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drvrslcense · 3 years

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devils roll the dice (angels roll their eyes)

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pairing: leo valdez x daughter of athena! reader

summary: you and leo are dared to skinny dip, what happens if your friends run away with your clothes?

warnings: skinny dipping (a bit of nudity), a few curses, mentions of sex (but not really?) - let me know if you see other ones!

notes: request; this takes place years after the events of hoo (toa never happened)

read this fic in ao3!

Leo Valdez is seriously annoying.

The way he smiles as if everything’s okay and his anger is not something you’re feeling like waves hitting you over and over - it’s just annoying. Why can’t he just get it over with and explode in front of you, use his fire powers and all?

With a scoff, you shook your head, averting your gaze from the curly-haired boy to the campfire in front of you.

Truthfully, this event was supposed to be just the seven - Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Leo. Percy invited you to enjoy this night with his friends. He found you earlier by this beach, kicking sand, and muttering how much Leo Valdez just pissed you off. And he just had the audacity to invite you to an event, saying Leo won’t be here. But here he is - grinning as he was roasting a marshmallow over the fire.

“So, Leo,” Percy turned to Leo. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” he grinned.

You saw Percy look at you, smiling, like a monkey who finally grabbed the banana from the tree. "Go skinny dipping with Y/N."

"What!?" I'm sorry, but were you just dragged into something that doesn't even include you? "No. I'm not skinny dipping, especially not with him."

"Wow," Leo said, standing up. "Way to hurt my feelings, Y/N."

"Like you have one," you rolled your eyes.

"So, are you doing this or not?" Leo questioned you, already raising an arm to remove his shirt.

"No, I'm not," you crossed your arms over your chest.

"Your loss," Leo shrugged, shirtless. Your eyes scanned over his body. Realizing what you were doing, you averted your gaze from him into the campfire. "Like what you were seeing?"

You can just feel him smirking across from you. "It's not even my dare, how do I lose?"

"It's a dare and you're involved so get on with it," Percy waved his hand dismissively, smiling mischievously as he took a sip of his blue coke.

"Do they really have to be naked?" Thank the Gods for your sister, Annabeth.

"Yeah," Jason echoed. "We're all going to be scarred forever when Leo goes buck naked."

"Fine," Percy sighed in defeat. "You can keep your underwear."

They all looked at Leo expectantly, who raised his hands up. "Oh no, I'm not doing it if Y/N won't."

"It's your dare, Valdez."

"Yeah, and?"

"It's not mine."

"But Percy said I have to do it with you."

"Ugh," you huffed, standing up to remove your clothing. "I hate you."

"Well, I don't exactly like you either," Leo quipped, unbuckling his pants.

You turned around, raising your arms over your head as you removed your shirt, revealing your balconette bikini top in Victorian blue. The matching bikini was a gift from Piper on your birthday last September. This is only the first time you wore this, but under a white cropped top and denim jeans, thinking you won't have to swim as it is mid-winter in New York.

Unfortunately, Percy is a pain in the ass and dared Leo to go skinny dipping with you.

Annabeth handed you a beach towel you wrapped yourself in. Despite the camp's borders protecting you from extreme weather, the air was still chilly, and it sent a shiver down your spine as it hit you.

You turned around and saw that Leo had the matching blue and floral printed towel wrapped around his waist. "Let's just get this over with."

You walked over towards the edge where the waves meet the sun, leaving Leo to catch up to you. "So, how are we doing this?"

"You just don't think," is what you answered as you threw your towel somewhere behind you, diving into the open beach and swimming as far as you can.

As soon as the cold catches up to you, you stand up; the water reaching your chin. You saw Leo standing still at the edge, looking stunned. "What are you waiting for, you elf?"

Leo only shook his head and followed you. You waited a few moments, looking around the vast ocean, with chattering teeth and ragged breaths. In mid-December, the water current felt like icicles hitting your body over and over in different places. You couldn’t wait to get back out on the shore and sit by the fire for warmth.

You feel something tug at your ankle, pulling you deeper. As you struggled to stay afloat, you kicked whatever it was, deciding ultimately more on your own survival than the welfare of some random sea creature. But it wasn't a random sea creature. Instead, it was Leo, holding a bloody nose as he surfaced beside.

"Fuck you, Y/N," he held his nose, ducking his head a few times to stop the bleeding.

"That's what you get," you shrugged, waving your arms to keep yourself afloat.

"Ugh," Leo groaned. "CAN WE GO BACK NOW?"

"Geez," you covered your ears. "You didn't have to yell that loud."

"YES," you heard Percy yell back, his voice like waves echoing throughout the ocean.

You looked at the campfire, only that it was like a dot of orange in the distance. Your friends were like moving shadows in the distance, dimly lit by the moonlight.

"Come on," Leo started swimming back towards the shore once his nose had slowed down its bleeding. You followed him, careful not to swim too fast and make your head squeeze tighter than it already was. As you surfaced on the edge, you saw Leo yell and tried to run after Percy, who was holding your clothes. “Hey! Get back here.”

Instead of answering, Percy just laughed and ran away towards the parking lot. Leo chased after him.

You stood up, shivering as the chilly air hit you, grabbing your towel and wrapping yourself with it. Instead of running after Leo, you took a seat in front of the fire, with your arm reached out and dangerously close to the flames. Who could blame you for wanting to feel some warmth?

“You could get burned,” Leo commented, making you look at him in surprise. You thought he was with Percy grabbing his clothes, but there he stood, wearing a towel wrapped around his waist. Your eyes dangerously drift down towards his collarbone, but you shook your head, focusing your gaze on the dancing flames in front of you.

“At least I could be warm,” is what you told him as your fingers still dance dangerously close to the flames.

“Here,” Leo offered you a hand, and you stared as if it was the most disgusting thing you ever saw. To be honest, it wasn’t disgusting. You noticed his fingers were long and slender and smooth - no calluses in sight. It must be a benefit from producing flames.

“What do I do with it?”

“Hold it.”

“No.”

“Your loss,” he shrugged, taking a seat across from you.

“So, where’s Percy?” You asked him.

“Gone,” he sighed, running his fingers through his curls. “They said we should work everything out and they’ll come to fetch us in the morning.”

Unbelievable. Still, what they had done didn't surprise you. It was like them to do something like this, you should have seen it coming. Instead, the temptation for a good time blinded you.

“Go on,” you told him. “Yell at me.”

“What?” Leo said in disbelief. “What do you want me to yell at you?”

“I don’t know,” you told him, shrugging. “What were you saying about me after we met?”

“I wasn’t saying anything about you,” Leo answered defensively.

“You so were,” you rolled your eyes.

“Really?” Leo scoffed, crossing his arms. “What was I saying then?”

“That I was rude,” you answered him, sitting up straight.

“That’s true,” Leo agreed. “You were rude. And you are being rude now.”

“Well, excuse me if I was being rude,” You laughed humorlessly. “I was busy and stressed that day. I was being chased by monsters all day until Grover and Percy found me, and I was tired."

“But that doesn’t excuse you from being such a jerk at camp,” Leo argued.

“Sorry I wasn’t feeling bright and cheery as you,” you retorted. “Gosh, you were annoying.”

“You think I was annoying?” Leo asked, offended.

“You were!” You stood up, clenching the towel that was wrapped around you. “You came in all Mr. Smiley Pants, greeting me with a cheer, and then you introduced yourself and told me your life story when I’m exhausted. Gods, Leo, I just wanted to rest that day.”

“But you didn’t have to be so rude about it,” Leo stood up too, walking to stand in front of you. If he thought he was towering over you, he was not. He was only a few inches above you, not even intimidating you with his height.

“What’s rude about ‘stop, I want to rest’ when you were all there smiling and I was a bleeding mess with monster cuts on my arms?” You fumed. “Not to mention, you were telling me that time you and your beloved Festus had to stop at a gas station.”

“And what’s wrong about that?” Leo raised his arms in frustration. “Festus was hungry, and I was out of Tabasco, so we had to take a quick stop at the nearest gas station for some motor oil.”

“Okay, you were out of Tabasco sauce,” You raised your free hand in surrender. “But is that necessary for a girl to hear when she’s bleeding out?”

“Oh, would you want me to tell you the story of how my parents conceived me?” Leo retorted. “Because I’ll gladly tell you! My mommy and my daddy-.”

“I want you to stop!” You yelled at him, getting so dangerously close to his face. Leo seriously frustrated you to no end. He can’t just keep his mouth shut. “I want you to stop talking for a long time. Maybe then, I could work everything out by myself and leave you here.”

“And what?” Leo taunted. “Face the woods alone? Ooh, too bad, Y/N, you could get killed.”

“I’ll gladly take that chance,” you said through gritted teeth. “Than be here with you.”

“Wow,” Leo feigned hurt, putting a hand above his heart. “Another girl who’d rather be killed than be with me. Only this time, I didn’t ask her out.”

“What, do you want me to ask you out?” The words that rolled out of your mouth surprised you more than they did to Leo, who looked at you with wide eyes. You felt your heart pounding in your chest, unable to think of anything to follow up on your previous statement.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think that you actually like me,” Leo said slowly, a lopsided grin forming on his face as he crossed his arms.

“Please,” you shivered as a strong chilly wind came, knocking you off of your stern demeanor. Leo grinned at this, knowing he had the upper hand in the situation as he didn’t once shiver from the cold. “You don’t know any better than a coked-up 2-year-old.”

“Oh, really?” Leo’s eyebrow shot up as if what you said was a challenge to him. “I know you’re cold right now.”

“Of course, it’s mid-December,” You threw your free hand in the air, turning back around to sit in front of the fire again. All this arguing with Leo has put you away from the campfire and near to the ocean, as you could feel the cold rushing winds more than the warmth of the fire. “It should be cold.”

“Way to point that out, you genius,” Leo followed you as you sat, taking a seat beside you. It was far enough so that your hands wouldn’t reach him in case you wanted to strangle him, but near enough in case you burned your hand and he had to help you.

You were still shivering even as you sat in silence in front of the fire. Leo was probably not helping the case as he kept getting awed by his own breath forming smoke in front of him.

“Could you please stop?” You said through shaky breaths.

“Here, take my hand,” Leo once again offered his hand. “Come on, I won’t bite. Can’t you feel the warmth radiating off of me?”

Out of options for warmth, you hesitantly reached out, your hand hovering above his, trying to feel any sort of warmth. Then you felt it. That rush of slight heat entered your skin and buried itself there. It felt much like holding a warm cup on a chilly day,

You took his hand, gripping it just to feel any warmth. It must have been a pretty uncomfortable position as both of your hands were stretched out, but you didn’t care as you could feel something other than the cold air around you.

You closed your eyes for a moment, trying so hard not to think about the fact that you were mad at him earlier and now you were holding his hand for warmth. You felt him scoot a little closer to you, as he pulled your hand a bit and felt him shift. You opened your eyes and narrowed it at him. “Sorry, my hand’s getting sore.” You sighed and just let him sit closer than the two of you intended.

You didn’t know how, but you didn’t fight the feeling of wanting to feel more warmth as you scooted closer to him - dangerously close, almost shoulder to shoulder. You let out a sigh as the warmth coming from him intensified a bit, as you laid your head above his shoulder. You didn't know why, but he didn’t make a move to push you away, not even a bit as he relaxed and laid his head on top of yours.

“Pipes, quick, grab a camera,” you heard Percy loudly whisper. It must have been morning as you hear birds chirping instead of crickets. The harsh sunlight met your hazel eyes as you opened them, making you immediately squint.

You heard a flash go off, and Piper’s voice rang out. “Oops. Sorry, my bad.”

“Whoever’s there should just get away,” you grumbled, snuggling against what’s beside you. Despite the harsh sunlight, your eyes flung open and quickly stood up, making your head spin, as you realized what - or who, for the matter - you’re snuggling. You stumbled as you clutched your head in dizziness.

“Careful there,” Jason gripped your arm, steadying you.

“What,” Leo groggily said, just waking up. “What happened?”

“We fell asleep, you idiot,” You threw a flip-flop at him. “It’s morning.”

“Oh,” Leo rubbed the spot where you hit him. “Oh, hey, guys.”

“Hey,” Percy greeted him with a smile. “Looks like you had quite a night, huh?”

“More like it,” Leo lazily smiled at you through squinting eyes.

Despite everything in you screaming to deny everything, you smiled at him. “Yeah. It was nice.”

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girlindelusionn · 3 years

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finally finished himym!! hated the finale (of course) so here's another "most likely to" but much longer to help me cope (negate, why lie to you) with how the most awesome couple ended

(also this probably has a million mistakes but im too lazy to do something about it, having to write in english is hard man, so please ignore it:D)

most likely to: swarkles version :)

Who spends almost all their money on the other?

barney, definitely. he's not exactly the best at actually coming up with gifts so sometimes for birthdays or stuff like that he just takes her to the mall and lets her pick whatever she wants (he also makes fun of her the whole time, but i don't think it's necessary to clarify that)

Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions?

barney doesn't know how to drive and is generally better with technology, so robin drives and he gives directions and prevents her fights with the gps to get really violent

also robin is a REALLY violent driver, she doesn't go really fast but if anyone has the audacity to get in her way shes going to definitely roast the fuck out of them

"oh i know you're not honking at me… LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT, IM GOING TO MAKE THE TURN WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? YOU WANT ME TO FLY OVER YOU? GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND LET ME GET IN THE FUCKING L– there you go, thanks!..."

Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they're tired?

barney to robin, one of the "corny couple" million things he swore he wasn't going to do. but then robin simply looks at him with a sad face, explaining how much her feet hurt and he can't say no

Who is the most affectionate?

barney, actually

it's surprising, cause he's always been someone who likes his space but there's times, mostly in private, when he just can't keep his hands to himself. and you would think it's purely sexual but no, in the contrary, most times it's just a hand in her hair or her back, or demanding hugs and cuddles

Who falls asleep in the other's lap and who carries them to bed?

trick question! barney is who carries robin to bed, but she falls asleep in his shoulder

and he is the one who falls asleep in robin's lap, with her running her hands through his hair

Who wakes up first?

neither of them is a morning person, but usually robin works out in mornings so her. on weekends they stay in bed as long as they can

Who apologizes first after an argument?

they're both stubborn as hell so they schedule apologizes and take turns on doing it

Who is the nerd?

both of them, in different aspects. like robin likes math to the point of doing problems and equations for fun ??? and well, barney is a huge star wars, lord of the rings, that kinda books, nerd

i like to think that they have harry potter in common, they've read all the books, make marathons with the movies, they even went to the universal park! and had a lot of fun there (of course they've never told the guys that)

Who makes the other one laugh the most?

barney, he knows robin cant be mad and laughing at the same time and he uses it as an advantage

Who sleep talks?

robin 🥺

Who hogs the blankets at night?

also robin, but barney doesn't care

Who is the neat freak?

neither of them, but they manage to keep the place decent

Who likes to surprise the other with random gifts?

barney! single flowers, tiny chocolates, etc

Who buys the healthy food in the house?

robin, but it's mostly barney who does the actual cooking

Who has better music taste?

robin 😎

Who takes care of the spiders?

they do it together as a team, and if that doesn't work (aka if the spider is slightly bigger than average) they just go whining to marshall and he fixes it

Who uses more nicknames?

barney is mostly sweetie but after the wedding robin is kinda obsessed with the word husband

"so how's the most handsome husband, huh?"

"did you buyed the milk I texted you for, husband?"

"hi, husband!!"

robin is babe or sometimes honey, and after the wedding barney keeps calling her his "ex-girlfriend" (don't tell anyone, but he also LOVES the term wife, he can't comprehend how is he so lucky to have her as his wife)

(update after actually finishing the show: r-train and b-nasty!!!)

