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#SHE WOULD ZOOM UP TO THE TREE WE ALWAYS HAD LUNCH AT
disneyprincemuke · 5 months
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santa baby * ls2
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it's never fun feeling like an outsider, so you'd sworn that nobody would ever feel the way you did all those years ago
pairings: logan sargeant x platonic!femdriver
notes: hi i know i took forever to write this but uh what r u gonna do? ik u love me B)
| "wanna hang out?" | driver's parade | american burgers | american football | the thanksgiving incident | another williams adoptee | beating the heat | you’re embarrassing me | santa baby | the favourite driver | the situationship | it's nice to have a friend |
you hum, whirling around at the camera crew settling right by the front of the mercedes racing home. “ah, it’s that time of years again, isn’t it?”
“yes! are you excited?”
you nod with a smile as you see a box being pulled out of the cart they’ve been lugging around in the paddocks for the video. “have you seen the present? got any hints for me?”
“aw, we can’t do that,” she giggles. “where’s the fun in that?”
secret santa is the yearly affair that you find yourself looking forward to as the year progresses. it’s always the santa hat and the fun of guessing who’s gotten you what this year. what used to be a silly game of gag gifts when you first started out, is now an endearing event filled with thoughtful gifts that you keep on your shelf for years to come.
last year, max had gotten your name. he is very thoughtful with his presents. his present sits at the top of your shelf: a paper mache trophy he admitted that he made with penelope (you’ve met her and she loves you) deeming you his toughest competitor in 2022.
you’re curious to see who drew your name this year.
“oh! do i get to keep this one?” you giggle as she hands you a santa hat. you pull it over your head snuggly and clap your hands. “where is it?”
“here.”
a box is handed to you, wrapped neatly in a mercedes green paper. you squeal as you take it into your hands and carefully unwrap it. there is something about wrapping paper that is so incredibly delicate and worth keeping.
you carefully tear at the tape holding the seams and edges of the box.
“any guesses who it could be right off the bat?”
“it could be anyone at this point,” you sigh, shaking your head. “could it be max again? hopefully it’s not charles — who knows what he will give me.” you look up to the camera. “in secret santa terms, of course. he is actually a good gift giver.”
you tear off the wrapping paper, folding it up neatly before pinning it between your body and elbow. “okay. truth time.”
you pull the cover off the box and tilt your head at the array of presents sitting comfortably in mercedes’ coloured confetti.
“what did you get?”
“a ‘best mum’ mug?” you say, coming out in a slight question as you lift up the pastel green mug to the camera. “am i pregnant and somehow it’s passed me?”
you hear a chorus of laughter as you venture further, each of the presents somehow getting weirder by the second. “and a christmas card? seriously?”
you graze your fingers over the 3d design on the card with a small smile, reading ‘merry christmas!’ with a cute doodle of a christmas tree in the centre. “we’ve been instructed to tell you to read that after you get all the presents and guess him correctly.”
your eyes trail to the gold plate in the shape of a star.
“another trophy!” you shriek. you squint your eyes to read the inscription on the plate. you sigh and press your lips together into a thin line. you hold it up. “best grid mum. the spelling alone gives it away!”
you step forward and let the camera zoom into it, the inscription reading “best grid mom”. “logan’s my secret santa?”
“ah, rookie mistake with the spelling there, wasn’t it?” she laughs. “there’s one more gift. he told us to give it to you when you figure it out.”
somebody else reaches out with a frame in their hands. you take it into your hands and smile, a picture of you and logan sitting right outside the mercedes home together for lunch sits tightly behind the glass.
“this is so sweet!” you coo, one hand covering your red cheeks. “do you want me to read the card?” she nods. you open the folded card and read as you speak. “thanks for welcoming me this year to the grid. you’re the best ever. hope i get to race with you longer than just this season. love, your secret santa.”
you look up as tears well in your eyes, looking into the camera. “aw, you’re the sweetest, logan. don’t worry, i’ve already got a present for him this christmas.”
you point to the lens of the camera. “can i grab this thing real quick for dramatic effect?” he nods. you grab the frame of the lens and take a step forward. “james vowles, if you do not re-sign logan hunter sargeant, i know where to find you.”
@cashtons-wife
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stainedglassandpigs · 29 days
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Smallville
I don’t know if I’ll continue this story much bc I don’t have tons of confidence in it but it was fun to do something with Clark since I kept seeing a bunch of edits with him and I rmbered how much I liked the lil farm boy.
Also I don’t know how I feel about using emojis in writing lowkey don’t like it but yk gotta try it out at least once or twice to see fr ( jury is leaning toward don’t like)
.
.
.
.
It appears to be somewhere in the country. Lush green trees and a sea of grassy plains for miles. I don’t remember when I began walking or why I was.
As I was now pushing through a corn maze it began to be clear I was looking for something. I became more and more frustrated that I wasn’t finding whatever it was I broke out in a run, I had to find it now time was running out. Hope was beginning to lose me when I stumbled outta the ocean of corn stalks. Getting up and dusting myself off I could see in the distance there was a house and barn. Just as I began to walk to the far off house something zoomed out of the corn and crashed into the barn.
BOOM
I bolted up, my alarm going off.
Turning it off I reach for my phone checking the time.
Shit shit shit.
It was 8:30, that was my alarm that told me I was supposed to be out the house by now.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck.
Mom hated when I was late, the office lady was always so unusually mean for someone who worked with people all day.
Rushing outta bed I began a speed run of my usually morning activities.
A normal person might forgo finding a playlist to listen to when they were already in a rush, but I figured the morning was already fucked at least I could still listen to my favorite songs while I panicked.
By the 2 song I have changed and was beginning to brush my teeth. Song 3 began and so did my morning skin care.
Rush or not there were things I was not willing to compromise on when getting ready.
My grand final now is deciding what to do with my hair.
It was wash day yesterday so the hair was looking a bit wet. I didn’t prefer it this way but at least it was cute.
I opt for down since it would help the curls dry faster
Making sure all the hairs were in place and my part was clean I called it. And all it took was 4 songs to get ready, not too bad.
Before I headed for the kitchen to pack my lunch I made sure my back pack was ready for the day.
Well I made sure my headphones were in there and I barely spared a glance at what was actually in the bag.
The kitchen was a bit more tricky of a situation. If I were lucky no one would be in there to question why I hadn't left yet, especially not mom.
Being as quiet and quick as I could, packing my lunch and dashing off immediately, grabbing my keys from the bowel and sneaking off.
Gettign in the car I threw my stuff in the passenger seat and checked my phone for the time and any important notifications.
The time read as 9, first period began at 8:50. I was officially counted absent when I was deciding on water or tea as my drink of choice for the day I thought.
Being absent wasn’t good but math class was soooo boring, I was thankful it was my senior year because there was no way I could fight another year doing high school math.
I answered a few of my messages most of them being from my best friend Jade on different platforms.
She had sent me at least 30 tik toks, 5 instagram memes and 9 messages about random stuff.
Replying to the message and telling her about how I woke up late she laughed about it and pointed out how I hated math anyways and I should just pick up a nice sweet treat cause I was already late.
I would have picked up something for her too but she already graduated last year and was off to Metropolis University getting her degree in computer engineering.
Next you I would be doing the same for anthropology so I didn’t let the distance bother me bc soon we would be seeing each other everyday annoying the living shit out one another. I smile at that.
So instead I just sent her some money to get something nice for breakfast, picked a song from my ongoing playlist and began heading to my local smallville coffee shop.
Getting a large motcha and danish i sorrowfully started heading for school.
Pulling in the student parking lot I happened across another late student. When I saw them I honked my horn lightly and waved for them to come over.
“doesn’t your mom hate when you're late y/n (nick name)?”
“Doesn’t your coach hate when your late Jacob?” I copied the tone of the football player while I open the car door.
“Touché, why you late tho ?” Jacob said, grabbing my drink out of my hand, I made him hold the rest of my stuff as we walked in the building cause his greedy ass was gulping down my drink like I had gotten it specifically for him.
“slept in by accident, stayed up trying to read the last of Macbeth cause I kept putting it off, what had you late?” Gesturing for my drink back I open the doors for us but he just grabs the door and waits until I walk in.
“Went to the lake with a few of the boys”
“How late could it have been that it had you sleeping in '' we were halfway to the attendance desk now.
“3 in the morning 🤥”
“Yall have terrible time management skills, I just want you to know that”
“At least I finished the class reading on time” he said with a grin.
“Name one thing that happened in the second act, quickly” I said side eyeing him
“Macbeth , he, he ummm”
“times out” now I’m the one grinning
“If you know everything then name something miss know it all”
“Lady Macduff and her sons gets killed cause Macbeth went crazy, boom and under 10 seconds'' he rolled his eyes at me dramatically causing me to laugh.
There were a few ppl in front of us in the late line so we continued talking about random things until we both got our late notes.
“Your going to art now right, lemme walk you my next period we get a longer passing period then yall”
“You work in the library during this period right ? What do you even do in there? "The art class wasn’t that far off from the office so I wasn’t in a rush either.
“Mostly just put the books away n once we’re done with that it’s basically a free period”
The conversation continued on random classes and such till we came to my class and Jacob handed me back my stuff. We said our goodbyes and I entered the art room, it looked like I was one of the first ppl there other than Mrs.Ruth the teacher.
A lovely woman, very bright and passionate about her craft.
Taking my seat I chat with her and as more students fill and get situated.
Mrs.Ruth said we were waiting on something b4 we started our assignment today, I didn’t think much of it and continued yapping about with my classmates and friends.
Another one of my best friends came to class, taking her seat behind my table. We started talking about what could be holding up the class today.
“Wonder what the hold up is. Maybe we’re getting a Halloween party, what do you think Rose ?” I say trying to think of what it could be
“Mmm prolly not we’re so busy with our projects, maybe something about another art comp”
Our conversation naturally fizzes out as we both start getting our normal art stuff out for the class.
It was maybe the length of a weekend song (famously long asl) when the door opened.
We were in October now so never would I have thought she meant a new student.
Another thing that shocked me was who it was.
I immediately turn my head to look at Rose and she’s already looking at me, giving me a knowing smile.
You know how when a new person comes and you always hope they’re cute to give you something to look at, that was him but this was even more exciting because of who it was.
Because he wasn’t new new, I had just never had any classes with him up until now. But trust me and my girls were more than well acquainted with who he was.
Because my brother was a football player I got to know tons of the players and even became good friends with some of them.
So I would see him all the time, but we would only really talk in passing. The thing was though me and the girls had this one going minor local celebrity crush on him and we would talk about him all the time, not only was he such a gentleman (plus) he was also unearthly pretty (big plus)
Cause who doesn’t love a good pretty man. Like how could we not talk about him, with all due respect and regard for his personhood ofc…
And here he stood now in our class.
Just from Roses face alone I knew the girls were gonna love this, lunch was going to be so exciting today ‼️.
I didn’t want to keep staring the boy down so I tore my eyes off him for Miss Ruth who was explaining what was going on.
“Okay class as you can see we have a new class mate today, Clark Kent” she said motioning him over to her.
“Clark was in art four, but me and his old art teacher talked and thought it would be best for him to join us in ap art, please class if he needs any help adjusting give him a hand and be nice.” She says giving the class a once over, our class wasn’t bad but we could definitely be asswholes, and it was clear she was trying to get us to be nice on his first day.
She turned to him now and explained a few things before telling him to pick a seat anywhere.
As he looked around the class he spotted me and seen where I was sitting, heading over he waved. At first I rationalized it, ofc he would sit with me I was probably the only person he knew in the class fr. But I doubted he even remembered my name fr.
“Y/n!”
Well I was wrong, but I was happy about that.
“I didn’t know you were in this class! Is it okay if I sit with you ?” He said so politely,
lord this was going to be a long year if I had to sit next to someone so beautiful.
I know Rose was finding this all very entertaining right now for sure.
I had to remind myself he asked me a question cause I was staring yet again. Up close I could see that his blue eyes had specs of green but I digress.
“Ofc Clark” I smile trying not to look too much like I indeed did have a massive crush on him.
He settles in and all I can think bout is how close we are sitting to each other.
I mean he was a football player so ofc he was huge, but Clark was pretty big even for a football player. He was touching above 6 feet at this point. Even though he was huge he still remained a respectable distance and didn’t manspread trying not to take up any space.
How nice, then again that was the bare minimum and I reminded myself to pay attention, I probably wasn’t even his type anyways.
“Today we will be starting a new unit, so pair up because you’re gonna need a partner.” Miss Ruth said as she gathered the lesson plans and her notes on it.
I look over at Clark and he’s already looking at me with a small smile with his eyebrows raised a little. How he didn’t have a gf right now was a marvel I thought.
“Partners ?” He said, returning his small smile in tandem.
“Partners” I whispered back enthusiastically.
I take my phone out and send Rose a quick text saying we also are gonna be partners.
She just sends back a reaction meme of someone smiling.
Putting my phone away again I look at Clark again x
It was almost like the sun was in love with him I thought.
the way it shown on him, living art, I wasn’t much of a romantic but I wasn’t blind to the way he was making me feel.
But I ignored it, talking about attractive people and being delusional over them was one thing but actually putting myself out there was a whole other thing. Most days I was just content with being friends with people I had crushes on and that was exactly what I was gonna do with Clark.
Just friends.
To get myself to stop thinking about him I remember that I still had my cheese danish from the coffee shop. As I get it out I tear it in half and tap Clark. I don’t say anything, I just hand it to him with a napkin. When he realizes what I’m doing he mouths a thank you with a giant smile.
He must like sweet just as much as i did.
Miss Ruth finished explaining what the class would be doing for our next project.
We were tasked with creating a sort of art year book with our partners. We would be capturing moments and artwork and putting together two books. And the books had to be huge at least 2 feet in hight.
She handed out the rubric, and showed some videos and examples, but for the most part the rest of the class period was left to us to brainstorm and get a feel of the project and get the ball rolling.
Which meant I would be talking with Clark more.
I was being to hope that he was secretly a dick and he would kill my crush with his actions.
Turning my whole body to face Clark now, the art room was big so the tables were too, meaning there was a lotta space in between us technically,
but it felt like I was breathing down his neck.
He turned too, but once again I could tell he was making sure to give me my space
how kind,
a symphony of screaming began playing in my head as I thought about how stupid I must look to him.
Pushing it down instead I began thinking of our project, that I could do with ease. Art was my thing and not even an unearthly sweet and cute guy was going to change that.
“So far honestly it don’t look to daunting, which is nice, it’s more a time and dedication thing. Very tedious but I’m excited lowkey. I always loved the idea of making my own yearbook” digging through my backpack I bring out my class sketchbook and flip to a free page. Grabbing a random pen from onna the pockets on the side of my backpack I write “ Clark and y/ns year book project”
“So whatcha thinking ? Any ideas of things you really wanna have in here ?” I know sometimes I tend to talk a lot and I didn’t want him to feel like his thoughts weren’t important.
“I’m actually in photography and journalism class, so I think maybe we can use some of my skills from there too”
“Dude that’s so cool Clark !Do you write for the school paper ?!” Ofc he’s arty, the screaming in my head pitched up an octave.
“Sadly no, football takes up a lotta my time but they do let me help, I’m best friends with the editor, Chloe. And if I have the spare times sometimes every blue moon she’ll let me run a story. I do take some of the photos tho, cause “I’m in the field and get a closer perspective,” Chloe says.”
“We’ll definitely find a way to incorporate that, I don’t have any fancy cameras like the ones the school does but I am an instant and digital camera collector. So you can use mine if you’d want to as well” This was good, I always loved photography but a lot about it confused me and here Clark comes filling in that blank.
“May I?” Clark gestures to the pen, as I hand it to him for a moment his hands cover mine and I can feel my face going red so I get up abruptly which startled him a bit.
“I just remembered you don’t have any of the standard Ap supplies, lemme go ask Miss Ruth for you. You can just write your ideas and stuff down while I go get it. You can also look through my sketch book I don’t mind” I was ready to speed away from him when I heard Clark call my name. I turn n look and he has a very sincere look on his face.
“I just wanted to say thank you y/n, you’ve been really nice to me when you could have picked someone else to be your partner. Thank you”
He smiled but it looked a little sad, like he was thinking of something else.
“What are friends for” I say half smiling, I wondered what could have given him that far away look.
Going off I got all the stuff he needed for the class and came back to my set, it took only about 5 minutes, about as long as a rock song I thought.
Handing it to him I explain what everything is and get a permanent marker so he can label his name on everything .
For the next 40 minutes we sat there drafting up ideas and thoughts.
The conversation came easily and when Mrs Ruth reminded us as she always does that we were at the half way mark of the class, we began really planning out what we wanted to do.
First we looked at the due date which was in 3 months in January after Christmas break.
Each book needs to have at least 16 pages not counting back and front. With that we calculated how many pages a week needed to be done and began planning the little things.
By the time we got done most of the planning the period was soon to be over.
Getting up to stretch I started thinking bout lunch.
I wonder who Clark ate lunch with, the football boys? He’s own friends ? By himself?
“Clark which lunch do you have ?”
“B lunch why?” He says while he packs his things up.
“Just curious. Oh hey actually can I borrow your phone real quick” I say as I too begin putting my stuff away.
He hands my his phone unlocked, interesting that he didn’t ask why I needed it I thought.
“Since where most likely gonna have to work outside of school we should have each others phone numbers and stuff. And honestly all the years I’ve known you it’s crazy I don’t have it yet”
“Not really on my phone too much, being on the farm all day the WiFi’s awful so I’ve never really used it much. I always forget I have it” he was now standing in front of me and I had to look up a bit to see into his eyes.
If I was a little less stubborn one might call it butterflies but I just gonna chalk it up to me being hungry.
“Hey smile for me for a sec Clark” and ofc the sweet boy that he was he did.
I took a pic showing it to him then made it his icon on my phone and texted him a pic I took this morning of the clouds saying it’s y/n.
“Okay you have my number now, I’ll text you later bout some ideas I have for our year books”
“Wait you didn’t put an icon in my phone” he said pointing to the blank one on his phone.
“Didn’t think you would want one” I say with a small shrug.
“Well I do, smile y/n please” I put my stuff down and smile making a heart with my hands.
He begins smiling ever so slightly as he makes it the new icon. Now I think the photo must look crazy cause what was he smiling for
“I demand tew see the awful photo you just took” I say moving to be right next to him.
He tries to hide it from me but I just grab his hand and take the phone with my other, we’re both laughing now.
When I finally see the photo it just looks like a normal photo of me smiling and I wonder if he was just doing that to trick me.
Giving the phone back I noticed he had a red case.
I begin to think about the little details that he has all about him.
It was barely visible but I could see the glint of a small chain around his neck, it was silver but that's all I could tell about it.
That was the only other jewelry he had other than a Rolex that was also covered by the flannel he was wearing, the Rolex was silver too. It looked at least 20 years old.
A family heirloom I thought. He wore weathered jeans with well loved sports Nikes. His style, although simple, appeared very thought about.
Checking my phone I see we only have 5 minutes left of class, I kinda got sad because now I won’t be able to talk with Clark anymore.
But then again art ending means I can go eat lunch and talk to my friends about all these new developments
I looked over at Clark, he was right about not being on his phone, as the class waited for the bell to ring he was doodling in his sketchbook what looked like a man holding a camera.
Being the D1 yapper that I was, I think of a random question to ask him.
“What type of music do you listen to, Clark ?”
He looks up at me closing the sketchbook and thinks for a moment.
“A lot of people are kind of surprised to hear this but I do enjoy a lot of rnb actually”
“I can def see why” you laff a bit at the idea of him on Stan Twitter arguing about album sales and whose a better performer
“Who’s onna your fav artist?”
“Steve lacy is a favorite of mine I really like his song mercury”
“He’s a good artist, his song infrumai was good and ofc dark red”
“Dark red’s a classic. I also listen to a lot of rock, like Jimi Hendrix, radio head, and Rick James”
“Where do you listen to music on, I wanna follow you”
“Spotify mostly” Clark fidgets with his phone then hands me the device with his Spotify pulled up.
It was becoming very clear he wasn’t a phone guy at all, he even looked a bit confused when I said I would follow him on Spotify. I followed him on my phone then accepted his request on his phone.
He didn’t have any other followers than me, I noted.
Just when I was bout to say something else the bell rang so I handed his phone back.
Looking around for Rose I couldn’t find her, she must’ve darted off to hear her lunch. She always had something to warm up.
“What’s your next class? Maybe I can walk you?”
“Photography near the cafe, what’s yours?”
“This is my lunch period, so I can definitely walk you”
We began walking out of the class and I said my goodbye to Miss Ruth.
“Good thing where I eat lunch is on the way, so I can ask you more random ass questions. did your schedule change much for the switch to ap?” Walking and talking to him like we were good friends was nice.
I looked at him as we walked,
I wondered if he knew how polarizing he was. Could he feel it like I could ?
The conversation continued on his schedule change, until we reached the table where I sat.
Ofc the only person there at the moment was Rose trying to conceal a sly smile.
She immediately looks between me and Clark walking up to the table raising an eyebrow at how close we were.
Our eyes alone were having a very excited conversation about the presence of Clark Kent while he was none the wiser.
Where we had lunch was in a nook of the school with some tables and a decent window that looked out onto thin woods that basically surrounded the school.
The two tables that were in the corner had long since been riddled with stickers and ppls graffiti, the table had treated me well since my freshman year when our little group began sitting there.
There wasn’t much in the little area other than the two tables and its accompanying chairs.
The school had a lot of areas like that, little nooks for ppl to sit and get work done. But the main cafe wasn’t far from where we sat, maybe a classrooms distance separated my little area from the rest of the cafeteria and I could definitely still hear everything going on in the lunchroom.
The doors that connect the two areas always open and ppl constantly drifting in and out. By no means was it a still space.
Setting my backpack down, I introduce the two.
“Rose this is Clark, I'm sure you heard Miss Ruth introducing him to the class” Rose just silently smiled at me, going her best to act like she didn’t already know basically everything about him.
I could literally see all the questions she had formed ready to burst out.
“Clark, this is Rose onna my best friends. She sat behind use in art”
“Hi rose, nice to meet you” Clark gave her a little smile and wave. Rose returned it.
“Well this has been fun, Rose I’ll be right back I’m gonna walk Clark to class it’s only down the hall.”
“Kk I’m gonna go grab my pizza from the microwave” I was right about her needing to warm something up, and we all parted ways.
As we walked a few people said hi to Clark, dapping him up in passing and they exchanged friendly remarks. It was endearing to see him interacting with other people.
As we walked to his next period I kept asking questions about the class.
“What are y’all working on right now?”I said fidgeting about with my hands trying to make the normal amount of eye count without staring too much or looking away for too long.
“Right now we’re taking pictures of interesting things around the school and putting it in a newspaper model. It’s pretty fun, the teacher wants us to make our model first though. So he’s giving us all of today to get that done.”
“That’s perfect for you too cause your whole journaling thing, I def would like to see your assignment when you're done it sounds fun.”
“I can show it to you maybe this weekend? We gotta work on our assignment too…” he said slowing down
“This is my class right here.” He gestured to the sign about the classroom that said Journalism and photography class.
The door was open so I could see a glimpse inside. It looked like a standard computer room, there was a big cabinet at the back end of the classroom. I imagined that’s where they must keep all the cameras.
“Wait, I forgot we had to work during the weekends, lawd, would you prefer my house or yours ?”
“Mine is fine, the barn has a nice area to work and you can see the farm”
“Great, we can text more bout the details later” We were now both standing next to the door as students passed by
“ ight been fun but my stomach is beginning to kick” I say playfully, I was just about to walk off when Clark began speaking again.
“Thank you y/n” I was looking into his eyes now.
“For?” All I did was walk him to class, what could he be thanking me for.
“I know we didn’t know each other that well but even so you made sure to help me. You even walked me to my class. I just want you to know I appreciate it a lot. "It took everything in me to keep eye contact with him as he said nice things about me but I knew this was onna those moment where I had to.
In the back of my head I wondered if he was just being nice or someone had made him feel like he was a burden.
Being from the south I was very familiar with southern charm but the way Clark acted was so much more emotional, southerners were nice sure but it really felt like he truly cared .
Not that I didn’t like it but it took me by surprise a bit.
“You make me sound so nice, Clark. And besides I couldn’t just let you struggle by yourself.” A quick moment passes where it’s just him and I looking at each other.
Feeling awkward I quickly fill in the break in conversation.
“Ight, I’ve held you up enough. Get to class young man” I say lightly
Laffing a bit he says his goodbyes and headed into class.
I watched just for a moment until he fully entered the classroom before I made my way back to my lunch spot.
Lawdddd these girlies were gonna love hearing about this. I could already feel the fan girl giggling we all would let out about these little details.
Walking over to the table I began replaying everything in my head.
I was secure in who I was, but Clark seems on a whole other level. I also knew Pete so I heard bout Clark’s massive crush on Lana all the time. And she was everything.
Kind, smart, opinionated, beautiful, and hilarious. I even lowkey had a crush on Lana to hell. She was onna the first friends I made when I moved to Smallville. Whitney may have been her boyfriend but just by the way they looked at each other I could tell deep down Lana liked Clark too.
It’s crazy how a moment of overthinking and something that you were excited for turns sour.
I try to justify my bad thoughts, ofc Clark wouldn’t like me. I mean do I even like Clark ? He’s not even all that.
No
Clark didn’t do anything.
Lana didn’t do anything.
I didn’t do anything.
Being mean to myself and attacking them only made me feel awful.
A quick fix from being an asswhole to ppl who didn’t do anything wasn’t gonna get me far or make me feel better.
All these thoughts just cause I had a small,
Small
Small crush on someone lord save me.
No,
I can stop this, Clark is nice, and being his friend would make me happier than anything else.
Just friends, no crush.
That’s enough.
The walk back only took about 3 minutes I thought. Taking a deep inhale in and out,
Calm,
I am calm and I will not let a crush drive me crazy not again.
Turning the corner I could see Rose was seated talking with our friend Devan.
Walking up I didn’t even get a word in before Devan started asking questions, I respected her speed.
“Did he smell nice? How do you feel? Class together?!!! You walked him to class ???? Rose told me you got his freaking number ??? Like helloooo.!! Y/n cmon don’t hold out” devan said practically buzzing.
It was like talking to the girls no matter how unserious we were being always made me feel better.
“He smelt amazing, think woody with notes of vanilla, I feel pretty normal actually, he switched from his old class into mine. So we’ll be having class together for the rest of the year. He walked me to the lunch table, then I walked him to class. He was just being friendly guys trust” sitting down I let out a little sign at the last part, of course for no reason in particular.
“Friendly” Rose said looking at Devan
“Friendly” Devan said looking at Rose.
“Friendly” they now both said looking at me.
I was beginning to hate that word.
“We’re gonna work on the yearbook project together. Also have y’all finished applying to the colleges you want. I’m almost done, just gotta write my essay. I wanna have it all done as soon as possible, with all respect due I’m not tryna stay in Smallville any longer then I have too”
“Pause rewind, I wanted us to be partners for that. I know you said you’d still work with me but I don’t want you to be doing all the y/n (nick name). Immediately no longer team Clark, he needa back up a bit stealing my wife” Rose said while picking all the pepperonis off her pizza for Devan.
“We can still work together trust, it’s just I don’t wanna leave him out in the cold. He just got in there and doesn’t really know anyone in class. Besides, it's not like the project needs to be done in a day, I can multitask beloved.” To keep the narcissism at a low level, I try not to think about it all the time, but to say I was more than okay at art was putting it nicely.
Art was my shit, my sauce, my thing.
So it wasn’t like doing both projects would be the end of the world for me, and I was not bout to leave my friend hanging just cause Clark was there now.
Opening my lunch box I almost shed a tear at what was packed. My Ma had recently given me the recipe to her famous rice and beans, and I had finally braved up to trying it out myself. It was ofc not as good as hers, Gordon Ramsey couldn’t make better rice and beans than my ma. Nonetheless it was close, and compared to the mid oatmeal’s I had been packing for lunch this was Michelin Star in my eyes.
I went silent for a moment there just absolutely fucking it up. I was so entranced by my food that I started doing a little jig. Small things like this made thinking about your not-crush seem so stupid.
Like who cares about Clark Kent there’s Rice and Beans in this world ‼️
The girls and I continued on about the upcoming school project as I reserved myself to my food, giving small comments here and there. I was a quick eater so it wasn’t long before I rejoined the conversation as a full member.
“Hey did yall read the new article from the torch? Apparently there’s been a string of students falling into comas after they started seeing these weird creatures. Chloe’s writing is riveting per usual. This time though she mentioned it in connection with that particle explosion in Central City. She thinks there’s a connection between our so called “special space rocks'' and all those weird things happening in the city.” Devon was mid-bite of what looked to be a pretty good looking sandwich when she began talking bout our local school newspaper, The Torch.
“Oh I was reading bout that, well I was reading bout the streak and they mention the particle accelerator explosion, the writer thought there might be a connection between the two.” Rose said, checking her phone.
“We have 10 more minutes of lunch, I’m dreading math. I heard Miss Anhook was giving out quizzes today”
“Ohhhh don’t say that, I alr hate thinking about the class when I’m actually in there. I don't wanna ruin my lunch with such thoughts” I said rubbing the sides of my temples, math was truly made by some evil spirit.
Eating more of my rice and beans the conversation digressed back to The Torch.
“What do you think has all these students in a coma ?” I asked separating the rest of my food into 4 perfect bites.
“I heard that all the first few got sick after going to the last football game, and ppl think it spread from there” Devan remarked
“Y/n didn’t you go to the last game ? Did you see anything weird ?” Rose said curiously.
