harper Coco #caroline18mars

[littlemeowmeowschimmy]

Smile ~ [Jungkook x Reader]

credit: littlemeowmewschimmy

Requests opened // m.list 

Genre: Spoopy(?) // Batman AU // Angst 

WC: 2.2k 

Summary: Walking alone in Gotham is dangerous, walking alone at night, is your worst nightmare

A/n: The reason this isn’t a fully fleshed out idea is that I wanted to give y’all a taste. If anyone wants to read more or wants me to finish this in part two, I will. However, because it is Halloween, I thought it would be cool to write an open-ended Joker Jungkook one shot :) 

»»————-　★　————-««

“Stupid heals,” you mumbled under your breath, hobbling your way back to your apartments. Your fluffy wool coat wrapped around your shoulders as you were trying to keep as much warmth as you possibly could. Walking the streets of Gotham was dangerous during the day, however, at night, they were worse. You didn’t know who would come out, if the police would be there in time, or if you could run away fast enough. 

It certainly didn’t help that you had too much to drink, so your body was already unstable as it was. You moan under your breath, still holding your jacket close to your body. How you ended up like this was because your friend invited you out tonight. It was Halloween eve, and she said you weren’t going to stay inside. Not after last year when you broke up with your boyfriend. 

You hadn’t realized it right away, but it had been a year since that toxic relationship. You were slowly starting to pick your life up where he destroyed it. Yet, there were still habits you had obtained from his toxicity. How you viewed yourself in the mirror and barely left the house was one of them. Your job was an online teacher, so the comfort of your home was always lovely. 

But when he was around, it felt like a cage. Since that cage was gone and you were free, you felt the need to stay comfortable inside. Your friend, bless Jimin’s heart, was just trying to get you out of there. He knew how rough it was for you and wanted you to feel special. Plus, he wanted you to meet some of his friends because he enjoyed them and thought they would be a perfect match. 

You couldn’t believe what he was doing, but then again, Jimin was always spontaneous. You lost him in the crowd during the middle of the night and couldn’t find him. Then, your left heel broke, and you were just over it. So instead of wobbling around the disgusting club, you decided to walk home. Your apartment wasn’t that far, and you knew you would make it back. 

Yet, with one heel on and the other off, it made things more interesting. You were dodding puddles, holes, and other traps that would make you topple over. In doing so, you kept your head somewhat bowed as you wanted to watch where you were heading...and yet that didn’t stop you from worrying about how late it was. 

Most crimes usually happened pass midnight because that’s when everyone was going home. Someone could and would take advantage of a pretty woman walking down the street who looked extremely helpless. It didn’t help that you didn’t have any of the productive gear that your father gave you before moving from your small hometown to Gotham. Yet, you were thankful to your mother, who followed you up on those self-defense classes after the incident of ‘07.

 “Stupid Jimin thinking that it was a good idea to go out tonight,” You grumbled once again, looking up at the street to see if you needed to turn or not. You held your arms closer to your body while you crossed the road. Head still bowed, making sure that you weren’t going to trip over anything. Then it automatically hit you, like physically hit you. 

Your body froze, unaware of what was going on. Your drunk mind was trying to process everything and figure out what your hands and legs should do, but nothing was happening. Instead, you felt an intense arm wrap around your body, the other around your face. Their fingers walking up to your neck and around your throat. 

Cocking your head back and placing a cold metal object against your skin. You assumed it was a knife for how it dug into you, but you couldn’t quite tell. A soft whimper escaped your drunk mouth while your eyes were fixated on the figure in front of you. 

“This isn’t funny, Joker,” a gruff voice came from the man. You scrunched your eyebrows together, unaware of who he was talking about. Then, it all hit you. The fit of giggles that came from behind you chilled your body to the bone. From the corner of your eye, you saw his pale skin and dyed green hair slide right beside you. 

Even though you could only see a part of him, you already knew what his face looked like. It was edged into your memory from the day you told your parents you were moving to Gotham. His oval-like face that was always caked in white clown makeup with those mono-lids that usually had different shapes painted over them. 

His wild eyes always bore into whoever saw his picture, and they stayed in their nightmares. Wild, unkept dyed green hair is usually what stood out to most people when seeing him for the first time. But it was when he laughed or spoke that had everyone frozen in their spots. 

“And what are you going to do about it, Bats?” His venomous words biting back at who you assumed was Batman. All the things that could have happened, who it could have happened to.... it had to be you. The universe was just telling you that tonight wasn’t your night, because now you had more significant problems to face. 

“She has nothing to do with this,” 

“But she’s pretty, isn’t she?” Joker coos flattening the knife against your throat. You felt your heart beat faster in your chest while standing there, trying to figure out what you were going to do. Everyone who had crossed paths with Joker never made it out alive. And even if they did, they were too afraid to speak about the events that occurred. 

“Just like my Harley Quinn,” he hums, tapping the cold metal against your skin. “And yet,” his voice darkens. “My Quinn didn’t want anything else to do with me.” he bites the last part, shifting the hold on his knife to the other hand. 

Quickly, he snatches your chin with his grasp, turning your head so you could face him as he walks in front of you. Those pictures you saw on television, in the newspapers, they were nothing compared to how he looked in front of you. 

You could see the scars littered across his face, his eyes darker than coal. That clown makeup caked onto him so no one could see what his true identity was. No one even knows what his name was other than “Joker.” He was mysterious, and he liked to keep it that way, and now, he had you held under his grip like it was nothing. 

“I wonder if this pretty doll would like to become the next Quinn,” he sings, bringing the knife up to your lips and pressing the tip down on the bottom half. As he does so, he lets out another fit of giggles, then turns his head to face Batman, who was inching himself closer. 

“Atata~” Joker’s sing-song voice came out again. “Any closer Bats, and I’m going to carve a smile on her face.” pausing so he could face you now. “Because a pretty smile always brightens my mood!” Batman breaks where he stood, watching the interaction between you and Joker. He was trying to formulate a plan before everything got messy. 

