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antihero-writings · 3 years

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Before it Kills You Too (Ch2 Snippets 1, 2 & 3)

Fandom: Lore Olympus

Chapter Summary: When Hera gets into a car accident after a fight, Zeus has a moment to ruminate on their relationship. Written using the song “Wait” by Maroon 5 as a prompt.

Character Focus: Zeus

Please note!! This is the previous Ch2 snippets I posted + a new snippet (the new snippet starts with “I would venture to guess she was driving too fast.”)

I’ve been having trouble with this chapter for a very long time, so I’ve decided to post it snippet-by-snippet, because that seems like the only way I’ll successfully finish this fic.

While this should be as close to the final version as it can be, anything in this snippet is subject to change when the full chapter comes out. (And, hey, to that end, if there’s anything you think needs to be edited here, please kindly let me know!!)

Im really excited about this snippet!! Definitely one of my favorite parts of the chapter!!

Thanks again SO much to those who support this fic and want to read more!! The fact that you want to read more really does mean the world to me!! I appreciate your kind comments so much!!

I’d really appreciate it if you could leave a comment and/or reblog!!! I’m not kidding when I say that makes my week!!

Tagging some folks who’ve shown interest!! @jayyy007 @autumnmoon21 @sunsetsofanemoia, @lynnie51 @what-the-fuckaroni @masquejj

And please do let me know if you’d like me to add you to a taglist for this fic, or message you when new snippets/the next chapter come/s out!!

Chapter 2 Snippets 1, 2 & 3:

Hera was standing in the crowded meadow, surrounded by her friends, laughing that girly little giggle full of sunshine that just about made Zeus’ heart ooze in a puddle out of his chest.

Her blue dress made her eyes look like two shimmering sapphires.

“Have I seen her in a dress that color?” Zeus inquired excitedly from behind the bushes.

“How can we know what you’ve seen?” Aidoneus muttered. “With you creeping around, you might have seen her naked for all we know.”

Zeus punched him in the arm, (lightly).

“I don’t think she’s worn a dress that color!” Posiedon bubbled.

“Thank you, Posiedon. At least someone can answer a question.”

“I think she looks like the sea on summer day.” He put his hands on his face, them sliding slowly.

Zeus eyed him. “Alright, keep it in your toga, Little Green Man.”

“Should we really be here?” Aidoneus muttered. “We weren’t invited.”

“Oh come on,” Zeus stood up, putting his hands on his hips. “Who wouldn’t want to see the King of the gods here?”

Poseidon grinned and stood up behind his brother. “No one!”

“Hestia, Demeter… assorted sane people.” Hades muttered as he stood to follow.

“If that’s sanity I’m glad I’m insane.” Zeus trilled as he strutted up to the entrance.

A cute pink nymph—(rather well endowed in the chestal region—not that he noticed!)—greeted them at the archway.

“Oh! Zeus!” She flushed and bowed. “It’s an honor. Welcome!”

“Why it’s an honor to meet you, my lady.” He kissed her hand, and she giggled. “See?” he turned to his brothers. “They’re delighted to have us.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling.” Hades muttered.

Hera was closer now; she smelled like summer, and she looked like it too. Poseidon was right about the ocean thing; she practically shimmered as she spoke with her friends.

“I’m gonna go talk to her.”

“Wait—!” Hades was soon swallowed by the crowd.

Zeus scooched behind her at lightning speed. One by one her friends began to take notice, their eyes widening.

Hera took a step back and would have tripped in surprise if he hadn’t caught her.

“Careful there, you might fall, Birthday Girl.”

“Oh, Zeus!” She looked up at him, the back of her head hitting his chest, “hi!”

That golden smile.

“I made you something!” As she spun to face him, he produced a little carving of a bird from his pocket. (And, no, he didn’t make it).

“Oh!” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, gently taking it from him, “It’s beautiful!”

All his responsibilities and stresses melted away with the sight of that smile, and he forgot there was anyone else at the party…in the world.

(…He wished he saw that smile anymore.)

Zeus’ chair was spinning empty at his desk before his assistant could say another word—

And Olympus wept, distant peals of thunder rending the sky into pieces.

Lightning crackled and cackled through his hair, creating violet tracks through the air, as Zeus sped through the sky.

It was freezing, and people were staring, but he didn’t care.

All that mattered was getting to his wife.

“My you look stunning.” Zeus sidled up behind his wife, running his fingers gently along her arm. “Is that a new dress?”

“New as that girlfriend of yours.” Hera grunted.

His eyes widened with shock, his voice with an indignant undertone to it. “Is something wrong?”

She paused a moment. He could see words fluttering behind her lips—(like they did so often, too often)—the words Yes you did something wrong, how can you not know?

He knew she wouldn’t believe him when he said he didn’t mean to hurt her.

“You weren’t invited,” she said softly.

“Not invited? Me?” He put his hand to his chest, like the thought of him ever not being welcome to somewhere was absurd. “To what?”

“The party, you nitwit!” She whirled around, her hair nearly whipping him in the face. “You just came barging in like you owned the place!”

“Well…to be fair—”

He stopped short at the look in her eyes, like two blue-hot flames.

He knew it was taking her a great amount of effort not to slap him.

“Do you know how long I’d been preparing for that?! How long it took me to get everything just right? I told you, but you never even listened, did you? And then you just barged right in!”

“Why are you so upset? What’s so important about a party?!”

“They were my friends.” Her gaze softened, and her tone became more serious. “They were—” Until she cut herself off, and her expression hardened as she whirled around, her hair billowing behind her.

“Bunny, wait!” His tone was softer too.

He wished she’d just turn around. That he could say sorry.

Was it really so hard? He should have started there.

Had he ever apologized for that?

He was always doing that; barging in where he wasn’t welcome. The world was his, yes but…he had to concede there were some parts of it he ought not just barge in on.

When he burst into the hospital, however, they wouldn’t dare tell him he wasn’t invited, wouldn’t dare tell him he couldn’t see her.

“Where. is my. wife?” Lightning slammed into a lamppost just outside the front door, shattering its glass box, and making the light spark, the rain pounding at the window like rabid dogs.

The desk clerk looked like she was about to pee out of sheer fear.

“Sh-sh-she’s not out of surgery yet, your majesty...I understand you want to see her, but I can’t let you…until-until they’re finished.” She was practically vibrating. “I assure you the moment she gets out, we’ll notify you.”

Surgery? He wanted to demand. She’s the queen of the gods, how could she be in surgery?

Electricity sparked in his eyes, trailing throughout his hair. He could say I demand you let me see her. He could say I don’t care! She’s my wife, and I’m not waiting! She’s fine! She’s the queen—she’s my queen—she won’t be hurt from a little car accident!

But there were some places he ought not just barge in on… and the surgeons room was probably one of them.

The lightning let out a sighing crackle, before he closed his eyes, his hair falling back upon his shoulders. It was then that he noticed he was dripping wet from head to toe. He sighed himself before muttering something like a garbled “I understand, thank you.” And turning to sit in the lobby. Behind him the desk clerk’s coworker held her to keep her from fainting.

He snapped his fingers, drying off, so as not to get their nice, barf-colored carpet all wet. Once he sat down in a chair—(the cushions didn’t have any cush to them)—a kid in the chair across from him scooched away.

He could have that kid lightly charred if he wanted.

Instead he settled for a nice glare, and reached over to pick up last month’s—(or maybe it was a few months ago)—issue of “Goddess weekly” listening to the rain die down to a drum.

The same old gossip. Usually if he picked one of these up he’d check for any news he ought to be aware of. You know, as the king. Not to mention the ladies weren’t unappealing. Now he flicked through without seeing any of it.

Speaking of ladies, there was a nymph sitting across the room from him, her skin blue, her ears down, and a cute little half smile. She surely wasn’t in here for anything serious. She kept glancing from her own magazine to him—but not in a nervous way. If he wasn’t mistaken, she wouldn’t be opposed to a session of hide-the-German-sausage.

If he wanted he could take her there in a darkened closet in the hallway. It wouldn’t take long—(if it didn’t need to…or it could take all night). That would be a nice way to relieve the stress bubbling in his body.

—Someone was laying next to him, her skin smooth, practically glowing. There was rather a lot of it exposed.

She turned over, her eyes fluttering open, a small smile creasing her features as she rolled onto his chest, tickling his chin with her fingers.

“I had a wonderful time,” she twittered, and he practically purred, staring into those big blue eyes, glittering like river stones.

He pushed her green hair behind her ear.

“Is that all? I’d like to think a night with the King of the gods would be more than merely ‘wonderful.’”

She giggled. “No no, it was much more than wonderful! It was spectacular! Mind-blowing!” She threw her arms in the air.

“That’s more like it.” He grinned—

When was that again? Two years ago, or two days ago?

It could have been either.

Had he apologized for that?

Would it have mattered if he had? Would she have forgiven him? Would he have stopped?—

Bile rose in his throat, and he dove his nose so hard into the magazine he almost smacked himself with it.

His wife was bruised and bleeding, and potentially worse in a nearby room, at the mercy of some quack holding a scalpel and a few comforting words…and here he was thinking of betraying her for the…

How many times had it been now?

He threw the magazine back on the table and sank in the chair till his head was nearly on the bottom cushion, his lip flapping his he blew out a breath, making his hair fly up a little.

The kid and his mom got called, and seemed glad of a reason to leave.

After a healthy dose of moping he pulled out his phone. After checking fatesbook and playing a few games he decided it was time to open his messages.

He didn’t want to be alone. He wanted some sensible and non-conjugal company.

He scrolled through and clicked on a name.

A number of old conversations sprinkled the page, often detailing Zeus asking about getting together and the correspondent saying they were busy.

He thought a moment about what to say—(a rare occurrence for him)—before deciding any vague requests would probably get ignored, so he simply decided the boldfaced truth:

Hera’s been in a car accident. She’s in surgery.

“WHAT?!” The word was spoken aloud—and very loudly at that.

Hades was standing in front of him. If the king being here wasn’t enough reason for weird looks, this outburst had sent more than a few eyes their way.

Zeus did a finger wave at the nymph, before he grabbed his brother’s arm, whisking him off to a less crowded hallway.

The only thing here was a vending machine, and a few overly picturesque pictures of trees.

“How did this happen?!” Hades shout-whispered.

“I would venture to guess she was driving too fast.”

“I could have gathered that myself, thank you very much!” Hades was clearly trying not to shout. “What was she doing?! Where was she going?!”

Zeus rolled folded his arms. “Does it matter?”

“Sure it matters! Well at least it’d be good to know!”

“…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?! What do you mean you don’t know?! She’s your wife—!”

“I said I don’t know!” he kicked the vending machine.

The air shattered and reformed itself.

Zeus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, his voice softening. “I…I don’t know.”

Two sides of him warred. One wanted to shout at Hades. He expected him to know where she was at all times? Oh yeah, that would go over well with her. What kind of helicopter husband would he be then?

And yet, it felt wrong for him not to know. Like some sort of failure. She was his wife. Shouldn’t he? Shouldn’t he have asked? Shouldn’t he care?

Hades’ gaze softened.

“I upset her.” Zeus murmured. “We got into a fight.”

Hades leaned against the wall. He was probably resisting the urge to say he could have gathered that too.

Zeus leaned his head forward onto the glass of the vending machine, his hair falling to the side, his reflection vaguely eyeing him.

“We got into a fight and she…I hadn’t even realized she went for a drive.” He paused, observing the chocolate and chips sitting in neat rows in the machine. “Do you think she liked Twyx?”

“Huh?”

“Do you think she liked Twyx?”

Hades pondered it a moment. “Probably. She tends to like things with caramel in them.”

Zeus smiled wryly. “See? I didn’t even know that.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to ask her all your burning questions about her favorite candy flavors very soon.”

“That’s not the point.” Zeus whispered.

Zeus was feeling a little off-kilter.

He nearly fell into a three-thousand drachma vase.

Okay, make that a lot.

The sound of heels on the staircase. The white one they’d painted for that one event…what had they been celebrating again?

His hazy gaze made her glitter even more than usual.

“Have I ever told you that you’re like the sea on a summer’s day?” Zeus’ voice came out blurry. He put his hand in his hair, trying to look sexy, you know, like the kind of guy you’d wanna forgive.

This was met by her hair slapping him in the face as she walked by him. She paused a few steps below him, turning.

“Is that alcohol I smell on your breath?”

“I may have had one—“ He hiccuped, “or five, appletinis.”

“And this is what? An intelligent conversation you’re trying to have?” She folded her arms over her chest.

“Actually,” he held up a finger. The action made him feel off-balance so he leaned against the railing, trying to land in a sexy pose. “There is something I wanted to say.”

“You’re barely coherent when you’re sober, at least spare me until then.”

He rolled his eyes—(and made himself feel even dizzier).

She turned to go back up the stairs.

“Wait!” He shouted.

She stopped, looked over her shoulder, eyes narrow as a cat’s. “What?”

“I-hic!” He covered his mouth as if embarrassed. Clearly emotion was dangerous. “I wasn’t trying to get wasted! I just-hic!-needed more than three or four to say this.”

“Oh yeah? Spit it out Grape Sorbet.” She folded her arms over her chest.

“I’m…” he held on to the railing for support. “I’m sorry.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

“You…You were right.” He took a step closer.

“About what?” Her breath bated.

“I just…I didn’t want to admit it. I couldn’t…” He looked away. “I couldn’t tell you sober.”

“About what?” The words had a rough edge to them, her chest heaving with breath.

Ah. She knew. She knew what he was going to say, even before he said it.

“I…I did cheat on you.”

“Wh-What?” Her eyes tinted red…but there was so much hurt in the word.

Fear and shame rose in tandem like ocean waves, threatening to bowl him over, and he realized that the truth wasn’t going to help at all. But all he could do was let it pour out of him.

“You-hic-You asked if I was with-hic—”

“Stop.” She covered her mouth as if to keep the worst words from spilling out, tears welling in her eyes.

“But I—”

“I said stop!” Her voice rang through the room like something shattering.

Maybe something was.

Her heels against the stairs, fast and sharp, and away.

“Wait!”

Turn around please, let me apologize, let me explain, I won’t do it again.

He threw up in the vase.

“Daddy? What was that all about?” The small voice made his blood run cold. “What did you cheat at? Were you playing a game?”

Zeus turned, horrified, to see Ares, hiding behind a crack in the door.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at her.” He breathed. “It was stupid, really.”

Hades put a dollar in the vending machine and punched in a number.

“People say all kinds of things when they’re angry. Doesn’t mean you’re bad, just means you’re people. Which…” Hades looked him up and down, adding under his breath, “I wonder about sometimes.”

“...You must think I’m a terrible husband.”

Hades grabbed two chocolate bars and handed one to his brother.

“I think you need something sweet, maybe a little hydration, and some rest.”

Zeus unwrapped the bar and took a bite, not really tasting anything.

After a moment Hades sighed.

“It’s not so simple as that.” Hades said between bites, “I don’t necessarily think there’s such a thing as a ‘terrible husband’ or ‘the best husband.’ I…I don’t even think there’s such a thing as good and bad people. There’s just…people. There’s just husbands. But there are rules that come with being a person, and/or being a husband and…” he paused, trying to choose his words carefully, “you don’t always follow those rules.”

Zeus fell back against the wall, looking at the floor, denials dying in his throat.

It was raining.

No, actually it was pouring. And thundering. The lightning was like cracks in a collapsing sky, and Zeus’s gut was twisting like the snakes on the head of a gorgon.

“What? You-you think you can just undo this?!” Hera’s words were biting. “It’s done!” Her laugh was wry and sardonic, like an ache in her throat, red tainting the blue of her eyes. “You can’t just fix something like that! Once someone cheats at the game no one else just keeps playing!”

“It was a mistake! One stupid night!”

“One stupid night, huh?! Then how do you explain this?!” She held up his phone. The pictures. The…Oh Gaia.

The snakes in his gut bit down, and he bit his lip looking away. He hadn’t known she knew about that.

“You’ve got it all wrong! That was just—!”

“I thought you were different!” She bit off his excuse, the anger cracked, and the pain was bleeding through, and he wasn’t the only one making it rain: A tear fell down her face, then another, her mascara running black along her cheeks. “You made me smile, you made me laugh! You saved your brothers from your father. And I thought we could make a kingdom—a world—together!” She shook her head, grimacing, trying and failing to keep more tears from falling. “I thought we could be something!”

“We are! We have! I just made a mistake! I—!”

“No, Zeus.” There was a finality to her tone.

Tears streamed down her face now. He hated it when she cried. She didn’t do it often, and whenever she did he was ready to smite whoever hurt her but…he’d hurt her worst of all.

“I thought you were different. But you’re—“ the words were like an antique vase, riddled with cracks. “You’re just another bad guy.” She punched him in the arm, and the vase broke, the defiance into pain. She punched him in the arm…but it was weak and far too soft, and that’s how he knew she was really hurt; she could bring the sky down on him if she wanted.

She looked down at her hand, twisting her wedding ring with a finger.

“I’m staying with a friend tonight.”

Her wedding ring tinkled on the floor.

As she turned and walked away the word rang out like he was hoping his voice alone could rewrite his sins and bring her back:

“Wait!”

She didn’t stop, didn’t turn, didn’t make any indication she’d even heard him.

“Please…Please just wait.” These were soft.

He fell to his knees on the marble, scooping up her wedding ring and enclosing it in his fingers, holding it to his forehead, and trying not to bring the sky down upon himself.

He’d seen her angry. He’d seen her sad. But this? Seeing her break for him…was so much worse.

It reminded him too much of another time. Of a scar on her stomach. How she broke herself just to be his.

—(And he wondered, for a fleeting moment, if it would have been better if he had been the one to break.)—

“There you are!” Said a voice. “You can come see her now,”—a cleared throat— “your Majesty.”

Notes: Aright, so this chapter had a few things I was unsure about I thought I’d ask about here!

1. Does anyone have any other clever play-on-words for candy brands? I feel like Zeus would know that she likes caramel in general, so it’d make more sense if Hades said “she likes [X similar candy] so she’d probably like Twyx.” But Twyx is all my brain came up with and I don’t even know that it’s all that good XD

2. I’m aware that the gods don’t call each other “people” they call each other “beings.” However, Hades’ lines don’t have as much impact with “beings.” Did the fact that I used “people” stick out too much? Should I change it to “beings”?

3. I know Ancient Greek wedding ceremonies are different from ours, and they might not even have wedding rings. But that image was so impactful for me I decided to use it. Should I remove it? Or did you find it impactful?

Please let me know if there’s anything you felt was inaccurate to their characters!!

Thanks so much for reading!! 💕💕

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smolanon · 3 years

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Childish (c!Schlatt x Reader)

Hello everyone! I have officially returned from my hiatus! Sorry I was gone for so long, but I think I'm feeling much better now. I wrote this as sort of a lighthearted return to writing. I have quite a few fics in the works right now, so let me know if you wanna W.I.P list! I'm trying out scheduling this fic so yeah, let's hope that goes alright!

This fic was inspired by this headcanon on @boobberries blog, sent in by @paintpaletteanon! Thank you so much to the both of them for allowing me to use it in this fic. :) I take it as a gift of peace for starting an angsty Schlatt movement on Roni's blog!

Type: humor, fluff

Word count: 1,257 words

Most of the time, you were a pretty tame person. Between George's oversleeping, Quackity's over-the-top energy, and Schlatt's unprofessionalism, somebody had to play the straight man or else Manburg's entire cabinet would fall apart. Everyone was quite used to your more mild nature; it went so far as to leak into your person life with Schlatt at times. Which is why your poor, unsuspecting boyfriend was caught so off guard by you acting like such a little shit.

It was an average day when it happened for the first time. Schlatt was reading through some papers with a pensive look on his face and you came up behind him, lightly touching his arm and opening your mouth to ask if everything was alright. However, before a single sound could leave your lips, Schlatt was jumping and letting out a surprised bleat. When you say jump, you mean leapt. It was a good thing you were outside at the time because he reached a height you had no clue anyone could reach.

When he spun around to face you, starting to chew you out for sneaking up on him, you couldn't help but let out an incredulous laugh.

"How did you jump so high?" You said between fits of giggles. His cheeks flushed and he glared daggers into your soul.

"I'm a goat hybrid, dumbass. Don't do that again."

Now, normally you would listen to that prompting, especially at work, and the scenario would be packed away into his mind as an embarrassing, yet fond memory. So he was absolutely flabbergasted when he rounded a corner to head into the Whitehouse and was greeted with-

"Boo!" You cackled as he jumped once more. He swore at your hunched over form, smacking you upside the head with some rolled up papers.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" He placed a hand over his pounding heart, adrenaline rushing through his veins.

