#do you know how funny it would’ve been if the one who’s invisible turned out to be hot

[bowievanfleet]

it's you [jake kiszka]

pairing: jake x oc (sort of, they have a nickname but y/n still applies!<3)

genre: angstyyy, fluff, enemies to lovers >:)

warnings: mentions of poor mental health and overthinking, cursing, itty bitty tiny mention of skin picking, arguing, emotional whiplash, crying, i am very bad at plot development and dialogue

word count: 4k

inspired by it's u by cavetown :)

a/n: guys!!! its been so long!!!! and i am back with a DOOZY. i don't know what possessed me to write this, maybe the copious amounts of rain we've been getting here is getting to me lmao. but, i am very, VERY happy with how this turned out. this is prob my favorite thing i've written to date. it'll probably be edited/rewritten over time but nothing too dramatic.

also, i'd like to say that the idea to give the reader a nickname to kind of personify them was 100% inspired by the lovely maddie, @hearts-hunger <3 go read her stuff NOW because she's so insanely talented its not even funny. also shoutout to my love @emadamssssssss for helping me out with pepper's backstory. everyone say thank u em!! anyways im done rambling now, i rlly hope u enjoy this. <3

also yes i had to have my little star wars moment at the end. i will not be taking questions or criticisms.

SONGS (v important for this one) its u- cavetown / climing up the walls- radiohead / chinese satellite- phoebe bridgers / i'll be seeing you- billie holiday / lilac wine- nina simone (jeff buckley version also works!)

-----

“oh god, it’s you...”

-----

you genuinely didn’t know why you were there. 

something, maybe an invisible string, or a magnetic field, dragged you to his door at 2 am. you stood in the pouring rain, the water mixing with your own tears pouring down your face. you didn’t have any idea what possessed you to come. you tried to go through the reasons in your head: on the outside, you convinced yourself that he was a last resort, that because no one else was picking up the phone, he was the only one you had left to go to.

“better to be with him than by yourself where you would do something stupid.” you would tell yourself, when in reality, you had only called one other person, josh. who didn’t answer likely because he was passed out on his couch with a bottle of tequila on the coffee table, you knew that was his routine on saturdays. you didn’t have the energy nor courage to call anyone else, which led you to your second reason: 

that realistically, deep inside of you, you knew the reason you had gone to him was because you simply wanted to be with him. you had to do something to satiate the hunger you had been feeling for the past two weeks since you saw him at one of josh’s stupid parties. your body craved him, your mind craved him, every single cell in your body craved him, and it was embarrassing. 

you guessed it was perfect timing, your racing brain giving you a perfect excuse to go to someone. it wasn’t just the fact you wanted to be with him, you needed to be near anyone. if you sat there on your bed, staring at the walls for one more second you knew you were going to break. 

you were overthinking more than you ever had before, mostly about him, but also about everything else. it was all getting too overwhelming, you desperately needed contact with someone, something. it was pathetic to be showing up like this, but what else could you do? text him? “hey, i’ve kinda been thinking about you every single waking moment for the past two weeks, can i come over?” the more you thought about it, the more you realized that even that would’ve been better than standing at his door in the pouring rain. 

you don’t know how long you stood there, contemplating if you should knock or not, 

before he took it upon himself to make the decision for you. you jumped slightly as the door jerked open, earthy eyes taking in your state with a confused and concerned spark in them. 

you were confused as well, until you remembered that doorbells with cameras existed. you looked over to it, silently cursing it. you looked back to the eyes staring at you, and realized what a contrast you two must be. 

he looked the softest you’d ever seen him, in a pair of plaid pajama pants and an old oversized guns n roses shirt. his face had a golden glow to it, courtesy of the various wax warmers and candles that were placed on almost every surface of his home. they reflected off of his eyes, making them seem almost caramel instead of the dark brown you would often see. 

it softened them, turned them from a stony tigers eye to a dark topaz. the sight of him and the energy radiating off of him was almost enough to stop the tears streaming down your face, but then started them all over again as you realized how gentle and beautiful he was. how pathetic was that? his beauty brought tears to your eyes. 

his facade was gone, he was no longer cold and cocky, dark and stoic. he was looking at you like he didn’t want to rip you to shreds for once. 

you had only seen this once before, when he was drunk at josh’s house and you were the only two left in the living room. he was falling in and out of sleep on the couch, and after watching him for a while, you finally trotted over to him and draped a blanket over his half-asleep body. his eyes snapped open at you, but they weren’t hostile. they were almost... loving. appreciative. adoring. 

you went to stand up to go to the guest room, but he caught your hand before you could get too far. you stayed like that for a moment, watching him stare at your hand in his, then with a slow, deliberate stroke of his thumb against your hand, he gently let go. 

he looked at you for a split second, and then rolled over on the couch, bringing the blanket up to his chin and cuddling around it. you spent all night wishing he was beside you in the guest bed.

“...pepper?” he asked tentatively. you were snapped out of your thoughts by the nickname he had assigned to you so long ago. you thought for a second about the stupid name he had reserved for you- 

you were friends with josh for a while before you got introduced to his family. you were college roommates, and one night he finally decided to invite his brothers over for dinner in your apartment. 

you decided you’d make a hearty meal of kraft mac n cheese, but with added seasonings to make it “gourmet” as you and josh liked to call it. 

when you were mixing up all the seasonings, you put in a little too much pepper than needed, but you panicked and just started mixing it around, trying to even it out as much as possible. 

when you awkwardly served everyone, waiting for their reaction, jake was the only one to speak up. “jesus christ this tastes like shit” he said. everyone immediately turned to look at him with wide eyes, surprised and embarrassed that he would be that outright. 

“what?!” he shrugged. “just being honest. if you're gonna make dinner for us at least make it good.” he said, but continued to eat the pasta anyway. 

josh looked at you sympathetically. “it tastes fine y/n, just a little spicy.” he reassured. and it turned out, by the end of the night, everyone’s half eaten bowl of mac n cheese ended up on the counter next to jake's empty one. 

if you had known him better, you would’ve teased him relentlessly. but instead, upon doing the dishes, you smiled fondly at the empty bowl. the first of many small signs that there wasn’t all hostility between you two.

that didn’t make the name stick, however. what made “pepper” become official was at one party the twins had thrown. you and josh were busy setting up everything beforehand, while jake was on a beer run. “what do you wanna start out with?” josh asked, flaring his hands dramatically toward the family’s extravagant vinyl collection. “hmmm...” you debated, kneeling down to scour through the records. once you found what you were looking for you demanded josh to turn around, wanting it to be a surprise. you carefully placed the needle on the black disc, the opening sounds of sgt, pepper’s lonely hearts club band ringing out into the spacious living room. 

josh instantly turned around with a grin, taking your hands in his obnoxiously, the both of you starting to scream out, “IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY, SERGEANT PEPPER TAUGHT THE BAND TO PLAY!” 

you loved moments with josh like this, screaming out songs you both loved, not a care in the world. you always felt so alive. that was, until you heard the door open, choosing to ignore it until you saw his figure stalk through the doorway. 

he gave you a simple scoff and an eye roll, before quickly taking the bags in his hands to the kitchen and returning to the living room archway, leaning against it in a manner that made you want to storm over there and kick him. 

“you’re just pepper all the way around aren’t you?” he teased, you flipping him off while josh muttered a “shut the fuck up, jake.” 

you started toward the kitchen to start setting the drinks out, jaw clenched in irritation. 

why did he have to ruin everything? you were having a great time with josh, your own sunshine, before the rain had to storm in and drown it out. 

“awe, did i make you upset, pepper? i’m sorry.” he mocked, fake pity in his tone. “just fuck off.” you gritted, tring to focus on getting the drinks set out. “of course pepper, anything for you.” he teased, raising his hands in surrender and stalking off somewhere else in the house. 

-

you stared at each other for a long while, almost talking with your eyes. 

after a moment, his flashed with a gentleness you had never before seen in your entire time of knowing him, not even that night on the couch, and the only thing you knew, right then and there, was that you needed to be in his arms. 

you let out a shaky exhale, “jake-” you sobbed, all but lunging toward him. your body crashed into his, your arms winding around his middle and your head finding a home in his neck. 

he stood frozen for a second, obviously not expecting your sudden action, but after half a second of hesitation, he closed his eyes and let you melt into him, wrapping his own hands around you slowly, one belting around your lower back to keep you upright and the other going to the back of your head, threading through your hair and scratching your scalp lightly. 

he would switch between scratching your head once he figured out you liked it, and slowly rubbing his hand over your hair, smoothing it down. 

the two actions made you cry even harder, your hands finding their way up his body and around his neck, trying to get as close as humanly possible to him. if you had it your way, you would melt your body into his. you wanted to mold him for the rest of time, to never ever let go, to always have his body pressed to yours. 

you knew this was the worst thing you could ever do, because the second this was over, you’d never be able to live without touching him again. you’d need it like you need air to breathe. every second of every day you'd need it. how would you be able to go on after this? constantly craving his arms around you, his hands anywhere and everywhere on you, his breath letting out soft puffs against your skin. you didn’t want to even think about it right now, so you let him hold you while you held him. 

he must’ve felt the same way about letting go, so instead of pulling away, he took his arm off your back to close the door softly, immediately returning it. 

he walked backwards to the couch, sitting you down without ever loosening his grip on you. he laid back, pulling you with him as he pushed your face gently into his chest, giving you something to cry on. 

you laid there for what felt like hours, even though it was probably only ten minutes, before all that was audible anymore was your occasional sniffle and his gentle breathing. 

“y/n...?” he whispered, still stroking your hair. “yeah?” you squeaked, bracing yourself for the arguing and embarrassment and teasing to start. but it never did. 

“what happened?” he asked, concern evident in his voice and you knew he genuinely cared about your response. but that scared you. why would he care about your feelings? it surprised you that he was even touching you right now, let alone asking about you. 

it was an act of human decency that he usually didn’t show. jake kiszka couldn’t give two fucks about anyones feelings excpet maybe his brothers’.  

you leaned up on your hands, hovering over him. you stared at each other again, his hands finding a home on your back, yours resting on either side of his face. you slowly sat up, forcing his arms to drop from you. 

“i’m sorry. i don’t know why i came here. just- no one else was answering and it was all getting too much and i just didn’t know where else to go and-” 

“hey.” he interrupted, grabbing your hands from where they came up to cover your face. “i don’t want you to apologize i just.. want to know why you came to me.” he said, trying to choose his wording carefully. 

you chewed on your lip, trying to come up with an answer before you realized the only one you had come up with involved being vulnerable, and you were absolutely not in the right state for vulnerability right now, despite the fact you had just cried into his chest. 

you got up and walked to the kitchen, searching for water and trying to buy a few minutes. you knew exactly where he kept them, so you grabbed one and went back to sit on the couch, further away from him this time. he noticed this, a flash of disappointment coming over his face. 

he looked at you as you drank your water and set it down, being the most patient you’ve ever seen him. 

you stared at nothing for a moment, noticing how his hands clenched and unclenched, as if he was yearning to touch you again. you were yearning too, but you couldn’t touch him again until you knew for certain that this wouldn’t be the only time.

“jake...” you trailed, both of your eyes holding so much intensity. he gave a look of realization, finally reaching to grab your hands like he had been so desperate too. you flinched away instinctively, you were going to keep your word on not touching him again. you started to get frustrated, “why do you all of a sudden care so much? you should’ve just fucking told me to go home the minute you saw me.” 

that cold facade slipped back on his face, a look of confusion and disappointment taking his face. “did you just want me to leave you out there in the fucking rain?! cause i would’ve been glad to do that if you really wanted me to, you should've just said so.” 

“well you’ve never cared before!” 

“i’m not heartless y/n!!” he hissed, pointing an accusing finger at you. 

“you think i am but I'm not. i just don’t see the point in wearing it on my fucking sleeve all the time.” that hurt. you’d always been a very outwardly emotional person, it was one of your biggest weaknesses, and to hear it being used against you stung like hell. he saw that comment affected you but he kept going. 

“if i was heartless, i wouldn’t have sat here and fucking held you like i did. as much as i fucking hate touching you, i did it to comfort you. because i'm not as cold as you think i am y/n.” your head snapped up, something he said catching your attention. 

“why do you hate touching me?” you inquired, brows furrowed. he shut his eyes for a second, before he dodged the question. 

trying to be as soft as he could again, he spoke, “why did you come here, pepper?” 

you thought for a second. “i don’t know. i just needed someone. i couldn’t be by myself anymore.” 

“why not?” he questioned, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. 

“because my mind would’ve driven me insane.” you admitted, looking down at your hands in your lap, picking at your nails. 

you were hyper-aware of the fact that you were slowly drifting more and more towards him. 

“what were you thinking about?” he questioned softly. 

“jake i can’t do this right now. i can’t talk about this.” 

“then i ask again, why did you come here?!” he almost begged for an answer. you finally looked back up at him, trying to distract yourself with the melting chocolate of his eyes. somehow he must’ve known your answer, he could always read you like an open book. 

he could tell that you two were on the same page, you just weren’t ready to be that vulnerable with him. so, he gave you a head start.

“you wanna know why i hate touching you?” he asked, his voice tense. you sniffled and gave a nod. he leaned in closer to you.

“because you, you are so fucking addicting that if i touch you i almost can’t let go. you have no idea how hard it was to let you go just now. i’m so hopelessly desperate for you, pepper. now, i have a good idea of why you came here. but i need to hear you say it, baby.” the pet name pushed you over the edge, and before you knew it, the tears were back and you were babbling out your confession. 

“it’s you, jake. it’s always been you.” you sobbed, leaning forward to press your forehead to his chest. he finally reached up to your hair again, almost audibly breathing a sigh of relief when his hands finally made contact with you again. 

“and i’m scared. i’m so scared of how i feel right now. its a need- i need you. i need to be near you. but i can’t- we can’t. we’re not good for eachother, we never have been jake. we bring out the worst in each other.” 

“i know, i know.” he soothed. “i feel it too y/n, i’ve always felt it. from the moment i saw you. it’s terrifying.” he agreed, and all you could muster was a small nod in understanding. 

“you make me want to be better. sometimes that feels good, the fact that i can change for you, to make you happy. but a lot of the time... it feels like it’ll never be enough.” he confessed. “jake, i don’t expect you to change for me. i don’t want you to.” he soaked in the words, leaning down to rest his cheek on the top of your head. 

“you know, i think you bring out the best in me. you know damn well i wouldn’t do this with anyone else.” he chuckled. you let out a small laugh too, leaning more into his chest. “jake im so scared. t-this feeling... it's so strong, too strong. why do you do this to me?” you begged. “i could ask you the same thing.” he said, hugging you tighter. 

“we have so much to work out before we can do anything. i mean we can't even go 10 minutes without arguing. jake we hurt each other too much.” you reasoned, trying to convince yourself more than him. 

“love is supposed to hurt, isn't it?” he countered. 

love.

you knew that’s what it was, you were just far too scared to actually address it. loving someone that had been heartless and selfish to you for the past 7 years wasn’t possible. but if it wasn’t,  then why did you feel the need to have his body near yours at all times? there was a part of you, and you could feel it in him too, that needed to have the pain soothed by him. it was like a fire burning in your stomach, and he was the water to put it out. his arms were where you were supposed to be. forever.

“we can’t walk away from this anymore, baby.” he added, making your body shake again with sobs. that's all you wanted to do. you wanted to run away and never see him again. 

that way, maybe the fire would die out and leave tiny embers that could be satiated by someone else. but you knew. you knew no one could put it out but him. he was the only one that possessed the right water to extinguish the flame of yearning in you. and you knew you were the only one to put out his.

and so, you let him hold you as you cried for the second time that night, grabbing at each other to get impossibly closer. you knew there was no going back now, that you were about to walk off the diving board and never get back up. but you wanted it. you knew you needed it. 

“there’s too much going against us.” you borderline begged. begged him to find a way out of this, begged him to push you away, to kick you out, to do something to  stop it. vulnerability was your worst enemy. 

“pepper. look at me.” he demanded, forcing your head up with your chin tucked between his fingers. “something has been drawing me to you for nearly 7 years. i’m not walking away from it now that we’ve finally got it out in the open. we have to move on. what’s past is past, and what we have now is everything we need. what are you scared of, darling?” he asked gently. 

“...vulnerability.” you admitted. he let out a sigh, maneuvering you so you were in his lap. “it's scary isn’t it, pepper?” he soothed, running a run up and down your back. you nodded pathetically. curling into him more. 

“you know what irritates me the most about you?” he asked, but not hostile. you scoffed. “everything?” you guessed. 

“no. not everything. there's a million little tiny things, but not everything. the biggest one though, is no matter how hard you try, you can't hide. no matter how much you duck and run, i would be able to pull you out of a crowd of a million people. no matter how hard you try to keep your head down and blend with other people, you can’t, not to me. you stand out like a goddamn star. that's what irks me the most." he said softly. 

“am i supposed to take that as a compliment?” you laughed. 

“mhm. it’s painful for me but you should know. sometimes i feel like you and me are the only two people in the room. you drown everyone else out.” he confessed as your eyes filled up with tears again, but not sadness this time. 

this time, it was an overwhelming blanket of love that draped over you. 

the relief that you were wanted by him. that you stood out to him as much as he did to you. you lifted your face from its place on its chest, resting your chin there instead so you were looking up at him. 

he softly took a strand of damp hair from your cheek, tucking it into place behind your ear. “see? i was vulnerable with you. now its your turn.” he encouraged lightly. 

you looked up at him for a second more. the words were on the tip of your tongue, running through your brain over and over again- iloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyou 

you finally found your voice: 

“i think i love you, jake.” you stated, voice faltering near the end. he cupped your jaw in his hand, 

“i know.” he nodded, his eyes filling with tears too as your hands threaded through his hair, clutching at every part of him you could reach, as your lips finally melted into his.

#gvf #greta van fleet #jake kiszka #gvf fanfiction #gvf fanfic #greta van fleet fanfic #jake kiszka x reader #jake gvf #peaceful army #jake kiszka fanfic #jake kiszka fic #sam kiszka #josh gvf #gvf one shot #gvf imagine #gvf fluff

[clatoera]

Always Remember We’re Burned for Better Chapter 14: Who You Are Is Not What You Did

Welcome back my friends! Not much to say this week, other than aren’t you proud of me for updating in seven days! Thats a big deal for me (who slipped into 10-14 day updates). 

AO3

Masterpost

Title from Innocent (Taylor’s Version)

Here. Have some Glim Glam. And Cato. With a gun. 

I feel like I shouldn’t even tag the besties this week because this chapter is so fucking random but. I guess I will. @ohhowwehavefallen cato with a gun is for you and you alone. @kentwells look i tagged the right blog this time. 

Time does not pass in District Thirteen. Well, of course it does but at the same time it does not. Monotony and Isolation do not make for the easy passage of time, when minutes blend to days blend to weeks. Glimmer isn’t even sure if it’s been weeks or if it’s been months. The only confirmation of passage of time is when she catches her reflection in a window, on the way to various mandatory (Mandatory for most, unless you are Cato who refuses and throws a punch at the first possible opportunity when someone attempts to grab him and force him) gathers. She can catch the roots of her hair, imperceptible to some, but to her she can see the shimmering platinum dyed tones in her hair growing out to the more natural golden tone. It wasn’t much but as a girl who grew up with the priority on her appearance– she could recognize it as at least four weeks since their initial capture.

This is what the world has come to. Calculating weeks of isolation based on the roots of platinum blonde hair.

That’s okay. He had always liked her golder hair better–

No, Glimmer, don’t think of him. You can’t live for the people who aren’t here.

She’s got her legs tucked under her again, criss crossed with her right foot atop her left knee, as she’s bent nearly entirely in half with a piece of thread and an old, blunted sewing needle in the other.  She stitches together her sheets, with an invisible seam she runs down the length of them.

“Are you trying to make a sleeping bag over there, Glim Glam.” Comes grumbling from her room (cell?) mate, the one the only Cato Hadley, who is quite literally doing nothing but laying on his back and staring into the gray abyss of the ceiling. “You need that comfort of feeling like you’re in the arena to be able to sleep?”

“You’re one to talk about sleeping, Cato.” Glimmer murmurs to herself, having been kept up by the constant thrashing, tossing, and turning, of the man throughout the duration of the night. If she had to guess he’s probably getting two, three interrupted hours a night. Ask how she would know.  “No. I need something to do, I’m just..practicing making a dress.”

Cato props himself up at that, craning his neck to look over at her across the dull room. “They gave you a needle? They won’t even give me a fork.” A knife, of course, is so far out of the question it isn’t even funny. It makes sense, of course, and neither of them had been given the privilege of more than a spoon at mealtimes. “Aren’t they afraid you’ll stab someone’s eyes out?”

“I guess they figure the worst thing I would do is stab my own eyes. Or, you . Which, who here would really complain about that?” Her fingers slide the thread through the low-quality cotton, bringing the makeshift hem to a proper, even line. “I can’t have a fork either, by the way. Seems stupid, doesn’t it? You kill people with your bare fucking hands.. like you need a weapon to do damage. “

“It doesn't seem to take much to be in charge here.” Cato remarked, before he lays back down on his flimsy mattress, which has to have an imprint of him by now due to how much time he spends laying there, lifeless on the mattress. “What do you mean you’re making a dress? Since when do you..sew?”

Glimmer nods, pulling the needle from where she holds it in her lips. “It would’ve been my talent. Dresses. You know, before they decided my talent was just my body.” She flips her wrist over, forming an elaborate loop on the bottom edge of the sheet in her hand. “Then, of course, Firegirl got to claim it. As if she even thought about those designs she was passing off on her own.” It was as if her eye roll was audible in her voice, from the way she heard Cato laugh over it. “I wanted to make pretty dresses. Wedding dresses..tour dresses for victors…like the ones Clove was wearing on her tour. That green dress she was in when you came to one–wow.”

“....that was my favorite one, too.” He admits, and the soft tone in his voice tells Glimmer he’s remembering it now, the ivy embroidery that had covered her skin. “The only thing Clove and I can stitch is each other. I guess that was our talent, too.”

“What would you have picked, if you had gotten to?” She continues, flipping her fabric over to reveal a fairly functional looking skirt. Immediately she rips out the seams so that she can start over with her fabric. She begins again, threading the dull needle with thread, before repeating her exact lace as before.

“No idea. I..honestly never gave much thought to life after the games, Glimmer. I just planned to be a trainer. Be with Clove. I dunno, have a couple of kids, I never gave much thought to what I'd do to entertain the masses.” Cato brings his hands behind his head, propping his head in the palms. This is all he does anymore, it feels like. Fidgets into new positions, slowly slipping closer to the edge of madness in this bare room, not knowing the fate of anyone he loves, not knowing the fate of the world. “Clove..hers would’ve been cooking. God she was so good at it.”

“Is. She is good at it.” Glimmer corrects gently, having forced herself only to speak in the positives, to cling to any semblance of hope that they are still alive out there. “I never understood the big deal with food.”

“You’ve never had hers, god Clove made the BEST breakfast, and she’d make this sauce for steak that was just so fucking good. She was just good at everything she ever did.” Cato nearly smiles, just barely, when he talks of her, when the memories of early mornings before her training slipped into his mind. “After the games, damn, we had the best time trying new things. She had this fascination with avocados, we never even had those before I won, and I accidentally bought a whole like..crate of them. One avocado seemed so small, I thought they were like a grape, I don’t know. She liked them a lot, though.”

“I wasn’t allowed to do all of that.” Glimmer explains, setting her pile of sheets and thread by the foot of her bed before leaning back herself, joining him in his staring at the ceiling. “I’ve been on strict, strict, strict diets honestly…my whole life. It seems funny, you know, that people in the lower districts don’t have enough to eat, but I just…wasn’t allowed to. Have to maintain the Capitol’s favorite product, you know?”

“Yeah, well, you still don’t eat anything.”

“Yeah, that’s on purpose, Cato.”

He snorts.  “Is that your grand plan? Starve yourself to death? I expected better from you, Glim Glam.”

“They can’t force me to stay alive.” She retorts, though she knew if they really cared to they would. Afterall, they do it to Katniss. Not that they’d care about her, a problematic career girl.

“Sure they can. They do it to us all.”

“I don’t want to hear it from you, Cato. You lay in that bed all fucking day, and sleep maybe two hours at night. You’re going to kill yourself by sheer fucking exhaustion.”

“What else am I supposed to do? Go play friends with Katniss? Have lunch with Finnick? Is that what you do? I don’t really want to live in a world without her, either, Glimmer, but at least I'm not actively starving myself out.“

Glimmer curls into herself, at that. This infighting, this bickering, it was not going to get them anywhere. They were each other’s only allies, now, and this was getting them nowhere. These childlike arguments did not serve them.

“....it’s hard to live for the idea of someone coming back, you know? When we have no proof that they’re alive. It’s not like I really want to live in a world after this, Cato, if he isn’t here.”

“And you think I want to go back to Two without her, Glimmer? Fuck no. But I’m not actively trying to slowly die while waiting for her. You’re the one who keeps telling me to talk about her in the present, but you’re the one actively trying to just..give up. I’m not telling you to live for him, but yeah, I am.”  Cato pulls himself to a seated position, facing her bed directly. He wants to be angry, he wants to be livid at her, but she just looks so..small? Pathetic? Hopeless? “If that is all we have we have to hold on to it.”

“She’ll kill you if you die before she gets back.” Glimmer half teases, though any playful edge is gone from her voice. It wasn’t like this was unusual. She slipped into a semi catatonic state once a week, it felt like. They managed to alternate days– who went off the deep end which day changed as quickly as the weather.

“Then how about we don’t die before they get back.” He gently teased in response, watching Glimmer roll onto her side, facing away from him.

If he had it in him, he’d comment on the way her shoulders are shaking softly, a tell tale sign she’s resigned to crying to herself again. It wasn’t uncommon, necessarily, he just didn’t have it in him to fight this time, to try to reassure her when he could not even reassure himself.

“When this is all over, when we’re back home.. You’ll have to let Clove change your mind about food.” He offers as a verbal truce, before laying back down on his own side. “I can’t wait to eat anything but the same dry, flavorless chicken over and over and over. They fed us better in the academy, and even that was fucking awful.”

Glimmer sniffles, wiping her tears out of her eyes, trying to catch her breath before she lets herself respond. “I’d like that. So would Marvel. He loves all things food.” She kicks the sheets up over her feet, turning her once makeshift dress back into the sheets that they are.  “He’s so funny, you know, everyone thought that would be his talent. And yeah, trust me, he could make anyone laugh but he’s good at so many other things! He used to make me these beautiful flower arrangements and he was so good at writing and you’d never know but he hates blood outside the games– he was a lot more than just funny, that's all.”

“....is. Glimmer. He is.”

-

A fingertip’s worth of roots have grown out of her hair by the time she can stomach talking to Finnick Odair.

He’s stored behind a door just like hers, only alone. For a second she wonders why Cato and Finnick were not boarded together, when she remembers that they'd probably rather she and Cato both be dead by this point anyway. They probably hoped they’d off each other before this point.

“You look terrible.” Is the very first thing she says to him following her attempt on his life a month prior. “So much for the prize of the Capitol.”

