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soxcietyy · 2 years

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Dollhouse

In a world where females are not commonly born you are kidnapped and taken to the kingdom of Valgore to be sold off to whoever can afford you. The General of the knights Yuta Okkotsu who isn’t sure if he wants a wife, takes you in but you arnt going to make his life easy by submitting yourself to him.

Tw: bad language, violence, drinking, beating, woman being mistreated, abuse, murder, rape, things that may trigger people.

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

You ended up getting to your appointment late. So late that the doors to the boutique were closed. Yuta groans as he rubbed his hand down his face. He was told that they closed early today but he didn't expect the sudden inconvenience.

All he could do now was not go to the party. Usually he always went due to being the General but it felt wrong going without his wife. Maybe Rika would understand why he couldn't go.

"I thought you were VIP, you would think they would open even for you." Y/n says as she leans on the wall.

Yuta looks at you tired. "Please not now. Why not help me figure this out rather than making fun of me."

You laugh as you grab his arm. He looked at you confused as you made him follow you down the street. "Common now general no need to look so slumped. Your supposed to look like a man of authority! " You say as he followed along like a lost puppy.

"Use your brain for something other than war and fighting. Why not go to Gojo? He has so many ladies, he must know great places no?" You say looking at him.

"Your absolutely right y/n. I'm sorry I'm just tired from everything. As soon as we get home I'm going straight to bed." Yuta chuckles.

Walking to Gojo residence you notice how much bigger his place was than Yutas. It looked like two mansion combined together. Which was completely understandable due to him having three wives. Arriving at the door Yuta knocks at it loudly. Soon the door opened to reveal Gojo standing there with smug look. "I didn't know we were having visitors. What brings you here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for the party?" Gojo asks opening the door more. You both walk inside not going any further than the door steps.

"I need a favor, do you know any good boutiques? I'm desperate right now and I really don't wanna get on my wife's bad side" Yuta whispers.

Gojo tilts his head down to look at you who still held onto Yutas arm as you looked around the house. Looking as innocent as ever. "Yea sure I'll be horrified too." Gojo sarcastically says.

"I know this great Person who designs dresses. She's not as popular as the boutique here but I consider her even better. Her name is Mei Mei, she's... let's just say you better know how to bargain. She loves raising her prices." Gojo pats Yutas back. "Good luck, I have to check on the girls. Their excited to finally go out to the ball and they want my opinion on everything." He whines.

"Gojo!" The girls yell from afar.

"That's my cue. I'll get going now be safe." Gojo says watching them head out. Yuta bowing to show his thankfulness. Walking out Yuta heads to the direction Gojo told him to go. Apparently she had her shop set up at her home near Sondra street. It was a short walk from Gojos house since people of high class live in the same community. That making Yutas house not too far from where they stood. The mansion they arrived at was pink and smaller than theirs but still a great size. The outside was filled with plants and fountains of all sorts. Pet peacocks walking around flashing their fabulous tails around.

"Wow now this is what I call a dream house." You say walking inside.

"Yea I can't disagree with you their." Yuta says taking the lead.

"Welcome General, why have you come to my house for? Don't tell me you've gotten complains of me supposedly scamming people . Is it the taxes? I swear I pay my taxes this year." Mei Mei comes from behind a fountain. You both looked at her spooked not knowing if she was always standing there.

"Tax-invasion is a serious crime he-"

"We're here for a dress for the ball today." You cut him off before he could start something else. He looked at you with his side eyes not happy that you interrupted him.

"Thank goodness Iv had many guards come by with issues. I thought I was finally getting arrested the second I saw the general. But then a saw a pretty lady next to him so I decided to show myself hoping to make some cash. Glad to see my intuition was right, Follow me guys." She says taking you inside her house to her work area. It was messy, fabric everywhere, needless inserted into the most random areas. "Oh dear I'm sorry for the mess. It's usually not like this since my brother cleans after me. Sadly he is gone for the week." She says as she steps over everything. You follow right behind trying not too lose track of her. Eventually making it to a closet she opens it with both of her hands to revile a closet full of dresses.

"I'm still working on getting my boutique set so we'll be working with this." Mei Mei laughs as she starts taking out dresses. Taking ones of various colors.

"Mei Mei how do you know what dresses to take out when you don't know my budget?" Yuta asks.

"General I know you take out that fat paycheck. You have no budget." She smiles greedily. Taking out all of her most expensive dresses for you to try on. Then she takes you to the fitting room. She said Yuta wasn't allowed to come because he would probably do something nasty in here. Since he's a guy.

Instead Mei Mei stayed to help you. Looking at all the dresses you picked a bright yellow dress. "That doesn't look so good on you." Mei Mei said not looking up from her sketch pad. Standing up she walked to the dresses and pulled a blue one out. "This one " she says.

"So do you have a husband?" You ask as you started changing. Trying to make some conversation.

"I do not, that's why I don't have an actual store. If your a female and not married your not allowed to own a buisness " she sighs kicking her legs up on the table. "It's truly bothering seeing how it ruins my business. I even thought about marrying Gojo but decided I was worth more than that... How do you feel about your situation?" She looks at you struggle.

"We'll Im learning to get used to it. I'm not going to say it difficult because I have it easy. I just got to learn how to please him since I'm his wife and all. I know Iv been difficult since the day he met me. Not going to lie I feel bad seeing how nice he treated me after everything. I also finally came to terms with myself seeing that this is my life now and I might as well be good." You look away guiltily as she helped you get into the dress.

"Please as in intimate intercourse?" She raises her brow.

You choke on your spit and shake head. "No of course not! I haven't even had a second thought about that!" You blush.

"It's going to happen sooner or later. I understand the General must seem like a sweet and kind person but we're talking about a guy after all. He's probably holding back. I can give you some tips next to you come. Seems like right now you don't have much time to talk. " Mei Mei pats your head.

Looking in the mirror you look at yourself. You wore a long baby blue dress with off the shoulder puffy see through long sleeve. Beaded white and dark blue from the waist and colar area. You couldn't help but smile seeing yourself like this. You looked so different. If your younger self could see this she wouldn't believe you had this kind of money to spend. Little you always dreamed of living lavishly. Looking back at Mei Mei she nods in approval to go out. Grabbing the door handle you took a deep breath and opened it to see Yuta laying on the couch playing with a black cat. Pressing his thumbs into the cats paws for the claws to appear.

"I see your fond of midnight." Mei Mei says coming from behind you. Yuta snaps his head to look at your direction star struck from what he was seeing. He couldn't take his eyes off of you. You looked so different, so beautiful, so angelic.

You couldn't help but look from away from embarrassment. Thinking of what Mei Mei said about Yuta. Could he really be wanting something like that so soon?

"My love you look so gorgeous. We'll take this. I need to go home and change soon. We have no time to waste right now." Yuta said letting go of the cat and standing up to give her half of the pouch of coins.

"Nice doing business with you general. Enjoy the party." She smiles counting the coins in her hand.

Back home you watched Yuta run around panicked again. As the General he didn't have to wear his uniform but he did need to have his weapons. He wore a completely black suite with his general medal pinned onto it. His sword in its holder and golden rings covering his finders. The only thing he couldnt find was a small box. He even described it to you but you had no idea of what he spoke of.

"We're late and I can't find it! Why do I always miss place things." He signs as he leaned against the wall.

You made a mental note to yourself to force him to sleep when you got home. You felt second hand embarrassment seeing the box was on the shelf next to him. "Yuta why not rest after the party? You seemed to have been stressing too much lately. Take a few day off." You say walking to the shelf and grabbing the box. "Are you serious?" You could hear him say when he saw where the object was. You placed it in his hand and looked at him concerned.

"Rest"

He looks at you before answering. "Fine," he exhaled deeply. Taking the object from your hand he opens the box to revile a diamond ring inside. He smiles seeing how it was still in good condition. Grabbing your hand he slid the ring onto your ring finger.

"Alright let's go." He said kissing your forehead.

Authors note: I have decided on the ending and I can’t wait to see your reactions 🤩

Tags 🏷: @hannya-exists @pinkraindropsfell @halparkebitch @mokonasenpaiposts @a10vely-yutazen

#jjk second years #jujutsu kaisen #yuta okkotsu #yuta okkotsu x reader #yuta okkotsu x you #jjk movie #jjk 0 movie #jjk x y/n #gojo saturo #gojo sensei

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spideyspeaches · 3 years

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Gold Rush ↬ t.h

Gif by @parkeraul :)

A/N: I'm in love with that song 🙈 also here's my super late contribution of professor!tom 😋 cause I've been procrastinating on the wandavision au (in my defence though, it's taking a lot of brainstorming 😂) anyway here you go-

Wc: 2.6k+

Warnings: lemme know if you find one :)

Summary: He taught British History and you chastise yourself for not auditing for that subject earlier.

Pairing: Professor!Tom x Student!Reader

Masterlist || Taglist

Waking up with a start, you groan at the shrill sound of your alarm. With a sigh that was more of a grunt of annoyance, you tried to reach for your phone at the side table, hissing when you felt the corner of your elbow hit the table, pain shooting up to your shoulder.

Great, you weren't even up yet and your day was already going shitty. You just hoped that your professor won't be grumpy about you being late for the millionth time this semester.

You hated cultural architecture. You had nothing against the course, but You hated your professor with a passion and wished that you could burn your textbooks for all you cared, right in front of your teacher's eyes, watch him writhe in fear as you banished the very existence of your material.

You were being dramatic, but in your defence, your professor was an old bastard who never left an opportunity to reprimand you, going as far as letting you know how uneven your margins were on your latest project.

He wore birkenstocks with a three piece. You wouldn't trust him with your assignments.

Getting out of your dorm room was work, hard work. But you got out, brushed your teeth and wore what you hoped were presentable clothing.

"You look hungover." Your roommate, Stacy, commented, spitting in the sink as you scowled at her.

She was straightforward, outspoken and somehow managed to look like one of those Victoria secrets models that you loathed, even at seven in the morning. You hated her.

(You didn't.)

"Thanks, I hope I smell too. Want that son of a bitch- what's his name, Wilson, to suffer for giving me that C minus on my thesis." You grumbled, rubbing your hands through your hair to flat them out.

"You really hate him, don't you." She snickered, popping off her shirt. You tried not to look, not wanting to come off as a pervert, but damn, she was fit. You contemplated her words, frowning at your own reflection.

You looked disheveled, the dark eye bags under your eyes very apparent as you tried to mask them with foundation, setting your hair for the millionth time. Oh well, you were presentable enough. Sweatpants would have to do for your only class today, you could binge Netflix after this wretched class.

"I do. I hope his third wife divorces him and he loses his thermos of coffee in the subway." You said, adding your look finally before wearing your shoes.

"That's cruel, didn't know you had it in you." She snickered, patting your back and following you as you closed the door, "Well I have to go to my boring science lectures now so, see you later hun."

"Yeah, enjoy your chemistry period with your boyfriend!" You cheered sarcastically, rolling your eyes and hugging her to tell her that you were only joking. Your relationship was this, of jokes and hugs and kisses. You considered her your best friend.

Rushing towards the gates of your university, you hastily tightened your loosening hair tie, adjusting the straps of your bags. You were pretty sure you had broken your record of being late to your class. You may hate the professor, but you actually enjoyed the subject.

Wheezing as you ran past the late comers, you nodded at the receptionist, hastily signing yourself in. You would blame your clumsiness for what happened next, because one second you were fixing your sande on the foot of the fountain, and next thing you knew you were crashing into a firm body, your nose hitting the random stranger’s chest.

"I’m so sorry! I’m kinda late to class and I wasn’t looking and- whoa, ow.” You rushed your words, groaning when you felt blood rush from your head to toe, nose throbbing with double vision, a reminder of your clumsiness.

“Whoa, hey calm down, it’s okay, I wasn’t looking either.” The stranger said, his thick South Western accent snapping you out of your self pity.

You felt blood rush to your cheeks instead, not anticipating your face in a flush this early in the morning, when you got a good look at the stranger. He was good looking, in his black high turtleneck and brown checkered pants. He had a small leather satchel clutched in his hands, face looking as flushed as you felt when you realised that you had been gawking at him.

He was probably no older than his mid twenties, making you wonder what he was doing in your university. He was too old to be a student, and too young to be a professor. But then again, you wouldn't judge him for joining college late.

Right?

"S-sorry, you um, you must be really late, you should go." He stuttered, your heart fluttering at his dimpled chin and thick accent. His eyes were gleaming in the morning sun, captivating in a way that left you in awe.

"Um yeah, I am." You nodded, composing yourself, hoping that you didn't look too sleep deprived or disheveled, "where are you going, if you don't mind me asking."

"Um, the architecture wing?" He said, unconsciously stepping besides you.

"Oh, I'm going that way. Is it your first time coming here? Haven't seen you around." You asked, trying not to stare at his sharp jawline and the way the morning sun hit him just right, illuminating and accentuating his curly brown hair.

"Yeah, it's my first lecture, so um, looks like I'm late too." He smiled. It was infectious, you noticed as you mirrored his expression.

"Oh, you're a student?"

"Actually, I'm a professor. Just transferred from UCL."

So you were right, he was a professor. He looks so young though. You thought, nodding at him, your thoughts interrupted by his laugh. Looking at him with confusion, you raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, everyone says that. I started right after finishing graduation so, I guess I'm not much older than you." He smiled, kicking the small pebbles littered around the set grassy ground. It had just rained, the smell of wet ground still fresh.

"I said that out loud didn't I?" You smirked, ducking your head to hide.

"You did."

Entering the building, you realised that you hadn't asked which subject he taught, crossing your fingers and hoping that he would replace the old bastard that taught you cultural architecture.

"I forgot to ask, which lecture do you teach?" You asked, looking for your class in the end. The hallways were empty, it was way past your first lecture and all the students were already in the auditorium.

"Oh, uh, British History." He answered. You didn't let disappointment show too much on your face, smiling shyly before gesturing towards the class, "that's you."

"Oh, um thank you." He smiled, pursing his thin lips together as he walked towards the class. You could hear screaming of the students as you both neared the classroom, you still standing by the door, "I didn't get your name."

His question snapped you out of your disappointed gaze,

"Oh, it's Y/n. Y/n L/n." You said with a smile.

"Pleasure to meet you Y/n, I'm Thomas Holland, but you can call me Tom." He said awkwardly, before turning back to his class, who had yet to notice him.

"The pleasure's all mine Professor."

For the first time in your college life, you didn't feel like tearing your hair off during your lecture, your thoughts wandering around. You wanted to berate yourself for not paying attention, but your thoughts kept going there.

It was funny, how you met him not long ago and he was already taking up residence in your brain. You could not control your feelings after all. Something akin to nausea or excitement eased into your stomach when you pictured his smile, his black turtleneck that accentuated his biceps and pectorals. The little rebellious eyebrow and the tiny scar above it.

It made your heart flutter, everything seemingly seemed to stop around you. It scared you a bit, how You had managed to envision the little details of his face in your brain after such a short duration.

You didn't realise that you were smiling until you felt a nudge on your side, making you nearly jump on your seat.

"What?!" You hissed, scowling at your classmate.

"Who're you thinking about?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows as she leaned towards you. You had known her long enough to know her name but never bothered learning, and you were too scared to ask now.

"It's none of your business." You muttered, glancing up to see your professor scowling at a student as they stood up.

"Well okay, but did you hear about the hot new professor? Apparently he's teaching British History, I regret not taking that as a subject now." She said, her cheeks flushed with excitement. You furrowed your brows, feeling a pang in your chest at the realisation that you were probably just another girl with a stupid crush on the hot professor, that there were already girls who would die to feel his touch.

"How do you know about him?" You asked, raising an eyebrow as you try to act nonchalant. You weren't being subtle, apparently, because you could see her snapping her bubblegum with a smirk, leaning forward as if trading secrets.

"You kidding right? Everyone knows about him, you got a crush on him or something?" She suggested, scooting close enough to make you squirm.

"I literally just met him, and ew, he's a professor, why would I see him that way?" You whisper, willing your heart to stop palpitating at the thought of said professor, your gut twisting in anticipation.

"I don't know girl, he's hot and young and so much better than this bastard." She sighed, leaning on her palm with a fake dreamy expression.

You went back to ignoring her after that, noticing how her notebook said 'Eloise'. At least you didn't have to ask her her name now.

Your class went surprisingly well, or maybe it was because you weren't paying attention and thinking about him again. You really needed to get a grip on yourself.

Walking out of your class, you decided to go to the cafeteria, your stomach begging for your attention.

Setting your things on a table, you took out your phone to scroll through Instagram, before switching it off and looking around the cafeteria. You didn't know what you were expecting to see, but your stomach was gurgling with hunger and nothing made sense when you were hungry.

Walking to grab something to eat, you pick up your bag, hanging it over one of your shoulders before getting in the line.

Just as you were about to turn with your bun and cup of coffee, you crashed into someone for the second time that day. Cursing your clumsiness, you heard a familiar British accent curse not very colourful words, making you stumble over as you tried to wipe off the hot coffee off his shirt.

"Hey, it's okay." He said, stopping your frantic gestures by holding your wrist with his to cease any movements.

"Professor Holland! I'm so sorry, it's like, I'm just clumsy. I have no excuse." You sighed in resignation, mentally facepalming at spilling your coffee at the hot professor.

"It's okay darling, I've had much worse spilled on me." He smirked, his hand still holding on to yours. You had started walking away from the location, and yet his hand didn't let go, "You know, I used to babysit during my college days."

"Oh, babysitting, right of course." You chuckled awkwardly, chest heaving with the sudden close proximity with the professor, dissipating the not quite PG thought that just occurred in your mind at his words..

"Sorry for-" You said in unison with him, chuckling.

"You go first." He said.

"I'm sorry for spilling coffee on You, it must have hurt and I ruined your shirt and now there's a big splotch of coffee right in the middle!" You said, circling your fingers around your palm as you walked with your back to the exit as you walked out of the cafeteria, food forgotten and him following your pace.

Before you could continue your awkward blabber, you were standing in the garden outside, leaning against a pillar with the garden in your view looking golden in the setting sun. He was standing in your view, the shadows around his jaw making it look sharp enough to cut glass.

Taking a breath, you looked up at his smiling form with confusion when he didn't answer, instead leant onto the pillar next to you.

"You were... gonna say something?" You reminded, smiling awkwardly as you fiddled with your fingers.

"Oh? Oh! Oh yes yes, You know, I was kind of disappointed that you weren't in my class, Mister Wilson talks very highly of you." He said, folding his arms on his chest, it made his biceps bulge.

"He does?" You looked at him with surprise, guilt panging in your chest when you remembered yourself bad mouthing the professor not long ago.

"Yes, says you're a bright student with a bright future." He answered, leaning his head back so that his neck was exposed, Adam's Apple bobbing as he gulped, his hair falling into place perfectly against his forehead. The arch of his neck was beautiful, tracing it with your eyeballs as you imagined which other curves of his were as beautiful, immediately dismissing those thoughts, chastising yourself for thinking such a way of a professor.

"That's… sweet of him. I've never heard him compliment me once in the two and half years I've been in his class." You chuckle, leaning your elbow on the pillar to get a better look at his side profile.

"Hmm, he says he's hard on you because he wants you to do your best..."

You stopped listening past that, your breath growing more erratic the more he talked, his smooth voice washing over you like warm honey with a squeeze of lemon. Swallowing a sudden lump in your throat, your heart leaping, leaving you nauseous and in a dream like trance.

Tom noticed immediately, noticing your slouched posture as you stared at him with a small smile, the upturn of your lips so inviting that he almost dived in, wanting to know the feeling of them what they felt like against his.

He wasn't the kind to date his students, in fact, he rarely dated after joining uni and becoming a professor.

He strictly believed that student/teacher relationships should end in only a professional non romantic set up. That was all up until he crashed into you that morning.

You had been in his mind all day, stirring him crazy as he imagined your smile, the way your eyes lit up when you talked about your subject of interest, the say your fingers fiddled with the ring you wore on your index finger.

He wondered if this feeling would last forever or become a vague memory, an attraction of hearts that didn't last but felt good till it did. If he was rushing, or if you even felt the same way.

He was smart, of course that's how he became a teacher, but he still couldn't place your feelings.

So when he saw you staring at him, his heart leaping in his throat at your adorable smile, the only logical answer his brain gave was that you liked him too. Temporary attraction or not, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in it's mouth.

Next thing he knew your lips were crashing onto his, your chest pressed against his firmly as your hands reached up to the base of his neck.

Your fingers were soft, tongue swishing against his as he opened his mouth to let you enter. His hands automatically reach for your waist, holding onto firmly as he slammed you against the pillar.

The sun was nearly down, the last of the rays hitting the garden, lighting you both up in a golden glow that left you breathless with a fire raging in your souls.

"What do you say that I audit for British history? I'd like to learn more lessons from you, Professor Holland." You said, breathless against his chest, hiding your nose against his sternum, blood rushing to your ears as his warm hand burned against the bare skin underneath your shirt.

"That would be great darling, anything to see your pretty smile every morning."

A/N: let me know what you think! :)

#tom holland x reader #professor! tom holland x reader #professor!tom holland #tom holland smut #tom holland x reader smut #tom holland x you #spideygirl writes

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ectoentity · 3 years

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Late Night Answers

Ectoberhaunt Day 5: Witching hour vs Twilight

Fandom: Danny Phantom

Rating: G

Characters: Danny Fenton, Kitty, Johnny 13

Tags: Witching hour, ghost culture?

Danny keeps waking up in the middle of the night. The same exact time every night. He decides to take a flight around town and runs into a couple ghosts who're willing to give him some answers.

Read on AO3 here.

Danny’s eyes opened. It was night. Above him, the stars on his ceiling gave off a dim glow. He was still wrapped in his blanket. There was no cold ache in his throat that would indicate his ghost sense had woken him up.

He glanced at his alarm clock. The red numbers read 3:00. Danny grumbled and turned on his side, away from the clock, and tried to go back to sleep. This was the third night this had happened. For the last two nights he’d woken up at exactly three in the morning for no reason. He’d tossed and turned in bed until around four.

This night apparently wasn’t much different. He laid in bed for about ten minutes, but his brain just kept going back to worries about the next day. It wasn’t restful at all. Danny sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. If he was going to be awake for a while, he should at least do something useful.

In a flash of light Danny transformed. He flew through the wall into the chilly night air. He could feel the cold against his face, but it didn’t bother him like it would a normal human. There was no moon tonight - it had set before nightfall - but he could see perfectly well. Danny decided to head towards the city park. The night was fairly quiet. There were some cars on the roads, but not very many. Just a few night shift workers and late night travelers.