She was right but I couldn't recall anything being abnormal about that night. I was just about to tell her I didn’t see anything when I remembered leaving the game, usually I would park pretty close to the football field but Jade and I got there later cause we couldn’t find our Digital cameras and we really wanted to get cute pictures that night since we finally got to see each other in person after so long because she was now in Metropolis. By the time we got there the parking lot was beyond full so we opted for parking a little walk out.
When the game ended and we were walking back to the car Jade had pointed out a small group of ppl doing something strange, but it was so dark and neither of us could make out anything for real so we just continued on back to the car.
Jade swore she saw a green light coming from the group when we talked about the game over at the local burger place everyone went to after games.
But we both abandoned the conversation after more and more of our friends packed in and everyone began talking to each other about plans for after the food.
I recap the night to the girls “ definitely weird but I don’t know if I would say it’s connected to the sleeping students”
The conversation continues but with no real evidence or sources we naturally move onto something else and before long the lunch’s bells rang it was time for the next period.
The rest of the day goes by pretty uneventful until last period when a student was found near the football field passed out like the others. Keeping us in a hold so no one was in the halls while the student was driven to the hospital
This would be the 6th student affected and all of them somehow connected to the football team.
Maybe I could ask Clark about it… it would give me an excuse to text him…
Taking out my phone and going to messages and finding his contact. Ig in all the commotion of the day I didn’t notice that he had actually texted.
It was a photo of the assignment he was doing in photography. Under the photo Clark left a little message.
“The newspaper template I made, not as cool as I woulda hope but I figured you would like to see it 🙂”
Even his emojis were cute.
This was so frustrating.
Liking both messages I thought about what I should say.
After a few moments of coming up with nothing I take a screenshot of the message and send it to Jade.
“What should I say ?”
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Runaway - Chapter Thirteen.
Oh! We reached 30 notes yesterday and I’ve left you waiting on the update! I’m so sorry guys, but it’s here now :D I hope you enjoy it! As always, thanks for your engagement, I’m so thrilled that you all love it as much as you do. 
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Previous chapters - Prologue  One  Two  Three  Four  Five  Six  Seven  Eight  Nine  Ten  Eleven  Twelve
Taglist - In the comments, please DM to be added/removed
Words - 2,230
Warnings - 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!
“Damn, I’m so glad your parking garage is underground!”
Hannah was simply glad he and their baby had arrived there in one piece, with the force of the storm that had rolled in. It had been expected, Manny even setting out earlier than planned in order to miss it, but been hit by it halfway to Hannah’s apartment, the rain absolutely torrential. If he hadn’t been turning his vehicle onto her street by the time it really began to pelt down, he would have pulled over and waited it out, it was so bad.  
“I gotta say it, HB. You’re looking sharp as hell, mamas,” he complimented, noting that it was the first time he’d seen her in such attire. She wore a pair of dark grey pants that flared slightly, a white bodysuit and a pair of fancy looking, silver heels.  
“Why thank you,” she began, her smile a little shy. “This is the first time I’ve had to get dressed up all business smart since giving birth. I’m just glad the bodysuit holds my mommy belly in!”  
Lifting Lola from her car seat as Hannah reached for her, he gave her another quick tour with his eyes, frowning. “What mommy belly? I swear, that’s the exact same figure as you had before you got pregnant.”
“See?” she gestured with a sweep of her hand before receiving the baby into her arms. “Power of the bodysuit! Believe me, once I take it off, it’ll flop right back out!”
Manny rolled his eyes. “Mommy’s crazy, ain’t she bubs?” Lola gurgled right on cue. “See? The kid agrees.”  
Hannah laughed softly through her nose, carrying her into the kitchen, Manny seating himself down at the breakfast bar. “So, you wanna wait it out with us for a while until it passes?”  
Turning to look through the huge lounge windows, seeing the way the trees across the other side of the street were swaying, he thought that was likely best. Just then, the whole apartment lit up, a huge clap of thunder booming, Lola’s eyes widening. She only laughed and wriggled, though.  
“Ahhh, just like daddy, aren’t you, tiny mamas,” he spoke, watching the curiosity his daughter viewed the storm with. “You love a good storm.”  
“Coffee?” Hannah asked.
“Please,” he spoke, reaching for Lola across the counter so she could free her hands. “So, why the fancy threads today, then? Business meeting?”
“Something like that,” she confirmed, sticking a pod into the coffee machine. “I had a round of interviews earlier, as I’m looking for two more bookkeepers to come and work for me. My client list is now beginning to extend beyond my capabilities to do everything myself, so they’ll be working from home for now until I manage to find a small office space to rent. I might wait on that, though. I mean, if covid taught us anything then it’s that if it isn’t imperative to have an onsite location for your staff, then you get to save a lot of money. I dunno. What do you think?”
He straightened a little, his mouth upturning, pleasantly surprised to be asked his opinion. “I think you’re right. Digital technology and communications mean that you can easily run things via Zoom meetings and all that, client meetings can be done elsewhere, too, take ‘em for lunch or something, that’s a nice touch. I dunno, guess you’d only need an actual office if your business grows to the kind of size where it’d be detrimental somehow to have your staff all scattered around.”  
“Yeah, yeah, that is a good idea. I like that. Thanks,” she smiled, handing him his coffee. “So, what’s new with you?”
Ahh, adult conversation. Easy back and forth. No screaming. He’d missed it.
Also, she’d asked about him. Carmen never bothered, only throwing wedding questions at him of late, it seemed. “Yeah, same old, really. Gramps wants me to head back home for a few days next week, got a new colt he’s having issues with he wants me to go get thrown around on. Apparently, my bones don’t break as easily.”
Hannah laughed, pouring herself a glass of wine. “Well, he is seventy-one. His days breaking in the crazy youngsters are likely behind him now.”
“Oh, but it’s alright for my ass to get up there and run the risk of snapped bones, huh?”  
“You’re a cowboy who turned outlaw. If that isn’t one of the toughest breeds of man you can get, I don’t know what is,” she complimented, sipping her wine, her heart melting when Lola yawned, her head thudding against her daddy’s chest, grasping the soft flannel of his dark blue and green shirt. “I think someone needs her milk and bedtime a little early.”
“I’ll sort her out. She had a bath earlier because she got covered in paint. We went to see Willow and Lily for a little play date and let them do hand and footprint paintings. The fucking mess they got into, shit! They weren’t dry by the time we left, but I’ll bring yours over when I have it. The kids had a blast, it was awesome. Lily got actual canvases, so they look all fancy and stuff,” he explained, Hannah beaming. He was truly taking to fatherhood like a duck to water. “You go put your feet up.”  
Doing just that, Hannah sighed softly, thinking to herself how lucky she was as she sat down on the couch, the dark green velvet moulding around her in a plush hug. Sipping her glass of claret, she felt content, until the feeling of nostalgia began to rise, taking another sip in an attempt to keep it abated.  
Every time she saw Manny, and more pertinently, how brilliant he was with their baby, she felt something inside her ache a little. The way they’d sparked, how easy it had been between them back when they’d first met still very much in existence, too. Chemistry never really died, though, she was beginning to learn. The reality of it hit her every time, though, the fact he was engaged, even though at present, she didn’t know how happily. The last time they’d had a conversation about it, he hadn’t sounded like he was particularly content in his relationship.
Once Lola was dressed for bed and fed, they put her down, Hannah playing the soothing ambient music that Manny had discovered worked a charm in settling her to sleep, creeping out of her room again and going to sit back down in the lounge.  
“Hungry?” she asked. “I’d call for a pizza, but I’m not having some poor delivery guy battle through that just to bring me dinner.”  
“I’m okay, Lily made me a sandwich the size of my damned head, but you go ahead.”
“Alright, I’ll go put out a plate of stuff I can pick at, and then if you want anything it’s there.” She went first to change, coming back out in a pair of simple, light grey sweats and a black vest top, heading to the fridge and rummaging around. She returned after a few minutes with a huge sharing plate, full of cold meats, olives, tomatoes, fresh bread, cheeses, carrot batons, mini cucumbers and various dips. She’d just got it down on the table when her entire apartment was plunged into darkness.  
“Damn, it’s been a while since we’ve had one so bad, the fucking power got knocked out,” Manny commented, rooting in his pocket for the petrol lighter he knew he had in there, flicking it to lit and moving the flame to light the wicks on one of Hannah’s gigantic coffee table candles. She looked through the basket she kept her wax melts and burner oils in, pulling out a lighter from there and going around the apartment, lighting all the other candles that lay dotted around.  
Just as she sat down, his cell began to ring, Manny answering it with a slight look of discomfort. “Hey darlin’, what’s up?” there was a pause, Hannah being able to hear the demanded question of ‘where in the hell are you?’ before a pile more shouted words followed. “I’m still at Hannah’s, I didn’t think it was a good idea to drive back in this weather, even less now the power has been knocked out. Ain’t even any streetlights on here in town, it’s rough out there.”
The presence of her wine glass in front of her face obscured her wincing at the tirade he could hear him receiving, Manny rolling his eyes as Carmen gave him hell. She felt for him, having to sit there and defend a perfectly reasonable decision given the weather circumstances, to a woman who was being the very antithesis of that.  
“It isn’t even that bad out there!” she overheard, Manny’s eyes widening.
“Carmen, it’s fucking biblical out there, baby!” he exclaimed, just as a huge bolt of lightning cracked the sky, the boom making Hannah jump. Immediately, he placed a reassuring hand to her ankle. He was being yelled at, yet he still noticed her little moment of unease.
On and on Carmen continued, cutting him off when he went to speak, Manny becoming exasperated with her overreaction to something that to anyone else, was perfectly reasonable.
“Why you gotta be there with her? Why don’t you want to come home to me?”
His jaw tightened. “Because there’s a horrific storm out there, Carmen, and it was bad enough driving in it once. Would you be going this crazy if I was at the clubhouse to wait it out, or with Angel and Lily? You’re being unreasonable, please see that. I’ll come home when I can. Bye.”
“Yikes.” Raising her eyebrows, she offered her wine glass forward, Manny taking it. She snorted softly with laughter when he drained it in one gulp.  
“You got more of that?”
She jerked her head in the direction of the kitchen. “Another two bottles.”
“Can I stick a straw in one?”  
She laughed further as he got up, leaving her glass on the table and returning with a bottle and a second glass, filling them both. “I ain’t much of a wine guy, but this stuff is pretty good, and shit, I need it. Mind if I crash on your couch? Even if this storm passes, I ain’t in the mood to go back to all of that.” He took a sip, his hunched shoulders finally sagging a little, the tension beginning to dissipate. “She’s a fucking embarrassment sometimes. Sorry you had to hear all of that. I know you did. My girl isn’t quiet in any sense of the damned word.”
Hannah couldn’t bite her tongue in time to prevent the assessment that slipped out. “She sounds quite insecure, to rather you risk your safety driving back through a storm than to wait it out here with me. Something tells me that if you were still at Lily’s place, she wouldn’t take in issue with it, like you mentioned. It seems to be driven by me specifically.”  
“Well, she might as she’s intimidated by Lily, but you’re right, it’s a you thing.” He looked conflicted for a second, weighing up whether to reveal it all. “She hasn’t come out in as many words and said it, but she’s hella jealous of you. I think that’s understandable enough, though. You’re the kind of woman others could easily feel threatened by.”  
Hannah hadn’t actually met Carmen, his fiancée being absent whenever she’d dropped Lola round to their house, but she’d seen pictures of her within the home. She looked like a model, so with that in mind, she wondered why the hell she’d see her as a threat. That confusion showed on her face, too, Manny continuing.
“I mean, come on. You live here, downtown, expensive apartment, you’ve got a good career, you’re knockout gorgeous, and you’re the mother of my child.”
At hearing him refer to her as knockout gorgeous, her heart fluttered a little. Carmen could have only seen her in the pictures he’d shown her of Lola back when he first met her, too, when Hannah had thought she’d been looking pretty rough around the edges, frayed by the duress of being a new, single mom.  
“But she’s the one you’re marrying,” she reasoned, sipping her wine.
He let out a long breath, turning to her. “Not if she continues like this, I won’t be. It ain’t the stuff about you, although I would actually like for you guys to get along, but if she keeps on refusing to acknowledge Lola then I just can’t do it. I can’t marry somebody who won’t make even the tiniest room in her life for my daughter. I don’t want it to come to that, I love her, but fuck, HB. She’s gotta give me a little consideration here.”
He paused, turning to her, reaching to gently slap her knee. “Why can’t she be more like you? Reasonable, understanding, emotionally mature? It’s easy with you. It’s just getting harder with her.”
It was easy with him, too. Far too easy. Far too natural. Far too tempting, as her eyes flitted to between his legs when he slumped down a little further, his thighs falling wider apart, the bulge of the most perfect cock she’d ever seen filling out the dark denim entirely too well.  
Oh lord.  
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deenoss · 2 years
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Dreamcatcher Chptr. 3
After a rather long free train ride to the Arcadia Bay National Park, Rachel and Clark both journeyed into David park where they felt a cool breeze hit them. The cool breeze blew their hair out of place as they wandered along, taking in the view that the park could provide.
"This place is amazing. It's a wonder I didn't find out about this place sooner." Clark said in awe.
Rachel giggled and took his hand, pointing up to a viewpoint above them that would provide a better view of the park. "Let's head up there. We'll be able to get a better look at things from there. It's a bit of a climb, so you know."
As she said this, she took his hand. Anybody, even they, could figure the sight of their holding hands could make one assume they were together, much to Clark's disappointment that reality couldn't give him that satisfaction.
And so, the two began their ascent up to the viewpoint. Clark was already tired halfway up the hill even if he and Rachel took their time making their way up. Once they were at the top, Rachel excitedly made her way over to a coin-operated telescope while Clark caught his breath before he caught up with her.
"Hey, looks like the view is to die for," said Clark breathlessly.
"Glad you approve. And as your reward for making it up here, I have a new game for us to play."
"Another one?"
"I like games," giggled Rachel as she leaned her arm on a telescope. "Deal with it. This is one I learned in theatre class. It's all about improvisation. This game involves spying on people from afar. Luckily, we've got some high-tech surveillance equipment right here. Let's fire it up."
Producing a coin from her pocket, Rachel slipped it into the coin slot of the telescope and peeked through to see whether it would let her zoom in. To her disappointment, the telescope wasn't working. She grunted and banged her palm on the side of the telescope in hopes of making it work or the more unlikely possibility of getting her coin refunded. Alas, things weren't turning out as Rachel had hoped.
"Shit. That was my last quarter. You?" Rachel groaned.
Luckily, Clark so happened to always carry notes and coins on him for any predicament. From his pocket, Clark produced a quarter of his own.
"Well lookie here! Guess who's got a quarter and who doesn't?" Clark teased.
Rachel rolled her eyes with a smile and watched him walk over to the other telescope and slip the coin into said telescope.
"Alright, yes! It works!" She exclaimed jollily as she peeked through one eyehole and Clark through the other.
"What are we looking for?"
Rachel didn't respond verbally as she was still trying to figure out how she was to play this off. At the same time, Clark got a whiff of Rachel's perfume which made him think of showering himself had he known he was going to hang out with Rachel freakin' Amber.
"Alright, here's the game. You find some people for us to spy on, and then you and I will act out what they're saying and thinking. Let's give it a try." Rachel explained, briefly prying her eyes out of the eyehole to look over at Clark.
There wasn't much for them to look at as there were only a small handful of people out and about. One one side of a bridge, there was a blonde woman in a white dress waiting for somebody underneath a tree. On the other side, there was a jogger and in front of him were two mates having a barbeque. Clark chose the jogger first. The telescope zoomed in on him and Clark commented on the man stretching.
"Loving this guy."
"What's he thinking right now?"
" 'No matter how fast I go, I'll never outwalk this wedgie!' " Clark said with a deep voice.
Rachel laughed heartily at his immaturity, something that she could easily connect with.
"That's so tragic. But also beautiful, in its own way," she responded after taking a couple breaths to calm herself down.
Then onto the two men barbequing.
"Hmm, what's going on with these two?" Rachel pondered.
" 'If you want lunch, you're going to have to learn how to skin your own food like a man.' "
" 'But I don't know how to skin a bald eagle, dad!' "
" 'You don't? What the hell are they teaching you at school?' "
"Wow. That was dark."
"Too dark?"
"Perfect dark."
There wasn't anything else around to look and poke fun at so they moved back onto the woman standing beneath the tree. As the pair operated the machine, turning it towards the woman, Clark accidentally bumped his head against Rachel's, to which he immediately apologised even though she ignored him and focused on the woman in the white dress who had made company with a familiar face.
As much as Clark wanted to keep having fun, he noticed Rachel's lack of enthusiasm when the man hugged the blonde before going in for a kiss.
It took a moment for Clark to realise that his company wasn't really there at all. When he realised that the fun was over, the smile on Clark's face dropped as his eyes set on the brunette to his left with her back to him. He couldn't see the scowl on her face but if looks could kill Clark would have known better to stay away.
"Hey Rach? You okay?" Clark asked, voicing his concern.
Suddenly, Rachel whipped around and snapped at him. It frightened Clark that she got so mean so quickly over something he didn't understood. But when he got to think about it, he felt used that she probably brought him along as an excuse to figure out a conspiracy she had a hunch about. Now that Rachel found incriminating evidence, she let her anger out at him.
"Calm down, okay?" Clark begged calmly.
"No! I will not calm down! You know what? Last I checked you're Chloe Price's brother. I hear she's the most disobedient girl in school, so some of her influence should rub off onto you." Rachel barked until her voice started to simmer down a bit yet keeping her aggravated tone. "Yet we've been ditching now for hours and we haven't even got wasted yet."
"You do know this is a public park, right? No getting wasted here."
"Are you saying no, Clark Price?"
"W-What? Um, n-no. Of course not. I was merely suggesting-"
Clark cut himself off when Rachel turned her back on him again and stormed off towards a little picnic spot.
Her eagerness to vent her unbridled rage created impatience that Rachel threw out at Clark, as clueless as he was. Yet Rachel managed to be persuasive and encouraged Clark to steal a bottle of wine from two female picnickers.
Against his better nature, Clark didn't want to steal it from the picnickers, but if he was going to help Rachel calm down, he had to play along. Before Rachel could make her move on the innocent pair deep in conversation with one another, Clark put his arm out, stopping Rachel from advancing towards the picnickers as he had a better idea in mind.
The brunette in his company pulled an aggravated expression until he reassured her that he knew of a way they could steal the wine.
Clearing his throat, Clark took off his jacket and handed it to Rachel then removed his shirt and stuffed it in the back of his pants. Rachel's cheeks flushed red when he exposed his upper body to her when he started to jog quickly on the spot to ensure that he picked up his heartrate before throttling over to the picnickers.
Rachel watched on at his eccentric behaviour when Clark ran over next to their table and took a moment to breathe properly. The two other women noticed Clark and instantly hit on him because of his good physique - he was close to skinny but in early development of his muscular body due to the four pack.
"Hi," waved one woman.
Clark pretended not to notice them until he craned his head around at them and smiled innocently. "Oh, hey there. Lovely day."
"Yeah. Pretty cold though." Another woman agreed. "You're not cold? It's pretty chilly."
"Hm? Ohh, it is a bit. Say, you ladies wouldn't happen to know where the nearest restroom is, would you? I drank my last bottle of water and now I'm itching to take a leak but I'm not going to go as far to piss in the bushes. Last thing I want is a snake to come bite my one-eyed snake or walk into poison ivy."
The two girls giggled and gave Clark their full, undivided attention. Rachel saw this as her opportunity and began to sneak over to the picnickers.
Clark's acting was so on par that he didn't make any suspicious actions that would blow his and his accomplice's cover.
Sneakily, Rachel made her way over to the picnic and reached out to grab the bottle of wine. To ensure neither of the two picnickers caught her attempting to steal from them, Clark moved backwards a few steps and gave the two women a quick goodbye before he headed off after Rachel left.
Gleefully, the miscreants ran out of sight where Rachel opened the bottle of wine and pressed her lips against the throat of the bottle and chugged at least a third of the wine down her throat. Once she consumed a suitable portion of the wine, she looked over at Clark who was still hyped up over successfully robbing the two women of their wine when the brunette offered him the bottle in return for helping her.
"Here. You earned this." Rachel said on an exhale.  
"Wine's not really for me. But thank you." Clark declined politely. "You seem to need it more than me."
"Suit yourself."
She then drank more of the wine. By doing so, the bottle went further and further up into the air. Clark was given the general indication of how much wine was left in the bottle by the swishing sounds inside said bottle. Just when he was about to wonder what they were going to do next, Rachel started to walk back in the direction which they came. He followed suite.
"I... am excessively sober right now." Rachel said, disappointed.
The pair followed the train tracks back towards town where Rachel savoured the wine every few minutes where she would take a sip without dropping the pace that which she walked at. Clark paid little attention to this and enjoyed the view as he walked along the railing of the train tracks as the warm sun beat down on them.
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dove down my rabbit hole of wips and one of my wips isnt a wip anymore! so here, have some gay shit....
“Kelly wants to get married in the woods, I want to get married in Midvale. So, apparently, our wedding will just happen via Zoom. Her in the woods, me at the beach. Ain’t that just fucking grand?”
Alex comes through the door like a hurricane covered in leather. Her helmet lands on Kara’s counter loudly. Her keys haphazardly thrown somewhere in the general direction of the bowl by the door.
“Then have two weddings.”
Alex follows the voice and her eyes zero in on her sister’s best friend.
Lena is sitting on the floor of Kara’s apartment, wearing an oversized sweater. Her dark hair spilling down her shoulders softly. A hand wrapping around a wine glass, the other typing on her laptop, not even jumping in the slightest at the commotion that is Alex’s entrance.
Alex plops down on the couch sighing loudly, not even batting an eye at this utterly domestic scene that is her sister washing the dishes with Lena Luthor on the floor of her apartment.
Lena doesn’t comment at the Danvers’ Sisters antics and Alex doesn’t call them out on the ridiculousness that Lena and Kara are still keen on keeping up.
The three of them already well desensitized to one another’s preferred brand of bullshitery.
“You know, sometimes I forget you're a rich-ass bitch and then you say shit like that and suddenly, I remember,” Alex says, smoothly snatching the wine from Lena’s hand.
She finishes the entire glass in one gulp and Lena rolls her eyes. Alex had finally proposed to Kelly the other week and well, that meant this week all of them had fallen victim to the Olsen-Danvers wedding debacle. It seems today isn’t the day that that whole dilemma is going to stop.
The wedding, of course, was still a few months away, but both parties were stressing about it as if it was going to happen immediately the next day.
Kara swoops in then, mussing up Alex’s hair, earning her an annoyed Hey stop it! before putting down another wine glass and pouring for Lena. Her arms are still wet from washing the dishes.
Lena murmurs her thanks and continues what she was saying, “Well, since you’ve finally remembered that I’m a billionaire. Let me pay for two weddings.”
Alex chokes on the wine.
“What? You’re kidding me, right?”
Lena continues typing, ignoring Alex’s shock, you’d think she didn’t just offer to pay for a wedding.
“Well, I mean, I’m never gonna get married,” Lena explains, “but if you let me do this, I can brag around that I’ve paid for two weddings. Not to mention I’m gonna make two brides very, very happy.”
“Or,” Kara interjects, lowering herself on the opposite side of the couch, perfect for Lena to lean back between Kara’s legs and lay her head on the side of her thigh. “You can just wait for Kelly to get here,” Kara says, pointedly. “Talk it out like normal adults and reach a compromise.”
Kara’s hands start to snake their way from Lena’s hair to Lena’s shoulders, massaging, all too aware that Lena won’t stop whatever it is she’s working on on her laptop till everybody gets here.
Lena lets herself melt and closes her eyes, sighing as Kara’s fingers dip at the junction of her neck and shoulder with just the right amount of pressure.
“I don’t wanna get married in the woods, Kara.”
Lena opens one eye to take a peek at Alex, who looks exasperated, her eyes pleading, gulping down another glass of wine.
“Don’t tell me,” Kara replies. “Tell Kelly.”
“The bugs, Kara,” Alex moans. “Imagine the bugs, and the moss and the ughhh.”
She dramatically thumps the back of her head on the couch.
“Imagine the soil. Clumpy wet soil. Eurgh. Ew. What if I fall face first in that? What if I trip over a stupid tree root in my heels? In my wedding dress?!”
“Alex, you don’t even have a dress yet,” Kara deadpans.
“I thought you were gonna wear a suit,” Lena adds.
“You two suck.” Alex pouts.
****
The rest of their friends arrive and Kara finally succeeds in prying Lena’s work laptop away from her. Alex was already teasing the line from tipsy to drunk by the time Kelly comes through the door.
“Let’s get married in Vegas!!!!” Is how Alex decides to greet her fiance.
Kelly laughs, gives her a peck then answers, “As much as that sounds like a very convenient wedding, I don’t think Eliza would appreciate that, baby.”
Alex frowns at being rejected, sags against the couch and crosses her arms. Why does Kelly always have to be right?
“How much has she had to drink?” Kelly turns to Kara.
“Uhh ask Lena. She made her switch to whiskey.”
Lena—who Kelly thinks was way too busy nuzzling against Kara’s neck to even answer her question—mumbles something that sounds like “S’was just two glasses.”
Kelly just shakes her head, makes Alex drink a glass of water. Her ring making a clink against the glass.
“Alright, what if,” Nia sing-songs, eyes sparkling with mischief, “we just settle this whole wedding thing with Charades?”
Nia claps her hands together like some gameshow host and Kelly takes a deep breath through the nose.
She’s been to enough Game Nights to know where this is headed.
Everybody else was intoxicated enough to accept the suggestion as a grand idea, not at all even thinking that: Hey, isn’t this something we should all take seriously?? Maybe ask the brides what they want, maybe???
Kara nods enthusiastically, agreeing immediately, “Oh!! That’s a great idea! Fun and fair at the same time!”
“Olsen vs. Danvers. Brides get to pick their teams.”
Nia pulls a white board out of nowhere, uncaps a marker and writes “Team Danvers”, “Team Olsen” separated by a neat line in the middle.
“Are we really letting Nia take charge of our wedding venue?" She hears Alex whisper from where she has her tucked at the crook of her neck.
Kelly sneaks a glance at the chaos happening before their eyes; Brainy already claiming to be on Kelly’s team, J’onn shaking his head opting to be the game scorer instead and refusing to participate, somebody’s shouting about: NIA, DREAM PROJECTIONS AT CHARADES IS CHEATING!!!!
Guess this is their life now.
Kelly smirks, boops Alex on the nose and says, “Scared you’ll lose, Danvers?”
****
Alex loses by three points.
“How was I supposed to know you were gesturing 'Transformers'!?!” She barks at Kara, throwing her hands in exasperation.
“I pointed at Nia!” Kara huffs, incredulous at the fact that her sister is blaming her.
Nia lost them a point too!
“What does Nia even have to do with it???” Alex’s voice grows higher in pitch. Her brows furrow in a mix of confusion and frustration.
“Trans, Alex. Trans.”
“Oh my God,” Alex groans. “How are you this dumb?”
And that was the story of how Kelly got her dream wedding.
****
The frenzy finally dies down, some time between Nia making up another drinking game and J’onn making her sit back down. A movie that none of them were watching provides a background noise to the almost lazy atmosphere. Kelly and Alex were pressed close on the far end of the couch, enjoying the temporary quiet.
“Guess we’re getting married in the woods, huh?” Alex murmurs.
“I guess we are,” Kelly whispers back. Alex beams at her, grinning dopily at the thought of finally getting the ending they deserve. It would be the perfect day, she has no doubt about that. No matter where they are. It would be perfect because they got there together.
Alex can’t wait.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.”
Alex continues to smile stupidly, nudges her nose to Kelly’s.
“Just— I don’t really care where we get married, I guess.”
“Oh yeah?” Kelly raises an amused brow at her.
“Mm-hm. So long as you’re the one walking down the aisle.”
Alex presses their lips together, breathes Kelly in deep and for the first time that night, she feels that the future isn’t so scary, even though there is still a very large possibility that she might trip over a tree root on her wedding day.
Somebody interrupts their kiss.
“She’s only saying that ‘cos she lost.”
“Shut up, Luthor.”
****
“Text me when you get home!”
Lena hears Kara call loudly after her sister, before closing the door. Game Night has officially ended and as usual she’s still here. She’ll always be here, she thinks for a brief moment. The thought holding more depth than it should.
Kara didn’t even question her when everybody began filing out and Lena just started picking up the discarded dirty plates and walking them to the sink. They’re well past the point of asking each other if the other would stay over.
It was already some unspoken rule.
Already well past the point of Lena wanting to ask Kara what the hell it is they’re doing.
She’s bent over the sink, scrubbing—Kara doesn’t own a dishwasher for the sole reason that she finds doing the dishes therapeutic—when Lena takes a glance over her shoulder.
Kara is sitting on a high stool near the counter, casually flicking through her phone. It was Lena’s turn to do the dishes tonight. Once upon a time her doing the dishes would have resulted in a fight. “I can superspeed the dishes. Why would you even want to do them?” A statement that would be met with an eye roll.
Kara has learned not to fight her on it again, after around the 7th time that Lena had stubbornly insisted and Supergirl got doused with dishwashing liquid.
And now, it’s become some sort of routine, Kara does the dishes after lunch and Lena does the dishes after dinner. Oh, how the paparazzi would kill for this—Lena Luthor Knows What A Sponge Is?
“Is it true when you told Alex you’re never going to get married?”
Kara decides to break their quiet.
“Yeah, pretty certain about that one, why?” Lena turns around, cocks a curious brow. If she’s being honest she’s beyond certain that she’s not going to get married. She always jokes about how she’s married to L-Corp but it isn’t till now that she realizes how true that is, and...how lonely.
“I don’t know,” Kara murmurs, not meeting Lena’s eyes. “I just like the idea of you getting married, I guess.”
“What?” Lena chuckles at that; genuinely confused but still curious.