“I could say the same about you. I’ve never seen you without the fresh highlights.” He offers in response, though he does not even look up from his hands. She realizes almost immediately what he is doing, when his fingers twist over and over into each other.

“You gonna hang yourself with one of those?” Glimmer invites herself in, perching herself at the foot of his bed. “Seems like a waste of fabric.”

“It’s all my fault.” Finnick whispers, and for the first time Glimmer realizes he is rocking back and forth almost imperceivable. Well, imperceivable to someone who hasn’t spent hours and hours of their lives sharing traumatic experiences. “It’s my fault they got her.”

“Who? Annie? No, Finnick..they woulda got her anyway. It’s not your fault.” Now is it his fault the four of the careers had split up, not knowing what was coming? Yes.

“It is. They got her. If I had never said her name–”

“It wouldn’t have mattered. They would have gone after her, anyway, Finnick. She wasn’t going to be safe.” Her heart cried for the sweet girl. She wasn’t mad, no, not at all. Who amongst them hadn’t experienced severe trauma in the arena.

“I wanted to tell you.” Finnick croaks out, lacing his fingers together faster and faster, tying knots at record speed. “They told me one and two..you guys couldn’t be trusted. I wanted to tell you.” There's a shameful quality to his voice, as if he genuinely did feel terrible for not telling her sooner, as if he did in fact regret not inviting her into this secret alliance.

“After all we had gone through..you still believed I couldn’t be trusted?” Glimmer half whispers, reaching out to take the other end of the fabric, where she simply chose to braid it instead. “You were there the worst days of my life. You were there with me through all of it. You taught me about the meds to knock myself out, you warned me about–”

“I know. And I’m sorry, Glimmer. I am. It was bigger than me, but I'm sorry.” He can’t look up at her, cannot see the agony behind her eyes, the loss of joy that has been building for seven years finally coming to a head. “It’s my fault they’re there, I know.”

“It is. But you can’t change it now. I want to hate you, Finnick. I want to hate you, but then I remember being seventeen and terrified and in pain and you being the only one who could sit with me while I cried in the shower. I want to hate you but you were the one who carried me home after those terrible procedures, every time I cried because I thought I was bleeding to death, Finnick... I want to hate you but it’s hard to hate you when you look so pathetic.” Glimmer takes the risk, reaching her hand out to place it on top of Finnick’s. “How can I hate you, after we ended up in the same terrible sinking boat again.”

“I am sorry.” He repeats, and Glimmer starts to wonder if this is the broken record he’s been giving to everyone in thirteen recently. “I’m sorry to them, too.”

“You weren’t the one who left them behind.”  Glimmer concedes, dropping the other end of his fabric knot contraption. “You know, I’m impressed, Katniss is still putting up that little show for Peeta. Guess she’s a better actress than I remembered.”

“It’s not all an act, Glimmer. You weren’t there, you should have seen how she acted when that video of Peeta came on.”

Right. Peeta Mellark and his pro-capitol propaganda video. How could she forget? They had been in isolation, as usual, when it was aired. All they knew is they could hear the screaming from their locked unit. Whatever he had said had upset the masses, and had brought Katniss Everdeen to the proverbial edge.

“You shouldn’t hate her so much, Glimmer. She made the deal to pardon Clove and Marvel, too.”

Right, how could she forget. Part of her terms and conditions had involved the pardon of all living victors, which, if she didn’t hate her so much, she might actually thank her for.  Of course, this hell hole and this government would see them as a threat. It was probably the same reason her and Cato were even still alive– the Mockingjay conditions.

“She does everything for her sister, you know? It was all for her. But it’s about Peeta now too. I didn’t believe it either.” Finnick admitted, finally locking green eyes with her own. “You should have seen her when his heart stopped–”

“His heart stopped??”

“During the games. I brought him back, she never would’ve held it together without him.”

Glimmer thinks for a moment, back to the arena, that first night when there had been a dying scream and no following canon– “The first night, right?”

Finnick nods, flexing and squeezing his hands together to uncramp them after the intricate knot tying exercise. “She reacted..honestly like I would have. Or you would have. Or Clove would have.”

She scoffs, raising a single eyebrow in pure disbelief. “You think she likes him?”

“I think she loves him. She’s just as bad as we are, Glim.” Finnick admits, running a hand through his greasy, unshowered hair. The curls fall more as waves at this point, lacking the care and upkeep of even a basic shower. “She’s been sedated as often as Cato has.”

For a split second, Glimmer feels almost bad. She pouts, bottom lip out, as she thinks of all the jabs she’s sent Katniss’s way. It never looked real.

“well..I don’t believe for a second that she’s pregnant. I would- well, I think we’d all know, considering she’d have to be what? Like..four? Five? Months pregnant by now, there's no way–”

“I’ll give you that one, Glimmer.”

-

“You look absolutely ridiculous.” Glimmer reminds him freely, hands sitting in her own lap as she watches him across from her, a thin plastic spoon bending and snapping as he tries to shove it through the thin chicken breast with no avail.

“You try to cut this dry shit with a spoon, it would be easier if the chicken was still alive.” Cato rips a piece off, tossing it at the face of the blonde girl across from him. “Eat.”

“If you’re complaining about it, I'm not sure it’s worth the waste of calories.”

“Shut your stupid mouth and eat.”

Glimmer rips a piece of a bread roll off to throw back at him, hitting him straight in the forehead, but does relent and rips a tiny piece off to nibble on herself. “I bet this is what it was like to live in District 12.”

They’re isolated in a different way, now. Sure, they’re with the overall population of District Thirteen, but the two of them sit at a corner cafeteria style table, with noone within four or five tables from them. It’s like they had the capitol loyalist plague, and no one wanted to catch it. The murmurs of murderer, child killers, psychopaths didn’t bother them much, though sometimes Glimmer just wanted to scream back at them.

 We were children too. We wanted to live, too.

Whatever. At least they don’t have to play nice.

At least, until right now.

Beetee– who recovered from both their attack on their arrival– wheeled himself over to their table, not bothering to bother with niceties.

“Would you two follow me?”

“We’re a bit busy enjoying this gourmet, five star meal, maybe we’ll try again later–” Cato argues, intensely focusing on the garbage food before him. He tightens his grip on his fork, and Glimmer can tell he’s debating how to turn it into a weapon. Or rather, if he should.

“No. I believe you will be very happy to follow along.” Beetee urges again, nodding his head towards the door.

Glimmer and Cato lock eyes, distinctly debating if this was worth the possible trap. Sure, Beetee is not a risk to either of them, but there was no reason he wouldn’t be in on a reason to get rid of them, either.

Glimmer pushes herself up first, and Cato follows. It’s funny, for someone who declared himself the de facto leader of their career pack in the arena, he often seemed to wait for her cue, too. Maybe he finally saw her as an equal threat.

All it took was a few attempts at murder  to bring two people together.

They follow Beetee silently, through elevators and the deep depths of District Thirteen they had not visited before. Hell, they didn't even know it went this deep down into the Earth.

He leads them to a heavily armored door that he can only access through a scan of his eye.

“I had to fight to get you two privileges down here.” Beetee begins, as two heavy metal doors begin to part down the middle, giving way to a heavily armored room, both in terms of the heavy metal surrounding the room but also in terms of arms.

Weapons. They brought them to the weapons.

“Holy shit.” Cato grins, actually grins, for the first time since their capture and separation back in the arena. “You have to be an idiot to bring us here.”

LIke a kid in a candy store, truly, Cato half runs forward. He runs his hand over the array of shining metal weapons, sliding his finger over the sharp metal edges of hunting knives.

“Well. Katniss and the others are on a special mission. District Eight, trying to gather some footage. If all the other victors have access, you should as well. You can’t hurt anyone from inside here.”

“How the hell did you get them to agree to this?” Glimmer smiles, picking up the spare bow, weighing it in her hands. It was most certainly meant for Katniss, not her, but she couldn’t bring herself to mind.

“Think of it as enrichment time. If they think you two are useful to the cause– you may have some advantages on your side.” Beetee was no fool. Neither Glimmer nor Cato were going to support this cause, but at least they could be less of a danger if they were entertained.

Cato picks up a trident, clearly meant for Finnick, and twirls it between his nimble fingers. “ Don’t tell me you’re going to send Finnick into an active war zone with a trident. What moron goes into a literal battle with a Trident.”

The games were one thing. They were all trained in some sort of short ranged, low impact weapon. This, though, was different. This was war.

“Finnick and Katniss are…more for show.” Beetee admits, noting how Glimmer has discarded the bow in exchange for some of the other knives at their disposal. “It’s impactful, to display them with the weapons they were known for. It helps to bridge a gap. Besides, Katniss is very comfortable and proficient with a bow.”

“That’s suicide, to send them into actual war with those, you know that.” Glimmer mumbles, shaking her head in disapproval. “Bringing a knife to a gunfight. But somehow worse, when she is the actual symbol of your war.”

“Our goal is to never let her experience actual danger..”

“You don’t have Peeta. She’ll put herself in danger to get him back.” Glimmer counters, ignoring the perplexed eyebrow raise of Cato. Right. She hadn’t shared Finnick’s revelations a few weeks ago with him. Note to self, then. “I can’t believe we got access to the victor playground. We’re on suicide watch at breakfast.”

“Well..I assumed this would be a nice distraction, and you will keep access so long as you don’t go for the–”

A literal shot echoes through the metal room, and Glimmer and Beetee both whip their heads behind them.

Cato stands there, smoke coming from the actual gun he holds in the palm of his hand. “I’m not going into any fucking war, but I want one of these.”  He fires off a few more shots, that one after the other, hit the center of the distant target dummy. He’s aimed at one of those many times in his life–usually with a sword or occasional spear– but this..this was pure power held in his hands.

“Guns. I didn’t want you to go for the guns.” Beetee sighs, as Glimmer practically jumps over him to get to Cato. “Just don’t kill any of us.”

Glimmer holds out her hands excitedly, grabbing towards him. “Gimme, I wanna try.”

“Get your own.” He nods to the table behind me, where another similar handgun remains. “I don’t get why they never let us use these…”

“Oh please, we’d have ended the games in an hour flat.” She teases, twirling the metal in her hands and bringing her arms out before her.

Like Cato, she hits the dead center of the dummy, over and over and over, each shot as precise as the last.

“Not bad, blondie.” Cato compliments, giving her an affirming nod of her head. “I guess all that training carries over across weapons, huh?”

“You’re blonde too, idiot.” Glimmer rolls her eyes, firing off a few more shots before the clip runs out. “Beetee, I need more!”

“On the table.” The older man sighs, watching in contentment  as the two most unhinged members of the rebellion fire off countless accurate, precise shots.

They learn, fast, how to reload the clip without missing a single beat, firing off hundreds and hundreds of rounds of lead into the dummies around the room.

They never miss.

“Clove will love this.” Cato decides, for the first time genuinely speaking positively about the future without prompt. “I can’t wait to show her.”

“Do you think we could go after them?” Glimmer whispers for Cato alone, eyes flicking between the targets. They were incredibly accurate– but they’d need access to the weapons and transportation. There were logistics involved that they may not be capable of.

“...we could try–” Cato offers, before shaking his head. “It might be suicide.”

She understands, and gives a short nod of her head. It was probably a no. But the idea, well, it was there and shared between them.

“Beetee!” Glimmer calls, twisting blonde hair over her finger with a little coy look on her face, offering an abrupt change to the topic of conversation. “I am not going into this war, but if I had to, can you get me a pink one?”

Cato snorts, going back to his roots and picking up a long, serrated hunting knife. “Just what everyone wants to see, you take out President Snow with a pink, shiny little gun. Will you be fighting Miss Mockingbird on fire for that honor?”

Glimmer begins to giggle, then lets out a short, sharp gasp as she realizes what he says. He must realize at the same time, the implication of what he has said, for he looks up with a startled look on his face.

Such a statement is blatant support for the Rebellion. The implications that they would be part of a take down of the Capitol– well that's treason, in itself.

Of note does not try to correct himself, or change the topic. Beetee does not comment, but he does have a small smirk twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Cato gives a half hearted laugh, before he goes back to the array of weapons before them. Glimmer sets down the gun, the implication of holding it still a bit much.

When did they become treasonous little snakes themselves?

#clato fanfic #clato fanfiction #THG fanfic #the hunger games fanfic #ARWBFB tag #always remember we're burned for better #cato and clove #glimmer and marvel #glimmer and cato r becoming friends they're trauma bonding

[tooruluv]

exes confront each other • kozume kenma

[ how did you meet? ]

you: 

kenma:

you: i think it was a couple weeks into freshman year of college?

kenma: i think so, yeah. 

you:

kenma:

you: 

kenma: i’ve missed you. you look good.

you: thanks. i’ve missed you too.

kenma:

you: your hair is longer. you’ve grown out the blonde.

kenma: yeah, yeah. i was thinking of cutting it, but i like how easy it is to pull back.

you: it looks good.

kenma:

you:

kenma: thanks. 

••

you: sorry, back to the question.

kenma: right. um, class. it was one of the gen classes we have to take.

you: i think it was some sort of math?

kenma: you were one of the only people writing their notes instead of typing them.

you:

kenma:

you: and you were playing games instead of paying attention.

kenma: [chuckles] yeah. 

you: 

kenma:

you: eventually, you started to turn your screen so i could watch.

kenma: i remember that! i would feel your eyes so i figured...

you: it was definitely motivation to go to class.

kenma:

you: well, what? i had to see you beat the game at that point.

kenma: 

you:

kenma: and you did.

you:

kenma:

you: and i did.

[ why did you break up? ]

you:

kenma:

you:

kenma:

you: i still think i made the right choice.

kenma: 

you:

kenma: i think you did, too.

••

you: i broke up with him. when he started to get big online, streaming or whatever, i thought it was better to... end it before it got too serious.

kenma: “too serious”...

you:

kenma:

you: you said...

kenma: i know what i said.

••

kenma: my focus drifted away from us, too, so i can’t blame you for breaking up with me.

you:

kenma: i...

you: kenma...

kenma: 

you:

••

you: you know that it was hard for me to do, right?

kenma: 

you:

kenma: i know, i know. you just made it look easy.

you: it wasn’t. i had to try really hard to get over you.

kenma:

you: 

kenma: me too.

[ what did you love most about each other? ]

you:

kenma: i loved how you always drank energy drinks.

you: oh my god.

kenma: what? you would argue with me about how water was bland! it was so funny to see you pop up anywhere we went with an energy drink.

you:

kenma: it was endearing.

you: 

••

you: i loved cuddling with you. it might be cliché, but i did.

kenma:

you: you always let me play with your hair. it was so soothing. even if we were just laying around, you would let me put little braids in it. 

kenma:

you: i loved that you trusted me that much, and that you were that comfortable with me.

kenma:

you:

kenma: see, now i want to change my answer.

••

kenma: i loved that you would watch me play games. 

you:

kenma:

you: what?

kenma: you would just sit with me for hours, watching me play and cheering me on. i loved that about you. you never complained once.

you:

kenma:

you: well, you were good at them. it’s fun to watch people be good at the things they do.

kenma: 

you:

[ what did you hate most about each other? ]

you:

kenma:

you: i don’t like this question.

kenma: i don’t, either.

••

you: you go first.

kenma: i went first last time, you go.

you: 

kenma:

you: okay.

••

you: i think i would say that... you got distracted easily.

kenma:

you: it was hard to feel important or needed when you would fall into your screen.

kenma: 

you:

kenma: i always knew you were there, though. i never...meant to make it seem like you were invisible.

you: i know. but you did. 

kenma:

••

kenma: i guess... i hated how easy it was for you to go.

you: i told you, it wasn’t...

kenma: but it was, though.

you:

kenma: you didn’t want to be a part of my online popularity. and i get that, i always have. but you could’ve stayed. i could’ve hid you from the viewers, could’ve just told them i had a partner without posting anything about you, could’ve had both...

you: but you know that i didn’t want that.

kenma:

you: i would’ve been miserable that way. to be yours but never be yours in front of those who matter so much to you.

kenma:

you:

kenma: i know.

[ do you think you could try again? ]

you: i don’t know.

kenma: 

you:

kenma: me neither.

••

you:

kenma:

you:

kenma: i was in love with you.

you:

kenma:

you: what?

kenma: i loved you. still do, i think.

you:

kenma: 

you: can i have a minute?

••

you:

kenma: i’m sorry. for not telling you before and for telling you now.

you:

kenma:

you: i loved you, too.

kenma:

you:

kenma: you did?

you: i did. 

kenma: and...

you:

kenma: do you still?

you: i think i always will.

masterlist

taglist: @paradisebabey @seaofemptygold @katsulovee @zhaixiaowen @daylghits @haikyuusimp91​ @darknessyournewfriend @sharkbb @samwise-though @lunarvanilla @kkeke99 @aonenthusiast @manq-fandoms @dwcljh @xxsilverwingxx @megumidulce @qualitygiantshoepsychic

#tooruluv🍄post #kozume kenma #kozume #kenma #haikyuu #hq kenma #haikyuu kenma #exes confront each other #kenma x reader #kozume kenma x reader #kozume kenma x you

[crowning-art]

TGCF SPOILERS AAAHHHHHHHHHHHGHHDHHFDHJFJX

GUUUUYYYTSSSSSS WTTFFFFF I DID NOT EXPECT THIS I DID NOT EXPECT TO READ THEIR FREAKING CINFESSION TODAY OH MY GOD I CANT EVEN TYPE RJFBFJFNFJTJFJGJ

Accurate depiction of me reading the absolute wild events I read rn:

Literally, like that exact face of disbelief, happiness, confusion, shock, conflicted, etc etc

First of all I DID NOT EXPECT WHITE NO FACE TO SHOW UP SO MUCH WHAT????

YAASSSSSS LETS GOOOOOOOO NEW PEEPS ADDED TO THE REUNION AND THIS TIME IT IS MY FAVES DJDJJDJXJD AHHH IM SO HAPPY I MISSED FENG XIN AND MU QING SO MUCH DJDJDJFJ

Ok but like I was trying to take this part seriously but all I kept thinking of was that one scene in that one barbie movie from like ages ago where she gets buried in an avalanche (mainly cuz I used to re-enact it with my siblings ALOT when I was kid lmao) the point is....I couldn't take this scene seriously lmao if you know, you know

When Xie Lian turned back to save Nan Feng and Fu Yao, that moment he delayed allowed the wave of snow to swallow him whole. The cold and heavy wave of snow surged without rest, breaking him and Hua Cheng apart. Xie Lian was falling all over from the force, tumbling down with the white wave, but still managed to keep struggling somehow. However, there was too much snow, the surge too powerful, and time and time again covered over Xie Lian’s head, bringing a series of sudden suffocations.

In the end, Xie Lian shouted, “SAN LANG!”, unable to hang on, and was buried down after all, disappearing within the icy snow current.

It was from this exact scene that I started feeling anticipation cuz I knew stuff here and there about the statues and confession but I didn't really know what I was getting into...

Xie Lian was already used to Hua Cheng having the answers to everything, yet this time, Hua Cheng replied, “I don’t know. Most likely under the snowy mountain.”

Xie Lian was amazed. “And here I thought it was a shelter San Lang found. I can’t believe not even you know where this is?”

“No,” Hua Cheng said.

LMAO THIS WAS SO FUNNY THO

The moment Xie Lian fell into the pit, those white strings of silk instantly charged forward and tied him up nicely. The rest of the cobwebs were then slowly crawling about, further securing the “cocoons” on Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s bodies. Fu Yao was going mad with rage.

“How come you fell too? Now look at us, three dumb fools! Let’s all just die here together!”

Yooo they are 2 brain cells shared among one another and today it is with NEITHER LMAO

It was like Fu Yao couldn’t believe his real identity was so easily seen through, and was relentless. “When exactly did you find out? How did you find out? There must’ve been something that gave it away, what was the flaw?!

But like this part was so cute, like I genuinely love their friendship so much and like vice versa cuz they also recognized Xie Lian's statues just as quickly

If he couldn’t guess who were under those two skins, then he would’ve lived all those years for nothing.

Ah, wait, hold up, what deed are they talking about? When Mu Qing was accused of stealing or is it something else that's mentioned later? I'm confused :(

Feng Xin also added, “Stop thinking people are as narrow-minded as you. Even when that shitty deed of yours landed you in Heaven’s Prison, His Highness still tried to help you…

LMAO OK THIS WAS ALSO HILARIOUS

“…What’s with those faces?” Xie Lian asked. “Don’t get me wrong. The red string I’m talking about isn’t something so frivolous as the ‘red string of fate’, it’s a spiritual device. Just a spiritual device.”

Only then did the two stop their twitching.

Feng Xin replied, “Oh, I see.”

Mu Qing on the other hand, was doubtful. “And what kind of spiritual device is that? What does it do?”

“It’s quite useful,” Xie Lian said. “It’s a red string tied on both our hands, with an invisible connection in between. One can use this red string to find the other, and as long as one is still breathing, the red string will never break…”

Before he even finished, the other two couldn’t listen anymore and cut him off.

“HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT THAN THE ‘RED STRING OF FATE’? IT’S EXACTLY THE SAME THING!”

LMAO THEY ARE SO OVER PROTECTIVE IT'S SO CUTE FJFJFJFJGUC but like ughhh get you some besties who would point out all the bad things in the new dude u bring home and are willing to put their lives on the line to protect you T-T

The whole convo really went:

Fengqing: He has red flags ALL over him!!!

Xie Lian: well...umm..red is my favourite colour *twirling hair shyly*

Ya so at this point I was like oh dear lord....things are going down

“I can’t believe there’d be a day that an arrogant character like Crimson Rain Sought Flower would be afraid to cause unnecessary trouble,” Mu Qing said.

Ok guys be prepared for a literal essay lol

I'm going to use different words to describe Hua Cheng's feelings for Xie Lian but bear with me for a bit.

This paragraph is the first to start to explicitly state how obsessed Hua Cheng is with Xie Lian and like ya we knew all along with the subtle (or not so subtle) hints but it has now been "exposed under the sun":

Looking closely, every single statue here was carved as if they were alive, the details more than detailed, almost to the point of frightening. It was easy to see just how closely the sculptor had observed the subject of his divine statues. Xie Lian dared say that even the most renowned of sculptors of Xianle back then would not be able to carve to this level of excellence. It was as if the sculptor’s mind was completely filled with this person, and his eyes only saw this person.

Like I don't think the magnitude of Hua Cheng's...love? Obsession? Worship? Is truly comprehended cuz imagining a HUGE cave filled with 10 thousand sculptures of varying heights like that's insane (essay continued after the next bullet point lmao)

Lmao there are so many lines in here that are my favorite ESPECIALLY THIS ONE LOL

Mu Qing could not believe his ears. “…Did he actually cast something on you to confound your mind? I think even if he was to write ‘suspicious’ on his face you’d suddenly become illiterate.”

Uh oh........

“Didn’t I say not to touch things randomly in someone else’s territory?”

Back to essay!

As seen in many places, Hua Cheng has made Xie Lian his everything and clearly he is so shaken up by everything like genuinely rejection from the one and only person who matters to him is the one thing that would make him wish for death...(you see what I am getting at 😏)

Both Xie Lian’s face and mind were going to burn up. He was scared Hua Cheng might see, but Hua Cheng didn’t look at him at all, keeping to his promise completely, never crossing the line. He kept his head slightly turned, averting his gaze from that half-exposed white shoulder.

And this part! Oh my God! This part works so much in Hua Cheng's favour because despite how crazy he is for Xie Lian, he doesn't lose the respect he has for him and retains both of their dignities in such an honorable manner (and it is also seen when he was young and Xie Lian had been in that cave where the whole temptation thing was going down, both retained that dignity and honour there as well).

But at the same time, it's like the mere the thought of Xie Lian being parted from him for even a second is enough for him to want to die

By then Hua Cheng had already come to his side and clutched one of his hands. He pulled him up and pressed him hard into his embrace, whispering, “…How can I possibly let go.”

I think the main point that I was trying to draw at was that I saw people say many times 'oh my God Hua Cheng is a stalker' 'He is so creepy' 'That's taking things too far' 'he's too obsessive' (yes looking at fengqing as well lmao) and while I had the same thought when I heard about this scene a while back out of context, now I actually disagree with this. We look at this from the lens of normal people but that was NEVER Hua Cheng. He always WORSHIPPED Xie Lian and i think people tend to forget that ALOT. What happens with them (which makes them so perfect as a couple imo) is that while Hua Cheng treats Xie Lian as the revered God he is, he also treats him like a normal person and act like a typical couple which gives such a perfect balance of unconditional love while acknowledging flaws within the other person. It just works so

✨️perfectly✨️

As Xie Lian says himself, none of them are normal in this world so how can they expect their love to be normal?

So ya, the 'stalking' and 'obsessiveness' is not weird in the slightest. (Obviously in the real world it would be major problem tho lmao)

WTF

Wtf

WTFFFFFFFFF OH MY GOD

Soon after, “Feng Xin” and “Mu Qing” before them disappeared, and what replaced them was a tall and slender white-clad young man.

Judging by his form, this young man was about seventeen or eighteen years of age, and he was wearing a mask, half of it crying, half of it smiling. While his face couldn’t be seen, the crisp and bright voice of a youth came from behind his mask.

He said warmly, “How are you, Xie Lian.”

HE IS HEREEEEEEE IN THE FLESH OH MY GOOOOD WHOEVER THE HELL WHITE NO FACE IS THIS DUDE IS HERE OH MY GOOOOOD

And the finale....

IT IS THE CONFESSIONNNNNN RJFJFJFJFJFJJFJFNFJ AHHHHHHHH FJFJFJFJFJFJFJFJF

After a pause, Xie Lian asked, his voice flat, “You…don’t want to know…how I feel about this?”

“…”

Hua Cheng turned his head slightly, like he wanted to look back but at the same time was afraid to look Xie Lian in the eyes.

I was like holding my breath the entire time when this happened like pin drop silence

So, only the two streaks of blood on his cheek could be seen.

“Will Your Highness…not tell me?”

Even his voice was cracked.

And THE ABSOLUTE FEAR LIKE MY MAN WAS READY TO LIVE IN THE SHADOWS AND NEVER MEET XIE LIAN AGAIN BUT EVERY DAY WOULD BE LIKE LIVING A THOUSAND DEATHS

And then

He heard Hua Cheng’s staggering voice coming from above.

“…Your Highness. You really…will be the death of me.”

