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tteokdoroki · 4 years

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then they laughed | s.todoroki.

⇝ pairing: shoto todoroki x fem!reader.

⇝ word count: 1.7K

⇝ rating: suitable for everyone.

⇝ genre: fluff.

⇝ summary: you’d never been ashamed of your quote on quote ‘ugly’ laugh but you’re not quite sure what to make of it when your crush mistakes it for mild choking or the one in which shoto todoroki mistakes your laugh for choking in the middle of the school cafetria.

⇝ warning(s): please read ! fluffy, angst if you squint, clueless todoroki and mentions of choking ( non-sexual ).

⇝ author’s note(s): why hello there darlings, here’s a little drabble requested by @patricia-ceballos, i thought this idea was super cute, i’m not sure how i feel about the ending but i had a lot of fun writing. oh and thank you so much for 600+ follows, i love you all. :( <3

⇝ masterlist | requests

you’d always thought that you had an ugly laugh.

it’s not that you were ashamed of it, never that, but you knew the twisted high pitch stream of giggles that passed your sweet unsuspecting lips could be kind of off putting to others. even so, that never put you off from laughing and joking about with your friends— if they truly cared for you, then having a slightly maniac-like laugh wouldn’t be a problem for them.

your classmates at U.A seemed to be those types of people. the good kind that you could trust wholeheartedly— the first time they’d heard you laugh, ochako had chuckled along with you, izuku had thought it was part of your quirk and bakugou had simply asked if you needed a ‘fucking throat lozenge?’ which only made you burst out into more streams of unintelligible giggles.

right now though, you try your best to stifle your giggles while you watch ochako and deku helplessly try to avoid admitting their feelings for one another over lunch. “what’s wrong deku? are you feeling sick?” the sweet brunette asks, almost impossibly close to the latter’s now beet red face. you can tell that he’s flustered by her proximity; the words he wants to say falling flat on his tongue.

ochako blinks for a second— as if to realise her mistake and quickly backs up, drowning in embarrassment and her silly crush on izuku midoriya. the girl stumbles back into iida, giving him only moments to process his now dropped food before he’s scolding them into next week— hands flying through the air while he barks out his complaints. trying not to laugh is becoming unbearably harder by the second, even asui is falling victim to the scene of comedy displayed right in front of your eyes and its not until you look up and meet the confused gaze of shoto todoroki that the dam finally breaks.

“what’s so funny?” the dual eyed boy says so blankly that even he is comical to you. you break out into fits of hysteria, slamming a hand over your mouth as your snorts launch their way across the table. shoto blinks, brows pinching in the centre of his forehead— is there a joke he’s missing? something he said?

the cluelessness of the half hot, half cold boy before you only sends you spiralling into more bursts of laughter— easing the embarrassment off of the two helpless flirters and effectively calming iida down while they join you in your chuckling session. “its...it’s just that—!” you can barely explain yourself, bold snickers punctuating each of your words as humoured tears begin to form in the corners of your dazzling eyes.

todoroki’s mood now shifts from bewildered to concerned, the short wheezes that pass from your pretty lips send shivers of worry down his spine. why is everyone laughing? can no one at the table see what’s happening? standing from his seat, the number one’s son brushes past tsuyu to get to your side— when he reaches you, your eyes sparkle with amusement despite the horrid sounds that leave you and a frown takes over his angekic face.

“don’t worry yn, i’ll help you.”

still trembling with a case of the giggles you have little time to process the dual haired boy’s words before he’s hoisting you from your seat, you think he’s trying to calm you down from the way his heated hand pats on your back ( five times to be exact ) but when his strong arms wrap around you— suddenly pumping your stomach, you realise.

todoroki is performing the heimlich manoeuvre on you.

shoto todoroki thinks your laughter is choking.

heat flushes to your cheeks as shoto moves to pump your stomach again, his broad chest pressed intimately against your back. the snickers from your friends at your lunch table stop— silence sweeping over them and you’re suddenly hyper aware of the stares you draw from other u.a students in the canteen. their judging eyes tear you down and crawl over you, leaving an uneasy feeling to settle in your bones but you’re too paralysed by embarrassment— too frozen to tell todoroki to stop.

you know he only means well, he didn’t know any better and he was only trying to help a friend in need but did he really mistake your laughter for choking? was it really that ugly?

a fresh set of tears prickle in your eyes, this time however, they’re not laced with the happiness you gain from being around your friends. before shoto has another chance, you pull away from him slightly with a small whimper pours from your flustered form. “stop... todoroki, please— stop...”

the boy’s hold on you loosens, he recognises the broken tone laced with your usually jubilant voice which gives you enough room to make a dash for it. blinking, todoroki turns to his group of friends, confused as escape the cafeteria and wolfish stares from your fellow students.

“s-she wasn’t choking, todoroki— she was laughing with us.” izuku explains carefully, fidgeting underneath his classmates strict gaze. the shorter feels almost bad for shoto, knowing he’s probably kicking himself for upsetting you even as you flee.

but his worries are soon eased as todoroki races after you.

launching yourself down the corridor, you use the sleeve of your grey blazer to run away the remaining tears that sting at your eyes. students from across all years watch you go by with looks of either annoyance or concern, but you move to quickly to care— throwing yourself into an empty hall and sinking to your knees. the heat of embarrassment blistering underneath the skin of your cheeks doesn’t ease up as you desperately paw at them, frustration intertwining with the air in your lungs… because, because it had been years since you last felt ashamed of your unconventional laughter, because you thought that enough time had gone by for you to no longer feel insecure about it.

you had good friends here at u.a, ones that didn’t judge you for your unusual habit but the scene yourself and todoroki had created back in the canteen only brought on bad memories reminding you of all of your insecurities from the past.

sighing heavily; you brace yourself to return to lunch with your friends, tripping over flimsy excuses in your mind for your sudden disappearence when a pair of well polished, brown school shoes come into view from over the tops of your knees.

“there you are, ln.” shoto’s voice is warm while he speaks to you, you’d always thought that. its deep like melted chocolate ready to be tempered and somewhat soothes your nervously thumping heart. you can’t bring yourself to look at him, knowing that there’s probably a pink tint to your eyes from where you’ve been crying but the boy with the two-toned hair persists, still wanting your attention. “the others…the others and i, were worried about you.”

you shake your head, fixing your gaze on a lose thread on the hem of your skirt that sits above your knees. “ah!, todoroki! you shouldn’t worry about me…just head back to the cafeteria before your cold soba gets… well, colder!” a frown pinches at the corner of your lips, settling heavily on your face. you don’t even find yourself convincing but hope todoroki believes your hopeless words anyways. “i’ll be with you guys in just a moment.”

but to your dismay, the youngest son of endeavour slides his back down the wall to sit next to you instead. “did i hurt you?” he mumbles awkwardly. todoroki itches to reach out and comfort you— it seems like something you would do for him but he’s never been good with situations like these.

“no! no shoto,” this makes you look up, catching the light in the cyan of his eyes. the pair of you blush, flicking your gazes away from one another. “i’m fine!”

“were you crying?”

“certainly not!”

“but your face—“

“shut up!”

“not until you tell me why you ran.” god, was he persistent. blunt and straight to the point, was shoto todoroki.

suddenly your feet become more interesting that the boy beside you, a silence sweeping over you both. “because,” you pause, trying to taste the words on the tip of your tongue before you say them. “i was embarrassed! the whole cafeteria heard my ugly laugh and thought i was—“

“choking,” todoroki finishes for you, finally finding the courage to rest an icy hand on your shoulder. “i’m sorry yn, i didn’t mean to make you feel embarrassed about your laugh,” sorrow litters the tail end of the half hot, half cold boy’s words— making them sit heavily in the air. “midoriya explained to me, i really didn’t mean to make you feel that way, i was just worried about you.”

you soften up, finally meeting his gaze once more and sniffle a little— chest warming at his concern for you. “shoto, it’s okay...” you’re quiet in your response, leaning into his cold touch but the dual eyed boy only shakes his head.

todoroki turns to face you fully, shrinking the space between you. he’s so close that you can see the flecks of grey in each of his eyes and feel the warmth from his breath fanning across your cheeks. “even if i can be...socially unaware sometimes, i still don’t want to hurt your feelings. they’re important to me,” he tilts his head, offering you a small smile enough to make a million hearts melt. “and for what it’s worth, i think your laugh is quite cute. not ugly.”

you blink, wondering if you heard him correctly and press a hand to your cheeks that now hear you’ll, as if you’ll be able to cool them down. “y-you think my laugh is cute?”

“yes, and i’d love to hear more of it over dinner sometime.”

his face is as serious as ever while he speaks, but the shine to his eyes tells you a different story as todoroki offers you a hand to stand up. “was that a pick up line, shoto?” you ask, barely being able to keep it together as little shots of laughter litter themselves through your sentences.

“i’m not sure...what’s a pick up line again?” you burst into joyful tears, obnoxious laughter filling the corridors as the boy on your arm guides you to your next class. you care little for the stares that your ugly laugh attracts, just happy that it puts a little smile on shoto todoroki’s face.

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solalunar-eclipse · 3 years

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Scars You Can’t See - Chapter 11

Chapter title: Improvements

Word count: about 3400 words

Author’s Note: Wow...the fact that this fic has only two chapters left is crazy to think about. It’s going to be finished within the next month or so...whoa.

First | Previous | Next

...

Rouge cringed as bright sunlight stung her slowly opening eyes, dragging her forcefully out of what had honestly been a pretty great sleeping session. Suddenly, though, she shot upright, remembering-

Wait- G.U.N. had found them- Shadow and Omega--

Oh, right.

The bat rubbed at her eyes to try and get rid of the spots still dancing in them, before looking around and taking in the clearing surrounding her. She was truly safe now and on Angel Island.

Rouge just...needed a minute to remind herself of that.

She figured that she also owed Team Sonic at least a year’s worth of favors for busting them out of that awful situation. Chaos, she’d thought they were all done for at first, even with Omega’s best efforts.

Speaking of that team, she suddenly felt a rush of wind at her side and turned to see Sonic himself kneeling next to her, looking worried. “You good there, Rouge?” he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder in concern.

“I’ll live.” she said warmly, grateful for his attention. “Doing better than yesterday, that’s for sure.”

Sonic’s expression changed into a hopeful grin at that, his shoulders sinking slightly in relief. Rouge knew that he really tended to worry about the people he cared for when they weren’t doing well, so she was pleased to see some of the stress leave him now.

“How’s Shadow? And Omega?” the bat asked quickly, wanting to make sure her team was alright.

“Okay, well, Omega’s over there sucking the life out of Tails’s portable generator,” Sonic said, and Rouge followed his gaze to see exactly that. Her robot friend gave a thumbs up when he noticed her attention, before lifting the generator and walking over to greet her.

“This power is strong for such a small device. Much better than that pathetic excuse for voltage the rooms provided.” he said, by way of a greeting. Rouge grinned in response. Omega had never really seen the need for pleasantries with his friends when he could just get to the point instead. (They already knew that he cared about them anyway.)

“How do you feel?” he asked, sitting down and staring at her. The robot clearly wasn’t going to take an “I’m fine” for an answer, so she sighed. “Tired, mostly. Are we sure we’re totally safe out here?”

Omega looked like he was ready to smirk, if he could. “You missed the fun earlier when the blue hedgehog discovered that we are in the middle of the largest ocean on the planet. He was not happy about our isolation.”

Rouge had to restrain a cackle at that when she turned back to the (suddenly several shades paler) hero in question. “Water…” he groaned. “So much...water…”

“You’ll be okay, hon,” she said, a little bit of sympathy softening her tone. “There’s still plenty of room up here to go running around.”

Sonic’s eyes widened. “Oh right! I didn’t tell you about Shads!” His ears drooped slightly after that. “He’s...he’s still asleep near the Master Emerald.”

Omega cut in there. “His vital signs are completely stable. He is merely exhausted.”

Rouge sighed, frowning slightly. Was telling him to do that Chaos Control really-

“You made the best decision you could under the circumstances.” the robot said insistently. “Stop questioning yourself or I will have to make you comply with force.”

Rouge stuck out her tongue at him, before getting up to go walk over to the altar and see her other friend. She hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps, though, when she found that her head had begun to ache horribly- leftover effects from the stress, she knew. There was always a price to pay for missions.

She was vaguely aware of Sonic darting to her side, but she straightened up, ignoring the pain for now. If there was one thing she had to do, it was to check on Shadow.

The hybrid was still on the altar, barely having moved from his original position. Someone had folded up a blanket and put it beneath his head, at least. Knuckles was pacing around and around the Master Emerald, clearly driving himself to distraction considering all the possible ways in which Angel Island could be threatened at this very moment.

Rouge sat down next to Shadow for a moment, checking to make sure he was alright before rubbing one of his ears slightly. The hybrid purred a little in his sleep, making Rouge smile and Sonic mask a squeal with his hand. “Awwwww…” he whispered, staring down at Shadow with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Rouge got up and walked over to lean on the giant Emerald, smirking as Knuckles completed another circuit around the altar- only to bump right into her and look up, startled. “Rouge! You’re awake!” he exclaimed, before pulling her into a tight hug that squeezed all the air out of her lungs.

“Babe,” she wheezed, trying to adjust. “Honey, I missed you too, but I kind of need to breathe to live? So if you wouldn’t mind…”

“Oh- right- sorry,” he said, loosening up and clearly embarrassed. “I’m just so glad you’re alright.”

Sonic gave him a look from over the top of the giant gem. “Says the guy who didn’t want to head off to Central City at first.”

“Come on, man, give me a break! You know how much G.U.N. wants to get their hands on these artifacts!” Knuckles exclaimed, sounding irritated. He glanced back at Rouge nervously, though, clearly more than a little embarrassed about his hesitance.

