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roger-that-cap · 3 years

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all the flowers will bloom

summary: you would have never tried to leave your mother if you knew that bringing that pomegranate tree back to life was your ticket to the underworld. or, maybe you would have, because it turned out that hades was quite the opposite of the evil goddess that you had been drilled to know.

warnings: upset mothers, insecure gods, romantic revelations, idk what to call this-

word count: 4.2k

part four!

You skipped Natasha’s escorting and went to the level yourself, crouching in the same area you had been working over and immediately putting your hands into the dry and brittle soil, sighing when you remembered that you forgot the water.

You didn’t even realize how long you had been there until the sound of metal crashing on the ground next to you came, and there was a watering pail right by you.

“You need this.”

You didn’t bother to look at her, but you smiled. “Thanks.” You saw her nod out of the corner of your eye. You remembered that you couldn’t bring life when you felt so submerged in death, so you closed your eyes and took a breath.

Something moved under your hand.

You yanked your hand off of the spot out of pure shock. “Good-”

Natasha was closer to you than you realized, hovering over and looking for something that went wrong. “What?”

“Something- something did something!” You breathed out, eyes wide as you blinked at the ground. You stammered out something unintelligible before slamming your hand back down, feeling for the familiar feeling of a root wiggling its way through the earth. You were sure you felt it. “Water,” you called for softly, and you felt Natasha water the spot, some of it splashing onto your hand. “That’s enough, don’t drown it.”

If you were any less excited about getting the feel of something, you would have laughed about how you just demanded Hades, Goddess of the Dead, to water a single plant that hadn’t even sprouted yet. And how she actually listened to you.

You lifted your hand off and bent your face down into the dirt, whispering to the poor thing that was fighting so hard, giving words of encouragement as your heart began to race. You could feel the older goddess hovering over, and though her expression didn’t show it, she was just as eager to see if something was coming.

“Come to me,” you said, trying your hardest to stay calm despite tour heart racing and threatening to beta out of your chest. You knew that if you got any more excited that it wasn’t going to grow correctly. Your hands were shaking as you touched the dirt again, prodding it lightly. “You’ve got it, seedling. Grow.”

Slowly, as slowly as a bated breath finally being released, a small bud clawed its way out of barren ground. The bud was a pure white, and as it grew taller, neither you or Natasha were able to speak. When it reached its full height and stopped, you immediately jumped back into conversation with it.

“That’s it, flower. You’ve got it.” Your voice shook as you watched the flower react to you, bending ever so slowly to your will and your energy. In a show of silent whispers and shaking hands, you and Natasha both witnessed a single flower open up from the inside and show off a gorgeous yellow, a circle that stood out from the pronounced, purely white petals.

It was as silent as the dead.

After a few heavy moments, full of joy and confusion and everything in between, you heard Natasha clear her throat, the sound hesitant as she grappled for words. “You… you did it.” It was silent for a moment. “You actually did it, Persephone.”

You didn’t even bother to correct her. “I grew it.” You said softly to yourself, eyes fixed right on the singular flower, all by itself and looking quite dismal in comparison to its surroundings, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. “It’s alive.”

“I can’t believe you did it.”

You whipped around at her words, a brilliant smile on your face, showing teeth and happiness that could have been seen from miles away. “I did it!” You looked back at the flower, strong and beautiful, astonished by your own strength even though it only showed in one demonstration.

Maybe you could go home. Just maybe.

Part of you didn’t even truly understand the gravity of what you had done, or what you had managed to do. You grew something in a land that was known historically to be infertile. You had grown a flower in a place where everyone knew that it was impossible. You had just opened a major door for everything that was capable of living, and you hardly even knew it.

Natasha did.

You didn’t even feel drained. In fact, you felt alive, more alive than you had throughout your days in the Underworld. You felt like you could make a thousand more flowers spring and defy the laws of nature, the laws of life and death. But even you knew that the high you were on would fade, and that you would need rest soon.

“You’re shaking,” the goddess pointed out, and you couldn’t even manage to bring yourself out of your own head to confirm her observation. “You need to sit.”

“No, no, I don’t need to sit.” Your head was spinning. “I need to do more while I can.” While you were ecstatic by the growth, you knew what it was possible that it was a fluke. And if it was, you planned on riding it out for as long as possible.

Natasha wasn’t buying what you were poorly attempting to sell. “You’re about to pass out like some silly human because of your ignorance and impatience.” Your haze broke through momentarily while you glared at her. “If you think these gardens are a one day job, you’re wrong.”

“Just give me a minute to celebrate, Natasha.”

“Well, you’re nearly falling over, Persephone.”

“How in the world do you expect me to stop here?” You asked, eyes full of wonder and joy, and starting to gleam a little with pride. You had done something that seemed impossible, all by yourself. You, who were worlds weaker than your mother. You, the goddess who only really had a name because of her mother and her wrath and generosity. You had done something extraordinary and met someone even more so, and you couldn't find it in yourself to stop at one.

You would make the entire Underworld glow with green, if you could help it.

§§

That one flower had started to slowly push open a door, a door that you hoped would never close again. The morning after the first blooming of the first flower, you woke up to whispers of grass being at the river. You could feel excitement, confusion, and sprinkles of fear heavy in the air, and that overpowered you for a moment before you actually thought about the words.

There was grass at the river. The river never really had much grass to begin with.

Day by day, more plants started to come. Some were halfway dead by the time they sprouted, but you always caught them and saved them before they could truly die. You had to check on them and do maintenance every day, but you were sure that once they were all strong enough that you would be able to leave them alone for at least weeks at a time.

You were feeling more energized, and while the growing presence of the feeling you felt while above ground intensified, so did your senses again. You had noticed your sixth sense, more than anything. And it came out whenever Natasha was around.

At first, you thought it was off. And then you put two and two together after days and days of feeling the hair on the back of your neck stand with her nearby, you finally realized. She was constantly watching you.

You had no idea if it was about her thinking that you were untrustworthy. You had no idea if it meant that she thought you were meddlesome, or troublesome enough to get yourself stuck in a place where you didn’t need to be. For a while, you thought it was because she was always on call to cure your hunger, which was dwindling by the day as you got more and more used to being in the dismal place.

It felt like you and Natasha were walking on eggshells, and for the life of you, you couldn’t figure out the reason why. You looked at her when she wasn’t looking, and sometimes you couldn’t even stop your staring once she met your eyes. She did the same to you, and every time you saw her just looking on at you wordlessly, your heart fluttered. You wondered if she could feel you dying and coming back to life over and over again, and if she knew that with every passing second that it was becoming more and more for her.

You were realizing quickly that you were starting to feel something. You had seen it happen many times in your lifetime, mostly amongst humans. They would meet someone who made an awfully monotonous life worth living, and then they would obsess with them and eventually do some strange ritual in which they tied their hands together with string that was a dark red or a dark purple, or some other passionate color. You watched from the clouds and from in tree tops, watched them kiss and hug and sometimes even laugh and cry, and you didn’t understand it then.

You were afraid that you were starting to understand it.

It was already bad that you were stuck. You felt terrible about it. When you weren’t thinking about the redhead that wasn’t the terrible goddess you thought she was, you were thinking about how your mother must have been scouring the earth and seas and even heavens for you. You thought about how the harvest was without a doubt dying without her full focus, and that made you think of the humans below that depended on her.

People were dying because you decided to stick your nose where it didn’t belong. Your mother was raging because she thought she lost her only child, her precious daughter. And there you were, making heart eyes towards the goddess who your mother hated more than hate itself. You felt like a traitor. And you felt like even more of a traitor when you realized that you loved it when she looked at you, and that you loved to look back at her. You adored it.

You would have to leave before your feelings for Natasha grew even more confusing.

And that was why you found yourself bending over in the garden that hadn't grown yet, fingers in the dirt as you willed the dirt to yield and make way for new life. You could feel her watching while you fixed flowers, and occasionally put enough power to use to make things grow. She was watching the way you moved your hands, the tension in your back, the way you cracked your knuckles in between doing “interesting” things. She watched it all. And for some reason, instead of unnerving you, it made you feel…delicate. Maybe even pretty, if you dared to go that far. It made you feel special, to be watched by someone that you found so naturally gorgeous, demanding.

As much as you were realizing your feelings for Natasha, you were also realizing the way that she acted around you. If you hadn’t known that she is basically all powerful, you would have thought that she was somewhat scared of you. But it didn't take you long to understand that she wasn’t even close to afraid of you, but she was afraid of hurting you.

It started to dawn on you when you told her one day that you felt like your stomach was going to eat itself alive, and she proceeded to have her hands hover over your body instead of the featherlight touches that were usually accompanied with the process. It worked just the same, but even you and your optimism couldn't ignore the way she immediately took steps away from you, like she thought it was against the laws of gods and man to be any closer than three feet to you.

“You’re not the bad person that you think you are,” you muttered under your breath, half towards yourself and half directed towards Natasha.

“What?”

You blinked, watching a flower grow underneath your pointer finger. You cleared your throat. “I said, you’re not a bad person, at all.”

“I never said that I was.”

“You think you’re a burden to everything living, which isn’t true.” You said, and you heard her scoff from behind you. “I think that… we as gods, we think that we are what drives the world individually. We forget that we aren’t the only gods living and creating and destroying. We forget that we’re actually all a part of this one big cycle, and that we get in where we fit in.”

“So?”

“You think that death is the bane of existence. And in a way, it is, but no one blames you. You’re doing your job, and it’s part of the cycle. Death needs to happen, just like life does.” You took your focus off of your budding plant to look at the red headed goddess who was already staring at the back of your head, listening to your every word. “I see the way you look at me and my plants sometimes. You’re so worried that you’re gonna kill me, or them, but I’m no different from you. I am a goddess, and I have a job to do, and we just happen to be on the exact opposite sides of the spectrum. But that doesn’t mean that I’m at risk of dying by just looking at you.”

She crossed her lean arms and put her weight on her back leg, cocking a brow up at you before nodding in silence and taking in your tiny rant. “You speak a lot of death and destruction without seeing much of it.”

“I’ve seen enough,” you responded, standing to your feet and walking over to a section of the dirt that you hadn't started messing around with, and without a second thought, you called her over to you.. “Come here.”

“I should warn you to watch your tone.” And if you hadn’t seen the way that her mouth twitched upwards, maybe you would have thought she was being serious.

“Yeah, you should,” you said, and your unspoken “you won’t” went left unsaid, but hung in the air as if it had been spoken. You fell silent after that, focused on the blooming of your brand new anemone, a flower that made your heart warm. It was one of your mother’s many favorites.

There was no noise between you for the longest time, silence stretching on for miles and miles until you forgot that she was even there. Until you didn’t.

“What… what kind of flower is that?”

Your heart jumped at her voice, and at her showing interest in your work, not just watching you do it. The Goddess of Death was really interested in what flower you were planting? “This is an anemone,” you answered softly, touching the brilliantly red petals of the budding flower. “Would you like to feel?”

You would have thought that you asked her to condemn a mortal to death fifteen years early by the sound she made. “No. Of course not.”

You would have tore your eyes off of the flower if you could have but you were never able to stop looking at growing life, even above ground. “Why not?”

She stared at you for a moment, her eyes blank as she blatantly judged your intelligence. “Because I'll kill it, Persephone.”

“Y/N,” you corrected, but there was hardly any true annoyance to it. “And no you won’t.”

“If I touch your flower, it’ll die.” Before you could say anything again, she spoke again. “I don’t touch living things without the intention of killing them.”

“If you do manage to kill my anemone,” you said, pulling back from it when it blossomed to its full capacity, and finally looking at Natasha, who looked more upset than you had seen her during your entire stay. “I’ll be right here to bring it back to life. It’s no problem.”

She stared at you for a moment with such a blank expression that you should have been frightened, and you probably would have been if you felt like you hadn’t been around her for years. Natasha, even though she didn’t want to believe it herself, was virtually harmless. She wasn’t the cruel and unforgiving goddess that everyone thought she was, not in the slightest. Despite not wanting you there at all in the beginning, she was extremely accommodating, and she made sure that nothing bad happened to you. She was kind, and she cared about life. She ruled over the dead but cared about your living things enough to close herself off from even touching one of them. She wasn’t who everyone thought she was, and she was nothing like the goddess that your mother told you she was.

You could see the hesitation in her eyes, but just as you could see that, you could see the way that she truly wanted to touch it.it dawned on you that she had probably never felt a soft petal on her hand before, or mindlessly rolled in a field, or picked a dandelion and blew the seeds off of it. You frowned, and then you stood to your feet and held out your hand. “Take my hand.”

“Why?” But slowly, she did it anyway, without your answer. You kneeled to the ground, and for a moment, she stood still until you gave her a look, and then she was crouching down with you.

“We’re going to touch it with the same hand,” you said, and she shook her head. “Whatever life you think you’ll take from it, I’ll restore it. It won’t even have the time to wilt.”

“I can’t,” she said, and you turned your head to give her a smile.

“Yes, you can.” When she shook her head curtly for the second time, you sighed. “Aren’t you curious?”

“I don’t get curious. Curiosity is for humans and young gods.”

“Liar,” you muttered, and you felt her fingers twitch in your hold when you reached towards the anemone, and then you gave her an encouraging look. “You won’t hurt it,” you whispered, afraid to break the delicacy and vulnerability of the moment. You reached out to touch the unknowing plant, and you could feel her hand trembling as you got closer to it.

The second her finger hit the plant, you could feel the energy of it start to drain. Before Natasha even noticed herself, you touched one of the petals with your pointer finger and revived it slowly, hoping that she wouldn’t feel the push to her pull, either. When you felt it was stable, you spared a look her way.

She looked straight out of a dream. Her lips were parted in surprise, hands still shaking. Her eyes were wide, like she couldn’t believe that she wasn’t hallucinating. The dark aura around her that you had gotten too used to was fading in just the slightest, becoming blanketed with the light that surrounded you in a single thin layer. Her skin seemed to glow.

You took a few more minutes to look at her, just to watch her be in awe and have that look of pure relief on her face. It took everything in you to work up a word, knowing that it would break the spell that she was under. “See?” Natasha blinked, but nothing else. “It’s not dead.”

Slowly, she pulled her hand away from the plant and turned to look your way, the same look of adoration on her face. You nearly froze up when you realized that you were receiving the look, not your plant. “You’re amazing.”

Your heart sped up and then skipped a beat. “Oh, no,” you dismissed, waving and hand, more interested in how it must have felt for her to touch life for the first time in centuries.. “How did you like it? It was probably strange for you, wasn’t it?” You looked back towards her from where your eyes were fixed on the flowers, and your heart skipped a beat, seeming to remind you that you were still alive. She was much closer than you realized, and her hand was much warmer than you could have imagined. You could have sworn that it was tingling. “Feeling something so- alive?”

“You have no idea.” Her free hand landed on your cheek and ruined you towards her in just the slightest so that the two of you were looking at each other head on, like two deer both enchanted by flames in the distance. “Can I kiss you?”

Your head was going a thousand miles a minute. Did she really just ask you that? Did she actually mean it? Did it even really mean anything to her? What if your mother found out? It would be the ultimate betrayal, and you would neve be able to look her in the eyes again. Worst of all, what if whatever was about to happen was about to awaken something inside of you that you would never be able to ignore again. “Please.”

The second her lips touched yours, you couldn’t hear a thing. The feeling of death that you were growing used to suddenly faded away, and the tingling feeling of life sprouting from the tips of your fingers turned numb. Your hands worked on their own as they went up to Natasha’s face, one hovering over her cheek and the other resting in her red hair. It was soft and sweet, but there was something deeper, something lying underneath the strangely innocent feeling of her smooth lips moving gently against yours.

In all your years, you had never kissed a person before, god or man. Many had tried, and they had all failed. But Natasha wasn’t just anybody. You knew from the second you first met her that she was different, but not different enough for you to do one of the one things that you hadn't ever done before. But you were doing just that, one of her hands pulling you closer like she was afraid of you slipping through her fingers and into the earth, where you belonged. But the more and more you two kept coming apart to breathe in little, shared breaths and then coming back in just to stay close, the more and more you felt like you truly belonged somewhere else.

§§

Demeter was growing more and more restless with every second that ticked by without Hecate coming forth with the truth. She was on top of Olympus, waiting for an answer and glaring at Steven, who stared back at her nonchalantly. “She’ll be here, give her time.”

“All I have done is spared time,” she hissed out, the flowers that covered her body threatening to wilt.

“What if my daughter has no time to spare? I swear, Zeus, if I find her dead, every human being will perish from famine.” There was a rumbling sound, the same sound that was made every time a god arrived on the mountain. She whipped her head around and saw a timid Hecate approaching, hands swirling with her red magic as she looked the older gods in the eye.

“You called for me, Steven?”

“Under request of the Harvest Goddess,” he said, nodding towards the still-fuming Demeter. “I’m sure you’ve heard of what happened.”

Wanda looked towards Demeter with a sympathetic look, though she kept herself at a distance. “I’ve heard.” Who hadn’t heard? “I’m sorry to hear about your daughter.”

“I know that you are able to use your magic to track her,” Demeter said through grittred teeth, ignoring Wanda’s offering of pity. “What do you need to find her?”

“I need one of her possessions.”

Demeter swallowed as she looked at Wanda, a hesitant expression on her face as her hand automatically moved to the necklace she had found on the ground, her daughter’s necklace. She sneered before taking it off and handing it to Wanda roughly, her eyes lingering on it as Wanda clenched it in her hand.

“Hurry up.” Wanda nodded and her magic swirled again, suspending the necklace in mid air for a few seconds as silence fueled the tension, and then, the necklace clattered to the ground after Wanda gasped.

“Oh, dear,” she muttered, running a hand through her hair. Her eyes flickered from Steve’s and then down to the ground, wild and thinking at a hundred miles a minute. “Oh, no.”

“What happened?” Steven said, and he barely got his mouth opened before Demeter was close to raging.

“Speak up, or I’ll toss you off the mountain.” She grabbed the younger goddess’s arm in a tight grip and watched her face for any signs of mourning. When Wanda gave her a pitied look, she gasped and gripped her harder, despite Steve’s warnings. “No, is she dead?” When all Wanda could do was stutter out a few babbling words, Demeter shook her shoulders. “Is she dead?”

A light bulb went off in Wanda’s head, and as quick as a flash, her eyes grew panicked as she looked towards Steve, who caught exactly what she meant. He let out a soft curse and shook his head, realizing that things were a lot worse than he imagined. “She… she’s not on the earth,” Wanda breathed out, and then, like she remembered something that had been told to her centuries ago, her eyes widened as she looked to Steve for help, who suddenly knew all too well. “She’s in the Underworld.”

Demeter’s anguished cry reached to the ground far below, and it shook everything that lived.

****

hi guys!! hope y’all are doing well- if y’all have been unfortunate enough to see my blog within the last few days you probably know that i am not 💀 it’s a miracle i got this out “on time”. thank you guys for being patient with me as i work to get myself back on track and all of that jazz, it means a lot. the SECOND school is out of the picture- it’s game time lmao

tag list (literally you can ask to be added or-most importantly- removed at any time!!

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#natasha romanoff x reader #marvel fanfic #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff fluff #natasha romanov x reader #marvel au #marvel fanfiction #lgbt marvel #hades!natasha x persephone!reader #hades!natasha #greek mythology au #natasha romanoff x female reader #natasha x fem!reader #my fics

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frenchly-anxious · 3 years

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Here’s why you (and I) have been studying the wrong way all this time - part 1

Have you ever studied hard for a test, spending all your evenings on it, feeling prepared, just to fail it spectacularly?

Have you ever been told to re-read your lessons to learn it better?

Have you ever been told after a failed test that you obviously didn’t learn despite you knowing you definitely did?