“Well, I mean—” Kara wobbles through her words.
“I guess, I just— I like the idea of you walking down the aisle...in a white dress,” Kara muses.
Then, “Or a suit!!” she quickly amends. “If you wanna wear a suit, that is. That can totally be arranged, you know?” Kara waves her hand around and it’s like now that she’s started, she can’t stop.
And Lena’s just standing there, water still dripping from her elbow, unsure of how to feel about Kara imagining her getting married. Quite an incredulous scene isn’t it? Her getting married? What a crazy thing to say, an even crazier scenario to imagine!
She snaps out of it, realizing Kara’s still rambling.
“I have no objections whatsoever with that, if you wanna wear a suit. And yeah, you know? I just— I like that idea. I like the idea of you dancing to your wedding song. The idea of you exchanging your vows, the idea of you-”
“Kara,” Lena decides to put a stop to it, since it’s clearly evident Kara won’t be stopping any time soon. And Lena's feeling way too many things that she doesn’t want to feel at the moment. She’s sure that she’s going to feel more, if she doesn’t put a stop to it herself.
“I’m well aware that it’s the best friend’s job to help with the bride’s wedding,” She says, “but, darling don’t you think you’re putting just a bit too much effort into this? Certainly seems like you’ve thought about it a lot.”
At that, Kara’s cheeks turn a light pink, squirming sheepishly under Lena’s questioning gaze.
Shouldn’t Kara be thinking about her own wedding? How beautiful she would look walking down the aisle. How her blonde hair would look so nicely with her dress. How happy she would finally be after finding someone she could share her life with. Not that Lena's been thinking about those kinds of things. No, of course not. That’d be hypocritical of her at this point. Why would she even— Why were they even talking about this again???
Lena tries to rein in it, tries to focus on Kara again; hands finally finding a dry towel, hesitantly walking into Kara’s space to hear the blonde more clearly.
“Well, I mean- Like I said, I do really like the idea of you getting married,” Kara repeats herself slowly.
And before Lena can come any closer, “Like the idea of you getting married…to me. More specifically,” Kara adds more quietly.
“What?”
Lena stands frozen.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard y- Kara, did you just?”
Lena’s heart is pounding away in her chest. Did she hear her right? Did Kara really just—
Lena’s a step away from her and Kara uses this to her advantage. She pulls Lena closer, tugging at her wrist, the towel dropping from Lena’s hands. Kara summons enough willpower to stare into Lena’s eyes.
“I like the idea of you getting married to me, Lena Luthor.”
“Kara, I’m sorry- What?” Lena jerks away from her, the words finally landing.
“Is that a no?”
Kara lets her go. She can’t focus on Lena’s heartbeat to assess the situation more. Kara’s own heart is betraying her, drumming so loudly in her ears.
“Uh- no, that's definitely not a no?” says Lena hesitantly, eyes wide, breathing nervously. She turns away from Kara for a minute to take a breath, hands fidgeting about.
She whirls around again to face, mutters, “You do realize marriages are for people who are—”
She pauses.
How do you exactly phrase that wedding proposals are for people who are actually in some kind of romantic relationship? And not for people who casually stay over every goddamn Thursday without fail?And okay, maybe sometimes, in a much different reality, would willingly commit fratricide to save the other? And in an also much different reality, willingly expose a secret identity to save the other?
Lena can’t find the right words.
“Oh, I don’t know, Kara,” Lena scoffs, shaking her head disbelievingly. “Marriage is for people who are actually dating each other.”
Kara takes her sarcasm as a good sign and pulls her in again.
“Well,” Kara begins. She can hear Lena’s heart thumping erratically, now that Kara’s gotten her bearings.
“We can always have our first date after the wedding, right?”
Aren’t they well past the point of dating anyway?
She’s got Lena standing between her legs now, her hands wrapping around her waist.
“First date and honeymoon all in one. That sounds great, doesn’t it? I can fly you wherever you want, Paris, Maldives, hell I even have a Fortress in the Arctic, if you’re into that.”
Lena stares at her, blinks once, twice; shakes her head and lets out a noise between a laugh and a scoff.
“Kara Zor-El, you are one ridiculous woman,” She breathes, putting a hand on Kara’s cheek. Because what else is there to say? This whole conversation really is ridiculous. But at the same time Lena feels like she’s floating? Like this may be the best moment of her life, and of course, it’s going to be ridiculous. This is Kara she’s dealing with, after all.
She doesn’t know what she’s going to do if Kara reveals this to be just some sort of joke.
But the way her blue eyes are piercing through Lena’s, so earnest and so warm, argues otherwise.
“So, what do you say? Wanna get married?”
“Are you serious right now?” Lena asks, still unbelieving. This is beyond crazy. They’ve fought aliens and monsters and traveled through time but this? This is just beyond crazy.
“Lena, do I look like I’m joking? And besides, you’d already offered to pay for two weddings, why not pay for our two weddings, instead?”
She shakes her head again, let’s herself fall closer to Kara, lets out a laugh against her neck.
“Mm. You want a Kryptonian ceremony too?”
“Yeah.” Kara’s voice turns shy. “If that’s alright by you.”
“Of course, that’s alright by me. I’d be honored.”
Her heart feels more than full at the thought of Kara wanting to share that part of her with Lena. She’s always had some doubts whenever the topic of Kara’s Kryptonian heritage arises, always half-afraid she’s overstepped on something that isn’t hers.
But looks like there was nothing to fear all along.
“So, we’re getting married, huh?” Kara wiggles her brows, her face breaking into a wide grin.
“Yes. Mm-hm,” Lena hums against her. “I do. I’d marry you. Let’s get married.”
“Seal it with a kiss?"
****
“Hi.”
Lena blearily opens her eyes, follows the soft voice, her bare back being caressed by the sun filtering through Kara’s curtains.
“Hi,” She whispers back. All this feels much too like a fever dream. She’s half-tempted to pinch herself just to check. She’s woken up beside Kara a million times before but she’ll never get used to the sight of soft golden hair and sleepy blue eyes.
Kara gives her a soft peck and the feel of her lips sends Lena reeling.
The previous night was a whirlwind in her mind’s eye. The moment Lena murmured her 'Yes, please.', Kara kissed her passionately. Once they broke away, Kara had zipped around the apartment, Lena too dazed to even ask what it was Kara was looking for.
She watched as Kara tore off a keychain from one of her bags, curled the keyring to fit Lena’s finger and whispered, “This’ll do. For now.”
Kara had kissed her knuckles reverently, her lips making Lena’s blood sing in her veins. The feel of mangled metal fitted just for her left hand is an imprint on her soul. A promise of more to come.
They didn’t make it out of the kitchen the first time. Kara had lifted her by the waist and set her down on the kitchen counter. Which was a good thing, because Lena couldn’t feel her legs after.
They didn’t make it to the bedroom the second time either. She had tackled Kara onto the couch, pinning her wrists together, licking at the shell of Kara’s ear. “My turn now,” Lena had whispered. The way Kara shivered underneath her was enough of a reward. How long had they been waiting for this?
Flashes of last night had her hips bucking slightly unto Kara’s leg sandwiched between her own, but before it could escalate further...
“I have exciting news to share,” Kara tells her.
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm,” Kara hums, now nosing at Lena’s hair.
“What is it?” Lena asks.
“I’m getting married.”
“Oh you are?” Lena plays along.
“Yes. I’m getting married to my best friend,” whispers Kara, almost conspiratorially. “How cool is that?”
Kara looks giddy with excitement and Lena knows she’s mirroring that exact same expression right now.
“Mm. Very cool, darling.”
Kara giggles and they trade more lazy kisses before Lena breaks away to breathe.
“Quite a coincidence though,” Lena husks out against Kara’s lips.
“Oh really? Why?” Kara asks, tries to keep a serious neutral face despite her nose scrunching up in that cute smile that Lena can’t resist
“I’m also getting married,” Lena confides, “To my best friend," she adds, eyes flashing. "Isn’t that great?”
“Very great.” Kara nods slowly, blonde hair falling into her face, a hand running through dark tresses.
“I love you,” Lena whispers, her lips brushing Kara’s softly.
“I love you, too.” Kara kisses her harder then, her hands lazily wandering along Lena’s skin.
They lie there quietly for a few moments, basking in the morning glow and then, “Alex will kill us.”
Lena snorts, twists in the sheets and says, “I think your sister is too busy planning her wedding to even think about plotting our murder.”
read follow-up here.
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orbitariums · 3 years
Text
winter with a weasley | fred w. + black fem. reader
i was tired of searching high and low for hp imagines with black readers so !! here goes my own :) send me recs of hp writers who write for black girls!!!
reader is a black woman and a ravenclaw!
happy holidays <333
word count: 5k
     The pitter patter of snow could be heard from inside the dimly lit library, wet snowflakes streaking down the window panes of the large window beside you. The night sky was falling upon you, twinkling stars forming around the top of the castle. The air was clear, no fog to be seen, but your eyes were glazing over as if you were in the midst of a fog storm anyway, your nose buried deep in a copy of “Winograd’s Wondrous Water Plants.” You blinked away the sleepiness clouding up your eyesight, stifling a yawn. The candle in front of you threatened to burn out, and you flicked a lazy finger towards it, the flame rising once again. You were grateful for the cozy, thick sweater Luna had knitted you, protecting you from the slight chill that was penetrating the glass window. You pulled it closer to you, though its warmth threatened to make you fall asleep. 
     You had hardly realized that your cheek was dragging against your palm, and that your eyes were feeling droopier than ever, until you were jolted to a start when you heard Harry Potter’s voice from beside you. He was standing at the side of the otherwise empty library table that you were sitting at, a book clutched beneath his arm. 
     “There you are, everyone’s been wondering where you were. Well, mainly Fred,” Harry admitted, his eyes glancing at you, hunched over your book with nothing but candlelight in front of you. “What’re you doing in the library anyway, exams are over.”
You pushed your shoulder blades back, relieving some of the tension in your body from being curled up with books for hours after classes had ended for the winter break. You were slightly relieved to see Harry, as you were starting to get sort of a headache from all the words jumbling up together on the page. You replied with a small smile.
     “Just doing some after-exam review, that’s all. I want to see what I missed, if anything. 
That way I’ll know what to study harder for next time, that’s all,” you shrugged, and Harry couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.
     “Just like Hermione,” he noted. “I’m only in here because I’m returning a book. Fred will think you’ve gone mental, studying after exams.”
You chuckled to think of the pink-faced, tousle-haired Weasley twin. He was crazy about you, and everyone knew it. You, on the other hand, were far too focused on your studies to pay him any real attention. He was a distraction, and a horrible one at that— you’d never ace your exams if you were with him, he’d probably have you helping set up him and George’s next prank. Your playfully unamused demeanor towards his advances didn’t stop him anyway, he still teased you and flirted with you every chance he got, because no matter how much you told yourself you shouldn’t have a boyfriend, he always caught how bashful you became at his flirtatious remarks.  
     “Well, he’ll survive, won’t he?” you shook your head playfully, and Harry nodded in the other direction, out of the library.
     “Take a break, we’re having a little party in the common room, you should join us,” Harry suggested, and you took one glance from your books to the lanky boy in front of you before sighing and closing your book. Why not?
     When you clamored through the entrance to the common room after avoiding the Fat Lady’s attempt at a poor rendition of Deck the Halls, you were met with all the holiday cheer you’d ever need for a lifetime. The Gryffindor common room, already in the Christmas spirit with all its red furniture, was draped in Christmas lights and holiday wreaths. The sound of holiday music blasted through the room, bewitched so that it was unable to be heard by passersby, in the hopes that no one would break up their little party. 
     The smell of baked goods wafted past your nose as you entered, and you found your stomach growling— you’d spent lunch studying, hardly eating a thing, and you’d skipped out on dinner to huddle up in the practically deserted library. In the corner of the room was a tree that changed colors each time someone passed by it, and you could see aggravated gnomes shuffling about on one of the window sills, griping about how they were forced into itchy, tiny holiday sweaters. The room was warm and full of Christmas cheer, and you could even spot a student with a permanent drizzle of snow over their head, covered in a coat and a beanie with white flakes spotting the top. 
     You couldn’t help but giggle at the sight, covering your mouth with your hand. You were glad Harry had gotten you out, otherwise you’d probably still be in the library half-asleep. This was much, much better, and you weren’t just saying that. You could see Hermione and Ron approaching you, broad grins on their faces.
     “There you are! We were hoping you’d show up,” Hermione gave you a hug, followed by Ron.
     “Harry says you were in the library. Honestly, I don’t understand you two,” Ron said, meaning you and Hermione. 
Hermione rolled her eyes while you just chuckled, though you were promptly distracted,
     “Well, I’m here now. Is that treacle fudge?”
You headed over to the table of food in a hungry daze, your mouth threatening to water the closer you got to it. You were stacking on food onto a holiday themed plate before you knew it, chicken legs smothered with gravy, greens, cornish pasties, pumpkin sandwich cookies, and treacle tart. You were about to grab utensils, your eyes focused on the table below you, until you were barricaded by two all-too-familiar figures on either side of you. You sighed in exasperation, looking up at Fred Weasley, who was in front of you, then turning to George Weasley, who was directly behind you. 
     “Fancy seeing you here!” George exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. 
     “Really, would’ve thought you were gonna be a no-show!” Fred cupped your shoulder with his hand, spinning you to face him.
     “Though, how could he miss you?” George started, making you turn again to face him this time.
     “You positively light up the room when you walk in,” Fred answered George smoothly, spinning you by the shoulder yet again for you to face him.
You were dizzy from the amount of times the twins had you spinning this way and that, but you steadied yourself in enough time to wag your finger disapprovingly at Fred, the main culprit in all this,
     “Must you always surround me?”
You reached for a fork and a knife, but Fred conjured both from his robes pocket, teeth sparkling as he grinned widely at you. 
You rolled your eyes, but took the fork and knife anyway, muttering a thanks.
     “Really though, where were you?” Fred asked, following you even as you walked away, side by side. 
     “The library,” you answered shortly, and Fred stared at you, shaking his head in clear disdain,
     “Honestly, woman, don’t you ever take a break?”
You turned to face him, snickering as you rolled your eyes and took a bite of your treacle fudge,
     “Don’t you ever take a break?”
Fred smirked, poking underneath your chin with a coquettish finger,
     “Not from you.”
You couldn’t help the heat that flooded your cheeks even if the response was corny. Fred Weasley was always quick on his feet, and never one to back down from a challenge. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t like him in the way he so obviously liked you. It was so amusing to watch, even if it could be annoying— no matter what, Fred was shamelessly, devastatingly in love with you. He wasn’t embarrassed to be turned down, or to show it in the only ways he knew how: through poking fun at you and using the most annoying, yet memorable pick up lines in the book on you. 
     “I’ve noticed,” you cocked your head with a smug expression, and Fred only shook his head, gearing up to say something just as smug as you until he was interrupted by the soft hum of Luna Lovegood’s voice as she zoomed up behind you, happy to see you wearing her sweater.
     “YN!” she exclaimed, her voice wispy and cheerful as usual. 
     You turned to face her, completely dismissing Fred, who decided he’d get you back later. You engulfed her in a hug, and the two of you got to talking, dancing, and sharing a jug of butterbeer that George had smuggled in. 
You had finished the jug and your food, and you were laying back on one of the couches in front of the crackling fireplace, which was roaring high with orange-hued flames. You were tired, but the good kind, not from spending hours hunched over a book this time around, but from partying and eating so much you could hardly move. Ron, on the other hand, was sitting on the floor in front of you, scarfing down another turkey leg. 
      “Honestly, Ron, do you ever stop eating?” Hermione hissed on the floor beside him, and Ron frowned, whining through a mouthful of food,
     “It’s the holidays, Her-my-knee, let me live for once.”
     Apparently, it was now time for the gift giving, which the Weasley twins were in charge of emceeing, and they were making a very big deal of it. Each time someone was up to give a gift, they used their wands as microphones, their voices booming around the room as they called the names of the people meant to collect their gifts from the receiver. Harry had gotten Ron a Chudley Cannons quidditch shirt, you already had Luna’s sweater and you had given her a pair of flying sneakers to make flying that much easier. All the gift-giving and receiving was quite lovely to watch, and everyone ended up satisfied. The twins had made sure no one left empty handed, giving people goodies that would probably turn into toads in an hour or two. 
     “And now, the last present of the night, and we truly do save the best for last,” George announced with a proud, thunderous voice. 
Fred eased up beside George like a sneaky weasel, George throwing an arm around his shoulders. Fred had something in a sparkly, glittering gift bag, and everyone was intrigued, leaning forward to see what it was. 
     “Take it away, Freddy,” George patted Fred’s shoulder, then slinked away so Fred could have the floor all to himself. 
     “This gift goes out to a special someone,” Fred wiggled his eyebrows, deliberately making his voice deeper, and everyone started to hoot lowly. “A certain little smartypants Ravenclaw girl who has my heart.”
You chuckled, rolling your eyes playfully and looking away from Fred, who had zeroed in on you. 
     “She’s a bit shy,” Fred joked, making the room erupt in laughter. 
     “Go on!” Luna prodded you, her eyes twinkling as she smiled at you. 
      You lugged yourself up off the couch and got up, making your way over to Fred, who was standing in front of everyone next to the color-changing Christmas tree, which burned a passionate red when you stood in front of Fred. 
     “You idiot,” you remarked playfully, and he only grinned, handing you the bag.
     “See what’s inside, won’t you!” George hollered, and you glared at him before opening the bag. 
     Inside was a flower in a pot full of red soil. Not just any flower, but perhaps the most beautiful flower you’d ever seen. Its leaves, a pale pink color, seemed to shine, light radiating off of the petals and basking your face in a warm glow. The petals were fat and wide, spiraling at the end into little hollow heart shapes, all of which were of varying colors. As it got closer to the center, the colors of the flower grew into deeper myriads of pinks and purples. You had never seen such a plant before, and you were a top herbology student, plants and flowers were your specialty. It was so beautiful, and probably rare as well. You didn’t know what you were expecting, but nothing like this. You were so surprised, you half expected it to be a prank of Fred and George’s, thinking it might transfigure into a mole rat.
     The rest of the students in the packed common room were just as shocked as you were, gasping and whispering amongst themselves, immediately enamoured by the unique beauty of the flower that made cooing noises in your hand like a little puppy. 
     “Fred,” you gasped, looking up at him with widened eyes.
     “Thought it’d fit you, know you’re into plants and all that smart people stuff,” Fred grinned, clearly satisfied with your reaction. 
     “I-it’s amazing, I-”
     “That’s not all, he’s got more for you in the bag!” George cut you off, and Fred shoved him playfully, laughing, 
     “Shut up, you bloke! Let her see for herself.”
     You ruffled through the bag, which was indeed full of your favorite sweets— honeydukes chocolate, pepper imps, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans, chocolate frogs, and more. You could hardly generate a response, your mouth stuck open in an o-shape. You liked Fred, but you didn’t expect this from him.
You chuckled, still shocked, and grinned, bemused,
     “Fred, this really is a lot, I honestly didn’t expect it. I-I don’t know how to thank you!”
Before you knew it, you were lunging forward to embrace him, hugging him tight in front of everyone. He was lucky he could cover his face in your shoulder, because he was red as a tomato. You gazed at the flower in your hands when you pulled away, still entranced by it. 
     “‘M glad you like it,” Fred murmured almost shyly, the first you’d ever heard him sound anything other than cocky.
You frowned, truly feeling terrible— you weren’t expecting anything from Fred, and so you didn’t get him anything. Now you felt horrible, standing there empty handed when he’d just given you the most thoughtful, beautiful gift. 
     “Oh, Fred, I didn’t get you anything!” you bemoaned, your eyebrows furrowing together. “I feel horrible.”
     “‘S alright, you’ll make it up to me,” Fred smirked, leaning back against the wall of the fireplace and folding his arms. 
The room filled with a plethora of suggestive “oohs” and “ahhs”, and when you turned to face Ron, you saw he had gone red from watching his brother flirt with you, meanwhile Harry was stifling a laugh, and Ginny was burying her face in her knees while Hermione rolled her eyes. You looked back over at Fred and couldn’t help but smile, shaking your head slowly. 
     “I just might have to,” was all you said, George leaping onto Fred in celebration. 
After the gift giving was over, well, it had ended with you, (and it really was best for last), the party started to wind down as people began to say their goodbyes and make their way back to their dorms. Most people would be going home for Christmas, but you’d be staying here at Hogwarts, scraping by with the few friends who would still be there. But, you weren’t getting away with it that easy. While talking with Fred, George, Hermione, Ron and Harry, you mentioned how you’d be staying in the castle for break. They all made an uproar in disagreement, shaking their heads and complaining.
     “That’s rubbish, you’ve got to at least come to our place over break,” George threw his hands up, and Fred nodded vigorously— you couldn’t help but think this had been on his mind the longest.    
     “Yes, do come to The Burrow, I’ll be there as well,” Hermione insisted, clutching your arm. 
You smiled, looking around at all the needy faces. You hadn’t expected them to be so welcoming, it was already a full house. You didn’t want to intrude, “Won’t your mom be so busy? I mean, all of us? I don’t want to make her holiday stressful.”
     George scoffed, 
     “The woman will make it stressful no matter what.”
     “Really. Besides, mum loves you,” Fred persisted. “She can’t get over me being with a smart Ravenclaw girl who’ll keep me out of trouble.”
You snorted,
     “But I’m not with you.”
     “You will be,” Fred shrugged, unbothered, and you refused to meet his eye because you knew you wouldn’t be able to restrain your smile if you did look at him. 
     “Come on, just come with us! We’ll be leaving in a few days and get there just a day before Christmas Eve, that’s more than enough time to pack your things,” Ron demanded, and you couldn’t help but give in, your body shaking with laughter. 
     “Alright, alright, I’ll spend the holiday with you.”
The circle of friends erupted into cheers, and you grinned, your sparkling eyes meeting Fred’s, who was truly glad he’d have you there for the break. 
     Things were really beginning to wind down shortly after, and you were getting ready to head back to your dorm and go to bed. Luna had already left, and you were one of the few people still remaining. You’d spent the rest of your time talking to that circle of friends, though Fred got next to you whenever he could and talked your ear off. When you were on your way to leave, holding your gift in its sparkly gift bag from Fred, you turned around at the sound of footsteps thudding behind you. It was Fred, running up to you, coming to a stop in front of you,
     “YN, wait. I’ll walk you back to your dorm.” 
     “Sure,” you grinned warmly. 
You and Fred left together, walking side by side in the dark, winding halls of the castle. You talked quietly, Fred taking any chance to make you laugh, and you did laugh each and every time. You stopped in front of your dormitory and stood there, facing each other, not quite saying anything, just smiling stupidly at each other. It was almost humorous how you tried to avoid your fate with Fred, knowing you liked him back. But you always beat around the bush, because you were really a very studious girl and you knew Fred Weasley would just be a distraction. But you knew he wasn’t that bad. How could he be?
     “Well,” you sniffed awkwardly, cupping your gift bag in your palms. 
     “Welllll,” Fred echoed, dragging out the word and making you laugh. 
     “Really, Fred, thank you, I can’t imagine how you even got this, it’s beautiful, really.”
     “Reminded me of you.”
     “Oh, Fred,” you groaned, making a face like you’d just tasted a sour lemon and laughing. “You’re so cheesy.”
     “But you like that about me,” Fred squinted his eyes at you, as if he was seeing right through you. 
     “I can neither confirm or deny that statement. Your head might explode if I confirm,” you teased, and he simply nodded in agreement.
     “You’ve got a point.”
     “Really though, how did you get this? I’ve never seen such a thing before. Don’t tell me you stole it from Professor Sprout.”
     “Honestly, how much of a git do you think I am? I’ve got my connections, that’s all. It’s special, keep your eye on it.”
     “Alright,” you grinned, sniffing the fragrant, honey-nectar scented center of the flower.  “I’ll leave you be. I really do feel bad that I didn’t get you anything though. If I’d known I would’ve-”
Fred shook his head, 
     “Oh shut up. Of course I had to get you something, all I wanted this holiday was to get you something you’d like. And you like it, don’t you?” You nodded, and he smiled. “That’s all I need.”
You smiled, pleased, then sighed,
     “I really should get going to bed though, and you should too, it’s nearly curfew.”
Fred merely shrugged carelessly,
     “Meh, I’m on break, who gives a rat’s ass what Filch tries to do.”
     “Okay, Fred, whatever you say,” you grinned, shaking your head playfully at his devil-may-care attitude. “Goodnight, now.”
     “Goodnight,” Fred smiled at you.
You started to turn to your dorm, but you turned back at the last second, saying his name,
     “Wait, Fred?”
     “Yeah?” he replied, only for you to lean forward and kiss him softly on the cheek, pulling away slowly and blinking ever so gently. Blush was rising up his cheeks steadily, and he looked like he had melted on the spot, gawking at you. 
You smiled, satisfied with yourself, and spun around, actually about to leave this time,
     “See you in the morning!”
That night, you could’ve sworn your flower grew at least an inch taller, and you hadn’t even done a thing to it.
In the few days you had left at Hogwarts, you and Fred had been spending an awful lot of time together. You were actually taking the time to get to know him, because deep down you knew it was what you both wanted. Each time George passed by you two talking in an empty corridor, he coughed, “lovebirds!” And finally, it was time to leave. You all boarded the train back home, you sharing a car with Ginny and Hermione while the boys stayed with each other, though Fred passed by every hour or so to try and amuse you. 
     “D’you like him, Fred?” Ginny asked, leaning her head against the cool train window. 
You looked down at the table, unable to hide your smile,
     “Yeah, I do. And he knows it.”
     “I think you two would be cute,” Hermione beamed, glancing up from the newspaper. 
     “I have to say, Fred’s never picked a better choice,” Ginny smiled. 
The holidays at the Weasley house were hectic, but they were lovely all the same. George didn’t lie when he said his mother, Molly Weasley, made holidays stressful, but it was the good kind of stress. You were never bored, or lonely for that matter. You always had something to do, whether it be crusting pies, helping Molly magically wash the dishes, pillow fights with Ron and Harry, or listening to Hermione go on and on about her marks for her exams. Besides, Molly really did love you. She kept gushing over how smart and well-behaved you were. And you were convinced Fred had lied and told her you two were a couple, because any time she saw you and Fred together, she cooed, “you two!” and snapped a picture, leaving you blinded by the flash of her old camera. 
It was probably the most bustling Christmas you’d had yet, and everything was going well.
     The afternoon before, Molly had cooked a wonderful feast to be scarved down for tomorrow, and she put charms on all the meals to keep them warm and protected from the boys, who she knew would try to sneak down and take a bite before it was time. You sauntered around the kitchen on Christmas Eve. It was nighttime, and the kitchen was pitch black except for the light emanating from the tip of your wand. You opened the fridge, trying to make yourself a glass of warm pumpkin juice before bed. You’d stayed up late reading, thinking everyone else had gone to sleep. But you were wrong, and you gasped when the kitchen light turned on suddenly. 
You jumped, clutching your chest and breathing in and out, only to see Fred laughing in the corner of the kitchen. You sighed in relief,
     “Jesus, Fred, you scared me. Thought I was the only one up.”
Fred cocked his head to the side as if he were examining you,
     “Late sleeper?”
You nodded,
     “Sometimes. Why are you up?”
     “I happen to be a late sleeper myself… and I heard your footsteps going down to the kitchen.”
You quirked a brow, amused,
     “So you followed me?”
     “This is my house, if anything, you’re following me,” Fred defended himself, folding his arms.
     “I’m only joking, Weasley,” you snorted, continuing to fix yourself a glass of pumpkin juice.
     “I like when you call me that,” Fred remarked, and you pretended not to hear him, but your cheeks were hot as ever. 
     He got closer to you, standing right beside you at the kitchen counter and leaning against it, watching as your hands shook out of nerves while you poured your juice. Since when did Fred make you nervous? And why was being close to him making you so lightheaded? He was looking at you, but you refused to look at him, keeping your eyes trained on your glass, not even noticing when it almost overflowed because your thoughts were elsewhere.
Fred, who had his cheek pressed into his palm, smirked, and did a onceover of you.
     “Need help?” he taunted you. 
You chuckled nervously, huffing,
     “No?”
     “You sure?” he asked, almost challenging you to look at him. 
You turned to face him, rolling your eyes, but you weren’t prepared for him to be standing up, towering over you. You took a deep breath in, while he simply grinned. You looked up at him, blinking rapidly as if there was something in your eye. 
     “Here,” Fred leaned into you, and you froze, only to realize that he was just pulling out his wand and tapping it against your glass. 
When you picked it up and took a drink, the pumpkin juice was just as warm as you’d wanted it to be, and you didn’t even need to heat it up like you were going to.
     “Thanks,” you grinned, your eyes flickering from his to the floor. 
     “Should be getting to bed. Happy Christmas Eve,” Fred gave you a slick three fingered wave and slinked away up the stairs, leaving you there to exhale a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding. You were in over your head, for sure. 
On Christmas morning, you were the first one up, surprisingly. You got ready as quietly as possible, passing Hermione’s cat on the way to the bathroom as you got ready. For Christmas, you decided you’d dress nicely, putting on a well-fitting orange turtleneck with a black miniskirt. You headed down the stairs silently and found yourself in the kitchen, holding your plant in your hands so you could place it on the window in front of the sink and let it get a bit more light there. 
You paused when you heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and when you saw Fred, you bit down on your lip. He grinned at you, dressed in his personal Christmas best, a sweater with “F” emblazoned on it that his mom forced him to wear every holiday season, and black skinny jeans. 
     “Hey,” was all he said with a knowing smile, and you grinned. 
     “Hi.”
     “You’re up early,” Fred remarked, inching close to you so the only thing separating your body from his was the plant you were holding in between the two of you.