His ghost sense went off when he was halfway to the park. It felt familiar: kind of spiky but not painful or aggressive. Danny was slowly getting better at identifying ghosts based on how his ghost sense felt, but it was more of an art than a science. He had no idea who this could be. Who would be out at the park in the middle of the night and not causing havoc?

The sound reached him before he saw who it was. A motorcycle revved its engines, and someone shrieked in joy. It had to be Johnny, Shadow, and Kitty. Danny landed near the park fountain. They didn’t seem to be causing much trouble aside from being loud. He sat on the edge of the fountain and waited for them to come around again. It wasn’t long before Johnny’s ghostly bike flew in from the opposite area from where they’d left. As expected, Kitty was hugging Johnny as he did some spins that would have been dangerous if they’d still been alive. They rose up on the front wheel of the bike and spun three times before landing again. Then Johnny pulled into an empty parking spot in front of the fountain.

“Hey, kid,” Johnny called. “Surprised it took you so long to come out.”

Danny shrugged. “Didn’t seem like you were really causing trouble tonight.”

Behind Johnny, Kitty giggled. “You mean the last three nights?” she asked.

That got his attention. Danny floated up into a standing position, though his feet didn’t touch the ground. “What do you mean?” he asked. “What’ve you been doing?”

“Chill out, kid,” Johnny said. He got off his bike and offered his hand to Kitty. She grabbed it and jumped down from the bike. “We’ve just been riding around. Witching hour season, you know how it is."

Danny didn’t know exactly what Johnny meant, but he had a feeling it had to do with why he kept waking up. “I keep waking up at three,” he admitted, settling down to stand on the ground. “What’s that about?”

“How long’ve you been a ghost?” Kitty asked. “Or, whatever you are.”

Danny’s eyes flashed. “A little over a year.”

Kitty put a finger up to her chin. “And you didn’t notice last year? That’s a little weird, with how strong you are.”

“You guys kept me up almost every night for three months straight last year,” Danny grumbled. He was still a little bitter about that. It had ruined his grades. Now that he’d cemented his ownership of Amity Park, ghosts didn’t try to challenge him as much, but it had been a really awful for a while.

“Oh, right.” Kitty at least had the manners to look embarrassed. “Well, this time of night is when we’re more… present, I guess?” She looked at Johnny for confirmation, but he just shrugged. Kitty frowned and looked back at Danny. “The closer we get to Halloween, the more it affects us. I can be out of the Zone a little bit longer, Johnny and Shadow can ride faster, that sort of thing.”

On the one hand, Danny was glad to get some kind of answer for why he kept waking up. On the other… “So I’m gonna wake up in the middle of the night for no reason for a month?”

“Two months,” Johnny corrected. “Sorry, Phantom. It doesn’t just stop on November first.”

Danny sagged. He wiped a hand across his face in frustration. “Great. Thanks for telling me. I guess I could… get homework done,” he said weakly. It sounded like the worst possible thing to do in the middle of the night.

Johnny and Kitty stared at him and then burst out laughing. Danny glared until they quieted down enough to talk.

“Oh, Ancients, you’re such a goody-two-shoes,” Johnny snorted. “That’s awful. No, kid, this is ghost time. You can’t do lame shit like homework.”

“What do you want to do?” Kitty asked. “Really? Do you wanna do homework, or… I dunno, fight people? What do you even do when you’re having fun as a ghost?”

Danny frowned. “I don’t have fun as a ghost.” He gestured to his glowing, jumpsuit-clad form. “I’m only like this when I have to fight ghosts.”

The ghosts shared a glance before looking back at Danny. “That’s really sad, kid,” Kitty said. She brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear. “Do you even know what you’re like as a ghost?”

He blinked at her. “I mean… I’m me? I’m more, uh. Protective of stuff.” He blushed green and looked away. He didn’t really like thinking about all the weird ghost instincts that had popped up over the last year. It made him worry about being less human.

Johnny snorted. “No shit. You spent the last year beating the crap out of anyone who laid a foot in your territory.” Kitty elbowed him in the gut.

“Come on, Johnny, he was just a mote. We weren’t too chill for a few years, either.”

“Ow! Babe, we weren’t… you know!” Johnny waved at Danny, indicating his whole self. Danny raised an eyebrow.

“You did kind of try to take over my sister’s body and then possessed one of my classmates,” he reminded her.

Kitty rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but that was before I knew you were just a kid. Like, really a kid. Most ghosts don’t get near as strong as you in their first year, you know. We both thought you were super old but just acted like you were a kid.”

“Even though my human form looks just like me?” Danny asked, crossing his arms.

“Yeah?” Kitty said with a shrug. “Look, the only other one like you we’d heard about was the old guy. He’s been the same age for like, fifteen years or whatever. Why would we think you were any different?”

A lot of questions crossed Danny’s mind. Did that mean Vlad stopped aging? He knew the fruitloop looked weirdly young, even though he had grey hair, but he figured that was botox or something. Did that mean Danny was going to stop aging in a couple years? He was pretty sure he had grown some in the last year, but what if-

No, he had immediate things to deal with. These two probably didn’t know any of the answers to those questions.

“Okay, so, let me get this straight,” Danny said, “Witching hour is for doing ghost stuff. And I’m supposed to figure out what I like to do as a ghost, so I can do it for a couple months.”

“I guess?” Johnny said with a frown. “Not like we had to figure that out.”

Danny picked up his feet so he was hovering a couple feet above the ground in a seated position, one leg dangling and the other hiked up so his knee was in front of his torso. “I guess I like flying? It’s pretty nice. I can go over a hundred miles an hour.”

“Yeah, we can tell,” Kitty said, a hint of a laugh in her voice. She picked up her legs too so she hovered in a cross-legged position in front of him. “That’s not really a you thing, though, is it? Most ghosts like flying.”

“I still prefer the bike,” Johnny said.

“Objection noted, sweet heart,” Kitty teased. “You like protecting the town, right? Maybe you should fly around to make sure it’s okay?”

It wasn’t a bad idea, but something about it felt sour. “I do that all evening anyway,” Danny grumbled. “It’s not like I hate it, I just… It’s not fun.”

Kitty hummed. Danny was very glad she didn’t poke at that. Fighting ghosts could be fun sometimes, but mostly it was something he felt driven to do. He didn’t enjoy it like he would playing a game, or watching a meteor shower, or…

His eyes lit up. “There’s two meteor showers this month,” he said, remembering it suddenly. “The Draconids are in just a couple of days, and then the Orionids near the end of the month.”

“That’s like shooting stars, right?” Kitty asked.

“Exactly. It's rocks from space burning up in the atmosphere,” Danny said, a smile spreading across his face. Why hadn’t he thought about this before? He could get up above the clouds, away from the light pollution. “I bet I could get the best view in town now.”

“Of course he’s a nerd,” Johnny grumbled. Kitty shushed him.

“That sounds like a great thing to enjoy,” Kitty said to Danny. “Wanna ride with us one day and get out of town? Away from the lights?”

Danny hesitated. “You’d be okay with that?” He glanced from her to Johnny. Kitty seemed friendly enough when they weren’t fighting, but Johnny was the one who drove the bike.

Johnny frowned for a moment. He looked back at his bike. Danny could practically see the gears turning in his head. Finally Johnny turned back to Danny and said, “If it gets us out of this dump, yeah, we’ll take you stargazing.”

Before he knew what he was doing, Danny was hugging Johnny. “Holy shit thank you I haven’t gone in years I won’t let you regret it.”

After a few moments had passed, Johnny gently put his hand on Danny’s shoulder. “H-hey, it’s no big deal, kid.”

Far in the distance, a church bell rang.

“Well, that’s our cue,” Kitty said. “Same time tomorrow?”

Danny straightened up, a little embarrassed that he’d just hugged Johnny of all people. “Yeah. See you then.”

When he made it back to his bed, he fell asleep instantly.

#ectoberhaunt trick #ectoberhaunt 2021 #danny phantom fanfic #my writing #just some chatting #kitty (danny phantom)#johnny 13

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leejeongz · 3 years

Text

jealous treasure (asahi-junghwan)

🔅i’m gonna use another member in each one because it’s easier than making up a whole new person and explaining a bit about them for each one if that makes sense. but this is just for fun, it’s fictitious, remember that pls🔅

find the other members here

🌷 asahi:

“it’s wednesday” junkyu announced. it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to say whatever was in his brain, but today the other boys decided to humour him a little and asked him to elaborate.

“we should wear pink” he clarified as if everyone should know. asahi rolled his eyes, you’d been pestering asahi to tell junkyu to watch mean girls since well, forever, and that now he’d finally watched it, he wouldn’t shut up about it.

“but you’re not wearing any pink” asahi pointed out after scanning his whole body.

junkyu corrected him by fetching the hoodie he was expecting to wear. it was a soft, baby pink colour, with a little heart on the pocket right in the middle. asahi recognised it straight away.

“where did you get that?” he asked. junkyu couldn’t lie, he’d been caught red handed.

“from your closet” he confessed “but you always wear it and i thought i might look cute in it, can i wear it just for one day?” he begged with pleading eyes.

“hm let me think” asahi put his hand to his chin with sarcasm written all over his face “no” he snatched it from junkyu’s hands. “why would you wear y/n’s hoodie anyway?” he asked

“i-” junkyu stuttered “i didn’t know it was theirs” he said while assessing the situation “but are you really jealous right now? i didn’t know you were the type” he laughed, drawing the attention of the other members.

“no” he scoffed, “i’m not jealous, i just don’t think that they would want you wearing their hoodie. you smell” he spat out, turning his back and heading for his room.

“someone call y/n” junkyu said, wanting you to hear what a jealous man your boyfriend really is.

“don’t you have something better to do, like finding your own pink hoodie, you know, like the one you never take off your own back?” asahi snaps back, referring to the infamous pink hoodie from junkyu’s trademark outfit. as he leaves the living room, asahi takes a hesitant sniff at the jumper, hoping junkyu hasn’t infected it with his scent so much so that it no longer smells of you.

🍄 yedam:

having been stuck inside your house for what felt like a year, you were grateful and willing to accept any invitation to leave. today’s invite came from your boyfriend, yedam, who’d recently been too busy working to come and see you, which was completely understandable. he’d asked if you’d like to join him and a few of his friends on a walk around a nearby park, you of course said yes.

with beautiful scenery came the chance to take beautiful pictures. noticing that your boyfriend was too preoccupied by the ice cream van, you asked one of his friends, jeongwoo, to take a picture of you by the fountain. he agreed and instructed you on how to pose so that it wouldn’t look awkward. you followed his advice and managed to get a few shots. you walked back over to jeongwoo, who innocently stood with your phone in his hand, when you saw your boyfriend come rushing over.

“what are you doing with their phone?” he questioned “they let you take photos of them?” he spat out in a hurt manner.

“yes…” jeongwoo replied before you stepped in.

“how much are they?” you asked, pointing in the ice cream van’s direction, not understanding what all the commotion was about.

“apparently they’re all out of ice cream” he mocked “but why did you let him take photos of you? that’s my job” he pouted with a soft tone to his voice.

“ooo our yedam is all soft for y/n” jeongwoo jeered which, judging by the look yedam gave back to him, was not appropriate. “it was just 3 pictures” jeongwoo clarified “the model isn’t that easy to work with anyway, they have no fresh ideas of their own to spice up my business” he scoffed jokingly while handing your phone back to you, causing yedam to finally crack a smile.

“⅕ stars, pictures came out wonky and the photographer is bossy, unlike my lovely yedam” you smiled, playing into the joke. it wasn’t long before yedam was back to his usual cheerful self and had also finally decided that an iced tea was a good substitute for ice cream too.

🧶doyoung:

there was a lot of things in your house that didn’t make sense, but the worst was definitely the paintings hung up in your room that you’d never gotten around to taking down, mainly because you couldn’t reach them but shhh. you’d always been too shy to ask doyoung, knowing he’d laugh at you and tease you for being too short to reach them, and given you hadn’t been together for that long, you weren’t sure how much you’d appreciate that being your first inside joke.

a friend of yours, jihoon, had come over to your house while doyoung was there, which wasn’t exactly an issue, he knew you and jihoon were friends and he respected that. the three of you often gossiped and gamed together, it was a common thing these days.

“i tell you this every time im here but those are so ugly y/n, please take them down” jihoon glanced up, locking eyes with the spooky man in the painting and shuddering.

“i can’t reach” you joked, forgetting your boyfriend was also there.

“i’ll do it then” jihoon announced, standing up and reaching each painting easily.

“i could have done that” doyoung whispered under his breath while staring at you. you turned to your left to see your boyfriend's unimpressed face. “why did you let him do it?” he questioned, seeming really quite angry.

“he offered, i wasn’t gonna say no” you defended yourself. jihoon took this as his queue to leave and take the artwork elsewhere, he didn’t know where, but anywhere was better than being in that room with you two.

“is it because of his big muscles? is it because you value his opinion more than mine?” doyoung asked, laughing at his own thoughts and how ridiculous they were but possibly true.

“no” you rolled your eyes before making eye contact again “its because he offered” you repeated.

“and if i offered?” he asked, expecting you to say that you would have declined.

“obviously i would have said yes” you replied, “they were horrible i don’t care who got them down i just wanted them gone”

“oh” he sat back and relaxed into the pillow “well i’m glad they’re gone. i didn’t like to say it, but they were creepy” he laughed with you. “the next thing to go is him though” he joked, seeing jihoon walk back into your room, which of course was replied to with a scoff from your sassy friend.

💥haruto:

your sleeping pattern was well and truly out of the window, so you decided to stay up and call one of your friends that you knew would be awake, hyunsuk. he was just like you, you both slept at 4am and woke up at 2pm, so he wasn’t that shocked when you called, wide awake like him.

“where’s haruto? wasn’t he supposed to be staying at your place tonight?” he asked, genuinely concerned about his friend. you flipped the camera to show your bed, where a certain sleepy haruto lay, peacefully entering dreamland. “he’s so cute” hyunsuk giggled, you cooed in agreeance, he really was the cutest.

you stayed on call for about an hour. you were currently laughing about the tiktok he’d just sent to you, your humour was exactly the same too so it’s wasn’t hard for you to crack the other up. all the commotion woke your boyfriend, whose bed head was clearly visible in the reflection of your opened laptop when he sat up.

“did we wake you?” hyunsuk laughed upon hearing a groan from his friend.

“we?” haruto responded in a sleepy voice. “who’s we?”

“uhh us” you pointed between you and the phone.

“y/n? hyunsuk?” he snapped out of his sleepy state quickly. “why are you two up at this time and on the phone together?” you looked at hyunsuk on the screen and smiled, trying to hold in your laughter. “turn that off and come to bed, i want cuddles, and i want you to get some sleep, unlike him” he flung himself back at the bed, only inches away from hitting his head on the headboard.

“wait for me” hyunsuk joked in a teasing tone.

“no, not you” haruto whined. “just y/n please” he smiled closing his eyes and opening his arms, ready for you to join him.

“i guess this is goodnight then” you said to hyunsuk, which haruto followed up with a goodnight for his friend too before you put the phone down.

“now, cuddles please!”

♟jeongwoo:

for jaehyuk’s birthday this year, he asked for a small gathering, just close friends, which you of course are included in since you and jeongwoo had been together for over 2 years now. when you arrived, you quickly gauged the atmosphere of the party was pretty light and fun, it wasn’t oppressive in the slightest. usually parties you attended were fully kitted out with loud music, dimly lit rooms and a bunch of strangers in every room, instead your friends were in the living room, just chatting and laughing.

“you came!” jaehyuk screeched, running over to hug you. “oh and you bought a plus one, jeongwoo” he joked around with your boyfriend, who just rolled his eyes in response.

it wasn’t long before the boys delved into the games cupboard and pulled out the “who’s most likely to” box. the oldest of the boys shuffled the cards and took the top one which read “who’s the funniest”. whenever you played, this one always seemed to come out first, so you changed your answer every time to please everyone.

you turned around your board with the name “jaehyuk” written on it. your eyes scanned the room to see almost everyone had his name written on their boards, probably because it was his party after all. you quickly diverted your eyes away, however, when you saw that jeongwoo had written your name, which should have made you feel happy but instead, you felt quite guilty for not writing his.

the game went on, and your name wasn’t written on jeongwoo’s board ever again, despite you putting his for almost everything positive. the rest of the evening, jeongwoo didn’t come near you at all, everyone noticed, everyone questioned it, it was so obvious that he was jealous, but there was no way he was admitting to it.

as you got ready to leave, you glanced over at the boy who was supposed to be staying with you tonight, sat firmly in his place on the sofa.

“jeongwoo, aren’t you coming?” you shouted from the door. “jaehyuk is staying here so you don’t have to worry about him” you teased, everyone else smiling at you and giggling silently.

“fine” he grunted. you made up on the way home, he couldn’t even remember how it all started, he just “wanted to make a point” which, sure, he did.

🌍junghwan:

you and junghwan never got to spend much time together before you became friends with the members since he was always with them or at school, which is why he’s never complained or showed any jealousy when you are with them.

today you headed over to their dorms to relax and play when you remembered, today was the day of junghwan’s english exam. you pulled out your phone and dropped him a quick good luck text before continuing your journey.

yoshi brought you up to his room where he said you could chill for a bit since everyone else was still sleeping, other than those who had school of course. yoshi began to ask you lots of questions, you learnt a lot about each other in that hour or so, and the conversation was flowing so well that you didn’t hear the door.

“y/n, you did remember?!” junghwan asked excitedly, clapping his hands while smiling from ear to ear. “you came all the way here to see me after i finished?”

“remember what?” you asked, bewildered. “your exam? yeah i sent you a text, i’m sorry i didn’t realise until i was over half way here else i would have gone to see you first” you confessed, feeling guilty. his face dropped at your honest words.

“you mean you came all the way here just to see yoshi?” he asked. “everyone else was in the kitchen, but you two were in here… alone…?” disappointed in your reasoning and forgetfulness, he slowly backed out of the room. he wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. he wanted to feel sad and upset, but did you really do anything wrong, he thought. “you couldn’t have just turned around and gone home”

“well i didn’t want to, i wanted to see my friends. i didn’t realise that most of them didn’t get up until the afternoon” you walked closer to him, praying that he didn’t try and get away. “i’m sorry i forgot about your exam”

he shuffled closer to you. you’d never argued before, and he wasn’t sure how to respond, so he hoped a hug would go down well. as he hugged you, he whispered his own apology into you hair “i’m sorry for jumping to conclusions”

#treasure #treasure reactions #treasure imagines #asahi #yedam #bang yedam #doyoung #haruto #jeongwoo #junghwan

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ellitx · 3 years

Text

Twig | Albedo x Reader

the final act of TWMA part 1 part 2

can be stand-alone

disclaimer: this is written before v1.2 so my interpretation of albedo’s story and lore is not accurate. these are just my assumptions and understanding that i based on each characters’ voicelines about him

word count: 3.4k

Something felt odd. What in the world happened…?

The male awoke from an unfamiliar scent that drifted through his nose. Likewise, he has woken up from a restless sleep due to the rough waves, to glimpse at the glowing and radiant sun peaking above the horizon out of the window. It extended its vivid light across the deep blue sky.

Its dazzling and inviting rays flowed through the window providing warmth to his body. Slowly the fatigue of the endless dreams was seeped out of him as the warm light trickled into replacing his unrest— it eased his body.

His mind meandered aimlessly into nothingness, continuously staring at the beige wall painted around the room.

He is aware when he is forgetting when there is something close yet hidden, yet he cannot at that moment fathom what it could be. It’s as if he was following a bread crumb trail and it ends, so he stopped.

It gives him ideas as to what is missing from his brain because if one always got stopped when traveling, you would know that there are blocks in your way preventing you from continuing any further— even if he has no clue to as what they are.

A peal of melodic laughter that is mirthful and playful then reached his ears, stopping him from his dreaming. Albedo turned his head to the source of the voice and saw a girl— that was around his age— chuckling as she held a tray in her hands.

“You’re finally awake.” She brought down the platter on the table next to him and poured a cup of tea. His visage frowned and tightly gripped the blanket that was tucked to him.

Why did he felt that she was mocking him? He doesn’t know why but for some reason it did irk him. He forgot about his memories. He doesn’t have the slightest clue as to where he was and why he was here.

“Here.” She gave him the cup and patiently waited for him to take it. So this is where the foreign scent was coming from. He thought to himself.

The smell was fragrant but had a tinge of spiciness in it. It made his nose crinkled but accepted it nonetheless— quite hesitant, as the girl observed. Taking a small sip of the tea, it surprised him that it tasted sweet. It was quite unexpected because of the tangy fragrance it gave off.

“You look so lost.”

The laugh came from her like a newly sprung leak— sheepish at first, stopping and starting. She wasn’t done yet though, he could tell from the way she turned her head and half-bit her lip. From deep inside her chest came a great shaking motion and her muscle face grew tight.

His eyebrows arched as he put down the cup on the tray, waiting. In moments this female’s laugh was more like a burst water main arching into the brilliant summer sky, soaking everyone around her with unrestrained gales that deliberated her to nonstop giggles and picked face picture of glee.

Albedo wanted to stay straight-faced and walk out the room— she was, after all, laughing “at him”, not “with him”. But before he could stop himself, his poker mouth twitched upwards, and was smiling despite himself.

Nevertheless, he didn’t hate it.

—

On the next day, she was already bombarding him with questions.

“Hey, hey, what was that thing you just did? That was my sister’s research she’s been working hard for and you’ve already solved it?!” [Eye color] optics sparkled in awe and admiration as [Name] gazed at him from her side.

He peered into her eyes and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders, continuing to read the texts of the book she gave him. “It was a minor mistake she had done. I’ve read some pieces of information about that topic and was not expecting I would stumble upon it.”

She puckered her lips and pouted as she snatched the codex from his hands. His answer was so vague! It didn’t really satisfy her curiosity about this outlander. “Hey!”

The female raised her arms, preventing him from reaching it. “I won’t give this back to you until you tell me the whole story!” Albedo’s brows folded in confusion and struggled to grab it. “That is the whole story.”

Her cheeks puffed and watched him yanked the book from her. It was disappointing, to say the least how he easily took it.

Sighing countless times already made him question himself why this girl still insists on staying by his side. It’s not like he didn’t like it nor does he like it, it just raised him so many questions about what happened yesterday.

Why would the Knights took him in considering how [Name] just effortlessly helped him out of nowhere. Not to mention how he barely knows a single thing about Mondstadt. It made him indignant how he can’t remember even the slightest thing.