If so, I’m very sorry, it means school has failed you on something it was supposed to teach you: how to learn. And really, the fault isn’t yours.

Fasten your seatbelts my friends, we’re going on an adventure to explain why school sucks at its own fucking job!

First of all, a little experiment by Tulving. We have 2 groups and we ask them to simply read 6 times a list of 22 words. Then, we give Group 1 the same list and ask them this time to remember as many words as possible. With Group 2, same task but it’s not the same list as before.

Question time: which group will do better? Group 1 with the list they have already read 6 times, or Group 2 with a totally new list?

I can guess you’re probably telling me Group 1, right?

Well. Actually, there is no difference at all between the groups. Nothing, nada. Reading the words 6 times before didn’t give any advantage to Group 1.

What is this witchcraft, I hear you say?

Let me introduce you to the biggest misconception of our school life: reading your lesson over and over won’t help you at all.

How is that possible? Well, there’s a concept we all heard countless time, but that was never explained correctly: effort. To learn something, you need to make efforts. I’m not saying you’re not being serious when reading your lesson, not at all.

The thing is, reading is by now is a reflex for you, it doesn’t require a lot of efforts. Do you remember how hard it was to read when you were a child, or have you seen a young child trying to read? Every word is a battle, to the point that sometimes, they have finished reading but can’t remember what they read: all of their attention was on how to pronounce this group of letters, not on what they were saying.

For us, adults, reading is not something very complicated. It became a reflex, so now our attention isn’t on how to read, but on what we read. It sounds like a good thing, right? It is, but not when it comes to learning.

The action of reading isn’t complicated, and so you don’t have to be involved that much. You’re reading it, you’re understanding it; but when are you making the effort to memorize it? That’s where the problem is: reading is mostly passive, whereas learning is active.

You probably already encountered this paradox, though: the more you read your lesson, the more familiar it feels. You’re reading it and you’re like “Yeah, I remember that, and that too, and this after too”. But once in front of your exam: nothing. Or at least, not enough. This familiar feeling is just that: a feeling. Your brain is only telling you “Yeah, I already read that”, but we mistake it for “I already learned that”.

The difference is quite important, but we aren’t necessarily aware of it. So when teachers are telling us “You didn’t study”, we’re offended because we’re certain we did. Yes, we did work; but we didn’t in the right way.

Another study to prove my point (Roedinger & Karpicke, 2006):

Once again, 2 groups. My question would be: when asked to remember as much info as possible in a text, who would win?

Group 1, with 4 sessions of 5 minutes to read the text?

Or Group 2, with 5 minutes to read it and then without the text, 3 separate sessions of 5 minutes to write down as many things they can remember (without any correction from the examiners of course)?

This time, you already know where I’m going. But our instinct tells us “Obviously Group 1, they had more time!”. Which is technically true. 5 minutes after the end of that experiment, when we ask each group what they remember, Group 1 takes the lead. They get around 85% of the notions from the text, while Group 2 gets 70%. It isn’t much but it’s indeed better.

Which is great. But that’s 5 minutes after learning.

If we meet with them again 1 week later, and ask again what they do remember, Group 1 falls at barely 40% of the notions, not even half of what they learned. What about Group 2, you ask? They’re at 60%, which is very good!

The funny thing is, if asked, Group 1 will tell you how confident they feel about what they remember and that they will nail the test, while Group 2 will be saying they don’t remember a lot. Because once again, Group 1 has this feeling of familiarity about the text.

But then why is Group 2 so much better after a week?

It’s about effort.

The 5 minutes they spent reading didn’t require a lot of efforts. They understood what was written, maybe had enough time to read it a few times. Then they didn’t have the text anymore, but we asked them to write down what they remember. Once. Twice. Thrice.

During those 3 sessions, they had to make efforts. Efforts to search in their memory for what they had read. And this, contrary to reading, isn’t really easy and definitely isn’t passive.

“What did I read?” they asked themselves in front of this blank page, the text long gone. “Wait, I almost forgot this! And didn’t they talk about something else? Wait, what was it?... Oh!”

By doing so, they re-activated neurons, creating paths, reinforcing them. They did that 3 times. So their brain was like “Wait, we searched for that info multiple times, it must be important!”

Then what about Group 1, you wonder? They had 4 sessions to read it! Didn’t their brain also realize it was important?

Your brain’s goal is to automate things you need. Because if those things are automated, you don’t have to focus on them anymore, you don’t have to spend all your energy on it.

Do you remember when you learned how to ride a bike? It was hard, you fell often, but now you don’t have to think about; that’s because your brain was like “Shit, this is giving us a hard time. This is a problem, because if it takes all of our attention to just stay on the bike, we won’t be able to avoid obstacle or anything.” The solution to that is making ‘staying on the bike’ a reflex, something you know so much you don’t have to reinforce it anymore.

With Group 1, reading that text wasn’t hard. Their brain was like “meh, no problem, it doesn’t require more of my help”. If it isn’t problematic, no need for trying to automate it or make it easier.

But for Group 2, it was harder. Making the effort to try to remember what they read was very consuming in time, attention and energy. Their brain HAD to do something so it would become easier: it learned, and it learned for a longer time. Because of the repetition of that effort, because this difficulty kept appearing and being annoying in a way, their brain realized they needed to know that. Just like how you learned your phone number, your address,... You searched for it multiple times, you used it multiple times; now you don’t need to re-learn it, it’s there to stay.

So Group 1 spent 20 minutes reading a text, just to remember it for a day or two.

Group 2 also spent 20 minutes, but 5 for reading, and 15 to test themselves, and it lasted way more than a week.

Both groups did work. But one of them is obviously more efficient.

You want to learn efficiently? Leave your notes aside, and make the effort to try to remember it, even if it’s imperfect. No: especially if it’s imperfect.

Yes, I know, it seems counterintuitive. However it works incredibly well!

But that will be for a part 2...

#I am OBSESSED with that knowledge #I can and I will ramble about it #you can't stop me #learning #school #studying #studyblr #college #university #how to learn #learning tips #school tips #college tips #it's during time like this I love my studies #learning to learn #pedagogy #didactic #come yell with me about it #langblr

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nctworststuff · 3 years

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idk how detailed my request should be so I'll just explain all I can

fluff, with jaemin, y/n as a doctor

new relationship, jaemin doesn't know about his partner being a doctor

prompts 20 and 25

thank you 💗

Lucy say: Hi ^^ Thank you so much for requesting this 💗 Also I'm not sure if I understood your request correctly, so I'm really sorry if it's not what you wanted. In that case please tell us and I'll write it! -Lucy [Also please tell me if I made a mistake, English isn't my native language.]

Disclaimer: This is purely fictional, means it's an AU and in no way meant to harm anyone. Pairings: jaeminX gn!doctor!reader

Prompt 20 (i love you) + 25 (we are meant to be)

Warnings: mentions of severe burns, accidents in general, cold pizza, worried jaemin and my horrible writing. If you notice anything else pls lmk

Genre: tiniest bit of angs in the beginning, fluff, slice of life? New relationship and Jaemin doesn't know that y/n is a doctor

Words count: 0.9k

23.41 Pacing up and down the living room, Jaemin nervously glanced at his phone. It was already way past the time you were supposed to arrive. See you at 11, Na! Maybe he had heard you wrong over the phone and you said something else. But then why weren't you reading his texts or answering his calls? For the fifth time in the past 10 minutes he dialed your number. And for the fifth time he instantly heard the voice mail. To say he was worried was an understatement by now. Yes, you had only started dating a few weeks ago. Yes, you were still in the phase of getting to know each other. And yes, you two still lived in different apartments, so meeting up wasn't always as easy as it could've been, but both of you said that you preferred keeping your own place. The topic simply dropped and never came up again. However Jaemin felt like he knew you for years already. When you first met, you clicked immediately and talked nonstop. It was like an old tale where two people, destined to be together, met one day and fell in love as soon as they laid eyes on each other's frame. Like Soulmates. He believed in it and he knew you felt similar about your relation. You never talked about it, but he knew. Just how he knew that you hadn't forgotten about the date and went home. You were the most organized and structured person he ever met. There was no way you would've forgotten. However that only left one last option in his mind: You were kept from coming. Maybe you had an accident? Maybe you were robbed? Hit? Or even worse, were you... DING. As fast as a lightning bolt Jaemin sprinted to the wooden door and pulled it open, not even bothering to check who it was first. And he was lucky. Upon seeing your face, completely fine with a small excusing smile, he pulled you in and wrapped you in his arms. "Do you know how worried I was? I thought something happened to you." Feeling utterly calm in his atmosphere you simply sighed, before freeing yourself and readjusting your position so you could squish his cheeks. The small pout making you giggle. "I'm really sorry Nana! We had a horrible accident at work and I was the only person available, so I needed to step in without having the chance to tell you I won't make it in time and then when I was finished cleaning up, I jumped in the car and got here as quick as I could. I'm so, so sorry!" Now it was his turn to coe at your pout. "You don't need to be sorry y/n! I'm just glad you're fine! But what about the accident? Is everyone okay now?" "Yes, those accidents keep happening from time to time. It wasn't the first time I saw something like that. In fact it's the third severe burn we had this year and it's only February." Looking in shock at you, Jaemin kept opening and closing his mouth. "Y-you.. bu-urn.. acci-d-dent... f-from time to, from time to time?" Finally he seemed to got his brain to properly function again. "You have accidents at work which lead to severe burns for already three times this year? Y/N I know you said you wanted to wait a bit longer to tell me where you work, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to rest again if the only thing I can think of is weather you get hurt too. I know we haven't said this before, but I love you and I don't plan on losing you this soon!" Now it was your turn to be speechless. Of course you liked him and yes, maybe you considered the idea that you

loved him before, but hearing it from him, right in this moment, made your brain feel like cotton candy. "Say that again!" It only came out as a whisper, but he heard it clearly."I love you y/n! I truly do! It was weird at first, I admit that, but I've never felt for a person like this before! It just... It feels like we're meant to be." Those words mixed with his deep brown eyes looking at you like were the only good thing on this planet brought out your shy side. Going back to hugging him, you buried your head in his mint green pullover. "I love you too, nana! And don't worry, I work in a hospital. I didn't want to tell you because I'm not permanently employed yet and I wanted it to be a surprise once I am." Getting nervous you started playing with the fabric of his pullover. Jaemin still hadn't said anything, so you pulled away from his arms, expecting his face to be angry or even dissapointed, but instead his beautiful smile beamed down at you. "That's like so cool, you know that? You're out there saving lives and stuff. That's wOw." You chuckled at his cute way of pronouncing the word, feeling unbelievably relieved he wasn't feeling negative about it. Instead he suddenly picked you up, forcing a squeal from your lips. "So y/n, tell me which movie do you want to watch while eating our cold pizza?" "I absolutely don't care as long as I can watch it with you, I'm fine with everything!" You kissed his cheek one last time before he plopped you down on the chouch and started the TV.

©ɴᴄᴛᴡᴏʀsᴛsᴛᴜғғ

#neoturtles #czennet #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct drabbles #jaemin imagines #nct prompts #nct fluff #nct timestamps #nct angst #nct fanfic #nct x reader #jaemin x reader #jaemin #nct dream #nct u

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flying-nightwing · 3 years

Text

Throne of Blood (3/3)

Hello there! Last part of Throne of Blood, I hope you appreciated this little serie! I loved t write it tbh, it was a nice change from the usual DC stuff I write. If you want a bonus chapter, let me know! I thought about doing either a prequel for when they invaded the castle, or some headcanons if y’all have some.

Ps: I realised I kinda made Bruce to be the bad guy here, oops. Sorry about that, but to my defence, family drama was something I built toward from the beginning 😅 Full disclosure, I have nothing against Bruce and Damian pls don’t come at me

Masterlist in bio / pinned!

Pairing: King!Jason x reader x Roy

Word count: 4414

Warnings: same as the last parts (cautious nsfw) + family drama lmao

"--and the might of the casc… cascade could never compare to the ce… cerul… cerulean of her eyes. She was his hope, the only thing he cherished, none of his posse...ssions could ever be worth as much as a minute with her"

You paused to breathe as you reached a paragraph break. You could feel Roy's relaxed stare on you, a small smile ever present on his lips. His hand was absentmindedly rubbing your knees that were lying over his thigh, while his other arm was snugly wrapped around your waist. The quiet crackling of the fireplace indicated the need to add a log, but neither of you wanted to move from your nestled position. Eventually one would have to, though, before the room grew cold.

"I like it when you read to me" Roy hummed, almost like he hadn't meant to say it out loud. But if you knew one thing about him, it's that he carried very little shame when it came to love. He would never intend to hide his thoughts when they came, and you admired that about him. Still, you couldn't help but look down in embarrassment.

Him and Jason had taught you to read some months after you joined them, when he passed you a map to find a town's name and you had to tell him you couldn't. Ever since, you worked often on your reading skills, leafing through whatever seemed interesting from Jason's library. But you weren't a natural, far from it.

"I can't even pronounce all the words correctly" You mumbled. "It must be hard to follow sometimes"

He gently pushed your chin up so he could look into your eyes again. It didn't matter for one second for him that you didn't have the diction of an erudit or the flow of a poet. All he wanted was to hear your voice and watch your eyebrows knit in concentration when you butted on a difficult word. He liked the little things so much better than the finished product.

"I think it sounds perfect"

The corner of your lips rose slightly at his praise as your heart skipped a few beats. Even after all the time you spent together, he always managed to find the right word to make you love him even more, if it was possible. His constant and unconditional support was your crutch, the thing you could rely on no matter what happened, the safe space in which you would never feel judged for what you couldn't do.

"You know" He began again when he noticed you had trouble believing what he said. You wanted to believe him, but deep inside he knew it was harder for you, and he understood all too well the feeling of not being enough. "I couldn't read either before I was taken in by my warden"

You tilted your head to the side, frowning slightly. You had never known.

"Took me years to get average at it. And you should have seen my writing-- Hell, you should see it now, it's catastrophic"

You couldn't help but giggle along as he laughed. It was contagious.

"It's the same with Jason--No wait, the brat actually taught himself how to read somehow" He blinked slowly, like he was still surprised by it. You weren't really, you knew Jason was even smarter than you were aware of. Than anyone was aware of. "But his writing was terrible until he got a proper tutor, that I know of for a fact"

"But his writing is so…" You trailed off, trying to find the right word. "Exquisite"

"Now who's pulling out the big words, uh?"

"Shut up" You laughed, lightly hitting his chest with the book. “Don’t mock me”

“I’m not!” He argued, giving you wide, innocent eyes. He looked too cute for his own sake. “I swear I’m not. You’re just adorable when you get all flustered”

“We better start gearing up now” You evaded the subject, clearing your throat. “Jason will be expecting us--”

“Just one more chapter” He interrupted softly, caressing your waist. “Please?”

You held his stare for a moment before you were convinced, and you nodded, a sheepish smile on your face. You opened the book to the page you had marked and found the paragraph you had stopped to.

“As he was sitting by the window, he couldn’t help but think about the ar-arrival of the spring, only a few weeks away if nature de...cided to be kind--”

“My Lord, my Lady”

You paused your reading and looked up. This time, it was Roy who looked the most annoyed of the two of you.

“It’s time”

You sighed and nodded, putting down the book on the table. Roy was clearly disappointed, but he helped you nevertheless get back on your feet, being careful not to pull on your bandages too much. You were healing well for your condition, you could now walk around and sit down without much help. Still, Roy and Jason didn’t like the idea of leaving you on your own for too long, just in case someone tried to come for you. You definitely couldn’t wield your axes just yet, so it made you an easy target even if you weren’t bed ridden anymore.

You walked out of the chamber beside Roy, him following your slower pace without complaint. You reached the other end of the hallways and entered another room with chests and racks, where your equipment was kept. You began putting on your suit, the one you had made when you rode beside the Red Hood, well before he was king. It was all black with a red pointed arch on the chest that imitated Jason’s sigil, which was outlined with a single silver following your collarbone. It rose up the back of your neck and was reinforced to protect your vitals.

“Could you help me pull it up, please?”

Roy nodded as he finished to lace his arm braces, stepping right behind you. He picked the stiff fabric and gently tugged it over your shoulder, brushing his fingers against your skin along the way. He was even more careful with your injured shoulder, making sure it wasn’t bent in any way to fit through the suit. He and Jason had advised against you wearing it, but you were stubborn and refused to show weakness in front of the enemy. Besides, it looked great on you. Roy then buttoned up the suit on your back and up your neck before giving you a kiss on the temple.

“Close your eyes, I’ve got a little something for you” He whispered in your eyes, and despite your initial confusion, you did as you were told and shut your eyes. You felt something being passed over your head and gently rest on your shoulders, then straps being adjusted on your sides. “You can open the now”

You did as he said and looked down as he gently directed you to the mirror on your left. He had placed a beautiful piece of equipment that paired well with the colors of your suit, lightweight and practical, that covered your shoulders front and back. You usually went without, but it was appropriate considering another arrow in the back would do you no good right now. And since you most probably wouldn’t be using your axes anyway, you could do without your full shoulder movements range.

“Where did you get this?” You asked as you trailed your finger on the skillfully crafted metal. There was no doubt it had been made for you by how it fit with both your body and suit. It must have cost a fortune.

“The blacksmith in town, the one living near the gates of the castle” He began. “His son was killed by the guild of thieves that lived uptown, the ones we wiped off right after the undertaking. He wanted to thank us somehow, and when he learned about what happened to you, he made this as a present”

“It’s… Very beautiful” You breathed out. “I’ll have to thank him later on. This must have taken so much time to make”

“But you deserve it” He said as he placed a light kiss on your jaw. “You deserve the best. And the best suits you”

“Thank you” You nodded, taking his hand. The leather of his archery glove was rough against your skin, but it had also become a comfort born from the endless days you spent training and hunting on the road. It was tied to some of your best memories with him, and it still amazed you how a simple touch could bring it all back vividly like that. “Come on, Jason must be waiting for us”

You went down to the court, where Jason was talking with the commander and some generals. Upon hearing your footsteps, he perked up and turned around, taking you specifically in. He smiled and nodded, heading for the three black steeds, groomed and in full armor, in the hands of the stable hands. You followed him and grabbed the reins of your mount, carefully climbing on its back and sitting in the saddle.

“Are we ready?” Jason asked.

“Of course” Roy replied first, then both of their eyes set on you.

“Let’s do this” You nodded firmly.

With a kick of your heels, you took off the court and onto the bridge, in the direction of the Wayne Kingdom.

---

“Soooooo…” Roy trailed off. “Do you think he stood us up or..?”

You looked away from the horizon and to Roy, who was slouched over the pommel of the saddle while his horse was trying to dig for grass through the snow. “Maybe he’s trying to ambush us”

“I don’t think so” Jason mumbled, his eyes still set northwest. His back was straight with a hand resting on his hips, the other holding the reins tight. His horse was attentive, chewing on its bit in anticipation. “It wouldn’t be like him, not while we’re on this hill anyway”

You nodded as your fingers flexed around the reins, a bit bored and definitely not impressed by the opposite party being late to their own meeting. There was barely any wind over the field, and the thick cover of the cloud didn’t let the sun rays through. Still, smoke came out of the horses’ nostrils with every breath they let out.

“There they come”

You glanced forward again at Jason’s warning, seeing a small party of riders coming your way. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry, walking rather than trying to reach you at a trot. The closer they came, the better you could point out characteristics for each rider. The one at the front was wearing all black with a cape that fell over the pale gray horse he was riding. It was almost white, but the dark skin around its eyes and nose proved differently. The second rider was on a smaller chestnut horse, and was a child. You blinked a few times, but his youthful features were obvious. The two other riders some paces behind were an escort, soldiers with steel armors and banners from their kingdom.

