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#because if that were the case he'd try maybe three times before giving up
marcsburnerphone · 3 months
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And they were roomates
(Captain John price x F!reader)
Summary: that captain wants somewhere more homely to settle down and when an offer like yours comes alight on Zillow he must take up on it.
Warnings: angsty (very minimal), injury(very minimal), john not knowing how to handle certain situation.
part 1 - part 2 - part 3!! - part 4
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That's when it started, the weird energy that set the scene for every interaction between the two of you. He couldn't help but start to see this so-called “tension” gaz had mentioned fulfill its way into your lives. Not only was it your beauty, it was the domesticity that settled in your relationship. You need that lightbulb in your room replaced, you politely knocked on his door, car troubles? Yeah John should know how to do that. But what scared him the most wasn't the attraction he felt towards you, it was your lack thereof. He never seemed to catch you sparing him any extra glances than were necessary. Unlike him he couldn't help but catch his greedy eyes secretly soaking in every inch of you when given the opportunity. 
But he couldn't be further than wrong 
Because at the opposite end of your home your mind seems to be obsessed with the thought of john. What a man he was. He must’ve been getting some back on base and you couldn't even be jealous, aroused though definitely. He's actually all 6 foot something of fine, absolutely climbable. But god does that man often look like he wants not a thing to do with you. Especially most recently you rarely even see him and when you do he barely speaks or spares you a glance.
—-----------------
“Hey, haven't seen you in awhile.” you surprise him extremely early in the kitchen one morning.
“Oh um good morning, I’m fine just been a bit busy. Why are you up so early?” He lies then quickly changes the topic knowing being awake during these hours of the morning  isn’t your forte.
“Scheduled a client for 6AM instead of 6PM and it's too late to cancel.'' He hums in response, willing himself to say something more but his mind comes up blank as it often does in your presence. 
So he leaves without a word and nothing in hand he just leaves. And you stand there absolutely thrown through the loop at the moment that you two just shared. 
—--------------
“We were doing great as roommates. You know I was comfortable and he seemed comfortable but now I swear that man avoids me like the plague.” you say to the longtime client in your chair.
“Maybe he’s just not social.” She chimes in, you concentrate while trying to part her hair before replying.
“I could see that being the case if he hadn’t been so social the previous two weeks you know, we’ve made meals in the kitchen together, watched television in the living room so I don’t understand what changed.” you say applying product to the sectioned hair.
“What if he doesn’t like you?” your hands pause for a second as you ponder the thought.
“Well I guess he doesn’t have to like me to live with me.” you say with very visibly discontent.
“But you on the other hand strive when people like you.” she replies, reading right through you.
“Well yeah I think anybody would.” you shrug.
“Not a military man who’s probably widely hated.” She's always right and you hate it.
“What's not to like about me?” you genuinely couldn't come up with an answer yourself.
“Are you a messy roommate or do you bother him a lot or do you nag him for his mess?” You can’t think of doing any of those but maybe asking for his help from time to time.
“I might be bothering him but nothing I would consider too much , just some help from time to time.” she laughs from her seat and you unenthusiastically spin the chair she's in to face you.
“Was it in the contract that he'd have to help you from ‘time to time’.'' You give her a quizzical look and she just continues.
“Men like to do the bare minimum and that's it. They hate being bothered. Take it from me. I'm married with three sons and they're all the same. Oh they have to do the dishes, sure, but will they dry them, or put them away? No, because that's not what I asked.” you hum understanding her point but still finding it hard to see john really feeling that way.
“So then I shouldn't ask him for anything and maybe he'll come around?” you ask in an unsure tone.
“yup.” she replies blunt, fast and very sure of herself.
—-----------
So you listened, this whole week you've not asked John for a thing which was pretty easy up until now. Your luck never fails to run out at the worst times. A flat tire in the middle of the road on your way home. You pull off to the side contemplating what to do as the sun is beginning to set and there's really only two options.
One, call John and ruin your streak of leaving him be. Two, call the car service company and pay their ridiculous prices to change the tire out. Of course you go with option two cause calling john seems to make you more nervous.
It takes 3 hours for the mechanic to get to where you are, change the tire, and point out other imperfections about your car that you pay no mind to. When you finally make it home you’re bothered, exhausted and broke.
John doesn't miss the unusualness of your late arrival but also doesn't question it, even though he wants to. Your groans of frustration echo through the hallway and he immediately can tell it was a bad day.
You change out of your work clothes and go into the kitchen for a snack as you do your daily phone call to your sister to tell her about the events of your day. John creeks his office door open to hear a little better but nothing noticeable. 
“He charged me six hundred dollars, I mean how is that even legal?” You complain into the phone that’s balanced between your neck and shoulder. 
“It was just my tire that was flat, nothing else.” you follow up while chewing on an apple. You swear you could cry by repeating that monstrosity.
John can't help but feel a bit confused and upset that you hadn't just called him instead of calling whatever dick that charged you that much for something so simple. Changing a tire is an easy 30 minutes that he definitely had on his hands especially for you. You had not hesitated asking for help before so what's changed now?
—-------------
“Okay, unscrew the old bulb and screw in the new bulb, very simple.” you reassure yourself as you stand on top of the tall ladder to replace the porch light. It’s icy outside and cold sweeps under your layers of clothes making your normally shaky hands shakier.
“Okay okay- damn it.” You drop the bulb that burnt out onto the floor watching the glass scatter.
You screw the new one in and step down, closing the latter with frustrated groan, then going to pick up the bigger shards to toss out before sweeping. You should’ve known that bulb glass was insanely thin and sharp but sometimes your brain leaves out the important stuff.
“Ow, fuck fuck fuck.” You cry out at the shard of glass that forms a long clean cut on your palm. You cry as you run into your home holding the cut tightly. Finding the sink you turn the water on and rinse it clean. Your ears don’t comprehend the loud footsteps that make their way towards the kitchen.
“What happened?” A deep voice sighs out behind you.
“Nothing.” Your hiccups escape involuntarily as it continues to bleed dramatically. You squeeze your eyes shut as it begins to burn more and more.
“Let me see.” He tries to grab at your hand genuinely concerned.
“I’m fine, it’s just a cut.” You resist him by keeping your hand under the water.
“Cut from what?” he's a bit frustrated at your refusal of letting his trained mind and hands help.
“I was changing the light bulb outside and one broke.” you admit quietly.
“Why didn’t you ask me to do it?” once again what is with you no longer asking him for his very available help.
“Cause I can handle myself John.” You’re irritated at the obvious evidence that you cannot. Your non wounded hand rips a paper towel from the roll and you hold it to the cut to go bandage it in your room. 
You leave John standing in the kitchen and don’t even look back as you make your way to your room. He stays in that same spot for a second wondering where your random change in attitude is coming from but in the end he comes up blank and goes out to the porch to clean the rest of the glass up.
—----------
You feel terribly guilty when you wake up the next morning to see the porch swept clean and ladder put away from the previous night. You toughen up and put your big girl pants on to go apologize. You knock on his bedroom door and hear ruffling on the other side before he answers.
“hey john i'm really sorry for-” you stop noticing him dressed from head to toe in his military attire and damn.
“For what?” He takes notice of your pause and one up.
“For um the way I acted last night I know you were only trying to help and um why are you dressed like that?” You can’t help but question it.
“I have to go on base for a little bit, maybe a day or two. It shouldn't be too long but who knows, let me grab my check for you.” He walks back into his awfully clean room and grabs something out of a drawer and hands you a white envelope that consists of his monthly rent.
“Oh okay.” You can’t even hide the blush that laces between your features and although he notices it he can’t pinpoint the reasoning.
“Also don’t be sorry we all have our days and I shouldn’t have overstepped.” You nod in response not really knowing what to say. 
“Okay bye then I guess.” You awkwardly wave at him even though you stand mere inches away from his tall frame. 
“Bye doll.” He says before you walk away entirely thrown over whatever conversation that was.
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comments and reposts and appreicated <3
thankyou for all the love on this story so far.
@beebeechaos @ttsbaby01
@arminarlertssword @quakeroaksguy
@rafaelacallinybbay @bumblebeesfromvenus @glitterypirateduck @midnights-song @spyderdoll @lovelythingsinternal @fruitymoonbeams-blog @kkaaaagt @kit-williams @enfppixie @kythefangirl25 @eviltheleon @here4thespice @dclore22
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apocalypseornaw · 11 days
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Fantasies
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Dean Winchester x Reader
You start having dreams about the eldest Winchester which puts a strain on your friendship
You groaned lightly from the tightness in your side, it was decorated vibrant shades of purple from the last hunt. All of you were currently sticking to the bunker and licking your physical or mental wounds until the next case called.
You walked out of your room trying to decide if you wanted to go in search of coffee or just wander through the stacks in the library. Sleep wouldn't find you and your mind wouldn't allow you to simply lay in bed.
You ended up deciding on a bottle of water before going in search of a book to busy your mind until maybe exhaustion would win out. You walked quietly into the library and was surprised to find you weren't the only occupant of the bunker still up.
Dean sat at the table, an open lore book in front of him but you could tell from the look in his eyes his mind was on anything but the book. "Dean?" You called and he startled slightly which honestly shocked you. No one snuck up on Dean.
He smiled when his eyes landed on you "What are you doing up sweetheart? You got pretty banged up" you rolled your eyes despite the smile slipping onto your face. Of course he was worried about your side when Sam had to put his left shoulder back into place. "I'm fine Dean. Are you ok?"
He nodded then stopped "No, I'm not. Can we talk?" You laughed lightly "We're talking now Winchester" he narrowed his eyes at you so you grinned "Sorry" then walked over to sit next to him but instead he grabbed your hand at the last moment and directed you to the table in front of him.
It wasn't unusual for any of you to end up sitting on the table during a rundown of a hunt but that was when it was all three of you and you were fully dressed. Now you were wearing the long tshirt you'd worn to bed and a pair of boys boyshorts that barely covered everything. You sat down in front of Dean and pressed your legs together, pulling the shirt down "What's wrong Dean?"
He leaned forward, tentatively putting one hand on your bare leg "You" "Me?" You asked and he nodded "Jody may have let somethings slip to me" you felt your face warm, why would she do that? You'd told her in confidence. "I know you don't feel the same about me Dean" you barely whispered, keeping your eyes down on your lap.
He leaned forward to catch your face in one of his hands, forcing your eyes to meet his "How do you know I don't? How do you know if you're not the only thing ever on my mind? How I hate you wearing this damn outfit to bed because if I ever catch Sam looking I'm gonna knock his head off. How I'd give anything to bend you over this table and show you just how much I feel the same about you"
By that time he'd moved from his chair to be standing between your legs, one hand holding your face while the other was still on your leg. You could feel your heart in your throat when you saw the hunger in those gorgeous green eyes that was watching your every move. "Show me" you whispered and a grin worked its way onto his face. He caught your lips in a bruising kiss as you felt his hand slid up your leg to your inner thigh. When his fingers brushed over your clothed core you moaned lightly and he smirked against your lips "Damn that's a beautiful sound"
He slipped one finger under the shorts and groaned when he realized you weren't wearing any panties. He plunged two fingers into you and your hips bucked up towards him. His eyes went from your face down to watch as he fucked you with his fingers "So damn pretty,coming apart on my fingers. Can't wait to feel that little pussy stretched around me"
He caught your lips again, slowly exploring your mouth with his own as he worked you closer to that edge. The moment his fingers grazed that spot inside of you, you clenched hard around his fingers and he moaned "Fuck, baby I'm trying to take this slow but you're making it hard"
You pulled back from the kiss just long enough to slip your shirt over your head, leaving you completely bare from the waist up "Take it slow later Dean but for now please just fuck me like you want me" He closed his eyes just for a second but you could see his jaw clench tightly. When he opened his eyes they were a darker shade of green and fuck his voice sounded deeper than usual when he said "Yes ma'am"
"WAKE UP SLEEPING BEAUTY. WE GOT A CASE" Dean's voice booming through your bedroom door jolted you awake. Your heart was pounding wildly and you were fairly certain your panties were soaked. Fuck. These dreams about Dean had started months ago, they had been sporadic at best but now it was beginning to be a reoccurring thing. How the hell could you keep living in close quarters, hunting side by side when the one thing you wanted from him you knew you couldn't have?
Reality
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madschiavelique · 10 months
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𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐨'𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)
summary : after the mission, all you can think about is Miguel, up to the point where you can't sleep because of all your thoughts. so you go to the strength and conditioning centre to try and exhaust yourself. but miguel pays you a visit there, and the training takes another turn...
content warnings : mentions of blood, (if there are any others please do tell so i can add them !), reader is obsessed, no use of y/n word count : 3,9k
note : this is dedicated to the beautiful @gollygothgal , with tension and hot miguel hehe. here's the 2nd part of the miguel 3shot thingy ! i hope you'll enjoy it. i am currently thinking about opening up requests for miguel, so if anyone has got a juicy idea they'd like to see written, don't hesitate to send it !! <33
chapters' list : 1 - lovebite 2 - late night training 3 - unexpected mission (nsfw) 4 - shameless (nsfw)
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One punch.
He did it to help you, nothing more, there was nothing behind it, nothing unprofessional, nothing at all.
Two punches.
No, nothing, not even when you pulled on his hair and the moan in his throat vibrated into the bullet that was lodged in your flesh.
Three punches, the bag rocks.
Surely you're not the first person he's done this to, right? Dealing with this kind of wound in the middle of a mission must have been part of his daily routine after all.
Fourth punch, the impact spreads across the knuckles of your hand.
What if it wasn't? What if he'd deliberately decided to give you the special treatment of losing his time on the mission to take care of you?
Fifth blow, you were breathing hard. You stood back, your hands aching as they sponged your sweaty forehead with their backs.
It had only been a week since the last mission, and all you could think about was Miguel. Every five minutes the whole thing would start up in your head, sometimes so strongly that you felt it defined you. The spadassin of your logic kept chasing your imagination brazenly, it was trying to foam hollow ideas about him.
Was this scene really intimate? Or in your cruel lack of physical and sentimental affection had you simply imagined meanings for certain gestures that were pure delusion?
After the mission, while the anomalies were being properly stored, you went to the infirmary. There, you were asked questions that were still stuck in your head.
"What's that bite?" they asked about the two incisions Miguel had left in your skin, "and why is it all blue here? There's more ruptured blood than there should be..."
Apparently, the nurses had very rarely seen incisions of this kind on the bodies of other spider men or women, the only cases so far being on Miguel himself. The news had a strange effect on you. As for the clouds of bruises Miguel had left around the impact, the mere sight of them turned you into a red poppy.
So Miguel had never bitten anyone else on a mission to administer his painkiller... nope, let's not jump to conclusions!
Maybe gunshot wounds just weren't frequent on missions, haematomas or cuts were commonplace here.
After that, you were brought together with the others to report back. You hadn't been much help to the mission, apart from freeing Miguel from that foam. And after that? Too little contact and far too many thoughts.
The few times you saw Miguel, you only had time to say hello before he went about his business. The few words he'd say were "How's your wound?", and then he'd be off, busier than a minister.
And every day, as if you were watching the sky for a shooting star, you hoped. You hoped for a twinkle, a smile, just the possibility that your eyes might meet.
And every night, you would go over and over these tiny things that seemed gigantic in the eyes of your heart. And tonight, the same thing.
It was the hour when memories flood back, just when sleep goes on strike. You were trying to sleep, but you were tossing and turning, your mind replaying the whole scene like a power-point with multiple explanations attached to the images.
Just an focus, on the too pale clichés of a love story, on the state of mind of a woman without an alibi who dreams every night of a man whose existence you didn't even know existed until recently. Just a focus, for a little wink of survival, for all the fools, the love-sick, for all the victims of romanticism. Just a little wink, a focus.
You were tired of this perpetual propensity of your thoughts to redirect themselves to Miguel. There was nothing you could do, it was like trying to stop the sun from rising and setting. Because even with adamantine force, you can't stop the natural from happening.
You're more insignificant than the dust under his fingernails, you thought. Pull yourself together! Miguel has to look after a company of at least seven hundred people like you.
And it was true, Miguel had much better things to do than have anything other than a professional relationship with you.
You huffed and puffed in bed, sleep really not coming, so you put on your everyday clothes, prioritising comfort, and headed for the Strength and Conditioning centre.
If sleep didn't come, you'd wake it yourself. And so you found yourself boxing a sandbag. And honestly? It was harder than what you'd seen in the movies. Or at least, you felt some pain in your fingers as you punched, knowing full well that something was wrong, but not knowing what. The job of Spider Man wasn't new to you, but you had to admit that when it came to hand-to-hand combat, you missed some of the basics.
You glanced down at your hands, their knuckles reddened, and for a few seconds you remembered the ridiculously large size of Miguel's hand resting on your waist, then how it had felt when he had held your thigh in place, and you could have sworn that at that moment his claws had come out, sharper than a quarter of a strawberry.
If only it were possible for your mind to go on holiday, just to get away from the real Miguel City that had settled in your mind a little too quickly. You let out a grunt of frustration.
But your hair stood on end for a second - someone had just come into the room.
"What's wrong?"
You immediately turned your head towards the entrance, Miguel coming towards you. Your heart skipped a beat and you froze. For pity's sake, was this a dream?
The terrible thing about this mental affliction was that, although you visualised him more often than you should because you found that you spent less time with him, when the time came for you to interact as you would have dreamt of, the image of his red eyes went straight to the edge of your heart and you had the sudden feeling that you wanted to leave immediately.
If you come at any moment, I'll never know what time to dress my heart. Perhaps it was the extent of your desire that made you feel ashamed, and for fear that he would see it, hear it, feel it, you preferred to leave. But you stood your ground, giving yourself a mental slap in the face to pull yourself together as he came within a reasonable distance of you. There weren't enough moments with him, so you were going to make the most of them.
Your eyes widened slightly, because you'd never seen Miguel in normal clothes before. A hoodie with cut-off sleeves and loose jogging bottoms, simple and relaxed, but how could Miguel be relaxed? After all, he was Miguel.
He didn't look upset, which was a first. You were so used to seeing him frustrated, with that invariable weariness that accompanies him everywhere. On the other hand however, he was looking at you quizzically, and it was only then that you remembered that he had asked you a question.
"Oh, um," you said, resting the side of your fist on the bag, "I've never fought a war this tough, and to think that my enemy is just a sandbag," you smiled.
A sneer stretched his cheek, the thin crack between his lips letting a flash of light shine on his faintly glistening canines, and for a moment the image of them tracing your thigh came back to mind. It had left its mark on your mind, like a stain, and it won't wash off, no matter how hard you scrub your mind.
But a frown settled on his forehead, his eyes lowered to your fist.
"Hmm..." he said simply, crossing his arms over his chest.
You had to stop yourself squinting at them and keeping your eyes on his.
"Show me how you hit," he said.
You bit the inside of your cheek. Training with other spider-men and women was something you were comfortable with, the pressure was off, everyone learned a little from each other without judgement. But training in front of Miguel? The bar had been raised, the pressure of the stare oozing seriousness and criticism weighed on your shoulders.
Timidly then, you stepped away from the bag, and struck a blow with little confidence.
He nodded, the same retentive tt-tt being heard.
"Your fingers are in the wrong place," he raised his to show you, and as you mimicked his pose, he moved closer to you and took your hand to place your fingers correctly.
It was the first time you'd felt his hands naked against yours. They were far from soft, but they were warm, callused by time and effort. It seemed to you that he could lock your fist in his hand with ease, and the vision of his hands rearranging yours gave you the impression that every bit of skin he touched lit up and sparkled with little stars.
It must be that you couldn't mithridate your desires for him, your body and your thoughts returning to the charge to drink it all in, to take any crumb of his presence and his touch that you could get.
His annoyance seemed to return for a moment, his knuckles running over your reddened and cracked joints. He blew out a breath, and the frown disappeared.
"There, try it again", he said, barely moving away.
You came down from your little cloud and struck again. You were almost tempted to disturb your fingers again if it meant he'd put them back into place.
"Keep going," he said, taking a step forward and starting to circle around you.
You swallowed, continuing the task, taking great care not to look too ridiculous. You punched a few more times, Miguel having made an arc and stopped on your other side.
"Your posture is not right," he remarked, and you shivered as his hand came to rest on your waist.
Sliding gently over your belly, applying a minimum of force to better guide you to perfect your posture. You felt his hand come up and pull slightly on your shoulder, putting your arm back in a more favourable position at the same time.
"You need to find a balance in your body when you strike; if you put everything you have into your fist, the rest can be used too easily against you" he said, his tone calm.
But it was a little too complicated to follow his instructions now, especially when you felt his breath landing on your ear and the back of your neck. Every brush of his fingers and skin against yours made your cheeks flush and gave you a real peony look.
