#I mean they SHOULD be silenced because they’re like weird cousins but still

[himbohargreeves]

Also I’m gonna say it right now if any of you de-uglify Alphonso in your aus I’m gonna show up outside your house and kill you that IS a threat 🪓

#the ‘we should ship the no. 4s’ crowd have been real silent since we found out about the physical deformities huh #I mean they SHOULD be silenced because they’re like weird cousins but still #the umbrella academy

[kuroosweakness]

kiss kiss | sakusa kiyoomi <3 

this is the my favorite sakusa mini fic i’ve written yet :)) and my longest work! over 2000 words! 

“i don’t think i’ll ever understand the concept of kissing,” sakusa mumbles to komori as he leans down to tie his shoes. his shoes are already tied, but he needs to do something to hide his face for a couple of seconds. naturally, his curls fall to the sides of his face, just as he expected. 

komori quickly whirls around with a :) and a :0 face combined. “what was that??” he teases and crouches down to see his cousin’s hidden face. 

“i was just sayin’“ sakusa shrugs off. “it’s just people touching lips and sharing saliva. it’s disgusting. why people do it? i’ll never understand.” after dusting off his hands, sakusa gets up from the bench and stands up, having forgotten his tall height and head bumping right into a light. 

sakusa grimaces and rubs his head, trying his best to pretend it didn’t hurt at all. “stupid light,” he grumbles as he walks away. komori watches on, trying his best not to laugh while making a mental note to watch out for the low lights. 

~~~

“komori.” 

“hiya!” komori looks up at his cousin while continuing to stretch out his legs. 

“...have you ever kissed anyone?”

“...like, full on make-out?” komori quietly asks as he makes kissy hands to demonstrate. sakusa immediately frowns and crouches down. 

“stop making those weird gestures,” sakusa quietly scolds. “it’s embarrassing...” 

“what’s there to be embarrassed about?” komori softly chuckles while nervously scratching the back of his head. “why do you ask?” 

sakusa’s eyes divert away. “...just curious to know.” 

“well....” komori taps his chin in thought. “there’s this one friend i’ve kissed before. but it wasn’t anything too serious...”

sakusa looks at the ground below him, wondering if he should sit his whole butt down or keep crouching. he decides to keep asian-squating. “so how’d you initiate the kiss? like what did you do?” 

“...i think we’re supposed to be practicing receives right now,” komori sheepishly says while pointing at their teammates all practicing. the bump sounds and shoe creaks suddenly becomes audible to sakusa. 

“oh.” and with that, sakusa gets up and walks toward the pile of volleyballs. 

~~~

“remember the question i asked you last week?” sakusa breathes through his mask as he and komori jogs down the streets. he’s overly dressed for a jogger, especially in spring. everyone’s surprised he can move so freely in such a heavy jacket. 

“...what..... question?” komori asks, glancing at his cousin before looking back at the road in front of them. 

“you know what question.” 

“...i dont?” komori pants as he slows down his jogging pace. 

“the question....that....made you...do weird hand....gestures” 

“ohhhh the kissing question?” 

sakusa nods and moves to the side to avoid the kids walking toward them. 

“i’ve already told you....i’ve only kissed one person before. say, why’re you curious in my love life?” komori teasingly elbows sakusa as they come to a walking pace. 

sakusa annoyingly elbows him back. “is it so bad i want to know?” 

“it’s just not like you,” komori chuckles. at the sight of a bakery in front of them, his eyes immediately lightens up. “we should go there!!” 

sakusa’s eyes meet where komori’s pointing, then meets komori’s face, wondering if his cousin will share answers if he agrees. “okay. but back to my question about initiating the kiss.” 

“well, you’ll have to find someone you want to kiss first,” komori laughs. “and i don’t think you’ve found that person, judging from the way you always judge couples and bad breath.” 

“don’t be so quick to assume things,” sakusa grumbles under his mask. 

“anywaysss, you kinda have to know that the other person wants to kiss you too, ya’know?” 

“i don’t know,” sakusa dryly says, stating out the obvious. 

“yeah, tell me something i didn’t know,” komori replies and opens the bakery front door. waves of freshly baked bread fill their noses. komori dramatically inhales and exhales. sakusa lowers his mask. a little “ding” rings as the door opens and closes. 

“it’s so warm in here!” komori happily exclaims. “you sure you’re not gonna became toast yourself with that jacket on?” 

sakusa rolls his eyes. 

“back to the kissing topic,” komori starts. “consent is really important! you have to make sure they want to kiss you. and to know, just before kissing, you have to ask.” 

“lower your voice,” blushy-faced sakusa mumbles. “there’s people looking at us weirdly.” 

“not at me weirdly,” komori remarks. “just at you!” 

“i don’t know why i talk to you sometimes.” 

“i’ll pretend i didn’t hear that!” komori happily bounces over to the counter and tells the pretty cashier his order.  “kiyoomi, you want anything?” 

“no, not really.” 

“okay!” komori excitedly accepts his paper bag full of baked goods and eagerly munches into a chocolate croissant. “i was thinking that maybe we can stop and eat for a while” 

komori eating = less judgmental komori. who is he kidding, sakusa knows he himself is the most judgmental person he knows. “okay” 

as sakusa pulls out a seat facing away from the door, a little “ding” rings through the bakery. 

“oh look!” komori munches. “it’s y/n! hi y/n!”

sakusa’s stomach drops. his hands have never felt so clammy and cold before. maybe if he stays completely still, then you won’t notice him. 

“hi y/n!” komori calls again. 

“we’re going home. stop- stop stop stop we’re going home. i need to go home,” sakusa hastily mutters under his breath and gets up so fast, suddenly wishing his mask can cover his whole face. since you’re standing at the doorway, he waits until you walk inside to walk out. 

komori quickly gathers his stuff and says a quick apology to you. “sorry about him! well, we’ll catch ya later!” 

confused, yet unfazed, you give him a little smile and waves back. 

~~~

“so how was it?” 

“...not good,” sakusa’s face and curls fall into his hands. he groans and falls back on the his bed. “anyways, i need to study-” 

“no no no, i need to know!” komori insists. “most people’s first kiss isn’t that great so...you’re not the only one.” 

“how am i even supposed to see them again,” sakusa groans again and squirms around on the bedsheets. “it was so bad. so bad. so so bad. so so sooooo bad-” 

“do you have thoughts about kissing them again??” 

“yes,” he mumbles and swiftly grabs the nearest pillow and hugs it to his chest,  hiding his face in the process. “all the damn time.” 

“then it didn’t go as bad as i thought!” komori exclaims. 

~~~

“so you’re not gonna tell me how it went?” 

“why’re you so nosy???” sakusa scrunches up his nose. 

“you were the one who asked about my first kiss first,” komori defends, pulling back in playful offense. 

“like i said, it wasn’t good.” 

“how was it not good?” 

“the kissing tutorial videos didn’t work.” 

“....you watched kissing tutorials????!!” 

“komori motoya, if you don’t be quiet i swear-” 

“did they at least want to kiss you?” 

“...i don’t even know if we’re...together. this is so embarrassing. i was too impatient. i shouldn’t have. i rushed things. they didn’t even tell me they like me. what if they just went along with it and didn’t actually want-”

“i think you’re overthinking too much...” 

“can we just walk to school in silence?” 

“after you tell me first! i can give advice!” 

“i nearly missed their lips. and i froze up when we actually made contact. i was stiff. i couldn’t move. plus my mask shifted upward and completely interrupted us, which i’m kinda thankful for.”

komori stifles a laugh. “so...what’re you gonna do for your second one?” 

~~~

“i saw them with his stupid, ugly guy who if you put his teeth next to a beaver’s, no one would be able to tell the difference.” 

“....we all know you’re not the nicest person, but isn’t that a little mean..and a bit of an exaggeration?” komori chuckles and shifts his foot inside his volleyball shoes. 

“they have poor, poor taste in men.” 

“well...they did kiss you once...” 

“i don’t know anymore,” sakusa sighs. “i need to just focus on volleyball.” 

~~~

“i hate it here. absolutely hate. it. here.” with a grumble he tosses his clothes on his backpack and pads across the gym to get his water bottle. 

komori side-eyes his cousin. whether or not to ask what he’s talking about, even though he knows exactly what–no, who–he’s talking about. 

“is this volleyball related?” komori asks when sakusa walks back. 

... 

“you’ve never given up anything you’ve set your heart on,” komori kindly reminds him. “so why’re you giving up now?” 

“because all the things i’ve done, i was in completely control of” sakusa swings his backpack over his shoulder. “i can’t control other people’s feelings....nor do i want to.” 

“did something bad happen?” komori dashes to catch with his cousin, and the tea. 

“guess who i saw them with again? beaver guy.” 

“i heard they’re just classmates though,” komori gently reminds sakusa, hoping it’ll somewhat clear his senses. he jogs toward a mini puddle and jumps right into it. sakusa grimaces at the water splashes. 

“it doesn’t matter. i don’t care about them anymore. they can have beaver guy so they want. i’m one of the best volleyball players in the country, and i’m ...somewhat good looking, and i’m tall...their loss.” 

komori searches for more puddles. 

“is it because of my personality?” sakusa quietly says. when he sees his cousins jumping into more puddles, he rolls his eyes. “komori, i’m being serious here” 

“when are you not?” komori calls back. he jogs back to sakusa and says, “what makes you think it’s your personality?” 

“well....let’s not talk about it.” 

“...” komori glares at him. 

“well....they’re all smiles around other people and like :/ around me. and y’know, my cleanliness. not that i would change for anyone, but i’m just sayin’” 

“if they really liked you then, you wouldn’t want you to change. although, you can be nicer sometimes....just a little” komori cheekily says. 

“...you’re right,” sakusa sighs. 

~~~

“update: beaver guy’s no longer in their life. he tried to make a move on them and they didn’t like it so they cut him out of their life.” 

“wait whaaat? it’s been days since you last talked about y/n. what-” 

“can you not say their name so loud???” 

“so beaver guy pulled a move on them?” 

“yes. and they cut him off because he took advantage of their niceness.” 

“...” 

“so technically what happened to beaver guy also happened to me.” 

komori shakes his head. “y/n hasn’t cut you out of their life....they still talk to you sometimes! and even asked if you wanted to walk home, which you-” 

he points an accusing finger at sakusa. “which you said no to >:(” 

“don’t point, it’s rude.” sakusa looks away. 

“what’d you say no???” 

“i didn’t want to appear desperate.” 

~~~

“so...how long are you gonna stare at the ceiling? we’re supposed to be doing measurements right now.” 

“oh sorry,” sakusa slightly bows down and quietly adds, “i walked them home yesterday.” 

komori loudly gasps, which he apologizes for when everyone turns to look at him. “whaaat,” he whispers. “what happened?” 

“i walked them home and then walked myself home, that’s what happened.” 

“you’ve gotta be kidding me. give the details!”

“there’s nothing too important that happened. other than my confession.” 

._. “and you’re saying nothing important happened??” 

“turns out they like...me...too” sakusa stutters. his ears are bright red. “i feel like i’m gonna throw up.” sakusa’s hands presses against his stomach.

“the good kinda throw up?” 

“there’s no such thing as a ‘good throw up’“ sakusa barks back. 

~~~

“y/n looked really happy and cheerful today and so do you...which i thought i’d never see...” 

normally, sakusa would jab his cousin if he heard that, but today, he chooses to ignore it. 

“so what’s going on??” 

“nothing much. just some kissing,” sakusa says. his whole face is glowing. 

“remember when you said kissing was gross?” 

“i don’t know what you’re talking about,” sakusa brushes off. “and you better not tell y/n i think they’re gross when i clearly don’t >:(” 

~~~ 

“hand-holding huhhhh?” 

“their hands were cold, that’s why.” 

“why am i so invested in your relationship,” komori softly chuckles to himself. “y’all are cute.” 

“it does feel nice to have someone to talk to about these things,” sakusa quietly says. komori pulls back in surprise. 

“well, i’ll always be here for ya! but don’t you dare try rubbing your relationship in my face.” 

“i’d never. i know what it’s like to be single.” 

“???? that’s the most non-sympathetic thing i’ve ever heard! obviously, everyone knows what it feels like to be single” komori rolls his eyes. 

~~~

“people are saying y/n’s dating me for my money.” 

“ignore them >:(” 

“people keep saying that y/n probably get no action and that i don’t even touch them.” 

“like i said, ignore those stupid people” 

“i wish it can be that easy,” sakusa sighs. 

~~~

“i’ve lost track of how many times i’ve kissed them.” 

komori jokingly pulls back in disgust. “no one keeps track, dummy.” 