After a long waiting for them to actually be at hearing range, they finally stopped a few meters ahead and assessed your party. Jason was visibly tense, but his blue eyes gave nothing out on how he was feeling about seeing his father in front of him after all this time. They stared at each other for long minutes before the piercing glance of Bruce Wayne set on you. You clenched your jaw, not backing down, until his eyes finally left you.

“Your… Friend seems to have healed quite well” The older king spoke first.

“Don’t act like you give a fuck” Jason sneered. “You were the one who made this coward attack on her happen in the first place”

“Watch your mouth, runt” The child on the side almost barked. “You’re speaking to a legitimate King, unlike you”

“And who the fuck might this goblin be?” Roy said before he could stop himself. While the child looked appalled, Roy was still very relaxed on his horse. He might have been the only one to be, even if you did want to laugh at the outburst.

“I am the blood son, the true heir to the throne” He replied with all his might, except it didn’t quite have the desired effect, since he was on a pony, for one. “You peasant will respect me, or--”

“Damian, please” Bruce interrupted firmly. “Now is not the time to settle this”

“But--”

“Why am I not surprised that you fathered a brat?” Jason leaned forward, feeling taunting for a moment. “Which one of your concubines had enough bad luck to get pregnant? Selina? Or was it Richard’s lover, whatever was her name? Or maybe Talia, oh memorable Talia--”

“Don’t speak of my mother that way” Damian pulled his sword out.

“So Talia it is” He smirked.

“We are here to negotiate peace, not fuel a war” Bruce replied sternly. “I can do much worse than an arrow in the shoulder of a loved one, you know it. So be careful what you’re advancing about my family”

“Then keep your son on a tighter leash” Jason said, his face returning to a serious expression. “I still haven’t made my mind about keeping peace, don’t give me reasons to leave this meeting before we can discuss it”

“I should be telling you this” He squinted his eyes slightly. “You have thrown over a stable ally of this kingdom and stole the crown, then taken prisoner the King of Blüdhaven without giving a follow up on his state. You are in no place to threaten a war, yet here you are”

Jason waited a few seconds, not letting his stare waver. Then, he sighed and whistled. The plains were silent, until the faint sound of hooves cantering on the crisp snow grew closer to your position. Soon enough, you were passed on your left by another rider, slowly walking around you and toward Bruce’s party. Dick had a neutral expression as he turned around, stopping at Bruce’s side.

“Here” Jason waved his hand dismissively. “Your golden son, unharmed albeit slightly vexed”

“You should still pay for a crime like this” Bruce said.

“It’s fine” Dick tried to appease the tensions. “I do not wish to further this conflict, I have done enough already as it is”

“Why didn’t you fight back, Richard?” Damian asked in a judging and accusatory tone. “This is a disgrace to our family, and a display of weakness--”

“I was trying to avoid a much worse escalation of this conflict by owning a diplomatic mistake I made in the first place” He bit back. “What would you even know of politics, spoiled child?”

Roy laughed, and the sound only seemed to anger Damian more. You were in the middle of a family conflict, and unlike him, you didn’t know this side of the family well. You didn’t really know how to act, so you observed what would go down rather than actively participate.

“I find the ginger man’s insolence unwelcomed in this matter” Damian said, trying to wash down the humiliation his brother had just handed to him. “He’s got nothing to do with it, and he’s got no title. He shouldn’t even be speaking”

“He speaks because I say he can” Jason defended Roy in a heartbeat, his tone strong and authoritative. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve got a crown and you don’t, which puts me above you in status and therefore my wishes outweigh yours”

Your eyebrow rose slowly as your eyes met Roy’s, who had an equally stunned expression. Jason had never used his status against anyone like that. It even seemed to take Damian by surprise, which was, with what you had learned about him in the last minutes, a hard feat to accomplish. If you were honest with yourself, while you loved Jason as a humble king, you were curious about the other side of him, even if he would show it in private.

“Your crown was stolen” Bruce reassessed. “The Kingdoms surrounding yours have decided this gesture would not stand. I wished a peaceful surrender from you, but it doesn’t seem like I will convince you to do so. You have three days to abdicate, until the next full moon, or your kingdom will be taken back by force”

“You think this is wise?” You finally spoke up on instinct, and all eyes turned to you, looking at you with surprise. You weren’t about to let those threats stand, especially not from Bruce. “Ever since King Jason came into power, he wiped out a guild that stole from families and murdered good people. Our kingdom is the safest for miles around, so much we get waves of new settlers even in winter. He lowered taxes on the population so much that most towns in the country have become flourishing trade posts in the span of a year, and instead taxed the nobility and cut on useless balls and dinners. Nobody starved last winter, and nobody is starving this one. Do you think the word didn’t get out to the other countries around? People are starting to want this for themselves too, and you think putting them through a devastating war will make things better? It will only make them resent you, those who didn’t already. We have people in every castle you know of who are ready to turn against you the second they get wind of aggression--”

“Bullshit” Damian called.

“Are you ready to take the risk?” You raised an eyebrow at him, before returning your glance to Bruce, who betrayed no emotion. “You will lose this war if you start it. You should consider your people before you send them to slaughter”

Silence fell over the hill for a moment.

“... What she said” Roy grinned, breaking the silence.

Bruce looked at Jason for a reaction, or most likely, some sort of opposition to what you had just said. Instead, he only readjusted his reins and straightened his back. “You heard right,” He said, not wavering. “You have three days, until the next moon, to annulate the warrants and back down. Think about your people, Bruce. Make the right decision”

With that mocking reprise of his father’s previous words, he turned his horse around and left him dumbfounded. With one last glance to their party, you followed Jason, trotting, then cantering away and back into your borders. Once you passed your soldiers’ road control, you slowed down to a walk.

“Huh” Roy exhaled as he leaned forward to glance at you over Jason’s horse between you two. “I didn’t know we had spies in other kingdoms”

“Now that I think about it,” Jason blinked a few times, his brows slightly furrowed. “Neither did I”

You shrugged. “Maybe we have them. That would be neat”

You saw confusion, then astonishment flash in their eyes like their reactions were synchronized.

“Wait, did you just--”

“Did you fucking lie to Bruce in his face?” Roy cut off, almost yelling. Then, he laughed. “In his face?”

“By the time he realizes, no, if he even realizes I bluffed, we’ll have a solid plan to ward him off, no matter what he does” You explained. “We win”

“How did you manage to convince him?” Jason had an innocent incomprehension written all over his features, like a child in front of a magic trick. He was adorable. “You had me convinced”

“Oh, boys” You grinned. “You think women survive this long in the world without becoming excellent liars? How do you think I managed to infiltrate the staff for a week before we invaded the castle?”

“By… Um” Roy trailed off. “Cleaning well?”

You laughed. “People had questions, my dear. I had to build myself a credible life to feed them, so I wasn’t thrown out of the castle instantly. Lying to the enemy is a skill I learned to cultivate a long time ago”

“You’re awesome, you know that?” He sighed, a loopy smile on his face. Jason still had a starstruck expression on his face, his eyes sparkling with admiration.

“Wouldn’t hurt to hear it again, I must admit” You teased back, jutting your chin up. “But there is one thing that would be better… Last one in the bedroom owes the first one a shoulder massage”

You didn’t wait for them to register your words before kicking your horse to a gallop, no doubt closely followed by them.

---

The dancing light of the candles of the chandelier left a soft glow on your naked skin, moving around and spreading warmth as it crawled up and down your body. You were sitting upright as hands moved gently on your shoulders, careful to avoid the sensitive area of your still healing wound. In your laps was Jason’s head, your hands threading slowly in his black hair as his eyes were shut close. He wasn’t sleeping, his breathing made his chest rise too fast for him to be. But he was relaxed, his neck muscles were untensed on your legs and there were no harsh lines on his face.

You looked behind you when Roy’s hand stopped massaging, pulling your hair to the side and kissing the back of your neck.

“You really gotta get a faster horse” Your lips curved upwards. “You’re always losing these races”

“I think my horse’s speed is just fine” He whispered back. “Besides, you are both right where I want you to be”

Jason smirked. “Losing is always suddenly part of someone’s plan when they never win”

“Laugh all you want” He sighed, dramatically laying down on his side beside you, then leaning forward close to Jason’s ear. “We all know I end up winning anyway when you beg my name like a prayer, My King”

You could feel the shiver travel up his spine on your laps, as well as the sudden shift in the tension in his muscles. You played along and let your hand slightly pull his hair, which surprised a moan out of him. His eyes opened wide, the blue of his irises being quickly consummated by the black of his pupils. Then, his glance set on Roy, something hard to read beside the promising spark in it.

“Are you sure you’re ready for a, what, fourth go at it today?” He raised an eyebrow as his hand brushed his cheek. “I didn’t think you jaw recovered from earlier”

You laughed airily as Roy grinned mischievously. “Maybe you can take that voice when you put that brat child in its place” You suggested as you trailed up your hand up Jason’s bare chest. “I’m sure he would be happy to get back on his knees if you did”

Roy groaned at the suggestion, already imagining the whole scene behind his fluttering eyelids. However, Jason didn’t quite follow up on his reaction. “Don’t tempt me with…” He trailed off, then noticed the mood change. “Hey, is there something wrong?”

Jason blinked, then shook his head and gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. “I’m fine” He muttered, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on Roy’s lips.

“No, something’s bothering you” He insisted gently. “What is it, Jay?”

Jason sighed, shaking his head. “It’s nothing” He replied, looking up to the ceiling. “Don’t worry about it”

“It’s clearly not nothing” You said as your hands threaded softly in his hair. “What’s eating at you?”

A silence followed your words. It was like Jason was searching for the right words, like he wanted to say it so bad but something else was holding him back. You were patient, however, and you didn’t mind that he took his time to tell you. You knew he would talk when he’s ready.

“It’s what Bruce said” Roy beat him to it, speaking barely over a whisper. “Isn’t it?”

You looked in between the two men, noticing how Jason did not deny Roy’s words. It was like they were having a silent conversation for a few seconds, before Roy put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“It’s how he didn’t see him as part of his family anymore” Roy spoke up, addressing you this time. “How Bruce didn’t seem to have any regret about replacing him in any way possible”

“Even after all this time” Jason gulped. “He won’t even stop reminding me he didn't care”

“Oh, my love” You reached for his hand and grabbed it, intertwining your fingers with his and giving it a squeeze. “He doesn’t deserve you beating yourself up about him like that. You’re worth so much more than anything he could even give you”

“She’s right,” Roy nodded. “We’re your family now, not him. Not him ever again. And I promise you we’ll never betray you that way, we’ll never set you aside. You’re our lover, you’re our King, you’re the most important person for us, and we would do anything for you”

You could see the crystal gleam of tears pooling in his eyes before he blinked them away, resisting the urge to break down. Jason had not often known true affection until he met Roy, then you. He felt like he didn’t deserve either of you, and sometimes he wondered why exactly you decided everyday to stay by his side. But you did stay, you did support him and guided him when he needed it. He wouldn’t have been anywhere near where he was right now without you.

“You’re both so good to me” He whispered, adoration clear in his voice as he glanced at you, then Roy. “What would I do without you?”

“You’d be wonderful either way” You smiled as you slipped beside him, careful not to pull on your bandages. Soon enough, Roy joined him on the other side, snuggling into him. “You’d miss on major cuddling, however”

His chest rose in a silent chuckle as he pulled you and Roy just a little bit closer. “Give yourselves more credit, I’d crash and burn without you both by my side”

“Let’s not bother with what ifs, yeah?” Roy replied, his lips curved upward as he kissed his shoulder. “It only matters that you’re here with us today, and that you are a damn good King. The rest doesn’t matter”

“The rest doesn’t matter” Jason repeated in a mutter, nodding lightly. “Only you. Only us”

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tundrainafrica · 3 years

Text

Title: Lovebug (3/10)

Summary:

“It might be a bug.”

“A bug?”

“Sometimes the developers of this application make mistakes. This is our first time meeting I’m sure so…Isn’t it a bit weird that we just met for the first time and it rings like this? And for two strangers to coincidentally ring each other’s alarms?“

Levi is the developer of the Love Alarm App and Hange is married to Zeke.

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Other Chapters: 1 2 4 5

Notes: So I was really planning on my posting the next chapter tonight and wahhhh right on time @renrampant posted this beautiful piece of art inspired by lovebug. I hope this chapter satisfies <3. I hope the zekehan kiss which will be coming in a chapter or two does justice to the art too.

Levi was a man of his word and he always had been. The night he created his tinder profile, such a penchant had turned out to be more than just an inconvenient truth.

Something so ideally simple as to create a tinder profile, shouldn’t have taken him more than a few hours. Yet, Levi found himself searching, grappling for the right words to say, finding some way to make himself more attractive than he actually was. It turned out with his own meagre attributes, drawing the right person was an altogether daunting task.

Maybe he was overthinking that night. Overthinking had been enough though to leave him exhausted, retiring for the night even before he even noticed he had forgotten to place the phone by his bedside.

When he came into his senses again, sunlight was streaming through the room, turning even the dimmest corners a little less black and a little more gray. The phone was a warm heavy weight vibrating on his chest.

He had to leave for the office soon.

His sleeping schedule only provided him a generous hour and a half to shower and to commute. Frustration at not being able to complete his bio the night before had him sluggish. It had him unwillingly reaching towards the back of his mind as he showered, as he shaved and pulled his light sweater on.

He considered extirpating that nagging thought. All you have to do is put a bio right? Levi thought to himself as he made his way to the subway station. He memorized the way to work like the back of his hand, all the way until the train platform He took the risk of walking straight ahead, eyes completely glued to the screen in front of him.

How it had taken him so much focus to decide on a bio. How it had taken him so much energy and thought. He didn’t know.

Levi though was a man of his word and thus, he had ended up clicking save after typing only a few simple straightforward words.

'Currently software testing. If interested, please swipe right.’

***

“So Levi, you’re a software tester?”

Levi found himself stifling a surprise snort at that question. The sound had come out as something he managed to disguise as a clearing of his throat. Hopefully it worked.

They had just settled on one of the corner seats of a chain coffee shop, a conservative choice for a first date. That is, if he were planning on impressing her. The date felt more like an obligation than an actual passion project. And obligations always had Levi’s mind running on overdrive, even with things as simple as ice breakers.

He didn’t expect that to have been the first line of conversation. He didn’t even know how to pronounce her name yet. The woman was looking expectantly though, bending a little forward. Whether she had been feigning interest or whether she had been genuinely interested, Levi couldn’t really tell.

Technically he tested software for a living and he didn’t need to really expose himself as the head engineer of the software so he settled for a nod.

“Oh, what kind of software do you test?” The woman in front of him pressed.

Levi snuck a glance at his phone under the table. Lynn. But was it pronounced ‘lint?’ Or was it pronounced ‘line?’

He was overthinking again. But when the woman had pronounced his own name correctly, it seemed almost criminal to have to mispronounce her name. Maybe he could table that question for a while.

Or never go on a date with her again. Levi thought to himself as he looked back up at her with the most casual face he could muster. “I test biology related software,” he answered. He purposely kept it vague. He had to note she was also a love alarm user. She had mentioned that part in her bio. Bringing it up in a conversation though was another issue altogether. If he brought it up, she might ask. If the conversation continued, she might ask more.

Did he want to expose then that he was the one who had designed the actual application?

“Biology sounds very interesting,” she commented. She didn’t seem interested in Biology though.

Not as interested as Hange. That quick comparison came like an uninvited visitor and Levi found himself just slapping the phone on top of the table on impulse. The clack of the phone on the table, the metal on hardwood rattled him enough to drive those thoughts away.

Lynn jumped in surprise. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Levi felt the blood rush to his face. When he was thinking longingly about someone married, and comparing her to Lynn, his date for the day, blushing seemed like an almost welcome sensation. “I heard you use the love alarm,” Levi started. When he was already making a fool of himself, might as well go straight to the point.

“You would like to check if we’re attracted to each other huh?” She asked. “But I don’t think we’d find out by the first date…”

“I said on my profile, I wanted to test a software so that’s why I’m here now actually.” Those words forced themselves out of Levi and they came out as a disturbed flow, as guttural sounds that burned in his throat. In the end, the honest man inside him prevailed.

“Test?” Lynn had been nice enough at least to mirror him and put her phone on the table. “You wanna test the love alarm now?”

Levi nodded as he fixed his eyes on the screen in front of him. He was familiar enough with the banner in the front of the screen to know with just a quick glance. The love alarm was active.

He didn’t have to open the application or pull down the banner to know the result. He was all too familiar with how the application would work even when placed on silent mode. The banner should at least appear, with the words ‘Someone nearby is in love with you.’

If there were at least two people around them then, if somebody else rang it, Levi would have been compelled to check. Both applications were void of hearts though. Levi closed the application and pocketed his phone. “It looks like we aren’t attracted to each other.” He only realized as those words escaped from his lips, how awkward or maybe how rude of a comment it came out as.

Lynn’s eyes were wide for a second before she furrowed her brows, framing those brown eyes. “Of course, we just met. I think attraction is something that can be built over time right?” Lynn answered.

“You’re not wrong,” Levi said. Really, he didn’t even believe he could be someone who could rattle off facts about love. Hange had said it herself, he was a little inexperienced.

He wanted to be right about it though. He wanted to believe attraction could be built over time. By extension, he wanted to hold on to the possibility that attraction could also dissipate into apathy. After all, all those emotions should have been in the same ballpark.

“So what do you think?” Lynn asked. She had said some words before that but maybe Levi had reflected too deeply to have processed anything more than the face of the woman before him.

If he blinked and squinted a little afterward, he could pretend that same wavy brown hair was Hange’s. Hange’s hair though was a little shorter and a little messier and when bright light shone at it from certain angles, it came off as a little red. Hange’s eyes were a little bigger and her face was a little rounder.

Lynn was just too different from Hange to ever be Hange.

When Levi let his vision blur though, let it focus on her features slowly then all at once, he could play pretend. When looking from his peripherals, settling for blurs instead of clear pictures, he could pretend the brown hair was Hange’s, the waves that fell on her shoulders as just another layer.

He didn’t even notice it, even after they had split the bill and when she turned down his half hearted offer to take her home. That was until her last greeting came out as they parted ways along the main street that led up to the train station.

Her last greeting was a long way off from a conventional goodbye but it had done its job to get Levi’s attention.

“By the way Levi, my name isn’t Hange.” She unmatched him on tinder after that.

***

Levi decided to put a small note under his name.

Software Engineer. Currently testing software. If interested please swipe right.

It turned out though, there were people who never read bios. “So, what do you do for a living?” The woman in front of him asked. His case in point.

Hange likes reading. An invasive thought tore through him then and Levi wondered how that could have ever been related to the situation at hand.

When he questioned himself, he found out why he even reflected on it in the first place. Right, since Hange likes reading, she wouldn’t have overlooked my bio if she found me on tinder.

Of course, she wouldn’t have tinder. Levi took a deep breath then, reminding himself for the nth time that he was going to have to settle for people who weren’t married to billionaire business tycoons.

He was going to have to settle for people who weren’t Hange.

But he didn’t have to settle for her either. She was underwhelmed yet underwhelming at the same time and Levi was starting to miss Lynn already as the more desirable option.

He quickly shook his head. You don’t have to see any of these people again. All you have to do is turn the love alarm on and watch it ring. But he was feeling so underwhelmed, so disappointed with the turn out of the date in front of him just minutes into meeting her. He had entertained just the thought of cancelling their food there, the only thing stopping him being the wasted food and the poor waitress who would have to clean the mess. So he decided he could at least stay long enough to at least try.

