#I think I would cry if I ever seriously saw someone serve this cake

[farfromtommy]

seb being a stepdad to chris' kids or vice versa!

not my gif

a/n: okay this is literally one of the best ideas ever and im so in love with this fic. i think this takes the cake for my favorite fic i’ve written!! this is mildly edited so pls be kind. im so proud of it and hope you guys love it <3

please reblog if you enjoyed reading and and feel free to leave any comments!!

warnings: drinking, mentions of sex, brief mention of medical procedure(s), there might be some language i dont remember

word count: 4,400

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~~~

Chris has been your best friend since elementary school and all through middle and high school. Everyone knew how close you were to him and how deeply you loved each other. It was never in a romantic sort of way, though. Nobody really understood the relationship you had with him, they just shrugged their shoulders and minded their business.

When Chris told you he wanted to move to New York to follow his dream of being an actor, he asked you to go with him. You shared his love for theatre and the arts and always wanted to see if you could make it as a big-time Hollywood actress. You packed all your things into your tiny car and made your way to New York with your best friend.

You spent your 28th birthday sitting on Chris’s couch with a bottle of tequila and a broken heart. Your boyfriend of 3 years broke up with you on the grounds of you being “such a drag” and “not someone he wants to settle down with any more”. You had planned a life with him. He talked about marrying you and having kids with you just weeks prior. And he had just thrown it all away.

Having gone through almost half of the bottle of tequila already, Chris took the bottle from you and just looked at you with sad eyes. He ran his hand through your hair as you buried your face in your pillow and just cried. You pulled yourself together after a while and willed yourself to sit up and look Chris in the eyes.

“I know I’m kinda drunk right now but Chris, listen to me. Can we make a pact? When we’re both 30 and if we’re both still single and loveless. Let’s have a baby. We don’t have to like… y’know… do it or anything. We can do it through insemination or in a petri dish or however they do it. I’m just- I want to settle down and have kids but I don’t think I’ll ever trust anyone else.” You rambled, gesturing wildly with your hands. Chris suppressed a laugh and looked at you like you were crazy. You just looked at him questioningly until he realized this was not the alcohol talking.

“Are you serious? Like, me and you? Having a baby? Seriously?” He pulled himself off the floor and sat on the coffee table in front of you.

“I’m so serious. You can say no, Chris. This is me asking you what you think. I always said that if I don’t have a husband or have been with someone long enough to have a child with them, that I would go to a sperm bank and do it like that. You know how badly I want kids, and I know you want them too.” You moved to the edge of the couch to move closer to him. He stood up and grabbed your hand to help you up. He dragged you towards the kitchen and sat you down at the table, telling you to wait there while he grabbed something. He came back a few moments later with a notebook and a pen.

“Alright, let’s figure this out. We’re going to ask each other questions about this and write down the answers. Any conditions we have we’ll write down, if we can’t agree on them we don’t do it. I know you’re not super sober right now so we can do this now and talk about it again tomorrow.” He wrote ‘Y/L/N - Evans Baby’ along the top. You smiled a bit to yourself and waited for him to talk.  

“I don’t want to be just the sperm donor, I want to be involved in everything. From the ultrasound appointments to picking preschools. I also want to be in the room when you’re in labor.” He wrote it down as he was talking and looked up at you. You nodded with a big smile on your face.

“I would want you as involved as possible. We would be co-parenting this hypothetical child. My turn. To keep this from getting messy, we should do it through a clinic. Me in stirrups and your swimmers in a turkey baster. Sex can make things complicated and weird, I don’t want to risk something going wrong between us and then there be a child involved. Insemination isn’t as effective but we can always keep trying if it doesn’t work.” You pulled the notebook towards you and wrote down your condition.

That went on for the rest of the night. You and Chris take turns asking questions about your hypothetical baby. You had filled up pages and pages of notes about what you both want, from how you would decide to tell your families to living arrangements to if you’d circumcise or not if it was a boy.

A little more than 2 years later you and Chris found yourselves at the dining room table of his Boston home again. The notebook you had filled just a few years back right in front of you, along with 5 pregnancy tests. They were face down on the table as you anxiously waited for the timer to go off.