His other hand came to rest on your hip, on that famous protruding angle of the pelvic bone, to reorientate your body. You inhaled sharply, but tried not to make it too noticeable. All that was missing was...
"Is everything all right? Your heart rate seems to have increased."
... the same question as last time. This time, there's no way to pretend you're worried about your team-mates who are on a mission. So what's the excuse this time?
"I ate a cereal bar before I came here, must be the sugar, no doubt."
Wow. Beautiful. Brilliant. Fantastic.
You crossed your fingers that Miguel didn't pay any more attention.
"Hm," he exhaled, "just spread your legs a little... there you go, like that," he said as his hand lingered lightly on your waist before moving away from you again. "Show me," he asked, confident that his modifications to your position would prove useful in your training.
Already more confident, you began to strike again. And after half a dozen blows, you turned to him, a satisfied smile adoring his face.
"Much better," he said. He raised his hand to the level of his head, index and middle fingers together, wiggling them, indicating for you to move forward as he stepped back slightly, "Now, show me how you'd do it in real life."
Wait, was he really offering you combat training? The great Miguel O'Hara, who had no time but for the great multi-dimensional organisation of spider-men and spider-women, had just offered you training?
Hesitantly, you moved forward.
"So you want me to fight? With... you?" you asked.
"Who else," he replied, opening his arms to encompass the room, completely empty apart from you two.
"I'm going to get crushed," you smiled as you reached him.
"I'll do my worst," he offered, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you trying to make a fool of me?"
"No, otherwise I'd let you destroy your hands on the bag a bit more," he said, pointing at them, "you'll have to remember to put some ice on it.
Touché.
You felt a little guilty for taking up his free time, he who must have had so little leisure, so few opportunities to settle down without having to worry about anything. But at the same time, what did you have to feel guilty about, when it was he himself who had offered to help you? After all, it was he who had come to you. Was it simple pity then? No, let's not think about personal sabotage, let's just enjoy it.
"Come on, show me how you do it, I'll do it with one hand behind my back if you prefer." He says, not even pretending to get into a fighting stance.
"What an egalitarian spirit," you say, your voice coming out with a half-sigh, half-laugh.
Coming from one of the most capable and experienced Spider-Men in the society, how could you not shudder at the thought of fighting him?
So you positioned yourself, trying as best you could to put in place the investments he had just taught you. The thought of disappointing him was gnawing at the back of your mind.
Once you found your position sufficiently adequate, you dived towards him. With a move that seemed as simple as that, he dodged by leaning to the side while placing his foot against your ankle, so you fell pitifully to the ground.
Well, it wasn't going to be any fun after all.
"Remember what I told you," he said, coming towards you, holding out his hand, "if you put everything you have in your fist, the rest can be used against you too easily.
You looked at him for a moment, his brown eyes slightly crinkled by his little smile. Your cheeks warmed as you took his hand to stand up.
"Do it again," he said.
You breathed in, trying to concentrate and not think about the fact that you'd had more physical and vocal interaction with the object of all your thoughts in the last few minutes than you'd had in a week.
So you tried to balance your strength in your body, and came back to the charge, but you tried a surprise. You knew he'd probably see it coming a mile away, but why not try? So you gave him the impression that you were attacking him from your left, when at the last moment you deflected to the right.
And then you punched him in the cheek. The impact surprised you both, and Miguel took a meagre step backwards, bringing his hand to his cheek with eyes wide with surprise.
"Shit shit shit! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" you moved towards him in a panic, as if to check him out.
You'd just punched Miguel O'Hara in the cheek. But then, just as you were expecting to be shouted at and slammed into a wall in the next few seconds, he smiled, and the smile became a soft laugh.
You looked at him, completely stunned by his reaction. No anger, no exasperation, no threats or insults in Spanish, just a little laugh.
"That's much better," he said. "Don't worry, I can handle punches, but I recognize this is a correct hit."
You fluttered your eyelashes a few times in surprise before just puffing out your nose, a little laugh taking hold of you as well.
"Come on, let's get on with it" he said, this time getting into a fighting stance. He sweated authority, while you sweated... period.
You nodded in agreement, and the two of you began a battle of successive dodges and punches that went wide. He was holding back, you could feel it. He didn't strike a single blow, just tiny smacks with the back of his hand. So you thought for a moment, you were going to surprise him like he had surprised you with his kick. Could you take down a man the size and width of a fridge? Doubtful, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
It's as if, in the middle of the nettles, you'd found a patch of grass where you could put your foot down without stinging yourself. So you placed your leg correctly behind his knee, which surprisingly succeeded in throwing him off balance, and just as he was about to fall with a small stranglehold of his voice, his hand grabbed your wrist and dragged you down.
The shock was less, because you had fallen onto Miguel himself and his body had been used as a landing mattress. Out of breath, and not exactly aware of the situation you were in, you placed your hands on the ground on either side of his body to at least straighten yours and not crush him, your back bent like a wilting flower.
"Hey, is everything all right?"
Miguel grunted slightly, his eyelids reopening. Your breath caught in your throat as you realised the position you were in, and especially how close you were. Your faces only a few centimetres apart, your breaths colliding.
"Mhm," he said simply, "you did well, I must admit."
And as the simple feeling of victory took your heart by storm, Miguel grabbed you by the waist with both hands and rolled you onto your side, reversing your positions with lightning speed.
"But you're going to have to keep practising," he smirked, one of his hands separating from your waist to rest on the ground next to your head.
And your strength turned to water. Your gaze scanned his, and you wished you could see your own eyes just to know how much they betrayed you, especially when they inevitably drifted to his lips. You didn't need to lie to yourself, you wanted to, they looked so soft... It was the sensation of his thumb making a single, simple circular movement on your stomach that brought you out of your reverie on his lips, regaining his eyes.
"Distracted?" he asked, his eyes a little darker than before.
Sure enough, you had metamorphosed into a big red tomato. So your reflex was to bring both hands up to your face to hide it.
"Uh huh," Miguel prevented, removing his hand from your waist to move your hands away from your face, getting even closer. "What's there to hide, hum?"
His eyes seemed very observant of what was being said in yours, and you wondered if he could see all the emotions rumbling in your heart. You could feel the strands of his hair tickling your forehead and cheeks. The tension was so heavy and pervasive that you could have cut it with a knife.
"My desires," you whispered as an answer, clearing your throat and moistening your lips, your eyes moving tirelessly from his to his lips.
You gasp, the closeness between the two of you acting as a veritable truth serum.
"Tell me about them," he murmured.
You bit the inside of your lip, breathing softly. The inner battle was powerful. To remain silent and regret, or to say something and hope? What if it all stopped? What if it bothered him so much that he couldn't look at you any other way than uncomfortable? And what if... what if... And if I don't try anything, I'll never know.
"A... A kiss," you managed to say.
"A kiss?" he repeated, as if testing the taste of that word in his mouth. "Tell me, where."
You squirmed slightly, perhaps you'd be more successful in speaking your thoughts with your eyes closed? But when you shut them for a moment, you felt his nose brush against yours, his thumb on your hip again making circular movements.
"Where?" he asked again, both of you reduced to whispers. Still hearing no answer, he moved to kiss your forehead, "there?", but you shook your head. Then he kissed the top of your eyelid, "there?", and went on to kiss your cheek, "there?", his voice barely a whisper.
He brushed against your nose again, his lips barely grazing the corner of yours.
His eyes had a tender sparkle as he kissed them tenderly. His lips tasted of wood and rain, pulling back : "There?”
"Yes," you sighed, your eyelids half-closed, "there". You moistened your lips.
"I think I heard you wrong," he murmured. "Say it again."
You swallowed, trying to raise your head to kiss him again, but understanding your tactics, he buried his face closer to your neck, his lips brushing your ear.
"Say it again."
A shiver ran through you as his breath spread a wave of heat down your neck, straightening slightly to face you again.
"Kiss me, again."
And he came to kiss you once more, softly, dark and silent as the night. His hand ran down your body, up your side and over your back to push a little more of your body against his. Your hands came to rest on his cheek and back, your fingers snaking through his hair, nails lightly grazing his skull.
A moan bubbling up his throat reverberated on your lips, just like on the mission.
" If only you wouldn't make me want you..." he whispered between kisses, his mouth growing a little hungrier as his fangs nibbled lightly at the skin of your lip.
He came to kiss your jaw, your neck, drinking in your skin, breaths of ease escaping from your lips.
But suddenly, a small cluster of orange pixels appeared not far from your heads.
"Miguel we got a- oh hi there!" said Layla in a tone that was a mixture of playfulness and surprise.
You immediately turned your head to the side to avoid her, your cheeks flushing red. Your heart was pounding in your chest like a bird trying to get out of its cage.
"Go away Layla," he said though, his hand coming to take your chin, his eyes half closed, kissing you again.
"But Miguel it's-"
"It's very important for your future that you don't finish your sentence," Miguel growled as he moved from your mouth to your throat again, letting his canines lightly trace along your pulse line.
"And the situation is just as important for all our futures," Layla insisted.
Miguel grunted, sighing, and murmured softly:
"I'm sorry."
You kissed his cheek and he raised his eyebrows.
"It's okay."
He kissed your lips quickly.
"This is not over," he warned, sitting up and helping you to your feet. "Go and sleep now." Looking at your hand in his, he added: "And take care of this," pointing to your knuckles.
You nodded as he began to walk away.
"Oh yeah, Miguel has been keeping an eye on you!" said Layla, a small smile wrinkling her nose.
"What?" you asked, confused.
"Layla ?" Miguel called dangerously.
"Okay okay gotta go, goodnight!" she said, vanishing into thin air to come and stand next to Miguel.
The two of them left the room, and you looked at the exit.
What had just happened?
next part >> unexpected mission (nsfw)
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yndrgrl · 10 months
Text
katsuki bakugo has a glow up during summer break, & now he has a lot of girls' attention
fluff. ooc! bakugo. bits of jealousy. sfw. x reader. acquaintances to lovers. long ass fic.
a/n: the horny content will continue after this message :) also i kinda got nerdy so just ignore my rambles about fighting haha
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the whispers & murmurs buzzed like bugs throughout the halls of u.a. you couldn't help but eavesdrop when you heard lower classmen gush about how good katsuki looks, how he definitely had a summer glow up.
it's not that he was bad looking before, that's just not the case. so, when you heard that he somehow got hotter over the span of a few months, you grew curious.
your best friend, ochaco, began to rave about him. "no, you don't understand, y/n. have you seen him yet?"
"i haven't yet, but it doesn't matter! he's still rude as hell!" you told her. "besides, aren't you still going after midoriya?"
"yeah, but i can still appreciate attractive people," she retorted, shoving the rest of her her breakfast-on-the-go in her mouth. you fished your phone out of your school cardigan pocket to change your music when, like a kdrama (or a shitty fanfic), you ran into something-- no, someone.
speak of the devil. "oi! watch it!" the abrasive blonde spun around & met your eyes. his harden glare soften oh so subtly.
"i'm sorry," you quaintly apologized. it's the first day & the first hour of the next 180 days, & you're not going to get in a fight.
"it's whatever, just make sure where you're going next time," katsuki responded. his tone was still harsh, yet what he said was almost nice.
he walked off into the both of yours' classroom, leaving you & ochaco stunned. you both stared at each other, mouths agape. "what just happened?" she finally spat out.
"i have no idea."
"WAS HE JUST NICE?"
a week later, you sat in class, listening to mr. aizawa drone on about something so utterly boring, you'd rather stick your head in a toilet & flush it yourself. you let your eyes wander around the class. for the most part, everyone stayed the same.
then, your eyes landed on katsuki, who was seated by the window. now that you had time to think about it, he did change. his jawline was a tad sharper, his hair appeared more soft, & his shirt clung onto every inch of his upper body. he definitely bulked up during the summer.
his skin is clear, he must've also began caring for a sense of style because his fingers displayed grunge rings, & his eyes were somehow a darker, more alluring shade of crimson. wait, his eyes... were staring at you.
no, he was staring at you staring at him.
god, you felt like a creep. you were expecting him to yell at you, scowl through gritted teeth, but no. he didn't do any of that. he shot you a smirk, then went back to jotting notes.
confusion settled in after embarrassment. you couldn't help that a light pink dusted your cheeks. it wasn't noticeable though, thank goodness.
the subtle, weird antics didn't stop. maybe he's just playing with me or something, you wondered. or maybe i'm looking too much into thinks.
when passing him in the halls, he'd acknowledge you by giving you a small nod-- even if his friends were talking his ears off. he'd hold the doors open for you & only you, but would walk away quickly. he was treating you differently then he treats everyone else, & you don't know why.
"bakugo~" a girl you barely recognized greeted. "you look handsome today!"
he & his friends sat on the other side of your friends' long table. you were the closest to his squad, only three seats away from them. they could hear your conversations, but that means you could hear theirs.
"shut it, & eat your food," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. with his chopsticks, he picked at his bento box.
"ooo~ what did you pack?" she pressed as she inched closer to him. "aww, did your mom make that?"
"no, i did," he raised his voice. she wouldn't take the hint though.
she merely giggled, asking, "could you feed it to me? i wanna try some~" she crossed her arms under her breasts to intensify her cleavage. she was picture perfect, to say the least. any other guy would be drooling at the sight of her.
not bakugo though. he was goal-oriented, focused on the future, & not into dating from what you gathered. a small part of you is bummed out that he isn't interested in romance. he was practically everything you wanted in a guy after all-- just minus the whole "jerk" part.
"what are you looking at, bakugo?" you didn't realize you were staring -once again- until the girl whipped her head around & caught your gaze. her cattish smile dropped into a thin line. "quit staring, idiot-"
"don't call her that, bitch."
both yours & her eyes widened at the quickness & unexpected defensiveness spewed by bakugo. he stuck some of his egg omelette in his mouth, unbothered.
"wh-what? i don't think i heard you, bakugo."
he swallowed his food, ran his tongue across his top teeth, and started to pick up more food with his chopsticks, reiterating, "don't talk to y/n like that, got it?" he put the food in his mouth.
she scoffed, humiliated. "i have to leave," she said, voice dropping at least an octave. your eyes trailed her as she sat with her friends, & they immediately began gossiping. how could you tell? the way they all looked back at you with a nasty expression on their faces.
you returned your attention back to bakugo, who had both your friends & his friends floored with what just happened. "thanks for that," you started. "you really didn't have to do that."
"i know i didn't, but someone had to shut her up."
you replied, "i mean, i'm sure there was a nicer way."
"i tried," he told you with that small smirk on his face again. "she didn't get the hint, i have to be more obvious."
"yeah, in more ways than one," a friend on his side, sero, snickered.
"hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" classic katsuki, reverting back to yelling.
ever since that happened, your friends haven't stopped talking about it since. "guys, c'mon. it's almost been a week," you groaned. you were all getting ready in the school locker room to do hand-to-hand, no quirk combat with a celebrated instructor.
"i think bakugo likes you~" ochaco teased in a sing-songy voice.
you tried to reason, "maybe he was just annoyed with her, & it has nothing to do with me."
"i don't know, y/n," momo laughed, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "he seemed pretty into you."
"no way, not bakugo-"
"well, why not bakugo?" mina, who just so happened to be good friends with said man, asked while she slipped on her shoes.
"because we all know what he's like. he doesn't really scream the dating type, you know?" you grabbed a water bottle & locked your back into your locker.
mina shrugged, & ochaco said, "you said one time that bakugo was the closest to your type... do you like him?"
"WHAT?"
the rest of the conversation was cut short when tsuyu pointed out they should be in the training room by now, causing all the girls to scramble out of the locker room.
the instructor, once the bell rang, introduced himself. he was a nice man seemingly. he was a well-seasoned martial artist who knew what he was talking about.
after his brief speech, he had his assistant -a younger, more egotistical guy- be his dummy when explaining a move. "does anyone have any questions?" he asked. no one answered. "cool, find a partner, & try it out."
everyone scurried to find their partners. pair by pair, no one chose you... all except-
"hey you, be my partner," bakugo practically demanded.
"me?"
"no, the wall behind you. yes, you, y/n," he joked, the same smirk only you get to see on his face. this time, however, it was a full-blown smirk.
"are you sure?"
"yeah," he scoffed, dragging you by the arm to an empty space. he studied how your face contorted from surprise to concern. "listen, if you think you're gonna drag me down or whatever, you're not-"
"no, it's not that," you interrupted. you felt your pride inflate slightly.
"then what is it?"
"i just don't want to hurt you."
it was his turn to be shocked. what did you mean by that?
the first hour went by, techniques were taught, & moves were learned. however, now it was the time that really put things to the test: open spar. it was at this time in training when things got heated. everyone in the room gives it their all no matter what, so the atmosphere turns into something animalistic, yet so empowering.
but before that, is a small water break. speaking of water, where did you leave yours? you swear you brought it in. bakugo must've seen how confused you appeared when he offered (or told you), "here, take some of mine."
too thirsty to even care the open-mouthed expressions from your peers, you took the bottle from his outstretched hand. "thank you!" you cheered, taking a few sips then handing it back to him.
"was that even enough? you barely drank anything," he jested. it sounded like he was teasing you, but, again, he said something like he cared about your well-being.
"yeah, i'll be fine. the worst that can happen is i'll faint."
"you better not. i need a good training partner."
"oh whatever, you're getting a good training partner."
suddenly, the instructor boomed, "water break is over! get back with your partner for sparring!"
once everyone huddled back with their partners & got situated, the instructor explained briefly that everyone will be grappling ("no striking" he repeated ten times as well) five minute rounds, switch partners, another five minute round, & so on so forth. "alright got it?"
"yes sir!"
"good," he nodded to his assistant, who got the stop watch ready, "3, 2, 1, go!"
yoy & katsuki go into your stances. one thing about being shorter than him is that, in the game of wrestling, you're at in advantage at first. "don't go easy on me," you told him, it was meant as a warning
"i was just about to tell you i wasn't." the moment he finished, he took a double-leg shot. it was executed near flawless-- emphasis on the near.
you sprawled your legs back, collapsing your body on top of his. you drove your shoulder into his neck, which resulted in bakugo's face smushed against the mat. he might be strong, but no one's neck is that strong to hold up an entire person. you heard him audibly groan "fuck!"
you caught his arm & his head with one of yours. the two of you were on your knees, but your goal was to get him flat, stomach down. with his trapped arm & leg, you pulled him out from under you & quickly sped towards his back. you mounted him, keeping yourself close to his. you gazed up at your instructor, who gave you a knowing nod of approval.
like a good fighter, katsuki sprung his head up. he missed your nose, instead having his skull collide with your cheek. it hurt, but you had to keep going. "since when did you learn how to wrestle?"
"what do you mean?" you thought everyone knew. you swore that you've mentioned it in front of the class.
"you're fucking good, you know that?" he praised as he fought of your hands.
"you're not too bad yourself," you told him before you crossbody locked him.
"no, i'm being serious. you're too damn good. you're gonna be my partner every time we grapple."
you & bakugo, now you call him katsuki, have only grown closer since then. he would take time out of his study session to ensure you understood the material. before he could finish, the library assistant -a girl around your age- would ask if he needed help with anything, shy blush on her face.
other times he'd walk with you back to your dorms when a group of girls would ask for his number.
it was a constant occurrence; girls notice him, ask for something, then ultimately get rejected. it wasn't in a nice way either. he always degraded & humiliated them, but they'd let him because of how handsome he was.
it was a saturday afternoon where you & katsuki got food from a nearby convenience store & sat in the park. no scheduled training or overwhelming amounts of homework. he insisted on paying for you, & who are you to reject free food?
"okay, but i really have to ask," you started, eating your food, "why aren't you dating anyone?"
"i don't know," he simply put it, downing a bottle of a protein drink.
"you do know, you're just not telling me." you actually didn't know if that was true, you were just bluffing.
"fine, i'm just waiting for a some girl to realize i like her," he admitted so nonchalantly, as if he didn't drop a mind bomb.
your mood dampened. he was your dream guy, the more you hung out with him. you might have developed a crush on him, yet you didn't even realize he liked anyone else.
"no way! who?" you had to sound enthused or he would know something was up.
"no one, forget i said anything," he cleared.
"i want to know~ i can help find out her favorite flowers or something so you can confess!"
"really?" he asked, brow quirked. you nodded your head.
"tch, alright. what's your favorite flower?"
that didn't make any sense. "what?"
"you said that you're gonna help me confess, so what's your favorite flower?"
"katsuki, i don't think she has the same favorite flower than me."
"oh my god, you're so fuckin' dense," he muttered under his breath. "i want to know your favorite flower, y/n, so i can confess." his cheeks reddened as he gave you intense stare, studying your expression. it was still confused.
"confess to who-" he cut you off by putting his hand behind your head & pulling you into a kiss. it was gentle, passionate, & truly shocking to you.