“So, have you heard of the love alarm Nanaba?” Levi asked. He may have put just a little more emphasis in her name. After all, he didn’t want the Lynn-Hange incident happening again.

“Of course, who hasn’t learned about the love alarm app? Actually I have it with me right now.” Nanaba pulled out her phone and dropped it in front of him.

Ten years of hard and stressful work made Levi immune to even the slightest compliments. “You wanna do some testing?” He asked. “Don’t you want to see if we’re compatible?”

Compatible. That was a complex word and Levi started to doubt the applicability of that application in determining compatibility. It was a love alarm, not a compatibility alarm.

Nanaba grinned. “Sure but I have to tell you, I don’t think it actually works.”

Levi raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. He hoped it seemed genuine though. “Really?” When he momentarily thought back to the numerous support tickets logged just within the past two weeks thought, his expression may have turned just a little genuine. It was a mess of an application after all.

“I’ve been using it for a few months already... And it hasn’t rung, not even once. .”

Maybe nobody likes you. Levi had some ironclad rules about testing, always start with user errors, not with application errors and that had him instinctively blaming her but he had to note, most people had one to two matches, Nanaba didn’t look particularly unlikeable either. Just with the thought of statistics, it should have at least rung once if she kept it on regularly.

Levi quickly switched from his engineering hat to his much more empathetic yet still very shitty customer service persona. “Maybe you just haven’t found the one who could ring it for you?” The words tasted so sweet they almost instantly clabbered into sour milk in his mouth. He felt like he was in some sappy Korean drama.

“Well, it rang with my friend Mike once but we don’t see each other that way…”

“Oh, really? Then why did you say it’s broken?”

“Because it rang with my best friend and that doesn’t count...” Nanaba wanted to say more. It was all over her face and her tone.

Levi was in no mood though to play love counselor. But he wasn’t an asshole enough to cancel the food and ditch a seemingly sad woman either. The food came at the right time when Levi was entertaining the prospect of just leaving.

Nanaba looked very much in the mood to speak, speak about something a little more emotional, a little more serious than hobbies and Levi found himself hesitant to force the conversation elsewhere.

Levi came out of that date with no second date, no results. Nanaba on the other hand came out of that date with new found confidence to confess her feelings to her long time best friend.

By the time they had exited the shop, Levi was already swiping again, grumbling obscenities about how testing wasn’t supposed to be that hard.

***

“Rico Brzenska,” Levi said. There were only too many ways to mispronounce ‘Rico.’ Still, two failed dates had him careful about names already. “So what do you do for a living?” And careful about other things as well.

“I’m a student.”

Levi almost spit his tea out at that. He should have been more careful. He had read her bio, she had mentioned something about a love alarm app and that had him swiping right already. He was sure if he had seen any indication of a minor, he would have swiped left. “Really? What kind of student?” He asked, having gone subtly for his phone and pushing it further under the table.

“A graduate student taking business and commerce.”

Levi only had to take a quick glance at his settings to be sure, there were no chances of him dating a minor, as long as nobody was lying about their age on tinder. Being an honest man though, Levi had a harder time looking through white lies.

Such awareness had him studying her round face, her large blue eyes for a little longer. She could have been a minor. Or he could just be paranoid.

But when dating a minor could actually mean jail time, Levi didn’t want to take any chances. “Do you have any ID on you?”

“ID?” Rico frowned. “Why would you need an ID?”

“You said in your bio you wanted to test the love alarm right?”

Rico nodded. “Yes, I just wanna make sure before I start dating someone, we already have the initial attraction. I don’t wanna waste my time with people who aren’t attracted to me or I’m not attracted to, if you get what I mean?”

In response, Levi hummed in understanding. He did get what she meant. The last thing he wanted to do though was inadvertently ring the love alarm of someone a good many years younger than him and risk jail time. He probably wouldn’t ring it anyway.

But just in case. Levi put his phone out on the table, leaving one hand outstretched as if to wait for an ID.

No ID. No Love Alarm. He was sure that was the sign he was giving.

"Wait you don't think I'm off age do you? You think I'm lying on my profile?"

"No, I don't think you are," Levi said. Maybe his expression betrayed his words.

Rico eventually let go of an ID, a school ID from a familiar university logo Levi was sure he had seen a few times. And her face then had been one of pure irritation and maybe a hint of fury.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "There? Legal enough for you?"

Still a student, still too young to be engaging in anything with an older man, at least by Levi's standards. Still, he found himself almost obligated to just test the alarm in front of her.

Rico didn't look happy at all to be heavily scrutinized, or doubted. When she activated her application, Levi saw it as a cue to activate his own.

All you have to do is press the button. Levi told himself. He knew it wouldn't ring. He felt no attraction to her but paranoia had his brain going in all sorts of directions at once. Maybe the blood that rushed through his cheeks then was love. Maybe his hands shaking then were nervousness and excitement at meeting one's destined partner.

Also Rico wore glasses. For some reason, that had him thinking back to someone else with glasses, he wondered for a second if her eyes were much larger without those on. And he wondered if it was similar for Hange.

How such a long train of thought could have occupied him in such a short frame of time, interrupted by a quick sleight of hand, Levi didn't know.

But it had ended so abruptly, almost violently with the familiar cacophony of two love alarms ringing at once.

For a second, Levi sat frozen on the table as his mind went ahead, racing over theories and potential testing methods to deduce the root behind the outcome.

Do I have a glasses kink? That had been Levi's first thought. He looked down at his own phone to see the one heart and the bright message on top.

One person nearby is in love with you.

His second thought had been a little more objective. It's a bug. He told himself. I'll just have to do further testing.

Rico’s eyes were wide in shock. For a few seconds or so, she struggled to move and he couldn’t blame her. After all, the ringing of multiple love alarms in such a silent place like a cafe on a weekday morning was a scene that definitely had the potential to catch some people’s attention.

Levi couldn’t be too sure. He didn’t want to survey his surroundings either so he narrowed his view to just his own love alarm and back at Rico. The latter went for her phone.

From his own angle, Levi couldn’t see her interface but he was familiar with the way she had swiped it, to know she had turned it off. The two love alarms continued to ring in the silence. Even with the tension and awkwardness so thick that made it difficult to slog through, his brain was still moving.

He was blessed with at least enough deduction skills to quickly figure it out for himself.

He was in love with someone else in the room. But who? He surveyed his surroundings, keeping his view closed to only one person at a time. That gave him enough time to brush away the rest of the stares that surfaced from having made such a scene with the harsh ring of the love alarm.

Only after scanning for a second longer did his spatial awareness catch up to him. The other ringing was coming from behind. Levi turned behind him, quickly enough to catch the mop of chestnut brown hair. Fortunately, he had been slow and careful enough to pull away at the last second, missing her forehead by a hair’s breadth.

“Watch where you’re fucking going!” That had been Levi’s first instinct. After all, he was still seeing red, just imagining their heads slamming into each other in the middle of a very silent cafe.

The brunette in front of him, put one finger to her masked mouth, pointing at one of the old fashioned signs just above her seat.

In silence, there is eloquence. It read.

Hange was a very eloquent person. Levi had read enough messages from her and stalked enough of her works to know that much. Any other day, maybe any other minute, he would have been happy to listen, learn a thing or two from the master of diplomacy.

But Hange had virtually come out of nowhere. In the middle of a date.

Giving her a onceover though, noting her masked face. The only two things that made her recognizable then was her mop of brown hair tied in a ponytail and her masked mouth. Still, that had been more than enough for Levi to have seen through it.

She had settled on the seat behind him. The way she looked back at him and the way she had seemed a little too relaxed with a half finished cup of coffee just in front of her, Levi was sure she had been there for a while.

How much did she hear? Levi couldn’t ask just yet. The alarms were still ringing and as soon as Levi turned it off on his end, it stopped. Yet people continued to stare. More importantly, Rico was still staring from behind him.

“Do you two know each other?” She asked.

The answer didn’t come as quickly for Levi as he would have wanted it too. They knew each other, they’ve met at least twice. They’ve eaten out together once. But technically, did it count as ‘knew?’ Did Hange feel the same way?”

“We’re colleagues, working on the same project,” Hange answered for him.

Levi almost instantly realized he liked that answer. Colleagues. It was definitely more intimate than ‘knew each other.’ While at the same time, it held more respect in one’s skills and talent than the word ‘friends.’ And it implied in its own little way that Hange cared about the project just as much as he did.

It had been difficult to muster a straight face then. Still, he pushed forward, nodding when he struggled to stifle the motions of his mouth and the blood that rushed to his face then.

“But the… the love alarm… it…” Rico continued to speak. She shifted her eyes quickly between both Levi and Hange. “And you…” Her eyes fixed on Hange then.

Levi followed her eyes instinctively. Did Rico recognize Hange? He couldn’t confirm it for himself. Soon after that, Rico didn’t say anything in response. Instead she blinked back surprise. She started to clean out her things and place them into her bag.

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Levi wanted to pull her back. For a split second, he had reached out his hand, grasping his hand before pulling quickly back. He didn’t mind losing the chance at a second date. Just the thought of putting someone in such a tight and uncomfortable position had his stomach turning. He couldn’t for the life of him tell what she was thinking but he at least felt the tension.

Rico didn't have the most eloquent response either. “Sorry about this… I guess on my end it just feels wrong meddling in somebody else’s relationship… I don’t wanna be the one who’d stop people from getting together.”

Levi was quick to understand though. His thoughts flew back to Nanaba just a date ago and the long one sided counseling session which consisted of Nanaba’s long drawn monologues and Levi’s own grunts of understanding. The date which eventually ended with Nanaba finally figuring out for herself the best course of action.

You know, you’re right, Both of our love alarms rang. And that’s the whole point of this app right? If they both ring, it’s a sign, we should act on it.

And that was the whole point of the love alarm. How many times had he reviewed marketing material, love story commercials which ended with that same message?

Levi opened his mouth ready to speak up. By then, Rico was already out the door, any evidence of her presence just a second ago disappearing within seconds of her leaving. The chimes by the store entrance gradually slowed to a weak dance, the people who watched her leave eventually fell back to whatever they were doing beforehand, and Levi’s own protests had deadened into a light whisper.

It’s a bug. Besides, she’s married. The words had settled in his tongue like a familiar friend and he was sure if given the chance, he would have managed to say it loud and clear.

Levi looked back in his phone to see Rico had unmatched him, just a little too quickly.

“I think we should get that bug fixed soon,” Hange whispered. She sounded like she was stifling a laugh.

"For someone who's worried about the bug, you looked like you had a swell time ringing our alarms just a while ago," Levi said bitterly.

"Zeke's on a business trip and I'm bored and lonely."

“Well, don't take it out on me.” Levi took out his wallet and dropped the cash by the side of his drink, counting enough to pay for Rico’s drink too. He didn’t think too much about the receipt or the change.

The murmurs around him were more than enough to have him hurrying out of the cafe. Did they recognize Hange?

He thought it an appropriate time to satisfy his curiosity when they were both a good distance from the shop. “Do you think people recognize you as Zeke Jaeger’s partner?”

Hange put one finger to her mask. “I saw you outside the shop and when I thought of ringing your love alarm, I did what I could to prepare." Her eyes were still smiling though and Levi was sure there was a laugh behind that mask. "Besides, even though most people recognize Zeke, I don't think they'd notice me. I don’t join the interviews or events as much as he does,” Hange said.

Levi noticed though that Hange was the type to just get lost in her surroundings. Ort hat was at least what Levi had picked up on her the first few times they have gone together. She quickly relaxed after that short and quick question and answer, and in the way that she navigated through the crowds a little too clumsily yet a little too playfully, Levi found evidence backing up his mini theory.

Even if anybody did recognize her, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. And that little realization had made it much harder for Levi to stomach what just happened in the cafe. They needed to get the bug fixed fast. “Let’s go back to the office, maybe do some more testing.”

“Isn’t that why we’re here now?” Hange asked, pointing towards the general direction of their building. “I visited your office this morning because I didn't have much to doand I thought I could be helpful. You weren’t there so I asked around and one of the people from the support team told me you were out. She said probably in your favorite tea shop.”

“You met Petra?” Levi asked. “Redhead? Short?” He soon added, noting her confused expression.

Hange snapped her fingers. “Yes, that’s her name.”

“Yeah, she knows my favorite tea shop. Gets me my favorite mix of tea leaves every year for Christmas,” Levi said, more to fill the air with at least some conversation on the way back.

It took Levi a while to notice Hange had peeked at his face even as he averted his gaze, looking elsewhere.

She spoke up. “Say… Have you ever tried testing your love alarm on her?”

***

Petra was one of the newer employees, a little shy but particularly mature for her age. She was notably competent and had a particularly better handle of her emotions than most of the other colleagues. Her most important asset had been her level headedness even under the pressure of scrutiny. Petra was the type of person to know when she was attracted to someone and she was the type of person to admit it for the sake of a smoother testing process.

Thus, she was one of Levi's favorite volunteers when testing the love alarm.

And Levi was sure, to some degree she could have liked him. If he were to consider her words as truth, and the hearts at the bottom of the screen as some indication.

When they were testing every release on fifty employees over a one week period, putting results side by side with checklists and biometrics tests, they were as thorough as it could be. It was always the case that when it was the two of them testing with each other, Levi’s love alarm always rang, Petra’s didn’t. Every single time, Petra would tag that instance as ‘QA passed.’

It could have been a placebo effect or it could have also been just an admittance to get the testing process done just a little faster but Petra never seemed like the type, breezing through the awkward scenes that came with testing a love application like they were part of a job. If it ever bothered her, she never showed it.

Levi’s alarm never rang in any of the tests he had ever taken anyway. When he double checked though, lining up the results side by side with checklists of what to look out for when one was in love, he found that it never had been a big deal. He had never been attracted to anyone in particular anyway.

“So, I’m the only one your love alarm rang with huh?” Hange asked.

Except maybe Hange.“Yeah, when doing QA work, I’ve had to test with the other employees and it never rang with any of them,” Levi admitted.

“How does QA work?”

“We test with employees, users… All on a volunteer basis if I may clarify.” Levi added that last part for just a touch of professionalism. “We have acceptable ranges for biometrics, checklists and we have a certain number of results which need to fit there to consider a release viable.”

“Why don’t we test using the QA procedure?”

“Because the QA process is a logistical nightmare. We plan a venue. We plan a schedule and we have to get a certain number of people to show up.”

“No, I meant… What if we try it, just the two of us. We answer the checklists, we take each other's biometrics and see if that falls in the exact range for ‘love'?” Hange suggested and her excitable tone only made it seem like she was suggesting something almost revolutionary.

Levi sighed. “I’d rather we use QA testing as a last resort.”

Hange’s face fell. “Why?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because…” Levi would have liked to leave it at that. As he looked at Hange who had leaned on the wall, crossing her arms and staring back at him expectantly, he remembered, it was a professional relationship. If the partner of their very important investor demanded answers, she would get answers so he settled for something seemingly acceptable yet very pathetic in the grand scheme of things. “We’re going to have to answer standardized psychology quizzes and take some physical tests.”

“And I’m sure you’d have a few samples lying around. Let’s see what information we can get,” Hange said.

There were other reasons Levi had been hesitant to suggest such an exam in the first place. It had been difficult to grasp for the exact reasons until they arrived in the conference room Levi had reserved.

The room was a vacuum that had the special power of just drowning out voices, footsteps from just outside the hallway. The tables were empty, the white board put away towards the side of the room. It was clean, empty, void of any presence or even trace of it. It made Levi just a little more painfully aware of his heartbeat, his moist palms and his wild uncoordinated breathing.

He might just fail the physical exam. More specifically, he might just fail if he took it then, at the exact moment.

Grasping for some win, or at the least some comfort in that situation, he had half the mind to run through the ‘Am I in love?’ checklist or at least what he remembered from it. If he were a little honest, there might have been some things he would have checked.

But it didn’t mean he would fail it right?

“What do you think?” Hange pressed. She had settled for one of the chairs in the room.

Levi had answers, but he couldn’t share it just yet. Inviting her to take that meant that he was entertaining the prospect that they might just be in love with her---a cursed prospect.

“Or do you have any other ideas?” Hange asked. She cocked her head to one side in thought.

“If you give me a little more time to come up with something…” Levi said.

“Petra told me you have a week or two before they release the next fix. You’ve done most of the coding work. You just need to fix this bug right?” Hange was very talkative. It turned out Petra had been just a little talkative too with the right prodding by Hange. “Why don’t you wanna just test it now?” Hange's face darkened then to something almost threatening.

And maybe Levi was a little intimidated. He quickly turned away, unable to control whatever expression would force itself out of him then.

“Levi?” Her voice was grating. The echoing in the room didn’t do much to help alleviate it. “Come on, please? I want this investment as much as you do.”

If the partner of their very important investor demanded answers, she would get answers.

But it didn’t have to be the correct answers. “Fine,” Levi said. “You know, maybe the way we test this application… the way we test for love might actually be flawed so maybe some feedback from a researcher like you could be useful.”

Hange grinned from ear to ear, the ominous face of a while ago just a memory Levi could probably forget. “So where do we start?”

***

Testing for the biological numbers was quick with the right tools.

Heart rate. Hormone levels. Stress Levels. Pain Sensitivity. They had all the right test kits on hand with a document detailing the acceptable range.

All reasonable levels, albeit a little too far from the midpoint that Levi held on to the possibility that maybe they could log it all in as some coincidence. The checklists were just a little more difficult and maybe Levi was just thinking a little too far off that he had started to have a mini identity crisis.

I think about my partner a few times a day.

Partner: Referring to the person one tests the application with. Levi was aware of that much having tested the application long before. Yet for some reason, he had to loudly remind himself of that, even within the confines of his mind.

He entertained hypotheses. If Hange were his partner, that would be polyamory and that could even start the scandal of the year, or even the decade. He didn’t want to be part of that.

So he ticked ‘never’ because technically Hange wasn’t his partner anyway.

I want to be with my partner everyday.

Hange was Zeke's partner. Just the idea of getting in between a married couple had Levi's stomach turning and it had been easy to tick never right next to it.

My partner trusts me.

It was too early to tell, or so that was what Levi told himself then.

The word ‘partner’ had been a convenient term. Zeke had been a convenient presence in his mind. And that had him ticking all the 'nevers' towards the edge of the page just a little more confidently.

Technically, Hange wasn’t his partner. Technically they just met, so words like trust, amicability, happiness, charisma, compatibility and charm, didn’t have to apply to them just yet. A few minutes later, he had checked enough ‘nevers’ to have armed himself with the confidence to look her in the eye.

Hange though wasn’t reciprocating, looking deep in thought with whatever question she had been answering. She bit her lip.

Hange eventually met his gaze. Instead of being just a little more satisfied, Levi was a little disappointed, more in himself than in anyone else. For that few seconds that Hange bit her lower lip in thought, her cheekbones had seemed fuller, her hazel eyes held an almost imperceptible yet still very enthralling glimmer, and regretfully, he didn’t take the time to relish it when it was right in front of him.

“How’s the test?” Levi asked.

“It’s fine,” Hange said.

Levi slid his own answers towards her. “We just have to calculate the number of ‘always,’ the number of 'sometimes,' the number of ‘nevers’ and just match it on the document over here.” He turned his laptop towards her.

“I can do it,” Hange said, pulling the laptop towards herself. The next few minutes passed in silence. Levi stared at the ceiling, trying to keep his heartbeat in time with the clack of the keyboard. Hange typed fast and chaotically but in a way, there was rhythm and order and that had helped him get into a position where he could just drop his shoulders and fall back on the chair behind him.

“You don’t think I trust you?” Hange asked.

“It’s too early to tell right?” Levi said. That answer had been scripted and it slipped out of his mouth easily.