"I'm s-" You cut yourself off with a wheeze, "I'm sorry! It's just s-so hilarious!" You descended into another fit of laughter. He rolled his eyes at you fondly, trying to hide his smile from you.

The next few weeks were absolute torture. He could not turn a corner, leave his back to you, or hand you any loud items because a good 80% of the time, it would result in him leaping in distress. He threatened to make you sleep on the couch if you continued to do it. Afterwards, he found a pillow and a few blankets on the couch before getting the daylights spooked out of him once again.

Never had he seen you act like such a child. Quackity's endorsement of the behavior was absolutely no help whatsoever. The poor ceilings of most buildings he went had many dents in them. You could find him anywhere at any time, scare the life out of him, then promptly disappear, probably to set up the next spook. He could not find a moment of peace.

But then, suddenly, it stopped. Great, right? Wrong. The lack of the expected shocks disturbed him deeply. He turned every corner like an animal that knew it was being hunted. Any time you would lag behind while you walked, he would tense as if preparing to be grabbed, but the sensation never came. You had stopped, and he finally started to relax. Normalcy had returned, and his peace and quiet along with it.

He read through some papers on his desk, thoroughly engrossed in his work. Concentration was hard to come by for him, so he was incredibly focused on the documents. The perfect target.

He did not hear the door when it opened. Your feet made no sound as you moved across the floor like a wildcat, ready to strike. He didn't even sense your maniacal presence behind him as you poised, grinning, before your hands shot out and quickly grabbed his sides.

It all hit him in quick, unpleasant waves. The initial jolt of panic, followed immediately by his heart stopping, and then pure unfiltered dread.

"FOR FUCKS SAKE!"

You keeled over laughing, leaning heavily against his desk for support. He rubbed his head, glaring up at the two new dents in the ceiling. When his enraged gaze fixed on you, you only laughed harder.

"Is this funny to you? Does this look like a fucking joke?" He tried to sound angry, to seem scary. The sinister grin on his face would have scared most into silence. But, alas, you were not like most people.

"I think it's the funniest thing I've seen in years." You grinned up at him.

"I'm going to kill you." He growled through his teeth, lunging forward and trying to grab you.

Lucky for you, you were faster than him and leapt out of his reach with a delighted shriek. You took off down the hallways as he shouted after you.

"Get back here you fucking brat!"

Your laughter and footsteps filled the building, most of the employees sending odd glances your way as you sprinted past, only to tuck their heads down as the President followed in suit. Ahead of you, Quackity poked his head out into the hallway, his face a mixture of concern and amusement.

"The hell did you do?" He shouted at you.

"I'll explain later!" You yelled back over your shoulder as you passed him, face pulled into a grin.

You thought that as soon as you got out of the building, he would stop chasing you. You were wrong. It felt like fire was in your lungs as you hit the half demolished wall. You only had time to turn around before Schlatt was pinning you to the wall.

"Gotcha!" You laughed, squealing and trying to move under his arm. "Oh, no you don't!" He scooped you up in his arms, a small reluctant smile pulling at his lips.

You twisted halfheartedly in his arms, still laughing uncontrollably. A small kick to the wall was able to knock him off his balance just enough to send him plummeting to the ground, and you along with him. The grassy ground knocked the wind out of your lungs momentarily, very briefly cutting off your laughter, but as soon as you started up again, you could hear Schlatt begin to laugh along with you.

"What now, genius?" He grinned up at you. You laughed, wiggling just a little more before settling into his arm and leaning in to peck his lips.

"You've been an absolute menace, what makes you think you deserve kisses?" He narrowed his eyes at you.

You pouted up at him.

"Puppy eyes will not work on me, you little shit." His lips twitched a little; he was fighting a smile.

You rested your chin against his chest, whimpering a little.

"No." His words faultered slightly.

"Please?"

You could see his resolve break, and his lips finally tugged up into a smile. "Fine."

You cheered happily and wrapped your arms around his neck, pecking his lips repeatedly and giggling between each one.

"Seriously, what's got you all riled up?" He laughed out, resting his forehead against yours.

"I just need a break from being all serious sometimes." You admitted, smiling up at him and placing a softer, longer kiss on his lips.

"Well, that is fair, just maybe be a pest to Quackity next time you feel like being a shit, alright?" He spoke once you pulled away.

You laughed and nodded. "Alright, but don't expect me to not use your jumping habit against you in the future."

#Schltt #Fluff #Humor #Just a little fic to ease back into writing

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wildandsexyjacks · 4 years

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Your Smile and You - Pt.6

Pairing: Han Seungwoo + Reader

Genre: Fluff + Friends to Lovers AU

Word count: 1,6k

Warnings: mild swearing

It’s his birthday, and Seungwoo is still mad.

He hasn’t called or texted in forever, and it feels like there’s no way of fixing this anymore. You missed your chance probably sometime around three days ago when you and Seungsik had lunch together - a whole week after that night at Seungwoo’s place. You had planned on telling him about your relationship that day but ended up chickening out at the last moment, his Instagram post was more than enough proof that you had the opportunity to do it. Seungwoo liked the picture, and that was the last you’d seen from him.

That’s the reason you’re currently looking through the glass door of the bar he’s having his birthday party at, pondering whether to go in or just come back home. He didn’t invite you - you only found out he was there because Seungyoun tagged him in a facebook picture twenty minutes ago - and maybe you should take that as a hint that he doesn’t want you there, but it’s his birthday, and he looks so happy, and you miss him so much. As you watch Seungwoo laugh - you can practically hear it, the sound’s engraved in your heart by now - you wonder if it’s possible for anyone to miss anything as much as you miss him, and you’ve only been apart for ten days.

Most of his friends are there, drinking and laughing. Through the glass you see Seungyoun entertaining the group with what seems like a funny story and wonder if he’s told anyone about the night he caught you sneaking out of their apartment.

Seungwoo punches his shoulder lightly, they all laugh. God, just looking at him makes your heart hurt.

Seungsik hasn’t arrived yet - or maybe he’s already left - and you could go and talk to Seungwoo if you wanted to, but how would he feel about it? If he wanted to talk to you, he would’ve responded to your texts or that one time you drunk-dialed. If he wanted to talk to you, he would’ve invited you to his birthday party.

Someone clears their throat behind you, and you nearly jump in surprise.

“Are you going in or...?” the boy asks.

Jet black hair, cute dimples, and dangling silver earrings, you remember him as one of your brother’s high-school friends. Lim Sejun.

Fuck.

He recognizes you too by the way his eyes grow wide when you turn around to face him, but before he has a chance to say anything you step aside from where you previously stood blocking the entrance and shake your head.

“No, no, I was just leaving actually.”

He frowns, looking at the small gift box in your hands.

“Are you sure?” You nod furiously “Do you want me to take this to Seungwoo?”

“NO!” hugging the box, you take one more step away from him and sigh “I’ll do it another time, it’s fine. In fact, I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone you saw me here.”

Sejun considers it for a moment then shrugs.

“Whatever.”

He opens the door and walks straight up to Seungwoo, then whispers something in his ear while pointing in your direction.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

You stare in horror as Seungwoo squints at the door. Now that he knows you’re there, you have no choice but to go in or things will only get worse. You put the small box back in your purse, then push the door open and walk slowly in his direction, stopping halfway.

His group of friends finally started to notice something’s going on, and the boys look from you to him with a variety of confused faces. Sejun smiles cheekily and you would go there and murder him on the spot if you weren’t too busy trying to predict Seungwoo’s next move.

His expression is unreadable but there’s no time to really think about it because he’s a long-legged son of a bitch and in three wide steps he’s standing right in front of you. He grabs your wrist, drags you out of the bar and away from everyone’s eyes, then lets go when you’re standing on the sidewalk.

Tears welling up, you prepare yourself to apologize for ruining his birthday when he takes your face between his huge hands and leans in to kiss you.

It’s like finally coming home after a long, horrible day. The winter air is cold on your cheeks and Seungwoo is not wearing a jacket over his thin baby blue sweater, but neither of you cares while he moves his hands from your face to your lower back and you wrap your arms around his neck, butterflies set free in your stomach and a sense of belonging you have never felt before, your heart beating so fast and loud you’re sure he can hear it.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Seungwoo confesses against your lips “These past ten days were the worst. You have no idea.”

“Oh, trust me, I do.” You stand on your tiptoes to press a kiss to his nose “You know, I more than like you too, I’m sorry I didn’t say it back the other day.”

He lets out an embarrassed laugh and leans in again, this time to rest his forehead on your shoulder, hiding his face in the crook of your neck.

“I thought we had silently agreed to not talk about this.”

“Never!” You giggle, caressing his back. “How could I? It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Even though there’s no sound, you feel his body shake with laughter.

“I don’t think you’ve had many good boyfriends in the past, then.” Seungwoo mumbles, his voice muffled by the fabric of your winter coat.

“You’re my first boyfriend ever.” you explain, cradling his head while he nuzzles your neck “That’s why I’m so bad at it.”

“No! You’re not bad, it’s just...” he sighs, stepping back to look in your eyes “I don’t know. It’s a difficult situation. I reacted poorly and I’m sorry for that, I promise I won’t push you anymore. We can do it when you’re ready.”

You bite your lip and reach for the box inside your purse. Seungwoo’s eyes widen as you extend your hand, the small box resting on your palm.

“Happy birthday.”

He takes a closer look. It’s a tiny, velvety, black box, made for jewelry. Biting back a smile, Seungwoo lifts one eyebrow.

“I don’t know, shouldn’t you get on one knee for this?”

You groan and he laughs. Rolling your eyes, you push the box against his chest.

“Just take it, will you?”

He opens the box, and his breath gets caught in his throat. Inside lies a small fox keychain, with a set of keys attached to it.

“That’s... Is this...?”

“Keys to my place, yes. You’re welcome at all times.” he stares at you, dumbfounded, as you take a step forward to wrap your arms around his neck again “Let’s tell Seungsik. Let’s tell everyone.”

Seungwoo smiles real big, then chews on his lower lip, uncertain.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured to-“

“One hundred percent sure.” you cut in “If you’re free tomorrow, we can crash my family’s Christmas party and kill several birds with just one stone.”

Seungwoo laughs.

“Okay, alright, for someone who’s been stalling for over six months, you’re in quite a hurry right now, huh?” with an amused smile, he presses a kiss to your forehead “No need to rush, let’s discuss this again in the morning. For now, how about we go inside and I introduce you to my friends?” nodding towards the door, Seungwoo offers his hand “They’re dying to meet my secret girlfriend.”

You take his hand, laughing a little. After three steps, however, Seungwoo stops, looking at you with curiosity sparkling in his eyes.

“How did you know I was here, by the way? I didn’t even know I was coming until like half an hour ago.”

Oh.

“Facebook. Knowing it’s a surprise party makes me feel a lot less shitty, though.” you confess “I was spying on you through the glass like a creeper because I wasn’t sure you wanted to see me.”

He cackles - that endearing, loud sound you adore.

“Sejun used the words lovingly staring instead of spying, but call it what you want.” bringing your intertwined fingers to his lips, he kisses your knuckles. “I wasn’t really in the mood to celebrate, Seungyoun put this together and then forced me to leave the house. I was about to call you when Sejun arrived, anyway, but you’re still allowed to ignore that you literally ran away from Seungyoun when you bumped into him that other night - yes, he told me - and give him hell for not inviting you if you want.”

You pout.

“No, I want to be the cool girlfriend so your friends won’t have reasons to not like me.” Before he opens the door, you squeeze his hand to get his attention. “Wish me luck.”

Seungwoo shakes his head, amused.

“You don’t need luck, I’m sure they’ll love you.”

When you finally go inside, his friends cheer loudly and line up to introduce themselves. Seungwoo calls out his roommate for not inviting you to the party, to which after a second of hesitation he shamelessly bullshits his way out declaring he posted that picture on facebook for a reason. Sejun, on the other hand, exclaims that no, there’s no need to thank him or even pay him several drinks, he just did what anyone would do after seeing their friend depressed for days on no end - then a very embarrassed Seungwoo smacks him upside the head.

Your boyfriend - boyfriend!! - wants to leave early so he can test the keys you just gave him, but his friends are willing to tell you the funniest and most embarrassing Seungwoo-related stories and you’re dying to listen to every single one of them, so you convince him to stay for a little longer.

He was right about you meeting his friends, after all. You’ll get along just fine.

and that marks the end of my first attempt at a chaptered fic, and honestly i’ll prob never do it again lmao if you’d like to see seungsik’s reaction to the news let me know and i’ll write a short bonus

i hope ya’ll are happy and healthy. please be safe and stay home if you can.

#han seungwoo #seungwoo scenario #seungwoo au #seungwoo fanfic #x1 scenarios #victon scenarios #x1 fanfic #victon fanfic

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sicprowl · 5 years

Text

The Fell-Star

Next AO3

Sigh.

He was so bored. So, so bored.

The red head leaned back in his seat, wiggling the pen between his lip and nose while he dazed lazily up at the ceiling.

Siiiiiiiigh.

“Sylvain,” Ingrid tensed beside him, but her fingers continued to glide across the screen of her navigation system as various symbols lit up on the screen in an array of colors. “Can you please stop that?”

The communications expert paused a moment, giving his childhood companion a side eye before looking back up at the ceiling.

Groooooan.

“What?” He laughed and took the pen off his lip to wave it at her, “It’s not the same thing~.”

She wanted to pull her hair out, long braid and all, then strangle him with it. “Why don’t you go do something productive?!”

“Like what?” Sylvain gestured around the empty command deck, “There’s nothing to do.”

Ingrid went back to piloting, tick mark pulsing on her forehead. “You’re supposed to be doing your job.”

“Right, my job…”

Sylvain frowned and put the pen back between his nose and lip. One glance at his terminal showed nothing but a blank map; black, lifeless, boring.

He’d gone to the Officers Academy for *this?* To sit at some desk and listening out into the void, waiting for someone to say hello. The red head had thought he’d hear some juicy gossip, get paid to chat people up, and maybe even answer distress calls to isolated colonies of beautiful women.

Instead all he got was the latter. Minus the isolated colony of beautiful women.

Sylvain gave Ingrid a pout, “My job sucks.”

Ingrid wished his seat was closer just so she could smack him. “Then why didn’t you study something else?!”

“Meh,” he shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “This seemed the easiest.”

She was getting a migraine, “Can you just….Just go bother someone else? I can watch everything here.”

Like always.

“They’re all busy.”

Ingrid huffed while focusing on her console again. “That never stopped you before. Felix isn’t on duty - I’m sure he could use some company.”

Sylvain deflated and the pen dropped to his lap. “He’s in the armory having a mood.”

Ingrid looked at him questioningly, but he didn’t elaborate. He merely waved his hand and spun slowly in his chair. She squinted at him as he stared at his lap.

“What did you do this time?”

He jerked, “It wasn’t me!!”

The doors to the command deck opened and they both looked to see three members of the crew walk in.

Ingrid stood immediately in a salute, gazing at their Captain with stern obedience that was beat into them throughout their Academy days. “My Lord!”

Sylvain was slower to stand, not really liking the formalities of it all. They were all former classmates, most even childhood friends and confidents. Heck, they’ve spent FIVE YEARS running and gunning Empire ships! Surely that meant they could relax in their off time?

He glanced at his friend’s Captain’s face, avoiding the eye patch that covered the ghastly scar from a battle long since forgotten. The heavy bags laid under his eyes as a constant reminder that the man never seemed to sleep and always seemed to be ready to strike. His blonde hair looked unkempt and long as it curled slightly at his collar. His black armor was worn from desperate battle after desperate battle while a long blue cloak with snow lion pelt at the collar. It all made him look like a towering giant; broad, powerful, deadly.

Then there was that lance.

Sylvain gulped, noting the emblem in the middle of the blade cackled like blue lightning. Thankfully it was merely flickers and not the thunderous storm that seemed to erupt from his old friend during battle. But Sylvain didn’t need the lance to tell him that the blonde was aching for battle. The bloodlust in his icy-blue eye was enough of a giveaway.

The red head looked away, unable to handle to see the once calm, and friendly boy of his youth turn into this. Sylvain focused on Annette instead, the cute and cheerful scientist of the group.

“What’s up?”

The small girl jerked in surprise, feeling as if she were back in school and the teacher had called on her.

“Oh! Ashe and I were calibrating the engine when we caught a strange signal on our computers!”

Panic settled on Sylvain’s face as he looked at his screen to see one, lone blinking red light right in the middle of his screen.

Oops.

“Oh!” Sylvain laughed nervously as all turned to him, “Sorry about that.”

Ingrid groaned while Dedue gave him a look of disapproval.

Dimitri ignored them all as he walked over to his chair, his heavily armored boots making the floor vibrate beneath all their feet. He plopped down in his chair, his whole body taking over the spot like a predator staking it’s claim.

“Show it to me.”

The red head didn’t need to be told twice. He sat back down and zeroed in on the signal, fingers dashing across the keys with ease as he turned on the flight screens for everyone.

Annette gasped in awe as the black, white, and blue panels covering the front half of the command deck’s ceiling changed into a vast expanse of stars. They twinkled like fire flies in streams as a lone nebula laid light years away. It shined bright in an aurora of periwinkle greens and cobalt blues, reaching out like in large wings that could easily dwarf a Faerghus warship.

It was breathtaking.

Dimitri gripped his lance as the screen zoomed in on a flying ship that zipped across the stars like a comet. His gaze narrowed as he raked it over the hull of the spaceship, then gave a sharp tooth grin when he found the symbol he so desperately hated.

The emblem in his lance began to spark and Dedue was immediately at his side, ready for orders. He was Dimitri’s second in command on this ship and closest confidant. The large man was ever loyal to the lost Prince of Faerghus and has been after he saved him from the Purge of Duscar.

He was his everything the moment Dimitri pulled him from the rubble.

“Sire?”

The blonde chuckled, making Sylvain’s hair practically stand on end. “It’s time to hunt some rats.”

>>>>>

Felix’s upper lip snarled in distaste at the litter of corpses that laid in the narrow hallway, blood splattered over the floor and ceiling like it was a morbid painting. Most of the bodies had been gouged out with a blade while a few were headless or worse… He always looked away from the worst.

“What a disgusting brute.”

Sylvain didn’t respond as he checked one of the bodies for ammo, putting the ethics of it all in the back of his mind. He’d unpack this all later. Right now, he needed to make sure they were prepared. Felix may have his family shield with him, but that thing couldn’t protect the both of them. Not unless they wanted to straddle each other.

The red head felt the corner of his lip turn up at the idea, knowing it’d annoy the hell out of his prickly friend.

He stood and touched the comm in his ear, “All clear on the lower deck.”

”I don’t see anyone in the barracks.” Ashe responded, having gone with Annette as a third wave in case the first two groups missed anyone.

Dedue and Dimitri had charged in headfirst….Well, Dimitri had, Dedue followed after him with his heavy weapons and armor to keep the enemies off the Lord. Felix and Sylvain had followed after the first few minutes in case anyone came out of hiding to flank them, but lost them when a group of soldiers stormed from another hall. Speaking of…

”We found something in the engine room.”

Sylvain raised a brow, itching to ask what the Duscar man had found, but could only get out a ‘on our way’ as Felix stroke forward.

“Whoa, wait up!”

Felix glared at the path ahead, “Someone should take that thing away from him.”

Sylvain scratched the back of his head, knowing what his friend was talking about. “Yeah…probably.”

Except who’d be stupid enough to try?

“Look at this-this MESS!” Felix gestured around them as they turned the corner to find more blood and lifeless bodies. “It’s changing him! He’s sick!”

The red head bit his lip, not wanting to think about Dimitri being sick. Really, truly sick.

Dimitri had all the signs, all the madness that came with carrying one of the old relics. The irrationality, the paranoia, the hatred. He had to be forced to sleep and eat. They’d find him staring out into space, whispering and pledging to the dead that his goals would be met.

It made getting a drink at night…unsettling.

Sylvain kept his own lance in his room, not really caring for the alien object. The old weapons had always creeped him out. They looked too wrong to be normal and he could only wonder in amazement as to why their ancestors decided to play with them after discovering a tomb on some far off planet. Sure, they could cut through any armor and barrier like butter, and others could stop bullets and blasts. But holding them too long came with a price. A terrible price their Prince was paying for the longer he dwelled on his anger.

Heh. Thousands and thousands of years later and humans still fight with swords and daggers if angry enough.

