#and she was straight too but that's like the least amount of reason that uhh. was nawt gonna work out | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

souichioneshots · 3 years

Text

Souichi x Farmer!Reader

Souichi goes to visit one of his oldest farmer friends for some straw. In return, he makes her a voodoo doll and things get a litttlleee steamy

ahaha idk lol

Souichi heavily breathed through his mouth as he continued to walk down the treeless path. The summer sun shining down on him was making him sweat bullets, and having a large leather satchel cling to his body was starting to make him feel sick.

“Why does she have to live so far away…” Souichi mumbled to himself as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Passing a couple more rice fields, a large Japanese-style cottage finally came into view. It was surrounded by a couple of mango trees and 2 PVC greenhouses. He could see from the outside that they were once again filled completely with strawberries and tomatoes.

As he approached the house, he realized that all of the cars were gone. He thought for a second that he came all this way for nothing, but then he heard a familiar voice echoing in the distance.

“Kuro! Way to me! Shiro! Lie down! Hairo! Lie down!!” Souichi quickly made his way to the back of the house, where the voice was coming from.

As he pushed past a large bush, he finally saw you. You had been herding a large trip of white-tan goats and your 3 dogs, Kuro, Shiro, and Hairo were also doing their best to keep the goats in place.

“Y/N!” Souichi called out from a distance, getting your attention.

“Hmm? Souichi!!” You turned around and called back, jumping slightly in the air.

Souichi laughed as the goats also turned in his direction and let out a little “meh” sound as a greeting.

“Give me a second. I’ll be done in a bit.”

Souichi watched from under the shade of a tree as you continued to order your dogs to do their job.

You and Souichi had been friends for as long as he could remember. It was actually his grandmother who introduced him to you when he was younger. She used to get straw and other ritualistic material from your family when she practiced magick, and now he was getting stuff from you as well.

Today, he had come for his usual satchel fill of straw, and anything else you would give him as a gift. You loved to give him gifts. From fresh rice, to mangos, and even white strawberries.

Everyone in the town knew your family used magick because there was no way mangos nor white strawberries could grow in the weather conditions this part of Japan had to offer.

“Sorry for the wait!” You held onto your straw hat as you ran up to the boy. “We actually built a new barn last week for the straw. It’s this way.”

Getting up from his spot, Souichi walked with you to a small open barn located on the other side of your house.

“Woah…” Souichi looked up in awe at the massive amount of straw you had stored up this season.

“Pretty impressive, right? It’s the largest haul we’ve had in years. Praise Ninigi.” Turning towards the sun, you bowed once. Souichi quickly turned with you and did the same.

You laughed a bit at his sudden action. You knew that without his grandmother around, he wasn’t sure how to act in these types of situations. So, he mostly just copied you.

Putting your hand out, you gestured for Souichi to give you his satchel.

"Do you need me to tie them up or can I just stuff it in here?" You asked as you walked over to a large pile of loose straw.

"Just like that is fine." Souichi replied.

Picking up a handful of straw, you neatly placed it inside. When it was finally full enough, you closed it up and handed it back to the boy.

Although it was a lot, it still felt surprisingly light. Hopefully, it won't go to waste this time.

Sitting on a large straw stack, you took off your hat. You shook your head side to side as your long hair flowed from inside the hat and down onto the straw you were sitting on. You had been growing your hair out since kindergarten. Never cutting it once. Just the sheer length of it made you look like a goddess yourself. Although it was a big distraction when you worked, you planned on using your ‘virgin uncut hair’ in future rituals. At least, that’s what you told Souichi.

Patting the empty space next to you, you asked Souichi to sit next down.

“Ma actually took away the voodoo doll you made me last time you came over… Think you can you make me a new one…” You said in a sad voice as you looked at the boy.

“Again?” Souichi replied, sighing loudly.

Although your family practiced black magick in order to keep the farming business alive, you were strictly forbidden from practicing curses and other types of voodoo until you turned ○○. In the meanwhile, your mother forced you to tend to the farm and learn how to be a proper worker. That’s why whenever Souichi came over, in exchange for whatever he wanted, he would teach you anything he knew about black magick in secret.

Currently, you were learning how to make straw voodoo dolls.

You didn’t really have anyone in particular that you wanted or needed to curse, but you wanted to be prepared just in case anything happened in the future.

You smiled widely as the raven-haired boy took out a pair of pruning shears and red string from the front pocket of his satchel.

Grabbing a couple handfuls of straw, you placed them on your lap for him to freely use.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re making it by yourself this time.” He sternly said.

“Eh~? But I’m tired from doing chores all morning…I’ll give ya a kilogram of rice if you make this one for me~” Souichi just shook his head no. He would need a better incentive if you wanted him to do this for you again.

“Hmmm…Aha! I’ll give you a whole box of fresh white strawberries as well!” Souichi smiled as you offered him exactly what he wanted. There was a reason your family sold their strawberries for over 20,000 yen a box. Getting them for free from you was one of the best parts of coming over.

“Fine. But this is the last time. And pay attention this time.” Humming happily, you handed him a handful of straw.

“First, make a circle with your thumb and index finger. Then place enough straw to fill it completely. When you get the right amount, you use some string to… Uhh... Hold this.”

Handing you the bundle of straw, he used the shears to cut a couple pieces of string to use.

“…Hold it up straight up…Yeah, like that. You tie up the top end around here. Next, you repeat this with another section of straw. When you finish that, you slide one section into the middle of the other. Then you just tie it up here, and here. Lastly, you part it in the middle for the leg sections… And then you tie up those ends and…Done!”

You let out a small whine as your mind failed to keep up with Souichi's speedy motions and vague explanation. You wanted to ask him to do it again, this time much slower, but you knew he would just go at the same speed again.

Cutting the extra pieces of straw that stuck out from the ends of the voodoo doll, he made it look presentable.

“So, what do you think? Pretty good, right?” Souichi proudly said as he handed it to you.

“Yeah! I think it might even be better than the one you made me last time!" You replied as you examined the doll in awe. "So, all I need in order to curse someone is their picture?” The straw crunched in your fingers as you opened up the chest section a bit.

“You can also use their hair, and at times when your hatred towards them is at its peak, you can just write down their name on a piece of paper, stuff it in the middle there, and it’ll work.”

You hummed in amusement as the boy once again explained to you the way straw voodoo dolls worked.

“Hair, huh…” You said to yourself in a voice so quiet not even Souichi could hear.

Moving closer to him, you spoke in a loving voice. “I never did thank you for the last doll you made me, did I?” Putting the doll down on the empty space next to you, you moved to place a quick kiss on the boy’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“Ah! Hehe…I-It was no problem… I can make you more anytime you want really…” Souichi turned his face away from you, trying to hide the blush that had grown on his cheeks.

You were always the affectionate type.

“Then, I should probably thank you in advance~” Bringing your hand to his face, you turned him towards you. Souichi’s body burned with embarrassment as you placed multiple kisses on his cheek again.

“You know, you can also thank me for always giving you so much straw~” You teased as you tapped your own cheek, hinting for him to give you a small kiss back.

Closing his eyes, Souichi moved to plant a kiss on your cheek. However, you also moved back to face him as well.

Souichi’s eyes shot open as you pressed your lips against his.

The remaining straw on your legs fell to the ground as you moved to straddle the blushing boy.

You were perhaps a bit too affectionate really.

But Souichi wasn’t complaining.

Souichi’s eyes fluttered closed as he melted into your kiss. Your hands caressed his face as you quickly deepened the kiss.

Souichi playfully bit your bottom lip as you tried to pull back for air, forcing you to return back to him. He liked to experiment with different ways of teasing you every time you spontaneously kissed him like this.

Slowly, your hands ran through his hair, making it messier than it was before.

"Ow!" Souichi pushed you back and yelled in pain as you suddenly pulled his hair.

Moving to sit up, you gloated.

“Haha! Now that I have your hair, you have to follow everything I say or I’ll curse you to death!” You laughed as you help up a single strand of dark hair. You were expecting Souichi to try to get it back from you, but he didn’t.

Looking back at you with an equally victorious smile, he moved his hands in front of you, showing off the contents it held.

“That makes two of us~ Kekekeke~”

Your smile dropped and your eyes widened in shock as you saw the shears in one hand and a large amount of your hair in another.

Bringing your hands up to your head, you felt the difference in hair length on each side.

“How could you…” Tears ran down your cheeks, making Souichi stop his cackling.

“I hate you!!” Pushing yourself off the boy, you got onto your feet and started to run towards your house. “I’m telling Baphomet!!”

The goats in the barn loudly cried as you mentioned the name of the deity your family religiously worshiped.

“Crap! No!! Y/N!!” Jumping off the straw-stack, Souichi threw your hair and the shears onto the ground.

“Wait!! I’m sorry!!” Souichi exclaimed as he chased after you.

Just before he could grab ahold of you, you ran into the house. You were so upset that you didn’t even bother to take off your shoes.

Souichi slipped on the grass as he tried to stop himself from going any further. He knew he couldn’t enter your house without your given permission.

Souichi felt his mind go into a panic as he saw you approach the large altar in your living room.

The goats in the barn cried even louder and banged their horns against the wooden walls as you pointed towards the boy outside your house.

Just before he could run away for safety, your three dogs surrounded him. Souichi let out a high-pitched cry of fear as the dogs barked and growled, forcing him to stay in place.

He made a big mistake messing with the daughter of the Baphomet worshiping family.

#souichi x reader #souichi tsujii x reader #fluff #yall kiss a bit #ehehe

268 notes · View notes

hyuckssunchip · 3 years

Text

Here’s The Deal

Pairings: Mark x Reader, ft. 00′ line (Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin)

Words: 5.9K

Warnings: Language (there is almost always language in my writings), slight smut, angst

Summary:

Y/N gets caught in a tight situation as she discovers that her relationship was a lie. Mark knows just how much she really means to him, but how can he prove it after what he’s done? How much was real?

“Hi Y/N!”

“Oh hey Mark,” you say as you slide into your seat and rest your forehead on your desk. You let out a deep sigh.

“What’s up?” He asked laying his own head down to face yours.

You let out another exaggerated sigh, “Nothing. I just didn’t get much sleep last night. I was up all night working on my writing assignment for philosophy.”

“Oh… Well maybe you and I can go to that one cafe to get coffee together. Maybe lunch?” Mark offered quietly.

“Huh?”

“You know, after class so you can wake up.” He said, quieter and less sure of himself.

“Oh… Well, I actually don’t like coffee. But thanks for the offer anyways.” You said, lifting your head up slightly, just enough to give him a weak smile.

Mark looked at you, furrowing his eyebrows and biting his lip. He gives you a slight nod before leaning back in his chair. He then turned his head to the right shaking his head at his friends that sat adjacent to him.

THE NEXT DAY

“Just ask her!”

“Shhh! Don’t talk so loud!”

“Grow some balls man!”

“Guys can you just shut up?! This is not helping. Telling me to man up is not going to get her to say yes.”

“Well maybe, stop beating around the bush and straight up ask her!”

“Would you two shut up? You are not the one who has to---”

“Oh hey guys. What are you still doing here? Class ended like half an hour ago?” You say, accidentally interrupting their conversation.

“Uh.. We’re uh… just discussing our project for uh… drama? Yeah. Drama.” Mark’s friend Jaemin answered.

“Drama? Why the hell would we be in drama?” Renjun hissed at Jaemin. After a couple seconds of painful silence Jeno nudged Mark forward.

“Uhh.. yeah. What are you doing here?” He asked stumbling towards you a bit.

“Oh… I just left my notebook here.” You said pointing towards the blue spiral notebook on one of the desks. “I’ll just grab it real quick and let you guys get back to your… discussing.” You said, giggling a little at the thought of them doing drama.

“Mark! Do it now!” Haechan whispered to Mark pushing him into you. As you struggled to keep your balance from the new weight of Mark, he wrapped his arms around yours to stabilize the both of you.

“Oh, sorry.” he said, quickly shoving himself away from you as if you burned him.

“Actually we’re done discussing our project, right Jaemin?” Jeno said, looking sharply at his younger friend, who nodding vigorously at you. Before you knew it they were gone and you were left alone with Mark.

“Hey, maybe… do you want to… watch that new movie that came out? Crazy Rich Asians?” Mark suddenly asked out of the blue.

“Oh! Yeah I heard that was going to be really good. I’d love to go! My roommate really wants to see that, I’ll ask when she’s free.” You reply excitedly.

Mark let out a sigh of exasperation before grabbing your shoulders and forcing you to face him. “Are you totally oblivious or just trying to let me down easy?” He asked staring into your eyes. For some odd reason you couldn’t seem to look away and suddenly your heart skipped a beat.

TWO WEEKS LATER

You and Mark had been dating for a month, ever since he confronted you and made you realize your feelings for him.

For the short amount of time that the two of you had actually been dating, you two were really close. You had gotten physical pretty quickly, although you didn’t mind it too much. Mark was something else, he made you feel things you had never felt before and it had become almost addicting.

However, despite this the two of you haven’t slept together yet, after all it was only a few weeks of dating, way too soon for you. On multiple occasions you had gotten close but were interrupted, you were secretly thankful that the two of you couldn’t go further.

Your relationship wasn’t about the physical, Mark made you happier than you thought was possible. His constant laughing and goofy smile always had you thankful to have him around. He really did brighten your day.

Mark was sweet and thoughtful, always coming up with spontaneous dates for the two of you and kind gestures that made your heart skip.

You’ve never been in love before, but maybe, just maybe you were on the right track this time.

It was Saturday, and for once you had panned a surprise for your boyfriend. A picnic date. You climbed the few flights of stairs that led to his dorm, which he shared with Haechan and Renjun, two of his friends that you were acquainted with. Nothing more than a couple of interactions, but you’ve never run into them at their dorm, save for the time they caught you and Mark in a compromising position.

Just as you were about to knock on his door, you heard voices behind the door. You knew that you shouldn’t eavesdrop, but you couldn’t help but lean in.

With your ear pressed against the door, you could clearly distinct between each of their voices.

“I don’t know. I’m so close it's just frustrating!” Clearly Mark.

“Why don't you just go for it? Why are you dancing around?” Jeno?

“I don't want to make her do anything that she doesn't want to. Especially if she’s not ready.” Your heart swelled at Mark’s response.

“What do you mean? Why do you care?” You frowned at Haechan’s response, why wouldn’t he care?

“Ha! Don't tell me you’re actually starting to like her?” You froze.

Her? Is there someone else? Is he talking about me?

There was a pregnant pause.

“Dude?!”

“... guys… stop.”

“She’s a fucking bet! Just finish it quickly, you’re so close. If you don’t we’re all fucked! You know that!” You felt like throwing up. A bet?

“Mark! Tae Oh will kill us if you don’t finish this! Please!” Finish this? Am I a game?

“I know! You don’t think I know that?! You think I want this?!”

With your ear still pressed firmly against the door, you let out a muffled cry.

“Fuck!”

As he yelled, you flinched and backed yourself away from the door.

You let out a silent sob and rushed back to your dorm room, leaving spilled contents of your picnic along the way. As you pushed your way into your dorm, thankful that both of your roommates happened to be gone, you threw yourself on your bed.

Your emotions were all over the place, you were sobbing, upset that you weren’t enough for him, upset that you were a bet, upset that he had made a fool of you. But like a flip of the switch you became pissed. He played with you, with your feelings as if you were nothing. Nothing he said or did was real, your whole relationship was a lie.

You wiped your eyes dry and wrung your hands, pausing when you felt the promise ring Mark had given you just recently for your one month anniversary. More angry than you had ever been you ripped your ring off your finger and chucked it across the room hitting the door. It bounced off and landed under your desk, but you didn’t care enough to pay attention.

Just as you were cooling off you got a goodnight text from Mark. On any other day you would be swooning at the cute text, but today you were not having it. You ignored his texts and ended up falling asleep before your roommates ever made it back.

The next morning you woke up to your alarm blaring, looking at the clock you realized you hit snooze one too many times and rushed to the door. You made to class with little time to spare and even before the professor made it. You scanned the room for a seat, and found a few. There was one next to Mark, saved for you as usual but you stopped yourself, opting to sit next to Jisung. You smiled awkwardly at him as you sunk into the seat. You felt your phone buzz again and ignored the text as soon as you saw Mark’s name on your screen. You sigh and ignore the text, pulling out your notebook and start doodling.

Mark frowned to himself a couple of rows behind you. He couldn’t focus the entire class and couldn’t help but stare at you confused. Before he knew it the class was over and you were rushing past him, not even sparing a glance. Before he could gather his things you were gone.

To be honest, it was a lot of work avoiding Mark. It’s like he had it on his agenda to track you, normally you would absolutely love it, but as of right now that was the last thing you wanted.

At some point you were out of energy and could no longer continue the chase.

“Can we talk?” Mark asked, nervously wringing his hands together.

You sighed, thinking that there wasn’t really much else you could do. Stopping in your tracks you plopped down on the empty bench you were close to passing. You tried to hold back a scoff, sure that he was worried about losing his bet. It took everything in you not to throw that in his face and stalk off.

You heard Mark let out a relieved sigh, collapsing into the spot next to you, but consciously leaving a respectable gap between the two of you.

For a moment the two of you sat in silence, neither wanted to get to the discussion at hand.

“What happened?” There was a quiver in his voice and you cursed your heart for wavering at the sound. No matter how upset you were, you still liked him and could’t help but feel guilty at suddenly ghosting the desperate boy.

You glanced at his side profile and admired him. He was leaning over his knees, staring intensely at his shoes.

For the first time since you overheard his conversation you thought about his position.

Why did he even do the bet in the first place? Mark was a nice guy, at least that’s what you had always thought. And why was Tae Oh threatening them?

You recalled what you had heard. Jeno had said that Tae Oh would kill them if Mark couldn’t finish the bet. Did that mean he was in trouble?

With one last glance at the forlorn boy next to you, you had decided. It was a stupid idea, and it would only hurt you, but for some reason you couldn’t stand the thought of Mark suffering. To the point where you would put him before you.

“Nothing happened.” You mumbled out, your internal conflict starting to give you a headache.

His eyes searched for yours, “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not.” You gulped, refusing to meet his eyes.

“I swear you just ran the other direction, and it took me so long to get you to talk to me. If I did something wrong we can talk about it, otherwise we can’t fix it.” He pulled your hand into his hesitantly, rubbing softly over the skin, sending warmth through your body. You didn’t miss the frown on his face when he noticed your ring wasn’t on the usual finger.

You pulled your hand out of his, wiping your palms on your jeans and fumbling with your fingers.

“I promise you nothing is wrong, I’m just stressed about school. You know cause finals are coming up.” You hoped he would fall for it, after all he knew how you were during testing periods.

“Right.” His eyes shook, “How about we have a small date night, that’ll make you feel better, right?”

You nodded at nothing in particular, eyes now trained on the bird that was digging for dinner in front of you.

“I’ll pick you up at seven then? We can get take out a watch a movie.” He asked, nodding to himself.

“Uh, I’ll just go to your dorm, I have stuff to do anyways, it’s on the way.” You rejected his offer, not thinking you would be able to pretend for a whole car ride.

“Right.”

You stood up abruptly, not able to take the tension any longer. “I’ll see you tonight then.”

Then as fast as you could you escaped.

You had spent the last few hours thinking about what the bet could possibly be. Tae Oh was one of Mark’s seniors, you often saw them in the same group, but he was notorious for be an ass. There was nothing more to say about that. Tae Oh was an ass and you didn’t doubt for a moment that he was capable of making Mark’s life hell.

Groaning, you ran your hands over your face. Why did you have to care?

You racked your brain for any clues. The other day you had heard Mark saying that he didn’t want to push you. Push you into what?

Tae Oh would’ve only had two things in mind when making the bet, break your heart or sleep with you. You frowned, Tae Oh didn’t know you that well, why would he want to break your heart, and as a horny college student it made more sense for him to want Mark to sleep with you.

Your eyes widened in realization. That’s why they said he was so close. Mark and you had gotten intimate, but never actually did anything. He must have told them that and that’s what they meant by getting close.

You chewed on your bottom lip. Could you do that for him? Honestly, before this whole situation you would’ve been more than willing to sleep with him on your own accord, god knows you were close. But you were starting to feel uncomfortable with the thought after knowing his intentions.

“Y/N?” You jolted up straight, “What are you doing? How long have you been there?”

Mark rubbed the back of his neck, tilting his head in confusion.

“Oh, not long, I was just about to knock.” Your face heated up in embarrassment.

“Oh hey Y/N.” You made eye contact with Renjun who was sitting on the couch with a book, feet in the position of kicking a very focused Haechan.

“Stop it. You’re going to make me die.” Haechan retaliated with a quick shove, “Hey Y/N.”

Though he didn’t look at you, you still smiled at the interaction.

“Let me kick them out, I told them you’d be over around seven.” He laughed quietly at the scene.

“Renjun, you asshole! I died!” The bright flash on the TV screen was proof and Haechan didn’t look like he was going to let it go.

“Guys! Y/N’s here, I told you she was coming.” The other two froze, staring at Mark like they were having a silent conversation before Renjun slammed his book shut.

“Right. Haechan, there’s that new place down the street that has great tacos, let’s go.” He nudged the pouting counterpart aggressively.

“But my game-”

“Haechan.” Renjun raised his eye brows while staring down Haechan, no doubt a sign that it was a chance for Mark to complete the bet.

“Oh. Yeah... I like tacos.” He stood up giving you a short salute. “Bye Y/N.”

He couldn’t help but send a wink in your direction, making you wince in reminder of your situation.

Before you knew it, it was once again just you and Mark.

“So I already ordered, do you want to choose a movie?” Mark made his way to the now unoccupied couch.

“Sure.” You shuffled behind him, mind not really thinking about the movie.

As you fell into the cushion of the couch, Mark slid close to you, eliminating any space that might’ve been between you two.

He pulled you into his arms, gripping you tightly as if he was worried that you would slip away.

“Let’s just stay here for a moment, we can choose a movie when the food gets here.” He mumbled into your neck, eliciting an automatic sigh in response.

“You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you on purpose right?” You tensed at his confession, obviously referring to the bet.

“Hmmm.” There was nothing that you could do but hum in response.

Mark began to pepper soft kisses along your neck, leaving a little trail of love bites. You unconsciously opened your neck, giving him more access.

His kisses got deeper, leaving what you know would be dark spots, proof of possession. Soon he reached your mouth, pulling you in. He nipped at your bottom lip, asking for access, to which you gave him without hesitation.

Your hands moved to tangle in his hair, gripping softly and tugging him closer. He groaned into your mouth in response, and you could feel the tips of his mouth curve into a smile.

His hands which were once rubbing your waist, gripped you tightly, pulling you onto his lap where you were forced to straddle him.

For just a moment he was forced to pull away, looking up at you with smiling eyes, searching for the same in your own.

You couldn’t do anything but crash against his lips, leaning your body into his. There was nothing but the thin layers of your shirts, the rapid beating of his heart easily felt, and you knew that he could feel yours as well.

One hand reached up for your neck, a way for him to lock your head in place, digging deeper. The other hand meandered its way to your thigh, massaging your inner thigh, causing you to grind yourself on his lap, getting growl from him underneath you.

You felt a change in him, his grip became more needy, you were sure there would be marks in the morning.

You pulled back for air, startled at the sound of someone at the door.

“Delivery!” Mark sighed, shaking his head for you to ignore it, as he leaned back in to resume.

“Mark, the food’s here.” You mumbled, keeping the distance between you.

“Forget the food, we’ll just order again.” You kept a hand on his chest, preventing him from starting again.

“Mark.”

“Ugh, fine.” You wiggled off his lap and collapsed in the seat you were originally in. Your eyes followed his back as he opened the door, paying for the food and holding the bag in his tight grip. He was especially tart with the man, in an obvious hurry.

Once the door was shut again he slid the food on the coffee table, and crawled on the couch towards you, having every intention of picking up where you left off.

“Mark, the food’s going to get cold.” You giggled at the sounds he made in protest.

He leaned against the back of the couch, throwing his head back in frustration.

“Fine, we’ll eat first.” He cocked his head at you slightly, choosing to ignore the feeling arising in the pit of his stomach.

You stuck your fork in the first container, popping it into your mouth before chewing thoughtfully.

“Mark...” you sighed, “I actually have something to talk to you about.”

You felt the knot in your stomach dissipate, knowing that confronting him would ease your mind. The plan of going through with it tonight didn’t sit right with you, and you knew it would bother you if you didn’t say something.

“Shoot.” He nodded, chowing down himself.

You let out a deep sigh, instantly catching his attention, and put down your fork.

His brows furrowed as he too set his down, a feeling that things were about to become serious.

“I uh...” you cleared your throat. “I actually know about the bet.”

He clearly stiffened and eyes widened at your admission.

“I can explain!” He rushed out, interrupting you in hopes of stopping whatever you were planning on saying.

“Okay.” You said, shocking him with how calm you were.

“Huh?”

“Go ahead, explain it to me.” Although you knew the gist of what was going on, you were actually curious to know how he got roped into something like this.

“Uh... how much do you know?” He cut himself off. “Actually I’ll just tell you everything.”

He reached for the cup of water in front of him, quickly downing it in hopes of drowning his nerves as well.

“Do you know who Tae Oh is? I swear it wasn’t a bet between my friends, they would never do that.” He gulped, watching your blank expression. “I think you’ve met him before, he’s not a great guy.”

There was an obvious shudder from him. “About a month ago he made a bet that I couldn’t get with a girl, and I honestly didn’t care what he thought. But... he has some stuff over Jeno’s head, and he promised that if I succeeded he would let it go.”

You pursed your lips at the mention of Jeno.

“I... I know I told you I’d tell you everything, but I’m not sure it’s right to tell you about Jeno. I can ask him to talk to you, but I can’t tell you.” He bit his lip anxiously, praying that you would understand.

You nodded, admiring his loyalty, despite his current situation. You gestured for him to continue.

“It’s not like I chose you, I would never purposely hurt you or do that to you. I... I honestly liked you a lot before he even suggested the bet.” He gave you a bashful look, a sudden switch from his nerve wracking expression.

“Tae Oh chose you, I think he did it because he knew that I liked you. I mean back then I wasn’t exactly subtle about it.” A nervous chuckle escaped his lips. “I totally understand if you absolutely hate me now, I mean I would too.”

You looked at his dejected form, “I don’t hate you. If I did I would’ve broke up with you the moment that I found out.”

He looked at you with a confused expression, “Why didn’t you break up with me?” There was a hint of hope in his voice. He wondered if it was possible for you still to like him after what he had done, or was supposed to do.

It would’ve hurt your pride to admit you still liked him despite his actions, so you chose to go with the pity card. “I overheard you talking in your dorm, and someone mentioned that Tae Oh would kill you if you couldn’t finish. I know Tae Oh could really make your life miserable, and I didn’t want to be responsible for that.”