Hange’s let out a light sound, a cross between with a hum and a chuckle. “Well, to tell you the truth, I put here that I didn’t trust you either.”

“Well that makes both of us, I guess,” Levi said.

Hange continued to type, filling the room with some predictable rhythm, a predictable rhythm his own wild heartbeat failed to provide. Eventually, it stopped, with one loud clack on the ‘enter’ button or at least, Levi guessed it was the enter button.

Soon after, Hange leaned back on the backrest of her own chair. “Biometrics all fall in the acceptable range. Test results all fall in the unacceptable range,” she said, her tone unreadable. Too professional but Levi surmised it could be her usual ‘research’ tone. He hadn’t known her long enough to be certain.

“Maybe we should get to know each other first and try to answer again?” Hange suggested. “We just met so I can’t fully trust you yet but I think, we could get along with the right…”

Environment? Amount of time? Mutual Processing? Levi couldn’t be too sure of the answer. She had said something else after the word ‘right’ or maybe she didn’t. Still, there was a problem that needed to be solved, there was an issue that needed to be addressed that extended beyond the need to resolve the feelings between two strangers.

Or two colleagues. Levi decided he liked the word colleagues better. “So what do you suggest Hange?” Levi asked.

“I wanna do further research with this application. We can tweak whatever processes you’re using now to QA, whatever processes you’re using to determine whether people are in love. Maybe we just have to fix that a bit.”

“This application took years to develop. It’s gonna be difficult to overturn a lot of the processes.”

“Without the right funding…” Hange said. She wagged her finger and gave Levi a knowing look.

Levi narrowed his eyes accusingly at Hange. “So how’s convincing Zeke been going?”

“That’s the caveat,” Hange said. “He’s not a very techy guy. He’s an investor and scientist more than anything and sometimes, even with the right proposition, he’ll stick to some really weird reasons why he wouldn’t invest in something. I don’t blame him though since millions of dollars are usually on the line with each investment.”

" So, I’m guessing you tried to convince him?”

Hange nodded. “I did. And it looks like he won’t budge unless you fix that ‘bug.’”

“The bug which caused his love alarm to not ring around you?” And the bug which is causing our love alarms to ring. Levi added silently to himself. “Can you explain to him that we need the money to continue improving the system?”

“I’ve been with him for years, Levi. I know how he is.”

“So what do you suggest we do?”

Hange hummed. “I don’t know how programming works but...Maybe you can program the application to make it work just the way that Zeke likes it... For the time being?”

***

No. Just no.

Those were the words written all over Petra’s expression. Levi only had to look at the other faces around him to be very much sure, everyone agreed with Petra

For posterity’s sake, he repeated those words. “I understand that the regression test is done but unless I am able to get to the bottom of this bug, we won’t be able to release the fixes,” Levi said. He kept his words soft, yet still loud enough to echo through the conference room. He said it slowly and clearly. Just in case it was a bit harder to hear through shock and surprise.

“Sir, a lot of the fixes in this release have been promised for months,” Petra argued. The professionalism in her voice was still admirably apparent.

“Erwin’s orders. I’m just repeating them now,” Levi said.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Gunther asked. “Have you found the reason behind it? I’m guessing if you do… we might have to make some changes to the code and go through regression testing again.”

“If ever that happens, I’ll handle the testing on my end,” Levi said. “It wouldn't be too hard, it’s just a blip in the code.”

“So you’ve found the cause?” Eld asked.

“Yes.” If Levi didn’t open his mouth to speak then, he was sure no one would have for the next few minutes. There was something festering in the silence, some common sentiment that he sensed among them, among those doubtful faces tinged with irritation and confusion.

He had always told them before. Always assume a user error first. And there was an apparent user error which he was sure everyone was entertaining.

What if Hange just didn’t love Zeke? A prospect that was ambrosia to Levi’s lips but at the same time a piece of ambrosia that he was sure was laced with poison. He couldn’t chew it, he couldn’t swallow for fear of just letting go for a few seconds longer, letting a smile curl up his lips during the most inopportune times.

Levi turned to Oluo in particular who he guessed would have been the one most likely to bring it up. The latter remained begrudgingly silent. It looked like no one else wanted to bring it up either. After all, Zeke was a huge opportunity for company growth, a huge opportunity for investment.

Eld spoke up.“If there’s anything we can do, just please ask. It might be too difficult of an investigation to do for one person.”

Levi shook his head. “I think this is an investigation I’d rather do alone.” There were parts of the investigation he hadn’t admitted to the team yet. All they had gotten in the report from Erwin was that Zeke’s alarm didn’t ring with Hange there but the scandal of their alarms ringing together was something he didn’t want circulating around the building.

And more importantly, there was another plan he and Hange have been entertaining, an almost unscrupulous scheme and he didn’t want anyone else involved.

***

It felt like he had run a marathon and he had been doing that slow jog for at least three days already. Or maybe it felt like he was trudging through a dessert and had been trapped there for the past three days.

He couldn’t tell for sure but his throat was constantly dry, his heart was constantly beating fast and any notification from Hange was either a water break or an oasis.

Three days ago, Zeke came back from his business trip. Four days ago, Levi sent the apk file to Hange.

“It’s a test build,” Levi said as soon as she confirmed she received it. “A test build I hard coded just for Zeke’s use.”

“Meaning…”

“Just say it’s a test build. Say I’ve fixed the code.”

“Meaning…”

“I hardcoded his data and the expected result. If he opens the alarm around you, his phone will ring," Levi explained. "It’s just a quick fix for now.”

Just a quick fix. Levi told himself multiple times. He had changed the code drastically enough though that the love alarm wouldn’t work as an expected love alarm, having customized it just to fit Zeke’s desires. For just long enough to get the money and long enough to find the actual cause of the bug.

“And tell him we’re asking for feedback before we release it,” Levi had added then.

The last time he had met her was three days ago when he dropped her the file, explained its use and when she had promised to download the apk file to Zeke’s phone.

She sent intermittent updates over the four day period. He liked it. He was enjoying it. He had confidence in the application.

Levi had to ruefully note though that the conversation never strayed too much from work. As expected from colleagues, as expected from business partners working towards the same goal.

Maybe a few times he had asked some vague questions just to get a hint of her daily life.

How’s Zeke? How are you guys?

Still, the answers always went back to updates on the application. When he was trudging to the desert or while running through some dirt track in his mind, even when the water tasted too artificially like plastic---too professional for his taste---he settled for it.

That was the only water he had after all.

Hange limited herself to ten messages a day, mentioning something about being bad at replying, apologizing for late replies. Levi had to admit though when he was working, he was guilty of a similar thing. Yet he found himself just a little irritable, a little desolate at such an outcome.

A week after he had last seen Hange, he decided to start reading the books about love again.

Love is a choice. Overused.

To love others, one must love themselves. He got that already.

Levi dropped his reader by the side of his bed and stared at the blank ceiling above him. The books on love were biased. They created for themselves an assumption, an assumption that she was his and whatever he had to deal with was some inner turmoil inside him, an inability to love. But what if he was willing to love? What if it was just a matter of circumstances just not letting him indulge in such an emotion.

He had entertained that for just a second before brushing away the nagging thought and the annoyingly sticky guilt that clung to it. Maybe there was merit in just turning off his emotions then, just discarding the overall idea of love. He deleted the books Hange had sent him from his ebook reader.

If the company got the funds, if Hange got the greenlight on her research, he would see her again, he would be forced to read those books and they would be forced to work together.

Then and there, he didn’t need to think about it just yet. He didn’t have to put himself through the pain of analyzing circumstances and emotions that left a heavy weight and an ache in his chest.

He could forget Hange until then. He could ignore her messages and maybe focus on something else like an action movie or a video game. He had streaming service subscriptions, he had game emulators on his laptop. Soon he discovered, with the right combination of focus, willpower just getting through slow starts, it was easy to immerse himself in something as mundane as a city building game.

He was halfway through building one of his farms and was already attached to the regular city goers of the small city he created for himself when his phone rang. That abrupt and grating sound had been enough of a reminder, Levi still wasn’t completely over being sad. He quickly reached for the phone on the side of his bench in an ungraceful and seemingly desperate chain of motions that had him almost ashamed of himself.

His laptop had been one of the victims, toppling over to the side of the bed but by god’s grace it had only skimmed the edges before laying flat on its side.

Levi muttered a soft curse. This message better be worth it. And the only message he decided would be worth it, would be a message from Hange which didn’t involve that stupid application.

Leviiiiiii are you free? :))))))))))

Free when? Levi was quick to reply. Now? Tomorrow? Next week? Really, he was always free, it was just a matter of asking for a leave and opening his schedule. He didn’t want to seem so pathetic as to tell her that though

Long weekend this weekend so Zeke offered to take us south to one of our country clubs.

Us?

Erwin is coming too. Levi didn't’ know whether to feel relieved or disappointed at that exposition. Before he could reply though, the messages kept coming.

Think of it as a thank you for the app ;)

And a start to a great partnership ;)

Hange had too many smileys, too many winky faces but recently, she had started to pepper her messages with just a little too much. They were colleagues, very friendly colleagues. For a second, he wondered how many smileys Hange used when messaging Zeke.

Still, Levi saw some glimmer of hope and optimism in the fact that they were creating a special bond in their own way.

And who would he be to turn down a special invite from a special colleague. I’ll see you there then :) He added his own smiley in the end, trying to forget the fact that he had wasted a good few seconds vacillating between the winking smiley face and the normal one.

Hange’s reply came quickly and maybe a little more enthusiastically. Okay! We’ll pick you up Friday night at the office :D

Levi was grateful at least he had something to look forward to.

#levihan #levihan fanfiction #zekehan

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red-kewpie-cap · 3 years

Text

Over an Anpan, Really

Shigaraki x Reader, sfw, word count 1,709

"Thank you, have a nice day!" you smiled politely from behind the front countertop. The customer waved as she exited, and the bell above the door chimed upon its closing.

"I'll be out back waiting for the supply truck. They should be coming," your coworker, Miyaguchi, paused to check his watch, "in two minutes. Can you handle the shop for an hour or so?"

You nodded, "Gotcha."

"Alright, thanks. I'll be back!" Miyaguchi spun around the door and left through the kitchen behind you. You listened for the back door as it closed.

Your elbow was propped atop the cool, marble countertop, your head resting lightly on your hand. The pastries encased in the glass displays were freshly baked this morning, and you had to hold yourself back from stealing a few.

It was only your first month in Japan, and you were still learning the ropes language-wise, culturally, and socially. Unlike in your home country, running in to famous pro-heroes was more common here due to living in the most populated city.

You admired hero work greatly, so you kept a small book of the biggest heroes in Japan in case you ever encountered one. The bakery was fairly empty—it was still early, anyway. Adults were commuting to work outside the shop's windows, and students skipped to school in their matching uniforms.

You sighed and pulled your booklet out from the counter's bottom shelf. A green tag stuck out from the top near the first few pages. You opened the book from the marker and began to read about the hero on the page, Mt. Lady.

Fully indulged in your reading, you were startled by the bakery doorbell's chimes.

"Oh! Good morning, what can I get you today?" You fumbled with the booklet and—subsequently—ended up dropping it on the opposite side of the counter.

Damn it.

The customer delivered a judging stare before slowly bending over to pick the book up. They held the stapled spine between their thumb and index, the rest of their fingers held high above the booklet.

Are they afraid of germs?

They dropped the book on the counter. Bashfully, you thanked them, ensuring the distance between you two in case they really were disturbed by germs.

You only then noticed the person's unordinary appearance. A white, detached hand held onto their face, and several more latched onto their upper body. Their baby blue hair was unkempt and tangled, and their black garments were just as tattered; however, you weren't one to judge, so you asked for their order just as any good employee would.

"Give me an anpan." His voice was higher than you expected and oddly soothing.

Although he did not appear as polite as most customers, you followed his directions and wrapped the single bun in paper. Waiting a few seconds more, you then asked with a smile, "Is that all, sir?"

His shoulders dropped ever so slightly, and he shook his head.

"Alright then. That'll be two hundred yen," you said, internally cringing at your slight mispronunciation. Your Japanese was far from perfect.

The man grabbed the paper bag and turned to the exit with no intention of paying.

"Ah, sir! You have to pay for that!" You worriedly glanced at the back door to see if Miyaguchi was still outside. Seeing that he was absent, you hurried around the counter and stood in between the front door and the blue haired man.

"You have to pay for your food, sir," you stated adamantly. If Miyaguchi discovered that the store had been robbed during your shift, you would be in deep trouble—no matter how much money was taken.

"Move" was all he said.

"You have to pay first," you replied.

The man sighed dramatically and dragged himself to a table with two, pastel yellow chairs. He unwrapped the bun, carefully sticking his pinkie finger out as he did so.

What a polite robber.

"Are you going to pay?" you asked, growing more confused than angry.

The strange man tapped the leg of the chair across from him with his foot. "Sit down."

You deliberately followed along. Perhaps showing kindness would convince him to pay for his food.

Slowly, he removed the white hand from his face, revealing a pair of cherry red eyes. He had two scars: one over his right eye, another across the side of his mouth. A mole dotted his pale skin beneath his bottom lip, and dark bags sagged beneath his tired eyes.

You gave no reaction but only observed him further. The man then looked at you, his eyebrows laced with both judgement and confusion. "Aren't you scared?"

"No," you responded, "should I be?"

He rose the anpan to his mouth and bit into the soft bun. Swallowing his bite, he continued, "I'm a villain. I could kill you."

Despite him having no joking tone, you couldn't take his words seriously. Somehow, proclaiming oneself as a villain while dressed in all black felt all too cliché to you.

"Did you just laugh?" He looked up through slit like eyes.

"Huh—no! Did I? I must've thought of something funny." You frantically waved your hands in front of your face, a single bead of sweat dripping down the back of your neck.

He stared a second longer before taking another bite of the anpan. There was an uncomfortable silence.

You've never been in a situation like this before at work—a man who seemed to be stealing was now seated before you, engaging in what could be considered a conversation. Nonetheless—a villain—who was believed to be worse than a criminal. You weren't sure what to do, but as long as he payed for his food, you would be satisfied.

"Are you going to call the police?"

"No. I wasn't planning on it," you spoke honestly. "I just want you to pay for your food so I can keep my job."

"It's only two hundred yen."

"Two hundred yen that could get me fired."

He hummed and took the last bite of the bun. In his palm, he crumpled the paper wrapper, then closed his fingers over the trash. The paper disintegrated in seconds, and you somehow managed to inhale some of the dust left over, making you sneeze.

He tilted his head up and looked at you with another blank expression. It was so difficult to read him.

"Excuse me," you sputtered quietly in English.

Desperate to keep your new job, you resorted to flattery. "You have very nice... eyes... by the way. I've never met someone with red eyes before."

He didn't seem amused, but then again, he didn't seem anything majority of the time.

"What's your name,” his sentence more of a command than a question.

"Sato," you lied. He was still a villain no matter how unthreatening he appeared in the moment.

"Sato," he repeated suspiciously, "really?"

You nodded, following his gaze that traveled from your chest back to your eyes.

"Your name tag seems to disagree, (y/n)."

God, you’re an idiot.

"Right! Sato is my... middle name. I'm not from Japan, so my real name is a bit hard to pronounce. That's why I go by Sato," you stammered, fiddling with your apron the entire time.

"Well, did I say it correctly?" he inquired with the slightest hint of sarcasm.

You rapidly nodded.

"Then go by it. Sato's an ugly name."

You couldn't tell if this was an attempt to compliment you or if he genuinely disliked the name Sato.

"So... are you going to pay now?"

There was the thousandth silence between you before the man groaned loudly, dragging a single hand across his face with annoyance. He continued to pull out a phone and dial a random number.

You waited awkwardly as the phone rang for the longest time possible before someone picked up.

"I need money," he grumbled.

A voice buzzed in response, but the receiver was not loud enough for you to understand. You simply sat still, occasionally fidgeting with your apron as he argued on the phone. He finally ended the call with "Be quick."

Not even seconds later, a flash of purple swirled outside the bakery doors. Another strange man stepped out of the ominous dust.

His entire body was a patched quilt with stitches connecting a purple-ish colored skin to what remained of his natural skin. He had fluffy, yet sharp, black hair and wore a long trench coat just as torn as the man before you.

Villains must not buy new clothes often.

The bell rang for the fifth time that day as the man entered. He immediately turned his attention toward you, completely overlooking his defeated friend.

You gulped.

"You never pay for shit, Shigaraki. Have you finally softened up? Or are you being held hostage." The nightmarish man had a mocking tone in his voice, and he stared at you despite speaking to his friend.

"Just give me the damn money," the villain—who was apparently named Shigaraki—hissed back.

"You got it, boss," the latter quipped, sarcastic and mockingly.

He fished a five hundred yen coin out of his coat pocket and dropped it on the table. Shigaraki was already standing up by that time, brushing his hands on his black shirt.

"Let me get you your change," you exhaled, relieved that you managed to get your way. You swiftly shuffled back to the cash register, but the two men were already on towards the exit.

"He wants you to keep it," whispered the black haired friend with a playful wink, and the doorbell rang for the last time that hour.

You witnessed the same purple cloud swallow the two just outside the front door, and they were gone.

Your eyes stared at the booklet that still lie on the countertop. Flipping through the glossy pages, you stopped at the middle where it transitioned to the "Villains" section. Likely enough, there was a page solely dedicated to the blue haired man who had just attempted to steal an anpan from your bakery.

You spent the next twenty minutes reading about him—his crimes, his victories, and his defeats. "Interesting guy," you muttered to yourself.

#shigaraki #shigaraki x reader #my hero academia #mha #bnha #boku no hero academia #self insert #sfw #gender neutral reader #if you see this please tell me how to insert a downloaded gif #writing tingz

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pinky-the-elephant-room · 4 years

Text

Shoot your shot

♡ AN: I got around to writing for Haikyuu! again and this time it’s for Oikawa, can you believe I hated this man so much that I ranted to my friend about him for a hour? Now I’m writing a smut for him the growth we love to see it~ I’m an anime only person and I know some spoilers so ignore any inconsistencies you might see because this is an anime only canon fic.

♡ Oikawa x Brazilian Fem Reader : Playing beach volleyball is a cinch no problem right? But the sight of you in a bikini is too much to bear and having a hard on while playing volleyball is hardly convenient. So when Oikawa sees you in nothing but a towel in the locker room he decides to finally make his move on you.

♡ Warning: Explicit shower smut with 27 year old Oikawa, voyeurism, semi public sex, and maybe a daddy kink at the end? Read at your own discretion.

✯ ✯ ------------------------- ✯ ✯

➢ Portuguese translation

⇢ Y/N, você está aqui? - Y/N, are you in here?

⇢ Sim, ainda estou aqui - Yes, I’m still here.

⇢ Fode me o meu amor - Fuck me, my love.

“Yoohoo! Lucas, how you been?” Oikawa said, stretching out his o’s.

His Argentinean teammate said something, but the reception was terrible.

“Hold on! Let me take this outside.” He stepped out of his air-conditioned flat out into the humid air.

The voice garbled a few more sentences before it became clearer. “C-can you hear me now?”

Oikawa grinned hearing the familiar voice. “Yeah! What’s up?”

Though, he will always cherish his memories with his former team in Japan. Oikawa was now connecting with his national team as well as creating bonds and chemistry on par with his friends back home.

“Alright, amigo, I just did you a huge favor. You’re going to love me and I’m demanding more of that milk bread from you.”

He felt the familiar irritation every time someone claimed his milk bread. Oikawa only shared his milk bread with his teammate because he never tasted the magnificence of the treat. He almost suffered a heart attack when Lucas asked what was so good about bread.

