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andypantsx3 · 26 days

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𝑤𝘩𝑒𝑛 𝑖 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 : 𝑡𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑖 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑜 𝑥 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 : 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑣

𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦: In order to placate your anxious mother, you agree to return to your hometown to participate in a mating run—knowing full well that betas rarely get chased, never mind betas nearly old enough to age out of the practice. You’ve decided to treat it like a vacation, a chance to visit with your childhood friends, the mating run itself a nice relaxing hike.All in all it’s a solid plan—until alpha Todoroki Shouto, your best friend's little brother,steps in and blows it all to pieces. 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡: omegaverse, no quirks au, alpha!shouto, beta!reader, mating rituals, age gap, best friend’s little brother, older reader, afab reader, some class differences, aged up characters, semi-public sex, slight small town romance vibes, background implied dabihawks for some reason, smut, knotting, 18+; mdni! 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ: 7.6k | chapter 4 of 4

Then

“Shouto duty,” was the first thing Touya grumbled as he emerged from his house.

A little shadow with red and white hair peered out from behind him, big eyes staring up at you. Shouto was dressed in a periwinkle t-shirt and khaki shorts in the late spring heat, and he was nearly vibrating with excitement. You reached out reflexively to pat that fluff of hair, and Shouto seemed to lean into your touch like a cat, probably starved of affection from his fussy older brother.

“My lucky day,” you said, grinning at the way it made Touya roll his eyes.

Shouto nearly launched himself off the steps, looking quietly thrilled to be tagging along. He shoved himself in between you and Touya as you walked, as if unable to bear Touya’s proximity to you, making Touya bark out an annoyed, “Oi, watch it.”

Shouto ignored him, turning to you. “Y/N, I have something to tell you.”

You looked down at him curiously. “What?”

“I lost a tooth,” he said, staring up at you seriously. You laughed, knowing most kids would have smiled to show off their tooth gap, but Shouto had always been a little bit more withdrawn, though he was fairly open around you.

“When?” you asked, ignoring Touya’s scoff. “Did the tooth fairy come?”

Shouto nodded. “Last night. I am adding the money to my inheritance for you.”

That made you laugh again, and you bumped his shoulder. “You’re a good kid, Shouto. I think you should buy yourself something with it though. Especially in this weather—it’s good popsicle weather.”

Shouto looked like he was seriously considering this. “Do you like popsicles?”

You nodded. “Definitely.”

He seemed to pocket that information, and you hid a fond smile. That kid was too sweet for his own good, when it came to you. You wondered when his little case of older-brother’s-friend worship would end. You hoped not for another few years, at least.

“Fucking finally,” Touya said when he caught sight of Rumi and Keigo at the end of his neighborhood, his booted steps growing faster, as if eager to get away from the two of you.

You didn’t mind—Shouto was easy company.

“Oi!” Keigo called out to you, waving a skinny arm. You accompanied Shouto over, watching with a little bit of self-satisfaction when Shouto ducked a hair ruffle from Rumi, the look on his face almost reminiscent of Touya.

You were still his favorite, it seemed.

The usual round of arguments commenced about what to play now that all of you were united, Touya snottily vetoing everyone’s suggestions—except, notably, Keigo’s. Eventually you settled on hide and seek, something Shouto could participate in too, since it didn’t involve convoluted rules, and established a set distance you could go.

Finally Shouto was dubbed the first seeker, and the rest of you took off into the surrounding neighborhood.

You immediately beelined for the sprawling oak at the edge of the neighborhood, its thick, leafy branches the perfect place to conceal yourself. Touya, Keigo, and Rumi had long caught on to the fact that you were almost always to be found up a tree, but Shouto hadn’t played this game with you before.

Thirty seconds and one bark-scraped palm later had you settled in your hiding place, just as you caught Shouto’s shout from afar, “Ready or not, here I come!”

You quieted your breath, listening for the sound of his approach. This late in spring, the cicadas were already roaring. The leaves rustled around you in the breeze and you could hear some other band of kids shrieking and laughing, far in the distance.

It was nearing ten minutes on by the time you heard the thump of Shouto’s sneakers approaching, and you could just make out that distinct mop of bright hair through the branches. He poked around behind bushes, peering at eye level, but didn’t seem to think to look up for you. You watched him hunt through the surrounding area, then dash off when you heard a distinctly Keigo squawk not too far away.

You were nearly asleep on your tree branch when you heard his return, and you sat up quietly to watch him again. You were impressed that he seemed to know you were somewhere nearby.

As you watched him rifle around, you wondered if you should drop a hint, just because he’d been so sweet to you earlier. He’d been so adorable insisting he’d save you his tooth money.

You deliberately rustled a branch, leaning on it so it made a loud creak.

Immediately, Shouto’s head snapped up. Two mismatched eyes narrowed in on you, and his face seemed to brighten when he saw you. A small smile quirked the corner of his mouth.

“Caught you,” he called up to you.

You stuck a leg down tauntingly. “Not yet.”

Something passed over Shouto’s face, and his gaze seemed to sharpen. “I have, too.” You could almost hear a foot stamp in his voice.

You grinned. “Not until I get down.”

A determined look settled across Shouto’s features, and he prowled over to the tree. You watched him jump for a lower branch, catching it securely before hefting himself up. His arms were skinny, but his movements were sure, intent. In no time at all you were helping lever him onto your own branch, pulling him up alongside you.

“I caught you,” Shouto repeated, settling a proprietary hand on your arm. His hand was warm, and his fingers caught your wrist tightly.

You smiled. “I let you catch me by making all that noise, you mean.”

A tiny frown pulled at Shouto’s mouth. “I knew you were around here,” he said, something almost like a pout in his voice.

You laughed. “I did notice you came back. Those are some good tracking skills—although don’t forget to look up. I’m usually always up a tree, when it comes to hide and seek, and Touya and the others I think have caught on too. They’re probably up their own trees somewhere.”

“I do not care about finding them,” Shouto said. His straightforward tone startled a laugh out of you.

You settled back against the branch, Shouto still gripping your arm firmly. “Should we let them wait, then?” you asked, grinning. “I bet Rumi will come out on her own pretty soon, she’s so impatient.”

Shouto nodded. “I will stay here with you.”

The sincerity of the statement warmed you, the way Shouto’s serious little proclamations always did. He was too sweet for this earth. “Then shall we discuss which popsicle you’re going to get later? I have some recommendations.”

Shouto nodded seriously, and you launched into your nonsense, pleased. The leaves rustled around you, the breeze cool and pleasant against your skin. It felt like time stretched out around you, thick like taffy, slow and lazy and easy in the late spring breeze.

You thought absently that wished you could have a million more moments, Shouto the easiest company beside you, just like this.

Now

The morning of the run dawned warm and dry, sunny with a light breeze.

It was perfect hiking weather, and that was the only thing that kept you in good spirits. You tried not to think about Shouto—about how he was going after someone today, how you’d possibly seen him for the last time before he did. He’d said he’d find your tree, but there was really no guarantee his omega was going to run in the same direction as you.

You ate breakfast on the couch with your mother, listening to her excitedly chatter about your prospects today. You hammed it up a little bit, pretending you had any interest in being chased by an alpha, so that you could milk it later and avoid promises to commit to next year’s run. You hoped it would be enough of a deterrent for her—every year you grew older without a mate, she seemed more desperate to find you one.

You repacked your bags, readying yourself to board your train back to the city tomorrow, feeling mournful. Then you spent the rest of the morning finishing up the small things your mother had let go while you were gone, YouTubing your way through a door knob repair, and some weather stripping replacements. You lifted her air-conditioning into the window, swearing and sweating the whole time and wishing you had even a fraction of Shouto’s easy alpha strength.

After everything was finished, you packed up for the run, placing all your snacks and the sandwich Shouto had helped assemble into a small backpack, stuffing in a water and a book after. Then you scrounged around in your clean laundry for some hiking clothes, settling on leggings and a tee-shirt, no reason to try to impress anyone.

It was late morning by the time you ducked out of your house and started the trek to the preserve on the edge of town. Throngs of people were already gathered when you got there, alphas and omegas alike crowding the entrance. An overwhelming mixture of scents washed over you, the sweetness and florals of the omegas, the tang and spice of the alphas, even the small muted underwash of a few betas.

The overstimulation was nostalgic, and brought to mind your first few runs—the anticipatory hope you felt, the determination not to get caught for some one-time mating with an alpha who wouldn’t prove to be your life mate. It had been years, and you knew the outcome already this time, but some small thrill of anticipation thrummed in your veins regardless.

You kept to the edge of the crowd, sprawling out on the grass until the organizers called for the omegas and running betas to come forward to their starting mark. The alphas and remaining betas would be called to the mark a half hour later, to follow their intended targets into the preserve.

Then the whistle was being blown, and the crowd of omegas around you surged into the forest.

The first hundred meters of the preserve were a tangle of wild trees and overgrowth—omegas typically stayed on the trails until the forest opened up, several paths intersecting and leading away into hills and towards a pond, with the last one stretching towards the coast. This was your usual route and you followed it until the trees thinned out, then stepped off the path to tromp through the woods in the direction of the coastline.

You kept a brisk pace, wanting to get as far in as you could before the alphas were let in. Eventually the spruces and firs gave way to mostly coastal scrub pines amid tall grass, and you could smell the ocean through the trees, hear the crash of the waves against the rocky outcroppings.

You stepped out of the woods along a small coastal path that stretched for miles, and followed it a few minutes more until it flattened out. There was a small meadow laid into the coastline, spanning several square meters of pale seagrass and flowering bushes, shaded by an enormous willow tree—your target.

The meadow had a beautiful view of the shining blue waves through the barren scrub trees, but more importantly it was out of the way, little known to people who did not frequent the coastline trails. The willow was the perfect cover, its trailing fingers and dense greenery more than enough to hide one disinterested beta.

You ducked through the leaves, latching onto one of the lower branches and heaving yourself up. It had been years since you’d climbed anything—the city not exactly chalk-full of great climbing trees—but you were pleased to find it just as satisfying. You scrambled up into the canopy, testing your weight against your designated branch, finding it still held you easily.

Perfect.

You immediately rewarded yourself with a granola bar, settling onto your branch and chewing contentedly, pleased with the temperature. The sun was hot, but in the shade of the leaves and the salty breeze drifting in off the sea, it was perfectly comfortable.

You’d just gotten out your book to read, flipping to the spot you’d last left off at, when the chirp of nearby birds stopped. The meadow seemed to grow quiet around you.

You sat up, alert, at the soft tread of a bootfall close by. Your breath froze in your lungs. An omega, looking for a place to hide? Or some alpha?

Except then a long-fingered hand parted the hanging tendrils of the willow, and a familiar head of scarlet and white hair was ducking inside the canopy.

Embarrassingly, your heart swelled. Shouto had made time to stop in before finding his omega.

“Shouto!” you shouted down, pleased.

Shouto’s face tipped up to you, a tiny smile on his mouth. He looked especially good today, you thought, a navy tee shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, baring the flesh of his biceps, a flush on his cheeks from the warm spring sun. He looked a little taken apart, windswept like he’d run here, and you furiously stamped down on the flash of heat in your tummy.

Nope. No.

“Y/N,” Shouto intoned quietly, his eyes glittering up at you. “Caught you.”

You were momentarily taken aback by the sound of something unfamiliar in his tone, some strange intensity in his voice and expression. It sounded almost like it meant something to find you here, something more than a momentary pitstop on his way to his omega—but of course that was ridiculous.

You waved down at him, smiling and sticking a leg down tauntingly like when you were kids. “Not yet.”

Shouto’s eyes narrowed, a flash of something predatory tinging his handsome features.

In the blink of an eye, he crossed to the tree, dense muscle coiling and pulling beneath his tee shirt as he pulled himself up. This time he needed none of your help, moving with a panther-like grace. He pulled himself onto the branch immediately below yours, close enough that it put him at eye level with the bottom of your chin.

Then he reached out and snared your ankle in one large, warm hand, a smug sort of glint in his eye. The follow up caught you went unspoken.

Another laugh bubbled up out of you. “Alright alright, this time you got me,” you agreed, flexing your ankle in his hold.

Shouto’s mouth turned up, clearly pleased, but he did not let go. A thumb stroked softly along the hollow beneath your ankle bone. A surprised shiver caught you, sliding up your spine.

“You, um, got here so quick,” you said, trying to think past the sudden fuzz of static in your brain. You hoped your voice sounded impressed and not embarrassingly breathy. “Did you at least note which way your life mate went?”

Shouto’s head tilted, his bangs falling into his eyes as his thumb petted across your skin again. “I did.”

You nodded approvingly, tensing against another shudder. “Did they come out this way? You’re probably the first alpha to make it out here but you won’t want to waste too much time.”

Shouto’s mouth twitched, those heterochromatic eyes trailing down your face. “No time spent with you is a waste.”

That made your face warm. You tried to prod him with your foot, but Shouto’s grip was firm. “You’re going to want to save the charm for your life mate, mister.”

“I am,” he said simply, tone sincere.

You felt your brow furrow—now what was that supposed to mean?—when suddenly Shouto leaned forward, abandoning his grip on your ankle. His hands found the branch at either side of your hip, trapping you inside his reach. You stared down at him, stunned with his sudden proximity.

You felt suddenly a little caged in, your breath pulling up short. What was he—?

“Will you come down to me?” Shouto asked, eyes intent on yours.

The ask felt significant, though you had no idea how. And he was so close, so focused on you.

But you had no clue exactly what he would need you to come down for. Maybe he wanted to split lunch or something? You had your sandwich in your bag, and it would be easier on the ground, you supposed.

Although Shouto probably shouldn’t go running around on too full a stomach, especially if he—with his omega, after—if they…

You found you couldn’t think it, your mind shying away like you’d prodded a nerve.

Really, Shouto should be going soon, before any ranging alphas made it this far out and sniped his life mate before he got to them.

With that thought, however, some selfish thing recoiled inside of you. You desperately craved just a few more minutes with him—this achingly familiar boy, this mind-numbingly beautiful man—before he wasn’t really yours to think of anymore. These were the last few moments you’d get to spend with him before everything changed. It took less than a second to make up your mind.

“Yeah,” you said, smiling. “I’ll come down.”

You shifted, gathering your backpack and maneuvering off your branch carefully. Shouto gave you just enough space to get down, a hand finding your waist as you steadied yourself. He shadowed you down, close at your back to make sure you didn’t slip.

He was acting the consummate gentleman—but there was a strange tension about him, something about the way he moved and the intensity with which he was trailing you. There was something expectant about it, something almost impatient.

Maybe he needed you to hurry up so he could get going. That was probably it.

You turned to your backpack as soon as he guided you safely to the ground. You’d barely gotten it unzipped, however, when Shouto suddenly crowded into your space, startling you.

You stumbled a reflexive step back, breath whooshing out of you when your back connected with the trunk of the willow. Shouto followed, still watching you with that unnerving intensity.

His fingers dipped under your chin, softly turning your face up to his. His gaze was serious—more solemn than you had ever seen him. You went still in his grasp, heartbeat rabbiting in your chest.

What was with him today?

“Shouto,” you said slowly. “Are you… alright?”

Shouto leaned down, pressing his forehead to yours. His slow exhale ghosted over your mouth, thumb stroking across your jaw. It sent a swarm of shudders down your spine, and you suddenly weren’t breathing at all.

“I have dreamed of this moment a thousand times,” Shouto said, his tone reverent. It was almost a whisper.

His tone implied there was something incredibly significant about this moment, but you could not for the life of you think of what. Especially not with his face so close, clouding up your thoughts.

You felt your brow furrow against his, and you opened your mouth to ask him what on earth he could be talking about.

Except before you could, Shouto’s hands took either side of your face. And then he bent his head—and pressed his mouth to yours.

All higher thought immediately evacuated your brain, leaving only a sudden zing of panic and the horrible, wonderful excitement of Shouto’s mouth on yours, of Shouto’s strong body so close to yours. Rough bark scraped against your back as Shouto’s front slotted warm and firm against your chest, and the feeling of all that strength pressed so tightly to you made you dizzy.

“Sho–-? Whuh—?” you said, slightly muffled into his mouth.

But Shouto only took the opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth, soft and wet and so unbelievably hot your brain short circuited. Every single nerve ending in your body lit up as you realized Todoroki Shouto had his tongue in your mouth, and that he was kissing you so thoroughly and meticulously it felt as though this was the last kiss he’d ever be allowed. You heard yourself let out a gasp that turned into an embarrassing moan as he pressed harder against you, pinning you between himself and the tree.

Your mind felt like it was melting, Shouto’s mouth doing terrible things to your thoughts’ coherence. Your hands went to his shoulders, and you found yourself opening up to him, every inch of your skin hot. Every flick of his tongue, every brush of his lips felt better than you could have ever imagined, and you were helpless to do anything but let him have you.

Your thoughts were a puddle when Shouto finally let your mouth free. All you could do was stare up at him, shocked.

“Y/N,” Shouto said, his eyes searching your face. “You came down for me.”

His handsome face wore an expression you hadn’t ever seen before as he regarded you, something almost—possessive? His hands had slid to your waist, his touch hot through the material of your shirt.

Your brain swam. Words, what were words? “I—? Uh, yes—?”

Shouto seemed to understand you weren’t getting his point. “‘If I’m not an alpha, and I have to hide somewhere, I’m going to find the best tree in the preserve and go up it and not come down until I find my life mate,’” he said.