She wasn’t going to hold it against him, though- he’d been trained since day one to practically worship the island and all that it held, and putting it in harm’s way must have taken a lot out of him. “It’s okay, just remember to try and keep from being uptight all the time, alright?” Rouge asked gently, wrapping an arm around his waist and leaning into him.

Knuckles blushed as red as his spines. “Thanks, Rouge...I’ll try.” he said, pointedly ignoring his friend’s knowing grin.

“Awww, Knux, aren’t ya gonna kiss your giiiiirlfriend?” Sonic taunted, knowing just how to frustrate the echidna (and fluster him more).

“Shut up!” he bellowed. “It’s none of your business what we do or don’t--”

Rouge had kissed him on the cheek, and his voice immediately seemed to fail at that, breaking off into absolute silence. She snickered quietly. Knuckles’s shock whenever she did this never stopped being fun.

A low groan sounded behind them. “Urgh...Chaos, is this what I hafta wake up to? Move y’r PDA somewhere else, Rouge.”

Shadow’s words were slurred with exhaustion, but nobody seemed to care. Rouge dashed over to his side faster than Sonic (not too surprisingly- the hedgehog seemed to have frozen the second Shadow started speaking).

“How do you feel, hon?” she asked him gently, all the while monitoring him for any sort of abnormalities.

“Feels like I’ve been run over by a truck ‘n launched out of a catapult into the side of a mountain.” he grumbled. “Everything’s aching…I’m so tired. Let’s...let’s not take out any more military bases for a while, ‘kay?”

Rouge grinned at him. “Sounds good to me, hon.” She began to pull him up into a reclined position so that he could see better. The bat could also hear Omega’s steps in the background as he hurried over (which for most people was a speed-walking pace, but he was doing his best).

“Just relax for now, Shadow. You and Sonic brought us somewhere safe, so we can just rest, alright?” she added, and felt him do so almost immediately.

Omega arrived and put a hand on Shadow’s shoulder, his giant metal fingers nearly engulfing half of the hybrid’s arm. “Hey, Omega.” he said wearily, smiling faintly up at the robot.

“You are safe now. I will make sure that nothing bad happens to you or Rouge so long as we are here.” he said, sounding determined and just a little bit violent.

“You did a pretty good job of that back in the field.” Shadow said, apparently far too tired to hold up his usual aloof attitude.

Omega stood up and assumed a slight power pose. “Of course I did. I am awesome.”

Sonic took the robot’s place quickly, taking Shadow’s hand in his own. “If anyone comes anywhere near this island, I’ll help Omega take them out. You’ve done more than enough, Shads.”

The hybrid tried to maintain a cool, calm expression, but it quickly softened into gratitude. He struggled with his words for a moment, clearly uncertain about how to react to Sonic’s determined kindness. Eventually, though, he settled for a simple “Thank you, Sonic.”

Rouge didn’t miss the way Sonic’s smile became wider and more genuine at that, nor how he squeezed Shadow’s hand briefly before releasing it. “Anytime, nerd. Anytime.”

Shadow mock-scowled at the hero before settling back against Omega, who had sat down behind him. Rouge noticed how he struggled to keep his eyes open, so she settled down next to him and made shooing motions with her hands. “Alright, alright, let the guy rest! You said yourself he doesn’t have to work anymore, Sonic.”

The hedgehog in question walked off reluctantly with his friends to the first tier of the altar, looking back at Shadow once before giving the team some space.

Rouge sighed, settling back against Omega and trying to find a position that didn’t leave metal poking into her back. He could be comfortable if she sat right- especially since he was warm- but she had to work a little to find the right spot. Her own eyes closed a little, and she leaned against Shadow as the faint buzz of stress and her exhaustion battled it out inside her head.

She suspected that her instincts would give her trouble for a while, but it would probably be manageable now that they were safe. Things were looking up now for real, and that was great.

And then Sonic’s phone rang.

“Wha- huh- you have your phone on??” Shadow yelped, sitting upright immediately. “Why didn’t you turn it off?”

“I had to keep up with everything!” Sonic exclaimed, his eyes wide. He held the phone as far away from his body as he could, as though it might burst into flames at any moment.

“Alright, alright, everybody calm down!” Rouge shouted, directing all attention to herself and bringing complete silence to the clearing.

This role was what she was used to.

“Alright, first off. Sonic, do you recognize that number?” she asked, as everyone gathered back around.

He frowned, looking at the ‘missed calls’ screen now that the ringing had stopped. “N...no…..wait, actually, I think I do! But who…..”

The hero’s eyes widened. “Oh. Wait. What’s the president want with me now?”

“Wait, is it really her?” Tails gasped.

Omega glowered at the phone. “She probably wishes to know if we are with you.”

Everybody jumped again when the phone started ringing once more.

“Well….I guess I’ll just answer and tell her I don’t know where you are?” Sonic asked, moving to tap the green button.

“No!” three separate people yelled at once, making him drop the phone in surprise.

“Well, what should I do then? Just, like, ignore her?” the hero said, exasperated.

Tails shook his head patiently. “You remember that app I put on your phone, Sonic? The one that hides your signal location?”

“Ohhhhh,” Sonic said, clearly realizing why it would be a very good idea to use said app. “Right! Let me turn that on.”

“And don’t forget to use the super-scrambler I made for you!” Tails reminded him, sounding an awful lot like the real older brother of the two at the moment.

“Fine, yeah, I remember what you said,” Sonic muttered, sounding a little irritated. He cringed a moment later, though, looking up his friends. All three of them were clearly tense once again- not ideal when they were in the safest place they could possibly be. “Sorry, I know this is important and all. Sorry.”

“It’s alright, hon.” Rouge said soothingly. “You have it all up now?”

“Yeah, I-” Sonic was cut off yet again by his ringtone.

He took one deep breath before pressing the button.

Everybody else remained absolutely silent. The wind rustled through the trees as his phone connected to the other end of the signal.

“Uh….hey there.” the hero said, his voice sounding far more wary now. “What’s up?”

Shadow facepalmed silently beside Rouge, who clamped a hand over her mouth to stop any potential laughter.

Sonic quickly switched the call to speakerphone so that everybody could hear the president talk.

“Hello, Sonic.” she said politely, her voice warmer and more friendly than any of them had expected. “Are...any of the members of Team Dark there? I’m not asking for G.U.N., I promise.”

Rouge gave the phone a skeptical look. Not asking for G.U.N.? Doubtful.

“Nah, not here.” Sonic said easily. “Whatcha want with them?”

The bat could hear the faintest hint of harshness in his tone, hiding beneath the cool front he put up. Apparently the hero hadn’t quite gotten all of his frustration out just yet.

Clearly, the president could hear it too, because she sounded a little awkward when she next spoke. “Oh. I...I actually just wanted to tell them something important. Is there any way for me to get in touch with them?”

Sonic glowered at the phone. “I can tell them whatever it is you wanna say.” He was practically growling by this point, clearly working hard to keep his emotions under control.

Rouge cringed at that- now everyone would know that Sonic had a direct link to her team. Not good.

“Alright then...” Strangely enough, the woman on the call still sounded stressed. Shouldn’t she be pleased that she’d gotten some sort of a lead instead? That was what this was for, right?

“Can you tell them, then...just let them know that I’ve signed off on an order temporarily shutting down all of G.U.N.’s operations, okay? And that the commander has agreed to comply with it? Will they get to hear that?”

Rouge, Shadow and Omega all stared at one another.

What?

“Yeah- yeah, they’ll hear the news.” Sonic said, his eyes as wide as they could get. “Uhhh, why exactly did you do that?”

Now it was the president’s turn to sound irritated. “What do you mean, why? Not only are there protests and riots in the streets, but I’m horrified by what they’ve done, as I’m sure you are too! The leaders in both houses of government and I have completely agreed that G.U.N. needs to be closed down until we figure out what to do with it.

“I’ll be putting my voice in for total reform, and a consideration of permanent closure, but there are those who’ll argue with me, of course. I’m still going to do what I can for Team Dark and for those who’ve been hurt by G.U.N., though.”

“Wow.” Sonic said softly, stunned. “That’s...that’s impressive.”

“No.” the president said decisively. “It’s the least I can do to make things right. And, if you see Shadow…”

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell him that I personally apologize for everything that happened on Space Colony ARK? I had no knowledge of it until that video was released...but still. I wish there was something I could do to let him know how horrified I am by what he was forced to endure.”

Shadow stared at Rouge, who honestly couldn’t do much more than stare back, her thoughts racing by at a pace to rival her friend’s speed. G.U.N. wasn’t chasing them anymore? They weren’t even allowed to hunt them down? It almost sounded too good, too easy to be true.

“I’ll tell him. I promise.” Sonic said, his voice just a little shaky.

“Thank you, Sonic. Take care.” she replied, before ending the call.

“...whoa.” he breathed.

“What just happened?” Shadow ran his hands through his quills, as though he hoped it would help him sort out the events that had just taken place.

“Is this even real?” Knuckles asked skeptically. “It could be a prank…” They all knew he’d been the target of too many falsehoods to trust most people by now.

“Voice patterns match previous speeches given by the current president.” Omega said, making everyone’s surprise grow even more.

“So what...they’re just shutting down?” Tails looked confused.

“Most of them, yes.” Rouge said, taking a deep breath and beginning to work through her own swirling thoughts. “There’ll be some agents who don’t agree with what’s going on, but that’s to be expected. The commander is a big fan of rules, so he won’t ignore an order directly from the government. G.U.N. should be shut down...so the question is how safe the United Federation is for us right now.”

“So? Is it safe?” Sonic asked, looking hopeful.

The three members of Team Dark locked eyes. Rouge sighed. “Not quite. G.U.N. hasn’t actually been fixed yet and there’s going to be plenty of agents who are less than happy about this development...especially when it comes to us escaping.”

“There’s still a chance they could use their various connections to order some sort of attack on us that couldn’t be traced back to them...it’s unlikely that the commander would go for it, but others might. None of us need any potential assassins sneaking into Club Rouge in the middle of the night.” Shadow muttered, staring down at the grass.

All three members of Team Sonic cringed at Shadow’s wording. But then, Sonic sat down next to him and put an arm about the hybrid’s shoulders gently, giving him the option to push it off if he needed. “Don’t worry, Shads, you can stay here as long as you like.”

Knuckles glared at him. “This is my island, Sonic! I get to decide who stays for how long!”

Rouge raised a brow at that. “And do we get to stay, then?”

“...yes.” the echidna grumbled defeatedly.

Sonic’s answering smirk got him chased all around the clearing and the surrounding woods as punishment...if you could call it punishment when he was laughing and dancing and skipping over boulders all the way.

Rouge looked over to see Shadow leaning back against Omega again, looking tired but surprisingly calm and...was that a smile she saw?

“Feeling good there, hon?” she asked gently, leaning on him (and purposefully making their height difference obvious).

He rolled his eyes but still leaned into her shoulder, bringing a smile to her face as well. “Better than the last time we did this, that’s for sure.”

Rouge felt Omega’s arms tighten around them and looked up to see his eyes dim slightly in thought. After a moment, though, they brightened again, and he spoke.

“Original objective: make Shadow feel better. Status update: partially completed. Notes: cortisol levels lowering but still above recommended levels. Remaining irregular behavior due to exhaustion. And...outcome regarding G.U.N appears to be positive so far. This mission appears to be an overall success.”

He pulled them both a little closer, clearly not planning on allowing the two to escape his hold any time soon.

“Awww…” Rouge said gently, but Shadow was already falling asleep.

“Ngh. Stop making fun ‘f me.” He nudged her shoulder with his head, completely failing to do anything other than make the bat's smile grow warmer.

Within moments, he was completely passed out, and Rouge and Omega shared a look. “Do you regret any of the difficulties that this mission has created?” the robot asked, seeming curious more than anything.

Rouge looked over at the sleeping hedgehog next to her, a small smile spread across his face as he rested safely with his closest friends and family. There wasn’t any pain waiting for him in his unconscious now, and while there might be in the future, it could be handled with care and time.

She grinned up at Omega then, her smile wide and genuine.

“I don’t regret it at all.”

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #scars you can't see #sycs #sol's fanfiction #still getting used to tumblr formatting so this took me a while ugh #just to clarify: an election took place in between shth and now #really though it's crazy to think that the fic's almost over!#i'll have to go back and look at the post date of chapter 1 sometime #also i have discovered the secret to not feel nervous about posting #run out of time and panic-format it until you hit post five seconds before you have to do something else #:/#as always though i'm open to constructive criticism!#hope you enjoyed reading and have a great day

44 notes · View notes

olliepig · 4 years

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Waiting in the Wings, chapter 7

Just a short chapter this time. As ever, massive thanks to @willow-salix for her endless patience, and for letting me take on her girl, Selene.

The whole thing is available as usual on AO3 here.

************

“So far, we’ve got Kayo in the lead, followed by Cat and then Alan, with one more jump remaining for everyone,” called Gordon from his place on the sun lounger, making the best of not being allowed in the pool by organising everyone else.

“OK, so what order are we going in then, oh wise and not at all jealous ringmaster?” Cat called as she hauled herself out of the water, exchanging a glance with Kayo as they both burst out laughing at the pout that appeared on Gordon’s face.

“Low blow,” he scowled, the slight smile curling up the edge of his mouth giving away his amusement. “I’ll get you for that when I’m better.”

“I’m sure you will,” Cat conceded, “but I also fully intend to enjoy this while I can. Now, tell us whose go it is or I’ll send Alan over to drip on you.”

Gordon held his hands up in mock surrender as Alan advanced on him.

“You’re going in reverse order. Kayo first, then Cat and then Alan to finish. Previous distances will stand so Cat and Alan, you’ve got it all to play for or you’ll gift Kayo the win.”

