#and then like a suckerpunch to the face... there's this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cloudy-li · 3 months

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about tangibility

luke castellan x unclaimed afab!reader no warnings 'In which two broken people find a semblance of comfort within each other.' A story from 'Two Threads of Yarn', a pjo series that i'm working on (hopefully) encompassing pjo, hoo and toa :) [sorry if there's any misspellings or grammar mistakes (-_-)]

The night was dark and full of terrors. Yet, sitting side by side on the pebbly embankment of the lake, shrouded by towering conifers, two teenagers felt more alive than ever. Newly befriended, you and Luke passed the restless nights — when neither could sleep — together by the lake.

In great succession, smoothened pebbles were grasped, tilted, aimed and skimmed on the surface of the lake. Sending mesmerizing ripples across the silver surface. “Ah-ha! Seven skims!” You exclaim jovially, fists pumping in the air victoriously. “Nahh, I only saw five,” from his position on the ground, sitting cross-legged, Luke held your gaze. Stern. Serious. You furrowed your brows and squinted at the surface of the lake. “No~, are you sure? I swear —” Your sentence was cut-off when you glimpsed the shit-eating grin on Luke’s face. “Luke!” You whined exasperatedly, storming over a few feet to where he was. You shoved him half-heartedly as you sat down next to him. “Mmh, sorry starlight.” You rolled. Your eyes but at the same time, couldn't suppress the smile that ghiddly made its way onto your face.

The two of you fell into comfortable silence. Shoulder to shoulder, fingers only centimeters apart from one anothers. Suddenly, you were aware of the silvery halo that adorned Luke's tousled hair, liquid silver outlining every curl of his hair and every curve of his face. Even his eyes which were usually a warm brown were now darker, deeper, more soulful and highlighted with silver. And then, instantaneously, your stomach clenched, trying to suppress a flurry of butterflies. Then, your ribs tightened and your heart and you felt as if you were suckerpunched in the windpipe. Abruptly, you inhaled and realized. You really wanted to hold his hand, and kiss his cheek, his eyes, his nose, his scar, his lips. You knew, with a startling realization, that you wanted Luke to hold you, and put his lips on yours.

“I was wondering…” you broke out of your trance, managing to muster a measly “mmh?” Luke's hand drifted towards your face ‘his hands are so pretty’. His fingers settled on a distinct lock of hair, fingertips ghosting along its length. “I was wondering how you got this… You told me you weren’t born with it, so how…?” Luke seemed to trail off as you yourself reached for that lock of silvery hair. A great marring sight juxtaposed vividly against your other dark locks.

“Honestly, I don’t think I remember very much of it.” You started off. “I was young, maybe four or five, and all I remember is this weird dream,” You paused briefly, trying to recollect fragments of your childhood memory. “It was really, really dark. But at the same time, there was light as well – like a vast night sky. And then, I saw faces, figures – I think – I remember; one was very bright – like the sun – and another looked really old and smelt like almonds – And then, I remember waking up and my father being shocked at my hair.” You finished, silently trailing off to glance at Luke. He looked to be in deep thought. ‘Gods, I wanna kiss him so bad’ You went to tuck a stray hair behind your ear. Once, twice, thrice, you missed. Furrowing your brows, you bought your hand into the moonlight.

And froze.

Ice creeped up your veins and the breaths you took began to seem more and more laborious. Your chest constricted. Luke was brought out of his stupor by heavy breaths. Panicked, he turned towards you and frantically examined your hands. Where your fingers should have been, there was nought left but near-transparent mirages of your fingers outlined by a blackish shimmer. Luke immediately gathered you in his arms. On instinct, he instructed you to bring your knees to your chest and gently gilded your head until it was almost between your knees. Sitting behind, with you in his arms, Luke stroked your hair until heavy breaths and sobs gave way for slow calming breaths accompanied by the occasional sniffle. “Sorry… Again…” you mumbled out ashamed. Luke shifted so that he was facing your side. “Starlight, you don’t need to say sorry…I meant it when I said that I’m here for you.” Luke tucked the stray lock of hair behind your ear, absentmindedly. You clenched and unclenched your fists. The transparence was retreating giving back to tangible flesh and bone. Luke enclosed one of your hands in his. “Thank you,” you breathed out. You hung your head for a while but eventually managed to lift your head and lock your eyes with Luke. ‘I want this.’

“Kiss me.” “Hmm… Starlight?” “Kiss me Luke, please.” “Starlight are you sure? You’re not really–” “Luke, just kiss me, please.”

And with that desperate plea, any semblance of restraint melted away as Luke touched his lips to yours, and it felt soothing. Not shocking, or electric. Luke felt like a welcome chilly breeze on a hot summer's day where you were burning up and fading out. He was soft and he was gentle but there was also passion, reined back. He handled you with care, the same way the ocean guilds a sailor home, and yet have the power to break his ship and his soul if it ever wished to. But more than anything, Luke’s lips against yours was something tangible. Something to hold onto as you phase in and out of reality. He was your anchor, keeping you in his world. Luke broke the kiss to pepper your neck with featherlight touches. And you reciprocated. Kissing his cheeks, his eyes, his nose… You hesitated at the scar. Your hand traveled to cup his cheek.

“Can I…”

He gave no response except for a single nod before going back to pepper the conjunction between your jaw and your neck in kisses. And gingerly, ever so softly, you traced your thumb across his scar. Luke came to rest his forehead against yours, closing his eyes and enjoying the sensation of your touch. And then, you leaned in to place a soft kiss underneath his eye. You came to rest your head on his shoulder, peppering kisses near his collarbones.

“I love you. You whispered.”

“I love you too, Starlight,” he whispered back. Chin resting upon your head as you both basked in each other's presence. Two broken souls searching for something tangible in a world where uncertainty and danger were wholly rife, bathed in a silver glow underneath the vast night sky.

Somewhere, The Fates twisted two threads of yarn into one.

#luke castellan #pjo series #pjo tv show #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan x you #i love luke sm #two threads of yarn #cloudi-li writes #percy jackson

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klaustozier · 1 year

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suckerpunch ; chishiya

SUMMARY: you and chishiya are the leaders of the two rival gangs that control the city, but, one night, when you see chishiya being unfairly harmed, you save him.

this is smut, be aware of what you read!

warnings: chishiya x fem!reader, you're a fucking badass, chishiya's older than you, enemies to fuck buddies, this was a request so here it is (i hope that what i did is okay to the person that asked for a hate fuck, cause i wanted to be a little more rough), drugs (only weed), degradation kink, chishiya has tattoos, choking, spanking

word count: 4,4k

english is not my first language, i'm sorry for any mistakes.

i hope you like it.

Maybe you shouldn't be doing this, but there was no other option. You weren't going to leave him in the hospital, he was going to put him in jail and there was a certain balance in the city with the two gangs and you knew it, it wasn't worth destroying everything over a shitty new gang.

You and Chishiya were the leaders of the gangs that dominated the city's traffic and the two gangs left the city balanced, running normally and it was like that for so many years that it was already part of everyday life, but a third gang had begun to want to take over the city. You were trying to find them to destroy them, but you didn't have much information yet.

That night you were going to a convenience store to get some food when you saw three guys punching and kicking a fourth guy on the floor of an empty parking lot, you thought the fight was unfair and decided you were going to stop it, it got even more personal when you saw who it was the blonde guy on the floor, his face all bruised and bloody from the blows he had taken. You weren't going to let a random gang kill the enemy that was yours even more so in a fight like that.

So you killed the three of them and took Chishiya to your car. He wasn't easy to carry him, but you did it. You wouldn't share your city with people who enjoyed that kind of unfair fighting.

When you noticed you were sitting Chishiya on top of your toilet, inside your bathroom, inside your studio apartment. If there was no way to get Chishiya to a hospital and you didn't know how to contact his gang to get their leader, then you had to take care of him.

“Chishiya?”, you called softly, lightly slapping his face, who woke up startled, ready to punch whoever called him, but you wrapped your hand around his fist, “Calm down, calm down, I won't hurt you .”

Shuntaro's eyes widened and he looked around, "What do you think you're doing?"

“Can you calm down?”, you asked, letting go of his hand, opening the mirror cabinet over the sink to Chishiya’s left and taking out a heavy-duty first-aid kit you had (heavy-duty as it had a needle and thread to sew up wounds, if needed).

“Where am I?”

“Okay, let's go”, you placed the first-aid kit over the sink and opened it taking cotton, alcohol, gauze and plaster from inside and placed them on the sink, doing it while explaining: “I was going to buy…”, and you decided not to say what you were going to specify what you were doing, he didn't deserve to know, “something when I saw three people hitting one in an empty parking lot. I thought the fight was very unfair, it was three against one, the person on the ground was already unconscious and I considered stopping the fight, until I saw that you were the one on the ground and decided that I was definitely going to stop the fight.”

Chishiya listened in silence and watched as you soaked a cotton ball in alcohol, “But why did you save me? You could have let me die.”

You laughed, stood in front of the other and pulled his face up by the chin, still smirking, "If there's anyone in this town who's going to kill you, it's going to be me."

Chishiya's eyes widened a little. That statement was supposed to sound threatening, and it did, so why did he feel his stomach turn over and not with fear? His concluding thoughts were cut short when the alcohol swab touched his cut lip making him shift and move away from the swab.

“No, no, no”, you said holding him by the back of the head, “I'm going to have to clean these wounds so swallow your crying.”

Chishiya should have been offended, but once again his body reacted differently, maybe he hit his head or got hit too hard. What he didn't think about was how strange and different that was, they never had that dynamic, they had already met and talked several times, but it was a strange situation. They had never touched each other before. It felt like where your fingers touched him it burned his body.

You didn't feel different, being silent with the other and taking care of him was strange and you liked it. What your shouldn't, you were just taking care of the enemy that way so you could personally kill him in the future.

“Take off your shirt”, you asked.

Chishiya frowned at you, “Not even a wine? Not even a little vodka just to cheer me up?”

You rolled your eyes and laughed, "Fuck you, just take your fucking shirt off."

“So violent… Jesus, you sound like a criminal… like a gang member.”