It sounded like a quote, and it took you an embarrassingly long moment to realize it was something you had said, years and years and years ago, when you were both kids.

Was he saying—? But that was absurd. No, there was no way. You hadn’t—he wasn’t—

“But you’re Shouto,” you groped around your thoughts for logic and reasoning. “You’re Shouto.”

Shouto watched you patiently, a white eyebrow raising slightly.

“You can’t mean—?” you sputtered. “No. You’re Touya’s baby brother. I’m too old for you. The first time I held you, you were a baby.”

Shouto pressed impossibly closer to you, a long-fingered hand winding its way into yours. “I am not a child, Y/N. And you are not that much older than I.”

You struggled to think through the feeling of his body pressed to yours. You knew it. You knew he wasn’t a child. But all the same, you’d spent long enough telling yourself he’d been meant for someone else. Long enough convinced that you were too old for him.

Long enough that you were absolutely certain this had to be a mistake.

“You’re off limits,” you told him, trying to press him back. Shouto did not budge, however, as solid as stone under your hand.

“You are my life mate,” he said. He raised your joined hands to his mouth, kissing over your knuckles. An electric jolt went through you at the feeling of that mouth on you again, firm and warm. “I have known my whole life. I am off limits to all but you.”

A storm of emotion churned in your gut, everything from guilt to disbelief to pleasure to relief. To hear it said so plainly, after all this time—you are my life mate—by a man who was already so beloved to you. By a boy you’d loved as a friend, a man who you wanted to love as more.

But you couldn’t—he had to deserve better.

“I won’t take advantage of you,” you insisted.

A small smile pulled at Shouto’s mouth. “I am not a child. And I am an alpha besides. Your alpha.”

You fought down a furious flush.

“But Shouto there’s so many things–!” you insisted. Beyond being older than him, beyond being a staple in his life since he was young. You were quickly realizing so many of the promises he’d made when he was younger, he actually meant.

“Your inheritance—I never meant to accept that from you for real. And your family, they would not like that I—”

The rest of your words were muffled in Shouto’s mouth, as he bent his head and kissed you again. A flick of his tongue turned even that into a muffled squeak instead. Why was he so good at this?

“Much of my family understands what it means to pursue something singularly,” Shouto said against your lips. “What it means to give everything you have in service of pursuit.”

Your stomach flipped. The Todoroki single-mindedness that you had been convinced had skipped right over Shouto. Suddenly years of solemn watchfulness over you, years of following you like a shadow, years of sharing all his toys and his thoughts and promising to take care of you—it all made a terrible, perfect sort of sense.

Single-mindedness. But not as destruction, as Enji’s and Touya’s had been. As devotion—as thoughtfulness, something so uniquely Shouto you wanted to cry.

God how had you missed this?

You rallied yourself for one last defense.

“Shouto. At the very least you need to consider if you’re making a mistake. Alpha-beta couplings are nontraditional—maybe your senses are off here. Maybe because I’m a beta and I was around when your brain was still forming and you liked me then it feels like there’s something but—”

Shouto’s grip on you flexed, and suddenly his determined expression flickered, a crease forming between those perfect brows.

“Do you see me as a child still?” he asked.

You shook your head. Not since you’d seen him prowl across the Todoroki kitchen, miles of sleek muscle flexing, that perfect campfire scent fogging your brain, tall and gorgeous and unmistakably alpha. And especially not since you’d come to understand the expanse of his life—the home he’d made, the job he had, the goals he’d taken.

“Then do you… not want me?” he asked.

Your heart immediately sank, aching with the soft flicker of hurt that crept across his features.

Your hands had shot out to hold his face before you knew what you were doing.

“Shouto, of course I want you,” you found yourself saying. “Who wouldn’t want you? You are perfect. You are so kind and have always been so good. You are sweet and funny and so beautiful it hurts to look at. Of course I want you. But I don’t want to hurt you—”

“Then say yes,” Shouto insisted.

God you wanted to. You wanted to. You had been so jealous this whole week, you realized, of whoever his life mate was going to be.

The realization crashed into you like a wave, knocking you off balance. You wanted all of Shouto’s time, all of his attention, wanted to curl up in his apartment on that plush couch with him and all but bodily fuse to him, never to come apart again. You wanted to spend a million afternoons cooking in that kitchen, running lunches to him at the firehouse, kissing him, laughing with him, indulging in him—in how kind and sweet and good he’d always been.

Your face must have said it all, because Shouto was crowding back into you.

“I am going to be so good to you, Y/N,” he promised, his mouth drawing closer.

You shivered. Some part of you still felt like you needed to resist him, needed to make him see. But the other part of you, the largest part, wanted to melt in his embrace. Wanted to let him kiss you and kiss him back, wanted to thread your fingers in that fluff of hair and sink into the relief of his companionship.

Shouto hammered the final nail into your coffin with the unerring precision of a boy who’d known you for twenty years.

“Trust me to take good care of you,” he said, his voice dipping to a low whisper.

And that was it—the refrain from all those years ago, before you’d ever understood what he was promising you. Even if you were uncertain about everything else, you would always be certain about Shouto’s care. Shouto’s inherent goodness.

Surrendering, you let yourself fall.

“I do,” you told him. “I trust you. I—always will.”

Then you closed your eyes and let him kiss you.

You could feel Shouto’s soft smile against your mouth, feel a renewed intensity in the way he poured himself into you with his next kiss. You almost sagged against him in sheer relief—the relief of knowing, against all odds, that your life mate had found you even across the years that had threatened to separate you.

Shouto kissed you with a startling vigor, leaving you breathless against the willow when he moved down to your neck, pulling your tee shirt wide to suck several very insistent markings into the hollow of your throat.

You leaned into the rough bark as he mapped his way lower, and lower, only startling when he dropped to his knees before you, pressing his face into the crease of your hip.

Your heart shot into your mouth, a shock of heat licking up your spine. “Shouto!” you stammered.

Shouto only uttered your name into the fabric of your leggings, the material thin enough that you could feel the heat of his exhalation on your skin. One of his hands came up to take your calf, the other creeping up into the band of your leggings, carefully pulling it down.

You watched him as he did, stomach fluttering.

He gently helped you step out of your leggings and panties, leaving you bare and vulnerable to him. You would have been more embarrassed if it wasn’t for the way his eyelashes fluttered appreciatively, and the immediate way he ducked his head to press his mouth right to your core.

You muffled a moan into your palm, thunking your head against the tree trunk.

You could feel Shouto’s slow smile as he hefted your thigh over his shoulder, hands grasping your waist. “Mine,” you heard him utter, soft and low, before licking right over you, possessive and deliberate. It made every inch of your skin flush hot, every nerve ending come to life under his mouth.

You could still hardly believe what was happening, even as you muffled more sounds into your palm as Shouto worked you, with the attentive diligence he’d always done everything when it came to you. You could feel those mismatched eyes on you, cataloging your every reaction to what he did.

He learned all too quickly exactly what you liked, and you were a writhing mess within minutes. Shouto pinned you to the tree with an iron arm across your stomach as you arched and screamed, not letting up until you’d come against his mouth, chanting his name like an oath.

He looked very pleased with himself when you were done, his hair ruffled from your hand, face flushed.

He looked too good to be real.

“I want—Shouto, please—” you said, nearly incoherent but apparently utterly shameless now that he’d had you.

Shouto got to his feet to kiss you again and you flushed when you could taste yourself on his mouth. “Come home with me,” he murmured, tone low.

“You don’t want—?” you said.

Shouto shook his head. “Not here. I’ve imagined this a thousand times, how I wanted it to happen. I’ve thought about what you deserve. I’ve thought about how I will not want to separate, after, not even to take you back home. Come home with me first.”

Fire spread across your cheeks at the idea of Shouto imagining it with you, over and over again. The way he said home, like it was both of yours.

“Okay. Okay yes,” you said, breathless.

Shouto helped you back into your leggings and gathered up your abandoned pack, which you’d apparently dropped and forgotten entirely the moment he’d kissed you. He held your hand in his the whole way back through the woods, occasionally cocking his head or scenting the air, and then taking a long detour around some place, like he didn’t want to share your presence with whoever else was in the woods.

The walk was long, but so easy in Shouto’s company, even with this new dimension of your relationship settling itself between you two. It was frighteningly easy, in fact, after everything.

You talked about everything and nothing, reliving the entire week together, Shouto sharing that he’d hoped you’d see him as a man, had taken the time right up until the run to try to be sure. Ears flaming, you’d shared that you’d been gone for him the moment you’d seen him in the doorway of the kitchen. Shouto’s smug look immediately mopped up any of the reflexive embarrassment you felt sharing that.

By the time you made it to Shouto’s you’d also managed to shoot a text off to your mother, and an emergency extension of your time off to your workplace.

Shouto was on you as soon as the door shut behind you, catching your noise of surprise in his mouth.

Your arms came around him, and he walked you back to his couch, following you down onto it and laying himself out over you. The weight of him made you shiver again, the heaviness of all that muscle anchoring you down.

Shouto kissed you absolutely boneless into the cushions of his couch, hands wandering everywhere, skimming under your shirt, calluses catching on the fabric of your leggings. Everywhere he touched felt like it was on fire, your nerves singing with pleasure. Shouto seemed to be trying to take his time with you, but you could sense something underneath that, his usual layers of patience eroded.

Feeling brave, you let your hands wander to the buttons of his pants, working them open. Shouto’s breath left him in a hiss as you wrapped your hand around him, feeling him hard and hot and velvet smooth in your palm.

“Ah… fffuck, love,” he muttered into your neck. He chased it with the soft scrape of his teeth, groaning when it made your grip tighten on him reflexively.

His hips flexed, sliding him through your fingers, flush and full. Butterflies fluttered to life in your stomach, and a hot streak of arousal licked up your spine. Your own hips shifted, lifting up into him, and you realized with a sudden desperation that you wanted him inside you, didn’t want to wait another second.

“Shouto please, please, please,” you found yourself babbling, stroking firmly down the shaft of him.

Shouto’s eyes were dark when they found yours again. “Anything, I would give you anything,” he said, his voice tight.

“I want you inside of me, please,” you said, your face burning with the admission.

The sheer elation flashing across his handsome face quelled any more embarrassment. In what felt like barely a breath, Shouto had you bare to him once more, flinging your leggings and shirt somewhere towards his kitchen. He covered you again, fitting himself between your thighs with another appreciative groan before pressing in.

You were so wild with want that he slid home easily, despite his impressive size. His skin burned hot against yours, and he felt so perfectly right over you, inside of you, that you had to fight down something like a sob.

Shouto looked equally as overwhelmed, staring at your face rapturously. “I have loved you my whole life,” he said, his tone wondering. “You are finally mine.”

Your entire body went hot with his declaration. You had not realized until today that you loved him too. But now that you did, it felt like everything made sense, that all was finally right.

You managed to gasp out as much between Shouto’s thrusts, as his hips bucked into yours, slowly at first, and then faster, more sure. He kissed you everywhere—your face, your neck, your shoulders, layering in soft bites like he could not help himself.

“Say it,” he groaned, mouthing at the underside of your jaw. “Please say it.”

“I love you,” you said. A yelp escaped you when Shouto suddenly seized you around the waist, rolling you on top of him and holding you to him as he levered the two of you upright. The position in his lap only made him sink deeper inside of you, and you hissed with the feeling, your fingernails digging into his back.

“Ah, fuck—Shouto!” you cried.

Shouto’s hands on your waist guided you with an easy strength—your head spun with the reminder of his power, the reminder that you had an alpha—your alpha—inside of you.

“Going to take good care of you,” he panted into your hair, pausing to kiss the shell of your ear even as the snap of his hips undid you. “Going to take such good care of you.”

Your fingers flexed on him, and you could feel your toes curl. You did not know what to do with all of the emotion welling up inside you, the well of your pleasure almost overflowing. He ground up into you, making your eyes nearly roll back in your head, and you fought down a scream when the pad of his thumb pressed to your clit, heightening every sensation.

“Oh Shouto, please—” was all you could manage.

Shouto looked enraptured, drinking in every change in your expression. As you squirmed and writhed under his touch, you felt him start to swell inside of you.

Both apprehension and arousal swirled inside of you, a beta’s body a little less adapted to knotting than an omega’s. But the firm circle Shouto’s thumb was drawing on your clit, and the low murmur of his voice in your ear, began to drown out any other thought.

“I have you, love,” Shouto said. His mouth dragged across your throat, leaving a sucking bruise along the column. Your nails scrabbled at his back as he swelled even further inside of you, starting to catch on your walls and make it harder to press back down on him.

“I have you,” Shouto said again, his voice rough with pleasure. The reassurance that he did, and the knowledge that he was barely managing his own pleasure struck you like a bolt of lightning. Something inside you unraveled and came loose, and you muffled a cry into Shouto’s broad shoulder as your orgasm slammed into you like a tidal wave.

A low swear escaped Shouto, and his knot swelled even further. His hands suddenly seized tight on either side of your waist, holding you down on him as he thrust up into you. You felt a sort of pressure you’d never anticipated, so overwhelming it was nearly painful—but then Shouto’s knot slid into you.

Shouto groaned into your neck, biting down hard. You writhed over him, your pleasure wringing you out until finally you slumped against him, shivering. Shouto eased back, propping himself up on the arm of the couch, you stuck to his chest like a sweat-slicked barnacle.

“That was—so much more intense than I ever imagined,” you said, when you’d recovered your faculty for human language.

You could feel the curve of Shouto’s smile against your neck. “For I, as well,” he said. “Though I had imagined it a great many times—we still have many other fantasies I intend to live out.”

You were embarrassed to feel yourself tighten around him. Shouto hissed, leaning back to pin you with a look—then looked more smug than you’d ever seen him.

“Like that, do you, love?” he asked.

The pet name made your ears heat, and you couldn’t help but pinch him. “You used to be so sweet, when did you get this fresh?” you demanded.

“Fresh is the least of what I intend to get with you,” Shouto informed you seriously. “I take my duties as a child bride very seriously.”

Your jaw dropped open, and you pressed back from him, gasping when it shifted him inside you. “You—! You heard—?”

Shouto’s smile was far too handsome and self-satisfied to be allowed. “That is when I knew I stood a chance.”

Your face burned. You couldn’t believe him. “You’re a menace.”

Shouto leaned into a press a kiss over where he’d sunk his teeth into you, butterfly-light. The touch of his mouth was warm and his campfire scent washed over you, fuzzing your thoughts. His mouth moved up to catch yours, and you let him kiss you until you realized you’d started to squirm in his lap again.

Several minutes later he had you coming on his knot again, locked against him and muffling the sounds of your pleasure into his neck.

He looked, if possible, even more satisfied, and you lifted a hand to thread through the strands of his hair, silky and damp.

“I can’t believe this is real,” you said, several orgasms having made you loose-tongued. You rubbed a strand of his hair between the pads of your fingers.

Shouto turned his head to drop a kiss to the base of your palm. “We have time enough to make you believe it, love.”

Another butterfly took wing in your stomach at the pet name. You wondered if you’d ever get used to hearing him say it.

“I’ll have to figure out my work—I don’t know if they’d let me work remotely all the way from here?” you said, thoughts suddenly shifting. You sort of doubted your company would make the exception for you, and a pang shot through your heart at the idea that you might have to leave Shouto to work in the city on weekdays. At least until you found another job, which might take months to arrange.

You did not want to be separated from him, now that you’d let yourself have him.

A hand caught your chin, thumb smoothing along your jaw. “I do not think you will have enough time,” Shouto said, a slim brow raising slightly. “What with the bookstore opening.”

You stared at him, wondering if you’d just had some sort of auditory hallucination.

“The—what?” you asked.

“The bookstore opening,” Shouto said. His mouth made the shape of the words exactly, and so it could not be that you’d hallucinated. But—

“What bookstore?” you asked.

Shouto’s mouth pressed into a deliberately flat line like he was trying not to smile.

“Yours. Downstairs,” he clarified—which did not clarify at all.

Your mouth dropped open against his fingers, your eyebrows shooting for the moon. “My—? Downstairs—?”

Your mind scanned back over the events of the last twenty-four hours, the first time you’d caught sight of the shop downstairs again as you’d followed Shouto home. The way it seemed so well-maintained, the windows glinting crystal-clear in the soft evening light. Your eyes reflexively dipped to the blonde wood of Shouto’s floor, the very same that had been installed across the floor of the shop, and an understanding suddenly dawned on you.

“I remember everything you have ever told me,” Shouto had said when you mentioned you’d been in love with the shop downstairs.

“No way,” was what left your mouth as you glanced back up at Shouto, disbelief rising.

Shouto was watching you carefully, his handsome face serious. “Your name is on the deed.”

A wellspring of emotion rose up inside you like a geyser, and you slammed yourself back into Shouto, throwing your arms around his shoulders. “Shouto—I. You didn’t need to—there’s no way I can accept—this is incredible, you’re incredible—but I’d be taking advantage—I can’t—”

A warm, long-fingered hand slid up your spine to rest on the back of your head, holding you against him. “I have always been yours,” Shouto murmured. “Everything I have has always been yours. If it is too much now, we can wait. But I, and everything I have, will always be yours.”

You blinked, embarrassed to realize you’d started dripping tears into Shouto’s shoulder. Shouto didn’t say anything, fingers petting through your hair as you tried to fight the emotion down.