Batman, more commonly known as Kim Namjoon, was chasing after this lunatic tonight. Joker had escaped Akharm for what seemed like the 100th time. Namjoon never really understood how he kept escaping, but that was beside the point. He had a plan to destroy the city and ultimately kill him in the process. One thing he was trying to stop this evening, but as he was chasing him, you suddenly came into view. 

Namjoon was too late to push you out of the way because the next thing he knew, Joker already had his arms around you. Now, he was trying to get you out of a situation that he created. From Namjoon’s point of view, he knew that you were intoxicated and now frightened out of your damn mind. If you knew any self-defense, Namjoon wanted you to try it. Save yourself and run, but he also knew what alcohol could do to a person. 

Mix it with the fear of Joker and a situation you never thought you’d find yourself in, and Namjoon could understand why you were frozen. Namjoon was going to say another warning, but he was caught off guard when a smoke bomb burst in between you and Joker. That’s when he reacted and jumped forwards, holding his tazer in one hand. 

But was instantly kicked to the side by one of Joker’s henchmen. Then it all made sense to him. Joker was buying time to escape by drawing this scene out. As Namjoon rolls onto his feet, he notices that not only was Joker gone

But you were as well. 

»»————-　★　————-««

Jungkook had better things to concern himself about than having an unconscious woman on his bed. Last night he was getting real close to finally take Bats down, but you suddenly ruined the plan. Now he had to work around keeping you fed and captive, while also making sure Bats doesn’t charge into his hideout. 

Jungkook wipes the makeup from his face, tossing it the wipe to the side. He never showed what was underneath to anyone, not even Harleen. Yes, most believed that his skin was bleached due to the amount of stage makeup he wore, but it was only just to cover his identity. How he started his line of work only by accident. He got into the wrong crowd at the wrong age and went insane. 

Or that’s what his mother would’ve had said, but he buried her six feet underground to shut her up. Jungkook loved who he was, and he liked what he was doing. Nothing would phase him, and the doctors at Arkham were so dull, to begin with. What he did enjoy was electric therapy, flushing his brain out even more. 

It helped keep the demons at bay when solitary confinement was too much. One of the bigger reasons why Jungkook escaped Arkham so many times was simply because he wanted to have fun; he needed to have fun. Not being able to see good old Bats’ face was lonely, and he tried to blow anything and everything up. 

Jungkook glances at himself in the mirror and frowns at the gash that was across his cheek. Batman did get him well last night, maybe this time he cut deep enough to leave another scar. He places a couple of fingers on the somewhat fresh wound, groaning a bit. Jungkook turns around when he hears you stir on his bed. 

He quickly spins around, trying to find a mask to cover his face. But it was too late, your eyes met, and you promptly shuffled yourself back to the head of his bed. You were still in your golden dress, your heels were tossed the minute Jungkook stepped through. At first glance, you didn’t recognize Jungkook. He looked so different from his makeup off, but when you saw his dyed hair, you ultimately realized who it was. 

“What do you want with me?” You start trying to find some kind of confidence. Jungkook stands there, glaring down, his hands in his purple suit pockets. He doesn’t say anything, only turns to walk away from his vanity. 

“It’s not you that I want anything with,” He spits heading over towards his closet to shrug off his tailored jacket. He hangs it, his back facing you as you held onto whatever you first grabbed. It was an Egyptian cotton sheet. Like that would save you from anything. “Good old Bats will find us soon, and you’re just the piece to the game,” he mentions, merely shrugging his shoulders. 

You furrow your brows together, unaware at first where he was coming from. Then, you bit your lower lip shifting yourself one more time. As you do so, Jungkook makes another noise from deep inside his throat. “I wouldn’t do those sweets,” he says, craning his neck to look over his shoulder. “If you’re thinking about killing me,” pausing to turn around. 

Jungkook stood with his purple suit pants, orange vest, and green long sleeve that he started to roll to his forearm. “I’ll have your body six feel blow even before you grab the gun.” he threatens his voice darkening as his eyes flash with pure amusement. 

You didn’t know what to say to that or what to do next. You felt trapped and unaware of what could happen next. Especially with the rumors you’ve heard about his ever-changing personality. You fold your legs back onto the bed, eyes still locked on Jungkook’s. 

He walks forwards, humming as he does so. A child’s nursery theme, you couldn’t think off right away. Then, Jungkook leans forwards and places his index finger under your chin. Lifting it while his eyes glowed brightly with his own amusement. “Now be a sweet doll and don’t cause Joker any trouble.” he purrs his words like venom. 

“I wouldn’t want such a pretty face to go to waste~” his high pitched laughter haunting you while he slowly moves from the room. 

#littlemeowmeowschimmy #bangtanarmynet #ficswithluv #btswriterscollective #bangtan #bts #batman au #bts batman au #halloween #bts halloween #bts reader insert #reader insert #jungkook #jeon jungkook #jeon jungkook x reader #joker jungkook #jungkook x reader

[commander-hanji-zoe]

Mike Request (if you do something like this) instead of Mike, Reader gets into the situation of Zeke (the place where Mike died) Mike comes to Reader to find her and finds her in the situation. I'll leave it up to you whether Reader dies before Mike's eyes or whether she survives

Thank you for this request. Sorry it’s taken a few days to write but I hope you enjoy. I was intrigued to write it with the reader dying at the end but the world what it is right now & mental health not being great, trying to write that was a bit much for me, so I hope this is okay! I also wrote it so there was somewhat of an emotional attachment (potentially romantic) between the two, but not necessarily so. I’m a big fan of both romantic and platonic relationships being very close/showing each other how you feel. 

