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azurevi · 1 year

Text

wild roses

pairing: leona x gn!reader, heavy jack & reader (reader = prefect)

summary: ace and deuce’s matchmaking plan for valentine’s day goes wrong, and both you and leona realize that something needs to be changed in your relationship. (fluff, secret relationship, bad matchmaking, possibly ooc leona 😔) 9k (chonky)

note: HAPPY VALENTINE’s DAY!!! ok. first of all, jack is there for like, a majority of the fic because i felt bad just using him as a plot device and decided to write more about his interaction with reader. but it’s still somehow centered around leona and reader. secondly, this is like really messy but i didn’t have time to flesh out everything i already had to cut down on what i originally planned 💀 hope y’all enjoy it anyways ^^

“I don’t know if this is a good idea, Ace.” Deuce rubbed his chin, looking between the redhead and the wrinkled paper titled ‘ The Foolproof Matchmaking Plan: 2023 ’. He wasn’t sure if he should be more concerned about the content or the implication that this could become an annual thing.

“No, no, you don’t understand,” Ace was pacing and gesticulating. “This will work for sure, because we already know for a fact that there’s something going on between the prefect and Jack. All they need is a little push!”

“Do we though? I mean, we could’ve misinterpreted everything. Not to mention how much trouble we’ll be in if the plan falls through.”

“Sure, both of them are going to whoop our asses if it fails, but if it works, we will appear in their wedding speeches. It’s a risk I’m willing to take. If you really need concrete evidence, turn to the back of the paper.”

Deuce did as told, and found another list scribbled on the page.

Undeniable signs that they are into each other (in case Deuce acts like an idiot and doubts my plan)

The prefect is always spending time at the Savanaclaw dorm. There must be a reason they choose it over Heartslabyul, where TWO of their best friends reside.

Last time we went over, we literally found a Savanaclaw uniform mixed in the prefect’s laundry. They're already dating in all but name!

Asked the prefect last time what their type was: tall, strong, has a secret soft side. Who else fits all the criteria if not Jack?

They're always talking among themselves when we’re hanging out as a group.

They always have this stupid lovesick look on their faces whenever they get a notification. I bet my lunch money they're texting each other.

“T?”

“Trein confiscated it before I could finish writing that line.” He scratched his head. “The point is, the signs are right in front of us! Or are you so blind that you can’t see it?”

“I'm not blind-”

Ace sighed. “I know that you don’t have a lot of experiences when it comes to romance, but still-”

“Wrong! I had a whole group of admirers back when I was… ugh. Nevermind, it's not something I'm proud of. I am capable of picking up signs of romantic interest, and my expertise tells me… that you are right. They are interested in each other!”

How gullible. Ace had to stifle his urge to laugh. “I am honored that you deem my opinion valid, oh great romance expert. So are you on board or not?”

Success was pretty much in the bag, but he asked nonetheless, watching as Deuce struggled with his conscience. Finally, with a stern look, he nodded. “I’m in, for the happiness of my friends. When do we carry this out?”

Ace straightened his spine, snatching the paper out of his hands and straightening it. With a sly smirk, he said, “Tomorrow, Valentine’s Day.”

———

The school had this ‘candy delivery’ thing going on for Valentine’s Day, and you happened to have garnered enough secret admirers that the organizers had to pack your sweets into a basket. As soon as you'd gotten it from your locker, you hugged it close to yourself and rushed into the room owned by the Gargoyle Research Society. Malleus was the only one who used it anyway, and he’d long ago given you the permission to enter as you pleased.

Anticipation coursed through your veins as you rummaged through the pile, looking for one specific note. You weren’t sure whether Leona had participated in something like this— chances were he would've considered it ‘an asinine way to help cowards confess their feelings’— but it didn’t stop you from hoping.

After putting aside a few chocolates and their atrocious pick up lines, you finally found the one you’d been looking for. It was a single candy wrapped in a yellow wrapper, and it looked like the kind of stuff teachers gave out to kindergarteners who answered questions in class.

A note was stapled around it. You unrolled it to find a familiar handwriting.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Although this event appears to be an asinine way to help pathetic cowards confess their feelings, I reckon that I should still give you something since you mentioned looking forward to it. I will meet you at Ramshackle tonight, 8pm sharp. — Leona

With a smile curling your lips, you ripped the wrapper and popped the candy into your mouth. The fruity sweetness coated your tongue as you pulled your phone out.

The line rang for a few seconds before it got through. “Hello?” He husked.

“Good morning, is this Mr. Kingscholar?”

“Cut it out.” It sounded like he was shuffling in bed. “I take it that you’ve received the candy thing?”

“Yup. And the invitation. Have you just woken up?”

“Thanks to you, yes.”

Rapid knocks appeared in the background, and he cussed under his breath.

“Is that Ruggie?” You chuckled.

“Yea. He’s about to break the door. I’ll see you tonight, ‘kay? Don’t forget about it.”

“As if I would. I’ll make sure the coast is clear when you arrive.”

“Yea,” he said with a hint of hesitation, as if he was taken aback by your words. “Okay. Bye.”

Having to sneak around and meet up was nothing new to you. From the very beginning, you’d agreed to keep your relationship under wraps.

While his brother was usually preoccupied with more crucial matters, Leona was still a royalty, and words spread like wildfire in this school. People were bound to talk if he were to be seen with a romantic partner, and they were probably going to tell their mothers, who would tell the other mothers, on and on until the media caught wind. Then the chamberlains would get involved, eventually alerting his brother.

Knowing Farena, he'd probably make a fuss of you, demanding a dinner and a private audience. On top of that, all kinds of reporters would be knocking on the door, trying to get a candid photo of you two. If that happened, his chances of getting a good sleep would drop to zero. Or worse, they would bring unnecessary burdens to you.

As for you, your reasons were simple: your friends would never leave you alone if they knew of your love life. Ever since they'd noticed the different air around you, they'd been not-so-subtly trying to figure out whether you were seeing someone. They were definitely going to tease the living hell out of you once they figured it out, so you’d rather dodge all the troubles.

Plus, it was pretty nice to have this quiet little thing going on between you, just that it's hard to pretend like you didn’t want to throw yourself at him in the corridor sometimes.

Really, it’s nice.

Despite your intention to maintain discretion, so far two people had already blown your cover. The first was Ruggie, no surprises there. The second was Jack, who walked in on your napping session at the botanical garden. (That one’s on you, you’d totally forgotten to be discreet.)

Both of them were trustworthy friends, so it didn’t bother you. But if someone like Ace or Deuce was to find out…

A chill crawled down your spine.

As if on cue, you heard their voices outside and hurriedly stuffed the note into your pocket.

“Where did they go?” Deuce asked.

“I don’t know, man. Maybe they went back already?”

“Let’s just call them.”

You scrambled to mute your phone, but Deuce was faster. The ringtone penetrated the silence in the hallway, and not a second later, the door was opened.

“Hey, guys.” You smiled innocently.

“What are you doing here?” Ace poked his head in, a knowing look dawning on his face. “Ahhhh, I see. Are you perhaps looking for candies from a special someone?”

“Nope.” You stood up and hung the basket around your elbow. “I was just checking to see if one of you guys would give me something. The result is heartbreaking, by the way.”

They shared a suspicious look.

“Allow us to piece your heart back together then. We have a mission from Sam.” Deuce fished out a piece of folded paper from his jacket. “Gotta pick up something from town.”

“Great. Let’s go.” You wiped the invisible dust from your pants. It was always a treat to be able to leave the campus, and the trip might give you an opportunity to buy some flowers for tonight's date.

“Nuh-uh, not so fast.” Ace threw his arm around your shoulder. “We are going to make a stop at Savanaclaw.”

———

Ruggie was the first to greet you as you stepped out of the mirror, a large sack swung over his shoulder. He looked like Santa Claus. “Morning! Are you looking for Leona?”

“Nah, we’re here for Jack.” Ace said.

“Then he should be in his room.” Ruggie pointed vaguely behind himself, and your friends headed over, leaving you two alone.

“You’re quite the popular hyena, aren’t you?” You jutted your jaw at the bag.

“This? Nah. I just collected them from people who don’t like sweets.” He eyed your basket. “Any chance you’re one of them?”

“I mean, I’ve already got the one I want, so…” you handed him the whole thing, and his grin grew wider. Grim would've whined about it if he'd been here, but he was too busy getting his fill at Kalim’s.

“Touche. Between you and me, Leona actually spent days ruminating on what to do for Valentine’s Day. You didn’t hear it from me though.”

Thank the heavens no one was around to catch your lovestruck expression.

Speaking of the devils, Ace and Deuce promptly returned with Jack. Trailing behind by a few steps was a grumpy Leona. His eyes spotted you first, softened around the edges, before returning to drill holes in the back of Ace’s head.

Jack greeted you as soon as you were all standing together. “We’re running errands for Sam right? Let’s get to it.”

“Yes-”

“Not so fast.” Leona spoke over Deuce. “I’m coming. Jack can stay.”

“Woah, Sam’s permit only says our names, so technically you can't be off schoolground.” Ace waves the paper in the air, passing him a pointed look.

“I don’t care. There's no way I'll let you trouble magnets go out on your own.”

“Relax, we’re not that unruly. Plus Jack's here, he’s our voice of reason.”

Jack nodded firmly. “That’s right, I’ll make sure they don’t fall out of line.”

The irritation on Leona’s face was indisputable. Something was definitely going on in his head.

“Be real here, why would you even want to come with us? You don’t care if we got into trouble.” Ace scrunched his face into a frown.

Leona stared down at your red-haired friend before his gaze moved to you, unreadable yet solemn. Perhaps he was anxious that you couldn’t make it back in time for the date.

“Don’t worry, we will be back before it gets dark.” Your addition seemed to be making things worse for him. He clicked his tongue and swiveled around, tearing himself away from this mess.

After some contemplation, he bit out, “Fine, go have your fun.”

With that finally settled, Ace and Deuce ecstatically looped their arms around Jack’s and your elbows, as if preventing you from running away, and hopped into the mirror. The last thing you saw was Leona mumbling something to Ruggie and the drop of the hyena’s jaw.

———

The townspeople took Valentine’s Day a lot more seriously than you’d expected. Bakeries had all kinds of pastries displayed readily to the lengthening queue, and customers swarmed into flower shops in hope of grabbing the last bouquets available. Even booksellers decided to join in on the fun, slapping discounts on all romance novels and comics alike. Just around the corner, a few buskers were playing some sappy love songs on their guitars in front of a thin audience.

“It’s like a whole festival here.” You commented as you weaved through the crowd with Jack. He was tall enough that you didn’t have to worry about losing him in the waves. Meanwhile, Ace and Deuce were keeping up from behind, engrossed in their own conversation.

“I agree. I didn’t expect Valentine’s Day to be such a big deal.” He said.

“You’re not the kind of people who think it unnecessary, are you?”

“Not really. You can express your love any other day, so it’s kind of pointless from that point of view, but I guess it’s a good opportunity for people to confess their feelings.”

“I also like to think of it as a reminder for people to show their love more bravely.” You caught sight of a heart-shaped chocolate the size of a cauldron through a shop window. “...Though it can also become an unfortunate tool for capitalism.”

“I assume that you will be celebrating?”

You sensed what he was hinting at. “Yup, after some convincing. By the way, is it just me or are Ace and Deuce acting a bit weird today?”

“I thought I was the only one.” He looked back briefly, though he couldn't spot anyone with their distinctive hair colors. They were probably just distracted somewhere. “They barged into my room and told me to dress up. Who dresses up to run errands?”

Evidently he went along, seeing as how he was wearing a white dress shirt instead of his usual comfy t-shirts.

“You don’t think they’re pranking us, are they?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them.”

Just then, your phone vibrated in your pocket. You tugged at Jack's sleeve to pull him to the side of the road. It was a rare text from Leona.

Leona: where are you?

You: just got into town

You: good thing you didn't come along, you would've gagged at the amount of lovey-dovey stuff here

Leona: so you don't know

You: ?

He spent a few seconds typing and re-typing. In your wait, you looked up and found your two friends still missing.

Leona: they're trying to set you up with jack.

What.

What the heck.

Your thoughts sped up. The picture started coming together in your head. No, it made sense. Them insisting that Jack came instead of Leona, literally telling him to dress up? 'Allow us to piece your heart back together'? All of their actions verified Leona's words.

You: damn, ur right

You: wait, how did you figure it out?

Leona: they told me in my face when they ran into me just now. said that they were going to be matchmakers and put an end to your 'endless pining'

You: -_-

So that's why he was acting all frustrated back there. You stole a glance at Jack, who was trying to call your friends, albeit to no avail. He was definitely not going to like what he was about to hear.

You: at least we now know of their absurd plan. i'll tell jack

Leona: k

You: are you upset?

Leona: no. even if i were, i would only be upset with your nosy friends

Leona: just make sure to come back on time. you were the one who wanted to celebrate vday after all

You: roger that :)

"Was that one of them?" Jack asked as you pocketed your phone.

"Nope. You can stop calling, by the way. They're not going to answer."

He frowned as you pulled the shopping list out of his hand. "Why?"

"Because they left us alone on purpose. They're trying to play cupid." You waved the unfolded paper in front of his face. He read the content carefully before sputtering. In his head, he tried to put two and two together. The moment it all clicked, his shoulders tensed. "No way."

It was an actual shopping list from Sam, stamped by him and all, but the items were absolutely ludicrous, not to mention obvious. Roses, jewelry, plushies… and the definite proof that he was in on it, or was at least held at gunpoint as he drafted the list: the line ‘Treat yourself, little imps! Everything’s on me’ at the bottom of the page. Despite its absurdity, it was also a binding term. If you failed to get everything as instructed, he had the right to report you for leaving the campus and skipping some classes without a justified cause.

Not that he would, right?

As much as you hated to admit, there didn't seem to be a way you could get out of this mess.

"What do we do?" He shook his head. "I don't even know how they got the idea of bringing us together. And you were supposed to spend the day with Leona, not me. This is so messed up-"

"Hey, it's okay. Leona already knows. He was the one who told me."

He blinked at you blankly. "Is he going to come after me?"

You let out a laugh. "Not on my watch. Look, how about we just go along with it and get everything on the list? Then we will head back on time and I can have my date with Leona. After that we can dangle Ace and Deuce upside down outside Ramshackle."

Jack turned to the crowd, donning his deep-in-thought look. You could almost see the cogwheels moving in his brain, trying to find a way to avoid this. There was none. He shook his head at last, "Alright, let's get the stuff as soon as possible."

———

After deciding that you would buy the roses first, the two of you ventured through the streets to find a less packed flower shop. As you strayed farther from the center of the town, the number of pedestrians dwindled, and soon you could walk side by side without being bumped into and feeling your shoulder dislocate.

The silence between you was not awkward, but it was stretched, begging to be filled. Jack had always had the habit of using his words sparingly, believing that actions spoke louder, but this was different. You could tell that he was on edge, eyes darting around as if trying to catch every passing shadow, hands stuffed in his pockets, tail swishing stiffly.

He was uncomfortable. And he was acting like he wasn't, because that's what he'd been saying for the past thirty minutes. Eventually you gave up, opting to protect that tense little bubble surrounding you.

As much as you'd like to argue that this wasn't how you usually interacted, you realized that you couldn't. Truth was, you seldom hung out outside of a group setting, and even when you were alone, it was usually for matters like how he could help cover you up as you left the group to find your favorite lion, and homework.

To be frank, you didn't know that much about Jack.

A humble little shop was chosen at last, but even it had quite the amount of customers loitering around, most of them attempting to conceal their last-minute anxiousness. You assumed that they must've forgotten to buy something beforehand.

"How may I help you, lovebirds?" A tall woman with baby-blue glasses greeted you enthusiastically. Jack tensed up like someone had just stepped on his tail.

"Would you happen to have red roses?" You asked instead.

"Oh, of course. How many would you like? A lot of couples go for a hundred, but the really earnest ones go for as much as two. You two look quite sweet together, perhaps you would–"

"We're not," Jack rushed to say. "We're not a couple."

"Oh," the shopkeeper squinted at you. "Ohhh… it's like that, huh? In that case, you should take a look at this guide," she pulled out a laminated sheet and slid it across the wooden counter.

It was a comprehensive guide to the number of roses and all of their meanings, from one to twenty, then skipping to hundreds and thousands.

"Who would buy three thousand roses?" You whispered to Jack.

"I don't know," he said. "How many should we get?"

Most of the numbers carried love declarations, but there was one that fit. "How about thirteen?" 'Friends forever'.

"Looks good."

"Alright, we'll get thirteen," you gave the sheet back to the lady. She checked your choice briefly, looked up, lifted her glasses with her index finger, then nodded meaningfully.