“I promised to take good care of you, and I intend to,” he said. Pressed against him, you could feel the way the words rumbled in his chest.

You closed your eyes and shoved your face in his neck, letting him hold you to him. Everything about today felt too good to be true, but you knew with absolute certainty that Shouto had always been too good to be true, himself. And yet you’d told him you trusted it, when he said he’d take care of you.

And you did—you realized you would always trust it, trust the beautiful boy you’d known all your life.

“I’ll need to pay you back on your investment,” you said some minutes later, when you finally found your voice again. You leaned back to look Shouto in the face, trying not to be embarrassed about the drying tear tracks.

“There is no need,” he said, eyes finding yours.

You realized you were still in his lap, though his knot had softened, and you thought you might be able to separate now.

But now you had other plans—and an investment you wanted to enthusiastically return.

“I insist,” you said, leaning forward to mouth at Shouto’s neck.

You caught the flash of his eyes widening, and his head fell back as a sharp breath left him. “I—see,” he said, his voice growing rough as you sucked a careful mark into the skin of his shoulder.

You smiled against his skin. “You will,” you promised, feeling bolder than ever. It felt like you were daring to believe it, that you’d found your life mate, that you really got to have him, that he’d loved you as long as he’d lived.

You wanted to return all those years of love, now that you loved him too.

“I’m going to take good care of you too,” you informed Shouto, hips already flexing over his.

You felt him start to grow hard inside of you again, and he turned his head to catch your mouth. You could feel his smile against your lips.

“I trust it,” he said, his voice dropping low.

You smiled too, grinning against your lifemate’s mouth, intent on proving yourself worthy of that trust.

Though perhaps that could wait until you’d delivered some of the many fantasies it sounded like he’d stored up. There was no reason to rush.

You had the rest of your life together, after all.

#todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki x reader #shouto x reader #shouto x you #shouto x y/n #todoroki x you #shouto todoroki x reader #bnha x reader #andie's writing #character: todoroki shouto

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its-not-a-pen · 4 months

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YOU CAN YOU UP: Zhuzhi Lang character redesign! because every deadbeat demon lord needs an adorable emotional support snake sidekick/nephew!

ok full disclosure im so obsessed with the original Scum Villain art i want to print it out and eat it. but i did feel like a lot of the characters have really similar faces, which made it difficult for me to tell them apart, and Zhuzhi Lang's design in particular was way too basic which is a huge missed opportunity for fun character designs! I thought his outfit should reflect the supple and flowy movement of a snake, so i went with a Han Dynasty dancing girl outfit with a nice leafy green pallet, just like his namesake, the bamboo. when he moves, i picture him gliding around silently, and no one has ever seen his feet.

[ID 1: Sketchbook art of Zhuzhi Lang from Scum Villain Self-Saving System, a page for each picture. The first shows a full body sketch of his more humanoid form done in black marker and watercolor. His pose is bent and curves to show a snake-like posture, he wears green robes with snakes curling up and around his arms, his hair goes down in a long almost ankle-length braid. Notes pointing around his figure, say, "Cobra shaped hair (hides his lack of ears)" Points to sleeves, reads, "Han Dynasty sleeve dancer inspired outfit (hides snakes)," points to around his ankles, reads, "moves like he has too many bones (or not enough)." Three sketches to the side show black and white face shots, one showing him coyly looking over his shoulder with his tongue flickering out. The second shows him ugly crying. The third is fully teeth bared, a mouth of sharp teeth showing, hair flaring out around him. Then below the fully body is a pencil sketch of him noodle waving, labeled, "silly time!" End ID 1 of 2]

[ID 2: Sketchbook art of snake form Zhuzhi Langf. The top one a full body illustration of snake form with black marker and watercolor, showing a green snake with long black hair growing from his head and a snake body partially contorted with a more humanoid torso and bone structure in the middle, despite otherwise seeming very full snake. He basks in the grass with a bit of foliage overhead. The we get into pencil snake sketches below that, showing a Chinese Cobra, full body, with a close-up of a snake face with some straggly hair to one side, and then the back of the snake head not seen in the full-body to the other side. Labeled, "Chinese Cobra Naja atra." End ID 2 of 2]

#svsss #zhuzhi lang #my friend gave this big pack of copics for my birthday and i finally got around to using them <333 #scum villain #scum villain fanart

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fuckmyskywalker · 5 months

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❄️ 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐𝐧𝐝 : 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 - 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐞.

— CW: 18+. Smut. Oral (f). Masturbation. Brief vaginal penetration. Creampie. Exhibitionism. | Word Count: 0.8k

— a/n: I'm finally free and I'm no longer sick! I'll catch up with the 23 and upload 24 <3. Kissies and sorry for the inconvenience!

— Anyafest 2023 + Taglist!

When Sam invited you to spend Christmas with his mom’s side of the family, you clearly weren’t expecting to be dragged behind the tall, leafy Christmas tree; the bright colorful lights bathed your face, highlighting the confused expression on your flushed cheeks. “What are you doing?” You whisper at your boyfriend, looking between the thick branches, making sure his mother or his aunts are still chatting in the kitchen.

Sam pushes you against the wall, his hip brushing against the tree and making some ornaments jingle softly. “I want to fuck you,” He states simply as if it was obvious— it kind of was. “It’s so stupid my mom is making us sleep in separate rooms.”

“We can’t fuck in the living room!”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Smashing his lips against yours, Sam slides his cold hands under your loose T-shirt, cupping your breasts and squeezing them. His erection rubs against your thigh, barely concealed by those ridiculous red checkered pajama pants his mother bought for everyone to wear… including you. His thumbs circle your nipples as he drinks your moans with harsh, demanding kisses. With your palms against his shoulders, you try to push him away to protest a little more, but it seems that he has other plans; one hand releases your chest, yanks the waistband of your pants down, bringing your underwear with them. “You better be quiet,” He threatens you before kneeling and burying his face between your legs.

His tongue traces your folds before using his thumbs to spread them. Licking his lips, Sam runs his tongue flat over your clit, flicking it repeatedly. The thrill of doing it behind the goddamned Christmas tree is making your head go dizzy, you should be ashamed, have an ounce of respect for his family… but right now you can’t seem to care when your boyfriend is sucking your clit with equal need. He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to fuck you. Your hand reaches for his dark locks, tugging at them to grind against his face eliciting a quiet laugh from him, his hot breath hitting your cunt in a way that sends shivers from your head to your toes.

“You taste like a whole fucking meal,” He mumbles, returning his tongue to your swollen nub and torturing you a little more. “This pussy is just perfect.”

Staying quiet becomes quite the challenge when you lower your eyes, no longer focusing on the white ceiling, just in time for Sam to pull his pajama and wrap a hand around his throbbing member, smearing the precum that trickled down the tip.

“Sam—” You choke, furrowing your brows when his tongue slides in. Stroking himself quickly, Sam’s hips rock back and forth, seeking his own release while hurrying yours. The heartbeat ringing loudly in your ears mutes the laughs from the kitchen, his family being the least of your problems now.

The flick of his wrist speeds up as he returns his mouth around your clit, stimulating it until you are sure you are touching heaven itself— you are so close to coming, maybe it is from the adrenaline, the high risk of getting caught, or to be fair, Sam’s skilled tongue can be doing the trick.

“I’m gonna come, don’t stop—” He nods at your words, slowing his pleasure to only focus on yours until it happens. Biting your lower lip, your climax hits you like a strong electric wave that lasts longer than you expected. The world spins around you, your mind drowned with the ecstasy and oxytocin that burns in your fingertips.

“That’s it, dolly,” Sam whispers hotly, panting and already sweaty. Standing up, he guides his cock between your slick folds, pushing it and stretching you in a swift motion. “Shh, it’s okay— I’ll just come inside to save us the mess. Be quiet.” He says, thrusting quickly and fast before he grunts and presses his forehead against yours. His eyebrow twitches as his cock mimics it in rapid jerks, shooting his load deep inside you. You hold him, savoring the small intimate moment and humming at the familiar feeling of his cock filling you up.

“You are insane.” You laugh, catching your breath— when you hear footsteps coming from the kitchen.

Sam’s eyes widen and he quickly presses his body flush against yours, holding his breath as his face presses next to yours. Thank fucking God the tree is tall and wide enough and covered in decorations to cover you both. You side-eye him with a terrified expression, if his mother finds you two… you can’t even imagine the embarrassment.

Robin calls your name followed by Sam’s. No answer. She calls again, this time louder. Your heart stops beating for a second or at least it feels like. You two are screwed.

“Leave them alone,” Sam’s grandma yells from the kitchen and you have never been more thankful. “Come back and help me with the turkey.”

Reluctantly, Robin looks around the living room and grabs the TV remote, the forgotten movie you and Sam were watching no longer concealing the noises you two made. She walks away, replying something to her mother you can’t quite catch. Sam exhales, relieved that he dodged the bullet.

“Sorry,” He chuckles, kissing your cheek. “I promise it won’t happen again.”

But it’s a lie, you know it will happen again.

#𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 anya writes!#𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪 anyafest 2023!#sam monroe #sam monroe smut #sam monroe x reader #sam monroe x reader smut #sam monroe x you #sam monroe fanfic #sam monroe fanfiction #sam monroe x y/n #life as a house smut

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tastesousweet · 20 days

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⭒ blurb : stream hype

bf!hamzah x poc!reader

summary: based on this ask!!! just a lil blurb where yn gives hamzah and viewers a try on haul during a stream

mickey speaks: ok i did smthg different than the tiktoks for this one but i love writing these & im glad u love them too 😭💗 i need hamzah as my boyfriend like NOWWW

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hamzah’s streaming in the corner of your shared bedroom when you get home from a day out with your girlfriends

he can hear you make your way through the house before you peek your head into the room with a smile, “hi, i’m home!”

he’s immediately grinning at the sight of you, “heyyy, look who’s back” and motions you to come closer with his hand

he’s not shocked at alllll when you have handfuls of shopping bags with you when you open the door fully

you place them on your bed with a large sigh before coming closer to greet hamzah

he remains seated as you hug; his face tucked into your lower stomach and loving arms wrapped around your hips as you play with the bits of hair peeking from his beanie

he whispers “i missed you” hoping the stream doesn’t catch it since he’s further away from the mic

they totally hear that shit and the chat is flooded with remarks about how cute the two of you are

he pulls away and looks up at you as you talk, “missed you more...do you need me to grab you anything? i’ll probably go watch something and give you a haul whenever you’re done here.”

“no, im good. i won't be on for too much longer”

"m'kay," you nod your head and make sure to greet the viewers before you exit, bending down so you’re in frame and showing off your lovely smile and energy (that hamzah admires in the monitor) “hiiii and byeeee!” you wave and blow a kiss. hamzah’s smile never fades as he watches you.

as soon as you’re gone hamzah reads over the chat, which is full of people begging for you to come back, “seriously??? am i not enough for you guys?”

after a while he gives in and pulls out his phone to call you, showing the camera his screen with your name and photo on it, before putting it on speaker for them to hear

“hi, are you okay?” your smooth voice comes through the scratchy phone audio

“yes, but the people are not. they want you to hang out in here” he smiles and bites his lip in anticipation of your response

“are you lying?”

his face screws up, “why would i lie??”

“well why’d you call instead of yelling for me?? im just in the other room,” you giggle

“because this is fun-er.”

“okay, im coming”

“YOURE WHAT?!”

you hang up and hamzah laughs

★

you have a chair pulled up next to hamzah as you both sit and interact with the chat for a bit

you tell them multiple stories about your shopping trip and he suggests you give everyone a haul

you waste no time getting up to grab your bags from the bed and bring them over to his set up

as you go through and unfold various tops, bottoms, and dresses he adds plenty of commentary and “lemme see”s while holding them in front of his face

“this thing is not gonna cover your ass, are we serious???” he holds up a mini skirt with a laugh

and you grab it from him with a playful shake of your head, “i was gonna wear it for my other boyfriend anyway”

hamzah just stares at you with a smirk until you look back over to him, “what?!” you giggle.

“don’t play with me, girl” he smiles and leans back in his chair, “go ahead and show them the rest”

when you get to a particular dress you just about squeal, “h, you’re gonna looovvveee this one! i almost sent you a pic in the dressing room it’s so perfect.”

“show me, show me!” his eyes are wide now and his mouth spreads into a grin.

you reveal a soft, coconut white dress with leafy ruffles tied into roses (me when my describing skills shut down bc what does this even mean bruh)

“oh wow…” he looks from your glowy face to the dress held beside you and back. “can i see it on you?”

you nod your head, “yeah i took pics at the store,” you go to grab your phone.

he kisses his teeth, “now why would i wanna see some pics when i have you right here??”

you look up at him from your phone and begin to laugh under your breath. you look over to the monitor and your face gives away the joke you’re thinking of, “uh huh, okay. look someone said ‘the sassy man apocalypse has gone too far’” you point to the screen

hamzah looks for a second and then adds to the joke himself, “oh em gee, they’re saying ‘girl go put on that damn dress we wanna see already, with the rolling eye emoji!!!’” he covers his mouth as if he’s shocked, “are you really gonna take that bae??”

you try not to laugh at the pet name he uses, “hamzah whyd someone just say ‘take that fuck ass beanie off your head before you speak on a bad bitch, lil boy’?” you act just as shocked as him, “they’re some haters for real…”

hamzah deadpans and gives a side eye to the camera

★

“okay you can look now” you tell him and he slowly uncovers his eyes.

he immediately pretends to faint at the sight of you in the material that hugs you so perfectly

“oh fuck, my heart- it’s giving out, everything hurts. i can’t- breathe-!” he gives out a breathy monologue and you laugh at him before moving further away from the camera to give the viewers a better view

you turn around and ask them what they think all while hanzah fakes his death nearby

you eventually find a spot across his lap and tap his cheek telling him to be normal

“my bad my bad, i need to lock in.” he exaggerates a shake of his head

“you like it though?”

“of course i like it, look at you!!!!” he points at the both of you in the monitor

“good, i think ill wear it when we go to curaçao”

“that’ll be perfect- can you get up and do another twirl for me please? i missed it”

you pout but when he squeezes your thigh you get up and does as he asks

“guys isn’t she the prettiest??” he gushes

you blush in the form of a large smile and bend down away from him to grab another item to show off, to which he jokingly makes various sexual gestures and faces at your ass that is left pointed towards him

when you turn back around hamzah pretends to adjust a watch, which is actually just him hovering awkwardly over his wrist

#hamzahthefantastic x reader #hamzah x y/n #hamzah x reader #hamzah #hamzahthefantastic #slushy noobz #slushynoobz #slushy noobz virus

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seattlesellie · 11 months

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You x loser!ellie go to the beach and ellie is already freaking out because you’re in a bikini but then you get hit by a really strong wave and your bikini top flies off 🤭

that is soooooo ᰔ ᰔ ᰔ

🌊🌊🌊🌊

like you and ellie go to swimming together in the deep ocean water away from all of your friends. and she has this little … salt water stache sparkling under the sun right above her top lip !! she licks it as you move deeper and deeper into the water, the sand massaging your feet slightly and the sea algae scaring you to death !! every time you squeal she cant help but laugh at you … maybe thats a little mean, but shes so so nice when she holds your hand as she guides you through the rocks <3

and imagine how cute shed look squinting because the sun is too bright !! tiny little droplets of sweat all over her forehead … maybe shes also a little sunburnt on her cheeks ,,, because she definitely refuses to wear sunscreen… and so as the shore seems further and further away, the parasols looking like little colorful globs the more far you stray, you offer her to jump the waves with you … and she obviously happily obliges !!

you have a casual convo about sea turtles and sea animals (ellie either is obsessed with sharks or she has a really intense obsession over some weird unknown fish. imagine like,, leafy sea dragon… and she has about 90 interesting facts to tell you about it too) and so— you’re jumping up and down, she obviously tried to drown you two times but we will ignore that !! and suddenly you get hit by an intense, large wave that makes you go completely blind… and the salt obviously gets inside your eyes and you cant see shit, you’re both coughing trying to balance on each other and then — shes the one who realizes.

you’re completely topless. she realizes because now, the strings of your bikini aren’t visible to her anymore over the water… and she’s just floating there (still rubbing her eyes) her face is all red wearing this panicked expression… so she goes like “y— your top” and you’re still kind of dazed…. so you ask her very loudly “what??” (because maybe some water got in your ears) so she stutters “your bikini… flew off” and you start running your hands all over your chest because how the fuck are you supposed to find it ?? and ellie cant even MOVE let alone maintain her feet kicking to keep her afloat. she can’t see them very clearly but as soon as the sea goes tranquil and the waves stop hitting ,,, she sees your the top of your nipple just above the water … and she feels like she might stop breathing. maybe shell drown, maybe shell get a heat stroke!

she lets out a long shaky breath and tells you “i can help you… look for it” and when you tell her she’ll never find it shes like “no— no its fine i’ll look under water dont… fuck— dont worry about it” so she takes a dip inside… and her heart is beating so so fast. you drop your hands from your chest because the last thing thats on your mind is the possibility of her seeing, or trying to look at them underwater… but god, you barely know her do you? because when shes deep in there, and sees you drop your hands to meet your waist— it’s like she needs to ask joel to give her swimming lessons again.

she suddenly forgets why she’s even under there … what… bikini? what even happened? the only thing thats on her hazy mind, is the two beautiful mounds and the hard nipples poking through, her vision is a little blurry, yeah, but she’s still seeing them, and that’s enough for her to start choking under water again, and feel her pussy twitch inside her blue palm trees printed shorts … she almost wants to just … pretend to be a sea algae. maybe you won’t notice its her hands caressing your tits, maybe she could get away with it. thankfully, she’s not… that much of a perv, so she just stays there for a second, feet kicking inside the water, and it’s only when she cannot breathe anymore, that ellie breaks her own trance and goes up for some air.