“Let’s see you both beat this,” Kayo challenged, fixing her gaze on Cat and Alan in turn before taking a run up to the side of the pool and launching herself, beating her previous best by a few inches.

Letting out a whoop in celebration as she resurfaced, Kayo swam to the side and pulled herself up, sitting with her legs in the water and watching the rest of the proceedings as Cat prepared for her final attempt.

“Good one, Kay,” shouted Alan, jumping up and down in what he claimed was a bid to stay warmed up for his big jump.

“So, you call that a big jump into the pool, do you?” Cat taunted, a glint in her eye that had Gordon sitting forward on his seat to see what she had planned. “Let's see you do this.”

Allowing herself a quick glance over at the dark-haired man who sat doing paperwork at a table he had moved out onto the poolside, Cat looked back and refocused, eyeing up the distance to the pool edge carefully.

Starting her approach, she timed it perfectly and took off in a flawless grand jete just as her leading foot connected with the edge of the pool, propelling her high into the air and beating Kayo’s best jump by less than a foot.

Splashing into the water was not a dignified way of landing by any stretch of the imagination but she’d missed jumping properly in the 3 days she had been on the island and she couldn’t resist taking the opportunity when it arose.

“That was so cool,” shouted Alan, continuing to bounce around as he prepared for his final jump.

“Not fair. Not all of us are ballerinas,” Kayo complained, as Cat swam over, pulling herself out of the pool next to her and sitting up on the edge.

“That is very true,” laughed Cat, watching Alan fling himself in with all the grace and elegance of a baby gazelle. “That was… quite something.”

“Gather round, gather round,” called Gordon, beckoning to everyone as they clambered out of the pool and converged around his lounger. “I declare that Cat is the lucky winner here today. Would you like to hear what you have won?”

“Um, OK?” said Cat, suddenly suspicious of the glint in Gordon’s eye.

“Your prize is that you get to be the lucky one who fixes the pool loungers everytime Scott blows them halfway across the garden for the rest of the week,” Gordon laughed, unable to keep a straight face any longer. “Everytime he launches, I want to see you out here, dragging them back into position.”

“Oh, wait a minute now, that wasn’t part of the discussion when we first started,” Cat complained with a grin, knowing full well that she was being wound up.

“What? Do you not want your prize? You wound me,” Gordon cried, clutching his heart in mock agony.

“Oh, do shut up you big idiot,” Cat laughed, pretending to slap him around the back of the head.

“Lovely though this is, some of us have work to be doing,” Kayo cut through the good natured bickering, heading away to grab a towel from her lounger.

“Where are you off to? I didn’t hear the alarm?” called Alan.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m helping Rigby with something,” she replied smoothly, nodding a hello to Scott as she passed by and disappearing into the house.

Cat turned as Kayo was leaving and found that her attention was instantly caught again by Scott. Since the first night she had been on the island, she had been questioning her decision for them to remain as friends and she was finding it harder and harder to deny her attraction to him. He drew her to him, regardless of what else was going on around her, and she was finding that she was powerless to resist.

“You have gotta come back when I can swim again. I’ll take you on and show you how it should be done,” challenged Gordon, bringing her attention back to where she had presumably been standing staring at his eldest brother for longer than was probably decent.

“Oh, will you now?” Cat returned, choosing to ignore the telltale flush of embarrassment that crept up her neck. “Well, we’ll just need to see if your big brother invites me back, won’t we?”

“Screw him, I’m inviting you back. There is no way I’m letting you have bragging rights over anything to do with the pool.”

“OK, you’re on,” Cat shook Gordon’s hand amid groans from Alan. “But there is something you should know.”

“What’s that?”

“I hadn’t actually considered that there were bragging rights involved here...” Cat grinned, reaching for her towel and settling herself down again on her lounger to the dual sounds of Gordon’s groan and Alan’s laugh.

*****

“Should I be worried about that, do you think?” Scott asked Selene, who happened to be passing by on her way out to the pool as Cat and Gordon shook hands.

“Almost certainly,” she nodded. “You know how competitive Gordon is and from what I’ve seen so far, Cat’s no different so I’d say it would definitely be classed as ‘not a good thing’.”

“I think you’re probably right there,” he mused, but Selene was gone, already walking around the pool and sitting down with the others.

He’d been following the competition more closely than he probably should have, given the mountain of paperwork in front of him. He couldn’t help it though, he could barely take his eyes off Cat at the best of times but when she was wearing a cobalt blue bikini that showed off her impressive abs and toned legs, there was no chance he was going to be able to ignore her and focus.

Over the few days that Cat had been on the island, Scott had started to sense a change in her and he wasn’t blind to the glances that she had been stealing of him that morning, even if he had been careful not to be caught staring at her too obviously in return. On the occasions that their eyes did meet, there was a quality in the way she looked at him that reminded him of 10 years before, making his heart sing with hope for the first time.

She had also started to flirt with him again, subtle and tentative at first but definitely there. The first time she had casually trailed a hand across his shoulders as she walked behind the chair he was sitting in, he had stiffened in surprise, wondering if it meant anything, but the more little touches there were, the more he allowed himself to believe that perhaps it did and the happier he became.

Giving it up as a bad job and vowing to come back to it later, Scott abandoned his work, standing and making his way around the pool. Seeing Cat sitting up on her lounger with her legs crossed, watching in amusement as Alan tried and failed to recreate the length of her jump, he headed for her, his heart rate betraying his outward calm.

“Excuse me, Miss, is this seat taken?” he asked with a grin.

“It is not, my good sir,” she giggled, her breath catching as he sat next to her. “What brings you over here? I thought you had work to do? Not that I’m complaining,” she added quickly, flashing him a smile that sent a shockwave through him.

“I did. But there’s a much better view here,” he grinned, pulling his t-shirt off and lying back on the lounger.

“I’d second that,” she agreed, unable to stop her eyes from travelling down his chest and stomach, following the enticing line of hair that led down from his belly button into his waistband before she realised what she was doing and dragged them back up to meet his again, feeling rather flustered.

Another yell from Alan as he took off and hit the water with a splash made them look round to see what had happened and by the time their eyes met again, the moment had passed.

On a lounger further down the pool, Selene raised an eyebrow at them as she put her sunglasses back on and lay down, exchanging a look with Gordon as she did so, both well aware of what was going on, regardless of how well Cat and Scott thought they were keeping it hidden.

As she lay on the lounger, feeling the hot sun on her skin, Cat’s mind was whirling with the events of the previous few days. Nobody before Scott had ever made her feel so vulnerable while also protecting and supporting her so completely and she’d spent the last decade of her life trying, and failing, to find someone else who could do the same. Every failure hurt her more, proving again and again just how special their relationship had been, and the walls she had built up around herself to protect from the heartache of that knowledge were thick.

Just as she had made her peace with the fact that she was unlikely to experience anything like it again, Scott had come strolling back into her life and slowly stripped down her defences one by one until she was almost powerless to resist him. She’d felt on edge since then, torn between finally accepting what her heart truly wanted and what she still felt was for the best in order to protect herself. But it was getting harder and harder to resist. Her heart was screaming at her to give in, but something in her head wasn’t ready yet.

She'd found the thoughts were becoming suffocating and, needing to move in order to clear her head, she jumped up, her sudden movement startling the others as she dived into the pool, the motion and the cool of the water calming her.

Scott reacted as soon as she dived in, sitting up and observing her closely, knowing that she didn’t move that suddenly unless something was wrong. Watching her reminded him of all the times he’d found Gordon seeking refuge in the pool and he kept a close eye on her as she cut through the water, relieved to see her pace slow as she seemed to calm.

He was still watching when she finally came to rest at the side of the pool and looked over to him, smiling when their eyes met and once again sending his heart rate into orbit. Somehow resisting his urge to run to her and scoop her up, he instead contented himself with sending her a questioning look to which she replied with a small nod and another smile before resuming her lengths of the pool, this time at her more sedate pace.

“You’re going to have to tell her you know,” observed Selene, making him jump as she seemed to materialise behind him, taking in the object of his gaze.

“I already have and she doesn’t feel the same way,” Scott sighed. “She’d have said something by now if she did.”

“Really? I wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you,” she replied, already turning to walk away, leaving Scott with more questions than answers.

#Scott Tracy #Gordon Tracy #alan tracy #kayo kyrano #selene tempest #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction

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thefantasygirl3 · 4 years

Text

The fearsom five's christmas hijynx

Genre/warnings: Comedy, Slice of life.

Word count: 7 792

Summary: The other fearsome five are hiding in fear, scared over what Quackerjack might have gotten them for christmas. When he offers them their gifts, they get nervous and make up the excuse of christmas shopping to keep him distracted. Meanwhile they find ways to protect themselves from the dastardly gifts.

Notes: This one really came out later than I’d expect and became far longer than expected! But here it is and I hope it satisfies someone.

The city of st. Canard. It was covered in a white sheet of cold frozen flakes. The day of christmas was quickly approaching and the citizens were all running about in their holiday craze. Many were preparing their houses for the cheerful holiday, others were doing some last minute christmas shopping and some others were preparing traps so they could finally see santa in the feathers. Many active people out and about.

In fact, even some of the villains were preparing for their christmas plans.

Negaduck was walking through the dark alleyways, stealthily making his way towards the hideout of his evil team. The villain was scoffing to himself and making disgusted sounds as he stomped his way through. "BLEGH! Christmas junk all over the place! It makes me sick to my stomach seeing all the lights and colorful decorations and APPALLING GLITTER! Makes me want to burn everything to the ground" he complained to no one as he kept heading towards his hideout, making sure he moved undetected through the more populated areas before he finally reached the nest.

Entering the building, he kept talking out loud and started to laugh menacingly to himself. “But it doesn’t matter! All this meaningless malarkey is at least going to be a good distraction for my next heist! Mwua ha ha ha ha! Yes! They will be too busy ripping up presents and stuffing themselves full, no one will be around to stop me from robbing the bank! It's the… perfect… crime…" as Negaduck kept monologuing to himself, his steps started to slow to a stop as he reached the middle of the hideout. The duck immediately took note of the fact that the place was pretty much empty. There should be people here already, he had told them to be there early! "Damn ditzy dopes! I should be getting the chainsaw ready for them when they arrive!" he grumbled angrily as he rounded the corner, heading towards the workspace.

As soon as he did so, something caught his eye. Out of one of the boxes, a violet petal was peeking out. It was quite obvious and it made Negaduck rub his temples in exasperation. Walking over towards the box, the duck reached out and grabbed the petal in his fingers, immediately plucking it harshly. And with that, Bushroot shot out of the box with a loud "YOUCH!" and landed on his butt, outside the box while rubbing his hair in pain. "Hello, vegetable. Mind telling me WHAT YOU WERE DOING HIDING IN A BOX!?!" Negaduck yelled at the plant scientist on the floor, tapping his foot as he awaited an answer. "N-Negaduck!” Bushroot yelped as he jolted up and crawled back, bumping into a big wooden panel that fell over and revealed Megavolt, curled up on the ground. "Negaduck?!" he exclaimed surprised as he shot up from his place on the floor. "Negaduck! Y-you're here early!" Liquidator added on as his head materialized out of the puddle underneath the fridge.

"Yes I am! And you'll be seeing an early grave if you don't tell me what you're doing!" the duck who's name was repeated earlier demanded as he grabbed a hold of Megavolt and pulled him off of the ground. "Don't you realize! It's christmas! HE might be here soon! We'll be doomed" the plug-head explained in fear as he was shaking on his knees and in the other's hand. "BHA! You idiots gave away our HIDEOUT!?!" the yellow clothed duck shouted in rage, launching Megavolt back into the mutant plant. "Which one of you gave it away?! It's probably that stupid clown! Still hiding from me like a coward" he growled in a low, very aggressive voice while looking around the room and punching a box or two. "No, boss! It's him were talking about! Quackerjack!" Liquidator tried to explain as he crawled out from under the fridge, cowardly moving closer to the other teammates.

"What? You're afraid of that dope? You've gotta be kidding me" Negaduck started to laugh at the quivering trio, waving his hand dismissively at them before walking over to the work table. "Don't you understand!? Quackerjack makes toys! You give away toys on christmas! And we got a text before, saying he got some very special gifts for us!" Bushroot sputtered out as he ran behind the others and kept shaking in terror. "Yeah! And we have no idea what's in store! WE NEED TO PREPARE FOR HIS ASSAULT!!!" the rat panicked rather quickly as he waved his arms in the air. "He could be here any sec-" as the water man began his part of the explanation, the loud sound of a door being smashed open was heard, followed with a shout of "I'M HEEEERE~!".

The team flew together into a big, fearful hug and shivered hard enough for the sound of their shuddering to be painfully clear. The boss of the team just shook his head and looked at them annoyed, but in slight amusement. From around the corner, Quackerjack emerged with the biggest grin on his face, two small gift boxes and one larger one. "Geez you guys! If you were all so cold, why didn't you wear a jacket or something? WOOH HA HA!" he laughed at them all and walked over to the table, placing the gifts on it while ignoring the angry duck's protests. "O-oh! You know! It's cooler without them!" Liquidator tried to act casual while pushing the other two aside, not wanting to embarrass himself more than necessary. "Anyways! … W-what'cha got there?" he then asked as he kept a distance between himself and the most likely very deadly gifts.

"OH! You mean your awesome christmas presents?! Yeah! That's what I got!" the jester told his friend cheerfully as he bounced from foot to foot, jingling his bells about with the bouncing of his hat. "Oh wow! Quacks! Th-that's… so nice of you! C-can't wait for tomorrow!" Bushroot said with a very nervous laugh, rubbing his hands together in some sort of attempt to keep himself calm and away from running out of the room immediately.

