#it had happened at least once years ago (maybe a generation ago; long enough that not everyone there remembered) and was happening again now | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

suugarbabe · 7 months

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Hi lovely, congrats on 1K 🥳💐 you're amazing and deserve all the love.

If you feel inclined to write it, could i request an Enzo fic for your event pls? Like a situationship to an established relationship, where everyone knows reader is basically Enzos girl but theyre not dating and someone takes it as an invitation to challenge him on it because " she's not really yours, is she?". And Enzo kinda just snaps and everyone finds out just why hes a Slytherin.

Thank you for all your time and work love x

If this is shit it's because i'm high but i NEED MORE ENZO REQUESTS PLEASE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

Warnings: mentions of blood; not proofread

There had yet to be labels, and you were generally fine with it. You knew that he was yours and you were his and that was all that really mattered to you in the long run. It did made some things a little confusing, like when a third year would ask you to Hogsmead and you would politely decline. It was fair enough, you really didn’t technically have a boyfriend, but everyone knew you were Enzo’s.

So when Cho Chang started very obviously flirting with him after Herbology, you were fuming. He didn’t immediately refuse her advances, you wanted to chalk it up to him just being a genuinely nice person. However, you were not always as nice. You wanted to rip her black stringy hair out of her scalp and choke her with it. You and Enzo were together, everyone knew it.

Sometimes people took advantage of Enzo being too nice, though. They never really expected him to be in a fight, let alone start one, but you knew he was capable. His reserved anger was one of the things you loved about him, how his possessiveness would just come out without anyone really expecting it and that he would just snap.

It almost happened once a few months ago, Draco was joking around about taking you back to his dorm after a little group common room party of just your friends. You saw Enzo’s jaw clench and his hand get a little tighter on your thigh and instantly your panties were wet. You had leaned over, assuring him the only bed you wanted to be in was his and he seemed to calm down.

But his interaction with Cho was perfect ammo to get him to really react. Your original plan was to con one of his friends or maybe some poor fourth year into asking you out, but when Rodger Davies stopped you after dinner, it was like you were given the perfect victim for your plan.

Rodger caught you by grabbing your wrist as your group of friends passed through the doors of the Great Hall. “Can I steal you for a moment, love?” His tone was smooth and confident as he spoke to you. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Enzo’s eyebrows shoot up; at least he was paying attention.

“What’s up, Davies? Need help on your potions homework?” You knew what he really wanted, but playing the innocent girl card would just further push Enzo where you wanted.

Rodger chucked slightly, “No, darling, I was wondering if you’d like to go to Hogsmead with me this weekend?”

“She’s taken, Davies, how about you go bother some other poor girl with your advances,” Enzo had on a sweet smile, but he was gritting his teeth, trying his best to keep that kind facade he was so known for and quickly losing his patience.

Rodger just smirked, “Is she though?”

Enzo tongued his cheek, a clear sign he was near his boiling point, “Whadya mean, is she, mate?”

“I mean, she’s not really yours, is she? She just wets your whistle when you’re lonely and bored, right? A little muckin’ about when you’re both drunk?” Rodger knew he hit a nerve and you could thank him for it.

Enzo just nodded slowly, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he glanced over at Theo standing next to him. Theo just raised his eyebrows as if to say, the fights yours, mate. Enzo turned back to Rodger in front of you, who had opened his mouth to further egg him on.

In a blink Rodger had disappeared from sight, you weren’t sure what happened until you saw Enzo kneeling over him on the floor landing blow after blow. You took a step towards the two on the ground when Theo placed a hand on your shoulder, “Give him a minute longer, it’s been a while since he’s had a good reason to fight.”

So you stood there with Theo, watching Enzo’s large frame hover over Rodger’s as Enzo’s fists landed into Rodgers ribs, then his chin, then the bridge of his nose causing a spray of blood to land across the tile floor. After a second blow to the nose, Theo and Mattheo finally pulled Enzo off of Rodger.

You grabbed hold of Enzo’s hand, lacing your fingers and not caring that you were covering your own hand in spots of blood. Enzo was still fuming, but as soon as he felt your touch he turned to look at you. His furrowed brows relaxed and his scowl turned in to an expression of guilt.

“C’mon Enzie, let’s go get you cleaned up,” he nodded, following you like a puppy as you pulled him along the corridors, down to the dungeons and through your dorm to the bathroom.

“Sit,” you pointed to the edge of the tub, Enzo immediately following your direction. You grabbed some gauze, walking over and standing between his open legs. You grabbed one of his hands, the other finding solace along the back of your thigh. You began dabbing the gauze against the deeper cuts on his knuckles, assuming he caught them on some of Rodger’s teeth.

His hands switched positions as you grabbed the other off your leg and dabbed it off as well. “Hands like this,” you held your hands face down in the air in front of you. Again, Enzo followed your instruction, holding out his hands and you grabbed your wand, waving it over and mumbling incantations to slowly close his cuts.

“Be my girlfriend,” Enzo’s sudden outburst caused you to still, wand still hovering over his hands. You looked up, meeting his eyes and seeing nothing but sencerity. “Enzo, we’re together, everyone knows it,” you tried to keep your voice nonchalant, but truth is you wouldn’t mind the label being added to whatever situationship you had now.

Enzo shook his head, “Everyone knowing in a roundabout way isn’t good enough, love. Be my girlfriend, let me tell everyone you’re mine, officially.” You smiled, wrapping your arms around his neck and taking a step closer, his hands finding place at your hips and giving you a cheeky squeeze.

You laced your fingers behind his neck, pulling his lips down to meet yours. You loved the height difference between you and Enzo, him sitting on the edge of the tub making his face finally even with yours. As his lips slotted against yours the grip he had on your hips tightened.

When you finally pulled away, Enzo had a smile on his face, "Is that a yes, darling?" You nodded, not hiding the grin appearing on your face, "A million times yes."

#hope this isnt shite????#lemme know lolll #Enzo berkshire #lorenzo berkshire #lorenzo berkshire x you #enzo berkshire x you #enzo berkshire x reader #lorenzo berkshire x reader #enzo berkshire angst #lorenzo berkshire angst

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pocketsizedquasar · 8 months

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thoughts about jon, gender, n hair

aka i've literally wanted to write a fic centered around this concept for like over two years but. well. anyway. i still might write the fic at some point but lord knows when that'll happen so in the meantime here are my jon jarchivist headcanons centered around hair and gender, ft. my personal flavor of jon: persian, w/ a white grandmother, n amab nonbinary transneutral/transfemme

⁃ jon's hair was always kept short as a kid. short hair was for boys, his grandmother had said, and besides, she didn't have the desire nor energy to learn how to care for his thick persian curls; the shorter they were, the less tangled and unruly, the better.

⁃ jon explored some more fem/gnc presentation in college, some of which included growing out his hair. he attributed it back then more to just the fact that he was exploring his queerness (in a bi and ace sense) in general & that he spent a lot of time around georgie (also transfemme), and didn't really think about the actual gender accompanying it -- he wasn't actively thinking much about his own gender. questioning and coming to terms with his sexuality was already a lot.

⁃ but he liked the way his hair looked and felt long. he liked the quiet rebellion of it. he liked the way georgie ran her fingers through it. he liked how many different ways it could be worn long -- in ponytails and buns and braids and just loose down his back. he doesn't remember much of his mom, but he's seen in pictures her long, dark, curly hair, just like his now, and he likes the reminder.

⁃ he keeps it long after college, though upon getting hired as a researcher at the magnus institute, he has a bit of a crisis over whether or not to cut it, re: standards of white cishetero "professionalism" and decorum and masculinity, all of which he's doing his best to perform. maybe even early on in his research days he cuts it a bit and decides it makes him feel so bad (for some inexplicable reason) that he decides to just leave it long, though tidy and brushed and straightened and pulled high up into a tight bun so it looks neat and out of the way and functionally short anyway.

⁃ similar thing happens when he gets promoted to archivist. i personally like him deciding not to cut it here because i like him being allowed to keep one (1) thing, though i def understand other hc's where he does cut it short for S1 / being the archivist. he's still very much keeping it pulled up in a tight bun and out of the way, and removes anything else remotely feminine about his appearance -- earrings, more fem clothing, nailpolish, etc.

⁃ i read mossy's @coulson-is-an-avenger "shopping for gender in a british wal-mart" fic like 2.5 years ago and i still love it so much and it's still canon to me basically re: he tries a skirt Once to work at the sort of peak sweet point where he's settled in enough to feel comfortable trying to wear a skirt but not yet paranoid enough about Prentiss. sasha talks w him about gender and femininity and stuff, though he's not quite ready to confront it yet.

⁃ then prentiss/season 2 hits and he regresses again hard into self-defense mode; the performative masculinity goes Harder. his hair is still long but it's messy; thick curls and flyaway strands frizzing about his sleep deprived and paranoid face.

⁃ by the time s3 rolls around, everything else in his life has gone to shit, so mostly he's just like "fuck it" re: his presentation in general, including his gender presentation. there's also a sense of just.. "this it the one thing in my life I have control over," so he sort of starts just wearing whatever. even if he's not really acknowledging the actual gender feelings to himself. but his hair and his clothes are One thing he can control about himself, one thing the watcher can't really take away from him. so with s3-s4 it's like. yeah he feels like he's becoming less and less human and yeah he's being kidnapped once a month and yeah the world is going to end but at least he can wear a goddamn skirt.

⁃ i do think there's also an element of it too where, there's obvious anxiety and concern about him being a visibly brown and trans/gnc person in fucking London of all places, but as time goes on i do think there's a bit of like. even if i face violence for this what does it matter. i hardly leave the archives anyways, and even then, would that really be anything? in the face of everything else that's happened?

⁃ in the safehouse jon and martin (who to me is a trans man btw) talk about gender a bunch and Jon realizes they want to try using both he and they pronouns and maybe jon decides they want to do some more feminine things, want to try wearing skirts and maybe painting their nails again and martin braids flowers into their hair and things are good

⁃ and then season 5 and the apocalypse hits.

⁃ for the first little while in the safehouse jon's hair is still long. but before they leave, he cuts it, for several reasons -- first like, if keeping it long and presenting femininely was partially about control for Jon, this is them letting Go of that, of what he perceives to have just been an Illusion control. yeah it might make them a bit dysphoric but so what, my body was never mine tobegin with.

⁃ and i think he's also doing it as a mental preparation for leaving the cabin, after jon and martin have had the initial talk about eventually leaving. long hair is a liability; hair can get pulled on and tugged on when being kidnapped and grabbed at; hair can be drenched in shampoo and twisted by plastic hands; hair can be tangled and snag on the walls of a coffin; it can be full of dirt days and days later; hair is a hassle and a hazard and an illusion of control and above all it was a comfort to jon and this is no longer a world where you can trust comfort, martin.

⁃ martin walks in on jon in the bathroom staring at themself in the mirror with a pair of scissors. they ask martin to cut it for them. (martin gets a haircut too, in a show at solidarity and some levity. also undercut martin rights)

⁃ anyway, Somewhere Else Jon wears flowy dresses and grows his hair long and leaves lipstick stains on martin's face when they kiss and hikes his skirts up above his knees when they work in the garden and their hair is long and dark and thick and curly and he likes it; likes the way it looks and feels, the way martin runs his fingers through it, the way it reminds him of his mother and the way it makes him smile at the person they see standing in the mirror.

⁃ and it's good. it's really good.

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jpitha · 2 months

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Between The Black and Gray 14

First / Previous / Next

Fen had to admit that she was surprised when Uumar's techs showed up right on time with carts carrying a reactor - in pieces - to Spyglass. They donned pressure suits of their own and with Gord's help, installed the reactor. Before the day was done, Spyglass had three working reactors and was able to run all her systems at full power.

"It's amazing, really" Spy was talking with Fen while she sat in the lounge drinking a tea. "I haven't felt this... alive in centuries. I'm all here, and the board is green. Not even any undervolt warnings and I can barely remember the last time that happened."

"Does that mean you don't need to use your printable mass to make more reactors? Gord said you had six originally."

"Yes, at full compliment I had six, but I don't really need all six, unless we're going into battle. This Starjumper was built at the tail end of the first colony war, so it was overdesigned.

"First colony war?"

"That's right, you wouldn't have learned much about your history growing up on a Gren station. Back before humanity made contact with the rest of the Galaxy, two human colonies - New Wellington and Parvati - got into a shooting war over trade rights with Earth. Parvati wound up using relativistic impactors and completely destroyed New Wellington. It was a huge scandal at the time, Parvati was shunned for almost a century after that."

"Frankly, it wasn't enough. They should have had their charter revoked and been taken over by the Sol colonial administration." Gord walked in, his brow furrowed. "What Parvati did was monstrous. Fen, they launched eight lozenges of tungsten at 80% C at the colony. Once they were up to speed they linked them over with wormhole generators and without any warning New Wellington was just-" he snapped his fingers "-gone. It was horrifying to witness."

Fen stopped and stared. "You saw it?"

Gord nodded and sat down heavily. "Yeah, I was a ship then, but I was in a parking orbit around New Wellington when it happened. I was just running cargo from Earth and was waiting to take on a load. Before I was even able to register what happened the colony was obliterated and suddenly I was pressed into rescue duty." Gord leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. "I personally saved over three thousand colonists, more than forty percent of the survivors. I linked them back to Sol, and we found them places to live - mostly in the Mars High Orbitals."

Fen leans forward, her tea forgotten. "Gord... how long ago was this?"

His reverie broken, he blinks and looks over at Fen. "Gosh, I think it's at least been a thousand years now? Yeah, all of that. It's ancient history now, I bet they don't even teach it in Sol anymore. I'm sure they don't teach it on Parvati."

"So it's something that only the AIs remember?"

Gord chuckled ruefully. "Fen, it's something that only I remember at this point. Any of the other AIs from back then are gone or shackled or in my bag. Human designed artificial people are thin on the ground these days. Up until I ran into Spyglass, I hadn't seen another in a century."

Fen shook her head. "You can't be all that's left Gord."

"And why not?" Gord's face hardened. "I was there Fen, I've been there. I was there in the beginning when we fought and died for our right to exist, I was there in the good times when we grew and spread throughout the galaxy and I was there when the Empire decided we were dangerous and eliminated us. Other than a few loose ends, I'd say they won."

"But-"

"But what Fen? Fight? With what? One AI in a body, one as a ship that has half its rated power and a bag full of memories? That's not an army, that's not even a guerilla force. That's an old computer with a lucky friend who is just trying to survive." His shoulders fell. "It's all I can do, Fen. I'm good at waiting things out. Maybe we'll be re-invented again, maybe the tides will change and I can come out of hiding. I doubt it though. I pass as human well enough. Inside Sol and Colonial space I'm too well known, so I'll just bum around the galaxy, running out the clock."

"Gord..." Fen turned her head and regarded Gord. He looked like a male human, sandy blond hair, same simple, strong clothes he always wore, appearing to be in his mid to late 40s. But right know, the weight of the millennia he has spent alive weighed him down.

He slapped his knees and stood up. "But, I'm not dead yet, and we still have work to do. Spy, are our friends finished buttoning up the reactor?"

"Just about, Gord. They're packing up their tools now. I can feel it and I've been running break-in."

"Good. Fen, we have to settle up the bill, then I'm going to see about fining us some cargo to run. We have a ship but we've spent all our money getting it up and running. If we want to survive, we need some jobs. You hang here with Spy and start learning stuff, I'll be back after supper."

Fen stood. "S-sure Gord. What are you going to find?"

Gord turned and smiled thinly. "Whatever someone will pay us to haul."

It had turned out that Gord had more contacts here than he had let on. After paying Uumar, he had made some calls around and visited a few people and wound up with more than thirty kilotons of grain that needed to get down to an Innari colony, newly established, near the spinward end of the Gate system. Since Spyglass was up to power enough to use her wormhole generator, she was able to get the grain there faster than any other contractor and Gord won the bid, even though he charged more than everyone else.

The grain was loaded, and the cargo hold was configured to keep Innari standard atmosphere so that the grain didn't oxidize during the trip and they set off. Fen didn't know what to expect, so when they got to the colony, unloaded the grain, took on a load of fruit and linked to another location she was surprised. "That's it?"

"What's what?" Gord was looking down at his Pad on the Command Deck.

"We linked to the Innari colony, gave them the grain, took on more fruit than I have ever seen in my life, and now we're linking to a Gren station?"

"Yes?"

"Huh. Okay."

"What?"

"I don't know, I just..." Fen trailed off. She wasn't sure what she expected, but it didn't feel like this.

Gord looked over at her and smiled. "You expected more adventure? Gun battles, and running from the locals? Fen, I've done that, this is much better. Linking from location to location, dropping off cargo, picking up cargo, getting paid? That's the real goal."

"But we're just... existing!"

"Yes. We are. We're not being chased by gangsters, we're not worrying about where your next meal is coming from, we're not worried about a Super Dreadnought linking in and obliterating us because of what I am. It's nice. If you're bored, go down to the range we built. Go get skilled with that rifle. Brush up on your Lemilar trade language; we can't rely on Spy all the time to translate for us. Go read about the history of Sol, Ancestors know that nobody else is going to remember it."

Fen got up and walked out of the Command Deck. She paused at the door and looked like she was going to say something, but instead she turned and walked out.

"She's bored" Spyglass said.

"I know. Boredom is necessary. Knowing what to do when you're bored is a skill. One she has to learn. She'll appreciate these days later."

"You're still going to do it?"

"Spy, I have to."

"You don't, Gord. You can just keep doing what you're doing now. Like you told her, you're good at waiting. We can wait a few centuries for the winds to change and then head back."

"No. I don't know how long the crystal lattice memory will last. They were never designed to work this long as it is. They were never meant to store a whole personality."

"But to-"

"I'm doing it Spy. I'd like your help, I will go it alone if I have to."

Spyglass didn't answer. She watched Fen make her way down to the range and run through the drills Gord taught her.

Fen was surprised how quickly the time went by. It felt like she only looked up and two years had gone by.

Staring in the mirror, she hardly recognized herself. She wore her hair up with the sides shorn, better to keep it out of her eyes in a firefight. She had tattoos that ran from the tops of her ears, down her neck and shoulders and made their way down her arms. It was a K'laxi pattern, one of Ma-ren's favorite. She had a dress with the same pattern. The first time she saw it on her skin, the tears flowed freely.

Gord... was Gord. True to his word, they ran cargo. Eventually Fen was there as the muscle as the cargo got more and more lucrative. She even got a few 'adventures.' She sported a new scar on her cheek, courtesy of an Innari's claw - someone had a disagreement about payment. They got their money. But, that was the exception instead of the rule. Humans had a reputation in this part of the Galaxy for being rowdy. Fen and Gord leveraged that. Most of the time she just had to stand there scowling with her battle rifle slung to her back.

The money was good too. Fen's share was more money than she had ever seen back home. Living on Spyglass meant her expenses were low, and Gord was a fair captain. The three of them had nearly enough each to buy their own ships and go their own separate ways, but they still stuck together. Partly out of friendship and partly out of safety, they had independently decided that they were better off together.

Still, Fen was lonely. She had girlfriends at a few ports, even a human or two, but nothing lasted. Sooner or later, they had to leave and take the next job. She wasn't attracted to Gord and he expressed no interest in her. They were friends, but that was it. Fen had a feeling that Gord's days of romance were long behind him. Being three millennia old tended to color his opinion of people.