Who's the little spoon?

first year of dating? robin

after that is barney, you can't change my mind

Who suggests scary movies for film night?

robin!! but they both like them

Who gets jealous more often?

both, barney is less dissimulated about it

Who brings up kids first?

no of them, lol

Who borrows who's clothes more?

robin, she has stole the few hoodies he had and sometimes for sexy times likes using his ties

barney secretly uses some of her giganteus t shirts (he makes fun of her for buying them but he's actually glad she does) for sleep when she's away for the night

...they smell like her, okay? leave him alone

(also he loves when she uses his underwear and sometimes the only way to convince her to do it is doing the same himself, so he has wore panties)

(don't tell ted)

(please)

Who cries more during sad movies?

barney, is hard for robin to cry for movies, also he loves villains and they hardly have a happy ending so...

Who falls asleep on the other more?

robin, she falls asleep very easily

Who says I love you more?

barney :)

Who initiates kisses more?

also blondie, again he's a little obsessed with his wife

Who initiates hugs more?

robin this time

Who takes more pictures of the other?

robin, for sure. at first it was cause she wanted that bad picture of him, but then his husband is really cute with his sleepy eyes and the sun on his face, or looks so excited to watch the next episode of some lame show, or he's bringing her breakfast at bed with a big smile or looks a little too good with his new suit and she can't help but take her phone out and snap a pic of him

Who leaves notes for the other one around the house?

barney, at first it was to annoy her, like writing "you lost the game!!" at random places (i'm sorry lmao, i just realized i made you lose too, lol) or "sorry, babe! i ate it all last night" at the empty wrappers of candy in the fridge

but then one day barney found one in a coffee mug:

"wow, you didn't put much imagination in hiding this one, didn't you?" he said, his girlfriend was in the bedroom finishing to get ready for work.

"read it!!" she shot back, a little… nervous?

"i love you", the note said.

"scherbatsky?"

"yeah...?"

"come here"

"what's up?" she finally showed up to the living room, looking all tiny and scared

"love you too, loser"

Who gets drunk faster?

barney? i don't know, they both handle scotch pretty well, so i'm guessing it takes a while for them to get drunk

Who gets hit on more by strangers?

robin, but she couldn't care less

Who makes food for the house more often?

barney, he's a surprisingly good cook

#swarkles #barney and robin #robin and barney #robin scherbatsky #barney stinson #fuck the finale #himym

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wizardcommune · 3 years

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aaaaaa i also love urbosa (i’m the previous anon that asked for her ehe) i am just a Little Lesbian who is starved for content... is it too much to ask for sfw alphabet with her? i really don’t think you write her out of character like you worry in the tags :>

urbosa sfw alphabet

a/n - THANK YOU!!! that means so much to hear fndbsngm

also, i’m so sorry about the wait on this one!! my school’s trimester is ending early so i’ve been trying to raise my grades at mach twenty. i do have a break now though, so i’ll be able to write more frequently!!

pairing - urbosa x reader

warnings - none!!

a = affection (how affectionate are they? how do they show affection?)

urbosa prefers giving verbal affection, and receiving physical affection! she compliments you as often as possible

b = best friend (what would they be like as a best friend? how would the friendship start?)

as a best friend, she teases you a lot. she's like a big sister

but like. y’know. not in a weird way,,

c = cuddles (do they like to cuddle? how would they cuddle?)

she does! she’s not an extremely touchy person, but it would be comforting to hold you

her favorite positions are to lay on her back and put your head on her chest or shoulder, or spooning. no matter your height, She Will Always Be The Big Spoon

d = domestic (do they want to settle down? how are they at cooking and cleaning?)

urbosa would still want to lead gerudo town as chieftain, but she’d settle down more in terms of fighting. she wouldn’t want to risk herself as much considering you were there

honestly i feel like urbosa is just That Person who fucking sucks at cooking. she knows it too; she’ll just kind of stare blankly at you in pain if you suggest she cook

e = ending (if they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

f = fiance(e) (how do they feel about commitment? how quick would they want to get married?)

she would be fine with the idea of commitment! she would want to wait at least a few years before considering marriage. it’s a weighty decision and she doesn’t want to make the wrong choice since it could harm both of you

g = gentle (how gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

she’s very gentle with you! definitely not as much as someone like mipha, but she’s very careful not to accidentally hurt you

h = hugs (do they like hugs? how often do they do it? what are their hugs like?)

urbosa doesn’t hug you often, but she shows physical affection in other ways. i.e. gently pulling you to lean on her when sitting down, keeping a hand on the small of your back, running her hands through your hair (if she can), etc.

i = i love you (how fast do they say the L-word?)

probably a couple months at least? (i've never been in a relationship so is that normal????)

she’ll say it on a calmer night, when the yiga clan is silent for once and king rhoam hasn’t called for her help. on rare days like these, she’s accustomed to drawing a bath that smells good as hell, so you’ll be really comfy and probably sleepy LMAO

will tell you right before you fall asleep when she’s thinks you aren’t awake!!! once she realizes you are, will 100% give u a forehead kiss

j = jealousy (how jealous do they get? what do they do when they’re jealous?)

urbosa doesn’t get jealous very often, mainly pissed if someone won’t stop harassing you. she’ll wrap an arm around your waist, and if they aren’t already intimidated (they’d have to be drunk or just have The Audacity) she won’t hesitate to roast tf out of them. if you thought her teasing you was bad, it’s terrifying now. she won’t hold back

k = kisses (what are their kisses like? where do they like to kiss you? where do they like to be kissed?)

she honestly doesn’t have a preference on where to be kissed! she likes kissing you on the shoulder, forehead, and hand the most. :))

l = little ones (how are they around children?)

she’s actually really good with kids! even before she became chieftain, she liked hanging out + playing pretend with them

something really cool about urbosa that the kids like is that she treats them with high respect and talks to them like adults!!! (but very sensitive adults at that; she doesn’t tease them much. kids deserve kindness and you bet she’s gonna fulfill that)

m = morning (how are mornings spent with them?)

she prefers long hours of sleep + waking up late. so if it’s a chill day when you’re not needed for anything, she’ll stay with you in bed for hours

if she wasn’t able to sleep as much, she’ll be lowkey grumpy in the mornings until she gets her tea

n = night (how are nights spent with them?)

like the mornings, she drinks tea a lot before bed. she gives me jasmine or chamomile tea energy???? idk

long baths are a must, especially since it’s so sandy,,, everywhere,,,,

she’s the type to have a ton of candles and nice soaps and stuff, so she always smells really good before bed

o = open (when would they start revealing things about themselves? do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

pretty early in the relationship! she trusts you enough to talk about things that are bothering her/have in the past.

although, i’m not sure if she’d talk about zelda’s mother and stuff like that due to privacy reasons. unless zelda herself didn’t express concern over it, she’d keep the details pretty tight

p = patience (how easily angered are they?)

unless you’re a yiga member, urbosa’s patience is very thick. i literally cannot think of a time she would get fully mad at you??

if you ever put yourself in danger, (especially for her) she would definitely scold you. never angry, though

q = quizzes (how much would they remember about you? do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

urbosa remembers things even you don’t remember. mainly things you point out at a marketplace or something.

(on that note, she is absolutely the type to spoil you. you can mention a pretty flower in rito village in passing and she’ll be convincing revali to go get it for you within an hour)

r = remember (what is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

IM SORRY I COULDNT THINK OF ANYTHING FOR THIS ONE EITHER

s = security (how protective are they? how would they protect you? how would they like to be protected?)

very protective!! even if you can fight/are a champion, she’ll subconsciously be protecting you in battle.

she doesn’t want you to worry about protecting her, honestly. (tbh she lowkey likes when you lean on her for safety)

t = try (how much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

she puts a lot of effort into them!! she actually finds it really fun to get to plan dates and stuff. she loves giving gifts and they are always very well thought out!!

u = ugly (what would be some bad habits of theirs?)

bold of you to assume urbosa isn’t perfect

v = vanity (how concerned are they with their looks?)

she does care about her looks, but only because it makes her feel good!! as long as she looks professional and clean, urbosa could care less about what other people think.

w = whole (would they feel incomplete without you?)

urbosa is comfortable enough with herself to be okay without a partner, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt. if you ever were to get hurt/leave her, she would be crushed, but she would be able to heal.

x = xtra (a random headcanon for them.)

she hates the cold with a burning passion and anytime she has to go to the tundra, she’s grumpy the whole time

y = yuck (what are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

i couldn’t think of a partner one, but she’s scared of dogs for some reason. she is a cat person and they lowkey freak her out

z = zzz (what are some sleep habits of theirs?)

even though she has guards, being the chieftain means either of you could be put in danger at any time. because of this, she’s a fairly light sleeper. she’s also pretty protective in her sleep! she’ll pull you close to her and keep a hand on the back of your neck or stomach

#urbosas hair looks so soft....#not proofread we die like men #my work #urbosa hcs #urbosa headcanons #urbosa sfw alphabet #botw x reader #urbosa x reader #botw headcanons #botw alphabet #botw sfw alphabet #urbosa alphabet

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onthevirgeofdestruction · 4 years

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Dreaming While I Wake

Sanders Sides Foster Care AU - Roman-centric Angst & Hurt/Comfort & Abuse Recovery

Roman tries to be upbeat and hopeful despite all the shit that’s happened to him. And a lot of shit has. Luckily, his new foster home is with two literal rays of sunshine (and a sarcastic asshole).

Words: 3,695 Warnings: Food, Food issues, Injury, Money Issues, Panic, Anxiety, Depression Characters: Roman, Thomas, Virgil Universe: Dreaming While I Wake Genre: Angst/Family

Chapter 18

chapter 1 for new readers - ffn mirror

Another day off seemed like overkill. So what if his feet weren’t fully healed? He had a pass for gym. He only had to be on his feet for 8 or so minutes an hour other than to and from school. Roman was getting sick of being home doing absolutely nothing. He should be doing chores or homework or something. He was going to be so freaking behind next Monday it would hurt. Roman shifted nervously on the couch in Thomas’s office and put down his book. He’d just been staring at the page for the last minute or two, anyway. Sometimes his thoughts ran away while he was reading and there was no point in fighting it.

“You need something, Roman?” Thomas asked, not looking away from typing. Roman just grunted in response. He already knew how Thomas felt about this. There was no point in bringing it up again. They argued about it last night and this morning, too. He didn’t need any more recovery time. “Talk to me,” Thomas looked pointedly to Roman.

“How about laundry, can I do my laundry? I’m basically out of clothes,” Roman asked, leaning back and looking at the ceiling with a huff. Thomas had to know he didn’t like being stuck in here.

“I noticed. Not that the hot pink isn’t fetching, but I’m pretty certain if it were any shorter it’d be a crop top,” Thomas said a little sourly. Roman flushed and adjusted his jacket tighter over his torso in embarrassment, still minding his bruise. Admittedly, this shirt was pretty old. He usually only wore it under his black hoodie before he grew out of it. It only cost him $2 on clearance, so maybe he should just let this one go. Roman stared at the floor for a moment, considering it. He was wearing it now, so maybe it was still good as a back up shirt. “How about a compromise?” Thomas offered. Roman looked up in confusion to see Thomas raising his eyebrow.

“What’s that?” Roman asked suspiciously.

“I’ll let you do your laundry if you let me take transport the clothes themselves and you only handle the washing parts,” Roman groaned in annoyance, but Thomas didn’t stop. “And you tell me your clothes sizes and what you like to wear so we can order you some new clothes online,” Roman groaned louder and carefully crossed his arms. His ribs still hurt like the dickens. “It’s a great compromise,” Thomas said with a small smile, and Roman huffed dramatically.

“It’s the worst compromise ever, that’s not balanced,” Roman rolled his eyes and flipped his hand dismissively.

“What’s unbalanced about it?” Thomas asked curiously, tapping the desk.

“I don’t-” Shit. Roman flushed harder and dropped his head. Another thing he and Thomas argued about. Roman thought Virgil was obstinate, but that was nothing compared to what he’d been putting Thomas and Patton through. Thomas stopped typing and raised an eyebrow again. Virgil was a walk in the park compared to Roman, and Virgil had real problems.

“You don’t what?” Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t think it’s fair,” Roman said, dodging what he really felt with something that sounded nicer.

“I don’t see anything unfair about it. In fact, I can do your laundry myself and I wouldn’t find it unfair. In my opinion, you shouldn’t do chores when you’re sick or recovering,” Thomas said plainly, but Roman didn’t miss that swift, meaningful look. God damnit. He was superb at this. Maybe that’s what was unfair. Roman didn’t have a response, so he just looked away. “Both parties make compromises, Roman. You have to tell me what you object to so we can negotiate a better agreement,” Thomas added after the lengthy pause.

“I’m okay with you taking the laundry basket up and down the stairs,” Roman muttered, conceding a point to Thomas. He didn’t want the basket to bump his rib on the stairs, and he could live with that.

“That’s good to hear. So you don’t want to tell me what kind of clothes you want?” Thomas asked. Roman didn’t reply or look Thomas in the eye. “You’d rather shop in-store? I’m sorry, you’ve got to keep off your feet a little longer. They were bleeding again last night,” Roman motioned down at his feet.

“I know,” Roman mumbled.

“So, what’s wrong with shopping online? If we order a size up from the stuff you’re currently wearing we should be okay, and we can return everything that doesn’t fit,” Thomas said. Roman turned his head away. He hated not answering as much as he hated feeling like this. “It’s the money again, isn’t it?” Thomas asked after a moment, realizing the problem after a moment of deliberation.

“Clothes are just so expensive,” Roman grumbled, looking down to the floor.

“How about you pick out some things you like from photos, and I’ll order something like it? You’ll never have to see the price,” Thomas offered.

“There’s still money being spent,” Roman sighed, fiddling with the zipper on his jacket.

“You will rip out of that t-shirt if you stretch, Roman. You clearly need new clothes,” Thomas motioned to Roman’s shirt.

“That would be kind of cool if I could. I’m not nearly strong enough,” Roman poked his bicep absentmindedly. He never really managed a lot of muscle mass as much as he’d like to be stronger. When he was a kid, he and Remus must have been strong since they were wrestling and throwing each other at their bed or the couch almost every day. They were the same size and could both lift the other pretty easily back in the day. They threw each other around for fun all the time. But they ate really well as kids, so that possibly helped. He still had fond memories of throwing a Remus who was screeching like a drake and bouncing off a couch cushion and cackling after landing on the floor.

“So?” Thomas urged him, not letting Roman distract himself from the subject. Roman sighed and sat up straighter. He was happy to get sucked into a nice memory for once. He probably needed clothes.

“Yeah, okay. Can you just… not order too much?” Roman pleaded, looking to Thomas nervously.

“How much is too much?” Thomas asked, leaning back and watching Roman keenly.

“Fifty bucks?” Roman offered meekly.

“I’d have to find a serious clearance if that’s the case. I can try, but it’s not that realistic,” Thomas frowned and shook his head.

“… Around sixty bucks?” Roman tried again.

“We’re not accepting your allowance for clothes, just so I’m clear,” Thomas said, looking a little intense. Fuck. Okay. Roman scratched his head roughly with both hands in stress. “Hey, stop!” Thomas said loudly and Roman froze with his eyes wide. “Take a deep breath for me,” Roman slowly lowered his arms and complied.

“Sorry,” Roman muttered. He didn’t realize what he was doing until Thomas stopped him.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. Are you okay with under 70 dollars of clothes? Do you think you could keep it together if I stick to that amount?” Thomas asked gently, not sounding pleased.

“Yeah, probably,” Roman said and sighed, looking straight ahead into the living room despondently.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Can you e-mail me a Pinterest board or something with styles you like?” Thomas requested and turned to his computer for a moment.

“I’ve never really looked before,” Roman said uncertainly. He always just bought off the clearance rack or took whatever his foster parents chose for him.

“How about you just tell me things you like in clothes and then I can help you narrow it down?” Thomas asked, motioning the concept with his hands.

“I’ve distracted you enough from work as it is,” Roman objected, leaning back again.