"Alright, thirteen red roses coming right up. You can fill this up while you're waiting." She handed you another white card and a black marker to be put together with the bouquet. The vaguely printed words instructed you to write some 'sweet words for your beloved'.

When you turned to Jack for help, he looked like he was going to run out of the shop at any given moment.

"Hey, is everything alright?" You questioned. "And don't lie to me, I can tell."

He ruffled his snowy hair, averting his eyes. "I apologize. It's just… I'm not very comfortable with all this coupley stuff."

You nodded slowly, contemplating his words.

"It's not you, don't worry, it's just…" he shut his eyes, trying to escape the embarrassment. "You're Leona's partner, and I'm just a friend. It feels wrong to do all this with you."

Oh. Oh.

Shit. You almost felt bad for not figuring that out by yourself. Jack, even after everything, still looked up to Leona as an accomplished role model. Not to mention he was his dorm leader and a literal force to be reckoned with. He probably thought that he was crossing some lines.

Maybe he was. Perhaps there were unspoken rules among beastmen. And lions were known to be protective of their own pride…

When you thought about it this way, it wasn’t hard to see why he felt like a fish out of water at all.

You tapped the marker against the counter. You never imagined that dating Leona would inadvertently cause Jack to be extra careful around you, but now that you knew, you were determined to thaw the ice. “How about we treat this as a normal, friendly hangout?”

He arched his brow, clearly finding the idea of pretending you weren't surrounded by romance-centric decorations all around you unrealistic.

"Valentine's Day is just an excuse to promote love anyways, and love is not limited to romance, you know?" You took off the cap on the marker and started scribbling. "I can write some sweet words for you as a friend too. For one, I admire your unerring determination and your strong morals. There you go."

There was still uncertainty shimmering in his eyes as he took in your written words, but eventually he nodded. "Fine, I'll give it a try. I admire your bravery and courage."

"Aw, thank you, my dear friend." You elbowed him playfully, and he stifled a grin.

"Here's your order, darlings!" The shopkeeper came back with the roses hugged by a pink wrapping paper. It looked like she was trying very hard not to peek at what you'd written down on the card. You paid for the flowers and passed your thanks before heading out to the next mission.

“The best pastries in town… should we go to the pâtisserie Vil mentioned before?” Jack suggested. You agreed in a blink; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to crown it the best among its competitors in the world.

Though on second thought, it didn't seem like a feasible idea after all. A dense group of exasperated customers had blocked the front of the shop, so much so that you could only see the boss' hands waving in the air like a drowning man's. Everyone's voices overlapped, but you could make out some common protests: not enough, waited for a long time, unfair, et cetera.

"-ys. GUYS!" The boss' squeaky voice somehow managed to calm the ocean of complaints. The whole street dropped to silence at his command. "We are really sorry, but this is the only one we have left!"

"Then you should've baked more!' A gruff voice yelled.

"Maybe you should've ordered earlier!" The boss countered. "Anyways, I know y'all aren't going to leave me alone anyways, so to be fair," he made an air quote. "I'll let y'all fight for it. Whoever is the best at arm wrestling gets the last piece."

You turned to Jack. He bobbed his head knowingly.

Immediately, people got into groups and looked for any kind of flat surfaces– the outdoor seats of a nearby restaurant, the top of the pâtisserie's empty display case. Two men were laying on their stomachs on the gritty pavement. The crowd dispersed like ants under a rock, desperate to get that final piece of cake.

Jack grimaced. "I fear Valentine's Day is driving people insane."

"Hopefully not us." Bowing forward, you tried to take a look at the pâtisserie's sole survivor. An opening between two struggling contestants revealed that it was a piece of fruit cake.

"Pear compote." Jack blurted out.

"What?"

"That's pear compote dripped on top."

There was a distant… longing in his eyes. "Is that what you like?"

"It's my favorite. It's just the right amount of sweet, it's versatile, and my mum used to make it all the time. Everyone in my family likes it, in fact. I wish I'd brought a few more jars with me."

"Well, I'm sure we can get you the cake. I don't think there's anyone who can beat you in arm wrestling."

"No. There's one."

You crooked your brow.

He tipped his head back, staring at the sky as he relieved the memory. "Back then, Leona beat me effortlessly even after I used my unique magic."

"Whaaat." You dragged out the word. "For real?"

"I couldn't believe it at first too. It was humbling, to say the least."

"I bet I can beat him though." You mused.

He exhaled sharply. "This is a battle of physical strength, not running head first into troubles."

"Unprovoked. But it's also a battle of wits. There's quite a few of his weaknesses I can use." The random theory took a contemplative turn as you started counting the cards up your sleeves: Leona might look like he had a rock for a heart, but you pulled a rare reaction from him the first time you called him your king. Caressing the back of his ears always elicited honest shivers. Would a smothering look or a wink catch him off guard? Hopefully he wouldn't mind you experimenting on him.

"You're probably one of the very few people who can say that." Jack shifted his weight to his other foot, briefly scanning the progress of the contestants before adopting a low voice. "I hope you don't mind me asking, it's been on my mind for some time now. How did you actually end up together? I'm aware that you got close after the Magift tournament, but the rest was a mystery… Nah, forget it. I shouldn't violate your privacy."

"I don't mind sharing," you reassured him. "Obviously it wasn't easy. He barely cared about me at first, even after the tournament, but I was determined to get to know him. There's no shell I can't crack, after all. He's strong and fierce and self-assured, but I also sensed that there was a brightness inside him that got snuffed out over time. I'm sure you're aware too.

Anyways, the more we opened up to each other, the more I realized that he's not who he seemed to be on the surface. He's caring in his own way, and he's unfaltering when he has his mind set on a goal. His words may appear sharp, but he's not unsympathetic. Despite his arrogance, he's not so full of himself that he can't admit his faults. Where no one noticed, he was the one who found out that I was feeling out of place here… I got to know so many new sides to him. To be honest, I wasn't planning to fall in love, but this kind of thing just happens, like soft knocks on the door."

A tall woman marched past you, cursing loudly after losing her game. You stepped aside, realizing now that Jack had gone quiet. "Sorry for rambling, I got caught up in myself."

"Don't apologize. I think that it's sweet," there was a hint of a smile on his face. "You looked like my sister whenever she sees a pink morning sky just now. It's great to have someone you can rely on wholeheartedly. I'm sure he feels the same about you."

You were certain of that too. "Aw, stop. You're making me embarrassed." You punched his arm without a concern for your force; he probably didn't even feel it.

The various battles seemed to have narrowed down to a few. The boss was standing in front of two straining men, faces red with blood, veins bulging on their necks. A battle cry forced its way out of one of them, only for him to be overwhelmed immediately. His body was loose as his boyfriend dragged him off the ground.

"Jeez. Alright, is there anyone else?" The boss asked. The victorious guy smashed his fists together, shooting silent warnings at anyone who was bold enough to even consider challenging him. No one moved.

"Me." Jack stepped forward, and you did a small, encouraging whoop from behind. The man glared into his eyes. He wasn't a lot shorter than Jack, and their physiques were similar, but you had faith in your friend.

"Start whenever you want, I'm getting sick of this." The boss mumbled.

Jack bowed his head respectfully before positioning his elbow on top of the counter, flexing his fingers. His rival mirrored him, assuming a strong grip on his hand.

It started without a countdown, like they managed to communicate with facial expressions alone. All around you were held breaths as they struggled against each other–

–for one second. Jack immediately slammed the man's arm down like he was flipping a book.

"What the hell?" He cried out, holding his wrist in disbelief before making a run for it, as though in shame.

"Congrats, you've won the cake!" The boss feigned enthusiasm. When the bystanders booed, he resumed his annoyed scowl, "Go home! It was a fair game!"

"That didn't go as expected," Jack told you as you watched the cake enter the safe protection of the corrugated box. "But I'm glad we won."

"All thanks to you. I didn't even get to chant my slogan. We will, we will, rock you-"

"Please stop."

"Okay."

Laughter bubbled out of you a second later. Even he failed to hold in the titters that slipped past his lips as he shook his head. The ice was melting away already.

Jack volunteered to hold both the bouquet and the cake, so you took on the role of navigation. "Next up, we need to buy jewelry. I know a place."

It was a chain store of a brand Vil had not only done promotion for, but also personally approved of, so the quality was sure to be high. But so was the price.

The two of you stood silently in front of the suited employee who went by Eris, staring unblinkingly at the silvery chains in the vitrine. The price tags glared back at you, who looked like you'd wandered in by accident.

"I was going to propose getting an expensive one since it's not our money anyways, but even the cheapest earring is worth ten times my life." You whispered.

"I wouldn't compare you with an earring, but I agree with the prices."

"May I help you?" Eris asked for the third time since you'd entered the shop. 'We'll have a look around' probably wasn't going to work anymore. "Any particular kinds of accessories you're looking for?"

The thing was, neither of you wore that much jewelry anyways. It would only get in the way of his training, and you could barely spare money for your friends' birthdays, let alone luxury like this. But throwing it into your drawer with other miscellaneous trinkets was just sinister.

"How about rings? We have promise rings for couples–"

"No, thanks."

"How about necklaces?" You suggested, which earned a satisfied look from Eris as she left to find you some styles.

"Why necklaces?" Jack asked.

"Well, neither of us is going to wear it, so I thought, why not give it to your cacti? You can put it around the pot. It'll be like dressing them up."

“A designer necklace for my cacti?” His brows knitted into a disapproving frown. “I mean, they deserve nothing less, but still-”

“Then it’s settled.” You replied. Eris arrived just then and ended any argument that might be forming in his head.

Most of the necklaces came in pairs, and each pair held no significant differences between one another. Sure, the charms varied in shapes and colors, but they were all just… argent.

Your attention landed on the pair on the fair right. Each half had a hand-shaped ornament that fit into each other when put together. The rest were pretty much the same: two halves of a heart, two halves of a cat, the same design but flipped over.

Your mind wandered. Adjacent to you was another couple admiring the opal bracelets hugging their wrists. Streaks of azure swirled within each crystal, as if there was a vast sea contained in every single one.

You really weren’t a jewelry person, yet once in a while, this kind of thing still had you indulging in daydreams. And only daydreams. It would be stupid to wear matching accessories anyways. It defeated the purpose of the whole secret relationship thing.

"In that case, I'll have this one." Jack referred to the pendant with a leaf-shaped charm. "Just one, thank you."

Eris looked bewildered, but she shrugged it off, picking up the chain and shelving the others away. It still hurt when you had to fish out all the money you had and then borrow some from Jack, but the knowledge that you could claim it all back gave a little relief to your throbbing wallet.

Jack pocketed the velvety box. "I hope it looks good with my cacti."

"Of course it will, I have immaculate taste." You wiped the tip of your nose with your thumb.

Time flew past without a sound. You'd left school mid-afternoon, and now the blue sky had already been painted over with an amalgamation of warm hues. Your phone showed that it was already six. "We're kind of against the clock. Let's grab the last item and head back."

Your last stop was the local gift store, where a bunch of plushies and toys were displayed. As expected, the dolls were all related to love in all kinds of ways. There was a pink bear holding a love letter, two frogs with their hands sewn together, an elephant hugging a pillow in the shape of a heart. The only ones exempt from the influence of Valentine's Day were at the back of the shop. They were graduation plush toys and one that specifically said 'Happy Mother's Day'.

"Once again, this isn't my thing. I feel like you would be more interested…" he trailed off, spinning around to look for you. "Prefect?"

"Jack! Look at this! It's adorable!" You waved him over. In your hands were two avocado dolls, one with the seed in the middle and the other without. "Oh my goodness. And this!"

You picked up two monkeys that had their arms wrapped around each other. The fluffy fur seemed to melt away under your touch, and their hands could reach all the way around your waist.

Truth was you'd already made something for Leona, but these monkeys? It was love at first sight. He was always complaining about your inability to stay over in his room anyways, so this could work as the perfect substitute. Even though he wasn't the type to hug plushies as he slept (it would probably end up on the floor), it would still remind you of each other. No one would even notice. It's not like people could just wander into his room. And yours–

Your dorm was basically a public area by now. There were times when Sebek and Epel invited themselves over and scared the living hell out of you because you'd left your phone inside with Leona's contact on the screen. Every time you had an impromptu sleepover, they made a competition out of stealing your plushies, except Sebek who had his own Malleus cushion. Deuce might not take note of the new plush member, but Ace was observant to a fault. You could already hear his voice yelling 'why do you have this monkey plush and where is the other one' in your ears.

"Then let's buy it." Jack said.

You shook your head ruefully. "Ehh, maybe not. Now that I think about it, I don't really have that much space left on my bed."

"I thought you'd started invading Grim's?"

"Yea, but still." Returning the monkeys to the shelf, you turned around and started searching around again.

If Ace was observant, then Jack was eagle-eyed, always detecting details in the most unlikely places. It wasn't difficult for him to notice where your attention had drifted off to back at the jewelry shop either.

He cleared his throat. "So, about you and Leona. Have you decided how long the secrecy will go on for?"

You petted each plush you walked past, ruffling their heads. "Not yet. We'll see."

"Right," he turned the words over in his head, looking for a more natural approach. "But you’re both fine with the arrangement, obviously.”

“Of course.” You had to be. After all, you had your own reasons for keeping up the confidentiality, and you’d hate to be involved in any royal scandal Leona had mentioned. Even if the rules weighed on you at times, it was still better than attracting attention, right? “I think so.”

All this time you’d been walking on tip-toes believing that it could do more good than harm, but a short trip down memory lane proved otherwise: That one time you'd had to hide Leona in the closet, his legs had gotten so sore that you'd spent the whole light massaging the stiffness away. Your forehead was swollen for days after running into a tree while staying out of Rook’s watchful eyes. All those times you’d had to swallow the words you wanted to say to each other in public, a much needed embrace reduced to a pat on the shoulder.

It was supposed to get Ace and his naive accomplice off your back, but look where you were now: entangled in a web of misunderstandings, not only did it not work as intended, but you also got Jack into this predicament.

“...Back home, my brother always picks fights with my sister,” Jack started. “He’s at the age where he feels the need to act like an ass in any given situation. He’s stubborn about it too. Never apologizes to her afterwards. They could spend days ignoring each other.

Any time it happens when I’m around, I try to figure out how they feel. My sister thinks that he probably hates her, that’s why they never see eye to eye. Meanwhile he does feel sorry, but he doesn't know how to get over his ego."

"Typical siblings."

"That's right. And then I sit them down and make them talk to each other."

"And it works?"

"Like a charm. Effective communication can pretty much solve half of the conflicts in the world, but it's hard to take the first step, especially when you don't know what the other person is thinking."

You let his words sink in, turning them over in your head. If you were to lay your heart completely bare, it would certainly be singing a different tune. Perhaps a chat would really make things better instead of pretending that nothing was out of place.

"You have a point there." It wasn't hard to grasp what he was trying to say, but if he wanted to be roundabout about it, then you weren't going to bring it to light.

The two of you came to a stop in front of a felt box holding five keychains, a sweet rendition of a puppy family. He picked it up carefully. "Would you mind if I got this? My sister has always liked collecting keyrings like these."

"Sure. You're never beating the best big brother allegation, are you?"

A proud smile dawned on his face. "Hopefully not."

By the time you’d ticked off the very last item on the shopping list, night had already fallen.

“I just realized something awful.” Jack said from behind. He was still holding the roses and cake, while you had the rest. “You didn’t get anything at all. I mean, the cake and the necklace, and even the recipient of this bouquet-”

“Hey, don’t worry. I was the one who ‘invited’ you to hang out, wasn’t I? It’s only fair that I treat you to something nice. Even though it’s Sam’s money. It’s the sentiment that counts.”

His face faltered for a second, then he assumed an earnest expression. “In that case, I promise to make it up to you, not just for the gifts, but also for the amazing company.”

"You're not so bad yourself, Jack."

The mirror portal was situated on a nearby hill, giving you the perfect view of the town under your feet. Streams of people weaved through the streets, the uniform structures and red roofs now adorned by pink banners and decorations.

A strange sense of satisfaction filled your chest knowing that you’d completely defied what Ace and Deuce had planned for you guys. Although this wasn’t planned, you still had an amazing time roaming around town.

“Let’s head back now.” Jack said. You sent him a nod before stepping through the mirror together.

———

It was 7:45, and you were pacing around your room.

After returning to the campus and claiming the sweet thaumarks from Sam, Jack bid you goodbye and returned to his room trying to juggle all the rewards in his arms, earning envious glares from passing students.

That was half an hour ago. In that time you’d managed to rush back to Ramshackle, got dressed in the most formal outfit you could find in your humble wardrobe, and walked ten laps around the house trying to practice what to say to Leona when he got here.

Hey, remember when we agreed to keep all of this under wraps? I kind of don’t want to do that anymore. Yea, the press could be after us. Yea, my friends are going to be a pain in the ass. No, I still want to go public with this.