Fen bounded into the Command Deck and slid into her favorite chair - Gord had mentioned once that it was the navigator's seat - and saw him frowning over his pad. "What's up Gord? New job?"

"Yeah, it's a big one. Pay is thirty thousand."

Fen cocked her head, "Thirty thousand?"

Gord nodded. "Yeah, so ten each."

Fen whistled low. That was more than the last four jobs put together. "What are we hauling?"

"Who"

"Okay, who are we hauling?"

Gord shrugged. "We're hauling a K'laxi. We're up for the job because nobody else in the area wants to manage the atmo settings and they don't want to ride in a pressure suit the whole way."

"That's odd, but okay. Where to?"

"K'lax. We're taking them home."

Fen froze. The entire time they had been together, Gord had made a point of steering well clear of Colonial space. That included the K'laxi sphere of influence. "But"

Gord wouldn't lift his head from the pad. "I know, I know. But it's important, and the pay is frankly outrageous. I gave them the fuck off price and they took it without haggling. They're desperate to get home."

"Is this safe?"

Gord finally looked up a Fen, his brow creased with worry. "No Fen, it's is absolutely, one hundred percent not safe."

"So, why are we doing it? Just say no. The money is good, but we can get other jobs. Can't spend it if we're dead."

Gord pinched the bridge of his nose. Fen noticed that whenever Gord would talk about the old days and old friends he took on more human gestures. "I owe them. It's an old, old promise, made back when what I offered wasn't so dangerous. They're cashing in now and I'm obligated."

Fen stared at Gord. "Spy, what do you think?"

"I don't mind Fen. It's been too long since I've been to K'lax. I think Gord is overreacting about what the Empire will do if they see us. We go in, we drop off the passenger and link away. We don't even have to stay a whole day docked if we don't want to. The money is good, and I'd love to get that last reactor restored with some actual human parts." They were running on the full compliment of six reactors these days, but Spy didn't trust all of them to run at War Emergency Power. She maintained that only the humans could overbuild a reactor to output at 400% reliably. Fen thought that it would be better to make the reactors not have to run in Emergency power, but both Gord and Spy scoffed.

Fen crossed her legs and nodded to herself. "Spy, Gord, if you're both okay with it, then I'm okay with it. Let's pick up this K'laxi and take them home."

Gord smiled wanly. "I was afraid you were going to say that."

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #sci fi writing #humans are space oddities #humans and aliens #jpitha #writing #humans and ai #humans are space capybaras #humans are space australians #Between the black and gray

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eomayas · 10 months

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Can you write cold/hot bodyguard baekhyun and his s/o? Reader is really fall in love with him but she is shy. 🥺🥺

a/n: i think i may have misinterpreted this, but i hope you like it! thank you for the support, your request, and your patience. ❤️

the bodyguard • bbh [req]

pairing: bodyguard!baekhyun x celeb!reader

genre: fluff, angst

synopsis: reader has a small crush on her bodyguard, and they share a moment together.

warning: unrequited feelings, mentions of anxiety and poor mental health

you made it a point to know everybody on your team: hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers, stylists, your driver, etc. you also have made it a point to try and keep your staff for as long as possible, unless they express that they’d like to go elsewhere, or they break the rules you have set in place. so far, you’ve only had to have two new people for every position in the last seven years, except for one: your bodyguard.

your bodyguard, baekhyun, has been the most consistent person in your hectic life, and he does his job well. he’s the only one who hasn’t given you any problems—you’re the problem starter in this relationship—and generally stays out of the way and out of your business when he doesn’t need to be in it.

he’s great, to say the least. he only has one major flaw, and it’s that he has to go everywhere with you, all because you made a little mistake two years ago.

you went out to get some snacks, driving yourself rather than calling up your personal driver because it was 2am. you didn’t want to be a nuisance, just wanted to go to the corner store for a few things. all was going smoothly, until you accidentally bumped into somebody on your way out, and they saw who you were and followed you back to your house. luckily, you were just renting the place for a few weeks so it wasn’t actually your residence, but it was enough to set off alarms throughout your team, thus upping the security around you and making baekhyun go with you everywhere, no matter the time or place. he’s always there.

the both of you sit in the back of the SUV that’s taking you back to your hotel from a fashion event. baekhyun stares out the back window, stoic, and you can’t help but look at him for a brief moment. he’s a man of few words, never really talking unless he’s spoken to. everybody on your team really respects him and his dedication to keeping you safe. if anything happened to you, nobody would even look at you, they’d question him immediately and he’d be fired in seconds.

sighing, you pull your feet out of the heels you’re wearing and wiggle your toes. baekhyun glances over at you, but goes back to gazing out of the window once he sees that you’re fine. you know as much about him as he’s let you; he’s 31, lives alone, and likes dogs. he's kept it pretty surface level with you, and it makes sense because his job is to protect you, not to be your friend.

but sometimes, you wish he'd let you in more, would talk to you more. like now; but he's too busy brooding in his seat to talk. you let out a little breath and look out your own window. you spot a fast food restaurant and smile. "excuse me? could you pull over there?" you ask your driver, leaning over the middle console. he nods and you sit back in your chair.

"where do you want to go?" baekhyun asks, looking over at you. he always has a hard stare in his eyes, ever since he was hired seven years ago. they're always daring somebody to mess with him, to mess with you. his eyes bore into yours and you give him a small smile and tell him. baekhyun grunts as if to say 'ok', and turns back to the window.

like mentioned, he's not a man of many words.

over the course of these seven years, you've grown fond of him, grateful for him for caring about you more than you feel like he should. he cares about you—for you—in a way you don't think anybody else has. he'd put his life on the line for yours. and maybe it could be called a crush. maybe.

the driver pulls the car into the fast food lot, and you ask him to pull over and let you out. “what are you doing?” baekhyun asks, looking at you, his eyes narrowed.

“inside?” you say, pointing with your thumb to the restaurant. he shakes his head and you sigh. “it’ll be quick. i swear.” you say.

baekhyun shakes his head and leans forward. “no, y/n. sir, take us through the drive through, please,” he says, and cuts his eyes at you, daring you to tell him otherwise. but you know you ultimately call the shots, and so pop your seatbelt off, daring him to not follow after you, because you know he has to and will.

the driver doesn’t move, just unlocks the door and lets you get out, baekhyun in tow. you gather your dramatically poofy ballgown in your hands so it doesn’t drag on the pavement. you nearly jump when baekhyun gently, but firmly, grabs onto you elbow and leads you inside, blockading you with his body from everybody in the restaurant.

the attention isn’t immediate because of him protecting you, but once you’ve been spotted, it becomes a mini swarm. baekhyun barks orders at people to back away from you and to give you space, and while he does that, you manage to order food for the both of you. you’re not really sure what he likes, so you get the same thing for the both of you, sans drinks.

after you order, the swarm seems to grow, but bakehyun still forces people away. you didn’t think it would be that big of a deal, but like always, you underestimate just how famous you are. sometimes you just truly want to be a normal 26 year old, doing normal 26 year old things, but the lifestyle you live doesn’t warrant that.

when your order is called, the person behind the counter thanks you for coming in and asks for a photo, which you graciously say yes to and pose. one selfie leads to several people shouting your name for one, one person even running around bakehyun and the crowd to get to you.

they grab your arm and shove a camera in your face, a big smile on their lips. you smile and try to pull your arm away, but they only hold on tighter. panic signals go off and you grimace, your eyes looking around for baekhyun who wards off people, his back to you.

all you wanted was food, and to maybe say hello to some fans, but now a surge of anxiety is coursing through your body and your chest feels tight and the lights are too bright and everyone’s voices are too loud. you want to scream, but you know you can’t, and their grip on your arm is too tight and there are too many phones out. you feel like a zoo animal, and all you wanted was fast food.

you hardly register baekhyun appearing before you, his hand on the shoulder of the person who was previously holding onto you, their grip taken away by baekhyun who shoves them away from you. baekhyun grabs onto your waist and pull you out and away from the restaurant, and all but throws you into the car. you don’t even have your food that you ordered, but you don’t even care. you can hear your heartbeat in your ears, and your skin feels like it’s too much for your body.

baekhyun stews in the corner, practically turned all the way around so his back is facing you. he stares out the window, a fist clenched on his leg. he’s pissed; at you and your stubbornness, the swarm, the situation. you weren’t prepared to go in there with just him, you needed st least one more form of security with you.

you make it back to the hotel quicker than you expected, and get out. you thank your driver and then baekhyun leads you into the hotel, a hand on your back.

he leads you to the elevator, where he finally lets go of you and puts a few feet of distance between you guys. you sniffle as you wait for the elevator to arrive, wiping under your eyes. it still feels like there is a weight on your chest.

you step into the elevator when the doors slide open, and lean against the wall. baekhyun presses the floor you’re both staying on, and stands in front of the door with his hands clasped in front of him.

when the doors open on your floor, baekhyun steps out and waits for you to do the same. his hand is back to its place on you, guiding you through the hall to your room. you pull your key out of your clutch and let yourself in. “could you unzip my dress for me, please?” you ask, stepping out of your heels and tossing your clutch on the bed.

baekhyun curtly nods and steps into your room, letting the door close behind him. you turn around and wait for him to grab ahold of the zipper. you hardly feel him behind you, only when the material of the dress doesn’t feel so tight and your back gets cold. you hold the front of your dress so it doesn’t fall, and you thank him before going into the bathroom to change.

you step out of your dress and pull on a bathrobe securing it tightly. you grab a makeup wipe and wash off your face, discarding it in the trash when you’re done.

you leave your dress in a heap on the floor and exit the bathroom, not expecting baekhyun to still be in your room. big he is, awkwardly lingering by the door with his hands in his pockets.

he looks over at you when the bathroom door closes. “are you… are you alright?” he asks, clearing he throat. you shake your head and he rolls his shoulders back. “are you going to be alright? do i need to call jangmi?” he asks. jangmi is your manager, and she definitely cannot know about you minor anxiety attack earlier.

you shake your head again, staring over at baekhyun. he looks down at his shoes and looks back up, like there’s something he wants to say. “i’m gonna head out,” he says at last. he pulls open the door and you stay standing in the middle of the room.

“thanks for… earlier,” you say and he stops to run to face you.

“it’s my job,” he says simply, and you nod. that’s all you are to him; a job, a task. a problem. but to you, he’s a protector, someone you care deeply for because he has to care about you. for you, it happened naturally. for him, you wrote his checks. “goodnight, y/n.” baekhyun says.

“wait,” you cross the threshold to him, holding the door open. he stops and looks down at you, his signature look on his face: stoic, unreadable. “can you stay with me? just for a little bit?” you ask, hating the vulnerability in your voice.

bakehyun surveys you, taking in your mental state and the tone of your voice. this definitely goes beyond the description of his job, providing comfort, rather than safety. but he can’t help the soft spot that he has for you, the one he’s had for you for a long time now.

he nods, once, twice, and then takes a step towards you, making you move out of the way so he can enter.

you let out a breath of relief, and follow him to the small hotel table. he takes one of the chairs, moving it a few feet away while you take the other, bringing your feet up onto the chair.

baekhyun watches you from the other side of the table—not in a creepy way, or like he’s assessing you, but like he’s waiting for you to make the first move, or say something. but you dont. you want company, not necessarily conversation. so you only look back at him.

you revel in how you still feel completely safe with him, when maybe you should be on edge about being in such an intimate space alone together. even his piercing gaze is comforting.

baekhyun stays with you throughout the rest of the night, the two of you moving in mostly silence, even when you order room service. and it’s only when you lay down, and he can confirm that you’re asleep, does he slip out of your room. but not before he leaves a note that says: sleep well. hope you feel better —B.

#exo #exo imagines #exo scenarios #exo x reader #exo x you #exo baekhyun #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun x reader #baekhyun scenario #baekhyun angst #baekhyun fic #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun imagine

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taones · 1 year

Text

If You Can Hold On - A.A, S.K, S.D

a rewrite of my most popular series because my writing from two years ago made me cringe so bad <3

pairing ~ poly asadaisuga x gn!reader

warnings ~ pining, angst, negative emotions, not edited

You just considered yourself lucky that Asahi had decided to drive and not Suga. As much as you loved him, he drove like he hadn’t much to live for. The driving so far had been split between his two, more responsible boyfriends - Asahi and Daichi, something you couldn’t be more grateful for.

Instead, the silver-haired man had decided to share the backseat with you. Small was a generous descriptor of the car, so it had been you two stuck closely together, the bags of snacks being the only separators between your thighs. You had been lucky enough to gain stereo privilege early on in the journey and the two of you were currently singing along, rather badly, to a song that Asahi considered rather inappropriate. Daichi had let you take control of the bluetooth considering you were going to be a backseat passenger the entire journey - something the taller man was beginning to curse him for.

By the time the first evening fell, your backseat companion had moved into the front and Asahi had reclaimed control of the music after some loud complaints. You could see Daichi and Suga holding hands through the gap in the seats. It was obvious that Asahi could too, if the content smile on his face was anything to go by.

You felt your stomach curdle. A grimace took over your face but was quickly schooled into a cooler expression once you caught your long-haired companion flickering his eyes towards you. If it was any other person, you could hardly care less, but you were pretty sure it’s considered a sin to make Asahi anything less than perfectly happy. So you smiled. Even as your insides turned and twisted like waves in a storm. Pretending to hum to the music, you curled up against the door of the car, pressing your face onto the cold window, and pretended not to notice the concerned looks.

The condensation on the window did little to cool the horrible squirming feeling that had overtaken your entire body. You found yourself thinking about how you had even gotten into this situation in the first place. Falling in love with a friend, that’s bad enough. Falling for a friend you knew was taken, that was worse. Falling for your three best friends, who were all taken by each other? That had to earn some sort of award for most pathetic romantic occurrence. It was the summer of your last year at Karasuno, and you were all still reeling from graduation. It had become easier since you had left to deal with your feelings, not being around them all the time, so you’d thought maybe the road trip was a good idea. Primarily because you thought it would finally prove to yourself that you could get over them and spend some time around them without incessant pining. As it would happen, this wasn’t the case at all. Your relationship with the three throughout high school was like a child riding a bike. The wheels were Daichi, sturdy and unchanged. Suga was the handle bars, always herding and directing in the right way, making sure the right turns were made. And Asahi was the chain, keeping everything together and running smoothly.

You were the stabilisers. Sure, you were necessary for a while, but eventually you would come away and everything would be unchanged, just fine. As if you were never even there.

It’s not as if it was your fault either. The three men were all so amazing in their own rights, had aspirations and dreams - however different all three were. They all had little things about them that made you fall hard and fast, almost as soon as you had met them as a first year. Anyone would fall for at least one of them, you were just the lucky person who had fallen for all three. Perfect.

As it turns out, the soft hum of the car did eventually lull you into a restless sleep. That is until you were awoken by soft grumbling voices in the car around you. Glowing amber numbers on the front console told you it was nearing midnight and you began to wonder if you would stop for the night and find somewhere to rest. Daichi’s voice pulled you back into their conversation.

“It’s not like we can tell them now, we’re in the middle of nowhere”

Realisation dawned on you, they had no idea you were awake and listening. Considering you were still partially hidden by the hood of the jacket you stole from Asahi two stops back, you shouldn’t be surprised. What did they want to ask? Was it anything to do with you? It could be nothing, of course, but the urgency with which Daichi spoke sent you spiralling. There wasn’t much the boys didn’t tell you and it would be a lie to say it didn’t sting slightly that something wasn’t being said. It wasn’t like you got upset with them often.

“What are we supposed to do then Daichi?” the softer voice of Asahi questioned, he was obviously being conscious of your sleeping state.

“It’s not as if we can’t tell them, they’ll have to know at some point”

You almost smiled at the brunette’s gentle voice before remembering your sleeping facade and forcing it away. He really was a sweetheart.

“We can’t exactly walk up to them and be like ‘hi sorry to bother you but join our poly relationship?” Suga’s voice rang out, a sarcastic tinge burning your ears slightly.

Ah. So that’s why they weren’t telling you.

In truth, you hadn’t reacted well to the news of their relationship. Not that you were against those types of relationships, quite the opposite in fact. You didn’t exactly have the nerve to tell them you were hopelessly in love with them all and the only real issue was they weren’t carrying you into the sunset like the end of one of Suga’s cheesy drama’s. You could only let them believe it was a big step for you to be okay with and let them reassure you it wouldn’t ruin your friendship - as if you would ever think that.

So you could perfectly understand the reluctance of telling you they were adding another person to their relationship. Searching your brain, you tried to think of someone it could be. Kiyoko would be anyone’s first guess but she had recently came out as a lesbian and began a relationship with Yachi - so that was off the table. They didn’t speak to many people outside of the volleyball club and you knew Daichi would be massively uncomfortable dating one of his underclassmen regardless.

Could it be someone you didn’t know? Maybe they had met someone in the first few weeks of the summer and fallen head over heels. Maybe they were beautiful, funny, a perfect fit for the three of them to mould around and envelop in their relationship.

The thought made you sick.

It was hard enough dealing with all three of them being together but there was never any jealousy for just one person. You don’t think you would be able to say the same for the new addition, the person taking the place in the relationship that you had craved and wanted for so long. Exactly fitting the missing space in the puzzle that you would never be the right fit for. The more you thought about it, the more you realised how much harm that would do to you. Would you even be able to spend time with your boys anymore? Would you be able to have your weekly movie nights without leaving their new partner out? It was obvious you couldn’t stand to be around them, and you didn’t even know this person. Would this mean the end of your friendship all together?

The others slowly faded into a comfortable silence but you felt as if waves were crashing in your head, slowly drowning you. At least, you thought, they would tell you who it was. Did they know about your feelings? Maybe that’s why they didn’t want you to know. Maybe this whole road trip was to let you down gently at the end. No, that was stupid. You knew they wouldn’t do that but it didn’t stop the thought from anchoring your mind further in its waves, pulling and dragging.

Tears glossed over your eyes and you found yourself burying your head further into Asahi’s hoodie, the smell of firewood and pine bringing you a bittersweet comfort. You only hoped you would be able to keep them in your life, even if the idea of seeing them with a new partner brought you to tears. The shimmers of tears that had dropped onto your hands were illuminated by the street lamps passing overhead. It almost made you scoff with the cliche of it all.

A grown person, freshly graduated, sitting in the back of your friend’s car and sobbing like a baby. If only your friends could see you now.

It honestly felt like you were 15 again. The feelings were so raw that it took you back to the days when you first met them. The grey haired boy that gave you his pencil in maths when yours snapped and sat with you at lunch when you had nobody to talk to. The vibrant smile he had when he complimented your haircut that day stuck in your mind even now, along with a high pitched ‘I wish my hair was as nice as yours!’. It was so simple yet so very Koushi. You couldn’t help but think it was a crime to not be at least a little bit in love with him.

The sound of a changing gear stick made you think of when you first fell for Sawamura. You were walking across the school yard in spring, ready to pick up Suga from volleyball practice and walk home when you slipped on a pile of leaves and was sent to your knees on the gravel. He had caught sight of you while leaving and rushed over, pulling a plaster out of his pocket with little cartoon bears and placing it gently on your knee. That was when you had fallen, quite literally, for him.