“I’m taking a break, like healthy people should do periodically through the day,” Thomas said. Roman wasn’t sure, but he may have gotten roasted? The audacity. It was ridiculous to him that he was taking all this time off when he was the one who fucked up.

“Okay. Um. Soft material. Not too tight. Stuff that breathes. No shorts,” Roman suggested, listing off things he preferred.

“Like athletic wear?” Thomas tried to clarify.

“Sure, as long as it’s not too loose or scratchy. I like room to move in things but I don’t like lots of extra material,” Roman explained, and it felt like he was explaining it poorly. Thomas nodded, though.

“I think just buying clothes that actually fit will solve that problem. Do you have a shirt cut you like?” Thomas continued questioning.

“V-neck or low. Not crew, please, I don’t like things touching my neck. Um, fitted, I guess. I like wearing jackets since they keep the school so cold,” Roman said nervously. He didn’t like admitting he had such an easy to take advantage of weakness, but he hoped Thomas wouldn’t utilize it or spread it. If Thomas wasted money on clothes Roman couldn’t stomach putting on he’d feel much worse than he already did.

“That explains why some of your shirt collars are stretched out,” Thomas muttered under his breath. “What about colors?” Thomas asked, sounding much more interested.

“Oh, um… Red’s my favourite color, but I’m not particularly against any color that isn’t like puke brown. I like bright tops and dark bottoms, if I had to be specific. Easier to clean,” Roman said.

“Do you like any clothing styles? Like Virgil enjoys more emo styles and Patton likes to dress preppier?”

“I’ve never worn anything but generic stuff. But I like something that looks put-together. Not like suit-and-tie fancy, but maybe… I don’t know how to explain it…” Roman trailed off. “Cool, but not in your face about it?”

“Like you’re maybe a YA protagonist?” Thomas suggested with a small grin.

“Yeah!” Roman said excitedly. “Like I’m going to save the world or something,” Roman smiled lightly and his brain wandered off for a moment with ideas.

“Sure, I can work with that. Probably nothing too flashy, right?” Thomas asked, yanking him back to reality quickly. Thomas looked pretty pleased for some reason.

“No, I don’t need more reasons to be bullied,” Roman said dourly.

“Noted,” Thomas said warily. “Do you think you could give me a little more leeway on the money? So I can get you a jacket that maybe implies you’re leading a rebellion?” Thomas asked carefully, but the way he described the potential jacket was very tempting.

“That would be-” Roman started automatically replying with excitement and cut himself off. Wait, shit, money, fuck, no-

“Drop your hands, Roman,” Thomas said firmly. Roman looked to them, not realizing he’d raised them again, and dropped them to grip the couch, feeling embarrassed.

“I promise I’ll keep it a reasonable amount, just a little extra money to buy another jacket,” Thomas offered. “If you say no, I won’t buy anything else other than the essentials,” Thomas added, sounding very considerate. Roman swallowed. It would make Thomas happy, right? Roman has been doing nothing but pissing him off for days. Roman doesn’t deserve any of this, but Thomas doesn’t deserve to be pissed off more, either. This trashfire of a situation was conflicting.

“If… yeah, okay. Another jacket is okay,” Roman conceded quietly, still holding the couch cushions tightly.

“Hold on a sec, keep gripping those cushions,” Thomas said, getting up from his desk, looking like an idea struck him. Roman looked at him in confusion, and Thomas left the room. He came back a minute later with a pair of thin leather gloves and tossed them at Roman. “If you put those on, I’ll let you play games on the TV,” Thomas said, sounding proud of himself.

“You’re kidding,” Roman mumbled, picking up the gloves slowly.

“I’ll feel better,” Thomas said, almost airily. Roman slid them on. “If I had to guess you’re too distracted to read, but that game you were playing the other day is good at keeping your attention. And I don’t want you to accidentally see me shopping and get concerned. We’ll deal with making sure you’re okay when it gets here. I don’t want you obsessing over it,” Thomas said. “I’ll keep an eye on the clock for you, so you can just focus on playing the game,” That would be cool. He still felt like shit about taking all this time off and then Thomas buying him more stuff. But Thomas was right that he didn’t think he could manage to read anymore, and maybe he’d freak out if just watched TV.

“Can we do that compromise thing? Y’know, again?” Roman asked wearily.

“What do you propose?” Thomas leaned back in his desk chair.

“You let me do some homework later, so I can feel better about playing video games when I have so much to do?” Roman requested nervously.

“Would you be willing to accept help with it? I’ve seen all the chewed up pencils in your room,” Thomas suggested, looking interested in the opportunity.

“I guess?” Roman agreed, a little confused. Roman was just dumb and nervous. A little help probably wouldn’t change much. They’d probably get sick of trying quickly, like most others. But as long as they didn’t rub in how bad at homework he was, Roman didn’t mind.

“All right, I’m okay with that,” Thomas held out his arm and helped Roman up off the couch. He didn’t like being babied like this, but his feet hurt. The gash on his right foot didn’t like to stay closed if Roman wasn’t super careful. He must have stepped on a broken beer bottle or something. Thomas helped Roman to the living room and sat down on the couch, letting Roman finish setting things up and sit down on his own. Thomas chucked the afghan at him as the game was loading up, and Roman wrapped it around his shoulders.

Roman wasn’t sure for how long Thomas watched him, but he did eventually leave back to work in his office with the door open after a trip upstairs for something. Roman appreciated being given the space. He hadn’t gotten much since Wednesday. It was basically just at bed time he was left alone. And he sometimes spiraled at bedtime and probably wouldn’t mind someone there telling him it’d be fine and he didn’t need to run into the night. Not that Roman believed people when they said that, or anything, but he wouldn’t mind it. But being alone was better than Thomas sitting there watching while he waited for Roman to fall asleep or something. And if Roman hurt himself again, Thomas might. He was very on-edge about it. Which Roman couldn’t decide if that was kind of nice of him or annoying? He had been leaning towards annoying, but with the living room to himself and a sword in hand he was much less dissatisfied. He happily quested on in the game and got sucked up into it.

“Roman?” Thomas tried to get his attention, but Roman was busy fighting off a demon bear and didn’t look.

“Hm?” Roman made a noise of acknowledgment but barely noticed Thomas’s presence.

“Roman. I need you to pause it,” Thomas said firmly. Roman huffed and got one more hit in before pausing the game.

“Yeah?” Roman looked to Thomas, leaning back towards feeling like this was annoying. “I haven’t taken the gloves off or my hands off the controller, I swear,” Roman said, showing Thomas his still glove-clad hands.

“No, this isn’t about that. Though, that’s comforting to hear. That was the doctor’s office calling. They got back to me with your results. You do have a fracture on your ribs,” Thomas said, sounding a little unsettled. Roman didn't remember hearing the phone ring, but he wasn't surprised at the news. The pain was pretty familiar at this point.

“Oh. Um, what does that mean?” Roman asked nervously.

“Well, we’ll need to make a few lifestyle changes. Start taking vitamins with breakfast, sleeping on your back and not your side, and there’s a 6-week checkup. There’s also some exercises you’ll have to do after it’s less painful,” Thomas listed off the things.

“Um, all right,” Roman swallowed nervously. He rolled a lot in his sleep. He was very aware of this fact because it hurt like a bitch and kept waking him up, lately. The other stuff didn’t sound so bad, but he was scared of fucking up that in particular. He had no qualms with vitamins or exercises, and if Thomas stayed with him at the doctor’s again he could put up with it.

“I asked, and you can’t run, so you’ll have to hold off on joining that club until you’re cleared for strenuous exercise again. If you want to walk Lita after your feet heal, you’ll also have to actually walk,” Thomas finished. He wasn’t going to join that club anyway, so it wasn’t really a major loss. Causing them even more trouble after the giant mess he made was not happening if Roman could possibly stop it.

“Oh, well, that’s a bummer. I kinda like going for a run with her,” Roman said, feeling disappointed. He enjoyed sprinting with that little speed demon and watching her little tongue bob while she attempted the break the sound barrier.

“With some effort, it won’t be that long until you can again. I’ll try to pick up the slack and get faster so she doesn’t get mad,” Thomas chuckled slightly. “The muffins I made earlier are now a safe temperature to eat,” He added offhandedly.

“You made muffins?” Roman asked curiously. Thomas paused for a moment, considering Roman.

“I made them while you’re playing. They’re chocolate chip if you want one,” Thomas said offered, looking bemused.

“I, uh, now that I smell them, they smell amazing,” Roman said kind of sheepishly. The game must have sucked him in hardcore to not smell the chocolate and cinnamon in the air until now.

“I’ll get you one with some milk,” Thomas said, heading into the kitchen. Thomas came back with the muffin on a little plate and a small glass of milk. Roman looked nervously at Thomas while he took the plate. He had done nothing all day. He didn’t earn anything, especially not treats. But it smelled good, and Thomas watched him expectantly. He didn’t want to push it again. Roman took a bite of the muffin. It was still warm, so the chocolate was melty and wonderful. Roman ate it probably a little too fast and downed his milk.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Thomas chuckled and took Roman’s dishes. “You can go back to playing now. Thanks for taking the news in stride,” Thomas beamed proudly. “Try not to slouch,” Thomas said cheerily and waved as he retreated to the kitchen. Roman took as deep a breath as he could manage without hurting himself, straightened his back, and unpaused the game. He was having trouble focusing on it, though, as hard as he tried.

It was a great muffin. He did nothing to get such a great muffin. Maybe he could do something later to make himself feel better? Roman leaned back slightly. Thomas waved at him with a small smile as he sat back at his desk. Thomas was definitely, absolutely watching. Thomas was clear he didn’t want Roman to do anything. But that just didn’t sit right with Roman.

The muffin sat on his stomach oddly, and he felt sick. Roman knew it wasn’t really the muffin, and it frustrated him that he couldn’t even manage to do something like eating without fucking it up. Roman sighed and paused the game again, setting the controller down. He slowly moved to get up. Thomas hopped up and was at his side in a second, and Roman begrudgingly took the help.

“Are you okay?” Thomas asked. Roman closed his eyes and breathed.

“Yeah,” Roman said softly. “Bathroom,” Thomas helped Roman over to the downstairs restroom, and he walked in and shut the door behind him. Roman turned on the water and just watched it run for a moment before splashing water on his face. He shut the water off and gripped the countertop, watching water from his face drip into the drain. He suddenly felt exhausted. And standing on his feet hurt. Roman pat his face dry and came back out of the bathroom. Thomas walked back over to him and helped him over to the game controller again.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re looking kind of pale,” Thomas said, looking at Roman with concern.

“Yeah,” Roman muttered.

“Yeah, you agree you’re looking pale? Let me help you lie down on the couch instead,” Thomas offered and pivoted.

“Okay,” Roman whispered. Thomas helped him over to the couch and Roman laid down with no argument. Thomas draped the afghan over him from the floor.

“I’ll save and quit this for you,” Thomas said and picked up the controller off the floor. “Do you want to watch something? Virgil will be home soon, maybe there’s something you can watch together,” Thomas suggested gently.

“You don’t have to bother him. I’ll keep the gloves on and stuff,” Roman said quietly. Thomas finished and put the controller up and came over to touch Roman’s forehead with the back of his palm.

“You’re kind of clammy, Roman,” Thomas said. “Let me get you a thicker blanket,” Thomas turned around quickly and opened up an ottoman against the wall, and he pulled out a large quilt and layered it over the afghan. Roman grabbed the edge and blinked slowly. Roman was just so sick of himself. Thomas passed Roman the remote, but Roman didn’t take it, shaking his head slightly. He just felt so done with everything. His eyes got kind of heavy and Roman exhaled slowly. He didn’t realize he was so tired. Tired of his shit? Tired of himself? Or did he just sleep like shit again? He wasn’t sure. He just knew he hurt, and closing his eyes sounded nice.

Personal Taglist: @bunny222 @elizabutgayer @prinxietyforever @kanene-yaaay-o-retorno @the-sympathetic-villain @croftersjam15 @ollyollyoxinfree

the taglist repository:

High school: @dragonwithproblems @starlight-era @averykedavra @potatsanderssides

Roman Angst: @k1ngtok1

Hurt Comfort: @callboxkat @nonasficcollection @supernovainthenightsky @evoodo123

Roman-Centric: @smileyzs @robinwritesshitposts @thatgaydemigodnerd

Fostering AU: @i-am-not-a-dinner-roll

literally everything sanders sides: @katelynn-a-fan @dwbh888 @grouptalekindnesssoul @the-hoely-bleach @anvil527up @fanficloverinthesun @brain-deadx0 @the-grounded-raven @ananonsplace

#tsss #sanders sides #tsss fanfiction #sanders sides fanfiction #tsss fanfic #ayri writes #dreaming while i wake #fanfiction #chapter fic #teen!roman #dad!thomas #ts character thomas #ts roman #roman angst #roman centric #angst

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reylo-trash-4ever · 4 years

Text

HELLO REYLO FAM!!!

Wow... I am incredibly nervous about posting this because I haven’t shared my writing in years, but the incredible @lana-n95 gave me the idea when I made my prompts post, and I just rolled with it and made it an entire fic. SO HERE YA GO!

Shout out to @scav-eng-er for being my Reylo Soul Mate and literally giving me the courage to do this!! I couldn’t ask for a better support group in @mojona1999 and @firethebluesky as well! You lovely people are who keep me going and I promise I’m working on getting us all a group chat so we can be friends for life.

This will be updated fairly regularly, but please do not expect a lot yet. I’m working towards bi-weekly, but for right now, this is all I have. I hope you enjoy! EEK!!

“The Game” - a Reylo AU

Universe: AU/Modern day New York

Rating: M (this chapter only has some mild language and sexual themes)

Word Count: 3629

Pairing: Rey and Ben Solo

PART ONE:

The New York winds were especially biting that December morning as Rey made her way through the bustling streets of the city. She wove in and out of passersby as everyone went about their day, each individual having separate lives, separate troubles, and separate dreams.

Rey had quite a few dreams of her own, but they were sometimes hard to make into reality. She had worked her ass off to get to where she was today, though. It was a great and classic story; a ‘nobody’ girl who came from the rural countryside making it big in the city. She’d always been passionate about helping people and doing what she could for the underdog, probably because she had felt like one all her life. Nobody thought she could do it, but she graduated at the top of her class in almost every subject, excelled in sports, and even dabbled in the theatrical arts when she had time. Her determination and hard work didn’t leave room for many friendships, but she didn’t mind putting all of that behind her when she moved to the city to study law.

College was good to her. She finally met some people she would call lifelong friends. She studied hard, and she learned harder. She was still kind of a ‘loner’ at heart, never really being the person to be seen out at parties, bars, or clubs. Every once in awhile she let herself go crazy, but it was rare. So much so that her friends started calling her “The Black Cat” because it was such a shock, and slightly unnerving, whenever she actually showed up to events. She knew the superstitions and implications surrounding a black cat, and she easily could have taken offense at the nickname, but Rey secretly liked it. Let her be known for her sly, hard work and mystery, not how well liked and popular she was or wasn’t.

It was this mentality that ultimately landed her a job as an intern at Skywalker and Associates straight out of college. It was a miracle from the stars that she got accepted into one of the top law firms in the state so soon after graduating. She didn’t really believe in a “higher power”, but something up there in the infinite galaxies must have been on her side. She knew she was good, and had the potential to be the best, but she had never before had the resources due to her upbringing. The opportunity was something she would never be ungrateful for.

It had been almost eight months since she started interning, and already she was making her way up in the company. Her dedication to cases and her keen eye for detail had gained her the attention of some of the more prominent names in the office and she hoped it was enough to be the next Jr. Partner.

Rey pulled off the street to step into a small coffee shop. A little bell chimed as she pushed open the door and the wondrous smells filled her nose as she took a deep breath in. The warmth filled her body and was almost a shock coming from such a drastic difference only seconds before, but she welcomed the comfort.