"AAAAAW! But I can't wait for TOMORROW! Can't you open them now?! I hear that some countries celebrate christmas eve" Quackerjack said in his usual ever-changing tone, going from a whine to a more smug sounding voice. "Yeah. Go ahead! Why don't we see what you all got?" Negaduck said in his fake nice voice, curling his finger around the present ribbon. "Oh! Um… that sounds… really nice! B-but… but… um…" now the man was at a loss of words, trying to think of an excuse to not be made into a duck salad. "W-well… we… don't have a gift for you yet! How can we open your… probably great gifts when we don't have anything to give you?" Megavolt chimed in as he ran over to their friend and put an arm around him, trying his very best to convince him that they really did want to open it and not rather be on the other side of the earth.

"Oh. No no no! It's ok! I'd much rather just get the gift of seeing someone finally smile when I give them something! If the kids won't appreciate my toys, at least you guys can enjoy my gifts!" The toymaker said in a rather happy voice, seemingly just out for his teammates' appreciation. This just made the electric man start to sweat and become very flustered, stuttering out an incoherent excuse. Quackerjack just stared at him in pure excitement.

"Aaaaah… I guess the cat's out of the bag. We couldn't keep it secret for long" Liquidator sighed disappointed as he moved over to his two buddies, putting a hand on each of their shoulders and giving them a wink each. "Wh-what? What secret? Are you guys keeping something from me?!" The now curious jester asked as he looked at the three, getting himself worked up about what this thing could possibly be. "You see, Quacks, we got a great deal on a collective gift we wanted to give you tomorrow, at the mall. But if you want to do the gift giving today, we have no other choice but to pay for the express shipping!" the previous business man said in his usual "trying to sell you something" way, putting his hands on the other's shoulders. "Oh please" the yellow suited villain groaned and rubbed his beak, unable to believe they thought this ridiculous lie would work.

"REALLY?! Oh goodie! I'm sorry I made you spoil it, but I'm so curious now! Can we go immediately?". Of course, when the lie was told to the bluntest shovel in the cutlery drawer, then it wasn't as unbelievable. "Yeah! Of course we can! It will let us do some last minute christmas shopping!" Bushroot said with a grin, putting his vine arm around the oblivious toymaker and leading him outside, the rat and dog following close after them. "HEY! WHERE DO YOU FOOLS THINK YOU'RE GOING?! WE HAVE A HEIST TO PLAN!!!" the ever angry Negaduck screamed after his four subordinates, waving his arms around as he ran after them, only to be buried under a big pile of snow as soon as he walked outside.

Walking through the mall, Quackerjack was following his friends while doing cartwheels and handstands. "Oh boy, oh boy! I just love surprises! Can't we walk faster?!" he giggled as he pushed himself off the ground and landed right back on his feet. "Um… Liquidator? Do we even have a surprise? Please tell me we do! I don't wanna become toy stuffing!" Megavolt was still panicking and sparking while he grabbed a hold of the dripping dog, shaking him around before getting smacked in the face with a frying pan made out of water. "Not to fear, my friends! I have a deal prepared for our cooky friend to keep him busy and with satisfaction 100% guaranteed!" he told the two beside him before he leaned in and started whispering his idea to them.

As they walked around the corner, the team stopped their purple and red friend, to his surprise. "OH! Are we here now?!" he asked them as he jumped up and down, clapping his hands in excitement. "My friend! Are you feeling bored during christmas eve? Feeling the need for some fun? Try… The ARCADE!" Liquidator announced as he moved out of the way, gesturing towards the huge paradise of video games. As soon as Quackerjack saw it, his smile immediately dropped and his face morphed into anger. "THE ARCADE!?! Are you kidding me?! Video games are mindless dribble! They are destroying the toy industry! And you're saying my gift is playing some GAMES at the ARCADE?!" he started yelling at the three while pulling his hat down in rage and frustration.

"Oh of course not! We know that you hate this type of stuff! Which is why we brought you here!" Bushroot told the angry, jingling jester while he was throwing a temper tantrum. The duck then looked confused about that response, not sure how that made any sort of sense. "Don't tell me you didn't bring any toys with you! How were you planning to wreck the place without them?" Megavolt asked with a smug sounding voice, raising his eyebrows at him and smirking like a proud bastard. Quackerjack looked a little confused still for a moment until he connected the dots, getting a huge, eager grin on his beak. He quickly pulled out his wind up teeth and ran over towards the other guys, giving them a big hug before letting them go and saying "Oh thank you guys! This is such a wonderful gift! I'll be a couple of hours! It's PLAYTIME!!!". Then he was off to cause chaos.

The three looked as he ran off, waving and smiling while wishing him a merry christmas until he was out of view. They then let out a big sigh and sank down on the floor, as if melting from the release of tension. "Ok. So! Now that he's distracted and happy, we can finally get something ready for the assault" Megavolt sighed and moved his glance over towards Liquidator. "By the way, couldn't he just come here and destroy the place himself?" he then asked as they all had the moment to just collect themselves and come back to their senses. "Of course, but he doesn't need to know that" the dog muttered as he got up from his little puddle and helped clean off some dust from bushroot, who spoke up soon thereafter. "Alright. Here is the idea. We will all need to find a way to prevent these toys from attacking us! They will most likely be very advanced or dangerous! So we will need the best of the best stuff to stop them!".

"Yes! And I know exactly what I'll get for this!" the rat proclaimed confidently as he walked to the front of the group, pointing towards a map of the shopping center. "I will be going over to the appliance department and find the best CPU disruptor a man can buy!" he said confidently and put his hands on his hips in a matching demeanor. Bushroot walked over and took a glance of the map, extending his arm and pointing at the only plant store in the mall. "I'll go and see if I can find a good plant that I can mutate". "Well then, I guess I will have to… hmm… I guess going to the pet store to find some vicious fish could be of help" Liquidator pointed at the pet store and left a big water droplet to run down the display. "Alright! We got a plan!" The sparking man exclaimed as he put his hand up, then pointed towards the rest of the mall and shouted "Now GO GO GO!". And with that, they scatter.

The plant scientist was glancing around in the gardening shop, browsing through the different flowers and plants. He deeply enjoyed all of the greenery inside the store. In particular, he was taken aback by a beautiful orchid, making a double take before taking a stop beside the purple seductress. “Why hello there, you gorgeous flora. Ah~ If only my hands weren't tied, i'd buy you in a heartbeat” he sighed and gently rubbed it's petals in a very flirty manner.

As Bushroot was having this rather intimate moment, an old duck was clearing his throat behind him, scaring the ever living crap out of him. "Excuse me, sir. I couldn't help but notice that you are a plant lover, just like myself. Are you looking for something specific?" he asked the now shaking plant man, correcting his glasses that were sliding down his beak.

"Oh! Yes! I'm looking for something… oh wow! Who is that?!" Bushroot interrupted himself as he saw this gorgeous tall blossom, right behind the old florist. "Ah! You mean ms. Antirrhinum! Or more commonly known, the snapdragon flower. She is a beauty, isn't she?" He perked up a bit as the green duck was gawking over this big red cute belle. "Ms? So she's single?" Bushroot sighed as he circled the snapdragon and was practically drooling all over it. "Ah… ha ha ha! As single as they get, I suppose" the florist chuckled before heading over and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Now, what was it that you needed?".

"Huh? Oh! Yes! Sorry! I… I need something more…" as the scientist got back on task, he leaned in towards the other duck, scanning the shop quickly before whispering "... vicious". The florist looked up at him with a rather confused look, seeming shocked about the request. "... oh! You meant something exotic, right! I have many fierce ladies in this store!" He laughed softly at him as he started wandering past him towards the exotic area of the store. "I'm sure we can find a gal to suit your needs!" He added on as he motioned towards the countless colorful plants.

"What? No! No I mean- like literally! Do you have a plant that could, completely theoretically, rip a robotic teddy bear with built in flamethrowers limb for limb? Or chew a killer fairy with a big chainsaw to bits?" Bushroot interrupted him as he tried to explain himself, without giving out too much information about his plan. Clearly doing well! The duck looked over at him and just stared for a few seconds, his face scrunching up into a nervous frown. "Well… we technically aren't allowed to have any sort of plants like that" he told him while starting to roll his fingers and sweat slightly, wiping it off as soon as he felt it roll down his forehead. "Please! You've got to have something even slightly… wait… technically?" the plant mutant then pointed out as he realized the strange wording. As he said that, the florist carefully glanced around the room, as if making sure no one else was in there at that very moment. "I might have someone you would like to meet… if you can keep a secret, that is" he whispered to Bushroot, who was quick to perk up and say "Oh of course. I am far from a narc, sir".

The duck looked around still as he approached a shelf full of seeds, making sure the coast was clear as he started pushing it out off the way to reveal a tough looking door. He quietly unlocked it and pulled his customer inside. As the villain was pulled into the dimly lit room, he was greeted with a bunch of very ravenous looking carnivorous plants. "Oh my goodness! A venus flytrap! Yellow pitcher plant! Cobra lily! AH, a Butterworth!" the awestruck scientist started ogling all the exotic, dangerous, man-eating plant life as he ran around the room like an excited kid on… well, christmas. "Yes. They aren't very legal to sell, but I can tell you are a lover of all plants, just like myself. But enough delaying! Let me introduce you to my precious Monica" the florist told the man, who was still adoring all the big scary vegetation, before walking over towards a large cup shaped flower with a big leaf over it's red, spiked rim. Bushroot gave away a gasp as he saw said plant and ran over to get a better look of it, gushing out "Is that… a tropical pitcher plant?! Oh wow, she's such a beauty! I'll take her! How much does $10 000 sound?! I can get you that if it means I can take such a sweet doll home with me~". He looked shocked at him, not able to believe the amazing offer given. He was practically seeing dollar bills as he reached his hand out and shook the other's hand in an immediate agreement. "Of course, sir! You got a deal! Let me write you down on a payment plan!" he told him as the plant man was still drooling over this beauty of a flower.

Inside the electrical appliance store, the rat was pushing a cart along and looking around at the boring SD cards and other computer parts that would be of no help to him when being run over by a life-sized toy train. Anxiety was starting to settle in on him as he scanned over the stuffed shelves, unable to focus on finding the disruptor he oh so needed when the constant thought of himself being tortured by adorable, crazed murder toys kept popping up in his mind. His eyes darted around, trying his very best to stay focused on finding the life-saving christmas miracle.

"Hello sir! How can I help you?" a nasally voice spoke up suddenly, earning a surprised scream from Megavolt who jumped back into a defensive position, doing some fake karate before he saw the nerdy looking teenage girl. Judging by her lanyard, he could tell she worked there. Giving her an annoyed grumble, he just grabbed ahold of his cart once more and muttered "I know more than YOU". The girl just watched him walk by and frowned a little bit, earning another annoyed comment from the rodent of "Stupid kids. Probably don't even realize what a genius they are undermining".

"Dude! Are you that big, dangerous, evil supervillain, Megavolt?" another teen with long blond hair covering his face asked in a funky way, sounding like some sort of surfer-dude. Caught of guard, Megavolt only looked around in confusion, not sure whether he should confirm or deny that question. Unsure, he answered with a short and simple "... Yes?", wondering if he'd get thrown out or something. "Oh great! That means you must be smart!" the now relieved boy sighed as he grabbed a hold of the rat man and pulled him along towards the customer service counter. "W-Wait! Yes I am, but what do you need my intellect for?!" he asked baffled as he was dragged along towards a rather angry looking woman, standing beside a toaster that stood on the counter.

"Well this lady just came in, yelling about how her toaster isn't toasting properly. I was wondering if you would be able to find the problem, dude" the teen asked as he looked at him in desperation, seemingly somewhat lost and frightened by the peeved of lady staring daggers at the two of them. Megavolt wasn't sure how he had gotten himself into this mess, so he just gave the boy a baffled raise of his eyebrow. He was about to say something to him, until the lady cut him off sharply. "Listen! I don't have time for this! I want my toaster fixed YESTERDAY! It doesn't even TOAST! It barely warms my bread to room temperature! I have to wait an hour for warm bread!" she complained to him, completely ignoring the employee that was supposed to help her. The man groaned in annoyance, not wanting to deal with this when he was meer hours away from his childish DOOM! "Ma'am. I truly and genuinely do not care about your-" before he could explain how much her technical issue didn't matter to him, she snapped at him once more. "Why are you here anyways?! I asked for a MA-NA-GER! Not some whacky, dirty, off-his-rockers criminal! I want to speak with the manager right now so he can call the police to arrest that villain and so HE can be fired!" she started demanding to whichever one of them that would oblige her, practically frothing at the mouth as she was also hitting the counter.

Alright. That's it. He was ticked. This was now personal.

"... How about we just fix that toaster right up for you instead. And let me do it for free, since you asked sooooo nicely!" Megavolt said through gritted teeth, sounding very condescending to her while he was grabbing her toaster and taking it to a table that was already full of stuff, like paperwork and small tech parts. Shoving it all off the table, he slammed the toaster down and started disassembling it right away, grabbing a few parts around him to add into this household appliance. The woman gave a smug smile at the villain, who was now doing as she had demanded, meanwhile the employee looked on in surprise and awe as he was skillfully fixing this thing like it was nothing. After a few moments of tinkering, the toaster was reassembled once again and Megavolt walked over to the service counter, placing it down in front of the self-satisfied customer. "Now, let's test it out, shall we?" he suggested with a smarmy grin as he pulled out a piece of toast he had, for totally logical reasons, and put it into the toaster. Only a few seconds after the rat had started it, smoke started to seep out of the two openings on the top. And only a moment after that, flames erupted in two ginormous streams of fire. This made the woman start to scream and hurriedly scurry away out of the store. "I hope you like your bread like your coffee! HAHAHA!" Megavolt laughed and held his stomach as the fire started to calm down a bit, letting two burnt pieces of toast pop up with a delightful PING.

