#I put way more effort into this than I meant to so now I'm worried that it looks overworked

[traumxrei-archive]

【 death scares 】

prompt #6: Oh, Great Seven, he thought they were going to die. Please don’t ever scare him like that again (ft. sebek zigvolt, jade leech, leona kingscholar)

gn! prefect (you/yours), drabbles, word count: 1.6k

a/n: hello, i finished my research proposal so i have time before my next deadline to post this >:DD it's angsty asf, but i made sure that it was hurt/comfort so dw i gotchu guys ^^

Sebek Zigvolt

Sebek wasn't someone who usually got scared. He knew better than to succumb to such feelings that all but interfered with one's ability to act. It was one of the things he learned when he was training to be one of the Young Master's guards.

But when he saw you dangling from a broom midair, Sebek felt all the hairs on his arms raise. You were barely holding on, and he could see everyone shouting in alarm from where you were.

If you fell, then you would...

Sebek gritted his teeth, "Give me one of your brooms, humans!" His voice boomed over all the commotion, turning heads.

The person nearest to him stuttered, "But brooms are only meant to hold one perso—"

"Does that matter?" Sebek grabbed the broom out of the other's hands. "If you don't do anything, that human is going to fall!"

He hopped onto the broom, flying to where you were before shouting, "Human! You need to let go and get on my broom!"

"I can't!" You cried, your arms shaking with effort. "You'll get hurt, Sebek!"

"Human, I am ten times more durable than you," Sebek said as calmly as he could, bringing his broom closer to yours. "If I fell from this height and got hurt, it'd be an insult to the Young Master!"

"Sebek!"

"What is it?"

"Promise you won't get mad?"

"I can't," Sebek watched as your fingers started to slip. "But I'll promise we won't fall."

It was at that moment when you fell. He felt his broom shift under your weight, and he strained to reinforce it with magic.

But you were here.

You were safe, and that was all that mattered to Sebek. He could feel the pounding of your heart against his back where you clutched onto his uniform.

"What were you thinking?" Sebek ranted, his anger finally surfacing as they made their way to the ground. "Human, I'll have you know that you could've died or been seriously injured!"

"Not only that," Sebek turned to face you. "The fact that— You're...crying...?"

You held on to one of his sleeves, the tears dripping onto the grass below, "I'm s-sorry, Sebek, I didn't mean to...to do that, it just—"

Sebek sighed, resting a hand on your shoulder, "It is alright. You are safe now, human, I was just—" Worried...? Worried? The Sebek Zigvolt, worried about a mere human? But really, who was he kidding? You weren't just a mere human to Sebek, were you?

"I didn't want to see you hurt, is all," He finished lamely. And he could see your eyes sparkling— this time not with unshed tears. Great Sevens, what kind of feeling was currently strangling his heart? Was it...fondness?

Sebek felt his ears warm, quickly brushing off the blooming feelings in his heart, "I-It would be best to get your hands checked out, I shall take you to the nurse!"

You smiled at that. A small smile, but to Sebek it meant the world. He continued on, rambling about broom safety as he led you to the infirmary. If it meant that you were smiling and not crying anymore, then Sebek would more than gladly fill up the silence with his voice.

Jade Leech

Of all the things to happen today, he didn't think watching you put yourself in mortal peril was going to be one of them. Jade swallowed, trying to clear the stuffy feeling that seemed to sufuse his whole body.

He was waiting for you outside of the infirmary, the initial shock after the accident having finally subsided. Still, he couldn't get the picture of your body lying prone on the ground out of his mind.

"It was due to incorrect ratios," The nurse had said. "The alchemy potion had turned into a potent airborne poison. And if you had arrived any later..."

Jade didn't want to think about that part.

But soon enough, the nurse called him in. As he walked up to your bed, he couldn't bring himself to speak first. You weren't watching him, clearly focused on trying to open your water bottle.

"Let me," Jade's voice escaped him, and he saw your eyes widen when you saw him. He opened the bottle, handing it back to you without another word.

"Thank you."

Jade didn't know what else to say, his eyes following you as you drank. His mind brought back the image of you being unnaturally still. It was morbid. The thought made him sick, yet he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Jade-senpai," You met his gaze and he felt his throat constrict. "Are you...mad at me?"

Jade felt his lips twitch, "Why, pray tell, would I be mad?"

"I...I'm sorry, I wasn't being careful enough," You bit your lip, and he couldn't bear to be upset with you any longer. He sighed, taking a seat beside you.

He very slowly slipped off his glove, talking all the while, "Next time you find yourself having to do an alchemy assignment alone, do invite me."

"But you're busy," There was clear hesitation in your voice, even as his hand tentatively held yours.

"Kind to a fault," Jade said shakily, feeling unsteady now that he could feel the warmth of your skin against his own. "There's no need for that. Your safety is more important, and I would gladly spend time with you. At least next time take one of your friends with you just...just in case." Jade pressed his lips together. He didn't mean to nag. He didn't mean to talk much at all, but the sight of you pried all his feelings out him so effortlessly. He really couldn't win against you.

And like you knew exactly what he wanted to hear, you smiled, "I'm okay now. See?" Your palm cupped over his, bringing his fingers to rest against your neck. And sure enough, he could feel your pulse thrumming under his fingers.

Jade closed his eyes before opening them again, "Right. Now then, I will be overseeing your recovery from now on." He clapped, his magic swirling through the air to tug your blankets into a more acceptable state.

"Wait, what–"

"I'll contact your friends to let you rest for now."

"No, senpai, wait–"

"Surely you aren't objecting to rest, Prefect?" Jade smiled as politely as he could and he watched as you shuddered. "After all you almost di–"

"I'll be in your care then," You huffed, before patting his arm. "Just make sure you don't over do it."

"I won't. I'll be taking very good care of you."

Leona Kingscholar

"The Prefect got into an accident."

Leona couldn't understand how those words filled him with such dread. He couldn't even wait for Ruggie to finish, he was already rushing to the infirmary.

What did Ruggie mean by you got into an accident? What kind of accident was it? Were you okay? Sevens forbid that you were...

Leona gritted his teeth as he arrived. Irrational anger and worry wasn't like him. He took a deep breath, schooling his emotions before knocking on the door.

"Kingscholar," The nurse acknowledged. "To what do I–"

"The Prefect."

"...Right," They nodded before leading him toward where you were. The curtains were drawn and he couldn't...see you. "Don't do anything too rash."

Leona nodded, drawing back the curtain. His stomach dropped at the sight of you, your head wrapped up in bandages, and plasters covering your arms and legs.

You were awake, and you blinked as he stood there, "Leona-senpai..."

Leona heaved out a harsh breath, sitting at the edge of the bed. He didn't know what to do. Not when that ugly mix of anger and worry was bubbling at the base of his throat. Instead all he did was stare, as if any second an ugly red would mar the bandage on your head.

"I, uhm," You spoke first, your head turned downward. "It wasn't anyone's fault. We...had some rain at Ramshackle, and it leaked inside... The staircase, it... Ramshackle's old, so..."

"You're telling me the staircase fell in on you?" There was a surprised look on your face as he spoke. Even he couldn't understand the flatness of his voice.

"I...yeah," You clenched your fists. "Grim's okay, he was at the foyer when it happened, but..."

"So you almost died," At your nod, Leona felt the anger morph straight into fear. Died? The herbivore? You almost died?

He scowled at the thought as he pried your hands from the sheets, "Stop that. You're gonna make your injuries worse." His eyes met yours, and he could see the fear there too— in the way you trembled despite the day being warm.

"Herbivore..." He muttered before moving closer to you. He was mindful of your bandages as he held you, trying to ease your shaking.

"I was scared," You murmured into his shoulder. "I thought that it was the end, and—"

"You're here now," Leona soothed, and he wasn't sure who he was trying to comfort. "You'll be alright, herbivore." You pulled away with a weak smile and it took all of Leona's self control not to pull you back to him.

He sighed, hanging his head, "You...you drive me crazy. Really, do I have to cast protective spells on you to keep you safe?"

Your hand settled over his, "I won't object if you do. It might come in handy sometime."

"That's not the point. And you should sleep," Leona gently pushed you against the pillows. "How are you gonna get better enough to ask Crowley for more budget if you don't rest?"

"And..." Your voice was quiet; inquisitive. "You'll stay?"

"I wasn't planning on leaving," Leona braced his head against his arm. "Now sleep." That seemed to appease you, and soon enough, he could hear the steady sound of your breathing fill the room. And in the quiet of the room, Leona vowed never to let you fall into danger again. Not if he could do something about it.

ty for reading the hurt/comfort !! i hope that it uh, appeased your angst chasing for now, and if you'd like to read more of my stuff, check out my masterlist <3

#/trau writes #sebek zigvolt #jade leech #leona kingscholar #sebek zigvolt x reader #jade leech x reader #leona kingscholar x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twisted wonderland #angst goes brrrr #sorry y'all i like whump too much

[jpitha]

Voiding The Warranty

Lauren was running back and forth across the ship, searching for something.

After a demi-cycle of this, Captain Shimmering Heat finally called her over her personal comm. "Lauren? What is it you're doing? You are running around like we're under attack from a Gren Warfinder and yet we're just cruising."

Lauren looked up and toggled her comm. "Sorry Captain, I'm looking for my toolkit, I could have sworn I left it in Engineering but it's not there."

Captain Shimmer made a noise over the comm that translated to something near to surprise and amused resignation. Lauren wasn't their first human. "Why do you have your own toolkit Lauren? What's wrong with my tools?"

"Oh Captain Shimmer, I know that you provide the crew with everything they need to keep this ship running smoothly. My tools are a little different."

"Different? You're telling me human tools are different?"

Lauren rummaged around in a closet until she found was she was looking for. "Ah. Found it. Why was it in the cleaning closet? Oh well, no matter. Come on down to the engine room Captain Shimmer if you want to see what I'm working on."

A few millicycles later, Captain Shimmering Heat came into the engine room. They tended to stay out of the engine room. It's not that they weren't allowed to be there - they were the Captain after all, technically the ship was theirs for the duration of the contract - it's more that... they weren't... allowed to be there. As they passed through the pressure door, a few people in the engine room looked up and frowned. Lauren saw them though and waved. "Come in Captain Shimmer! Come here!"

Seeing that Lauren invited them, everyone put their head down and went back to their work. Shimmer came over, their claws clattering quietly on the deck plates. As they approached, they didn't see Lauren, but they rounded a corner and came across a stack of equipment in pieces with Lauren under it. Their feathers rippled in worry. "Lauren! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Captain." Lauren's muffled voice came from much deeper inside the machinery than Shimmer thought possible. "In fact, I'm better than fine!"

"Oh? Why is that?"

Lauren slid out from under the machinery. It turned out she was on a small, flat wheeled plank. It rattled as she slid herself out. Sitting up, she wiped... something from her hands with a rag tucked into her pants. "Because, I figured it out!"

Shimmer's face feathers began to slowly puff out, making their face look larger than normal. It was an ancient predator/prey response, meant to frighten attackers millions of years ago. "Figured what out?"

"This whole trip, I've been feeling like the engines have been sluggish. I know using FlashWarp isn't as fast as a Flip drive, but I figured it wouldn't be that bad. But, it sure seems like we're moving even slower than normal!"

Captain Shimmer opened their beak to deny it and then stopped. Actually... things did seem like they were going slower than they should. "Okay Lauren. I did feel like our last two warps were slower than they should have been. We were only a cycle behind though, so I wasn't worried. What did you find?"

Lauren stood. She was about one head taller than the captain and had a tendency to loom. One of the braver crewmates told her about it though and she now made an effort to take a half step back when she spoke. "I found all sorts of things! First I didn't know what I was looking at, so I went back and got the design docs and-"

"Wait, you opened up the engines without knowing what you were doing?"

Lauren waves her hand dismissively. "It's fine, it's fine. I didn't touch anything... important... that time. Anyway, I dug up the design docs and noticed - hey Captain, when was the last time you had the engines overhauled? I think they're way overdue."

Lauren had a habit of jumping from topic to topic as what she called her 'train of thought' brought her from point to point. She was able to keep on tasks for the most part, but if she came across an interesting or 'fun' problem, it was all Shimmer could do but hang on while she bounced around. "Uh, I don't think it's been done since I was issued the Star Leaf. Why? How often should it be done?"

Lauren's eyes went wide. "Way more often than that. According to these-" She swung a pad around and Shimmer caught a glimpse of engine diagrams "-a clean cycle is supposed to be run after every kilocycle and a full teardown every five kilocycles. How long have you been captain?"

"Uh... eight kilocycles."

"We're way overdue then. That might explain some of what I found. Hmm" Lauren looked off into the middle distance. Shimmer was used to this too, and usually gave her a few moments to come out of her reverie on her own before they gently prodded them. "Uh, Lauren?"

"Oh? Captain Shimmer! Right right, the mods!"

"The what?"

"Mods! I modded the engine. Since it's been so long since we've had an overhaul and it gets completely taken apart, I figured it was fine to do some light warranty voiding and see if I can claw back some performance."

"Warranty... Voiding?"

Lauren nodded, then looked at Shimmer's confused expression. "Uh, Human Thing I guess. When we sell machinery to each other usually it comes with a Warranty. Something that says that for X days or X amount of use, if it breaks prematurely we'll either replace it or pay to fix it, provided-" She raises a finger "-we don't mess with it ourselves first. They don't want to fix it for free if we were the ones who broke it."

Shimmer's tailfeathers ruffle, a nod. "Okay, I understand, but wh-"

"Oh, it's a joke mostly. I have a feeling that only engine techs get in where I was, I was pretty far inside. I spent the last few demicycles reading up on FlashWarp theory and I think that I can get a few more kilolights out of your performance. In fact, I just finished so we can try it out!"

Shimmering Heat looks helplessly at the pile of tools and access panels on the floor. "But you said that you needed your toolkit?"

"Oh yeah, needed my voltmeter. I found it though, and was able to verify the current."

"But... the mess?" Shimmer's voice sounded resigned.

Laurent looked back and seemed to see it for the first time. "Oh, we'll leave it like that and run it with the covers off. If it works, I can button it up."

"And if it doesn't work?" Shimmer feared Lauren's reply, but found themselves unable to stop.

Lauren looked at Shimmer and was about to answer and saw them practically shaking. "Oh Captain. I wouldn't do anything to risk the ship or the crew. Worse comes to worst, it won't do anything. As I see it, there are three options for what will happen. One, nothing. That's pretty unlikely, but still possible. Two, it'll work the same as before. That's the most likely to be honest. In that case, I'll revert the changes and button it up. Three, it'll work better! We'll be able to make up lost time and get to our destination faster. Come on, let's try it out."

Captain Shimmer knew they were within their rights to order Lauren to put the engines back the way they were and continue on with their mission. Captain Shimmer also knew about how humans tend to have 'an idea' and suddenly they have their Flip drives, or they do something that makes no sense and then they run their gravity generators as thrusters. He knew all this an signed on a few humans anyway.

"Admit it." They tell themselves. "You hoped that this was going to happen. It's why you hired humans and let them have more or less free rein over the ship. You wanted them to tinker. If they make real improvements, you can submit them to the Coalition and if they're adopted you get a yearly bonus."

Shimmering Heat remembers their childhood. They were one of many nestmates. Their familial unit worked hard to provide, but there were many cycles where they went hungry. If the human's work paid off, they would get a bonus and be able to help his nestmates who still had trouble.

More importantly, they would be remembered.

"Okay Lauren. Let's try it out."

Shimmer lead Lauren up to the Command Room and bade her sit in a spare seat. Captain fluffed themselves and sait in the command chair. Here. Here is where things felt more certain, more sure. "Helm, plot a warp to Station 754, best speed."

"Yes, Captain Shimmer. Plotting. Please wait while the navacomputer works."

"You know Captain, I bet we-" Lauren starts.

"One thing at a time Lauren. I know about humans and their propensity to make computers faster."

Lauren wisely keeps quiet.

A short time later, the navigator calls out that a navigation solution has been found. Captain Shimmer turns back one more time to look at Lauren. She sticks both of her hands forward, fingers curled up except her inner, shorter thicker digit, which are pointed straight up. Sighing, Shimmer turns back to Helm. "Warp."

What happens next did actually make it into the history books, though not quite for the reasons that Captain Shimmer wanted.

Star Leaf leapt forward through the rainbow colored, prismatic gate that opened in front of them, and they warped. In much less time than anticipated, they exited the warp. Captain Shimmer, surprised at the lurch, looks around. "Sensors! Where are we? Engineering! How is the engines?"

The helmsperson looks up, shaken. Their fur fully bristled in fear. "Captain... we're at Station 754."

"What?" Of all the outcomes that Captain Shimmering Heat could have anticipated, that was not one of them.

"Confirmed. Station 754 has opened a channel and is asking how we got here so fast."

The comms clicked. "Uh, Captain. This is Engineering.... You should come and see this."

Captain Shimmer turns to leave. They look to call Lauren with them, and her seat is empty. Figuring that she went ahead, they leave the Command Room. They make their way across the ship in a daze, as everyone aboard looks out the windows in amazement or fear as they realize that they have made five cycles of travel in a millicycle.

Chief Ham'itar is standing at the pressure door as Shimmer approaches. His polished, lacquered claws slide in and out of their hands, a stress reaction. "You.. you have to see this."

He leads Shimmer towards the engine that Lauren was working on and...

It's beautiful.

The entire engine is covered in the prismatic light of a FlashWarp field. It's just... sitting there, glowing, pulsing slowly.

Shimmering Heat looks at Ham'itar and says nothing.

"No, that's not normal captain. Well, okay, when we execute a particularly good FlashWarp, some old engineers say that the engines glow with a prismatic light, but only for an instant, less than the swipe of a membrane. No time at all. This-" He points a laquered claw at it accusingly "-this is Not Normal."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Long term? No idea. Currently? Doesn't seem to be. Everything I can throw at the engine says it's perfectly fine. Better than perfect actually."

"Where's Lauren? I want to ask her about this."

"Who?"

Shimmer slowly looks away from the engines and stares at Ham'itar, all their feathers completely fluffed out. "Lauren Ingram, our human Engineer. We took her on back at that Orbital around Lemmin."

Ham'itar shakes their head, their fur moving with a slight delay to their head. "We don't have anyone like that aboard, Captain. We looked into taking on a couple humans on Lemmin, but I didn't like the look of any of them, we passed on them all. Besides, I wouldn't let anyone tinker with the engines enough to make this happen.

Shimmer involuntarily backs away from the engines, towards the door. "Captain?" Ham'itar looks at Shimmer curiously as they turn and run full speed out of the engine room.

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #sci fi writing #humans are space oddities #humans and aliens #humans are space capybaras #humans are space australians #jpitha #writing #FlashWarp

[blakeswritingimagines]

The Vow

Summary: Being married to the rouge prince was no easy task at least most thought so, being his wife and best friend did nothing but make everyday of your life better and better....until you forget all about him

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the House of The Dragon/Fire & Blood characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used nor do I claim to own them.

Word count: 4.4k

You softly groaned as you stretched in the large bed that had enough room for what might be a small feast, until you rolled over onto your other side and slowly opened your eyes seeing your husband who was often nothing but a brute cuddled up to your side also slowly waking up which caused you to smile to yourself. Lightly dragging your fingertips across his pale skin taking in the slow tender moment before your days were started even if you knew you could go see him throughout the day.

He felt your fingers on his skin and stir, his eyes remaining shut as he leaned in slightly and bury his face in your neck. Scenting your skin, he savours your presence while he still can, before eventually opening his eyes. "Hello." He nuzzled your shoulder. Daemon smiled as your fingers traced his skin. It was a soft way to wake up, rather than the way he was normally woken up. He rolled his hand around searching to take your hand in his own. "We could stay here like this, you know." Daemon spoke softly to you, his hand tracing your face.

Feeling your eyes flutter shut at your husband's tender touch not able to help the smile that brightened due to his words, shaking your head knowing as much as you loved to stay put in his arms wasting the day away together you knew you both would be far to busy and everyone would never let up about needing something from one or the other "I love the way you think my darling, you know I'll be around when you need attention just come simply find me." Daemon sighed, knowing you were right. He rolled on top of you, giving you a kiss upon your lips. "Oh don't you worry, my love, your Daemon will find you wherever you are." He spoke in an amusingly formal tone, his hands now moving down your body.