“Shut up, Shuntaro, just do what I say.”

Chishiya laughed and pulled his shirt up, his torso hurted a little doing that, but it could be worse. There were some shallow cuts on his chest, that was where the blood on his shirt came from, but luckily nothing that needed sewing up. You just kept cleaning up, not wanting to pay too much attention to the bruised and tattooed chest.

“How did they get to you like that? Alone?”, you asked, trying not to pay attention to his body, it wasn't the moment to be attracted to Chishiya.

“I have a suspicion that someone from my gang told them where I was going”, Chishiya sucked in air between his teeth as alcohol fell into his chest wounds, “I didn't like one of them anyway, now I'm sure that he must have been in on it."

“And why did you let him join the gang if you didn’t like him?”

“He was already in the gang when I became a leader”, he explained, his face contorting as you cleaned his wounds.

“And how do you intend to take care of it? It is not good to have a snitch in the group.”

“First, I'm going to try to see if it really is him”, began the seated man and once again sucked in air between his teeth, “Maybe I should pretend to go somewhere alone and see if they show up again, so I can do some kind of ambush and destroy them all.”

“Would you like some help?”

"What? Do you want to help?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn't it?", you shrugged, "And I don't like them, I like them less than I like you."

“Awwwn”, Chishiya placed his hand over his heart and pouted.

“Fuck off", you commanded laughing softly, “And they're messing with my business too, it doesn't hurt to get together and end this little game, there's already two people running the town and that's enough.”

"We can join forces then, princess", Chishiya nodded, "But it will be for a very short time, we'll settle that and each one will go to their corner."

“Deal, Shuntaro.”

You offered your hand and Chishiya shook it briefly, sealing the deal. After that, you continued to clean his wounds and soon started bandaging all the cuts. Silence reigned, the two thinking about many things that did not involve rivalry or what happened. They both thought the same thing, in fact, how attractive the other was. Perhaps all the adrenaline had them a little out of their minds.

“Are you going to put gauze on my wounds and choke me to death?”, asked Chishiya, breaking the silence, making you laugh.

“Not today”, you replied smiling, “You're hurt, it wouldn't be fair. If I ever plan to kill you, it will be a fair fight, with both of you well rested and fed, no firearms, just bladed weapons and our fists and whoever dies, dies.”

The blonde nodded, "And in that case, it's going to be me the one who dies, right?"

You leaned towards his face, getting dangerously close and smirked, "Of course."

“What makes you so sure you'd win, kitten?”, Chishiya challenged, the twinkle in his eyes was making you extremely tempted.

“I'm clearly faster”, you said, smiling.

Chishiya laughed wryly, and quickly fell silent as you took the scissors from the firs-aid kit and pressed the sharp tip against the blonde's Adam's apple, who swallowed hard.

Chishiya's strong, beautiful hand wrapped around your wrist and pushed it away from his neck, "And I'm stronger", he said, you forced your hand back into place, but the older one was stronger anyway, even if he wasn't the best conditions to fight.

You tried to attack using your other hand, but your wrist was also grabbed and Chishiya joined both of his hands and held it using only one of your hands.

“Do you want to keep playing, princess?”, teased the oldest.

You laughed wryly, tried to move your wrists and were unsuccessful, "You're still going to get fuck for crossing my path, Chishiya."

“I honestly think you're the one who's going to get fucked over this, baby girl.”

And the two faced each other. Hearts racing, that kind of talk was releasing too much adrenaline to make them think straight. Your eyes dropped to Chishiya's pretty lips, who mimicked the movement, it wasn't something easy to resist. Neither of them noticed exactly when this had happened, but in a moment one advanced towards the other and they began to kiss.

There was so much anger in that kiss. Chishiya would sometimes let out low whimper of pain, because his still delicate cut lip was being crushed by your lips. Even though you didn't want to admit it, those whimpers were making you so fucking horny. Maybe they shouldn't do anything since Chishiya was hurt, but you were leaving it up to him to say he wanted to stop.

Chishiya finally released his grip and grabbed your thighs pulling you onto his lap and pinned you against the cold tile wall.

“You are so light”, mocked the older one.

“Shut up, motherfucker”, you said, rolling your eyes.

“Wow, you sound like a criminal”, mocked the other again.

You rolled your eyes, "Are you going to do something or are you going to hold me here on the wall and get degraded?"

"There should be fetishes just for that."

“Do you have a fetish with that by any chance?”

The blonde chuckled and clasped your thighs in his hands, “No… not like this anyway…”

Chishiya came out of the bathroom with you in his arms and walked to your bed, where he threw you on the mattress and got on top of you. When he went to try to kiss you again, you grabbed him with your legs and arms and spun you around on the bed, getting on top.

“Are you as strong as you think, Chishiya?”, you teased.

The blonde laughed and leaned on his right elbow while his left hand went to the back of your neck pulling you closer, "Yes, I am", he informed, returning to kiss you.

The hand on the back of your neck that caressed your hair slid to your throat and wrapped it gently at first, wanting to know if it was okay to do what he wanted to do. As there wasn't any kind of displeasure shown, he gently squeezed the sides of your neck, receiving a soft sigh in return.

Chishiya parted their lips and watched the scene for a little while. You took your hand to the other's wrist and held on to it as if you needed help to hold yourself together. Your face was contorted adorably and your lips pretty, red and glossy. Chishiya was so hot with the cuts and bruises, he was already beautiful, but this was another level of attractiveness.

Your hips slowly rocked against Shuntaro's hips, "Kiss me", you ordered through gritted teeth.

“How do you say?”, teased Chishiya, grinning.

“Now, you fucking piece of shit.”

Chishiya laughed and just accepted, how could he say no to that cutie? He let go of your neck, he had choked you enough (for now), the action made you whimper softly, "How cute."

“Shut up, Chishiya", you ordered angrily.

“Make me”, he teased once again.

“I still will punch you until you pass out…”

The older one laughed and the kiss resumed. Chishiya's hand was still on your neck, without squeezing, just caressing the skin with his thumb, it went down your chest, squeezing your breasts.

"Cute", Chishiya said when you moaned as your nipples were pinched over your shirt.

"Fuck you."

"You should be ashamed of yourself for rubbing that pussy on my lap and acting like you're better than me."

"Ah… but I am…"

The blonde smirked, "Fucking bitch."

Your shirt was taken off and Chishiya started sucking your nipples gently, not doing too much, not doing everything you wanted. He was doing it on purpose, he wanted to piss you off and he was succeeding. You wanted more, you wanted to be pinched and squeezed, but nothing came, making you groan.

“I hate you so much", you complained.

“Why?”, Chishiya was a bastard.

“I have little patience.”

The older one chuckled, "Then feel free to take control, baby girl."

You rolled your eyes and pushed him onto the bed. You leaned over to the night stand and picked up a joint and lighter from the top of it, putting the blunt in your mouth.

"Are you really going to smoke? Marijuana? With me here under you?", complained Chishiya pretending to be angry, "I'm going to call the police."

"Don't you ever shut up?", you asked, lighting your cigarette.

Chishiya laughed, he was enjoying making you angry, it was so funny. The fun ended when you sat on the other's legs and started to smoke, it wasn't fun anymore it was just hot.

"Do you want some?", you asked, showing the joint in your hands, noticing that he was very entertained watching you smoke.

Chishiya nodded, you took the joint to your lips again and smoked it taking your hand to his chin, he parted his lips waiting for what you would do. You blew the smoke to the blonde's lips and kissed him, brushing your tongue gently against his.

If it was up to Shuntaro, they would do that for hours. You repeated your act a few more times, smoking and sharing it with the older one with kisses.

"Fuck", cursed Chishiya softly making you laugh.

You returned the two objects to the bedside table and adjusted yourself, hugging Chishiya's neck, kissing him again, the kiss was less nervous now, but that didn't stop you from scratching the other's chest with your nails, being careful not to scratching at the cutted areas, making him moan softly as they kissed.

With a peck, you broke the kiss and pushed the blonde's body back onto the bed, running kisses down his chest, biting the skin from time to time, always being careful with the cuts, but always licking the bruises, because you loved to hear his adorable whimpers. With Chishiya's skin between your teeth, you proceeded to unfasten his belt, making him sigh in anticipation.

"I like you like this… quiet", you commented, licking where you had bitten, eliciting a low whine from him, "It suits you, Shuntaro."

"Fuck…", was the only thing he managed to say when your hand tightened on his cock over his pants.

"How cute", you smiled, "Is your cock so hard because of your enemy, Chishiya?", you laughed at the snort the older one let out, squeezing his still covered cock, "How do you explain that to your friends?"

"Go fuck yourself."

You adjusted yourself over Chishiya's body and took off his jeans, leaving him only in black underwear. Your beautiful lips wrapped around the man's cock over the cloth and licked, eliciting a breathless groan from him.

"Fucking shit", Chishiya cursed, throwing his head back, shuddering when the hot mouth wrapped around the head of his cock covered by the cloth, "Baby girl… don't do that…", he asked softly, looking down at you who was staring at him from under you lashes. Chishiya had dark eyes, the unreadable expression and the bruises on his face, it was all so sensual. Your tongue flattened against his cock, saliva marked the cloth leaving it glistening against the light, pre-cum also marked the tip, "Shit. You have to… you have…", he couldn't talk with you licking him like that, you could feel his blood boil as you felt the pulse against your tongue, so hard and fast.

"If I give you a proper blowjob, will you shut the fuck up?", you asked with an expression of boredom.

"I do not promise anything."

And Chishiya laughed when you rolled your eyes. You could complain, but you were too horny to be against what was going on, so you just removed Shuntaro's underwear and slid your hands down his thighs, his hard cock pulsing gently against his beautiful abdomen. You lay back down, taking his cock in your hands, making him sigh.

You licked the length of the thick cock and moaned softly feeling the pulse directly against your tongue. Chishiya purred and laid his head on the pillows, bringing his hand to your hair, stroking and squeezing the strands tightly as his cock sank completely into your mouth.

Your head began to slowly rise and fall, the rhythm gradually increasing as the other's moans became more desperate.