He doesn’t blame anyone for it. It’s no one’s fault that he lost his memories.

Just thinking about this bizarre occurrence that just magically appeared out of nowhere made his head ached. Though the tug on his arm caught his attention and looked at the young teen in puzzlement as they started to march off to archon knows where.

“Maybe I should tell Grandmaster Varka about this…” She softly muttered to herself. He caught her words perfectly and so further press a question to pique his interest. “Tell about what?”

Both of them slowed down and paused in their tracks, stopping midway near the fountain area. [Name] chuckled and winked at him playfully.

“You’ll see.”

Albedo hummed and looked fixedly on the back of her head as they continued to walk silently.

There was a delicious moment where his face washed blank with confusion, like his brain cogs couldn’t turn fast enough to take in the information from his wide eyes. It made [Name] stifle a laugh at the expression he was currently showing to all the members of Ordo Favonius.

Every muscle of the male’s body just froze before he looked away from them to the girl who stood beside him. A grin crept up onto her face, it soon stretched out from one side to the other showing every single tooth.

Surprise isn’t an emotion he’d ever taken well. He could tell himself he was at loss for words. He guessed he found himself dumb, in a sense that made his lexeme stopped flowing. Stopped because she has shown him a new direction he never anticipated for a moment.

Every member knows she had saved him— saved him from what though? That he did not know, he never asked her about it nor did she even tell him what happened to him. He just let it be.

Receiving the news that he’ll be a member of the Knights, to have the position as the Chief Alchemist, really made him bewildered and surprised.

“Isn’t this happening too fast?” He questioned whilst quirking a brow.

“Hm? What do you mean?” [Name] tipped her head as her eyes stared at his own turquoise ones.

“Why is everyone easily agreeing to it? I’ve only been here for a day and just assisted your sister in translating. I appreciate the thought that the Grandmaster here is giving me the position of Chief Alchemist but I can't help but question why.”

She glanced at him, her mouth pursed but slightly open and loose. Her eyes are fixed as if she’s looking at something a yard behind his head. He called her name to garner her attention.

She blinks, refocused. “Albedo, it’s actually been five days. Lisa talked to everyone about how genius you are.”

Now it was his turn to owlishly blink. Five days? Does time really move that fast?

Well, he did hear the saying that time flies fast when you’re having fun. He never noticed about it and now that the idea battered him, it continued to linger inside his head.

What happened yesterday, what happened today, everything still feels the same. Even if the fragment of memories within him seemed to etiolate. His hands clawed his chest, feeling the unusual warmth from it and throughout his body.

Everything has been important to him and will be important to him.

He knows that these distant memories seem so far and vague but are significant to him.

He doesn’t understand the reason why, but he shouldn’t forget.

At least that’s how he thinks things should be.

—

The sound of the ticking grandfather clock echoed throughout the silent room. It sounded so monotonous and lifeless inside. The tall and antiquated object stood there as the gateway for old-man time, the golden pendulum making its steady way back and forth.

The silence was so eerie, though none minded at all as two teenagers were fast asleep, still remaining inside their dreams.

An aroma Albedo has gotten used to woke him up. It’s the smell of the herbs and various flowers that have mixed together giving off a sweet and minty scent. He opened his eyes and stayed like that for a few minutes.

The alchemist tiredly glanced down to see the papers are now messed and scattered all over the table. Heaving a sigh as he raked his fingers through his hair, his aqua optics went on to the female’s sleeping body that rested on his lab’s bed.

She still hasn't woken up.

He stood up from his seat and quietly approached her unconscious form to check on her condition. [Name]’s features were much softer in sleep, the lines that usually creased her brow replaced by youthful appearance giving off a child-like look.

She looked peaceful, he thought to himself.

He pulled up the blanket over her shoulders and turned around to continue making remedies for her once she’s awake.

The Knights of Favonius were worried sick about her, especially her sister, Lisa. They were hoping and praying to the Seven she’ll wake up from her coma. They all miss her presence, days of not seeing her wandering around also worried the townsfolk of Mond.

She has been cooped up inside his room while Sucrose and Noelle assisted him in taking care of her.

The morning dusk is about to arrive and Albedo has to continue doing his research nonstop. He does so wished to see her [eye color] orbs finally open after the incident. It hurt him to know [Name] has been like this that he did not even realize until the Acting Grandmaster and her sister told him about it.

He stared at the small plant that was placed on the windowsill. Its leaves started to fall off from its branches as it slowly started to wilt in the darkness. He grabbed the small twig and observed the faintest of light it gives off.

Would it hurt to say that it reminded him of her?

[Name] is someone that has to be taken care of carefully. After all, when she saw what he had written about her condition, she didn’t want to believe it. He wanted to say that her “friend” was just a fragment of her imagination without affecting her mental state.

He hovered his hand over the small branch, watching it bloom before his eyes with ease. He placed it back in the vase and returned to the table. If only he could easily return her back just like how he did with the plant.

Return her from his arms again instead of that bard.

He let out a bitter laugh at that thought. This was his fault. Why would she come back running to him if he did not even once give her his time? When they’ve finally met again for so long, she was avoiding his eyes.

It hurt him, he won’t lie about that. Her welcome to him was just a simple nod and that’s it. No hugs, no welcomes, not even a small smile was given to him.

If he did stop his research and at least spend time with her, will everything change?

Albedo shook his head as the answer to himself. Even if it is, why would he still continue hoping and thinking about these things? Sometimes his formulation of the rationale of real-life situations irked him.

This isn’t alchemy, genius.

His self-feud stopped when he saw her fingers moved the slightest from his peripheral vision. His heart fluttered and gave him a bit of hope if the archons had finally heard their wishes.

When her eyelids flickered open, the sight was not what he was expecting.

A lone tear trickled down her cheek. Her lips quivered and continued to look at the distance. Out of complete silence, her soft cries arose. He’d never seen [Name] sat like that, so deflated. Her loose shoulders shook, her hands hanging low, making no attempt to conceal or even wipe her own tears.

All of these emotions coming to him at once hurt him.

His head throbbed and let the feeling of guilt crush him.

—

The giggle rolled around the room like a child’s spinning top, vibrant and heartwarming as it moved around the people in its chaotic ways. It came in its fits and bursts— loud to soft to nothing at all and back to loud again.

It was as if there was an invisible feather at [Name]’s nape brushing softly; she squirmed and raised her shoulders to block Barbara from tickling her neck. The laughter built up inside her like so much water behind a dam, making her shoulders and her belly hurt.

She cried when Klee jumped onto her body and joined in with the deaconess. Their carefree and playful tittering reached Albedo’s ears when he entered the room. Their eyes darted towards him as their laughs died down.

The Spark Knight ran towards him and hugged his legs, overjoyed in seeing the alchemist here. He knelt down to her height and patted her head as a smile slowly crept up to his face.

[Name]’s laugh caught his attention again, though he did not dare to look at the two females. As much as he tried to focus on listening to Klee’s words, he cannot help but listen to the former’s gentle hilarity.

For some reason, it made his chest wrenched every time he listens to it. He wondered why that is when it’s something he remembers all the time.

He recalled the day he got his Vision. It appeared out of thin air on his desk and she was the first one to point it out. It surprised [Name] why he had gotten Geo instead of Dendro. She watched him fiddle the trinket in his hands as he continued to analyze it.

He didn’t really mind whichever Vision he got. As long as he can continue doing his research then it’s fine with him.

He didn’t know why he found himself laughing so hard, but all of a sudden, he couldn’t stop. His breath came in quick gasps between his unstoppable tittering. Tears gathered in the corner of his eyes, threatening to spill over.

She was confused about why he was laughing all of a sudden worrying her. He waved his hand dismissively and pointed out the expression that was currently painted on her face. Her face reddened and slapped his back jokingly.

After their short playful bickering, the Chief Alchemist plucked a small branch from a plant and hand it over to her.

“Visions are gifts given to us by the Gods. Think of it like this sprig, there are many possibilities which among the elements they’ll receive yet no one knows what they’ll end up with until they’ve received it.”

She furrowed her brows as her brain cogs continue to process what he meant. It finally dawned on her what he meant and hummed. “But not everyone can receive Visions, though.” She remarked.

“Exactly. They may not bear fruits or maybe yet, one day it’ll come to them.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what is it?”

[Name] sighed and rested her chin on her palm. “Not everyone is blessed by the Seven.” The male was still and quiet.

“Well, I’m no god. I may not know how they give out Visions but it sure is something remarkable, isn’t it?” Her eyes lightened up and nodded vigorously.

“Right?! Wouldn’t it be better if they just give it to everyone?” Albedo laughed and admired her own exclamation.

“Perhaps.”

It surprised the female teen that he just suddenly grabbed her hand unnoticed. He observed how small her hands are compared to his. He placed the twig on her palm and with a simple motion of his wrist, the branches started to grow as small leaves then sprouted from it.

It occurred to her just how amazing Albedo is. She raised the small branch in the air and examine the faintest glow of the leaves it emitted. She gasped and stared with wide eyes as isotoma flowers started to bloom from the ends.

“W-was that suppose to happen?” She turned her head to him and pushed her arms forward to show the herb to him.

He bobbed his head and took out a pot filled with soil. He used his elemental skill on it and a cecilia shaped flower appeared. Instead of the usual vibrant white, it almost looked too rigid and rocky.

[Name] poked it and it really was sturdy. He asked her if she can use her own elemental skill, to which she responded with a yes. She twirled her hand and he can feel the air starting to get cold.

Small snowflakes started to form and dropped down on the pot. Once the snow made contact with the rocky flower, it formed into a crystal and bloomed into a refreshing and spirited cecilia.

It felt like a real flower instead of the stony one they just saw. The alchemist plucked it and carefully tucked it to her ear, adoring how well it donned her appearance and perfectly captured her delicacy.

Cecilias really does suit her.

That day, the day he only showed it to her. It’s the memoir he cherished the most. It’s the only special memory he couldn’t forget.

He understood why. He keeps thinking of her.

All these mnemonics with [Name] are important to him and are everything to him.

And on that day, he believed she wouldn’t leave.

—

A smell of a nostalgic sweet breeze wafted in him. The winds kissed his skin making him wish to go back to sleep, yet the sound of familiar laughter was what made him want to open his eyes.

He recognized those sweet mirths. It’s so close to him that he can feel the figure’s shakiness. The tree’s shadow helped him not to be blinded by the rays of the sun and the gales that caressed his skin were so calming, but his focus was purely glued to a smile.

Her smile.

He still waited for the day when he can show the small beauties of life to someone, but there are no fools like him in this vast world. Perhaps they exist, yet they must be distant, enjoying the same sky with other eyes yet the same thought.

The whistling of the birds that awaken their sleep in the trees, letting his perception be painted with white, yellow, and blue. It battered him that he was currently laying on her lap.

So shall it stay put, a smile eternally stained upon her lips. Her joy, her love, her laughter, her cheer. All will reach the ears of those who have forgotten the warmth of such harmonies.

Emotions came to his mind like the waves meeting the land. They come to him, soaking his entire being and helped him to understand his entire self better. He felt wet hot tears filled up his eyes.

But this was no tears of grief.

It was tears of joy that he has finally heard her laugh once again. Much closer than before. The distance with them has now shortened. Is this the archons saying they’ll give him another chance?

If it is, he’s very thankful to the Celestia and to the Seven. He was so happy that all he can do is cry and let the tears continuously fall down his cheeks. The tears stained his face but he didn’t care if it did.

Albedo was just so ecstatic he finally got to reunite with her. He can finally hold her in his arms and apologize for the mistake he has done to her. He missed her so much that he can’t bear the pain anymore of how distant they are.

And so he promised himself he won’t ever forget her.

this oneshot is based on this song

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basicallywhiterice · 3 years

Text

on top of the world (dong sicheng/winwin)

pairing: sicheng/winwin x reader

genre: angst, fluff, flangst. friends to lovers, highschool!au, dancer!sicheng, spring break trip

summary: The fall to the ground doesn’t seem so daunting when you’re living on top of the world.

word count: 3.2k

warnings: cussing

a/n: if enough people get mad at me i’ll write a part 2

part 1 | part 2 | part 3

this can be read as a standalone, but it is part 1 in the on top of the world series. crossposted on ao3 here!

Chinatown, Washington, D.C., 7:01 p.m.

“Honest Abe? More like, honest babe,” Lucas hollers to Kun and no one in particular, drawing a few disgruntled looks from the pedestrians waiting for the walk signal to flash again. He winks at a man in a navy suit, who rolls his eyes and looks away. Yangyang reaches over for a high-five.

“Dude was 6′ 4″, of course he’s a babe,” Sicheng whistles, leaning behind Yangyang and craning his neck to steal glances at Kun’s phone.

To your right, Ningning flits around, snapping pictures of the street displays and assorted neon lights on the storefronts. You watch her alongside Giselle, who pops her bubblegum, periodically glancing at the traffic light at the bustling intersection. Standing shoulder to shoulder with you to your left, Kun rattles off a hodge-podge of facts about Abraham Lincoln and Ford’s Theatre, which you just passed by, from his phone screen to a faux-enthused Yangyang, who shakes Sicheng by the shoulders every time Kun reads a new fact. He occasionally gets pushed into Lucas’s side, rolling his eyes while doing little to hide the growing grin on his face.

“... and apparently they planned his assassination in the building the Wok n’ Roll restaurant we passed used to be,” Kun remarks.

“OH MY GOD SICHENG ISN’T THAT SO CRAZY?” Yangyang all but screams. “IT WAS IN THE WOK N’ ROLL!”

As you glance over fondly, your eyes linger on the orange hues and kaleidoscopic shadows the nearby “do not walk” signal spills over Sicheng’s face. After a moment, he looks away from Yangyang’s exaggerated bouncing. His gaze flits upwards, meeting your stolen glance with his own.

The world grinds to a halt beneath your feet when a strong gust of wind blows through your hair, propelling you into free fall into the depths of his eyes until Giselle tugs on your arm, pulling you back into the present.

She gestures toward the “walk” signal on the traffic light, and you fall in line with her quick footsteps as you stride across the crosswalk.

“We should go there later,” she suggests. “Try summoning Lincoln’s ghost or something.”

“The Wok n’ Roll?”

“Yeah. Do you think his ghost would have his top hat?”

“I thought ghosts were just spirits and didn’t take material possessions with them?”

“Yeah, but then every ghost would be naked, which would be hella inappropriate.”

Ningning overhears, skipping up to you and looping her arm through yours. “You have to prove the existence of ghosts and take them out to dinner before you get them naked, you pig.”

“I made yo momma sound like a ghost last night,” Lucas quips. “I skipped the ‘getting dinner’ part, though.”

“Goddamn,” Giselle exclaims as you burst into laughter, throwing jokes and jabs at each other for the rest of the trek to the ramen restaurant where you eat dinner.

Hilton Garden Inn, Washington, D.C., 9:13 p.m.

After helping Giselle and Ningning unpack, you knock on the communicating door between your hotel room and the boys’ in order to bother Kun.

Sicheng answers, moving aside so you can step across. Their room is surprisingly clean, although you chalk it up to the limited amount of time they had to unpack earlier today. Lucas sits at the desk in the corner near the window, hunched over his laptop while Yangyang peeks over his shoulder. You glimpse a few pictures of the Washington Monument on his screen before he scrolls down to other marble structures.

“Are you looking up other places to visit?” you ask him.

He glances up, cracking his neck before responding. “Yeah. I can’t find anything special that we don’t know about, though.”

“It’s boutta be lit,” Yanyang chimes in.

“Ayeee,” Lucas responds. They start aggressively patting each other on the back and arms, and you take that as your cue to leave before they wrestle you into whatever weird ritual they’re performing.

Turning, you see Sicheng flop down onto the bed closest to the windows where Kun lays, sprawled out. “Hey,” Kun greets, lifting his head from his pillows.

“Hey,” you reply, remembering the reason why you came to the room in the first place. “Oh yeah! I found a stop sign a few blocks from here on a decently busy street. It’ll take ten minutes to go there and back, tops.”

He groans. “I would love to go, but I just got a stomachache. Tell you what. Sicheng,” he says, propping himself up at a snail’s pace and clasping Sicheng’s shoulder, “you can accompany her there, right?”

“To a stop sign?” Sicheng asks, looking up from his phone.

“A hand-picked, top tier, magnificent stop sign,” you proclaim. “Whenever me and Kun travel, we always get a random passerby to take our picture in front of a stop sign like it’s a tourist attraction. Are you down for potential social awkwardness?”

The corner of Sicheng’s lips tugs up into a grin. “You know it. I’m not ruining your tradition with Kun, am I?” he asks, glancing sideways at Kun for confirmation.

Kun flops back down on the bed. “Nah. If I went right now, I’d probably ruin the tradition by shitting my pants there or something.”

Sicheng chuckles. “Promise? We could print out those pictures and mail them back to your parents like a postcard.”

“I like the way you think,” you say with a scheming smile, nodding at Sicheng before turning back to Kun. “Anyways, drink some warm water to help with your stomachache, maybe? What do you think caused it?”

He shrugs. “Not sure. Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten that trashcan pizza slice in the subway.” Sicheng reaches over and flicks his forehead. “Ow! I’m kidding! Why would you torment a sick man like this? Go away and take your pictures already.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” you ask as Sicheng asks, “You sure?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. Worst comes to worst, I’ll take a Pepto-Bismol in fifteen minutes. Go and have fun.” He waves you off, grabbing a spare pillow and lightly smacking Sicheng with it.

“Fine, mom.” Sicheng stands, pocketing his phone. “You ready? I just need to put on my shoes.”

“Yeah.” As he walks over to the closet, you sneak a peek at your reflection through your phone screen. Fighting back a sudden bundle of nerves, you discreetly smooth your t-shirt down, running a hand through your hair. Kun wiggles his eyebrows when he notices, and you flip him off, silently warning him to stay quiet.

He doesn’t. “Have fun on your date with loverboy,” he whispers.

“Shut up.”

“After you leave, should I check out the pool?” he murmurs. “Lucas and Yangyang said they don’t feel like swimming tonight.”

“What, isn’t your stomach—”

“Oh my, would you look at the time? Off you go!” He shoos you away, almost standing up to push you away and laying back down before Sicheng can turn around. You’re almost impressed by how well he set you up.

Still, though. If Kun weren’t your best friend, you’d shove him into the hotel’s fountain.

H Street Northwest, Washington D.C., 9:40 p.m.

Half an hour later, you give up on the facade of collecting anti-tourist pictures after the third stop sign, stopping by the Chinatown Express to grab a bowl of noodles with roast duck to go. You walk for a few blocks before finding a bench to sit and split it at, slurping them up in an appreciative silence.

“Oh my god,” Sicheng intones around a mouthful of noodles. When you look over, his cheeks are puffed, an empty spoon descending to rest inside the soup container.

“You look like one of those baby birds eating scraps,” you giggle.

“I’m certainly skilled with chicks,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

You roll your eyes, then scoot closer to pick up a piece of roast duck. Your knees touch, but neither of you move away. “Do you think there’s a more advanced form of life than humans, like aliens, and they view us how we view animals?” you ask, resuming the conversation you had about the meaning of life before you sat down. “Like we don’t think birds could become self-aware, no matter how intelligent they are, so then we can’t achieve the alien version of self-awareness no matter how philosophical we get.”

“Good question. Uh, alien self-awareness would probably relate to the meaning of life or something, right? Or the secrets of the universe and breaking the laws of physics. And because they’re so big brained, they could control things with their minds and be enlightened with telekinesis. So hypothetically, if I were a wise, sagely alien,” he says, gently picking up your hand and laying it flat against his palm, “I could make my hand pass through yours if I had enough brainpower.”

His hand is warm, and you hope furiously that your palms aren’t sweating. “Was this another excuse to hold my hand?”

“Well, did it work?”

You raise your eyebrows and fail at biting back your smile. “You already know, you just want to hear me say it.”

He grins. “Then say it!”

“Yes, Sicheng, it worked.”

“Awesome.” He moves his right hand to pick up his spoon, briefly tugging your hand with him until he realizes. “Fuck. Sorry, I have to let go of your hand while I eat. Unless you wanna see me struggle with my left hand.”

“As much as I’d love to watch you do that, I feel like that’d be an insult to the rest of the noodles.”

When you finally remember to stand up and throw away the long-forgotten remnants of your food, he holds your hand carefully but firmly as you walk past the White House, and you imagine his hold on your heart must feel the same.

Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., 11:16 p.m.

“Dance with me,” Sicheng pleads, pulling you under a streetlight. You nod, but your feet stay cemented on the brick-paved sidewalk.

“I don’t know how to.”

“That’s fine.” You place your hand in his outstretched one, and he lifts your other hand to rest on his shoulder. “No one’s around to judge, so just do whatever.”

“Wise words,” you deadpan, but you let his hand on your waist guide your swaying.

He’s right, though. After the initial awkwardness fades, you find that waltzing around isn’t so bad after all—especially when he twirls you around the pocket of light underneath the lamppost so gently it feels like you’re dancing on air.

And when he dips you as you throw your head back, laughing, you think you finally understand why his eyes light up every time he finishes a dance performance.

“Is this what you love about dancing?” you ask once you’ve come back up.

He nods, eyes closing briefly. “Partly. The grand choreographies are the showstoppers, but the simpler moments keep me sane.” His eyes flutter open. “I haven’t let anyone see me dance with such bad technique in a while. I’m usually not this bad, I promise.”

“I know,” you grin. “I saw you at the winter showcase. You were amazing.” Then you take a deep breath, and brace for the worst. “The lyrical piece you closed with was the one you used for your audition, right?”

“Yeah, I—yeah.”

Abruptly, he releases your hands and steps back. You allow yourself to feel a twinge of guilt for mentioning the elephant in the room before you steel yourself for the impending conversation.

“We should probably talk about that,” he says.

“We should. Do you want to walk around the National Mall? You said you liked it earlier today.”

“Sure.”

The walk is quiet enough for you to overthink. Sicheng got accepted by a dance studio in Korea, after months of submitting auditions and traveling back and forth between countries. He’s leaving soon, even if he says he’s still waiting to hear back from Juilliard and keeping his options open. You see it in the goodbyes he keeps subconsciously saying and the memories he drinks in like it’s his last chance to, and you’re terrified of what your life will look like without him.

You glance over at him periodically, and he seems to be lost in thought too, staring straight ahead down the well-lit path. His eyebrows furrow as you pass under a streetlight, and you wonder if you brought it up the wrong way.