“i’d say about 43 times” 

~~~

and now sakusa kisses you like he’s a starved man who hasn’t eaten in days 😐 basically, engulfing you. long, passionate kisses that gets your heart pounding every time. 

and that’s it for now :)) tell me what you think! <3

#sakusa x reader #haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #haikyuu fluff #sakusa kiyoomi x reader #sakusa kiyoomi #komori motoya #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu fanfic #haikyuu x gender neutral reader #hq x you #sakusa x you #sakusa x y/n #lia drabbles

[robininthelabyrinth]

I'd like to see more of the Jiang Cheng has spider venom fic. Mostly because I want to see him bite someone else. How about a Jin?

Normal For the Spider - Extra: 5 People Jiang Cheng Bit, Some of Whom Deserved It

ao3

1 – Wei Wuxian

“So I’ve been exchanging letters with shijie on account of the whole theoretically banished business,” Wei Wuxian said as they strolled down the Qiongqi Path together, Wen Ning behind them making shy stuttering friends with the handful of Jiang sect disciples Jiang Cheng had brought along with him – he’d deliberately picked the friendliest and most social of the lot, the ones that acted like overgrown puppies and wanted to adopt everyone they met, and sure enough they’d mobbed Wen Ning like a bunch of crows intent on raising the poor little sparrow they found into a proper bird. It was no more than Wen Ning deserved, in Jiang Cheng’s opinion. Someone needed to socialize him, and clearly neither his sister nor Wei Wuxian were doing crap about it.

“That’s nice,” Jiang Cheng said. “If by nice you mean extremely suspicious. What about in particular?”

“Your family inheritance.”

“Is this about the summer house we have near that mountain lake? I told you, it’s been deserted for years and may possibly be haunted by something resistant to the usual liberation techniques, but if you really want to go there, you’re of course allowed…”

“That’s not the inheritance I meant and you know it.”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. He did know it. “What questions do you have now?” he asked. “More medical stuff from Wen Qing?”

She’d recovered from the venom very well and immediately started wanting to know everything. Recovered a little too well, in Jiang Cheng’s opinion.

“No, this one’s for me,” Wei Wuxian said. “We’re going to Lanling City in order to let Jin Ling bite me as a way to establish familial ties and let him ‘absorb’ good aspects from my personality, right?”

Jiang Cheng nodded.

“So in some cases, biting is an act of affection?”

Jiang Cheng nodded, a little more warily.

“Then how come you’ve never bitten me?”

“It’s only affectionate when you’re a baby,” Jiang Cheng said. “Once you grow into your childhood venom, it starts being dangerous, even to family; you don’t do affection-bites after that point. And when you’re an adult…well, you saw Wen Qing!”

“Eh, she’s fine now,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. “I feel like I missed out! It’s not fair, Jiang Cheng. I deserve a bite! I’m practically your brother! We share essential bodily organs!”

“Wei Wuxian! Don’t talk about that!”

“Bite me and I’ll stop.”

“I’m not biting you just to make you stop being annoying –”

2 – Jin Zixun

“What are you doing here?!” Jiang Cheng demanded. “This is an ambush! Is the Jin sect considering waging an act of war against the Jiang sect?”

Jin Zixun scowled at him. “Not against the Jiang sect,” he said haughtily. “Against the Yiling Patriarch.”

“He’s my head disciple!”

That got a confused sort of frown. “But you banished him…?”

“Rumor,” Jiang Cheng said, with dignity, the way they’d always planned. “Baseless rumor, that’s all.”

Rumor he’d never denied, and had instead implicitly encouraged so that people would leave his Jiang sect alone for a little while as he gathered up strength and resources to tell them to fuck off.

“But…” Jin Zixun hesitated. “You just – attacked him?”

Jiang Cheng glared at Wei Wuxian, still lying prone on the ground with his head in Wen Ning’s lap to elevate it and his neck bandaged but still a little red – surely the paralytic had worn off by now?

Wei Wuxian noticed him staring and gave a jaunty little wave, grinning and very clearly regretting nothing, which meant that the paralytic had worn off and he was just lying there to be comfortable while watching the fun.

Typical.

“A friendly exchange,” he said, trying to maintain his dignity. “Also? Not the Jin sect’s business. What about you? What did you want with him?”

“I want him to remove the curse he cast on me,” Jin Zixun said, and he strode forward before Jiang Cheng could stop him and kicked Wei Wuxian in the side. “You hear me, you bastard?! I want the damn thing gone this instant or else –”

3 – Wen Ning

“So this is going to be a little awkward to explain,” Jin Zixuan said, rubbing his face. He looked tired, but that was possibly a side-effect of having Jin Zixun as a cousin. “Tell me, why are my cousin’s flunkies – er, I mean, my cousin’s friends convinced that it was Wen Ning that poisoned him?”

Jiang Cheng scowled.

“No offense meant,” Jin Zixuan added, nodding politely to Wen Ning. “It’s just, you know, you’re very much not a Yu, or even a Jiang.”

“No offense taken,” Wen Ning mumbled, though to Jiang Cheng’s eyes he looked a little pleased, even if his stiff wooden face still didn’t do emotions all that well. “It’s nice not to be automatically feared.”

“It’s because Wen Ning punched Jin Zixun in the face at the same moment that I bit him,” Jiang Cheng interjected, because someone needed to answer the actual question. “And then Jin Zixun fell over and someone started shouting about corpse poison – even though he’s obviously turned purple! Purple venom, purple spider, purple lightning…what part of this thematic color scheme is not obvious?!”

“Technically, the livor mortis spots generated by corpse poison are also purple,” Wei Wuxian said, completely unhelpfully. “According to Wen Qing, it’s the lack of oxygen in the blood pooling under the skin or something, which is the same thing your mom’s poison does.”

“Do you think you’re helping?” Jiang Cheng demanded.

“No, not at all. Did I sound like I was helping? I didn’t mean to.”

“I’m going to bite you again, you little…”

“My father isn’t going to want to let Wen Ning through the door if he’s considered a possible threat,” Jin Zixuan said, wisely deciding to carry on with the conversation despite their bickering. “You know he’s been saying all those things about how dangerous the Yiling Patriarch is – this’ll just feed into that.”

“I’m not going to Lanling City without Wen Ning!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed. “Wen Qing made me promise! It’s his first time visiting such a big place, too!”

“I’m pretty sure Wen Qing made you promise not to leave him behind because she was worried about your well-being, not Wen Ning’s ability to be a tourist,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Doesn’t matter! I’m not leaving him, and I’m definitely not going to not attend the party, so you have to fix this!”

“I don’t know how to fix this –”

Wen Ning coughed lightly. “Uh,” he said. “Jin-gongzi…would your father let me in if I wasn’t a threat? Say, if I was unconscious?”

A moment of silence.

“…does venom work even on fierce corpses?”

“Of course it does,” Jiang Cheng said irritably. “It wouldn’t be much of a defense mechanism for a cultivator if it didn’t.”

4 – Jin Guangshan

“I didn’t mean to!” Jiang Cheng said, his hands over his mouth. “I really didn’t mean to! It’s Wei Wuxian’s fault!”

“How is this my fault?!” Wei Wuxian asked. He looked amused, which was never a good sign, and even less so given the extreme crisis of the situation. “I wasn’t even in the room.”

“You encouraged me to keep biting people as a solution to everything!” Jiang Cheng hissed. “It got me in the mood. I wasn’t thinking!”

He looked down at the unconscious (and swiftly purpling) Jin Guangshan and grimaced. There was no convenient Wen Ning to put the blame on this time: it had been just the two of them, Jin Guangshan and Jiang Cheng, alone in a room together. Jin Guangshan had wanted to have words with him, sect leader to sect leader, which mostly meant that he wanted to throw his weight and seniority around to try to brow-beat Jiang Cheng into doing what he wanted, except that wasn’t going to work because Jiang Cheng was prepared, okay, he’d worked so long and so hard to try to build up the Jiang sect until it could resist Jin sect pressure.

And he’d probably just ruined everything.

“He has legitimate grounds to declare war against us now,” Jiang Cheng said miserably. “Or maybe to demand that we hand over that stupid Tiger Seal he keeps bugging you about as reparations, or in order to keep him from declaring war…”

“We can’t let him have it,” Wei Wuxian said at once. “It’s far too dangerous. I’d destroy it, first.”

“But then he’d still have a reason to strike against us…”

There was the soft sound of someone clearing their throat, and at first Jiang Cheng thought it was Wen Ning but when he looked up it was Jin Guangyao, instead. He looked the same as always, gentle and personable and smiling, which struck Jiang Cheng as being unaccountably weird for some reason that he couldn’t figure out until he remembered that the man’s father was currently lying on the ground being poisoned and maybe Jin Guangyao shouldn’t be smiling so much.

“If you don’t mind,” Jin Guangyao said, “I might have a suggestion that would get rid of that problem…”

5 – Wen Qing

“…and long story short, Jin Guangyao is going to run Lanling Jin until Jin Zixuan is done having kids, which may be never based on the soppy looks he and my shijie keep exchanging, and we all have the Jin sect’s blessing to move back into the Lotus Pier,” Wei Wuxian concluded. “All’s well that ends well, right, Jiang Cheng?”

Jiang Cheng crossed his arms and glared, admitting nothing.

“I’ll be happy to move anywhere that has decent food,” Wen Qing remarked. “This damn place won’t even grow radishes properly, and it’s Yiling; the radishes should be practically growing themselves.”

“I’ve arranged for some farmland for your people,” Jiang Cheng said, because practicalities he could do. “There’s still lots left over from before the war, lying fallow, and some of the places are medicinal herb fields – we need people with cultivation to tend to those, so I figured that might work for you. You’d have half regular farmland, to make sure you can grow whatever food you feel you need to be comfortable, and the other half, the herbs, can be sold to the Jiang sect at profit.”

“That sounds good,” Wen Qing said.

“Especially since they’re medicinal herb plants,” Wei Wuxian chimed in. “You could stock up on medicines you need!”

“A lot of medicines have to be obtained through trade, you utter nincompoop! I can’t make medicine just using what a single medicinal herb field will generate!”

Jiang Cheng nodded approvingly, thinking to himself that at least there was someone else in the world who understood exactly how aggravating it was to have to deal with Wei Wuxian’s unbridled and illogical optimism on a regular basis.

“And as for you,” Wen Qing said, turning to Jiang Cheng, who blinked owlishly at her. “Don’t think I missed the part of that story about how biting people is a sign of affection!”

“It’s – what?! No, you don’t – that’s when we’re children– it’s –”

Wei Wuxian started cackling.

#mdzs #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #wen ning #jin zixun #jin zixuan #jin guangyao #wen qing #my fic #my fics #normal for the spider

[fanficimagery]

Wildest Dreams.

Imagine it's a couple days before your wedding and your friends start coming in for your last days of freedom. Only you start having second thoughts, old feelings crop up, and you end up having a breakdown.

Words: 5.1K Warnings: This happens to be an AU with no children and Liz is alive. If a character isn't mentioned, I'm sorry. I had too many characters already.

The Mikaelsons, plus a couple of significant others, are sitting around a fire pit in the backyard of their mansion down in New Orleans after a surprisingly calm family dinner. The only one missing is Rebekah who'd gotten up to answer the door when one of Klaus' minions was dropping off some things inside. But mere seconds later she's returning, a smile gracing her lips as she reads from what appears to be an invitation in her hands.

"You have been cordially invited to witness the celebration of love between Landon Wesley and Y/N Y/L/N," she says as she retakes her seat next to Marcel. "Aw. Our little Y/N grew up so fast."

Elijah, who'd been staring into the fire, suddenly frowns. He sits up a little straighter in his seat. "Y/N is getting married?"

Skimming through the invitation, Rebekah doesn't see her brother's expression. But Klaus, Marcel, Freya, and Keelin do. "Mhm. In two weeks, but she wants me down there a couple days before for a girls thing. She said I could bring whoever I wanted, so Freya and Keelin are coming with."

"Oh. Okay," Keelin huffs. "So I guess we don't get a say in this?"

"Nope. Not at all."

Keelin rolls her eyes, but she's smiling all the while. Freya pats her wife on the back of the hand, chuckling, just as Elijah clears his throat and stands up. "Well if you excuse me, I think I'm going to call it a night."

As Elijah makes his exit, Rebekah finally lifts her head from the invitation. Klaus hides his smirk behind the glass tumbler he's sipping from as everyone else watches Elijah go with their interest piqued.

"Am I the only one who found that weird?" Keelin asks, gesturing towards where Elijah disappeared off to.

Marcel chuckles, shaking his head. "Not at all. Someone please tell me what the deal is there?"

Rebekah sighs. "Y/N holds a special place inside Elijah's heart."

"Dear Y/N is cousin to one Caroline Forbes of Mystic Falls, part of the scooby gang we once loathed." Klaus smirks. "But we never loathed Y/N."

"Not at all." Rebekah now starts to smile. "Y/N was kind, even when her family and friends plotted our deaths. She was the only one whose word we could trust and the only other person who purposely engaged 'lijah in conversation."

"We obviously thought our dear brother had a thing going on with Y/N, but he denied it every time," Klaus says. "It was because she was only seventeen at the time, but it's been years now."

"Y/N is definitely all grown up." Rebekah slowly smirks. "And definitely still asks after Elijah."

Klaus chuckles. "And it appears Elijah still harbors something for our favorite Mystic Falls resident."

"Well damn," Marcel mumbles. "We're so going to this wedding. We haven't had normal people drama in a while."

Keelin raises her glass in salute to Marcel's words. This was definitely going to be an interesting trip.

The Salvatore brothers have given up the Boarding House for the night so you could meet with your girls. Caroline took care of getting food and drinks, and Bonnie and Elena knew it was best to just stay out of Caroline's way. Because as Maid of Honor, Caroline took her duties a little too seriously.

"Can we eat yet?" Bonnie asks, already munching on a breadstick. "What are we even waiting for?"

"I'm expecting a few more friends," you say. "They're about five minutes out."

"And which friends are these?" Caroline wonders.

"Rebekah." Caroline immediately groans whereas Bonnie and Elena look uncomfortable. "Don't even give me that look," you tell your cousin. "I made Rebekah promise to be on her best behavior and she did so long as none of you made snide comments towards her. And the other two are Freya and Freya's wife Keelin."

"Freya and Keelin? How come we've never heard of them before?" Elena asks.

"Because Freya is a Mikaelson and her story was really sad," you say. "I didn't think I should tell you when I had first found out." All three girls look at you and you sigh, locking your phone and shoving it into your back pocket. "So long story short, Freya is the eldest Mikaelson. She was taken hostage by her aunt, forced to live for one year and then magically sleep for a hundred." Bonnie's eyes widen in shock. "She escaped and sought out her siblings who helped her kill their aunt so she'd finally be free. It took them a while to trust one another, but they eventually did and then Freya met Keelin. I've only spoken to them a handful of times, but they seem like great people. Just give them a chance."

The girls are quiet after learning that, but then Elena can't help but ask, "So is Freya human or..?"

"She's a witch and her wife is a werewolf." The girls all blink in surprise and you sigh. "Please. Just please give me this night and the day of my wedding. I don't need any drama."

Your pleading expression is enough to have the three of them agree and just in time as well. Elena and Caroline alert you and Bonnie that a car is pulling up, and it's not long until Rebekah, Freya, and Keelin and walking right on in.

The tension is obvious when Rebekah says hello to everyone, but the genuine smiles come out when you greet Freya and Keelin for the first time face to face, and then introduce them to Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena. Caroline, having put her best hostess persona, then leads everyone into the dining room.

Caroline and Bonnie are the only two to remain standing as everyone takes their seat, Caroline then dishing out either spaghetti or chicken alfredo while Bonnie serves up the wine. Conversation is a bit stilted, but the moment Bonnie asks Freya a question about magic it's like the flood gates open. You're surprised Freya gives up more of her story so freely and it's like a weight is lifted off your shoulders when Rebekah cracks a joke about how deranged her family is that has everyone laughing.

The food is devoured between the seven of you and by the end of dinner you've finished two bottles of wine. The third wine bottle follows you all into the lounge where more comfortable armchairs are carried in so everyone has a seat of their own after Freya and Keelin take over the loveseat.

"So," Caroline chirps as soon as she's comfortable, "are there any other Mikaelsons we should be expecting?"

Rebekah grins. "Is this your subtle way in trying to figure out if Nik is coming?"

Bonnie and Elena giggle as Caroline scoffs, but everyone sees right through her. Even Freya and Keelin who have no idea of the history between the two blonde vamps. But suddenly Freya stops giggling and leans forward in her seat, looking quite pensive. "Wait. Are you the Caroline that my brother couldn't help but compare every female to? You're that Caroline?"

"Yes. Yes she is," you say and take another sip of your wine.

"Huh. Now I get it." Freya chuckles. "You're cute and feisty, and can apparently keep up with Klaus. I approve." Keelin can't help but nod along as everyone laughs at Caroline's surprised expression.

The surprised expression quickly morphs into smugness, but then Caroline is quick to shake it off. "We're not here to talk about me. We're all here for Y/N. I was just wondering because you know how Damon and Stefan are with Klaus."

You sigh. "Which is why I've talked to them too," you say. "I know everyone has issues with each other, but it's my goddamn wedding and there will be no death threats or neck snapping or so help me I will stake somebody." Your friends and guests are stunned into silence before Keelin snorts, everyone then giving into their laughter quickly after. You too, eventually, and then you groan as you attempt to hide your face in the palms of your hands. "I just- I don't want any issues. I'm already freaking out as it is."

The laughter fades off, sympathetic expressions taking over, and it's Keelin who then leans forward in her seat, reaching for your hand and gripping it in comfort. "It's going to be fine. You have nothing to worry about. If you love- er, uh what's his name?"

"Landon."

"Landon! Yes, Landon," she chuckles. "If you love Landon, you'll be fine." Your smile falters and you don't have to be an onlooker to know that the light in your eyes dims just a little. Your pretty sure everyone's noticed it if the sudden intake of breath is anything to go by. "You do- you do love him, don't you?"

"Yes!" You blurt a little too fast. Your response is a little cringeworthy and you sigh, retaking your hand and slumping in your seat. "I mean we've been together for three years. I love him. I do, but.."

"But he's not 'lijah."

"Rebekah!" Freya is quick to scold.

"What?" The blonde Original shrugs. "You haven't seen them together. You don't understand."

"I'm not one to ever agree with your sister, but she has a point," Elena says. "Y/N and Elijah-"

"But there is no me and Elijah." The girls fall silent at the tone in your voice. "There never was." You retake your glass of wine, chugging the rest of its contents before setting your glass back down. "Now if you guys will excuse me, I need some air."

No one tries to stop you as you go and you end up on the back patio, hopping up onto the brick railing and then leaning your back against the brick pillar. The cold air outside cools your flushed face and you try not to let your mood tumble down the rabbit hole.

You knew inviting the Mikaelsons was bound to bring up the past, but you didn't think it'd affect you quite like it is now. Elijah was, for obvious reasons, a touchy subject with you and your friends knew not to bring him up. But then Rebekah broke the ice and Elena, of all people, just had to agree with her.

"Here. Put this on." You're surprised to see Freya offering you a jacket, but you take it nonetheless and offer her a small smile in thanks. She grins, placing a smoking bowl down on the railing next to her. "Sage," she explains. "It keeps the vampires from hearing."

"God I love magic."

Freya chuckles and then after a moment passes, she says, "I'm sorry about what my sister said in there. They shouldn't bring any of that up so close to your wedding."

You shrug. "It is what it is. And if I'm being honest, she's not totally wrong."

"No?"

You shake your head. "I almost didn't invite Elijah because I knew my stupid crush on him would resurface, but then I thought I'd look like an asshole if I sent out personal invites to everyone else and he saw he didn't receive one." Freya chuckles quietly and you sigh longingly. "And the closer it comes to my wedding, the more I find myself longing for those talks with your brother rather than what Landon has to offer. I miss our talks about history and just life in general," you say. "And the more I listen to Landon talk about the latest Xbox game or the stupid jokes he's heard from his coworkers, it feels like I die a little more every day on the inside."

Freya frowns a little. "I apologize if I'm overstepping, Y/N, but do you honestly love Landon? If you continue to compare him to my brother, you're just setting yourself and Landon up for heartbreak down the line."

"I know. And I love Landon. I do, but I don't think I'm as in love with him as I once thought."

"Y/N.."

The first tear falls and you huff a laugh as you wipe it away. Quietly, you rhetorically ask, "Why couldn't your brother just love me? It'd have made things so much more easier." You're so caught up in your feelings that you don't see Freya tense or her eyes widen in surprise. "I don't even know what I'm saying," you then mumble. "I'm getting married in two days. Maybe I should just lay off the wine until then."

"Uhh, yeah. Maybe." Freya agrees.

You snap out of your spiral then, eyes widening. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry for laying that on you."

"No. Don't be," she laughs. "You needed to vent and I'm glad it was me, an unbiased ear."

"Really?"

"Really. You're fine," Freya assures you. "Now come on. Let's get you inside before we freeze."

As you hop off the railing, heart aching and mind going a mile a minute, you can only hope that your mind clears in time for you to say I do to Landon. It would really be terrible to enter a marriage while longing for someone else.

The morning of your wedding dawns bright and early, and you immediately know you're in no shape to be getting married. Since Rebekah, Freya, and Keelin have come into Mystic Falls you've put on a brave face for everyone, but now there's no hiding exactly what you're feeling. Because the moment aunt Liz, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie wake you for your big day with party horns and confetti, you burst into tears.

Immediately the cheerful atmosphere vanishes and the girls are stunned into silence. "I can't do this," you cry. "I can't do this to myself or to Landon. It's not fair to him."

"Oh sweetie." Liz takes a seat next to you on the bed, putting a comforting arm around your shoulders. "What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

"I'm so sorry, aunt Liz, but I can't- I just can't get married today."

Elena shifts uncomfortably next to the bed. "Y/N, if this is about us bringing up Elijah the other night I'm so sorry."

"No. No, you don't have to be sorry." Sniffling, you wipe at your eyes and look at those in the room. "I will admit to being nervous about seeing Elijah again after only talking about him brought back this stupid crush on him, but the more I thought about it," you trail off, shaking your head. "Can I really marry a human?"

Bonnie frowns. "Y/N, you are a human."

"I know that, Bon, but after everything we've been through.. knowing all that I know, can I actually settle down behind a white picket fence and pray every night that Landon doesn't ever find out about the supernatural? Whether you guys want to admit it or not, Liz and I will always be in danger because of our ties to you guys." Seeing their frowns makes your heart break just a little bit more.

"I don't mean to offend you," you say. "I love you guys alot. But I've put Landon in danger for years now and I can't risk it anymore. Because what happens when he asks for kids? I won't bring a family into our already messy lives."

"Y/N," Caroline murmurs. "The wedding is in nine hours. What are we supposed to do?"

"Compel them to forget or to be okay with the wedding being called off. I don't care. Just please do something."

"What are you going to tell Landon?" Bonnie wonders.

"I'm not sure. If I have to, I'll call in a favor from Klaus. He likes me enough to compel the groom away."

"And the caterers?"

The bedroom door suddenly swings open and Rebekah sighs as she leans against the door jamb. "Don't worry. Us Mikaelsons have a bit of money to throw around. All caterers will be told the wedding is off and to not to mention the money they've already been paid, and Landon's family will find that they're not missing a penny from their bank accounts."

It feels like a weight has been lifted off your chest. "Thank you, Bex. Thank you so much."

"Don't even worry about it," she assures you with a smile. Then pushing off the door jamb, she pastes on a smile and claps her hands once. "Okay. All vampires and witches with me. We've got a wedding to cancel."

Caroline and Bonnie are quick to rush out of the room, but Elena lingers by the bed. When you meet her gaze, she says, "If you need some time, my family's lake house is empty. You're more than welcome to take a week or two for yourself there. We'll give you some space."

"Thank you, 'Lena. Some space and time actually sounds pretty good."

"Well then it's settled," Liz says. "You go freshen up in the bathroom and I'll pack you a bag. We'll grab some groceries while everyone cancels your wedding, and then I'll drive you down to the lake house. Does that sound like a good plan?"

You offer her a faint grin. "Yeah. It does."

The moment Elena leaves the room, it seems like everything is in a fast forward motion. Liz ushers you to the bathroom where you have a good cry in the shower and then as you're getting dressed you have numerous text messages from your friends coming in to tell you how all the compulsion is going. Damon even offers to compel Landon for you, admitting that he never quite liked the human blood bag and he was glad you had come to your senses before you took the guy's last name. That had earned your first chuckle of the morning and even Liz chuckled when you had read her Damon's text.