"Fuck, kitten", moaned Chishiya, he called you that to annoy you, but now it was exciting and you hated it.

One of his hands was in your hair, tightening the strands in his fists, and the other held his cock, helping you to swallow it.

The moan that came out of Chishiya's lips made your eyes roll back in pure pleasure. You moved your head up and down, he could feel saliva sliding down his cock to his thighs. He moaned louder as your delicate hands caressed his balls.

"Shit", growled Chishiya softly, stopping your movements, panting heavily, "Lie down on the bed now… go, come on", he ordered impatiently.

You did as asked, laying down on the bed. Chishiya got on top of you and lay down between your legs, "I should just fuck your pussy and leave, but I can't resist a pretty little pussy like that, all wet and just for me."

And Chishiya began to undress you quickly and began to suck you off, making you moan loudly, making you squirm. The fucker knew what he was doing, he seemed to know how your body worked, he licked just the right place and made the biggest mess, his mouth completely covered with your pleasure.

"Shut the fuck up", Chishiya swore, "The whole building will know you're being eaten."

"Shhh", you silenced, grabbing his long blonde hair and forcing him to go back to licking you, "use your mouth for something worthwhile."

Chishiya laughed, "Slut", his strong hand covered your mouth with ease, "I should gag you, but look how beautiful you look with my hand like that…", his other free hand went to your neck and caressed it gently, fingers enveloped in skin, "So pretty at my mercy, you should think about being like this more often."

"Shut the fuck up", you commanded in a voice muffled by the big hand on your mouth.

Chishiya laughed, taking his hand away from your mouth, "Unbearable bitch", he whispered.

The blonde tightened your neck and went back to eating you out, he thought it would be better to choke you than cover your mouth for now, it made your moans more sly and he liked that.

“Chishiya", you whimpered, rolling your hips, not really wanting to sound that desperate.

And that drew a wry chuckle from him, "Moaning like that? Because of the enemy, princess? What are you going to tell your friends?"

“Shh”, you hushed again, your hands going to the blonde hair and you forced it down once more.

Chishiya laughed and accepted, he ran his tongue up and down the wet pussy, sucking the clit and sank his skillful fingers inside you, loosening you. You moaned softly, your fingers caressed his hair gently, it wasn't your intention, but it felt so good that you thought Shuntaro deserved a reward. The older man's hand didn't stop its back and forth movements, opening you for him.

Chishiya pulled away, brought his thumb to your clit and stroked in circular motions, “I need to fuck you.”

"Please."

It was the first time that had been said that night and it was said so delicately.

Wasting no time, Chishiya grabbed you around the waist and flipped you over on the bed, lifting your hips, leaving you completely exposed for his own benefit.

"What a nice little pussy", said the blonde, observing your wet pussy, spreading your lips with his fingers, "It's already all loose."

“Don't you shut up-”, your sentence was cut off when he spanked your ass.

“What were you going to say, kitten?”, asked the older one ironically, giving you another slap.

You whimpered, “Just fuck me, Shuntaro.”

“Of course, all for you, my sweetie.”

“If I wasn't so horny, I swear I would-”, and a long moan left your lips as Chishiya thrust his cock inside you hard, without giving you time to adjust.

"You swear what, baby?", he asked, his face leaning over your.

"I swear I'd kill you right now, Shuntaro", you stated clutching the sheets as your pussy was fucked mercilessly.

"I think it's funny that you think you could kill me", Chishiya whispered, biting your earlobe.

Chishiya held your waist, thrusting hard, but the pace was still too slow for your liking, "Faster, you motherfucker."

"Of course…"

And he obeyed such a crude request, starting to speed up his movements. Your moans started to get louder and louder, you were too lost in your own pleasure to control yourself.

It wasn't so loud that it would disturb the neighbors in the apartments next door, but Chishiya still chuckled softly and put his hand over your mouth.

"You'll wake up the whole building like that", he warned softly, continuing to thrust.

You just whimpered and grabbed the sheets as you were harshly fucked. Chishiya's hand gripped your hip tightly, squeezing the skin in his fingers, you were sure it would get purple.

"You're so hot", growled the man softly, his lips close to your ear, you shivered with those words, "I think that me talking doesn't bother you anymore, huh?", his hand on your waist slid down your skin down to your ass and squeezed the flesh.

"I'm still going to destroy your entire gang and take care of the entire city by myself", you stated.

"Do you think you can do it, baby girl?"

"I already do that, only you pretend to do something and get in my way."

He straightened his posture and took both of your hands, bringing them behind your back, squeezing your wrists into one hand to keep them there. His free hand went back to squeezing your ass and began to slap the skin.

Neither of them had any sense of time anymore, at that moment, they only knew that they were very close to an orgasm and that they hated each other so fucking much.

“Chishiya”, you purred, “I'm going to cum…”

“Me too", Chishiya stated.

“I- AH!”, you were going to say something, however Chishiya's hand that remained resting on your ass, which was already hot and red with the countless spankings, went down to your pussy and started to masturbate you quickly.

You twisted your arms trying to free yourself, but the blonde man was much stronger than you. It didn't take long for a ragged moan to leave your lips and you came on Chishiya's cock.

The older one chuckled softly and pulled out of you, letting go of your wrists. Shuntaro sat on his legs and jerked off briefly, his free hand gripping your ass, squeezing hard as he reached his climax watching his cum fall over the red skin. When he finally came, he lay down beside you and sighed softly.

“You're not going to sleep here”, you said, making the other open his eyes wide.

Chishiya groaned and got up, "I'm not going to sleep in this shitty place", he informed you as he sat down.

You laughed, "If you say so, I could have sworn I saw you dreaming, and dreaming of me still."

“God have mercy on you", he said as he searched for his clothes, “I'm still going to break both your legs.”

“Why don’t you break it now?”

“Because I got beat up and I just came”, the comment made you laugh putting your hand under your head to support it and be able to observe the other, “I'm not in full mental faculties.”

“If you say so", you said as the other dressed, “I guess I'll have to find a new place to live.”

"I would never attack you in your home, but if it makes you feel safe, it's not a bad idea."

“Do you think it would be viable for us to unite?”, you asked, sitting on the bed after a while of silence, Chishiya crossed his arms, “This third gang can't keep thinking we're accepting their presence.”

“If you're willing, I am too”, the blonde was sincere, “It's better to unite against a common enemy, but that's all it will be, after we get what we want, it's each one to one side, correct, kitten?”

“I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise, Shuntaro.”

“Do you have any plans in mind?”

“I have, I can tell it to you later. Could you give me your phone number?”, you asked.

The eldest smirked, “Are you in love now, kitten?”, you rolled your eyes, “Do you want to send nudes on my personal phone?”

"You don't give a minute of peace, how can you compete with me?", you questioned, rubbing your forehead, "It's so we can talk, fucking piece of shit."

"Oh, yes, of course."

You groaned and threw your phone at Chishiya for him to add his contact, and when he were done, he threw the phone back to you, "Fuck you from the bottom of my heart, Chishiya, see you in hell."

“I’ll wait for you there, princess.”

And with that said, Chishiya unlocked the door and left. Leaving you alone and naked in your bed.

...

i hope you liked it!

please live a like and a comment!

tags: @just-trashs @alisujelly

if you have any requests, make sure to talk to me

see ya next time.

(´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

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899 notes · View notes

reminiscingtonight · 1 year

Text

Half A World Away (Pt. 2)

Lucy Bronze x Reader

Word Count: 2.4k

A/N: Bet y’all thought I forgot about this, didn’t you?

Part One

[WOSO Masterlist]

“You left.”

The last thing you thought after accepting the party invite was that you’d run into your ex.

Okay that’s a bit of a lie, given the fact that you know how close Jordan and Lucy are. Or the fact that this was clearly a Lionesses party. They were celebrating their World Cup win so it would’ve been weird not to expect one of the newly crowned winners to be at the party.

But the last thing you thought was that Lucy would actually seek you out and corner you in the bathroom minutes after you and the rest of your entourage entered the bar. Like you have to go when you have to go, but something about how the door slams open not even a minute after you enter tells you that Lucy definitely did not need to pee.

Lucy sounds accusatory. Angry. But all you can see is the hurt deep within her eyes.

You knew it was a gamble, leaving England without telling Lucy. But the two of you shared many friends. She was bound to hear about it eventually. Plus, it’s not like you had any obligations to tell her. She threw away any rights she had to know about your life when she broke up with you.

Still, you can’t help but snap back. “You left first.”

“I came back and you were gone.” Something about Lucy’s tone has you narrowing your eyes at her. “When Jordan told me you left Arsenal I didn’t believe her. But I came back and you weren’t here.”

“Are you serious right now?” you scoff. “You left first, Lucy. You. Not me. Don’t try to make me out as the villain when we both know it’s not true.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“Then what are you doing?”

Lucy’s silent for a moment as she ponders your words. You’re expecting slouched shoulders, a despondent sigh, a mumbled excuse. Instead, Lucy squares her shoulders, and then what she says feels like a suckerpunch straight to the gut.

“I love you.”

You don’t allow yourself the luxury to bask in her declaration. So what if she loves you? Those words used to make your heart sing, they still do, but they also come with the sharp reminder that she threw it all away. And for what?

“Why now?”

“What?” Lucy looks taken off guard, not expecting such a short response to her admittance of love.

“Why now?” you repeat, ire growing with every second. “What’s changed, Lucy? Because from my point of view, nothing has. The only difference is while you’re still in Spain, I’m in the United States now.”

Lucy goes to interrupt you but you don’t let her.

“Distance is something you didn’t want to do,” you remind her. Lucy’s face falls at your words. “Seattle’s much further than London is, so as far as I’m aware, nothing has changed.”

Sighing, you lean against the sink. Lucy looks properly chastised by now, and as much as you hated kicking a girl when she was down, there was still one burning question on the tip of your tongue.

“You know, Jordan told me about your plans to propose.”

If possible, Lucy’s face pales even more.

“I spent weeks wondering why you never did, why you broke up with me instead of trying to make the distance work. God knows you loved me enough to ask me to marry you, you should’ve loved me enough to want to make this work.”