Wrapping your arms around his shoulders smiling up at him, kissing him back softly as you enjoyed the feeling of his firm lips against your own then smiled at his words "I know you will...you always do my Daemon". Giving him another sweet kiss on the lips as you felt his rough hands move across your body before you slowly pushed him up as you sat up "I'm not falling for another five minutes today my love." Daemon laughed slightly at your tease but he was still slightly on the offensive. He pushed you back down to the bed and laid next to you. "You sure? Seems to me like you're enjoying this very much." Daemon spoke with a bit of a smirk on his face, his eyes tracing your bare body. I am a lucky man. He thought.

You sighed playfully as you were forced to lay back down as you looked up at him, nodding your head happily as you cupped his face in a delicate manner "I always enjoy being with you, but we're meant to be busy today my darling". Doing your best to not wrap your arms around him and simply go back to sleep as you attempted to sit up once more. Daemon sighed slightly but made no effort to hold you down this time. Instead he leaned over you once more, planting a soft kiss on your lips once more. "Fiiiine, my love." Daemon said in a playful tone, before leaning back and rolling over to get dressed. "I suppose I should probably get out of this bed…I'm sure that our duties have been waiting too long." Daemon spoke, as if the prospect of dealing with all of his affairs was already a headache.

Laughing as you kissed him back once more before finally getting up and getting dressed, working like a well oiled machine along side of him as he helped you tighten your gown before you tenderly helped him get dressed after being married for so long neither of you saw need for servants anymore. gently cupping his face in your hands as you smiled then pulled him close as you placed kisses all over his face only ending with placing a kiss on his forehead "Only for a few hours I promise love, I believe you can handle that much." Daemon laughed as you kissed him all over and placed one upon his forehead. "I suppose I can handle it, but only if I get to return here when we have some time." He said with a sly smile, his hands still resting on you. Daemon loved being married to you, and he would want nothing more than to spend every waking moment of his life with you, but for now he needed to return to his duties. Perhaps you can help me with some of them…afterwards. Daemon smiled to himself.

Daemon laughed as you dressed him and then put more kisses on him. You were such a tender woman and Daemon loved your touch, your kisses. "I don't think I'll be able to survive such a long separation." Daemon said, his mouth in a small smirk as he placed his hands upon your face. He kissed you back, lingeringly this time. "Perhaps we can escape just a few more minutes…" Daemon whispered against your lips. You leaned into his touch as your eyes closed taking in the comfortable feeling of being wrapped in his arms, looking up at him as you kissed him back lovingly before taking your time to pull away as you looked into his violet eyes and smiled "I said I wasn't falling for it" You spoke before giving him a few quick kisses before you had started walk out of the room ready to start your day so you could finish early and be back beside him as if you both were still newlyweds.

Daemon's face widened at your smirk, as if you were teasing him. Which he supposed you were. "Oh, my sweet lady wife of mine, why are you so cruel?" Daemon said in jest, as if you were actually doing anything wrong by leaving him. "I miss you already." Daemon would tease back as he did not pursue you, for he knew you would return. You always did after all. You couldn't help but laugh at your husband's playful words as you walked away from him knowing he was going to be even more dramatic, going about your day making sure your focus was only on the work in front of you even going out of your way to help Rhaenyra a little bit as the two held a small awkward conversation. Going outside toward the dragonpit seeing your baby Saphira taking some time to yourself as you got fresh air on top of the large beast going into the air with a smile on your face at least before your dragon turned which left you unstable as you fell hitting your head and blacking out as the workers quickly got help.

Daemon was in the middle of some sort of royal affair or meeting with important lords and ladies. It wasn't that terribly important, it was just something he had to do to make sure the realm was properly run. He would get the most important tasks done earlier in the day as to not disrupt his wonderful schedule. Daemon was just stepping out of his chamber for the day when he spotted something unusual. He saw one of the dragon keepers carrying out a woman who had seemingly been knocked out. His curiosity was piqued at first but he quickly turned to concern as he rushed to your side after noticing it was you.

"What in the seven hells happened?" He asked the keeper as he took you away from him. As he spoke to you he lightly grasped your hand, hoping you would wake up soon as your consciousness was all he cared about at this moment in time. The workers all stiffened once the rouge prince especially knowing how protective Daemon was over you, clearing their throats as well as sharing looks before one finally spoke up "She said she wanted some fresh air with Saphira but the next thing we knew she had hit her head and passed out" Not wanting to be on the bad end of the prince's rage they knew to take anything with you seriously even with hitting your head and now as a maester was going to look you over.

"And you just left her alone?" Daemon questioned. "Saphira?" He asked, looking to see if the dragon had attacked you. He knew the dragon would do no such thing, but he wanted to cover all his bases. He knelt by your side and felt your forehead, hoping it was nothing serious. "Please dear, wake up." Daemon whispered, his voice laden with anxiety as he felt your hand. The workers shrugged having been tending to the other dragons while you were with Saphira "We figured she'd be fine, the dragon is fine nor does Saphira seem as if anything happened", Helping take you to the maesters where they laid you down and left as the maester started checking and looking over you better after getting the details of what happened.

Daemon's face was full of worry as he stood beside your unconscious form. He couldn't help but feel guilty. His mind raced as he wondered how he could have left you alone and this happen. I have failed to keep her safe. Daemon whispered to himself. Daemon's heart seemed to skip a beat when the maester was checking you. Not knowing if you were even alive or not. When you were being treated he waited alongside you, just watching you in anxious anticipation for you to open your eyes. After enough time passed the maester sighed before looking over at you with a slight shake of his head as he spoke "She's still breathing but might be out for longer due to the heavy hit to the head, it might take some time but I'm unaware of how long."

Daemon was relieved to find out that you were still breathing. He was in a position of power and yet he couldn't do anything for you. All he could do was wait. Daemon looked at you, watching your gentle features and waiting for you to wake up. Daemon's hand caressed you gently, he hoped you couldn't feel it in your state but he wanted it to anyway. Weeks passed of not much changing nor did anyone attempt to mention perhaps it was best to let go especially with how angry the prince had become, that not even his brother Viserys or Rhaenyra could help calm him down like you often did but once you slowly opened your eyes with a heavy breath as you slowly looked around confused even as the maester came to check on you as your voice came out hoarse "Where am I?".

Daemon rushed to his feet as your eyes reopened. "Y/n! Thank all seven gods you are alive." Daemon spoke with a mix of relief, happiness and guilt. "The gods are merciful today, I thought I had lost you." Daemon said with a breath of relief. "You're on King's Landing, the seat of House Targaryen. You got hit in the head and I've been here for weeks waiting for you." Daemon admitted, feeling nothing but shame for himself. You looked over at the tall man as you winced feeling as if his voice was echoing in your head heavily, tilting your head slightly as you tried to process his words but shook your head not remembering anything as you tried to recall what you were last doing especially hearing you had been out for weeks now "Who are you? and why am I in King's Landing?".

Daemon felt the blood drain from his face. You didn't remember him? You were joking. He looked at you, waiting for you to crack a smile and start laughing. It never came. Daemon slowly moved towards you, taking your hand gently. "My love, I am Daemon Targaryen. We have been married for years now. Your life, it's only just started. But… You don't remember anything?" Daemon questioned, his voice filled with panic. You continued to look at him curiously as you listened closely and tried to place him somewhere you might remember him, feeling bad that he seemed so hurt out about you not knowing him but shook your head as you pulled your hand away from his "No I'm sorry, all I remember is taking a walk than everything went black" Not knowing you had lost years of your life but looked over at the maester who started asking you questions to see what you could remember before he looked over at Daemon scared of his reaction "She has a small case of amnesia."

Amnesia is a kind word for what you have. Daemon thought to himself, his anxiety increasing. He didn't handle the news that you didn't remember him as the man had hoped. Daemon took a moment to gather himself from your sudden news. "Amnesia?" Daemon asked the maester, ignoring the explanation initially. He looked at you, his eyes wide with concern and even a twinge of fear. "My lady wife… Please tell me you remember my name at least." Daemon asked, his voice full of need. You slowly sat up with a small groan of pain as you gently rubbed your head feeling a dull but painful throb, looking up at him once more as you tried to really look at him from his lilc eyes, platinum hair, tall and strong build, only to shake your head again "No I really don't know who you are". Listening as the maester spoke up about how it might take some time for you to feel better but it might do you some well to continue getting rest.

Daemon could feel his heart sink into his stomach. You didn't remember him… You had lost your memory. "You don't know me?" Daemon questioned again. He couldn't believe that that was truly an option. His head was reeling, what did this mean? How does he deal with this? As the maester continued to talk Daemon listened but the words hardly registered in his brain. Slowly he reached his hand out, holding your hand once more. He was not going to let you go again. During the next few days, you had been moved into your own private chambers since you felt weird being alone with Daemon still not remembering him, opting to even sit next to Rhaenyra more even if you couldn't remember her or Viserys who seemed nice when you did talk to him but also who had pushed your work onto someone else in the meantime. Sitting down at the dining table with them all as you bowed your head for prayer waiting until it was done before you started eating feeling excited that Rhaenyra and yourself would be hanging out.

Daemon sat at the table with you and Rhaenyra, his eyes on you at all times. As you prayed Daemon did the same, taking some time to himself pleading witht the gods new or old to hear him. It was good to see your face smiling, even if you didn't remember him. As all of you sat down to eat Daemon kept looking at you, still hoping you would suddenly remember him and everything that had transpired during your marriage. He hoped that deep down he had left his mark on you. That his memory was buried deep within you and only needed to be uncovered. Speaking with Rhaenyra as if nothing was wrong even as the blonde princess agreed that you were married to her uncle, doing your best to go about your routine each day you woke up only to have to ask servants what it was you normally did which often left one of the Targaryens to be told as they stepped in to help you like a small child. Glancing up as you chewed on your food only to see Daemon watching you which caused you to look down at your plate as your brows furrowed "Do you always watch me so closely?".

Daemon smiled softly at your observation, it was as if you were beginning to return your wits even if it was slowly. Daemon had been watching you closely, for you were a puzzle piece he didn't understand. Your amnesia was just a road block that Daemon was determined to overcome. "Of course I do." Daemon said with a smirk, his eyes looking to you, his wife. "It's only natural that I desire to stare at my beautiful wife." Daemon said with a flirtatious tone, hoping to earn some sort of reaction from you. You nodded your head slightly at his words as you squirmed around in your seat slightly instead of flirting back with him like usual, getting up with Rhaenyra once you both finished eating as Rhaenyra gently took you by the hand leading you around as she did most of the talking unless you had questions even as Rhaenyra started to enjoy spending time with you wondering why it had taken so long and you getting hurt for it to happen.

Daemon took notice at your change in demeanor, it seemed as if you were less inclined to flirt and be cheeky when compared to your normal self. You didn't even remember the man you married. It was concerning but Daemon wasn't entirely bothered by it. He felt almost as if you were a new woman to woo, to earn. Daemon wasn't opposed to the idea of winning you over once more. He watched Rhaenyra take you by the hand and lead you away, the two of you looking almost as if you were friends. "Have we found you the perfect friend now?" Daemon asked with a smirk. You looked at Rhaenyra once you felt a nudge in your side and realized he was talking to you, nodding your head as you smiled even if you didn't recall the friendship between yourself and the princess "Rhaenyra has been very helpful with helping me and my day-to-day basics." Having even been spending more time with Viserys as he helped reteach you everything you did before since he had grown to like your way best even if others had an issue with it "She and Viserys have been teaching me about the Targaryen family tree apparently I use to be able to say everyone in order with no mistakes."

Daemon nodded at your words with a soft smile. "I'm glad to see you have company. And the knowledge of the family tree will certainly come with time. You are my wife after all." Daemon said, his voice dripping with flirting even in the presence of his family. He gave you a kiss upon the hand then turned to Rhaenyra. "Keep a close eye upon her and keep her safe." Daemon told Rhaenyra, the tone in his voice a more sincere one. He felt comfortable knowing you were in Rhaenyra's care. You nodded your head feeling good that everyone seemed happy with your progress even if you were still missing so much of your life, watching him closely before pulling your hand away from him as Rhaenyra nodded her head at his words almost offended that he would think she'd let anything happen to you. The two women started walking away as Rhaenyra led you to the gardens feeling the quiet might help as you bit down on your lower lip and looked over at Rhaenyra "Can I ask you something? it's about Daemon himself."

Rhaenyra raised an eyebrow at your request but she shrugged. "Yes, of you course you may." She said with an open smile, curious as to what curiosity you may ask of her. Daemon, as usual, was also listening in on this conversation. He wanted to know what you wanted to know of him. Maybe it was something he could use to slowly get you back on track to remembering him. Sighing but nodded your head happy that the princess had been nothing but easy-going as she helped you remember things, looking down at the ground as you tried to piece your words together before shrugging your shoulders as the words tumbled out past your lips "I've heard...unsavory things about Daemon, that he's quite a brute and has done unspeakable things....is that true?".

Rhaenyra thought for a moment, unsure of how much to tell you. Daemon was her best friend, but he was also her uncle. She did not know how to answer your questions, because honestly, they weren't completely false. Rhaenyra looked for a way to answer without making Daemon seem like a terrible person. "Daemon can be very stubborn." Rhaenyra started, "Sometimes he let's his anger get the best of him. But that's only when he is pushed too far. But what is most important, is that he loves you." Rhaenyra said. You nodded with a small pout on your lips at the answer thinking it over as you recalled some of the things Daemon had done from what you've heard, looking over at the blonde woman again as you shrugged your shoulders at her words "How did we even get together? it sounds like we're nothing but polar opposites, how do he and I even work together in marriage?" Having been too embarrassed and shy to go to Daemon with these questions even if he would be the best person to answer them.

"You two have always been very different, but that's what has drawn you two together." Rhaenyra said with a smile. She believed it too, the differences in Daemon and you were what created the bond between you two. "He may be quite gruff, but he has the softest spot in the Kingdom for you." Rhaenyra said, hoping the words would make you feel better. They were true, Daemon loved you in a way he loved no one else, not even Rhaenyra or his brother Viserys. You slowly nodded along as you listened closely to the words feeling like you were listening to a fariytail, feeling your eyes sting with tears at the thought of Daemon being so tender and you couldn't remember any of it you let out a soft sigh, and nodded your head feeling determined "I want to remember, I'm gonna need more stories about him."

Rhaenyra chuckled at your need for stories which she was not opposed to. "You'll definitely need to remember your wedding to Daemon." She said with enthusiasm. "It was the grandest affair ever. What else do you want to know?" Rhaenyra asked, eager at the idea that your memory might return soon. "I would be more than happy to share anything you want to know." She continued, with a smile on her face. She believed that Daemon deserved to have you back at least. During the next few weeks, You had been learning more about your life and your marriage with Daemon even going as far as to show him small bits of affection, slowly but surely you began to push other's help away wanting to do things for yourself and show you could do it again but kept growing curious as to small gifts for you or being shocked by grand plans before learning it was from Daemon which caused you to seek him out.

Daemon was happy that you were showing him small bits of affection. He knew he would have to earn your love all over again but small touches were good. As you grew curious of gifts and grand plans Daemon was only too glad to tell you whom was behind them. He felt you were beginning to return to him bit by bit, and he wanted nothing more. Daemon felt at ease when you were back with him, and you were beginning to spend more time with him and less time away. It gave Daemon a new sense of hope. You had thanked Dameon for all the sweet and tender gestures he had been giving or showing you, which you found hard to keep the butterflies in your stomach under control but had been doing well as you were still learning more and more only getting curious about certain things but had been spending more time with Rhaenyra and Viserys both of which only now continued talking Daemon up even as you joined Rhaenyra late into the night talking about most things.

Daemon was over the moon to see that little by little you were remembering him and your life with him. He was always so cautious about his love, but as of late Daemon had felt nothing but comfort and happiness when with you. His smiles had become much more frequent. You were back in his life and Daemon was thankful for it. It was the small things that Daemon noticed, seeing how you would speak with confidence, laugh a little more freely, it all added up in his mind. He was on the verge of getting you back. He was certain of it. You rested your head against your arms listening to Rhaenyra speak about all different things, feeling your curiosity grow at mention of something that sounded familiar to you and asked about it which caused the blond princess to explain in detail that it was something connected to Daemon and yorself. Letting out a sharp gasp as your eyes shut tightly and you held your head as the pain from when this all started seemed to be the worst you had ever dealt with even as the blond princess tried asking if you were alright only taking a few minutes before nodding your head as you stood up with no explanation going back to the chambers you once shared with Daemon and opened the door as you stood there shocked and tears in your eyes softly whispering.

"I remember."

#daemon targaryen #daemon targeryen x reader #daemon x reader #daemon targaryen x reader #daemon x you #daemon targeryan #hotd daemon #house of the dragon

[squoxle]

⚘𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝒮𝒶𝓎 𝐼 𝒟𝒾𝒹𝓃’𝓉 𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃 𝒴𝑜𝓊 ~ 𝒲𝑜𝓃𝒷𝒾𝓃 𝒻𝒻

🎧pairing: Wonbin!best-friend's-brother x Reader!afab | 🎧wc: 5.9k | 🎧summary: After nearly getting caught in the act, you and Wonbin agree to keep seeing each other in secret while you used Eunsoek as a cover to hide the fact that you were fucking your best friend's brother. But what do you do when you get caught in the act--for real this time? |🎧cw: swearing, underage drinking, cheating, unprotected sex, angst, voyueism? public sex?, getting caught, fingering, spitting, creampie, plot twist!!

You had been able to successfully hide the fact that you had been seeing Wonbin for more than four weeks now. Everything seemed too easy. Eunsoek hadn't tried to make a move so you didn't have to worry about feeling guilty for kissing him, but Wonbin had been spending a lot of time by your house. This made Minji suspicious as you weren't coming over as often as you used to.

Luckily you were able to convince her that you were doing it to avoid Wonbin so you could focus more on Eunsoek. Which was the complete opposite, you were barely interested in him anymore after you and Wonbin started hanging out more.

This weekend she demanded your presence at "mandatory" girls' day. Which basically meant spending the entire day at the mall trying on clothes you'd probably never buy, but wanted to see how you'd look if you did buy them.

"Ngh, what time is it," you groaned as you rubbed your eyes. The dark curtains made the room extremely dark. To the point where it was hard to tell whether the sun rose or set without opening the blinds.

"Who cares? It's Saturday. We're allowed to sleep in til noon," Wonbin whispered in your ear as he wrapped his arms around you from behind. His warmth was nearly enough to pull you back into a deep sleep, but one word stuck out like a sore thumb...

"Noon? You're joking right?" you asked as you reached to pull your phone from under your pillow, clicking the power button to see 12:27 illuminating your screen. "Oh my fucking god!" you groaned. "Minji's gonna kill me," you sighed.

"So what? I wanna cuddle some more," he mumbled, tucking his face into your neck before kissing your cheek. "Just tell her you got busy and spaced."

"I was supposed to meet her at the mall at 12 and I'm already late as fuck," you whined as Wonbin held you tighter. "I have to start getting ready right now," you continued as you pushed his arms away.

"Mmm, fine, well can I at least get a kiss," Wonbin said puckering his lips, leaning over to your face as you sat up next to him. You scoffed as you stepped out of bed, throwing a pillow at his face before you walked to the door. "Aww come on," he groaned.

"If you get up right now maybe we can do a little quickie in the car," you said as you walked to the bathroom. "On our way back," you said remembering that he would definitely try something on your way there.

You hadn't even started your hair--a task that always took longer than you wanted it to. Fortunately, you were just gonna be hanging out with Minji so you didn't really have to put too much effort into your outfit. Despite Wonbin's initial laziness, he eventually crawled out of bed to drop you off at the mall.

Wonbin sped his ass off to get you there, even though you still ended up being nearly an hour late. You quickly checked your makeup in the car mirror before getting out. You could tell that Wonbin would've rather taken that time to stick his tongue down your throat, but he'd just have to wait for it.

You blew him a kiss, which made him do that cute little smirk you love so much. If there was a way for you to physically be in two places at once, right now would be the perfect time.

Barely squeezing through the rotating doors, you pulled out your phone to text Minji. Something you had been doing nonstop since you got in the car with Wonbin, apologizing over a hundred times for being late. Even though she had told you it was okay, you still felt bad, especially since you haven't been hanging out as much lately...unless hours on the phone count.

She told you to meet her at Bubbles for Babes, a beauty supply store that sells the best fragrances. You found her trying out new scents, spraying little cards, and opening tops to get a whiff of the foreign aromas.

"Oh my god. Finally! Someone I can trust is here," she sighed as she met your eyes.