“Alright, Chris. This is it. It’s been 5 minutes, we can flip them over.” You released a shaky breath and stared at the tests right in front of you. Chris grabbed your hand and laced your fingers together. You looked at each other before reaching out to flip over the individual tests. Seeing all 5 of the tests with 2 solid pink lines knocked all the air out of your lungs.

“Oh my god. They’re all positive! Oh my god, Chris!! We’re going to have a baby!” You both jumped out of your seats and jumped around the kitchen before hugging each other and crying. He kept thanking you and kissing the top of your head while you sobbed into his chest, soaking his shirt. There were lots of tears over the next few weeks from you both after confirming your pregnancy with your midwife.

8 or so months later Penelope Elizabeth Evans-Y/L/N made her way into the world and the arms of her parents. The world seemed to stop when you heard the cries of your daughter for the first time. You could’ve sworn Chris stopped breathing the second he laid eyes on her when she was placed on your bare chest. He didn’t even care that she was covered in blood and other bodily fluids, he swore that she was the most beautiful human being to ever exist.

He took a lot of time off from filming and working to take care of you both. Once you found out you were pregnant, you stopped acting for the most part. You knew that you wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, at least until she was old enough to go to school, and maybe then you’d go back to smaller roles that kept you close to home.

Chris had a hard time leaving you and Penny once it was time to go back to work. He held her close to his chest and cried at the thought of leaving her when she’s still so little. Seeing the extreme separation anxiety he was already having, you offered to go with him to set and find an apartment or house to rent for the duration of the shoot. This ended up being the greatest thing you could have come up with. Every single project that took him away from Boston, you and Penny were right there next to him. You and Penny followed him to what seemed like every corner of the Earth.

The weeks leading up to shooting The Winter Soldier were the most exciting for Chris. He had been training for months to get into shape and was really excited to have you and Penny on set with him. He had also been talking nonstop about working with Sebastian and Anthony again.

One night Chris came home with Sebastian and Anthony trailing behind him. Penny had gone down for the night and you were nursing a glass of wine on the recliner, watching whatever you could find on TV.

“Hey, Y/N. I should've called ahead, I’m sorry. We’re just going to have some beers while we watch the game.” He walked in and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. You moved the blankets off your lap and stood up to greet Anthony and Sebastian.

“I don’t think you ever got a chance to meet these guys before. Y/N this is Anthony and Sebastian, guys this is Y/N.” Chris introduced you and you moved forward to give them both hugs.

“Sorry for barging in on you unannounced, we would’ve made sure this idiot called you before to make sure it was all good,” Anthony said, taking the beer Chris handed him.

“Oh please, don’t worry about it. He used to do it all the time when we lived in New York. Sorry, the place is a bit of a mess. Didn’t get a chance to clean today, I’ve had my hands full, especially with this one” You gestured a thumb to Chris and he sent you a playful glare in return.

You offered to put together some snacks for the game, knowing very well Chris couldn’t handle his alcohol without some sort of food in his system. Anthony and Sebastian offered to help while Chris snuck off to go see Penny.

“How long have you and Chris been together?” Sebastian made some small talk while looking for serving bowls in your kitchen. Anthony leaned against the counter and continued to sip on his beer.

“Oh, we’re not together. We’ve been friends since we were kids and we actually are just uh...” You chuckled nervously, not knowing what to say to his friends. Chris walked into the kitchen with Penny in his arms at that moment. Her head tucked into his neck, hands gripping at the fabric of his shirt and his arms under her butt.

“We’re raising our daughter together. They go with me wherever I go so I don’t miss anything and so Y/N doesn’t raise Penelope by herself. We’re co-parenting in the same house.” He said, looking at the tired toddler in his arms. Sebastian and Anthony both sputtered on their beers at the same time, not believing what they were seeing.

There was no denying that she was a product of you and Chris. Even with her sleepy eyes, they could see the bright blue color that matched the man carrying her. They saw the swoop of your nose and the color of your hair. They stood there just taking it all in.