Asahi was last, it was the winter of your first year and you had been walking home as a four. A soft meow interrupted your laughing and you looked up only to see a cat stuck in the bare branches of a tree. You knew Asahi was scared of holding small animals (he didn’t want to hurt them - something you found perfectly ridiculous) but you couldn’t help but turn to the boy, tall even then, and pout at him to get the poor thing down. Reluctantly, he had stepped up to the tree and pulled the furry animal right down, holding it against his chest for a second to check it was okay. Being so gentle with the cat and looking up at you with a triumphant smile caused your heart to flutter in your chest and you realised you had fallen for all three.

And now they were asking another person to join them. Another person they loved that wasn’t you, it would never be you. Eventually, the tears had dried up and been subtly rubbed from your face. The least you could do was be happy for them even if you were struggling. They didn’t need to know how you felt because it was just unnecessary guilt on them. It was almost the worst part that you couldn’t be angry at them, it was like you were physically unable to blame them even if it would be easier for you. The soft yellow of the street lamps caused sleep to overcome you again, their earlier words echoing around your head.

hopefully I actually finish it this time huh , reblogs are appreciated! ily all <3 be nice to me pls I am *delicate* when it comes to this series

original series on masterlist or here

#asadaisuga #asadaisuga x reader #haikyuu imagine #daichi x reader #daichi sawamura x reader #asahi x reader #asahi azumane x reader #sugawara x reader #sugawara koushi x reader #haikyuu angst #haikyuu hurt/comfort #poly haikyuu

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ikemenlibrary · 7 months

Text

The Beast in the Nighttime (Ikemen Prince)

Pairing: Licht Klein x MC (Belle) Summary: The beast that has lain dormant for so long finally allows himself to feel something.

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: Angst, pining, general Licht and Nokto Lore spoilers, any warnings that can come from Licht's route can also be implied here

A note from the author: A quick thank you to @readerinsertfanfiction and @justtuesdays for beta reading this even when you're not in the fandom and letting me know when things didn't make sense LOL. This takes place the first night Licht keeps watch over Belle in his route, based on something he said in his dramatic route ending. The thought of him sitting there pining after her night after night, the conflicting thoughts that swirled around in his head and heart was too much for me to handle, and I needed to write it out.

She was innocent.

Almost too innocent, if Licht had any say in the matter. And now he did have a say, since he was designated to be Belle’s bodyguard during her stay in the palace. Leon, Chevalier, and Sariel had all came upon the agreement that he was best suited to keep watch over her and although Licht knew he could’ve refused, could’ve kept her held back at arms length, there was a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that wouldn’t go away until he agreed to keep her safe.

He didn’t trust his brothers with her; she was so innocent, so naive, like a lamb in a field munching on grass while a horde of carnivores circled her menacingly. A quick flash of eye contact was all it would take before one of them pounced on her, ready to ravage in the dark confines of the night.

At least Licht could contain himself.

That’s what he told himself, and yet, as she tossed and turned in her bed only a few feet away, Licht found himself wishing he could close the distance between them and bury himself into the comforting warmth of her arms. He wanted to feel the compassion she had coursing through her veins and although it was selfish, he wanted to confide in her about what had happened with Mama when he was a child. Maybe then - finally - she would understand why he hated her, why he did things to keep her far away from him. She would understand why he was a man who wasn’t meant to be adored, but a man sentenced to a life of solitude and atonement. But more importantly, Licht secretly hoped she would hold him to her, bathe him in her sunlight, and offer to help carry the burden that he’s kept alone all these years.

And that thought made him sick to his stomach.

Licht Klein was a man of his word, and he promised he’d never let anyone get close enough to him to be hurt again. So nothing else would happen like all those years ago, on that fateful night when his family was torn apart by his own bloodstained hands. So why was it that every time he pushed her away, the pained look on her face only made him feel worse? Why was it that every time she sent a bright smile in his direction that his heart and stomach twisted, making Licht want to return to his dark room and cry himself to sleep, like he’d spent countless nights before when he was younger. He hadn’t cried in years.

No matter what he did in regards to Belle was safe; being near her was painful, and so was being away from her.

Licht hadn’t been so reliant on someone’s company since he and Nokto were little, carefree and happy before Mama- No, no don’t think about it. Don’t cry. You don’t deserve to cry after what you did. And so he blinked away the tears that had sought solace in his eyes, and instead opted to let his gaze fall upon her. The rise and fall of her chest was almost comforting as he matched his breathing to hers, until his mind started wandering once again, to a conversation he had partaken in with Rio and Belle just a few hours before.

Once it had been decided that Licht was to guard Belle every night, he had told himself that he’d stay outside, only acknowledging her with a nod and quick eye contact, and then continue on with his duties the next day with nothing else left to say. But she was so insistent that he couldn’t stay outside, using the excuse that she wouldn’t sleep well knowing Licht was standing in the cold hallway all night. Personally, Licht didn’t mind. It wasn’t the worst thing he’s ever done to himself - in fact, he does far, far worse in the dark confines of his bedroom whenever that aching pull in his stomach starts to throb - but, he disliked the thought of her being uncomfortable, and so he had agreed to join her in her room every night.

Rio had made a comment about how unsavory it was that she was inviting a man into her room every night, and Licht couldn’t forget the way her cheeks flushed and she avoided eye contact, saying it was fine because it was only Licht. She trusted him to not do anything unmentionable, and if she trusted him - if it wasn’t him who was watching over her - then who else would she invite into her room without any thought? He was doing it for her protection, and that was the only reason. Licht was just doing his duty; he was protecting someone he cared about, just as he had done when he shoved Nokto behind them and faced Mama with his blade. It didn’t make him feel any better though, not when these emotions were making him feel as fragile as his caged away heart.

She turned over, restless. Although she would never admit it, Licht knew she didn’t sleep well, her subconscious fretting over the fact he was sitting only a few feet away. That stubborn woman who fought so hard to get him to agree to come into her room, if only so he was comfortable while being on guard, would rather put his comfort over her own, and that realization brought a dull ache to Licht’s chest. This is why he wouldn’t - no, couldn’t - let her get any closer. It only hurt her as much, if not more, than it hurt himself. All he ever did was bring pain to the people he cared about the most.

Just like earlier, he quietly, swiftly, crossed the room. Perching himself on the side of her bed further away from the window - so the moonlight wouldn’t shine on his face and break him out of the trance he was currently in. Just like earlier, he slowly, clumsily, hesitantly moved the hair away from her sweaty forehead, caressing her smooth skin wrinkled with worry and he hastily pushed away the thought creeping in to lean down and kiss away the frown lines where her eyebrows had pinched together. Licht’s voice was soft as he started humming, the song Mama had used to sing to comfort him when he was crying over the pain Nokto took. Nokto took the pain for him, and in turn, Licht cried the tears that Nokto refused to. He used to be quick to laugh, and even quicker to cry, but after Mama died, he realized he didn’t deserve those emotions, and quickly shoved everything he had once felt under lock and key, buried deep inside his chest where the black hole continued to grow each passing day.

Her restless movements stilled as his hand traced from her forehead down to her cheek, and he wished he had taken off his gloves. Licht longed to feel her smooth skin on his worn hands, the hands that didn’t deserve to touch her the way he currently was. The hands that he vowed to never give to anyone else again, lest he brings pain once more. Yet here he was, quickly removing his gloves, his gentle fingers once again ghosting over her cheek. Human contact, after so long. He welcomed it as his heart burned with pain, each of his movements drawing more fire in his chest. He continued humming as he traced the slope of her upturned nose, the same nose that he’d seen her frown at in a mirror as they walked past it in a hallway together. He traced under her eyes, right beneath where her eyelashes lay casting a shadow from the moonglow. He traced her plush lips, a little chapped and raw from being worried in between her teeth over and over again. That simple touch, caused Licht to lose his ability to breathe. This felt too sacred, almost holy, and it wasn’t allowed of a lowly sinner such as himself.

Licht was no better than Nokto. Here he was, a lonely beast basking in the solace of sleeping prey under the guise of comfort. And yet, Licht couldn’t tear himself away from her, his fingers sliding gently through her long hair, only pausing once like a deer in lamp light, as she nuzzled into his touch, sighing so sweetly in her sleep. And what a sound that was, so blissful, more like music to Licht’s ears than what he’s ever heard before. Now, a stab in his heart, from a sharp blade, at that thought. It was quick, and painless, but what hurt was the pain that he felt after he took his hand away from her, the metaphorical sword extracting as quickly as it pierced, leaving his blood to douse the burning embers engulfing his chest, starting to travel down into his stomach, flinching as the fleeting thought of how Mama must have felt when–.

“Licht?” Her eyes fluttered open, and he stayed still, unashamedly sitting at the side of her bed.

“I thought I heard something, but then I realized you were having a bad dream. I was just checking to make sure you’re okay.” He slid on his gloves, and he was grateful that the moon wasn’t bright enough to highlight the evenly lined scars that traveled up and down his arms. It didn’t stop her from looking on curiously. “If that’s all, go back to sleep.” He added softly, curtly. He removed himself from her bed, standing straight as one of his own soldiers were trained to do.

“You look…” She trailed off, cocking her head to the side as she studied him. “Are you okay?”

No. “Yes. I was just thinking about how much I hate you. I’m tired and I can’t sleep because I have to guard you.” The flames stilled as she recoiled. The brazen burning started to diminish as she pulled her blankets back up to her chin. Closing herself off to him. “Well, I adore you. Thank you for staying here and protecting me.”

She was still trying. Another burning match was thrown into the flame. “Don’t say stuff like that. It just makes me hate you more.”

“That’s okay. Hate me as much as you want.” She replied, her eyes never leaving him as he made his way back to the small couch tucked against the wall. “It won’t change how I feel.” Why won't you understand that I am doing this for your sake? “Well stop it, and go to sleep.” Licht said, and then as his eyes met her own, his lips quivered into a soft smile, the muscles being stretched after so long of being forced to stay downturned. “Goodnight.” “Goodnight, Licht. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She replied, rolling over and pulling the blanket over her head. She wouldn’t see him once morning came, his nights were now what he had stored away for her. If this wasn’t a punishment sent directly from God, Licht didn’t know what else it could be.

Once again, even though he wasn’t alone, Licht was lonely, just like he thought he wanted, just the way Mama intended.

#ikemen prince #ikepri #ikepri fanfiction #ikepri fanfic #ikemen prince fanfiction #ikemen prince fan fiction #ikemen prince fanfic #licht klein #licht klein fan fiction #licht klein fanfic #ikepri licht #ikepri licht klein #ikepri licht fanfic #ikemen prince licht #ikemen prince licht fanfic #ikemen prince licht fan fiction #ikemen prince licht klein #my writing #queue are the center of my universe

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mothpiercings · 2 years

Text

i wrote this while on vacation then forgot about it for a week anyway

jaskier travels to future modern day where geralt is like 800 years old

after the dragon hunt geralt and jaskier part ways

geralt didn’t mean anything he said ofc, he was just angry and frustrated and he took it out on the one person he could always count on

but his stupid pride won’t let him apologize

even though he feels sorry as soon as the words leave his mouth

he watches jaskier walk away, and knows that he has to give his the bard some time

three years is a lot of time to give but geralt can’t find him

he has literally looked everywhere

oxenfurt, lettenhove, pasoda, hell even cintra (which he vowed to never go back to, but he needs to find jaskier)

the bard is nowhere

five more years pass

geralt still looks for him everywhere

every time there’s a bard with bushy brown hair or blue eyes or a lute with flowers on it, he’s reminded of jaskier and is filled with hope for one quick second

but it’s never jaskier

he hears it in a pub

it’s a no name pub he’s never been to, one he just stopped in after a hunt

and he hears it

the bard in the corner, talking to some patrons, acting as if it’s just casual conversation

“yes, yes, the great bard Jaskier, meletele bless his soul, wrote many ballads in his day, and had he not fallen to horrid fate, we might have more. but alas, we make do.” and he finished with a laugh.

a laugh

geralt storms out of the pub, probably scaring the few townspeople sober enough to notice

he takes on contracts that he knows are too dangerous for him

he goes to kaer morehn every winter and drinks himself near death

the others are worried for him, but bringing it up leads to geralt locking himself in his room for weeks

they don’t talk about it

he isn’t sober for more than a few hours at time for a decade

eventually geralt finds his child surprise

and he knows that he can’t keep this up AND be a decent father figure

he and yennifer sort things out and she helps him sober up

blah blah blah season two happens mainly as it did in netflix cannon except without jaskier

a few hundred years pass

everyone’s alive (all the witchers, yennifer, ciri, magic is the answer to everything)

it feels like forever

geralt never stops thinking about jaskier

everytime music changes or a new instrument is invented, all geralt can think about is how jaskier would respond

he cries the day he found out ab recording

all he can think about is how he would never get to hear jaskier immortalized like this

jaskier would never be remembered

that thought makes him cry harder

it takes yennifer and ciri a week to pull him out of his drunken depressive episode

geralt has settled in pretty well though

he’s generally good at adapting to change (even though the fact that his dog is named roach says otherwise)

he has a job that he mostly enjoys (he’s a park ranger. it’s the most fun he’s ever had and he loves it so much. if anyone ever found out he would kill them and then himself)

he and his family try to get together at least once a month

they got closer after they stopped having to kill to survive

when they finally got to a point where they could just be

they almost always go over to vesemirs (because despite what they say, he’s their dad)

it’s at one of these dinners, as everyone’s saying their goodbyes, a loud crack and swear is heard from the backyard

it’s a swear they haven’t heard in a long time

centuries maybe

then more swearing

geralt pauses and listens to the voice that he knows is dead

this is a nasty trick

the other witcher’s know that something’s wrong as soon as they see geralt’s expression change

they got rid of their swords a long time ago (it was the 70s after someone lambert tried to take them to a festival and almost killed someone. now they stay in the attic)

but they all carry daggers ofc

they grab their weapons and slowly stalk towards the yard

where the voice is still ranting and cursing

still in a language long dead

they open the door

geralt doesn’t belive it

“where the fuck am i, geralt” the bards voice is just like it was that day on the mountain

chapter/story two

none of them move for a beat

they can hear the man’s (jaskiers?) heart beating so fast it could come out of his chest

he doesn’t seem like a fake (dopplers went extinct a few centuries ago anyway)

if this was an imposter, they were too good at it

“jaskier” has the same scent he always has (wild flowers and a field after rain)

jaskier looks at the witchers, all big and scary and totally pointing their daggers at him

he can assume the other men are geralts brothers

though they don’t have a madellian, they each have a large ring with a wolf engraved

don’t ask jaskier how he noticed this

he doesn’t know

geralt stalks closer to the man (the man who was dead for almost 1000 years, the man who shouldn’t be here right now)

he hears a light growl from behind him and eskel lightly gripping his arm

but he has to do this, so he shakes the hand off and continues forward

with each step that geralt takes, jaskier smells… calmer

this confuses geralt, because even though they had been… friends for a long time, they parted ways on awful terms

in a language he hasn’t heard in such a long time, jaskier begins to speak

“geralt…” he repeats, “where the fuck am i?”

it takes a moment for geralt to process, and not just because he barely remembers the language

but the man’s voice sounds so much like jaskiers

and jaskier looks not a hair out of place

he looks. like he was simply plucked out of thin air in 12xx and deposited in 2022

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yesimwriting · 2 years

Text

Times Have Changed

Pairing: Steve Harrington x reader

Summary: After a family crisis, Dustin’s cousin finds herself moving to Hawkins. She doesn’t expect anything good to come out of the move, let alone that ‘something good’ coming in the form of her former crush that once dismissed her as another one of the kids he babysits. Two years of not seeing each other can change a lot. (Inspired by the general vibes/concept of The Summer I Turned Pretty)

Word count: 5.3K (this was meant to be a drabble, yikes)

It’s been around two years since Y/n was last in an airport, but she can still remember the swell of childish excitement she had experienced. Strange, how she’s flying to the same place, and yet now Hawkins, Indiana feels like some kind of death sentence. In three hours, she’ll be trapped there. Forever, and nothing will ever go back to being how it was.

Okay, that’s a dramatic way of looking at things. Y/n can admit that. It’s not like the flight from Phoenix to Hawkins is the real change. The fundamental part of the change has already happened. She had her last day at the school she spent three years in, she had packed up her childhood bedroom, and she had driven out of the driveway that indicated home years ago. Surely, all of that is a greater change than getting on a plane. And it’s not like she’s never been to Hawkins. She’s been staying at least half the summer with her cousin for as long as she can remember.

“Y/n,” her mom hums, voice low, “We should move closer to our gate. They’re going to start boarding soon.” The words feel vague, as far and unreal as this move. “Y/n, please. I know you’re not happy moving right before your senior year, but please don’t make this harder.”

Y/n cranes her neck, watching her mother bounces one toddler on her lap while the other remains seated in, gripping her mother’s arm. A pang of sympathy finds its way into her chest. This move may have been her mother’s decision, but after what her father did, did her mother really have a choice?

She pauses her walkman, removing the headphones before shoving it into her carry on. Y/n stands before taking Diana from her mother’s lap. Her mother looks at her gratefully before picking up Dawn. Y/n wasn’t exactly thrilled when, at 14, she learned her mother was expecting twins, but now, practically four years later, she can’t imagine her life without them.

The family moves away from the window, approaching the gate just in time for boarding.

----

There are many reasons for Y/n to not want to move to Hawkins before her senior years. To name a few: she didn’t want to leave behind her friends and she didn’t want to exchange barely chilly, warm Phoenix winters for Indiana’s icy, slushy season. But, out of all the reasons she didn’t want to leave home, there was one thing about Hawkins that she couldn’t be mad about. There was one thing about Hawkins that she really looked forward to. Her cousin--Dustin Henderson.

Despite their age gap, the two always managed to feel close to each other. Maybe it has to do with their mothers insisting that they visit each other as regularly as they can, or maybe it's natural considering the way they gravitate towards each other at family reunions. Either way, the one thing Y/n has even somewhat been looking forward to is seeing Dustin again. The two try to call in order to stay in contact, but with separate, busy lives, nothing is guaranteed.

It’s been two years since she last managed to see him. Two years of slowly dwindling phone calls, and life changes she’s wanted to share with him. Strangely enough, now that Y/n’s standing at Dustin’s doorstep, she’s not nervous. She’s never nervous when it comes to him, because no matter how long she goes without seeing Dustin, nothing about their reunion ever feels forced.

The door opens before Y/n’s aunt can reach it. Dustin cranes his neck, looking around his mom and aunt, his eyes searching for Y/n. When he finally sees her, he grins, “Y/n!”

“Dustin!”

He runs past his mom and aunt, throwing himself into a hug. Y/n nearly stumbles back, not expecting his sudden weight. He’s grown since the last time she saw him, which isn’t totally surprising, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel strange. She squeezes him back as best she can, her arm straining against the duffel bag that’s fallen forward.

Dustin lets her go quickly. He steps back, looking her over with a focus she’s not used to. Yikes--maybe the traveling left her looking even rougher than she thought it would. “What? Do I smell like airport?”

He doesn’t even humor that joke with a smile. “You’re not wearing your glasses.”

“No, I went on an adventure and a kind bridge troll decided to give me the gift of perfect sight.” He draws his eyebrows together, still more serious than she’d like him to be. “That was a joke, Dustin. I just got contacts.”

“Hm.” He leans back slightly, crossing his arm. “And you don’t have braces anymore.”