"confess to you, idiot," he panted when the two of you pulled away. "i'm already here," he said with a fuck-it attitude.
"y/n, i've liked you for a long time, a really long time. i thought i made it obvious but you never really caught on cuz you're a dumbass or something."
you laughed, & he smiled at you.
he continued, "so then shitty hair told me i had to make it even more obvious, so that's what i've been doing this entire year."
"but all those girls-"
"yeah well i didn't know i was getting a fan club this year. honestly, they don't fuckin' matter though. what matters is you & i," he told you, his face still so close to yours. "so tell me, if you feel the same."
"i-i do," you stuttered out. in your defense, you were not used to such close proximity to anyone, let alone a sculpture chiseled by ancient greeks themselves.
"say it again," he said, voice deep & eyes half lidded. "i need to hear it again."
"i do, katsuki," you repeated per his request. "i really, really like you."
he pulled you into another kiss, & you both felt each other smile. it felt right.
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bella-rose29 · 4 months
Text
Deck the Halls (and not your partner) - part 5
Christmas Eve part 2
Word count: 4.1k
Warnings: swearing, family members are mean (are we seeing a pattern?), can you tell that I love lebkuchen from the number of times it got mentioned, they kiss again but for like 2 seconds, then they kiss again later for longer than 2 seconds 👀, reader's grandpa isn't supportive of her job (but it's ok because lockwood saves the day), a pigeon was harmed in the making of this chapter (but it lives!), drinking (alcohol), lockwood talks about his family and the Christmases he spent without them, reader comforts him, there is so much communication but somehow so much miscommunication at the same time??? and I'm annoyed at myself for doing this (but it's necessary), this part does not have a happy ending at all (I'm sorry)
series master list
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"Well," Lockwood started, looking around at everyone gathered. "I suppose it started in March."
He paused for a moment, trying to figure out where to go from there. "We were on a job, just the two of us, in Kensington. A couple wanted their house clearing out before they properly moved in, and called us. Everything was going perfectly fine, and then we realised that our clients hadn't told us everything about the property, and we were dealing with three Limbless in an enclosed space." Y/n remembered that job well. It was one of the few cases that she'd actually gone on with just Lockwood, and they had been arguing for most of it about the best way to get rid of a Limbless.
Their argument had attracted the other two that were out in the garden.
"Y/n was brilliant, of course, using her Talent to locate the Sources of the three of them while I covered her, but I got held up in the corridor by some Type Ones that had appeared and she was left on her own. I only just got there in time to throw a salt bomb at the Limbless behind her and give her the extra second that she needed to wrap up the Source, but I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life. I really thought I was too late and that I'd lost her." His voice sounded thick with emotion, and when Y/n met his eyes they were watery. She tried not to frown, since it was strange for her to see him so affected like this. Lockwood cleared his throat, and looked back at the crowd. "Then of course I realised that I couldn't live without her and I asked her on a date. She said no, despite my attempts at baking her favourite cake and all the flowers." He cracked a smile, and people around the room laughed.
"Well you did look rather pathetic, Ant. I sort of wanted to watch you suffer a bit more." That much was true at least, since any time she got to watch him squirm was entertaining to her.
"Well you certainly got your share of that, darling," he huffed, and Y/n bit back a snort at the frustrated look on his face. "I had to ask her about six times after that first one before she finally said yes. We've been dating since the middle of April."
"It was eight, but who's counting?" Something about his story didn't sit right with her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was how close it was to what had actually happened on the job, or maybe it was the dread of all the questions she'd get about her job once people started mingling, wanting to know if she had a backup plan in case this line of work failed, or if she realised how dangerous it was.
Maybe it was the way that Lockwood had looked at her when he was talking about losing her.
~~~
"What are your intentions with Y/n?"
"Don't be stupid," John said, whacking his brother Sam on the arm.
"No, but really, what are your intent- oof!" Sam had been tackled to the floor by John, and Lockwood did his best not to flinch.
He'd been dragged into the library a few minutes ago by Y/n's brothers, and although he was the smallest, Tom was currently the most frightening as he stared Lockwood down from across the room, despite the two eldest brothers currently scrapping on the floor.
"Did... did you want me to answer that, or...?"
"I mean, it would be nice to know," Will piped up, eating straight from a packet of lebkuchen in the armchair opposite. Lockwood didn't think he'd ever seen the man without some sort of food nearby. He sat forward in his chair slightly, trying to come up with a good enough answer that would mean he could go back to the party. John and Sam stopped punching each other to hear his answer.
"I'm mostly just happy that she even gave me a chance, if I'm being honest." That much was true, but Y/n's brothers didn't need to know that he was talking about her acceptance of a position at his company and not the mythical relationship that the two of them had been in for eight months. "I know that I'm incredibly lucky to have her, and I can promise you that I won't do anything to screw that up."
Sam and John seemed happy enough with his answer, and Lockwood started breathing a little more easily. Tom was still staring at him, and Lockwood could have sworn that the boy hadn't blinked the entire time. Will snorted, shaking the bag around to get the last crumbs of lebkuchen out. "Yeah, sure. What's the real answer? No more of that crap, because it's obvious you rehearsed that to make us happy." When Lockwood didn't say anything for a moment Will prodded him again. "Go on."
He clenched his jaw, wondering how he could say anything nice about Y/n when she hadn't said anything nice about him for nearly three years, and looked out the window. A memory flashed up, and despite it having only been that morning, he was surprised at how quickly he'd forgotten the interaction.
Since when had she memorised how he took his tea?
He didn't think that Y/n had ever made him tea before, always making it a deliberate point to make a pot for everyone but him, and yet that morning while they sat in bed she had done it perfectly as though it were second nature. Then his mind drifted back to the night before, and he felt his face warm up at the memory of the mistletoe. He cleared his throat.
"I guess..." Lockwood sighed through his nose and clenched his jaw again. It was starting to ache. "I guess that's true, what I said before-"
"You guess?" Will interjected. Lockwood hadn't thought that he would be under this much scrutiny, but he was starting to sweat uncomfortably. He'd rather be dealing with Barnes right now than be sat here.
"It is true," he amended, making wary eye contact with the man. The packet of lebkuchen was neglected in Will's hand, hanging limply as he sat forward to question his younger sister's boyfriend. "She's incredible - the most incredible girl I've ever met - and I truly am aware of how lucky I am that she chose me. I'm not exactly... easy... to be around sometimes because of my agency, but she deals with me perfectly. She deals with me more than she should, to be honest." He frowned, thinking again about how he needed to figure out how to apologise to her. Nothing he had said was a lie; in fact, he didn't think he'd said anything more true about Y/n the entire time that he had known her. She was incredible, since her Touch was so powerful and unlike anything that he had ever seen before. And he did count himself lucky that she, despite his horrible words, still decided to work for him. And she did deal with him, more than anybody should, and she did it by being just as much of an arse to him as he was to her.
Maybe they were good together after all.
A thud on the window made everyone turn to look at what had made the noise, and Tom finally broke eye contact with Lockwood.
"Pigeon," Sam said, having been closest to the window. "I think it might be- oh no, it's just got up and flown off. Don't tell Mum though, she'll have a fit if she sees the mark it left."
"Alright, I think we're done here. You're free to go, Lover Boy," Will said, waving his hand vaguely at Lockwood and scrunching up the empty lebkuchen packet. Lockwood got up to leave, but upon opening the door a body fell face first into his chest with a small 'oof!'
"... Darling?" Lockwood asked, confusion lacing his voice. The figure looked up and offered a smile.
"Oh, hi! I was just... wondering where you were, Anthony." He tried to not let it show how much it affected him to hear his first name in her mouth, but the slight intake of breath that he took probably gave him away. It didn't help that Y/n was in that dress, since she looked so stunning that he couldn't focus on anything but her.
"You're so obsessed with each other," Lockwood heard Will mutter from behind him, and he realised with a start that they had just been staring at each other and blocking the doorway, penning the others in the library. When they went to move, however, Sam stopped them.
"Mistletoe! You can't break tradition!"
"Ugh, again? Did Mum plant an entire fucking garden of it?" Y/n said, peering up at the sprig that hung over their heads. "They're not gonna let us leave without doing it."
"Alright. Let's get it over with then," he whispered into her mouth, and he couldn't help but feel the exact opposite when she pressed her lips to his.
~~~
"So," Y/n's grandfather Richard started, and internally she groaned. He had used the tone of voice that meant he was about to start asking about work, and she was dreading this conversation. "Being an agent. Are you still sure it's what you want to do with your life, Y/n?"
"Yes, Gramps. I'm sure. I have been doing it for years now."
"But there are so many other things you could be doing! Jobs that you could actually be good at!"
That stung a little, and Y/n sat back slightly in her chair. She loved her Gramps, and most of the time he was one of her favourite family members, but he'd been alive before the Problem had started and didn't understand that things had changed since he was a kid. He believed in her in most other ways, just not when it came to her life as an agent, which was one of the only things she was truly passionate about (other passions included drinking tea and hating Lockwood).
"I don't mean to intrude," a voice piped up, and once again Y/n found herself wondering how the hell Lockwood managed to always turn up at the right time. "But Y/n is one of the best agents in the country, sir. Her Talent is so incredibly unique and that's what makes her so brilliant at her job." He perched on the arm of the chair that she was sat on, and she frowned when she felt the urge to rest her head against his thigh.
"Well how can you possibly know that!"
"Gramps, this is my boyfriend, Anthony? You met him briefly last night?"
"Oh, is it? Right, well I suppose you would know then! Tell me, is she too much of a pain sometimes?!"
Lockwood hesitated slightly, glancing down at where Y/n sat in the chair and frowning a little at her Gramps' question. "If anything I'm the pain. I don't know why she keeps me around to be honest." He sounded so sincere about it that for a moment she forgot that he had ever said anything horrible about her. The rest of their conversation faded into background noise as she remembered what she'd overheard earlier.
It was probably breaking all sorts of moral laws to eavesdrop on her brothers' interrogation of Lockwood, but then again she'd made her boss her fake boyfriend to fool her entire family, so she figured that she was well past being entirely moral about things. And besides, she hadn't been intending on listening in at first, she'd just been walking back from using the loo and happened to hear them. She couldn't get Lockwood's words out of her head, and she'd been replaying them over and over since.
"She's incredible - the most incredible girl I've ever met - and I truly am aware of how lucky I am that she chose me."
What the hell did that mean? Was it a lie that he'd made up to make them happy? But then she'd also heard Will prodding for the truth and his exclamation that whatever Lockwood had said before (which she hadn't heard) was obviously fake, so did he just come up with a better lie?
Tonight, she thought. Tonight I'll talk to him.
~~~
When the last guests had stumbled out of the front door, singing loudly and bumping into each other because they had had too much to drink, everybody left in the house let out a sigh of relief.
Y/n mumbled a tired 'good night' to everyone as she pulled herself upstairs, and Lockwood followed after her. He'd been helping her father tidy up a little before turning out the lights, to save some of the food that needed refrigerating and chucking other things in the bin. She had been worried when her dad first started talking to Lockwood, but then she'd heard her father laughing and had decided that they would be perfectly fine together.
Now she collapsed face first onto the bed, not yet worrying about the chill in the room.
"I can see why you were dreading that," Lockwood said, his voice sounding too loud. She'd had to down a few drinks that afternoon to deal with the sheer number of questions and comments from family members and friends, and now her head was aching slightly.
"Can you get me some water?" she asked, but since her face was still buried in the duvet it came out muffled. Lockwood's footsteps shuffled around for a while, and then went silent, and Y/n huffed in annoyance. Of course he'd just get himself ready for bed and not worry about her, that was so typical of him. She pushed herself upright, wincing when the room wobbled a little and the pain increased in her head, then frowned when Lockwood reappeared, something in his hand.
"Here. I couldn't find any painkillers though, so I'll just go and fill that up when you're done so you can try and sober up before bed."
Oh. Maybe he wasn't being so typical after all.
"Thanks," she muttered, taking the glass from him and eyeing it warily.
"It's not poisoned, darling. If I was going to kill you I wouldn't do it in a way that might mean you could come back to haunt me."
"Charming."
He sat down on the bed next to her with a sigh, picking at a loose thread on his sleeve. "You know," he said, not looking at her. "This hasn't been... the worst Christmas I've ever had."
"No? You're spending it with me." He gave her a wry smile, finally bringing his gaze up to meet hers.
"Yeah, that's not really that bad."
Oh.
"Really?"
He hummed in answer, nodding slightly, then got up and walked over to the fireplace. They sat in silence while Y/n finished off her water and Lockwood got the fire going, and once she headed over to sit next to where he was crouching she realised how cold she had been before. He sat back, leaning on the chair behind him. Y/n was hunched over her knees, empty glass dangling in her grip. She could have done the same as Lockwood with the armchair behind her, and god knew her head needed something to rest against because despite the water dulling the ache it was still pressing against her temples, but she didn't think she could see Lockwood's face at that moment.
"The first Christmas after Jess passed was the worst."
Her head snapped to look at him where he sat to her left, but he was staring into the fire, eyes transfixed on the flames but looking at something far away. She didn't say anything, instead just letting him go ahead in his own time.
"The ones after my parents died were hard, sure, but at least I had Jess around and we knew what the other was going through. Then she was gone too, and I was nine years old in a big house that was suddenly empty of the family I had spent my life being loved by."
She knew that his family were dead since the absence of any of them was shockingly present in 35 Portland Row, but he had never told her anything. She'd had to learn it all from Lucy, George, and Holly.
"That first one was horrible. I don't think I stopped crying for longer than an hour the entire time, and I couldn't sleep because I kept replaying it over in my head. I could have helped," he whispered, and Y/n could see that his eyes were glistening in the light of the fire. "I could have saved her, if only I hadn't-" he cut himself off, his voice growing too strangled to continue. Quickly she placed her hand on his arm, turning her body to face him.
"Hey, hey," she said quietly, drawing him into her arms. Her glass had been abandoned on the floor, her hands now holding Lockwood's body in her lap instead. His head was resting on her chest while his arm wrapped around her stomach, the other supporting his weight, and Y/n told herself that she was only allowing this to happen because she hadn't yet sobered up.
She wasn't sure how long they were there for, her leaning back at an awkward angle to allow room for Lockwood to lie on top of her and curl into her side while he sniffled, but after a while she found that she didn't mind stroking her fingers through his hair (which was surprisingly soft) or having his weight on her (it was like having a weighted blanket).
"Thank you," he muttered after a while, sitting up and wiping at his face. He paused in his movements when he realised that their faces were much closer together than was normal for two people that didn't like each other. The memory of that morning when she had smoothed out his collar and he had been about to say something came back, and when his gaze flicked between her eyes and her lips she drew in a breath.
"Anthony?"
And then he was surging forward, kissing her with the same passion that he had hated her with while she reached up to grab his shirt, not caring that she was wrinkling the fabric that she herself had smoothed out that very morning. How could she think of anything but him when the two of them had finally crashed together like a tsunami hitting cities?
How could she think of anything but him when he pulled her on top of him?
And how could she think of anything but him when he sighed her name into her mouth and it sounded sweeter than the tea he drank?
And then she was thinking about him entirely, and remembering everything that had happened since they met, and suddenly kissing him was a terrible idea.
"She's not good enough for the company."
She pushed away from him with a start when those words blared in her mind like warning alarms, the memory of what she had overheard in the library around four months after starting to work for Lockwood and Co. She hadn't heard anything before, but the disdain in Lockwood's voice told her it was about her. She had run upstairs to make sure she didn't hear any more of what he thought about her.
"Y/n?" he asked now, voice hoarse from crying and kissing, and his expression was desperate as he watched her press her hand to her lips and take shaky breaths. "Y/n? What is it? Wh-"
"Don't," she snapped, standing up and trying to forget the feeling of his hands on her body. "Don't... just don't, Lockwood." He was getting up too, scrambling after her and reaching out to stop her from slipping away.
"I don't understand-"
"Don't understand what?! We can't- we hate each other, Lockwood!" The venom in her voice made him stumble back a few steps. "You never wanted me at your company and you made sure that I knew that!"
"I-"
"I heard you telling the others that I wasn't ever going to be good enough for you, and then a few hours later after a job you're telling me that my Talent is incredible?! What am I supposed to think?! And then you spend the next however many years being a complete dick to me and complaining about me, so I do the same because clearly being nice didn't work, and now you're here at my fucking family Christmas event pretending to be my boyfriend and kissing me when you don't need to-"
"Of course I need to! I know I was horrible to you-"
"An understatement," she scoffed, crossing her arms.
"-but I'm trying to figure out how to apologise to you because I know that I've fucked up and I need to fix it!"
"So you kissed me?!"
"No! Yes! That wasn't an apology!" He rubbed his hand over his face, clearly frustrated with how it was going. "It was a mistake- no, Y/n, I didn't mean it like that!"
"A mistake?" she whispered, her eyes stinging with fresh tears. "Kissing me was a mistake?"
"No," he said, tone filled with desperation. "No, Y/n, I just meant that I shouldn't have done it before apologising to you because then it would seem like... I don't know! Like I was doing it just to try and trick you into accepting my apology or something!"
"Were you? Doing it to trick me? Because right now I can't tell what the truth is, Lockwood!"
"It wasn't a trick. It was never a trick, and I'm an idiot-"
"Yes, you are."
"Would you just listen to me?!" he shouted, anger seeping in to his body, and Y/n took a step back at the look in his eyes.
"What, like how you listen to me?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Yesterday, on the platform, when I was talking about my family being a lot and how it was hard for me and I'm actually related to most of them, and I couldn't imagine how hard it would be for someone to be introduced to all of that in one go. You just assumed that I meant it would be hard for you because your family is dead, and then when I tried to explain you cut me off and gave me the cold shoulder because you didn't fucking listen, Lockwood. What I meant was it would be a lot for anyone, no matter their own experience. Hell, even George has said that he would rather be blocked from the Archives for life than ever meet my family, and he's got almost as many relatives as me!"
Lockwood didn't say anything for a minute, instead just standing still and staring at her while the fire in his eyes died down, and Y/n shook her head. "This?" She gestured between the two of them. "This will never work. We will never work. Because you never wanted me and no matter how much I want you to like me in the same way that you like the others, you never will. And I will never be good enough for you." That was one more person to add to the list of people that she needed to meet unnecessarily high expectations for in order to be even noticed. She wiped at the tears that had slipped down her face while she was talking, the salt making her cheeks itch.
"You're right," Lockwood finally said. "I won't ever like you in the same way as the others." He stopped there, looking down at the floor. When he went to speak again, however, he lifted his head to an empty room, and the bathroom door shutting him out.
Y/n ignored his attempts to talk to her through the door, shoving the duvet and blankets that she had quickly grabbed into the bathtub and plugging her headphones into her walkman so that she didn't have to hear the rest of his cruel words and excuses.
She had craved something different with him, and it had fucking destroyed her.
And now she had to wake up on Christmas Day and pretend that she was hopelessly in love with the fake boyfriend who had just broken her heart.
part 6
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Tag list: @ahead-fullofdreams, @aislinrayne, @anathemaloren, @augustisintheair, @avdiobliss, @aysha4life, @bobbys-not-that-small, @briar-rose23, @curseofhecate, @dangelnleif, @edible-rat-vomit, @el-de-phi, @ell0ra-br3kk3r, @ettadear, @fearlessmoony, @fudosl, @idkbubs, @informedimagining, @karensirkobabes, @locklyebrainrot, @locklyle1kanij, @locknco, @mentallyillsodapop, @mischivana, @mitskiswift99, @mrsklockwood, @mrsyixingunicorn10, @newbooksmell777, @no-morning-glories, @novelizt, @phlooper, @ran23sblog, @simrah1012, @somethingrandomwatzit, @star-of-velaris, @superpositvecloudshipper, @t2sh0, @taygrls, @tournesol77, @whenselenefallsinlove, @wordsarelife
let me know if you want to be added to/removed from the tag list! <3
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neonscandal · 3 months
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What are your satosugu fav moments? And what are your fav personal headcanons about them?
Those sweet, egotistical, baby angels. 🤍🖤
For an insane retelling of their whole deal, I kinda talk incessantly about it. I also kinda did a little head canon exercise with a template before? but wasn't sure what you might be in the market for. In any case, roll the tape!
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HEAD CANONS
Gojo has been spouting nonsense all his life but Geto was the first person to try to understand it, even when he couldn't. I'm not going to fault Geto for not being able to catch up on all that Digimon lore. But for the most part, he'd make it a point to ask clarifying questions or brush up on topics Gojo mentions in passing just to keep up with conversation.