Ashe and Annette had made it to the engine before them, both unharmed and standing side by side with the Captain and his Second as they stared at the back wall and talked. Sylvain raised a brow, wondering what could be so interesting about some machinery.

“It looks like a pod,” Annette said while bending her torso slightly to get a closer look without having to step forward.

Ashe looked excited, but uncertain. “Maybe it’s some kind of cryo-chamber?”

Annette turned her head when he heard their steps and gestured them over, making room for the two to stop and stare at the strange contraption before them.

Sylvain’s jaw dropped. “What the hell is that?”

Sitting on a pedestal was a marble. A giant, green marble that could roll over them all over with the right push. It was like some big, dull colored crystal ball just…sitting in some corner!

“Is this supposed to be important?” Felix asked with a wave of his hand.

Ashe was looking behind them, hand on his chin. “How did they get it through the door?”

“They had heavy guards protecting it and were quite determined to keep us away,” Dedue said thoughtfully.

“It’s kind of pretty.” Annette finally stepped closer, wanting to poke it.

Dimitri raised his lance and pierced it before the girl could even touch it. She screamed in shock while every hurried to stop him.

“You’re highness!”

“Whoa, dude!”

“BOAR!!”

But it was already too late, the blade of the deadly lance pierced the object with ease while it’s blue emblem roared to life. Sparks flew and a bright blue electric current rushed over the marble in a wave as a drip of lime green water started to drip out.

Everyone stood still, frozen mid grab for their Captain as he tore through the membrane like material (not glass like Sylvain had thought). They all gasped as a dribble of liquid spilled out.

Felix hissed, “You idiot! Are you trying to get us kill-!?!“

The object suddenly bursted open as swamp like water pooled at their feet and a cloud of gas sprayed out. It hit Dimitri first as he raised his arm to cover his mouth while the others quickly followed. The only sound that filled the room was their coughing and the hissing of gas that seemed louder then the ship’s own engines.

“D-Don’t breathe in!” Annette cried out, squinting her eyes through the slowing fog to try and see what was happening.

Ashe was already pulling out a small device to scan the air, his arms shaking with fear that they’d all suddenly drop dead. He blinked and slowly pulled his hand away, only to sneeze.

“O-Oh,” he rubbed his nose. “It’s safe. Nothing you wouldn’t find in a rainforest on Almyra.”

Everyone sighed in relief, opening their eyes and looking around at the strange conditions. The engine room felt less dark and dank and more…bright, nature-y.

Felix jerked away when something touched his cheek and quickly raised his gun, “What is this!?”

Sylvain couldn’t help but laugh. His friend was waving his weapon around at what looked like giant, glowing dandelion seeds.

Annette’s eyes sparkled as one floated past her face. “So pretty~!”

“Step back, my Lord!”

They all looked to see Dedue suddenly in front of Dimitri, his arm out to shield him while his other held his large gun, pointed and ready to fire at the broken marble. No one knew what was happening until the gas began to thin and the spores lit the room up like little lamps. Sylvain held his breath as a dainty figure stepped out of the object.

“Oh!” Annette covered her mouth while Felix aimed his gun, all of them wide eyed as a woman with glowing green hair stepped out. Wait, even her eyes!

Everything about her seemed to be bright, yet soft. Like a warm night light that lulled children to a peaceful sleep.

Her skin looked porcelain, fragile and mark free of any kind of battle or accident. Her features beautiful, sharp and blank, almost…inhuman. Then they noticed her ears and Ashe jolted with amazement.

“I-Is she…?!” He daren’t say it.

Space had been in their grasp for a good while now. Their race had traveled many light years and colonized many planets, moons, and even asteroids. But they’d always be alone with no sign of others living in this vast universe. But now…?

The woman(?) swept her gaze over them, stopping to stare at each of their faces as they all stood still in shock. It took her to fully step out for Dedue to aim his gun again.

“Halt, or I will be forced to shoot!”

She continued to stare at them all blankly, her eyes blinking at Dedue’s weapon. The girl tilted her head, her hand on her cheek as if in deep thought as she studied the heavy gun. Then her lips parted slightly, a small puff of air coming out in surprise(???) when she saw Dimitri’s lance.

Her hand reached for it and Dedue shot at her feet.

Annette paled when the strange woman didn’t react to the shot, her eyes now glowing as bright as the orb on Dimitri’s weapon. The lance practically shook as their Captain snarled, unwilling to let this stranger take what was his. He raised his lance as he had with the marble and shot forward, aiming straight for her head-!!

There was a scream and a scrambling of feet as half of the team backed away and the other stepped forward, ready to fight - but the scuffle never came. Nor did the blood or mangled body falling to the floor like all their enemies.

Instead they could only stare in awe as the blade froze in mid air, the shaft shaking in Dimitri’s hands as he seemed to be fighting to spear her.

“W-What is this!?”

She didn’t react to his snarl, her focus solely on the orb as it continued on with it’s thunderous rage. A small hand reached out again, ghosting over the emblem with a soft caress. It did not quell under touch, but also seemed to grow brighter the moment her skin made contact.

Dimitri snarled and the woman looked at his face, her own void of any emotion as she moved both her hands to his chest. The blonde recoiled, but didn’t move again when the mist in the room finally faded away.

Sylvain blinked, once, twice. Three times he had to make sure he knew what he was seeing.

“She’s naked!” Annette gasped while Ashe covered his eyes - all of them more or less agreeing this *was* a woman.

Dimitri’s gaze flickered down then shot right back up, cheeks turning a ruddy red as his arms began to twist.

“Idiot!” Felix hissed as she moved closer to lay her head on his chest. “Grab her!!”

Sylvain had to hold in a guffaw when their Captain looked over his shoulder with panic, one hand now holding his weapon while the other tried to find a place to grab.

“W-Where?!”

“Anywhere!”

He didn’t seem to like that answer. It meant he had to look at her again, take in her form and try to…restrain her. Sylvain could only look on fondly as Dimitri began to fluster as the woman seemed to be resting against where his heart was. It reminded the red head how painfully bad Dimitri was with women.

Who would have thought this raging beast would fall apart before some girl?

Dimitri swallowed hard when she looked up, eye wild with uncertainty as she reached up to cup his cheeks. He held his breath, thankful for the armor that separated his body from hers. All he had to do was not look too far down at her…ample….c-c-c-chest.

But he didn’t have to worry about that, not when she was tugging his head down into a kiss that made him drop his lance.

Annette gasped, Ashe asked what was happening from behind his arm while Felix and Dedue seemed at a loss. Sylvain was the only one doing something about the situation, and that was taking a few sneaky pictures to laugh at later.

The Prince was no better, his body tense in shock as the woman’s soft lips pressed his cracked ones. She held fast to his face while turning her head slightly, her eyes closed as if this was her long lost lover. Dimitri almost, almost closed his eye too, not wanting to admit that it was…nice. Yes, very nice.

But she had stopped before he could, letting his face go and staring up at him expectantly.

Dimitri blinked, body trembling like a teenage girl as he stared back.

Ashe finally took the time to look, having missed the strange kiss during his nervousness. But now he was interested and he couldn’t help but finally say it. “D-Did we just make first contact?!”

Sylvain snickered, glancing at their lost Captain. “Someone here sure did~”

#fire emblem #fe3h #dimitri x byleth #au #scifi #aliens #shenanighans #dimitri #byleth #dimileth #sylvain jose gautier #thefellstar

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theshadowspecter · 4 years

Text

Nuisance

(Bloom: I feel that I should warn everyone that here on out there’s going to be character death in just about every chapter. Par for the course when you run this type of Snatcher blog. Nothing graphic at all, but it is mentioned. You’ve been warned!)

The ride over was quick and quiet...if you ignored the roar of the engine. As Subcon came into view, Abigail noted it's dark and foreboding appearance...seemed that blizzard had melted away, leaving damp dark decay in its wake. She cut the engine and the boat drifted until it bumped against the banks. They both climbed out and the Mafia man waited while she tied her boat up, before turning to take in her first view of Subcon.

To sum it up: it was eerie. The trees were dead, the only sound the quiet buzzing of distant bugs and the ocean waves. No sunlight came through as they started to venture in; instead dark purple clouds swirled above. Glancing back towards the boat Abigail could see the ocean under a clear blue mid-day sky. She looked back up at the dark sky over the forest, before reaching into her bag and pulling out a notebook and pencil, taking notes.

Something flickered out of the corner of her eye. Looking up she noticed a glow, like from a fire. She turned to her companion, “let's head in,” she ordered, pointing towards the glow. The Mafia man looked frightened for a moment before hiding it behind an angry facade, nodding and following her. She was grateful that most mafia were the quiet types; she could focus on her studies without worrying about keeping up a conversation.

The moment they lost sight of the ocean the forest seemed to swallow them up. It grew darker and gloomier. A thin veil of fog rolled across their feet, but the glow grew brighter.

It didn't take very long to reach an opening in the trees, where the glow, which actually was from a fire, was burning bright. Around the flames danced....what appeared to be foxes made of fire. Fire Spirits!, Abigail thought, quickly taking more notes. She had read about them in the older history books; apparently the spirits had been in Subcon even before the tragedy. The foxes ignored the newcomers, dancing around their fire. Abigail started to approach when the Mafia man let out a cry. She turned to find him staring at....something. It floated in the air, and looked like a snake wearing a mask. A Subcon mask! Abigail thought with amazement. It was something the young children of Subcon wore when they left the house to keep spirits from stealing them! Abigail was more fascinated by ghosts than she was scared., and was taking notes like a madwoman. She was about to reach for her camera when the mask wearing specter floated closer to the Mafia man, who quickly took off, running even further into the forest, a terrified “NOOOOOOOOO!” echoing in his wake. Stuffing her notebook back into her bag she took off after him; she couldn't be left alone out here!

Unfortunately the forest had other plans. As she ventured deeper in, more noises started to fill the silence. Crinkling leaves, a babbling brook, crows and the soft crackle of more fire masked the sound of the other's frantic footsteps. As she continued to run, the scenery started to change. Less trees sprang up, and there were more....man made objects about, though nooses and tombstones were not the most inviting things to look at. She even found a few structures that looked to be abandoned tree houses. She came to a stop to catch her breath and tried to listen again for the Mafia man. This forest was a lot bigger than she had initially thought, and she hoped for a sign from her companion to lead her in the right direction. The forest had grown quiet again and she strained her ears for any signs of life....which she quickly got in a distant scream that rent the still air. She knew it was from the Mafia man, and she quickly made haste in that direction, grabbing her army knife and flicking the switchblade open. She had hoped to avoid confrontation, but was prepared for it nonetheless.

The scream had stopped abruptly, yet she continued to run in the direction it came from. Her chest hurt, her legs burned. She wasn't out of shape, but strolling around Mafia Town was vastly different then sprinting through a forest. She ran up a hill, only to have the crest of it end at a steep, though thankfully short, drop off. With a small scream she slipped, dropping the knife and falling off. She lay there until the treetops stopped spinning, than sat up and took assessment of the damage. A small bruise on her arm, a rip in her jean and a scrape on her knee. Nothing broken, thank Cod. She got to her feet, dusting herself off and paused to take in her new surroundings. More of those nooses, some bushes and what looked like the remains of some stone structures. “This place is hauntingly beautiful” she said aloud, gazing up at the night sky, the stars twinkling between deep purple clouds.

“IT SURE IS.”

Her heart started to beat rapidly against her rib cage. She slowly turned her head to see a giant glowing, grinning shadow, who was projecting itself on a rocky outcropping. It's only features were its eyes and mouth, all of which glowed a bright yellow.

“I HAVEN'T SEEN A LIVING SOUL IN THESE WOODS FOR QUITE A LONG TIME! THERE USED TO BE SEARCH PARTIES FOR THOSE WHO GOT LOST. FOOD WAS PLENTIFUL BACK THEN. NOW, LOOK AT ME! A MERE SHADOW OF MY FORMER SELF!”

Composing herself from being startled, she retorted “People stopped coming because nobody ever came back. Speaking of, did you see a burly guy run through here?”

“I DID. HE TOOK ONE LOOK AT ME AND DIED OF FRIGHT! SAVED ME THE EFFORT OF KILLING HIM, AND PERFECT TIMING TOO! I WAS FAMISHED!

Abigail covered her mouth with her hand and proclaimed, in a terrified whisper, “you ate him?!”

“THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG! I DON'T EAT PEOPLE! THEIR SOULS, ON THE OTHER HAND,” and with that he held up his hand, and she could see a small whispy shadowy blob in his claws, “LIKE YOUR FRIEND'S HERE...”

She could only watch in horror as the shadow threw the soul in its mouth and swallowed it whole. He began to glow purple around his outline, and the girl continued to watch, frozen in terror, as this soul snatching demon literally pulled himself out of the wall. As he manifested, she realized just how tall he was as he towered over her.

“CERTAINLY NOT THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD, BUT IT GAVE ME ENOUGH STRENGTH TO REMATERIALIZE! NOW YOUR SOUL, -”

She turned to flee, only to run smack into a purple barrier that bubbled up around them. “TRYING TO RUN AWAY?!” The ghost's tone went dark as he swooped down to see her face-to-face. She met his gaze and visibly trembled. The specter's grin widened before he stood back up, towering over her again, and started to cackle maniacally,

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL! DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD ESCAPE MY FOREST!?”

Before he could continue, an impulsive thought struck Abigail, and the girl blurted out, “if you let me go, it'll prove that people CAN leave here alive! A-and then people might start coming back...” she trailed off, silently pleading for this to work...

The creature seemed to consider this, raising a claw to his chin, before suddenly snapping his talons. “SOUNDS LIKE A PRETTY GOOD DEAL! LET'S MAKE IT OFFICIAL!” He raised a hand and the barrier dissipated. Before she could even register that her plan had actually worked, a couple thorny vines shot up from the ground and wound themselves around her wrists, snapping off from their stems and effectively handcuffing her. The specter was already floating away, and the cuffs magically pulled her along behind. This wasn't what she had planned!

In a short while they came to a hollowed out tree, slightly furnished into what looked like a comfy sitting room. The ghoul entered, the handcuffed girl still being pulled along. “HAVE A SEAT, MAKING A NEW CONTRACT CAN TAKE AWHILE,” the ghost said, rifling through some papers on a nearby table.

She was still confused and frightened by all that had transpired in the short time since she arrived. She let the cuffs lead her to a footrest, while she tried to sort her thoughts: How had her plan backfired so badly?! All she had wanted was to investigate this place. Now she was at the mercy of a soul-hungry specter, and already someone had paid the ultimate price on her behalf!

She sat there, fidgeting for awhile. The stress of her situation was starting to finally take its toll on her, and the adrenaline was wearing off as she was realizing that if he had wanted her dead, she would already be. She curled up on the futon and closed her eyes to try and calm her mind down, focusing on the sounds of the strange crackling magical fire that lined the forest, and the scratching of pen on paper...

“WAKE UP!”

The soul snatcher screamed in her ear while pushing her off the footrest. The girl yelped as she fell, smacking her nose onto the floor. She sat up, rubbing it, the handcuffs gone since who knew when. She glared up at the spook, who only grinned mischievously back at her. “I HOPE YOU GOT YOUR BEAUTY REST, CAUSE IT'S TIME TO GET DOWN TO BUSINESS! WHILE YOU WERE SNOOZING AWAY I WAS BUSY WHIPPING UP A FRESH NEW CONTRACT! JUST FOR YOU!”

With that, a parchment of paper and quill pen floated over to her. She hesitantly grabbed hold of the paper, which stated that she had to bring someone else into Subcon forest by the end of the week. The only areas of the forest she would be allowed were within the firewalls, and at the bottom of the paper, it clearly stated that he would be taking her soul. Flipping it over she found more print, which apart from some legalities, told her this being's name was actually Snatcher, which seemed fitting.

Finding her voice, and just a touch of boldness, she looked up at him, “c-can we...make an alteration?” Snatcher's smile twitched, “I SUPPOSE ITS ABOUT THE 'TAKING YOUR SOUL THING, RIGHT?” She nodded, “TOO BAD, THAT'S HOW I WORK! NOW EITHER SIGN THE CONTRACT OR I'LL MAKE YOUR DEAD AND HOLLOWED BODY SIGN IT FOR YOU!”

She immediately grabbed the quill and scribbled her name across the parchment. The moment the quill left the paper, a purple stamp bearing the Snatcher's face appeared next to her signature. The contract rolled itself up and slipped into her jacket pocket. Snatcher cackled with laughter, “THAT SEALS THE DEAL! JUST ONE LAST THING!” Several bolts of weird purple lighting struck her at once, sending her to her knees, more out of shock then actual agony. Panting, she managed to look back up in time to see the demon holding a golden ball of energy. Her soul. Snatcher gazed hungrily at it, and she shuddered, before finding her voice again, “Hey now, we have a deal! Don't eat that!”

With a smirk he looked over at her, and with a flick of his wrist her soul had poofed away. “I DON'T BREAK MY OWN CONTRACTS. IF YOU DON'T HOLD UP YOUR END OF THE DEAL, I'LL GET A SOUL REGARDLESS! AND YOU KNOW, THE LONGER YOU STAND HERE, THE MORE TIME YOU WASTE. BEST GET A MOVE ON!”

#ahit au #ahit #shadow specter #shadowspecter #tw: death

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make-it-mavis · 5 years

Text

All Work and No Play

Wreck-it Ralph fic (main timeline, post-Roadblasters, pre-Sugar Rush) Comedy/Romance 6370 words Characters: Make-it Mavis, Turbo Content warnings: dirty humor, brief sensuality, themes of burnout/depression

Premise: Unable to sleep, Mavis stays up practicing drawing objects. Turbo joins her and convinces her to draw something more fun. While they both have a good time, Turbo has a few things left to say on the matter, and, as usual, Mavis is reluctant to listen.

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Mavis never considered herself afraid of the dark, per se.

She had long ago set up curtains around her camp in Fix-it Felix Jr., trying to capture and contain the glow of her stolen lights and hide the vast, dark forest from her mind. On the nights she spent in Turbo's trailer, she was grateful for what little sunlight that managed to intrude through the tiny slits of space between the blackout shutters, just enough to highlight the shapes of furniture and belongings. But it was not the dark she truly feared -- it was the space. It was even just the illusion of space. Wide, open darkness with no visible end just needled toxic flashbacks into her brain, memories of the time she spent trapped in her game's code space. Smaller, enclosed spaces were protection from the fear that she would float away in her sleep, never to find her way back, never to be seen again.

Unfortunately, that security was sometimes hard to firmly hold onto during nights in the abandoned wall socket that was Turbo's hideout. The chamber was not unreasonably large, and there was some minuscule illumination from the hole in the socket, but it was not enough to clearly touch all the walls or the far corners.

It was not worthy of a panic attack, but sometimes, it was enough to keep her awake, even just out of the knowledge that she would have a nightmare if she fell asleep.

So, on a night in late spring, Make-it Mavis sat awake, alone in the direct, dim light from the arcade outside. With her sketchbook in hand, and her sleeping attire just a tank top and panties, she figured the mental stimulation and the somewhat chilly air on her bare skin would be enough to keep her from drifting off.

Too tired for extensive creativity, she merely drew miscellaneous objects and weapons, the usual effort to keep in practice so she could accurately produce said items with her brush. If she could not draw it, she could not paint it.

A few pages in, beginning to run out of ideas, she glanced around the room in thought, and had a mini heart attack at the sight of two distant yellow eyes peering through the darkness. In one way or another, Turbo had woken up in the corner where they slept.

"Mav?" she heard him say groggily.

"Hey," she replied. "Did I wake you up?"

"Uh," the glow disappeared for a moment as his eyes closed, "I dunno. Maybe? It's fine."

"'Kay," she said softly, looking down at her blank page again.

After a moment, he asked, "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "I'm fine. Just can't sleep, so I figure I might as well do something."

From the corner, she heard rustling, grunting, and stumbling footsteps. Turbo approached, a blanket around his shoulders, and two pillows under his arm. His hair was a mess, part of it flattened against the side of his head, part of it trying to fly away to freedom. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just drawing," she shrugged.

A pillow hit her in the face, thrown by Turbo. After a grumbled thanks, she put it behind her back. Turbo then plopped himself down next to her. Sizing her up, he said, "Ain't ya cold?"

"Don't fuss," she mumbled, drawing a small spiral. "I'm fine."

He threw half of the blanket over her shoulders anyway, scooting right up against her body. Fresh out of bed, he was even warmer than usual. It was more inviting than she cared for at the moment.

"Whatcha drawin'?"