     “You are too.”
     “Funny coincidence.”
     “Yeah. You’d almost think you were trying to catch me alone,” you narrowed your eyes at him playfully, a smug smile tugging at the corner of your lips. 
     “Maybe, maybe not,” Fred played along. 
     “You’re a real joker, Fred Weasley.”
     “I know,” Fred agreed. “But I’d be a real Scrooge if I didn’t make one tiny little
improvement to this Christmas.”
     “And what’s that?” you chimed. 
Fred tapped his wand just above him, and lo and behold, a mistletoe flower appeared out of thin air, levitating above your heads. You looked up at it, holding your gaze on the plant for a few seconds before giggling, looking down at Fred who was smiling at you. 
     “Merry Christmas,” he remarked quietly, his brown eyes peering into yours, inching his head forward, spreading his warmth. 
     “Merry Christmas,” you practically whispered just in time for his lips to brush against yours, tilting your head forward to engulf him in a slow, sweet kiss under the mistletoe, the light shining in from the kitchen windows, a healthy amount of snow falling outside. 
His lips tasted like peppermint, and he smelled like mischief, but you wanted to hold him close. His sweater was scratchy and warm and thick, bristling against you. He was tender with you, his hands reaching up to roam your face, caressing your cheek and pulling you in closer to him by the small of your back, the petals of the flower in between you pressing against your chests. After a while, you pulled away, Fred’s cheeks red as ever, and your entire body on fire. You weren’t sure why you’d held back for so long, because now that you had a taste of him, you wanted more and more. When you pulled away, you blinked a bit, coming back down onto earth. When you and Fred met eyes again, you both giggled stupidly, clearly high off each other’s touch. 
     When you looked down at the plant, you noticed it had grown inches taller suddenly, and you looked down at it in bewilderment. It had done the same thing after you parted ways with Fred the night of the holiday party in the Gryffindor common room. 
Fred answered the question you were about to ask, 
     “It’s an Amorfluous flower. It’s meant to be given as a gift from one lover to another, so that each time we kiss, it grows.”
You were in awe of Fred. Not only had he managed to get you a gift that was extremely fitting for you, but he got you one that was even more sentimental than you had managed to realize. You were amazed, and you looked up at him awestruck, tears threatening to form in your eyes. 
He chuckled at the sight of you and hugged you close, careful of the flower,
     “Don’t cry!”
     “It’s- it’s just so lovely,” you sniffled, wiping away the tears from your eyes. “Thank you, thank you so much.”
Fred smirked,
     “You’ve made it up to me, the lack of a gift.”
You chuckled,
     “Good.”
     “Er… should we kiss again? For the flower, of course,” Fred suggested, nodding down at the flower. 
     “Yes, of course. For the flower,” you grinned knowingly and leaned in again, your lips uniting in a sweet kiss once more. 
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The Lost Children #Writer Wednesday Din Djarin Modern Day Bounty Hunter x f!reader
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For #Writer Wednesday created by the amazing @autumnleaves1991-blog and tagging @clydesducktape (thanks a lot for the hard work of compiling everything each week)
Summary: This a part 2 of a fic I wrote a few months another Wednesday, read it here. After you scape with Din and your child, you try to find a life again even if that means he has to leave you.
Warnings: Language, talking about neglecting children or abandoned kids, guns. This is fluff with angst and Din being a softie but a dumbass expressing feelings
A/N: I'm super tired, so be ready to find many grammar and mispellings I didn't have the time to really read it through.
The lost children
For a bit, that’s what he said, what he promised until you’re safe and settled.
“So you can keep your little kid in the babycare with the rest of the kids while you’re working. One of the cabins to the right of the front office we’ll be entirely yours. We only ask that you keep clean and in a good state”
“Of course” you’re shining, happy and excited
“You heard that Greg, we’ll have a place on our own” your arms hold the baby tightly, rocking him softly until he giggles. When you turn to Din, he can see your eyes glowing, kissing little Greg’s head, you whisper thank you
Thanking him? what for? He just pointed out that small, almost entirely ripped from the wall, announcement of a local hotel in the middle of the woods that looked for personnel willing to work and live in the resort when they were stopping at a gas station.
It is a perfect place to hide and live a peaceful life and let a baby grow up in the middle of nature. Greg and you could be happy. So why is he thinking that he should make up some excuse so you don't stay, so you don’t leave him. He should be selfish and grab your hand and run away again like you’ve been doing for weeks now, but that’s not life for a baby, and you deserve it, leave the past behind. And him, even if he doesn’t want to admit, it’s part of your past of that runaway woman that commited many mistakes.
But Din’s a bounty hunter, his life on the road, from one job to the next would only make you unhappy, and at the end, you would hate him; and that’s it’s not an option.
Nothing has made Din happier than seeing you smile at him, the little comments here and there you tell him praising him and thanking him one, twice, a thousand times for helping you, the way the baby caresses his face with his small hand and those big eyes looking at him intently until he smiles with only those two little teeth. The way you look perfect, almost like a Madonna from the Renaissance, when the street lights hit your face while he’s driving and you hold your baby against your chest, both of you sleeping in the car.
Would you think he’s a creep for staring? There’s a warmth that grows inside him when he stares at you and baby Greg. A warmth he doesn’t want to let go. He cannot offer you a good life and Din doesn’t want to force you to live like he does, just because he’s so selfish to let you go.
“So what do you think?”
The manager leaves them to think about the offert. And Din balances his big body from one of his legs to the other, hands on his hips, he sighs
“I think”
I think you should be with me
I think I should protect you
I think I should protect Greg
I think I want to be with you, the both of you, forever
I think I love you
But he doesn’t say it
“I think you should take it. It is a good place for a kid”
You frown, even baby Greg looks at him puzzled from the crook of his mother’s neck
“Yes, it seems great, quiet...And I like that Greg could be with other kids. But what about you?”
Your eyes look big, pleading, there’s a question, a petion in them but you don’t say it with words so maybe Din is imagining it, he wants so bad that you will stay with him that maybe he’s making that up
“I will go and…”
And miss you
And miss Greg
And be alone again
“Start the business again somewhere else” he shrugs, and he sees the light flicking in your eyes, the idea in your head being shattered, you’ll never ask the question and he will never answer.
“But you can stay a few days, right? Rest, eat properly for once and repair the car”
“I don’t know…”
What would hurt more? leaving already or prolonging it?
“I don’t want to be this direct, Clint...” he likes that you keep using that nickname you gave him when you’re in public. You only use his real name when you’re alone. Making it even more special, it’s intimate, more anything he has ever felt.
“but you need a shower. And I do too and this stinky baby” you bury your nose on little Gregs neck and it makes him laugh out loud that angelic and sweet giggle hits him hard and before he even knows it, Din is nodding
“A few days won’t hurt”
It’s surprising how they fall easily in a routine. How they seem to find a perfect way around each other, a perfect model like the stars and planets always circling around each other and never colliding. You, dancing softly in the kitchen humming while you stir the soup, baby Greg chasing his little frog while Din holds his back so he doesn’t lose his balance
“Hey, you want this?” Din smiles fondly to the baby and with his long arm places the soft toy far away from him “C’mon like before “ his big hands on his side while the babe excitedly starts crawling towards his frog
“Hey! look! he’s getting faster!”
You smile at them, that big and serious man has the proudest smile, so bright and pure watching your baby grow before his eyes.
It’s been almost a week and he’s still repairing the car, or so he says. The manager hasn’t asked any questions and just assumed they are a family. And you must accept that you do look like one, a broken and weird one, but more than anything you have ever experienced.
And you wish he stayed forever that he could be a father to Greg, he certainly acts the part.
“Dinner is ready.”
The scent of the pines, the bugs chirping and the soft crackle of the fire is the perfect lullaby. Your baby has taken the habit of falling asleep against Din’s wide shoulder while the three of them enjoy the small porch outside the cabin.
“I think the car is ready”
The words you fear the most float in the air and you’re almost tempted to ignore them
“Hmm” you don’t face him yet, just look at the trees and try to swallow the pain “And where will you go?”
“Don’t know yet”
“How will I contact you?”
“I…”
“Do I have to search on Craigslist? Some old codewords in the newspaper? How do you even find a bounty hunter?” you’re laughing, but it really doesn’t hide the pain in your tone
“I have a phone” Din rolls his eyes at you but he’s amused, surprisingly he’s smiling more since you met him, he’s not that stern or cold as you pictured him when he caught you
“That would have come in handy when we were lost in the desert”
“I mean a fixed one”
“You have a house then?” you turn to him, lowering your voice midsentence as you see your son sleeping peacefully on Din’s arms
“Sort of”
“I will need you to expand that a little bit more Din”
Din in the quiet of the night, the moon, the stars and the fire illuminating your face he admires you pronounce it: The tip of your tongue showing softly between your teeth and he wishes to see you repeat it one, twice a thousand times.
“My family, my...it’s difficult to explain, anyway, it’s my safeplace, where I go to rest, I get the information for my next jobs, etc”
“Oh...okay, so I call you there?”
“Yeah you could, and write if you want” he offers with pleasing eyes
“Penpals, great” you answer and it sounds more sarcastic that you intended
“You could send me pictures of Greg”
Din lowers his eyes to the soft crown of the baby, that soft place on his head where he smells so sweet and tender. He can believe that he’s going and there will be no nights like this.
“I will do”
Your eyes get teary watching him softly kiss you babe, carrying to his crib whispering sweet words so he doesn’t wake up.
“So I’ve packed many water bottles, and those protein bars in case you get yourself lost in the desert again, cowboy. Sadly you won’t have my unparalleled company” you joke tapping him on his arm
“No, I won’t” Din forces a smile “I...Take care” he awkwardly squeezes your forearm
“You too-Shit!” you scream slapping your forehead “The sandwiches! I knew I forgot something. I made you something for lunch. I’ll be right back”
You press little Greg to Din’s arms before running away leaving them with wide eyes and a confused look
“Take care of you mother, kid, sometimes she can be a lot to handle”
“Hi, Ken” you say breathly as you storm inside the reception and get inside the staff meeting room.
“Hi! Has your boyfriend left already?” He asks while writing something on his agenda
“Not yet” you say looking for the lunch bag you had prepared inside the fridge. You hand stops midway when you heard her voice
It is horrible, we have not consolation, our baby has been kidnapped and we have no information
Her fake cries fill the room, some national tv is making a report on the kidnapping of little Greg. The tragic zoom at her face fades away when they show a picture of your baby.
“Fuck…” you mutter
I need him back. He’s my baby
“He’s not your baby, you bitch” you spat under your breath
“What did you say, hun, you need something” Ken raises his eyes to you, one eyebrow arched, he follows your eyes to the TV
“That baby looks exactly…” and then you know
You grab your sandwich bag and strom out as you did before. Din is holding Greg on his hip while he finishes loading the trunk with his bags
“We’re out of here”
You cry when you reach to him, pushing him away, you close the trunk door
“Wait what happened?”
“No time, let’s go”
How has this man trusted you so much as to run away with you? For all he knows you could actually be a kidnapper, that story about leaving your son with someone you trusted and that eventually you discovered that they were assholes could be fake. But he doesn’t. He runs away, drives and drives without asking a question.
“She had the guts to say it was his son, he isn’t. She barely had it for a few months until I could settle my life. And then she asked me for a crazy amount of money because children are expensive you know I fucking payed for a a new pool in her stupid house, while my son was always dressed in old clothes, too big or too small. They didn’t care for him”
And on top of trusting you, he lets you rant away all you anger
“There’s no way I’m giving him back. I rather die!”
He stops the car, the road again is silent, dressed in the colors of the sunset
“Calm down, you’re scaring him” Greg looks at you with trembling lips not knowing why he should be scared or angry, he just knows that his mama is upset “He will stay with you, I promise”
“The police must be searching for us” your warm tears cloud your eyes
“They won’t find us where we are going”
He ditches the car somewhere and you see him burning it. He carries the big bag on his back and hands you water and snacks from time to time.
“Just a few miles more”
The red stone looks like some ethereal cathedral around you, a palace in the middle of nowhere almost like another world, magical and eerie. If there’re marks or signs you don’t see them, but Din walks among the rock so sure of his steps searching among the labyrinth of rocks. And suddenly…
You hear the soft clicks of many guns' trigger locks going off at the same time. But Din softly whistles some tune and from all over: up the rocks, between them, children come out. Kids, all different from one another, some really young, others tall and weirdly looking teenagers in that mixed age where they are not a child nor an adult and others already grown to be young adults.
“Din” a curly haired girl dressed with camouflage clothes runs towards him with open arms, she has a crooked smile as she has lost some of her front teeth
“Hey, gumball!” Din bents down when she hugs him, her sweet face pressed against his belly
“Who are they?” a boy, holding a shotgun to his side, his face full of red dots, frowns at you
“They’re friends who need help” Din explains raising one of his arms trying to calm down the group
“Are they lost too?” Gumball asks
“Yes” Din nods
“But she’s a mum” some kid screams from above
“Mums can be lost too. C’mon, we’ve been walking for hours, can we go home?” he answers
“Of course, let’s go. Boba will be happy to see you” Gumball grabs Din’s hand and smile widely jumping happily through the stone corridors
“Wait, Din, what the fuck? who the fuck is Boba? What are these kids doing here?”
Gumball fires a concerned look at you
“She said two bad words”
“Gonna let it pass, Gum, she’s a bit scared and tired” Din smirks your way and you question in silent muttering the fuck again and again
“I see you pronouncing it, you know?” Gumball rolls her eyes “No bad words or you pay the price”
“Yes, understood, sorry” you close your lips hard trying not to ask more questions until you arrive home or whatever that is.
After a few minutes of turning left right, left right, right left you’re completely lost until the stone towers open up a way to a plain and on it, a ranch.
Some horses roam around nibbling on the pale green grass that grows on the land. A house on the centre is painted white but the paint looks old and chipped.
Now in the clear you count the children that surround you, ten, ten kids in the middle of nowhere.
“Welcome to the Watch” Din smiles at you, he almost look shy and earning a upset look from Gumball, he releases her hand and holds you with his big palm on your back
“What is this place, Din?”
“Home” he simply answers
The kids run through the porch screaming and opening without a care the door to the house
“Yeah, I heard you, little heathens” a masculine voice screams from the interior
His hard steps clack on the ground and you hear the spurs before you see him arriving with his leather boots, his used jeans and a low cowboy hat covering him from the sun
“I thought something must have happened to you” he says, evaluating Din. His tanned face is covered by a long and twisted scar from his lip to his forehead, he has dark eyes like Din but colder in a way, very deep and when they fall into you, you hug your baby tightly without thinking it
“I see” he says “C’mon on in, that baby can’t stay too long in the sun”
The house is nice, surprisingly tidy given the fact that there are ten kids living in it. The furniture looks like the exhibit of an old auction house, each one of them completely different of style, color or age from the other.
The man that everyone call Boba gives some orders to the group and they efficiently start doing what he asks
“Prepare a room for our guests”
“Bring water and food”
“Prepare some fresh fruit for the baby”
You sit, little Greg with eyes wide open. As any baby he’s absorbed by all the children around him, and he reaches with his little hands trying to grab them
“Little fella wants to play, you can leave him on the rug if he wants to”
“He’s fine here, thanks” you say holding him although Greg is already removing your hands from him wanting to explore
“Boba, we have nowhere to go” Din explains sipping on his cold water
“I guess, you have never brought anybody here” He reclines himself on his rocking chair watching Din intenly
“We need to protect them for a while, until we can find a solution”
“You’ll be safe here, you know that, you can stay as long as you want, just respect the house rules” and he points to a wood board, engraved in them are a few rules
Be respectful of yourself and others
I finish my tasks as promised, ask for help if I can’t
I will not curse
Be clean of yourself and your environment
Protect your family and your house above all
“They seem...pretty logical, won’t be a problem to follow them” you smile uncomfortably
“Well, somebody said you have a potty mouth, young lady. So watch it, but for the moment, you may rest, we will see for the rest tomorrow” He sighs when he gets up and taps on Din’s shoulder before he goes to the kitchen
“Let’s make dinner” you hear him scream, before the rumbling of pans and chopping and children screaming start
“Din…” you say after a moment
“I know you have a million questions”
“Duh!” you laugh nervously
“This is my family, we’re not related by blood but by circumstances. Lost kids, abandoned, neglected; we have a safe place here and in time we go out in the world and make our own life but we always have the Watch over us. A place where we’re watched over, taken care of, listened…” his caramel eyes glow and you see his strong and stern facade crumble before your eyes, in this place he can relax. He feels safe so you can too, right?
“We’ll be fine here” He reaches for you hand, the one that holds little Greg caressing him with your thumb, and covers both of you squeezing softly
We, it’s the second time he has referred to you as a group, you and me and Greg, We.
“We’ll be fine” You smile back, lowering your face, you kiss his knuckles, leaving a warmth there Din will be holding for hours.
You don’t notice, but the whole time during dinner he passes his thumb over that small place of his skin where you kissed him.
(Hey! remember when you read that fic in May? I continued it...so sorry that it took so long, I've taken the liberty of tagging you since you were interested in a follow up from the first one @fangirlalexia @childrenofthewatch )
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dansnaturepictures · 3 years
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23rd September 2021-Buzzard, Tufted Ducks and more at Lakeside and home 
I saw the moon which has been one of the ones I’ve photographed most when at its fullest the past few nights I think early on this morning which I took the first picture in this photoset of and the second of some interesting clouds which would go onto to obscure the moon later. I took the third picture in this photoset of a beautiful Goldfinch that was shining in the garden just before going out for my Lakeside lunch time walk, taking a great yellow themed photo of sunflower and some low-hanging of the yellow buddleia which mixed nicely with the sunflowers which are dominating the garden lately which I tweeted a picture of on Dans_Pictures too. 
I did a fairly long walk at Lakeside through the eastern meadows then through the lakes and back along the northern path. I saw a Blackbird well something I’m seeing a little bit more of lately and Small White and Speckled Wood made great butterfly sightings, as well as darter dragonflies on the whole walk. 
Crossing the steam railway track and going along the path through trees in the field north of the steam railway station and I was thrilled to see a bold Buzzard soaring gently through the air in a circular motion. I was so happy to make out the sweet brown and prominent markings of this big bird of prey. Seeing one of my favourite birds I had a great connection to nature. I took the fourth picture in this photoset of one flying alongside another and on the way out approaching the steps up to the northern path I saw a Buzzard again possibly the same bird and a lady I spoke to pointed it out to a child with her too and she saw me checking with my binoculars and asked if it was a Buzzard I said yes as we all marveled at this enormous bird flying through the sky. After a really good run of Lakeside and home Sparrowhawks in recent weeks, a Red Kite out the back before we went to Richmond and Bushy Park in my week off last week; Kestrel was a star bird of prey and bird generally of my day yesterday and it was Buzzard today. Buzzards are one of the most satisfying subjects for me and I always love it whenever one flying quite low presents a chance for a photo of this wonderful raptor. I took the fifth and sixth pictures in this photoset of Kornwestheim lake today. 
I then walked through the grassy area between the lakes and with my bridge camera on its once weekly trip whilst the young Great Crested Grebes are around as well as my DSLR and big lens I looked for this another of my favourite birds. I did see one in the end getting some nice views of it at the centre of the lake seeing adults on both Kornwestheim and Concorde the two joined lakes today and it was fascinating to see the humbug youngster dive the famous thing grebes do so it felt a crucial stage in their development. I took the eighth picture in this photoset of this cute bird. But this was not before I spotted a single male Tufted Duck on the lake, this blue and white beauty shown in the seventh picture I took today in this photoset a bridge camera zoom in. This was the first Tufted Duck I’d seen at Lakeside for a few months they disappeared as the spring went on and usually its the months more towards and in winter I regularly see them here so it hinted just a little bit at what’s to come like Black-headed Gulls in winter plumage is doing lately. The Tufted Duck a very welcome sight. I enjoyed seeing and photographing pineappleweed in the grass between the lakes it was nice to see it again this year.
After work as twilight approached it was delightful to see several groups of nearly a dozen Greylag Geese flying past as they do a lot in the time of year outside breeding season (when they are based at Lakeside all the time to breed) so is symbolic of autumn and winter for me too. I got the ninth picture in this photoset of the first group. Its amazing I guess that the amount of times I’ve seen Greylag Geese from the house I’d never got or really tried for a picture. But with the few I took of them today I had a head start in terms of getting the picture hearing them probably about a minute before I first saw them and I happened to have my big lens on at the time still on from the walk I think. It was another great moment with birds flying today, today I took some pictures fitting the “on the move” theme in the photography group I am in on Facebook that has themes. The geese do remind me of Brent Geese at the coast flying by and over which is how I fell in love with that species in autumn and winter when they migrate here one of my favourite parts of the season. 
There was then another beautiful set of cloud formations as the evening wound towards sunset, the Greylag Geese were flying against these so the Greylag Geese photos included a good sky and vice versa interestingly. Including some nice bits of orange in the sky at sunset. I took the tenth picture in this photoset of one of the greyer bits of sky this evening. 
Wildlife Sightings Summary: Two of my favourite birds the Buzzard and Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Greylag Goose, Back-headed Gull, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Starling, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove, brilliant views of Jackdaws on the roof visible from my room out the back today, a nice view of a Chiffchaff quickly too, Small White, Speckled Wood, darter dragonflies probably Common Darter and it was interesting to see another moth in the house tonight I believe a Square-spot rustic. 
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ZOOted | group chatzy
TIMING: Midday, August 29, 2021. LOCATION: The Main Street of Downtown. SUMMARY: What’s black and white and silent all over? The creatures at the zoo make their grand escape. TRIGGERS: Brief vomit (marked in chatzy), animal death.
Anara Kingston was just getting ready to open up her family bistro for the day, hands propped on her hips as she admired the storefront that multiple generations had made thrive on the corner of Main Street in Downtown White Crest. There was your usual display of signage, an eye-catching banner that advertised a meatball sandwich special, and a small paper in the lower left corner of the front window that proudly read ‘127 days since last accident’. The notice was actually one of the larger draws of the establishment in a town such as White Crest, where oddities and danger seemed to lurk around every dark corner. People wanted to feel safe while they ate, munching on overpriced meals while they tarried the day away. Anara leaned forward to polish the glass in front of the advertisement of their sanctity, only to stiffen when she heard a foreign braying of...was that a donkey? No. She’d been around enough of the farms that peppered White Crest to know it wasn’t the sound of such a creature. 
A clopping of hooves was quick to follow the strange barking, and to the shop owner’s amazement, none other than a genuine zebra had begun to parade down Main Street, children and adults laughing and pointing alike as the escaped creature began to graze on the flowerbeds of a plant shop. 
Nell stared for a solid minute at the zebra that had waltzed down Main Street as if he owned the place, already trying to figure out whether this was some bullshit she was willing to deal with today, or if she should simply call Kaden at Animal Control and make this his problem. Unfortunately her decision was made for her as a swarm of pixies, seemingly also escaped from the zoo, buzzed after the zebra to tug at anything they could get their grimy little hands around. With a deep sigh, Nell made her way over to the swarm that was doing their best to scalp a woman by yanking at her hair. This was now officially a problem she needed to solve.
Sai huffed as he ran down the sidewalk after a black horned Scapegoat that had gleefully decided to aid some oddly silent goats on their break towards glorious freedom. “No Ibulba! They live in the zoo!”
Keys rattled as Metzli strode towards their gallery, deciding to walk through Main Street. Yuca was leashed and in tow, picking up her pace in excitement. She always loved walking about the gallery. All the pets and enrichment she could ask for, making for a very happy cat. That was until, a swarm of sprites zoomed past the two and made the vampire stumble and trip, dropping their umbrella. Yuca mewled terribly, angry and shocked by the sudden interruption. 
Metzli barely had enough time to react as they saw the swarm circling back around. Eyes widened and they reached for a door, any door to  swiftly let Yuca inside, but it was no use. The sun made their skin sting and bones ache, but getting their cat to safety was the top priority. Leaping into an alleyway, only a few of the sprites managed to find them and picked and prodded at their skin. “What the fuck!” They yelled, hoping they could catch someone’s attention as they wrapped their arms around Yuca. 
It had been drizzling on and off all day, leaving the pavement tiles slightly slicker than Chloe liked as she navigated her trolley along the road. Her mind was fractured in several place - thinking about the strange flower order she’d processed for a funeral this morning that for some reason wanted tree roots in the bouquet as well as flowers, about the grocery shop she’d just finished, and the painting of Lydia’s face that stuck with her. She didn’t notice the rumbling of animals at first, until something pig-sized, black, and white cantered past her. Chloe screamed, jumping back as she waved her umbrella at the mime-like creature, her eyes wide. After a second, her hand clutching her chest, Chloe realised it wasn’t another evil type of mime, but just a… an anteater? No, what were they called… The ones with the longer noses that looked a little like pie-bald pigs…. The word would come to her in a moment, but it didn’t look too threatening. 
Unfortunately, most things in White Crest didn’t. 
Bly had spent the morning in a coffee shop with Nas and overall it had been a really freaking good time. Nas had to meet up with his girlfriend so he had left them alone in the shop until they had finished their coffee. Leaving with the shop, overpacked backpack slung over their shoulder, they stopped short. Was there like a fair and they had missed the advertisements? It didn’t really seem like a fair, but White Crest was weird like that. “So, uh, is this like an event? I didn’t buy a ticket so I’m not sure if I’m allowed to be here?” They looked over to a person nearby, hands splayed out in front of them. “I don’t have cash on me either, so I can’t even buy a ticket!”
White Crest’s one and only white Bengal tiger prowled around, looking at all of the strange and new sights that one never gets to see from behind a cage. However, she only had one thing on her mind. Where, oh where, was that zebra?
Alcher didn’t often go into town, but something had piqued her interest today. She could smell the animals crowding the streets, free from their cells at the local zoo. It was something she knew would be fun to watch, if not join in on. Unfortunately, being a wolf in this commotion might end up with her being chased by the humans who thought animals belonged in cages as well, so it was in her human guise that she showed up downtown, arms folded as she watched. Someone spoke up nearby, and Alcher shrugged. An event, not that would be funny. A smile curled her lips. “I can not say, but I can say I am enjoying this, are you?”
Nell didn’t necessarily want to kill the sprites. After all, as far as murderous pint-sized things went, they were decently harmless for the most part. And perhaps she could relate with being so angry at a world while being so little. Not that she’d ever admit that. So instead of burning them to bits with some form of iron, she looked around for any sort of box, container, something to hold the creature within. Seeing the person struggling with their umbrella nearby she yelled out to them. “You got a box or something? A bag? Anything?”
Morgan couldn’t remember how she’d convinced herself that taking Sundew along her usual weekend walk/leisurely shopping trip would be relaxing. On their way, the smug pixie delighted in reading every sign, front page, and logo they passed. When Morgan said Sundew didn’t have to, she knew how smart she was, she seriously didn’t have to, the pixie only cackled and circled higher to see more things, and then spoke of her ambition to market something to humans as ‘natural and organic’ and fill it with cat droppings. And this was before Morgan went from giving Bex a look of apology one next and starting a zebra eyeball-to-eyeball the next.
If Morgan had ever learned anything useful about zebras, it vanished in that moment. All she could process were its stripes, its beady, wicked little black eyes, and the tension freezing her cold muscles. 
“That's a dummy looking horsey,” Sundew giggled. “It’s hair is almost as funny looking as yours!”
Morgan ached to take the pixie and squeeze her quiet, but it dawned on her, just in time, that there were a lot of people she recognized just beyond her (at least one she never wanted to see) and stare-down with a zebra was going to be the least of her concerns. 
“Sai!” Morgan called. “You’re proficient in animal handling, right??”
Things in White Crest had been pretty mild, all things considered, which to experts like Leah meant that mischief was right around the corner.  She had been thinking it all morning, and the thoughts continued to plague her as she sat for a quick lunch in the park.  No sooner had the thought crossed her mind again than she heard a rumbling close by- literally around the corner.  She stood up suddenly, confusion lacing her features, and walked toward Main street where she saw the contents of the zoo quite literally spilling out into town.  A couple of lemurs hung from a tree nearby and suddenly, a dalmatian soared past her, running in the direction of a pet supply shop.  Did the zoo hold dalmations now, too?
“Uhhh, I mean, I am trying to enjoy it but, like, there’s a tiger here now.” Bly said etched the animal began to look around looking like it was trying to find prey. “I’m pretty sure it would probably try to eat me if it had a chance. I don’t want to be eaten today?” There was a lemur somewhere nearby, Bly could hear it and they were starting to think this wasn’t an event. “Do you think we should like call the government or something?”
Sai ran up to one of the zoo employees that’d been rather nonchalantly pursuing the escaping animals, recognizing their striped uniform and panda hat. “I’m sorry… sir did you ..” he panted hands on his knees. “See which …way…the …goats..went?” 
The Quiet Panda Fan regarded Sai expressionlessly for a time. Eyes with strange white pupils and black irises, contacts no doubt, seemed to bore into some deep place inside of the wizard. The Panda Fan turned and walked into an alley out of sight. 
“Oh thanks!” Sai followed after, thinking Ibulba and the goat exodus had run into a dead end. He walked into the alley only to watch the Panda fan be torn apart by some unseen force, sinews, sin, and fuzzy panda kitsch unraveling into a haze of hair-thin black and white strands. The pale and dark flesh-ribbons swirled around Sai like a school of curious Koi fish before slithering onto the walls of the alley. Black and white murals of zebras, penguins, pandas danced beneath a picture of a black sun with white rays all over the alley walls. Above it all were the words “BENEATH THE LOATHSOME NOISE OF LIFE, BLESSED SILENCE WAITS.”
Sai swallowed as he stared, but thankfully Morgan's voice called out from somewhere on the street. “Uh…uh, yes! Yes I can help,” the wizard shouted, running aware from the black and white murals now adorning the alley bricks.