WHAT HE WAS GIFTED INSTEAD WAS JUST ONE DEATH BUT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND BLISSFUL DEATH OF THEM ALL AND IT IS JUST SO POETIC AND BEAUTIFUL AND IM LITERALLY ACHREECHING WHAT THE HEELL THIS WAS AMAZING IM LOSING MY MIND OH MY GOD I can't I genuinely have so much to say but like U GET THE IDEA and u don't understand how perfect the whole scene was created for me cuz I have a tgcf playlist i listne to while reading and the moment I started reading this part, the opening song for the donghua started playing and I was shook like IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL I CANT

#tian guan ci fu #tgcf #heaven's official blessings spoilers #heaven’s official blessings #hua cheng #xie lian #tgcf spoilers #tgcf journey #ch 173-177 #Oh mt god #like i know the confession is like yes finally #but its so more than that for hua cheng #and like all the emotions that he must have felt in that moment #i genueinly cant imagine #wow #so well written #i cant even imagine how much better it can get

[hetalia-club]

My love, my dear, my friend. I am an aroace I know for sure I can be a partner for you and you deserve better. And I will tell you straight up this point here you life will be better than being with a sorry excuse for a boyfriend you left. J E S U S 😅 I’m not saying you’ve been through the worst but holy shit all those little things that he did gives me a headache. If I knew you personally I would’ve taken you out of there. But in all honesty take care and show him that you WILL be better off without him, and I’ll be rooting for you too dear. Take care ♥️

Ace buddies! :)

The thing is irl you would have never known because he didn't act this way in front of people who were not me or his mom and dad. He would put on this dude bro act. And he didn't act this way at first around me until I lived with him for a few months and then I started to noticed it slowly. My mom knew how he was because I tell my mom everything and she would always say "he sucks" and I would do the "Mom don't say that :(" But she is right he does suck.

But I was a fool and gave him wife privileges too early in our relationship (NEVER DO THIS!!!!)(NEVER EVER DO THIS!!!). And in turn it turned him into a man child. It was almost like he reverted back to being a teenager. Towards the end he just played video games on his 5k PC set up all the time. Literally all the time. If he wasn't at work he was doing that. And it was always some stupid shit no one cared about. He got REALLY into that dumb ass Pinocchio game and told me all about the lore and I pretended to care but I was just thinking "What is blud yappin about..." He bought so many F-ing games. I think he bought a new game every week, would like rapid fire beat it and then just move on to a new one. I had to put my own Steam account on invisible just so he couldn't see when I was on there because he would message me to bring him another beer or some string cheese. (I want you all to know I checked and he's on there playing Starfield as I type this)

He also stole my personality which he will not be able to hold onto now that I'm gone. He was never as funny as I was. I have more originality and humor in my pinky toe than he has in his entire body. So I famously don't talk much IRL. I'm very shy and normally just sit there and mind my business unless spoken to directly. But I would like whisper one liners under my breath to him at parties and group outings. And he would take what I said to him and say it louder and get a big laugh from everyone. I did call him out for that and I said something like "Hey you could at least credit me if you're going to take every funny thing I say and pretend you said it" he got REAL annoyed at that. He was like "WELL FINE! I just won't talk to anyone ever!" Because that was what I said... Which if anything is a fault on him because now his friends are going to wonder why his humor turned so sexual all of a sudden and he stopped saying actually funny things and just started making dick jokes (THE ONLY MATERIAL HE HAS)(That and also quoting American Pie movies & Step Brothers. And he plays it off like his own shit as if no one has never seen them...)(I so bad just wanted to be like That's from Anchorman you didn't come up with the joke about San Diego being the fake word for Whale's vagina you directly quoted that from Anchorman.) But I would laugh every time...Not real laughs they were pity laughs but he either couldn't tell the difference or just didn't care so long as I was stroking his ego.

He honestly somehow transformed from this super hot, former football player, frat bot, silly guy into what I would call a neckbeard, but a closeted one because he only acted that way at home.

The worst crime...He wasn't even 6ft. I put up with all of that and he was only standing at a lackluster 5'10.

#ask #let me know if you guys want more stories btw lol. #I can laugh about it now that i don't live this life anymore #i got 5 years of man child crying.

[miamignonette]

omw to bully the hotel transylvania character designers

#we need ​justice for my man griffin #do you know how funny it would’ve been if the one who’s invisible turned out to be hot? do you know how much ppl would talk about the movie? #also the mummy looks godawful like they really did not do their jobs #none of them look even slightly like the original characters #idk why i care btw

[messers-moony]

Secret Boyfriend | R.B

Paring: Regulus Black X Lupin!Fem!Reader

Summary: Keeping secrets seem to run in the Lupin family but one of the two twins has a bigger secret than the other can imagine. 

Pitter-patter could be heard inside the Gryffindor Common room. The Scotland weather never really seemed to make up its mind during the period between winter and spring. Nevertheless, it brought a calming atmosphere to the red and gold common room. The five Marauders sat in front of the fireplace, speaking to one another. Remus, Y/n, and Sirius sitting together on a couch. James on an armchair, and Peter sitting on the ground in front of the sofa. 

“So, Little Lupin.“ James drawled, “When are you getting a boyfriend?” 

Remus chuckled, quickly putting an arm around his twin sister, “Hopefully, never.” 

“Maybe I already have a boyfriend, and you lot just don’t know.” Y/n snipped as she elbowed her brother in the ribs slightly, “Oh, come on, paws!” James exclaimed teasingly. 

Paws was Y/n’s Marauder name. Her animagus was a Siamese cat, which resembled her personality quite well if you asked Remus. Y/n was quick-witted, independent, intuitive, curious, and affectionate when comfortable. She and Sirius were known to flirt all the time but recently - meaning a couple of months - they hadn’t done it at all. Perhaps Y/n was actually avoiding his flirtatious remarks. Nevertheless, Y/n’s animagus was a direct correlation with her personality. 

“Yeah, paws, you’ve been neglecting me recently. I’m not too happy with it either.” Sirius added with a fake pout, “Oh hush it, you two. Leave my sister alone. She’s got no hidden boyfriend.” Remus defended, looking at his sister. 

“Right, Y/n?” Remus coughed, and she jumped out of her daydream, “Mhm! Of course.” 

Conversation went on as usual. They began discussing new pranks, but Y/n’s jumper pocket felt heavier than usual, knowing what’s inside. It was a cream-colored envelope with the Black family crest as a seal. Y/n knew more than anyone that Sirius wouldn’t be happy to see the familiar logo, but this wasn’t from his parents. It was from his little brother, and Y/n was anxious to give it to him. So when James, Remus, and Peter went upstairs, Y/n pulled him aside before he could leave. 

“Padfoot, wait.” Y/n called, and he turned back, “What's up, paws?” Sirius queried, turning to face her. 

She sighed and pulled the envelope from her pocket, “Please, read this. It isn’t what you think it is despite the seal.” Y/n stated, handing him the parchment. 

“Where did you get this?” Sirius asked as he opened the packaging, “Regulus.” Y/n’s answer was firmer than expected. 

Nonetheless, the letter inside seemed essential to his fellow Marauder, so he opened it. Inside he was met with his little brother's prominent handwriting. The black ink treaded so seamlessly across the brown paper. Y/n remembered watching him write it at his desk, desperately trying to collect his thoughts while his hand shook relentlessly. She couldn’t do anything but sit from his bed and watch. Regulus needed to do this alone. 

After reading, Sirius slid the letter back inside its packaging, “Well, it’s his fault.” 

“Actually, it isn’t.” Y/n quipped, “Listen, Sirius, Regulus is trying. He really is.” 

“You would know this how?”

“Because we’ve been friends for a long time.” 

“Oh really?” Sirius questioned sarcastically, crossing his arms, “Since when did you and Reggie become so close?” 

“He began tutoring me in third year for Potions.” Y/n answered, “You couldn’t have asked Remus?”

“No. “ Y/n shook her head, “Slughorn wanted Regulus specifically.” 

“Well then. Full moon tomorrow, hope you’re prepared.” Sirius chirped as he began walking up the steps to his dorm, “I’m always prepared.” Y/n replied to essentially no one. 

She sighed. It was apparent Sirius didn’t want to believe what Regulus had written. It would’ve been hard on anyone. But Regulus wanted it to come from him instead of Sirius finding out. Since Y/n’s third year - Regulus’ second year - she felt attracted to him. He always made time for her. It wasn’t until their fourth year when she realized it. In her fifth year, they made it official. Regulus Black and Y/n Lupin were a couple but hidden beneath an invisibility cloak. 

Seventh year wasn’t easy. The upcoming war, her brother's lycanthropy, N.E.W.T.S, and Regulus getting the dark mark. Nothing seemed to be working in her favor. Books didn’t even seem to please her anymore. Her eyes wandered while she began to daydream about anything rather than reality itself. People began to notice how lost the girl appeared. 

Especially her brother. 

Study sessions with her weren’t the same. Some days her eyes would appear glossier than usual as if someone put a coating of lip gloss over them. Maybe they were rimmed with a pastel pink seeming tired and unhappy. The tremors in her hands were hard to ignore as she wrote with her quill. If there’s one thing Remus Lupin was good at, it was being observant; however, there wasn’t time, and he didn’t have the patience to deal with this right now. The full moon approaching meant that Remus’ patience tolerance was down to about none. 

There was one thing that brought her clarity. Regulus Black. The Gryffindor common room was always a warm and welcoming atmosphere. In contrast, the Slytherin common room was cold and damp, but it brought her comfort because of the person inside. Y/n padded quietly inside of his prefect hallway, which was beside the Slytherin common. She walked into his bedroom, which was dark. 

No candles lit. Just dark. Regulus always felt comfort in the dark, but it wasn’t dark because of that. It was dark because he was absent. Y/n peered over to his desk, where letters sat from his mother and some cousins. Andromeda seemed to try and reach him, but the letter looked unopened. There was one that caught her eye. It was Remus’ handwriting, and it was from him. It was also opened. Y/n knew she couldn’t stay all night. The full moon was due to rise in just two hours. 

Picking up the parchment, she began to read:

“ To Regulus Black, 

You need to step up. I get it. Sirius has been disowned, but he tries to make an effort. Can’t you see that? Sirius really needs you, and I know that you miss him too. This whole stubborn game of not wanting to talk to each other has gone on long enough. 

I know what it’s like to argue with a sibling, and it isn’t pleasant. Suck it up, swallow your pride and talk to Sirius. You don’t have to ultimately make up, but please, he’s trying. 

From, Remus Lupin. “

Y/n swallowed down her anger. Who was Remus to get involved in their affairs? If Sirius and Regulus didn’t want to interact, that was their problem, not his. It infuriated her. But she didn’t have time to babble around. Y/n pointed her wand at her and became a cat. Perks of her animagus being allowed at Hogwarts, she could roam around freely without suspicion. Quickly she sprinted down to the Whomping Willow, where she was met with her three Marauders in human form. Y/n transformed back. 

“Where were you! I was worried sick!” Remus scolded, “Nowhere, but we need to talk later.” Y/n answered. 

They got Remus in the shack and changed into their animagus forms. A stag, a rat, a dog, and a cat. The dog and the cat had the most interaction with the werewolf. Sometimes the dog and werewolf would cuddle up beside each other, whereas the cat would sleep on its own along with the other two animals. The following day Y/n and Sirius lugged Remus up to the hospital wing. Y/n sat beside him the entire time while the other three went off. Sirius and James were off to Quidditch practice. Peter was off to see his girlfriend in Hufflepuff. 

Y/n tapped aimlessly on Remus’ hand, “M- Morning.”

“Morning, Moony.” Y/n greeted, “How are you feeling?” 

“Phenomenal.”

“Sorry.”

“What did we need to talk about?” Remus questioned, and Y/n tilted her head, “You said we needed to talk before going to the shack.”

“Yes, I did. Um- uh- did you send Regulus a letter by any chance?” Y/n stammered, “I did. Why?” 

“I saw it.” Y/n replied shortly, “You saw it?” Remus repeated incredulously. 

She nodded, “How did you see it?” 

“Regulus and I are friends. Sometimes we hang out in his dorm.” The words seemed like nothing as they rolled off her tongue, “You hang out in the Slytherin dorms? Is that why you always know the password so we can do pranks?” 

“Of course.” Y/n chuckled, “I use my privilege to its advantage.”

Remus began to get up but grimaced, causing Y/n to jump up to help him. Gently she eased him to a sitting position. A new scratch on his cheek and multiple on his arms. It’s evident that the cat and the dog had to stop him. The thin scratches on his arms were a cat's nails. The thicker scratch on his cheek was a dog's nails. Remus looked down at his arms. 

“I’m sorry.” Y/n muttered, “Not your fault, paws. Who was it this time?” Remus asked. 

“Prongs. Apparently, you wanted Prongs.” Y/n answered, and he kissed the top of her head, “Thank you for stopping me.” 

“Anything for my brother.” 

“Just like anything for our Moony?”

Y/n laughed, “Yeah.”

Paws began to tap on his hand again, until a voice echoed through the hospital wing, “Y/n?” 

“Y/n?” The voice called again, and Remus quirked his eyebrow at his sheepish sister, “Y/n!” 

Suddenly a black-haired, grey-eyed, pale figure was beside her. He didn’t realize what he was doing until he had already kissed the top of her head worriedly. Y/n turned pink at the affection and the embarrassment of it happening in front of her brother. Remus coughed, and the male stood straight. 

“Regulus, what a surprise.” Remus retorted, “Didn’t think you’d ever visit me in the infirmary.”

“Remus, please-“ 

“I wouldn’t.” Regulus snapped, “Then why are you here?” Remus inquired. 

Regulus’ hand was playing aimlessly with the ends of Y/n’s hair, “Moony….” Y/n began at a whisper, “Regulus is my boyfriend.”

“This-“ Remus pointed at them both with a laughing smile, “Is funny.”

“Nice prank, paws, but it isn’t going to work.”

Y/n sighed, “It isn’t a prank, Rem.” 

“We’ve been together for about two years now.” She confessed, and Regulus stiffened, “Friends, my ass.” Remus scoffed bitterly. 

“Remus, please-“ Y/n began, “No, please just leave. We can talk about this later when I’m in the right frame of mind. Because if you don’t leave, now I might throw a punch.” Remus replied. 

She sighed and reluctantly left with Regulus trailing behind her. Y/n didn’t want to cry. It was pitiful. Regulus never had a good relationship with Sirius since Hogwarts, yet he didn’t seem to care. Thankfully, after building the Marauders Map, she knew every little crevice and hiding spot. Pulling back a tapestry, she sat down on the cement floor. Regulus doing the same beside her. Hesitantly he pulled his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. 

“This is pitiful.” Y/n chuckled bitterly, “I’m sorry, Reggie.”

“It isn’t pitiful. You and Remus have a close relationship. It’s okay to be sad about him telling you off.” Regulus replied, placing his chin on the top of her head, “Sirius and I are different. Don’t compare you and Remus with us.”

Y/n nuzzled into his chest, “I saw the letter Remus sent you.”

“I- I saw the way he spoke to you, and I’m sorry.” Y/n stated, “I hope he comes around.” 

“I do too, love.” Regulus kissed the top of her head, “ I do too.”

It was quiet for a moment until two figures pulled back the tapestry, “Oi! Get off, little Lupin!” James exclaimed, and Y/n sighed, “Sirius, James, please just leave.”

“What are you doing with my mate's little sister, Regulus?” Sirius interrogated, “Comforting her. She needs me.” Regulus retorted, tightening his grip on her shoulder. 

Y/n stood up and pulled Regulus with her, “Come on. We four need to talk.” 

The four of them walked into a broom closet. It was a quiet walk. Eerily quiet. It brought shivers down Y/n’s spine at how silent the walk was. The tension was so thick you couldn’t cut it with a knife. The pressure felt like sludge. It was thick and mush. But when Y/n opened the door, the lot of them walked inside. James and Sirius stared expectantly. 

“Regulus and I have been dating since my fifth year.” Y/n began, and Regulus intertwined their hands. 

“Little Lupin!” Sirius exclaimed, “You weren’t lying when you said you had a secret boyfriend!”

“You scandalous little thing!”

“I can’t believe this.” James stated after running his hand through his hair, “How did Remus take it?”

“Not very well.” Y/n replied, “He kicked me out of the hospital wing when Regulus showed up. “

“He’s- He’s not in the right mindset, though. He’ll come to. I know he will. He has to.”

Sirius’ eyes softened, “Moony will come around. It might just take him a minute.” 

“Regulus.” James called, and grey eyes stared at him, “Y/n is a Marauder.”

“I know that.” Regulus interrupted, “She is my little sister as much as she is Remus’” James continued. 

“And mine!” Sirius added, smiling brightly, “Y/n is our little sister. The lot of us depend on her. We can’t, and we won’t have her heartbroken.” James explained sternly, suddenly looking a lot like Mrs. Potter. 

Regulus’ cheeks flushed with pink, “I love her, I really do. I don’t plan on breaking her heart anytime soon.” 

“You’re gonna be my sister-in-law!” Sirius squealed, hugging Y/n forcefully, almost knocking her over, “Oh, little Lupin.” He cooed. 

“You’re all grown up!” 

They laughed, and Sirius kissed her forehead, “Take care of him, will you?” He whispered so only she could hear, “Of course.” Y/n smiled. 

“Alright, alright, I’d like my girlfriend back,” Regulus replied, taking her away from Sirius’ arms. 

Sirius gulped, “How’s mum going to take this, Reggie?” 

“I don’t care.” Regulus retorted, “Mums gonna have to deal with it.” 

The smile on Sirius’ face was brighter than the sun, “Oh, Reggie!” He wailed, pulling Regulus into a tight hug. 

The two brothers smiled as they hugged each other. Regulus sleeve slipped up, and James stepped back, pulling out his wand. The two Black brothers pulled apart, and that’s when Sirius saw it. The dark mark on his brother's sleeve. Y/n stiffened as Sirius lifted his sleeve up further to see it clearly. 

“Reggie…” 

“Sirius, please, I didn’t want it.” Regulus pleaded, “She- They- Please.”

James watched intently at them. Sirius’ eyes had filled with tears as he embraced his younger brother. For the first time in a long time, Regulus felt protected in his brother's arms. James walked closer and joined them. Hugging both Black brothers as close as he could. James Potter, the man who never stops giving. They pulled apart, and James took Reggie into his own arms. 

“You need anything, you come to me, okay?” James informed sternly, and Regulus nodded, “Ye- Yeah.”

“Remus and Y/n always come for the holidays. You won’t be alone.” James stated smiling, “My parents already have one Black; they won’t mind another.” 

The Black brother smiled, “Thank you….”

The days went on, and Regulus still avoided the Marauders altogether. Remus glared at him from the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Deep emerald green eyes were flashing at the grey ones that sat at the Slytherin table. Until Y/n jabbed him in the ribs, taking his attention away from the younger Black brother. 

“Remus.” Y/n scolded, “Stop it.”

“I think you’re too hard on him, Moony.” James began, “He loves your sister. Maybe talk to him.” 

“No.” Remus snapped, “You guys can accept this, but I can’t.” 

They didn’t push any further. Y/n and Remus had been distant from each other. It was weird to watch the twins who were typically attached at the hip to be so - abroad. Regulus didn’t like that he was now the cause of their fussing. After all, they were the reason Sirius and him were on speaking terms now. So Regulus and Sirius made a plan. It involved them being locked in a broom closet, and so it happened—one night after dinner. 

Remus was shoved into a cupboard, not by his own liking either, “Come on, Sirius! This isn’t funny. I have prefect duties to do!”

“Actually, someone else has taken them over.” Regulus informed, and Remus whipped around, “What are you two doing here?”

“Remus, explain it to me.” Regulus began, “Why you don’t approve of me with your sister.”

“Because! You’re a bloody death eater! You probably forced her to be with you.” Remus exclaimed. 

Y/n scoffed, “A pureblood forcing himself with a half-breed? Doesn’t seem likely.” 

Remus ran his hand through his hair, “Okay, he’s still a death eater!”

“I was forced!” Regulus exclaimed, “They strapped me to a chair and embedded the mark into my forearm. You don’t think I wasn’t thinking of her the entire time?! I was scared out of my mind!”

“The entire time, all I could think about was ‘How is Y/n gonna take this.’” Regulus admitted, “My heart aches for her. I didn’t want her to be scared.”

Remus’ green eyes turned soft, “Does she accept you? Does she love you? Do you love her?”

“Yes, Remus. I love him for who he is. James offered him a place to stay at the Potters.” Y/n replied, “And yes, I love her.” 

Tears filled her eyes, “Remus, please. I don’t want to lose either of you.”

Remus held out his arms, and she walked right into them. He placed one hand on the back of her head and one on the small of her waist. Holding her close to his heart, rubbing his thumb through her hair. Regulus’ grey eyes stared at the two siblings before him. Remus’ heart softened at his crying sister. He never wanted to hurt her, ever. 

“Paws.” Remus began as he pulled away slightly, “Does he make you happy?”

Y/n sniffled and nodded; Remus wiped her cheeks, “Okay.”

“Does he know you, for you?” 

“Mhm.”

Remus turned to Regulus as Y/n parted with him, “Where’s paws favorite place to be scratched?”

Regulus chuckled, “Behind her ears.”

“Take care of my little sister.” Remus pleaded, “Please, Regulus.” 

“Of course. I wouldn’t expect any different.” Regulus answered. 

Remus walked forward and put out his hand. Hesitantly Regulus shook his hand. Grey eyes met green ones. Remus couldn’t help the smile that placed itself on his face. Without hesitation, he pulled Regulus into a tight hug.

“Take care of my sister, and I’ll take care of you.”

“Always.”

#regulus black x reader #regulus black x you #regulus black x y/n #regulus black #Harry Potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter fanfiction #marauders #marauders fluff #marauders imagine #marauders smut #marauders x reader #remus lupin #remus fluff #remus lupin fluff #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin smut #remus lupin imagine #sirius black #sirius black imagine #sirius black smut #sirius black x reader smut #sirius black x reader #sirius orion black #james potter #james Potter x you #james potter x reader #the noble house of black #remus x reader #professor lupin

[ultraintrovertedgryffindor]

Omg I have an angsty request that I’m sure is going to rip my heart out and light it on fire. It’s a super long and specific request so sorry if I get carried away:

Okay so reader had an unspoken thing in the glade with Gally but then he “died” so over the course of the events of scorch trials she got closer with newt and they start their own unspoken thing. But then in the death cure, newt (realizing he has the flare) starts encouraging her to reconcile with gally because he knows that he’s gonna die and gally will take care of her? But she’s confused on who she loves but kinda clings to what she has with newt because he needs her. And she’s just heart b r o k e n over newt dying but gally helps put her pieces back together in the safe haven and eventually they have their fluffy first time together?

Thanks!

*Fanfare* *Triumphant Music* I finally finished this one! Sorry it took a while, I really wanted this to be perfect. But I think I'm quite happy with how this one turned out! I hope you like it too, sweet Anon. Btw, I know you wanted smut, but I just didn't think it would fit with this one. Sorry, maybe on the next one!