"So full of questions," she observed, glancing at him with a quirked brow.

"I woke up into immediate, crippling boredom, Mav," he exhaled. "Forgive me. Indulge me."

She scoffed. "Okay. But I ain't drawin' anything interesting."

"Why not?"

"'Cause my brain is half asleep, and I need to practice drawing new stuff."

"Huh," he breathed, perplexed. "So, even now, you're working."

Mavis' brow furrowed, and she drew more swirls. "Yeah, so what? I'm just gettin' better at bein' productive. I gotta be if we're ever gonna get you outta here."

Turbo was quiet for a moment.

"Draw something fun," he insisted.

She laid her pencil flat against the page and sighed tiredly. "Like what, T?"

"You really got no ideas?"

"Like I said, I'm real tired."

"Well, a'ight, how about this," he presented his idea to her on his open palm. "I give a prompt, and you draw the first thing that comes into your head."

She rubbed her brow. "Why?"

"'Cause you're bein' boring."

With an irritated glance, she said, "I'm not boring."

"I know."

Partially fueled by spite, and partially genuine interest, she agreed to the game. "Okay, fine," she shrugged. "What's your first prompt? First thing that pops into your head."

"Rumble," he said immediately.

"Wow. That was fast."

"Y'said 'first thing.'"

"Well, alright," she stared at the page, preparing to carve something out of it. "Rumble."

Latching onto her first bizarre idea, she set to work, her pencil moving fast and loud, barely taking time to erase. Mashing together her knowledge of animals and machines, she drew the lovechild of a tiger and a motorcycle. It was essentially a tiger with a bike for a body. As she was paying particular attention to its snarling mouth, Turbo snickered.

"What the hell is that?"

"Tigerbike, obviously," she said, unable to keep from smiling. "A rumbling motorcycle and a rumbling tiger… Y'know, growlin' and junk."

"That really was the first thing y'thought of, huh?"

"Of course. Does this look, in any way, planned?"

"No, no it does not," he said, leaning in to point out one fatal flaw. "If you'd planned it, you'd have realized exhaust smoke should be shooting from its ass."

That made her snort. "Devs above, how did I miss that?"

"You're off your game, Make-it," he chuckled as she drew crude black clouds trailing out of its rear end.

"Cut, print, done--"

"Wait, wait, wait," he delicately lifted a hand in protest, and took up the pencil. On the tigerbike's back, he drew a tiny stick figure wearing a helmet, sporting a grin and a triumphant thumbs up.

"That's me," he pointed, grinning.

Mavis burst into wheezing laughter. "What? The hell?"

"Well, obviously I'm the only sprite alive who could tame Tigerbike, Mav!" he said in mock outrage.

"Why are you so tiny?!"

"I'd like to think Tigerbike is inconceivably huge," he grinned.

Mavis cackled, "That's perfect. I'm gonna frame this."

"Wanna do another?"

"Y'know what? Hell yeah," she flipped to the next page, pencil at the ready. "Hit me with another."

"A'ight," he smacked his tongue. "Meteor shower."

Her brows raised. "Ooh. How pretty."

"Show me what ya got, kiddo," he shrugged with a smile.

Mavis pondered for about two seconds before an idea hit her. It was so stupid that she snickered out loud, but she shook her head and went with it.

"That's a good sign," Turbo observed, a smile in his voice.

"You're gonna love this," she muttered, her wrist working wildly. This one took way less time, a far cartoonier style than Tigerbike. Mavis and Turbo both chuckled as the idea came to life on paper, until she finally leaned back and showed Turbo the full masterpiece.

It was, quite literally, a meteor shower. Three meteorites stood in a group shower, lathering themselves up with their tiny stick arms.

It took Turbo a second, but then he groaned in the way reserved for any of her horrible puns. With a whimpering, perplexed laugh, he mumbled, "Seriously, Mav? Are you really presenting this to me?"

"No, no, look. You don't get it," she insisted with a grin, pointing at vital details with her pencil. "See, this guy in the middle is totally eyeing up the guy on the left. I mean, like, shameless ogling."

Turbo rubbed his face, half-laughing, half-whining. "No," he pleaded softly.

"Listen," she tapped the paper harder, her voice breaking with laughter. "And, like, the guy on the left is actually super into it, but he's actin' all oblivious n' blushy because the guy on the right is there, and he's-- I mean, he's just some regular guy."

"Mav--"

"AND, and, guy on the left isn't into PDA or anythin' 'cause he's just a boring freakin' space rock--"

Turbo cackled.

"And he doesn't wanna make the guy on the right like, an unwilling third party or some crap like that, but after they're all done n' the guy on the right's gone home, you know the other two are gettin' it on in the locker room."

Turbo put out his hand. "Mav, do me a favor. Please illustrate for me just how two spherical rocks get busy."

She sputtered. "Well, let's see, I mean, it'd be hard--"

"Ha."

"There'd be a lot of rolling, and-- hah, hard-- and just, like, tryna smash together like big ol' pool balls--" she drew a short series of pairs of rocks clacking off each other, trying in vain to hold onto the other with their tiny stick arms, getting stuck on their bellies. Turbo wheezed through the whole thing.

"Wait, okay, wait," he interjected, "what if they sorta worked like flint, and they threw off sparks when they really got goin'?"

"Oh, my Devs," she gasped. "What if everyone shot fire outta their junk when they came?"

"WHAT?"

"I mean! Y'better keep a fire extinguisher around and be really good at pullin' out or you'll get yourself some serious property damage and cook your partner from the inside literally every time you smash! There'd be like, safe sex ads in every port, and Surge would be handin' out free fire extinguishers left n' right!"

"Mavis what the hell?!" he wheezed, his eyes glistening from laughter. "Though, I gotta say, as far as horrible deaths go, death from screwin' don't sound like the worst."

"At least you got laid, is what you're sayin'?"

"Yeah. At least the last thing y'knew was the sweet throes of orgasm."

"So you're tellin' me," she poked him, "gettin' burned alive from the inside would be worth it just to get laid?"

"Wh-- I wouldn't go into it with the intent of gettin' fried to death, Mavis! I'm just sayin', theoretically if that unfortunate accident did occur…" he paused. "And, I mean, honestly, if the lay was, honest to the Devs, really to die for--"

"Turbo," she interrupted, her stomach beginning to ache from laughter. "Gimme another prompt, already!"

"Okay, okay, cool your jets!" He licked his lips. "Uh… sunshine."

"Huh. Gettin' sappy on me, here?"

"Just playin' the game, Mav."

Sunshine. She let that word sink in. She loved sunshine. The light, the warmth, the way it brought out the color of everything it touched. She knew Turbo liked it, too. It had to have reminded him of home… It occurred to her then, just how much he must have missed it.

An image suddenly came to mind. But she cheated just a bit and twisted it into something more manageable. They were having fun. She did not want to suddenly drag big ol' emotions into it.

Taking a bit more time with this one, she drew a lovely, grassy hill, speckled with flowers. She then drew herself rolling down that hill… very unceremoniously, as if by accident. She was a bouncing, tangled ball of limbs, throwing up dirt, grass, and flowers beneath her. And close behind, she drew Turbo falling the exact same way.

Watching over her shoulder, Turbo's chuckles had taken on a confused air. "Oookay," he muttered. "What am I lookin' at here, babe?"

"I'unno," she shrugged. "We're having a race. In the sunshine."

"And you're winning? Sounds fake."

"Okay, jackass. What if I told you there were jagged rocks at the bottom of the hill?" She drew crude spikes at the bottom. "Would you still wanna win?"

"Absolutely."

"Wow."

"So what's the real reward for winning, other than broken bones and bragging rights? It's always more fun with a reward."

She considered that. "Uh… I don't know, maybe the loser has to pick the winner a bouquet of flowers. I sure drew enough of 'em."

He paused. "A bouquet of flowers."

"Yeah, I mean…" she shrugged, suddenly wanting to backpedal. "Sprites get flowers for winning sometimes, right? Like, a medal and a big blooming bouquet, or whatever."

"Uh huh… so where's this medal?"

Mavis shoved him just a bit. "Gee, I'unno, T, why don't ya go pick one off the medal tree, ya greedy bastard. Y'said 'sunshine.' Sunshine makes flowers."

"It was a joke," he scoffed. Ruffling her hair, he said, "It's cute ya wanna pick me flowers."

Playfully swatting his hand away, she protested, "Maybe y'didn't hear me right -- I said that pickin' you flowers would be a punishment for losing."

"Sure," he leaned his head a bit closer, "but of course, y'must have known you were gonna lose anyway, ergo…"

Mavis looked at him, silently bearing that strange emotion that she felt only for him, wherein she could be irritated, but still know that Turbo being annoying usually meant he was in a good mood. And it was good to see him in a good mood, with how many reasons he had not to be. After so many nights of seeing him deep in program withdrawal, and literally sharing the pain as his glitching bled into her, but holding him close anyways… She could tolerate annoying teasing if it meant he was happy.

It took her a moment to realize that he had gone silent, too. He was still smiling, leaning his head back against the wall, but looked calmer, more thoughtful. There was something peculiar about the way he looked at her, and it made her antsy.

"What?" she asked softly.

He blinked slowly, and his smile pulled into his cheek a bit. Tweaking her nose, he said, "Nothin'."

Suspicious, but not wanting to question him on it, Mavis cleared her throat and tried to move things along. She turned to a new page in her sketchbook. "Well, what do you think? Got another prompt for me?"

This time, he was quiet. She almost wondered if he did not want to play anymore, but with a glance at him, she determined that he was thinking about it more than he was supposed to. He was gazing straight ahead, right through the socket, into the arcade. His lips were pressed into a hard line, and he was lightly tapping his thumbs together. He seemed reluctant… almost anxious.

"Hey," Mavis said. "You're not supposed to think about it."

"Yeah, yeah." He did not look at her. "I got one for ya. Fun."

She was not expecting that answer. It felt so broad, compared to the other ones. "...Fun, huh?"

"Yeah," he said, rolling his head back and peering down his cheek at her. "Draw what that makes you think of."

She squinted. There was some kind of ulterior motive there that had her suspicious. Still, she shrugged. "Okeydokey, weirdo."

Fun, fun, fun. Images and colors fought for the forefront of her brain, but she could not hear one single, solid idea through the overlapping noises in her head. It did not take long for her to decide that she had been thinking too hard. She was making it way harder than it had to be. Willing to just get it over with, she put pencil to paper, closed her eyes, and let her hand follow the flow of her thoughts.

As she listened to the graphite scratching, she realized that she had been having so much trouble because ‘fun' was manifesting in her head as feelings and not one specific concept. It felt like… a thrill, a rush, a genuine high. It was triumphant victory and motivating failure. It was acrobatics, dizzying aerial maneuvers, falling, flying. Wild, messy rainbows. Loud music and explosions she could feel in her chest. Fireworks. Theatrics. Clever pranks. Stupid pranks. Petty crime. Booze, bad decisions, rough sex, risky business. It was what she lived for. It was in her code just as much as her paintbrush.

She really believed it was the core of her very being.

A minute passed before she opened her eyes and observed her work. It was just about as cluttered, ugly, and near-incomprehensible as she expected. Hard lines criss-crossed with no rhyme or reason. Shapes and figures overlapped until they were nearly unrecognizable, but she could make out a few. There was a guitar, a trumpet, a drum, and music notes. There were glass bottles, many broken. There were bits of confetti and paint splatter that would have been rainbow. Somewhere, there was a suspiciously phallic shape. But more than anything, there were clouds, feathers, and wings.

It was hideous. She liked it.

Turbo’s weight pushed against her a bit as he leaned in to see. “All done?”

“Yep. Whatcha think?"

He was quiet for a moment before making a comment. “Don't see much of that stuff in here, huh.”

She looked at him with slight concern. He just looked thoughtful. She frowned, wondering if confinement was particularly making him depressed that night. There truly were very few ways to have fun the way they used to, being locked up in a box. A pang of sympathy tapped in her chest, and she subconsciously rubbed his leg a bit, comfortingly.

Turbo just looked at her hand with apparent confusion, and then at her with a serious brow. "Uh, no," he said flatly. "I wanna know when you last did any of those things."

She blinked, taken aback. "What?"

"Y'heard me."

After an automatic moment's thought, she realized an upsetting thing. She really could not remember off the top of her head. But there was something about Turbo's tone that felt accusatory, and her guard went up.

"When am I ever not doing these things?"

"Really?" His expression fell flat. "When was the last time you pulled a prank? Or flew around, just for the fun of it? You sure don't fly in here."

"I can't fly in here," she protested. "There's no room."

"Exactly!"

She huffed. "If you have something to say, T, will you just say it?"

He bit back words for a moment, his brow furrowing as he reconsidered, before he sighed and smacked his tongue. "Mav, you've been workin' way too hard."

She withdrew a bit. "Seriously? You're mad at me for working to get you out of here?"

Turbo sighed, briefly rubbing his face. "I ain't mad, I'm… Look, you're workin' too much. It ain't like you."

She scoffed. "I ain't a hard worker?"

He burst into a chuckle. "Are y'serious?"

Face getting hot, she bristled. "Be fair, T. I work real hard when I actually care about something."

He went quiet, and his gaze fell a bit. She could not help but look away, too. It was hard to talk about just how badly she wanted him out, how hard it was to see him in a cage, sick and suffering. And in her day to day life… she was lonely. She missed her other half. There seemed little she would not have done to have him back.

The hard work and sleepless nights, it was almost all for his sake. But it was really for hers, too.

Turbo spoke again, a very real exasperation in his voice. "Look, ya gotta know at least that if y'don't pace yourself, your engine's gonna burn out, n' then you won't be able to work at all. Does that sound good to you?"

"I'm not burning out," she mumbled. "I'm fine. I get enough of a break when I come hang out in here. I mean-- when we're not still working."

He waited again, and she could feel him looking at her. "Mav… take a break."

"I've been takin' too many breaks."

"Obviously, you're not. Take a longer break."

Idly, she drew small bubbles on her already cluttered drawing. "So… what, like a weekend?"

"Try a whole week."

"A week?" Her gaze snapped to him in disbelief. "I-- I-- No, I can't take a week off. That new motorcycle game just got plugged in and I haven't even been inside yet. I feel like we're so close to figuring something out--"

"Can I draw something?"

"...What?"

"Gimme your sketchbook," he beckoned at it.

"Uh, sure, knock yourself out," she said, tossing the book and pencil in his lap. Turbo sure was acting weird that night. She was beginning to just accept it.

As he began to draw, she put her face in her hands and pushed curled fingers through her hair. In a sighing, apologetic voice, she said, "Look, T, it's not like I don't appreciate your, uh… concern. Well-- Not like it ain’t also real annoying, but... It's just that-- I'm-- I don't even think I could relax if I took a week off. I'd just be stressing about all I could be gettin' done, and thinkin' about all the days I was settin' us back…"

Turbo did not reply, or even look at her. His focus remained on the paper against his bent knees. Ever since he ended up in the socket, he had been drawing more and more. She would find his artwork littering the floor almost as much as his notes. It was endearing to see.

Suddenly feeling as sad as she was tired, she scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, watching him work. It was always sort of hypnotic. Turbo had such a unique drawing style, evolved from years of blueprints and mechanic work -- he seemed to think almost entirely in perfectly clean lines and sharp angles. His work was abstract and boxy, rarely illustrating any clear figure, but beautiful in its own right. More often than not, it looked so pristine, one might have thought a machine printed it. And indeed, as she watched, his arm moved so mechanically, as if his skeleton were made of metal. She would not have been surprised if it was.

Letting her eyes follow the motion of his hand made her eyelids heavy. As curious as she was about his drawing, she just could not keep her eyes open.

Mumbling softly, she said, "I can't sit back and do nothing. Not while there's anything I could do. So, just… let me do this. I'll be fine. I know how to--"

The rough scrape of paper against her legs perked her up as Turbo shoved the sketchbook back into her lap and the pencil clattered to the floor. When she opened her eyes, squinting through the sleepy fog, she saw what she expected -- a geometrical contour drawing. However, as her eyes adjusted and she began to decipher the abstract figures, she saw something entirely unexpected.

Flowers.

Confusion was her first response. Why flowers? Turbo was hardly a flowery guy, much less one to give flowers.

Then she remembered their prior conversation. The prize flowers. The ones the loser had to pick.

She looked at him, lips parted, brows squinting, in some attempt to understand. He was not looking at her, but rather, glancing around at nothing in particular, tapping his leg.

"I don't--..." she muttered. "Why?"

He grunted, and then barely opened his mouth to grumble, "...Not that many options for flowers in here."

"Well-- well yeah, but…" she looked at the page. "What did I win?"

He shrugged and shook his head. "I'unno, pick something. You're definitely the best at what you're doing. No one else could help me the way you are. And you've gotten so much done. Like, a crazy amount. So, you won. You've earned a break."

Mavis was so thrown for a loop, she almost felt dizzy. The sweet gesture, the sweet words… they were not a common occurrence for him. Granted, they had been growing in frequency ever since the two were reunited, but still…

"I…" she fumbled. "I wasn't competing. I just wanna win you a way outta here."

Turbo rubbed his face. "I cant believe how much convincing it's taking to get you to go goof off."

"...Things are a bit different now."

"I know."

"You want me to go out there and play around the way I used to? The way we used to, together?" Her words proceeded slowly, quietly, and unsteadily, as if they were fragile. A sort of grief weighed down on her heart. "It just… doesn't… feel the same anymore. Even if I tried, I'd just… be thinkin' of you."

He sighed deeply.

She added sadly, shoulders sinking, "Nothin's been the same since I… thought you were gone."

"But I'm here now," he mumbled. "I'm back."

"I know, but… I need you… back. In my life. Again. For real."

Turbo fell silent, but as Mavis studied the crisp lines of the drawing in her lap and idly scratched her foot, she could practically hear words sitting just behind his lips. He was taking his time with them, and she gave him space to do so, mostly because she was almost afraid of what he would say next. What she was about to feel.

Finally, he spoke in a slow, soft voice, “Mav…”

Reluctantly, she looked at him. He had an elbow propped up on his knee, his hand buried in his hair as he leaned his forehead against his palm. His eyes gazed straight ahead into the dim light from the arcade that washed a blue tone over his skin, making the gold glow of his heavy-lidded eyes burn bright in contrast.

She swallowed. “T…?”

He took in a breath through his lips, sat with it, closed his eyes, and let words flow on the exhale. “You remember what I said… that night… about never wantin’ to make you… miserable?”

Mavis’ heart grew tight and heavy at the memory. That night. The last time they spoke before he…

“Yes,” she breathed, not taking her eyes off him.

“And how I said… I’d actually try to keep that from happening?”

“...Yeah.”

He shrugged, flexing his fingers in his hair. “This is… me doin’ that. I’m just tryin’ to keep my word, Mav.”

“Turbo,” she said, gently but firmly squeezing his shoulder, “you’re not making me miserable.”

He looked her plain in the eye. “Tonight’s the first I’ve heard ya laugh in four days.”

She froze. That fact stunned her. That could not have been true, but she had obviously not been keeping track. Had Turbo been keeping track?

In response to her silence, he nodded a bit. “Yeah… Yeah. Doesn’t sound like Make-it Mavis, does it?”

Mavis did not know what to say. Slowly, her gaze fell. Her emotions were too crowded to move in any one direction, but she felt shame begin to simmer in the pit of her stomach. Somehow, she felt that she had done something wrong -- and not in a fun way. She had been trying so hard to help him… but did she just let him down? Did she let herself down?

Turbo took notice of her conflict. He twisted a bit to place his hand on the side of her neck and coax her jaw to tilt up again. “Hey, Mav,” he almost whispered, “don’t be like that. You’ve done good. Really good. It’s… kinda insane actually. It’s very obvious how dedicated you are to-- to helpin’ me, but… workin’ to the point of this, is just… It ain’t you, Mav. It just ain’t you. And I…”

His words caught, and Mavis could see his face clearly wrestling the words. With a bit of a bonk, he rested his forehead against hers and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I need you in my life, too… for real.”

It seemed to Mavis that all the heat in her body rushed to her face. Her chest quivered, scrambling for any words to push out, and coming up empty.

Turbo continued anyway, “So, y’know, if you really wanna help me… take… care of yourself, and… stay yourself. Okay?”

Hard memories crashed into the back of her head, memories from the darkest time of her life. She heard echoes of a promise she had made to his memory, a promise that was, in all sincerity, one she made to herself.

She caved.

“Okay,” she nodded slightly.

As he opened his eyes, their glow nearly strained her own. Slowly, his cheeks lifted in a smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she sighed hoarsely through her own rueful grin. “You’re right. I need a break. And I’ll take it.”