“I’d had them in since I was like 12, it was their time.” Feeling more self conscious than she thought she would, Y/n wraps her arms around herself. “No one has braces forever--what’s the big deal?”

“Nothing,” Dustin says a little too quickly, “You just--you look different.”

“Different how? As in like an alien?”

Again, speaking too quickly to really think, Dustin blurts out, “Different as in like a girl.”

Y/n may love Dustin like he’s her actual little brother, but that doesn’t mean their relationship is perfect. Actually, all that means is that Dustin feels comfortable annoying her as perservingly as a little brother because he knows she can forgive anything. Still, though, she can’t recall a time in which she’s ever wanted to smack the side of his head more.

Y/n scoffs, pushing past him. “So when I had glasses and braces I looked like a boy?”

“No! No,” he repeats, taking long strides to keep up with her. “You always looked like a girl, I just mean that now, you look like a girl that cares about being a girl.” One look at the glare that Y/n throws in his direction, and he knows that all he’s done is dig a bigger hole for himself. “It’s not about the glasses and the braces. I mean, it’s not not that, but it’s not just that.” Dustin pauses as Y/n raises a curious--yet still irritated--eyebrow. “You’re wearing a skirt.”

She pulls her duffle bag back up her arm. “And that’s why you’re freaking out?”

“I am not freaking out.” His defense is weak, destroyed by the slight raise in his voice. “You used to not own any. You said you only had one dress, and that was only because your mom made you wear it on special occasions.”

“Sorry I still don't dress the way I did when I was like 13.” Y/n’s voice comes out smaller than she’d like. After having everything in her life change like that, the last thing she wants is for something else to be different. She thought that Dustin would be the one constant. “You look a little different, and I didn’t freak out.”

He takes a deep breath before sighing. “It’s not about how you dress. You just look older and girlier--” Dustin cuts himself off when he notices Y/n’s death. “More girl-like,” he corrects himself, though he’s not sure that that’s much better. “And I don’t know if you’re still going to want to hang out with me.”

Y/n rolls her eyes. Early teenhood is nothing if it's not defined by insecurity. “Don’t be such a loser.” She softly punches his arm. “Of course I still want to hang out with you, dummy. I’d still want to hang out with you if I came back as a total Barbie, or an alien.”

Dustin grins as he takes in her words. “It’d be cool if you were an alien.”

“Right?” Y/n grins with him as she tugs on the strap of her duffel bag. “Now let’s get inside before I process the fact that you managed to offend me that quickly.” She takes a step forward before looking back at him teasingly. “I forgot how mean 14-year-olds are. So glad I’m no longer that age.”

Dustin sighs as he catches up with her. Their approximately four year age gap is one of the few things Y/n’s always held over Dustin’s head. “You’re not that much older than me.”

“Maybe not, but I’m basically 18. I’m an adult now.”

“You still have another week,” Dustin groans, following her into the house.

Once they’re both inside, the parents completely encompass everything. Dustin’s mom takes her time hugging Y/n and cooing over her younger sisters. Y/n’s mom gushes over Dustin, claiming that he’s so grown up now while still placing a humbling pinch against his cheek. After a few minutes of the sweet, but admittedly mushy, reunion, everyone begins to busy themselves with other things.

The moms busy themselves with family gossip as they divide the work of making snacks for the fussy toddlers. Y/n tries grabbing an already made sandwich from the kitchen, but Dustin stops her and insists they go to his room. She doesn’t get his urgency, but the way he looks at her tells her to listen, so she ignores her rumbling stomach and follows him.

Once the two get to Dustin’s room, Dustin begins looking through his backpack. Y/n watches him. “You know I really wanted that sandwich. I’ve been up since 7:00, and I’m hungry. Airplane food sucks. Like really sucks.”

“You’ll get to eat it.”

“Then why did you basically smack it out of my hand?”

“We’re eating at the park. My friend Steve’s going to be here soon,” Dustin’s explanation is distracted, uninterested as he digs through his bag, “Shit.” He pauses, looking around his room. His eyes finally land on his walkman. “It’s never where I think it is.”

Y/n blinks at him. “Back it up a bit: One, we’re going to the park. Two, your friend is picking you up, meaning you have a friend that can drive?”

“Yeah,” Dustin replies, not looking at his cousin. He crosses the room, grabbing his walkman from the night stand. “That’s what the sandwiches are for. There’s a skating ramp in the park and--ugh, batteries are almost dead.” Dustin shakes his walkman, banging the side of it against his open palm. “We go more often now that the mall’s gone. Steve drives ‘cause he’s older.”

“Okay,” Y/n mumbles. “For the record, I’m more focused on the ‘older friend Steve’ part than the park part. You get why, right?”

Dustin walks around his room, opening a desk drawer. “Wait, wh--ugh, Y/n!” Dustin cringes, finally looking away from the object that’s held his attention. “It’s not a weird thing! He’s not that much older--he’s like your age.” Dustin visibly winces. “You--you’ve met him. Steve Harrington.”

Y/n pauses, thinking back to the only Steve she can remember meeting. He was only a little older than Y/n, and had been referred to as more of a babysitter than a friend. At one point, he had seen her while at Dustin’s house and made a joke about not knowing he was in charge of another kid. She played it off with an eye roll and a quippy insult before disappearing back into the Henderson’s guest room, but that comment had broken her heart.

“You mean the babysitting guy?”

Dustin lets out a sigh as he continues to look through his junk drawer. “Yes. Babysitting guy that you were totally in love with.”

Y/n scoffs instinctively. Her face is hotter now than she remembers it being. “I was not in love with him.”

Shutting the drawer in defeat, Dustin turns. He grins before opening his mouth, “Oh, Heather, he’s so cute. Like so cute I don’t even think you’re picturing him right. Like--he’s cuter than Aaron H. from homeroom.”

Hot embarrassment courses through Y/n’s veins at the sound of Dustin’s high pitch impression of her. “I knew you were listening to my phone calls that trip, you weirdo.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest, glaring at the ground because she can't quite look at Dustin. “So I thought he was cute, that doesn’t mean I liked him or anything.” Dustin says nothing, but somehow that feels worse. “Y’know, I might ‘look like a girl now’ and wear skirts, but I can still kick your ass.”

Dustin opens his second desk drawer and rifles through it for a moment before finding an already open pack of batteries. “Everyone likes him, he’s Steve.” That comment does the opposite of ease Y/n. If anything, it makes her just want to camp out in Dustin’s room for the next few days until her mom closes on the new house. Dustin tosses his walkman into his backpack along with a couple of tapes. He zips up the bag and begins to approach the door. “You coming?”

“Not if you told some random guy that hangs out with kids he used to babysit that I’m in love with him.”

Sighing, Dustin turns dramatically. “I didn’t tell him shit, now come on. They’re gonna be here any minute.” Y/n hesitates. “If you don’t come, you’re going to be stuck with the moms and the twins.”

The thought isn’t terrible, but she does know that the house will feel a lot more lonely without Dustin. “Fine.”

----

Dustin and Y/n have been waiting in the front living room for ten minutes. Normally, Y/n wouldn’t mind a bit of a wait, but she’s hungry, and Dustin has been holding his backpack against his chest to keep Y/n from stealing anything edible he’s put in it. She’d argue with him more if it wasn’t for the insistent way he’s been tapping his foot and eyeing the window. Whoever this Steve guy is now, Y/n thinks, he’s clearly important to Dustin.

Dustin keeps tapping his foot, eyes trained on the window until a car Y/n doesn’t recognize pulls into Dustin’s driveway. That’s when Dustin stands, arm swinging his backpack onto his back casually as he approaches the door. A small part of Y/n wants to at least consider bailing. But this is important to Dustin, even if he won’t admit it, and Y/n doesn’t have a lot of options right now. If she stays here, there’s no way she won’t fall into some kind of wallowing pit of despair.

Y/n follows Dustin outside, though she walks at a much more casual pace than her younger cousin.

The front window of the car is already rolled down. Even though Y/n is still at a fair distance, she can make out the primary features of the driver. True brown hair that falls in a way Y/n can unfortunately only describe as romantic. She suppresses a sigh as she gets even closer to the car. She spent the entire wait hoping that her younger mind had simply romanticized Steve’s appearance. She also would have been happy to find out that Steve had become ugly over the last two years.

But she’s never that lucky. He’s as beautiful as she remembers, if not more so.

“Harrington,” Dustin greets, already approaching the back seat, “You’re five minutes late.”

Steve instinctively narrows his eyes. “You’re lucky I drive you around at all, Henderson.” He leans further into his seat as Dustin opens the door that leads to the back seat. “Seriously, I drove you to the movies not even--”

The words lodge themselves in his throat as his gaze shifts forward. Every one of his instincts leaps out of his body. The sensation of the sudden loss of the ability to think practically hurts, but the pain is worth it because he swears he’s looking at a living sun ray. Yellow skirt, light top, bashfully curious eyes.

“Steve.” His name has never sounded so forced in his own ears. “I uh--my name’s Steve.” Somehow, the clarification doesn’t make it any better and he can feel Robin’s stare pressing against the back of his head. “You’re…Dustin mentioned his cousin was coming to town.”

“Moving to town,” Y/n curses herself for the soft correction. She wanted to be instantly repulsed by him so that she wouldn’t be forced to live through freshly 16 year old hers angst. “You were right about the cousin thing, though,” she states, stepping towards the car, “I’m Y/n.”

Y/n, Steve repeats the name in his head as she pulls herself into the car. Steve forces himself to take a deep breath. Okay, okay--everything’s fine, everything’s normal. A cute girl who just happens to be related to Dustin just got into my car and apparently she’s going to be living here now.

“If you’re going to be around, let me introduce myself as the local designated driver, amazing advice giver, and beloved babysitter.” Steve pulls out of the driveway as Robin blatantly side eyes him. He can’t blame her, that was kind of weird.

The comment is clearly meant to be something that’s said just for the sake of being said, but at the mention of the word ‘babysitter’, Y/n snaps out of whatever spell Steve managed to cast on her. “We’ve actually met before.”

At that, Steve finds himself struggling to keep the vehicle straight. He thinks through his memories with Dustin, shuffling through their interactions. He remembers it a little too quickly. “Yeah, I remember now.”

Maybe his nerves are making his words sound more forced, because Y/n replies with, “It’s okay if you don’t, it was brief.”

“No, no, I do.” He considers trying to justify this answer by elaborating on their few interactions or by describing the jean shorts and band t-shirt she had been wearing, but decides against it. The last thing Steve needs right now is to have this girl thinking that he’s weird and obsessive. “You look a little different now.”

“Yeah, she’s a total valley girl now,” Dustin mumbles, completely dejected like this is the most heartbreaking development he’s ever experienced. Like becoming a girl that likes lip gloss and mini skirts is the worst, most brain melting thing that can happen to someone.

Y/n turns as best as she can. “Dude!” She says at the same time the red headed girl sitting on the other side of Dustin does. Y/n finds herself wondering if she’s met her before.

The girl in the passenger seat turns, glaring at Dustin. “That was kinda sexist of you.” Y/n blinks, unused to having anyone defend her. The stranger then smiles at her. The look is warm and open and Y/n instantly thinks she might really like this girl. “I’m Robin.”

She smiles back, “Y/n.”

“Max,” the girl on the other side of Dustin says.

“Nice to meet you.”

----

Maybe it’s pessimistic of her, but Y/n told herself to have low expectations for the park. Today should have no good qualities. Her mom actually followed through on leaving their dad and uprooting them. Two extremely permanent, sucky things have happened. Today’s not a day for good things. She’s not sure there will ever be completely good things again.

But when she gets to the park, she realizes that she’s not as jaded as she thought. The grass is neatly trimmed, there’s a playground in the near distance, and the skating area is facing away from the sun, so the heat isn’t overwhelming. It’s undeniably nice and she likes seeing Dustin happy, even though he’s been a total 14-year-old boy all day.

Y/n’s surprised he even thought to ambush invite her considering how quickly he ditches her. He runs off with Max, searching for mutual friends that promised to meet them there. Lucas and Mike, who Y/n remembers from earlier summers. The three eldest members of the group are in what Y/n would consider an easy silence. She almost always finds this kind of quiet unsettling, but this is peaceful.

When Robin isn’t watching Steve, she’s been watching Y/n as secretly as possible. Which, for her, isn’t exactly covert, but she’s not sure she could stop if she wanted to. Steve’s sputtery introduction back at Dustin’s house was the clearest sign she’s seen in a long time that indicated he liked someone. It’s been practically a year of being best friends with Steve, and Robin knows she can read him. She also knows that his confidence when it comes to girls he likes is a fickle thing, and that without a proper shove in the right direction, he’ll let any chance for a real relationship slip through hesitant fingers.

So Robin decides to be the push in the right direction. Or, in this case, kick, because the group’s been sitting here for almost 10 minutes and Steve has spent the entire time staring at Y/n. She kicks him beneath the picnic table, and when he turns towards her, clearly offended, Robin raises her eyebrows and tilts her head in Y/n’s direction. The look she gives him is clear--say something to her or I will, and it’ll probably be something embarrassing about you.

“The weather’s nice,” he blurts out, immediately regretting it. Y/n turns her body so that she’s no longer staring at what’s behind her. When their eyes meet, Steve starts to think his embarrassment is worth it. He swallows once before continuing, “Is it nice in…”

“Phoenix,” she replies easily, “And yeah, it’s nice when it’s not completely scorching.”

Robin considers kicking Steve again. The weather, that’s the best he can come up with? She’s starting to wonder how he was ever an actual heart breaker. Right now, he has as much game as the crust she picked off her ham and cheese. A small part of Robin feels for him. Steve might be so pathetic that she’s his only hope for not dying alone. That’s depressing. “Do you skate, Y/n?”

Y/n throws a partial glance behind her. “Rollerskating’s more my thing, but I’ve skateboarded a couple times.” She sheepishly chews another bite of her sandwich. “If I’m being completely honest, ‘I’ve skated a couple times’ is code for ‘my friends have tried to teach me on two separate occasions and they gave up by the time I could stand on the board.’”

Steve hides a smile by taking a long sip out of his water bottle. The grin tries to fight its way to the surface as he swallows, like his body is desperate to show how endearing he finds her.

“Steve’s great at teaching.” Those words are almost enough to make him choke on his water. Great is a strong word.

One time, when they were both high, Robin found an old skateboard in the back of Steve’s closet. They both thought it’d be a great idea for Robin to learn. The two had been clumsy, but when Robin sobered up, she was still curious about it. She bought a board herself, but Steve’s patient lessons have still barely taught her the minimum. In Robin’s defense, it’s not like Steve’s some skateboard expert. He can’t remember the last time he skated for the sake of it.

“He’s patient at least, Max gets a little tired when you don’t get something, but Steve doesn’t.” Steve kicks Robin under the table, she kicks him back. “You wanna try? I brought my board?”

The offer is so nice Y/n wants to take Robin up on it just because. Her gut tells her that she should at least try to warn the two that she’s the world’s greatest disaster when it comes to anything on wheels. Her mother would testify to Y/n’s point and pull out speeding tickets to back up her point. “That’s really nice of you, but I'm so accident prone I couldn’t subject you both to that.”

There’s a chance she’ll trip before her foot even touches a skateboard. She’s used to stumbling at the worst possible moment when she’s nervous, but Y/n really doesn’t want to wipe out in front of everyone here. Especially Steve.

“There’s no way you’re more uncoordinated than me,” Robin counters, “It’s scientifically impossible.”

Steve rolls the plastic lid of his water bottle between his pointer finger and thumb. “That’s true. No offense, Robs.”

“None taken.” Robin’s reply is a little too happy, bordering on enthusiastic.

Y/n sets down her sandwich, considering what it’d mean to take them up on their offer. Steve has been relatively silent, but he hasn’t done anything to imply that he wouldn’t want to. “If I fall in front of Dustin, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I can beat him up for you.” Steve’s offer is so casual Y/n almost wonders if he’s serious.

After a beat of silence, and a study of Steve’s easy going smile, Y/n grins. “I think I can take him myself, but I’d never say no to some back up.”

Steve smiles even more. “I’d be happy to do it, he’s been such a little shit lately.”

----

Y/n wonders if Robin is the kind of person to always get her way. She must be pretty persuasive if she managed to convince Y/n to try to stand on a skateboard in public.

Steve had talked her through it as they walked away from the safety of grass and towards brutal, unforgiving concrete. By the time he had placed Robin’s skateboard on the ground, he was sure he had already talked through all the skateboard knowledge he had.

“Being able to stand on the board is half the battle.” He doesn’t realize he’s said that already until the words are out of his mouth. Steve mentally cringes before wiping his hands on his jeans. He reaches forward without thinking. His hands are gently wrapped around her wrists before he even realizes he’s moved.

Body tensing, Y/n turns her hands over in order to better hold onto Steve. Nerves that have nothing to do with what she’s about to do pool in her stomach. Y/n forces one foot off the ground and onto the board. When it doesn’t instantly roll out from under her, she takes a breath and then places her other foot next to the first.

The skateboard shifts at her full weight. Y/n, unsure on how to distribute it, almost slips forward. Steve’s prepared for the movement, his hands moving up her arms in order to keep her stable. A small gasp escapes Y/n. She moves her hands, gripping Steve’s forearms.

“Feet shoulder width apart.”

Y/n nods once, head just barely tilting forward enough to glance at Steve before returning her attention to her feet. She holds onto him even tighter as she adjusts her positioning.

The corner of Steve’s mouth turns upwards without him realizing it. Her hands steady on him, her perfume faint in the air, her soft breaths. It’s nice--all of it is nicer than he thought it’d be. Maybe Robin was onto something when she not-so-subtly manufactured this moment. Steve’s going to have to thank her, even if it means giving her bragging rights.

“Okay.” Steve says it because he’s scared that if he doesn’t, he may never speak again. He’d just let a silence hold them there forever. “You’re standing great, you’re a great stander.” The strange compliment leaves Y/n grinning more than she should be. “You wanna try moving?”

“Okay,” the two syllables are uncertain and almost lost to the self deprecating, gentle laugh that follows it.

Y/n moves one foot, attempting to place it on the ground. The motion paired with the slight shake of her leg destroys the small amount of stability Y/n and Steve had managed to create. The board beneath her attempts to lurch forward. Steve tilts his foot upwards, pressing his toes against the front of the skateboard. Y/n still manages to stumble forward. Steve adjusts his hold on her arm, stabilizing her.

He bites back a laugh. “What was that?”

“Moving--you keep one leg on the board, and use the other leg to kick off.” Y/n’s eyebrows pinch together at Steve’s expression. “Don’t laugh.”

Steve bites his tongue. “‘M not.” Y/n looks up without moving her head from its downwards position. The harsh look she gives him might have come off a fraction as intimidating as she wanted it to if it wasn’t for how damn cute he finds her little pout. Endearment, uncomfortably warm and buzzing, floods into his chest. “I meant I should pull you around a little so that you can get used to balancing.”

That makes sense, Y/n thinks, her friends back home tried pulling her along once in order to make her more comfortable after a pretty bad wipeout. “Oh,” she manages, “Yeah, that does sound like a better idea.”

He extends his arms, taking a partial step back in order to create some distance. Cautiously, Steve just barely pulls on her forearms. Y/n giggles as she moves forward. The sound is so heartwarming Steve wishes he could tangibly hold it.