The grass was alive, you’d never noticed just how many life forms inhabited each small square until now. Wildflowers for as far as the eye could see, the scent of them carried on the wind. There, you smell it? You inhaled sharply through your nose if you tried to focus hard enough you could imagine you were free. That you were anywhere but here. That it was late spring and you were sat by the river with fellow scouts, laughing and mucking around, your friends nudging you when Mike walked past knowing how much you liked him. The thought put a small smile on your face, just a moment though, a heart beat and then the foul breath of the beast in front of you brought you back down to earth.

So this is where it ends. You always knew from the moment you joined the Scouts and vowed to give your heart, you knew this was a possibility and that death in battle was likely but somehow you never pictured it would be quite like this. Alone, immobilised, unable to even really fight till the very end. The smell of rot & decay permeating the air around you. You thought of Erwin’s rousing speeches and how much you believed in him, how you’d been ready to die for him, for humanity. That was still the case wasn’t it? Panic surged through you as you looked up at the strange titan ahead of you. He turned your ODM gear over in his hands, you could hear him talking, knew it was the same language you spoke and yet when your mouth opened to speak back nothing but hot air escaped.

Your eyes closed, scrunched up as you fought back tears. Your hands and feet had gone numb and it wouldn’t have surprised you if you’d pissed yourself. It seemed you’d lost all control over both your body and mind. 

As Mike approached the Beast Titan from a distance he saw you on the floor, your ODM gear in the hands of the giant. For a second he froze, struck by the horror and incomprehensible situation in front of him, the beast was speaking and he could understand. You, you seemed so helpless and small to him, you who he had taken such an interest in your skills proving you were more than capable of taking care of yourself. Mike thought about the jokes you’d shared on a few rare occasions you spoke alone, the glance you’d give him when he passed you. He calculated his options, there had to be a way to save you surely? He was second only to Levi, he could do this.

His heart pounded in his chest as he started to move towards you, he could make it, he could save you from his living hell and the two of you could escape. He believed in it, he had to or else he wouldn’t have given into the desire for such a suicidal charge. 

You thought about Mike’s last words, about humanity only loosing when they give up fighting, no you would not give up, not now. You screamed a primal scream as you raised your swords and charged for the beast titan. And then, you heard them move, the titans behind you, the beast turned uninterested in your war cry. No. No amount of screaming would save you as the titans closed in around you. They had you surrounded there was no way out you were trapped, it wasn’t supposed to end like this was it? 

Several grabbed for you at the same time, you tried to move but fear had you frozen to the ground, you were screaming now over and over begging them not to hurt you as they lifted you into the air. Blinding heat seared through your shoulder as you felt one bite into you arm, the pain unbearable as you howled your arm ripped from your socket. The others were pulling at you, any second now and you’d be ripped apart and they’d be nothing left, choking on your own sobs you tried to make peace with your past and then a familiar sound rang past your ears. A swoosh and a slice, metal against titan flesh. A familiar cry of anguish, a challenger from a soldier who was tired and done with the never-ending battle. 

The pain dulled as your eyes flickered, you tried to focus on the light as you fell to the ground. The ringing stayed inside your head as blood rained down from above. The grass felt so soft underneath you, wildflowers, violets you would have guessed. 

You felt someone take hold of you, raising you up from your grave and a second later the cooling breeze welcomed you home as you were carried back up to the safety of the rooftops. When you opened your eyes Mike was there looking over you, holding you tightly in his arms. He ripped off his cloak and used it to tie round the bleeding stump in an attempt to stem the bleeding until you could seek proper medical attention. You’d never seen him look so concerned or determined, his brows furrowed as he tied the material. His other arm still round you, finger tips gently stroking your skin as he spoke softly. 

 “I’ve got you, you’re safe. You’re safe with me now,” he said as he pressed a kiss to your forehead, it didn’t matter that you were covered in blood he just needed you to know. But you knew when you heard him inhale through his nose as he bent down, when he smelt your hair, you heard him say, “buttercups,” under his breath. 

You knew the Beast Titan was still close by and it was likely he would realise what had happened. You weren’t out of the woods yet, but a tranquility washed over you, the pain dulled and it didn’t matter to you then if you lived or died, you weren’t alone, you wouldn’t die alone and neither would Mike if that was where your destiny lay. 

Mike stroked your hair a few times, you struggled to open your eyes but managed just so you could see his face. The tears in his eyes didn’t lie, nor did the trace of a smile on his lips. 

A moment later he was stood up, scooping you into his arms and close to his chest as he did so, “We need to get out of here quickly.”

You did your best to nod, how terrible it was now to feel like a burden but also that tenderness such a sweet release from the nothingness that was about to befall you. You heard the sound of Mike’s ODM gear and a second later you were in the air, a few moments later Mike had you on his horse and jumped up behind you. As his horse galloped away, Mike’s arm pulled you close to his chest, his hand surely must have felt your heart beat. You nuzzled back into him as you felt sleep begin to take over, the steady rhythm of the hooves lulling you into what you knew could be a false sense of security. 

Yes, you knew the Beast Titan was behind you somewhere, but ahead was home and back-up. Ahead were your family and you knew with Mike protecting you somehow you’d both make it home wouldn’t you? Such a beautiful dream it would be a waste for you to wake up now. 

(I’m leaving it up to the reader to decide whether they manage to escape or not. I like to think they do though I’m pretty sure the Beast Titan would notice, either way - if they escape that’s lovely, if they don’t then at least Mike doesn’t die alone).

#Mike Zacharias #mike zakarius #snk #aot #mike/reader #writing #mine #requests #This made me sad

[lonelypond]

Soldier Game: Operation LA Smile

NicoMaki, Love Live, 5.2K, 1/?

Summary: Soldier Game is called in to protect a team of fashion designers who have been assigned to smuggle scientific data into a hostile United States. Working as models requires a new skillset and Nishikino Maki's first encounter with Yazawa Nico explodes with tension.