A truly exhausted sigh of relief washed over her face as he leaned back to give them both some breathing room. “Thank the Devs, finally,” he laughed airily. “Y’stubborn lil’ mule, ya won’t even listen to me when I tell ya to do stuff you wanna do!”

She laughed too, “I’m doin’ it now, jackass!”

“Yeah, just as I started to wonder how much rope I had left ‘til I’d reach the end!”

“Look, I know I’m too good at what I do, so I’ll try my best to get just a little worse,” she smiled, leaning out of his touch. “I’ll play hooky for a week, for starters. And I’ll do…”

“Whatever the hell you want?” he guessed, glancing down his grinning cheek at her.

“I’ll do my damn best, anyway. I would love to at least get some pranks in… I think the sprites out there have had it too easy since I, uh, mysteriously stopped.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, giving a long nod. “That there’s a problem, too. Gotta keep up appearances, Mav. Sprites will know something’s up if you’re suddenly so well behaved that they can leave pies coolin’ on sills.”

“Or balcony doors open.”

“Ah,” he chuckled. “You have not said anythin’ about Gene for ages. When’s the last time ya pranked that guy?”

Unable to remember, she said, “Well, I think I can get him pretty good this weekend. He’s hostin’ someone’s stupid birthday-- I think it’s, uh, Norwood’s, the guy with the cats--”

“PussyMagnet69?”

Mavis’ throat nearly ripped from the size of her surprise cackling.

Turbo joined in, insisting, “That was his name, Mav! How could ya forget?!”

Through tears, she wheezed, “Okay, okay-- But seriously-- I think if I can get in the penthouse early enough-- and I can-- I can switch all his clear alcohol with vinegar--”

Turbo was already keeling into his lap.

She continued, nearly shouting over his laughter, “Then I can make it a party no one will ever forget, and I can make off with a whole buttload of booze!”

Snorting, Turbo threw himself upright again, his hair flying haphazardly. “No, no, you gotta stay at least long enough to see the looks on their faces--” “Well, obviously--”

“And then remember ‘em really well and draw ‘em all out so I can see ‘em too! Damn, why do I gotta miss that?”

“Hey,” she laughed lowly, pushing his shoulder. “I’ll bring ya the drawings, and I’ll bring ya the booze, and then we can get flat out wasted n’ go as wild as this box can-- Well, uh--”

She had forgotten to ask something. Turbo looked at her quizzically.

“I mean, uh,” she said quietly, still managing to hold a smile, “you’ll let me in, right? Am I-- Am I allowed to come back here… on vacation?”

Turbo almost looked stricken, and after a moment’s thought that betrayed a bit of anxiety in his eyes, he said, “Well… obviously. Don’t feel like you gotta or anythin’, though. I’m a grown-ass man, I don’t need a babysitter. But, y’know, if you really wanna come over, you can.”

Mavis’ shoulders dropped and half a scoff slipped out of her. “Of course I wanna hang out with you. Y’kiddin’ me, T?”

For a second, he gave her an uncharacteristically warm half-smile. He chuffed a bit. “Arright,” he said, twisting to open his arms to her and gesture inward. “C’mere. Bring it in.”

Forcing an eye-roll that was ruined by her smiling face, she scooted right up and wrapped her arms around his torso, and he hugged back tightly. The closeness felt so well-needed, as if she were touch-starved without realizing. Surely, they had still been touching over the last little while… but this was the first time she felt present for it in days. She hummed appreciatively, resting her chin over his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he sighed, smugness creeping into his voice as he rubbed her back, “should’a known I couldn’t shake ya. After all, I am your lifelong obsession, ain’t I?”

She groaned. “Turbo…”

“It’s kinda creepy, there, Cherry Bomb. Takin’ advantage of the fact that I don’t got a game to get ya banned from.”

“Like I could even get through the barricade here without your help,” she considered. “Or without dynamite, but, y’know. I’d hate to have to build it again.”

Turbo just chuckled. He buried his face against the side of her neck and let out a deep, hot sigh through his nose that sent a tiny wave of goosebumps over her skin. She held him tight, soaking in the exceptional heat from his skin. At times such as this, memories would flood in from the time she believed she had lost him, and her chest would glow with incredulous, almost painful gratitude to have him back.

Mavis chewed her lip for a moment, possessed by the emotion growing in her body. She tucked her head in, the bridge of her nose pressed against his collarbone. Sweetly, sadly, she mumbled, “Y’know I miss you, T. I miss havin’ a friend out there.”

His hand thumped softly against her shoulder blade. “...Yeah. I know, Mav,” he muttered. He then turned his head until his face was in her hair, his mouth angled just behind her ear. She could feel his lips move as he said, “I’m pretty lucky to have a friend in here.”

Heart aching, Mavis pulled back to look him in the face. He just looked thoughtful, meeting her gaze with a bit of a squint. “Seems like whatever luck I’ve had since this mess started has had somethin’ to do with you. How’d that happen? Once upon a time, you were the biggest pain-in-the-ass problem child in my life.”

A small laugh blew from her throat, half warm, half naughty. “Things are different now… and you forget I’m a good-luck-charm Easter Egg.”

Turbo chuckled, and his eyes dropped to her mouth as a hand snaked behind her head. “Whatever you say.”

She drew closer, her eyes closing with an airy, snarky chuckle. “But I’m still a pain in the ass.”

“Don’t I know it,” he breathed, before his lips made contact with hers.

She kissed back gladly, folding her knees and bringing them up close as she let the comforting warmth in her face and chest slowly spread throughout her body. The kiss did not break, only deepened, and after his hands tugged under the crook of her legs, she found herself grabbing his shoulders and gracefully moving to straddle his lap. All she wanted was to be closer, to hold him as flush against her body as she could, and it was a sentiment he clearly returned. His rough hands roamed over her slender curves, clenching fistfuls of her shirt and letting his fingers skirt beneath the fabric. As her head and body began to buzz with all-too-neglected excitement, she broke away from his mouth to kiss a trail down to his neck and happily nip at the salty skin there.

For a few moments, Turbo merely squeezed her hip bones in appreciation and uttered naught but a few shivery sighs, but Mavis soon noticed that he was a bit too still and quiet. No sooner had she noticed than Turbo leaned his head into hers a bit, ducking his face down.

“I will get out of here,” he whispered insistently. “I swear I will.”

Mavis paused before pulling back to look at him. He did not look sad, no -- he just looked determined. There was a fire in his eyes that made him look unstoppable, like nothing could possibly hold him back from taking his place in the world again. She believed it fully.

“I know you will,” she muttered back. “And I’ll be there.”

He scoffed a bit. “And then? Then I’ll get ya some real flowers. Call those ones over there a placeholder.”

Mavis twisted a bit to look at the sketchbook she had tossed to the floor, the graphite lines softly illuminated from the light shining through the socket.

“Hm,” she hummed. “Don’t bother. These ones are better.”

When he laughed briefly, she looked back at him to see a lopsided grin that flashed his pointed teeth. “Okay, princess, how about this? Whatever kingdom I end up ruling--”

“Ruling, huh?”

He ignored her and continued, “I’ll program a room just for you, and then I’ll draw flowers on the walls like a gap-toothed madman, and I’ll make ‘em so Dev-damned bright and colorful and horrendously ugly that no one could spend more than five minutes in there without gettin’ a migraine.”

Mavis laughed, clapping his shoulder a bit. “See, now that sounds perfect. Seriously. Please do that. That’s so much better than flowers.”

Turbo’s eyes narrowed as his grin grew. “Consider it done.”

“Now,” she wrapped her arms behind his neck, leaning her forehead against his. “Will ya please go back to bein’ a jerk for a while? All this sweetness and thoughtfulness, it--” she dropped into her roughest, most unflattering Turbo impression, complete with bad accent, “‘it ain’t like you.’”

Turbo’s brows shot upward, and he sputtered through a wild grin. “Ooh, okay, smart-mouth,” he said, cracking his neck and knuckles. “Ya wanna get reacquainted? Let’s get reacquainted.”

With that, he seized her by the ribs and roughly yanked her in, lunging for her neck like a snake. As his teeth sank in, Mavis’ short yelp of pain and surprise turned into thrilled, dirty, self-satisfied laughter. The mushy stuff was finally over. It was time to have fun again.

Mavis was still unsure of how effective her little vacation would be, but as far as she was concerned, she was off to a pretty good start.

#fanfiction #turbo #make it mavis #wreck it ralph #the shitgoblins #yeah have another story i worked on whenever i couldnt sleep #i just wanted to write something fun and cute for the babies #of course theres bittersweet bc i cant help myself #but i hope yall enjoy this silly mess #rare non-AU content

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roggling · 6 years

Note

17. Needing to kiss to hide from bad guys for Grizavi! You know, Natasha-and-Steve-from-The-Winter-Soldier like. Or however it's easier for you. I'm just... meh, never mind. Forget what I said. I'm bad at doing asks. I'll try again: Can I have a 17. Needing to kiss to hide from bad guys, please?

Listen…I live for these kinds of kisses. They’re so unnecessary, you know. But it’s great fan service so… who cares, am I right?

As always, read below the cut!

“That’s your idea of training? Laser tag?” James questioned, eyeing Lance with an incredulous look. Behind him, he could feel Nadia laughing against her hand.

“Yeah, man! It’ll totally help with your aim. Plus, the training here at the Garrison is getting boring,” Lance exclaimed proudly.

“What does this have to do with piloting the Lions? And Keith is okay with this?” James asked, still not believing that such a training method was allowed by the most emotionally constipated one of all of them.

Lance grinned, “Totally! We did training like this at the Castle before we blew it up. Trust me, this training will definitely be tough.”

James sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Alright, Lance, we’ll do it.”

Lance grinned triumphantly, “Yes! Alright, meet us at Training Deck 6 at 7 tonight. Bring your “A” game.”

James sighed, the rest of the team watching Lance curiously. “What kind of training do they even do? This is ridiculous. Isn’t this training too lenient for Paladins of Voltron?”

“The Paladins of Voltron surpass us in every aspect. Also, they are our superiors and our teachers. We shouldn’t doubt them,” Ina informed James as the group of four made their way through the halls.

“Yeah, hot stuff,” Rizavi mused, nudging James on the side, “Besides, you should let up a bit.”

James just crossed his arms and prepared for the worst.

Lance sprinted away from the MFE pilots with a mischievous grin on his face. When he gave the news to the team, they all grinned and Lance chuckled, “They have absolutely no idea what they’re getting themselves into.”

The MFE pilots are all at the meeting place, though there is no sign of the Paladins. James tapped on his shoulder, annoyance clearly etched on his face as he tapped his foot. Rizavi noticed this and chuckled, smacking James on the arm, “Would you cool it, Mr. Uptight? They’re only human.”

“One’s literally an alien, Rizavi, and Keith’s only half-human,�� James pouted.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and their surroundings morphed into the insides of a Galra ship. The MFE Pilots quickly tried to draw their weapons, surprised to find that they were all missing.

“Alright, let’s get this training on the road!” They all heard Lance’s voice cackle.

“What?” James questioned, surprised at the sudden changes.

“The rules are simple,” Allura’s voice echoed through the halls of the simulation, “If you’re hit by one of us, you’re out. If even one of you is hit by one of our beams, you’re all disqualified and we win.”

“Your goal,” Pidge’s voice began, “Is for you all to evacuate the prisoners. We’ll be patrolling the area at different sections. So be careful.”

“Also,” Hunk began, “You kinda really don’t want to be hit by these lasers. They paralyze your body until one of us cancel it with the antidote. Some of us are kind souls so chances are we’ll give it to you right after we shoot you.”

“But Keith is ruthless so don’t get hit by him,” Lance interrupted.

James glared at the ceiling and Rizavi spoke, “Hey, now, don’t you think that’s too harsh?”

“Well,” this time, it was Keith’s smug voice speaking through the speakers, “We wanted to show you how “lenient” our Paladin laser tag training can be.”

Rizavi paused and looked at James pointedly, “He got you-”

“Shut up, Rizavi.”

Rizavi only cackled and suddenly, replicas of the Paladin Bayards floated in front of them, the only one missing was the Black Bayard.

“This exercise is to test your teamwork and your compatibility,” Keith announced as they each grabbed a Bayard, “As potential Paladins, you need to learn how to work with each other and how to sync your movements to work efficiently. We learned this in the heat of battle. Now, it’s your turn. You have to learn to do this unconsciously and effortlessly. Learn to trust your teammates. We begin now.”

A loud buzzer sounded off and the MFE pilots prepped themselves

James, holding the red Bayard, scrunched his brow, “Since we’re not yet that good at defensive tactics, I think we should split off in teams of two. It’ll be too hard to broaden your focus to three other people. Rizavi, you’re with me. Kinkade, you’re with Leif.”

The other two and Kinkade and Leif branched off holding the yellow and green Bayards respectively.

Griffin then moved forward, drawing his gun to point up front and Rizavi turned around so they were back to back, both of them pointing their guns in the opposite directions.

“Why’d you choose me, hot stuff?” Rizavi’s teasing tone echoed off the walls.

“Because you’re second when it comes to sharpshooting and Leif’s the worst so she needed Kinkade’s sharpshooting skills to make up for it,” James answered cooly, his gun straight and aimed at the unknown in front of them.

“Is that all? Or is it for another reason?” Rizavi teased.

James froze over and he coughed away his flustered state, “Yes, that’s all Rizavi.”

Nadia chuckled, “Alright, hot stuff. Believe what you want,” Rizavi continued on with her teasing.

Suddenly, a form appeared in front of them and James immediately shot it down with three shots, two of them having missed its target.

“Did you get them?” Rizavi asked.

James peered over the gun’s scope, waiting for a sign of movement and he grinned when he heard nothing, “Yep!”

James closed in on the body and smirked, “Now let’s see which of you I got.”

When James reached it, however, it was a downed Galra sentry. James frowned and whispered, “What the- AH!”

In a second, the Galra sentry powered up and grabbed onto James. Rizavi acted fast and shot out its head, the Galra sentry immediately stopping and disintegrating into millions of holographic bits.

James panted and looked up at Rizavi, who tried to fight down a smug smile. Before she could say anything, James spat, “Not a word, Rizavi.”

Nadia, however, barked out a laugh, “I didn’t even say anything!”

“We forgot to mention that there are gonna be holographic Galra sentries around too. Sorry guys,” Pidge’s voice spoke through the speakers, though the amused tone in her voice didn’t sound too sorry.

“You won’t be disqualified if you’re hit, but their hits hurt like a bi-”

“-like a dog. They hurt like a dog. We gotta keep this training simulation PG, pigeon,” Lance interrupted.

“Whatever, Lance. Also, heads up, they’re only taken down by a hit to the head,” Pidge added before disappearing, her voice still echoing through the halls.

Rizavi lent Griffin a hand and picked him up off the ground. James dusted himself off, “Well, that’s nice to know.”

Nadia shook her head and aimed her gun forward, “Alright, let’s find these prisoners.”

James nodded, a small smile playing in his lips as he looked down on Nadia, “Right.”

The two picked up their pace, keeping a light jog as they guarded themselves and looked for the prison cells.

They finally did, after some time, but it was guarded by Hunk. Behind him were human prisoners moping and sulking in their cells. Some of them even begging to be taken back home.

Nadia and James kneeled and hid behind a wall, watching the situation with calculating eyes.

“Pidge, did you have to make these prisoners so realistic. I feel mean,” Hunk complained into his comms.

“I had to make them as realistic as possible. Keith told me,” Pidge responded, James and Rizavi hearing it from afar.

“It’s alright Hunk, they’re fake. Just stay focused on defense,” Keith ordered.

“No problems there, man,” Hunk assured.

Suddenly, there was a shift of movement on the opposite hall and Hunk immediately turned, shooting his blaster in its direction, the lasers hitting its head and the body immediately disintegrating.

Nadia and James released a breath of relief, their worries eased after realizing it was just a sentry and not Ina nor Kinkade.

“Hunk! Could you stop shooting at the sentries?!”

“Sorry, Pidge!”

James pondered for a bit and his eyes lit up. He turned towards Nadia and whispered, “I’ve got a plan. When I tell you go, you shoot at the control panels, got it?”

Nadia nodded and James got into position and began shooting at Hunk.

“AH! Okay, they’re here!” Hunk yelled into the comms, powering up his shield and defending himself.

“Alright. Nadia go!”

Nadia began and shot at all the control panels, each of them fizzling out before the doors slid open and a stampede of people shot out of their cells.

“Hunk!” Keith’s voice echoed through the halls, signaling that he was close.

Hunk, who was now free of James barrage of hits since he didn’t want to hurt the prisoners, laughed nervously, “Eh, sorry?”

“No time for that now,” James saw as Keith and the rest of the Paladins showed up from the opposite hall, “We need to find them before they lead the prisoners to the escape pods.”

Allura scrunched her brows, “Wait a tick…Did we all just come out of the same hallway?”

The team groaned and Keith yelled, “Lance I am never letting you assign positions again.”

Lance held his hands up, “Sorry man, I didn’t realize I left it unguarded!”

“I just bumped into Kinkade and Leif, so that means Griffin and Rizavi are in that direction,” Pidge added.

James and Nadia winced and immediately started shuffling with the people, hearing Keith’s distant orders, “Alright, then let’s search for them, team!”

Nadia leaned in and whispered in James’s ear, “Do you know where the escape pods are?”

James shook his head, “Not a clue. Let’s just go with the flow.”

Nadia snorted, “Well, that’s a first.”

James shushed her as they heard a whizz above them, watching silently as Allura scanned the prisoner’s heads from a floating pod as she sped by.

“This is a lot tougher than I thought,” James whispered.

This time, Nadia shushed him as she saw the people dip down in front of them. She pointed and James whispered and incredulous, “What?” Before it was their turn to dip down.

It was a quiznaking escalator. On a Galra ship.

It was a huge and tall escalator, probably a hundred feet tall, and it was slow.

Above them, they saw Lance perched on a ledge, his gun aimed at their general direction. Once the pair stood on one of the moving steps, Nadia turned James around to face her, his face now level with hers now that he was on the step under hers.

She cupped his cheeks and whispered, “Kiss me.”

James, ever the smol-bean, froze and stuttered, “W-What?”

Nadia looked into his eyes and licked her own, “Kisses makes people very uncomfortable.”

James looked down Nadia’s lips and, although he was still in quite a daze, nodded, “Yes, they do.”

Without warning, Nadia pulled James’s face towards hers with a powerful tug. James crashed on to her and wound his arms around her waist to balance them and to prevent them from falling on top of the prisoners.

Other than that, James lost all consciousness and let Nadia take the reins. She was dominant, making James melt into a puddle the second her tongue brushed his lips. She became more demanding, pulling him closer and running her hands through his hair, the incessant tugging on his hair making James almost lose his footing again.

And just how the kiss started unexpectedly, it ended unexpectedly. She pulled away, their lips smacking at the separation. And James, still in a daze, chased after her. Rizavi chuckled and pressed a finger against his lips to stop him, “Still uncomfortable?”

“I am yeah. Thanks for asking, though.”

The couple had no time to react before they were both shot in the shoulder and both fell to the ground. The escalator stopped and the prisoners disintegrated.

Above them, Lance was floating on top of a pod, an amused and slightly disgusted face peering down on them.

He swung his gun on his shoulder and asked, “Did you seriously think that I wouldn’t see you?”

Ask prompts are closed!

#grizavi #my works #james griffin #nadia rizavi

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hopeishappinessff · 6 years

Text

Holding Onto Hope: Chapter 16

Chris

“I don’t know what to do. It’s been almost a full week and I haven’t heard from her. I call, but her phone goes straight to voicemail. I text, but get no reply. I’ve even gone to her room, but somehow Destani always opens the door and she’s never there… I forced my way in three days in a row so that Destani could prove to me that she wasn’t just hiding, but she just… she wasn’t there. I don’t know where she is… I don’t know what to do.” I could feel myself getting light headed by the lack of oxygen entering my lungs as I rambled on without a breath in between.

My therapy session couldn’t have come at a better time this week. After the day that Hope had come to my room and found Tawny in there with my half naked ass, she’d literally disappeared from the face of the earth and I could feel myself losing my mind with each minute that ticked by without hearing from her. I knew she would avoid my calls and texts… I wasn’t expecting her to happily wanna engage in a casual conversation about what she saw, but I also wasn’t expecting her to just dip the fuck out either.