“didn’t find it.”

“want me to look for it again?”

⋆˙⟡♡

#𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 anon 🎀#ellie williams #ellie x reader #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams fanfiction #ellie williams x you #ellie williams smut

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chlorinecake · 8 months

Text

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐏'𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝟐 — a yang jungwon fanfic

Previously ⊱✿⊰

𖤣 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: after sharing with Jungwon your true feelings about the way he treats you during a fight, unexpected changes take place as you learn more about him

𖥧 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: abduction themes, swearing, violence, crying, nudity, attempted assault, slow burn, moody, not proofread ~

𖡼 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2.3k ~ The next part...

✎ note: In no way does this fanfic intend to romanticize unhealthy relationships or abusive behaviors. I write purely for entertainment and creative purposes. Reader discretion is advised.

You sat in the bath completely naked before Jungwon. He was still dressed in his work clothes as he hovered over the edge of the tub, lathering an orange scented soap all over your grimy skin.

Jungwon had forgotten you outside in the garden after assaulting you on the picnic mat that day. It wasn’t until a whole 48 hours had passed before he finally came back, only to find a cold and hungry you balled up under a bush. The trembling in your stomach remains as if it was yesterday, even though by now, the incident was more than three days ago.

You didn’t expect Jungwon to apologize for leaving you in the wilderness all that time, as part of you believed it was some sort of punishment for rejecting him. Though, if you were crazy enough, or maybe even smart enough, you probably would’ve tried running away when you had the chance—

“How’s the water,” Jungwon asked softly, using a comb to pick with the remnants of wildlife that decorated your hair, leafy bits falling into the warm rose petal bath.

“It’s lovely, Won-ah,” you replied with a blank expression, “I really don’t mind cleaning myself, though.”

“I insist, love. It’s the least I could do after letting you get so dirty in the first place.”

Oh, so that’s what he’s calling it now.

You watched as a cluster of bubbles swam on the surface of the bath water, reminding you of lily pads before they crashed into your legs, melting at your skin. Jungwon mirrored the bubbles in a lot of ways. At first glance, he seemed bright and friendly, bumping along pink waves that only drew him closer and closer to you. Though, once you finally collided, it’s like he couldn’t help but to absorb the contact.

Devouring you.

“I can tell there’s something on your mind, ____,” he interrupted your daydreaming, using a wash towel to rinse the muggy suds from your hair. “Penny for your thoughts?”

Pop.

The bubbles faded away as if knowing what was about to come.

“I-I don’t… it’s just,” you felt your breath grow unsteady as you struggled to answer him, let alone honestly.

The truth was, you hadn’t gotten much rest over the past few nights as you couldn’t shake the thoughts of what he almost did to you in the garden. You also didn’t want to provoke Jungwon by telling him what was truly on your mind.

Though, like a true predator, he sensed the fear in your silence.

“Why’re so scared of me,” he half-chuckled, putting the towel down before sitting on his knees. “It’s like you think I’m waiting to pounce on you or something.”

“Jungwon—”

“Look. Unless you plan to be honest with me, I’d rather you just keep quiet again.”

“Jungwon—”

“I’m listening, love,” he said, looking into your eyes with an intense gaze.

You were frustrated with his lack of patience yet also by your own hesitance to his curiosity, strangely making you feel guilty. You sunk deeper into the water, folding your arms over your bare chest as an attempt to make yourself feel more comfortable in your nakedness.

You sighed, “I haven’t gotten much sleep over the past few nights.”

He blinked, “____, if this is about the lamp, I’ll put it back in your room—”

“No, Jungwon.”

“When we first met, you told me that you were afraid of the dark. I’m so sorry for overlooking that, love—”

“Won, I didn’t finish what I was gonna say—”

“Do you want me to start sleeping next to you? I really don’t mind! You don’t have to be embarrassed about it either! I’d leap at any chance to get closer to you.”

Jungwon rested a hand on your shoulder which caused you to flinch away from him, clinging to the farther end of the tub. A bit of water splashed from your movements, wetting his clothes and the floor. He scoffed at your behavior, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Do you have any idea how it makes me feel when you jump at my mere touch? Like I’m some fucking monster?”

You stared back at him, chest heaving in regret.

He waited a few moments before getting up abruptly, leaning over the tub and pulling your soaking wet body out.

“Jungwo—” your words were cut short as he forcefully pinned you to the cold ground, your wet hair sprawled all over your frightened features. He ignored the puddles of water that you left on the floor, maintaining his grip on you by caging you between his legs.

Flashbacks resurfaced in the back of your mind. Or maybe this was all just a terrible sense of déjà vu. You wrestled beneath him, knowing good and well that your strength stood feeble against his. Still, it felt better to retaliate than to give in.

“Let go of me, Jungwon,” you fought, earning yourself a slap to the face.

“I’m only gonna give you few seconds to calm me down before I fuck the shit out of you on this bathroom floor.”

You winced at his words at if they cut you physically, still holding in the tears that wanted to spill from the slap.

You tried swallowing the fear that meddled at your core, knowing that when to it came to Jungwon, choosing silence was synonymous with suicide. Suddenly, your fright was replaced with a familiar rage.

“How am I supposed to tell you anything when you’re always seconds away from snapping on me?!” Your voice cracked.

He blinked at your words, “What did you just say?”

“I can’t sleep at night because of you, Jungwon! Why would I be afraid of the dark when what’s hiding in it is way fucking worse,” you swore, not being able to maintain the polite tone you usually spoke with.

He leaned back from your body, confused eyes wondering all over before something clicked in his mind: “You can’t force me to love you. Not like this.”

Immediately, he reached for the large towel that hung over the bathroom sink, draping the material over your shoulders as an attempt to cover you.

The bathroom by now was a dripping mess that he’d have to take care of later, but for now, his focus was on you.

He forced you to sit up, meeting him eye to eye on the damp tiles. He thought about the way you flinched at his touch. The way you tried covering yourself when facing him. The way your lip quivered before you could push out any words.

I am a monster, he thought to himself.

Tears grew in his eyes that mirrored your own red ones. His previously hostile hands rested sweetly in his lap, cautious not to touch you again. His shoulders rose and fell as he tried to calm his sobs, while all you did was sit uncomfortably and watch.

“Unless you plan on apologizing, I’d rather you quit your crying already,” you spat resentfully.

He looked at you with a frown, “Don’t talk to me like that.”

You shook your head at him, “And why not? Huh? Why not, Jungwon? When you can call me anything from your lover to a bitch and still expect me to believe it’s a matter of kindness!”

“____—”

“When every moment we share has to feel like I’m walking on the very egg shells of your erratic emotions!”

“I have to be this way for us—”

“When you threaten to rape me and get upset once I’m disgusted by you—”

Jungwon knocked over the bottles of shampoo that sat on his bathroom shelf, wailing at your words like a baby. Your body tensed at the chaos, ears ringing from the sudden noise. “Fuck, I’m sorry, ____,” he whined in between his frustration, “I am so… fucking… sorry.”

He didn’t bother wiping the tears that fell from his face, as they were gonna keep coming anyways.

“Sorry’s not good enough, Jungwon,” you sniffled, face still burning with emotion.

“Then I promise I’ll never hurt you in that way again. I swear to God, ____, I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to,” he pleaded, his nose and cheeks turning a soft shade of red.

He met you on the ground again, fingers fidgeting as if desperate to touch you again.

“Please say something, love.”

You sighed, “What is there to say, Wonnie?”

He sniffled at your words, hanging his head low with shame, “Fuck, ____, can you let me hug you at least? Can you hold me?”

You froze at his request. It was odd hearing Jungwon of all people ask for your consent, seeking comfort from the very person he constantly took it away from. He looked as if he would crumble if you told him no, so you gave in with a nod, allowing him to fall into your arms.

You ran a hand over his back as you tried soothing his nerves, feeling his hands desperately cling to your naked body as if he were the victim here. It never failed to shock you how his emotions could switch up, going from soft, sinister, to sullen in just a few seconds.

Cradling him granted you a satisfying sense of dominance, finally making him feel shame for the way he treated you, even though it’d only last for the moment.

“You can stop crying now, Jungwon. I’ve already forgiven you.”

That night, you and Jungwon slept in the same bed together, which was a first for the both of you, yet thankfully not as awkward as you thought it’d be. When you woke up, he was sitting at the edge of the bed, holding a steaming cup.

“What’s that?” You asked as the scent of foreign herbs hit your nose.

“I didn’t mean to leave you, but this tea couldn’t wait. It’s a mix of medicinal plants from my garden. It should help you sleep better,” he smiled, scooting closer to you on the bed.

“Drink up!”

“B-but it’s still morning, I can just drink it tonight.”

“It’s not fast acting, ____. You’ll need to drink it a few hours ahead of time in order for it to work,” he said, bringing the porcelain cup to your lips for you to sip.

“There are a few things I need to teach you so you won’t need me as much when I’m away. Besides, I could really use your help around the garden. How’s that sound?” You swallowed, “Don’t you have work today?”

“I got off early, love. I’ll be back with a change of clothes for you and we’ll meet outside,” he smiled again, biting back the urge to kiss you before walking out of the room.

After taking care of your hygiene, you got dressed in the oversized flannel and joggers he gave you, meeting Jungwon outside in the sunny field.

“It’s not morning anymore, is it?” You asked shyly, earning a fit of giggles from him.

“Yeah, no. I was honestly surprised when I came back and you were still sleeping.”

You took in the scenery of green grass and daunting forest frees before he placed a hand at the small of your back, guiding you a few feet further in the pasture. “D'you see that,” he pointed at the sky, sun rays glistening against his honey brown eyes that were still slightly swollen from the night before. “It’s around 6pm. Whenever the sun falls in between the top of that hill and the tallest tree to its left, you’ll know that I’m on my way back from work… or that it’s almost time for dinner,” he chuckled.

You hesitantly reached for his arm to examine the wristwatch he wore, reading the time that read 6:02pm. You always heard about people being able to tell the time from the sky, but you never actually believed it untll now.

“You never told me what you do for work?”

He sighed playfully in response, “So many questions, my love, but the answers will have to wait.”

Your eyes wandered off again before landing on a secluded green house with sage-stained glass trimming the domed ceiling.

“I have just one more question, Jungwon.”

“Mhm, and what’s the catch?”

“That if you answer honestly, I promise not to ask you anything else for the rest of this week.”

“Aww, what a stingy time frame,” he pouted, trying to hold back a smile, “what must you know, love?”

“That green place over there,” you said, pointing in its direction, “I wanna know what that is. If you don't mind sharing...”

You could see Jungwon swallow deeply at your question, placing his hands on his hips before slowly pacing back and forth.

“You promise you won’t ask me anything else if I tell you this,” he asked, meeting your eyes with his own nervous ones.

“Yes, Jungwon, I promise.”

He took a deep breath before speaking, “I’ll start with saying that it’s forbidden. Though, it’s where I keep the more…precious of my belongings. And exotic plants, too, like the ones I put in your tea.”

“Why is it forbidden—”

“Nuh-uh, no more questions, love," he interrupted, taking your hand in his before heading back to the cabin. "I'll take you to the kitchen where I keep my first aid supplies. It'll come in handy if you ever injure yourself while I'm gone."

You were still feeling relatively sleepy after just getting up, but you knew it'd benefit you later if you payed attention to his teachings.

"I know how to use a band-aid, Jungwon," you joked, skipping behind him with lazy steps.

“Well, in that case, we can skip this lesson," he said, letting go of your hand before rushing inside. Only a few seconds passed before he ran back out with a shotgun in his hand.

"I'm sure you'll want a tutorial for this one."

☆ Special thanks to @guessm0del for requesting a continuation of this piece! I'm honestly not too proud of this one, but hey, I tried! Hopefully it’ll come together better if y’all want a part 3...

☆ taglist: @fanficfactoryfoxxx @ashgonedash @yourmomscuntis2tighy @03sunoos @kaykay11sworld @gigiramirezsblog @hoonsyo @en-thralled @night-en-shining-armor @cutiejseong @j-wyoung @rickysblkgf @bambangan @wonbyf @4imhry @zhangyi-johee @naddii @valhrts @lisaaannna @lovelycassy @addictedtohobi @gardenwons @nikipedia07@tubatusoobs @03sunoos @clarisabutterfliescupcake @yevene @heecries @rosiemiayyxy @jungwonieee @edgykoo @luvmlkw @idkhoomanmaybe @sunsinmyskies

#enhypen #enhypen ff #jungwon x reader #yang jungwon #jungwon ff #yandere jungwon #yandere enhypen #enhypen angst #jungwon angst #jungwon suggestive #yandere enha #enha scenarios #enha x reader #dark kpop #enhypen layouts #jungwon

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caramelberzatto · 3 months

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To Love Carmy Berzatto

Loving Carmy is... I'm not even sure if I could find the right words to encapsulate it for you, dear reader, but I will try.

Loving him brings with it an intensity rivalled only by wildfire. Strong and vibrant, untamed, unpredictable. It takes a great deal of bravery, of honesty and time.

Muttered revelations of past pain, resting your head on his shoulder as he talks; stilted sentences, furrowed brows, the way his nose scrunches when he's trying to explain things that hurt, as though he can't truly comprehend why he feels the way he does.

It's brutally strong coffee, and autumn afternoons. Blazing reds and oranges, bouquets of marigold. Leafy bunches of fresh farmer's market herbs, stored in spare mugs full of water atop the kitchen counter. It's forgetting to close a window all the way, allowing the cold to seep through the apartment, only for that to leave an excuse for an extra ten minutes tangled up beneath the blankets with him the next morning.

Loving Carmy is accidental intoxication, it's not seeing it coming at all. Until that feeling in your stomach, in your chest, a warmth that envelops you. Anticipation of seeing him again, even if you'd waved goodbye only a few minutes prior.

It's late nights waiting up for him, even though your eyelids droop as the television flickers. It's recognising his footsteps, the jingle of his keys in the door. It's taking in his tired gaze, the gentle uptilt of his lips as he sees you, still awake, even though he constantly reassures you that you should go to sleep. He's always secretly glad you don't listen to him.

It's dates to various markets, either food markets, art markets, wherever. It doesn't matter. It's just market days spent, hand in hand, sipping coffee as you walk. It's sharing wired headphones on the train, having a playlist of both his and your favourite songs. It's finding a sketch of yourself in Carmy's office at The Beef, on a sticky note, tucked between the pages of the big, messy binder.

It's noticing his clothes start to smell like your laundry detergent, or his hair to smell like your shampoo. It's the gentle incorporation of him into your life, so effortlessly, so seamlessly.

It's the build up of trust, it's the revelation of secrets. It's finding out about his brother one Winter afternoon, on a train ride through the city as the sun sinks beneath the horizon. His quiet words, a story of boyhood, a desperation for comradery, a series of self-inflicted trials to be noticed, seen, appreciated by his older brother. He just wanted to impress him.

Carmy had always just wanted to be part of something.

Loving him is the very definition of a slowburn, a staggered compiling of trust and care and tenderness. Millions of tiny moments, shared glances, quiet whispers, admissions of regret and guilt, feelings that you both struggle to put into words at times.

It's two steps forward, one step back, but there's always this.... one remaining constant that survives through even the most difficult of moments. Devotion. The two of you cannot help but care about each other, deeply. It's sticking with each other because there is so much love, so much adoration, care, all of it.

And all of it pays off. If you fight, you make up with kisses and apologies and long nights in his arms. Or he sits you down at his table and feeds you, each meal a white flag of sorts.

I feel like this is kind of messy, but I hope, dear reader, that you understand what I'm trying to say.

Loving Carmen Berzatto....... yeah.

#the bear #the bear fx #carmen berzatto #carmy berzatto #jeremy allen white #carmen berzatto x reader #carmy berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto x you #carmy berzatto x you

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shmolish · 27 days

Note

Oh, I have an idea for the Shadow Milk cookie And you can add yandere and Hypnotism. Please and then I liked it.

Please Here the plot:

A Shadow Milk cookie comes out of the tree. And Pure Vanilla Cookie and friends, including T/N Cookie. Shadow Milk cookie watched everyone, but he saw you and watched you for so long that he wanted to make you his. After that, Pure Vanilla Cookie and friends, and you They ran away, and you ran away in the other direction. After that, she found herself in a beautiful forest, vwhere there are beautiful flowers. T/N Cookie didn't know how it got here, maybe it's lies Shadow Milk cookie, no?

After that, she took a book about the plant and read, soon she read it and saw some kind of apple tree, but the apples were blue. She decided to look in a book about blue apples, but it didn't say. She decides to come closer to see it, but a Shadow Milk cookie appears and offers to eat this fruit, but she refuses to do so, then Shadow Milk cookie uses hypnosis to get her to eat this fruit. Then she eats this fruit and she doesn't feel well, eyes T/N Cookie After that, her heart turns blue and His eyes were blue. Shadow Milk cookie picked it up and decided to make it his own.