What if he felt that it was not worth the trouble? You trusted that he would respect your choices, but still-

Rapid knocks on the door pulled you back to reality. You all but stormed down the stairs and rushed to the foyer, swinging open the door.

There he was, clad in a simple black button down shirt and pants, his hair gathered in a high ponytail. In his left hand was a bouquet of roses, and in his right, for some reason, was his broom.

How did he even manage to look perfect in everything he wore?

“Happy Valentine’s Day, kipenzi,” he stepped in and met you half-way with a kiss, trying to lean in for another when you pulled away. You almost forgot that you’d been anxious just a while ago.

“Happy Valentine’s to you too, mpenzi,” The nickname never failed to make his tail swish in contentment. You beamed as he handed you the roses. The card indicated that there were 33 in total, and if your memory served you right, it symbolized ‘I love you’ with affection.

“How was your day with Jack?”

“It was great.” You answered briefly, pulling him into the lounge by his hand.

“Just great?”

“If you must know, we walked around town and bought tons of stuff. We decided to treat it as a friendly hangout.”

“I see.” He said tersely, willing his jaw to unclench before you could see it.

“You/re not getting green-eyed, are you?”

“They’ve been green my whole life, sweetheart,” he smirked as you rolled your eyes.

“Touche.” You headed to the sofa and picked up a huge paper bag. “Ta-da! Here’s something I made you.”

Placing his broom against the wall, he reached inside, expression shifting when he felt the soft fabric. Slowly, he pulled out the content and let it fall to the floor soundlessly.

It was a crocheted blanket big enough to roll both of you into a burrito, the pattern mimicking a chess board. The only detail you’d tweaked were the king pieces, which had been turned into two snoozing lions.

He spent a good minute observing the blanket, as if trying to take in every single detail. Finally, he asked, “So this is why you couldn’t stay over at my room for the past two months?”

“Yea. It could’ve taken me a month, but I had no prior knowledge about crocheting, so I had to start from the ground up.”

“You could’ve just commissioned someone, you know. Would’ve saved a lot of trouble.” He said mindlessly, running his hand down the smooth yarn.

“Maybe I should take it back then-”

“Hands off, it’s mine.” His face scrunched up, arms holding the blanket close to himself. During winter, his family had sent him more than enough blankets and duvets, all made with the most exquisite of fabrics, but this might just outshine all of them. “And it’s unique this way. So… thank you.”

If you were going to start the conversation, you reckoned that this was the perfect timing. "There's something I've been-"

"Wait a sec. I have more surprises." He wrapped the blanket around your shoulders so that only your head was uncovered and grabbed his broom. "Close your eyes."

You did as told, pulling the blanket up to shield your face. Some distance away, you heard the light switch flip. "I didn't know you had this many things planned."

It sounded like he was talking from a great height. "You didn't think I was just going to give you roses, did you?" Something cut through the air. "Though it did take me some time to figure out what to do, so you better appreciate it with all your heart."

"Roger that." You paced around in an aimless circle, listening to the faint winds trailing behind him as he flew around the lounge. For a moment you wondered if he was cleaning the place, but it was highly unlikely that he would volunteer doing so.

"Okay," the next time he spoke, he was right in front of you. "You can look now."

The lights were out, which normally meant the room should be cloaked in darkness, but it was different today. On the roof were densely scattered glow-in-the-dark stickers piercing the dimness, mimicking stars. A few of them extended to the walls, as if the sky was melting. Some were larger in shape, others mere dots, but together, it looked like the whole galaxy had been moved inside.

Your mouth fell open as you took in the constellations spread out in front of you. There was seemingly no word that could encapsulate the feeling welling in your chest.

"I promised that I would show you the night sky of Sunset Savannah before, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself, so this will have to do." He leaned in to observe your face. "Hey. You're not crying, are you?"

"No." You croaked. Half amused and half concerned, he reached for your arm and pulled you into a tight embrace.

Being held by Leona never failed to make you feel like the most treasured person in the world. His fingers threaded in and out of your locks, pressing kisses to the crown of your head as you hid your face in his shoulder. You leaned into him, so close that your hearts might as well melt into one.

Leona Kingscholar had always shone in every room he was in, but nothing came close to the version of him only you got to see. His love came in both showers and drizzles, both intense and tender. It blew you away and made the lining of your stomach feel warm. He was the island you'd go to when you felt like drowning, the person you could call home in this scarily foreign land. Sometimes it felt like every bad thing would go away so long as he was holding your hand.

He's undoubtedly the best thing that had ever happened to you, you thought, and you wanted to love him wildly for that. No hushed secrets, no retreating in the dark. You wanted to braid his hair and let the world see. You wanted to let him rest his head on your lap while you worked. You wanted to pass him tooth-rotting notes in class, and you wanted and wanted and wanted. You wanted to liberate all of these hopes and desires.

There was no way you could hide what you felt for him when it was brighter than all the stars in the universe combined.

"I need to talk to you about something." His voice was muffled in your hair.

"So do I, actually." You tore yourself away, wiping the warm trails on your cheeks.

You followed him and sank onto the floor, shifting closer so you could get under the blanket together. He fixed his gaze on the chair behind you for a second, looking like he was trying to declutter his mind, before returning his attention to you. "What happened with Jack today has got me thinking about things between us."

Your breath hitched. It was like he was reading your mind.

"Most of the blame goes to your dumb friends, obviously. But I believe that some misunderstandings stemmed from us trying to keep everything a secret. And I know I said that it was troublesome to just go public and stuff, which I still agree with, but the truth is…" he ran his hand through his hair and it sprang back into place. "You're worth it. All of it. The press, the nosy halfwits in this school, my family, they are nothing compared to how much I absolutely adore you. Screw the troubles. I want to let everyone know that you're mine, and that I'm yours." A beat later, he added, "Plus, if something like this happens again, I'm not sure I can keep my cool."

He drew a deep breath. "The only question left is, what do you think?"

"I think-" you chuckled, feeling the previous nervousness dissipate. It's funny how effortless it was for you to be on the same page. "I think the absolute same! I've been pondering about how all this secrecy has been keeping us from each other, and I just despise that. Nothing is critical enough that it should be able to make me compromise my feelings..."

His grin grew wider and wider as you rambled on and on, until he had to cut you off with a kiss right there, laced with relief and unbridled joy. You couldn't help but smile into his touch, relishing in the new found solace. It was like your heart had found air again.

Under the starry sky, Leona rested his head against you, hand finding yours and giving it a small squeeze. "I love you."

"I love you more."

"Oh yea, you want to make this a competition?" He quirked his brow, and before you knew it, you were going back and forth without a regard for the passing hours.

You might not have been able to spend the entire Valentines' Day with him, but you knew that there was still tomorrow and the days after that, enough for you to tell him all the ways you loved him as much as you wanted. It would always be like this– bathing in each other's presence, letting the love drape over you two like a blanket.

Only this time, you wouldn't have to hold back anymore.

———

"Hey," Trey walked up to Cater, who was walking to and fro in the middle of the corridor. "What's this emergency you were talking about?"

"Trey! Thank the Queen of Hearts you're here." He pulled the taller man towards one of the dorm rooms, where the door was slightly ajar. A stern voice could be heard from within, though it was too faint for him to string together a coherent sentence.

"Jack asked me to let him in because he had something urgent to say to Ace and Deuce, and it looked like a storm was verging on his face so I complied," Cater moved aside, signaling Trey to take a peek. "He's been in there for a good while, and it doesn't sound like fun."

Trey let out an exasperated sigh. He'd spent the past few days baking cookies and chocolates, and he could frankly use a break. Still, as the vice dorm leader, he couldn't just turn a blind eye when the underclassmen got into trouble. Bending down, he squeezed one eye shut to get a clear view of what was going on inside.

Jack was standing in the middle of the room, arms in front of his chest, tail moving stiffly. The usual seriousness of his expression was mixed with an edge of irritation.

On the edge of the bed sat Ace and Deuce, who were as still as twin popsicles, hands clenched on their laps and head low. Deuce looked especially guilty, like he'd just done something terrible like eating Riddle's tarts. Ace was mildly annoyed, but unable to utter a retort.

"...totally inconsiderate and disappointing behavior… the result could've been egregious!"

Trey blinked, then backed away from the door. "We'd better give them some more time. They've done something egregious ."

"Wow. That's a big word. I wonder what exactly they've done…" At Trey's disapproving squint, Cater waved his hand dismissively. "Don't look at me like that! Of course I won't use our cute first years as topics for gossip~"

The two made their ways back to their rooms then. Another thirty minutes later, Jack finally ended his speech in resignation, rendering the two culprits and frankly inadequate cupids speechless. In his deep breaths, he picked up the faint fragrance of roses lingering on his clothes, and let out a soft sigh.

Hopefully it was enough to repay all the presents you'd given him today.

#twst x reader #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #leona kingscholar #leona kingscholar x reader #sie writes #leona x reader

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vikkirosko · 7 months

Text

So. I began to come across a lot of art where Michael works as a security guard at Pizzaplex. I decided to think a little about this topic

🦊 Michael Afton x Reader Oneshot You're alive and that's the main thing 🔦

You walked through empty corridors, grumbling with displeasure. Today you were supposed to be at home and rest after a few night shifts, but your shift worker had an accident and you were forced to go to work. You worked as a technician at Pizzaplex and your task was to make sure that animatronics and robots worked properly. You intended to check out a few security robots that behaved strangely. Besides you, there were only two guards from the employees. One of them was Vanessa, whom you managed to see at the beginning of your work shift, the other guard worked quite recently and you didn't even know his name. Walking through the corridors, you mentally reflected on how much Pizzaplex was different from the pizzeria that was in your childhood. You quickly banished these memories from yourself, because they were all connected with one person. Michael. Michael Afton has been your friend since childhood. You ran away from school together, he spent the night with you when he knew that his father was in a bad mood, you planned to leave the city together when you had enough money and travel around the country. But at some point your plans were ruined. It happened the day Michael disappeared. No one took his disappearance seriously. You went to the police, but they were sure that he left the city because of his father, who was accused of the murders. Many years have passed and you were an adult. You never went on a trip, you were able to finish college studying mechanics and robotics, which is why you could now work at Pizzaplex. Even after years, you still couldn't let go of the past. You were still trying to find at least some clues related to Michael's disappearance. However, now you had little hope that you could find anything, because the old pizzeria was buried under a huge amount of concrete. You were trying to focus on your work, fixing one of the robots, when you heard footsteps next to you. You turned your head slightly and saw the familiar uniform of the guard. It wasn't Vanessa.

"Hello? You must be the new security guard Vanessa was talking about, I (Y/N), I work here as a technician, it looks like this is the first time our work shifts have coincided, wait a minute, I'm almost done"

You quickly finished your work and stood up, then turned to the guard and held out your hand to him, but when you saw his face, you froze. He looked scary. Very thin, with purple skin and a lot of scars. However, there was something else that caught your attention. Skin color, scars, and age aside, he looked like Michael. Even too similar. He was looking at you and there was apprehension in his eyes.

"Michael?.."

He leaned back sharply, clearly intending to leave, but you grabbed his arm and pulled him towards you, then hugged him tightly.

"Don't even think about disappearing again!"

He froze, feeling how you grabbed his jacket with your palms.

"I thought you were dead..."

"In a way..."

"What?"

You looked at each other for a few seconds, after which Michael gave voice.

"I'm not scaring you?.. I know what I look like, so don't even think about saying that I haven't changed at all."

You laughed softly and smiled at him. It was the smile he remembered from childhood.

"You're alive and that's the main thing, although I have a lot of questions for you and I won't leave you until you answer them"

"Well, that's fair"

"Well, the fact that you look like dried raisins is the least of the problems"

"Hey!"

You laughed, feeling tears running down your cheeks. You couldn't believe that after all these years you finally found him. You finally found Michael.

#Five Nights at Freddy's #Five Nights at Freddy's x Reader #Five Nights at Freddy's Oneshots #FNAF #FNAF x Reader #FNAF Oneshots #Michael Afton #Michael Afton x Reader

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omorashiect · 11 months

Note

You asked for piss stories, you’re getting one.

My first ever real hold I did came about mostly by accident, I had been busy all week and had drunk a lot of soft drinks the night before then I went to bed and I was so tired that I slept for a long time. I didn’t get out of bed until 1pm the next day.

By that point I was already bursting to pee and had been holding for around 15 hours by virtues of skipping my morning pee. I was planning to get up and go pee when I realised that this would be the perfect opportunity I had been waiting for to do a hold, my flatmate was around now but would be gone in about three hours for work and then I would have the place to myself, I just had to hold on until then.

Laying i.bed I tried to take my mind off of it by watching videos and other things but when that didn’t work I changed tack and tried to make myself ao turned on that I would be focused on that instead to help me hold, it worked for about an hour but then the need came on even stronger, by this point I was grinding down into a towel and trying desperately to hold myself through my trousers which were unfortunately so tight that I couldn’t press them into my aching pussy because they were stretched taught a few centimetres away from my crotch. I tried to sit up but I spurted a big leak right into the towel and I could feel it slacking in.

Not wanting to get my bed wet but knowing my flatmate was in the bathroom getting ready for work, I took the opportunity of them being safely in the bathroom to half walk half run stopped over and panting to the outside sore and down into the garden where I knew there was one spot I couldn’t be seen by the neighbours. Painfully limping my way there I felt myself leaving a trail of little leaked droplets of pee behind me, some bigger than others, I would need to clean that up before my flatmate left for work. Now in my safe spot in the garden I kept trying to push down the waves of desperation washing over me but it was too great of an effort, the piss rushed out of me in one great flood flowing down my legs and around my butt with such force, it splattered into the towel that I can dropped by my feet, sspreading out across the concrete path and creating little rivulets of pee running off the path and into the surrounding garden, I couldn’t stop peeing even after the initial wave had worn off and it just kept coming for about two minutes, spraying and trickling everywhere. Finally it was done and I just stood for a moment awed with what had just happened, my first ever hold and I had lost it so completely.

But then, I heard my flatmate letting themselves out of the house and I had to duck down behind the plants, hoping beyond hope they wouldn’t find me or spot the trail of mess I had left that would lead them straight me me. Luckily I soon heard the sound of their car starting and I knew I had gotten away with it. Unfortunately the amount of pjss that had built up in me was so great that I had to pee all over again and my muscles were too weak from the hold and I felt myself going again not even two minutes after the first time right there into the soil behind the bush as I sat there unable to help myself.

So hot... 😍

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gardens-light · 10 months

Text

Rekindled Love

It took years for Chicago to be rebuilt back to its former glory. Many lives were lost- human and machine. People begun to salvage the alien technology like it was an Easter Egg hunt, taking anything and everything they could carry, before the authorities got hold of the reminats.

While large companies and government bodies captured any remaining Transformers- Autobot or Deceptions. Alive or offline, they were taken to be... well it was anyone's guess. Working with your team has caused a war within yourself. Battling thoughts of who's right or wrong in this hunt against the Transformers. And tonight has made that a whole lot harder...

Content: Events are based on 'Transformers- Age of Extinction.' Minor spoilers (have tried to minimize). Kinda 'Reader insert.' Course language. Just cute scenes and a simple kiss.

Word count- 2,670. (May be less due to edits and ending changes)

"Push right! Push right!"

"C'mon guys lets roll!"

"Take the beach, nice and easy."

Following your squad along the docks, weapon in hand and night vision goggles aiding your sight. Multiple ships empty, some confused citizens gave the military raised eyebrows and puzzle expressions as they went on with their nightshift.

Helicopters broke the silence within the still night air. Footsteps of Squad 1 and 2 echoed through the empty ships as they boarded. Carefully taking position and aiming their guns at a large cargo ship.

Multiple voices scratched out of your radio, as you rested your head against a wall. The rest of your squad venturing further and spreading out through the second level.

"Wake up soldier! No sleeping on the job!"

A harsh voice came to your ears, companied by a sudden smack to your back. Barely feeling it through the padded armour.

"Apologies, sir. Just need a minute-"

"Vipers. Eagle in sight. Cleared hot. Location, top deck."

"Copy that Sky Eyes." Your commanding officer looked over his shoulder. Gazing at you briefly before carefully backtracking to you. "You ok?"

Hearing the sound of his receiver being turned off, you released a heavy sigh. "I just... can't believe this is happening"

"We've had this convocation soldier" he removed his goggles and face covering, gazing at you with a disapproving look. "Believe it. They're the ones who started this. All of this."

Pulling yourself together, brushing the tears away from your eyes. As you avoided his gaze. Officer Ryan placed a hand upon your shoulder, trying to give you a comforting smile.

"I understand some things can get a little rough. We've lost everything to these alien scum-"

"Blow steel!" yelled the general's voice over Ryan's radio.

'Boom!'