You’re disappointed in the crude way you shoved the future into a perfectly happy moment, then mad that you’re disappointed. It was inevitable that you’d have to talk about what would come after graduation, and it was inevitable that he’d have to remove himself from your side to chase after his dreams. It’s a wonder he hasn’t pulled away already.

Stupid, you chide yourself. Stupid, stupid, stupid, loving so hard that your chest implodes from all the weight it carries, already drifting through the pangs of hurt and the wisps of melancholy bringing about a premature nostalgia.

“I’m really going to miss you next year,” Sicheng confesses out of the blue.

You glance up. His hands are shoved into his pants pockets, his eyes roaming over your face like he’s trying to remember all the secrets it hides.

You think you might always run back to him. You’re not sure how to feel about that.

National Mall, Washington, D.C., 11:33 p.m.

“So.”

“So,” you echo. “Have you looked at decisions yet?” It’s a pointless question. You know he’s not going to Juilliard.

“Yeah, I looked at them this afternoon in the theater.” He clears his throat. “I got waitlisted.”

“Ah.”

“I’m not going to accept a spot on the waitlist.”

“Why not?”

He shrugs. “I had made my decision anyway.” Then he sighs, his nonchalant facade dropping for good. “You can probably guess.”

“You’re leaving?”

“I’m accepting the studio’s offer,” he whispers, as if the air is glass and the moment could shatter at any moment. The words float there, above your head, and you imagine grabbing them and hugging them close to your chest before they slip away.

You don’t. “I figured.”

“Yeah. You knew.”

You stare ahead and will the tears not to fall.

“I’m leaving as soon as school ends,” he says, with the sideways glance that marks the start of his rambling distraction process, “and flying there on—”

“I’m gonna miss you,” you blurt. He pauses mid-sentence. “I’m gonna miss you like crazy. Can we talk about this, for real? You can tell me all the details later, I just—please,” and your voice cracks, “don’t dismiss this.”

“Yeah. Of course.”

A blink, and the first teardrop traces its way down your face.

You waste away the hours of your stolen youth with a boy who wipes your tears away and comforts you over the future that you’ll no longer be a part of.

National Mall, Washington, D.C., 11:57 p.m.

“Before I leave,” Sicheng says, scuffing the heels of his shoes on the gravel pathway, “I know I’d regret it if I didn’t say something. I mean, I’m going to leave anyways, so why not, you know? I have to say something before I’m gone. Um, so, you know this by now, but I… I—” and you already know what’s coming.

“Stop. I know what you’re going to say. Give me a minute to think.”

You make the mistake of glancing up at him, his eyes wide and shining. “Yeah. Alright. Take all the time you need, please.”

In half a year, Sicheng will be gone and you will be left to pick up the pieces of your life that don’t involve him, piecing them together the best you can and carrying on like there isn’t a hole in your heart.

“I’m in love with you.” One thud of your heartbeat. Then another. “Sicheng.”

In half a year, this chance will be long gone, and if you let it slip through your fingers without grabbing on, you’ll never forgive yourself for letting Sicheng become your biggest what-if.

“I’m in love with you too.” He raises his hand to cradle your face in his palm. “Y/n.”

“I’ve wanted to say that for a while now.”

“Me too. It’s not just because I’m leaving, you know.” You nod, his palm momentarily pressing against your cheek. “You knew.”

“Yeah.”

You stare up at him, the boy who wears his heart on his sleeve and holds entire galaxies in his eyes.

“What are we?” he asks.

“I don’t know.”

“How do you feel about dating?”

You freeze like a deer in headlights. “Dating?”

“Yeah, would you? Like to date me?”

And then Sicheng turns into a what-if again. “I don’t know,” you confess. “I don’t know if I could handle the split.”

“We don’t have to break up when I leave. We could do long distance,” he suggests, but it sounds flimsy even to your ears.

“I don’t know, Sicheng. I don’t want to end up losing you.”

“I know. We don’t have to, especially if you don’t want to.”

You nod once in acknowledgment, and then you’re stepping into his arms again. He holds you securely, stroking your hair and waiting for you to collect your thoughts.

“I wish we had more time,” you whisper into his shoulder an eternity later. “Could we have been doing this earlier?”

“It would’ve been too fast,” he reasons, and you’re inclined to agree. “We didn’t really… not until this year…”

“Yeah.” You’ve known Sicheng for years and have been close with him for months, but you only fell in love with each other when it was too late. “I wish we started hanging out sooner.”

“Maybe things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

“Maybe.”

You pull back enough to glance up at him, gaze dropping to his lips at the close proximity before immediately bringing it back up. His eyes follow the movement, a smile creeping up his face.

“One kiss wouldn’t hurt, right?” he asks, and he says it so earnestly that it’s hard to believe he’d be wrong.

“It wouldn’t,” you agree. His nose bumps with yours and you blink up at him once, twice, and then you’re leaning in until the faraway sounds of the city fade away. He’s purposeful and patient and when all you can think of is the brush of his lips against yours, it’s just you and him against the world.

One kiss might not hurt, but one turns to two and two turns to too many and when you finally pull away and stare into his eyes, dazed, your lips tingle from the ghost of his mouth on yours.

At that moment, the way his mouth slowly stretches into a grin does something to your heart, and you think you’d let it break a million times just to be the cause of his smile.

“Yes, Sicheng. Let’s date.”

He kisses you again, beaming so wide that his teeth knock against your lips and pulling you closer, almost picking you up in the process.

You wonder if you made the wrong decision.

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kashi-prompts · 3 years

Text

Rating: M

Pairing: None! Maybe Kakashi x Gai? As friends or lovers, you choose.

Genre: Angst. Just angst. Maybe some fluff.

WARNING: This work contains themes such as drug abuse and suicide. If you are uncomfortable with these topics, I would recommend skipping this prompt <3

A/N: For the lovely @kakashiswilloffire <3 I hope its not too similar to my other one or just cringy or boring or something??

Prompt below the cut!

Most days, the insufferable, poignant metal smell of blood would wash away after the hot water hit his body. The gory memento of his last mission under his fingernails would be stripped away by scrubbing his scalp. The water would filter from clear to crimson as it sucked itself down the drain at his feet.

Oftentimes, the metallic aroma of bloodshed would still visit him, taunting his thoughts as though he hadn't washed it away. It wasn't his blood that he was smelling. It was someone else's. Someone who was no longer living or breathing on this earth- someone who was now buried deep under a mound of soil thanks to him. Still, he would ignore the odor, hoping it was just the heightened sense of smell that was both a blessing and a curse to his five senses.

His feet brought him through the village as the sun began to set. Deep within him, he felt an empty, familiar feeling. Like a hole that he was never sure could be filled with anything except self-loathing and hatred for himself. He was angry - angry with his father for dying, angry with Minato for dying, angry with himself - for Rin, for Obito. He felt empty—the numbing feeling of bereavement and angst overpowering him.

"Want one?" he heard, looking up. One muted grey eye sought out the voice, settling on a waistcloth marked "fire" at his eye level. Looking up, the Hokage's son offered him a cigarette while the silver-haired shinobi sat on the stone bench, deep in thought.

"You look like you had a rough day," Asuma noted dismally, the long tobacco stick perched between his two yellowing fingers.

"I'm fine," Kakashi responded pointedly, waving a dismissive hand and looking away.

"Rough mission?" the Sarutobi asked, replacing the offered token to his pocket. He lit the cigarette that hung from his lips.

Kakashi shrugged, leaning forward to place his elbows on his knees. He felt so much older than the man standing next to him. Asuma was experienced, but the type of experiences differed from black to white. To guard and protect was a prestigious claim on the title of shinobi - but the conquest to slaughter agitators of your village as your primary delegation was altogether something different.

A wif of blood suddenly stroked the 19-year-olds masked nose. His eye widened, covertly searching for the source. His arm tingled, reminiscent of how it would feel after pumping it with chakra to forge a Chidori. Asuma stood beside him, deaf to the flash of trauma that flowed like a movie roll effortlessly through Kakashi's mind.

Swallowing, he stood from the stone bench abruptly, a bead of sweat trickling down from his hairline to his spine.

"You alright?" Asuma questioned, regarding his friend with curiosity and concern.

"Yeah, I have things to do," Kakashi told him, wiping his clammy hands on the fabric of his pants quickly. Panic rose in him, yet he couldn't pin why. Maybe it was the rush of adrenaline that suddenly pumped through his veins. The feeling of being in combat sending signals to his brain, yet the air around him stood peaceful and still.

"You sure you don't want one?" Asuma prodded, offering the cigarette in his hand. Kakashi looked away, bothered by the question yet again. Yet, the smell of blood still lingered, and the source seemed unknown. Did he imagine it?

Taking a step to walk past his friend, he caught a wif of the cloud of nicotine enveloping the dark-haired man beside him. Kakashi peaked up, observing the cigarette between Asuma's lips captivatingly. The smell vanished, whether in his own mind or not. Exhaling, his eyes met Asuma's.

"Yeah, I'll take one."

*****

The pain crept up his leg again, unrelenting and all-consuming. The aftershocks of the injury seemed to shake him more than it had the moment his leg had shattered two months earlier on a mission. This time, the discomfort woke him from his sleep.

"Shit," Kakashi sneered, clutching the top of his shin. The cast had been removed a week ago, yet the gnawing pain seemed to reappear every 6 hours.

"It'll go away eventually," the med-nin had told him. Having been irritated by how long he was out of work, he didn't care about the discomfort at that time. He only wanted to return to missions. To have some self-worth pump into him at the satisfaction of completing a task successfully. But somehow, the pain seemed to be getting worse.

Reaching towards his nightstand through the dark, he blindly grasped for the bottle of pills he kept near him. His finger touched it, knocking it to the ground and rolling underneath his bed. Curses filled the quiet bedroom as he yanked his sheets off and knelt on the hardwood floor. Dust and food wrappers cluttered the underside of his mattress.

"What the fu-" he gritted his teeth, wildly searching for the bottle beneath the mattress frame. Finally, he grasped it and pulled it back to him. Looking down at the label, he read it carefully to himself again in the light of the streetlamp outside his window.

"Take two pills three times a day as needed."

Kakashi considered the instructions, reminding himself of the ache in his leg that didn't seem to go away as time went on.

Perhaps doubling it would help.

*****

The second refill was easy to obtain. But now, only four pills remained of it after only one week.

"I need a refill," the silver-haired jounin leader requested. His expression remained blank as he set the bottle down in front of the med-nin.

Carefully, the woman picked up the bottle, examining the man's name on the label.

Hatake Kakashi

DOB: September 15

Acetaminophen + Oxycodone 500mg

"You refilled this prescription last week, Hatake-san," the woman explained carefully.

"I know," Kakashi replied sharply, "that's why I'm here. I need a refill."

"That's not how this works," she stressed to him gently, "You can only refill a prescription after a certain period of time has passed. You shouldn't have to refill this prescription for another two weeks."

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"I'm sorry I c-"

Long gloved fingers snatched the bottle from the woman's hand, glowering at the nurse. The four remaining pills shook against the bottle as he shoved it back in his pocket.

"Fine," he said cooly, his demeanor changing suddenly. "Have a great day."

It was at that moment that Kakashi knew he was still in control. Even if this mediocre woman behind the counter wouldn't provide him the bare minimum he needs to function without pain, then he would just have to obtain it himself.

****

And he did. Scouting out the perimeter of the hospital was easy for such an elite shinobi. He sat in the trees, watching certain staff members come and go as the day grew to evening. He knew he had to report soon, but this was more important. The persistent ache in his leg only worsened as the 6-hour window crept closer.

As dusk came upon him, he knew he had to make a move soon. The longer he sat and watched, the more time he wasted. As the sun hit the treeline, the ache in his leg crept up into his hip, a deep spasm that throbbed every nerve ending in his thigh. He could sense his irritability rooting deeper into his body, a tree of impatience and rage that had only freshly sprouted to life.

It didn't take him very long to sweep his body through an open window, covertly walking through the halls as though he belonged there in his usual jounin attire. He was merely visiting someone, was the intention he hoped to emanate towards the occupied staff. Not even when he slid his shoulders through the medication room door did anyone notice.

Too easy, he thought as he left through the hospital's front door that evening. The street lamps were on now, illuminating the sidewalk as his sandaled feet took him back home with a heavy relief over his body. He hadn't wasted any time popping the higher than recommended dose into his mouth, taking a sip of water from the hospital's drinking fountain, and swallowing them with a flick of his tongue.

Although, as his bottle of newly filled pills rattled in his pocket and the effects of the pain reliever set in, he was beginning to feel groggy. He looked around, the world seeming like a strange, almost foreign place to him. Kakashi shook his head, irritated by the unwanted secondary effect of the drug.

"Kakashi!" wind of a sigh left his lungs at the boisterous voice of Might Gai waving from the Dango building nearby. Kakashi looked up, his eyebrows already knitted close together in annoyance.

"I haven't seen you all day!" his friend smiled, trailing the jounin leader as he continued past the shop. One grey eye had caught sight of Asuma and Kurenai sitting in the Dango shop behind Gai's excited gaze. That was more than enough of a deterrent for the silver-haired ANBU leader.

"Where are you going?" Gai asked, tapping his shoulder. Kakashi swept his body back, slapping Gai's dark hand off his shoulder. His nose scrunched as he clenched his jaw. The sound of rattling tablets in a plastic container filled the air between them as it fell onto the concrete below.

Gai's eyes settled on the bottle; his hand lifted right where he had left it to touch his friends shoulder.

"What is that?" Gai asked quizzically, "Isn't your leg healed?"

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" Kakashi demanded, picking the bottle up and shoving it back in his pocket.

"Kakashi," Asuma's voice rang between them, his thick body appearing behind Gai's shoulder, "how have you been?"

"Fine," Kakashi answered sharply, thankful for the distraction away from the incident that just occurred. Yet, Gai's eyes remained on his friend's.

"Why don't you join us for some treats?" Kurenai smiled at Asuma's arm.

"I'm fine, thank you," Kakashi replied forcefully. "I have to go."

Turning quickly, Kakashi continued away from his friends, cursing himself for not putting the pills in his back pouch rather than his flimsy pocket. The irritation caused his head to hurt, his jaw clenching and flexing near his ears.

Reaching in, he took another pill dry.

*****

3 Weeks Later

Dragging himself back into his apartment, Kakashi's whole body ached. His mind spun in the delirium of the mission he had just finished. The grime and sweat that coated his body caused his skin to sting miserably as he stripped from his uniform. He kicked his pants off, the mingling scent of blood and dirt enveloping his studio flat.

The mission had not been successful.

Nor had anything else in Kakashi's life over the last two months.

The bottle of pain meds had dwindled quicker than the shinobi had anticipated. He had mapped out and predicted that he wouldn't need to loot the medical offices again for another few weeks. Yet, when he had upped the dosage again, the pain in his body overwhelming, he hadn't thought of his next move to obtain more pain killers. He had only wanted the ache, and now the intense sense of withdrawal, to stop.

That had been last week. Now, his bottom drawer was filled with pain medications that should easily last him another month. And yet, as Kakashi slithered his body over to his nightstand, he couldn't help but 5, one extra than usual.

The relief washed over him as the shower water flooded his body, washing away the painful reminder of a lost comrade from his 5-day extended mission as Captain. He had been responsible for those people, yet the way his mind had been functioning lately, it felt as though he was in a constant fog. Never as sharp as he had been before. But if he didn't take the medication, his body felt like it would die all on its own. Intense nausea, fatigue, and body aches were enough to keep him upping the dosages to keep the symptoms at bay.

Placing his silver hair against the linoleum tile of his shower, he felt the hot water hitting his back, sliding down his spine in such a delicate matter that it felt trancing. In his mind, flashes of the mission consumed him.

"Senpai, I think it would be best if I-" Yūgao leaned forward, her mask shielding her brown eyes that stared worriedly at the Captain.

"I know what's best," Kakashi had warned harshly at the girl, looking over at her through his porcelain mask.

It hadn't been long before his arrogance and untimely planning had caused Yūgao to perish. The blade that snuck through her chest at his hand was enough to rile his thoughts into more vivid flashbacks of Rin for days.

He hadn't meant to hurt her. She should have known to move away from his target. Yet his arrogance to finish things himself caught up with him, intervening with her battle. He thought she was in danger, but as they carried her body back to the village, his teammate had alluded that she could have handled it herself. He could have just let it be. The fog of his brain distorted reality once more.

Surely, he would lose his rank as Captain in the morning.

As the steam of the shower surrounded him now, he tried to think of another plan that could have changed the outcome, but his mind remained in a fog. He couldn't think straight, and the usual relief his body felt from the pain meds quick-acting behavior didn't seem to curb the ruthless thoughts in the swamp of his mind.

A fist slammed against the tiles, sending water splashing back in his face. Kakashi gritted his teeth, tears mingling with the drips of water hitting his body from the showerhead. He thought of Rin, the way his hand had so easily penetrated her chest, like butter. To take someone's life meant nothing to him when they didn't mean anything to him. Yet, the thought of losing a comrade under his watch at his hand caused resentment and anger to rise in his throat.

As he toweled himself off, his jaw clenched tight as he looked at himself in the mirror. Slipping a shirt and pants on, he noticed Yūgao's blood that hadn't washed off from a spot on his hair where he had missed. An illusion of more blood on his hands startled him. He swore loudly, his arm aggressively launching his toiletries off the counter and onto the floor as hate flooded him. The sound of glass breaking and items rolling off the tiled floor into the hardwood of his living space were deaf to him as he continued to sob angrily.

"I can't," he managed to himself, "I can't anymore."

He thought of his father. The way he had passed away. Kakashi had been there to find him. Who would be there to find Kakashi? Who would want to know where such a loathsome bastard was. Someone who had no emotions and killed his friends. Someone who relied so heavily on pain medications that he could no longer function. How could he stop now? How would he explain where he got the medicine from? He couldn't.

Four more, he thought. Four more pills would do the trick. Nine pills all together. If it didn't kill him, at least it would let him sleep. Sleep enough where he is so heavily sedated that the memories of his life didn't roll through his mind like some terror film on replay.

Dad.

Obito.

Rin.

Minato.

Yūgao.

Dad.

Obito.

Rin.

Minato.

Yūgao.

Dad...

Obito...

Rin...

The pain was unbearable.

****

The shine of a bowl cut entered Kakashi's apartment building late that night. His footsteps echoed in the hallway as he jogged up the stairway to his friend's apartment. Something deep within Leaf's Blue Beast was disturbed that evening.

The news of Yūgao's death had swept through the village like the bristles parachutes of a dandelion in the early spring. Everyone who had an interest already knew, and they also knew why.

"Ah, Kakashi," one shinobi had said upon hearing the news, "that's why they call him 'friend-killer-Kakashi.'"

Gai knew Kakashi wouldn't have hurt the girl on purpose, let alone a comrade. Yet, the way his friend had been acting recently, he wasn't sure what was going on. The increased irritability, hostility, avoidance, and deceptiveness in Kakashi's personality bothered the jounin to his core.

He wasn't sure where his feet would take him, but he knew he had to talk to his silver-haired friend. Even if he didn't want to, which he was sure he wouldn't, he needed to know if his long-time pal was recuperating okay.

Apartment 343. He hadn't been here in a while. At least for a few months now, if not longer. The dark-haired shinobi woefully thought of his friend's deteriorating demeanor.

Cold-blooded Kakashi, Gai recollected lamentably. He knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. Time passed as he shoved his hands in his green uniform, rolling forward on the balls of his heels. He paused and knocked again. Nothing.

"Kakashi?" Gai banged on the door, determined to get his friend's attention. He had had enough of the copy-ninja's behavior. Another bang and no one answered.

Finally, Gai knelt, reaching for the doormat that protected Kakashi's apartment key. If it wasn't there, he was home. As Gai lifted the mat, only dust and dirt resided beneath.

****

The incessant banging at his door sounded like a far-off drum beating- a sound that tuned in and out in the wavering radio channels of his mind. He couldn't move his body, and he had no desire to. Reality was distant, and his limbs were numb. There were no troubling thoughts that slithered through his mind like a garden snake in the grass. It was only peace.

****

"Kakashi?" Gai called out, the door smashed open off its hinge behind him. His black eyes settled on his friend, laying placid on his bed. The copy-ninja's hair was still wet from his shower, plastered to his forehead with specks of dirt and blood that he had neglected to wash away.

"Kakashi!" Gai rushed over, kneeling beside his bed and slapping the pale face of his friend. "Kakashi! Wake up!"

His lips were blue, and his skin clammy.

"Kakashi, what happened, my friend? Are you okay? Why didn't-"

The bottle of pills beside Kakashi's bed laid strewed on the floor, catching his eye. Reaching down, Gai picked up the bottle and read the label. The dots connected, and his eyes widened, two fingers immediately landing on the pulse of his friend's neck.

Nothing.

****

In the waiting room, Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma huddled together.

"They said he overdosed," Gai told the two, his demeanor was unlike any of them had seen previously. Clearly, he was shaken, if not entirely traumatized.

"Overdosed?" Asuma questioned, "on what?"

"Painkillers," Gai responded, sitting in a chair in defeat. "I saw them. I saw them in his pocket a few weeks ago. I said something, but he didn't-I should have-"

"It's not your fault," Kurenai consoled, sitting down next to Gai. "Please take a deep breath, Gai. You look like you're about to faint."

"I - he's not going to make it. He didn't have a pulse, and he's not going to make it," Gai uttered, his teeth clenched as he held back tears, "He's my best friend."

Asuma set a hand down on Gai's shoulder, nodding his head, "I know. We all care about him..."

****

A turf of white hair could be seen in the hospital room convulsing under the electrical cardioversion machine being shoved onto his chest to restart his heartbeat. The electric shock waves burst into his system like a thousand Chidori.

"Another," the doctor pointed to the nurse operating the equipment. Another push against his chest, and his whole torso moving with the bed beneath him. This continued for a while, the recharging of the electrical unit before the unnerving sound of a body jolting under the pressure of the electricity.

Time ticked by at the clock in the room, the doctor glancing at it as if to wonder when to call his young shinobi's death. How could this be explained to the leaders? An overdose on pain medication that should have never been in his possession in the first place.

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ... ba-dum ...

"He's back," the nurse sighed.

****

Blurred vision. One charcoal eye trembled open, the silver in his lashes catching the ray of sun cast into the hospital room. Wires surrounded him, pricked in the crevasse of his arm, stickied to his chest, and some unfamiliar machine on his index finger. Dazed by his surroundings, Kakashi carefully turned his head on the pillow, hearing the heart monitor behind him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat beside him.