“I said it smells good,” Sungchan said as Minji turned away from him.

"You said everything smells good," Minji spat, flailing her hands around.

"Well you didn't ask me," Eunsoek said holding back a giggle as he looked at Minji's frustrated expression.

"Ugh!" Minji grabbed your arm before pulling you over to her selection of scents that stood in a perfect row. "Can you help me pick out a scent?"

"Just go with the scent you usually get. You literally love it and you've been wearing it for years."

"Exactly! That's my point. I want to try something new now. I need an upgrade," she smiled handing you the bottle.

"Hmm okay," you said, clicking open the cap to smell the fruity aroma. "It's not Jasmine, but it's not bad," you shrugged.

"Okay, well smell them all and tell me which one you like the best," her eyes were fixated on you, watching your expression and anticipating your reaction to the various scents she picked out. "You'll need this," she said handing you a tissue.

"For what?"

"To prepare your nose for the next scent. That way everything isn't mixing together," she mumbled as she tucked the tissue in your hand.

You proceeded to sample each scent before settling on a fresh spring scent called Happy Day, which she surprisingly accepted. "If it gets boring I'll just use whatever you pick out for yourself," she smiled with relief.

At least she wasn't dragging you around the store, forcing you to smell everything only for her to leave empty-handed. So if this was the agreement she was making with herself then you weren't going to deny her.

"Oh, and Sungchan's paying for our stuff. So don't worry about it, they're having a BOGO sale today," she rolled her eyes before looking at her unsuspecting boyfriend.

"What? Why?"

"Because you didn't help pick out a scent. So now you're gonna pay for it," she said before handing Sungchan the bottles.

You picked out a scent for yourself, that you planned to intentionally leave in her room because you knew she would want to try something else anyway.

After Sungchan finished paying for the stuff, Minji dragged you to a clothing store. Eunsoek and Sungchan got lost in the men's department as you followed behind your friend. "I have to find something nice to wear for my brother's party," she said scanning the racks.

"Party?" you asked.

"Yeah, we're doing something for Seongwha," she said, pulling a black dress from the rack and folding it over her arm. "Remember when I told you I had bought something for him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's a surprise for being promoted to a high leadership position at his company. Our parents are even more proud than he is," she chuckled to herself. "My dad literally cried. I haven't seen him cry since...hmm actually I don't even remember the last time that happened."

Her words blended into the faint mall music as you drifted away into your thoughts. You were thinking about the things you wanted to do on the ride home with Wonbin.

Just then you saw a familiar figure walking through the aisles. Did your thoughts somehow manifest his presence? What the hell was he doing over here? Is he trying to make us look suspicious?

"Hey," she said, derailing your train of thought. You met Wonbin's eyes for a split second before turning to Minji.

"Y-yeah," you stuttered. You watched as he tucked his head down trying to avoid being seen by his sister.

"I'm gonna go try some of these on in the dressing rooms. Don't forget to pick something out for yourself okay," she chimed.

"Wait. For me? Why?"

"Because dummy. I need you to be there with me for emotional support. A lot of our other relatives are gonna be there and you know how annoying they can be," she scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I shouldn't be too long. Bye~" she waved before walking off to the dressing rooms.

"What the hell?" you spat as a Cheshire grin spread across his face.

"You were taking too long," he smiled as he approached your figure, placing his hands on your waist.

"I was shopping with Minji. You knew that," you sighed. It's not that you weren't happy to see him, but this was way too risky.

"I missed you," he pouted as he wrapped his arms around you, gently kissing your cheek.

"Stop it," you jerked your face away. "What if somebody sees us," you said as you pulled away from his grip.

"Then we can hide," he smiled before quickly scanning the area for a hiding spot. He pulled you into a corner, pressed you up against a wall, and immediately kissed your lips. You could feel how desperate he was for your body as he gripped every curve you had to offer.

It was just something about the way he touched you that made you melt in his fingers.

"Hey, where's your girlfriend?" Eunsoek said as him and Sungchan approached the area you were.

“She’s probably in the changing rooms. Wait here, I’m gonna go check,” Sungchan said as he walked off.

Wonbin didn’t let up just because they were close either. He continued to kiss your neck, pulling your body closer to his as he kissed you deeper.

“Wonbin,” you whispered. “Eunsoek’s over here.”

You weren’t in full on panic mode yet, but your heart was definitely racing for more reasons than one.

“Tch, I don’t care about him,” he chuckled against your skin. The wet spot on your neck catching the breath from his lips.

Not wanting to risk getting caught you try to push Wonbin away. “Won—ah!” You moaned as he but into your soft, supple skin.

“Hmm. D’you like that,” he whispered seeing your expression soften as a warm glow grew on your face. He pulled your leg up, wrapping it around his waist as he pressed into you.

A few sloppy kisses in and you felt his fingers crawl to your opening. He roughly pawed at your clothes entrance as he kissed your lips and neck, pulling your hair as you struggled to keep quiet. “This is better than the car don’t ya think?” He smiled as he reached under your shirt to cup your tit.

“Mmm,” you moaned between his lips.

“I wanna get you off right here, right now,” his eye lids dropped as he stepped back a bit. Your chest heaving slightly as you tried to calm yourself down. This was probably the first time you ever regretted wearing sweatpants.

Wonbin grabbed your jaw, stuck his fingers through your lips, and coated them in your saliva before spitting on them himself. He but his bottom lip as he slipped his fingers into your panties.

“Hmm, seems like you want it too,” he smirked as he felt the wetness between your folds. He rubbed your clit, trying to get you off as fast as possible. He teased your opening just enough to send you quivering over the edge.

He clamped down on your neck, to hear the soft, sweet moans that escaped your lips.

“What the fuck?!”

No way. No fucking way is this happening for real. You prayed—for the first time in a long time—that this was just your imagination playing tricks on you.

“Fuck off, pal. Can’t you see we’re busy?”

Disappearing wouldn’t even do you justice right now. You needed to completely vanish from the face of the earth.

You covered your face with shame as Eunsoek and Wonbin went back and forth.

“So this is why you never want to hang out alone with me? Because you’re locking lips with this lowlife punk.”

“Eunsoek, it’s not like that—“

“It’s not like that?” Wonbin cut you off.

“No. Wait. You don’t understand,” you pleaded.

“What don’t I understand? Huh? Because all I see is you over here moaning on Minji’s brothers fingers.”

“That’s the problem.” You began. “Minji can’t know that we’re together.”

“Oh? So I’m just some fucking decoy? Do you ever think about anyone’s feelings other than your own?”

“Eunsoek…”

“No. I loved you. Like actually loved you. I even wanted a relationship with you. I was just waiting for the perfect moment—“

“Perfect moment for what,” Sungchan asked as he walked over to you.

“The perfect moment to ask ____ to be my girlfriend,” Eunsoek smiled.

What.

The.

Fuck.

He pulled you under his arm as you looked at him in confusion. “Yeah, Wonbin caught us making out and I wanted her to know that I was serious,” he smiled, placing a kiss on your forehead.

You stood there dazed. No way was this really happening. Wait…but what exactly was happening?

“Oh thank God!” Minji chimed. “Too bad I missed the show,” she giggled.

“Heh there wasn’t much to see,” Wonbin mumbled under his breath.

“OMG! Okay we have to do something to honor this lovely day,” Minji squealed.

“It’s really not necessary,” you said shyly.

“Oh, it definitely is. Now you’re going to my brother’s party with your boyfriend?! We have to pick out the perfect outfit,” Minji smiled as she grabbed your hand, ripping you out of Eunsoek’s grasp.

After your suprise shopping spree with Minji, Eunsoek offered to drive you home. At this point you really couldn't refuse his request.

"So we're dating now?" you asked as the highway lights flashed glints of light in the car.

"That's what you wanted right? To cover up your little forbidden romance."

"Well, yeah, but you didn't have to do that."

"I know, but I wanted to. I gotta at least get something out of this whole thing right," he chuckled.

"Hmm, yeah," you sighed as he pulled into your driveway.

"If you get bored in the middle of the night, call me okay."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well, since I'm your fake boyfriend now, I guess I better start playing the part," he smiled.

"Oh," you chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, goodnight," you smiled back as you climbed out of the car.

"Goodnight, ____."

Were you really getting off this easy? Having Eunsoek willingly audition to be your fake boyfriend to help you hide your relationship with Wonbin? This was all too good to be true.

Eager to share this exciting revelation, you immediately called Wonbin the moment you locked your door.

*Ring. Ring. Ring.*

The dial tone rang as you waited for him to answer.

*Ring. Ring. Ring.*

He'd never made you wait this long.

*Ring. Ring. Ring.*

Maybe he was busy?

*Ring. Ring. Ring.*

Or just too busy for you...

You tried to call him one more time, just to be sure. But it was useless as he didn't pick up the phone even after calling him 3 more times.

5 missed calls.

You sent him a text, just letting him know you made it home and wanted to talk to him. You didn't want to spoil the surprise so you kept the message brief.

Two weeks passed and Wonbin still hadn't texted you back. Honestly, after the first week you stopped texting. You couldn't figure out why he suddenly decided to ditch you like this. Even when you went over to see Minji, Wonbin either stayed locked up in his room or grabbed his leather jacket and walked out of the door without saying a word. The one time you slept over, he didn't come home until around 3 in the morning.

Fortunately, during this confusing period of...you still didn't know exactly what to call it...you and Eunsoek had gotten a chance to talk. This was the first time since you met that you actually had a conversation with him that you were fully engaged in and enjoyed.

Usually, Wonbin held your mind captive, even in his absence.

You even told him about the current situation that you were having with him. He knew you couldn't really go to Minji about this, so he happily lent an ear to you. You and Wonbin had never made anything official, and maybe this was why. Maybe Minji was right...

With Seonghwa's party just a few days away, you and Minji went out for manicures. Just a fresh, simple set to add a little class to your outfits. You went with a black dress to blend with Eunsoek's black suit.

( 𑁍 Just some suggestions for your imagination--lmk which one u pick :D Outfit 1 | Outfit 2 | Outfit 3 | Outfit 4 | Outfit 5 | Outfit 6 )

Eunsoek offered to be the chauffeur today, as Sungchan is most often the one playing "bus-driver-brian." You sat right next to him in the passenger side, but when he rested his hand on your thigh you felt a sense of comfort wash over you. He had a way of making Wonbin disappear when you were together. What was the point of hanging onto someone who didn't want you?

"Alright! We're here!" Eunsoek chimed, parking the car and taking the keys out of the ignition. It was about 6:45 pm when you guys arrived. The sun was just getting ready to set and you were 15 minutes early.

"Ugh! Finally. My ass hurts from sitting down all that time," Minji sighed as she unbuckled her seatbelt before stepping out of the car to stretch. She wasn't completely wrong. An hour-long drive to the venue was not something you had anticipated, but at least it wasn't boring. You all took turns asking 'would you rather questions' from an app on Eunsoek's phone.

"Well, you're gonna be sitting down a lot longer once we go in," Sungchan snickered, playfully smacking her ass.

"Hey!" She spat, before hopelessly trying to get Sungchan back by smacking his ass. "Argh! I can't run in these damn heels!" She shouted running after Sungchan.

"Then stop running," he chuckled back. "It's not like you're gonna be able to catch me anyways."

"Oh yeah?" Minji smirked taking off her heels before launching one of the heels at her boyfriend.

"Ahh!" He yelped as he caught the shoe in his hands. Distracted by the flying heel he didn't even notice when Minji ran toward him, wrapping her arms around him just to smack his butt before smiling mischievously.

"Hey, we didn't get here early to have a butt-hunting battle," Eunsoek laughed as he wrapped his hand around your waist. A feeling that now felt comforting.

"Yeah, guys. Let's go scope out the dessert table," you chimed in, waving your hand to signal Minji to follow you.

"This isn't over," Sungchan smirked, poking Minji's nose. She giggled as she put her shoes back on, grabbing his hand to follow after you and Eunsoek. Luckily her heels covered the dirt that clung to the bottoms of her feet.

You entered the venue, looking around at the other attendees, you were glad to know that you weren't under or overdressed. Minji was promptly swept away by her aunt who immediately began to gossip about other family members.

You watched as her lips mouthed the words "help me" and the most overly dramatic expression that came with it.

"Don't worry, I'll save her. You just enjoy the party," Sungchan smiled reassuring you that he'd help Minji escape.

Eunsoek walked with you over to the dessert table. "What so you want to try first," he asked.

"Huh?" for a second you drifted off in your mind when he asked you that question.

"How about we just get one of everything and rate it one by one," he smiled as he grabbed a plate, loading it up with every dessert on the table.

Thank god he didn't notice.

He carefully balanced the snacks as you followed him out onto the terrace. The waxed wooden floors shined with the string of lights that were held up by black poles. The firepits were lit, adding an almost romantic vibe to the scene. You sat down next to Eunsoek on one of the soft benches outside.

"What do you want to try first?" he smiled.

"Hmm, I don't know...surprise me," you smiled back.

"Okay," he said scanning the board with his glossy cat eyes. "No peeking. Cover your eyes," his words made you both giggle in excitement.

Recalling the photographic picture you took of the plate you remember seeing various tarts, parfaits, cookies, fruits, and cakes. Unfortunately, none of that prepared you for what Eunsoek would put in your mouth.

First, he teased your lips with something smooth before pulling it away with a small chuckle, cupping your chin as you bit down into the dessert. Its flaky pie crust paired well with the creamy chocolate center.

"Okay, what d'you think? One out of ten," Eunsoek asked as you opened your eyes.

"Hmm...six."

"Why six."

"The chocolate was kinda bitter."

"Hmm, really?" Eunsoek looked at the bitten treat that sat between his fingers. "Yeah, you're right. It is kinda bitter. But I like that it's not too sweet," he said as he ate the remaining piece of the chocolate tart. "I'd give it an eight. Okay, my turn," he smiled before squeezing his eyes shut.

"Uhhh..." you said scanning the plate that sat on his lap. You picked up the chocolate chip cookie. "Ahh," you said as he opened his mouth to bite into the mystery dessert.

"Can't go wrong with chocolate chip," he smiled as he opened his eyes, bringing your fingers to his lips to take another bite. His lips grazed your fingertips as a swirl of butterflies went through your stomach. "This one obviously gets an eleven out of ten."

He barely did anything and you were already getting that feeling again. Just like what happened in the car when he placed his hand on your thigh. At first it was comforting, but that soon turned sexual as he gently gripped and massaged the area. You had gotten so used to playing pretend that it was starting to feel real now.

And with Wonbin out of the picture…it felt like he was all you had.

“Your turn,” Eunsoek said as you closed your eyes, preparing for the mystery treat.

You bit into a chocolate-covered strawberry and flinched as you met a set of lips. You opened your eyes to see Eunsoek holding the berry between his lips. You chewed the morsel in your mouth as he licked the melted chocolate from his fingers.

The sound of laughter distracted you from your sugar rush. It was coming from some blonde girl laughing with a guy who's face you couldn't yet see.

"What?" Eunsoek asked as he noticed the mood changed.

"Umm, nothing...I just--" You stopped mid-sentence after seeing that the faceless guy hitting it off with the blonde girl was none other than Wonbin. You hadn't seen that smile for so long that you'd thought he lost it.

That smile faded almost instantly as your eyes met his. "I need to go," you said in a soft voice as you walked away leaving Eunsoek behind. He looked around only to see Wonbin standing up to come after you.

"Don't even think about it," Eunsoek said, blocking Wonbin's path. "You've hurt her enough."

"Get the hell out of my way, Song," Wonbin spat, shooting Eunsoek a throat-cutting stare.

"Binnie. What's going on?" the blonde girl asked, approaching the two boys. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I just need to go take care of something," Wonbin said as the girl wrapped her hands around his bicep. "I'll be back, just wait for me at our seat okay," he smiled feignly.

"Okay, don't keep me waiting," she said placing a soft kiss on his cheek before walking away.

A ditsy blonde was just what a guy like Wonbin needed. Pretty enough to make him look good and dumb enough not to make a scene.

"You're such a fucking prick," Eunsoek said, giving Wonbin a dirty look as he pushed past him to find you. "We both know she's better off with a guy like me than a guy like you."

Wonbin looked around to find you in every spot except the bathroom. He watched your black dress trail behind you as Minji walked you down the hall. The crowd seemed to disappear as you exited through the large double doors into the dimly lit hallway, the light of the moon casting a blue hue across the cold tile floors.

"____!" you turned your head to see Wonbin calling your name. Shame, guilt, and regret ran down your cheeks in the form of tears as you ignored him, entering the bathroom with your best friend.

You couldn't hold it back anymore, you broke and confessed to Minji.

"So that was you in my brother's room? I knew that bra looked familiar. Especially when we went to the mall a couple weeks ago. When you were changing I noticed it looked exactly the same, but I didn't say anything because you and Eunsoek had just started dating and I just assumed it was a weird coincidence," Minji was starting to connect the dots realizing that you had been ditching her to sneak around with Wonbin.

She tapped at your tears, trying her best not to ruin your makeup. "I know I said you couldn't be with him, but I wish you would've just told me about it. Trust me, I would've gotten over it," Minji smiled.

"I know but...you were right about him. He literally blew me off for some random chick. I didn't even know he'd be here and we literally haven't spoken in weeks," you sniffled, now feeling a lot calmer than before.

"Well, at least you can't say I didn't warn you. My brother is a jerk. Always has been. Always will be." she said pulling you into her embrace. "Now let's get back to that party. It's almost time for the toast."

You walked past Wonbin who was anxiously waiting outside of the bathroom. Ignoring his cry for attention, you and Minji walked back into the party greeting Sungchan and Eunsoek who held drinks for the two of you.

"We were able to snag you an alcoholic version," Sungchan winked passing you and Minji the champagne glasses.

*Boop. Boop*

The sound of the mic's feedback rang in your ears, directing your attention to the stage.

"Hmm, we were just in time," Minji whispered to you.

"I was looking everywhere for you," Minji's aunt spat as she grabbed her hand. It was like there was some kind of magnetic force drawing this woman to her. "We are about to do the toast for your brother and you need to be present at the family table."

The three of you followed behind the duo as one of Seonghwa's co-workers began the speech before calling him up on stage. You could see the strong resemblance in the Park family as you looked at Seonghwa on stage. You listened as he delivered his speech, thanking his co-workers and family for their support.

"Hey," Eunsoek whispered in your ear.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna finish what we started earlier?"

His words triggered a memory. The feeling you had when you were about to kiss him on the terrace before you were interrupted by Wonbin and his new muse. Eager to start over and continue a real relationship with Eunsoek, you nodded your head.

He smirked as he grabbed your hand, finishing his drink as the two of you snuck out to the entrance.

Now you were alone. Here there was no one to interfere. No one to take your eyes off of the guy who wanted you for you and not for your body.

He pulled your face towards him, eagerly kissing your lips as a smile grew across his face. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that."

He wrapped his hand around your waist, pulling you closer to him as he kissed you deeper, occasionally inserting his tongue. Kissing Eunsoek was different than kissing Wonbin. It felt wrong to compare, but Eunsoek kissed with passion, unlike Wonbin whose lips were saturated in lust.

Kissing at this rate would've had Wonbin groping your ass or trying to pull you into a corner to fuck your brains out.

You felt something brush up against your thigh. "Sorry," Eunsoek said as he caught you looking down.

"It's okay," you smiled, lips a bit swollen from him sucking on them. I guess I spoke too fast.

"I brought a condom," his cheeked glowing red a bit as blood rushed through his body.

You couldn't deny the fact that you were getting turned on, but you didn't expect this. "Maybe this isn't a good time," you whispered.

"Okay," Eunsoek said, clearing his throat. "We should probably get back to the party then," he suggested, grabbing your hand before walking back through the gates.

Standing at the entrance you saw Wonbin talking to the blonde girl from earlier. He still hadn't seen you, but she did. Assuming that Wonbin had run off because of you, she cupped his face to kiss him. Pushing him against the wall as she pressed her body against him.

Surprised by her action, Wonbin gently pulls away to see you standing there with Eunsoek. Instead of letting him see you cry, you turned around and walked back out of the gates, Eunsoek trailing behind you.

"Wait!" Wonbin shouted as you walked away.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" the girl asked.

"Ash," Wonbin sighed only to be cut off by a slap to the face.

"Don't fucking speak to me," she spat before storming back through the doors only to be met by Minji. "Ugh!" she growled.

"Hey, Mom and Dad want us to go take pictures," She said as he looked back to see that you were well out of sight by now.