The sound of an explosive shook the cargo ship, followed by the yells of a mechanical voice in pain.

Ratchet!...

Chaos and all hell broke loose.

Gunfire was released from heavy duty vehicles and helicopters. Voices shouting over one another in a scratchy tone from the radio on your chest.

"Hit him! Hit him!" Ryan repeated into his receiver, as he ran towards the rest of the squad with you trailing behind.

Missiles fired from the helicopters above. You and Ryan reached the concrete dock, your eyes widening as the Autobot leaped from the cargo ship, transforming into an rescue Hummer, just before landing upon the road on all four wheels.

"He's on the run! He's on the run!" Ryan yelled into his receiver.

A military Hummer screeched to a halt beside you. Ryan immedictly climbed into the vehicle, while you jumped into the backseat.

"Take down that machine! Don't let him get away!"

Gunfire continued to rain down onto the Autobot from all angles. Clutching onto your weapon, while your eyes closed tightly. Trying to fight through the headache that begun to build at your temples.

This is how it needs to be. This is how it needs to be. The thought kept rolling around in your head.

"No! Please!" the sound of Ratchet's painful pleas' ached your heart. "Hold your fire. Please, hold your fire."

His pleas continued as the military surrounded the Autobot. All vehicles came to abrupt halt, more soldiers stepping out of the cars and holding a steady aim at Ratchet.

Following everyone's lead and coming close to the injured alien. Feeling like each step you took became more difficult.

"Can you not see I've been injured?-"

"Box it in! Box it in!" Ryan's voice yelled over the Autobot.

"I'm Medical Officer Ratchet! I'm a friend!"

Lowering your weapon, moving your fingers away from the trigger as you tried to reflex them. Attempting to stretch out the building stiffness and hoping a little movement would move the leather away from your sweaty skin.

Blinking away the tears, as Ratchet fell onto his behind. Trying to shift his massive body into a small defensive position, while placing his servos over the opening of where his leg should be.

"I'm an Autobot!-"

"Then why did you run?" Ryan challenged with a cocky smile.

"Optimus sent a distress message."

Ratchet touched his radio, allowing the message to play through. "Calling all Autobots. We are under targeted attack. Cease all contact with humans."

Feeling suffocated, pulling down your face covering as you tried to take deep steady breathes.

"We're all hiding." Ratchet explained, "All Autobots are being hunted. We're all in danger."

"I lost a sister in Chicago. You'll get no sympathy from me."

The gentle blue of Ratchet's optics lowered to the ground. Feeling like it was only you whom saw the robot's face shift into sadness, while Ryan gave the Autobot daggered stares.

"Alright... release the hooks! I want this piece of junk torn apart!-"

"What?" Ratchet quickly gazed around him. Groans escaping his mouth, as soldiers fired the grappling hooks from the back of their utes. "Please! Don't do this! Don't-ah!"

'Clang!'

"Who the fuck threw those smoke grenades?"

The hiss of smoke leaving two canisters filled the air. Disrupting everyone's view of the Autobot. The sound of cable wires breaking as the vehicles attempted to pull the robot apart.

"Open fire! Open fire! Don't let that thing get away!" Ryan barked.

"Stop! What's wrong with you humans?" Ratchet groaned. As he pulled the hooks out of body and quickly making his escape.

Through the smoke, you saw the Autobot crawl and leap away from the scene, as you remained rooted to the spot. Your body frozen in place with tears rolling down your cheeks.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Ryan shouted as the smoke slowly dispersed.

Everything came to a stand still, silence briefly falling before Ryan's frustrated yells disturbed the air.

You flinched as his fist slammed against the hood of a nearby car.

"Search the grounds! Spread out!" His booming voice begun to drum right through you. "It's injured so it can't be far! And search for any allies! I want to know where the fuck those smoke grandates came from!"

Everyone quickly dispersed. Running to nearby buildings and vehicles screeching their way back up the roads. Helicopters scouted the large docks.

Steadying your breathing as you watched Ryan approach you. Hiding the empty canisters into your back pocket.

"Officer Y/N!"

"Yes Sir. Sorry Sir. Just... Just got shaken up for a moment."

A low groan rumbled in his throat, as his daggers of disapproval stared right through you. "Pick up your feet, soldier. Now isn't the time to get emotional."

You speechlessly nodded. Turning on your heel, and following the green puddles of liquid...

---

"This is Ratchet, Autobots come in. Is anyone there?"

Pain lingered in his voice as it echoed throughout the abandoned warehouse.

"I'm heavily injured. Please send aid. Can anyone hear me?"

Climbing over rubble as you followed the sound of his voice. Using your torch to find the injured Autobot.

A heavy sigh left Ratchet as the radio static continued to buzz. The EMP that the soldiers dispersed an hour ago affected his communications, but thankfully it also affected theirs.

The sound of loose rubble snapped him out of his daze, quickly looking up and scanning his surroundings. Using the headlights sticking out of his shoulder plate to burn the darkness away. Ratchet activated his arm cannon, carefully studying for any movement within the shadows.

All was silent for a painful long minute.

Another sigh left him, as he lowered his arm. Retracting the cannon back under his plating and trying to reach out for his dismembered limb.

"Oh shit!"

Losing your footing and stumbling down the large pile of rubble. Ratchet flinched away from you, as you fell onto your knees before him.

"Ouch... I'm going to feel that in the morning."

The Autobot carefully studied you, as you got back onto your feet. Brushing the dust and dirt off yourself, feeling his blue optics gazing down at you.

As you met his gaze, you quickly put your hands up. "I won't hurt you"

Ratchet cocked his head to the side, as you carefully disarmed. Placing all weapons on the floor and gently kicking them away. Before finally removing your headgear.

Ratchet's optics widened as your hair fell out of the helmet.

"Y/N...?"

Somehow the pain in his voice was worse than before. Squeezing it's already tightening grip around your achy heart.

"Y/N... why? We used to be friends. You fought alongside us."

"None of this was supposed to happen-"

"And what was 'supposed' to happen?"

His challenging tone caused you to fall silent. Avoiding each others stares for a uncomfortable moment.

Ratchet's scans picked up your slow heartbeat and uneven breath. His optics studied your tearstained face.

"You've been crying..."

"No... No. I'm fine."

A saddened expression fell across his face, "you don't need to-"

"Let's get you fixed up." You said braving a warm smile. Taking a few deep breaths, attempting to pull yourself together. "It won't be long till someone figures out I've been gone for too long."

Ratchet noticed the semi-quick pace of your speech, trying to hide the fact that your voice was breaking.

Pulling up your sleeves as you approached his severed limb. Being cautious of the spontaneous sparks spitting out of the live wires, as you examined the opening.

"You've lost a lot of fluid. But I'm sure there's a way to temporarily put you back together. Well... hold you long enough till you reach Optimus anyway."

You looked around the warehouse as you lowered your backpack onto the floor. "There must be something around here that could help-"

"Y.N..." Ratchet groaned as he tried to shift his position.

"Stay sitting down. Further movement would cause more injury-"

"Why?" He spluttered, turning his head away from you as he coughed up some fluid. "Why are you helping me?"

You reached out to him. Ratchet's spark skipping a beat as he gently allowed your hand to cradle one of his digits.

"I don't expect you to forgive me." Your voice slowly returned to the friendly tone the Autobot once knew and loved. "But you're my friend Ratchet. We shared blood, sweat and precious metal together back at N.E.S.T, and no matter how hard I try or convince myself otherwise. I just... I just can't forget what I shared with you- with the Autobots."

Resting your forehead against the back of his servos, Ratchet begun to feel a little warm under his plating. Your shining eyes staring into his blue optics caused his processors to run wild.

"I will fix you." He never heard your voice filled with such hope and promise. "Even if it's temporarily... I will fix you..."

Three Hours Later...

"Alright, Ratchet. Last wire, you ready?"

Ratchet avoided looking down at you, as your hips and legs hung outside of the opening within his leg. While your torso dangled above the wires inside.

"I'm ready. Just please be careful, you've been electrocuted twice already."

Using your mouth to rip off a bit of black electrical tape, pushing the roll back up your arm, as you cautiously held two live wires.

"I'll be fine. Ok on the count of three. One... Two... Three!"

You quickly pushed the wires together, squinting as you wrapped the electrical tape around the joining. Trying to avoid the sparks.

"Oh boy!"

Low hums and vibrations shot through Ratchet. Giving him a bolt of energy, as you squeezed yourself out of the gap of his leg.

"How you feeling?" you asked, while starting to use the random rolls of duct tape, electrical tape and all sorts of other tapes to somewhat bandage his metal plates together.

"Good." His voice hummed while looking down at you. The heat under his plates grew over time, as you stripped down to your crop top and cargo pants.

"You... have always been a great medical officer."

You smiled, looking up at the Autobot. "Well... normally my paitents are human and not alien."

A small chuckle left him, as you continued to try and close the opening.

Ratchet hesitated for a brief moment. Taking a second to ask the question that's been building up in him for the past couple of hours. "Earlier you mentioned that you 'tried to convince yourself otherwise'... what did you mean by that?"

You paused in the middle of pulling the last strip of duct tape. Biting your lip and briefly closing your eyes before answering.

"After what happened in Chicago. The announcement of you guys being public enemy number one spread like wildfire. N.E.S.T was disbanded. The topic of Autobots and Decepticons divided people."

Opening your eyes, moving onto the next roll of tape, as you tried to continue to patch up the Autobot.

"I was... lost. Confused... parts of me wanted to hate you guys for the chaos that happened. How many humans have gone missing and lost their lives. But..." you paused again, holding the tape in mid-roll. "But when I heard the militaries new mission of taking you guys down. I thought..."

Ratchet cooed as he carefully placed his large hand upon your back. Using the tip of his index digit to rub your spine, as he heard your voice slowly breaking.

"I thought it was the only way." You admitted, trying to stay focused on patching up the metal plates together. "That perhaps people were right, and that we were never meant to be."

"We?..."

"I-I mean, humans and the Autobots. Not like... um, never mind..." your voice trailed off into silence.

Ratchet watched you brush away the sweat that was forming upon your brow, as you stepped back from his leg. After finally putting on the last strip of duct tape.

His spark hasn't been regulating properly since you've briefly came back into his life. And the heat building under his plates made it hard to control his processors, as he couldn't help but notice how your bust slightly bounced with each movement.

You looked up at him, "mind giving me a boost? I wanna see the damage to your shoulder plates."

Ratchet speechlessly placed his servos on the floor. Allowing you to climb into his palm and carefully bringing you to his left shoulder plate.

Awkward silence fell over the pair of you once again. The butterflies that's been swirling around in your stomach for the past couple of hours, caused your abdomen to do backflips.

Just focus on putting him back together. You lectured in your thoughts. A heavy sigh left your lips. Too much has happened between us to try and even think of salvaging what we once had.

"Are you alright?"

Ratchet's voice snapped you out of your thoughts. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. It's just- I think some wires- whoa!"

"Y/N!"

The Autobot quickly caught you in his free servo, as you slightly fell off his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Ratchet asked.

"Ye-Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Just leaned a little too far forward..."

An awkward silence fell over the pair of you. Your features blushing red as you knelt within the Autobot's palm. Playing with your fingers, while feeling the heat coming from under Ratchet's body plates.

"Well ah... I should go, y'know... before someone sees us..."

Your eyes caught his lingering gaze, as the Autobot slowly leaned in closer towards you.

Butterflies made your stomach do backflips. Ratchet's body felt like it was on autopilot, his optics couldn't look away from your delicate lips. His processors and your thoughts running haywire, as they raced within yourselves. You subconsciously reached out for his cheek, as he held you close to his chest plate.

Closing your eyes as your lips met his. A sweet moan rumbled in his throat as he took in your scent. Your perfume filled his sensors awakening a joy that he thought was all long forgotten. Your bust rested against his chest plate, as you took in every second of this blissful moment.

Slowly breaking away from him, Ratchet's optics wandered over your flushed features as he happily sighed.

"Come away with me?..."

#transformers #transformers x reader #Autobot x reader #ratchet x reader #autobot ratchet #Autobot Ratchet x Reader #ratchet #autobots #bayverse x reader #transformers fanfiction #fanfiction #x reader

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vaspider · 2 months

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Yo, so this is less so a specific ask and more me having the need to verbalize some stuff with the option of getting input from someone with a more knowledgable perspective. I have been thinking a fair bit about Judaism and dabbling with the idea of converting to it. I don’t think it’s something for me, but I am tentatively thinking about the option.

The thing is. I assume you’re familiar with the difference between hard magic and soft magic systems in writing. (If not, the tldr is hard magic is defined with hard rules and limitations and soft magic is more ambiguous and fluid.) And I think my basic thing is that I am very open to what you could call soft spirituality and faith, but unable to jell with any hard beliefs.

For example I can never get myself to really entertain the idea of an afterlife being set up in a very specific way with specific rules and where you know what is happening and why. But I saw that tweet that went around a while ago that was like “I hope that death is like being a child at a party and falling asleep, so somebody carries you to bed and I hope when I die I can still hear the laughter from the other room” and that fucked me up beyond words.

I have gone through a couple religions and beliefs over my life and never found a framework that really fit with me, but in the past couple of years I have developed a lot and realized I have a yearning for spiritual things. My current view could probably best be described as a pantheist leaning agnostic enamored with the idea of belief and experience shaping purpose and giving structure… sort of. As well as the power of belief and to change the way you see the world for the better. It’s hard to explain specifically the angle I like.

The reason I am caught up on Judaism rn is that in a lot of ways it seems to be based around a lot of soft spirituality. I am absolutely in love with the idea that god, or the divine, or spirit, whatever one may call it is not something concrete, not one existence, but more of a force like the laws of physics, or the rules of math. I adore the idea of little rituals and rules to bring god into your life and through that connecting you to culture and history and people and community and spirituality. I love the idea you talked about some time in the past of the four kinds of jews, based on studying the scriptures and following the rules, and that even those who do neither are still a vital part of the jewish people and are needed for it to be whole. There’s so many little details that appeal to me so strongly, because they’re exactly the kind of stuff I am yearning for.

But I feel like the hard aspects keep me away. I love the idea of rules and rituals to shape your life, but I don’t think I could follow the rules of Judaism, because having a preset set of rules feels too hard for me. Similarly I love the idea of studying the texts and the never ending pursuit of decifering the meaning and arguing about it, but I don’t think I could get interested in ever doing it, because having a specific text to do it with is too hard.

So I feel very conflicted, because the way Judaism feels to me from the outside, it shows me both the soft aspects of spirituality I absolutely adore and yearn for, and at the same time the hard aspects that keep me away from religion. And they feel very connected and interwoven.

And it feels like especially as a convert being a part of it is connected with a huge amount of the hard aspects and a lot of work that goes into those. I’d have to first figure out if there is even any jewish denominations (is that the right word?) near where I live that don’t do circumcision and that aren’t on the conservative side (I have no idea how the situation is where I live) and then do all the studies and the entire process involved in converting (which I admittedly don’t know very much about either, so I might be overstating this) to be part of something I would immediately take a half step away from because I’m only really interested in the ideas behind the actual elements of it and not as much the elements themselves if that makes sense?

I guess this is pretty rambly, but maybe you have some input, or something smart to say and if not I hope I’m not coming across as this guy right now:

I think that in the process of writing this ask, you seem to have figured out that this isn't for you right now. If you get to a point where all of those things aren't standing in your way but are a to-do list, that will be when you know it's for you.

And they're generally called movements, not denominations.

#very old ask #Judaism

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fantasyfantasygames · 2 months

Text

Amazons

Amazons, Warrior Women Games, 2006

As one would expect, you play Amazons in this game - women from out of Greek myth.* You're warriors, hunters, scouts, sailors, and sages. There's only one supernatural power involved (which I'll get into later), so no witches or demigods or anything.

Your characters are defined by a fairly standard set of attributes and skills - Strength, Agility, Wisdom, Spear, Archery, Stealth, etc. All of them are done with a pyramidal cost scheme. As a result, it's easy to build a group where your characters overlap too much. It costs the same number of points to buy a 10-point skill (rolling 1d10x10) as it does to buy two skills at 8 and 6 (1d10x8 and 1d10x6), and the 8 and 6 are generally high enough to hit the typical target numbers. I think what I'm trying to say is that the game could really use a better approach to handling character archetypes, both for flavor purposes and for niche protection.

As mentioned, the game uses multiplication, which you'll either be fine with or will really bother you. Since it's dice-times-stat instead of dice-times-dice, the probability distribution is fairly flat, and you don't have weird statistics stuff going on. You do get margin-of-success effects from rolling higher, but you don't actually have to do two-digit subtraction. Instead, you get one "rank" of success for every point by which the tens place in your result is higher than the tens in your opponent's result. You roll a 25 and they have a 48? They have a rank-2 success. Same if you roll a 28 and they have a 40. Ranks get you damage, but also duration and effectiveness for other types of roll. It's a little weird at low values - a 12 and an 18 get you a tie even though one is 50% higher than the other - but it works well for higher values.