“I had a bit of a crisis when I turned 28 after my long term boyfriend dumped me out of nowhere. It was one of those ‘if we’re 30 and aren’t married’ sort of things. We turned 30 and were both still single, so we had a baby.” You shrugged, looking over at your girl.

“And it works, being parents without being together but still living together?” Anthony asked, gesturing towards the two of you.

“We had everything figured out before she got pregnant. We had conditions that we both had to agree on before we even got serious about it. We were both very adamant about not doing it the old fashioned way so things didn’t get messy. It took some time to figure out the… terms and conditions I guess.” Chris laughed a little bit. Anthony and Seb nodded in understanding and kept looking at Penny.

“I’m happy for you, man. Seems like you both are really happy. How old is she?” Anthony walked into her line of sight and waved his fingers a bit, trying to get her attention.

“She turned one a couple of months ago.” You said and watched Penny pick her head up and look at Seb and Anthony, inspecting them a bit. Her big blue eyes landed on Sebastian and she stared him down before he gave her a small smile and waved at her. She was a little shy around new people and would usually bury her face in the neck of whoever was holding her.

To your surprise, she leaned away from Chris and moved her hands out to Sebastian. Everyone’s eyes widened as she whined a little bit when he didn’t reach out to grab her. Chris moved closer and told him it was okay and let Penny make herself comfortable in his arms. She buried herself into his neck much like she does with you and Chris, her tiny fists clutching his shirt. Her eyes shut immediately and let herself fall asleep in his arms.

The next few months went on more pleasantly than expected. Chris often had late-night shoots and training, leaving you with Penny most of the day. Anytime he knew he would be home late, he’d send Seb over with dinner or just an extra set of hands to help you with Penny. She knew you were her mama and Chris was her dada, then one day she had her Seba. Anytime you opened the door to let him in with her on your hip, she immediately squealed and started to chant ‘Seba! Seba!’ and didn’t stop until he was holding her.

Sebastian had brought up the idea of taking you to dinner one night to Chris. Even though you were a single adult who could make decisions on your own, he didn’t want to disrespect Chris at all. Chris never saw you as anything more than his best friend, it had always been like that. He was ecstatic when Sebastian brought up the idea of asking you out.

“I’m so serious, Seb. I think it’s a great idea. She talks about you a lot and really loves being around you. She’s going to say yes, I promise. Y/N hasn’t dated since we had Penny, mostly because she’s scared of what someone would think about her living with her childhood best friend who happens to be the father of her child.” Chris told him honestly. You weren’t interested in dating at all since having Penny. Mostly because being a mom was your first and only priority.

Sebastian let out the breath he was holding and ran his fingers through his hair, all of a sudden nervous about asking you to dinner. Chris clapped a hand around his shoulder and gave him a quick pep talk before sending him on his way.

The 2 years between wrapping Winter Soldier and starting Civil War had been interesting, to say the least. Everything Chris did kept him in the states for the most part. You and Penny were still trailing along with him, always loving the things you got to experience as a family.

Sebastian had found his place right in your crazy life. You had been unofficially together after wrapping Winter Soldier. He went off to do his next project and you and Chris spent some time in Boston with your families. You texted him most of the day, and he called at night to talk for a few hours before you went to sleep. He always said goodnight to Penny and she blew her Seba kisses through the phone.

He flew to Boston a bunch of times to see you, even if it was only for a few hours. You flew to wherever he was for a few days at a time, most of the time with Penny. Chris somehow managed to get you on the plane by yourself a few times and promised he would FaceTime every single night and would have hourly pictures sent.

On one of your first weekend trips out to see him, he refused to let you leave without making it official with you. He had you in tears at the end of his ‘I can’t spend another second without calling you my girlfriend’ speech. When he proposed to you he had said that the only thing better than the girlfriend speech was the one he was about to give. His ‘I can’t spend another second without calling you my wife’ speech knocked that one out of the water.

Neither of you wanted to make a big fuss about a wedding. You weren’t interested in the big white dress and the stressful bridesmaids and the whole cliche wedding things. Sebastian suggested getting eloped somewhere quiet with a handful of the most important people in your life. Chris’s mom, Lisa, had offered to hold the ceremony in her backyard. Knowing very well how spacious and beautiful it was, you and Seb graciously accepted her offer.