Over 5.2k words, so strap in for a long one y'all

Possible Trigger Warning: Self Harm

~~~~~~~~~~

During your time in the Glade, you were practically attached at the hip with Gally.

He was your best friend, your first go to whenever you had any issues, and you were the same to him.

After his supposed death, you felt a void in your soul. You took on a nihilistic attitude, nothing in life making sense anymore. You didn't care about what happened to you or around you, you wished you had died with Gally, the idea of it being welcomed with open arms.

The thought of dying brought no anxiety, no dread. Even the thought of dying painfully didn't scare you, you wanted it. Everyday you thought about that spear going through Gally's chest, wanting to feel what he must've felt. You wanted to feel the same pain and fear, you wanted to feel like you were dying too.

No rational side of you could explain why you felt this way. Perhaps, if you felt the same pain he felt, maybe it would give some sort of closure. Maybe it would make you feel like you were still close to him, even in death.

It wasn't too long before you decided to act on those feelings. You had been only a knife to your chest, right where your heart was, hyping yourself up to push the blade into your skin.

You didn't want to kill yourself, no. You wanted your death to be natural, not forced. You'd suffer your own existence until your time eventually came like it did for everyone else. But Newt didn't know this when he happened upon you that night, just a couple centimeters of a blade shredding its way into your skin.

Newt panicked, immediately stopping your from hurting yourself, his heart racing at the thought of being too late. But thankfully, he wasn't.

You tried to seem somewhat normal, but the laughter bubbling from your chest couldn't be withheld, making Newt fear that you had lost your mind. He wasn't too far off...

He knew how much Gally's death impacted you, he knew you were in pain every second of every day, but he never thought you'd go so far as hurting yourself. He just silently patched you up, fearing anything he would say from a good place would only upset you further.

Eventually, you explained why you had done what you did. It obviously didn't sit right with Newt. He wasn't particularly close with Gally back in the Glade, but he knew well enough that he wouldn't want you to be living with this mindset.

After a while in the Scorch, you stuck by Newt the most and you started to get better. You felt so empty after Gally's death, leaving a hole in your heart. Newt helped lead you out of that void, trying his best to fit that empty space. But you knew nobody could replace Gally, not even Newt. You knew that space could never be filled, but just seeing Newt try to be that person for you, it was too endearing not to pull at what heartstrings you had left.

Then the complications happened, so much time spent believing that Gally was dead came crashing down as he stood in front of you all, very much not dead.

You thought it had to be a dream, could he really be here?

It was strange. You thought you'd run to him, leap into his arms and kiss all over his face, but you didn't. You stood next to your friends awkwardly as he took off his gas mask. To think you'd be more outwardly happy that someone you cared about was still alive. But you couldn't help the guilt that you felt when Gally said that they left him to die. Sure, it might've not been specifically directed to you, but you felt the sharp sting of his words resonate through you. It almost felt like a strong invisible force hit your funny bone, the volt of uncomfortable aching pain spreading throughout your entire body and leaving you in a breathless agony.

For Gally, he was overjoyed to see you alive and well. He so badly wanted to go to you, feel you in his arms again. But he knew he couldn't, how could he after how he treated everyone back in the Glade?

He didn't remember a lot, but he knew he killed Chuck. The blurry memories of that day, he saw it every night in his dreams. He remembered the sound of the gunshot, the sudden pain in his chest and not being able to breathe. He saw Chuck laying beside him, his expressionless eyes trained on the ceiling, unmoving. His chest wasn't rising and falling like it should've been, blood seeping through his layers of clothing. The most purest soul Gally ever met was dead, and it was his fault.

Gally couldn't even bring himself to look in your direction, he was too disgusted with himself.

Thomas punching Gally wasn't a big shock, he knew he deserved it. But Newt quickly came to his rescue, stopping Thomas from acting out irrationally. But a part of Gally didn't want the Greenie to be stopped. Being punched wasn't something he enjoyed, but Gally would willingly endure whatever punishment that would be inflicted and he'd accept that he deserved it. But nothing he could do or say would bring Chuck back...

When Gally did finally force himself to look at you, he wish he hadn't. You looked indifferent, which never happened with you. He instantly thought that you hated him as much as Thomas did, but then again, he deserved it.

It was really tough for Gally to keep a conversation with everyone while he took them to see Lawrence, especially when he noticed how close you stuck by Newt. But, he supposed it was only natural to find another person to be close to when you've lost someone else, he still couldn't help the feeling of jealousy that bubbled up in his chest. He hated how good you and Newt looked together, you seemed...happy.

At the moment, you weren't even close to happy; you were confused, and angry.

It sounded terrible, but a part of you was angry that Gally was actually still alive. You had to go through the mourning process, and you hadn't even finished it and now all of a sudden, he was alive all this time. It put your emotions on haywire, the most you felt was confusion, and if someone would've told you what you were experiencing was some sort of a twisted dream, you would believe them. But your feet were too sore and sunburn too irritating for this all to be a dream.

You sensed Newt's eyes trained on you, you knew he was probably worried, but you couldn't decide what for. Was he worried that you'd go back to Gally? Was he worried you'd replace him now that he was still alive? Knowing Newt, he probably just wanted to talk to you, but even then, you would have no idea what to say. What do people feel or say in situations like this? You were certain not everyone has to go through the loss of a loved one just to find out that they weren't gone, right?

It was late, and you were exhausted, as was everyone else; but you stayed awake, attempting to sleep only causing you to toss and turn, and eventually giving up. But someone else was awake, you were shocked to see that it was Newt. "What're doing awake?" He asked, taking a seat next to you.

"Could ask you the same thing." You replied, only getting a look from Newt in response. "Couldn't sleep." You sighed, caving in to his concerned expression.

"I know it's not my place," Newt started, wringing his hands together nervously, "but, you haven't said a word to Gally." You knew he was going to bring that up, you had that feeling as soon as he saw you were still awake. "I know it was a shock, to all of us. But I thought it'd effect you the most, to be quite honest. You two were pretty close..."

You shrugged weakly, shaking your head. "I don't know what to tell you. Was I supposed to react a certain way? Was I supposed to drop to my knees and burst into tears or something?"

Newt grimaced. "No...of course you're not supposed to act a certain way. It's just a bit strange to me that you haven't tried to speak to him at all."

"I don't even know what I'd say to him." You chuckled bitterly.

"I know you and Gally had something, something special. That sort of thing doesn't just go away. You were absolutely gutted after what happened, this is a chance to reconnect. You care about him, a lot."

"Hey, that doesn't change the way I feel about you. I care about you a lot too."

Newt smiled weakly. "I know, but I really think you should go and talk to him."

You could tell he was being sincere, but you couldn't understand why. You two had grown close over the past several months, so why would he want you to reconnect with someone you used to be even closer with? You weren't really given the time to think over it more before Newt was quickly encouraging you to speak with Gally, telling you where his room was, somehow knowing this conversation would happen and finding out beforehand.

Just a few moments later, you found yourself outside of Gally's door, fist extended out to hover over the worn wood, but you couldn't bring yourself to knock. Thinking back to how hard you tried to avoid Gally when he came back, what if he thought you hated him? What if he didn't want to talk to you?

But before you could chicken out, you forced yourself to knock on Gally's door without thinking, soon hearing the thud of footsteps nearing. With bated breath, you waited for the door to open, anxiety gripping your mind so intensely that it almost triggered your fight or flight response. But Gally's almost hopeful and shocked expression when he saw you waiting relaxed you a little bit. "...hi." Gally voiced, the nervous and confused tone to his voice not going unnoticed by you.

"Hi." You replied, your voice probably just as shaky and nervous as his.

"Uh, come in." He said quickly, moving out of the doorframe, his hands slightly shaking when he motioned you to enter his room.

Your heart was beating out of your chest, so fast and hard that you were worried Gally would be able to hear it. Your hands were shaking, as well as your legs as you walked into his room, it was a miracle you didn't collapse right then and there. You tried not to jump as you heard the click of his door closing, you tried to take deep calming breaths before Gally turned to face you, the two of you almost on complete opposite sides of the room just standing awkwardly.

You stared at Gally, your gaze running up and down his body but ultimately stopping to stare at his chest. Tears quickly came to your eyes as you saw how healthy he looked, like a spear wasn't embedded in his chest months ago. You couldn't stop the flow of whimpers that came from your throat, putting your hands up to cover your face in embarrassment. You felt your face start to burn as you felt Gally's arms wrap around you as soon as you started to cry, but his warmth comforting you only caused you to let out more tears.

You never thought you'd be in his arms again.

Gally stood there silently, holding you and just trying to soothe you as best he could. In the back of his mind, he was astonished that you even let him come near you, you had avoided him altogether up until this moment. But the whimpers he heard coming from you, seeing the tears spilling from your eyes, he instinctively went to hug you. He also couldn't ignore the guilt he felt, thinking that you were crying because of him. He hated it. But you hugged him back tightly, burying your face in his chest and trying to stifle your sobs.

"You're here..." You cried softly, "you're really here..."

Gally's lip trembled, tears of his own brimming his eyes at how much pain you must've been in thinking he was dead all this time, your voice giving away your feelings. He exhaled shakily, "I am here." He placed a kiss to the top of your head. "I'm here."

For a few minutes, you and Gally just held each other silently. You both needed this, understanding how badly you missed one another. Soon, you were able to calm yourself, but you still didn't pull away. Gally only pulled away slightly so he could see your face, frowning when he saw your eyes were puffy and tearstained. "I'm so sorry, Y/n."

You furrowed your brows, shaking your head. "What happened wasn't your fault, Gally." You said genuinely. No matter how much pain and anger you felt about what happened to Chuck, you never once blamed him. You knew W.C.K.D. killed him, and every other Glader who died. But Gally's frown told you everything you needed to know; he still blamed himself.

"I should've gone with you." He whispered, resting his forehead against yours. "How can you even stand the sight of me?"

"Because I know you never would've killed anyone if you weren't stung, especially Chuck."

Hearing Chuck's name out loud made tears brim Gally's eyes once more, tightening his fists in anger at himself. "Chuck deserved so much better...he wasn't supposed to die..." He cried, causing you to pull him back into your embrace, rubbing his back while trying to not to cry again.

"None of us deserved to get experimented on."

Eventually, you lead Gally to sit next to you on his bed, holding his hand. It felt so right to be sitting there with Gally, you missed him so much that you despised ever feeling even the slightest bit of anger when you first saw that Gally was alive. But one emotion did not go away, you still felt confused.

While sitting there with Gally, you couldn't help but think about Newt. He was so adamant about you reconciling with Gally, was he hoping that something would happen between you two? You truly cared a lot about Newt, and you knew he felt the same way, so you couldn't understand why he was acting this way.

You sighed softly when you started to feel sleepy, standing up slowly. "I should probably head back."

Gally quickly stood up with you. "Uh, you could stay here if you want?" He stammered, causing you to smile a little.

"That's okay. I already had a sleeping bag set up for me downstairs, so..."

Gally tried to hide his disappointed frown, choosing to walk up to you until you two were face to face. Maybe it was too soon, but ever since he saw you, Gally had the strongest urge to place his lips on yours. He missed your soft lips that he only had the privilege of feeling a few times back in the Glade before everything happened. He gently grabbed hold of your jaw, tilting your face up and leaning forward slowly.

You wanted him, you wanted him so bad. But before his lips could connect, Newt's face popped up in your mind and you couldn't, you forced yourself to turn away.

You tried not to look at Gally's face, knowing that he'd probably look like a kicked puppy. You couldn't, it would be too painful. "It's Newt." Gally frowned, taking a step back.

Your eyes widened, finally taking a glance over to him to indeed see that his expression was one of disappointment and sadness. "I never said-"

"You didn't have to." Gally interrupted. "I see the way you look at him...it's how you used to look at me." You stayed silent, a feeling of guilt washing over you. "I don't blame you, Y/n, for finding someone else. I'd never expect you to grieve over me forever, that's too selfish."

Hearing this, you had a terrifying thought that you needed to voice out loud. "Did you ever find someone else?" You asked nervously, afraid of his answer.

"No..." He smiled weakly, "No one that could ever compare to you."

You hated that you felt relieved, you were the one who seemed to be selfish. But, you couldn't just drop what you had with Newt now that Gally's still alive. You couldn't say anything else, what could you say to that?

"You should get some sleep." Gally said, opening his door and motioning you to get out.

"Gally..." You whispered.

"Please. Just...we have a busy day tomorrow."

You sighed. You couldn't argue with him.

Newt watched you walk back downstairs, getting into your sleeping bag with a very prominent frown. Doesn't seem like it went well, he thought. He felt relieved and frustrated at the same time. Newt really cared for you, he could even go as far as saying he loved you, but he needed you and Gally to get back together, or become friends again at least.

It wasn't too long ago that Newt found out he had the Flare. He saw the black and purple veins slowly travelling up his arm, and the pain, the pain was the worst part. You had already gotten close to him, so he was heartbroken to know that you'd just lose another person you cared for. After Gally, he knew you wouldn't be able to handle another loss. So when Gally showed up out of the blue, it was like a miracle, Newt's prayers had been answered.

Newt felt jealousy, of course, he wanted to stay with you. He didn't want Gally to take you from him, but what use would he be when he was dead or a Crank? He tried not to be angry with you, it wasn't your fault how you were feeling, but he needed to know you'd be okay when he was gone.

Newt did try talking to you about it, but you always changed the subject or simply didn't answer him. Before you all knew it, it was time to start planning Minho's rescue mission. Thomas didn't want to use Teresa, and hearing that only made Newt's anger bubble to the surface.

It wasn't like Newt to lash out like that, he was always so calm and relaxed. Maybe the stress finally got to him, maybe it was something else...

You immediately followed after Newt when he stormed out after yelling at Thomas, not knowing that Gally's sad eyes were following you. You couldn't think of anything else, you just had to know that Newt was okay.

You found Newt on the roof, sitting on the ledge. "Newt?" You asked, concerned. "Are you okay...?" You stepped closer captiously, finally taking a seat next to him.

Newt only smiled bitterly. "No...no, not really."

You sighed, looking out to the horizon, trying to find the right words to say. "We all thought Teresa was our friend...it's okay to be angry."

Newt shook his head. "It's not that."

You furrowed your brows. "Then, why did you lash out at Thomas?"

Newt bit his lip to keep it from trembling. He never wanted you to find out this way. He didn't even want you to know. But after that scene he made, he knew there was no point in hiding it anymore.

Tears came to your eyes as Newt lifted up his jacket sleeve, revealing his discolored arm. You knew what it was immediately, seeing it on every Crank you came across. "No..." You whispered. "No."

"I know I probably shouldn't have kept it from you, but I was scared. I still am."

"We'll fix it!" You quickly said, it sounding more like a plead. "We'll find another cure!"

Newt only gave you a weak smile. "I don't think that's a possibility right now, love. Besides, Minho needs us."

"No, you're not allowed to give up like that, Newt. We'll find something to help you. If Brenda was cured, so can you. Teresa might-"

"Please, Y/n." Newt voiced sharply. "Please...just stop. I don't need false hope."

Before you could say anything else, you heard the roof access door open, Thomas walking up to the two of you. "Y/n, can I, uh, talk to Newt? Alone?"

You looked to Newt, who nodded, signaling for you to leave. You stood up, speed walking inside and down the stairs. The tears kept falling, blurring your vision, and you had no idea what to do. Newt was dying, and there was nothing that you could do about it, and it didn't seem like he was too eager to try and find a cure. You hoped Thomas could talk some sense into him. But in that moment, your feet subconsciously took you to Gally's little apartment. You stood in front of the door in tears, wishing that you didn't feel the urge to find comfort in him when Newt was sick. But, you knocked on the door, quickly placing yourself in Gally's arms as soon as he was in front of you.

Gally didn't know what was wrong, he barely got a good look at your face before you threw yourself at him. But the way you were shaking and whimpering, he knew you were crying, and he didn't have the heart to pull away from you. He walked backwards and shut his door, leading you to sit down on his bed with him. He just held you as you cried, leaning his head down on top of yours until you calmed down. He finally spoke when your cries were just quiet sniffles. "What happened?"

You exhaled a shaky breath, lifting your head to look at Gally. "Newt has the Flare..."

"W-What...?" Had Gally heard that right? Could his mind be playing tricks on him? He just assumed everyone that was in the Glade was immune, that's why they were there, right? But you repeated what you had said, confirming what Gally thought he heard. "I...I'm so sorry..." That's all Gally could say. He wasn't very well spoken in these types of situations, all he could do was bring you back into another hug.

You finally understood why Newt was pushing you to get close to Gally again; he wanted you to be close to someone when he died.

Yet another situation that had you confused. You knew you loved Gally, you always had, he was your best friend. But now you had Newt, he helped you through everything while in the Scorch, helped you try to overcome your grieve and probably saved your life multiple times. How could you possibly make a decision like this?

You and Gally never put a label on what you had in the Glade, and nobody asked either, not even Alby. You both just knew that you cared for one another, that you'd do anything for the other. But as time went on, you felt guilty knowing what you'd ultimately choose. It was always going to be a lose lose for you.

Newt needed you, and you couldn't leave him when he needed you the most.

Gally, deep down, knew what your decision was going to be. You had a big heart. You never would leave anyone behind, even if they were infected. Back in the Glade, Gally wouldn't have hesitated in sacrificing the few to save the many, but you were never like that. You cared about everyone, especially the people who were closest to you. You never were going to give up on Newt, you couldn't now. You would spend as much time with him as possible, what little time he might've had left. And you did, until he took his final breath.

You felt like you were a glass vase that had been shattered, and every time you tried to pick up the pieces, the glass would just cut deeper and deeper into your skin. It felt like life didn't want you to be put back together. Nothing felt real. Everything that happened in the Last City felt like a fever dream. You hoped that one day you'd wake up and you'd be back in the Glade, everyone was still alive. Maybe if you could go back in time, maybe you could save everyone, maybe you could've convinced Gally to listen to Thomas, maybe you could've held off Newt a bit longer in time for Brenda to give him the cure.

A lot of maybe's, a lot of hopes and prayers, never answered.

Now in the Safe Haven, you felt anything but safe.

You didn't talk to anyone for awhile, not even Gally. You had nothing to say, and you were afraid of breaking down in front of everyone. So, you isolated yourself. And then a couple weeks later, you finally felt everything bubble to the surface.

Sitting down somewhere along the coastline, not too close to the water, but close enough that you could feel the salty breeze of the waves hit you gently as the evening cooled when the sun started to go set.

You tucked yourself up into a ball, your knees as close as you could get them to your chest and your arms wrapped tightly around them. And, you cried. And cried. And cried. And cried. The ugly kind of crying. Your tears weren't coming out one eye at a time in a perfectly straight line down your face like in the movies, you weren't making quiet sniffles or whimpers, you were full on sobbing. Tears came out of your eyes so fast that you could barely make out the sun on the horizon, your shirt sleeves were most definitely covered in snot and whatever salty tears it had the chance to catch. Your throat felt like it was being torn apart by how intense your sobs were. The sobs sounded more like you were having a coughing fit, one of those phlegmy hacking coughs that made you feel like you were going to vomit.

You knew you most likely weren't far enough away from the camp to quiet your weeping, and you knew you were just embarrassing yourself, arranging for yourself to be completely humiliated the next morning when you had to face everybody. But in the moment, you couldn't care less. You loss someone so important to you, it felt like losing Gally all over again. But you knew this time, it was final. No surprise resurrections this time. You felt completely, and utterly, alone.

But you never were.

You felt so dissociated and detached from yourself, the wails of grief too much for your body to handle. You couldn't feel anything around you, not the warmth of the sand, not the slight chill breeze, not even Gally's arms wrapped around you tightly. You didn't realize until you passed out from exhaustion, waking up the next morning in a bed that wasn't yours, and a hut that wasn't yours.

Your vision was still a little bit blurry, all the tears from the night previous crusting to the creases around your eyes, making it a bit of a challenge opening them all the way. But, your other sense were intact enough to tell you that bacon and eggs were next to you on a bedside table. You hadn't eaten the day before, so it was mostly a primal reaction to quickly take the plate and gobble up the food.

You still had to rely on context clues to figure out where you were in the camp. As much as your eyes irritated you, they could now finally work once you were wide awake. You probably should've known immediately who's hut it was, but seeing that familiar grey knitted hoodie settled ungracefully over the backrest of a chair, you knew it was Gally's.

You blushed quickly after that realization. How did he know where you were, and how much did he see? The thought of him seeing you in such a state made you cringe. But what was more horrifying was that Gally was right outside the room, waiting for you to wake up. "Hey..." He voiced, his eyebrows knitted in concern, eyes full of sadness.

You had to look away, the heat rushing to your face making you feel like you were going to pass out again. "Hi." You croaked, your vocal cords still sore and raw.

Gally shifted his weight nervously, taking a step closer to you. "I'm sorry, for bringing you here...I was afraid you were going to hurt yourself." You snapped you gaze back to him in confusion, him quickly blushing, scratching the back of his head. "Uh, Newt told me about what you did to yourself after...after the Maze."

You self-consciously rubbed the spot on your chest where a big scar still remained. "I wasn't trying to...you know, kill myself or anything."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you." He said softly, taking a seat on the bed next to you.

You sighed, crossing your arms. "I just...I didn't know what I was thinking."

Gally gently grabbed ahold of your hand, making you uncross your arms, letting his warm hand take yours. "I'm so sorry, Y/n. Newt should be here with the rest of us. He was a good person."

You nodded as tears came to your eyes again, burning enough to make you whimper, and you leaned your head against Gally's shoulder. "I miss him so much." You cried.

Eventually, you and Gally became close again. He was always there for you. Whenever you had nightmares, whenever you were lonely, whenever you needed anything, Gally would always be there. You started to feel your relationship had almost gotten back to the point where it was in the Glade, it had been almost a year, but you still felt it was too early to be moving on. A part of you didn't want to move on, but you knew that's not what Newt wanted either.

You didn't read the note Newt wrote to you when Thomas first gave it to you. The grief was still too near, and you didn't know if you could handle it. But a couple months after your breakdown, you finally read it. Newt loved you, he had always loved you. And he wanted you to be happy, he didn't want you to be sad that he was gone, even though he knew it would be impossible. But he knew you would be okay, he knew Gally would protect you no matter what. Reading his note was part of the reason you knew it would be okay to be with Gally, it just took you some time.

One day, you and Gally were taking a break from working, just sitting near the forest tree line, and you did it; you kissed him, and you couldn't stop, you didn't want to stop. And you didn't, and neither did Gally.

After that, it was almost impossible to spend any time away from each other.

You never thought you'd smile again, but Gally always found a way. He made you so happy, and it made you cry one night when you finally realized that you were happy, and you knew somewhere out there, it made Newt happy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Cries in Español

#the maze runner #the maze runner imagine #newt x reader #newt imagine #tmr newt #tmr gally #gally imagine #gally x reader #gally

[personasintro]

universe | myg drabble

❥𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔; you're his whole universe, you just don't know it yet – or him

❥𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: stalker au

❥𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: explicit language, stalking (obviously), yoongi is kinda creep, masturbating (he uses her panties)

❥𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 5.3k+

𝒂/𝒏: commissioned by the absolute sweetheart @minyoongail​, thank you bub for being so patient with me (it took me like 2 months I think ?? to write this) I really hope you and everyone else enjoy this story!

𝒎.𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 | © 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂��𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐 (𝒏𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅)

It was a mere coincidence, something he had never expected to happen or notice during his daylife. But even that word doesn't sound right, not to his ears. If you look up the word itself it says – coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection. This must've been something else, not some stupid coindidence and he calls it differently.

He believes it's all the universe's doing and it happened when he needed it the most. The clueless young man with an empty heart, who was just striding through the busy street in Daegu, just when the universe had decided to give him a sign – another chance maybe, as he likes to think – and he couldn't be more intrigued. There's a whole universe inside his mind and he's not ashamed of it.

The first time he saw you, he remembers how you caught his attention immediately despite you blending with the crowd. But there was something different, maybe it was the way you smiled at whoever you were calling with that time. He remembers vividly the grin that had stretched on your beautiful red lips, before you had to end the call because you went to the little coffee shop. On your way out, with a plastic cup of coffee in your hand, it's unfortunate how you hadn't noticed the guy going inside which slowly led to you bumping into him. It wasn't a disaster, no coffee was spilled and except the guy's frown and something he mumbled under his breath, nothing too bad happened. But then he had seen the little frown on your lips and the way your shoulder slumped, running your day. He couldn't take his eyes off you. And he wished to cross the road to fight that egoistic man, who made sure to give you one last glare before he scurried inside the coffee shop.

And that's how his days slowly went by. At the same hour, you'd always visit that coffee shop with the same order every time, apart of that time when you bought a croissant that one time. You weren't there at the weekends, which meant you weren't working and the small coffee shop was on your way to work. It had become your routine, as much as his, watching you across the street hidden by one of the trees. Not even once your eyes drifted his direction. It made it very easy to watch you from Monday to Friday, you being not aware of the attention you got from the man across the street.

But he got bored after two weeks of seeing the same thing, even though you had always been different each day. The same soft and sweet smile that melted his heart was worth waking up earlier to watch you. But he had become eager, curious about you and your life. That's why he had decided to follow you – across the street from the safe distance, so you wouldn't notice him – until you made your way into the building with a few stairs up to it. He didn't recognize the old building at first, that's why he pulled out his phone and through the maps, he found out there's an art studio. There's no way he could've gone inside without anyone questioning his presence there, nor he could've known if you're really there.

He had wished he knew your name, so he could've finally put a name to your beautiful face and features that couldn't seem to get out of his head.

The week after, he had found out – because of course, he was curious and eager to take another step, so he had followed you – that you live just around the corner in one of the apartment buildings. Unfortunately for him, the security system even in those old buildings is hard to get through, impossible even. And he wouldn't have done that, followed you inside. No, he's not crazy. What would he do if he got inside the building? That didn't make any sense.

He had to plan everything – so for the time being – he stepped away and walked away, your building slowly fading away.

But it's okay, he'll soon see you again. That's what he told himself, a tiny smirk making it onto his lips that were hidden behind the mask.