Mark visibly saddened at the idea that you didn’t like him, that you didn’t want to feel guilty about the aftermath.

“Here’s the deal,” you let out, finally coming to a conclusion, “I can’t sleep with you. I don’t feel comfortable with that anymore.”

Mark winced, feeling a tight lump grow in his throat at the thought of you not able to stand him, and the thought that he makes you uncomfortable.

“I don’t want Tae Oh to win though, for both your sake and Jeno’s.” He made eye contact, clear that he was shocked.

“I don’t know what the rules are, or what proof you have to have, but I’ll help you with that. But that’s all I can do.”

Mark didn’t look thrilled at the idea, if anything he looked dejected. However grateful he was that you were willing to do this to help him, he couldn’t help but wish you didn’t pity him. If it weren’t for Jeno he would’ve rather taken punishment from Tae Oh, after all that’s what he deserved.

“Mark, you have no idea what this means to me. Thank you so much.” Jeno grinned at him, wrapping him in a suffocating hug, making Mark feel worse.

“Right, it’s not like I couldn’t do it for you.” It was monotone, he was unable to show his real feelings about the situation.

“So how’s Y/N?” Jaemin asked, watching the interaction.

“What do you mean?” Mark furrowed his brows and directed his attention at the other boy.

“Well, you guys can still date, she doesn’t have to know it was a bet.” He shrugged as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. Oh how badly Mark wanted that statement to be true.

“No.”

“No? What do you mean?” It was Jaemin’s turn to be confused.

“We broke up.” Mark avoided eye contact with anyone else, staring up at the sky and squinting in the bright light.

“Why? Did you tell her?” Haechan asked, “I didn’t think you had it in you to do that right after the bet was over.” He frowned to himself. “Don’t you think that was too harsh?”

Renjun elbowed Haechan in the side, shutting him up. As one of the more attentive of the group, he could see the way that Mark was acting in response.

“What could I do?” Mark shrugged, trying so hard not to let his voice crack and play it off like he didn’t care. If only they knew that it was the other way around. But he took Haechan’s blows, after all he deserved it, he was the cause of it anyways.

“Y/N! Hey!” You heard Jeno’s footsteps sidle up beside you, the faint breathing evidence that he had jogged to you.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, suddenly embarrassed to thank you.

“Um, thanks. I just want to let you know that it wasn’t like it seemed, Mark was just trying to help me. He’s not a bad guy, I know he probably seemed harsh, but he really didn’t want to do it.”

He gulped, and peered over at your face, more than shocked at the fact that it was expressionless. Too similar to the one they had gotten used to seeing on Mark.

“I know.” You hiked your bag up higher on you bag, gripping tightly on the straps for support.

“Mark really likes you. For real. He’s been really upset, beating himself up for it you know. He won’t admit to it, but we all can see it.”

You squinted your eyes closed, trying to ignore the underlying meaning of Jeno’s words.

“He wouldn’t ever just use you like that. You know him.”

You had enough.

“Do I? Because this was a far cry from the Mark that I knew, or at least I thought I knew.” You sent one last look before escaping out the doorway, leaving Jeno behind with a hurt look.

Jeno never wanted to hurt either of you, but it was a consequence of his stupid decisions. And now other people had to pay for his mistakes.

“Y/N.” You stopped in your tracks, it seemed that no matter where you went you couldn’t get away from them.

“Renjun.” You replied curtly, having nothing else to say to him. Beside him was the familiar pair of shoes, one’s you would always recognize.

Mark shyly lifted his hand to greet you, but dropped it as if he realized that he no longer had the right to.

Renjun, ever the observer watched the interaction, taking in the tense air between the two of you.

“Guys I’m telling you something’s not right. I know it was stupid, but Mark is really suffering.” Renjun spilled to the rest of the boys, “We ran into Y/N and he looked so depressed. It was really bad.”

“Well, of course it’s gonna be bad, Mark basically used her.” Haechan let out, never thinking about his words.

“Haechan!”

“What am I wrong?” He raised his eyebrow in question.

“You don’t have to say it like that.” Jaemin scolded, glancing at Jeno who seemed more stoney than usual.

“He’s right though.” Jeno let out. “It’s my fault, I never should’ve let Mark do it.”

“Jeno, you didn’t know what Tae Oh was going to do.” Jaemin comforted him, to which he was met with empty eyes.

“I ran into Y/N, but she wasn’t having it. I don’t think she’ll ever forgive him.” Jeno dropped his head in his hands.

There was a silence as none of the boys knew how to comfort him.

“What’s going on?” Mark stood in the doorway, watching the scene before him unfold.

“Nothing.” Renjun quickly covered up.

“Jeno? What’s going on?” Mark ignored Renjun’s excuse and focused on the downtrodden boy.

“I’m sorry.” Jeno’s voice sounded broken, leaving Mark on edge.

“Why?”

“It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have let you do it. I swear I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt. I tried to explain everything to Y/N, I’ll try again, I promise.” He pleaded with Mark, hoping that he would forgive him.

“Oh.” Mark stepped back from Jeno, the emotionless tone coming through again.

“Please, I promise I’ll try to fix things.”

“Don’t, it’s fine. There’s nothing to fix anymore.” Jeno hated the look Mark had on his face. “Don’t bother explaining, she already knows everything.”

“What?” Renjun butted in, unable to hold his curiosity.

“She overheard everything. We didn’t actually sleep together, she just let me pretend so we would win the bet.” Mark picked up his bag that he had dropped on the floor earlier.

“But-”

“Jeno, it’s fine. Explaining won’t change anything. There’s nothing you can do to change it. Don’t stress yourself out, or blame yourself. I’m just as much at fault, I chose to do it.”

With that Mark, left the same way he came in, no longer feeling like he could stand to be under the scrutiny of the other boys.

“Wait, she knew? And she faked the whole thing for him?” Haechan scratched his head, still processing the bomb Mark dropped on them. “But doesn’t that mean that she still cares about him? Why would she do that for him?”

“Haechan for once you didn’t say something stupid. I agree. I think we should talk to Y/N, chances are if she did that for him, she still cares about him.” Renjun nodded enthusiastically, eager to fix the situation.

“I’ll do it.” Jeno said, gritting his teeth.

“Jeno.”

“No, I fucked everything up, I need to fix it.” He turned to Jaemin, placing a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him.

“I know what you did.” Jeno blurted out, startling you.

“What do you mean?”

“I know you and Mark didn’t actually sleep together.” The look on his face slightly scared you, and you weren’t sure whether him knowing was a good thing or not.

“Did he tell you that?” You cocked your head to the side, trying to feel out the situation.

“Yeah, and I know why you did it too.” Jeno leaned down, getting eye level with you. “You still like him don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I did it cause I felt bad. I didn’t want to feel like it was my fault you guys would suffer.” You looked away from him, watching the stream of students exit the library. “And no, how could I like him after that? He used me.”

“You know exactly why though, if you’re going to hate anyone, hate me.” His words more aggressive, a tactic he was using to redirect your anger.

“I don’t hate him,” you mumbled out, “and I don’t hate you.”

“See, you did that because you still care about him.” He prodded, “If you didn’t you would’ve never let him pretend to go through with it.”

He paused letting that sink in, “For what it’s worth, he still cares very much about you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so depressed.”

You sighed, “I don’t want him to be depressed.”

“Then you should talk to him. I know you guys still have feelings for each other, and honestly it’s hurting you guys more to ignore it.” He raised his eyebrows earnestly, giving you a tempting offer.

“I know for a fact that if you were willing to take him back, he would beg for forgiveness. Mark loves you Y/N.” The last bit came out soft, but it had the biggest impact.

Your heart ached, yearning for him despite the situation.

“Just talk to him. I know I don’t deserve to ask that of you, but I’m begging you, for Mark’s sake.” You had never seen Jeno this distraught before.

All you could do is nod.

“Y/N?” Mark froze at the sight of you standing on the other side of the door.

“Can we talk?”

“Yeah, com- come on in.” He stuttered, embarrassed at how nervous he was. “Do you want something to drink... or?”

“No, I’m fine.” You mumbled, staring at your sleeves. “I just wanted to talk about, you know.”

“Right.”

The two of you took the chance to settle into the familiar couch, memories of your relationship coming back to you.

“I don-”

“I know-”

You blushed at the awkward atmosphere.

“You first.” Mark let you continue.

You cleared your throat. “I talked to Jeno.”

He nodded silently, “I told him to stop bothering you, I’ll talk to him again.”

“No, there’s no need.” You let out, “We talked about some things, more specifically things between us.”

Mark gulped, unable to see where you were going with this.

“I’m probably really stupid for doing this, but I’m obviously attracted to stupid.” You tried to joke, referencing Mark. No matter how much you tried to relieve the tension, it still hovered over you like a think cloud.

He let out a nervous laugh, dying out to let you continue.

“You have no how much I wanted to hate you when I found out. And you have no idea how much I hated myself for not hating you.”

Mark sat up at the insinuation that you didn’t hate him.

“Mark, I still like you a lot. There’s a part of me that hates myself for liking you even after everything, but there’s a larger part of me that tells me that this is more important.” You took a deep breath, struggling to finish your thought.

“I love you.”

You choked back your breath in shock, you weren’t expecting him to confess so bluntly.

“I was stupid and I hate that I did that to you, but I want you do know that I don’t regret helping Jeno, I just should’ve gone about it a different way, one that wouldn’t have any casualties. I would’ve begged on my knees if I had to, but I didn’t feel like I had the right to. Honestly, I figured I would be doing you a favor by leaving you alone.” His nervous tick of picking at his nails made it clear that he was just as nervous as you were.

“I don’t want to praise you for doing something like this, because it was stupid and hurtful, but I’m glad you were able to help Jeno.” You smiled at him, “He’s really thankful, you have know idea how many times he let me know that. He also kept me updated on you, and that definitely didn’t help my feelings go away.”

Mark felt a surge of happiness rise in him, the realization that you still like him, the hope that this wasn’t the end of your relationship, and the gratitude that his prayers were answered.

“Mark, I love you too.”

324 notes · View notes

displacedentities · 3 years

Text

Night Out

My quickfic for @doodledrawsthings Coffee Shop AU! In truth I had this in the books for months and just never got around to finish it ;u; Unfortunately only the muse can decide when it’s time to slap me with enough serotonin to work on this, so I rode the high from recent art and wrapped it up! It’s not as clean as I wanted, but you know what, have it anyway.

-Myst -----

Finally. Another shift in the books.

With a heavy sigh, Luka stretches his back as the clock chimes up on the wall over the glass doors. Deft fingers untie the back before he slips the fabric apron over his head. A light snap of magnets punctuates the white noise of steaming coffee machines, and Luka stuffs his nametag into his pants pocket.

Luka was embarrassed to think about how much of a struggle it was to steady on for the entirety of the workday. Stress ate at him all the time, over so many things. Harriet was priority number one - did he remember to prep her meals for the day? Was she still ok, back in the apartment? Was Professor Popcorn in need of more repairs? Luka would happily handle such a task, of course, but...

He wasn't guaranteed to have thumbs when the evening finally came. There was his time limit to think about.

"Hey Luka?"

Damn, but being cursed was such a pain. Chopping vegetables was a particular bane of his existence. How could he trust himself with a knife like that? Ugh. He hated to make Harriet do it - no child should be wielding a knife before the age of 13, for any reason. He'd just have to MacGyver a solution or something.

"Luka..."

And on top of that, he had the upcoming bills to fret over. Rent was due in a few days, and he'd made a decent amount in tips, but they could not afford to have their upstairs neighbor burst a pipe again. He and Harriet had spent the entire afternoon toweling up their poor carpets to avoid getting mildew. Or worse, bugs. Luka was a fan of bugs, but not in his carpets, or sneaking into the mattress where they could bite his daughter.

"HEY!"

This time, the voice manages to pierce the haze of worry writhing in Luka's brain. Jolting to attention, the auburn-haired adult turns around, blinking owlishly at his colleague, Clover.

The braided redhead is giving him a wan smile, her brows furrowed in worry as she sets down a large bag of coffee beans under the counter.

"You spaced out again, buddy. Did you hear a word I said?" the barista asks, folding her arms over her stained apron.

"Uhh... you said my name," Luka replied, feeling a bit awkward as he chuckles once. "Sorry, I probably missed anything you might have asked me."

"I was asking if you ever go out."

"Ah- what?"

That was unexpected. Go out?

"You know-" Clover holds up her hands to gesture to the world in general, and beyond the coffee shop doors "-out! Like, with friends or anybody?"

Ah.

Luka laughs once, rubbing a hand on one side of his face.

"You mean since I moved into town? Nah, not really. Me and my daughter have only been here a few months - can't say we made many friends just yet."

Nor was that a risk they could take. Who knows how long they could stay here, before he was inevitably found out? One could argue it was a risk just- doing what he was doing now. Trying to hold a job, staying in an apartment; a semi-permanent living situation. They'd been on the road so long, old habits were quite hard to break. And if he was entirely honest with himself, Luka didn't know yet if he felt safe, even six months past the first day he arrived in the rural town of Subcon.

Clover's frown deepens, her arms dropping back to her sides. Her dropped guard betrays her worry, before she tries to play it off with another lighthearted smile and upbeat words.

"Oh come on, it can't have been that long since you've just done something fun for the sake of it. When was the last time you went out with friends and enjoyed yourself?" she asks.

"Why is this important?" Luka asks, his own guard slowly rising. He didn't quite see where she was going with this, but he wasn't sure he'd like it.

Oops- maybe not the most polite way to phrase that, as he sees an awkward flinch on Clover's face. Quick, recover! Luka chuckles once, also trying to lighten the mood.

"You and MJ never really asked me that kind of stuff before. I thought I was hired to serve coffee, not tea."

"We serve both, ya doofus," Clover smirks, rubbing one of her well-muscled arms with the other in a self-conscious gesture. "You should know that, since you've been working here almost four months now. And uh- well, MJ just kind of noticed you always seem very tired whenever you leave work."

Luka smiles back, but it's forced. Careful. Don't give any hints that it's anything serious. Don't be suspicious.

"Oh, that? I uh- I'm not used to the retail scene. I'll probably adapt to it soon."

Clover doesn't seem convinced. Still, her expression is sympathetic, rather than judgmental or suspicious. She leans her back on the counter, looking over Luka's exhausted demeanor and baggy eyes with a skeptical smile.

"I'm sure you will." She rests her hands on the counter. "In the meantime, you should go out for bowling with me and MJ! We were planning this outing for about a week, and maybe you'd wanna come with?"

Luka stops mid-folding of his apron. He turns toward Clover with surprise.

"Bowling? As in- knocking over pins in an alley, bowling?"

Clover rolls her eyes, amused. "No, as in rolling cereal bowls. Yes, that kind of bowling, Luka. It'll be fun! Eat some cheap pizza, knock over pins, watch the uncanny valley animations on the TV screen, the whole shebang. You up for joining us?"

"I uh- I didn't know there was a bowling alley here?" Luka says, his voice pitching up as he gives a sheepish laugh. "I- I don't know..."

Shit.

He could already feel the first touches of his curse starting to well up. A quick glance to his hands- okay, no purple yet. But it was coming.

Luka tucks his hands behind his back just in case.

"I'm not sure, I have Harriet to worry about..." he fumbles, rushing to think of excuses. It hurts his heart a little when he sees the disappointed expression Clover wears.

"Are you sure?" she asks, her tone gentle. "It'll only be a for a couple of hours - I could ask Cookie next door if she'd be willing to handle your daughter for the night. She's a fantastic sitter, and your daughter would have Mu to play with."

Luka opened his mouth, preparing to turn it down- then closed it again, brows furrowed as he chews over the thought.

Only a few hours... hm. His curse's current time limit was somewhere a little short of eight hours, he was sure. As long as he didn't have to pick up a shift at work, he would have most of his day free to spend out of the motel. An outing to a bowling alley couldn't possibly last eight hours, though he'd... never actually gone bowling before.

"I.... don't know... I've never been bowling, I'll just hold you back-"

"Nonsense," Clover says, waving off his excuse immediately. "MJ and I aren't professionals or anything, Luka - it's just for fun! You've never been?? That means you've gotta try it, at least once. Please?"

...mmh. Luka would be lying if he said he wasn't very tempted. But he had so much to worry about! His daughter, his curse... keeping his job, being able to support the two of them. Not to mention, getting used to his slow camaraderie with Clover and MJ. That sort of outing would throw their friendship into first gear.

"It's ok," Clover interrupts his thoughts, standing back up straight as she grabs a rag and finishes wiping down the counter. "You don't have to come, we just thought... you know, it might be fun. You look like you need some serious time to unwind, dude. All we ever see of you is showing up to work, dealing with customers, then you leave. And hey, if you change your mind, the offer's still open."

Luka curls his fingers, foot tapping the floor in small fidget.

"Well, I'm gonna start closing up the back," Clover says, tossing the rag into a laundry bin next to the employee break room. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Wait!"

Clover stops, turning around with the laundry basket.

"What day were you planning to do it?"

What am I thinking?? I can't go on an outing with them!

Unaware of Luka's silent stresses, Clover beams, her smile lighting up once again.

"Saturday! Would that work for you?"

"Mnhg- maybe?" Luka concedes, forcing his own sheepish smile despite his brain screaming No nO this is a bad idea! His mouth continues to run away from him. "Saturday is my errand day - me and Harriet go out for groceries in the morning, and eat out at whatever lunch restaurant she picks. I wouldn't be open until the evening, and Sunday's game day for me and my daughter."

Bad idea, what are you doing?!

"That's perfect!" Clover says, delighted and still not privy to Luka's inner struggle. "If we close the shop at five, we can drive to the bowling alley around 5:30, play a game or two and eat. Should go until about... eight-ish? How's that sound?"

Say no, say NO!

"Sure, sounds fun."

AGH!

"Great!" Clover says, a skip in her step as she lopes off to the back room with the laundry basket. "I'll text MJ to let him know - he's already gone back to his apartment."

"Yeah, I'll uh- I'll text him too," Luka chuckles, scratching behind his head with one hand- and immediately putting a stop to that action, as he feels the points of sharp claws dig at his scalp. Both arms are dropped and tucked behind his back, a big smile on his face. "Gotta give him the full details and everything, haha..."

"No problem- see you!" Clover bids Luka goodbye, waving one hand as she cheerily hauls the laundry bin off into the back.

"Bye!" Luka says, his voice cracking from nerves.

Oh thank god she's gone.

Luka pulls his hands back out into view, and sees the telltale purple staining begin to creep up his flesh. Peck. It was already starting- Clover left just in time. He could already feel the sharp ends of his canines starting to poke into his bottom lip. He didn't have much left of the day in human form- he had to get home right now.

Snatching up his belongings from his locker, stuffing his work apron inside, Luka loops his bag over his shoulder and leaps over the service counter. He missed the rack of sugar packets this time, thankfully, his sneakers squeaking on the tile floor as he bolts out the door. The bell rings as the glass entryway opens and shuts, signaling his departure. Car keys are whipped out of his bag, a slowly deforming finger just managing to push the button to unlock the vehicle as he clambers inside. Just five minutes- he could make five minutes.

The engine of the car roars to life, and Luka zips off out of the employee parking space, trying his best to ignore it as his fingers swell and fuse together, and his eyes reflect golden light in the rear view mirror.

------

MJ's car putters up to outside the bowling alley, fixing his blue-dyed hair with a sigh. Clover, in the passenger seat, drums her hand on the door handle with excitement.

"This is gonna be so much fun," she says, turning to look over her shoulder at the stiff and uncomfortable Luka in the backseat. "I'm so glad you decided to come, Luka- we'll show you the ropes of bowling!"

"Great," the young man says, putting up another shaky smile as his fingers tense around his kneecaps. "Can't wait!"

"That's the spirit," MJ speaks up, giving Luka a quick smile of his own before twisting the key in the ignition. The car's engine dies down, the doors unlocking as MJ shifts the gear into park. "Clover told me you were nervous about hanging out, and that's completely fine by me - if you feel uncomfortable and don't want to stay, just let us know, ok? We'll drive you back to the apartment building, no hesitation."

Luka inhaled deeply, letting out a heavy sigh from the back seat of the car. It felt like his nerves were trying to shake him apart. A glance at his watch-

Was he really going forward with this?

...Yes. He was. As much as Luka worried, Clover had been right. It'd been far too long since he'd taken 'me' time.

Luka puts a hand on the door and pulls the handle, stepping out of the car before he has a chance to psyche himself out.

It's just a couple hours. He still had plenty of time, after his midday outings with Harriet.

Stay calm. You can do this.

The sign above the brick building shines with neon lights, saying 'Pins & Cushions' in bright blue and red. The backdrop is a painting that Luka can swear was painted in the 80s, displaying a bowling ball as it barrels into pins and knocking them askew with a cartoony impact mark.

"Pins & Cushions?" he says aloud, smirking a little bit.

"Kind of silly, right?" MJ speaks up, locking the car behind him with a click. "Sounds more like a sewing parlor than a bowling alley."

"It's because they boasted having cushioned chairs," Clover says, snickering. "You've never been, but most bowling alleys have these awful plastic chairs that hurt to sit on for too long."

"You mean like the chairs in high school?"

Luka's joke earns a quick bark of a laugh from Clover.

"Couched seating areas in a bowling alley was, sadly, a craze that never caught on," MJ says, ascending the concrete steps up to the building. "But this one did, and the place is like forty years old and too stubborn to change, so your butt will thank you later."

When the doors open, Luka is immediately washed with a cocktail of smells he didn't think could- nor should- ever go together. First and foremost is the thick smell of plastic and rubber, followed by the chemical odor of cleaning sprays, and the sizzling smell of burning cheese. Air conditioning blasts them from above as the three young adults enter the bowling alley, the doors sliding shut behind their backs. The sounds hit next - a cacophonous mix of rubber soles squeaking on polished floors, heavy objects falling and rolling, and the clatter of pins falling into the trap at the far end of the establishment.

It was loud, smelled strange, and the carpet looked lifted straight out of an arcade.

Luka was torn between anxiety, and a strange sort of excitement he hadn't felt in a long, long time. This was something new, something unfamiliar- he had hours to enjoy himself, and spend time not worrying about stresses of life. Harriet had a sitter, paid in advance with an alarm for when he would return, and he was out with- friends? Had him accepting this invitation solidified their friendship at this point? ...the thought made a happy butterfly flutter in his stomach.

This would be a great evening, he could feel it.

"Earth to Luka." MJ's amused tone causes Luka to jump. "Something on your mind? You're smiling."

"Oh- uh- nothing," Luka says, scratching behind his head sheepishly. "Just- thanks. For inviting me. I think I really did need this a lot."

"YEAH you do!" Clover thumps him on the back with one hand. "Come on! You have to give your shoes to the clerk so they can give you your bowling shoes."

"Ah, what? I have to take off my shoes on this carpet?" Luka complains, lifting a foot with distaste. "I feel like I'm stepping on twenty-year-old candy."

"It's part of the charm!" Clover sings, already removing one of her sneakers. "It's either this, or slip all over the place on the actual alley floor. You're getting the full bowling experience whether you like it or not, coffee boy."

"Ex-CUSE me!" Luka says with a dramatic gasp, hopping on one foot as he works to remove his own shoes. "I think you will find I'm a coffee man, thank you."

"Coffee twink," Clover counters.

"No, that's MJ."

"HEY! I will call lion's share of the tips for that one," MJ shakes a sneaker at them both in a mock scolding gesture.

"YOU'RE BOTH COFFEE TWINKS," Clover declares to the entire establishment as she fights off her last sneaker, racing for the counter before the others can catch up. "HURRY UP, COFFEE TWINKS, WE NEED TO PICK OUT BOWLING BALLS."

"I have dibs on the galaxy patterned one!" MJ yells after Clover.

Clover gives MJ an evil grin as she takes her bowling shoes and pays the rental fee, tying them before sauntering over to the racks of bowling balls. Her hand hovers over the selection, giving a teasing pause over the bowling ball made with swirled star plastic.

"Don't you dare," MJ hisses from the counter, pointing an accusing finger at Clover as he hands over the money for both his and Luka's rental shoes.

"It's either the tips share, or the bowling ball! You decide!" Clover yells back, drumming her fingers on the coveted starry bowling ball.

"Fiiiiine," MJ says with a dramatic tone, though his smile gives away his mirth. "You know I wasn't going to take the tips anyway, Clo."

"I know~" she says, giggling while she moves on to a different rack of bowling balls. "And you know I wouldn't do that to your poor weak arms, either, Moonie."

Luka finishes tying his rental shoes, thanking MJ before he makes his way down the small stairway to the alleys. It's very bright in this section of the building, with cushioned couches surrounding tables and standing consoles. Metal railings and a chute of some kind were positioned at each alleyway, some with bowling balls sitting idle atop the metal racks.

"So, what now?" Luka asks, the excitement of wading into unknown waters welling in his chest again.

"Pick a bowling ball!" Clover says, gesturing to the racks of heavy plastic spheres. "You'll want a heavy one, but not too heavy for you to lift and throw."

"Go easy on us, Clover." MJ shakes his head as he picks up his favorite starry ball. "Ms. Gun Show and her fourteen-pound bowling ball."

The redhead leans over and scoops up a swirled green bowling ball, hefting it on one arm and pumping it like a weight.

"You might get some guns yourself if you helped me landscape and move sod around my garden, Coffee Twink #1," she says, flexing a bicep.

"I refuse to acknowledge that nickname."

"Sorry, it's our team name now," Clover laughs, "the Coffee Twinks!"

"Hey, I thought our team name was the Comets?!"

"That was before Luka joined the team - now it's a 2-to-1 twink majority, I don't make the rules."

Luka just has his face in his hands, laughing through the whole exchange as he leans on the metal racks.

"You're just as bad as Harriet!" Luka laughs, pushing his hair back out of his eyes with one hand. "I don't even know where she learned that word - Cookie's daughter, probably?"

"Definitely," MJ says with a thousand yard stare, earning more laughter from Luka. "Go pick a bowling ball, I'll get the console up and running for our game."

Wiping tears from his eyes, chuckling under his breath, Luka turns to the racks and peruses the selection. The bowling balls come in all colors - most are black or dark brown, but there's a rather delightful mix of brighter hues like pink, blue and yellow. Some are marbled, some have glitter in the plastic, and a few very beat-up bowling balls have graphics of cartoon characters that were popular in the 90s. Well-loved by the children who patronize this establishment, he was sure. Harriet would love the Scooby-Doo ball - oh no wait. The one themed after a Pokeball, for sure was her poison of choice. And clearly the pick of the litter for many other children, as it was covered in scratches and dents from decades of use.

Ah- there was one themed after a jack-o-lantern! How fitting. He loops his fingers into the grip holes of the bowling ball, and heaves it off of the rack- only to almost crush his toes as the weight yanks his arms to the floor.