In fact, they hated each other when they first met but bonded over one off the cuff comment Gojo made about a band, book or something and, suddenly, they found common ground. After that, they bonded over making Yaga and, later, Nanami's lives interesting ✨
Gojo is the prankster, Geto is the watchman/getaway driver. No one suspects Geto's role in Gojo's tomfoolery. Stealing Maki and Nobara's uniforms with Inumaki and Panda was a rewash of a stunt he pulled when he was in high school (with Geto's help). He fashions a lot of the pranks he pulls as a teacher off the hijinks he and Geto used to get away with. He wears a mirthful smile for his students but the modern times don't hold a candle to the good old days.
They were only children and both of their parents sucked. Actually, maybe Geto had a sibling who was either significantly older or younger (hence how he learned to be so considerate) who passed. Subsequently, Geto's parents were emotionally distant/neglectful starting when they got creeped out by the inexplicable things he could see that they couldn't. It's why he jumped at the chance when he was scouted for Jujutsu High, why he was triggered when he saw the twins, and why he always sought family elsewhere. Gojo's parents seemed to dote on him but didn't bother to get to know or nurture him, just placate him.
They make it a point to tease and call Ieri the little sister they've always wanted... though she is the oldest in the trio. Even so, they spoil her (to the best of Gojo's ability obviously). Example: if her feet hurt on a mission, Geto is giving her a piggyback ride but Gojo's goofy ass is trading shoes. Never mind the comical disparity in shoe sizes. They'd just be clopping around together much to Shoko's faux chagrin.
The three of them would absolutely bed rot together. It may have started with Gojo slinking into Geto's room for attention but they wouldn't leave Ieri out, even if it was a twin size bed. Just listless days between missions and classes where they would languidly ignore the weight of their responsibilities. Some days all contorting to fit on the bed, other days strewn about the room. It was always in Geto's room, Ieri almost always brought face masks (at Gojo's insistence).
Gojo, quite literally, did not understand the concept of personal space when it came to Geto (or Ieri, really). But, most specifically, with the way he'd casually and absently be all over Geto. Arms over his shoulders, tilting his head inward when addressing him, leaning on him during respites in the day, elbowing him in the side to punctuate a joke.. he just never became conscious of it. That is, until he was no longer around. Geto was always like second skin until he wasn't. In addition to the absence of his company, Gojo felt that physical absence so painfully that he used Limitless more and more to distance himself from the idea that anyone had ever been so close.
When Haibara and Nanami come along, Geto takes his role as a senpai really seriously because the stakes are high at the school. Gojo? Does not ✨ but he does force Nanami to use proper honorifics because he knows it drives him up a wall. He makes it a point to tell Haibara to call him whatever, right in front of Nanami. For the record, Haibara does not obey him but still.
Gojo has a name for all of Geto's favorite or most commonly used curses. The same way girls will refer to their crushes with silly little code names, almost. Like Geto knows that the Rainbow Dragon curse is "Rainbow Dash" or "My Little Pony" whereas other curses might have silly names like "Garfunkle" or "Steve" for no other reason than Gojo felt like it, but he's consistent. So once a name is bestowed, Geto refers to them accordingly. He, of course, never approaches them with fear and he's just as endeared to them as he is to Geto.
Before Gojo got the hang of how to optimize his cursed energy, overuse would leave him... not weak but just not agreeable. Clearly cranky and suffering the drawback, Suguru clocked the difference and that's actually when he started to pamper Gojo. It's also the only reason Gojo ever articulated the downsides of his CT to anyone. I don't know if Geto ever told Gojo the extent of his discomfort with his technique. He either felt like he was being burdensome/ungrateful in sharing or he was embarrassed about what it would say about him (re: regularly ingesting things that tasted like vomit). It's one of the only things he remained furtive about when it came to Gojo though he always wondered if Gojo already just knew.
Supported by canon, but, Suguru absolutely carried candy for Satoru (and a lighter for Shoko) because he's just that considerate. Mans was swallowing vomit rags and still concerned about appeasing Satoru's sweet tooth.
Without realizing it, this gesture inspired a Pavlovian effect and made Gojo super clingy. He associates sweetness with Geto and, in his absence, always overdoes it. Especially after he left the school for good. Nothing fills the void.
We know Gojo became a teacher because of Geto but... Geto would have been an excellent teacher.
You see it in the way they raise kids, Gojo makes sure Megumi and Tsumiki don't simply die. They have lavish accommodations but he has no idea how to parent. I love the Papa-Gojo agenda but know he was out of his depth. He was more like a "cool" but irresponsible (read: unstructured) older cousin if anything, not a father figure per se until maybe his late 20's which was a little too late. I think Geto specifically raised Nanako and Himiko like "normal" kids (ironically, humans) instead of the in the misogynistic, classist way of traditional jujutsu society because they deserved a lifetime of young revelry after everything they suffered. It cost them their lives so maybe everything Geto touched was meant to crumble.
As a fandom, I think people like to think they met up in those ten years of separation and I do too? But, realistically, I think Gojo just kept a forlorn bead on Geto and his whereabouts, too uncertain to go to him. 10 years of absence didn't change how he felt about him though.
FAVE MOMENTS
I'm sorry but every single time Geto's Japanese voice actor purrs "Satoru"? Does that count? Allow me to do a cartwheel on a bed of nails because OH MY GOSH they nailed that. You feel the teasing, the intimacy.
Gojo acting a fool on the beach with Riko in Okinawa and Geto looking on affectionately. Geto really allowed space for Gojo to be a kid and gave him some of his youth back.
Every time Geto's facade of calm relaxed or broke entirely because something was going on with Gojo. Like checking in in Okinawa, when Toji initially got the drop on him, when Toji announced he'd killed Satoru Gojo. Every time you see what writhes beneath the surface.
Geto, in a sea of despair and perhaps a sprinkle of bitterness, still thinks to ask Haibara to bring back something sweet to share with Gojo. Attentive to a fault and crazy how Gojo still manages to occupy his thoughts in that way, even then.
Every tantrum Gojo threw for Geto. Gojo was literally stabbed and didn't break character. Gutted and killed but showed nothing until he comes back an overconfident mess. But just hearing about Geto's crimes, confronting him on the streets of Shinjuku and he's shaking with rage and disbelief. Not so confident then.
Realizing that Gojo saw the day he confronted Geto as a dark and mournful day when, in actuality, it was a perfectly normal, sunshine-y day.
The moment after Geto's dramatic ass is like "I could never smile from the bottom of my heart in this world!" and Gojo says something to immediately recant that by making him smile so genuinely. Just going to do The Worm across a busy highway.
Geto defying all reason to strangle Kenjaku despite hundreds of years without a fight from a host. Just as Gojo never forgot Geto's scent, Geto's body never forgot it's inclination to protect Gojo. Even if only for a moment.
⚠️ Spoiler warning through JJK chapter 236.
Geto's face being the last face Gojo saw before he was sealed and the first face he saw upon being freed. Then agreeing to fight Sukuna on the anniversary of Geto's death because he was sentimental right until the very end.
At the close of Gojo's life, imagining an afterlife where he sees Geto and all of the people he cares about during the point when he was the happiest. After all that time, more than a decade later and he still reflects so happily back on that era despite how grisly part of it was. Not only that but, in a perfect outcome, he imagines full blown cult leader Geto congratulating him because he would take Geto in any form over not having him around at all.
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tuxebo · 2 months
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for my old friends, like og old, you might remember this post. however, my sweet anon that just sent that rdr2 ask about my thoughts on it, you just unlocked my tenth eye. arthur morgan with the poshest bastard known to fucking man. your fancy words, tight ass clothes, even your perfect posture is disgusting. (to which, of course, you would say the exact same about him)
when you fall into a ditch for arthur to stumble upon, the worst person that could possible find you, to say you had a rocky start is the understatement of the century. why he saves you? probably because he assumed you were wealthy and based in the area, he's be able to steal from your estate if you just trusted him and shared a little too much information.
come to find out, you're a little brat miles away from home and now you're his responsibility because 1. you know about the gang and their location and aren't allowed to just go and 2. no one else wants to deal with you.
to be fair, you are not entirely useless. yes, trust that arthur puts your hiney to work, as soon as your broken ankle is healed. you speak to the rich folk that typically wouldn't give him the time of day on his behalf, negotiate the shit out of whoever is unfortunate enough to do business with the both of you, you also help him befriend some of these rich folk so that him and javier can pay them a "visit" later.
granted, all of those "pros" comes with a price because you are nothing if not high maintenance. also, you talk a lot. it kind of comes with the territory, knowing all that you claim you do. arthur pays the price (well the gang does because he cuts it from what he donates) and it's definitely a good cause.
however, let's talk about the little things. the way western riders and english riders ride are undeniably different.
first off, hands. you're used to riding using both hands at all times, you were around people that did the same. you heard about people who didn't (western riders) but now you were around them all the damn time. imagine the first time you saw this man use his gun while on a moving horse, taking a perfect shot? man, oh man. he does pick up on your little fascination rather quickly and in the beginning uses it to show off, to one up you, but intentions change, at some point.
more on hands, when you try to ride with one hand, you almost fall off when your horse took got startled and picked up a little too much speed. worry not, however, our hero caught you before you could fall and readjusted you with his free hand. like nothing happened, he just kept riding unfazed like nothing happened at all.
secondly, sports. occasionally, when out at about, someone would notice you don't exactly look like your average joe from valentine. like arthur was challenged to a shooting competition, you were challenged to a fox hunting, which you gladly agreed. you did quite a bit of fox hunting with your friends and family back at home, now it was just you and arthur versus three other guys, which was of no concern. of course, you beat them by a day, earning the two of you a quite a bit of coin. but the money is actually in watching you, ever so concentrated, track a fox. arthur didn't realize you were useful for more than that mouth of yours, which you claim is his fault because he never asked.
finally, forms of control. the way you ride is very different. while it's something that kind of flies over your head, it's not so much the case for arthur. at first he noticed the way you ride and it kind of annoyed him, but it was appreciable when he watched you ride in an empty dressage ring you stumbled upon when you stumbled across some large estate. why you move so much on the saddle over such little distance, maybe he'd get answers from sitting back and watching? can't hurt to try.
more on forms of control, one thing you do notice is how "aggressive" arthur rides. not in an abusing the horse way, but it's nothing like your gentle riding. you had control with your reins, he did in a different way. this kind of ties in with his balance and ability to ride and do different things at the same time, but he was able to lasso people and pull them to his horse without a much thought, take control of horses while racing alongside it on his own like he was a sport. as neat as you kept yourself, sweaty arthur during sunset? yes, please.
okay, if you know, you know. all this while being enemies?? now, i could go on for hours. he is so fine. i want to talk more abt it so bad, someone please tell me you see the vision.
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denzelhart · 1 year
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Nightmares
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Summary: You're having some nightmares and Rudy's there to help you.
Warning: Fluff (is this even count as a warning?), reader has no pronouns.
Wordcount: 1.0k
Note: This is a male reader fic but can be read as gender neutral! There maybe some error grammar because English isn't my first language.
hi, miss me :]?
Pairing: Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Parra x Male reader
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Having nightmares in the time of war isn't common for you or anyone but it makes you and your sleep schedule harder to manage.
Sleeping wherever you can. I mean anywhere with a flat surface, you take the opportunity to rest your eyes even a few minutes to a few seconds before going for the next practice or going on a new mission. Maybe just lay on the couch and perish.
Until someone calls you up. To make you do work other than lay your ass on the couch. Of course.
Like you take every chance you can sleep even just with your eyes closed.
It's not really good for your health and you know it. Totally didn't bother you at all but it bothers someone, Rudy. Your love.
Rudy took notice of your sleep schedule ever since you tried to sleep anywhere you can. At first, he let it go. Because who doesn't have a sleepless night right? Well, kinda wrong. Yours is a little different. He couldn't tell if you're working too much or having too many nightmares. In any case, he'd try to help you.
Rudy's not a man who stands there and watches his lover struggle trying to get some sleep. He won't tell how he noticed it in the first place.
He just knows or maybe he knows you too well. Three years of dating each other. Of course he knows you.
Waking up from another nightmare, your body trembling from what's been chasing you, covered in sweat making you uncomfortable in your own clothes. Already lost count of how many times you had nightmares. However you get a sleepless night, again.
Yay. Not very good news, still. Yay.
Getting off of your bed is the next thing you do. Reaching the doorknob and starting to walk to the kitchen. Your only friend for the next hour. While walking to the kitchen, you passed Rudy's room. 
It got you thinking that you and him haven't talked much lately, Rudy may not be talkative like the other men did but when he's around his loved one. That's a whole different story. Like his teammate, Alejandro. They talked a lot on base and on their job. Maybe you and him don't have time for a little chat. It got busy a bit around here, in the military.
You missed him.
Already in the kitchen, you heard some noise coming from there. Seems like someone's having the same issue as you, walking into and there he is. Rudy.
"Someone having trouble sleeping?" looking at the man making some tea for his sleep, you assumed.
"Said someone who had trouble with nightmares multiple times." He only chuckled after hearing you mumble some words. "How did you know?" avoiding his gaze at your small figure, trying to be distracted by looking in the fridge.
"Mi amor, we've been dating for three years now. Of course I know you're having some nightmares, not some paperwork." Rudy walks over behind your figure, pulling you towards him with his hands around your waist. Moving his hand a bit, soothing you, giving some comfort and trying to make up the time you two have lost.
"You know, you can always tell me about it. I could help you." Rudy whispered enough for you to hear it.
"Didn't want to bother you while you were doing your job." Feeling his presence behind, you leaning your body against his. Finding some warmth from his body.
"I don't mind, especially helping you.." Rudy whispered again. Hoping you could let him help you this time. "Alright then.. if you insist. Let's see how you helped me" Now you're looking at Rudy, wondering what he would do to fix your sleeping problem.
"How about you settle in my room while waiting for me to make you some tea, then we can fix your sleeping problem." Rudy said, letting go of your waist then proceed to start making another cup of tea for you. "Sounds good, love?" He added. 
Kinda missed the warmth of his body against yours. "Yeah, sound- wait. I'll stay in your room until morning?" You questioned, not knowing if you misheard it or not. "Yes, or you don't want to stay in my room?" Rudy turns his body around facing you, leaning into the counter a bit. Waiting for the kettle to boil.
"Oh um, I don't want to bother-" He cuts you off. "Do you want to sleep in my room? With me. Yes or no, mi amor." Looking at the other figure, knowing what the answer would be yet, he's still asking.
All you did was nodded.
"I need words, love." Rudy demanded.
"Yes, I'd love to.." When you finished your words, the kettle boiled. Waiting to be poured into the cup with the tea bag inside. "Good, go to my room first, I'll be there in a minute." He praised you and went back to making some tea.
All you did was nod at his words, walk away from the kitchen and make your ways to Rudy's room.
Open the room door, there it is. The room has remained the same since the last time you walked in and still smell like Rudy. It feels nice being back here. Sitting on his bed, waiting for that man coming back with two cups in his hands.
And he did come back with it.
Grabbing one of the warm cups. "Careful, it's still hot." Rudy is now sitting next to you, drinking a bit from his cup. "Good?" All you did was nodding, too tired to say a word to him. "Alright, let's get you to sleep. I see that you're getting tired now." He then guided you down his bed. Feeling the comforts of your lover's bed as well as the warmth of Rudy's body temperature.
"Good?" You nodded at his words, flushed your face into his chest. Feeling sleepy with Rudy's hand rubbing your back. Knowing what is comforting you the best.
"Get some sleep now. Tomorrow will be a long day, mi amor." and that's all it takes for you to fall asleep in Rudy's arms.
Seems like today the nightmares you have won't bother you anymore.
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crusty-chronicles · 8 months
Text
Not So Bad (Hiei x Apprentice Reader)
Part 1
Synopsis: The gang find a small, frazzled reader after being sent to stop a demon trafficking ring. Upon arriving to the location, they quickly realized everyone was dead, everyone except you. Reader is taken in and becomes attached to a particular demon with three eyes.
An: maybe it's because I've recently watched Nimona, but I absolutely live for the 'Scruffy Hard-ass man going soft and adopting a daughter' trope. Might explain my obsession with Dilfs 💀
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When Yusuke originally took this case on for Koenma, he thought it'd be a little like when they went to rescue Yukina from Terukinae. But he was quickly proven wrong the deeper they all went into the estate.
It was supposed to be a simple mission. Stop some rich assholes from trafficking demons in order to keep the peace between Demon World and The World of the Living.
There was just so much blood.
The coppery smell was so strong even Kurama with his advanced senses couldn't pick up on anything else. And the bodies, God the bodies. It seemed like everyone they came across was horribly mutilated.
Like everybody was already dead before they got there.
Hiei used his Jagan to try to find any survivors, but even he struggled to locate any life energy.
Then they all heard a noise.
A small scuttling sound, but it was there, and as they turned a corner they saw a smaller being leaning against the wall.
Said being was caked in a crimson liquid. In their hands was a small dagger. And they looked...scared?
"What the hell happened here?" Yusuke mumbled out, catching the demon's(?) attention.
They immediately tensed up and held their weapon out in front of them.
"Did you do this?" Yusuke tried a little softer and took a step forward.
"Stay back! Just stay away from me!" They were shaking now as they jutted out the dagger a little more. Judging from the sound of their voice, they were pretty young.
A scared demon was never a good sign.
Kurama, the least intimidating looking, thought he'd have a little more success calming them down. He gestured for Yusuke to back away.
"We're not here to hurt you. We just want to know what happened here, if you'd be so willing to tell us?" His words did little to relax the frazzled demon, but at least they didn't make you any more scared.
"We shouldn't be wasting our time with this. We should just kill them since they've clearly shown themselves as a threat," Hiei commented.
Your eyes widened and the stiff pose you had became aggressive.
"Please just go away! I don't wanna hurt anyone else, so please just leave!" You were near tears by this point.
"Way to go Hiei, you made em' worse," Kuwabara grumbled.
"Giving them sympathy will make it easier for them to kill you."
Kurama blocked out their bickering in favor of taking a tentative step towards the now teary-eyed demon.
"So you did do this?"
They pointed their dagger in his direction.
"They did it first! They always-! They always-!" The demon shook their head as if trying to clear it. "They always hurt me first." Their voice lowered, along with their guard.
Kurama took another step forward.
"You were their prisoner, correct? Well, you're safe now. We came here to help by order of Spirit World. Do you know what that is?"
Another step.
The small demon nodded, weapon lowered slightly. But they didn't get aggressive as Kurama neared.
A good sign.
"We promise we won't hurt you. Don't mind what Hiei says, you were just trying to protect yourself, weren't you? It'll be okay, just let us help."
They didn't notice the plant blooming behind them, much less the sleep toxin it produced. But what they did notice was their eyes getting droopy. They struggled to take in the fox demon's words, Kurama's voice lulling them to sleep.
★★★★
You awoke on a surprisingly comfortable surface. Opening your eyes, you found yourself in an unfamiliar room. The last thing you remembered was the red headed demon....
You shot up from the soft surface and scooched back until you were flush against the wall. Sure enough, there was that same demon along with the other ginger haired boy.
Were they going to kill you after all?
You stared with scared eyes at the two of them.
"Did you have a good rest?" The red haired one asked.
You looked around the small room, trying to find the other two from before. They didn't seem to be here. Your frightened eyes met the fox demon's.
You shook slightly as you spoke.
"Where am I?"
The human was the one who decided to answer your question.
"My house. You're lucky my sister doesn't mind letting you stay here for now."
You tilted your head in confusion.
"House?"
He lived here? They brought you to a home. Not a cell.
The human nodded.
"Yeah. Which reminds me, are ya hungry?"
Your guard lowered just a smidge, back moving slightly away from the wall. You were not expecting this. Shelter and food? There had to be a catch. No humans were ever this kind to you.
"Why?"
They both seemed a little caught off guard by your question.
"What do you mean 'why'? Did you think we would just leave you there or something? We're not like those other guys that locked you up, got it!"
You flinched away as the human pointed his finger out. He looked between himself and you, concern etched into his face.
"Geez, what did they do to you?"
You shook your head rapidly. You didn't want to think about that right now. You didn't want to remember everything that happened.
"Perhaps we should give them some time before we question them." Kurama could see your discomfort start to rise. It was best to let you relax and take your time adjusting. Whatever had set you off before they found you, he wanted to make sure never happened again.
Spirit World would not be so lenient if you happened to act out again.
"Now then, how about we get you fed and cleaned up, little one?"
★★★★
With a little more coaxing, you had completely lowered your guard and followed the duo deeper into the house.
True to their word, you were sat at a table with a plate of something placed in front of you. The scent coming from it was sweet and it's shape a circle.
How bizarre
You lifted one of them up to get a better sniff. You couldn't smell any poison. At least, none of which you were familiar with.
Carefully, you took a bite.
This....
This was heavenly.
The next few seconds were of you stuffing your face with the remainder of the food on your plate. It was a funny sight to see.
You ate using purely your hands, the utensils left out going untouched. You also didn't chew after your first bite. Each pancake practically being swallowed whole. They only stopped you when you went to eat the plate because 'they're both circles, so they should both taste the same.'