Liz helps you put the groceries away at the lake house and then makes you promise to call her should you need anything, no matter the time. And only after you've agreed does she finally leave you all alone.

You send off one last text to your group of friends that your phone is going to be off for the time being and then promptly fall asleep in the master bedroom.

When you wake up again, it's only a little past one in the afternoon and you decide to make yourself something to eat. You eat and then settle on the couch for a little tv, only to end up outside on the dock and staring out into the water.

The time your wedding was to take place comes and goes, and you can't help but turn your phone on to see if you have any notifications. The only messages you have are from Caroline who assures you that everything's been taken care of and that she thinks you made the right decision. Hearing confirmation from your cousin eases some of your worries and you don't feel as bad about what you did.

By the time night falls, you're snuggled up on the couch and watching the best horror has to offer in order to keep your mind off any romance for the time being. You're in the middle of watching The Conjuring when there's a knock on the front door, startling a yelp out of you. Cursing your overbearing friends and their need to make sure you're really okay, you pause the movie and get up to see who it is.

Only when you open the front door you're more than a little stunned to find Elijah standing there by the top of the porch steps as he turns to face you. There's a moment where you both drink each other in and then your eyes narrow into a glare whereas Elijah's lips stretch into a smile as he steps closer to you.

"Elijah."

"Hello, Y/N."

The butterflies take flight and your heart beats double. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

He huffs a quiet laugh. "Someone near and dear to me had to make possibly one of the most difficult decisions in their life this morning. Did you really think I wouldn't come to check up on you?"

You do your best not to swoon, smiling softly at him as you shake your head in amusement and open the door wider as an invite. "You're lucky you've already been invited in otherwise we'd be stuck out on the porch. Come on. Let's go take a seat."

Elijah follows you into the living room after shutting the door behind him and you turn off the movie so you can place all your focus on him. There's a fire going in the fireplace, but you still turn on a few lamps so you can see him properly. And when you turn back around it's to see that Elijah already made himself comfortable smack dab in the middle of the couch.

Grinning, you drop in the spot next to him with one leg curled beneath you and the other hanging off the front of the couch so your foot is planted on the floor. "Hi," you muse.

"Is it too soon to ask you what happened?"

Straight to the point as usual, his question makes you faintly cringe. But before he can take the question back, you decide to tell him. "I'm too involved with the supernatural world, Elijah. What kind of person would I be if I had dragged Landon into the mess that is our lives? He deserves to have a normal and happy life."

"And what about you? Don't you deserve to be normal and happy?"

As he speaks, you notice how his gaze drops to your mouth before quickly darting up and looking elsewhere. You try to play it off but you know your damn heart gives you away immediately when he fights off a smile. "Normal and happy is so overrated," you then manage to say. "After all that I've seen and been through, a normal life would be boring."

Elijah finally allows himself to smile. "Is that the only reason why you wouldn't marry him?"

You tense at his knowing gaze, heart beat tripling as it's your turn to avert your gaze. You'd never been good at confronting your feelings head on, especially with the person said feelings are for. So as the seconds tick on by, you can feel your face flushing. You quietly groan. "Do I really have to say it out loud? It's embarrassing."

"Y/N."

"Elijah," you retort. You manage to hold his gaze for three seconds before you break eye contact and sigh. "It was obvious I had a crush on you back when I was seventeen and apparently it's still obvious now."

"I think it's adorable."

"Of course you do." Against your better judgement you reach out to swat at his arm and your breath hitches as he catches your hand and then maneuvers it so he can press a kiss to the back of your hand. You smile sadly. "It's been you since I was seventeen and I don't think anyone can ever compare to the Elijah Mi-mmph."

Elijah stuns you by pulling you into his lap and quickly maneuvering you so your knees are on either side of his lap, his mouth slotting against yours with such ease. There's a moment where you don't know what exactly to do with your hands, but the second his hands tug on the hem of your shirt, your hands find purchase on his shoulders before sliding up the side of his neck.

It's you who breaks the kiss for some much needed air, but you don't go far because Elijah keeps you close. His hand cups the side of your jaw, but his thumb runs gently under your bottom lip. You nip at his thumb, he grins, and then you groan when your predicament finally settles in. Elijah chuckles as you drop your head to his shoulder, your hands clutching at his sides under his suit jacket.

"What are we even doing?"

"I believe you're finally going after what you truly wanted."

"And you? What about you?" You ask, shifting nervously in his lap as you sit back.

"I am making my move," he says as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear, "before someone else comes in to ask for your hand in marriage." You roll your eyes and he chuckles softly. "Since I made you admit something earlier, I will admit that I too have compared everyone to you. My family knew I held you above all else and they were quick to rub it in my face that you were to wed this evening. And earlier when I got Rebekah's call, I knew this was our chance."

"You're a big 'ol softy, Elijah Mikaelson."

"Only when it comes to you, Y/N Y/L/N."

You can't help but smile at his words, leaning in for a quick kiss. But it's not so quick as Elijah pulls you back in, peppering a few kisses across your mouth and cheeks. You giggle, but then that giggle turns into a groan. "The girls are going to be unbearable."

"Niklaus too, but I'm willing to put up with it as long as I have you by my side." You make a noise and facial expression as if you have to think about it, and Elijah gently squeezes your waist in retaliation which makes your jerk in his hold. "If you're that worried about their reactions, we can go away for a bit until everyone has had enough time to get used to our new situation."

You huff a laugh, but upon seeing Elijah's expression your amusement fades away. "You're serious."

"I am. New Orleans is a bit crowded at the moment and if I remember correctly you've always wanted to see Ireland. So what do you say to a spontaneous vacation with me?"

You blink owlishly at Elijah before your lips stretch into a smile. "Yes!" Your excitement makes him chuckle, but then you're quick to to come down. "My friends won't go for it. They'll continuously ask if I know what I'm doing and want daily updates and everything."

"They won't. And if they do, they'll have Sheriff Forbes to answer to." Your brow furrows in confusion and Elijah smirks. "How do you think I found you all the way out here? I stopped by the Forbes residence and Elizabeth was kind enough to point me in the right direction. It seems we already have one person in our corner."

"Jesus Christ," you huff. "Are we really doing this?"

"Only if you're sure you want to."

You take a moment to think things through, but before that moment can stretch on too long, you say, "Yeah. Let's do this. When do we leave?"

"Whenever you want," he tells you.

"As much as I wanna leave right now, I kind of just want to take you up to bed and get reacquainted with you."

Elijah slowly smiles. "I quite like the way you think, Miss Y/L/N."

"Then what are you waiting for, old man? Take me to bed already."

SIX MONTHS LATER

Freya and Keelin have just gotten home, a stack of mail on the hall table catching Freya's attention. Her siblings are out as usual, wrecking havoc no doubt, so on her way to the kitchen she grabs up the stack to sort through it.

As Keelin goes about grabbing the wine from the fridge and two glasses, Freya starts to filter out the trash from the stack of mail. Only halfway through the stack, one particular envelope catches her eye.

Freya starts to smile. "It seems like Elijah finally broke his silence."

"Oohh," Keelin coos. "What does he have to say? How is Y/N doing? Because last I heard not even the girls in Mystic Falls know."

Freya opens up the envelope, pulling out a picture and a letter. She smiles brightly upon seeing her brother and Y/N smiling under the Northern Lights- which is utterly adorable, in her opinion- and then goes on to read the letter to herself. Her smile slowly falters as her eyes widen in surprise. "No. They didn't," she breathes in awe. She quickly scans the picture again, her eyes lighting up as she laughs joyously. "They did!"

Keelin startles. "What? What did they do?"

Freya drops the letter and quickly flips around the picture for her wife to see. "They got married!"

"WHAT!?" Keelin practically shouts. "Let me see," she says as she hurries around the kitchen island.

Freya openly laughs now. "They got married under the Northern Lights last month. They'll finally be coming home in a couple of weeks."

Keelin grabs the photo so she can study it itself, her smile blossoming. "Oh my god. They really did get married."

"In the letter, Elijah said only Caroline and her mother know. They're going to come here first so they can figure out living arrangements and then they'll go see everyone else."

"Rebekah is going to be so pissed," Keelin muses.

"I can see it now, she's going to force a small ceremony on them when they're settled in."

"As long as I get to see Elijah smile in person as he is in his wedding photo, I'm all for it. Jesus looks at how adorable they look together."

"I know," Freya says. "I don't think my brother could have found anyone better for himself. We had only met Y/N and I immediately knew they'd be perfect for each other."

"Right?" Keelin then huffs. She looks at the picture one last time before setting the picture down. "We need to blow that up and hang it on the wall. Getting married under the Northern Lights was such a neat idea."

"Mhm. So much better than that Christmas themed wedding she originally had planned."

Keelin chuckles. "I thought I was the only one who thought the Christmas theme was tacky."

"Oh no. Rebekah secretly hated it too, but she didn't want to upset Y/N. She will, however, be upset she missed the Northern Lights wedding."

"I mean I'm pretty bummed, but I'm also excited for them to get home so we can pick their brains and get to the bottom of whatever the hell they were thinking. I'm super stoked for them, but I also want to know who proposed to who and everything!"

"Same here." Freya turns towards her wife, wrapping her arms around her waist while Keelin settles her arms around Freya's neck. "But until then we got family to inform of the couple's new status. Not it!"

"Not i- dammit!" Keelin pouts, she now having to be the one to inform Klaus and Rebekah. "I hate it when you do that."

Freya laughs. "Better luck next time. Now let's go. I can't wait to see their reactions."

#elijah mikaelson imagine #elijah mikaelson x reader #the originals imagine #elijah x reader #elijah mikaelson #freya mikaelson #keelin malraux #rebekah mikaelson #elena gilbert #bonnie bennett #caroline forbes #klaus mikaelson #the originals

[heyyyharry]

Deep End - Chapter 12: Dirty Dreams

…in which Harry and Ezi kiss again…and again…and again… (THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SMUT)

Word count: 4.6k

AU: famous!harry, siren!mc, adult modern retelling of the little mermaid? lol, fake dating, enemies to lovers.

WARNING: MATURE THEMES

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Harry didn’t understand dreams. How did dreams even work? Because sometimes he would see someone he hadn’t seen in years in his dreams, even though he had completely forgotten about the person’s existence up to that point. Then there were these super violent and bloody dreams that woke him in the middle of the night in cold sweats. Then, there were some other more inappropriate dreams that made him so disappointed when the alarm rang.

Listen, Harry wasn’t a pervert. He didn’t think about sex 24/7; well, not usually. But lately, he’d been having dirty dreams more often than he would enjoy. He would wake up with his dick rock hard and end up late for work because he had to stroke one out in the shower. And he blamed it on…

“Ezi! Where are your pants? And why are you wearing my shirt?”

Ezi stopped in the kitchen doorway with a bowl of ice cream in one hand, the other holding a spoon in her mouth. “This is my new ‘at home’ look,” she said, while leaning against the door in nothing but his button-up shirt that fell just past her bum. As if the sight wasn’t torturing enough, she had to be licking ice cream from the fucking spoon. It was eight in the fucking morning! And Harry would not go back to the bathroom to wank again.

“But where are your shirts? Why don’t you wear them?” he asked and slipped past her into the kitchen. He would make himself a cup of coffee so he wouldn’t have to watch her being effortlessly sexy in the kitchen doorway.

“They said on the internet that you should borrow your boyfriend’s shirt, and you’re my fake boyfriend.”

“Fair enough,” Harry chuckled.

She gave him a shy smile and left without saying another word. That was the longest conversation they’d had since that night she went out on a date with Dawson. Ezi was always a little bit weird. Okay, well, very weird. But her weirdness had been different lately, in a bad way. She was still doing weird things, but keeping a distance from him.

Harry knew he couldn’t really complain, since he’d specifically told her to her face that he preferred it when it was just him and the cat. Having his own space had been nice for a day or two, then he’d started missing how annoying she’d been. And of course, he blamed this all on Dawson.

Harry had been second to Dawson his whole life. Ever since he’d been a kid and found out that he’d had a cousin, Dawson had been nothing but a burden for Harry. Harry was the only child, but to his parents, Dawson had been their favourite son. His father used to love sports, but Harry had never been a fan of those. Dawson, on the other hand, had been the captain of the school’s football team and was excellent at marathons as well. So if Harry’s father was still alive, Dawson would be the one making him proud by taking over the family business Harry didn’t want.

Now, just as Harry had finally gained his own spotlight as a singer, becoming great at something Dawson wasn’t good at, Dawson swept in and stole Ezi.

Harry had spent a lot of time wondering why it had mattered so much to him that Ezi had gone on one date with his cousin. He didn’t even like her like that, and the house was always peaceful without her, which he enjoyed very much. But why did the idea of her becoming something with Dawson bother him so much? He hadn’t been sleeping well for the last couple of days. Not to mention that Ezi had started keeping distance from him. Well, he’d done it first because of the kiss, but it was weird when she did it because she had always been so fucking clingy. And he’d hated that. Until now!

Ding dong!

“What do you want?” Harry asked in the least annoyed tone he could pull off, while fighting the urge to slam the door in Dawson’s good-looking face.

“Is Ezi home?” Dawson asked.

“Ezi? You mean Ezili? Because I’m the only one who calls her Ezi.”

“Y-Yeah, Ezili,” Dawson said with an awkward smile. This guy was a tool. What did Ezi see in him?

“No, she’s at work,” Harry said, and quickly added, “but don’t think about going there. They’re having a book club meeting; she’d be mad if you showed up and distracted her.”

That was a lie. Harry didn’t even know if people actually hosted book club meetings at random book shops, but did it matter? If he was going to be petty, he must go all the way.

“What do you wanna meet her for?” he asked before Dawson could leave. He didn’t want to have a long conversation with Dawson about Ezi, but it was the only way to learn more about their date. “Did you do something that you wanna apologise for?”

“No. Of course not,” Dawson chuckled and adjusted his glasses. “She bought some books and forgot them in my car.”

“I could give them to her when she gets back from work,” Harry said.

Dawson looked hesitant. “Well, she told me not to give them to you.”

“Oh.” Harry kept a straight face, but he was very offended that she’d made that request. Did she really hate him so much for what he’d said that night?

“So,” he ventured, averting his eyes. “Guess the date went well?”

“I suppose,” Dawson said.

Harry had hoped for a different response. This one didn’t really hurt him but it didn’t make him happy, either. He cleared his throat and straightened his back. “So are you looking forward to the second date?”

“I don’t think there’s gonna be one,” Dawson said, to Harry’s surprise. “I don’t think she likes me like that?”

Okay, this was the response Harry had been waiting for. He tried to suppress a grin as he patted his cousin’s shoulder sympathetically, while he was far from sympathetic. “Oh, don’t be so pessimistic. I know she’s a bit out of your league, but dare to dream a little.”

“Very funny,” Dawson snorted and brushed off Harry’s hand. “But I think she has a crush on you.”

“Really? I mean, no!” Harry faked a laugh, crossing his arm and leaning against the door in an unnatural pose. “No way.” Now he sounded like a commercial guy who had never attended a single acting class. “She doesn’t...she doesn’t have a crush on me,” he stuttered. “W-Why do you think so?”

Dawson pressed his lips into an understanding smile that made Harry’s face grow red. “All she talked about for the entire night was you.”

Harry thought Dawson was just teasing him at first. Then he remembered that this was Dawson, not him. So it was true. Ezi had talked about him for the whole night when she was with Dawson.

“What did she say?” Harry asked, trying to seem more curious than excited.

“She told me you were a good cook, and then complained about your bad habits. Then it was all ‘Harry said that’ and ‘Harry said this’. It seemed like she was really into you.”

“Oh, wow.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Harry shrugged, trying to act cool and all that. “I’m just surprised. I thought she hated me.”

“I mean, she can still hate you if she has a crush on you,” said Dawson. “Also, why is she staying with you? Where’s her family?”

Harry shifted uncomfortably. “Why didn’t you ask her?”

“She kept mentioning her mother but nothing more than that, and she’d just change the subject whenever I tried to ask.”

Harry didn’t have enough time to think of a lie, so he blurted, “Her family was abusive.”

Dawson looked horrified, but he completely bought that. “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” he said. “She’s a lovely girl, though. I know that you don’t like her, but don’t break her heart. Turn her down nicely.”

Harry blinked. “What?”

“You don’t like Ezili, right?” Dawson asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Harry laughed, uneasily. “I mean no, I don’t.”

“Yeah, I know you don’t wanna be in a relationship.”

Harry didn’t want to be in a relationship, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel things. He guessed most people would just assume he had no heart because it was easier for them to make sense of why he wouldn’t settle down. In reality it was more complicated than that. He had had feelings for some people in the past, and he’d shut them down before he got to the point of no return. Ezi might be a dangerous creature, but he’d probably hurt more people than she had, mostly himself.

So did he like Ezi? Yes. He’d just realised that when his heart blossomed to the thought of her thinking about him on a date with his cousin. There was no denying that, as he only felt this way about his own songs. But was he happy about it? Well, yeah, of course he was happy about it. He was over the moon even. Still, that didn’t mean he should do something about it. He would just keep it to himself and wait–No, hope for it to pass.

Later that night, when Ezi came home from work, she went straight into the kitchen to eat from the fridge, and Harry came downstairs to find her sitting on the floor, munching off a sandwich in the fridge light glow. He watched her for a moment from the door before deciding to break the silence.

She flinched when hearing her name. She turned around, sandwich still in her mouth. “Did Dawson stop by?” she asked. “He said he would bring me my books.”

“Yeah, he did. I put them in your room,” Harry said, trying his best not to roll his eyes at the mention of his cousin. But then he remembered what Dawson had told him and came to sit beside her on the floor.

She ignored him and continued eating. She looked nothing like someone who had a crush on him, so what if Dawson had lied to him? He had never heard a lie from Dawson, but it didn’t mean Dawson was incapable of lying.

“Ezi, I wanna ask you something,” he said.

She finished her sandwich and reached into the fridge of ice cream. “Go ahead,” she said.

Harry started fidgeting with his shirt. “Why won’t you tell me about that date with Dawson?”

Ezi didn’t look at him as she said, “Do I have to tell you? It was personal.”

“Well, your sister was there,” he reasoned, “and she’s tried to kill me several times so I think I deserve to know some details about that night.”

Yes, Harry was curious about Ezi’s sister as well, but was it bad to say that he wanted to know more about what Ezi thought of him? Was it bad that Ezi’s feelings for him mattered more than his stupid life?

“My sister wasn’t there the whole time,” Ezi sighed and dipped her spoon into the ice cream. “I got rid of her at the fair then went for dinner with Dawson.”

“Oh,” Harry said, watching her intently as she ate. “So—”

“My sister wanted me to go back home.”

Harry froze. “Why?” he blurted, suddenly anxious. “I mean…does your mother want you back? Not that I think she won’t ever want you back—”

“No.” Ezi rolled her eyes. “My sister wants me to go back in return of the throne, so she can be Queen and allow me back into the Queendom.”

“But you wanna Queen?”

“I’m going to be Queen!” Ezi snapped. Seeing the shocked look on Harry’s face, she softened her voice, “I’m the firstborn. I’m going to be Queen. I have a year to…” Her voice trailed off and she spaced out for a second.

“To what?”

Ezi pressed her lips into a tight smile then said, “To stay here. My sister told me that my mother would take me back in a year.”

“That’s the punishment?” Harry chuckled. “Make you stay in this world where a handsome man takes care of you and buys you stuff?” Maybe siren mums weren’t as bad as he’d thought.

“And also bullies me 24/7,” Ezi said.

“Hey!” Harry put up his hands. “You bully me, too.”

“You literally told me you didn’t want to see me around the house.”

“Yeah, well, I like seeing you around the house now.”

“Liar,” Ezi said and took a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. Harry tried not to pay attention to the way she licked the spoon or think about licking ice cream from her lips, but he knew he was going to see a lot of that in his dreams tonight.

“I’m sorry about what I said that night,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Ezi held his gaze for two seconds, squinting her eyes. “Fine,” she said at last. “I forgive you.”

“Well, that was easy.”

“For now,” she added, putting the ice cream back into the fridge. “I’ll hate you again when I’m hungry.”

“You’re hungry eighty percent of the time!”

“Yeah.”

Harry chuckled as he watched her amber to the kitchen door. Clenching his fingers, he asked, “When’s your birthday?”

Ezi turned her head. “March 12. Why?”

“So I can say happy birthday to you on March 12.”

“Oh, thanks. Not looking forward to it, though.”

“Also,” Harry said fast before she left. “Do you wanna go to a party with me?”

.

.

.

Niall had just reached one million followers on TikTok, so he’d thrown a huge party at his mansion and invited his friends who had brought their friends and their friends’ friends. So the most influential people in the entertainment industry were at the party tonight.

Jeff had suggested that Harry bring Ezi so they could do some PDA stuff at the party to make headlines for the next few days. At first, Harry had planned to make up some excuses so he could go alone.

He and Ezi hadn’t kissed since that day in his mother’s closet. Well, actually, they had had a few pecks on the lips in public, but it’d only been for the paparazzi. It was hard to think about romance when there were at least ten cameras pointing at you.

Their first kiss, however, had been real and…hot. Harry couldn’t stop thinking about it. He didn’t know how Ezi felt since she never talked about it, but he had the impression that she had enjoyed it as much as he had. He couldn’t stop thinking about her flushed cheeks and plum lips as she pulled back, confused yet wanting more. In his dreams last night, they had been in that closet, but their clothes had been discarded, and he’d been pounding her against the wall. It was so hot. He’d had to wank twice when he woke up and he couldn’t make eye contact with Ezi in the kitchen during breakfast. Now he couldn’t get those images out of his mind.

“Harry.”

Harry jumped when his name was called. Ezi gave him a questioning look. She was wearing a little pink strap dress and her hair was in a high bun. She looked so cute tonight; his stylist had done a great job.

“You okay?” she asked, slipping her fingers into his. He knew it didn’t mean anything and she was only doing what Jeff had told her to. But he couldn’t stop the butterflies in his stomach from acting up. “It seemed like your soul left your body for a second.”

“Sorry, this loud music gives me a headache,” he said and finished his glass of wine. Ezi didn’t drink. “You wanna dance?”

Her gaze shot up in surprise. “Do you wanna dance?”

“What do you mean? I’m a fantastic dance partner.”

“But I’ve never danced before. I just got these legs a few weeks ago.”

Harry chuckled, shaking his head. “You’ll be good at it, I’m sure. We’ll wait for a slow song.”

Niall walked by just in time to overhear the conversation, so he shouted, “Slow song for my besties Harry and Ezili!”

Harry tried to stop Niall, but it was too late. Everyone in Niall’s living room was staring at him and Ezi. Jeff would be happy about this, but Harry didn’t think Ezi was. Her fingers tightened around his as she stepped closer, apparently uncomfortable with the intrusive glances they were receiving.

“Come on,” he said, pulling her close. “We’ll show them how great we are.”

“But I’m not—”

He didn’t let her finish and drag her out on the dance floor. There were a few couples slow-dancing around them, but Harry knew he and Ezi were the attention of tonight. In these people’s eyes, they were in love, completely infatuated with each other.

“Follow my lead,” he whispered in Ezi's ear while fixing her posture. “It’s easy.”

For a human who had been to too many of these dances, it was. But Ezi was barely good at walking. And so she ended up stepping on his feet repeatedly. The giggles of some women in the room made her even more anxious, so she almost stopped. But he reassured her by pulling her closer and lifting her chin so she was looking at him instead of them.