“Christopher, you’re very frantic today… you’re talking a mile a minute,” Dr. Yates spoke gently from where she sat behind her desk, “You’re overwhelmed, I know, but you’ve got to calm down.”

“I can’t!” I nearly screamed right in this woman’s face, “That girl means everything to me and I fucked up! I fucked up and now I don’t… I don’t even know if she’s still in a relationship with me or not.”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself Christopher. Don’t allow the lack of communication between the two of you to force you into any assumptions. It’ll only get you further worked up and you know that one of our goals here is to learn how to respond to any situation, whether it is one provoked by your anger or one provoked by your sadness, in a calm and reasonable manner.”

I shut my eyes abruptly in the middle of her sentence. I needed to start up a slow count to perhaps forty to avoid lashing out and jumping over the desk at Dr. Yates. As much as I was beginning to warm up to her and her gentle demeanor, no one and I mean no one should ever tell me to calm down in any situation involving Hope. I wouldn’t even calm down if President Obama stood at my side and threatened me with hard time in Guantanamo Bay… Hope was my entire heart and without her, I literally felt like I couldn’t function. Sure we’d gone a few days recently without talking because I was being a dick and completely ignoring her, but in the back of my mind I always knew she was there. Now though, I knew there was a possibility that things had gone awry in the relationship and the thought alone made me wanna slit my throat.

“You’re improving significantly with your counting strategies, I see. Though it is unfortunate that I am indeed the target for your anger right now, your progress is wonderful Christopher.” I wouldn’t say it to her, but I was amazed that this lady could remain seated so serenely as I sat there boiling over like a hot pot on a stove. I could feel the inflammation of anger in my face and I’m sure she could clearly see it, but she simply sat there staring at me like a proud mother as I remained in my stance and finished my count.

Slowly prying open the eyes that no longer felt like my own, I glared across the desk at Dr. Yates. I was over the emotional stint, just that quick. He had grown tired of all the rambling of how emotionally distraught I was and he was about ready to cut this whole therapy session short.

“Chris…”

“You know, I think I’m gonna head out now and get some… fresh air.” I muttered with a smirk. Dr. Yates stared at me for a prolonged moment before calmly jotting something down in her infamous little notebook and raising her curious gaze to meet mine.

“Do you feel as though you’re… restrained and composed enough to leave this office right now?” She asked.

With my eyes still on the little notebook, I slowly nodded my head and finally locked eyes with her “Yeah… I feel restrained… and composed.”

“And you don’t feel the urge to leave this office and go searching for Sy’Diyah again?”

“I’m not gonna look for that bi… girl,” I quickly corrected myself as I felt irritation rising in the pit of my stomach, “I’m good, Doc.”

Her brows rose briefly with surprise, but Dr. Yates maintained her composure as she always does and simply sat back in her seat, scribbled a few more things in her notebook, then slid it shut and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Very well Christopher. We had about another fifteen minutes left in our session today, but if you feel as though you’ve had enough for the day I cannot force you to stay.”

“Right,” I smoothly rose from the black leather chair across from her desk and adjusted the snapback atop my head, “Thanks for the sesh. See you soon.”

And with that I turned and quickly made my way to the exit and didn’t bother sticking around to hear her dismissal. Oh how I loathed going to those fucking sessions, specifically when she was the topic of discussion. I didn’t understand what the damn obsession was with her, but that sensitive and bitch ass emotional side of me was just head over heels for the girl. Sure she was probably the most beautiful girl I’d ever been with and had by far the best pussy I’d ever slipped into, but there was no need to have my head stuck so far up her ass. Like it almost sickened me how much we were wrapped around her little finger and I was determined now more than ever to change that completely.

I had finally exited that depressing ass building and I had already made up my mind that within the next ten minutes, I was gonna find my next nut for the day. If I really wanted to, I could just stand my ass outside the building and the pussy would just waltz right up to me, but I’d left my patience back up in that stuffy ass office and I didn’t wanna wait. I moved swiftly toward the Tate Student Center where I knew nearly all the ethnic community would be hanging out. It was midday, so rather than going somewhere to grab lunch between classes niggas would often just hang out in there like it was the parking lot of a club.

I’d barely even made it within a ten-foot radius of the building before I spotted my target… only because her wide chocolate eyes were locked on me like I was her prey. The girl stood between two other chicks just outside the building where several other people lingered about. I knew I should be more careful with doing this sort of thing smack dab in the middle of the day in the public eye because word had quickly spread that I had a girlfriend and I knew it wouldn’t take people long to piece together exactly who she was, but let’s just be honest right now… who gives a fuck?

This girl kept her eyes locked on me the entire time I walked straight toward her and I couldn’t ignore the sexy smirk plastered on her cute little lips. She was bad, no lie. Her hips were the first things to catch my eye and I shook my head discreetly as thoughts of how much fun I could have gripping those thick things coursed through my mind. I could tell just by the way she stood that her ass had to be fat, but what had me nearly salivating was just how tiny her waist was in comparison to those hips. She wore her hair in these intricate little Janet Jackson braids that fell all the way to her waist line and again, I imagined just how fun they were gonna be to play with… and pull on.

“What’s up?” I said with one quick nod once I was finally up close and personal with her. Her two friends stared at me with just as much lust in their eyes as her, but I’d already made up my mind that she was who I wanted to walk away from this campus with.

“How you doing gorgeous?” She asked with the cutest giggle. With my good ole charming smirk locked into place on my already moist lips, I quickly swiped my tongue out over my lips just for the effect and glanced at both of her friends before locking eyes with her.

“Well, I’m good sweetheart… but I think I would be better if you took a ride with me.”

And just like that, I’d hooked her and reeled her in. Before I knew it, she held a firm grip on my hand and together we made our way to the student parking lot to my truck and I listened closely as she gave me seductive directions back to her apartment.

Hope

I sat on the floor in the living room with my back pressed against the couch and an assembly of books and papers all around me on the floor. I had a big exam coming up within the next week and I’d been doing nothing but burying my head in my books and notes lately to make sure I was prepared for it. Lately I’d also been swamped with assignments from several of my classes and to make matters worse… I couldn’t deny that I was dealing with a crumbling relationship. With every day that passed, I could feel myself losing the firm grip that I once had on my beautiful relationship. I didn’t know what was going on with Chris. He was drifting, that much was for sure, and I had no idea why or how to even reel him back in. I tried not to focus so much on the reality of my unfortunate situation and instead chose to immerse myself as deeply as possible into my studies.

My brows remained furrowed as I nibbled into the corner of my bottom lip and glared at the paper in my hand. I was reviewing notes for the upcoming exam and my focus was strong… so strong that I failed to notice the front door of the apartment opening and closing softly. As I lowered the paper back to the floor with my eyes still glued to it, I nearly jumped right out of my skin at the feeling of a hand against my left shoulder. Abruptly swinging around to my left, I spotted Cammie falling back into the cushions of the couch clutching at her stomach as she cackled loudly at my expense. After snatching out my ear buds, I glared at her and held a hand over my chest in an attempt to catch my breath.

“Girl,” She wheezed as she continued to laugh, “That shit was fucking hilarious! You alright?”

With a roll of my squinted eyes, I huffed and quickly reached down to pause the music still blaring from my phone “Yes I’m fine, but you scared the crap out of me Cammie.”

“Man I’m sorry, but you were looking so damn focused… I knew I would be able to get your ass good.”

I rolled my eyes once more, this time playfully as I failed to contain my own small fit of giggles. I couldn’t help but shake my head at the thought of how at ease my mind had been for the past few days around Cammie and Angel. After showing up at my own dorm room in a completely angered daze immediately following the incident with Chris and the girl in his room, Destani called an ‘emergency girls time meeting’ where she proceeded to explain what’d happened to Cammie and Angel. And after making them aware of exactly what would happen if I stuck around in my dorm room for too long, they quickly swooped in like my personal saviors and offered to take me in until I left for my dad’s for the weekend.

“Every time I see you in here, all you doing is sticking your head in some book… what are you working on anyway?” She inquired as she sat upright on the couch and curled her legs beneath her comfortably.

With a deep sigh, I glanced down at the stack of papers and books scattered in front of me on the floor and eased a hand up through my wild mane of hair “I have a test coming up in my biology class that I’ve been trying to study for.”

“Oh shit, my bad girl… I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She said.

“No, it’s okay,” I muttered as I shut my book and placed it strategically over the notes on the floor so as to not tempt myself to bury my face right back in it, “I need to take a break anyway.”

Resting my head back against the seat of the couch, I shut my eyes and crossed my arms loosely in my lap.

“Are you okay Sy?” Cammie asked in a hushed tone.

“Yeah, I’m fine… just a little tired.”

“No… I mean are you really, okay?”

Slowly easing my lids open, my eyes locked on the ceiling as my head remained back on the couch and I took a moment to truly absorb her question… was I really okay? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly what she meant at this point, but the question was more complex than she would probably ever understand.

“I don’t know Cammie.” My voice came out in less than a whisper and I didn’t know if she’d even heard me. I could feel her tugging lightly on one of my many loose curls. She curled it gently around her finger in a comforting manner and I willed myself not to fall asleep from the gesture.

“Listen Sy’Diyah, I don’t know the whole story of your relationship or what’s really going on with you and your dude, but I want you to know that you can stay here as long as you need to.” “Thanks Cammie… that really means a lot.” I said.

“Hey, maybe you can even hit up Destani and tell her to pack up some shit and come over so we can have a girls night in tonight.”

“That sounds like it would be fun, but I actually need to pack up my stuff here and head back to my dorm in a bit. Destani and I are going to my dad’s tomorrow and I need to go get ready for that.”

“Oh, well that’s good… maybe some time with your pops will make you feel a little better too. And whenever ya’ll get back we can still plan a girls night… in or out, it’s up to ya’ll.” She suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely take you up on that and I’ll let Destani know,” I said with a closed lip smile, “If you’re not too busy though, would you mind taking me back to my dorm?”

“You know I got you boo. Come on, I can take you now.”

Within the next few minutes she helped me get all my belongings packed up and down to her car and eventually, we were on our way back to campus.

“My little love muffin, I missed you!” Destani screeched the moment I set foot in the room. I couldn’t contain my laughter as she bombarded me at the door and snatched me into her grasp, squeezing me tight against her chest as though she hadn’t seen me in years.

“Okay, Destani… okay, let go!” I huffed through merriment and lack of oxygen.

“My bad, I just really missed my roomie and bff!” She exclaimed as she finally released me and swiftly stepped out into the hall to help me lug the few bags I had back into the room, “How was your stay with the girls?” “It was really good. I got a lot of work and studying done and they were both so helpful and welcoming.” I said as I finally shut and locked the door.

“Well that’s good baby girl. You know the squad wasn’t about to leave you hanging while Mr. Crazy Man was running around like a chicken with its head cut off looking for your ass.” Her face had contorted into a deep scowl and she rolled her eyes as if ‘Mr. Crazy Man’ himself stood there in front of her.

With a giggle, I shook my head and made sure all of my belongings were shifted over to my side of the room before I began to gather the necessary items to take a quick shower “Was he really Dez? Did he come here?”

“Tuh, did he girl? From the night we got you outta here up until last night, the nigga has been by here banging on this door like crazy looking for you. The only reason I even opened the door for his ass was so he wouldn’t draw attention and have the RA down here investigating all the noise. And he wouldn’t just knock then ask where you were… ole boy would literally barge his way into this room every time demanding that I prove you weren’t here.”

“Wow,” I muttered, barely surprised by Chris’s obsessive behavior toward me, “That really doesn’t surprise me much though… that’s just unfortunately how he’s always been with me, since before we even got together. I even had to shut my phone off for most of the time I was at Cammie and Angel’s because he constantly called and sent me text messages.”

“Sy’Diyah what the fuck did you do to that nigga that’s got him so fucking sprung like that? Yo pussy must me molded with pure gold and topped with the world’s rarest diamond honey… shit!”

We both burst into a fit of giggles and I could even feel my cheeks warming from her blatant comment. Once I scooped up the last of my bath items, I grabbed a large towel then turned and made my way toward the restroom.

“Well I’m about to hop in the shower really quick. Hopefully he doesn’t show up.” I chuckled, with complete doubt in my mind that he would be foolish enough to come back to the room searching for me for the fifth day in a row.

“You know what, I’m not even gonna tell you not to jinx yourself on this one because I’m almost positive he’ll be here as scheduled shortly.”

I continued to laugh as I stepped into the quant restroom and shut the door behind myself, not bothering to lock the door since neither Destani or I ever saw a need to. I placed my things neatly atop the closed toilet seat and moved over to the shower to turn on the water and adjust it to my liking.

Once I was stripped down to my bare skin, I stepped into the shower and immediately shut my eyes as the warm water cascaded over the top of my head and down over my shoulders. After basking in the steamy oasis for nearly twenty minutes, I opened my eyes and swore that I could hear commotion on the other side of the door. I didn’t think much of it though and continued to wash the conditioner out of my hair. Just as I turned around to shut off the water, I nearly slipped and plopped down right on my butt when the unlocked bathroom door flew open.

“Nigga get the fuck out or I’m calling the RA and telling him to call fucking security on your ass!” Destani hollered.

A loud gasp rolled from my lips the moment the shower curtain was yanked aside, revealing a flustered Chris who stood there with wide eyes and bright rosy cheeks. His nostrils were flared and his brows were furrowed with frustration, but the moment he zoned in on my cowering naked body his entire demeanor calmed within seconds.

“Hope…” He whispered, flinching suddenly when a small fist collided with the back of his broad shoulders.

“Damnit Chris get outta here, now!!” Destani was putting up as much fight as her petite body would allow, but she was no match against the athletic build of Chris who simply turned and gently pushed her out of the doorway and shut and locked the door right in her face.

“Chris… wha… what are you doing?” I stammered as I quickly crossed my arms up over my chest, leaving no hope for my completely exposed lower half.

His eyes remained locked directly on mine though and it was only then that I noticed just how red and swollen they were… had he been crying recently?

“Hope, I’m sorry… please listen to me.” He spoke so urgently, I nearly stopped completely to actually hear him out, but I smoothly remembered that we were indeed still wedged together in this not so large bathroom space and I was indeed still standing beneath the streaming shower completely naked and soaked from head to toe.

“Chris, let me get out of here and put on some clothes…” “No, you can’t… Destani’s only gonna freak out and attack me if we leave this bathroom.” He spoke quickly and quietly just as Destani slammed a hand down against the locked door.

“Sy’Diyah, I called the RA… he’s in the café right now, but he’s on his way!” She hollered.

I couldn’t peel my eyes from Chris’s sad and exhausted stare. Without him having to utter a single word, I understood that he was hurting more than I could fully comprehend and even after what he’d done to me, as his girlfriend and the missing link to his puzzle of chaos… I knew that we couldn’t afford any additional attention in his moment of need. He needed time to break down right there in the small square of a bathroom and I needed to be all ears for him.

“Destani call him back,” I shouted over the steady pound of the water around me as I continued to stare into those distressed yet stunning pools of copper, “Tell him you were mistaken and that everything is fine.” “Sy…” She started.

“Destani… please.”

There was silence on her end and I didn’t even bother considering whether she’d taken what I said seriously and moved away from the door to call the RA back, but I didn’t care. All that mattered in that moment was my boyfriend that stood there, emotionally crumbling before my very eyes. Silently I reached forward and latched my hands onto the hem of his black hoodie and I made sure to catch the t-shirt beneath it as I began to pull it up. He didn’t ask a single question or make an attempt to stop me… he simply complied by lifting his arms while I raised the articles of clothing up over his head. I moved on to his sweats and slipped them as well as his boxer briefs down as he stepped out of his shoes until he too stood there completely naked. Gently grasping his left hand, I silently assured him that it was okay to step forward and enter the hot shower with me. And he did, slowly but surely until we finally stood face to face and the water doused his back and rained down over his shoulders.

Though he spoke volumes with his eyes alone, I knew I needed to get him to speak up soon. I eased the tips of my fingers up along his perfectly chiseled chest until I reached his neck then I stopped just below his jawline and cupped each side of his face.

“Talk to me.” I said.

“I’m sorry Hope…” He muttered and I simply nodded my head, encouraging him to continue on, “I didn’t mean to hurt you… I don’t ever mean to hurt you.” “Then why do you?”

“I…” I could sense his hesitation to go on, but I knew he harbored an answer to that question… an answer that I had no idea would eventually impact our relationship immensely.

“Talk to me… please.” I pleaded as I caressed his cheeks with the pads of my thumbs.

“You’ll judge me. I can’t handle your judgement… I can’t.” He said as he raised his hands and latched them onto my wrists.

“Stop it Charlie, that’s not true… I would never judge you.” I fussed quietly as I gently shook his head in my grasp. I shut my eyes as he suddenly tugged me forward and leaned down to mesh his forehead against my own.

“You will judge me…and I’m afraid that you’ll leave me too. I don’t want you to leave me… I can’t handle that… there is no more me if there is no you.”

The depth of his words startled me, but I maintained my composure as he held me there in his grasp. Lord, what was happening to him? This wasn’t the Chris I knew. This wasn’t the young handsome next door neighbor who I subtly fell in love with at the age of eight years old.

“I love you with everything I got Hope,” He whispered, easing his head down to my shoulder where he placed the gentlest of kisses just before dropping his face into the crook of my neck, “Promise me you’ll never leave me. Promise me that no matter what, you’ll always be by my side.”

I couldn’t ignore his light sniffles as he begged me to make him a promise that I’d vowed to keep from the moment he asked me to be his girlfriend. I pulled my hands away from his cheeks as he shifted and moved them to the back of his head. His hands had found their way down to my hips and he buried the tips of his fingers there as if holding me in place, afraid that I’d leave him again. Because we were in the shower and the water continued to drizzle down over the back of his head, I couldn’t actually feel his tears against the skin of my neck but I knew they were there.

With a sigh, I slithered the tips of my fingers through his fine hair and pulled him so close to me, my breasts meshed against his chest uncomfortably “I’m not going anywhere Charlie.”

“Promise me…” He begged urgently.

“I… I promise. I’m not going anywhere.” And there we remained… him holding onto me desperately as though I was the only piece of sanity left in his muddled life, and me gripping onto him just as tight praying that somehow if I squeezed him tight enough, I could simply take some of his pain away.

#chrisbrown #chrisbrownff #chrisbrownfanfic #jasminesanders #chrisbrownfanfiction #jasminesandersff #teambreezy #teambreezyff #fanfiction #fanfic

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namariea · 7 years

Text

Hello, Neighbor | V

Since moving in you have compiled a comprehensive list on your mysterious neighbor across the way.

Do Kyungsoo, otherwise known as Asian Bobby Flay and apparently Bruno Mars’ protégé.

Pairing: Kyungsoo x Reader

Words: 3.4 k

Genre: Fluff

Previous: I II III IV

The coffee shop by the apartment was bustling with life, the endless stream of customers eager to get their caffeine fix.

An easy jazz tune filled the gaps between the chatter in the room but tucked away in the back corner, no amount of smooth saxophone could ease the tenseness in your body. You hung your head in your hands over the table, silently having an existential crisis as the figure across from you hummed in contemplation.

“So let me get this straight….and feel free to stop me if I go astray” Seulgi started, her voice slightly wistful, paying almost no mind to your despair.

You grunted.

“For the past month that you have been living in your apartment, you have been having sporadic encounters with the guy living across from you”

Grunt.

“During that time, you thought nothing of those moments except for about two weeks ago when you apparently saw him looking … how was it you described it…. Ah, like Korean Adonis”

Your head slipped lower in your hands.

Grunt. “And since said moment, rather than simply asking the boy why he was dressed like some incubus you decided the logical path to take would be to just never look at him again. By keeping your curtains closed for the past two weeks in an attempt at avoiding him…”

…

“Are you an idiot?”

Slipping from your grasp, you let your forehead crash into the table with an audible thud. People around turned and glanced quizzically in your direction, but you paid them no mind, starting a rhythmic smashing of your face against the surface. You heard Seulgi give a forced, polite laugh and quietly apologize to the fellow patrons saying something along the lines of quarter life crisis, nothing to see here, terribly sorry. Groaning, you gave your forehead a couple more good thumps before looking up. You were immediately met with a blank face, but you knew she was secretly reveling in your pain.

You are surrounded by sadists.

“I really do not see what’s the problem here, from how you’re reacting he must have gone from 0 to 10 real quick”

You grumbled from your splayed position on the table

“That’s not true….”

“He was at least a 7 before that”

Seulgi gave you a dull look

“…8.6 at the most.”