The particularly cool part of the game is that you play in two time periods simultaneously: ancient Greece and modern-day Athens. Your characters went "through" the Oracle at Delphi (is that how that works??) and are experiencing parallel events. When they run into a businessman in the modern day, they meet a merchant in ancient Greece. A Spartan warrior might become a rich but violent criminal. They see both things happening at once, and the GM is encouraged to mix the two in their descriptions. Philosophers arguing in the shadow of concrete and steel. Ocean liners passing by sailing vessels. It's an interesting conceit, and it gives you some cool ways to solve problems in one time by approaching them i the other.

Typical antagonists are "cruel people in positions of power" - slavers, price-gouging traders, sadistic princes, petty senators, etc. Several examples are statted up, along with their entourages. There isn't much discussion of what the backlash is going to be from your characters going after those people and their well-trained bodyguards. Like a lot of this game, the surface level is presented and any implications are left to the GM and their table.

As we leave this review, it may be interesting to know that Warrior Women Games was two cis men in their twenties. The game is written with respect, but without personal experience. There's no major misogyny here, no particular fetishization or anti-feminist rhetoric involved. There's also no real punch to the fact that you're actually playing women. On the one hand - awesome! The game treats your women characters just like it would treat men characters. Straight-up equality. On the other hand, there's a missed opportunity to dig into how your ancient women experience the modern world. There's no discussion of what has changed and what has not since the (admittedly fictional*) time of the Amazons. I think a game written by someone able to delve into that experience more might be more compelling. But I'll at least give it credit for not having fallen into a number of traps that plague other men-written-women-centric games. You're not going to cringe reading this.

*Edit to add, March 2024: Maybe the Amazons are not as fictional as I thought! https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/24/truth-behind-the-myths-amazon-warrior-women-of-greek-legend-may-really-have-existed

#ttrpg #imaginary #indie ttrpg #rpg #review #no glamazon archetype in this one maybe next time #no discussion of trans amazons either but this was 2006 #fun fact there's a trans amazon supporting character in Wonder Woman these days

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terrence-silver · 4 months

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Could I request ❛ you won’t survive long out there. i can protect you. ❜? I feel like there's some potential terry silver manipulation sprinkled within those words. 🫣

---

Collecting people.

It was a hobby, in a sense.

More than that, actually; it was like being an Architect.

Taking a rough slab of marble and chiseling it into something greater than itself.

Having the ultimate authority and say in what it will and can become.

Margaret Spencer he found working at a firm in London as a secretary for what was his overseas business partner at the time, toiling with idiotic, menial tasks far beneath someone her class, capabilities and particular education level, coaxing, or rather pilching her from underneath her boss' nose by making her an infinitely better and more advantageous offer at employment back in Los Angeles, the same way he discovered Milos Dadok in Prague as a hotel concierge, working for cheap change east of the Iron Curtain, with barely any visitors to serve in an old, Bohemian golden lobby of a run down, neglected establishment that mostly stood empty, having seen better times. Snake and Dennis he picked off of the streets after they've brazenly tried to mug him of all people, failing comically, much to his infinite amusement, deciding to keep them around purely on the off chance their antics made him laugh --- and that they did, frequently and several times a day. John himself. That was a friendship he wanted ever since the first time he saw him at basic training and then later, during orientation, on ground, in Vietnam, and the best of friends was precisely what they remained because it was something Terry cultivated, invested into with the greatest of devotions. Even Ponytail, he carried around with him, on his head, fastened to his scalp with an unassuming black hair tie, nobody realizing he was ever there. Nobody but him and John, at this point. Where others saw nothing, he tended to see opportunity. And opportunities? Opportunities were things he never had the habit of passing up on, wanting to be in control of what becomes of the rough, ragged slab of marble under his fingers as he presses down on its hardened, sleek surfaces, leaving behind ever so many dents, fingertips and markings, deciding what shape it'll ultimately take once he's done with it. Deciding if he'll make it or break it. Create a beautiful statue or ram his fist into it, shattering the project into pieces.

Then, there was you.

Homeless.

A typical sight outside of Beverly Hills.

Aimlessly mingling around what was John's dojo for months now, buzzing around the alleyways like a little fly at the mouth of the serpent's nest, often in his sight and crosshairs through the lowered shutters of the interiors of the studio space where he could spy on you accordingly; it was Terry's business. He made it his business. Everything that happened in and around this dojo, in its adjoined streets, neighborhoods, blocks, in the heart of this very city, country, the West coast itself, concerned Terry exclusively, the way the markings lining the palms of his hands concerned him, more so when he occasionally found you casting uncertain, tentative glances at nearby garbage cans dotting the sidewalks akin to so many eyesores, like you were ashamed of yourself, like you were unaccustomed and new to this, carrying collected cardboard, for what he only assumed was for the purpose of rough sleeping down on the concrete; on one occasion, it went as far as him catching you slumming it out by leaning against the inner walls of the Cobra Kai dojo itself after working hours, obscured from view at dawn, knees pushed up against your chest, startled and taking to running the minute you spotted him pulling into the parking lot, his blue Ford intended to give off the airs of working class relatability still enough to startle you into a frightened state of movement, a tinge of satisfaction running through like a current trying to imagine what your reaction would be if you ever ran into him at another part of town, Rolls Royce, Tuxedo, private chauffeur and all. But, this crap you were doing right now wouldn't cut it. You didn't get to utilize his territory like this, it wasn't for free, not without being confronted about it one way or another. So, he ambushes you one morning, coming in even earlier than he had the habit of doing so, two hours before the Larusso twerp had the tendency to show up for his classes in pain, tactically cutting off your usual escape trail tightly and very neatly pushed in between two buildings. You shriek at the sight of him.

He relished the sound.

You wouldn't mind hearing more of it.

-"You won't survive long out there."-

Terry states bluntly, but not unkindly; last thing he wanted now was for you to get a tremendously bad first impression of him, even though you by default pushed his hand by making him come head to head with you the way he did through your incessant running. Luckily for you, he liked to chase. You give him a look, like you knew. Like you knew survival wouldn't be easy out here, but you didn't feel like necessarily vocally agreeing with him. Was it pride? It was pride, wasn't it? It's only once he hands you the lunch he's been hiding behind his back that your eyes widen and you become responsive, eyes shimmering, albeit still overshadowed with carefulness. Not that he couldn't appreciate your raw survival instincts being on display. -"I can protect you."- He offers, once you fidget, stepping forward and reaching for the food being given freely, practically ripping it out of his hand to shove it into your mouth in greedy gulps, undoubtedly, fearing he'd change his mind or that this was some kind of trap, keeping your focused gaze still on him. Once you swallow, you immediately take the first given opportunity to snipe at him, appearing defensive. He chuckles. -"What's it to you, though!? Who are you? Why'd you startle me like that!?"- You demand and he bows his head, ever so slightly, sprinkling in a deliberate aura of something apologetic and respectful for you to spot, making introductions. Weird place to be formal, he understood that much, but it was shocking how far some propriety could go applied at exactly the right time and under the right circumstances. But then again, the back wall of the Cobra Kai dojo, when he really thought about it, was as good of a place as a sparring mat to pay homage. -"I'm Terry Silver. The co-owner of the establishment you're roughing it out around. I own the whole lot."- He explains, softly, watching your demeanor change. Like a slab of marble, you start to take shape, even now. He extends his hand and you never even realize you've already been collected by him as you hesitate to take it.

-"And I can be your good friend."-

Terry promises, meaning every word of it.

#this is such an old ask my goodness #terry silver #kk3 #cobra kai #terry silver x reader #terry silver x beloved #homeless!beloved #homeless!reader #tw; homelessness #tw; some subtle manipulation #tw; savior complex

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maccreadysbaby · 5 months

Text

A Hundred Ways to Become a Wayne

batfamily + oc insert

tw: none

wanna read more? here’s the table of contents!

want to read the first fic in the hundred days series so you understand what’s going on here? here it is!

first day of school is finally here for real. ALSO you meet the two additional lead characters for the whole story in this chapter :)

part five

❝ BRISTOL VS CRIME ALLEY ❞

MONDAY — AUGUST 3 — 8:21AM

GOTHAM ACADEMY WAS HUGE. So much bigger than it had been when Bentley and Dick picked up Damian when they retrieved Titus from the vet. It had to be twice the size, maybe even three times, now that Bentley was staring at the front entrance in a uniform that matched all of the kids filing inside. It almost looked like a scary stone mansion from a horror movie.

He’d done a good job keeping it together that morning. The anxiousness hadn’t been as bad as last night, and he was able to relax with Dick to turn breakfast into storytime like he always did. But now? Now, Bentley was sitting in the backseat of Bruce’s car, right next to Damian, in the exact same uniform as him, and he felt like a billion bees were taking up his body as their home. Duke was in the passenger’s seat even though he could drive. Bruce wanted to drive them all on the first day and none of them complained; Damian said it was better than when Duke drove him.

The clock on the dashboard read 8:21am, which meant, according to the schedule he had folded up in his pocket, Bentley had exactly twenty-four minutes before he needed to be in his classroom. The gray, overcast sky that might have indicated an oncoming storm did little to ease his never ending nerves.

“Alright, boys,” Bruce started, turning backwards so he could see them all at once. “Have a great day. Don’t hesitate to call or text if you need anything at all. I’ll be in the pick-up line this afternoon.”

He’d taken up a spot in the lot ahead of the school instead of driving through the drop-off-line, and Bentley was grateful for that, because in the drop-off-line, kids got out of their cars and went inside immediately. They had to get out of the car fast or the people behind them started honking. The parking lot was much nicer — Bentley didn’t have to worry about being too slow when there was no one behind them.

He flinched involuntarily when Damian popped his door open and threw his red backpack over his shoulder. “Goodbye, Father.”

He got out and closed the door behind him, striding up the massive concrete steps and disappearing into the mass of matching students like he’d done it a thousand times. Bentley wished he had his confidence.

Instead, his mouth was really dry, and his stomach was doing the crampy thing again.

Bruce turned back to look at him. “You doing alright, chum?”

Bentley shrugged under the weight of his blue-gray gaze. He’d only heard Bruce use that nickname for Dick a couple times, usually when he was getting patched up after a rough patrol, so he wasn’t quite sure why he used it on him right then. But he didn’t mind.

“…I’m okay,” He replied, glancing down at his hands and fiddling with them in his lap. He saw Duke glance back at him from his spot in the front seat.

“Nervous?” Bruce inquired.

“Yeah,”

The man hummed in acknowledgement. “Feeling bad?”

He shrugged again. “A little.”

Bruce opened his console and pulled out a little ziplock bag, holding it back toward Bentley. It had two of the little pink things in it.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Bruce reassured as Bentley took the bag from his hand. “I’ll drive you right home if you want me to.”

The child sighed, peeling the little bag open and popping the chewy things in his mouth. He might’ve felt like he was going to vibrate away thanks to all the anxiety running around inside of him, but he didn’t intend on backing out now. The only way to really make his father’s words go away was to prove them wrong, make them sound ridiculous. Yes, he was nervous, but he wasn’t pathetic.

“I’ll be okay,” He muttered after a moment. Bruce smiled lightly.

“Do you have your phone?”

“Yes,” He replied, patting his pocket just to make sure. It was definitely in there.

“Do you want me to walk you in?”

Bentley looked back out the window. There weren’t very many parents venturing inside unless they had the hand of a really little kid. Way littler than Bentley. But, after all, he kinda had a built-in person to walk him in since Duke went there, too.

“I don’t think so,” He said softly. “Duke’s coming; so I think I’ll be fine.”

Bruce’s eyes sparkled like they always did when dealing with one of his children, and he smiled. “Alright. You can go in whenever you’re ready. Take your time.”

Bentley glanced back at the entry of the utterly massive, expansive school. All of the other kids looked perfectly comfortable walking inside, if not a few that looked cold. None of them looked afraid or hesitant except for the younger ones, but that didn’t really count. Bentley wasn’t five, he was ten. He could complete the mere task of walking into a school building. Damian had done it with ease, and Bentley didn’t think the fact that he was an assassin helped him walk into a school.

He’d be fine.

He reached into the floorboard and grabbed his backpack, shifting it around until he could put it on his back. He took a deep breath and blew it out again.

“I’m ready…”

Bruce smiled. “See you guys this afternoon. Text me if you need anything. Or if you just want to. I’m not above grade-school gossip.”

Bentley smiled lightly, and nodded in agreement.

“See you later, B,” Duke said, popping his door open, too. Bentley followed his lead and opened his. The mild cold of autumn washed over him, and he shivered, not completely from the cold but not completely from being anxious, either.

“Bye, Bruce,” He said. Which was weird, because he’d never actually said bye to Bruce before. Sure, Bruce had left for business trips, and Justice League (aka a really cool superhero group) missions, and Bentley had gone places with Dick and Tim, but he’d never actually told him bye to go be somewhere by himself, without a single Wayne. It felt weird.

“Bye, Bentley.”

He breathed deep again, in and out, climbing out of the car. Duke was standing next to the door, waiting to close it behind him.

The building looked bigger now that he wasn’t in the car. Could a building change size in front of your eyes?

Duke closed the car door with a bang, and Bentley flinched when his hand landed on his shoulder.

“You ready for this, little dude?”

He sighed. “As I’ll ever be.”

Duke sighed too, and then a second later, they started walking.

“Can I see your schedule?” He questioned. Bentley dug around in his pocket and pulled out the neatly folded piece of paper, handing it over to Duke, who took it and unfolded it. Bentley tried not to stare at the other kids (one girl had long, pink hair? He didn’t know they were allowed to do that.) as they made their way up the stairs to the massive doors that were propped open.

Duke scanned the page quickly. “How do you already have a free period? This year is my first time having one.”

Bentley shrugged. “When I took a bunch of tests on the computer, Tim told me I tested out of sixth grade English.”

Duke nodded lightly. “So you just don’t have to take it?”

“I dunno. Bruce said I could take a harder one instead, but I didn’t want to,”

Duke nodded again, handing the paper back to him. “Looks like your first class is Dr. Keene. I had him a few years back, he teaches a couple different classes. I think you’ll like him.”

Bentley nodded lightly, and Duke put his hand back on his shoulder, and it didn’t leave as they integrated into the group of kids going through the door. There was a bunch of overlapping chatter that got louder as they drew closer. There were a bunch of girls with fancy makeup and jewelry, and they looked about Duke’s age. Some of the kids had very decorated backpacks to make up for the uniforms. He watched a boy with black and blue hair — probably not much older than him but about a whole head taller — drop a lit cigarette right outside the door and smush it under the toe of his shoe before he went inside.

Other kids were strange.

They also seemed to not care about him in the slightest. He hadn’t even seen anyone look at him but Duke, and it made his anxiety still just a little bit. Maybe he wouldn’t be forced into conversations he didn’t know how to react to.

Gotham Academy was huge. The entryway looked more like a mansion than a school, with classy dark wainscoting and big pictures on the wall of uniformed students doing various things. Dueling staircases curved up each side of the room, and the massive light fixture in the middle — not really a chandelier, but not not a chandelier — bathed the whole room in a warm glow.

Bentley realized all the other kids knew where they were going. He did not.

Duke kept his hand where it was as he led Bentley to the left, toward the staircase. “Lucky for you, the classes don’t get super far apart until you’re highschool age. All of yours should be in the same general area.”

Bentley nodded lightly, but he wasn’t sure Duke caught it. They thudded up the stairs behind the stream of kids and veered off to the left. Left staircase, left hallway — he could remember that.

The number of students thinned out in that hall, mostly ones around Bentley’s age, but some older, too. The walls were lined with gray metal lockers that also stressed him out. Because the thought of not being able to get his open and not being able to get to his books freaked him out.

He probably wouldn’t use it much, wherever it was. He had a backpack for that.

“Dr. Keene is right up here,” Duke stated, gesturing to a classroom door on the left that was propped open. There were others scattered among the hall, too, but Dr. Keene’s had brighter light shining from it. Probably because it was on the exterior wall, so it had windows.

“I’ll meet you back here to walk you to the library for your free period, okay?” Duke questioned. He let go of Bentley’s shoulder, probably to walk away, and a surge of panic shot through him tenfold. He made a small, embarrassing sound and reached out, clamping onto the sleeve of Duke’s blazer.

“Wait!”

His heart was beating really fast. When had that started?

“Hey, it’s okay,” Duke reassured, putting his hand back where it had been on his shoulder. “I’m not going to be far — just in the hall on the right side of the stairs. You can text or call me. I’ll be here in a split second. Or, if you get too uncomfortable, you can text or call Bruce. He’ll come pick you up and take you home. He took off work today just in case.”