"Whoa… that was awesome!" the nerdy girl from before shouted out astonished as she watched the customer bump into people on her way out of the shopping center. "Yeah, dude! She's been bothering us with complaints and threats to fire us all for months! Thanks for getting rid of her!" the dopey boy said as he grabbed a hold of the villain's hand and shook it harshly, making him get red in the face and chuckle from the flattery. "Well… it is what we criminals do best!" he admitted and rubbed his neck. The girl walked over to the two and joined in in the hand shaking, crossing his arms over each other. "If there is anything we can do to thank you, you just let us know!" she offered him. This made him light up a bit, realizing that this might work perfectly in his favor. "Actually… I am looking for something rather hard to come by. If you happen to have a CPU disruptor anywhere in the store, I would be more than happy to take it off your hands!". "Well… we do have some more high-tech stuff in the back, but we aren't supposed to sell that stuff" the teen said as he looked back towards the backdoor, considering if it would be a good idea or not. "Well you're not selling it if you just give it to me for the favor, now are you?" Megavolt tried to explain to the employees, giving them a "Hmm?" and wiggle of his eyebrows. The two looked at each other, thought about it for a moment, then said in unison "That makes sense!" as they both then raced to the backdoor to get his present. Maybe this christmas wouldn't turn out so horrible after all!

Man. The pet store really wasn't anything to write home about. Liquidator couldn't believe how boring and unappealing it was. More like appalling. It was a wonder they even sold a simple little goldfish with such an unmarketable image. He almost felt like turning right around and head straight out to accept his doom. But he decided against it and just sucked it up, heading inside and looking around at the animals. The dog decided that he didn't have time to wander around aimlessly and try to find a fish that would be dangerous enough, so he headed up to the cash register to find someone who could help him. "Excuse me, ma'am! I require your assistance to find a most exotic, threatening pet that I could adopt!" he spoke up in his usual, classy salesman tone, trying to get the attention of the bored looking lady by the register. "Yeah, Yeah. Sure. Brittney can take care of you. BRITTNEY! A CUSTOMER NEEDS HELP!" she yelled towards the backdoor, prompting a pretty, tall lady to walk out and say "Ok. I'm on it" in a valley girl accent while chewing some gum.

"... Now I see the selling point" liquidator muttered under his nonexistent breath, scanning the employee as she walked over to him and greeted him. "Hiya. So what kind of pet are you looking for, sir?. "Well I'm glad you asked! Because what I am looking for is none other than a predator of the aquatiq variety!" he told the pet shop worker as he moved over to her, extending his body to be on her left, as well as her right. But she didn't seem to care at all, blowing a bubble with her gum as she just said "yeah, sure" and started leading him towards the aquarium section. As she was walking along with him, another customer walked up beside them and tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me! But I was wondering about this hamster. I already own a male hamster, will it be ok to have another in the same cage?" the young man asked as he pointed towards a couple of hamster cages. She just looked over at him confused, chewing her gum and grumbling a nonchalant "uuuh… I don't know" before turning to walk away again. She just left Liquidator stunned as he watched her walk away, not giving a single care about the customer. Like, yeah, he didn't care about his customers when he sold water, but you need to at least pretend to care or have a captivating and appealing attitude so you can make more sales. Groaning, he decided to pick up the ball she had just dropped. "Hello sir! Sorry about the laziness of the staff! But let me tell you that no! It is not a good idea to put two male hamsters in the same cage. BUT! It is very rewarding to take care of more than one hamster, as it is stated by professionals that it helps with restlessness! So I'd suggest you buy a second cage for the hamster you want! There are a few high quality ones over there across from the hamsters!" he informed the surprised man, who seemed to be eating up everything he was told, just nodding and saying "Oh! Ok!" before walking off. "Remember! The more it costs, the better it is!" he added on before leaving to find the useless employee again.

As Liquidator found the clueless girl again, she had once again been stopped by another customer, a little girl who had a puppy following close after her. "Excuse me miss. I don't know what food I should give Jasper. What do you think I should buy?" she asked in a sugary sweet voice, making the lady just glance down at her and blow another bubble with her gum. "I dunno. Dog food?" she just huffed before continuing to leave another customer behind. Facepalming himself, Liquidator quickly moves over and taps the girl on her shoulder. "Hi there, little lady! Ignore that big unhelpful lady! She doesn't know anything! If you are looking for good dog food, you should buy the ones with the big "approved" seal on it! If it has that, it means it will be good for him!" the villain said in an overly friendly way as he pointed towards the pet food section. The little girl smiled brightly and started pulling at her dog's leash, running off to find that good quality food.

This kept happening as he was attempting to keep up with the employee, person wants help buying stuff, lady blows them off, Liquidator has to take over and use his sales pitches to make a good sale.

"What is the best toy for my cat?"

"It will love the bell and feather on a string! The stick is made to not snap!"

"Are these vitamins good for my dog?"

"That's a no go! Four out of five specialists would suggest these higher quality vitamins with loads more vitamins in it for your pet!"

"My bird won't stop freaking out!"

"Yikes! Sounds like it is time to expand her cage! Trust me, bigger cage means less panic from your bird!"

After a few more quick sales, the man was tilting against a few aquariums and panting lightly, feeling exhausted from all the talking and pitching. It was amazing that this place was not burned to the ground by the sheer laziness of the staff. He was probably the only help anyone had ever gotten at this crappy store. The employee finally stopped in front of a tank of fish, motioning towards the clownfish swimming inside. This made Liquidator fall silent and just stare at her with a blank gaze. "... So how many fishes did you want?" she asked in a totally clueless voice, just staring back at him. "THIS ISN'T A PREDATOR!!!" he yelled in her face and started boiling from the immeasurable amount of rage this brought him. The employee just looked at him, asking "what's a predator?" cluelessly. The two just stared for a quiet second before the lady just takes out a ring of keys and throws them into Liquidators body. "Here. I gotta leave early today, so please lock up for me" she said dismissively as she just walked towards the front of the store to leave.

He just looked at her shocked as she, just like every other customer, left him alone and confused. Did she really mistake him for someone who worked there because he did her work better than her?

…

Well at least he didn't have to pay for what he needed anymore.

After a few hours in the mall, the four villains were walking home together, with the jester laughing giddily after his little bit of complete chaos. "Hoohoohehehee! I haven't had this much fun in a while! This is the best christmas yet!" he cheered as he was bouncin in front the trio that were carrying their wrapped presents. He then moved to put an arm around Megavolt, who gave him a nervous grin and moved the bag with the gift box in to carry it with one hand. The air around them, despite the expectation of impending doom, was actually rather cheerful. It was mostly due to the unrestrained joy of Quackerjack, who was just radiating christmas cheer with his excited laughter and singing. "Really? Christmas carols? I thought you were above that?" the rat poked at him with his elbow, snickering as he teased the one walking beside him. "Eh, shut up, Sparky! Can't a man feel the christmas spirit for one?" he snapped back while trying to hold back a happy giggle, wanting to appear somewhat tough. Liquidator and Bushroot looked at each other and gave an amused smile.

And soon enough, they arrive at the hideout. They all strolled inside and placed down their gift boxes under a christmas tree disguise that they had for the heist that was planned for the evening after. It was close enough to a regular tree, so why not? This made the colorful duck jump around even more and squeal excitedly. He was tapping his feet restlessly as he looked over towards his own gifts, wanting so bad to give them to his friends already. This did not go unnoticed, as Bushroot watched his eyes stare longingly in the direction of his own christmas gifts, feeling that nervousness return as he remembered why they even got the "gifts" to begin with. Looking over at the other two, they both took notice of his questioning look and gave a nod, indicating that they were ready for the chaos. "Hey… Quacks. Didn't you have something for us?" he asked with a forced grin, trying his best to not ruin the jester's joy.

Quackerjack gasped in excitement, not even answering the plant before he rushed off towards the work table to grab the gifts. Bushroot moved over to the others and they all formed a huddle. "Alright! Get ready for the onslaught! Keep close to the tree and hold the box at a distance!" Liquidator whispered to his fellow villains, earning a determined nod from them both. "Alright! Get ready!" the cheery voice of their four team member yelle, causing the huddle to break and the three of them stand innocently beside each other.

Quackerjack walked over, presenting the biggest present first. Everyone prayed that they wouldn't be the one to recieve the gift. "Bushroot! This one is for you!". Curses. That's just his luck. But still, the plant duck took a deep breath and accepted the rather heavy box, getting even more scared when holding the potential "pandora's box" in his hands. Swallowing harshly, he reached out and pulled the ribbon off, causing the other two to immediately hide behind whatever was the closest. He recoiled back away from the box, expecting to be jumped as soon as that lid was lifted.

But… nothing happened. That almost shocked him more than anything. So he curiously peeked inside and saw… a bag… a bag of fertilizer. It felt almost disappointing to get something so dull, instead of immeadiate death. But lifting the bag out of the box, he got a better look at it and realized something. "Wait a second! This is-!". "That's right! I got this fertilizer from a lab with some real knuckleheads for scientists working there! It's not even released to the public yet! And now it never will be! It's all yours!" the jester explained as he was hovering really close the the stunned man.

The fertilizer… it was HIS fertilizer! His project that he thought was lost after… the incident that made him into his mutant self. "Wow… wait, knucklehead scientists?" he then questioned, recognizing the description as his old labmates. "Oh yeah! Those two! I took care of them, don't worry! They seemed to really like throwing that football around! So I thought it'd be fun to try and be the ball for a change!" Quackerjack laughed amused as he seemed rather proud of himself. Bushroot just stared at him, tears starting to well up in his eyes before he hugged tightly onto the fertilizer and started wailing like a baby. "WAAAAAAH! THANK YOU! THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS I'VE EVER HAAAAAAD!!!" he cried out and sat down on the floor with his precious bag.

Quackerjack looked shocked for a short moment before looking genuinely happy about the over emotional reaction he got. "Heeheehee… glad you like it" he muttered before grabbing the next box and walking over to Megavolt, who had come out of hiding and was just staring in baffled surprise. His gawking was interrupted as there was a rather small gift box shoved into his face. Accepting it without a word, he just looked back at Liquidator unsure, as if asking if it was safe. He just gave the rat a shrug and looked equally puzzled.

Megavolt just sighed and decided to go for it, ripping off the ribbon and opening the box. Inside was a USB stick, a normal old USB stick. He picked it up and held it up to the duck. "Ok… I'll bite. What is this?". Quackerjack looked rather smug as he leaned into his face and explained "Well, Sparky. This USB contains countless of blueprints from an inventor, who works for none other than S.H.U.S.H. You don't realize how surprisingly easy it was to get! I bet she doesn't even realize it's gone!". The rat's eyes widened as he heard that. A USB… with S.H.U.S.H level blueprints?! There had got to be some really advanced stuff in that tiny little stick! All the knowledge he could ever desire! He even forgot to yell at the duck for calling him Sparky.

All he could do was sputter random sounds while trying to find any sort of words to say. Megavolt ended up just pulling Quackerjack into a hug and spinning around in a moment of bliss, rambling "ohmygodthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!". The duck gained a bright blush to his cheeks as he was held in the air by his friend, just allowing it to happen as this was just the type of reaction he had hoped for. Didn't expect it at all, but he had hoped. "Oh geez! Sparky! Be cool, pal! You're embarrassing me!" he laughed in a flustered manner, trying to hide how much he's enjoying the appreciation and failing immensely.

He managed to get loose after a minute or so and took the last, tiny present and started making his way over to Liquidator. The dog looked very sceptical, as suppose to the previous expression of fear. "So… seems you really made a great sale to those two, huh?" he commented to the clown, who didn't say anything back and just wiggled his eyebrows at him. "... Well they are nerds, they get all excited over their… nerdy interests. But I'm a customer that isn't easily impressed. So don't expect any hugs or tears" he then said in a defensive tone and crossed his arms. Quackerjack only grinned wider and held out the present to him, inching it closer and closer to his face while letting out a quiet squeak.

The water man just sighed and snatched the gift out of his hands, starting to unwrap it so he could just get it over with. And inside was just a piece of paper. That was it. His face dropped and he looked up at the duck. But he just kept grinning and darted his eyes between Liquidator and the paper. Rolling his eyes, Liquidator just picked it up and read over it. As he did, he realized it was a receipt from the local grocery store. "St. Canard convenience store. Wow! You really went above and beyond. Look at all that Sparkling Crystal Pure Flud Water you purcha- w… WAIT WHAT?!" he had to do a double take as he read over the receipt, not sure he read that right. But it was right there, in black and white, over $10 000 worth of his own brand of water.

"I know you better than you think" Quackerjack giggled smugly as he bounced over towards the leaking fridge and threw it open, revealing it to be filled to the brim with water bottles. Liquidator just stared in awe and with his jaw laying in the floor. Quacks picked it back up as he put an arm around his shoulder. "I know that you do love a good sale. But what do you like better? MAKING a good sale, of course! So what better christmas present for THE liquidator than to steal money from the bank and buy every last one of your water with it? That way, the ENTIRE CITY OF ST. CANARD has bought your stuff!" he informed the shocked man that he was hanging on while staring at his face, awaiting to see a reaction from him.

He just stared at all of his bottled water, processing everything his teammate just told him. That was probably the only thing he could have ever wished for, success for his company. A singular tear fell from his eye, though it could have just been more water, and gave away a small, happy smile. "Wow… thank you, man" he just muttered.

Quackerjack let out a happy laugh as he started jumping around his friends with so much excitement. "Ho ho ho ha haa! I knew it! I knew you'd like my presents! Now, let's check what's inside yours!" he cheered curiously as he then pranced over to the other's presents under the fake tree. "Wait" Liquidator muttered surprised. "Our… presents?!" Megavolt gulped and started sweating, realizing what a mistake they had made with their assumption. "W-WAIT! Quacks! Don't open them!" Bushroot yelled as he started running over towards the duck to stop him. But it was too late as they got to watch him suddenly get shot with a laser that sent a current of electricity through his body. They then got to witness him being attacked by a dozen piranha before he was grabbed by the big pitcher plant that tried to eat him whole.