Forming into a ball to protect Yuca and their face, Metzli heard Nell call out her question. They answered in a frustrated huff, “Does it look like a have a fucking box?!” Swatting away with an arm they growled and hit several of the few sprites picking at them, even managing to grab one and bite its head off without a second thought. 
Somewhere, in the distance, screaming could be heard. A waddle of penguins had just stolen a man’s coffee.
“I think it’s cute,” Bex had said when Morgan insisted Sundew didn’t need to read every sign possible as they strolled downtown. She was like a toddler, learning to read for the first time, and eager to show off and prove to people how smart they were. Bex gave Sundew a smile, and a quiet wink when Morgan stopped and Bex nearly ran into her. In the street, a zebra trotted by, and for a moment, Bex wasn’t sure she was seeing things right. She rubbed her eyes, looked between the animal and Morgan, snapping to and realizing it was, in fact, real, when she called out to Sai. What was he doing here? Why was there a zebra downtown? But as she looked around, she noticed more animals roaming the streets and took off in a trot after Morgan. “What’s going on-- what is that?” Wide curious eyes, not sure if she was supposed to panic or be of help somehow.
The anteater? Pig? shaped animal slowed to a trot in front of Chloe, then snuffled at a nearby plant pot full of purple gardenias, its long nose prodding and poking at the flowers. Skeptically, Chloe bristled the umbrella at it, not trusting that anything this innocuous looking could truly be innocuous. Someone yelled at her and she tore away her eyes from the creature for a second to look at the young woman. “Uh!” She yelled back, looking at her trolley full of groceries, before remembering that she’d packed some extra reusable cotton bags in case she bought more. Turning her gaze back to the animal that was now happily monching on the flowers, she pulled out the reusable bags. “Will these do? What is going on??”
Alcher regarded the tiger that was pointed out with a placid expression. “She is beautiful, isn’t she?” The child was complaining, and they smelled so human, it made Alcher’s nose crinkle through the scents of animals free from their prisons. “You do not know that. Not all animals are vicious and want to eat everything.” A shrug, and she was strolling away from them and into the street. “What good can men in suits do? I say enjoy the show, kinder, perhaps it is a free one.” 
Nell growled in frustration as the first person proved useless, though she supposed they were busy protecting their cat. Fine. As always, she’d have to do it herself. But then another woman procured a plastic bag, and there was hope for the people of the world and their abilities to respond to a crisis once again. “It’s gonna have to do!” Nell said while reaching out for the bags, already thinking of a spell she could use to make them stronger, harder to be torn apart by little sprite hands. “Looks like a jail break,” Nell replied dryly, recognizing some of the animals from the zoo.
The tiger could smell her prey in the distance. It was near a group of the two legged creatures, those humans who locked her in behind those bars and watched her. Now, she watched them. Now, they would not separate her from her meal. She moved forward with the confidence of a prisoner released from her cage after too long. Like a prisoner, she wanted a good meal, and she wanted it fresh. One of the humans, a strange smelling one, one that did not seem human at all, regarded her, and so the tiger returned the look only for a moment. She was so hungry. She would eat.
The sprites became preoccupied by Nell’s trapping attempt, giving Metzli enough time to get up and run off with Yuca in their arms. That’s when they saw the rest of the animals roaming about the street. Zebras, tigers, and several others. Supernatural others. “Whoa…” They said, amazed and confused. “What is happ—” They were interrupted by running into someone, and that someone was Morgan. 
“My familiar is criminal,” declared Sai mournfully as he reached Morgan, Bex, and another clumsy person,  face flushed from a long sprint down several streets.
“I guess?” Bly had to admit it did make sense that animals didn’t always want to eat people. Still… They didn’t want to test it. “They might get hurt if we don’t help them though! A tiger or a zebra isn’t going to do well in Maine. It’s cold here.” Then the tiger was looking at them and Bly was pretty thankful they didn’t pee themself. They slowly inched behind the intense lady, “I don’t like this. Making eye contact with a tiger is a bad idea!”
Sundew had never dreamed of a more perfect day. The humans looked so silly with their faces like that and one of them made the funniest sound when a fluffy cloud of sprites swarmed and picked at her nisty-nasty hair. 
Sundew flew out of her hiding spot on Morgan’s shoulder and conjured a mallet just her size between her fingers. She bonked the human running toward them to help, then she flew toward the sprites, cackling, “Yes! Yes! Cage-free chaos!” Then she flew to the nearest human and bit their hand and left the image of a lion paw on their wrist instead. “Woopsie! Better get that checked out! I hope your premiums are good!”
Morgan looked from Sundew, to Sai, to Bex, to the zebra, and back again. There were people losing their coffee, people losing their sanity, Nell and Chloe maybe doing something clever with a plastic bag, and it was all too much. 
“What do you mean criminal?” She cried. “Did Ibulba do this?” Normally this would’ve been outrageous but nothing was outrageous today. The zebra bared his teeth and Morgan jumped back and ran into someone else. 
“Oh, hi. Nice day for a walk, huh? You really might wanna consider going anywhere else right now.” Then she saw Sundew fluttering back their way with a familiar, dangerous look on her face. “Or better yet, get down! This really isn’t safe for anyone!”
Chloe eyed the animal chewing on the plants, itching around it carefully. When she looked up at Nell again, she frowned, finally realising that the ungulate creature wasn’t the only thing running around. All of the animals were black and white, and despite the havoc they were creating, they were much quieter than a normal stampede. “Are you going to use a bag to try and stop-” Chloe gestured at the skunks, snakes and single cow, as well as the terrifying creature beside them. Its nose was too long and flexible. She didn’t trust it.
Bex glanced between Sai and Morgan. Sai seemed breathless and Morgan seemed panicked and Sundew was off making trouble with some small, butterfly-looking creatures that seemed to like her. As far as animal handling went, Bex had rolled low, she’d never been around animals in her life, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know anything about them. The zebra brayed at them and she scooted behind Morgan as well, when someone bumped into them. A familiar someone. 
“Metzli??” she breathed, raising a brow. Why were they here? It was still daytime! “Oh, watchout!” She called, tugging on their arm as Sundew whizzed toward them, ready to spread more antics. “Sundew, no, please!” she tried. The pixie rarely listened to Bex, even though she often let them braid her hair in the garden and laugh about silly pixie things.
Nell shook her head while she mumbled a quick spell under her breath, and the cotton bag stiffened into something much harder. “What?” she asked with vague annoyance on her features while she tried to figure out how to herd the sprites into the bag. “You want me to use the bag on the tapir?” That was the long-nosed thing standing next to Chloe, right? She remembered seeing them in the jungles of South America. “If you wanna keep it as a pet you’re gonna have to use something else. Maybe think of a name for it first. But no- this is for them!” she replied, gesturing towards the swarm of pixies.
“Maybe? I don’t know? She is aiding and abetting it at least, and her unluck is very powerful ,” Sai confessed glumly, as if somehow convinced his magic goat would be put on trial for zoo escapes.
It was too late, Metzli was knocked to the ground and Yuca yelled out in terror. She almost ran off, but they managed to grab her leash and pull her back in as they got to their feet. They were too frantic between the chaos and trying to get into some shade. “Oh. Hi Bex!” They said in a daze and ran under a nearby canopy for protection with Yuca in their arms once again. Her hackles were raised and she was growling. 
Leah watched from across the street as a panda bear chewed on pages from a book, and that was the last straw.  Chaos and carnage she could let go, but book destruction?  Unacceptable.  She stomped across the street toward the bear, taking a deep breath to settle herself as she went.
The tiger and her gorgeous coat stopped to regard Alcher for a moment, and what a sight she was. Alcher simply stood and admired her back, giving a nod. She didn’t need help stalking her prey, but the proud zebra had strutted further down the street and seemed to be oblivious to the chaos it had caused, if maybe proud. Alcher could relate. She would want to kill it, too. Perhaps it would taste sweet, like the smell of fae hanging in the air. Fae blood was a treasure for someone like Alcher, though she did not indulge often-- fae held grudges, fae remembered, fae had magic she didn’t want to mess with. Alcher turned to beckon to the child, whose worry was palpable. “I think they’ll do just fine. Keep up, if you don’t want to be the next meal.”
The lemurs began jumping on people, using their little hands to flip people off. They’d learned things during school field trips.
Sundew would later tell her troop that she’d made fifty humans think they were turning into animals even if it was only more like ten. 
“Can’t catch me!” She giggled, whizzing by Bex. She pulled on the girl’s hair as hard as she could, humans were so silly when they weeble-wobbled, and did several circles in the air to show how much she was enjoying herself. She circled around to where the sprites were clustering and touched her toes to the tops of their heads as she crowed, “Fly my pretties, fly!” Just to get them good and riled up. 
The zebra in front of Morgan pulled its ears back and huffed silently, then, swift as chaos, it reared and lunged at Morgan, knocking her down as it pranced toward freedom. Morgan wheezed, wincing as her chest bent back into the right shape, and looked ahead into the thick cluster of goats and animals. “What I’m hearing, Sai, is that this is only gonna get worse until we find your goat. And so we gotta—“ she gestured vaguely at the mess brewing in front of them. “Find her?”
A tall jogger sighed and scooped up a grizzly bear cub that’d been making excited friendly noises at the bibio-voric panda bear and had begun to imitate to see if human literature was indeed delicious. “No Zeke,” Roy sighed, chiding his youngest sibling. “We can’t play with cousin right now.”
Bly’s mouth was dry, this lady just nodded at the tiger. The tiger who was hunting was nodded at by a Lady who didn’t seem to care. Their fingers drummed a rhythm against their sternum, drowning out the pounding underneath it. “You think it might be hungry after a different meal?” Their voice was reaching a scared squeaking pitch. “Should I call my mom?”
“No! I thought you wanted to use the bag on the tapir! It looks shifty!” Chloe yelled back, eyeing it suspiciously again. “I don’t want it as a pet!” All bickering about the tapir faded away as she saw the sprites twisting around in the air. Chloe froze, shrinking in on herself as she clutched her iron necklace her breath racing. “I- I can’t- I can’t I can’t-” She handed Nell an iron necklace with a long iron chain on it, fingers trembling as she pressed her back against the wall. Please don’t notice me, please don’t notice me, she thought as loud as she could.
Bex recoiled. “See if I ever share my gummies with you again!” she growled at the pixie as she incited a rebellion among the butterfly beings. Her eyes roamed again until she found Metzli under a canopy, cradling their cat. “Maybe you should get out of here? Your cat seems angry and scared and I think it’s just gonna get um--” she glanced back at Morgan, the zebra, wincing at the hit, refraining from calling out to her-- “worse.” She waved her hands a moment. “At least stay here! I’ll be back.” She backed away, then, and made her way over to Sai. “Which way did she go? Can you, like, track her?” She tried to think of a way for herself to be useful, but barring becoming a distraction, she couldn’t think of much. “Maybe we should split up?”
The tiger was close enough, now, her prey nearly in her mouth it was so close. She looked to the human that did not smell like a human, to the cub human next to her. They were not important. One did not smell like prey, and the other was too small to worry with. The tiger had her prey. She looked back at it and let out a silent snarl. Sound had not come out of her, not anymore. Not since she had been locked behind those bars, since the colors in her fur dripped from her like rain water. She lunged, teeth and claws sinking into the hind end of her prey. It, too, could not properly cry out. The tiger finally had her meal.
“She probably wants to take the petting zoo goats to the farm,” Sai said, watching with wide eyes as Morgan went from definitely dead to bodily wholeness in the span of seconds. “Which…would mean I’d be harboring stolen property aw shit noooooo!”
Bea heard the yells before she saw anything out of the ordinary. All she had wanted was to buy a bottle of wine and have a bubble bath tonight. Sighing, the witch cracked open a bottle, screw top, Thank God, and took a sip. She saw her sister doing something and determined it was likely best to go help her. “Hey, Nellie,” She said casually as she offered the bottle to her sister. “Who let the animals out of the zoo?”
The tiger took its prey and Alcher grinned. The young human was panicking and she rolled her eyes. “What good would that do? If you want to survive, you must think smarter.” She didn’t know why she was even bothering with this human child, but she didn’t know how to walk away anymore. She’d grown...soft. Shuddering, Alcher turned away. She could smell them on the air, her cousins. They were traveling together and were getting closer. She had been waiting for this. It was time to make a new home for them. “Come,” she ushered to the child, “I want to show you something.” 
Nell shot the other woman an incredulous look, sparing the black and white tapir once more glance before calling back to her in exasperation. “It’s a vegetarian!” The witch couldn’t remember the fancy name for ‘plant-eater’ right now. She wasn’t sure what to make of the blond’s alarm, but it only took Nell a moment to recognize the iron that had been deposited into her hand. She still didn’t want to kill the things...but maybe she could use this to herd them. It covered more ground than her knife, anyway. Swinging the chain above her head in a wide circle, Nell moved towards the sprites with her bag in the other hand. “Get!” she yelled out of instinct, as if she were wrangling some particularly rowdy cattle. “Into the bag and I won’t singe your wings off!” Bea? What the hell? Where had Bea come from? “I don’t know who let them out. Would you care to help get them back in?”
Miriam had decided to go for a walk, her skin mostly covered as she wore a large sun hat and glasses, looking for a meal before she headed back home. She was drawn to an intense amount of misery and pain, despair coming from a particular area of town. She was curious, this much concentrated agony unusual. “That little fucker waddled away with my cappuccino!” was all Miriam heard as she stumbled upon, well, a herd. All sorts of wildlife ran amok, and she blinked against the sight of it. She should turn around. She was going to turn around. This was just a little much for even her.
Mom always said not to lose your head. She also always said that letting strangers show you things would often end up poorly. Bly had already lost their head, might as well let a stranger show them something. Plus, she wasn’t scared and it was a good idea to be with someone who wasn’t losing their shit. “Uh, yeah sure? Is it another tiger cus I’m not sure if I can deal with that. Especially after witnessing that…” They trailed off looking at the tiger feasting, it made their stomach turn.
Of course Yuca was upset, her predators were roaming about and Metzli could do close to nothing to help as long as the sun was around. People were running and screaming as they glared quietly. They opted to simply threaten, baring their teeth in a predatory show of dominance under the safety of the shadows, petting Yuca and cooing at her every so often. They needed just a little more time before they were able to bolt back home. 
The wine was ignored and Bea let out a little huff through her nose. She wouldn’t offer next time then. Screwing the top back on, she placed the bottle back into her tote bag gingerly. It was a pretty nice wine. “Direct me, Nell. I don’t exactly have experience in this.” If Nell wasn’t here, deep in the fray like she always was, Bea might have considered leaving, but her sister was and so Bea couldn’t leave. “What are you going to do with the bag after you get them?”
The  sprites were only too happy to listen to Sundew. With a cascade of hissing and fluttering they rose, spread and circled the room. When the iron started flying into their cluster, their humming grew louder. Yes, it was going to be a cutting kind of day after all. 
Morgan nodded along to Sai’s words. “Mkay. No one is harboring stolen animals. Petting zoo. We got this. We totally got this.” She stood slowly and staggered forward. But maybe, uh—” Morgan didn’t want to broadcast that she couldn’t remember what Ibulba looked like under these circumstances, but just then, every fluffy goat in the distance looked the same. “A description so we can all be equally aware and prepared would help!” She nodded encouragingly, then stuck her hand into her bag and took out a snack to eat on her way to the goats. 
Alcher walked through the animals as they gave her a wide berth, especially those one might consider prey. Even in this form, they could sense what she was and she moved like a fish through water, smooth and gliding, the child in tow. Good, they’d decided to follow. She made her way down the alley and towards the edge of the streets, where it met fields of grass and eventually grew into trees. She looked back at the child. “Not a tiger, no,” she pointed at the pack of only black and white wolves, stalking the edge of the forest. They, too, had found prey, and Alcher was eager to watch. “Watch how nature truly works. This is what the world makes of those who are weak.” Of those who are prey, like little human children. 
“Everything here is weirdly quiet and mime shaped so the tapir probably eats hearts on the DL!” Chloe yelled back. When she noticed the sprites, her body trembled, remembering the time she’d seen them swarm and slaughter a nearby bird. The other thing she’d learned was that wherever there were sprites, there were pixies lording over them like a bite sized monarch. She shied further back into the street, terrified to get any closer, when suddenly the sprites grew more and more energetic, spreading out and urging into a frenzy. One zipped inches from Chloe’s face as she choked on the kind of scream banned by fae promise, unable to  do so much as swat them away. “Maybe- maybe- maybe something sweet!” Fae were renowned for their sweet tooths, she knew.
Sai shoved a hand in his pocket and grabbed a handful of Parmesan cheese from the baggie in there. He covertly held the Parmesan flat on his hand while moving closer to Morgan to screen the cheese from view. The Tyromancer murmured a few phrases under his breath and the cheese grains shaped themselves into a moving perfect replica of the black horned Scapegoat. “That's her”
Bro, Mom was one hundred percent right. This was a bad idea. A messed up teaching moment. The dizziness wasn’t fading as Bly looked over the scene that this woman had lead them too. “I really, really prefer when I see nature working through a documentary.” Why had they had coffee today? That always made their anxiety spike and their anxiety was already spoke. “I mean this is metal as fuck, like maybe you should write for horror movies, but I’m not a prey animal? I’m not going to be in situations like this very often and a pack of wolves isn’t going to eat me. I’m not weak. Or like I’m not usually weak?”
Bex watched in awe as Sai shaped the cheese, a bit gleeful at the creation of it. She wondered if one day she could do something like that. Maybe not with cheese. Definitely not with cheese. She glanced up and squinted down the street towards where Morgan was headed, the heard of goats far enough away to look like a stripe of cotton on the horizon. “Okay,” she nodded and started off across the street, looking both ways and letting a heard of quick moving raccoons scuttle down the road towards the alleys before turning to head up the sidewalk. She spotted Nell and Bea and another woman dealing with the sprites and decided it was probably better to not disturb them, pulling her own magic to the edge of her fingertips in case she’d need it. “Ibulba!” she called out as she got closer, “I’ve got um-- apples for you!” Goats liked apples, right?
Nell patience was worn thin. She already had so little of it to begin with, especially these days in the wake of everything that had happened over the past few months. Without warning she whipped the iron chain hard and fast enough to slice clean through a swath of the sprites, killing them instantly as their burned halves fell to the ground. “Get in the bag while you still can.” Again it had come to violence. Was this what she was supposed to be doing? Killing sprites and helping people? But the sprites weren’t being helped. The reason she couldn’t be worthy in the way Dave had said— was it because she’d never been able to solve things without adding more violence? Trying to shake her head of the thoughts she spoke again to Bea. “I’m gonna put them in the bag and glue them to the fucking ground. Then I’ll deal with them after.” Bea wanted direction. The biggest threat was the tiger, though she seemed happy now that she’d gotten her meal. “Just herd the animals back towards the zoo. Starting with this guy-” Nell nodded in the tapir’s direction. “A shadow leash or something.” The blond’s continued fear drew Nell’s attention, and she didn’t hesitate to dissect the sprite into two, the necklace swinging inches from the woman’s face. 
Alcher frowned and turned to look back at the child, golden eyes reflecting sunlight in a way human ones could not. “Oh, but you are, child,” was all she said, before she moved forward swiftly and finally ripped free of her human flesh. She wanted to join the pack, the ache of needing one too hard to resist. 
There was finally a chance, a chance to run in the midst of the chaos. Everyone was doing their best to do a multitude of things. Stop the chaos, run from the chaos, and even ensuing more chaos. Normally, Metzli would be excited by their own dangerous plans, but they would never dare risk Yuca’s life like that. And so they ran as fast as they could, inconspicuously. Running past Bex, they pulled her to the side as an ostrich that was running next to them nearly trampled her. “Watch your back!” They yelled as they continued to run, and get the fuck away from the fun. It was fun they were willing to miss out on. “This doesn’t mean I like you though!” Their voice trailed off into the distance as they finally escaped with Yuca. Passing by Bly and taking the chance for a little chaos. “Watch out. There’s a leopard behind you…!” Even yelling “Made you look!” As they continued. 
Ibulba was watching approvingly as the quiet petting zoo goats tore through an upscale clothing store. Stalls and hangers toppled inside the store, the destruction escalating in unlikely domino effects as some unseen force seemed to play havoc with probability. Ibulba and several other goats were munching on a delicious Marie-Chantal Miller wedding dress they’d pulled out from the shattered viewing window. But her ears perked up at her name. 
Ibulba turned to face the familiar she-human who was holding an apple to her. Ibubla turned back to look, and saw the sacking of the silky human-covering place was well in hand. She trotted over to Bex, seeming at home in the surrounding anarchy, and took a prospective bite of the apple.
Bex stumbled when Metzli whizzed by her, yanking her out of the path of a storming ostrich. Scrunching her nose, she shouted back, “Yes you do!” before she reached her destination and found the clothing store in utter disarray. Well...most of the dresses were tacky, anyway. She wondered if expensive clothing tasted better than bargain bin. But Ibulba was happily trotting over to her and she held out the apple she’d had in her bag and reached out to pat her head. “Hey there,” she said casually, smiling at her. “Sai’s kinda worried about you, ya know. Can you go back to him? I think he really needs your help.” From what Bex had seen of her, and knew of her, she was fiercely protective of her spellcaster. It was the bond between familiar and caster Nell had told Bex about, and she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. “Besides, looks like your friends’ve got everything under control here.” 
Shadow leash. Bea could handle that, and she could start gathering a decent amount of animals with her as she went with them. “Alright. I’ll be back when I can okay.” It was good to see Nell take charge. There was energy in her voice, a commanding tone that had been missing. “You’re doing a good job,” She said offhandedly as she subtly made a shadow leash for the tapir. The animal moved uncomfortably as it realized what she had done but she was already walking along, forcing him to follow.
VOMIT TW BEGIN
This was it, this lady was a serial killer and Bly was about to be a victim. Then her skin… changed and there was a wolf in her place and finally that bile that had been working it’s way up erupted, Bly choking on it as they let out a surprised wail. As they spit it up into the grass, someone screamed about a leopard and it took all Bly’s strength to sprint away as fast as they could. They were pretty sure they had screamed, but they were running to fast to know what left them as they reentered the chaos. 
VOMIT TW END
Morgan had just enough calm to take note of the image without choking on her fried brains. “Beautiful,” she deadpanned, and shambled with Bex toward that goat.
Sundew flew somersaults into the air, faster and faster, speeding toward the ground. A big black and white furry creature sneezed and swatted at her and sent her veering off course, into Morgan’s head. 
Morgan caught the pixie in the palm of her hand. She had a few irritated words lined up and ready to go when a hundred little cuts pinged on her head and back. The sprites, scattering from the threat of iron, had landed on her, and had decided to take out their aggression on her body. Morgan lurched away from Bex and Ibulba and fell on her knees.
“What was that for?” Sundew asked. She had fully expected to meet the eternal pixie night after that swipe, but the dummy boob had caught her on purpose and for absolutely no trade at all. 
Morgan was a little occupied with being bitten by angry sprites. She gave Sundew a dirty glare, so clear even the pixie knew what had to be done. She gave a whistle and ordered the sprites to go home. “There, are you happy now, Dummy Boob?” She asked. 
Morgan looked around, dazed and bleary eyed. “You know…maybe yeah,” she said dryly. “Come on. I’ve got a real live bad luck goat for you to meet. And a big ol farm she needs to go home to.”
From an alley, a friend was watching. It was not seen. It was not heard. But it was watching. Perhaps it, too, would one day find a companion to romp through the streets and eat with.
While the sprites rammed into Morgan, Nell saw red. With another uttering of her magic, and a tug on the bond that linked her and the witch’s familiar, Taki was blipping into existence at her side, as easily summoned as breathing air after nearly a decade of doing it. “Roast them,” she told Taki, waiting for the fiery inferno of his breath to make barbecue out of the bothersome pint-sized fae. “Morgan, duck!” A swath of flames erupted from the Ovinikk’s mouth before Nell could realize the sprites were retreating on the orders of Sundew— and the stragglers of the pack screeched as they were set ablaze. 
Ibulba closed her amber eyes and concentrated for a moment. She could feel her partner’s mounting anxiety from here. When Ibubla was still a kid,  she’d been presented with a young he-human. He suffered from convulsions and visions, but Ibulba has souldbounded with him nevertheless, discerning that his gentleness and diligence would provide balance to her chaos. Ibulba reached through the bond and found her human partner. 
Ibulba opened her eyes, munching pensively on the apple while nodding for Bex to follow. Several petting zoo goats looked up questioningly, but Ibulba knew she’d done what she could. They must find their own freedom and delicious silky snacks now. She had a hyperventilating partner to attend to. 
Ibulba wove her way unerringly through the stampedes, seeming to navigate through some superior sense of probability. She occasionally checked to see if Bex was following. Eventually she sprinted straight into her caster’s embrace, allowing him to bury his face and mumble inane worried things into her wooly fur.
Relieved, Bex followed Ibulba back to Sai, who grabbed her and hugged her so gratefully, it was as if they’d been parted for years. Or, perhaps, that their distance had pained him. She heard Nell’s familiar voice, too, and looked up from Sai and Ibulba, watching as Taki opened his mouth and let out a roar of flames. Something heavy fell in Bex’s stomach as she heard the anguished cries of the small butterfly critters. Winced and looked away, deciding that keeping her focus on Sai and Ibulba was the best idea. “C’mon, we should maybe get her back to the farm,” she ushered, looking back over her shoulder at Nell and wondering if she noticed her, too. She looked angry. Bex wished she could reach out with her own magic and help calm her down, but that wasn’t within her grasp yet. She patted Ibulba’s head again and smiled at Sai as best she could. “Maybe invest in a leash, too,” she teased.
There was little left of the tiger’s prey as her stomach became overly full. Still, it was so good, so fresh. She would not waste it. And, as the humans’ sounds grew louder, she would not be caught again. No more cages. No more bars. Only fresh, warm prey. She grabbed what was left by its leg and began dragging it off, away from the noise. She would finish it later, after some peace and quiet and freedom.
“T-t-the tiger,” one of the zoo keepers, scrawny and trembling and a voice that was beginning to fail every few words, managed to say. They were a new hire. They’d find their words eventually. Or perhaps lose them. They pointed in the direction of where the tiger had gone, but it was too late to go after her with all the other chaos on the loose. They would have to follow the blood smears and hope it led them to her. After all, how hard would it be to locate a white tiger?
It was all gloved hands on deck as the rest of the zoo keepers, along with some of White Crest’s finest joined together with tranquilizers and began systematically and, for the most part, silently dispatching animals to get them sent back to the zoo. It would be hard work, but it would be done.
While the tiger wandered off, Anara Kingston took inventory of the wreckage that had been done to the front of her bistro, the lemurs that were still flipping the bird to anyone who so much as glanced in their direction, and the actual birds that were fluttering around with teeth that looked a little too human. Hold on. Birds didn’t have teeth, did they? It didn’t matter anymore. With a resigned sigh she turned back towards the sign she’d been so proud to display, sullenly erasing the number on it, changing it to read ‘0 days since last accident.’
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violetnotez · 4 years
Text
HC: S/o With a Good Luck, Bad Luck Quirk
@mrsadfacestudio: SO how about Bakugou, Midoriya, Todoroki, Tamaki and Mirio react on their crush having a good luck/bad luck quirk? Like Y/N says "I feel like today will be great day!" They live close by to Y/N so as they were about to ask to walk with them. As she walk on the side walk, shit goes down. Y/N is passing a building that exploded behind her. She walk far enough so when the building fell, it didn't land on her
Alrightie I hope I did this to the best of my abilities, so I’m sorry if the quirk description isn’t accurate to your ask! Excited to write for Tamaki though since this is my first time, so forgive me if Tamaki’s isn’t the best! ✨🌸
AU: Reader has agood/bad luck quirk, where they can manipulate the luck of themselves or others around them(sometimes without realizing it)
Pairings: Midoriya x reader, Shoto x reader, Tamaki x reader, Mirio x reader
RULES | MASTERLIST| REQUESTS CLOSED
Izuku
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◦oh he is just be so amazed by your quirk-it’s so different from any one he has ever seen or heard of!
◦ he is going to have a full journal dedicated to you and is always lending a hand to help you with training if you ever need it!
◦ he knows you can hold your own, but this boy is going to constantly work himself into a frenzy over worrying about you
◦he’s just so overprotective he really can’t help it!
◦ one day as he was walking to the grocery store to grab some produce for his mother, he heard a large explosion
◦ Izuku turned around, seeing a dark plumage of smoke rising, his heart dropping-you had told him last night you were deciding to take a run in the morning
◦And of course you said you were taking a run right in that area
◦He instantly dropped the groceries, taking off at an intense speed, his hands fumbling with his phone as he desperately tried to call you
◦you weren’t calling him back, making his anxiety 10x worse
◦when he got to the wreckage site, he realized it was a poorly attempted bank robbery, heroes as well as police officers investigating the scene and taking in the suspected “villians” for questioning
◦ he started looking around, trying to see if anybody resembled you, but he didn’t see you, and oh no what if you got caught in some rubble, or maybe somehow you were badly hurt, that’s why you weren’t answering his calls-
◦ “Hey ‘Zuku, I didn’t expect you to be here! I hope no ones hurt!” You greeted from behind, scaring him shitless but also making so relieved
◦his face light up like a Christmas tree- “y/n! Oh, I’m so glad your okay! Are you hurt, do you feel alright-“
◦”I’m fine Izuku, I promise!” You laugh, taking his shaking hands into your own. “My quirk somehow gave me a heads up about what was going to happen, so I decided to get some boba instead!”