That was- heavier than expected!

"Oooooh, nice pick," Clover says, spinning her own bowling ball in her hands. "You sure you can carry it, though? That's a 10-pounder."

"I'll be fine-" Luka says, grunting as he lifts it back up with both hands this time. "Just- caught me off guard, is all."

"Alright, game's all set," MJ announces from the console.

Above their heads, a large tube television flashes blue before displaying a score board.

A loud k-chunk k-chunk k-chunk of machinery draws Luka's eye toward the other end of the alley. Metal rigging and machinery descend from the covered roof of the pin trap. Resembling a large soda crate, the rig drops an array of ten white bowling pins, before unclamping and ascending back into the darkness of whatever creation of god resided in that ceiling.

"You're up first, Clo," MJ says, waving a hand to indicate she should move forward.

"Watch and learn," Clover throws Luka a smile, the competitive taunt dampened by her genuinely helpful tone. "You want to throw the ball so it rolls like this-"

Stepping forward onto the squeaky, smooth polished wooden platform, Clover lifts her bowling ball to her chest. With a quick inhale, she lopes forward two steps, swinging her arm back with the bowling ball, before reeling it forward on the last stride and underhand throwing it into the aisle. The heavy green bowling ball lands with a tHDD before skidding its way down the oiled track, rolling in a long, smooth line. The swirled green sphere smacks into the bowling pins with a loud tHWAKK!!, sending all but one of the pins flying into the darkness beyond. The ball disappears into the hole, and Clover puts her hands on her hips with a huff.

"Damn, almost got a strike." Clover snaps her fingers, shrugging. The green bowling ball clatters back up the chute. She grips her fingers into the trio of holes again, and goes for another throw.

The bowling ball rolls down the course, straight as an arrow for the last pin. The pin spins off the wooden platform into the darkness, earning a whoop from Clover.

"Nice, got a spare!" Clover declares, throwing her arms up in triumph. She sashays her way back to the couches. "Who's up next?"

"I'm up," MJ says, standing from the console. Looping his fingers into his own starry bowling ball, MJ rolls his shoulders and steps up onto the oiled wooden planks. "I'm going to get the first strike of the day, just wait."

"Sure you will," Clover snickers as MJ winds up.

When he releases the ball, it rolls at very high speed- before curving halfway down the track, the topspin he put on the ball causing it veer off course and land in the gutter.

Face flushed, MJ coughs into his hand, suddenly very invested in fixing his shirt as Clover grins. The galaxy ball returns to the trough, and MJ pointedly picks it up again, winding up for his second throw. The bowling ball rocks down the course, and knocks over about six pins, leaving a corner of the triangle still standing.

"Woo!" Clover cheers, clapping as MJ returns to the seating. She reaches over and nudges Luka on the shoulder. "You're up, Luke! Show us whatchu got!"

Heart in his throat, Luka stands from his seat and steps up.

The bowling ball grins up at him, daring him to chicken out. It was heavy in his hand. Still, he walked up onto the polished floor, feeling the rubber on the bottom of his shoes as it grips the oiled surface.

Fighting the weight of the heavy bowling ball, Luka takes a step forward, swinging his arm back before bringing it back around like a pendulum. The ball hits the track with a heavy thDD as it’s released, sent rolling off down the track. Around the halfway point, it spins off course and lands in the gutter with a clunk.

“Aww,” Clover says, leaning over the chair cushion. “And you had such good posture, too.”

“It’s ok,” MJ speaks up, seeing Luka’s visible embarrassment. “It’s your first time bowling! Nothing to be ashamed of. You have another shot before we rotate players.”

Disappointed, Luka rubs at his arm. Well, that was a less than encouraging performance. But he noticed the angle of the spin on the ball. Maybe he could fix that.

The ball clatters up the chute back into the return trough. Luka picks it up with a huff of breath, holding it to his chest as he does mental calculations. If he turned his wrist at just the right point...

Stepping forward, Luka swings back and releases the ball, putting a top spin on the ball at the last possible moment-

The jack-o-lantern face rockets down the alley, the path straight until the very last second. It curves to hit the front pin from the side, knocking every single pin into the abyss beyond.

"OHHHHH!" Clover and MJ exclaim, clapping with enthusiasm as Luka looks stunned.

"You got a strike!" Clover says, applauding with a big grin. "You were totally pulling our legs about being a newbie to this, huh??"

"I think I just got lucky," Luka tries to play it off, feeling an uncommon shyness as he smiles.

Clover shakes her head, not having it.

"Luck nothing! That was pure talent, and you got a strike, dude!"

"Technically that was a spare, but still a strike in my book," MJ says as he rotates the turn order on the console, giving Luka a smile and a thumbs up.

"Oh let him have it, Moon Moon," Clover laughs as MJ throws her a pout. "Our new boy's got game!"

Luka hunches his shoulders, an awkward smile curling across his cheeks as he walks back over to the couches. Clover jumps to attention and makes her way to the track, picking up her green bowling ball for another round as he sits down.

This was... much more fun than he had expected it to be. The background noise of the bowling alley was surprisingly pleasant. He found he could get used to the dull odor of plastic and cleaner- and honestly, that hot cheese smell from what must be the pizzeria was tempting his stomach. But best of all was the camaraderie he could feel sparking between him, Clover, and MJ. Were they officially friends now? Or had they been already, and he was just- in denial? If Luka was entirely honest with himself, probably the latter. MJ and Clover had been nothing but kind and understanding, to him. His sporadic hours and excuses had done nothing to faze them with regards to their treatment of him at work. They still offered him drinks and invited him on this outing, offering even to pay for his expenses, didn't they?

"Hey Luka!" A call from MJ breaks him out of the small reverie. "You're up, again."

"And after this round, we can hit the arcade! I bet I can out-dance you on DDR, Coffee Twinks," Clover smirks.

"No betting. I know you can."

Maybe- maybe he had nothing to worry about.

---

The evening is going fantastic.

The first bowling game had been a pretty close match between Luka and Clover. Clover had the arm strength to pull off some mean and fast throws, but Luka had developed a system. Figuring out how to spin the bowling ball just the right amount had made up for his noodle arms and less weighty bowling ball. It wasn't long before he figured out how to roll a pretty straight record of spares and strikes, with the occasional 7-10 split. After bowling around, they went into the arcade section, with an entire paper roll of quarters to blow on games. A vicious Ms. Pacman multiplayer match had led to MJ smoking all three of them, and as predicted, Clover out-danced both of the boys on the DDR and Stepmania machines. Luka had to collapse over a nearby chair with exhaustion after his matches. He'd finished off the arcade run with a very lucky pull from a claw machine, winning a black cat plush with big yellow eyes that he was definitely going to enjoy giving to Harriet.

The three of them sat around their table at the bowling console again, laughing over a hot cheese and pepperoni pizza.

"No way, you didn't!" Luka gasps, wheezing for air.

"I did! I punched his goddamn lights out!" Clover laughs, slapping one knee. "The guy was being a huge creep, so I introduced him to my fist."

"I hope you didn't get in trouble with the cops or something for that." Luka tilts his head, giving her an impressed and worried look.

"Can't get in trouble if nobody reports it," MJ chimes in, smirking past his soda cup. "He complained to me, but I had the security tapes AND plausible deniability because I wasn't on the floor. Corporate took our side on this."

"Nobody from the city wants to drive all the way out to podunk Subcon for a random dudebro's complaint." Clover sits back on her cushioned seat, chomping into her pizza happily. "Mmmmm- delicious melty cheese."

Luka chomps into his own pizza, exhaling and blowing on it as it nearly burns his mouth.

"Easy, tiger!" MJ smirks around his own mouthful of pizza.

"I know, it's just so good," Luka says, laughing into his hand as he sips some of his cola. "But in like- the way you know it's not that great? Does that make sense?"

"Night in the Woods taught me the Pizza Scale, and I stick by that," Clover says, crunching through her crust to grab up another slice, washing down the bread with some soda. When she reaches for another piece of the pie, she pauses, and lets out a huff. "Oh, that sucks. I guess they didn't clean the bowling balls that well this time. Gross."

"Hm?" Luka says through a mouthful of pizza.

"Your fingers are all oil-stained from the finger holes on the bowling ball, Luka. Big Al needs to wash the bowling balls properly."

Confused, the law student shifts his attention down.

The ends of his fingertips are discolored with ebony purple.

Luka can feel as his brain zeroes in on the first sign of his impending transformation, and begins to shift into emergency mode as it relays the steps he must take in order to avoid further exposure. He'd gone over this information with himself many times over the past five years. It was ingrained in his mind, what he had to do, the information practically screaming at him. But he can't hear it. His ears are filled with buzzing as reality breaks into the facade he'd slowly built up over the course of hours.

No-

No no no-

His pizza slice drops to the paper plate as he fumbles with his bag, pulling out the cell phone from the liner pocket. Shaking fingers tap the screen with frantic speed, trying to turn the damn thing on-

9:17?

They'd been here nearly four hours?!

He'd spent the morning out with Harriet, doing their grocery shopping and walking around the town's outdoor mall as much needed father-daughter time. Eight hours of being in disguise had long since passed.

His time limit was up.

This couldn't be happening. Yet the numbers stare back at him from the glare of his cell phone screen. They even have the nerve to tick over to 9:18 right before his eyes.

This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening! It wasn't fair!

"Luka, you ok? You're turning pale..."

Clover's question just barely manages to pierce the haze, causing Luka to jolt in his seat. Posture stiff and breath shallow, he lifts his head to meet Clover's questioning eyes. She's staring at him with building concern, her smile becoming a frown of worry.

The tension is palpable in the air as Luka struggles to find words. Finally, he manages to say something.

"It's- it's a quarter past nine-"

"Oh shoot-" Clover says, sitting up abruptly as she grabs her own phone.

MJ checks his watch, wincing. "Oof. Sorry, Luka. I guess we lost track of time passing. I'll apologize to Cookie for the overtime, we can finish this round and go-"

"Don't feel good- going to the bathroom-" Luka wheezes, scrambling to his feet as he scoops all of his belongings into his bag and races past MJ's seat.

"Luka!" Clover yells after him, her heightened concern audible in her voice. "Ok, we'll- we'll start cleaning up! Let us know if you need-!"

Her words are cut off by the slam of the bathroom door. Luka's bowling shoes slip over the slick tile floor, his hands gripping onto the cold porcelain of the bathroom sink to steady himself. He brings his shaking hands up to view in the mirror. The blackening purple skin was spreading up his finger joints, reaching his palms.

No- not now! Why now?

Luka clenches his fists and his jaw, focusing every ounce of his will on making the purple go away. He can almost feel a vein pop on his forehead- if he still had veins, anymore- as he strains to make his unwilling body follow his desires. The purple starts to recede at a caterpillar crawl... but it slows. And the harder he tries, the more he can feel his arms struggle to hold their shape - becoming less solid.

"No- no!" he whimpers, clenching his hands into the sink again. The action splatters small droplets of purple sludge against the porcelain, which vanish moments later as the purple staining once more consumes his fingers - and now his palms. "Stop it! Just- let me be human! Please!"

He lifts his head to the mirror. Despair fills his gut as he sees amber eyes staring back at him in the reflection, and the beginnings of an inner glow fighting to come out from the back of his throat.

Luka lets out a wordless sound of sorrow, lifting an arm to pound one fist against the mirror in vain. The reflection is unfazed in its destitution, tears beginning to gather at the edges of its eyes and mouth set into a sob of clenched teeth. The reflection's canine's lengthen several inches as the eyes stare back, accusingly. The purple was starting to spread up its neck, just poking out the collar of the shirt.

"No..."

This wasn't him. But it had been, years ago. This was SUPPOSED to be him.

He curls his fist, watching as the fingers start losing their shape. Fusing together, becoming single digits and his thumbs vanish back into the purple sludge of the limb.

"I was finally-..." Luka whimpers, "...I finally felt human again."

-bang bang bang-

The sound of a fist knocking on the bathroom door causes Luka to yelp and jump back from the mirror.

"Luka? You ok in there?"

It was MJ.

Peck!

Grabbing his bag, Luka books it into the furthest stall of the bathroom. He slams the metal door behind him, fumbling to lock it with his swelling mitten fingers. Alarm shot through his gut as his shirt felt tight around his torso. Already?? This was faster than usual! Had he really pushed it that much?

"Hey man, are you sick? Clover and I are really concerned. Do you need any help in there?"

"NO! NO I'M GOOD!" Luka yells from the bathroom stall, clapping a two-fingered hand over his mouth as he hears the slight reverb echo to his own voice. Dammit! "I'M JUST- I'LL BE FINE!"

He was not fine, he would most certainly not be fine!

"Luka, you sound croaky." It was Clover this time, probably a short distance behind MJ. "Dude, are you sure? MJ, maybe you should go in and check on him-"

"NO!"

No, the reverb was stronger!

"Luka, I'm coming in."

"MJ it's fine!"

Luka could hear the seams of his shirt starting to stretch and strain. The seconds were ticking by as strings started to pop at the neck.

Shit, shit!

Luka turned left and right, the stall cramped and uncomfortable as the ruff of fur around his neck thickens and threatens to burst his shirt open. He needed a way out!

Aha! A small window, to the outside! Wow, that was probably the worst location for a window. And it was so small-

The door creaked as MJ started to turn the handle.

NO TIME!

Luka makes a dive for the window. His fingers catch on the sill, and he hauls his body up onto the tiny ledge, his head pushing up the glass and emerging out into the open air. Squeezing through the narrow space, he struggles to pull his feet through, kicking off the bowling shoes and hearing them clatter to the tiles below.

The door comes unlatched, and MJ enters the bathroom, looking around with a frown.

Luka was gone. And for some reason, his bowling shoes were abandoned on the questionably cleaned bathroom floor.

Just outside the window, tucked next to the wall of the alleyway outside the bowling alley, Luka is panting with adrenaline. He can feel his chest expand further with each breath, the fur mane around his neck already splitting apart his shirt. His fingers had fully lost their human shape by now, coalescing back into the familiar mitts he hated so much. A reminder that, no, he wasn't human. No matter what those people in the bowling alley thought of him, and what he thought of them in return... no matter how much he wanted to be human, again.

"Luka?"

His entire torso now fully drenched in purple, Luka hangs his head, listening as he fights to strip off the shirt suffocating him.

Footsteps, in the bathroom.

"...Luka? What the-... Clover, he's not here?"

"What?? But he- went into the bathroom! He was just-!"

"His shoes are here..."

"His shoes??"

Luka forces himself to stand, wobbling a bit further away from the window as he focuses all of his efforts on keeping his legs. He can't lose his ability to walk, not in the middle of town!

God dammit... god dammit! Why couldn't he just enjoy his night? Now he was wandering alleyways, half transformed, and MJ and Clover were no doubt worried to hell and back. What could he even say? 'Sorry, had to take a break to wolf out in the bathroom'?

-brrring brrring-

The buzz of the phone in his pants pocket- which was getting tight against his waist, he noticed. Luka quickly extracts the phone before it can be damaged by the fabric.

MJ's caller ID stares back at him from the screen.

The decision to trust these two with his information was biting him in his rapidly purpling behind. He'd been so careful not to slip up, and the ONE TIME he makes a mistake... He had another decision to make. He could not respond, and just be a complete asshole, but he could protect his secret a little safer, for just a little bit longer. Or he could pick up, and... he didn't know. Bullshit something? Would they even believe whatever malarkey he could cook up in seven seconds for bailing out of a bowling alley restroom? God, he was terrible at improvised excuses! He was a lawyer, not an actor! But if he answered the phone call, maybe- maybe he could hold on to that feeling again. The warmth of companionship of peers his age, that he hadn't felt since law school. Since... Vanessa. But he couldn't think about her right now. What mattered was his safety- his daughter's safety.

Peck. He didn't even think about that part. Could he really rip Harriet out of a somewhat stable home life, again? She was just starting to get along with Cookie's daughter, and he didn't want to take that precious first friendship from her.

Luka was only pulled out of the downward spiral by the vibration of the phone, which he only now realized had registered a missed call, and was now on the second call. It was still MJ, the picture of him in his Horizon employee cap still smiling from the bright phone screen.

He had to do something. He could feel his legs protest the form they was struggling to hold.

Survival instinct set in. First, he had to get away from the scene.

Stumbling to his malforming feet, Luka jogs away from the alley, ducking away from the Pins & Cushions and avoiding the bright neon sign on the side of the building.

As he walks, a headache hits, and Luka just knows his face was losing more of his familiar features. Didn't need a mirror to know that he was definitely the shade of a bruised plum, and that his eyes were glowing like gold beacons. The sharp teeth at the edges of his mouth were digging into his bottom lip as he dodges and weaves to avoid line of sight from storefront apartment windows.

The woods were so close by, just a few more blocks.

Faster. He had to run faster. But his legs- were fighting him! Already he could feel his steps become lighter, movement more fluid. It was a struggle to keep a walking stride, rather than just- leap into the air. No way was he going to fly a block from pecking main street.

His phone continues to vibrate, threatening the call to drop.

Right when he reaches the sidewalk, Luka pants for breath, collapsing beside the pole for a street lamp while avoiding the amber spotlight. Taking one last rueful look at his phone, he sighs, and presses the answer button with a doughy purple finger.

"Luka?" MJ's voice patches through. The reception isn't great, but it's sufficient. Maybe that was a lucky break, considering what his voice was going to sound like in a second.

"Hey," Luka answers. Yep. He sounded like a toad that swallowed a brass tube. "Sorry- about that."

"Dude, are you ok?? Where did you go?" MJ spoke so quickly it almost interrupted Luka, concern clear and evident in his voice. "You ran or something and- you left your shoes at the counter, and the cat plush for your daughter. Clover got them for you-"

"It's ok," Luka says, wincing. "I can pick them up tomorrow. I- don't feel well, and I have to go get Harriet."

"Luka, we could have driven you home for that," MJ responds, a hint of hurt and confusion. "You know you can tell us if you're uncomfortable, and want to leave, right?"

"No- this- I was having fun," Luka responds, cupping a hand over his mouth to try to muffle the echo. He had to wrap this up. His voice was getting less natural by the second. He really hoped the poor reception would mask it. "Look- I'm sorry MJ. But I really had to go."

"You're not getting kidnapped or something are you?" Clover's distant voice suddenly patches through in the phone. MJ must have his phone on speaker. "Because if you are, I'll hunt them down! Just yell where the car is taking you!"

"I'm not- look, I'm sorry, but I just had to go, ok?" Luka says. "Harriet needs me."

"I thought you were feeling sick?" Clover says, her worried tone now tinted with... suspicion. "You ran to the bathroom, and we were all worried about you, dude." Her voice becomes just a bit distant, as she turns to speak to MJ, but the phone picks it up. “Actually, did we ever hear anything from Cookie...?”

"No- I am-" Luka can feel his lies crumbling, nearly becoming true as he experiences a sensation similar to his stomach heaving from the anxiety. "Thanks for the wonderful evening, I'll pick up my stuff later- bye!"

"Wait-!!"

-click-

MJ's protest is cut off, and Luka set the phone down on the grass, putting his head in the other hand. That was terrible. But he couldn't back out on it now. He would just have to deal with the consequences of that phone call tomorrow.

Not like having shoes or not bothered him, anyway.

Exhausted and resigned, Luka slides away from the lamp post into the chaparral, and begins rapidly pulling his shirt over his head. No way was he going to lose another shirt, not after the last one. This was his last nice shirt, and he intended to keep it as long as possible!

A quiet gasp jolts him out of his frantic folding.

Luka whips around, shirtless, half de-pantsed, and his body a full shade of deep shadow purple. His golden eyes glow in the reflected street light as he freezes on the spot, making eye contact with another human being across the road. It was the stocky mustachioed man from the coffee shop- the regular who came by and sketched quietly in a corner. Pinstriped suit- which seemed to be the only outfit anyone ever saw him wore- an apron, and grey khaki pants. The thick glasses would make it difficult to tell where he was looking, if the man wasn't standing with his square jaw hanging down at his chest, head angled directly toward Luka. Everyone dismissed him as a paranoiac, a hermit who stopped by for his morning caffeine fix and quiet atmosphere to indulge in his imagination. Rumors flew that he used to work for some sort of tabloid magazine, and was fired- or promoted?- for how crazy his stories were.

Whatever the reason, this man was now standing, groceries dropped to the pavement, and staring at Luka. A very half-naked, absolutely not human-looking Luka.

Face suddenly burning hot with embarrassment and fear, Luka grabs his belt loops and bolts into the trees.

The movement causes the man to only gape more, making a wordless noise of astonishment before the forest breaks their line of sight and Luka retreats into the safety of the woods. Luka just barely remembers to grab his shirt and belt from the bushes. Vanishing entirely from sight, stumbling over debris as his transformation takes full hold of his body, Luka wheezes as his heart beats in his chest. After all that, he was seen! Peck! Did he just ruin everything because he wasn’t paying attention? But- but it was just the local hermit, the resident conspiracy nut. That wouldn’t be so bad, right? This wasn’t as catastrophic as being spotted by a teen with a cell phone open. Surely, this was the safest possible person in town to accidentally spot him mid-transformation. Repercussions would be minimal.

Thank god the man didn't have a camera.

#Coffee Shop Au #AHIT #A Hat In Time #doodledrawsthings #Snatcher #Hat Kid #Moonjumper #Clover #noticed a couple mistakes and it's too late to fix em wHOOPS #OH WELL

342 notes · View notes

alisonsfics · 3 years

Text

Change Our Fates (Part Four)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Summary: Y/N has always been head over heels for Spencer. The team decides to go out for drinks after finishing a case. When Spencer drunkenly kisses Y/N, will it change her life for better, or for worse?

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: Some brief mentions of cheating and hooking up, and a whole lot of fluff

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 5

You were getting ready to head into work. You checked the clock and realized you were running late. You grabbed your shoes and ran into the living room to grab your work bag. You quickly slid the shoes on your feet and grabbed the bag with your empty hand. You made sure you had your badge and you looked down, making sure you had everything.

You had been so elated when you came home yesterday that you forgot to set your alarm. Last night, you had finally made up with Spencer. Nothing could bring you down, you were on cloud nine.

Then, you heard a knock on the door. You quickly ran over to the door, hoping it wouldn’t take too long. You were already late and you didn’t want to make it any worse.

You opened the door and saw the last person you expected. It was Hotch. He was just standing there. He looked exactly the same as the last time you saw him.

You were surprised to say the least. “Hotch? Hi, it’s been so long. How are you? How is Jack” You said, stunned. He gave you a small smile. “I’m okay. Jack is doing great, how has Human Services been treating you?” He asked you, sincerely.

“It’s been good. It’s nothing like working at the BAU. I miss you guys so much, but I learned to roll with the punches” You told him, honestly. You still had no idea why he was here. “That’s good, I knew you would do amazing there. You’re great at your job” he complimented you.

You appreciated it. You knew Hotch didn’t give compliments often, so you learned to embrace it when he did. “Thank you sir. And with all due respect, is there a reason you’re here? It’s amazing to see you and catch up. But, I feel like that isn’t why you’re here” you asked him, curiously.

He chucked to himself. “Well it’s good to see you haven’t lost your touch as a profiler. I came to talk you to about something related to the Bureau” he told you. You tried to read his expression, but you couldn’t tell if this was bad or good news.

“I’m actually really late for work right now. Is there a way we could discuss this maybe at lunch today? I have an hour off for lunch” you suggested, not wanting to get fired. You saw Hotch smirk to himself. “This is about work” he told you, minimally.

You were even more confused. “What do you mean?” You asked him. He paused for a second. “When you left the BAU, we hired a replacement to fill in your spot. But she is being transferred to the New York office. So we have an opening. And I spoke to your supervisors and they have approved your transfer if you are willing. You can have all the time you need to think about it” he told you.

You were blown away. This was an amazing opportunity. Working at the BAU had been the highlight of your life. You loved helping people and you got to work with your best friends.

“I don’t need any time to think about it. I would love to work at the BAU again. Does any of the team know yet?” You asked him, curiously. He shook his head. “No, I didn’t tell them. Just in case you declined, I didn’t want them to get disappointed” he told you.

You couldn’t get rid of the grin on your face. “I can’t believe this. Thank you so much” you said, sincerely. “Of course. You were my first thought when looking for a replacement. Now since you accepted, it is effective immediately. I can drive you, if you want” he offered. You nodded. “Yes of course, that would be great” you said, smiling.

You both walked outside and got into the SUV. Hotch started to drive towards Quantico. You noticed Hotch had a specific look on his face. You could tell he wanted to ask you something, but was hesitating.

“Just ask me” you told him, bluntly. You could tell you startled him. He didn’t think he had been that easy to read. “About you and Reid...” he started to say. Then it clicked. He was worried that you two still weren’t talking and that it would jeopardize the team.

“No, you don’t have to worry about that. We’re friends again. There is no more fighting, I promise. We aren’t going to jeopardize the team like that again” you swore to him. Hotch looked over at you. “I was just asking because I was worried about you two. I saw you two become best friends. You both are better together than apart. I wasn’t worried about you putting the team in danger. I know neither of you would ever do that” he told you.

Then you pulled into the Quantico parking lot. It felt good to be back. You both got out of the car and walked inside.

You were a mixture of nervous and elated. You were finally going to see the team after four years, but you were nervous for their reactions. You both walked into the bullpen and you felt the familiar sense of home.

You didn’t see anyone at their desks. If you knew your friends like you definitely did, they were getting coffee in the kitchen. You decided to go see if Penelope was in her office. You walked into the doorway.

You saw the blonde sitting at her desk, typing away. “Hey babygirl” you said, purposefully lowering your voice and you leaned against the doorframe. Penelope spun around and her eyes lit up when they saw you.

“Y/N!” She exclaimed. You walked over to her and she pulled you straight into her arms. “It’s so good to see you. It’s been too long” she said, holding you tightly. You could tell she was smiling, you had the same huge grin on your face. You both pulled away from each other.

“So what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” She asked, as you both sat down. You could hardly contain your smile. “I’m back, Garcia” you said, smiling. Her jaw dropped. “You’re back, like in the BAU back?” She asked you, shocked. You just nodded.

Before she could say anything, someone appeared in the doorway. You both looked over and saw Derek standing there. “Hey Garcia—wait Y/N?” He asked, genuinely shocked. “She’s coming back, Derek” Penelope said, hardly able to contain herself.

Derek processed what was happening for a second. “That’s amazing. Come here, little mama” he said, walking towards you. You stood up to give him a hug. “I’ve missed you so much” you told him, honestly. He wrapped his arms around your waist and then picked you up off the ground.

You giggled as you felt your feet leave the ground. “It’s so good to have you back” Derek said, as he squeezed you tighter. He finally placed you back down on your feet. He gave you a quick kiss on the temple.