"Hey! You'll die if you eat that!" The human scolded. He yoinked the plate out of your hands before you could bite down.
You frowned up at him and made grabby gestures with your hands. His resolve broke almost immediately.
"Okay, okay! I'll make you some more. Don't cry."
And a part of you softened at his unintentional words.
Don't cry
They didn't want you to be upset.
Maybe they didn't want to hurt you after all.
You felt something soft being wiped across your face. Looking to your left, you saw the fox demon with a piece of white cloth.
"You're a messy one, aren't you?" There was something teasing in his tone. Despite that, his eyes showed nothing but kindness.
You let him wipe your face once more before speaking.
"Where are the other two?"
You weren't too scared of the greasy one, but the other demon.... He made you weary. He did say they should've killed you.
"Yusuke went to inform the ruler of Spirit World about what happened. And Hiei," there was a slight pause as if the fox were thinking of something.
"Hiei returned back to Demon World since he has no obligation to stay anymore."
You were back to frowning. Maybe a small part of you thought it was unfair you couldn't return home too.
"He was the one who wanted me dead." Your voice was quiet.
"Don't mind him, he's just a big jerk!" The human shouted from his place at the stove. Your mood lightened slightly.
He was just a jerk. Yeah. He wasn't evil, just mean. And if all four of them weren't like the others, then you supposed you could trust them.
At least for now.
"I remember my name from before." You mumbled.
"Do you mind telling us then? I'd be nice to have something to call you while we wait for further orders." The fox encouraged.
You decided then you liked these two. They were nice. They didn't hurt you. And now that you thought about it, your previous wounds were all healed.
"I'm Y/n."
★★★★
After a lengthy discussion with Koenma, (which was really Yusuke making the case that you were just a kid who had probably been tortured beyond belief) it was decided that you'd be under the group's care to ensure no further harm was caused.
They were to make sure you never killed another human, lest you risk the wrath of King Yamma.
You would be swapped around between the four of them to enforce this policy. And even though the threat of what you did was still very much fresh in their minds, they just couldn't believe that you'd do it again.
When Yusuke watched you, you were always laughing at his stupid jokes. Always smiling when he'd pick you up onto his shoulders to carry you wherever he went. Always embarrassed when he would brag to the moms at the park.
"My kid's better than yours. They don't bite and pick their nose." Followed by offended gasp from the mothers.
When Kurama watched you, you would tell him everything that happened that day or the day before. You'd seek him out for comfort if you had nightmares and woke up crying. You would hold his hand when something startled you.
"It's okay little one, nothing will ever harm you again."
When Kuwabara was with you, you were babied and spoiled. Always out shopping for new clothes and shoes because 'You've grown an inch since the last time. We can't have you wearing clothes that are too small for you.' Always feeding you and watching your eyes light up when he slipped you a piece of candy. You'd always let him ruffle your hair and beam when he praised you.
"Look at you! You're all skin and bones, Did Yusuke even bother to feed you!?! You're lucky you have an awesome brother like me to take care of ya!"
And Hiei...
When Hiei would watch you, he would simply observe you from the trees. He'd watch you sit in silence and pluck the grass. He'd watch you startle at any noise that was too loud. You never talked to him, never asked anything, never looked him directly in the eye.
You were always silent and scared.
"What a pathetic excuse of a demon."
The conclusion drawn by all four: you weren't a threat to anybody. You'd had a slip up, but it was out of fear rather than aggression. You were completely harmless.
★★★★
Out of the four of them, Hiei couldn't give a damn about you at all. He didn't understand the other's softness. He understood their sympathy, but not why they bothered keeping you around. The mission was over and the observation was complete.
You were weak and skiddish. Afraid of your own shadow and any new faces. Too pathetic to even be called a demon. Too frail to ever lift a weapon and strike.
You were no longer their responsibility.
Just a burden. One that he would not worry about anymore.
Or at least that was what he told himself until the responsibility was once again forced upon him.
Yusuke had a special mission for Spirit World that he just couldn't get out of.
Kurama was having family over that would surely be suspicious of the smaller being attached to his hip.
Kuwabara was being forced to attend some out of state event with his sister.
All of these events would take a week at the least, and a month at worst.
Which left Hiei....
The demon who momentarily thought to dump you off at Genkai's.
It was thanks to that damn Detective's taunt that he hadn't.
"What's wrong three-eyes? Can't look after a kid for a few days? Scared because they're stronger than you?"
And damn his pride for falling for it. But even though he was forced to care for you, he would not be forced to stay in the human world when he did it.
You would come to Demon World with him so he could fulfill his proper duties.
★★★★
He half listened to Kuwabara's rant of what you could and couldn't eat. That oaf was too attached to you.
He didn't pay any attention when Yusuke told him what would make you smile and laugh. What possible reason did he have for remembering that?
But he did listen when Kurama pulled him aside to talk before he left.
"Their safety is the first priority. Do not let anything happen to them." There was a flicker of gold in his eyes. You had too much importance in their lives.
He took off with you the day after. But not without giving a warning of 'If you're too weak to keep up, I won't come back for you.'
You nodded, but kept silent. At least he wouldn't have to worry about listening to any idiotic ramblings.
The journey to Demon World was quiet. Too quiet, with the occasional sound of your missteps behind the three eyed demon. Not a word was spoken. If he hadn't felt your presence besides him, he would have assumed you weren't there.
Good.
You wouldn't be snot nosed brat and give him trouble.
But as the two of you reached the entrance, the lingering silence was disrupted.
"I haven't been home in a long time...Do you think my friends will remember me?"
It might've been the first words you ever spoke directly to Hiei. They were soft but hopeful. And if he had been anyone else, he would've assured you. Would've let you carry on the conversation and engaged.
But he wasn't.
And truthfully, your question irked him. Didn't you know it was survival of the fittest here? And friends? Demons didn't have friends. You were a naive dope who wouldn't make it five seconds by yourself.
"They're probably all dead if they're anything like you." Weak like you.
You didn't speak anymore after that.
You looked upset, but didn't cry. You just continued to follow Hiei to Mukuro's territory.
★★★★
You'd forgotten how thick the air was here. How tense it felt with the spirit energies clashing for dominance. You wished you'd stayed behind at the strong old lady's house now. Home didn't really feel like home anymore with the amount of time you spent in the world of the living.
Not only that, but you were in a foreign place with a demon who you were also unfamiliar with.
It wasn't exactly your fault. Hiei had never really been welcoming to you. He'd never really been nice either. You figured it was best to stay out of his way and vice versa. And maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't want to kill you anymore.
Maybe he'd be a little nicer.
But it just felt like he hated you even more for sticking around.
You looked up at the makeshift building he led you in. It was huge with walls that seemed to stretch forever. It made sense, you supposed, for a former Demon King to still be so well off. And while a compound like this housed many demons, you never felt more alone with your own kind.
One familiar face that belonged to a stranger.
You didn't like it here.
But you couldn't voice that opinion. You didn't want Hiei to think any less of you than he already did. Because then, the others might start to hate you too. So you sucked it up and persevered.
You stood right next to the three eyed demon as he conversed with Mukuro. Both of them catching up on the current events surrounding the Maki Barrier, and how to decrease the amount of humans trickling in. You'd never seen him this friendly before. The scowl that you thought was permanent had practically vanished.
He really did hate you, didn't he?
"So who's this little one? A new recruit?" Mukuro lightly jested.
There was a scoff before Hiei answered.
"A nuisance that I'm unfortunately stuck with. They're of no help here, so try to ignore them."
"Don't be so crass. I'd expect you to be kinder considering you have a little sister of your own." The former ruler scolded.
You hardly registered she kneeled down in front of you until she started talking. She most likely wanted to address you eye to eye.
"What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?"
You almost answered, but you thought against it. You'd only be here for a few days. After that you were never coming back here. You'd jump into the arms of whoever was back first and let them comfort you. Be able to feel safe and content again.
"Don't feel like talking? Well that's alright. Can you fight?"
You shook your head.
"No? Then it's best you stay here for the time being while we're gone. We have important work to do and it'd be a shame to be distracted. Can you fend for yourself, or do you need a guard accompanying you?"
You raised a finger up, signaling the first option. She smiled at you before getting up. And when you looked over towards the other demon, you could see him scowling again.
"We'll be off, let's go." Mukuro ordered.
Hiei let her go for a second before addressing you.
"Stay put. I won't go looking for you if you disappear. And stay out of trouble."
You didn't understand why he had to be so mean all the time. Nevertheless, you nodded. Sitting up against the wall and watching him head off.
Now you truly were alone.
Perhaps if you had one of those rectangular human devices, you'd be able to communicate with Kurama. Ask for advice on what you should do here. Or just convince him to come get you.
Maybe you could've convinced Yusuke to take you with him. At least then you'd be laughing the whole time. You wouldn't feel as small as you did now.
You should've asked Kuwabara to stay with you. He probably would have folded immediately. But you didn't want to do that. He wanted to spend time with his own flesh and blood. Who were you to take that from him?
You shook the thoughts from your head. There was nothing you could do about it now. You'd just have to wait things out.
And wait them out you did.
For hours.
Watching the daylight slowly dwindle down.
Just how long had you been waiting?
Your eyes drifted shut.
"Hey! Hey brat! Wake up!"
They snapped open at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. You were met with the sight of a group of demons. Hostile demons. Who lifted you up by the collar of your shirt.
"You're Hiei's pet, aren't you? One of the ones who saves those filthy humans instead of feasting on them? The disgraceful bastard."
Your first instinct was to call for help. But you knew nobody would hear you here. Nobody would care. So you struggled and kicked your legs.
"Quit it! Why don't we show that traitor what happens when you go against the natural order of things?"
The other surrounding demons laughed and nodded vigorously.
★★★★
A whole day. Hiei spent the whole day out there sending humans back through the barrier. A whole day dealing with those idiots and erasing their memories.
Maybe he should have let you come. It had to be the most irksome and repetitive task he's ever done. Simple and easy.
And maybe he had been a little cruel with you. But you were a demon. You shouldn't be acting like a wimp. You needed to grow up and deal with it. Softness only led to injury here.
Which reminded him....
Where the hell were you?
You weren't at the spot he left you at. Didn't he tell you not to move. Why of all times you chose to be disobedient, he didn't know. You always did what you were told. So why now were you being a brat and hiding.
He undid the bandage on his forehead and opened his Jagan, using it to search the compound for you. Room by room, hallway by hallway.
But he couldn't sense you.
And only then did ice run through his veins. You weren't here. He left you and told you to stay put, and now you were gone.
Did you run away?
No, you loved the others. You'd want a way to go back to them.
Did you leave to find him?
No, you didn't like Hiei as far as he knew.
So what could it be?
What could have possibly explained your disappearance?
Were you taken?
No.
That couldn't be it. Because if it was, he was screwed.
It would be his fault.
Whatever the hell had happened to you...
If you were dead or injured, it was his fault.
And he knew the others would never forgive him for it. Hell, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if your body was found somewhere. He said he would watch over you. He gave his word you would come back unharmed.
You were just a child.
And if you were dead....
He made his way outside and used his Jagan to search for any trace of you. Anything that would give him a clue to where you were. He got wind of a spike of spirit energy.
His body already on the move towards it. And in his third eye, he saw you screaming. He pushed his limits as far as they would go to get there faster.
★★★★
He didn't know what to expect when he got there. But it wasn't this. A sight he never thought he'd see again.
You were splattered with blood, but alive. The demons around you were dead or on the verge of it. You were backed against a tree with your dagger jutted out. Tears streaming down your face while you shook uncontrollably.
He tried to approach you, but you just cried harder and curled in on yourself. Mind so frantic, you didn't recognize him. Or maybe you did and you just didn't want him near you.
He really shouldn't have been that cruel to you.
There was nothing he could do about that now. He needed to bring you back, but as he took another step towards you, you lashed out at him.
Taking a precise swing he barley avoided. A warning to keep back. Just like the one you gave back at that trafficking ring. You were cutthroat like this. Fear making you stronger.
Despite his reluctance, he used his Jagan to put you to sleep. The only other option besides knocking you out. You'd been through enough today. Kurama would deal with the rest. You liked him the best anyways.
He picked you up carefully and quickly made his way back towards the barrier. The sooner you got out of here, the better it was for everyone.
What was it that detective said? Try to make you laugh? He couldn't do that. He doubted you would have listened anyways if he tried.
The oaf! What was it about you and food? You liked the sweet concoctions the humans made. The ones that would turn your teeth to dust. But there was no way you would ever take anything from him.
And Kurama? He was incapable of showing the same softness that fox did. Of being that vulnerable. He had a feeling he'd just make it worse.
The only thing he could do now was keep you under until he reached Genkai's little shack. Then he'd be able to get Kurama to deal with you.
The small home was in sight. He pushed himself a little further as the sun peaked over the mountains. Making rapid knocks against the door frame until it slid open.
"What do we have here? I don't suppose you're here to see Yukina?" The old lady greeted.
Then she noticed the frantic state Hiei was in. The stoic demon had lost his composure. And in his arms was a smaller being who looked to be having nightmares.
"Whatever you did, good luck explaining that to the other three boys."
★★★★
Kurama was furious to say the least upon spying Hiei outside. You weren't with him, which meant one thing.
"What happened?" Emerald eyes flashing an eerie golden.
"I'll explain on the way. They aren't harmed physically, but I...I don't know how to handle this."
That was all it took for the fox demon to rush over. Eyes falling on your curled up form when he got there with Hiei following suit.
Puu had you enveloped in his feathers. Making soft cooing sounds at you while you thrashed in your sleep. Trying to calm you down. He was part of Yusuke's soul after all.
The Phoenix hissed as Hiei and Kurama approached.
"It's okay. Let me help them, then they're all yours until Yusuke gets back." Kurama coaxed, inching towards where you were sleeping.
Puu begrudgingly sat still and let him get closer. A type of flower bloomed from Kurama. He held it up to your nose, and all at once your body went limp. Relaxing against the nightmares that plagued your mind.
He lightly moved around your face, checking for any injuries. There were none. He released you and let Puu tuck you back in.
The next few days the process would repeat. Kurama would soothe you whenever you started thrashing around in your sleep. And Hiei would watch from the side, guilt starting to consume him.
You didn't deserve this.
You had never done anything to directly spite him.
And the one time you tried to talk to him, he dismissed you.
He was only hard on you because he wanted you to stop being weak. He wanted you to be strong and stop getting scared by everything. Turns out you were just scared of him.
When you awoke a few more days later, Kurama pushed for him to leave. To give you some space to adjust. And while he physically left the room, he still kept his Jagan on you.
"Are you okay?" Kurama asked.
You shook your head and started crying. You were pulled into a hug by the fox demon. Sobbing into his stomach as you remembered what happened.
"If you want, I can make those bad memories disappear. If you don't want to see them anymore, then you don't have to."
And you shook your head once again.
"I-hiccup- don't wanna forget. I don't like what happened, but forgetting is even worse!" Your words barley comprehensible, but understood nevertheless.
"Okay. Just try to relax for now. Kuwabara and Yusuke will be back soon."
That seemed to calm you down for the time being.
And it was then Hiei realized you were not as weak as he had previously thought. You were bearing the burden of what happened. Something that you didn't even verbalize to Kurama. You'd also managed to defeat all those demons by yourself without being injured. Your power unpredictable than what you'd been showing these past few months.
He doubted you would forgive him, but if you did, then he would train you to protect yourself. Give you better control of your strength so you'd be ready if this ever happened again. It would never happen again.
Maybe then this awful feeling would finally go away. The feeling that had him lingering here instead of attending to his duties in the Demon World. The one that made him feel like scum everytime he caught sight of you.
★★★★
Safe to say, Yusuke and Kuwabara were not happy when they got back. Both fussing over you with the former wrestling you away from his spirit beast.
"What happened? Whose ass do I have to kick?!?!"
You shook your head and looked away from him. It was just like when they had first met you. All that progress of having you come out of your shell gone.
"You don't look so great. How about I take you back to mine and I'll cook you up a big dinner? You can take all the blankets if you want, too."
But despite Kuwabara's encouragement, you still shook your head.
"Wanna stay here. It's safe." You finally responded.
"You sure?"
You nodded this time.
You really didn't feel safe being out in the open again. And you had no doubt Hiei already told them it was all your fault. He was probably waiting to chew you out for not staying put.
"Well in that case, guess I'm sleeping over. What about you?" Kuwabara's question directed at the greasy haired boy.
"My mom won't give a damn either way. I'm good to be here for a few days. Which reminds me...."
He pulled a small penguin plushie from his bag.
"I got this for you, you little squirt. Hug it tight and it'll get rid of all your nightmares."
You took the toy from his hand and immediately squeezed it in a hug. It took all of about five seconds before you started crying.
"Hey! What's wrong!?!?"
"I love it so-hiccup-much!!!"
You were bonked softly on the back of your head.
"You had me going for a second...Now, give me names and addresses. Somebody needs to pay for making my kid cry."
"I'm with ya, Urameshi! Let's teach em' a lesson!"
You were finally able to crack a smile after that.
★★★★
So it began again. The three of them volunteering to stay with you while you rested at Genkai's. A certain three eyed demon watching from afar. No longer upset by your presence, but worried.
You were okay now, but if something like that happened again, Spirit World would surely do something about it. You were already under enough scrutiny as it was.
Right now, you were currently conversing with Yukina, of all people. Both of you talking in hushed tones.
"It's nice to have another person around. Genkai's nice, but it's not the same."
You nodded at her words.
"Yeah, I like the others but they can be rowdy at times. It's nice talking."
You decided you liked her.
But her eyes looked familiar. Like Hiei's.
But there was no way.
Right?
"Why did you leave the demon world? Don't you miss your family?" You asked.
"I left to find my brother. He was cast into the sea by our people. As for them, well... They were too set in their ways. Hearts as cold and frozen as our land. I didn't want to be apart of that anymore."
You put a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh. I'm sorry for asking."
Yukina smiled at you with a soft expression.
"Don't be. That chapter of my life is closed now. Though I do still hope to come across my brother one day... What about you? Where is your family?"
"I was taken from them by some humans a few decades back. They trapped me and...It wasn't pleasant, what they did to me. But they're gone now. That part of my life is closed too. Now I'm beginning again with people who treat me with so much kindness, it feels like I'm dreaming."
You two had more in common than Hiei would have liked.
He really shouldn't have been so cruel to you.
It was decided. He was going to train you. Maybe swallow his pride and apologize.
It wouldn't be easy convincing the others, but he was going to try. The first obstacle was Kuwabara. That oaf wouldn't let him near you without a fight. And while he understood, it was for your own good.
"N-O! The answer is no. Last time we left you alone with them, they were kidnapped!!!"
"They need to get stronger."
"No they don't! We'll protect them from anything that happens!"
"You weren't there the last time."
It was like arguing with a brick wall. Eventually it circled back to him and Yusuke being the ones that would train you. To which Hiei brought up the point they'd be too soft with you. They'd hold back and go easy.
It was enough.
The next obstacle was Yusuke. Whose first response was to fight at the suggestion. Another troublesome task to deal with.
"You didn't even like them a few weeks ago! Why the hell should we trust you again!!!"
"You can check up on them."
"Like that puts me at ease! You'd be too rough with them! They're just a little kid!"
And Hiei has to bring up the point of your power going unchecked. If spirit world found out about this, you'd probably be executed. But if you learned to control yourself, that possibility would never happen. If you got stronger, you wouldn't get hurt.
It didn't take much convincing after that.
The final obstacle was Kurama, who would be the hardest to convince without consequences.
"Let me train them."
He received a glare in response.
"No."
Flat and simple.
"They need guidance."
"You couldn't guarantee their safety upon arrival. Am I supposed to believe you won't scar them further?"
He offered up the only thing he had left.
"My life. You have my life they'll be safe with me."
"Very well, but it's not me you have to convince."
It was you.
And when he approached you, you looked down and silenced yourself. Tensing up like he was going to yell at you.
"Have you recovered?" It sounded more like a command than question.
But you nodded anyways.
He used to like how quiet you were. Now he despised it.
"For five months you will train nonstop. You will get ahold of your spirit energy. And you will be capable enough to defend yourself without crying. Do you understand?"
But this time you did say something in return. Something unexpected.
"No. I don't want to go."
He had never been nice to you before. Never wanted to spend time with you. So you were suspicious. And maybe you secretly believed he left you on purpose for those other demons to find. That he set you up in the hopes you'd be dead when he got there.
You squeezed the penguin you were given. It really did calm you down.
You didn't want to give him a chance anymore.
"It's for your benefit, not mine." And he internally cringed at what was to come next.
"I apologize for my behavior, let me do what's right."
If anyone besides you heard that, he'd kill them. But for now he was awaiting your response.