The three, after watching this while grimacing and cringing, then proceeded to run over and save him from any further pain. It took a few minutes, but they got him free from the fish and plant, sitting him down on the floor with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. "...Not to be rude, since I got such a nice present earlier today, but you guys aren't the best gift givers, are ya?" Quacks asked the others with an awkward grin, trying to not ruin the happy mood he had achieved earlier. But they just gave him an embarrassed look and rubbed their necks, feeling equally as awkward as him. "Listen… We're sorry about all that. We didn't mean to cause you so much pain" Bushroot explained as he sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "We didn't expect your presents to be… actually really really nice. We thought you'd get us one of your demented toys that would try to kill us!" Megavolt told him as he also plonked himself down on the floor on his other side, rolling his fingers nervously. Liquidator didn't say anything, he just sat himself down and looked at him somewhat apologetically.

"Waitwaitwait! Are you telling me that you expected me to basically prank you by giving you deadly toys that would rip you to shreds?" the clown asked in surprise as he looked between all of the Fearsome Four with a confused expression on his face. The three just looked away from him and tried to find some sort of justification. But they just felt kinda bad about how they had been acting during the day when the gifts they were given ended up being really good and considerate. What justification could they have that didn't ruin the mood further?

As the jester kept darting his eyes between everyone, his eyes started to water and he began sniffing softly. Bushroot took notice and quickly tried to console him. "H-hey now! W-w-we didn't mean anything by-". Before he could finish his sentence, Quackerjack stretched his arms out and embraced all of his team with a tearful sob. "YOU GUYS! IT'S SO SWEET OF YOU TO THINK I COULD SOMETHING SO CRULE AND EVIL ON CHRIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAS!!!" he wailed while crushing the three grown men in his colorful arms.

They all looked down at him pained as their chests were caving in from the force of the love they were given. But they smiled anyways and chuckled at the silly duck. "Geez, Quackers! I never thought any of us would ever have an actually good christmas, let alone us having one together! But you did it! You gave us a truly merry christmas!" Megavolt sighed happily and reached a hand out to rub the crying man's jangling head. It made him giggle through his tears and let go of them all, just grinning thankfully at the lot.

"GET THESE LITTLE MONSTERS AWAY FROM ME!!!" Negaduck yelled as he ran past his team, being pursued by a group of rather scary looking toys as he's chased out of the hide out. Quackerjack just looked confused as they disappeared out the door. "Weird… I thought he'd love a bit of violence!" he said, seemingly surprised by the turn of events. The other guys just looked at each other quietly for a second, before bursting out in laughter at the brief scene. That years christmas turned from wonderful to fantastic.

#darkwing duck #dwd #The Fearsome Five #the fearsome four #quackerjack #Megavolt #bushroot #liquidator #negaduck #fanfiction #fanfic

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marauder--harder · 7 years

Text

Sleep Deprivation- A Remus Lupin Imagine (Part 4 of The Torturous Year)

A/N: Okay guys, I have been working on this for so long and it went through many, many edits and talks with my editor/bae to get it where it is now. I hope you guys like it. It is the largest piece I think I have ever written, being over 8k words but I think it is worth it. Sometimes the story just writes itself. :) Enjoy!

Previous Installments: The Torturous Year. (Part 1) - Methods of Torture. (Part 2) - Pressure Points. (Part 3)

“Alright, just concentrate, Y/N. Think exactly about what you’re doing.”

Remus heard you groan and sigh loudly before snapping, “I’m trying, if you’d just shut up!”

“Okay, okay, jeeze. Don’t get your pretty little kickers in a twis—ow!” Sirius yelped as you sent a stinging hex his way and turned away from him, towards the cup on the table.

“I’d be impressed if I didn’t hear it coming, love. Now just concentrate.”

Remus stepped in through the portrait to see you staring intensely at a cup placed on the table in the common room, your wand pointing at it. He furrowed his brows as he watched the cup start to shake slightly.

“What’s going on here?” He asked, as he turned to Sirius who was watching just as intensely as you were.

Suddenly the cup teetered a bit more before falling over, spilling the water that was inside it on the table.

“Moony!” You groaned and flopped down onto the couch harshly. Putting a pillow over your face you pressed down, letting out a small, now very muffled scream.

Remus furrowed his brows in confusion, “sorry?” He turned to Sirius and shook his head in a silent question.

“Thank Godric you’re here. She’s killing me, mate. I can’t work with her anymore!”

Pulling the pillow away from your face, you launched it at him. “Well maybe I’d get it if you didn’t just say the same thing over and over again! Honestly, Sirius, I am concentrating and I still can’t do the bloody spell!”

Remus turned and set his bag down on the table, wordlessly cleaning up the mess of the spilled water before turning to you. He bent down, squatting next to the couch and smiled as you looked up at him in annoyance.

“Okay, so what spell is Sirius mucking up for you?”

Your brow furrowed, you flicked your eyes between him and the cup of water that was now sitting perfectly on the table. “I hate you, you know. You don’t have to show off…”

Remus’ brows rose in slight astonishment, watching as you crossed your arms over one another defensively and sat up. “Excuse me?”

“She’s trying to do nonverbal magic.” Sirius added, leaning on the arm of the chair nearest to the fire. “Except she is rubbish at it and I can’t seem to help her. Take over for me.”

Remus looked back over to you and smiled hesitantly. “I mean, I’m—”

“No.” You stated, and started gathering up your stuff. “I’m not some bloody pity case, boys; you can’t just shove me off to the next person when you are done. I’ll figure it out on my own!”

Remus sighed softly, reaching out to still your slightly frantic form. “Hey,” he started softly, and waited until you met his eyes. “Don’t you trust me?”

The two of you held each other’s gaze for a few moments before sighing and dropping your bag. “You know I do…”

“Then let me help you, yeah?”

Neither of you noticed Sirius slip back up to his own dorm, a proud smile on his face.

From then on Remus and you spent nights after his prefect rounds practicing nonverbal magic. Truthfully, he was a much better teacher than Sirius, even if you were a bit of an insufferable student. Your pride often got in the way of his lessons, and you’d often mumble that it obviously was the teaching and not your abilities making you unable to perform simple spells.

Remus, however, was quick witted and sharp, calling you out on your excuses, which only served to fluster you further. You’d dip your head with a rising blush and an apology for saying such harsh words. He didn’t mind you taking your frustration out on him, really; but still called you out in order to see the adorable pink tinting your cheeks.

Yet, Remus was also very kind. With the amount of snark he would give you about your own hot temper, he would know when to be gentle and soothing with you as well.

“I’m sorry, look this isn’t fair to you and I’m sure we’re both pretty tired. Why don’t you head off to bed and we’ll meet up next week.”

Remus smiled softly and sat down next to you, close enough your knees were touching. “Y/N,” he started, and you fought a small shiver at the sound of his deep, warm voice near your ear. “You’re going to get this. You just have to be patient. Nonverbal magic is difficult and many witches and wizards can’t ever do it.”

A bitter feeling swirled in your stomach, quickly rising up your throat and to your tongue. You couldn’t help the words that fell from your mouth. “Then why bother doing this? I’m sure I fall well within that group, Moony.”

Remus sighed softly in exasperation, clearly annoyed with the fact that you chose to focus on the wrong aspect of what he was trying to say. “Come off it, you know you’re capable of doing this. It’s a simple levitation spell. You just have to get out of your head.”

“Easy for you to say!” You snapped, pulling away from him as you felt the very familiar shame of inadequacy creep its way back up your throat. You suddenly felt all too warm, and tried desperately not to let your temper flare too much. “You’re nearly bloody perfect at it, and it comes so easy to you! You’re pretty much bloody perfect at everything come to think of it!”

“I’m not perfect, Y/N,” His voice was calm and even, a note that made you even more upset to think about. “And neither are you; nobody is. That doesn’t mean you can’t do this.”

You closed your eyes and took in a deep breath. When you opened them, you glanced over at Remus who was staring at you, a small yet hesitant smile on his face.

“I’m—”

“Sorry, I know. It’s okay. You’re dealing with advanced magic, sweetheart, you can’t expect it to just happen. It will take time.”

You sighed and sat back down next to him, leaning your head on his shoulder. “But I’ve been doing this for so long.”

Remus chuckled at your childish tone and patted your knee comfortingly. “You know, I think for my next lesson I’m going to have to teach you patience.”

A small smile spread on your face and you poked his side in a gentle protest. “I’m plenty patient.” You argued.

Remus’ laugh was louder this time, as he threw his head back slightly, “Sure you are. Isn’t it you that’s always bursting into the Hospital Wing moments after I arrive because you’re just so patient?”

You rolled your eyes and smiled wider, happy that from this angle Remus couldn’t see you blush. “Fine, I’ll be later next time then. Maybe in that down time I’ll just go read to the boys instead of you, yeah?”

Remus’ laughter died in the back of his throat imagining you sitting at the side of his friends’ beds, reading softly as they slept. You’d sit at the edge of the bed, or perhaps even lay with them so they could cuddle up to you, reading quietly, stroking their hair gently. He imagined the way the rising sun would cast a warm glow over you and frowned at the thought of you not being with him.

A yawn broke him from his thoughts, however, as he felt you drop more of your weight onto his shoulder.

“You’re tired.” Remus could only barely see the tip of your nose from this angle, and he focused on the fluttering of your long eyelashes.

You let out a soft hum of agreement, fighting to keep your eyes open. He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was well into the early hours of the morning. You were probably exhausted, trying to figure out this form of magic. It was draining even for him at times, and he now understood why you were so snappy with him.

“Let’s get you to bed then, yeah?” He placed a hesitant kiss to the top of your head before nudging you gently with his shoulder.

You stirred, and sat up, blinking repeatedly in order to shake yourself awake. You turned at looked up at Remus, smiling tiredly at him.

“You’re comfy, you know.”

He chuckled softly, gathering up both his and your things before responding, “good to know.”

“You’d be great at cuddling. You’re warm and soft and, oh my god, I’m actually saying these things out loud.”

“I should stay up with you more often. Sleepy Y/N is interesting.” He grinned and offered his hand for you to take.

Hesitantly you took it and he pulled you up, so you were standing closely in front of him. You watched as he stared down at you, a roguish grin on his face, and fought down yet another embarrassing blush.

You noted, even tiredly, how handsome he was and how much he truly did change within the last year. His jaw had sharpened, contrasting alluringly with the definition of his cheekbones. The boy who was once all thinned, hollow edges was now strong, full sharpness.

Similarly, Remus noted the way your long eyelashes fluttered slightly before looking up at him, innocent and doe eyed. He fought the urge to pull you even closer, flush against him, and reminded himself that even if you thought him attractive, he couldn’t take advantage of you like that.

“You should get some rest.” He mumbled, voice low and timbery.

You visibly shivered and the wolf deep within him swelled with pride. “Yeah. You should too.”

Neither of you broke apart for a few moments, just staring at one another, resisting the urge to step closer and meet.

“Thank you.” Your voice was a bare whisper, yet a beautiful smile lit up your tired face, “For dealing with me. For not giving up.”

Remus mirrored your own grin, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “Of course. You’re a bright witch, Y/N. You’ll get it, I promise.”

Eventually you pulled away, grabbing your bag and heading towards the girls’ dormitory stairs.

“Goodnight Remus.” You called out and he stopped at the bottom of his own staircase to look over at you.

“Goodnight, sweetheart.” And Remus climbed the stairs to his room, thinking that he was going to need a very, very cold shower before bed.

After about another week of practice, you and Remus had been making steady progress with your ability to perform nonverbal magic. It started when Remus suggested trying a slightly different spell.

“Okay, let’s try a bit more of a reactive spell; something that comes from within yourself, and doesn’t deal with other objects.”

You sighed, and dropped your wand to your side. “Something easier because this is too difficult for me.”

Remus shook his head gently, walking over to the fire and silently casting a spell to put it out. You tried your best not to scowl, and failed miserably. He turned then and blew out the lights of every other lamp within the room. The only way you could see him was through the low light of the moon shining through a thin window opposite you.

“What are you doing?” You squinted as you saw Remus’ figure walk further into the shadows behind you.

“We’re trying something different.” His voice came from behind you, to your left and you whipped around trying to see him in the darkness. “Nonverbal magic works best when you don’t think about it. You just do. They are usually reactive spells; a wizard using their magic in order to better their situation.”

You felt a slight presence behind you and froze, a deep whisper in the shell of your ear. “Use a spell to see me, Y/N.”

You stopped, trying to concentrate on using Lumos in order to brighten the room. Moving your wand to the correct movement, you thought of the spell.

Nothing.

“Don’t think of the spell. React.” His voice was further now, standing somewhere potentially a few feet away from you to the right. “Think about me; about seeing me. It’s dark, you need to find me. You need light. What do you do?”

You closed your eyes, thinking of Remus’ face. You thought of his smile, and the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed. You thought of the many scars that you saw littered across his body that morning in the Hospital Wing.

Without thinking, you moved your wand, and thought of seeing him.

A small white light shone from the tip of your wand, steady and bright at first until it dimmed slightly.

You opened your eyes to see Remus standing in front of you, a large smile on his face.

“Found me.”

Squealing in delight, you beamed largely and felt the light at the tip of your wand grow. Stopping for a moment, you looked down at it and moved your hand in a wave like motion, effectively extinguishing the light.

“I did it!” Your voice was pitched and breathy, obvious astonishment laced through. You heard, but not saw, Remus chuckle and quickly lit your wand again in order to see the beautiful crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes.