“So who knows?” Penelope asked you, curiously. “You two and Hotch. He showed up at my front door this morning” you told them both.

“Well then, come on! Let’s go say hi to everyone” Derek said, putting his arm around you and Penelope followed you both out of her office. Once you entered the bullpen, you saw Emily was at her desk. JJ was sitting on the side of Emily’s desk and they both were talking.

The three of you walked over to them. “Y/N, you’re here?” JJ said, in shock. She stood up and gave you a quick hug. “So what’s going on? Did you want to visit us because we are all amazing friends?” Emily joked, causing you to giggle.

“Not exactly. I just thought you should know that you’re going to be seeing me a whole lot more” you told them both, smirking. You saw both their faces light up. “Wait, are back in the BAU? That’s amazing” JJ said, smiling at you. “That’s great news. Why didn’t you tell me before?” Emily asked you, curiously. “Well, I only found out this morning” you said, giggling.

“You need to go talk to Reid, he’ll be so excited. I think I saw him making a cup of coffee. Go see him” Penelope told you, smirking. They all agreed and smirked at you. Even after all these years, they were still shipping you and Spencer.

As you walked away, you heard Emily telling the rest of the team about your conflict between Spencer and Trevor. You didn’t mind at all. It was easier, now you didn’t have to tell all of them.

You walked into the kitchen. You saw Spencer standing there, pouring obscene amounts of sugar in his coffee. “A little heavy on the sugar, huh?” You asked, smiling.

He eyes snapped up to meet yours. He was at a loss for words. He didn’t expect to see you here, this morning. “I—uhh hi. Is something going on?” He asked you, sincerely.

“Oh nothing much, I just got transferred back to the BAU, no big deal” you said, nonchalantly. Spencer just stared at you. He was trying to figure out if you were kidding. He didn’t know what to believe. “Please tell me this isn’t a joke” he said, almost to himself.

“It’s not a joke, Spence” you said, softly. He rushed over to you and wrapped his arms around your waist, tightly. You couldn’t help but smile. You felt him nuzzle his face into your neck. You didn’t complain. You had missed your hugs with Spencer. You subconsciously started rocking back and forth. You always used to do that when you were comforting Spencer.

“I’ve missed you so much, Y/N” Spencer said, softly. “You don’t have to miss me now. You’re not going to lose me again” you promised him.

You started to pull away, but Spencer stopped you. He put your arms back around him. “Not yet” he whispered in your ear. He relaxed back into your embrace. “Are you okay?” You asked him, concerned.

“I’m okay, I’ve just really needed this” he said, softly. You couldn’t agree more.

You both finally pulled away. “So you’re really back?” He asked, still in shock. You stepped closer to him and placed your hands on his chest. “Yes, I’m really back” you told him, smiling.

For a split second, you saw Spencer’s eyes glance down towards your lips. You almost thought you imagined it. Did Spencer really want to kiss you?

Before you could do anything, someone came in the room. You looked over your shoulder and you saw Rossi standing there “Come here kid, I heard you’re back in the BAU?” Rossi said, stepping towards you.

You pulled away from Spencer and Rossi pulled you in for a hug. Rossi was like a dad to you and it had been hard to not see him for four years. “Yep, I’m officially back” you told him, smiling.

“It’s good to have you back, kid” Rossi said, as you both pulled away. “It’s good to be back. I’ve missed you all” you said, gently placing your hand on Spencer’s arm.

“So are you two finally together?” Rossi asked, clearly not being up to date. Both yours and Spencer’s eyes went wide. “No no no” you said, quickly. “Y/N, is uhhh—engaged” Spencer said, sounding disappointed.

You looked over at Spencer, trying to see if you made up the disappointed tone. He just gave you a weak smile. “Well I’ll let you kids get back to your conversation” Rossi said, leaving the room.

“Sooo” Spencer said, stalling. “What?” You asked him, curiously. He fidgeted with his hands for a second. You took his hands into yours, knowing it would calm him down.

His eyes met yours and he smiled at you. “So, I know you said no yesterday because you had plans. But, maybe you could stay over tonight. Tomorrow is our day off anyway” he suggested to you, timidly.

“I would love to. You don’t have to be nervous to ask me to hang out. We’re still best friends” you told him, honestly. He breathed a sigh of relief. You found yourself getting lost in his eyes.

“We should probably go get started on our paperwork. We don’t want Hotch to fire you, before you’ve even started” Spencer joked. You giggled to yourself and you saw his cheeks flush red. “Come on then” you said, grabbing his hand and pulling him with you, into the bullpen.

Everyone was back at their desks, doing their work. You sat down at your desk, which was next to Spencer’s. It felt good to be back, it felt natural.

The day went by super fast. You had spent all day getting caught back up and doing paperwork. You finally finished your last form and you leaned back in your chair. You were mentally exhausted.

“So are you ready?” You heard someone say behind you. You turned around and saw Spencer standing behind you, with his bag over his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m ready” you said, standing up. You tidied your desk and grabbed your work bag.

“I have never been more exhausted” you said, as you both started to walk towards the door. You leaned your head on Spencer’s head as you were walking. It seemed to shock him, but he put his arm around your shoulders.

“You don’t have to come over tonight, if you want to go home and sleep” Spencer told you. “Are you kidding? I’ve been looking forward to this all day” you told him, feeling content.

It scared you how much you and Spencer acted like a couple. It made you question where your true feelings stood. You had been trying to figure out if you were over Spencer. And you still couldn’t come up with an answer.

“Bye you two” Derek said, smirking as you both walked past him. “Awww it’s so cute to see them reunited” Penelope said to Derek, who she was standing next to.

“Bye guys” you and Spencer both said. You got to Spencer’s car and he opened the door for you. “Thanks Spence” you said, kissing him on the cheek. You hadn’t even realized that you had done it, until you saw him start to blush.

Before, Spencer and you had always been very touchy. It was just a part of your friendship. You were always holding hands or hugging. But you had both been single. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to act different because you were engaged. Was all the hugging and touching you had done wrong?

It wasn’t like you were kissing him or making out or anything. It was just friendly, so was there an issue? Would Trevor be okay with what you were doing? You assumed he would be, Spencer was one of your oldest friends. You figured Trevor would understand that.

Spencer started to drive and eventually after fifteen minutes, you were parked in front of Spencer’s house. He once again rushed to open your door for you. You thanked him and you both went inside.

You both set your bags down by the front door. Spencer turned to face you. “Can we still cuddle?” He asked you, unsure. You thought about it for a second. He didn’t know if you both could still cuddle, since you were engaged. You both were trying to figure out this friendship 2.0.

“I don’t see who’s going to stop us” you said, smiling. You didn’t see the harm. It was just cuddling. A smile grew on his face. He leaned over to you and hugged you. You wrapped your arms around him. Then you felt his hands on the back of your thighs. “Do you want me to jump? You asked, giggling.

“Mm-hmm” he mumbled. You jumped slightly off the ground. Spencer held you up and you wrapped your legs around his torso. “This is new” you said, pulling slightly away from him, so you could look him in the eyes.

“Well it lets me hug you” he said, smiling at you. Spencer had never been this touchy before. Normally, the cuddling was started by you. You just figured it was because he missed you.

Spencer walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. You still had your legs around his torso and were now in his lap. “So how about I order Chinese food from that place you like?” Spencer asked you. You nodded and buried your head into Spencer’s neck. You were so sleepy from the long day of work. Spencer felt warm and cozy to you.

It was taking all of your effort to not fall asleep on him. “Are you tired?” He asked you and you just nodded. He used his hands to rub circles on your back. It only made you relax more.

You started to doze off as Spencer got out his phone to call the Chinese restaurant. About twenty minutes later, you woke up to the smell of Chinese food. You looked around and you saw you were in Spencer’s bed. He had tucked you in. You smiled to yourself at the sweet gesture.

You got out of his bed and walked into the kitchen. He was standing there putting the food on plates. “Oh, you’re awake” he said, shocked. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I was just so tired after today” you explained. “You don’t have to apologize, you’re allowed to be tired. You fell asleep on top of me, it was actually kind of cute” Spencer added and you felt your cheeks heat up. You felt like this conversation was heading somewhere it shouldn’t, so you changed the subject.

“The food looks really good” you said, eyeing the dishes. “Here’s yours” he said, handing you a plate. You both walked into the living room. He quickly turned on the television and you watched it as you ate.

You finished before him. Once you both were done, you brought the plates to the sink and washed them. You came back into the living room.

You held your hands open for a hug. He opened his arms and you crawled into his lap again. You wrapped your legs behind him and you both just held each other. It felt weirdly intimidate.

“So is it time for bed?” Spencer asked you. You nodded your head. “Yes please” you said, softly. He stood up carefully so he didn’t drop you.

Spencer started to walk towards his bedroom. Once he got there, he laid you down on the bed. In your sleepy state, you forgot to let go of Spencer. So, he fell right on top of you.

Neither of you knew what to do. He was laying on top of you in bed, and you were both a bit flustered. “I — umm. I’m sorry” he said, rolling over so he was next to you. You felt so embarrassed.

You both got under the blankets. You felt a warm hand placed on your side. You looked over at Spencer. He pulled you by your hips so you were pressed up against each other. Spencer laid on his back, and you rested your head on his chest.

Slowly but surely, you both started to fall asleep. While you were asleep, both yours and Spencer’s legs became entangled.

You woke up in the morning. You felt rejuvenated from a good nights sleep. You realized how close you were to Spencer. You were practically laying on top of him.

Then, you noticed that you felt his arm wrapped around your waist, holding you close to him. You were about to move when he woke up. “Hey” he said, while his eyes adjusted to the light. “Hey you” you said, smiling.

He realized how closely you both were laying and he started to blush. You both separated and then got out of bed. “So did you sleep good?” He asked you, as he started to make the bed. “I slept perfectly” you said, as you walked over to him.

You looked up at him and he pulled you into a hug. “Would you mind giving me a ride home?” You asked him. “Yeah of course” he said, giving your hand a squeeze.

You found your shoes and slipped them on your feet. Once you both were ready, you grabbed your stuff and you both walked to Spencer’s car.

It was a relatively quick drive to your house. Spencer pulled up in front of your house and you looked over at him. You got out of the car and he walked over to your side.

“Come here” he said, holding his arms out for you. You gladly accepted and hugged him back. You both lingered longer than normal. “I should get going” you told him, pulling away. He grabbed your hands and you felt butterflies in your stomach. “I had a really good time last night, Y/N. So I’ll see you at work tomorrow?” He said to you.

“Yep, I’ll see you at work. Thank you for last night” you said, sincerely. You kissed the back of his hand and then you walked up to your front door. You waved to Spencer as he drove away, and then you walked inside.

You saw Trevor sitting at the kitchen table, drinking his coffee. “Where have you been?” Trevor asked you, seeming concerned and stressed. You had totally forgotten to tell Trevor that you were spending the night with Spencer. All last night, it just felt like old times and it slipped your mind.

“I was sleeping over at a friends house. I’m sorry that I didn’t text you. I was just super tired last night” you apologized. He just looked relieved that you were okay. “So did you and Emily have a fun time?” Trevor asked you, sincerely.

You hesitated. “It...it wasn’t Emily” you said, wanting to be honest. Trevor looked unsure of what to think. “So who was it?” He asked you, confused.

“I was at Spencer’s place” you told him, hesitantly. “Who the hell is Spencer?” He asked, since you had only brought him up a few times. “He's my best friend. We were in a weird fight when I met you. We hadn’t spoken in four years. But, we just recently made up and I’m back working at the BAU with him. I just hadn’t gotten to telling you yet. Please don’t be mad” you apologized.

“I’m not mad. I just wish you told me” he told you, honestly. He walked over to you and you saw his expression change. He just stopped dead in his tracks.

“What?” You asked him, confused. “Come here” he said, as he stepped closer to you. He leaned his head in towards your neck and he smelled you. “Why do you smell like his cologne?” He asked you, trying to not act mad.

You panicked. It seemed worse than it actually was.

“I uhhh...I don’t know” you lied. “Y/N” Trevor said, getting frustrated. “Before you get mad, we’ve always been super close and we’ve always cuddled. So we may have slept together. Not like actually...but like in the same bed” you explained, nervously.

Trevor put his head in his hands. You could hear him sigh in frustration. “Please don’t be mad” you begged him. “I think I’m allowed to be mad. You stayed the night at some guys house. You claim he’s your best friend, but I’ve never met him. And you come home smelling like his cologne. You say that it was just friendly, but how do I know? You both could have hooked up, I wouldn’t know. What if you just made up that you’re friends and you’re actually just sleeping with someone” he argued.

“I’ve mentioned him before. I know I told you about the fight I had with Spencer. I wouldn’t lie to you about anything. And I would never cheat on you, I can’t believe you would think that” You said, walking out the front door.

You sat down on the front steps of your house. You wrapped your arms around your knees, after you realized how cold it was. You heard the door open behind you and then Trevor was sitting beside you. “Look, Y/N I’m sorry. I got insecure, but I think that is understandable. I just need to ask you one question” Trevor told you.

“Anything” you told him, leaning your head on his shoulder. “You don’t have any feelings for Spencer, right?” He asked you, you could hear the insecurity in his voice. You turned to face him.

“I used to, years ago, before I met you. We have a complicated past and there used to be feelings there. But, Spence and I are just friends” you told him. He sighed and put his head in his hands.

“God, I can’t, Y/N. Spence? Look at it from my perspective. You sound like you’re in love with him. Please just promise me there’s nothing more there” Trevor begged you. “I swear, we’re just friends. I am all in with you” you promised.

taglist: @impossibleapricotlampbat @panhoeofmanyfandoms @izzyl13 @nathaliabakes @anotherspencerreidblog @allexthakatt @bvttercupbby @weirdfishy @i-wish-i-knew-what-i-was @anaagraceeberr @cynbx @ellesmythe @averyhotchner @meowiemari @k-k0129 @fantastic-fans @reniescarlett @no-honey-no @jo-pqrstuvwxyz @laurakirsten0502 @eevee0722 @new-fandom-scene @calaryssia @aperrywilliams @lumineshawn @adoregin @haylaansmi @mggsprettygirl @far-beyond-infinity @half-blood-dork @l0ve-0f-my-life @luvgubler @onlyhereforthefanfics @ssa-githae @kasaikawa @jessicarabbit09 @astraea-writes @ateez-star @kenzie-johnson223 @holl2712 @notyourcupofteax @sandy-pingu @obsssedwithjustaboutanything @mvlanchqly @spencerhotchner @seaweedbrain07 @theawkwardbutterfly @criminalminds4days @voidtruealpha @spongeshxt @katerinaval @reidssimp @polyyates24 @subboyspence

Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist for all my imagines or for a specific character!!

Requests OPEN

255 notes · View notes

barry-j-blupjeans · 3 years

Note

maybe 3 or 11 + blupjeans for the kissing prompts? :o

11. when one stops the kiss to whisper “I’m sorry, are you sure you-” and they answer by kissing them more

(Kissing prompts here :D!)

this got,,, A LITTLE out of hand sjflsdfj. here is OVER 2k of blupjeans for ur reading pleasure (probably to be posted on ao3 later)

Barry’s got one arm covering Lup as he’s half leaning over her, and the other up in the air to create a shield around them (god, he was so glad that Lucretia had talked him into learning abjuration magic a few cycles ago). It wasn’t the strongest, but it held up as the mineshaft they were in caved in around them. By the time the ground stopped shaking, and the rocks stopped falling, the bubble he had created was completely covered from top to bottom. There wasn’t a shred of light anywhere.

“Fuck,” Lup said, which aptly described how Barry was feeling. “Quick thinking, Bar, good job.”

She snapped her fingers and a few balls of light lit up the bubble, floating aimlessly around them.

He lowered his wand, focusing on the spell well enough for it to stay steady, and turned his attention to Lup. She wasn’t injured, besides some scrapes on her arms from when Barry had shoved her to the ground. He felt a little bad about that, but the tunnel was small and he didn’t want her to move out of range of the bubble.

Lup fished her Stone of Farspeech out of her robes as Barry gave her a tight smile in response. He sat up against the side of the bubble shield as she called back to the ship. Davenport was sending Taako, Magnus, and Merle to come to get them out (which Barry already knew would be a disaster, even if they worked well together). When she hung up, all that was left to do was... wait. There was a light on the top of her Stone to show it was being tracked, and they couldn’t do anything else to make it go faster.

“Sorry for pushing you,” Barry said. Lup shrugged and sat cross-legged across from him.

“No biggie,” she said. “It was either be pushed to the ground or get killed by a rock, so I don’t think I have the right to be mad about it right now. Or the want to, anyhow.”

Waiting was slow going. Barry knew Lup wasn’t a particularly patient person and could tell when she was starting to get antsy. Neither of them were good at sitting still, but Lup’s foot had been tapping for ten straight minutes before she started searching through her pack for things to do.

“Hey, Bar,” she asked, five minutes into that, “Wanna help?”

“Gods, yes,” Barry said, shuffling his way over to her side. “Give me something to do.”

Lup muttered something under her breath that Barry didn’t catch, and probably didn’t want to. She turned the whole bag over and pushed half of it towards him.

“Do... something with that,” she said and started working on her half.

Barry started to organize it because that was probably what Lup had meant. He sorted it by use first- things someone would need if they were going to a mission (waterskin, loose charcoal, which Barry didn’t want to begin questioning), makeup stuff (chapstick, face wipes, three different colors of nail polish, and one eyelash curler), and misc. (four individual playing cards, a note in Taako’s handwriting that just said “fuck you”, a photo of a baby elephant). Then he sorted by size.

When he looked back over to Lup, she had made a wobbly tower out of her half. Barry was startled into a laugh, which caused it all to fall over.

“Barold Bluejeans,” she said, turning on him. “You fucking monster.”

“S- sorry!” Barry gasped, leaning back against the bubble, not sounding sorry at all. “I thought- I thought we were both sorting!”

“I said “do something” not sort!” Lup said. “I cannot believe- oh, fuck, is that my charcoal, I was looking for that.”

Which just made Barry laugh harder. She scowled at him, in good nature, and snatched the charcoal from his piles. She eyed him as she started building her tower again, pausing only when he sniggered to send a light-hearted glare his way.

After a while, he finally got control of his laughter and watched her build a tower. She had two books she was using as the base, followed by a thinning stack of sticky notes, and a half-empty water bottle. After about three minutes, she finished the pile, which had been swaying precariously as she added things, and placed the charcoal on top. She leaned back on her hands and looked at it.

“Hey, Bar,” Lup said, not taking her eyes off the pile.

“Yeah?”

“I’m bored.” She tore her gaze away from it to look at him, lips turned into a cute little frown. “I wanna do somethin’ else.”

“Not a lotta options here, Lup,” Barry said. She frowned, tilting her head at him. His heart stuttered a little. “We can, uh. Talk?”

“About what?” Lup asked. “‘What’s your favorite color?’ I already know yours is denim blue. You’re predictable, babe. I don’t know what to ask that wouldn’t seem like this is a bad first date.”

Barry flushed a little.

“This would be a very bad first date,” Barry said and Lup laughed. She scooted up next to him, careful not to disturb her pile while she moved. After a second, she pressed her arm next to his and leaned onto his shoulder. Barry’s brain short-circuited, almost missing what she said next.

“We’d have to be on at least third date questions,” Lup said thoughtfully. “Like, uhh. What’s your social security number?”

“I don’t remember that!” Barry laughed and Lup buried her head into his shoulder, giggling. “I- I barely even knew it when we were at home, Lup, how do you expect me to remember it after forty-five years.”

“Joking, Barry,” she said, laughing a little still. “I’ll ask a better question, then. Uh. When you were a kid, what did you wanna be when you grew up?”

“Astronaut,” Barry said immediately, which sent Lup into another fit of giggles. She looked up at him, grinning.

"For real?" she asked and when he nodded, she whistled. "Dang, babe, you got your dream."

"I- I guess," Barry said. "It's not like- I mean, I gave up on that dream fairly quick back home. One, because it was pretty unrealistic until the Light came, and two, because it seemed... I don't know, unrealistic. I was a professor, Lup, I didn't- the mission was more of a... midlife crisis decision, if we're being honest."

Lup hummed, dropping her head back down to lean on his shoulder. Barry worried he went too far for a moment.

"I forget that human's live such short lives," Lup said quietly. The mood of the room (bubble) shifted when she said that. It took on a somber tone. "Me and Taako weren't adults until we were a hundred. By that age, you'd be all old and wrinkly."

"Hey," Barry said, nudging her. "I'm old and wrinkly now."

She snorted but shook her head.

"Guess Magnus's "live now, die later" attitude kinda makes sense when you think about it like that," Lup said. "Like, you age so fast. You just kinda have to do what you want when you want so you can actually get it in there, y'know."

"Not really," Barry said. "I mean, there's a lot of time to do things still, but I see where he's coming from. You don't wanna not do something and regret that you never did it."

Lup seemed to think on that for a second. Barry did, too. She was still pressed against his shoulder, close enough that her hair was tickling his neck. He looked away and sighed slightly. If he was being honest, he probably should take his own words to heart. Life, love, never lasts long enough and as soon as you get what you want, it's counting down the seconds until something takes it away. Circumstances, opportunities, death. Something always took it away.

They had an endless amount of time to get it right. But Barry didn't want to be the one to break her heart when they stopped the cycles and he started to age again.

"Barry," Lup said, quiet, but absolutely deafening in the silence of the bubble. "I, uh. I think we need to talk." She sat up, turning herself towards him completely. Barry's heart thundered in his chest.

"I know humans don't live long," she said carefully. "And we don't know when we're gonna get out of these cycles. But I... can't ignore things because of that. I can't just fucking- pretend that I'm not feeling things? Because that's not healthy and also, by the way, it fucking sucks. I'd rather-"

She broke herself off. Barry saw her hands dig into the dirt under them.

"This isn't the best place to say it," she said, looking away. She backed up a bit and knocked her pile over in the process. "Uh, my bad, I just-"

"I don't wanna pretend either," Barry blurted out, before he even thought about what he was saying. "Being trapped in a bubble under a collapsed mineshaft isn't the best place to talk about anything, Lup, but it's you and I don't wanna make you not want to say something. I, uh. I think I get what you're getting at, though."

He steeled himself, taking a deep breath in. Okay, he was doing this. He was doing this. He just had to, uh, collect himself first, and-

"I like you," and Lup beat him to the punch line. Barry blinked at her and she hurried along. "Like, in a romantic way, I mean. Not like- I like the others just fine, but I like you, Bar."

"Oh," Barry said. Lup chuckled nervously, not looking at him.

"Yeah," she said. "Um, like I said, not the best place to talk about it, but-"

"No!" Barry said. "No, Lup, I like you too! Fuck, I- I wasn't expecting you to, uhm- Lup, I like you so much, I didn't wanna make things weird."

"This whole goddamn situation is weird," Lup said, hitting the side of the bubble with her hand.

"No, like, us," Barry said. "Like as a friendship, I didn't wanna make it weird. I'm..." he sighed. "It's complicated for a lot of reasons, Lup, I'm human. I-"

"So it's a no?" Lup said awkwardly.

"No!" Barry said. "No, no, no, it's definitely a yes! I just don't want- I don't wanna fucking... die on you when the cycles stop, Lup. I don't want it to end and I don't want you to have to deal with that."

"That's not up to you," Lup said at once, sounding a tad bit annoyed. "If I wanna date you, that's my choice, and if you die, then it's my emotions I'm going to be dealing with. I don't want you to beef it, obviously, but- it's not up to you to figure out how I'll react then. I wanna do now with you and I wanna do that all the way up until we can't. It's fine if you don't- don't want that, but I-"

She was starting to tear up a bit and he panicked, scooting forward.

"Sorry," he said, because he didn't know what else to say. "I- I wasn't thinking about now, I was focusing on later. I- I don't want to see you upset because of something I've done, if I can help it. I got a little stuck in that.

"I desperately want this to work out," Barry said, holding out his hands. She wiped away a tear and clasped her hands in his. "There's no one I'd rather be with than you, Lup, I promise. But I wanna talk about what all it'll mean, first, if that's alright with you. I wanna make this work."

"Yeah," Lup said thickly. "Of course."

She hesitated for a second, and then wrapped him in a hug. His heart was beating fast as he hugged back, burying his face into her neck. After a moment, she drew back a little, pressing her forehead against his.

"Can I kiss you before we talk, or do you wanna wait 'til after?" she asked. The air momentarily left Barry's lungs. He took a deep, needed, breath in and nodded. When he realized that the nod answered nothing, he said,

"Now's good, if you, uh, if you want."

"Now," Lup said decisively, leaning in.

If you asked Barry, the day could be divided up into two parts: before he kissed Lup, and after. Maybe that was stupid, because they were buried under a pile of dirt and rocks right now, but... Her lips against his were fire and ash and everything wonderful and powerful. The touch was soft, because they were both uncertain, and Barry drew back just far enough to say,

"I'm sorry, are you sure-"

Before she was pressing her lips back up against his, stronger, with more intent. Barry's heart felt like it was going to explode in his chest as she tugged him closer with the arms she had around his neck.

And then he felt like his heart did actually explode when something clanged against the side of the bubble. Barry startled back, hitting the opposite end of the barrier, and looking towards where the sound had come from. Lup scooted back towards him, raising her wand towards it. It hit again and Barry recognized the blade of a shovel, scooping away the dirt.

In a matter of seconds, there was a sizable amount gone and there was Magnus, who grinned upon seeing them. He saw Taako standing against the wall a little further back and Merle on the ground, talking to him.

Lup swore. Barry saw that the tips of her ears were pink when she shoved her want back into her holster.

"We'll get back to this later," she promised. "The kissing and the convo, I promise. Help me put my shit back in my bag."

"Yeah," Barry said, his whole face flushed. "I can do that."

#blupjeans #barry bluejeans #lup #i swear this is an outlier they wont all be this long sldkjdsf #asks #anon #ise cube writing #also the thing lup muttered under her breath was 'oh i could give u PLENTY of things to do'

110 notes · View notes

borkthemork · 3 years

Note

think you can do a drabble based around maddie and marcy? maybe set after season 3 with the two just bonding over sorcery in peace afterall that tragedy. i mainly just wanna see more of the former in fanfiction 'cause she's way too interesting a character not ti have a ton of wriitng based around her.

"We need a cup of grounded Baphomet root."

"You got it!"

"And don't forget to grind it very well," Maddie instructed, tapping her chin as she looked through the book’s contents. “If we don’t do this correctly then we’ll bewitch the entire forest and I really don't want to be grounded for the rest of my life."

Taking the mortar and pestle Marcy smiled, letting out a light scoff. "I think we'll be fine. We've been doing this for months, and you're talking to a guaranteed perfectionist over here.”

