#you can see the outline of the blue heart from side b clearly but you have to look super close to see the rest of side a's yellow

[crystalpallette]

way back when they'd first announced the lovestruck marle and sharp-suited squares quest alts, I was possessed and drew these in about a day and a half. and then I immediately went to get them made as double-sided acrylic charms- so side a is classic marle and squares, and then side b is dark marle and squares's 7* uncap because why the hell not? anyway they finally arrived and I could not be more stoked aren't they so cute.

#puyo puyo #my stuff #marle #squares #yes marle did give squares the salty chocolates in side b lmao. i thought of the idea and couldnt pass it up #also fun fact: if you look really closely the yellow heart above marle in side a wasn’t fully whited out in the back #you can see the outline of the blue heart from side b clearly but you have to look super close to see the rest of side a's yellow #when they sent these to me for proofing i didnt pick up on that at all since the proof was on a white background #but live and let lie or however that goes #its still super cool to have anyway lmao. itll replace my previous personal art charm on my bag #and i cant wait to field the exactly zero questions ill get about it bc who's gonna be trying to identify the dudes on my bag lmao

[outerbankswriting]

Innocent (JJ x Reader)

Description: The reader and JJ get high together and the sexual tension is too much... (again.. I suck at the descriptions just read the request instead)

Request: can you maybe make a concept where the reader and jj are high from smoking. sexual tension clearly being settled and the reader is like an innocent girl and jj wants to take that away from her. so jj starts to tease and kiss her neck and the reader starts to moan and get wet

warnings: drugs

INNOCENT

You were never like this, but you didn’t regret it a bit.

When you gave in to Kiara’s endless petitions for you to meet her Pogue friends, you were clearly not expecting to meet the one guy who would change your life completely.

JJ Maybank.

Ever since you and JJ became close friends, you’d forgotten about your comfort zone.

You were constantly joining him and the rest for their crazy Pogue adventures, going to parties outside of Figure Eight, getting wasted as hell and not sleeping at home for a whole week (of course you had to lie to your parents about it and say you were staying with Kie when in reality you stayed at John B’s place with the rest).

After all, you were a Kook and the Pogue lifestyle was all new to you, but JJ never failed to make you feel as if you’ve been a Pogue your entire life.

“Drink this.” A red-eyed JJ insisted as he handed you a red cup.

“What is this?” You furrowed your brows at the sight of the drink.

“Just trust me,”

“Are you sure it’s not poison?” You joked.

“You’re gonna have to find for yourself babe.” He winked at you.

You smelled the liquid inside the cup and gagged. The strong smell of a mixture of alcohol making your eyes water.

“JJ what the hell? What’s in this?”

“Don’t be so innocent,” he laughed at your gagging, “have a little fun with me.”

That had been the first time you’d experienced what having a blackout felt like. 

Of course JJ was there to hold your hair back as you emptied your stomach and he was also outside Kie’s place first thing in the morning with your favourite chocolate and some aspirin to “cure your hangover”, ignoring the scoldings of Kiara for making you get so drunk at last night’s party.

Something about your lack of experience in life made JJ so drawn towards you. He made it his duty to help you “live your best life” and he stood by his word.

JJ never pressured you to do anything you didn’t want to do though, in fact you were the one constantly wanting to hang out with him to forget your boring Kook life. You were tired of having to be the proper girl, always having to look your best and not mess up and JJ was your escape from all of that.

You would also be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t find him attractive. It started as a tiny crush when you laid eyes on him for the first time which later developed into something more than a crush. Your feelings for him grew the more you kept hanging out with him. There was just something about his carefree attitude that infatuated you.

Your friendship with JJ was unusual though, the two of you cared about each other a lot but there was constant flirting involved and you liked the feeling of it.

You liked having your heart speed up whenever you looked at each other that way.

You liked your insides fluttering whenever the two of you accidentally touched.

You liked feeling his toned arms around you whenever the two of you got too drunk and decided to dance.

And he knew you liked it.

You were hanging with the Pogues at John B’s place after a long and tiring day at the beach. You were feeling confident with yourself with your tanned and exfoliated skin from the sand, wearing your favourite orange bikini and your hair loose and surprisingly soft after some hair mask Kie made you wear.

John B was playing some music while Pope and JJ were mixing alcohol and sodas making some weird alcoholic mixture.

“Don’t you dare drink more than 3 cups of your weird mix tonight.” Kie warned Pope who was already gulping down his first drink.

“Relax Kie,” JJ said as he poured you a drink, “and it’s not a weird mix, it’s our elixir of life.”

“Damn right,” John B added and grabbed some of the way too red mix.

“I think your elixir of life will actually make you face death instead.” You said as you remembered that one night you had too much of that mix and spent the whole night at the bathroom.

“Your body just needs to get used to it, that’s all.” JJ winked at you and sat next to you on the sofa.

“I’m not planning on having a blackout tonight, thank you.” You smiled innocently at JJ as you denied the drink he was handing to you.

“So you’re not drinking tonight?” He raised his eyebrow at you before dramatically pouting.

“I’m not really feeling it.” You pouted back.

“Hmm,” he jokingly scratched his chin, “how about some weed?”

“Only if you join me.” You grinned at him, his eyes instantly lighting up.

“I could never turn down such an offer.” He smirked and turned his head towards John B’s backyard.

The two of you went outside and walked a little further from John B’s place so you could be out of sight from the rest. Once you found the perfect spot where no one would bother you, you both sat down on the grass, JJ rapidly taking out the joints and lighting them up while you laid down completely to stare at the stars.

“Hey, hey,” JJ exclaimed, “the only stars you need in your life are right here.”

He handed you a joint and you took a long drag, feeling the hot sensation inside your body.

After the two of you went over your first round, you watched carefully as JJ placed another joint in his mouth to light it up, admiring how hot he looked with the weak flame enhancing his strong jawline and blue eyes.

“So,” he exhaled, his hand slightly touching yours but your heightened sensations making your body shake on his touch, “tell me something.”

“What do you want to know?” You replied as you took another drag.

“What are you into?” He lazily grinned.

“As in,” you paused before grinning back at him, “do I like choking?”

JJ choked on his joint for a few seconds before bursting out laughing, making you follow his actions and laugh with him.

“I was not expecting that,” he said and raised an eyebrow at you, “but do you?”

You felt your insides begin to tingle and a wave of excitement and confidence taking over your body.

“I don’t know,” you intentionally bit your bottom lip, “maybe I do.”

JJ’s eyes widened for a moment before his lips slowly curved into a smile.

“Wouldn’t expect that from a girl like you.”

“A girl like me? What’s that supposed to mean?” You moved a little closer to him.

“You know,” he bit his lip now, “all innocent and shit.”

“I’m not that innocent, you know?” You whispered, smirking at him.

“Hard to believe.” His voice was low and raspy and your hormones were very aware of that.

You raised your eyebrows at him and your outburst of confidence (thanks to the cannabis), made you place your leg over his as you pretended to be unbothered by the tension building up.

JJ’s body shifted closer to yours as he noticed how dangerously close your leg was to his friend down there and you couldn’t help but bite the inside of your cheeks to stop the grin that was trying to escape from your lips.

“Good thing I have nothing to prove to you.” You let the grin out and slightly pressed your leg against his growing bulge.

“I beg to differ,” he whispered as he moved even closer to you, your body practically sitting on his lap.

“Mhm I see,”

You intentionally moved your hair behind your shoulders, exposing your neck and collarbones to him.

“Such a pretty neck,” he softly traced his finger down your neck to your collarbones, sending shivers down your spine, “does it really like to be choked?”

Your heart began to beat faster at his words.

“You’ll have to find out for yourself.” You smirked without leaving his eyes.

You watched as he licked his lips and took a last drag of his joint before putting it out.

“I was planning to.”

You took a deep breath as his soft hair brushed against your skin and the warmth of his mouth covered your neck, leaving wet kisses all over it.

You turned your body towards him to give him more exposure to your neck, wrapping your legs around his hips and pushing your body towards his, feeling his bulge press against you.

He moved his lips from the side of your neck to your collarbones, you felt him gently suck your skin and you immediately knew it was going to leave a mark, but you didn’t mind so you pressed his head closer to your neck.

JJ noticed your desperate moves and moved his lips to your jawline, leaving small and wet kisses all over its outline making a moan come out of your mouth which immediately made his arms grab your hips.

“You like it,” he whispered against your neck and you couldn’t help but grab his face and stare deep into his eyes.

JJ didn’t take long to realise what you wanted and wasted no time to press his lips against yours, slowly but passionately kissing you before your tongues fought for dominance intensifying the kiss.

You moaned against his lips and his hand moved from your hip to the bottom of your bikini, softly tracing over the hem of it, making you breathe harder.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” he whispered against your lips, leaving you breathless and only being able to nod at his command.

It surely was going to be a long night.

--------------

A/N: I LOVED WRITING THIS... sorry for leaving you like this ok I’m not sure if you guys want me to write smut and if you do lemme know so there can be maybe a second part??? 

#jj x reader #jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #jj #rudy pankow #rudy pankow x reader #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x you #jj maybank x y/n #outer banks #outer banks netflix #jj x you #outer banks fanfiction #obx #obx netflix #obx fanfiction #obx imagine

[rina-writes]

Sharing II

Summary: Ethan thinks he has put his romantic feelings aside and is happy to maintain a sexual relationship with you.  Until you stop calling...

Warnings: Angst, Mentions of sex, References to abortion/pregnancy

A/N: The second (and final part) of sharing. Can probably make sense on it’s own, but definitely recommend reading part one. 

After Grayson approached Ethan about his relationship with you, the two didn’t bring it up again.  You two continued to have your “appointments” and then he had to travel.  He was going to New Jersey and then Australia, so he made sure to give you enough loving that would last you both the couple weeks he was gone.  

When he returned to LA, you were the first person he texted. He told himself it was like a drug addiction, not love.  He just needed to feel you, to taste you, purely sexual, no feelings.  You didn’t respond right away which surprised him.  You were always on your phone either doing work or sending stupid videos to your friends.  He didn’t worry about it externally though.  He focused on other things, like cooking and working out.  After three days, he decided to do something he never did before...he Facetime’d you out of the blue.

“Ethan!” You said cheerfully, an arm thrown over your face as you laid in bed.

“Wait...” Ethan smirked.  “Am I up before you? Ms. Early Riser?”

“Everyone is an early riser to you, Ethan.” You laughed.  “Welcome back to LA! How was your trip...or trips, I guess?”

“Great!” Ethan said, unable to stop smiling.  All his anger and frustration melted away.  “I was wondering if you wanted to meet up some time. I...uh...bought a few things we could use in Australia.  They have some toys I hadn’t heard of, and I thought it could open up your horizons.”

“Oh, Ethan, that sounds great.” You smiled, making Ethan blush.  

You had a way of making something so...dirty, sound casual.  It was almost like he just offered to take you to a new cafe. Not chain you to his headboard.

“Ah, but what day is it? The 23rd?”

“Yeah...” Ethan nodded.  “When are you free?”

“Well, I can’t have sex for another week.” You pouted into the camera.  “Doctor’s orders.”

“Are you sick?” Ethan asked, the concern in his voice.

“Oh no, just recovering from my surgery.” Once again you seemed so nonchalant.

“What surgery?” Ethan asked. 

Your eyebrows went up in surprise. “I guess a lot has happened in the last two weeks.  I didn’t want to bother you and didn’t know what your plan looked like in Australia...I guess I never told you.  I got my tubes tied.”

You gave him a thumbs up paired with a Cheshire grin. Normally, Ethan would laugh but this time he stared at you confused.

“Oh, uh, congrats?” Ethan said, with a slight frown.  “Uh, I thought you were on the pill though.”

“Y-Yeah...” You swallowed. “I was, I am...It’s just, the last time we slept together, I was having trouble with the pharmacy.  My insurance changed their birth control coverage and I had to change brands and it wasn’t at CVS....long story short, I hadn’t taken the pill in a month.  After we slept together, I remembered and I kinda freaked so, I got a Plan B.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ethan asked, trying to hide the anger from his voice. “Why would you go through something like that alone?”

“Oh Xander was there!” You said, a relieved sigh as you waved it off. “He took me to and from the surgery as well. Now, there won’t be any problems.”

You winked at him. You frowned when you saw Ethan’s expression getting more and more serious.

“You should have told me!” Ethan yelled, shocking you.

You stared at him wide eyed and sat up slowly, careful not to hurt the incision on your stomach. “Ethan, you know Xander and I don’t want to have kids.  No offense, but I didn’t think I needed to let you know about my family planning.”

“Well, if you got pregnant, it’s my kid...” Ethan argued.  “What if you didn’t take Plan B? Would you have gotten an abortion and not tell me?”

“Ethan, that’s different.” You shook your head.  “Of course if it got that far I would have told you.  Plan B, it’s like taking a week of birth control...it’s not an abortion.”

Ethan didn’t say anything for a moment. He wanted to calm down.  His hazel eyes was looking everywhere but his phone, as his jaw set.  “I feel like...” He paused and finally looked at you, his heart breaking when he saw your sad, confused expression.  “I feel like you should consult me about things involving sex. That’s what WE do together.  I tell you whenever I’m getting tested.”

“I still think this is really different, Ethan.” You nibbled on your lip as you spoke as if trying to soften your voice. “You having an STD, effects me. You and me having a kid, effects all of us: you, me and Xander.  It would complicate everything.  I thought you would be happy. Now, we don’t have to worry about anything.”

Ethan didn’t respond.  You sighed, as you watched him run his hand through his hair and then again and again.  Minutes passed and you finally decided to fill the silence.

“Look, Ethan,” Your face became serious.  “Maybe we should take a break.  Clearly, we have different ideas about what we are doing here.”

“Are you....breaking up with me?” Ethan scoffed.  “We’re not even dating.”

“Exactly...” You forced a smile.  “I’m just suggesting a hiatus.  A sabbatical, to continue to use our appointment metaphor.”

Your voice had a lighter air to it.  The one you used when you were trying to cheer someone up, but you knew that nothing you could say would help.

“Yeah,” Ethan said. “Or maybe we should just end it. Quit.”

“Ethan, come on.  You don’t mean that.” You furrowed your brows.  “I don’t want to be with anyone else.”

“Oh that’s hilarious. You have Xander!” Ethan yelled.  “You have both of us whenever you want! I just have you and then, it’s only 40% of the time.”

You blinked, tears stinging your eyes.  How long had he felt this way? Sure, you realized the situation was...strange, but he knew that going in.  Then again, it would be wrong to say you didn’t see this coming eventually.  You just expected this argument with Xander, not Ethan.

“You’re right.” You agreed.  “As much as I don’t want to end things, I don’t want to hurt you either.  I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel something for you.”

Ethan’s eyes lit up in a way that you didn’t expect.  It took you off guard and you almost lost your train of thought.

“At the same time,” You continued.  “I love my husband.  He is my soulmate. I want you to find yours. I can justify sleeping together, but I can’t hold your heart hostage.”

“Do you love me.” Ethan asked, his voice breaking.

You hesitated, trying to choose your words carefully.

“I cherish you.” You said, leaning closer to the phone. “I cherish you with all my heart.”

Tears rimmed his eyes and he blinked them away.  “That’s not love.”

“Ethan...” Your voice got small.  “Do you love me?”

The expression on his face almost broke your heart into two. So many emotions crossed his face: from his eyes dancing around, his quivering lip, and his tensed brows...you had never seen him like this.

“I don’t want to anymore...” He admitted. “But I know I do.”

“Ethan...” You hesitated.  “We should talk...do you want to come over?”

“Uh I don’t know...” Ethan rubbed his free hand over his face as if trying to wipe away the sad.

“Xander is at work, it’s just me.” You smiled softly, that made Ethan feel comforted, even just for a moment.  “Let’s talk.”

“Okay...” Ethan agreed, returning your smile.

You hung up and texted Ethan your address.  It was at this point that Ethan realized he had never been to your house before.  He glanced in the mirror and smoothed his white-shirt out.  He changed into his slim fitting gray pants and put a beanie on his head.  He stalked out of his room into the kitchen.

“Gray, I’m heading out!” Ethan called to his brother who was sitting in the living room.

“Where you heading?” Grayson asked, as he practiced a headstand.

“Uh, Y/N’s place.” Ethan said, trying to sound nonchalant.

A loud slam resounded in the room as Grayson fell over.  He stood up slowly, wobbling around, as he walked toward Ethan.

“I assumed you ended it with her.” Grayson admitted.  “Since when do you go to her house anyway?”

“I think she’s ending it with me.” Ethan gulped. “She’s just too nice to do it over the phone.”

“I’m sorry, E.” Grayson said, putting a hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

“Let’s talk later. I really want to see her right now.” Ethan sighed.  “I’ll let you know.”

Grayson nodded. Ethan grabbed his keys, got in his car, and put your address in Google Maps on his phone.  He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.  When he pulled in front of your house, a knot developed in his stomach. 

“Ethan!” You called out from the porch, waving.  There was an oversize cardigan wrapped around your shoulders, covering your pajamas. 

Ethan forced a smile and exited the car to walk toward you.  You ushered him in, opening the door for him.

“Welcome, welcome.” You smiled.  “Please have a seat.  Do you want water or something?”

Ethan watched as you hobbled over to the couch, clutching your stomach, guilt washing over him.

“You should sit.” He said, sitting on the couch in an effort to get you to do the same. “You’re still recovering.”

He took your hand and pulled you to sit next to him.  Your eyes met and immediately you leaned into each other to kiss. It was so smooth that it wasn’t until Ethan’s hand landed on your lower back did you tense up and break apart.

“Sorry...” Ethan muttered.

“Force of habit.” You smiled softly.  “Listen, Ethan...”

“Oh god...” Ethan groaned standing up.  You motioned to get up as well, but he shook his head.  “I just need to pace, but you need to rest.”

“Okay...” You agreed, sitting up right with a hand over the bandage covering your incision, the faint outline could be seen on your pajama shirt.

Ethan paced around, looking around your living room.  It looked so mature and lived in.  Photos on the walls, a mounted television, furniture that no one sat on, but looked good to have in the “foyer”. It was a side of you he hadn’t seen before.  Until this moment, you were a woman of his fantasy, wearing whatever costume he bought and engaging in any pillow talk he initiated.  Here, he could see it all. 

“On the way here,” Ethan cleared his throat. “I thought about asking you to leave him.”

Your eyebrows raised in surprise. You opened your mouth to respond, but he cut you off.

“Now, seeing this place, I realize how stupid that is. I mean look at you.” He gestured to the photo collage on the wall of all your graduation photos.  “You went to high school together, college together, graduate school....good God, I can’t compete with that.”

“It’s not a competition!” You argued.  “You fill very different roles in my life.”

“But I want his!” Ethan said, pressing his hands on his chest as he looked at you. “I want his and mine. I want you to be completely mine. I don’t like sharing, okay? I have to share everything with Grayson, but I don’t want to share you.”

You looked down and gathered your thoughts.  You hated this more than anything. 

“I can’t give you that, Ethan.” You responded, finally.  “I know it’s not easy.  I feel like I’m the only one who is okay with this.  It’s eating Xander up inside, I can tell. How would you feel if you escorted your WIFE to the pharmacy to get Plan B and the cashier asks you, ‘Wild night, tiger?’ but you know it wasn’t with you? I don’t know how he felt, I can only imagine...”

“I think I do...” Ethan gave a sad smirk as he shook his head. “My brother saw you with Xander before we left for my trip.  He thought you were cheating on me and I had to explain that you and I, we’re nothing.”

His voice broke at the end and he looked away.

“We aren’t...nothing...” Your voice was soft.  “But, maybe this is too much.  Maybe, we should figure out what we really want, from ourselves, from our relationships and, most importantly from each other.”

“We’re breaking up...” Ethan sighed, forcing a smile despite the tears pooling in his eyes. “I know I said it’s not the same, but it hurts just as bad.”

You stood up and hugged Ethan tightly, and the moment your face was buried in his chest the sobs started to roll out of you.  He held you tightly, kissing your temple in a way that made you cry harder.

“I-I don’t want to say goodbye...” You admitted. “But, I can’t hurt you anymore. Not for my own selfish gain.”

“I just want to say it, and please, don’t say anything back.  I’m just going to say it and then leave. It will be over, but I just have to say to your face.”  Ethan took a deep breath and stepped back.

His eyes were red and a little puffy and you sniffled knowing your face probably looked ten times worse.

“I love you, Y/N. Thank you for this.  Thank you for giving me the desire to love someone again and to want to be loved.  God, I wish it could be you, but I’m so grateful to have had you.”

You almost spoke and you had to clamp your mouth shut to stop yourself.  You nodded, starting to cry again and Ethan pulled you into a hug.  He kissed your forehead and repeated I love you for what seemed one thousand times.

“Don’t delete my number okay...” Ethan gave a small chuckle. “...but let’s uh, keep our distance for awhile.”

“Agreed.”  You pulled back to stare at him.  “See you... one day?”

“Yeah, see you one day.” Ethan repeated, looking at you. 

He leaned down to peck your lips softly before adjusting his beanie and walking out your door.  You followed him, still hobbling to catch up and watched him drive off.  You watched until you couldn’t even see his car the size of tiny speck, wondering if you made the right decision.  You knew you would live with “what-ifs” forever, but you knew one thing, that you would never regret falling in love with two men.  You would only regret not telling one of them.

#ethan dolan #ethan dolan blurb #ethan dolan imagine #ethan dolan scenario #dolan twins #dolan twins blurb #dolan twins imagine #dolan twins scenario #fic-sharing #r-writes-fic

[lirusstories]

Run Boy Run- Chapter One: A Safe Place

(Word Count: 5,301)

A/N: FUCKIN FINALLY

        Anti got into another fight with Jackie today. It wasn’t his fault, he didn’t mean to hurt Chase. The dad just snuck up on him and he just glitched. It wasn’t like Anti knew he wasn’t a threat, he had no idea Chase was even there! He just glitched and accidentally burned him. It wasn’t even that bad, Marvin fixed him up pretty quickly anyway. But apparently that wasn’t good enough for Jackie, he still yelled at Anti and thankfully only managed to get a single shove in before JJ jumped between them. Anti took that distraction to quickly slip from the kitchen and run up to his room, grab the hoodie he nicked from Marvin’s room a while back, it used to be a cloak until he put it on. 

        It has a glamour on it that works best when the hood is up, but thankfully when it’s down he can just pass for a cosplayer. Anyway, Anti threw on the hoodie, grabbed his phone and quickly glitched out as fast as he could through his laptop, which is how he is here now. He’s been going here for the past few weeks after finding it by accident. Well more like he was drawn to it and after a really bad fight with Jackie he finally decided to see the place he was drawn to. It’s night time here when it’s day time over in Brighton though, so right now the place is lit with fairy lights. 

        It’s a walkway that leads to a small park, with the only thing being a double swing set, a small pond full of fish that glows, he doesn't know how or why but they do. The swing set is in a sand pit that is surrounded by always perfect green grass which in turn, both the walk down to it and the little park itself is surrounded by trees which is where the fairy lights above are connected to and the pathway is just soft grass that was slightly worn from people walking from.

        Speaking of, that was where he appeared. Like always, his bare feet land on the soft grass like every night for the past few weeks. He wore shoes at first, but it just made everything uncomfortable and disconnected. More than the constant feeling of being watched was, it was uncomfortable and almost threatening the first night, but it quickly changed to one of curiosity, before the feeling only happened when Anti arrived and right before he left. But right now all the eyes seem to be watching curiously. 

        ‘I wonder why.’

        Anti shrugs it off, putting on some music on my phone, putting the headphones in his ears before walking down the path. He ignores the feeling of being watched although he is a bit nervous as to why they are before he decides to focus on the mere feeling of comfort this place brought. He gets to the area with the swings sets and pond and begins to walk over but freezes seeing something sitting on one of the swings that was wrapped in cloth. From where he stood he can smell warm chocolate chip cookies.

        His stomach growls, reminding him that he hasn't eaten in almost a day. He walks over seeing a note on it. Picking it up and his stomach drops a little reading it.

        To the man who visits my swings every night, I made you some cookies. Hope they taste good!:)

        Confused and Anti looks back down at the, apparently, cookie filled bundle of cloth and quickly opens it. The smell is absolutely divine, like walking into your house after a stressful day and seeing a batch of freshly baked cookies waiting on the table for you, made by someone you love. He quickly picks up the bundle sitting down and sets it on his lap as he sits down, nearly ripping out the headphones when they get in the way and shoving them into the pocket of the sweatshirt with his phone.

        He grabs one, bringing it up to his mouth and immediately takes a bite and proceeds to moan in delight. 

        ‘This is the best cookie I've ever had, and it’s still warm.’ He doesn't even register that the person who left them might still be around. I probably eat around four of them when the breeze grows noticeable, picking up excited whispers. I look around slightly confused, knowing the whispers are coming from. They didn’t feel bad or anything, if anything it felt almost comforting. 

        ‘Christ, how fucked up to I have to be to find strange whispers coming from a dark forest comforting.’

        He quickly wipes his mouth of any melted chocolate and crumbs with his sleeve and stops slightly as he faintly hears the sound of someone walking barefoot on grass. Straining his ears, he tries to hear where they’re coming from over the whispers before they suddenly stop.

        “Hello.” A feminine voice speaks from behind him.

        Anti jumps slightly, nearly knocking the cookies off his lap and snaps his head towards the voice. He freezes seeing the woman behind it. First thing first, she was tall, six foot at least. She has natural tan skin and long, and he means long, it looks like it would be at her heels if it wasn’t braided, golden blonde hair that has what looks like actual gold highlights. A soft and comforting face that he can’t help but find familiar, Midnight Blue eyes that shine with mystery and a small amused but kind smile.

        “I see you got the cookies.” She cocks her head to the side slightly as Anti’s face flushes red at the realization that he probably stared at her for a full minute. She giggles slightly walking to the second swing and he can’t help but follow her with his eyes, trying to find out why she seems so familiar.

        “Who are you?” He blurts out as she sits down. She looks surprised for a second before her face falls back into the kind but amused smile.

        “My name is Liru, I own this place.” She answers patiently, like she expects him to interrogate her or something. He quickly looks down at his lap feeling her eyes on the side of his head.

        “I hope you like the cookies.” Anti nods a bit, not wanting to look at her, not only embarrassed from getting caught but also from nerves, worried that she might try and hurt him or at the very least yell, like a normal person would.

        “What's your name?” He freezes slightly but refuses to answer, not wanting to risk the glamour breaking. He quickly stands up and sets the cookies down on the swing before saying,

        “S-sorry for intruding, I’ll leave now.” He fights back any glitches and quickly goes to walk down the path before she stops him.

        “You don’t have to leave sweetie, anyone who comes to a little swing set at night, six miles from the nearest road and maybe twenty or so from the nearest town, every-night for the past few weeks is clearly needing to get away from something.” He freezes, wondering A. where the fuck he is and B. why the hell she’s letting him stay when he’s been trespassing. Jackie would have beat the shit out of him if he caught Anti going into his room let alone his property, and especially every night for the past four weeks.

        He looks at her, confusion painted over his face while she just smiles sweetly before seeming to think for a minute.

        “Actually, how about you come with me.” She says in a light tone, standing back up with a bounce. Anti jerks back in surprise, feeling more confused than anything.

        “W-what?” He asks when he finally finds his voice, his heart racing in his chest as he suddenly feels rather shy. She smiles kindly walking over to him.

        “I have plenty of warm food waiting at home and you obviously don’t want to go back to wherever it is you came from.” His heart jumps to his throat just as his stomach growls causing any denial and declination to die. She just gives him a kind look, her features soft with a small smile and slightly raised eyebrows.

        “Come with me.” She pushes a warm bundle into his hands and he instinctively takes it, looking down he sees it’s the bundle of cookies.

        ‘When did she grab these?’ as far as he knows she hadn’t even reached over to grab them. She begins to walk down the path and after looking after her for a few seconds, debating, he quickly follows after her. He hears a small sound of satisfaction from her that he might not have picked up if he didn’t have enhanced hearing. 

