Tumgik
#because anyone could’ve saved him and he would’ve fallen for them anyway
haliaiii · 5 months
Note
fuck romeo and juliet i want what kane and kalani have
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Thank you, have some more 👍👍
Also some misc. facts about them:
- Kain was the captain of the baseball team in highschool, his dream was to become a professional if he didn’t loose his leg
- Kalani did ballroom dancing in highschool with Val
- Kalani works for the government under the Council, her boss is Virgil who’s the Chancellor
- She lives in the capital but comes down to see Kain and the others on every other week on weekends/her days off
- they both like going bowling together with the girls
9 notes · View notes
jongseongsnudes · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
sixteen.
warning: 🥺 1.1k words.
masterlist.
“next stop, enha mall. next stop, enha mall.”
“can you at least tell me why we’re going to the mall... together?”
silence. again.
the team captain hadn’t spoken a word to you the entire day, not after your conversation this morning. you’d catch him staring at you a few times throughout the day but never did he speak to you. not even after getting onto the bus after school together.
“i swear to god niki, i will just get off-”
“you already agreed to come,” he finally finally turns to you, his voice though soft has a hint of annoyance in them, “just be patient. i’ll tell you later.”
you could only sigh but listen anyway.
a million things run through your mind, a million different reasons why he would want to take you to the mall. and so out of the blue. and your questions are still unanswered, even when you’re led towards a cute stationery store, your personal favourite, inside the mall ten minutes later.
“okay,” he looks hesitant, nervous, as he turns to look down at you while standing in front of the store, “i like someone.”
“oh.”
yes, oh. this was the last thing you expected him to say, to tell you that he liked someone else. something inside of you immediately deflates to the confession, like a balloon that had just been popped. you fight hard to keep a dejected expression from dawning your face, instead displaying your usual expression at the boy.
“i mean that’s great niki but...” you pause to gather your feelings, hoping he wouldn’t hear your tone, “but why are you telling me this?”
“well if you would’ve let me finished explaining, you would know,” he rolls his eyes rather dramatically, “i want to buy her a gift but i don’t know what to get. so help me.”
pang. straight to the heart.
“you took me all the way to the mall for this? why didn’t you ask those cheerleader senior friends of yours or anyone else! you’re unbelievable!”
“why are you so angry!”
yeah.
why were you so angry? why were you suddenly screaming at him? it wasn’t even that big of a deal right?
it’s not like there was anything between you and him anyway, right?
“well- well quick then. i’ll help you pick something so we can get out of here,” you enter the store without waiting for his response and let out the one breath you didn’t even know you were holding.
“thanks miss class president.”
pang. straight to the heart, again.
he follows you like a lost puppy, trailing closely behind you as you looked through some adorable pouches, stationery and so forth. you can feel his eyes on you the entire time, the intensity of his stare feels different today. like he’s trying to read you, to know every thought inside your head.
and thank the heavens that he can’t because all of your thoughts were of him.
“so nishimura... what colour does she like?”
“uhhh i don’t know but her pencil case is full of colours so i assume every colour?”
sigh, your pencil case was like that too.
“okay...” you say while picking out a few small things, “does she like anything in particular from here?”
“i don’t know-”
“then what do you know!” you turn around abruptly, only to have the team captain walk right into you, almost knocking you over. but of course with his athletic reflexes, the boy quickly reaches out to hug your waist, keeping you up against him. you were now so close to him, your face practically right beneath his.
this is proving way too much for your poor heart could handle with the way it was pounding inside your chest.
“can you be careful? it’s like i have to save you at least a hundred times every day!” the boy’s tone causes a few other customers to peek your way but it’s not like they weren’t looking at the handsome boy already anyway.
“well no one told you to save me! you could’ve just let me fallen down!”
you push against his chest when the boy doesn’t respond to you, hoping to get away from him as soon as possible. your poor heart might just explode if you didn’t at this point.
“whatever,” you straighten out the ends of your skirt and continue gawking over the displays, “but how can you not know anything about the person you like, nishimura. i’m sure it’s one of those cheer leader senior friends of yours right? so are you sure she’ll even like things from these stores? should we go to another store-”
“why do you always assume it’s one of them! it’s not them!” the boy suddenly steps closer to you as he says so, almost cornering you in against the display shelf, his body slightly pressing onto yours, “just pick something! anything. just pick things you like and we can go.”
not wanting to argue any further, you do as told, picking out a few random things you found absolutely adorable and hand them to the boy.
while you wait for him to pay, you can’t help but feel even more deflated than before. not only did niki nishimura have a crush on some mysterious girl but now he was gifting her things that you had chosen.
how great.
“thanks miss class president, for real,” the boy dangles the cute, purple bag with the biggest grin on his face, “i’m sure she’ll love it.”
“i hope so.”
“i know so.”
“whatever can i go now?” you rush to speak, wanting nothing more than to go home and jump into your heaven of pillows and not cry.
“do you want a drink? i’ll grab you one as a thank-”
“no it’s fine i have plans anyway. okay bye!”
you have never turned and walked away so fast in your life but you had to get away from the boy.
sigh.
Tumblr media
yawn.
8am.
you look down at your phone, surprised that you even made it to school on time despite not getting much sleep last night.
after getting home from the mall trip with niki, you couldn’t stop thinking about him. after everything that happened in the past few weeks with him, all the interactions, all the unexplainable moments... you thought that maybe there was something more.
until he confessed that he liked someone else. of course he would. how could he ever like you.
sigh.
you immediately pause once you enter the classroom, your mind unable to process the scene before you.
there, stood niki in front of your best friend’s desk while she sat in her seat.
and in her lap, the very same cute, purple bag from yesterday.
and pang. straight to your heart for the final time.
end.
Tumblr media
taglist; @i-dalso @wony6ung @jeonjungkookkk @j4yluvr @soobsbby @astra-line​ @drunkanddazedalways @shine-your-light​ @02zprotector​ @yabukkura​ @sonmil @byunhoebaek​ @artgukkx​ @nowrosesaredead​ @lhsng @abdiitcryy​​ @y4wnjunz​ @uuvjungwon @dehydratedami @enhasengene​ @enhacolor @my5colors @kyutiepeachy​​ @miiiwaa @miixsh @vantxx95​ @1115phile​ @outrologist @9900z @axartia​ @yuakagi @bunhoons​​​ @3nh4luvr​ @duckieanon​ @manaswi-madhusudan @skylaryoung2002 @lix-freckle3​ @uuwonnie​​​ @emoworu​​​ @kyoyangwon​ @sunshine-skz​ @paolennenicole​ @cherryblushtzy @carateum1 @ahnneyong​ @hhganyu​ @duolingofanaccount​ @hseungi​​​ @omgjwon​ @jays-blue​ @jaykedpotato @gobighee​ @jiawji​ @taekbokki​​​ @wonwon-ie @mavlogist​@thedemonundernikisbed ​ @rosie-is-everywhere​​​ @kuleo26 @ii4enha-jwn​ @thejjrl​ @taytaymuse @cococake​​​ @sunooslover​ @inlovewsimjaeyun @muffinminnie​ @sashamifasolla @yoonjin96 @choibeomgogi​ @flower-lise @princesjy​​​ @she-is-dreaming @n-wjns​ @simksl @love-enhaa @mimikittysblog​ @letapostropheesgo​​​ @f0rlov3rs ​
Tumblr media
2023 © jongseongsnudes on TUMBLR. PLEASE DO NOT COPY, TRANSLATE OR REPOST.
260 notes · View notes
lovelybarnes · 3 years
Text
scars- b. barnes
pairings: bucky barnes x reader warnings: heavy mentions of insecurity, focus on scars, injuries, blood, wounds, canon violence about: requested! (PK9) kissing scars, bruises, scratches, etc. + (PF26) person a wiping person b’s tears away a/n: thank you so much for requesting!! i hope this is what you wanted and that you liked it!!
[ @tylard-blog1 ]
you’re aware that everyone on the team has them; natasha romanoff, even steve rogers, with his unbreakable milk skin, and bruce banner, with the green that tinges the hue of his temples when a scar is made. they’re reminders of what you do, some symbols of the lives that you’ve saved-- and others the lives that you’ve taken.
yes, everyone has them, but that doesn’t make you like the ones that litter your own body very much. nor does it stop you from looking away from them when you catch a glimpse of the scars that peek out of the clothing you specifically choose to hide them away from the curious eyes of the public. it doesn’t stop the frustrated tears that ebb in your eyes when you run the tips of your fingers over the raised tissue.
sometimes you realize how unfair it is of you to hate the scars that splay on your collarbone, and the ones that run across your hips and thighs, when you press your lips against the ones on bucky’s shoulder, pleading for him to believe you when you say you think he’s beautiful. the thought lingers when you playfully roll your eyes at natasha on the rare moment when she narrows her eyes at the healed bullet wound that sits above her hip, genuine words assuring her she looks great no matter what slipping out of the same mouth that utters ugly words at the mirror. you ignore it even as it guilts you when you touch the scars on bruce’s arms with featherlight fingers, pressing that they don’t make him a monster, or any of the hideous words with which he describes himself.
you try to tell yourself the reassurances apply to you, too, because they’re true-- the scars don’t diminish the beauty of your smile, or the glow that you carry, and they shouldn’t hinder the upwards pull of your lips when you catch a glimpse of them in the mirror-- but even as you try to convince yourself of that, your eyes always flit away, hand positioning itself in front of the scars as you examine the way you’d love yourself without them.
you were never aware of the blue eyes that caught your moments of dislike for yourself, missing the bead of worry that embedded itself in the cerulean of bucky’s irises.
-
it was on a particularly bad day of yours that one of your relatively smaller missions was scheduled. listed underneath your name was bucky’s, although he was only on there because he had demanded you never to go on a mission to an active hydra base alone, even though he knew you could handle it; you didn’t mind, always enjoying the quiet moments you got on the quinjet with bucky-- and the pilot, usually clint or steve, who bit their tongue, unlike sam or tony.
it would’ve been fine on any other day, but your day hadn’t started on the best note. the scars underneath your clothing seemed to burn every time you moved in the way they had when you first received them. you had stared at them for far too long, wishing you had the super-healing of the asgardian gods or the super soldiers you surrounded yourself with, who would never get permanent scars from the things you had experienced. they felt especially ugly sitting on your skin, making you want to lay in bed all day, pretending they didn’t exist.
your mission cut off your day of wallowing in your bed, forcing you to shove on your suit and sit in the quinjet to arrive at the mission you could’ve easily handled by yourself had it been another day and you had felt any other way.
you were from the same black widow program natasha was from; you were probably impossibly better, more ruthless and uncaring because from the moment you were born, you had nothing to lose, no family to protect, no memories of a childhood--even a fake one-- to hang onto. your movements were always calculated and perfect, like they had been forced to be, and your emotions were never supposed to cloud your anything-- they never did, except for when you had the days that knocked you off your feet, just like these.
nevertheless, you were distracted in the base with bucky, although you shouldn’t have been, considering the delicate information you were handling. you flawlessly did the routine of knocking guards unconscious, ignoring the way a harsh heat flashed in your hip when bucky’s hand touched the place where one of your more brutal scars was. it felt nearly as if he could feel it under his fingers, even though it was a ridiculous thought considering the material of your tac suit.
it was still going relatively fine; you had recovered the usb file you had been assigned to secure, and most of the guards were dead, fallen in a trail that created a clear pathway for bucky to find you, usb drive clutched tightly in your hand as you bled out on the floor, a knife thrown next to the pool of blood quickly forming underneath you and the person who had done it lying dead a few feet away. your gun was in your other hand, one of its bullets embedded in the hydra agents’ chest. bucky could hear the strangled gurgles of breathing coming from the agent, but he paid no attention to him as he rushed to your side, eyebrows furrowing as his hands reached the stab wound. you hissed sharply when you felt the cold of his vibranium fingers meet the burning hot of the injury, pressing down hard as lightly as he could while he mumbled something into the comms you never used. you were suddenly gathered into his arms, cringing when you heard a scream you didn’t realize was yours until you felt bucky’s lips moving in reassuring sentences next to your ear, a string of apologies falling from his lips. you never let go of the drive, desperate to keep hold of something that connected you to the real world, not wanting to focus on your other alternative: it was irrelevant when compared to everything else, but through the blinding red of pain, the only thing you could focus on was obsessing over the fact that a new scar would inevitably heal in place of the stab wound-- one you knew you would survive because you’d survived a hell of a lot worse than it, but the next ugly thing to form in your abdomen might just make you never want to see yourself again.
warm tears rolled down your cheeks as bucky carried you back into the quinjet, one of your hands tiredly fisted at bucky’s shirt, trying your best to stay awake but ultimately failing from the loss of blood and will.
-
it’s stupid. you’re aware, but your first thought when you open your eyes again is how there is yet another scar that will form on your abdomen, making tears rush to your eyes in frustration because it was your fault it was there anyways. had you just paid attention-- just not concentrated so on the wretched things, a new one would not be forming right now. the collection of ugly tissue that littered your skin was already too large.
the frustration you felt overpowered the painful numbness that settled over the wound in your abdomen, making dried tears spring back to life and dribble down your apple cheeks, alerting your boyfriend of your state. “doll? what’s wrong?” he asks, and at the sign he’s there, listening to your whimpers and audible disdain, the dam breaks loose, your hands reaching up to your face and tugging at the gash.
bucky’s up on his feet, tender hands circling around your wrists to pull them back down, “y/n, what’s wrong, doll?” he repeats, gentle blue eyes scanning your tear-streaked face. you squeeze your eyes shut, another salty trail making its way onto the bow of your lips. bucky’s warm fingers wipe away the wetness, his fingertips light.
“baby, please tell me what hurts,” he begs, his vibranium hand making its way into yours. you shake your head, squeezing his cold fingers. “i hate them,” you mumble, feeling his palm cupping your jaw, “i hate them so much.”
“hate what, honey?” he questions gently, brows furrowing further when he sees your hand curling into a loose fist above the place where his hands have lovingly settled: right on your scars. “i’m sorry,” you cry quietly, nose scrunching up when his fingers trace over the tissue he’s memorized the location of, “i hate them. they’re ugly and i hate them.”
“these?” bucky inquires, surprised. he lifts your shirt-- really, his-- to see the object of your tears, catching when you shut your eyes again and more tears drip off your jaw.
“bucky, no--”
bucky looks up at you, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “y/n…” he starts sadly, pulling away to get you to look at him. “they’re not... “ his eyes flick down to one of the scars, and he taps on it gently, “d’you remember this one? it was a couple years ago when i barely joined the team.” you can feel a lump growing in your throat, perfectly able to recall where you got it.
“you barely knew me back then, but you did know i was a super soldier, and you jumped in front of that bullet anyways. god, i knew i had to ask you out before someone knocked sense into anyone else.”
you sniffle, biting your lip, “this one,” he touches another one, “you saved nat and a little girl from a madman. her parents were so thankful they stayed with you until you woke up to thank you.” his finger wipes away another tear, “she invited me to her birthday party this year,” you snivel, and bucky smiles.
“these are not ugly-- you are not ugly, i promise.” he tells you. “i love you, every part of you--” his head suddenly ducks down, and you can feel his lips softly pressing against the scars, careful to avoid your newly forming one. your hand reaches his jaw, running your nail along his stubble as more thankful tears slip from your eyes. “i love you,” he repeats, kissing your lips.
“thank you,” you whisper against his lips, sniffling as you feel the burn on the scars slowly begin to disappear with the coolness of bucky’s vibranium fingertips.
898 notes · View notes
bots-and-cons · 2 years
Note
How do you think both Cons and Bots would react to a neutral Cybertronian that is a first line first aid medic?
I'm thinking along the lines of them beeing a neutral from the begging and just appearing on the battlefields/ during conflicts and repairing the life-threatening wonds before running away
Scenario/ HC either way, what you feel up to love
Thank you for your work I honestly enjoy all of your post
💗💓💕💕❤️💘💗💓💕❤️💕✨💘❤️💓💗💘💕
I only did cons, since you wanted all of them and I didn't really feel like doing bots too. Thank you for liking my blog :D
•You just appear sometimes and drag some injured vehicons to safety, perform some first-aid and disappear
•Knockout thinks it’s nice, less work for him
•He hit his head pretty badly once, you appeared to check on him and when you were sure he was mostly okay, you were gone
•You’ve treated most of the cons, except for Megatron, because he kinda scares you and even though you’re neutral you don’t like him
•Also he doesn’t really get badly hurt that often so he doesn’t even need medical aid
•Breakdown does get hurt, he just doesn’t really want the help, but you’ve still treated him a couple of times, which just mostly made him annoyed
•Soundwave isn’t really involved in the fights that often and when he is, he seems to get out of it without a scratch
•He doesn’t really care what happens to you, and he doesn’t really have that much of an interest in the vehicons you save either
•Dreadwing is grateful for the medical aid, but he’s also annoyed that he needs it in the first place
•Shockwave couldn’t care less to be honest, it doesn’t affect him at all
•Airachnid actually tracked you down once when she was injured and forced you to treat her, you would’ve done it anyway but eh, you let her think she forced you, even though she was in such bad shape you could’ve probably just flicked her on the forehead and she would’ve fallen down
•Starscream is like “How dare you” when you try to treat him and threatens you, because he doesn’t trust you
•He doesn’t really trust anyone but that’s besides the point
160 notes · View notes
wandaromanova · 3 years
Text
Left Behind
Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader
Warnings: cussing, death
A/N: hi! this was a request! hope you guys like this one! y’all can blame @midgardianweasley for this one. happy reading <3
anon requested: Natasha x fem! reader. Reader and Natasha were in a building on fire trying to get citizens out and a wooden beam lands on reader. It’s too heavy for Natasha to lift it but won’t give up. Reader is screaming for Natasha to go! Giving her a smile that everything will be okay! A fireman then pulls Natasha out of the building against her will seeing the whole building collapse in reader.
Summary: Natasha and Y/N go on a mission, but don’t make it back together.
Word Count: 1.6K
| masterlist | request rules/guidelines | wips |
please do not repost or try and take ownership of my work. reblogs, likes, and comments are always welcome. <3
Tumblr media
You were an Avenger just like your girlfriend; Natasha. You had met the redhead when you first joined the team.
You were one of the highest-ranked S.H.I.E.L.D agents and Fury had decided to recruit you into the team of heroes. You had heard many stories about the Black Widow and to say you were a fan was an understatement.
You had an immense amount of respect for Natasha. Her past wasn’t a great one, but she turned her life around and made it beautiful. She didn’t let her mistakes define who she was and you admired that.
The assassin had taken a liking to you. You guys immediately hit it off. About six months after your arrival, you began dating Natasha.
Natasha’s room became yours too. You’d spend your nights laid on top of the redhead as she stroked your hair gently. You’d close your eyes and ask her to say anything because the sound of her voice was your favorite.
She’d sing Russian lullabies to you. You were the only person she’d ever let hear her sing. She said she was a terrible singer and not letting anyone hear her was a gift, but she was actually amazing at it.
Her husky voice sent chills down your spine whenever she would speak. So when she sang to you in Russian? You were speechless.
You felt blessed to know that Natasha was truly herself in your presence. No one had ever seen her true colors, until you.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
You were the person that Natasha went to for everything.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Exhausted after a long mission? She’d run into your arms as soon as she’d land. Steve and Tony annoying the fuck out of her? She’d rant to you about how small their brains were.
Devastated after a mission had gone wrong? She’d find comfort in your presence and your words. You’d whisper soft reassurances against her ear as you’d rock your bodies side-to-side.
Receiving good news? You’d be the very first person she’d tell as the excitement took over her. You’d match her energy, feeling just as excited as her, if not more. Natasha would beam as you’d press a soft kiss to the crown of her head, mumbling an ‘i’m so proud of you’ against her scalp.
You were Natasha’s person and she was yours. You genuinely believed you were made for one another. From the way your hands fit like two pieces of a puzzle with one another, to the way your thoughts and ideas seemed to always align. You guys just got each other in a way no one else could.
So, naturally, you were always assigned partners on missions. You two had the best communication on the team which led to tons of successful missions. However, communication couldn’t prevent nor predict the surprises of enemies.
•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•
You and Natasha were sent undercover to a gala being held by one of the leaders of Hydra.
The goal was to capture him for questioning and keep him in custody. That should be easy, considering there was booze everywhere and everyone was either tipsy or black-out drunk.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Well yes, it would’ve been easy; if your cover hadn’t been blown.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
You were currently sat on the target’s lap as he not so subtly stared at your cleavage. You were with him in a private area further into the party, while Natasha remained in the public area.
The drunk man looked up at you and you smiled down at him; trying your best to hide your disgust. However, he didn’t smile back at you.
You were caught off guard when he abruptly shoved you off of his lap, your body colliding with the marble floor.
“You’re an Avenger. You bitch!” You quickly stood up at his words and attacked him. You spoke into your earpiece while fighting off the man.
“Nat, our cover has been blown. I need backup.” You said as the man landed a heavy punch onto your abdomen. You stumbled back and he took the opportunity to rush out of the room.
“взорвать это место, сейчас! (blow the place up, now!)”
Your eyes widened at his words. Before you could rush out of the room yourself, an explosion pushed you back. Your body collided with a wall and you let out a scream of agony as a beam from the ceiling landed on top of you.
•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•
The sounds of screams and the fire alarms accompanied the ringing in your ears. Your only thoughts being; your pain and Natasha.
She had been on her way over here before the bomb went off. Was she okay? Did she get hit by the force of the bomb? Was she gone?
You tried your best to lift the beam off of your body, but to no avail. You realized that a piece of metal that had been sticking out of the beam had lodged itself into your chest.
Your eyes tore away from the beam on top of you and landed on red locks. Natasha stumbled into the room; or at least, what was left of it anyway. She paused in her tracks at your state.
Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as her hands shot up to cover her mouth, a muffled gasp escaping her throat. She quickly got it together and rushed over to help you.
Nat got down on her knees, not caring about how harsh the rubble was against her bare skin. She moved to lift the beam, but you stopped her.
“Natty, no. If you lift it, I’ll bleed out.” You sent her a small smile before you began to cough. Natasha’s heart sunk to her stomach at the sight of blood pouring out of your mouth.
“I have to get you out of here, babe. We have a movie night planned, I have to make sure that still happens.” Nat tried to joke in an attempt to console you, but it was more to control her own fear than anything.
Your conversation was interrupted by the sound of another explosion. The building quaked as flames began to invade the room. She needed to go; now.
You shook your hand that was sticking out from the beam slightly. Nat got the message and held your hand with both of hers tightly.
“You need to leave, honey. This place is going to collapse any minute now.” You croaked out, ignoring the metallic taste in your mouth.
“I’ll be damned if I leave you behind. If you’re going down, I’m going down with you.” You couldn’t help but smile as you took in every inch of Nat’s face.
She was absolutely beautiful. Even with the dust and dirt littering her face and her worried expression; she was still the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen.
The flames began to rage. The smoke was beginning to cloud your vision of the woman in front of you. You rubbed one of her hands with the back of your thumb, not minding the pain that accompanied the action.
“Go. Now. It’s okay. I love you so much and you aren’t leaving me behind; you never would and I- I know that.”
You stuttered towards the end of the sentence as you were overcome by an intense chill. You were losing so much blood and it wasn’t going to be long now before you were gone.
Your eyes drifted towards a figure entering the room. A firefighter. His eyes widened as he noticed both of you. He rushed over to help you, but you stopped him.
“Hey buddy, I’m a goner regardless if you get this off of me or not. Get her out of here. You can’t save me, but you can save her.”
You managed to let out as another fit of coughs shook your body. More crimson liquid spilled out of your mouth and Natasha finally let her tears fall.
The man nodded solemnly before he grabbed Natasha by the waist. She struggled against his hold as she kicked and screamed; her arms reaching out for you.
“No! No! Please let me stay! I can’t leave you! You can’t leave me!” Natasha’s words paired with her tone of agony and desperation tore your heart apart.
All you could do was smile lovingly at her as you slowly felt the life leave your body. She was going to be okay eventually and that’s all you wanted for her.
“I love you, moya lyubov (my love). It’s okay. Take care of yourself.”
You spoke quietly, but it was loud enough for Natasha to hear. She watched as the bright light that once filled your irises turned to a blank stare.
Natasha fought even harder against the man’s firm grip as she sobbed out. He had finally managed to get the both of them out of the room and out of the building. This all happened in the span of a few minutes, but to Natasha, it felt like an eternity.
•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•
The firefighter placed Nat down once they were a good distance away from the building. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she ran towards the building, but before she could make it back in; the entire structure collapsed.
Natasha’s knees roughly hit the floor as she took in the sight. The building that you were in was nothing but broken concrete and rubble. You were buried beneath all of that carnage.
Natasha sobbed without care. She couldn’t give two fucks if people were staring at her with pity or sympathy. She had just lost the love of her life.
Natasha couldn’t help but blame herself. If she had gotten to the room sooner, she could’ve gotten the both of you out of there. You wouldn’t have been crushed by a beam.
She wouldn’t have had to watch as you bled out. She wouldn’t have had to witness firsthand; as the soul she had fallen in love with left the world.
Natasha cried out into the night. The chaos going on around her turned to white noise. Her surroundings were in slow motion as she mourned.
Each tear that fell from her eyes represented each obliterated possibility of a future with the woman she loved.
Each scream that left her mouth served as curses to every higher power there was, for so cruelly taking the love of her life; you.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
───────── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ──────────
join my taglist!
taglist: @midgardianweasley @mindofwesley @d14n4ol @marrymemcgrath @marvelwomen-simp @fayhar @ymzki-haruki @peggycarter-steverogers @unstable-sapphic-hoe @q-hearts @hallecarey1 @blackbird06 @prentisshoe @tquick99 @levram @romanovaslut @madamevirgo @hopendeath @romanoffprint @hagridsmomma @mrsromanoff @mrs-avenger3000 @acertainredhead @b-5by5 @lauraageorgiaa @peterbparkersbae @walter-boswell428 @miricalebev @kozumeeekoi @mrs-scottmccall @ywuen @weelight @pattypavo @simpforwandanat @marvelxfandoms @kayla-25 @thewidowsghost @sapphic-stress @looseheartedlady @thewryter @lesbihoenestt @mmmmokdok @mcubreakdown101 @fishyandco @alexajbitar @ilovemarvelwomen @blackwidowismylove @imasimpfornatashamaximoff @iblameitonclint
462 notes · View notes
lady-o-ren · 3 years
Text
Moonstruck
Chapter One (Here) // Chapter Two (Here)
Chapter Two 
The wolf wasn't beneath the trees.
But his big feet make him easy to track, leading Claire and Caspian out of the wretched wood to a sea of wild hills that look like waves under the heavenly glow of the night sky. As they near two rolling mounds where the tracks drag against the earth, she sees a lonely crofter house nestled between them like a little boat, abandoned and shabby looking, but it's roof is still thatched and the stone walls still stand. Good enough really for a place to rest one's tired head. 
Yet Claire wonders why a wolf would seek a place so out in the open.
Better yet why anyone would seek out a wolf. 
"Because you're an absolute nutter, Beauchamp," says Claire to herself. " Or very possibly you're suffering a concussion." 
Swinging a leg off Caspian, she tugs on his reins with a warning to stay put and gathers a deep fortifying breath before stepping into the shadow of the house where the door hangs open.
Inside, shafts of bright silvery light illuminate the room, seeping in through the only window. There are cobwebs and dead leaves strewn about the place, emptied of almost everything except for a wobbly looking table by the soot stained hearth and a stool that must've been made for a child tucked into the corner. . .
Opposite of the big red wolf, eyes bright as stars in the pale blue dark.
Claire's breath quickens and her pulse jumps at her throat but she manages to keep her voice steady. Somewhat.
"We still have that deal don't we? You restrain yourself from biting my head off and I don't shoot you between the eyes."
A miserable sound echoes from the wolf's maw and that's answer enough for Claire. The floorboards creak beneath her as she shuffles about the room, finding a bit of flint left behind from vagrants come and gone and makes a pleased and grateful sound when the sparse bits of wood in the hearth catch fire. She then kneels down in front of him, fist outstretched and shaking as she chants -
"Please don't bite me. Please don't bite me. . ."
It's only when Claire feels something hot and wet swipe against her knuckles does she realize her eyes have been shut and she recoils in surprise,flat on her arse with a shriek. 
The wolf however snorts heartily.
“You're laughing at me aren't  you?” 
The corner of his long mouth quirks wryly as his bushy tail swings back and forth and Claire finds herself cracking a smile. The first of this very long and preposterous night.
"Well, a sense of humor must mean you have a heart after all. More so than Caspian anyways.”
And she hopes it means he isn't too badly injured.
Claire comes closer again and tentatively runs the back of her fingers against the wolf's broad crown, his dark copper fur soft against her skin, slanted eyes gone to slits. Encouraged now, she scratches behind his ears and the wolf makes a sound of pleasure from deep within his throat and drops his head onto her lap, sighing with heart filled contentment. She laughs softly with growing affection, her fingers finding their way underneath his great maw that makes his head upturn and tail to swish, swish.
"I don't care what you say you're a puppy and a sweet one too, aren't you?"
She then impulsively imparts a kiss atop his head and the wolf bumps his nose against her chin wanting another.
“Cheeky lad,” she murmurs warmly, but gives him another anyway.
However, she came here for a reason and that wasn't to cuddle a wolf.
Stroking her hand along his neck, that has him kicking out a long powerful hind leg, she says -
"I know I don't look it, but I know more than a thing or two about broken bones and gashes. Will you trust me to help you, even if it hurts?"
A beat passes before he licks at her wrist and she takes that as a show of trust and extricates herself from beneath the red wolf. Gently, she probes his back and ribs first and is amazed there's only a few marks from the bear, hardly deep at all. But then her hands pass over a crisscross of scars beneath his thick coat and her eyes meet his, searching.
“Someone's hunted you, haven't they?”
A frightful tremor crawls over him that grips at her heart and without thought she presses herself against him wishing she could ease whatever horror he was remembering.
“I hope you tore the bastard apart. Slowly. Bit by bit.”
His sides lightly shake and she knows it must be laughter.
Pushing her wayward curls behind her ear, Claire then touches him gingerly over his injured shoulder. The muscle is swollen and a part of her wonders if it's just a bad sprain. But she remembers that odd angle of his leg as he walked and how he nurses it close to himself now. 
“If you were a man I'd set your shoulder and wrap it in a sling. I've done so before though it's no small feat. But I haven't so for an animal much less a bear-sized wolf . . .” She sighs. Upset with herself.  Hand at her brow, the cut throbbing more so now. “There isn't much I can do without another pair of hands."
She looks helplessly at the wolf.
But there's no way for him to express to her that it's alright, he's suffered worse. And would gladly do so again and again if it meant keeping her from harm. This brown haired lass like no other woman he's ever seen before. Sae bonny and brave. 
So he nuzzles her palm and mouths the soft skin like the puppy she says he is and feels his heart swell and the pain in his arm to cease when a smile softly graces her face lovelier than a moonbeam.
Aye, she was worth it.
Claire leaves him for a moment to settle Caspian for the night in the old byre behind the crofter house and comes back with blankets from the horse's saddleroll, a flask and a fold of her cloak full of bittie yarrow leaves she'd found growing between the stones.
The flask is filled with brandy (courtesy of her former betrothed) that she douses torn strips of her gown with to clean the wolf's wounds (murmuring sweet things as she does so knowing how sharply it stings) while the yarrow leaves are mashed between her teeth and applied carefully like a salve. 
For his poor shoulder however, she says -
“I promise I'll figure out what to do in the morning. I owe it to you for saving me. Thank you by the way,” she softly adds, and scratches behind the wolf's ears as he likes until his eyes begin to droop and a long winded yawn escapes her mouth.
She's exhausted. Body bruised and aching from being tossed around like a ragdoll but she doesn't think she can sleep in a gown that's been slobbered and bloodied. So while the wolf is fast asleep, Claire undresses down to her chemise and stays and quickly wraps herself in one blanket while laying out the other for a makeshift bed, leaving her cloak to dry by the hearthfire.
Her ruined gown however she grasps in her hands.
No longer did it shine with promise. 
No longer was she to be a bride.
At least not for him. 
“The bloody two-faced fucking bastard,” Claire mutters angrily, tossing the damn garment across the floor to gather dust as a tear rolls down her chin. She then curls herself into a ball by the fire, shivering beneath the scratchy grey wool, and wrings her heart out of any lingering affection she's ever had for Frank Wolverton Randall by remembering the last moment she saw him. 
That morning of their wedding behind the church. Swaying on his feet as he groped a woman she could've sworn was his cousin. And then keeled over, grasping his manhood right after she kneed him.
If only they hadn't been on sacred ground she would've kicked him too.
But just maybe he pissed himself.
Lost in that ever pleasing hopeful thought, Claire is startled to feel a deep huff of breath cloud down her neck like steam and looks up to see the red wolf looming above her.
"You absolute fool," she scolds, though it's spoken without bite as she sits up to cradle his face with both her hands. " You're only making things worse for that shoulder of yours."
The wolf doesn't care. He nuzzles her cheek where the brokenhearted tear had fallen, making a sad whimpering sound as he does so that endears him evermore to Claire's heart.
 "No use arguing with a stubborn wolf is there?" 
There isn't. He licks the side of her face making her softly giggle before plopping down beside her with a heavy thunk and Claire can do nothing more but sink down against him, his fur radiating a tender warmth that seeps into her tired bones.
//
Claire wakes with the morning light that floods the room and stings her eyes that immediately shutter close behind the back of her arm.
While embers have kept the room bearable, she knows the only reason she hasn't woken with a sniffle is because of the heavy, heated weight that engulfs her like a brushfire. Drowsily, she lets her hand wander to the furry head atop her chest that rises steadily with a deep inhale of smokey air and then strokes softly down until her palm oddly meets naked flesh. . .
Her eyes bolt open and through the sleepy blur she sees a stranger, big and naked draped across her, mumbling something hot-breathed and incoherent as he smothers his face between her breasts right before she screams.
63 notes · View notes
yannowhatigiveup · 3 years
Text
T.W.A.A: The Eccedentesiast
This is a one shot I started last night and I finished it at around 2 am because I’m an insomniac. Sadly this isn’t the 10k+ word one shot I was talking about (I’m still writing it aaa) but this one is around 4-5k words long so I hope you enjoy. This is rushed, badly written, badly plotted and badly named.
TW: Dark topics such as sexual assault and suicide is mentioned in this piece of writing.
Paris, the City of Love, what a big misconception that was. If anything, Paris should've been labeled as the City of Misery considering the fact it was haunted by a villain who preyed on negative emotions. No one outside of Paris knew though, they were oblivious to the fact hundreds, thousands even millions had died in the city home to the Eiffel Tower, only to be resurrected and tormented with the memories of their death. It was worse for Marinette though, she had watched all the citizens, her beloved citizens, die before her eyes and she was powerless to help them. Their screams of anguish and cries of pain forever ghosted her nightmares. It wasn't just their blood that she drowned in, she was bullied, abused and betrayed in her civilian form by those she trusted the most.
Her classmates. She thought she could trust them but they left her for someone shinier and newer. They all hurt her, destroyed her hard work, verbally and physically bullied her. Nino and Kim, her childhood friends had turned their backs on her too, even joining the others in causing her physical and emotional pain. Alya, her best friend, had become her main abuser. The reporter stabbed the poor bluenette in the back, figuratively. Lila was the one who did it literally. Lila, the sound of the name itself made Marinette sick, after all, the brunette was the one who did this to her. She made her friends turn their backs on her, she made them abuse her and she only watched with fake crocodile tears and a smug smile when no one was looking. And Adrien, he was the worst of all. When Marinette was younger, Adrien was the embodiment of perfection. But now? All she could see was a spineless coward and a predator.
As Chat Noir, he wouldn't participate in the battles, only flirting with her hero persona. He would whine like a toddler when she rejected his advancements. Even when he did join in the battles, he was useless, ignoring anything that Ladybug would tell him and go straight for the kill which never worked. Chat Noir was incompetent and a sexual harasser. As Adrien, however, he was much more. Just two days ago, he had tried to sexually assault the young bluenette. The blonde had underestimated the girl and she managed to get away but nothing could erase her memory of the event.
The ultimatum Lila had delivered to Marinette when she thirteen seemed over-dramatic and seemingly impossible at the time. Yet three years later, she was at the point of no return. Her classmates, her friends, her teachers, the boy she once loved, her partner, her parents. They all left her. Mayor Bourgeois, fearing for his daughter's safety, had sent Chloe to New York with her mother. Luka was on tour with his father so they could build a better relationship. Kagami had a family affair back in Japan that would last for at least a month. She was truly alone. Her parents had fallen victim to Lila's lies and Marinette overheard them discussing about kicking her out. The only one by her side throughout the whole ordeal was Tikki, her beloved kwami. Even Master Fu had to leave her.
Marinette felt shut out by the rest of the world. Sure, Paris adored Ladybug but it felt different. She was fighting battles alone, she stood as the last survivor, the last protector of Paris. She took that title in stride, or that's what the Parisians thought. In reality, she was hiding behind a mask.
The bluenette had suffered endlessly for years, she was ready to break that cycle of torture. Yesterday, she came to the solid conclusion of who Hawkmoth was, who is accomplices were and what his motive was. Gabriel Agreste was the man behind Paris' torment, Nathalie Sancœr was one of his accomplices and so was Lila Rossi. For his motive, he wanted to bring his wife back. Marinette understood the pain he was in but she wouldn't go to such extreme lengths as he did. Many years ago, Marinette made a friend, one of her very best friends who she fell for. But she never told anyone who he was, where he came from or even the fact that she met someone. The reason behind this was the fact she witnessed his murder. That death, of all she witnessed, was the most heartbreaking. Even when all these years have passed, she never truly got over his death. His green eyes always lingered her mind.
The bluenette let out an anguished sigh, she was on the Eiffel Tower, admiring the city's skyline despite all its obvious flaws under close inspection. Though Marinette had drastically mentally changed, she would always put on the same mask, she would always portray herself as a regular school girl. This was the one time she felt a little peace in her chaotic excuse for a life. Her blue eyes stared off into the distance, focusing on nothing in particular when she heard footsteps coming from behind. In her peripheral vision, Marinette could see the figure of Gabriel Agreste slowly approaching. Not wanting anything to happen, she made her knowledge of her appearance known.
"I never expected to see you somewhere so public, Monsieur Agreste" Her voice remained neutral. Gabriel didn't flinch meaning that he had expected her to sense his arrival, it made the young girl slightly unnerved but she refused to show it.
"The Eiffel Tower holds the greatest inspiration, as a designer yourself I'm sure you are aware" Marinette was used to his cold voice by now, she kept her guard up reminding herself that this was Hawkmoth was standing a few feet away.
She hummed, putting the two miraculous users in a deathly silence, until she decided to break it. "You know, you could've just asked" The older man raised an eyebrow in confusion but Marinette never looked in his direction, "It would've saved a lot of bloodshed"
Gabriel managed to catch up with what she was saying. "Are you implying that I am Hawkmoth?" He didn't sound offended or defensive, merely curious.
"I'm not implying anything" She replied curtly, then turning to face him. "I am merely stating a fact"
The miraculous user turned away from her, focusing his gaze on the city's skyline once more. "What are you going to do with this knowledge?"
The question confused Marinette, surely he would've attacked her or try to get her to remain silent?
He must've noticed her confusion. "Even if you wanted to, you wouldn't say anything"
Marinette turned her full body towards the taller man, she was going to end Hawkmoth's reign as quickly as she could. "I can heal her"
"What?"
"I can heal her" The bluenette repeated. "Emilie"
Gabriel also turned to face her, his usual cold scowl was replaced with a staggered expression. "Y-you can? Even after all I've done as Hawkmoth?"
Her head twisted back to portrait that was Paris. "To end it all, yes I will"
"Then please, follow me and I promise I will give you my miraculous as well as Mayura's. Just, heal my wife please" His tone changed from intrigued to pleading, Marinette could see that he meant every word.
"Oh don't worry... I will"
~~~
"I did it!" Tim's voice echoed in the Batcave.
"Did what replacement?"
"I found Hawkmoth's identity!"
Around three months ago, Wonder Woman had noticed Green Lantern trying to delete a video. She stopped him before he successfully did the task and watched the video herself, calling a meeting to express her anger about the situation. Most were shaken since they had never seen the Amazonian this livid before. She briefly explained how her mother was once a miraculous user and how powerful these magical jewelry could be. Aqua Man also shared his concerns, revealing that the fall of Atlantis was due to the miraculous. They knew the logical decision was to work on this from outside of Paris, the villain preyed on negative emotions and they had been ignoring the Parisians' calls for help for four years. Their sudden appearance would definitely trigger the heroes. So in the last month, they had gathered files of nearly every person in Paris as well as all the necessary information about every akuma attack. It was tiring for the Bats but they trudged through it anyway.
Damian had taken a special interest in the spotted-heroine specifically, without the knowledge of any of his family members. She appeared similar to a female friend he had made quite some time ago, the one who had witnessed an assassination attempt on him. He saddened him to no end knowing that the friend he loved thought he was dead. The green-eyed boy became one hundred percent convinced that this hero was his friend.
One day, Dick had caught him in the Batcave observing a recently taken image of the Ladybug heroine. His older brother thought that Damian was crushing on the lady and began to tease him as others entered the cave.
"Tt, that's not true" the green-eyed boy retaliated.
"If you don't have a crush on Ladybug then why are you staring at an image of her?" Dick added more information necessary so that his younger brothers could join in on teasing his youngest brother.
The Robin vigilante sighed and brought everyone's attention to the screen. "See that?"
"All I see is this little lady Demon Spawn" Jason's smirk was quickly gone when he noticed Damian's serious expression.
"She's alone" he stated simply and before anyone could get a word in, her explained further. "There is usually a team with her"
Everyone seemed to lean closer to the screen.
"She's fighting alone. Her 'partner' doesn't participate in the battles anymore, he stays on the sidelines, observing" He let the others catch up to what he was saying. "The attacks have been lasting a lot longer than usual, Ladybug leads a super hero team correct? Then why is she fighting alone this time."
"They could have all been killed... We have to go to Paris to help the poor girl" Dick turned to Bruce. "Who knows how much longer she'll last alone fighting a psycho butterfly man!"
Bruce's fatherly instincts were screaming at him from merely looking at the photo. "I'll announce to the League that we'll be joining the fight in Paris"
~~~
Gabriel lead Marinette to his office, Nathalie wearily watching. Just as he was about to open the double doors, his assistant collapsed in uncontrollable coughing. Marinette was much faster than the older man so she got to the woman first. The bluenette carefully put Nathalie down on one of the chairs available while putting her hand on where she thought the assistant would where the peacock brooch. The blue-eyed girl could sense the broken miraculous' energy trapped in the woman so she did the only reasonable thing she could at that moment, she extracted the corrupted magic, healing Nathalie almost instantly. Marinette ignored Gabriel's relieved expression and gestured for him to lead her to Emilie.
"When this is over, I wish to have a restraining order against your son"
"May I ask why?"
"..."