AN: MY FRIENDS ARE YELLING IN THE VC AND I CAN'T FOCUS.

Shadow Milk x Reader

Oneshot

Warnings: Yandere, hypnotism

-At Last-

"Ah! Doesn't this air just feel... divine?"

Shadow Milk had just broken out of the seal and was staring everybody down... until he locked eyes with you.

As you'd gaze into his now hazy eyes, you could see a crazed smile appeared on his face. His entire mind was clouded with thoughts of you and only you. Your eyes, your body, you soul, everything.

"Oh, has my little doll come to visit me~?" Shadow Milk Cookie would move behind you, snaking a hand around your waist.

"What- no get off of me!" You push him off of you, and you can see a glint of frustration appear in his eyes.

Then, he'd smile. His maniac laughter began to fill the scene, sending a chill down your spine.

"Everyone, it would be best if we retreated for now!" Pure Vanilla called out.

The others would nod and quickly fled from the scene, including you.

Everything was so hectic. Walls would start to crumble and screams of terror filled the kingdom.

Eventually, you'd find yourself in a forest, far away from everyone. You must have gotten separated in the chaos.

A panic soon set in and you'd look around desperately for an exit, but the more you'd look around, the more you could admire your surroundings.

It was a beautiful forest. Flowers of all kinds would surround you, and the moonlight peaked through the leafy canopies above.

It was so... mesmerizing. A wave of calm washed over you and you sat down near a bed of flowers.

Something about this forest just pulled you in. It was so peaceful... maybe a bit too peaceful.

For just a fleeting moment... you wondered if it was all a lie. It all seemed too good to be true. Maybe Shadow Milk had set this all up to catch you off guard.

Then you saw something peculiar in the distance.

It seemed to be an ordinary tree bearing fruits. It would stand in solitude in the center of an opening, and the moon seemed to highlight it's every feature.

The fruits in question were apples; blue apples. You had never seen anything quite like it. It got you curious, so you took out an old book about a variety of plants. You searched and you searched, but there was nothing on this strange flora in front of you.

Working up some confidence, you'd step closer to the tree.

You just gazed absent mindedly at the strange fruit until shadows around you began to warp.

From them appeared a familiar face:

Shadow Milk Cookie.

"It's so good to see you again, my love!" He'd say while happily twirling you around.

He'd only stop to see exactly what you had been looking at prior to his appearance.

"Oh, so you found this old thing?" He picked one of the apples from the tree and held it out to you. "It's a beauty, right? Why don't you try one?" He continued to smile, holding out the blue apple.

"No way, I'm not eating that," You'd say, pushing the fruit back towards him. A scowl appeared on your face as you continued to glare at Shadow Milk.

"But doll.." He'd get closer to you, grabbing your chin with one of his hands and forcing you to look upon him.

"You really should eat it."

You'd continue to gaze into his eyes, which you swore got just a little bit brighter.

The world around you all became a blur. All sounds, except the beating of your own heart, had been muted.

The ground beneath your feet didn't feel solid anymore. You felt as if you could fall at any second, yet you felt so chained down at the same time.

Shadow Milk would gently trace your face with his finger, still holding out the apple, though slowly proding it closer and closer to you.

Every one of your senses where focused solely on the apple, and you'd mindlessly take hold of it.

Without even realizing, you had taken a bite of it before quickly dropping it and coming to your senses.

The damage had already been done though. The world was still a blur, but instead of focusing on the apple, your mind had become clouded with thoughts of him.

"Aww look at you~ I always knew blue suited you best, my little doll! Now we match."

Your heartbeat rang in your ears, and your whole world felt as if it were spiraling.

Shadow Milk would admire this fragile being, gently tracing a finger over every one of thier features. He had waited for so long to claim ownership of what he had rightfully declared his, and now he has finally done it.

Even if they'd sway, it was only because they had not yet become used to the side effects. Carefully, Shadow Milk Cookie would take them in his arms and carry them away to some secluded corner of the world.

He just couldn't risk anybody else seeing you! And it's not like you needed to see anyone else either. Your heart belonged to him now. It beat to keep you alive just as it beat to keep him alive.

He was never going to let you leave, since what Shadow Milk Cookie wants, Shadow Milk Cookie gets.

#crk #cookie run kingdom #crk x reader #cookie run kingdom x reader #cookie run #shadow milk crk #cookie run kingdom shadow milk cookie #shadow milk x reader #crk shadow milk #shadow milk #crk shadow milk cookie x reader #oneshot #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere crk #shadow milk cookie oneshot #yandere shadow milk cookie

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andypantsx3 · 1 year

Text

fruit first (ask questions later) | k. bakugou

pairing: Bakugou Katsuki / Gender Neutral Reader

length: 3.6k

summary: When the grocery store you’re in becomes collateral in a villain attack, pro hero Dynamight comes to your rescue. When you become armed with a handful of oranges, however, someone may need to come to his rescue…

A short, mostly fluffy nothing for the prompt Bakugou + oranges. Part of the Willow’s House server Meet Fruit collab, where I took “meet fruit” extremely literally. Thank you @willowser for letting me in even though my dumb ass signed up late!!

tags/warnings: sfw, fluff, sexual tension, gender neutral reader

You were in the produce section when it happened.

The season was creeping into summertime now, the weather outside hot and humid and perfect for fresh produce–stalks of crunchy asparagus, fat ruby-red tomatoes, and tiny little berries nestled in their containers like a fistful of jewels.

You had admittedly been getting a little over-indulgent, your basket already straining against the skin of your forearm, heavy with more fruits and vegetables than a single person might feasibly consume before they went bad. But you were heady with visions of summer salads and fancy grain bowls, cool and leafy and refreshing, a balm against the sweltering city heat.

You’d just been adding a couple oranges to your basket when the first sign came.

It started as a rumble from far off, like the sound of slow-rolling thunder.

It echoed through the store, the bass buzzing through the shelves, making them hum. The lights flickered for a moment, their fluorescence dimming. A few of the people around you glanced up curiously, but nothing else in the interior of the store changed—no screaming, no crying, no running.

At first there was nothing to indicate that you might need to abandon your groceries in a pique of terror.

That was, until another boom sounded just overhead. And then the ceiling was suddenly ripped open with violent force.

A hunk of the steel frame was pulled back like the tab on a sardine can, the caging screaming in protest, and a shower of plaster rained down around you, breaking apart in slabs. An enormous, hulking figure peered through the hole, then dropped into the aisles before you, shaking the floor with his heavy landing.

Behind him, several other figures skittered into the building, one woman climbing down the wall like a lizard as a few others dropped in through the hole. A man suddenly popped into existence a few feet away from the orange stand with a crack like a gunshot. You startled, stumbling backwards, knocking into the oranges and sending a wave of them plopping to the floor.

There was no mistaking who these people were.

Villains. An entire crew of them.

All at once, the shoppers around you scrambled for cover, letting out a cacophony of shrieks and screams. You backed away, only for your foot to catch on an orange, rolling your ankle.

A bright stab of pain lanced through the joint, and you went down, hard, banging your elbow on a nearby display. You caught the floor with your rib cage, crushing an orange under your hip, your basket screeching across the floor next to you.

It knocked the breath right out of you, and you gasped, just as a blade of energy went singing overhead, slicing through the shelves and sending explosions of fruits and metal into the air. They rained down around you, a chunk of shelf framing tipping over and slamming down on your leg, fruits and vegetables slapping across every inch of your body.

Screams went up from the far side of the store, and you bit back a yelp of pain, tears forming in your eyes.

“Grab as many civvies as you can!” a deep voice barked out. “Hold ‘em like a shield and get moving to the next location!”

Your whole body iced over in fear, your ankle and leg screaming in protest as your limbs locked up. Footsteps echoed in every direction as the group of villains split up, hunting down their civilian targets. You hoped wildly, desperately that no one had seen you go down behind the citrus display.

Your hopes were in vain, however. Bootsteps rounded the corner, and the man who had appeared from thin air bent over the shelving pinning you down.

He was tall and wiry, with a face like a weasel and a thinning crop of dark hair. A malicious grin split the sides of his face as he took you in, yellow eyes flickering over you. “Hello sweet thing,” he cooed.

Your stomach flipped in despair as he prowled closer, oranges rolling away from his boots. Your hands scrambled at your sides, fingernails digging into the floor, as you tried to drag yourself backwards, away from him.

He cackled, high, reedy and excited, stalking down the aisle between two fruit stands. Two steps brought him right to you, and he leaned in, smiling widely. He reached out his long, straggly fingers, grasping for you—

And then he promptly blinked out of existence as a furious explosion crackled into life right where he had been. The brightness seared your eyes, blinding you, and a scorching heat scalded your face as a deafening boom rattled your teeth.

You snapped your eyes shut reflexively, but the light and heat was gone as soon as it came. The pad of boots approached you over the ringing in your ears, and you blinked open your eyes. Behind the spots that dotted your vision was a familiar face—one you’d seen on TV dozens, if not hundreds of times.

Bakugou Katsuki, alias pro hero Dynamight.

The first, wild, reeling, nonsense thought you had was that he was so much more handsome in person.

Red eyes glowed like scarlet embers through the dark of his black domino mask, and a scowl sat angrily but prettily on his plush mouth. He had scratches raked across one high cheekbone and down the line of his strong jaw, and his hero uniform had endured something worse, torn in several places, baring the bulge of one enormous bicep, and the trim line of his waist at one side.

The sight dazed you almost more than the flash of his explosion had, and Bakugou turned his scowl down on you, sweaty strands of blonde hair falling across his forehead as he did.

“You break anything, extra?” He rasped. His voice was lower, too, gravelly in a way that apparently didn’t translate well over TV airwaves.

You gaped for a moment, then quickly corralled yourself as his scowl deepened. You tried shifting your leg under the shelving, a fresh wave of pain lancing through you. “Um, my ankle I think is no good—I’m not sure if it’s broken—”

You were interrupted by a sound like a gunshot, splitting the air right in front of you, and then the teleport villain appeared just in front of you. He lunged for Bakugou, and you caught the flash of a blade in the fluorescent lighting. A reflexive scream tore out of you, trying to warn Bakugou—

But Bakugou was faster. He whipped around, a terrifying smile splitting his mouth, an explosion already crackling in his palm.

The teleport villain flickered out of sight again, just in time for Bakugou’s explosion to rip apart the air where he had been, splintering several of the displays around you and blasting a shelf of crackers and jelly apart. You could hear the glass and cracker bits raining down like chunks of hail.

Bakugou quickly turned back to you, eyeing you evaluatively. “Stay down, extra, and don’t fuckin’ move. I’ll take care of this asshole.”

You nodded hurriedly, shifting under the shelving that had you pinned. You managed to wedge yourself into the rough wood of the citrus display at your side, as if you could disappear into it if only you pressed hard enough.

Bakugou turned his back to you, one arm out as if to block anyone’s line of sight to you. The lines of his broad shoulders were tense under the white-hot glare of the store lights, and you noticed another gash in his uniform along one shoulder blade, exposing a peek of his back muscles.

Bakugou was moving almost before you even heard the next teleportation crackle, spinning to aim an explosion to his right. He launched himself after it with a vengeance, only to blow right through another display as the villain winked out of existence again. It seemed like he was fast, possibly too fast…

And then that gunshot noise again–and the villain was right next to you. In one impossibly fast movement Bakugou rerouted himself with a searing blast that ripped the tile right off the floor. In less than a second he was screaming down on the villain with all the speed and fiery fury of a falling comet. He aimed another shot right where the villain was standing—

But the villain disappeared again.

Bakugou neatly dodged you with another explosion aimed at the ground, the hot wind of it throwing you back against the orange crate. He somersaulted over the display just as another crack sounded behind it, and you could hear another explosion tearing through yet more of the produce.

And then another growled swear from Bakugou told you the villain had vanished again.

Your heart beat double time, wondering anxiously how bad this match up was. Bakugou was the number two hero, and you’d always assumed he’d be well-matched against any type of quirk. You’d seen a million broadcasts of his takedowns, quick and purposeful and scarily precise, with one of the fastest takedown averages on record.

But it was clear this villain was slippery and all together too quick. You didn’t know how Bakugou was supposed to catch someone who could disappear within milliseconds.

You thought probably the only chance could be to unleash his full power. On the news, you’d seen him send entire buildings crumbling. If he wanted to, he could tear this entire storefront down, set the entire inside on fire and catch the villain no matter where he teleported to in this space.

But instead you were in the middle of things. Bakugou had to aim, had to hold back lest any debris hit you, had to angle himself around you to protect you, all while the teleport villain had no such qualms.

It was possible Bakugou wouldn’t be able to catch this guy under these conditions–and you were the impediment to blame.

You heard Bakugou’s explosion rip apart another display in the distance, and that gunfire crack of the villain disappearing. Heart in your mouth, you cast around you for something, anything that could help him.

If only there was something to even the odds…

And then you found it. Your gaze landed on the spill of oranges at your feet. Fat, round, heavy and hard. Perfectly projectile shaped.

Now that…that was something.

You quickly gathered as many of them as you could, your ankle twinging in protest when you leaned across the shelving that had trapped it. You scooped the oranges up in an armful, depositing them in your lap, grabbing the largest and hefting it aloft just as another gunshot sound echoed in front of you.

The villain flickered into view right in front of you. You drew your arm back, whipping the orange at him with all of your might. But then like a lightning strike, Bakugou was there, explosion in hand. The villain flashed back out of sight, flames raking the store behind him, nearly blinding in their brilliance.

In another millisecond, the orange caught Bakugou on the thigh. You could hear the hard thump of it against the muscle even over the crackle of Bakugou’s explosion. It sent Bakugou slightly off course, and he had to aim another shot at the ground to catch himself before landing on his feet.

Instantly he whipped around to glare at you, smoke rising off his hands. “Oi, brat, what the fuck’re you throwing shit at me for?”

Your mouth dropped open belatedly, shocked that you’d just beaned the number two hero with a navel orange.

“Oh shit—” you gasped out. “I didn’t mean—it was for him—”

Bakugou’s mouth opened, but then another crack sounded across the store, the teleport villain undoubtedly in sight again. Bakugou threw a shot at him again, but you could tell it had missed by the way the villain materialized again just behind Bakugou.

Before you knew what you’d done, another orange was already in flight. Instead of turning to hit the villain, Bakugou was forced to duck before the orange went right through where his head had been. You heard it hit the floor as the villain was gone again, bouncing into a roll.

“Fucking—! Brat, knock it the hell off!” Bakugou growled, his red-hot glare searing your skin. “Or I will cram those things so far up your—”

Another teleportation crack cut him off, and he launched an attack over your head. The heat scalded the top of your head, blowing a flurry of fruits off of the citrus display.

Good. More ammo, regardless of what Bakugou said.

Except, well, this time you would try to aim better.

It was another few heart-pounding minutes before you got your redemption shot, Bakugou and the teleport villain chasing one another all over the grocery store in the most anxiety-inducing game of cat and mouse you had ever witnessed. You could hear entire sections of the store becoming victim to Bakugou’s quirk, hear the sharp cackle of the villain’s laughter and Bakugou’s angry swearing.

And then came the moment.

The gunshot noise that heralded the teleport villain’s quirk exploded in the air right in front of you again, and it was then that you unleashed a volley of fruits–whipping one as hard as you could as you unleashed several more across the floor. A heel materialized just over a rolling orange, and then the rest of the villain—and you watched with malicious pleasure as his ankle buckled and he went to the floor just as hard as you had.

That moment of stunned surprise was all Bakugou needed. He was there in a single second, an explosion catching the villain and blowing him straight across the floor. He hit the side of another display with a sickening thud. Lettuce spattered him in a shower of leaves, plastic bagging fluttering in the aftershocks of Bakugou’s explosion.

Bakugou was on the villain again instantly, and you caught the silver flash of quirk suppressing cuffs as Bakugou buckled him to the shelves, snarling a victorious stream of swear-laden insults. The villain was unresponsive, clearly knocked unconscious by the force of Bakugou’s blow.

In under a minute, Bakugou was striding back over to you, his boots echoing heavily on the tile.

“Watch where the fuck you’re throwing shit next time, brat,” he snipped at you, even as he bent down, hands going under the shelving that had you pinned. His bicep corded with effort, and the metal screeched as it was lifted, clanging to the tile as Bakugou threw it off of you.

You watched it fall, dazed. Bakugou squatted down next to you, catching your ankle and pulling it carefully to him.

You blinked, surprised by the gentle touch, eyes following Bakugou as he leaned over your injury, poking and prodding carefully. His eyelashes dusted the tops of his cheekbones, long and golden and a little too pretty for a man.

“I–ouch–I got him though,” you said defensively.

Bakugou’s scarlet gaze flicked up to your face, and a weird zing went down your spine. He really was so gorgeous in person, you had to admit, even beat to hell like he was now.

“Got me too, you fuckin’ brat,” Bakugou said. Strangely, his expression went clearer as he spoke, however, like he wasn’t even that mad about it. His fingers pressed delicately at the inside of your ankle, just beneath the jut of bone.

“Well you were in the way,” you groused, though you knew your second throw really had been a little poorly aimed. Bakugou snorted.

“...Got a good fucking arm on you though,” he allowed after a few more seconds of prodding.

It startled a laugh out of you, and a surprising hint of a grin cut across Bakugou’s own mouth, white and straight and viciously pleased.