That was true, but Maddie still ogled the ingredients in front of her. Everything looked in place. There was a distiller, jars of various contents they scrounged up from the forest, and the whiff of sulfur from the newly-churned pot reassured Maddie enough that yes, they should be on the right track.

The only worry came to exact measurements, or that aforementioned bewitching if they messed up. With the amount of potions and hexes she made during the Battle of Newtopia, Maddie could say that she leveled up enough to handle this rank of magic, but best to be prepared regardless.

Especially now that Marcy was back in one piece...and it would be awful if she had to endure another stressful situation just from a simple mistake in the calculations.

“Hey, Teach.” Marcy walked toward her. Looking down, Maddie was pleased to see that the roots had been grounded to a fine powder. A fine powder full of death and bad choices. “If we grind all of this together, do you think we have enough time for a potion? I was thinking...something spicy.”

“Spicy?” Maddie arched an eyebrow. “If you’re talking about fire potions, we don’t got any ingredients to—”

“No, no. Not like that.”

Okay, so no fire potions. But Marcy wasn’t making any sense at the moment, or at least giving Maddie a straight answer. “Then what are you implying? We’ve done protective seals, bond material, and cursed nutritional dirt. Potions take longer.” Not to mention that they spent an entire day with dark magic. They were practically going to be out past her curfew, which was a massive no in her book. “So what’s the rush?”

“Weelll,” Marcy pursed her lips. She was skipping around the subject again, but before Maddie could say anything else, Marcy grabbed the book and started flipping through. “I took a gander at your book a few hours ago, and I recalled seeing this chapter that talked about advanced healing.”

“Uhuh.”

“And I wanted to see if there’s a way to heal deep scarring, 'cause trying to get treatment back home isn’t uhh—” Marcy rubbed the back of her neck. “—working so good.”

Oh.

Maddie fumbled with her hands for a moment. “Right, Earth doesn’t have magic.”

“We know how to remove scars, but yeah can’t do much with big pharma these days. Well, I can go to Finland, but that’s long-term planning.” Marcy shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anyway. Since I’m here I wanted to research the idea. Doesn’t hurt to try.”

With that, Marcy turned the book. The page she was on displayed numerous pictures and lists about growth and skin development, and sounded like something that could transition Maddie to a Level Four Witch if she and Marcy had the time to fulfill it.

“Okay, I can definitely work with this,” Maddie mumbled. “I’ve never healed scarring before, so I wouldn’t mind practicing if you’re up for that.”

“Totally!” Marcy tapped a finger at her shirt’s center. “Test away. After all, it’s the only way to check out a hypothesis.”

Maddie understood that well, but that wasn’t what she was worried about.

Few nights would pass as the two started their newest project. Advanced healing needed a lot of ethereal products; thankfully, Joe Sparrow and a few messages to-and-from Newtopia had allowed them to gather the materials from the farthest corners of the continent.

Some pinches of obsidian rock salt. Jugs of spider milk. A cache of ticks, axolotl slime, and a whole load of bio-luminescent mushrooms. Everything they gathered were at their purest form, but what surprised the two most of all was that when the book ‘needed ethereal products’ they didn’t expect it to take practically a full month to cover their bases.

Or that Marcy would grow more and more tense with the oncoming passing of days.

Marcy had been chipper about the whole concept — enthusiastic too because who wouldn’t want to be enthusiastic about cheating the natural cycle of body decay? But still, actually hearing mention of what happened months prior was still awkward to partake in.

Maddie wasn’t dense. Observation was a key skill for a witch to have. If one didn’t watch simmered milk then that milk would eventually froth and explode. If one didn’t check the accuracy in volume then consider yourself cursed for all eternity. Observing ingredients was akin to observing people, of how their facial expressions twitched and stretched even when it was hard to see inside their thick skulls.

For Marcy, they were friends. It wasn’t that hard to know when she had something on her mind. Being the enthusiastic assistant she was, any stress that piled on to the work led to the typical signs: Marcy’s voice would get strained in higher pitch, less focused with the work at hand, and trying to get a forward answer from her became straight-up impossible.

So on a day like this, where the blood moon peeked through the canopies and bathed them in light, Maddie had to ask the question:

“Are you alright?”

Marcy glanced at her. Her arms were occupied, stripping the last of the conifer leaves into the bowl below her. “I’m good. Pretty fine if I do say so myself.”

“I think you’re lying.”

Her assistant widened her eyes, but when Maddie stared more Marcy didn’t seem to be that surprised. She just laughed. “Aw c’mon, Maddie. Give me a good reason as to why I’d be lying right now.”

“Well, you’re an inch away from putting the conifers into the Bunsen burner.”

“Wait, I am?”

“And now they’re on fire.” For the fifth time.

Marcy shoved the tinder into the water pot beside her, mumbling a string of ‘Ow’s under her breath. When the smoke fizzled out, Marcy’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, you've got a point. I am pretty out of it today.”

“You want to talk about it?”

"Well," Marcy set her instruments down, and bore wearily at the table's surface. "I just really want this to work. Back on Earth there's a potential guarantee that the scar will heal, but there's still that pesky margin of error, regardless. And even if I get the treatment I need, it'll never remove it.”

"In Amphibia, I've witnessed the miracle of revival and resuscitation,” she continued, starting to gesticulate. “These are things unexplainable to my world's current rules, anything’s possible. So...I just want to make sure this potion doesn’t fail.”

Maddie furrowed her eyebrows. "Why though?"

"Huh?"

"I get it. You want to heal your scar, but what's so bad about having one?" Maddie asked. "It shows you survived, and surviving isn't a bad thing."

Marcy's expression grew illegible.

Maddie stopped. "If it's really personal, I'll just get back to making the—"

"No, no, it's okay." Marcy's lips twitched. She looked exhausted now, and Maddie wondered if she crossed some line in their friendship that should never be crossed. But before she could say anything, Marcy continued. "I'm gonna be honest for a second. Is it okay to spill something dark? Are you okay with that?"

"We're all about dark things here."

Marcy giggled. She stared more into the pot, brewing the concoction to a creamy mush. They both remained like that for a while, until the mush coagulated into clots.

"I don't want to see the mistakes I made."

Maddie glanced at her. The jade pot glow held the outline of her face, accentuating the curve of her brow, the grimace on her lips.

“I don’t want to think it’s selfish, but I have to look at that scar in the mirror everyday,” she said. “It drives me nuts sometimes, can you believe it?” She chuckled. “I wake up everyday and think ‘wow, I cannot believe this happened, and that I trusted a jerk like him’.”

Marcy sprinkled something into the gunk.

“And sometimes, even when I’m trying to be mindful of my causes, then the scar’s association switches from guilt of betraying everyone I love to the guilt of being duped so easily. I can’t win. Pretty dang weird.”

For a moment, Maddie remained silent, not knowing what to say. She had never seen Marcy so downtrodden before. During the Battle of Newtopia, she had only seen a few glimpses of her face during the rescue, and when they returned to Wartwood, any appearance of Marcy grew lesser so due to the stress of oncoming war.

But now, Marcy was showing vulnerability, and it was the first time Maddie grew stunned to no response.

Before Maddie could say anything else, Marcy laughed. She lifted her spoon from the pot contents, and showed off the goop melded to its surface, shiny in the eery light. “Look at that! You know we’re almost finished when it smells like rotten oatmeal! We just need to let it ferment for a while and then the potion should be ready.”

“Hey, Marcy.”

Her assistant paused, a quizzical look on her feature. “Yeah?”

“You know I respect you.” Maddie held her scrutiny. “And the fact you’re very much into dark stuff as much as me.”

“Of course, who doesn’t love eldritch concepts?”

“A lot of people,” Maddie said. The words were stuck in her throat. After all, what was the correct way to say condolences? Either way, she went for it. Marcy needed the support. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that if this potion is really important to you, I’m going to make sure it works. No mess-ups. No unneeded side-effects. As long as it makes daily life easier for you, then I’ll take the chances. And even if it doesn’t work, perhaps there’s another way. Whatever happens, my book’s always open.”

Maddie recognized the beaming expression on Marcy’s face. It practically lit the entire forest. “Hey, has anyone told you that you’re the best teacher an assistant can ever have?”

Nope. But it was great to be told the first time.

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #Marcy Wu #asks #Anonymous #Here you go anon #fanfic #Maddie Flour

45 notes · View notes

thepoodlepack · 3 years

Note

What's wrong with goldenpoodles? I'm genuinely curious because almost all of my dogs are mixed breeds and behave fine. So I'm curious if there's something else I'm missing

jeez this feels like bait but u kno what, you got me

alright, so it goes like this. the doodle really began with a guy in australia being like i need the temperament of a lab for a guide dog but these ppl are allergic to dogs, so i need a poodle bc they have hair, not fur. so he bred em together. years later he’s like damn that was a mistake.

now, why, exactly? alright so first of all he only needed that mix bc labs on average tend to adapt better to situations that are largely exclusive to service dog work than poodles do. i can go into what this means at a later date, but that’s basically how it is. but either way, people jumped on this creation and it kinda spiraled out of control. soon, poodles were being bred by everyone and every breed. suddenly, they were a marketing scam more then they were a dog breed.

oh theyre hypoallergenic! all of them, all the time cause zero allergies! look theyre so much better than poodles! theyre friendly and easy to train, not like poodles of course, just like labs! they’re better than labs bc none of them shed, ever! they’re super healthy bc breeding labs and poodles together wipes out all their health problems, of course!

lies, lies lies. the aussie guy, whose name i’m not going to look up bc i’m lazy but who you can find if you google creator of doodles, straight up says that even the first litter(s) of labradoodles he bred had puppies that the people he bred them for were allergic to. he very carefully tested the litter and the reaction the person had before placing a puppy that was not going to hurt them.

think of the punnet squares we all learned about in 5th grade science class. you draw the squares and one parent has two fur genes and the other parent has two hair genes and what do you get? well if you have four puppies, one might have hairhair and the next one might have hairfur and the next one might have furhair and the next one might have furfur. and so guess what? only hairhair pup is going to be the best choice for allergic people. additionally, you can see why the non-shedding thing can be bullshit, and that in particular is also a guessing game. you may be able to test allergy sufferers against the pups, but that does not necessarily mean they won’t shed. hairfur, for example, may be a good choice for some allergic people, but perhaps they’ve got just enough fur to shed anyway. also, lets look at salukis (and frankly, most long-haired sighthounds). salukis are still considered dogs with fur, not hair. they also still shed, even though it’s just a little. and yet they’re still considered good for allergy sufferers.

(ps poodles do actually shed. but they shed like humans shed. your hair comes out, doesn’t it? like, esp folks with long hair, aren’t people always complaining how you clog the shower drain? yeah, like that. ALSO obviously the situation is more complicated then super simple punnet squares and as an ex-groomer i have something to say about doodle coats but i’m going to save that for later, put a pin in it.)

oh and wait a hot minute there. i said best choice, didn’t i, not hypoallergenic. well, that’s because no dog is hypoallergenic. poodles, and a few other dog breeds, they have hair, like we do. but the thing is both humans and breeds with hair still produce the dander, though they’re different kinds. breeds with hair happen to produce the least amount possible that dogs can produce, which is why they’re a better choice for allergy sufferers, but that’s still not a guarantee. my roommate Dakota is allergic to dogs. if i don’t wash my dogs for an extended period of time (which has never happened, ever, in my life, idk what ur talking about), thus giving the chance for the dander my dogs still produce, he will have a very, very mild reaction when touching them. it can be countered by him washing his hands after touching them and also me just giving them a fucking bath, i need to stop forgetting, but still, there you go. ALSO people might not be allergic to dogs bc of their dander. they might be allergic to the saliva of dogs, which poodles or any other breed with hair still produces about the same as other dogs. so, yeah, not hypoallergenic, not at all.

the people who taut their hypoallergenic dogs for sale largely don’t do the testing required to check if they’re actually providing a dog to someone who won’t react to it. not acceptable at all.

so, labs are friendly and easy to train right? not at all like poodles, right? no. absolutely incorrect. some labs are friendly and easy to train. some labs, a lot of them when they’re puppies, are nightmare fuel. personally, i have a theory that everyone’s vision of labs in their heads are either a) service dogs or b) those old labs who are slightly pudgy (or morbidly obsess, which is a different topic) and who are graying in the face and just want to lounge around because they’re seniors now. alright, so here’s why thats bad. labs are a working breed. a retrieving breed. they’re supposed to be bulky and strong and driven. service dogs are highly trained, to a point that most pet dogs will never see, and if you see them with their actual disabled handler, they’ll probably be around 2.5 yrs of age and out of their most wild days. old labs are well. old. sleepy. maybe a bit achey. and well out of their most wild days. oh, and it’s the same type of thing with goldens by the way, the other most popular doodle type. poodles are also easy to train, especially if their parents have a decent temperament. they’re all about equal if you actually start training them when they’re puppies and just pay for some training classes, like everyone should. in the puppy classes i’m in right now, Euphoria is leaps and bounds ahead of doodles, goldens, and labs that are her age or older. I train her properly and she’s got amazing parents. that’s it, that’s the trick. not breed, not necessarily, and def not in this case.

I am once again going to say that labs and goldens are more often used as service dogs than poodles because of their adaptability, but it’s the ability to adapt to situations that most pet dogs will never have to worry about.

jeez this is a long post. i’ve still got more to cover too. alright, on to super healthy, or “hybrid vigor” as the nerds call it. uhh, it’s bullshit. thank u for ur time.

okay, but actually why on gods green earth would breeding two completely different breeds with little to no research make them super healthy? now i want to preface this with i’m (generally) pro-outcross projects. Euphoria’s dad is half mini poodle and half standard poodle, which isn’t technically an outcross bc all the variations are of the same breed, but if we’re going by genetic diversity alone minis and standards are different enough to actually be different breeds.

so, to be clear, outcrosses, given the proper thought and planning: good, results in healthier dogs (see: lua dals). randomly breeding two very different breeds together with no planning other than to sell the puppies to randos who won’t continue the outcross: bad. especially when you’re doing it to cash in and don’t health test at all, or don’t health test the major health problems with both breeds (if you’re doing an f2 breeding or anything like that). no the poodle’s health problems don’t get canceled out by the goldens or labs or whatever the other party’s health problems are, and vice versa. and yeah, i’ve looked at a lot of doodle breeder’s websites and yeah, most of them don’t health test at all, or at least don’t health test properly. do you know i own one doodle and currently live with another? yeah, i got them both from breeders and do you know how much health testing their parents got? if your answer is none, good job, you’ve been paying attention. in my defense, i was like 13, i didn’t know what i was doing.

alright, so those are the big points. this is kinda gonna be just... a mix of my other complaints. here we go, hope you’re ready for more. argument the first: i feel like it’s pretty disrespectful to reputable breeders. now, i actually have two reasons why that is. reason one: most reputable poodle breeders don’t want their breeding stock bred with other breeds, for various reasons. i’ve even met a few who used to be okay with it and then as the doodle scam got bigger and more out of control, they stopped being okay with it, even to the breeders who they had been fine with it in the past. that means a lot of doodle breeders out there have their breeding stock because they scammed poodle breeders into giving them pet quality, not breeding quality, dogs or because they’re getting their stock from non-reputable breeders. i also feel it’s disrespectful to breeders who are actually trying to create new breeds. quite frankly, a breed with the size, strength, and adaptability of a lab or golden that doesn’t shed and that has the train-ability of a poodle, lab, or golden sounds pretty interesting to me. did you know you can actually make that breed? and it wouldn’t be a cross with unpredictable... well, everything. it would actually be a true dog breed.

Look at Silken Windhounds and Biewer Terriers who began both development in the 1980s. Biewer Terriers were recognized by the AKC this year, and Silken Windhounds still haven’t been. And yeah, that’s the problem isn’t it? Making a real new breed takes a lot of time, planning, and care. People would rather just cash in. I think it’s sad and I think it’s disrespectful to the breeders who do work so hard to make actual new breeds.

and finally, unpin being an ex-groomer goddamnit. guess what? doodles are awful to groom! they’re terrible on the grooming tables because people want to have in both ways: they want a dog that doesnt shed at all and they want a dog who doesn’t need to be groomed. well guess what, that dog doesn’t exist and you can have it only one way. and also, bring back the goddamn punnet squares because a lot of doodles have awful coats. if you have hairfur and furhair over there, guess what, their coat fucking sucks bc it’s not meant to be like that. it wants to mat bc hair but also it wants the mats to slide out bc short-ish fur but its too thick for the mats to slide out bc thick hair. and yes its more complicated then this and that means its often more awful then this. its awful, it makes me want to cry. and maybe it’s slightly easier to get away with it with a shorthaired dog like a lab, or, you know what, even a golden, okay, even a slightly long haired dog like a golden but people are doodling akitas? border collies? bernese fucking mountain dogs? i am crying. i am crying right now as i type this.

lets do a sum up to this disaster of a post. look, i don’t go out there attacking or yelling at every doodle or every doodle owner i see, alright? or any of them really. i might engage in conversation to one that’s interested, but that’s it. i love my doodly Isis, okay? shes tiny and she’s adorable and I love her more than life and i will never, ever get another doodle. i don’t like the way they’ve gotten so prolific, i don’t like the reasons they’re now widespread, and i don’t like almost all of the people that create them, including the ones i’ve literally given my (parents) money to in the past. i wish they were better but i just cannot approve of them, especially not in the environment they exist in now. that said, i do support them in their original use case as assistance dogs, and i do not care about them if they’re shelter dogs.

#long post #anti doodle #text #my post #yes this took me like an hour #yes i do hate myself for it #Anonymous #oh anon im being grumpy mostly for comedy thats only funny to me #you're fine as long as you werent trying to bait me

62 notes · View notes

moonbeambucky · 4 years

Text

Hey Neighbor (Part 5)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Word Count: 2276 Warnings: mentions of physical/verbal child abuse

Summary: You had a plan and then life came along with one of its own. With your future almost derailed you worked hard to get yourself back on track and finally everything seemed to be going right… that is, until your new neighbor moved in.

A/N: A huge thank you to my wonderful beta Sam @buckyofthemyscira Feedback is always appreciated!

PART 4 | HEY NEIGHBOR MASTERLIST

The subway doors opened letting people spill out before the anxious crowd pushed their way in. Some people rush to find the best spot, leaning against the railing of the wall or beside the door that leads to the other cars, others look for a seat or grab a pole to hold on to.

Everyone kept to themselves though there’s a knowing look between a few, in search of the source of the terrible odor that fills the car. Summer may almost be over but the use of deodorant should never, ever stop.

You couldn’t wait to be home, not only to save your nose from further inhaling the awful stench but because you needed to prepare your outfit for the following day. You put in to leave work a few hours early and unbeknownst to Maria it was so you could interview at Metro-General with Ms. Rodriguez.

You needed to make a good impression. The deadline for submitting your internship paperwork was quickly approaching and you really wanted to have everything settled.

When you were finally home you kicked off your shoes and swapped your blouse and skirt for a more comfortable pair of leggings and a loose tank top. Your closet was full of options and you pulled down a few hangers but you couldn’t think straight. Your stomach rumbled with hunger so you decided to make something to eat.

Opening the cabinet you found a value sized box of macaroni and cheese, something you had bought on those few occasions you made something at home for when Steve would come over and knowing his appetite, family sized meals were the most appropriate.

Water began to boil on the stove as you went back to the items hanging off the closet door knob. With food on the horizon you were able to decide on a white striped button down with slim navy trousers and beige heels. Some basic jewelry was set aside, nothing too flashy.

As you poured the macaroni into the boiling water you realized just how much food there was going to be but at least you would have leftovers. Chalky orange powder floated in the air as you mixed the “cheese” in with the cooked pasta, stirring around to ensure everything was properly coated.

Setting the food aside you opened your fridge to grab a drink, debating what would go best with mac and cheese before you heard a knock at your door. Steve was at the gym and even though you were overdue to see Wanda you didn’t think she would just drop in without notice.

Looking through the peephole your heart raced. Bucky.

Unlocking the door you pulled it open and smiled at your unexpected visitor. “Hey neighbor.”

He smiled, quickly taking in your casual appearance. Bucky didn’t know you very well but he did know that you were a busy woman and any chance you took to relax should be thoroughly enjoyed.

“Hey Y/N. Sorry to bother you but…” He brought his hand up with a snap, presenting the match to your missing sock. “I think this belongs to you. I hope it does at least, otherwise it would be weird that I stole a random sock,” he laughed.

You reached forward for the sock, immediately recognizing it as yours. Your face questioned how he found it and Bucky explained it must have been left in the washing machine.

“Aww thanks!”

“You’re welcome. Uhh, well, I’ll let you get back to your evening.”

Bucky took a step to walk towards his door before you called out to stop him. He turned around with surprise written on his face.

“So, I kinda made enough mac and cheese to feed a small army and if I’m being honest with myself I know I’ll wind up heating some up in the middle of the night and definitely regretting it.”

Bucky laughed at your admission which made you smile even wider.

“So what I’m trying to get at here is, are you hungry?”

Bucky hadn’t expected to hear that from you and upon further clarification he certainly didn’t expect you to be inviting him inside your apartment, but he happily did so, following behind you.

He stared at your apartment thinking somehow you had so much more space than he did even though the units were identical. He smiled at the delicate decor around your bedding, the feminine curtain framing your bed with soft lights shining through it. It made your bed seem inviting, like a soft cloud floating amongst the starry night sky.

You lead Bucky to your table, pushing books aside and piling stacks of paper on top of them.

“Your place is cute,” Bucky commented as his head continued to look around and observe things.

Two bowls were brought down as you scooped heaping amounts of the mac and cheese into them, placing one in front of Bucky and the other at the empty spot beside him.

“Uh, I’m not actually sure what drinks go with this,” you admitted, chuckling as you turned back to Bucky.

Opening the refrigerator again you called out what you had and Bucky accepted a beer and you snapped open a White Claw and took a sip. He eyed you suspiciously and smirked.

“Don’t look at me like that,” you joked.

Bucky ran his fork through the food, biting his lips to hold back an even bigger smile. “Like what?” he not-so-innocently asked.

“It’s the same look Steve gives me. I know they’re trendy but they’re actually really good!” you defended, taking a forkful of the still steaming macaroni.

“Is that your boyfriend?”

“Steve?! No, he’s just a really good friend.”

“Oh I just assumed since I know he’s here a lot.”

Your face twisted in confusion, worrying for a moment about the person you let into your apartment until Bucky eased your mind with the words you once told him, “thin walls.”

“Right.” You were partially relieved that your neighbor was not a creepy stalker, but you hoped you hadn’t heard all the times you were venting about him.

“Steve comes over to hang out and watch movies and stuff.”

“Oh, Netflix and chill? Do people still say that?” he wondered out loud.

“I don’t think they do,” you laughed. “Why, you jealous?”

You didn’t believe the words spoken had come out of your mouth. Where that brazen flirtation came from you don’t think you’ll ever know.

Bucky was just as caught off guard, swallowing his food at the same time unexpected nerves bubbled to the surface. “No…” he began.

“I’m just kidding. You don’t seem like the jealous type, especially with your, uh, frequent visitors.” Somehow things didn’t seem as awkward as the last time you brought the subject up.

“Yeah I’m not really a relationship guy,” he said confidently.

You found yourself explaining Steve’s situation with Lillian and how he needed a friend to take his mind off the pain. “I can’t blame him, having your trust broken like that is awful. He’s not ready to get back out there yet.”

Visible dark hair was speckled under his chin as Bucky tipped his head back to take a swig of the bottle. The bobbing of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed mesmerized your eyes, as did the single swipe of his tongue across his plump lips to lick away the excess liquid.

“What about you?” he asked.

“Me? I couldn’t tell you what a relationship was if it hit me in the face.”

Lazily you swirled the fork around your food. “I’ve been so busy with school the last few years and working full time on top of it. It’s rare that I meet someone new, let alone devote any time to them.”

You explained the history of your living situation to Bucky and the reason behind all those nights you’ve spent studying at The Grind House.

“That’s definitely stressful,” he let out a sigh. “So why social work?”

Sometimes people know what they want to be from a young age. If they really like animals they might become veterinarians or zoologists. Some people have a knack for science, some for teaching, others for law. Bucky has clearly loved music even before he realized he could make a career of it.

Things were always different for you. There was never a clear choice. You had hobbies but nothing ever stood out and even as you grew older and your interests changed there was still never a distinct path of where you wanted to take your life, not until everything you thought you knew about your best friend had been a lie.

You took a moment to collect yourself before opening up. Throughout your first year of middle school you were seated next to Pietro Maximoff, a friendly, quick witted class clown that made each day brighter.

Pietro’s twin Wanda was separated into a different class but you all shared the same lunch period and became friends. You were never allowed to go to the Maximoff’s house and you didn’t question it too much. You didn’t mind when Wanda hung out in your room after school but she was always in a rush to get home before dinner, before her father got home from work.

It wasn’t until high school that you learned about Django Maximoff and the violence he inflicted on his children. His drinking had always been out of control but he managed it until one day when he was driving and he nearly hit another car. Pietro was worried and questioned if his father was alright, his concerns were answered with a rough fist.

As his drinking increased so did the physical abuse which he enforced over anything. If Pietro ate too quickly Django smacked his head and told him to slow down. If Wanda ate too slow he would kick her shins with heavy boots under the table and tell her to not chew her food like a cow.

Their mother Marya sported bruises that matched her children as Django didn’t hold back with her either. He blamed her and the kids for all the problems they were having. If bills were too high it was because the kids watched too much TV. That problem was solved quickly one night when he threw Pietro into it.

He got the worst of the abuse, often protecting Wanda when he could, telling her to hide in a closet or under the bed as he took each whip of the belt and every spiteful word that spewed from Django’s evil tongue.

Marya wanted to leave Django but he threatened to kill the children in front of her if she tried, he told Wanda and Pietro the same thing and so the family were hostages in their own home, left to keep their painful truth a secret for as long as they could.

You hated the days of Pietro’s absence, selfishly missing the way your friend could always make you laugh when unbeknownst to you he was at home recovering from an injury that was too great to hide at school.

A drunken crash finally removed Django from their lives but the damage was done. Left with large debts and little money Marya struggled to keep a roof over their heads.

Sometimes people do the wrong thing for the right reasons. By the time you were in high school Pietro dropped out and got involved with some bad people. The gang he was with gave him the opportunity to help provide for his mother and Wanda but they protested. Marya was looking into moving somewhere else, declare bankruptcy and start over, start fresh but it was too late.

“Pietro died.” Your voice cracked as the pain of bringing up the memories flooded your heart. “There was a shooting with a rival gang. Piet didn’t even have a gun but he ran out in the middle of everything to protect some kid from the crossfire.”

Bucky noticed the tears that brimmed over your eyes. You took another sip from the can, hoping that as you tipped your head back the tears would retreat. You really didn’t want to cry and make things awkward.