        Looking over her form, he notes that she isn’t wearing shoes but she is wearing black shorts with little white stars all over them and a black sweatshirt that he noticed hung off her shoulders and a little white outline of planets on it. He also noticed the way her hair is braided is like she had to have someone else braid it. His heart jumps to my throat at the thought of some else being there. 

        ‘I mean I shouldn’t even be going with her but there's just something… familiar, about her.’ He tries not to stir in the feeling, it reminds him too much of his bro-... the others. He decides to break the quiet, beginning to become irritated at the static in his head getting louder the static sound like someone telling him to leave.

        “So do you live with anyone?” He tries to keep his voice even but when she looks back at him slightly he can feel my mouth go dry. She smiles softly which relaxes him a little bit before she looks back ahead.

        “Nope, just me.” He tilts his head slightly a bit at that but doesn't press further. They walk in silence for a few more minutes before a rather large manor comes into view. It seemed to be made out of just wood, stone, the occasional metal and the glass in the windows. Not to mention the giant ass garden that was full of plants and flowers that Anti couldn’t tell you what they were for the life of him.

        She giggles and he quickly snaps his attention to her, noticing she was a bit further away but turned to him.

        “Come on, if you want I can show you the garden another time. For now dinner.” She states with a wave of the hand to follow her before she turns back towards the manor and continues walking. He looks back at the garden, her offer ringing in my head. 

        ‘I might take her up on that offer.’ He’s always loved plants and animals and the thought of learning about more excites me a little. 

        Anti quickly shakes himself out of his thoughts and quickly jogs after her until he’s a few feet behind her, not wanting to get too close and make her uncomfortable. He looks around noticing that there were lighting bugs fluttering around the flowers that lead up the walkway to the door and the feeling of familiarity only seems to increase. She opens the door and steps aside and the smell of roasted meat and potatoes and cookies fills the air. His face turns a fiery red as his stomach growls and even more so when she chuckles.

        “Come on in. And if you want you can take off your sweatshirt if you want, it’s kinda warm in here.” He walks into the house just shaking his head a little and notices that the inside is light rather dimly.

        “How come it’s so… dim?” He asks as she closes the door behind him.

        “I’m not a fan of bright lights at night, hurts my eyes and irritates the cats.” He perked up a bit at that.

        “You have cats?” Anti can’t help the excitement from creeping into his voice as he looks at her. She just smiles fondly, walking down the hallway, Anti close behind, before responding.

        “Yup. Two, A black and white Norwegian forest cat named Izzabella and a white ragdoll named Marvin.” He stumbles over his feet a bit, slapping a hand to his mouth trying and failing to hold back laughter. She stops turning to him with an eyebrow raised.

        “Something funny?” He quickly stops, cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

        “O-oh, uh n-no, it’s just uh, you see, one of my b-brother’s names is Marvin, a-and he’s known to a-act like a-a cat.” Marvin’s disgusted face flashes his mind from the time he tried to remind him that we’re brothers or, well, supposed to be. 

        She relaxes again before turning around and saying in a sweet high-pitched voice,

        “Babies!” which is quickly followed by the sound of two tinkling bells, one moving erratically and approaching quickly while the other soft and approaching at a normal speed, for a cat at least. Within seconds he sees a white blur launch itself at her which she catches readily as it begins letting out loud purrs. He looks at it a bit surprised with what it just did but melts a little seeing how small it was.

        It was extremely fluffy and white and had it’s head buried under her chin and had it’s paws on either side of her neck as if trying to hug her. She giggles petting it’s back while it proceeds to purr louder at the affection.

        “This little guy is Marvin, the cat obviously.” He goes to say something but freezes when something rubs up against his legs. Looking down quickly he can see a fluffy black and white cat with stunning green eyes and a gold ring around them looking up at him purring loudly. He looks at the cat confused and also rather joyful but he tries not to touch it. He doesn’t want to scare it off.

        “That’s Izzabella. She wants you to pet her ya know?” He snaps his attention to her and sees her watching him with a smile with her tongue poking through her side teeth and the white cat watching me with curious green eyes with a golden ring around it’s pupils. The cat below him lets out a squeaky meow before pawing at his leg. He looks down at it and after a few seconds he leans over and lets her stiff his hand before she begins rubbing against his palm.

        Anti melts at the sight and begins to pet the cat's head a bit cautiously, still worried he might scare her. Liru makes a sound of approval as she sets the white cat down with a small smile on her face, glad that two of her familiars seem to have warmed up to the almost familiar stranger so quickly.

        “Come, while the food is still warm.” The green haired man looks up at her just as she begins to walk down the hallway. He quickly scratches behind Izzabella’s ear before getting up and quickly following after her down the hallway. 

        ‘She has a lot of interesting things.’ He thinks as they pass by a painting of a large and unnerving familiar castle surrounded in what looks like miles of some type of garden. She takes him to a large living room connected to a dining room that looks like that could fit all of the septics, and then some. And it looks like the comfiest place he’s ever seen and all the seats look soft enough to fall asleep on and the lighting is nice with fairy lights lining the ceiling. Looking at the rather big T.V. he can see a YouTube video paused, it looks like some Steven Universe song.

        Anti watches as she goes over to a remote sitting on a coffee table and unpauses the song.

        “I hope you don’t mind the music. It’s a bit difficult for me to do much without it.” She informs him as the familiar sound of “It’s Over, Isn’t It” begins to play.

        “I don’t mind. I’m usually the same way anyway.” She smiles as she sets the remote down and walks over and he barely notices how her hand seemed to twitch towards her stomach area. She leads him over to a decent sized round wooden table, probably big enough to fit six or so people around it.

        “Sit in any spot you like…” She pauses as she begins to walk to the kitchen but stops in the doorway.

        “I just realized that I never got your name.” She turns to Anti with an almost sheepish smile. He look at her a bit confused, remembering that she did ask him- 

        ‘Oh. I forgot to tell her.’ His face begins to turn red with embarrassment before answering,

        “I-It’s Anti- I mean!” FUCK! She cuts him off with a small laugh before he can scramble to find a fake name.

        “It’s alright sweetie, if that's your preferred name then you don’t have to tell me any other.” She has a soft smile as she looks at him and his heart jumps to his throat at the familiar nickname. She turns and walks into the kitchen while he sits at a random spot at the table while trying to figure out why she just seems so familiar. Putting his head in his arms on the table, he listens to the sound of her moving around the kitchen and putting stuff on plates, noticing that she's just barely singing a song different than to the one that was playing.

        He doubts he would have even heard it if he was human. Closing his eyes and trying to focus on the lyrics but the only thing he can pick up is, “And disappear in the trees.”

        Something flashes through his mind, someone with blonde hair like the sun and kind blue eyes singing down to… him? For some reason they look like Liru but with what are most likely multiple soul-marks on her face. His throat closes up as I recognize Marvin’s on her forehead the same place as it is on JJ and Jackie’s on her right cheek beneath her eye, covering most of the scar that went up her cheek from under her jaw. Anti knows that one is Jackie’s because it’s on the back of JJ’s left hand and for some reason, he doesn’t know why, told him.

        He can see her mouth moving and focusing, he can faintly hear her singing. Thinking it’s the same one that Liru was singing if the tune was anything to go by.

“Tomorrow is another day

And you won't have to hide away.”

        She brings up his(?) hand to her mouth as he realizes that their fingers are intertwined, and presses a few kisses to his(?) knuckles before setting their hands down on his(?) stomach. And for some reason, instead of feeling flustered or disturbed like he knows he should when someone he doesn’t know does something like that, he just feels content.

“You’ll be a man, boy!

But for now it’s time to run, it’s time to run!”

        She looks like she’s going to keep singing but he’s suddenly yanked from… whatever that was by the sound of loud and malicious, distorted hissing in his ear. Anti jumps opening his eyes and jerking back in his chair just as the door to the kitchen opens and Liru walks out with a plate of food for him and a glass of water. She stops seeing his distress as the two cats rub against her leg before looking at the startled and disturbed man.

        “Is everything okay honey?” She walks over quickly and sets his food and water on the table in front of him, looking down at him concerned. She goes to put a hand on his shoulder before stopping herself and putting it back at her side. Anti nods a bit shakily before forcing himself to calm down somewhat.

        “I-I’m fįņe.” His voice almost glitches when he sits normally, clearing his throat trying to pass it off as a voice crack.

        “You sure?”

        “Yeah.” He says, voice clearer this time as he nods his head. “I’m fine, just thought I heard something. She looks at him still worried as the cats sit at either side of him and watch him.

        “Well, if you're sure.” She smiles a little again but also becomes a bit more concerned when his stomach growls again. When's the last time he ate?

        “Well help yourself, don’t be afraid to ask for seconds, I made plenty of food. And,” she looks at the cats who are purring up at him with their best kitten faces, “Don’t give them anything, they’ve already had their share.”

         He nods rather eagerly, almost causing his hood to fall as she turns and walks back into the kitchen to grab her own food as Anti happily and hungerly digs in. She comes back about a minute later with her food and some water and sits across from him, noting with a light frown on how he’s wolfing down his food. She puts on a smile as he looks up at her and she resists the urge to peek through the scarily familiar magic surrounding him, hiding his identity.

  ��     “Well I'm glad you like it honey.” He ducks his head a little hiding an embarrassed blush. 

        “By the way about your name,” He tenses just as he goes to take another bite. “It’s from that Jacksepticeye guy, right?” He relaxes a little, taking the help with the lie as he nods shyly.

        “Um, yeah, yeah. Do you watch him?”

        “From time to time. It’s nice to hear a familiar voice every now and again.” He looks at her a bit confused and the sound of Jack laughing fills his head along with the image of what has to be him sitting on the woman's lap while she has a happy grin on her face flashes through his mind before fading within seconds.

        “Do you know him?” She fumbles a little with her fork as she realizes what she said and quickly responds,

        “No, but my kids would watch him a lot.” His head snaps up to her shocked. She has kids?!

        “You have kids?!” he exclaims in shock, she cannot be older than twenty-three. She pauses for a second before nodding and eating a bite of her food.

        “I have five, but only two of them are biological.” Anti had nearly choked at that.

        “How old are they?” He asks his voice filled with disbelief and shock. She gives him a slightly strained smile. It always hurts to talk about them when they’re so far away.

        “Would you believe me if I told you my eldest is nineteen and youngest seventeen?”

        “No.” Is his deadpan answer. She laughs a little at that despite the absence of them literally pulling her soul taut. 

        “Well they are, adopted though the oldest is twenty-one.” He just looks her over confused, not really believing that.

        “How old are you?” She raises an eyebrow at him and he can suddenly see how she is a mom.

        “It’s quite rude to ask a woman her age ya know?” In reality she doesn’t mind but she can’t think of a plausible age off the top of her head without it seeming weird. She’s actually 2,449 but, it’s not like she could tell him that. He looks down at his now empty plate sheepishly at that. She just chuckles softly as she eats a bit more.

        “Would you like some more?” She asks after a few minutes of silence. He jumps at the sudden sound of her voice and quickly looks up at her. She hides a frown, hopping that he was just startled and not scared.

        “O-oh um… sure.” She smiles and gets up and goes and grabs his plate and glass and goes back into the kitchen. She comes back a minute later and sets his food and drink in front of him before going back to her spot and continuing to eat. Anti quickly begins eating his food but at a slower rate as he tries to think about the fact that he should head back soon, and also ignore the cats who were giving him kitten eyes that reminded him a bit of JJ. 

        Once they were both done eating Anti lets out a loud yawn that he quickly tries to stifle. Liru smiles softly and collects the plates and glasses while saying,

        “You’re more than welcome to stay the night if you wish.” He looks at her, more confused than when she offered him dinner as she walks back into the kitchen.

        ‘Why is she being so nice to me?’ As far as he knows people who’ve just met him seem to either loathe him or they’re afraid of him, well, minus JJ and Robbie but doc thinks it’s some form Stockholm syndrome with JJ, but he knows for a fact that's not true. JJ is the only reason Anti is the way he is now, no longer stitched together like patch work to whatever was using him. And Robbie… Robbie’s the newest member of the family, shocked the hell out of everyone when Chase of all people came back with the lilac “zombie” only he’s not a zombie. They don’t really know what he is but he always seems to gravitate towards Jack, JJ or Anti for whatever reason.

        And for some reason he always seems to know when the voice and static start becoming too loud for him to ignore and try and control him again. He always finds him with JJ who at this point no longer needs any convincing to follow him to Anti when he approaches him. Anti snaps back to reality when Liru comes through the kitchen door and both cats get up and bolt over to the couches and hop onto their favorite cushions. She smiles at them before turning her attention to Anti.

        “Would you like to stay tonight? I have a few guest bedrooms or if you want you can sleep on the couch.” She says giving him a look that feels like home. He barely thinks before he’s nodding.

        “Y-Yeah, yeah… I’d like that.” She smiles happily at the answer, she doesn’t know why but she knows she can trust him not to do anything bad.

        “Great! Would you like to sleep in one of the guest rooms or one of the couches?”

        “The couch is fine.” He smiles a bit sheepishly up at her, “I don’t want to intrude more than I already have.”

        “Oh honey you aren’t intruding at all! But if that's what you want I won't argue with it. Just go and choose which one you want to sleep on and I’ll go get you some blankets and pillows.” She gives him one last smile before quickly making her way through the living room and the hallway and disappearing upstairs.

        Anti gets up and pushes his chair in before going over to the couch looking them over before sitting on the softest looking one and practically melting into the cushions. He knows that he should head home, that he really should sleep at a strangers house, especially when they aren’t an ego or anything like that. But he’s just so tired and comfortable that he never wants to leave. He closes his eyes listening to the song that just begins playing as Liru comes back with a few blankets and pillows.

        “Alright then, here you are.” She goes and sets the pile next to him so he can set up his area however he likes. He sits up looking at them before looking up at her.

        “Thank you.” He says in a quiet voice and he looks at the t.v. thats playing the song and she looks as well with a small smile and sings along with the last of Rose’s part.

“I like the way… Human beings play.”

        Anti quickly snaps his attention to her, rather shocked that she’s singing along.

“And I like playing along,

Oh- oo, oh oh, woh oh.”

        She looks at him and giggles seeing the look on his face. He looks away, his face turning a deep red.

        “Goodnight honey, sleep well. You can watch anything you’d like or listen to anything, just turn it off if you leave before I’m up okay?” He nods in agreement and she makes a small sound of satisfaction before going back upstairs, Izzy getting up and quickly following after her while Marvin the Cat stays behind.

        Anti gets up and makes his little makeshift bed, deciding to let the music play to help him sleep. As soon as he’s under the blankets the white cat hops up and lays on his chest and begins to purr. He smiles a little at the cat and reaches up letting it sniff his hand before it rubs its face into his hand. He pets the cat becoming rather tired from the purring that made him feel safe and if he didn’t know any better he’d think the scar was beginning to fade just by the feel of it.

        “Ya know,” He says quietly to the cat who looks at him while he scratches under its chin, “You’re a lot nicer than my brother Marvin, you even seem like you care.”

        The cat looks at him with a confused look and for a second Anti almost thinks he can understand him.

        “Your owner is really nice too. I think that's the first meal that hasn’t been brought to me by JJ or hexed by Marvin. The human obviously,” He pets the cat's head who just stares at him with an almost worried look. “You’re too cute for that anyway.”

        He smiles as he looks up at the ceiling, setting his hand on his stomach and the cat rubs its head against his chin as it sprawls out over him. He smiles a little hoping the blonde wouldn’t mind him coming back as he closes eyes and quickly falls asleep.

        Meanwhile Liru is crawling into bed in an pink satin shirt that used to belong to her Fajrokraĉulo before he died. She takes a shaky breath as she covers herself staring at the ceiling through the dark while Izzy sleeps at the foot of her bed. She normally tries to stay up for at least a couple hours after dinner but the more she’s away from any of her soul-mates the more drained she gets. But it’s not like she’s gonna tell them that. They don’t need to worry about that.

        She closes her eyes, rolling over laying there for a few minutes until she feels the spot next to her dip. She opens her eyes almost immediately at the familiar soul and damn near cries at the sight of her youngest son sitting on his knees next to her in pajamas and his oversized purple and black patch work jacket.

        She moves the covers out of the way and he, just as quickly, crawls next to her and curls into her when she covers them both back up. She pulls him close before he latches to her burying his face into her shirt.

        “I miss them.” Comes his muffled whispers.

        “I miss them too sweetie.” She whispers into his brown and purple hair. They lay like this for a few minutes, both of them beginning to doze off.

        “G’night Mama, I love you.”

        “I love you too, my little Nimbus Cloud. Goodnight.” With that, he dozed off. She watches him for a few seconds before closing her eyes, thinking about what's left of her family and the stranger sleeping on her couch.

Translation:

Fajrokraĉulo = Firecracker

Tags

@kittican

@antis-gauge

@flowers-zombie-rob

@trixie8264

@animallover4000

@i-maybe-exist

@nightanjel

@thegamerbook

@smolbean-pma

@the-chemist

@therealtiger77

@immabethehero

@septicrebel

@protectjj

@littlebitfluffy

@shyan-cannon

@duckyiz

#Liru Sokdere #Jackieboy Man #Marvin the Magnificent #Henrik Von Schneeplestein #Chase Brody #Jack Mcloughlin #Antisepticeye #Jameson Jackson #Robbie the Zombie #Thomas Sanders #Roman Sanders #Remus Sanders #Logan Sanders #Patton Sanders #Janus Sanders #Virgil Sanders #Remy Sanders #Emile Picani #Wilford Warfstache #Mark Fishbach #Darkiplier #Google IRL #Google Red #Google Green #Google Yellow #Eric Derekson #King of the Squirrels #Captain Magnum #Yancy #Illinois

[thegeekyblondegirlwholovesstars]

Coming Home Part Four

Warnings: This part will only go as far as the show does but there will be mentions of the trauma and sexual assault from episode three and descriptions of wounds. 

Hey guys! There are a lot of new people reading this series and I couldn’t be more grateful! I really hope everyone is enjoying it so far, I had a big brainstorming session today and oh boy I’m really hoping that you all will like where I’m going with the story. With that being said, enjoy part four and let me know if you want to be added to the tag list:) 

JJ x Reader 

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3  Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Kie looked back and forth between you and JJ and raised her voice excitedly. “Wait, is this the y/n.” JJ nodded in response, not taking his eyes off of you as he waited for your answer. 

You knelt there in the sand mouth agape with tears still streaming down your face. The wind whipped your hair in front of your face, forcing you to bring your hand up and push it out of the way. As you moved your hair your blinked hard, wondering if this was all a dream. The searing pain from the cuts on your back and the bruises on your wrist told you otherwise. When you opened your eyes again you saw him standing there, you could not believe it. There he was, after all these years, JJ. He hadn’t changed or at least not to you. Yes his voice was deeper and he was significantly taller and stronger than the last time you saw him but something in your heart told you he was still the same JJ that you grew up with. In this moment of pure shock and confusion this feeling brought you the comfort you desperately needed and provided you enough strength to nod and weakly respond, “JJ”. 

“Bug! I can’t believe its you.” JJ came running towards where you and Kie were kneeling in the sand. He opened his arms to embrace you but Kie held out her arm in front of you and gestured for JJ to look at your back. 

JJ’s eyes grew wide and his jaw tensed as he took in the image of your blood soaked shirt. He pointed at your back and looked between you and Kie. 

“Rafe did that?”

You looked up at him with tears in your eyes and nodded while barely managing to hold back a sob. He crouched down so that he was at eye level with you. JJ looked you dead in the eyes, his jaw was still tense but his eyes were compassionate and slightly worried. “Y/n, you’re safe now. I swear to god I am never going to let anything like this happen to you again.” 

At the sight of his unchanged baby blue eyes you became slightly less on edge and were able to breathe somewhat normally for the first time since Rafe had pulled you down off the lifeguard chair. Moving for the first time since before he called your name you threw your arms around him and whispered in his ear, “I thought I’d never see you again.” 

When you pulled away from the hug you could still see the worry in JJ’s eyes due to your still bleeding back and various bruises but he grinned and uttered, “Well here I am, live and in the flesh.”

Only JJ could make you giggle when things got dark. This moment proved that. 

“Y/n, we really need to get you to the Chateau and clean you up. I’m really worried about your back, that does not look good.” said Kie softly as she stood up, taking the gold and string bracelets you held in your hand.  

You tried to get up but they both stopped you. 

“Easy there tiger.” said JJ as he pocketed the leather and sea glass bracelet before pulling you to your feet, bearing most of your weight. You put one arm on each of their shoulders as they walked you towards the parking lot in front of the boneyard. Once they had shifted you down onto a rock Kie ran back to the beach returning moments later with John B, Pope, and Sarah. 

“Oh my god, y/n! What the hell happened?” Sarah gasped running towards where you were sitting. 

Before you could open your mouth JJ answered. “Rafe happened.” Out of the corner of your eyes you saw him clench his fist, he was clearly furious. 

“My fucking brother did this to you??” Sarah repeated lowering herself and taking your hands. “I’m so sorry. Oh my god when Ward hears about this Rafe is done for.” 

You shook your head eyes lit up with fear as you began to shake and whimpered “Don’t tell him. Don’t tell him. Please don’t tell him.” 

The Pogues all shot you a concerned and confused look. 

“I don’t want him to get mad again.” “I don’t want him to come after me again.” “I don’t want him to come after you guys.” you cried, licking the salty tears that were now once again streaming down your face. 

Sarah nodded, followed by JJ and Kie. 

“Your secret is safe with me, until your ready to talk about it. I promise.” Sarah smiled comfortingly.

“We’ll be here when you’re ready.” said Kie stepping forward and putting a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. 

“And we will be here to protect you.” said JJ as he motioned over at Pope and John B. 

You hadn’t even noticed them. They stood a few feet away, shell-shocked and trying to take in the scene before them. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing, or hearing. The two boys just stared at you, the gears in their brains turning as they tried to convince themselves that you were really in front of them again. Looking at them caused you to laugh out of nowhere. 

“The two of you look like your heads are about to explode.” you laughed. 

JJ, Kie, and Sarah were taken aback by the suddenness of your movement but once they turned to look at John B and Pope they joined in your laughter. 

John B closed his mouth and muttered to Pope, “Yep that’s her.” and the two boys walked over to where you were sitting. 

John B still clearly hadn’t processed what had happened nor heard what JJ and Sarah had said because once he reached you he pulled you into an enormous bear hug, causing you to yelp in pain. 

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry.” John B apologized as he looked down at his arms which now had a coating of your blood on them. He stumbled backward into Sarah and nearly taking the both of them out. 

“Before you ask. I’ll explain what I can when we get back to the Chateau. But we really need to get y/n somewhere safe, and get her cleaned up.” 

Everyone nodded in response to Kie’s statement, John B unlocked the van and hopped in the drivers side while JJ and Pope helped you into the back seat. 

You had to sit forward to avoid bleeding on the seats. JJ sat on your right and rubbed your arm to comfort you. You were still shaking as the events of that night set in. He took out the bracelet from his pocked and whispered.

“I believe this is yours.” 

“Well actually its yours. It’s your good luck charm. Besides, I don’t think I’ll be wearing bracelets for a while”, you help up your wrists to reveal a series of scratches and bruises from Rafe trying to pull the bracelets off of you. 

“It’s ours.” JJ said putting it on his wrist. “For safe keeping, until you’re all healed up. What about the others?” he asked looking at you. 

“I’ll put them in my nightstand until I’m healed up.” you pocketed the rest of them and took JJ’s hand. 

“I never took it off you know. I promised myself that I wouldn’t take it off and I’d never break a promise, especially not one that involves you.” 

“Not once? Like not even to shower or for a dance or whatever?”

“Not once.” you smiled looking into his eyes. 

“Well then, now it’s my promise to keep you safe.” He ran his finger over the familiar beads of sea glass.  

The van came to a halt and John B said “Home sweet home!”

The Chateau looked exactly as you remembered it. A flood of happy childhood memories came racing back and you couldn’t help but smile. Sarah opened the door of the van, Pope and Kie piled out, JJ helped you towards the door and out onto the yard. You took a deep breath, finding solace in the familiar sight. 

“John B is Big John home!?” 

He stopped on the porch and turned around looking at you with large sad eyes, he shook his head and said, “We have a lot to catch up on after you’re cleaned up.” 

Kie took you into the bathroom while Sarah retrieved some extra pjs she had in John B’s room. 

“Luckily were the same size, I’ll take your clothes home and wash them.” Sarah closed the bathroom door behind her. “You can tell your aunt and uncle that you and I stayed the night at Scarlet's and I’ll drop your clothes off later tomorrow and say that you forgot them.” 

“Good idea.” you said as you tried to pull your shirt off over your head. You got it half way up your midriff before you winced in pain. Sarah and Kie had to help peel the shirt off of you the rest of the way. Kie gasped at your now exposed back. There were at least ten deep cuts and scrapes across your back from where you had hit the wall, they were all outlined in purple bruises, and your back was slick with a thin layer of blood. 

Sarah teared up “I can’t believe he did this to you.” 

“You know how kooks get when they’re drunk.” You leaned forward on the counter to allow Kie to unclasp your bra and clean off your back with a warm washcloth. Your face contorted as it dragged across your tender skin. 

“Okay, this is not going to feel good but we need to flush the wounds with alcohol so they don’t get infected.” Kie spoke with a nervous tone, knowing how much pain this would cause you. “Ready?” 

“Ready.” you assured her, Sarah grabbed your hand before Kie soaked the washcloth in rubbing alcohol and pressed it to your back. It caused an immediate burning sensation and you screamed in pain. 

“Shh, she’s done.” Sarah soothed you. 

From the living room the boys all shouted, “Everything alright in there?” 

You shouted back hardly, “I’m good.” 

“Y/n, you took that like a champ.” Kie said impressed. 

“Did you not hear me scream?” you chuckled as the girls applied ointment and bandages to your back. 

“Any of the boys would be crying.” Sarah stated handing you a loose t -shirt and sweats. 

“Thank you” you smiled.

Once you changed and cleaned up the cuts on your wrist the three of you emerged. 

The boys stood up. John B spoke first. “You okay Bug?”  

“I’m okay” you assured him, taking a seat on the couch. JJ moved to the kitchen and grabbed you a glass of water an a PB and J sandwich. 

“Here.”

You took the food and water while he sat next to you. 

“Why do you guys keep calling her Bug?” Kie asked softly. 

“It’s what my dad used to call her. And it just sort of stuck” John B answered.

“That’s what JJ and I knew her by when we first met her.” added Pope. 

“I don’t think you guys called me by my real name for two days.” 

“To be fair you never told us.” JJ remarked. 

“You never asked.” You shot back wittingly. 

“True.” They both nodded. 

You placed the plate and the glass on the coffee table in front of you and leaned back into the couch. Finally, your body relaxed for the first time in hours. You turned your head toward John B. 

“Where’s your dad?”

JJ gripped your hand as John B moved to sit across from you. They all launched into a story recounting the events of the past year. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry John B. That’s all so crazy guys.” You brought your hand up and ran it through your hair as your eyes filled with tears  “And just when I thought I couldn’t lose anyone else.” 

“What do you mean?” Pope asked shifting in his chair. 

“My parents died in a car accident seven months ago.” 

Everyone gasped.

“I’ve been back here for about a month now. My aunt and uncle are kooks, and they bought a house from Rose. Hence why I know Sarah and why I was...” you choked a little on your next few words “with Rafe.” 

“Why didn’t you come find us when you got here?” JJ asked. 

“I thought you guys wouldn’t want to see me, now that I’m technically a kook.”

“Pfft.” John B waved his hand at you.  “Did you forget the tag line of the code?”

“Once a pogue, always a pogue.” Pope said smiling as he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. 

You blushed wondering how you could have forgot. “Of course I didn’t forget.” your voice cracked. 