You wipe angrily at your face, catching a few tears of frustration before they could slip down your cheeks.

Lucy’s hand comes forward, instinctive in her attempts to soothe you. You jerk away before she can make contact. As much as you crave her touch, you know you can’t let your heart rule your actions.

The hurt in her eyes instantly makes you regret your actions, but neither of you have a chance to do or say anything else before the door is slamming open.

Jill pauses, eyes darting between the two of you.

“Oh, sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt.” The tension in the room is clear enough that Jill knows something’s going on.

“Don’t worry about it, we were just finishing up.”

Before Lucy can stop you, you’re pushing right past her and back into the bar. You pretend you can’t feel Lucy’s gaze following you through the crowd.

---

It’s the pounding that wakes you up.

Shooting up in bed, your legs tangle in the sheets before you can get your bearings. You hit the floor with a thump, letting out an annoyed groan.

You don’t remember what time you got back from the party.

Everything after you left the bathroom is a blur. The shots you took. The dancing. The partying.

Really, all of it helped to serve a dual purpose. On one hand, you had to battle the disappointment of not winning the World Cup. It was crushing, being so close but not making it out of the semi-finals. But on the other, the partying was especially helpful in masking the big Lucy-sized hole in your life.

The last thing you remember is Rose shoving you into your bed, muttering something about how you owe her fifty cups of coffee when you get back home.

You yank open the door, ready to tell off the person on the other side. You’re left blinking blearily through the bright hallway lights when you realize who it is.

“I miss the way you used to smile at me.”

Lucy looks like she came straight from the afterparty. She’s still dressed in the same clothes she was wearing when she cornered you in the bathroom earlier.

You didn’t have a chance to admire it before. She looks dashing. Hot. She always does. You were too busy trying not to cry earlier that you didn’t really get a good look at her.

But in your still half-asleep daze, you can’t help but appreciate the way she looks right now.

“I miss waking up to you lying on top of me.”

You’re actively aware of how underdressed you are. There’s a slight draft coming in from the hotel hallway and you have to fight the urge to burrow yourself back into your blankets.

“I miss everything about you, and I don’t think I ever told you how much I loved you when I still had the chance to.”

It’s that sentence that jolts you back into the present. You suddenly remember where you are, who is in front of you, and the words she’s saying.

“Lucy--”

“I love you.” This time when she interrupts you, there’s a look of determination in her eyes. “There isn’t a moment I stopped. And you’re right. I wanted to ask you to marry me. I still do. But the truth was, I-- I was scared. I was scared that if we did long distance, if we tried to make things work, you’d learn that you didn’t want this. Us. That the distance wasn’t worth it. So I… I ended things before you could.”

Lucy lets out a quiet sigh and you don’t miss the way her fingers seem to itch to reach out for you.

“I know now that none of this is worth it if I don’t have you waiting for me to come home to. I don’t want to be playing on the other side of the world if it means not having you. Not being with you. I’m so sorry for everything. I love you.”

A loaded silence follows her confession. Lucy’s looking at you with the biggest eyes, and it takes everything in your power not to just forgive her right there.

“You shouldn’t be here,” you sigh instead, not sure if you even have the mental capacity to have this conversation right now.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Her response is instant.

As much as you’d love to just slam the door in Lucy’s face, there’s also the part of you that knows you’ll just end up regretting it if you do.

Stepping back, you let Lucy slip into your room before you’re closing the door. This is definitely a conversation you’re sure your hotel neighbors wouldn’t want to hear.

You have to brace yourself before you turn to face Lucy again.

“Luce, I meant what I said earlier. Nothing’s changed.”

Your words were spoken with anger earlier. Now though, now there’s a quiet resignation behind them.

You both knew the truth. Long distance relationships are hard to work with. Rebuilding a relationship while doing long distance? Well that’s even harder.

“What if I told you I’d be willing to leave Barca? That I’d be willing to come play in Seattle?”

Lucy’s words take you by surprise. You know how hard she worked to get to play for Barcelona. That team’s always been a dream of hers.

You’re instantly frowning. “Then I’d tell you not to.”

Lucy’s eyes widen when you round on her, jabbing a finger against her chest.

“What the hell are you thinking, Lucy? I’m not letting you leave Barcelona just to fucking be with me. I turned down offers to go to City for the same reason you turned down offers to go to Arsenal. We were never willing to sacrifice our careers, the relationships we’ve made with our teammates, for each other. We didn’t do it then, and I’ll be damned if we started now.”

“Then what do you want me to do? I love you, and this is me getting down on my knees,” Lucy drops to her knees just to prove her point, “begging you to take me back. Let me make up for breaking both of our hearts.”

You’re mad. Madder than you’ve ever been. To think Lucy thought you’d want her to give up everything she’s worked so hard for? Maybe she didn’t know you as well as you thought she did.

There’s really only one thing left for you to do. One thing you know will get your point across.

You kiss her.

It’s obvious Lucy’s not expecting it. She gasps out quietly against your lips before she’s kissing you back with fervor, standing when you tug her back up to her feet.

You let her back you up until you hit the wall, sighing against her mouth.

Oh how much you’ve missed this.

Her hands drop from yours, loosely grabbing hold of your hips as you drape your arms around the back of her neck. It’s almost as if you just can’t get your body close enough to Lucy’s. Her body against yours is a familiar and comforting feeling, but no matter how hard you pull her towards you or how tight you press yourself against her, you just can’t get close enough.

You’re not sure how long it is before you’re turning your head, trying to catch your breath. It’s a bit cute how Lucy chases after you, not wanting her lips to leave yours so soon.

It isn’t until your hands push gently at her shoulders that Lucy stops with a start.

Her face twists into one of alarm when she notices the tears on your face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t--”

You shake your head, laughing wetly into the side of her neck.

“God, you’re an asshole, you know that?”

She falls silent, nervously looking back at you.

You lean in again, slower this time, pressing a quick and soft kiss upon her lips.

Lucy all but melts against you.

When you pull away, you watch as she hazily blinks, eyes a little out of focus.

“You’re not coming to Seattle.”

There’s a crinkle between her brows, but Lucy slowly shakes head. “I won’t.”

“You’re staying at Barcelona.”

“If that’s what you want.”

You have to shut your eyes then. Lucy’s looking at you as if you hung the stars up in the sky, adoration shining in her dark eyes. It hurts to have her looking at you like that and you’re just so goddamn tired of this. Of fighting what you know is a losing battle. “What I want is for you to just love me.”

You don’t make it easy for her.

A couple years pass and you’ve long retired from the national team when she finally makes the move overseas to join you. Despite your love for England and your time with the gunners, you never make a move to return to the place you now fondly think of as the ‘place where everything started.’ You argue with Lucy when she tells you she’s leaving her club team in England, knowing her national team days are limited now as well, but she just brushes off your concerns and plants a kiss against your forehead.

By the time Lucy joins you for your last couple years in Seattle, the two of you have long gotten married, a simple affair done in her hometown, with only your families and closest friends in attendance.

It’s not easy getting to where you’ve gotten, countless screaming matches and tearful make-ups littering the bumpy road to recovery, but you guys somehow make it. Lucy somehow gets you to fall even deeper in love with her, and you somehow get her to do the same with you, all of your friends gagging whenever they catch you still being disgustingly in love with each other.

Your story began and ended when Lucy charmed and then broke your heart in Manchester, the plane that took her away only making things worse until she could try to make it better again. Your story ended and began again with closure and acceptance on the other side of the world, closure for the things you couldn’t fix and the acceptance that maybe the two of you had to break before you could truly start again anew, painting over the cracks before you could see the beauty in the way you loved each other.

It’s a soft story riddled with bumps in the road and detours every here and there, but there’s no other type of love the two of you would want, because this is the one the two of you share. And sharing that love is enough for the two of you. It always has been. And always will be.

#lucy bronze x reader #lucy bronze imagine #uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #woso x reader #woso imagine #Ace writes

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mixelation · 2 months

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as a sasori/tori girl, if she married him as kazekage, would suna prosper or suffer? both? would they have kage double dates with minakushi? is this as weird for them as obito/tori would be

HMMM.

I don't think Tori would be any worse for Suna than she would be for Konoha. In some ways I feel like Sasori would let her do even more of her own bullshit than Minato, in that I think he'd like, "whatever, do what you want," which would mean Tori would slack on certain fronts (she is NOT doing any combat training unless forced) but also maybe Suna just has some? Places cut off by barriers no one can take down??

Actually, I think Kushina would love the idea of double dates. IDK why I haven't considered this before.

I think Tori/Sasori is pretty weird (and also upsetting for several reasons, one of which being Sasori actively stalking Team 4 while they're teenagers) but it's like.... there's no preconceived trust with Sasori, plus it's a much slower development. So yes, it does look like Tori is making a terrible series of mistakes, but ALSO it's not being emotionally suckerpunched in the face one day.

#the TRUE insane reaction to this ship is deidara's #he is just having a lot of big feelings right now okay #reborn au

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4kimji · 4 months

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pair: assassin!mingyu x assassin!afab!reader

summary: you run into your rival during a mission

warnings: not reread, soft!dom gyu, unprotected sex, praise (female receiving), pet names (baby, darling), big dick! gyu, reader is obsessed with mingyu’s muscles, and more that i prob missed

wc: 1.1k

You set up the Snow Owl in front of yourself on its little stand. The supposed “club” was spacious, balconies decorating both sides of the dark, lush brown walls. People were dressed up in their finest attire, holding drinks that were half drunk while chatting their faces off.

The loud voice in your earpiece startles you, “Y/L/N, do you have the target?”, they ask.

“Not yet, Y/F/N. Still trying to acquire him.”, the assassin replies.

“Alright, get him soon. Be safe.”, your teammate coos, making kissy noises in the earpiece after finishing her sentence. You rolls her eyes but soon smiles once your teammate disconnects. She was so odd, but that’s Y/F/N for you. You put your eye into the white rifle. Your bangs were long, yes, but that never stopped you. You crouch down to get the best view of the attendees. You search for a while before seeing the last person you wanted to see. Shit. Why is he here? You internally facepalms yourself, seeing the black, long haired man. You knew he was given the same mission, so why don’t you work with him? The reason? The reward. 1 billion won. All of yourself. Who wouldn’t want that? Though, he was handsome. His long, veiny fingers holding a small shot glass. His left hand was near his waist. He was also looking for his target.