"Hokage-sama!" Kakashi spluttered, taken aback by the presence of the Hokage in a hospital room he wasn't sure how he ended up in.

"Settle, Kakashi," Hiruzen commanded gently, his face composed and quiet. Kakashi looked straight ahead, his head spinning.

"What-?" he began in a raspy voice.

Hiruzen lifted his hand, the bottle of pills Gai must have provided to him in his palm. Kakashi looked over, his eyes settling on the drugs before putting his head back down on the pillow in defeat. The images came back to him. The desperation to get out of his situation, yet knowing that there was no way out.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi managed quietly, looking away. "I understand if you-"

"That's enough," Hiruzen said calmly, "I do not need to reprimand you. You are aware that sneaking into the hospital facility to steal pain medications is wrong. Yes, I know - I just didn't expect it to be you."

Kakashi lifted his hand, placing it on his eyes as the stress of the Hokage's words weighed on him.

"I know this is hard. Your body is reliant on these mediations now. It would be best if you stayed here for some time to detox your body and learn appropriate coping skills. I know - I know you don't want to. But I only wish to help. Which is why I feel it is necessary to pull you from the Black Ops team."

"Lord Third," Kakashi sat up, the wires around him tangling. "I-"

"I've already made up my mind. It is not suitable for you anymore. Actually, I don't think it ever really was. People with kind hearts do not belong in the ANBU," Hiruzen explained, placing the bottle on the nightstand beside him. "And I have a better assignment for you. One I think you may enjoy."

Kakashi sighed heavily, laying back down. "I don't understand."

"You will," Hiruzen nodded, standing up, "In the meantime, I think there are some people who would like to see you. They care about you very much and were overwhelmed with relief when they heard you were okay. You gave them quite a scare."

Kakashi scoffed quietly, looking down at the monitor on his hand.

"It's true," Hiruzen stopped, "you are very well-loved."

Kakashi looked up quickly at his words, watching as Lord Third sauntered towards the door and waved through the doorway at some unknown individuals to come towards him. A moment later, one eye settled on four individuals, beaming at him with gifts and smiles.

Iruka. Kurenai. Asuma.

And his best friend, Gai.

#hatake kakashi #Anbu Kakashi #kakashi fanfiction #kakashi x gai #As friends? lmao idk #Do what you wish #kakashi imagines

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headcanonsandcupcakes · 4 years

Note

hola muh dude: so I hear your a maiko shipper? Possibly? Do you have any random Headcanons for them two?

Hey my friend!!! I am so sorry I am getting back to you late on this! I had so many thoughts going around my head regarding these two, that I had to take time to write what I really wanted on this :) Yes, I am a Maiko, Zutara, and Jinko shipper :) But Maiko will always be #1! Are you ready for a lengthy headcanon? Warning: It is also a little depressing :(

- The childhood crush between Zuko and Mai wasn’t one-sided. Zuko also took an affection to Mai, however, it wasn’t as intense of a crush like Mai had for Zuko.

- As they got older, the playing field became level. They had their first kiss together and also hung out with each other outside of Azula (although it was limited because she was threatening). Mai was also the reason why Zuko got into knives and swords. He saw her playing with a small one, and decided he wanted to like knives too, because she liked them. Eventually the interest progressed into swords :)

- Zuko was actually going to ask Mai to be his girlfriend the day after the Agni Kai. However, that never happened.

- Mai attended the Agni Kai to support Zuko, as she knew he could beat the general. Once she saw that it was Ozai that would be dueling Zuko, she realized it was game over for Zuko. Even as the years passed, she never liked to think about that day.

- Zuko was banished the day after the Agni Kai, and she never got to properly say goodbye. They kept in touch as best as they could via messenger hawk, but Mai noticed that Zuko drastically changed. It hurt her so much to know that he was going to a TON of pain and turmoil, and she couldn’t do anything about it. Being “friends” with Azula didn’t help matters either, as Mai had to hear horrible commentary about Zuko from Azula. It disgusted her that Azula didn’t even care about her own brother.

- Despite everything that was going on with Zuko, Mai was his shining light. Besides searching for the Avatar, Zuko would look forward to her letters, as that was his only happiness. This explains why he couldn’t get close to Song or Jin, and why it seemed like their relationship came out of nowhere, because they were regularly in contact (until Zuko and Iroh went on the run). Zuko felt a sense of loyalty to Mai, and didn’t want to hurt her by dating other girls.

- Although Mai had a lack of passion for everything else, she was quite passionate in the bedroom. She is the one who was insistent on cheering up Zuko in “Nightmares and Daydreams”, by having sex, which Zuko graciously accepted. That time was not their first time, however, but rather their first time was during their Ember Island vacation (after ruining Chen’s house). To say the least, Zuko is very awkward, and Mai took charge of most of the activities that night (despite it both being their first time).

- Mai and Zuko dated for two years after the war ended, but took a break because Zuko was struggling with Fire Lord duties and felt that he couldn’t be a proper boyfriend to Mai. Mai rebounded fast, and started dating a councilman’s assistant. Zuko was jealous, but knew that he couldn’t give her what she needed and wanted.

- Mai ended up dating this man for three years, and many of the nobles thought they were going to get engaged. During this time, Zuko didn’t date anyone and still was madly in love with Mai (this didn’t impress his advisors, who were in insistent on setting him up with someone for an heir). Additionally, although Mai was dating this other man, she still kept in touch with Zuko, and would even visit the palace to check up on him.

- However, a day came where Mai broke up with the other man. She told Zuko it was because she didn’t see a future with him. Nothing happened between Zuko and Mai for 8 months, as they enjoyed just being friends and being in each others’ company. But, that didn’t last too much longer, as Zuko couldn’t stand to let her get away again. So, he asked her if she would like to try again with their relationship, in which Mai responded, “took you long enough, you’re the one that I want in my future.”

- Their second time dating was a huge success. They realized that the time apart, as well as maturing a little bit, really helped solidify their relationship. They still had their fights, sure, but it wasn’t as unstable as it was when they were teenagers.

- They dated for a year, until Zuko proposed to Mai. He proposed by getting down on one knee, and presented her a knife that he welded himself. This was the first time he ever saw Mai cry, as she exclaimed, “Yes!”

- Their wedding was absolutely beautiful, and they enjoyed a nice honeymoon on a remote island near the Western Air Temple. They enjoyed married life for several years, and cringed at Uncle Iroh and Mai’s mother’s asks about children. Zuko made a decision a long time ago that he NEVER wanted children because of his childhood, and Mai supported his decision.

- When Mai finds out that she’s pregnant, she’s nervous on Zuko’s reaction (at this point, he was willing to give Tom Tom or Kiyki the throne). She hid it for a few weeks, until Zuko asked her why she was getting sick, eating weird things, and being much moodier than usual, that she confessed. His mind went blank for a moment, but tears automatically streamed on his face. He was already in love with their baby, and realized how stupid he looked for not wanting children.

- When he first felt the baby move in Mai’s belly, he started bawling his eyes out. He loved Mai being pregnant, and enjoyed catering to her every need. One of Mai’s favorite things that Zuko did for her when she was pregnant was that he would heat his hands and place them on her lower back. He also gave into every craving she had, including fire flakes with pickles and ice cream (this was a favorite request of hers). He also was a helicopter husband, as he wanted to ensure that her and the baby were always safe.

- When Mai was in labor, he broke the Fire Lord tradition of not being in the room. He wanted to be there for his wife and see the birth of his daughter. When their daughter was born, they gave her the name Izumi, meaning fountain, where it all started. He was afraid to hold Izumi, as he thought that his daughter would be afraid of his face. After some reassurance from Mai, he held her in his arms, where she looked at him with big golden eyes. He thanked Agni for this blissful moment, and the life he had. It was at this moment that he swore to Izumi that he would always love her, and would NEVER hurt her.

- Zuko and Mai took to parenting rather well. They wanted to both be hands-on parents, and didn’t want nannies or wet nurses involved at all. Even though Mai always showed a blank canvas, Izumi and Zuko were the only ones that could make her smile and cry of happiness.

- A year and a half after Izumi was born, Mai started to get really bad headaches, to the point that she would have to be bedridden for the day when she would get them. Zuko got really worried, and insisted on Katara coming to the palace to see what the problem was, but Mai told him to back off. She was convinced that it was due to lack of sleep or stress. He did eventually write to Katara, much to Mai’s dismay, and Katara said she would come to visit as soon as she was able (she just had Bumi five months prior to Izumi’s birth, but he was a handful).

- One day, when Izumi was two years old, Mai fainted and had a seizure out in the gardens. Izumi was too young to understand what was going on, and cried for 20 mins until one of the guards found them. Zuko was informed of what happened to Mai during a budget meeting, where he left to the infirmary without saying a word.

- The Fire Sages confirmed that Mai had a death in her brain (cancer wasn’t really studied during their time, but essentially Mai had stage 3 brain cancer). Mai only lived for 6 more months after that. Zuko took time off from his Fire Lord duties (Uncle Iroh stepped in) to take care of Mai at her bedside. Aang, Katara, and Bumi moved into the palace full time to take care of Mai as well.

- Every night, once he put Izumi to bed, Zuko would fire bend in a feral manner. He was incredibly angry that life was dealing him this card, and was also very stressed, because of the pain his wife was going through and also trying to stay strong for their daughter (he had surpassed his Book One anger, that’s for sure). Uncle Iroh, Ursa, and Aang were the only ones keeping him from not going on a rampage, although they understood why he was feeling this way.

- During the last three weeks of Mai’s life, the Gaang came in to check on Zuko, as well as help with the care of Izumi. Zuko was distracted because he knew Mai’s time was coming soon, and wanted to be with her for every moment. However, they had a two year old daughter, and that two year old had needs. So, the Gaang stepped in to feed and put Izumi to bed when she couldn’t stand being at her mother’s bedside any longer (she’s a toddler, it happens).

- Katara tried her best to heal Mai, however, she was too far gone. On the last day of her life, she looked up at Zuko and Izumi with glassy eyes and rasped, “I love you”. Mai died a few hours after that.

- Izumi was too young to understand what had happened to her mother, however, it didn’t make it easier for Zuko to tell his own daughter that her mother, his wife, the light that kept him going during his banishment, the one that always had faith in him, was no longer on this earth. Although he wanted to be sad and completely disengage from the world, he couldn’t because he needed to stay strong for his daughter.

- However, Zuko was still numb after Mai passed. He didn’t eat or sleep for two weeks, and went through the motions of the day as if he wasn’t in his own body at all. Even with taking care of Izumi, he wasn’t really “there”. Katara took notice of this, and told Zuko that he needed to grieve. So, he grieved the only way he knew how: being incredibly destructive. He burned an entire wing of the palace that was abandoned for decades. He sat in the middle of the flames and cried for many hours.

- Mai was buried near the fountain where it all started. Mai always said that she loved that fountain, so Zuko made the decision to bury her right there. For many years after her death, Zuko made it a point to visit her grave every day. Even if he was incredibly busy with Fire Lord duties, he would commit to seeing her and talking to her. The silence when he didn’t hear anything back was always so hard to hear.

- Izumi doesn’t remember her mother at all, however, Zuko will always talk about Mai to ensure that her legacy is prominent. There are many times in Izumi’s life where he wished she was around to see how amazing of a person Izumi had become. Even when it has been 15 years since Mai’s death, Zuko still aches for her. Before he goes to sleep every night, he kisses the painting that they took together when they were teenagers and says, “goodnight my love”.

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errthel · 3 years

Text

Route Two : Part Tree I guess

Hey, it's your friendly Lucien simp neighbor from the other side of the world and I come with part three of my fanfiction of @tri3tri 's Second Wife A. Yee yee.

His eyes carefully observed the glowy moon, lack luster look on his face signified his boredom. He had after all watched the moon for more nights than he could count with his fingers.

Lucien's window stayed open as he studied on the desk near the window. A snowy owl had brought over books, for what he assumed was his new school. How kind of them, he wasn't sure if he would have to pay them back though.

Flipping over the crisp white pages of the new book, he was able to find out that he had classes in Magic History, Chemistry, Dancing, Physical Education, and other subjects he was sure he would be able to ace with some time.

The click of his door alerted him of the entrance of either one of his grandparents, judging from their footsteps, Lucien narrowed it down to his grandmother.

"Don't stay up too late Lucien."

"M'kay, but I wonder why you still bring up some snacks."

"I noticed you didn't eat as much during dinner, so I thought you would be hungry now." the tray of snacks hit the desk with a thump, showing off its contents

Tea, chamomile Lucien thinks, some grapes and cream cheese and apple slices.

"I guess you're right, I am a bit peckish. You can go to sleep now Grandma, I'll be showering in a bit."

"Are there things popping up?" the question brought up the questioning things Lucien sees sometimes, be it fangs, a tail, horns, or scales, he would always see something inhuman in the bathroom mirror, but they would always disappear in some time

"Hm, nothing out of the ordinary, but the scales are starting to permanently stay here" Lucien gestured to his forehead, which was covered by his fringe

"Is that so?"

"Mhm, but it's fine, I don't usually tie up my hair so no worries."

"Alright then, I'll take your word, goodnight Lucien. Sweet dreams..."

Lucien watched as Hanna left his room, her white dress flowing from behind. This makes him remember the first day he was here, the day after that wretched day.

As well as forgetting what his family looked like, he also seemed to forget what the tall woman looked like. It was odd, Lucien knows that he has sharp memory, was it perhaps him erasing those memories of his?

Did he lose those memories to trauma? Was is just plain fear, that he forced himself to forget what those people looked like for his own sanity? But he still remembers what happened, he just doesn't remember. Why doesn't he remember?

Long fingers sharply tugged at (h/c) locks, desheviling the strands.

He racked his brain for any recollection of those long past memories. But he couldn't find any, he could no longer take it. The heavy breathing in the room quickened as the room started to become unbearably stuffy.

The quick and sudden drizzling hitting his window instantly notified the boy. The drizzling turned into heavy rainfall quicker than he could realize and thunder started to echo in the town.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." desperate eyes swiftly moved over to the open window

Lucien immediately closed the window, preventing anymore rain to get inside his room, with a heavy sigh, he cleaned up his desk and went to take a shower.

Warm water cascaded over the slim pale body of the teen, his hair slicked back to reveal very offputting black scales that create an intricate and somewhat beautiful geometric pattern on his forehead. Some traces of bright green could be seen on the edges of the scales which shine brightly under the warm lighting of the bathroom.

Along with the scales was a pair of horns, with the same bright green highlights. Lucien hopes that this form of his won't show up during his stay at Royal Sword Academy, but the likeliness of that happening is closer to zero.

Lucien is aware that there will come a time where he will be forced to show off his other form, and he dreads that day.

After drying up, he changes into a pair of underwear and sweatpants and brushes his teeth. He notices the sharpness of two teeth and sighs once more, he can't catch a break with these sudden appearances of unwelcome features can he. While scrutinizing the existence of his fangs, the slit pupils of his eyes catch his attention and receive a small jump back from Lucien, mostly from surprise and terror.

"Slit eyes... this is definitely getting out of control..." the fearful expression stays on the boy's face as he walked back to his room, ready for bed

"...I wish that when I wake up, these things are gone and never coming back."

The warm, slightly chilly, day arrives, the suitcases that the family of three carefully packed a few days prior were now sitting on a seat inside the silvery pumpkin carriage.

Lucien's grandparents hug him as if it's the last time they would ever see him as Lucien wears the luxurious white garb with silver embroidery and subtle blue accents.

"I hope you'll be alright there Lucien."

"Will be. I will try to find ways to communicate with you when I get there." the comforting words allow the older couple to release their beloved grandchild

They watch as he walked to the carriage, ready to face the world he fears. His feet brings him to sit inside the velvety seats of the carriage as it whisks him away from his family.

He silently watches the view of his town vanish as they reach higher altitudes and by then his eyes have already dropped down, bringing him into a land of sweet dreams.

Royal Sword Academy, a prestigious magic school situated in Twisted Wonderland. Along with it's long standing rival, Night Raven College, they are dubbed 'The Best Magic Schools in All of Twisted Wonderland'.

It truly shows, the moment Lucien stepped inside the school proper, he was greeted with marble and glass, fountains of all sizes, Greek-styled statues made of smooth ivory. He noted the extravagant architecture of the school, like The Palace of Versailles; with its enormous gardens with hedges trimmed to perfection, the delicate carvings of the walls, and the neatness of the school perfectly reflected the students who attended this institution.

Lucien briskly walked over to the well where the sorting of dorms was taking place in. As he sang his name into the well, a delicate chiming ring from the well was heard as a feminine voice sung out, 'The Aurorian Dorm'.

The Aurorian Dorm was one of the several dorms of Royal Sword Academy, founded on the patience of the Princess Aurora, her patience in waiting for her true love helped her defeat the dragon that had been terrorizing their lovely kingdom.

He joined his peers, also dressed in intricate white garb, introducing himself and mingling with them let him establish himself as 'The Kind Freshman'

Lucien was kind, to some extent, he very much was. It wasn't at all fake, why would he bother faking such complex things like emotions? But his kindess doesn't blindly extend to everybody, he is someone who isn't unconditionally kind, and he knows for sure that his peers weren't also kind from inside out.

The Aurora Dorm was definitely cozy, if not a bit overwhelming. Like a small village, cottages dotted the feild that was surrounded by lush forests. Each cottage would be shared by four people and it was a sizable enough cottage, definitely enough for four people with room to spare.

Lucien was put into a cottage with another freshman and two sophomores who chatted with him the moment they entered their cottage.

The freshman was called Brier Rome, a glowy individual with lovely soft blonde hair that curls at its tips and beautiful purple eyes. He was the first one to talk to the intimidating Lucien while he was putting away his clothes.

One sophomore was named Linden, a demure senior, he was almost as tall as Lucien, if not a bit taller. He had green hair with a bit of visible black roots, along with his hair, he had golden eyes that seemed to know everything.

The other sophomore calls themselves Hawthorne, he was shorter than his friend but makes up for it with his loud talking. He also had dyed hair, this time blue, and strangely like his peer, he had golden eyes.

Muffled noises coming from the cabin indicated that the four cabinmates were having the best time meeting each other.

Walking with each other to the central cabin to have some dinner was exhilarating to Lucien, many types of flowers and greens was planted all around and he had a fun time naming the plants with Brier.

In commemoration for the new students, they were going to partake in a picnic out in the flower feild.

The white daisies, purple chrysanthemums, pink carnations, blue hydrangeas, yellow roses, and many more beautiful flowers were present at this feild.

The Aurorian Dorm members talked to each other, sang, danced as they welcomed their new students with great joy.

"Brier Rome! You mean the heir to the throne of the Valley of Flowers?! It's wonderful to met you!"

"Mhm! Nice to meet you as well!" Brier paused a bit before his eyes lingered to the person behind him, he stood quietly, observing the flowers with great closeness, "Lucien!" the blond male called out to his taller peer

Briskly walking up to the taller boy with a bright smile he teased, "You seem to not put alot of effort into meeting your seniors~ what happened to your energy a while ago?"

A deadpanned expression bloomed on Lucien's pale face as he answered, "It's been diminished, I cannot bring myself to talk to people any longer."

"Awww don't be like that!" Brier said clinging to Lucien's arm as he walked him closer to the crowd

"Ah, hello, my name's Lucien (L/n)."

"Wait! You mean you're the special student who was accepted from another world?! How cool!"

"Ehh! Lucien's from another world?" a surprised look overtook the blond haired boy, "Why didn't you tell me~"

"Mhm... I didn't find a good time to really bring it up."

"Alright, I'll accept that. Say, what's your world like?" Brier's question brought eyes to look at Lucien, expecting his answer with baited breaths

"Eh? Well my world doesn't necessarily run on magic, to my world, magic is just nonexistent there."

"Ohhh! That's really weird then, how were you able to get magic then?"

The question brought a bit of surprise to Lucien, before he reverted back to his kind, kind smile, "I don't know."

The cold days of September brought a little chill to his spine, so wearing a lovely wool trenchcoat over his pyjamas, which was just a very loose white shirt and some sweatpants, brought him joy. The warmth coupled with some early morning tea reminded him of life at home, being woken up at ungodly hours of the morning and being forced to carry out your normal activities while being half asleep, yeah definitely home.

The lax atmosphere of the early morning hour of six encouraged the (h/c) haired male to walk the expansive flower feild. After wearing some shoes, he walked out of the cottage and closed the door.

The fragrance of the forest seemed to stimulate his nose perfectly. Paired with it was the smell of a thousand different kinds of flowers. The experience of being in this wonderful place calmed the boy. As of late, he has been feeling a bit overwhelmed... it bothered him. Was he mentally weaker than he thought? Was he actually not ready for this? No, no, he's fine, he should just calm down, the flowers are there after all, it would be unsettling to show them such behavior.

The silence of the feild was broken by some rustling behind Lucien, who was alert and now facing the rustling bush.

"Who's there..." he wasn't so defensive, he was confident that he would be able to take out anyone with any sign of malicious intent

"Ah! Sorry... I didn't realize someone was having a walk." a head of flaming red hair popped up from the bushes

He was a tall person, not as tall as Lucien but tall enough. The person also exuded an aura of authority as he walked towards Lucien. Bowing forty-five degrees, he introduced himself.

"I am Florius, the Dorm Leader of this dorm. We weren't able to meet last night, but I had always wanted to make your acquaintance." smooth, his voice was as smooth as honey rolling of his pink lips

"Ah... um Florius-senpai, as you know, I am from another world so I'm quite curious about something." Lucien said

"Hm? Ask away then."

"Tell me everything you know about the Valley of Thorns."

So we finally frickin arrive at RSA, do note that this is my interpretation on what RSW is like, this has been written in like November of dumpster fire was 2020, so currently we only know about Che'nya and omg, I forgot his name, that Snow White dude. Any mentions of RSA are limited and most of this is what I think RSA is like, your interpretation of RSA can be different from mine and that's fine.

Okay, so I like to think that Royal Sword Academy is like really civil and sends an acceptance letter to their new student instead of kidnapping them, I'm looking at you NRC, and sends them their equipment to warm them up before bringing them to school.

My version of RSA is more of like a replica of NRC but good, I guess??? So there will be several dorms, all based of on the heroes of the Disney movies The Great Seven are from.

#draconia family series #lucien #twisted wonderland #twst wonderland #twst #twst oc #royal sword academy

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wide-eyed--wonderer · 4 years

Note

I’m craving angst so...“Why do you flinch every time I raise my hand. . .?”

Anon, I’m so sorry this took so long! Hopefully, you’re still craving angst!