“You’re an awful liar y/n, always have been.” John B said smugly. 

“Ouch, that one really hurt Bookie.” you said as you put your hand over your heart melodramatically.

Everyone laughed. 

“Jesus it’s 3 a.m.” JJ gasped glancing at the clock.

“Shit my dad is going to have my head, I’m supposed to be working tomorrow.” Pope took his hat off his head and pressed his palms to his forehead. He moved towards the door.

“Tell Hayward I said hi!! I’ve missed him so much.” 

“Will do, come by at 12 tomorrow that’s when I get off, I’m sure dad would love to see you.” Pope said halfway out the door. “Later guys!”

“Later.” you all chorused. 

You carefully got up and went to the closet where the extra blankets and pillows were. You grabbed one and returned to the couch and laid down.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing.” JJ asked sarcastically. 

“I’m going to crash on the couch I can’t exactly go home right now.” 

“Oh no that’s not what I meant. After everything you’ve been through tonight you really think I’m going to let you sleep on the couch?”

“Uhhh...”

“You can have my bed for the night. I’ll take the couch.”

“No JJ you don’t have too.”

“Yeah yeah. Up.” He ignored you and pulled you to your feet, practically carrying you to his room. 

“Goodnight guys!” 

“Goodnight” Kie, Sarah, and John B beckoned. 

JJ laid you down in his bed and tucked you in. You were so drained that you fell asleep almost immediately. JJ gave you a kiss on the forehead and whispered, “Goodnight Bug, see you in the mornin sun.” 

“Mmm. G’night J, see you in the sun.” With that you drifted into a deep sleep. 

JJ turned off the light and glanced back at you before closing the door. He smiled at how peaceful you looked. He felt the butterflies that he had for you when he was twelve come back to life as he closed the door and snuggled up on the couch and fell asleep. 

-

You woke up at 9:30 the next morning to the feeling of Kie and Sarah sinking onto the bed on either side of you. Sarah had a glass of water and some Advil and Kie had some toast and eggs on a plate for you. The boys were stood at the edge of the bed. 

“Oh wow what good service” you yawned attempting to stretch set your back on fire. Seeing your face contort, Sarah reached out and handed the water and Advil to you, you took it gladly. After you carefully sat up Kie handed you your breakfast and smiled. 

“Thank you guys, for everything.” “I’m so glad to be back here and to have you guys again, you have no idea.” 

“We feel the same” John B said. “And that is why we plan to dedicate today to catching these to lovely ladies up to all the things we used to do, and all of our favorite places.”

“Oh!?”

JJ straightened himself upright and pointed his finger at the sky and said in an awful accent, “Today, we’re going on an adventure!”

“I can’t wait!” you clapped at their elaborate presentation of the days plans. “I have to go home first though, I’m sure my aunt and uncle are freaking out.” 

“How are you going to explain this to them?” Kie gestured at your body, “Not to be rude but you kinda look bent out of shape, understandably so. What happened last night was awful.” 

“Yeah umm...I don’t know how I’m going to explain this.” 

“You could say you fell out of the lifeguard chair?” John B suggested. “They wouldn’t suspect too much, I mean you’re a bit of a klutz after all.”

“That’s actually a pretty good idea.” you nodded. “Can one of you drive me to the end of my street? I’m going to have to walk up my street since Rafe drove me and my aunt and uncle don’t know you guys yet.”

Kie responded immediately, “I’ll drop you off, I have to head that way before I go to work.” 

“Sounds good.” 

“Are you going to be able to walk?” Sarah and JJ asked together. 

“Yeah I’ll be fine.” you answered them unconvincingly. 

“Okay well its settled.” John B said with a clap before rubbing his hands together. “We’ll pick you up at around noon, stop by Hayward’s so you can say hi, grab Pope, and then we’ll be off.” 

“Okie dokie.”

“Let’s get going y/n, I’m sure your aunt and uncle are worried sick.” Sarah stood and helped you out of bed. 

-

As soon as you opened the door to your house you were met with your aunt’s embrace. She yelled to your uncle, Bill don’t call Ward she’s home. You breathed a sigh of relief. 

“We’ve been worried out of our minds, why didn’t you text us and let us know you weren’t coming home? Please tell me you didn’t.. you know, with Rafe? Oh my god what happened to you!!??” 

“I’m sorry Auntie, my phone died I would have texted if I could. I spent the night at Scarlet’s with Sarah after the party. And god no. I fell out of the lifeguard chair last night, my foot slipped as I was trying to get down. I scraped my back up pretty badly but I’m okay Sarah patched me up.” you lied through your teeth and smiled at your loving aunt. 

“Okay good. I’m glad you’re alright.” “Lets get you a shower.” 

You moved upstairs and while you were in the shower your aunt laid out your favorite sundress on your bed and she also took out your much loved white converse. She sat on your bed waiting for you so she could help re bandage the scrapes on your back. 

“Are you sure you’re okay sweetheart?” 

“Yes I’m sure auntie.” “I’m a tough cookie.” you giggled. 

“All done!” “Do you need any Advil or heat or something for your back?” 

“No Scarlet gave me some before I left.” 

“Okay I’ll let you get dressed. I’m downstairs if you need anything.”

“Thank you auntie.” you turned and smiled at her. “See you in a bit.” 

By now you were used to the soreness, and the Advil had definitely helped. The events of last night hadn’t really sunk in just yet and you tried your best to focus on the wonderful day you were about to have. Glancing in the mirror for the first time since last night you realized you really did look worse for wear. Their was a light bruise on your face from where Rafe had slapped you in addition to the bruises on your leg and wrists. You didn’t even want to know what your back looked like. Yet for the first time in a long time you felt like yourself. Now that you had the Pogues back in your life you felt like you could conquer the world. You huffed a piece of your long wavy hair out of your face before heading downstairs to meet your aunt and uncle.  

“Hey do you mind if I go out with Sarah later?” 

“No of course not, as long as your safe.” your uncle responded. 

Ding dong! The doorbell rang.

“I got it!” 

You opened the door and your heart sank. Standing opposite you was none other than Rafe Cameron.

I know this was a long one and I hope you all liked it. If anyone ever needs anything, wants to give me feedback, or just wants to chat please message me! Lets be friends:))

@tangledinsparkles​ @hopelesswritingxd​ @im-a-stranger-thing​ @jenahbell​ @annedub​ @hmspxgue​ @harrysbbby​

#jj maybank #jj #jj obx #jj obx imagine #jj x reader #jj maybank fanfiction #john booker routledge #john b #john b x sarah #john b obx #sarah cameron #sarah obx #pope #pope outer banks #pope fanfiction #kie #kie obx #kiarra #obx x reader #obx imagine #obx fanfiction #the outer banks #netflix #rudy pankow

[crazyfreckledginger]

Motonari Mori x Reader - “Depth Of The Deep Blue Sea”

Waking up one morning didn’t go as planned when a storm brews up quickly and sends you flying into the irritated waters below. Fortunately for you, your boyfriend jumped in after you without a second thought, not caring if his life was put on the line if it meant yours was spared. When you regain consciousness the same evening, you find Motonari in a terrible state. 

Requested by anon: “So, this is a request for when they are open again. I'd like a Motonari oneshot if that's not too much work. It can be Lemon or Floof.”

A/N: Thank you so much to @towa-no-yume for helping me with a plot, it really helped, I love you girl!

Warning: fluff, smut and maybe a pinch of angst?

Placing one of his jackets around her shoulders, the girl strode out of their suite, watching everyone busy at work. A small smile appeared on  her face as she spoted the familiar outline of the man she loved. Slowly, the woman crept up behind him and slid her arms around his waist, cheek against his shoulder.

Motonari tensed, before relaxing after recognising her slender arms. Turning around in her embrace, his cheeks flushed cutely at the display of affection, something they had worked long and hard at achieving together.

"Good morning," she beamed, reaching up to peck his lips.

"Mornin’." His beautiful husky voice chuckled, capturing her lips in a longer kiss. He was slowly getting used to public displays of affection but that didn't stop his ears turning slightly red and hot as he practiced it.

"You're cute." (Y/N) chuckled. That didn't help his case -- in fact, it made it worse, and he had to look away before his heart melted completely.

"How are ya, sweetheart?" He hummed, keeping her waist locked between his arms as they gazed from the deck.

"Good, have you had breakfast, my love?" (Y/N) murmured, leaning her head back against his collarbone to glance up at his, pecking his chin.

"No, I wanted to wait for ya." She frowned cutely, pouting.

"You're not hungry at least, are you?"

"Not really." he was such a cutie.

"Good, now is a good time to feed you before you eat everything." The woman teased. A small chuckle escaped his throat. Grasping his hand, she interlaced her fingers in his, ready to pull him right back inside.

"Captain," one of his men interrupted.

"What?" Motonari asked bitterly, demeanour changing completely.

"We've got news," he glanced at (Y/N), hinting that it best not be heard by her.

"Wait for me, I'll be right there," he nodded to his one and only.

"Alright.” the woman walked towards the side of the ship, elbows on the railing and gazing at the deep blue sea that extended far into the horizon. It was always a little scary to her, being surrounded by this unknown, mysterious, dangerous body of water. It felt more or less the same for Motonari when (Y/N) stepped into his life.

He was terrified of anything involving her, it was unpredictable, the feeling of love, but they both fought the battle together, and now embraced this new feeling.

Beautiful, truly beautiful. A small smile etched on the woman’s face at the memory, that she didn’t even realise the temperature fall.

Something wet and cold dropped on her cheek. Blinking, her fingertips reached up to her face, the pad of her fingers wiping away liquid.

It was water. Her eyes gazed up into the sky, watching as numerous droplets of rain fell at an alarming speed.

“Back to your posts!” The order made her head snapped towards her love, seeing him bark out orders as he inspected something in front of him. Following where his attention lie, her eyes widened once she saw the grey clouds forming above them and around a huge area around the ship.

A sudden powerful gust of wind blew against the sails, pushing the ropes to their limit.

“Baby, a storm is brewing extremely quickly, you need to get inside,” Motonari grasped her arms to maintain her attention.

“O-okay,” with how quickly this was unfolding, she suspected the worst. A pit was forming in her stomach, was this another wormhole? She couldn’t go back!

“(Y/N)-” Another powerful wind broke the flag right off the mast, letting it tumble straight towards the two of them, “Baby look out!” 

That was the last thing she heard before she felt the wind being pushed out of her lungs, a sensation of falling and then something wet and cold, very cold.

*********

Her eyes slowly opened, trying to adjust to the light.

What happened?

The woman was covered in warmth yet her skin was cold. Distinguishing that this was their shared room, she slowly turned her head to the side, trying to perceive if anything was happening.

Her (E/C) eyes landed on her lover, he was close to her bed, haunched up by his shoulders, elbows supported on his knees. His head was hanging low, detached almost.

The beautiful white and grey hair she loved had tiny droplets hanging from its tips and dropping off onto the ground. It was so silent, the tiniest thud as it hit the ground could be heard throughout the room.

His head snapped up when she released a small breath, using the weight in her wrists to plop herself up on her elbows.

"(Y/N)." He stood up, hugging her tightly. Her eyes widened in surprise at his quick action, but her arms slid around his neck, keeping him close.

Motonari's chin rested on her shoulder as a relieved sigh escaped his lips.

"What happened?" (Y/N) whispered, nuzzling his neck.

Sitting down fully on the bed, he held her hand securely in his, without his gloves, on his thigh.

For some reason, he couldn't meet her gaze.

"The wind broke off the skull and crossbone, the shaft fell right to ya and pushed ya into the waters. I jumped in after you."

Her eyes softened, squeezing his hand and scooting closer to him. She didn't feel pain anywhere somehow.

Her thumb grazed his cheek, following his sharp jawline and bringing his eyes on hers. He looked helpless, shaken up, terrified. (Y/N) had never seen this look on him and it broke her heart.

"You could have died." His tone was cold as he freed himself from her grip. -- but she didn't fail to miss the weak look in his eyes as he turned away. (Y/N)'s mouth opened and closed just as quickly, like a fish out of the water.

His lover didn't know what to say, knowing fully well that he was facing his inner demons, the ones she had tried so hard to vanquish.

Slowly, she crawled towards him. His head snapped back to hers, eyes wide as she straddled him.

The woman's delicate fingers cupped his cheeks, giving him a gentle gaze. He tilted his jaw upwards, closer to hers.

With no hint of hesitation, she captured his lips in a heated, longing, desperate, passionate kiss.

Mori practically melted in her embrace, arms worming their way around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Mmh," she hummed, grasping his jaw to dictate the kiss. From the way he nibbled down on her lip, he clearly had no problem with it. His grip tightened before pulling her against his crotch and rubbing up into her.

"A-ah," she gasped, pulling away from the kiss. Immediately, he latched onto her neck, sucking at her sweet spot. His red eyes watched as her cheeks flushed beautifully. He licked at the hickey he left on her skin. The pirate managed to regain her attention as they locked eyes.

Shifting him a bit, his back faced the length of the bed, shrugged off boots, legs on the bed.

As she pecked his lips repeatedly, her nimble fingertips undid his top before pushing it off.

"Sweeth-"

"Shh, not now." Her palm pushed his chest until he was fully laying on the bed.

His strong hands ran up and down her thighs as she sat on him, before she leaned down to kiss him again, fingers in his hair.

"Mmh, baby," he groaned, feeling as (Y/N)'s lips trailed down his chin, to his collarbone, but not before leaving a sweet kiss on his Adam's apple.

His eyelids fluttered closed as her mouth kissed down his stomach. His throat was very dry and feeling her warmth, he realised how much he needed her.

"I-I need you." He breathed out, eyes half lidded as he gripped the fabric of her clothes.

His lover stopped her trail of kisses on his skin to look at him. His skin was very hot and cheeks were very blushed, something he would find dangerously vulnerable if he was in his right mind.

"Get over here." He rasped, sitting up and pulling her close.

The woman squeaked, holding onto his shoulders as he claimed her lips once more.

"Let me love you," she murmured against his lips, nuzzling his nose.

He held the cutest, caught off guard gaze, mouth open and a blank expression when the woman pulled away. She interrupted his thoughts, running her hands up and down his bare chest, keeping her lips against his forehead.

Softly, he untied her kimono, shrugging it off her shoulders before peppering it with small kisses, along her collarbone, to which she gasped gorgeously.

His hands worked until she was nearly completely bare, apart from the fabric, tightened around her waist, keeping her own work in one piece.

A warm hand cupped her breast, making her liberate a particularly loud moan. He licked his other hand, shamelessly placing it between her legs to rub it slowly.

"We haven't done anything yet yer already so wet. I'll make sure ya drippin' by the time I'm done." He chuckled, capturing her other nipple in his mouth.

"A-ah, Motonari, please," she whined, biting her lip as he assaulted her cunt and breasts simultaneously.

Grinding against his hand, she nuzzled his hair, being the victim of her tiny cries.

"B-baby, I'm so close." (Y/N) whimpered.

"Good," he whispered, pulling away. She frowned at him before he flipped them over. Chuckling, he licked his hand clean, humming at how warm and delicious her juices were. Her cheeks flushed shyly as he maintained eye contact.

With a grunt, he pulled her legs around his waist, biting his lip at the desperate look in her eyes.

"You want me?" He murmured against her ear, slowly grinding his hard length against her heat.

"Y-yes," she gasped, holding onto him tightly. He smirked, adjusting himself before sinking into her.

"Oooh, doll," his groan accompanied her moan. She breathed through her nose as he pushed until she was taking him fully. He nipped down at her skin with his teeth as he started moving inside of her cunt, savouring the feeling of her walls rubbing against his girth.

His forehead pressed against hers as he picked up the pace, inspecting her as her eyes closed to relish the pleasure fully.

"Mmh, you feel so good, don't stop." She breathed out, opening her eyes. They were filled with need and love, easily distinguishable despite the slurty expression she didn't realise she was giving. Preciously, the pirate place his hand against her cheek, snapping his hips a little harder just to make her squirm a bit more.

"Ah!" She cried out, biting her lip as he lowered his mouth closer to hers, before breathing her in. This felt supernatural, he grunted, thrusting into her again, maintaining a steady speed. After so many nights of making love, being together and confiding their hearts to each other, it still felt like a fairy tale, he just couldn’t get over it -- not that he wanted to.

But the beautiful cries she made as he took her, the feeling of her skin against his made it very real.

A groan tore through her chest as she squeezed her legs around him.

"I'm getting close," she whined, bucking her hips against him. Through gritted teeth, he reached down to rub her clit rapidly.

"Ngh," (Y/N) whimpered. With a moan, he pounded roughly into her, feeling her walls tightening around him and creating resistance as he pushed into her.

He grunted repeatedly, burying his face in her neck, listening as his thighs hit her ass, conceiving a melody of slapping skin that could for sure be heard outside the suite. A laugh of satisfaction escaped him and he felt a weight lift from his shoulder.

Hearing her cry out his name always did something, terrible, to him. Motonari purposely leaned down to her ear and grunting every time his hips met hers.

Lifting her legs higher up on his hips, she moaned, feeling him hit a sweet spot deep inside her due to the better angle. Her walls squeezed deliciously around him, making him moan her name loudly. Reaching back down, he flicked her clit, feeling how it made her pulsate around him for a moment.

Cursing under his breath, he snapped his hips deeper and faster, sensing himself twitch. Squeezing her ass cheeks, the pirate chuckled, watching as she squirmed under him, unable to handle the pleasure. Her legs shook and applied a wild amount of pressure on his cock.

It made his dick twitch once again, they were both very close. Pushing back into her, he assaulted her clit even harder, making her jerk up.

"A-ah, I'm s-so-,” she choked out. The woman didn’t even manage to finish her sentence as she spasmed under him, her legs shaking uncontrollably. Motonari moaned her name softly, biting his lip as he ravished her cunt. It tightened so splendidly around his girth. (Y/N) bit her lip, watching the sight of the man that was fucking her perfectly. His head tilted back as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, his muscular chest perfectly exposing his sweaty, glistening skin. 

“Oooh, baby,” he growled as her walls squeezed one last time, hard around him, “fuck!” the pirate howled, feeling her warm juices enveloping him. 

Riding out her high, he spread her legs out further, thrusting deeply into her pussy, twitching as he fell over the edge, releasing a strangled grunt as he came into her.

Her cheeks flushed, aware of the warmth that settled within her. A nice shiver ran down his spine before he collapsed on her, pulling out of her. It made the woman release a tiny whine.

Motonari’s beautiful eyes fluttered closed as he nuzzled her collarbone, arms around her waist and legs tangled with each other. The couple laid in silence until their breathing pattern synchronised.

“Ya scared me.” his lips grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” her fingers caressed his face, nose poking into his hair. 

“Don’t be.” 

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[poppibranchlover]

Nine Lives, One Fight - Part 33

The story: Deep in the forest of Troll Town, there lies a mysterious tiny purple mushroom that has a secret magical ability. King Peppy calls this mushroom forbidden for all Trolls to go near it. One day, while Branch is out in the woods doing his survival research studying, he encounters it and, not knowing it is a regular mushroom, decides to harvest it and bring it home. But in the next morning, its magic effects transform him into a small blue cat! After being sent to the animal pound, his girlfriend, Poppy, finds him and decides to adopt him, although not recognizing it is Branch. Desperate to finish his research project due for a special event invented by Poppy, Branch is forced to learn how to behave like a pet cat and must figure out what caused him to become one.

You already seen what had happened in Part 32. Now get ready for Part 33!:

Poppy placed Branch on the ground and knelt down beside him. Then she began apologizing. “Listen, Branch. I’m really sorry for not recognizing you,” she said, struggling to find the right words as she nearly wept. “But I read your note and realized! How can you respond to me this way?”

Branch shook his head and started meowing. “Meeeeeoooooowww!!! Meow, meow! Meow!” It was clear as if he’d understood that it wasn’t her fault for not recognizing him since the first time she saw him like this in the pound.

Seeing how her boyfriend got so scared the whole time, Poppy let go of her worry and caressed his hair. “I know you don’t want to see the shame in my face, but look, I had the mushroom.” She held up the Archaeo morphisis mushroom in her hand and showed it to Branch, who was thrilled to see it. “I hope I will turn you back any second.”

Branch felt a little better. With the mushroom found at last, he can finally change back quickly.

Suddenly, before there is any chance to use the mushroom’s magic, Biggie pointed out to the sky, which is now clearly turning orange. “Poppy! THE SUN!!!” he cried.

At the sound of his words, Poppy and Branch looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun has risen.

“Oh no!” Poppy gasped. “The final sunrise!”

The rest of the Trolls watched as the sun slowly began to rise up to the sky. Since they have found the missing Archaeo morphisis, no storm clouds were seen.

Smidge squinted her eyes to take a better view at the sunrise. “But…how come it isn’t raining?” she asked, confused.

Poppy rubbed her chin. “I don’t know,” she replied. This doesn’t make any sense. If they really had the mushroom, the last sunrise had already arrived, and it could have rained so that the mushroom’s magic can be active.

She looked down at Branch, who stumbled backward and put a paw to his forehead. “Usually the Archaeo morphisis’ magic produces storm clouds in the sky, but after it affected Branch,…I think I know what that means.” Then she looked down at the purple mushroom, which is now slowly wilting. Something was very wrong.

Branch stared at his cat body as he listened to her explanation. He struggled to walk, but his legs are too heavy that he stumbled right next to her. He clutched tightly onto her dress, looking very distressed all of the sudden.

“Are you okay?” Poppy asked, having no idea what to do to help him. She had a very bad feeling. “You’re staggering! What’s happening to you?”

“Meow! Meeeeeeooooww!! Meeeeeeeoooooowwwww!!! Meow!” Branch moaned as the pain is coming back to his mind again.

“I think his consciousness was about to disappear, Poppy,” Guy Diamond explained. “It’s the last day where it stayed in his brain.”

Poppy’s eyes widened in alarm. “What? Your mind is disappearing! No, no, no. This can’t be happening!”

Branch looked down at his little body. He was sure what it meant, and knew one thing. “Meow, meow!” he pleaded. He was scared.

Poppy was struck by fear on his face as she began to understand what was going on. If Branch’s consciousness will disappear, then his memories of spending time with Poppy and her friends will never exist. She fell to her knees before him, suddenly terrified but trying not to show it.

“No, no, no!” Poppy cried. “It’s okay. It’s alright.” She pulled Branch into her arms, holding back tears. “You’re not leaving me, Branch. Not ever….”

“Meeeeeooooowww!!” Branch said as she held him close. He looked up at her with a gentle smile. “Meow!”

Poppy swallowed hard as a single tear slid down her cheek. She pulled him closer and hugged him tight. “Oh, Branch. You’re more than my best friend I could ever ask for…” she told him. “…and you always will be. Please don’t leave me. You’ll never forget about our happy times together, and I’ll always love you.”

Touched, Branch returned her embrace, wrapping his paws around her shoulders. “Meow! Meow, meow! Meow! Meeeooow!!”

Poppy choked on a sob, not wanting to accept what was happening to her boyfriend as she placed him down on the ground. Branch crawled closer to her and purred against her side. “PUUURRRRR….PURRRRRR….PUUUUUURRRRRRRRR…PURRRRR…PURR…”

Soon, Poppy was nearly crying, afraid of losing the most important person she’d ever loved in her life. “I love you, Branch,” she said quietly.

As the sun came up high in the sky, Branch stopped purring and walked away from her. He sat down to look at all of his friends and family for one last time as his eyes start to glint in the sunlight.

“Poppy, I promise I will never forget about you…” he said his final words to everyone. A second later, he slowly closed his eyes as he scrunched up his face to consume the pain left inside of him.

After a moment, Branch opened his eyes, revealing bold cat-like eyes that stare up at all of the Trolls. He mindlessly looked around and meowed like a normal cat, with no recollection of remembering his friends. “Meow!”

Poppy knelt down, concerned. “Branch…?”

But he didn’t respond. Instead, he walked away from her and started cleaning himself. Overwhelmed, Poppy burst into tears. Her beloved Troll that she had loved for all these years was gone forever.

“He can’t hear me,” she sobbed. “I’m too late.”

The rest of her friends looked down at Branch in extreme sorrow. King Peppy emerged from the shadows and saw his daughter in great distress.

“Poppy, what’s going on?” the king asked as he ran up to her and embraced her. “Is everything alright? You found Branch?”

Poppy hugged her father tight, trying to hold back tears. “Oh, Daddy! I was too late to get to him!” she wailed. “The magic didn’t even work! I’m so sorry! I was…I was so concerned to get to him before the sun rises! I didn’t know what to do!”

King Peppy stared down at Branch, who was sniffing around. His eyes were completely kittenish right now as a result of the final day coming to an end. The old king tried to comfort Poppy. “Come here, sweetie,” he said gently. “It’s going to be okay. I believe there’s no other way we can save him.”

“But how can we save him?” Poppy asked. “The mushroom was supposed to work, but there was no effect.” She held up the dead Archaeo morphisis mushroom in her hands. Her father took it and examined it carefully. All of its magic have disappeared since its first use on Branch. He hung his head, understanding that Poppy was right.

“So sorry, Poppy,” Peppy told her sadly. “This was the last existing mushroom in Troll Village. Ever since it is gone for now, there won’t be any cure to get Branch back.”

Poppy took a second to wipe her tears away to think for a solution. “What am I going to do, Dad?” she asked. “I’m unable to follow the wise Troll’s words. If only it works…”

King Peppy looked at her with love and empathy. He didn’t want his daughter to be upset for a long time. “Poppy, ahem…as king, I have one reason to live but survive in the highest hills,” he said, stepping forward. “I think it’s for the best that I can give you something.” He held up a small blue blanket with pink outlines and gave it to Poppy.

“Where did you find this?” she asked, taking the blanket from his hand.

“I found it in your pod,” Peppy said. “It’ll just remind you of Branch whenever you want to think of him.”

Poppy stared at the blanket, examining every detail of it. Unfurling it, she saw a familiar symbol; two hearts, one is blue with a “B” that stands for Branch, and the other was pink with a “P” that stands for Poppy.

Poppy’s eyes widened. “Wait. I’ve seen it before…” she said, looking at the symbol. Suddenly, a flashback started playing out in her mind.

Poppy went to visit Branch in his bunker. He saw him sewing something with a sewing machine on a table.

“Hi, Branch!” she said cheerfully. “What’s up?”

“Oh! Hey there, Poppy!” he said, quickly pushing a button on the sewing machine to turn it off. “I’m working on something!”

Poppy noticed what he was doing. “What is that?” she asked, with a teasing look on her face. “May I see what you’re making?”

Branch hastily hid the sewn object behind his back, completely hiding it. “It’s not done,” he said, embarrassed. “I’m not really ready to show it to anyone yet. Besides, it’s actually my first homemade security blankie.”

“Aw, come on!” Poppy said, grinning. “Gimme a sneak peek!”

“Well…..” Branch said, hesitating. “Okay, but I promise you won’t laugh!” He slowly brought his homemade blanket out from behind his back.

“I won’t laugh, no way! What kind of blanket is this?” Poppy asked eagerly. “Is it something for Satin and Chenille? Ooooh!”

Branch rolled his eyes. “How is that even possible? I learned from their sewing skills, and that’s why I made this for you.”

“With experience from any Troll, ANYTHING is possible!” Poppy enthused. “So…what did you just say?” She still didn’t catch what Branch was trying to say.

He shot her a look. “Okay, you don’t get it. I made this for you, and I hope you will love it,” he said, openly revealing his secret blanket to show it to Poppy. “Here it is!”

To Poppy’s surprise, Branch had just made her a small cute-looking blanket that is colored blue and has pink outlines around it. The symbol in the front of it had a blue heart with a “B” and a pink heart with a “P”.

“Wow!” Poppy exclaimed, unable to believe her eyes. She was completely speechless at his brilliant work. “Branch, you made this for me?”

“Yep!” Branch said, grinning as he held up the blanket with one hand. “I thought I could use it for your bedroom! What do you think?”