“No promises, but I’m listening,” Oikawa replied as he looked over the night sky of Bueno Aires, it felt gratifying to know that a Japanese boy from a small town now lived in one of the biggest cities in Argentina.

“You remember telling me to help out with your little crush on Y/N, right?”

He rolled his eyes and pouted, “I don’t recall asking for your help! I just asked if she was single. That’s two different things!”

Oikawa remembered when he first saw Y/N at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he had been ecstatic to go home despite representing another country. It was his debut performance on a world stage. So, he walked around Tokyo for a while before heading back to his hotel to prepare for his match. When Oikawa turned on his T.V., he noticed it was the Women’s volleyball finals between Brazil and the U.S. It seemed like the Japanese women didn’t make it. He watched for a few minutes absentmindedly before he got distracted by player 24 from Brazil. She was the ace and was quite short, but it seemed like the average height for the female players. She was quite good, stealing point after point from their opponents. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. But rather her amusing victory dance each time she gained a point for her team. Y/N would obnoxiously dance in front of the net making her opponents furious.

Oikawa grinned childishly; he knew she was doing it on purpose as the U.S. team started making amateur errors as the gap between the two teams widened. It was a good strategy, one that he himself used on opponents that irritated him like his former kouhai, Kageyama. But his involved taunting, not twerking in front of his opponents. He didn’t think he would look half as good as she did.

From there, it was mere curiosity as to who the player was. She was quite pretty with her long curly hair and golden skin. He didn’t think he would meet her the very next day as she chatted with Lucas in Portuguese. He had no idea his Spanish speaking teammate even knew Portuguese. She had glanced over to him and introduced herself in rich accented English.

“Hello, I’m Y/N L/N. Nice to meet you.” She held out her hand.

He shook it, marveling at the softness despite the calluses he felt on her palm.

When she left to go find her team, Oikawa turned to Lucas and asked in a casual voice, “soooo… are you two together or something?”

Lucas just grinned at him and shook his head.

“Nah, she’s my how you say… my tomodachi.”

From there Lucas had taken it upon himself to get the two together, which didn’t work well after the Olympics were over as he returned to Bueno Aires and she to Brazil.

“So, anyway I told her that you would do it in place of me! Isn’t that great?” Oikawa snapped out of his thoughts as Lucas continued.

“Wait what? Repeat that last part.”

He heard an aggravated sigh from the phone.

“Y/N participates in a beach volleyball competition every summer for charity. Her usual partner is gone, and she asked me, but I told her that I hurt my ankle. So, I volunteered you for the job!”

Oikawa blinked as the words registered in his mind.

“B-but I’ve never played professional beach volleyball before.”

Sure, he’s played some matches for fun every now and then. But surely a legitimate competition is different than screwing around with a beach ball.

“Ehh, it’s the same sport just with different rules. But don’t let that get in your way. This is your chance!”

Since he came back from Tokyo, Oikawa did sort of miss her and he hadn’t connected with any of the girls he met since.

“Alright fine. Let’s do this. How hard can it be?”

From there Lucas gave Y/N’s number to him. He immediately texted her and they figured out a schedule to practice together a few months before the actual tournament. Thankfully with the Olympics over, he no longer had to be in Argentina for the rigorous team practices and was free to go to Brazil as he pleased. So, a few weeks later he reached the coastal city Ubatuba in Brazil, ready to finally take a crack at beach volleyball.

Oikawa was munching away on his toast when he heard a knock in his hotel room. He quickly downed his breakfast smoothie and made his way to look through the peephole to see Y/N standing outside waiting patiently. He unlocked the door and let her in.

“Hey. How was your flight?” She asked as she kissed his cheek in greeting.

Oikawa felt his face get warm and tried not to get too excited over the fact that she had kissed him. He knew it was part of the friendly culture, but he couldn’t help the flutters that erupted from the gesture.

“Not too bad. Only two hours long.”

“Hope you’re ready to practice today. My friends and I have a court set up at Praia de Santa Rita. It’s a private beach we reserved and afterwards there are tons of restaurants we can go to for dinner,” Y/N said as she looked around the fancy hotel he had booked. He smirked at her reaction of course he deserved nothing but the best.

The two of them stepped out of the hotel and his eyes widened at the sight of her large jeep. Y/N jumped in and waved him inside. He carefully maneuvered himself in, hopefully, she wouldn’t drive too crazily.

“Put on your seat belt, you’ll need it!” Y/N screamed gleefully, and she revved up her jeep before pulling out of the parking lot. Oikawa’s nails dug into the seat’s handles while he held on tightly as she swerved around the tight corners without slowing down. His face continued to pale as she kept driving before finally pulling next to a beach. He carefully let himself out and his legs felt like jelly.

Oikawa gasped out, “y/n, please don’t ever drive again for everyone’s safety.”

He only heard the remnants of her door slamming and her giggles while she walked away. Oikawa followed her coming onto a rest area.

“Ok, this is where the restrooms and locker rooms are. So, get changed if you need to and then just follow the signs down to the beach,” she told him before heading inside herself with a small bag in her hand. He himself had brought along a change of clothes some shorts and a tank top with some sunscreen. Oikawa learned the hard way how important sunscreen was under the intense sun here when he turned into a lobster. After getting changed he found himself on the warm sand with the hot sun beating on his head. There was a volleyball net set up in the middle of the sand and there was a small group there getting warmed up as they spiked the ball from one side to the other.

“Hey! Good you’re here now we can get started,” a voice called from behind him. He turned around to see Y/N dressed in a small violet bikini which left little to the imagination. Her toned body and caramel skin caused his own body to burn with undisguised want.

“Are you playing in that?” He yelped.

Y/N looked down at her bikini confused, not seeing anything wrong with it.

“Yeah? What else would I wear? I mean sand gets everywhere. I can’t exactly wear a volleyball uniform on the beach,” she said with teasingly.

The flush on his cheek became brighter and he couldn’t exactly blame this on the hot sun either.

“So, what do you know about professional beach volleyball, Toru?”

His face immediately blossomed with a smile. He still wasn’t used to people openly calling him by his first name without honorifics despite being out of Japan for a few years now. But with Y/N it sounded natural and perfect coming out of her mouth. Though she didn’t exactly pronounce his name correctly, she rolled the rs too much. Oikawa never tried to correct her because he found her pronunciation absolutely sensual.

“Aren’t the rules mostly the same?”

Y/N shook her head. “Not exactly. A beach volleyball court is smaller and instead of six players, there are only two. Meaning only me and you are going to protect the entire court. There are no setters, liberos, or blockers. The two players usually divide it into two sides, protecting the left and the right. Beach volleyball games are usually faster, and it's usually played to 21 points instead of 25.”

Oikawa now understood why Lucas had readily volunteered him to become her partner. It would require time and dedication to become decent at the game which he was all too ready to bestow on her.

“Is that all?” he asked looking down at her.

Suddenly, he heard loud yells as the ball headed towards their area and he instinctively grabbed it before it hit either of them. But as soon as he touched it, the ball felt weird. It was lighter and bigger than the average volleyball.

“Oh, and the volleyball is different as you can see.”

Y/N patted his back and said, “come on. Let’s start.”

There were two other girls on one side of the court while he and Y/N occupied the other. She passed off the ball to him for his serve. Y/N went to stand in the top left while he served from the right baseline. He was just about to toss up the ball when he noticed something incredible.

Oikawa bit his lip to contain his groan, the sight was pure torture. It wasn’t fair to him and really any man. Y/N was standing in front of him with her knees bent, ready to receive any serve coming her way. There wasn’t anything wrong with her stance, in fact, if she was wearing her volleyball uniform, she would be doing her job like any other volleyball player professional or otherwise. However, in her bikini the forbidden scene made him feel like the worst type of peeping tom. But he couldn’t help it as he messed with the ball in his hand. Her position was perfect for him to saddle up behind her and press his cock against her clothed cunt. Her round ass cheeks were entirely exposed as the bikini bottoms were stretched against her body and the vaginal lips were apparent even against the dark purple fabric.

Which genius made it a thing to play volleyball in bikinis? Whoever it was Oikawa wanted to strangle and thank them from the bottom of his heart all at the same time.

He jerked his face away from Y/N’s body and tossed the ball in the air only to completely miss. The ball just tumbled a few feet from his person. Y/N turned around to give him a concerned look and gave him a thumbs up.

“It’s ok!” she yelled out before focusing back on her opponents. “Keep going!”

‘Don’t look. Don’t look. D-O-N-T! LOOK! Ah fuck it,’ he thought as his eyes went right back to her ass. Honestly, he thought about possible sex with Y/N multiple times, but they were always fantasies with her on the bottom or on top riding him. But never from behind, clearly, he didn’t know what he was missing. His breath hitched when she bent down just a little further before righting herself again. He could probably call for an impromptu break and take her to the side for a private conversation. Maybe finally have that kiss they’ve both been craving for a long time before pushing her against a wall or a tree. He could hike her legs around him and fuck her until her voice was hoarse from screaming his name while her cunt creamed on his cock.

“Come on, Toru! Let’s go!” Y/N yelled as she effectively ruined his daydreams.

Ok, he had to focus now. Absolutely. The ball was once again in the air and he hit it with his palm only for it to hit the net. ….

Was it possible to bury only the face in the sand? He might have a need for that in just a few minutes.

Just as he was about to serve again his eyes wandered right back to Y/N’s backside, but this time she turned around at the same time to meet his eyes. His eyes widened and he quickly faced the front once more.

“Time out!” he heard Y/N say.

Y/N quickly walked towards Oikawa and stared him down.

“Have you been staring at my ass this entire time?”

He swallowed and coolly responded with a “no.”

“I’m not stupid, Toru! Is this going to be a problem for you?” she asked with her arms crossed and stern.

There was no point in lying, she already caught him red-handed so instead, he shrugged.

“It’s not my fault the view’s just too good. I’m only a man,” he said with a low voice.

“Y-you!” She seemed flabbergasted and amused at the same time. Y/N let out a snort and chuckled a few times before snatching the ball from his hands.

“Just go block for now. I’ll serve.” Y/N pointed to the same spot she herself was standing at. Oikawa being entirely shameless just ran his fingers through his hair and winked at Y/N before taking his spot at the front. The two women that were their opponents seemed to be hysterically giggling as well, guess he wasn’t as subtle as he thought he was. So, Oikawa just waved at them good-naturedly and readied himself for a rally.

It looked like Y/N wasn’t as distracted as him because she served without any problems and the game continued. It was much more difficult than he initially thought. While indoor volleyball was a team effort and everyone had to do their part, now Oikawa was responsible for everything. He was running around diving for the ball like a libero and even doing his own spikes as Y/N set a toss perfectly for him. Before he knew it, the game cycled through 6 sets faster than he was used to. That was another thing he noticed beach volleyball’s sets were much faster paced. Usually, he would take his time to dissect and figure out the opponent’s weaknesses before setting up tosses for his team. Now he had no time for that as he dived and ran after the lighter ball. Not only that he had to consider the weather, but the winds were also messing up his shots. Each time he aimed for the tight corners they would get blown out of bounds. Beach volleyball wasn’t harder necessarily, but it was definitely a challenge to learn.

After a couple more sets, Y/N called for a break. She handed him a cold-water bottle from the cooler while she drank some Gatorade.

“So, how long have you been playing beach volleyball?” he asked after swallowing the refreshing water.

“As long as I’ve been playing volleyball. It’s part of the Brazilian team’s routine. Playing beach volleyball actually makes you a better, well-rounded player,” she said as she put the tightened the Gatorade’s lid on and put it back in the cooler.

Y/N stepped closer to him and leaned into his face.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you staring at my ass. I can’t have you missing your serves during the tournament,” She snickered, he felt her hot breath against his ears, causing shivers to erupt across his body.

Oikawa just leaned in even closer, deliberately eyeing her lips for a moment before staring back in her eyes.

“And what exactly do you plan on doing if I don’t stop?”

Instead of getting flustered and putting space in-between them, she instead stepped even closer to him and blinked innocently at him, her eyes dilating and enrapturing him.

“Behave and if you’re a good boy. I’ll reward you, promise,” she muttered just low enough for him to barely hear.

Y/N pecked his cheek and she lingered there for a moment, he could bask in her closeness and smell the remnants of the shampoo from her long hair.

“Y/N! Come on let’s play again,” her friend shouted from halfway across the court.

“Looks like time’s up. I’ll let you serve this time,” Y/N giggled and ran back to start the game again.

Oikawa felt embarrassment choking him on the inside and vowed not to mess up too badly again. He made his way back to the court and grabbed the ball, he deliberately didn’t look at Y/N as she once stood at the front to block. This time he hit one of his more powerful serves and found that most of the power didn’t transfer over to the ball, but he was able to slightly control the ball better this time. The rally continued on until the sun had turned orange and was about to set. Eventually, the group decided on another date they could meet up and practice again for the tournament.

When everything was packed up and put away, he and Y/N made their trek back up the beach to the resting area again.

“Hey, since we won’t be able to practice until next Saturday again. What say me and you practice by ourselves?”

Y/N looked up from her phone and nodded affirmatively.

“Sounds like a good idea. Practice matches once a week probably won’t help unless we get some practice of our own.”

Oikawa bit his lip, hesitating for a minute before asking her.

“Also, since I’m here, you mind showing me around? This is the first time I’ve been to Brazil.”

Y/N again nodded but with more enthusiasm this time as she regaled about tales of the amazing tourist spots and restaurants they could explore in their free time. The two of them went inside the rest area and he went into the men’s locker room to take a quick shower before changing into his clothes. Just as he stripped down and stepped into the shower, he heard a crash and scream coming from the hallway. He turned off the water and tugged a fluffy towel around his waist before walking to track down whatever made the sound. When he walked out to an empty building, he heard Y/N’s voice distinctly cursing coming from the women’s locker room.

“Y/N? You alright?” Oikawa called out, he waited for a few minutes to hear her reply and when she didn’t respond he stepped inside. He peeked inside carefully just in case there were women walking around. He heard some clutter falling onto the floor a few feet away so following the noise he found Y/N in a towel trying to pick up her items.

“You ok?” he asked concerned. Y/N startled and lost her balance, tumbling onto the locker room’s floor.

“Toru, what are you doing in here? This is a woman’s locker room.”

“I know I thought I heard a woman screaming and then I heard your voice, so I came to check if you were ok.”

She sighed and pushed her dripping wet hair from her face. “Yeah, I’m ok I slipped in the shower, and then I realized I brought my phone into the shower, so I came to put it away, only to drop everything inside of my bag.”

Oikawa was about to bend down and help. “Here let me help.”

Y/N held up her hand and replied, “it’s ok I got it.” She gathered all her items and put it all away along with her phone.

Just as she was about to get up, the water that had been dripping from her body and hair gathered on the floor and made the tiles slick. Her foot slipped and she was about to hit the ground hard when Oikawa grabbed her in time before she could. However, Y/N lost her hold on the towel around her body and it exposed her chest and curves to his naked eyes. He quickly turned his head away while keeping a secure grip on her.

“Ahh! Don’t look!” she screamed and slapped her hands over her breasts. “Did you see anything?”

Oikawa swallowed and wished he could tell her no, but he sort of caught a glimpse at the body he had been craving to touch and feast his eyes on since he met her. So, he should opt to keep quiet.

“It’s ok, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before!” Except he panicked and opened his mouth.

“What does that even mean you jerk!” He could feel her try to pull away from his arms.

“Wait that came out wrong, I swear!”

Oikawa turned back around and felt blindsided by Y/N’s beauty. She was soaked to the bone, but never did she look more beautiful to him than in that moment.

“You’re so….” He trailed off. She looked at him a little confused and quit trying to pull away.

“So what?”

He leaned in and caressed her cheek. Oikawa didn’t finish his sentence and instead just connected their two lips. As he sensually captured her lips, Y/N eagerly responded back to him as if she had been desperately waiting for this just like he was. Keeping one hand on her chin to angle her face, his other hand traveled down to her naked bosom. He reverently caressed and tweaked her dusky peaks while expertly maneuvering the kiss. Y/N whimpered with want when his tongue brushed up against hers. He smirked at her reactions as her breathing started getting more erratic and her cute noises became louder and louder. They only broke apart when he heard people approaching the locker rooms.

Just as Oikawa was about to move away from Y/N, she grabbed his hand.

“The far-left shower at the end,” she jerked her head towards it.

He smiled with excitement knowing that she wanted to continue as much as he did. Grabbing and picking her up like she weighed nothing, he hurried to the shower and tugged the shower curtain shut.

Just in time too as he could hear women laughing and talking in Portuguese.

“Y/N, você está aqui?” a woman called out.

Y/N for her part looked startled at being addressed and pushed away Oikawa’s hands that were still playing with her chest.

“Sim, ainda estou aqui,” Y/N responded in a clear voice. She shot a warning look to Oikawa as his hands found themselves back on her hips and making their way back up. He only cheekily smirked at her and returned to pawing at her cleavage. She waited for a few minutes to hear her friend’s footsteps retreating before pulling Oikawa closer and aggressively kissing him. He tugged the towel around his waist off and hiked Y/N’s silky legs around him.

He carefully maneuvered to turn the shower’s knob and set her against the wall while a jet of hot water poured over them. And Oikawa went right back to devouring her mouth and grinding against her hot cunt. As soon as his cock made contact with her tingling clit, Y/N’s body spasmed and she tried to tug him closer. Her ankles interlocked at his waist and she tried to thrust below to encourage him to enter her. But he only chuckled at her excitement and continued to slowly slide back and forth. Y/N forgetting for a moment where she was exactly, enraged by his teasing smacked his thigh loudly enough to echo in the locker room. Oikawa let out a low grunt and thrust full throttle into her. Her eyes widened at the sudden entry and she couldn’t even contemplate the fullness before he withdrew quickly once again.

“Fode me o meu amor,” Y/N begged.

Oh, that just wasn’t playing fair. He didn’t know what she said but her breathless voice and her needy eyes made him helpless.

As if he could no longer bear to be apart without the drenched enclosed intimacy, he reentered without warning. Oikawa fucked her with the same hell-bent concentration he played volleyball with. She covered her mouth with her hand to contain the moans, that only muffled the noises rather than stopping them completely. The faster pace caused Y/N to skid up and down on the shower walls. She tried to find purchase against the tiles, but the hot water droplets caused her to loosen the grip. His breathing got heavier and uneven, why was it he could handle hours of volleyball, but the vise grip of her cunt made him want to spill inside of her like an immature adolescent? He removed her hand covering her moist lips and thoroughly kissed her. He swallowed her moans and they stood in the shower making love for god knows how long. His hand found her engorged clit and his middle finger started pressing slow circle while his thumb and point finger started pinching it in time to his thrusts. Just as she was about to cum, Y/N buried her face in his neck. She bit down hard on his shoulder trying to contain the shrieks she wanted to let out. It wasn’t long before her spiral started to pull him as well, the constriction creating a perfecting suction to swallow his juices. He placed a hand on the wall to stabilize himself just before he pulled out of her and came all over her thighs. The water soon washed away all the evidence of their tryst as it flowed down the drain.

“Does the hot water feel that good?” Y/N’s friend called out. Soon of the other ladies started giggling and laughing along. “We’re leaving! See ya, Y/N!”

The two of them didn’t move from their spot until they heard the sounds of lockers being shut and the ladies’ voices being fading further and further away.

“I think they knew…” Y/N gasped a little embarrassed and horrified.

On the other hand, Oikawa kept smiling like a goof. “I love beach volleyball now! It’s my favorite kind.”

She let out a frustrated groan. “Just get out of my way. I need to get dressed before I prune even more.”

“Maybe next time you should call me papi,” he hollered out as Y/N started to dry herself and got dressed.