“I—thanks,” you said, strangely flattered. “I think.”

“Yeah yeah,” Bakugou said, red eyes wandering over you. Then he went back to poking around your ankle, and you tried not to watch his arm flex as he shifted through the motions. “‘S fractured but not broken, I think,” he declared when he was finally satisfied.

“Oh,” you said, “Well that’s better than I thought.”

You shifted uneasily, wondering what the process was now that you’d been diagnosed. You’d never been in an attack before. Did you just sit here and wait for a paramedic to come to you? Or, could you ask Bakugou to help get you up to hobble out of the store?

You’d just decided to sit tight when Bakugou decided for you. A strong hand wormed its way under your thighs as another swept around your back, and then you were being hefted into Bakugou’s arms in one smooth, upsettingly easy movement.

Embarrassingly, your thighs clenched, even as your arms reflexively went around Bakugou’s neck.

You could feel a prickle of heat flaming across your face as he looked down at you, those scarlet eyes picking across your features. “Gonna get you to the paramedics, brat, they’ll fix your shit right up,” he said, so close now that you could feel his exhalation on your collarbone.

You nodded, your throat suddenly dry. “I—yes, that sounds good—thanks.”

Bakugou nodded, shifting you more securely against him, and then picked his way across the rubble, holding you tight. You tried not to revel in the feeling of his arms around you, aware this was an entirely inappropriate train of thought to have during a rescue. Especially when you’d hit the man with an orange.

It was a disappointingly short journey—you were outside in nearly a minute, and it was only another few seconds before Bakugou set you down on the back of an ambulance. A young, friendly paramedic bustled over and Bakugou relayed your condition in a brusque growl.

Surprisingly, however, he lingered close as the paramedic assessed the condition of your ankle and applied his quirk—a green light that made every nerve in your leg hum in response, but instantly took away the pain in your ankle. Then the paramedic wrapped you in compression bandages to keep it set straight.

“Ice it when you get home and keep it elevated when you sleep,” he advised you in his spritely tone. “I’ve got a regeneration quirk so you should be all healed up by the time you wake up, but you’ll want to keep off of it as much as you can in the meantime.”

You thanked him, and were surprised when Bakugou thanked him too, although much more briskly.

Then Bakugou turned back to you, red eyes catching yours again. You found you couldn’t look away from him, as shy as you were suddenly feeling out in the daylight. A few seconds ticked by, and you could feel your ears going hot as Bakugou looked you over.

“So. You want dinner or what?” Bakugou asked finally, crossing his arms over his chest. Your eyes got momentarily stuck on the tear in his sleeve, the way the divot of muscle peeked through in the afternoon light.

Then you gaped up at him when you caught up with what he’d said. “Do I—dinner—with you?”

Bakugou looked down at you, a smirk curling his lip as if he’d just realized where your attention had been. “Yeah. ‘M off shift after I give this report. Thought you might want a thanks for the assist or whatever. But if you’re gonna be fuckin’ squirrely about it, then—”

“Yes!” You gasped out, almost before you even realized you’d spoken. A thrill like lightning sang down your spine, electrifying all your nerve endings. Bakugou Katsuki—pro hero Dynamight—had just asked you to dinner?

Of fucking course you were gonna say yes.

Your brain swam, still unsure you’d heard him correctly, but then he leaned in, an arm coming up to catch the side of the ambulance van just beside your face.

“Good,” he said, another viciously pleased smile cutting across his mouth. Something hot crawled into your stomach, and you suddenly realized dinner might be only the tip of the iceberg Bakugou was steering your ship towards. “Gonna have to have a word about your aim, though,” he said, his gaze searing. “Don’t think you’ve gotten out of it just because I like you and you got that teleport asshole too.”

The low, raspy way he spoke was heavier with promise more than reprimand—and it sent another swarm of shivers over your skin.

Bakugou’s eyes caught it, a reply even clearer than if you had spoken. He grinned victoriously, pushing off of the ambulance to stalk over the police presence that had started to amass just beyond the sidewalk, presumably to give his report.

“Stay right here, brat, I’ll be back for you,” he promised, and you grew roots in your seat.

And then you watched him stalk off, staring in disbelief after his broad back. You couldn’t believe the number two hero had just asked you to dinner. And after you’d accidentally beaned him with an orange!

All you’d done was go to the grocery store in anticipation of produce, and you’d walked out with the promise of a date instead.

A ridiculous loop of orange you glad you decided to go grocery shopping? echoed wildly in your brain, a sign of the sheer ridiculousness of your situation. But yeah, you thought, as Bakugou leaned in to speak to a police officer, those scarlet eyes cutting unmistakably back towards you.

You really, really were.

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #katsuki bakugo x y/n #katsuki bakugo fluff #bnha x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugou x you #meet fruit collab

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teshamerkel · 2 months

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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 54]

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A mission with Team Evergreen.

Tobias wakes at dawn, his internal clock as sharp as ever despite the earthquake disrupting his night of sleep. They’re supposed to join Team Evergreen for a joint mission today, so Tobias shakes Nia awake rougher than he usually does, not wanting Andyn to hold poor punctuality over their heads the whole morning. Nia whines, somehow even more difficult to wake when she has a blanket to bury herself back under. Finally, Tobias just rips the covers off her curled body, and is almost impressed by the sleepy glare she gives him in return.

Eventually, Tobias manages to drag Nia to her paws and get the two of them get moving. They eat a quick breakfast of the berries they’d brought back from Maggie’s the day before as they head down the Lexym Tree, until they finally reach the bottom floor underground.

“Whoa,” Nia murmurs.

While this floor is pretty much always populated, Seekers clustered around the mission boards and moving out into the forest through the spiderweb of tunnels circling the room, it’s rarely this busy. A bustling crowd of Pokemon are moving in and out of the space, more Seekers than Tobias has seen active at once. Some of the higher-ranked teams, powerful and scarred and more often than not evolved, are trailing in with exhaustion on their faces, while the lower-rank teams are tagging out for their own missions in the Haven. Must be taking shifts on earthquake cleanup.

Verene and a few higher-rank guild members seem to be directing teams on where to head next, the mission board not yet updated with all of the information coming in from last night’s damages.

“Oh! Over there!” Nia says, pointing.

Tobias follows her gaze to where Ezra is waving them over, the sneasel’s claws just barely visible over the crowd. Tobias takes the lead and weaves through the throng of Pokemon until he and Nia finally reach Team Evergreen’s side.

“Good morning,” Jaz says. The little stufful looks unruffled as always by everything going on, giving them both a smile.

“Morning! Where’s Andyn?” Nia asks.

Ezra jerks a claw over his shoulder.

Tobias follows the gesture. The deerling is shoving her way through the crowd towards a servine who is doling out missions, a solosis at their side communicating information with its telepathy.

As Nia starts up a conversation with Ezra and Jaz, Tobias pushes his own way through the crowd until he’s at the deerling’s side.

“D-Rank team,” Andyn is saying. “Three members.”

“We’re doing a team-up mission, actually,” Tobias interrupts, glaring at Andyn and daring her to argue. “So five members.”

She doesn’t look happy to see Tobias, as usual, but she doesn’t contradict him.

“Species?”

“Deerling, sneasel, and stufful.”

“Charmander and riolu.”

The servine’s tongue flicks thoughtfully as they look down at the papers in their short, leafy hands. The solosis floats closer to murmur to them, and the servine nods and crosses something off their list.

“Most of the Haven has been attended to, so we’re starting to focus on the guild. One of the tunnels down here caved in after the quake. We need the next shift of hands to help remove the rubble.”

Tobias feels Andyn deflate at his side, and tries not to do the same.

“Cave cleanup?” Andyn asks, voice bordering on a whine. “Surely you could use us somewhere more important? We aren’t even ground types!”

“Ground types are handling the unstable areas out in the forest,” The servine says, raising a brow and looking a bit impatient.

Andyn straightens up immediately at the expression. “R-Right. Um. Which tunnel, then?”

The servine flicks their leafy tail towards one of the eastern tunnels, before gesturing for them to hurry out of the way for the next team.

Tobias gives Andyn a sour look once they step away. “You were really going to lie just to get out of working with us.”

Andyn scoffs, refusing to meet his eye, and marches back to their teammates. “I forgot, okay?”

“Sure.”

Ezra and Jaz are unphased by Andyn’s mood or her news that they’ll be on cave cleanup. Nia, too, just seems happy to spend some time with her friends. Tobias resigns himself to the job and prepares for a long day of monotonous, tiring work and an evening of picking dirt out from under his claws.

When they head into the tunnel they were directed to, it almost seems like nothing is wrong. The rounded, grooved walls appear sturdy as usual, the blue stones jutting from the earth intact and glowing softly.

It’s as they move deeper that the damage and cleanup effort becomes more obvious. Temporary torches line the walls to offer more light, warming up the unusual darkness of the tunnel. The walls themselves are no longer smoothed, instead a lumpy patchwork of soil as if they had to be hastily molded anew after the earthquake. Hard dirt and rubble is scattered across the floor, not yet cleaned up or tamped down by footsteps. The blue stones that usually grow from the walls and ceiling are largely destroyed, mixed in among the soil in broken, dull shards. As they walk even deeper, five sets of footsteps absorbed by the earth, brackets of wood start to appear too, lining the tunnel walls like ribs. Probably helping to add stability as they excavate, if Tobias had to guess.

Tobias registers the quiet murmur of conversation right before they finally reach the worksite. The tunnel, as expected, is blocked by fallen rocks and soil, a mountain at least three times Tobias’ height. A large cart sits heavy on its wheels nearby, a ramp leading up to its bed and a couple of metal buckets sitting around its base. More torches are jammed into the ground around the area to provide extra light, especially without the usual blue glow of the gemstones available.

Two huge Pokemon are gesturing at the cave-in as they talk. The largest is a stout, familiar-looking hippowdon, her dark gray hide nearly blending in with the darkness. The other is a tall Pokemon, its head resting atop thin but powerful tentacles—a toedscruel.

Nia steps closer, grabbing Tobias’ arm to whisper, “Tobias, we met her the first day I came to the guild! The hippo. Um. Alana, I think?”

“Abana,” Jaz corrects in a whisper of her own. “She’s typically a tunnel guard.”

The hippowdon’s little ears flick, and the conversation between the two large Pokemon cuts off as they turn to look at the newcomers.

“Guessing you’re the next batch of hands, then?” The toedscruel asks, his voice gravelly.

“Looks like it,” Abana says, moving closer with steps heavy enough to rumble the ground beneath them. Her gaze moves over each of them, then pauses on Nia.

Nia gives her a shy, hopeful wave.

“Little riolu!” The hippowdon crows, giving a big, blocky smile. “Been a while since I’ve seen you around! I was wondering if you were still at the guild. You a Seeker now?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am! It’s good to see you again.”

The hippowdon chuckles. “You as well, little one. Happy to say I recognize everyone else here, too! At least a bit. You two are Maggie’s boy and Idris and Brielle’s daughter, right?”

Tobias straightens up and nods, flushing. It feels strange, to hear others so confidently call him Maggie’s when he wasn’t nearly as certain about it until recently. But it’s…nice, too. And at least Abana doesn’t already seem to hate him like a lot of the guild does. He hasn’t ran into her much over the years.

Andyn straightens too, chest puffing with pride. “That’s right, ma’am! Ready to make them proud.”

Abana laughs, and the sound is loud in the small space of the tunnel. “Good to hear! Don’t worry, we’ll certainly put you to work. Last group left just a bit ago all tuckered out. Let’s see if we can keep you going until noon.”

Ezra salutes the hippowdon. Nia, after a panicked glance at the sneasel, does the same. Tobias snorts.

“Listen up. Here’s how this goes,” The toedscruel says, crossing one tentacle over the other. “I’m Conifer and this is Abana. We’ll be doing the digging itself to make sure the tunnel stays stable. You all are on cleanup duty.”

Andyn’s ear flicks, but she doesn’t interrupt.

The toedscruel turns to point to the top of the cave-in, where there’s a black gap of space between the rubble and the ceiling. “We’re using a benching method. We dig out the top layer first to gauge the stability of the tunnel and what materials we’re working with, then go back to dig out the layers underneath.”

“But all you five gotta worry about is moving that spoil.” Abana nods to the bottom of the heap, where broken chunks of stone and soil taper off. “Over to that cart as we work.”

Tobias follows the hippowdon’s gaze over to the large cart against the wall, humming his assent. Not exciting work, but easy enough to understand.

Andyn takes a step forward. Her voice is respectful and chipper on the surface, but Tobias can hear something more strained running underneath. “That’s it? I—we can really help more with the digging itself, if you'd like! Surely we’d be more useful actually helping out.”

“You’ll be more useful unburied,” Conifer grumbles. “If you don’t want to do the work we need done, go complain to whoever sent you down here.”

Andyn hesitates, glancing back at each of them. Her gaze lingers on Tobias, as if hoping that he'll join her in throwing a fit. He raises a brow, unimpressed.

“No,” Andyn says, stepping back. “We’ve got it.”

And with that, they get to work.

Andyn and Ezra are stationed atop the tumble of earth itself. They work on jabbing away at the discarded rock and soil with their hooves and claws, breaking it up until it’s small and loose enough to be scooped into the provided buckets. The buckets are almost as big as Jaz, so the stufful’s job is just to fill them with her blunt paws before scooting them behind her for the next ‘mon to grab. Tobias and Nia are put in charge of carrying the filled buckets up the ramp to dump into the cart before returning the empty containers to the stufful’s side. Then the cycle repeats.

“What happens when we fill up the whole cart?” Ezra asks, pausing in his digging to look over his shoulder.

Tobias grunts as he picks up his second bucket of soil—almost half his size and just as heavy. They are going to be so sore after today. “Dunno.”

“A psychic Pokemon will come grab the cart to empty outside when it’s full,” Conifer says distractedly from where he’s monitoring the hollow shelf above the cave-in.

Abana, who had squeezed inside the gap, is nowhere to be seen. Dirt and rocks occasionally come spraying out of the opening to tumble down to Andyn and Ezra, though, so she must be digging.

Tobias can’t walk normally with the heavy bucket in his arms, so he waddles carefully up the ramp to dump its contents onto the empty bed of the cart. A thin layer of dirt and rocks spill over the floorboards, wood grain still clearly visible through the soil.

Nia’s footfalls, heavier than usual, plod up the wooden ramp behind Tobias. She overturns her own bucket and watches the dirt scatter across the wood, looking just as disheartened as he feels by how little it actually seems to add. Tobias bites back a sigh and turns to go back to the pile, where Jaz is already scooping rock and dirt into a third bucket.

Grab bucket. Carry up ramp. Dump. Ignore how quickly his muscles are starting to burn. Repeat.

Nia sets down her bucket after the next drop and shakes out her arms, looking between the cart and the mountain of earth with her ears low. “We’re supposed to do this for six hours?”

“I’m sure we can take breaks to rest and get water,” Jaz soothes, nudging the next filled bucket towards them. “The guild wouldn’t want us to hurt ourselves.”

“Correct,” Conifer rumbles, making Nia jump. “We will call for breaks, but take a breather if you need one. You are here to work, not injure yourself.”

That’s good at least, but it doesn’t make the work any less grueling.

“Why do we keep ending up in tunnels, anyways?” Tobias growls, more to himself than anything, as he grabs another bucketful to carry to the cart.

“The Asra mines were kind of your fault, to be fair,” Nia says as she approaches, then pauses. “Actually, you picked out the tropius mission too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah. It was a rhetorical question,” Tobias grumbles, flicking her leg with his tail as he passes. Nia laughs, but doesn’t push the point.

The process from there is long, monotonous, and most of all exhausting. Dig, scoop, carry, dump, repeat.

Dig.

Scoop.

Carry.

Dump.

Repeat.

Tobias is steaming with sweat and his shoulders and arms are burning within the hour. From the way Nia’s playful comments and Ezra’s lighthearted chatter die down to wordless, heavy breathing, they must be feeling the strain as well.

Abana and Conifer take turns digging out the shelf and then the earth underneath, stopping to discuss the process in quiet voices between each switch. Well, until—

“Seekers,” Conifer suddenly says, startling everyone. “Take a break.”

Tobias blinks, looking between the endless mountain of soil and the barely filled cart. It doesn’t look like it’s time for a break, much as his body would appreciate one.

The toedscruel waves a dismissive tentacle. “Go on. One of you grab water for the rest of the group. Rest up for a bit, then get back to it.”

Andyn grunts, then immediately jabs away at the soil with renewed vigor.

Ezra sighs. “Anne.”

“You take a break,” Andyn huffs. “I’m fine.”

Tobias rolls his eyes. What exactly does she think she’s proving by being a stubborn brat?

One of Conifer’s yellow tentacles reaches over to wrap around the deerling’s middle. She yelps as she’s plucked from the dirt and placed down closer to the cart.

“Rest,” Conifer says with a sharp look. “Or you will burn out too quickly. That’s an order.”

Andyn ducks her head in what could be an agreeable bow, if Tobias couldn’t see her annoyed expression from his angle.

The deerling reluctantly follows Conifer’s command, though, and soon enough the two teams are sitting around the cart to rest. Jaz had put up the world’s politest fight so she could be the one to go get the canteen of water and some hydration fruit, citing that she was doing the least physically demanding labor. Other than a token protest from Nia, no one had argued, too exhausted to move.