TW: allusions to past violence/trauma, panic attacks, mild dis@ssociation

Most of the time, Spot loves learning new things about Race.

The first time he saw him smile wide enough to see his dimples, the way his eyes light up when he talks about dancing or his brothers, and songs he hums when he’s cooking.

There are some things Spot would rather he never had to learn about Race.

Like today, for example.

Admittedly, he hadn’t actually known Race was in their room. Race usually met Al for some dance thing on a Friday afternoon, but Al had gone home for the weekend, and so Race was there.

Spot stormed in, letting the door slam behind him. He didn’t even notice Race jump from where he was sitting on the bed.

“How dare he,” Spot seethed pacing back and forth in the small space, “that weasel can kiss my ass if he thinks he’s gonna get away with this!”

“Spot?”

“He’s lucky I didn’t punch his stupid face in. Or that Delancy asshole. The two of them are just asking me to hit them at this point.” Spot started gesturing wildly, trying to get his anger out before he actually went out and hit somebody.

“Spottie?” distantly, Spot registered that Race was sitting up on his bed and tracking Spots movements with his eyes.

“Can you believe it? What a fucking ridiculous answer to a stupidass homework question. I should have known that shithead would side with him too”

“Spot?”

“And actually asking us about Theories surrounding love. What kinda asshole therapist is he trying to get us to be?”

“Spot.” Later, Spot would recognise that Race sounded desperate at this point like he was almost begging him to stop.

“He can shove his theory of love up his-” Spot cut off and froze, arm mid arc, as Race flinched so violently he fell off the bed.

“Race? Hunny?” Spot rounded the corner and moved to hug Race, who curled up into a ball and whimpered. His head was hidden in his arms.

“Baby, it’s just me, can you look at me?” Spot crouched down near Race, scanning him and trying to figure out if he’d hurt himself when he fell.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I’ll be better I promise please don’t-”

“I need you to look at me Race,” Spot said a little firmer, trying to get Race to listen, but he just curled up tighter and shook his head.

“No, no please, I can’t anymore, stop, please.”

Shit was this a flashback? Jack had warned him that sometimes Race gets set off and he loses where he is and that he needed to try to bring him back and help him remember where he was. Spot tried to remember how Jack had told him to do that, but it was hard to focus when his boyfriend was crying in the background.

“Sweetheart I promise I’m not mad, I just want you to see you’re safe.” Spot racked his brain for that thing people in movies did when someone’s having a panic attack.

“Can I touch you baby?”

Race jolted back against the bed frame hard enough for the pillow to fall off.

“Ok, ok. No touching. Got it.” Spot stood up and moved back from Race, “Ok, um..” Spot brought his hand up to run in through his hair, and Race (who Spot hadn’t even realised was watching him) flinched again.

Spot stared at his hand for a second, trying to figure out what he did, but Race’s whimper brought him back to reality.

“Shit uhh... Jack’s away…” Spot was wildly out of his depth here, and he needed some help, “Charlie! Race, do you want me to go and get Charlie? You don't have to talk, just nod or shake your head.”

Race nodded his head quickly, but without taking it out from his arms.

“OK, I can do that. I’ll be right back baby, promise.”

Spot bolted out of their dorm room, leaving the door open behind him, and down the hall to where Charlie shared with Finch.

“Charlie! Charlie you in there?” Char-”

“I’m here Spot. What’s up.” a tired Charli opened the dorm already in his pyjamas.

“I think Race is having a flashback thingy and -” Charlie instantly looked more alert.

“Shit, ok, lead the way.”

Spot and Charlie quickly made their way down to the dorm, where Spot let Charlie go in first.

“Racer?” Spot heard Race sob, but he didn’t make himself known, so Spot pointed to the other side of the bed where he’d left Race.

Charlie rounded the bed and sat on the floor near Race. Spot followed, but stayed back, watching the two interact.

“Hey, Racer. Spot said you needed me, I’m here, ok.” Charlie kept his eyes on Race as he talked, but he sounded calm and relaxed, as if he was having any other conversation with his brother.

“We’re in your dorm room, with Spot, on campus. See, this is your bed that we’re next to, and we’re in our pyjamas cause it's the weekend but there are no parties on cause everyone's too busy and stressed to party.” Charlie took a deep breath and watched Race. Spot was also closely watching Race, and could see the tension slowly leaving his shoulders, and the sobs quieten as he listened to Charlie.

“And listen closely, can you hear that?” Charlie paused, “That's the water from the fountain outside. I’m so jealous you can hear that from your dorm. Have I ever told you that before? I can’t hear it from my window, and it sucks. It’s like a free ambience to help you sleep at night. I bet it's nice, hey?”

“Ye- yeah.” Race peaked his head out of his arms and looked at Charlie, letting Spot get the first real look at his face since this had all started. He still had tears running down his face, but his eyes looked clear, and he was staring straight at Charlie, who was smiling softly back.

“You ready to be touched? Or do you need more time?”

Race nodded quickly, and Charlie opened his arms and let Race come to him. Race slowly crawled in between Charlie’s outstretched legs and rested his head on Charlie's shoulder, letting his brother’s arms wrap around him.

“You’re safe Race, it’s ok,” Charlie muttered into Race’s ear. Some of what he was saying was lost to Spot under Races crying, but as Charlie continued to hold him, the sobs eased.

Eventually, Race lifted his head from Charlie's shoulder and looked around the room. His eyes eventually landed on Spot

“Spottie?” he cocked his head and looked at Spot as if he’d only just noticed he was there. His eyes widened as he remembered what had happened. Spot held his breath, waiting for Race to kick him out, instead, he reached out an arm in invitation and Spot practically fell to the floor next to Race, letting his boyfriends arms wrap around him.

“I’m so sorry Race...I didn’t… I swear.. I would never.”

Spot felt Charlie stand up and press a kiss to Race’s forehead.

“I’m gonna go, you two know where to find me.”

“It’s ok Spottie,” Race sniffed, “I know you didn’t mean to. It just…. You were shouting and saying all that stuff and - and I know that - that you’d never hurt me but… I guess my brain forgot who you were for a second.”

“I know Race,” Spot sighed and raised a hand to run through his hair, but froze halfway when Race flinched back against him.

Spot stared at Race for a moment, the gears in his head clicking into place.

He really, really wanted to be wrong.

“Why do you flinch every time I raise my hand…?”

Race’s broken eye contact and rewelling of tears was answer enough.

Spot's first instinct was to get angry. How dare someone hurt Race like that. What had they done that made Race so scared of such an - an innocent gesture? And often enough that he associates raising hands to pain and fear. Spot wanted to go out and teach whoever did this to Race a lesson in real fear.

But one look at Race and Spot knew that it wouldn’t help. Race needed him here right now. Spot can’t fight his demons of the past, he could only hope to protect him from those in his future.

“Oh, sweetheart, c’mhere.” Spot reopened his arms and let Race fall into them.

“I’m - I’m so sorry - you- you don’t deserve this. You deserve, you deserve so much be- better than this, then me.”

“Race. Racer. Hey.” Race pulled back to look at Spot. “You are perfect, ok. I love you so much, and nothing is going to change that, ok. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

Race fell back into Spots arms, and the two boys stayed on the floor, holding each other until they were ready to face the world again

Let me know what you think!!

#newsies #newsies fanfiction #newsies fanfic #racetrack higgins #race newsies #spot conlon #spot newsies #sprace #crutchie morris #crutchie newsies #angst #tw: violence #tw: past trauma #tw: panic attack #tw: dissociation #prompts #my writing #anon request

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atomic-taco-muffin · 3 years

Text

The Lost Princess Chapter 27

Warnings: idk. You decide

Rating: SFW

You and the group entered Halloween Town. Once there, the four of you were clothed in scary-looking outfits, and Goofy noticed the scary scenery in the area. You became scared of how scary everything looked.

“Gawrsh! Don't like the looks of this place. I bet it's crawlin' with ghosts!” Goofy said.

“Neither do I. And don’t mention ghosts. They freak me out,” you said.

“Aw, phooey! There's nothin' to worry about. You won't be spooked if you already know what's coming! Not even real ghosts can frighten us anymore. If they take one look at us, THEY'd be the ones to run away!” Donald said.

“You really think so?” Goofy asked.

“Trust me!” Donald walked toward the green fountain, and Jack Skellington popped out of it. You screamed and hid behind Sora.

“Welcome to Halloween Town!” Jack said.

“Waaak!” Donald screamed as he fell on his back.

“A ghost!” you and Donald said. Sora and Goofy prepared for battle.

“Wow, those are the best shrieks I've heard in ages! If you two are THAT easy to scare, we're gonna have a great time! Sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Jack Skellington! And this is Halloween Town. People around here call me the Pumpkin King! So if you're lookin' for a ghoulishly good time, you've come to the right place,” Jack said.

“Well, we aren't!” Donald said angrily as he jumped up and down.

“Too bad, because at the moment, we've got a bit of a problem in Halloween Town.”

“What kind of problem?” Sora asked.

“Well...” Just then, several Shadow Heartless surrounded you all.

“Like this!” Jack said. You and the trio quickly took care of the heartless.

“What's the big idea! Why'd you go and call the Heartless?” Donald said to Jack.

“I didn't call them. I just knew when they were going to show up. In fact, I'd love to get rid of them. They actually go around attacking people, instead of just scaring them,” Jack said.

“Why are they here?” you asked as you tried to stood close to Sora.

“I was just going to go ask Dr. Finkelstein the same question. I'm heading to his laboratory right now. Follow me!” Jack said as he left.

“Sora, what should we do?” you asked.

“I guess we'd better go,” Sora said.

“I don't like this. What if he's leading us right to the Heartless?” Donald said. Jack suddenly reappeared.

“Bingo!” he said. You screamed again and clung to Sora.

“Waaak!” Donald screamed and fell down again.

“Ha ha ha, I'm just kidding! Now let's get going,” Jack said. Jack started to leave. You, Sora and co. followed him. You, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack entered Dr. Finkelstein's lab. Dr. Finkelstein was in his wheelchair reading a large book.

“Allow me to introduce Dr. Finkelstein! He's a world-famous genius!” Jack said.

“Yes! Maybe I'm TOO smart. I'm afraid I've created something horrible!” Finkelstein said.

“What's that?” Donald asked.

“Well... Have you ever stopped to think about the power of ‘true memories’?” Finkelstein said.

“True memories?!” you and Sora asked.

“You see me children, our hearts are full of memories---but not all of them reflect the truth. The heart isn't a recording device. Even important memories change with time. They warp or fade, leaving us with but a shadow of what we hoped to remember,” Finkelstein said.

“Could that be happening to us?” you asked.

“It happens to everyone. Some memories grow ugly, and some become more beautiful. If we could recover our true memories, the world would seem completely different. So, I devised a potion from forget-me-nots that brings our true memories back.”

“Did it work?” Sora asked.

“Well, that's the problem...”

“As soon as the doctor got a whiff of the potion, Heartless started popping up!” Jack said.

“Sounds like a failed experiment to me,” Donald said.

“No! My research is flawless! I just need another look at the potion to find out what went wrong!” Finkelstein said. The doctor moved his wheelchair over to a tube containing green liquid. He opened the top of his head to scratch his brain and you cringed at the sight.

“Unfortunately...it's vanished,” Finkelstein said as he closed his head.

“Maybe someone swiped it?” Sora asked.

“It must've been Sally! Jack, you've got to find her and get my potion back.”

“Leave it to me!” Jack said.

“Can we tag along?” Sora asked.

“What for?”

“I want to know more about these ‘true memories’ the doctor keeps talking about.”

“Excellent! Then let's go find Sally!” You all left the laboratory to go find this Sally person. You, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack found Sally in the cemetery.

“There you are, Sally. I thought I'd find you here,” Jack said.

“Who are your friends?” Sally asked.

“They're interested in true memories. You have the potion, don't you?”

“Well...yes.” She took the potion from a pocket in her dress.

“Could you give it back?” Jack said.

“I guess so, if you insist. But...I'm afraid. All the Doctor did was smell it, and the Heartless appeared. What if someone drinks it?” Sally said.

“Are you kidding? What could be more exciting?”

“I'm worried, Jack. Isn't there another option?”

“Any ideas, Jack?” you asked.

“I can't think of a thing,” Jack said.

“I can! Give it here!” someone said. Suddenly, Oogie Boogie appeared behind Sally, attacked her, knocking her away, and grabbed the potion.

“Oh no! The potion!” she said. You and Sora's group readied your weapons.

“Oogie! You again!” Jack said.

“Jack, where are your manners? I'm just helping you put the potion to good use! You should thank me! Well, well. Just one sniff, and the Heartless appeared. What would happen if I chugged the whole thing? THAT would be scary! Poor Jack! You can't hold a candle to Oogie Boogie. Time for Halloween Town to taste pain and despair beyond any nightmare!” Oogie said.

“Pain and despair? Oogie, you monster!” Oogie ran away with the potion.

“C'mon, Jack! We've gotta go after him!” you said. The five of you ran after Oogie. you, Sora and co. chased Oogie Boogie into his lair. As you all entered, the gates closed behind you.

“Oogie! Hand over the potion!” Jack said.

“You fools don't know when to quit! Say...all this running around is making me thirsty!” Oogie said.

“Oogie! No!”

“Yes!” Oogie took out the potion, uncorked it with his mouth, and drank the entire thing.

“Oh, no...” you an Sora said.

“Ahh! Lip-smacking good!” Oogie said. All of a sudden, he started shaking.

“Agh! What's this? What... Something's wrong! Something deep inside me. Something...scary!” he said.

“Oogie! What's going on?” Jack said.

“No! Get back! Stay away from me!” Oogie coward. You and the trio fought and defeated Oogie. Later at Dr. Finkelstein's laboratory, you, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jack, and Sally met with the Doctor.

“Confound that Oogie Boogie! He drank nearly all of my precious potion! There are only a few drops left!” Finkelstein said.

“Sora, (Y/N), why don't you ask the doc if you can drink the rest?” Goofy asked.

“No. We'd better not,” Sora said.

“I agree,” you said.

“What, don't you want it? Too bad. It would've been a great experiment,” Finkelstein said.

“Now, Doctor...” Sally said.

“Don't you want to find out about your true memories?” Jack asked you and Sora.

“Of course---now more than ever. But there's this guy---Axel. We promised him we'd find the truth on our own,” you said.

“I just don't understand. When I inhaled the potion, Heartless appeared--- ...and when Oogie drank it, he was overcome with fear. What could it mean?” Finkelstein said.

“It means the potion was a failure,” Sally said.

“No! I can't be wrong! Oogie MUST have found his true memories! Hmm... True memories must unbalance the heart--- ...and cause unpredictable changes within!”

“Then...what about us? What happens when our true memories awaken?” Sora asked.

“Perhaps something even more terrifying... But this is all just a hypothesis. I can't be sure without further research.”

“What's wrong, (Y/N)? Does the doctor's theory scare you?” Jack asked.

“Well, yeah---a little,” you said.

“Same here,” Sora said.

“That's good to hear! Fear and doubt are signs of a strong heart. They push your heart, strike out in new directions, take chances! Without them, your zest for life might fade... ...as would your taste for fear. And believe me, that would really ruin my fun.”

“Thanks, Jack. I'll remember that,” Sora said.

“Then good luck, everyone! May you always enjoy being frightened!” You and the trio left the lab, and then Halloween Town. You and gang entered the Third Floor Exit Hall.

“Aw... I hope the king is gonna be okay...” Donald said.

“Why bring that up?” you asked.

“I had to be sure that I hadn't forgotten him.”

“How'd that go for ya?” Goofy asked.

“Good! I remembered---we're on a quest to find the king.”

“I remember that too. The king helped save everything by staying on the other side of the door to darkness. I think...”

“You got it, Goofy!”

“And me and (Y/N)--- We’re looking for Riku. He was with the king when the door closed. Hm. I guess there's no way we'll forget the most important memories,” Sora said.

“That's good. 'Cause I don't want to forget...” Donald said.

“Neither do I. I may not know who my mother was but I don’t want to forget her. It’s like she’s a part of me,” you said.

“Well, you do have her powers and her dagger,” Goofy said.

“That’s true. I hope I find her soon.” You and the trio leave the Exit Hall. Meanwhile, in another room inside the castle, Axel and a woman wearing a similar black coat were standing near a crystal ball.

“You seem pretty intrigued by this Sora and (Y/N) kid,” Larxene said. (QUEEN!)

“Are you telling me you're not, Larxene?” Axel asked. Larxene giggled.

“Haven't decided yet... I think what intrigues me more is what you see in them,” she said.

“There was a time he became a Heartless. And if one becomes a Heartless---” Axel said.

“They lose their minds and their feelings... They're consumed by the darkness.”

“Right. But not Sora. He held on to his feelings, even as a Heartless. And there's only one other man who's been able to do just that.”

“It's the strength of his heart... That's what interests you. Why the Keyblade chose Sora's heart. But that doesn’t explain that spirit.”

“To unlock the mysteries of the heart. Isn't that the Organization's mission?” Larxene snickered. You, Sora, Donald, and Goofy entered the Fourth Floor.

“Hey, I wonder if there's anything we've forgotten...” Donald said.

“Hmm... If we did, what would it have been?” Goofy asked. The two fo them thought for a moment.

“I can't think of anything, so maybe that means that I really am losing my memories,” Goofy said. Donald looked sad.

“But whatever they were, they couldn't have been very important memories, right?” Goofy asked.

“Right, or else I don't think you would have forgotten it,” you said. You and Sora took out the seashell charms that Kairi gave to you.

“Look,” Sora said.

“What is it?” Donald asked.

“A good luck charm Kairi gave us. It's special to her, so we promised that we would return it. I'll never forget making that promise. It's why we could never forget Kairi,” you said.

“I’ll never forget it too,” Sora said. Donald and Goofy nodded.

“Are we right, Kairi?” Sora asked. You and Sora saw an image of Kairi in your heads. The three of you smiles at each other. Then a girl wearing a white dress appeared behind you two.

“Huh?!” you and Sora asked. You and Sora looked back but the girl disappeared.

“Oh... Do we know...that girl?” Sora asked.

“I...have no idea,” you said.

“Hey, Sora, (Y/N). Where did you two go?”

“Sorry. Never mind,” Sora said.

“We better keep goin'” Goofy said. You and Sora held up the next card at the Fourth Floor world entrance, and entered to the next world.

#kingdom hearts #kingdomhearts #kingdom hearts imagine #kingdom hearts x reader #kingdomhearts imagines #kingdomhearts x reader #kingdomhearts+imagines #kingdomhearts+x+reader #kingdom+hearts+x+reader #kingdom+hearts+imagines

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qilwashere · 3 years

Text

Hinata Shoyo

Hinata is your neighbor, and you've known each other for the past few years.

You met him near the bathrooms by the water fountains at one of his games, ironically, right after he had gone into the men's room to empty his stomach, since he used to get nervous all the time before a match. Since then he's gotten better, but you still worry for him sometimes.

You always help each other with homework or volleyball, although it's kind of one-sided, since you're super smart and he's very dedicated to being a middle blocker.

You always thought of him as a best friend, nothing more, although over the past few weeks, you'd been questioning yourself about that. He's been hanging out with you less, but youre pretty sure it's just because he's been busier lately. Sometimes your anxiety gets the best of you and you wonder if you did something to provoke him to not want to be around you. Every time this thought pops up in your head you have to take a deep breath to rid your brain of it.

At school his grades have gradually getting worse so you proposed a study date. As soon as you asked him you went red, hoping he didn't take it the wrong way. "I-I didn't mean a real date, it's not like--" you stumbled over your words, but he interrupted you with a laugh and said "Sure, that'd be nice. Whatever day you're free," he smiled at you. You nodded quickly and agreed on a Wednesday. You both parted ways until the set date.

At around 5:40 that Wednesday, you pace around your bedroom waiting for that familiar chime coming from your front door, letting you know that Hinata was there. It never arrives, and your worries that he's trying to keep out of contact with you come flooding your mind once again. You hope that at least he'll text you that he couldn't make it, but no chimes come from your phone either.

The next day, Thursday, at school, you don't see him in any of your usual classes together, which concerns you because he almost never misses a day. Is he sick? you wonder to yourself, and can't get him off your mind until your friend Yachi invites you to her table at lunch to discuss the new club openings that they could join together.

You start to ask her if she's seen Hinata but stop yourself mid-phrase and continue eating.

The days drag along. You haven't heard a thing from Shoyo all week.

You make a last attempt to contact him by texting, "Hey, we missed our study session :p wanna try again tomorrow?" It was a Sunday, so you felt like the next day would be a good time. It surprises you when he responds almost immediately after with "Sure :D See you at school :)". Your heart leaps but you remember that this could all be a set up.

Nah, you reassure yourself, Shoyo's way too nice for that.

For the rest of the day you surprise yourself when your feet guide you to the school gymnasium. You walk in hesitantly towards the door and remember that--

Of course. Why did you think the gym would just be open to anyone? On a Sunday, at that? You bury your face in your hand and turn back when someone comes up behind you-- Yachi.

"Hi Y/N! What are you doing here? I came because I was forgot my bag in here on Friday and never got a chance to get it back. I figured I'd stop by and pick it up before school tomorrow," she says casually. You stare at her wide-eyed. "...Is something wrong?" She asks you. You shake you head no but reply, "I was.. uh, well I was hoping to practice volleyball drills for a bit." Your response surprises you, since you'd been happy to talk with people about it but never really played the sport, or seemed interested in doing so.

"We can't get in without the key, though, so--" you start, but Yachi cuts you off: "Oh, that's no problem, I'm the manager of the volleyball club! I thought I told you... Anyways, let me just make sure I have it on me--" she pauses and pats herself down until she finds a keychain in her pocket, "--we're good!" She says cheerfully.

Your bubbly friend unlocks the key to the Karasuno gym and pulls the basket of volleyballs out of the corner. You grab a ball and toss it up, lace your hands together and face your forearms towards the ceiling, and bend your knees to receive.

The toss was off so you have to shift to the left a little to receive it right, but the feeling of it bouncing off of your arms is so... exciting. You shuffle your feet quickly forward to get directly under the ball again and - POOMF - you hit it up perfectly again. The ball comes down once more and this time when you receive it, you decide to send it over and aim for the left corner of the court. You brace your arms, wait for the point of contact, shrug your shoulders and send the ball flying up... Over... And right inside the left lines on the other side of the net.

You pat yourself on the back for a second and continue doing some volleyball practice. You practice aiming your tosses and have Yachi (attempt to) give you some good sets for spikes. After about an hour and a half, the sun starts to disappear behind the hills. You pick up the balls with the new club manager and say your goodbyes before heading home.