◦you smiled brightly, taking a sip from the thick straw- “it also gave me an idea that you’d stop by too,” you held out another drink, his favorite flavor-green tea
◦he thanked you gratefully, taking a sip as he held onto your hand tightly
◦After that scare, there is no way he is letting you out of his sight
Shoto
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◦ Like Izuku, he is going to find your quirk intriguing and definitely interesting
◦It’s not flashy, but it certainly is very powerful in its own way (not that Shoto would care if it’s flashy or not-he loves you for you, not your quirk)
◦*cough cough unlike his father *cough cough
◦ He really can’t understand it that well, because sometimes it gives you a dose of “bad” luck before it rewards you with some prosperity in your life
◦When you and Shoto were still hopelessly pinning for each other, for example, your quirk had decided to give you a slight nudge to get closer to the reserved boy
◦ As you were rushing to the cafeteria during lunch break one day, you had spotted Shoto walking from afar
◦He was close enough to be able to see his features, but far away that you could appreciate his handsome features without looking too creepy
◦You couldnt help but sneak a blissful glance at his face-he was honestly so handsome with his bi colored eyes, pale skin, chiseled jawline-
◦And that’s when your foot slipped on a stray piece of paper and your body landed on the hard linoleum floor with a gut wrenching smack
◦Shoto has obviously heard (it was hecka loud), and being the only other person in the hallway besides you, it was hard to ignore that
◦he instantly rushed over to you, concerned for your wellbeing
◦”Y/n, are you alright?” He asked, crouching down next to you
“I-uh-yeah I’m fine!” Your cheeks were on fire, and you were cursing your quirk inside your head for not helping you avoid your fall-
◦Until Shoto has held out one of his hands, offering it to you
◦”May I?” Shoto’s exterior looked extremely composed, but on the inside he was freaking out-he was just being nice, right? This wasn’t because he had a crush on you or anything-he wasn’t loving the fact that he was the one to help you up, or was trying to memorize how your rosy cheecks looked so pretty on your skin-
◦you placed your smaller hand in his, his fingers gently squeezing yours as he pulled you up
◦your legs were still wobbly, as your knees were the first ones to hit the floor-so you body kinda toppled onto his
◦He was strong and he anticipated you to lean into him, so he easily took the extra weight with ease
◦what wasn’t so easy was keeping his composure-your hands were resting on his chest, those pretty eyes of yours boaring into his, your cheeks ten times redder
◦ He couldnt help but tense up-he wasn’t used to being so close to you, or any girl for that matter, but he was growing quite fond to how wonderful your body felt pressed against his own
◦”I-I I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ you began to stutter against his chest
◦Shoto gave a tiny smile, finding it cute that you were just as much of a nervous wreck as he felt- “It’s quite alright… do you think your badly injured? Let’s see if you can walk,”
Tamaki
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◦ohhh sweet baby boy is gonna adore you
��he’s going to think your quirk is just so amazing- lowkey will get down on himself and think his is inadequate to yours sometimes
◦when that happens- AFFIRMATIONS AND CUDDLES 100% WILL FEEL BETTER AFTER
◦ Also will worry about you a lot-he has experienced a lot of things at a young age and knows how harsh the real world can be
◦He doesn’t want to see you get hurt at all, but knowing you have such a helpful quirk does ease his nerves some-also helps him out in a pinch too
◦One time when you both were on patrol, Tamaki had realized just how helpful your quirk could be for yourself and him
◦You two were stationed for the next few hours at the city’s busy downtown area
◦You we’re loving all the lights, the people, and the stores, while Tamaki-
◦Well, Tamaki was not
◦”Do we have to be so close to people?” He asked timidly, tugging his hood farther down his eyes, “I feel they’re staring right at us.”
◦you laughed, playfully walking into his side
◦”Of course they are Tamaki! We are dressed up as heroes after all,” you replied sweetly, waving to a small group of kids gawking at you two
◦”I know-its just, your so natural at all this. I don’t know if I can be as cheerful as you,”
◦You sighed, intertwining your fingers with your shy boyfriend. “Don’t get so worked up over it Tama, you're a wonderful hero. It doesn’t matter if your shy or outgoing, it only matters if your a good hero- which you are.”
◦You took that as an opportunity to kiss his cheek, his once nervous frown turning into a tiny smirk
◦”Th-thank you,” he stuttered out, touching the spot where you kissed him
◦ “Of course!” You grinned, “Oh and also-you may want to take your hood off.”
◦ even though he didn’t want to do what you instructed, he trusted your instincts, pulling the fabric down
◦ “Why is that-“ just as the words slipped out of his mouth, the gang of kids you had waved at had ran past, one of the kids having his hands held out suspiciously
◦ A gust of wind flew in your faces from the kids hands, your hair tossling into your faces
◦ “Aww cool we finally see his face!” The kid with the wind quirk yelled, realizing his hood was already down
◦ The others stared at you too in awe, some waving nervously as they ran past, giggling and screaming as they ran away from their shenanigans
◦”See, they wanna stare at your pretty face too, ya know,” you joked, earning a groan from your timid boyfriend as he tugged his hood on again
◦ Tamaki blushes furiously, his stomach filled with butterflies
◦”The only person I like staring at me is-is you,”
Mirio
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◦He is gonna use your quirk to give you the cutest pet names
◦His personal fav is going to be calling you his “Lucky Charm”
◦will also call you the cheesiest name like “Light of his life,” “sunshine” (not really revolves around your quirk but no the less!)
◦ will also be a constant worry wart over you-you are his love after all, he can’t help but worry!
◦ Omg hed be the sweetest boyfriend though, always checking up on you and making sure your a-okay!
◦One day though he was on patrol by himself when he spotted you in the same area
◦Of course this boy was gonna come and say hi!
◦More like try to scare the shit out of you by running up behind you and giving you a hug
◦You were staring down at your phone, so it would be a perfect time to go and surprise you
◦But to his horror, a bicyclist who had no control over their bike was bounding onto the sidewalk
◦A bunch of pedestrians were freaking out, moving to the side quickly to not get ran over
◦Of course Mirio was already on his way to go and help, but before he even could the bike was already close to hitting you
◦Just as he was going to yell your name and scoop you into his arms, out of harms way, he saw you casually just move to the side
◦You looked like you didn’t even know what was going on-your face didn’t leave your phone screen, it’s expressions calm as ever-all you did was sidestep so you were a mere inches from getting hit by the bike zooming past
◦Mirio took a second to just stare in amazement-how did you even do that?!?
◦Then he relaized he actually had a job to do, so he ran over to help the poor bicyclist before going over to say hi
◦Ohhhhh he asked so many questions after that and just rave about how cool that was
◦”That was amazing! You just kept on walking as if nothing happened! Does that happen any time you might be in danger?”
◦”Well sometimes if I need to learn something, or if it would be safer for me for my quirk not to intervene, I’ll still get hurt or embarrassed-whatever the case may be.” You smiled, “But usually, yeah, it’ll give me a heads up of what might happen to me if I don’t listen to my quirk
“◦”oh that’s so amazing sunshine! You really are a lucky charm, huh?”
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moccahobi · 3 years
Text
The Slope Bunny [Taehyung x Reader]
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Summary: You’re staying at a ski resort and meet an interesting slope bunny.
genre: slope bunny au, skier au, fluff
wc: 2.3k
warnings: none
ratings: E for everyone
a/n: this is my @castlebangtan​ secret santa gift for @tatastaetae​! I hope you like my trash lolol. But fr. I hope you have such a happy hannuka and a great December/January. I love you and appreciate you so much and am so glad to be in a net with you.
a/n2: I posted this yesterday but it isn’t showing up in tags! Here is hoping a repost will help it show up!
Crisp air whipped passed you as you zoomed down yet another slope, eyes slowly taking in your surroundings. Excitement and freedom swam in your veins as you quickly maneuvered around moguls, your poles helping to make the process 1000x easier. Occasionally you even tried your hand at jumping over moguls (mostly if you didn't have enough time to maneuver around them). Despite the below freezing temperatures, there was a thin layer of sweat covering you and soaking into your clothes. Not that it mattered. There was rarely a moment when you weren't warm while skiing.
At a small rest in the slope, you stopped and looked around as you caught your breath. You only had two hundred to three hundred more meters left in the run. All around you were frosty trees and zooming skiers and boarders, some of whom were even weaving in between the trees on small paths made from constant use. It was a magical place and a magical time when many people had retreated to eat lunch.
With a happy smile (hidden behind a neck scarf) and a shiver of excitement, you were off again, determined to make the last stretch be amazing. All too soon, you saw the end of the slope coming closer and closer, a small line already forming in front of the chair lift.
Swiftly, you slid into the singles line, passing at least two four person groups. It only took a minute before you, a pair, and another single were grouped together and made it on to a chair lift, your poles tightly held in your hands and your feet dangling in the air.
You were on number 75.
"So... are you all enjoying the slopes today?" A snowboarder asked, their voice muffled by the balaklava they were wearing.
"Oh totally! This is our first time coming here." One of the people in the pair said excitedly as they looked around, "And the weather is absolutely perfect for skiing and boarding."
"For sure. This is the fourth time I've come to this resort. My favorite slope of all is the Flume. It's on the other side of the mountain." The boarder said, one of the people in the pair nodding excitedly.
"Oh! We were on the Flume this morning! It was fun! Do you have any recommendations?"
"Hmmm... I really enjoy the slopes on the western side of the mountain. It's best to go in the morning though. The slopes get ugly in the afternoon."
"Oh! Thank you!"
After that the chair lift was quiet.  You were fine with that, instead spending the ride watching skiers and boarders zoom down the slopes below, many of whom were reenergized after their lunch break. At the thought of lunch, you felt your stomach growl. Despite you always making the choice to stay out until the lunch rush starts to break, it always shocks you just how hungry you get when it is time to go in.
Soon enough, you were preparing to get off the lift, adjusting your position on the seat and making sure your skis and poles were in the right position. You left the lift without saying goodbye to those you rode it with, knowing that you'd likely never see them again (or recognize them if you did meet them again), and started to skate your way towards the end of the snow.
Even as you made your way back to the hotel room you shared with your friend, Lillia, and hung up your wet snow clothes in front of a small fire, your mind was on the slopes, running through your next plan. Would you want to start with some scenic greens or go straight into blacks?
Would you even want to go back out after lunch? Or would you want to stay in and then go out for night skiing later when it got darker?
There were so many options and you felt somewhat torn with what to do.
Eventually you stopped running through the possibilities when you finished making a large pot of mac and cheese (one of your go-to meals when on a ski trip). You didn't even bother putting it into a bowl, simply taking the pot and a hot plate and situating yourself in front of the television to watch some random show while you ate.
Soreness from a fall you took earlier that day started to settle on you by the time you finished the pot of mac and cheese and a bottle of gatorade, Lillia coming in to nap at one point. Falls weren't uncommon. Especially as you tried to make jumps and took random paths in the woods so you were a little surprised to feel the soreness from a particularly bad fall earlier.
You hummed in thought as you started to clean up some of your dishes. The hotel you were staying in had a hot tub. Maybe instead of going out for more skiing while it's still bright out, you can relax in the hot tub, warm your body up and soothe the soreness you were feeling. Plus, it would likely be empty at this time since everyone would be out on the slopes.
Quickly writing a letter to Lillia who was still dead asleep and would likely cuss you out before falling asleep (only to not remember) if you tried to wake her up to tell, you changed and went off to the hot tub, excitement running through your veins as you did.
You quickly walked to the "spa" room (which was just a room with some lockers, a treadmill, and a bathroom that had a door to the hot tub). When you got there though, you felt a bit of disappointment. Someone else was in the hot tub. Someone else was in the hot tub. Some good looking korean dude was just chilling in the hot tub, his eyes slowly looking around and his mind somewhere else as he relaxed.
All too soon, his eyes landed on you, a small smile growing on his face as he waved you over. It felt strange to walk over to him and get into the hot tub, your mind questioning why he was being so friendly and also stuttering over how good the man looked up close. You blushed self consciously as you slowly got into the water, the man’s eyes moving to look elsewhere as he thought.
“So… are you a fellow slope bunny?” The man asked after a minute or so of silence, his voice surprisingly deep and smooth.
You laughed awkwardly and smiled, “No. I ski. Who did you come here with? A significant other?”
“No. I am here with my friends. They all board or ski and I don’t. I wanted to come though because we rarely see each other normally.”
You nodded slowly, “I get that. My friend and I are here but we are such different skiers that we don’t often ski together. So we really only are getting together again after we are both done for the day.”
After a little bit of silence, the two of you found a solid rhythm full of conversation fragments and having time to think on your own. It was nice and in the conversation fragments that you did have, you found yourself hanging onto every word that the man said. Before you realized, the sun had set and you needed to get back to your hotel room.
You sighed and entered the one resort's restaurants. It was a simple grill and all you wanted after a whole day of skiing was a little food and a warm drink before retiring for the night and sleeping for twelve hours. Your friend had gone to the hotel room an hour before you so once again, you were all alone. You sat down at the bar, next to a familiar looking stranger who was quietly sipping on some hot coco as someone next to her talked excitedly. Quickly you looked over at them before realizing, it was your friend. She was in a large yellow sweater, her makeup done wildly and her hair unkempt from being in a helmet all day.
"Lillia! Crazy seeing you here!"
She laughed and smiled with a nod, "I got a little stir crazy in the hotel room so here I am!" She looked over at the person next to her, "Taehyung and I were just talking about animals!"
"Hello!" Taehyung said in a deep voice.
Wait.
You recognized him! He was the dude in the hot tub!
"Oh! Hello again! I am Y/n! How do you two know each other?"
"We don't." Lillia laughed, "Taehyung complimented my makeup and then we just started talking."
"Yeah! What's your favorite animal? Wait! Let me guess... hmmm," Taehyung's face twisted as he thought and you laughed quietly, ordering a hot green tea from the person behind the bar.
"I know what this is, Taehyung. So I'm not going to help you." Lillia laughed and leaned back in her high chair, happily looking between you and Taehyung who was now pouting.
"Well that's good! I don't want to cheat with this! I get the feeling that... hmm... your favorite animal is a Gopher."
You laughed loudly at that and shook your head, "Pig. Has been most of my life. Why did you think gopher?"
Taehyung blushed, "You're cute like a gopher."
Lillia snorted and hid a laugh with a sip of her hot coco as she looked at you (who was blushing like crazy). At that time, your green tea came and you quickly took a sip, wincing as the hot liquid burned your tongue.
"You are cute." Lillia sang and winked your way, downing the rest of her hot coco and signaling for a check.
You blushed more, somewhat tired of your friend's flirty nature.
"Very."
Gosh! At this point, you were as red as a tomato!
You coughed, "I don't know about that. Taehyung... what is your favorite animal?"
"A squirrel! I just love how cute they are! And have you ever tried to chase them? They are so fun to chase... or watch really! I have this bird feeder that prevents squirrels from eating the seed and I love watching them try tirelessly to eat the seed! Even when I have a soot block for them to eat from as well." Taehyung laughed happily, his eyes glowing as he started to gush about the bird feeders in front of his apartment window.  
The conversation lasted for a long while, the topics occasionally changing but the energy and amiableness never changing. Even when Lillia left and you went onto your third cup of tea (along with an appetizer to eat) and Taehyung started to drink his fourth cup of hot cocoa. You'd had this fun with few strangers before and by the time the bar was calling last call and you'd had five cups of tea and Taehyung six cups of hot cocoa, you were leaving the bar with a blushing face and Taehyung's hand held tightly in yours. From a mixture of the cold and poor flirting, the two of your faces were bright read but you were more excited than ever.
In the stairwell on the platform that opened up to your floor (which apparently was below his) the two of you were standing like two excited idiots, neither wanting to leave first.
"I really enjoyed talking with you today..." You started, looking down at your entwined hands, your face heating up more.
"Yeah."
"Can I have your number?"
Taehyung giggled excitedly and nodded and gave you his phone. Even after you texted yourself through his phone, you didn't leave. You simply looked up at Taehyung and his handsome face, a giddy excitement filling you as you did so.
"Yeah!" Lillia's voice cut through the giddy trance both Taehyung and you were in as she excitedly broke into the stairwell, "I've been waiting for three hours, Y/n! We need to talk!"
Taehyung quickly glanced at Lillia before looking back at you, "Well..."
"Well..."
"I guess I'll see you around."
"Yeah."
"Omg. You are both such love sick babies!" Lillia cried, roughly grabbing your arm and pulling you along to your hotel room.
"So... what happened, Y/n?"
"Omg. I am not doing this with you." You groaned and fell face first on the couch, hiding your face in the cushions to hide from Lillia's barrage of excited questions.
After Lillia became too exhausted to continue asking questions and retired to her bed for the night, you found yourself texting Taehyung. Hushed giggles and large paragraphs of texts filled your night and it all surmounted when Taehyung asked you out for breakfast in his hotel room the next morning. It wasn't hard to say yes, even with the knowledge that Lillia was going to make fun of you skipping first tracks tomorrow for breakfast with a guy you just met a few days ago.
Sure enough, after Lillia squealed and jumped around excitedly about your date, she started teasing you to no end. Her eyes excited as she threw joke after joke. She missed first tracks herself to help you prepare and before you knew it, she was rushing you out of the hotel room to go meet Taehyung in the stairway.
"Hi." You said quietly when you saw him, too struck by how handsome he looked in that moment to say more.
"Hello."
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hopesangelsprite · 4 years
Text
Sin City | KSJ (1/?)
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Pairing: Demon!Receptionist!Seokjin x Reader
Summary: In a world were angels and demons co-exist with humans, an angel meets the most beautiful yet dangerous demon in the world... her brother’s bestfriend. (Slight crack tbh)
There were three kinds of people in this world:
Angels. Demons. And Humans.
Angels were pure-hearted, kind souls who spent their days bringing joy and purpose to peoples’ lives. They were generous and caring, but, most importantly, they were accepting. No matter who or what you were, they didn’t care. They loved you all the same.
Demons, however, were opposites of Angels. They were known for causing mischief and discord. The nights and shadowy places were where they thrived the most. They were top-notch manipulators, whispering lies and truths here and there. Making it impossible to tell which was which.
Humans were just… in between. They were neither good nor bad. They could be moral when they wanted to be, but if they wanted something and you stood in their way, they proved to be incredibly ruthless. The lives of Humans tended to be influenced by the people they lived with. A Human, who was around more angelic folk, was more compassionate and benign. Humans who held the company of the more demonic sort were mostly cruel and malevolent.
Cadence King was born a pureblooded Angel to Nicolai and Charity King during the Winter Solstice of 2002. Unlike her dark-haired and brown-eyed parents, she had snow-white curls and mismatched blue and green eyes. Her mother, who had been told that she was physically incapable of bearing a child and thought that her caring Cadence was a miracle from Heaven above, was ecstatic when she held her tiny baby girl for the first time. The couple vowed to raise her as lovingly as they possibly could.
And they did… until a fateful summers night in Daegu stole them away from this world. Mr. and Mrs. King had been killed in a mugging, leaving poor little Cadence orphaned and alone on the night of her fifth birthday. There were no living relatives to take her in, so she was placed into foster care with the Min family.
The Mins were a four people family that consisted of Mr. Min, Mrs. Min, and their sons, Junki and Yoongi. Although the Mins were Demons, they accepted Cadence into their family and treated her like she was their own. Junki and Yoongi, who were 17 and 15 at the time, watched over her as overprotective brothers tend to do. They taught her all kinds of Martial Arts and made sure that she was able to defend herself when it was time for them to leave for college a few years later.
Mr. and Mrs. Min focused all of their time and resources on Cadence’s training and studies after their youngest son, Yoongi, left to study music in the city. They raised her to be a responsible and thoughtful child. She was obedient, kind, and beloved by all who knew her. As she grew older, she remained well-mannered and intelligent. Soon, it would be time for her to leave home just as her brothers before her had.
* TIME SKIP TO PRESENT DAY / THE REST OF THE STORY WILL BE IN CADENCE’S POV *
I stared out the train’s large window in boredom. Trees and meadows passed by in green blurs as we zoomed through the countryside. Earlier this morning, my mother and father had helped me finish packing my suitcases and put me on the train with sweet goodbye, from my mom, and a stern ‘be careful’, from my dad. I had finally turned 18 a week ago, and mom and dad made a phone call to Yoongi asking if I would be able to stay with him in Seoul. He’d agreed and now I was 15 minutes away from seeing the brother I hadn’t seen in 10 years. Yoongi had left on bad terms and he promised to stay away until he was ready to come home. Yoongi was always good at keeping his promises.
I sighed before unlocking my phone and checking my recent messages. As usual, they were filled with threats from my crazy ex I’d dated when I was 16. It started pretty well until he hit me. He promised he’d never do it again, but he did over and over and over again. After the eighth time, I left him for good and told him that if he ever came near again, he’d have my brothers to deal with. He stayed away physically but continued to threaten me to come back to him.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ll be arriving at Seoul National Station in five minutes. I repeat, five minutes.”, the voice of the elderly conductor informed from above. As if on cue, a message from Yoongi came through saying that he wouldn’t be picking me up because of his daily 3:45 nap. I rolled my eyes and began readying myself for the exit soon to come.
Within the next ten minutes, I was in a cab on my way to Yoongi’s. The city of Seoul was beautiful and diverse in many ways. Groups of Angels, Demons, and Humans socialized amongst each other peacefully. Street performers attracted cheering crowds and healthy tips. Food trucks and venues filled areas with delicious smells and dishes. A small bit of happiness filled my chest. This was my new home!
Soon the cab stopped at a luxury condo in the heart of the city. After paying my fare, I collected my things and made my way inside. At the front desk, a beautiful receptionist sat quietly clicking on the keys of his keyboard. I walked to the desk causing him to lift his head and display a million-dollar smile. “Hello, love. Welcome to Seoul Condominiums, how may I help you today?”, he inquired in a velvety voice. “Hi… Seokjin! I-I’m here to see my brother Min Yoongi.”, I responded softly after reading his nametag receiving a nod from him.
He picked up a sleek black phone from the desk and, after punching in a few numbers, put it to his ear. After a short wait, he spoke into the phone. “Hello, Mr. Min!... Your sister is here to see you. Shall I send her up?... Of course, Mr. Min.”, he spoke. Giving me a bright smile, he put the phone back and smiled. “Up you go, love. He’s in suite 777.”, he informed before helping me into the elevator. After a short ride, I found myself in front of a door that had the number ‘777’ in beautiful gold font displayed on it. I knocked but received no answer. I raised my hand to knock again, but as soon as my fist collided with the door, it slightly opened.
I frowned in confusion and worry before opening it fully and dragging my luggage in. I looked around in the beautifully furnished condo, hoping to catch a glimpse of my older brother. “Hello? Yoongi? Where are you?!”, I called out whilst taking a step forward. The hairs on my neck stood to attention and adrenaline filled my veins. I quickly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding being tackled by a dark hooded figure. I dropped to the ground and put my knee on the person’s chest before unmasking them.
Underneath me laid a very pale and very proud male. “Looks like you maintained your training pretty well, little one.”, Yoongi drawled out in a voice that I didn’t recognize. I stood and assisted him in getting to his feet before taking his face in my hands. I gazed at the boy who used to have chubby cheeks and horrible acne. Now his face was strong and defined with pale, clear skin. He was a bit taller, too.
“Who are you and what have you done with my Yoonie?”, I asked with a soft smile. He chuckled before pulling me into a warm hug. “I missed you too, little one.”, he cooed. I sighed with content before pulling away smacking his arm and glaring. “Don’t ever try to scare me again. I could’ve hurt you, bro.”, I demanded causing him to chuckle and roll his eyes.
After picking up my luggage for me and leading to my new room, Yoongi helped me unpack my stuff. It went relatively fast mostly because I didn’t have a lot of stuff. I sat on my bed and looked around. The room was twice as large as my old bedroom with a connecting bathroom. Yoongi had had it painted baby blue, and he’d personally hung little cotton clouds from the ceiling that glowed a soft blue. He’d gotten me a large California King canopy bed with white curtains and a blue bed set to match the walls. He’d even installed Tik Tok lights!
“You did this all on your own?”, I asked. He nodded and sat in the hanging egg chair across from my bed. “I had a little help from a friend with choosing the color scheme, but it was mostly me. I don’t know if mom and dad told you this, but I’m gonna spoil the hell out of you here. Just a small warning before.”, he spoke proudly. I chuckled and nodded.
Suddenly, a familiar voice called out, “Come out, you sleepy bastard! I brought you food that I slaved over, so you better be hungry.”. Yoongi stood and pulled me up afterward before dragging me into the spacious living area. There stood the handsome receptionist from earlier. Instead of his work attire, he was dressed in black ripped jeans and a pastel pink button up. His hair had changed, too. The blonde tresses had been transformed from a sleek and elegant look to messy bangs that screamed danger.
Upon our entrance, he glared at Yoongi. “There you are! Boy, do I have words for you. Did you make your sister carry all that heavy shit from the train station?! I know damn good and well I raised a gentleman and most definitely not a fool!”, he raved angrily. Yoongi muttered something along the lines of ‘loud-mouth ass’ causing the blonde to pause his rant and look at Yoongi with wild and incredulous eyes. “Did… did you just BACKTALK ME?!! AH HELL NAH! UH UH! NO! NOT TODAY! I’M FINNA WHOOP YO ASS RIGHT NOW!!!”, he snapped before setting the bags down and lunging at my brother.
I stepped aside and watched as he put my brother in a chokehold whilst pulling his hair. “Cadence! Help! Me!”, Yoongi managed to choke out causing his attacker to look around until his eyes met mine. He paused before dropping my brother and approaching me. “I’m so sorry you had to witness that, love! I’m Seokjin, by the way. Welcome to Sin City on behalf of me! Let’s have lunch together sometime!”, he spoke before reaching down to grasp my hand before pressing a kiss to it.
What the actual fuck had I gotten myself into?
(A/N):
Should I turn this into a series? Lemme know if I should!! Please like, share, and comment your thoughts!
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charlthotte · 3 years
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Breaking Through the Iron Wall - Aone Takanobu x Reader
Chapter 9
Before I entered my house, I tried to curtail my emotions - expecting to see my mother's condescending expression at soon as I stepped past the threshold. And even though her shift at work had finished for the day, of course she wasn't home. The house was empty, just like always. That sight morphed my mood into one of a much lower level, I wasn't always on the best terms with her; but her being there just hinted that she cared in the littlest sense of the word. But obviously, she never was.
Since I was alone, I decided to make something simple for tea, seeing as though it was a meal for one. With a swift click, I set a pan of water to boil and began chopping some vegetables. After they were all diced to the measurement of my liking, piece by piece they were plopped into the pan. Whilst waiting for them to boil, I seemingly zoned out for the rest of the meal preparation. Everything was cooked perfectly but my mind wasn't present during the process. I fixed myself a glass of water and then sat down to indulge in the comestibles I had prepared. It tasted just fine, nothing more - after all, meals enjoyed in the company of yourself were always just the bit bland.
As I was washing up my plate and silverware, a loud ring echoed from the doorbell letting me know that someone was waiting behind the door. I half expected it to be some kind of delivery, yet it wasn't that at all. While unlocking the door, a hound of some sort howled from behind it. However, there wasn't just the hound standing there. Beside it stood the snowy mountain himself, holding a lead connected to the same beagle I had seen the day before. The reason as to why they stood there wasn't blatantly obvious. Perhaps there was no meaning to him standing there.
In a rare occurrence of events - Aone was the one to start a conversation, "Do you want to come with me?" He asked me, with his eyes dead-bolted onto the floor - almost as if he felt embarrassed.
"Yeah I'd love to, but I'll have to leave my parents a note." It sure was an unexpected situation, but it was rather uplifting to see someone at my house. I quickly shuffled over to a notepad and jotted my explanation down.
'I'm out on a walk, I'll be back soon. -(Y/N)'
After slipping a jacket over my shoulders, I laced my shoes up - and I was then ready to leave the house. "Do you have any idea of where we're going?" I inquired. Aone nodded, so I trusted him and followed his lead. His dog was a lively little creature - who was also very... talkative. From looking at its collar, I realised that his name was Shiro. He seemed to have no problem with me, but every other moving object that contained life - he would howl endlessly at. At least until Aone tugged on the lead, and after that he'd immediately quiet down.
Minutes passed as I followed Aone down a route I had never set foot upon before, that path was much more endowed with nature than any other street I had seen - with buildings few and far between. Compared to the rest of the town, it seemed like a different place entirely, even though the sun was shining radiantly through the gaps in the clouds, I saw but one person on the same path as us. We walked for a little longer, only for Aone to turn down a much narrower and dingy path that was hardly noticeable to the unassuming eye. It didn't take long to walk down, but after we exited that pathway - it was like a whole new world had been thrust into our grasp.
An abundance of fully-bloomed sakura trees outlined the clearing, completely blocking out this haven from the rest of the world. Several stone pathways swirled around in the grass, each one of them leading to eclectic little 'attractions' of some sort. From my point of view, there was an elegant marble fountain near the left of the clearing. Right in the centre was a pavilion surrounded by a pristine moat and stream, it trickled around the whole vicinity; its waters clearer than air. It almost seemed to glisten under the sunlight, making the most comforting trickling sound I had ever heard. Even though the clearing was moderately sized, there wasn't another human there besides Aone and myself. However, there were countless birds and small animals roaming and soaring around. People had obviously been there before, but somehow it felt as if we were the first people to discover it.
Aone unclipped Shiro's lead, letting him run around freely - and he did just that, he zoomed in and around the trees taking not even a second to let anything distract him. Truly relishing the freedom that place brought him. Aone seemed that way too, his eyes wandered around, taking in the scenery - his expression seeming somehow blissful. We then made our way over to the pavilion, strolling next to the stream the entire way. Inside of it there was just a single wooden bench, overlooking the rest of the clearing - the paragon of serenity.
"How do you know about this place?" I asked. 