You kept your dress simple yet elegant, a beautiful white lace dress that ended mid-thigh, and complimented your body so perfectly. Seb kept it classy with a dark blue suit and light blue button-up that brought out his eyes, no tie, because who needs one?

Right at the end of the ceremony right as the officiant was about to have you say ‘i do’, you heard whines coming from Penny, who was sitting right up front on her daddy’s lap. You looked over to see her squirming in his lap and whining out ‘mama’ and reaching out for you. Chris made eye contact with you and mouthed ‘i’m sorry’. You shook your head and let go of one of Sebastian’s hands to motion to let her go so she could walk over to you.

Everyone aww’d as she walked over to you as quickly as her legs could take her. You bent down and scooped her up, resting her on your hip and wrapping your arm around her waist to keep her up. Sebastian made faces at her to make her laugh and keep her happy for a few more minutes. Your photographer had taken advantage of the incredibly sweet moment and had made sure to get as many shots of Penny at the altar with you.

When the officiant pronounced you husband and wife, you were going to set Penny down but Sebastian was quick to pull you both close to him and go in for your first kiss as a married couple with your daughter right there. Everyone cheered and Penny was mimicking the claps of everyone around her. Before he pulled away from you two he pressed two sloppy kisses on Penny’s cheeks as she giggled, which pulled some tears out of you.

No more than 15 people were attending the ceremony. You wanted to keep it quiet with just family and a few close friends. The reception, however, was anyone and everyone you could fit into the ballroom you had rented at one of the best hotels in Boston. All your guests had filled the room before you and Seb arrived. You nervously held his hand as you heard the cheers from everyone inside after hearing the DJ announce “Ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinary friends … let’s give it up for the couple of the hour, Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Stan!!”

No one understood how you, Chris, and Seb managed to make your situation seem so easy and flawless. He knew that living in Boston was a must, so he bought the house that sits right behind the one you shared with Chris for so many years. He never wanted to get in the way of the system you and Chris had created over the years. Somehow, he managed to make things easier for everyone.

Penny’s first day of school was emotional for all 3 of you. You were all at your front door taking pictures of Penny in her school uniform that she looks so ridiculously cute in and the backpack that was way too big for her. She insisted on getting the Avengers backpack that “has my daddy on it!”

“Okay my love, it’s time for us to go to school! Are you ready?” Chris grabbed her tiny hand and led her to the car.

“Yeah daddy, I’m ready!” Penny said as he lifted her into the car and her car seat.

“Daddy? Mama and Sebbie coming too?” She asked him when he clicked the last buckle together. Right on cue Sebastian opened up the door to the free seat in the back and climbed in right next to her. She squealed in excitement at the sight of Sebastian buckling himself in the car.

Chris laughed at her genuine excitement and made sure all her fingers and toes were inside the car before shutting the door. He saw you lock the front door and make your way to the front seat. He noticed you put a few packs of tissues in your bag before setting it on the ground and buckling your seatbelt.

“Planning on crying today, Y/N?” Chris asked in a teasing tone. You swatted his arm lightly and scoffed at his question.

“Our baby is going to her first day of school, of course, I’m going to cry! I cried last night after I tucked her in, I cried in the shower this morning, I cried doing her hair.” You heard Seb talking enthusiastically to Penny, telling her about all the fun things she’ll get to do in kindergarten.

“It’s okay, I cried in the bathroom while she ate her waffles this morning.” You snorted at Chris’s confession and looked back at your baby girl, who was not a baby anymore. She was waving her hands around telling Seb about how excited she was to see her teacher again.

Chris and Sebastian watched from the car as you walked through the front doors of the school with Penny’s hand in yours. They had agreed that it might not have been a good idea to go in with her since they might get recognized and to avoid causing a ruckus. They both waved at her as she turned around and waved one more time before the door shut.

“Did you and Y/N ever think about having more kids together? If I hadn’t started dating her, do you think you would've had more?” Sebastian asked Chris.