“Kim Mingyu, you asshole.”, you snicker. You move your small rifle peephole towards the door and there he was. Park Jaesung, the sick, money laundering motherfucker that you had to kill. You smirk and start to pull the trigger, knowing all that money was yours. Until, a loud shot rings in your ears. Fuck! You move your whole head out of your gun and see Mingyu with his gun out. You pack up your sniper skillfully before jogging down the stairs. You take a few steps closer to see the CEO lying on the ground. You could see the blood forming a huge pool around his head, the big bullet hole pierced through his forehead. The 6’2 man starts chuckling behind you. You didn’t even have to look back to see who it was.

“Well well, Y/L/N. If you want a loan, just ask.”, he whispers in your ear while placing his big hands around your waist, moving his hands up and down. You turn around to see the fucker who just stole your kill. You could act like you hate him all you want, but seriously, his looks were no joke. You wanted to suckerpunch him so bad, but at the same time, kiss the smirk off of his face. By this time, the space they were in was empty due to everybody running to get to safety.

“Lucky for you, Kim. I don’t need any loans from you.”, you cheekily answer. And there it was. The smile that made you melt every time she saw it. He leans in so close that your noses are basically touching. If you never had her high heels on right now, you wouldn’t even be half of Mingyu’s height. You extend your body a little more before connecting your lips with the man in front of you. You set both of your hands on his face, your thumbs rubbing his cheeks softly while his hands stay on your waist. When you let go from the kiss, a line of saliva connects from Mingyu’s pink, soft, and plump lips. You run your hands down his chest, feeling his hard rock abs through his shirt.

“So, my place?”, he asks.

When You get to Mingyu’s house, he lifts you up bridal style and lays you down softly on his bed. You cup his face and lock your lips with his. Both of your tongues moved together in harmony. He smirks into the kiss when you start palming his cock. It felt like the ocean was forming in your panties after you felt how hard he was. Just for you. You were supposed to hate him. He’s literally your rival. Mingyu breaks you out of your trance when he starts mumbling about how badly he’d been waiting for this. He starts leaving wet kisses and love bites down your neck and across your breasts. You unbuckle his belt with little to no struggle. The sight of his thick, girthy cock made you even more horny than you were before. You felt the room’s cold air fall onto your clit, realizing that Mingyu had ripped off your panties. Mingyu grips the base of his cock, while slipping it into you with no struggle, your wetness acting as lube. His big member was stretching your walls deliciously, causing you to let out a strained moan. You've been waiting so long for this particular moment, so why not take it? You push the stronger man down onto the soft pillows and straddle his lap. Your hand nudges into his biceps as you settle down onto his length.

“Ah shit, you’re so fucking tight.”, Mingyu moans. You can only whimper in response, losing yourself in the pleasure. Mingyu’s big hands land onto your ass, guiding you as you bounce on him with all your might. You look down at Mingyu, seeing his eyes roll all the way back.

“G-gyu, fuck me harder, please?”, you innocently ask. Mingyu breaks out of his pleasure bubble and finds his hands moving up to your waist, laying you down on your back. Your hands automatically move to his shoulder blades, digging into the skin. Mingyu starts thrusting quickly into you, trying to find his release. You feel your legs, wrapped around his waist, go numb. You want to last as long as you can, but the way Mingyu was fucking you, there was no way you would.

“Mingyu, fuck, I’m so close.”, you cry out. Your hands were long gone from his shoulders, now found tangling his long, black hair.

“I’m close too, baby. Just wait for me a little.”, the man replies. You lock eyes then soon lock lips. You can tell Mingyu is on the edge when his thrusts start to stutter. Your stomach feels like it’s burning, the euphoria of his cock affecting you in every way. Mingyu lets go of your lips, hearing your moans, knowing your orgasm is right there.

“Fuck!”, you drag out. Your eyes are shut close, and your cunt clenches around Mingyu’s dick, wanting to milk all of the cum out of him.

“You’re so beautiful, darling. Cumming only on my cock, yeah? For me?”, The rope in Mingyu’s stomach is broken also, his white liquid filling you up. His body slumps next to you, hands still hugging your waist as if it was a handbag. Your eyes flutter open, diverting your first gaze to the sweaty man next to you.

“So… what does this mean for us?”, Mingyu asks. You shrug while burying your face in his chest.

“Let’s not worry about that.”, you giggle.

a/n: um hey... this is my first post LMAO it's not that good imo. if you like it, please like and reblog it takes 2 seconds ! :)))))))

#seventeen #mingyu #mingyu imagines #mingyu x reader #svt #mingyu smut #seventeen smut #seventeen imagines #mingyu fluff #mingyu scenarios #seventeen scenarios #seventeen fluff #svt x reader #svt smut

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causeitsagame · 11 months

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@hajihiko and I talked about the aftereffects of All Of That (1 / 2 / 3 / 4), and you know what a good whalloping suckerpunch of angst needs? Some incredibly shameless H/C to follow it up.

(Warning for all the topics you'd expect after the physical and emotional trauma in those first posts.)

---

The music had started up again.

Fuyuhiko grimaced at the familiar, bone-deep thumping that ran through the walls and into his body. He could mostly tune out the sounds themselves, but the vibrations were harder to ignore. Instinctively, he moved his pillow over his ear and hoped for the best.

Sleep came only shallowly, and cold soon woke him from it. It'd licked at his shoulder where it poked up over the blanket, but once he became aware of the cold, it was obvious that the blanket wasn't heavy enough to actually keep the rest of him warm.

He could pretend that things were tolerable as he first fell asleep, exhausted by the horrors of each fresh day. But with a few hours' sleep, his body usually woke back up to alert him of all the dangers it faced. That only made things worse. He was in this cell, as alone as he'd ever been, and his captors weren't going to help him warm himself, or heal himself, or feed himself like he really needed. Each night without recuperative sleep just sped his inevitable death a little more.

Fuyuhiko frowned under the pillow he held to his ear. Now that he thought about the music, that song sounded like… those fuckers. They probably thought this was a great goddamn joke to play on him, didn't they? For the first time, they'd gotten their hands on one of the Remnants, and so now they were reminding him of the others. Playing Ibuki's music like that had to be taunting him: we'll get her, too. Remember how she screamed this song at everyone, not too long after they woke up? We'll get all of them. Every last one.

Deeper, glacial cold ran through Fuyuhiko, and he went very, very still.

After they woke up?

He shouldn't know that.

Why did he know specifics? Why could he picture locations? Events? Names? Shit. Fuck. It hadn't worked. The memories were still there to be carved out of him. He was weaker now than he'd been at the start of everything, and he'd do his damndest to hold everything back, but it would grow harder with every passing day.

Fuyuhiko clutched the blanket tight and tried to force himself back into sleep. He needed to shore up his willpower before the torture restarted. He knew he'd be dead, soon enough, so the only control he had was over whether he betrayed everyone he cared about. He couldn't let anyone know anything about the Remnants as a whole, and more than anything, he couldn't tell them one single goddamn thing about Hajime.

Shit. Fuck. FUCK. Why had he let himself remember that name?

Nearly delirious with panic, Fuyuhiko curled in on himself and tried to pass out.

Eventually, the heavy door opened and Knife (or Stain or Red) stepped inside. Fuyuhiko froze, attempting to feign unconsciousness. If it were simply more pain coming, he could bear anything. He'd simply stop acknowledging most of the agony ripping through him, knowing that his body would probably wear out before his resolve did. But if he knew things again, 'probably' was no longer good enough. Torture suddenly mattered, again.

They called his name, and he tensed before he could help it. Damn. That'd been visible. They knew he was awake. It was about to start.

They called his name again, and reached down to grab him by the shoulder. Fuyuhiko flinched, unable to help it, and also couldn't help his grimace when the pillow was lifted away from his head. His good eye screwed tighter shut, like that'd somehow help.

His name. Again. Again. And then he was being lifted bodily out of bed, and Knife's gang was saying…

Saying… what? That didn't make sense. Saying it was okay? That he was safe? What?

Fuyuhiko risked opening his good eye, slowly enough that he could slam it shut if something came at it. What he saw didn't make any sense, either. Who was that? It wasn't Knife, Red, or Stain. Had they brought in someone new? And what was with that look of concern? Were they doing mind games, now? Trying to play good cop, bad cop after spending so long with the same approach?

"Fuyuhiko," the stranger said again, with deep worry running through his voice. "It's okay. It's okay. Look at me."

He did, and confusion slowly ebbed like fog burning off under sunlight. "Hajime?" Fuyuhiko wondered, only for adrenaline to slam into him like taking a punch. "You have to get out of here!" he cried, lunging forward to shove him. "I told you not to come! Fuck! Go!"

"Fuyuhiko," Hajime repeated in an endless, soothing stream. "It's okay. Look around. Look at where you are. You're not there. You're not there."

"Huh?" Fuyuhiko's exhaustion-fogged brain needed a few seconds to respond, and he slowly looked around the room. There were… there were windows.

Windows? His room didn't have windows. Why were there windows, then?

Because… this was the ship. He was on the ship. He'd been back here for weeks, and his memories were back by choice, and Hajime wasn't about to be captured.

Exhaling, Fuyuhiko closed his eyes and relaxed, letting Hajime hold him up with the grip he had on Fuyuhiko's shoulders. "I'm back. Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," Hajime murmured. "Hey. Wanna look outside? It's sunny."

"I'm fine," Fuyuhiko said shortly, and pulled back. "I didn't have a damn nightmare or something. I was just… confused."

"After what you went through, it's normal to—"

"I'm fine," Fuyuhiko said in an increasingly tight voice, and pulled further away when Hajime reached for his wrist. "Ibuki screaming in the middle of the night just woke me up. S'normal to be tired when you can't sleep. Gonna let me get dressed?"