“There won’t be a next time if you don’t get your butt dressed soon or I’ll leave you behind.”

Y/n when she was all dressed up and ready to go, waited for him outside of the resting area. He came out joyfully whistling away and ready to leave. Oikawa slung his arm over Y/N’s shoulder and pulled her close. He was finally taking the chance to get closer to her like he always wanted.

“You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you?” she asked tickled with his antics.

He leaned in and pecked her forehead. “You know it,” Oikawa said with a wink.

#oikawa x you #oikawa headcanons #haikyuu!!#haikyuu smut #oikawa toru x reader #oikawa x reader #oikawa x y/n #toru x reader #oikawa smut #haikyuu! fanfic #haikyuu fanfiction #oikawa toru imagine #oikawa toru x y/n #oikawa toru x you

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ficforce · 3 years

Text

Read My Lips

Charon x Female Deaf Reader SFW No established timeline Established relationship

Scorching air passed her at an alarming speed but Y/N didn’t worry as the large man stood in front of her, guarding her against harm whilst he took the attack without complaint. He had taken quite the beating already and the upper part of his clothing had long burnt away from trying to absorb the fiery attacks and send them right back; he was covered in cuts and there was a puddle of blood forming by his left foot that Y/N noted. Their opponent was throwing some heavy firepower their way and even though her protector was taking damage, the man was absorbing the kinetic energy until even she felt like he might combust with how much he had. His foot suddenly stamping on the ground caused the concrete to shatter beneath it and Y/N lost her balance enough to have to grab the back on his belt to stop herself from falling. She didn’t need to look to know his counterattack was devastating and all that was left when she peeked around his side was their target’s charred boot.

“Did you get what we needed?” Charon asked her as he tightened his belt and pulled off the remains of his top, “You have it, right? Y/N?” He turned his head to look back and down at the shorter woman, the aftershock of the explosion had rattled her and she was struggling to understand him, “Y/N, did you get it… did you?” He watched as she squinted up at him, likely able to see that he was getting impatient at her lack of response, and he knew she needed a moment but he wanted to know. With a tut, Y/N reached for his shoulder and tried to pull him around to face her fully, then she reached for the sides of the cloth over his eyes and tugged to bring him closer to her height. Once more he asked, trying not to get annoyed, “Did, you, get, it?” Each word was pronounced clearly, enough to be understood but not patronising.

Y/N finally nodded and Charon grinned wide. Despite his pleased countenance Y/N couldn’t help but notice the gash along the left side of his ribs and she reached out to touch it, eager to help him; Charon caught her hand to stop her, “Not here.” He picked her up with ease, his hand under her backside as her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms went around his neck. The Guardian often complained that she was too slow but she knew that he not so secretly liked carrying her on his hip, he found their height difference amusing, taking off at a run they escaped the building just as the alarm started to wail.

— -

Y/N had been with the White Clads since childhood; they had taken her in after she had gotten lost in the tunnels of The Nether. They had noticed how easily she navigated the tunnels and how she could easily avoid the wandering Infernals. She had been picked up by one of the Knights and they realised she was deaf, she had been thrown away and left to die in The Nether but her Second Generation ability saved her. Her ability had allowed her to see and feel the thermal energy in the air; with training, she discovered how to control the pressure of the energy. Y/N could pick up invisible heat signatures or voids in the air, it made her exceptionally good at finding things or anticipating an attack. It was almost useless as an offensive weapon and that’s why Charon often accompanied her when he wasn’t Guarding Haumea, it didn’t have to be him but he was overly fond of Y/N and wanted to keep her safe.

They were an odd couple.

Charon was a giant compared to most of his peers, he was tall and broad, he was loud and he asked too many questions too. The Guardian was looked up to as one of the strongest Guardians and his dedication to Haumea was almost fatherly; even if he was impatient and hated waiting for anything, even though Haumea kicked him too often. He was a devoted and serious member of the White Clad with unwavering loyalty to the Evangelist. Y/N had always liked his confidence and despite what people thought - That he was big and dumb - he was cunning… even if he was a little sadistic at times.

Though, not with her.

Charon had always been sweet to her. He would often bring her little presents and was always gentle. She was his opposite in nearly every way. Y/N had almost infinite patience with everything and was kind to her comrades - particularly towards the children. Y/N barely reached the middle of Charon’s chest in height, her hand to hand combat skills were weak and she was underestimated; that gave her opportunity to ruin her enemies and secure her place as a Knight. She wasn’t loud, she hardly ever spoke and read lips, very few people understood sign language and she relied on those few people to help her with the others. Sometimes, Charon didn’t pay attention and would turn his face away from her when speaking or he would speak too fast which caused Y/N some trouble. One of the most common sights of the two was when Charon would turn away and she would grab his face to turn it back toward her, he wasn’t good at sign language so he had to learn to be patient with her… not his strongest skill.

Charon hadn’t put her down once, even as they descended into the darkness of The Nether, they were used to the dark and knew the winding tunnels well.

This was part of their home.

He felt her shift a little against his side and slowed his steps as she took a moment to carefully adjust the cloth over his eyes to make sure the red cross sat correctly. Her hands covered his ears and she pressed her cheek to his pale hair, “Hm? What is it?” Charon asked as he stopped walking altogether, his answer cam a second later as a loud crash came from the tunnels up ahead. Ash was kicked up from the tunnels and washed over them along with the stale air, Y/N had made sure their eyes had been protected and then, anticipating a loud noise, had tried to protect his ears; Charon knew her ability allowed her to feel pressure changes in the air and shifts in thermal activity.

She’d known about the collapse before it had even happened.

“Can we still get home?” She nodded and pointed down another tunnel that was pitch black, “That’ll take ages, we’ll have to stop on the way. Do you think there’s a place to rest? Do you want to go above ground? Or should we keep going?” Even as he asked he walked toward where she had pointed, fully aware it was too dark for her to read his lips but still speaking; he trusted her judgement. Neither could create their own flames, their eyes were well adjusted to dark places and Y/N could use her ability to check for voids and weak areas that might cause them difficulty. After a few minutes of walking, she felt a vibration in the air and her fingers found Charon’s lips, her touch feather-light she felt his lips move against her fingertips as he asked her more questions. He wanted to stop somewhere to tend to his bleeding side and Y/N concentrated on the air around them, reading the thermal energy lingering there until she found an anomaly that signified a room that hadn’t been disturbed for a long time.

Not even wandering Infernals had been near it - it felt cold and dead.

Charon put her down when she instructed him to and he followed close until they came to a massive metal door, it was floor to ceiling and just as wide, dips in the ground told them that vehicles may have been stored there at some point in the past and they assumed it was an old storage warehouse. Charon pulled open the industrial-sized door, the hinges squealed and more stale air assaulted their noses, Y/N pulled the front of her clothing up a little until the worst of it passed. “People before the Cataclysm really liked underground storage, right?” Turning his head to grin down at her, Charon let out a small sigh, she wasn’t looking at him and that meant she hadn’t heard him - but if not at him, what was she staring at deep in the darkness? She grabbed his hand all of a sudden and indicated that he should shut the door. The noise of opening it the first time had caught the attention of something out there and she needed to patch him up first. They used her last emergency light stick to illuminate the room, rows and rows of metal shelves lined the back of the large square room, there were old stains from oils and an ancient car that looked like someone had been halfway through fixing.

Forcing the large man to sit on what looked like a workbench, Y/N placed her hand against the centre of his chest - somehow she was able to ignore how warm he was, how she could feel his heartbeat thumping lightly into her palm and just how beautiful all of his strong, dark skin looked in his half-naked state.

Now wasn’t the time.

She left his side after examining the wound and started exploring along the shelves; tools, cans of oil and lubricants, rubbish and mouldy cups lined most of them but she was looking for something to help clean his wound. There was nothing suitable. Y/N would have to patch him up as best she could without a disinfectant. From beneath her White Clad robes, she pulled out a small medi-pack from her belt and went back to Charon.

His left pant leg was dyed red and her hand slipped on his bloody skin by the cut as she tried to clean him up with what was left in her water flask, “Let me,” Charon’s large hand covered hers with a small squeeze just before he took the cloth from her and made short work of mopping himself up. His wound had stopped bleeding now but it was hurting him, darkening around the edges and swelling a little, “Is it bad?” Y/N looked up at him with a tilt to her head, missing what was said, “Bad. Am I gonna die?” She grinned up at him fondly and shook her head, Y/N had been threading a surgical needle as he had cleaned up and Charon felt heat blooming over the wound as invisible pressure pushed against and forced the torn edges of the skin together, “That hurts… do you care? You’re hurting your cute, little boyfriend and you don’t care, right?” Trying to hold in a giggle the woman began stitching him up. Charon’s fingers pinched at her clothing at her waist and gave a playful tug, “Y/N,” he called, knowing she would feel the vibration in the air rather than his words. He also knew that she would be aware he had said her name from the specific pattern of the vibration.

There wasn’t much difference in their ages and she had been a White Clad almost as long as he had, they’d as much as grown up together and he noticed that sometimes she would react to her name without having to see the person who had called it. She could even tell who was speaking sometimes and would ignore certain people on purpose. Charon liked that she found his voice unique to other voices, that not all the vibrations she felt were the same; and he loved when she would become bashful at the feel of his voice. “Hey, Y/N? You ignoring me? Not gonna look up? Don’t you think that’s cold? Y/N… Y/N?” The guardian could feel her twitch every time he said her name and his grin got bigger and bigger until she jabbed him lightly with the needle.

“Charon!” Her eyes looked up with an almost pleading expression, he knew what saying her name did to her, the way that his voice floated on the air and caressed her all over - it was only ever his unheard voice that made her react like that and in the small room with limited pressure and air it had been amplified. Y/N’s lips closed firmly together and she turned her gaze from him. It was rare she ever spoke out loud other than to finish prayer and she always felt anxiety about people hearing her.

What did her voice sound like?

How did she pronounce her words?

The man cradled her cheek in his hand and moved in to give her gentle kiss on the lips. Sometimes he liked to push her until she spoke his name out loud, every syllable perfect to his ears, the shape of her mouth when she spoke, the tone and quality always musical to him. He pulled back just enough for her to read his lips, “I love you,” Charon watched as she smiled and then he returned his own with a devilish twist, “Y/N.” He saw the shiver that ran up along her spine and laughed as she punched him in the chest.

#charon #reader #fire force #enen no shouboutai #enn enn no shouboutai #garth ennis

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petersasteria · 3 years

Text

Happy Ending - Harry Holland

Pairing: CEO!Harry x CEO!Reader Requested? Nah. This is my surprise for y’all after not writing for a while. 4.3k words

hh masterlist

Big thanks to @hotforharrison for allowing me to spill this idea before it disappeared in the depths of my mind.

* * * *

“Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.” Harry said.

The priest looked at you and said, “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.” You smiled.

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you; husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” The priest happily said. Harry turned to you and carefully lifted your veil and leaned in to give you a quick kiss before turning to his family, who was clapping.

You should’ve paid attention to that.

You should’ve known better, to be honest. After being married for three years, you should’ve seen all the signs, but you choose to be blinded by your ever-growing love for Harry. Yours and Harry’s family decided that both of you should get married in order to have a strong partnership and to be wealthier, you guessed.

Despite your marriage being arranged, you’ve learned and grown to love the Holland lad. He wasn’t very fond of you, though. When you met him, he was already dating someone and he was forced to break up with her and then he was forced to date you the next day. You understood where he was coming from because you were also seeing someone at that time. However, as time passed by, you learned things about him and those things made you love him. He was very easy to love, but he was a difficult person to deal with. You knew he didn’t love you, but you figured that he’d soon learn to love you eventually just like how you learned to love him.

You’ve never been more wrong in your life.

In the span of three years, Harry has done nothing domestic with you. He made sure he always drowned himself with work and the only time he’d have sex with you is when he’s annoyed about something and he needs to let it out. Shockingly, that rarely happened, so you make sure to cherish every heated moment you two have because you don’t know when the next one will be.

“Y/N, my dear, when will you and my son give me grandchildren?” Nikki asked you one day when you had lunch with her and Tom.

Tom chuckled as he cut a piece of steak, “Mum, don’t pressure them. I’m sure they’re planning. Right?” Tom looked at you as he ate the piece of steak on his fork and you just smiled at him. You wanted to tell them both that you and Harry weren’t very active in the bedroom, but you decided against it because you knew they’d ask why.

“See?” Tom said as he looked at Nikki. “They’re already trying. Let’s not mess with that part of their married life.”

Nikki playfully rolled her eyes and said, “Fine. I won’t ask anymore, but just know that I’m waiting.” She winked at you and you couldn’t help but laugh.

When you got home, Harry texted you saying that he wouldn’t come home because he’d be crashing at Sam’s place because they have something important to discuss. You didn’t know why, but the first thing that popped in your mind was, “Oh my god. He’s probably planning something for our anniversary. Maybe he’s had a change of heart.”

Your fourth year anniversary was months away, but you figured he was planning something big that’s why he was planning months before. You were wrong again though, but you didn't know that. Not yet, at least.

After that incident, it followed with many more.

“Y/N, I’m not coming home tonight.”

“I already ate, but thanks for cooking dinner.”

“I can’t have lunch with you because I have a meeting.”

“I’m having brunch with Tom. See you later or not.”

Soon, he started getting really angry at you. It didn’t matter what you did because he’d just get mad at you. He’s never shouted at you before, so when he shouted at you for the first time, it surprised you.

Being the good wife that you are, you decided it’d be nice to surprise Harry at his work place just for fun. You thought it’d be spontaneous. You even cancelled your whole day just to spend time with him. You showed up at his office and he wasn’t there. His secretary said he was having lunch with a few Japanese businessmen and that he’d be back shortly.

You didn’t have to wait long because he arrived at his office twenty minutes later and you were comfortably sitting on his big chair. The second he saw you, his mood changed.

“What’re you doing here?!” He asked and stormed up to you.

“I’m actually here to surprise you.” You said as you slowly stood up from his seat. “Surprise!” You smiled at him, but that didn’t wipe the anger from his face.

“Get out.” He said as he grabbed your things and gave it to you.

“Hey, what’re you doing?!” You shrieked and slightly pushed him away. “I’m trying to be nice.”

“And I’m trying to escort you out of here.” Harry said bluntly. “Just get out and I won’t have to force you out. That’s the nicest thing I could do for you.”

“No, Harry. The nicest thing you could do for me is to actually try spending time with me. You’re not even trying!” You said, raising your voice a bit to get your point across.

Harry scoffed, “If it wasn’t already obvious, I don’t fucking like you. So, hanging out with you is already asking too much from me.”

“I know that you don’t fucking like me, but you could at least try and learn how to fucking like me. That’s what I did to you.” You spat.

“Yes, but you and me are two different people.” He replied snarkily.

You chuckled bitterly and just left. You didn’t want to stay there anymore. You couldn’t believe that you actually stayed with him for nearly four years now. Of course, when he got home later that night, both of you had sex because he was hella annoyed because of you.

Today was your fourth year anniversary and despite what happened at his office a while back, you forgave him even though you knew he didn’t care if you forgave him or not. You slaved away in the kitchen to cook a few dishes to make the celebration special. And to make the celebration extra special, you found out that you were pregnant with your first baby. You were thrilled when you found out and you were nervous about how Harry would react because you didn’t know if he wanted a baby or not.

Harry got home and saw the dinner you prepared. He entered the dining area and saw you standing next to the table. “Happy anniversary.” You smiled softly. He only nodded and said, “I’ll join you for a bit. I’ll take a shower.” He took out his phone from his pocket and left it on the table.

He left the dining area and went straight to your shared room. You smiled to yourself and sat down. You saw his phone light up and there was something inside of you that was telling you to check. You immediately shook off the thought of checking it because it was wrong and it was invading his privacy. But for some reason, you pushed through. You were thankful that you did, though because you saw a text from someone named “Anna”.

See you tomorrow, baby. I love you xx

Your heart dropped to your stomach and you immediately grabbed your phone while unlocking his. You didn’t want to read his messages, but you went through his contacts to look for Anna’s contact. It was easy to find because Anna was the only person in the letter A section of the contacts. You immediately typed her contact on your phone and when you were finished, you exited the contacts app on his phone and removed it on the app switcher feature to remove the ‘evidence’. You locked his phone and put it back on where he left it. You slowly went back to your seat with your phone in hand. You quickly typed out a text to Anna. You lied and said that you were Harry’s cousin and that he said that it’d be cool if both of you would meet. She quickly replied and said that she was free next week and both of you decided to see each other on Friday next week.

When Harry got back, he sat on his seat and started eating. You lost the appetite to eat and you lost the enthusiasm to tell him that you were carrying his child. You stared at him as you asked yourself how he could sit there and act like he wasn’t hurting your feelings? You knew he didn’t like you, but you never thought he’d stoop so low to cheat on you.

Next week. Friday.

Friday quickly came around and you didn’t know what to feel. You were already at the restaurant you agreed on and you were seated at a table that had a clear view of the door. You didn’t have to ask what she was wearing because the moment she walked in, you knew it was her. Turns out, Anna was Harry’s ex that he still loved very much.

You guessed that she knew who you were because when you made eye contact, she slowed down in walking and bitterly chuckled. Regardless, she sat across from you and being polite, you let her order first because you already had food.

After she ordered, both of you were silent. You were praying that she was nicer than Harry and she was just praying that there won’t be a huge scene. She actually admired you a bit for reaching out and you admired her for showing up and not walking away as soon as she saw you.

When her order arrived, which was just a cup of coffee, you started talking. You cleared your throat and quietly said, “I know who you are; you’re my husband’s mistress.”

Anna was taking a sip of her coffee when you said that and she raised her eyebrows as soon as those words came out of your mouth. She nodded and put down her coffee. She wiped her mouth with the table napkin and crossed her legs. Anna looked at you and said, “Mistress? If I recall correctly, he loves me; not you. You’re more of a mistress than I am, in my book.”

“I’m his wife." You said calmly.

“I get that.” Anna nodded. “But you’re just his wife. You’re a cover up because his parents don’t like me for him. You may share a bed with him everyday, but I’ll always be the one he loves. That won’t change, Y/N.”

“I understand, but I thought both of you would have the decency to not cheat.” You said, teary-eyed.

She smiled sadly at you, “It’ll be cheating either way because I’d constantly be on his mind, I’d be the one in his heart, I’d be the one he’d always call or text if he’s excited about something or if he wants to rant, and I’d be the one he’ll love and want. His feelings for me alone are already sort of cheating.”

You sat there dumbfounded and you just stayed silent as hot tears streamed down your face. She looked at you and sighed, “Look, I know that he’s super harsh on you and as you can see, I’m not super harsh on you right now. Knowing him, he most likely won’t say sorry for his actions because he hates you, Y/N. So on behalf of me and Harry, I’m sorry for going behind your back.”

“I think it takes a lot of balls to contact me and to ask me to meet you. You even lied just so I can come here and that’s actually impressive. If it were someone else, they’d immediately drop the bomb of being the wife and you didn’t do that. That’s a smart move.” She added.

“But I’m sorry for everything. I know it won’t fix anything, but it takes balls to apologize so…” Anna shrugged and you just nodded and took a sip of your water.

When you got home, Harry was already there waiting for you. He was visibly mad and before you could even make it to the stairs, Harry stood up from the couch and pulled your arm. “What the fuck, Y/N?! Why’d you do that?” He asked angrily.

“Do what?”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about. Why did you meet up with Anna?! How did you even get her number?” Harry glared at you and you were already in tears again. As if crying at the restaurant wasn’t enough.

“I got it while you were showering on our anniversary last week. Your phone lit up and I was curious so I-”

“Unlocked my phone and went through my contacts to look for her then you saved the number on your phone and put my phone back in place?” Harry finished and you couldn’t do anything but nod.