She stepped in line and perused the menu, even though she already knew what she wanted. It was the same thing she always got - a french press, dark roast with just a little bit of half and half - as she was a woman of pattern and repetition. Getting the same thing day in and day out had never bothered her. It was safe, it was what she knew. Why risk something that would rock the boat? Even though she didn’t normally believe in “luck”, she didn’t want to risk it today. This was her chance to finally start doing real cases and to work on projects that would make a difference.

“Would you like to round up your order and donate to the Children’s Hospital for the holidays?”

The barista’s voice took her out of her own head after she had apparently told them her order without thinking. Rey smiled and nodded her head quickly in response. She felt in a ‘giving mood’ that morning. Send as much “good karma” out into the universe as she could.

“Thank you so much, and have a nice day!”

The words faded into the hustle and bustle of the crowd as Rey stepped away and waited for her drink. She dug her phone out of her pocket and soon got lost in social media, scrolling mindlessly. Friends and distant family passed her screen, seeming to all be living happy and comfortable lives with their loved ones.

Rey had always wished for that kind of security and ‘home’. It was one of the reasons she worked as hard as she did, so she could hopefully someday give that life to herself. The one she never had, but always wanted. Her mother passed away when she was in grade school and her father left before she was even born. Being an only child, her uncle had offered to take her in, but he was a bachelor with a demanding job and very little time for another human being besides himself. He wasn’t the worst person in the world and they got along well enough, he was just never really much of a ‘parental figure’. She learned early on that she would have to find her own place in the world, and her fierce determination was set from that moment on.

She didn’t know why this was the morning of reminiscing, but something about the possibility of change must have had her brain in that mode. Rey brushed off the weirdness as she got up out of her seat after hearing her name being called. She made her way through the crowded cafe and grabbed her coffee.

She turned to leave, thanking the employee behind the counter again over her shoulder, when suddenly, she was almost knocked off her feet by an incoming stranger. She caught herself and her coffee, thankful for the lid stuck solidly to the cup, and turned around with a glare.

A tall man with broad shoulders and dark, shoulder length hair had been the culprit. His tall frame towered over her, but he seemed intent on barely even acknowledging her in his attempt to rush past. She caught his attention though, and he turned to look back at her over his shoulder. Rey, astounded by the audacity of the stranger, continued to glare and silently dared him to apologize for the discrepancy.

The man simply blinked at her for the briefest of moments, a glint in his dark eyes as they gazed back at her with an air of pride and so little remorse that it sent a shiver down her spine. Then, without a word, he continued on his way as if he had never hit her at all.

Rey scoffed angrily and whipped around on her heels as quickly as she could to get out of the coffee shop, now with a sour taste in her mouth. Some people are just assholes, she concluded as she once again walked out the door. A gust of blistering cold air hit her face and she closed her eyes. She tightened her scarf around her neck and pulled it up so that it was covering her nose, trying to shelter as much of her face as she could. God, she hated the cold...

***

It was as busy as always at the office. Rey quickly got lost in her work, and she didn’t realize how much time had passed before she heard her co-worker, Rose, calling her name.

“Do you ever take a break?”

The short cropped, black haired girl crossed her arms over the top of Rey’s desktop computer, forcing her to break from her work. She couldn’t help but smile when looking up into her ever cheerful, grinning face.

“I don’t have time for a break,” Rey said, trying to see past the distraction.

“I admire your dedication,” Rose stood on her tiptoes to lean over and look at Rey’s computer upside down. She was one of Rey’s favorite coworkers. Unlike the other women, she didn’t sit around the office and gossip all day, but had just about as much dedication to her job as Rey did. Well, almost as much.

“Did you hear about Rex and Ava?”

“Oh my God, no! Did they hook up?”

The chatter of the women standing behind them was too much for Rey. The office was notorious for rumors, especially of the romantic kind. Apparently, the people who worked there were infatuated with who was dating who, who had an affair with who, and who slept with who. Personally, Rey wanted nothing to do with it and couldn’t care less about the love lives of her coworkers. Unless it was Rose, but one of the things Rey liked about her was that she was pretty private and kept her personal life separate from her work life.

“I heard they got lunch yesterday and-”

“That’s crazy! I thought she was seeing that Lando guy from Brooklyn-”

“Look,” Rose said, “you eventually have to take a break. You know that, right? It’s bad for your mental health to be so busy all the time. And it’s kind of required by law.”

Rey smiled at her friend. “I know,” she said, placing her palm on Rose’s head and softly pushed it back so that she had to move off of her computer, “and thank you for caring, but I’m alright.”

“You would let me know if you weren’t, right?”

“I heard that the CEO’s son was going to start here in the new year.”

“No way! That arrogant jerk wants nothing to do with his father’s company. And he’s supposedly a real ‘ladies man’.”

“But I heard he’s super attractive and has that ‘rich bad boy’ vibe. Wouldn’t that be so hot?”

“Well, I have to admit, that would be a welcome change around here.”

Rey tried to drown out the distractions of the noises and she managed to plaster another reassuring smile on her face. “Of course I would.”

“It’s a long shot, but we’re all getting drinks at Naboo’s, that new cocktail bar down the street, if you’d like to join us?” Rose asked, motioning to a few of the other women who were all filing behind her and collecting their coats and respective purses. Her dark eyes begged Rey to come along, and she hated to disappoint, but she knew she didn’t want to go.

“I wish I could,” Rey said with a hint of genuine sadness in her voice, “but I just have so much work to do. I was planning on staying a little late tonight anyway.”

“Well, you can’t blame me for trying,” Rose chuckled with a shrug. She turned to leave and gave Rey a little wave over her shoulder.

“Have fun without me,” Rey called after her as she walked away, grabbing her own coat as she passed by the coat rack.

“Would be more fun with you,” Rose teased. There was a small ding and the now collective group of men and women who were leaving for the day clamored into the elevator.

Rey watched as the doors slid shut and just like that, it was silent in the office. She let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding and sighed with relief. It was always nice when she could be here by herself. She found that she got more work done with less distractions. She wouldn’t be there that late anyway and her bosses didn’t mind as long as it helped further the business. Some of them were still working in their own offices, so she wasn’t completely alone.

She grabbed her laptop to take to the conference room and finish some paperwork on a particularly difficult case. Although, she quickly discovered that maybe not taking a single break that day, even to eat, was probably an issue. Her stomach growled and at first she tried to ignore it, but when her hunger headache began, she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for too much longer.

With a long sigh, Rey stood and made her way to the break room. Taking a peek through the floor to ceiling windows, she could see the city all lit up for the evening. There was something special about New York at night, but especially around the holidays. People had candles in their windows and hung colorful lights on balconies and railings and really wherever they could find space. She loved upstate, and not just because of the expensive look of her surroundings and the other rich things it had to offer, but because the city really did look stunning at night. Like a million, twinkling stars, but unlike the unreachable night sky above, if you reached out to touch them, they were almost in your grasp.

***

After making a quick protein filled smoothie, Rey went back to the empty room to finish her work. Only, when she got there, she discovered that she was not alone.

A man lounged in her chair, his back towards her. Without even seeing him standing, she could tell how tall he was just by how far his legs extended out from under him. He was sitting with his feet propped up on another chair close to him, one leg crossed over the other, and he was staring at her open laptop. The light from the screen illuminated his frame and she couldn’t see past his thick shoulders and broad upper torso. Something about him was so familiar to her, but she didn’t care enough to think too deeply on it as her focus was more caught on how he was snooping in on her personal case.

“Excuse me, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” She said sharply, expecting to see him jump in surprise at being caught, but he didn’t move a muscle. Instead, she heard a calm, deep voice come from the opposite side of his large body.

“I’m reading.”

The response was simple, but the tone of it made her feel like she was the stupid one for even having asked the question in the first place.

“That’s my laptop,” she said plainly, taken off guard and not knowing how else to react.

“Is it? That’s interesting,” the man sounded bored and Rey thought for a second that he didn’t even seem to be listening to her at all.

“I’m sorry, but can I have my seat back? I was working on an important case.” Rey took a few defiant steps closer, trying to be as brave as she could. Something about this man unnerved her and she was suddenly very aware that she was alone with a stranger in an almost completely empty and dark room.

“I can see that,” he said, reaching a hand up to his face and rubbing his chin, “you’ve missed something important in your report though.” He still didn’t turn to her, but his other hand appeared beside him and he wiggled two fingers, motioning for her to come over to him. Rey felt her face heat with anger and embarrassment. How dare this strange man try to correct her on her case. Who did he think he was, anyway?!

Against her better judgement, Rey couldn’t suppress her pride and she realized she had to know what he was talking about. She’d looked over this case for almost an entire week now, and she was sure there was no way she could have missed a thing. It was a pretty cut and dry case, anyway. A man cheated on his fiance and she was suing him, hoping to make him pay for all the money her and her family had already spent on the upcoming wedding.

“What are you talking about?” Rey asked bluntly as she stepped over to the man. She leaned over his shoulder and squinted her eyes in the laptop light, trying to find the discrepancy she was sure was nowhere to be found.

“Right here,” the man’s deep voice was directly in her ear and she could feel his hot breath on her neck, instantly sending shivers down her spine, “the report says that your client’s ex-fiance cheated on her with another woman. That’s a lie.”

“No it’s not, the evidence proved that he was seeing another woman while they were together, and one of the witnesses all but admitted to being his mistress. It’s a cut and dry case.”

“Except that he wasn’t seeing another woman. He was seeing three.”

“Excuse me?!” The accusation was so outrageous that Rey had to turn and give the man the most incredulous look, and when their eyes met, she suddenly remembered where she had seen him before. The scene from that morning in the coffee shop played in her mind like a rerun of a bad TV show. Her breath hitched in her throat as he stared back at her with a wry smile on his lips.

“The sample of hair they found on his suit coat the night of the supposed affair is blonde. The color of your witnesses hair is a muted brunette,” he began to explain his reasonings, never breaking eye contact with Rey while she stared dumbfoundedly back at him.

“That’s only two women. You said there were three.” She stood up straight and looked down on the dark haired man who leaned back further into his seat to keep her gaze. She knew her response was weak, suddenly doubting everything she thought she knew about this case and hating herself for missing something so obvious as that. But she was still determined not to let this stranger get the better of her.

The man’s smile faded and he moved from his seat, slowly getting up. It seemed to take him an impossibly long time to rise, but when he stretched to his full height, he towered at least a good foot above her. He looked down at her with little interest in his eyes, as if he had just gotten bored of their conversation and was bothered by her presence.

Suddenly, he was leaning in towards her and Rey’s hand instinctively grabbed the pepper spray she carried in her jacket, but the man reached past her and pulled over a plastic baggy full of evidence. Rey’s breathing was heavy with a mixture of fury and fear as he grabbed the bag and pulled it towards him.

“The perfume found in his car is an original vintage bottle of Versace made in 1983. There are only a few of these rare finds left and their price runs around one thousand dollars a pop. Judging from the size of the pocket books on both of the ladies he was seeing, neither of them could afford such a luxury. Which of course suggests that he had another, more prominent and wealthy woman on his hands.”

Rey swallowed hard and tried to keep her expression as blank as she could, but he was making too much and too little sense at the same time, and her head was spinning with confusion. Who did this arrogant bastard think he was to come in here and completely destroy her work like this?

“Not to mention, I happen to know the lovely lady who owns this particular bottle,” his fingers traced the side of the bag and he looked at it with such a perverse smile that it made Rey’s stomach turn, “She can be very… persuasive when she wants something. Her father, who owns a tenth of the real estate in upper Manhattan, will do everything he can to fight the scandal. Which means new, expensive lawyers on the defendants side and probably a lot of shaddy underground work to get him out scotch free. I have a feeling your client isn’t going to get the money, if anything, as easily as she thought.”

The silence that followed was excruciating. Rey was shocked by the revelation and the ridiculous outcome of this case she had been working her life away on. There was no way that they could have hidden this from her, was there? Her mind raced with all the possibilities that this could mean and she scrambled to find a way, any way, to turn this back in her client's favor. Could she beg for a settlement and at least get some money to the poor, mistreated woman? Or maybe she could convince the judge that this was a gross misuse of trust and blame emotional manipulation? There had to be something, anything...

“Or,” the low drawl of the man’s voice as he drew out the word snapped Rey out of her spiral. His black eyes glittered once again with something she couldn’t place and the corner of his mouth twitched up in a cocky smile as he wiggled the evidence in his hand, “this could just be a regular old department store perfume bottle and I was simply fucking with you.”

Another silence filled the room and Rey found she couldn’t breathe again. What… the… hell had he just said?

“I-I’m sorry, what?” She hissed her question and the smile on the man’s face grew wider.

“That was fun, sweetheart,” his condescending words made Rey’s blood boil, “let’s do this again sometime. When I need comic relief in this shithole of a job, I’ll look for you.” He stretched his arms behind his neck and sauntered around her, making his way out of the room. He stopped in the doorway and turned over his shoulder to give her a taunting wink.

“See you around.”

*to be continued*

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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11/18/2020 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 37:1-38:23, James 1:19-2:17, Psalms 117:1-2, Proverbs 28:1

Today is the 18th day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you today as we continue the journey, move through hump day here. We started the book of James yesterday or the letter of James in the New Testament. We’ll be can continuing that today, but we began the book of Ezekiel, one of the major prophets in the Scriptures quite a while ago and we’re continuing that journey for about another week I guess until we finish Ezekiel. But we’ll be moving through Ezekiel 37 today, one of my favorite favorite, favorite passages of Scripture, the valley of the dry bones. So, let’s dive in. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Ezekiel 37 and 38.

Commentary:

Okay. First off, in the book of Ezekiel today we read Ezekiel chapter 37 and I said that’s one of my favorite passages of Scripture. The valley of dry bones, that image all the way back from the first time ever read it, but every year that I've read it that imagery just sticks with me. You see that the people are in exile, you see that the people feel like they’re...they’re ruined and that they’re…they’re…like what's gonna happen to them is really, really uncertain. And, so, Ezekiel has his vision…vision of the valley of dry bones. And, so, this is like an ancient battlefield and the dead were never burried, and they just sat in the open field until they became dry bones. So, a very long time they have been sitting there and there's this valley of dry bones. And God asks, “can they live?” And it’s like such an interesting question because we can see the valley of dry bones is a vision, so it's used in metaphorical sense even prophetically here. And, so, we can think about the dry bones in our own lives and then that question comes right? “Can these bones live?” And it's more…it's more confrontational than it seems when you think about the places that you think are dead inside of you. A question, “could these things live again” like…is like in your face because…well…and some of these things we’re like, “whether they could or not, they’re too painful. Like what I went through is too painful. Like I don’t even want to think about this stuff anymore.” Of course, Ezekiel doesn't know whether the dry bones can live again. So, he says the right thing to God, “only you could possibly know the answer to that question.” And answering that question God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the dead bones, to call the four winds, the breath of life from the four winds. And he did and those dry bones came back together again, and they received muscle and skin and sinew, and they came back to life again. So, out of a battlefield full of defeated warriors, life came. That has always stuck with me and after a couple years of reading it it just really felt like the Lord was speaking into my spirit, “build a wind farm.” And not like a literal like wind farm with windmills creating energy to power my house, a spiritual windfarm, one that is continually calling to the four winds, the breath of life in every way possible. And, so, that's why prayer in our community is so vital to our community. Yes, it keeps us in touch with each other. Yes, we cry together. Yes, we rejoice together. Yes, indeed we get to know each other as we stay focused and moving together through the Scriptures. Yes to all of that, but we are also calling the breath of life into what looks like it's dead on a continual basis and it matters. It's even why when we…when we began to roast our own coffee and import tea. It's why the brand is called Windfarm because in every way that we can we want to be doing that, calling the four winds, the breath of life into that which is dead all around us.