Once you get to your room, you notice that your laptop is open so you decide to check your socials. You try to deny it but you know you're secretly hoping for a DM from Shoyo. As you scroll through your messages you start seeing chats that you hadn't opened in a good while. They don't interest you, though, because you just want to hear from that energetic tangerine-haired boy.

You slump onto your bouncy mattress and it seems to groan in agony as you get comfortable. Eventually your eyelids grow heavy and you decide to rest.

That next day, Hinata comes over to your house, and you're just hopping into your neatest skirt when you open the door. You're ready for your study date, but before you can stay anything, he grabs your hand and almost drags you down the block to a wide field. As you're jogging beside him on that cloudy day, struggling to keep up, you sneak a glance at him and notice that he's looking happier than you'd ever seen him. You smile to yourself, look down, up again, and run faster to challenge his speed.

"No fair, you got a head start!" He pants, and you laugh.

Eventually you get to a large field with tall grass and a few dandelions.

"I... Need a break," you can barely get out as you bend over and breathe hard. Hinata does the same thing, and after a moment he says, "Hey, (Y/N), see that really tall blade of grass over there?" He says to you. "You mean the one that's taller than you?" You joke, and he scowls. "....Yeah, that one. I'll race you to it!" He taunts, and you gladly accept the challenge. Forgetting about school for a while, you sprint towards the grass towering over all the rest. He beats you, as always, but you don't care because even if you lost, you had more time to spend with him and that's all you needed.

By the time you reach the grass, you're both too weak to stand up, so you lay in the field, next to each other, hands just barely touching, and look at the clouds in the sky. You breathe hard and think about your best friend beside you, and feel yourself blush as you smile to yourself again.

It's quiet so as you push yourself up on your elbows, you try think of a way to start a conversation. "I, uh... I practiced some volleyball yesterday." You stumble over your words, but he perks right up at this, wide-eyed since you're not exactly the athletic type.

"Really?! How was it? Did you hit a spike? Did you practice your tosses? How were your receives? When the ball hit your arm did it go 'poomf?'" He bombards you with questions, doing the same movements he usually would on the court, since this is his area of expertise.

You try to answer him the best you can, "Well, actually, I did try to hit the ball over - Yachi, the new manager, tossed some balls to me - but they always hit the net... My sets were pretty good, and, I could control my receives!" You got excited near the end, almost bouncing, because the few times you practiced with Hinata, strangely, you struggled the most with your receives.

Hinata seems to remember that, because when you mention your improvement, he almost yells, "That's great Y/N! We should practice one day!" You agree with a giggle.

After a few minutes, the world seems to calm down, and so do you. Taking in loads of air at a time, you stare at the sky and try to trace shapes in the clouds.

"I miss you," Hinata says suddenly, almost under his breath. It surprises you and you go silent for a while. "I..I missed you too. A lot," you add, unsure of how to really respond.

He sits up and says, "I'm sorry we haven't talked, it was an accident. I got caught up in volleyball and my failing grades but-- but the few days I haven't seen you made me realize that I want you... More than you, or I, even know..." He trails off, playing with his fingers, and your heart skips a beat.

"I need you, (Y/N)." Hinata mumbles, staring at your bright (E/C) eyes. You nod, not knowing what to say. "Can I.. can I have you?" He asks, embarrassed. You nod again, harder, and grin at him. "Yeah," you just barely whisper, gazing at him as if he were the only thing in the world, and for that minute, he was.

He returns the smile, and it seems like, for that second that he does, the clouds go away, almost like they're making room for the ball of sunshine sitting next to you.

In that moment, with the (real) sun setting, and the dandelions swaying in the slight breeze, you realize that you do love this boy, and that you'd do anything for him. You move your hand slightly to the right so that your pinkie is resting on top of his. You sneak glances at him, and wonder if something's gonna happen.

Shoyo is quiet for the rest of the time, and you don't kiss, but that's okay because...

Because he's yours. And you're his. And that's a better feeling than any kiss could've granted you.

|~Fin~|

AHHH I know there wasnt much action lol I just had to do this lol. As always thanks for reading <3

#hinata shoyo x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu oneshot #oneshot #fanfic #fanfiction #oh right idk how to use tags

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snowdice · 4 years

Text

Gaps in His Files (Part 14) [Relabeled; Refiled Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan/Patton

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton

Appear: Remy, Virgil (but only in the epilogue)

Summary:

Logan Berry has learned many things the last 10 years: a lot of math and physics, a bit of humility, and how to be a hero being just a few. Through his education, his experience teaching, and his exploits as the superhero Bluebird, he’s changed in a lot of small and large ways. He has recorded these changes in well-organized documents and files. He’s even had to create two new file designations: a red one for files about his moonlighting at Bluebird, and a light blue one dedicated to his boyfriend, Patton.

When Bluebird is targeted by a memory device and all of those 10 years of progress suddenly disappear, Patton Sanders and Logan’s extensive files are left as his only resource to get those memories back. But what is Patton supposed to do when there are clear gaps in his files? And what does he do when he is one of them?

This is set 25 years before Sometimes Labels Fail though it’s story is completely independent of it and it is not necessary to read that one first.

Notes: Superhero AU, memory loss, past child abuse, past child neglect, unhealthy ideas about ones place in relationships, emotional suppression, self-deprecating thoughts, medical procedures mentioned, very brief unhealthy views of sex

They’re so dumb... just... so... dumb.

Note that I just posted Part 13 a minute before this!! Read that first!!!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13

When Patton arrived back at his apartment for the first time since Tuesday afternoon (though it felt like it had been much longer), he decided to finally take Remy’s advice. He grabbed a tub of ice cream, sat down on his couch, and just cried for about two hours before he finally fell asleep. He woke to the sound of frantic knocking on his door. Rubbing his eyes, he stumbled to the door and opened it.

“Put this on!” was the first thing the person on the other side of the door said, thrusting a hanger with a white bag covering its contents at Patton.

“Wha?” Patton asked as Logan shoved his way into the apartment.

“We’re going to be late,” Logan stressed. “We can’t be late, Patton!”

“Late for what? Logan what?” God Patton shouldn’t have left him alone. What was he thinking?

“I forgot about the reservations. How could I forget about the reservations, Patton?”

“Logan?” Patton said cautiously. “Are you okay?”

“I am perfectly well, but we need to be to the park by 6, and I have just remembered all of the ways this could go wrong!” As he spoke, he ripped the bag off his own black suit and hung the other hanger up on Patton’s coat closet door before starting to strip out of his trousers.

Patton paused, hopeful. He seemed… more confused than he had been since he’d lost his memories, but… “You remember something?” he asked softly.

“Oh, I remember everything,” he said waving his hand through the air absentmindedly, standing in the middle of Patton’s apartment in his underwear as he grabbed the dress pants and started to struggle into them.

“You remember?” he asked.

“Yes, yes, the coffee shop, the surgery, the dates, you staying over at my place 81.3% of the time because it’s closer to the hospital, the fact that you leave dried up pens all over my living room,” he blathered as he finished fastening the pants. Once he was done with that, he stepped toward Patton and grabbed his face in his hands. “The fact that you will never go along with my plans without some form of argument. Put the suit on Patton!”

Patton gapped at him for a moment before his mouth slammed shut, his hands clenched at his sides, and his eyes started to well with tears. “Maybe lead with that next time,” he spat.

Logan did that double blink thing he did when he was particularly startled by Patton. “Apologies love, you are correct of course,” and oh, how was Patton supposed to stay mad at that? Patton softened, and, when he titled his head up to look him in the eyes, Logan pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I think we may have a lot to talk about,” Logan said softly, and oh. Oh right. Patton hadn’t really thought though the possible consequences of his outburst now that Logan remembered everything. “But right now, we have somewhere we really need to be. I’ve bought you a suit that will look very pretty on you. Will you please put it on for me, love?”

Patton nodded, brain a whirlwind of emotions, but he got another quick sweet kiss out of it that steadied him enough to do as he asked.

The next thing Patton knew, he was literally flying out of his apartment. Logan said it was the only way they’d make it to wherever they were going on time.

Not wanting to be seen, Logan had to land them a couple of blocks away from the busy park in one of the city’s closer suburbs. He kept looking at his watch as he towed Patton by the hand toward the center of the park

“Um, Logan,” Patton said, “it looks like we aren’t supposed to be here. There aren’t any people and it’s blocked off by rope.” He pointed to said rope with his free hand while trying to tug at the hand in Logan’s grip to make him stop.

He paused and turned to Patton. “Dear, please, in,” he glanced at his watch, “five minutes and 53 seconds, I will be happy to do anything you say, but will you just do as I ask for a little under six minutes?”

“I…fine.”

“Good,” Logan proceeded to pull him towards a blocked off area near the base of the fountain. He searched the ground for something and then pointed at a bit of glow-in-the-dark paint. “Stand there,” he said, and Patton did, shooting him a confused look. “Now face me.”

“Okay…”

Logan took a deep breath now that they were in position. “And with over 30 seconds to spare,” he breathed.

“I still have no idea what’s happening,” Patton pointed out.

“I know,” he replied. “I was supposed to have more than 30 seconds. I was going to walk you slowly through the park and buy you a flower from the vender down the street. I was going to distract you enough that you didn’t even notice the ropes blocking people from this spot, but life got in the way. I should have expected it with you being a doctor and me being me. We have busy lives, difficult lives that get in the way a lot of the time. And you said some things the last few days that worry me and we’re going to have to talk about it and where it came from, but I would like to talk about it. Actually, I insist you talk to someone about it even if it isn’t me. Because our lives are complicated and messy and neither of us are perfect in general or even for each other. But maybe that doesn’t matter because despite all of that, we still somehow made it here in time and I think that might mean something. Something really, really important.”

“Logan sweetie, whatever’s going on, it’s alright. You need to calm down.”

“This is traditionally not a calm sort of thing from what I understand. Anyway,” he said, looking at his watch. “It’s time.”

“What are-” At that moment, the fountain next to them started up, the little white lights that had already been lit on it shimmering like little stars in the moving water.

Logan went down on to his knees and pulled a ring out of his pocket.

“Oh my god.”

“Will you marry me?”

“I…” Patton said. “I thought you didn’t want to get married.”

“What gave you that impression?” he asked.

“You… I asked you to marry me and you didn’t say yes.”

“You did not ask me to marry you.”

Patton stared at him. “I said I wanted to marry you and you said to give you more time.”

He looked like a very confused puppy on his knees in front of Patton. “Yes, for the planning. We had discussed that you would want a dramatic proposal after you expressed a desire to be married.”

“Wha- When did that conversation happen?” Patton asked.

“Two years and 11 months ago in the park by the hospital when we saw a man perform a song to propose to a woman. I had said that those types of proposals made me uncomfortable and you asked me why as you believed they were romantic. I explained that the receiving party would likely feel pressured to say yes in front of a crowd and that such an act could be manipulative. You said we could compromise and that it would be alright if they’d already said they wanted to be married and the other person did it to make them feel loved and surprise them about the day and type of ring, but not the question. You said that would be your ideal proposal.”

“Logan that was our second date.”

“Yes.”

Patton sighed. “Oh honey, I love you. I think we really need to work on our communication skills, but I love you.”

“I would agree after the last few days,” Logan said. “I also love you very much.”

Patton looked down at him still on his knees… because he was proposing. Right. “Oh! And yes! Of course, yes!”

Logan smiled at him softly and Patton wanted to jump up and down, but he also wanted to cry a bit and maybe sorta wanted to throw up a little and not just from the entire tub of strawberry ice cream he’d eaten a couple of hours ago. But the thing he most wanted was what he could tell he was about to get. Logan put the ring on his finger (Patton made a note to actually look at the thing sometime later) and got to his feet before sweeping Patton up into a kiss.

Patton drew back from the kiss feeling lighter than he had in days though not nearly completely perfect. He looked around himself. “Oh, wow,” he gushed. “This is so pretty! You’re so pretty! I’m so pretty! I love this suit. Oh, can we take pictures somehow before we leave?”

Logan laughed at him softly. “I hired photographers of course,” he informed him, preening a little bit, “They doubtlessly got pictures of the proposal and the kiss. We can have them take more if you’d like.”

“Oh, those are going to be wonderful pictures with us in front of the fountain like this. This is the most perfect thing I could ever imagine. I love you so much.” He started to get a bit chocked up. Logan pulled him into a hug and gee, that was even better than the kiss had been, especially because they didn’t have to pull away to breathe for a hug. Logan never even tried to pull back even though Patton kept him wrapped up in his arms for far longer than most hugs ever went. He just pressed a kiss to the top of his head and rubbed his back until the ache in Patton’s chest eased enough for him to feel comfortable pulling back himself.

(And then Patton goes to therapy for 5 years and they both go to relationship counseling for 2 years as I have mentioned in Labels Shift. I do plan to eventually do at least a one-shot of Patton in therapy, but I wanted to end on a happier note.)

Want to read more? Here’s the Epilogue.

#sanders sides #logan sanders #patton sanders #logicality #tsss #superhero au #memory loss #past child abuse #past child neglect #emotional suppression #self deprecation #gaps in his files #labeled universe #relabeled; refiled #adriana writes

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captainsolare · 4 years

Text

Forgotten Promises - ProHero!Bakugo

A/N: The banner makes this look way angstier than it is lol but anyways, I hope you enjoy this. It was an idea that was bouncing around my head for a while. When I first got this idea, it was originally going to go down a different path, but I think this came out better than I what I was originally thinking. I did a lot of research so I hope this comes across well!

Summary: A young pro!Bakugo makes a promise to a dying man, little did he know that promise would come back unexpectedly years later when he is named guardian to a girl he has never met.

Warnings: angst, blood/injury mention, fluff, Pro!Hero Bakugo

Word Count: 4474

---

The heat hit his skin in waves, the smell of smoke accosting his lungs and clawing its way out in coughs and gags. “Come on, I know there’s one more extra in here.” Bakugo hissed into his sleeve, trying to find the said extra in question. “C’mon Ground Zero, what did we say about calling civilians extras?” Kirishima said in his earpiece. “Shut up Rock Hair, I’m a little busy trying to do my job here in case you hadn’t noticed.” “Yeah yeah ----Over there! I think I see the last one!” Kirishima exclaimed, pointing at an arm waving frantically from under a pile of rubble.

Bakugo and Kirishima carefully but quickly picked their way across the rubble.

“Are you okay?” Kirishima called, and received a weak groan in response. “They’re alive! Let’s get them out.” Bakugo grunted in response and the two of them worked to move the rubble that was trapping the civilian. Kirishima used his hardening to help hold it up while Bakugo pulled the civilian, it was a man, out. They immediately exchanged a glance upon seeing the man’s condition; it looked bad, definitely broken legs, ribs and maybe an arm. He also had a head wound that was bleeding excessively. “Alright Red, let’s get him out of here.” Bakugo said gruffly. Kirishima nodded and as they prepared to bring the injured man to the awaiting paramedics, he weakly pulled at Bakugo’s sleeve. “Wait, my niece she’s still in there somewhere, last I saw she was by the fountain.” Kirishima looked at Bakugo for confirmation that he could make it the rest of the way on his own, and Bakugo nodded. Kirishima set off, back into the smoke and heat.

As Bakugo carried the man to safety, he tried to keep him awake and talking after they cleared the smoky area. “Hey, don’t you go passing out on me old man.” He said gruffly. “Your name is Ground Zero right son?” the man asked. “Yeah that’s right.” “Can you promise me one thing?” “What is it?” “Please take care of my niece, Cecilia, when I’m gone.” “S--” Before Bakugo could fully answer,, the man was whisked away by paramedics for treatment. When the area was cleared and the ordeal was over, Bakugo and Kirishima headed to the hospital to get checked out, per procedure. “Hey nurse, is this the hospital where all the victims from the incident this afternoon were brought?” Bakugo asked. “Yes I believe so Mr. Ground Zero, is there a particular reason why you’re asking sir?” “There was a civilian brought in earlier, lots of broken bones, is he going to be okay? And his niece.” “Umm, let me check my chart sir. I’ll be right back.”

“What’s that about? You usually aren’t that interested in the civilians after we save them.” Kirishima asked, giving him a puzzled look. “It’s nothing, don’t worry.” “Ground Zero sir?” Bakugo looked up at her expectantly. “It looks like all the patients brought from the area you’re asking about are all currently doing okay.” Bakugo let out a small sigh of relief. “Thank you ma’am, we’ll be going now.” “No problem! Be safe out there Red Riot!” As they exited the hospital, Bakugo seemed distracted. “You okay man?” “Fine, nothing to bother with. That man we saved, he just asked me a weird question.” “What did he ask?” “If I would take care of his niece if he died.” Kirishima stopped short and gave him a worried look, “And what did you say?” “That’s the thing, he was taken away by the paramedics before I could reply.”

“Hmm, well I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, I hope they pull through.” “Yeah…”

The man lived, and so did his niece, so Ground Zero thought this would be the end of his ordeal, oh how wrong he was.

-----

Several years passed and Ground Zero, now in the top 10 in the charts, was sitting at his desk doing paperwork when there was a knock on his office door. “Mr. Ground Zero sir?” his assistant asked. “Yes? What is it?” He asked, looking up briefly. “There’s a man here to see you? A Mr. Ikeda? He says it’s an important personal matter.” Bakugo was puzzled at that, he didn’t recognize the name and he hadn’t been involved in any scandals recently. There was only one way to get answers though, so he decided to speak to this mysterious visitor.. “Okay, send him in.” He said. The assistant nodded and buzzed the man up.

Out of the elevator stepped a short man in a black suit and dress shoes.Yeah, no idea who this guy is. “Ahh you must be the famous Ground Zero. It’s nice to finally meet you.” The man extended his hand out to shake and Bakugo took it. “Uhh, yes that’s me. My assistant mentioned you were here on an important matter?” The man nodded. “Please, step into my office.” Bakugo said, gesturing to the open door in front of them. Once they were inside, Ground Zero’s assistant shut the door behind them. “Please have a seat, uhh Mr. …” Bakugo said, awkwardly trailing off when he realized he didn’t remember the man’s name. “Oh dear, I didn’t introduce myself, I’m terribly sorry. I’m Mr. Ikeda a lawyer, and I’m here on behalf of my client Mr. Kobayashi.”

That name rang a bell somewhere in the recesses of Bakugo’s mind, but he pushed it aside for the moment. “Ahh I see. Well, what can I do for you Mr. Ikeda? Is this about property damage? Because if so, my legal team can help with that.”

Mr. Ikeda chuckled, “No sir, I can assure you it’s nothing of that sort. The truth is you have been named a beneficiary in my client, Mr. Kobayashi’s will.” Bakugo widened his eyes in surprise, “Really? I don’t remember having a close relationship with the man, this, Mr. Kobayashi.” “Are you sure? He came into my office several times near the end of his life as we were updating his will and he talked about you frequently.” When Bakugo still looked puzzled, Mr. Ikeda decided to try to jog his memory. “He specifically recounted the incident a few years ago when you and Mr. Red Riot saved his life and that of his niece’s.” Alarm bells began to ring in Bakugo’s brain. “Oh, yes, I remember him now. And he named me a beneficiary in his will?”

“Yes sir. He left a significant portion of his estate to you.” “I see, did he tell you why?” “He did, but I’m afraid I can’t go into all the details right now because I have another appointment across town. Here’s my card,” Mr. Ikeda said, standing up and handing Bakugo his business card. “Please come to my office tomorrow at 1:00 PM, we can discuss this matter further there. It’s rather complicated, legally speaking.” “O-Okay, I will stop by tomorrow then.” Bakugo replied, as he escorted him to the elevator. “See you tomorrow.” Mr. Ikeda said with a wave.

“Fukuzawa, cancel all my meetings for the rest of today and tomorrow.” “Yes sir! Should I move them to later this week?” “That works for me, thank you. Duskbreaker!” Bakugo yelled. “Yes Ground Zero?” “You’re in charge for the rest of the day, I have business to take care of.” “Yes sir!” His sidekick said. Bakugo changed out of his hero outfit and tried to gather his thoughts. So the man I saved in that disaster a few years ago named me in his will? I don’t know why I have such a bad feeling about this.

The next day, Bakugo went to the address on the business card; the building looked cold and sterile from the outside but once inside, he felt like he had stepped into a completely different building. Everything looked to be made out of cypress or pine, paintings hung from the walls and potted plants were strategically placed around the entryway. He finally made his way to the reception desk and stood there awkwardly until the receptionist looked up. “Hello sir, do you have an appointment with us or do you need to schedule one?” “Umm, I think I have an appointment, but it might be under my hero name. Mr. Ikeda didn’t make that clear yesterday when he stopped by my agency.”

“Oh yes, you’re Mr. Ground Zero correct?” Bakugo nodded. “Great! He’s been expecting you, go down the hallway to your left, his office is at the end.” “Thank you.�� He replied, and followed her directions.

Despite his calm demeanor, Bakugo was quite anxious about this meeting; the words “complicated, legally speaking,” weren’t comforting at all. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Come in!” he heard Mr. Ikeda’s voice call. Bakugo pushed the door open and was met with an office full of plush furniture and a big oak desk. “Have a seat and we’ll discuss your inheritance from Mr. Kobayashi.” Mr. Ikeda walked over to a file cabinet and pulled out a manila envelope.

“Okay, so Mr. Kobayashi outlined you and one other person as beneficiaries to his will but in this meeting we will only be discussing what pertains to you.” Bakugo nodded, gulping a little bit. Mr. Ikeda pulled his reading glasses out of a desk drawer and put them on fishing the papers out of the envelope. He scanned through the document, finally getting to the last page and cleared his throat. “So you have received a large sum of money from Mr. Kobayashi, a little over 1 million yen.” Bakugo’s jaw nearly dropped in surprise, “He left me that much? But why? Doesn’t he have family?”

Mr. Ikeda gave him a bleak look. “He does have a niece, but he was her guardian. To my knowledge, her parents passed away in a plane crash so she had to move here from the states to live with her uncle because he was her only family. Her uncle put all of her inheritance in a trust but since his niece is a minor she can’t access it until she is 18. That’s where things get complicated, he named you as guardian of the estate and guardian of the person.”