Universe has a funny way to mess around with people. Or it could be pure luck on Yoongi's side, but whatever it is in reality, it makes him beam in mischief. Who could've known that one time he doesn't avoid his only friend, the cards would play in favor for him. Surely, there had been a bit of grumbling which Jung Hoseok – his friend ever since they were kids – just couldn't accept and dragged Yoongi's ass in the nearest club. It's been awhile since he went among people, he's not the type to search for society and encounters with them. He's a lonely wolf, as you could say.

“See, you look cheered up!” his friend cuts off Yoongi's trail of thoughts, his eyes already set on something much more interesting, than his friend's loud voice that tries to be heard through the loud music. “Think of the pussy you can get tonight!”

In other times, Yoongi would've just shrugged and went along with his friend's words because yes, meaningless one night stands have become a part of Yoongi's antisocial life. He's still a man after all, he has his own needs and even though he doesn't search for people's touch, sex usually involves that.

His friend is completely clueless, thinking Yoongi is cheerful because there's a chance he'll get laid tonight with no strings attached, just like Yoongi prefers. He's not the type to date, to love someone and that's why Hoseok's plan of getting Yoongi out of his small apartment to live a little, goes well.

Little does he know that Yoongi could care less about his friend's secret plan or whatever his true intentions are. Because there's you standing just a few meters away from him, completely clueless to Yoongi's existation but he's not mad at you. And he has the urge to laugh at the situation because after all, the universe must be real. It brought you up to him without him even trying, even though he had been wondering what you're doing on your Saturday night.

At first, he didn't know if it's you but then you turned around and laughed at something, probably what one of your friends said and he could see that beautiful smile which unfortunately, couldn't hear because of the music. Ever since then, he's been stealing a few glances at you, failing miserably in hiding his happiness at the sight of you. And when you suddenly grab the attention of one of your friends that's standing next to you, you excuse yourself and make your way through the crowd.

Without explaining himself, he knows what to do and his legs move on their own as he leaves his friend shouting his name in complete confusion, but Yoongi doesn't turn around. His eyes are solely set upon you and the thought that he can't get you out of his sight. Now it's his chance.

He watches you going inside the ladies' restroom, stopping just around the corner not to look creepy. He's not. He's not a creep, he would never enter ladies' restroom because then what? How would he explain what he's doing there? There's a pinch of annoyance at your friends and how they let you go all alone. Don't they know it's dangerous for you to go alone? Especially in the clubs full of horny men. And the little black dress that you're wearing isn't helping at all. You're showing too much skin, you're drawing too much attention at yourself and he doesn't like that. He wants you all to himself.

But despite him criticizing your friends and their complete ignorance of your safety, it's better this way. He's here, he wouldn't let anything happen to you and it all makes it better to go with his plan. Now is his chance to have your eyes on him, to finally meet you.

When the restroom's door are being pushed open, his breath gets caught in his throat as he notices you delicately brushing your hands against the black fabric, trying to flatten the creases that are invisible to his eyes. Now is his chance. He uses your lack of attention, eyes focused downwards and makes his way towards you. This has to work. From what he could've seen during a few weeks of watching you, you managed to stumble and bump into a few people on your way to work. It always looked like you're rushing, probably stressed from whatever was waiting for you in that old creepy building that you work at. No matter how many times has that happened, you've always apologized and looked extremely sorry. And now, he's going to use that to his advantage. Well, his plan had been different and he wanted to do this in your favorite coffee shop, that you're visiting every morning during the week. But now that he has you so close to him, he can't wait any longer.

It happens quickly. Your lack of attention is a huge help, and Yoongi is prepared for the impact of your body colliding against his, which can't be hardly told about you. A soft gasp leaves your lips, but the impact isn't strong like Yoongi hoped it would be. Your shoulders bump into each other, but it's nothing painful and mindless 'sorry' leaves your mouth. Yoongi's plan is crashing down like a house of cards, watching you not even glancing at him as you make your way through the crowd again. His features automatically twist into a huge scowl, not appreciating your ignorance.

He's been watching over you this whole time, and this is how you repay him? Ignoring him and barely seeing the person you bump into? Okay, he had his own share with that but still – he expected something different to happen and it's causing his blood to boil. You're nowhere in sight, completely blending with people dancing on the floor. He can't feel his jaw hurting from how hard he's clenching it. Oh, how he wishes he could punish you. He'd have you on your knees begging him for forgiveness before you could utter a single word.

You're playing with him. You're lucky enough he likes the chase and games, even though he's not a patient person.

As he's getting back to Hoseok, his sharp eyes notice his friend is not alone and has a company right next to him. Getting nearer, the two guys exchange a friendly hug as the guy Yoongi doesn't know grins at Hoseok.

“Taehyung–ah!” Hoseok yells after the guy that turns around with a boxy grin, not noticing Yoongi's stare in the back. “Don't forget to text me!” Hoseok laughs, seeing the guy nod as he gives him a thumbs up before he walks away.

Yoongi's eyes don't leave Taehyung's figure, wondering who he is since he has never seen him before. He shouldn't be so surprised, Hoseok has many friends. Sometimes, he's wondering why Hoseok is still hanging out with himi, when he's the least social person out of all Hoseok's friends.

Once again, the universe proves to be on Yoongi's side and he can't help but grin, as he watches Hoseok's friend nearing the group of people, among them is you. Although, he really wants to punch the guy's face for touching the small of your back, especially when you smile at him and take the drink from his hands. The drink he failed to notice before.

What was the guy's name? Taehyung.

Surprise, surprise. The chase has only begun and he's already winning.

“Yah! Where did you go?” Hoseok's loud voice cuts him off, frowning at his friend that slowly looks at him.

Grinning, he licks his lips before he takes a shot of Hoseok's vodka. “Bathroom.” he says simply, smirking as he looks back at you.

For now, he'll leave you alone but still makes sure to glance at you every now and then. Making sure you're safe, of course.

And when Yoongi is finally in his small apartment, laying in his bed with phone clutched in his grasp, he has only one intention. Finding you isn't hard, Hoseok's facebook friends are public so it makes it easy to find your friend guy Taehyung. Unfortunately, his friends are private so it leaves him with another option. He browses every available photo of him, checking everyone who liked his photos while opening every profile. The guy's photos are somehow artistic, he's not a complete loser as Yoongi thought. Whenever he sees Taehyung's face on the screen of his phone, all he can think about is his hand on your back. Taking a deep breath, he continues in browsing through Taehyung's liked pictures until he gets what he wanted all along.

You.

And your name.

The sweet melody of pop music resounds through the walls of your modesty apartment, but even the littlest space in it doesn't hold you back from swaying your hips. Humming the tune, you put the last plate back to the kitchen cabinet as a soft knock meets the wood of your front door. You almost flinch back, wondering who the hell is knocking on your door in the evening when you're not expecting anyone. Turning off the music with your phone, you make your way towards the front door to see who's standing behind it.

When you open it, you don't expect to see a complete stranger who gives you a nervous grin as soon as your eyes meet. One thing you know, you've never seen him before and you wonder if he by any mistake mistook your door with someone else's. He's wearing all black, looking tough on the outside but his face is the exact opposite. He looks quite comfortable wearing a large hoodie and black sweatpants, and it's funny how your outfits almost match. Although, your one isn't matched and doesn't look half as good as his does. You're wearing one of the ugliest sweatpants you own because unfortunately, your washing machine broke down last week and the repairman is able to repair it in a few days. For now, you're stuck with unwashed clothes that could use a good washing but there's nothing you can do. You'll wait, you've enough clothes to wear – at least you hope.

“Hey,” he says, completely cutting you off from your little crisis of your broken washing machine. His voice is deep, yet holds a soft tone that makes him sound friendly and causes you to automatically smile.

“Hey,” you say back, repeating his words as you hug yourself with your arms. There's a curiosity in your eyes, the one he notices immediately and opens his mouth.

“Oh, I'm sorry you're probably wondering what am I doing here,” he chuckles, shaking his head at his absurdity that makes you grin in amusement. “I'm your new neighbor, I just moved in today… I was wondering if you have tomato sauce to borrow?”

Only now you notice the white slippers that he's wearing, confirming his words that in fact, he really is your new neighbor. The building is big enough for you not to know every single neighbor, but something tells you you won't forget this one.

His sharp eyes are so captivating, staring right into your soul as you can't help but gawk at your new neighbor. The little twitch of his lips shake you out of your short daze, blush spreading across your cheeks as you rub your forearms.

“Yeah, sure. Let me check it out,” you manage to say, tone light and friendly, trying to hide the fact that you seemed to be particularly interested in your neighbor. He looks young, probably your age – not that this is important. He's just a neighbor, right? “Uhh, come in.” you tell him, feeling like a douche if you'd just leave him in the hallway.

He opens his mouth slightly, but smiles at you when you open the door to give him enough space to come in. You let him close it, which he does gently as if he was scared to break them. It makes you grin, a grin that's hidden as soon as you turn around and tell him to follow you. Your apartment isn't big and the walk to your kitchen doesn't take long (literally five seconds) and you're not aware of your neighbor's curious eyes, and particular curiosity about the three pieces of art that are covered with sheer fabric, leaned against the wall.

“Are you an artist?” Your neighbor asks, voice thick with curiosity which causes you to turn around and follow his line of vision.

“Ah,” you gasp out, “No. Do I look like an artist?” you grin, causing him to do the same as his eyes dance with amusement.

“I don't know,” he muses, pursing his lips. “But you're probably interested in art.” he says, head nodding towards the art that's been sitting there for a few days now.

It's not like you regret letting him in, but you should've considered the fact that your place is a mess. You just hope he's not judging you, or thinks you're an alcoholic as you remember there's a wine bottle on your coffee table. You were about to drink it after you were done with cleaning the dishes. It was a long day…

To occupy your ridiculous worries (because he probably doesn't care what your place looks like), you do what he came here for and that is, to find a tomato sauce which you're not sure if you even have.

“You could say so,” you hum, rummaging through the pasta and different kinds of cans. “My friend is an artist, I'm just helping him to sell some of his paintings.”

He hums in response, his frown hidden from you as you're turned with your back to him.

“Are those for sale?” he asks, surprised when you turn around abruptly as sudden shine overtakes your features.

“Yes,” you answer, “Are you interested?”

“Hmm, maybe,” he hums, “Mind if I take a look?” he asks, your head already nodding.

“Of course, go ahead,” you tell him, seeing him walk towards the art while you stand on your tiptoes and pull out one of the cans. “Got it.” you mumble to yourself, surprised that yes, you've a tomato sauce which you never really use.

You walk to your neighbor, his brows pinched together as he stares at a piece of art. “This one's my favorite.” you comment, holding the can in your hands as he glances at you.

“It's pretty,” he replies, cocking his head to the side as he admires the art that portrays a galaxy. It's beautiful, the purple and turquoise splashes that look like stars create a perfect detail. “How much is it?”

“You--are you--I need to talk to my friend but I'm sure we could work something out.” you grin, not hiding your enthusiasm which your neighbor finds cute as he grins at you. He shows you a gummy smile that makes you just stare at him in complete awe, before you cough.

“Thanks, it'd be nice to have something that'll make the place more cozy. It looks like a complete disaster right now.” he jokes, causing you to giggle as you nod. You feel him.

“Sure,” you smile, staring at him for a moment as realization hits your face. “Oh, here. Found it.” you outstretch your arm to give him the tomato sauce he came here for.

It seems like realization hits his face as well, his mouth leaving a soft 'oh' as he takes it with a grateful smile. “Thank you, you're a lifesaver.”

You laugh at that, finding him cute how he said it. “It's just tomato sauce. What are you cooking?”

“Spaghetti,” he answers, “Well, thanks for this. I appreciate it.” he says as you both start walking towards the front door.

He opens the door, one hand clutching the doorknob while the other holds the can, before he turns to you. “I'm living just down the hall, number 017.” he informs you, your brows furrowing in confusion, wondering why he's telling you that.

Even though you make a mental note to remember this information. What? It's good to know.

“For the art?” he reminds you, cocking a brow at you. “You can just knock anytime, when you'll know the price.” he smiles, your cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“Oh, yeah, of course.” you nod, “I'll let you know.”

He smiles, thanking you for the tomato sauce (even assuring you that he'll buy you a new one tomorrow but you quickly decline that, telling him you aren't using it) as he steps out of your apartment and starts to back away, still facing you as you're grinning.

“I'm Y/N,” you call out to him, mentally slapping yourself for sounding so desperate. Your nerves ease up as he gives you a smile, the shitty lightening in the hallway shining against his black hair. “What's your name, new neighbor?”

He chuckles at your nickname, his tongue licking his bottom lip as your heart bursts with sparkles. How can someone be so cute, hot and handsome? You're completely swept away by him.

And you feel like a little kid, ears perked up and eyes wide as you almost stand on your tiptoes, trying to hear his answer. However, you don't realize it because you're too focused on him.

“Yoongi, my name's Yoongi.”

He can't believe it.

He can't believe how easy it was to get closer to you. Getting an apartment, rented apartment, was even easier and the fact you both live on the same floor, had to be another sign from the universe.

It just had to be. Right?

Yoongi is in the middle of cutting an onion when he hears a soft knock echoing around the walls of his quiet apartment. He'd usually put some music on, but his mind seems to be elsewhere. He's not interested in music like he used to be, all he can think about is you.

Wiping his hands with a dishcloth, he stumbles over some boxes that have been laying there for three days (ever since he moved in) before he gets to the front door. Just as he's gripping the doorknob, there's another knock resounding but it's louder this time. He snatches the door open, meeting you jumping in surprise as your eyes widen.

Oh, sweet love. You look so cute.

Even though you're wearing the same pair of sweatpants he saw you while borrowing a tomato sauce from you. A tomato sauce he never really needed, he just wanted an excuse to see you and funnily enough, tomato sauce was the first thing that crossed his mind.

Nothing matters because you're absolutely breathtaking.

“Hi,” you breathe out, chuckling trying to mask that soft pink shade your cheeks seem to have. “I'm sorry for interrupting you.” you add.

“Not at all,” he disagrees, slightly shaking his head. “How can I help you?” he smiles, heart wavering because he can't believe you just knocked on his door.

And this time he didn't have to come to you. You came to him.

“Well, I was just wondering if you're still interested in one of those paintings. I talked to my friend and he said he'll give you a little discount since you're my neighbor,”

Bullshit, your friend is probably glad someone wants to buy his painting. It's a typical move from you, to get him to buy it just because you said the discount word. But he can't blame you, well it's you. That's enough for him not to let common sense take a place in his mind. Plus, those paintings are like a barrier in your own little home.

“I mean… you totally don't have to buy it if you're not interested anymore.” you add, causing the corner of his mouth twitch. He's holding back a smile as he shakes his head.

“No, I'm totally interested,” In you, not in the painting. “You wanna come in?”

The sudden invite surprises you, but you don't hesitate as you nod before he opens the door further for you to come in.

“Thank you.” you tell him softly, looking around curiously as you see the mess in there.

There are a bunch of boxes, still unpacked and filling up the whole place but you can relate. Your place used to be such a mess too when you first moved in.

“Sorry about the mess, I still haven't unpacked most of my stuff,” he says, trailing behind you as you notice a small beige couch with a bunch of clothes draped all over it. “I need to wash my clothes.” he grins, the shade of red coating his cute pale cheeks as you give him a smile.

“Don't worry about it, my bedroom looks just the same. My washing machine broke down a few days ago and the repairman can't come to fix it this week, so I'm stuck wearing the same old, dirty and probably smelly clothes.”

That would explain you wearing the same dirty sweatpants, he thinks but that doesn't say out loud because like he said, you're beautiful no matter what.

“You don't smell,” he blurts out, causing you to raise your brows in surprise but an appreciative smile tugs onto your lips.

“That's good to know.” you chuckle, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

Wait, are you becoming shy?

“But I could help, if you want...” he adds, interest lacing over your features as you look at him curiously. “With your clothes. I could wash them for you.”

“Oh, no. I've loads of it and I don't want to be a burden, I'm sure you've a lot of work with your own stuff.” you reject, waving your hand as if it's not a big deal but the clothes that are tossed around your whole bedroom are driving you crazy.

Still, your insides shiver with his kindness.

“You're no burden, I swear. At least I would repay you for that tomato sauce. Let me do this for you, my washing machine works just fine. You could go grab your stuff and bring it here, I'll wash it for you right now and meanwhile, we could talk about that painting.”

Shit, he's so good at persuading.

He sees the guilt and uncertainty on your face, but the way you're biting your lower lip he knows you're thinking of it. He's patient with you, offering you one of his soft smiles that you caught onto right away and he knows he's got you.

“Are you sure?” you ask unsurely, nibbling on your bottom lip some more which fuck, drives him insane.

He wishes he could bite into it, feeling your soft and plump lips that are bare with no lipstick on it, but god, are they beautiful. The most beautiful lips he has ever seen.

“Hundred percent.” he says, giving you another smile which this time, you mimic before a set of sentences of gratitude leaves out of your mouth.

“Thank you, Yoongi. You saved my life.” Oh God, how amazing his name sounds rolling out of your tongue.

He could listen to you saying it every day. Oh, how he wishes to hear you saying other stuff too, but no… he has to be patient.

“Don't mention it,” he smiles, “Thank you for the painting. I'll make sure to hang it up somewhere nice where everyone can see it.”

Bullshit. He never invites anyone to his home.

“You do that, maybe I'll stop by to admire it.” Did you just invite yourself? Oh my god, he can feel his heart jumping out of his chest.

“Feel free to do that anytime.” he smirks, giving you a nice view of his wink that he swears makes you gulp as you clutch your laundry basket with fresh and clean clothes in it.

You bid goodbye to him, in the form of a sweet smile and quick but nice wave of your free hand, before he painfully does the same and closes his front door. Three hours of constant talking was not enough for him. He wishes he could talk to you some more, to get to know you even more. Although, he did learn some new things about you. Things he couldn't find on the internet, or by simply watching you from the distance. For example, your parents live far away and you're their only child. They weren't too happy about you moving to a big city but they're supportive nevertheless. You don't share your daily struggles with them, like the problem with your washing machine for example, because according to your words, they would be too worried and think you can't handle and take care of yourself.

Well, one thing is sure. They don't have to worry about that too much. You've got him. He'll take care of you and help you with anything you'll need. For now, he's just your neighbor but as he pulls out his phone and sees a friend request from you, Yoongi knows he's winning.

Pulling out peach colored panties out of his pocket, the same ones he sneakily hid inside of his pants before you could notice. Plopping onto the couch, on the same spot you were sitting on just a few minutes ago, he swears he can still feel your warmth and scent lingering on the cheap furniture. He unzips his pants, already pulling out his hardening cock as he takes a sniff of your used panties. They're cotton, not special and too sexy but he rolls his eyes back at the scent of you. Fuck, you smell so amazing. He wishes he could taste you on his tongue, pleasure you until you're screaming his name and cumming thanks to him repeatedly. He has never gotten this hard so quick, his erected length is gripped by his veiny and big hand as he's already pumping himself. Imagining how you'd sound if he pounds into you, making sure every one of neighbors hears your moan, so they know you're his. He puts the piece of fabric inside of his mouth, the exact spot where your pussy was rubbing the whole day, wetting it with his saliva as he sucks the fabric. He's close, so close but it's not enough. Wrapping his cock around your panties, his saliva mixed with your juices dried on it, he starts thrusting into his hand. Body hot and breath raged, he feels his muscles tense as your name falls out of his mouth every few seconds. Soon enough, he's cumming inside your panties, his seed leaking through the fabric and staining his hand but he doesn't care.

It was worth it.

“When did you fall in love with me?”

Your soft voice carries through the bedroom, your legs laced with Yoongi's as he keeps caressing your exposed back. He can feel your perked nipples brushing against the side of his chest, his cum mixed with your own staining the sheets but none of you truly care.

“When I first saw you.” he answers, kissing you into your hair as you giggle, finding his answer tactical and funny.

“Oh, come on,” you scoff with a laugh, the beautiful melody of it causing him to smile. “We didn't even know each other that well.” you argue, trailing some patterns onto his chest.

“It doesn't matter, I loved you way before that.” he says and you just giggle, trailing a heart on his naked skin.

You don't pressure him into answering differently, even though you know he's just bluffing because you don't believe in love at first sight. You've to know that person before you can love them with all their flaws and everything that comes with it.

“I love you.” you tell him quietly, kissing his chest while you can feel and hear his heartbeat that mimics yours.

“I love you too,” he says immediately, “You've no idea.”

You really don't.

#networkbangtan #bts smut #bts angst #bts fluff #bts au #yoongi smut #yoongi drabble #yoongi x reader #yoongi au #yoongi fanfic #yoongi x y/n #bts fanfic #kpop fanfic #kpop smut #personasintro

[invalid-prongs]

This is short because I need something to post and I have no ideas and I am this close to shutting down all my accounts, dropping out of Sixth Form (before I’ve even started) and just fucking off out of here x

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Sirius sighs softly, his grip on his trunk tightening. “Midnight stroll,” he answers with a false twinge of happiness in his tone as he spins on his heels. “Care to join me, brother dearest?”

Regulus casts a quick glance down at his trunk and shrugs. “Sure. Give me five minutes?” With that, he disappears back up the stairs, leaving Sirius frozen in place.

It was meant to be a rhetorical question. Regulus was meant to make a sneering comment and threaten to rat Sirius out, who would then make some dramatic getaway. Surely he doesn’t believe I’m actually just going for a walk?

True to his word, five minutes passes before the younger Black brother appears back at the bottom of the stairs. This time, he’s swapped his Slytherin pyjamas for a thick sweater and some Muggle jeans. Sirius narrows his eyes.

“You’re in Muggle clothes,” he states simply, his eyes drifting back. “And—why are you bringing your trunk?”

“We’re getting out of here, no?”

The Gryffindor stands in silence for a moment, stunned. Regulus rolls his eyes and pushes his way past Sirius with a light scoff. “Alright, looks like I’m getting out of here. Join me if you want, I guess.”

It takes him a moment, but Sirius’s brain finally catches up and he hurries after his brother, who’s already out the front door, wand drawn. “Accio Firebolt!” he whispers heavily into the darkness, and a moment later, the broom hurdles into his hand.

“Regulus!” Sirius hisses into the night as his brother mounts his broomstick. “Regulus, what the fuck are you doing? Get off that. Get back inside.”

The Slytherin turns his head and smirks over his shoulder. “Alright, you got me. Andy told me about your little plan, and I figured... why not join in? That’s why she’s not here—she wouldn’t have made it onto the front lawn before Mother blasted her to pieces.”

Sirius frowns and summons his broom. He casts a levitation spell on his trunk so it doesn’t weigh him down. “Alright, but you’re not coming with me. You’re not allowed where I’m coming.”

“To the Potters’?” Regulus smiles fondly and turns his head away. Sirius doesn’t miss the light glint in his eye. “I know; I wouldn’t go there anyway. I actually have somewhere else in mind.”

Sirius starts to slowly process this whole idea—now that he’s ready to leave, it seems stupid. Regulus is only fifteen—granted, not for much longer, but if the Ministry find him, they can send him back, right?

“I’m not happy about this!” he calls out to his brother as he kicks himself into the air and they zip past the street lights. “This is stupid—more reckless than what I usually do. This is... it’s not a joke.”

Regulus grins, his pearly teeth glittering in the occasional street lamp. “I know. That’s why it’s fun.”

The elder lad scoffs and then narrows his eyes again. “Wait a minute, hold on. Drop to the ground a second.” Regulus throws him a curious look but does as he’s told. Sirius draws his wand and mutters a “lumos”, holding it closer to his brother.

“Where in bloody Godric’s name did you get a Gryffindor Quidditch jersey?”

Regulus blushes heavily and turns his eyes. “Nowhere,” he shrugs. “It’s yours. I nicked it.”

“Mine’s in my trunk, and I know that for a fact. Don’t you have your own Slytherin one? What number is—”

Before Sirius can speak anymore, Regulus zips off into the air, his trunk close behind him. Sirius growls and hurries to follow after him, but he can’t keep up, and before he knows it, his brother it out of sight.

***

“Padfoot!” James cheers when he throws the door open in the early hours of the morning. “I was going to send out a search party or something. Where did you get to?”

Sirius frowns, not really wanting to explain about his two-hour delay. “Got a bit lost,” he offers up, stepping inside the Potter residence and inhaling deeply. “Is your mum baking cookies?”

“Not just any cookies. Animal cookies,” James grins, his eyes shining. “Come on, I saved you the dog ones.”

Sirius giggles softly, leaving his trunk and broomstick in the hallway before following his best friend into the kitchen. When they enter, Euphemia is pulling a tray of freshly-baked cookies from the oven, a smile on her face.

“Sirius, dear, good morning! Nice to have you here, finally,” she smiles warmly at him. James reaches for a cookie from the tray and she swats his hand with a tea towel. “Hands off, love, let them cool.”

James rolls his eyes but grabs some of the dog-shaped cookies from the tin on the table before taking a seat. Sirius copies him, digging in happily. “As gorgeous as ever, Effie, thank you. Although you didn’t have to stay up all night just for me.”

The older woman laughs brightly and shakes her head. “Nonsense! We all stayed up for you, just in case there was any trouble,” she smiles kindly, beginning to clean everything by hand. “Plus, if we hadn’t, we might have missed your brother.”

Sirius drops his cookie onto the table. “Regulus is here?”

“Why, he’s just in the other room with Fleamont. Didn’t you know, dear?”

Sirius’s eyes flash to James, who looks like a deer caught in headlights, before he jumps from his seat. He dives out of the kitchen and practically skids into the living room, where Regulus is sat on the sofa opposite Fleamont, a cup of hot chocolate in his hands and a smile on his face.

“Sirius!” Fleamont smiles welcomingly when he notices the Gryffindor. “I didn’t know you’d arrived!”

“Funny,” he smiles back before his eyes harden and turn to Regulus. “I didn’t know you’d come here either.”

Regulus raises his head slightly. “I didn’t intend to, but I happened to be nearby and James caught me,” he shrugs, sipping his drink. “Where’ve you been?”

“Looking for you.”

Regulus hums lightly and turns his head. “Anyway, sir—”

Sirius opens his mouth to speak but a hand grabs his and he’s spun out of the room to face his best friend. “Don’t, please. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but he was going to stay in the Leaky Cauldron or something—they would’ve told the Ministry, or your parents.”

Sirius raises his eyebrows. “I don’t care—in fact, I’m glad because at least he’s safe here, you know,” Sirius looks James up and down and scowls. “Except for the fact he’s dating you.”

James flinches softly. “No!” he tries to defend himself, but after a moment of silence, he sighs and asks, “how did you know?”

“I didn’t until just now. But the jersey thing? Big give away. And a stupid risk.”

The younger lad sighs and runs a hand down his face. “I’ll pay for that one,” he mutters softly. He grabs Sirius’s arm again and drags him up the stairs and through the house until they’re holed away in James’s bedroom. “Ask away, I guess.”

Sirius glances around the room and purses his lips. “How long?”

“Officially? Few weeks before summer.”

“Alright... unofficially?”

“Few months.”

“Do you like him? Or is this a fling?”

“No, nothing that now,” James scowls this time, looking slightly hurt and his tone sounds almost offended. “We’re... I... I really like him, Pads, I do. And I thought you would hate me if I told you so I... didn’t. Which was stupid.”

Sirius nods in agreement. “Very stupid, but I don’t hate you,” he drops himself onto the end of James’s bed and eyes the room again. “So, where’s his Quidditch jersey?”

James turns his head in embarrassment and moves towards his desk, which Sirius only now notices is missing the chair. He pulls at the Invisibility Cloak and there stands the chair, with the jersey hanging over the back.

“Are you going to violently murder me?”

With a quick hum, Sirius shrugs. “Haven’t decided,” he jokes lightly before standing up and pulling James into a hug. “You’re my best mate, so don’t screw this shit up. And also, thank you for letting us stay.”

James just stands there for a moment until he wraps his arms around Sirius and smiles. “Wouldn’t dream of it. And you’re welcome—you’ll always be welcome here, Pads.”