“Don’t be nervous. This is your little mermaid moment. Embrace it,” he said, making her smile.

“Ariel was a terrible dancer.”

“True. But she looked pretty stepping on the Prince’s feet.”

Ezi arched an eyebrow, amused. “Are you calling yourself the Prince?”

“I almost got casted for the role of Eric, by the way.”

“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes.

He acted offended. “No, it’s real.”

“As real as Santa Claus.”

“Santa Claus is real,” Harry argued. “Not you saying he isn’t when you’re literally a mythical creature.”

“Shut up,” she chuckled.

“Make me,” he replied.

Harry didn’t know who had initiated it. Maybe they had both leaned in at the same time. But this time as they shared a kiss in a crowded room, it felt like they were all alone in his mother’s closet once again. Of course he had to keep his hands respectfully on her lower back, but the kiss was still hot. He could feel himself being unravelled right there on the dance floor, and he liked the way her fingers twirled the hair at the back of his neck as they melted into one. But then people had to ruin the moment for them by filming it. Jeff would be happy; Harry wasn’t.

He had developed a special talent over the years as a celebrity and could always sense when someone was taking pictures of him. It made him uneasy and distracted, so he had to pull back. He supposed his twisted expression might have given Ezi the wrong idea. She thought it was her that made him uncomfortable. And for some stupid reason, Harry let her think that.

They left the party early because Ezi didn’t seem to enjoy it anymore. On the drive home, Harry tried to find a way to apologise for ruining the moment, but he didn’t know how to not make it awkward. She didn’t say a single word to him in the car, and he knew she wasn’t going to unless he started the conversation. But then he didn’t. And so she went to bed angry at him.

Harry felt really bad about it. He knew it wouldn’t be this way if he had communicated like a normal human being. But it wasn’t easy. He didn’t want to admit to her that he’d enjoyed kissing her, and he would’ve made out with her in front of all those people had it not been for who he was. He had wanted that moment to be real, but then he remembered it wasn’t, and he felt like he was taking advantage of her.

Maybe she felt that way, too. He wasn’t sure. Or she was just tired and didn’t really care about the kiss, and he was the one making a fuss out of it because he assumed he meant more to her than he really did. Again, Dawson could’ve lied. Ezi might not even have feelings for him. She might think he was a bad kisser even.

As Harry fell asleep that night, he dreamed about her again. They were alone in Niall’s mansion. The music was playing as they slow-danced but nobody was watching. She started kissing him, and he kissed her back. His hands reached around her to unzip her little pink dress and let it pool around her ankles. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath. His cock was rock hard when they went in for more kissing. Her tongue slid between his lips, her hands reaching for his belt as he fumbled on the buttons of his own shirt. Then he woke up with a tent on his crotch. It was three in the fucking morning, and he was having the worst erection in his life.

Harry slipped his hand under the duvet and started playing with it to relieve some tension, but just as he was about to cum, he heard a loud crash downstairs. Instant boner killer.

“Ezi!” he shouted in frustration, slipped on his boxers and marched out of the room.

“I’m sorry!” Ezi’s voice echoed from downstairs. Harry groaned and headed down to the kitchen where he found her collecting broken pieces of a vase she’d knocked over.

“Just leave it,” he said, grabbing her wrists and pulling her up and away from the glass. “You’d hurt yourself, idiot.”

“I’m sorry. It was dark. I couldn’t see.”

“Why didn’t you turn on the lights?”

She shrugged, which made him laugh, because that was very Ezi of her. “You’re a dumbass,” he said.

“I’m not,” she pouted.

“You are. This only happens to dumbasses.”

“Gosh, you’re an asshole,” she mumbled, arms crossed. She was standing with her back to the counter, and he was blocking her way from the door. Of course she could always sidestep him to leave, but instead, she stayed there, just awkwardly chewing on her nail. She was wearing nothing but a loose white shirt of his. And this time, Harry wasn’t complaining.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she said.

“I’m not even looking at you,” he said, yet staring right at her face.

“You are.”

“How would you know? Unless you’re also looking at me.”

“This is stupid.”

“You’re stupid.”

“No, you—” Ezi’s voice cut off; her gaze dropped to his mouth as if she hadn’t realised how close they were until now. Harry knew that look so well, and usually it would be a sign for him to make a move. But this was Ezi.

“I should go back to bed,” she said, eyes meeting his again.

He nodded, but didn’t get out of the way.

Again, he didn’t know who leaned in first. The moment their mouths collided, all his thoughts evaporated; his walls crumbled, and he was powerless, unable to pull back. There was a kind of power in the way she kissed that he could not resist. He was all hers.

He tightened his arms around her hips as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lifted her onto the counter. He could feel his erection growing again in his pants. It didn’t take too long for it to turn fully hard, and she obviously felt it, so she pulled back from their kiss, panting. “It’s…”

“Ignore it,” he breathed, kissing her again, making his way down to her neck and chest. She was squirming now, and he wondered if she was also feeling things down there. “Are you wet?” he asked breathlessly against her lips.

She blinked, confused. “No, I’m dry.”

“No, Ezi,” Harry chuckled, face buried in her neck. “I mean, are you wet between your legs?”

“Oh.” She licked her perfect lips and nodded once. “Yeah. Like most of the time.”

Harry’s whole body went stiff. “What?”

“Like...whenever I think of us kissing,” Ezi admitted innocently.

Harry didn’t know which was hotter. The fact that they were both half-naked and horny right now, or the fact that she got turned on just from thinking of kissing him.

“What do you usually do when it happens?” he asked, adding soft kisses to her lips.

Her fists tightened on his back, her eyelids fluttering. “I r-rub my thighs together.”

Harry smiled as his cock twitched to the thought of it. “Does that feel good?”

Ezi nodded.

“Want me to help you feel even better?”

“You can?”

Harry nodded. He knew it wasn’t right to have sex with her when she didn’t even know what it was, so he wouldn’t rush it. He was just going to help her.

He kissed her once more and got down on his knees between her legs. She looked so hot all spread out in front of him with just his shirt and panties on. She wasn’t lying when she said she was wet. Her panties were completely soaked as he slid them off. She shivered a little yet didn’t protest. She wanted him to help.

He started by kissing her inner thigh. She had the prettiest pussy he had ever seen. He could just cum to the thought of licking her, and he swore he almost did when he took the first try. Her hips jolted, and he glanced up to meet her confused stare.

“If you want me to stop, just say it, okay?”

“Okay,” she replied, biting her nail.

He held her eye contact as he started licking. She tasted as sweet as he’d imagined in those dreams. He still couldn’t believe this was real, but god, the sounds she made sent him to heaven. He dipped his tongue into her and her hands flew to the back of his neck. For a moment she forgot everything and started moving her hips against his face. Fuck. It turned him on so much. He slipped his hand into his boxers and gave himself a few strokes. Then she started to moan, and he worked his hand faster while flicking his tongue into her. He fucked himself until she cummed and made a mess inside his pants, cum dripping onto the floor.

“Is that milk?” Her question got him cackling as he got back to his feet, holding onto the counter on either side of her so he wouldn’t fall. He had never cummed so much; it had literally drained him out.

“No, it’s not milk,” he said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. She looked so fucked out as well, which made him feel so proud. “Did you like that?”

“Yes,” she said shyly. “Did you?”

“Very much,” he said. “I would kiss you again if I hadn’t just eaten you out. Not sure how you’d like it.”

A look of horror crossed Ezi’s face as she quickly checked between her legs.

“No!” Harry laughed. “I didn’t literally eat you. It’s what it’s called.”

“Oh.”

“Dummy.”

“Is it like...sex stuff?”

“Not really sex, just part of the sex. So yeah, sex stuff,” Harry explained, not sure how to feel about this situation. Now that post-nut clarity had hit, he started to feel a bit guilty, but it didn’t he wasn’t proud of himself for making her cum so hard her legs were shaking.

“I still want to kiss, though,” Ezi said shyly. “I don’t care.”

“Oh, yeah?” Harry smiled. He liked seeing her blush because of him.

With a nod, she pulled him back in.

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[ms-demeanor]

Some meandering thoughts about jokes about rape and cultural changes in the last decade and a half

Like, don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad we’re in a place now where we DO question rape jokes and it would be much harder to get away with “raping Jonah Hill is incredibly amusing” as the center of a scene the way that you could in 2007-2013 but I do kind of feel like we don’t talk about how sudden that change was enough.

People talk about how you should have always known that awful things are awful but if you’re surrounded by rape jokes and pedophilia jokes all the time and that’s what’s funny to the other kids around you and the adults in your lives and what makes up the jokes in the movies you watch then it’s hard to act like you always knew it was wrong.

Dead baby jokes were a HUGE thing when I was a teen and in my early twenties and sitting around swapping dead baby jokes was just a thing we did, and tossed in among them were things like:

A joke about incest with the punchline “Get off me pa, you’re crushing my smokes.”

This joke about a pedophile murdering a child.

Let’s not turn this rape into a murder.

And hell, look at the activity graph for “soap on a rope” on urban dictionary:

2014 starts a significant taper.

Letterboxd has their “sexual assault against men played for comedy page” and if you sort by release date there’s a downward trend with 2014 as a really stand-out year for rape jokes about men in popular movies:

2010 - 10

2011 - 12

2012 - 14

2013 - 12

2014 - 18 (jesus, which includes a prison rape joke in “Paddington”)

2015 - 9

2016 - 9

2017 - 11

2018 - 15

2019 - 4

2020 - 1

(this is of course with the caveat that this is only what has been documented so far)

Shock porn sites used to be a thing and they used to be a COMMON thing. A thing that would get remixed and have late night hosts make jokes about them and that got parody music videos.

So on the one hand I was really glad that in 2010 the hacker conference WASN’T asking me to make a rape joke on their tee shirt, but since Pool 2 Girl came up at every single “this is what defcon is about” discussion and some of the guys from the con had printed up “lemonparty.org” stickers to slap up around town it wouldn’t have been *surprising* if they’d been asking for that.

If you were a teenager in 2005 would you have known how much of a dick move goatse-ing people was? We didn’t have the same culture of trigger warnings (not that I disapprove of trigger warnings, they are good and I like them) and there was very much an attitude online at the time of “if you can’t handle it log off.”

I think the fappening was the turning point for a lot of this stuff - I think that was a big cultural moment that changed a lot of people’s attitudes really quickly and I’m seeing echos of that with what Chris Evans is dealing with right now: people are a lot faster to say “oh, that sucks, don’t be an asshole, report people for posting the pics” while I remember sitting and arguing in an imgur thread because there were a bunch of people saying “if you don’t like it don’t take nudes” about the celebrities who got caught in the icloud leak.

People look at Shane Dawson’s (admittedly gross and incredibly inappropriate) behavior with a poster of Willow Smith and act like it’s unprecedented***** but as someone who remembers not only Olsen Eighteenth Birthday countdowns but ALSO the jokes about fucking the Olsen twins that came BEFORE they were legal that’s just bizarre. Seeing people my age and older react to James Gunn’s pedophilic twitter jokes like they’re worse than Jay Leno’s jokes about Michael Jackson (which were made on TV! Across America! On a major network!) is just. It’s bizarre.

I’m glad we are where we are now, I’m glad that making rape jokes in public or jokes about incest or pedophilia (or murder or abortion) is less common and less okay (especially in children’s media, jesus fuck) and more likely to get criticized.

But I’m also pretty sure I’m going to get called a rape apologist by *someone* for saying “2010 was a different time, rape jokes were more common and we didn’t realize how shitty it was” when it really was a different time and rape jokes were more common and most people didn’t realize how shitty it was. I sure didn’t. I do now, and I’m glad I do now. But pretending that we should have ALWAYS known this, pretending that this was NEVER acceptable, pretending that it WASN’T a different time is ignoring the fact that for over a decade there was an entire genre of pedophilic rape jokes (that were frequently also racist) centered around one celebrity and that people told these jokes in public and in pop culture *all the time.*

Does that make it right? Fuck, I don’t know, shit is relative. It was still largely acceptable to electrocute gay kids and people tossed around the word “faggot” pretty freely. Mean Girls is full of jokes about how awful it is for people to think you’re a lesbian and Superbad is full of jokes about getting people shitfaced so they’ll sleep with you (so date rape) and there’s an entire “cute comedy” from the 80s starring Kurt Russel and Goldie Hawn that’s an extended rape-by-fraud joke. I think that as a whole we’re better now as people than we were in 2010 and the 90s and the 80s and the 50s and I don’t think that someone who made a sexist joke in the 80s is irredeemably evil and I don’t think people making rape jokes in the 2010s are rape apologists in 2020 and I wish there was a lot more understanding of both history and nuance in these conversations.

*****to be very, very clear Shane Dawson has been filmed kissing underage fans on the mouth and having explicit sexual conversations with his very young cousin - Dawson has done things that go beyond “inappropriate” and fall clearly into “wrong” “bad” “dangerous” “illegal” etc, which is all the more reason that it’s so strange to see people focusing on him fake masturbating on a poster of Willow Smith. YES doing that was gross but why is it even being compared to the way he’s been filmed interacting with fans? The lack of nuance, making “fake masturbating at a poster” and “creating a sexually abused puppet character” the same as “inappropriately touched and kissed minor fans and engaged a young child in explicit sexual conversations” is NOT GOOD. That is a bad thing. Two of those things are tasteless and two of those things are actively harmful and it’s the actively harmful stuff that we should be focusing on and part of why it’s really weird to see shit like “pizzagate conspiracist accuses James Gunn of making inappropriate jokes” like yes Gunn please don’t but can we maybe refocus and talk about the dude who can be pretty significantly assigned blame for a fucking shooting? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/01/james-gunn-alt-right-marvel-film-director-tweets

Actually, you know what, I thought I was done ranting, I’m not.

It’s purity culture.

YES you should attempt to do less harm with your language, YES you should attempt to not use slurs, YES you should try to avoid making rape jokes. But there’s an entire huge group of people who are willing to drag up rape jokes from a decade when rape jokes were REALLY REALLY common in order to say that nothing you say or do today matters.

And that same group is ALSO really interested in expanding the concept of what pedophilia is to include age differences in adults or liking the wrong style of drawing and it’s a purity culture silencing tactic and can we PLEASE stop pretending that gross, tasteless jokes are the same thing as actually sexually abusing people? Can we stop pretending that pointing out “rape jokes were more common fifteen years ago and I feel bad about it but that’s just the way it was and I don’t make jokes like that anymore” is the same as saying “rape isn’t bad and you shouldn’t make a big deal out of it.”

It’s always good to try to be a less shitty human but if you’re only allowed to grow and improve and be less shitty if you never fucked up in the first place then it’s all just calvinist bullshit and none of us could ever really be saved in the first place.

I dunno, dudes. We got so careful about disapproving of the wrong kind of language that we let a white supremacist concern troll Disney into firing a director who caught the attention of the alt right by shit-talking the president.

I think perhaps we need to reexamine some strategy here.

[fangirlswilltakeovertheworld]

She-Ra High School Theatre Kid AU Headcanons

I made this because I am a theatre kid, and me and my sister were talking about Double Trouble being a theatre kid, so this happened. We basically came up with this entire au while we walked our dog.

Also I know none of this stuff would ever happen in real life, but it’s fanfiction, let me have this

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO

Angella as the director

Shadow Weaver as the assistant director

Horde Prime is the principal who is very not supportive of the arts

Hordak is the head of tech

Castaspella runs costumes

Huntara is the choreographer

Actors:

Catra - Has been in love with theatre since she was a kid, wants to be an actress when she grows up. She’s only ever cast as the villain/antagonist because she’s so good at playing those roles, but she’s not complaining. Shadow Weaver hates her and constantly talks down to her whenever Angella’s not around. Really good singer.

Double Trouble - Also in love with theatre. Brings the drama. Really good at whatever role they receive. Always competes with Sea Hawk for the lead role regardless of gender.

Sea Hawk - Theatre kid is his entire personality and he lives for it. Competes with Double Trouble for the lead role regardless of gender. Loves roles that get to do fight choreography. Has a habit of setting at least one prop, set, or costume on fire every show. No one knows how, and honestly, neither does he.

Glimmer - Director kid vibes, we’ve all met one. You know what I’m talking about. Usually gets a big speaking role, but not the lead. Jealous of Catra bc Glimmer thinks the villains get better songs. Catra agrees and holds it over her head constantly. Has a habit of being an “actor director” sometimes, but never in a mean or condescending way, and most of the time Angella was going to give the same note. Most of the time.

Bow - Actor/Techie. Auditions for a role, but if he doesn’t get one, he’ll do tech. He doesn’t have a preference, he just likes being a part of the process and being with his friends. One of the only basses in the department.

Mermista - Actor/stage manager. Even when she has a role in the current show, Mermista is still the stage manager bc she’s the only one who can deal with and control everyone’s shit(aka Sea Hawk level shenanigans). Actually a really good actor when she puts effort into her roles, but it has to be for a show she actually likes.

Kyle - Usually ensemble, but sometimes he has small speaking roles. Famous for breaking or losing props.

Techies:

Entrapta - Sound/lights. Works with Hordak, they’re close friends. He’s dreading her graduation bc she’s the only who actually understands how to run the systems. She insists she’ll be back tho.

Scorpia - Build crew. Stronk. Nuff said. Started bc she wanted to support Catra, and kept doing it bc she thought the head costumer was cute.

Adora - Also build crew. Again, stronk. Paints occasionally because that was her first choice, but they lack muscle strength in build. Can only get away with painting if Lonnie is there that day. Joined to watch Catra and Catra only. Has only listed to the songs that Catra sings in her role. Has never listened to a full Broadway album. Glimmer is disappointed.

Lonnie - Build crew. Not that interested but comes to support her friends when she doesn’t have lacrosse practice. Never runs a show, but watches every night.

Rogelio - Paint crew. Adora lost an arm wrestling contest to him, and he got first choice. She’s forever salty for it but too nice to argue.

Perfuma - Head of costumes. Castaspella and her get along great, they practically have the same personality. Crushing on Scorpia.

Frosta - Costumes. Cousins with Mermista. Comes bc she heard about the chaos and drama that goes down. Will run shows if she doesn’t have hockey practice.

Swift Wind - Fly.

Now for the plot:

The show for the year: Wicked

Cast

Glinda - Double Trouble

Elphaba - Catra

Fiyero - Sea Hawk

Boq - Kyle

Nessa - Glimmer

Madame Morrible - Mermista

The Wizard - Bow

But then two tragedies occurred

Tragedy 1: Angella had to step down as director bc Micah was in the hospital or something idk

Tragedy 2: 2 days later, Sea Hawk breaks his leg pretty bad and he won’t be better in time for the show

Le gasp

So Shadow Weaver takes over as director

Some Shadow Weaver background info: She was a famous actress many years ago and thinks this high school production stuff is below her. She still has a lot of connections to the professional world that she uses from time to time. She wants Adora to follow in her footsteps as a famous actor despite Adora being an incredibly bad actor. She hates that Adora does crew and not acting, but couldn’t do anything about it. Until now.

Now that she’s director and they’re down a Fiyero, she basically forces Adora to play Fiyero, despite the other capable actors who could’ve done it and Adora’s own protests. Think something like: “why can’t bow do it? I’ll be the wizard if there really aren’t enough actors!” “Oh no, bow is the only one who can hit the wizards notes bla bla bla”

Adora doesn’t want to do it, but she also doesn’t want the department to not be able to do the show. Plus she would get to hang out with Catra a lot which would be cool

I’m guessing you can already tell where the conflict is coming from, but we had some very clear ideas of stuff that happened, like

Adora was behind bc she wasn’t going to play the role originally, she’s never acted before, and she can’t dance. So she has a lot of one on one practices with Huntara, the choreographer. Before getting the role, the only practices Adora would watch if she didn’t have crew were the dance practices. She went purely to watch Catra, but Catra thinks that she has a crush on Huntara.

Tension and miscommunication, y’know?

Bow and Glimmer are both very supportive but also nervous bc they know that Adora is extremely bad at acting

Sea Hawk has never seen Adora try to act before, so he doesn’t see what the issue is. Once he’s well enough to go to school again, he comes to every rehearsal even tho he can’t be in the show. And then he sees. And then he’s like, oh no.

But he tries to be supportive and pump Adora up.

Adora is feeling a lot of pressure bc of her new role and doesn’t want to screw things up for everyone.

Catra is a little pissed off that she’s been paired up with someone who can’t act for her senior show, so she’s a little snippy at first, and Adora is tense, and it’s a mess

But Shadow Weaver doesn’t care, and ends up blaming every problem they have during an acting scene with Adora and Catra on Catra, even though she’s the best actor in the department. Because ✨favoritism✨

And you know, they do the whole hot-cold, she hates me, she’s cute, I love her but she doesn’t like me, bla bla bla throughout the course of the show

A week before opening night, Shadow Weaver makes things worse by mentioning that she invited her friend who’s a talent scout to watch the show. Shadow Weaver wants the scout to help get Adora into the acting business.

Catra wants to use this opportunity to get her name out there, so she needs her performance to be perfect

Which is hard to do when her love interest couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag

It’s two days before the show and they still haven’t practiced the kiss scene. Every time they brought it up before, like “should we practice the kiss? I mean, only if you want we don’t have to”, they both got the impression that the other didn’t want to kiss them

(Useless lesbians)

So it’s 2 days before the show, and Shadow Weaver is like, you gotta practice the kiss

So they kiss, and Catra is like, whoa she’s a really good kisser, so she’s quiet after the kiss

And of course, Adora takes that silence as “she hated the kiss and she hates me” as you do

So their practices the next two days are even worse than they were before

Finally, it’s opening night. The scout is coming and they’re out of time. Shadow Weaver ends up shoving Catra and Adora into a closet. She does her whole “you don’t want to let me, your friends, or the audience down do you? Whatever’s distracting you needs to go” to Adora, and then she turns to Catra and is like “fix what you’ve done, I know you sabotaged her you useless child. You’re going to be the reason this show goes horribly” and then she leaves

AND CATRA AND ADORA ACTUALLY TALK I KNOW IM SHOCKED TOO

Adora’s like, sorry I’ve been so weird the past two days, I just realized I really like you after we kissed, but I know you don’t feel that way about me, sorry if that makes it weird

And Catra’s like, Adora you idiot I love you

And they kiss

And Bow finds them still kissing in the closet 20 minutes before the show opens and rushes them to Castaspella to get their make up fixed

It ends up being Adora’s best performance because every time they’re about to go on for a scene together, Catra tells her to forget about the audience and just focus on her

The scout ended up liking Catra and Double Trouble a lot to Shadow Weaver’s disappointment

Facts that aren’t important to the main plot, but definitely happened

One time, before Sea Hawk broke his leg, Catra was trying out her harness for the defying gravity and other flying scenes, and Swift Wind, who does fly, accidentally dropped her and she landed on Adora

No Good Deed was the best moment in the show, and the amount of emotion Catra was able to put into her performance during that song was a little frightening but also made a lot of people tear up

The second best scene in the show was surprisingly As Long as you’re Mine, because Adora was actually able to forget about the audience and just focus on her love for Catra

The show last year was Mean Girls. Catra was Regina. Glimmer was Gretchen(you can’t argue that she doesn’t give off, “I don’t think my father, the inventor of toaster stroodle, would be very pleased to hear about this” vibes). Mermista was surprisingly amazing as Karen, and played her deadpan perfectly. No one knows how she did it. Sea Hawk was Cady, Double Trouble was Janice, and Bow was Damien. They reference their experiences during this show during Wicked, but the only thing Adora remembers about that production is how hot Catra was during World Burn.