Bentley sucked in a breath, watching the stream of kids pass. None of them looked scared.

“I promise. You need someone and we’re here, okay? I’m sure even Tim or Dick would pick you up if you asked. Not to mention Damian would probably ditch class if you needed him.”

Bentley fought back a cringe. He wasn’t so sure of that, not right now, at least. Damian hadn’t been talking to him much lately. Or anyone, really.

“Are you sure?” He muttered.

Duke nodded. “Positive.”

Bentley glanced around. The number of students in the hall was getting smaller, and Duke probably needed to go to class.

“You gonna be okay?”

He took another deep breath. “…think so.”

“Okay. I’m going to go to my classroom now,” Duke stated, releasing Bentley’s shoulder. He didn’t react this time. “Text me!”

Bentley muttered a small agreement as he watched Duke disappear down the hallway, weaving between other students until he couldn’t see him anymore.

He was alone.

Last time he was alone, he was in a warehouse with his father.

He shook the thought away and turned, realizing he probably looked dumb standing still in the hallway. The classroom door was a mere five feet in front of him. Kids kept walking inside like it was normal, like it wasn’t scary at all.

So Bentley shook his hands out by his sides and made sure his phone was in his pocket again, then pushed himself forward. Then turned, and stepped into the room.

Dr. Keene’s room was… cool. He taught environmental science, and it was obvious with the colorful posters about things like the water cycle and rocks and layers of the earth that were plastered around the room. He had a human sized skeleton sitting in the front corner with a bowler hat — probably for the Biology class he taught. The chalkboard was split in half, one side said Environmental Science, and the other, Biology. That’s probably what Duke had him for. From what Bentley understood, that was an older kid class.

The desks were organized into groups of three. Each one had a paper with a number sitting on it, but no one was in a desk yet, probably waiting for Dr. Keene to assign seats. The students around the room were chattering excitedly, and Dr. Keene was standing over the computer at his desk, typing something.

He looked older. Maybe similar in age to Alfred. He had white hair everywhere on his head but the top, and glasses perched on his nose. He was in a blue button up and slacks, and he looked, well. He looked fine, Bentley guessed. At least he didn’t look very mean.

Bentley drifted out of the doorway and stood near the wall so he wouldn’t be in the way.

All of the kids were in little cliques, talking to each other about summers and classes and comparing schedules. Bentley just sort of stood there, listening to them talk but not making any moves to talk himself.

A loud bell noise rang over the intercom, and Dr. Keene moved from his computer.

“Alright, students, listen up,” He announced, grabbing a piece of paper off of his desk. “When I call your name, say here, and I’ll tell you your seat number.”

Bentley fiddled with the straps of his backpack as he waited for him to begin speaking.

“Ashley Adams,”

“Here,” A small blonde girl with tight, coily hair replied.

Dr. Keene nodded. “Seat 17. Hugo Bronwyn.”

“Here,” This one was a boy with a brown bowl cut and a massive puffer jacket. Bentley hadn’t even worn a jacket — it wasn’t very cold.

“Seat 2. Neveah Bailey,”

“Here!” A rather excitable brunette girl bounced and held her hand up. She had about thirty bracelets on the her wrist.

“Seat 9.”

Bentley listened quietly as he called the students names, glancing at them when they said here.

“Asten Evans,”

“Here,”

Bentley jumped when a voice came from behind him. He hadn’t even known someone was standing back there, on the other side of the door. When he glanced back, he recognized the boy as the one with the cigarette outside. He had black hair that fell just past his ears and faded into a rich blue at the bottom. His skin was darker than Bentley’s, but not quite as dark as Damian’s, and he had piercing green eyes that looked sort of menacing. He was propped against the wall with a nonchalant, uncaring way about him, and his solid black backpack only housed a few pins with questionable symbols that may or may not have been weird band logos? He pushed himself off the wall with a quick sigh, and now that Bentley was closer to him, he looked a little bit older. Maybe even older than Damian.

“Seat 10,”

Bentley watched closely as Asten made his way to an empty trio of desks and sat down, letting his bag drop to the floor with a little pouf noise.

Dr. Keene went on naming kids off. There were a lot of girls in the class — more so than boys. There was probably double the amount of girls.

“Nico Rockefeller,”

“Here,” A hand popped up from behind a few other students, and they moved just the right way for Bentley to see a little dirty blonde boy. He was certainly small, though a little bigger than Bentley himself. He had ocean blue eyes that reminded him of Dick a little, and his bag was blue, too, with nothing on it but a rocketship and UFO keychain.

“Seat 11,”

Dr. Keene hummed in… annoyance, maybe? When Nico and Asten both chimed yes! as Nico slid into the seat across from the blue-haired boy. Apparently they were friends.

Bentley quietly wondered if he would meet any of Damian’s friends. Maybe he was in class with one, he wasn’t really sure. But he did snap back into reality pretty quickly when Dr. Keene called:

“Bentley Whittaker,”

He fought the urge to keep his mouth glued shut, and instead, forced out a little: “I’m here.”

Dr. Keene’s cold eyes wandered for a moment before they landed on him. “My, I almost didn’t see you over there. Seat number 12.”

He nodded slightly, glancing around at the big numbers on the desks. After a quiet moment, when Dr. Keene was already calling the next name, he spotted it: desk twelve was the third desk in the group with Asten Evans, the cigarette kid, and Nico Rockefeller.

Bentley stayed deathly quiet as he made his way over there, hanging his bag on the back of the chair and taking a seat in the desk. He didn’t dare make eye contact with either of his group members. He hadn’t exactly expected to be seated so close to other kids, in a group, he thought it would be more individual. Guess not.

“So, you’re Bruce Wayne’s new ward, huh?”

His eyes snapped up to Asten when he whispered that. The blue-haired-boy was staring straight back at him, head tilted slightly. He had a faint accent that Bentley thought he’d heard similar to before. He twisted his hands together in his lap and sucked in a breath.

“What… do you mean?” He sounded really young, talking to Asten. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe Asten sounded old?

Asten leaned back in his chair with a soft sigh. “It’s hard to miss Bruce Wayne rolling up to the school in his fancy car. Even harder to miss when a third kid gets out instead of the normal two.”

Bentley said nothing, but averted his gaze down to the top of the desk.

“What he means is-“ Nico sent a warning glance across the table to Asten. “-Hi, I’m Nico, and he’s Asten, the idiot. Bentley, right?”

He had a faint little smile that kind of reminded Bentley of Dick again, and he seemed a bit nicer than Asten. “…Yeah.”

Nico nodded. “Nice to meet you. How old are you?”

Bentley looked down at his lap. “Ten.”

“Wow, you’re probably the youngest in here,” The blonde replied, folding his arms on the desk. “I’m eleven. Jerkface over here is thirteen.”

Asten scowled at him over the desks. So, Bentley had been right about him being older than Damian. But what was a thirteen-year-old doing in a sixth grade class? Wasn’t he supposed to be in eighth grade?

“And that’s how you introduce yourself, idiot,” Nico grumbled. Asten rolled his eyes. For friends, they didn’t seem to be very nice to each other. But then again, it wasn’t very different from Dick and Jason’s relationship, and they were brothers.

“Sorry I don’t want to write a biography every time I meet someone,”

“Saying your name isn’t a biography,”

“If they want to know my name, they’ll ask,”

“That’s not polite,”

“Since when have I ever been polite?”

“You’re polite to my parents,”

“Yeah, because they already hate me, you dingus,”

Bentley just stared down at his desk and listened quietly. Being in a group with kids that he’d never met was already going to be a challenge, but being in a group with two boys that already knew each other was probably going to be even harder.

“They don’t hate you,”

“It’s straight pity that keeps me in their good graces,”

“It is not,”

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of adults I can make all sappy and weird,”

“I could because I’m with you when you do it, idiot. My parents don’t like you out of pity,”

“Whatever you say,”

“Alright,” Dr. Keene’s voice rang out through the room. Bentley hadn’t even realized everyone was seated until then. “I’m going to hand out a get-to-know-me worksheet, and that’s all we’re doing today. Talk quietly within your groups, make friends. Real classwork starts tomorrow.”

Bentley watched as he grabbed a file folder off his desk and came around to all the groups, dropping a page in front of each student. It was black and white with a big cartoon star with a smiley face in the top corner. Across the top it read, in a big, bubbly font: get to know me!

It was full of questions like what’s your favorite color? What’s your dream job? Do you play sports? Where do you live?

Bentley dragged a pencil out of the side pocket of his backpack and wrote his name on the name blank. The class went mostly quiet aside from a little bit of chatter. The first questions were easy. His favorite color was blue. His dream job, he guessed, would be a superhero, but he didn’t think he needed to put that. He wrote detective instead. He didn’t play sports. He lived in Wayne Manor. He paused on question five.

How many siblings do you have?

He blinked a few times. Technically, he didn’t have any, right? Or did he count his sister even though she was never born? Was he supposed to count the Waynes since he lived with them and Bruce was his guardian? He could’ve put zero. Or one, for his sister. Or eight, for Barbara, Dick, Jason, Cass, Tim, Steph, Duke, and Damian.

He glanced up toward the other boy’s papers, as if their number of siblings would somehow help him decide his own. Asten was writing with a red ink pen, and his number of siblings was zero. Bentley also managed to see that the where do you live question had been answered with a messily scrawled Crime Alley with a skull and crossbones drawn beside it.

Nico’s number of siblings was one, and said baby sister next to it. His where do you live question was answered with a neatly written Bristol.

It didn’t surprise him. Nico seemed to be more like Tim, and he was from Bristol, while Asten was similar to Jason, who was from Crime Alley.

Bentley was pretty sure Wayne Manor was in the Bristol area.

He kept quietly answering the questions, eventually just scrawling a zero next to the sibling question. Near the end of the class, Dr. Keene got up and did a little presentation about himself, his family, where he went to college, what he does outside of school, and so on. He was a photographer. A good one, Bentley thought, but not as good as Tim used to be. (Dick and Jason always thought it was funny to show off the pictures Tim took of Robin and Batman when he was little and call him a stalker. That’s how he found out their identities, following them around and taking pictures. Bentley had managed to see a few, much to Tim’s disdain, and they were actually very well done. Tim was in the age range of nine to thirteen when he followed the vigilantes around and took nice looking snapshots, and here Bentley was, ten and scared to even be at school.)

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be weird or anything, but why did you put zero on your siblings?”

Bentley glanced up at Nico, who was peering back at him in curiosity. Man, his eyes looked a lot like Dick’s.

“Dude, you don’t just ask someone that,” Asten grumbled, with an are you serious? look on his face.

“I just thought it was weird. Bruce Wayne has a bunch of kids,”

“A bunch of adopted kids, buckethead,”

“No, the one in the grade above us isn’t adopted. His last name is Wayne. Dimitri or whatever,”

“Damian,” Bentley corrected. Nico nodded toward him.

“Damian,”

“People can get their last names changed when they get adopted,” Asten argued. “There’s no telling if he is or isn’t, and it’s really none of your business.”

Nico sank back into his chair. “Sorry,” He said, but it was more aimed toward Bentley.

“…It’s okay,” He replied, tapping his pencil against the top of the desk. A few quiet moment passed before:

“Have you heard about all the missing people? It’s like half of Gotham is disappearing,”

Bentley glanced up at Asten when he spoke.

“Yeah. Freaks me out,” Nico replied.

Asten hummed. “The last person that went missing was a kid that disappeared from his house in Bristol, I think. He didn’t go here, though.”

Bentley knew that was true. It had been on Tim’s papers in the batcave.

Nico’s eyebrows nearly shot off of his face. “Dead serious?”

“Dead serious. Right, Bentley?”

Bentley didn’t know how Asten had learned that, or why he wanted his input. Tim said it was pretty quiet information, but he couldn’t really deny that he knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Yeah,” He replied softly. He remembered Tim saying the last person to go missing was a fifteen year old boy who lived in Bristol, not too far from the manor. Nico looked over and searched Bentley’s face for any sign that he was joking, and when there wasn’t any, he shuddered.

“I think I’m going to stay at your house tonight,” He murmured. Asten snickered.

“Dude, people go missing, like, every day in Crime Alley. I think you’re better off at home. Plus, your parents would literally die,”

Nico frowned. “I wish I didn’t ride the bus. It’s so easy to get kidnapped getting off a bus.”

A beat passed.

“You wanna ride the bus with me?”

Asten snorted. “Your house is literally the opposite direction to mine. You’ll be fine.”

Nico looked down at his hands and fiddled with the pencil in them. He seemed to be nervous now, kind of like Bentley. He wouldn’t want to take the bus, either, after hearing that.

“You wanna come home with me?”

“Nico,” Asten scolded lightly with a faint smirk. “You’re not going to get kidnapped, dude.”

“But my parents aren’t going to be home till six…” He trailed off.

“And you’re going to be fine until they get there,”

Nico went quiet.

“You’ve been living in Bristol this whole time and you haven’t gone missing. Bentley, too,” Asten stated, gesturing toward him. “Wayne Manor is in Bristol, isn’t it?”

Bentley shrugged. “I think so…”

“See?” Asten continued. Nico didn’t say anything, but kept messing with his pencil. “I’ve been in Crime Alley for about a year and I haven’t gone missing. You’re gonna be fine.”

Nico still stayed quiet, although he had that telltale expression that said he wanted to cry. Asten caught on.

“Dude, don’t-“

“I’m not,” Nico cut him off.

Bentley stayed quiet. Actually, they all went quiet, focusing instead on the papers in front of them.

Not a minute later, a bell came through the intercom again, and everyone started getting up.

Bentley picked up his backpack and put it on his shoulders. One uneventful class done, three more to go. And it wasn’t even that bad.

—

dedicated to @sassenashsworld 💚

—

tag list! (If you want me to remove or add you, ask in comments!)

@fleur-alise @sarcopterygiian @cademygod

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chasingmidnights · 3 months

Text

An Offshore Love - Part Three

Title: Rough Seas

Summary: An incident happens on The Jupiter, putting everything on hold.

Warnings: First, this is 18+, minors DNI! In this part warnings may include but not limited to: minor cursing; implied smut & groping; mentions of bad weather; mention of small explosions & fire; mentions of character injury; Ari Levinson (he’s a warning okay?); and I believe that’s it. I apologize if I missed anything but you are responsible for what you read and what you consume on the internet. I do not claim to be a professional writer, any and all mistakes are my own; nothing is beta read.

Wordcount: 2,183

Five weeks flew by for you and Jake while being on the Jupiter. Through that time period, you got a good feeling on what you would like to change and see happen on the rig. Also during that time, you and Ari found any chance you could to be together, there were a lot of late nights. However, at the start of your sixth week, you woke up with a not so great feeling and you couldn’t shake it. The weather had been awful the last couple of days and the waves were unforgiving. Any training was put on hold and the men who worked on the lines that were located on the ocean floor weren’t permitted to dive and be in the water. As you climbed out of bed, you could already hear the wind howling and it caused a shiver to crawl down your spine. You yawned as you tiredly stumbled around the room and you did your best to be as quiet as possible as you got ready. However, a knock at the bedroom door spoiled that for you and Jake jolted awake.

“I’m up, I’m up.” Jake said, still half asleep.

You couldn’t help but laugh a little bit before you answered the door. Before you could say anything though, the crew member simply handed you an envelope and then walked away. You opened up the envelope and as you read it, you couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved as Mr. Bodecker had canceled all the meetings for today. Your thoughts immediately went to Ari and how you wanted to spend your day but you were more than likely sure that he still had to tend to his duties. You practically jumped out of your skin when Jake spoke from behind you, you hadn’t heard him get up.

“What is it?” Jake asked with a yawn, thankfully not noticing you jump.

“All meetings are canceled.” You answered as you walked back into the room to finish getting ready.

A short while later, you and Jake had entered the cafeteria and the first thing you noticed was just how terrible the weather was raging outside through the giant window. You could hear just how hard the rain was coming down outside and you were thankful that you didn’t have to be out in it. From this point, you couldn’t see any waves but you could imagine just how fierce the waves were as they beat up against the sturdy, concrete leg. Another cold chill crawled down your spine and goosebumps formed all over your body as you continued to stare out the window, it was as if the weather was hypnotizing you.

“Kind of incredible isn’t it, Rogue?” Ari whispered into your ear from behind you.

“Very.” Is all you could manage to get out. Your main focus suddenly became the feeling of Ari’s warm breath that was now fanning over your ear and part of your neck, sending a different kind of tingle throughout your body. Thankfully, Jake wasn’t around and had already gotten in line for food, nobody needed to know or witness how this man made you weak.

“Meet me later?” Ari requested, his lips now brushing against your ear.

“Usual spot?” You inquired, it was crazy to you how you and Ari had a usual spot on this oil rig.