Poppy smiled gleefully and answered “What do I think? I love it!” She ran up to Branch and gave him a big hug. “You’re so sweet, giving me everything for me!”

Branch blushed at her compliment. “Oh, don’t be so cheerful on trying to hug me,” he told her. “It’s something I wanted to give to you as an early birthday gift.”

Poppy smiled. “Aw, Branch. Thank you so much!” She hugged him tight and kissed him in the cheek.

Then Branch proceeded to give the blanket to her. She held the blanket in her arms. “I want you to treasure this as your only companion,” he told her. “But you know, our love can’t be separated if you lose it. Happy birthday, Poppy.”

He leaned down and gave her a kiss in the lips. Awestruck by his words, Poppy returned his favor by kissing him back.

The happy memory faded away when Poppy realized the origin of this blanket. “Hold on, Dad. That was my present from Branch,” she said. “It’s a symbol of our love and generosity. Why did you give me this?” She held the blanket up for her father to see.

“So you can remember him dearly,” King Peppy replied, putting his hand to her shoulder. “I know he can’t live without you but I trust how you treat him.”

Poppy stared down at the homemade blanket, unsure of what that meant. “But with Branch gone, it is totally worthless. I’m not sure if this will help me.”

Studying the symbol in the blanket carefully, Poppy tried to remember Branch’s touching words. “Our love can’t be separated…” she whispered to herself.

Soon, an idea began to struck her. She rubbed her chin with one finger to think about it. If the blanket was a symbol of her love for Branch, would it be her last hope to bring him back? She hadn’t thought that wrapping him up with his unforgettable gift for her would do the trick.

“Or would it work? Let me find out.” Poppy began to walk towards Branch to give him the blanket. She would be certain that it will work because it represented their love.

Near the bunker, Branch was resting on his mat when he heard Poppy’s voice.

“Hey, Branch!” she said, approaching him while holding out the love blanket. “Remember you give me this?”

Poppy showed the special blanket to Branch. He stared at her blankly, and then he crept closer to it and sniffed.

“I want to give it to you in return!” Poppy told him. She threw the blanket around Branch, covering his little cat body with it. Wrapped in the warmth of this blankie, he silently stared down at it.

“What do you think? You like it?” Poppy asked with hopeful anticipation. “Can you recognize me?”

Unfortunately, Branch still didn’t answer. He stared up at her as if nothing has happened. “Meow!” he said.

Poppy was shocked to see no effect on the blanket. Every attempt she had come up to get Branch back to normal had been failing. “No…no… I don’t understand,” she cried. “I thought mending the bond is supposed to work. My blankie is a trademark of our relationship.”

She looked down at Branch for a response, but he just stood there and kept staring at her with his big cat eyes, saying no word at all. With a sigh, Poppy buried her face in her hands and began to cry, kneeling down in front of him.

She felt her legs give out from under herself and she landed on the floor, staring at Branch’s still figure. Her cheeks grew damp as tears fought to escape. Poppy didn’t care if she cried anymore. She didn’t want to fight it back. She slumped down beside him and let the pressure release, unable to notice that storm clouds are already appearing in the sky.

Poppy lifted her head, wiping away the tears as best as she could. She had owed him everything, but could only offer him one. “I can’t believe I lost my true friend I once loved. He will never come back, no matter how brilliant, crazy, adventurous or good-hearted he is,” she cried. “I tried my best to help you, but it was never enough. I looked through every scrapbook, followed every lead, and always came up short. I failed you.”

Through every sob and every tear, Poppy saw those same memories from her dream play back to her. That happy, carefree face. Sometimes curious, sometimes a little crazy, always intelligent and kind. Every smile, every laugh, every delighted reply, everything… gone.

Gone. This was reality, and Branch was completely gone from her life.

Branch walked up to her and nosed at Poppy’s dress. She refused to hear no word from him as she tearfully wrapped her arms around him.

“You’ve always been there for me. You’ve never given up on me,” Poppy pleaded, choking through her sobs. “I just want you back. Please come back to me.” As she spoke, rain began to pour down, echoing the moment.

Branch listened to her words and stared at his friends and family, who hung their heads with sorrow. Even Wiggles, the baby rabbits and some of the animals that escaped the pound did the same, mourning the loss of their fallen hero.

Saddened, Poppy’s friends hung their heads at their loss. Biggie clutched to Mr. Dinkles tightly as he sobbed quietly.

The rain dripped down at everyone as they mourned for Branch. Poppy held him close as tight as she could, giving the little cat all the warmth he needed.

“I want you back, Branch,” she whispered. “I miss you.”

As soon as she said it, Branch’s mouth barely opened, seemingly responding to her. He purred against her side in order to keep himself warm in her hug. “PURRRRRR….PUUUUUURRRRRRRRR…”

Then, as if something unusual is happening, magical waves of light started to engulf around Branch, and he began to grow. Poppy didn’t even notice this as she had her eyes closed with her arms still wrapped around him.

“I love you,” she murmured, gently letting go of him and placed her hands on her lap.

Soon, the magical light faded away when Branch stopped growing. Poppy needed a few minutes alone as she tried to process everything that had happened. How would she ever feel happiness again when deep down she knew Branch was gone forever?

Before Poppy had no choice but to look away, a blue arm embraced her, taking her chin with a hand and raising her face to look up at who was comforting her.

“Poppy, don’t cry,” Branch’s voice said to her. “I’m here…”

Poppy’s eyes widened when she saw a familiar face looking down at her. She blinked quickly, her brain denying what her eyes seemed to see. It couldn’t possibly be Branch talking to her…but it really was.

She was speechless to see Branch kneeling down in front of her, holding up his hand with a desire to offer an embrace. He was not a tiny little cat anymore, and the warmth of the blue blanket seemed to transform him back into a Troll! He smiled at Poppy, still waving his hand.

“Is…is it really you?” Poppy asked, not sure what to believe.

Branch smiled widely as he nodded and held her hand. “Poppy.”

Overjoyed, Poppy hugged him tightly. “BRANCH!!! You’re back!” she cried happily. “I thought I lost you!” Tears ran down her face.

“Lost me?” Branch asked, pushing his girlfriend’s hair bangs away from his face. “You saved me! I always knew that blankie is useful!”

Poppy looked up at him, not knowing exactly what Branch had meant. But she was even more surprised to find out that the blanket did helped break the spell. She returned his embrace with tears of joy, kissing every part of his face. Branch giggled.

“I knew you’d came back!” Poppy cried without believing it. “You’ve changed!”

Branch chuckled. “Poppy, we both have changed and matured!” he said. “We always do this together, and we will continue to do our part. Our love isn’t fragile.” He held her close and kissed her in the lips. She responded warmly by kissing him back.

As Poppy and Branch kissed, all the Trolls shout with joy, celebrating the bunker Troll’s amazing return happily. “YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!”

“Hooray!” Biggie cheered to Mr. Dinkles. “Branch is back!”

King Peppy couldn’t help but laugh. He approached Poppy and Branch with a wave of relief washing over his face.

“Thank goodness you’re okay, Branch!” he said. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Poppy and Branch looked at the old king. The blue Troll wrapped the blanket around his body as tight as he could and stepped forward to him, feeling so apologetic at the moment. He began to think about what he wanted to say to the king before he openly confessed to him. “King Peppy, I’m sorry I blew up at you before. I didn’t mean it,” he said, looking so ashamed of himself. “Now I understand it’s a dangerous mushroom that I should not pick.”

King Peppy placed a hand to his chest as he listened to Branch’s sentence. “It’s okay. At least you learnt your lesson,” he told him with a smile. “You just need to listen to others despite your unintentional curiosity.”

Branch and Peppy smiled at each other for a moment, until Poppy noticed that her boyfriend is clearly naked under the blanket.

“Oh my god, Branch!” she cried, putting her hands up to her mouth. “You don’t have clothes!”

“What?” Branch looked down at his body and quickly covered it entirely with his blanket, embarrassed that he had noticed that he wasn’t wearing anything. “Awww, are you kidding me?! I’m naked! Little bit awkward, huh?” Then he smelled himself and asked absentmindedly “Am I the only one craving catnip?”

King Peppy was surprised. He turned to the Trolls and opened his arms wide, blocking Poppy and Branch in front of them. “Everyone, back your eyes!” he told them. “Show some respect!”

Some of the Trolls tried to look away from the scene. In response, Biggie covered his pet worm’s eyes.

As King Peppy was distracting the Trolls from looking at Branch, Poppy pulled out his green vest and his brown shorts from her hair and offered them to him. “Lucky for you, I planned ahead,” she said, grinning.

Branch quickly took his clothes from her hands, relieved. “Oh, thanks!” he said. “Otherwise I won’t look like a hobo at this point.”

“Branch, it’s me! Wiggles!” Poppy and Branch heard their little bunny friend shout in astonishment. They turned as Wiggles ran up to them, excited to see his best friend. But he wasn’t a rabbit anymore, and he turned back into a Troll as well. To prevent being naked, he wore a grassy hula-like skirt he found in a bush around his waist.

“Wiggles!” Branch exclaimed, happy to see him. “You’re back to normal too!”

He opened his arms, and Wiggles hugged him tightly. The two of them are delighted that they are no longer animals.

Poppy giggled at their embrace. “Uh, Branch,” she said. “I forgot to tell you that this Troll’s real name is Tommy, and he used to work at a carrot restaurant!”

At the sound of that, Branch pulled away, feeling slightly out of place. Then he quickly looked over the pale green Troll, confused. “Ooh, sorry. I thought you were someone else,” he muttered.

Tommy smiled. “That’s okay. Choose between “Tommy” or “Wiggles”. My name is totally a different person!”

But Branch already knew who this Troll used to be. He wrapped his hands around his shoulders, overjoyed to see his true form. “But I can call you “Wiggles” if I want to,” he told him with a grin.

“Eh…calling me those silly nicknames would be fine as long as you see me through my chores,” said Tommy, dropping his fake skippy little bunny tone and speaking in a completely different accent that is more like a farmer’s.

Just then, the little baby rabbits hopped toward Branch, surrounding him and giving licks and nuzzles to his feet. They squeaked happily as they are able to recognize the two Trolls. Some of them started chewing on the blanket covering Branch’s body.

Tommy began to laugh and grabbed one of them, cradling it in his arms. “Alright, you guys!” he said. “Please stop picking on his towel!”

Branch giggled and petted the happy bunnies, bringing them close to his two legs.

As the celebration went on, Clayton rushed to Garth and helped him get back on his feet. The Animal Control worker groaned as he sat up.

“Garth! Are you alright, bro?” Clayton asked frantically. “Did you get him?” He looked around. “Where’s the cat?”

Garth scratched his head and thought for a moment, still dazed from the knock of Cooper’s Forget-Me-Stick. “Argh…what cat? I don’t know which cat did I catch…” he groaned, having no recollection of the little cat he was trying to catch. However, his partner has been searching all over the woods and didn’t come to the bunker to get Branch.

Clayton stared at Garth in disbelief. “But the cat must be around here somewhere…” As he talked, he gestured to the crowd of Trolls near the bunker, who were all staring at them with mild confusion.

The two Animal Control officers’ eyes widened with shock as they stared at them, unable to believe what is going on here.

“Uh, Clayton?” Garth asked his partner. “Why do I see two Trolls naked and wearing towels?” He pointed at Branch wrapping the blue blanket around his body and Tommy with a grass skirt on his waist.

“Um, I don’t know,” Clayton replied nervously. “Let’s just look away from what we saw.”

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, the two Trolls began to back away from them. Suddenly, Cooper jumped up to them, holding his Forget-Me-Stick.

“I can fix that!” he said proudly. Then he smacked his bat at the Animal Control officers’ faces, knocking them out cold.

WHAM!!!

“Nothing to see here!” Cooper laughed, glad that he’d finally solved this problem once and for all.

                                              To Be Continued…

                        Stay tuned for the last part of the story: Part 34!

Note: So Branch is back to normal in this part, and I’m really glad about it. I think the last part will be the epilogue, and I hope this will definitely conclude the rest of the story very soon. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Part 34 will be the final part of the story, so stay tuned for any updates! 😊

MAJOR UPDATE: Sorry if I had to post this part again because I wanted to make further changes on the text after I wake up. But today I had to. If you guys saw this already yesterday, please delete the previous copy and reblog and like this part again. Today I had to get started on the last part, so please enjoy this for a moment! 🥰

#dreamworks trolls #poppy and branch #broppy #poppy #branch #cat #cat branch #branch the cat #cat branch story #nine lives one fight #fanfiction #king peppy #biggie #cooper #wiggles #wiggles the rabbit #tommy #tommy the troll #garth #clayton #animal control

[blooddrop-palace]

Project Updates - What to Look Forward To

<3 Hello all! I've realized (humbly) that I have a small following of very nice people that seem quite interested in what I've written so far, and after seeing some mutuals post update-status posts, I thought I should share what's going on with my projects, also. (Thanks for the encouragement, @queenmuzz!)

Updated Dec-10-20

Sons of Fortune

Probably somehow my main focus now, though I am steadily working on other works. Currently working on the “In Between” special short before I start on Chapter 12.

I would also like to talk a little bit about my plans for this story: if anyone has paid attention to this story's tags, yes, I am touching up on the plots of most of the games. In fact, all of them, and the anime. (I already dealt with DMC4. No, I will not tear apart Fortuna lol.) Not all relevant tags are in, yet, because small spoilers. It looks like it's going to be a long while before I even get to the Temen-ni-gru, though. (There is a reason why that event is getting pushed back.) I want to have fun with the family fluff that is the twins each learning how to parent, first. 

Hell Froze Over, and We Shall Reignite It

The drama of it all! Dante and Vergil are finally back from Hell, and Nero doesn’t even know his mother is now standing right in front of him. Meanwhile, even I’m anticipating seen how Snow and Dante is going to handle the obvious things currently unsaid... and I have a feeling a small measure of stupidity is still going to be involved.

Current chapter progress: Outline complete.

It's going to feel so interesting, shifting from "Fortune" back to Reignite. I get to write Sera and Vergil falling in love all over again, with a different set of circumstances. Whoa.

And, and... Nero meeting Sera... odd that I'm saying this as the writer, but I have a "I hope he likes his mom" feeling going on. 

Also, no doubt Dante's brain is going to 404 when he sees Snow. 

Nico prepares popcorn.

This is Not an Office Rom-Com

I have... about 8 new skits planned out. Nothing more written just yet.

That’s all I’m saying about this for now. =P

Hierarchy of Kings

Purely indulgent M/M romance of Vergil and an OC, existing all thanks to

@wordborne

Working on chapter 2. 

I know I said 3 chapters only. I might have lied depending on how much I want to write. It's supposed to be just... awkward fluff of a listless part-devil who somewhat-recently lost his mate, got in a bit of a tiff with his brother, and now his children are trying to set him up with the prospective-king-of-hell, Vergil. 

I think about this one a lot but I haven't written anything new for it yet, only because "Fortune" is taking over my life right now, haha.

Through the Lens of the Beholder

Okay, so...This story has no real plot. As a result, my drive for it is purely down to "if I think of a badass or cool photograph to describe." There is a TINY bit of plot. Only a little. And I don't know when I'll update. But this is why I'm trying not to START new projects. Four  is a lot already! But because this one is supposed to be simpler than the other two, I will most likely finish this one before the others, so I can open a new project. 

---------------

Speaking of new projects... Here are things ideas bouncing through my head:

- I still have a prompt from @maybeishouldwait sitting in my inbox. I WILL have it done one day, when I find the perfect way to write it. 

A whole, entirely royally late set of Dadgil week fics.  Yep. I want to write them. They just won’t be on time. 

Written in Ink

A plot-less post-DMC5 story. 

I say plot-less. There is a plot. The plot is:

Dante: Damn it, Verge, are you trying to turn my office into a zoo??

In which Vergil compulsively starts contracting strong demons he's defeated, left and right, because he's discovered "the joy of pets." The demons all take on a dark animistic form and things get wild. 

A Persona and DMC fusion/AU

I have no title for this yet, and I absolutely cannot start this one until I have finished one of my other big projects. This one will take a lot of big planning, because I am making a new plot, using the mechanics of Persona, with DMC characters and setup.

What I want to write, is a teenage Nero as the protagonist, trying to solve a mystery... probably starting with the sudden disappearance of his mother. (Most likely Sera.) And he meets a lot of "new" people, and even finds new family... and yes, he will find his dad. (I'm thinking he'll know about Vergil, though. At least in name and a photo? Isn't that an interesting difference?)

For those of you not familiar with Persona, the major theme I really want to play with is that of the protagonist growing as a person (and in power) by befriending different people that helps them grow as a person. Each party member and important NPC is represented by a Tarot Card, signifying the type of journey the protagonist (The Fool) "embarks" with that character. There is growth in both the protagonist and that characters. 

Again, this is ambitious to try and pull off... but it's in the back of my head. I'll focus on it once I've cleared some other stuff. 

Sugar Sweet

A somewhat short-chapter series reader fic... of a surgeon/doctor!reader (barely 30 and good at what you do) who often saves the lives of shady people (e.g. mafia) because you care about saving lives, not the politics. But you do make good money out of it. (Hey, you gotta be at least a bit morally ambiguous if you're going to deal with devils.)

You meet one mess of a young mercenary named Dante, who is totally not human and deals with things like having bullets healed into his back, and he can't reach them to cut them out. 

Dante doesn't care about bills for his office, or a lot of the debts in his life. You don't know where his money is going, or if he even makes much money at all (for the kind of specialty work he does? Money's going somewhere, but that's none of your business.)

You won't pay Dante's bills, or his debts, but he will accept pizza and ice cream. And new parts for his jukebox. And maybe a motorcycle. Or a new coat. Or a new car...

And you might complain to him about your dumb patients. Or just listen to him talk about his job. Or you two watch a movie together.

And this just continues. For years. 

Tokusatsu DMC fusion/AU

So. First thing's first: I'm a big fan of Sentai/Tokusatsu. What is that, you might ask? It's a Japanese genre, and if you're familiar with Power Rangers, that's derived from Sentai. 

Basically: Masked heroes with transformation gadgets, sometimes with motorcycles, fighting against evil. ("Magical girls" but strictly the opposite, a lot more physical combat involved, may involve upgrade gadgets, and not strictly limited to male heroes though mostly a male cast. Also not strictly for male-only audience. Girls like the eye-candy, too. :eyes-emoji:)

Why am I thinking about this?

Because I have found out that: Vergil's VA, Dan Southworth, was the Quantum Ranger (WHICH WAS RED). Nero's VA, Johnny Yong Bosch, was a Black Ranger and a Green Ranger. 

...And Dante's VA, Reuben Langdon, had a role in a Japanese Toku show as "B-Fighter Yanma" forever ago???? (HE WAS BLUE!!)

What am I going to do with this info? I'll let you know later. But my Sentai/Toku-loving little heart is about to burst with hyperfixation overlap. 

If I ever write this out, expect it to be just as cheesy as an actual Kamen Rider show. Or, at the very least, expect some art. I love Kamen Rider stuff!

Family Fantasy MMO

Snow introduces Dante, Vergil, Nero, and Kyrie to Final Fantasy 14 (because that’s the MMO I play) for family bonding. Yep. Mainly for silly indulgence.

Stardew Valley Visit

Post DMC5, Vergil and Dante accidentally end up going on a vacation when they try to leave Hell. No pairing with the farmer, but instead just a relaxing and somewhat introspective moment of the boys being stuck with most of their power temporarily sealed, learning how to take care of a farm, and maybe do a bit of healing by interacting with the townsfolk while they try to find out where their swords went and how to get home. 

Re-Colourize

Otherwise what I would call the “re-colour of Nero and Snow” AU. 

What if Vergil was found by Kassy’s family and raised among them? What if Dante ended up briefly in Fortuna and then convinced Sera to run away from the island?

What if we have a Nero who, though brash, is outwardly more soft and open-hearted, and has red-orange and gold colours instead? What if we have a Snow who is named Chiyuki, who wields her katana more like Vergil does, and has a more ice-queen aura about her, and has a teal and blue colouring about her?

This is my excuse to switch up the pairings, but also write Vergil being taught to fight more like an assassin. 

Raised by the Blade

Imagine: Yamato, cracked, broken, and separated from her Master... desperately searching for a way to get back to him, and ended up washed up on the shores of Fortuna. Humanoid, but clearly not if anyone saw the cracked, broken, and no-normal look of “shattered” in her torso, that she would have to keep covered. 

Made from the power of Sparda, she is pale with white hair... and she finds herself drawn to the orphanage...

Where she finds the toddler that is Nero.

Devil Hunters’ Podcast

Nico “accidentally” finds entertainment in recording the Sparda Family arguments as they talk about hunting; after all, they all share one braincell. 

Ascended Monochrome

A white angel remains by the side of Nelo Angelo. Mundus was not pleased by the behavior of his second creation, from the human woman that he had picked up with the treacherous Son of Sparda. But he later discovered that by using her, he could keep Nelo Angelo complacent. Eventually, underestimating love will be his downfall.

Fall to Royalty

A story of where Vergil wins against Mundus the first time, and takes the throne of Hell. But what is he to do next? Eventually, ruling Hell seemed meaningless when there was no one by his side, so he goes to seek out the Lady Knight that he had vowed to never think of or go back to unless he had obtained the power he sought.

Doppelganger Woes

So, I heard Capcom retconned Gilver to be some sort of imitation created by Mundus. I’m all for this! And I’m going to DO something with this.

Side-Project: DMC Tarot List

I started on this maybe months ago; and I have a tentative list oh what characters go with what card and a few detailed descriptions. I think I should confer with

@harlot-of-oblivion

at some point about this, and anyone else interested in, well, Tarot stuff. 

#devil may cry #fanfiction #Project Update

[middlingthebest]

I’m Blue

Word Count - 1700

No warnings

Roman leaves things behind him, it was the usual bane of the day that Logan had to deal with. This particular thing was unusual but hardly weird enough to warrent this much of his attention. It was just a lipstick. A strange, blue lipstick. And yet it had a hold on his attention that he couldn't quite break free from. 

He shouldn’t have left it there. It was illogical, Roman had carried it out of his room, he hadn’t even put it on, and left it on the sitting room table before wandering off again. Logan had just been tidying it up when he slipped it into his pocket, he had fully intended on dropping it back off in Roman’s room and it was an honest mistake when he had forgotten about it, distracted by an “invasion” from Remus. Finding it later after he had begun settling into his room for the evening had been something of a surprise but hardly world changing.

He had already slipped his tie off, his glasses neatly abandoned for the night beside the bed. Returning to the commons would mean redressing and getting up from his chair, and he was disinclined to do both so instead he pulled the tube out of his pocket and set it on the table.

The lipstick was perfectly noticeable, clearly out of place in his room and he would spot it easily in the morning when he left for breakfast. In the meantime he turned on his desk lamp and pulled over his notebook to check through his to-do list for tomorrow and add the odd things he had neglected to finish today. There wasn’t much, though the distraction in the living room today had left a few low-priority tasks left undone, he thought as he glanced over at the lipstick then back again. He would have to speak to Remus about his timing, he concluded, noting it down to the side of his list and absently comparing the blue of his pen to the blue of the lipstick.

It was an interesting shade, and a strange choice for Roman - certainly not a colour he had seen the other side wearing before. He picked it up when he realised his attention had drifted back over to it and opened the cap, marking the top of his sheet with the makeup to inspect it further, a “swatch” he believed the term was though he had little confidence in his usage. He recapped it and sat it aside again, scribbling neatly with his pen beside streak of blue to compare the two colours though he was unsure what it was exactly he was looking for.

He stared at it for a long moment as he tried to drudge up the vocabulary to describe it as anything other than blue. He didn’t know the exact shade though could tell it wasn’t as rich as the ink, a paler blue but darkened like a grey. Pulling the sheet closer to him didn’t yield him anymore answers so he picked up the tube again and drew a line on his hand, bringing it to his face, lost in thought as he studied the colour and tried to figure out what it was about it that was drawing so much of his attention.

He should try it on. The thought snapped him out of his inspection and he recoiled from it instinctively, dropping his hand from his face as he picked up the tube to move it away from him. His fingers coiled around it but with his arm now outstretched he couldn’t quite bring himself to let it go. It wasn’t illogical to try it on, he told himself, still holding the makeup away from him. Its sole purpose was to be worn so wearing it was actually the logical thing to do. The colour was hardly dignified but it wasn’t gaudy. He would almost say it could be considered classy. Plus he liked it, he thought. And he was alone. He could see what it looked like, figure out his thoughts on it, and move on.

He pulled his hand back in and took the cap back off with a trepidation that was illogical and had brought it up to his face before he remembered people usually used a mirror for this kind of task. Standing from his chair, he quickly crossed over to the mirror hanging beside his dresser and paused in front of it. He felt foolish now that he was standing, it would be just as easy to take it to Roman’s room and be done with it. He lifted the lipstick to his mouth with a foreign motion and clumsily swiped it over his bottom lip, tidying up as best he could as he went along until he had one lip done.

Nothing comes out perfect on your first try, he reminded himself, swiping at the outline of his mouth until he had a reasonably clean line. He set about filling in his top lip with little further consideration until he had completed the task. For little more than a basic understanding of the theory behind applying makeup he thought he'd done an alright job with it. It wasn't as neat as he would have liked but the colour was pleasing and if he could apply it more evenly-

"Logan! Have you seen my-" Roman crashed in unannounced and Logan spun to meet him, feeling his heart seize in his chest as he watched the flamboyant side gasp and let out a strange, choking screech before leaving, fleeing just as suddenly as he had arrived.

He might actually be sick, it was the only thought that was circling around his head, as absurd as it was, and he swiped angrily at his mouth, conjuring a damp tissue and scrubbing at the stain until it was gone from his face. His blood was running cold around his body, sharp in his lungs as he kept his breaths steady and sat back down at his desk, his back ramrod straight. Roman exploded back into the room within the minute.

“Ah, good you took it off!” He exclaimed and if Logan hadn’t been mortified before he sure was now. Oblivious, Roman powered over to the logical side and presented his hand with a flourish. Logan lifted his own hand with the lipstick and Roman snatched it up but instead of leaving again he just perched on the desk behind him and waggled a thin stick in his face. “I brought lip-liner. I know me and the emo nightmare tend to hog Thomas’s attention when he’s had makeup videos on before but I thought you would know some of the basics.” He paused when finally noticed that Logan wasn’t saying anything and lowered his hand. “Are you ok?”

Logan didn’t think he was ok but he didn’t know how to process exactly how or why. His anger was lifting but the embarrassment and confusion he felt were both still very much present as he realised he had misunderstood the situation. Roman took his silence as a cue to keep talking but now that he had paused to read the room he lost all of his excitement and fell immediately into concern.

“I’m sorry, I just burst and started yelling. I didn’t take the time to think- I’m so sorry. I just got excited-” His eyes widened as he realised what he probably should have said in the first place. “That colour looked amazing on you, you just needed to tidy up the look a little.” He held the lip-liner up again for Logan and tried to push every ounce of his sincerity onto his face as he waited anxiously for a response.

Logan swallowed hard and did his best to push down his insecurity, his embarrassment over being caught unexpectedly, and tried to approach this rationally. He could admit his application of the makeup had been less than ideal. He had enjoyed the colour, it was interesting, and sitting before him now was a willing teacher who could help him come to the most fully realised conclusion he could reach. It might even be foolish not to take this for the opportunity it was.

Clearing his throat, Logan schooled his features and met Roman’s nervous gaze with a falsely confident one of his own.

“That seems reasonable.” He started, reaching to adjust his glasses before realising they weren’t there. He focused on the fact that Roman himself was in his pyjamas and that his own casual state of undress left him far from underdressed and carried on. “If you are willing to assist, while I am assured in my theoretical knowledge of applying lipstick the actual physical practice is not a skill I have acquired.”

The grin that broke out across Roman’s face was hardly called for but it succeeded in breaking the awkward tension that resided between them.