"...I understand, I'll make sure to tell Nathalie"
The older man stopped before a painting of his wife, his fingers reached for the painted shapes and pressed on them, revealing an elevator to which he went down in. Following his motion, Marinette placed her hand on the painting and allowed herself to descend down the mansion. It lead her to a repository with a catwalk which lead to a circular platform covered in luscious greenery. In the middle on the platform was a class-covered cryogenic pod which the sleeping body of Emilie Agreste lay. The bluenette carefully made her way to the glass casket, placing her hand on the transparent material when she finally reached her destination. Focusing all her energy, a red light erupted from her finger tips and it soaked into Emilie's skin. Gabriel opened the pod, carefully watching his wife as Marinette took a step back. Suddenly her eyes fluttered open.
"G-Gabriel, what happened?"
The man didn't reply, he simply hugged the woman of his dreams before turning the the young girl.
"I... Thank you Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng, I can give you the miraculous now if-"
"Ladybug will be at the Eiffel Tower soon, I suggest you give the miraculous to her then"
Gabriel nodded and thanked the girl once more as she left. Before she reached the lift that would lead her back up to Gabriel's office, Marinette turned to face the newly reunited couple.
"Enjoy the happiness in your life, Monsieur Agreste, you never know when it may end"
She then turned to leave, not wanting to here what her former idol had to say. When she reached the main floor of the Agreste Mansion, Marinette was greeted by Nathalie. The bluenette acknowledged the assistant with a nod, meaning that Emilie was awake. The assistant let out a sigh of relief and rushed to Adrien's room, not wanting to be around the blonde boy, Marinette promptly left. Once out of the premises of the mansion, she transformed and waited for Gabriel to return the miraculous. What she didn't realise was that the Justice League would also be coming to pay her a visit.
It felt like an eternity, waiting for the miraculous to be handed back to her but the bluenette was patient. She waited four years for this moment, but she had to share the moment alone. It was bittersweet. Soon enough Gabriel arivied, hastily giving Ladybug both the brooches with apologetic eyes and leaving without a word. The spotted heroine presumed that he wanted to get back to his wife and son, she couldn't blame him. Ladybug reached for her yo-yo teary-eyed, she was going to put both miraculous in her weapon before returning them in the miracle box but she stopped when she heard multiple figures approaching where she was standing.
~~~
Batman and his sons were the ones to go to Paris and alert Ladybug of their findings. The five men found themselves in front of the Eiffel Tower, Tim found out that was were the heroes would return to after their patrol.
"We must tell Ladybug right away" Batman pulled out his grappling hook and flung himself to one of the higher levels, all but Robin followed suit.
The vigilante had a feeling to remain on a lower level. He wanted to be reunited with his long lost friend but he couldn't find the words. Simply, he used his grappling hook to bring him onto one of the beams, low enough so he couldn't be seen but high enough to hear any conversation.
"Greetings, Ladybug" His father's voice echoed through the quiet building.
"Monsieur Batman? Wh-what are you doing here?" Her voice sounded almost exactly as he remembered, of course it sounded deeper and more matured but it had a more desolated edge to it.
~~~
"We apologize for not intervening earlier but we didn't know how well we needed to control our emotions" Red Hood watched as Nightwing brushed a hand through his hair nervously.
"But we can help now!" Red Robin's excited voice came out of nowhere, Ladybug looked at the vigilante in surprise. "We found out Hawkmoth's identity so we can finish this once and-"
Ladybug put a single hand up, a small smile on her face, silencing Red Robin's rambling. "That's very considerate of you, all of you" Her gaze landed on each vigilante one at a time. "But I... have things sorted" She pulled out two brooches from behind her back to show the men before putting the miraculous in her yo-yo. "I appreciate all you've done, truly I do. But can I ask one for one more favor?"
"Of course, what is it?" Nightwing asked, clearly wanting the spotted heroine to be gleeful once more.
"Could you... help the other heroes to help the Parisians to heal?"
"It's the least we can do" Batman replied. "Will you be there too?"
"I'm afraid not" Ladybug turned around and leaned forward on the banister. "You know how Hawkmoth prays on negative emotions, so I've had to deal with my emotions in an unhealthy manor but now... Hawkmoth is no more. I can be free"
"Wh-"
"Thank you, truly" Ladybug jumped up on to railing, facing the group of vigilantes. Her sad smile faded as she stared at the floor.
They didn't even get a chance to process what was happening before it did. A bright light surrounded the young hero and they were forced to close their eyes. As the light died down, Red Hood saw a small bluenette. She looked so weak, so pretty, so... fragile. It hurt the vigilante's heart seeing someone like this being the sole protector of Paris with no one by her side.
"Hey little lady-"
"I'm sorry Tikki"
The girl looked at all the vigilantes slowly, mouthing a 'thank you' before letting herself lean backwards.
Gravity took the Parisian heroine and she fell.
A small creature holding something shiny stared in horror as its owner fell."MARINETTE!" The small creature's anguished scream seemed to bring the vigilantes back to reality.
~~~
"MARINETTE!"
Robin's head shot up, that name was all too familiar. Suddenly, he took note of a figure falling fast from above, her raven hair flowing in the wind. Without giving a second thought, he bounded down the ledge he was on, landing on one of the platforms and had his arms out ready to catch the fallen angel. The bluenette was close enough for Robin to grab her and he pulled her in so that her feet landed on the platform, her body still looming over the edge of the building. His brother and father landed not far from him, bounding over to help the bluenette but Robin took no notice of their presence.
"Why didn't you just let me f...all" The girl's voice trailed off as her eyes widened in recognition, the air in her lungs escaped from her lips. "...d-Damian?"
The two friends took no notice at how the vigilantes behind Robin stiffened. Her eyes developed a watery sheen as the situation began to really hit her. Tears threatened to spill as her lip quivered. Robin pulled her away from the ledge and she jumped into his arms, she was heavily touch-starved. Much to his family's surprise, he didn't push her away. In fact, he hugged her back. They heard what she said next.
"I... I thought you were dead, Dami"
"...why? What made you do this, Malaki?"
They didn't hear what she said next as her mumbling was muffled in Robin's chest. Nightwing walked up to the two first, kneeling down to be eye level with the girl.
"Hey Sunshine... we don't know what you've been through but we're willing to help you though it okay?" The girl looked at his sincere gaze, her eyes were so round with innocence, Nightwing thought he would melt.
"I... thank you, I'm sorry for worrying you when I... jumped" No one failed to notice when Robin ran his fingers through the bluenette's hair.
"Don't apologize Little Lady" Red Hood walked over to where Nightwing was kneeling, sitting next to his older brother. "Hawkbitch forced you to bottle up your emotions, you were just strong for too long."
Marinette looked between the two men, a grateful smile on her face while she wiped the tears of pure happiness running down her cheeks. "Thank you, I- this... this is the nicest I've been treated recently"
"If you don't mind me asking," Batman walked over and Marinette felt slightly intimidated you his presence as well as his tone. The dark knight must have noticed this since he cleared his throat and began talking in a softer manner. "What happened to cause you to go to such extremes? You're obligated to not having to talk about it right away if the subject makes you uncomfortable"
"Well I guess I do have to talk about it eventually..."
Recognising the bluenette's discomfort, Red Robin stepped in. In his palm was the shaken kwami who flew straight for Marinette once the vigilante got close enough. "Since you know Robin's identity, and we already sorta know yours, it's only fair if we tell you who we are, right?" He looked at his two older brothers and then at his adoptive father. "My name's Tim Drake nice to meet you"
Marinette was about to take his offered hand when the vigilante she presumed was Red Hood took it instead, "Jason Todd, Robin's most charming and handsome brother" She giggled at Damian's obvious annoyance.
"Well I'm Richard Grayson, Robin's favourite brother, but you can call me Dick" The vigilante in the suit who comforted her first, introduced himself.
"It's nice to meet all of you"
Batman soon came over as well to aquatint with the young heroine, offering out his hand for a handshake. "Bruce Wayne"
She returned the hand shake and brightly smiled, it blinded nearly all those near. "Thank you, Mr Wayne. Wait..." she turned to face Damian, one of her eyebrows raised. "Wayne?"
"I may have failed to mention that part" To Robin's surprise, Marinette started giggling so he huffed in taken offense.
"Sorry it's just- a girl in my class as been boasting about dating you and about the Wayne Family seeing her as their 'honorary member'. I knew she was lying I just didn't know that I would bump into the people she was lying about"
Bruce hummed. "We'll have to do something about this girl you're talking about. In the meantime, why don't you come back to the hotel with us? You and Damian can catch up" The older man saw the hesitation in her eyes but he also saw the willingness that shine through the most. "If you're living in a bad environment then you do have to escape" His sons nodded along.
"I'll come, can I bring some overnight clothes? It's been a long day..."
"Of course, you go get your belongings and you can meet us at the Grand Paris Hotel"
"I... thank you again" She transformed and headed in the direction of her house, leaving Robin at the mercy of his brothers.
"You like her, Brat" Red Robin spoke up first.
Nightwing pretended to wipe his tears. "Baby Bird's all grown up now"
"That means you can't adopt the little Pixie, don't think I haven't seen the adoption papers"
~~~
When Marinette destransformed on her balcony rooftop, she quickly went inside, packed some clothes as well as some essentials. When she was satisfied with her belongings, she gave a macaron to Tikki before heading downstairs where she was met with two disappointed looking parents.
"Is something wrong?"
"We've decided," Tom began. "We're kicking you out for what you've done to your lovely classmate, Lila"
"We don't recognise the person you've become, Marinette. You are not the daughter we raised" Sabine added
"May I pack my things in the morning?" Marinette inquired, her eyes void of emotion. When her parents nodded, she left the bakery and down to the hotel where Damian was waiting in the lobby. As she approached, he took her bag and intertwined their hands together. She blushed at the contact but leaned into his embrace.
When she entered the hotel room she was greeted by the vigilantes who were now changed and unmasked. The bluenette was welcomed with open arms, she felt the warmth in her heart for the first time since Lila's Tyranny. She briefly explained Lila's lies, what she had done to Marinette and how the bluenette was able to protect Paris. She would've carried on longer if it weren't for the hotel phone ringing. It was the receptionist, saying that someone had asked to see Marinette. Confused, she went down with Damian, Jason followed closely behind since he had grown quite attached to the little fairy. Waiting at the front desk as a woman, Damian and Jason recognised her instantly as Mayura. Damian tried to step in front of his friend but she completely ignored their futile attempts to keep her in reach.
"Ah, Hello Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng"
"Hello Nathalie, we're you the one who asked for me?"
"Yes, I just need to clarify a few things"
"Go ahead"
"You're request for the restraining order has been fulfilled" the bluenette nodded, waiting for Gabriel's assistant to continue. "May I ask what did he do to make you request for it?"
The two notices how Marinette stiffened. She contemplated before sighing. "Attempted sexual assault. If you look at the camera footage outside of the Louvre from two days ago, seven pm onwards, you'll see your evidence." Marinette turned away from Nathalie and walked back to Damian who, once in range, pulled her in for a hug.
"I'll never let him near you again, Angel"
~~~
The next day, Bruce had shown up with Marinette at her parents' bakery. Upon hearing about the young bluenette being kicked out, he had asked for her permission for him to be her Guardian until she was old enough to live in her own. Marinette accepted his offer. When they had entered the building, her parents had greeted their customers kindly before recognising Marinette. Bruce turned to the young girl next to him and smiled.
"You go pack your things I'll deal with this" She smiled and bounded upstairs, leaving Bruce to talk with the bakery's owners.
"Hello Sir, how may we help you?" Sabine began, wanting to know who this man was.
"I've come to gain guardianship of your daughter, Marinette Dupain-Cheng"
"Why should we give you guardianship?" Tom asked.
"I'm sure you know the liability for child neglect, Mr Dupain" With his words, both adults seemed to turn white. "I will file the necessary and submit it with the court, I'm sure you'll be willing to give your approval"
Both Marinette and the mystery man left, true they were glad that their mistake of a daughter had gone but they wondered who she had gone with.
~~~
Later that afternoon was a charity event which the Waynes were supposed to attend as they were invited by the mayor himself, the plus side was that the Akuma class would also be attending and they had no clue the Wayne Family would be there.
"...And finally I'd like to thank the Wayne Family for joining us this evening" Mayor Bourgeois finished his speech and all heads turned to the table the Waynes and Marinette were sitting on. As his speech was over, a teenage girl with glass and a very pale brunette came over to the table.
"Hello Mr Wayne, My name's Alya and I'm your honorary daughter's best friend and I was hoping-"
"Marinette" Bruce began, cutting off the aspiring reporter. The Alya girl only then seemed to notice that the bluenette was sitting at the table. "Is this girl you're friend?"
The bluenette took one hard look at Alya before shaking her head, "No"
"Marislut what th-"
"It would be appreciated if you did not talk about my honorary daughter and future daughter-in-law on that manner" Both Damian and Marinette turned red, one much more than the other. "In fact we should be leaving" Bruce and the rest of the family got up. "Miss Rossi, I will not tolerate your lies. You will receive a lawsuit for defamation and slander. Have a good evening" They left, leaving a reporter, a liar and a class speechless.
When they reached the hotel room they finished packing up, they would be leaving that night. Marinette made a few phone calls, telling her friends that she would be moving to Gotham. They had their belongs taken to the limo downstairs and had a few snacks before making their way down. In the lobby were many different people around the bluenette's age, she recognised them as her classmates and continued walking beside Damian until Alex came over.
"Marinette... we're sorry. We understand that you probably won't forgive apps but we wrote you letters anyway" the skater girl gave Marinette a pile of enveloped letters, ones she put in her bag straight away.
"Thank you for your apologies but I don't think I can forgive you just yet, goodbye Alix" the bluenette got in the limo and let out a breath she knew she was holding.
Her eyes glanced out the tinted window, she smiled knowing that she was leaving Paris for a better life. A better life with a friends, a better life with a new family. A better life with Damian.
~Bonus~
The harsh blizzard outside was definitely being felt from inside the manor, leaving a cold and tired Marinette on the couch. Damian, noticing his girlfriend's state, went to grab a blanket to cover both Marinette and himself. She snuggled into the green-eyed boy, taking all the warmth she could get, and slowly she drifted off to sleep. Damian too felt drowsy so soon followed his girlfriend into dreamland.
Jason came in a few moments later to find the sleeping couple, he was then reminded by how tired he was so he went on the couch and leaned his back against his youngest brother, himself too falling victim to slumber.
The next person to walk in was Dick, he had just finished training so he was exhausted. But he couldn't help to coo when he came across the scene in front of him. The eldest son then got on the sofa and carefully leaned against Marinette, similar to what Jason had done with Damian. It didn't take long for him to join them in dozing off.
Tim arrived with a big cup of freshly made coffee, one which he was about to drink until he noticed his siblings all curled up on the couch sleeping. The co-CEO went back to the kitchen, left his cup of coffee then went to grab a blanket to join his family. Wrapping himself in a blanket burrito, Tim placed himself on the floor pressed up against sofa.
When Bruce returned home safely, he went to the main living room to see his children, and his future in-law who was basically his own by now, sleeping soundly with the TV still running. Reaching for the remote, he turned the television off and grabbed his phone to take a picture. He planned on printing it out and having it framed in his study. Bruce sat on one of the armchairs, taking a book to read. If there was peace in the house, he might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
166 notes · View notes
quirkisms · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media
OFF YOUR CHEST - M. TOGATA (i)
pairing: mirio togata x fem!reader
summary: Mirio tears himself apart, and you're there to heal the pieces.
word count: 2k
tags: angst, hurt/comfort, strangers(ish) to lovers, AU where UA is college, not highschool (i dont want 2 write about minors), mirio is quirkless and is Dealing With It, slow burn, trauma and anxiety coping 
ao3
Tumblr media
He splits another knuckle open.
It’s no different than any other exercise or training, but he’s different. He’s stronger now, and smarter but he’s still less. He punches the wall again, willing it to go through. For a second, he thinks he can feel the soft tendrils of the void past the surface beckoning him, urging him forth. It’s asking him where he’s been, that it missed him and that he’s back. For that second, it’s real. His hand is sinking through and he’s back.
But the rough texture of the wall sinks into the cuts he’s ripped into his skin and he’s pulling back, sucking in air through his teeth and withholding curses.
He cradles his right hand with his left, blood trailing down the grooves of the taught tendons on both battered hands.
Mirio’s chest is heaving, his breaths varying from deep to shallow, his heart rate erratic. The buzz in his pocket disrupts his stare at the red stains his punches had left.
TAMAKI
where r u
It hurts to curl his hand around the device, but he does anyway. He wipes the other hand on his pants before responding.
Training! What’s up?
TAMAKI
patrolling tn. just wanted to lyk
Okay - Stay safe! 😀
Mirio pockets his phone. He wants to manually rub the grime out of the cuts or even just leave them the way they are. The sting is a juxtaposition from how his life was before. No longer can he float in the nothingness, phase through infinity until he needs to come up for air.
He feels everything now.
He makes his way towards UA’s medical clinic. It’s late, past dinner at least, which means it’ll be empty save for one person. Recovery Girl doesn’t work the hours like she used to, not since you came in. The clinic after hours feels safe, secretive and his. You’re always there late, as far as Mirio knows. Since the first time he injured himself by pushing himself past his newfound limits (which were significantly less than what they used to be) you’d always been there when he’d sneak in.
Tonight, you were hunched over textbooks, highlighter dangling out of your mouth. If he could’ve, he would’ve lingered in the doorway to watch you. Instead, the few droplets of blood spilling from his hands alerted you of his presence. You peek over your shoulder at him before capping the marker and nodding for him to sit on one of the empty exam beds. It was routine.
“You outdid yourself this time,” You said as you cleaned the open wounds. He’d beaten the flesh raw, almost exposing bone and you wanted to scold him but you knew it was useless. He’d just brush you off with a shrug, a smile and tell you it’s not that big of a deal. Pain is part of getting stronger.
Mirio doesn’t respond. Instead, he chooses to let his eyes flick around the room. Recovery Girl’s absence is notable - no more jar of candy, and you’ve taken over her desk and littered it with your own knicknacks. Your textbooks, an All Might water bottle, a Kamui Woods pez dispenser. It’s cute, he thinks.
“Did you have a punching match with one of those hardening quirks?” You’re frowning as you pop a piece of jerky in your mouth. “Maybe Cementoss?”
“Cementoss,” he confirms, only because that would be the only way he’d have so much...particulate within the splits. Cementoss was made of rock, and Mirio would rather die than admit to you he was relentlessly punching a wall.
You snort, shaking your head as you chew. You both know he’s full of it, but you drop it. You always do.
A soft, blue glow escapes from underneath your hand. His hand feels fuzzy, like it's fallen asleep before it dissipates and you remove your hand, motioning for him to lift his other so you can begin the same process.
As you clean the other hand, Mirio watches you work. You ignore the weight of his gaze the best you can, focusing on repairing the skin and not how strong and smooth his fingers are. His hand is heavy in yours, and the glow of your quirk flickers as you lose focus imaging what his grip would feel like on you.
“Done,” you said, flicking your used gloves into the wastebasket by your feet. Mirio flexes his fingers. Healed. “Y’know, after all these visits,” You raise an eyebrow, “I think you owe me.”
Mirio looks up from his hands to tilt his head at you.
“Tell me how you really get these injuries,” you grab one of his hands loosely and run your thumb over the freshly regenerated skin.
He wasn’t expecting that.
Mirio gapes at you like a fish out of water, like you’re Thirteen and you’ve sucked all of the air out of the room. He pulls himself from your grip to rest his hands in his lap. He’s uncomfortable, uneasy now. He’s liked this place, liked you because questions weren’t asked that he had to give real answers to. It’s not betrayal that Mirio feels, it’s more like loss. It’s the loss that comes with the realization that you can’t outrun everything you want forever. With all the training, all the work Mirio had put in, he thought he could.
“They’re self-inflicted. The bruising, the wound placements. It’s like you’re training yourself to death.”
“It’s not like that - I’m fine, I promise!” Mirio throws his hands up in a defensive motion. He’s summoning the sunlight, the optimism and charm that swooned UA and motivated him to keep working, keep training, to save a million people. He can feel it churning in his chest, but it’s been pressed so deep he’s grasping at the edges and they don’t want to meet his fingertips.
Mirio knew you never believed his excuses - you knew he knew that and you’d been pulled thin between wanting to show concern and ask what was up and respecting his privacy. But at the previous state of his knuckles, you couldn’t drag your feet any longer.
You watch him, face soft and stoic. You’re not coddling, but you’re not cold either. He realizes that you’re just simply waiting.
“I just train too hard,” he gives in, just a little. You raise your eyebrows a fraction and he continues. “I have a lot to make up for, so I tend to overdo it!” He laughs it off - the injuries are a joke, truly. They’re funny to him.
“You get more banged up than Midoriya,” you look at him over the clear frame of the glasses you seem to only wear at the clinic. “How does your training get you more banged up than the other heroes?”
“I’m not a hero,” he’s quick to say, and it stings more than it should. He was, should’ve been, should be.
Your face is soft again, and it’s an art you’ve mastered over time. You’re good at composing your features to appear passive and static. In your many hero encounters, pity is the quickest way to lose trust. So you watch Mirio, with his soft smile and now long hair tied back at the nape of his neck. He’s analyzing you just as you are him, and you keep your eyes from flicking to his knuckles when you respond with, “Okay.”
His stomach is churning, still sour with his words but he rubs his hands on his thighs. Why are they so sweaty?
In his distracted state, Mirio doesn’t notice you scribbling down something on a notecard shaped like an anatomical heart. You hand it to him, knocking him out of his trance.
Seven digits, followed by the letters 3G, and four more digits.
“What’s this?” he asks. Obviously the first line is your number, but you lost him with the rest.
“My number,” you aren’t looking at him. Instead you choose to refold the sleeves of your white coat as you continue, “and the passcode to get into my dorm building.”
Mirio does white. The passcode? Why would he need that?”
“I can’t be staying here late every night in case you show up.” You hated trudging back to your dorm on the nights he didn’t show, both eyelids and textbooks weighing you down. “Just stop by my dorm if it’s late like this.”