And now let’s turn to the book of James and let me quote here, and I don't think this needs a lot of interpretation really. Let me just quote from the letter. “Don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away and forget what you look like.” Is that the truth or not? I mean maybe we don't look in a physical mirror like we’re fixing our hair for work and then we go to work and we don't remember what we look like, but spiritually we behave this way all of the time. We can at one moment know fully who we are in Christ and that we are actually a child of the most-high God and then we can walk out the door and live like sons and daughters of the evil one or live completely confused and disoriented. We forgot our identity. We forgot what we look like. And, so let’s take that heart today as well, and just let it kind of ruminate, let it stew, let it just percolate through our…through our day. Let's watch ourselves. Have we forgot who we are? Have we forgotten what we look like? Is that what our behaviors erratically are showing, or do we know exactly who we are in Christ?

Prayer:

Father, it’s kind of like James says, intellectually we know what the Scriptures say about who we are, we have heard the good news, but You're saying You can’t just listen to it, You have to live into it, You have to become it otherwise it’s just…You’re just fooling Yourself. So, we don’t want any part of that. We’re here to learn, we’re here to grow, we’re here with the goal that we would be transformed into Your likeness because this is what the Scriptures tell us is happening, that this is what's going on. And, so, when we claim our faith and then go out into the day and act like anything but a person who's in love with You, then we are just fooling ourselves. And then we would have the audacity to be angry at You for not jumping into every beck and call, like it ever time we ring the little bell You’re just supposed to show up when we don't even know who we are. And, so, once again we reorient ourselves to You. Our identity can only be found in You. You bestow an identity upon us, and You have done that. You have grafted us into Your family and made us joint heirs with Jesus to Your kingdom. That is who we are. May we live like it today. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here. Say it most every day, this is where to find out what was going on around here.

We have the Global Campfire Initiative going on around here right now although this is the final day. And I won’t be mentioning it anymore. It will be concluded, and I just want to thank everybody. Honestly, it’s so humbling. I just want to thank everyone who has participated in this. So, happy. So happy to send you the heart album, the LP. I just love it. And, so, I'm so happy to be able to send that to you and I…I trust that you will hold onto it and treasure it and that it will be a memento of this year that we spent together in God's word. The one thing that sort of stabilized the year, at least for me, in spite of all of the just challenges, some of the very, very…we have had some significant societal challenges in the last 12 months that have taught us a lot and the Scriptures being the constant through that…just…I thank you for your partnership as we continue to move forward and be in a position where we will be here no matter what happens in the world. And that is the goal. We will keep spinning the windfarm, right? We’ll keep calling to the four winds, the breath of life. We will keep speaking the word of God out over the earth as long as God will allow us to, as long as we stay in this together. And, so, thank you profoundly for everybody who has participated in this. Today, like I said, today is the last day. If you want to get involved and participate in this than here's what you do, you can use the web, or you can use the Daily Audio Bible app. If you want to use the web go to dailyaudiobible.com. When you get to the website you will see up at the top, the navigation and you'll see Initiatives. Press that button and you'll find the Global Campfire initiative in there. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you'll notice that there's a little Drawer icon. It's in the upper left-hand corner. When you press that the drawer opens. When the drawer opens, you'll find initiatives. Press that and you’ll find the Global Campfire initiative. And again, I thank you with all my heart.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button that's in the app. It’s the red button that looks kind of like a hotline button, lives kind of up at the top in the app screen. No matter where you are in the app you can find it. So, you can press that, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning everyone it’s Susan from Canada God’s Yellow Flower calling and it’s the wee hours of the morning and it’s very quiet here and I am just loving the depth of the stillness of the time I have with God. And I just want to thank Him in the spirit of Thanksgiving for this month and always of course. I want to thank him and give him glory for in the midst of heavy trials we still have blessings and if we focus on God, we see the blessings. I hear the cold wind raging outside and here I sit in a warm cozy place. I look at our cupboards and they’ve got an abundance of food in there. I look at the relationship that my son Keith and I have developed through this illness that we are…that we are going through together and I just…I just praise him for the closeness and the love that we share and the bonds we have for each other. It’s only because of the Lord that we can do this. And I just give Him all the praise and glory for this time I have with my son before he…before he passes. So, there’s lots to be thankful for in the midst of crisis and just look for your blessings and be thankful. Love you all. Bye now.

Good afternoon DABbers this is Running Desperately to Jesus also known as Staying Desperately Connected to Jesus. I don’t even know where to begin with thanking everybody for their prayers. I was just so overwhelmed. I have fought with depression for a while; however never have hit the part where I went into a dark space and wasn’t able to pull myself out. But just like Moses’ arms were held up and the war was one and when his hands were let down the war was being lost, my Daily Audio Bible family lifted me up and the battle was one. So, although there still continues to be struggles, of course, in just daily living I know where to turn, first to God and then of course to my Daily Audio Bible family, which is so awesome. I wish I had the opportunity to meet every one of you. However, we all know that we’re striving for that mark to be with Him and will all get to meet each other one day. Again, I thank all of you. I…it took me a while to make this call because I wanted to be able to speak and not cry and I think I’ve accomplished it. Running Desperately to Jesus. Also Staying Desperately Connected to Jesus. I love my family.

[singing starts] Thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Lord for loving me. Thank you, Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Lord for loving me [singing stops]. Father God thank You that You meet us where we are. Lord we invite You into where we are right now whether we are celebrating or we’re happy, joyful or we’re sad or worried and anxious and we’re afraid or we’re sitting in darkness. Father God thank You that You meet us where we are and thank You Lord that You meet us in our darkness. Shine Your light into our lives Lord. Shine so bright that…that everything else pales into comparison to You, that the shadows flee. Father God, we might feel that we don’t have strength to face tomorrow. We might feel that we don’t know what to do or that we can’t do what’s in front of us. Thank You, Lord that You give us what we need. Thank You for meeting us where we are and thank You for carrying us through. In Jesus’ holy and precious name. Amen. Hi guys is Michaela from Gloucester hope You have a blessed day where You are.

Good morning DAB family this is Eyes of a Dove in Snoqualmie Washington. I had a wonderful weekend but it’s like to me confessing something and then asking for your guy’s prayer and support. All of us on here are…none of us are perfect. And I know that we can all come across perfect or not. I think that’s what brings us all together. You know, we seek to be like Jesus. And I’ve come from a really broken past, broken marriage and at a time when me and my three kids we had nobody and I got into construction to take care of them but with that came pride and being the breadwinner and not wanting another…a man in my life, which led to actually finding a guy and after 2 ½ years of being together last night he asked me to marry him and I said yes. And it’s kind of a secret because shamefully we’re all together, our kids, and we know that’s not under the Lords…what He would want for us. And he wants us to be united under Him in marriage. And, so, I come to you and confess that I’ve been hiding out from you guys.Felt ashamed. And I would like you guys to lift me and Izzy and Braden and the kids all up in prayer. We all desire to be one family. All the kids have been bugging us for months and praying for us that we would and now we are. And now we have to figure out a way to have a wedding and we don’t want a big affair, but we do want our moms and dads there and with Covid restrictions in Washington state it’s made it much more difficult. So, if you all would just be praying the Lord would bless our union and continue to heal us and help us have a great marriage…

Unless the Lord had been my help my soul would soon have slipped into the silence. If I say my foot is slipping your mercy Lord will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties your comforts are my delight. I’m saying this particular verse from Psalm 94 verse 17 to 19 for my teacher sister all the way in California who called in, Dorothea, who shared her own anxieties with the overwhelming workload as being a teacher. I am in the same boat here in the UK by the way is Dr. Cano calling from the UK and honestly, I could relate to what you are sharing. The demands upon us are so many but we thank God that the burden that we get from Jesus is light because he carries every single weight, every single anxiety and we can find comfort in Him. And my prayer for you sis and my prayer for myself and every other person who’s working during this time is that the Lord will give us different strategies, wisdom to manage the workload. He will give us ways to communicate to those who are our seniors for them to support us in this work that we are doing, and the Lord will indeed crown our efforts with success in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray for all the first responders __ staff here in the UK, nurses, doctors, police officers, every single person who is working tirelessly during this time, may the Lord strengthen you, may he empower you, may He give you courage and wisdom. And even for those who are the recipients of our care, our students, our patients, Lord bestow your blessing upon each one in the mighty name of Jesus. God bless you my Daily Audio Bible family. I love you so much and thank you so much Brian for this wonderful ministry. I’ve been loving it for over three years.

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meeks-writing · 5 years

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Throwing lemons / Sometimes Love Is Not Enough

Chapter 5

His ears were tingling. Eijirou didn’t really remember what happened. His head was dizzy and his belly hurt. Like a burn. But how? His quirk should have protected him from that? had he been too slow?

He blinked. It was kind of dark in here the lights almost outside of his vision.

“Fuck…” he mumbled and tried to get up. He saw Bakugou staring at him like he would leap at him any moment. But Eijirou still smiled at him soothingly, memories returning to him slowly.

He had hugged the blond on a whim, not really thinking about if that was a good idea. Ge gad sounded so distressed and lonely. But it seemed to have the opposite effect Eijirou had in mind. Bakugou seemed to be content with hugs. So he had defended his personal space.

“I am sorry.” Eijirou said while sitting up. He didn’t remember going down. And sitting up made him flinch in pain. So he looked down at himself seeing his shirt charred and still smoldering. Underneath the skin was red and burned. No blisters were showing so it seemed to be a low degree burn. Nothing serious.

Katsuki snapped out of his reverie eying the redhead on the ground. He came back to his senses and reached out his hand. “You better should get up.” They both had been lucky for Kirishima’s quirk. Katsuki could have killed him. But he got off with some scratches and minor burns. It would probably heal without leaving a scar, Eijirou figured.

But still…

The redhead took the offered hand and pulled himself up. He seemed to be a bit wobbly on his legs. “You okay?” Katsuki asked reluctantly. He hated to do this. He should leave and get a shower. Now that Kirishima stood again he pulled his hand back fast, wiping it off on the fabric of his pants. He hated the feeling of skin on skin.

“Yeah. Just a bit startled. Man…” he rubbed his neck, seeming to feel guilty. “I am really sorry. I… shouldn’t have…”

“Shut up!” Katsuki snapped rubbing his eyebrows. I don’t have time for this and you should be at home by now too. So just forget it!”

Eijirou eyed him suspiciously. “You know. You really should get some rest. Admit it or not. So leave the cleaning to me and head home first today.”

Katsuki snorted. “Yeah of course. I leave you here alone with the daily takings. Will totally still be there in the morning.”

Eijirou sighed. “Come on. You have to at least trust your employees. You know where I live, my name, my insurance number and all. If something would be gone you could just go to the police and sue me.” He sighed heavily at the thought.

“Tsk. A lawsuit doesn’t mean that I would get anything back.”

“But it would end my career for sure. And that before it even began!”

Katsuki raised a questioning eyebrow, not being able to connect the pieces to a satisfying answer. Maybe he really was tired …

“I am currently on my road to join the police once.” explained Kirishima thankfully without having to be asked first. “So there would be too much at stake for me. However how tempting it might be.”

Silence stretched between them for a moment. “You’re really do-gooder, huh? Helper complex too. This world will destroy you.” Katsuki paused. “But fine. then get cash and start counting. But if one cent is missing I will get your sorry ass to court and roast you!”

“Yes, sir!” Eijirou said, “Only counting, it is!”

“I give you a safety bag. Leave 30.000 ¥ for change the rest goes into the beg. Make your to do that right. Otherwise, my taxes will rise unnecessarily.”

Katsuki walked over to the cash register, followed by the redhead. He let it snap open pulling out the drawer and handed it to Kirishima while letting the register print the stats of today. Seeing the numbers made Katsuki ease a bit down. It had been a rather successful day. Maybe they weren’t so wrong in suggesting a day off. At least it should be possible. He swallowed down a weary sigh. He felt worn out and raw. His muscles were sore but the hot bath was still far away. At times like these, it was better for him to be alone. The solitude gave him strength. It was like charging up. It had to wait. To drive out the redhead would cost him more energy than just pulling through.

So he went back and then upstairs to his little office. Putting away the receipt into the folder where all the other receipts of the days before already waited to greet their new companion. In here it was silent. He couldn’t hear the silent counting of Kirishima so for a minute he just closed his eyes and took a deep rigid breath. He hated it when others were right. He wanted to prove everyone around him wrong. They all imagined knowing what he needed or wanted. It was disgusting how all these people were looking down on him. But managing a restaurant was not able without employees and he had to prove that even that was within his powers. He could manage everything! But sometimes a little voice in his head asked if it were true then why was he so desperate to prove it to everyone? Wasn’t it a sign that he didn’t believe it himself.

But that little voice was a damn fucker. And he wouldn't listen to it. No one was allowed to talk down to him. Not even his own motherfucking brain throwing a teenage tantrum. Shit god, he was over twenty! He was too old for such shit.

After taking his little break he grabbed one of the safety bags, He would need to buy new ones soon, and eventually headed down again. To his kitchen where the first aid kit was stored away. Fishing out a burn ointment and going back to the redhead. He sat at one of the tables counting coins. His face was torn in concentration, worrying his bottom lip. A little trickle of blood ran down his chin. He didn’t seem to notice. Most likely this was a common thing to happen with such sharpass teeth. Katsuki was sure eating wasn’t an easy thing for Kirishima. At least anything beneath meat, which he could tear apart with these crazy sharp canine. He would keep that in mind.

“Stand up. And for goodness sake take off this shitty rags, shitty hair.”

Kirishima looked up startled. Then cursing, seeming to have forgotten where he stopped counting. So fucking stupid! But that fucker still managed a smile. He really was an easygoing person. But somehow it didn’t bother Katsuki as much as before. Stupid sleep deprivation!

“I happen to undress in front of you a lot, it seems” the redhead teased. “Hope you’re not doing this on purpose. If you want to marvel my abs, just ask!”

It was true that the body of the other man was trained and there were certainly a lot of people who would enjoy such a few. But Bakugou didn’t belong to these. So he growled deeply in his throat while Kirishima got rid of the remains of his shirt, as he was told. “Don’t worry. Your shitty abs are the least on my mind.” It kind of unnerved him that the guy had the guts to joke around while he should be tired and in pain. Strange. Even stranger that Katsuki somehow didn’t mind. But he hadn’t had to admit that or be assumed.

He took a closer look at the burn. For a first grade burn, it was rather severe. So he coated his fingers with the ointment and started applying it. “You should go to the hospital tomorrow. Shop will stay closed tomorrow anyway.” He made the decision at the moment the words left his mouth. It was the right thing to do. Even though someone else had suggested it.

The redhead just nodded. He at least had the audacity not to brag about Katsuki’s defeat in that matter. Better for him. He would have killed him for sure, elsewise.

Both of them were silent during the treatment. Only as Katsuki retreated his hand Kirishima dared to speak. “You don’t like being hugged, huh?” His voice was distant and clouded in thought. But no pity was audible from it.

“No one is allowed to touch me in any way, without my personal permission.” the blond growled deep in his throats feeling kind of menaced.

But it wouldn’t be Kirishima Eijirou if he would stop his noisy questions here. “So… where is that coming from? I mean, I do understand and will respect it in the future, promise, man! But it’s easier if I knew what the actual problem is, usually this kind of things have a certain cause.”

“Don’t treat me like a fucking freak!” Katsuki snapped getting aggravated again.

“You aren’t.” Kirishima deadpanned. And took all of the winds out of Katsuki’s sails. “It just means that you don’t work the way society is wanting you. But you never applied to those rules anyway, don’t you?”

“I don’t fucking care about stupid shit like society or it’s rules!”

“I figured as much.” Eijirou laughed. But he still wondered. A hug caused such a strong reaction and he would draw back when other people tried to touch him but then from time to time Bakugou touched him so casually. It seemed to be an issue who was the initiator. And if there - and he was sure there was - a story behind it, it would probably be a rather severe one. Hopefully, Bakugou would trust him enough to tell in the future. But that day seemed rather far right now.