“Putting lipstick on can be a b****.” He summarised, the bleep he used to censor most of his swearing sounding around them as he uncapped the liner and reached carefully for Logan’s chin.

The finished look was not, apparently, the finished look as far as Roman was concerned but from what Logan could see it was much better than his own first attempt. The colour was dignified and applied flawlessly under Roman’s careful ministrations. It was loud – there was hardly any denying that blue lipstick could be anything but – and yet its cool and reserved tones lent him both a confidence and comfort in his own style and presence that he couldn’t have assumed it would achieve. When Roman fled from the room a third time, returning once again with more products, Logan couldn’t quite find it in him to discourage the creative side as he began colouring in his features with more makeup than he’d ever seen any of the sides (except Virgil, maybe) wear at any one time.

Logan allowed him to take a gentle grip of his face and followed his instructions to open his mouth, not that wide, well now it’s just closed again, would you stop talking for two seconds? with minimal complaints.

The final final look would never leave his room as far as he was concerned but he was keeping the lipstick. If he ever decided to wear it out was his own business but under Roman’s enthusiastic tutelage he was quick to learn an almost flawless application, and while he still wasn’t sure what exact shade of blue it was, he was certain that he liked it.

#I've written this as platonic but if you wanted to read it as logince then you could picture Roman looking at Logan #with his tie off #glasses off #wearing a rockin blue lipstick and his little heart going boom #middlingthebest #ts logan #ts roman #platonic logince #logince

[sirsharp-a]

Do As He Says. ❜

Summary:  Never be afraid again.  Recall that you can make even God quiver. Warnings:  None. Parts:  Part 1  |  Part 2  |  Part 3  |  Part 4  |  Part 5 ( here! )

                                                         _____   【 🞮 】   _____

    The words hung heavily in the air for what felt like eons.

    Maybe I misjudged this entire thing.  Maybe I was about to do something reckless.  No matter how much chaos the rogue hybrid had caused, did he really deserve to die for it?  And more importantly, even if he did deserve death, did an innocent woman like Grace Adler deserve the same?  She’d already made it clear that she was willing to follow him if he vanished.  The deity wasn’t used to feeling this unsure…  but he knew that such purposeful violence went against his moral code.  He certainly wouldn’t have entertained the idea of it had he not thought it was necessary.

    “What…?”   Grace asked softly, as if holding her breath, blue eyes shimmering with tears. They made the God feel ashamed.  How could he cause her such pain?  Sure, he had his reasons--  good ones at that--  but now that he was looking at her and not the source of his frustration, he couldn’t quite believe how overzealous he had become.

    Killing Edgar…  yes, undeniably, it would solve problems, but it’s wrong.     Inhumane, even in spite of all he’s done.    And this poor lady…     how     could I frighten her so?

                                       “It feels like  YOU  don’t see the big picture.”

    Perhaps I don’t.

    “... the things you said moved me,”   Raku admitted, form now tiny and timid.   “Something must be done, Grace, but perhaps I…  made a mistake.  I was…  under the impression that nobody would notice.  It seems that Edgar means a lot to you.”

   “I love him,”   she said through clenched teeth, her hands curled tight in the lapels of his jacket.   “Y-You’re God…  why else would I do all I could to oppose you if not for that?”

   She was far from foolish.  She knew that Edgar had been reanimated as a lye for  some reason  -  and that whatever the reason was, it wasn’t a good one  -  but she didn’t care. Whatever he had done back then, in his past life, didn’t concern her.  She hadn’t even been alive then.  His sins had not touched her.  Regardless of what lurked beneath his surface, she was quite certain that her opinion of him would not change.

   Shakily, she raised a hand to wipe at her eyes, trying to find refuge in the gentle grip on her waist.  Meekly:   “... what else can you do?”

    The God shuffled on his feet momentarily, thinking it through.  There are things I can do.  I cannot change the course of the universe, but I can work around it.  But does this creature deserve it, truly...?  Is my pity for her clouding my judgement?

    "Edgar is currently living on a borrowed clock.  Taking him off of said clock is the way to fix the imbalance.  Death, unfortunately, is the most logical answer.  But sustained life…  that is also an option."

    "S… Sustained…?"     "Mm.  Immortality.  That would have similar effects to death."

    "B-But…  how?  That doesn't make sense.  Those options are opposites.  And we...  we're already immortal."

    Raku shook his head gently.   "You are circumstantially ageless.  If a hunter comes along with a gun and shoots you, you die.  Why else do you not want wars to break out? Because lyes fight to the death.  People die.  Your people die."

    She hesitated slightly, then nodded in understanding.  He was right.  It was precisely the reason that even somebody as loose a canon as  Edgar  retreated when dangerous weapons entered the picture;  they could kill him.  At any point, just like anybody else, he could die.

    "Making it so that Edgar is unable to die renders the concept of time obsolete.  A life without end cannot be finished, therefore his pre-determined purpose as a hybrid no longer applies. It is a loophole, at best, but it will technically work.  It is more a burden on the conscience than it is on the universe."

    Fuck your conscience, Edgar thought bitterly to himself.  He was too smart to say anything, knew all too well that he was walking a thin line between life and death.  If he chose to speak now, it could wind up costing him dearly.  He had had enough shame for one night, being forced to his knees like a subservient dog, faced with the knowledge that he would die alone and unknown.  At this point, he'd do anything to escape such a cold fate.

    "But I must warn you, Grace…"   Raku began, tone ice-cold and serious.   "It is a very dangerous concept.  He may escape death but he will never escape pain.  And you…  you will remain as you are.  If you die, he is destined to continue alone.  He cannot follow you."   The explanation was grave, as dreary as rainfall at a funeral, and he fumbled none with his words as he did with his fingers.  Floating gently:   "Immortality is often used as a punishment too, you know.  The absence of an end is sometimes enough to drive somebody insane.  How did Valor put it… 'the journey to death is the point of our being'?  Not having a reprieve from the burdens of life can be far more incapacitating than--"

    "Stop,"   Grace interjected firmly.  Her nails were digging into her arms, body trembling lightly. After a few seconds of tense silence:   "Please, I know that you're … trying to be honest with me, and to help, but…  I don't care about any of that.  At least this way, there's a chance for us to be happy.  There's a chance for things to remain stable, better for everybody."   She hesitated briefly before finishing her thoughts.   "... I can help carry his burdens.  I can’t do anything for a dead man.

    The deity stared for a few seconds, then nodded in understanding.   Her love for him is crystal-clear.  It would be insane to look at her and see anything else.  She would do anything to stay with him, and she would walk to the ends of the realm to salvage what she thinks she has with him.

    Is that what your past wives thought of you too?                That you were a good man? Did they not ‘deserve’ it?

    Perhaps a sadness you cannot escape is a more fitting punishment after all.                 When your guilt catches up with you, there will be nothing you can do.

    Though he didn't comment on it, he made a vow to watch over them closely.  He could only do so much to intervene-- he couldn't control anybody's will, nor could he meddle with affairs that did not concern him--  but he'd make it a point to watch them from the shadows sometimes. There was no way he was granting Edgar a reprieve from the grave without making sure that the one who had appealed for it was safe.  If anything, this proved Grace's formidable character to him and little else.

    “... very well.”   He watched the pair observe him as he ascended a short ways into the air, short form glowing the same ghostly white that his weapon had before Grace had forced it back into its metaphorical sheath.   “I do not like to kill.  I want that to be clear.  I would only ever bet on death if I thought there was no other way.”   His eyes turned to Grace, head gesturing to the space beside her.   “Please step aside.”

    The scout was clearly reluctant to leave Edgar’s side.  For several seconds, she remained clinging to him, eyeing the deity with evident distrust.  Though she didn’t want to complicate the situation further, she was hesitant to place faith in a creature that had been so bent on killing her lover just minutes before.  Just because she seemed to have gotten through to him didn’t mean that he wasn’t trying to appease her--  to get her out of the way so that he could finish the brutal deed--

    “Grace,”   Edgar uttered softly, earning her attention quickly.  He could see it in her face… that  frazzled fear;  her attempt to look strong, even though she looked broken.  I hate that look for you.  I want you together.  I want you to be you.  His hand touched her shoulder tentatively.   “... do it.  Do as he says.  I want to stay with you.”

    “... I--”

    “It’s alright,”   he insisted, a meek smile shaping his lips.   “It’s alright.”

    Somewhat pacified, she did as she was told.  Watching with mounting anxiety as a pale light began to surround the God once more, she fell a little further back, valuing her safety.  He wouldn’t kill Eddie now, she told herself firmly, he wouldn’t.  A strange incantation reached her ears, though she knew not of the words spoken.  A different language, a tongue she could never imagine nor understand, like age-old Latin that had been rendered long dead.

    For just a brief moment, her world flashed a piercing white, pain exploding behind her eyes. Her arms shielded her gaze, a quiet whimper leaving her without much thought.  When she opened them again, she looked for him, searching desperately for his outline in the fading static, eyes still adjusting to the light

                                                                                                    Edgar was gone.

    Evidently confused, heart constricting painfully as the empty space registered in her brain, she looked up at Raku with a helpless sort of desperation, eyes wide and heartbroken.   “... where is he?”   It was asked softly, as if he she hardly dared to utter it at all.  When Raku looked down at her, it was with a hooded gaze.

                                                          You didn’t.  You didn’t.  You WOULDN’T...!

    It felt as if all the strength she once possessed had left her, arms floppy, knees glued to the ground, eyes wet--

                                                                                      “ ... where’s my Eddie?”

#🞮 — i am the lie that you adore. ❜ ( edgar. ) #🞮 — you're nothing if you're just another. ❜ ( grace. ) #🞮 — welcome to my world﹐take a look around. ❜ ( main. ) #🞮 — ask me to stay﹐i would be charmed to. ❜ ( ic. ) #narrative * #drabble * #/ FUC K ! ME ! UUUUUUUUPPPPP!!!!

[loveforpreserumsteve]

End of the Line (Pre-Serum Alpha!Steve and Pregnant Omega!Bucky Modern Bus Trip A/B/O AU)

Seven:

"Oh, well this one is definitely going on the fridge," Steve praised, holding the giraffe page up in front of him. Green and purple scribbles covered the outline of the cheerful animal since Noah wasn't able to, or concerned with, coloring inside the lines. But that didn't stop Steve from encouraging the little boy.

Beaming at the attention, Noah quickly got back to coloring another picture. Just as Maisie was. As Steve added the giraffe picture to the growing pile on his lap, Bucky teased, "You're not gonna have any room left on your fridge."

"Can't help that your pups are talented," Steve shrugged. A smile on his face as he joked, "Maybe I'll just buy another fridge."

"That's your solution?!" Bucky chuckled, watching the alpha.

"You got another suggestion?" Steve challenged, quirking a brow.

Biting his lip, Bucky ran a hand over his abdomen to calm the excited unborn pup inside him. They were travelling through Texas now, on their way to another stop. It was dark outside, clearly past the pups' bedtime. But their moods were so much better than Bucky had seen them in so long, that he couldn't tell them to go to sleep. In an attempt to ease his own anxieties with not being a good father, Bucky told himself that his pups had taken naps, and that he'd have them sleep after this upcoming --

Bucky's stomach growled in his hunger, but he blamed that on eating for two. A soft nudge at his elbow gained Bucky's attention, where he found Steve silently handing him one of the apple pie desserts across the aisle. Tears started to build in his eyes with how thankful he was to have met this kind alpha, as he accepted the sugary treat from him.

Tearing the top off the individual box, Bucky didn't hesitate to bite into the turnover type treat. He did, however, ask his daughter beside him, "Ya hungry, baby?"

With her tongue peeking out as she concentrated on her coloring sheet, Maisie shook her head. Setting down her crayons, she held the sheet up to look over her work before handing it to Bucky, asking, "Can you give it to Steve?"

"Give it to Steve?!" Bucky feigned offense as he playfully pouted, "What if I want to keep it?"

"Daddy," Maisie giggled in her exasperation while rolling her eyes.

Bucky looked over the elephant coloring sheet. The grass was teal, the elephant purple, and pink stars twinkled in the sky. Sure, the crayon marks weren't exactly inside the lines, but there was a clear effort. Perhaps she was even a genius. Who knows, she could've been a prodigy. Bucky sure thought she was a special little lady.

"Daddy," Maisie whined when she saw that he was still holding the picture.

Rolling his eyes -- that's where she gets it -- Bucky unceremoniously handed the picture across the aisle to Steve. Beaming, Steve delicately accepted the picture. A smile remained on Steve's lips as he looked over the coloring sheet. Bucky's heart stuttered in his chest and he returned his attention to the apple treat in his hand.

Looking over at Bucky -- no, looking past Bucky, to Maisie -- Steve smiled at the little girl, and complimented her artistic endeavors, "You are so good at coloring."

"Yeah?" Maisie perked, blushing at Steve's enthusiasm. Hiding behind Bucky's larger frame, she hesitantly questioned, "Can you put it on your fridge?"

"Can I --" Steve stopped, feigning flabbergasted as he touched his chest and promised, "I wouldn't dream of doing anything other than that." Admiring the picture once more, Steve assured, "This is a masterpiece! It deserves to be hung in a museum!" Glancing down at Noah beside him, Steve exclaimed, "The Maisie and Noah Museum of Refrigerator Art!"

Bucky's chest clenched as he smoothed down Maisie's messy brown curls with his prosthetic hand. The way his children reacted to Steve made Bucky long for a partner like him. A partner that would encourage his children and allow them room to flourish without cruel criticism that hurt them and caused them fear.

Just then, distressed pup scent blossomed through the air. Considering there were only two children on the bus and one of those two was sitting next to Bucky, positively cheerful, he knew exactly where it was coming from.

Immediately, his head snapped over to look at Noah, sitting next to the window on the other side of Steve. Noah had lifted the coloring book to hide his face, but Bucky could see that his skin was flushed the way it normally got when he was crying.

As Bucky rose from his seat, to comfort his pup, Steve moved from his seat. Wringing his hands together and emitting a rotten, distressed scent of his own as he helplessly moved out of the way.

"Sweetie?" Bucky questioned, easing the coloring book from Noah's red, tear-stained face, "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Noah's lower lip quivered as more tears streamed down his round, baby cheeks. Sniffling, Noah choked out, "Had, had, had… ask-ah-dent."

Scenting Noah by rubbing his wrist along his cheek, Bucky attempted to calm his pup with his scent as best he could as he deciphered, "You had an accident?"

Nodding, Noah sobbed, "'M sorry, daddy!"

"It's okay, baby," Bucky reassured, unbuckling Noah's seatbelt, and lifting the small toddler into his arms.

While Noah buried his face in Bucky's neck, Steve knocked on the bus's bathroom door and remorsefully relayed, "Someone's in there."

"It's okay," Bucky assured, grabbing the diaper bag from the overhead compartment and ignoring the curious and concerned looks from the other passengers.

Having issues with calming Noah and rifling through the diaper bag for another pull-up, Bucky turned towards Steve. Relieved when Steve was already standing there, ready to help. Handing the bag over to Steve, Bucky lifted the arm rest in between the seats and laid Noah down.

Trying to change the toddler as quick as possible, Bucky clinically removed his shoes and pants. Too busy worrying about his pup's mental well-being, and attempting not to show how truly heartbroken he was for his son as Noah remained absolutely still and sucked on his thumb, to self-soothe himself.

As he removed the pull-up, alpha anger soured the air. A spicy, red hot cinnamon that caused Bucky to hold back a cough as tears formed in his eyes. Fearful of what he would find, Bucky cautiously glanced over to Steve. The man stood there clenching his jaw so tightly that Bucky was positive that he'd hurt himself.

Closing his eyes, Steve took in a grounding breath and, through clenched teeth, questioned, "He do that?"

"Do?" Bucky quietly asked as he brought his gaze back to his son. There, he saw what Steve was referring to.

Noah's bare bottom was red with some spots starting to turn purple. Of course, Bucky knew what caused the bruising. It had been the straw that broke the camel's back. Bucky had returned after giving Maisie a bath to find Brock spanking Noah. No, not spanking, beating Noah's bottom.

Brock claimed that Noah was never going to potty train with the way Bucky coddled him. Even going so far as to gesture at the wet spot on his lap where Noah had been sitting. Once Brock thought that he had efficiently explained what had happened, he went back to punishing Noah with his large hand.

Bucky had ushered Maisie into her and Noah's bedroom before crossing the room to help Noah. Stepping in between his son and the alpha who sired him. Lifting his silently sobbing son into his arms and turning for the bedroom. Not understanding how someone could be so unnecessarily cruel to a child. Especially when it was their parental duties to protect their children.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Brock had growled, grabbing onto Bucky's left shoulder because he knew it was the weaker side. Clamping down so hard that it earned a whimper from Bucky, as his back slammed against the wall.

"He's a baby!" Bucky had defended, positioning Noah away from Brock.

Not caring one bit, Brock crowded into Bucky's space, and sneered, "Did I say I was done with him?"

It was rhetorical, so Bucky kept his mouth shut. Knowing that he needed to play this smart. Needed to get out of there before Brock could beat him and cause him to go into premature labor the way he did with Noah. Needed to get out of there before Brock finally went too far and ended up killing --

"Buck?"

Sniffling, Bucky came back to himself. Steve's anger was still there, but not as strong as before. Now, he was more concerned and was carefully rubbing his wrist in soothing circles on his shoulder. Scent marking Bucky while watching with concern-filled eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm okay," Bucky sniffled again, wiping his snot on his sleeve before pulling a clean pull-up on Noah. Redressing the toddler, Bucky looked him over. Fixing a smile on his face, Bucky leaned forward and started pressing kisses all over Noah's sweet little face. Not stopping until Noah finally giggled out his protest.

Resting his forehead against Noah's, Bucky confirmed, "I love you."

"Love you," Noah hiccuped, wrapping his arms around Bucky's neck, and allowing Bucky to pull him up with him as he crossed the aisle back to his seat.

Sitting down, with Steve's assistance, Bucky weakly smiled at the alpha. Tired and embarrassed, Bucky focused on his children. Stroking his metal fingers over Maisie's cheek to wipe away her tears as he told her, "I love you."

"Love you," Maisie softly replied, nuzzling into Bucky's side as silent cries wracked her tiny frame.

Rubbing Maisie's back, Bucky dropped a kiss to the top of her head. Nosing along her hair to softly scent his pup, hoping that the more affection he gave her, the faster her sadness would dissipate. When Maisie's tears ceased, Bucky peeked over at Steve. Hoping that the alpha wouldn't judge him too harshly considering how awful of a father he was.

Instead of finding disgust or contempt, Bucky was surprised to still find kindness etched deep into Steve's expression. His blue eyes held nothing but concern and sympathy when they locked with Bucky's. New tears started building in Bucky's eyes. Especially when Steve extended his hand across the aisle to Bucky.

Feeling like a lifeline, Bucky grabbed onto the petite alpha's large hand. Tenderly, Steve gave his hand a squeeze, but reluctantly released it when the passenger exited the restroom. For a moment, Bucky nuzzled into Noah's curls while watching the other passenger make their way down the aisle, returning to their seat. When he redirected his attention back to Steve, he blushed at the realization that Steve was still watching him with a soft uptick to his lips.

#end of the line #stucky #steve rogers #bucky barnes #steve rogers x bucky barnes #marvel #fanfic #wattpad #ao3 #modern au #a/b/o dynamics #omegaverse #pre-serum steve #alpha steve #amputee bucky #omega bucky #pregnant bucky #mpreg #cross country road trip #bus trip #fleeing abusive relationship #getting out #angst #fluff #hurt/comfort #happy ending #WARNING: DEPICTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE

[littlesliceofmarvel]

Back To The Future

Request/Synopsis: Tony and the reader have been friends forever, and the reader is related to Peggy Carter. Something goes wrong in the lab one day and the two of them are sent back to the 40s, and they run into a couple familiar faces. Along the way to get back home, they discover their feelings for each other.

Warnings: Swearing (ofc)

Pairings: Tony x Reader

A/N: As always, Gif isn’t mine. I know that originally the request was to have help from Howard Stark, but I changed it slightly. Also, I have no idea when this takes place in the timeline of the MCU, but oh well. I also don’t remember much about the first Captain America and the timeline of that, so ignore any mistakes I’ve made. Enjoy! xx

Being one of Shield’s scientists came with major responsibility and unpredictability. One second you could be doing an upgrade on Thor’s phone, which to him was rocket science, or you could be doing actual rocket science. You worked with NASA for countless years, and when they teamed up for a task with Shield five years ago, Fury was captivated by your skills and got you on board right away. You took the job without a second of hesitation.

You got used to the insanity of this job fairly quickly with the help of Tony Stark, who happens to have become one of your best friends. He was there to help you when it came to stuff you didn’t fully understand, like most extraterrestrial technology that came through the lab. You had become one of Shield’s most trusted scientists, and you were always the go-to person when Stark was out of town. You did love your job, and working with some of the toughest people in the world really helped motivate you to be the best at everything you did.

“(Y/N),” your thoughts were cut off by Fury’s voice, booming over the conference room, “Do you think you can handle this?”

Unfortunately, you had been paying no attention to what Fury had been saying, and you wanted nothing more than to sink back into the big black leather chair when everyone’s eyes faced you. 

“Of course,” you gave Fury a forced smile, to which he nodded, telling the team you had it covered. Your face flushed as you felt the humiliation settling in of not paying attention to Fury and getting yourself roped into something.

“It’s settled,” Fury clapped his hands together, “Dr. (Y/L/N) will handle the Infinity Stones.”

Oh, boy. You were screwed.

-

After accidentally agreeing to be the one to dissect the Infinity Stones, you found yourself in the lab, facing three glowing gems. One green, one purple, and one red. You were told they were the time stone, power stone, and reality stone. You were supposed to look into them to see what they possessed, what they could do, and how they worked. It was something you never expected to be doing. You had heard of the Infinity Stones in the past, having dealt with the tesseract and Loki’s scepter during his 2012 attack, but you wanted nothing to do with them.

“Ouch, son of a bitch,” you let out a small yelp when you lifted the time stone, a small burn mark left on your fingers. You turned around and grabbed a pair of gloves before turning back to the green gem. You placed it on a small stand, picking up a giant magnifying glass and letting it sit in front of your face as the gem showed up on the large screen. 

“THE TIME STONE, ONE OF SIX INFINITY STONES” the file read as you zoomed in on the image of the stone, analyzing its structure. There was a microscopic bead of light on the outside of the stone that caught your attention, and you zoomed in on it to see what it was. A small hole on the side of the stone led straight to the middle, the natural light it was producing leaking out of the tiny hole.

“How’s it going in here?” You jumped, facing a grinning Tony Stark who was munching away on a bag of raisins. You shot him a death glare for scaring you, turning back to face the green item.

“Not as bad as you’d think,” you grinned, showing Tony the screen that sat in front of you, a close up shot of the Time Stone catching his attention.

“What’s that?” he pointed towards the small hole that caught had your attention, offering you a raisin as he did so. One thing you couldn’t understand was how often this guy ate, and in the lab.

“Why are you eating in my space?” You crossed your arms, facing him.

He gave you a sassy look, placing his hand on his hip, “You’re actually in my space.”

You rose an eyebrow, “Ok, Mister Boss Man, whatever you say.” Tony gave you a glare and pointed to the stone once again.

“What is that, though?” he closed up the bag and placed it on the desk behind you, eyes not coming off of the screen as you picked up a tiny pair of tweezers, pointing to the Stone.

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know,” you shrugged, slowly moving to pick up the Stone with the tweezers. Tony turned his attention to what you were doing, watching as you carefully picked up the stone with the tweezers, and before you knew it, everything went green, and then black.

-

You woke up, your head pounding out of your skull. Your eyes felt swollen shut, but once you forced them awake, you were greeted by sunlight. You could feel grass between your fingers and on the back of your neck, indicating that you were laying down. It took you a few seconds to adjust to the brightness, your mind swirling with what just happened.

The Stone.

You jumped up, looking around for where you were, trying to find the lab and the stone. You remembered Tony, and your eyes immediately scanned around to find him. You looked around for indications of what happened and where you were, finding nothing but an empty field, a dirt road going through the trees.

“What the hell?” You mumbled, breathing heavily as panic started to set in, realizing what might be happening. The Stone, the Time Stone. Time travel. 

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Tony!?” You called out, brushing your hair out of your face as you started speed-walking towards the dirt road, “Tony Stark, where are you?!” 

“(Y/N)?” A quiet groan came from the long grass and you rushed over to where it came from, your heart nearly exploding when you saw Tony Stark laying in the grass, struggling to open his eyes, reaching his hand out so you could help him up.

“Where are we?” He asked, voice coarse from the passing out of sorts. You looked around, hoping to find some sort of a clue. And that’s exactly what you got. A vehicle passed on the road, a small Buick passing by on the road and turning into the trees, both of your eyes locked on it before you both exchanged a knowing look. It was a 40′s model.

“Shit, please tell me we didn’t go back in time,” you mumbled, grabbing Tony’s arm and looking in his eyes.

He kept his eyes on the road which the car disappeared on, “Oh, you want me to lie. No, we haven’t gone back in time.”

You let out a frustrated groan, throwing your head back and running your hands through your hair, tugging aggressively. How could this have happened? It was all your fault. How did the Stone send you back in time without you having done anything? And why to the 40′s?

“Tony, what the hell do we do?” You asked, eyes almost watering at how panicked you were. Tony turned his attention back to you and placed his hands on your shoulders, steadying you.

“Ok, first of all, stressing out isn’t going to help.”

You pushed him off of you, “Sorry, but we’re currently in the 40′s! Tell me what part of this I should be calm about,”

He rolled his eyes at you, “You know what? Be lucky we got thrown back to the 40s, we know people here.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, waving your arms, “Sorry, who the hell do we know here?”

“My dad, Howard Stark, pre-pubescent Steve is probably running around here somewhere, and your aunt, the one Steve loved what’s her name again?” Tony put his hands to his temple and everything clicked in your head.

“Peggy!” You shouted, a smile on your face, “Of course, this all makes sense.”

“Sorry, what part of this makes sense to you?”

You smiled at him, “Ok, the stone can connect to DNA, right? When you come in contact with it, you feel it as much as it feels you. So, when I somehow triggered a reaction from it, it threw us into time, in general. It connected the two of us to DNA from here, of course!” The Time Stone was one of the only Stones that could feel human connection, and it only made sense that once you touched it and opened a portal of time, you and Tony’s DNA got jumbled and matched it to your relatives in the 40s, Howard Stark and Margaret Carter. 

“I’m not following,” Tony gave you a blank stare, “but cut the enthusiasm, we still need to get back to where we came from.”

“Do you think they would know a way?” You asked, and Tony nodded at you, pulling your hand and dragging you down the road. 

After a long, long walk, the two of you pulled up to a small gate, and behind it looked like a military boot camp. You heard drill calls and groups of men running and you immediately thought that this is probably where Steve trained. There was a small circular looking building near the back, which clearly led to underground.

“So, this is the base where they’re all at, huh?” You asked as Tony used FRIDAY to hack into the card ID holder, letting the gate open wide.

You looked around, taking in the sights. Men walked around in old military gear, which to them was modern. Talks of German attack forces and the attack on Pearl Harbour two years ago would make this 1943. Your head swirled at the idea of wanting to take in as much history as you could, but you knew you needed to get back home. In the distance, you could see the faint outline of the old New York City, the Stark Tower obviously not being there made the seriousness of this situation feel so much more real.

You turned around to look for Tony, but a small body came crashing into yours, almost knocking you over. You looked down to face a familiar face, your heart getting caught in your throat.

“Rogers?” You asked, Steve’s blue eyes looking into yours questioningly. He looked like a child, his head almost looking too big for his body. You knew that Steve used to be smaller, but this was more than you had expected. Seeing him like this, knowing he didn’t know you at this moment made your eyes water.

“Do.. Do I know you?” He asked, his helmet falling into his face, practically making it disappear. You wanted to tell him, but you couldn’t. This was all too much for you. You had no idea what to do.