ROUND ONE

Sprawling government complex. Full of busy offices, tracking numbers and citizens, calls and meetings being held in a variety of languages. Competent, concerned, efficient bustle. Take a left at the Innovation For A Cool Earth Liaison office, down a very quiet hallway, and take an elevator to the second floor, where the lights were lower, and noises of grunting and bodies falling could be heard. Third door to the right was slightly ajar and inside, Tojo Nozomi, long purple hued hair in a very professional ponytail, had printouts spread all over her desk. And the latest fashion magazines in a row at the top like a barricade. And on her very very secure government issue but Nozomi tweaked to make it even more secure laptop the message from RiceQueen, pleading for help biohacking a prophylactic treatment for the coronavirus. Nozomi’s supervisor stared at her from the doorway.

“Come inside and close the door.” Nozomi shut her laptop, “I’ve read through all the files you had forwarded..

The Deputy Minister nodded and shut and locked the door. “And your conclusion?”

“I think we should go through artistic channels rather than our usual operatives.” Nozomi waved at the chair opposite her.

“What do you mean?”

Nozomi slid a magazine toward the Deputy Minister, open to a page with the latest collection from FeatherSmile Designs. Intricately woven graphene fabric that lit up with neon kanji. “We would have to upgrade their tech, but I think they could carry the message effectively.”

“But they’re not agents. We’d be putting civilians at risk.”

“We give them minimal details and protection. I’d need Soldier Game.”

The Deputy Minister nodded. “They’ve been on standby for months so that wouldn’t be a problem.”

Nozomi glanced at her laptop. “I’ve built a personal relationship with our US contact. I’d like to be involved.”

“That’s unusual.” A tilt back in the chair. Nozomi was starting to lose her audience.

“She’s very skittish.”

“It is difficult to get US visas.”

“For a mini movie in LA? The Governor has negotiated higher threshholds for funded projects. Here’s my plan.” Nozomi handed over a folder that had been marking a particular fashion spread. “We bring FeatherSmile in under the cover of assisting with increasing the positive response to Japanese businesses and citizens. I have a contact in California we’ve used before, Kousaka Honoka.”

The Deputy Minister read the plan over, “Bold thinking, Tojo. May be useful on several fronts. I’m impressed.”

Praise for the obvious wasn’t something Nozomi wasted time over. “People are dying, ma’am. Ignorance and bigotry are on the rise. And someone has asked us for help.”

“So what’s our first step?”

“Contact Yazawa Nico and Minami Kotori. Bring them in. And inform Soldier Game of their new assignment. I’d like to see them on some photoshoots now, rolled out over the next two weeks in separate locations. Maybe one of them vacationing in the middle of celebrities. Send Nishikino for that. She’s got the status.”

The Deputy Minister typed quickly into her phone, “Anything else.”

“I’ll be taking my driver.”

“Of course.”

“I have a list of gear we’ll be needing. I’ll put Sonoda on that and let Rin assist.”

“Then I’ll put Ayase and Nishikino in the field this week while Sonoda preps.”

“Perfect.” Everything on Nozomi’s list had been checked off. Now to talk to the tech team about upgrading FeatherSmile’s textile output.

###

Nishikino Maki, bright red hair under a floppy straw hat, stretched out on the chaise, her book next to her, the sun hot against the skin exposed by her bikini. And then the waiter’s shadow blocked her light. She tipped up the hat, with a snarl, “Just leave it on the table.”

The waiter nodded, placing the tall glass. Maki held up a finger to keep the waiter’s attention, reached over, picked up the glass, and sipped.

“Too salty.’ Maki spat in the sand. A murmur of horror rippled down the row of seats. “Take it back. Tell your master mixologist that Bloody Marys should let the tomato juice shine.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And you’d better be back here before I finish this chapter.” Maki picked up her book and took her sunglasses off, “Management fires my least favorite employee each and every day. Survival of the fittest.” Maki winked. “Or the cutest.”

Next to Maki, a banking dynasty scion fresh from the London School of Economics rolled her eyes at the vapidness of the idle rich. Nishikino had landed in Hawai’i last Thursday and by the weekend had been spoken of in terror by hotel staff members all across the Big Island.

 ###

Ayase Eli, blond hair in a tight bun, stretched, laying back across the barre, smiling at the smaller woman waiting next to her. “It’s been too long since I’ve had a job with a full dance studio.”

“Oh, are you a dancer?”

“Trained in Russia.” Eli’s tone was polite enough but something in the icy blue of her eyes encouraged the other woman to shuffle farther down the barre. Eli did another perfect move, “It’s great that dance is having such a strong surge. I’m hoping to get a job on a movie in LA or something.”

“Oh, that’d be cool. It’s hard to get work in the US now, with their strict visa limits.” The smaller dancer moved from first to third position.

Eli leaned forward, relaxing, watching herself in the mirror, “But haven’t you always dreamed about Hollywood?”

“Who hasn’t?” The other dancer dropped into a full plie.

###

Sonoda Umi had the supply list memorized, with her own additions. Soldier Game had their own preferences. Dressed in a simple black pantsuit, light blue shirt, gun holster hidden, Umi swiped the pattern that opened the door for her. A clerk greeted her.

“Sonoda-san.”

Umi glanced at the nametag, “Fujioka-san. Please inform Tojo-san that I will meet her driver in the Armory.”

A bow and Umi moved through the checkpoint. That was one of Umi’s favorite things about having to work from Headquarters. There were no unnecessary conversations, everyone prided themselves on efficiency and detachment, Umi felt not at home, but at work. Which was one of Umi’s more productive places. And Umi’s productive places were Umi’s happy places.

###

Yazawa Nico swivelled her chair, forcing her eyes away from the multiple screens in front of her. “Nico knows the computer’s doing most of the work, but…” Nico shook her head, “This much information is making Nico’s brain hurt.”

 Minami Kotori, in a custom made Rumi Rock yukata, was pinning fabric to a dressmaker’s dummy. “Take a break. We can finish programming the looms later.”