A small yelp escaped you as Ari slid his hand between your bodies and gave your ass a squeeze. “You know it, sweetheart.”

Oh how you couldn’t wait for later.

You were on your way to meet Ari when you passed by an office, you stopped to listen as the men inside talked about the upcoming weather.

“Geeze, it’s gonna be a rough week if this weather doesn’t subside.” One of the men said, groaning as he examined the monitors.

“Better let Bodecker know.” Another man said.

“Eh, let’s wait and see what happens. If it gets then we’ll tell him.” The first man said, brushing off the suggestion.

You groaned internally, this whole crew didn’t have a care about what happened to this oil rig, except for maybe a few.

A short while later though, any thought about the raging weather outside or anyone else on this rig disappeared as Ari took control over your mind, body, and hell, even your soul. You were in a state of euphoria and you felt like you were floating on the clouds. Your body had never felt such pleasure as Ari thrusted in and out of you. The room you and Ari occupied smelled of sex and sweat and to you, it was intoxicating. It was actually starting to become one of your favorite scents. You arched your back into Ari’s chest as Ari held onto you tightly, it was almost as if he didn’t want to let go or that he was afraid too. You didn’t mind though, you would gladly be his anchor.

As the two of you were starting to reach the final climax, Ari lifted his head up and the look in his eyes sent chills all over your body and it almost pushed you over the edge. Sure there was lust and passion in them, but there was also something else that was swirling in his ocean blue eyes that you couldn’t quite place your finger on. Ari continued to hold onto you tightly, bringing you as close as possible before he crashed his lips into yours and kissed you with so much passion. As he kissed you, his hips started to move again, hard and powerful as they snapped into you. You were so close and when Ari started to kiss and suckle on your neck, it didn’t take long for the coil to snap. His release followed not too longer after yours and the pair of you just laid there on the floor as you slowly started to come back to reality.

Your time together was cut short though as the rig started to shake from what sounded like an explosion. The two of you hopped up quickly as alarms started to go off. You glanced over at Ari and he was already half dressed and was already putting his shirt on. You hurriedly started to put your clothes back on as well, worry quickly filled your mind. You’ve never experienced anything like this before while on an oil rig.

“Ari, what’s going on?” You asked, panic laced your voice as you buttoned up your shirt.

“I think that’s the fire alarm, but I’m gonna find out what’s going on. Rogue, I want you to get somewhere safe, can you do that for me?” Ari requested as he turned to face you, grabbing ahold of your shoulders.

“Of course, but you’ll find me once you’re able to, right?” You inquired as you searched his eyes for reassurance.

Ari pulled you in for a kiss before he took off and was out of the room before you could properly respond. You left the room shortly after and did as Ari requested and found a safe place, you have never seen a rig in such chaos. Worry consumed your mind as you thought about Ari and anyone else who might be in danger as they tried to defuse this horrible situation.

You waited anxiously inside the mess hall of The Hub, bouncing your leg as you sat at one of the tables and your stomach churned as you sat facing the doorway so that you could see Ari as soon as he walked into the mess hall. Once you had left the room that you and Ari had been in, you were pretty much ushered to the hall and told to stay put until further notice. The sirens were still blaring as you waited for any kind of update. You couldn’t help but wonder if this was the bad feeling that you had this morning when you woke up. Surely there had to be some kind of news, all you really knew was that lightning had struck the flare stack in just the right place multiple times, causing a small explosion and fire.

“Here, it looks like you could use this.” Jake said as he offered you a cup.

You let out a small sigh before you accepted the drink. Your hands were instantly warmed by the hot beverage within the cup. “Thank you, Jake.”

“So, who is it?” Jake asked with a knowing look as he sat down next to you.

“What do you mean?” You asked him back, trying to act like you don’t know what he’s talking about; you could only hope it worked.

Jake scoffed before he took a drink out of his cup. “Come on, you’ve had your eyes glued to the entrance of the mess hall and don’t get me started on all of the nights that you come back to the room at three or four in the morning. So, who is it?”

You let out another sigh. “I promise, this doesn’t happen, like at all, in fact I even made a rule for no dating anyone while on the job. But there was something different about him.”

Jake nodded his head as he listened to you. “It’s Levinson, isn’t it?”

“How did you know?” You asked, a bit surprised that he had figured you out.

“You guys aren’t exactly subtle, but don’t worry, I won’t say a thing.” Jake said with a playful smirk on the corner of his mouth.

Before you could say anything, the rig shook again and a wave of uneasiness washed over you. Just then, Bodecker stomped into the room, his face was serious as he marched over to one of the supervisors. You waited with bated breath for them to finish talking and when they did, you immediately got up and jogged over to Lee as he was about to leave.

“Mr. Bodecker, is there any update? What’s going on?” You asked quickly, your words rushed.

Lee shook his head as he scratched the back of his neck. “Well, we got the fire put out, but one of the crew members got hurt in the process. Banged up his arm pretty badly.”

Your eyes grew wide with concern. “Who was it?”

A huff escaped Lee’s mouth, he was probably annoyed with you right now but you didn’t care, you needed to know who.

“It was Ari Levinson.” Lee finally said as he met your eyes.

Your stomach dropped when you heard Ari’s name come out of Lee’s mouth and you nearly fainted. No, it couldn’t be Ari, this was all some kind of cruel joke. Before you could even fully wrap your mind around what Lee told you, you took off running towards the direction of the infirmary. People called out to you to come back but you didn’t listen, you had to get to Ari. You felt like the energizer bunny as you ran through the corridors and you could feel the adrenaline starting to pump through your veins. When you finally got to the med bay, you frantically searched for Ari amongst a few others that had gotten injured. You sighed in relief when you finally found Ari in one of the medical beds and you placed a hand on your chests. He was alive and he was conscious. You slowly approached his bed and greeted him with a small smile.

“Oh my god, your arm.” You said as you looked at Ari’s arm that was now in a temporary cast and sling.

“That, it’s nothing. What are you doing here, Rogue?” Ari asked as he reached out his good hand towards you. “Not that I’m complaining.”

You took Ari’s hand into yours as you looked at him. “I heard you had gotten hurt and I had to come see you.”

“You’re too good for me, you know that?” Ari said as lifted your hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

You gave him a small smile as he kissed your hand, you were filled with so many emotions at this moment. You were relieved that it wasn’t a more serious injury and that Ari was going to be alright, you’re not sure what you would’ve done if it had been worse. As you looked at Ari, you realized just how deep you had gotten yourself in and at just how much you’ve compromised your position here, but honestly you didn’t care. Right now, all you cared about was that Ari was going to be okay. So, you found yourself leaning down and pressing your lips against his, not caring that the room was filled with people. It seemed like Ari didn’t care either as he immediately returned the kiss and placed his good hand on your waist. When the two of you pulled his good apart, you rested your forehead against his and took a few deep breaths. You knew you were about to face your own personal rough seas by getting involved with a worker, but right now, rough seas or not, you wouldn’t change anything at all.

#an offshore love mini series #an offshore love #part three #mini series #ari levinson mini series #ari levinson #ari levinson x reader #ari levinson x female reader #ari levinson fanfiction #ari levinson fandom #ari levinson au #roughneck!ari levinson #roughneck!ari levinson x reader #roughneck!ari levinson x female reader #chris evans characters #chris evans #chris evans fandom

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svfttachi · 1 year

Note

I just love you write so much it's really good 😊 also I have a request Yn ignoring Itachi bc he acted really possessive and overprotective bc she was with her best friend?!? How would he react and what would he do to make it up to her?!?

TYPE: Fem!reader, Angst with a light touch of Fluff, Non-Mass AU

WARNING(S): Minimal Violence

WC: 2088

NOTES: This one took a while for me to even get it started because I was having trouble figuring out a good plot point that goes along with the request. With that said, I don't feel like I did my best to go along with the request, but here it is! I hope you enjoy!

MISSIONS feel longer now than they used to be, and now, you usually come home all beaten to your core especially with the exhaustion crippling your limbs. So when you see the main village gates approaching down the straight, sandy pathway, you gleam with excitement at the mere thought of getting to lay down in a bed, your bed. It was not even too late in the evening as you could still see the sun peaking somewhat over the carved Hokage monument, and it seemed your stomach had other plans prior to getting the chance to finally relax.

Sighing, you began walking throughout the village, wondering what your little stomach desired the most at this moment. As usual, you managed to arrive at the small shack, home to the beloved ramen chef. You walked through the beige curtains and were greeted with large smiles from the main chef and his daughter.

“Ah, Y/N! How was your mission?” he asked, beginning to make your favorite meal. You approached the counter and took a seat on one of the stools, immediately planting your head into your crossed arms sitting on the counter. “Tiring… very tiring,” you muffled through the sleeve of your undershirt.

“One bowl of my special ramen is on its way up. Don’t you worry, Y/N, this will make you feel a lot more energized!” he exclaimed, making his way back to making the special meal.

As you waited, your head perked up at the sound of the stool next to you rubbing against the concrete ground. You looked at the face of the person sitting next to you, and it seemed like all the energy had suddenly surged through your limbs, forcing them to wrap around the able-bodied man. His laughter echoed in the small booth as he went to wrap his arms around you as well. Shortly after, you pulled away and pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear, taking in his mature look. The last time you had seen your best friend was when you two were still chunins in the same team, but ever since the both of you became jonins, you hardly saw each other to the point it had been years since your last interaction.

“Oh my… how have you been, F/N? It’s been way too long!” you exclaimed, widening your eyes at the man. “It’s been… to be honest, stressful. Aha, I miss being simple genins when life was just starting for us. It’s great to finally see you after all of this time, Y/N,” he responded, smiling from ear to ear.

“So much has changed throughout the years, F/N. I missed you, though. I still can’t believe you’re here. I always thought you might have gone to another division or something,” you spoke, smiling back at the man. “Nope, I’ve been here the same amount of time as you have. I find it funny how we meet again after all this time because both of us were craving ramen. Super typical of us,” F/N joked, earning a laugh from you.

“Ramen will always be our thing.”

He nodded since he agreed with that. The two of you continued to talk until the main chef brought out your meals, having been the same exact thing. It was a common thing between the two ever since your academy days where F/N couldn’t decide on what to eat, so you decided that the both of you just eat the same thing. He trusted your judgment, and because of that, this meal also became his favorite.

“One bowl of spicy chicken ramen, please,” a monotonous voice suddenly spoke from behind you two.

You were quick to notice who belonged with that voice, and when you turned, you acknowledged what you knew was right. Uchiha Itachi, dressed in a green flak jacket like yours, walked up to the two of you and sat on the empty stool beside you.

You slurped the remaining bit of noodles on your chopsticks and widened your eyes at Itachi. He must have come back from his mission earlier than you thought he was going to be, but that didn’t stop you from giving him a small hug. F/N looked at the two of you with a confused expression and a mouthful of noodles. “Oh… sorry. F/N, this is Itachi, my fiance. Itachi, this is F/N, my childhood friend,” you introduced the two men to one another.

“Nice to meet you. Man, a lot has changed with you, Y/N,” F/N commented with a light chuckle. As you joined in his laughter, Itachi practically began to glare at the man, squinting his charcoal eyes with every passing second.

“I always thought you and I would get together, honestly,” F/N added. The comment made silence overtake the once loving and happy atmosphere. Your eyes widened at the obvious confession coming from F/N, and you didn’t understand why he would blurt it out in front of your current fiance.

It didn’t brush off Itachi that easily, and it was clear he had gone beyond what he could handle. His once charcoal eyes transformed into his crimson red and cold Sharingan eyes, specifically forming a triangular shape. Itachi got up from his stool and fisted F/N collar, picking him up effortlessly and throwing him out of the booth. In a hurry, you quickly paid for the ramen and jumped out of your stool to attempt to stop Itachi from hurting F/N.

“I dare you to say that again, you imbecile. Y/N is with me, and never, in a million years, would she stoop to such a level with you. You think admitting that she possibly could have been with you would have changed anything? Y/N loves me, and I love her. Don’t come between us again,” Itachi fumed. He turned on his heels and gripped your hand, beginning to walk away from the mess, “Come, Y/N.”

All you could do was watch F/N cough to regain the function of his lungs on the ground outside of the booth. Once you and Itachi were a far distance away from the booth, you shook your hand out of his, forcing him to turn in your direction. You looked up into Itachi’s eyes and felt a chill run down your spine at the sight of his Sharingan still beaming with a furious, red tint.

“Why’d you do that?! F/N jokes. It’s what he does. Can you seriously not take a joke?!” you shouted, furrowing your brows at the man in front of you. “So you’re just going to let him say atrocious things about your relationship with him? It would have been one thing for him to say it privately to you, but he knew I was sitting right there yet the stupidity still came out of his mouth,” Itachi fired back angrily.

“That doesn’t give you the right to pick him up and throw him out of the booth. I could have very much handled that a lot better than you did. I can’t believe you did that! He’s my friend, Itachi. He was there for me before I even met you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to help him, if that is alright with you. Not that I needed your confirmation anyway,” you argued back.

You hurried your way back to help, leaving Itachi alone. Itachi sighed and ran a hand through his ravenous bangs that framed his face. At times, his overprotective qualities would come out at extensive lengths like they did just now, but either way, he would have still acted in the way he just did. Itachi would have appreciated not knowing what that man was thinking in his head whilst he was sitting in the vicinity. It didn’t make any sense for him to blurt it out right then and there when it was more a private topic of conversation.

Nonetheless, whenever his overprotectiveness got the better of him, Itachi would go sleep it off at his brother’s house since he usually couldn’t stand to see you after any incident where he grew out of control.

— — —

The next morning brought chirping birds to the windowsill of your bedroom, waking you up from your restless slumber. Rising from the comfortable mattress with your arms stretching in the air, you recalled all of the moments that occurred the night before.

It infuriated you whenever Itachi had those out of control tendencies of his because he was most certainly not himself in those moments. The Itachi you knew would be the most selfless, caring person ever to anyone on the streets. When you went back to F/N last night to help him up, the two of you talked about what he had spoken about and agreed mutually that it was a little out of turn. However, you didn’t let Itachi off the hook that easily because he handled the situation far worse than what a normal individual could do. So, you haven’t spoken to him since last night, and you knew he would be at his brother’s house to calm down after such events.

You threw your blanket off of your body and slid your feet into your comfy slippers, making your way out of the shared bedroom to wash up. Once you were refreshed and ready for the day, you exited the bedroom. Upon exiting the room, your nostrils captured the amazing scent of freshly cooked pancakes and the sweetness of syrup in the air. Usually, you would rush to the kitchen to embrace the man who cooked the scrumptious breakfast, but you didn’t feel like it today.

Arriving in the kitchen, you snatched a plate from the cupboard and grabbed a serving of pancakes with a dash of syrup all while avoiding eye contact with your fiance. Itachi stood at the gas stove, wearing his apron. He frowned at the sight of your back as you walked out of the kitchen. “Y/N, you forgot your tea,” he spoke out when he noticed the freshly brewed cup of tea forgotten on the counter.

When you didn’t respond or come back for it after a couple of minutes, Itachi finished preparing his share of breakfast and plated it. He took his own plate along with your cup of tea to the dining room where you sat in silence as you ate your food generously. Itachi set the cup in front of you, but you didn’t spare him a glance.

“Y/N?” Itachi spoke up quietly, hoping you didn’t suddenly lose your hearing. With no answer given to him, Itachi sighed and sat down opposite of you from the table, beginning to eat his own food.

After a couple of minutes, you had finished your food and were getting up to put your dirty dishes away. Itachi dropped his utensils and watched you walk away from the table. He left his food on the table, so he could get up and follow you. You were in the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes that were in the sink completely aware of the presence standing a couple of feet behind you. Itachi stood at a distance, silently watching you wash the dishes as he pieces together what he will say.

You finished the last dish and put it on the counter with the rest of the wet dishes. You dried your hands and turned around, looking up at your fiance.

“Y/N, I… I agree that my actions were unjustifiable. I shouldn’t have acted the way that I did, especially with the Sharingan activated. It was completely uncalled for, and I regret making those decisions. Y/N, what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry for taking things out of hand and for attacking F/N in the way I did. Please, talk to me, Y/N,” Itachi spoke up, walking a little closer to you.

You sighed and kept your eyes on his own. You can see the complete regret within the orbs that glistened in the bright, kitchen lighting. Itachi reached out to pick up your hand, letting your fingers intertwine with one another whilst keeping direct eye contact. Suddenly, you wrapped your arms around his torso, resting the side of your head against the top of his shoulder. Itachi reciprocated the action and brought one of his hands to the back of your head, keeping you close to his own body.

“It’s okay, Itachi. It’s okay.”