“C’mon, punk,” another voice came up from beside you, “You’re falling behind, it’s embarrassing.”

You turned to see Bucky standing next to you, smiling down at Steve whose cheeks turned slightly pink. You knew Barnes was a Sergeant, but something about seeing him here caught you off guard, as the only times you had come in contact with him was when he was the Winter Soldier. From the corner of your eye, you could see Tony’s mouth hanging open, taking out his phone to quietly take a picture of little Steve. 

Steve nodded at Bucky and turned away from you as your heart shattered. 

“Tony, we need to get out of here, now,” you spoke shakily, looking back to Bucky and Steve, who seemed lost in their own conversation. You couldn’t process everything that was going on, you just wanted to wake up and have this all be a dream. Tony pulled you in for a hug, soothing you, and somehow, it pulled you away from the chaos around you, and you found yourself sinking into his arms, your heart rate slowing down.

He pulled away and looked into your eyes, “Hey, I promise I’ll get you home safe.” You nodded, feeling the impact of his words hit you harder than anything this man has ever said to you. 

“Let’s go home,” you whispered, staring right into his warm brown eyes.

“Let’s get to my dad, then.”

-

Tony led you through long hallways, flashing a card that said M.I.T VISITORS to grant us access into certain spaces. The two of you checked all the doors to find the one that belonged to Howard Stark, and you figured Tony had found it when you came crashing into his back, notifying you he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Tony, what the hell, move your feet,” you groaned, regaining your balance.

You turned to see what had caught his attention and you were right, a large glass door with the words HOWARD STARK stood in front of him, making your mouth drop slightly.

“I can go in if you don’t want to face him,” your soft voice broke Tony out of his trance as he turned to face you, a little paler than he was a minute ago.

He shook his head, “No, no, it’ll be ok, maybe I’ll ask him for sushi or something.”

“Tony-”

“It’s fine,” he cut you off, turning back to face the door, knocking loudly. You didn’t think twice before looking over to him and sliding your hand into his, interlocking your fingers together, giving his hand a small squeeze, to which you saw him visibly calm down. He took a deep breath as a figure walked over to the frosty glass door and swung it open, and before you stood Howard Stark.

Tony’s hand went limp in yours as you took in the man in front of you. He had groomed brown hair pushed out of his face, a moustache of the same colour sitting right above his lip. If you didn’t know he was Tony’s dad, you would have very easily deciphered it. The two looked quite similar, although oddly enough, Tony looked older than his father. Which technically at the moment, he was. But he also wasn’t born yet in the moment. 

“How may I help you two?” Howard’s voice asked kindly, yet firmly, confirming his position of authority. You looked over to Tony who looked too gob-smacked to speak, so you took over.

“Hello, Mr Stark,” you smiled, sticking out your hand to which he shook, “We’re from M.I.T, and we needed more credits so we were told to come speak to you, actually. If you’re not too busy.”

He looked between the two of you and nodded slowly, moving out of the way to let the two of you in. His office was quaint, a large wooden desk sat in the middle with chairs lining the sides, a large window looking over the field where boot camp was installed.

“Take a seat, do you want coffee or anything?” He asked, and you shook your head, Tony still not fully being able to speak.

“So, what are we supposed to talk about, exactly?” Howard pointed to the chairs in front of his desk to which you and Tony took, as he sat in the seat facing the two of you, arms on his desk. This almost felt like an interrogation.

“Sushi,” Tony muttered, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Sorry, he’s a little slow, he didn’t eat lunch,” you gave a fake laugh and kicked Tony’s foot lightly under the table as to say ‘smarten up or he’ll get suspicious.’ You understood this was overwhelming for him, having tragically lost his parents when he was much younger, but right now, the two of you needed information from Howard.

“We actually are doing a presentation at the moment about time travel,” you smiled kindly, leaning forwards slightly, “Do you believe in such a thing?”

Howard squinted before leaning back in his chair, “I do.”

Both of your eyes widened, giving each other a knowing look.

“That’s - That’s great, why do you believe in it?” Tony regained his brain and tried to get the information you guys needed.

Howard smiled slightly, “Is this going in your presentation? It’s kind of top secret.”

You shook your head, “Of course not, Mr. Stark, we don’t want to reveal your secrets.”

“What she means is ‘please tell us,” Tony stated bluntly, causing you to snap your head in his direction. Howard chuckled, looking between the two of you.

“What are your names?” 

Tony took a deep breath, “I’m, uh, Tony St- Tony (Y/L/N), and this is my wife, (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” You thanked God that he caught himself before he let Stark slip out of his mouth.

“Well, Mr and Mrs (Y/L/N), I believe in time travel because I’ve seen some wild things in my life, this isn’t some ordinary United States military camp,” he gave you two a knowing smirk, causing you to look at Tony, who held a smile on his face.

“Can you show us? Or, tell us I mean?” Tony asked, shaking his head to show that he made a mistake in the first question, but I knew he wanted to see what he meant, it could lead us back to home.

“I can’t, guys, I’m sorry, that’s way past confidential,” he gave you a sad smile and you exhaled a deep breath, wanting nothing more than to find out what he was talking about. 

Tony dropped his head, “Alright, thank you, da- I mean, Mr. Stark.”

Howard asked if you guys needed anything more, and when you both said no, he let out out of his office, and once the door was closed, Tony let out a deep breath he had been holding, clutching the wall.

“Tony, are you alright?” You placed a hand on his shoulder, steadying him as he struggled to breathe. He shook his head and you placed your hands on either side of his face, causing him to look straight into your eyes.

“I know, that was a lot, I’m proud of you for being able to do it, Tony,” you gave him a sincere smile, your heart picking up speed at how intensely he looked into your eyes, “We’re going to get through this together, I promise you, okay? We just need to find-” You were cut off by the sound of yelling behind you, and when you turned around, two men came running down the hall in your direction, gunshots firing.

“Change of plans,” Tony grabbed your arm and pulled you down the hall and down a long staircase, the sound of the men following you close behind. Tony continued leading the two of you down at least five flights of stairs, the footsteps becoming louder, signalling that there were probably more people chasing the two of you. As you reached the bottom of the stairs, the door was locked. 

“Really? Every other fucking door was practically calling us in but this one’s locked?” Tony cursed, wrapping his arms around you as the sounds of the footsteps got closer. You knew they had weapons, so you shoved your face into Tony’s chest, his heart beating against your ear.

“Any chance you can become Iron Man?” you mumbled into his shirt.

“Sorry, sweetheart, left the tech at home,” he placed his face in your hair, silently placing his head in the crook of you neck, making your breath hitch.

“I got em!” A voice shouted and you heard a gunshot go off, making you jump and squint your eyes leaning further into Tony’s chest as you braced for impact. Why they had been ordered to shoot you, you couldn’t say, but you knew the two of you seemed suspicious from the get-go. Maybe asking Howard Stark some pretty invasive questions set off some sort of alarm, raising attention to the two of you being here. 

You didn’t hear anymore gunshots go off and your heart stopped, fear that they had gotten Tony made a tear slip down your eyes as you continued holding him tightly, your breath picking up. No more bullets came, and the silence was taken over by a small chuckle.

“Send them back in time and they become one person,” a familiar voice said, causing one of your eyes to open. You pulled away from Tony, your eyes scanning the all-too-familiar surroundings. The Time Stone sat in front of you, along with Natasha, Steve, Bruce and Rhodey, who looked at the two of you in confusion.

“Oh, my god,” you choked out, relief flooding through your entire body. To say your mind was jumbled was an understatement, but seeing that you were back home sent your body into a wave of comfort and your shoulders relaxed instantly.

“Tony, we’re back,” you pulled away from him slightly, noticing his eyes were still shut. He opened them and his face instantly relaxed, realizing that the two of you were safe and back home. 

“It’s about damn time you guys noticed we were gone,” Tony scoffed at the team, “I mean, honestly, we were stuck there long enough. After I saw your pre-serum body, Steve, I was ready to run back to the future.”

Steve rolled his eyes, “Shut up, Tony.”

“How did you guys bring us back?” You asked, looking between the four Avengers. If you had been totally honest, although you had made a terrible mistake with the stone, you had been infinitely grateful to have Tony there, and you felt a special connection with him now, having shared this together.

“Well, after the stone sent you guys back, a flash of green went off and we knew something had gone wrong,” Natasha explained, “So, Bruce rushed in here and managed to figure out a way to reverse what it had just done.”

You let out an exasperated sigh and leaned your body over the table, laughing slightly when Tony’s bag of raisins caught your eye. What a day it had been. You pinched yourself repeatedly to see if it was real. You couldn’t believe the things you saw today. Steve, Bucky, Howard, it was a lot. You had secretly wished to see your aunt Peggy, but something told you that she would have suspected a lot more out of you than Howard did. 

“Well,” you started, “All I can take from today is that I’m now craving sushi,” you winked at Tony who gave you a smirk.

“How bout you and I go get a nice sushi dinner?” Tony approached you, “What do you say, sweetheart? I think we deserve it.”

You felt heat rise to your cheeks when you remembered the rest of the people in the room, but you nodded up at him and his face broke out into a massive smile, and you felt more relaxed than you had been in a long time.

Maybe going back in time wasn’t so bad. After all, now you have a date with Tony Stark.

#tony stark #tony stark imagines #tony stark imagine #iron man #iron man imagine #tony stark one shots #tony stark one shot #tony stark x reader #avengers #avengers imagine #avengers imagines #marvel #marvel imagine #marvel imagines #robert downey jr imagines

[weirdochick56]

Mr. Evans- Chris Evans AU Chapter Three

Teacher!Chris Evans x Student!Reader

Warnings: Teacher x student relationship. PANIC ATTACK. ANGST. FLUFF. A bit of violence being described, but it’s VERY mild.  

Disclaimers: I don’t own CE or you. 

Word Count: 4, 501 words

Read Chapter Two Here!!

***

(Gif isn’t mine!) 

You had no idea where you were going or what you were going to do, but you needed to get away from him. It was all becoming too real. Your crush, the one you’d been experiencing the darkest most forbidden depths of, was being flipped into something else. Something deeper and way scarier. You weren’t sure exactly what it had flipped over to but you did know one thing for sure: you were getting too close to him. 

Heart thumping loudly in your ears, you run full force towards the exit door to the right of the building. You didn’t know what time it was (though you assumed it was a bit late as the student parking lot was practically empty and the skies were a tad bit dark) or how you were going to get anywhere without Margo’s car, but it didn’t matter to you all that much at the moment. Nothing other than leaving the suffocating space did, in fact.

Loud footsteps thunder behind you and your eyes widen when you hear Mr. Evans’s out-of-breath voice call after you, closer than he had been before. 

“Y/n! Wait, please!” He’d come after you. He’d really, truly run after you!

You glance at the dark sky and take a deep breath, just before making the split-second decision to stop your progression to the door and turn around to face him. Almost immediately you regret the choice, knees already weak at the view of him so, so sinfully beautiful.

His strong chest rises and falls lightly and labored breaths leave his slightly parted pink lips as he comes to a halt in front of you. You eye him with caution, his beautiful torso, strong and proud, his bright blue hues, breath-taking and warm. This was all so fucking wrong to feel. 

But he’d come after you. He’d run after you and-

You hate to admit it, but you can feel your heart drop in disappointment when he holds up a familiar bag. Your bookbag. 

Oh. He’d only come after you for that. 

“You forgot this,” he says, looking into your eyes with intensity. You gulp, taking the bag from his hands. 

You avoid his gaze, averting your eyes from him and turning on your heel with a grateful nod. But that’s before his hand shoots out and he grips your wrist firmly. Your head snaps in his direction immediately as tingles ignite beneath the skin he was touching. 

He lets go clumsily when he sees you looking at his hand on your wrist with furrowed brows, apologizing quickly. “Sorry, I just-” he clears his throat. “Where are you going?” 

You inhale shakily. He was the last and first person you wanted near you at the moment. The first because something about him offered you such comfort after what you talked and last because it was dangerous to feel like that and you knew it. 

“Home.” Your answer is short, no intent on igniting anymore conversation with him and you’re sure he knows that when he flinches a little, hurt clear as day on his face.

He sighs. “Oh, okay.”

You offer him a tight-lipped smile and turn back around to leave before he blurts something out again. 

“Um! Do- I- doesn’t um,” He shoves his hands in his pocket as if to look casual. “Margo usually take you?”

You lick your lips, brows furrowed at the fact that even he knew that, and nod wordlessly. 

He notices your confusion and regains composure, clearing his throat. “Margo isn’t here,” he notes quietly. 

You hum in agreement. “Yes, and?” 

He shrugs casually. “How do you plan to get home then?”

You laugh a little at the question, still very confused by his intentions. “Walking?” 

He quirks a brow. “Is your house far from here?”

You don’t know how to answer him. Because suddenly, seeing him standing there, so unfairly beautiful, you’re not that desperate to leave him behind or be anything but close to him. 

Something about the way he spoke to you, looked at you with those amazing eyes of his... with a secret kind of intention, it left you breathless and your knees weak and suddenly, you were just a bit more than hesitant to leave it.

It was like your soul called to his naturally, yearned for his nearness. You knew the reaction your body had to him wasn’t a good sign already. You came alive when he was near. Your every nerve was ignited instantly on and when he looked at you, your body felt like it was being put in an oven. 

So you decide to answer honestly but vaguely, still unclear on his intentions with the seemingly directionless question. 

“A bit.”

His beautiful blue eyes intensify with concern for you. “And you’re walking alone?”

You chew on your lip, shrugging. “I guess.” 

He looks at you incredulously. “Are you kidding me?”

You shrug timidly. “No. Not really.”

He shakes his head at you, stepping closer. “I’m taking you, c’mon.” 

You look up at him with wide eyes, not believing your ears. “W-what?”

He raises his brows. “I’m taking you home, Y/n. It’s too late for you to walk alone all the way to your house.” 

Your heart races in your chest and your head becomes faint. “B-but...don't you have other things to do?” you squeak, shock and excitement swirling through your system as he stands directly next to you. 

He shrugs. “School’s been over for twenty minutes anyway. I don’t think anyone would mind at this point.” He pauses and releases a regretful sigh. “But you want to leave this place and I’m taking a wild guess and saying the reason behind it is me.” 

He’s clearly aware the topic was a tad bit too sensitive for you and that’s why you had bolted, but it’s also crystal clear in those stunning eyes of his that he felt guilty. But guilty about what exactly?

You go to protest his words, but he holds his hand up to stop you, his gaze soft. “Don’t worry sweetheart. It doesn’t matter either way. I’m just not going to let you walk home alone and have something happen to you because of my damn pushiness.” 

And with those magical words, he motions you to follow him with a jerk of his head as he steps out.

*

Mr. Evans had unlocked the car for you and ran back for something he’d allegedly forgotten in his classroom. He’d urged you to get in and wait or him to get back. 

You attempted to protest, but he’d already run off. You find your lip in between your teeth all of a sudden when your eyes land on his perfect, firm ass, running back into the tall red-bricked building. 

Oh sweet merciful God. You groan softly under your breath. 

Why did he have to be so hot?

After a few moments of an internal struggle between getting into the air conditioner or bolting, you ultimately, and quite awkwardly, clamber into the passenger side of his car, swallowing thickly. The cool air felt good against your sun-heated skin and you sigh a bit in relief. 

Not to mention the smell of his aftershave and distinctly intoxicating scent enveloping you almost immediately and a warm glow settles on the pit of your stomach. God, he smelled good. Like coffee, brand new papers with a hint of cologne and spicy cinnamon. Masculine yet casual. 

Mr. Evans.

You can’t help but inhale deeply through your nose and close your eyes for a few seconds, attempting to remain calm. Not that it helped your nerves at all though. In fact, having his ridiculously delicious smell all around you only made you ache for him more.

And then you lean back in the seats and massage your temples. What in the holy hell were you fucking thinking, accepting his offer? Even if it was more about his guilt than any actual desire on his behalf to be near you, it was still a dumb ass decision to say yes to him.

But even as you tried to convince yourself of this, you know it’s not what you truly feel. Because you wanted to be near him, even if you denied it constantly. He was addictive. His presence, his being near yours was addictive and intoxicating. You didn’t want to be apart from him. And even when you freaked after talking to him...you couldn’t help but relive the talk over and over in your head. You try to bite back a small smile.

His face was still so vivid in your mind. It wasn’t full with pity. Sadness, yes. But pity? No. He was looking at you with something else...something far more valuable. Perhaps the reason you felt so endangered. 

He was looking at you with understanding. 

He was looking at you like your soul was stripped bare and easy for him to simply...have a look at. 

And that. ...that terrified you to the bone. You wanted to stay away. Not only was it wrong, but he was also your teacher, a person in power and the whole idea was just...utterly insane. But you were also fully aware that your heart was exposed and mighty easy to stomp on. 

He was your goddamn teacher, far older than you, far more experienced and way hotter. And still...it never stopped you from wanting to be near him any way you could. 

Because he was your drug. And the thing about drugs is; once you have a taste of them and eventually realize they make you feel good, make the painful memories all the bad thoughts go away, make your faded scars become just a little less of a painful reminder, it’s hard to quit. To stay away. 

So try as you might, you couldn’t stop. And here you were, in Mr. Evans’s car, faintly reminiscing a dream you’d had about him. It happened in what you imagined was his car and the windows were damp with your condensed sweat, you could still envision the love bites he’d left in his passionate wake on your flushed, aching skin and the- 

You tremble as something stirs in between your legs. You clench your thighs together, shaking your head and ridding yourself of the thoughts. 

Your heart flutters impossibly and your face flushes heatedly when you see him walk towards his car through the window, the sun perfectly hitting his beautiful blue eyes, giving them a lighter shade and a special kind of sparkle. The golden hairs on his head and arms and stubble glimmer charmingly, the sun only making the outline of his mouth-watering body more prominent. 

Your jaw all but drops at the view and you’re sure you’re on the verge of drooling when his gaze abruptly meets yours, snapping you out of your trance. Flustered, you avert your gaze with a blush, hugging your bookbag closer to your chest and fumble with it on your lap as you waited for him to round the car and get in.

The whole situation was crazy. It was a small town you lived in so this wasn’t all that weird. Some kids in your school caught rides with their teachers sometimes. Maybe it wasn’t particularly weird due to the fact that the next morning they’d probably bump into them at the local deli or cafe. It was just a tiny town where everyone knew everyone. Not that you were aware of Mr. Evans’s. Generally, he was a private guy and kept to himself. 

People in the town talked though. Some of them pointed out he’d come just after his wife died and had taken the job of English teacher in the only high school around. Others talked about the fact that he was never seen in any social events of significance. They sneered at the notion. Called him a hermit.

But you understood. You knew exactly why he avoided those things. Mr. Evans was different from the stuck up people living in this town. He was sweet and genuine and himself. He never tried to be anything other than that. You admired deeply him for it and knew first hand how hard it was to do just that in a place like this one. Full with obnoxious, stick-up-my-ass, perfect people. 

And of course the man looked like a fucking God, so although the gossiping ladies of the town sneered at his lack of attendance in “important” social gatherings, they were also very well aware of his good looks and passed the time talking about it equally as much.

It bothered you that they treated him like a piece of meat. He was so much more than that. Comprehensive, kind, gentle, passionate about his job, and deserving of only the greatest things life could offer. He was a giving person- selfless.

Like now, he was giving you a ride. When he climbs in his scent only strengthens and so does the forceful thumping against your ribs.

He silently peels off the school parking lot and you gulp, mumbling your address to him. He doesn’t say anything at first, but his eyes snap over to you briefly every once in a while. 

After a few minutes of you scrolling through your phone silently and him taking his eyes off the road to look over at you constantly, he finally speaks. “I’m sorry.” 

Your head snaps to his so fast, you’re surprised you don’t get whiplash. “W-what?” 

He sighs heavily through his nose and licks his lips nervously. “Clearly I made you feel uncomfortable and that’s the last thing I want sweetheart.” 

“You really haven’t-”

“I shouldn’t have pried and now you-”

“Mr. Evans! You really didn’t do anything. I was the one who decided to tell you and that’s because I trust you. All you did was listen.” You smile softly at him when his head snaps from the road to you quickly. “Really.” 

He releases a small sigh of relief and smiles lightly. “Okay.” 

Silence takes over the vehicle again and you shift uncomfortably in the plush leather seat. The tension was thick in the atmosphere and you were using up all your energy not to simply lean over and kiss him. 

“Thank you for that by the way.” You rush to explain when he sends you a furrowed brow. “For listening to me, I mean,” you finally say quietly, no longer able to bear the heavy silence and desperate to make it go away. 

He bites his lip lightly and your heart skips a beat. So damn kissable... 

“No problem sweetheart, anytime.” He hesitates. “Though, and I’m sorry for prying further- you know what? Never mind.” 

You raise a brow at him. “No, what?” 

He shakes his head. “Nothing, really it’s okay.” 

You snort then grin. “Nope. Now that you’ve mentioned it you have to tell me. It’s a rule.”

He chuckles a little and you all but melt into a puddle on his seat. “C’mon,” you urge. 

He sighs a little. “Well, it’s gonna sound weird, but...something tells me you don’t get heard a lot.” 

You freeze immediately. It was true. You didn’t. But...

“Why would you say that?” You try really hard to make your voice sound even. 

He shrugs, swallowing thickly. It was clear he’d seen the sudden stiffening up of your muscles at his observation. “Nothing much really. Just your eyes...”

“My eyes?” You frown lightly. 

He speaks softly, cautiously. Like he’s afraid you’ll run off again. “Yeah, when I spoke to you, they looked...I don’t know. Relieved?” 

Oh fuck, oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He picked up on it. 

Your heart speeds up and you get slightly light-headed. This was bad. This was really bad. And triggering. Because if he’d been able to pick up on your desperation to have a single, heartfelt conversation, he understood it was not a normal occurrence for you and that your home life was crap. 

Dammit. Why did you have to be so fucking readable? You couldn’t bear the thought of him knowing more about your life at home. Or about- No. Not only bear but fathom it. You couldn’t fathom the thought of him seeing past you once more. The notion sent your head spiraling, thoughts spinning around in circles.

“H-Here’s fine,” you manage to stumble amidst your brain’s constant chatter. 

Mr. Evans’s head snaps in your direction and he frowns softly. “What?” 

“Here’s fine Mr. Evans. I can walk the rest of the way home,” your voice is soft and pleading, your heart thumping in your ears. 

He swallows audibly. “Sweetheart, I don’t think-”

“Stop the car please.” Your voice is firm this time, but your brain is still mush and your heart feels exhausted.

He sighs dejectedly and you feel sort of bad, but don’t budge on your resolve. Finally, pulls the car over to the side of a road, familiar houses coming into your view. 

Realization dawns on you and you quickly realize the reason they look familiar is that your house was only a few blocks away from the place he and you were currently parked in. 

That means it would be easy to simply walk. So why weren’t you moving?

You know you want to get out. You need to leave. You know this, especially, because your heart is suddenly racing, your body working up a sweat faster than it ever has. 

Sitting in silence, your body freezes and no matter how much you tell it to move, beg it to bolt again, it doesn’t listen. Your limbs felt like they weighed a thousand tons and breathing was becoming harder to accomplish with each passing second. To top it all off, your stupid brain was clogged. Completely jammed and unable to form a coherent thought other than spewed nonsense that only served to fuel your abrupt panic. 

Thoughts of what happened to you-

You want to curl up into a ball and cry for some reason but are still very aware of Mr. Evans’s presence and the fact that you haven’t said anything for several seconds. 

He looks over at you when your panting becomes audible. “Y/n?” 

His voice sounds far away and you immediately attempt to ignore him because -for some reason- the thought of him not being close to you right now causes even more panic to rise in your chest. It begins heaving up and down, up and down, faster, faster, faster. Emotions you normally kept bottles up resurfaced all of a sudden and tears prick the back of your eyes and nose. You squeeze them shut, prompting the warm tears to slide down your cheeks even faster. 

Your brain kept bringing up memories. Unwanted thoughts and ideas and images of the past you had done your very best to keep locked up and far away from you. 

You losing control in front of Mr. Evans was not an option. If he could already read you like an open book, what made you think he wouldn’t eventually figure everything about you out? And then he definitely wouldn’t like you. 

This was bad. You could feel the panic and dread swelling in your chest, inflating rapidly. And that only made you even more anxious as the memories- more horrific than you remembered- flooded your being.

Sobs bubble up your throat and you vomit them out, whimpering softly. You still hold onto the hope that Mr. Evans isn’t spectating your mental meltdown right now. 

No, no, no, no, no. Can’t lose control. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Not here please, not here. You squeezed your eyes even tighter, your hands clutching at the leather seats under you desperately, attempting to keep the memories at bay. Trying to keep yourself grounded somehow. Not to float away into your own brain like you often found yourself doing.

Your heart drowned out any other sound -the running engine, the low whirring of the air conditioner, Mr. Evans’s frantic voice calling out to you. And beads of sweat mixed in with the salty tears. 

Regain control. Regain control. But no matter how much you said it, prayed it even, your brain wasn’t functioning. It just wasn't. And that made you panic even more.

“Sweetheart?” he calls out louder this time, voice so damn concerned. 

So far away. So, so, far away. But you needed him. Needed him to hold you to his chest. That’ll never happen, your cruel brain reminds. Never.

Sobs, more aggressive than the others, rack your body and breathing is now practically impossible. The feeling of dread and utter horror takes over your every sense, kidnapping your every forming thought and transforming it into rope. A rope that’s mighty and currently binding you. It leaves you with no defense against your own brain and the images of the past it insists on making known. Your arms are tied so tightly to your sides by this rope, you could feel the circulation being cut off. 

No control. No control. It leaves your grasp. Slowly, slowly. Your reach out, but the control runs faster and faster. You try to run after it but...it disappears before your eyes into the inky blackness. 

You closed your eyes in order to regain composure, and for a moment -but a mere second- you see it coming back. The control. ...But then all you feel is dread washing over your entire being all over again and it’s gone with the cold chill whisking past you and leaving you out in the cold once more. 

It’s going to happen again.

The thought is enough to terrify you to the bone and leave you a wheezing mess, desperate for air, gasping.

Too much. Too much. Too much. It’s all too much. 

You claw at your head, tugging your hairs briskly in between your hair. “Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.” You chant the words under your breath over and over, as if you were a witch and they were spells. As if they could magically make your brain shut up. 

It all happens so fast. You go to curl into a ball in the leather seats. To tug your knees to your chest and place your head in between them and stay there for as long as necessary, company be damned. 

But suddenly, a big warm hand rests on your shoulder and you all but jump out of your skin. Your head snaps to Mr. Evans, vision blurry with tears and heart struck with terrifying horror. 

You can’t believe you’re actually doing it here. With him here.

He looks at you with brief panic in the eyes, his own searching desperately for something to do with the mess you were currently. Trying to figure out what it was you needed from him. 

And then, they soften with realization at your fear-stricken eyes and the quick rise and fall of your chest. Then, he doesn’t waste a second acting upon his new understanding of what was happening. 

You were having a panic attack. He knew this. Now he needed to do something with his lightly trembling hands. 

And then suddenly, he’s leaning over and pulling you to his chest. His chest, the one you’d been daydreaming about being pulled to for almost seven months. And it’s stronger and wider and even more warm than you could’ve hoped for. You’re shocked into complete stillness. His nose digs into your hair and a sob lodges itself in your throat at the sudden movement and you almost choke on it, arms hanging indecisively in the air, unsure of what to do. Too far gone you assume, you freeze up.

 But... his arms are strong and equally warm as they wrap around you securely, the intention of letting you go soon nowhere in sight. He’s holding you firmly to him, his warmth slipping through his clothes into your skin. He didn’t even hesitate a second, big long-fingered hand reaching up tenderly and caressing your hair. Like you were expensive china he was afraid to break if he tugged on too hard. But because of that same fear, he also held onto you like you were going to fall apart any moment. Which you were.