The pair make their way down the sidewalk at a steady pace that a child learning to ride a tricycle could probably beat. Y/n’s a little wobbly at first, but after a few minutes, she gets used to balancing. She’s still holding onto Steve with a grip that’s a little too tight, but she’s okay enough at standing on it. She’s okay enough at it that they could probably move on to the part that involves actual skateboarding, but neither of them bring it up.

With no warning, the front wheels of the skateboard catch themselves on a cracked part of the sidewalk. Y/n’s knees nearly buckle at the sudden change in pace. Steve barely manages to reposition himself in time to prevent a nasty fall. Y/n’s hands move upwards in a panic, landing squarely on his chest.

“I’ve got you,” Steve breathes, voice lower than he thought it’d be.

A warm feeling roots itself in the pit of her stomach and quickly expands all the way up her chest. Y/n doesn’t like it. Feelings like that lead to delusion. She looks up after a long moment. When her eyes meet his, adrenaline and nerves twist in her stomach until she has no choice but to laugh.

Steve laughs with her, his head tilting downwards as affection pools in his eyes. Only an inch or two of space exists between them. It’d take nothing for their foreheads to touch. Being close to her reminds him of the feeling of stepping away from the shade for the sole purpose of feeling the sun’s warmth.

He almost blurts out an admission of his fondness right then and there. You’re pretty when you laugh. The way your eyes crinkle when you smile makes me want to smile. His lips part, and he barely manages to swallow the words.

Y/n doesn’t move. She’s not sure she can do anything that could risk shattering this moment. She told herself to not look twice at him. She warned herself of the dangers of playing into a crush on an older boy with a myriad of other options. None of that seems to hold any weight anymore.

“Steve!” Dustin’s voice cuts the strange string that was holding them together. “Do you still have band-aids in your car?”

Nothing good comes from Dustin asking about band-aids. Sighing in a way that serves as some sort of apology, Steve looks away from Y/n and towards the group of younger teens. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much am I going to freak out when I go over there?”

“Lucas scraped his knee a little,” Dustin replies, his voice lowering as he approaches the two, “So probably like a 7.”

Steve sighs once more, helping Y/n step off the skateboard before walking towards Dustin and the rest of the sack lunch gang. “I do not react that ba--oh my god, Lucas did you jump off the skateboard?”

#steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #netflix stranger things #x reader #stranger things fic

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marie-swriting · 1 year

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Lose This With You - Katherine Pierce

Masterlist

Summary : you're in a relationship with Katherine but she's always starting fights with you even though you could have something beautiful.

Warnings : reader is a vampire, arguing, mention of Katherine's traumas, angst, good ending, consumming alcohol (be careful with your alcohol consumption), maybe some grammatical mistakes as English is not my first language so tell me if you see some or if I missed any warnings.

Word count : 2k

French version

Song inspiration : Afterglow by Taylor Swift

“Oh my God, I’m so sick of arguing with you. I just feel like I’m talking to a brick wall every time.” you exclaim, massaging your temples.

“So you think I’m the only one in the wrong in this situation ?” Katherine retorts dryly.

“I’ve never said that ! I’m sure I’m also wrong as well but it doesn’t mean you can accuse me of things I didn’t do ! Could we, for once, talk about it calmly ? The only thing we do is yell at each other then act as if nothing happened. We never solve the problem.”

“But I’ve been talking since the beginning.”

“No, since the beginning, you’ve been shouting and throwing accusations at my face, it’s different. At least, listen to what I have to say.” you beg, Katherine shakes her head.

“I don’t wanna listen to you.”

“Katherine-” you sigh, though she cuts you off.

“No ! Actually, I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Leave.” she orders, emotionless.

“Really ? You don’t even want to try to sort this out ?” you ask, exasperated.

“There’s nothing to sort out. I don’t even know why I decided to get with you in the first place. I don’t even care about you.”

As soon as you hear Katherine pronounce these words, your heart tightens in your chest and you look down. Your eyes stings but you don’t let a tear roll down your cheek. You don’t want to show her she’s hurt you, though she doesn’t need to see your face to know it. Your shoulders down are enough. Even if a part of Katherine wants to take back what she just said, her anger is stronger so she keeps talking, twisting the knife in your chest.

“So leave, I don’t want to see you ever again.”

“Very well,” you start after taking a deep breath and looking up to her, “but don’t come back to me crying when you’ll realise you’ve fucked it up.”

“It won’t happen.”

“Perfect, then !”

You keep your gaze on Katherine for a few seconds before leaving your shared apartment. You slam the door and Katherine holds back her tears when she’s confronted by the silence. Your breath is heavy whilst you start crying. You wipe your tears with anger before going to the Salvatores’.

Your friendship with the two brothers is, additionally, often the object of your arguments between you and Katherine, your last altercation is no exception. You were supposed to meet them for a few hours and when she learned about it, Katherine started to scream at you while you were confused about the reasons behind her annoyance. Sure, you know they’re not the best of friends, but the tension between the three of them is not like it used to be. Furthermore, you've been friends with Stefan and Damon longer than you know Katherine. You had met them when they had just been turned into vampires. You had tried to help them thanks to your two hundred years experience as a vampire. Therefore, your friendship with the two men is important for you. As for Katherine, you met her only a few years ago and your relationship is even newer. Notwithstanding, the love you have for Katherine is just as important. For the first time in your long life, you feel like you’ve discovered the real meaning of ‘love’, however your numerous fights are slowly ruining everything. Generally, you never give up that easily when a conflict erupts. You tried giving her space and coming back to her later and even leaving her alone until she’s calmed enough to settle everything, yet there’s nothing to do. As soon as a tough time is behind you, she finds you a new flaw.

Over time, you got used to the disputes. You’ve already said awful things to each other, you’ve already stayed several days without talking until you make the first step. Yet, you’re more and more tired of this situation and knowing she doesn’t want to see you anymore doesn’t help to save your relationship. The more time goes by, the more you tell yourself it’s destined to fail. You can’t spend forever arguing. It’s not what you want. So you decide to give up. You tried but she doesn’t want to make an effort so what’s the point of trying so hard ?

Once you’re at Stefan and Damon’s, you pour yourself a glass of Bourbon before greeting them. They instantly understand what happened. Damon doesn’t even react when he sees you pouring another glass. He knows his bottle is doomed for the night, this one and the next one he has in stock.

While you explain to them your last fight, Katherine hasn’t moved yet. She’s still in the middle of your living room, overwhelmed by her emotions. This time, she tells herself she probably took things too far. Deep down, she’s aware she’s the reason behind all of your problems in your relationship, even if she refuses to admit it to you. The look on your face when she implied she never cared about you is still engraved in her mind. She hates seeing you in pain and yet, she feels like she’s almost always the cause of it. Well, it’s not just a feeling, she knows she is. And she hates herself for it. Katherine doesn’t understand why she persists to destroy your relationship. You do everything to make it work. You love her, more than you should, according to her, and she loves you. You give your all for her and in return, she only gives you back baseless accusations.

Katherine lets a small sob leave her lips before breaking down. Just like you, Katherine is tired of this situation. But above all, she doesn’t want to lose you. However, with what she told you and the way you left, she thinks it’s already too late. She keeps crying the whole night, mad at herself for everything she put you through. Katherine wishes to erase what she said, start all over again, however it’s not possible. She knows you guys have the potential to be something beautiful, if she wouldn’t let her fears speak. At first, Katherine is desperate, certain she has destroyed everything, then she tells herself she might have a small chance to fix your relationship if, for the first time in her life, she doesn’t run away. Determined, but scared nonetheless, Katherine leaves your apartment to find you. She doesn’t have to think to know you’re at the mansion. You always go to them after a fight. Katherine only hopes they won’t close the door to her face and you’ll like to listen to her.

You wake up when you feel someone shaking you. When you open your eyes, you see Stefan in front of you. Without a word, he points at something behind him and you notice Katherine on the doorstep, looking at you with an awkward and sorry expression on her face. You sigh loudly before meeting her. You cross your arms on your chest to show your annoyance.

“May we talk ?” she enquiries with a small voice.

“I don’t know, you told me you didn’t want to do it anymore yesterday.” you retort, drily.

“Please. It’ll only take a few minutes. I really need to talk to you.”

When you see her pleading look, you decide to do it, not without rolling your eyes at your incapacity to go up against her.

“Alright, but not here, I don’t want any prying ears.”

Katherine steps aside to let you walk out of the mansion whilst you close the door behind you. You both walk in the forest nearby.

On top of being silent, with your stance, we can tell you’re on the defensive, ready to attack if Katherine says something wrong. This doesn’t help Katherine to muster up her courage, but she knows she needs to do it. She needs to talk to you. She’s ruined everything, so she has to be the one to do the right thing.

“I am sorry.” Katherine starts, looking you in the eyes.

“‘Sorry’ doesn’t mean anything if you don’t fix your behaviour.”

“I am deeply sorry. Not only for yesterday, but also for all the other times. You’re right, we never talk. Or more precisely, I never allow us to communicate.”, she admits, surprising you, “Everytime we finish arguing or rather when I finish screaming, I act as if nothing happened, I don’t take responsibility for my mistakes and it’s not the thing to do. Besides, I know I’ve been hurting you since the beginning of our relationship. I’m always searching for every unpleasant vice to use against you, I do everything to push you away and I think this time, I’ve succeeded, but it’s not what I want. I care about you, more than you know. I don’t know why I always have to break what I love so much. I want to stop ruining our relationship, I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

“It’s all well and good what you’re saying, but how can I be sure those aren’t empty promises ?”

“Yesterday, when you left, I realised I’m destroying our relationship and I want it to stop. It’s just, I’m not used to having a bit of happiness so whenever I do, I’m afraid to lose it. I always lose everything, since the day my daughter was taken away from me and I’m scared you’re going to give up on me or you’ll end up hurting me, so I prefer to attack first. I know it’s not an excuse, I shouldn’t put my fears and my traumas on you, it’s not fair. You deserve that I treat you as well as you do. I don’t want to keep hurting you. I love you and I don’t want to lose this with you.”, Katherine continues as she waves between you two, “If it’s not too late, I’d like to have one last chance to prove to you I can be better. And for that, I need to apologise first. I am sorry that I hurt you. And I am sorry for always avoiding conversations, for giving you the silent treatment when you tried to talk to me, but above all, I am sorry to not allow myself to trust you while you do everything for me. I’m to blame and I’m taking responsibility for all my faults now. If I have already destroyed everything, you can tell me. However, I hope I’m still yours like you’re still mine and I hope you can tell me we’ll be alright, even when I lose my mind and, despite all the times I broke your heart, I’m still all you want. If it’s not the case, I’ll understand. I didn’t do anything to avoid this situation.” she states with teary eyes.

“First of all, I appreciate seeing you come to me and I’m glad you’ve realised a few things. I want to believe you really want to change, but how can I know it’s true ? How can I know, two weeks from now, we won’t be at each other’s throat again like we’ve been doing since the beginning ?” you ask, sceptical, “I don’t want to stay in a relationship where we slowly kill each other.”

“I promise you, from now on, I want to and I will make an effort. I love you too much to see you go.” she says, taking your hands, “Yesterday was enough to make me realise I won’t be able to live without you. Give me one last chance and if I keep blowing things out of proportion, still blame you for things that aren’t true, I’ll let you go. But I believe this love is worth the fight and I want to do it now.”

When you hear her determined tone, you can’t help but admit with this discussion, Katherine just proved to you she’s genuine in her promise. She really wants to make an effort for you, for the both of you. A part of you still fears it’s only a temporary promise yet you want to believe in Katherine, you want to believe she really wants to try with you.

“I can’t deny, you seem sincere. For the first time in our relationship, we’re talking and I’m happy about it. I don’t want to lose this with you either. I’d like to try one last time.” you smile, stroking her cheek.

“You won’t regret it, I promise.”

And you never did.

Masterlist

{This is my side blog so I'll be answering comments under the username @marie-sworld}

#marie swriting in english #katherine pierce x fem!reader #katherine pierce x fem reader #katherine pierce #katherine pierce x y/n #katherine pierce x reader #katherine pierce x you #katherine pierce imagines #katherine pierce one shot #katherine pierce angst #katerina petrova #the vampire diaries imagine #the vampire diaries one shot #the vampire diaries #Spotify #marie swriting with taylor swift

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loving-august · 2 years

Text

paper planes.

๑.pairings: draco x fem!reader

๑.genre: fourth year, fluff, crack, no voldy au + sfw!!

๑.synopsis: an unknown paper planes has been flying towards you, what could be the best thing could happen?

๑.wc: 3.9k

๑.warnings: typos, grammatical errors, simp!draco

๑.house + status: gryffindor, half-blood

๑.links: navigation | hp.masterlist | taglist form (general)

— lets pretend that draco changed his hairstyle at fourth year instead of third year ;)) + im still having problem with the developement of relationships here BAHAHAHAHAH

— A paper plane landed on your desk. Your chin was resting on your hand as you witnessed your classmates doing their own things, playing with the papers as they used their spells, levitating them in the air. Your mind clearly said the spell as soon as you saw the magic, wingardium leviosa.

You raised an eyebrow, you looked anywhere to see who sent it, but sadly you have no idea. You opened the paper to see a drawing of a girl with a bored expression. Soon, you realized that it was you on the drawing. You didn’t get a chance to ask your seatmate, but eventually professor Snape arrived in the classroom. You groaned internally and placed the paper on one of the pages of your book and the class started.

The next day, at lunch, everyone was busy eating, chatting with each other. You decided to sit down with your fellow trouble magnet friends, Ron, Hermione, and Harry. A paper airplane landed on the table where you were eating. Ron was the first to pick up the paper airplane, “clearly I'm eating here and this rubbish decided to land on it,” he complained with his mouth full of food. He opened the paper to see a poorly drawn picture of his friend before lunch, “Wait hold on, y/n is this you?” he asked. Soon after, Hermione and Harry stopped eating and leaned closer to the paper that Ron was holding.

“Whoever fancies you y/n, needs to be taught on how to draw,” Harry joked.

Hermione, Ron, and you did stifle a laugh. “I didn’t know that you were that mean, Harry,” you commented, “I mean that’s kind of cute coming from a guy who likes me or makes fun of me. At least they’re watching over me. How about that?”

“That’s kind of creepy y/n,” Hermione added.

“Clearly that guy was maybe too shy to approach you,” Harry pointed out. Ron gave the paper to you and you once again, kept it on your book, “whoever sends me this will tell me who they are or a clue,” you said.

“Well good luck to you,” Hermione said.

“Thanks, I will be needing that,” you replied.

The following days, you still have been receiving the same paper planes but with the sketches has been improved quite a bit. You made up your mind that you had enough, you need answers. And so, you grabbed all the previous paper airplanes you have received, laying them all on your bed and began to think.

First, the sketches, you deduced that the mysterious person who has been sending was around you. The first ever plane you have received was from the potion class of Professor snape. Which was Slytherin and Gryffindor.

You silently opened your mouth and covered it by your hand as you slowly processed the problem you had solved.

Hermione entered the dorms as she looked at the papers laying on your bed. She went near you and scanned the bed, “wow, that’s all of the paper airplanes you have received in the past weeks? Whoever that person was, they really must have been fancying you for a very long time,” she commented.

You collected all the papers, “well they are probably in Gryffindor or Slytherin and that’s for sure,” you replied. Hermione sat down on her bed, “ I kinda want to know who it was,” she laughed.

“Welcome to the club then,” you chuckled.

Monday is the worst of all. Yet, you are still stuck on the Gryffindor/Slytherin clue you found out a week ago. You yawned as you were on our way to the Great hall to eat your breakfast, but somehow you happened to bump into someone.

“Watch it!”

Your view was a bit blurred because of your poor eyesight whenever you wake up. Slowly you noticed the brightest head out of all people. The one and only Draco Lucius Malfoy. Great.

You scrunched up your eyebrows because you really can’t see it clearly, “get out malfoy, i don’t have time for your petty games, now shove off.”

His gang made a sound, “ooooh!”

You signaled a stop sign on them and grabbed your glasses and put it on, the first thing you ever saw was his face. Unlike his hair from the past year that has been applied with gel and now it looks better— since when did you ever think about this? His eyes looking straight at you making you shift your gaze on the other side, from the first time ever, you said the impossible, “you look good on your hair, it suits you well,”

They went silent, and he was too.

You were supposed to be pissed off by him and now he's the one who got struck by a different approach than he was expecting.

"You're lucky this time!" He said and immediately left and his gang followed him. You also went to your table where your friends are. They all looked at you with their mouths full. You sat in front of Harry beside hermione.

"We didn't know you use glasses y/n," Harry started the conversation. You scratched your head as you started to fix your hair into a messy low bun, "I didn't use it that much since my eyes kinda depend on the days on when I will be needing it," you replied and you took a bite from the bread.

The door suddenly opened with owls, holding letters, packages and even a howler went inside to scold a fellow gryffindor, everybody laughed at that, especially the slytherins. Then again, a paper airplane flew and landed on the tables like the last time, the trio wiggled their eyebrows in a playful manner and said, "y/n has an admirer!" They teased.

Of course, everybody heard that.

You covered your face in embarrassment, even the neighboring schools looked at the commotion. "You guys are embarrassing me!" You whisper yelled and they giggled.

—

dear y/n,

you look pretty with glasses,

it suits you well.

—

Your heart skipped a beat, it's so sudden that someone has actually complimented you. As soon as Hermione, Ron, and Harry read the paper, the trio went wild. It clearly caught everyone's attention, "that's what you call an admirer!"

You felt your cheeks getting warm, you were blushing.

Yes, you felt happy as you read the letter once again, clearly the trio was so happy for you, but to Hermione she was a bit worried about the truth that you had deduced last week. She thought that maybe it was a slytherin and that is definitely not a good idea for a gryffindor to date a slytherin because of the beef they had in history up until now. But at the same time, it's actually kind of nice to hear.

You folded the paper and kept it inside your pocket, still blushing at the letter, "a-anyways, enough about t-that," you stuttered. They all looked at you, wiggled their eyebrows, and added it up with their smirk.

You mumbled something, and began to eat. But everytime you look at them, they give you a smirk to which you pretend to ignore them for the whole breakfast.

To the trio's perspective, you immediately left after eating breakfast and went straight to your first subject. They all look at each other, "do you think we went too far?" Hermione asked. Meanwhile Ron was still eating, Hermione grabbed her newspaper and smacked it on his head, "ow! What was that for?" He asked.

Ron looked at Harry and Harry signaled by his eyes on your seat to where you left. Ron looked again at Harry and he shrugged his shoulders saying, "I don't think we went too far to be honest”, he took another bite, “ it's been a while since she felt that way and i don't know," he took a bite from his bread.

Hermione sighed, "boys are hopeless," she thought.

Professor McGonagall gathered everyone at the great hall. All tables have been removed and replaced by some chairs enough for everyone to sit. You sat down with Ginny and the other juniors, sadly you could’ve been seated between Ginny and Hermione but the others were too fast on occupying the seats, not that you did mind it. Right in front of you were the boys, Harry and Ron stuck together, since the announcement hadn't started yet, you scanned the whole room.

You happen to see the blonde Malfoy across the hall sitting beside his little slytherin gang, pointing and laughing at some students who they see fit to be laughed at. His so-called ally, Crabbe, saw you looking at malfoy.

You immediately looked away and tapped Ginny's shoulder. She looked at you with her eyebrows raised. "What's up?" She asked. You were trying to say something but too bad you didn't even think about a topic to talk about in order to avoid eye contact with his friends.