“Nah.” Nico shook herself, slapping her face, “Sooner we get it done, sooner we can cut the garments. Did we get the model measurements?”

Kotori nodded, “All the details. Did you see the pictures?”

Nico closed her eyes, yes, she’d seen the pictures, but how do you...then Kotori interrupted her with a giggle, “I’ve been having the most...exquisite dreams.”

Nico decided a change of topic was her best strategy before Kotori breached TMI territory.

“Anything we make will drape well.”

“And practically drip off.” Kotori giggled.

Nico refused to be lured to after hours chatter. “I think the redhead would look great in that lilac twisted tweed you showed me.”

“Ooohh, it would really bring out the lavender in her eyes. Tweeds will also easily disguise any patterning.”

“Yeah, if we use the free color slot to match their individual eye colors…”

“Oh, I can see it,” Kotori stepped over to her drafting table, swift strokes creating three almost capes, Nico guessed from her distant, odd angle.

“So we’re going with a Fall/Winter book?”

“Would you rather see them model bikinis?” Kotori asked wistfully.

Nico dropped her head to her clasped hands, exhaling. What the hell kind of trap question was that to ask a respectful, modern woman so so gay she can’t stop thinking about her new co workers playing nude beach volleyball? There was no safe answer.

“This is so much flashier and more complicated than our usual drop jobs. Can’t we just…” Nico really needed a steady girlfriend so she wouldn’t get preoccupied by random curves.

Kotori frowned, she’d had a late night conversation with their international headquarters. “Command thinks this ask is a mole trying to get information about our operations.”

“Damn. So flashy it is. All personality. Nico nico ni.” Nico, hands raised to her temple, smiled, then sighed, shrewd glance meeting her partner’s.

“Yeah.” Kotori bit the air.

New information absorbed and back on task, Nico considered the juxtaposition of life saving science and sexy swimsuits. Too distracting. But then again, no one would believe it was about anything but pretty women in pretty clothing. Everyone underestimated pretty women. And none of the models were shy about their assets, from the pics Nico had seen.

“Bikinis. Nico just thinks no one will notice the thin pinstripes are actually graphene circuits if they have those models to look at.” Plus, if Soldier Game was investigating them, that little fabric would make guns or recording devices harder to conceal.

Kotori raised an eyebrow at Nico, “You always have the best ideas, Nico.” A few quick adjustments with her pencil and the capes become beach covers, in linen, not tweed, “Ready to wear, on demand we are. With reclaimed fabric. Eco friendly.”

“Eco sexy.” Nico snapped her fingers.

“Sexy sexy” Kotori giggled.

Nico decided a mutual review of their corporate sexual harassment policy was a very necessary next step.

###

Umi stopped, pivoted on her heel and glared over packed duffle bags at the short, energetic ginger haired woman bouncing down the hall after her.

“Let me help, Sonoda-chan.”

“Everything is wrong with that.” Umi stated through gritted teeth.

The ginger shrugged, mischief flicking in chartreuse eyes, “You won’t let me call you Umi-chan.”

“Hoshizora-san.” Umi stated deliberately, as an example, “Perhaps I could speak to your direct report.”

“Nozomi-chan? Oh sure, she always loves it when I stop by her office. She’ll have tea ready and we can talk about what I found out about…”

Umi stopped the spread of information as quickly as she could. “Where is Tojo-san’s office?”

“Right this way.” Hoshizora sped down the hall. Umi briefly wondered if the cat like gimmicky gestures were the actual result of some kind of genetic experiment with cheetahs, but surely there would have been more rumors. Hoshizora skipped -- skipped?!?!?! -- through a door and Umi increased her pace to catch up. Pausing, she knocked, but the door was ripped open, the mini cheetah hybrid speaking to someone inside, “Sonoda-chan wants to see you, Nozomi-chan. She doesn’t like…”

Umi stepped inside the room, stern. “I can speak for myself.”

Tojo was dressed appropriately for the office, in a dark suit, unlike her driver’s Nadeshiko Japan soccer jersey and jean shorts, exuded polite propriety. “Please take a seat, Sonoda-san. How can I help you?”

Hoshizora slid into the chair behind the desk, “Sonoda-chan” Hoshizora winked, “objects to my “‘overt familiarity and lack of respect.””

Nozomi had a slight smile that bordered on a smirk. Umi adjusted her initial impression. She was beginning to suspect that this division was not run to military specs. Nozomi’s voice was a giggly, syrupy mess with hints of rural accent, “Now, now, Lt. Commander, I’m sure you are aware that you will be undercover beginning tomorrow.”

“Of course. I read the dossier.” Umi started to prickle.

“So why do you object to my assistant following my orders that you be eased into a non military environment by ignoring a strict hierarchy.”

Hoshizora, Rin, Umi corrected herself, was rocking the chair back and forth, silently laughing. Umi cleared her throat, “I was not aware those were...Rin’s orders.”

Rin leaned forward, eyes wide, sticking out her tongue.

“Are you going to be aware of everything happening on this mission?” Nozomi asked quickly.

If I can be, Umi’s head went, but she just shook her head in lieu of a verbal reply.

“So, as you are temporarily under my command, you should be aware that I find keeping my charges in a state where they are continually alert leads to the most successful missions. Perhaps not as planned as what you are used to from your time with the Defense Forces, but our skillset needs to be more flexible.” Nozomi tilted her head, almost coquettishly, “Do you understand, Lt. Commander?”

“Of course.” Umi stood at attention, her eyes locking on Rin’s, “Umi will be fine from now on, Rin-san.”

“Rin.”

“Rin.” Umi grinned. Deliberately.

“Good.” Nozomi leaned back against her desk, relaxed, Rin spinning in the desk chair. “And call me Nozomi. Tomorrow, we meet Yazawa and Minami and we need to have our covers locked down.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Nope.” Rin giggled. “You’re slow.

Umi bowed. “My apologies, Nozomi. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t. It’s why I requested your unit.”