Ignoring the bad timing, you agreed to have sex with Eunsoek right now. You didn't care about Wonbin anymore and you wanted him out of your system as fast as possible. The two of climbed into the backseat of his car.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked, not wanting you to make this decision based off of your negative emotions. But you wanted this. More than anything. More than...Wonbin.

He pulled up your dress to reveal your panties. Unbuckling his pants, he pulled out his dick before taking the condom out of his back pocket.

"I don't want the condom," you said as you saw the shiny red wrapper.

"Are you sure?" he raised his eyebrows in shock.

"Yes," you said as he took a deep breath. He pressed his fingers up against your entrance, feeling your folds moisten at his touch. "Mnn," you moaned as he grazed your clit which was surprisingly more sensitive than you expected.

"Are you okay?" he asked to which you nodded in response. He watched your expression tense up as he inserted his finger. First one, then two, coaxing his digits in and out of your slime hole. Eager to taste you, he pulled his fingers out to suck your fluids off as he stroked himself.

"I want you to put it in me," you said, biting your lower lip at the throbbing sensation at your core. You wanted him deep inside of you. Eunsoek put his arm around you, bracing up against the seat as he pushed through your opening, a soft moan escaping his lips as he felt your tightness.

"Ngh!" he said as the squelching sounds intensified. He pumped deep into you, hitting your cervix every so often. You moaned every time this happened. A mixture of both pain and pleasure washed over you as he fucked your throbbing cunt.

"Ahhgh!" a high-pitched scream filled his ears as he pulled you onto his lap. You leaned over his shoulder as he started fucking you faster.

"Mmm. Fuck. I'm gonna cum," he groaned pulling his dick out. You reached between your legs to shove it back in.

"I want you to cum inside of me," you said as he looked at you in shock. Adhering to your request, he wrapped his arms around you, pumping deep into your sloppy, wet hole as you felt his seed spill inside of you. Your walls clenched around him, milking every last drop of cum from him.

It was so much that it spilled out of you.

Breathless, the two of you readjusted your clothes before falling asleep next to each other in the backseat.

But what surprised you most, aside from having the best breakup sex ever, was when you woke up parked in the driveway of Sungchan's house.

You grabbed Eunsoek's wrist, checking the time on his watch, 6:21 am.

"Ngh..." Eunsoek groaned as he slowly woke up.

"How'd we get here?" you asked as he gently batted his eyes open.

"Sungchan most likely drove us here. I can tell you right now, we wouldn't be alive in Minji drove."

"But how?"

"I left the keys in the driver's seat," he said before leaning over to kiss your forehead. "Last night was amazing by the way," he smiled.

"Hmm, yeah, it was," you smiled back.

Eunsoek pulled out his phone to call Sungchan. His groggy voice was way more attractive than you thought. You both got cleaned up before cooking breakfast. Minji woke up an hour later and told you how she was moving in with Sungchan. That way you didn't have to see him ever again unless you wanted to.

You were excited to have a fresh start with Eunsoek.

It had been two weeks since the party and Wonbin hadn't even crossed your mind once.

*zzt zzt* your phone buzzed from your pocket.

It was a text from Wonbin.

You hesitated to open it, but when he texted again you felt compelled to check.

Just as you unlocked your phone, he started to call.

"Hello?" you said, answering the call.

"Have you had your period yet?" he asked in a concerning tone.

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Just tell me...please."

"No, I haven't had it yet," you replied in an annoyed tone.

"So it's late?"

"Only by a few days. My period fluctuates all the time. So what?"

"You need to take a test," he said sounding anxious. "You might be pregnant."

"Just go focus on that blonde girl okay. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"____, she was just a cover. Some random girl I met at the bar who had a crush on me. I didn't want to look suspicious showing up alone," you rolled your eyes at his empty words. "You know I love you."

"Whatever."

"Please, ____. If it's negative you can ignore me for the rest of your life if you want," his words danced in your head as you thought back to the day you got your nails done with Minji.

Wonbin had showed up in the middle of the night at your house a drunk mess. He had a cut on his lip from getting into a fight at the bar and what started off as you helping him sober up became a fuck fest in seconds.

"I missed you so fucking much," he said with tears in his eyes.

"Wonb--" his lips stopped the words from coming out of your mouth. He whined as he came inside of you...twice. The first time in the kitchen and the second time in the shower.

You could remember the feeling of his delicate hands pulling your body closer to him.

What if you really were pregnant? If not for Wonbin, then for Eunsoek...

"Fine," you agreed.

"Great, I'll come over later with the stuff," he said shortly before ending the call.

This is the end of part 3, I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me in the comments what you think. And don't forget to vote. :)

❀ Thank you all so much for reading! Make sure to check out other works on my masterlist!

❀ 𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝: @chlorinecake @hoyeonheeseung @addictedtohobi @chaenqen @nikisdubblchococake @mrswolfhard3 @hynjinnn1 @melobin @laylasbunbunny @urfavberry @swaggyjinnie @j4yluv

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[hedghost]

alessia russo | in safe hands

the fans are speculating on the nature of your and alessia’s relationship. when the rumours come to a head, it begins to put pressure on you both. (goalie!reader)

word count: 4.4k

hiding a relationship was never easy. hiding a relationship from a horde of relentless fans in the age of social media was nigh on impossible. and yet somehow, almost a year after you had shyly asked alessia on that first date, the two of you were still enjoying all the thrills and luxuries of a private relationship.

semi-private was perhaps a better description. of course, your friends and families were all aware of you being together. with a girl like alessia on your arm, could you really be expected not to tell a soul? as your relationship had progressed, as it had become clear that this was the real deal, you both had told people. slowly at first, only a trusted few, then soon, pretty much everyone who you knew well.

you intended to be fully public at some point, but the looming pitfalls of social media and the threat of negativity, (or worse - relentless fanaticism) were enough to put you both off for now. up until now you'd both been perfectly content to remain in your little bubble, blissfully enamoured with each other inside your own four walls.

obviously, the nature of the fans meant they were not blind to everything. the observant few caught those loving glances, the lingering touches, the soft smiles. a small but earnest faction of the internet had built up their own portfolio of evidence. you enjoyed it in a way, and the two of you weren't above fuelling the speculation about the nature of your relationship.

there was no harm in it. if you really wanted to hide your relationship fully you could, but it would've taken more effort than it was worth. alessia seemed to experience a gravitational pull towards you, like she couldn't ever stay away. and how could you be expected to not look at her like she hung the moon?

on the pitch it wasn't too hard to control yourselves, with her leading the charge up front, and you planted firmly in goal, dominating the defence with your famously safe hands. but as soon as the whistle blew and the team gathered, you always found yourselves side by side, unconsciously inseparable. more and more people were starting to notice.

lately, you'd been getting the sense alessia was sick of hiding. the rumours were piling up, and it was only a matter of time before it came to light, and not on your terms. she said as much to you, one saturday evening.

"i'm fed up of acting like you don't mean the world to me, y/n," she whispered as you lay entwined on the sofa, winding down the evening before the game tomorrow. "its so hard not being able to hug you, to hold your hand in public. i want to show you off." you sighed.

"i know less, i know," you brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face, "but i don't know if its the right time. you know how people will be,"

she turned to look up at you.

"you always say this," she scoffed, "but when will be the right time?"

"i don't know less, just wait a little longer," you shook your head, you didn't want to have this conversation now. you knew the pressure it would bring. you'd experienced first hand how ruthless fans could be, especially online, and you hated to think the sort of comments you'd be subject to if people knew you were dating the star of the lionesses. you could barely believe you deserved her - what if your own insecurities were echoed by the fans? you saw how people loved alessia; you knew they wouldn't think you were good enough for her. you'd never forgive yourself if those worries caused the relationship to crumble. "just drop it for now. please."

alessia looked disheartened, but she did as you asked. as she turned her attention back to the tv, you kept your gaze on her. you cursed yourself for letting your worries creep in. the last thing you wanted to do was upset her. you couldn't bring yourself to say all that though, so you only reached for her hand.

"i'll think about it, okay?" you said, playing with her fingers. she only hummed noncommittally. a tense silence took over, broken only by the muffled sounds of the tv.

neither of you brought it up again that night. by the next morning, last night's awkwardness had faded, replaced by the comfortable silence of co-existence that you were familiar with. as you prepared yourself side by side for the game, you began to think you were in the clear for a little longer. however, as you drove to the ground, it seemed alessia had other plans.

"y/n, love?"

"yeah?"

"i want to tell people. today,"

your hands tightened on the steering wheel. the gesture didn't go unnoticed by alessia, and she turned in her seat.

"less i-"

"i don't understand why you're so against it?" alessia was indignant now. you wanted to defend yourself, but you couldn't seem to find the words, and so she barrelled on. "you've been saying 'soon' for so long, but did you ever actually mean it? like what, you want to just keep pretending like we're nothing forever? until we get married? until we die? people are going to find out eventually, fuck, half of them already have!"

you tried to remain calm, the last thing you wanted to do was lash out if your emotions got the better of you.

"soon, i promise. i just need a little time to prepare but i swear-"

"prepare for what? i don't understand why you're being like this all of sudden. you've never had a problem with the rumours before!"

you could tell alessia was becoming annoyed, her voice rising in volume as she continued, her gestures wild and exasperated. you knew you should calm yourself down in return before you said something you would regret, but you never had been known for keeping your head. alessia's confrontation was jarring, and rather than properly explain to her how you felt, you began to raise your voice back. every worry and insecurity you'd been hiding from up burst out in the form of harsh words and stinging accusations.

"i'm fucking scared less! is that what you want me to say? i'm terrified of what people will say about us! about me! you know i want to tell people, of course i do, but all i asked for was a little time!" you pulled into the car park, slamming on the handbrake so you could turn to alessia and continue your tirade.

"it's fine for you. everyone loves you! you won't get any backlash. you have no idea what it's like. if you fuck up in a game it's only a missed chance! it's only 'oh well, the goal will come soon, better luck next time stargirl!' when i fuck up, we're a goal down, i'm a shit goalie, i cost us the game, it's all 'what was the keeper playing at, she barely moved!"

you didn't know where all this was coming from, but you couldn't seem to stop. you barely registered how alessia's face fell, how she reached out a hand but pulled it back, instead you continued to air all your frustrations. you knew you should stop, knew it wasn't fair on alessia, but it was like the floodgates had opened.

"everyone loves you less, everyone wants you! they're just going to say i'm not good enough for you, that you could do so much better. as if i don't fucking know that? as if i don't spend every second i'm with you thinking that?"

you got out and slammed the door. you saw alessia scramble to follow you, but you walked off.

"y/n wait!"

alessia called after you, but the words fell flat in her throat. she could only watch you go.

as you marched towards the changing rooms you pulled your headphones on and tried to re-aim your focus towards today's match. try as you might, though, all you could think of was your harsh outburst. it wasn't alessia's fault. you had no right to take your insecurities out on her, not when she was so good to you. you kicked yourself again. this is what you always did, before alessia. let it get in your head, let your emotions consume you, and now you'd hurt the one person you never wanted to hurt ever. the person you'd vowed to protect, to keep safe.

you thought you were better than this. you knew you were better than this.

to the rest of the squad, the build-up to the match was nothing out of the ordinary. to you and alessia, however, it was nothing of the sort. you kept your distance in the changing room, and all through warm up; alessia trying to give you time and space to cool off; you regretting your outburst.

the game started, and clearly alessia's professionalism kicked in. as always, she played with a fire lit inside her. you'd known it would be a tough game for united, but your attackers dominated possession, alessia breaking free and creating plenty of chances.

you were honestly relieved that the ball mostly remained in the oppositions half. unlike alessia, you remained somewhat distracted, and you didn't trust yourself to make the saves you might have needed to. in warm up your legs had felt weak, and your reflexes sluggish, and you knew why. you tried to pull back focus on the game. you didn't want to hand the fans any further ammunition.

eventually, the goal came around the 40 minute mark. an alessia russo masterclass. worries momentarily forgotten, you gave your usual goal-line celebration as you watched your girlfriend score at the other end of the pitch. regardless of the argument, you were always incredibly proud to call her yours.

reflecting on this, you knew what you had to do. you wanted the world to see the pride you felt for alessia. she was the love of your life. fuck what anyone might say, she was yours. you'd chosen each other, and you knew in that moment nothing anyone said could take that away from the two of you.

the game kicked off again, but you'd already made up your mind. you zeroed in on the game, anticipating for the counterattack. you itched for the half-time whistle, so you could find alessia and apologise, but your focus was solely on maintaining the clean sheet.

sure enough, the counterattack came. a gap in the defence, allowing the forward to charge through, leaving you vulnerable. an absolute screamer of a shot, curling perfectly towards the net. you jumped, hand outstretching at the perfect time, sending the ball far clear of the goal. the united fans erupted. an incredible save.

you could see your teammates let out shouts of celebration at your save, but your eyes searched only for alessia. normally she'd cheer, send you a bright smile, maybe even a tight hug if she was close enough. yet today, there was nothing. she barely even looked your way, just positioned herself to prepare for the next play.

the half time whistle blew, and you tried to approach her, but alessia was already making her way past the fans and into the tunnel. you jogged to catch her, but it only served for you to catch the tail end of a shout from a fan, directed at alessia.

"-you and y/n dating?"

you watched as alessia turned directly to them, expression stormy, before shaking her head.

"we're just friends," she said firmly. her eyes caught yours as she turned on her heel and stalked into the changing room. away from you.

you were desperate to speak to her but the way she positioned herself firmly on the opposite side of the room clearly said she wanted nothing of the sort. you nearly had an opening when alessia moved to grab another drink, but then marc began his half-time talk, and you were forced to draw your attention away from her. as soon as marc finished speaking she stood and walked back out to the pitch with katie and ona.

the second half began to a reinvigorated opposition. unlike in the first 45, where you’d barely had a touch of the ball, you were now having to make save after save, clearance after clearance.

it was a cagey 30 mins, with united managing to hold on to the 1-0 lead, but only barely. the other team were playing more and more aggressively, and it seemed your teammates were matching their frustration. as you watched the referee call foul after foul, from both sides, you were somewhat relieved to be in goal. the relief was short-lived though, as you were forced to make yet another impressive save.

each time there was a break in play, or united had the ball, your eyes sought out alessia. her words to the fan reeled in your mind, and you wondered if maybe she was telling the truth. maybe your earlier outburst had been enough to drive her off.

unlike the first half, where alessia had been the picture of composure, you could tell she was distracted. her touches were sloppy, her runs mistimed, and you could see the frustration coming off her in waves, even from the other end of the pitch. she was being marked heavily by the other team, and was being subject to repeated heavy tackles and relentless dirty pushes.

finally, alessia broke free of her defender at the perfect moment, and she was straight through on goal. you held your breath as she pressed into the box, ball glued to her feet. there was no way she could miss.

you saw the tackle coming before it happened. the opposition's frustration came to a head as the defender, in a dirty piece of play, slid directly into alessia's legs. you could only watch anxiously as she hit the ground.

the whistle blew immediately, and the crowd blew up as the referee pointed to the penalty spot. you pumped a fist in relief at the decision. a chance to double your lead. but then your fist, along with the noise of the crowd, fell, as you realised alessia was still on the floor.

you waited for her to stretch and stand as she normally did. but she didn't move. your view from the goal was limited; only the vague image of tooney bent over alessia as she remained on the floor.

you watched as the medics were brought on to attend to her. you were worried, of course you were, you loved her, but you still held faith that she'd be okay in a short while. a little bit of treatment and she'd be back on her feet. alessia always was.

most of the rest of the team gathered on the halfway line. you remained in the goal, taking a brief drink, and straining your eyes to see what was going on with alessia. it was only when you saw tooney, still planted at alessia's side, waving frantically to get your attention, that you fully realised that something was very wrong.

"y/n! come here!"

an ordinary voice might not have carried the length of the pitch, but for once you welcomed how loud ella could be. you immediately ran towards them, crouching at alessia's side before looking to ella in white-hot panic. your mind raced with thoughts of sprains or tears, fractures or breaks.

"less? oh god, ella, what happened?" the medics were blocking your view of alessia's feet, so you had no indication of how bad the injury was. that was, until you saw alessia's face.

alessia didn't cry on the pitch. alessia cried at romantic films, at cheesy songs, at christmas adverts. she cried on the sofa after a bad game, or in the girl's bathroom after a few glasses of wine. she cried out of frustration during arguments, and she cried out of relief when you made up. but alessia did not cry on the pitch.

now, she was hiding her face with her hands, eyes scrunched up in pain, but she was, undeniably, crying. you started forward to take her hand, to do anything to offer comfort, but as soon as you’d pulled your gloves off you hesitated. you were worried she might still be annoyed at you, that you might be the last person she wanted here right now.

"y/n?" alessia's voice was weak as she said your name, but as she reached out to grab your hand, her grip was nothing but firm. painfully tight, in fact. that motion jolted you into action, and you forgot about everything else. alessia was all that mattered right now.

"yeah, i'm here, less, i've got you," your free hand - the one not wound tight between alessia's fingers - reached out to stroke her hair as you spoke. you shuffled closer, positioning yourself so alessia's head was in your lap so you could bend over and whisper in her ear. "it's okay love, its okay,"

"fuck, i'm sorry, y/n - i'm so, so sorry!" alessia still had one hand covering her eyes as you held her, and you had to lean in close to hear her. her words confused you, and you tried to comfort her more, chalking her words up to the pain she was in.

"shh, less it's okay, its not your fault, it was a bad tackle, you didn't do anything wrong darling,"

at this, alessia took her hand away from her face to look at you directly. despite the clear pain you knew she was in, all you could see in her eyes was striking remorse.

"no, i mean, for earlier," she gasped then, as one of the medics touched what must've been the injury, but she carried on earnestly, "i shouldn't have pushed you, i had no idea you felt like that and i-" she was cut off again by her own whimper, screwing her eyes shut in pain and biting down on her lip. you wiped a few of her tears, and squeezed her hand tightly. none of that mattered now.

"hey, hey, less, its fine, it doesn't matter," she shook her head frantically as you continued, "don't think about that now, it's fi-"

"it isn't fine! i should've let it go, i just- please y/n, i'm so sorry!"

you were taken aback. you'd spent the entire game regretting your own words, and the last thing you wanted to do was accept alessia’s unnecessary apology, especially not without giving one of your own first, but you could see she wasn't going to let it go. you sighed, caressing her cheek again and bending to press a kiss to her forehead. fuck it if the entire stadium saw.

"it's okay less. you don’t owe me an apology. i'm sorry, i really am. i shouldn't have just taken it all out on you like that, it wasn't fair. i don't care if the whole world knows. you're all that matters to me, okay?"

she nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. you could see them readying to bring the stretcher on in your peripheral vision. you still weren't sure of the extent of the injury, but alessia seemed calmer now that you'd talked. she moved to sit up, nodding her head as she medics asked if she could walk. she turned to look up at you.

"help me off?"

you nodded, standing swiftly and reaching down to help alessia up.

"is it your ankle?" you asked as you slung her arm around your shoulder, a medic on the other side doing the same. she nodded again, testing to see if she could put any weight on it, and swearing when she found she couldn't.

"broken?"

"i don't know, hope not. i can't walk though," she muttered, jaw clenched.

"don't worry. i've got you," you said as you helped her off the pitch. another medic took over once you got to the bench, but alessia stopped to look at you, sensing your hesitance to go back to the game.

"stop worrying, i can survive ten minutes without you, y/n. keep that clean sheet, yeah?" she smiled, although the wince that followed it made you less convinced. you swallowed, but nodded.

"sure thing, stargirl," you smirked. she rolled her eyes before they headed down the tunnel to get her checked out properly. you allowed yourself one more worried glance after her, before taking a breath to compose yourself. you walked back to the goal.

katie took the penalty. you knew it was going in as soon as she kicked it, and you pumped your fists. you just had to hold on for 10 more minutes. plus injury time. there’d be a fair bit of that.

it felt like hours, but eventually the whistle blew. you rushed through shaking hands with the other players; seeing alessia the only thing on your mind. the minute the team huddle broke up with a cheer, you were racing down the tunnel.

you found alessia in the treatment room, the doctor just finishing up.

"hey, you," you murmured, making your way over, "any news?"

"nothing major," alessia smiled, and you breathed a sigh of relief, "shouldn't be out for more than a game or two," you ran your hand over her hair, and she leant into the touch. an injury wasn't ideal, but it was a better outcome than you'd been expecting.

"ready to go home?" you asked, pressing another kiss to alessia's forehead. you felt her nod.