#uh oh #i was meant to do angst #but then #i did this #do you still like it #i hope you do #if you don't #uhh #tell me? #idfk #starchaser #jegulus #james x regulus #regulus x james #fluff #running away #sirius black #wolfstar #remus lupin #peter pettigrew #marauders #marauders era #sirius and regulus #sirius running away #regulus running away #james potter #regulus black #sirius accepting jegulus #sirius accepting starchaser #hogwarts

[darks-ink]

Spark

Prompt: How does being constantly exposed to high amounts of ectoplasm affect the citizens of Amity Park? Prompt by: @robotbeowulf Word count: 2,487

[AO3] [FFN] [more Phic Phight fics]

---

Danny shrugged, shifting his backpack to lie a little more comfortably on his shoulders, and pretended very hard to be a regular student. It wasn’t easy, but it hadn’t been easy for the last two years. The constant secret-keeping from everyone was wearing on him.

Not to mention the constant ghost attacks, of course. He was pretty sure all of Amity Park was covered in a thick film of ectoplasm by now, considering how much of it he and the other ghosts spilled and fired during the almost-constant battles. Sure, his parents said that the stuff evaporated and then returned to the Ghost Zone, but his parents also said that humans couldn’t have ghost powers, and Danny was the (mostly) living proof that that wasn’t true, either.

He was jerked from his thoughts—literally—by a fist, grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him against the lockers he had been walking by.

“Hi, Dash,” Danny muttered, trying to hide away his weariness with apathy. “Good morning to you too.”

“Fentonia,” Dash growled back, leaning in close to Danny’s face. A little too close, thank you, ever heard of personal space? “Finally.”

Danny bit back the automatic reply—aw, were you waiting for me?—and settled for grimacing at Dash.

Not that that went over well, of course, because Dash’s other hand found its way to Danny’s shirt as well. With Danny well in his grasp, Dash lifted him, slamming him against the lockers again, this time with his feet off of the ground—no easy way of getting out. Not without using his powers, at least.

“What’s wrong, Fenturd?” Dash asked, pressing Danny against the lockers even harder. “Ghost got your tongue?”

Ha ha, how creative. How funny. Danny was sure he’d come up with funnier jokes in his sleep. “Fuck off,” he grunted at Dash as his back was slammed against the hard metal behind him again.

“Ooh, he’s got bite today.” Dash leaned back a bit, a vicious grin on his face, then crowded Danny against the lockers again. “Oh, no, never mind. Looks like he’s all bark.”

Danny snarled back at Dash before he’d really thought about it—before he could stop himself, really. It wasn’t even words, really, just an animalistic snarl and the pulse of his core that meant his eyes were glowing.

Oh, fuck. And Dash was way too close to miss that.

“Hey, there you go!” Dash… cheered? The fists clenched in Danny’s shirt released, and his feet thumped down on the ground before he’d really caught on to what was happening. Dash was already turning away from him, nudging Kwan. “See, I told you Fenton could do it too!”

That… was not the reaction he’d expected to get to ghostly glowing eyes. What the fuck?

Kwan laughed audibly, and Danny wrenched his eyes away from Dash and towards the other boy. The… the laughing, visibly cheery boy.

Seriously. What was going on?

“So, uh… No bullying anymore today?” Danny asked, and then felt like he could kick himself. Absolute moron. Who asks that sort of thing?

Dash snorted, apparently amused (amused???) by Danny’s idiotic question, and waved a dismissive hand. “What’s the point? I got what I was after.”

Okay? Good? That explained absolutely nothing. If anything, Danny felt even more confused. Had Dash seriously been bullying him trying to get him to glow eyes his? To snarl at him?

What???

Apparently he vocalized that last thought, because Kwan’s eyes turned back to him, a hesitant grin on his face.

And then Kwan’s eyes flashed a bright, glowing, cyan.

Danny, still leaning against the lockers he’d been pressed to, froze up automatically. He knew what that meant. Had spent enough time combing through his parents’ research—and with his own experience—to know that briefly glowing eyes couldn’t be caused by ordinary ghostly causes. An overshadowing ghost altered the eye-color of their host, but that was constant.

And, if there had been a ghost, Danny would’ve felt them. He’d grown more than strong enough to sense ghosts even if they were hidden in a host.

“He’s had them for a while.” Dash spoke casually, like this wasn’t a big fucking deal. “We couldn’t find anybody else with that brand of ecto-contamination, y’know, so Kwan was feeling super down about that.”

“Dash,” Kwan groaned, sounding put-upon. As carefully as Danny listened, the only thing he could hear was the undercurrent of care Kwan held for Dash. For his friend.

“Shut up, man.” Dash nudged his friend, then picked up his explanation that didn’t explain anything. “See, but I knew I had seen you do them too. The glowy eyes, I mean.” Dash underlined the latter with a vague gesture at his own eyes. “So I just had to push you into doing them while Kwan could see, to prove that he wasn’t the only one.”

“Uh.” Danny blinked at them, feeling like he missed everything Dash had said after the words “ecto-contamination”. What?

No, seriously, he knew he’d uttered that word a lot these past five minutes—even if only in his head—but what?

“You had to get him angry, though,” Kwan muttered, bumping shoulders with Dash. “You know that’s not the only way to make them glow.”

“Yeah, but it was the easiest to push him into,” Dash easily admitted.

And then, while Danny was still reeling, feeling like he’d missed at least seven steps in this conversation, Kwan stepped in closer and shot him a bright smile. “Thanks, Fenton. I feel a ton better.”

“Uh, yeah.” Danny blinked, watching the two of them wander off like nothing happened. “You’re welcome?”

“Man, what was all of that?” he muttered to himself, staring at the empty hallway for a moment before pushing himself away from the lockers. He desperately needed to talk to Sam and Tucker, see if they had any idea what all of that was about.

Somewhere, he kind of wished that Jazz was still in Amity. She would definitely know what the hell all of that was all about.

Seriously. Dash had just casually muttered the words ecto-contamination, and then suggested that it was common enough for there to be accepted variants of it.

How had Danny missed all of that?

!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

“There’s Val,” Sam whispered, leaning in closer. Danny followed her gaze and, indeed, there was the girl they’d been looking for all morning.

Well, it figured that they wouldn’t manage to pin her down until lunch, but it was frustrating nonetheless. Sam and Tucker hadn’t known what the stuff with Dash and Kwan had been about, either, so they had decided to ask the only person they could reasonably ask: Valerie Gray.

But that, in turn, meant that they had to just sit on the knowledge until lunch.

At least she had picked a distant enough seat that they could talk in private. Small blessings.

“Let’s hope she actually knows what’s going on,” Tucker muttered, before nudging Danny forward. “You go first, dude.”

So quick to sacrifice him to the ghost huntress. Danny shook his head but walked over, slipping into the seat opposite of Valerie. “Hey, Val.”

“Danny,” she greeted him back, raising an eyebrow at Sam and Tucker, who sat down on either side of him. “Well, this feels like an interrogation all of a sudden.”

He shot Sam a meaningful glance, but she just grinned back, pushing herself to sit more squarely on the seat. Rude.

“Danny had a weird interaction with Dash and Kwan this morning,” Tucker started explaining, breaking the tension before it could really go anywhere. “We were hoping you could offer… I dunno, some clarification, since you know them better than we do.”

She snorted, leaning back slightly. “They’re Dash and Kwan. Every interaction with them is weird.”

“Well, yeah, but they were…” Danny paused, briefly hesitant to mention it—what would Valerie think of ghost-powered humans?—before powering through. “They were talking about ecto-contamination, and known variants of it.”

The look they got in response was flat. Flat, and clearly confused.

After a long and exceedingly awkward moment of silence, Valerie cleared her throat and asked, clearly hesitant, “None of you noticed?”

“Noticed what?” Tucker frowned, glancing between the three of them and Valerie.

“That pretty much everyone in Amity Park has ghost-like traits?” She raised a questioning eyebrow at them. “Everyone, but especially the kids here at Casper High, has ecto-contamination so bad that we’re all, well. Becoming a little ghost-like.” She paused, shook her head, then asked. “None of you seriously noticed?”

Danny drew back, considering his words, but before he could really think about it, Sam had already flapped a dismissive hand. “The three of us spend so much time in and around Fentonworks that we’re already contaminated to hell and back,” she dryly explained. “And honestly, Valerie, how much time do we really spend with anyone outside our direct circle?”

“Fair enough,” Valerie allowed with a shrug. “Right, so, it mostly seems to be caused by the Portal and the constant ghost attacks. I mean, obviously, right?”

“Right,” Danny agreed, ignoring the way his stomach was turning. He’d tried so hard to keep everyone safe, but had the presence of ghosts been endangering them all along? Had the spilled ectoplasm really affected people, and so badly too?

“Now, what we started noticing pretty early on is that people generally only display a single ghost power, once they become contaminated enough to actually have a discernible ghost power. Some people consider them distinct variants: people with invisibility, with intangibility, flight, etcetera.”

Sam and Tucker both hummed, thoughtfully. Valerie raised her other eyebrow at that, then shook her head and continued on.

“Generally people don’t get contaminated enough to display more than those basic powers, but exceptions exist, I guess. And your contamination is probably way worse than anyone else’s, except maybe actual ghost hunters like the Fentons.” She made a face. “And that’s assuming their jumpsuits don’t protect them, which I doubt.”

“I’m pretty sure they do,” Danny mumbled, trying to inconspicuously watch both of his best friends from the corner of his eyes. The more Valerie explained about the ecto-contamination that apparently haunted all of Amity Park, the more their expressions twisted into something they usually called “suddenly understanding weird shit that had been happening”.

It was, unfortunately, a somewhat common expression these days. What with ghosts becoming a common thing, and all that.

“I… Some of the plants in my greenhouse grow unusually well whenever I’m near. Some even seem to react to my presence…” Sam admitted, her voice quiet, uncharacteristically reluctant. After a moment of hesitation, she tacked on, “And sometimes, when I really really don’t want to deal with my parents, they just… overlook me, like I’m not there at all.”

Like she was invisible, they all heard, despite the fact that Sam didn’t say the words.

Seemingly encouraged by Sam’s admission, Tucker added on, “I rarely, if ever, charge my tech. Their batteries just don’t seem to empty as long as I have them on me. And sometimes when I’m digging into code, it feels like… like I can alter it directly, like I’m tapping into some inner world that doesn’t—shouldn’t—exist.” Just like Sam, Tucker also paused for a moment. “When I’m running from a ghost or whatever, sometimes I run into an alley that I know has a dead end and never hit the wall.”

Like he was just phasing through it, going intangible before he hit it.

Danny swallowed through the clog he suddenly found in his throat, watching Valerie turn a meaningful look to him. She wanted him to tell her about his— his ghost powers. But he couldn’t just pretend all of his powers came from the contamination of living at Fentonworks, could he?

And he definitely couldn’t pick certain powers as acceptable and others as not.

“I… I guess weird shit has happened to me too, yeah,” he finally admitted, cautiously, hoping she guessed the source of his reluctance wrong. “But I never really thought about it, to be honest. Anything I could blame the ecto-contamination for could just as easily be caused by actual ghosts.” And in a way it was, of course. Anything caused by his ecto-contamination was caused by an actual ghost: Phantom.

“But,” he tacked on, knowing Valerie wouldn’t just let that lie. She was far too stubborn not to investigate. “Dash and Kwan apparently saw me with glowing eyes?”

Valerie hummed, then nodded. “That makes sense, I guess. I know Kwan has the glowing eyes variant as well, so that would explain why they’ve been targeting you.”

“It’s been around that long?” Sam asked, leaning forward, clearly curious despite herself. “I figured it would’ve taken longer than that to show up.”

“Oh, no, that was long after I got kicked out of the group,” Valerie said dismissively. “But Kwan saw me with a ghost scanner one day, and he begged me to scan him. I guess he was seriously worried that he had been overshadowed, even if overshadowing doesn’t work like that.”

“I don’t think he got rid of that fear, to be honest.” Danny shrugged, uneasy. “At least, he seemed pretty cheered-up when I, uh, glowed my eyes at him and Dash.”

Tucker snorted, and Danny could see Sam crack a grin as well, probably at his word choice. Well, fuck them. What did you call it, if not “glowing your eyes at them”?

“Anyway, I can’t help but notice that we all told you, but you haven’t said a word about what you can do,” Sam prodded, nudging Valerie. “Come on, Val.”

“Yeah, that does seem a little unfair.” Tucker leaned forward as well, an expression of genuine curiosity on his face.

And, honestly? Danny kind of wanted to know as well. Her ghost hunting suit probably hadn’t protected her, and her new suit definitely didn’t. If anything, the Technus-made suit probably had just worsened it.

“I…” Valerie visibly hesitated, then gave in. “I can fly, a little. It’s not really all that great, but at least I won’t break anything if I ever fall out of a tree or something.”

She said it with a light tone, like it was just a casual joke. All Danny could think of, however, was all the times he’d seen Valerie fall off of her hoverboard, especially at the start.

He carefully does not wince.

“That’s pretty neat,” he forced himself to say instead. “Less lame than glowing eyes, at least.”

Valerie grinned back at him, but before she could say anything the bell rung.

“Guess we’d better head to class,” Sam said with a grunt, pushing herself off of the bench.

“Yeah.” Tucker got up as well, then nodded at Valerie. “Thanks for the explanation, Valerie.”

Danny followed suit, shooting her a smile. “Same. Thanks, Val.”

She had given him a lot to think about.

#phic phight #phic phight 2021 #danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #danny fenton #dark writes

[antebunny]

Lan Wangji: Damsel-in-Distress

If Lan Wangji had known it was this easy to get Wei Ying to do what he wanted, he would’ve put himself in mortal peril a long time ago.

He has this realization when they’re retreating from the Wens. Despite Wei Ying’s new, dangerous powers successfully turning the tide of war in their favor, the Sunshot Campaign still loses battles and takes losses. But Nie Mingjue rarely loses battles, and Wei Ying has never lost a battle he participated in, which makes this battle a special case. 

Their intelligence underestimated the number of Wens in this region, so when Lan Wangji and Jiang Wanyin launch an attack shortly after sunrise, leading the Lan and Jiang cultivators into battle, their forces falter under the onslaught of Wens. 

The Wen supervisory office is bathed in blood when Wei Ying arrives. He collapsed after the last battle, and Jiang Wanyin elected to head into battle anyway, under the premise that it would allow Wei Ying more time to rest. Lan Wangji very much disapproves of Jiang Wanyin’s decision to let Wei Ying continue demonic cultivation, even if it is winning them the war, but he has to admit that he does care for Wei Ying in other ways. But Jiang Wanyin’s plan backfired, because instead of winning the battle and successfully giving Wei Ying the day to rest, the battle instead dragged on, until the day sunk into night and they were forced to admit they were losing.

Lan Wangji is knee-deep in dead bodies and blood, guarding the retreat of their forces, when he steps into the array. He misses it because of the sheer volumes of blood, running from an endless number of sword wounds. He stands facing the entrance of the supervisory office, back to the retreating Lans and Jiangs. Jiang Wanyin is ten paces behind him, Zidian one violet blur around him. 

The shrieking of Chenqing heralds Wei Ying’s arrival, and Lan Wangji is just as displeased as he is pleased. He spares himself one glance back, and sees Wei Ying standing on the roof of a nearby building, corpses already rallying to his song. Lan Wangji and Jiang Wanyin make brief eye contact.

“Go,” Lan Wangji tells him. “Wei Ying and I will cover the retreat.”

If Jiang Wanyin resents being told what to do, he sees the sense in Lan Wangji’s words and nods sharply. The Lans hesitate to abandon their Hanguang-jun, but a sharp gesture from Lan Wangji sends them after Jiang Wanyin and his contingent of cultivators. 

At the same time, Wei Ying advances, jumping off the roof and joining his ranks of corpses. Lan Wangji pushes down his usual revulsion upon seeing Wei Ying walking amongst the corpses. He retreats to the top of the steps while the corpses of Wen and Jiang alike line up at the bottom, Wei Ying at their head. The Wen cultivators hesitate to chase after the retreating cultivators, scared by the presence of Wei Ying. Instead, they cluster outside the main door but before the stairs, surrounding Lan Wangji in a loose semi-circle.

Lan Wangji’s fingertips are bloody on the strings of his guqin when he feels the array flare up around him. 

Immediately, Lan Wangji tenses, and inspects the array for weaknesses. Wei Ying runs up the stairs, but red light flares up when he tries to break the array, and Wei Ying is pushed back, hissing in pain. A moment later they both realize that the array is a repurposed protective array, meant to keep out demonic energy. This includes, of course, demonic cultivation, and by extension, Wei Ying.

Lan Wangji’s mind is already racing with possible solutions, and clearly Wei Ying’s is doing the same, if the grim smile that settles on his face is any indication. It takes the Wens a further five seconds to recognize the array, at which point they all level their swords and begin to run towards Lan Wangji. 

There’s only two meters between the Wens and the array, and about two seconds before the Wens reach the array. During those two seconds, time for Lan Wangji slows to a near standstill. 

The array trapping Lan Wangji is perhaps one and a half meters in diameter. Wei Ying can very easily direct his corpses around it and kill all the Wens at the top of the stairs. But the Wens, unlike the corpses, can enter the array. Wei Ying cannot enter the array, and Lan Wangji cannot leave. The only way Lan Wangji can leave is if someone enters the array and takes him out–these arrays are nominally made by cultivators to protect non-cultivators who find themselves in the middle of a night hunt or some such danger. 

This means Lan Wangji will be fighting however many Wens can fit inside the array, which by his estimate is up to twenty at a time. Although Lan Wangji is confident that he can defeat twenty Wen cultivators, he knows that he cannot fight the entire army, especially not after having fought for the entire day. 

In other words, Lan Wangji is about to die.

This all passes through his mind in less time than it takes the Wens to realize what the array even is, which means that he’s turning back to look at Wei Ying one last time when the Wens actually start running. Wei Ying, having come to the same conclusion perhaps faster than Lan Wangji, has set his corpse army into motion by the time Lan Wangji turns back to look at him. The corpses flood past Lan Wangji, roaring and snarling, but Lan Wangji already knows that they won’t slow the Wens down enough. 

So instead of turning around to defend himself, he finds himself staring at Wei Ying’s face, even though Wei Ying’s familiar silver eyes are instead demonic red, and his pretty face is twisted in a dangerous smile.

Wei Ying presses a hand to his chest and then draws it away. Shadows follow, swirling all around his body like Wei Ying’s very presence causes resentment to the world. They hiss and shift like writhing snakes, lashing against Wei Ying’s control until his face twists with effort. 

“Here,” Wei Ying says. “Catch.”

And then he hurls the resentful energy like the world’s deadliest toy. The massive cloud of demonic energy quickly seeps into the Wen soldiers, who freeze in place, suddenly battling an invisible energy. Soon, screams split the air, as grown men crumple under a fraction of the power Wei Ying wields. 

Used to wield. 

Wei Ying looks so much smaller without his deadly aura. His eyes shine a familiar silver as he takes the one step he needs to cross the array. A shiver runs through him as he does, and he staggers on the other side of the array. His fingers wrap around Lan Wangji’s wrist, and his grip is much weaker than Lan Wangji thought it would be. 

“Well, don’t take your time, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying chides with dark humor. “It’s not like we have all day.”

He pulls Lan Wangji out of the array, and collapses nearly the moment he’s out. Lan Wangji doesn’t waste a moment before scooping Wei Ying up in his arms. He steps onto Bichen, guqin on his back, and flies off as fast as his shaking limbs can carry him, leaving the Wens behind to deal with the corpses.

Lan Wangji arrives at camp with spots dancing in his vision, and Wei Ying in his shaking arms. Wei Ying, who is free from demonic cultivation. 

Drunk on this victory, Lan Wangji promptly faints.

-

Lan Wangji curses his body’s limitations when he next wakes up and discovers that during the time he was unconscious, Wei Ying woke up and promptly picked up demonic cultivation again. He witnessed firsthand how weak Wei Ying was in the moments after he removed all the demonic energy from his body, so he has no doubt that Wei Ying was scared. But if only he hadn’t fainted, if only he’d been there when Wei Ying woke up to support him through this temporary weakness and encourage him to pick up Suibian instead of Chenqing–

It’s no use, he tells himself. What’s done is done. What he focuses on instead is the moment he looked back at Wei Ying and saw his face set in grim determination. He knows that Wei Ying realized everything he did, which means he looked at Lan Wangji trapped in the array and made a choice: Lan Wangji or demonic cultivation. Of course, he did it knowing that he could pick it up again, but still, Lan Wangji’s heart does funny little rabbit thumps every time he remembers how Wei Ying’s overwhelming gaze focused on him as he casually drew the resentful energy out of his body and chose Lan Wangji. 

It seems that all of Lan Wangji’s lectures and arguments about the danger of demonic cultivation had a much simpler solution. Wei Ying threw it all away because Lan Wangji needed help. Now Lan Wangji finds himself in a strange situation, in which the way to help Wei Ying involves something Lan Wangji has never done, not once in his life: asking for help.

-

Naturally, he turns to his brother for advice.

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen says, his smile strained to the point of breaking. “No.”

Lan Wangji frowns. It sounds perfectly reasonable to him.

“You are not putting yourself in mortal peril on the off-chance that Young Master Wei will choose to abandon his method of cultivation,” Xichen says flatly.

“It is not an off-chance,” Lan Wangji argues. He’s almost never argued with his brother before, merely choosing to run away from conversations (such as “I see you’ve been staring at the Jiangs’ Head Disciple a lot, Wangji–Wangji, come back–”)

“Assume that he does, then,” Lan Xichen allows. “Did you not say he immediately picked it up again?”

“Giving up demonic cultivation caused him to collapse,” Lan Wangji says. “As I was injured at the time, I was not there to help him through its loss, and Jiang Wanyin–” He allows himself a small scowl, so furious is he at the carelessness of Wei Ying’s brother. “–did not say a word to stop him.”

To be fair, he doubts that Jiang Wanyin discouraging Wei Ying from using demonic cultivation would stop him. Lan Wangji must admit that he’s taken advantage of Wei Ying’s lack of respect for his new sect leader’s orders. Once he understood that Jiang Wanyin would make no move to prevent Wei Ying from using demonic cultivation, he turned his entreaties to Wei Ying instead, knowing that the only way to help Wei Ying would be getting through to Wei Ying himself. And because with the war keeping him exhausted and on the verge of losing his temper, he’s afraid that if he talks to Jiang Wanyin for too long, he’ll snap and beat him bloody, which is not the support that neither Lan Xichen nor Wei Ying need right now.

Lan Wangji eyes his brother expectantly, hoping that Lan Xichen will offer to guide and support Wei Ying on his behalf, after Wei Ying has narrowly recused Lan Wangji from mortal peril once more.

If he’s being completely honest with himself, it would be far easier to engineer a scenario in which Wei Ying must give up demonic cultivation for either of his siblings. But Lan Wangji’s morals won’t allow him to put others in danger in such an underhanded scheme, and Lan Wangji very much likes the thought of Wei Ying running to his rescue. The truth that Lan Wangji does not want to admit to himself is that the second reason is far more compelling to him than the first.

Lan Xichen’s face makes a strange motion that indicates that he would be sighing at Lan Wangji if he was just a slightest bit meaner. “Wangji,” he says patiently, “from what you have told me, Young Master Wei purged himself of resentful energy because you needed his help. Why do you not just ask for his help?”

That, Lan Wangji has to admit, sounds far simpler than orchestrating a scenario in which Wei Ying is the only one who can help him, specifically by setting aside demonic cultivation. 

It’s also far less compelling than Wei Ying dashing heroically to his rescue, but Lan Wangji was raised to be straightforward. 

He was not, however, raised to need help, so he frowns and asks; “How?”

Lan Xichen still refrains from sighing at him, because he knows why Lan Wangji finds the concept of asking for help so baffling. “Well,” he says, “here’s one thing you can do…”

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #lan xichen #jiang cheng #my writing #writeblr #greetings tumblr void #featuring: simp!lwj #wangxian #antebunny's ficlets

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Ch. 26: Illusions (Dance)

AO3

Prev

Marinette quickly decides she hates the punishment. The grounding. It sucks not being allowed to go on patrol with her family. Luckily, Adrien came back to Paris the day after she was grounded, so she didn’t have to take any of her family to Paris. Which she was thankful for, because as much as she loved them, she also doubted they’d be able to control their emotions long enough. 

“Hey kiddo, we’re about to head out to patrol. Do you need anything?” Dick asks, sticking his head into her room. He’d been extremely nice since she got benched, not that he was ever anything but nice. But he’d also been acting like another dad, checking in on her, making dad jokes, the works. It helped since her own dad was currently still mad at her for blocking him from Paris. 

“To patrol with you guys.” She says with a hopeful smile. Dick sighs, shaking his head. 

“You know I can’t do that Mari. B’s the one who has to say you’re allowed back. I’m sorry kid.” Dick says. Marinette frowns. 

“It’s fine. I’ll just stay here and draw or something.” She says, flopping back down on her bed. She can tell Dick hesitates, as if he wants to say something else, but then he’s gone. And she’s alone. Again. 

“Marinette, are you okay?” Tikki asks, flying over and landing next to her head. 

“It’s been four days, Tikki. Four days. How much longer is he gonna have me benched? If the akuma was bad, I would’ve brought in Kagami or Luka.” She rambles, covering her face with her hands. She was restless, which was making her anxious. She wanted to do something. She didn’t want to be stuck at home. And sure, she could train in the gym here, but her mind wouldn’t be in it. She’d be worried about her family the whole time. 

“Well...maybe it’s time for you to be ungrounded.” Tikki says slowly. Marinette pulls her hands from her face and blinks at her friend. 

“Are you...are you ungrounding me?” She asks. Because yes, her dad had grounded her. But Tikki had agreed with the punishment. And while sneaking around the world’s greatest detective would be hard, she was willing to do it. Going against the goddess of creation? Not so much. 

“If you bring Trixx, you’ll be able to be invisible when you’re around your family.” Tikki suggests and Marinette grins. 

“Plagg’s rubbing off on you, isn’t he?” She teases. Tikki huffs. 

“Not at all. I just don’t like seeing you upset, Marinette.” She says and Marinette smiles. 

“Thank you, Tikki.” She says, going over to the Miracle Box and pulling out Trixx’ necklace. She puts it on and grins at the small fox. 

“Hiya Guardian! What’s goin’ on?” Trixx asks with a wide smile. 

“Tikki suggested I bring you on patrol so I can be invisible. Whaddya say Trixx, ready to cause some mischief?” Marinette asks. Trixx smirks. 

“Obviously!” He cheers. Marinette grins. Let the fun begin.

---

Marinette sticks close to her family, using Mirage to make herself invisible. It was weird, following her family and not being able to hear them (she hadn’t wanted to take a comm in case she messed up and talked, she’d be in real trouble then). But it was also funny, watching her dad tense if she got too close. He could definitely tell that something funny was going on, but she was determined to not let him figure her out. The beeping from Trixx’ necklace makes her huff. She’d have to go hide and recharge, but it was fine. Trixx had already told her that he was having fun messing with her family, so she knew he’d be willing to keep going for a little while longer. Dashing behind one of the air conditioning units on the roof, she lets Trixx’ Mirage drop, passing him a handful of berries. 

“Take your time Trixx, they won’t get far.” Marinette reassures him, smiling at him as he grabs the berries from her. She leans up against the unit, taking a minute to just relax. 

“Well, well, well. Looks like the little bug strayed from her birds.” A familiar voice drawls out. Marinette stiffens, not turning. 

“Trixx, go. Find the others.” She commands, ripping the necklace off and passing it to Trixx. He immediately zips away and she whirls around, just in time to jump back and avoid the sword coming at her. 

“You have more than one Miraculous? How interesting. You know, Damian stopped us from talking last time. I’d love to...chat.” Slade says, pulling his sword back. She can’t see his face, but she can hear the smirk in his voice. Marinette grits her teeth, remembering the last time she’d seen the man. The scar she had on her shoulder. 

“I’d rather not. No offense, but you don’t seem like a great conversationalist.” She snarks, her entire body tense as she stays poised to fight. She glances around, trying to find an escape route that would get her as far away from him as possible. And quick.

“You’re not actually thinking of running, are you? You have no backup. I’ve been watching the Bats tonight. No one knows you’re even here.” He says, stepping closer so that he’s almost blocked her in. She feels her breathing quicken as she starts to panic slightly. She’d only escaped last time because of her family. They’d fought him off after he got ahold of her. He’s far stronger than her, she has to stay out of his reach. She takes a deep breath, staring the man down and schooling her features into a neutral mask. She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her distressed. 

“I never run from a fight.” She lies, throwing her yoyo out to wrap around the handle of the man’s sword, tugging as she throws her weight to his left. The clanking of the sword as it bounces off the roof makes her grin, and she quickly tugs the yoyo, grabbing the sword by its handle and twirling it around slightly, planting her feet in her new position. She’d managed to move so that she was no longer blocked between Slade and the air conditioning unit. 

“Oh sweetheart, you can’t possibly beat me.” He says, shaking his head as he walks towards her, pulling his second sword off his back. 