Umi hadn’t been aware that the assignment had been an outside request. She’d been too eager to return to the field, even if it involved rather shameless activities. She made a mental note to pay more attention to details. And to cultivate Rin’s acquaintance. She seemed like the detail spilling sort.

“Where’s the tea, Nozomi-chan?” Rin rolled the chair to the credenza under the window.

“Why don’t you take Umi-chan down to the canteen and tell her about our last job.”

“Ooh, that’s a great idea. C’mon Umi, I’ll race you.” And Rin was out the door.

Umi glanced at Nozomi, who shrugged, “Better sprint.”

Umi sighed. So this was a test of physical as well as mental acuity. Fortunately, she had a route to take from here that would be a short cut. Umi headed to the window, raised it and dropped down two stories to the courtyard.

“Unexpected.” Nozomi watched as Umi landed lightly, then raced diagonally toward the kitchen’s loading doors. “Interesting.”

###

Maki Nishikino had never been subject to so much scrutiny. Especially while in this little clothing. The interest in the narrowed ruby eyes was clinical and the fingers that reached out to adjust the bow at her breast were disturbingly impersonal. She reverted to a childhood habit and wrapped her arms around her torso, stepping away from this Yazawa person with a frown.

“This one can’t seem to smile…” “Maki.” Maki snapped and Yazawa raised an eyebrow. “Call me Maki.”

“Maki.” Yazawa bit off every syllable, “doesn’t seem to get sunny or smiling so we’ll have to go for moody sexy on the shoot.” Yazawa stepped back, hands on hips, eyes still roving over Maki’s body in a way that made Maki feel like she was wearing even less. “So either slightly less fabric or a lot more.” “I can smile.” Maki bared her teeth at her antagonist.

Nico shook her head, relaxed her lips in a smile that somehow seemed to make the air glow around her, then called back casually over her shoulder, “Less clothing, maybe lose the top, lots of mood lighting, a fabric that will shimmer. Make a note for the photographer. Cool, wet mystery.”

Maki would have choked when Nico said wet with a smack of her lips but she was fortunately not drinking anything, just reaching out her hand for the water bottle

Now the other designer, Kotori was staring at Maki with speculative, measuring eyes, “Yes, I see what you mean, Nico. Maybe something that looks like washed up on a rocky shore.” “Mermaid? Hmmmm…” Nico gave  Maki one more head to toe examination, shrugged, rolled her eyes, and turned away, “Show me a sketch.” Maki pulled on her coverup and retreated to a chair, knees pulled up, trembling with anger and embarrassment. This was not what she expected this assignment to be. Where was someone she could kick? Or suture? Or shoot? Where were Umi and Eli?

Kotori suddenly purred as the door opened, “Oh, hello, Sonoda-san. Welcome to our temporary studio.” 

Maki thought studio was a generous description for a grungy boxing gym with a green screen set up in front of the ring.

Umi stepped in, dressed for some reason in her kendo workout gear, while Maki was wearing this wisp of thing that would get washed away in a light swell on a calm lake. Both Nico and Kotori were suddenly all attentive to the newcomer.

Umi, as polite as ever, bowed, “My apologies for my tardiness. One of my students had a minor injury I needed to tend.”

“Are they all right?” Kotori asked.

Umi nodded. “Just a small accident.”

“Good. We had a chance to start with Maki.” Kotori waved a hand in the direction of the chair, “If you’ll follow me into the locker room, I’ll get you suited.

“I am at your command.” Maki snorted, loud enough that Umi would hear so Umi pinched up her lips in a frown at the volume, Maki rolled her eyes and then was distracted by Nico with her hands on the arms of Maki’s chair, “Eyes here, Red.”

Maki was startled and snarled. “What do you want?”

Nico sighed, “Okay, Nico knows your brand is temperamental celebrity and we want other temperamental celebrities to see how all…” Nico flipped her hand dismissively at Maki, “this looks in our swimsuits, but it’ll help if you’re at least polite on the set. Don’t etiquette classes come with the wealth package. Or do you like getting thrown out of countries?”

“I can be civil.” Maki said coldly. “Oh good. Nico can’t wait to hear it. Now can you smile? Watch me.” WIthout even a beat, Nico leaned in, staring deeply into the depths of Maki’s eyes, paused just long enough that Maki’s breath caught, and then hopped back, a manic gleam in her eye and a sunblast of a smile on her face, “Nico Nico Ni needs you to act as pretty as you look.” Then there was a wink and Nico twirled, her back toward Maki and Maki had a minute to recover, “Nico will grab a camera and we’ll try the poses again.”

Maki groaned. Nico heard it and hesitated as she picked up the camera. Nico wasn’t a cruel woman. For all the red carpet photo shoots and TWIG selfies, this would be Nishikino’s first professional photoshoot. Which is part of why Nico was drill sergeanting Maki into the patented, 125% successful Nico Nico Ni practice practice practice mindset. The brat, though attractive in the conventional burn down the seacoast with laser eyes sense, would benefit from the confidence that came from repetition. Nico grabbed her oversized pink hoodie from the director’s chair and as she turned with the camera in hand, she tossed it at Maki, “Put this on.”

Maki hesitated, then shrugged into it, relaxing slightly at the warmth and additional coverage, “Why?” Nico shrugged, “This is just a practice shoot, you don’t need to freeze.”

“How did you?” Maki blushed when Nico raised an eyebrow and flicked her glance to Maki's chest for a second. Maki immediately looked anywhere but Nico, “I can handle it.” “Yep. Sure you can, Ma-ki. But tell the camera that.” “Huh?”

Nico raised the eyepiece, pointing the lens at Maki, “Confront the camera. Nobody worth your time wants passive pretty. We want fight.” Nico chuckled, “Hate hot. Flirt fight.”

“Flirt fight?” Maki said slowly, actually glad for some direction. “With you?” Nico lowered the camera, “With the lens. Nico’s not even here.” She raised her hand in front of her face like a magic trick and then Maki was looking at the lens again. Maybe if she imagined a target? 