With another deep inhale you continued, “Pietro was robbed of his childhood and nobody did anything to protect him. It always stuck with me, I think about the signs looking back. There should have been someone there to help them, to intervene when they were growing up maybe, just maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

A tear managed to slip out but you wiped it away quickly. You didn’t have to say anymore, Bucky understood why. Every long day at work followed by a longer night of school, every minute you spent devoted to your studies, all of it was worth it to bring you closer to the promise you made yourself, helping the Pietro’s of the world that needed a hand to pull them from the darkness.

Dinner was finished shortly after and Bucky offered to help clean up but you declined. Bringing up the past made you long for a good, deep cry, one you didn’t really want to do in front of your new neighbor.

Bucky lingered at the door before leaving, acting on the thoughts he quickly processed in his mind. He leaned in to hug you, quickly because he wasn’t quite sure if you would be okay with that but firm enough to offer emotional support after you opened up to him. You nearly cried again as you felt his strong hold against you but thankfully you held out, letting the tears slip out after the door shut behind him. Bucky wasn’t so bad after all.

PART 6

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes series

735 notes · View notes

sleepybutwriting · 4 years

Text

You Don't Have To Suffer Alone | Fatherly!Aizawa

_____

Pairing: Fatherly!Aizawa x Reader

Summary: You’re one of Aizawa’s students and you lost both of your parents very young so when you get sick, he steps up and checks in on you to make sure you’re okay.

Note: This isn't meant in a romantic way. This is basically just Aizawa being all fatherly like, and although he isn’t your dad he acts like it.

_____

Both of your parents were pro heroes, so growing up, your dream was to follow in their footsteps. And that dream never changed. Not even when they died.

Of course, it was hard for you to deal with it. Having both of your parents die, due to some villain attack wasn’t an easy thing to handle, even if you were young at the time. But it was even harder because you had no other family. But because of their rank, you were left with a good amount of funds. Enough for you to go on by yourself. You used their money to continue to take care of yourself, and put yourself through school, and over time you just forgot how to depend on people. But there were, of course, times when you wanted your parents back more than anything. Like when you were sick.

You had woken up in the middle of the night with a cough and a sore throat. You had gotten sick before and thinking it would pass by morning like it usually does, you made yourself some tea and went back to bed. But when morning came you had felt even worse. Your muscles ached painfully keeping you from moving out of bed. And you had sweat dripping down your forehead despite the chills that covered your skin. There was absolutely no way you were making it to school.

You shot one of your classmates from UA a text to let them know that you would be out and to apologize on your behalf. Once they made sure you were okay, they were happy to pass along your message, telling you to get better soon.

Putting your phone down at your side, you figured rest would be your best option for getting better. Mostly because that was the only thing you felt capable of doing. You decided that with enough rest you’d be able to make it into school by tomorrow. However, when you woke up feeling even worse than yesterday, you knew that wouldn’t be possible.

Aizawa was worried about you. He knew about what happened to both of your parents and that you didn’t really have any family. So he planned to visit you after school and make sure that you were doing okay.

Your doorbell had woken you from your twelfth nap that day. Not confident you would be able to make it to your door, and assuming whoever it was, and whatever they wanted, wouldn’t be important, you ignored it. Until it rang again. Letting you know that whoever it was wasn’t going away. So you used what little strength you had to pull yourself out of bed and greet them.

You were caught off guard though with the sight of your teacher on the other side of the door. “Aizawa Sensei?” You questioned, voice hoarse due to the dryness in your mouth. Your teacher is immediately struck with worry at the sight of you. Your face was flush, aside from the bright pink tint in your cheeks, and every now and again you would sway sightly as if you could pass out at any moment. And you felt as if you would. Despite the fact that you had been doing nothing but sleeping, you still felt exhausted.

“Y/N, you look terrible.”

“Uhh, yeah. I’m just a little sick.” As if on cue, you began coughing slightly before continuing, “If this is about missing your class, I should be better in a few days, and I promise to make up all my work. I’ll also come in earl-”

“This isn’t about missing class. And you shouldn’t be worried about school. You should focus on taking care of yourself.” He stated, cutting you off, “ Have you been drinking water? Have you taken any medicine? What about food, have you even eaten yet?” He questioned endlessly. You didn’t reply. But your silence was the only confirmation he needed. He sighed something to himself before ushering you back inside your own house.

He went straight for your kitchen pouring you a glass of water and making sure you drank every last drop. Once he was satisfied, he sent you back upstairs to rest while he went out to buy some medicine, and food to cook for you.

“Y/N?...Y/N?” you heard a male voice calling out to you. It sounded so familiar, but you didn’t know who it belonged to. Only a feeling of having heard it before.

You wandered down an empty hallway. The voice becoming louder and more distinct until you ended up at a closed door. You jiggled the handle, but for some reason, it wouldn’t open.

“What’s wrong Y/N? Did you have another nightmare?” A different voice questioned on the other side of the door. This one was a woman’s voice. Again, you knew who it was but whenever you tried to put a face to the name, it just kept coming up blank.

The door opened. Two figures on the other side. Their faces were distorted, and shadowy so you couldn’t make them out. But even without being able to see their faces you were able to recognize them.

“Mom?...Dad?” You questioned, voice breaking as you held back tears. The two of them held out their arms to you and you didn’t waste any time running into their embrace. Gripping tightly onto the fabric of their clothes as you began sobbing into them.

“Don’t worry Y/N. It’s okay.” Your mother soothed as she gently began stroking your head as she had done so many times when you were young. But little by little you felt them slipping away from your grip. Causing you to cry out harder.

“You don’t have to suffer alone.” Was the last thing they said to you before disappearing completely.

You awoke in a cold sweat to the sound of someone rummaging around in your kitchen. “Mom?... Dad?” You called out, still not in the right mindset from your dream. You made your way over to the kitchen, leaning against the wall for support, only to be met with Aizawa boiling something on the stove. Once he noticed your presence, he gave you a small glare, one that held more concern than it did anger.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed.” He scolded before walking over to you. He placed his hand over your forehead, the coldness of his touch causing you to flinch back slightly. “Your fever has gotten higher.” He mumbled mostly to himself. “Get back into bed. The stew is almost ready so I’ll bring it up to you with some medicine.” He walked you back to your room and tucked you back in before returning to the kitchen.

You didn’t realize you had dozed off again until a cold cloth was placed on your forehead stirring you slightly. You had reached your hand up to remove it, since it felt uncomfortably cold against your heated skin, but a hand was placed over your own forcing it back down on the bed before you could. “I know it’s uncomfortable but your fever is getting too high so we need to bring it down a little.” You opened your eyes at the sound of your teacher’s voice and saw that he had a tray of food, water, and medicine for you to take just as he said.

“Are you feeling well enough to eat?” He asked bringing the tray over to you. You shook your head, in response, not imagining being able to keep anything down. “Well, you should at least try. It’s only miso shiitake soba soup, and I added some ginger to settle your stomach so you should be able to keep it down.”

He adjusted your pillow so you were sitting upright and watched you as you took a bite. As soon as the warm soup hit your stomach, you realized just how hungry you were and greedily ate every last drop. The soup was delicious, and the ginger really did help take away your nausea, so it made it easier for you to continue eating. Once you finished, Aizawa took your tray away and gave you some medicine, before tucking you back in.

“Thank you sensei.” You whispered as he began to get up.

“It’s the least I can do for my favorite student,” he responded nonchalantly while ruffling your hair slightly. Causing a slight grin to appear on both of your faces, but his subsided slightly as he took a seat at your bedside.

“...Listen Y/N.” He began, the seriousness of his tone quickly grabbing your attention. “I know it must be hard not having your parents around, but if you ever need anything, just let me know. I know you may feel like you’re on your own, but you’re not. When you get sick, or you need help, tell me. You don’t have to suffer alone.”

Aizawa gently reached up towards you again, this time stroking your head, just like your parents had, and for the first time in a while, you felt it. The feeling of being cared for. And it made you feel...not so lonely anymore.

1K notes · View notes

grantzarrr · 3 years

Text

Quick fuck (g.d) part 2

part 1 is here just if you get confused!!

summary: Y/n gives Grayson his own medicine back maybe with a little more than what he did but he loves it, Y/n leaves the same way and receives so news... but what type?

warnings: just v smutty

Grayson did not expect that to happen nor has he ever actually encountered anything like this before. He was stumped to say the least, but also aroused at the whole thing, it was the dominance that had rumbled inside her, her tone really set it off for him and went straight to his dick—like most things, however this was a very unfamiliar for him to be sub.

Though it intrigued him for her to control him and put him in place and look like an angel making him beg and squirm, inched him on for some more so hard that it sparked something in him, a drive going off in him. At first he called it plain lust or just the feeling of something new that was weirdly interesting to see fall in place. But whatever it was Grayson wanted more, he needed more. And for the first time he actually took a notice into what the girl was wearing, a navy blue lace bra with the matching thong and a little bright pink bow sitting on top and now that he got to get some glares at her and some observable information into her lingerie, she was the most sexiest woman he’s ever seen.

It was like an eye opener for him, he never took notice into any of the girls faces or what they would wear to “impress” him, he just never cared- for the looks only for their tits bouncing at his thrusts and strokes or how each girl felt around him, throbbing and clenching pussy’s. Hell he didn’t care if they came or not, but unalike this girl, she didn’t sit just there nor was she frightened by him. And he liked that, he liked the way she yelled back at him, he liked the way she warned him what she can do instead of vise versa and he especially liked when she told him what was going to happen, like he’s the little bitch.

“Since you wanna be such an asswhole, let’s see how much you can handle your medicine,” with that said she pushed Grayson backwards on the bed crawling on top. She was full on poker face doing this too, a look that seemed she didn’t want be here or she was unsatisfied with what’s in front of her even like she only did this for him. And Grayson wanted to test this her full capabilities.

“I don’t do the submissive roll, sweetheart,” meeting up with her wondering eyes over his body, he wanted to see exactly how she would break him. Trying to see into her mind, he was sure that she’ll snap and go on about how she’s the boss and she didn’t care what he ‘doesn’t do’. But to his dismay she simply ignored his remark, yanking his arms up, handcuffing them to the premade setup, he gulped at this, not fully knowing what she’s gonna do now so he started staring up at her face looking for the smallest of hints, the more he actually glazed at her face the more prettier she looked— fully concentrated on anything but him and still looked gorgeous, down to her lips, up at her eyes— absolutely stunning. He swore his heart sped up for a moment and his ears heated up.

After she got done inclosing him into the setup-which he willingly let happen, it was like she captivated him in with the way her demeanor about this was. She burned the soul of her eyes at him, his dick started tightening making him slowly swift and wiggle on the bed.

“Please- don’t give me that look.” He begged but she continued, letting it sit on him, letting it rumble on his mind a bit, really letting it unravel raw to him, letting him know he had no say in this right now. She seen his little wiggles and small movement she also saw the tint forming.

“Stay still.” She warned him, pinning his hips down and gave his inner thigh a firm slap, catching him off guard a bit.

Y/n remembered that there was little chest she had seen when she first arrived, she motioned it to Grayson, which he replied, “those toys”. So she headed straight over. To her it wasn’t necessarily odd for a guy like him to have sex toys and devices somewhere here—out of all places a chest but hey, they got to be somewhere, she thought. The chest remarkably didn’t have any special codes or key to open, though she was happy for that, she wanted to torture and edge Grayson into opening it, just to rub in his face out of the shit he’s done.

She surprisingly found a hefty amount of toys for him, she came across an cock ring, some sort of ball vibrater, a gag and a paddle. Once she collected the items and turned to Grayson, just to find his eyes closed, withering away into the mattress again, now she has something else to tease him about. A devilish smirk appearing onto her face, time for the fun to begin.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay still? Why are you so disobedient, hm?” She pestered.

Grayson’s eyes immediately popped open and once he seen the toys in her hand he knew it was over, “I’m sorry, I promise— I didn’t mean to I just tried anything because I’m getting hard-.” He pleaded, the poker face was smeared back on her face so he couldn’t quite point out any signs again.

“Be a good boy for me and know when to close your mouth,” she spoke and began walking closer to him, throwing the toys onto the bed, his mouth was slowly gaped so you could see a little of his pink tongue sticking out from the dimness of his mouth.

“Speaking of which, I think I’ll like you better with the gag in your mouth, sweets. Open wide.” She pronounced.

Shoving the gag between his plump pink lips, securing it around the back. Already the saliva started to build on the ball. Once she got it hooked, Y/n began kissing at his neck, rubbing her hands up and down his chest, letting out small fulfilled groans. She worked her way down teasing his body, licking at his nipples watching them tense up, reaching all the way down to cock— already hard and oozing of precum, she licked, sucked and palmed softly through his boxers, staring into his tightly shut eyes. Y/n heard his mutters through the gag and knew what he wanted.

“Mm don’t worry, sweets, I’ll take good care of this.” She mumbled against his abs where she was kitty licking. She knew that she wasn’t going to but making it harder for him was to fun to pass up.

She worked down to pulling his boxers down his legs, letting his strained dick free, you heard a small breath from his nose of release. She grasped it in her hand and started from his balls on up with a bold lick stripe, that alone sent a little shiver down his back. She swirled around the tip not going any further, only soaking the tip in her saliva, once he threw his head back into the pillows, she quickly grabbed the cock ring and slid it down onto him, she turned the remote on the highest settings and crawled off from between his legs. His head sunk deeper into the pillows and he bucked his hips up for more pleasure, you could hear his soft whimpers and moans still from the gag.

Watching him squirm and weaken away from the ring was thrilling, after all the shit he put girls through he deserves it. You thought if you should just leave him there and let that be his problem or if you should get off, have a little fun then leave. And if this was your last time with him why not have a little fun, you thought. You wickedly smirked upon him and slowly pulled the ring off and hearing a groan of relief with a mix of pleasure loss from him. Before you got started you took his gag off, he didn’t speak, nothing left his mouth but his eyes were hot on you, studying your every move, he gaped at your like your were his prey and he was a staving lion. You knew exactly what he wanted and you were gonna give it to him...exactly like he did to you.

You took the gag of solely to hear his praises and whines, that’s what kept you going, that’s your main goal. Y/n crawled on top in reverse cow girl style, you looked back to make sure of where his dick was going, you hardly got on top so you still was kind of new to doing it your self. Once you started sinking in deeper, you began hearing him praise.

“Yes, oh my fuck- you feel so good going deep.”

It fueled you, his words had a hell of a effect on you, but you remembered your goal and you began setting off. You rode him into oblivion sending you both into a ball of heaven, he was so deep from this position it drove you crazy, he was bucking his hips up to match your rhythm causing his balls to slap up. It was true euphoria, not only from his dick alone but hearing him praise and worship your pussy was sending you over drive.

And after you came- harder than you ever have, you noticed that Grayson didn’t which is the reason you got up. Seems like he did as well, “Hey! What are you doing? I didn’t get to cum, are you crazy?” He started pulling at the restraints, after you got your clothes you looked at him up and down.

“I’m getting the fuck out...that’s what you told me to do earlier?” You taunted, “What about the fucking handcuffs?” He voiced raised still yanking on them, “They seem weak, you’re strong enough to escape.”

Then you left, no more of that asswhole and it was this way for a good two and a half months- well until this phone call..

A/N: hii! sorry for the “little” break😅 uhh that seems to happen to me alot loll also i might drop a reveal of me soon—

#grayson dolan fic #dolan twins fanfic #grayson dolan smut #smut #smutty #grayson dolan #fan fic #ethan dolan

42 notes · View notes

asterekmess · 4 years

Note

honestly, my fury at the lack of werewolf culture/history/worldbuilding is worthy of its own post. Let me know if by some ungodly chance, you actually wanna hear my thoughts on it // Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

ohmygod yes, pls, enable me.

SO.

I think I mentioned b4 that Teen Wolf hates werewolves.

This is a show about werewolves like, yeah, sure, they do other plots and stuff. But the main character is a werewolf. The vast majority of the cast are werewolves (at least in the first half of the show). But think about it. What do we actually know about werewolves? They uhh, they shift on the full moon. But like, what about the full moon? Cus’ Scott gets handcuffed to a radiator and he doesn’t shift and break out until the moon comes out from behind the clouds and he screams like it’s excruciatingly painful for him. But then Derek and his Betas are underground during their full moon, and they shift like it’s all fine and dandy (they’re furious, but there’s no pain) and it doesn’t matter whether they can see the moon or not. They, uhh, they’re allergic to wolfsbane/it’s poisonous to them (btw it’s poisonous to literally everyone, just the scent of it is enough to cause seizures and hallucinations in humans. It’s a whole other frustration that they won’t make up their fucking minds abt it. It’s one thing to say that this is some parallel universe where wolfsbane doesn’t poison humans (bc lydia makes them hallucinate with the punch but injesting that much wolfsbane should kill you, and Stiles straight pulls a plant out of the ground; should’ve caused itching, burning, a cough, nausea, fever, headache and More hallucinations) and yet Jackson has to see a doctor and gets told he’s got Aconite Poisoning. So WHAT IS THE TRUTH?) but apparently not enough for Derek not to be able to plant a wolfsbane plant and massive cord of roots (which he would’ve had to tie together himself) in a revenge spiral around Laura’s body. But just being around it causes wolves to lose control. But also there’s supposed to be different strains that do different things? And also sometimes you burn the wolfsbane and it becomes the cure, or you have to burn it out of them or you just cut it out of them? Make UP Your MIND or at least ACKNOWLEDGE that different strains do different things. They get stronger on a full moon. But does that mean they get infinitely stronger with every full moon they experience? Does that mean they get weaker during new moons? They’re stronger in packs. Okay, but they never establish what the fuck a pack is. Is it an agreement? Is it a magical bond? Scott just sort of says people are in his pack. Does that mean they are? Do the humans he knows make him stronger? Just how strong is this bond? Derek makes a claim that “You have your own pack now” so is that a joke, was he mocking scott? Or is he saying that there’s no need for an Alpha and just being a beta with some friends counts as a pack? Apparently they have some kind of...animal magnetism or mind control? Derek uses a funny voice and a guy wakes up from a near coma to look at him with seemingly no control. Peter can force Scott to shift up. Derek forces Isaac to shift down. Derek has an insane amount of control over dogs and makes one lose its fucking mind from like a hundred feet away? Scott makes one calm down, but derek sends attack dogs running with their tails between their legs. Is it actual control or is it just a persuasion? Is it just intimidation? I haven’t even gotten to culture. You’re telling me that we get an entire episode of Allison discovering the entire story behind the Argent clan’s origins as werewolf hunters, why they started, how her name means Silver and apparently that’s where the entire myth of silver hurting werewolves comes from, but we don’t get to know anything about the first werewolves? Where they come from? If they’re a form of evolution or just straight magic or if it’s a curse or a gift from the gods? There’s an entire hidden werewolf population with packs all over the world, but somehow there’s literally no wolf culture? No moon worship? No specific terminology (Alpha, Beta, and Omega are terms used by a really fucking stupid biologist who studied frantic wolves in captivity and cast aspersions on the entire species. He’s been disproven a Thousand Times. NONE of that Alpha, Beta, Omega shit is right. Packs aren’t Hierarchies of Dominance. They’re families. They’re led by two wolves, yes, an “alpha pair” that’s literally JUST THE PARENTS. THE ‘BETAS’ ARE THEIR KIDS. This terminology makes sense if used by HUNTERS who consider werewolves to be mindless dumb animals. WHY THE FUCK would werewolves use it to DESCRIBE THEMSELVES?) besides the absolute minimum of ‘I caught a scent?’ Are you serious? Then there’s werewolf ages. Oh my god that was so fucking lazy. Saying that werewolves don’t age like humans, but that Cora is seventeen “by human standards” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I’ve seen theories that go so many different ways. The idea that Werewolves live really long lives because of the superhealing. The idea that they live really short lives because their healing just burns through their body really quickly. The idea that their lifespan is directly correlated to the amount of damage they take because they can only heal so much, so wolves who get hurt a lot age faster than wolves who don’t. There’s NO explanation! You’d think it might be an interesting point for Scott to find out that he’s gonna live to fucking 200 years old. (How old is Satomi again?) That sounds like something a Teenager would be daunted by. We see them make fun of Stiles a few times because he believes werewolf myths about silver, and then because he believes Peter when Peter tells him he lives in a series of underground caves. But like...why not? THESE ARE WEREWOLVES why did you just make them humans with extra facial hair? Where are the traditional mating rituals (or even the concept of a mate/life partner, can you imagine how interesting that would’ve been? If Scott found out Allison was his mate? Or if he suddenly had all these weird urges around her, like rubbing their foreheads together or cuddling her way too much or wanting to bring her food? That would’ve been fascinating and hilarious as subplots for their romance!) where are the full moon runs or pack get-togethers? Where are the aversions to perfumes or cologne? Where are literally any animal behaviors besides AGGRESSION? Where is the den-making? Can werewolves eat fast food or does the grease bug them? Talia was a famous Alpha bc she could full shift. Does anyone know why she could do that? “Evolution” is a bullshit answer, let’s be real. It’s shitty writing and it put Derek through so much more than he deserved. THEY ACCIDENTALLY ESTABLISHED that ALL HALES can full-shift! IT’s NOT EVOLUTION. It’s BIRTHRIGHT. Talia fullshifted. Peter full-shifted (though his was distorted into the monster thingy. That wasn’t anything like Deucalion’s shift. It was a FULL SHIFT) Laura could full shift bc she did it after she died. No other werewolves on the show turned into full wolves after death, even if they died with wolfsbane in their system? MALIA could full-shift into a coyote. LITERALLY EVERY HALE except Cora and that’s bc she got booted back to South America COuld FULL SHIFT (and it never happened after they lost all of their wolf powers, that coud’ve been an interesting plot if they didn’t FUCK IT UP.) But still there’s no explanation, or even just acknowledgement? You don’t have to spell it out for us, but at least SAY “Hey, so the Hale family is really powerful and all of us can full-shift. Not sure why, but it’s neat.) I’m still stuck on rituals. Routines. Werewolf mores. Social cues. Are there certain smells they’re supposed to ignore? Is it polite to pretend you don’t hear someone coming up to your house until they knock? Do they have rules about waiting until the Alpha eats before they start eating (much like how lots of traditional households wait for the father to dig in, or whoever is head of household)? Is it tradition to homeschool werewolves for the first few years until they learn control? Are there seriously no rules about biting humans? You don’t have to talk to their parents or have a specific conversation with them? And if werewolves are so dominance/hierarchy based, then you’re telling me there’s no “second-in-command” or respectful greetings that are supposed to be used for an Alpha? There’s absolutely no form of werewolf government or ancient laws or anything except a big spiral that is universally recognized as a sign you’re gonna kill people? What was the wolfsbane around Laura’s body for? Why make the spiral out of that instead of just drawing in the dirt or something? We make a lot of jokes about Derek being bad with his words, but so is Peter and so is Cora. And they’re the only born wolves we interact with (except Satomi who ALSO isn’t a chatterbox) What if that’s not just because they’re all traumatized and cranky? What if they’re just speaking on a different level? Scents and body language are integral to wolf interaction. Like how we say that Peter has that conversation with Derek’s eyebrows? What if Derek’s so fucking pissed all the time because he hates talking to Scott because SCott ISN”T LISTENING to his body language and scent and chemosignals? He tells Scott to use all his senses, and Scott does it fucking once to say that Peter felt “Angry” and never again. What if Derek is Talking PLENTY (with his body and movements and reactions) but Scott just isn’t paying attention? Isaac seems to understand Derek just fine. Erica and Boyd never complain that Derek is lying to them or ‘keeping something’ from them? What if the reason Scott always thinks Derek’s hiding something is because he isn’t reading the rest of Derek’s conversation and he assumes that the empty feeling is Derek lying. Even STILES seems to understand Derek. He’s human, but he goes totally wolfy. He already uses body language a lot and while he gets mad at Derek he never has to ask what the fuck derek is saying or what he’s holding back. I digress. I wanna know why no other packs came to help Derek and Laura after their family died. I wanna know why Emissaries and Druids are so incredibly important to the supernatural/werewolf world but Derek barely knew they existed (Especially when it’s established that he know tons of lore about other species.) and even though every single pack should have an emissary, they never handle who is the emissary for Derek’s pack or for Scott’s pack (Once again, is an emissary bound to their pack somehow or is it just an agreement?). I wanna know why Derek knew Satomi and trusted her but for some reason never felt like he could ask her for help? Centuries of hiding and living amongst humans with almost no wolf behavior to their name, but none of these packs interact? There’s Druid Vets and Hunter cops and Emissary counselors. But no werewolf doctors? No werewolf teachers? Absolutely no werewolf society? If Derek was worried about Paige not accepting that he was a werewolf unless she became one, what does that say about his experience with humans? He says “there were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that house” who died in the fire. But wouldn’t he talk to a human pack member about his worries, if he had one? Or even a bitten pack member? He admits he doesn’t know how to train a Bitten wolf. He’s never been called out by a human pack member for using phrases like ‘caught a scent’ or for reacting to things he shouldn’t. Does this mean Derek’s family was entirely werewolves? No humans in the know? No bitten wolves? He has a huge thing about keeping the secret and never letting anyone in on it unless they get dragged into it. Did Derek’s pack have some kind of prejudice against humans? Was Derek raised to believe humans were weak or cowardly or something, that he thought this beautiful girl would automatically hate him and expose him if she were to discover the supernatural without being forced into silence by self-preservation.

Lots of times, it’s easy to forget in this fandom that so much is missing, because we’ve been filling in the gaps for so long that some stuff is practically canon. It’s generally assumed that the Hales were homeschooled before high school. It’s generally assumed that there’s some kind of bond that marks people as pack. We instinctively add in mentions of Scent and the use of the shift (growling, claws, a hint of fang, flashing eyes) as part of the casual communication between characters. We add in scent-marking and territory boundaries and specific roles in the pack. We do all of that and never think twice because it’s already in all the fic. But we did that. The show gave us nothing. It spent an entire season talking about the nogitsune and the oni and how they’re summoned and what kitsune fox tails are for, but we never got to find out why wolves can do the pain-drain (or even if it dissipates the pain or just transfers it to the wolf doing the draining) or if Derek Hale EVEN HAS A DAD.

#personal #rant #Meta Ramblings #it's not even anti-scott #Anonymous #go for it

278 notes · View notes

mochideleche · 4 years

Text

captain. | t.oikawa

oikawa x reader

-> synopsis : you didn't really want to be on seijoh girls volleyball team, let alone become captain. But as a good hearted and dedicated student, you accept the responsibilities that come with the role, especially when it comes to dealing with the boys’ team captain.

“They said what?” you said through gritted teeth feeling the anger rising up within you before you could even comprehend what on earth was being revealed to you.