Mirio opens his mouth but you cut him off.
“Floor 5F, my name is on the door.”
He closes his mouth and smiles, nodding and bowing in thanks. He doesn’t trust his voice, not right now. You’re packing up your textbooks as he exits the clinic.
It doesn’t hit him until he gets back to the 3A dorms that he doesn’t know your name.
He beats himself up about it the whole night. He wishes he could go into Tamaki’s room to distract himself, to ask him about the person who’s basically taken over Recovery Girl’s mantle. Tamaki frequented the clinic as well - used it as an excuse to get out of the heroics lessons and sleep. He’d definitely know your name, unlike his golden counterpart who visited her frequently and never thought to ask.
Mirio tried to comfort himself by thinking that maybe you didn’t know his name either. You’d never asked. But then again, Mirio is (was?) part of UA’s Big Three. The aftermath of the Shie Hassaikai was all anyone talked about for weeks. You’d definitely have to know who he was. Mirio Togata, the kid who lost his quirk. Le Million, the hero who gave and lost everything. You went to UA yourself - there was no way.
He didn’t want to be that sob story to you. But he was constantly coming to you with injuries - split knuckles, a dislocated shoulder, a torn achilles. Maybe he wasn’t exactly that sob story, but he knew you pitied him regardless. Maybe that’s why you always stayed so late - you felt bad for him.
The thoughts makes Mirio uncomfortable.
And so much so that to make himself feel better, he adds your number to his phone. Typing in the numbers, he thinks about how he likes that your handwriting was shitty. Another little thing you let him see, let him learn about you. In lieu of a name, he makes your contact name the stethoscope emoji. He laughs to himself when he saves the contact and types out a message:
How late is too late?
He hesitates, but hits send. It delivers, and after fifteen minutes, Mirio is worried he confused one of your twos for a seven or vice versa. Or, maybe he should’ve introduced himself instead of just sending you a basic question that revealed his identity in no way whatsoever. In the eighteenth minute, you buzz back a response.
🩺
Why?
Might break a bone tomorrow.
It only takes eleven minutes for you to respond this time, and Mirio hates that he’s counting.
🩺
I’ll be sure to eat breakfast then.
No later than midnight, tho.
Okay!
Seven minutes this time. He wasn’t expecting a response.
🩺
You don’t need an injury to stop by, you know.
Mirio grins. A real one.
If you insist. Still might have a scratch or two, though. 😀
Two minutes. Mirio is oblivious to the fact that you are cringing hard at his emoji usage.
🩺
don’t be taking advantage of my quirk :(
You’re right… promise you will be compensated for your time. 👍
It’s immediate.
If it’s not edible, I don’t want it.
Mirio decides he might take it a little easy when he trains tomorrow.
130 notes · View notes
whereisten · 4 years
Text
Porcelain
A Yangyang fic that’s part of our Halloween Series! 
Tumblr media
Summary: After a falling out with your friends, you wander into a forest and find a mysterious mansion with an even more mysterious inhabitant, Yangyang. 
Pairing: rich boy!Yangyang x female reader 
Genre: romance, fluff, fantasy, mystery, suspense, drama
Word Count: 7k
Warnings: Violence
(A/N): hey y’all! So the timing for posting this story worked out so well because it’s Yangyang’s birthday (in America!) :D Anyway, this is our second story for our Halloween Series for NCT 2020 and we hope you enjoy!  I’m so excited to be writing for one of my biases. I know my writing needs a lot of work but I hope you guys enjoy it. Yangyang is precious. Stan Yangyang, y’all. Shoutout to Krys for inspiring me everyday and for proofreading my story! You are my rock!
_______
It was October 10, the day in which your small town came together for a big bonfire to celebrate the fall season. Your town of Celestial was known for celebrating something every week but the atmosphere was always special at this time of the year. Classes ended for the week and your friends were excited to go to a party in the woods.
Unfortunately for you, you were abandoned off the side of the road after having a falling out with your friends Dowoon and Sana for blowing off the mayor’s son’s party. You’d recently been rebuffed by him in the senior hallway. Your rejection was followed by your classmates mocking you all day long. You wouldn’t be caught dead at Peter’s party. And you were especially in no mood to put up with your friends’ preference for a good party over their recently spurned friend’s feelings.
You said screw them but they would probably end up screwing each other anyway. They were platonic but their drunken hookups always said otherwise. So sometimes you felt like a third wheel. Which was also why you didn’t want to go. You wanted a new experience this spooky season. And you were probably getting one now that you were 2 miles outside of town. Damn your pride. Dowoon and Sana insisted you get back in the car but the driver, the school quarterback, quickly drove them off. What a sense of community, you thought.
It was freezing in Celestial at this time of year so you were layered up, saving your pair of ruby red mittens for last. The overcast sky appeared to promise snowfall. If not for tonight, the snow would surely fall tomorrow
You knew this area well enough to walk back into town but as you took a few steps forward, you noticed smoke in the distance. Like it was coming from a chimney.
That was odd, you thought. Who lived on this side of town?
As you walked in the direction of the smoke, you moved past the dense evergreen trees and before you knew it, you stumbled upon a mansion out of an old-time movie. Dating back to at most the 1800s. The mansion was a Renaissance chateau, big and domineering. Something that could’ve made Celestial a tourist destination like Asheville had with the Biltmore Estate.
How was it possible that anyone could live here, you thought. Surely, this would be the talk of the town if anyone knew. And if it was off-limits, it would’ve certainly kept the town on their toes.
The mansion was quiet and there was no trace of movement or inhabitants. Then again, it was large so you could be incorrect. The chateau’s main entrance was big and made of the most pristine marble. The only thing missing was a moat. There were several fountains in the entrance. The water froze due to the colder weather. You didn’t understand how you could keep moving forward. You didn’t know this place. You didn’t know who could be inside. But you found yourself taking steps up to the massive double doors. Your hand moved to the doorknob and turned it over. The door creaked open and without a second thought, you walked in.
The door slammed shut behind you but you weren’t afraid. In fact, you were mesmerized by the atmosphere of the mansion. From the outside the mansion looked preserved like a fine piece of art in a high-surveillance museum: cold and unwelcoming and way out of your price range. But on the inside, it felt...warm and bright. It felt like home. It smelled of cinnamon and freshly baked bread.
You walked through the entryway and found everything illuminated by candle light. There was no indication of light from the outside. It was almost as if the real goings-on were hidden from the outside world.  
There were shoes at the entrance. You took your boots off to not track dirt into the residence. Winter coats were hung up on the coat rack. You hang your coat up as well. There was a half-full cup of tea that was beside the sofa of the sitting room. You admired the interior: the expansive first floor library, the dining room table that sat seven, the pristine kitchen area, the music room...
As you stood in the doorway of the music room, you heard the sounds of a violin playing a somber but sweet melody. Rather than grow alarmed, you longed to find the source, thinking that whatever it was could only bring you joy.
The music room was massive, with a skylight in the shape of a spade on the ceiling. The sunset colors of the sky never looked more stunning than they did at that moment.  A grand piano lay at the center. You longed to touch it but something inside you warned you against it. Instruments of all kinds were splayed across the area. But there was no violin in sight.
When you turned around to continue exploring the mansion, that was when you found the source of the music.
A boy about your age stood before you with his violin rested against his collarbone. He continued to play as he smiled knowingly at you. He had straight brown hair that nearly fell into his warm brown eyes. He donned a black tuxedo that was more regal than modern. His eyes crinkled as he watched you, delighted to meet such a beautiful stranger.
You nearly jumped at his presence. “Who…are you?”
Quirking an eyebrow, he replied as he continued playing, “I should be asking you that. You’ve broken into our home.”
“Our?” You asked.
He shook his head. “What brings you here, miss?”
You knew you’d been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to  but you couldn’t help it. This place called out to you and you’d hoped you could stay longer. But it looked like your time was up. You lamely said, “I…need to borrow your phone.”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to. What’s this ‘phone’ you speak of?” His refined voice was not like that of the locals. He sounded well-traveled, worldly. But definitely from a long time ago. 
The more you spoke to this young man, the more you realized that he didn’t sound like he lived in the same century as you.
You frowned. “You don’t know what a phone is? Come on, you’re kidding, aren’t you?”
He halted from playing and gave you a look. “Tell me. What is a phone?”
“…It’s a device that lets you speak to someone who isn’t with you…” You attempted an explanation that was as eloquent as possible, thinking that if you spoke in a more refined tone, he would get what you were saying. Where on earth could this boy have been from to not know what a phone is? He really sounded like someone from a century past.
“Like a medium?” He asked as he set his violin down in its case. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked slowly back to you. Your breathing stalled as his face was mere inches from yours. He was indeed very handsome. His high cheekbones. His glorious tan skin. A pearly white set of teeth. His legs were dangerously long as he faced you.
Your face warmed up and you hoped he couldn’t tell. You backed away as you locked your eyes on the piano instead. “No…It’s like if I were two miles away from here and you needed to get a hold of me, you could use a phone to contact me on another phone. It’s an electronic device.”
He nodded. “Oh, I’ve heard of those…My family and I could not acquire them, unfortunately.” His expression became sad, longing.
Hearing his defeated voice, you turned to him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Why is that?”
He looked at you, defeated. “I’d rather not say, miss…”
“Y/n,” you answered.
“Y/n,” he replied, liking the sound of your name.
“It’s okay,” you replied, “I should probably go…I’ve overstayed my welcome, sir….Your name?”
“Yangyang,” he answered, anticipating the sound of his name off of your lips.
“Yangyang…Would it be possible to get a ride back into town? I can pay you for your trouble.”
He smiled apologetically. “My sincerest apologies but I’ve no means to take you.”
“Oh…” It was all you could say.
You felt a small pang of worry at the pit of your stomach, especially now that night had fallen. Perhaps, you could make your way back into town if Yangyang offered you a torch. He would have that much, at the very least.
“It’s dangerous to go out on your own at this time of night, y/n…” He said, quietly. It was a little eerie that he read your mind at that moment.
“I know. I’m such a fool…I couldn’t borrow my father’s phone for the night so I have no way of calling anyone…I…just couldn’t help myself when I walked in here…” You said as you looked around the music room. “It was like…”
“Something pulled you in,” he finished.
“Yes, exactly.”
Yangyang began, “I know it’s out of turn for me to say this but I can offer you a room to stay in for the night…Then, you can make your way back into town in the morning.”
You were beyond lucky your parents weren’t home for the weekend. Otherwise, they’d be worried sick. But even so…How could you say yes to a total stranger? Even if you were only a few miles out of town, you didn’t know Yangyang. You didn’t know what his intentions could be.
Another part of you told you to trust him. Because what would you do in the woods at night? You couldn’t account for the wolves or the other creatures of the night. You didn’t know who else could linger in the woods.
As far as you could tell, Yangyang was an odd but attractive guy. And if he was offering a separate space for you to sleep in, then you should take it.
_______
There was a snowstorm in a matter of minutes when Yangyang escorted you upstairs. How odd for it to be snowing in early October, you thought. You rejoiced over how your jerk of a crush's party was a bust. You wondered if Sana and Dowoon made it home safely. You wondered if they worried about you now. After they left you in the middle of the road.
Maybe you should stop being friends with them. You felt like you were more disappointed in them with each passing week. You wondered when they would do something for you. It always seemed to fall on you to pick them up from parties and cover for them when their parents called your house when they went to a 21+ club. You just wanted a simple night in to watch a movie and share ghost stories. Maybe they didn’t want to do those things anymore.
You wouldn’t say they grew up but maybe...the three of you just grew apart.
You pushed thoughts of them to the back of your mind as Yangyang stood in front of an ornate door, decorated with flower engravings, painted in several colors. The initials at the bottom were “W.T.”.
Yangyang pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door for you. He handed the set of golden keys to you. “These are yours for the duration of your stay. You can trust no one will come in...Unless it be your wish, y/n.”
He dropped the keys into your hands. “Thank you,” you whispered.
Yangyang smiled. “You are welcome. Supper will be ready in an hour. I’ll come for you when it is time.”
You couldn’t look at him for too long without your eyes burning. He was too radiant. Too beautiful. Almost otherworldly. You looked down at your socks as you entered the room. You shut it gently behind you.
You locked the door from the inside, trusting that Yangyang gave you the only set. You took a sigh of relief as you took in the bedroom.
This had to be a mistake, you thought.
This had to be the master room. It felt like you were in a 19th century penthouse suite, if such a thing had existed. Your room for the night started with a fireplace and a sitting area. When you walked past it, you entered the study area that was bigger than the first floor of your house. You had a massive walk-in closet filled with gowns and shoes of every color. You even had a room full of fine jewelry on display, including tiaras studded with diamonds. Your mouth remained open as you walked through the “bedroom”.
You shouldn’t have access to any of these things. For they must have belonged to someone. Why would Yangyang let you sleep in here?
Lastly, as your heart couldn’t take anymore, the bedroom was plush and luxurious. The carpet embraced the soles of your feet. After resisting the urge to touch everything else in the bedroom, you allowed yourself to sit on the king-sized bed.
Sleeping in this bed would’ve compensated for all of the all-nighters you’ve pulled in your life. It was a shame you wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, though.
You were many things. Naive, innocent, studious, and quite impulsive at times. But you weren’t about to fall asleep in a stranger’s home.
Half an hour passed as you washed up and warmed up by the fireplace.
Yangyang knocked at your door. You thought it odd that he would be escorting you down himself. Shouldn’t he have servants, living in a place like this?
You opened the door and Yangyang stared at you in shock.
“What?” You frowned. You looked exactly the same as you did when you first met him, he realized.
“Were none of the gowns to your liking?” Yangyang asked, genuinely confused.
You did a double take. “What? Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly...Those aren’t mine. I don’t want to take advantage of your hospitality. No more than I already have.”
Yangyang was stunned at your decision. He thought you would have tried on all of the dresses in the past half hour and don the diamond tiara with golden accents...But no...The suite he’d given you was relatively untouched. You were certainly a woman of your word. You would’ve looked stunning in the red sleeveless dress, he thought. He snapped out of it and said, “No matter. You had the option...That’s why I gave you this room. Everything within these mansion walls is at your disposal.”
You laughed. “You’ve done more than enough for me so don’t worry. Now...can we go eat? I really can’t turn down a meal.” You hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
Yangyang laughed at your candor. “Of course.”
As you walked down the grand wooden staircase, you could hear more people in the house. You heard chairs being pulled, laughter, clinking of glasses, and the piano being played.
You turned to Yangyang. “Who...”
Yangyang replied, “My brothers will be joining us for supper.”
“Oh,” you said, surprised. When you entered, you were shocked enough that Yangyang was there. Who knew more people resided here? Up until now, it was so quiet that you could probably hear a pin drop.
That, and Yangyang’s violin. Which you longed to hear again.
You felt quite underdressed upon meeting Yangyang’s brothers in the dining room, which boasted a lot of paintings and miniature statues to the men who stood before you. There was another grand piano in the dining area, where one of Yangyang’s brothers sat and played a lively piece. Three of the brothers were laughing about an anecdote that the tallest of the group told. The final two men sat as...to your surprise, servants finished setting the dining table, lighting the flames of the candles in the center. The servants’ dresses had turned up collars with plain neckties. Yangyang’s brothers all donned suits of dark reds, blues, and grays. They looked like members of a royal family.
At the sight of you, the music stopped and all of the men started moving towards you and Yangyang.
“Yangyang, an introduction is in order,” the pianist asked as he got up from his seat.
“Brothers, this is y/n. She is staying with us before she returns to town in the morning,” Yangyang said, the humor in his voice when he spoke with you vanished. He moved closer to you, you noticed.
The pianist asked for your hand and kissed it. “Enchanted to meet you, y/n. I am Wei Kun, the oldest of the Wei children.”
You coughed, a little shocked at how forward Kun was. It was a culture shock to you. Most boys thought they were too damn special to ever make eye contact with you.
You shook hands with the other brothers. They were all very happy to see you. But you couldn’t quite place what kind of joy it was so you remained on your toes.
“Please, sit,” Winwin said as he led you to the seat right next to the head of the table. Kun sat down at the head of the table and smiled at you. The rest of the brothers joined you.
The servants began to bring out the drinks and the first course. Ten was about to sit next to you when Yangyang immediately claimed the seat.
“Calm down, brother,” Ten said, “It won’t do you harm to let her sit beside someone other than you.”
Yangyang remained in his seat. “She is my guest.”
Ten chuckled as he sat across from you. “So y/n, what brings you to this neck of the woods?”
A servant poured a glass of water for you. “Thank you,” you replied and tried to meet her eyes.
The servant quickly turned away and headed to the kitchen, you assumed. That was odd.
“Well,” you continued, “My friends and I were going to a party in the woods. We got into a fight and I got out of the car that was on the road not too far from here…”
“A car?” Xiaojun frowned, his bold eyebrows furrowed. He took a bite of his salad.
So these men didn’t know phones or cars... “Oh...Well, they’re these machines that can transport people from place to place…”
“Like a carriage?” Yangyang offered.
“Ah.” The rest of the boys said in realization.
You nodded as you drank your water, “Yes, but it runs on gasoline.”
The boys were amazed at your tales about modern technology. You went into as much detail as you could about phones and cars. The boys were an odd bunch. It was almost as if they never left this house.
Although it seemed like that, they told you tales of their travels to Asia, South America, and Europe. They told you about their cultural expeditions and their visits to the natural wonders of the world. Ten, the painter of the family, motioned to the paintings you’d seen earlier. They were paintings of places like Machu Picchu, the Colosseum, and the Parthenon. They were paintings of the places they visited. They were so vivid and lifelike. Ten was an incredible painter. Talent ran in the family, that was a sure thing. You were as much in awe of their tales. You were thankful the spotlight wasn’t on you like you’d expected, being the sole stranger of this household.
You enjoyed the salad, the tomato soup, the roasted duck, and the dessert, which happened to be your favorite: strawberry shortcake.
“Would you care for another slice?” Yangyang asked in a whisper as the other boys talked. He noticed your face come alive at the first bite of the cake.
You nearly choked on the last bite of your slice. You must have looked gluttonous to him. You should’ve eaten slower, you thought. You must have not been very ladylike at that moment. You shook your head. “That’s alright. Thank you. Everything was delicious.”
Yangyang looked at you once again in confusion. You clearly wanted another slice so why weren’t you asking for it, he asked himself. “Very well…” He murmured.
Lucas got up from the table. “Well, Yangyang, the boys and I will retire early...Although we wish you would let us be in y/n’s company…”
Yangyang quickly replied, “Good evening, brothers.”
They all pouted but wished you a good evening.
You laughed. “Your brothers are a lot of fun.”
Yangyang scoffed. “That’s one word for them. The minute they caught wind that I had a visitor, they insisted on joining us for dinner. I am so sorry, y/n. You must have been overwhelmed.”
You shook your head. “It’s nice to know that it isn’t just you in this house.”
Yangyang was stunned at your words. You were so...kind. Thinking of others, always. Thinking of him, basically a total stranger. You were as kind as you were trusting. It made his heart ache.
He pulled your seat back for you. He offered his arm. “Are you tired?”
Exhausted, actually. But once again, you were in a stranger’s house. And now that you knew he wasn’t alone, you wanted to be more on guard.
“Nope...I am wide awake.” You smiled as you took his arm. He was warm to the touch. The electricity ran between both of you.
Yangyang laughed. “What would you like to do, y/n?”
“I’d like to hear you play,” you said.
He was shocked at your honesty. He liked when you expressed yourself honestly most of all.
It was the truth, you thought. Frankly, it was part of your ruse to stay up as late as possible but if Yangyang could keep you entertained, it would certainly help a lot.
And truly, you could listen to his violin for hours.
_______
Back in the music room, you sat on the couch, serving as Yangyang’s audience. He loosened his tie and took off his jacket, setting it aside on a chair. He rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt.
He warmed up his hands and fingers for a few minutes before he tuned the strings of his violin. His fingers were so elegant and slender. The veins of his arms protruded as he flexed his hands. He looked so focused and determined and just unbelievably beautiful. The violin was an extension of his heavenly hands. This was the most attractive he’d ever been. You bit your lip.
You told yourself to calm down, for he was a complete stranger.
Sure, up until this point, he gave you the bedroom of your dreams. A dinner that nearly brought you to tears from the flavor and comfort it gave you. And he was playing his beloved instrument for you...But you couldn’t get attached so quickly.
He couldn’t meet your gaze because the look in your eyes made him feel something he wasn’t prepared to acknowledge. Time had slipped quickly and his heart was deceiving him when it shouldn’t have.
“So...what will you be playing first?” You asked. How many songs could you get out of him before you both retired to your rooms?
Yangyang grinned excitedly. “An original I’ve been working on...I finished composing it today.”
“Really? Today?” You asked.
He gave you the knowing smile he had the moment you met him. “You helped me finish it.”
“Is that so? Well, I’m ready when you are.” You smiled, about to kick your legs up like an overly excited schoolgirl.
“The piece is called ‘Found’,” Yangyang said as he positioned his bow against the strings and began.
Yangyang was truly an otherworldly being, especially under the skylight. The snowstorm was long gone and only the moonlight shone down on him. His skin illuminated like porcelain. His sculpted face tilted as he immersed himself in his song.
You realized the song was the piece he played when you entered the music room the first time. The song was somber at first. The notes were low and left you feeling down. Yangyang’s face was so melancholic at the start of the song. However, as he continued, the notes became lighter and freer, picking up towards the end, signifying hope. Your heart swayed with each three-note chord he played.
You weren’t entirely sure of the story behind the song but meeting you must not have been a low point of his day.
You clapped for Yangyang. “I loved it! It’s...too beautiful to be called merely beautiful...You are so talented.”
Yangyang’s cheeks were now a rosy pink. He bowed for you. “Thank you.”