"I don't know." He replied, his resonant tones weaving through the atmosphere. He must have been there before, recently or an age ago, both time frames were plausible. Either way, a place like this must have some importance to him.
"Thanks for bringing me here, Aone. It's just gorgeous." I divulged. Out of the corner of my eye, I observed him nodding his head. There wasn't much need for conversation in a place like this.
Abruptly, four scampering paws hurtled into the pavilion, Shiro was slightly panting from his sprinting, so he jumped up onto the bench to join us - leaning his head on my lap. As I ran my fingers across his sumptuously silky fur, his eyes gradually closed - letting him fall into a state of slumber. It almost looked like he was carrying a smile upon his face. He appeared so peaceful and nonchalant.
I soon clocked Aone gazing at Shiro too, his eyes shining with adoration for the small creature. From what I had seen, Aone always seemed the happiest in the presence of his dog. Friendships with animals were always enthralling to me, two living things from different species and walks of life forming a great connection with each other, but without understanding anything the other one spoke. Perhaps that was why Aone loved Shiro to the extent that he did, they couldn't literally understand each other, but somehow - deep down somewhere - they could.
I'm sure we sat there for nearly an hour - enjoying each other's company to the fullest, side by side in silence. The hue of the sky darkened as many sakura petals gently cascaded all around us. I was positive we would have stayed there forever if we could, had it not been for the rather urgent text I received from my mother.
-
'(Y/N), why aren't you home? Come back here right now.'
"Sorry, Mum. I'll be right back.'
-
As always, she was right there to ruin the perfect scenario. Quickly informing Aone of my mother's command, I made sure to walk at an elevated pace for the entire journey home. Aone stayed beside me the whole time; Shiro happily trotting beside us, seemingly more exhausted than the first half of our journey.
After arriving at my house, I apologised to Aone about the inconvenience I had caused him once again. I spoke a solemn farewell to him and Shiro before hesitantly unlocking the door, only to be greeted by my mother's unimpressed face.
"Why weren't you at home, (Y/N)?" Her arms folded tightly over her chest as she leered over the brim of her spectacles.
"I've just been out on a walk, I did leave you a note."
"And that note simply didn't suffice," She spat, "There was no apology about your absence nor where you were going on your walk. You didn't even ask my permission to leave."
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again." I hopelessly sighed.
"I'm sorry isn't enough, (Y/N). You should know that - now go upstairs, you've disappointed me too much."
Tired of all the condescension spouting from her mouth, I dragged my feet up the staircase and towards my bed, just to flop straight onto it. Hardly half a hour ago, my word felt serendipitous and ethereal, now it had all come crashing down into a brick wall. At that point, I didn't feel like moving from my current position. The orc that was my mother had sucked all the passion and drive straight from my system. Who knew how long I laid there, but the sky morphed into its nightly pallor. A faint knock tapped against my door.
"Come in." I sighed monotonously.
My father crept into my room, careful not to let his footsteps make a single murmur, he whispered - his voice nearly inaudible, "You feeling any better, (Y/N)?" I shook my head, hardly having the energy to make a sound. He continued to converse, "Was your walk okay at least?" I nodded, my memory of the clearing spindling itself into my head. I must have smiled a little, as my father did seem to pick up on something, "Let me guess, you were with that Aone guy?" I don't know how he correlated what he saw as my faint happiness to him, but he was very correct. I didn't react to his question that time, however he still must have clocked onto something I did, "I'll take that as a yes, goodnight (Y/N)."
---
For the next ten days, I continued to go out on walks to the clearing with Aone and Shiro, somehow growing even closer without the need for frivolous amounts of conversation. One aspect of those then days that could be described a frivolous was the amount of teasing I had to endure from Futakuchi - in lessons and during practice no less. It was surprising that I hadn't snapped at him yet.
During practice, I helped out a lot more - the team did seem to need it, due to their upcoming match against a powerhouse school. Somehow, their blocks improved in my eyes - adding a few extra inches onto that iron wall of theirs. Their overall power level somehow grew within those few days.
Hiroko and Rea hung around with me a lot during lunch, and Hiroko never curtailed her craziness for a nano-second. I thought  I might had grown slightly accustomed to her antics. Rea, however, I could talk to in a 'normal' way, we seemed to get along by chatting about the dreary aspects of life. After all, all Rea ever did was complain about the things she didn't like.
Day by day, the excitement about our upcoming match in Tokyo riled up inside of me even further, and at that point... It was only four days away...
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lemonbarnes · 4 years
Text
Burnout
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Enhanced!Reader
Summary: As the first successful test subject, she’s learned how to live without being burned. Years later, her savior-turned-psycho is dead, yet someone has gotten a hold of the formula in an attempt to recreate the virus. She takes on the role of a self-imposed vigilante, but soon ends up working alongside the Avengers, and a certain hard headed brunette with luscious locks and a gleaming arm.
Word Count: 2.9k
Warnings: arson, violence (that’s all i can think of, but if there’s anything else please let me know!)
Author’s Note: This is the first part of a series that I: 1) have not finished, 2) debated posting, and 3) am very anxious about posting. It’s coming together very slowly, but I wanted to post the first part and see if anyone is intrigued. Feedback is always welcome. Likes and reblogs are always very much appreciated!
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Deep in the snow-covered forest of Norway is where Bucky finds himself, trudging through the impacted white powder with Steve and Sam. It’s only the beginning of November, and Bucky is sure he’s experienced colder, but the chill nips at his flesh nonetheless; settles in underneath his thick coat sleeves and pulls goosebumps to the surface. Perhaps it wasn’t just the cold; it was oddly quiet in this part of the forest. It should be teeming with wildlife, but Bucky has yet to hear anything other than the crunch of snow and their short breaths. The silence is deafening, but he welcomes it. Until…
“What exactly are we doing again?” Sam gripes, his breath creating his own personal cloud before dissipating into the chilly air. Bucky surveys the area, but only produces the same results he came up with five minutes ago – nothing but their presence and the trees that surround them from every angle. Steve doesn’t glance at Sam as he continues walking, also taking note of the lack of animals in the vicinity.
“We’re here to extract the girl and bring her back to the compound. Tony said the last time he saw someone with… talents like hers was when Pepper was taken by AIM. Thinks she might know something about that lab blowing up a couple weeks ago, before we got there.” It’s Bucky’s turn to huff. Why did they have to walk through the forest while the rest of the team huddled up on the warm quinjet miles away? Was it really necessary to trek the 134 miles into the woods to reach the cabin? Why was Tony so sure that this was where you settled down? His head snaps up and he sticks his hand out, simultaneously freezing in place while sticking a finger up to tell Steve and Sam to be quiet. “Do you hear that?” He whispers, so low that he’s not even sure Steve hears him at first.
The chorus of a soft song plays behind a softly crackling fire. A feminine voice reaches Bucky and Steve’s ears, quietly humming along to the tune. Either this chick wanted to be found or is an idiot, Bucky snorts to himself before quickly focusing his attention back on his teammates.
Steve motions for the two to move in closer. “Sam, get Redwing up. Get us an idea of what and who we’re dealing with. Just because we only hear one person right now doesn’t mean there aren’t more people in the cabin,” he takes a moment as the inconspicuous drone zips through the air.
Bucky can only describe the look on Sam’s face as perplexed at best. “What’s wrong, bird brain?” A glare is briefly sent his way by none other than Sam, before he returns to his previous state of confusion. “There’s only one human heat signature, but the temp it’s reading at isn’t possible. There’s no way,” his brow furrows. Steve and Bucky exchange an equally confused glance.
“What do you mean, Sam? What’s it reading at?” A moment of silence passes before Sam looks up from the mini monitor adorning his arm. “152 degrees, Cap,” Sam flashes his wrist at the super soldiers before lowering his arm. “Well, I guess Tony wasn’t far off, was he? A literal human inferno,” he mumbles under his breath as Redwing zooms back to its owner. Bucky only dignifies his statement with a concealed eye roll. “What’s the plan?” 
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“Alright, what do we know?” Tony paces at the front of the conference room, suit discarded for his spare set of clothes. One hand sits in the pocket of his track pants, while the other scratches his chin. Everyone else sits at the table, soot drenched suits still clinging to their bodies. “Killian’s dead. Hansen is dead. Extremis is extremely complex, but that doesn’t negate reason to believe that others have figured the virus out and are trying to recreate it,” Tony mumbles to himself, before stopping and placing his hands on the table firmly. “That facility blew up for a reason, whether good or bad is up to us to figure out.” 
Everyone’s brow furrows at the mention of Extremis. “Extremis? I thought you took down AIM,” Natasha pipes up, eyes narrowing in disbelief. 
A heavy sigh leaves Tony’s mouth before he sits and runs his hands down his face. “Yeah, I thought so too. Wannabes, maybe trying to replicate the virus. I don’t know. They were close, though. I saw it in one of the labs before it blew up.” 
“I’m sorry, but can someone fill the rest of us in?” Sam looks exasperated. “What the hell is Extremis?” 
Extremis, he learns, is its own super soldier-like serum. “It’s a virus that rewrites DNA to manipulate the part of the brain that is in charge of reparations and stimulate growth at inhuman speeds. I’m talking ‘cut off an arm and literally watch it grow back’ fast,” Bruce now stands at the front of the table, filling everyone else in. “AIM would mainly recruit veterans who had lost limbs or had severe psychological trauma and inject them with the virus. However, Extremis is very unstable, and most if not all of the people who were infected with it blew themselves up and died. Of course, with the exception of Tony and Pepper. Tony found a way to stabilize it enough that Pep doesn’t have any side effects of it,” Bruce finishes before glancing Tony’s way.
It’s Wanda’s turn to ask, “So�� We think that someone is trying to emulate Extremis? If they know it’s so unstable, then why bother?” Tony bites the frame of his glasses before putting them back on and sitting back in his chair, fingers now scratching at his greying beard. “Human bombs. Life-sized, 3000 degree, exploding, unstable bombs that disintegrate anything within a 12.5 yard radius of them and damn near destroy anything else beyond that radius. They’re not trying to create super soldiers, they’re trying to blow things up.
“Up until now, we figured there weren’t any survivors of AIM’s experiment, but now? Now, I’m not so sure. We can assume that either Hydra got a hold of the formula or that someone is trying to dig AIM up from its grave and bring it back to life. What did concern me was this,” Tony brings up a hologram image of a woman running from the lab mid-explosion, skin and eyes tinged a fiery orange. “Whoever it is has the virus. Realistically there’s no way we can bring her in. She’ll melt through any form of handcuffs we try, burn through any kind of straight jacket we try. Hell, she’d probably be able to burn through the floor of the quinjet if she wanted to.”
Bruce lights up as he sits straighter. “Not necessarily. We could find someone to make us equipment out of tungsten. She would explode before she melted them off. It’s a little brittle, but nothing we can’t work with. And we could try out that sedation serum we’ve been working on. Load it into some small vials that Clint could shoot.”
Steve leans forward against the table, shield now at his side. Natasha shakes her head before speaking, exhaustion heavy in her voice. “Say we do bring her in. Then what? Recruit her? Lock her up for the rest of her life? We have to be realistic about the consequences of this, Tony. If she’s really as dangerous as you say she is, then we need to proceed with extreme caution.” Steve’s furrowed brow matches that of Bucky’s and Sam’s, who have both been virtually silent the whole meeting, save for Sam’s question.
“Why don’t we all go take a hot shower and clean up and reconvene in the morning? We’re all exhausted. Dirty. Let’s worry about this tomorrow,” Steve mutters before standing up with his shield in his hand and stalking out of the room, everyone else soon following suit.
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The crackling fire was the only noise permeating the air, save for the quiet murmur of the radio and occasional hums that slipped from your lips. “I want to swim away, but don’t know how. Sometimes it feels just like I’m falling in the ocean,” your quiet voice rang, travelling through the empty woods while the large log you leaned against dug into your skin. Hazy shades of orange paint strokes blended together to paint the sky as the sun patiently rose from behind the trees. It was beautiful, something you didn’t think you could ever get used to experiencing.
You were lonely after the destruction of AIM. Not that you weren't grateful to be free, but sometimes you wished you could just be around someone, even if that someone wanted to destroy and conquer the world, and consequently, ruin your life. Does that make me a bad person? You shake your head gently, a sad smile slowly covering your face as you shoot a glance back at the cabin you’d been hiding in for the last three months. 
The cabin, when you first found it, sat deep in the woods, untouched for what you could only guess had been decades. Layers of thick dust and spiderwebs decorated corners and furniture alike. It’ll have to do for now, you had thought to yourself. Over the course of the next couple of months, though, you grew to adore the little cabin and all its quirks. The creak of the fourth stair, the slight slant of the kitchen counter that causes the fruit to roll, even the stupid, (newly) broken singing sea bass that hung on the wall of the small living room (there may be a bullet hole or two through it and the wall behind it, but it’s not like you asked it to turn on while you were making lunch and scare the living daylights out of you).
An almost nonexistent mechanical hum pulled you from your thoughts as you glanced up. A frown settles on your face as you stood slowly, watching a drone hover over the cabin before racing back in the direction it came from. Quickly, you leapt over the log and sprinted stealthily into the house, shutting the doors and locking it. Whoever owned it knew you were there, if not from the drone footage, but from the steady fire burning outside.
You paced before opening the bottom cabinet next to the oven and pulling out a small handgun and a couple throwing knives, checking that the gun was loaded. Stairs were climbed two at a time in order to reach the small linen closet, where you pulled out a little jewelry box hidden behind thick blankets and emptied the contents in your palm, before sticking the small rectangular item into the side of your boot and securing it (pant pockets are too obvious, duh). 
Stepping into the master bedroom, you dared a peak out of the window that looked over the fire you were previously enjoying. Three figures stood at the perimeter of the property, poorly hidden by a few trees from Y/N’s angle. Maybe they’re just hikers. You’ve seen plenty of them, yeah? Just passing through, is what you tried to tell yourself but a second glance out the window quickly shut those thoughts down as you noted that none of the men were hidden amongst the trees anymore. Instead, they were stalking toward the house, but traveling in different directions almost as if to surround you. All clad in some form of tactical gear, one holding a round shield, one in all black with a gleaming left arm, and the last with what looked like a jetpack on his back.
A silent string of curses left your lips as you stalked down the mini hallway and peaked over the banister. You crouched and listened, calming your heartbeat. You would die before ever going back to working for AIM. A knock to the front door bounced off the walls.
“Hello? We’re not here to hurt you. We just think you might’ve been in the wrong place at the wrong time and want to ask you a few questions.” Although muffled by the door, Y/N can hear the demand clear as day. Wrong place, wrong time my ass. 
“Steve, this isn’t an interrogation. We want her to come back willingly. You’re gonna scare her off,” Someone pipes up from the side of the house. A furrowed brow replaces the sour look on your face. What the hell? You also hear a “fuck it,” before the back door lock is picked and quietly swung open. “You were supposed to wait for my go-ahead, Buck,” a different voice mumbles, heavy steps causing the floor downstairs to groan. 
Waddling over to the bedroom quietly while crouched proves to be a little more difficult than you anticipated, but you do it in record time and shuts the door quietly. A simple thwack sounds as you unlatch the window and open it, peering down at the ground. You’d survive the jump, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt any less. You land with a soft thud and pray that the three burly men in the cabin don’t hear the sound. Pressing glowing hands to the side of the house, they, along with you eyes, begin to emit a warmth that spreads from your palms to your fingertips and seconds later the wood under ignites as little flames lick the spots. You take your opportunity to flee into the woods but don't get very far before a giant metal frisbee-like object lodges itself into the tree next to your head. Your feet stumble, but you quickly regain balance before pushing yourself from a jog to a full on sprint. What you didn’t expect was to be tackled from the side.
Rolling to a stop, you’re covered by a hefty build sporting a pair of metal wings. “Let me go!” you screams, before grabbing the arm of your attacker and heating up your skin, consequently burning whoever had you pinned. The groan he let out was enough for you to catch him off guard again, bringing a knee up between his legs harshly and pushing him off before scrambling to break into another sprint.
A hand wrapped around your ankle proved to stop you in your tracks, literally. Dragging you down, you kick your other foot in hopes of hitting something while frantically searching yourself for your gun. All you come up with is a knife, but it’ll have to do, you think. Sitting up and shoving the knife in between the plates of the wings, Y/N twists it roughly as it disables the pack on the man’s back before stomping your free foot into his shoulder. A revolting pop sounds and this time you don’t waste a second in finding your footing, but find yourself stunted from another chance at running when the sight of two brawny men stand in front of you. Your whole body glows ominously, frustration kicking in.
“We’re not here to hurt you. Please,” the one with the shield steps forward tentatively. “My name is Steve, Steve Rogers.” You go to take a step back but find the menacing man who tackled you behind you.
Tears build in your eyes, but evaporate from your internal heat before they can reach your cheeks. “I know who you are,” you snarl, the glow growing brighter as time ticked by. A mechanical hum fills your ears again, but heavier than the drone you saw earlier. A quick glance toward the empty sky leaves you bemused, though.
“Cap, stand down. her internal temp is rising. She’ll explode herself before she lets us take her in,” Tony’s voice rings in their ears, but Bucky surprises himself by taking a step forward. “Buck--” Steve starts, but doesn’t finish as he watches Bucky drop his weapons on the ground. 
“Let us help you. We aren’t here to hurt you. We need your help,” he takes another small step forward, noticing the flicker in you glow. “Let me help you. I know what it’s like to be cornered. To be used for other’s personal gains. To be so close to the edge of self destruction that there don’t seem to be any other options,” another step, “but you don’t have to go down that path. Help us help you.” All the while, you glow slowly diminishes to a soft orange.
Eyes blink wildly, glancing between the three of the men. “You don’t know me. You don’t know shit,” you breath trembles, before you steels you gaze and stiffens you posture. “I’m not some science experiment you guys get to play with!” you cry out, flinging two knives. One hits Bucky square in the left shoulder, while the other hits Steve in the abdomen. You go to take off, hearing a wheeze and a grunt of, “back up, we need back up” followed by “Barton, now!” and heavy footsteps falling behind you. 
Before you get very far, a shooting pain blossoms from your shoulder before a sudden wave of fatigue runs through your body, slowing your steps until you can barely walk. The trees in front of your face double and the hand you stretch out to lean against a tree misses, leaving you lying in a pile of pine needles and dirt before everything went black.
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prongsies · 4 years
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Star-Crossed ⁕ Chapter 1
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←Prologue | Master list  
Mornings in The Burrow were something Thalia had always been used to – having spent majority of her summer holidays with the Weasley Family. However, used to it as she may be, her love for said mornings never falters. By 7AM she could hear Molly Weasley shuffling down the stairs, probably to start making breakfast for her largely-male-populated household.
Thalia, having just stretched to wake herself further, rose from the extra mattress they had laid on the floor, to exit the room and offer her services to Molly, whom she thought could use an extra pair of hands preparing breakfast.  
“You can make the orange juice, dear” Molly suggested, gesturing towards the dining table where half a dozen oranges were placed neatly in a bowl beside a glass pitcher. She followed instantly, joyous that she was given a chance to help around the house on her visit.  
She was squeezing the last orange when Fred and George stumbled into the dining room, hair sticking out in different directions with dark bags settling under their eyes due to the lack of sleep. They greeted their mother with a sleepy good morning as Fred sauntered beside Thalia to peck her cheek, a smile on his lips as he claimed the seat beside his brother.
“You’re up early” Thalia commented as she collected the remnants of the orange in her hands, tossing it into the garbage bin before running her hands under the faucet to wash it.  
Fred looked up from his toast, ”Couldn’t sleep”
“Neither can we” Molly interjected with a scowl, ”with all the racket you two were causing. I’m surprised Thalia could sleep with all the noise”
“Pretty sure she’s used to it, mum” Fred answered sleepily, not really giving his full attention to the conversation.
“Or she’s gotten deaf” Added George, who was more invested into teasing his mother. Molly sent him a warning glare which shut him up instantaneously, but a smirk remained on his face as he winked at Thalia who was biting back a laugh.
“What do you boys have planned to wake up this early anyway?” Thalia asked, sealing the pitcher of orange juice she’s finished making. With a flick of her wand, she had it pour juice into George’s glass, then Fred’s, before setting it back down onto the table.
“Wanted to play Quidditch for a bit” Fred replied with a shrug.
“Heard Hufflepuff's gonna be tough competition this year-” added George.
“-Wanted to be prepared for what’s coming”
“I mean, as long as you get the bludger out of my way, we’re good” Joked Thalia as she pulled a chair to have her share of breakfast as well. ”I would’ve scored our winning goal against them if you lot just kept your eyes on the bludger”
“Fred here was a bit preoccupied that time, weren’t you Freddie?” Teased George, elbowing his brother’s side who simply rolled his eyes.
“Preoccupied at being a better beater than you, more like”
Thalia shared a laugh with Fred, reaching across the table to high-five him. George huffed in his seat before redirecting his attention to Ron, who tripped over a loose floorboard on his way to join them.
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“Watch where you’re going, Ronald!” warned Thalia with a squeal as Ron nearly collided with a tree in the attempt of catching the raggedy Quaffle Fred had thrown in his direction. The four were split into teams of two, with the twins separated, since Thalia feared their “telepathic communication” was too much of an advantage for them. They didn’t have a snitch or anything that fancy to actually play, they mostly just threw the ball around, trying to get it between the two trees opposing the garden, which served as their hoop.
Since Ron had failed to catch the Quaffle, Thalia was quick to dive down to retrieve it when Fred zoomed in in front of her, snatching it from the ground before she could. She rolled her eyes, show-off, before matching his speed, bumping into his shoulder teasingly.
“You’re too soft, Freddie – for a beater, that is” Thalia taunted, still bumping Fred’s shoulders to try and at least loosen the grip he had on his Quaffle.
“I don’t want to be too rough for you, sweetheart” Fred retorted, smirking at Thalia as her face turned a light shade of pink. She quickly composed herself, though, too quick that Fred didn’t even get the chance to make sure if Thalia did blush at his bold statement.
“You forget, Freddie” a twinkle played in her eyes as she stared back at Fred, who had started to slow down, enjoying the conversation too much. She leaned to whisper in his ear, suggestively “I like it rough”  
Thalia pulled back before bumping into Fred again, harder – the way she would at an actual game - smiling when the Quaffle finally fell from his grasp. She zoomed down to catch it before Fred could make a move, gripping it into her chest as she flew past Ron, tossing the ball to George who easily scored it into Ron and Fred’s hoop.
“That’s cheating!” Fred shouted, flying towards Thalia who had already landed gracefully on the ground, motioning at George that she’d go inside.
“Not in my books,” Thalia responded, sticking her tongue out at him before sprinting back into the house with a laugh as Fred landed roughly on the floor, sprinting behind Thalia, leaving Ron and George still in the air.
When lunch time neared, Thalia offered to take the responsibility of cooking off Molly’s shoulders, even for just one meal. At first, the older woman seemed hesitant, not wanting to burden Thalia with cooking for such a big family. But Thalia insisted that she wanted to do it – that it was the least she could do for them since they’ve taken her in for the remainder of their summer holidays. So Molly agreed, smiling as she left Thalia fully responsible for the kitchen as she napped in their room upstairs.
Thalia prepared lasagna, more than enough to have leftovers on the table for anyone who wishes to have another bite. With Fred and George’s help, they set the table for everyone in the house, before calling for everyone to join them for lunch.
“Merlin, that was amazing, Lia!” exclaimed Ron as he collapsed onto one of the living room armchairs, a hand resting on his stomach as he closed his eyes.  
They’ve just finished lunch, and Molly offered to just use magic to clean the dishes. She left to go outside in the garden, wanting to plant some seeds she had bought in Diagon Alley the last time she was there.
“It really was” Ginny echoed, collapsing onto the floor beside George who was already starting to drift off to sleep.
Fred, who sat beside Thalia on a loveseat, hummed in agreement as he swung an arm over Thalia’s waist, pulling her towards him in an embrace. “You smell like lasagna”
“Fred!” Thalia exclaimed, hitting his arm while he laughed on her shoulder, muffled by her sweater. She rolled her eyes at the boy, waiting for his laughter to die down. She sat there for a few minutes, waiting for Fred to continue teasing her. When none came, she looked down, surprised that he had already drifted off to sleep as well.
“I wasn’t informed we were having a slumber party in the living room” A voice joined them a few minutes later. Thalia, who had been reading a book Percy had left in the living room before leaving to go to the Ministry earlier in the day, looked up to see Charlie Weasley brandishing a smile as he looked at his siblings all peacefully sleeping in the living room.
“Hey, Charlie! I’m afraid they’re suffering from a bad case of food coma” Thalia explained, keeping her voice quiet as she peeled Fred’s arm away from her waist so she could stand up. Fred whined in protest when she left, patting the empty space beside him to look for her. When he realized she wasn’t in arm’s length, he returned to his peaceful slumber. “How’s Romania?”
“Pretty good” Charlie replied with a shrug, before opening his arms to accept the hug Thalia pulled him into. They returned to the sofa shortly after pulling away, with Fred immediately reattaching himself onto Thalia the moment he felt her presence.
Charlie looked at his brother in amusement, “Hey, before I forget!” He perked up, reaching into the inner pocket of his coat, “You remember Norbert, right? The dragon you helped Hagrid with?”
“Yeah” Thalia replied with a smile, remembering the baby dragon she had cradled in her arms around three years ago, when she snuck Harry, Ron, and Hermione to the Astronomy Tower in the middle of the night, just so they could save the life of the little Norwegian Ridgeback as it grew bigger by the day.
“Well, it turns out little Norbert is actually a Norberta”  
“He’s a she?!” Thalia exclaimed, clapping her hands at the new information. Ginny, who has found comfort on the floor, groaned from the noise.
“And she’s growing a little bit too fast” Charlie said, quieter this time, producing a rather large dragon’s tooth, transformed into a rope necklace, from the pocket, “Her baby teeth have started falling off, snagged this before anyone else could”
“Wouldn’t you need that research?” Thalia asked curiously, accepting the tooth Charlie placed delicately onto her palm.
“One tooth wouldn’t hurt” Charlie shrugged, “Besides, a couple more Norwegian Ridgebacks have started arriving in the sanctuary – we’ll probably end up expecting baby Norbertas in the future too if she finds her mate”
“Really?”  
Charlie nodded. His attention turned to his mother who entered the living room with a grin, standing up to have her pull him into her infamous Molly Weasley embrace.  
“It's great to see you home!” Molly exclaimed, pulling away. “You look tired, dear. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet, mum” Charlie answered, looking back at Thalia as Molly led him into the dining room “What did you cook for lunch?”
“Oh, Thalia cooked!” Molly winked back at Thalia, “She made lasagna”
“That sounds amazing! I’m feeling pretty famished now just at the thought of it” The two disappeared into the kitchen, catching up on the events they’ve missed while Charlie was away.
Thalia smiled overhearing Molly narrate the time Fred and George managed to cover the entire kitchen with Toffee. She felt Fred pull her against him again, chuckling when he muttered, “I can give you a dragon tooth too, you know” before drifting off to sleep.
Master list | Chapter 2→
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Wonder
They say we live in the moment, that the past is always gone, and each day is something new, a stepping stone into a future we dream of even in the cold. For you, that was snow, those wintry days of bluster and ice. You see the earth of yesterday covered as white as any new page and the toddler in me rises as if armed with a rainbow of crayons, eager to set that right. Yet today, you were happy to simply walk in it, create a few footprints of your own. You watched them tumble, those feathered crystals, their chaotic flight to form a blanket that could not be more uniform, more orderly. Yet for some their destination is to come to your hand, to alight upon those ungloved fingers and let your warmth be their spring melt: and to also toss a snowball at the unsuspecting yeti.
You barked out a laugh as you caught an oblivious Phil in the face with the snow, it was all short run due to Phil making a large snowball that’d definitely cause some damage if it hit a human. Making a sprint to dodge, your snow boots crunched under the fresh now to behind a forgotten sled. The impact of the snowball caused the sled to push you first face into the snow, though muffled you could hear the chucking Phil and the other Yeti’s made. Pushing yourself up from the sled with your mitten protected hands you made a show to shake the snow from off your wool coat and black braids that cascaded down from under an aviator hat.
“Nice job Phil,” your frozen lips mumbled, “Now back into the Kremlin I go.” You made a short walk back to the entrance of the Pole, well, one of its many entrances. As per usual the Pole was covered in ice, but not as much due to it being mid July. The bottom half of the workshop that was commonly encased in a block of ice was now sporting a thin layer. That also meant that there was danger of falling icicles as one narrowly missed you by a hair. You froze and stared at it for a minor moment, “That’s nice,” before going in. 
The absurdly pulsing heat in the workshop was a rude awakening to your nearly frozen lungs and somehow turned your lips number the they already were. Leaving you winter gear at the door on their respective hooks and cubbies you made your way to your favorite place: the kitchen. Now matter how many times you’ve been in the workshop, it still amazed you. The various tall columns of sturdy wood, the signature red accents with hints of silver and cold. All questionably mixed in with architecture made of solid ice that did not melt in the sweltering heat of the Pole. A feat for the ages, you called it. Your feet in thick socks took a stroll to the kitchen, looking every which way of everyone's hard work. Since Christmas was a little more than halfway there the yetis and elves had cranked up their work ethic, you could tell by the madness going on. Fighter planes were taking test drives under the skylight, zooming past bubbles carrying nuts and bolts, and a few fairy dolls. The floor was littered with a toy army reenacting what could be the Siege of Yorktown, red coats versus blue.
Choooooooo. Choooooooo.
“Woah!” you yelped as a train almost tripped you up. It left an impressive cloud of steam as it went by. Madness indeed. Stopping in front of a worktable full of Rock ‘em Sock ‘em robots there were two elves that decided to micic the fight going on. You let out a small cackle as Steven got knocked off the table from a right hook by Susan, the nearby watching elves erupting in cheers and another half looking disappointed as they turned to Sal and started to pass him off coins. Gambling Christmas elves, also a regular off the books occurrence. 