“Don’t underestimate me.” She snaps, holding up the sword and preparing herself to fight back. He sighs, as if he’s disappointed in her, before lunging forward, bringing his sword up for an attack. She holds up her own sword, blocking his strike. It was much different than the fencing foil she’d used a few times back in Paris, much heavier. She grits her teeth as he pushes down with the sword, obviously trying to overpower her. She holds for another moment before jumping back, jerking her sword away. The sudden change in force makes him stumble forwards and let out a growl. He continues to lunge towards her as she dances back and forth, trying to avoid fighting him too much. He’d definitely overpower her if she let him get too close. 

“I’d rather do this the easy way, darling, but if you’re really going to make me do this the hard way we can.” He threatens, twirling the sword around before charging her again. She let out a gasp, jumping back again, her foot slipping as she was much closer to the edge of the roof than she expected. She falls, managing to grab the roof with her open hand, the sword now dangling at her side. She had two options. She could let go of the sword and use her yoyo to swing away, or she could try and let go of the roof and shoot out her yoyo quick enough to avoid splatting on the ground. She quickly makes her decision, dropping the sword into the dumpster below her and yanking out her yoyo to attempt to swing away. 

“No!” She yells, as Slade grabs her hand from the roof, tugging her towards him before she can swing away. She struggles against him, kicking at him, throwing her elbows around wildly. She had to get out of his hold. 

“Did you really think that would work?” He asks, as he pins her to chest. She continues struggling in his grasp, not willing to give up yet.

“Thought I’d try it.” She huffs. 

“Sure you did sweetheart. Now, I’ll be taking these.” Slade says, reaching for her earrings. He touches them and hisses in pain, Marinette also hissing in shock. They’d heated up when he grabbed them, almost like they were trying to burn him. Unfortunately for Marinette, they were still on her ears. Which meant she also got burned. 

“What the hell was that?” He hisses, whirling her around to face her, continuing to hold her arms down. She continues to struggle while glaring at the man. 

“Apparently the earrings don’t want you either.” She snaps. 

“Guess I’ll just have to take you with me.” He says and her eyes widen in panic. No. Nope. Not a secondary location, she’d watched enough true crime shows and listened to Tim rant about cold cases enough to know what a secondary location meant. It meant death. And she was not about to die again, especially not somewhere she couldn’t use the Cure. A hard blow to the back of her head makes her vision go black as she quickly slips into unconsciousness. 

---

Dick Grayson was not expecting to see a tiny floating fox on patrol. He was definitely not expecting said tiny fox to be carrying a necklace and rambling worriedly.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down buddy. What’s wrong?” Dick asks, smiling at them. They were similar to Plagg, the tiny floating black cat that had hung around the day Marinette was a toddler. 

“It’s the Guardian! She needs help. A man with a mask and swords found her and she doesn’t have any backup.” They ramble, a terrified look on their face. Dick frowns. 

“Who?” He asks, not quite sure why the fox has chosen him. 

“Marinette!” They cry, and Dick freezes. “Tikki told her she could be ungrounded and so we were following you guys, but then she had to stop and the man found her. Please, help her!” 

“Lead the way.” He says, whirling on his heel and following the little creature as it zips through the city. He follows them all the way to a roof, frowning when the fox pauses and looks around, clear panic on their face. 

“They were here. She was here.” They mumble, twisting in circles and looking around. They start zipping forward again, and Dick has to rush to follow. Hopefully they’d spotted Marinette. And whoever the guy was. As he follows the fox, he frowns when he spots a figure carrying something over their shoulder. Something limp- He pushes forward, going faster than the fox as he attempts to catch up. The second the figure lands on a roof, he whips out his escrima sticks, whacking the man across the back of his legs. The man stumbles, spinning around and glaring at Dick. 

“Nightwing, wasn’t expecting to see you.” Slade growls. Dick narrows his eyes. 

“Drop the girl, Slade.” He demands. Slade lets out a humorless laugh. 

“I’ve been trying to get to her for weeks, do you really think I’m going to let go of her that easily?” He asks. 

“I think if you know what’s good for you, you’ll set her down and get the hell out of Gotham.” Dick says. 

“Nightwing, who is it?” Damian’s voice rings through the comm. Dick’s relieved that he was on the duo’s channel rather than the group channel. If he could get Marinette home before B noticed, maybe his baby sister wouldn’t get in more trouble. 

“I don’t think you understand the importance of her earrings.” Slade counters, obviously preparing to fight his way out. 

“I don’t care how important you think they are, Slade. Put her down and get out of the city.” He says, watching the older man’s body language to try and anticipate the attack. He hears Damian curse in his ear, and he resists the urge to reprimand him. 

“How about no.” Slade quips, tossing Marinette to the side of the roof and charging at him in one fluid motion. Dick sees red as he watches Marinette get tossed aside so carelessly, her head bouncing off the roof. He uses one of his escrima sticks to counter the blows from the other man’s sword, using his other to whack the man’s shoulder. The two circle each other, each taking turns to start the attack. Slade may be motivated by his want for the earrings, but Dick was fighting for his sister. Losing wasn’t an option for Dick, not when one of his siblings was in danger. 

“I believe Nightwing told you to leave.” Damian calls, bursting into the fight. Slade turns back towards Marinette, and just as Dick’s about to lunge for him- she disappears. Completely. Gone from sight. He begins to panic slightly. Where did she go? What happened to her? The cry from Slade breaks his concentration from where his sister just disappeared into thin air. He glances back at the man, unsurprised to see Damian’s sword through the older man’s side. As much as he wants to see Slade suffer, he knows Damian would be in trouble later if he actually killed the older man. “Robin.” Dick calls, hoping to ground his little brother before he did something he would regret. Damian scowls, stepping away from Slade. Dick turns his attention to the man, who was now disarmed and bleeding profusely. Not much of a threat. “Get the hell out of this city. Don’t let us see you here again Slade.” He snaps, unsurprised as the man turns and rushes away. The man was a coward. His biggest enemy was a twelve year old boy who had done nothing but be born. Gritting his teeth, Dick takes a deep breath. No need to let his anger get the best of him. He immediately starts to panic when he remembers Marinette disappearing. Just as he’s about to call it in, her limp form shimmers back into view. He rushes over to her, glancing momentarily at the floating fox next to her. 

“I can do mirages. Hopefully I controlled it enough not to make chaos anywhere, but-” They stop, glancing at Marinette. “But I had to do something.”

“Thank you.” Dick says softly, picking up Marinette and holding her close to his chest. 

“Should I alert Father?” Damian asks. Dick turns to look at him, noticing how tense the younger boy looks. He weighs his options. He could take her back to the manor and let her get into even more trouble with Bruce. Or, he could take her to his apartment and try to convince Bruce that she’d been there all night. 

“Let’s not. She’ll just be benched for even longer, and obviously trying to keep her from patrols isn’t going to end well for us.” Dick says, frowning at her limp form. Damian tenses, but nods. “I will continue patrol while you take her to a safe location. I expect an update once she is awake. You should stay with her, Slade has obviously become obsessed with her.” Damian says, and Dick nods.

“Thank you, Robin. I know you don’t like going against him, but…..” Dick trails off, looking at Marinette and how tiny she looked right now. Damian nods. 

“She’s family as well. I did not agree with her punishment, I will not aid in it being lengthened.” He says before swinging away. Dick just smiles softly, shaking his head at his youngest brother. That was probably as close as he’d get to admitting he loved Marinette. But it was clear, in his actions, that he did care about her. Just as he cared about their other brothers, no matter how much he denied it. Sighing, Dick adjusts Marinette in his arms before grappling towards his apartment. This was going to be a long night. 

---

Marinette wakes up and immediately groans at the light in the room. Almost immediately, the light disappears, as if someone flipped a switch. 

“Hey kiddo.” A soft voice says. She sits up and winces, holding a hand against her head. She blinks, her eyes adjusting as she glances around the unfamiliar space. 

“Dick?” She says, confused. Where were they? What happened?

“You’re okay kid, we’re at my apartment. It’s where I live when Kori and Mari are in town. Slade got you, almost got away with you too. But your little fox friend found me and I was able to get there in time. Try and drink a little water, I need to call Damian and let him know you’re awake.” He says and she starts to panic. Did their dad also know? Was she in more trouble? Was- “Marinette, you gotta breathe. Damian and I are the only ones who know you snuck out. Neither of us wanna tell B, cause then you’d just be sneaking on patrol even longer and that’s dangerous. But I’m not gonna lecture you right now. So just take a breath. That’s it kid, you’re okay.” He soothes, breathing with her for several counts. She nods once she’s calmed down, and he grins at her before walking away to make the call. She picks up the water, sipping on it and trying to ignore the pounding in her head. Instead, she glances around the apartment, smiling softly at the pictures. She’d found out about her sister in law and niece not that long ago. They were apparently off planet right now, but she had hope that they would be back before the summer was over so she could meet them. A sudden wave of nausea hits her and she groans, laying back against the couch. She huffs in frustration when she realizes she likely has a concussion.

“When I said you were ungrounded, I didn’t mean for you to fight the man that stabbed you on your first trip to Gotham.” Tikki complains, flying up and staring straight into her eyes. Marinette groans, squeezing her eyes shut and pouting. 

“I didn’t mean to.” She reminds the Kwami, opening an eye to peek at her. 

“Didn’t mean to.” She mumbles before letting out an uncharacteristic huff. “Next time tell one of your brothers, please Marinette. Even if you’re sneaking out. I’m sure they could figure out a way to be in communication with you without letting your dad know. It would make me feel better knowing that you have backup from the start.” Tikki says, her worry clear on her small face. 

“I will, don’t worry Tikki.” Marinette says with a sigh. She could hold her own against a normal criminal, or an akumatized villain. But it wasn’t easy fighting against a man more than twice her size who was obviously highly trained. 

“B thinks you came over here before patrol, so your cover is safe.” Dick says, walking back into the living room. Marinette smiles weakly at him, fully expecting a lecture now that he’s off the phone. Dick sits on the arm of the chair next to the couch, looking at her worriedly. “Think you have a concussion?” He asks. She blinks, but nods slowly. He walks away and comes back a moment later with some painkillers, passing them to her. She takes them, hoping that they’ll start working sooner than later as the dull pounding in her head has escalated since waking up. 

“Are you gonna yell at me?” She asks quietly, not looking at him. 

“No, Marinette, I’m not gonna yell at you.” He says, and she looks at him, frowning. 

“Why? I knew I was benched. And I still went out, and I didn’t tell anyone.” She says, confused as to why he wasn’t yelling. Her dad hadn’t yelled at her after she got stabbed, just flat out refused to let her patrol. But he’d yelled at her after the Watchtower thing. And the stealing the Batmobile thing. And the whole keeping him from getting to Paris thing. And the fighting an akuma alone thing. 

“You know that you messed up, why would I yell at you? You know, and now next time, you’ll do it differently. You’ll be better and learn from this mistake. I’m not gonna yell at you for secretly going on patrol ‘cause I’d be a hypocrite. Was I scared to death when I realized the limp thing on Slade’s shoulder was you? Yes. God, yes, I was terrified. But you’re here and you’re fine. So instead of yelling, you’re gonna stay here tonight and I’m gonna make sure I don’t need to take you to Alfred for the concussion.” Dick says with a small smile. Marinette smiles at her brother, relieved. 

“Are you gonna tell dad?” She asks. Even though he doesn’t know yet, she knows that there’s still a chance of Dick telling him. 

“No, but can you do something for me?” He asks. She nods. “Next time you wanna sneak out without B knowing, could you tell me or Jay? Please? Just so we know to check in on you. We’re not gonna follow you or anything, but it’d be nice to know that one of us needs to check in and make sure you’re okay.” He says. She quirks an eyebrow in surprise. He wasn’t going to follow her?

“Really?” She asks, he nods. 

“I know that sometimes you just need a break. Trust me, I get it. I understand that B can be….overbearing.” Dick says with a sigh. Marinette nods in agreement, sitting back slightly and letting out a yawn. Just as her eyes are about to close, there’s a snap in front of her face. 

“What?” She groans, frowning at her brother. 

“Can’t go to sleep yet kiddo. You clearly have a concussion, so I’m gonna need you to stay awake for a couple hours just to make sure your symptoms stay on the mild side.” He says. She frowns and is about to argue when the front door opens. Dick immediately jumps up and stands in front of her, but relaxes almost as quickly. 

“Daddy!” The little girl, who Marinette realizes must be Mar’i, squeals, flying straight at Dick. Marinette blinks. Her niece could fly. That’s awesome! But would definitely throw a new challenge in when she babysits the girl. 

“Who is this?” The woman, who was taller than Dick and drop dead gorgeous, asks, a small smile on her face. Marinette grins, waving from the couch. 

“Hey, I’m Marinette. Dick’s newest sister.” She says. The woman, Kori, sighs, a smile on her face as she shakes her head. 

“He adopted another?” She asks Dick. He snorts, shaking his head as he holds his daughter close. 

“Nope, she’s his actual daughter. Little D took it surprisingly well.” Dick says. 

“So she’s my aunt?” Mar’i asks, peeking over Dick’s shoulder. 

“Yup! I’m so glad to finally meet you Mar’i.” Marinette says with a small smile, dizziness hitting her again randomly. She shuts her eyes, trying to ground herself. 

“Oh, nope, sorry honey. Aunt Marinette has a bit of a headache right now, you’ll have to be easy with her.” She hears Dick say, probably stopping Mar’i from launching herself at her. 

“Can we play ballerina?” Mar’i asks, and Marinette forces herself to open her eyes and look at the girl. Her heart melts at the little pout on the girl’s face and Marinette already knows that this girl is going to have her wrapped around her finger, just like Manon. 

“Sweetie-” Dick starts, but Marinette cuts him off. 

“Why don’t you show me your ballerina moves tonight, and then tomorrow once I’m feeling better, we can play ballerina together?” She suggests, grinning at the look on her niece’s face. 

“Yes, yes, yes!” She squeals, launching herself from Dick’s arms and flying to a different room. 

“Marinette-” Dick starts with a sigh, an unimpressed look on his face. 

“I’ll help her.” Tikki speaks up, flying to be eye level with Dick. “I can’t heal her completely, but I can heal her partially just as I did when Slade stabbed her. But I do have to warn you, if he tries to hurt my Bug again, I will let him see that there is a fate worse than death.” Marinette blinks in surprise at the complete and total rage radiating from her usual cheery friend. She watches as Dick nods in agreement. 

“Better you than me. Bruce can’t yell at you.” He says in an even tone. Marinette’s jaw drops. That was...surprisingly violent for her usually cheery brother. Before she can question him, Mar’i flies back into the room in a pale pink tutu. 

“Ready to see my dances?” She asks, grinning widely. Marinette nods, settling in to spend some time with her newest family members, plans of a new ballet outfit for Mar’i already dancing through her head.

Next

Tag list:  @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @laurcad123 @waiting247 @jayjayspixiepop @mizzy-pop @jjmjjktth @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @nerd-nowandforever @tazanna-blythe @jaybird-and-co @jumpingjoy82 @lady-bee-fechin @corporeal-terrestrial

#maribat #maribat fanfiction #maribat fanfic #mbdbwm2021 #maribat bio dad bruce #maribat bio dad! bruce wayne month 2021 #maribat bio dad au #maribat bruce wayne #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat dick grayson #maribat damian wayne #maribat jason todd #maribat tim drake #platonic dickinette #platonic daminette #platonic jasonette #platonic timari #maribat mar'i grayson #maribat kori #maribat dick grayson/koriand'r #day twenty six dance

[honklore]

invisible string | dreamwastaken

(requested plot by red string of fate soulmate au, dream is still a streamer, reader has commitment issues, dream just wants someone to love, chat is the best wingman, sapnap and george try but they suck, reader is timid but dream makes them feel brave, taylor swift references, this is not very deep or poetic at all, i don’t like typing y/n so after this i’m going to move to ___)

listen to: invisible string by taylor swift

In kindergarten, red strings were simply a crafting tool, and teachers never mentioned how much pain they would eventually bring.

Because when they appear, from a child’s eighteenth birthday and beyond, they tighten like a godforsaken high school ring that came in one size too small. Like the universe is a child tugging their mother towards the ice cream truck, you’re pulled around central Florida, passes faces you can’t memorize and voices too garbled to hear.

The string knows where you need to go, and when.

And you’re at the park, feeding ducks and trying to ignore that incessant pull that tugs at your pinky, when you hear it.

It’s a voice you know only because it’s a voice that’s been in your house before. At least, through your brother’s tablet screen. Some gamer online — a streamer, with a distinct wheezing laugh that you’d recognize anywhere.

And you do. Behind you.

You risk a small peak, and your heart drops into your chest. He’s tall. Too tall to not intimidate you. And his sandy hair is wavy, curling at the collar of his sweatshirt, falling perfectly into place when he runs his hands through it. When he does, you see it, the red string.

Which means he could see it too. All he’d have to do is turn around.

But you’re not ready. You haven’t been, not since you watched your cousin get rejected on her eighteenth birthday. Since you watched a string of fate get clipped in front of you, like the three fates had finally had enough of your cousin’s happiness.

It was enough to make you curl into yourself, and reject the natural pull set before you. So you run, and you try not to think of what would’ve happened if he saw you before you saw him. You try not to feel the clippers, but the blade feels tangible against your skin.

You don’t stop running until you arrive home.

“Hey chat, just wanted to do a few practice runs and catch up with you guys,” Dream mumbles into the mic, already restarting his game after deciding he didn’t like his seed. The donos begin rolling in, even before Sapnap and George have unmuted, so Dream flits his eyes to the display screen, subconsciously reading along with the text-to-speech voice, “Dream, what if we shared a string of fate? Ahaha, just kidding... unless... love you bestie.”

Dream chuckles, “Actually chat, I felt a tug today! Isn’t that weird? I was actually reading up on what that could mean, and it seems like either my soulmate is in a lot of distress, or they were in my vicinity. I’m hoping, for their sake, it’s the second one. How would you even comfort a soulmate if all you can do is tug on a stupid string?”

“Simp!” George finally unmutes just to be annoying, and Dream knows soulmates are a touchy spot for him, considering he wasn’t given a string on his eighteenth. Which is strange, but not impossible. Of course, chat doesn’t know this, because it would give them more hope of becoming George’s metaphorical soulmate, but it certainly makes for awkward conversations once Dream and Sapnap get into their own soulmate bonds.

“I’m not simping, George!” Dream feels a bit defensive, because he’s genuinely just curious. He has no interest in meeting his soulmate right now. At least, that’s what he tells himself. He has his streams, and his friends, and chat. He’s fine.

[abbywastaken donated $10: dream why don’t you go back to where you felt the pull and see if you feel it again? that’s how i found my soulmate. okay luv u bye.]

“Thanks, Abby. Love you, too. Um, honestly I was in a pretty public place, so I don’t know if they would even come back anytime soon. Also, this is Orlando, right? Tourists are everywhere.”

Sapnap snorts, and Dream thinks it’s funny, since he’s in the other room. “Just say you’re a coward and go.”

“I’m not!” Dream says. “It was just a small pull, okay? It wasn’t even a big deal.”

He feels another lurch when he says that, but this one is in his chest. It taps against his heart, a quick reminder that it beats for someone else, and he needs to watch his words. “Okay, it was a big deal. Sort of. I’ll go tomorrow, okay chat?”

Chat is spamming all types of messages, from encouragement to jealousy. Dream manages to read off a few donos and create his first nether portal of the stream. He answers as they appear, eyes scanning for a fortress. “No, I didn’t see them… I’m not telling you guys where I was, that’s weird… I’m wearing a sweatshirt and jeans… Hi, Sarah and Patrick…”

He trails off as the donos do, and works at getting blaze rods. George is talking about a riddle he just learned, and he’s trying to trick Sapnap into saying something stupid.

Lost in his own thoughts, he finally closes the stream after a hasty goodbye. “What if I missed my chance?” He asks the two boys on the other line.

“It’s a string of fate, Dream,” George says. “You didn’t miss your chance.”

“Maybe they saw how ugly you are and ran away,” Sapnap says, completely joking, but the thought lingers in Dream’s head.

Did they feel the tug, and run away?

You pour cereal for yourself, and when your brother shuffles into the kitchen, you make him a bowl as well.

He’s eleven, and as little brothers go, he’s pretty chill. Aside from the inappropriate jokes and hogging the bathroom when you have to get ready for work, you like hanging around with him.

You pass him his bowl, and he grins. “I’m gonna watch Dream’s new video on the TV, since mom’s not home.”

You furrow your brows. Dream must be one of the dozens of streamers he likes. Maybe one of his friends will be in chat with him, and you will be able to connect a voice to a face. “Can I sit with you?”

He gives you an odd look, and it’s true, you don’t ask to watch videos with him often. “I guess.”

You eat a spoonful of cereal and settle into the couch while he gets everything ready. He clicks on a lime green icon of a little white blob man, and when the first video appears, you’re taken aback by the voice.

That’s the voice you heard. It’s this one, out of all the random men yelling about a block game. It’s Dream.

“Why doesn’t he show his face?” You manage, wanting information about the person that shares your string.

“What?”

“Like, he’s handsome, right? Why doesn’t he have a facecam?”

Your brother snorts. “Handsome? He’s never shown his face, Y/n. Don’t you know who Dream is? He’s like, super famous.”

“Oh.” You think of his golden hair, as sunny and soft as the glow around his entire being. His voice right now, joyous as he gets chased by his friends. “I mean, I don’t keep up with streamers.”

He begins to explain Dream and his friends, along with lore in their role play server, and it’s all interesting enough that you sit and listen, holding on to the little bits of information you can collect about your soulmate.

You file these facts in a secluded corner of your brain and try to make a whole person, along with the hair and the laugh and the intense music he plays as he gets hunted by his friends.

By nightfall, you’re following all of his socials and binge-watching his old streams, holding on to the way he speaks to his friends, and the fond way he replies to donos.

[dreamwastaken is live!]

You click on it, bundled underneath your covers as if someone might see you and find out your secret.

“Hi, chat! I know I was just live yesterday, but I cut it too short and wanted to come talk to you guys.”

He uses his avatar to wave at the screen, and it’s kind of an adorable sight.

[gogysimp donated $25: did you go see your soulmate?]

Your heart stops. Does he know? Did he see you? Or even worse, has he already found someone else, and he just hasn’t severed the tie?

“No!” Dream’s laugh pulls you out of your worries. “I was busy with meetings today, actually. And I was too nervous. Sapnap also refused to come with me, so I’m just going to go another day.”

So he didn’t see you. He just knows you were there.

You click the donate tab before you can stop yourself.

[y/n donated $1: would you reject your soulmate if you didn’t like them?]

Dream mumbles the question, and you try to ignore the way your heart deflates when he skips saying your name. “I don’t think so,” he states plainly. “I mean, logically, a soulmate would be your other half, so I wouldn’t not like them. But I know some people just don’t click, or there are other issues. So, I don’t know. I guess the only thing I can say is that I don’t want to reject them. And I hope they don’t reject me. I mean, imagine finding out your soulmate is a Minecraft Youtuber. That would be pretty weird…”

You giggle to yourself as he trails off and answers another donation. So he’s against rejection. Okay. Maybe you have a chance.

[kyra donated $60: i’m your soulmate.]

“Meet me where you felt the tug, then,” Dream says sassily. “Chat, don’t be weird, okay? I can’t control who my soulmate is, and I don’t want you guys to exclude them if they become a pat of my life.”

Oh, you think. So his chat is vocal about their opinions, and apparently they mean a lot to him. You shiver despite your warm position and imagine how annoying you might seem to his loyal viewers: someone who only knew about him because of their brother.

Insecurity pushes against your chest, so you close the stream and push your phone away, hoping to forget this ever happened, that maybe you won’t have to deal with the inevitable if you don’t think about it.

Yogurt Barn isn’t the first place on your list of dream jobs, but it has decent pay and helps you pay off student loans, so you appreciate it nonetheless. The teal sweatshirt they gave you as a uniform keeps you warm as you scoop the frozen treats.

Your coworker, a girl named Madison, is busy manning the counter, so you check each flavor and refill the ones running empty.

“Can I ask you a question?” Madison met her soulmate, Anna, only days after she got her string. It was a textbook romance, two people meant for each other, no doubt in anyone’s mind. She might be able to help you now. That is, if you can even admit to who your soulmate is.

“What’s up?”

“I felt the tug,” you say, avoiding her eyes in favor of restacking the medium cups.

“No way!” Madison is perky in a way that makes you want to be included. You like this about her. “Did you see them? Did you talk to them?”

“He—” You want to say that the part of him you saw was perfect, enough to keep you up when you should be dreaming. But reality is nothing if not disappointing. “I ran.”

“Y/n…” Madison gives you a stern look — like a mother finding out their child didn’t defrost the chicken in time. “Why would you run?”

“I don’t want to be rejected.” The magenta swirls painted onto the walls are a stark change to the clay sidewalks of the strip mall. “And before you say he wouldn’t… It’s happened to my cousin. It’s possible.”

Madison frowns. “But that can’t be the only reason, right? I mean, we all know someone who has been rejected. It’s usually not the end of the world for them.”

“He’s a famous streamer,” you blurt, and you’re thankful the shop is as empty as it is. Just the words themselves sound fake.

Madison snorts. “Like, gaming? That’s what’s holding you back? He’s a gamer?”

“I don’t care that he’s a gamer!” You hiss. “I care that he has a loyal fanbase who more than likely all want to be his soulmate!”

“You can’t say that for certain,” Madison says. “I mean, everyone knows about the soulmate system. If you watch someone and don’t feel the pull, you know they aren’t your soulmate, right? So why wouldn’t they accept you?”

“I don’t know,” you say. “I’m just scared. I mean, he’s got this huge following and everything and I’m just me. I work in a yogurt shop for goodness’ sake.”

You head into the back to grab more cups, and the bell rings, signaling a new customer.

“Welcome to Yogurt Barn, what can I get for you?” Madison’s customer service voice pricks your ears.

You sift through the boxes to find the smaller cups and listen to the customer’s order. “Can I have a strawberry cone?”

Your string pulls, that same familiar voice filling your head, not on the screen but once again just a few feet away. He’s infiltrating your life, so close you could reach out and touch him, but it’s such a terrifying thought that you set down the cups.

You tear off your apron, and run into the break room to grab a water and calm yourself down.

It’s ten minutes before Madison comes back to find you. “Hey, are you okay? You disappeared.”

You take a deep breath and stare at the poster on the wall. It’s brightly colored, with a walking yogurt cup waving and reminding employees to wash their hands before scooping. “That was him. The guy— the pull— Dream— I can’t— Does he know? Is he following me?”

“It’s okay,” Madison runs her hand down your back. “It’s okay. He isn’t following you. When the pull starts it tends to draw the couple together until they meet. He probably doesn’t know it’s you.”

You nod and take your breaths in gulps. “Okay. Yeah, you’re right. You’re right.”

“Why don’t you go home early, okay?”

Dream is live again.

Fresh out of the shower, you pull a t-shirt over your body and burrow into your blankets. Earbuds in, you try to focus on the sound of his voice, ignoring every ounce of anxiety that’s been riddling your mind.

“Hi, chat. I’m gonna practice speed runs again. I think George is joining soon.”

You open the chat and scroll through the emotes, clicking the ones you like and sending them, just to calm yourself down.

[kylo donated $5: did you find your soulmate?]

Dream laughs. The sound makes your chest tighten with longing. Your fingers ache. “Actually, I went to the place I felt the pull again. I dunno what I was expecting, but they didn’t show up. But after that, I was running some errands and I felt it, chat! I felt the pull again.”

He trails off while his character starts to look for a lava pool. “I feel discouraged but I don’t want to like, chase them, you know? I don’t want to scare them off.”

You click the donation tab again.

[y/n donated $1: maybe your soulmate heard your voice and got scared of you because they watch your videos.]

It’s not the total truth, but it might help him sleep better. You don’t want him to feel discouraged, but you can’t bring yourself to follow the pull.

“That could be a possibility…” Dream crafts a portal and sends his character through. “But I wish I could talk to them. I wish I could tell them that it’s okay. Like, we don’t have to rush into anything.”

[y/n donated $1: They probably wish they could talk to you too]

“Thanks, Y/n.” He sucks in a breath as soon as he says your name. The Minecraft pause screen appears and the sound of a discord call can be heard.

Your heart pounds in your chest. Something about him saying your name just solidified everything. Your arms feel hot and cold all at once, like you’ve just been thrown in a frozen lake. He has to be feeling it too.

“Chat, I gotta go, okay? I’ll try to stream again soon.”

“Hello?” A sleepy voice comes in through Dream’s earbuds.

“George! Their name is Y/n!” Dream is so excited, his voice raising a few octaves as he talks. “Someone donated with that name and I felt like, super weird. I didn’t feel it until I said the name out loud.”

“That’s crazy,” George says, monotone but supportive. “Do you think the dono is actually them?”

“I don’t know,” Dream scrolls through their past donos and quickly screenshots each one. “I mean, they definitely could be.”

He shares the pictures in their group chat.