You tilted your head as you thought of what to say. This was different. Hiei never apologized for anything. Least of all you. And you were sure this is the most you two have ever talked.
"Are you really sorry?" You still didn't believe him quite yet.
"Yes." And he further swallowed down his pride for your trust.
"And you won't be mean anymore?"
"Yes."
You took a deep breath.
"Okay."
★★★★
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echantedtoon · 26 days
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Until Death Do You Vow Ch9 Family Secrets P2
(Warnings: Mentioning of Elias's illness and abusive family situation. Mentioning of Ian cheating. Some innuendos.)
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The stress you felt now pounded in your skull. Or was that your heart actually beating a mile a minute? You couldn't tell at this point. It felt like you could feel your heart pounding all over your body and heard it up close right in your ears. Before it wasn't so bad because you had at least the comfort of Taylor in your ear in case you needed any help but now the weight of being completely alone hit you harder than if you ran face first into a brick wall. Great. You were now completely alone now- Well not really. Elias would be back any minute now and then he'd be insisting on having that ceremony. From what you could figure, this ceremony would either give Elias the closure he needed to move on or only seal you further into this mess. You didn't know what that meant for you to begin with. 
You groaned holding your head in your hands. But Taylor was coming here. You had no idea how that was going to play out especially when Elias saw him. You didn't know if that was comforting or not either. Your thoughts were all jumbled up and hard to pinpoint down. 
"My dearest, are you still there?"
Ah. Speak of the ghost. There wasn't any point in delaying the enviable now. You were never great actor anyways... Also it might just be better to come clean to Elias about the entire situation anyways. You simply just turned to the door with your head still in your hands with a sigh.
"Yeah. I'm here." You mumbled not sure if he heard you or not but in a moment the blue body of the ghost turned around to peer into the doorway with a smile.
"Ah. There you are, Dear!" He smiled as he floated on in. "Everything is finally prepared. There's only the matter of-" Elias paused blinking as he took in your numb face staring at him before looking worried. "Oh dear. You look even paler than me." Yeah. You probably did. "What on earth happened while I was gone?"
You opened your mouth... before sighing and again rubbing your head. "I'm fine..." Now seemed like a good of a time as ever before Taylor showed up and surprised Elias and Taylor did say to stall for time right. "I just lost contact with someone important to me just now."
"Someone... important?"
Great.. What's a good way to explain this to him? "Have you ever been contacted by a spirit medium?" You looked up at his face. "He's kinda like that. He's been helping me through the mansion and talking to me..Well until my phone lost power." You held up your dead phone unsure if Elias knew what it was.
"You were talking with someone else?" His face furrowed into a look.
"For my own safety. I didn't know what to expect."
"I thought you expected me."
"I didn't know what to expect. Maybe you weren't here or the rumors were faked or maybe it was a different ghost haunting this place.." You shrugged. "I needed his help in case. For my own safety. You understand that right?" 
Elias pouted. Which honestly did look cute on his features. "And did you just meet this friend today or...?" 
"I've known Taylor for almost three years now. That's my friend," you explained to his pouting face, "We've been doing a few hunts for the paranormal and that's why I'm here. I already told you about trying to go see if there was any ghosts here right?" 
He smiled a little bit. "Then how marvelous you've come to meet me. Although would you have accepted any other ghosts that sought your hand?"
"Probably not." That answer seemed to please him more. "I don't think a lot of ghosts outside you would be interested in this though."
"And this..'friend', how exactly has he been serving as a medium?"
"With this." Your hand reached up to gently pull the earpiece from your ear, the size of an earbud and held it out in your palm as Elias blinked at it in confusion. "You might've seen other paranormal investigators have them. This is an earpiece. It goes in your ear and sorta acts like a phone, but when my phone lost power so did this. We use it to talk to each other."
"So im order to contact him again, you'd have to leave?," he asked slowly as if he didn't like that idea.
"Actually he's on his way here." Elias looked up in surprise. "He's not planning on leaving me here alone. For safety reasons.
"Oh. Is that so?" Elias looked up at the ceiling suddenly fiddling with the ring on his finger. Wait..Was he getting jealous of Taylor? "Well he's heard about the wedding right? OUR wedding?" You nodded. "Well, I suppose a wedding without guests isn't much of a wedding. All preparations are nearly made anyway, and I hope he realizes how safe you are with me by now. He may wait outside until we've finished fully."
That made you pause and this. Could Taylor even get into the mansion? Was he locked out? WERE YOU LICKED IN HERE?!...No. No. Elias didn't give you the vibes of holding anyone hostage but could you leave with this pact thing tying you here? Could he even make it before you married a ghost?!
"Shall we put the final touches on this affair?"
You blinked snapping out of your thoughts before lowering your hand. "Oh. S-Sure. What else do you need? Decorations? Maybe you need help cleaning the room for the ceremony?"
He chuckled at you waving a hand. "Nothing like that although the kindful offer is most appreciated. No. I'm talking about gifting you my wedding gift." You paused. "You shall now be presented to the family jewels." 
He turned and you were glad he did because you tried hard not to laugh or snort having to bite your tongue to not laugh as Elias floated to the wall just above the vanity. Confused you rose a brow only to stare in shock as a piece of the wall pulled inward where he pressed and the vanity MOVED. It shook a little bit before it sank lower revealing a hidden compartment tucked deep into its wood. A secret passage in a haunted house. There was a classic you could mark off the bucket list. Elias hummed again and smiled widely reaching inside only to pull out a wooden box.
"Ah. Here we are then." Smiling he turned back to you and headed over before holding out the box and opening it as he spoke. "Behold."
"Elias, I really don't think-" Your voice died in a choke as you looked inside the box. Jaw dropping. Eyes going wide.
HOLY COW!!
An entire set of jewelry was staring at you in the face. All it was missing from was a bracelet. A small pair of orange earrings with a love knot at the base with an opal centerpiece and green sapphire near the bottom. A diamond ring with a golden band and as you squinted at it, you could vaguely make out the word Gallagher written inside the band in fancy cursive. And a very expensive looking...Your eyes nearly bulged out from your skull as soon as your eyes laid on the necklace laid neatly inside a cushioned box. Smooth chain of pearls with a swinging ruby amulet.
That's the one Violet Dupont was wearing in the first vision you saw! How was it still here?! Did Elias take it back before he died? Did he take it back after death? Did Violet end up giving it back for whatever reason? You didn't know how long you were staring wide eyed and shocked at the set but when your senses returned it was to Elias slipping the ring on your opposite hand with a smile. 
"There we are. Gorgeous." He almost cooed looking at both your hands and admiring the two rings he placed on each hand. 
Your jaw snapped closed and your face turned a red. "E-Elias." He hummed looking at you half lidded. "I'm really f-flattered. Really I am. But are you sure you're ok with me wearing this? Didn't these belong to one of your sisters or your mom?"
He sighed nodding. "They were my mother's and at one point they would've gone to my eldest sister or to the first woman that married one of my brothers. Or to.." He paused again before shivering and letting go to reach back into the box. "But as you're the only lady who shall be married into my family, they rightfully go to you."
It was sorta a soft blur. One minute you were trying to politely decline his gift and then the next you were wearing two thirds of the set with Elias behind you gently clasping the last piece, the necklace, around your neck phasing through the long veil without tearing the delicate material. Your hand went to hold up the shiny ruby staring at you. It felt very heavy with all the implications behind it. So many unanswered questions and so much pressure weighed on your mind. As sweet and kind as Elias was, this just didn't feel right.
"There. You look beautiful, Dear." He smiled wider leaning around to gage your reaction but paused seeing your sad frown staring at the amulet around your neck. "Darling? What's wrong? Is the jewelry not to your liking?"
...You shook your head slowly still staring at the amulet. "N-No. They're all really pretty but it just doesn't feel right." F/c eyes turned to look at his expression. "I know you said it's ok, but it just doesn't feel right wearing something that means so much to someone else. I'm not saying I don't appreciate your gift. Any girl would be lucky to get these, but...They come with a heavy background and I-.... I don't feel like I know about your past enough to accept this."
There was a stunned silence as Elias regarded you for a long, LOOOONNNGGG moment looking over your sad state before sighing and coming to sit on the bed next to you. Eyes looking at his clasped hands. You didn't say anything either. Not exactly sure what to say. The only sounds being the storm outside with the rain still hitting the roof...Until Elias finally spoke without looking up.
"Where shall I start?"
You hesitated without looking up either before sighing. "Well... Your life story would be nice. I promise I'm a good listener." You've had three years of listening to Taylor's ramblings to back that up.
The silence and rain continued for a little while longer.
"....How much of my life do you know about me? I can start from there depending on how much you do know?"
You shrugged. "I know you lived and died during the Victorian era almost two hundred years ago. And I know that you're about my age." Physically at least. "And I know your mom and dad's names and I saw some old death records on your family. And some newspaper clippings on what happened to you..." You said honestly and as gently as possible. "And I heard rumors about you still haunting the place but I didn't know if that was true until I met you."
Elias fell silent once more before he inhaled deeply. "I must confess that I was born quite sickly, and my birth came with so many complications that it nearly killed my mother. Even after that ordeal there was nothing the doctors could do to help my weak constitution." You slowly looked up at him but he only kept looking at his hands. "I suppose that's why my father and siblings me the way they did. I was seen as a nuisance. A problem. I don't entirely blame them."
Your hand reached out hesitantly before you gently grabbed his arm. "I'm...so sorry."
"It's  far away in the past now, so enough about that."
You decided not to press about his family anymore but there was something else that still bothered you. The necklace felt heavier on your throat like it was a bowling ball hung around there instead of a little charm.
"Then...What about your previous wife-to-be?"
There was an instant reaction from the ghost. His face went completely blank. Pupils small, and hands clenched into fists. You instantly winced and felt so bad as the silence stretched onwards...but he eventually turned his head exhaling.
"Her name was Violet. Violet Dupont and the sister to our groundskeeper. We never wed because she betrayed me the day before our wedding. I suppose she and Gerald were desperate. I should've been on my guard when they continued to ask about the location of the family Jewels day after day. I thought the necklace, the grandest piece in the collection, would be enough to hold her interest. I promised to share the rest with her after our ceremony. But before I could even cry for help, Gerald held me down while Violent-..." He trailed off again and you squeezed his arm in reassurance.
"It's alright. You don't have to say anything else about it...Tell me something else about you. What did you really like aside from reading and the flowers in the greenhouse."
There was a moment of Elias not looking at you before he slowly tilted his head back over with a small smile. "Well..aside from the flowers there was a family heirloom that belonged to my grandmother. It was an antique silver mirror and a charming one at that. At least..." He frowned again. "That was before it shattered." Elias stood (floated-) back up phasing through your grip and went back over to the vanity. You had an idea of what he was going to get and your thoughts were confirmed when he picked up the box, turned around, and opened it tilting it enough to allow you to see the shards inside. "I liked it quite a lot and ended up taking it out of the attic during my early childhood. I used to look in it and imagine myself as some fair prince."
You giggled. "That's pretty cute,and suiting since you're pretty handsome.~"
He again turned a deep blue before looking away. "T-Thank you. But alas my siblings would often mock my love of the mirror, and with such a weak constitution and gentleman demeanor, there was little I could do. When six people who aren't very fond of you get physical..well you can imagine what might happen." Elias gave the mirror one last sad look before he closed the lid with a sigh turning. "The mirror shattered and I was the one blamed. Grandmother didn't seem to mind but I cried for days. Maybe it was guilt, sentimentality, or fear but I couldn't part with it. I forbad and of the servants to remove it and kept all the pieces." The box was carefully placed back onto the vanity. "It was supposed to be a wedding gift, and I was determined to have it fixed one day."
And it could also very well be the source of the curse but Elias doesn't know that. "Sounds like that day never came."
He nodded again. "Indeed. It was one of my biggest regrets from when I was alive as silly as it sounds."
"I don't think it's silly. That mirror meant a lot to you, and I think it's sweet you'd want to fix it."
He smiled back to you. "Thank you, Dear. It means a lot. And I hope it's not too much to ask..." He hesitated for a second. "Can I ask what had happened between yourself and your past beloved?"
You paused blinking before looking at him. "My ex?" ...You shrugged. "Well there's not much to say about him that I haven't already told you." You again placed your head into your hands frowning annoyed. "We did go to the same highschool and took theater..Well, he really took theater. I only took in one year in highschool because I thought it'd be fun. I never knew him much back then...Never really interacted much but he seemed like an ok guy. Didn't see him after graduation until his first year in college. See I didn't go to college right away. I wanted to work a year first and save up some money."
You weren't sure if Elias understood the concepts of a highschool or much else but he nodded with his arms crossed before gesturing for you to go on. "And where did you two really meet?"
"I had a job at Zephyr University's cafeteria. That's where people go and buy food to eat. Ian seemed to visit there a lot and was alone a lot of the time. I felt bad for him and I started talking to him." You shrugged. "He seemed cute and sweet, and I liked how hard he tried to do things. We started dating about halfway through his first year there and everything seemed fine. ... Although I guess it being my first relationship blind sided me. I was young and dumb as they say and didn't see the signs."
"But didn't he leave you for another woman?"
"No. I WAS the other woman. I just didn't know it yet." You scowled at nothing. "Then I started college after the first year we started dating and I met Taylor in a similar way. He's a really good friend who saw through Ian's acting. I guess that's why they didn't like each other. Then Ian started forcing himself to be more affectionate with me and he proposed to me and I dumbly said yes. Things were moving way too fast but I was 'in love' and didn't care and ignored the marching red flags in my face."
Elias tilted his head. "Pardon but why would he wave red flags in your face? That seems like a rude thing to do."
"It's a figure of speech. It means I was ignoring his suspicious behavior." You scowled harder glaring in rage at the floor. "I didn't find out anything UNTIL the wedding which he never showed up too until everyone already left! Then I find out not only did he already have a boyfriend or girlfriend the entire time we dated, but the only reason he shoved love down my throat was because that person found out and broke up with him and he thought he could force himself to actually like me! So not only did he actually not like me to begin with, he also lied to me, cheated on me, made me look like an idiot in front of literally everyone, made me feel terrible for a really long time, and then humiliated me even more by revealing that I wasn't even the center person. I was the side piece!"
Elias looked a mix of disgusted and angry placing a hand to his chest. "What a rat! He wasn't even man enough to call it off before your ceremony! If he ever as so much as even talks to you again-"
You held up a hand. "Relax. He transferred to a different university two weeks after that. Taylor really gave him an earful in the cafeteria though, nearly got us kicked off campus. I haven't seen him in almost three years... Taylor was there for me the entire time. He might be stubborn and annoy me a lot with his antics..but he's a really good friend."
In fact he was probably the only one who was there for you during the time after. The only one who waited as long as you did waiting for Ian who never showed up-
Tears streamed down your cheeks hot and blurry from all the running make up. You only looked up when footsteps came up beside you and you jumped when a dozen napkins were pressed into your face.
"Here. Your make up is running all over your face."
Through blurry eyes you looked back up to Taylor and snatched up the napkins from him. "G-Gee! I w-wonder *hic* why!" You glared at him through the hiccuping and messy make up.
Taylor held up his hands. "I didn't mean to step on your toes, Bud. What happened?" His gaze temporarily turned to the venue. "I guess he called off the wedding huh?"
"H-He *hic* cheated on m-m-me," you somehow managed to choke out.
"WHAT?!" His head snapped to you so fast it might've went flying if it wasn't attached to his neck. 
"H-He s-s-said that h-he L-Loved his ex a-and I w-was..."More tears were already replacing the ones that spilt out of your eyes as Taylor scowled.
"He did that!? I can't believe it! UGH! I knew it! I KNEW HE WAS BAD NEWS!!...Bud, c'mon." A hand awkwardly patted your back. "Are you alright?"
"I w-wanna go home.*Gasp* I j-just w-wanna go home."
"Yeah. Yeah...I-Ill drive you home. We can get some pizza from that cheap joint down the street a-and we'll just eat all the grease our stomachs can handle. Sounds good?"
"Well fear no longer, for that snake shall never know a ceremony like ours." You were jolted out of memory lane to Elias close again and taking your hand in his. "I'm quite eager for our ceremony. I think it'll be something glorious. I've always wanted a grand wedding, and to think I'll be marrying someone as lovely as you. Come. I have much to show you."
There really was no more stalling it was there? You didn't say anything. There wasn't really any good excuses to make anymore as Elias made his wants clear. You only silently nodded with a sigh and took your time slipping on your uncomfortable heels again and slowly stood up only for Elias to kindly hold up the bouquet you carried with you all night. Right. Wouldn't want to forget about that you guessed. You only gave a sad smile when you took it, and then Elias tugged you towards the doorway. The sounds of your heels echoed throughout the halls, mocked and laughed at by the rain outside. The annoying front of the veil once again covering your face as if it was in a last ditch effort to hide your uncertainty unease. He lend you down the stairs one last time, your new accessories adding weight to your body.
"Soon we shall be wed, my darling Y/n, and we'll have the rest of eternity together. Are you excited?"
"Oh. I certainly am speechless, and feeling a lot of emotions at once." 
That wasn't a lie and your answer seemed to please him. He lead you to the bottom of the stairs back in the foyer careful not to let you trip on anything before strangely leading you to a door you hadn't seen before behind the stairs. He let go of you to float over, place one hand on the doorknob, and smiled back to you.
"Are you ready, my love? I have worked tirelessly to prepare the old ballroom for our ceremony, and while we may not have any guests, I do hope that you'll be pleased."
Your throat felt tight. Where was Taylor?! He should've been here by now! There was barely anything to stop this now and if you declined then you weren't sure what to do. Elias wouldn't force you into marriage, you know that, but the entire situation was too difficult for a true answer.
"I'm sure whatever you did will look beautiful, Elias. Y-You worked really hard on it a-and that's all that matters," you could barely force out to be polite.
He lit up. "Excellent. Then without further ado."
With that he pushed the doors open.
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phantoms-lair · 2 months
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New School New You.
For @era-the-witchy-birdkid's Super!Conan AU
Elementary School was demeaning, boring, and it was taking all he had not to snap at the next kid who asked him what kind of weird name 'Conan' was.
Maybe he should snap? That might be more believable for his apparent age. Ugh, this sucked.
And while he appreciated the easier gym class to the Kishida-sensei's drill sergeant approach, it was perhaps too far in the other direction as the gym teacher had just set them up on a soccer field with some balls and left them alone??? That couldn't be legal. Still it was nice to be outside. He hadn't had much time for playing since he'd quit the soccer team to focus on cases and the sun on his skin felt good.
Still it was nice just kicking a ball around. It had always helped him think. And the sounds of being impressed from his new classmates were much better than jabs about his name and well...he had always been a bit of a show off, so why not give his new classmates a show?
He bounced the ball up and then kicked it as hard as he could. The ball whizzed past the goalies head - and kept going. It stretched the net to capacity and broke through, slamming into the oak tree of the other side before knocking it clear over.
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No way.. Conan fell to the ground, staring at the damage he had inadvertently caused, the poor goalie sobbing on his knees. The gym teacher finally reappeared and ran to comfort him before shooing all the kids back in to get changed out of their gym clothes. His classmates gave him a wide berth and he honestly couldn't blame them.
Still, there had to be a logical reason. Old netting on the goal post, rot in the tree, something. He went back to the scene of the incident after school to gather evidence. Sure this wasn't a crime, but this was a case and he was going to solve it.
It looked like the net had already been removed, so he'd have to concentrate on the tree. Cursing his tiny legs he had to stand on tip-toe to see the broken area and-
"What are you doing?"
Conan almost fell over in surprise. He turned around to see three of his new classmates staring at him. "I'm trying to find out why the tree fell over."
"Cause you kicked the ball at it!" The larger one proclaimed.
Conan narrowed his eyes. "A kid can't knock over a tree with a soccer ball. Not even a grown up could do that. There must have been something wrong with the tree." Hmm, it looked healthy enough, but he couldn't say anything without looking at it under a microscope. He pulled a chuck of wood out and it gave way easily. "See!" He waved the wood around. "On a healthy tree I'd need a cutting tool or something to get that out." "Unless," The tall thin boy countered. "It broke because you have super strength. Obviously then you pulling it out wouldn't change anything because your hand are as strong as your legs."
Conan rolled his eyes. Kids. "Super strength isn't a real thing."
"The prove it!" The larger boy countered. "Prove you don't have super strength."
"How?" Conan asked dryly.
The three kids converged together and whispered, then turned to face Conan, ready to give their answer.
He crossed his arms. "Is it something that would get me hurt if, as I said, I don't have super strength."
The three kids looked at each other and returned to their huddle. When they broke this time the girl spoke. "You need to try and break something that we know isn't easily broken. Like a piece of metal!"