“They uhh-” Mitsuah (seijoh girls’ official setter) paused for a moment, wringing her fingers in her hands and trying her best to not make eye contact with you, “they said that practice would prevent them from being able to watch oikawa at his practices, since you know, we have our practices at the same time...”

You closed your eyes to contain the indescribable fury you felt at that moment, What kind of fuckery is this?

Ever since you had joined aoba johsai, you always found that despite being a powerhouse school for volleyball, the girls team was extremely under looked.

Sure, you had quickly gotten over the fact that maybe the boys’ team got a bigger crowd since their matches seemed to be more intense and they had three times the amount of members than your club had and they seemed to be glorified way more than your team did but-

you didn’t need an overwhelming crowd of supporters to do well and you knew that.

But this.

This was your breaking point.

Not only did you have to hear about oikawa this, oikawa that amongst the girls in your school every other second, but now he was actually causing your already small ragtag team to decrease even more?

You hated him, and you hadn’t even had a proper conversation with the guy.

Stupid oikawa with his genius setter skills, tactical mind, amazing game intuition, killer serve, killer smile, pretty face, long sexy legs-

Uhm, what?

You couldn’t help it, he was the looker but you thought he abused his gorgeous powers to wrap around as many girls as he could around his finger.

“Well,” you said, surprising calm, shocking both your fellow third years, “we’ll be getting new recruits anyways. did you manage to get the forms from the first years?”

“Uhm-” your vice captain Ara faltered, taking out the papers she had hidden behind her back.

Her eyes glanced nervously towards them before handing them to you with a shaky hand, “here they are”

“THERE’S ONLY TWO?”

The two girls in front of you winced.

“hey, at least we have recruits-” Mitsuah tried, but you weren’t finished screaming yet.

“THAT’S BARELY ENOUGH FOR A TEAM”

“plus a libero” Ara offered but your screaming continued.

“I THOUGHT MORE FIRST YEARS SHOWED UP TO THE PEP RALLY, WHERE THE HELL ARE THEIR APPLICATIONS?”

You turned back to the girls who were eyeing each other wearily, there was something they didn’t want to tell you, and it was probably for the best unless they wanted you to go kill a man.

“Y/N, promise not to scream again?” Mitsuah asked and you gave a curt nod.

It was your first day of being captain, half your team quit and you only get two new members. There couldn’t possibly be anything else to worsen your mood, could there?

“They weren’t at sign up because they were all at the boy’s volleyball practice-”

*que screaming

-------

It’s your last first day of high school and how do you spend it? pumping air into volleyballs all by yourself.

Of course your friends offered to help but you sent them home with the excuse that they would be the ones playing with the two new first years in the practice match tomorrow.

you sighed, your club didn’t even own a ball pump and you had to ask iwaizumi if you could borrow the boys’ one.

you looked at the clock, 7pm already?

You made your way to gym 1, expecting it to be locked since it had been 2 hours since people had gone home, but on approaching you saw that the lights were still on and the door was left open.

You peeked your head in just to see a ball fly across the court.

It travelled through the air with such wind breaking speed that you almost thought that you had imagined it, but your eyes soon landed on figure moving at the end of the court.

His head was focused on the net and even from where you stood you could see the sweat dripping from his chin. His curled hair stuck to the edges of his face as he reached into the trolley for another ball.

You could tell that he’d been here practicing non-stop, with the amount of balls that were scattered at the opposite end of the gym and the sheer amount of sweat he was drenched in, it was plainly obvious.

You had to give it to Oikawa, he was a hard worker.

As he lifted his hand to strike the ball again, his eyes landed on you.

your heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, well if it isn’t Y/N-chan” he commented, a cheerful smile sliding onto his face.

“Don’t call me that” You say almost reflexively, scared that you had sounded too harsh for someone who you barely knew and was just greeting you.

But it didn’t seem to affect him as he retained amused, his smile never faltering “Well can’t I be friendly with a fellow captain?” he joked, tucking the ball in his hand under his arm, “So what brings you here?”

You pointed to the ball pump in your hand.

“Ah, yes, i recall Iwa-chan mentioning you borrowing it, you can put it in there” he said, nodding at the store cupboard.

you gave him a small nod back and made your way to your destination, you couldn’t help but feel his eyes following you as you did and it made you uncomfortable.

After successfully entering the room and locating an empty space on the shelf to which you assumed the pump belonged to, you made your way back into the gym.

Oikawa stood at the edge of the court, right hand out, balancing the ball and his left hand supporting it gently. He began to run, his pace increasing each second and he jumped with such poise and grace that it almost looks like he was dancing. You watched as his back arched in mid air and his hand came up behind to slam the ball over the net and land with such force that it came back up from the ground and ricocheted off the wall.

you couldn’t help but stand and stare.

There was a reason why he was called one of the best players in the miyagi prefecture.

“Hm, impressed?” oikawa mused, placing his hands on his hips.

You nodded, “it was impressive” hating that you were actually increasing this guys ego even higher.

“Well, my personal motto is ‘if your going to hit it then hit it till it breaks’” he said taking another ball from the trolley and spinning it on his finger.

He must be joking right? i mean, who the hell has a personal motto?

then suddenly, in the midst of thinking whether this guy was a total wettie or incredibly egotistical, an idea popped into you head.

“Do you think i could try receiving one of your serves?” you asked, before you lost the nerve to.

You saw oikawa’s eyebrow quirk up as he caught the spinning ball on his finger and held it in both hands, “Are you sure?”

You nodded calmly but in you mind you were cursing him for under estimating you.

Oikawa shifted his weight to his right foot as he brought one of his hands up into a half shrug “you know I did say that my motto was “hit it till it-’”

“breaks- i know, and if my arm breaks, it breaks” you finished, leaving oikawa at a loss of words.

He narrowed his eyes at you and for a second he looked- confused? intrigued? you didn’t know but the sudden loss of his signature grin made you feel like you were being...judged.

“Well,” he began, composing himself, his cheerful smile returning again, “if you end up getting hurt, feel free to run into my arms and cry your heart out. i’ll make sure to kiss all your injuries away” and he finished off his comment by sending you a wink.

Was it possible to feel annoyed, shocked and flustered at the same time?

he began to walk back to the edge of the court and you took this as a signal that you too, should take your position in the centre of the other.

You realised how much taller the boys’ net was, but would that give you a problem? nope.

“Okay, ready?” Oikawa shouted and you took your stance.

Knees bent, arms stretched out and eyes on the ball.

You didn’t see him hit the ball but you heard the echoing collision of his hand on the ball and before you knew it, it was flying straight towards you.

Such accuracy, you thought as you dropped your torso and braced for impact.

you felt the ball slam into your arms, leaving a stinging pain, jesus what is he a? machine? you brought your whole body up, pushing with your legs as the ball returned into the air, a perfect receive straight to the setter position.

Across the court you caught the awe in oikawas face at the fact that you had actually managed to receive the ball. You couldn't help but feel smug.

But you had no time to dwell because by the time you had stood up straight the ball was already curving down towards the ground.

you began to sprint towards the net, trying to ignore the slight pain in your arms as you pushed yourself off the floor, your hand coming up to spike.

Your head barely passed the top of the net as you jumped but you were able to slam the ball down onto the other side of the court.

When your feet made contact with the ground you heard a soft, “huh” from your fellow captain.

“Well, colour me impress” Oikawa spoke, crossing his arms and looking you up and down with is tongue poking at the side of his mouth.

You broke eye contact and began walking back to other side of the court. The way he stared at you made you feel like prey, stupid predatorial pretty boy.

“Can you send another one? and this time can you try to block it?” you said over your shoulder trying to cut him back down to size.

“Sure thing, maybe this time i won't go easy on you” he chuckled.

You were thinking that. maybe he had perhaps been a bit kinder with his serve, but it still hurt like a bitch, might as well see what his full power could do.

You fought the urge to rub at your arms as you took your position at the end of the court.

You managed to actually receive the ball first try and not make a fool of yourself which you were incredibly thankful for. if not, you couldn’t imagine the amount of mocking and embarrassment you would have had to endure from oikawa. try not to fail again.

this time the ball wasn’t aimed straight at you, it curved slightly causing you to slide to the right ( cha cha now y’all ) and drop to the ground. this time your right arm got more of the blow and you physically had to resist shouting out an ‘ow’

‘hit it till it breaks’ huh? he wasn’t kidding.

immediately after the ball had went into the air, both you and oikawa had started your runs towards the net; you weren’t going to let this boy beat you.

Passing the line, you pushed your self up in the air again, eyes on the ball and ready to make impact. Due to the slight curve in the receive, it had less momentum which played to your advantage, now giving you time to think since there was now an obstacle in you way

oikawa had also pushed himself up, his arms stretched above his head, and his eyes strained on you with a smirk on his face.

He was much taller than you were, at full height of your jump, you only came up to his chin whilst he towered above the net. He stood slightly to the right, exactly in front of your right hand that was prepared to spike- he had you cornered.

at least he thought.

Swiftly, your left hand came up as your right hand lowered and in that split second your saw oikawas smug face falter.

You slammed the ball to the left, its path completely unblocked, sending it to the left where it bounced off the floor only a millisecond later.

The two of you landed- silence.

Oikawas head had snapped behind him, watching the ball roll off to the side. His head then twisted towards you, a look of surprised astonishment painted across his face.

you raised your eyebrow at him and sent him a smile.

the brown haired boy swallowed then stood up straight, looked you up and down then placed his hands on his hips, “you’re not what i expected Y/N ” he said softly.

Because of the net between you, you hadn’t realised exactly how close the two of your were standing. It was only when you felt his breath brush your face did you decided to step back to save yourself from combusting.

Although you couldn’t help but think of how handsome he looked up close.

And how his eyes never left yours.

It was your turn to swallow, turning around and making your way towards the door- you needed to leave immediately before he could say another thing that would make your heart palpitate, “i should go now, and you should too it’s getting late” you rushed out.

You reached the door and turned around, giving him a small bow, “thank you for the ball pump and the serves...” you awkwardly finished, sending him one last cringing smile.

“It was my pleasure, Y/N-chan” he called out giving you a sending wave.

you rolled your eyes and began to head out but paused before you left.

“Oh and, Toru-kun?” you called, a grin spreading across your face as you caught the boy freezing in his spot and staring at you with surprised eyes, “don’t underestimate me next time, okay?” you finished sweetly, sending him your own wink over your shoulder.

When you were a good distance from the gym you allowed yourself to congratulate yourself on your boldness, that ought to put that egotistical maniac in his place.

----

“Y/N-chan!” you hear someone call out behind you.

you walk faster.

But it doesn’t help that a group of girls had stopped right outside your classroom.

“Y/N-chan!”

You almost break into a run.

“Hey,” oikawa said, coming up next to you. It seemed like he had jogged to catch up and was readjusting his bag strap on his shoulder.

You stop walking and he stands in front of you, “yes?”

“Well good morning to you too” he jokes, sending you a smile.

“good morning” you mumble out. You shifted your gaze to see behind him, the girls were definitely watching now.

“Was there something you needed?” you asked politely, eyes returning back to the tall boy in front of you, wanting him to just go away and save you the embarrassment and the future interrogation that you knew you were in for.

“Yes,” he said, looking down at you, “can i see your arms?”

“What?” you sputtered out.

His smile lessened a little and his tone lost some of his cheeriness, “your arms, show them to me”

You pursed your lips, you knew what he was asking for, but why?

You slowly brought up both of your sleeves and held your arms out to him, you watched as his eyes widened and his face contorted into slight distaste.

both of the insides of your forearms were painted a brilliant shade of blue, a little more darker on the right than the left but they were both equally an eye sore. They’d appeared that morning and you realised that Oikawa’s serves were no joke.

“Oh god, does it hurt?” he asked, taking your right wrist and pulling your arm closer to him.

“Not much” you said casually.

“I’m so sorry Y/N I should've-”

“don't say sorry” you interrupted, your arm going slack in his hand, “i asked you if i could receive your serve, it’s not your fault so you shouldn’t feel guilty-”

“But that doesn’t stop me from feeling bad, does it?” he said sternly, his face complete devoid of any playfulness and no longer baring his signature grin.

You stared at him in stubbornness, not choosing to back down and act like a helpless damsel, but you couldn’t help but be touched at the fact that he cared.

“i knew this would happen,” he let out, reaching in his bag and revealing a white pack of cooling pads.

Your heart began to warm at the thoughtfulness, maybe he wasn’t all that bad.

Or he had ulterior motives but he's innocent until proven guilty.

You felt him lift your arm up and you blushed at the fact that he was still holding on to it during your little staring contest. He took one of the gel pads from the packet and brought it up to his mouth with his left hand. He then proceeded to bite down on the edge and pull his hand away, ripping the pack open.

Oh, that was kind of hot.

He then carefully placed the edge of the pad on the tip of your bruise, and once it was securely in place, he gently pressed on the rest as to not hurt you.

You gulped, “I can do the next one by myself”

“Oh don’t be silly,” he chuckled and he continued to do your other arm.

As nurse oikawa tended your wounds you let your eyes rest on his face, gosh he looked so much more likeable without that god damn smirk (tbh he looks likeable with any face he makes) . This close, you could smell his perfume, with no doubt it smelt expensive, the scent lingering in your senses even if you turned away. You wish you could, you hoped terribly that you weren’t a messy shade of red and that oikawa couldn’t feel your racing pulse as he held your wrist.

Once he was done, he let your arm go, allowing you to pull down your sleeves.

“Thank you so much,” you started, “you really didn’t have to do that” you added again, can’t helping to let your eyes glance behind him where the group of girls where watching.

“It’s alright, i’m just looking out for a fellow captain, it’s what im meant to do right?” he smiled, the cheekiness creeping back into his voice.

you looked up to his eyes which were crinkled slightly due to his smile. You sent him your own one but felt your cheeks heating up so used the act of looking into you bag to turn away.

“So how much?” you questioned, taking your purse out of your bag.

“What? no- there’s no need to pay me” he rushed, waving his hands out in front of him.

“What? I can’t let you just spend money on me like that, I’ll feel bad. now how much was it?” you defended, unzipping your purse and shuffling for a note.

“Nope, I won’t accept your money” he stated, taking your purse from you, zipping it up and dropping it back in your bag, “but if you want to return the favour in some other way...”

You face scrunched up in disgust, “you absolute-”

“Calm down Y/N-chan, not like that. unless you wanted-”

“Fine, what is it?” you interrupted, already getting annoyed by the smirk that was appearing on his face.

“Practice with me some time” he said simply, his hands placing themselves on his hips as he leaned back.

you looked at his face, he wasn’t joking. although it sounded like such a plain request. Didn’t he have his own team mates to practice with?

“When?”

“Wednesday”

you nodded, “okay”. In other circumstances you wouldn’t have agreed so quickly but if this was the only way you could repay him back, you were willing. And besides, practice with oikawa might be beneficial, the only question is how long are you going to be able to put up with his antics?

“Excellent, so we have a deal then?” he said, offering you his hand.

You looked down at it before taking it, “deal”

His hands were much bigger than your own but were holding yours with such gentleness that you couldn’t imagine that it was this hand that caused the bruises on your arms.

you retracted your arms as you began to walk pass him, “thanks again, I’ll uhm, see you later” your head still turned to him as you walked away.

“See you around Y/N-chan” he cheered and began to head in the other way.

You rolled your eyes at nickname and finally tore away from your eye contact as you heard him chuckle behind you.

-----

“Since when were you and oikawa friends?”

“What did you talk about?”

“I didn’t know you two knew each other”

With much difficulty you had finally made it to your seat, the group of girls in your class who had watched pretty much the whole of your interaction with the volleyball captain had immediately surrounded you and bombarded you with questions as soon as you stepped foot in the classroom.

“He was just asking about volleyball things, we’re not friends” you lied, trying your best to set your things out, the girls still gathered around your table.

“You’re so lucky, you got to talk to him by yourself for a whole three minutes! I only get to talk to him with a bunch of other girls...” one of the girls whined, the others nodding eagerly in agreement.

Well they believed that easily.

“Maybe we should join the volleyball club so that we’ll be able to see more of oikawa” another girls said.

you couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed at this comment, now people wanted to join your club just for oikawa?

but on the other hand you did need more members.

“I mean, we’re always looking for new members” you let out, evaluating the girl in front of you, she was tall and you knew her to be a fast runner so maybe a wing spiker?

“but then again i hate moving so it wouldn’t work. Sorry Y/N” she concluded, sending you an awkward smile.

You waved it off, “it’s fine”

“So what was he like?” another girl questioned, looking at you with anticipation.

You considered to tell them how much of an arrogant narcissist he was but seeing as you were not really in the mood to crush these girls dreams, you let out a “he’s nice”.

From the side, you heard a scoff.

“Oh of course he is! he’s like, the perfect man” one of the girls stated and the others gave out a chorus of agreement as they made their ways back to their seats.

“Nice my ass”

Your eyes snapped to Iwaizumi who was leaned back in his chair, arms cross and looking at you with an expression of disbelief mixed with amusement.

You couldn’t help but let out a laugh, “i didn’t want to break it to them”

He let out a chuckle, “so what did shittykawa want with you then?”

you sighed, ready to explain your story, “when i went to return the ball pump he was there practicing his serves-”

“That idiot, I told him to go home” Iwaizumi snarled.

“Yeah, well he was there” you continued, “and i asked to receive one of them”

This statement caused iwaizumi to sit up straight and look at your with surprise, “and did you?”

“Of course I did,” you said proudly, “on first try”

“Wow” iwaizumi said simply, “how’d he react to that?”

“shocked” you laughed, “then i asked if i could receive another one and if he could try blocking it when i spiked. He thought he had me cornered but i spiked it with my left hand and it went straight past him. You should've seen the look on his face” you smiled upon the memory. Extreme pride rising up in your chest at the fact you had outsmarted one of miyagi’s best players.

“yeah he must’ve gone home crying thinking such a small girl defeated him, did he?” Iwaizumi snickered and you shrugged.

“Anyways, this morning he came up to me and asked to see my arms”

“Your arms?”

“yeah, they were bruised like hell” you explained, lifting up your sleeves, “he knew that his serves would’ve done some damage so he bought me cooling pads”

at this point iwa’s face turned stunned and you couldn't help but blush at the memory of oikawa holding your wrist carefully, ripping open the cooling pad and even just thinking of buying the pack for you.

“are you sure that was oikawa?” he asked.

You nodded, “im pretty sure”

“hmm,” Iwaizumi pondered, “he’s a pain in the ass half the time but that was pretty nice of him”

“Yeah,” you responded, starting to think more on the sudden kindness “it was”

You looked over at the boy and you were shocked to find him staring at you with squinted eyes and his chin rested in his hand.

“What?” you asked.

“Nothing” he stated, returning to leaning back in his chair as the teacher began to call the register.

You too tried to turned you attention to the front but all you could think about was iwaizumi’s surprise at oikawas actions towards you.

“Just looking out for a fellow captain”

or could it be...?

you mentally slapped yourself, thinking about how ridiculous that conclusion would be.

besides, he's just a useless flirt right?

-is what you tried to tell yourself. but you just couldn’t stop gushing over how he stared at you, how close the two of you stood, how gently he held you.

so throughout the lesson you had the same words repeating over in your head to try to get yourself to snap out of it.

he's just a useless flirt he's just a useless flirt he's just a useless flirt he's just a useless flirt he's just a useless flirt he's just a useless flirt he's just a useless flirt...

#oikawa x reader #oikawa #haikyuu oikawa #oikawa tōru #oikawa tooru #oikawa fluff #oikawa imagine #oikawa fanfic #oikawa fanfiction #tooru oikawa #toru oikawa #haikyuu!!#haikyuu imagines

193 notes · View notes

skygirl5 · 3 years

Text

12 Prompts of Christmas - #9 Eggnog

This is a continuation of the previous chapter’s universe (behind the jump due to length)

NINE - Eggnog

On his first morning waking up in the isolated cabin, Rick wished to sleep late, but he couldn’t because he woke up before dawn absolutely, positively freezing. His normal sleeping attire for winter was boxers and a t-shirt because he generally kept his apartment fairly warm. He’d thought the blankets on the cabin’s bed would keep him warm enough, but evidently that was not the case; all his extremities felt like ice. Rick shivered so bad he could hardly pull on his jeans and button-down from the prior day before hobbling to the potbelly stove in the main room of the cabin and fiddling with it for ten minutes before he could figure out how to get a fire going inside of it once more.

Knowing warmth would soon come, Rick grabbed a blanket and tried to lay on the couch, which was the closest place to the stove on which to lay, but he was too miserably cold to fall back to sleep. Figuring maybe an afternoon nap would be more productive, he made coffee and sat with it cradled in his hand while wearing a blanket as a cape as he tried to warm up.

Though it took an hour, the cabin soon almost became too warm, but given how cold he had been Rick chose not to mind that too much and did his best to get some writing done. He wrote a few pages, but soon found it difficult to focus, and decided to go on a walk around the lake for a distraction. He also thought perhaps he might run into Kate, the intriguing woman whose mitten he found the day before, but he sadly did not. He did bump into an older couple who had a very friendly yellow lab and chatted with them for about ten minutes, but that was all the human interaction he had.

Back in his cabin, he called Alexis once it was a reasonable hour on the west coast. Unfortunately, their conversation was quite jumbled due to very poor reception, but he was at least able to confirm that Meredith had picked her up from the airport and was taking her shopping that day.

Since speaking with his daughter reminded him once again that she was not going to be with him for Christmas, Rick distracted himself by eating the pre-made salad he’d purchased for lunch and turned back to his writing, which was actually successful that round. He found himself so “in the zone” that he didn’t even notice how late it was getting until he got out of his chair to go to the bathroom and realized most of the cabin was completely dark.

Satisfied with the amount of work he’d done, Rick decided it was time to make himself dinner. He’d purchased some chicken cutlets which he planned on stir-frying and with some vegetables he purchased and so he began rummaging in the kitchen cabinets for the tools he’d need. He found a cast iron skillet and cutting board to use to prep his food. He’d purchased oil just in case the cabin didn’t have any, which ended up being a good call because he didn’t find any in the small pantry.

After pouring the oil into the skillet, he set it on the two burner stove so that it could heat up, but when he turned the knob to ignite the burner, he heard a click, but no flames appeared. Twisting his lips to the side in concentration, he crouched down and proceeded to fiddle with the knobs and burner for several more minutes to no avail; he could not get the stove to turn on.

Not too worried at that point, Rick decided that the best thing to do would be to call the cabin’s owner, Chip. He was a friendly older gentleman who had talked to Rick for nearly an hour when the cabin booking was made. Evidently the cabin belonged to Chip’s father, who was an avid fisherman. After his father passed, Chip inherited the place, but didn’t enjoy fishing as much, so he mostly rented it out. He’d told Rick not to hesitate to call if an issue arose, and Rick decided to do just that—even though it was technically Christmas Eve.

Rick walked over to where he’d left his laptop at the table. There, he’d left his phone as well as the contact information for Chip. Before he’d even begun to dial, Rick frustratingly realized his phone displayed a “No Signal” error. It hadn’t been that long since he’d spoken to Alexis, though admittedly the call had been cutting in and out at that time.

Figuring the reception had to be better outside, he put on his heavy coat and then dialed Chips number on the phone but didn’t hit the “send” button. Then, he stepped outside the cabin and was immediately knocked back by a wall of bone-chilling cold. The stinging temperature of the air was so great that he actually yelped, but then tried to recover as quickly as he could so he could get his phone call over with. Rick wandered around the area in front of the cabin for several minutes with his phone above his head waiting for the “No Signal” to vanish and bars to appear, but they never did.

Frustrated, Rick stomped out further into the yard, chasing an elusive signal. Just one bar!! He only needed one bar!!

He was about fifteen feet away from the house when he realized that small snowflakes had begun to fall from the sky above. He glanced up briefly, but that far after dusk it was almost pitch black outside. He was stumbling around only from the ambient light of the cabin’s exterior lighting, which at that distance was minimal at best. Yet, Rick remained determined to get a cell signal.

“Uhh Rick? Are you okay?” Rick heard after about seven minutes of wanting around in the freezing cold darkness.

“Wha—huh?” Startled he spun around until he saw the beam of a flashlight approaching, though due to the darkness he could not see the face of the person speaking to him.

“Are you okay?”

“I—who are you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” The woman moved the flashlight beam from the ground to point straight upwards. It barely illuminated her face, but he recognized her immediately. “You found my glove yesterday; I’m-”

“Kate,” he breathed, still a bit shocked to have met up with her by the lake near his cabin. “Yeah, I remember.”

“So…are you alright? You don’t have a flashlight…”

He grumbled. “I didn’t mean to walk this far from my cabin I just—I’m trying to get some cell reception.”

She hummed. “Well, you might not have too much luck with that, especially with this snowstorm coming in.”

Rick frowned. “Oh…I…hmm…sorry,” he added quickly when he could see Kate’s brow tightening in confusion. “The stove in the cabin stopped working and I tried to fix it, but, frankly, I have no idea what could be wrong, so I thought I’d call the cabin’s owner but…”

“Right.” Kate nodded. Then, after a beat added, “I can take a look if you want. I was just taking a little walk so it’s not big deal.”

“Oh—oh!” his tone elevated with surprise when he realized she was offering to help him, a total stranger, without being asked. Then again, he had found her glove earlier, so they weren’t total strangers, just mostly strangers. “Sure. That would be—that’d be great, thank you. Thank you so much.”

She shrugged and the followed him across the crisp ground towards the cabin. “It’s not a problem. The stove my parents had for years was…something. Probably a terrible fire hazard, to be honest. I finally made my father replace it a few years ago, because I was convinced one of the times he tried to fry up one of the fish he caught the whole place would go up in smoke.”

“Fair enough,” Rick chuckled as they reached the cabin’s porch.

He led the way inside where Kate scuffed her boots against the welcome mat and unzipped her coat as she slipped through the narrow doorway. She gazed around for a moment, but then immediately walked into the kitchen on the left. “Oh, yeah, this one is just like ours—only smaller,” she proclaimed upon looking at the stove.

“So you know all its secrets,” he concluded, hopeful.

“Let’s hope so,” she said, smiling at him over her shoulder before setting to work. Rick tried to ignore the tingles that smile sent down his spine as he leaned against the kitchen table, wanting to stay out of her way and feeling a bit awkward that he was unable to assist.

Rick watched as Kate checked dials and plugs and arched her body over the top of the range unit so she could presumably check the wall connection. Then with a quick, “Be right back,” she walked outside the cabin once more and he could see her walking around the house through the small window above the kitchen sink. She was outside about five minutes before she returned with a frown.

“Well, I have good news and bad news.”

Suspecting he knew the bad news, Rick concluded, “You know what’s wrong, but can’t fix it.”