Tobias stretches out his arms and shoulders while they wait for the stufful to return. One arm over the other, then switch.

“I hope everyone in the forest is okay,” Nia murmurs, stretching out her legs. “They would’ve sent someone to check on Hadley, right? A-And the other families we’ve helped?”

Tobias frowns. “Where did that come from?”

Nia shrugs, concerned expression staying put. “I mean…the quake wasn’t too bad here, but I’m just worried about everyone else. There are a lot of Pokemon living in the Haven. How do the Seekers know they checked on everyone who needs help?”

Tobias honestly hasn’t given it much thought. He’s always just assumed that the upper-level Seekers know what they’re doing. Although now that Nia has put the idea in his head, he can’t help thinking about all of the Pokemon he has met in the Haven over the years. Even just the ones he’s interacted with recently, partnered with Nia.

That tropius mother and her lost calf. The teddiursa who got caught in the nearby dungeon, and their roselia friend who was so desperate to save them. The elderly gloom they escorted across the Haven to her sister’s house. The caves they cleaned out for that pancham and her cubs. The torterra and turtwig family they delivered medicine to. Hadley, infuriating as the golisopod is. All of the Pokemon Tobias has met when traveling with Maggie and giving out herbs over the years. Hundreds of Pokemon.

“Yeah,” Tobias says, uncomfortable with the weight of so many lives on his mind. “But the guild said they already sent out Pokemon to make sure the civilians are all right. They must have some kind of system set up so they don’t miss anyone. August knows what he’s doing. We just need to do what we can here.”

“I guess you’re right,” Nia sighs, though she doesn’t sound convinced.

Jaz returns shortly after that conversation, stumbling under the uneven bulk of the canteen and hydration berries strapped to her back.

“Let one of us get the water next time,” Ezra snickers as he moves to help his teammate. “This thing’s bigger than you are.”

Jaz huffs an unamused noise and flops to the dirt while Nia unstraps the items, handing Tobias the berries for him to eat. He immediately pops one into his mouth and savors the juicy burst of sweetness as the others pass around the water canteen, taking long gulps to rehydrate.

All too soon, though, it’s time to get back to work.

Dig.

Scoop.

Carry.

Dump.

Repeat.

It isn’t difficult work, really, at least mentally. Hardly any thinking required. But that almost makes it worse, in Tobias’ opinion, having nothing to keep his mind busy as his body toils. Nothing to focus on but the growing fatigue in his muscles and the boredom in his brain.

Tobias is relieved when Nia speaks up as they wait for Jaz to finish scooping the next bucket. The riolu must be tiring too, but her ruby eyes are curious as she peers past Abana, to where Conifer is squeezed into the hollow above the mountain of soil and shoveling dirt down to Andyn and Ezra.

“Hey, Abana?”

The hippowdon hums, the noise a deep vibration Tobias can feel in the soles of his feet.

“Do all of the guild’s tunnels go out into the forest? Or do some of them go somewhere else?”

“Just to the forest around the Haven. Why do you ask?”

“Well…if that’s the case, why do we even have—” Nia cuts herself off, as if finding her own phrasing too rude. But then she continues, more carefully, “Why does the guild have a tunnel system in the first place? Wouldn’t a front door at the base of the tree work better?”

“It would certainly make it easier without the tunnels, wouldn’t it?” Abana chuckles. “They were originally made as a form of defense for the guild, but they do feel a bit silly nowadays.”

“Defense?” Ezra asks, pausing his digging. His feathery ear—usually a bright red hue—is dull from dust and dirt. “Defense from what?”

“The world hasn’t always been as friendly as it is nowadays,” Abana says. “When the guilds were first created, there were enough folks against the idea that they had to make sure the Tree was secure against any attacks.”

Jaz shoves the next bucket of dirt behind her. Nia grabs it, grunting as she takes small steps towards the cart. Over her shoulder, she says, “Why wouldn’t people want the guilds around? They’ve always been about helping out, right?”

“Mhm. But having the authority to say what is right and what is wrong—and the ability to dole out punishment accordingly—is a lot of power. Some ‘mon worried that those in such a position would abuse that power.”

“August would never do that!” Nia says, stopping in the middle of the ramp to give Abana an offended expression.

Abana laughs. “Agreed! But August is not the only Pokemon in the world willing to become guildmaster.”

“Still,” Nia says, frowning as she dumps the dirt bucket. “People trust the guilds. I can’t imagine what kind of jerk would take advantage of that.”

“That’s because you’re a sweetheart,” Ezra calls lightly, still digging.

Nia eeps with embarrassment, nearly tripping off the ramp. Tobias snorts a laugh as he picks up his own bucket and moves her way.

“And naïve,” Conifer grunts, head poking out from the shelf of dirt. He shakes some soil loose from his tentacles and squeezes out into the open again. “Even today, there are some guildmasters I refuse to work under.”

That has Tobias’ interest piqued, and seemingly the others’ as well, by how their ears perk. “Which ones?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Why’d you even bring it up, then?” Tobias mumbles as he climbs the ramp and dumps his own bucket. The wooden cart is filled with a thick layer of soil and rock by now, but it’s still only a fourth or so of the way full. How long have they been at it just to make this tiny dent? Two hours? Three?

There’s the quiet shifting of soil behind him, and when Tobias glances back, Abana is vanishing again into the hollow above the cave-in. Must be her turn to dig.

“So just to clarify,” Jaz says. “The tunnels were made to keep the entrances to the Lexym Tree hidden, so that Pokemon who were against the guild couldn’t easily attack?”

“Most of them, yes.”

Tobias stops as he reaches the bottom of the ramp. Most of them?

“Most of them?” Nia echoes.

Conifer, adjusting something on one of the brackets holding up the walls, says, “There are more tunnels deeper down, but they are not easily reached, wrapped in the Tree’s roots as they are. They're surrounded by a wall too thick to dig through without risk of damaging the Tree itself.”

“What were those tunnels used for?” Jaz asks, scooping dirt into Nia’s bucket and kicking everyone back into motion.

Conifer pauses to look over at the group of them, hanging on to his every word in their boredom. He sighs. “I asked one of the older diggers about it once, and he said they used to be storage bunkers before they became too inconvenient to access. They haven’t been used in decades, at least.”

“Huh,” Nia says, crouched by Jaz and helping scoop errant soil into her bucket. “Wonder what they kept down there?”

“Treasure?” Ezra suggests, glancing over his shoulder with a toothy grin.

“Don’t be dumb,” Andyn grumbles, speaking up for the first time in a while. “Probably just supplies or something.”

“Aw, you’re no fun.”

“We aren’t supposed to be having fun,” Andyn retorts.

Even Tobias rolls his eyes at that, and he knows he’s a stick in the mud.

Conversation trails off again, dampened by Andyn’s comment and their own exhaustion.

Dig.

Scoop.

Carry.

Dump.

Repeat.

Tobias isn’t sure how much time passes before they’re instructed to take a break again. They still have some water and berries left, so no one is tasked with going to grab more from the cafeteria floor.

Tobias flops onto the ground and shoves a berry into his mouth, staring up at the ceiling where a few fragments of blue crystals are still wedged into the soil, glowing faintly. Nia lies down near him, for once a normal distance apart and not leeching his warmth. Ezra and Jaz join the two of them on their own backs a moment later. It’s quieter than their first break as they all try to catch their breath. Tobias flexes his tired, cramping fingers and arms.

“What kind of gemstones are those?” Nia eventually asks, also staring up at the ceiling. “I’ve been meaning to ask.”

“The tunnel crystals?” Jaz asks.

“Yeah! They’re so pretty. Do you know what they are?”

“Can’t be any form of evolutionary stone,” Ezra says. “Would’ve been mined out of here in a heartbeat.”

"Really?" Andyn scoffs. Tobias notices for the first time that she’s the only one still standing, shifting on her hooves impatiently and watching Abana and Conifer work. “It's not like evolutionary stones are worth all that much when we can't evolve anymore.”

“Before that, Anne.”

For a moment, Tobias considers that they could be the stones used to make damp rocks, which extend the use of rain dance. The caves beneath Asra had been lined with the crystals to make smooth rocks and heat rocks, after all. But the Lexym Guild hasn’t ever been a particularly rainy place. No more than anywhere else, at least.

Nia sighs. “We should’ve asked Carnelian. I bet he would’ve loved looking at these.”

“Carnelian?” Ezra asks.

Nia sits up to meet the sneasel’s eyes. “Yeah! He’s a researcher we met on the way back from Shivergleam! Apparently he was called in to look at some weird stones at the base of the mountains north of here.”

“The Silenfroar range?” Jaz asks.

“Yup! I bet he’d know what these are.”

“Does it matter what they are?” Andyn cuts in, voice sharp. She’s now pacing lightly back and forth.

Conversation stops as everyone watches her.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tobias sees Nia’s ears lower, just a bit. “Oh. I mean…I guess not, no, but…”

“It’d be fun to know, right?” Jaz says.

Andyn doesn’t answer.

Tobias sits up to glare at the deerling, half-wishing she’d notice and pick a fight so he had an excuse to battle. Just because Andyn is in a mood doesn’t mean she can take it out on Nia and the others. Is this all because she isn’t happy with their mission today? Tobias isn’t exactly thrilled about it either, but you don’t see him throwing a fit about it.

Abana calls them back over to work soon after, and Tobias channels his irritation into dumping his heavy bucket of dirt with a bit more force than necessary.

Dig.

Scoop.

Carry.

Dump.

Repeat.

It’s quiet as they work. Just the soft shift of dirt and the occasional louder sound of hooves and claws chipping away at stone. Measured, raspy breaths and wood-heavy footsteps. Normally Nia—and probably Ezra, too, if Tobias had to guess—would never be silent for so long, but the work keeps them busy.

It’s almost too quiet, until Andyn speaks up.

“Why don’t we just use attacks to clear this out?” She pants. “My bullet seed could—"

“No moves,” Abana says, voice hard.

Andyn clamps her mouth shut. Everyone stops to give the hippowdon their full attention.

“This tunnel is unstable right now,” Abana says, meeting Andyn’s gaze until the deerling looks away. “Careless attacks will bring the whole cave down on top of us.”

“And then we will have to dig you out, and redo all of our hard work,” Conifer calls from within the shelf. “If you even survive the initial collapse.”

“That makes sense for us,” Ezra says, wiping some dirt from his cheek. “But you’re ground types, right? Couldn’t you just dig this tunnel out real quick with some of your moves?”

Abana gives the sneasel an amused look. “Can you perfectly control an avalanche, little flurry? Mold it to form a castle of ice and snow with a flick of your claw?”

Ezra tilts his head. “Oh. No, I definitely can’t do that.”

“The earth is similar,” Abana says. She scoops a divot out of the hard dirt as easily as swiping aside snow. “We could dig through it on our own in minutes, but if we want the tunnels to stand strong on their own even when we aren’t here, we must build them up more carefully than that. They must stand under their own weight without relying on our powers.”

There’s a moment of quiet as they all digest those words.

“This is the only tunnel that caved in, right?” Jaz asks. “So they must be pretty stable.”

Abana nods, red eyes trained on the gap where more dirt rains from Conifer’s digging. “This tunnel is used less often than the others so it didn't get checked as regularly. We’ll monitor it closer from now on to make sure it can withstand future quakes.”

Tobias frowns as he sets his empty bucket down in front of Jaz. He doesn’t like the way Abana said that—like future quakes are a certainty and not just a potential thing. Although with the increase in natural disasters, he guesses it makes sense that she wants to be prepared.

Everyone else must pick up on Abana’s implication too, because the silence that falls over the group feels heavier than it did before.

Dig.

Scoop.

Carry.

Dump.

Repeat.

They have to have been working for more than four hours at this point. Tobias’ arms, shoulders, and back are screaming at him, pained from the constant lift and carry of a bucket almost as heavy as he is. He notices Nia and Jaz slowing down as they lose steam, and more than once Nia trips over her own paws and has to right herself.

Tobias feels like he’s been rolling around in the desert, gritty soil coating his scales and crusting under his claws. Even with his job having the least hands-on contact with the dirt, he swears he’s tasting the stuff. The only reason Tobias hasn’t complained much—out loud, at least—is because he knows he needs to save his breath.

Andyn doesn’t seem to have the same reservations. Tobias can hear her occasionally cursing under her breath as she works on loosening the soil with Ezra. She hasn’t slowed down at all, still as fervent as she was hours earlier. It’d be admirable if Tobias wasn’t still irked at her for her earlier attitude.

Ezra had initially been snickering at some of her comments, but at some point that had stopped. Tobias doesn’t think anything of that shift until he hears the sneasel whisper something to Andyn with a concerned note in his voice. Jaz, who had been refilling Tobias’ bucket with soil, pauses and looks up at their leader as well.

“No, I’m not okay,” Andyn snaps, louder than her partner. “We should be doing something more important than digging out stupid tunnels, Ez!”

Tobias snorts. “Well we’re not, so get over it.”

Andyn whirls around, barely keeping her footing on the shifting soil. “Oh, you shut it!”

“Whoa, Anne—”

“O-Okay, maybe we should—”

Tobias curls his lip and takes a step forward, flexing his claws. “No, let her talk.”

“We are not starting a fight here,” Jaz says, stepping in front of Tobias. He glares down at the stufful, expecting her to falter, but she holds his gaze with a firm stare. Her striped tail twitches to Tobias’ left. Tobias follows the movement and glances at Conifer, whose narrowed gaze has switched from Abana’s digging over to them. Watching.

Tobias growls, backing up a step. He is not going to get in trouble just because of this stupid deerling’s attitude problem.

“Andyn,” Jaz soothes, turning around to look up at her teammate. “Deep breath.”

“No! We’re better than this, Jaz!” Andyn says, voice bordering on a shout. “Cleanup duty? That looks like a punishment!”

The deerling sounds angry, but as Tobias looks at her face, he thinks she looks…scared, almost. Brown eyes wide, a noticeable tremble to her mouth even from a distance away. Against his will, some of Tobias’ own fury drains away.

Huh.

“Andyn,” Jaz says, voice firmer than Tobias has ever heard it. “Breathe.”

Ezra steps closer to the deerling and lays a paw on her shoulder, taking an exaggerated breath. Andyn’s expression melts into something a bit more grounded at his touch, annoyance showing through instead of fear. Reluctantly, she shuts her eyes and takes a shaky breath. Then another. And another.

When Andyn has breathed for a minute, tense stance a bit more relaxed, Jaz says, “Good. Go get the next round of water for everyone, please.”

Andyn’s eyes open, dismayed. “But—"

“Andyn,” Jaz says, unyielding.

The deerling frowns down at the stufful for a moment. Two. Then she spots Conifer still watching the whole scene silently, and stiffens. Immediately, she shrugs Ezra off and springs lightly down the pile of rock and soil, slipping past Tobias, Nia and Jaz. Back down the tunnel and towards the guild.

In the silence that follows, Ezra and Jaz glance first at Conifer, who has remained pointedly silent, and then at Nia and Tobias. Ezra almost looks embarrassed, while Jaz just looks…tired.

“Is she all right?” Nia asks, paws wringing nervously.

“Yes,” Jaz sighs. “Just give her a bit.”

Tobias and Nia exchange a doubtful look, but hesitantly get back to work as Ezra and Jaz start digging and scooping as if nothing had even happened. Still, the quiet left in Andyn’s wake is somehow even more stifling than before. Tobias is just glad that Conifer didn’t say anything about the deerling’s little freakout—as much as Tobias doesn’t like her, even he doesn’t want to deal with that secondhand embarrassment.

With Andyn gone and only one ‘mon loosening the soil, unfortunately the work moves twice as slowly as it did before. So slowly that Tobias and Nia are forced to sit and wait minutes at a time for Ezra to break down the rocks and clumps of dirt enough to pass along to Jaz. While the break should feel nice, Tobias is instead annoyed with the delay in progress. Eventually, he stands and puts his bucket aside with a quiet clang.

Nia, who had also been waiting at Jaz’s side and helping her scoop, turns to him. “Tobias?”

“I’m switching for a bit,” He mumbles, moving past them and scrambling his way up the pile of soil to Ezra’s side. The dirt beneath him shifts and gives under his feet, making his ascent much less dignified than he’d like. Still, Ezra needs help in order to pick up the pace. And Tobias wants to talk to him anyways, away from Conifer and Nia’s ears.

“Oh, hey,” Ezra says, blinking at Tobias. A hesitant grin crosses his face. “Couldn’t resist the most glamorous part of the job, huh?”

Tobias snorts. “Hardly.” He immediately gets to work breaking up the soil and rock in front of him with his claws before sending it farther down the pile to Jaz and Nia. “You were being too slow. And I have a question for you.”

Ezra resumes his own digging, ears angled Tobias’ way. “Well, you’ve got me! What’s up?”

Tobias works silently for a few moments, unsure of how to start. He’d been trained on this area a little bit, apprenticed under Maggie and living in such close quarters to Fen up on the medical floor. But it’s not exactly a comfortable question. Tobias would prefer to ask Andyn directly, but he has a feeling she wouldn’t tell him the truth regardless. And Ezra would likely know.

“Andyn,” Tobias starts, hesitant. “She seemed…panicked, earlier. During her little yelling fit.”

Ezra stops digging, visibly surprised. “You noticed that?”

“I’m not blind.”

Ezra is quiet for a long moment, before he goes back to digging. “No, I guess you’re not.”