"And where are you going to get the metal? I'm not breaking the soccer goalposts."
"There's construction work going on around the Columbo restaurant. I bet there's something there!" the thin boy declared.
"Great idea, Mitsuhiko-kun!" the girl complained.
The boy now identified as Mitsuhiko-kun blushed. "Thank you, Ayumi-chan!"
Two names down, at least. "Let's go and get this farce over."
~
The site had already closed for the day, but it was easy enough to sneak inside.
The larger boy, who'd since been identified as Genta, tried to lift up and I-Beam and could barely budge it. "That should do."
"Anything to get this over with." Conan grabbed the beam with both hands and froze. He pantomimed trying to lift it, appearing to strain his muscles. "See?"
The three kids looked disappointed. "I guess there was something wrong with the tree after all," Mitsuhiko sighed. "Sorry for bothering you."
Once they'd left, Conan looked at the underside of the I-Beam. There were indents from his hand, indents he'd felt himself making. He looked over to where Genta had grabbed it. Nothing.
Almost mechanically he slotted his hands back to where the indents were and pulled in opposite directions. The I-Beam tore like tissue paper.
Conan stared at the twisted metal What did that poison do to me?
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artistfingers · 2 years
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@agreyshirt submitted:
Hi there! I've recently become a little obsessed with your DP undercover au. I know you have quite a few ideas for the reveal already, but this idea would not leave my head, so I wrote something for it. The first 600 words are mostly just exposition, and it starts off kinda silly but ends up kinda dramatic? Still, I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it, at least a little bit ^^'
***
Deep down, they knew that getting involved with Phantom was dangerous. It was a given with all the fights that he had to get involved in, but Sam and Tucker weren't so worried about that. For one, Phantom is their friend and boyfriend? Ghostfriend?? Significant specter??? partner, and he does his best to protect them. For two, they have their own equipment for when he can't protect them. Plus, most ghosts can be reasoned with anyway, so there's nothing to worry about on the ghost fighting front.
But when they all get kidnapped by government agents trying to capture the ghost boy, you could say they're a little unprepared to deal with that situation.
Apparently, these "Guys in White" had opted to take in Sam and Tucker for questioning because they believed Phantom had made them join his "Ghost Army", or something? Tucker had been confused by their conclusions and Sam was just so done already.
It had felt like hours before the agents decided to take a break from questioning and go check up on their real concern, and when they left the two teens immediately tried to find a way to break their restraints. They were scared, tired, and had no plan whatsoever, but they had their goals in mind.
Get out.
Find Phantom and bust him out.
Maybe find some way to deal with these guys so they wouldn't come after them when they all escaped? If they even can?
ESCAPE!!
Give Phantom lots of cuddles and kisses when they get back home.
Unfortunately, breaking out was looking to be impossible since the agents had confiscated all their supplies. They had nothing to break, shoot, or even hack with.
Just when they thought all hope was lost though, who else would Tucker spot popping in through a vent in the wall other than Danny Fenton! They had no idea when these guys had captured him but considering his whole thing with Phantom which he still refuses to tell them, it makes sense. Sam and Tucker just hoped they hadn't been as rough on him as they were with the other three. In any case, Danny was able to free them with a key he'd somehow snagged off an agent. It seemed a little far-fetched, but they were free, so why question it?
Danny then told them that he'd found a way out and beckoned them to follow him into the vents, but Tucker protested that they needed to find Phantom and help him before the Guys in White hurt him. Danny looked off to the side and said that Phantom was already free and waiting for them up ahead before trying to get them to follow him again. Sam found this especially odd. Why would Phantom just leave instead of helping them all escape? They know Phantom, and that didn't sound like him at all! Still, she and Tucker know Danny too. They both know after everything that they can trust him, even if he's a Fenton, and even if he and Phantom are a bit weird around each other.
It was then that an alarm started blaring throughout the place anyway, so it was high time they get the fuck out of there.
It was difficult for the three of them to crawl through the vents, but they managed to make it outside in mere minutes. The first sight that greeted them was snow, which isn't all that odd in Amity Park. The next sight they took in was the large mountain range before them and the huge cliff they stood upon, which was cause for more concern.
"Where the hell are we?" Sam whisper-yelled, trying not to speak too loud in case any more agents were nearby.
"Not in Illinois, that's for sure," Tucker breathes while holding back a shiver.
"I-It's fine guys," Danny tries to assure them with a nervous smile, "we'll find our way back home. But we should get moving. Maybe we can find a cave for shelter around here."
Sam and Tucker exchange a look with each other after hearing that. What he said didn't quite match up with what he told him earlier. "What about Phantom?" Sam questions.
Danny lets out a small sigh and replies, "I'm sure he'll be fine out here guys, but we need to get somewhere safe before we freeze to death. He'll find us later, and then we can all go home."
"But earlier you said he's waiting for us up ahead," Tucker points out. "Didn't he tell you where he was going? Shouldn't we meet up with him first?"
Danny looks down to the snow as he tries to explain, messing with a loose thread on his jacket. "Um, I just- I meant he's waiting for us, y'know, in general? We didn't uh, plan a meet up spot or anything. H-he just kinda flew off an-"
"Danny, cut the crap," Sam interjects, making both Danny and Tucker flinch. Tucker says her name, but she doesn't stop at his request. "Why are you still lying to us? Especially in this situation!"
"I-I'm not!"
"Yes, you are. You tend to fumble your words," she points down to his hand holding the thread as she continues, "and mess with your clothes whenever you're lying." Hearing that, Danny immediately retracts said hand and stuffs it into his pocket. "Why can't you tell us what's really going on?"
Tucker lets out a sigh through his nose before saying, "Sorry Danny, but I'm with Sam on this one. We never wanted to force you to tell us anything, but now is not a good time to be keeping things from each other. The best way for us to get back home is to work together." Tucker looks at Danny over the top of his glasses, concern filling his gaze as he asks, "You trust us, don't you?"
"I do!" Danny responds a little too loudly. He quiets down and clutches the front of his jacket with his hand as he says, "Of course I do. It's...it's ju-"
"THERE THEY ARE!" a distant voice shouts, and they all turn to look further up the mountain where one of the agents points in their direction, another one trying to catch up behind them.
"Shit! C'mon!" Danny tells them once more, and the three of them move as quickly as they can, putting their discussion behind them for now.
It's not easy trying to get away. With how high up they are and all the snow on the ground, it's hard to run without feeling like they'll slip any second. Somehow though, they manage to steadily put more distance between them and the Guys in White. The agents are still shouting after them, but they start thinking that they might actually make it!
Then a green blast shoots out from one of their guns and nearly hits Danny in the head. He ducks out of the way, but his foot slips on the side of the cliff. He manages to catch himself on the cliffside before completely tumbling off, but with no solid purchase it's only a matter of seconds before he slides off and falls from who knows how high.
"DANNY!!" Sam and Tucker both scream, immediately diving down after him. When he slips the rest of the way Sam catches his hand first, but she slowly starts to slide off with him. Then Tucker comes in, grabbing both of their hands in his and managing to bring them to a stop. Danny's hand is already cold as ice compared to theirs, but they don't dare drop him. They'd sooner let their hands freeze like that, together for eternity. They both have one arm and their heads over the side as Danny hangs on above the foggy abyss, but when they try to lift him back up, they struggle to move him even an inch. Maybe they could on any normal day they haven't actually tried before, but they're too tired and worn out for it after all the bullshit these guys put them through.
"Danny, can you try to climb up?!" Tucker asks frantically.
Danny tries to do just that, but his feet slide off all the rocks along the side due to all the ice. "I can't! I'm slipping!"
"Fuck," Sam curses before taking in a deep breath. "On three Tucker. One, two, three!" They try to pull him up again, but to no avail.
Danny looks around as his friends try to pull him up one more time trying to find any way out of this. The Guys in White are getting closer, they have no weapons on them to defend themselves, and no one else around to help. No matter what way they look at it, they're stuck. Danny's gaze falls down to the fog below him, obstructing any view of the ground below it and how far down it is.
...unless...
"Sam, Tucker," Danny starts, voice monotone and still, "let go."
"What?! NO!!" Tucker shouts at the same time Sam yells, "Are you NUTS!?!"
"Let go, guys!" Danny repeats, looking back up to them with pleading eyes. "Go find shelter! Phantom will find you and he'll take you home. I'll catch up, but you have to let me go!"
Tucker looks down at the foggy chasm beneath Danny and says, "Danny, that's gotta be at least a thousand-foot drop! You're not gonna survive that!"
"I'll be fine! But if you don't go then we'll all be in danger!"
Sam attempts to pull him up once more as she says, "We aren't gonna let you die just so we can escape! You're the one who helped us out in the first place! If we're getting out, we're doing it together!!"
"I told you, I'll be fine! Please, just let go!"
"NO!" Tucker and Sam shout in unison.
Danny tugs on his dark hair with his free hand as he says, "Why won't you just let me do this for you guys?!"
"BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU, DANNY!!" Tucker's voice cracks when he shouts and he tries to blink back tears. Danny startles as he hears the words, a light flush rising to his cheeks. "You're brave, and clever, and fun, and you're our best friend! We care about you so much, and we're not going home without you!!"
"Why do you think we wanted you to join our polycule?! Just for the hell of it?!" Danny turns his shocked gaze over to Sam as she joins in. "We wanna be with you too!! And if you don't want to, that's fine, but there's no way we're just gonna leave you!!"
Danny's gaze flicks between the two of them for a moment in disbelief. They try to pull him up again and his mouth hangs open like he wants to say something, but all he can manage at the moment is a quiet "I..."
"There they are!" He hears the Guys in White even closer than they were before, but he doesn’t pay them any mind.
"I love you guys too!" Danny finally answers back with a weak smile, placing his free hand on top of theirs. They're still so warm compared to him. "I-I know I've been distant lately, but when we get home, I swear things will be different! I wanna learn more sign language with you, and go to a MAY concert with you again, a-and go out with you guys, anywhere you wanna go!! I just...wanna be with you two!"
One of the government agents finally catches up with them and gives them one final warning while Sam and Tucker both smile down at him with tears in their eyes, squeezing his hand in theirs. Seeing their faces almost makes him not want to do what he does next.
"...but right now," he continues, steeling his expression, "I need you to trust me."
Sam and Tucker's hands don't move an inch, but somehow Danny's manages to slip through. It took only a fraction of a second, but it felt like his hand just disappeared.
"DANNY!!!" They both scream at the top of their lungs. Another blast rings out as the agent attempts to shoot at Danny, but it misses the boy as he falls. He gives one more smile to his friends before disappearing into the fog below.
The two just stare in disbelief for a moment. They sit up from their spot on the edge of the cliff, but neither of them make any move to run. Tucker's breathing rapidly accelerates before he grabs onto Sam, burning his head in her shoulder and sobbing. Sam puts her arms around him and holds him tightly, but she doesn't tear her gaze away from the fog as tears stream down her face. The man behind them seems to be speaking, but they can't hear a word he says.
This can't be real. It can't! After everything they've been through, after everything he promised, he can't just be gone! This has to be a nightmare. Any second they'll wake up at home like this never even happened. They'll wake up, go to school and see Danny there, safe and sound. And he'll smile shyly at them and they'll tell him how much they love him again. They have to! It can't just be over like this!
The agent comes up behind them and grabs them by the back of their shirts, but it's at that moment that Sam spots a flash of light from the fog and she lets out a small gasp. She jostles Tucker's shoulder, and he follows her gaze with his tear-stained face just in time to see a monochrome figure rise from the mist. With a couple blasts, Phantom knocks the man back and gets his gun away from him. Then he zooms past Sam and Tucker to grab the man, and they both watch him in shock. He turns back to them for a moment, giving them an apologetic smile before taking off across the mountain, carrying the agent along with him and going after the second one not too far from them.
They watch him go with wide eyes, arms still around each other. After all they've been through, after everything they've noticed between Fenton and Phantom, the pieces finally start to click into place; why they're so hesitant to be around each other, yet know so much about each other, why Danny acts so different about ghosts compared to his parents, why Phantom can't seem to help "possessing" him all the time.
Everything finally becomes clear to Sam and Tucker as they both whisper, "...Danny?"
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brick-a-doodle-do · 11 months
Note
I will def be sending more but a lil tied up atm so here is the first one I thought of.
Why is it that Humans always end up with odd socks?
Could it be that perhaps a small tiny finds humour in watching the Human bend over backwards trying to find the missing sock?
(You can do any characters but I think a tiny Tommy stealing socks to prank people would be hilarious! Or maybe even tiny bench trio stealing everyones socks :3 go wild Brick!!!)
ahhh becky thank you! this is a very cute idea :D i'm tackling all the fluffy ideas first because it's easy to keep those short dsfjfsfjd
(might make this a multi-parter or an au because i think i jumped the gun with how quick tommy was found. lmk!)
i'll be unclean, i'll be obscene
cw: swearing, brief panic
wc: 784
—–—
One, two, three, four, five, ah, so on—he's bored now.
Point is: he's doing good. While his little sock-stealing hobby had begun when he'd simply needed the material, he had lived through the humans' frantic responses to when he took only one, and he found the scene to be rather amusing, which immediately struck up an urge to do it just purely for the hysteria it caused.
Now, five months down the line, he's got a healthy stash of mitch-matched socks that sit in unused hallways until he's ready to give them back. His decision to is always spiritic; one day he may decide to toss it somewhere, another day he'll return it to it's exact place, and occasionally he'll keep it to give into his greedy urges.
Tommy usually only does it because a human pisses him off. He can't say he particularly knows the human he's housing with, and he can't say that he can tell them apart all of the time, and technically, he doesn't really know their names apart from an occasional yell that's too incoherent for him to make out, (Techno? That couldn't be right), but he does know who irritates him: all of them.
Living in a house with a middle-aged man and two young adults drew a tough situation; things were either too messy to be considered his time, (Seriously, how is he meant to make a beeline to the thing he wants if it's blocked off by fucking mountains of clothing and trash? Gross as shit.), or too tidy to be able to be hidden in case of an emergency.
Which is why they get on his nerves, hence why he doesn't find it harmless to steal a few socks every now and then!
As of late, a human had obscured his view of the house with a shopping bag, (Which he used for safety), , but not for food—for clothing. The tall one. Wil? Wilba?
So, off he went, down the ramp leading to his spot in the walls and straight through the dim walls, where he followed the path from muscle memory, (The brown-haired human pissed him off a lot), until he saw an opening.
He steps out, smothered by half-darkness and half-light. The hole in the wall was under Wilbur's bed, hidden behind where Wilbur usually kept his guitar.
It was risky, but the stand was enough to keep it hidden, and plus, it was easy to scale up it and find footing on Wilbur's nightstand, which led to the windowsill, which led to a series of shelves, which led to his dresser.
So, he follows that path, digging his nails into the foamy texture of the guitar stand and making a determined move to the nightstand.
He traces the length of the tabletop, then pulls a hook from his cloak and gathers the rope attached to it, winding it carefully and making sure his shot would be easy.
Tommy moves his arm back, then throws the hook overhand. It catches onto the end of the windowsill and he tugs, before moving closer so he can start climbing. His arms lack good strength,(Although at this point they really shouldn't), and he struggles to get up.
He curses out as he slips, but catches onto the windowsill before falling any further. Tommy pulls himself up and gathers his hook from it's spot in the wood, then continues on. He climbs up to a shelf with practiced ease, then jumps down to the dresser.
Sock drawer, next stop. Fortunately, it was the highest drawer in the thing, next to another one that he had little interest in. Socks were his expertise.
He shifts to kneeling down, where he peers over the edge at the handle, which is positioned down, as it often is. Ah, well, he can pry it open.
Tommy does simply that, putting a hand in the crease of the drawer and using all of his strength to creak it open. It's a slow and agonizing process that leaves his arm screaming from the usage, but it gets him what he needs.
Fucking prick will think next time before leaving clothing in the kitchen.
He climbs in, making a quick glance to the door as he does.
Unfortunately for him, as he makes the gesture, a large and impending shadow is bestowed upon his thievery, and he's left gazing up, and up, and up, and...
Ohfuckingfucktheresahandcomingrightforhim—
He yells out as two fingers pinch at the back of him, holding him up by the hood of his cloak as the brown-haired human stares at him in mild disgust, brief curiosity and seeping amusement.
"Ah, you're a pesky fucking thing, then, aren't you?"
—–—
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dotster001 · 1 year
Text
The Sorcerer's Fiance Pt 1
Summary: Simeon x gn!reader . Solomon has been acting weird lately, so Simeon comes by to see if he can help.
A/N: I watched the original bishop's wife over Thanksgiving break with my family, and all I could think about was Simeon and Solomon.
CW: verbally abusive Solomon, asshole Solomon
Part Two Part Three
Simeon hadn't seen you or Solomon in two years. Solomon was one of his best friends, so he'd told himself he was fine with you both dating, but he'd not gone to visit either of you in the human world, and had felt his heart break when he'd seen the devilgram post announcing your engagement.
:readmore:
He'd planned to go to the wedding, and stay for a little while at the wedding. Come in, give his regards, and leave.
But the wedding kept getting pushed back. There was never a reason why, but the longer it took, he figured, the easier it would be to let go.
He had no reason for concern until today. Asmo had invited him to a new coffee shop, and seemed nervous.
"Simeon, the real reason I invited you here is because I think Solomon needs your help," Asmo said, not touching his drink.
"Why? Is something wrong?" Simeon asked.
"He…he acts really odd sometimes. And he only ever summons me to make weird requests," he was anxiously drumming his nails. "You're his best friend. Maybe if you offered him some help or something, I don't know, he's always stressed and working on something."
"Okay, okay, I'll ask him," Simeon said, clutching his mug tightly.
                                       ….
Simeon and Luke were in their human clothes on the porch of yours and Solomon's house.  
"Why do I have to wait here?" 
"It's just in case. Asmo seemed nervous, so I'll just take a peak, and let you know when things are okay," Simeon said, mussing up Luke's hair. "The second I need you, I'll call for you."
The little angel assuaged, he moved to knock on the door, but it swung open. He walked into the house, and immediately heard yelling. He followed the sound to what he assumed was Solomon's study, when he heard you.
"I really think you should take a break. You're bursting at the seams, and it's really showing…"
"If you're not going to offer any helpful advice, did you at least get me a pact with Lucifer," Solomon said, voice venomous.
"No."
"God, you're so useless."
Simeon felt like he'd been slapped, but you responded patiently, like you were trying to sooth a toddler throwing a tantrum.
"I know, I'm sorry."
Simeon decided to knock on the door and you both went silent. You opened it and looked palpably excited. You wrapped him in a hug, and he reciprocated without thinking.
"Simeon! It's great to see you!"
"You too, little lamb," he said, reveling in your familiar scent. 
"Simeon," Solomon said after he broke away from you, "it's great to see you, but why are you here?"
"I heard you were busy lately, and thought I'd offer to help with something so you could take a break."
"Sol, that's a great idea! Why don't you go out with Simmy for a while, and when you come back you're brain will be nice and clear to-"
Solomon's eyes flashed a pure black, and he spit out, "If you really want to help, take Y/N out for a couple hours, I need some quiet to think."
You huffed and turned on your heel, "you heard him Simmy, time to take the pet for a walk."
"You're not a pet, Y/N. Pets obey their master's wishes. You're a human. And that's much worse."
Then Solomon slammed the office door behind you, leaving you and Simeon in the hall. You took a deep breath,  then turned to Simeon with a smile. 
"Where do you want to go?"
                                   ….
Luke had been wanting to go ice skating for a while, so Simeon had decided to take you both there. While you helped Luke put on his skates, Simeon paid at the counter.
"You got a cute little family there, young man," the man at the counter said as he handed the receipt to him.
"Yeah," Simeon said with a tight smile, before joining you both. When it was the three of you, it really did feel like a family. And when it was the three of you, it was easy to remember why he loved you in the first place.
After hours of skating, Luke was getting tired, so you offered to call it a night. Simeon wasn't sure how he felt about returning you to Solomon, so he made a compromise.
"What if we go out to dinner? Catch up? There's a restaurant I've been meaning to try."
Setting foot in the restaurant, it looked familiar. Then he saw your eyes go glassy, and you whispered, 
"This is where Sol and I got engaged."
You blinked the glassiness away, and put your shining smile back on. You nudged his shoulder playfully.
"It's a great choice, Simmy, you'll love it!" 
And he did. The three of you chatted, and laughed, and reminisced. Luke ordered every dessert on the menu, and gave his full reviews on each of them.
After you ate, he hired an old fashioned carriage to take you around the city and see the holiday lights. Luke fell asleep on your lap, and you started yawning yourself.
Simeon put a hand on your knee, and you gave him a soft smile.
"Y/N, what's happening with Solomon?"
You nodded like you knew that's what he was going to ask.