George hums. “It sounds like they’re trying to tell you how they feel without admitting that it’s them. Where did you say you felt a pull?”

“At the park, and at the yogurt shop down the road.”

“So go there again. Maybe all they need is a little courage. If you feel the pull this time, you should follow it.”

Dream thinks about it for a moment before finally agreeing. He changes the subject to their next jackbox stream, and George is now happily talking about how they’re going to team up against Sapnap.

He goes into Sapnap’s room that night. He sits on his desk chair while Sapnap sits cross legged on his bed, scrolling through his phone. “Do you wanna get frozen yogurt tomorrow? My treat.”

“Hell yeah!”

The new strawberry-lemonade custard is a hit. Not only are the colors aesthetically pleasing for the teenagers who want a nice snapchat story, but there was a promotional coupon in the mail that has people lining up to the door.

“It’s not even that good,” you tell Madison while the two of you are on break. You’re both using a sample spoon to try out the new summer flavors, and in your opinion, strawberry-lemonade isn’t even the best one. “Blood orange is better.”

Madison wrinkles her nose. “No, blue raspberry is best.”

“It’s sour, though,” you say.

“Guys! Break’s over and you’ve got a line!” Your manager stares disapprovingly at the cups of custard the both of you are indulging in.

“We’re coming.” You toss the cup into the trash and walk out, scratching at the sudden itch on your pinky finger.

Pulling on your gloves, you grab a scoop and address the first customer, “Welcome to Yogurt Barn.”

“Hi!”

You still like you’ve been caught stealing on camera. You look up, hand clutching the scoop so tightly you can feel the cold steel through your gloves.

It’s Dream.

It’s him. He’s tall, and his hair is a sunshine blond, dark at the roots and curling beneath his ears. And his freckles… little spots all across his cheeks so endearing that you get a little distracted staring at them.

Then he’s talking, and you have to focus on his jade-green eyes, not his lips, which are a warm pink. “It’s you.”

You blink. Fear strikes your spine and you drop the scoop. “I gotta go.”

“Wait!” Dream calls, just as Madison shouts your name.

You exit out the back door again. Your heart is pounding against your chest, ribs expanding, and all you can hear is the sound of your name coming out of his lips, just last night through a screen.

“Y/n?” Only it’s in front of you, a few feet away, and he’s searching your eyes for any reassurance that you won’t run away again. That you won’t reject him. “That’s your name right?” He keeps talking, a nervous smile flitting across his face. “The donos? That was you?”

You can see the string now, red and blaring, tightening with each step Dream takes. It’s signing off your fate, for better or for worse, and you can’t fathom why he’s trying so hard, why he cares so much.

It’s hot in Florida but you feel cold, chilled to the bone. You straighten up. You figure you owe it to him to look up in the eye.

He leaves you breathless, eyes shining in the sun. “It was me,” you say. “You’re Dream.”

“Clay, actually,” he says. His smile widens, and it’s magnificently bold. He’s triumphant, just from your reply, and that alone gives you the slightest bit of hope.

“Clay,” you say. “I’m— I’m not— I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“You don’t have to be.” Clay is quick to reply, hands open and palms up. It’s a complete surrender — putting it all in your hands. “We don’t have to announce it. We don’t have to be anything at all, if you need time. But I would like to be your friend. If— If that’s okay.”

But you want to be close to him. The draw of your strings pulling each other closer and closer makes you want to wrap your arms around him. If he hasn’t rejected you, maybe you can do this. “I– I want to be more than friends, but I’m terrified of you rejecting me. I’m afraid of the string getting cut.”

Clay set his brows, “I won’t let that happen. We’re connected. Fate, ya know?”

“Yeah,” you breathe, and it’s a sigh of relief. “Okay. Maybe I’ll give you my number?”

“I’ll give you mine!” Clay is animated, holding out his hand for your phone. “That way you can text me when you’re ready.”

The red string shines like gold in the Florida sun, and when your fingertips brush, it burns with a satisfying warmth.

#dreamwastaken x reader #dreamwastaken fluff #dreamwastaken fanfic #dreamwastaken x you #mcyt au #dreamwastaken au #mcyt x reader #mcyt fluff

[noforkingclue]

Teasing (Zemo x reader)

Summary: You weren’t sure how this game started between the two of you but you knew that yo weren’t about to lose to him.

Everything tag list: @greenrevolutionary

Warnings: None, just some teasing

Author’s Note: I had way too much fun writing this! I hope everyone enjoys it!

“You don’t trust me.”

You looked at Zemo over the top of your book and raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t say,” you said looking back down, “After tearing my friends apart you really expect me to?”

“And yet you’re here.”

“Only because Sam and Bucky asked me,” you said, “If they hadn’t asked me I wouldn’t be here.”

It was strange being in Zemo’s private jet. A small part of you was excited to fly in one but you had to keep reminding yourself who it belonged to. Sam and Bucky were both fast asleep but you stubbornly refused to even though you were exhausted. Someone needed to stay awake to keep an eye on Zemo.

“You can trust me,” Zemo said, breaking the silence, “You must be tired.”

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath to calm yourself before looking over at the Baron. He was resting his chin on the palm of his hand and looking at you with a soft smile on his face. You shifted nervously under his gaze and didn’t miss the smile that pulled at his lips.

“How can I trust you after everything you’ve done?” you asked

Zemo didn’t reply. Instead he stood up and sat down in the seat opposite you. You pulled your legs up to your chest to avoid touching him and continued to glare at him. Zemo, ignoring your discomfort, reached over and plucked the book form you grasp. Your breath hitched as his fingers brushed against yours and for a split second Zemo paused at the contact. However, he swiftly closed your book with a snap causing your to break out of the spell.

“You’ve lost my place.” You said

“It wasn’t a very interesting book,” said Zemo, “Sleep and when we land I will give you something more to your taste.”

He stood up and returned to his original seat taking your book with him. You shot him one last glare, which was received with a smug smile, before turning over and shutting your eyes. You were very tired and it didn’t help that Zemo was right.

It was a very boring book.

 *

 It was late but yet again you couldn’t fall asleep. There was something about this place that made it difficult to get to sleep, you didn’t know if it was jet lag or the fact that you had to be so close to Zemo. You didn’t trust him and you were waiting for the moment that he was stab you, Sam and Bucky in the back. Waiting for his inevitable betrayal made it hard to relax around him.

“You’re up late.”

You jumped as a smooth voice broke the silence of the night. You spun around and saw Zemo looking at you with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. You just glared at him as you grabbed a mug and tried to look for the tea. A soothing cup of tea always used to help you get to sleep and you hoped that tonight would be no different.

“You’re looking in the wrong place.”

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, determined not to let Zemo get under your skin. You heard him walk towards you as you continued to ignore him. You got up on top of the counters and kneeling on them you opened the cupboards, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge your unexpected companion.

“It would be easier if I-“

“Be quiet.”

You didn’t mean for your voice to be so harsh. You looked down, embarrassed at how rude you were being, before glaring at Zemo. He was standing next to you and he didn’t seem surprised at your outburst. Instead he just smiled and held out his hand.

“I understand your distrust of me,” he said calmly, “But I wish you no harm.”

You looked at his hand in suspicion but when Zemo just wiggled his fingers you sighed. You reached down and took his hand and to your surprise Zemo helped you down off the counter. It wasn’t as if you couldn’t get down on your own but that little action made your heart flutter. You stumbled slightly and Zemo steadied you by putting a hand on your waist. As you looked up you realised just how close your faces were and you felt the blush creep up your neck.

Zemo remained impassive as he pushed you back slightly. You gave him a panicked look when you back hit the counter and you realised you were trapped. Zemo leant closer towards you and you felt his hot breath fan over your face. You could’ve believe the position you were in, you never imagined that you would find yourself trapped against the man who had done so many horrible things to your friends.

“The tea you were looking for.”

As quickly as it had happened Zemo had moved away. He pushed a container of loose leaf tea into your hands and you looked down at it in bewilderment. You tried not to think of the way Zemo’s hands clasped around your own as he gave it to you or the way they lingered there for just a second. When he finally stepped away you were left flustered as he laughed and called over his shoulder,

“Goodnight. I do hope the tea works.”

 *

 You jumped when the door to your room was opened and you looked over at Zemo who was standing in the doorway. The two of you stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before Zemo coughed and said,

“Apologises. I wasn’t expecting you to be in here.”

“This is the room Sharon gave me,” you responded dryly, “Who were you expecting to be in here?”

“I was looking for James and Sam.”

“Well they aren’t in here. You can leave now.”

However, instead of leaving Zemo walked closer to you. You looked at him in the mirror as he stopped right behind you. You were wearing a dress that Sharon let you borrow for tonight’s party and you were trying to get the zip done up. Without saying a word Zemo took the zip and pulling it up the last couple of inches you couldn’t get. It was a moment of intimacy that you weren’t expecting from him. His hands grazed your back as he did your dress up and you couldn’t deny the electricity between you.

“You look beautiful.” Zemo said quietly finally breaking the tension and dropping his hands

“Don’t think you’ll win me over by giving me false compliments.”

“I’d never lie to you.”

You froze as Zemo trailed a finger up your arm and you shuddered under his touch. He leant closer and breathed in the scent of your perfume. You shifted awkwardly under his gaze, the familiar sensation that there was a deeper meaning to it settled in your stomach.

“Wait here,” Zemo said at last, “There is something that I think you might want to try.”

Usually you would’ve snapped at him and left the room but something made you stay. You waited for what felt like an eternity until he returned with a woodened box. He opened it and your breath hitched when you saw a beautiful pearl choker. Zemo stood behind you and careful put it on. You heard the soft click of the clasp latching but to your surprise Zemo didn’t move away. He put his hands on your shoulders as the two of you made eye contact in the mirror.

“See,” he said quietly, his breath ghosting over the shell of your ear, “Doesn’t that look so much better?”

You looked over at him and your noses brushed together. Your eyes flickered down briefly to his lips before snapping back up to his eyes. Zemo smiled at this as one hand moved from your shoulders to the small of your back. Slowly he took a step towards you forcing you to walk back against the mirror. For a moment neither of you breathed, too caught up in each other’s gazes. Then, ever so slowly, Zemo leant forward. His nose brushed against yours and you felt his lips softly graze against yours as he said,

“We should get going. We don’t want Sam or James to come looking for you and see you in this position.”

He took a step back and walked towards the door. When he didn’t hear you follow him he looked over and beckoned you to follow him. You gritted your teeth as you marched towards him and pushed passed him. You don’t know why the bastard was making you so flustered but you weren’t liking the feeling that had settled in the pit of your stomach. The sooner you got away from him the better.

 *

 “Hey,” you called as Zemo ran passed the container you were in, “In here. I think that there’s something you’ll want in here.”

You smiled to yourself as you leant against the hood or the car and waited for Zemo to return. You knew that it wouldn’t be long until he found you. You looked up shyly when you heard approaching footsteps and saw Zemo standing at the entrance of the container.

“Well,” he said with a smirk, “Hello there.”

“Hi.”

He stopped directly in front of you and put his hands on the hood of the car, trapping you against it and himself. He looked you up and down before looking back up at your face. You just raised an eyebrow and adjusted the collar of his coat.

“We should get going,” you said innocently, “The others will need our help.”

“They can wait,” Zemo pressed closer towards you, “Right now there’s something more important that requires my immediate attention.”

“What’s more important than saving the lives of my friends.” you brushed an invisible speck of dust off his coat.

Zemo grabbed your hand and pressed a kiss against your knuckles, never taking his eyes off of yours. You had to fight the creeping blush and adjusted your legs so you were sitting in a more comfortable position. Zemo swiftly stepped in between them and moved his free hand up your thigh.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for someone to do this with me?” you asked

“Too long I imagine.” Zemo said quietly

“It’s funny. I’ve worked with people who throw themselves it dangerous situations that could result in their deaths but as soon as you mention something like this,” you gestured towards the car, “They’re suddenly worried about my safety.”

“They shouldn’t,” said Zemo as he brushed along your jawline, “You are more than capable of looking after yourself.”

“And that’s what I like about you.”

Zemo tensed in shock as you continued,

“You don’t treat me like some fragile little doll that might break. You seem to know me, know my limits. You know exactly what, and who, I want.”

“Then tell me what you want.”

“It might be easier if I just show you.”

Zemo’s eyes darkened at your words and a playful smile pulled at your lips. Your hands sunk into the fur lined collar of his coat and you pulled him towards you. Zemo licked his lips as he openly gazed at your slightly parted lips. His hand moved from your jaw to the back of your head and he moved closer. You leant forward and gently brushed your lips against his. You heard a soft moan come from him and felt the hand in your hair tighten as he locked eyes with you once more and-

“Huh?”

The jingle of keys made Zemo pause and pull away from you. You gave him a playful smile and jangled the keys at him. Zemo looked between them and you and for once it seemed you had caught him off guard.

“I always wanted to ride in a sports car,” you said as you slipped out from Zemo’s arms and sat in the passenger seat, “But nobody would take me. Why,” you gave him another innocent look, “What were you expecting?”

“Nothing.”

Zemo’s tone was harsh and clipped and a small part of you registered that you might’ve gone too far. Still, you looked at his annoyed expression, it was worth it for what he had done to you.

 *

 “Alright,” you muttered when you heard someone bang on your bedroom door, “Alright I’m coming.”

You had only opened the door a crack when Zemo pushed it open. He glared at you for a second then slammed the door shut and grabbed you. He pinned you against the door and leant in close. For a moment neither of you spoke, you just took in each other, until Zemo said,

“What was that you were doing earlier?”

“Just the same thing you were doing to me.” You spat back

Zemo’s face went eerily blank and for a second you became worried. Then he smiled at you and roughly pressed his lips against yours. You closed your eyes a moaned into the kiss, not caring about the please smirked you could feel against your lips. Your hands moved to wrap around Zemo but before you could touch him he grabbed your hands and pinned them next to your head. Zemo broke the kiss and gave you a teasing smile.

“What’s wrong?” he asked mockingly, “Don’t you like this?”

You tried to free yourself but Zemo held on tightly. He leant closer and whispered,

“Careful. As tempting as it might be I have no intention of bruising you at the moment. I do not expect Sam or James would be too please with either of us if they saw that.”

Zemo leaned forward to claim your lips once again but this time you were quicker. You turned your head to the side and Zemo kissed your cheek. He sighed in annoyance and said,

“Do you really want to play this game?”

“You’re the one who started in.”

In a flash you were pulled away from the door and flung onto the bed. You didn’t have time to move before Zemo was on top of you. He swiftly clasped your wrists in one hands before leaning down and saying,

“I’m not planning on letting you out of this bed for the rest of the night. I think you need to be punished for your actions earlier, don’t you?”

You didn’t have time to respond before Zemo had once again gave you another passionate kiss. You tried to free your hands but Zemo gave a warning squeeze. You were going to spend the rest of the night under him and if you were being completely honest, you weren’t complaining about it.

#fanfiction #mcu #fatws #reader insert #zemo #zemo x reader

[rebelwrites]

No More Tears

Jax Teller x Reader

It’s funny how a song comes on your playlist and it captures every single one of your emotions.

You roughly wiped your tears away with the sleeve of your hoodie. You weren’t going to shed any more tears, he wasn’t worth it, you had taken enough and wasn’t going to stay in a relationship that took so much energy and left you feeling like shit.

It was time to look after yourself, protect your heart and protect your daughter.

“But I’ve already wasted over half of my life I would’ve laid down and died for you I no longer cried for you. No more pain bitch you room me for granted took my heart and ran it straight into the planet, into the dirt I can no longer stand it

Now my respect I demand it” you rapped turning the music up, Jax had taken Lilly out for the day.

Looking around the home you shared, it was full of memories good and bad. But the last year of the relationship had just taken its toll on you. Anything you could think you would need got tossed into the suitcases and duffle bags.

Jax didn’t know what was coming, he hadn’t been home for the last couple of days so it was the perfect time to get out. You were sick of being taken for granted.

As you started to pile the bags and suitcases by the back door you pulled the divorce papers out of your bag, laying them on the table as you sighed. This was really it, it was the end.

Signing where you needed to sign you left the envelope on the side.

Jax pulled onto the drive and all that could be heard was the sounds of eminem blasting from the open windows. Running his hand over his face, he let a sigh out. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what was coming.

“So you better hear me out this much you owe me. I gave up my life for you, totally devoted to you while I’ve stayed faithful all the way this is how I fucking get repaid. Look at how I dress fucking baggy sweats, go to work a mess. Always in a rush to get back to you I ain’t heard you yet not even once say you appreciate me I deserve respect”

Jax heard your voice as clear as day, he also heard the venom in your voice as you rapped along. He knew things wouldn’t be pretty, looking down at the passenger seat at his little princess. He didn’t want her to see what would unfold so he slammed the car in reverse and sped back to TM

Within half an hour Jax was walking into the house, the first thing he saw was the bags packed at the bottom of the stairs.

“Y/N what’s going on?” He asked walking into the kitchen seeing you smoking at the back door.

“Do you even still love me?” You asked no emotion in your voice.

Silence, that was his answer fucking silence.

“Right” you scoffed “you know silence speaks a thousand words”

“Are you really leaving?” He asked leaning against the worktop.

“It’s been coming for a while now Jax, but if you were ever home then you would know that” you spat. “But you never are so yes we are leaving, you aren’t the same man I fell in love with, I don’t even know who you are anymore. For the last year I’ve been pushed to the sidelines, everyday Lily asks if her daddy is okay and I don’t have the answer for her because I just don’t know, you are never home anymore, and when you are you shut me out, it’s like I’m invisible”

Again he stayed silent.

“You not gonna say anything?”

“What is there to say, you’ve already decided you are leaving” he spat. “Just tell me something, why didn’t you just speak to me about it rather than me coming home to find your fucking bags packed by the door way?”

“Because Jax every time I try and talk about it you either aren’t here, you shut me out or you tell me I can’t do anything right” you glared “so it’s time to put an end to this for our daughters sake”

He took a couple of steps forward reaching out to take your hand.

“Jax, please don’t” you whispered “please leave me alone, just let me go”

He ran his hands through this hair, he knew you meant figuratively and literally. You watched as his eyes widened as they landed on the envelope on the table.

“Just needs your signature” you nodded, tossing the cigarette nub on the floor.

“For fuck sake” Jax said slamming his hand on the table.

-

You felt lost, yes you were the one to walk away from Jax but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt because in reality it stung like a bitch and you had a Jax shaped hole in your heart.

So many years of your life had been spent together, from when you were 16 until today. He was your best friend before he was your boyfriend and then husband.

Staring down at your engagement ring and wedding band, you ran your hand through your hair, it had been a month since you signed the divorce papers, yet you couldn’t bring yourself to take your rings off. You had no idea if Jax had even signed them.

“Mummy when are we going home to daddy?” Lily asked, causing your heart to break. She was far too young to understand.

“I don’t know princess” you sighed looking at her, “why don’t you go see if uncle Tiggy can take you with him today and you can see daddy”

“Are you not coming with us?” She asked.

Looking back at the 6 year old you shook your head.

“Mummy has some things to do today” you nodded before Lily ran to find Tig.

“You should speak to him sweetheart” Venus smiled softly at you as she passed a mug of coffee over.

“I dunno, I don’t know anything right now but the one thing I am grateful for is you and Tig let us crash here” you half smiled.

“You are family darling, and family looks after each other” she nodded.

- - -

You didn’t know where you were driving to, you just got behind the wheel and drove. All you knew was you needed to clear your head.

The streets soon turned into the highway which soon turned into back roads the only reason you pulled the car to a stop at the side of the road was because of a song that started playing on the stupid radio. Yours and Jax’s first dance song to be precise and the next thing you knew, tears were streaming down your face.

Resting your head against the steering wheel as “I don’t wanna miss a thing” played in the background.

Every memory you and Jax had ever shared played in your mind causing you to cry even harder, you said you weren’t going to cry over him yet here you were, questioning if you made the right decision.

Taking a deep breath, you needed to pull yourself together, there was a reason you had signed the divorce papers, there was a reason why you left him. You needed to remember that, remember how you felt for the past year. Not bawling your eyes out on the side of a back road.

- - -

Everything reminded Jax of you, he couldn’t bring himself to stay at the house, it hurt too much, so he had been staying at the club house. But he didn’t know if that was worse as the memories off all the drunken nights replayed in his head, all the make out sessions and sex.

Everywhere he went or anything he did, there was a memory tied to you.

He understood why you had gotten to the point you were at though, over the last year he hadn’t been the best dad and even more of a bad husband. Yet even through all the shit you stood by his side, until now.

“Daddddddy” a tiny voice shouted from outside.

Pushing himself off the bed, he wandered outside to see Lily sitting on Tigs shoulders.

“Hey princess” Jax smiled leaning up to kiss her.

“Mummy said I could come with uncle Tiggy and help you today” she beamed. “But mummy said she was busy so she couldn’t come”

“Well then princess, you are the boss today, whatever you say goes” Jax laughed through the pain he was feeling, he didn’t want to make things harder than they already were.

“Do I get to sit in your chair daddy?” She asked as Tig placed her on her feet.

“Yes baby you do and you get to tell uncle chibby off for eating too much shortbread” Jax said, ruffling her hair before she ran inside to find Chibs.

“How are you doing man?” Tig asked and Jax lit a cigarette.

“Shit” he shrugged “worst fucking month of my life, I know it’s my fault she left but I guess it’s true what they say you don’t realise what you have until it’s gone”

“I still say this will blow over”

“She signed the fucking divorce papers Tig” Jax said as tears clouded his vision. “So sorry if I’m not holding much hope”

“Sometimes it’s that bit of hope that gets you through Jax” Tig sighed, placing his hand on Jax’s shoulder. “And I say hold onto that bit of hope because she is still wearing her rings”

Tossing his half smoked cigarette on the ground he wandered inside, stopping dead in his tracks when he heard Lily talking.

“I don’t like it” she sighed, “mummy and daddy are both sad. Is it because of me uncle chibby, was it cuz I didn’t do what I was told”

Jax’s heart broke even more hearing that his little girl thought it was her fault.

“Princess, this isn’t your fault okay” Jax said scooping lily into his arms. “I promise this isn’t because of you, daddy wasn’t nice to mummy, that’s why we are both sad”

“Do you love mummy?” She asked, placing her tiny hand over Jax’s heart.

“Yes baby I still love mummy” Jax sighed “I love her very much”

“Did you tell her?” She asked again.

How was his little girl so smart, he didn’t know how to answer the question because truth be told he hadn’t.

“I did tell her” he lied, kissing Lily’s head.

The day went on and everyone was getting fed up with the tension that lingered in the air.

“We need to do something, neither of them are functioning without the other” Tig sighed, running his hand over his face. “Y/N says she’s okay and they she isn’t going to cry over him but I know full well she cries herself asleep and she’s having an internal battle on if she made the right decision”

“I agree, they have been each other’s partner in crime for as long as I can remember, it’s like they merged into one soul and it hurts to watch them both crumble” Happy nodded.

“Right, we need ta get them talkin” Chibs nodded. “So here’s wha we do, we tell Jax there’s an issue at the club house and we tell Y/N we need medical assistance because one of us is hurt. The first step is getting them in the same bloody room, the rest is up ta them”

-

“Are you sure this is gonna work?” Venus as Tig “because by the sounds of things she doesn’t want to speak to him, just listen to what’s playing”

Tig fell silent as the only sound in the house was your music playing from the bathroom.

“Fuck what I said it don’t mean shit now. Fuck the presents might as well throw em out. Fuck all those kisses, they didn’t mean jack. Fuck you, you hoe, I don’t want you back”

“It’s just a front trust me” Tig nodded but he wasn’t sure if he was just trying to convince himself.

You let the hot water run over your body as you sat on the shower tray hugging your knees. Mumbling the lyrics of the song.

Lily was at Gemma’s for the weekend which was great but it meant you had more time alone with your thoughts.

- - -

“Urm I don’t think we are going to have to lie to Y/N” happy sighed pointing to the boxing ring.

Chibs looked over to see Jax laying on his back staring at the roof, his white shirt had spots of blood on it and he had dried blood down the side of his face.

“Wha happened ta ya?” Chibs asked leaning on the ropes.

“I wanted to get what I deserved” Jax huffed.

“Ye got the shite beat out of ya” Chibs sighed.

“Well I deserved it Chibs, look at how I’ve treated my family over the last year” Jax sniffed.

It was obvious he had been drinking and had been crying.

“Fucking hell jackie boy this needs stitches” Chibs sighed running his hand over his face before putting his phone against his ear.

“Hey you’ve reached Y/N I’m obviously too busy to answer, or you just bore me. Don’t Leave a message because I won’t listen to it so yeah text me”

“Im getting answer phone as well” Tig sighed. “I will get Venus to drive her over”

- - -

The drive to T M was silent, you didn’t know who was hurt, or how bad. You hoped that it was nothing major but saying that this was the guys so who the hell knows.

Tig grabbed your medical bag out the car and guided you into the club.

“You gonna tell me who the hell is hurt” you sighed.

“Your husband” Tig said squeezing your shoulder “it’s nothing major, so don’t panic, just a gash that needs stitches”

You didn’t say anything as Tig places your bag on the pool table. As you took in the dried blood on his skin. You could feel his blue eyes staring into your soul.

“I’m just stitching you up and then I’m gone” you mumbled, taking your eyes off him.

Looking around the room to find it was just you and Jax.

There was an uncomfortable silence surrounding you both as you cleaned Jax’s face up, the only sound was the winces of Jax.

After 10 minutes you had finished, you were currently cleaning up when you felt Jax’s hand on your arm.

“Can we talk?” He mumbled.

“What is there to talk about Jax, I said everything I need to” you sighed glancing down at your hand. You still had your rings on, mentally cursing yourself.

“I just want to talk Y/N” Jax said stroking your arm “lily asked Chibs if we were sad because she didn’t do as she was told”

“What”

“I couldn’t believe it, our baby girl thinks this is her fault” Jax sniffed. “I know you don’t want to talk but please just hear me out”

“Okay” you swallowed leaning against the bar.

“I’ve not signed the divorce papers and I’m not going to” Jax nodded “I know I’ve been a twat and I can only apologise for that, I’ve been so stupid, so blind that I couldn’t see what was right under my nose”

You stayed silent; this was the most Jax had spoken to you in ages.

“You have been the biggest part of my life, all my memories are with you, we have gone through every emotion together. I just feel like without you I am nothing. You complete me” Jax said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “I don’t know who I am when I haven’t got my wife in my corner”

At this point you had tears streaming down your cheeks.

“Baby you signed the divorce papers but the fact your rings are on your finger still, tells me you have been fighting your decision” Jax whispered, taking your hand and kissing your rings. “I love you, I love you so fucking much, so much it hurts”

“Jax this last year has been horrible” you sighed “I spent every night wondering if you loved me, wondering what I did wrong, trying to figure out why I wasn’t good enough”

He reached up, placing his thumb under your eye, wiping the tears away but they kept coming.

“Babygirl you are good enough in fact I honestly don’t deserve a queen like you, but I never stopped loving you not for one second” he whispered.

All of a sudden the sounds of “I don’t want to miss a thing” started playing making you both laugh slightly.

“They are standing behind the door being nosy aren’t they” you sniffed.

“Yeah they are” Jax smiled “but can you blame them, you are the glue that holds this very dysfunctional family together and when you aren’t right none of us are, we can’t function without you. I know I definitely can’t, so will you give this twat who is hopelessly in love with you another chance”

Looking you into his eyes you saw the sincerity, the love that shone.

“We can’t just turn back time Jax” you whispered, placing your hand on his cheek. “But we will take it a day at a time”

“That’s all I ask for” Jax smiled holding his hand out “and I promise no more tears baby, now can I ask my wife for a dance”

“You are such a dork” you laughed taking his hand as he led you into the middle of the club house, wrapping your arms around his neck you rested your forehead against his as you swayed to the music. “No more tears”

#Jax Teller #jax teller x reader #sons of anarchy #sons of anarchy x reader