“Sh, sh, sh,” he coos in your ear and you whimper softly in response.

You don’t bother thinking too much about it further and do what comes naturally. What feels right. Quickly, you securely wrap your arms tightly around his neck. Your nose digs into his neck instinctively and you immediately inhale deeply, painfully aware of your chests currently completely flush against each other and the fact that he could probably feel your fast-beating heart. You just prayed he mistook it as your anxiety. 

His other hand wraps around your upper back securely and he rubs it comfortingly. “Calm down sweetheart, I’m here. I’m here. You’re safe. I’ve got you.” 

Your fingers clutch the soft fabric of his shirt tightly and you hang onto him for dear life.  

The soothing words being mumbled into your ear strangely work. He keeps repeating things like “I’ve got you” And “Don’t worry you’re safe with me” and although you can feel him tremble a little in frenzy, the way he holds and comforts you...you’d almost believe that was what he was born to do. 

Soon, enough his continuous comfort flicks a switch in your brain. And suddenly...it all goes silent. You want to sigh in relief, but you’re too busy relishing in the tranquil silence and the far too blissful feeling of Mr. Evans’s arms wrapped around you. 

His scent is all around you, thick in the air and there’s something strangely comforting about it, if not calming. His chest rises lightly up and down against yours, the rhythm and steady beating of his heart lulls your aggressive, ugly, snot-filled weeping to gentle sobs and your own heart rate slows down gradually to match his. 

He never once lets go of you throughout this process, his words deep and sincere and voice rich with worry but stability all at once. He never stops mumbling sweet nothings into your ear, reassuring you of his presence constantly. Of your safety with him. 

Normally, being constricted like this by someone’s arms, especially ones as muscular as Mr. Evans’s, would make your anxiety worse. But the way he held you to him and spoke to you...being with him brought you peace. You didn’t know how or why he was doing it, but one thing was clear to you at the moment. Probably the only thing; he was just what you needed right now. 

Neither of you moves for a long moment, just stay there, drowning in the tranquility. You’re not thinking about the how’s or why’s of the embrace just yet. Not about why it’s wrong or if it’s wrong at all.

Because right now, this is all you need. 

Read Chapter Four Here!!

*

Hey guys! So here’s the new chapter three! 

Tbh, I don’t know if it’s better than the last one, but it’s definitely more realistic. Also short. Idk wtf happened, but I’d just finished having a panic attack at the time this was written and needed to get it off my chest I guess...

Anywho, please let me know what you think and if you want to be tagged in any shape way or form! i’m open to messages and asks and whatever you’d like!

A Special Thanks To: (Note; If you are in bold, then I couldn’t tag you. Please let me know if I’ve made a mistake or otherwise and then I’ll tag you.)

@bombsandsparkles

@meowsekai

@godohammers

@sp2900

@multifandom-foreverx

@missbosstown

@supernaturalyloki

@jungkooksbowlingskills

@spettrocoli

@woodworthti666

@tshollandlove

@weirdvishy

@buckysrcse

@doritoevansxwinterschildren

@superwholockwannabe  

@emmiejames

@rissamonique97

@zofty15

@sarcasticalphaofthelooserspack

@sydneynix8305

@badkatthings  

@pinnedandneedled

@taliarosej00

And of course my forevers!

@jessikared97

@sherlockedtash88

@lilypalmer1987

@mogaruke

#Chris Evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans x reader au

[reyloforcebalance]

Special

My submission for the @two-halves-of-reylo weekly challenge (Week 13: Kyber). These weekly challenge fics are accidentally turning into a story… if you want to catch up, check out the previous ones on AO3. Thanks for reading!

Darkness.

That’s all there is. That’s all there seems to be. At least, it would seem that way to most people.

But not to Rey.

It’s true that her eyes see nothing but blackness.

And yet she knows to step around the jagged boulder just ahead of her.  She knows there’s a large opening in the ground not far and that if she fell into it, it would be a long way down. She knows this tunnel will soon curve sharply to the left.

And she knows she’s not far. Not far at all.

Her heart quickens with anticipation.

Only half an hour earlier, she’d been cursing herself for coming here. So stupid. She shouldn’t even be on this wasteland of a planet, nothing but grey skies and rocky, barren terrain. She should be back at the training base with the others.

And why had she come? To chase a rumor. From an extremely unreliable source. Just a conversation between two traders at a local bar, made in hushed whispers. She doesn’t even know why she decided to eavesdrop on them in the first place. But when she did, she heard something that’s been eating at her for days.

There’s kyberite on this planet, buried deep in its labyrinth of caves.  

Kyber. The strongest substance in the galaxy. Force-attuned crystals used to power lightsabers.

It easily could have been a dead end. Thirty minutes ago, she thought it was. Traders love to share secrets that aren’t true. And kyber might just be the rarest substance there is. The likelihood the man was lying or misinformed was astronomical.

And yet she came anyway. She can’t quite explain why.

She didn’t give much explanation to the others either. She didn’t even really say goodbye. She just left a recording with BB-8 saying she had something urgent to attend to and would return in a few days.

It’s as though she was drawn here by something beyond reason. Just a feeling, like a fingernail scratching incessantly in the back of her mind. She couldn’t ignore it any longer. She needed to know, one way or the other.

And now she knows.

The deeper she gets into these caves, the more she senses it. There’s something here, something that calls to her through the Force.

Could it be? Could it be her crystal beckoning her to claim it?

She hates to admit it but… Ben got to her. It’s been months, but she’s found herself thinking about it more and more. What was it he’d told her?

“Find your crystal. Forge your destiny. Don’t fall back on someone else’s.”

At first, she was annoyed. She has a crystal. Skywalker’s. And it’s because of him that crystal is now useless, tucked away on the Falcon, still lodged in a broken lightsaber.

But then she started thinking about it and… maybe he was right. Skywalker’s crystal did call to her. But is it really her crystal? She didn’t find it. Not in its natural state, anyway. And she’s no Skywalker.

Maybe there’s something else out there… something better… something just for her.

Rey turns to the left and begins to slow a bit, walking more carefully as she senses the downward slope ahead, the increasingly uneven ground, jagged crevices, some large, cutting through the floor of the tunnel. She touches the cave wall with her right hand as she goes, just a small comfort to steady her.

Suddenly, she notices… she’s starting to see. Ever so slightly. The surface of the cave walls seems to fade in, just barely visible. The more she walks, the more she begins to see the faint outline of the entire tunnel, jagged at the sides, sharp, dagger-like rocks above, the path in front of her almost like steps, large crevices followed by abrupt drops. She hops down one, then another. As she does, her heart beats faster in excitement.

She descends quickly, seeing more clearly the further she goes. There’s an opening just below— where the light’s coming from. She’s getting closer… almost there…

She hops down the last drop and bursts through the opening but then slows almost immediately. She takes a couple of dazed steps before halting outright.

Rey stands, mouth gaping, eyes wide yet soft. Her body swells with something she hardly knows how to describe. She’s never felt such a thing before. Maybe this is what people call… reverence.

She’s in a cavern as large as a hangar, at least thirty meters tall, a smooth floor of cracked, grayish earth stretching out before her.

It’s glowing. Glowing. Clusters of crystals of all shapes and sizes line the walls and the ceiling, radiating a bluish-white light. They give the cave a strange sort of vibrancy as though it were moving, pulsing. It seems to be alive somehow.

The air is thick with the tension of the Force, the interminable pull of competing energies. The crystals seem to heighten the sense of it so that what is normally a calm, steady reminder in her core is now surging, flowing lifeblood, filling her with a larger sense of being. She feels less like herself and more connected to everything around her.

Some clusters are small, blue patches of light. Others are the size of combat speeders, large, round cylinders with pointed ends that glow so brightly Rey can’t quite look at them straight on.

She turns in place, gazing up and all around. Her eyes are overwhelmed with the scene, yet she can’t stop eagerly taking it in. This must be… the most beautiful thing in galaxy. She can’t imagine a rival. Surely, of all the things she’s seen since leaving Jakku, nothing could be more beautiful than this.

She doesn’t know how long she stands there, gaping at the surroundings, before it occurs to her why she came in the first place.

She needs to find her crystal. It must be here. Why else would she have felt that magnetic pull to this very spot the deeper she got into the caves?

And yet… now that she’s here, she’s wondering if she was just feeling the heightened Force energy the crystals seem to create together. Maybe…

Rey looks down, a little lost. She’s not sure what to do next, how to proceed. She bites her lower lip and thinks back. What was it he’d said?  

Jedi younglings would go to Ilum. They’d search for… days? That can’t be right. How large were the caves in Ilum? They’d search until the right crystal called…

“The call is a bond.”

That’s what he said.

Ok. So… she’s bonded to it already… or once she hears the call? How does she hear it? Does she wander around listening for it? Or should she meditate first, letting it reach out to her, then follow it?

Rey takes a short breath and huffs it out. She looks up and around as if turning to the crystals for guidance. Then she begins to walk forward, stopping when she’s closer to the center of the cavern. She takes a seat and settles into a meditative posture, legs crossed, back and neck straight, shoulders resting lightly. She starts to breathe deeply, focusing on her breath, on bringing her body into a state of calm.

But it seems to be impossible. The atmosphere is thick with… something. Not just the heightened energy of the Force. There’s something else…

She tries to focus on her breathing, the rhythm of it, surrendering to that steady sureness, that calm.

But ripples seem to run through her, tiny disturbances fraying her concentration. They waft by, seeming to whisper to her as they pass. It’s as if they’re…?

No. No. That’s utterly ridiculous.

Rey straightens and tries to reengage her focus. But the ripples, the whispers…. They tug at her attention.

What is that? It can’t be…

The crystals. Are they… talking to each other?

No. No. That’s crazy.

She sucks in a breath, more sharply than she means to. She lets it out slowly.

Calm. She needs to be calm… She takes another inhale, more purposeful this time.

That’s right. Back into the rhythm. Inhale and exhale.

Rey sits perfectly still, face titled slightly upwards, appearing to be at peace. But inwardly she’s squirming, constantly interrupted by these ripples swimming by her, seeming to speak without a voice. She fights to focus, fights to ignore the whispers passing through her like thoughts. But it’s not possible. Not with this noise in her head. How can she possibly hear the call of her crystal through this?

Her eyes fly open as she lets out a frustrated exhale. She sets her jaw, then looks up and around at the crystals. Are they the source of this? What else could it be?

She lets out another exhale, staring downward, trying to figure out what to do. Her body feels on edge, unsettled. That is, until she feels a warmth well at her core.

Uh oh.

She immediately closes her eyes and straightens, trying to breathe consciously again, slow inhales and exhales, as though she could stop the bond from bringing them together if only she could become calm enough.

But it’s no use. She feels his presence creeping ever closer. He’ll be here any second now. She drops her shoulders and slouches, defeated. She’s already dreading his reaction…

She bows her head, waiting for the inevitable.

Her heart skips a beat when she feels his presence behind her. She doesn’t open her eyes or even move. But she knows what he’s doing. She can practically picture him in her mind. He’s taking in the surroundings, looking up and all over the cavern. She hears him take a few steps in front of her.

Rey finally opens her eyes. She stares at the ground for a few seconds, then reluctantly looks up.

His back is to her, but not for long. Her turns, arms at his sides, broad shoulders squared. He looks down at her with a smug expression.

“You’re looking for your crystal, aren’t you?” He asks the question like he knows the answer. She stares up at him, wordless, but he reads her anyway.

“Good.” He nods decisively, sounding pleased with himself. “You should be.”

That. That right there. That’s what she was dreading. That imperious “of course you’re doing what I told you to do because why wouldn’t you?” tone in his voice.

She looks away, annoyed. She hates that he knows he got to her. But there’s nothing she can do about it now. She sighs softly and sits in silence as he continues to examine the cave where he stands.

“Well, you’re not going to find it sitting there,” he announces abruptly, walking over to her and extending a gloved hand, dark eyes seeming to beckon her. “Come on,” he commands, nodding forward.

She stares at him, jaw set, debating inwardly. Part of her doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction. But another part of her can’t deny the truth, the reality… that he’s really the only one she knows who can help her. She sighs heavily.

Then she takes his hand.

He helps her up and puts an arm at her back, leading her to a side of the cavern. She squints and averts her eyes a bit when they get closer, some of the crystals so bright that their glow is almost painful. They stop just in front of the wall, and Ben’s arm slips from her back as he kneels before a round, medium-sized cluster about the size of a BB droid.

“Come here,” he commands softly, eyes fixed on the crystals. She crouches next to him. He glances at her and nods towards the cluster. “Touch one.”

She turns to face them and extends a hand tentatively. As she does, she notices the striations on the surface of crystals, each one with a unique pattern. Her fingers are only inches away from the one in the center. Closer… closer…

Suddenly, her hand snaps back and she straightens, alarmed.

“Did you see that!?” She turns to Ben, eyes wide. “They just moved, or changed. Didn’t they?”

“They do that,” he informs her. “Especially when anything living interacts with them. They can change their structure at will. It’s a defense mechanism. Don’t let it scare you.” He nods for her to try again. She turns forward and lifts a hand, reaching out again towards the center crystal. As her hand nears, she sees it again… a kind of subtle change in the cluster as though they were reorganizing internally. It creates a soft flicker in their glow.

Finally, the tips of her fingers graze the surface of the crystal, a cylinder-shaped one with harsh angles. As her flingers slide across it, she feels it grow warm. She gasps softly at this and stares at it, transfixed. She could swear it was pulsing, as though it were alive.

“It’s getting warm,” she says, excitement swelling in her chest  

“It’s reacting to you,” he responds in a low voice, leaning towards her. “It’s reacting to your energy.”

“Does that mean it’s mine?” She turns eagerly to face him.

“No.” He shakes his head. “They all do that.”

“Ah.” She nods her head briefly in understanding, then turns back to look at the cluster of crystals. She moves her hand from the center, touching some of the others along the side. Each one warms slightly as her fingers graze across them. She touches all of them before withdrawing her hand. Then she stares at them for a moment, feeling uncertain, confused. She turns to Ben, a question burning in her eyes. He answers it before she can ask.

“Rey, you just have to explore, search,” he tells her frankly. “You’ll know your crystal when you find it.”

“But how?” She knits her eyebrows.  

“Listen,” he intones, dark eyes descending towards hers. “Listen for the call.”

“The bond?” She asks to confirm. He nods his head.

“It’ll sound like…” he pauses as though searching his mind for the right word. He looks away for a moment to gaze at the crystals in front of them. Suddenly, he slips off a glove and reaches out to touch one. She sees that subtle shift again on their surface.

“It sounds like a kind of song,” he finishes finally, withdrawing his hand. “But no one song is alike. It’s different for everyone.” He continues to gaze at the crystals with a faraway look. She feels a strange mixture of emotions in him, as though he were reminiscing about a tainted memory, half pleasant, half painful. Her mind drifts to what he once told her about his own crystal… about how he bled it to become Kylo Ren. How it cracked. How he couldn’t admit it, denied it outright but… this was ultimately an act of self-injury. To his soul.

Her heart twists as she watches him.

“Ben…” Rey begins softly. “How did you find your crystal?”

He immediately jerks back as if awakening from a trance. He glances at her briefly, then rises.

“We don’t have time for stories,” he tells her dismissively. “We need to find your crystal. And that could take a while.”

She looks up at him, intrigued by his reaction to her question. She considers pressing him about it, but decides not to. For now. She begins to rise.

“Do I have to touch my crystal to hear its call?” She asks as she stands.

“No,” he shakes his head, looking up the wall and not at her. “You’ll hear it when…” he hesitates. “You’ll hear it when it’s ready for you to.”

“What?” Rey steps towards him, demanding an explanation.

“This isn’t a science, Rey,” he admonishes her, shaking his head irritation. “And you need to be prepared for the possibility that your crystal isn’t even here.”

At this, her eyes widen in disbelief. She looks down, biting her lip, shoulders dropping in disappointment. She knows it’s foolish, but she’d let herself become enchanted by the idea that her crystal was calling to her, that it was the reason she decided to eavesdrop on those traders, decided to come here against all reason… drawn by the call of something created especially for her.

“Hey,” Ben softens his tone, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looks up to find his dark eyes encouraging, gentle even. “It still could be here. And you have me to help you look, so you’ll find out twice as quickly.” She nods, taking in a breath, determination renewing. He nods back, then withdraws his hand and straightens to look around the cavern.

“You start at this wall. I��ll go to the opposite end. Just explore, touch, and listen.” His gaze drifts upwards for a moment before turning back to her. “Climb if you need to.” He gives another terse nod, then strides away.

“Wait!” She takes a few steps after him. “I don’t understand. I thought I was the only one who could hear my crystal?”

“Think about it, Rey,” he calls back at her without stopping. She furrows her eyebrows, confused, then flits her head in annoyance. She crosses her arms and turns back towards the cave wall. Think about it, she mimics in her mind as she walks. Think about what?

Then it hits her.

Their bond. If she’s bonded to his crystal, he must be bonded to hers. He’ll be able to hear its call.

She stops dead, the hairs on her arm standing up, disquieted by this realization. But there’s no time to dwell on that now. She needs to focus on listening.

She shakes off the feeling and continues to the cave wall, extending her hand towards a new cluster of crystals, this one small. As her fingers touch each one lightly, they seems to shimmer, the striations on the crystals subtly changing. Her eyes regard them with wonder, caught up in the spectacle. Then it occurs to her that she’s not listening.

Rey straightens and closes her eyes, relying on her second sight through the Force, one that won’t be distracted by the beauty of the cave. She continues to touch the crystals and begins to focus on her breathing, on bringing her mind into a calm open state. She walks forward towards another cluster.

She doesn’t make it to a third cluster before it starts happening again. The ripples… those constant distractions passing through her mind, tugging at her, fraying her concentration. She grits her teeth and tenses her body, as though trying to harden herself against them. But it makes no difference. They pass through her freely, ephemeral, as though the physical world were nothing but a shadow to them.  

She relaxes her muscles as much as she can, trying to refocus on her breathing. She’ll just have to endure this, try to listen through the noise. Maybe this is part of it? Part of the challenge.

She continues her progress, making her way through clusters of various sizes, keeping her eyes closed most of the time. She touches the crystals, trying to sense subtle changes in how each one feels, searching for the call, the song meant just for her. But those damn ripples… entering her, whispering to her…  How can there be whispers without voices?

It doesn’t make any sense. And yet that’s what it feels like.

These whispers, this noise… it’s starting to drive her absolutely insane. Her mind is growing increasingly exhausted by the constant battle to concentrate, to force her focus.

“Rey, you need to be patient,” Ben suddenly calls out to her from across the cavern. She opens her eyes and turns towards him.

“I am!” She protests loudly.

“No, you’re not,” he yells back. “I can feel your frustration from here. You need to calm down. You won’t hear the call if you’re worked up like this.”

“I can’t hear anything through this damn noise anyways!” Rey releases her rage in a guttural shout that reverberates throughout the cavern. She immediately gasps, surprised at her own voice, then closes her eyes and takes a breath, fighting back tears pushing to the surface. It’s no use. One slips and trickles down her right cheek.  She buries her face in her palms, squeezing her eyes shut.

She hears Ben approach swiftly. He stops just next to her, putting a hand on her back.

“Rey, what’s wrong?” She feels his concern, but doesn’t answer immediately. She takes a few seconds to collect herself, breathing in slowly. He strokes her back for a moment then drops his hand. Finally, she straightens and opens her eyes, exhaling. She crosses her arms and shakes her head, staring forward.

“How am I supposed to hear my crystal through all of this noise, the whispering, it’s constant.” She sounds exasperated, desperate. “I can’t—”

“Wait, what!?” He interrupts her suddenly, eyes wide. “What do you hear?” He demands.

She looks up at him, confused at this reaction. “Do you not hear it too?” She knits her eyebrows. He regards her, eyes intense with interest. He begins to shake his head slowly.

“No,” he says the word quietly. “I don’t think I do. Not like you.” He continues to stare intently, his expression strange, almost in awe. She begins to feel uncomfortable, self-conscious.  

“What exactly are you hearing?” He lowers his voice, stepping in closer and leaning down towards her. She feels his fascination, his excitement at this discovery. She shrugs her shoulders and looks around, unsure how to describe the experience.

“It’s like thoughts…” she starts tentatively. “Thoughts in another language. Without a voice. The just pass through, in and out, beyond my control.” She gestures with a hand on either side of her head.

“Does it sound like they’re coming from one source? Or is it like many individuals?” His asks expectantly.

“Uh…” she hesitates. “Many, I think?” He nods, processing this for a moment before stepping back. He straightens and looks around the cavern, his eyes full of a kind of wonder.

“You can hear the crystals,” he says without looking at her. “That’s… very rare. Very.”

Rey tilts her head and purses her lips, trying to grasp this. “Wait a minute. So… the crystals are alive? They’re sentient?” She looks up at him in disbelief.

“Many have theorized that, yes.” He looks back at her with solemn eyes. “Some have theorized they have a collective consciousness. But no one knows for sure. It’s in the nature of kyber crystals to elude study.” Rey nods as he speaks, taking this in.  

Suddenly, a sly smile tugs at Ben’s lips. “Of course, no one’s been able to communicate with them before.” He raises an eyebrow suggestively.

“I can’t communicate with them,” Rey balks, bringing a hand to her chest. “I have no idea what they’re saying.”

“I bet you could learn.” He steps closer towards her, eyes bright with possibility. “If you stayed in a place like this long enough, listened long enough.”

She grunts, taking a step back. “If I did that, I think I’d go crazy.” He squints his eyes as if to challenge this, but doesn’t say anything. He just continues to regard her silently.

Rey crosses her arms and looks away, feeling self-conscious again. She presses her lips together, thinking for a moment.

“So…” she starts hesitantly. “What does this mean for finding my crystal? How do I hear its call when I can hear all of them?” She looks up at him for guidance.

“I have no idea.” He shakes his head, eyes widening a bit, at a complete loss. She looks away, looks down, releasing her hands at her sides, defeated by this answer. If he doesn’t know then, who would?

“Perfect.” She feels a wave of hopelessness wash over her. “That’s just perfect.”

Disappointment hangs heavy, dragging her to the ground. She crosses her legs and leans back against the cave wall, resting her hands in her lap. She stares into space, eyes dark and troubled. Ben crouches slowly and settles on the ground next to her. He seems to be thinking intensely, as though trying to work out a solution to her problem. But several minutes pass and he doesn’t say anything. He must not be coming up with much.

She sighs, mentally drained, not sure what to do and too brain-weary to figure it out.

Suddenly, a thought occurs to her. She glances over at Ben but quickly looks away. Maybe she can’t find her crystal, but that doesn’t mean this has to be a complete waste. After all, the bond must have brought him here for a reason. Maybe this is an opportunity… an opportunity for another small moment. A reminder.

“Ben,” she starts tentatively. She glances over at him again, and his dark eyes catch hers. “There’s something you can do that I think would really help.”

“What?” He leans forward, his tone seeming to assent to her request before she even asks. She sits up a little and scoots towards him, clear eyes meeting his. She looks at him, unblinking, for a few seconds.

“You could tell me how you found your crystal,” she says finally. He immediately flinches and looks way, his face twisting into something like a grimace.

“Ben, come on,” she begs, leaning forward. “Please.” She looks up at him entreatingly but he’s not looking at her, arms crossed, jaw set, staring across the cavern. “You’ve actually done this before,” she continues earnestly. “It will help me so much to hear someone else’s experience.” He still doesn’t look at her.

“Ben,” she pleads with him more softly, scooting even closer, so close her knee grazes his. He’s sitting with one knee propped up, his right elbow resting on it, and the other resting on the ground. He’s looking up at the cavern ceiling and not at her. She leans forward and puts a hand on his thigh. His jaw visibly tightens.

“Please.” He finally glances down at her and is met by pleading eyes. “Please. I’m completely lost here. Maybe if you tell me how you found your crystal it will give me a clue about how to find mine.”

He sighs heavily and looks away. “Rey, I really don’t think hearing about that will help you. You’re in a very unique situation. My experience doesn’t apply here.” He looks back at her decisively, shaking his head no. She studies him for a moment, searching for a chink in his armor. But his black eyes are cold, as if hardened against entry.

Rey sits up and withdraws her hand, resting it on her lap. She looks down at the ground, mulling over various strategies in her head. She’s not giving up on this battle just yet. Maybe she can coax him into it, little by little.

She purses her lips, then suddenly uncrosses her legs, lying back on the cavern floor and bringing both of her knees up. She rests her hands on her stomach.

“Well, can you at least tell me where you found yours so I know where else I can look.” She sighs, gazing up at the glow of the ceiling.

“Mine was at Christophsis.” This, at least, he offers freely. “But yours isn’t there.” She continues to stare upward, thinking about what to ask him next. Suddenly, her thoughts halt. She cocks her head on the ground, confused. In an instant, she sits up again, crossing her legs and looking to Ben. He looks back, guarded.

“How do you know my crystal isn’t there?” She demands. He immediately looks away, as though he’s been caught in the act. Her lips part as she studies him, searching his reaction to her question. And just like that, she realizes what he’s hiding.

Her head jerks back and she sits up straighter. She can’t stop a smile from creeping across her lips. She tilts her head, regarding him softly, surprised.

“You’ve been looking for my crystal, haven’t you?”

He doesn’t speak or even look at her. But she knows the answer. She senses it in him, a tinge of embarrassment mixed with… something else. Something she can’t quite identify. Like… tenderness maybe.

Rey leans back, placing both palms on the ground behind her, arms propping her up. She eyes him with curiosity, her lips still turned into a slight smile.

“So where have you looked?”

He still avoids eye contact, his gaze cast downward. He purses his lips and twitches his jaw, as if considering whether or not to answer her.

“Christophsis,” he says finally. “And a couple of planets in the Unknown Regions.”

“Which ones?” She sits up eagerly, bringing her palms to her lap.

“None you would know of.” He glances at her briefly before looking away again.

Rey rolls her eyes, annoyed by his vague answers. But annoyance quickly subsides, replaced by a complex mixture of emotions. She’s perplexed as to why he’s taken the time to look in the first place, uncertain what could possibly motivate him to do such a thing.

What would he have to gain from finding her crystal?

She brings a thumb to her lip, lost in thought. What ulterior motive could be behind this…? It’s difficult to say, considering how little she knows about kybers. It could be any number of things. And yet she can’t seem to quell a gut feeling…

He’s not looking because of anything he has to gain. He’s just looking for her.

Rey drops her hand, catching her breath.

She glances up at him and is met by black eyes gazing at her softly. He has that look again, the one that makes her feel… exposed. Now she’s the one who looks away, pressing her lips together, struggling to banish the flutters in her stomach.

She sighs heavily, as though trying to reset herself.

“Well…” she starts, not sure what to say next. A few seconds pass. “I guess it’s a good thing you’ve been looking because I’m starting to think I can’t find it myself. Not with the whispers of a thousand crystals in my head every time I try to concentrate.”

“Rey,” he intones deeply, leaning towards her. She looks up to find his face only a few inches from hers. She becomes enraptured in his gaze, intense yet gentle at the same time. “What you can do,” he continues with a little awe in his voice. “It’s not a curse. It’s a gift. It means you’re special.”

Something about the way he says this makes her heart skip a beat. Suddenly, she seems to forget everything. Coming here. Searching for her crystal. Hearing the whispers. Goading him to share how he found his crystal. Everything just melts away until there are only those dark, soulful eyes, looking at her deeply, seeming to look into her.

Out of nowhere, a strong emotion consumes her, nearly knocking the breath out of her. She’s not sure if it’s her own or his. Maybe a little of both. She doesn’t quite know how to describe it. It’s a kind of heart-heaviness, like being so full of feelings that they weigh you down, almost like a burden. It’s partially painful but also… exquisite. A beautiful pain. It’s only unwelcome because of how overwhelming it is, a yearning that cuts straight through the heart.  

She’s so lost in his gaze, she doesn’t notice him lift his hand to her face. She catches her breath, surprised when she feels his thumb at her cheek, stroking back a few strands of hair. The intensity in his eyes softens.