Pushing past the kitchen door you greeted Gretchen, a yeti who was head honcho of fit for a Yeti, or North when he came in for a late night snack. The appliances were a bit too large for you to utilize without a stepping stool of some sort.
“What’s on the menu for today?” You quipped as you took a seat on a tall stool, it had extra foot rests so you could climb. Gretchen made a series of hand motions and grunts, then turned around and pulled out a bowl of soup with grilled cheese on the side.
“Ah, your famous three sister’s tomato soup and grilled cheese supreme, huh? You always know the way to my heart.”
Gretchen looked away abashed and shrugged.
You took a big spoonful of your soup and promptly started to puff out your cheeks and blow, it was hot. But then again you never did like waiting for food to cool down. Gretchen gave you a low look and shook her head in amusement letting you enjoy your lunch she went back to meal prepping. Dipping your grilled cheese into your soup you looked around the kitchen admiring its trimming. Black marble table tops with deep redwood cabinets that had white oval patterns on the edges and snowflake embellished wall edges gave a sort of shine to the atmosphere. That and the floating crystalline chandeliers, each piece was somehow connected to all the others and moves in a circular motion around the ceiling. 
Another bowl of soup and a tray was put beside you.
“Again?”
Gretchen gave a nod.
Of course.
You finished up your soup, “Guess I’m off for delivery.” You got off the stool and took the tray and went on your merry way. Although the Pole was incredibly large there was always a shortcut, out in the corridor was a large pulley system that could take a package out almost anywhere in the house. Pushing the tray into the box and climbing in you pressed a hammer symbol button on the wall and watched as the door closed and felt it surge. While on the short ride you pulled out your watch and checked the time, the north star was on the bottom right hand corner. Dinner would be soon.
The elevator staggered to a halt and slowly opened out to a blindingly lit floor from the direct sunlight. You cautiously stepped out, you couldn’t remember the last time you’d seen a fraction of the floor in this place. Taking the tray out into your hands you marvelled around. There were beakers, some empty, some filled with liquids and concoctions, bubbling or sparkling in the light. There were crystal balls, wands, staffs, wrenches, gears, tools of both magic and technological trades both jumbled together across the tables. Books were crammed nearly to the ceiling as space had ran out long ago on the floor to ceiling bookshelves. Row after row of neatly lined up books with their spines facing outward, colour coded with dots, advanced engineering section arranged in alphabetical order, mythos section, folk magic section with low shelves and floor cushions, comfortable leather arm chairs, tables for quiet study, muffled stillness.  Prototypes of planes, wooden cars, and train parts stood as if trophies on the ledges of the room. Even an old record player with a horn, a mini piano, matryoshka dolls, and a glass case of some floating shadow made an appearance 
And in the middle of it all, crouched over a desk in his signature red sweater, was North, looking completely in his element in this mix of science and magic. Where color-coded wires formed their own abstract meaning, mathematics meets craft, form meets function. Where technology erupts from the hands of artists and the minds of philosophers, the heart of the truest believer, or the eyes that saw wonder in everything. In his huge hand was a tiny bottle with a single black diamond, which he was frowning at thoughtfully.
You’d met North, or Nik, as you’d like to call him about a year ago in a small cafe in Paris. It wasn’t too hard to spot a 7’2” densely built man in a small coffee shop, nor ignore his French with a Russian accent. Meeting, well, being in the presence of father Christmas was a complete accident. But, what wasn’t was him taking notice of the river chapel you were beginning to sketch that was right next to the cafe. It was tall, spiky, and completely gothic. One of France’s oldest architectural structures you had heard. With a half eaten croissant by your side and a cup of cold espresso you had settled down. All until North looked around for a moment and took in your character. 
His first thoughts, you looked dainty: the white layered romper added to that effect and the sunlight on you directly made you look ethereal. Like liquid gold in the most conventional of places, or a sunflower bathing in the sunrays. Your hair was put into two puffs on your head with a braiding pattern in the back to keep your curls from going a stray. 
“Maybe try tilting pencil to the left, yes?” You paused for a second and put your hand on your chest looking up. There stood a tree of a many, an absurdly long white beard that was an accent to largely innocent looking deep blue eyes and bushy graying eyebrows. The mystery man’s hair was put into a bun and across his arms there were two things tatted as far as you could tell with his long sleeve rolled up.
Naughty.
And on the other arm: Nice.
“I’m sorry, what?” Who was this man, and what gave him the audacity to talk to you? Couldn’t you mind your business in peace?
“Your sketch.” He gestured with a large meaty hand, “Maybe it would do good to tilt pencil to get desired effect, no?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.” You picked up a Russian accent, what was a Kremlin doing this far near the equator? He pulled out a seat, but before he could sit he gave you the silent question. You nodded and North went ahead and sat down.
“May I?”
You wordlessly handed the pencil and watched the man go to work, he looked concentrated as he started back out the window and cobblestone walkway to the chapel. You watched his big hangs engulfing the pencil work, he made some quick strokes and shaded in some parts lightly as he went. 
“Like so.” Finished he pushed the sketchbook back to you. It was well timed since at that moment he was called up for his order. You should see what he meant by tilting the pencil, the slanted edge gave the sketch depth and made the lines bulky and gray enough to seem like bricks. You looked back outside to the warm light, he even got the gargoyle statue in the corners correct.
He came back with this beverage and sat down, “You like?”
“It’s alright.”
He almost spit out his, from what you could tell, a frappuccino with peppermint. Who does that?
“I’m sure you could do better.” He bit out in a laugh, “What brings you to Paris?”
“I got tired of the winter of the big apple.”
“Ah, a New Yorker I presume? Should be used to the cold?”
You leaned forward and grabbed your forgotten cup with your hand and took a long drink. “I could say the same for the Russian. What? Get tired of the frosty frosty?”
He shrugged. “Something of the sort.”
“Something of the sort,” you repeated, “You don’t strike me as sitting in a small cafe and enjoying the pending sunset type.”
He leaned forward and took the candy cane out of his drink and munched on it, “Then what do I strike you as?”
You did a quick analysis, “You seem a little too jolly to be out here, you’re a little far from home, hmmm?” You mused, “You’re… big, I assume a worker of sorts. Maybe a factory? But then again you do a grandfather type fatherly vibe going on. But I think I’ll stick with the private manufacturer owner… What do I strike you as?”
North was surprised you deduced that much in such little time, you almost had the right idea. Almost. “Depends,” he huffed and pulled his arms across his chest and gave you a deep gaze, “Are you naughty, or nice?”
The air was thick and suffocating, you had only been there for a good forty minutes and a husky Russian was giving you quite a plight. You went through the checklist in your head: tattoos, a gold ring on his thumb that made him look like a pimp, man-bun, thick accent, eyes that looked too genuine, and a soft interior that didn’t match his exterior. An oddity that conflicted with your scheduled time in Paris before you hit Germany, an oddity that you had no time or desire for… However, when in Paris, do as the Parisians do. 
You stared at him for a moment, “Name’s (y/n).” You held out your hand.
He shook your hand, you could feel the warmth and the calcoususes that graced his hand. The greeting was surprisingly gentle for a man of his size.
“Nikolai.”
“Delivery from the polar express.” You walked up behind him and placed the tray far off from his papers and creative process going on his desk. You pushed up your tippy toes and kissed his cheek, you felt the hairs on his long white beard tickle your nose.
He leaned into your touch and you felt his cheek heat up slightly. “Sunflower!” North snaked an arm around you and pulled you into a hug, you giggled.
 “What’s on the schedule today Nik?”
“Djinn is stuck in diamond, may have been a few thousand years old.” He turned around fully to show you the tiny bottle, “Have yet to find place of storage.”
You stared at the bottle for a moment, “You cease to surprise me with you always bring in here. Last week a seemingly cursed puppet, and the week before that was an actual cursed clown doll that kept switching places around the shop.” You shuddered at the memory, never in your life had you felt violated by a clown doll barely two feet suddenly appearing behind you in a mirror. A bellowing laughter pulled you out from your thoughts, North slapped his belly.
“Clown is gone now,” he paused and wrinkled his eyebrows, “hopefully.” 
At that you tilted your head and narrowed your eyes questionably, how the hell did you end up here?
“Hilarious.”
Another chuckle erupted. You turned around and walked closely to the window formed by ice, actually, more than half the floor in North’s special experiment room was made of ice. Looking outside the yeti were still out there this time talking the reindeer for walks, hard to believe but Blitzen was giving them a hard time. 
“Almost forgot to mention, guardians will be over for dinner and game night. Been a while seen we last met.”
“Game night?” You turned around to face North and leaned against the cold ice. “You mean… Bunny will be there?”
You stifled a smile as you saw North’s shoulders freeze.
“Sunflower-”
“Say less!” With an enthusiastic voice you bounded up back to North’s desk, and this time slowly pushed the tray towards him that he ignored the first time around. “Eat… you’ll need energy for game night.”
His big blue eyes met your chocolate ones, in opposition for whatever your voice signalled for the night. He didn’t like it, game night was fine. However, you and the Easter Bunny were not a good mix. Last game night ended up with paint splattered everywhere at the Bob Ross themed night and a hopping mad Aussie. In your defence, color theory had no place in abstract design when art had no meaning but to be consumed by an audience… a philosophical approach of course. And this sparked a mini passive aggressive argument between you and the Pooka, one thing led to another and what was previously a nice community den turned into a colorbomb of curses, laughter, and acrylic. After that it became known not to leave you and Bunny alone on artistic matters. Civil was not a word in your vocabulary. 
Sighing, he dug into his soup not wanting to know what you had planned for this night. He’d hold Sandy on standby if anything occurred. Grinning in success you gave the hulking man a quick hug and bounced off.
North shook his head in, whatever fire you were prepping for, he didn’t want the smoke.
  Dinner had been a success, you had gotten Gretchen to whip up some Americanized Chinese food. Not the healthiest, but when working with ancient spirits it was important to introduce them to average human delicacies. Thus the table had a large bowl or lobster fried rice, egg rolls, sweet and sour lo mein with bourbon chicken. MSG had never tasted so good.
“So, how are Mr. and Mrs. Claus doing?” Jack teased conventionally sitting in a chair for once, slouching back he took a sip of his cider. “All is well in paradise? And the master bedroom?”
Tooth dug her elbow into Jack’s ribs.
North put his hands above his head and smiled with glee, “Jack, why would not all be well? Has new evil come? But, eh, why would something be wrong in bedroom?” He tossed a confused glance to you, while you were busy stuffing an egg roll in your already filled mouth. It was no surprise that the innuendo went over North’s head, he wasn’t very adept in sarcasm either. 
Swallowing down your food you answered. “Amazing, it’s like a white Christmas. Every. Night,” then gave Jack a wide toothy smile as Tooth choked on her drink and Sandman made a series of symbols summing up that Jack got owned. You’ve never seen a three hundred and some spirit go as red as a strawberry before. 
“Nice going show pony,” Bunny piped up after having a taste of the vegan egg rolls. “Now, dinner was amazing, but we came here for game night.”
North cleared his throat, “And you’re right Bunny.” North let you take it away.
You smirked and pulled out a larger than normal deck of cards, “I present to you all… Uno.”
“So, a card came?” Jack reasoned.
If your smile got a tad bit more malicious showing off your pearly whites. “Not just a card came. Total warfare. Us humans have been playing this for years, its broken up friendships, marriages, and sacred barber companionships. The true test of skill.” You seemed to have mistified Sandy, he was leaning over the table staring at the box in your hand with heightened curiosity. “So lets play!”
Was it just a game of Uno? Yes, but did you find some way to spice things up? Indeed. You had taken the liberty to write down a few options on the special cards in uno. With the help of a sharpie marker you marked down two options on every card, either do as the card said or do the dare. In your reasoning Uno was already too much of an easy game the guardians could figure out, so why not cause more calamity? During the dinner you watched Sandy and Jack go ham with the cider you accidentally spiked with North’s peach flavored Vodka.
“... And then, Man in Moon decided to replace my fear with wonder, and hope an-”
“Uno.”
“What? You were all playing without me!”
“Well, you looked pretty involved in that story,” you shuffled some cards around in your hand and glanced back up, “now draw four.” You got comfortable on the red velvet carpet and crossed your ankles. Everyone was spread out on the rug, Jack Frost sat himself criss-cross while Sandman lazily lounged on him. The tooth fairy, or Toothiana was more invested in the cup of steaming hot chocolate than the game before her while the Easter Bunny was slowly gaining a steady hand of cards. 
North grumbled into his beard and retrieved the additional cards. He glanced down at his hand and huffed, this game had been going on for about thirty minutes, it was time to put things into motion.
You put down a draw four card and it was Jack’s turn.
Draw the whole deck or streak down the hall naked.
“Wait… wait.” It was a minute before Jack could catch up. “I think this card is defective.” Wanting to see what Jack was going on about, Bunny took a look and his ears stood up at attention, already knowing why he turned to look at you all cozy.
“Shiela, what is this?”
“A draw four card.”
“But, what’s on it?”
“Options, I know you both can read.”
He gave you a flat look.
You rolled your eyes and sat up straight, “I took the liberty of making Uno interesting, besides spiking the punch, I may have redacted some of the rules of Uno for my own purposes.” You felt North shift beside you, “And I may have used Nik’s high grade bottle to do so, but that isn’t the point.” You shuffled around and pulled out a small stack of cards and passed five randomly to each player. Taking the rests and shuffling them to the deck in the middle, while doing do, “So Jack, you make your choice?”
He shared a look with everyone.
And ten seconds later he was down the corridor screaming. Huh, you really thought he would’ve taken the whole deck. Stunned into silence the group recounted what they just tried to not see. Everyone could only assume the horror the yeti and elves were witnessing as you heard echoing alarmed yells from the yeti and falling items. You’d have to apologize to North later.
“Bloody show pony.” Bunny sighed.
“So who’s next?” North questioned trying to move things along. “Sandy?”
Sandy glowed a lazy gold and pulled out a skip card that Toothiana could get herself skipped or prank call an ex. She chose to skip.
Up next was Bunny, considering you all were playing stacksies he got rid of more than half his cards and put down a draw four on top of a skip leading it to North.
“Take 34 cards or finish… the whole bottle of alcohol. Bloody hell, Sheila you’ve gone mad.”
North could only stare at the card intently and close his eyes in prayer, of course it had to be you. 
You nudged the bottle, or what was left of one of his favorite bottles. “Drink up big guy.” You know he needed it with what was left to come in the game.
Wordlessly he unscrewed the bottle and downed it.
Oh, it was going to be quite a game.
You know how people say ‘wow last night was totally a blur’ after a trip from Vegas, or one night from Miami? Or when people sing along to Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night as she recounts the questionable teenage acts she’s done before she hits her midlife crisis? Or possible a disaster remake of The Hangover. You never really got that sentiment until now because last night really was a blur. You tried to rock and bring my what happened last night but all you can come up with Jack stripping, Bunny’s explaining how breeding worked between two Pookas, Sandman projecting one of the most erotic dancing you seen to date via sand, tooth knocking out from a complete sugar rush, and North’s tribute to Rick Roll. You're so somehow got back into your bed and you can only assume North had something to do with that as he usually always does. 
Rolling over in the heavenly plush mattress you scooted over to your side of the nightstand. A cup of coffee, it was still steaming and an advil. Definitely North. You smiled at the thought and popped the pill then the coffee, he even remembered you loved vanilla bean. As you continued to drink your coffee you began to feel the pounding headache leave you, but the room was still somewhat spinning. Putting the empty cup back on the nightstand you stretched forward and felt your shoulders pop.
“Jesus Christ.” You yawned and pulled off your bonnet. You surveyed the room for any signs of north. His red robe laid on the armchair of his study desk, and his side of the bed was cold. Crawling over to check if his slippers were gone, there were still there. Huh. Knowing North, he could drink so a hangover wasn’t an actual thing for him.
What time was it? You hopped out of bed and shimmied to the curtains, preparing yourself for the sunlight to harass you. But that never came, either meaning that you slept into the night or it was some ungodly hour before dawn. “You’ve got to be kidding.” Trudging into the bathroom to brush your teeth and check the time, you noted that it was approximately six in the morning. This early, and North was already gone? You slipped a silk robe over your shoulders and headed out in search of the big man himself. After questioning a few yeti and stopping for a breakfast burrito you found North. All the way in one of the Pole’s lower compartments, the training room.
North was practicing with his sabers when you arrived. You had to stop for a moment to appreciate it. Every time you thought you’d seen everything the Pole had to offer, there was something new to find.
The room was large, probably so the guardians could all practice in it at once if they had to, to get used to fighting together. Something you’d seen them do from time to time. The walls could have been anything, under all the padding. The floor was covered in a thick layer of something that gave underfoot, and you weren't sure what it was beyond gentler on someone taking a tumble than wood or stone would have been.
One section of the wall near the doors was full of hanging weaponry. You pictured the fabled “ole Saint Nick”, a jolly man that was all about the children versus the reality of the man who owned all those weapons. 
At the moment, North was the only one in the room. He had his sabers in hand – blunted practice ones, you wondered if they were as heavy as the real thing, from where you were standing they seemed just as heavy. But North made it look easy – and he was going through a strenuous routine.
It was on North had been doing for awhile, if the sheen of sweat was anything to go by. After all, North was built more like a  bear or barbarian weightlifter than the 'bowl full of jelly' he was called; he was husky for sure, but was still muscle. There was strength under that layer of fat, stronger than people gave North credit for.
At some point North had taken off his shirt, full torso on view and honestly you did not mind. You got a nice view of his back muscles and a large intricate compass tattoo in the middle of his back. It was large, in the middle of the compass lay a crest of some sort with two sabers meeting in the middle. Outside of that harsh black ink spread into eight points, each facing north, south, east and west and everything in between. The main arrows were in the same thorn-like pattern as the rim of the inner compass. And above the north pointing arrow laid a phrase I am the master of my own fate, and under that were words written in perfect cursive calligraphy I am the captain of my soul. The true words of a bandit. Your eyes roamed farther up his back and saw a tiny almost ignorable detail, a small star to the right, well ,the second star to the right. The north star that always pointed to home. All of that shining by the sweat pouring down North, pulling your eyes back down you caught a small peak of the bandit tramp stamp he had gotten one drunken night. You stifled a laugh, you remembered the story behind that one. 
Watching as North continued his routine, this time going ballistic on a wooden dummy. You took an easy walk behind him and viewed him up close. 
“Hey big red,” you greeted.
 North staggered quickly and turned around in the same motion to point his wooden saber directly at your face almost touching you. If it was anyone else your face would have been bashed in but, looking into his startled eyes you probably should stop sneaking up on him. Last victim was a bowl of cereal. North was still breathing hard as he awaited for his mind to catch up to what just happened.
“Sunflower.” He heaved out as his chest dropped, “Did not see you!” He opened his arms wide and you got a good look at his chest. As broad as it was, it was equally covered in curly as white as his beard, there were some hints of black. Before you could veto his hug, you were already wrapped up in his arms. You listened to his heart race.
“Good to see you this morning.” You muffled, and tried to pry his hands away from you, man was this guy a space heater.
He let you go. “After game night, I send guardians home and take you to bed. You fell asleep after Jack’s 8 mile reenactment.” He looked at you closely and pushed a stray braid behind your ear, “Was an interesting game night.” The bottle of vodka North had gulped down earlier did not help erase his memories of what happened a couple hours before. 
“I could tell by the hangover, thank you for the bedside assist.”
North nodded and went to put his sabers back in the armory, you followed.
“So, I gotta ask you, big guy… Come ‘ere often?” Your eyes raked down his back, and you saw his muscles tense as he shuffled away from your view. This was new. You blinked for a few seconds in surprise. You would’ve never thought of North as being body shy or ashamed of anything for as long as you knew him. He was always fearless, impulsive, and more of a ‘think things later’ type of guy if the occasion called for it, but never… self conscious. If anybody was, you always figured it would be you, comparing yourself to North's friends. All completely exceptional people who keep the world safe, with seas sof stories and accomplishments to achieve, places they’ve been, or...the list was cut off abruptly as you realized how long North had been quiet.
“Hey,” You said moving closer to North, “You know I didn’t mean any harm.” You put a hand on his back to help alleviate some pain, but it only made the man a bit more tense. “Um...” you paused, searching for the words. The right ones were refusing to come to you, and you didn't want to make this worse, especially if he was reading things wrong.
Fuck it.
“You know I love you, right? All of you.” you said.
You were rewarded with a blush spreading across the parts of North's face you could see and the tops of his shoulders. 
He began to turn around. “Is very nice, what you say,” North said, one hand hovering over his belly. “But...” North wouldn’t meet your gaze, knowing better you dropped the subject and moved back to give him some space. Mumbling out an apology you took your leave. Making a few turns you found one of the dumbwaiters and crawled in. North would be in the training room for a while mulling off his thoughts, or his private study. Pushing the hammer symbol you were now back at his magic lab. You wouldn’t just skip over what happened with North just a minute ago. 
Taking a seat at his work desk you let out a deep sigh and leaned your face on your palms. Santa Clause, you were dating Santa Clause. Also known as Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel, St. Nikolai, and formerly known as the Bandit King. All multiple names for the same face, same body, and same soul. All affiliates to a man who brought joy to the world once a year, operated a toy making syndicate for hundreds of years, fought evil on a regular basis, and tinkered with magic and science on a borderline mad scientist type of way. A being who had a laugh as loud as lions and spread happiness everywhere, that never understood sarcasm, and was hard on himself and unsure at times if the toys that he did make were even worth while.
You closed your eyes in thought. Why haven’t you ever peaced together than North ever had issues himself? Sure you helped him out of toy slumps, but what you witnessed today was far beyond that. The jolly giant himself wouldn’t even look at you.
North was, and is, the Guardian of Wonder. By definition he literally saw wonder in everything around him and puts that into his toys and other creations. The lights in trees, the magic in the air, a diamond in the rough, and any tough situation he found something redeeming.
You didn’t know when you started to walk around, but your legs led you to a particular item. A snowglobe. You tentatively reached out and gave it a closer look, it was of Hunley’s Circus, one of your first official dates.
But, how does one see wonder in everything but themselves? Better yet, how do you make the guardian of wonder who's ever really cared and loved others, give a little love to himself? You rolled the snowglobe in your hands a little more, deep in thought. 
Lightbulb.
As quick as the idea came, it flashed away. But you knew exactly what it was. With one final look at the globe you put it back into its rightful place and headed out the room. What you had planned would take all day to execute correctly, but you knew it’d be worth it by tonight. But, all you had was time. And time was your new best friend.
 Twas the night to a long day, and as predicted North had been avoiding you. North couldn’t draw his eyes away from the mirror. His shirt tossed aside, he locked his eyes onto the expanse of skin splayed out in front of him. North bit his lip and focused in on the extra fat accumulated around his middle, his fingers deftly trying to flatten it out to no avail. Deciding to take a break from the self torture North put back in his white night shirt, he was sporting a reindeer themed onsie with the top half wrapped around his waist like a jacket. 
Making his way to your shared bedroom where he was sure you were asleep by this hour, he stepped in and immediately felt sus. There you were, braids down giving you an innocent look and one of his white shirts that contrasted nicely with your skin. The only source of light was from the lamp on your side of the bed. You closed the book and placed a bookmark to come back to it later.
“Hey, Sunflower.” You smiled brightly at his greeting and motioned for him to come to bed. The bed dipped under his weight as he pulled his legs over the bed to rest properly. You crawled over  to him and gave a quick peck on his cheek then went back to your side and slipped under the covers as North did, not forgetting to turn off the lights. In the dark you shifted around in bed to face North back, it was now or never.
“You never answered me,” you began as a whisper, “You know I love you, right?”
North didn’t bother to answer, but you continued.
“You wanna know how I knew? It was Germany, at the circus. Some kids couldn’t afford tickets to get into the circus and were sitting outside listening to what was going on inside. Their eyes were shut so tightly. We were on our way to that circus when you stopped for those kids, you were so concerned about why they were out there on their own…”
“Why long faces?”
“Sir, w- we don’t have enough to buy tickets so we’re doing the next best thing.” A young boy with fiery red hair supplied holding his sister by his side. They were twins.
North got up from his squat and looked around for a second and then spotted a balloon cart. “Wait here.” Leaving for a few minutes to purchase some balloons, North came back with a smile. “You’re just in luck,” he took out an orange balloon, “the real show has just started.” He began to inflate the balloon and when it was a decent size he molded it into a poodle, and handed it to the little girl who stared at him in awe.
He then took a green balloon and white balloon and molded it into a turtle for the young boy, “Here!” With a laugh he handed the boy his turtle. “Do you want to know what’s special about these creatures?”
“N-no,” the boy answered and his sister shook her head as well.
North eyed them both, “They fly for the heart’s of the truest believers.”
The boy gave him a skeptical look, “No way mister.”
“Ahhh, but am telling truth? See,” he pointed his head to the girl’s poodle and saw it begin to take flight around her and stop to nuzzle her nose. This elicted a gasp from the young boy and an inaudible ‘no way’.
“How do I make mine’s float?” Desperately looking to North for answers.
“Believe.” It was a simple command, but the boy looked in distress as he tried. North slapped his belly and chuckled.
“Looks like you did it.” And he did, the turtle was swimming through the air and doing a figure eight. 
You smiled from the sidelines watching the interaction, this was far better than a circus. North stepped back and placed a hand on the small of your back ready to lead you to the circus, but you stopped him.
“I think we have a little time before the show actually starts.” You reasoned with him as you maneuvered yourself back to the kids. 
You never knew the look North was giving you that moment, but it turned to be one of his most treasured memories.
“No, please look at me.” You began to sit up straight in the sheets, “You know I love you. And I’m not talking about you when you’re happy, but when you’re sad, angry, and down right depressed… ya know?” At that he slowly shifted up, but facing away from you in bed, at that you slowly moved closer and sat behind him and leaned your head against his back, “but, I don’t think I ever showed you how much I love you.” 
With that you reached up and quietly took North’s shirt off you to reveal a mustard yellow lingerie set and slowly moved yourself up North’s back and wrapped your arms around his neck.
“Let me show you,” you whispered in his ear and hoped he'd allow it. 
“Please.”
North slowly turned around to meet your gaze, slowly pulling him back onto the bed you moved to straddle his torso as you ran your hands slowly up his arms. 
“You know what I love the most about you?” You questioned while your focus was still on his arms, rubbing them gently. You could feel the muscle tense and jump at your ministrations. “Your hands,” you slip your hand into his and played with his, “it's created so many marvelous things.” You brought it up to your lips for a quick kiss and held it near your chest. “Its punched through who knows what, fought so many battles, and sustained so much damage, and yet it can still be gentle. Drying tears, or holding me tight when I need it.”
You were looking at him, taking your free hand you tilted his head to have your eyes meet. “They’re calcoused, but know passion when you trace my face when I’m asleep, or rub circles on my back when I can’t sleep.” You leaned in closer and got quieter, “They’re hands that love.”
And then kissed him, North’s lips were slightly chapped in contrast to your soft ones. He kissed you back and squeezed your hand, pulling back you put his hand next to your face and held it there. Pulling your hands down, you toyed with the bottom of his shirt and nonverbally asked permission. He didn’t make a move to stop you, so you slipped it off as he lifted his hands to aid you. Placing your hands back on his chest you raked your hands through his hair and kissed him once again.
Gradually you moved your kisses down his neck and past his stomach and over his thighs. As you made your journey, you gave his nipple a little suck and nip, and you took his onesie down too. You slowly spread his legs and got between them, without breaking eye contact you began to kiss between his thighs. You could feel him tense again.
The room was suddenly illuminated, North quickly looked up and saw that the usual wooden ceiling was temporarily changed to a night sky. Looking at you he searched your eyes for an answer. You gave no tells. It seemed as if the sky was truly in your joined presence, North stared a little more and noticed the one star shining brightly than the rest. The second star to the left.
“I love your thighs,” you gave his thick thighs a squeeze, “You're so sexy." you half moaned, half sighing you kissed a lazy, open mouthed trail along the curve of North’s thigh as your hands smoothed up and down his flesh. You stopped to grope gently at the supple skin of his thighs, quivering with tension as North struggled not to instinctively shy away.
“Trust me.”
You continued up and body and splayed yourself over his belly and laid a soft kiss on it. He was burning up and you could tell. 
“I-I trust you.” Came a breathy whisper. He couldn’t believe you were doing this just for him, North’s eyes moved up your body and slowly relaxed at the attention.
You took a point to admire his belly, as round as it was and decorated with stretch marks that were shades of pink and purple. 
“You talk down on yourself, and don’t even see the wonder of yourself.” You began and slowly traced a stray mark that curved onto his back. “You don’t even realize how you carry the autonomy of the universe within your skin. The holy bodies that made you the way you are decided to leave a mark, a reminder of where you come from.” You laid another kiss as you began to make your way back up, “A place of infinancy, a place of wonder, and place were the north star guides you home from way up above.” You wrapped both arms around him, “A plac- no, kingdom of beauty that I refuse to let you crumble.”
North’s eyes began to water, but you continued, “A perfectly constructed man, who has a heart purer than gold or the untouched waters of the amazons, with the spirit of unbridled fire, and voice as loud as thunder.” You slowly wiped his tears away as you felt his arms come to circle around you. 
“A man worthy of love.”
You stared directly into his eyes, even while crying he still looked heavenly.
“You’re beautiful.”
You breathlessly whispered and watched North crumble completely into cries and whimpers. Holding him close you ran your hands through his hair and massaged his scalp, you kissed his temple and let him let it out. You let him know what he was, not his body, but his hands, his mind, his own north star.
His own piece of wonder.
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