The rest of the night they didn’t talk about much of importance. Eijirou had just talked about some casual stuff and Bakugou had pretended not to be interested.

But still Eijirou was surprised but how much and how tiring work there was after closing the restaurant. Counting the money wasn’t everything. Every purchase needed to be written down and the amount of cash that remained in the register to be noted as well. It seemed to be important for taxes or something like that. Eijirou didn’t really understand the answer Bakugou had given him after asking. He was just happy that even after the little fight they had that Bakugou seemed to have opened up at least a bit, tonight. It gave him this cozy feeling that he always had when he was starting to make a new friend.

It was 2 am and eijirou felt so exhausted. His lids were heavy and he wished to just get to sleep right here right now. Or that his bed would just suck him in so he hadn’t had to move at all. But all wishing was futile. “See you the day after tomorrow, then. And remember to relax a bit, yeah?”

“Shut the fuck up and go home already shitty hair!” Bakugou snapped while locking the backdoor.

“I do, I do!” Eijirou smiled and waved goodbye. Despite everything that happened it had been a good day… Somehow. He felt closer to Bakugou now. And that was such a great feeling. He loved to get to know people better, understanding them. And Bakugou was somehow an even more special case.

At home he just fell in his bed, falling asleep immediately.

Today he was going to learn for sure! After he had gone on a walk with Toto, showered and eaten breakfast he made himself a pile of snacks and sitting down at his kotatsu, his books in front of him, music playing softly in the background, his hair tied back in a sloppy ponytail, a Bandana keeping his bangs out of his eyes.

Opening his textbooks and notes he tried to remember what the professor had lectured about. But his notes were sloppy and chaotic while being accompanied by some doodle he had made to channel his concentration. He remembered drawing them way better than the stuff he actually should learn. Damn!

He sighed. Probably he should at least arrange his notes first and copy them neatly. It would take quite some time but it would may help him remember. So he stood up to get a stack of paper.

Rearranging his notes was tiresome and took so much time! He wouldn’t be able to do much more than just this today. It was so frustrating. He checked the time regularly. Maybe he actually needed a tutor. How did the other students manage that? Did they have more hours to the day? He sighed again. Something he did more often in these last month. He laid his head down on the desk for a moment. The make-up exam wouldn’t go any different than the finals at this stake.

He got up, looking at his crimson riot poster in monochrome and red, just above his television. He had to ma up! A little break and then just back to work! So he raised from under the kotatsu and fetched himself a drink. Iced coffee would give him some energy.

He was about to sit down again when the doorbell rang. He hadn’t expected any guests. Bt well maybe it was one of his neighbors needing some help. So he hurried to his door opening it a little to see Himiko in front of it grinning happily at him. Dabi accompanied her as usual. Sometimes Eijirou wondered if he was her boyfriend. Till now he hadn’t bothered asking. It wasn’t something that could be asked so easily and actually, it wasn’t really any of his business.

“Ei-kun!” Himiko sang with that bright smile of hers growing even bigger, clinging to him in a warm hug. All girly noises. Dabi only raised his hands in a short greeting gesture. He was always rather composed, almost appearing bored, his turquoise eyes scanning his surroundings lazily.

“Come on in you two.” Eijirou waved them to come out of the hallway. Yes, he was busy and he knew it wouldn’t get any better with a distraction, but when his friends bother to actually visit him he couldn’t bring himself to send them away.

“Good to see you again! You were so busy these last days. I thought you didn’t want to see us anymore!” Himiko chirped while releasing him, took off her shoes and danced into his living room. She was always this cheerful. A trait the redhead really liked about her. “No of course not! I love to have you over!”

Dabi followed her with his shoulders relaxed and his hands in the pockets. Eijirou followed them. “I am sorry! I don’t have much to offer. But can I bring you something to drink?”

Himiko had already snuggled herself under the kotatsu, stuffing some chips in her mouth and sorting through Eijirou’s notes. “Do you have some sparkling soda?” She smiled sweetly while holding one of the papers against the light like it would give away some secret. Like a kid. She was really a cute girl.

“And you Dabi-kun?”

“Tea. If you can make it decent?”

“Of course! Just wait a sec!”

He hurried into his little open kitchen, boiling some water while eyeing his guests. Dabi had settled down on the couch, flipping through a magazine Eijirou had been given the other day. He hadn’t had the time to look into it yet, but he didn’t mind these two getting themselves at home. He really liked to have friends over.

“How do you keep up with boring stuff like this?” Himiko asked throwing back the paper on the pile as if it was disgusting.

Eijirou laughed. “It’s all for the greater cause.” Dabi snorted but didn’t say anything in that matter.

“I think you should stop that bullshit and go for art!” Himiko laughed her sweet girly laugh. “I don’t know why you would want to chain yourself to a stupid society. I mean it’s not like the police does actually any good.”

A sigh escaped the redhead's lips at that statement. They had talked about that matter so often till now. “You know that it is my dream.” he laughed again, slightly embarrassed. “And if someone isn’t starting things will never change. I just have to work hard for it.”

“My poor, Ei-kun. Still believes that he’ll change the world with his kind heart. I really want you to make that happen.” She sighed in a way that made clear that she knew it was impossible. It reminded him of what had Bakugou said to him.

Eijirou served his friends their drinks than sitting down at his kotatsu too, trying to sort his papers. But it was hopeless since Himiko were still looking through them not paying attention if she made a mess of things.

“Ah, here it is! The Eijirou art piece I was looking for.” She giggled. “And as always Ei-kun draws concentrated young students at work. It’s so sarcastic. I bet you looked exactly the same while drawing it.” More giddy giggles.

Eijirou couldn’t stop himself blushing. Because she was probably right.

“I wonder why you only ever draw guys. Are you too good of a guy to sketch a girl stealthily or are these the naughty kind of paintings you hide in your bedroom for lonely hours?”

The redheads face now matched colors with his hair at that statement, not being able to think straight. “N-No! I don’t do drawings like that! I always sketch what catches my eyes! And… and in my class, there aren’t many girls… that’s all!”

Himiko laughed again highly amused. Teasing Eijirou seemed rather satisfying to her. Dabi still sat silently on the couch. Now checking his phone. It was a very modern looking phone that Eijirou envied. His own was already six years old. He didn’t know what kind of job Dabi had, but it sure paid well.

“I guess in a boring class like that are only plain girls that never look out for them, anyway. I couldn’t imagine going out of the house without at least a basic make-up.”

She sighed deeply, kind of upset about something. That alarmed Eijirou.

“It’s so sad some girls have to suffer under their old-fashioned cruel parents. Can you imagine what a girl feels like without make-up? Exposed to the world and prohibited from showing their true potentials, not being able to be their true selves?”

She really was worked up about this topic, while Dabi only snorted as an answer, not even looking up. “Bullshit.”

“Dabi-kun!” the blond girl whined stressing the name of her friend, dramatically still managed to look cute while doing so. “You are so mean! That’s why you don’t have a girlfriend!” Hah! So they weren’t a thing Eijirou figured. He had known sooner or later he would find out the truth without having to pry. “You don’t understand a woman’s heart at all!”

Eijirou figured the raven's opinion could have something to do with his own appearance. The scares mixed with the piercings. Of course, he wouldn’t be anyone to look for outer beauty.

Himiko now turned to Eijirou showing her other friend the cold shoulder. “But you do! Right Ei-kun? You understand what cruel punishment it is for a girl to be forced to sacrifice her beauty and youth.”

“O-of course.” Eijirou stuttered. Actually, he couldn’t imagine that this was that big of a problem, but she was so distressed it just had to be true. And he didn’t want her to cry or this situation to escalate further. And it seemed that Dabi was in less need of help than little Himiko.

“Wonderful! Then you will help me, don’t you, sweety? It’s what makes you such a great person, you help everyone! You are just too precious for this world!”

Eijirou felt his stomach clench. Somehow felt like he walked into something he had lost control over. But Himiko was right. He always helped if he could. He wanted to see people happy and of course, he would help her out this time again.

“But how can I help? It’s not like I can talk to every stubborn mom in the city.”

Himiko laughed all of her sadness gone, Eijirou relaxed. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to do much. Just let the poor souls sent their packages here and deliver them. I sued to do that, but I was found out so I have to stop. So you would make sooo many girls very happy! Especially me!” she chirped reached across the kotatsu and took Eijirou’s hand. The redhead grinned. That sounded rather easy to do and not very time-consuming. And she was cheerful again. That was all that mattered. Dabi still gave them the silent treatment but didn’t seem too upset, so that would be okay, Eijirou figured. These two often fought but always made up. They were really close.

“Then I am very happy to help!” Eijirou said and the happy squeal he received from Himiko was worth it. He lived for that, even would sacrifice meals. His friends’ happiness. He had always been like this. Always holding back for the sake of others. And he had never regretted it once.

“Oh while we’re at girls and their beauty, I found some earrings I really like. You have to take a look and give me your opinion!”

With the two of them, it had always been like this. She had been the first friend he made in Musutafu. And it seemed that she hadn’t made any female friends to cheer over girly stuff so somehow Kirishima had filled into this hole. Only problem? He almost every time found himself buying her that stuff. So this time, too, was not an exception. But she for sure would look gorgeous with these earrings and the fitting necklace. What were 8.000 Yen a price in terms of happiness?

#Kiribaku #bakushima #fanfic #throwinglemons #bnha

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animeniac · 7 years

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Title: Cup of Joy Fandom: BNHA Pairing: Katsucha; Kacchako; Bakuraka Genre: Fluff Word count: 2k or something Summary: Uraraka works at a coffee shop, and Bakugou can’t stand to watch her fail so hard. A/N: @kacchanwrites , a fellow writer, has been working on a lot of rarepair stuff this week. I'm inspired, and so, I'm gonna throw this kacchako trash into the world wide web for you readers. This was definitely a spur of the moment thing.Time will only tell why I picked this prompt when I know next to nothing about coffee.

That day when Kirishima invited Bakugou to a coffee shop to study, he would have said no. As reckless and wild as people said he was, the straight-A student hardly enjoyed stepping out his daily routine of high school, gym, and food. His classmate and friend knew he could not resist a quality cup of coffee, but he also knew that he often opted for the solitude that store-bought coffee grounds allotted to him. Bakugou hardly enjoyed going to fast food restaurants let alone a coffee shop.

Plus Ultra Cafe happened to be the closest place to their school. That morning, the blond recalled tossing the bag of his favorite Dark Roast blend into the trash can. Even before then, he had to suffer through a watered down version of his favorite drink because his stupid coffee maker couldn't keep up. For whatever reason, Kirishima was trying to sell this place like the funds fed his family.

Bakugou decided to go if for any reason but the fact that he had been caffeine-deprived that entire day. His throbbing headache plagued him.

"So, Sero is gonna meet us a little later," Kirishima explained as he hustled in the direction of the cafe's entrance. He noticed how Bakugou lead the way. Perhaps, he was a bit more eager than he let on.

The smooth, earthy scent certainly lured him. When he pulled the door open, a bell chimed and the tune of new age easy listening music assaulted him as soon as he stepped onto the rug-topped wood floors. He had never been to an establishment of its kind, but he already hated the pretentious atmosphere of Apple laptops and over-the-top pop art on the walls. Earthy colors like bark and rose coordinated the couches and walls in a way that made Bakugou's eyebrow twitch.

He would have turned around and gone to the nearest convenience store instead, but the particularly round face of the sole barista caught his eye. She jumped and turned around like she feared his intimidating glower. How amusing. As he shuffled his feet and gravitated towards the counter, a malicious grin grew on his face. She certainly differed from most of the people in the shop.

While he could not name the contrasting traits, she piqued his interest enough for him to stick around and find out. Kirishima went off to claim their table and Bakugou stalked his prey. Slamming a hand onto the counter, he ordered, "Okay, round face, I want a venti dark roast blend - black." Odd. She failed to jump when he hit the wood surface. Most people would have.

She nodded before glancing over her shoulder to read the chalkboard menu on the wall behind her. "Um," she stammered. "So how many creams and sugars do you want?"

"I said black!"

"Sorry, I'm new," she apologized with a giant smile as she turned back to him. "Is that all?"

Bakugou grumbled and barked, "Even an idiot knows what black coffee means."

Pulling her long, brunette bangs back, she sheepishly smiled as she scratched her temple, "Yeah, I guess I'm not much of a coffee drinker. I do like tea. I'm learning, though!"

Such cutting honesty. She had the audacity and strength to admit to her faults and ignorance. Since Bakugou avoided other flavorings, he too had remained ignorant of much of the coffee world. But he would never admit that.

"Okay!" she declared as she raised a black sharpie in the air. "One large dark black coffee coming right up! You're Bakugou, right?"

How did she know his name? He took a double take of her name tag.

"Oh, hey, Uraraka. When did you start working here?" asked Kirishima as he folded his arms behind his head.

Uraraka squinted her eyes to concentrate on spelling her customer's name. "Today, actually. Did you want anything, Kirishima?" she greeted with an equally pleasant smile from before.

Bakugou muttered, "Uraraka." The winds of her name skated through his teeth. Her coffee brown hair and her almond colored eyes and round, pink cheeks all chimed a series of bells in Bakugou's mind. They went to the same school and had the same classes.

He mused over that as he stomped back to his seat and waited for her to finish his drink. From his chair, he had a clear view of her across the room. And he kept it clear by shifting in his seat as people crowded his line of vision. Analyzing her behavior, he twirled the coffee straw he picked up from the counter.

Sero had apparently joined Kirishima along with Kaminari. For whatever reason, they didn't order but of course, that didn't matter to Bakugou. A few times they tried to break his concentration, but to no avail, he stayed fixated on the pathetic barista.

Several people entered the shop and bombarded her with their arbitrary orders and specific requests because the guy that usually works there does such a good job. He watched as she spilled scorching hot water on the floor and nearly dodged to avoid a severe burn. All the while she kept that offensively white smile on her face with a focused glint of determination in her eyes.

Someone shouted at her for the blunder. Bakugou bent the straw in half and slammed it on the table before marching back over the counter. He cut past several people in line. "What's going on? Where's my drink?" he demanded to know the obvious - she got caught up with other customers. He didn't like that. If anyone would snatch her attention with their scathing demands, he wanted it to be him.

Bakugou smirked at the tiny furrow in her brow as she glared up at him. Chills washed down his back as he continued to leer down into those deep, earthy eyes of hers. Not only was he amused by her confidence, he was impressed.

"You interrupted my order," complained a young, irrelevant man from behind.

Jumping up and sliding over an empty space on the counter, he grabbed a cup and labeled it "hipster jackass number 1." With dry, crimson eyes he made eye contact and asked, "I'll take your order since this barista doesn't know a cup of coffee from a cup of shit." After he noticed the wavering fervor in the trembling man's disposition, he noticed a cheat sheet plastered that dictated the combination of all the drinks they showed. "Tall Macchiato, you said? Sit your ass down, and it'll be ready in a second."

Watching her struggle like she had annoyed him to no end.

Sweat cascaded down Uraraka's forehead as she trembled. "Y-You're gonna help me? I don't know if you can do that," she weakly protested.

What happened to all that insolent spunk she had moments prior? Regardless, he would not have listened to her. "Shut up and get the foam shit ready!" Bakugou ordered. "You, lady with the stupid wig, what do you want?" He pointed to a middle age woman with a bright red wig.

"Okay," reluctantly agreed Uraraka as she slouched her shoulders and sighed.

Somehow, they made it through the crowd of customers that had gathered and even more impatient coffee addicts that entered, and everyone had either left or taken their spot in a corner of the quiet cafe. By the end of the line, the sun had set and nearly an hour had passed.