“Somewhere in the galaxy,” he starts in a low voice, his face seeming to draw even closer to hers, “there’s a crystal just for you. And we’re going to find it.” He gives her a nod of assurance before dropping his hand. Somehow, Rey finds the self-possession to nod back at him, still enraptured in those deep, black wells staring into her.

He tilts his head slightly. She could swear he starts to lean in, to close the small gap between her face and his, but he disappears just as she sees the movement. She gasps, jarred by the sudden end to the bond, as always.

She stares blankly ahead for a few moments, so numbed she’s not quite aware of either her body or physical surroundings. She lost in her own head. Part of her is still lost in his gaze, in his warm assurance, his gentle touch. She casts her eyes downward for a moment, a thought beginning to creep around the edges of her mind. Less of a thought… more like a realization.

But it doesn’t get far before she pushes it away, burying it once more. She shakes her head briskly, pulling herself out of her stupor and back into the cave, back into an awareness of her surroundings. She looks up and around at the crystals for a few moments, considering what to do next.

After a few minutes of thinking, Rey rises and walks to the center of the cavern, taking a seat on the cracked earth. She crosses her legs and straightens, closing her eyes and resting her shoulders back gently.

This time, she doesn’t try to meditate or listen for the call of her crystal. She simply lets herself be still, at peace, with no agenda, no purpose other than to just be.

It doesn’t take long for her to sense the ripples once more, whispers passing freely in and out of her mind. She doesn’t fight them. She doesn’t try to ignore them. She simply… observes them, lets herself be their conduit.

She finds that when she isn’t trying to concentrate on something else, the whispers aren’t so maddening. Now it’s just like being in a noisy marketplace, a thousand different conversations swirling around her. She still has no idea what they’re saying. But…

Maybe Ben’s right. Maybe she can learn. And if she does, maybe they can tell her where her crystal is.

She takes in a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of a true calm. She tilts her face towards the ceiling and surrenders herself to the Force, to the heightened energy of the room, to the buzz of the crystals incessantly communicating with each other.

Her crystal isn’t here. Somehow, she just knows it. But she’s starting to think that’s not why she was drawn here. No, perhaps the real reason she needed to come here was to discover this thing about herself— her ability to hear the crystals, an ability that is apparently very rare.

At this, the moment replays involuntarily in her mind, what he said to her, about her.

“It’s not a curse… It’s a gift.”

She bows her head.

“It means you’re special.”

#reyloweeklychallenge #RWC: Kyber #Reylo #reylofanfiction #kylo x rey #kylo ren #ben solo #ben x rey #Reylofanfic #starwarsfanfiction #fanfiction #kyber crystals #rey star wars

[auraphantom]

The darkstache fic that somehow contains more Bing than darkstache

So i finished my first fan fic ever today! Here is the summary:

Ao3 link

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Whovianofmidgard: If there is ice cream, there is dark! conclusion: ice cream = Dark Auraphantom: I accept!

Aka the darkstache fic that somehow ended with Bing more in the focus than darkstache.

Ps: Sorry Bing

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Dark has called together an unexpected emergency meeting. Nothing about that sounded good. All the egos who gathered around the table waited with immense tension what the meaning of this meeting would be, the silence almost deafening, or maybe it was just the constant high pitch sound emanating from Dark's being. The only ones unfazed by the atmosphere were the Host, with his soft drone of narrations, and Wilford. Let's face it, good ol' bubblegum boy over here wouldn't pick up on a cold tense air even if it slapped him in the face... good for him though. Dark himself slowly looked about at the faces present, a mask of collected authority shown prominently on his expression only to occasionally crack away from his shell with an unmistakable simmering rage hiding behind of it all. After what felt like an excruciating few seconds he smoothed out his suit jacket in preparation to address the others and even before he said a word one of the Jims flinched at the motion, the poor soul already jumpy in anticipation of the worst. 

"Let's get straight to the point shall we? It has come to my attention that there has been some… tampering with our fundings." He said, his tone dangerously cool. "Would anyone care to explain?" The entity stood and placed his hands on the conference table, leaning on them, his figure somehow growing more imposing. "Now!" The others with a more sensitive heart cowered a bit at that last growl of order. However it didn't have the desired effect since everyone remained silent. With a scowl Dark pushed back up from the table to standing straight and willed himself to tone down his aggressive approach. Fear and intimidation as useful they can be is not always the way. He needs them on his side, to open up willingly. A calmer procedure is in order. "Google. What is the exact loss we've suffered?" He turned towards the android, starting to pace with slow, calculated steps. The red and blue colors of his aura slightly flickered at the word 'suffer'. "Calculating." Google pulled up a holographic screen in search. "The total of loss is 352 000$. ...Something doesn't add up..." "Oh poop, who even cares!" Wilford burst out, the message of him being clearly bored by all the official work jargon apparent in his attempt at balancing a pen on his finger. When it just fell on the table with a dull clang the pink ego just leaned in with his full body in the direction of Dark in an exaggerated show of giving his attention to him. "The number of the money is so boring. I betcha the answer of where that money ran off to is more exciting, don't ya think?" Dark spared a glance at Wilford which was less irritated than any look he would give to anyone else, and mulled over his old friend's words. "Agreed." With a deep sigh Dark sat back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, mumbling. "What even happened with that much money..." Bing raised his hand, meekly, like a middle schooler. It took several moments for Dark and to the others to notice and a few more till everyone’s gaze was on him finally. A deep silence fell on the room as everybody waited for him to start speaking. It was rare from Bing to take part in a meeting due to his low popularity and Google being able to do everything that he ever could and more. But an emergency meeting is an emergency meeting and no ego was an exception from that. Still... Due to the rarity of an event like this, once in Bing's existence he had everyone's attention. Except for Google. But Google can multitask fairly well, there is four of him after all. "I might know what happened to the funds..." That got Google's attention too and now he was glaring at him. "What. Do. You. Know?"  Yikes. Dark's shell violently cracked, painting the room in hues of red and blue for split a second. Every ego in the room except Wilford seemed to flinch at that and scooted their chairs just a bit farther away from both Bing and Dark. Nobody likes to be near the splash zone. "Someone might have wanted to buy a cool motorbike-" Bing stated shyly. "- and someone might have made a few mis-clicks and..." "B i n g." "TheEgoIncMightBeTheProudOwnerOf-200 472-NewVespas" Finished Bing as fast as he could then promptly tried to slide down his chair and hide under the table, but he did not dare to disappear fully so his head poked out. A distant whistle could be heard, surprisingly from camera Jim and a really soft "Hot dam!" From mini Bing, who was put on a nearby shelf otherwise he wouldn't have seen anything. Dark's jaw slightly dropped. Any other time such a feat would have been considered impressive by all the egos, even by Wilford who was infamous of achieving it on several occasions, but this time it distressed all of them greatly. Google's face however turned from his scowl to confusion, he turned his head away for a second, mouth moving silently as he was running some calculations. "Wait... That still doesn't add up... " He looked back to the table with a serious face of concern. "That would have cost approximately 801 888 000.2$, way more than 352 000$!” While he was talking Dark's ringing slowly started to rise in volume, but Google continued. "That cost goes way beyond all of the Ego Inc's fundings, with a bill like that it would mean we are either bankrupt or in debt! And there is a monthly limit for how much each of us can spend at once, how did you even got around that?!" "Well-" Before Bing could even finish whatever he was trying to say, that would have probably made his situation worse anyway, an audible crack echoed through the whole meeting room, making everyone flinch. Meanwhile the ringing Dark emitted got  significantly louder, almost enough to hurt someone's ears. Everybody turned towards the head of the table, where it seemed Dark had stood up without them noticing. His shell was cracking violently every second and his aura more or less swallowed his end of the room. He seemed to shake slightly while clawing the table a bit and staring at nothing. "Dark, darling." Leaning a bit more in, Willford tried to speak up and draw Dark's attention towards him. It proved to be unsuccessful. With slightly wide eyes, he turned his attention towards Bing yet again and spoke. "   B i n g.   D i d   y o u   i n d e b t e d   u s?   " "B-bingo..." Whatever come over the android to make this joke has clearly done it now. A quiet "Ah, Bully!" could be heard from Wilford before the long table broke in half under Dark's power, that now has quickly eaten more and more of the room.

Panic overcame everyone as all hell broke loose. The Jims, in their frightened state, leapt over from their side over the broken table, knocking that piece over with them as they scurried towards the only exit, but they didn't get too far before they fell over one-another. Bim in his surprise only managed to kick his office chair away from Dark, then after a few meters he tumbled to the ground near the wall. Dr. Iplier grabbed The Host's arm and tried to drag him away but they fell over and tried to crawl away instead. Silver and Ed tried to run and hide behind the knocked over half of the broken table. Even Google was on his feet quick but only got to the corner of the room where he started analysing his chances of survival. "-And Wilford was nowhere to be seen." Narrated the Host quietly beside Dr. Iplier who was also looking for a way out now. Dark slowly, oh so slowly, started taking steps towards Bing's direction, his aura completely off the handle, ringing numbing out any other sound that could ever be heard, the colors bleeding to grey and static towards the center, near impossible now to see Dark's figure if it weren't for the spazzing red and blue outlines of his, the only two colors that could be seen now. 'This is it.' Thought Bing probably as the demon was making is way to him. 'This is how i die.' He would have felt like he was looking death right in the eyes, if only he wouldn't have notice some pale yellow and cotton candy pink moving in his periferia. That is sure as hell an attention grabber in an almost completely black and grey room. Somehow Wilford - obnoxious, loud, ostentatious, some would say; annoying, overexcitable, trigger happy, overly cheery, unpredictable menace, lunatic - Warfstache, somehow managed to sneak past Dark and get behind him, and he was holding a bucket of chocolate ice cream in one hand and a spoon in the other? 'What?...' And if it weren't already weird enough, it got weirder. He lunged at Dark. To describe the noise, that came out of Dark's mouth upon impact, as a scream would be really underselling the sound that cracked the windows, and almost made everybody's eardrum burst and bleed.

His form visibly bent in an attempt to hold up Wilford’s sudden weight on him, an audible, sickening crack followed that visibly made Dr. Iplier vince next to the Host. In blind anger and probably confusion Dark tried to throw off his assailant, flailing and failing in it.

Wilford held on heroically, with one arm threw over Dark’s front holding the bucket of ice cream and the other opening it and scooping a spoonful of the dark chocolate wonder. “Sorry Darkling!” he said as he with one leg, looped around Dark’s waist and with the others foot, stepped into Dark’s lower back, which seemed to cause pain for him, as he opened his mouth again to scream. He then stuffed the scooped ice cream into his mouth, shutting him up before he could scream again. The air was still for a moment. Nobody dared to move as they watched Wilford cling to Dark’s back and now slowly letting go of the spoon. They stayed like that for a few second then Dark’s shoulder visibly slacked. Dropping his arms, his aura went significantly calmer than before.

He tilted his head back forward, seamingly staring blankly into nothing, then without a word he turned on his heel and left the meeting room, spoon still hanging out of his mouth and Wilford hanging off of him like a backpack.

The others could only stare at the door for a while not knowing how to take in what they just saw when Bim spoke up in a shaken voice. “ Maybe you should bail while you can.”

Bing could only nod at that dumfoldedly before he took off running. ------------------- The obnoxious android only dared to come back to the Ego building after three days. He was hiding out at Chase Brody's place, fearing that if he had stayed, Dark would have come and murder him when he was least expecting it. He would have stayed there longer if he could, but after the day it was apparent he will need his charger, which he left back home in his hurry to escape, and that drove him back. After entering the building he tried to sneak back to his room. In his way he managed to avoid stumbling into any of the other egos. Soon he reached the living quarters and the door to his room. He felt like Fortuna had smiled upon him until he opened his door. What he saw was... Well nothing! His room was almost completely barren except for the thrash can, which started to move! Mini Bing's head popped out from the empty trash can and turned towards Bing and shouted "I CALL DIBS!" then fall back into it. Bing just stood in the doorstep, feeling his jaw slowly drop in confusion and disbelief when a hand suddenly clasped on his shoulder, startling him out of his stupor. "Bing!" Shouted a very excited Wilford Warfstache. "Oh bully! It's good to see you back!" He seemed genuinely happy to see him. "And here we thought you would never come back!" "Incorrect." Injected Google, who just turned the corner and walked towards them. "Bing left without his charger and unless he finally realised himself, and wanted to rid the world free of himself, he would have come back for it." "Oh yeah! About that, here!" Wilford dug into one of his pockets and pulled out Bing's charger, handing it to him. "I had to save it in the last moment before Dark threw it away." Bing looked down to his charger, still processing the information he was just bombarded with, he slowly reached for it, taking it from Wilford. "Attaboy!" The pink man said as he clasped his shoulder once more before walking away then poofing away to god know where from the corridor. That left only him and Google- "Hmp." Aaand with that Google left the corridor too, leaving only Bing alone to contemplate on his lifestyle choices and its costs. "At least he could have left my skateboard."

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~A spoon full of ice cream, will make the demon calm down! The demon calm down.~

#Darkstache #Darkiplier #Wilford Warfstache #Bingiplier #Markiplier #it's very general #other egos mentioned #first fic ever!

[acuaticamber06]

Undertone, Chapter Nine

What. The. Hell. Tumblr?!? I tried to post this via the mobile app. I really did. I get halfway through the chapter and all of a sudden I start getting these pop-up notices that say I’ve reached the max limit for a post. WHAT?!? >:(

Well, I’m up and awake and DAMMIT, I’m POSTING my damn CHAPTER. (Now on a computer. Grrrrrrrrrrr...)

Let’s see how Grillby handles the “ringer”. Hopefully it’s not a ding dong ditch, eh?

Warnings: Light swearing?

Obvious disclaimer: I don’t own Undertale or any of the characters in it, just my own characters. This story is for fun. ^_^

Undertone, Chapter Nine

Grillby stopped mid-kiss and looked up toward the stairwell. He growled soundlessly. There were only two types of people who actually used his doorbell, and nobody delivered anything at 3 AM. That left only one person.

Rin gave his arms a little squeeze before backing out of his grasp.

"Do you want me to go see who it is?"

He shook his head vigorously and stepped into his room to grab a pair of sweatpants and his phone. He was 99% sure he knew who was up there, but he didn't want to take any chances. People who came knocking at this hour were rarely good news.

Grillby held up a finger as he walked past Rin to show her that he'd be back in a minute. She nodded.

"I'll be here if you need me."

The visitor went from pressing the doorbell every ten seconds to doing it repeatedly, and his annoyance grew with every step he took.

Why tonight? Why now? WHY?!?

Everything had just gotten settled back down. He and Rin had developed a routine. She really seemed like she was comfortable again. And she took the lead and kissed him this time!

This ends now. No more disruptions.

The building was rigged up with two different doorbell systems. One set was mounted in the living room of his apartment. The other was a separate button connected to a set in the kitchen of the bar. As he got closer to the ground floor, he could hear that whomever was outside was alternating between the two buttons. As if they weren't clearly labeled. And lit with a big security light. Grillby fairly ripped open the stairwell door and nearly gave the kitchen door the same treatment.

The night was damp and muggy. It felt like it had rained, even though he knew it hadn't. The moon was just beginning to set over some distant buildings, but he almost couldn't see it due to the security light he had installed next to the door. The high humidity created a weird fog that softened the edges of everything he saw. And what he saw was a familiar lilac-skinned Arachnid leaning against the brick wall next to the doorbells, pressing them like an unchecked kid in an elevator who wants to see all the buttons light up.

She stumbled away from the wall when he appeared, a sly smile on her face.

"My charms must be working..." she slurred. "I've seen you out of uniform, but I didn't expect you'd answer the door half-naked."

Grillby didn't have to look as he typed, but he glanced over what he wrote briefly before turning the phone around. He didn't want there to be any misunderstandings.

*Muffet, this has to stop.

"Aw, just come out with me! Let's walk under the stars or take a drive." She sidled up close to him and ran a finger over his bare abs. "Unless you have something...better in mind, Bii-bii?"

Grillby winced at the nickname and held her out at arm's length.

*You're a sweet girl. You taught me everything I know about tea. You own the nicest cafe I've ever seen. This isn't who you are.

"Yes, it is!" She pushed his arm away and sashayed away a few steps before twirling and coming back. "I can fit into the bar scene! I can be your lady of the night! I can be whatever you need me to be."

She batted her eyelashes and dropped her voice to a husky tone. "Tell me what you want, and I'll make it happen."

Grillby set his jaw.

*I want the old Muffet back.

"What?" She blinked in confusion.

*I miss the Muffet who would visit before the bar opened. I miss the Muffet who would stop at nothing to save her spiders. She knew how to be a good friend.

Muffet's eyes went wide.

"A...friend?"

He nodded.

*Yes. That's all I ever wanted from you: a good friend.

"B-but we can do better than that!” ​Four of her hands gripped at his free arm. “We could be more than friends if you'd just-"

*No, we can't. And we won't. I'm interested in someone else.

"You're...wait, who?"

*Rin.

"The HUMAN?!?" Muffet's voice rose rapidly in pitch and volume. She dropped his arm. "I've been trying for months to work up the courage to tell you how I feel and you're telling me that you're interested in a HUMAN?!?"

She began to pace angrily in front of his door.

"Humans don't like us. We don't belong here, and we certainly don't need to be mixing with them! Bunch of soft-headed, self-centered egomaniacs..." She turned three wagging fingers at him. "I am a better choice in every way! Your ugly little barmaid can't even do magic."

It wasn't very often that Grillby got angry, and there wasn't a lot that got under his skin. But Muffet's nasty description of Rin did the trick.

He felt his temperature grow hotter and the flames on his body leap higher. He knew from experience that the taller his flames became, the more distorted his features seemed, until he looked like a vicious creature snarling through a wall of fire. That was how Sans had described it, at least.

It was lucky that he had used magic to protect his clothes, or he would have burnt them off by now.

*Don't talk about my girlfriend like that.

"Your girlfriend?" Muffet scoffed. Then she seemed to change tactics. She reached out to touch his chest. 

"Dump her and let me take care of you. Six hands are better than two-"

Grillby stopped her hand before it could make contact with his body. A purple glow encased it, holding it in place midair. Muffet's seductive smile faltered

*Let me make something abundantly clear:

When Muffet moved another hand, a glowing orb stopped it.

*Rin is a wonderful person and she's extremely important to me.

She tried to move the rest of her limbs, and the purple energy pinned them back. Muffet's expression began to shift to fear.

*I am not interested in dating you, and until you can remember how to be a decent person, you are not welcome here.

"Not...welcome?" She gasped.

*I suggest you start by pouring out all the alcohol in your house.

Grillby stared her down for a moment before he let the magic go. Muffet stumbled back, cradling her hands together as though she'd been burned.

"Grillby, I-"

He held up his phone and she stepped forward timidly to read it.

*I know you're drunk. I know you aren't yourself. You are not a bad person. But you'll have much better luck finding someone special by being yourself than by trying to change into what you think they want.

When she glanced back up at him, Grillby dropped his arm and turned away, not waiting for her response. He closed and locked the door, leaving Muffet on the doorstep.

***

When Rin heard the door shut, her gut reaction was to run across the room and sit on the sofa, pretending that she hadn't been listening at the foot of the stairs. That reaction didn't feel right, and honestly, there wasn't much that she actually heard.

Instead, she stepped out of the shadows and into the light Grillby cast as he walked down toward her.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded. His flames looked a little more agitated than normal.

"Is Muffet okay?"

Grillby rubbed a hand over his face and let out a deep sigh. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, pointed to it, and lifted an eyebrow.

Rin produced her own phone.

"Yeah, it's right here."

He extended a hand and she took it, trailing behind him to the couch. Rin took a moment to fold a leg underneath her as she sat. Grillby didn't really sit down as much as he relaxed all his joints at once and hit the sofa with a soft whump.

The air conditioner kicked on and cool air rushed from the vents. Rin could see the outlines of the furniture thanks to the thin sliver of light coming out from her bedroom and Grillby's flames. They seemed a little calmer now.

She studied the elemental a bit closer. His arms were flung out to either side, with his palms open and facing the ceiling. His closed eyes were underlined by highlighted bags and his head drooped down on his chest. He looked so tired.

"So, do you-"

She didn't even get to finish her sentence. Grillby rolled toward her and pulled her into a hug, resting his head on her shoulder. After a second, she cuddled into the crook of his neck. 

Her phone chimed in her hand, and she lifted it to where she could see it.

G* I wish I could speak.

"Why?” She smiled against his skin. “Are you tired of your tall, handsome, mysterious persona?"

G* No. I'd just like to be able to hold you with both hands while I ask you to be my girlfriend.

Rin's heart jumped into her throat.

"You- you want me to be your girlfriend?"

He nodded into her shoulder.

G* We can wait if you want to. I know this probably feels like we're moving too fast. Monsters get attached to people a lot sooner than humans do. I just...I haven't felt this way about anyone in a long time.

Rin hugged him tighter. It was as if something was pulling her to him; as if her heart wanted to be as close to his as possible.

"Grillby, I like you just the way you are." She sat back and smiled at him. "And of course I will."

He cupped her cheek with his hand and she leaned into the touch.

"So...Monsters get attached sooner, huh?" She opened one eye to look at him. "How long have you been attached, then?"

The flames on his cheeks turned a little blue.

G* You'll think it's weird.

"No, I won't."

G* It's downright creepy by human standards.

Rin lifted her head up and out of his hand.

"Try me."

He sighed.

G* I first saw you on the night that the stuck-up girl gave you so much trouble at the pharmacy. I thought you were pretty, but I didn't say anything. But it was when she left you here the day her car broke down that I knew.

Rin tilted her head slightly.

"Knew what?"

The blue shade on his cheeks deepened a bit.

G* That I wanted you.

"Really?"

G* I know, I know... it's creepy. But attraction happens so quickly in Monsters. We know for sure whether or not we should pursue a relationship very early in comparison to humans.

"Wait...for sure?" She pulled the blanket down and draped it over her shoulders. "How do you 'know for sure'?"

G* Its easy to tell. There's a...physical change.

​"You change? How?"

Grillby hesitated for a moment before he continued.

G* I don't know if you felt it, or if humans can feel it at all. But humans are at least aware of the concept of a Soul, right?

"Sure." She nodded. "It's everything inside you that makes you uniquely yourself. It's your hopes, your dreams, your memories, your personality- all of the intangible stuff that makes you who you are."

Grillby nodded in agreement.

G* Well, that's the thing: it isn't intangible. The Soul has a physical manifestation. When two people are attracted to each other, their Souls are drawn to each other, and Monsters can feel them pulling in their chests.

Rin's hand reflexively covered her heart.

Is that what I've been feeling?

G* Anyway, it's easy for Monsters to tell how they feel about someone else because the Soul can only be draw out into its physical form when both people share that connection.

"I...think I have felt it. It was like my heart wanted to be close to yours."

Grillby smiled gently down at her.

G* That's a good way to describe it. I'm glad I'm not alone in the feeling.

Rin sat quietly for a moment, unsure of what to say.

Souls can be...drawn out? You can touch them? What do they look like? How do you-

Her phone chimed.

G* I don't suppose you'll let your boyfriend forgive and forget your debt from the move, will you?

Rin stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Absolutely not! Just because we're official doesn't make me 'free'! I still cost you money to live here, and now that I'm working, I'm not about to cut into your profit margins any more than I already do."

Grillby laughed and sent another text.

G* I didn't think so.

Rin put her hand on her chest as the feeling returned.

"You know, we humans have a saying: 'The heart wants what the heart wants.'" She glanced up at his glowing orange eyes. "And I believe in following my heart."

It was her turn to take him by surprise. She pushed herself forward, wrapping her arms around his torso, bringing her heart close to his. The momentum was enough to tilt him over until they were laying side by side, facing each other.

Rin felt a blush heat her face. She bit her lower lip.

"Can I make my first girlfriend-request?" She asked.

Grillby lifted an eyebrow.

"Can we just...stay like this? For a while?"

Rin felt him chuckle silently as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She buried her nose in his chest.

"Thank you."

***

Sans ran. He ran as fast as his bony limbs would carry him. It didn't matter that it was the middle of the night. It didn't matter that he'd spent several hours on a ropes course at Gerson's mercy and that he was exhausted. He ran until he didn't have any energy left. Then he kicked on the magic and used that to fuel the run.

It’ll be fun, he said. Nothing to free the spirit like swinging through the air, he said. I didn’t know Skeletons could get rope burn, he said.

Running, as he was coming to find, was a form of focused meditation. You focused on your breathing or the burn in your legs and chest. You were aware of the energy as you spent it.

Some people sit on square pillows and hum one note for hours. Me? I run past darkened windows and inspire the nightmares of little children all over town.

It was still 75 degrees outside with the humidity off the scale. He could feel the moisture clinging to his bones as he moved. It was not a pleasant feeling. No, tonight was not a good night to go out, but then he didn't really get to choose when these things happened. Anything could trigger a memory and set off a cascade of reactions and negative thoughts. It was when he got to the negative thoughts that he traded his slippers for a pair of running shoes.

Sans rounded the corner and was mildly surprised to find himself a few blocks away from the bar. His runs usually took him away from the source of his troubles...not towards it.

That's okay. It's like facing a fear or something. I'll just run right past it and keep on going.

He picked up some speed and the magic in his eye flared. A few more paces and he could see someone stumbling up the sidewalk toward him. The figure passed shakily under a streetlight, and he saw a flash of purple reflected for a brief moment.

Muffet?

Sans slowed to a jog as he approached the Spider. She was hugging all six of her arms around her chest, as if she was trying to hold herself together. It took her a second to register that Sans was standing in front of her. When she did, her eyes blinked at him blearily and out of order.

"Muffet..." he huffed, putting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "What are you doing out here? The bar has been closed for hours."

She murmured something and hugged herself tighter.

"What was that?" He looked up from his hunched over position.

"Mm...not welcome." Muffet mumbled.

"Not welcome?" He straightened. "Where?"

"The bar. I'm not...welcome at the bar...anymore."

Sans snorted. "Everybody's welcome at the bar. Where'd you get that idea?"

"Grillby."

Muffet shivered in the silence that followed. No one had ever been banned from the bar. Not a single creature, Monster or otherwise, was unwelcome there. It was an unchanging place; a warm slice of home.

"Grillby banned you from the bar?"

Muffet nodded and started to cry. Tears streamed down her face from her eyes.

"It's that...wicked little...barmaid of his!" She hiccuped. "First she convinced...him to be her...boyfriend...then to...get rid of me!"

Sans' thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"Wait, they're official now?"

He put out a hand as Muffet swayed dangerously to one side.

"Mm...going home."

As she stumbled past him, Sans turned to walk next to her. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Here. Let me walk you home."

"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME!" She screeched, throwing his hand off in a fury.

"THE ONLY PERSON I WANTED TO BE WITH-" her voice cracked with an angry sob. "...hates me."

"But-"

She spun on her heel to bare her teeth at the Skeleton. 

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

He was silent as he watched her move away. Once she was a block ahead of him, Sans stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jacket and followed Muffet from a distance. He would make sure she got home safely, even if she didn't want his company. He knew she was only lashing out because she was drunk and heartbroken.

But at the pace she set, Sans had an awfully long time to be alone with his thoughts.

Rin is Grillby’s girlfriend.

Keeping his eyes on Muffet, Sans started counting his steps in his head. He really didn't want to think right now. 

***

FINALLY. Jeez, this chapter took forever, but I’m really pleased with how it turned out. Chapter Eight felt a little rushed to me, and I wanted to make sure this one was better. 

I have a feeling that the rest of this week is shot for my Sunday update schedule, but I’ll still try. Maybe I’ll have a burst of inspiration. Did I mention that I’m writing this chapter by chapter? Oy. 

Hope you guys are having a great week! Stay tuned!

Chapter Eight

Chapter Ten

#undertale #undertonefic #grillby #fanfic