Ironically (or unironically, idk), Glimmer once said “I don’t think my mother, the director of the show, will be very pleased to hear about this” to an actor who was found sabotaging Catra’s mic for the show before Mean Girls. Catra thought Shadow Weaver put her up to it but there was no proof.

Princess Prom but making it Dancing Through Life

Or is it Dancing Through Life but make it Princess Prom

If someone wants to write this, please do, just send me the link so I can read it! I would write it myself but I’m lazy lol.

#she ra and the princesses of power #she ra netflix #catradora #catra she ra #adora spop #glimmer she ra #entrapta she ra #bow she ra #mermista she ra #sea hawk she ra #shadow weaver she ra #double trouble she ra #modern au she ra #huntara she ra #scorpia she ra #scorfuma #seamista #frosta she ra #she ra au #actor catra #swift wind

[pan-fangirl-345]

Because Clingy is a Good Thing

Summary: You over hear a conversation with Kei and some people from his class. But, if he really thought, that then why was he still with you?

TW: doubt in a relationship/partner, and probably some swearing.

A/N: I tried to make this gender neutral, but I may have missed some. Also, I made the reader tall. I am 5′9, almost 5′10, so writing from a tall perspective is easy for me.

You were in the hallway to pick Kei up from his last class and walk him to practice when you heard your name.

“-(Y/L/N) seems kinda clingy, I don’t think I could deal with a person like that,” someone said.

“Yeah, it would be like dating a koala,” another chimed in.

“I bet they get jealous easy too,” the first person added.

“What’re they like Tsukishima?”

“They’re clingy, but they don’t tend to get jealous,” Kei said, tone as bored as ever, but you knew him well enough to know that he was irritated.

Were you really clingy? Is that why he had been pulling away from your touch for the last week? Was the inevitable breakup staring you in the face?

You realized as he got up that you could either try to talk to him about it and risk breaking down and looking weak, or you could leave and gather your thoughts so you wouldn’t break down when you asked him about it.

You decided to leave, ducking away from the door, keeping your head down as you made your way to your own club room, slipping inside unnoticed.

That was something you had always been good at, slipping into rooms without drawing attention to yourself. It had come in handy when you were running late, and in times like this when you just wanted to think about things without someone bothering you.

You grabbed your camera, something a family member had gotten you a few years ago, and flicked through the pictures.

Some were for school, a couple student yearbook photos, others were ones that you had taken yourself while you were out.

“Oh, (Y/L/N), I didn’t see you there,” the club advisor said, jumping you a little bit. “We’re about to start the meeting.”

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” you murmured, tucking your camera into it’s carrying case again.

Your phone buzzed, a text from Kei, but you ignored it, following your advisor into the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kei was waiting for you by the gates of the school when you finally left your club, his blond hair glinting in the lamp light.

It was late fall, which meant it was getting darker earlier so the school started to turn the lights on earlier for the clubs that stayed late.

“You didn’t meet me at my classroom,” he said when you got into hearing range.

“Sorry, club emergency,” you mumbled, tucking your hair behind your ear. “You didn’t have to wait with me, you could’ve gone home.”

“Do you want to get mugged?” Kei asked, raising an eyebrow at you.

“No,” you said, uncertain as to what he was referring to. “Kei, my house is like, ten minutes by bus. The station is like, five minutes from here. I’m more worried about you.”

Wrong thing to say.

“I’m not a Shorty walking home alone,” Kei muttered.

That was a lie, you were almost as tall as he was.

“I’m not defenseless,” you hissed, crossing your arms.

He knew that you carried mace in your bag, he also knew that you had cousins that liked to wrestle with you and weren’t afraid to fight dirty.

You could hold your own if you needed to.

“Just let me walk you to the bus,” he sniped, glaring at you.

“Fine,” you sighed, readjusting your bag across your shoulder, gripping the strap so you didn’t reach for his hand.

His words were ringing in your ears as you walked, and you kept a good five inch space between him and you.

Normally, you liked to hold his hand on the way to the bus stop. It sent the message that you were together and tended to keep the creeps away. You didn’t really think you had to worry about it, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

It felt weird not to be holding his hand, but you couldn’t stop hearing his words to the others.

“Goodnight Tsukishima,” you muttered when the bus pulled up.

If he noticed that you didn’t use his first name he didn’t say anything, he just nodded and turned down the street he needed to go down to get to his house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day you didn’t wait for him where you normally did, you kept walking and went straight to your class.

Your phone buzzed with messages from him that you ignored, brushing off your friends’ questions when they asked if everything was okay.

Everything wasn’t okay, but they didn’t need to know that.

They didn’t need to know how avoiding him made your stomach ache like you’d been punched. They didn’t need to know how much you wanted to hold his hand or hug him. How much you wanted to just lean on his shoulder in silence. How much you wished you could change so that he would be happy.

Maybe you should just break up with him now and get it over with. He would be happier, and there were many girls clamoring to take your place at his side.

Maybe you should start deleting his pictures off your phone while you still had the chance. Maybe you should-

“(Y/L/N), can I talk to you?” Tadashi asked when he stuck his head into your classroom.

“Um, sure,” you murmured, slinking out of your seat into the hall with him.

“Is everything okay between you and Tsukki?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” you said, but he caught your moment of hesitation. “Look, I just figured he might like some alone time, time when I’m not stuck to his side like a koala.”

The words left a bitter taste in your mouth as they came out, and the pain in your stomach gave a throb or four, but they were true.

Maybe that was why they hurt so much.

“Oh, okay,” he murmured. “Have a good day, (Y/L/N).”

“You too Yamaguchi.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunch was easier than you had thought.

You sometimes forgot that Kei practiced with the team during lunch, so you didn’t have to avoid him.

And it was a good excuse when your friends asked why you weren’t eating with your boyfriend.

“How hard is it? Dating an athlete?”

“Not very,” you admitted. “I have my own things to do, so we both understand that we can’t cling to each other every second of every day,” you murmured, picking at your lunch.

“Tsukishima doesn’t seem like a very affectionate boyfriend,” one of your other friends hissed.

“He shows me affection in other ways. He walks me to the bus and to school most days, and he makes me smile when I have a bad day.” You paused. “He’s really not as bad as everyone thinks. It’s just a wall most of the time.”

“That’s so romantic,” someone gushed and you chuckled.

Your phone buzzed. It was Kei again, and you glanced at it.

Are you okay?

Were you okay?

No, but he didn’t need to know that.

You sent back a quick, ‘I’m fine.’ and turned back to your friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This went on for a week before Kei cornered you about it.

You had stayed in the clubroom for a little longer, waiting until everyone left before you started to cry.

You were frustrated, and you hated yourself, and crying didn’t seem to make it any better.

You had a bad habit of bottling everything up inside until it all exploded, and this time was no different.

You were so busy crying that you didn’t realize that Kei was in the room until he moved into your peripheral vision.

You swiped at your eyes quickly and sniffled, as if that only could get rid of the blotchiness of the rest of your face as he crouched in front of you.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he declared, sounding irritating.

“If you’re breaking up with me, just say it and leave. Take a couple photos or something and leave,” you hissed, wiping at your eyes furiously.

“I’m not breaking up with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I like you. A lot more than I was planning on actually,” he said, making you laugh wetly.

“Yeah, and you called me clingy because you like me,” you snapped, sniffling again, hating yourself for letting him see you cry.

You and Kei had only been dating for a few weeks, and you had only planned on letting him see you cry when you graduated. Maybe not even then.

“You . . . You heard that?” he asked.

“Yeah. Why do you think I’ve been avoiding you? For fun?” you snarled, not looking him in the eyes. “I was giving you what you wanted.”

“Ask literally anybody who knows me and they will tell you that that’s not what I wanted,” Kei said, taking your hands in his.

“Uh huh, sure,” you snapped. “Because having a clingy significant other is suddenly a good thing.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me about it?” he inquired. “Why did you avoid me?”

“You called me clingy. Did you really expect me to think that I could talk to you about it?”

“I suppose you have a point there,” he muttered. “But look, when I said you were clingy, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I . . . I enjoy that.”

“I know you Tsukishima,” his nose wrinkled at the use of his last name, “and you sounded irritated.”

“I was irritated at them for asking about our relationship. It’s none of their business if you’re clingy and get jealous.”

You sniffled again, taking back one of your hands so that you could wipe at your eyes.

“So . . . you’re not mad at me?” you inquired, suddenly feeling incredibly stupid.

“No, I’m just glad that you’re talking to me again. I’m sorry I made you cry,” he murmured, wiping away a stray tear on your cheek lightly.

“It wasn’t you,” you assured him, pulling him up with you on the bench. “I was just mad at myself and . . . well, pretty much everything else that was going on at the time.”

“You can talk to me, you know that right?”

“I know, but . . . we’re both stubborn, we think we can and should solve our own problems by ourselves.”

“That’s fair,” Kei muttered, wrapping an arm around your waist as he pulled you into his lap.

Your face burned, but it felt nice to be this close to him again.

“Never go a week without hugging me again,” he ordered, making you laugh.

“Never,” you agreed, tightening your hold as he did.

#tsukishima x reader #tsukishima x reader fluff #tuskishima kei #kei x reader #fluff #angst #tsukishima x reader angst #what was i thinking

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Mind the Gap: Two

Shang- Chi woke up alone in your narrow bed and lay there for a long moment looking at the ceiling. There are plastic stars and dozens upon dozens painstakingly handwritten lines of poetry and little quotes. He wondered how you’d gotten them up there. And he wondered if you kept them because they comforted you. Or inspired you.

It was… weird seeing the parts of yourself you’d tried to hide for so long. The instruments, the books, the crystals. The way the room was flooded with colored light as the sun hit the stained glass. He thoughts of your drab little apartment. The orderliness of it. How minimalist it was. This felt better. Somehow all the missing pieces that gave him any doubts at all made more sense.

He looked at the photos. Little, frozen, out of context moments. People he didn’t recognize. Until he got to the end. Kai in Uniform and holding you, smiling while your chubby dimpled hands cover your mouth. You couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6. All puppy fat and big smiles. That made him feel warm. It was nice knowing that you hadn’t just sprung up somewhere fully formed. And that Kai, for all his unbothered attitude really did love you.

Behind him, he heard footsteps and whirled around to face the door. He wasn’t sure if it was you or not. But. He didn’t want to be caught snooping. So when Katy stuck her head around the door, he exhaled slowly. “There’s breakfast downstairs,” she said quietly, “You okay?”

“Better,” he said after a long second. “I just-”

“I know,” she said. “Her Godmother said she almost died and then-”

“And then she woke up,” he finished.

“And heard someone talking in her head, which- what?”

Shang-Chi made a soft noise that even he didn’t know the meaning of. Last night, he still hadn’t pressed on you for answers. You’d been so disoriented and tired that it didn’t seem quite fair to probe something that obviously caused that much pain. Even as he held you, you’d cried in your sleep, your hands fisted around handfuls of his shirt. And now he didn’t wonder why he frequently found you either awake and working or asleep somewhere else. You talked. Alternating between defiance and begging. It hurt. It tore at him like sharp pointed teeth. It still hurt even in the bright light of day. And he wondered if you couldn’t remember or if- if the Archive wouldn’t let you remember.

“Let’s go eat,” Katy prompted, linking her arm through his. “Lea said Y/N may not be back for hours… Something about everything being a little “off” after she loses a day or two of time.”

He nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged away from the pictures. His stomach making most of the decision for him. He wasn’t sure what food was down there but it smelled amazing. And he realized that he’d not eaten anything since breakfast the previous day.

In the kitchen, he pauses for a second to take in all the details he hadn’t noticed before. Too worried about you being alone in the bedroom in the attic. Bundles of herbs are hanging to dry. Everything is copper and scrubbed oak work surfaces. The windows are open and the smells from the garden and wet earth from the rain the day before mingle pleasantly with all the pastry smells and warm coffee. It’s comfortable in a way that isn’t manufactured for the house guests. It’s a working room. One that operates the same way year round. And Shang-Chi wondered what happened to keep you away.

Even as your Godmother, Grandmother and assorted cousins quickly ply them all with breakfast and hospitality, he can’t help but feel a little… Overwhelmed. Everyone is just so friendly and warm. No one questions them. No one is apprehensive. And as the talk flies around the table, it’s quickly apparent that you come by your humor and broody tendencies honestly. Your grandmother likes to fuss and she likes guests. She especially likes having ALL of her grandkids at home which he’s given to understand is rare.

Outside there’s the sound of horses and incoherent masculine whooping sounds after a while and She smiles, “I wondered if they’d be back before lunch.”

Shang-Chi watched out the window over her shoulder and she chuckled, “I don’t know how neither of them has never broken their necks jumping that back fence… It used to take years off my life watching them do it when they were small.”

“Daredevils, huh?”

She half shrugged, “It was almost impossible to keep either of them in the house… Wild things.” But there was more fondness than heat in her voice even as she shook her head. “Though their father being what he is, it’s no small wonder.”

He’s only half listening now as he watched you dismount from the horse you’d been riding. Your hair is messy and windblown and there’s color in your face and the careless half smile. There’s a warmth that spreads through his chest, even as his heart skips a beat.

You pause in the kitchen, looking surprised to find people there and glance at the clock frowning before checking your watch. Almost like you aren’t sure which one to believe. “Sit, Eat,” Lea scolds, pressing a mug into your hands and gesturing at an empty chair.

“I don’t think I can,” you say hesitantly.

The taller woman cradles your face in her hands for a second and turns your head to the side to inspect the still fading bruises, “Is it better or worse than it was?”

“It depends on how long I’m out for,” you say after a moment. “It still takes at least a day. But sometimes a week or more.”

“And everything else?”

“The only thing that feels right is being outside.”

Shang-Chi watches Lea and Kai trade worried looks while you studiously look at the mug in your hands after Lea lets you go and deposits you in a chair. “Try any way,” she said softly, setting a plate down in front of you gently. There’s not much on it. A little fruit, some fresh bread and some ham. But even from where he’s standing Shang-Chi can see some of the color leave your face.

“I should call the Aunts and tell them we’re going to cancel the party…” your grandmother said after watching you try to pick at the fruit before giving up and trying a bit of bread.

“I’ll be fine,” you sigh, “It’s just some nausea from getting smacked in the head hell knows how many times and the usual disorientation from not being in the same timezone as everyone else.”

“Smacked in the head?” Katy asked over her mug.

“I made my phone call. The last thing I remember is getting pistol whipped before I was yanked out of the driver’s seat… You would think, given that the Archive lives in my head it would do more to prevent head trauma but… Nah. Who needs grey matter?”

“Driver’s seat?” she asked, wincing.

“It the easiest way I’ve ever found to explain it. This is a meat mech and I don’t always get to drive… The Archive has two main objectives. Protecting the vessel that houses it AND protecting the balance of the universe by preserving knowledge… Anything that interferes with those goals is typically dealt with with extreme prejudice.”

“Typically?” This time it was Wenwu who asked and you half turn that direction and shrug, honestly grateful to not have to pretend to eat.

“Archives have never had their own physical body. By their own account and every corroborating account I’ve ever found they’re… spirits for lack of a better word. A manifestation of desperation. Probably resulting from things like the destruction of the Library of Alexandria and so forth… So they don’t really have any moral quandaries. Not the way a physical entity might.” You sigh and tilt your head, popping your neck to try and relieve some of the discomfort.

“So how-”

“I was the most powerful person in the room when a previous vessel died,” you say exhaling slowly.

“You were a kid,” Shang-Chi said taking the vacant seat on your right.

“It’s- Atypical- according to the Archive for them to inhabit children… Their ability to complete their task can be hindered somewhat by the physical ability of a vessel. But. I had the potential, I guess. So here we are.”

“That was a very coherent explanation,” Kai said mildly.

“Getting out for a while helped make some space to think,” you say shrugging again, “And i did promise an explanation.”

“Space?” Katy asked, frowning.

“Imagine putting all my books into Shang-Chi’s apartment then trying to find something,” you snort. “It takes effort. And a little time. And some shuffling around.”

“Hey!” he protested, throwing one arm over the back of your chair to tug you closer.

“It’s not my fault you live in a literal shoebox.”

“It’s not my fault you’re a nerd,” he chuckles, kissing the side of your head gently.

_________________

You stand on the dock watching the sunlight on the water and sink gratefully onto the warm wood. For a person as introverted as you are, being bombarded on all sides all the time is��� Overwhelming. You can hear the people in the distance. The talking and laughing and general ruckus. It’s familiar. But right now you’d kill for silence.

And you aren’t sure but, you think that the Archive might have similar feelings. That in itself is a blessing. You’re tired. Your body is sore. And all you want is to crawl back into your bed.

“You okay?”

You half turn to look up at Shang- Chi and smile a little. “Just tired,” you assure him.

“Are you always… this way?” He doesn’t really know how to put it. Or if you really want company. But, he settles behind you and pulls you against his chest.

“Tired? Yeah. The Archive doesn’t sleep. It interferes with the mission. Which means I’m more often than not awake the entire time… Unless it affects the performance of the vessel. Then I can sleep.”

He doesn’t really know what to say to that. So he doesn’t say anything. Gratified when you don’t pull away he pulls you a little closer and kisses the side of your head.

And not for the first time, you thank whatever gods might be listening for people who understand silence.

Shang-chi isn’t sure when you fall asleep. But when he hears the quiet little snores from your head being in a slightly weird angle, he smiles a little and adjusts you carefully to be laying more securely against his chest. It gives him some time to think.

For the years that he spent dancing around you as you started as a friend of Katy’s, he’d felt a pain. A sense that something was too raw to touch. It had made you feel familiar. It made you feel like a kindred spirit. A twin flame. Even as you both tried to hold back, to love people without letting them see the ugly things you kept hidden. Even as you’d tried to build a relationship on secrets. But now? This moment sitting in the sunshine on the dock with you snoring on his shoulder, it feels more intimate than any time he’d ever managed to get you naked. For you to be this comfortable with him… Not to belittle the sanctity of a drunk make out after a duet at karaoke but… It felt like progress. Real progress. He could see the person you were under all the secrets and little white lies. And somehow, it wasn’t very far from what he already knew.

Footsteps on the dock behind him make him half turn, careful not to jostle you awake. He’s not surprised to see Kai standing there. “Is she asleep?”

He nodded, reluctant to talk in case you weren’t as deeply asleep as you seemed.

“Good,” Kai said relaxing a little. “Listen, Grandma is going to turn this into a party… It’s Charity season and Y/N hasn’t been home for anything in… a while. So the aunts and subsequently all the kids are on their way. If you can I’d carry her into the house and put her back to bed. Once the kids learn she’s here there’s not going to be any more sleeping.”

When Kai noticed him frowning the other man smiled a little. “She means well. After… Everything happened Grandma just didn’t want her to be treated like a leper.” You stir sleepily and both men wince reflexively, “Can you-”

“I got her,” Shang-Chi answered, reluctant to let you go. Not even to Kai.

And to his credit, Shang-Chi thought, Kai let him go past without much more than a nod.

#shang chi #Shang-Chi x reader #fluff #mild angst #magic #family #hurt/comfort

[louiseleblancdiggory]

Speedy one night stand part 2

Part 1 here

“Ok, so do we go over our story again?”

“We did that a thousand times. Relax, they’re not the brightest.”

Aelin smiled, resting her back against the hospital chair. Even though only one day had passed, Rowan was already feeling infinitely better. His wrist still hurt like a bitch, and it would probably remain like that due to the surgery, but the rest was just some small ache.

Differently from the previous day, this morning Rowan had woken up to an empty room. Aelin had decided to go home around eleven, promising to be back in time for them to go over their plan one more time, but a part of Rowan wondered if she was actually going to be back. It wasn’t a usual situation, and now that she knew he was not dying, maybe she wouldn’t feel any responsibility over him at all.

It had worried Rowan more than he liked to admit.

And yet, she had returned today. Just a few hours after Rowan woke up, Aelin walked into his hospital room. She was her bubbly self, walking through the door while oozing so much excitement and brightness that it was like the sun lodged itself in the room. She plopped down on her usual chair, barely bothering to create small talk before jumping right back to what they had discussed the previous night. Aelin wanted everything to go perfect— had said that she had grown up with a cousin who made her quite competitive when it came to pranks.

Forty five minutes later, they had gone over the details twice, flirted shamelessly every now and then, and Rowan had the pleasure of seeing Aelin play the distressed wife in front of three different doctors.

The woman was a devil.

Rowan couldn’t help but smile.

“When do they get here?”

“You’re so impatient.” Rowan grinned, slowly turning his non-shattered wrist. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re impatient?”

“You and my cousin would be such great friends.” Aelin gave him a sweet smile.

“Sounds like a nice guy, then.”

“He isn’t.” Aelin’s sweet— and oh so fake— smile widened. “A fucking asshole, if you ask me.”

Rowan snorted, looking at the door just in time to see five guys turning around the corner and walking in the direction of the room. A diabolical smile grew on Rowan’s lips, and he turned to Aelin who had a raised brow. “Show time.”

Just like the devil Rowan thought she was, Aelin returned his smile.

———————

Honestly, she shouldn’t be this excited.

Tricking a bunch of men she had never seen in her life should not be that high in her list of priorities. And yet.

Part of her wanted to stay at the hospital yesterday, make sure that Rowan was ok during the night. Even though they had just met, Aelin felt a weird connection to him. Not love— because love at first sight is bullshit—, but she definitely cared for him as a friend. But the doctor insisted that there were no chances that Rowan’s condition would get that bad over night, and so Aelin went home.

She could barely sleep, and in the morning she rushed to get to the hospital.

Because of the prank, of course. Not because of Rowan.

And now that his friends were actually there, that the plan was actually in action, Aelin was having some small doubts.

What if they tell the hospital she’s lying? What if that doctor loses her job? What if—

“Rowan!” A blonde haired man ran through the door, followed by four others. Just like Rowan, all of the men were massive. Tall, muscular, and almost sucking all the air in the room with their presence.

They were all so focused on Rowan that none of them even paid attention to her sitting by a corner in the room, and Aelin used that time to transform the smirk on her lips into a loving smile.

“Fucking shit, Whitethorn.” The tallest of them— the only one as tall as Rowan— said. His pitch black hair was tied back in a bun, but some of it fell out of it when he ran a hand through his head. Aelin tried to remember Rowan’s descriptions of his friends, and if she was right, that was Lorcan. “One day alone and you get hit by a fucking truck.”

“Any cool scars?” One of the golden twins asked, a grin on his face. Either Fenrys or Connall, but judging by the personality and Rowan’s description of the twins, Aelin was betting on the former.

“Shut up.” The one with a buzzcut— Vaughan, she recalled— said, hitting the back of the golden twin’s head. “We tried to come as soon as possible when we heard. We didn’t want to leave you alone.”

“Oh.” Rowan said with all the innocence in the world, a smile as sweet as hers gracing his lips. “Of course I wasn’t alone, are you guys insane or something?”

“Huh?” The twins said in unison, looking at each other.

“I came with my wife.” Rowan said, the sentence sounding like a question. He let out a laugh, eyes sparkling with mirth. “Do you guys think she would just leave me alone?”

“Your fucking what.” Lorcan said very slowly after a few moments of complete silence.

Rowan looked so genuinely confused that even Aelin believed him for a second.