Uraraka bowed and smiled, "Thanks a lot, Bakugou. I really needed help. Hopefully, they hire another person soon. I guess it's kind of hard for just two people to trade shifts all the time, but I gotta do this no matter what." For her family. The coffee pot caught her attention, and she maneuvered to prepare another cup. Fortunately, it was hot enough. When she tilted the pot, a chocolatey, dark stream ribboned down into the cup she held a considerable distance below. Not a single drop spilled.

Quick learner. "Where was that skill earlier?" chided Bakugou as he pointed an accusatory finger at his temporary co-worker.

"Oh? I'm getting better or somethin'?" she chirped without carelessly averting her attention. Placing a lid on the top, she rotated the cup to reveal Bakugou's name written in simple, hiragana characters. She raised the cup a few inches in front of her and took a long whiff of the earthy scent of pure coffee. "One big, black and dark coffee for Bakugou."

Now, Bakugou recalled the sensation of a racing heart that often accompanied his hot cup of morning coffee, but he had never experienced it before taking a sip. By some anomaly, he noticed a peculiar boost of energy that caused small tremors in his knees and a twitch in his cheek. Bringing the edge of the lid to his mouth, he huffed away the steam before allowing the perfectly hot, artisan coffee cascade down his throat.

Simple. Strong. Flawless. Just like he liked it.

Her eyes widened as she gawked at Bakugou chugging the drink like it was iced tea. "Is that okay for you to drink like that?"

"Yeah, it was the best damn coff-," he began but then he immediately stopped as he caught sight of the ecstatic grin that swept across her face. Like a bolt of radiant energy shot through her body, she perked up her posture and widened her shimmering brown eyes. Did that almost compliment excite her to that degree? He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and damned the thought from his mind. After all, he could surely make a cup for her that would put every ounce of effort of hers to shame.

However, her sharp and quick gasp settled into a flustered sigh as she held her pink cheeks with her hands. "Deku," she sang in a sweet and calm tone.

Deku? As in his childhood dork of a friend? Sure enough, when he turned around, he saw the timid and awkward classmate at the counter directly behind him. She had been looking at him.

"Hey, Uraraka and Kacchan. I didn't know you worked here, too," noted Midoriya.

Bakugou immediately felt a shock of pain shoot through his chest - quick yet remarkable. His eyes never left her back as she moved past him, and he resented the fact that she had her back towards him in the first place.

Uraraka ran up to Midoriya like a helpless puppy and leaned over the counter for small talk. She put up her cream, white apron and washed her hands. "I guess we're going back to the dorms for the day. I'll see you at school tomorrow," she waved.

"Wait, you're not gonna leave me here, are you? I don't even work here!" he shouted. There's an idea. He could work there. Then, he'd be able to pick up where they left off and repeatedly overshadow her with his coffee-making expertise. Week after week he'd work by her side and watch her fumble over herself. He couldn't wait.

"Oh, Aizawa said I could leave at the end of my shift. He's in the back."

Bakugou tensed every muscle in his body as he looked back at the ominous brown door where an orange tabby cat scratched at the surface. Was that bastard in the back the entire damn time? Well, that was his door of opportunity - literally.

His ears twitched at the chiming of the bell near the door as Uraraka exited the cafe. A frown dropped on his face as he recalled the sensations of working next to her in the coffee shop. He felt the loss and hurried towards the door of the manager to remedy it.

The next day, Uraraka opened the door to her second day at work and slipped in. A slight sense of dread hung over her head. Sure, she had improved, but she wasn't confident that she would be as efficient on her own.

"Oi, round face, you need to start showing up earlier than that."

Her eyes dilated before recognizing that caustic, masculine voice. Turning around, a bright smile sparkled on her face as she gasped, "Eh? Bakugou?" Her heart floated before picking up speed, for, she had gotten a taste of the contact high of working in a coffee shop. Something new that accompanied the arrival of her new coworker.

Wonderful and promising euphoria.

#bnhararepairweek #kacchako fanfiction #kacchako #katsucha #bakugou x uraraka #plz dont remember me for this

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lamentosecretsanta · 6 years

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@yourtigerdaddy:

For @atupda

Hey I’m you’re secret Santa! I really enjoyed writing this, it was nice to write a cute Bardo/Konoe fic. Merry Christmas.

I Hear The Music of Your Soul

Bardo breathed in the air of the market. The scent of hot cider and snow greeted him. The holiday season had descended upon Ransen, and it was a spectacular sight to see. Colorful lanterns decorated the streets, and Ribika were swarming around like bees to honey. He watched as a child cheerfully tuged his mother along to see a street magician, almost stumbling in the thickening snow.

He grinned slightly, he loved this time of year. The weather, the food, and especially the overall feeling of the season, it was just beautiful. And this was the first Christmas that he and Konoe would spend together. Which put a little pressure on him to get the perfect gift. He’d never had anyone significant in his life to get a meaningful gift. Sure, he’d get simple presents for friends, but this was Konoe, it had to be special. With that in mind he braced himself and fully entered the market.

He, like many other Ribika flitted through many of the shops. Nothing really catching his eye, he finally stopped at a booth selling swords. What had caught his eye was the unique engravings on the blades. As he examined them further, he noticed that the engravings were ancient sigils to ward against evil. He toyed with the idea of getting one for Konoe, but he decided against it. He recalled with a shudder at the last time Konoe tried fighting with a sword, the kid had nearly stabbed his eye out. No, the sword was a bad idea. He continued searching shops, for what, he didn’t know, but he knew what he didn’t want. He was close to leaving when he heard a soft melody.

His eyes lit up, how did he not think of it before. Approaching the shop he quickly haggled with the shopkeeper, and not ten minutes later he had an almost perfect gift for Konoe.

Slipping the gift in his pocket he hurried along the darkening street. Almost giddy with joy he hurried to get back to the Inn, ducking in between shops and trying his damnest not to slip on the thick snow. It didn’t take long until the Inn was in sight. Dazzling rainbow lights illuminated the dark wooden building. He always decorated for the holidays, it really helped the guests get into the mood. But this year he had outdone himself. Well, he may have had a little help from Konoe and the gang.

Still lost in his thoughts, Bardo didn’t notice when the front door opened.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Startled, Bardo jumped a little when he saw Konoe’s face staring at him from the doorframe. Shaking off the surprise, Bardo stepped forward to embrace him, but Konow ducked away before he could.

“Nah-ah, you can’t just leave me in charge of the Inn for half the day and expect me to give you a hug.”

Bardo made a face,” But Konoe, I had important errands to run, plus you’re smart enough to be in charge of the Inn for a couple hours.”

Konoe’s face still showed irritation, but his eyes softened “Compliments won’t help you now, it’s the busiest time of year, and you can’t just be sneaking off.” Konoe continued on with his little rant, never noticing Bardo inching slowly toward him. Before Konoe could finish, Bardo scooped Konoe up with ease, ignoring the yelp of indignation from the small Ribika.

“Look,” Bardo said softly.” You can scold me more inside, but it’s getting chilly. And you know how you are when you get sick.” That shut Konoe up, the last time Konoe had gotten sick the Bardo nearly had to close down the Inn. Not from any chance of infecting anyone else, but because of how irritable and rude Konow got. Honestly,he put Rai to shame with his cutting remarks.

As he stepped inside he was greeted with a wave of warmth. Setting Konoe down, he started to take off his heavy clothing. Before he couldn’t even take off his scarf though, Konoe started up again.

“So, where were you? And don’t say ‘errands’ I know for a fac-”

Bardo held up a hand, a gleam in his eye.“If you must know, I was searching for a present for Rai. Sadly, Rai is a lot harder to shop for than Asato or Shui.” Konoe’s still looked as if he wanted to argue some more, but he refrained himself.

“Fine. Just don’t disappear on me during the middle of a rush…Dumbass. Now, I’m going to bed. And you get to stay out here and finish up some of the inventory.” With that, Konoe gave Bardo a quick peck on the cheek, yawned and walked off towards their bedroom.

Sighing, Bardo ducked into the kitchen to further examine the gift. It was a great gift, but it wasn’t a perfect gift yet.For that he needed help, magical help He wouldn’t have time to go to him tonight, but tomorrow morning he’d go visit Leaks. Leaks was almost never in a good mood, but he was always a bit more agreeable in the morning, early morning. Inwardly groaning at the thought of getting up well before the sun, he had to remind himself that it was for Konoe and that it was worth it.

Making quick work of the inventory, and some of the smaller jobs that still needed to be done. He slipped into the bed with Konoe and promptly went to sleep.

Bardo was not a morning person.Forcing himself to get out of bed was not easy. It didn’t help that the bed was warm and Konoe was pressed against his chest, and the fact it was fucking freezing outside. Getting dressed in layers and layers of thick cloth, he left a note telling Konoe where he’d be, and he got the package from where he hid it under the front desk.

The trip to Leaks took most of the premorning, he had left when it was still dark, yet it was well past dawn. Arriving at Leaks place, he knocked firmly at the door. Leaks answered the door, looking more relax than he usually did. However, as soon as he saw Bardo his mouth twisted into a frown.

“What in the name of everything good and holy are you doing at my house?”

Bardo had been rehearsing what he was going to ask the magician on the way there, but in the face of the glaring cat his mind had gone blank.

“Uh, can I come in? It’ll take a bit to explain.” Bardo started to go forward, only for Leaks to block the door.

“No, now what do you want?”

Rolling his eyes, he explained what he needed.As Bardo explained the problem. Leaks slowly relaxed his stance. Eyes lighting up with the prospect of the challenge.

“So,” he said after a brief pause,” can you do it?”

For a heartbeat Leaks said nothing, but slowly he nodded, “I suppose I could do that. I’ve heard about that type of enchantment, but I haven’t tried it myself,” and almost as an afterthought he added, “I could talk to Shui about it. I’m sure he can help with that type of magic.”

Handing Leaks the package, Bardo started to thank him when a clear voice called from Leaks house.

“Leaks, when are you coming back to bed?” The voice clearly belonged to Shui. A sly grin crept on Bardo’s face, while Leaks own face flushed red. Before Bardo could say anything Leaks slammed the door shut.

Releasing a deep chuckle, Bardo turned away and started his way back to the Inn.

The next few weeks was a flurry of activity. The Inn was packed, with Ribika coming from faraway cities to visit family for the holidays. This just meant more work(and profit) for Bardo and Konoe. Rai and Asato had also arrived, and of course they couldn’t be left alone without them trying to murder each other. Bardo made sure they were put to work though, so Rai spent most of the time in the kitchen. Preparing food and yelling at Bardo to get out. While Asato helped Konoe clean and take care of the guests.

Leaks and Shui arrived the day before Christmas. Leaks had pulled Bardo aside and had given the gift back to him. He had started to explain the science of what he had done, but even with Bardo’s above average knowledge of science and magic after a few minutes his eyes had started to glaze. Which lead to Leaks stomping off, probably to Shui.

Gazing at the gift he knew, he knew that this was the perfect gift for Konoe. All he had to do was add one last finishing touch and then he could wrap it.

As the day started to wind down, Bardo joined everyone in the dining room. Where they ate some roasted duck, he and Rai had prepared earlier. The conversation at the table was loud and chaotic, Shui was talking to Konoe, while Leaks discussed something with Kaltz(who apparently shared his sons love of just popping up in places). Rai and Asato were butting heads, and Bardo was content to just watch and occasionally join in on teasing Rai. Soon the food was gone and the conversation died down. And one by one they each left to go to bed. Bardo, however, stayed behind to cleanup. Konoe had offered to help,but Bardo just shewed him away, assuring him that he could make it up later in bed.

Once everything was cleaned and the fire was put out, he joined Konoe in bed. Arms wrapped around him, Bardo drifted off to sleep.

He woke up with Konoe shaking him

“Bardo! Wake up, it’s Christmas”

Bardo tried his damndest to ignore him. But Konoe continued to shake him and eventually when the shaking didn’t work, started threatening Bardo with violence.

“But Konoe,” he whined,”It’s still dark out. Just five more minutes, or five more hours.” Bardo was suddenly pushed out of bed. Konoe had actually had the audacity to shove him out of bed. However, he wasn’t going down without a fight. Before he could hit the ground he grabbed Konoe’s tail. With a small yelp, Konoe was pulled after Bardo. Both landed heavily on the wooden floor. A deep chuckle came from Bardo.

“Alright, alright, I’m up. I’m going to get dressed. And since you’re so good at bothering people, you can go wake everyone else up.”

Konoe made a face at Bardo, but left to do as he said. Bardo dressed quickly and grabbed the present for everyone he had hidden under the bed.

Going down to the common area, he wasn’t surprised to only find Kaltz and Leaks. Shui was not much of a morning person. And Rai and Asato’s morning hair routine took forever(though they’ll deny it zealously). Deciding to try and do something productive he started stoking the fire, he listened to Kaltz and Leaks talk about some magic mumbo jumbo. And slowly everyone came into the room, most of them holding gifts.

Bardo was actually pleasantly surprised on how well the gift exchanged how’d gone with everyone. Everyone had seemed happy with the gifts, even Rai had given him a small smile when he had received a blessed dagger( which was not easy to come by). Konoe and he hadn’t exchanged gifts yet though, they were going to wait for when they were alone. He pulled Konoe back into the bedroom, and then he took out the gift.

“You have no idea how hard it was to find you a gift. Honestly, I should have just gotten you some Kuims and been done with it.” Handing the beautifully wrapped package to Konoe, he watched eagerly as it was slowly unwrapped. As the paper was pulled away, a beautiful wooden box was revealed.

Konoe studied the box carefully. It was made from a beautiful chestnut wood, and carved onto the box were sigils that was supposed to protect against negativity. Slowly opening the box, he was stunned to hear a soft melody, it sounded like a mixture of his father’s music, and his own. The inside of the box was even more beautiful than the outside. Carved Lillys and Forget-Me-Nots dotted the interior, all of them framing a small piece of iridescent glass.

Kone’s eyes started to glisten, tears threatening to fall. However, when he caught sight of the inscription at the bottom of the box, tears started to fall in earnest. At the bottom of the box it said:

‘To my one and only love, you are the music of my soul. So, it seems only fair for you to hear your own song.”

Konoe shoved himself into Bardo’s arms, hugging him tightly. Closing the box in the act, and the soft music ended abruptly.

“It,” Bardo began, “ was difficult finding something as perfect as you. The box actually plays the music of the soul holding it. Now, I would love to take all the credit, but Leaks is actually the one that enchanted it, but I did everything else.” Wrapping his arms around Konoe, he buried his face into his lovers neck.

“That’s not fair,” sniffed Konoe,” you give me this amazing gift and all I have to give you is this.” Pulling away from Bardo, Konoe pulled out a small wooden carving of the Inn, with what looked like Konoe and himself standing in the front. It was crude, but had a bit of charm to it.

“I carved it myself if you couldn’t tell.”

Bardo let out a snicker, which grew into full blown laughter. “ No. no. I couldn’t tell at all. This is professional work right here.”

Konoe punched him playfully on the shoulder, Bardo sobered a little and looked into Konoe’s dazzling eyes.

“It’s beautiful, I’m gonna place it on the front desk later. Everyone deserves to see this masterpiece.” Bardo pulled Konoe closer to himself. “It really is amazing,” he murmured into Konoe’s neck.

Still clutching Bardo, Konoe reopened the music box, they both sighed in contentment as the music of Konoe’s soul filled the air.

He grinned slightly, he loved this time of year. The weather, the food, and especially the overall feeling of the season. And this was the first Christmas that he and Konoe would spend together. Which put a little pressure on him to get the perfect gift. He’d never had anyone significant in his life to get a meaningful gift. Sure, he’d get simple gifts for friends, but this was Konoe, it had to be special. With that in mind he braced himself and fully entered the market.

He, like many other Ribika flitted through many of the shops. Nothing really catching his eye, he stopped at booth selling swords. What had caught his eye was the unique engravings on the blades. As he examined them further, he noticed that the engravings were ancient sigils to ward against evil. He toyed with the idea of getting one for Konoe, but he decided against it. He recalled with a shudder at the last time Konoe tried fighting with a sword, the kid had nearly stabbed his eye out. No, the sword was a bad idea. He continued searching shops, for what he didn’t know, but he knew what he didn’t want. He was close to leaving when he heard a soft melody.