"good thing we took your car, huh?"

"we always take my car," you pointed out.

"as if i would let you drive mine” alessia teased. you didn't mind. at least it meant the pain can’t have been too bad, if she was still making her usual jokes about your driving.

“you don’t even drive yours, passenger princess” you replied with faux-indignance, to which she laughed again.

you wanted to bring up earlier, to give her a proper apology, and a proper promise to go public with the relationship. right now though, it could wait.

you teased her a little more as she struggled on the crutches the medics had given her, but the look she gave you meant you lasted all of five seconds before you dropped both your bags and practically carried her out. you'd come back for them.

you might not have given your full apology in words yet, but alessia felt you spent every second of that evening showing her through actions. she gazed at you lovingly as you helped her to shower with the boot, as you brushed her hair, cooked her dinner, all of it. by the evening, you found yourselves laying together on the sofa, in a very similar position to the night before, although with a very different sentiment.

alessia lay on your chest, drifting off as the pain meds kicked in, and your wandering hands ran through her hair, stroked under her shirt, circled her back - anything to help soothe her to sleep.

"less?" you began. she murmured an affirmative. "i was serious earlier. i love you. i don't mind if people know that. if you want to tell them, i do too" you felt her smile against your chest, eyes still shut.

"whenever you're ready, y/n, i can wait," you pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"alright, love"

you heard her breathing soften, the last of her muscles finally relaxing against you. you breathed her in for a little while, relishing in the weight of her body pressed perfectly into yours.

after a little while, you checked your phone. you weren't surprised to see that your little corner of twitter had blown up over you and alessia at the game today. you were relieved to see that the majority of replies and comments were well wishes for alessia. you liked a fair few tweets, and retweeted a couple about the win, including one featuring a clip of your save, captioned only 'SAFE 🙌😤'. you smirked at the videos of you running towards alessia and winced at the replays of the foul.

someone had blurrily zoomed in on you kissing alessia's forehead, despite not being able to see anything at all in the picture, and you smirked at the ensuing speculation. you knew you shouldn't look any deeper, should avoid the mentions and the replies, knew it would only end badly.

you had never been one for controlling your impulses however.

instead of insults though, the replies seemed to be full of overwhelming support. knowing twitter, you'd expected the worst. you were pleased at the amount of tweets trying to shut down the rumours, saying the two of you deserved to be left alone, regardless of if there was anything going on.

to your surprise, even the diehard alessia fans seemed pleased to think they might finally have confirmation of your relationship. there were no insults on your goalkeeping skills, or questions of how you managed to pull alessia. there were some jokes about whether you could fight, but even those were good-natured, and few in number. most of the replies were people desperate to know if alessia was okay.

you looked down at where alessia lay nestled under your arm. you could give the fans a little something, you thought. opening instagram, you took a quick picture of alessia up against you, her face hidden by her hair. typing a quick caption, you posted it to your story, before you chucked your phone aside. you shut your eyes, and let alessia's steady heartbeat drag you under.

yourinstagram

alessia awoke you a couple hours later, brushing your hair away from your eyes.

"we should go to bed" she whispered, "the actual bed, not the sofa,"

you groaned and nodded, before sweeping her up bridal style. alessia whacked your chest playfully as you stumbled your way up the stairs. under the covers, you pulled her close to you, and settled back to sleep in each other’s arms.

the next morning, you woke up to the sounds of alessia fumbling about downstairs. from the sound of it, she was clearly still adjusting to the crutches. you reached for your phone, and laughed when you saw that alessia had shared your story, with the addition of a caption of her own.

alessiarusso99

thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! as always, feel free to give requests or ideas for fics/blurbs.

hedge xx

#alessia russo imagine #alessia russo x reader #alessia russo #muwfc x reader #lionesses #engwnt #woso x reader

[bambisnc]

you got mail~!

➵ from : xu minghao~ ♥︎ (b4 reading look here for cw/tw)

"remember that bet we made a couple weeks ago? ..yes i’m aware we’ve made several if one were to count but i’m specifically talking about the one where you said that you are, and i quote, “cute as fuck” and charming enough to be able to win over anyone you’d want, myself included. we never really reached a proper conclusion on it; you’d gotten distracted and fled the library on receiving a call from who i’d assumed was your distressed best friend, leaving me there drowning in an oasis of overthinking - i’ve always found your empathy rather.. charming. another incident i’d like to bring up took place during the school camping trip a couple months back,.. i was going through some hard stuff then. obviously there was no reason for me to, and i know that you must have thought of me as more of an asshole than usual, but i was particularly relentless with you - i definitely did say some harsh things which i didn’t mean. you fought back - which, on another note, is also something i admire about you - how you never back down from a challenge - but right before you stormed off in the dark of the night, i saw the faintest shimmer in your eyes.. you were crying. the sharp stab of pain that raced through me, the sound of blood rushing to my head made me unable to choke out the words out of comfort i so strongly wanted to. you missed the presentation that was scheduled for soon after, and i can’t tell you how sick i was with worry. i saw you soon after with the person i believe you were romantically interested in then, whispering something softly to each other. and that, sweetheart, was my italicized ‘oh’ moment. i admit it was obviously not the best time to realize it; i didn’t want to a home wrecker?? there was also the fact that you probably hated me with all of your existence.. so i did everything i could, i put in all the effort to be able to gain back your favor. i’m sure you would have been wondering where the sudden niceties where coming from. to be very honest, i think a part of me always knew, subconsciously, how much your presence meant to me - our rivalry in a way encouraging me to do my best - and how much i wanted to treasure you. i called you 'sweetheart', defending it to myself as it being a petty insult but maybe i just liked affixing an endearment to you..

not much else to say now, except, well, you’ve won. you’ve got me hopelessly falling for you. you make me feel emotions i’ve never felt before and i can’t help but feel terrified. you have me losing sleep daily thinking of you, your unfaltering confidence in goodness, your dedication to whatever you put your mind to, your witty remarks, and that infuriatingly gorgeous smile of yours that i seem to be rather incapable of resisting, because how can i not let that infectious joy and optimism of yours settle into my veins, my skin, my heart. i’ve let you run away from me twice. i refuse to let that happen again. i'm willing to fight, to beg, to wait. to do whatever you ask of me. I’m aware a relation like ours cannot just be redone completely in a day, but i promise if you give me the chance, i’m more than willing to make it all up to you and make you happy, so please, let me now make sure that i can treat you with all the love you deserve, sweetheart."

~ yours (if you so choose to accept me ♡︎)

[check out my masterlist for more >.<] + [more of you got mail~!]

#creds to @/wntercafe for pics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #this is 0.6 kay ho lee shit my magnum opus fr + i cried #you got mail~! ['24] #seventeen #seventeen imagines #seventeen x you #seventeen x reader #seventeen fluff #svt fluff #svt #minghao #minghao x reader #minghao x you #minghao x y/n #minghao fluff #kpop x reader #kpop imagines #kpop fanfic #kpop fic #order's up~! 📋⋆𐙚

[eldritch-spouse]

Oh no, I drank a mysterious potion out of curiosity and now I'm ten inches tall. What will the clergy boys do?

You're tiny 🤏

Morell is so scared you're going to like... Fall into one of his pots and end up boiled to death. Nuh huh, you're staying in his smock's pocket. Or in his scarf. He doesn't want you running lose around his kitchen, you'll get cut, you'll get stomped, not happening. On the other hand, the chef would like some distance, because it would be so easy to just gobble you up and his intrusive thoughts are being merciless right now.

Gallon has a whole lot of fun pretending to dip you into drinks. You're only allowed to walk around the counter if you stick right in front of him. Otherwise he'll make a tendril just to hold you throughout the day. He's absolutely still going to try to trap you inside himself. It's much easier now! Although he doesn't want you to panic due to the size difference.

Santi is drooling. Oh sweet minx, you're going all sorts of ways. Santi's going to try to shove you into his slit, and it's not a bright idea. He wants you to hug his cock and kiss it and talk about how big he is. He wants to cum on you just to watch it drip off your body like hot wax. Santi needs to eat you out and stick your entire lower body in his mouth. He's so ready to have you grind on his finger, just drunk off the possibilities.

Grimbly... Is panicking. He's supposed to be the small one! Oh no. Everyone's going to try to take you away from him now that you're doll sized!! Grimbly tells you to hold onto his horns while he works, hissing violently whenever anyone gets too close and generally avoiding conversation with clients- Which is uncharacteristic. Maybe the bat likes being able to have you all to himself without effort, but it's not meant to be this way.

Nebul is perplexed. This will require some adaptation, for sure. Small as you are, he might as well get a container for you. A cage? No, don't look at him like that, he'll furnish it accordingly. Purpur is not allowed to touch you because he will crush you accidentally and cry himself to death. The wraith has to be much much lighter with punishments, but loves making you put on a tiny show for him while he strokes himself off. You're adorable.

Patches is more annoyed than anything. You can't just drink anything you find, are you nuts?! Stay on his desk, please. The dullahan unfortunately gets very distracted from his work and makes several breaks just to find an excuse to hold you, sometimes brushing pens against you, dislodging your clothes, tipping you over just so he can see your undies- Stitches has no hesitation in throwing you into his pants.

Vinnel is having such a grand old time! Ooooh boy, where's he going to put his dolly next? Oh, how about this very tall shelf. Sheesh poppet, how will make it down now, hm? He throws you in the air a little, only to catch you and do it again. You're stroked and pressed to orgasm several times until you've soaked his hand in your fluids, until you're crying for him to stop, and he's palming himself like a mutt to the show. You've also been sentenced to dress up dolly time forever now.

Belo is consumed by worry. Dear Krulu, you're so fragile like this! He needs to keep you safe at all times. Hold onto his head, his halo, please just don't let go of him, you can get lost or swiped or kicked and Belo wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to you. He wants to cut food into tiny pieces just so he can watch you try to chomp at it with his big old lavender eyes.

Sybastian puts you in his mouth. Immediately. No thoughts no questions just mouf. It's not exactly the best scent in the world, but you're very safe there, he won't swallow you. The mimiclings are thrilled about this and they will carry you everywhere behind Syb when he can't hold you himself. When alone, he's still going to lick you all over and try to make you grind on his tongue.

Fank-e squeals so high he breaks his voice box and probably deafens you a little. You're SO CUTE. Do a little dance! For him, please? You're staying in his torn up top the whole day while he speeds around, occasionally stopping to pet you, give you sips from drinks and presenting you to everyone he knows like a wet cat. Haha, look at my meow meow- He will still pin you on his palm and vibrate his thumb until you're squeaking and squealing.

Krulu sighs. You're already so small, this is just added insult. Fortunately, or unfortunately, you're sentenced to the role of a shoulder corvid, hanging off the protrusions near his clavicles or passed around between six hands like a toy. You're pretty useless at this size, so he makes sure that you stay within a safe range from him. The higher will shrink meals and pretend to be annoyed, but in reality, his lower eye is constantly darting to you and his lips twitch up sometimes. Precious.

#Morell oc #Gallon oc #Vinnel oc #Nebul oc #Belo oc #Patches oc #Santi oc #Grimbly oc #Sybastian oc #Fank-e oc

[necros-writing-stuff]

Imagine this: a younger/kid PC finding out about the attic, maybe even a picture from when Bailey and Eden were still in school, and is now determined to find Eden, and try to bring the two together again

———

Basically The Parent Bait, but there’s only one (1) annoying and stubborn kid (except anon has never seen the movie)

Bailey knew you were a menace as soon as you were dropped off on his doorstep. And he was right. You break out of the youth wing and wander around, you latch onto him as he passes by despite his best efforts to not be fatherly, and of course he caught you coming down the ladder from the loft.

Now you've followed him to his meeting with Eden, staring up at both of them with a big smile on your face as they feel a mutual relief that they kept their pants on.

"One of yours...?" Eden looks jumpy, ready to get gone. Its best that people don't know he exists, and if this kid is some sort of spy (a terrible one if they are), then it could mean trouble.

Bailey flicks some ash off the end of his cigarette. "You're meant to be at school, kid."

His glare doesn't change a thing, you're still there, swinging your arms back and forth as you rock on your feet, a giggle bubbling up from your chest.

"Is this your boyfriend from that old photo?"

Both of them freeze. There's an old photo? You used the word 'boyfriend', too, which doesn't help with how god damn fragile the line of friendship and lovers is between the two.

"We aren't boyfriends, what fucking photo, kid?"

Your little hand dives straight into your pocket, producing a faded picture with creases marking the material. "This one! From an old box in the loft. I don't know why you don't like me up there, it's just dusty."

There's so much innocence still in your eyes. So much lack of knowledge about the world leaving blank spaces in your head that you fill with dreams. You don't even seem to realise how the mention of the loft makes both men grow pale.

Bailey snatches the photo from you, briefly glancing at it to ensure its really them. Eden looks away from it. He'll have to burn it later.

"Wait here kid. Don't move - not an inch, do you understand? I need to talk about something you're too young for, so no listening in."

He grabs the fabric of Eden's coat, hauling him several feat away before speaking once more in hushed tones. "I'm worried about this one. They'll give me a stress heart attack when they're older, I just know it. Hope someone just adopts them so I won't have to put up with them."

No response from Eden as he looks at you over his shoulder, nodding his head when you wave at him.

Bailey continues. "They think I'm like. Their dad or something. It pisses me off, Eden, how can one kid be that dumb? I mean-"

"Or whoever raised them this far was just as much of a cold bastard as you and they think it's normal cause they don't know anything else."

Sometimes Eden says smart things. Sometimes. Bailey rarely likes it. "Yeah well they should learn better anyway."

Eden has something in his eyes when he looks back at you once more. A hint of pity and wistfulness.

"I want kids, I ever tell you that?" They're speaking quietly, but this one is whispered.

The hunter can't adopt. He doesn't have the paperwork, can't pass inspections. But you're an adventurous kid who runs off a lot.

"I can just report them missing. You'd be doing me a favour, and it's better than killing them because they know we used to be just like them."

A month passes before he's able to see Eden again. A month where it looks like the man hasn't slept and has claw marks on his face. He's smiling, though.

"The kid decided we needed a pet badger."

Fatherhood looks good on him.

"But also is asking when their other dad is coming for tea."

And you're still finding ways to make his life difficult.

#spill your guts #anonymous #eden the hunter #bailey the caretaker #baileden propaganda #i give eden feral child

[scarletsaphire]

Danny missed last gym class through no fault of his own, which is normally fine. It’s just that now they’re putting the self defense moves to work, and Danny’s been paired with Valerie. Great; guess he’ll be getting his ass kicked by her twice in one day.

--

@phicphight fic 3! This one is for @tourettesdog and @lovelyunknown! Prompts used are at the end.

"Mrs. Tetslaff. Mrs. Tetslaff please you don't have to do this," Danny begged.

"Shut it, Fenton," she said, not even sparing him a glance. "Partners are final, no swaps. Besides, being with Gray will do you some good. Maybe if she tosses you around enough, you'll put some effort forward in my class." She chuckled, before turning back to the rest of the class and bringing the whistle to her lips.

Danny made his way back to Sam and Tucker's side as she finished announcing the rest of the pairings. "As if I don't already get my ass handed to me by Val enough. Now I get to experience it in class too."

"If it makes you feel any better," Tucker replied. "I'm also going to get absolutely destroyed."

"Damn right you are," Sam nodded. The two of them had been made partners, probably because Mrs. Tetslaff knew that she wouldn't hold back. Tucker knew it too.

"That does make me feel a bit better," Danny admitted. "At least I won't be suffering alone."

"Okay everybody!" Mrs. Tetslaff's voice cut through their conversation. "Gather with your partners; I'll be coming around to monitor you all, but other than that, its a free for all. Use whatever moves you remember from our self defense class yesterday."

Danny nodded along with the rest of the class before making his way over to where Valerie was standing on the side of the gym. He held up his hand in a not quite wave as he approached, which Valerie returned.

"Hi."

"Hi."

This conversation was going just as well as he thought it would.

"Do you want to start on the offensive?" Valerie asked.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. I can do that. Unless you want to go first?" Danny asked.

"I've been taking karate since I was five. I don't need the practice. You do," Valerie replied. "Besides, even if you do manage to land a good hit, I can probably handle it a lot better than you can, and I don't want you using a bruise to try and get out of this."

Danny hesitated. He could handle this just fine; he'd tussled with plenty of bigger threats before, even without his ghost powers. Hell, he tussled with Val every night, albeit with the aforementioned ghost powers, when the red-gray of her suit blended in with the regular gray clouds and night sky. He wasn't worried about getting hurt.

What he was worried about was the fact that he didn't remember a single thing from his last gym class. Dash had locked him in the locker right before, and then Johnny and Shadow showed up, and they were always time consuming to deal with. Even if dealing with them this time looked a whole lot more like buying them a milkshake.

Either way, by the time he'd managed to make it back to the school, the class had been almost completely over, and the only thing he managed to see was Sam suplexing Tucker onto the mat, which, according to Tucker, hadn't even been a move they were supposed to be practicing. This meant that Danny was yet again stuck in the predicament he was in every single time he had to do anything in this Ancient's forsaken class: how much could he actually, realistically do?

The answer was always a resounding not much. He could normally fake it pretty well, but when he didn't know what he was supposed to know? It became a whole hell of a lot harder.

"Actually..." Danny started slowly.

"You forgot, didn't you?" 

Danny rubbed at the back of his neck.

Valerie rolled her eyes, and the faintest hint of a smile played across her face. "I guess that means I'm going first."

"I guess so."

"Okay, I'm going to do this slowly, so try and pay attention." Valerie made her way directly in front of him. "Hold your hands up like this." Danny copied Valerie's pose, one very different than he'd seen her take during the night. Probably because she didn't have any guns. "You ready?"

Danny gave one nod. He’d barely finished moving his head before Valerie was lunging towards him, fists flying towards his face. It was a conscious effort to not turn intangible, which meant that he didn’t have the brainwidth to try and clock the hit, or dodge out of the way, or do anything that didn’t result in a fist to the face. 

It was good to know Valerie hit hard , even without her suit. 

Danny stumbled backwards, blinking stars out of his vision, hand coming up to his nose that he knew was bleeding. It wasn't broken, at least.

"Oh shit," he heard Valerie say, and in an instant she was by his side. "I did not mean to hit you that hard I swear."

Danny waved her off with his free hand. "Yeah, well, I'm the one who stood there like an idiot." He removed his hand from his face, looking down at it. Yeah, he was definitely bleeding. "I'll be fine."

He looked to her when Valerie didn't give an answer, and was surprised to see her staring down at his hand in shock. "Valerie?" he asked tentatively. Still no answer. "It was an accident, you didn't mean to-"

He was cut off by Valerie grabbing his wrist and dragging him towards the doors of the gym. "Wh- Val! What the hell?" he asked.

"We need to have a talk. Now." Her voice was steely, a tone he couldn't remember her ever using with him. At least, not with human him. It was enough to shut up any future protests, and he allowed himself to be dragged along obediently.

They kept going even after they were out in the hallway, down a few doors until they got to a storage closet that Danny knew was mostly empty. Valerie pulled the door open and shoved him inside, slamming the door behind her.

Danny had absolutely no idea what was happening. 

"I think you have some explaining to do," Valerie said with her arms crossed and her foot tapping a hasty rhythm on the tiled floors.

"I'd love to, I really would, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Danny asked, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Oh? Then how are you gonna explain that?" She titled her head towards Danny's bloody hand.

"You punched me in the face!" Danny answered. "Nose bleeds happen when people get punched in the face!"

By her sharp inhale, it was clear that wasn't the answer Valerie was looking for. "It's green Danny."

"Oh." Danny brought his hand back around in front of him, squinting at the now dried blood stain. It looked more like a red-gray than a green-gray to him, but then again, there wasn't much difference between shades of gray. "I didn't know that."

"How do you not know that your blood is green?"

"Frankly, I didn't know my blood was red until I was like. Eight years old. So this isn't the first time this has happened!"

Valerie took a deep breath and brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Uh-oh. Danny's natural defense was getting on her nerves. That never ended well. "Ok, your idiocy aside, why the hell is your blood green?"

"That. Is a very good question!" 

Danny ran through every possible excuse he could think of. Some of them might've worked if it was literally anybody else who had figured this out, but Valerie wasn't just some random student who would believe "Fenton Weirdness" as a catch all excuse. She had experience with ghosts, and ectoplasm, and more importantly, was also exposed to the same technology Danny would normally blame this on.