“I knew you could. You just needed to get out of your head.”

Without thinking you reached out and threw your arms around Remus’ neck, standing up on your tiptoes in order to give yourself a few more inches in comfort. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You’re the best teacher ever, I swear it.” Remus’ hands quickly found their way around your waist, holding you close to him.

“Well I’m glad that one success changed your mind, as I do recall you complaining that I was worse than Sirius at some point—much to my own offense, by the way.”

Even in his terrible teasing your smile did not fall from your face. “Well I will deny any such thing, you absolute blessing! This is so amazing,” you gushed, pulling away and practically jumping with excitement. “I could just kiss you!”

Before Remus had any time to react, you reached forward and placed a large, rather over enthusiastic kiss on both of his cheeks causing him to blush fiercely in the dark.

“Well, if this gets me a kiss, I can’t wait what will happen when you learn to levitate things nonverbally.”

Within the next few weeks, you had steadily improved your ability to perform nonverbal magic. You’ve passed being able to make objects levitate and now felt almost confident in your ability to cast any spell.

“Alright, hit me with your best one,” you started, practically buzzing with excitement.

Remus thought for a moment before nodding to himself, “let’s start with one that I know pretty well, yeah? Try incarcerous.”

Taking a mental note of the spell chosen, your brows rose in playful astonishment. “Very telling, that is Remus.” You smirked as you watched him roll his eyes, blushing softly. “Kinky. I like it.”

Clearing your throat you turned and pointed your wand at him. You closed your eyes and thought of Remus being tied up with a soft rope. At first, it seemed innocent enough, having his wrists tied together. Although soon enough your mind changed the scene, having Remus’ legs tied to a chair, his hands behind his back as you ground against him. A sharp heat pooled deep within you and you felt yourself squirm slightly at the thought. You pictured Remus’ eyes shut, head thrown back as you teased him mercilessly. You’d kiss up and down his neck, whispering every way he had been teasing you within the last year. He’d moan softly against your neck, trying desperately to gain more friction between—

“Um, Y/N,” Remus’ voice was tight and clipped, shaking you from your wayward thoughts.

You opened your eyes and blinked, looking down at Remus. Both his ankles were tied to the legs of the chair he was sitting in, his hands bound tightly behind him.

“Good job, but—” he paused, and squirmed slightly, trying to pull against the rope that only tightened further. “It’s a bit tight.”

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” You mumbled, cheeks ablaze and horrified. You tried muttering a quick relashio spell in order to release him but failed. “Remus, I-I—” you felt your heartbeat pick up, and covered your face with your hands for a moment or two, trying not to die of embarrassment.

“Well, well, well, Y/N.” Sirius stated, walking up to the two of you, clearly coming back from another one of his late night escapades. “I guess you needed the right type of motivation to understand.”

You jumped at the sound of his voice and stared at him in a slight panic. “Sirius can you—”

Remus cut you off, chuckling softly, “Y/N, darling,” he started and you tried looking over at him but couldn’t hold his gaze. “Hey, calm down. You freaking out is only making this tighter.”

Sirius leaned forward, hands resting on the arm of the couch, his voice taking an obvious suggestive tone. “If I start tutoring you again, can I get tied up too?”

You shoved him roughly, before taking in a deep breath and closing your eyes. You forced yourself to picture untying him from the chair, with a high level of embarrassment as you knew the boys were bound to be staring. You imagined the way the ropes would fall to the floor, leaving Remus to move freely.

Opening your eyes, you pointed your wand at his binds and muttered the spell once again. This time the ropes loosened significantly before falling away, only leaving light red marks on his wrists in its wake.

“Okay, so I think I won’t use incarcerous nonverbally anymore.” You started, and Remus simply grimaced and nodded in return.

Once the next full moon came and went, your tutoring sessions with Remus turned into ‘catch-up’ lessons with him. Remus was usually good about not letting himself get behind, however with the change in pace within his NEWT level Potions, he was having trouble keeping up after days missed.

The two of you had talked to Professor Slughorn and convinced him to let you use the potions class after hours in order to “better prepare yourself for your NEWTs.” Being a legacy in the Slug Club definitely had its perks and you knew that it was a high chance that you were at least going to apprentice your father at some point before deciding if you were to be a potions master. Slughorn gushed at the opportunity to have “another Y/L/N in the community” and told you that you could use the classroom whenever you’d like, so long as you checked in with him the day prior.

Thus when Remus needed help brewing veritaserum, you were more than happy to offer your perks.

“Alright Remus, I think it’s just about done,” you said, hovering over the cauldron that the two of you had been working on the last month or so.

Veritaserum was a very difficult potion to brew, and even if you had more experience than most, you wanted to make sure that it was brewed correctly for him. As it was now nearing the next full moon, you realized that Remus was becoming just as difficult of a student as you were. His temper was running thin and he was constantly jittery.

Looking over at the young boy, who was finishing up the last paragraph of notes on the difficult brew, you noticed how pale he had gotten. Dark circles hollowed his eyes and you frowned, glancing at the clock. It never occurred to you how much more exhausting it was for Remus to stay up with you after his prefect rounds. He was probably running himself into the ground.

“Hey,” you called out softly, stilling his hand that was writing feverishly. “You can finish that in the morning, let’s test this and get you to bed, yeah?”

Remus sighed and shook his head slightly, reaching out to dip his quill back in its well. “I’m fine, and almost done with this. Just a few more minutes.”

You gave him a hard look and watched as his shoulders slumped. “Remus, I hate to tell you this, but you kind of look like shit. You need rest.”

“Thanks, Y/N, just what someone would want to hear from a pretty girl.” He pulled harshly away from you and continued writing down his notes.

Rolling your eyes, you sighed. “I meant that you look tired. You’ve been working with me almost every night and we’re both getting practically no sleep. With the full moon coming up, I just thought that you should maybe lay off a bit. It’s not healthy for you to be doing this with me every night.”

You watched with caution as his shoulders tensed sharply, “I see.” Still tense, he quickly started packing up his things. “You could have just said something, if I was taking up too much of your time.”

You groaned loudly and leaned forward, grabbing his large hands in your smaller ones, turning him to you. “Moony,” you started and waited until he met your eyes. You saw the exhaustion and surprising hurt that was settled deep within his eyes. “I care about you, and I see how tired you are. That’s all.”

He scoffed in return, “Y/N, I understand that I’m bothering you, it’s fine—’

“Fine, shut up and let me take veritaserum to prove you wrong.”

Remus stilled, and glanced over to the cauldron. After a few moments of silence you nodded and walked over to take a drink. Filling a cup up with the clear liquid, you knocked it back, letting it spread over your tongue before going down.

You waited a few moments before you felt your tongue grow heavy and mouth dry. You blinked a few times, trying to have the clarity of your mind remain. You hated the way veritaserum made your head go fuzzy, as if you couldn’t even think straight enough to try and tell a lie.

“Alright, Moony, let’s test this.”

He simply stared at you for a few moments, opening and closing his mouth as if he wanted to ask something but refrained. Finally he took in a deep breath, “Okay, try to lie to me. What is your name?”

“My name is…” you paused, your tongue growing heavier, as if you physically could not move it enough to pronounce a name not your own. “My name is…” You struggled against the fog that was clouding your mind further. “…is Y/N Y/L/N.”

Panting slightly you smiled and nodded to him. “See?”

“Looks like it works.”

“Then you’ll believe me when I tell you that I just wanted you to take a break because you looked absolutely knackered and I worry about you?”

Remus sighed softly before struggling his shoulders, stuffing his hands into his front pockets. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine.”

You crossed your arms over one another and raised an eyebrow in question. “Care to say that again under veritaserum?”

“Sure.” He replied smoothly, filling his own cup and downing it roughly. “You don’t have to worry about me.” He repeated, “I’m f—”

You smiled, knowing that deep down, Remus knew that he wasn’t feeling okay no matter how much he tried to convince himself.

“I’m f—” he tried again, only to fall short. “I guess I am tired then; but you really don’t have to worry.”

“Well I want to.”

“Well I d—” he stopped and felt his cheeks flush as he ducked his head to avoid your gaze. So he did want you to care…

Simply smiling in response, you continued to pack up your things and left the rest of the potion on Slughorn’s desk with a quick note to thank him for letting you get in your practice.

“Alright, Moony, let’s get you to bed then.” You reached out and took his larger hand in yours again, pulling him towards the Gryffindor tower.

While making your long journey up to the seventh floor, the two of you got to talking, still under the effect of the truth telling potion. Both of you found it fun to ask the other a question that may make the other squirm.

“Okay, where are you most ticklish?” You asked, a devious grin on your face.

His eyes widened, before quickly narrowing into a playful glare. “You don’t want to start this Y/N…”

Grin widening, a mask of terrible innocence fell over your face. “It could be thought of as only fair, because of what happened last time. A girl can’t be left defenseless against the big bad wolf, you know.”

Remus blushed as you winked at him, and struggled against the truth. The veritaserum was brewed pretty much perfectly, you didn’t know why he was always fighting it. “My ribs.”

Smiling in victory, you reached out and poked him for good measure. “Good to know.”

“I hate y—” he paused, unable to complete his sentence, which only made him pout further.

“You know you love me Moony, come off it. If it makes you feel any better, you can ask any question you please.”

Remus stilled for a few moments before smiling and nodding. “Okay fine, what was your most embarrassing childhood nickname.”

Rolling your eyes, you sighed softly, not even waiting for him as the staircase moved. “That’s your best question?” You called out watching as he waited down at the bottom with a small pout. You guessed that tonight would be one full of Remus pouting and your heart warmed at the thought. He really did look too cute in doing so.

Once Remus joined you again, after waiting “too bloody long” as he grumbled, you started back on your leisurely way. “My dad used to call me Bubbles as a kid because I would always try and mess with the bubbles in the potions he was brewing. It started off as something cute, but when he still uses it at the platform, it isn’t preferred.”

A few moments passed before you heard Remus snickering. He tried to contain it, keep a straight face but after a few more moments he was bursting out with a deep melodic laughter. “Bubbles! That’s brilliant; I’m so using that from now on.”

“Okay, ha ha, very funny. If you don’t stop it Moony I’m going to start asking questions that will make you squirm.” Your glare was only half playful this time, but you honestly couldn’t be too mad at him. It was a stupid nickname and he looked so darn cute when he laughed.

“Try me, Bubbles.” Was his only reply, giggles still bubbling up every now and then.

“Alright big boy, what are you packing? Boxers or y-fronts?” You stopped on a landing, crossing your arms over one another, a smirk on your face.

Remus’ giggles suddenly ended, leaving a very still, quiet, slightly pink cheeked boy in their wake. “Why do you want to know?”

You grinned wider, taking a step closer to him, meeting him at the landing. “I knew you’d squirm.”

“I’m not s—” he stopped, cursing this potion for what seemed to be the hundredth time tonight and glared down at you before taking yet another step closer, “Boxers, if you must know.”

Practically beaming, you looked up at him, noticing the real beauty of a flustered Remus. This was one of the first times that you’ve seen him blush without looking away. The freckles that were sadly fading with the cold contrasted greatly against his pink cheeks and his jaw was clenched ever so slightly, giving him a bit more definition. You wanted to lean up and kiss him, have your mouth trail down his defined jaw, leaving marks along the way.

Wanting to make him squirm even further, to test the boundaries between you, you pressed on. “Good to know.” Your voice was soft and innocent, and you leaned in slightly to feel yourself almost pressing up against him. You knew this was dangerous territory for you, but you couldn’t help but continue, hoping to make him an utter mess by the time you were through. “So,” you watched as his pupils dilated slightly, and you pulled your bottom lip into your mouth, biting down gently. “Are you an arse or tits guy?”

And there it was. The shocked, flustered sputtering that you were hoping for. Over the time you’ve known Remus, you realized how much of a cheeky shit he always was, and it felt good to be on the other side of things for once.

“Y-You can’t just ask that sort of thing! T-That’s…” he trailed off, and watched as you continued to grin up at him.

“That’s what? It’s just a question Remus.”

“That’s like asking what kind of panties you’re wearing!”

You threw your head back with a loud laugh, pulling away slightly. “Remus, I’ve technically already asked you that.”

“Well I would try for the male equivalent but there is none. That’s a personal question, Y/N.”

You sighed softly, realizing that you may have taken this a bit too far. Carefully reaching out to touch his arm, you frowned slightly when he jumped. I guess there’s the reminder that he wouldn’t want to be with you.

“Look Remus, I’m not making you answer anything. I was just curious about your preferences, that’s all. For instance, I like broad shoulders, and toned arms.” You trailed off, having your eyes subconsciously dip down the expanse of his own shoulders and arms, before you took in a deep breath and continued. “If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer me. I’d never make you do anything you didn’t want to.”

Remus looked down at you and knew that you were telling the truth, you had to. He didn’t mean to get freaked out, because honestly he didn’t care. Yet, when you asked the only thing that he could think of was grabbing you by your own arse and pulling you closer to him. The truth of his thoughts almost spilled from his own mouth and he knew that he couldn’t do it.

“Oh,” you started, and pulled your hand off his arm to reach the waist of your own skirt. “And since you technically asked…” Your hand went passed the waistband of your skirt and pulled up the waistband of your panties. “I wear bikinis. These ones are lace.” You smiled coyly and watched as Remus gulped harshly.

“Arse.” He finally said. Taking a step closer, he reached out to trail a hand up your outer thigh gently. You shivered as his hand made its way under the bottom of your skirt, before blushing madly and pushing his hand away, albeit truly reluctantly. “I much prefer a fit arse.”

“Hands, Lupin.” You warned and watched as he grinned guiltily. You really had no idea when the two of you escalated to this type of flirting, but the way his hands felt as the glided up your outer thigh made you want to shiver and pounce.