Hajime hesitated, then nodded and stepped back. "Right, sure. Sorry. Glad you're fine."

Fuyuhiko mutely nodded, and made a show of waiting for Hajime to leave so that he could dress for the day.

They'd sailed back north, at least for now. There was a military base the group knew of with pickings too good to pass up. That must have been where Hajime got the supplies for his dumbass (spectacular, overwhelming, incredible) move with the satellites.

This wasn't a commitment to settling up here, but they couldn't stay back on Jabberwock for long, and this little bay had apparently served them well enough. It was getting colder each day, though. Pretty, Fuyuhiko thought as he leaned on the railing and looked up at how very low the snowline had pushed into the evergreen forest surrounding them. But cold.

He folded his arms, enjoying the warmth of a sweater that he never would have been seen in while representing the clan, and appreciated the view. For about three minutes.

It wasn't unusual for Hajime and Peko to talk at length. For one, she'd trained herself on a lot of monitoring equipment, as had others. She, the Imposter, Mahiru, Nagito, Kazuichi, and Sonia all took shifts watching and listening for anything of note.

But those two were also the most likely to be concerned about Fuyuhiko. After his embarrassing confusion this morning, that had better not be motivating their latest conversation. Fuyuhiko watched them from a distance, talking and nodding and gesturing, and frowned when Hajime walked off first.

Toward Ibuki.

Goddammit!

"No," he hissed as he ran across the deck and grabbed Hajime by the arm.

"I just thought I could tell her to keep it down at night." Hajime shrugged. "Everyone else would probably appreciate it, too."

"I said I could handle it." Fuyuhiko's eye narrowed. "Don't say one fucking thing."

"Fuyuhiko—"

His eye drew into a mere slit. It glinted warning.

"Fine," Hajime relented. "But I think you should know that this is normal. I'm just trying to help, and it's nothing to be ashamed about."

"If you don't stop Ibuki, then is Peko gonna?"

"I…" Hajime rolled his eyes and walked off. "I'll talk to Peko."

Okay. Good. Fuyuhiko watched until he was sure that neither of them would attempt to talk to Ibuki, and wandered off toward breakfast.

That night, it was cold again.

Fortunately, music didn't blare, but the metal walls creaked ominously with the same winds that kept Ibuki below deck. Winter had arrived with a hunger, by now, and the narrow inlets along the coast funneled gusts right toward them.

Fuyuhiko curled into a ball under his blanket and tried to think of anything but cold running through his mind on repeat. Logically, he knew that it wasn't truly that bad in his room. A vent over the door radiated heat and he'd worn warm enough clothes to bed. Even so, his bed was up against the metal wall and it seemed to leech heat directly out of him and into the Canadian winter on the other side.

And all those dark memories coiling themselves around his mind thrived in the cold.

His door clicked. Annoyed, Fuyuhiko turned toward whoever had come to wake him up.

One of two expected faces was there, and it was the one who wouldn't just hand an extra blanket to him and make a silent exit. "I raided an empty room," Hajime explained, gesturing to the blanket in his hand.

Fuyuhiko sighed, about to argue that things had been spread evenly through the cabins, but stopped his own argument before he made it. It wasn't like they needed to keep those empty cabins stockpiled; they wouldn't be picking up any passengers any time soon. "Thanks, but…"

"But?"

But. But. He didn't know. The protest had been instinctive.

Hajime nodded slowly, closed the door behind him, and walked further into the cabin. "Mind talking?"

"Maybe," Fuyuhiko said wryly, and sat up. The blanket came with him and his legs folded snugly inside where it draped off his shoulders. As he sat up, he noticed an odd glow outside the portholes, like moonlight and starlight had been smeared flat against the glass. At some point, it'd started to snow. The gleaming reflection off each individual flake was dim, barely there, but there were so many of them.

Hajime sat on the other end of the bed and draped the blanket he'd brought around his own shoulders. "I'd keep waking up with his memories as my dreams."

Ah. Fuyuhiko considered Hajime, aware that his expression had slid toward sympathy in the not-really darkness, and said nothing.

"That happened again a few weeks ago, actually," Hajime continued. "When I did the satellites, I just kind of shut down all of my emotions so I wouldn't chicken out. That night, Sonia looked at me like I was… like I was someone else. Well, we started sailing for Jabberwock. A few nights into the trip, I thought about the satellites again. I remembered how she'd looked at me, and pretty soon… it wasn't me, that night."

Fuyuhiko shifted his weight on the bed and adjusted his grip on the blanket he held. "You didn't say anything."

"Right." Hajime shrugged. "I'm used to it. And I'm pretty practiced with coming back around, by now. But I guessed you weren't, yet."

Fuyuhiko laughed darkly, remembering how hard Hajime had needed to work to shatter the memories that had captured him. "Yeah. Well. What gave it away?"

"How'd that memory thing work, again? The one your dad taught you?"

The topic change caught him off guard, and Fuyuhiko needed a moment to catch up. "Uh… when there's enough pain that your brain can't think about anything else, you force an image into your head. From that point out, if you get asked about what they were trying to carve out of you, all you'll be able to remember is the new image."

Hajime's hands tightened around the blanket he held until the knuckles went tight and pale. "Right," he said after a measured pause, in a strained voice edged with outrage. "Sounds… really… handy."

Fuyuhiko smirked. It had been, but after a few desperate 'thank yous,' Hajime would never sincerely admit to that again.

"Anyway," Hajime continued, visibly trying to squelch his anger. "Think about what you just said: 'your brain can't think about anything else.'"

"Yeah, and?"

"Our brains have limits. They can only take so much. You know that, because you deliberately used your brain's limits as part of your plan." He scooted a little closer. "Well, this is just the other side of it, I guess. It's what came along as part of using that plan to." Hajime halted, swallowed, and needed a moment to continue. "To save me."

When Fuyuhiko remained thoughtfully quiet, Hajime reached for where Fuyuhiko's hand held the draped blanket shut. He ran his fingertips along a raised line on the hand's back. "You're not weak if you get a scar after you're cut, right? That's just how it works."

Fuyuhiko sat in silence for a while, then snorted faintly. "Don't pull out your Ultimate Therapist on me. Jerk."

Hajime smiled.

Sighing, Fuyuhiko tilted his head back and studied the ceiling. These stark cabin walls did look unfortunately similar to the place he'd been held for months. "So. How long's it last?"

"There are treatments we can try, if you want to."

Fuyuhiko looked uncertainly at him. "Treatments? Would I… what, have to bring Mikan into the loop?" Because there was no way.

"Don't have to. I haven't, for me."

Well. That was a positive, at least. “Didn't you say you had another bad night just recently?"

"Yeah," Hajime acknowledged. "Now that you mention it, next time we hit that military base, maybe we can check what they've got stockpiled in the pharmacy. For both of us. But even with just some mental exercises and techniques, it's a lot better than it was. I'll probably always have some bad nights, but if they're only an exception, I can deal."

Fuyuhiko nodded slowly. "Okay. So, I'd just talk with you, then?" He wouldn't with anyone else, but he could do that.

"Right. As much as you'd be up for."

Shifting awkwardly below his blanket, Fuyuhiko hesitated, then met and held Hajime's gaze. "Would you be up for it?" That earned a confused look, and he clarified, "If I start talking about exactly what they did to me, and you know it was for your sake, what's that gonna do to your own head?"

That apparently hadn't crossed Hajime's mind before it was pointed out. Concern, sympathy, and heartbreak passed through his expression in equal measure.

"Right." Fuyuhiko laughed faintly and pulled his knees tight against his chest. "We make quite a pair, huh?"

"I… look, if it helps, don't worry about my reaction. Really. It's exactly like you said: you did that for me. If me hearing about it helps you, then that's what we're gonna do."

Except that the most likely option would be Hajime needing to squelch his emotions to handle what he was hearing, and locking down his feelings did fuck-all for his mental health. "It's just gonna be you and me cycling around like this, huh?" Fuyuhiko drawled. "Each of us shoving the other out in front."

Hajime went quiet again before looking back up. His shoulders slumped slightly in resignation, for he apparently admitted that his plan had bit off too much, too early. "Okay. Then… we'll do that some day, but let's compromise right now. Let's just try to figure out what sets off your bad nights so we can hopefully avoid them. That's a good first step. Right?"

"Fair enough. But one of them is loud music, and you're not gonna mention one goddamn word of this to Ibuki. If she knows something, the whole ship'll know."

"Right," Hajime mused. "It's quiet tonight, but…" He trailed off, then asked thoughtfully, "What about ear plugs?"

"That's…" Fuyuhiko considered what it would be like if he could only feel the vibrations without any music. It might feel close enough to a ship's ongoing movement that he could convince himself that's all he was feeling. "That could help, actually." He probably should have thought of that, but he'd tried to forget his bad nights as soon as he woke from them.

Hajime grinned. "Okay, good start. Anything else?"

Fuyuhiko looked away, uncomfortably aware of how he'd been gripping his blanket like some child in a crib. "…Being cold."

Sympathy slammed into Hajime's eyes: the same overwhelmed look that Fuyuhiko remembered being directed at him while stuck in a hospital bed, when he didn't know who was staring at him in broken disbelief. "Oh. Right. Of course."

Fuyuhiko's grip flexed around the blanket. It wasn't like he was that invalid, still. It was fucking winter in fucking Canada, of course he couldn't shake off the cold.

"Uh…" Hajime scanned the room with increasing concern, clearly aware that he'd run up against the edges of Fuyuhiko's mood. "Here."

"Here?" Fuyuhiko repeated, expecting the other blanket to be draped around him. Instead, a warm set of arms embraced him around the blanket he wore, and Fuyuhiko blinked in surprise. "Uh," he managed.

"Mikan tells me I run a full degree warm," Hajime said with a grin. "Can you feel it?"

Still too surprised to protest, Fuyuhiko sat there and felt the warmth seep through the blanket, and then through his clothes, and then into him. It seemed to unknot muscles that had been tight ever since they returned to northern latitudes. "Yeah," he admitted, and relaxed.