"Would you believe me if I said I snorted ectoplasm before class?"

"Not when you say it like that."

"Well, crap."

--

TourettesDog - Danny is red-green colorblind. This never caused him much trouble before the accident, but now, well… It would have been nice to know beforehand that his blood was the wrong color. LovelyUnknown - Danny's identity is found out in the funniest way possible.

#danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #danny fenton #valerie gray #phic phight #identity reveal #team human #phic phight team human

[captain-mj]

I was thinking this like Roach is dead and Ghost haven't really moved on from him, BUT he has Soap now, and Ghost has a ''conversation'' with Roach about that. Roach is like ''he's there and I'm not, you need to move on and he's (soap) is everything you ever wanted and needed, please give him a change, he will make you happier than ever''

This might have been done many times but I'd like to see your twist on it.

ps. your content here/on ao3/tiktok is amazing

So I got this ask right before making the tiktok I made today but didn't see it until just now and I feel like the stars really aligned for this one

Incredibly short because I'm super emotional and started crying like a dweeb

Ghost never let go of Roach's dogtags. They sat, for the most part, in one of his drawers, wrapped in a piece of cloth from his uniform. He never touched them if he could help it.

When he and Soap had become official, Ghost still felt a flicker in his chest at the thought, he had told Soap about them. He had quickly reassured him that he had moved on. Ghost had made sure of it, going to therapy, putting in effort, before he ever considered actually making Soap his. The one thing he never wanted Soap to do is feel like he had to compete with him.

Soap had only smiled at him and said he understood. He didn't need Simon to stop caring for Roach. Stop... loving Roach. He just... understood. Like he always did.

So Ghost had continued to hold on to them. Their relationship progressed slowly for a couple of reasons. Ghost's issues around sex and intimacy, Soap's focus on his career, the missions that kept them apart. But Soap's dogtags had a skull on them and Ghost's had a Scottish flag pendant. Official as two men like them could be.

Ghost, for the first time in months, unwrapped Roach's dogtags to inspect them. They glittered still. Couldn't really get dirty where they were.

"Hey, Roach."

Unknown to him, Roach sat next to him. He didn't stay there often, mostly enjoying the peace of the afterlife. It was boring, but he treated it like retirement. Eventually, his friends would die and he knew it wouldn't be so boring.

"Hey Simon." Speaking was new to him. Hadn't been able to do it when he was 14 and an accident crushed his vocal chords. But being dead meant you didn't have those same injuries. Didn't have a body to have them.

"I haven't talked to you in a while. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it." Roach answered, leaning into him. Simon shivered, like he could feel him there.

"I don't... love you anymore. I feel guilty for it. We were friends for so long. I still love you that way. But I... I'm not in love with you anymore." Simon took his mask off. "You mean a lot to me, old friend. But you're not mine anymore. And I'm not yours."

Roach smiled. "I know. And God, I'm happy for you. I wish we had more time, but since we didn't, I'm glad Soap is the one there for you. You two fit so well." He rested his hand on Simon's, noticing briefly that their hands no longer fit together as well as they used to. Ghost stared at them before moving his hand, their fingers intertwining.

"I feel you sometimes." Ghost responded to the air and Roach had no way of knowing if he knew he was there or if it was just grief.

"Oh, Simon. Please, keep giving Soap a chance. Be happy for me. The two of you should live enough life for all three of us and I'll see you again."

Simon let out small sound. Not quite a sob. It hurt Roach's chest.

"It's alright to let me go. I want you to finally let me go. Get rid of the tags."

Simon held them tight, until they made indents in his palm. "I know... I know..."

Roach kissed his cheek. "He loves you. A lot. Just as much as me." More than me. Soap was alive and he looked at Ghost like he hung the stars and Ghost looked at him like he hung the moon and Roach loved them both the more for it.

Simon gave the tags to Price. He didn't want them in the trash. Price offered to let him know what he did with them, but Simon refused.

Soap noticed they were gone from the drawer. Some of the clothes he kept in Ghost's room had been moved over. Not quite displacing where it would be, more just taking up more of the space in the drawer. He didn't feel relieved they were gone, but he was happy Simon could finally let them go.

#cod #cod mw2 #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare ii #soap call of duty #johnny soap mactavish #soapghost #ghostsoap #simon ghost riley #simon rile #gary roach sanderson #roach x ghost #ghost x roach

[dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night]

Eden

TW: kidnapping, captivity, creepy/intimate whumper, pet whumpee, referenced drugging, referenced stalking, emotional manipulation, referenced depression

As he roused from a deep sleep, Ezra found himself curled up on the sofa in his living room.

He racked his brain as his senses slowly reaserted themselves, but found no recollection of where he had been the previous night, or how he had gotten home.

The cloying smell of lavender perfume overwhelmed him. Ezra didn't wear perfume.

As more sensations flooded his body, he realized his head way laying on someone's lap.

Someone who was running their fingers through his hair.

None of his friends were this affectionate. They all knew him to be severely touch averse. They wouldn't try something like this.

Trying to sit up, he found his arms to be bound behind him with soft, but tight strips of fabric.

This finally spiraled Ezra into panic. He thrashed, struggling to get away from whoever was with him, putting his full strength into breaking his bindings.

Despite his best efforts, his sluggish body couldn't move enough to fall off the stranger's lap, let alone escape.

The stranger had no problem pushing Ezra down by the shoulders and holding him in place.

"No," they said in a deep voice, firm but gentle. "Stay still."

Ezra scanned the room. The clean beige carpet, new looking brown sofa, and sea scape paintings certainly weren't his.

"Where am I?"

Ezra's heart raced, fuelled with fear and andrenaline, pounding against his ribcage in a mockery of a ceremonial drum.

"I didn't give you permission to speak," his captor said.

Ezra stayed silent. The humiliation of being treated like a lap dog wasn't enough to render him stupid.

His captor could have a gun or some other sort of weapon. Fighting back simply wasn't worth the risk.

Ezra needed answers before he could decide what to do. There wasn't any point in getting himself killed.

Music played softly in the backround, the melody much too pleasant for such an occasion. A woman sang softly from the spinning record, but was not loudly enough for Ezra to make out her words.

Turning his head slightly, Ezra got a look at his captor. He looked to be in his thirties, fair skinned with mousy brown hair, wearing wire framed glasses and a small smile.

He tucked a lock of hair behind his captive's ear, before leaning down to kiss him on the cheek.

Ezra flinched and tried to pull away.

"Tsk tsk," his captor said. "That is no way to treat your master. I'm just being friendly."

Ezra opened his mouth to retort, but swallowed his complaint before it could escape his lips.

"You're being such a good pet," his captor continued, petting Ezra's curly hair. "Now, if you had something you wanted to ask me, you may. So long as you're respectful about it."

"Where am I?"

"Call me sir."

"No way in-" he broke off, remembering his position. "Yes, sir."

He tried his best to sound vaguely ticked off, but still compliant. Judging by the look on his supposed master's face, he succeeded in only the second part.

"You may ask that again."

"Where am I, sir?"

"My home. You are still in the United States, but I took you over state lines."

None of this was helpful in the slightest, but Ezra figured it was the best he was going to get.

He lived near enough to the borders of Idaho, Oregon, and even Montana that he could have easily been taken to any of them.

"Why am I here, sir?"

"Because I thought you would make a good pet."

Ezra's stomach dropped.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. It isn't anything horrid. I'm not going to hurt you, unless you harm me or attempt escape. You should be grateful, really. I'm a lot kinder than most of the masters you could have gotten stuck with."

The term human trafficking sprung to Ezra's mind. He had never thought to worry about such a thing happening to him. It always seemed so removed from his normal suburban life.

"Can you tell me what happened, sir?"

Sir. How he loathed that word. It was meant to refer to a person he respected, and his captor sure as hell didn't qualify.

But he needed information. And he needed a plan. Faked respect was his best bet, and he would use it to its fullest extent.

"Well, let me see..." His captor considered for a moment how best to explain. "I saw you at that shopping mall. Do you remember?"

Of course he remembered. Ezra hung out in that concrete, capitalistic place of congregation every week.

It had always seemed so...pleasant.

Graphic t-shirts, warm pretzels, loose change jangling in pockets, luke warm carbonated drinks, bad hair dye, and casual socialization.

Sure, it was only a way to cope with the dreaded outside world. Spend five bucks on a drink to pretend you aren't in credit card debt, buy a fun piece of clothing to make yourself feel better, avoid becoming an alcoholic by gorging on salty pretzels that only ever seemed to make you hungrier.

The mall was routine. It seemed safe.

What he didn't remember was being kidnapped.

"I don't remember you," he said. "I mean sir," he hastily added. "The last thing I remember was feeling ill from a bit of food poisoning in the food court and walking out to the parking lot."

"It wasn't food poisoning. I drugged you. It was so easy too. You kept leaving your drink unattended. I noticed that habit in you for weeks."

This remark set off a phantom cascade of crushed ice falling under Ezra's shirt collar and sliding down his back.

"You always seemed like such a sweet thing. Tipping cashiers and complimenting every other person. Such a sunny disposition too. I am very surprised that I was the first person to sink my teeth into you, so to speak."

Was that it then? He had seemed "sweet," so some stranger decided to drug and kidnap him? Had every good deed only brought him closer to this insane fate?

No. This was not going to be his fate. He was going to cooperate, and then, when his captor finally trusted him enough to let his gaurd down, he would make his escape.

There was no point in rushing, not if his captor wasn't going to hurt him. He just had to bide his time.

"And you're so pretty too," his captor continued. "I know a few men who would wear your face as a mask sooner than saying hello. No, no, you're much better off with me. I'll take care of that pretty face of yours."

He trailed his fingers down his captive's cheek.

"I've admired your smile from afar for much too long. Waiting for my golden opportunity was simply torturous."

Ezra wasn't smiling.

"I was so paranoid that someone else would find you. I considered taking you from your bed, of course. But I didn't want to leave any evidence. So many people go to the mall, a few of my stray hairs won't mean anything to an investigation. And I didn't take you until you were already in the parking lot. No security footage. I checked."

Hot tears pricked the corners of Ezra's eyes. Despite all his pragmatic reasoning, he still found himself overwhelmed by the enormity of his situation.

He didn't know where he was. There wasn't any evidence of kidnapping. He had ghosted his friends all too often, mostly out of depression. They wouldn't be concerned by him not responding to their messages.

In short, he was completely screwed over by a demented stalker and his own poor social skills.

"Oh, don't cry." His kidnapper pulled Ezra's head up, so that it was resting on his chest.

Despite Ezra's best efforts, hot tears continued to roll down his cheeks. He hated not being able to move his hands and wipe them away.

"Angel," his captor whispered. "I should have realized that this would be too much for you. Oh, I tried so very hard to be kind. To make waking up as easy for you as I could. These first few days are going to be rough. I know that. But you'll learn to be happy with me, just give it time."

Ezra sobbed and melted into his captor's warm embrace, allowing his lavender perfume to smother him.

Despite its obvious falseness, the comfort was pure bliss. He wanted to ignore his troubles for a few hours and cry himself asleep in his captor's arms.

His captor began undoing the knot holding Ezra's arms behind him, pull the strips of fabric off, and drop them on the living room floor.

To his relief, Ezra's sore muscles were finally allowed to move. He fought the urge to run, knowing that it would only cause him more suffering.

Instead, he hugged his captor, still an uncontrollable sobbing mess.

A familar, detached sense of pain overcame him. This all was a dream. It had to be.

But still he wept, unable to bring himself to do anything else.

His captor held him close.

"I love you," he whispered soothingly. "I want you to know that. You will be happy here. I'll keep you clothed, clean, and fed. You won't have to worry about anything. No twenty-four hour news cycle. No war, famine, and disease. No abuse and neglect. I will treat you with all the kindness, affection, and care you have always deserved. And I'm only sorry that I didn't give you the chance to come willingly. I was so afraid of scaring you off."

That sounded like hell and heaven all rolled into one. It reminded Ezra of the best promises weaved by fascism, while it went about ignoring its bloody history.

His captor didn't love him. He couldn't delude himself on that point. All his captor had was obsession and mental health problems. What he needed was serious help, not a human pet.

But it was tempting to stay like this forever. Warm and comfortable. Letting his captor keep his promises. Not having debt and the constant risk of homelessness. Living somewhere his toxic friendships and familial connections could never bother him again.

Ezra felt truly pathetic. Had his depression and anxiety really gotten bad enough that he was considering becoming a pet to his kidnapper? And for what, cuddling and empty promises?

He took control of his breathing and was, at long last, able to wipe the tears from his face with his long sleeve.

"Please," he whispered, his voice breaking.

"Please what?" his captor asked, his voice drenched with sympathy.

"Please let me go...sir. I know that you mean well. But I can't stay here. I have to leave."

Another sob choked him, and sent him collapsing into his captor's open arms. The act betrayed a nonexistant lie.

"Oh, darling. I'm afraid not." He squeezed his new pet in another suffocating embrace. "I can't lose you. Not after everything I've been through to get this far. You're far too perfect to be damaged and discarded by the outside world. I'm not doing this out of cruelty. I'm doing this because I love you. Just give me time. That's all I want."

"Well, I want to go home."

Ezra's body didn't match his words, clinging desperately to his captor, seeking any semblance of comfort from this torment.

God, maybe he would make a good pet, needy and compliant. Sitting on his master's lap, cradled in his arms.

No. He wasn't going to give up. It would be absolute insanity. He had to stay strong internally, even if he showed his captor every sign of weakness.

"I'll give you everything you need," his captor promised. "Our own little Eden."

Ezra's mind felt like it was stuffed with barbed wire, every wicked point concealed by a cotton ball.

His friends would report him missing eventually, even if it took them a few months to realize he wasn't intentionally ghosting them.

Patience, he simply needed patience.

@elim-flower @thedarkmongoose @devourerofcheesecake

If you want to be added to or removed from the taglist, ask me.

#Whump #Whumpee #Whumper #Creative writing #Pet whump #Pet whumpee #Intimate whumper #Creepy whumper #Kidnapping whump #Captivity whump #Stalking whump #Modern whump #Pathetic whumpee #Compliant whumpee #Fearful whumpee #Manipulative whumper

[frostycatblr-fandom-files]

Fireside Friendship [Mando x GN!Reader]

Warnings and Information: No real age rating for this one. This is just good, wholesome fluff where you and Mando go camping between one of his bounties under the guise of "survival training" for Grogu. No real indication on what season of the show. One brief moment of panic on Mando's part when Grogu goes temporarily "missing". Helmet stays on. Campfire games/stories. No description of Reader's gender or looks [If I've slipped up, kindly let me know]. Second person POV. Some swearing.

I haven't watched The Last of Us, but can you spot the nod to it?

Word-count: 3,700

This little one had an amusing proclivity for trouble. For the fifth time in as many minutes, with delighted babbling, the little green child started chasing after another three-eyed amphibian he'd spotted. You found the boy adorable; those big, sweet eyes, and ears that moved with his emotions, the six curious little fingers that demanded to touch every little thing this galaxy had to offer. 

Even things that would make him sick, like this frog with a powerful hallucinogenic compound that it was capable of secreting through its skin as a defensive measure.

That was not something his guardian wanted to deal with or find out of it most effective topically, or worse yet, orally. The gleaming beskar and dark t-visor of the man's helmet whipped around in a blink. He dropped an item back into the supply crate, calling out sharply over the vocoder. "No, Grogu-!" 

While the little one's legs were short, he could be surprisingly fast. You were faster. Swooping him up yet again before he reached the gurgling banks of the little river, you turned a deaf ear to the protestful whines and fussing. "Gotcha, ya little womprat. Stop wandering off, kiddo. And I'm not putting you down. Gonna give him a heart attack." You weren't falling for his pity-me coos anymore.

The exasperated huff of an exhale was probably meant for you this time more so than the other half of Clan Mudhorn. Up until recent days, you were unaware that Clans could be so small.

"What," you tease, guessing that underneath the helmet, you're being given a very pointed glare, "you think I don't hear how worried you get?" Another huff. Softer, this time. His shoulders go slack. 

"You're welcome, by the way." you add, playfully bouncing the little guy in your arms. The action makes him erupt in a peal of giggles and squeals. Gloved fingers now go limp along with the rest of him as he watches the child, "Thank you," his arms reach out now, "I can take him." 

You shake your head softly, holding Grogu gently to your chest, and the little one leans into the gesture. Large eyes peer over in the direction of the beskar-clad figure, a silent plea, or perhaps an effort of persuasion, that Grogu wishes to remain with you a moment longer. "It's okay. I've got him. You can go ahead and take care of what you need. I'll keep Grogu entertained." You promise, carefully dropping onto your butt and tucking your legs under you in a comfortable manner to hold the endlessly curious little lifeform in your arms as long as his guardian needed.

A third huff, but this time, full of gratitude and relief. "Thank you… I guess that would make getting everything ready a lot easier." You nod silently to say of course. You'd been happy to help when he stopped at the local cantina and asked if there was anyone he could hire to take him to a safe but secluded part of the forest on this planet. You'd been happy to give him your name, which he rarely used, strangely, and learn his “nickname” in kind when you asked who was looking to hire you. You'd been happy to meet the "little one" he'd spoken of when he led you back to his ship after the "contract" (just for formality's sake) was completed. You'd been happy to spend these last few days guiding this man and his… son, perhaps, through what was practically your backyard. 

You knew this forest well. All the best spots for trapping and hunting and fishing. The gentlest rivers for soaking your feet to cool off. The gusty clearings that were rife with docile native fauna. So when the drink-slinger who worked the joint day in and day out told him "Your best bet is taking them along. They've lived out here all their life." and this Mandalorian, clad in stoic beskar and a helmet he's never once removed in your presence, didn't need more convincing than that. 

Continuing to gently bounce Grogu in your arms, you look over to the hired gun who hired you for a guide. "May I ask you a question?" He's stacking and unstacking items in the cached supply crate. You wonder what he's looking for, but it's not what you have in mind to ask. "About you." you add.

There's no pause in his work when he answers you. "I suppose."

"Your helmet? Do-"

"I took a Creed." he fires off, all too quickly. In a low breath, Mando as you've been calling him offers an uttered apology. He's a little tired after the day's hike in his armor. He shouldn't have lost his temper with you, it wasn't exactly fair of him. He's sorry. 

"Easy…" you laugh, attempting to placate the surge of his temper, "I figured there's gotta be a reason by now, Mando. It's really none of my business why. I just wanted to know if you ever found it uncomfortable to sleep with your helmet on, or if you've accounted for that with specialized padding."

You believe the question surprises him. That perhaps for once in many a blue moon someone isn't asking him to remove his helmet, or why he wears it. That you acknowledge why he wears it is none of your business. "'Specialized'-?" Mando shakes his head, chuckling softly. It's perhaps the first time he's done so without it being directed at Grogu. "No. Not really. It's something you learn to get used to, in my way of life, after you've sworn the Creed." 

You nod. "Fair enough. May I ask another?" He simply nods this time, turning back to the crate. "Just what are you doing in the cache? You've been sorting it out since we got here." 

His search halts when he finds three ration packs to bring back to the future fireside. "Trying to find what's freshest for us to eat."

"Oh, that's kind of you, but you don't have to worry about freshness too much," you chuckle, "it'll all be less than a standard month old. I stock these caches myself. They're for anyone to use. Hunters, fishers… people who just want to go camping. Even mercenaries. I've been doing this for a long time." you say with a little gesture of your hand, indicating the pines and the cache and the fire pit you've dug. 

His head and the helmet with it tilts softly to the left. "Is there anything you don't do? You agree to help strangers, hike three days out into a remote forest, and have helped me show Grogu how to survive. Or, try to." Grogu breaks into a gurgle-y laugh at the mention of his name, little hands straining hard to reach over to Mando. "He… might have been too young for this after all. Grogu probably sees this as some sort of fun camping trip."

It's the most Mando's spoken in a while. He's more a man of action than words, you suppose. You're okay with that. "Well… Leave the planet, I guess. I've been here my whole life. The Empire doesn't care to come here, either." Mando just nods to show he understands as he joins you on the forest floor, Grogu now settled in his lap. 

You're okay with the fact he mostly communicates through nods, shakes, expressive hand gestures or single-shouldered shrugs. Perhaps he doesn't interact with others regularly, not like this. It's your understanding that Mando is a bounty hunter; you've just never heard of one that traveled with a child. That's not exactly a profession one takes with the intention to make friends in mind. But he was polite, courteous, and civil; at least, if Mando didn't see you as a threat to himself or Grogu. 