Giving him a sad smile, she said, “No, I can’t. For whatever reason this stove uses a different fuel tank than the one hooked up to the water heater and furnace and that fuel tank is very empty. The owner must have forgotten to have it refilled; I’m sorry.”

Rick huffed out a breath. “Well considering its Christmas Eve I don’t think I’m going to get a fuel delivery

“No, I don’t think so.” After a moment she suggested, “You could make a fire?”

His immediate reaction was to cringe. “Ah… at the risk of sounding unmanly: I don’t know that I could successfully cook chicken that way without either burning it or giving myself food poisoning.”

She laughed and nodded, “Yeah, I guess I couldn’t either.”

They stood side by side in the tight kitchen silently for a moment before Rick said, “Well, that’s okay. I’ll just cut my trip a little short and go home first thing tomorrow morning, but I really appreciate your help, Kate.”

She stared at him for a few seconds before trapping her bottom lip between her teeth and glancing over to the kitchen counter, where his packet of chicken and vegetables were sitting beside the stove, waiting patiently for him to finish prepping them. After nearly twenty seconds of silence she finally concluded, “C’mon—grab your food; you can use my stove.”

Now taken completely aback, he held his one hand up defensively and stammered, “Oh—I—I wasn’t-”

“I know, but it’s Christmas, right? C’mon.”

Nodding, he hurried to the counter and began gathering what he could and shoving it back into the shopping bag it came from. “Thanks—thanks so much. Should we drive to your place, or…?”

She nodded. “Might as well. It’s only going to snow harder as the night goes on.”

Ten minutes later, after grabbing his food, other necessary cooking items, and his coat, Rick was following Kate’s directions to navigate his Mercedes towards her family’s cabin. The journey was short and she soon was leading the way into the warm, rustic space. Her cabin was significantly larger than the one he was renting. The living space was more expansive and from the length of the hall he could see in the rear, he guessed it had three bedrooms not just two. Unlike his cabin, which was decorated with mostly generic fishing or rustic décor, this was clearly a family cabin with knickknacks and family photos adding to the warmth.

“Oh, wow this is really nice.”

Kate shrugged as she took off her coat, “It isn’t much…mostly just a little escape.”

“Yeah, but it’s still great—homey.” He smiled at her for a few seconds then put his grocery bags down while he took off his coat, too. “Well, uh, I won’t take up too much of your time. Can I make you something, too? As a thank you.”

“Oh, um…” she hesitated for a moment then threw her hands out to the side in a ‘giving up’ gesture. “Sure, why not. I saw you had chicken and vegetables…”

“Yeah, I was going to put them all together in a stir fry.”

“I have some rice to make.”

“Perfect!”

For the next few minutes they both busied themselves in the tight kitchen. It was a delicate dance as there was not too much counter space around the stove, even though it did seem, as Kate had implied, that the space had been renovated recently. They managed it well enough, and after Kate started the rice, Rick chopped the vegetables and dumped them into the skillet before turning to the chicken cutlets and slicing them as well.

“So, tell me Kate, what is it that you do?”

“I’m a police officer.”

His brow arched as he pushed the chicken off the cutting board and into the pan. “Really? So you’re used to saving people in distress?”

She laughed airily. “Something like that.”

He washed his hands at the kitchen sink and then, after turning off the water, he told her. “I’m an author.”

“I know.”

Startled by her words, he did a double-take in her direction and nearly dropped the towel he was using to dry his hands. “You…do you read my books?”

Kate’s cheeks turned slightly pink as she confessed, “I might have skimmed through one or two.”

Assuming her dismissive comment was just meant to be a way to avoid some embarrassment, Rick smiled as he turned to their skillet meal, picked up a spatula, and began pushing around chicken and vegetable pieces so nothing burned.

So, Kate was, presumably, a fan of his books. How else would she have recognized him from just his first name? That also made sense. Since she was saving him from going hungry that evening he hadn’t wanted to question it, but he did find it slightly odd that a young woman such as herself would invite a strange man back to her cabin, which was isolated in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that was just his writer’s mind used to spinning dark scenarios but…well, thinking about his daughter, he hoped that she would not make the same decision in a similar circumstance for the sake of her safety. Finding out she was a police officer made a bit more sense; her training presumably made her feel more comfortable with self-defense, but if she knew him as a public figure, she would have been more likely to feel safe around him—not that he would have ever thought of hurting a woman, but sadly he knew that was not always the case with others.

Feeling in the mood to tease her a little bit more, he said, “So that’s why you wanted to have dinner with me? Because I’m one of your favorite authors?”

When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that she eyed him skeptically. “I’m not sure that’s what I said.”

“It was implied.”

She laughed. “I see.”

Silence hung in the air for several moments before he changed the subject with, “So you live around here?”

“No, Manhattan.”

Now even more pleasantly surprised he proclaimed, “Oh! You’re NYPD?” After she confirmed with a nod, he said, “That’s amazing. How long have you been on the force?”

“Oh, not long. I graduated the academy in August.”

“Ahh well if you’re willing, I’d be all too happy to hear all your rookie stories as we eat.”

Ignoring his question, she instead offered, “Do you need help with anything? I feel bad I’m just standing here.”

“Nonsense,” he said casually. There really wouldn’t have been room for her to join him at the stove; the space was too tight. Besides, he didn’t mind. “I really enjoy cooking; it helps me think and plan my writing usually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, because it keeps my hands busy, but my mind free to wander.”

“Hmm…makes sense.”

A few minutes later their meal was complete. Rick divided the stir fry and rice between two plates and then carried them over to the small dining table tucked in the corner of the room. As he set the plates down, he noticed a photo hung on the wall of a family: a man and a woman with a young girl about seven or eight standing in between them. The photo was clearly older and faded, and both adults wore sunglasses, but the woman had long dark hair and distinctive jawline and the man lighter brown hair and a soft smile. All three wore lifejackets and the lake—presumably the one located just a few feet away—could be seen behind them.

“This is you and your parents, I assume?” he asked, thumbing towards the photo.

“Yeah.”

“Where are they at? Don’t tell me they took a tropical vacation without you?”

She gave a soft smile as she picked up her fork and began to eat. “No, nothing like that.”

“You’re lucky, though—getting Christmas off,” Rick said in between bites. He didn’t imagine that was common for a rookie officer.

“I have to work Christmas day in the evening. And…I’ll be in Times’ Square on New Year’s Eve,” she explained.

“Oh! And you’re…not excited about that?” he guessed based on her tone. She gave him a look and he let out a small laugh. “Ah, right, I suppose not.”

“It’s only supposed to be fifteen degrees out!”

He nodded, sympathetic. “I know, I know; I don’t envy you at all. I’ve done it a few times as a spectator and it was never too bad as long as I’d had plenty of alcohol to warm me up.”

“I’m sure.”

They ate quietly for several minutes before Rick asked, “Did you spend your Christmases up here when you were little?”

“Mmm no. This place was usually my dad’s escape. His father and uncles purchased it when they were all young men. Now, they’ve all passed, and the cabin became my father’s, so he’s the one with the most connection to it. We used to come up here at least one week every summer to do things with the lake and just get out of the city, but almost never in the winter.”

Rick considered her comments as he slowly chewed his meal. He wondered why, if Kate’s father was so connected to the cabin, the elder man hadn’t joined her for the holiday? Furthermore, why hadn’t her mother? Sensing the question may have been a bit too personal to ask with that moment, he decided on a slight change of subject.

“I, um, I think I need to come up with some good holiday traditions for my daughter. I used to make sure I got her picture sitting on Santa’s lap every year, but this year she outright refused because she’s figured out that Santa isn’t real, so she’s a little salty about the whole ritual and refused to humor me. That’s literally what she said to—‘Dad, don’t expect me to humor you.’”

Kate laughed. “How old is she?”

“Six.”

Kate laughed again, harder that time. “Six?!”

“Yeah: six going on twenty. I think she’s already too smart for me and I fear that will soon be a pretty big problem.”

Kate nodded. “Yeah, it might be. Where is she spending Christmas?”

Sighing, Rick set down his fork and said, “With her mother. Last year, we’d just separated, so we tried to have a joint Christmas and it…didn’t go so well.” He involuntarily shivered at the memory of the wildly inappropriate phone conversation Meredith had with her new lover during their shared meal and their fight thereafter. “So, this year we decided to split the winter holidays: I got Thanksgiving and Meredith got Christmas.”

She nodded and said, “That must be hard.”

Unable to verbalize just how much his heart was breaking, Rick tried to stay positive. “I suppose it’s unfair of me to complain. I have primary custody, so I have Alexis nearly all the time, but Christmas…it’s my favorite holiday. My favorite time of the year. What’s worse is I had to send her to California by herself. I did get to take her through security to the gate and the assigned chaperone was extremely nice and gave her a candy cane but… it was still really hard to walk away.”

“I can’t imagine,” Kate said. When he met her sympathetic gaze, Rick did have to admit to feeling slightly better. Still, his heart was heavy.

“Sorry to bring the mood down.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t even worry about it.”

Finishing his glass of water, Rick continued with, “It’s, ah, why I came out here. Being in my apartment without her just felt like something that was too sad to bear.”

“I get that. It’s one of the reasons I’m not doing Christmas in the city this year.”

Surprised, his brow rose sharply. “You have a child?”

“What? No—sorry. Sorry. My mother…died.”

His eyes widened and his chest constricted with sorrow. Though he knew he didn’t do it directly, Rick did feel bad about bringing up a subject that was sensitive. “Oh—oh Kate I’m so sorry.”

One corner of her lip tugged upwards in a sad half-smile in acknowledgement of his comment. “This is the fourth Christmas without her. She, ah, died in January. Just after the holidays and…and my dad and I haven’t really celebrated since. He…we don’t even talk about it. We just don’t celebrate, which is…well, it is what it is, but being in the city makes it harder—walking past all the places where we made memories together as a family. And then this year…” She paused for a moment and took a deep breath, almost as though she needed to reset herself. “The reason I even got to take off work at all was because I had to take him to rehab.”

“Oh god,” Rick sighed, now feeling even worse. There he was complaining about not getting to spend a few days with his kid, who would be back before New Years’, and poor Kate had lost one parent forever and the other was struggling to the point where he was unavailable to her as well. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Kate.”

She gave him an appreciative smile. “It’s been bad for a while. I knew it. We both knew it. He’s been trying to get a handle on it on his own and been insisting he didn’t need an in-patient program, but it just wasn’t working, you know? Finally, I got him to agree to go as a Christmas present to me. Some present,” she added wryly.

“It will be if it helps him,” Rick pointed out in a soft tone.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know that. It’s just…hard.” She sat for another moment before pushing herself up out of her chair suddenly, walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out a cardboard carton, which she held up to him. “Want some?”

Even from that distance, Rick could clearly read the word “Eggnog” printed on the side and said, “Sure. Why not? It’s Christmas Eve.”

Kate poured two small glasses and handed him one. At the first sip he choked, his palate shocked by the alcohol, which he hadn’t expected since she poured it from a store-bought container and to his knowledge the store-bought kind was alcohol free. “Wow,” he croaked. “Your recipe could give my mother’s a run for her money.”

“Sorry—I should have warned you. I, uh, got a little heavy handed last night when I poured the whisky in the container.”

He shook his head in as an indication he didn’t mind, but he did make sure to take a more delicate sip the next time.

“So, your mother—will you see her for Christmas?” Kate asked.

“Ah, no, actually. She’s an actress and she’s touring with a holiday production. Their shows run through January second and she’ll come back home after that.”

“And your father?”

“Never met him,” Rick replied casually, taking another sip of eggnog.

Kate’s eyes widened. “Really? Never?”

Rick bobbed his head, knowing his untraditional backstory was a bit hard to process for most people. “Yeah; I don’t even know who he is. I was the, ah, product of a one-night stand.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Rick shook his head. “’s okay. I’ve had over thirty years to process it.”

“Still…to never know a parent…I can’t imagine.”

He nodded. “Most can’t—and I’m glad. It’s certainly not something I would wish on anyone, but yet it’s also something that made me who I am.”

She nodded approvingly. “That’s a very healthy attitude, Rick.”

He raised his glass in salute. “Well, thank you.”

For the next three hours they drank the remainder of the quart of eggnog and chatted about an amalgamation of subjects: their jobs, the holiday season, life. Though he didn’t exactly acknowledge it at the time, looking back Rick was almost stunned how easy it seemed to talk to her about anything. Over the course of his life, he’d found himself having quick and easy connections to people he met several times, but each one was unique in its own way. With Kate, their conversation flowed effortlessly. They bounced around to a variety of topics and then back again without feeling like the conversation was too disjointed or nonsensical. It was all smooth and connected, like she was one of his oldest friends in the world instead of a woman he’d met by pure chance the day before.

Once the eggnog was finished, Kate offered Rick some water since he was driving, but he declined when he realized how long they’d been talking. By traditional standards it wasn’t that late, but he felt as though a holiday such as Christmas Eve had an exception. He didn’t want to displace whatever existing holiday plans she had for herself that night, particularly since she was returning to work the following day.

“I appreciate it, but I really should get out of your hair.”

“Ahh, yeah okay. I…I don’t think I realized what time it was,” she said with a light laugh.

“Yeah me neither. I, um, I really appreciate you letting me use your stove.”

She nodded. “Of course. Thanks for making dinner. It was…nice to have someone to eat with.”

Smiling, he agreed with, “Same,” and then stared at her for a moment, unsure of the proper way to say goodbye. A handshake seemed far too impersonal, but would a hug be too much? Deciding he shouldn’t over think it and that it was probably okay considering the intimacy of their conversation, he stepped up and gave her a brief one-armed hug, which she thankfully reciprocated. “Merry Christmas,” he said as he backed his way to the door, where he’d left his coat.

“Yes, Merry Christmas.”

Now zipping his coat, he reached for the door handle and smiled back over his shoulder at her, “Goodnight Kate.”

“Goodnight, Rick,” she echoed. Then, with a nod of his head, he disappeared out into the freezing snow-covered night.

#castle #caskett #castle fanfiction #castleficathonwinter2020 #12PromptsofChristmas #my fic: 12 Prompts of Christmas

23 notes · View notes

lake-arrius-caverns · 3 years

Text

Nerevarine Rising

Chapter 7: Awakening

oops im seeing about changing my upload day to friday but yesterday i totally forgot abt it so lmao

summary After a successful assignment, Fahjoth is glad to be given a few days off and learns a little about his duties from Caius. The twins plan a trip to Vivec City for some exploration.

content warnings none

tag list @boulderfall-cave , @padomaicocean (lmk if you’d like to be added!)

read under the cut or on AO3, cheers 👍

:: First :: || << Previous << || >> Next >> || :: Masterpost ::

—————————————————————————————

Flouncing through the front door of Cosades’ tiny house, Fahjoth couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he brandished the scrolls of parchment with glee.

“I got them!” he cried, ecstatic. “The notes from Sharn gra-Muzgob! I got them!”

Cosades looked up from his supper with one brow raised, but by no means did he look on with disapproval. “And not a scratch on you,” he remarked, holding out a hand to receive the scrolls as Fahjoth passed them over. “I knew it wouldn’t be long before you found your feet. Well done, Novice.”

“Well, I had help—” Fahjoth started, unwilling to take all the credit for his achievement, but Cosades didn’t seem to be listening anyway. He unfurled the scrolls and silence fell as he pored over them, a thoughtful look on his face as he examined the scrawling, loopy handwriting. Fahjoth took a seat at the table and waited, wondering what his next assignment was to be. At least Ribyna was on standby back at the South Wall Cornerclub, and for that, Fahjoth was grateful.

“Well, Fahjoth,” Cosades started, rolling up the parchments once again and turning to face Fahjoth with the beginnings of a smile, “I’m promoting you to Blades Apprentice. You deserve it after the hard work you’ve put into all your duties.”

Fahjoth’s heart began to soar with excitement. “Apprentice?” he repeated, awestruck. “Thank you, sir! So, uhh... what will I be expected to do now?”

“Nothing too different, I assure you. It’s mostly a recognition thing, to be perfectly honest,” Cosades answered. He got to his feet, beginning to pace around the room in deep thought and occasionally stopping to check a book or scrap of paper, cross referencing several stacks of notes. Fahjoth wondered how he was able to keep track of it all. “Now, I'd like some time to think how this all fits in with the Emperor's plans for you. So if you'd like to get in a little freelance adventuring, go ahead. But whenever you're ready, I'll have new orders for you."

“Oh... alright.” The news came as a welcome surprise for sure. Fahjoth had to admit, he was glad to have a few days of downtime at last. It would be a good opportunity for him and Ribyna to do some exploring; she had mentioned wanting to visit Vivec City at some point, perhaps now they could finally go.

But there was one thing that he had been growing more and more curious about; the subject of all his errands, the very reason he had been putting his life on the line in exchange for whatever information Cosades wanted. He knew nothing about any of it, and the burning desire to ask, to learn exactly why it was so important, could not be quashed. Maybe now was the time.

“Sir?” he questioned, biting his lip with uncertainty. Cosades stared fixedly at Fahjoth, indicating that he was listening, and so Fahjoth continued — albeit with some hesitation. “Could you explain the... things that I’ve been getting information about? The, uh, the Sixth House and the Nev... Nevera... Neraver—“

“The Nerevarine,” Cosades finished for him, and Fahjoth nodded. “Of course. I forget that you can’t read well. We’ll start with the Sixth House.”

Fahjoth shuffled in his seat, getting himself comfortable and listening with rapt attention as Cosades began to speak. “There isn’t much to say about the Sixth House cult just yet. A trusted informant of mine says they're a secret cult associated with some strange events recently. More importantly, my informant thinks these recent disturbances are related in some way to the Nerevarine Prophecies."

“And what are the—?”

“I’m getting to that part, Apprentice. One thing at a time. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but there’s been some attacks recently attributed to sleeper agents of this cult. Have you heard anything about them?”

Fahjoth shook his head. “No sir.”

“There've been several attacks recently, and these Sleepers all say the same thing. ‘Serve your Lord, Dagoth Ur. The Sixth House is risen, and Dagoth is its glory.’”

A shiver suddenly tore through Fahjoth’s ribs, catching him by surprise. Why did that name sound so familiar? There was no distinct emotional response attached to hearing it, but the hairs on Fahjoth’s arms continued to stand on end, giving him prominent goosebumps.

“Keep an eye out, and if you see anything suspicious, let me know.”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright, now for the Nerevarine.” Cosades rejoined Fahjoth at the table and took a swig of something from an open bottle before continuing. “The Ashlanders—“

“The what?”

“The Ashlanders— by the divines, Vetharys...”

Fahjoth grimaced, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. “Sorry...”

“No, it’s alright,” Cosades sighed. “I just thought you would’ve heard about them by now. I don't know much about them. Most people say they‘re murderous savages. But most people are idiots. I know they hate the settled Dunmer almost as much as they hate Westerners. I don't think their tribes tend to be particularly welcoming to outlanders, so watch yourself if you’re ever wandering in the Ashlands.”

Fahjoth nodded, remaining quiet to let Cosades go on.

“The Ashlanders pass down their customs and history in the form of poetic verses. Among the things they preserve in verse are the dreams and prophetic visions of their wise women, in particular the verses that foretell the coming of the Nerevarine. And before you ask,” Cosades added, seeing that Fahjoth was about to speak again, “some Dunmer believe that an orphan and outcast, a youth born on a certain day to uncertain parents, will one day unite all the tribes of the Dunmer, drive out the invaders of Morrowind, and reestablish the ancient laws and customs of the Dark Elven nations. They call this orphan and outcast the ‘Nerevarine’, and say they will be a reincarnation of the long-dead Dunmer General and First Councilor, Lord Indoril Nerevar. But... I don't know much else about it. That's why I'm sending you to find out.”

Fahjoth nodded, fascinated by the sudden bombardment of information he was receiving. “And... it’s relevant to stuff that’s happening now? These cult attacks and whatnot? That’s why we’re investigating it?”

There was a split second where Fahjoth thought that Cosades may have paused, his stern grey eyes locked on Fahjoth’s own, but then came a perfectly normal response, leaving him wondering if he’d simply imagined it.

“Correct.”

Armed with this knowledge, Fahjoth suddenly felt inspired. So this was what all his top-secret missions had really been about. He still had no idea why he’d been pulled out of prison to join this endeavour specifically, but he no longer felt as much of a need to question it. This was his chance to make a difference, to do some real good in the world; it strengthened his resolve and he silently vowed to give it his all, regardless of how many errands he would end up having to run.

“Alright. Thanks, sir.” Fahjoth rose to his feet, figuring he should go and find Ribyna and tell her the news, but Cosades leaned back in his chair and stared at him with such a dour look in his eyes that Fahjoth faltered.

“Don’t forget, Vetharys — always pay attention to what’s going on around you. You’re an agent of the Blades; information is our specialty,” he advised. “And never let your guard down. I don’t ever want to find you being sent back to me in a box.”

Fahjoth cringed, feeling distinctly like he was being told off for the sheer amount of ignorance he had so openly displayed. Well, he had to learn somehow, didn't he? “Yes, sir… thank you, sir.”

And with that he bade farewell to Cosades for now, scurrying out of the house before he could be admonished further, and made a beeline straight for the South Wall Cornerclub. Just as he rounded the corner and descended the short flight of stone steps between buildings, he found himself face-to-face with a familiar dark-haired figure, and coincidentally just the person he was looking for.

“Ribyna!” he called, grinning as he got his sibling’s attention seconds before she stepped into the cornerclub. “Thought I’d find you here.”

“‘Sup, Fahji?” Ribyna turned away from the doorway and gave Fahjoth the usual hug of greeting. “You look happy. Has something happened?”

“I got a promotion!” he exclaimed without hesitation, eager to share the news. “And I got a few days off, too. I was thinking maybe we could do something.”

“Ah, well done, bro!” Ribyna congratulated him with a grin. “Yeah, I’m good for a few days. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I thought maybe we could go to Vivec City? If you still wanted to go there, that is.”

For the second time that night, Fahjoth thought he detected a fleeting look of hesitation on the face of someone he was speaking to. This time it was Ribyna, who appeared almost apprehensive as soon as Fahjoth had mentioned going to Vivec City; but then her response was as casual as ever, leaving Fahjoth even more befuddled and debating with himself over whether he was just seeing things.

Maybe I’m just tired, he mused to himself.

“Yeah, sounds good. D’you wanna leave now or tomorrow?” Ribyna asked. “If you like, I can go see how much the silt strider bloke charges.”

“Well, it’s getting on a bit, but…” Fahjoth paused, looking upwards and searching for the position of the sun, which was already past its highest point in the sky. He estimated that they had a few hours of daylight left, so ignoring the little voice of caution in his head, he made his decision.

“Yeah, why not? Let’s go tonight. Could be fun to stay overnight in the big city!” Fahjoth enthused, and Ribyna nodded.

“Alright! I’ll go find out how much a one way trip costs,” Ribyna said. “Start heading over towards the silt strider and I’ll meet you there!” And with that she tore off, racing over the bridge in the middle of town and zipping up the stairs to speak with the caravaner.

With a quiet chuckle, Fahjoth shook his head and began to meander at a far more relaxed pace after his twin, passing by one of the townsfolk as he stepped off the bridge. He dipped his head and smiled in casual greeting, but the Dunmer gripped his wrist with such force that Fahjoth gasped in shock.

He leaned in, his face mere inches from Fahjoth’s own, and Fahjoth could see only too clearly his strangely blank, vacant expression. His eyes, though unfocused, were glaring at Fahjoth with such a scorching intensity that he almost broke out into a sweat, his heart hammering rhythmically in his chest like a trapped sparrow, fast and fearful.

And then he spoke, his voice gravelly and harsh, the sound of crumbling charcoal over burning ashes.

“Beneath Red Mountain, Lord Dagoth sleeps. But when he wakes, we all shall rise, and the dust will blow away. Serve your Lord, Dagoth Ur. The Sixth House is risen, and Dagoth is its glory.”

Momentarily frozen, Fahjoth’s senses eventually returned to him and his first instinct was to yank his wrist free of the Dunmer’s grip, panting as if he had just run a marathon. The Dunmer jerked as Fahjoth tore free, and then within seconds, the blank look on his face melted away and he cleared his throat, glancing around as if confused. He then regarded Fahjoth with a perfectly normal, albeit rather sleepy stare.

“What do you think of our city, outlander?” he asked mildly, but before Fahjoth could even think of a response, a voice calling his name caught his attention.

“Fahji! C’mon, hurry up!”

His mouth dry, Fahjoth wheeled around and dashed after Ribyna, not stopping until he had caught up with his twin. Ribyna looked irate as she immediately began a short rant.

“I’m not paying for that bloody silt strider. It’s a ripoff! And if we’re gonna stay in Vivec overnight, gods know how much the rooms are gonna set us back, too. Come on, we’ll walk instead—” She paused and frowned as she finally took in Fahjoth’s appearance, while he tried to calm himself down in the meantime.

“What the fuck’s the matter with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” With a shake of her head, Ribyna corrected herself, “Actually, you weren’t even this pale when we did see a ghost. Did something happen?”

“A— a Dunmer,” Fahjoth began, his gaze rapidly flicking from left to right, half-expecting an attack to come out of nowhere. “A Dunmer stopped me and... and said a thing...”

However, as he took in Ribyna’s attentive expression, he realised with a heart-wrenching disappointment that there was no way he would be able to explain any of it to her. Not without going into detail about the missions that Cosades had given him, which he had been strictly forbidden to do. He could lie, omit some elements of the truth, but then what would be the point in that? His voice trailed off into silence, leaving him awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. After a few seconds, Ribyna spoke up again.

“Did he threaten you?” she asked, very seriously. “D’you want me to find this bastard and have a word?”

“No!” Fahjoth replied hastily. With reluctance, he took a deep breath and tried to swallow his anxieties, his gaze wandering down to his wrist as he rubbed it. There was no visible blemish, but somehow, he felt his wrist burning fiercely where the Dunmer had grabbed him. “It’s fine. It was probably nothing. Let’s just go to Vivec,” he added, “I could do with the walk, I think.”

It was clear from her expression that Ribyna didn’t believe him, but his tone of voice made it very clear that to question him further would only exacerbate the issue, and Ribyna relented. “Alright,” she said eventually. “But if you’ve got a problem, you can talk to me, okay?”

“Yeah... I know. Thanks, Beebs.” Though he wanted nothing more than to confide in his twin, Fahjoth regretfully held back. He was alive, and that was the main thing; telling Cosades could wait until he got back. In his shaken state, he found it far too overwhelming to think about right now anyway, and so the two departed from Balmora and embarked on the considerable journey southwards to Vivec City.

#oc: fahjoth #oc: ribyna #tes #tes fic #morrowind #dunmer #dunmer oc #nerevarine #elder scrolls #elder scrolls fanfic #tes iii: morrowind

12 notes · View notes