Tobias narrows his eyes at the careful non-answer. “Does this have anything to do with what you mentioned yesterday in our quarters? About her parents having high expectations?”

Ezra winces. “…Yeah. Don’t tell her I told you, but uh. She’s freaking out a bit about what her parents will think of us taking this job.”

So Tobias guessed right. He frowns, digging harder into the rocky soil to break it up into smaller chunks. “Her parents don’t hurt her, right?”

“What?” Ezra’s head snaps up. “No! Arceus, no, nothing like that. They’re just…they have really high expectations. Too high. And they kind of…ignore Andyn for a while, if she does something they don’t like. Like taking on a cave cleanup mission instead of something more, uh. Flashy.”

Tobias’ own digging stops so he can stare at Ezra, almost in disbelief. Maggie would never ignore him or Nia to punish them for a mistake, let alone for the crime of…doing their job?

“Yeah,” Ezra agrees with a weak laugh. “Her parents are harsh. But their opinions mean everything to her. Jaz and I have tried to tell her before how messed up it is when they ignore her like that, but she refuses hear it.”

“Stubborn,” Tobias says without thinking.

Ezra’s eyes twinkle at him, as if to say, You’re one to talk, before his smile drops and he turns back to their work. Tobias follows his lead. “We try to tell her she’s more than what she achieves or what she can do, but it’s…hard. She’s almost tougher on herself than they are. I honestly don’t know if she could handle it if we ever failed a mission.”

“Maybe it would do her some good to fail,” Tobias mutters. Everything he’s learned since becoming a Seeker seems to have come from him messing up in one way or another, so. It could be good for her to see that she can fail and the world won’t end. Stupid parents’ opinions aside.

Tobias wishes the consequences of he and Nia’s responsibilities were so small-scale.

Tobias shoves that bitter thought aside. It’s not Andyn’s fault that Tobias and Nia have been saddled with the impossibly large task of saving the world. Just because their problem is so big doesn’t mean that Andyn’s family situation isn't terrible, too.

Tobias had been worried that Ezra would chatter endlessly when Tobias joined him in digging, since he’s a new and exciting target to prod at, but the sneasel is blessedly quiet after their little conversation. They work side-by-side on their own portions of the soil, save for Ezra occasionally taking over on a particularly difficult chunk of rock to break apart. Sharp as Tobias’ talons are—or were, before he dulled them on all this dirt—they’re still no match for a sneasel’s massive claws.

Tobias works with the dark-type until Jaz and Nia have more than their work cut out for them below. Then he huffs and sits back, wiping a wisp of steam from his brow.

Ezra spares him a glance. “Break time?”

“Moving back to bucket duty,” Tobias answers, already turning and sliding back down to the ground.

“Actually, it's a good time for a break,” Abana says from above them, shuffling her way out of the hole she’s been digging in. Her huge head blocks the opening entirely, and Tobias isn’t actually sure how she manages to squeeze in and out of there.

“Thank goodness,” Nia groans, stumbling back against the cart and sliding to the ground. “I’m ready to drop.”

Tobias goes to stand at her side, leaning against the cart himself. He looks down at the top of Nia’s head and has the incredibly strong urge to flick one of her ears. He stuffs the impulse down as Ezra and Jaz trudge over to join them.

“Guess Anne’s not back with the water yet,” Ezra sighs, flopping down.

“Should someone go check on her?” Nia asks, clearly worried.

“Nah, let her work off some steam,” Ezra says, waving away her concerns. “She’ll be back soon.”

“After dumping her part of the work on you,” Tobias grumbles.

“Yeah, but that just means I got to work beside my new best buddy,” Ezra says with a cheeky grin. “A real warm and fuzzy fellow. Gotta love him.”

Tobias wants to flick the sneasel’s ear too, but much more violently. Too bad he’s out of reach.

After that, Jaz and Nia chat for a bit, still trying to figure out what kind of stones line the tunnels and who they could ask to find out. Ezra is lying on his back like a staryu, eyes closed, and Tobias could almost believe he was asleep if not for how his ears angle to catch the girls’ conversation.

Tobias feels his own restlessness build the longer they wait for Andyn to return, until it’s tinged with irritation. Distraught or not over her parents’ judgement, the deerling was sent out to get them water. Tobias’ throat is bone-dry and he’s sure the others are thirsty, too. Soon enough they’ll be called back to work.

“I’ll be back,” Tobias says, pushing off the cart.

Nia blinks up at him. “Where’re you going?”

“I’m gonna drag that little twig back here with our drinks.”

“What?” Nia scrambles to her paws. “Tobias, I don’t think—if anyone’s going to check up on Andyn, maybe I should. I don’t know if you two should, uh…talk right now, when she’s already upset.”

Tobias gives Nia a dry look. “And if she’s still in a mood and refuses to come back? Or tells you to leave her alone?”

Nia winces. She glances down at Jaz and Ezra as if to ask if one of them would rather go.

Tobias is half-expecting the two other members of Team Evergreen to be just as alarmed as Nia, but instead Jaz looks almost…thoughtful. Eventually, she shakes her head. “I won’t be able to say anything to her I haven’t said before. I’m all right with you going.”

Ezra has sat up again, but he’s leaning back leisurely on his hands. He smiles at Tobias with more familiarity than Tobias feels he earned in their brief time talking atop the cave-in pile. “Nah, I think Tobias has this covered. Go for it.”

Tobias is sure he and Nia are sharing identical expressions of surprise. He…didn’t actually think they’d agree so easily. He isn’t sure how to feel about the sudden show of faith.

…He’ll deal with that later.

Tobias looks back to Nia. “Satisfied?”

Nia still seems unsure. Her gaze flicks behind him, in the direction Andyn ran off to earlier. “I-I guess. Just…try not to fight, okay?”

“No promises,” Tobias says, spinning on his heel and setting off down the tunnel. Nia sputters at the answer, but doesn’t chase after him.

Tobias quickly arrives at the open area where the mission boards are stationed. There are a few Pokemon moving to or from the web of tunnels surrounding the space, but the crowd from earlier has largely cleared out.

Tobias frowns, looking around. If Andyn actually went to get them water and hydration berries, she would’ve had to go upstairs to the cafeteria floor. He walks over to the steps, but pauses when his eye catches an out-of-place form at the entrance of one of the other tunnels. He blinks, noting the large ears and long, spindly legs as the Pokemon paces back and forth in the mouth of the cave. Andyn.

Tobias takes a bracing breath and marches over to meet her. As he gets closer, he sees that she at least did get the water and berries, both packs strapped across her back and dangling with every step.

Andyn’s ears angle around as he approaches, and she turns to face him in the blue light of the tunnel. Her tense expression sours further. “Great. First today’s mission and now this. What do you want?”

Tobias opens his mouth to say that he was sent to check on her. Maybe even joke that they need the water before they die of thirst. He opens his mouth to say that her parents are horrible and that she should stop caring so much about what they think.

Instead, what he says is, “I want you to come back and do your job.”

Andyn’s eyes narrow. “I am doing my job. Don’t act so high and mighty—it's not like you’re happy to be doing this stupid mission.”

Tobias snorts. “Of course I’m not happy about it. It’s exhausting and mind-numbing and I’m gonna be picking dirt out of my scales for a week. It sucks. But it’s gotta get done.”

Andyn rolls her eyes. “Yeah, but they could’ve at least gotten the total newbies to do it instead.”

There it is again. This apparent belief Andyn holds that low-level work is beneath her. Or at least not good enough for her oh-so-important parents. Tobias has only been partnered with the deerling for a day and he’s already tired of everyone dancing around this.

“We’re helping the guild,” Tobias growls. “It’s one day of work. Do you really need to whine about it so much?”

Andyn has the gall to look offended. “I am not whining! And you’re one to talk! I didn’t see you do anything but mope around and snap at everyone for years until Nia made you a pity partner!”

Tobias' lip curls. Right for the throat, huh? Sorry Nia, but if Andyn wants a fight, she’ll get a fight. “And yet I’m not the one throwing a temper tantrum.”

“I am not throwing a tantrum!" Andyn says, stomping a hoof. “We’re better than this! Even you two are better than this! We should be doing something actually worthy of a Seeker! This just looks like—like cleaning duties!”

“And that’s not good enough for a perfect Seeker like you, is it? Arceus, it shouldn’t matter who does what! It doesn’t make you better than someone else just because you’re a higher rank!”

“I know that!” Andyn protests.

“Do you?”

“Of course!” Andyn huffs. “But my parents—"

“Entei, shut up about your parents!” Tobias shouts, throwing up his hands. “Clearly they’re awful!”

Andyn takes a threatening step forward. “Take that back. I'm tired of everyone saying that! My parents just want what’s best for me! I just need to get better!”

“You ever think that your parents getting mad about you helping the guild makes them the problem here, not you?”

Andyn’s expression twists. “Oh, that’s easy for you to say! You have Maggie as a parent. She doesn’t care if you’re a screw-up.”

Tobias scoffs, though the words hurt more than he expects. If only because no one has echoed his own thoughts so clearly before.

Andyn glares Tobias down. If she’s regretful at all about her words, it doesn’t show.

Tobias crosses his arms. “You’re right. Maggie doesn’t care that I’m a screw-up, just that I’m trying. Because she’s actually a good parent.”

For a moment, Tobias is positive that Andyn is about to launch an attack at him. She’s practically quivering with fury. “My parents are good parents! They just want me to be the best Seeker I can be!”

“And that’s worth turning you into a nervous wreck, apparently.”

“I’m fine!” Andyn shrieks.

“Oh yeah, obviously.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re lucky. No one ever expects anything from you!”

Her words are loud enough to echo down the tunnel. For a brief moment, Tobias thinks of Giratina and the whole Pokemon world, depending on him and Nia to keep it safe. Then, Tobias thinks of Vivi, of her scared little face looking up at him, latching onto him too tight with her claws. Terrified but trusting that her big brother will keep her safe.

Rage surges in Tobias’ chest like magma, and he takes a step forward to meet Andyn in the middle of the tunnel.

“I had someone who expected everything from me!” Tobias snarls. His eyes feel hot. His chest feels hot. Everything is heat. “But I let her down. And I have been trying so hard to make up for that ever since.”

Normally Tobias would be embarrassed by the way his voice cracks. But Andyn’s anger finally falters. Her breath catches as she steps back, suddenly looking unsure. So Tobias continues.

“Messing up isn’t the end of the world. It’s normal. Everyone messes up—even your stupid parents! They aren’t perfect, and you shouldn’t have to be either! And if this is all it takes to set you off? Not getting the perfect mission that you were hoping for this morning? I honestly hope you never find out what it’s like to mess up when you really, really can’t afford to.”

Andyn stares. Silence falls. Tobias’ tail flame is larger than usual thanks to his emotions, fighting with the cool blue glow of the tunnel’s gemstones.

“C’mon,” he growls. “Let’s just go already. They’ll be wondering where we are.”

“Tobias,” Andyn says, voice hushed. “I…”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

Tobias turns and heads back to the mission boards. He doesn’t hear Andyn follow, but he doesn’t make himself stop to wait. He storms past the other guild members still milling about on the ground floor. Then he continues to the tunnel with the cave-in where he left everyone else.

“There you are!” Nia says when he rounds the last bend in the tunnel. Her happy expression fades as soon as she gets a good look at his face. “Is everything okay?”

“Fine,” Tobias says, sharper than he means to.

Ezra and Jaz look worried too, quickly picking up on his mood. Their gazes move past him, probably searching for Andyn.

After an awkward moment of silence, Nia’s ears perk. Tobias watches as Andyn trots into the tunnel after him. Stubbornly refusing to meet anyone’s eyes, the deerling stops briefly at their group to bite the straps of her cargo loose. The canteen and the bundle of hydration fruits drop to the dirt. Without a word, she climbs the pile of soil and gets back to work jabbing away at rock and dirt with her tiny hooves.

“Anne?” Ezra calls, hesitant.

Andyn doesn’t answer.

Ezra and Jaz trade an uneasy, loaded look, but with the experience of someone used to the situation, simply let it lie. They both take a few gulps of water and then get back to work at their own stations. Ezra glances at Andyn when he reaches the top of the dirt pile, but seems to decide against pushing her any further.

Nia looks between them all with wide eyes, ears pinned back. “Guys..? Shouldn’t we—”

“Not now, Nia,” Tobias grunts, picking up the first full bucket Jaz scoots behind her and turning to take it to the cart. He certainly doesn’t want to talk this out right now, and he’s sure Andyn doesn’t, either. Poking at them in their current state won’t end well for anyone. He can still feel embers glowing in his flame sac, ready for a fight.

Abana, at least, doesn’t say anything about the sudden tension aside from a lifting of her brows. The diggers keep to their own business, apparently.

In choking silence, they get back to work.

Dig.

Scoop.

Carry.

Dump.

Repeat.

Tobias lets his mind blank out as much as possible, which isn’t too difficult as the exhaustion of the day truly starts to set in. He deliberately ignores Andyn’s furious digging, and avoids Nia’s concerned looks, too.

Tobias isn’t sure if they’ve actually worked as long as they were supposed to when Conifer suddenly calls for them to quit for the day, or if the toedscruel is just tired of the tension in the air.

Regardless, Tobias is relieved to finally set his bucket down by the cart and observe the fruits of all their labor. They managed to fill up most of the cart with soil, but even that is a hardly noticeable dent in the mountain of dirt left from the cave-in.

Well. Not his problem, at least for the rest of the day.

Ezra and Jaz join him and Nia by the cart. Andyn keeps working until Conifer pointedly clears his throat. Then, the deerling sighs, rough and annoyed, before turning and bounding down the soil with more energy than she should reasonably have.

“Come on,” the grass type says as she passes by, looking ahead with her gaze unwavering. “We need to tell them our shift is over.”

“Andyn—” Nia starts.

The deerling doesn’t even break her stride. She continues down the tunnel without losing pace until she's around the bend and out of sight.

Nia wilts, looking hurt. Tobias feels his own irritation with the deerling tick up a notch further.

“Will she be okay?” Nia asks.

Ezra and Jaz look first at each other, then at Tobias.

“I didn’t do anything!” He hisses, tail flame flaring defensively.

“We weren’t accusing you, dude,” Ezra says. “But…”

“You said something to her,” Jaz finishes. Tobias would bristle at her words, if her tone wasn't so calm. Thoughtful. “Something that made her think.”

Tobias shrugs, hating the feeling of their eyes probing at him.

“Hm.” Jaz looks at him for a moment longer, then nods with a small smile. “Well, thank you both for working with us today. Hopefully in the future any team-ups we do will go a bit smoother.”

And with that, the little stufful toddles off down the tunnel after her leader.

“We can just tell the servine that you finished up your shift, if you want?” Ezra offers, looking a bit awkward. “So you don’t have to, uh…”

Don’t have to bump into Andyn again.

“That’d be great, Ezra,” Nia says, giving him a smile. “Thank you.”

The sneasel nods, looking relieved, and hurries after his teammates with a wave. “See you later!”

When it’s just the two of them and they’ve stepped a safe distance away from Abana and Conifer, Nia turns to Tobias, brow furrowed. “Tobias—"

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Tobias says, barely keeping his voice even. He’s still simmering, but Nia doesn’t deserve him snapping at her. “We argued. Something came up with my family. It’s done.”

Nia doesn’t look satisfied by that answer, and opens her mouth to speak before visibly stopping herself. Then, she tilts her head. “Um. Want to grab some food and go see Maggie?”

Tobias is immeasurably relieved that Nia isn’t pushing the issue. At least not right now. But for once, Tobias hesitates at the offer. Maggie would help him feel better, but she’s probably busy right now. It’s only midday, even if it feels like it should be later.

“Or we could go back to our room and rest for a bit?”

“Our room.”

Nia offers a small smile and holds out a paw. Tobias stares at it for a moment, wrestling between embarrassment and his desire to take it. Nia laughs softly and makes the decision for him, linking their soil-rough palms together before tugging him away. She calls out a goodbye and thanks to Abana and Conifer as she goes.

Tobias does feel better after grabbing something to eat and returning to the privacy of their room. He even gives himself a light flame bath to burn away some of the dirt on his scales. Nia watches the process with a look of pure fascination (like a weirdo).

Afterwards, she laments her own lack of a shower before wondering if it’d be strange to ask Felix to use his water moves on her. Tobias pictures the wartortle accidentally hydro pumping her through a wall, and surprises himself with the loud bark of laughter that mental image prompts.

Nia’s stunned expression only eggs him on, and he can’t seem to stop laughing at the idea. Maybe it’s just the relief of getting to relax in their room after the tension of the morning, or his own exhaustion, but he laughs and laughs and laughs.

Nia joins him after a brief, awed silence. Tobias tries to explain why he’s laughing so hard and only gets halfway through the sentence before cracking up all over again. Nia seems to get the gist, though, because her delighted giggles kick up to match his own.

Nia is lying beside him on the plush red of their rug when the cycle finally stops, both of them still trying to catch their breath as they wipe away tears. Tobias marvels at how his stomach aches. He hasn’t laughed so hard in…well, probably at least a few years. It’s good. It distracts him from the long morning, and from all the regrets and worries that have been weighing on his mind.

As stressful as the day has been, Tobias is glad now more than ever that he has Nia as a partner.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #hippowdon #toedscruel #pokemon #pmd seekers of soul #tesha draws

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