“Guys? Ace?” Rowan said, brows furrowing. His eyes then landed on her, and he gave her a smile that was supposed to be loving, but Aelin just thought he looked like a fiend. “Apparently they think you’re cold enough to enjoy your vacations while your husband is at the hospital.”

“I might not be the warmest, but that would have been low even for me.” Aelin said, voice charred with playful sarcasm. As if she was a magnet, all five heads immediately whipped at her direction, faces showing different levels of incredulity. “Hey, guys.”

Aelin had to bite her cheeks to keep herself from laughing. She didn’t know any human being could be that shocked and stand that still. The silence in the room was suffocating, except for Rowan who was smiling broadly now that no one was looking at him.

“Everyone is seeing the hot blonde, right?” The twin— Fenrys, she’d been right. It was just the type of comment he’d do— asked very carefully.

“I’m flattered, Fen.” Aelin said, taking some pleasure in how his jaw dropped when she said his name. She looked at each of their faces, forcing her expression to show both excitement and some confusion. “Guys? Not even a hug? I mean I know you guys are Rowan’s friends but I would expect some better welcome.”

At that, Aelin got up and walked in their direction. She hugged Vaughan and Fenrys at the same time, both as still as two pieces of stone.

She took a step back, doing the same to Gavriel and Connall. Aelin then looked at Lorcan, winking at him. “I know better than to hug you. Good to know that the change in continents doesn’t change the scowl on your face.”

They all just stared at her.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Rowan was near busting out laughing. She walked to his side, feeling the eyes of his friends following her across the room. She bent down near Rowan, kissing him on the lips before stroking his cheek with a thumb. For a split second, they shared a knowing smile, one that would look very loving to whoever was watching, but both of them knew better.

“I’m gonna go check with your doctor what time we can leave, alright? I’m gonna let you guys catch up.” Aelin said, kissing him again.

Rowan nodded, but then his eyes turned to his friends and narrowed slightly. “Sounds good, honey.”

Vaughan soundly choked.

Aelin made her best impression of being embarrassed— not by the nickname, but by the reactions of his friends.

She left the room with a final smile at the five guys, and when her face was not visible to them anymore, she finally opened the biggest grin she had ever given in her entire life.

As she walked down the hallway looking for the doctor, Rowan almost jumped out of bed just to kiss her again if only for the absolute horror in his friends’ faces. He never thought he’d seen any of them that shaken— even Lorcan was shocked.

Using the fact that all five of them were still looking at Aelin’s body disappearing among doctors, nurses, and other visitors, Rowan controlled his facial expressions and turned them to a disappointed scowl.

“What the fuck was that?” He asked when Aelin completely disappeared. “Would it kill for you guys to be nice to her? It was never an issue, what the fuck happened?”

“Bro.” Connall was the first to tear his eyes away from the door.

“Rowan, I don’t know how to say this gently…” Gavriel started, voice calm and cautious as always.

“You must have hit your head really hard because you’re not fucking married.” Lorcan, on the other hand, had no problem just saying what came to his mind.

“What?” Rowan asked, dumbfounded.

“Man, some hot crazy chick is pretending to be your wife.” Fenrys was smiling, but his whole expression screamed terrified. “Holy fuck, some hot crazy chick is pretending to be Rowan’s wife.”

“Haha, very funny.” Rowan said, relaxing. “Is this why you treated Ace like that? A prank?”

“Her name is Ace.” Vaughan said, the only one still visibly shocked.

“Crazy girl name.” Fenrys added solemnly. Connall nodded profusely.

“Her name is Aelin, and you guys know that. We have been together for over a year not, married for a few months.” Rowan was trying so, so hard not to laugh.

The guys looked at each other, different degrees of worry washing they expressions.

“Rowan, you really have to understand that—“

“Understand what?” Aelin interrupted what Gavriel was saying, causing all of the guys to jump and scream.

At that, Rowan couldn’t contain his laughter. He was laughing so hysterically that not even Aelin managed to keep a straight face and started chuckling too.

“What the fuck was that?” Rowan said between laughs, smiling up at Aelin as she approached his bed even though he was speaking to his friend.

“When is his birthday?” Fenrys ignored Rowan’s question, eyes narrowing at Aelin as she rested against Rowan.

“January twentieth-first.” Aelin said, brows furrowing in confusion. “What the hell is this?”

“Favorite color.” Connall dismissed her question.

“Green.”

“His pet’s name.” Gavriel asked much more politely than the others, but suspicion was palpable in his words.

“We don’t have a pet.”

“What is he studying?” Vaughan finally looked more wary than fucking shocked.

“He’s studying to become an engineer. STEM, then? I don’t know, I’m an arts and humanities major. I don’t understand that shit.”

The guys looked at each other again before Lorcan’s eyes dropped on Aelin. “Mom’s name. Ex girlfriend’s name. Favorite movie. Favorite song. Dick size.”

Rowan choked when he heard the last sentence, but Aelin simply smiled. “Anya. Are you talking about Lyria or Remelle? The Godfather and Patience by the Guns n’ Roses. I will not be discussing my husband’s dick size with his best friend.”

“Holy fuck.” Vaughan breathed.

“Give me your phone.” Lorcan said, even more suspicious now.

Aelin raised a brow, but took the phone out of her pocket. She stole a glance at Rowan, but he was just as confused as her.

“Call the first person in your favorites.”

Oh, fuck.

It had been fun while it lasted, and Rowan was about to get his ass beaten by his friends even though he was still in a hospital bed.

But Aelin simply unlocked her phone for everyone to see, went to her contacts and called the second person in her favorites. She raised her eyes from the phone to smile sweetly at Lorcan. “Rowan is the first.”

Lorcan’s jaw clenched minimally, as if Aelin had just passed a test she was supposed to fail. Now, just like the rest of his friends, Lorcan looked expectantly ate the phone on top of Rowan’s legs. Aelin had put it on speaker, and the only sound in the room was their breathing and the dialing sound.

“Hey, babe.” A female voice answered, soft and warm. “What can I help you with?”

“I don’t know, actually.” Aelin raised her face to Lorcan, and she looked so beautiful that the smile that grew on Rowan’s face was genuine. “Why did I call her?”

“Is she married?” Lorcan asked loudly so the girl on the phone would hear.

“What did he say?” She asked anyways.

“Lorcan asked if I am married.” Aelin raised the phone to her lips so her friend could hear her better.

“Uhm, yeah?” Her friend laughed. “Aren’t you married to his best friend for a few months now? What type of question is this?”

Aelin smiled smugly at his friends, and Rowan made his best impression of pissed off husband. In reality, all he wanted was to be alone with Aelin and kiss her for her geniality.

She wasn’t kidding when she said she was competitive when it came to pranks.

“Hey, what’s up, Lys. Is that Ace?” A man sounded through the phone.

“Yeah.” Lys answered.

“Is Rowan ok?” The man asked casually, and even Rowan was surprised by that.

Turns out Aelin had been a few steps ahead of him.

“I’m fine.” Rowan answered, trying to sound casual. “But apparently my friends decided to be assholes even though I’m already suffering.”

Aelin snorted, resting her back against his chest.

“What are they doing?” The guy asked and Rowan could hear the smile on his voice. Even though the voice tone was completely different, the man sounded so much like Aelin that it could only be her cousin since she didn’t have siblings.

“Pretending they don’t know Ace.”

“I would also pretend I don’t know my cousin if I could. Disgraceful woman.” He grumbled. “She must be loving the attention, though.”

“Fuck off.” Aelin snapped at the same time Rowan laughed. She turned her head to him, eyes narrowing with enough emotion that Rowan knew she was being genuine. He just smiled, giving her a quick kiss before turning to the phone again.

“Me and Lys gotta go, but we’ll see you this weekend for dinner, right?”

“Yep.” Rowan knew nothing of it, but now he was knee deep into his lie so backing out wasn’t an option anymore.

“Oh, and Ace, Lysandra says the airline just sent your ticket back to Terrasen to the apartment.” Aedion announced before hanging up, leaving the comment hanging in the air.

Aelin heard sharp intakes of breath, and raised her head to see all men staring at her dumbfounded.

“What?” She asked innocently, resting once again against Rowan. His hand sneaked up to the back of her head, massaging her scalp. Even though she tried to play it cool, her heart was hammering inside her chest— both because of how big the lie had just become and because of Rowan’s touch against her skin. Her whole back was against his side, and Aelin hoped he thought the racing heart was due to the lie, not due to him.

“Very well, Ace.” Lorcan said after a moment of prolonged silence. “We are so sorry for the prank. Why don’t we all go out to dinner to pay you back.”

Aelin was gonna vomit her heart. All the guys looked at Lorcan, and even Rowan’s hand stilled against her hair.

And yet she just forced a smile on her face, nodding her head. “Sounds amazing.”

Rowan’s hand in the back of her head massaged now her neck, reassuring her everything was ok.

But that definitely wasn’t the sentiment on his friends’ faces.

Oh, fuck.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N: I’m sorry for such a small update for this story, but I’m trying to write some Valentine’s day oneshots but I wanted to continue this one a little! I’ll probably to a final part three for it sometime!

Tags:

@in-love-with-caramel-macchiato @jlinez @courtofjurdan @firestartsandseneschals @ladywitchling @lexflame @sleeping-and-books @annejulianneh111 @perseusannabeth @linshryver @mu-si-ca-l @camilamartinezdunne @dank-queen7 @minaidss @starborn-faerie-queen @booksofthemoon @loveofbooksandwine @jesstargaryenqueen @bluejaberry @multifandommessblog @yesdreamblog @superspiritfestival @ireallyshouldsleeprn @woollycat22 @julemmaes @claralady @abookishfreak @faerie-queen-fireheart @morganofthewildfire @queen-of-glass @heirofthenightcourt @booksbqueen @heirofthrnightcourt004 @fromthelibraryofemilyj @rowaelinismyotp @fromthelibraryofemilyj

* tags in bold don’t allow me to tag

#rowaelin #rowaelin au #rowaelin fanfiction #rowaelin fluff #rowanaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin galathynius #aelin #rowan #tog #tog fanfiction #tog fanfic #throne of glass #throne of glass fanfiction #throne of glass fanfic #throne of glass au #writing #mardu writes #my writing #part 2 #speedy one night stand

[klvbxlove]

endearing (yu & kanji x gn! reader)

a/n: so, thanks to my cousins who’ve been talking about it often in our groupchat, i’ve gotten hella obsessed with the anime, “persona 4: the animation″! i frickin’ love yu and kanji; they’re my new anime husbandos LOL. anyways, i know i mainly write for iida (BNHA), but i figured i’d give this a try ‘cause why not? (and besides, i wanted to express my love for yu and kanji and maybe feed some simps LMAO). i should also point out that because this is my first time writing for persona 4, the characters might be OOC; i apologize :( but regardless, i hope y’all will like it! 

(this GIF is so cute, omfg. also, LOOK AT KANJI’S ARMS OH MY GOD. SIR, PLEASE HUG ME WITH THOSE ARMS DAMMIT!!!!)

reader type: gender neutral

reader specification(s): none

genre(s): fluff, romance

trigger warning(s): none

summary: yu and kanji find you cute-- no wait, endearing, no matter what, especially when you’re sleeping

word count: 1.3k words

♡ ♡ ♡ (ꈍᴗꈍ)ε｀*) ♡ ♡ ♡

key:

(f/a/c) = favorite anime character (h/c) = hair color (y/n) = your name

♡ ♡ ♡ (ꈍᴗꈍ)ε｀*) ♡ ♡ ♡

   Usually, you would have spent the weekend like any other weekend. Watch anime and eat nothing but your favorite food by yourself.

   And well? You were not by yourself anymore. Instead, you found yourself in your room with your boyfriends, Yu and Kanji. You had your lap on Yu’s lap, feeling his hand stroke your (H/C) hair, as Kanji leaned against the gray-haired male. Both of them were talking about something, but you did not pay much attention to it.

   In all honesty, you were still in shock that you were able to spend moments like this with them. Well, it was more of you being shocked that you ended up in a poly relationship with the duo in the first place!

   You remembered you had wanted to confess your feelings towards Yu and Kanji, but you could not. For one, you were too much of a coward. Two, you knew both of them would not feel the same way (Yu was extremely popular with the ladies, and Rise did seem to have a bit of a crush on him. Meanwhile, Kanji seemed to be crushing hard on Naoto). And three, you would have difficulty deciding which person to confess. You did not even know if either of them were okay with a poly relationship! 

   But of course, you cannot forget to mention you did not want to make your friendship with them awkward by confessing to them and having them reject you. You could not even imagine yourself hanging around the boys as often if that were to occur!

   Finding out that Yu and Kanji just so happened to feel the same way about you felt like a bit of a dream. Reminiscing to their flustered faces after their confessions (although Kanji was much more flustered than Yu), you swore your jaw almost dropped to the ground (literally). You even almost considered asking Chie to knock you out with her kung-fu moves to wake you up if this was a dream.

   Nope! It turns out it was not a dream at all. 

   And of course, you said yes.

   Whether or not you were exaggerating, you did not care. But that day felt like one of the best days ever in your life. No other day could compare to it. And since that day, you felt lucky to call Kanji and Yu your boyfriends.

   Back to the present, you slowly felt a sense of drowsiness overcome you as your eyes were beginning to close. There something about the feeling of Yu’s hand against any part of your body that easily comforted you, especially whenever he is calming you down from crying. It must have been a feeling of comfort if you could put it that way. It was so comforting that it was already making you feel sleepy. 

   But you know what? No point in trying to fight your eyes back open. Besides, you have been tired the whole day.  And the position you were in was also comfortable.

-

   “Hey, do you think they would like this?” Kanji turned around towards Yu, holding up a handmade plush he had finished. It was supposed to replicate one of your favorite anime characters. Kanji originally wanted to make it small like his usual plushies. However, he had taken notice of how you preferred the larger ones that you could hug.

   “I saw them watching some anime series the other day and found out they love this character a whole damn lot.” Kanji explained. While Yu noticed how proud he was of his creation, he also noticed some slight jealousy in his tone. The gray-haired male assumed that Kanji felt insecure about seeing their significant other practically squeal over an anime character. Not that you would ever break up with them for that. You would never be disloyal to them for an anime character!

   As Yu’s eyes looked over the plush once again, he smiled softly and reached out to take it from Kanji. “Yeah, it is pretty cute,” he answered, feeling the softness of the creation against his skin. He could already imagine you holding it tightly as if your life depended on it. “Do you wanna give it to them?”

   “I mean, yeah, I was kinda planning to,” Kanji rubbed the back of his neck. Then he looked down at you. “Hey, (Y/N).” 

   No response. Kanji waited a few moments before trying again. “(Y/N)?” he called your name, making his voice a little louder. 

   Yu also attempted to get a response by gently tapping your shoulder. But when you let out a soft snore, both of them realized you had fallen asleep.

   “Okay, well, I guess I can give it to them later, then,” Kanji said, lowering his voice so he would not wake you up.

   “Yeah,” Yu nodded, putting the (F/A/C) plush down. He figured you should sleep on your bed instead. So Yu carefully lifted you into his arms and stood up, carried you in a bridal style, and walked over towards your bed to put you down. He made sure your head was resting on your pillow before he pulled the blanket over your body.

   For a while, your boyfriends watched you (non creepily!) as your chest rose up and down from your breathing. For the most part, you did not move often in your sleep. Although every once in a while, you would make a noise. 

   “You know,” Kanji spoke up amidst the silence; a blush was already covering his cheeks. “I never realized how cute (Y/N) was when they sleep." Then his eyes widened. "N-Not that I’m trying to be a creep or anything!” He began defending himself, like Yu had some suspicions, as he waved his hands. “I’m just saying! I mean--”

   “It’s fine, Kanji,” Yu chuckled, interrupting him. “I understand. I mean, cute is a bit of an understatement. They are quite endearing. And not just during their sleep.”

   More moments of the boys watching you passed. At this point, Kanji was developing the urge to climb into bed with you and hold you close against his chest in an attempt to cuddle you. Meanwhile, Yu felt a pang at his heart due to the sight in your peaceful form.

   It seems like you had that effect on your boyfriends. And you did not even know it.

   “Should we...leave or something?” Kanji leaned over towards Yu and whispered. “I dunno. I think it would be a bit weird if we kept staring at them like this.”

   “Mmm. Kanji, Yu...”

   Said boys averted their eyes towards you. You had your hands reached out, almost as if you were trying to grab something. At first, they were confused (did you want something?), but Yu walked over towards your bed and kneeled in front of you. Out of curiosity, he placed his hands into yours, and you immediately grabbed it, holding it tight as if you were scared he would slip out of your grip. Yu smiled softly again, then turned back. “Or maybe we should cuddle them?" he suggested.

   Kanji knew he must have looked like a tomato, but he did not care at this point (Not like anyone else could see). You being clingy was something that always made his heart race. He could already hear your voice whining their names and saw you pouting with those puppy dog eyes.

   Damn it! You were way too cute-- no, way too ENDEARING for him! He almost could not take it!

   “Alright, I guess we could,” Kanji mumbled. Carefully, he climbed into bed, getting into the position where he could big spoon you and wrap his arms around your waist. Yu did the same thing, except he was facing you. The boys looked at you with loving glances while Yu gently caressed your cheek using his free hand (your grip on his other hand never released).

   “Sleep well, (Y/N),” The gray-haired male whispered, placing a kiss on your cheek before brushing a strand of your (H/C) hair out of your face. After Kanji decided to do the same thing, except he placed a kiss on your neck, they eventually fell asleep with you secured in your arms. 

#persona 4 #persona #persona 4 x reader #persona 4 imagines #persona imagines #kanji tatsumi #yu narukami #fanfiction #persona 4 golden #p4g #yu narukami x reader #kanji tatsumi x reader #various x reader #oneshot #kristin's writings

[ginnyweasleywannabe]

Blackinnon Week: Tuesday "Soulmates

Tuesday: “Soulmate” The moment they knew , they realize that the other is their soulmate; when they get together.

Word Count: 2159. Can also be found on AO3 @inthemiddle2

Sirius thought he would feel something different today but ultimately he still felt hollow. He looked around the platform, today was supposed to be thing big thing and he thought it would be exciting or maybe sad but nothing. His parents didn’t have anything good to say about Hogwarts but they never had anything good to say about anything. He was looking forward to going to Hogwarts just to get away from his parents. When they first crossed the magically boarder he realized that his leaving wasn’t going to rid him of his problems but just bring on new ones.

The eleven year old boy was currently trying to drown out his mothers complaints. She was speaking to his Aunt Druella. He knew he was going to be in Slytherin, his whole family had been. He wasn’t looking forward to it. Truthfully he hoped he would magically get sorted elsewhere. That would just bring more trouble as his family would practically disown his for breaking family traditions and beliefs. He wasn’t sure what would be worse, getting into Slytherin or not.

Regulus was trying to hold back tears. Sirius hated when he cried, he was such a baby sometimes. He would cry and Sirius would have to stand there and watch his parents beat the little boy. He turned away from Reg not wanting to see the sadness in his eyes that he was leaving him and it would just be him and his parents from now on.

The platform was a buzz with kids full of excitement and parents feeling a mix of happy and sad to see their child off.

“I just don’t understand why we can’t sit together?” Sirius turned to the voice to see a bi-speckled boy groaning. He flopped his arms down dramatically.

Across from the boy was a blonde, almost silver haired girl. She was standing tall, not even looking at the boy as she rolled her eyes and said “Because Jamie, I’m eleven now and I need to start making friends with girls.” She continued to look around the platform in awe.

“But why girls are girly and weird. I hate girls.” He was mumbling now.

“James I am a girl!” The little blonde stomped her foot and rounded on the boy. She stuck he head high but she only came up to his chin.

“Please Marlene, you’re as much of girl as mom!”

“Hey!” The women who Sirius assumed was James’ mom shouted and gave his hair a rumple.

He looked sheepishly as his mother, “Sorry mom!” He turned back to ‘Marlene’, “You know what I meant. You’re a cool girl and you play quidditch, and you’re my best friend which is why we should sit together on the train.”

The girl had been glaring at the boy but her face softened, “Jamie, cool girls can be girly too! My cousin Alice invited me to sit with her and I want to try and make other friends besides you and my brothers. You’re my best friend and you’ll be my best friend no matter what houses were in.”

The two hugged, before James eventually shoved her away saying it wasn’t cool to be the guy crying and hugging the girl on the platform.

Sirius watched the two in envy. He wondered what it would be like to have somebody who loved you know matter what house you were in. He could tell the pair had to be purebloods as they neither looked shocked about the magic around them. That was plus, maybe he could be friends with them. The girl was a spit fire. She seemed like the type who took up the whole of any room. The boy looked nice enough, like he wasn’t so uptight like everyone he had to hang out with now.

Sirius boarded the train with his cousins but they were soon to ditch him, not that he minded. As he peered into the cars he saw boys he recognized from all the pureblood parties his parents made him go to. He wasn’t really sure how he felt about all that pureblood stuff. He had never met a muggle born so he couldn’t tell if they were any worse at magic than him. He did know he hated it just on principle of hating anything his parents loved. If he was honest with himself he figure muggle-borns and half-bloods were bad at magic, it made sense in his eleven year old brain. He saw the kids on the platform who looked confused. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t be taught? Oh well it wouldn’t matter anyway. He would be in Slytherin and life would go on as it always had under his cousins careful watch.

He decided to move on from the cabin of boys from the parties, take moment away while he had it. He looked into the next few cabins and saw the boy and girl from the platform. He cracked open the door.

“Do you mind if I join you?

The pair looked up from their bickering, they were seated on opposite benches.

The boy spoke first, he had a bright smile on his face. Sirius knew he wasn’t new to the magical world from the platform but eagerness he had could have fooled some. “Of course! Hiya I’m James Potter!

Sirius recognized the name Potter, he was sure his parents had complained about them at some point. “I’m Sirius” He figured no harm in leaving off his last name for now. He turned to face the girl across from him.

“I’m Marlene. Marlene McKinnon” She had a thick Scottish accent and she pointedly raised her eyebrow at the last name. It seems she had picked up on his purposeful leave off.

She was giving him a smile but also pointed look. He squirmed under her eyes, how was she doing that?

Sirius cleared his throat, “Uh right. Um did you know Marlene means ‘star of the sea’?” He awkwardly coughed again, “So um, I’m named after the star Sirius. The dog star.”

She was just looking at him, “….Right.” Sirius was sure he had just blown it, he was never going to make new friends. But then the little blonde girl smiled at him, “remind me to be your partner in astronomy.”

James looked between the two, it was like they had their own private joke. Marlene was already making new friends, and a boy?!?

“Well Marley shouldn’t you be on your way? I’m sure Alice is looking for you…”

Marlene just rolled her eyes and went to stand up but the door slid open.

A redheaded girl smiled at the group and a boy with long black hair stood behind her.

The girl spoke first, “Hi! I’m Lily! This is my friend, Severus! Can we sit with you?”

Lily didn’t wait for a response before sitting down. “I’m a muggle-born! This all very exciting don’t you think!”

“You shouldn’t tell people that.” Sirius said it in a neutral tone but Marlene and James looked at him.

“Oh.” Lily looked a little hurt by what he had said, “Um Well Sev, isn’t so he’s told me a lot about the school and magic.”

Marlene was quick to jump in and try and mediate the situation, That’s great! It can be overwhelming at first! I’m Marlene! I have four older brothers but they explained a lot to me as well before.”

James also joined the conversation, “So do you know what houses you lot want to be in? Both my parents, and Marley’s whole family are Gryffindor’s! I reckon I’ll make it but I’m not so sure about Mars. She’s slimy like the Slytherins.”

Sirius’ body tensed with the Slytherin jab. He was going to end up there, if he didn’t at first his parents would make sure of it.

“What’s wrong with Slytherin?” It was the first time the long haired boy had spoken. He was aggressive and defensive.

James responded, “Well they’re all gits! All stuck up with their pureblood mania. Slimy I tell ya!” His tone was light and joking but Severus didn’t seem to take it that way.

“My mom was a Slytherin!”

Sirius wanting so desperately to be like by James, “Yeah well that explains it! You’ll fit right in with that slimy greasy hair!” Both the boys were laughing, “I think will call you ‘Snivellus Slytherus’”

James burst out at that, Lily stood red to the face. “Come on, Severus. Let leave these, these bullies!” She stormed out of the cart with Severus in toe.

James hollered after them, “See you Snivellus!”

The door slid closed with a slam. Marlene looked from the door to the two laughing boys. She stood as she began to yell.

“James Fleamont Potter! You should know better than to treat somebody like that! And you know that being a Slytherin is just fine! Marc’s girlfriend Kate was a Slytherin!”