“Okay, so why’d you do it?! What was the reason?” Harry asked, his hands on his hips.

“You were drifting away.” You whimpered. “I mean, you used to have dinner here and then one day you stopped. You didn’t yell at me before, but now no matter what I do, you’d yell at me as if I did something wrong. I couldn’t handle it anymore!”

“If you couldn’t handle it anymore, why didn’t you just fucking leave?!” Harry hissed.

“Because I love you and I want this to work.” You answered truthfully.

He scoffed, “If you haven’t noticed, this isn’t working and it will never work!”

Both of you stood in silence. You were holding back your sobs and Harry was looking away from you as he took deep breaths to calm down; he didn’t want to do anything he’d later regret. He would never hit a woman, but he just wanted to make sure. As soon as he calmed down a bit, he turned to face you and said, “I’m filing for a divorce.”

“What?” You whispered.

“I’m filing for a divorce. I think you and I can agree that this whole fucking set up was mental and I hated every single second of it. You’re a good wife, you really are. I’m an asshole and I know that. You deserve to be someone else’s good wife, not me. Let’s just let each other go and move on. The partnership will not be affected, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll handle the rest.” He said calmly.

You just nodded, not putting up a fight anymore. “Okay. I’ll start packing my things, then. I don’t want to stay here.”

“Okay. I’ll leave you to it.” Harry said as he walked back to the living room. You raced up the stairs and packed your things as you sobbed.

A few days later, your divorce was finalized and all of your things were now at your old apartment. You never told Harry about the child you had with him, so while you raised the kid on your own, Harry was living his life with Anna.

You had a boy and you named him Reece. You raised him alone for the first five years of his life in secret, but Harry’s secretary saw you one time and immediately called Harry. Later that day, you got a phone call from Harry asking you if Reece was his.

“Yes, but that doesn’t concern you now.” You said shortly.

“I have every right to know who he is. I’m his father.” Harry said on the other line.

“You’re his father, but you’re not his dad. Those are two different things. Besides, this wasn’t part of the divorce.”

“This wasn’t part of the divorce because you didn’t bring it up.”

“What do you want, anyway?” You questioned.

“I want to get to know him. I want to see him, Y/N.” Harry said.

“What if I don’t want you to?”

“I won’t hesitate to take this to court.” Harry said simply. Not wanting to go through the process of dealing things at court, you finally agreed. Harry only had one condition: he would only see him once a month, every Saturday.

Reece was now eight years old and he dreaded spending time with Harry. Reece was thankful that he only had to see him once a month and not every weekend like other kids who had divorced parents.

Harry never told his family about Reece because he knew they’d nag him about leaving you on your own to deal with raising a child. Anna was right; his family didn’t like her for him. Despite that, they all tried to support him.

“I don’t get it.” Harry started. “I’ve been in love with Anna for as long as I can remember and all of you still don’t approve of her. What the hell is wrong with all of you?”

“We ARE happy for you!” Tom said. Harry rolled his eyes and said, “You all have a funny way of showing it.”

“Harry, mate, we’re happy for you, but we think that you should’ve at least made amends with Y/N because we like her and because she’s our family friend.” Sam explained.

“We also want to meet Reece!” Nikki said and Harry’s eyes widened knowing that he never told them about Reece.

“What? How did you know about that?”

“We have our ways.” Paddy shrugged. “But that’s a different story. We want to meet him!”

“Yeah! Invite her to dinner.” Dom smiled as the rest of the Holland family agreed. Except for Harry, of course, because he and Anna were already engaged.

You walked in your office and your secretary, Timmy, was trailing behind you as he told you your schedule for today. You entered your office and Timmy stood by the door as he continued talking. He waited for you to sit on your seat before telling you the last one.

“Is that all, Chalamet?” You asked.

“Um, no, actually.” Timmy said shyly. “Mr. Tom Holland went here this morning hoping to speak with you, but you weren’t here yet.”

“I see.” You nodded. “Did he leave a message?” After all, it was quite strange for your ex-brother-in-law to just swing by your office to speak to you.

Timmy nodded and said, “Mr. Tom Holland and his family are inviting you to dinner with Reese at their manor.”

You furrowed your eyebrows and found it unusual. “Alright. Did Tom say when?”

“Tomorrow at six o’clock in the evening. Shall I confirm yours and Reese’s presence? Or shall I tell him that you and Reese won’t be joining?” Timmy asked as he opened the Gmail app on his iPad, getting ready to compose an email to Tom Holland on behalf of you.

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” You said. What were you thinking?

The next night, you arrived at the manor on time and Reese wasn’t feeling very excited to see his father because it wasn’t Saturday.

“Reece-y, I want you to behave. You’ll meet your uncles and your grandma and grandpa. Be nice, okay? Tell me if you want to go home and we will.” You said before ringing the doorbell. As soon as you rang the doorbell, Reece tugged on your blouse and said, “Mum, I want to go home.”

You gave him a stern look and the door opened to reveal their maid. She lets you in and takes yours and Reece’s coats. The butler came over to lead you to the dining area where everyone was waiting. As soon as you entered the dining area, Reece was hiding behind you and everyone except for Harry and Anna greeted you.

“Y/N, darling, it’s so nice to see you again!” Tom said sweetly as he pulled you in for a hug. You hugged back and introduced Reece to him. The next few minutes were spent hugging and introducing. When it was over, you sat down next to Paddy. Reece was in between you and Sam.

It was clear that Reece was uncomfortable just by seeing his father and ‘the witch’. Anna was the witch. Reece only met her once and as soon as he saw her long acrylic nails, the nickname ‘witch’ was given to her. Reece wasn’t very secretive about his dislike with Anna. He was vocal about it.

“Hey, Reece-y boy!” Anna chirped happily.

“Hi witch.” Reece said as he made eye contact with Anna. Paddy heard this and snickered because he secretly liked the nickname his young nephew gave to his older brother’s wife-to-be.

“Reece, how old are you?” Sam asked the little boy next to him.

“I’m eight years old.” Reece smiled at him.

“You alright?” Sam asked. “You seem uncomfortable. Do you want anything?”

Reece shook his head, “I just don’t want to see Harry.” The whole table was surprised that Reece called Harry by his name and not ‘dad’ or ‘father’.

“Oh, how come?” Sam asked.

“I don’t like him because whenever he comes over to hang out, he doesn’t really hang out with me. He just takes me somewhere he can spend his money on. He actually stays on his phone the whole time. He’s probably always talking to the witch next to him, but I guess that’s okay.” Reece shrugged as if what he said was just something casual.

“Oh, okay then.” Sam nodded. He smiled at Reece and began distracting him from being uncomfortable.

Nikki cleared her throat as they ate their food, “How’s the company, Y/N?”

You smiled at her and happily told her about your company doing so well. The partnership actually made workload easier for everyone and it’s such a blessing.

“That’s so good to hear!” Dom nodded. “What about your personal life? Are you seeing anyone? Or do you have your eye on someone?”

You politely smiled and shook your head, “No, I’m not. I haven’t dated anyone since… well, since Harry.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, it was kind of traumatic and it made me kind of paranoid, so yeah.” You chuckled lightly as you ignored the looks of pity they were giving you.

“There’s this guy in mum’s building who likes her and I talk to him a lot.” Reece happily said as he ate his mashed potatoes. You turned to him in concern because kids shouldn’t be speaking to strangers.

“He’s really nice and he does all of mum’s paper work. He also eats lunch alone and whenever I’m there, I join him for lunch.” Reece said.

“Is that where you run off to when I’m working?” You asked sweetly.

Harry chimed in, “You mean to say that you don’t know where our kid disappears to? What kind of mother are you?”

“Harry!” Nikki gasped.

Tom shook his head and came into your defense, “Considering that she’s a better parent than you, she’s the kind of mother who gives a shit.”

“Yeah and the right question here is: what kind of father are YOU?” Paddy challenged.

Anna didn’t want to take part in anything because in her defense, you and her already spoke before and figured that was enough. You didn’t need anymore shit on your plate.

Two weeks later, it was Harry’s time with Reece and you texted him saying: I’m not at the office at the moment. I just left for a conference. Reece is there with my secretary, Timmy. Feel free to drop by whenever.

Harry was wearing casual clothing when he picked up Reece. He saw Reece playing Legos on the floor of your office with a man he never met yet. Was he your secretary?

“Hey, kid. It’s time to go.” Harry said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Reece looked up from his Legos and inwardly groaned. He stood up from the floor to get his bag, but immediately turned around to ask, “Can Timmy come?”

“Oh, no.” Timmy shook his head. “I have work to do and both of you should bond. He’s your dad, after all.” He smiled and stood up from the floor, brushing off the dirt from his neatly ironed slacks.

“He’s kind of not.” Reece said. “Please come with us, Timmy! It’ll be more fun with you there.”

Not wanting to be the bad guy, he said, “Timmy can come.”

Timmy looked at him in surprise and Harry nodded, “Yeah, I’ll just tell Y/N that you’ll be coming because Reece wanted it.” Harry wanted to talk to Timmy anyway.

Harry took Reece to the park and Reece happily played with the other kids as him and Timmy sat down on a bench nearby.

“Why are you close to my kid? He’s not yours.” Harry said bluntly.

“Yeah, but no offense: I do a damn better job at being a father.” Timmy argued.

“I’m still his father.”

“Biologically speaking, you are. But you’re not there when Reece has some school event that Y/N can’t go to and you’re not there when he has allergies. You’re not there when he’s sick and you’re not there AT ALL PERIOD. So save yourself the embarrassment because you won’t win this one.” Timmy said sternly.

“Fine.” Was all Harry said.

Timmy reported to you what happened when he brought Reece home to your place. You thanked him and you realized that the man Reece was talking about at the Hollands’ manor was Timmy. Since then, you observed him and realized that Timmy loved Reece like his own son.

It didn’t take long for both of you to date and you’ve been happy ever since. Timmy would always reassure you and that made you love him even more. A year later, you and Timmy got married and you’re now expecting your first baby with him.

You got your happy ending after all.

* * * *

𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @sufwubi @abrielleholland @purplepizza-summerrain @euphorichxlland @marshxx @lizzyosterfield @justanamesstuff @croissantwriting @blueleatherbag @givebuckyhisplumsnow

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @marvelousell @justasmisunderstoodasloki @rubberducky-jrr @allyz @osterfieldnholland @miraclesoflove @god-knows-what-am-i-doing @drie-the-derp @hollands-weasley @itstaskeen @call-me-baby-gir1 @the-panwitch @iamaunicorn4704 @geminiparkers @holland-styles @calltothewild @fancyxparker @herbatkazmiloscia @whatthefuckimbisexual @justanothermarvelmaniac @unsaidholland @musicalkeys @lost-in-the-stars03 @hufflepuffprincess24 @hollanddolanfangirl @parkerpeter24 @bellelittleoff @agentnataliahofferson @aqiise @lexirv @blairscott @hi-im-maddie @theonly1outof-a-billion @u-rrose @speedymaximoff @theliterarymess

#harry holland #harry holland imagines #harry holland imagine #harry holland one shots #harry holland one shot #harry holland x reader #harry holland x y/n #in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh

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procrastinatorimagines · 4 years

Text

May I Have This Dance?

Fandom: Chicago PD / One Chicago / Chicago Med

Character/s: Halstead!Reader x Connor Rhodes, Jay, Will, Sylvie, Mouch, Stella, Kelly, Owen Manning

Warning/s: mentions of death

Word Count: 1,845

Request: Could you do an imagine where it’s the readers wedding and her dad isn’t there so her brothers (Jay and Will) take turns dancing with her? If you need a song I Learned From You by Miley Cyrus

Summary: It’s the readers wedding day and her parents aren’t there, but the Halstead’s always have each others backs.

This got away from me a bit sorry, but I just miss Connor okay?

He should have been here, they both should, but you’d been forced to make peace with the fact that your mother wasn’t going to be around for your wedding a long time ago, but with everything that had happened to your dad last year... You didn’t think you could do it without both of them. It was wedding day jitters. everyone said, your parents would have wanted you to be happy, but the thought of doing this without them was making you feel like a swarm of angry wasps had taken up residence in your stomach.

You’d decided to walk down the isle alone, your bridesmaids and the groomsmen behind. It hadn’t been the original plan, but who else could you ask to walk you down the isle but your dad? Your soon to be father-in-law had kindly offered, and while you appreciated it more than you could express, it didn’t feel right.

So there you stood, outside the doors to the hall, waiting for the music to start. You took a breath and fidgeted with your flowers, equal parts excited and nervous. Looking back your maid of honour, Sylvie Brett, gave you a reassuring smile; god you didn’t know what you would have done without her planning this wedding. You and your mom used to pretend to design your dream wedding when you were little, and Sylvie had sat by you while you’d sobbed over the scrapbook she had made for you, complete with cut out pictures of dresses, outrageously designed cakes and CD covers of music to play. You hadn’t thought you had anymore tears left after that, but they you’d found her wedding dress, and completely broke down.

Next you looked to your brothers, groomsmen, beaming with pride for you. Jay caught your eye and winked, and Will mouthed ‘you’ve got this’. They’d both cleaned up pretty well, and while both had tried to play the protective brother act they couldn’t have been happier, especially since your husband to be was a very good friend of both of theirs, Connor Rhodes.

You ran a hand slowly over the body of the dress, your mother’s dress, modified where needed to fit you perfectly, the sash around your bouquet belonging to one of your dad’s blue dress shirts. They’re still here with you, you thought as the music finally began to play, they’ll always be here with you. The doors opened and you went inside.

Your soon to be husband stood at the other end of the isle, looking at you like you’d walked right out of a dream, and suddenly all your nerves flew away. One foot in front of the other you headed towards the future, arm in arm with the ghosts from your past, carrying them with you into whatever came next.

“Wow...” Connor breathed as you got close enough to him, passing your bouquet to Sylvie as everyone took their places. You could have said the same thing to him, that tux was certainly doing him a lot of favours, not that he needed any really.

He took your hands and the ceremony began, Mouch taking up the honours of officiating with a lot of pride, and you admired the effort he put into trying not to shed a tear. The rings were presented by a very smartly dressed Owen Manning, who happily passed them to you both before running back to Natalie, beaming that he’d done it correctly. The ring fit perfectly as Connor slipped it on your finger, right where it was supposed to be.

You tried to take a page out of Mouch’s book as the vows began, your eyes blurring with tears as Connor began.

“Y/N Halstead... it’s been a long, difficult road to get here, for both of us, we were different people when we met, but we’ve grown together, lost together, and there’s no one I would rather have had by my side through it all. You’re my friend, my family, my home, my everything, you know me better than anyone and you still choose to be with me... Y/N you’re my future, wherever that may take us, you’re the only person I want next to me, always,” Connor told you, pausing for a second as you carefully dabbed the corner of your eye. His own looked a little damp too but you noticed the corner of his mouth turn up into a grin as he continued, “...or at least until you brothers dump my body somewhere no one will ever find.” You laughed, glancing at Will and Jay, who were nodding in agreement but smiling all the same.

You guessed that meant it was your turn. Taking a breath you began, trying to keep your voice steady as your emotions threatened to take control.

“Connor Rhodes, I love you, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight-” you began, earning a knowing chuckle from Connor and many of the other people in the room, “...or even an easy road to get here, but I love you, it’s a love that we’ve forged through all the highs and lows, all the joy and dispair, all the victories and tragedies of the last few years, it’s a love we’ve developed, a love we’ve fought to keep, and there’s no one else I’d rather be promising to spend forever with, because that’s how long I’ll love you for,” you finished, voice breaking a little on the last few words, but you took a breath and steadied yourself as Connor squeezed your hand.

“Right,” Mouch coughed, blinking furiously and dabbing his eyes.

“You alright man?” Connor grinned and Mouch nodded, “don’t need to take a minute?”

“Absolutely not, where were we... ah,” he cleared his throat and continued: “Do you, Connor Rhodes, take Y/N Halstead to be your wedded wife, to cherish in love and in friendship, in strength and in weakness, in success and in disappointment, to love her faithfully, today, tomorrow, and for as long as the two of you shall live?”

“I do,” Connor said with conviction and confindence, looking directly into your eyes.

“And do you, Y/N Halstead, take Connor Rhodes to be your wedded husband, to cherish in love and in friendship, in strength and in weakness, in success and in disappointment, to love him faithfully, today, tomorrow, and for as long as the two of you shall live?”

“I do,” you smiled, voice full of love and emotion as you realised you’d officially tied the knot with the man you loved.

“By the authority vested in me by the State of Illinois, and in the presence of all these fine folk, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Mouch said with pride, “now kiss her quick, before she changes her mind.”

With smiles on your faces Connor pulled you in for a kiss, your friends and family cheering behind you. “We’re married,” Connor said as you broke apart,

“Yes we are,” you pulled him in for another quick kiss, turning together hand in hand to face the rest of the room and heading down the isle again, not alone this time but hand in hand with your husband, as confetti was thrown in celebration. Everyone followed you both out into the front, all decorated with ribbons and flowers.

Sylvie offered you back the bouquet with a knowing wink. “Throw it!” Will cheered as the ladies took their places behind you to see who would catch it. You turned your backs to them, checking where one particular person was standing before you looked away, throwing it over your head a little to the right and into the arms of one Stella Kidd.

A couple of people looked disappointed but Sylvie and Emily cheered as Connor and Jay patted Kelly on the back. Stella looked at him and shrugged, but they were both smiling.

“You did that on purpose,” Will nudged you and whispered.

“Obviously,” you replied and he kissed you on the head.

“I’m proud of you,” he said, “mom and dad would be too if they could see you now,” he gave you a hug before taking a step back so Connor could join you again as everyone started taking their turns to congratuate you both.

The day had been perfect, but there was still one more hurdle, the father/daughter dance. You remembered being a little girl, standing on your father’s toes as he’d danced you around the living room, but he wasn’t here to do that now, so you’d had to scratch that off the plan, which had seriously stung.

Connor squeezed your hand, knowing what you were thinking as you headed out for your first dance together. He held you close on the dance floor as everyone stopped to watch. “I love you,” he whispered into your ear.

“I love you too,” you told him, wrapping your arms around his neck. You stayed like that as the music played, only breaking apart when the song changed. Confusion flashed across your face but Connor was simply smiling as you recognised it as the song you and your dad used to dance to.

“She’s all yours,” he said, and you turned to see your brothers approaching, your husband taking a step back as the song got underway.

I'm grateful for all of the times You opened my eyes I Learned From You that I do not crumble I learned that strength is something you choose

“What is this?” You asked them as Will held out a hand for you to take. Taking it he spun you around in time to the music.

“Well, since dad couldn’t be here, we figured we’d have to do instead,” your eldest brother said as a tear fell down your cheek.

“Mom and dad would be here if they could, but I guess you’re stuck with us instead,” Jay said from behind you as Will spun you into him, taking turns dancing with you as the song played.

All of the reasons to keep on believin' There's no question, that's a lesson I Learned From You You taught me to stand on my own

“They’re here,” you said softly and both your brothers nodded as you danced. You didn’t know what you’d do without them, they made you feel safe, loved, like you belonged, they were your family, and they were always going to be there for you, regardless of what other family you may have in the future, they weren’t going anywhere.

I learned that strength is something you choose something you choose All of the reasons to keep on believin' There's no question, that's a lesson that I Learned From You yeah! I Learned From You

As the song drew to a close you took both your brothers hands and squeezed them knowingly, the pain of your parents loss would never go away entirely, but none of you carried it alone. Connor stepped forward and your brothers reluctantly let you go as other couples began to come onto the dance floor with the next song.

“We love you sis,” Will said.

“Always,” Jay finished.

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