Letting out a bored sigh and picking at the remnants of what was a blueberry muffin, she deliberated “So you have always had a hot neighbor, woo, good for you, but just because seeing him in something other than baggy workout clothes suddenly got you all hot and bothered-”

“Oi, I was not hot and bothered-”

“-as I was saying” she gave you a pointed look, not appreciating your interruption “now would be the prime time to be looking, no? Icarus loved the warmth of sun so what did he do? Boy got himself some wings to see it closer.”

“Leading him to fly too close, thus melting his wings and falling to his death.” you deadpanned.

She waved a dismissive hand, “Pah, that’s just the Grimm brother’s version"

“Seulgi, the Grimm brothers didn’t even- look” you sighed, finally sitting yourself up from the table.

“You’re right, I probably shouldn’t have avoided him for so long, but what else was I supposed to do? He looked so…” you trailed, hand waving in the air in search of a fitting word, not having to wait long as your impatient comrade offered after a beat,

“-bangin?”

“Wow. It is truly a wonder why you never took the literary route when we were in art school”

Seulgi scoffed, taking a sip from her coffee “I had the option of being active and dancing to my heart’s content or sitting on my butt all day taking notes about some dead guys poems, it was a no question”

“Regardless” she continued, “the reality of the matter is that you now know you have the hots for your beta-turned-alpha neighbor and you’re going to have to face him eventually, lest you move again”

She almost smacked you from across the table as you gave a thoughtful look. Looking at her watch she reached for her bag and began to stand, you reluctantly following suit, realizing your break was over and it was time to head back to the office.

“Don’t be such a coward. He’s just a guy, he won’t even be in the same room as you when you talk for crying out loud, not unless he decides to break through two panes of glass, leap 10 feet over and land in your apartment. Though seeing your behavior, I wouldn’t be surprised if he resorted to that”

“And just what exactly am I supposed to say if he asks where I’ve been?” You shook your head as you felt the start of a headache beginning behind your eyes.

If he even noticed my absence that is

“Well that’s your fault it dragged on this long, isn’t it” She replied flippantly, the both of you exited the shop and started walking towards the subway.

“But if you want my opinion, I’d highly suggest not revealing how you have hiding because you cant control your impure thoughts around him-”

“For God’s sake, I told you it’s not even like that -”

“Ohhhh” An arm came out in front of you to bring you to a halt on the sidewalk. Turning to you slowly, you saw the beginnings of a smile take form on your friends face.

A very scary smile. One that only appeared when she was about to suggest something really dumb.

You were getting bad ju-ju vibes.

“I know exactly what you should say, say that you had …company…over and didn’t want to be disturbed”

You blinked. Once. Twice.

Then you hit her over the head.

“He has never shown any interest in me, what am I supposed to gain from that?”

Not deterred from your violence, if anything her eyes lit up with mischief, she pressed on “nono, it’s great, it’s like in those dramas, you throw down the boyfriend card and he is suddenly drawn to you because your unobtainable” she actually let out a cackle.

“I’m saying this because you are my friend and I care about your well being,” you almost let out an appreciative awww, but alas, tender moments were never in your cards.

“But if I find out you haven’t emerged from your hermit hole by Wednesday, I’ll come over and get his attention myself” You began to protest but she wasn’t hearing any of it “whether or not you listen to my advice is up to you, but so help me if I don’t get some juicy update by Wednesday I’ll take matters into my own hands”

Sadists, I say

You were walking past the living room one day when you heard a sharp yowl from the window.

Pausing on your way to the kitchen, you cast a tentative glance towards the cat perched on the windowsill, figure hidden by the curtain. You listened carefully, thinking that maybe she got her claws tangled in the fabric of the curtain again. The first time that had happened you calmly approached her with the full intention of relieving her from her cloth prison, as any caring owner would do. However, it would appear the frightened lump of fur was so lost in her terror, clearly thinking that this was the end, that she mistook your hand for that of the curtain God’s there to take her away. She then proceeded to bite and scratch anything she could get her stubby hands on.

Two and a half hours in an emergency waiting room later, you were being stabbed by multiple needles and given three beautiful stitches on your right hand. The freeloader didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed when you got back.

Since then you have always made sure she was fully aware of your presence before doing anything to help, for both her safety and yours. But secretly you were also still bitter about the first incident that you wanted to watch her struggle and realize her folly.

That’ll show her that the one with the opposable thumbs is the boss around here.

Another yowl came from behind the curtain and you made your way over, rolling up your sleeves in preparation.

“Missed me that much huh?”

You stopped mid-step, hand halting in pushing up your sleeve. The smooth baritone carried to your ears and you couldn’t stop the nervous stutter your heart gave in response. You were not ready for this confrontation, it wasn’t even Wednesday yet. Your palms began to sweat, not knowing how to proceed, however the voice was oblivious to your presence, and carried on.

“Looks like it’s just you and me again, Miss Mimi. Are you sure your owner hasn’t left you for some other stray?”

Meow.

There was an easy laugh in response, “Well hopefully despite wherever she has run off to she has you looked after, I wouldn’t want to have to pull some mission impossible stunt and save you”

Your eyes widened in horror as Seulgi’s words from the other day echoed in your mind. There was absolutely no way he was serious, you knew this, but just the thought of him being in your apartment set your mind into a frenzy.

You heard a phone ringing in the distance, “Ah, I’ll have to cut this short today, Mi. Say Hi for me the next time you see her, ok?”

Meow.

The silence that followed indicated that he had indeed left his spot at the window and you let out a shuttering breath. A million thoughts were swirling in your mind, so he did wonder where you’ve been. Granted, he said it because he wanted to know Mimi wasn’t going to starve, but it was still indirectly about you nonetheless. He also said he had to cut it short today, just how often does this man sit there talking to your cat? You try to think, but you were positive you’ve never heard him before today.

The nudge to your leg had you looking down, staring into bright cerulean eyes.

“You’re either the best or worst wingman ever”

She purred in response.

Eyes cracked open tiredly, blearily staring at the ceiling you blinked until your vision cleared.

Noting the lack of sunlight, you rolled over and pressed the home button on your phone, the harsh light making you squint in annoyance.

5:33 AM glared back at you and a groan highly resembling a beached whale emitted from your throat. Knowing there was no way the remaining hour before your alarm went off will be spent sleeping, you begrudgingly rolled out of bed.

Today was Wednesday. The thought came to you as you stirred creamer into your coffee, throwing a wary eye towards the closed curtains in your living room. Oh, how easy it would be to just keep them closed for all eternity… it wasn’t like you were some houseplant that needed sunlight for photosynthesis anyways. But you knew deep down that you would have to face the inevitable, because even though you loathed awkward situations with a burning passion, you feared the wrath of the brunette waiting for a reply today much more.

Best not tempt the fates today.

Cautiously you approached the curtains, suddenly feeling a strong sense of trepidation.

Oh square up you pathetic f-

You pulled back one of the white curtains with gusto, coffee in hand and eyes shut in anticipation. Cracking an eye open, you almost let out a victorious laugh, as you were met with dark curtains blocking your view from the apartment across.

Well…that wasn’t half bad.

You took this time to take in the view you had for the first time in two weeks. It really makes the room look a lot nicer, you mused, glancing back and watching the rising sun trickle in and brighten the living room. You almost felt foolish for your behavior, it was your house for Pete’s sake, you shouldn’t be letting one encounter prevent you from living your life as you wished.

Berating yourself, remembering your inner dilemma weeks ago that you knew nothing of the dark-haired male that lived in the other apartment. You owed each other nothing and if you didn’t want to interact with the man all you had to do was not talk to him, it wasn’t like the conversation was mandatory every time you saw him, you weren’t friends.

But you want to have those conversations, don’t you? Wouldn’t mind getting all buddy-buddy with Mr. Mysterious.

Your left eye twitched in annoyance as your heart and mind continued to have heated debate over what if’s. Once your coffee had gone cold and barely half finished, you were no closer to coming to a decision on how you were going to interact with your neighbor whenever you saw him again. Making the decision to get ready for work earlier than usual, you did so for no other reason than not wishing to be in this apartment any longer.

Picking up the keys off of the coffee table, as you made your way towards the door an hour ahead of schedule you missed the site of a familiar pair dark curtains pulled back.

Once you returned to your apartment the sun had almost set in the sky.

Not only had you arrived earlier to work that day, you had unconsciously stayed later than usual as well.

You thought nothing about it until Seulgi found you in your office, typing away at your computer.

She all but forced you out of the building, raging to herself about I don’t care if it’s not politically correct in 2017, but you need to grow a pair and man up, woman.

In all honestly it was not your intention to stay late, you were so caught up in your work that you simply lost track of time.

It was not until Seulgi found you that you realized what may or may not be waiting for you when you arrived home.

Having left your curtains pulled back, it was highly likely that you would encounter the other when you got back, and you still hadn’t figured out what you were going to say to him.

Deciding to wing it as you approached your door, as you unlocked it and stepped into the hallway you took a long, meditative breath.

Here goes nothing.

You started by walking to the light switches in your hallway and in one fluid motion, your living room was illuminated.

If you were going to do this, you weren’t going to do it as a coward.

You had, as a wise woman once said, grown a pair and manned up.

Not entering the lit-up room just yet, you instead walked back to the bedroom and changed out of your work clothes, wishing for nothing more than to get out of the business casual attire you were confined in all day.

Slipping on a baseball tee and some shorts you took your laptop out of your bag and padded towards the kitchen.

Since the kitchen and living room were situated in an open concept you had no choice but to eventually face the kitchen, however you busied yourself with dinner first, as your stomach was making itself known.

Whipping up a quick meal that you found on your laptop, you hummed as you worked, mindlessly bopping to the music that you had playing in the background.

Once you finished cooking you walked to the cabinet and refilled Mimi’s bowl before taking your culinary creation to the small dining table.

While watching an episode of your favourite drama you finished off your dinner and did the dishes. Returning back to the table to retrieve your laptop, you had intended to finish the remainder of the episode.

Meow.

You swore that cat was out to get you.

You stopped midway from picking up your laptop and glanced over at your cat who was sitting on the windowsill.

Not alone.

You stared at the man in the distance and though you couldn’t properly see him, you nevertheless lent forward and offered a polite bow.

He returned the gesture and you took a deep breath.

Showtime.

You began to make your way over to the window, closing the laptop and tucking it under your arm as you gave the man before you your undivided attention.

“I’m sure she has told you all of my deepest darkest secrets by this point,” you started, throwing a suspicious look at the furry mass by your hip “there isn’t a loyal bone in her body.”

The man smiled and let out a chuckle, “She has been talking about you in great detail I’m afraid”

“Just bad things, I presume”

“Only the worst” he offered a secretive smirk and you snorted.

“Speaking of the worst, I was afraid that the paint fumes had done you in” setting your laptop down you paused at his words and your mind went into overdrive thinking about how you were going to respond.

Briefly you wondered back to your friend’s advice, wondering if you should lie and make up some outlandish story.

Deciding that living a life of treachery was not something that tickled your fancy, you looked up in response.

“Ah, almost, I must have breathed in too many fumes, I was quite sick so I was out of commission for the last while” that wasn’t a whole lie, you were feeling oddly sick, just that it was most definitely not from paint fumes.

But like hell you were going to let him know that.

He let out a hum and nodded his head, apparently accepting your answer, but his eyebrows then furrowed.

“But you’re fine now, right?” he looked cute, worrying over you like a mother hen.

You gave him a grateful smile, waving your hand dismissively.

“It’s going to take more than paint fumes and bad ramen to do me in, fear not good sir”

“Besides, I need to see if SooJin wakes up from her coma and realizes that Joonwoo-“

“-is actually the man that saved her from the burning building when she was a child and that he is being swindled by her uncle who wants to take over the company?” you blinked at the excited look the boy gave you, who was nodding his head eagerly, hands animatedly waving as he spoke.

“….you watch soap operas?” You couldn’t believe the usually reserved man was actually gushing about a daytime drama.

Eat it, Seulgi, you uncultured swine. I told you it was an art.

“Well I’m never home to watch them when they air, but I usually stream them when I get the chance.

I dislocated my ankle really bad a few months ago and was put on home arrest, it was the only thing on at the time and I’ve been hooked ever since” He let out a sheepish laugh as his shoulders shrugged indifferently.

You let out a loud laugh and he seemed startled by the sound, but you weren’t paying attention to him anymore as tears began to well up in your eyes.

You started to shake as giggles bubbled from your throat, needing your hand to brace on the windowsill, not being able to stand straight.

“I can’t…believe…this…is happening…” You could barely breathe, “-looks are definitely deceiving” You commented, sending him a sly smile, eyebrows wiggling.

His face suddenly was dusted with a stunning shade of pink and you wanted nothing more than to squish his cheeks together.

Too precious

He began to mutter something about being totally manly and how it was good study material.

You started to come down from your hysteria but the smile never left your face.

“It’s ok, it will be our little secret, neighbor. But really,” you leaned in conspicuously, as if you were discussing something top secret.

“What do you think Soojin’s next move will be once she wakes up?”

From that moment on you managed to entice him into a totally manly conversation about plot holes and never-ending character resurrections.

Much like work, you were so lost in the conversation, completely forgetting about the awkwardness that you were supposed to be feeling, that you lost track of the hours passing as the two of you talked. The conversation drifted from daytime dramas, settling on mindless chatter that left you with bits of information about the man before you that you never knew you wanted to know.

All the while a wide smile adorned both of your faces.

Chapter VI

#muse: kyungsoo #length: chaptered #kyungsoo imagine #kyungsoo fanfic #do kyungsoo #exo imagine #exo fanfiction #exo scenarios #exo fanfic #exo

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brainrattlers · 7 years

Text

I Hope I Can Handle It (Part 7/?)

Summary: Sequel to “Think You Can Handle It?” - Reader is in a long-distance relationship, and is traveling for the holidays to see her man.

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x reader

Words: 4090 (I got a bit wordy here, sorry folks!)

Warnings: Fluff. Little bit of language. Insinuation that general sexy naughtiness is going on. But it is very PG.

A/N: So it is March 13, and here i am posting about Christmas. Better late than never, right? Tags are still open, hit me up if you want in on it! Tags are hiding at the bottom. Also posting without much editing. I’m sure i’ll catch some weirdness and get it fixed asap, I just wanted to get this posted!

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6)

“Did I butcher that? I’m really sorry if I did!” You sadly looked down, worrying you offended Sebastian and his mother.

Sebastian’s eyes were wide, mouth still open, but pulled you in tightly for a hug.

“Baby girl, when… when did you learn that?” The surprise was evident still in his voice. “That was perfect!”

His mother leaned over, grabbing your cheeks and kissing your forehead, rattling off something quickly in Romanian. That is when your eyes went wide.

“Oh no, I haven’t learned much, but I at least wanted to learn how to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to you all… I’m afraid I have NO idea what you just said.” You nervously chuckled.

“She said that you made her day, and that she loves you already. And to get inside!” Sebastian grabbed the bags of packages as his mother hugged you again.

“For you dear, we’ll speak English. But it warms my heart that you’re learning Romanian. Ask Sebastian for lessons! I’m sure he’d love to help you out.” She beamed with pride about her son, who blushed at her words. You smiled and nodded, grabbing a bag from Sebastian’s arms to help out a bit. “Now, you two, Y/N, you’re in Sebastian’s old room, and you Sebastian, you are in the guest room. There will be no funny business while you’re under my roof.”

The both of you blushed, but you spoke up.

“Your house, your rules, Mrs. Stan. I have no issue with that.”

“Y/N, you’re not the one I’m worried about… it is easy to see my son is the troublemaker!”

Sebastian feigned hurt feelings, and started to laugh. “Mom, I would never do such a thing. Also why is Y/N in my old room?”

“Because she needs to see all the embarrassing things of yours I’ve got stored in there, of course!” Mrs. Stan winked at you, giving a cheeky grin. You knew exactly where Sebastian got it from. Sebastian groaned, covering his eyes in embarrassment.

Sebastian led you into the living room, preparing to unload the neatly wrapped presents under the small tree in the corner, covered in antique ornaments. After unloading the packages, he tore you away to head upstairs to drop off your bags and to see where you’d be staying the night. Running up the stairs, you rushed to catch up.

He dropped off his bag first in the guest room, pulling you in to kiss him. You pushed him away playfully, and gave him a stern finger to the chest.

“I am not going to get in trouble with your mom, mister. You ARE a troublemaker!”

“So when did you start taking Romanian lessons? And why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was kind of a last minute thing really. Downloaded an app on my phone before my flight, and just looked up a few key things to start with. But I wanted to surprise you.”

“You did good, baby girl. And I’d love to teach you more if you’d like?”

“I’d like that Seb. Now. I need to see this room of yours… across the hall, right?” You sped out of the room, giggling, to find whatever personal and awkward things might be hiding behind the door. Opening it, you set your bag on the bed, and stared in wonderment at all the photos and certificates, framed theater programs and other nicknacks that adorned the room. Sure, there were awkward childhood photos, as Seb had the most adorable chubby chipmunk cheeks, but there were photos of him with family and friends, performing on stage. Your fingers touched the edges of photo frames as you studied the contents, asking when and where certain photos were taken. He gladly shared stories he could remember about the locations, what was going on, the people he was with in the images.

He even showed you his high school yearbook, completed with the baby photo and quote about missing his oscar acceptance because he’d be in the bathroom working on his hair.

“Kids, lunch is ready, little something to tide you over before dinner tonight,” his mother hollered from downstairs.

Sebastian playfully pulled you onto his bed, getting on top of you. You smacked his chest lightly, telling him to cut it out, when he holled back down, “Okay ma, just a minute, just showing Y/N some things up here.” He giggled and began kissing you deeply. After a few moments and a few sly hands moving around your body, he broke the kiss.

“I have always wanted to make out with a beautiful gal in my bed, under my mom’s roof…” Sebastian winked before rolling back off of you, pulling you to your feet.

The two of you headed downstairs, his mother with a smirk on her face. “Is he trying to get you in trouble?”

“Yes ma’am, but I will keep him in line, don’t worry,” you smiled at his mother, and playfully jabbed at Sebastian.

Everyone sat down at the small kitchen table, passing around bowls to ladle soup into them. Conversation ensued as everyone slurped on their homemade chicken noodle soup, ranging from about you and where you grew up, what you do now, to how you and Sebastian met (your side of the story, she’d already heard plenty from Sebastian about it), and what his and your coming plans were for the next few months. He mentioned I, Tonya, as well as Infinity War, and The Last Full Measure. Sounded like he was going to have quite the adventures in Atlanta, Scotland, and Costa Rica between all of those.

You spoke about work, and about how things with Mama J and the restaurant were going to get interesting as she was looking to expand, thanks to Sebastian coming to visit. Questions were raised as to whether you’d get to visit Sebastian on set, but you quickly dismissed them, likely unable to get off work and afford traveling so much, but were thankful for Skype to be able to see each other as often as possible. Your demeanor got a little down, but Sebastian luckily picked up on it and started talking about your adventure at the gala benefit a few nights prior, how you networked with others to get resources to help out Mama J. Sebastian’s mom is a very active listener, asking questions and probing further into your stories. You found it easy to talk to her, just like talking to Sebastian.

You then remembered something that happened months earlier. You dazed out a bit, thinking about the first night you went out for pizza, and he had served you the first slice, mentioning you wanted him to thank his mom for raising him right. His response stuck in your brain.

“Maybe you will just have to tell her yourself sometime.”

Did he know that far in advance?

Sebastian snapped you back into reality, asking you would like more soup. You declined politely, saying you were preparing your stomach for dinner. Sebastian started cleaning up the table, and you thanked him for taking your bowl and spoon.

“I know it is going to sound odd, but seriously, Mrs. Stan, you raised an amazing son. He is the sweetest, kindest, most genuine man I have ever met.”

She smiled, looking over at him rinsing dishes and putting them. “He’s always been a good boy, and turned into a good man. And I’m glad he’s treating you well. I’d have to go all mom on him to get him back into shape if he doesn’t.”

“You don’t have to worry about that while he’s in Y/town, for sure, because Mama J has him on a short leash, always checking in on us. Certainly keeps me in line, for sure!” You laughed, started telling more stories about Mama J and how she truly is a wonderful woman, how much she helped you out when you first moved, and how she’s like family to you now.

A few moments later, the clock in the hall chimed, and Mrs. Stan hopped up into action. It was announced that a few more friends and family would be arriving shortly, and you offered to help in the kitchen. It would give you a chance to talk to his mom more, and maybe get some good gossip on him. Sebastian hung out, talking in the living room, as guests started to arrive. The women all worked in the kitchen together, and would roll their eyes at the men in the other room laughing and talking loudly about random topics, usually bragging about things going on that year. The smells of various foods started wafting through the home, and the men would occasionally pop their heads in the kitchen, trying to sneak bites of food from the trays that started lining the counters.