Nico decided to help, “So what makes you mad?”

Maki’s lip twisted, “Exploitation.”

Fancy word. Nico wondered if that was personal.

“What makes you happy?” Maki shrugged.

Not thrown off by no answer, Nico kept up the patter, Soldier Game needed to up their casual talk game, Nico was doing all the work here. Of course, she was prepared to do all the work. Nico relied on no one.

“Hobbies?” Nico kept moving, her voice even. “Music.” Maki’s posture opened. “I play the piano.” “Nico cooks. Pick up those boxing gloves and put them on.” Commands camouflaged in conversation, after years in the fashion business Nico was a master.

Maki walked over to the table and laced into them.

“Hit the heavy bag.”

This was better, Maki thought as she pounded into the leather, feeling a little like Steve Rogers, stuck in a place he didn’t want to be.

“Classical?” 

“Jazz. Spent a lot of time in America, studying…Ellington, Basie, Baker, Chet, and Jospephine, Bessie Smith for the blues…” Maki had an easy rhythm going, hardly noticing Nico clicking away. “Then…” a snarl, “everything got openly toxic for women and Asians so I hit the road.” Good cover, Nico thought. Maki was Soldier Game's American link. “And you know Ayase and Sonoda how?”

“School. Families.” Maki shrugged, “We know the same…” her voice hardened, “people.”

“Got a jazz trio going?” Nico asked lightly. Maki laughed, the mood dispersing, rolling her shoulders and shaking out her arms before attacking the bag again.

“Look at me.” Not a request.

A graceful turn, sharp purple eyes snapped onto Nico, narrowing, curious, alert, cardigan slipping unnoticed off a shoulder, strong legs braced for the next blow.

“Got it.” Nico announced, lowering the camera with a flair. 

Maki tilted her head, “Got what?”

“Nishikino Maki.” Nico glanced down at her viewscreen, ruby eyes with a happy twinkle. “I’m about to rethink our whole campaign. Kotori likes sweaty.” Nico froze. Oh damn, she’d better go rescue the kendo champ.  “Wait here, Cassius.” And Nico hustled to the dressing room.

###

Kotori was sitting primly, legs crossed, hands folded in her lap, eyes never leaving the muscles on Umi’s back as the other woman changed into the swimsuit Kotori had chosen for her.  Nico barrelled through the door, Umi gasped and grabbed for a towel, and Kotori frowned and turned, “Nico, I was concentrating.” “Sure you were. But Nico has this genius idea. I took some pics of Red there,” Nico flicked her thumb back toward where Maki was slouching in the door, “with gloves and my hoodie over the suit and you’ll love the aesthetic. Just take a look. Plus, I ran a quick search on boxers…” “When did you have time?” Maki wondered. “There was a whole hallway; Nico is fast.” Nico slid next to Kotori, “Found Muhamad Ali quotes. One of them is “I’m too fast. I’m too smart. I’m too pretty." And with these three...”

“Nico” Kotori turned, wide eyed, hands reaching for Nico’s while Umi and Maki shared a confused glance, “That’s PERFECT.” “Nico knows.” “People will swoon.” Nico took a quick glance back at Maki, “Nico knows. And Ali's an American icon, so cultural resonance. Coated in pop culture candy."

Kotori stood up, muttering, totally ignoring Umi, who was standing with a towel clasped at breast level offering some cover for her bare torso. “Just a few changes, maybe robes, maybe some of those big, satin shorts, sliding down…” Kotori swept her hand down her hip.

“Nico can see it.” “Now that I’ve seen them I can…” “Yeah, yeah, less talk, we get on a plane in tomorrow, go make magic happen.” Nico shoved Kotori from behind, forcing the designer seamstress into a stumble toward the door. Nico picked up Umi’s shirt from where Kotori had been sitting on it, handing it to the owner with a wink, “You can thank Nico later.”

Umi grabbed on to the lifeline and nodded. 

“When Kotori finds you again, tell her Nico’s in the gym, setting up a few things for tomorrow’s shoot.” “Of course, Nico.” Umi buttoned up quickly.

“Thanks, champ.” Nico blew a kiss as she bounded out of the room, past Maki with barely a side glance. Umi chuckled.

“You’re amused?” Shocked, Maki settled across a bench, twirling a curl of hair.

“By Nico?" Umi considered. "Yes. She and Kotori have an interesting working dynamic. Completely different from ours, but just as professional in its own way, I think.”

Maki looked doubtful. “She seems a little flaky.”

“It’s mostly for show.”

“Really?”

“Yes, like when a bird displays its full foliage.”

“To impress someone? With flakiness?” “With energy. Very desirable from a mating perspective.” “You want to ma…” Umi, now flustered, rushed to interrupt Maki’s question, “Birds, birds do such things to attract a mate. I am a complete professional, as always.”

“As expected.” Maki agreed. Umi never cracked. Eli would occasionally start to have...Maki hated the f word....feelings, but Umi, Umi was always 100% on the job, ready, focused. Maki relied on that. What Maki did with....emotional precursors was work them out, leave them to wilt in the blaze of the open, actively exhaust her imagination so she didn’t have to wonder about things. Remembering a flare deep in devilish eyes and hands confidently maneuvering a camera, Maki considered if acting on the impusles flashing through her thoughts would be best before she got on a plane with Nico and flew into even more unfamiliar territory, Maki knew how she worked, and she knew who and what she would be thinking about. Nico’s exacting glance had had a tactile quality and Maki’s skin felt like it had been barely brushed by exploring fingertips. Which was going to be distracting. And Maki knew too well that distractions could be deadly.

“I’ll be in the gym. Don’t find me.” Maki decided.

Umi withheld her commentary. Every job was dangerous. Every Soldier prepared in her own way.