His eyes lit up, how did he not think of it before. Approaching the shop he quickly haggled with the shopkeeper, and not ten minutes later he had an almost perfect gift for Konoe.

Slipping the gift in his pocket he hurried along the darkening street. Almost giddy with joy he hurried to get back to the Inn, ducking in between shops and trying his damnest not to slip on the thick snow. It didn’t take long until the Inn was in sight. Dazzling rainbow lights illuminated the dark woodend building. He always decorated for the holidays, it really helped the guests get into the mood. But this year he had outdone himself. Well, he may have had a little help from Konoe and the gang.

Still lost in his thoughts, Bardo didn’t notice when the front door opened,

“Where the hell have you been?”

Startled, Bardo jumped a little when he saw Konoe’s face staring at him from the doorframe. Shaking off the surprise, Bardo stepped forward to embrace him, but Konow ducked away before he could.

“Nah-ah, you can’t just leave me in charge of the Inn for half the day and expect me to give you a hug.”

Bardo made a face,” But Konoe, I had important errands to run, plus you’re smart enough to be in charge of the Inn for a couple hours.”

“Look,” Bardo said softly.” You can scold me more inside, but now it’s getting chilly. And you know how you are when you get sick.” That shut Konoe up, the last time Konoe had gotten sick the Bardo nearly had to close down the Inn. Not from any chance of infecting anyone else, but because of how irritable and rude Konow got, he put Rai to shame with sass.

As he stepped inside he was greeted with a wave of warmth. Setting Konoe down, he started to take off his heavy clothing. Before he couldn’t even take off his scarf though, Konoe started up again.

“So, where were you? And don’t say ‘errands’ I know for a fac-”

Bardo held up a hand, a gleam in his eye.“If you must know, I was getting a searching for a present for Rai. Sadly, Rai is a lot harder to shop for than Asato or Shui.” Konoe’s still looked as if he wanted to argue some more, but he refrained himself.

Sighing, Bardo ducked into the kitchen to further exam the gift. It was a great gift, but it wasn’t a perfect gift yet.For that he needed help, magical help He wouldn’t have time to go to him tonight, but tomorrow morning he’d go visit Leaks. Leaks was almost never in a good mood, but he was always a bit more agreeable in the morning, early morning. Inwardly groaning at the thought of getting up well before the sun, he had to remind himself that it was for Konoe and that it was worth it.

Making quick work of the inventory, and some of the smaller jobs that still needed to be done. He slipped into the bed with Konoe and promptly went to sleep.

Bardo was not a morning person.Forcing himself to get out of bed was not easy. It didn’t help that the bed was warm and Konoe was pressed against his chest, and the fact it was fucking freezing outside. Getting dressed in layers and layers of thick cloth, he left a note telling him where he’d be, and got the package from where he hid it under the front desk.

The trip to Leaks took most of the premorning, he had left when it was still dark, yet it was well past dawn. It was oddly peaceful out there alone with the unsold snow gracing the ground. Arriving at Leaks place, he knocked firmly at the door. Leaks answered the door, looking more relax than he usually did. However, as soon as he saw Bardo his mouth twisted in frown.

“What in the name of everything good and holy are you doing at my house?”

Bardo had been rehearsing what he was going to ask the magician on the way there, but in the face of the glaring cat his mind had gone blank.

“Uh, can I come in? It’ll take a bit to explain.” Bardo started to go forward, only for Leaks to block the door.

“No, now what do you want?”

Rolling his eyes, he explained what he needed.As Bardo explained the problem. Leaks slowly relaxed his stance. Eyes lighting up with the prospect of the challenge.

“So,” he said after a brief pause,” can you do it?”

Handing Leaks the package, Bardo started to thank him when a clear voice called from Leaks house.

“Leaks, when are you coming back to bed?” The voice clearly belonged to Shui. A sly grin crept on Bardo’s face, while Leaks flushed red. Before Bardo could say anything Leaks slammed the door shut.

Releasing a deep chuckle, Bardo turned away and started his way back to the Inn.

Gazing at the gift he knew, he knew that this was the perfect gift for Konoe. All he had to do was add one last finishing touch and then he could wrap it.

As the day started to wind down, Bardo joined everyone in the dining room. Where they ate some roasted duck, he and Rai had prepared earlier. The conversation at the table was loud and chaotic, Shui was talking to Konoe, while Leaks discussed something with Kaltz. Rai and Asato were butting heads, and Bardo was content to just watch and occasionally join in on teasing Rai. Soon the food was gone and the conversation died down. And one by one they each left to go to bed. Bardo, however, stayed behind to cleanup. Konoe had offered to help,but Bardo just shewed him away, assuring him that he could make it up later in bed.

Once everything was cleaned and the fire was put out, he joined Konoe in bed. Arms wrapped around him, Bardo drifted off to sleep.

He woke up with Konoe shaking him

“Bardo! Wake up, it’s Christmas”

Bardo tried his damndest to ignore, him. But Konoe continued to shake him and eventually when the shaking didn’t work, started threatening Bardo with violence.

“Alright, alright, I’m up. I’m going to get dressed. And since you’re so good at bothering people, you can go wake everyone else up.”

Konoe made a face at Bardo, but left to do as he said. Bardo dressed quickly and grabbed the present from where he rehide it under the bed.

Bardo was actually pleasantly surprised on how well the gift exchanged how’d gone with everyone. Everyone had seemed happy with the gifts, even Rai had given him a small smile when he had received the blessed dagger( which was not easy to come by). Konoe and he hadn’t exchanged gifts yet though, they were going to wait when they were alone. He pulled Konoe back into the bedroom, and then he took out the gift.

Konoe studied the box carefully. It was made from beautiful chestnut wood, and carved onto the box were sigils that was supposed to protect against negativity. Slowly opening the box, he was stunned to hear a soft melody, it sounded like his father’s music, but was fundamentally different. The inside of the box was even more beautiful than the outside. Carved Lillys and Forget-Me-Nots dotted the interior, all of them framing a small piece of iridescent glass.

‘To my one and only love, you are the music of my soul. So, it seems only fair for you to hear yours.”

Konoe shoved himself into Bardo’s arms, hugging him tightly. Closing the box in the act, and the soft music ended abruptly.

“I carved it myself if you couldn’t tell.”

Bardo let out a snicker, which grew into full blown laughter. “ No. no. I couldn’t tell at all. This is professional work right here.”

Konoe punched him playfully on the shoulder, Bardo sobered a little and looked into Konoe’s dazzling eyes.

Still clutching Bardo, Konoe reopened the music box, they both sighed in contentment as the music of Konoe’s soul filled the air.

#yourtigerdaddy #atupda #Lamento #Konoe #Bardo #(et al.)#gift #submission #2017

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cherrybomb-witch · 7 years

Text

Moo! || Self-Para || Summer, 1969|| When I Was Younger.

“Are you sure it will work?”

“Positive. I asked Catie about the draught. And I looked at her old school notes just in case”.

“Catie kept her school notes!? But she graduated like three years ago!”

“Catie keeps everything. Now shut up and keep pushing”.

It is a warm summer midnight, and the McKinnon Manor was in blissful slumber, except for the two blonde girls in their white nightgowns. That same evening, the McKinnon siblings had all extended mattresses and sleeping bags on the floor across the living room for a family slumber party with stories, and music and marshmallows roasted by the fireplace. It seemed like forever before everyone was asleep, but finally, the living room was silent save for the quiet sleeping breaths and occasional snores, and then Marlene had quietly slipped out of her bag and motioned to her sister Eva, her partner in tonight’s crime, to stand up and follow her.

They were small and slender-limbed, but after much struggle, they had managed to drag the inflatable mattress outside the living room, down the hallway and finally across the kitchen and through the back door. On the mattress, under the effects of a simple sleeping draught, their older brother Duncan slept like a baby, oblivious to the movement, or the girls’ whispering, or the numerous bumps they accidentally caused while dragging him all around the house.

“How did you even manage to prepare a sleeping draught?” Eva was at the feet end of the mattress, pushing it carefully down the small set of stairs that went from the kitchen door to the garden.

Marlene took her time answering, for she was struggling with the head end to hold it back and prevent the mattress from toppling down the stairs and risking to wake up her fifteen year old brother despite the potion she’d given him.

“I already told you, stupid. I looked at Catie’s old notes. It wasn’t hard to find the ingredients. Most of them grow in the woods. And the ones I couldn’t find, I stole from Mrs. Salsburgy’s garden in town” the older blonde replied once they had safely lowered their brother on the grass. Her cheeks were flushed with effort and her breath was labored.

“You broke into Mrs. Salsburgy’s garden!? Marlene!” Eva’s eyes were wide with impression at her sister’s audacity. The alluded simply shrugged her skinny white shoulders and pushed her long golden curls out of her face. She liked the old florist well enough, it was nothing personal. It just had to be done.

The two girls took a moment to catch their breaths while looking around. There was a big, round full moon on a cloudless sky, which favored their mission since the world around them was illuminated well enough by its silver haze. The garden was covered in moonlight and it looked enchanted. Marlene and Eva almost expected to see night fairies coming out and start dancing. But only some of their dogs showed up to glare at them curiously, but eventually decided that it was not worth staying awake for.

“Well, c’mon then” Marlene spoke after some time, bending once more to grip the corners of her side of the mattress “We’ve got to get him all the way to the cows’ drinking trough”.

“Why are we doing this again?” Eva grumbled, rubbing her eyes. It was way past both of their bedtimes, but unlike Marlene, she was not as invaded by excitement and she really wanted to go back to sleep.

“Because” replied her sister, straining the word with exasperation “Duncan pushed me onto a puddle of cow dung the other day. I’m getting back at him and you have to help me”.

“But…” Eva stifled a yawn and groaned “He’s too heavy! How are we even going to drag him all the way there? My arms hurt already. Also, the mattress will break with all the bumps and pebbles in the road”.

Marlene frowned thoughtfully. Her sister did have a point. She searched around for inspiration, trying to find a solution to their inconvenience. She refused to let a single obstacle prevent her from making Duncan pay for what he’d done. They had gotten so far already, especially after it took her days and several little accidents to eventually brew the sleeping draught despite her young age. She was a very capable little witch, after all. This could hardly frustrate her plans.

Her viridian eyes passed over a red cart that her younger siblings used to wheel each other around the house, and just like that, she was struck with a complex, yet surely effective thought.

“I have an idea. Come on!” she motioned to her sister and then darted towards the depot, careful not to make too much noise with her steps. Eva groaned, but eventually followed her older sister, wondering what on earth she had come up with now.

Later, the younger girl concluded that Marlene was either incredibly brilliant, or incredibly crazy. They took out the small pony cart and some harnesses and dragged it all the way to the garden. Eva slowly began to understand what was on her sister’s mind. They were going to get caught for sure, and then they would be in deep, deep trouble. But Marlene would have none of it. She run up to the stables, and returned with one of the Shetland ponies, Toffee, the most calm and easy to manage they had. Mar had seen her father harness the pony many times, and through some trials and errors, the two girls eventually managed to set up Toffee to the cart. Marlene took a step back with her hands on her hips, looking very smug and pleased with herself.

“Now all we have to do is get the mattress with Dun on it on the cart” she stated.

“But he’s still too heavy! We could barely drag him! How are we going to lift him!? Oh Mar, I am really tired. Can’t you just let it go!?” Eva begged, pouting miserably.

The other blonde shook her head, stubborn to the bone. She knew they could pull this off. They could not give up “No. Stop being such a crybaby, Eva” she hesitated, considering her options and then sighed with resignation “We need some help, we have no choice. Let’s go get Rowan and Christopher. I bet between the four of us, we can get this fatty on the cart once and for all”.

Ten minutes and a lot of insisting later, the two girls had managed to drag the twins outside with them. Ro and Chris were still groggy from sleep, but when they saw Duncan sprawled out on the garden, sleeping like a rock, and the cart with the pony peacefully grazing beside him, their eyes opened with disbelief and they glared at the girls.

“What are you doing!?” Rowan gasped, going from sleeping Dun to Marlene. It was quite clear she was the mastermind behind all of these.

Marlene raised her chin, her expression proud and solemn. In order to convince her siblings to help her, she would have to lift up their spirits and get them to stop thinking about going back to bed. She knelt to dip her finger in the wet earth and dramatically gave herself a line on each of her cheeks, like war paint.

“We are on a mission. Duncan thinks he can do whatever he pleases with us just because he is older. Well, we are going to teach him a lesson” she then proceeded to catch them up on her plan, speaking passionately, like a general delivering a speech before a really dangerous military action. At first, the three other children rolled their eyes and their sister’s quirkiness, but eventually they too became inflamed with the thrill of “danger” and “victory”, and soon enough, even Eva had painted stripes on her cheeks.

Infused with excitement, each of the siblings grabbed a corner of the mattress and synchronized, after much puffing and groaning and struggling and nearly dropping Duncan a couple of times, they’d pushed him on top of the cart and stood staring at their deed, quite impressed that they had actually succeeded. She would never admit it, of course, but even Marlene herself was surprised that it had actually worked. However, she was quick to step back into her leader role.

“Come on then, my valiant warriors! The night is young and our work is yet to be finished! To the fields I command thee!” she grabbed Toffee’s reins and began leading the pony out to the road that ran across the vast McKinnon estate, her siblings trailing at either side of her, occasionally glaring over their shoulders in fear that their mother might suddenly come out of the house, chasing after them and screaming like a banshee.

“What does ‘thee’ mean?” Rowan whispered to his twin quietly so the older girl would not hear.

Christopher shrugged and made a screwing gesture against his temple to symbolize their sister’s possible state of mind.

It took them twenty minutes to reach the field were the cows were grazing, and another fifteen to get to the trough, drag Duncan down from the cart and push him to the edge of the water. The cows raised their heads and stared at the children with large black eyes, but to them four children dragging their drugged brother on a cart while in their pijamas was of little concern for them.

“All right, now comes the last part of the plan” Marlene announced, hardly able to conceal her excitement. Her eyes were shiny and a mischievous grin was spread all over her face, showing her little white teeth “We need to push him into the water. The mattress will float. And when he wakes up in the morning, he’s gonna be in the middle of the trough, surrounded by water and cows. And that will teach him not to mess with me! Or any of us!” she hurried to add.

The look on Eva, Rowan and Christopher’s face was one of absolute shock.

“But…but Mar!” gasped Chris “Cows drink from there. And bath and…” the boy lowered his voice “And do their poo-poo!”

Marlene’s smile did nothing but grow “Exactly. See there, that heap of cow poop?” she pointed at a dark, flat mound on the grass near them. Half of it was squashed and there were marks of two hands on them “That’s the heap he pushed me on the other day. Well now, he’s going for a swim in his own medicine. C’mon, help me push him into the water”.

The children were all anxious about the scolding they would eventually have to face once this prank blew up. However, inside every McKinnon there was a little instinct that craved trouble, and in the end, none of them could deny that the whole situation was going to be extremely funny. They all teamed up to push Duncan into the drinking trough between muffled giggles and mocking whispers. After that, the four of them laced their arms around each other and contemplated the figure of the floating mattress in the middle of the water, with their older brother on it, cut against the moonlight. Marlene was right, this would definitely teach him just how dangerous a little girl’s mind could be if scorned.

Marlene could not remember the last time she had seen her parents so furious. She was grounded for months, not only for her prank on Duncan, but also for involving her younger siblings.

But in the end, the only thing the ten year old girl truly regretted, was not having been present when Duncan fell head first into the water, and then slipped on the mud and collapsed on top of the very heap of dung he had pushed her to before. According to her father’s workers, he had screamed like a little girl.

#cherrybomb-witch #self-para #when i was younger #viprompt

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