"Yeah, so you saw his eyes when he got upset, right? He's…. he's spent the last couple years making pact after pact hoping Lucifer would give in, or that he could "persuade" him to make one through sheer numbers. It was around pact 103 he started acting funny. His eyes started flashing like that at 115."
Simeon sat up in shock. "How many does he have now?"
"127," you sighed heavily. "To be honest, I don't think he'd hold up if Luci did make a pact with him, but he doesn't listen to me anymore."
Simeon stiffened thinking about the way Solomon had treated you that morning.
"If you don't mind me asking," he whispered softly, "why do you stay with him?"
Your sad smile broke his heart all over again.
"I know some of him is still there. At least I think there is. He's sick, Simeon. I don't think I could just abandon him to himself, right now. I'm worried what will happen to him if I do."
"What about you? There's only so much of that a human can take."
"He's not often like that, just on his bad days. You just happened to get here on a bad day."
You settled into uncomfortable silence for a while, and Simeon realized you'd also fallen asleep. He sighed and paid the carriage driver some more to just drive around for a while. When you woke up, you got out of the carriage. Simeon carried Luke and you walked back to your house. 
You seemed lighter than this morning, and he was glad that he could have helped. When you made it to the porch, the door swung open, and you were greeted by Solomon. 
"Hello darling, how was your outing?" He greeted you with a kiss on the cheek. He seemed out of it, and had a strange aura, but the anger from earlier wasn't present.
"It was great! We went ice skating, then went out to eat, then we saw the lights around the city in a carriage!" 
Solomon pursed his lips but simply nodded.
"Oh, and I told Simeon and Luke that they could stay in our guest room for the week, I hope that's alright."
"Yeah, of course," he said stiffly.
"Great!" You took Luke from Simeon. "I'm going to put Luke to bed, then I'm going to sleep myself. Don't stay up too late boys," you said with a giggle, not feeling the tension between the two. 
Once you were out of earshot, Solomon's eyes flashed that horrid black again, and he hissed, "What do you intend to do with my fiance?"
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stargazer-sims · 11 months
Text
Journal Entry #51 (part one)
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previously - Journal Entry #50
Victor
Hey everyone!
Guess who got one of his casts off?
Spoiler alert: it's me!
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My right wrist only had a partial fracture, and after looking at my latest x-rays, Dr. Sato said the bone is completely knitted together now. I started physio for my right arm today, and guess what else? I'm cleared for limited daytime driving and light exercise, and the doctor says that if I keep progressing at this rate, she'll fully clear me for all my normal activities in a month. That means snowboarding. It means I can start training again, and eventually competing again if I want to.
Yuri doesn't like the idea of me getting back into competition, but he said he won't try to stop me if it's what I want. What I really want is to make it into the FIS World Championship next year and hopefully place in the top ten. Ideally, I'd like to be on the medal podium, but I have to be realistic about it. Naturally, I'm aiming for the top, but it's just that I have to be prepared not to achieve that, because as I've learned, anything can happen.
But, I've promised Yuri that I'll retire at the end of next season, regardless of the outcome at Worlds. If I have a year to mentally prepare myself for my retirement, maybe it won't be so difficult.
Dr. Sato says it'll be at least another two to three weeks before my left arm is ready to come out of its cast, and she says I'll likely have to wear a wrist brace for a few more weeks after that. Even though I'm itching to get back on the slopes, I'm trying to look on the bright side. Having one of my hands back in service has made a massive difference in the level of help I need, so I definitely shouldn't be complaining.
Talking about my arms makes me realize just how much time has actually passed since I recorded anything here. It's been about five and a half weeks since my accident, and the last time I made an entry was a little over two weeks after it. So, basically that's three weeks of radio silence. Sorry for that.
It's been a chaotic three weeks, but Yuri and I have been managing. Mom and Julian already went home, and Uncle Kaz left the day before yesterday, but Yuri's parents are still here to look after us. We're getting lots of support from our friends as well.
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Yuri finally got out of the hospital after having been in there for seventeen days. He's still mostly on bed rest at home, but I can see him improving little by little each day. He’s sleeping less and eating regularly now, and doesn’t seem to be in as much pain as he was before.
More than anything, I'm beyond grateful that he's eating. I don't even care that his meals are tiny and mostly consist of yogurt, fruit and rice, or that he has to be coaxed to eat, or that somebody often has to feed him. Anything's better than an NG tube.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Seiji was dead-on about the strawberry mochi. It did, in fact, turn out to be the thing that convinced Yuri to try taking one small bite of something. Seriously, never underestimate the power of desserts.
Now that I've mentioned Seiji, I should give you a little update on him, too. He ended up moving to the city after all, despite my best efforts at talking him into staying around.
You may have guessed the brilliant idea I had that day in the park was for Seiji to help take care of Yuri once he was released from the hospital. I thought it was a stroke of genius. It'd give Seiji a purpose and a reason not to leave, and it'd avoid the necessity of having a stranger look after Yuri while he's recovering. Unfortunately, neither Seiji nor Yuri went for it. That's not to say we didn't ultimately solve the problem anyway, but I'll tell you more about that in a minute.
The last I heard from Seiji, he'd gotten a job in a convenience store, just like he predicted he would. I'm not sure he's entirely happy with it, but he didn't seem happy here any more either, so I guess he might as well be unhappy with a change of scenery. I'd much rather he was happy, of course, but I have no control over that. Happiness is an inside job, after all. We each have to get into the mindset of choosing happiness for ourselves.
As for me, I can honestly say I'm happy in spite of everything. Setbacks notwithstanding, the future’s looking good for Yuri and me.
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In light of Dr. Sato's prognosis for my recovery and my ability to return to competitive snowboarding, I got in contact with Luke Smith, my former coach back home to see whether he'd consider taking me on as a student again. He said he couldn't do it, but he told me that he had the perfect person in mind for me to train with, and when he told me who it was, I might've shouted a little bit with excitement.
Apparently one of my former teammates, Davey Duke — or Daisy, as everyone calls him — is planning to retire at the end of this season, but is looking to stay actively involved with the sport. Daisy and I were always great friends, and we've kept in sporadic contact since I've been in Japan. Also, the guy's a freakin' rockstar. Having him for a coach, I'd be the envy of pretty much every other competitor in the sport.
Luke said he'd pitch the idea to Daisy and get back to me, but as it happened, I didn't have to wait for Luke. Within two hours of that conversation with my old coach, I had a text from Daisy that was in all caps with a huge string of exclamation marks. "YES, MY DUDE!!!!!! LET'S DO IT!!!!!!!"
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That matter having been unequivocally taken care of, Yuri and I have turned our attention to planning our move at the end of May. The goal is to be there and settled in well before Mom and Julian's wedding on the eleventh of June. We officially made an offer on the haunted house, which was quickly accepted, and we’ve transferred our down payment.
We’d been hoarding money for that down payment since the house went on the market, and we’re kinda broke now until Yuri gets next month’s allowance from his trust fund, but I can live with it. I’ve been broke before and survived.
One of the lawyers at Uncle Stephen's firm is dealing with all the legal details of the house purchase for us, which is a huge relief. An even bigger relief is that Uncle Stephen is personally handling Yuri's immigration paperwork, and he's waiving his fees.
In related news, I'm still debating with myself what to do about school. I've almost entirely made up my mind that I'm going to study nursing, but I'm waiting for my next appointment with Dr. Ishida before I commit to that choice completely. Dr. Ishida's pronouncement about my ability to read having more to do with my vision than my intelligence is still sinking in, and I want to get my glasses and be sure I actually can read as well as she thinks I can before I sign myself up for a course with lots of required reading.
The other thing I have to decide is if I'm going to try to start school this September or if I'm going to defer my studies for a year. I think it might be difficult to do a course with a clinical component while I'm competing. I'd have to travel for competitions, but I'd also have to prioritize my clinical placements, and since it's impossible to be in two places at once, I'd have to pick one. I think that'd be a less than ideal situation.
Meanwhile, Yuri has decided to take a leave of absence from his job at FutureBright Communications. His boss, Mr. Tanaka, assured him that he could still work remotely even if he was living in Canada, but Dr. Kasongo suggested that it'd be in his best interests not to work at all for a while. She thinks it makes more sense to focus on his health without having to cope with the pressure and stress of work.
Yuri resisted at first, but I think Mr. Tanaka might've guided him toward seeing reason. I know he really trusts and respects Mr. Tanaka, and I think the promise that there'd still be a job for him when he's ready to come back to work helped.
The human resources lady from FutureBright phoned here a few days ago to fill out the paperwork for short-term disability insurance benefits with him. He'll be covered for six months, which will get him through the spring and summer, and then they'll revisit the claim in early September to see if it'll need to be renewed for a further six months or if he can return to his job.
Personally, I think this is the perfect arrangement. Who wouldn't want a free summer in Willow Creek, with a percentage of their pay still coming in? Yuri can devote his time to getting healthy and doing things he enjoys, and when I'm not busy with work or training, we'll be able to go on all kinds of awesome adventures together. I'm really looking forward to that.
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Another thing both Yuri and I are looking forward to is having Takahiro and Fox join us in Willow Creek this summer. Fox is from the Willow Creek-Newcrest area, and when his visa expires at the beginning of August he'll be returning, and he's bringing Taka with him.
Normally, one might expect that they'd stay with Fox's parents, but apparently the Abbottsfords dislike "foreigners" and have some sort of weird moral objection to the fact that their son is in a relationship with a man. They sound like totally charming people, right?
According to Taka, Fox's father hasn’t even spoken to him since November, which utterly blows my mind. My mom and I would be beside ourselves if we were out of contact for more than a day or two, much less for whole months at a stretch. Even when Yuri's relationship with his dad was at its worst, they still spoke to each other every couple of weeks.
Just as an aside, Yuri talks to his dad daily now, and sometimes multiple times a day. I love to see how much closer they're growing lately, and it almost makes me sad that we're moving because it means Yuri won't get to spend as much time with him. But, like Mr. Okamoto has assured us, they'll come and visit and they can certainly still find ways to talk every day.
Anyway, in light of all the racist and homophobic nonsense with Fox's parents, Yuri and I have already agreed that Fox and Taka can stay with us if they want to, until they find a place of their own. The haunted house has a couple of extra bedrooms in the basement, so they can have whichever one of those isn't Sachiko's room.
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Yeah, Sachiko the ghost has decided to remain in the house. Robert and Kim MacAllister, the current owners, told us that they offered to bring her home to Mt. Komorebi, but she wanted to stay and see what it'd be like to share a home with people her own age.
That was kind of funny to me. I mean, Kim and Robert are in their early seventies, and as far as they can determine, Sachiko died about seventy-five years ago, so they're technically closer to her age than we are. Still, I get what she meant. She was in her early twenties when she died, and Yuri and I are in our mid-twenties now, so there's a certain logic to her choice.
Robert and Kim explained that they bought Sachiko a flower-arranging station, and decorated a bedroom for her, and even set a place at the table for her at mealtimes. Being a ghost, Sachiko doesn't need to eat or sleep, but they wanted to help her feel like part of the family. Yuri and I are planning to continue with that, so of course we can't give away her bedroom, even if she doesn't actually sleep in it.
Now, the only hurdle left to face is how we're going to break the news to Taka that our haunted house literally is haunted. Up to this point, he's seemed to think it's some kind of elaborate joke. He's not a big fan of the paranormal, and I think he might not want to stay with us when he finally grasps the fact that Sachiko is real.
But, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, as my grandpa Michael likes to say. We'll certainly have plenty of opportunity to address the subject, since we've been seeing a lot more of Taka and Fox lately.
And why is that, you ask? Seiji may not have bought into my plan to help take care of Yuri, but Fox and Taka did. Or more specifically, Fox did, and because he already has his partner wrapped firmly around his little finger, our dear friend Takahiro is along for the proverbial ride.
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I'd like to take full credit for planning our circumstances to evolve this way, but I can't. In reality, Fox volunteered for the job and Yuri, perhaps concluding that we didn't have a lot of viable options, accepted his offer.
It happened a few days before Yuri got out of the hospital. I was there with him when Fox and Taka showed up for a visit. Yuri hadn’t been very talkative. He'd had a bad morning and really didn't want to do anything except be cuddled, but that hadn't put Taka and Fox off. They seemed happy enough to sit there and chat with me.
Fox was excited because he's learning to drive and would be getting his learner's permit soon. He happily declared that there'd be no stopping him once he had his own wheels, whereupon Taka emphasized the need for his own, because he certainly wasn't going to be driving Yuzu. Oh... If no one's mentioned it before, Taka has this SUV that he and Seiji painted an absolutely eye-popping shade of yellow. He calls it Yuzu, after the fruit, and I'm reasonably certain it's his most prized possession.
Meanwhile, Taka was excited because he just finished his first study module in language school. He only started taking English classes at the language school in January, so I felt like his achievement was impressive, and told him so. His English was okay to begin with, but it's improved by leaps and bounds since he started his course. He confided that he wants to get as much learning in as possible before the summer, because he wants to take the immigration language test so he can apply for a study permit and go to college in Canada.
"Looks like you've got a busy spring, then," I remarked.
"Yeah," Taka agreed. "Because I has big plans."
"I have plans," Fox corrected him, and they both laughed.
"I have plans," Taka repeated dutifully. "Why is that one so hard?"
"You'll get it," Fox said. "Don't worry. You're already so much further ahead than you were when we met."
"Because I practice with you. You're the best teacher I... has." As if the deliberate pause wasn't enough to signal that he'd used the wrong verb tense on purpose this time, Taka bestowed his partner with a cheeky little grin. "Best ever."
That caused Fox to blush an extreme shade of pink, and brought about my turn to laugh. "Anybody ever tell you guys how cute you are?"
"Everyone. All the time," Taka answered cheerfully.
Fox looked flustered, and mumbled something in Japanese that sounded like. "New topic. Begging you."
Taka looked amused. "Now who's showing his good language skills?"
"Maybe we do need a new topic, before Fox starts looking for a place to hide," I said.
"Okay," Taka agreed. "I know when to stop. We can talk about you instead. You're going to Canada before us."
"Yeah, at the end of May, but we've got to get back on our feet and make it through the rest of the winter and the spring, first. One thing at a time, right, Yuri?"
Yuri stirred slightly in my arms and said quietly, "I guess."
"Are you going home soon, Yuri?" Fox asked.
When he didn't reply after several seconds, I said, "His doctor says he can go home in a few days, but she won't release him until we sort out who's going to be looking after him."
"Won't his parents do it?" Taka asked.
"They will, but they can't be with us the whole time," I gestured vaguely with one of my casted arms. "And there's a lot I still can't do, so I'm going to need some help too."
"What exactly do you need?" Fox asked. "Is it like, actual medical stuff, or more like someone to help around the house?"
"The only medical thing would be to make sure Yuri takes his medication when he's supposed to," I said. "But, I can still manage that myself. It's the other stuff that we need help with."
"I could do it," he said.
I wasn't quite sure I'd heard him correctly. "You... what?"
"I could help you, and I'll bet Auntie Keiko would help too, if you asked her."
"I think she would," Taka said. "We can ask."
"You can help too, Takahiro," Fox added.
Taka hadn't appeared to mind being drafted by his boyfriend. "Yes, when I'm not at work."
"Perfect," Fox said. "Victor, even if Auntie can't help, you'll have Taka on Fridays and Sundays if you need him, and I'll be glad to come to your house every day and do what I can."
"You know what you'd be getting into, right?" I asked. "You'd be doing almost everything until I get at least one of these casts off."
"I understand."
As grateful as I was for his offer, I needed to make sure he really did understand. Being able to see properly again, I was able to do a lot more for myself than I could before. I was getting pretty good at using just my fingers to do quite a few things, and I was feeling comfortable picking up lighter objects like dishes or dog toys or laundry, but without the use of my thumbs, there were still plenty of tasks that were outside my ability.
"When I say everything, I mean literally everything," I said. "That'd include personal care, so uh... there'd be kinda gross stuff involved."
Fox laughed. "Are you trying to discourage me?"
"I'm not trying to discourage you. I just don't want you to agree to something without knowing exactly what you'd be in for."
"Thanks." Fox's determination was evident on his face. "I appreciate that, but I can do it."
Taka reached for Fox's hand, and the smile he gave him practically glowed with pride. "You are amazing. You wouldn't have done that before."
"I've learned a lot from you and your parents and Jin," Fox said. "Turns out, I'm capable of a lot more than I ever gave myself credit for, and I'm not scared to challenge myself any more. Plus, remember what you told me when we first met?"
"I told you a lot of stuff," Taka said.
"Yes, but I'm talking about what you said about kindness. You said the best way to repay you for your kindness to me would be for me to pay it forward to someone else some day."
"Right. I remember."
"Well," Fox said. 'I guess this is the day."
I glanced down at Yuri, who was curled tightly against my chest and clearly doing his best not to listen to the conversation. "Hey," I said softly. "Would you be okay with that? With Fox looking after you?"
He nodded and practically whispered. "I... I think I'd be okay with that."
I'm not sure Yuri was entirely relieved, but I can assure you I was. The issue of whether or not we'd need somebody from the home healthcare program had been a big one for us, and something I was glad we no longer had to think about.
Although I felt confident the home care workers were well-trained and trustworthy, my opinion would've made very little difference if Yuri was too scared to have them in the house. Being in constant fear wouldn't help his recovery. And yeah, it'd be easy to say his fear was irrational or unjustified, but given his physical condition as well as his past trauma, I'd tend to disagree. I mean, if I were in his place, I think I'd be scared to let a stranger into my house too, never mind letting them do personal stuff for me.
At least Fox was a known quantity. To be fair, we didn't know him all that well yet, but based on my acquaintance with him up to that point, I was satisfied that he would handle Yuri with care. Besides, I reminded myself, Takahiro's parents trust him to continue to live in their home and not cause any trouble, and apparently Taka's sister Aiko trusts him enough to ask him to babysit her three year old son. I reasoned that if he could manage looking after little Toshiro with no mishaps, then he should be able to handle looking after an adult.
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artssleepy · 22 days
Text
♡ / instinct leads to comfort
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♡ ship: Chisame/BEAST!Pick
♡ genre: hurt/comfort
♡ warnings: description of a panic attack, No beta we die like Beastzai
♡ a/n: I wrote this at like midnight because I was in my emo hours, I hope Nas liked it
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Pick had an exhausting day, he was stressed out, Chisame didn't respond to his texts and he was growing more and more anxious the longer he rode the train. He held everything in, he didn't want to make a scene.
Instinctively he got off the train a few stations before the one that is the closest to his home. His feel were guiding him, his brain felt fuzzy and like it was running 100 MPH at the same time.
Breathing became harder and his vision began to get a little blurry. His hand struggled to put the key into the door, were they shaking so much this entire time? They felt numb, he could barely hold the handle as he opened the door.
"Pick?" A feminine voice called, he closed the door and his legs felt like they were about to give in. The woman got closer very gently, it was Chisame...he'd gone to Chisame's appartement?
But why?
Maybe his heart took him there, but his brain shamed him, everything felt so much, too much.
"Hey, hey, Woah there" she quietly said, taking away his bag and putting it to the side, "am I allowed to touch you?"
He tried to speak, but it only threw him into a fit of sobs and hyperventilation. He still nodded. She gently sat next to him, rubbing his back along the spine.
The warmth of their hands seeped through the shirt, they weren't wearing any gloves for once. "take your time... it's okay...can you do the breathing exercises we practiced?"
He tried and failed a few times, but she was always there to tell him it was okay and if it didn't work they could try something else...which seemed to be the case in this scenario.
"Okay, let's try something else", she picked out a little notebook from her skirt's pocket.
"Name three things you can see" the man took a deep breath, looking around the room.
"Your creepy cat clock" she giggled softly before he followed, "the old Halloween decorations and.." he took some more moment to breathe "you."
"That's good" she smiled, looking back down at the notebook "three things you can hear"
The started to lean slowly into their touch, mind getting a bit less crowded as he focused on the noises around him. "Your voice...the humming of the fridge and.." he hesitated a little bit "jazz music?"
"Yeah, not what I usually listen to, I know. I had someone over earlier" Chisame explained "now, can you move 3 parts of your body?"
He tilted his head slightly, one, he moved his legs to sit more comfortable, two, he gently grabbed Chisame's free hand, three. The woman smiled down at him, "do you feel ready to get up? Or do you want me to carry you to the couch?"
The doctor's cheeks flushed a little bit as he asked to be carried. She picked him up on her back and went to put him down on the couch the most gracefully they managed to.
The lady brought him a blanket, a glass of water, a snack and a weighted plushy. She always had these ready in case of a panic attack.
Once Pick felt more comfortable, they simply Cuddled and watched some old goofy horror movies together and fell asleep together on the couch.
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♡ End note: sorry if the ending feels rushed I was extremely sleepy
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