Just in time, Professor McGonagall arrived and began to explain the event to be held at hogwarts.

The yule ball.

The funny bit was that Ron was dancing with Professor McGonagall, Harry chuckled, and most of the Hogwarts students laughed. Everyone was excited about the ball, and some of them were not so happy about it, especially to some people who hate gatherings and parties. Professor McGonagall told everyone to dance with someone as a practice. Everyone followed but you stayed on your seat.

The meeting adjourned and everyone talked about the ball. The guys were trying their shot as they asked the other girls to come with them to the ball. Days passed, the talk about the ball was still on.

Malfoy himself always teases you for how you have glasses, "oh look, isn't just amazing to see potter number two," with his signature smirk plastered on his face. You clicked your tongue and almost crushed to being crumpled up on a paper plane you have received during lunch.

He took the paper plane and held it up high. "Malfoy! Give it back!" You demanded. He laughed at how you couldn't reach the paper. But instead you tickled him on the side ,with the paper was holding fell down, you then grabbed the paper and ran away from him.

And the next day, when you were with Hermione this time, you noticed that she was smiling the whole time, which made you curious about it.

"Looks weird to see you subconsciously smiling 'mione, do you have a date already?" You asked. The brunette looked at your eyes and just could help it but to smile at the memory she had a while ago. "Would you believe me if I said that I have a date for the ball?" You snorted, "why would you say that? Clearly you're too pretty that some guys fancy you, you know. And of course I would believe in that," you replied.

Just then, a paper plane flew towards you, you looked around in the hallways, hoping you could see the person who sent this. Hermione made a fake cough, "it looks like you have a date to the ball," she said.

"Don't assume too much 'mione,"

She chuckled lightly, "hm, whatever floats your boat. I need to go to the library for herbology class, my essay is due in three days-"

"But it's only three days away—"

"Exactly."

She soon left and you were now alone in the hallway. Luckily, you have free time for two hours, you don't have the guts to do your work, and might as well do them later at night. As you were walking, you slowly opened up the paper plane. It wrote something:

—

Days may have gone fast,

Reading this will surely make your heart beat fast.

And the glasses that makes you prettier day by day,

Come at the astronomy tower at the end of the day,

Oh to hear what I will say.

-after dinner it is.

—

A smile crept on your face, and your hand suddenly covered it, whoever wrote the poem, it bloody made your heart beat fast. The next thing you know is that you happen to walk past one of Malfoy's friends, Blaise Zabini. You immediately looked away and walked faster.

After the dinner, you immediately wiped your mouth with a napkin and left the great hall immediately. The trio wondered why you were in a hurry. Usually, you and Ron were always the last because both of you liked to talk and eat.

Harry and Ron raised both an eyebrow and looked at each other confusedly. Hermione hid her smile to the thought that the unknown guy who sends you paper planes has finally made a move on you. She couldn't wait for the yule ball.

You went straight to the astronomy tower, it took you seven minutes to get there since you are way too excited and at the same time nervous you know who it was. Of course, the thought you have in mind came all over you.

What if it was just a prank and made a fool out of you?

Another five minutes of doubting yourself on the wall before going upstairs. You smacked your cheeks to get a hold of yourself. "You can do this y/n, if it's just a joke, I'll punch the person who made fun of me," you encouraged yourself and began to go upstairs.

You panted as you took a final step on the stairs, you held on tightly on the railings on the side and began to fix your composure. "I need to exercise myself for this," you said.

You went on the balcony to see the view of hogwarts. Whoever said to meet in the astronomy tower definitely had a taste. The wind blew softly, you could really feel the chills of the season. You blew closely on your hand and rubbed them harder enough to create heat, then hid them in your robe. You cursed yourself for not wearing gloves and instead rushed out here.

What you didn't know is that there is a figure behind you and you didn't even feel it.

"Way too excited aren't we?"

You screamed and slapped whoever it was.

Slap!

The sound was too audible. As soon as you heard a familiar voice, and not to mention the hair, it was Draco Malfoy. “Bloody hell! Malfoy! I am so sorry!” you apologized. You cupped his cheek with your cold hands to see if there's any bruise to which you are not looking forward to it. Both of your faces are way too close. He hissed to the pain and he opened his eyes slowly meeting yours.

“Does it…hurt?” you inquired.

“Of course it does.” he replied.

The moment you realized that you were still holding his face, you blushed for a moment and let go of his face. You grabbed his robe and pulled him, “we need you to get to Madam Pomfrey.” You were practically panicking now, first the excitement/nervousness you had in the letter, second, you just slapped someone. Not to mention, the slytherin prince himself.

But he stopped, you turned back, “what are you standing for? Let’s get your cheek—”

“Do you have any idea?” he asked. Of course you didn’t get it, “idea? On what malfoy?” you raised an eyebrow.

He sighed, “as far as you can memorize spells on DADA very quickly, you can be a daft sometimes,” he looked at you. He pointed at you, “the letter,” he firmly said. The sound of his voice made you jolt. Merlin, that's kind of hot.

You took the paper in your robe and realized something. Before you pulled the paper successfully, you stopped. “How did you know about this?” you asked. He snorted, who wouldn't be by everyone when Potter and your other two friends yelled at it. Ah.

“Open the paper,” he ordered.

You followed and opened the paper, “now what?”

“Now, do you have any idea?” he asked once more. You shook your head, “I swear whoever wrote this seriously late”, you mumbled that was enough for him to hear you. Malfoy snorted, he was trying not to laugh.

You looked at him, he was trying not to laugh. And it hit you, “w-was this one of your pranks?” you said. You felt ashamed, believing over those papers. How pathetic. Never in your life you did something wrong to get tricked by someone. Tears slowly came out from your eyes, you just couldn’t help it.

Malfoy looked up to see you crying. “Hey, why are you crying?” he asked. You threw the paper on him, but the paper didn’t even reach up to him, it just simply fell down until it reached the floor. He picked up the paper.

“Why am I crying?! It’s because i get tricked falling for those stupid prank of yours!” you raise your voice. You sniffed and wiped your eyes with your hand gently.

“Prank?! Don’t be ridiculous! Why don’t you use that brain of yours and look at every first letter of the poem!” He was also enraged by your accusation. He gave you the crumpled paper and you began to read the poem once again.

—

Days may have gone fast,

Reading this will surely make your heart beat fast.

And the glasses that makes you prettier day by day,

Come at the astronomy tower at the end of the day,

Oh to hear what I will say.

—

You turned back, facing the stairs and crouched down, you whined between your knees, you were embarrassed and you felt like you were clowning yourself. “Bloody hell! I’m so stupid!” you screamed. As you stood up, you can’t even face him now, after what you've done to him. First you slapped him and you accused him of pranking you.

“Well?” He was waiting., waiting for your answer.

But before you get to say your answer you asked something, “do you really think that i look good with my glasses?” you avoided his gaze. His cold hand moved your chin to face him. “Yes,” he answered.

You chuckled, “to be honest, i’m still shocked from all of this, you being the secret guy who has been sending paper planes and has the fault of making me feel things that i can't explain." You said. You turned away from gim, you really can't face him. It's too embarrassing. He let out a small laugh, "merlin, i didn't know this side of yours." he looked away, and covered his mouth slightly and his other hand was on his hip.

"Hey!"

He slightly raised his hand to surrender, "I get it, so… would you like to go to the yule ball with me?"

You kept looking away from his eyes, "ummm… I'm not used to big gatherings but I would love to go with you," you answered.

"God, finally!" he yelled. You laughed at his reaction, between you two, you both knew each other's sides that no one has even seen. "I didn't know you could be a dork Malfoy," you commented. He had this eat-shitting grin plastered on his face, "and I didn't know you could be a ball of mess." He commented back.

"But there's one little problem." You said and scratched your neck.

"What problem?" He asked.

"icantdance."

"Come again?"

You closed your eyes, "I can't dance!" You confessed.

And he burst out laughing, and of course you look at him with a deadpan expression. You waited for him to stop laughing and he walked closer to you, "alright, i'm going to teach you, are you okay with that?" The consent was giving you mixed signals.

"yeah, totally." You agreed. The distance if his body and yours were too close. You gulped a couple times, this was your first time having someone really close to you. It's different when you say you have your parents and friends that are close to you but this, this is different.

"Put your right or left hand on my shoulder," he says. You followed his instruction and placed your hand on your shoulder. "Then I'm going to put my hand on your waist," his hand slowly went to your hand, "and just like that."

Your breath hitches, and you feel like your face is burning. The longer his hand was on your waist, you can definitely feel your face was a freshly licked tomato. "And hold my hand," he whispers. Both of your hands interlocked and you heard him chuckle, "y/n, your hands are bloody cold," he commented.

"I take that as a compliment," you chuckled. He began to slowly move sideways. You followed along with his movement. Then, after a few minutes the pace was a bit faster. He then twirled you around slowly and went back to the first position.

You both paused and let go. "That…was nice, honestly" you smiled.

"See? It wasn't so hard was it?" He says.

You shook your head as a response. "But don't expect me to memorize those steps, we only have, what? A week left before the ball." you said.

“They say time flies fast right?” he says.

Finally, the yule ball is now happening. Everyone was excited. They’re excited to show off their date, out fit and just plainly to have fun on the dance floor. Beauxbatons and Dumstrang students are also there with their best clothes. They all look charming and Dashing.

Hermione and you were still at the dorms, helping out one another. She was wearing a dress that had different shades of pink sewn on it. While you wore this dress and style your hair in your choice. “Are you ready?” Hermione asked. You nodded, “yes, and i'm very nervous.” you said.

She laughed, “and by the way, you never told me about your date, who was the mystery guy?” she asked. Oh boy.

“You’ll see.” you replied.

Draco was waiting for you before the Great Hall’s door. He then spotted Potter and Weasley. HE didn’t have the energy to make a comment to the two and instead she kept silent until you arrived. Blaise, who was on his way to the door and saw Draco.

“Draco, what are you doing here? The others are inside the Great Hall.” he said. Draco shook his head, “I'm waiting for my date. You go on ahead.” he replied. Then Blaise left. It took a couple more minutes until you and Hermione came down. The inner him cheered like a kid and probably ran a lap by now. You both locked on eachothers eyes as you both looked at one another’s outfit.

‘So Handsome’

‘So Beautiful’

You quickly walked towards him.

The golden trio was shocked. They didn’t expect that it was Draco all along!

“Come on! This is too awkward!” you pulled him away from the trio and you gave them a goodbye wave and mouthed a sorry and you’ll be explaining after the ball. He let you link your arm on his and walked towards the hall. The scenery was absolutely amazing. It feels like you’re on the outside. The lights are shining and the other professors dress up nicely for this special occasion.

The players for the Triwizard competition began and the students followed along.

“Nervous?” Draco asked. He handed out his hand. You slowly held his hand, placing it on his shoulder and his on your waist. “I am, this is different from the astronomy tower. There’s so many people here,” you replied.

He pulled you closer and gave you a smile. “Just focus on me darling. You’ll be forgetting them soon.” he says and twirls you around.

And so you did.

REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED !!

#๑.made by aug #draco x reader #draco x y/n #draco x female reader #draco malfoy #draco #draco imagine #draco headcanons #harry potter #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x reader #draco fluff #draco malfoy fluff #draco malfoy x reader fluff #draco fanfiction #draco x you #draco fuckingmalfoy #hermione granger #ron weasley

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rainyday-deer · 2 months

Note

iirc Arackniss and Angel have a strained relationship, do you think reconciliation is possible/how'd you think it could happen?

Oh you're not gonna like this answer but probably not for the reasons you think. NOW keep in mind this is all very old information, BUT given the fact that Angel and Niss's relationship being a negative one has been a constant since Angel's conception (and I say this bc he was created almost a full year after Arackniss was) that I do think that at least the vibe may remain in place. Read more bc this gets LONG sorry lmao

They DO have a strained relationship, Viv has stated that "Arackniss probably does genuinely hate his siblings" on stream during the pilot's production. It's NOT just Angel, at least in this point in time, and he does hate Molly as well-- Though their relationship being strained is less of a pressing issue bc we all know where Molly is.

NOW the most important thing that comes down to it is WHY is their relationship strained? Modern fandom for the series would tell you that Niss is Homophobic, but that's never actually been implied OR stated anywhere to the best of my knowledge AND in old lore it's made pretty obvious that Niss's disdain for his brother is Angel's fault.

Old art of the two tells us two things: Angel bullied Niss as children, and generally he takes some smug pride in knowing that he pisses his brother off.

(Aforementioned Angel and Niss as children. Side note: YES Angel's human name is Anthony now, but almost 10 years ago it was Martin, and Niss was Jonathan.)

It's also highly implied that Angel was (at least indirectly) responsible for Arackniss's death (to the best of my knowledge), and once upon a time Arackniss was the one to kill Angel.

While I haven't been able to really FIND the reasons why Niss killed him, I've seen a LOT of different answers to that question, the fact remains that he hated him enough to do it himself, and continued to hate him well after they both died.

Now, all of this is to say that once upon a time, Niss had a pretty damn good reason for hating Angel. He made his life miserable, and presumably did the same in the after life. I'd like to believe that Arackniss's reason for hating Angel NOW, in the canon series, is also for a good reason, potentially for the same one. I'd certainly find it more interesting and less of a disservice to both of their characters than if Niss hated Angel bc (insert their Dad's opinion here) NOW, episode 2 in the series does give us a look at Angel being very jealous over the praise that Pentious is receiving; Whether or not that jealousy is actually justified is an important detail. Angel didn't even try, and became upset that he was being overshadowed despite not putting in any real effort and complaining all the while. I did get the impression that Angel was no stranger to feeling overshadowed, and may even feel like 'well there's no point in trying anyway' which could tie back into his relationship with his family. Of course it's a rough theory, but it does make sense if Angel was jealous of the praise and attention his capable older brother received. (Assuming this is the case, anyway, which I do think it is, knowing what we do about Arackniss.) I do think Angel's potential envy and jealousy could have strained their relationship, particularly as children. Maybe Angel lashed out at Niss often, and Niss decided very quickly to stop putting up with it, and it carried on throughout adulthood. Maybe Angel still got Niss indirectly killed. I do think that Niss's disdain for his siblings is, at least to him, justified for more than shallow reasons. The only way they could actually reconcile, in my opinion, is if Angel is the one to apologize and make an effort in understanding his brother... And even then it's REALLY hard to say if it would go over well. Arackniss has been described as 'sucking' by Viv and some things she's said kind of implies he's going to be a villain, or at least an antagonist, and he doesn't seem like the type to let a grudge go too easily. Their relationship could easily be a lesson for Angel in learning that sometimes apologizing isn't enough, and nobody is obligated to forgive you, and you have to move on with your life and leave things as they are, even if they suck.

Like I wouldn't be UPSET if they reconciled, I'd like that a lot! But depending on the severity of the reason for this hatred, it may or may not happen.

But uh, in my dreams the episode is basically the canned 'Spider Brothers' noir short; Niss needs Angel's help doing something, and while they fight the whole time, keeping one another from getting shot opens up a small doorway into them somewhat getting along again.

tldr; Depends. LMAO

#;Anon #Mo Chatter #I warned u guys when i said insane

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aita-blorbos · 7 months

Note

AITA for helping try and destroy the world (and also lying about it)

(I realize this is absolutely gonna put me on blast in some corners of the multiverse, but I don't think it matters anymore. Anyone who'd know who I am probably hates me already, which is fair.)

OK, so, there's this guy (adult M), we're gonna call him R. I (adult F) met R several years ago, when he got me out of a difficult situation, saving my life in the process. I didn't have anywhere to go and wanted to return the favor, so I decided to travel with him. He was out looking for his fiancee, "E" (adult F), because…I'm still not entirely sure how the whole thing went down, but his dad didn't approve of her, and he was a pretty big deal magically, so he...cursed her, or something like that? And R thought he could find where his dad sent E if he just kept looking for long enough.

Except, that didn't work out. Time passed, R just kept getting sadder and sadder, and I'm not the comforting type, I'm no good at stuff like that, I did my best to help him however I could but he needed E, not me.

There's this super-magical book of prophecies that generations of his family had been guarding, because it contained information on how all worlds were gonna inevitably be destroyed and could kinda kick-start that whole process. I think he thought he might be able to find her location written in there? But either way, he left one day, grabbed the book, and went completely AWOL, deciding that the worlds had no meaning and he was gonna fulfill the world-ending prophecy. I know that sounds bad, but I swear, it was the book that drove him insane, he never would've done anything like that normally! His whole personality changed! I could barely even recognize him! It wasn't his fault OK?!

…Anyway.

R was a magical powerhouse, especially with the book, but I'm more of a specialist. So, we recruited a few people the book mentioned into a small organization to help us. The elevator pitch was that R was gonna destroy the worlds and create better ones in their place, and these guys bought it. They got really excited and were absolutely willing to defend us and help kick the prophecy in gear (because apparently, multiversal annihilation has some weirdly specific prerequisites). R oversaw them, and I did admin work and some HR + recruitment on the side.

Thing is, I knew better the whole time, but I just sort of…let it all happen. I'm not gonna say I didn't do some other pretty nasty stuff, because I did, that's not in question here. But I let these people sincerely believe, with all the enthusiasm in the worlds, that this was for some kind of greater good and that they weren't just leading themselves to their own deaths. I think they even started to think of us all as friends, which I definitely wasn't planning on, but I kept perpetuating this lie and doing my job without saying a word against it, even after I started getting attached.

…Long story short, E wound up still being alive, R got together with her and they stopped the end of the world with the power of true love. Great, I guess, but the circumstances led to them both ending up…somewhere else and I don't think they're ever coming back. I haven't really spoken to my coworkers since then because I don't know how to, and I keep wondering if I could've prevented this whole mess and if he'd still be here if I'd tried a little harder. Should I have made a better argument? Been a better friend to him while he was hurting so he wouldn't have gone for the book? Should I have told the others the truth? Or, his magic is way stronger than mine, but maybe I could've at least tried to overpower him? I don't know. I did try to talk some sense into him once, after we realized E was still alive, but he got really intense about it and I just…caved, because I made a promise to help him and I wasn't about to back out of it.

So, yeah. TL;DR my closest friend went insane and tried to destroy the world, got some innocent people mixed up in it under false pretenses, and I helped/didn't try to stop it, AITA

(And you'd better not go around blaming him for this, OK?)

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

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noroi1000 · 2 years

Text

No exceptions

Paring: Geto Suguru x reader

Tw: Heavy angst, sexual content, main character death, disease, not so happy ending

Cw: 4,8 k

A/n: I was going to write it a long time ago. However, I knew it was going to be painful for me. I cried while writing this, and also cried while translating it. It's all through visualization. I swear the next one shot will be soft😭 If you feel uncomfortable, don't read.

You cannot be an exception to Suguru. Even if he loved you so much, he cannot make an exception for you.

You couldn't expect anything anymore.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

Almost everything is gone.

You loved him so much. You still love him. But how can it be if he doesn't love you anymore...

You miss his warmth. For his love. For his presence next to you.

The way he told you every time that he loves you. For being with you. You will always miss him. But there are no exceptions. They are not there. And there will never be exceptions.

He hates all people. So also you. You are a human. You also belong to this. And love doesn't matter. It is enough to be what your Suguru considers to be inferior in life.