As you were mixing a fruit salad, Sebastian snuck in and hugged you from behind, whispering, “Don’t you look good, being all domestic and getting along well with my family!” He nipped at your neck, feeling the grin of his lips, as his finger snuck down to snag a dollop of whipped cream you were mixing into the salad. You attempted to playfully swat at his hand, but he escaped your plan, smearing it on your cheek. Eyes wide, Sebastian planted a wet kiss on your cheek, slurping the cream off, followed by the crack of a towel being snapped. A quick look over your shoulder showed a smirking Mrs. Stan, towel in hand.

“I said no funny business, young man. Now get out of here, dinner will be ready soon!”

Sebastian scurried from the kitchen, cackling like he just got away with the perfect crime. All the women laughed.

“You’ve got a handful with that one, Y/N. Think you can handle him?” “Such a gentleman, but such a child.” “You are too cute, I remember when my husband and I were that way. He still surprises me like that sometimes now. I think you two will be good for each other.”

You got a dopey grin on your face, cheeks pink with all the comments. Saving you from further embarrassment, Sebastian’s mother announced that dinner was ready, and everyone grabbed a platter to take to the table. Everyone congregated around the table, and Sebastian’s mother said grace. Plates were passed, plenty of food was had. Everyone was in a wonderful mood for Christmas, sharing stories and smiles. Lots of family recipes were represented at the table that evening.

Once dinner had finished, everyone met up in the living room to watch home movies of when the family was younger. Get togethers, events, and random candid moments around the Stan house were shown, including SO many of Sebastian as a child, dancing, singing, and playing. It was his turn to be beet red and a little embarrassed. Plates of pie were passed around as more reminiscing took place.

Finally the children were getting antsy, seeing all of the brightly colored packages under the tree. As the sun went down, the tree was lit, and the youngsters were all tasked with handing out the packages. Everyone had a small pile in front of them, when one of the children handed you a gift that looked like one you had picked up for Sebastian on your shopping trip. The tag clearly had your name on it though. Both Sebastian and you looked at the matching boxes, and each other, with confused faces.

First, everyone opened a package that was labeled as “from Santa,” which was a matching set of pajamas for everyone - a tradition amongst the Stan home. The guests all took turns opening the rest presents to be able to show off the item, and thank the gifter. You opened the present from Sebastian’s folks first, a nice pair of gloves to keep your hands warm, if it got cold while you were in NYC. Sebastian received a warm pair of slippers from his parents. Sebastian’s mom opened her present, which was sweets from the local candy shop that Sebastian raved about, as well as a jar of tomato soup from Mama J, also something Sebastian raved about to her.

The next round, you and Sebastian had eyed the duplicate packages, and decided to open them at the same time. Lifting the lid and the tissue paper, there was even more confusion, seeing the scarf you had picked out for him in your box… AND his.

“Sebastian, what the…?”

“I could be asking the same of you, what the, indeed!”

“I saw it, it was super soft and I thought the color would look good on you.”

“I saw you trying it on in front of the mirror, feeling it up! I thought you liked it!”

“I do! I was contemplating getting a matching one but didn’t want to be that couple.”

The two of you laughed, with some of the other couples smiling at the silly discovery as you put on your matching scarves. More presents were opened, including a small envelope in Sebastian’s pile of an IOU in two parts… one being the little something something from Victoria’s Secret you picked out, and the second part being more public appropriate about something being delivered to the apartment in a couple days to help remember your visit, including a business card from one of his artsy friends. You winked. You opened a present from Sebastian with a shirt he caught you eyeing also while shopping. (Although was actually for you, as opposed to you shopping for him… so he WAS spying on you, even after you told each other you wouldn’t.. That little snot.)

The last round of presents, you didn’t have anymore, but you had opened plenty. You knew you went overboard shopping for Sebastian, but they were all things you knew he’d like. He took your last present, unwrapping the sweater you chose, eyes lighting up as he touched the fabric.

“I love it, baby girl. I’m wearing it tomorrow for sure!” He paused, looking at the tree. “Oh, hey, what is this tiny little package still sitting on the tree? Santa must have hidden it pretty well.” Sebastian hopped up, grabbing a tiny wrapped package from the tree, which looked as though it could have easily been an ornament. Handing it to you, you look with wonder as the wrapping revealed a blue box similar to the one that held the pendant you wore from Tiffany’s at the gala. Fingers shaking as the lid lifted from the box, your breath hitched, and tears started forming in your eyes as you looked up at Sebastian, who was smiling one of the biggest smiles you’d ever seen.

It WAS the pendant from Tiffany’s that you were wearing at the gala.

“Sebastian, I… I don’t even know what to say. You shouldn’t have...” Tears, happy ones, fell from your eyes as he stepped over to you, taking the box from your fingers and delicately took the necklace from the package. You took the scarf off, and he placed the pendant around your neck again.

“Merry Christmas, baby girl.” He kissed the top of your head after he fixed the clasp on the chain.

Wiping your eyes, realizing how it must look, you smiled to everyone, fingering the pendant that laid across your skin. You turned around and hugged Sebastian tight.

“You really shouldn’t have.”

“I’d never seen your eyes light up the way they did when you first put it on, I knew it was meant to be yours.” Sebastian chuckled before receiving a soft kiss. A few whistles and whoops came from the family and friends.

The children were instructed to clean up the paper from the floor, and Mrs. Stan took up residence on the bench in front of the piano that flanked the other side of the room. Everyone gathered round as she began to play various carols, with everyone singing along.

The children grew more quiet as the night went on, which was the cue for the adults to start packing up gifts, and the leftovers that were divvied out amongst everyone. Hugs and talk of meeting up again when you were in the area was mentioned, and you thanked everyone for being so welcoming.

The home was finally empty, with the exception of Sebastian’s mother and the two of you. The two elders of the family went upstairs to get some sleep, but the two of you got changed into your matching pajamas, and came back downstairs to sit on the sofa next to the remnants of the fire in the fireplace, the tree still glowing. Sebastian turned on more home movies, telling you about where and when and who was all involved in them. You shared a blanket, curling up with him as you relaxed into the feeling of his chest rising and falling as he breathed, and the vibrations you’d feel when he’d speak and laugh.

“Did you have a good Christmas, baby girl?”

“I did. Sorry I’m making you wait on a couple gifts, one isn’t ready quite yet, and the other, well, you know what you mom said. We must be good children while in her house.” You smiled, winking up at Sebastian.

“It just makes Christmas that much longer, which I am completely fine with.” Sebastian hugged you tight. “So, how about we go upstairs and go make out in my bed some more?”

“What did I just say about what your mom said?”

Sebastian laughed, letting you stand up to fold up the blanket. After shutting off the lights, the two of you headed upstairs. You tucked him in, in his own bed, and kissed him good night before heading to your own room, falling asleep hard.

If it weren’t for your phone blooping with messages, you probably would have slept a few more hours. Y/F/N wanted to know how Christmas went, so you sent a photo of your necklace.

“Isn’t that the one you wore to the gala?”

“Yes. He spoiled me. He shouldn’t have. But I love it. I cried in front of everyone.”

“Did you give him the other gift yet? (eyebrow wiggle emoji)”

“Not yet. Waiting until we get home. His mom has a pretty strict rule about no nookie under her roof. Gotta respect that right now! Speaking of which, probably should head downstairs for breakfast. Don’t want to be a rude guest. Hope you had a good Christmas… I have your present waiting!”

You ran downstairs in your pajamas, Mrs. Stan commenting how lovely you looked in them. Sebastian was apparently still upstairs snoozing away. You felt bad that you had overslept (it was nearly 8:30am, meant to be downstairs around 7:30am), but she insisted you were fine.

“I’ve learned that boy sleeps in here at home for some reason, and I’ve also learned to not start breakfast until I hear him moving about upstairs. Can I get you some coffee or tea? Juice?”

Accepting some coffee, the two of you chatted for awhile. Finally about an hour later, Sebastian came downstairs, sleepy-eyed, and apparently ravenous. He helped his mother make breakfast, insisting you sit, as you sipped your coffee and continued conversations. Everyone ate, and you helped Sebastian with the dishes afterward.

Noting the time, Sebastian grabbed his phone and ordered up a ride to show up in a couple hours to pick the two of you up and to head back home. You finished helping his mother clean up the place after all the guests had been through in a wild tornado of a holiday, thanking her for the hospitality.

“Don’t be a stranger! If you ever need anything while you’re out here, always feel free to call me,” said as she grabbed your phone to put her number in it.

You smiled and nodded, hugging her tight as Sebastian came in from the living room, saying the car would be there in half an hour. Running upstairs to quickly pack, Sebastian followed in hot pursuit, shutting the door behind you, kissing you deeply, pinning you to the door as his lips slid along yours, tongue slipping past your lips.

“Had to get that last one in before we left, didn’t you?” You smirked at Sebastian, who ran back to his room with the cheesiest grin on his face.

Meeting him back downstairs, with bags in tow, his mother handed you a bag with leftovers, and both his stepfather and her hugged you tight.

“Remember what I said, you’re always welcome here. And keep working on that Romanian, next time we speak ONLY Romanian!” She laughed heartily, reminding you of Sebastian’s laugh.

You nodded, thanking everyone again, and saying you’d see them again soon.

The car arrived, and after packing the items in the back, the two of you waved before hitting the road again.

“So uh, do I get a little preview of part one of my present?”

“Nope. You just will have to be patient. I did get a text though that part two is being delivered this afternoon, so I hope you like that as well.”

The rest of the trip was spent chatting about everything that went on, explaining how everyone was related/knew each other, and what the plans were for the rest of the day. A few whispers were shared about how if Seb had been on Santa’s good list, he probably would end up being on his naughty list for next year after talking about the other present.

Upon arrival at Sebastian’s building, there was a note in his mailbox to pick up a package at the desk. A parcel, wrapped in brown paper and twine, was waiting. You smiled to yourself, reminding yourself to text your new colleague after he opened it to make sure he loved it. Keeping true to his word earlier in the week, the two of you kissed, with many items still in hand, as the elevator went to his floor.

After getting inside his apartment, you went to the kitchen to start putting the leftovers in the fridge.

“Someone is going to have to work a little harder this week with Don, I do believe.” You smirked putting the pie in the refrigerator.

“Someone should come with me tomorrow morning. Not that you need to, don’t get me wrong baby girl, I just want you to be there. Should be a fun day.”

You gulped, but swallowed your nerves down. “Uh, um, okay. What time?”

“7:30. We’ll go to bed early tonight.” He winked.

You knew there wasn’t going to be a lot of sleep tonight, depending on how well your last present goes over.

Speaking of presents…

“So babe, can I open this package? This is it, right?”

“Yup. Go ahead.”

Untying the twine, and removing the brown paper, he found an ornate frame, containing the photo of the two of you he said he liked a few days earlier. The frame itself was gorgeous, hand painted, but mixed well with the surroundings of his apartment. It was Sebastian’s turn to have his eyes get a little wet, pulling you into a tight embrace.

“It’s perfect, my queen,” he whispered, heading toward the bedroom with it in hand. He placed it on the dresser, where he could see it from pretty much any angle in the room, but most important, from the bed. “I will look at it before I go to sleep, and other than my alarm clock in the morning, it will be the first thing I look at there. I love it, really love it.”

You smiled and hugged him tight from behind. “I’m glad.”

To make up for that lack of getting to share a bed at Sebastian’s family’s home, the two of you fell asleep for an early afternoon nap. After a couple of hours, Sebastian woke you up saying it was nearly dinner time. While you noshed on leftovers, Sebastian got back on the healthy wagon, and had chicken and veggies.

He also had a piece of pie as you watched a movie on Netflix before heading to bed, when he got to unwrap his last Christmas present that came from Victoria’s Secret. He very much enjoyed that one as well. In fact, your lessons in Romanian began that evening, and you were pretty sure they weren’t words that should be used in public.

Let’s just say there wasn’t a lot of sleep that night, and you both looked exhausted catching your Uber to the gym.

PART 8

TAGS: @dawn121, @sceaterian, @pennyroyalcreep, @karollbey, @discophony, @imamoose, @skatinginpr0gress, @bluebrrn, @goldwanderer, @alistair-honeywell

#sebastian stan x reader #holidays with the fam #opening presents #IHICHI

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antihero-writings · 3 years

Text

Before it Kills You Too (Ch2 Snippets)

Fandom: Lore Olympus

Chapter Summary: When Hera gets into a car accident after a fight, Zeus has a moment to ruminate on their relationship.

Written using the song “Wait” by Maroon 5 as a prompt.

Character Focus: Zeus

Please note!!

This is the previous Ch2 snippet I posed + a new snippet (the new snippet starts with “I understand you want to see her”)

I’ve been having trouble with this chapter for a very long time, so, even though I’ve never done this before, I’m thinking continuing to post snippet-by-snippet is perhaps the only way I’ll successfully finish this fic.

Thanks again SO much to those who support this fic and want to read more!! The fact that you want to read more really does mean the world to me!!

I’d really appreciate it if you could leave a comment and/or reblog!!! I’m not kidding when I say that makes my week!!

Tagging some folks who said they were interested! @jayyy007 @autumnmoon21 @sunsetsofanemoia, @lynnie51

And please do let me know if you’d like me to add you to a taglist for this fic, or message you when new snippets/the next chapter come/s out!!

Chapter 2 Snippets 1 & 2:

Hera was standing in the crowded meadow, surrounded by her friends, laughing that girly little giggle full of sunshine that just about made Zeus’ heart ooze in a puddle out of his chest.

Her blue dress made her eyes look like two shimmering sapphires.

“Have I seen her in a dress that color?” Zeus inquired excitedly from behind the bushes.

“How can we know what you’ve seen?” Aidoneus muttered. “With you creeping around, you might have seen her naked for all we know.”

Zeus punched him in the arm, (lightly).

“I don’t think she’s worn a dress that color!” Posiedon bubbled.

“Thank you, Posiedon. At least someone can answer a question.”

“I think she looks like the sea on summer day.” He put his hands on his face, them sliding slowly.

Zeus eyed him. “Alright, keep it in your toga, Little Green Man.”

“Should we really be here?” Aidoneus muttered. “We weren’t invited.”

“Oh come on,” Zeus stood up, putting his hands on his hips. “Who wouldn’t want to see the King of the gods here?”

Poseidon grinned and stood up behind his brother. “No one!”

“Hestia, Demeter… assorted sane people.” Hades muttered as he stood to follow.

“If that’s sanity I’m glad I’m insane.” Zeus trilled as he strutted up to the entrance.

A cute pink nymph—(rather well endowed in the chestal region—not that he noticed!)—greeted them at the archway.

“Oh! Zeus!” She flushed and bowed. “It’s an honor. Welcome!”

“Why it’s an honor to meet you, my lady.” He kissed her hand, and she giggled. “See?” he turned to his brothers. “They’re delighted to have us.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling.” Hades muttered.

Hera was closer now; she smelled like summer, and she looked like it too. Poseidon was right about the ocean thing; she practically shimmered as she spoke with her friends.

“I’m gonna go talk to her.”

“Wait—!” Hades was soon swallowed by the crowd.

Zeus scooched behind her at lightning speed. One by one her friends began to take notice, their eyes widening.

Hera took a step back and would have tripped in surprise if he hadn’t caught her.

“Careful there, you might fall, Birthday Girl.”

“Oh, Zeus!” She looked up at him, the back of her head hitting his chest, “hi!”

That golden smile.

“I made you something!” As she spun to face him, he produced a little carving of a bird from his pocket. (And, no, he didn’t make it).

“Oh!” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, gently taking it from him, “It’s beautiful!”

All his responsibilities and stresses melted away with the sight of that smile, and he forgot there was anyone else at the party…in the world.

(…He wished he saw that smile anymore.)

Zeus’ chair was spinning empty at his desk before his assistant could say another word—

And Olympus wept, distant peals of thunder rending the sky into pieces.

Lightning crackled and cackled through his hair, creating violet tracks through the air, as Zeus sped through the sky.

It was freezing, and people were staring, but he didn’t care.

All that mattered was getting to his wife.

“My you look stunning.” Zeus sidled up behind his wife, running his fingers gently along her arm. “Is that a new dress?”

“New as that girlfriend of yours.” Hera grunted.

His eyes widened with shock, his voice with an indignant undertone to it. “Is something wrong?”

She paused a moment. He could see words fluttering behind her lips—(like they did so often, too often)—the words Yes you did something wrong, how can you not know?

He knew she wouldn’t believe him when he said he didn’t mean to hurt her.

“You weren’t invited,” she said softly.

“Not invited? Me?” He put his hand to his chest, like the thought of him ever not being welcome to somewhere was absurd. “To what?”

“The party, you nitwit!” She whirled around, her hair nearly whipping him in the face. “You just came barging in like you owned the place!”

“Well…to be fair—”

He stopped short at the look in her eyes, like two blue-hot flames.

He knew it was taking her a great amount of effort not to slap him.

“Do you know how long I’d been preparing for that?! How long it took me to get everything just right? I told you, but you never even listened, did you? And then you just barged right in!”

“Why are you so upset? What’s so important about a party?!”

“Bunny, wait!” His tone was softer too.

He wished she’d just turn around. That he could say sorry.

Was it really so hard? He should have started there.

Had he ever apologized for that?

He was always doing that; barging in where he wasn’t welcome. The world was his, yes but…he had to concede there were some parts of it he ought not just barge in on.

When he burst into the hospital, however, they wouldn’t dare tell him he wasn’t invited, wouldn’t dare tell him he couldn’t see her.

“Where. is my. wife?” Lightning slammed into a lamppost just outside the front door, shattering its glass box, and making the light spark, the rain pounding at the window like rabid dogs.

The desk clerk looked like she was about to pee out of sheer fear.

Surgery? He wanted to demand. She’s the queen of the gods, how could she be in surgery?

But there were some places he ought not just barge in on… and the surgeons room was probably one of them.

He could have that kid for breakfast if he wanted.

Instead he settled for a nice glare, and reached over to pick up last month’s—(or maybe it was a few months ago)—issue of “Goddess weekly” listening to the rain die down to a drum.

—Someone was laying next to him, her skin smooth, practically glowing. There was rather a lot of it exposed.

She turned over, her eyes fluttering open, a small smile creasing her features as she rolled onto his chest, tickling his chin with her fingers.

“I had a wonderful time,” she twittered, and he practically purred, staring into those big blue eyes, glittering like river stones.

He pushed her green hair behind her ear.

“Is that all? I’d like to think a night with the King of the gods would be more than merely ‘wonderful.’”

She giggled. “No no, it was much more than wonderful! It was spectacular! Mind-blowing!” She threw her arms in the air.

“That’s more like it.” He grinned—

When was that again? Two years ago, or two days ago?

It could have been either.

Had he apologized for that?

Would it have mattered if he had? Would she have forgiven him? Would he have stopped?—

Bile rose in his throat, and he dove his nose so hard into the magazine he almost smacked himself with it.

How many times had it been now?

He threw the magazine back on the table and sank in the chair till his head was nearly on the bottom cushion, his lip flapping his he blew out a breath, making his hair fly up a little.

The kid and his mom got called, and seemed glad of a reason to leave.

After a healthy dose of moping he pulled out his phone. After checking fatesbook and playing a few games he decided it was time to open his messages.

He didn’t want to be alone. He wanted some sensible and non-conjugal company.

He scrolled through and clicked on a name.

A number of old conversations sprinkled the page, often detailing Zeus asking about getting together and the correspondent saying they were busy.

He thought a moment about what to say—(a rare occurrence for him)—before deciding any vague requests would probably get ignored, so he simply decided the boldfaced truth:

Hera’s been in a car accident. She’s in surgery.

“WHAT?!” The word was spoken aloud—and very loudly at that.

Hades was standing in front of him. If the king being here wasn’t enough reason for weird looks, this outburst had sent more than a few eyes their way.

Zeus did a finger wave at the nymph, before he grabbed his brother’s arm, whisking him off to a less crowded hallway.

The only thing here was a vending machine, and a few overly picturesque pictures of trees.

“How did this happen?!” Hades shout-whispered.

Notes: The part I’m most stuck on is the conversation between Zeus and Hades. We rarely see Zeus being real and emotional with people...so I’m really struggling where to go with that with little to nothing to base it on. If you have any ideas for that, or think you can help, feel free to DM me!!

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