You laughed giddily. You wished you could’ve recorded this performance, you longed to keep it with you for the rest of your life.
Yangyang continued playing his original pieces. He was truly gifted in his craft. His compositions were nothing to sneeze at. He should be a world-famous musician with all of the work he’d done.
As he played, he would meet your eyes and give you a little smile. You could watch him for hours. He could play for you for hours.
You two were in this perfect little bubble, then. Reality didn’t take effect. It was divine.
Yangyang’s hands grew tired and after his last song, he sat beside you.
“You look sleepy, y/n,” he noted, “Did my performance actually bore you?” He mocked taking offense.
You fought a yawn but couldn’t let it escape you so turned away from him. You lifted a finger and told him to wait.
You let out a yawn, trying not to be noisy. Yes, you were tired. A long day at school, a falling out with your friends, and an evening at the Wei Mansion did its number on you.
You faced Yangyang again. “I’m wide awake.”
Yangyang lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. “Perhaps you would like  something to drink?”
You nodded. “Something warm...Would hot cocoa be possible?”
“Absolutely. It’s a staple at this household this time of year,” he said.
He offered his hand to you and you took it. Both of you were taken aback by how immediate you were to hold hands but neither of you let go as Yangyang led you into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, he tended to you. The servants were nowhere in sight. The mansion felt like it had when you first came in: empty.
It felt like you two were the only people in this house, a world in itself.
He poured you a cup of cocoa he made and you were in love. The cocoa tasted amazing. You drank it slowly, savoring every sip.
You shivered a little from the cold that creeped into the mansion. Yangyang left for a moment and returned with a blanket. He wrapped it around you.
It was plush and made of the softest material you could ever imagine. If you snuggled too much against it, you would fall asleep right then and there.
But your energy started picking up again...It must have been the cocoa.
“We can go into the library...I’ll start up the fire.” Yangyang offered as he drank his cup of cocoa.
It seemed Yangyang was eager to stay awake with you, you thought.
“Aren’t you tired?” You asked.
He looked up from his cup. “What?”
“You don’t have to force yourself to stay up with me. I’m the one who can’t sleep.”
Yangyang knew you were keeping yourself awake on purpose. He knew you didn’t completely trust him or this house. Slowly, however, you opened yourself up to him and he was quite fond of you. He wanted to be by your side for the night. He didn’t know why exactly but he just did.
He met your gaze. “I hope it is not too forward of me to say this...But I want to remain at your side.”
You looked down, flattered at his words. Then, you mustered your courage and met his unwavering stare. “Okay.”
The truth was, you felt safer with Yangyang. And you couldn’t lie to yourself: you liked him. He was kind, attentive, charming, and a wonderful musician. The moment you met him made you forget all of your troubles...if only for a moment.
You two walked into the dome-shaped library. It was bigger than any commercial bookstore. You wondered how old the family’s collection was.
Yangyang started the fire at the fireplace by the reading couches. He motioned for you to take a seat.
You sat down and nearly sank into the couch. It was so comfortable. You were living in the lap of luxury.
“Y/n, are you alright?” Yangyang asked.
You laughed. “Yeah...why?”
“Your eyes rolled to the back of your head,” he said, smiling confusedly.
You laughed again. “It’s because this couch is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on.”
Yangyang smiled and shook his head. “The simplest things please you.”
“Nothing about this house is simple,” you said.
He shook his head, smiling at you and picked up a book off of the shelf. He scanned the title and the summary. “What do you like to read, y/n?”
You answered, “Horror.”
Yangyang’s eyes widened. “Really?”
You nodded. “Yes. I like the suspense and the kinds of creatures the writers come up with.”
Yangyang was wrong to assume you were a romance kind of girl. He’d hoped to woo you with some Shakespeare. He took it in stride and put the book he had back on the shelf. He took a rolling step ladder and positioned it farther away from you. He got up on the steps and picked up another book off the shelf.
“It’s called ‘The Mysterious Mansion’,” he said, biting back a laugh.
“How fitting,” you said, laughing.
You and Yangyang shared a couch as you took turns reading to each other. The story was dark and twisted but got your heart racing.
Well, maybe Yangyang’s being so close to you may have had something to do with it.
The hours pass and you finish off the last page. Yangyang leaned against the other end of the couch and simply watched you. He loved the sound of your voice and the way it cracked.
He gave you a glass of water to relax your voice. He loved how your eyes scanned word for word. The crease between your eyes as you interpreted the author’s words. But you kept on reading aloud. He’d read “The Mysterious Mansion’ several times but this time was his favorite reread.
You could hear Yangyang talk forever when you heard him read the passages. His voice was soothing and full of wonder. The grin on his face right before he read a twist to the story. The crinkle of his nose when he laughed at your reactions. He’d become a friend.
A friend you wanted to kiss.
This was the most fun you’d ever had. This cold October night with this enchanting young man. You kinda wished it would never end but you were still resolved to...Stay...awake…
Your eyes grew heavy and you curled yourself against the couch. You pulled the blanket tighter around you.
Yangyang realized you were drifting. He quickly moved over to you and shook you awake.
You two had stayed up all night and it was nearing daybreak. And he had to move fast.
“Y/n!” He yelled to wake you up.
You grumbled. “What?”
“Please wake up. You need to leave right now,” Yangyang demanded.
You rubbed your eyes and snapped out of it. How the hell did you almost fall asleep, you fool, you thought to yourself. The alarm in Yangyang’s voice also was a cause for concern. “What’s wrong?” You asked.
He shook his head rampantly. “There’s no time to explain. Do you have everything?”
You nodded. “I have to get my coat and boots at the entrance.”
Yangyang grabbed your hand and you both ran towards the entrance. You put your coat and boots on. Yangyang did the same and he nearly dragged you out the door. You quickly moved down the staircase and set foot on the dewy grass. Yangyang kept his foot on the last step of the staircase.
The sky overhead was mostly black but shades of oranges, pinks, and red were breathing through. Dawn was imminent.
That was when you realized you had no mittens. You’d left them in the bedroom.
Yangyang noticed your bare hands. He pulled off his royal blue mittens and slipped them onto your hands.
“You don’t have to-“ You started.
“I want you to have them. A fair trade. Yours for mine?” He smiled.
He squeezed your hands before he let them go.
“Thank you...for tonight, Yangyang,” you said. Even though it was through the weather and the night that you had no other choice, you had a magical night with a boy who was so wonderful, he must’ve been out of a classic novel. He’d treated you like a friend and listened to you: about what you wanted to do and what you liked. You’d wished you could’ve gotten to know him more but you appreciated that he listened to you attentively.
You were sad the night had ended but you’d succeeded in staying up nearly the whole night at least. You were meant to leave now. You’d overstayed your welcome and you needed to get home. That was the most important thing.
Yangyang moved closer to you and moved some hair away from your face. He touched your cheek with the back of his hand. Once again, you both did something with no thought.
You got up on the staircase and kissed him. He pulled you in to deepen the kiss. He picked you up off the ground as he continuously took your breath away.
But as quickly as this piece of utter bliss started, it quickly ended.
He let you go and set you down on the grass. “Goodbye, y/n.”
“Goodbye, Yangyang.” As you walked into the forest, you turned back once more and watched as Yangyang stood there, his face unreadable.
You waved at him and his expression softened as he waved back.
You laughed as you turned back now and kept on moving. The path to the main road took a little longer than expected because it was still dark. However, the sun rose before you knew it and you were able to see the main road again.
And you were shocked to find several people on the main road. Cop cars were parked off the side of the road. A news reporter for Channel 23 News could be heard saying.
“It is Day 8 into the search for y/n y/l/n. She was last seen on this road, Road 116 by her friends and has not returned home. If you have seen y/n or have any information that can help our police force find her, please call the number on the screen: 1-800-RES-CUES. Again, that’s 1-800-RES-CUES.”
Dowoon and Sana were being interviewed by another news station.
Dowoon was on the brink of tears, his eyes stained red. “This is all our fault.”
Choking on her tear, Sana continued, “We shouldn’t have left her on the road...We thought she went home...We were so stupid…”
What the hell was going on?
You walked into the road and several people turn to you in shock. They gasped and screamed your name.
Your parents broke out of the crowd of people that has accumulated. “Y/n!” They both yell.
They run up to you and wrap their arms around you, weeping hysterically.
Your mom yelled, “Y/n, where have you been? My baby!”
Your dad held your face in his hands, “What happened to you? Are you alright?”
You were shocked at their reaction. “What are you guys doing here? I thought you guys were in New York until tomorrow.”
Your parents, not letting you go, gave each other a meaningful look.
Your mom’s eyebrows furrowed. “Tomorrow? Y/n, we came back a week ago.”
You laughed in disbelief. “No, you guys left Friday morning, yesterday morning.”
Your dad shook his head. “Y/n, you’ve been missing for a week now.”
You laughed again. “No...You guys are messing with me.”
But then you looked around at all of the worried looks on the people’s faces. The police officers came right over. You even saw Dowoon and Sana sobbing not too far from Sana’s car.
“You guys...I stayed in a mansion not too far from here for the night because of the snow…”
“What mansion? What snow?” Your parents asked in unison.
You darted your eyes to everyone else and whispered to them. “Come with me.”
“Y/n, we need to get you home…” Your mom pleaded.
You shook your head. “I need to show you where I was and that I wasn’t in danger.”
“Y/n, we should tell the police-” Your father offered.
“No!” You snapped. “Please trust me. He didn’t do anything to me. He’s my friend.”
At the mention of “he”, your parents were up in arms and motioned for the police to come over.
“We will go with you, y/n…” Your mom said.
She meant that they’ll go with you if you have a police escort.
You shook your head and led the party to the mansion. You couldn’t believe this. Missing for seven days? That was impossible. You’d only been gone for the night. How could anyone have known you’d been gone? Your parents were away.
Once you got out of the forest to the Wei mansion, you saw that there was no mansion. Only an abandoned cabin.
What?
“Is this where you were detained, y/n?” Police Officer A asked.
“I was not detained. This isn’t the mansion I-”
“A mansion?” Everyone looked at you skeptically.
You entered the cabin, knowing that everything you believed in was slipping through your fingers. Tears quickly ran down your cheeks. The cabin was shabby, the furniture inside covered in dust. It had been unlived in for quite some time.
“Y/n!” Your parents yelled.
The police rushed in after you and Police Officer B held you back. “Let me go!” You demanded.
“It’s dangerous.”
The police officers searched the entire cabin three times over and came up with nothing. “There is no trace of anyone having been here for years,” Police Officer A said.
Well, of course not, this wasn’t the mansion that you stayed at.
Clearly, the more time passed, the more concerned everyone looked. It was possible you heard the words “rehab” and “therapy” and “mental break” thrown around.
You had to calm down. You knew you weren’t crazy. You knew it because you wore Yangyang’s gloves.
Yangyang.
Where is he? Where were his brothers? Where was the Wei mansion?
Police Officer B released you and you browsed the area. Your parents trailed behind you. You entered one of the bedrooms, encased in dust. You sneezed and found a chest with a lock on it. The chest was engraved with the letter “W” at the center. 
You recognized the engraving. It was the same handwriting from the bedroom door in the Wei Mansion. Your bedroom door...The keys.
You remembered you still had them in your pocket. It was a long shot but you pulled them out. You placed the key inside of the lock and opened the chest.
You found seven porcelain dolls. The dolls were more sophisticated than any doll sold at the local stores. They were almost lifelike. The way their eyes and lips were drawn. Each doll bared a striking resemblance to the Wei brothers. You could see them all: Kun, Ten, Winwin, Lucas, Xiaojun, Hendery, and…
Yangyang.
The last doll was definitely Yangyang. The doll held a toy violin and wore…
Your ruby red mittens.
Fin.
_______
Epilogue.
Yangyang sat in the music room alone, holding on tightly to your red mittens.
Hendery charged into the room. His brothers trailed behind. “You fool! Why did you let her go?”
Yangyang shrugged. “I’ve had it.”
“What are you talking about?” Xiaojun demanded. “You were smitten with her. She was clearly enamored with you.”
Kun laughed. “It’s because he’s in love with her.”
All of the boys looked at their oldest brother, confused. Yangyang avoided their stares.
“You changed your mind,” Kun murmured.
Yangyang sighed, “She was not like-”
Winwin rolled his eyes. “Please do not give us the story of ‘she was not like other girls’. She seduced you and you let her go. You fell for her game. She outsmarted you.”
Yangyang snapped. “Do not test me, brother.”
Ten interjected. “Okay, okay, everyone needs to calm down...We are just curious...Why? She could have stayed here with us forever...With you forever.”
Yangyang didn’t want to speak to them. Every moment that passed, he missed you more. “She did not wear the jewels or the dresses...She left everything untouched. She did not come to us because she sought material possessions. She wanted a friend…”
Lucas laughed. “How pathetic.”
Yangyang groaned. “You lot would not understand…”
“Do not act like you are better than us, little brother,” Kun began condescendingly.
“I am not-”
“You think you’re better than us because you let a prisoner go this time, do you not? Well, let me bring you back to reality. Our spirits are confined into those tacky porcelain dolls...So what do we do to ease ourselves? We bring people into this realm to reside with us. Materialistic, selfish, and vain people. Y/n is no different from the rest of them.”
“Shut up,” Yangyang muttered.
The rest of the boys were stunned to silence but Kun heard him clearly. “Repeat that, Yangyang. You know the consequences.”
Yangyang got up and shoved your mittens in his pockets. “Shut up, Kun.”
Kun smiled and laughed. The other boys faked laughter so as not to upset Kun even more. His smile quickly faded as he punched Yangyang to the ground.
Kun gave Yangyang a harsh beating and the rest of the brothers watched. No one dared to step in and upset Kun even further. Yangyang couldn’t blame his brothers. Besides, he wanted this. He wanted to feel a pain other than the pain of missing you. 
He may have been damned for the rest of eternity but he was thankful to have met you. You proved to him that not everyone could be consumed by the deadly sins, as he and his brothers had. You were an angel that gave you a moment of compassion, of affection. And for that he would always be thankful.
_______
Come back tomorrow the third installment in our Halloween Series! :) 
598 notes · View notes
yellowmagicalgirl · 3 years
Note
Krel, Douxie, Value Me?
Leave a “Value Me” in my ask, and I’ll write a drabble about one character telling another how they feel about them.
From send me characters and a prompt (no longer accepting)
And until I reblog this ask meme again, this is the last of these prompts I will be writing. They're finally out of my inbox! Yay!
This technically takes place during RotT (after Douxie and Nari get sent back to their own bodies) but I still refuse to actually watch the movie so the timeline and whatnot are probably not canon compliant with the movie.
CW: references to canon-typical death and torture.
AO3
FFN
~
Krel didn't have a problem with organizing his lab. Oh, sure, other people had a problem with the way he organized his lab. But was that really Krel's fault? He was the one who was going to be working in the lab, so it was best if he calibrated it to the maximum efficiency of himself. After all, he could find everything easily, so why would anyone else matter?
Douxie mattered, though. And Douxie looked incredibly frustrated by Krel's organizational skills. If it were anyone else, Krel would be inclined to brush it off as them not being able to understand the genius of Krel's mind and organization. But.
But Douxie mattered so much more than Krel's ego. That, and the two of them were trying to build a new amulet for Jim. They were working together, and Douxie deserved to be able to find what he was looking for.
Not failed projects, like what Douxie was currently holding.
"Krel? What's this flashlight-thing doing here?" Douxie flicked the switch and it started beeping, fast and loud and high-pitched. So it worked, even if only in the shortest of distances. "Please tell me it's not a Geiger counter."
"No, it's not a... why is everyone so worried about radioactivity?"
Douxie crossed his arms. "I don't know about you, but radiation sickness is a nasty way to die."
Krel wondered if it was a worse way to die than falling from the sky, a worse way than being tortured and having your soul ripped from another's body and forced back to your own.
"This was originally a core scanner," Krel said, taking the device from Douxie's hands and turning it off. "I modified it, though, but it seems to only work in a short range, so it wouldn't work for what I modified to for. To look for magic, and souls." Krel lifted his eyes off of the device to meet Douxie's. "To look for you."
"I... that makes sense." Douxie looks away from Krel. "You would've been able to find Nari's body, and maybe even the seals, and then this whole mess could've been prevented."
Douxie wasn't listening to him. Gently, Krel took Douxie's hands in his lower pair, and he put his upper pair on Douxie's shoulders. "No. I mean, that would've been helpful, but I wasn't looking for Nari's body, or the seals. I was looking for you. Just you, to bring you back to me. To us."
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, because Douxie burst into tears at that. He took a step forward, though, burying his face in the crook of Krel's neck. Krel dropped Douxie's hands in favor of wrapping three arms around Douxie's torso and using the fourth to card his fingers through Douxie's hair in a hopefully-comforting manner.
"I didn't think anyone was coming for me," Douxie confessed between sobs. "I tried to convince myself this was good, that you were focusing on keeping Nari safe and planning for when I failed to keep my hold on her body, but..." Someone inhaled sharply, and Krel couldn't tell who. "I was so scared, and I almost wanted someone to come for me, even if it seems selfish. But, but you were trying?"
"Oh, Douxie." Krel squeezed Douxie just a little tighter. "Of course I was. I'm not a warrior, and I can't promise I'll always be able to keep you safe in the first place. I can't promise I'll always be able to save you. But I promise you that I will do everything I can to try and save you anyways."
It was a promise Krel had accidentally made to himself when Douxie had fallen from the sky, back during that impossibly long and agonizing moment where they had crowded around Douxie's body. Krel hadn't even known Douxie yet beyond that he was a wizard who did reckless things like cut in line and take on demigods on his own, and yet Krel found himself silently promising that if Douxie survived this, Krel would do everything to ever keep him from being so hurt ever again.
Later, Krel would find out that this was called the bargaining phase of grief. The only difference was that it had worked and Krel's feelings for Douxie had been able to grow past grief.
"You would do that?" Douxie looked up at Krel. His tears had ceased falling, but there were still tears in his beautiful golden eyes. Tears, and disbelief. In that moment Krel hated everyone who had ever made Douxie feel like he wasn't worthy of being saved.
"Of course I would, Douxie. I..." Krel's eyes darted away. If Douxie didn't feel the same way, then making the amulet together might be awkward. But Douxie really needed to hear how much he was valued, and if that meant Krel had to be embarrassed... Oh, kleb it.
"I love you," Krel said, and Douxie's eyes widened. And then, he smiled before pressing his forehead to Krel's. A gentle, fluttering feeling overtook Krel's core. It was a feeling Krel wanted to last forever.
After a few wonderful moments, Douxie pulled away, still smiling. "I know a really good deli place. Assuming it doesn't get destroyed by the Order, do you want to grab dinner there next Friday?"
"Are you-"
"Yes, I'm asking you on a date."
Krel beamed. "Then yes. Of course I'd like to go on a date with you."
"Then let's make sure there's still a world by Friday," Douxie said, turning back to the workspace of the lab. His smile faded by a fraction. "You really need to find an organization system."
"I do organize things!"
Though, maybe, after they defeated the Arcane Order, Krel would re-organize his lab to be slightly more accessible to his boyfriend.
~
A/N: I feel like this ends one of 2.5 ways: 1) Due to this scene, Douxie and Krel are able to change things just enough that Jim decides not to go back in time. AKA, Gay Love Saves The Timeline™. Whether or not it saves the deli where the boys were gonna go for their date is a different story, though. 2) This changes nothing, or at least it doesn't change enough, and Jim resets the timeline, erasing this moment and all their character development...      2.5) ...or at least, it does until Jim is able to restore Douxie and Krel's memories. (Yes, I'm saying that this fic might be an unoffical prequel to Reunions and Revelations.)
33 notes · View notes
things-happens · 3 years
Text
In Memory
Levi Ackerman x gn! Reader
Armin Arlert x gn! Reader
Erwin Smith x gn! Reader
Mikasa Ackerman x gn! Reader
hola 😎 i have a request for ya! which i do hope you like cause I literally spent hALF aN hoUR thinking of how it should go... anyWAYS, i’m gonna request it rn cause why not? .. anyways—maybe a hc for Levi, Armin, Erwin, Mikasa, and Pieck; their S/O’s favorite memories with them are playing in their mind. They wished it happened again. people thought they (they = pieck, levi, armin - yk)—people thought they went crazy. out of their mind insane. They do often smile, when they hear their S/O’s laugh. They cry when they hear their S/O’s screams. They couldn’t save them in time. they were now dead. // now do keep in mind, that this all happened weeks after their S/O’s death. they felt so useless at the fact that they couldn’t save them in time. the one they loved the most...
Note: I DELETED THIS AND HAD TO MADE THE POST so... please like and share thank you. Also I'm not caught up on season 4 but I know what has happened so I don't know Pieck's personality, I didn't want to get her wrong.
Prompt List
Mastlister
Summary: their s/o passed, they blame themselves and other and sadly cannot cope.
Warnings: Death, Blood, Feels and Fluff Words: a lot just a lot
Levi Ackerman (Sadderdaze)
Tumblr media
Somethings never change for Levi losing the ones he loves left and right but why did he think that would change with y/n.
During the Battle of Shiganshina, Y/n was by Levi’s side the whole time.
They always was anyways, the lone survivor of Levi’s Squad after the 57th Expansion. Years ago, they vowed the loyalty for him then again 3 years later, till death did them part.
They both lead the group of soldiers to eliminate the Beast Titan.
As the Beast began to throw rocks everyone took covered in an abandoned town, after the first-round y/n and Levi resurfaced on the roofs.
They both noticed the beast was readying for another throw, yelling for the other to go bad into cover.
“GO BACK!” Y/N yelled into their cupped hands; they still couldn’t hear them.
Levi started to run to help them, only to be held back, y/n telling him there isn’t enough time.
Levi protested only for Y/n starting to push him back down to between the houses.