You'd seen how fast he whipped the IB-94 blaster from the holster at the first whiff of perceived trouble. Someone had been snooping around his ship, eyeing the landing struts. Mando transformed into a whole new person before your eyes.

Cold. Calculated. Dangerous. The soft voice under the vocoder was now a sharpened knife, the chilling threat of an experienced mercenary. 

"Back off. That's my ship." Mando had frozen up when you planted your palm on top of the '94 and directed the business end to the dusty landing strip. 

"Hey-hey, that's just Maj. Maj knows his way around a fair number of ships since he spent a lot of time on Tatooine in one of the trade ports; he's only seeing if you need repairs." 

The weapon was holstered just as smoothly as it had been unholstered, but the act of returning it was slower than the retrieval. "... Apologies. Does Maj speak Huttese? There is one repair I would allow him to make." 

"He does, yes." 

By the time you, Mando and Grogu would make it back to the place you called home, the cantina and shipyards, Maj would have the starship fit for flying. Fit for the next bounty, wherever it would be for this gun for hire. That'd be another two days, if you really took your time to hike out of these woods. Or, if you had to constantly mind Grogu, making sure he didn't wander off in search of tasty goodies every three minutes. 

The little lifeform's appetite seemed bottomless. You'd never seen such a species before, so you couldn't tell if this tiny thing was always this voracious, or if he was entering some kind of growth spurt soon. Curiously, Mando didn't know either. 

"I don't know what his species is. He was… originally a bounty. A job. But I got attached. So I took him back." was all Mando had to say on that particular matter. It left you to speculate as you got the fire started, and Mando cautiously let Grogu clamber from his lap and gingerly toddle about. 

Back, hm? Wonder what exactly that entailed. 

But really, it wasn't any of your business. He clearly cared for Grogu, glancing at the little one every few seconds with a minute movement as he shuffled through the sparse grass of the clearing this river cuts through. 

"Do you need more tinder?" Mando offered between glances at the child, watching you feed the growing flame with measured breaths after you had announced you wanted to get the fire going before nightfall. 

"This is plenty." you assured him. Through the dark, impassable visor, you could tell Mando was watching the movement of your hands, the clues of confidence in your craft as you fanned the flames higher. "There. Should be able to get some water from the river and boil it for the rations, now."

"Boil water?" 

"Yes," you replied, "you grabbed stew rations on purpose, right?" 

The sharp twitch of his head read as surprise. His voice was full of pauses. "I wasn't aware that's what these were. Are they… any good?" 

You offered a smile and a shrug. "It's food. It'll fill your belly. It'll keep you warm. That's the only thing I could hope for out here, if my situation was dire." you answered truthfully. "Thankfully, it's not. The stew has a nice, savory flavor to it. The little one might like it." Glancing around, you note that Grogu has wandered off, away from the radius of light that breaks up the deepening shadows while the sun slinks below the horizon. He's now by the river again where the grass is much taller, fuller.

Mando, however, does not immediately see the child. "Grogu? … Dank farrik, I should have kept an eye on him. Grogu? Grogu!" 

Pausing in his play, Grogu answers with a soft Wah? while his hands are in water up to the wrist, previously splashing around. The sleeves of his tan clothing are sopping wet. 

You're beginning to wonder how much visibility that visor affords Mando. Or if he's just so panicked he's not thinking clearly. "Where is he?" You lay a steady hand on a beskar-plated knee as you get up and dust down the seat of your pants and your own knees. With an assuring smile, you call over to Grogu that he needs to stay put. Turning back to Mando, you say, "I kept an eye on Grogu, he's by the river. I'll get him and some water to boil." 

For a brief moment, you wish you could see the relief, the realization that Grogu is safe, across every feature of his face. But the helmet stays on. And the helmet will stay on even when it comes time to eat.

"How's your stew?" Your head is turned like you would call over your shoulder, but you look out straight ahead into a living sea of bark and twig and leaf. There are soft spots of dancing, pulsating light off in the distance. 

Fireflies. 

Such a fascinating spectacle. What a shame their numbers are in decline… Rumors about some kind of great sickness wiping them out, slowly, surrounds them. All very strange and confusing. 

Much like the man you currently have your back to so he could eat in relative comfort. The most you'd seen of the man beneath the beskar was the lower jaw, which had afforded you a few clues. Facial hair. A tanned complexion. From there, you could probably deduce a few more physical characteristics. Likely dark, curled hair, if he had it. Brown eyes, maybe hazel. 

"Decent." Mando offers after speaking in a soft voice to Grogu. He speaks little with the helmet on. Even less when he has it inched high enough to eat and sip from the ration pouch by tipping the end just high enough to let gravity assist him. "Grogu likes it." 

"Oh good." you return to staring straight ahead, out into trees at the edge of the clearing. You'd seen something creeping slowly in the distance while the water had boiled, something large and stocky and hooved. 

"What is that?" 

"Not a threat. It's docile. The most dangerous thing in this forest is you, me, and the youngest member of Clan Mudhorn." You'd teased. 

That's when you learned that Grogu was fifty. It was Mando who was the youngest, technically speaking. 

Mando calls your name softly. "What's so funny?" 

"Oh, just… Grogu being fifty. Again." 

Mando sighs sharply and repeats your name with a disapproving tone. You get the sense he's not truly upset or annoyed with you for giggling to yourself for the sixth time, but more surprised. In his own way. Much like he'd been about the helmet. Surprised by how… refreshing it felt to simply have his answer taken as it was. No follow-up questions. No insistent reassurance that he could simply just break his Creed and shed his helmet, his anonymity, the face that was perhaps safest to show the galaxy. 

Nothing other than acknowledging that you have no entitlement to picking apart the minutiae of him. His helmet. His identity. It spoke of your character. He appreciated that about you. 

He speaks your name again. But this time, it's part of a renewed introduction. "My name is Din Djarin." 

"Din Djarin…" you repeat, testing the name on your tongue, and you find it makes you smile as you release that last syllable, "it has been a very nice, but long three days getting to know you, even if I couldn't help you with Grogu's survival training." There's a hand on your shoulder, the cue that you're welcome to turn around now; he's reset the helmet on his head, and now he's ready to repeat the process of the last few nights by the fire. 

Silly little stories. Childish little games. Simple things to pass the time until the siren song of sleep was too much for the little one's eyelids to bear, and he would fall asleep in someone's lap. The first night Grogu had drifted off in Mando's arm, little nose touching the cool metal of the breastplate. The second, Grogu had come to you, mumbling and drooling over your shoulder as you held him while listening to the story behind their clan signet. Who he would choose tonight remained to be seen. 

"What would you like to do?" you ask, tucking your feet comfortably under you. Realistically, only so many campfire games worked with just two people who were old enough and capable of talking, and only one of them with a visible face. And the sort of tall tales and oral retellings typically told over flame tended to take on a moodier, unsettling tone. Scary stories would only serve to make Grogu sleepless and antsy. 

"We could play a question game." Mando suggests, hands swinging out to his left and his right as he shrugs. Like he's showing you he's unarmed. "Easy enough to abandon. Simply just… talk." 

"Good idea, uh… Could I call you Din? Would you be alright with that? Feels a little strange to keep calling you "Mando" now that you shared your name with me." 

"I suppose." Din answers with your name, and you can hear the change in his voice that happens when you believe he's smiling. "You first." 

You ponder on what you'll ask him first. Nothing intrusive. Nothing too prying. Your goal is to ask questions that are just innocuous, innocent, and general. "Do you have a favorite color, Din?" It's such an easy, throw-away sort of question, that it surprises you when he takes a minute to mull it over. 

"I'm not sure. Just one color?" 

"Okay," you concede, "you're welcome to go with more than one if you'd like." 

Din's fingers fold over one another, hands tucking under the chin. "Does chrome count as a color? I'm kidding-!" he says before you would have the chance to say anything, "Maybe it's easy to guess why I'd say green. And red; but not the Empire's red. What're yours?" You don't have to spend quite as long nibbling your bottom lip in thought. You tell him it's the color that makes up most of your wardrobe, and the color you painted your bedroom walls in, or wished that you could. Something about the color made you feel good inside. Made you smile. 

A memory from a long time ago with a very important, special person in your life was connected to it, too.

It was Din's turn to ask the question before you were to answer, and then turn it back to him so he could answer it himself; that's how this game worked. "If you knew you had all the credits, fuel and supplies to get you there, no matter how far away it is from here, what planet would you go visit?" 

Wow. You weren't sure. "Just enough to get me there? Or would I have enough to get there, and also then come back to this planet?"

"You'd also have enough to come back here, if that's what you wanted, yes." Din assured you. "Your home planet clearly means a lot to you."

Boy, did it ever. The prospect of never returning, the mere idea, wasn't something you'd ever thought of much. Yes, you want to go explore some part of the galaxy, maybe some distant day, but it's just not on the table for you, currently. 

"Well… maybe some place with something new to experience. Like, um… what's a planet without forests?" Din listed off a few planets and their respective sectors from memory, some you'd heard, others you hadn't. "Maybe I'd visit one of those first. What about you; where would you go?" 

Din hesitated to answer, hands dropping from his helmeted face. "Maybe Aq Vetina. Or Concordia, if I knew for certain either were safe. Definitely somewhere we," he gestures to Grogu (who's been tossing little sticks into the fire under your supervision) and himself, "would be safe from the Empire." 

"Fair enough. I don't like them either. Nosy Imps…" Taking a breath to collect and steady yourself, you shake off the thought of Imperials and their stifling regulations and their banthashit before you return to the game that doesn't really feel like a game. It feels more like you're building a better friendship with this Mandalorian decked out in beskar and packing heat. 

The weapons were a factor of his religion, evidently. That one had been harder to wrap your head around, admittedly, since you had been paid to take him out to a very safe forest with little need for protection against the animals that made their home within it. You really weren't concerned about the other people you might encounter, either. It was spawning season for many of the fish, and fishermen didn't really arm themselves with a slug-thrower or blaster. Just knives, if anything. 

It was now your turn to ask the question both of you would answer. You were struggling to think of anything else but the following: "Do you… have many friends, Din? Or, any?" 

Din answers this one quickly. "It's a short list." 

"Oh yeah? How short?" Both of you don't know it yet, but this is the point your game ends. It's just chatting from here on out until Grogu has decided that he wants to sleep, growing bored enough of you and Din talking about things that don't interest him and not being allowed to wander away from the fire anymore to continue splashing in the river.

Din puts down a number of fingers, holding up both hands deliberately to make certain the number sinks in. 

"That short. Well, I'm not that surprised. Bounty hunters don't exactly make more friends than rivals." you say with a chuckle. "Kinda… sad, in my opinion. You seem like too nice a person for the profession; I think you deserve more friends,  Din Djarin." 

Another gloved finger curls into his palm. 

And with that lilt in his voice as he talks through the vocoder that suggests he's smiling, Din says your name before he speaks seven simple words that warm you to your core more than the fire that sits in the middle-space between each of you.

Words that make you feel just as honored as being the one Grogu decides to fall asleep with.

"Then let's add you to the list."

[Masterlist] [Requests: OPEN]

#frostfics #Fireside Friendship #star wars #gender neutral reader #x reader #mando #mando x reader #mando x you #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #grogu #baby yoda #a clan of two #the mandalorian #mando fanfiction #star wars fanfiction

[pomplalamoose]

If you are ever down I would love your take on a Luke with a ND partner, maybe one who isn't expressive or picks up on social cues. says what ever comes to mind. Takes things a little too literally, is blunt in conversations. Like someone who struggles with their tone so people think they're bored or mean when they really have constantly racing thoughts and new ideas and are always open to new relationships.

I'm pretty sure it has never taken me this long to answer an ask before, but I wanted to make sure I'd put the same time and effort into yours as I did with every other one so far. Sadly I never seemed to get the free time to do so until now, so I REALLY want to thank you for your patience, anon, and hope you're happy with the result🩵

Please note though that for requests like these I'm only able to draw from my own experiences which possibly differ from those of others.

Accordingly nothing I said about "you" is meant to impose any kind of insinuations about behavioral patterns on those reading this, nor is it my intention to criticize or sound harsh in any way.

It goes without saying that Luke, as a friend as well as a partner, couldn't be any more wonderful to be around and I believe that especially for someone on the neurodivergent spectrum it's basically a dream come true to date him.

(Apart from that he's definitely that one friend who listens to you when you think nobody else does and waits for you when you need to stop to tie your shoe laces.)

He's empathetic and sensitive to the emotions of those surrounding him and thus would never make you feel like you don't belong, are weird for acting a certain way, or like you'd be better off pretending to be something you're not to "fit in".

And while Luke's connection to the Force certainly adds a lot to the fact that he has no trouble reading you, he would manage to just as well without it.

Still there's no denying how useful his abilities could prove themselves to be in a relationship, especially should his partner struggle with expressing themselves.

I won't go into much more detail though, because many of the things I already talked about in my other posts regarding his understanding and supportive character can be applied here as well.

(e.g. Master Luke Skywalker headcanons, Luke with a partner on their period, Luke x a reader with mental health issues, breaking down in front of Luke)

However I think it'd be really interesting to take a look at his initial reaction to getting to know a neurodivergent person with the behavioral features you described since I believe they differ depending on which Luke era we're talking about.

• ANH Luke wouldn't even bat an eye

• on Tatooine everyone has to put up a rough exterior in order to protect oneself

• it's not a place of friendly conversations and common niceties; people know they're better off minding their business and staying on their own

• you're very blunt and speak your mind?

• you seem unfazed, even bored during most encounters?

• good for you, it's not easy to navigate this corner of the galaxy and much safer to hold others at a distance

• growing up Luke came across a wild array of all kinds of beings too, one more interesting (and really scary) than the other

• he's not put off, instead even used to supposed unfriendliness

• also he doesn't know anything about where you're from and your people, maybe that's just the way they are and how you were raised?

• he probably thinks you're very cool too

• because surely you have seen a lot? Been on great adventures across the galaxy?

• he really wants to do the same

• if you come across as mean without meaning to it's not a big deal, it only makes him want to spend even more time with you

• ("if mean, then why friend-shaped??")

• most importantly ANH Luke judges a person more by their actions than their words, so there is absolutely no need to worry about how he may perceive you

• it's safe to say you're not getting rid of him as it's nearly impossible to shake him off once he decides he wants to be someone's friend

• he's more than delighted once you get to know each other better and it turns out his intuition was right!

• ESB Luke, on the other hand, may be a bit slower to come around

• not necessarily because he dislikes you but because he doesn't have the time nor the patience to put effort into really getting to know you

• people talk and so he probably heard a thing or two that has him eyeing you curiously

• most likely he won't pay you much mind as he's gone most of the time anyways

• generally speaking though, I think you'd get along pretty well, Luke is a friendly and open minded person after all and would surely grow fond of your quirks before even knowing about their source

• still there's a possibility of the two of you butting heads should it come to an actual meeting

• nothing really severe, of course, but still I can see Luke growing easily frustrated at, for example, your lack of expression, or at your questions when you don't quite get something and want to make sure you understood everything correctly

• and while he's not going to show it or tell you outright that he thinks you're a bit annoying, he's not that good at surpressing dramatic sighs or a roll of his eyes

• HOWEVER if you catch him off guard with blunt words said in a tone that could come across as mean it could definitely get a rise out of him

• after all we get to see that he has developed a certain attitude; he's snippy, quick to talk and slightly judgemental

• (mainly towards Han and Yoda but I can see him acting this way quite often because of all that he's being put through)

• I'm sure that under different circumstances Luke wouldn't react as strongly but with how things are during ESB he might hurt your feelings without meaning to

• once the dust settles and he has a quiet moment to himself he'll feel awful though and most likely seek you out to make amends

• naturally RotJ Luke is a different story altogether

• (the character development this man went trough is absolutely crazy, and I'm amazed every time I do comparisons like these)

• before even taking to you for the first time he'd regard you with a warmth and patience you seldom get to experience

• he quietly smiles to himself when he overhears you having a conversation in that special way of yours or when he senses something sparking an idea

• he appreciates your bluntness

• maybe at first you'd think he's laughing at you but don't worry, he just thinks you're cute

• he feels you in the Force, senses your excitement, your curiosity

• it draws him in

• he is able to see you as a whole, not just what you present on the outside, and so isn't deterred by what others would view as a potential attack or criticism

• (take notes ESB Luke)

• once you've grown closer he's always there to point out social clues you might have missed and/or walks you through certain situations to explain how your behavior might have looked to others when it's something you're worried about

• often he knows what you're going to say before you do and, if that's what you want, gives you a sign you agreed upon, letting you know if maybe it'd bet better for you to be silent instead

• (he absolutely explains dumb sexual jokes to you when you don't get them and I don't care how self indulgent this is, I could really use someone to do that for me, thank you very much)

#ask #luke skywalker #luke skywalker x reader #luke skywalker x you #luke skywalker x oc #luke skywalker fanfiction #gn reader #star wars #luke star wars #star wars fanfiction #star wars a new hope #star wars empire strikes back #star wars return of the jedi #fanfic #star wars headcanons #luke headcanons #headcanons

[depresse0espresso]

The Favorite (Chapter Two)

Warnings: very subtle implications of forced prostitution, consumption of alcohol

Chapter One or Chapter Three

Another three districts, another three speeches and condolences, another three banquettes and another three nights sneaking outside and drowning glasses of various wines. Unlike that night, these moments of respite are uninterrupted, with no interruptions from a handsome Victor who leaves an uneasy feeling in my stomach and leaves my head spinning from such a brief meeting. The words of guidance from Finnick still weigh on my mind, they didn’t come across as if they were the words of a mentor who is bitter over their tribute’s demise, at least that's not how I'm interpreting them to me they seemed like a warning of sorts about who or what I'm not sure, although Pa believes that was Finnick’s way of expressing his bitterness,  he thinks Finnick is in his words not mine is ‘A show pony who can't handle losing’ and ‘a peacock’ and when I asked pa to elaborate on what the latter meant he said not to worry myself over it that is was an inside joke. But still, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to Finnick's words and something more beneath this charm and humour, and I just couldn't put my finger on it and that bothers me. 

With the district part of the victory tour ending without a hitch, we arrive in the capital.  I can feel the anxiety building up in my chest as I prepare to step out of the train onto the platform, the weight of expectations heavy on my shoulders. The Capitol, with its excessive opulence and superficiality, feels suffocating. I take a deep breath, plaster a smile on my face, and prepare to play my role once again. As I step onto the platform, I am greeted by hordes of adoring fans eagerly awaiting my arrival. Their cheers and screams fill the air, momentarily distracting me from the suffocating atmosphere of the Capitol. I remind myself to stay focused and play the part of Victor, but deep down, I can't help but wonder if these people truly understand the true cost of my victory.

As Leto ushers me down the station platform ranting about staying on schedule I make an effort to stop and greet as many of the people as I can. As I pause to engage with the capital fans, Leto's frustration becomes evident, but I continue to maintain my innocent and sweet facade. I know that these interactions will please the crowd and bolster my image as a Victor.

As I continue to greet the fans, my skin crawling slightly with each interaction, my spirits lift when I spot a group of children among the crowd. Something about their innocence and genuine excitement brings a smile to my face, and for a brief moment, I can forget the suffocating facade 

I crouch down to a little girl no older than 10, her eyes wide with awe as she looks up at me. "Are you Marina Nivera ?" she asks, her voice filled with excitement. I nod and reply, "Yes, I am." I  smile kindly at her  ‘’and who might you be?’’  She beams and replies, “I'm Synthia.” Her mother, standing nearby, smiles proudly and says, “She’s a big fan of yours and she just had to meet you” I nod in agreement, and my heart aches as I think that this little girl even knows what the Hunger Games are, let alone be familiar enough with the games to know who I am. "I must say, Synthia, your dress is absolutely beautiful. You look like a princess." I compliment her, hoping to brighten her day even more. She is just a child. How can I group her and the other children here on the platform with the capital adults? As I continue to interact with Synthia and the other children, their genuine joy and excitement are a stark contrast to the superficiality and opulence of the Capitol. It's in moments like these that I realise that moments like these are going to be what I have to hold onto for the rest of my life, as a Victor I am never going to be free from the suffocating influence of the capital now so I will find joy in what I can. 