“We never explicitly talked about it. She brought up wanting Penny to have lots of siblings not long after you started seeing each other. She felt guilty and thought that I was going to be upset about you and her maybe having kids one day, which meant I probably wouldn’t have anymore. I told her that this was honestly the best thing that could’ve happened because I don’t think I want any more of my own. Penny is all I ever wished and hoped for, and I got it. But since you’re together, she’ll get all the siblings she could ever want, and I won’t have to change a single diaper.” Chris nudged Seb’s shoulder with his. “You guys thinking about having one?”

“Yeah... Yeah, we are.” Sebastian lowered his head and smiled a bit. “With Penny in school and everything, it makes sense. She’s ready, I’m ready.” Seb sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He looked up and saw you walking back towards them with a tissue in your hand.

“I had the morning crying shift, it’s your turn.” Seb looked at Chris.

Just as Penny wrapped up her very first year in school, you and Sebastian welcomed Beverly Olivia Stan-Y/L/N into your family. Penelope had been so excited to hear that her mama finally had the baby she had been waiting so long for. You had gone into labor in the late afternoon and Beverly made her debut in the middle of the night.

Sebastian had called Chris an hour or so after to let him know that both you and the baby were doing phenomenally and that you were asking for Penny and wanted to see her as soon as you could. Chris chuckled at the demands you were making, knowing very well how the epidural and pain meds messed with you.

Early the next morning Penny had crawled into bed with Chris, crying for you and wanting to know when she was going to see you. It was still too early for them to go to the hospital, so he called Seb in hopes that he was already going to be awake.

A very exhausted Sebastian lit up the screen and Chris heard the soft cries of the new baby in the background. Penny’s cries turned into hiccups as soon as she saw Seb’s face because she knew she would be able to see her mama, too.

“Sebbie can I see mama, please?” Penny’s little voice spoke up. Sebastian immediately handed the phone to you and whispered that Penny was on the phone.

“Hi, baby.” You spoke softly to not disturb the baby.

“Mama when you come home? I miss you.” Penny wiped her eyes with her fists to get rid of the tears stuck in her eyelashes.

“It’s going to be a few days until I get to go home, baby. But you and daddy will be able to come to see me, Sebbie, and the new baby in a few hours. You need to go back to sleep and be a good girl for your daddy. I’m sure he’ll let you have some cuddles in his bed with him and Dodger until it’s time to wake up again.” Penny hiccuped and looked at Chris with eyes that mirrored his. He nodded his head and she buried herself closer to him.

“Okay, I go back to sleep with daddy and Dodger. I love you, mama. I love Sebbie, too.” She yawned out, her eyes blinking with sleep.

“Me and Sebbie love you so much, Penny. We’ll see you so soon, I promise” You blew a kiss to her through the screen and waited for her to throw one back. She giggled when you caught it through the camera and put it over your heart.

You, Sebastian, and Chris all watched with tears in your eyes as Penny held her baby sister for the first time. Penny had jumped right up in the bed next to you the second she walked into the room and told you about all the fun she had with Chris. Seeing your girls together melted your heart into a puddle. Chris couldn’t believe his little girl was so grown up and was a big sister. Seb thought about the night he first met you and Penny and would’ve never imagined that he’d be right here at this very moment.

Everything was so perfect and you never wanted to imagine your life being any different.

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan fanfiction #sebastian stan x fem!reader #sebastian #seba #sebastian stan request #sebastian stan smut #dad!Sebastian #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan x wife!reader #sebastian stan x pregnant!reader #dad!sebastian stan x reader #stepdad!sebastian stan #sebastian stan x single mom!reader #sebastian stan x girlfriend #sebastian stan x girlfriend!reader #chris evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fluff #chris evans x fem!reader #christopher evans #chris evans smut #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x pregnant!reader #chris evans x reader smut #chris evans x y/n #chris evans x single mom!reader #chris evans x best friend!reader

[sevlgi]

would it be so bad

requested: yes

group: twice

pairing: tzuyu x fem!reader

genre: fluff, angst

contents: hogwarts!au, quidditch player!tzuyu, rivals!au. [23/33]

warnings: none

synopsis: You’ve never exactly been the bright kind, at least not when it comes to love. Would it be so bad to realize your feelings for your partner in crime, though?

a/n: i decided to make the reader’s house ambiguous lol but i hope you enjoy! (also i realize that this isn’t british english, please excuse my idiot american english). i was originally gonna post this tomorrow in time for “cry for me”, but i realized that i should be respectful to jonghyun, and i will not be posting tomorrow ❤

word count: 5.3k

“Tzuyu Chou and Y/N Y/L/N. Why is it that whenever something happens, it is always you two?”