Sirius’ eyes were wide, he had very quietly and still. James gave a sheepish grimace, “Yeah well Kate’s the exception.”

Sirius was holding in laugh at the boy getting put in his place by the short little blonde. The small noise that escaped his mouth reminded Marlene that he was there. She rounded on his, “And you! I know who you are. I have older brother who have gone toe to toe with your cousins. You better stay away from us with all that pureblood bull!”

Sirius shrunk into the bench, “I, I, I just meant she should be careful who she says that to. You’re right my cousins are barmy. It’s not safe to say that to just anyone.”

Marlene relaxed a little bit at his justification, still unsure if she fully believed him. “You both should be kinder people. I expect more from you from now on. I’m going to find Alice.”

Marlene turned on her heal and exited the compartment. The boys both sat there in silence.

“…Your middle name is Fleamont?” Sirius was laughing

“Oh shut it” James gave him shove but was also laughing.

John Bertram had just been sorted into Hufflepuff. Sirius knew his name was coming. He was standing with James and other boys he had met on the train.

“Sirius Black”

Okay this was it. He walked to the stool. Sitting down he wiped his sweating hand on his trousers. It felt like the moment was slow motion. He looked out to the crowd. He saw James and the other boys giving thumbs up. He saw his cousins sitting at the Syltherin table glaring daggers into his eyes. He was quick to turn away from them. His eyes land on Marlene’s. She was smiling up at him. He felt his heart rate start to calm. Then she winked at him and suddenly it sped back up.

The hat had barely touched his head before it shouted, “GRYFFINDOR”

He sat in shock for minute, the women behind him gave him a nudge. He was a zombie as he moved to the Gryffindor table. He sat down off by himself. He knew this wouldn’t last. Why bother making friends. Not that anyone tried to sit with him anyway. Remus from the train sat across from him with a shrug. He was just staring down at the table until he heard the name Marlene McKinnon called. He looked up at the girl. She was smiling but Sirius could see behind her confident smile there was also a slight nervousness to it.

The hat sat on her head for a few minutes. Eventually it shouted Gryffindor as well. Marlene beamed. All around the table boys of different ages stood and cheered. Sirius assumed they were her brothers. Sirius felt himself smile. Marlene made her way down to the table. She stopped next Lily. Sirius had expected her to sit with the red head but she never sat down. After a moment she kept walk and eventually landed right next to Sirius.

“Welcome to the lions den.” Sirius gave her a half smirk, half grimaced.

Marlene reached down and grabbed his hand under the table, “Back at ya, Black.”

Marlene didn’t realize was she was still holding his hand until he dropped it like fire when James sat down.

“So Marley admit it, the hat sat on your head for so long because it wanted to put you in Slytherin”

“God James you’re so obnoxious” She was smiling when she said it though. “I’ll have you know it was between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.” She stood, “Alright I’m gonna leave you boys to do boy things.” She gave Sirius a squeeze on the shoulder smiled and then walked away.

Sirius didn’t know it then but now as he thinks back on sitting in Azkaban, that little blonde girl was going to change his life. He didn’t know it then but he knows now he loved her then. That first day with his person. She was a force. She was his soulmate.

#blackinnonweek #blackinnon week 2021 #blackinnonweek2021 #blackinnon #sirius x marlene #marlius

[fangirlandiknowit101]

Here's the sad pining sasuke i wrote last night... it's not finished and who knows when/if i'll finish it. university AU, not edited and there's some naru//hina and sasuke//OC bc i couldn't think of a canon character that fit. The texting part is also weird bc i wrote it all very fast lol. i'm sharing bc why not *shrugs*

xxx

It hurts, to look at them.

Sasuke can’t help himself. Naruto is his best friend, after all, and he’s not yet so desperate that he’ll avoid him. It’s worse, somehow, that he can’t even dislike her.

She’s good for him, he thinks, when he’s feeling particularly self-deprecating. Her hair is dark and her skin pale as porcelain, and that’s where the similarities end between him and Hinata.

Sweet, and so patient with Naruto. Soft-spoken, but not a pushover. Impeccably dressed, always, no make-up needed to outshine any girl beside her. A picture perfect couple, that’s what they are. It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t have to watch it unfold from the front row.

How her shyness turned to surety, how her eyes would catch on Naruto and look away before, but now – now she looks at him like he belongs to her, soft smile on her plump lips.

Sasuke can’t even hate her, and he wishes he could.

It’s not her fault that Sasuke is the way he is. She doesn’t know, isn’t doing it on purpose. And yet, there’s a stab to Sasuke’s chest every time she takes his hand, every time Naruto tucks her silky hair behind her perfect ear.

Naruto will kiss her cheek and Sasuke will be looking, always looking. His face devoid of emotion, his voice carefully neutral. He can’t be mean to Naruto’s girlfriend, though he wishes he could. Maybe if Naruto got mad at him and pushed him away, Sasuke would be free to move on.

It’s more likely that Sasuke would apologize and do better, and he’d rather spare himself the embarrassment.

Sometimes he imagines that Hinata will find out, that she’ll start treating him with suspicion, watch his every move with her wide eyes. Feel threatened by him. But Sasuke is no threat. He’s tired and hurting, but he’s not a homewrecker. It would be a lot easier if Naruto didn’t keep nudging him in Sakura’s direction.

It’s not Sakura’s fault, either. She’s dreaming of something she can’t have, and the similarities make him sick to his stomach.

Sometimes he thinks he’ll date her, live the lie to the fullest. Give her what she wants, since he’s doomed anyway. He doubts he’d last long, though. If he had even the slightest bit of interest in women – but when he looks at her, there’s just no attraction. He’s not sure how no one’s noticed yet. It’s not like he’s that good of an actor. He thinks the only reason no one’s figured it out is because he’s so deep in the closet, and they’re all so heterosexual. Why would they suspect he’s gay? It suits them better if he isn’t.

“Oh, I didn’t realize it was that late already,” Sakura says beside him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

The bar is lively around them, but the music is at a bearable noise level. She’s looking at her phone, frowning. On the other side of the small table, Naruto pouts.

“It’s not late!” he objects, the beer in his glass sloshing around as he waves his hands around. “We just got here!”

“We’ve been here for three hours, I think,” Hinata says, leaning her cheek on his shoulder.

Sasuke wonders how she manages, the way he moves around so much. Perhaps her body is as soft as her voice, easily following him.

“I told you I have to get up early tomorrow.” Sakura sighs, irritated. She fishes her bag up from the floor, putting her phone inside it. “I really have to get going.”

“I’ll walk you to the station,” Sasuke offers. Not because he particularly wants to, but he’s not in the mood to subject himself to third-wheeling Naruto and Hinata. “I should get going, anyway.”

“What?” Naruto looks disappointed, more disappointed than when Sakura announced her departure. “I thought you were free tomorrow.”

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke swallows down the last of his drink.

“Doesn’t mean I want to stay up all night,” he counters with, easing out of the booth. “I still have to study.”

“You study too much,” Naruto mutters, giving Hinata a smile like an afterthought when she squeezes his arm.

“Maybe if you studied at all you wouldn’t need to panic before every exam,” Sakura nags at him, coming around the table to wait next to Sasuke. “Some of us care about our grades.”

“Nerds.” At least Naruto looks a little happier, and Sasuke hates to think that it’s because he thinks anything’s going to happen between him and Sakura. “Don’t get lost, you two!”

They say their goodbyes, and Sasuke tries to pretend he doesn’t notice how Sakura’s cheeks fill with color when they step outside the bar. She’s put a jacket on, but Sasuke’s fine in his sweater. It’s not cold enough that her blush can be blamed on the weather.

“Thanks for walking me,” she says, hefting her bag higher up her shoulder. She’d joined them straight from the library, researching her latest paper. “You didn’t have to.”

“It’s fine,” he tells her, hands tucked into his sleeves.

He doesn’t want to run the risk of her attempting to reach for his hand. As much as he dislikes her attention, it’s safer if she thinks he’s just playing hard to get. He won’t have to explain, then, why he hasn’t outright told her to give up. He should, he knows. But Naruto would just nudge him towards some other girl, would bother him about it until Sasuke started going on actual dates. It’s touching, how worried he is over Sasuke potentially being lonely.

Too bad Naruto himself is the cause of it.

“You’re not doing anything tomorrow, then?” Sakura asks, stepping aside as they meet a group of half-drunk businessmen. “I’m working until five…”

It would be so easy to invite her out. To suggest a movie, or trying out that new café near campus. To watch her eyes light up with hope, watch her mouth stretch into an excited smile.

“I really do need to study,” he says. “And I’m almost out of clean clothes.”

None of it is a lie, technically. He’s just not sure he’ll actually do either of those things tomorrow.

“Oh.”

She tries to hide her disappointment, and Sasuke is an expert by now at pretending he doesn’t notice. They walk the rest of the way in silence, waving a quick goodbye at the ticket gates as Sakura’s train is due to arrive in just two minutes. Sasuke buys a drink from a vending machine and takes small sips as he waits for his own, mindlessly scrolling through social media. He almost ignores the text Naruto sends.

> Wanna hang out tomorrow?

He contemplates it. On the one hand, yes, of course he wants to. On the other, having an entire day to himself has its appeal.

> I’ll be busy

> Ooh, with sakura?

The train arrives, and Sasuke snags a seat next to a couple too caught up with each other to pay attention to him.

> No

> Got studying and laundry to do

The reply is instant.

> That’s too boring!!! I’m coming over for lunch

> Whatever

He pockets his phone, and stares down at the bottle in his hands for the rest of the trip. It doesn’t help against the warmth rising in his chest. At least he doesn’t do this to Sakura – doesn’t invite himself into her space, ignorant of her feelings. It doesn’t make him feel better.

xxx

Sasuke doesn’t have a lot of friends. He’s got Naruto, and then there’s his small group of friends from high school. Naruto is the only one who still lives nearby. Rather, Sasuke had ended up staying in Konoha like him. It’s a big enough city that most of his classmates are strangers, although slightly less so in their second year. He stayed with his parents for his first year, but when one of his cousins moved abroad for work he took the opportunity to stay at her apartment instead. It’s closer to his university, and if he, potentially, wanted to bring a guy home then no one would know.

He doesn’t think his parents would mind, but there wouldn’t be any privacy. He relishes in it, and Naruto does, too.

“I should just move in with you,” Naruto groans, spread out on his couch. “You wouldn’t believe how annoying my mom was this morning.”

“I think I can believe it,” Sasuke tells him, cleaning up after their lunch. “And just to be clear, I’ve never said you’d be welcome to live here.”

“Stingy,” Naruto grumbles. “How long is your cousin gone, anyway?”

Shrugging, Sasuke dries off the counter just for something to do with his hands.

“A year at least. We’ll see. So it’s not like I’ll be living here forever.”

“But still!”

“Where would you even sleep?”

Naruto happily pats the couch. When Sasuke scowls at him, he simply grins.

“Come on,” Naruto says. “I want to watch a movie.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I need to study.”

Still, he gives in too easily. Naruto lifts his legs to give him room, dumping them all over Sasuke’s lap once he sits down. It’s things like this that makes Sasuke’s heart refuse to give up. He leans his elbow on the back of the couch, cheekbone pressed to his closed fist. He doesn’t say anything when Naruto picks a drama at random, letting him comment on the plot as much as he wants. Watching movies with Naruto is certainly never quiet, and he winces as Naruto kicks his legs as he shouts his anger at the main character.

When the movie ends, Naruto doesn’t start a new one. Instead he chews on his bottom lip, playing with the remote. Sasuke considers getting up to use the toilet, maybe suggesting going to the corner store for snacks, but then Naruto clears his throat suspiciously.

“What?” he asks, irritated when Naruto takes his time.

“So, how are things going with Sakura?”

He resists the urge to pinch his nose. He still lets out a heavy breath, not quite a sigh but close enough that Naruto frowns.

“I mean,” Naruto continues, “you could just ask her out. She’s definitely going to say yes.”

Sasuke shifts, uncomfortable. Naruto’s legs are still on top of his. His socks have little frogs on them.

“I’ve told you I’m not really into the idea of a relationship right now.”

“Uh-huh.” Naruto rolls his eyes, pushing himself up and finally removing his legs, crossing them at the ankles instead. “Sounds like excuses to me.”

“Just drop it, Naruto.”

“But if you get together things will be so much easier,” Naruto insists, poking at his arm. “We can go on double dates, and stuff.”

Sending him a glare, Sasuke pulls a leg up to his chest. It won’t prevent Naruto if he decides to get comfy on his lap again, but it might make him think twice at least. Naruto’s only wearing shorts, and all that naked skin isn’t good for his heart. It’s definitely too cold for it, but Naruto’s never been one to care about the weather.

“We already go places together.”

“Yeah, but it’s not the same!”

Sasuke pinches his lips, looking away. If he’s not careful, those large blue eyes will convince him to cave in, and then he’ll find himself with a girlfriend. He does a lot for Naruto, but there are limits.

“I’m not going to ask her out,” he mutters, knowing it will only lead to more questioning.

Sure enough, Naruto makes a noise of protest.

“But you haven’t rejected her either!”

“She hasn’t asked me out either.”

“It’s obvious she likes you.”

“That’s her problem.”

Naruto kicks at his thigh, using his heel. He looks properly annoyed now, as if Sasuke is a petulant child, refusing to do what’s best for him.

“If you got over yourself for a minute, you’d realize what a catch she is!”

He doesn’t reply. Let Naruto think he’s just stubborn, or an asshole, or whatever. Let him think Sasuke’s just stringing her along, keeping her attention while refusing to commit. It’s better than the alternative.

“Leave it, Naruto,” he warns, getting up and moving to the kitchen. “We’re not talking about this.”

At least Naruto doesn’t follow him, though it doesn’t make much of a difference. The apartment is small, no wall separating the kitchen from the living room. He searches through his cabinets, locating a forgotten bag of wasabi peas. He throws them at Naruto’s head.

“Eat these and shut up,” he says.

To his relief, Naruto does as told.

xxx

He picks up the call from Karin half-distracted, mind still stuck on a question for tomorrow’s seminar. As usual, she doesn’t wait for him to say hi, making her wince with the volume of her voice.

“Do you have any idea how tiring it is to listen to Naruto whine about you?” she starts with, the background noise suggesting she’s outdoors. “Can’t you just tell him you’re gay and put me out of my misery.”

“No thanks.” He drops his pen on his desk, rubbing at his eyes. He regrets not going to the university library, at least then he wouldn’t have been able to pick up the call. “Was that all? I’m kind of busy.”

“You know, this is exactly why I moved away,” she continues, ignoring him. “I thought I could get away from all the high school-level drama. Just get yourself a boyfriend, and go on those stupid double dates my cousin is so desperately yearning for. How hard can it be?!”

He can feel a headache incoming, and he rubs his fingertips between his brows. Naruto had sulked for hours the day before, until Sasuke got sick of it and threw him out. It was definitely backhanded of him to call Karin and complain.

“If you really wanted to be left out of it, why are you calling me? That’s the opposite of not getting involved.”

“Because it’s really painful and I’m morally obligated as the only person with functional brain cells to tell you to move on. Juugo’s too nice to say it and Suigetsu would give you terrible advice and sit back and watch. I’m being nicer to you than you deserve.”

“By telling me to move on,” Sasuke deadpans, wondering why his parents couldn’t have settled down somewhere else.

“Well, someone has to do it! Clearly I’m the gay cousin in the family, so you’re screwed. Might as well get over it and get laid.”

“I really hate you sometimes, you know that?”

She huffs at him, traffic and broken conversations filtering through the phone. There’s the jingle of a shop’s door, and the noise cuts off.

“Your pining is just getting sad,” she eventually replies, distractedly. “Trust me, I know my cousin. He’s not worth it.”

Something unpleasant churns in Sasuke’s stomach. He wants to argue with her that he is worth it, but he doesn’t want to land himself in an hour-long lecture if he can help it. He rolls his neck, making a face. She’s got a point, but he doesn’t enjoy hearing it. His life would be a lot simpler if he could find someone who made him forget about Naruto. He’s just not sure it’s fair to expect someone to instantly replace a lifetime of friendship.

“I don’t think I should have to come out just because Naruto irritates you,” is what he says instead, leaning back in his chair. “What if my parents find out and disown me? You want to be responsible for that?”

“Sasuke,” she sighs, “your brother is literally gay and your parents love his boyfriend.”

“So?”

“Stop. Making. Excuses.”

He bites his cheek, holding back a denial. He’s not worried about his parents, he’s worried about Naruto’s reaction. That things will change between them. That he’ll think Sasuke has feelings for him, which would be correct but would also ruin absolutely everything.

“I’ll… consider it,” he concedes, after a long silence, during which Karin has finished buying whatever it was she needed.

“Really? Because I’m going to hold you to that.”

He sighs.

“Next time I’m not picking up when you call me.”

xxx

A few weeks pass, and not much changes. Naruto still takes up too much space in his head and life, Sakura continues to drop hints but refuses to make the first move, and Hinata is still as lovely as ever. She doesn’t seem to have much of a personality other than being Naruto’s girlfriend, but to be fair Sasuke hasn’t precisely paid attention or tried to get to know her. Naruto’s birthday is drawing closer, and he can’t bring himself to do anything to break the status quo before then.

He’s been considering it, though. It would be a relief to stop pretending. He can’t imagine himself finding a boyfriend, though, because where would he even meet someone? It’s too awkward to use a dating app, and he’s not precisely social. He doesn’t have any experience, either, if you don’t count those childish games they played sometimes when they were younger. And that one time Naruto kissed him by accident when they were twelve.

Because of this, he’s really not expecting it when one day in class, just as the lecture ends, his eyes fall on the messenger bag that the guy next to him has just finished packing. There’s a rainbow pin on it, and Sasuke blurts out his question before he can stop to think about it.

“Are you gay?”

He only lifts his eyes from the pin when the surprised silence stretches out a bit too long. Their eyes meet, and the other boy is staring at him like he’s not sure how to react.

“Uh,” he says eventually, fingers clenching around the bag’s strap. “I mean, yes? But if you’re thinking about the pin it’s just a regular rainbow…”

He trails off, and Sasuke feels his cheeks heat up a bit. He can’t believe he just asked, when he himself has gone to such lengths to make sure no one made such assumptions about him.

“Sorry,” he apologizes. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine.”

Maybe he should know the guy’s name, but he doesn’t. He’s pretty short, hair dyed a light brown and glasses perched on his nose. Cute, but Sasuke’s not sure he’s his type. He’s not sure he has a type, other than Naruto.

“Are you gay?” the guy asks him, eyebrows rising above the frame of his glasses.

Sasuke licks his lips. He could say no, but to what end?

“I am,” he forces out, breathing in a deep breath.

“Oh.” There’s red color blooming on the other boy’s face, his eyes flickering to the side for a moment. “I was kind of hoping, but, um… I mean, hoping sounds weird! Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting you to ask outright.”

When Sasuke stands up, he realizes he’s almost a head taller than him.

“I’m Sasuke,” he offers, clicking his laptop shut and slowly sliding it into his bag.

“I know. I mean! I’m Hiroshi. Nice to meet you.”

Sasuke nods, and awkwardly turns to leave. Hiroshi stops him with a hand to his arm, though, and Sasuke swallows nervously as the turns back. He’s not interested in Hiroshi, not really, but he’s never been asked out by a boy before and the novelty of the situation is getting to him.

“Do you, um, are you busy right now? We could have lunch?”

He weighs the pros and cons in his mind. As nervous as Hiroshi looks, there’s a determined glint in his eyes that sways Sasuke over.

“Okay,” he says, and just like that he’s doing what Karin told him to do.

He’s trying, at least.

xxx

Over the course of a week, including having coffee together and a visit to the aquarium, Sasuke learns a lot about Hiroshi. Or Hiro, as he likes his friends to call him. They don’t have too much in common, but they’re both gay and studying agricultural economics. Once Hiro gets over his initial shyness, Sasuke finds he’s got a great sense of humor and won’t hesitate to poke fun at him.

It’s a breath of relief, to spend time with someone who doesn’t know him from before. He didn’t realize how much he needed it – just being able to be himself, without constantly keeping himself in check.

He can’t fool himself to think it’s enough to replace Naruto, but maybe he doesn’t need to replace him. Maybe it’s enough that Hiro seems to like him. He doesn’t really think about it, when he invites Hiro over on a Saturday night, after they’d had dinner at a nice udon place.

“Oh, wow,” Hiro says as he steps into Sasuke’s apartment, making an impressed face. “Nice place.”

“It’s my cousin’s, so no need to sound so impressed.”

Hiro rolls his eyes, taking off his shoes and jacket and following Sasuke inside.

“Alright, I’ll try to keep it in,” he teases, sitting on the couch when Sasuke motions him towards it. “But it must be nice, to have your own place like this. The dorms are fine, but I can’t exactly bring guys there.”

Humming his agreement, Sasuke grabs two cans of soda from the fridge, handing one of them to Hiro when he sinks down on the couch next to him.

“Want to watch something?”

Hiro nods, and Sasuke brings the TV to life. He’s not expecting anything to happen – they’ve only known each other a week. He’s still coming to terms with having a friend other than Karin he can talk to like this, and she doesn’t really count since there was never the potential for anything to happen between them. Hiro is… potentially someone Sasuke could date. At least there’s nothing wrong with him, not yet, and Sasuke’s easing himself into the idea of getting to know him better.

He finds a movie at random, some sci-fi that doesn’t look terrible. The movie turns into background noise as they talk, Hiro’s eyes watching his face more than the screen. It’s nice, in a new, exhilarating way, to have a guy’s attention on him like this. He’s not sure what to do with it. When Hiro moves closer, knee touching Sasuke’s thigh, hand resting on the back of the couch and occasionally touching his neck, Sasuke can’t find it in him to move away.

It feels like a secret, shared between the two of them. He thinks of Naruto for a long moment, allows himself the pain lacing through his chest as he imagines light brown hair replaced with blond, dark eyes replaced with blue. Then, he pushes it away, tells himself he can have this. The emotions are only his own.

It’s all happening too fast when Hiro grows bold, leaning in to press their mouths together, but he doesn’t care. It’s no one’s business if he spends the evening on his couch with a boy in his lap, a boy who isn’t his best friend.

The pain is easier to swallow if he tells himself that he’s the only one hurt.

#at this point i'm just writing whatever's in my head #something is better than nothing #i hate tumblr's formatting

[imherongraystairstrash]

I don’t think this is along the line of your usual fics, at least I’ve only seen you post one thing in the TDA series, but would you be willing to write Kit and Kieran bonding after Kieran finds out that they’re related? Because I just feel like Kieran would be happy to have a family member that he actually likes, and isn’t a horrible person.

Yes! Kieran would be so happy to have a family member that doesn’t treat him horribly! I also want to apologize for posting this monster of a fic. I just had too much fun writing this! Kit’s POV is something I didn’t know I needed to write until now. ALSO, it broke my heart to write some of this so... You’re welcome. 

Characters: Kit & Kieran bonding times (platonicccc I don’t want anyone thinking this is anything other than platonic because, ew)

Notes: This is a couple of days before Kit goes to live with Jem and Tessa :)

...

Kit had been staring out into the distance for so long, time seems to have lost it’s essence. He kept telling himself to stop standing there and go back inside. Perhaps he should do some packing, since Jem Carstairs and Tessa Gray were going to come in a couple of days and take him to Devon. But all Kit had done this evening was this; looking out at LA and wondering how his life had changed so drastically in the span of a couple of months.

He had the balcony door open and turned to find Kieran standing there.

“Is it alright if I stay here?”

Kit simply nodded at him and then turned back to the view. It was a really nice view. Nothing like the one he had in his old house.  

Kieran rested his forearms on the railing and looked out at the city, just as Kit was doing. 

“Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Kieran asked. 

“Nope, go ahead.” 

“When you look out at this view,” Kieran said, “do you see what you would consider to be ‘home’?”

Kit shrugged. “I’ve never seen LA from here before, so it doesn’t really look like home. Except for that street over there; I used to pass it when I was going to school in the morning.”

Kieran squinted, trying to identify the street. He didn’t know why, but Kit sort of liked that he was actually putting in the effort to find the street he was talking about. Most people would shrug it off or nod and smile a fake smile, just so that they could end the small talk. It sort of felt like Kieran actually cared about what Kit said. 

“Is it the one that goes along that building with red lights?”