As Leto finally manages to get us away from the crowds, he launches into a lecture about the importance of staying on schedule and maintaining a professional facade. I listen attentively, feigning innocence and understanding, but deep down, I can't help but feel a twinge of rebellion. After all, it's in moments like these with the genuine joy of the children, that I find solace and a glimmer of hope amidst the suffocating influence of the Capitol. “But Leto, the children's faces, how could I walk past all those sweet little angels, especially after their parents had made the effort to bring them to come and welcome me, it would have been so impolite to walk past them” I point out actively trying to guilt him. Leto sighs and reluctantly concedes, "I suppose you have a point, Marina. It wouldn't do well for your public image to appear impolite. Just remember, we have a tight schedule to follow." I saw Pa give a smile from the corner of my vision as he could see straight through what I was doing. “Of course Leto, I promise it won't happen again.” That was a blatant lie but   I faked a smile and nodded in agreement. I knew that I had to make amends for my actions if I wanted to stay on good terms with Leto.

After hastily making our way back on schedule, I found myself sitting in the hair and makeup chair an hour later, preparing for my interview with Caesar Flickerman. As the stylist works on my hair, I can't help but reflect on the tour and as I try to reflect on each district and the people I met my thoughts end up spiralling back to a charming smirk, sea green eyes and curly blond hair Was it more golden blonde or a dark blonde like a bronze-ish colour and those curls….. he has to use some type of product right? They can't be that naturally perfect.

“Mari”

I mean was I just imagining things?  Was he generally trying to be nice and offer me advice ‘Victor to Victor’ as he said, was I the one that made it awkward by refusing it and looking like I wanted to run for the hills 

“Marina”

 Surely, someone as charming and seemingly perfect as Finnick must be hiding something. I just can't shake the feeling that there is more to him than meets the eye.

“Marina!’

or you know maybe I felt so unconfirmable because he was so attractive and he was talking to me, my brain probably went into a self-destructive mode, I mean I haven't talked to a boy my age normally since before the reaping and that was 6 months ago now

“Marina Jane Nivera!’’

I jump startled by the shout of my full name. My eyes search for the source in the mirror and meet Pa’s. A short, frustrated sigh escapes from Pa's lips as he meets my gaze in the mirror, his eyes reflecting both concern and exasperation. 

"Where is your head these days, Child? That's the hundredth time this week I've caught you daydreaming. Focus, Marina." Pa's voice stern, his tone leaving no room for discussion or explanation  I take a deep breath, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. I nod my head, swallowing the lump in my throat, and force myself to meet his gaze.  "I'm sorry, Pa, I've just been preoccupied with everything that's been happening." Pa's gaze softens slightly as he looks at me, but his expression remains firm. "Well, you better snap out of it before the interview with Caesar Flickerman. This is a big Marina, and I don't want you messing it up." I reply, my voice laced with irritation. "I won't mess it up. I've been preparing for this interview for weeks, and I know exactly what I'm going to say. So please, have a little faith in me.". My pa is probably the worst possible victor to have as an adviser about Interviews and capital relations, in the 20 years since he won his games he has lost his favour greatly by being known as a grump who hardly ever interacts with people unless he has to and when he does he makes sure you know he doesn't like you. The man has made Caesar Flickerman feel uncomfortable on stage. He has always been stubborn and uncompromising and has refused to compromise on his ideals. He has never been one to take advice and has always been determined to do things his way. If anything has been made clear to me since I won my games it is how differently me and pa conduct ourselves in the public eye. 

My stylist Millicent meets my eyes in the mirror with a concerned look as Pa continues to frown and begins to retort, but she cuts him off, saying, "It's time to get her changed Rex" I'm grateful for her intervention, knowing that she understands my feelings. Pa huffs and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with Millicent. I take a moment to collect myself and then turn to Millicent, offering her a grateful smile and saying, "Thank you, Milly. I truly appreciate it." "It's alright, Mari. Has he been like this the whole tour?" she asks, her voice filled with concern and empathy as she walks over to grab my interview dress from the hanger. “More like since I got out of the arena” I admit, as I rise from the makeup chair to get dressed, that the tension between me and my pa has been building up ever since I got out of the arena. “I don't know what caused it. It's like every conversation I have with him is a lecture and he says I don't have to do as he says then gets frustrated with me when I don't do what he wants” I take a deep breath and steady myself as Milly helps me put on my outfit and turn and look at myself in the mirror. As I gaze at my reflection in the mirror, I can't help but feel a surge of confidence. The pretty pink floral dress, with its dark dusty pink hue and golden flowers, complements my half updo hairstyle adorned with curls. The fairy-like makeup adds a touch of enchantment, making me feel ready to conquer the interview with grace and poise.” Oh, Milly you have outdone yourself with this” I gasp praising him softly as I swing back and forth watching the tea-length skirt swish back and forth in the mirror. “Just wait until you see your dress for the Presidential Palace banquet tonight” Milly smiles and winks at me before disappearing behind the curtain. I take a deep breath, feeling more confident than ever. I step out of the dressing room into the hall where I am ushered by Leto and a very grumpy Pa backstage waiting for Caesar to call me out on stage for the interview. As I stand in the wings waiting Leto gives me a thumbs up of encouragement as Caesar begins introducing me “Now everybody I think we have waited long enough for the main event of the show this afternoon don't you?’’Caesar asks the crowd if they're ready for the main event, and they respond with a thunderous cheer, their excitement filling the air. I take deep as i hear Ceaser continue 

"You know her, you love her, MARINA NIVERA, Victor of the 68th Hunger Games," Caesar announces, his voice booming through the speakers. The crowd erupts into applause and cheers, their excitement reaching a fever pitch. As I step onto the stage, I feel a surge of adrenaline and determination, ready to put on a show.

The interview went spectacularly, as I confidently and eloquently answered each of Caesar's questions, captivating the audience with my personal stories and insights from my time in the arena, the tour and my life as a victor so far. During the interview, I proudly showcased my unique sense of style and shared how my passion for fashion and makeup has grown since becoming a victor. I also demonstrated my newfound hobby of flower arranging, attempting to teach Caesar how to make a flower crown, much to the audience's delight. During the interview, I was asked about the children in the train station on my arrival in the Capitol, and I shared how I couldn't just walk by them as they were too cute. The heartfelt story of how I couldn't resist stopping to interact with the children in the train station truly resonated with the audience, eliciting a collective "aww" and melting their hearts. My genuine kindness and compassion in that moment made a lasting impression and further endeared me to the crowd. I guess my genuineness made just as much an impact as my half-truths and lies.

After the interview, the night unfolds in a whirlwind of excitement and anticipation as we get ready to make our way to the Presidential Palace everyone is excited except Pa ,although my excitement is different from my prep teams as they dress me and re-do my hair and make-up  

One more night then back on the train home to District 10 in the morning.

I stand in front of the mirror again, Milly by my side, as I look at the dress she has created. It is a masterpiece, a baby pink tulle ballgown with silver and gold heart decorations is breathtaking. The strapless design accentuates my shoulders and the flowing skirt adds a touch of elegance. I can't help but feel like a princess as I twirl in front of the mirror. “One more final touch,” she says as she places my Victor's circle on top of my updo. Milly gives me a side hug and smiles “there perfect”

 The grandeur of the palace, with its sparkling chandeliers and ornate decorations, takes my breath away. As I enter the ballroom, all eyes turn to me, and I can't help but feel a sense of unease. People begin to swarm me, vying for my attention. I swear I must have talked with everybody at this party, except for the president himself. There are even other victors from other districts here, and I get quick introductions before being ushered along to meet the next person. The whole experience is overwhelming, but I try my best to stay composed and make a lasting impression on everyone I meet. After two hours of this, I manage to escape to hide behind a champagne tower where I grab a glass and drown it as soon as i'm out of sight as I do I turn and notice a door that opens onto a balcony adjacent to the tower, I place the now empty glass down before grabbing another two glass one in each hand and exit on to the balcony quietly.  As I walk onto the balcony, I see a familiar figure leaning on the railing a few steps down from me. It's Finnick Odair, lost in thought, unaware of my presence. I consider leaving him to his thoughts, but then I remember the fright he gave me on the justice build steps in 4 and I decide to get even. I sneak up slowly behind him before saying suddenly "Any cats tonight" Finnick jumps in surprise at the sound of my voice, quickly turning to face me. His expression shifts from confusion to relief as he realises it's me. "Oh, Marina it's you," he says with a chuckle. "No cats tonight, but plenty of other interesting creatures at this party." I nod in agreement and hand him one of the glasses of champagne in my hand “Here you look like you need this as much as I do” he takes it and raises it in a toast. "To survive the madness," he says, clinking his glass against mine. We both take a long sip, savouring the bubbles and the momentary respite from the chaos inside.

 We both stand in slice for a few moments as we savour the quiet i observe him out of the corner of my eye every few seconds as I lean on the railing now as well

Huh it is more of a bronze blonde 

He glances at me and our eyes meet. I look away, feeling my cheeks flush. He smiles, and I quickly look away, my heart pounding. I clear my throat awkwardly and gulp the champagne, attempting to distract myself from the fluttering feeling in my chest. As I look back at Finnick, I notice a mischievous glint in his eyes that makes me wonder what he's thinking. Unlike last time I don't feel as uneasy in his presence maybe it is because it's not my first time meeting him and that it hasn't caught me off guard this time or it could be the amount of champagne I have consumed tonight who knows but I feel confident enough to say "I wanted to apologise for my behaviour the last time we met. You caught me off guard, and I was rude to dismiss your guidance and offer of friendship. I hope you can forgive me”. I see a flash of shock cross his face and a brief flicker of guilt at my words. He takes a moment to compose himself before responding, his voice filled with sincerity. "Marina, there's no need for apologies. I must admit I was teasing you a little bit so does that make us even?"  I smile and nod in agreement, feeling relieved and relieved. We stand there, smiling at each other for a few moments before he speaks again. "Let's start over, shall we?" I grin at him before turning to stick my hand out “Hi im Marina, my friends call me Mari”

"Hi Marina, nice to meet you. I'm Finnick," he says, shaking my hand with a warm smile. "Mari, huh? There's no other nickname for you like Rina," he teases me softly with a mischievous look in his eye. I give him a sly smile back, my heart fluttering even more at his playful teasing. "Rina, huh? I guess if you call me Rina I'll have to call you Nick" I counter him with a raised eyebrow as his nose scrunches in disgust at the shortening of his name. "Nick?" he repeats, a hint of disapproval in his voice. "I think I'll stick with Finnick, thank you," he says, a playful challenge in his eyes.’’Then I will stick with Mari” I challenge him back. He raises an eyebrow and looks away, a hint of a smirk on his lips. "Suit yourself," he says, his voice still playful. I smile back, my heart still fluttering."Finnick," a shrill voice interrupts as Finnick is about to say something else. We turn and see a Capitol woman coming onto the balcony, her presence immediately commanding attention. Finnick's face drops and his eyes darken for a moment, a flicker of discomfort crossing his features before he quickly masks it with a dazzling smile."I will be with you in a moment," he says, his voice slightly strained, before he turns back to me and gives me a genuine smile. "It was nice seeing you again, Mari. I look forward to seeing you again in a few months," he says, eyes filled with sincerity, and his voice filled with anticipation. "Until then, take care, Rina ." With a final smirk, he turns and walks towards the Capitol woman, I laugh at the use of the name we just arranged not to use and I fire back "See you then Nick" Finnick turns back towards me, a surprised expression on his face. He chuckles and shakes his head. "You're relentless, aren't you?" he says with a playful glint in his eyes. "Alright, see you then, Mari" he adds, emphasising his use of Mari, his voice filled with amusement. As Finnick disappears back into the party with the woman, I stand there, contemplating his words. Suddenly, it dawns on me why we will see each other in a few months - we will both be mentors for the Games.

The realisation sends a shiver down my spine. As the weight of my new role sinks in, a sense of dread and hopelessness settles over me. The thought of having to mentor two children and watch them face their demise in the Games fills me with deep sadness, knowing that there is little I can do to protect them from the horrors that await.  Despite the possibility of seeing those captivating sea-green eyes and bronze curls again, the sense of impending doom weighs heavily on my heart. The excitement of getting to know Finnick is overshadowed by the grim reality of being a mentor in the Games, where the odds are stacked against the tributes and their fate is sealed. 

Notes: Heyo I hope everyone who is reading is enjoying it so far, this chapter was fun to write with all the different things going on, Mari and her pa were probably my second favourite moment to write it not that they have a bad relationship but I like to imagine how I would feel after travelling with a parent for 12 days in a row when you're both stressed and all I could think of is arguments lol......next chapter we will get to see district ten and a bit more of Mari family and what her life to really like ......feedback is always welcome and if there's any questions about the story feel free to ask

#finnick odair #finnick x you #thg finnick #finnick odair blurb #hunger games finnick #thg fanfiction #thg series #the hunger games #finnick imagine #finnick odair x reader #finnick odair headcanons #the hunger games oc

[shkika]

[RECORDED BROADCAST : 1681.662] - PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, Chasing Wind

CW: Have you had any contact with Five Pebbles recently?

SRS: Not in a long while actually! Unless worrying about him counts.

CW: One of his neighbors, Unparalleled Innocence, sent an overseer to his can and got some images. They were made public in the local group, in an effort to be mean I suppose. There's no other way of putting it he looks awful.

SRS: Tell me.

CW: He's got the rot, very badly. Big cysts have become mobile and are scattering down the west and middle legs. He does listen to you, and few others by now, so you should talk to him.

SRS: I will try to contact him. Does Moon know?

CW: Moon has been unavailable for some time.

[Pending upload to local group records by dispatched Overseer. Unit will enter read only state in 432 cycles.]

UI leaked pebbles rot images in the local group, but suns didn't know until CW told them, which might imply that they are not part of the local group

THIS DISCUSSION IS GOING!! I've gotten a bunch of asks about this along with tags and replies oh my. Just gonna state that Suns to me and in my ask-blog is part of the local group and honestly at this point even if James himself came up to told me I'm wrong I can't change that cause I set it up already ..? SO UHH hm

ANYWAY LET'S RAMBLE!!

I honestly think the strongest pointer to the implication that SRS isn't part of the local group is the fact they didn't know about Pebbles' situation first. So Chasing Wind had to tell them!

I see it! I've always made the assumption they just weren't active in the local group messages (just like how we haven't seen a single word about Innocence in the game even if she's canonically closest to Moon and Pebbles out of the others)

^ Especially, because I assumed this meant that UI spread the information further than just the local group. Which! I don't know!

I don't think my assumption is FULLY baseless, just because of how the approach the conversation with NSH is?

They're being vague about hurting someone. If the chats were in the local group, which NSH has access to, but SRS doesn't it feels so bizarre to me they'd try to vague point at it as if there's any chance NSH wouldn't have already seen. Like what hopes do you have buddy?? The fact that Pebbles has the rot and is in such a terrible condition is like uhm... well yeah.

Still they've never been active in a local group chat and it was through Chasing that they found out about the rot situation so I don't know!

Also a good point!! Once again I read it differently! I thought the "She's very close to Five Pebbles" wasn't a descriptor, but more so a reason on why he's worried about her. "She's close to him (rot infested doofus) and I'm her friend man"

Them not knowing Moon very well isn't too much of evidence for either statement. What they did not understand about Moon is why she wouldn't force Pebbles to stop dead in his tracks and save her life. Which is an extremely valid question, because as his administrator she had the power to do so. NSH is a close friend of hers group or not and explains.

They do still call her Big Sis Moon which is rather weird if you're not part of her local group? Aside also shortening her name to just Moon. (which could be either familiarity or convenience, no solid evidence)

They also got into contact with Five Pebbles VERY soon after he was put online according to SRS themselves which is possible both ways! Just felt more likely if they were part of the local group.

AND SPEARMASTER.

We don't know what "local group" means, but I always assumed, because of the name it partly meant distance.

Iterators are VERY far from each other, usually. Like quite far even local group wise. I assumed that for a slug cat like Spearmaster to have been capable to make the journey to Pebbles and back... and then do the same AGAIN, it meant that SM made a long journey, but one that was like... y'know not from one part of the continent to the other big.

I assume distance plays a role, because in a cream pearls..

The implication is that Local groups held out together the longest.

I can't imagine this poor creature covering a such a massive worth of land on foot..!

SM was given the pearl inside their chest mainly for it to be hidden, but also as an instinct that's true! So they know where to go.

Hunter doesn't have that not because it isn't needed, but because NSH was rushing. As implied by these lines.

NSH was rushing them so much they ended up with the rot, I doubt there was any time left to perfect a homing instinct or do much of anything really. I think NSH is probably closer than SRS (just for poor Hunter's sake honestly), but I don't know by how much really- iterators seem to be built PRETTY far from each other. The only other closest neighbor is UI. Which means NSH is farther than her.

But either way yeah. I've dug info for a WHILE now I can't seem to find any super solid evidence for either. I'm just sharing my interpretation as always. You can headcanon either one of these and call them canon in my book really.

#this feels like an ace attorney case #ask #anonymous #rain world #PHEW ITS LONG #im tired #sahdhdsfjd #im soooo tired #yeah so!!! #go wild go free #the only canonical guys in the local group are moon; pebbles; chasing; nsh; ui #suns is up to you #*faints* #hope i havent misses anything or gotten something terribly wrong oh dearrr #also #suns had multiple overseers at pebbles' #not just one #so like those also had to travel

[x0401x]

Hi! I've only watched the anime for Tsurune and I LOVED the first two seasons but after reading some of your Tsurune posts it got me curious. How different is the anime adaption from the source material? It sounds like an entirely different thing! I really liked the first season, but apparently it was a disaster? In what ways, if you don't mind me asking? Should I read the novels instead? I'm sorry for so many questions or if you've answered these already

Oh.

Oh, holy shit.

This is not the kind of ask I was expecting to get in the year of our lord 2024.

I’ll start by saying that you’re totally right. It sounds like an entirely different thing because the original work and the anime adaptation are, in fact, almost entirely different from each other. If you ever look for reviews of volume 1 on Japanese sites, the comment you’ll see the most from people who also watched the anime is “it’s so different from the novel that it might be best to just view the two as separate stories”. If I had to estimate how much of the novels was actually included into the animation, I would say 5% to 10%. I’m being pretty generous here.

You’re also right about the first season being a disaster. I remember that when I first watched the first episode of S1, by the moment that the series title came up, I immediately thought to myself, “This won’t sell well. 3k DVD copies, give or take”. And turns out I was wrong. It actually sold around 2.7k, which is even worse than what I had predicted. It did so infamously bad that many fans were worried about the second season before it came out, and some people were being rather foul-mouthed about it, which was a shock for me because you don’t usually see Japanese fans not following fandom etiquette. However, there was much more effort put into S2 than S1, thankfully. There’s also the whole thing with the arson attack, which pulled in people’s interest and support for the series. Overall, it did fairly well, I believe. I would never say that S2 does the novel any justice, but it was light years better than S1. That’s something everyone agrees to, even those who enjoyed S1.

Still, though. Even with S2 being far more successful than S1, that’s technically not so big of a deal, considering S1’s tragic underperformance. The series is known here in Japan mostly because of its association with the arson, but not many people are really into it. I would say that it has a niche audience consisting of 1) people who were already fans of KyoAni to begin with, 2) novel readers and 3) people who practice Japanese archery. As for the overseas audience… barely anyone has ever even heard of Tsurune, be it the anime or the novels. Many people who do know the anime have dropped it by S1, and the reason I see being pointed out the most is that it was “boring as hell”.

Other than this, I’ve noticed something in common when reading comments on S2 from Japanese Twitter. One thing people say a lot (and I do mean a lot) is that they didn’t like S1, but after watching S2, they were able to see that “KyoAni was, in fact, taking this franchise seriously”, so they gave it a second chance. This is meant as a compliment, but although it’s not backhanded per se, it’s kind of underhanded. I mean, who wants to be told, “Thank God you got your shit together this time around”? It’s good that S2 changed people’s opinions on the series, but the fact that it had to be changed speaks volumes about what people thought of S1.

Now, as to whether you should just read the novels, I would say yes. It’s literally the only way to know what Tsurune is truly about. But I have to warn you that, if you loved the anime, you might have to prepare yourself to see the things you loved about it either not being in the novel or taking a completely different turn in it. If you’re able to handle that, then by all means, go ahead and give the source material a try. It’s honestly one of the most unique novels I’ve ever read, and I’ve read just about every light novel out there. The depictions of Japanese archery and Zen go way deeper and you’ll learn much more about the characters, so I’m sure you’ll have a fun time!

#tsurune #tsurune tsunagari no issha #tsurune kazemai koukou kyuudoubu #tsurune hajimari no issha #kyoani #kyoto animation