###

Nico had taken the green screen down and was in the center of the boxing ring, looking through a frame made by her fingers, muttering. Maki slid a weight in front of the door and approached the ring, hanging over the ropes.

“I saw you looking at me.” Accusatory snap. Why not? Hate hot. Nico had said that. Nico inhaled, sighed, and turned with hands open, “Look, Nico is sorry, and is so so professional, but you’re just so…” “Hot.” Maki ran a hand through her hair, “I know.” Switch the mood, check. Nico’s expression soured, “Okay. When did Nico sign up for your publicity blasts?"

“I don’t DO relationships," Maki announced, as if Nico had not spoken, "but you’re obviously into me, we have to work together, and I’d really rather not spend a lot of time wondering about whether you’re any good in bed,” Maki stepped through the ropes, strutted toward Nico, making certain to brush by the shorter woman, “like...you know.” And Maki shrugged, casually as she turned, and offhand arrogant multiple x rated seXXXy flashed neon in Nico’s mind.

Nico shook herself, quickly recalibrating the expected response. Ms. Too Cocky For Containment, Too Shy for Eye Contact here obviously wanted Nico to skip the apology phase and go right to impress. “Nico does fine. No complaints. Thousands of need more Nico texts.”

Maki’s quirked eyebrow read dubious as she leaned back, with liquid grace, in the corner of the ring. “Sure. Because your lack of detail encourages belief.” Amethyst eyes dared Nico.

Was this a trap designed to lower Nico’s defenses? Work of the mole? She and Kotori had decided wariness was essential with the new security team, but showing weakness was no way to keep the upper hand. And Nico thrived on the offensive.

“Would you like pics?” Two steps and Nico had blocked Maki into the corner, and the grungy, windowless gym had shrunk to the size of the ring as the combatants sized up their next moves, “Testimonials?” The tip of Nico’s nose had now landed a jab against Maki’s as dark pink lips landed the verbal followup, snapping, “Nico doesn’t even need a bed.”

Nico knew there was a big chance that saying that would completely blow the atmosphere and the super stupidly hot redhead who wouldn’t stop looking super stupidly doable would just collapse into hysterics. And, Nico thought, honestly that might have been a relief, because right now, Nico was pretty pretty sure pretty pretty Maki was smoldering with some fire Nico didn’t start and Nico wasn’t sure exactly what was supposed to happen. Or if everything would just explode.  But Nico had never gotten anywhere by not being bold.

“Oh really?” Maki pushed herself up, voice trembling slightly to belay the confidence in her actions, but as the movement rippled through her abs to her bosom, the thinking parts of Nico’s brain, the ones that had been slowing her down, shut off and her hands shot out to grab Maki’s waist.

“I liked you better down here.” Nico dropped Maki onto the stool, leaning in, one hand sliding slowly over Maki’s ear, through her hair, fingers exerting the lightest pressure on the neck, other hand holding Maki at the back of the waist.

“Oh.’ That squeaked out of Maki and Nico was suddenly at her neck, nibbling, confident, certain, as she felt moans her...opponent, sure let’s go with boxing analogies, was swallowing. Maki had not anticipated Nico’s response to be this fast. Or...effective. Maki could feel her heart hammering and Nico’s nearness raising the hairs on her arms. Was this a standard thing for Nico and models?

Nico nipped the earlobe and timed with the shudder, went for the hook, “Want more?” following quickly with an uppercut, her lips on Maki’s throat, slipping to the jaw, hand sliding down to tease Maki’s breast. Maki almost convulsed, no longer asking questions, all of her attention now on Nico’s next advance.

Nico heard a hiss. But no words.

“What was that? Nico was now between Maki’s open legs, leaning in in a way that would have surprised her at the brazeness of the move, if Nico’d been thinking at all, but no, she wasn’t, so she pushed in and Maki leaned forward, even as she squirmed on the stool, legs bumping Nico’s waist, her arms slipping through to wrap themselves in the ring ropes to either side.

“Maki?” Nico avoided the lips, even as Maki nearly roared, concentrating on the reddening chest above Maki’s bikini top, a hand on the bow and the bikini fell open, and Nico stopped for a heartbeat, breathless, she would be going there, as soon as…

A hissed word full of whispery need. “yssss.” And Nico bit, and Maki screamed, and the stool got kicked out of the ring, and Maki was suspended against the ropes, head thrown back, hair in crazy, bouncing tousles, and Nico could never watch another boxing match again, and every taste and touch of skin was so soft and supple and Nico had to dodge a thrashing leg, and Maki was about to rip the stanchion out of the ring, and Nico freed Maki's arm from the ropes, and fell backwards with both of them like they’d switched to wrestling and with Maki on top, Nico even impressed herself, hands flittering as fast as butterflies, kisses hitting as hard as taps on the speed bag, Maki mouthing nothing that made sense. And, then, with a cry, it was over. And for just a brief second, Nico caught a bright glance wide with wonder, then long lashes fluttered closed, and Nico had to scramble for something to cover them both as Maki passed out.

“Wow.” Nico sat, catching her breath, back braced against the stanchion that had managed to survive upright, redhead snoring at her side, under a beach towel. “But what the hell?”

Maki muttered and Nico hushed immediately. Now was not a time for Sleepy Beauty to be wide awake in beast mode. Nico was thinking.

A/N: Twitter, where I live, was in a Bodyguard AU mood so it got me thinking. And all this Maki X Not Nico stuff also got me grumbling. And here we are. Can't promise when the next chunk will come, as I am working on finishing Apocalypse Midnight Dance Party chapters (and Tiger By The Tail) but I wanted to post this start. Enjoy. And stay safe. And drop me a song for my Soldier Game playlist.

#NicoMaki #Bodyguard AU #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #Soldier Game #Ayase Eli #Sonoda Umi #Minami Kotori #Tojo Nozomi #Hoshizora Rin #Koizumi Hanayo #Kousaka Honoka #Slightly OOC #Lily White