“Uhh,” Kit looked at the expanse of red lights, none of which were near the street he had been talking about. “Not really. It’s the one that has that stop sign at the end of it.”

“I’m afraid I do not have knowledge of what a ‘stop sign’ is or what it may look like.”

Kit’s eyes widened and he bit back the urge to say “wow”. How old was this guy? How secluded was Faerie? He didn’t ask those questions though, because they seemed rude. 

“It’s okay, Kieran. I won’t be offended if you don’t want to keep looking for it. I mean, it’s pretty small.”

“No, I want to find this path you had taken to your school in the past. It feels important.”

“Oh okay. Umm,” Kit looked at the street. “Oh, do you see that green car over there?”

“Hm. Oh yes! I do see it!”

“Okay, to the right of that road, is the street I was talking about.”

“Is there a woman and a man professing their love to one another, for all to see, on the lighter road, beside that bigger, darker road?”

Kit blinked. And then he understood. “Oh, you mean that couple making out on the sidewalk? Yeah, that’s the one.”

Kieran smiled, clearly proud he’d found the street. Kit smiled too, because it had been a little fun. Then his mind drifted and he thought about how Kieran was supposedly related to him. That was really weird. He also looked nothing like Kieran; but maybe that was because they weren’t that related.

“Hey, Kieran?”

“Yes?”

“How are we related again? Are we like cousins or something?”

“I think your great-great grandmother was my half sister?”

“Oh.” Kit said. “Well, I still don’t know what to call you. Are you like my great-great-great uncle, then?”

Kieran looked pensive. “Perhaps?”

“Cool.” 

“I was thinking it was a bit hot, actually.”

Kit felt his jaw drop. What the hell?

“What?”

Kieran looked at him surprised. “You said you were cold, but I think it’s rather warm outside. Hot, even.”

Kit released a breath in relief. “Oh, oh okay. Thank God.” 

“For what?”

“Oh, nothing.”

They looked out at the landscape in front of them. Kit was going to just let the silence hang, when he suddenly felt bad for his Triple-G Uncle (yes, he thought, that’s what I should call him). 

“Oh, Kieran?”

“Yes?” 

“When someone says ‘cool’ they usually mean, like…‘nice’.” 

Kieran looked at him and tilted his head to the side. “I don’t believe I follow…”

“It’s like… uh… you see, i—it’s hard to explain. Let me think.” Kit furrowed his eyebrows trying to figure out how to explain. “Well, it’s like saying ‘awesome’ or ‘great’, you know?”

Kieran pressed his lips together. “Oh. That makes a little bit of sense.”

“Oh, really? Cool! I thought what I just said just confused you even more.” 

“No, no. I think I understand now, especially after you used it in a sentence.”

“Huh. And you’re not just saying that to make me feel better?”

Kieran eyed him. “Even if I wanted to, I cannot lie. I’m Fae.”

“Oh, yeah.” Kit bit his lip. “I forget that sometimes.”

Kieran snorted. “I don’t.”

Kit pressed his lips together. He wanted to know more about his ancestors, and now was as good a time to ask. And when would he get a better opportunity to learn? Here was Kieran, who was raised in the Unseelie Court. Just ask, Kit, he thought. Just ask the stupid question already, before you leave and won’t ever be able to know. Just do it. 

Kit almost laughed because that reminded him of a vine he had first seen in second period math. Then, he shuddered because ugh, second period math. That class was torture unlike any he had ever endured. 

Anyways, what had he been thinking about? Oh yes; he had to ask Kieran his question.

“Christopher?”

Darn it. Just when he was going to ask his question. “Yeah?”

“I do not recall ever having a family member that has never tried to kill me or was cruel, save my brother, Adaon.”

“Oh,” Kit said, eyes wide as he shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “That’s um—that sucks, Kieran. I—I’m sorry?”

“Why do you apologize?”

Kit frowned, “I don’t know. That’s the sort of thing people say.”

Kieran hummed. “You mortals apologize too much.”

Kit didn’t have anything to say, other than ‘sorry’ which would be kinda dumb, considering what Kieran just said. So, he opted for silence.

“As I was saying,” Kieran continued. “I do not think I have had a good relationship with family members for a long time, so I hope you can forgive me if I do not keep good company; I don’t interact well with others because of my upbringing.”

“Oh.” Kit bit his lip, absentmindedly. What does this mean? 

As if reading his mind, Kieran added quickly. “I just thought that perhaps we could try to be each other's family?”

“Nobody’s ever wanted me to be their family member before.” Kit mumbled. 

“I can say the same for myself.” Kieran said. “I thought maybe we could talk and introduce ourselves better. I know family isn’t just blood but—”

“I’d like that.” Kit interrupted, without meaning to. “Get to know each other, I mean.” 

Kieran looked surprised. “You would?”

“Yeah. I mean, you seem pretty dope—I mean, interesting.” 

Kieran smiled. “You, too, seem ‘dope’”

Kit laughed at that. Maybe it would be fun to teach Kieran modern slang. 

“Okay, first things first though, nobody really calls me Christopher, unless I royally messed up. You can call me Kit, instead.”

And so they talked to one another. Nothing too deep. It was the type of conversation that has no real subject to it, and because of that, it was enjoyable. Kit got to ask his question about Faerie and Kieran asked him questions about the mundane world. Kit even showed him the Katy Perry left shark meme. Kieran’s face when Kit told him that there were people inside those costumes could have also been a meme. 

Kit did not know where life would take him. He supposed that living with Jem and Tessa couldn’t be too bad. Who knew? Maybe they won’t ignore him as his dad had. Then again, isn’t that what parents normally do with their children? Just pretend like they don’t exist, except for times when it’s convenient for them? 

It didn’t really matter, not right now. At least Kieran felt Kit was worth his time, and maybe, just maybe, he could have the relative he never had.

Yes, that would be nice.

...

Tagging some lovely people: @celias @tsccreatorsnet @atla-lok143 @hitheresomeoneusingthus @rinadragomir @youngreckless @aceofjesper @autumnangel20 @julemmaes @cupcakesandkittens @no-scones-allowed @fictionally-fantastic @stxr-thxif @forjordelia @itsdaughterofthemoon 

If you want to be tagged in future fics, notify me! If you asked to be tagged and I didn’t tag you in this post, please remind me (my brain cells are gone at this point)

#kit herondale #kieran kingson #tsc #tda fanfiction #tsc fanfiction #kit and kieran #the dark artifies #idk what else to tag this asss

[mavda]

Beast Tamers

Ch.1 |  Ch.2 | Ch.3 | Ch.4(1) | Ch.4(2) | Ch.5(1) | Ch.5(2) | Ch.5(3) | Ch.5(4) | Ch.6(1) | Ch.6(2) | Ch.6(3) | Ch.7(1) | Ch.7(2) | Ch.7(3) | Ch.7(4) | Ch.7(5) | Ch.8(1) | Ch.8(2) | Ch.8(3) | Ch.9(1) | Ch.9(2) | Ch.9(3) | Ch.9(4) | Ch.10(1) | Ch.10(2) | Ch.10(3) | Ch.10(4) | Ch.10(5) | Ch.10(6) | Ch.10(7) | Ch.11(1) |

Ch.11: The Hyuga clan (2)

It feels surreal. It feels right in a way that makes her heart hurt. Her cousin keeps close to her and Hinata can now talk without inhibition, without worrying. She talks about whatever she wants, whenever she wants. Neji doesn’t usually smile, has never been one to even smirk. But his tone is soft and he searches for her, probes her with questions. 

    They have started talking about their time back in the Hyuga clan and although it is obvious they are still apprehensive about it; although their eyes wander when the topic is reached; although the silences are longer and the words get lost more often. They talk. 

    Hinata guesses it is her fault she lets her guard down. The days are calm, her baby is healthy, she manages to catch Neji smirking once and Naruto is supposed to reach the Two-Tails territory within the week. Which means he’ll be back soon now. Sooner than when he left. Sooner than yesterday.

    Hinata is walking through the hallways lost in thought. Trying to keep herself from worrying about her husband and focusing on her health and her baby. The maid that rushes to her looks agitated and she opens and closes her mouth for a while before saying anything.

    “We have sent word to Lord Shikamaru,” she starts, her hands in front of her, her fingers pinching at each other. “Lady Mito, Lord Minato and Lord Jiraiya are outside the compound on business, and,” she looks at Hinata as if asking for forgiveness and Hinata only grows more apprehensive by the second, “we have sent for Lord Neji, too, he should be arriving any second now-”

    “Wait,” Hinata interrupts and the maid catches her breath, her lips closing together in a thin line, “what- what happened?”

    The maid is reluctant, she looks at Hinata with her brows furrowed and her gaze fixes on her lady’s white eyes. 

    “Lady Hinata’s father, Lord Hiashi is here.”

•····························•····························•

Hinata rushes to the guest room, then slows. The maid at her side follows her every movement and matches them accordingly. It only makes Hinata more nervous. 

She ought to go and meet her father.

She could also let Neji handle everything and hide in her room-

 -wait in her room.

She stands there a second too long, the maid stands close to her, then closer. Her voice is tinged with worry. “Maybe we should wait for Lord Neji, my lady.”

And in any other tone of voice maybe Hinata would have powered through. At any other point in her life, maybe she would have felt a surge of rebellion and walked alone. But this is another time, and the maid at her side doesn’t look away when Hinata turns to her. 

There is no irk in her eyes, no contempt. 

Hinata nods and tries her hardest to keep her thoughts from going haywire. It doesn’t work. Neji comes find her with his hair disheveled and his breath labored.

“Lady Hinata,” he breathes, and they share a look so heavy she wishes Neji could tell her they don’t need to- that they don’t have to-

“You don’t have to do this,” he finishes.

Hinata’s stomach turns. And leave him again to face this on his own? 

“I can meet Lord Hiashi on my own-”

“B-but…”

“It is different with me.”

He frowns and as he gets closer he reaches for her arms. Hinata knows he’s right. 

    “You know it.”

    She does. And she wishes she could accept this without having so much trouble. She wishes she could keep her father away from her. She wishes it didn’t hurt her to deny him.

    But it does. Somehow, for some reason, the moment she heard he was here her first instinct was to go to him. Somehow, without her being able to understand why, thinking of disappointing him is out of the question.

    “I… I want to g-go.”

    She averts her eyes, because she can’t face her cousin now. Neji squeezes her arm  and his next words are low, a whisper.

    “I understand.”

•····························•····························•

Her father is sitting in the room with an air around him that shows no emotion. Hinata’s steps falter at the sight, but his gaze doesn’t follow. His eyes are fixed in front of him, and Hinata is only able to look him in the eyes when she’s sitting and Neji is next to her, a little behind. A guard. An assistant.

    She waits for a signal. Loses herself in the white eyes of her father and realizes that she is the one who has to start talking when the silence drags on far too long for comfort.

    Her father remains silent and Hinata wonders if he would keep on being silent even if she decided to keep quiet. 

    She doesn’t. The role of being a good host ingrained in her body. 

    “Father,” she says. Her breathing controlled, her body perfectly positioned. “It is good to s-see you again.” She winces as she stutters, fears a berating coming.

    “It is good to see you again, too.”

    It’s weird. Seeing her father waiting for her to speak first. Being in a position where she controls the situation.

    It’s weird. Because she thought that even in here, even now, her father would impose himself. Would act like he did back home. 

    He doesn’t.

    She is lost in thought and Hiashi can’t help but stare at her stomach. Big and obvious beneath her clothes. 

    “How far along are you?”

    Hinata brings her hands to her belly immediately after, as if to keep her baby away from this conversation.

    “Twenty- twenty-eight weeks n-now.”

    Hiashi nods, then forces the words out of his mouth, “Congratulations.”

    His daughter looks up with disbelief at his words and says nothing. He had thought he knew her so well. Had thought he could read her like an open book. But now she remains silent and looks at him with questions she does not share. 

    And if she doesn’t ask her questions he can’t answer. 

    Silence fills the room again and Hiashi steals a look at Neji, who looks straight at the floor in front of him with the blankest of faces. Just like Hiashi had taught him. 

    He hadn’t entertained the idea of being welcomed. But he certainly hadn’t entertained the idea either of being… received like this.

    His daughter looks like he’s supposed to lash out at any moment and Neji sits tense like an arrow about to be released at any moment. 

    “Wha- what… What do I owe the h-honor of your visit, f-father?”

    “You didn’t write to me.”

    The moment the words leave his mouth Hiashi wishes he didn’t say anything. What a childish reason. What a lame excuse.

    “I… I d-did,” his daughter lies and Hiashi realizes now more than ever that maybe… this whole situation didn’t bother her as much as him.

    Hiashi’s eyes travel to his nephew, his stance so formal he can only feel proud for him. There is a voice at the back of his head telling him to let this go. To understand that this was a choice and not an obstacle, not a problem he had to solve. 

    It’s frustration what makes him speak. “I know Neji is the one who wrote all the letters you sent.”

    Hinata and Neji startle with the slightest of movements, and Hinata’s eyes look at her father with a growing feeling of shame. How could he-?

    “Do not forget I was the one who taught you penmanship, Hinata.” Aside from his words, there isn’t even the barest of signs to show there will be a conversation ensuing. Hiashi breathes in deep, lets out a shaky breath, “you too, Neji. I taught you both, I know how to recognize your writing,” Hiashi begins to stand, making sure his clothes don’t wrinkle on the way up, “or the way you fake Hinata’s writing, for that matter.”

    His daughter looks up to him, and as always, her eyes fill with questions she doesn’t express.

    But Hiashi now can guess what is it she expects of him, “Don’t worry, I’m leaving now.”

    He stands with his back to the children and starts putting on his haori with conscious and deliberately slow movements. 

    “Did you come here now because Lord Naruto is not present?” Neji asks.

    “No,” Hiashi answers, “it just happened to be when I had free time, I had no idea.”

    Hiashi finishes putting on his haori and takes his long hair out to his back. There are no further attempts to ask anything to him as he makes his way to the door. He steals one last glance at his daughter. At her pregnant belly. 

    “I wish for you to have a smooth delivery and a healthy baby.” He bows as he offers the words. Stops a few more seconds just looking at her from the door. 

    “Why… wh-why didn’t you c-come to my wedding c-ceremony?”

    A second. “The timing didn’t match, I was busy with the clan.”

    Hinata wants to ask what was going on that he couldn’t come, but her father bows one last time before he starts closing the sliding door.

    “Take care, Hinata.”

    Hiashi stands behind the door casting a shadow for a moment too long and then he hurries away. 

    He lost his opportunity to ask for permission to see his grandchild after they’re born.

•····························•····························•

“Are you all right?”

“Y-yes.”

    Neji stares at the sliding door, as if expecting for Lord Hiashi to come back any moment now. 

    “I don’t… I don’t really understand why Lord Hiashi came here.”

    Hinata doesn’t know nor understand either, but she knows one thing for sure. 

    “Can you h-help me go back to my r-room?”

    “Of course,” Neji stands in a flash, offering his hand as support and pressing the other to her back. “Are you feeling… all right?”

    “Yes, just a little…” she doesn’t finish and Neji doesn’t keep on probing. 

    Neji takes her to her bedroom, makes sure she’s comfortable and leaves her alone. She doesn’t say anything and doesn’t ask him to stay. So he leaves. He’s sure… Lord Hiashi coming here rattled her nerves. 

    Hinata stays alone and eats alone. The night comes in a second and Shikamaru comes see her when he can. She’s all right. Nothing happened. He has nothing to worry about. He leaves with the same face Neji had given her in the afternoon. 

    Hinata wishes… she had said more. Wishes she had had the courage and strength to talk. On her terms, on her home. 

    And she didn’t.

    She couldn’t.

    She’s going to be a mother and she’s incapable of talking like an adult to her own father. 

    The faces Neji and Shikamaru gave her only serve to make her feel… worse.

    She feels bad. 

    From the moment her heart started thumping inside her chest knowing her father was here.

    From the moment she understood fear was the smallest of the feelings inside of her. 

    Her father had come to see her and she had felt excited at the idea he had come for her. 

    She hated it. The moment she understood it. She hated it. Hated it as she laid eyes on him, hated it as she felt guilt over his accusations, hated it as she accepted his reasons for not attending her wedding with a readiness that scared her. 

    Hated it as she wished for him to stay longer. 

    She wants to hate him so bad. Has wished to be able to be spiteful all her life. But she can’t. She can’t, she can’t. She can only remember his kindness, can only justify his wrongdoings. 

    She loathes the fact that all of her resolve crumbled down the moment he came back into her life. 

    She can live without him. Wants to live without him.

    But only one word from him and she would accept him back into her life.

    As the tears fall and she tries to clear her thoughts, she grabs one of Naruto’s clothes to their bed. With his scent around her, making as if he’s right beside her, she sniffles once more and falls asleep.

#naruto #naruhina #Naruto Uzumaki #Hinata Hyuga #uzumaki naruto #hyuga hinata #fanfiction #fanfic #beast tamers #ch.11 #part 2 #binge watched squid games the other day #great show #also Hinata is going through some shit okay #she didn't expect Hiashi to just up and come visit her #take care #see you next week!

[cartasmojadas]

Y’all remember that Dirk John AU that I said I wanted to write...well it has taken a turn. Now it reads more like little windows into a budding relationship.

Here’s to childhood friends!

The first time John considers the idea of boys kissing boys he’s in the fourth grade. It is also the last time he plays hide and seek. 

“I think I’m too old for hide and seek,” Dirk pushes John’s face away with the hard plastic of the game controller. His older brother is supposed to be picking him up from the sleepover soon, but if the dog-shaped clock on the wall isn’t wrong, Dave is already half an hour late. 

John flinches and falls back into the bed. Dirk is willing to ignore him for Rainbow Road but John’s disappointed expression holds his attention. 

“You sound like Janey,” John mutters. “Everyone says they’re too old and I’m too little. But you’re only a year older! Stop treating me like I’m a baby!” John kicks his legs around and apologizes when he lands a hit on Dirk’s leg. 

Dirk watches John in silence for a moment. His sisters have pointed out that he should try to be less blunt since you catch more flies with honey, not that he’s entirely sure why he’s supposed to catch flies, or how he’s supposed to speak in honey. 

“You are a baby.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Dirk knows he has messed up. John’s face drops with a betrayed wail. He quickly tosses a pillow in Dirk’s direction. 

“It’s not a bad thing,” Dirk swats the pillow away. He reaches over and ruffles John’s dark hair in an affectionate manner like Dirk’s own older siblings will do to him whenever Dirk is upset.

“It’s cute and fun and it means you get away with lots of stuff.”

John still wears the insult on his face as he scoots to the edge of the bed. Their legs dangle over the edge of the bed and John’s chest twists when he notices that Dirk’s feet already touch the ground. 

He pushes his thick-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose and sighs. 

“Yeah, but,” he sighs again, “You’re going to sixth grade next year and then I really will be too little. You’re going to hang out with all of the other big kids and you and Jane are going to forget all about me.”

Dirk scoffs, “I don’t think Jane could forget about you. She’s your sister and you live with her. I’ve tried forgetting about Rose and that’s never worked.”

John lets out a short laugh and Dirk can’t help but smile to himself. He has always thought that John has one of those faces that just doesn’t look right when they’re sad. Like his big sister Roxy. When she gets sad it makes Dirk think that everything is sad. 

“Hey,” Dirk says hopping off the bed, “Let’s go play hide and seek.” 

--

Despite John being a terrible hider (or Dirk is too good of a seeker), they have fun. Dirk finds it difficult not to fall into John’s infectious enthusiasm for the game. And while he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, Dirk enjoys pretending he’s Detective Conan on the case. 

John prefers to hide anyways. Whenever he’s the one looking for Dirk, it takes way too long and makes the game a little boring. John likes the feeling of anticipation that he can’t contain whenever he sees Dirk’s shadow move around and he can hear the light sound of Dirk’s muttering getting closer and closer to wherever John hides. 

So when Dirk starts to count John takes off. 

He runs as fast as he can through the house and out into the back yard. Dirk said this was the last round and before they play Mario Kart-- John knows he needs to make it count. 

His blue sneakers light up green as he hops around assessing a new and ideal hiding location for himself. 

The back yard is full of John’s typical hiding spots. There are a few trees and hedges that might work but John has already hidden behind those today. He looks at the dad-approved spots for playing in the backyard and feels the anxious frustration that comes with the pressure of a countdown bubble up. 

Dirk is getting closer to the number 100 when John spots a non approved location. The realization makes John feel particularly proud of himself; hiding in a not dad-approved spot behind the tool shed? Dirk will never find him!

John sprints past the scattered and mostly abandoned playground pieces toward the toolshed. It sits under a treelined corner, which hides everything perfectly under the shade of overgrown bushes and machinery. His dad says he should stay away from that side of the house since it is full of sharp and hard metal tools, but John isn’t a baby and he can absolutely handle hiding behind some old walls. 

When he sees Jake, John’s first instinct is to drop low and hide. Mostly out of habit, since he feels like the older kids are always hiding something from him but John also hides out of curiosity. 

John isn’t entirely sure what is happening. His mind briefly forgets that he’s supposed to be hiding from Dirk, but instead his mind races with questions about what Jake could possibly doing behind the shed. 

John shifts his weight and leans over enough to get a better view. His eyes go wide at the sight. 

He’s never seen people kiss outside of some movies and for a moment John thinks that they are just whispering really close to each other. It’s not until Jake’s hand moves up and readjusts their angle, that it clicks for John.

Jake is kissing Dave, Dirk’s big brother. 

John is halfway to a loud gasp that gets cut off as Dirk covers his mouth with his hand. His eyes are just as wide as John’s and he can’t help but think that it’s the most expressive he’s seen his friend be in a while. John takes in the additionally rare view long enough that he forgets his initial scandal for a moment. He fixates on the bright blush that covers Dirk’s face.

Dirk swallows hard before he looks away from where his brother is kissing John’s older cousin. When he looks down, John is staring at him confused. 

He takes John’s hand and as quiet as possible, leads him back toward the house. As soon as their feet touch the bricks of the back patio, both boys sprint into the house tripping over each other and past John’s confused sister, until they reach John’s mess of a bedroom. 

“What was that!” John shrieks. 

Dirk hushes him and pushes John toward the window. Dirk crouches down so that he can barely look over the window sill. 

“Don’t just stand there,” Dirk means to sound annoyed but his voice trails with distraction. 

John watches Dirk quietly and wonders what he’s thinking about. He looks a little more like his regular self, compared to the surprised expression from earlier, if not maybe a little bit more serious.

“That was weird right?” John whispers after a moment. “Boys aren’t supposed to kiss boys, right?”

Dirk turns and rests his back against the wall. “I dunno,” he mutters, “Says who?” Dirk stares down at his hands as if in deep thought. 

John squints his eyes and tries to remember, “I think Zack, the one in Mr.Jenkin’s class, said so.”

Dirk rolls his eyes, “Zack is an idiot. Don’t listen to what he says. He ate dirt once and didn’t even get paid for it.”

John hums in agreement and sits down next to his friend. 

“So, not weird? That your big brother and my cousin were, were kissing?”

Dirk shakes his head slowly, almost as if he’s unsure of his own answer. 

“I can’t imagine kissing anybody! So gross.” John huffs. 

Dirk spares a cautious glance at John and feels relief when he sees John’s toothy grin.

“I mean, eventually, maybe,” John blushes, “I guess I am too little for kissing,” he taps his forehead and thinks, “But so are you!” he rushes, “You too Dirk, you’re too little to kiss. Just because you’re in fifth grade doesn’t mean you can kiss people. Jake is like, a hundred--”

“He’s sixteen,”

John gasps, “That’s still old! So best bro pact, right now, no kissing! Anyone!”

Dirk stares down at John’s offered pinky. His head is still swimming with rapid-fire questions that his brain tries to catalog as fast as they form. 

“Dirk!” John hisses, “Promise!”

There’s something about John’s urgency that clears Dirk’s mind.

“Okay,” Dirk concedes and John beams with satisfaction. “But! You can’t tell anyone about what we saw! Best bro promise! You gotta swear on your signed Stay-Puft action figure.”

In the distance, they can hear someone call for Dirk.

“Only if you promise on your secret my little pony collection that you won’t kiss anybody!”

“Ever?”

“Ever!” John shrieks at the same time Jane calls for Dirk.

Dirk wraps their pinkies together and meets John’s determined eyes one more time. 

---

John doesn’t really think about kissing much after that. 

And he only ever thinks about boys kissing when Jake comes out a year later. 

The dreams where John is the one hiding behind the tool shed kissing a faceless blond boy with warm skin and chapped lips won’t start for a few years.

#DirkJohn #Childhood friends #Homestuck AU #I have variations of this written down in three different notebooks #as much as I wanted to write something that made chronological sense or #at least made sense to the plot of my planned AU #this kept manifesting #anyways...i'm a sucker for stories about friends #i have middle school dirk john also half written in three other notebooks.