Suddenly, Y/n gave him a hard push on his back making him lad down on the ground. Looking back up to his love, their leg of in a now, missing part of the roof.
Levi quickly shot back up to help them out, grabbing their hands pulling as hard as he could.
“Levi… LEVI! Please take cover, you’ll die.”
“I’m not leaving you behind… not again.”
Levi had left Y/n in charge of his squad as he joined Erwin in the 57th Expansion. Nearly dying because of the Female Titan and protecting Eren.
Y/n pulled their arm away from him, giving him one final hard push in the chest right before the rock came pass them.
“I love you” they whispered.
As Levi flew back to the ground, he held eye contact with them all of his memories going through his head, knowing that this was the last time he would see of them, forever.
As for y/n, all their memories flew through them.
Late nights with Hanjie, mornings drinking tea with Erwin and Levi.
Levi… the night of their wedding, cake, slow dancing together, then stargazing. Oh, what they’d give to do that one more time with him.
Then they were gone.
Days later, everyone was concerned about the Captain. They could hear his cries and sobs when they’d pass his room. If you’d knocked, his cries would stop, and he’d stay silent till he watched your feet leave.
Every time Hanjie would open his door to bring breakfast or dinner, they could see the hopefulness in his eyes only for them to fall. Not like he ate till he was starving and knew he had too.
Years later, as Levi slept at night, he could still hear the whisper and cries of his love. That’s all he could hear ever, yet now he hid it well.
The nights he couldn’t sleep he’d walk through the halls of the fallen soldiers. In the middle of all the paintings, was Erwin. A gold frame shining in the moon light. Next to him was y/n.
They also had a golden frame and at the top were their favorite floor in their favorite color. Whomever painted it, Levi thought they did an amazing job.
The captured the brightness of their eyes, their gloss on their hair and the perfection on their hands.
Levi sat on his knees, lightly placing his hand on theirs. Wishing he could feel them just one more time.
BONUS:
“I bet you’re not popular with the ladies…” Zeke sighed.
Levi looked down thinking about y/n for the first time since the battle. “I was popular enough…”
Armin Arlert (When Will I See You Again)
Tumblr media
Most people admired Y/n relationship with Armin, never put a title on side thing but the two and others knew they loved each other.
And when y/n died… well it was hard on everyone.
Since Armin inherited the Colossal Titian he saw and heard y/n die with his own eyes or really with Bertholdt eyes.
They stood by Armin till the very end or what they thought was the end.
The two stood in front of the giant titan, directing him. The plan… they knew they were going to die but it was with Armin and that’s all y/n would ever want.
Bertholdt let out the burning steam, burning them alive. y/n’s eyes looked at Armin, they screamed and cried till nothing… black.
Armin on the other head was giving the Titan Serum, eating Bertholdt and becoming the monsters he hated.
From the second he woke from the shift, all he could thing of was Y/n.
Where are they?
Are they okay?
Then and dare he say naturally, the memories caved in.
Seeing through his predecessor’s eyes, he remembered his love burn to death. Hearing their caries and he saw them always looking at him.
He cried and blamed himself for their death, y/n thought they were dying together but Eren couldn’t let him live in peace.
“they died thinking they were with me.” He whispered.
He always tired to keep his resentment in around Eren and Mikasa, but everyone could here him scream in pain in the forest next to the HQ.
He used Bertholdt’s memories to see them together all the time, Sasha and Mikasa would become worried he wasn’t grieving well but soon like screams every night stop.
Instead, it was quite crying at night, which wasn’t any better for anyone.
Then they left to find the Sea, one thing that could make Armin come to peace with himself.
Reaching the ocean everyone would play and have fun their but looking down in the water, Armin could’ve sworn he saw his love looking back at him but alas he lost the sight as fast as he saw it.
He knew Y/n would and still is by his side everyday till death brought them back to each other.
Erwin Smith (My Kind of Woman)
Tumblr media
Everyone knew Erwin as a very stoic man, a calm gentle giant but with a heart and will of Iron.
And that was true, but that was after someone not one would talk about.
Their name is Y/n, Erwin Smith’s great love.
In 845, the Survey Corps returned from an expiation, but most do not know what happened.
“Four abnormals on the right wing!” some one shouted
Erwin looked at y/n who was smiling but still looking out for themselves and others. They looked over at Erwin and smiled even wilder.
Ever since training, Y/n saw bright side of things. It was their idea to recruit the Underground rebels.
In all most a flash of lighting, rain pored down soldiers dying all around.
10 abnormals flailing around, killing and eating people.
Erwin stared behind him, watching his comrades die under his orders. Then he locked eyes with y/n as they jumped off their horse as a Titan waved its arm at her.
“Erwin!”
Y/n yelled hoping he would turn and help them, and he did, yet despite the connection they had…
It was too late, they were harshly picked and swished, screams reaching everyone’s ears. Held above the Titan’s mouth their blood poured into then as the life quickly left their eyes they were dropped into its mouth.
If it wasn’t for Levi, Erwin would’ve been died too.
Ever second since then he blamed himself, knowing if he was just a little faster.
He paid someone to make a painting of her for his office, they were his right-hand person, but others knew it was more than that.
He would cry as quite as he could for years till it was small smiles or few tears while in his office or drinking tea with Levi or Hanji.
They both learned not to question it as it was a normal thing for the man after five years.
The new recruits would ask about the painting of a random person in his office, he would say someone special.
Yet it’s been years he would still become choked up that night.
Mikasa Ackerman (i wanna be your girlfriend)
Tumblr media
Mikasa and Y/n met in training, two people how just sat not needing to say anything to enjoy each other’s company.
Eating dinner, they’d just sit and watch everyone else bicker and talk, nothing needed to be said. Despite being Sasha’s sibling, the older one seem to get all the personality then again there was nothing wrong with the way they were.
Although being close to death of a many of times, they lived and slightly loved Mikasa and watched her grow into a beautiful women she was.
Over the years, y/n become more vocal not wanting to miss out on the moments they had left with everyone. They and Jean would bicker and laugh about dumb things, Connie and they would just sitting and reminisce on old times.
Then Sasha met Nicolo and well y/n had never more vocal about anything before.
“Oooooh the cook, he’s perfect for you.”
y/n would tease Sasha along with Jean and Connie, although Nicolo didn’t seem to mind, Sasha would turn redder than a beet!
Then the war came, Y/n didn’t leave Mikasa side unless it was to save their ether extremely brave or stupid sister.
As y/n and Mikasa run to Eren’s ad after killing the War Hammer Titan, Mikasa yells at Eren.
Y/n watches the two argue, as the War Hammer Titan stands tall and definitely not dead.
Y/n watches as it starts to shoot a crystal goop at them, Y/n wipps around slamming themselves into Mikasa, holding onto her and they both flay away from the now hardened crystal.
“thank you, y/n.”
Y/n only nodded, looking back at the crystal. Again, they themselves in danger for Mikasa but they knew if it came down to it, they would die for their family.
After the battle, everyone was on the air ship, Mikasa had left y/n with Jean, Connie and Sasha. They talked happy to see each other alive.
“You guys are really special to me.”
Next thing anyone knew, both Jean and Y/n heard rumbling from the entrance. Turning around they saw a little girl with a rifle.
y/n quickly realized she was aiming for everyone of the ship, mainly their sister. Running in front of the fire, trying to do the same thing they once saw Hanjie do years ago still the girl shot.
The bullet went straight threw y/n’s stomach; push through the pain they grabbed the gun from the girl. They butted it into the little girl’s head, knocking her out.
The adrenaline wore off, y/n put their hand on their stomach. Their hand covered in blood, they turned around to see their sister on the floor surrounded by their friends.
“Guys…” they dropped the rifle on the floor.
The word came out their mouth, everyone with tears in their eyes slowly turned to look at them.
Jean watched as the blood dripped from their suit on to the light brown flooring.
Y/n began to walk to them, waddling side to side.
Mikasa entered the room watching Y/n fall over into what was now a pool of blood. She quickly ran over, flipping them over sobbing.
Jean quickly applied pressure into the wound, but it was too late. Y/n looked up at Mikasa, their bloodied hand lightly touching her face.
Mikasa sat head on her knees, in between both Blouse graves. She could still here the raspy breaths, the yells of Jean telling them to stay awake and the laugh Eren let out seeing the dead bodies.
She’d cry at nights realizing she loved them more than a friend, she felt like a piece of her was now gone.
During dinners Mikasa would push her food around till she couldn’t sit and not laugh or sob. Armin had become worried of her, but he knew she just needed time.
96 notes · View notes
killiansprincss · 3 years
Text
Two Victims of Bad Form
Tumblr media
Okay so this fic is inspired by this post I made last week and it blew up and I had a few requests to write it, so here it is!! I really hope you enjoy it!! 
link to A03
Tagging: @the-darkdragonfly​ @elizabeethan​ @superchocovian​ @lostintheskyfaraway​ @pirateprincessofpizza​
_____
Liam Jones was used to The Underworld. He hadn’t yet had a run in with Hades and it wasn’t too bad of an afterlife. He didn’t try to keep track of his time here, it was a waste. While he did wonder when he would see his brother again, he only wished he was living a long and happy life.
Liam does wonder what he is up to and what happened when they returned to their home kingdom. Killian was Captain of the Navy now, would he go in front of the King and reveal the true nature of that awful plant, and become a hero?
But had he also found happiness? As a navymen Liam can’t lie and say the female sex didn’t find ways to converse with them and Killian would often become flustered, not knowing the correct and best way to talk to them, as a men of the King there were expectations. But he had hoped there was a special female who he had found happiness with.
But his life-or-afterlife was pretty good. It wasn't great at first though. Accepting the fact you are dead was not something Liam was able to accept straight away, he kept playing his last moments over and over again, and wishing he could go back and stop himself from scratching the dreamshade on his arm. It was a foolish and rash decision which every day he regrets. He fell victim to bad form quickly. The Underworld was a strange town but the wide variety of alcohol was one thing he liked.
There was a bar that Liam would go to every day and the Rum was far spicier than the one he had become accustomed to in the Enchanted Forest, and it was stronger too. Apparently being dead knocks out your tolerance for alcohol. He was a mess. He grieved for his own life, all the things he planned to do and see, and he grieved for his little brother and how now he was all alone.
The owner of the bar, Alaric, was a former King of a long forgotten kingdom. He wasn’t the kindest or most understanding King in his former life, so in the Underworld Alaric devoted his time to helping others, and he helped Liam come to terms with the fact that while he was dead, it was not the worst thing in the world.
“If your mother is here, her gravestone will be up. If she’s in a better place it will have fallen, but a crack will appear if that is not the case.” Those were the last words Alaric said to Liam before he found peace.It was the one thing Liam wanted to know.
Finding out his mother’s fate was a high priority for Liam, he hoped she were in a better place and they would be reunited once Killian arrived in years to come. He hoped she could be proud of her two boys. He doesn’t know what he would do if she were in a worse place.
And there it was. A grave marked “Alice Jones”
Liam smiles. It had fallen over. She was in a better place.
Knowing his mother was in a better place, at peace likely, was all Liam needed to get on with his life in the afterlife.
Alaric was the first person Liam felt like he could speak to and open up to. And it felt good. He wanted to do the same for other people.
So Liam takes over and starts working at the Bar, working his way through the ranks until he eventually becomes manager and owner, well nobody is really an owner of any property in the Underworld, but in every sense the bar was his. He becomes to other people what Alaric was to him. Letting them grieve and come to terms with their own passing and potentially their unfinished business.
Every day he’s at the bar, he hopes his little brother will walk through the doors and they can be together again. Deal with their unfinished business and find peace together. But every day he doesn’t. And as much as it hurts not seeing him, it’s a good thing.
Every day Killian doesn’t walk through his doors is another day he is on Earth living his life. Maybe he's married to a Princess and is the greatest Captain the Royal Navy has seen in centuries. Just maybe.
These dreams keep Liam positive, until one day.
________
It started out like any normal day in the Underworld, Liam would wake, go for a morning run before his shift at the bar. It wasn’t too busy, a few regulars who would sit quietly on the other side to where he was working. Until a woman came in who he hadn’t seen before. She was beautiful, with strong bone structure and dark curls that accentuated her face. But she didn’t look in the best state. A new arrival to the Underworld Liam guesses, he’s seen that scared face all too many times.
“I need something strong.” is all she says as she sits on the bar stool to steady herself.
Liam nods as he reaches around for the strongest whiskey they stock and pours it into a frosted glass. This was a much nicer way of serving alcohol, he assumed this was how royals drank, vastly different to the dirty taverns he and Killian drank in.
“How did I end up here?” She sighs as she takes the glass in her hands.
“Well, this is the Underworld, therefore I’d say to end up here means you died. Sorry to be the one to break the news.” Liam says with a sarcastic smile.
She looks up from her glass, clearly not amused by the sarcasm, and Liam can see the pain in her green eyes. “It gets easier, I promise you that.”
“I was murdered.” She finally says. “How am I expected to feel better?”
It was an unfortunate fact that a lot of people ended up in the Underworld due to falling victim to murder.
“Well, I died because of my own stubbornness, left behind my little brother who is all on his own. It takes time to accept these facts, not saying it gets easier right away but you’ll get there in time.”
“I left my son behind with his horrible father. I am a horrible person.” She admits. “It wasn’t meant to be like this. I was going back for him and we would’ve been a family.”
Liam doesn’t say anything else, so he pours her another shot of whiskey and lets her sit there until she eventually leaves. This was her journey and Liam didn’t want to probe into open wounds. And if anyone knew anything about being left with a horrible father it was Liam. He hoped the poor lad ended up on a better path.
But the next day she comes back. “So that whiskey was really good yesterday. Got anything else?”
Liam smiles as he grabs the spicy rum he’s grown accustomed to drinking on days where he needs to drown his sorrows. “My bar is always here if you need a drink or a chat. Names Liam.”
The dark haired beauty takes the glass from Liam and takes a sip, “Milah. Have we met before? You look awfully familiar.”
Liam studies Milah for a second, her green eyes and dark curls don’t ring a bell, and he was normally good with faces. “Can’t say that I have, unless you’ve been dead longer than you think.”
__
Milah comes in almost every day for a few weeks before she starts to open up. Liam doesn’t pry, he serves her a drink while she ponders her afterlife.
“My ex husband killed me.” She tells Liam one day. Liam didn’t try to force her to say anything which she appreciates, so she doesn’t mind telling him her story.
Of all the things Milah could’ve said about her murderer, Liam was not expecting that. “I’m sorry to hear that. Do you mind me asking why?”
Milah takes another sip before saying, “I ran away. To be with my lover. He was angry that I left my son behind, but he was just a boy and the high seas are dangerous. I was going to come back for him when he was older. After I ran, my ex husband got hungry for power and revenge so he found a way to become the Dark One, and sure enough he got his revenge on me. Rumple ripped out my heart and called me a bad mother, which I hate to admit he was right.”
“I don’t think you were a bad mother.” Liam tells her. “Sure you could have handled your situation differently, but it sounds like you never forgot about your son and the fact you wanted to go back for him speaks volumes. You mention the high seas, was your lover in the Navy?”
Milah laughs. “Oh no, far from it actually. He was a Pirate Captain and I guess I was also a Pirate. We weren’t bad people, I assure you that, but Baelfire was far too young to understand anything.”
Liam gives her a disapproving look which Milah catches. “Don’t look at me like that. We both ended up in the same place. Don't tell me you were in the Navy.”
Liam just nods. “Naval Captain. Died on a mission the King sent us on. My little brother tried to save me but it was poison and it went straight to my heart.”
“Well I’ll cheers to that.” Milah says, raising her glass.
A few days later Milah is telling her story again, and giving more details about how bad her life was at home with her husband. “He took my choice away from me to have a second child. Baelfire was sick, and he was too much of a coward to steal the medicine to save his life. Rumple made a deal instead that this man would take our second born in exchange, so I could never have a second child.”
“You’ll get to face him again one day, when he arrives down here and you can tell him what a coward he was.” Liam felt horrible for Milah, she was a victim of another man's bad form and it ruined her life and led to her destruction.
“One can only hope. Anyway, it was that night I met Killian and everything changed.”
Liam freezes, he hadn’t heard that name come out of another mouth since he died. Milah notices, “are you okay?”
“Sorry. Killian was my little brother's name, I haven't heard it since, and it brought back memories. Sorry, continue with your story.”
“So he tells me he’s a Pirate, and he’s captain of the fastest ship in all the realm and he can take me anywhere I wish.”
Killian. It’s a common name surely. Fastest Ship in all the realm, Liam is sure a lot of Pirates say this. But just to be sure. “What was his name? Captain who? We came across Pirates in my Naval days, I’d be interested to know who he is.”
“Jones. Captain Killian Jones.”
Liam freezes and his vision suddenly becomes blurry.
No. It couldn’t be. His little brother, his trusted Lieutenant, a Pirate. No, not just a Pirate, but apparently the most ‘fearsome in the land.’ “I believe you’re talking about my little brother. Only when I died he was Lieutenant Jones of the King's Royal Navy.”
Milah’s eyes widened, “That’s why you look so familiar, you have his eyes.” Tears began to form thinking about what she had heard and what Killian had mentioned about his brother. “Something called Nightshade, it poisoned you, but the King wanted it for his army. Killed you as soon as you left the Island.”
Liam smiles, Killian had told someone about him. “The poison was called Dreamshade. I didn’t want to bore you with details of my death but I guess it relates. We didn’t know that it was a poison, and assumed it was a simple herb or plant used to heal our warriors. It was a strange island, there was this boy no older than 15, he told us it was deadly. Course I didn’t believe the kid so I cut myself with the plant. One thing led to another and I died because the water I drank which healed it wore off as soon as we were back in the Enchanted Forest.”
“I’m so sorry Liam. Killian spoke of his brother, of you. I didn’t put two and two together.” She felt horrible that she had been speaking about Killian not knowing his blood and flesh was right in front of her.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m not angry at you-how were you to know. I’m a little disappointed in my brother though, as soon as he became a Navy Man he stopped drinking and always believed in good form, Pirates were the epitome of bad form.”
Milah shakes her head. “No stop that. You don’t know what your death did to him. He told me the reason he became a pirate is because how could a King send his best men on a mission that had such dark consequences, he would never serve under the rule of such a cruel man. He would not let you become a victim of the King, he didn’t want the man who sent him there to die and speak crap about what a fine captain he was and what a tragic accident it was.”
“So you’re saying he became a Pirate because of me?” Liam was having a hard time understanding how the most noble man he knew would live a life like that when they had worked so hard for their position.
“I met Killian only  a few years ago, and by then he had made a name for himself in the lands. But once I got to know him, I understood he was a broken man who drank away his sorrows. He mentioned you to me but he mainly buried what happened to you inside, bottling up his emotions so he seemed hard-faced and scary to others. But not to me.” She explains. “He idolizes you, always believing you were the best man he ever knew and how could he ever live up to that. But it was the anger over what happened to you which forced him into the situation he was in, he made a statement as the King had to scramble to find a new Navy and a new ship.”
Liam smiles at the thoughts of their so-called great King realising his navy men were now a band of Pirates and convincing the people it was fine and explaining to trade leaders why he needed a new ship and a brand new legion. “Our terrible King paid a dear price for his wicked plans, I guess it’s what they call karma.”
“We were happy, Killian and I. He was happy, his men commented they hadn’t seen him like that since you died.” Milah tells Liam. That’s all she would want to know about Bae, if he was happy.
“I’m glad he was able to move on and find love. And I’m just sad it didn’t last.”
“He will be happy again. It’ll take time but I’m sure he can find what he has with me with someone else.” Milah wasn’t cruel, she wants Killian to find love again someday with someone special- he doesn’t deserve to be alone forever.
______
While Milah stops coming to the bar every day, they still keep in touch and give each other updates if someone new arrives who knows Killian.
“Captain Liam. What a sight for sore eyes you are!” Miller, a former crewmate of Liam and Killian arrives one day, explains he was killed by someone called a Lost Boy, another Pirate. “Your brother is a fine captain, Hook may be a Pirate but you’d be proud of him.”
“Hook?” Liam asks.
Miller looks confused for a second before realising, “Oh I forgot he got the hook after you died!”
Turns out the Dark One cut off Killian’s hand and in Pirate fashion he replaced it with a hook, so now he’s ‘Captain Hook.’ Well at least he now knew to listen out for Captain Hook when new arrivals came.
And sure enough this worked out, though he wasn’t fond of some of the stories he heard.
“Did you hear there will be a curse?” Milah says to Liam one day.
Liam shakes his head, he doesn't like to hear too much of what is going on up there, he’s only interested in his brother.
“There’s an evil witch or someone who is planning on cursing everyone in the Enchanted Forest and placing them in her own personal hell.” Milah explains, she leaves out the rumours her ex husband is involved. “They say they will be frozen in time for 28 years until a saviour comes.”
“28 years? That means-“
Milah finishes his thoughts, “28 years frozen in time means nobody comes down here and we are in the dark about Killian.”
Liam sighs, it had been a few hundred years in the world upstairs, and they had learnt Killian was in Neverland, a place where nobody ages. But they had learnt so much about him and were hoping to find out more, but this curse was a setback.
_____
They know the curse has broken when people start entering the Underworld. Also turns out the town where the curse put them was based off the Underworld.
At first they don’t hear much about Killian, or “Hook”. Until one day.
“They took the Saviour’s son. Hook lent his ship to the Hero’s, they’re going after them.”
Not too long after, a face Liam would recognise anywhere shows up. The boy who led them to the dreamshade. And he is joined by the Dark One himself.
“I’m not ready to face him.” Milah tells Liam.
“It’s okay, he’s the only one who knows about my brother. I shall keep your name out of it.”
“Well if it isn’t the one handed Pirate’s brother.” The Dark One says when he enters the pawn shop, which he apparently owns in the cursed land. He’d never met the man before, but supposedly he was all knowing.