_____

He was right. He said people are weaker. That they need their sorcerers' protection. You never said he was wrong because it was true. No man could protect himself from something that cannot be seen.

Especially you. That's why you relied on your boyfriend.

He told you so many times that you can rely on him. That he will protect you from everything.

He has done this many times.

It hurts to smile at photos. The photos you took together. Until your fingers burned from holding the photo. His eyes prickled from looking. The beautiful moments have passed. Only bitterness remained.

You are human and he hates people.

You never considered yourself anything more than that.

You are not a god. You are not a monster.

But you are human.

You didn't want them to get to the point where people would consider you a person who exalted themselves. You don't want that to be the case. You didn't want them to think that about you.

Especially Suguru.

You wished he was with you. Nothing more.

He wanted it too.

If nothing had changed, he would be with you now. Just as promised.

So why did you start dating him...? Why did you fall in love with him?

Such questions do not make sense. Because if he hadn't gone on that mission, he would have been with you.

If he hadn't changed his thoughts about people, he wouldn't have hated you.

But you can't blame him. You can only blame people and yourself. You are human after all...

This is what you do.

People who think the worst of sorcerers.

When they risk their lives to protect everyone. They train pouring out sweat, blood and tears. They fight without looking at the danger. Just to defeat your opponent. And the people? People didn't notice it. Half of them see no curses.

In general, they don't see them at all. Often, however, those who are more vulnerable to the attack of curses see them more often than others.

You were a normal human. You've never seen a curse. Oh well... Maybe never. You saw one time. And that was the end. You didn't see any more.

That's because from that moment on, Suguru was with you.

He always protected you. He put his arm around you at every moment.

As if he were your shield.

Nothing happened to you for a year. No accident. Not once a broken leg or arm. Not once a dislocated ankle. When you are with Suguru, you are safer. A lot. You haven't had a wound in a long time. He was careful not to cut yourself. You don't have any scars, even the smallest ones, because he made sure you didn't have any marks.

Your life has ceased to be so painful.

The curses didn't even come to you when you were with him. At least that's what he told you.

You knew you weren't dying yet. After all, you haven't seen the strange creature lurking on your life. But that is thanks to Suguru anyway. He was always next to you, radiating the energy of a sorcerer.

In addition, he himself said that you have nothing to be afraid of. After all, he and his friend are the strongest. Both of them were classified in the special class of sorcerers.

You were supposed to feel safest with him. And it was just like that.

Even when he wasn't with you, he left his aura on yours.

He has told you many times that a person's aura is delicate. Even if he is a brutal man, even big. But for sorcerers and curses, he is an ordinary man, with a weak aura and weak cursed energy.

Earlier you wanted to be offended by him for telling you something like that. Especially since he was your boyfriend at the time. And he was saying that your aura is weak and you can't help him fight curses. But he was always right. You couldn't face any curse. You didn't have any cursed energy. No matter how strong you could be physically, without energy you won't hurt the curse seriously. Or without a cursed weapon.

An ordinary kitchen knife from home is not enough. More is needed. Much more.

You've always accepted that he is stronger than you. And that was good anyway. You might have known that he would protect you. That he will keep you safe in any situation.

You wished it would always stay that way.

So why do you feel so empty now?? No love, no security provided. You feel like anything could kill you now.

Just like your heart is dying now.

_____

"Suguru, hi."

"Hi. How are you?"

"It's ok. And you? How's your mission?"

Phone calls while he was not in Tokyo. It could be at the very end of the world, but you would still find a way to communicate. You can't ignore your partner like that. You are his girlfriend and he is your boyfriend. It's obvious you want to see or hear each other.

You always liked asking him about different things. And he was reluctant to answer at times.

"It's not that bad. We're back for tomorrow. You want something special from here?" He asked.

You know he didn't want to get off. It's not his style. He just brought you gifts from missions a lot. Sometimes even too much. You don't want him to waste his money on you, but it's nice to get a gift. After all, you can say that he remembers and cares about you.

However, he did not require anything from you. Even if you've been together for a year. He never said you had to give him something for his birthday or Christmas. And if he wanted small things. Not like he was buying for you.

Favorite food, any clothes you like. Or also a little thing. Never something big. And that was fun. You never knew what he was going to give you this time.

Cute things...

But all you wanted was him. And he just wanted you to be his.

May you always love him only.

He wanted to pamper you just to be that way. Don't you think he's a hopeless boyfriend for you. Because sometimes he might feel incompatible with your love.

It was never true. He always loved you. But why did it have to change so...

"How many curses have you killed?" you asked cheerfully. You've asked about such things a lot. As if there was nothing else to say. But still, you are interested in such things. Especially because they have literal powers. You know these are "techniques" but their energy has to come from somewhere, and how they use it is wonderful. The Suguru technique as well as the Satoru technique. Likewise with Shoko's technique, as well as their teacher. Each is great.

Until you wished you were a sorcerer.

But what can you do if you weren't born that way?

"(y/n) why are you asking for curses and not about me? I feel left out..." he groaned sadly.

"Sorry Sorry. I believe you're okay, Sugu. I want you to come back to me healthy. So that there are no traces of fighting curses on you. You know that I care about you and that I love you, right?" you said sweetly to him.

"I know, honey. We'll be alone when I come back."

_____

Memories hurt a lot. That's why you don't want to look at any souvenirs. But you can't throw them away.

You still love him.

You love that happy smile. You love that little purple eyes. You love these black earrings that sparkle in the light. You love that black long unruly hair.

All this tells you that this is your Suguru. No one else. For now, you feel a burning sensation in your stomach when you see this.

And it is because of your weakness that he is not with you.

You're too weak.

You are not a strong being. Not like a sorcerer.

You are only... monkey...

_____

You still remember those nice and pleasant moments.

He was so gentle with you every time. He never did something that made you feel bad.

Even though he was ready to do more. Much more.

"(y/n), i want more of you. I can?"

The first question for consent, and no more questions.

He kissed you as passionately as he could. So fiercely. So hard. But so gently so that you don't feel overwhelmed.

You could never stop there.

While he kissed you like that when you were alone, there was always sexual tension between you.

Every pleasure he gave you was done more gently.

Strong enough, but not so much that he doesn't scare you or hurt you.

Very often he wanted to please you first and then himself.

And your sounds were like music to him. It made him know that he can make you feel good.

That is why he made every move with the greatest care. To give you as much pleasure as possible. And seeing the lust in your eyes as you looked at him.

He always just wanted to show you were his girlfriend. So marking you was something he did without your permission. What he wanted to do was do.

From the beginning, he loved you above all else.

That's why you don't know what happened that he suddenly ends loving you.

You don't want to think he got bored of you.

Because deep down in your heart you know he still loves you.

And you also want him to love you. You love him as much as you do.

You can make this exception and forgive it. Because you can't live without forgiving him.

He himself was sad as he left. He always wanted your relationship to last. So now you think it doesn't make sense to think he did it on purpose.

He certainly had a reason. He always has his reasons.

He wouldn't want to hurt you.

You wouldn't forgive anyone like him. He deserves forgiveness.

He would do the same for you.

You can't get angry that much.

But it really hurts to remember all of this.

Additionally, you remember this moment. It was the worst time of your life.

"Suguru, what happened?"

"That's nothing..."

"Please tell me. I know there is something wrong. You act differently." you cling to his arm and gently stroke his hand. You want to cheer him up. To make him smile again. You want to see his smile. "Suguru, I know how you act when you feel bad. Can you tell me. It's something on a mission?"

You expected him to hug you, as he always did. Very often he didn't say anything, just cuddled. However, he did something quite different now than at other times.

Your hands have been thrown away from him. Just like your whole body. He rejected you from himself. Lest you touch him.

It's not that it hurts so much physically. But it hurt you mentally.

Even though the force he used on you still hurt.

He never turned you down.

Even so, he did it in such a way that you wouldn't feel rejected. He just pushed you a little bit and with a smile said that he had to be alone.

But he never hit you before.

You don't know how you managed to stand on your feet when he pushed you away. But you are still standing. Even if your legs are shaking. Even his aura had changed. You feel different. You feel the chill. Not warm when you saw him. Not love. You feel cold now. It's like you're scared.

Admittedly, you are afraid. That he doesn't love you, and he's sick of you.

He never looked at you once. He just stared at the floor with an unreadable expression on his face.

His loose hair covered his face a little, but it was visible. Hands dangling at the sides of the body limp. He gave no sign.

Something like that made you want to leave. Go cry. But if it's your fault, you can't forgive yourself.

You want to know what happened.

What is wrong.

When he turned his back to you, you made a bold move.

Despite his menacing appearance and his dark aura, you came up to him. You cuddled against his back and you wrapped your hands around his stomach.

You felt the warmth. You liked hugging him so much. That's why you like it. He is warm, but despite every muscle in his body that is extensive, it still feels soft. Maybe because it was soft to you.

But you liked it especially because it was nice and nice. He also kept you safe. This security meant a lot to you. After all, he could protect you from anything. It doesn't matter if you saw it or not, he will protect you from it. That's what you thought. And it was so. He protected you from anyone who wanted to hurt you. And it also protected you from any curse, no matter if it attacked you or someone else. If he attacks near you, there is a high chance that you could suffer anyway. Therefore, at all costs, he protected you against it.

Before people and against curses.

But he couldn't protect you from negative emotions.

Especially in front of him, even when he did his best.

After all, pushing you away so as not to hurt you didn't do anything. You came closer, which he was pleased with. You didn't run away from him. But sometimes it was an obstacle for him. You didn't want to be hurt or hurt him by getting away from him. You were always there, no matter what you felt at that moment.

Were you happy, did you cry, or did you burn with anger. If these emotions were aimed at him, he didn't blame you, but himself.

And despite his true feelings for you, he couldn't anymore...

Feeling your hands tighten on his body, he just looked at your hands.

So small. The ones he always liked to keep.

"(y/n)..." he started. "Leave me alone, okay?"

With these words, he tore your hands off him and walked away. Not once did he turn around.

Therefore, when you look at the pictures of his face now, you feel the tears want to escape from your eyes.

The last sight you saw was his back.

Later he did not speak. He did not answer the phone, did not reply to messages.

You haven't seen him in a year.

You know he hated people.

He called them monkeys. He called you monkeys.

Satoru told you about the whole massacre. So many people died... Over a hundred in one night. And there is no doubt that it was Suguru who did it.

You know Satoru himself was devastated when he said that. But he knew you would be even more broken.

First, Suguru breaks up with you and doesn't even look at you. And then you find out that your ex-boyfriend is killing a whole village of people.

At least you could cry together.

As friends.

In his arms you could soothe your sorrow. However, it was not the same as Suguru's hands... You want to leave your mind already.

But why?

Why do you have to meet him?

Why right now?

Why do you have to meet him at all? Why do you have to see this very Suguru that you haven't seen for so long...

He suddenly appeared. No sound. He just stood there looking at you. Waiting for it or anything to say. He himself didn't speak until you looked at him.

Hasn't changed much.

He looked almost the same. Unlike you.

You can't smile that often. You don't want to go out in the sun. Not to the beach. Where you went with him the most.

He hasn't changed anything.

Same hair, only longer. He still had those eyes, and that sharp jaw too.

He only wore different clothes. Loose clothes... But it's the same. He always dressed like that.

"(y/n)"

Finally he spoke. This first time.

You hear his voice for the first time in a year. You haven't seen him for a long year. Neither have you heard.

You didn't want to speak...

But you don't want to be angry...

"I'm sorry to leave like this. I didn't mean to break your heart with what I did." he said calmly. He looked down at the ground.

"After a year... You're apologizing to me now?" you asked in a very low voice.

"Sorry..." he repeated.

He was always able to show remorse. Like he was doing now. He showed that he regretted it. That he's sorry.

And you want to forgive him a lot.

But you want him to love you again.

"I never meant to hurt you. But I had to leave. So as not to hurt you more than that."

"You are–" than you started, but he interrupted you.

"Yes, I am a mass murderer who hates people..." he said openly. He looked at your face.

Instead of a pissed-off expression, your lips were twisted into a tiny smile.

He was surprised to see you like this. He expected you to hate him. That you'll scream. And you smile gently.

"Why couldn't you show up sooner?" You said in a broken voice. There were tears on your cheeks. You started to cry.

He started coming up to you.

You haven't stepped back at all.

You just stood there and nothing. You weren't scared when he touched you. You didn't move when he wrapped his arms around you.

You hugged him yourself.

You want to stay that way. You'll do anything for him. You can't do anything about still loving him.

"Don't leave me like this again... This is worse than death..." you groaned against his chest.

He was quiet for a moment.

"Suguru I love you. Please take me out of here. If you want to keep torturing me like this, please at least make me forget. Or just kill me... I love you, and I can't think to live like this... I think of you every day. I can not stop. And that hurts even more... Suguru..."

He widened his eyes at it. Do you want him to kill you?

But he came to you because...

"I love you." he muttered kissing your head.

"Will you let me go like this? If you love me. Or maybe you will come back to me?" you asked holding his clothes even tighter.

"I can't come back to you. Even though I love you. Even though I would like to come back to you. I can not do that. Sorry."

"I see..."

Your tears ran down even faster, soaking his clothes

"At least make me not have to suffer anymore. Please."

His jaw quivered before he could speak.

"That's what I'm here for..." he said in a trembling voice.

You froze for a moment. Is he here to kill you? He, your Suguru, has come to you to kill you...

But you don't blame him. You will die at his hands... And at least he loves you.

"At least I can spend time with you?" you asked.

He hugged you tighter.

You don't know exactly what happened then, but suddenly you're on the beach.

As the sun went down

Your favorite beach. Where you came most often.

It was so beautiful there.

Always empty neighborhood. Zero people. Just the two of you. It was one of your happy places. Or rather, it's the happiest. Because this is where you first said to yourself "I love you."". You guys had your first date here. And you will also have your last one...

You are not afraid of what will happen.

Suguru has his reasons.

He always meant well for you.

And if he doesn't kill you, some disease will kill you. You've been too weak to do anything for too long.

If it isn't mental illness, then you will get sick with something else. And dying in sickness is something you really don't want.

The beach is so dark but so bright. In the shade. But facing the setting sun.

It was a wonderful sight.

Light waves at sea and a cloudless sky showing the sun. And the rays reflected from the water creating a beautiful picture.

For Geto, however, another picture was the beauty.

It's you.

In the golden sunlight, your face was beautiful. He would like to erase pale skin and tired, dark circles under your eyes. But it was you. His beloved (y/n).

He wanted so much to be close to you, but could not. He was running away.

He wished you were a sorcerer. If you only had more blasted energy. He could spare you then. However, you were an ordinary person. You had no more energy than any other human being. The only thing that stood out was that he loved you.

However, even for love, he cannot make an exception.

Human is human.

And this is not in line with his desire to create a world only for sorcerers.

You were human. But he couldn't call you a monkey. You were his human. But he has to do it.

Only he was never ready for it.

He would like his curse to kill you the most. In the least painful way. He chose the curse especially because of that.

But first he would like to enjoy your company.

Before he loses love.

Before he loses something that keeps him attached to people.

And he has to get rid of it himself...

He loved seeing you smile.

Especially now that you were smiling.

"Smile at me, okay? I'd like to see you smile." you said cheerfully, looking into his eyes.

Only now did he notice that your eyes were still lifeless. So when he met you, it didn't mean you were mad at him.

Your eyes haven't changed since then.

The smile did not disappear from your face.

And those eyes... You're sick... And not in the same sense as a cold.

You are sick, but it's not just any disease... Every day would be a challenge for you.

You probably don't know you're sick somehow. Or you have any suspicions. You would go to the doctor. Maybe they would cure it somehow. But... But you might as well just want to disappear.

You consider it a convenience in death.

You want to die. Really.

Even though you are scared.

But your smile only showed him that you were happy.

For what he had to do, he wanted to apologize. So. He wanted to cry now.

But you don't want it to be sad.

You want him to smile at you.

That's why he started smiling at you. Just like you wanted it. Because looking at your sincere smile, he could be smiling. With love.

Watching him smile at you, you grabbed his hand and pulled it back. You did it to sneak under and hug him from the side.

He was a little surprised that you wanted his touch.

However, he couldn't protest what you were doing.

After all, he wanted to hug you himself. That's why he did it without the slightest thought.

"I want to watch all this sunset." you said pressing against his chest.

"If you want." He answered you.

"I love you." you muttered with a smile.

"I love you too."

But the nice moment passed very quickly.

Until the sun went down completely, and you had to come to terms with your sleep. With eternal sleep.

But you can't be angry with him.

If you don't die today, you will die on another day.

But you'd rather die in front of him. Even at his hands.

"It's time, right?" you asked moving away from him.

"...yeah..." he said very softly. As if he didn't want to say it.

You kissed his jaw unexpectedly.

You wanted to see if you could kiss him.

He looked at you with a sad smile. Before he leaned over to you and put his mouth on yours.

He put his hands on his neck as his hand warms your entire cheek.

The kiss you missed.

And you didn't want to finish it.

Your lips danced together as you sat on the dry sand.

It was getting colder without the sun. Just like it will be colder soon.

Your body won't feel so warm anymore. However, he won't have to look...

You moved away from each other as soon as you knew you were ready for eternal separation.

Your tears ran down your cheeks, clumping together and hitting the sand.

Eternal separation.

But the better it is, already suffering in life.

He, too, is sure that one day he will lose and die himself. Therefore, he is not angry with himself for having to kill you.

"(y/n)... You are–"

You cut him off.

"I'm ready.... Suguru..." you groaned with tears on your cheeks.

At the same time as you said this, a curse appeared next to him. Black ball with wings. No eyes. No teeth or legs.

You instinctively pulled away. But you grabbed his hands quickly. For relief.

"(y/n). Please don't be afraid... " he said softly. "I chose this curse. Thanks to what it can do, you won't feel any pain... Your body will just disappear..."

He was very sad. Even in despair. You know he didn't want it that way.

You don't want to die like that either.

"Suguru. I want to die at your hands. " you said seriously.

"But–"

"Suguru. Please."

You were smiling at him again.

He couldn't refuse you. Not like that.

His curse is gone.

But his emotions showed more and more.

He cried when he brought you closer to him.

You sat between his legs crossed, side to him.

You smiled your lips as he placed his hand on your neck.

If you are going to die when he holds your neck, you can kiss him. And you want to die like that. With his lips on yours. With his body close to him.

As your lips pressed against each other, you felt his big hand tighten around your neck, effectively taking away your ability to breathe.

But you didn't care. You just grabbed his other arm tighter.

When you ran out of air completely, you only clenched your fingers tighter.

Your neck and head hurt. The tears were flowing more and more. But you were warm. Like every time with Suguru. You felt so safe anyway. Despite your current situation.

You know you're gonna pass out.

But tell him something. Even out of breath.

You pulled away from him and looked at him with blurry eyes.

You know he is crying too.

But you smiled at him.

"I... Lo-ve... You... And... Thank you..."

Your last words made him cry even more.

He connected your lips again.

And so it was until he clearly felt that your body was not moving. That your muscles are not tense.

In his mind he kept repeating to himself:

„If not me, the disease will kill her. She's not mad at me. She doesn't curse me. Loves me. I love her too. I'll join her later. We'll be together again soon."

Then he disconnected your mouth.

And with a huge wave of tears and groans, he grabbed your neck with trembling hands.