The heat burrowed deeper and a long breath sighed out of him. "This is nice," Fuyuhiko conceded. He probably wouldn't let himself say that if he'd ever been able to get a full night's sleep. As winter's presence became inarguable, a full night's rest became impossible. Most nights weren't bad ones, not like the day before, but he always woke up midway.

He was soon so slack, so relaxed, that it took him a minute to realize his position had changed. "Huh?" Fuyuhiko blearily wondered as he looked up from the pillow he'd been laid against. Once made comfortable, his body had apparently decided to reclaim the sleep it'd missed. Immediately.

It took him another moment to realize that Hajime was also reclining, having arranged the blankets on top of them both. He noticed Fuyuhiko looking at him and lifted his eyebrows in silent question. This okay?

Fuyuhiko blinked at him in slow motion, still in awe of what it felt like to be warm, again, and to not feel alone and abandoned inside a steel cage. "You don't have a pillow," he pointed out, like it was suddenly, deeply important.

"Could raid another empty room."

He tried to say 'if you go, hurry' and 'don't lift the blankets too much.' All that actually came out was a soft, sleepy, "Mmmm." It was kind of funny, Fuyuhiko thought as he drifted off with surprising speed. Here was the person he'd gone through hell for, and yet, next to him, he had confidence that his memories would be kept safe from returning there.

Hajime grinned a little at the noise that had come out of Fuyuhiko as he toppled rapidly off the edge of consciousness. "Maybe tomorrow for a pillow."

"Mmmm," Fuyuhiko agreed, and felt his body relax out of the tight knot he'd automatically made. It was warm, finally. And no one could ever find them. That was good. That was…

Sleep took him gently but deeply, and lasted until morning.

#my fic

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eternalmarvel · 5 months

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MK1 BI-HAN X READER ~ feint ~

an: no wayy almost close to 100 notes in just a day of posting my first work in so long thanks so much everyone 🫶 in honour of this ill be posting a short drabble (lets see how long this really is after im done writing) anyways this work is inspired by THIS tiktok linked below vvv !! if u don't watch it u won't understand what prompted this fic so highly advise u watch this before u read

note: bi-han and reader are married in this story

also guys this story WILL be having bespectacled bi-han bc u can NOT tell me that man does not wear reading glasses when he gets older. i can totally see his vision getting worse and him having to begrudgingly resort to glasses to read documents and books .... i included a rough image of what that looks like (dont come for me im not an editor)

it was not often that you saw your husband battered from kombat. most days when he went out to spar or fight, there's be a few bruises and scratches here and there sure, but nothing that was so severe that you had to sit down and tend to his wounds. even if he did get injured, most of the time he patched himself up before you could lay eyes on him. it was a bright fall day at the lin kuei stronghold, with most of the ombre-braised leaves littering the ground of the courtyard. you had taken over as a mentor at the lin kuei, focusing on the academics of each initiate's journey to becoming a ninja (though it took a lot of convincing your dear old husband before he ever agreed to let you onboard).

"c'mon, bi-han. you can't just train the initiates physically. they gotta be trained mentally too! you can't possibly think the only problems people face are the ones in front of them -- it's the ones that are in their heads that they gotta defeat too."

bi-han propped himself up against the headboard of your marital bed, his hair messy around his head with his feet outstretched in a relaxed manner (which was much too rare for the grandmaster). he had his reading glasses on and a lounge hanfu wrapped loosely around his body, skimming some documents. rather than entertaining your antics, he ignored you and continued to read the ledger in front of him. you groaned sheepishly, prompting bi-han to look up at you with a hint of annoyance, as you plopped yourself right beside him.

"it's a good idea and you know it.....you just won't admit it..," you playfully pouted. bi-han continued to skim through his document as he gently ran his fingers through your hair and your scalp, prompting a deep sigh from you.

"not a sustainable idea, (name)." you quickly got up and faced him, determined to make a point. "i can make it sustainable! you have to give me a chance to prove it though."

bi-han closed his reading and you could now see the glasses perched up on the plateau of his nose. he was older now and his cryomancy did no favours for his vision -- as he increased his use of snow, his vision degraded. it was you that gave him the nudge to rectify his vision but he didn't budge, said that his vision was fine. it took getting suckerpunched by a VERY apologetic initiate at close-range for him to finally realize that his vision was nowhere where it used to be and if he wanted to retain his position as grandmaster, changes were going to have to be made. you made sure to help pick out his glasses, choosing the frames and lens meticulously and helping him put them on. you could hardly control ur salivation looking at him try on reading glasses that made him look all sophisticated and scholarly. after much pushback, you both decided on a subtle and sleek pair that wouldn't garner too much foreign attention (spoiler alert: it absolutely did). the first few days that bi-han wore the glasses, everyone found it hard to pry their eyes away from him. tomas had to stifle his giggles out of fear that bi-han would strangle him, kuai couldn't help but tease him everytime he laid eyes on his glasses, and the younger initates mistakenly (accidentally? who knows) referred to him as "dad."

bi-han leans forward, his hair clinging to his face, leaning for a kiss but you put your hand between the two of yours' lips as a barrier.

"you get nothing unless you agree to my idea, grandmaster."

bi-han leaned back against the headboard, faced towards you. he took a few brief moments to speak before giving you a soft small smile and gazing at you cautiously with his mellow brown eyes.

"if that is what my wife wishes," he whispers lowly.

you had given most of the initates a set of books that they were to have studied by the end of the year. this prompted a bunch of groans and boos from some of the students, seeing that they wanted to get to the 'ninja' side of things rather than slowly well-rounding all their skills. no one dared to personally say anything to you though, considering you were the grandmaster's wife and any complaint directed at you would be personally dealt with by the grandmaster himself (and it would not go well for the complainant).

you drew out an elaborate web of themes and concepts on the board in front of you.

"alright students, which one of you would like to tell me what this represents. how can we use it practically in our routine?," you say, pointing to one of the themes on the board. the room was pitch silent and you could hear a few yawns here and there.

"come on guys. i'm not doing this for myself, i'm doing this to help you guys out. the quicker you guys can answer this, the quicker we can get out of here," you say matter-of-factly. before you can continue on with your lesson, you hear people arguing and yelling outside. 2 of the initiates at the back of the room pry open the training room's doors ajar so they could take a look and listen to what was going on outside, but you didn't entertain this at all. yelling, fighting, whatever it may be, it was a stronghold, of course it would be common.

"hey. there is nothing going on outside that you need to be familiar with more than what we have in here. pay attention to the lesson please!" you exclaimed with an exasperated expression. the initiates nodded their head and let out a meager "sorry ma'am" for their inconvenience.

"now, everyone. as i was saying, wh-" before you could finish your sentence, the doors to the training room were thrown open. you could probably punch a whole through the wall with all the anger you were feeling. who the hell decided this time that it was a good idea to interrupt you?

"(name), ma'am, the grandmaster is injured and i think you should take a look at him," one of the initiates breathlessly whispers. it's clear that he ran all this way to get your attention.

"what?! oh my god......is his condition stable right now? is he doing okay? where is he?" you exclaimed.

the initiate gestured you to follow him and you agreed.

"alright students, just a mere diversion but by the time i get back, you all better be done the next chapter because i'm gonna grill you on it!" you proclaimed as you zoomed down the stronghold's corridors. when you finally made it to the room bi-han was in, you walked in to see kuai, tomas, sektor, and cyrax crowded by his bed in the infirmary.

"bi-han...." you whispered quietly as your eyes went wide. your husband was laying in the bed, resting like a mummy. bandages curtained his chest, arms, and forehead. his face was stressed -- he was asleep and yet a frown graced his face indicating that he was conscious but unaware of his surroundings. your first instinct was to push past sektor and sit down beside bi-han on the chair. kuai had intentionally left the seat empty so that you could comfort bi-han.

"how the hell did this happen kuai?" you asked, furiously. kuai grimaced at your expression.

"don't blame this on me, (name). he's your husband. you know he takes too much on himself and then ends up all injured."

you looked at the physician who had just finished cleaning up your husband's wounds in desperation, wondering what the hell even happened.

"he's alright. i've patched up any severe wounds and stuck him to an IV. you'll have to nurse him for the next few days though." the bespectacled physician prompted, pushing his glasses to the ridge of his nose.

you chuckled, putting your hands on your bandaged husband's chest, caressing him. "nurse him? what is he, a baby? you said he should be fine."

the physician prepares for a response before bi-han stirs awake. you smile at him as you await him to fully regain consciousness.

"huh....who is....wha..." bi-han murmurs as his eyes adjust to the natural lighting of the infimary.

"bi-han....you're awake! i'm glad." you smile brightly, as your hands move up and down his treated chest. bi-han glances between your hands on his upper body and you, before letting out a loud groan and plopping his head back on his pillow.

"don't."

you look at him confused. "what?"

"i have a wife......she'll kill you if she finds out you've laid your hands on me," he says sternly with his hoarse voice.

you get up from your seat and lean in closer to him with a big smile shone across your face, a light blush spread across your cheeks. you found it adorable that even in such a horrible condition, your husband was loyal to you and you only. kuai looks confused at bi-han, wondering if dementia has caught up to him after all these years while tomas lets out a small chuckle at what his grandmaster was saying knowing that bi-han is too weak to really do or say anything to him.

"i am your wife, my love."

bi-han looks back at you with a neutral expression on his face and you can see his face shift into surprise, then pure flush. you stand there beautifully over him with the hair moved from your face, your scent lingering over him. there is a perfect mix of concern and amusement engraved into your expression, much to bi-han's arousal. a heavy blush creeps onto his face, unlike one you've seen before, and the monitor regulating his heartbeats goes off the charts. it's evident that bi-han's heartrate has boosted EXPONENTIALLY.

"well i'll be damned. our grandmaster might just have a crush on someone." cyrax states. you and the rest of the ninjas turn around and look to cyrax, chuckling but bi-han's gaze remains on you. it's almost as though he is in awe that he married someone like you.

"clear the room," you demand authoritatively. the ninjas and the physician bow their head and comply with your demand, leaving you and your husband alone in the emptiness of the infirmary.