“You’re the only person who can tell me about my brother. Please I mean no threat.”  It wasn’t his place to defend Milah, he also did not wish to anger the Dark One.
The Dark One sighs. “I met your brother when he was a Pirate and I was a man with no power. He beat me in a duel when I was still powerless, so it was an unfair advantage. Many years later we met again and I cut off his hand as I thought that’s where a magic bean was but alas he tricked me. The Pirate hid in Neverland for a couple hundred years to get revenge. But I will say your brother has changed while in Storybrooke, he’s in love with the Saviour who hasn’t quite admitted she feels the same just yet. But he’s changed his tune, he may be a Pirate but he’s working on being a hero.”
Liam smiles, his little brother has found love? And a hero. This woman he was in love with- a saviour, the one who was destined to break the curse? Not admitting her feelings for him, sounds like the perfect match for the ‘womaniser’ that he had rumoured to be.
“He’s on the side of the heros.” He tells Milah that night at the bar when she was sure she was not going to run into her ex.
“You’re not serious?” Milah couldn’t believe it, Killian was working on the good side?
“Dark one confirmed it himself. He also, um,” Liam begins to tell her about how he found love, but isn’t sure how she would take to it.
“What? What is it” Milah can tell he’s hesitating, not wanting to tell her something, wait. “He’s found someone-hasn't he?”
Liam nods.
Milah lets out a soft laugh, “It’s okay that he found love again. I’m not so daft to wait 500 years for him to return. Killian is not my unfinished business, my son is. Tell me about the woman he’s found.”
___
And so Liam wonders about this woman his little brother had fallen in love with. He imagines she’s strong and feisty, like he remembers his mother was, and doesn’t put up with his brother's cockiness he inherited from their father.
Killian was always destined for great things and it sounds like he is finally on the path for this greatness. He tries to listen out for little things here and there when new people start arriving, but he wants to hear it himself when he eventually does see his brother again. Although he hopes it won’t be for a very long time, he wants to hear how his brother fell in love and started a family, giving his kids a better childhood than the two of them had.
But unfortunately one day, sooner than expected, he does overhear
“Captain Hook is here.”
He arrives at the blue house by the water, it’s grand and beautiful. Knocking at the door was the hardest thing he ever had to do, but a blonde woman dressed in white opens the door, this must be the saviour.
He doesn’t know what he will say to her, does he say thank you for being the woman his brother needs? Or does he just introduce himself and hope Killian isn’t too far away.
“Hi can I-“ she begins, but that’s when he sees him standing behind her,
“Killian!” 300 years of waiting, looking a lot older and dressed in modern black leather, his little brother was finally here.
23 notes · View notes
pl-panda · 4 years
Text
To marry a Vigilante: Part 1
MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next
Disclaimer: Masterlist
------
When they finally pulled apart, Marinette needed a moment for her brain to restart. She was sure she would melt right then and there. At the same time, she wanted to jump and scream from sheer ecstasy. It was all she ever wanted and now she had it. 
Damian stared at her empty expression. 
“I think you broke her.” Plagg suddenly zoomed out of her pocket, followed by Tikki who tried (and failed) to catch him. 
This was enough for Mari to finally start thinking coherently. “Um… Yeah… I… Maybe…” Or mostly coherently at least.
“Habibti. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.” Damian guided her. Slowly, Mari returned to her senses. 
“Thank you… I think I might have kinda lost my breath there.” She gave him an apologetic smile. 
“Nothing happened. Now I think I need to leave or my brothers will get some stupid idea and I will have to practice my skill with a sword.” Damian deadpanned. 
“Since I know I can’t stop you, please at least don’t kill them until I get to know them better?”
“I can try, but no promises.” He turned to leave, but she grabbed his hand.
“Oh! Wait!” She fumbled through her pocket for a moment before pulling out a small box. Plagg immediately was pulled inside it (much to Tikki’s amusement). “Damian Wayne. As Guardian of the Miraculous, I give you the miraculous of the Black Cat, which gives you the power of destruction. I trust you to protect it and use it to help others.”
Damian was stunned only for a short moment and definitely didn’t move his mouth like a fish. Definitely. “I accept that honor and thank you for your trust.”
“There is no one I would trust more than you with this. If not for your and your family’s help, I would’ve never caught Hawkmoth or the Cat.” 
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re brilliant and it was only a matter of time.” 
“Time I might’ve not had. Chat was working with Hawkmoth. Who knows when I would’ve fallen into a trap…”
“It’s all over now, Habibti.” He grabbed her hand. “Everything is going to be better now.” When she smiled he let go and opened the box. Plagg appeared in a flash. 
“For the record, I hate these boxes.”
“Stop complaining. If you stayed there it wouldn’t have been so bad.” Tikki scolded him.
Marinette giggled at the interaction of the two little gods. Damian just shook his head and donned the ring. 
“Can I see how you’ll look?” She asked before her smile took a more grin-like look. “I want to see if you’ll have a cute cat-ears.”
“Maybe when you are in Gotham.” He scoffed. “Thank you, angel. It’s the best Christmas gift you could’ve given me. Your trust means more than gold to me.”
“But Christmas is still a long way away…” Mari tried to dismiss him, but seeing his expression she doubled back. He looked almost scared. Almost, since Damian Wayne did not get scared.
“Angel… Christmas Eve is tomorrow. That’s why your class is leaving on Monday. You are all going to be attending the Wayne New Year Gala next Friday.”
“But… But… Wouldn’t there be decorations in stores? And Santa Clauses on the street? Or at least…”
“There were. Mostly Miraculous themed though. I can’t believe you didn’t notice.” He said with a bit too much amusement slipping into his voice.
“Kwami! Kwami! Kwami!” She started to pace. “I completely forgot! How could I have forgotten Christmas!?” She was close to collapsing. Damian was quickly by her, holding her wrists together to not accidentally get slapped by her flailing arms. 
“Habibti. There is nothing to worry about. You already gave everyone the greatest gift possible by ridding them of that terrorist. I admit I regret that we will not be able to spend our first Christmas together as a family, but the last several months were the best of my life already. You don’t need to give me anything more.”
“But… But…” She was at the edge of crying.
“Marinette. Don’t worry. I have an idea.” Tikki reassured her Chosen. “Go tell your parents to pack everything.”
“But… Maman and I must be here at six on Monday” She tried to argue. 
“You will be. Kaalki owes me a favor.” The kwami dismissed her. 
“But… But I can’t just abuse the miraculous.”
“Marinette. All Kwami love you. They would be happy to help you if the need arose.” Tikki nuzzled into her cheek. Mari finally relented.
“Fine… But I’m buying her three boxes of sugar cubes,” she said with conviction. 
The two kwami giggled and Damian cracked a smile. 
--------------------
Adrien cursed loudly. He barely managed to escape those damn heroes. And to think that his Lady marries some American ragtag instead of him? That’s how she repaid him for his loyalty? For all of his sacrifices? That was just a travesty. 
But it didn’t matter in the end. She didn’t deserve to be Ladybug anyway and now finally, the world could be free from her. Of course, heroes could try to save her. They could even succeed. But he made a point. He severed all the ties with that cursed bitch. Now he could focus on his true soulmate: Marinette. She was the real Ladybug. She was loyal, honest, brave, kind, selfless, beautiful. They’re made for each other. In a perfect world, they would be with one another if he was not blinded by the imposter. She had a crush on him in the past, but he ruined it. Now he had to work trice as hard to get her to join him. 
“Don’t worry mother. We will have our family again.” He said, looking at the stasis chamber. 
----------------------
When Marinette and her parents exited the portal in Wayne Manor, they were greeted by Alfred the Butler and Alfred the Cat. 
“Ah. Young Madame Marinette, Madame Cheng, Master Dupain. It is my pleasure to welcome you. I was told you would be arriving through… extraordinary means.” He greeted them. 
“We’re sorry for all the trouble we’re causing you on such short notice.” Marinette immediately started to apologize.
“You are no trouble at all. Definitely not compared to the usual Christmas mess.” He dismissed her apology. She wanted to protest, but the cat jumped onto her and she instinctively grabbed him and hugged.
“I see Alfred the Cat likes you, Angel.” Damian’s voice came from behind. Immediately, Marinette whirled around, only to stare into a pair of green eyes. 
“Damian!” She wanted to hug him, but the cat was a bit in the way. Instead, she just leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. They both smiled. 
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Sabine spoke. “Is Cassandra home? I would like to meet my niece. We spoke several times over the phone, but meeting in person is…”
“She is in the gym, practicing ballet,” Alfred informed her. 
“Thank you. Tom, be a kind husband, and carry my things to our room. And don’t forget the bag.” She patted Tom’s cheek before leaving. 
“Come, Habibti. I will show you the garden.” Damian grabbed her waiting hand.
“Take my bags too, dad? Thanks!” Mari shouted without looking back before she, Damian, and the cat left the room, leaving Tom with half the house packed into bags. 
“Why do women carry so much with them…?” He sighed. 
“It’s a mystery of the world that we, mere mortals, will never know, Sir,” Alfred answered in his usual tone. 
---------
“Cassandra?” Sabine asked, leaning through the doors leading to the gym. The mats that would usually cover the ground were all rolled in the corner to make space. A large mirror covered the entire right wall. A lone girl in a white ballet outfit danced to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet music. 
The girl did not answer or break her dance, but Sabine noted that her gaze shifted toward doors in the mirror. It was just a short moment to assess the threat without breaking concentration on whatever one did. It was the same as she often did. It was an instinct learned through years of training. David Cain better stayed in that cell or else.
When the song ended, Cass turned the music off and walked closer to Sabine until they were standing about a foot apart. 
“You’re a great dancer.” The woman started. Cass only nodded in response. 
“Practice.” She said. There was more awkward silence where the two measured each other. 
“I’m sorry sweetie. For what happened to you. If I knew, I would’ve searched for you and gave you a proper home.” A tear appeared in Sabine’s eye. When they spoke through video, it was mostly about meaningless things to get used to one another or neutral subjects. Now, in person, Sabine wanted to get all regret off her heart. 
“No… fault.” The girl answered. “All… good.” 
“Can I… Hug you?” Sabine asked, fully aware that not everyone liked physical contact.
“Hug?” Cass asked. To this day, only Dick or Tim wanted to give her hugs and it was rare. “Okay?” She more asked than agreed, but her aunt responded by slowly pulling the girl to her heart. 
“I’m still sorry. If I see my sister, she is gonna get her ear screamed off.” She assured the girl. “How could she… You’re such a sweet girl.”
Cassandra Cain smiled. She liked being hugged by that woman. And the image of her mother cowering before her older sister was too funny. 
-------------
“Damian!” Marinette shouted as he dragged her through the garden. It was much colder in Gotham than in Paris. And it was still only late morning here while she left Paris in the afternoon. She was a bit tired. 
“I want to show you something, Angel. Come on! Before my brothers find us and drag me into their ‘Christmas spirit’ stuff.” He groaned at the thought.
“Christmas is important!” She argued.
“Definitely when you are here.” He answered easily. It was lucky he was too focused on the road to look back because she blushed… hard. 
They walked through the forest that was on the manor grounds until they entered a small clearing. In the center, there was a stone garden gazebo with the fire burning in the center. It definitely gave heat, but little smoke dispersed in the air before it could alert anyone to that location. There were several stone benches inside.
“I found it during one of my… escape attempts when I was younger.” He admitted. “Now I use it as a retreat from my brothers. The herb mixture I use as fuel gives no smoke.”
“Why bring me here?” She asked. 
“I just thought that we should enjoy the peace before the hurricane that my brothers become washes over us.”
Mari giggled. “I met your brothers.”
“No. You saw them. I had to live with them for the last five years. They are crazy.”
“It can’t be that bad… right?”
“Last year Todd set the Christmas Tree on fire.” He deadpanned.
“Okay, that might’ve been an accident.” She tried to argue. 
“Four years ago Grayson decided to show his acrobatic skill to put a star on the top of the tree. He ended up crashing it on us and the dinner table.”
“It… happens?” She said, but with less conviction. 
“Two years ago, Drake decided to surprise Brown and bought her a life-sized statue of them made out of chocolate.”
“It doesn’t sound that bad…” 
“Except that insomniac idiot accidentally ordered it made out of chocolate ice cream!” 
“Oh…” Marinette didn’t have an answer for that.
“So as I said, they can be a bit much.”
“Don’t worry. I still think it could be worse. My Nona once gave my parents a motorbike with two sidecars as a Christmas gift.”
“Tt. That sounds normal.” 
“Except one of them was made as a crib for me. I was one at the time.” 
Damian cracked a smile.
“I still think you will thank me for showing you this place.” 
“May I remind you that you will all be stuck with my mom for the better part of the exchange. She will keep them in check.” Mari huffed. 
“I don’t doubt that.” He pulled his phone and showed her a photo of Sabine standing over Talia. The next one was of unconscious Talia with Tom standing over her with the broken chair.
Mari giggled and she would later swear that Damian laughed a bit. Not that anyone saw them. Well, no human. Alfred the Cat could hardly testify.
------
Masterlist // Next
195 notes · View notes
everamazingfe · 3 years
Text
A Close Shave
Fic Summary: After being picked up by the Urania and brought back to the Hephaestus station, Communications Officer Doug Eiffel tries to come to terms with his new look. It doesn’t go well. Luckily, Jacobi comes along to save the day. 
----------------------------------------------------
Words in this fic: 2082 Pairings: Doug Eiffel/Daniel Jacobi Warnings for this fic: Brief mentions of abuse
Notes: I got into Wolf 359 at the start of this year, and after relistening to it recently I decided to start writing some fics. I was pretty nervous about posting this, but I couldn't keep it in my drafts forever, so here it is! There’s also a link to this fic over on A O 3 as the source of this post! Click it to go read it over there, or you can search up the title or ‘everamazingfe’ on the site.
----------------------------------------------------
There was something about him, Eiffel had decided within the first few seconds of seeing him for the first time. His face was mostly blank unless he had some sly comment to say, some sarcastic remark, and then that stony expression was replaced by something cockier, more smug. Sometimes there was a flash of softness to it, usually when Maxwell was speaking. But even when his face was at its blankest, there was a mischievous gleam in those bright green eyes of his.
Eiffel had never really noticed anyone’s eyes before. He didn’t know Minkowski’s eye color, or Lovelace’s for that matter. Hell, Eiffel didn’t even know if he knew his own eye color at this point, he avoided looking in mirrors at all costs. But for some reason, he’d noticed Jacobi’s. Not only had he noticed it, but he had committed it to memory as well. 
For a moment, he was convinced he could picture them clearly as he stared out the window above his comms panel, making eye contact with them in the reflection of the glass. Somehow, he was able to picture his face with perfect clarity too, despite only seeing it a handful of times while he was in sound mind. 
“Feel good to be home?” The Jacobi that Eiffel thought he was picturing in his mind so clearly spoke, startling him out of his trance and making him jump because it wasn’t his imagination, it was the real deal. It made sense, he’d never had a very visual imagination anyway, but there was always hope for a change of mind. “Wow, I didn’t think I was all that scary, Officer Eiffel.”
“You’re not,” he grumbled with a huff of indignation, grabbing the edge of his station and pulling himself back to it, hooking his knees beneath it to keep himself there. “I just… Got lost in thought.”
“You? Capable of thought? Now that’s something that wasn’t included in your file.” There it was, that stupid sly grin that Jacobi always had when he thought he was being oh-so-clever. Usually, he was. But that joke had become played out within the first month on the station.
Eiffel responded with mock laughter, trying to ignore the way that comment made an invisible knife twist in his chest. After all he’d done, no one thought he was good at anything. What a surprise. But he didn’t have time to unpack all of that right then. “Get some new material, I’ve heard it all before,” he drawled, hoping he looked as bored as he sounded. “I’m a slacker, I’m an idiot, I’m a motormouth. Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Your shoe’s untied.” 
Maybe there was some truth to one of those three things, because like the idiot he was, Eiffel had that brief moment of panic everyone had when someone told them that their shoe was untied, or their fly was down, or there was something on their shirt. And because of that panic, he looked down. It had completely slipped his mind that he hadn’t even worn shoes in the two (Three? Did those hundred days hurtling through space count? He didn’t know.) years he had been on the Hephaestus. “Oh, goddammit!” He groaned as he stared down at his socked feet in dismay, trying to tune out the cackling laughter Jacobi let out behind him that sent him halfway across the room. 
“You’re also gullible, apparently!” He let himself continue his path across the room so he could push off the back wall, still in a fit of giggles as he sailed back to the console. “You actually fell for it! I can’t believe it! I’ve never gotten anyone with that before.” Jacobi’s grin was bigger than it had ever been, and he wiped the tears from his eyes before they wreaked havoc on the station’s internal systems. Maxwell was too smart to fall for a simple trick like that, and Kepler… Well, Kepler didn’t like being pranked. 
Eiffel grumbled something incoherently, waiting patiently for Jacobi to get over himself before he spoke again. “Was there a real reason you came down here?”
“No, not really. Kepler’s giving Minkowski an orientation for her new role and then he needed to discuss… something with Hilbert, I don’t even wanna know. And Ala- Maxwell’s busy with Hera. So, I was bored.”
“What about Lovelace?”
“Dunno. Didn’t ask. Didn’t care.”
“Right… So you came to interrupt my very important work?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Lucky me.”
“Lucky you.” Jacobi made himself comfortable, lounging in the free-floating bliss that was zero-g as Eiffel pretended to look busy, though his eyes were fixed on the reflection of the man in the glass. The bright light of Wolf 359 backlit him beautifully, and the color in the star seemed to desaturate everything else in the reflection, except for those damn eyes. 
Eiffel let out a sigh, bringing a hand up to run it through his hair, his fingers brushing through the empty space where his long curls used to be. He let out a frustrated growl, moving his hand up to his scalp. The little hair that was left was scraggly and damaged as hell. It was coarse and patchy, and it scratched his hand uncomfortably when he ran his hand over it. “Actually. I have an idea of something we can do.” He turned around to look at the real Jacobi, who arched an eyebrow in silent encouragement for him to go on. “Come with me.”
He’d had his head shaved a handful of times, and it was usually under duress. The first time was as a punishment for getting gum stuck in it, even though he hadn’t been the one to put gum there, and it would’ve been much easier to just cut the chunk out rather than shave his whole head. The second time had been when he’d joined the military. This would make number three, but this time it was necessary, despite the fact that his goal had really been to never cut his hair again. All that length had meant a lot to him, it meant that he had control over something in his life, finally, but the cryofreeze had, apparently, had other plans for it.
Additionally, most of the shaving kits, particularly their razors, had been dismantled for Minkowski’s crusade against Blessie. God only knew where all of those had ended up, or if they were still even on the station, but he knew there was one that was still safely tucked away. 
“Wow, Eiffel. I thought you would’ve liked to wine and dine your dates before bringing them home. You always struck me as more of a gentleman than that.”
“Shut up.” He rooted around in his locker, letting various pieces of uniform and whatever else had been shoved in there float freely around them as he did so. Most of it was contraband that he should’ve been more careful about getting seen, but he was too focused. Once he found the kit, he let out a soft, ‘a ha!’ And underhand tossed it to Jacobi. “You’re shaving my head.”
For once, Jacobi didn’t have some sort of sarcastic remark to make in response. He was just confused. “Sorry?”
“I can’t… I can’t stand it being like this. I can’t. And it’ll never grow back right with the ends this damaged, and I don’t really feel like cutting myself a thousand times in the process. So you’re doing it for me.” He tried to make his voice sound commanding, authoritative, but instead he just sounded desperate, irritated, upset. His hair meant so much to him, but he could stand to be without it for a little bit. He’d done it before, he could do it again. What he couldn’t stand was the sorry excuse for hair that he’d been left with. 
“You don’t think I’d use the razor to kill you? It’d be the perfect opportunity.”
“If you wanted to kill me, you could’ve done it back on the Urania when I was half dead.” 
“You hadn’t annoyed me as much back then.”
“I mean, if you really want to, I guess you can, but… I’d really just like my head shaved, please.”
A dramatic sigh filled the silence, and then: “Ugh, fine. But you owe me.”
That was good enough for Eiffel, and he trailed along behind Jacobi to the Hephaestus’ bathroom. Gravity was a little different in there, as in it was actually present in order to make showering and other general acts of hygiene (that Eiffel didn’t really partake in) a little easier. So he was able to sit on the counter and stare their reflections down as Jacobi stood behind him, setting the kit beside him on the counter. 
Jacobi wasn’t a friend, not by a longshot. In Minkowski’s book, he was part of ‘the enemy.’ But they’d spent a decent amount of time together after he’d been picked up by the Urania, and even a little bit of time before that over the comms. Someone had to keep in touch with him and keep up-to-date on his coordinates so the ship could get a lock on his location, and Kepler had felt like that work was beneath the highly intellectual minds of himself and Maxwell, so it had fallen to Jacobi. And Eiffel hadn’t minded, because beneath all the smart remarks, the guy was alright to talk to. A little stilted, maybe, but that wasn’t anything he couldn’t work with. It was better on the Urania. Easier, at least, because Jacobi’s body language did a lot of the talking for him. Once again, helping Eiffel was deemed grunt work, so Jacobi had been the one stuck tending to his wounds, helping him get around when he was too weak to even keep his eyes open, and adjust to eating again after not doing it for a hundred days (though with all of the substitutes for rations Hilbert dared to call food, one could argue it had been even longer since he’d really eaten). 
Long story short, Eiffel liked Jacobi to some degree. The guy was alright in his book, and he was sure the feeling was mutual, because he could’ve easily said no, or done a hackjob of it, or killed him. But instead, he took his time and made sure that he didn’t miss any spots, his other hand resting gently on Eiffel’s head to keep it steady despite all the fidgeting. 