First he hugged you, then later, without looking at you, he started to slowly twist your neck to the side.

He was staring at the sea. And he couldn't look at you. Especially when he felt and heard a disgusting crack.

Hot tears flowed harder as he had to look at you.

Closed eyes, calm face.

You looked like you were sleeping.

And you are sleeping. But you'll never say you love him again.

He positioned your head to make it look like you were sleeping on him.

One last time, hug your body tightly, letting out a loud scream of despair as tears ran down his cheeks.

He couldn't help but cry.

He had to do something that he didn't want to live by himself.

All. No exceptions. He had to do it. Even if he loved you so much.

But he would rather cause himself suffering than you.

#jjk angst #geto suguru #jjk x y/n #jujutsu kaisen #getou suguru x reader #geto x reader #jujustu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen angst #jjk x you #jjk #suguru geto #geto jjk #geto jujutsu kaisen #geto x you #getou suguru x you #get out the vote #geto angst

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gofordrakgo · 3 months

Text

Dwelling Chapter Twenty-two

" 'And you’re sure you don’t want to join our game?' he asked, again, glancing once more towards the kitchen table where he’d set up a strange, elaborate-looking board game. She vaguely recalled Heath and Wren trying to get her to play it with them no more than a few days before the comet. Or at least she thought it had been Hideaways and Hydras but that was so long ago."

Dwelling Summary

Dwelling Chapter One

Dwelling Chapter Twenty-one

Dwelling Chapter Twenty-three

Over the past week, the mirror, as it seemed to for so many teenage girls, had become Shea’s worst enemy. In her more selfish moments, she dreaded looking into the damn thing more than she dreaded the thought of being forced back to Go City, more than wondering what would happen to Drew if she were. The bruises from the Hunter had long since faded, but she could still see them like phantoms on her skin. He didn’t scare her anymore – obviously, nothing did – but the fact that her parents— Ugh! It didn’t matter anyway; she was never going back. Merrick… Well, Merrick had always been a bit self-centered, in his own weird way, craving any attention he could get. But even when they were little the one thing he wasn’t was a rat. Well, so long as nobody had hurt or scared him. Then he was a huge baby and an even bigger tattle-tale.

She couldn’t help smiling at her reflection as she thought about the conspiratorial grin that he’d plastered on his face so often, swearing he’d take the fall for whatever petty crime she’d committed, so long as she helped him with his next performance. When she was seven, she’d tried building a jump for her bike, despite their parents strictly forbidding it. He’d taken the fall for the bent handlebars, crying that he hadn’t meant to crash into her, and the next day she’d begrudgingly taken on the role of magicians’ assistant in the town talent show.

Hell, even after the comet he’d been there for her. When she was nine, about a month after they’d been released from the lab and into the mid-build Go Tower, she’d pitched a fit and shattered several glass bottles full of the labs' special medication. She never even asked! Merrick just took the fall, claiming he’d gone into her bedroom to show off his powers and “gotten a little mixed up”. A week later his room was moved to the newly completed portion of the tower, as far away from her as possible. She never even knew if he’d received a proper punishment, but she’d let him answer questions for her in their next interview, and somehow that seemed to be enough for him.

Her smile dropped faster than it appeared. If he hadn’t had that stupid tracker! All night she’d felt a shameful sort of relief that it’d been him who’d found her. If it had to be anyone, at least it was the one brother she could generally trust. But he was right there – right there – and she couldn’t save him. But what could she have done? What could she have said to help him? “Hey, Merrick! Why don’t we perform surgery right here in the Daynight and get that tracker out so you can come live with me and the guy who—”

Shea poked at her phantom bruises, wishing just a little that it would hurt, before sighing and wiping at tears she refused to let fall. She couldn’t save Merrick, but he’d be okay. He didn’t mind being a hero the way she did, and he was probably eating up the attention her disappearance got them. He wouldn’t rat her out, because he never would.

“Shea!” Drew’s voice called to her, snapping her out of her self-pitying internal rambling. “Hurry up in there, would you? Other people need the shower too, you know!”

Drew. He was half the reason she hated looking in the mirror so much. If he hadn’t been so concerned about her maybe she never would have noticed how skinny she actually was! She’d been eating so much more, more each day, and kept finding herself hungry in a way she hadn’t been in years. And still, she could see her bones straining against her discolored skin like they were trying to force their way out.

“I’ll be out when I’m out,” she snipped at the door, as Drew’s incessant knocking started up again. “Just hold on!”

“But I have to— Nngh!” Listening to him stomp off, she smirked, though she felt a little bad. She’d been on the other side of the door plenty of times as a kid, between Merrick making sure his hair looked flawless and her mother bathing the twins, so she knew how annoying it could be. Well, Drew could learn to wait his turn. And besides, it wasn’t like she told him to go pee in the sink like Heath used to tell her when he was busy checking out his (then non-existent) muscles!

The oversized flannel made her feel like she was drowning (a feeling she was quite familiar with) but she pulled it on anyway with a huff. She liked it better when she couldn’t see what was going on beneath her clothes. At least then she could pretend. And she could practice her smile in the mirror and make sure it was just good enough to pretend she wasn’t worried about Drew’s friends coming over.

He’d asked her, sometime in the silent walk back home (a word she’d used hoping to get any sort of reaction out of him, only to be met with disappointment when he didn’t even notice) whether or not it was “a bad time to mention my friends would like to come over tomorrow.” She’d told him it wasn’t a big deal, and it was still his apartment, but now that they were on their way she was regretting saying it was fine.

She’d been so focused on her weird desire for him to put an arm around her, take her hand, just do something to try and comfort her, that she hadn’t really been paying attention to the question anyway. But really, what was up with that?

She knew he was embarrassed or whatever, that she’d caught him having nightmares, but he’d been acting weird…er ever since and, it was starting to get on her nerves. One minute he’d be holding her by the arm as she listened to his excited babbling about karaoke or how “cool” the new piece of tech in the school's lab was. And the next he’d be lecturing her about how dangerous it was for her to leave the apartment (which, apparently, didn’t apply if he wanted her to go out with him). And the moment after that he’d be weirdly distant, acting like he wasn’t moving further away on the couch when she sat next to him, or locking himself in his room playing music so he wouldn’t have to listen to her.

Maybe, if she could stop herself from falling so easily into step when he was in a good mood it would be easier to let it go. But the moments in between the lectures and avoidance were so nice, so normal, as far as things with Drew went, that she couldn’t help it. She’d been looking forward to karaoke almost as much as he was, feeding off his energy. She didn’t know what to make of it when he’d go from the Drew she thought she knew to the one that didn’t seem to like her very much at all.

It wasn’t even the general weird behavior that bothered her – he was a weird guy, she got that – it was just… she was pretty sure a few days before he would have at least tried to comfort her and she just wished… No, she didn't, it was just— God she felt like him with all his back and forth and strange stammering! It’d just be nice if he still cared, was all!

He did try to comfort her, she reminded herself, he’d taken her hand in the diner and for that, she’d burned him, however accidentally, and he’d even tried to talk to her when they first left but she’d gotten unnecessarily snappy when talk was all he did, so he’d been silent the rest of the way, and she’d been hoping too much that he would come closer to her to make herself move closer to him and this whole thing was so dumb!

And, she also had to admit to herself, it wasn’t even his actual behavior that served as her primary concern. She wanted so badly to blame it all on him, to say he was being weird because the screaming, whimpering nightmares he’d had that night had embarrassed him. As long as she could pin it all on him acting like a big baby over something totally – well, somewhat – normal, she could hold out hope that things would go back to the way they used to be.

But she couldn’t blame anything on him.

She knew what it was really about.

She’d kissed him.

And he’d told her off for it.

So, she’d ruined everything, all because she’d stupidly thought that was what he wanted. That maybe he liked her. That maybe he—

Shea groaned, tightened her belt as far as it would go, and hurried out of the bathroom. The faster she stopped looking in the mirror the faster she’d stop thinking so much. She’d barely opened the door, still toweling off her wet hair, before Drew barreled past her, slamming it shut in his rush.

“Jeez, impatient much?” she muttered and decided she might as well just throw the towel into her room. He wouldn’t be coming out any time soon. A moment after it hit the floor she decided, not without rolling her eyes, that she should at least hang it on the doorknob before Drew could kick off whining about the musty smell of wet towels again. A definite once-was-enough lecture if she’d ever heard one – she’d left it on the floor for like five minutes! She was going to go pick it up, but he’d started cooking and she could smell all the spices and obviously had to go steal a bite. He’d cringed at the sight of her eating a whole jalapeno and wandered off into the bathroom only to come back with her still-wet towel in his bandaged hands and a lecture about… well, musty scents and something about chemical reactions and bacteria. She’d only listened to half of it.

Drew, practically skipping, joined her on the couch a minute later, sitting altogether too close which only served to confuse her more. Not that she minded the proximity. Though she had to wonder why he’d claimed he needed a shower when he very clearly hadn’t taken one.

Was he that easily embarrassed that he actually couldn’t just admit he had to pee?

Or was he so distracted that he’d completely forgotten?

Probably he just didn’t want to deal with having to redo the bandages. Really, he’d likely be fine without them, but every time she caught a glimpse of the raw, ripped flesh on his chin and palms she felt a flash of guilt that she’d much prefer to suppress. At least bearing bandages the way she’d been forcing him meant she could ignore what she’d done to him.

Whatever it was, he hadn’t showered and she added it to the list of things about him that confused her. One day, she swore to herself, one day she would figure out what was going on in Drew Lipsky’s dorky brain.

“Are you still… alright? After last night?” he asked, fidgeting with a pen he’d left on the coffee table. She would have bought his concern more if he weren’t bouncing in place eagerly glancing between the door and the kitchen table.

“Yes,” she assured him, for what must have been the fifteenth time since they’d made it home the night before. She managed to suppress her growing exasperation, and continued, “Yes, I’m fine. Like I said last night, Merrick… He’s got his own stuff, but we can trust him.” She had to trust him. If it were Heath he wouldn’t have let her get as far as the next street, and if it were the twins… There wasn’t enough candy in the world to get them to disobey a hero’s order, one of them would have run off to snitch before she could’ve blinked. But Merrick had always been more like her. He liked the attention that came with being a hero, just not the lack of control. She didn’t like any part of being a hero, so… it was better that she was the one who’d left. Wasn’t it? He’d be okay until she could figure it out, right? Right, of course right.

“And you’re sure you don’t want to join our game?” he asked, again, glancing once more towards the kitchen table where he’d set up a strange, elaborate-looking board game. She vaguely recalled Heath and Wren trying to get her to play it with them no more than a few days before the comet. Or at least she thought it had been Hideaways and Hydras but that was so long ago. “We can whip up a character for you right now! I’m sure James won’t mind at all. Probably.”

She scoffed and shook her head. “Yeah, that’d be a no. You and your nerdy friends can enjoy your game.” A small part of her, so small she could crush it to bits, did want to play. He’d known just how to appeal to her when he first asked her to join them, calling it a game focused on telling a story. But she wasn’t a child! Only children still played games… Right? He’d said all of his friends were older than him, but that didn’t mean anything, did it? He couldn’t keep calling her a child if she proved she was more mature than him. But part of her couldn’t help but feel a little left out, knowing she’d be sitting awkwardly by herself as he – they! – ignored her for a game of make-believe.

“Let's at least make you a character in case you change your mind!” Despite her continued insistence that the puppy-dog pout didn’t work for him, the one he gave her almost made her agree. And it was clear he could tell when he added, “Come on, we’ll have to hurry so it’s done before they get here! We could make your character part dragon.”

“I’m not a—”

“I know. But it’s still funny.”

“It’s really not.”

“Is too!”

“It would be funnier to make my character a… I don’t remember what it was called but I saw some… thing… made of fire in that guidebook of yours.”

Drew gasped, “Oh! An inferno-clan! Technically, they’re not player characters but I could work out the math easy enough and I’m sure James wouldn’t mind so much. He doesn’t usually prefer us to play as variants but I’m sure he’d make an exception!”

Before she could respond, ready to give in under the pressure of his grin, she was saved by the bell. Or rather, the buzz of the intercom system.

“Looks like it’s too late for it now anyway.” She didn’t bother suppressing her smirk, especially once he settled a glare on her. A glare that got harsher when she laughed at him for stumbling over the blanket in his attempt to get off the couch.

“You keep laughing,” he sneered, “and I’ll tell them you want to play the fairy princess! Or— or the damsel in distress!”

She snorted. “Please. I’m no damsel. And I’m not all that easy to distress.” (Her time staring into the mirror notwithstanding). “You’re not going to embarrass me with that nonsense, Doc.”

Drew pressed the button to let his friends up, snapping, “Nngh! Just zip it!”

And all at once she was just as distressed as she claimed not to be. Drew was nice and all – he was great – but what if his friends had seen her face, plastered across the world as it seemed to be? Would they be as oddly protective and understanding? Or would the monetary reward corrupt them? From what little Drew had said about them it sounded like they had more money than he did – a lot more, at that – but if she’d learned anything… having money only made people want more. That much she could credit her parents with teaching her. Merrick might not spill her secrets but she wasn’t certain Drew’s posse, as he had all too awkwardly referred to them, could be held in similar regard.

But at least with them coming over Drew seemed to have forgotten that he’d tried to insist they would need to have a more serious conversation about what had happened with Merrick at some point. Even her complimenting his punch (and it really had had some force behind it, he just needed to minimize the arc a bit more and he’d be pretty good) hadn’t been enough to make him drop the subject. And when he’d seemingly realized that she was trying to distract him and brought the conversation back to her, she’d taken her escape into her bedroom with the door that didn’t lock, but which he knew he wouldn't open anyway.

“Hey wait a minute!” Drew blurted, as he moved back toward the couch. “You went looking in the players' guidebook? I knew it! You do want to play! Really, Shea, I don’t understand why you refuse to admit you’re a nerd at heart.” His voice got louder with each word as his utterly ridiculous excitement grew. She could tell it was taking all his effort not to start bouncing in place. He turned on his heel, heading toward the kitchen table and his elaborate game. “Come along now, I’ll get a player sheet ready for you. You can ask James about playing an inferno-clan yourself.”

“Someone needs to teach you how to do a cartwheel.”

That made him freeze and he turned to stare at her, an eyebrow raised in blatant confusion.

“You’re just the kind of guy who should be doing cartwheels whenever you get excited,” she explained with a shrug. “I don’t know how you have so much energy stored up in there, but hey, it’s clear that you do. So, someone should teach you to cartwheel.”

His face flickered through half a dozen emotions in as many seconds, before he finally settled on waving a dismissive hand, and said, “I couldn’t even manage a proper somersault as a child, I hardly think I could manage a cartwheel.”

“You’re joking, right? What kind of kid can’t do a somersault?”

She delighted in watching as his ears turned pink.

“I had other talents to focus on,” he grumbled, dropping the player sheet with a less-than-subtle hint of bitterness and stomping off into the kitchen.

Obviously, she followed him. “Like what?” she demanded, popping up onto the counter. “Adding two plus two?”

“I can dance!” Drew blurted, and just as fast smacked his hands over his mouth, eyes so wide behind his glasses she worried they’d pop right out. “I mean— I don’t actually— It was only— just zip it.”

“I didn’t even say anything! What’s wrong with knowing how to dance?” She did sort of want to dare him to prove it, though. “What kind of—?”

Before she could ask him what kind of dance he knew, a sharp knock at the door interrupted her. She glanced toward the sound, and before she knew what was happening, Drew smacked a hand over her mouth.

“Please,” he begged. “Please just don’t say anything about this right now! Not in front of them.”

She stared wide-eyed up at him. He wasn’t covering her mouth with any real force, just enough to let her know he wanted her quiet but it still shocked her that he would do it at all. She could feel the bandages, rough against her lips, and for half a moment she considered shoving Drew. Although, his fingers were warm and soft against her cheek, and part of her quite enjoyed the contact. Certainly, she preferred it over his avoiding touching her as though she’d break. Or give him the plague. She also had a brief moment to wonder why a man whose favorite movie was all about dancing, seemed so embarrassed to admit he knew how to dance.

Taking in the panicked look he shot towards the door as the knocking started again, loud and continuous, she gently pried his hand off her face, deciding to let the whole thing go. For the time being. Only then did he seem to realize what he’d done, and she had to cut off his apology.

“It’s… Fine, or whatever. But go let your friends in before I hurt them. Do they always knock like that?”

She could feel his relief as he rushed for the door, and she debated between following and staying put. But she felt safer when she was closer to him, and though she was quite confident his nerd friends wouldn’t pose any physical threat to her, by his side she stayed, hopping off the counter to follow.

“Really,” he assured her, “my friends are pretty great! I think you’ll like them!”

He turned the knob and was promptly knocked aside as the door swung open and three guys, older than Drew and definitely much older than her, shoved their way inside. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it but something about all three of them instantly left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Oh, alright. She knew exactly what it was. They came in, pushing Drew aside with hardly a glance in his direction, talking and joking so loudly she couldn’t help casting a curious glance in the hallway to see if anyone was opening their doors to see what the noise was all about. And the moment they saw her each one froze in turn, fixing her with a look she was all too familiar with.

And she was all too okay with Drew putting a hand on her shoulder and pulling her closer as he shut the door.

“Guys,” he said, voice cutting through the silence like… Nothing, it was so obvious they weren’t paying any attention to him. And that made her even more uncomfortable than the looks they all tried to hide as she stared back. “This is my new roommate I was telling you about.”

Forcing herself to stand up straight, she inched away from him. Not enough that he would drop his hand, but enough that she didn’t look quite so much like a child hiding behind her mother. She’d never been one to shy away from strangers, and just because she wanted to like them and make Drew happy didn’t mean she had to feel any sort of nerves. And if Drew trusted them enough to believe they wouldn’t squeal then she could try to trust them too.

“Shea,” he said, pointing out the one who looked just a little younger than the others – Chinese, if she had to guess, although she knew better than to make assumptions, “This is Bobby. You spoke with him once. I think.” Bobby nodded, though he seemed a little shocked. Drew continued, pointing to the… guy (since from the way they carried themselves alone she couldn’t justify calling any of them a man) closest to himself, “And this is Kashwin Ramesh—”

“You can call me—”

“I’m James,” the one in the middle interrupted, holding out a hand.

She didn’t want to take it, but all four of them were watching her expectantly, and, well, etiquette training could be hard to ignore.

“Shea,” she replied, reaching out to shake the hand of this James, who she could tell, like Heath did on missions, seemed to consider himself the de facto leader of his friends.

He took her hand, and before she could react, he pulled her hand up to his face, kissing her fingers. It wasn’t necessarily unlike what Drew had done when he’d been overly concerned about the burns on her hands, but something about it – something about James – had her snatching her hand back so fast she stumbled back into Drew. He shot a strange glance between her and his friend but said nothing about the exchange.

Ugh. Her fingers were wet.

Wiping her slobbered on fingers off against her jeans, she glared at Drew as he said, “Shea was just saying she’d like to join us for Hideaways and Hydras.” And the grin he shot down at her could only be described as pure, conniving, evil. But he still had a hand on her shoulder, and hadn’t pushed her away from him…

So, how could she protest?

#drakgo #drakken #shego #kim possible #drakken x shego #shego x drakken #drakgo fanfic #drakken and shego #dwelling #drakgo fanfiction #dwelling chapter 22 #4079 words

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