NARUTO MASTERLIST◂▸WRITING MASTERLIST◂▸NAVIGATION

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humming-pokemon-helpers · 8 months

Text

Hm... feeling good today, so how about another bit of a Pokémon psychology feature?

This time I want to talk a bit about... personality changes after evolution!

Now, everyone knows at least one example of Pokémon changing their temperament completely post-evolution. The most classic example of this is Gyarados, but even the most seemingly consistent lines, like the Pawmot line, wind up changing in temperament along the way, whether that's in gained confidence or simply maturity! Let's break down the "why" of this and what to do about it, noting that I'm focusing on the psychological effects of these processes, rather than the exact specifics.

While Pokémon can technically go their entire lives without evolving, and in some species, this is typical (often in species where evolution methods are suitably rare in the wild, such as Slowpoke), most species tend to evolve in relative step with their maturity in the wild. This means that evolution tends to be the cumulation of a big "developmental step", as it were! One that tends to involve three things: rapid brain development, rapid body development, and a dramatic change in what hormones the Pokémon's body produces. This can look very different from species to species: some calm upon evolution, having the new brain capacity to manage previously challenging powers, and others are overwhelmed by their new hormones and abilities!

Do remember, though: while some parts of evolution are stable within the species, others are influenced by your Pokémon's individual temperament, determined both through their genes and how you've trained them! A bolder Teddiursa will become a particularly bold Ursaring. A more mild Teddiursa will still show the protective and sometimes aggressive traits of an Ursaring on evolution, but they'll still have a soft side. And of course, they'll always have the memories of how well you've treated them along the way! And I promise, once you're past the fog of early post-evolution, those relationships do kick back in.

Now, for some tips! These overlap some with the tips I had for senior Pokémon on my last write-up.

Show them patience. Pokémon that are recently evolved might have frustrations in not just handling the rush of new neural connections and hormones, but quite often a totally different body! Given the circumstances, it's quite understandable if they don't feel like battling or taking to their usual routine for a while. Be sure to provide options for things they can do in the meantime, though!

If you can, introduce them to another evolved member of their species! Having a same-species mentor has been shown to greatly improve post-evolution behavior in Pokémon, both shortly after evolution and in the long term, since they have someone to direct their concerns to!

Another helpful option, if you can, is talking to a veterinarian and Pokémon behaviorist for a post-Evolution check-up. Not only does this ensure the evolution went through properly (mishaps are rare, but can happen!), but it also gives you a chance to ask about what behaviors might be new and normal. (Also, reading up on your Pokémon partner's species never hurts either. Just saying.)

Feel free to give a little extra reinforcement after training or other activities! Remember, evolution typically boosts a Pokémon's caloric intake by a lot. As long as you're rewarding in return for good behavior, bumping up the treats for a bit is okay.

To handle new negative behaviors, or old behaviors that are now negative due to evolution (I get it. It was cute when your Aron tackled you, but not your Lairon.), know that your strategies ought to vary based on the intelligence of the species you're working with. Sometimes it's better to ignore the negative behavior. Sometimes it's better to redirect into positive behavior instead. And in rare cases, you can explain it to them. Rare. Using concrete examples is best here; if something hurts you, for instance, clearly stating "Ow" as an immediate reaction.

Hopefully this proves helpful to somebody! Or at least, is entertaining enough you don't mind me ranting about it.

#pokeblogging #pkmn irl #//just a bit of headcanon stuff.

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bogleech · 2 years

Text

Don’t want to forget the elaborately comical dream I had just now so I’m making it a post even if that’s one of the least popular kinds of posts:

Swam with someone in a dark murky river to get to a little “island,” not even ten feet of swimming and the island was barely bigger than that, but we discussed how the river allegedly had a monster in it. We never believed it was a monster, but a thin grey ridge was sticking out of the water and circling us, which we just took to be the back of a whole ass sperm whale. It made me a little nervous even though we took it to be “sweet and gentle.” But, just then, I could see a pink river dolphin in the water, which was amazing. As I got my phone out to film it, it kept popping its head out of the water to snap at me and I realized it was actually a pink Icthyosaur. I still didn’t think this was a cryptid encounter, in the dream this was only usual because these animals aren’t supposed to live in Oregon. But then it very suddenly walked onto land and I realized this was a dangerous situation. Me and the other person (whose identity kept changing) ran up some concrete stairs that were suddenly on the island, but up the stairs? HIPPOS. The most dangerous animal in the world. As the icthyosaur began to figure out what stairs were we basically slipped down through the stairs to hang off the concrete lattice supporting them, just out of reach of any animals. We felt stuck until I remembered I could call 911 by swallowing a pill. I took the 911 pill and heard the call run through my head. Unfortunately it turned out to be the 911 dispatch for my old hometown, but they said they’d send someone anyway - it would just take more than a day or two for them to travel that far. This was very understandable to me and I was very sorry for being such a bother, calling from another state like that.

Suddenly it was night time however and all the animals were asleep. We climbed back to the ground, and were no longer on an island but inside a tremendous building, which I also thought was normal. It was night time now, after all.

There were lots of different doors and different kinds of walls and I knew this place was kind of the inspiration for my webcomics, but not as interesting as my webcomics; it wouldn’t have any silly monsters or anything, just facsimiles of real world things. I figured we could hide from the animals in one of the rooms so long as nothing dangerous was in it. The room we chose opened into a beautifully high-tech looking kitchen with blue LED readouts on everything, even the cabinets, which seemed like a great place to hang out! But I foolishly walked further through and found what appeared to be the rest of an extravagant modern house, and someone was coming in through the front door. I knew that either I had stepped into someone’s actual home by mistake or I had just triggered an “event” I’d be unable to stop. I knew it was the latter when the man on the other side of the door just kept saying the same word: “GARDEN????? GARDEN?????????” so I realized he was just one of the fake human entities of this unreality. He popped his head in and I pushed it back outside, only to find that the locks on the door didn’t function. I wasn’t too scared of him but I did worry he could be dangerous or at least bothersome. I peeked out the window and saw that, rather than an outdoor area, the other side of the door looked like the inside of a large, white, sunlit tent set up as a cell phone store. For some reason I tried flipping off the “GARDEN???” man wondering if that would deter him, but he kept trying to come inside.

I decided to leave but remembered the icthyosaur and the hippos, so I went further into the house, only to step into a huge department store full of shoppers. I worried these might also be hostile so I raised a hand to say “hi” to a passing woman. She had no idea what that gesture was and weirdly put her hand to mine, squinting to understand. This was awkward and I didn’t want this human-mimic entity to feel bad (it could set them off into hostile mode!!!) so I turned it into a high five. She still didn’t know what that was and I worried again this would trigger a possibly dangerous response in the dream people, so I did what I somehow knew would work to keep them friendly: I acted like I was one of them who had brought the concept of the high five back from an exotic vacation, and ran around teaching them high fives in a dramatic musical sequence. I can’t remember the song but it was very similar to “Jump in the Line” from the end of Beetlejuice.

They were all having a great time! But then the “GARDEN???” man showed up still running straight for me and saying “GARDEN???? GARDEN??????” I didn’t know if he was going to try to harm me, so I kept “in character” and made a big show of rolling my eyes and shaking my head, looking at everyone else like I was looking into the camera on a sitcom. Ridiculous of garden man to not do the high five song!!! All the other dream people followed my lead and kept up with the song, getting in his way or distracting him. I was a little relieved that their response wasn’t to rip him apart or something. You never know with these things and it’s not like he’d done anything wrong yet. I realized I was starting to wake up from a dream and felt proud of myself for gaming its system so well. It still didn’t occur to me that this made any of the prior events fake, and I already had it in mind to tell Tumblr all about the fun day I just had with the icthyosaur, so I hope you like this story for the sake of my idiot dream-avatar’s feelings.

#dreams

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voidwritesstuff · 3 months

Text

Long Way To The Truth

Cw:misgendering (accidental).

Summary: Lucas makes it to Colorado and helps a young kid with their identity.

->chapter 4: Colorado.

By Next morning he was already in Colorado, as he has breakfast in a small cafeteria, he thinks back on last night. In hindsight,he feels like he just pulled a Wheeler and acted as the guidance counselor of three 20 Year olds. And it didnt bother him one bit.

For lunch, he stops at a small family owned restaurant. Its really quaint with its ochre colored walls, the plants growing from the pots placed infront of the blue framed Windows.

He steps through the double Doors made of some dark brown wood, and the smell of spicy,home made food greets him. He relaxes a little, Rolling Back one of his shoulders instintctually to then take off his army baseball cap.

As he joins the line,he sees a young kid going out to take the trash that Belongs to the stablishment. They have long dyed purple hair in box braids, tied up by a yellow and white bandana, they drag the heavy trash bag as they walk down one of the back area halls, the door to said Hall is Open which is why Lucas can see the kid.

--Thanks son!--Says a male voice from the kitchen. The kid seems to scowl and mutter something under their breath before resuming their walk.

Lucas orders once its his turn, as he eats hes contempt to watch the news since hes written down his entry of the day during breakfast. The news show how in a few months,a New ship was going to be comissioned by Mayer, the SS Thanatos.

"Kind of an edgy name,isnt it " he thinks,munching down on his chili. The spiciness of it all Burning his tongue,but he doesnt seem to care." Though, its interesting,why would mayer comission a New ship? What are they bringing?".

Hes quick to Scribble down his thoughts on his Journal in a small spot between his Many little doodles he had done during a particular terrible traffic jam on the way here.

--Ive told him so Many fucking times-- he hears the kid from before say-- its not- its not son,goddamnit-- Lucas perks up at the voice,filled with anger and sadness. Theres this look in their eyes of feeling misunderstood.

He watches them walk away and outside the restaurant through that Hall they went down earlier. Theres a slight suspicion in his mind as to what the kids discontent had to do with, bit he knows its none of his business.

"This ain't a song for the broken-hearted

No silent prayer for the faith-departed

I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd

You're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud"

As the News didnt show anything interesting after a while, the owner changed the channel to MTV. Where Bon jovi's "its my life" was playing.

Lucas drums along to the rythm of the song as he walks out of the restaurant. He gets approached by the owner of the restaurant,tall,dark skin and warm brown eyes, he looks worried.

--Hey,Sir. Excuse me- have you seen my son? His-their name is Juniper-- he asked,cleaning his sweaty hands on his apron-- about yay high,purple hair?

It takes him a moment to pinpoint the kid as he puts on his army baseball cap-- uh yeah, why?

--Hes been missing and he hasnt been replying to my calls-- he explains-- he seemed a little annoyed and I wanted to ask him where he was

Always the Smart one, the ex soldier nodds-- yeah,saw 'im by the parkin' lot-- he replied ,gesturing to the opposite side of where the kid had actually gone. The Dad runs away in a panic, and he takes that opportunity to go the actual way the kid left.

He knows he shouldnt have lied,but from experience he knew that sometimes parents would make things worse. And it looks like Wheeler rubbed off of on him because hes on his way to adopt yet another child.

Now that the owner wasnt there,nobody paid him any attention as he snuck into the Hall that the kid left through, it leads down an empty sort of backyard. Theres a small half broken concrete wall that seemed to be the wall that acted as a barrier to a previous,smaller, Back yard and the outside world.

Through the cracks and missing chunks of the wall,he can spot a set of purple hair blowing in the passing breeze. He sighs inwardly and tries to channel Wheeler as he leans on the Fallen wall and says.

--Yer dad's lookin' for ya

The kid gets startled, throwing a small pebble sized Chunk of Fallen wall towards him. He barely ducks out of the way and adds-- nice aim

--Who are you and what do you want?--The kid asks, pressing their knees against their chest. Their locks fall to cover half of their face since the bandana is no longer restricting them.

--'m the guy who told yer dad to go the other way so he didnt piss you off further

The kid looks at him and then looks away, growling-- good. I wouldve ripped his face off.

--Can I at least ask whats pissin' you off before I leave you alone? You look like yer either gonna hurl a piece of debrie at yer old Man or break down cryin'

--You wouldnt get it-- they reply,looking away

--kid, you'd be surprised at the ammount of shit ive seen. Try me

The kid sighs loudly and gets ready to throw another pebble sized chunk. But its not at Lucas, he throws it at a nearby tree stumpt And misses it by an INCH.

--So...so i dont really feel like a boy,or- or a girl-- they start, grabbing another pebble-- I asked my folks recently if they could use well- gender neutral words for me- but they Keep forgetting, especially my dad

"It's my life, it's now or never

I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive"

God,how loud was the TV? He could hear it all the way from here.

Lucas nodds,folding his arms over his chest-- n 'm guessing thats what pissed you off?

They nodd-- its not that hard-- They followed up-- and it hurts when they dont do it- I call 'em ma and pa but they cant use the words I like?

--I get that kiddo-- he replied,looking at the tree stumpt,littered with previous atrempts of hitting it. His eyes narrow as he calculates the distance between them and the stumpt.-- parents can take a while to accept New things 'bout their kids

--How would you know?--his companion asked, throwing the pebble and missing,again,by an inch.

--well,kid-- the ex soldier grabs a pebble and throws it at the stumpt, hitting it dead in the middle--im Bisexual,and a soldier with PTSD,from a family of soldiers who also had....issues . So I'd get it

When the kid sees Lucas hit the stumpt,they look up at him and ask-- HOW DID YOU DO THAT?

he chuckled-- permission to approach?

--Uh,permission granted--They followed along with the joke,a small excited smile.

Lucas sits with them and grabs another pebble,handing it over. Now up close he can see that their eyes are puffy and a little red,and he softens his gaze-- keep your pulse steady-- he starts,showing them how to fix their aim.

His companion tries again and they hit the stumpt dead in the centre. They look all happy and they smile wide.

--Yknow,your old Man worried about you. Even corrected himself when he messed up your pronouns. -- the ex soldier added as the kid tried again.

--did...did he?--They ask,Setting down the pebble.

--Yup, do you go by juniper?

They nodd enthusiastically-- he even remembered my name?

--Yeah

Juniper smiled and stood up, all happy and with a Pep in their step. Lucas noticed the bon jovi black shirt and raised an eyebrow internally. They tie their yellow and white bandana around their purple hair and dust off their black shirt, they flap their hands a little.

--'m gonna talk to him-- they said,walking past Lucas.

--Hey kid, just one thing. Tell yer dad that it makes you feel bad when he doesnt use the right words. Otherwise he wouldntve known I think, but also know that not all parents Will understand New things

The kid puts their hands inside their pockets-- and what If he doesnt understand?

--Well...-- he trails off and points to the air,as if hes pointing at the music hanging on the breeze.

"It's my life

My heart is like the open highway

Like Frankie said I did it my way

I just wanna live while I'm alive

It's my life"

--I dont like the idea of my dad not understanding though-- Juniper adds, looking a little concerned. Their eyes go to the entrance of the Hall that they came out of.

--i understand but ive realized that well, if it makes you happy then its worth it. Parents be damned-- Lucas stands up,holding Back a wince as his back stings a little. But he manages and leans on the wall-- hell,im drivin' all the way from Florida to Washington

--Why would you do that?--his companion asked-- thats kinda weird --Theres a brief silence and they add-- right,because it makes you happy

--'m tellin' you this cuz when I was your age,I wouldve liked to know that i dont--he makes a pause,hands going to the dogtags around his neck-- that I dont need other peoples approval to be enough.

Juniper nodds,to then perk up as they hear their dad calling out for them-- thanks -- they reply, glancing Back at the ex soldier-- hey by the way,if you go all around over there-- he points at to where Lucas' Back is facing-- youll come out the other way. Just so my dad doesnt think anything weird if he sees you with me

He nodds-- ten four,much obliged-- he tips the visor of his cap like a cowboy would, making the kid laugh at his slight weirdness before leaving for the restaurant.

Lucas goes back to his van through the way the kid told him, and just as he hops into his vehicle, through the outside mirror he sees Juniper and their dad talking. The kid seems dead serious as they talk to their old Man,who nodds and gives them a big hug.

--There we go,happy thoughts kid-- he mutters,seeing a little of his past in the way the father and the kid hug things out. Whenever he would get into dumb arguments with Wheeler,they'd talk it out and hug it out.

He clears his throat,Trying to not get sappy this early in the day,and so he continued his merry way through Colorado.

Switching the radio on, he hears.

"This is for the ones who stood their ground

It's for Tommy and Gina who never backed down

Tomorrow's getting harder, make no mistake

Luck, it ain't enough, you've got to make your own breaks"

But as he drives he notices something in the rearview mirror,a black SUV following along a few cars away. He squints and decides to take an alternative Route he had mapped for ocassions like this.

Thankfully,he does lose them and by nightfall, he stays on a small inconspicuous motel on the outskirts of the state of Utah. Keeping an eye out on his van and resting in between watches

#in sound mind #ism #ism lucas #lucas cole #ism lucas cole #ism character study #in sound mind lucas cole

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