"do you need more heat? are you doing okay my love?" you ask as you get closer to your husband. he looks at you carefully before speaking again.

"perhaps....a little more heat." you smile and obey, grabbing a few candles from the cupboard in the corner of the room and bringing it closer to him. bi-han props himself up against his pillow and disregards everything you're doing just to stare at you. it puts a bit of pressure on you and you get nervous. even if he was on litres of morphine, he was still a LITTLE intimidating. he grabs your forearm gently and starts to bring you close.

"i meant in perhaps a different manner....."

you entertain him.

"i'll let your wife know that you desire to engage in intimate relations with me," you smirk bringing yourself closer to him. he leans back and looks at you in pure confusion and a hint of disgust.

"but i t-"

you ignore his protests and put your lips on his, murmuring "joke, my love" into his mouth as he kisses you back passionately. the morphine was doing its job and bi-han was entranced by the passion. you could get used to your husband being all submissive like this for you for a while now.

#sub zero x reader #mk sub zero #sub zero #bi han x y/n #bi han x reader #bi han #bi han sub zero #mk1 bi han #mk1 #mk1 x reader #mk1 2023

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isa-ah · 1 month

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I love system mob and Shigeo for so many reasons and one of them is the comedy potential. Mob and Shigeo having full blown conversations in their head and they don't realize they've been silently staring at the wall for 12 minutes while the others make sure they don't walk into anything. Mob and Teru being Not Straight and the entire time Shigeo's just judging him. Mobs just trying to bat him away with a newspaper so he can have his damn date in peace. I think Shigeo being fucking Goofy as well as, y'know, literally terrifying is underrated.

literally the funniest thing I can think of is teru leaning in to kiss mob and shigeo grabbing his face one handed with That One Expression and simply saying. "No." 💀

I agree though! shigeos fear over acceptance and feeling like tsubomi was the only one who would understand him I think would mean his sexuality is Off Limits for A While. like warming up to the people in mobs life Takes A Minute. so doing any additional soul searching now on the other side of puberty? pump the fucking breaks for a second

and its doubly funny that teruki who's been on the other side of him twice also has a bad impression bc he did it babe! he saw you at your worst and he likes you anyway! he saw you do terrible things and he stood by you until the bitter end! but he also choked you out and tried to explode your bouquet so fuck that guy.

reigen spinning some tall tale and mobs like wow shishou :) you're so amazing :) and then he says smtn else and shigeo drops a flat one liner that suckerpunches him & contradicts everything he just said so blatantly he's left fumbling to catch up. (and worst of all: it was really fucking FUNNY.)

which brings me to my next slide: the first person in mobs life that shigeo falls in with is absolutely tome. imo. she's blunt with her feelings, she's up front, she's sardonic and silly and she's a girl. safe all the way down for someone getting their sea legs. also imo tome is gay so it eases his concerns right. vibes.

one last consideration: shigeo enjoys his powers. they're a part of him. he wants to flex his wings. so him sparring w ritsu (gently) and shou (less so) in a way mob would NEVER before. but it's good! it's healthy to blow off that steam! esp bc shous a firecracker and also desperately needs to blow off his extra power. do u see my vision

#shigeo starting as a sardonic defensive person bc he doesnt trust snyone in mobs life #mostly around to take tsubomis calls and hang w tome #but over time his attitude does shift to being a lot more affable as he realizes maybe all of these people DO like him #they HAVE all seen him at his worst. they were all there for the rampage and none of them treat him differently after #itll still probably be a cold day in hell when he pays reigen a compliment tho LOL #sorry i like talkjng abt hcs for this haha #mp100

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s-aint-elmo · 5 months

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every episode of frieren's got hands we all know this and i should stop acting surprised when those hands start winding back for a suckerpunch but wow this orden guy is kinda tragical huh. like my last words to my son were that i never wanted to see his face again and now, months after he has died, i usher in a parade of pretenders, searching fervently for a face that looks like his. and i will emote about this with the frugality of village in famine

#sousou no frieren #frieren beyond journey's end #mine #absolutely not what i expected from a sold my kid to one direction plot. 10/10 no notes #congratulations frieren for getting her in-text ''parent of one of these kids'' moment. she can now join heiter and eisen at the table #despite the fact she was labelled his mother (derogatory)#i know fern/stark is a likely inevitability but these two kids being raised separately by 3/4 members of the heroes' party is so fun to me #that i will be clinging to shitty siblings fern and stark to eternity. beyond journeys end you might even say

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revelisms · 1 month

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Excerpt: Six Years

Vi wrestles with the realization of how much her sister has changed—and how many unwanted parallels she sees between Silco and their father. From a work-in-progress set after heron blue.

In some ways, she was still so familiar. Her perpetual nest of a living condition and geriatric sense of humor; her inability (refusal) to tend to her hair, herself. Yet, in so many ways, she's nothing like the girl Vi remembers.

A shell. A stranger.

Jinx—a name that doesn't belong to her sister, that christens a girl who spits at the name Powder; whose body bares sinew and steel, wears yellowed stains at her chipped fingernails and speaks a drawl decades beyond her years—isn't a child, anymore.

Eleven years, enmeshed in each others' days and nights; eleven, that Vi had always been with her.

Powder's rock and shield. Powder's everything.

Then the cannery had happened. Stillwater had happened. That monster had happened—

A monster whose gait she could pick out from a crowd: hears prowling over the floors now, above the jukebox and the metal tickings and her sister's self-directed rambling—a heavy-heeled th-thumping up the varnished steps, his coat a devil's whisper against the walls.

Vi steels herself. Beside her, Jinx prattles on.

"Y'ever thought of fighting in a ring, sis?"

Th-thump, th-thumping over the dark floors.

"You'd be the scrappiest scrapper in the Underground. Bet they'd call ya the Red Devil—or Lead Lettie—or Sourmouth Suckerpunch—"

She stares, unblinking, plastic squeezed beneath her thumb. Through the sliver of her sister's cracked door, a polish-slick boot wades through the shadows. Stills.

"What you really need," Jinx says, with a lax crook of her screwdriver, "is a pair of Vandie's old gauntlets—that'll set'em right."

Vi swallows. The hall's dark devours the wraith on the other side of the door: shrouds all but the unearthly cat's-eye that tips over the leather at his shoulder, burning like a funeral pyre over a rotting corpse.

"Yeah," she says, stiffly. Comb-teeth bite into her palm. "That's all I need."

His stare lingers—three-four-five beats—before it flits to the floor, trails over the blue tangled within her fingers, traces its mess back to the girl lounged beside her. Jinx stays worlds away in her tinkering, head lolled against the floor. She wrenches another screw into place.

"It's late," Jinx huffs, without needing a glance. "I know."

Silence, for a moment. Then Silco agrees, "It's late, indeed."

Jinx scowls. "One'ta talk."

If the shadows weren't playing a trick on her, Vi might have thought he'd smirked. But that bastard never smiled—never did anything but glare over his paperwork, around the vile plumes of his cigars: eyeing her hyena of a sister like a stray in need of a meal, and Vi like a bull ready to charge.

Signing a blood-pact to his enterprise (their city's scheme for fiscal independence; her sister's unfathomable choice for a homestead) had done nothing in the way of trust. He'd taken an overseer's scrutiny to her, from the day she'd put her name in ink: a dead-eyed panopticon hounding her every waking hour, as though she'd never left that molding cell.

On one hand, a part of her reasoned, he had a right—sizing up her methods, as he would any new recruit; strategizing where best to slot her in the arteries of a drug-machine already years on the march. A more cynical thread knew he was laying his cards flat and playing the long game. Slouching back, idly, with eyes unblinking, to find any reason to put her under his heel.

She stares at the unmarred side of his face: a dim halo in a coal-blackened sea.

Eleven years that she'd been with Powder.

Six—nearly seven, now—that Jinx has had this snake at her side.

From the doorway, his shadow gravels, "I take it you'll be off soon."

"Soon as the bell chimes." Jinx flits her wrist, pinkie-promise. "Not a rhyme later—cross my hearts and hope to snore."

Silco makes a low chuff at that: strange, quiet, bemused. A not-quite laugh, like Dad used to do.

For a moment, a breath tangled in her throat, Vi sees him.

He was tower of a man, thin as a string. His voice itched with smoke-pocked lungs and dreams that glittered like the stars. He kept chewing tobacco sweetened with cinnamon under his tongue, and he wore the mines on his clothes; gave hugs that made one's soul feel like it'd been wrapped in down-feathers; made the moonlight seem like nothing more than hand-sculpted glass: some beautiful thing he'd spooled on a thread and hung up there for all to see.

He'd been everything to her—her image of whistle-toothed optimism, her laughter, her guiding light—until he wasn't.

Freckles smattering her cheeks, her unruly hair the color of redmilk tea, a younger version of herself had shrieked over the idea of having to share her plates, pillows, toys with some snot-nosed little girl—a blue-haired, rambunctious, wailing thing—a sister. She'd stomped her feet and thrown fits over it. Told Dad, flat out: I don't wanna have her!

He'd stood slouched over her, hands bracketed at his thin waist, a glitter in his pale eyes, and chuffed. You'll do great, Lettie. His smile always pulled a touch crooked at one corner: a sincerity that, without fail, made her believe him.

She'd always believed him, then.

She was too young, too naïve not to.

Staring into an empty threshold, into a shadowed hall, a ghost of footsteps thudding down the dark floors, Vi fights to forget their father's voice. To block out the echo of a rasp no part of her wants to compare to it. To ignore the remnants of smoke on the air—tower of a man, thin as a string, heels heavy-footed from those damn mines—that belonged to a man she'd sooner wring the neck of. Wouldn't dare put in the same vein of everything their father was.

(Complicated. Self-loathing. Hellishly tempered. Kind.)

#first arcane wip post in...how many months??#truly cannot remember #work has been an absolute hellhole but I am. slowly. catching a break #i have so many fics i need to catch up on reading ghh #arcane #arcane fanfic #fic excerpt #writing #jinx arcane #vi arcane #silco arcane #this wip has been burning a hole in my files and augh i want to finish it at some point #the daughter vi dad silco dysfunction just hits different

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