“No need to get those pretty knickers in a twist. I’m merely curious as to the shape in the back.”

Your eyebrows raised in mild surprise. “The shape of what, exactly?”

Grinning further, he traced the outside of your skirt waistband, hooking a single finger inside and giving a slight tug. “The lace, of course.” His words seemed solid, but the way he smiled made you question the truth of his statement.

Rolling your eyes, you smiled gently. “Well, curiosity killed the cat, you know.” The words coming out of your mouth were not lies, but definitely not the truth. You felt the haze cloud your mind further for reasons completely unrelated to the veritaserum.

“Ah yes, but the answer brought him back. Care to give me the breath of life?” He winked.

A large blush met your cheeks and you looked down at the stairs before turning and starting back up towards the common room. “Let’s go, big boy, before we get caught.”

Joining you, scaling two stairs at a time to reach you, he smiled. “I’m a prefect.”

“You’re a prefect who is off duty. Ask me another question and let’s get to bed. You’re still exhausted, remember?”

Remus grinned, even though you noticed the dark circles that were still hollowing out his beautiful cheeks. “I suddenly don’t feel all that tired…”

You laughed, and grabbed his hand, pulling him along with you. “Well I am, so let’s go.”

The two of you climbed in silence for a few moments before you heard him ask, “Who do you think the most attractive bloke is?”

Your eyes widened as you felt your tongue go heavy in response. You thought of guy after guy that were attractive, quickly trying to convince yourself that it wasn’t Remus. If he knew that you found him most attractive, there was no telling what he’d ask next. This question game was a bad idea.

“Y/N?” He asked and you felt your heart rate spike in panic.

“Y—” you started and you felt the haze settle even further over you. You blinked in response, trying desperately to choose your words carefully in order to not let it slip. “You’re not playing fair, Remus.”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “what do you mean? How?”

“Because that involves feelings.” Shit, that isn’t what you meant to say.

“What?” He asked, obvious confusion across his face. “No it doesn’t.”

You sighed, knowing that you had to give him something otherwise he’d never let this go. “Of course it does. The way I feel about—” you paused, fighting to remain clear headed. “—the person makes them much more attractive versus otherwise.”

You could tell that Remus was about to ask you something until you turned, scaling the stairs and walking up to the portrait. You muttered the password and walked in quickly.

Calling after you, Remus climbed through the portrait just in time to see you at the bottom of the steps. “Y/N, wait!”

You stopped, knowing that running would just make it more obvious. “Yeah?”

“Hey, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, you know.” He was clearly concerned and confused, trying to figure out what made everything change.

“You di—” you started, and sighed. “It’s not your fault. Look, I had fun tonight but we’re both really tired and you definitely need all the sleep you can get. We’ll talk in the morning, yeah?”

Remus nodded slowly, still trying to understand exactly what just happened. “Sure, yeah.”

You smiled softly, before muttering a quick “goodnight” and headed up the stairs.

Moony watched as your fit arse climbed the stairs, and wondered why you wouldn’t tell him who you were interested in. “Goodnight Bubbles.” He mumbled, to nobody in particular and climbed the stairs to his own room; waiting for a conversation that you were going to avoid for as long as you could.

Meanwhile, you were in bed, pillow clutched close to you in a desperate attempt to settle your raging heartbeat. Completely exhausted, you tried telling yourself over and over that you hadn’t officially fallen for Remus but the truth seeking potion never allowed the lie to fall past your lips.

Tortured: 0

Torturer: 1

The two of you did not meet after hours again until about a week after the full moon. You let Remus get as much rest as he could, and honestly didn’t want to risk him asking you about the night of the veritaserum. However, once Remus was healed better, the two of you made plans to start meeting up in order to help him with the classes he fell behind in.

Remus caught up quickly, but the two of you continued to meet. It sort of just became your regular thing, meeting late at night once Remus got back from his prefect rounds. Neither of you really made plans to do it, but over the past few weeks you’d linger in the common room just a bit after 10 o’clock, secretly hoping that Remus would join you. Little did you know that Remus, usually pretty okay with leisurely strolling back to the common room, now scaled the stairs two, if not three at a time, eager to catch you before you went to bed.

The two of you would often spend the time talking, lounging by the fire or even sneaking out for a late night snack to the kitchens. You both spent night after night laughing at silly stories, learning more and more about the other.

You openly cried the night he told you about getting bitten; and Remus was nearly brought to tears himself as he felt you cling to him, telling him over and over that it wasn’t fair, and he didn’t deserve a bit of the life he was forced to now live.

“Y/N,” Remus started as you buried your face further into his neck, hugging him tightly. “Look at me.”

You simply shook your head in response, sniffing ungracefully and letting out another restrained sob.

Rubbing your back gently, he clutched you close to him for a few more moments, trying to commit this feeling to memory. Even though he felt like his heart was breaking at the sounds of your own sobs, he still revelled in the feeling of you gathered in his arms. After a few more moments, he sighed softly and tried gently pulling away.

“Love, please,” he murmured, and you didn’t know if your own heart swelled or broke at the gentle endearment. He’d never called you ‘love’ before and the way it sounded was beautiful; yet another reminder that he was too good for such a horrid affliction. “Please look at me, I want to see you.”

Sniffling again, you shook your head, making no attempt to move even if you had calmed significantly. “I’ve been crying,” and you hiccupped almost to prove your point. “I look all ugly and snotty.”

Remus chuckled softly, “so you’re just going to stay attached to me forever? I mean, I’m not complaining but I think I’d like to see your face at some point.” He trailed off, sliding his hands down the small of your back towards your arse. “Even if this view is pretty good too.”

Feeling a slight squeeze on your arse, you yelped and pulled away in surprise only to see a grinning Remus as you did so. The two of you stared at one another for a few moments, not saying anything. Smiles slowly faded and you bit your lip to try to keep yourself from crying again. You truly didn’t know what was up with you tonight. You were never one to cry in front of others, especially not Remus. Yet, thinking about a poor defenseless four year old Remus, sitting terrified in bed as that monster came near him, it was too much for you to bear.

Slowly, so slowly as if not to scare you, Remus reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “Hey, cheer up; this isn’t worth your tears.”

Brows furrowed, your voice came out as a strained whisper after your long cry. “Of course you’re worth it.”

Remus smiled softly, and cupped your cheek, his heart physically hurting at the thought of how deeply you cared. You were too good to be crying over him, to be hurting because of his terrible condition. He dropped his hand, and pulled away slightly, reminding himself to keep his distance. “I’m not, not really.”

Straightening your spine, your beautiful face set in hard lines. “Don’t give me that shit, Remus John Lupin. You are worth everything.”

Remus closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, fighting the own tears that sprung to his eyes. “How?” The word was meant to be bitter and angry, but only came out broken and so very unsure. His head hung low, he continued, “I’m poor; I’m ragged and thin; I have no prospect for a future; I will be lucky if I can find a small job to even get by. Y/N, I have and will always have nothing.”

Frowning, you wanted to reach out and pull him close but knew that it was not your right to do so. You fought yourself until you couldn’t take his broken sobs any more. Reaching out, your hand rested gently on his thigh, a small amount of comfort compared to what you wanted to give him.

“Remus, I—” you started, but the words died in your throat. You knew that there was not much to console as much of what he said was probably true. Finding work while being a registered werewolf would be tremendously difficult for him. “I didn’t know you felt like this. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Remus laughed bitterly, and he didn’t know if it sounded more haunted or angry. “Who would I tell? There’s nothing to be done anyways, it’s my fate that I have to deal with. I shouldn’t burden anyone else because of it.”

“But—” you started and he cut you off.

“But nothing! I’m not dragging anyone else into this life.” His breathing was labored, almost hyperventilating and your heart shattered.

“Well, you have me.” You gently rested your hand on top of his own, giving it a small squeeze. “I know now, and you can always come to me. Always, Remus.”

Slowly, he looked up and into your eyes. You saw how much he looked like a scared little boy, and not the almost young man he truly was—eyes and nose raw and red, tear stains down his cheeks, his lips swollen from worrying them.

“I’m scared, Y/N.” He whispered, so quietly that you didn’t know if you were imagining things.

Without thinking you reached out and pulled him close, climbing into his lap. Hands carded through his hair as he buried his face in your chest. You whispered sweet nothings in his ear, repeating how things were going to be alright. You were glad that you were no longer under the veritaserum because you didn’t know if anything was true, but you knew that they were the words you both needed to hear.

After he calmed down, now only shaking slightly in your arms, did you pull away slightly. You smiled softly at his mussed hair and puffy, red eyes. “Want to know a secret?” You asked, stroking his cheek softly, watching with a fluttering heart as he leaned into your touch.

He merely hummed softly, relishing in the intimate, albeit embarrassing moment of his crying.

“I’m scared too.” And his eyes snapped open, wide and vulnerable.

“Of what?”

You sighed and reluctantly pulled away, but Remus simply pulled you back and settled the both of you down into the couch. He really didn’t want to be away from you right now, and hoped that this wasn’t going too far.

“This okay?” He asked softly, looking down at you in worry.

You simply shifted slightly to get more comfortable and hummed in agreement. After a few moments you sighed again and started worrying your lip.

“Why are you scared?” The question was hesitant and soft, as if treading on thin ice.

“It’s the war.” You started, and were glad that you didn’t have to look Remus in the eye at this angle. You could stare deep into the fire and just let the words tumble out. “I don’t know if I can do it, you know? Like Lily, Sirius, James, you, and even Alice… they all are just ready to fight. I just don’t know if I’m ready to do that—if I’m ready to risk losing everything.

“And I know that I should be, because what that man is doing is wrong; and I hate it. To think that there are people, good people, who are dead because of that monster and his stupid followers, it’s revolting.” You took in a deep breath and stared into the dying embers of the fire, thinking about all the homes of muggle-borns and half bloods burned to the ground. “But then I think about my mother, and Lily’s parents, and even your mom… and I can’t help but think that maybe it would just be easier if they all lay low, with someone protecting them. If I’m out there, fighting Death Eaters every day then who will be there for them? I love them and I’m not willing to risk losing them because I wasn’t there to help them.

“And then I think of you guys and how passionate you all seem to be. How driven and… brave you are. I’m not willing to risk losing you either; but I just—” you paused, your voice growing small. “I just don’t know if I’m that brave.”

Remus stared up at the ceiling of the common room, listening to your fears. One arm was wrapped tightly around you, the other playing with your hair softly. He understood your fears and realized that maybe he wasn’t alone.

“I think wanting to protect that people you care about is very brave.” His voice was deep and comforting, and you snuggled deeper into him. “It’s okay to be scared, Y/N; but I think the reason that we’re all so ready to fight is because we’re scared. We know that this won’t change so long as people are living in fear, and we won’t do that. We’re not going to let fear win… So we fight.”

Both of you were silent for a few minutes, comforting one another in just your presence alone.

“You know,” Remus started, “you don’t have to join the Order. Nobody would think any less of you because of it.”

You frowned and propped yourself up on one elbow, looking up at him. “And cut myself off from you all? I don’t think so. Remus, I’m scared of this war but I’m more scared of losing you. If you guys join the Order and I don’t—” you bit your lip and fought the tears that were now trying to spill. “There’s a very good chance I’ll never see you again; and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Remus simply smiled at you, realizing that even if you didn’t see it, you had just as much drive and bravery as they all did, if not more. You protected the ones you loved fiercely, and this protection thought of more than just the wizarding world. Remus knew that James and Sirius probably haven’t thought much about protecting those who couldn’t for themselves, and it was very brave of you to try to take on that responsibility alone.

“I’m joining the Order.” You stated, and eventually settled back down onto his chest. “I’m just also terrified.”

Like you did only hours before, Remus carded his hands through your hair and whispered sweet assurances in your ear. After a few minutes he heard your breathing slow and smiled as he realized you fell asleep. Kissing the top of your head gently, he whispered a sweet “goodnight, love,” and quickly drifted off himself, thinking of how great you felt in his arms.

Remus awoke to hushed whispers and an annoying tapping on his forehead. Never really much of a morning person, especially on Saturdays, he simply furrowed his brows and shifted, mumbling for them to bugger off. However, when Remus felt the unfortunate painful tingling shooting up his arm as soon as he moved and the distinct feeling of something wet on his shirt did his eyes snap open.

Blinking a few times, Remus squinted against the harsh light of the morning in the common room and looked around to see three boys hovering over him, shit eating grins on their faces.

“Morning Moony!” James chirped, and Remus heard you mumble something incoherent before cuddling deeper into his chest.

“Shut it Prongs, or you’ll wake her.” Remus whispered, a rather large blush already creeping its way up his neck.

“Yeah, Prongs, we wouldn’t want to wake Sleeping Beauty here.” Sirius grinned further before looking at your soft smile on your face. “So you finally put the moves on Y/N?”

Remus rolled his eyes and tried not to shift uncomfortably under their gaze. “Bugger off, Padfoot. We just slept, is all.”

“Mhm, she looks pretty happy to be sleeping with you there Moony.” Peter whispered, before giggling along with the other boys.

Sighing softly, he glared at his three former friends. “Oh jump in the lake, all of you. We just slept, honestly. Nothing happened. Now leave us alone before she wakes up and freaks out that she has three boys creepily staring at her as she slept.”

Raising their hands in surrender, all three boys backed away slightly. “Fine, Moony, but make sure I get all the real details later.” Sirius winked and with that they finally left.

Once the common room was quiet again, Remus looked down at you and smiled. You looked absolutely adorable curled up at his side. Even with the slightly damp patch on his shirt where you ended up drooling on him made his heart warm.

He knew that he’d have to wake you soon, before the rest of his house was up for the morning, but he wanted to make this time with you last. He felt so right and at peace having you in his arms, and sadly realized that he had fallen for you, and hard.

Tortured: 1

Torturer: 0

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