After the first pass, Eiffel moved to get off the counter, to turn around and thank Jacobi, but a firm hand on his shoulder pushed him back down. 
“I gotta go again, make sure I didn’t miss a spot. It looked awful before, but it’ll look even worse if there’s just a tiny patch with a few hairs left.”
Eiffel furrowed his eyebrows together, but nodded and got comfortable again. As comfortable as he could, at least. His ass was already numb and the feeling was starting to spread down to his legs, but hopefully the second pass would go quicker. 
And it did, kind of. Jacobi didn’t need to clean the hair from the razor as often because there was barely any left, but he still took that same slow and gentle care as he had the first time. When he was done, he wiped off the leftover shaving cream with a nearby towel, smiling genuinely as Eiffel lifted a hand to feel over his scalp. “Well? How does it feel?”
“It feels great,” he answered earnestly, laughing in relief. He didn’t hate the way his reflection looked anymore, and now he could actually believe everyone when they told him to pull it together because it would grow back eventually. Hopefully this made the process easier. His eyes drifted to Jacobi’s in the mirror, mirroring that same smile. “Thank you... I really do owe you.”
“Yeah, you do.” The genuine smile faded to his usual cocky grin, and Eiffel threw the towel at him. It hit him square in the face, but it didn’t wipe away that look. “But… You’re welcome.” He offered him a hand to help him off the counter, steadying him with a chuckle when he nearly lost his balance. “Gravity that hard on you, Doug?”
“No! It’s just… That counter was not very comfortable to sit for that long on. And yeah, I guess gravity’s pretty hard to adjust to too.” 
“Well then we’d better get you back to the lazy embrace of zero-g.”
36 notes · View notes
silkylious · 4 years
Text
Fucking Imbecile (Bakugo Katsuki x Fem!Reader)
Tumblr media
Pairing: Bakugo Katsuki x Fem reader Warnings: Just a whole lotta fluff, light angst and comfort Prompt: #1 “Great. Now you’ve gone and fallen in love with her/him, you fucking imbecile”
A/N: Thank you @call-me-prodigy​ for the request! I hope you like this! 
A constant.
That’s what you’ve always been in his life. No matter the time, place or circumstances, you’ve always been there for him. He’d dubbed you a pebble on the side of the road for his feet to kick around, but much like his other childhood friend, it didn’t seem to perturb you in the slightest. Always wandering around with that dumb, carefree grin. Unlike Izuku though, you didn’t share his desire of becoming a hero. Violence just wasn’t for you, and even if there were a lot of rescue-centric heroes out there, fighting was still a huge part of the job. Besides, it wasn’t like you could be one even if you wanted to. You were quirkless after all. Your lack of interest in heroics didn’t mean you didn’t want to help people, however. Ever the true pacifist, you sought to make everyone’s day better, regardless of how big or small the effect may be, if your smile could brighten someone’s day even by a little bit then that was enough to satiate you. Which explains why throughout his childhood, despite him being a gigantic dickhead, you were a source of unconditional support and optimism in his life. A constant ray of blinding sunshine, livening his day up whether he asked for it or not.
The events that had just transpired left his brain reeling, struggling to catch up to reality. You looked like you were asking for help. Now that he wasn’t in the grips of the sludge villain, he was left to his own devices to overthink. Fucking Deku, I didn’t need help with that expired nickelodeon slime! He repeated over and over again, though it honestly felt like he was trying to reassure himself at this point. Katsuki was confident in his abilities (that’s a fucking understatement), but he couldn’t shake the feeling of actually being in the clutches of danger, no matter how many times he’d envisioned a scenario like this. People bumped into him from each direction, he didn’t feel them, eyes trained on his open palm. The pinnacle of his power couldn’t save him, yeah sure he stalled for a bit, but if All Might hadn’t showed up, both him and that shitty nerd would’ve been toast. That undeniable fact absolutely shook him. Before he could mentally crumble apart, a hand found his shoulder, stabilizing him in reality. So warm, so recognizable, it felt like home.
He turned around and was met with soft eyes, but they held no pity, no sympathy; they didn’t call him a weakling. They poured with understanding, pride and hope, as if telepathically telling him to learn from this experience, not take it to heart. You silently tugged at his sleeve, walking him towards his residence and he didn’t say no, he didn’t say anything at all. Just quietly watched your back as you lead the way, hand still lugging him along. Not once did you look back, and he decided that he wouldn’t either. He’d learn from this, and not look back; no reason to brood over what could’ve gone wrong.
When you went your separate ways (him to U.A. and you to a public high-school), he found it hard to adjust to your absence. Quirkless or not, he valued your presence in his life. He wouldn’t admit it to save his life, but he missed your encouraging smile, missed your comforting touch. He’d grown attached to you, you’d never once made him feel small, weak or pitiful, and you still managed to console him when he needed it most. Luckily for him, you lived next door.
He lost. To fucking Deku. That was certainly a first. What rubbed salt into his open wound were his other classmates, Katsuki was not accustomed to having actual competition. He was so used being first by a landslide, that his mind could barely compute not only his loss against Deku, but the sheer skill and strength some of his peers showed off. Like that Half-n-Half bastard. Fuck. Then that stupid nerd had to babble some bullshit about a borrowed quirk, was he mocking him? Did Deku seriously think he was dumb enough to believe shit like that?! He was standing in front of his home, refusing to go in, not when he still had fucking tears in his eyes.
“Katsuki?” Of fucking course, you had to show up now of all times. You seemed to have a habit of catching him at his lowest and it was pissing him off. He dried his eyes with his sleeve, he knew it was futile and his eyes were bloodshot anyway, but he refused to cry in front of you. At lest that was the plan.
“F-Fuck off!” His stammer severely dulled the insult. You ignored it, as per usual.
“What happened?” You persisted, approaching him until there was only a couple inches between you. His shaky breaths came out short, unrhythmic. You slowly lowered his forearm from his face, only to be greeted by his vermilion gems encased in angry red lines, clear indications that he was crying. Katsuki watched, waited for you to show any kind of that self-righteous pity, the kind he saw in Midoriya’s eyes, the kind that he full-heartedly loathed. But it never came, all he could see is patience and quiet succor, waiting for him to say his piece. “What happened, Katsuki?” You repeated. The addition of his given name softened him up way too much for his own comfort.
Fuck it. He blew off at the mouth, releasing all his frustrations and insecurities in one breath. Katsuki was screaming, shouting and yelling to his heart’s content. And you listened, not once did you intervene his venting session. When his voice became scratchy, his eyes watering again and not a coherent word came out of his mouth, that’s when you decided to step in. His unintelligible ramblings were cut off as you engulfed him in a tight hug.
“Listen to me, Katsuki. And I want you to listen good,” The words were whispered right into his ear, as if you were trying to push them directly through his subconscious. He stood there, stiff as a board as he took in your response, your arms holding him securely. “You’re strong and smart and hardworking, I know that better than anyone else. But you’re not flawless; nobody is, and that’s not a bad thing, its not a weakness. Tell me, don’t you want to be the strongest hero of them all? The best? The number one?” He, in a very uncharacteristic and meek fashion, gave you a single nod. “Then knowing your flaws and working on them is essential to that, don’t ya think? Losses, right now, aren’t weaknesses, Katsu. They’re steppingstones. You’re still learning, you still have so much room for improvement, and you can only improve by working on your flaws, yeah?”
Your voice was so gentle, so comforting, hands rubbing at his tense shoulders and back. He couldn’t help but wrap his muscled arms around you too, nodding his head as he planted it closer to the crook of your neck. Katsuki kept you in that position for god knows how long, breathing in your scent while letting your words sink in. He briefly contemplated the possibility of you having a quirk. A quirk that let’s you say the right things at the right time because goddamn you knew just how to lift his spirits.
“Thanks, nerd.” It was so faint that had it not been uttered into your neck, you probably wouldn’t have heard it. He tightened his hold on you for a split second before he completely let go and walked to his front door, entering and shutting the door behind him without sparing you a second glance. He stepped in feeling much more relieved, elated even, but he didn’t understand the rapid beating of his heart, nor did he want to dwell on it. It’s probably from all the yelling anyway.
On the other side, you stood with a serene smile, humming lightly with jubilation.
“You’re welcome, Katsuki.”
He’d seek you out whenever he wanted to rant about that fucking nerd or the Half-n-Half bastard, and you listened to his every word, giving your own comments whenever you felt they were needed. Somehow, despite going to different schools, the separation seemed to draw you closer together. You’d frequent his room, study with him, play video games with him, and sometimes you’d just lay there, silently cherishing each other’s company. Then he had to leave for the U.A. training camp.
“Take care, Katsu,”
“Yeah, yeah,” Crimson eyes fell on your form, he adjusted the duffel bag strap on his shoulder. Shifting his weight from one leg to the other, Katsuki contemplated his next move, awkwardly staring at your face while his mind went into overdrive. For fuck’s sake. You watched him curiously as he huffed aggressively, stomping over to you. He roughly pulled you into an embrace, if you could even call it that; it felt like he was trying to suffocate you.
“Stay safe, dumbass.” He grumbled, ending the affectionate gesture as soon as it had started.
It was supposed to be a get away resort to enhance the students’ quirks, but they got way more than they’d bargained for. You stayed up all night, gaze trained on the news channel as more and more updates filed in. They took him. They kidnapped him. Staring with tears in your eyes at the sight before you, blue flames licking at what was supposed to be a secret location. Your heart was palpitating wildly in your chest.
“Izuku!” The whole class turned around at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. You quickly shuffled past them, almost throwing yourself at Midoriya’s frame on the hospital bed. You cried into his chest, agony bleeding from your eyes as you pleaded, begged for him.
“Bring him back, please. Bring back our Kacchan, Izuku!” If his hands weren’t in casts, he would’ve clutched you impossibly closer. He was the only one who knew of your feelings for his childhood friend and seeing you like this added more fuel to the fire of determination in his eyes.
A week had passed, Katsuki was rescued and he hadn’t said a word to you since his arrival. You figured he needed time to think but god did you miss him, all you could think about is being in his arms, his presence, hearing his voice, anything that could assure you he was still here, alive and safe.
Late into the night, you couldn’t catch a wink of sleep, too preoccupied with the aftermath of everything that had happened one week ago. There was a knock at your door. Your parents were well asleep, so you were left to see who would be here at this ungodly hour. Looking through the small peephole, your eyes caught sight of spiky ash blonde hair. The door was swung open, Katsuki didn’t have time to react before you flung yourself at him and he nearly lost his balance from the impact. He’d never seen you this shaken up (you were always so calm and collected) and it fucking hurt so you like this, because of him, because he wasn’t strong enough, because his weak ass couldn’t save himself-
“I missed you so much, K-Katsuki,” You were sniffling and hiccupping all over his shirt, but he couldn’t care less about that. His attention was drawn to you, the state you were in, he didn’t even return your hug, all he could think about was how pathetic and weak he was. Immediately, you picked up on his lack of reaction, how his head was bowed in shame, how his hands limply hung at his sides. You’d seen him in this exact position countless times before and you knew what you had to do. Sat on your couch, the silence was deafening, vastly different to the air of tranquility you usually shared. Katsuki decided to speak first.
“It was my fault–”
“Katsu–”  
“Let me finish.” You bit the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from interjecting his speech. But god, it was so hard to keep quiet when he was berating himself like this. He poured his heart out to you, each word so damning, so broken. Every syllable that fell from his lips cut through you; you couldn’t bear to see him like this. You could only imagine the sheer anguish lurking inside him, his idol retired to save him, even just the thought made your chest hurt. Tears painted his face, yours too. By the time he’d gone mute, you had him in your grip, rocking him gently as you tried to recollect your thoughts.
“Katsuki,” You started, voice faint and barely a whisper. “I don’t know exactly what happened there, but… if there is anyone to blame for this, it’s the villains,” His head was buried in your chest, tears still cascading down his face and into the material of your shirt. “And honestly, I don’t think anything you could have done would have changed the outcome at all. You don’t give yourself enough credit, Katsu. If anyone else was in your place, I doubt it would’ve changed anything for the better. Honestly, I feel like this was probably the best case scenario, it’s still shitty but at least you’re alive and safe. All Might’s alive, your classmates are all safe. All the damage was the villains’ fault, not yours. Please don’t beat yourself up over this, it was out of your control…” Your voice trembled as another barrage of water conquered your eyes. Your hands ran through his soft follicles, trying to soothe the hurricane that was stampeding through both of you.
That strange sensation in his gut began to arise again as you shed tears of empathy for him, the beating in his heart accelerating considerably. You remained that way, in each other’s embrace, until you both fell into slumber and your parents woke you up the next day. As Bakugo said his goodbye to you and watched you close the door with a stupidly cute bedhead, he realized something. Something that explained the annoying flutter of his heart whenever you called him that stupid nickname, the overwhelming desire to be near you at all times and why he only ever let you break through his defense, bringing down his fortified walls brick by brick.
Katsuki facepalmed.
“Great. Now you’ve gone and fallen in love with her, you fucking imbecile.”
After his move to the U.A. dorms, your rendezvous had become a lot less frequent. He found himself thinking about you way more than he’d like to admit, unbeknownst to him you were thinking about him just as much, if not more. You’d send him a text daily asking how he was, fussing over his well-being and making sure he’s okay. And the times you did meet up, things would be… off with him. With the revelations about his own feelings recognized (finally), Katsuki found himself noticing small things about you, ticks and habits most people wouldn’t bat an eye at, but he did. He found himself struggling not to blush whenever you shared a goodbye hug, or when you would lean over to look at his notebook during your study sessions, coming dangerously close to his face. You’d picked up on his change of attitude too but didn’t comment on it. It sent butterflies soaring in your chest, head high above the clouds every time that adorable pink would grace his devilishly handsome face, yet you couldn’t risk it. What you had with Katsuki was precious to you but also to him, you didn’t want to ruin one of the only true friendships he had for the sake of your own feelings.
Katsuki finally grew the balls to tell you (after an onslaught of teasing from the Baku-squad when they caught wind of his crush). He was over at your place for the weekend, you spent the whole day playing video games (ahem getting your ass kicked), watching crappy horror movies and just enjoying each other’s company. He loosened up the more time went on, reminding himself to savor every waking moment with you by his side, never again would he take you for granted.
You were on your third horror film, competing to see who would get scared first. The plot in this one wasn’t all that horrible if you were being honest, it had completely captivated you, so much so that you couldn’t see the smirk on Katsuki’s face or how his hand had sneaked around the back of the couch to reside behind your shoulders, waiting for the right moment to strike. The scene was building up to a climax, Katsuki side eyed you as you leaned forward, too engulfed in the movie to be aware of your surroundings. And then–
“AHHH!”
An all too embarrassing shriek left your throat, you’d never live that one down. Katsuki was laughing his ass off as your brain tried to register what had just happened. And when it finally clicked, you were ready to beat his ass into oblivion. Jumping into his lap without thinking about it, you began throwing punches at his chest (that honestly felt like getting tickled to him), which substantially increased his laughter until there were tears in his eyes. “You asshole! why would you do that?!” Your indignant cry only served to make him laugh harder until he sounded like a seal doing a mating call. His atypical glee was contagious and you found yourself chuckling along, hands no longer jabbing at his pecs, rather resting peacefully over them, feeling his chortles in overwhelming detail.
When the dust had settled and your chuckles died down, both of you became infinitely conscious of the position you were in. Both of your faces suddenly aflame with realization. When you went to break the close proximity between you, he surprised both of you by securing his hands on your hips, keeping you in place. The fiery red adorning his cheeks was a comical contrast to the determined scowl on his face. His knuckles were turning white as he dug his digits into your sides, steeling himself.
“(n-name), I like you… a lot,” Katsuki wished he could stare at anything but your face, yet he forced himself to watch your reaction. “I-I wanna be more than friends–”
Not another letter passed through his lips before you molded them with your own, sealing that as your response. His hands relaxed a bit, moving up to your waist and kneading the soft skin there. When you pulled a part, you’ll never forget the sight of the small grin of genuine elation on his face, not taking a second to reciprocate it.
585 notes · View notes
kanomitri · 3 years
Text
Dimitri vs Fleche Parallel
*SPOILERS FOR AZURE MOON CHAPTERS 14 AND 18 AS WELL AS (minor) SPOILERS FOR POST-GRONDER OF OTHER ROUTES*
Tw/Cw - Death, mentions of decapitation, trauma, and stabbing
Okay, but Dimitri and Fleche.
I'm in the middle of my Azure Moon replay, soaking in EVERYTHING,
and I just hit the end of Chapter 14.
Uh, as a reminder, this is the chapter after you've just reunited with your students and the monastery is being attacked. What's most important here is the dialogue Fleche shares with Randolph (the enemy general of this chapter whom you must defeat and Fleche's older brother). The transcript is as follows:
Randolph: It would seem the report that the Knights of Seiros have returned was accurate. This is going to take some effort.
Fleche: Brother... I heard a rumor that there is a vicious murderer among our enemies.
Randolph: Who knows if there's any truth to it. Though I admit we have lost some soldiers recently.
Randolph: Whether he's among them or not, taking on the Knights of Seiros is extremely dangerous.
Randolph: You're not ready for the front lines, Fleche. Stay in the back and support us from there. Understood?
Fleche: No! I want to stay with you! I have to---
Randolph: I need you to understand, Fleche. I will come back, I promise.
Fleche: Fine. I trust you, Brother. Please... be safe.
Randolph: All units, prepare to attack!
(Source: The game itself. I copied it from the Log)
Now, aside from the fact that Randolph using Fleche's name while Fleche only says "Brother" is heavily reminiscent of Seteth and Flayn (wow, even the names are similar - Fleche and Flayn), I was listening to this exchange intently.
You see, last time I listened, I was clowning on them because - duh, they're gonna die lol. Dimitri is on my side 🤪🤪🤪 (I later learned that my Dimitri was NOT that powerful, as this was my first playthrough and I had little experience back then. My current Dimitri would absolutely demolish though).
This time, however, I recalled Fleche from last time - she was the one to nearly assassinate Dimitri, and accidentally kill Rodrigue.
Before, I saw this conversation as relevant simply because, "Oh hey, that guy's gonna die! Yup, there he is. Wait, Dimitri, calm down-"
I completely forgot Fleche, so when she came and claimed we killed her brother, my mind blanked. I thought similarly to the rest of the army - her brother must've been some soldier we killed. Oops. ╮(╯_╰)╭
Then, as the conversation closed, a small thought dawned on me:
That reminds me of Dimitri.
To be blunt, a lot of things do (I think about Dimitri just about 24/7 and thusly, I think about Dimitri parallels non-stop) but this was a first for me - and the thought stuck.
Yes, yes... Fleche was like Dimitri - seeking revenge for fallen family, a vengeance that would take her life.
She reflected what Dimitri could've been - and is - in another route. Another way the story could've been told.
Allow me to explain:
Firstly, Fleche was worried for her brother, and she survived the battle where he died.
This was, oddly enough, the first thought to come to mind to explain this, but hear me out.
In an earlier conversation (pre-timeskip), just after the Jeralt is killed, Byleth speaks with Dimitri, where the latter reveals more about his experience back in Duscur, as a way to empathize with the Professor - including some words about his stepmother, whom he loved as his own flesh.
Dimitri: ... My stepmother, the kindest person I had ever known, left me behind and disappeared into the infernal flames. ...
(Source: The Cause of Sorrow/Script - Fire Emblem Wiki)
Dimitri and Gilbert's C-Support reveal that Dimitri would not have lived were it not for an external influence.
Dimitri: (To Gilbert) ... You saved my life at Duscur. I have only gratitude for you, no blame to speak of. ...
(Source: Dimitri/Supports - Fire Emblem Wiki)
No doubt, Dimitri was extremely worried for everyone of the Kingdom during that battle - friends and family alike - but I focus specifically on his stepmother mostly because it's later revealed that she has something to do with the Tragedy, and I sometimes like to have a tragic sense of humor :]
Similar to Dimitri's concern for his stepmother, Fleche worries deeply for her brother, Randolph. Both of them are kept from the front lines and live the battle, but still bear witness to the murder of their family - for Dimitri, that included his stepmother, and for Fleche, that's her brother. Both survived where their beloved family fell, and they had a feeling it would happen.
Second, Fleche seeks revenge.
This is not a hard one to prove. In Chapter 18, as Fleche prepares to kill Dimitri, she shouts:
"[The pain of being stabbed is] nothing compared to what my brother felt! You will never be forgiven, you know. I will never forgive you!"
(Source: Blood of the Eagle and Lion (Azure Moon)/Script - Fire Emblem Wiki)
If that's not vengeance, I don't know what is.
Third, her vengeance is her death, but she does collateral damage in the process.
This one is also fairly obvious - after stabbing Rodrigue she's killed - but there's also a bit more to it.
Yes, Rodrigue's death is an important step in Dimitri arc as it caused him to view both life and death differently, but you can also use it as parallel fodder (as I have).
You see, during other routes (Verdant Wind and Silver Snow specifically), Dimitri comes incredibly close to killing Edelgard (they are literally on the same battlefield, and she's even severely wounded in the process!) but he fails to finish the deed. He severely damages the Imperial army (alongside the Kingdom and Alliance forces, as cited in the event, "A Visitor"), but Edelgard lives. He dies.
Similarly, Fleche comes incredibly close to killing Dimitri. She even does collateral damage (aka she killed Rodrigue) - but she ultimately fails. Dimitri lives. She dies.
In essence, Fleche is a Dimitri that would've been - a Dimitri that is - had he not been corrected. Ironically enough, she helped him - saved his life even.
And people give all the credit to Byleth. ┐(´ー`)┌
Anyways, that's just a thought I had that I may or may not have put too much thought into haha. I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed it but that's my two cents at the very least.
TL;DR - fleche is lowkey a manifest of dimitri
18 notes · View notes