Bakugo blinked, “Wait, what does that mean exactly?” Mr. Ikeda sighed, “In simple terms, you have been put in charge of her finances and physical assets until she is 18, and you are now her legal guardian.” Bakugo fought the urge to stand up and raise his voice. “Wait so, now I’m just expected to take in this kid, that I don’t even know, and take care of her? I’m not even in a relationship at the moment and now all of a sudden I have to take care of a child?!” “I understand that this is a shock,” Mr. Ikeda said, “You are allowed to relinquish guardianship, but unfortunately since she has no living relatives she will go into the foster system.” Bakugo took a few calming breaths, “Can I have a few days to think about this?” “Of course! But decide soon, a child’s fate is in your hands here.” Mr. Ikeda said with a smile. Bakugo took another deep breath, “Okay, I’ll try to let you know my decision soon.” “Great! My assistant will walk you out, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call.”

As soon as Bakugo was in his car, he screamed at the top of his lungs. He wasn’t quite sure what emotion he was feeling, anger? Loss? Guilt? All of the above? None of the above? All he was certain of was that he needed to figure out what to do. He wasn’t sure why Mr. Kobayashi had put this responsibility on him, he was just a hero in his twenties and now he was in charge of a little girl he had never met.

His mind flashed back to that day, and that damned promise. Heat was everywhere, the smoke choking, people screaming, people crying, and an old man, asking if he would take care of his niece if he didn’t survive this. He remembered the sense of relief he felt when he had learned that the man would be okay; since then, he’d saved many people, many survived, some didn’t. Those he didn’t save haunted him, but the old man and his mysterious niece lingered in the back of his mind, not ever occupying his daily thoughts, but it came up in nights where he wondered if he’d ever have to make a promise like that again, a promise to a dying man.

Bakugo hit the steering wheel with his palm, still at a loss of what to do. He decided that going back to the office in this mindset would be unproductive, calling his sidekick to inform them they’d have to take care of things for the day. Then he called his mother, asking if he could come over. Mitsuki of course, said yes, and he drove right over.

He didn’t even have to knock, his mother was opening the door and pulling him into a hug. Much to her surprise he hugged back, tightly, as if he didn’t want to let go. After they pulled apart, Mitsuki pulled him to the living room to have him sit on the couch. “What’s bothering you?” She asked. Mararu soon appeared, mugs of coffee in hand.

“I’m in a difficult situation.” Katsuki began, taking the mug of coffee gratefully. “What kind of situation?” Masaru asked. Bakugo took a deep breath and told them the situation, starting from the beginning. Masaru and Mitsuki’s eyes widened as he told the story. Once he was finished, they all sat in silence for a moment. “Well, what do you think the best thing to do is?” Bakugo asked, brows furrowed.

“Well, I don’t really know either honey.” Mitsuki replied, exchanging a glance with Masaru. “Personally, I think that you just have to weigh your options carefully. If you surrender guardianship, you’ll still be in charge of her assets right?” Masaru asked. Bakugo nodded, “Yeah, I think so. I think that’s what the lawyer said.” “Okay, with that in mind, are you confident that you’d be able to know what she needed if you weren’t living with her? You’d have her foster parents or whomever was taking care of her to deal with if she wasn’t living with you, and they might try to put their own agendas into whatever they ask of you in regards to those assets.”

Mitsuki nodded, “Yes, unfortunately there are a lot of greedy people out in the world, who might take advantage of the fact that you might just give them whatever because you’re so busy with your hero work.” Bakugo nodded at their words, taking a sip of his coffee. Masaru reached over and placed his hand on his son’s knee, “I hope you know that whatever you decide to do, we’ll support you fully. If you decide to have her live with you, we can help watch her on nights you have hero work, or when you have long missions.”

Bakugo breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t know he needed, “Thank you, I needed to hear that. I’ll let you know when I make my decision.” After he finished his coffee, his parents walked him to the front door and waved as he got into his car. He took a long glance at the place that shaped him before driving off. Could I be that place to someone?

---

He pulled up to his apartment complex and got out with a sigh, he felt strangely defeated somehow even though he hadn’t even made a decision yet. He walked inside, nodding to the doorman, and rode the elevator up to his floor. His large apartment felt empty when he entered it, no lights were on save the one above the stove. He walked down the hallway and opened the doorway to his guest room, currently there was no bed and he was using it for storage; he stepped back and made a rectangle with his hands, like an artist trying to fit the world in a canvas, and imagined the room with a bed, and the walls perhaps painted pink, or whatever color little girls are into these days; and despite his usually prickly nature, the corners of his mouth tugged upward into a smile. Maybe… Maybe I should say yes.

He shut the door, a little surprised with himself; his eyes were drawn to the running shoes at the end of the hallway and pictured a smaller pair next to them. He shook his head, “I’m getting way ahead of myself here.” Maybe a run will clear my head.

Bakugo got changed into more suitable clothing and went outside into the warm evening air. After a while of running, he stopped at the park near his apartment and took a breather on a bench. His attention was soon grabbed by a little girl squealing happily as her father pushed her on the swingset. He wasn’t sure if the sight made his heart melt or hurt, but either way, he wanted to get home. He decided to walk back to his apartment rather than running. As he walked, he thought about the day's events, they had been unexpected that was for certain; he had a feeling that his heart was already swaying in a particular direction, but he wanted to at least take 24 hours on it, like Mr. Ikeda had said, a child’s fate was in his hands. He returned to his empty apartment, ate dinner alone, and took a shower. Before he turned his light out to go to sleep for the night, he took one last glance at the guest bedroom and as he crawled into bed for the night, he wondered if the child was doing the same. Is she lonely? He wondered as he stared into the dark, she must be. I can’t imagine being alone in the world. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to do so, but he threw open his curtains and stepped out into the moonlight on his balcony. She won’t be alone anymore, she’ll have me.

The next morning, the first thing he did was call his parents, they were overjoyed to say the least. He then phoned Mr. Ikeda, who told him to come in later in the day to sign the proper paperwork and discuss meeting his new ward. At the agency, his sidekicks could all tell that he was distracted but only Duskbreaker dared to ask him why. “Less chatting, more patrolling.” Bakugo replied. He pulled his assistant into his office and asked her to arrange for “the best children’s bed money can buy that a young girl would still like” to be bought and dropped off at his apartment. A confused Fukuzawa nodded at the request but nonetheless complied. “Right away Ground Zero.” As soon as he could, he headed back across town to meet with Mr. Ikeda once more.

“How wonderful to see you again Mr. Bakugo, can I call you that?.” He said, shaking Bakugo’s hand across the desk. “Yes sir, I don’t mind. You too. So… how does this work exactly?” Bakugo asked. “All you have to do is sign a few papers, and then you will officially be Miss Cecilia’s guardian, and in charge of her assets.” “Okay, sounds good.” Bakugo replied, grabbing a pen from the desk with shaking hands. Mr. Ikeda marked the places he needed to sign with xs and handed them over to Bakugo to sign. Once Bakugo was done signing he wasn’t sure if he was elated or feeling physically ill. “When do I get to meet her? How old is she? Does she know what her quirk is yet?” Bakugo asked, the questions coming a mile a minute.

“We can arrange for you to meet her whenever you want, does tomorrow evening work?” “Absolutely, hero work permitting.” Bakugo replied, his heart was racing. “Cecilia is 8, her birthday is December 13th and her quirk is an emission quirk, I believe that she can emit flames from her fingertips up to a certain distance.” “Okay, okay.” Bakugo tried to commit these facts to memory, he knew just the person to help with understanding the fire part, even though it would be a pain to ask IcyHot for help. He was inwardly elated that she had an emission quirk that had to do with her hands, if she wanted to do hero work someday, he would be able to help quite a bit because it was similar to his own. “Well, that’s all I have for you today. Hero work permitting you shall meet your ward tomorrow night. I’ll call you in the morning with details of where to meet.” “Okay, thank you for being so helpful with this sir.”

On his way back to the agency, Bakugo called his parents, and then Kirishima. It was an interesting phone conversation to say the least, but once the initial shock had passed, Kirishima was supportive and offered to come over to help build the bed if necessary. “Order in and have drinks while we work?” “Just as long as you promise not to break anything Rock Hair.” Even over the phone, Bakugo could tell that his friend was smiling. “Stop smiling doofus, I’ll see you tonight.” “Yeah yeah whatever, see you tomorrow Dadugo.” Kirishima said, hanging up before Bakugo could protest about the new nickname.

Everyone at the agency could tell that Bakugo was both happy and nervous for the remainder of the day and the next. Bakugo was even nice to the civilians bombarding him for autographs for once. Finally, the evening arrived, luckily the city was quiet in his district and so he was able to get off and get ready for the important meeting. Bakugo got dressed in a suit, wanting to make a good first impression, but ditched the jacket upon looking in the mirror. Why the hell am I trying so hard? This feels ridiculous. He made a quick stop at a convenience store to buy some flowers and a teddy bear, “Hot date?” The clerk asked with a smile. Bakugo tried not to glare, but his nervousness made his response harsh. “Mind your own business.”

Bakugo pulled up to the restaurant and checked his hair in the mirror one last time. He sat down in the booth Mr. Ikeda had reserved, Bakugo was the first to arrive. He checked his watch, leg bouncing uncontrollably. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants, sure that he’d never been this nervous in his life. When Mr. Ikeda and the social worker arrived, Cecilia in tow, Bakugo thought he was going to cry. They introduced her to him, then departed for another table, leaving Cecilia and Bakugo alone at the table.

“Hi, Mr. Zero.” Cecilia said quietly as she sat down. Despite his trademark gruffness, Bakugo chuckled, “No need for that. You can call me Bakugo, or Mr. Bakugo if you feel more comfortable. Heck, you can even call me Katsuki if you want to.” Once they each got past their initial shyness, Bakugo found that beneath her shy exterior lay a precocious and energetic girl, fascinated by the world around her and very well-spoken for her age. And Cecilia found that beneath Bakugo’s intimidating first appearance, he really was a kind man, and he was just as nervous about this as she was. (It also helped that he gave her a teddy bear, teddy bears always help.)

Once dinner was over, the social worker helped move all of Cecilia’s belongings into Bakugo’s car. The car ride was quiet, and once they moved all of Cecilia’s belongings into his apartment, they were both exhausted. “Do you want me to help you unpack tonight or would you rather wait until morning?” Bakugo asked. Cecilia thought for a moment, “I think tomorrow will be fine, thank you Mr. Bakugo.” “Okay, I’ll be up in the living room for a little while longer if you need anything. The bathroom is right across from your room if you need it.” Cecilia nodded, and began getting acclimated to her new space.

Bakugo was reading a book on the couch when Cecilia wandered in, “Umm Mr. Bakugo, would you read me a bedtime story and tuck me in?” she asked nervously. He looked at her with wide eyes, surprised that she would ask such a question. “Sure.” He answered slowly, “Umm, you pick a book and I’ll be in there in a second?” “Okay.”

Bakugo lingered at her doorway, not sure if he should just walk in or wait to be invited. Cecilia sat on the bed, new teddy bear next to her and book in hand. “You can come in and sit, you don’t have to just stand there.” she said. “Right, sorry. I’ve… never done this before.” Bakugo sat cross legged at the end of her bed, and read a few chapters of the book she had chosen; it was a series he hadn’t heard of before, probably American. After he was done, Bakugo awkwardly pulled the blankets up to the girl’s chin, “Goodnight Cecilia, anything you want for breakfast in the morning?” She looked up at him with a sleepy smile, “Chocolate chip pancakes?” Bakugo smiled, “You got it.”

Bakugo retired to his room to get ready for bed after she drifted off to sleep, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders; despite his nervousness about all this, it seemed to be going better than he thought it would. He switched the lamp off, and just as he was about to drift off to sleep a sniffling shadow appeared in his doorway blanket and stuffed bear in tow. “Mr. Bakugo, I had a nightmare, can I sleep in here tonight?” Bakugo tensed at the question, he wasn’t prepared for this, but he thought about how he used to go into his parents’ room at night when he had nightmares and figured this was the least he could do. “Sure, just be warned, I get up super early.” “That’s okay, I don’t mind.” Cecilia crawled into the bed, and Bakugo was grateful that he had invested in such a big one; he figured with all the messed up things that happened to this kid at her young age, this might be a common occurrence. Bakugo switched off the lamp once more, and said a goodnight. And they both drifted off into sleep, ready to embark on this new, awkward and unexpected journey of being a new “Dad” and being a kid living with a pro hero.

They didn’t know just how good yet, but things would definitely be good, and the goodness would officially start with chocolate chip pancakes.

#prohero bakugo #dad bakugo #Bakugo katsuki #Bnha fic #bakugo fic #aurora borealis

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sea-side-scribbles · 3 years

Text

Sympathy For A Downer

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22737214/chapters/77683115

Chapter 61

Nick remained crying on his bed after Virgil had added a lot to his guilt.

Eventually, he couldn't stand this whole situation any longer and he knew there was only one person who could make him see the other perspective.

And maybe he'll find answers.

And questions.

Anything.

Quietly, he left his bedroom and sneaked downstairs. It was very quiet in the house. Nick felt sorry for his band too, they must've been shocked.

But at least they were alive. And they could do without their chaotic band leader for another while.

Nick went out, only to be surprised by a mob of Wellies standing at his entrance and yelling at him:

“Mr. Lightbearer, could you answer a few questions?”

“How close have you been to Morrie Memento?”

“Is it true that you've been enemies?”

“Why did he go on holiday?”

“What happened last night?”

“Did you and Morrie have an argument at the party?”

Nick didn't even bother playing the good Wellie. He ran, with the mob following him. More Wellies and Bobbies joined the run as he alerted probably the entire Hamlyn Village. In an alley near James' he hid in a rubbish bin again, even though he hated it in there. It was the best hiding spot he knew. Once again, it didn't fail him.

When the mob was gone, he sneaked the few blocks to James and knocked.

“Sorry for the dirty suit”, he said when the therapist opened. “It's getting harder to come here.” He wiped a bit of dust from his suit.

“Nick, I'm glad you're alright! I read the news and...you didn't come...I was worried about you!”, James greeted him.

Nick sighed woefully. “I'm fine, James. I'm not the one who got...hacked into pieces.”

Now taking in the scent of the other man, he was very glad to be here.

“Ah, I see, you put your sweet perfume on again.” He came closer to the man who's mouth corners were twitching at the sight of Nick swooning. Nick didn't care how close he came, his cheeks touched the black fabric and it felt wonderful. “Hmmm...”, Nick purred. “Do I smell the same to you?”

“I have to admit, the Joy is making you smell very pleasant to me.”

Nick lifted up his head. “Come on, it's not the Joy! Be charming!”

“Of course it's your very own scent that makes me feel like we're soulmates.”

Nick stroked the fabric. “Soulmates...yes....”, he muttered. “That's what it feels like, right? Is that what we should feel?”

“According to what, my friend?” James' hand warmed his shoulders.

“Uh...the common sense?”

James sighed. “Common sense is a simple concept to make the world look organised.”

“Huh?”

“Let's just say...it can't be trusted. It's rather fragile.”

Nick pondered, unsure if he understood what his friend said. “I should be sad”, he concluded. “I was before I came here...I don't know how to go on without Morrie. He meant everything to me...I still don't know what to do but right now...it doesn't matter...is that right?”

“What else could I hope for as your friend. After all, it's my greatest wish to comfort you.”

“But I know I shouldn't feel like that. Morrie wouldn't approve. He had common sense.”

“Morrie didn't approve a lot of your feelings, Nick. Don't you think?”

Nick shrugged. “That was the way he was...He loved me and that was all that mattered.”

“To you, that is”, James corrected him. “Did it matter to him?”

Nick looked puzzled. “Sure.”

James carefully began to lead him into the living room while he was racking his brain. Sometimes he just didn't understand James. He was so wise. He knew so much about his feelings and he knew him better than he knew himself.

Well, he already knew that he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer and the best James could do was for him was not to get mad about it.

“I think if someone had your unconditional love he should appreciate it more”. James shook his head.

Nick sank down on the couch. “What do you mean?”

“Is there anything Morrie had to do for you to make you love him? Something you wanted from him first?”

Nick eyed the table, his brain was doing his best. “I...I...can't think of anything...”

“Did you want him to accept Arthur?”

Nick shook his head. “I wished he'd do it...but I didn't demand it...I wanted to tell him and then see what would happen...” Nick ruffled his hair. “I don't think I see what you're getting at.”

James' expression went mild. “Ah...well...nevermind. Don't beat yourself up about it, we can save it for later.”

Also Nick relaxed. He nodded.

“Now, I distracted you...What did you want to tell me?”

Nick furrowed his brows, then it came back to him. “I feel guilty about Morrie...”

James smiled. “Guilty, again?”

“I feel like that a lot, right?”, Nick followed the urge to explain himself.

James nodded.

“But, really, if I didn't go after Arthur, Morrie would've stayed at home and he would still be alive.”

“So, you regret seeing Arthur?”

“No, I had to go there...I...I hurt him and...he was about to leave the town for good! You know what I feel, James! You know how much he means to me! I couldn't chase him away like that!”

James held up a hand to interrupt Nick's stream of words. “I know, I know, Nick. I understand you very well. But if that's the case, why do you feel guilty?”

Nick returned to staring at the table. “Virgil said he died while I had fun.”

“Virgil? And does he know what you really did? Does he understand what you feel for Arthur?”

“He doesn't know anything.”, Nick answered with a shake of his head.

“So, why do you let him judge you?”

“He never judged my relationships. He let me do what I wanted. Now I feel like he's changing his mind. I've gone too far.” Nick hugged himself.

“He should know that Morrie has his own will. You told me he was smart, so I assume he knew the risk.”

“He was worried about me.”

“Or jealous. Whatever his reason was, mind that you didn't tell him to go. He could've stayed inside, he could've waited for you...He had many options.”

Nick furrowed his brows. “Then everything was his fault alone? My Morrie died and I can only blame himself? No, James, I can't accept that! That's horrible!”

James put a hand on his shoulder again. “I see, it comforts you to feel guilty. If everything is your fault, it means you have it under control.”

Nick eyed him.

“Some things you can't change...”, James went on. “You can only make the best out of it.”

Nick gulped his protest down. He fell silent, trying to cope with what his friend had told him. When he spoke again, his voice was faint. “I can't say goodbye to anyone. I never could...it always...breaks me.” He looked at James. “I'll feel it again when I'll leave you...”

James didn't hesitate to embrace him and gently press his head into the crook of his neck. “Don't you worry, I'm always here to help you.”

“But I can't be with you all the time! I have to care for my band again...!I need to get things going...!”

“I suppose you have Arthur to help you.”

“Yes, Arthur...”

“He loves you unconditionally, just the way you love him?”

Nick eyed him, wondering.

James waved him off. “Well, forget it for now. I didn't mean to confuse you, Nicky.”

Nick lay his head back down in silence.

“Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?”

“I need to go back”, he muttered. “Maybe Morrie is still there...”

“I doubt it...”, James said apologetically. “After all, what would decent Wellies think if they saw him?”

Nick suddenly smiled. “They're taking the wrong Joy.”

James joined his smile. “You think you're not smart, but you're in fact very clever.”

The comforting state Nick was in slowly faded away when he walked along the streets again. He held onto it as good as he could, but he couldn't stop the cold spreading in his chest when he came closer to the hatch. There was a red and white streamer wrapped around the crime scene. Wellies passed by without taking a notice. It was a sunny day after all. The park was decorated with golden leaves and between the golden spots in the grass there were no red ones left. The Bobbies had done a good job.

It was a shame.

Sadly, Nick sat on the cold stone brim of the fountain, eyeing the spot where the body had lied. Nick had hoped to see Morrie for a last time, even hugging him to say goodbye. Who cared about the blood? He felt like he couldn't get any dirtier. Suddenly, the world went blurry. There, his guilt came back.

“Morrie”, he whispered, “Whatever happened, I wish I saved you....”

The tiny waves in the water danced along the surface. They looked so...happy. He imagined Morrie to watch him now. He wished he could hold his hand.

“I know James is overdoing it with the empathy a little...”, he went on, replaying their conversation in his head, “I don't think I'm innocent...But he's my friend....He's only trying to help me....”

Nick pondered. “What he said about 'control'...I guess he's right....I don't like things to happen without a meaning...Why did Foggy Jack even kill you? You're not my enemy! I see why Bates got in the way, or the critic. But even Kitty? She loved me. You loved me. Now it looks like the killer is madly in love with me and killing all his rivals. That doesn't make any sense!” He eyed the park as if it could give him an answer.

“Well, James said 'sense' is unreliable, so...is he just insane? Is it even about me? If he only wanted attention, he's doing great when he sticks to me. Everyone loves to hear my dirty secrets....”Nick sighed and looked at his sad reflection. “If he had any mercy he'd kill me instead. I've been outside after curfew for so many times...and you go out once and that's it.” His eyes watered again. “I swear, it wasn't me...Virgil is wrong. I didn't talk to you since....” Nick's speech turned into uncontrollable sobs.

Suddenly, another face appeared in the water.

“Nick, what's wrong? What happened?”

Arthur sat down next to him and put his arms around him.

Nick returned the hug, crying against his lover's neck. “Hold me...please just hold me...”

Arthur had a bad feeling. “Is it the band? Did they leave you because of me?”

Nick eagerly shook his head. “Didn't you hear the news?”, he sobbed.

“No...I had no time...”, Arthur apologized.

Nick wiped his eyes. “We should go”, he quickly said and got up.

“Back into the tunnel?” Arthur looked begging.

“No, back home.”

Arthur's heart beat faster when he heard that. Nick stretched out an arm towards the fountain, as if he wanted to say something. He remained like that for a while, with his mouth half open, then he let his hand sink and only nodded. Arthur gave him a puzzled look but Nick didn't say more.

The way he clutched him they had to walk arm in arm the entire way. Arthur felt uncomfortable at first, with all the Wellies staring, but no one did care about him much. If anything, they called after Nick, who seemingly had the privilege to cry in public. Arthur however felt uncomfortable about all the women who shouted after Nick to call them because he had their number. Back at Nick's pad, they shortly greeted Hunt, who looked relieved to see the rockstar again, and then they went up the stairs immediately. Nick now didn't hesitate to let Arthur into his bedroom. He insisted on him to stay and at the same time refused to explain what happened. Arthur made an effort to comfort him. Nick said he could have whatever he wanted from the kitchen but he wasn't hungry or thirsty himself. All he wanted to do was lying and cuddling and crying. Arthur submitted, pulling the brightly colored blanket over them and holding Nick. They kissed a little, but Nick didn't get into the mood to do a lot more than that.

Still, Arthur appreciated to be so wanted.

Eventually, they fell asleep.

#we happy few #whf #wehappyfew #nick lightbearer #nicklightbearer #whf nick #whf arthur #whfarthur #whfarthurhastings #nickxarthur #nickxmorrie #morrie memento #morriememento

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