The Slytherin standing beside you in McGonagall’s office stood as impassive as ever, no emotion to be found in her blank expression or her perfect posture. Perhaps that was a thing that Snape taught to his favorite students-- the ability to wipe any guilt or liability off your face in an instant, to stay steadfast in any situation.

Or maybe that was just Tzuyu’s own charm, you noted as you swayed back and forth on the balls of your feet, turning slightly so that you could view her side profile in your peripheral vision. Merlin’s balls, she’s gorgeous, you sighed to yourself, unable to take your eyes off the girl who had been your rival since before birth.

Instantly, you regretted it. “Y/L/N! Have something to say to Ms. Chou?” the professor snapped, the book she threw to the desk making a sharp cracking noise as you faced her again with your fingers knotted behind your back.

“No, ma’am,” you answered, moving your hand to zip your lips shut. Despite McGonagall’s exasperated sigh, a smile quirked at the corner of her lips; she’d always been kinder than she expressed on the outside, and that seemed to be no exception when it came to you.

“You do realize that you can’t get away with decimating the Quidditch pitch, do you?” The witch sat sternly at her desk, a quill scribbling on parchment of its own accord beside her. “It’ll cost thousands of Galleons to repair, and it may not even be possible to do so before the season begins. The two of you collapsed it!”

Tzuyu spoke for the first time since being called into the Headmaster’s office, her eyes still trained on the wall next to McGonagall’s head. “If I may. I believe I did more damage.”

“That is not a thing to be proud of!” Standing, the woman clenched her fists tightly and you smiled at the affect the two of you were able to have on her. No one had seemed to infuriate her quite so much since James Potter; even the Weasley twins were overshadowed as soon as you and Tzuyu sat on the Sorting Hat’s stool. “I realize that you may think you’re carrying on your families’ legacies, or that you’re gaining fame for your antics, but you will not pass your 6th year if you keep this up. I will make sure of it personally.”

“Understood, Headmaster,” you bowed. Your voice was still noticeably singsong-y, and McGonagall bristled at the tone, but she said nothing as Tzuyu followed your lead in dipping her head. “Won’t happen again.”

Had it been any of the other teachers, you were sure that you wouldn’t have been allowed to leave without a year’s detention, but the Headmaster merely pursed her lips and waved her office door open. “Very well. I expect to see you in Transfiguration tomorrow and not caving in the North Tower.”

And as soon as the (not-so) imposing wooden doors slammed shut behind the two of you, Tzuyu raised an eyebrow. “Did you mean it when you said it wouldn’t happen again?”

“Of course not,” you grinned in response, relaxing into a comfortable slouch again. “I just meant we wouldn’t collapse the Quidditch Pitch again. It’s too boring to do the same thing twice.”

She scoffed and followed as you swayed down the hallway, her voice a bit too quiet to echo off the stone walls like yours did. “Of course. And what exactly do you have next, Y/L/N? You won’t be able to one-up my Hogsmeade stunt, I’ll have you know. My parents taught me well.”

“Your parents were nowhere close to mine,” you sniffed, stopping to wave at Fred Weasley’s portrait on the wall. He wasn’t inside, of course, probably off to bother someone, but you liked seeing the heaps of unused pranks piled underneath the frame as offerings. “Which means that you’ll never get on my level either.”

Tzuyu easily caught up to you with her long legs, the slightly-too-short Slytherin robe swishing about her ankles. But no matter how much she annoyed you, the wintery sunlight shined brilliantly on the planes of her face, pooling in the dark color of her eyes. There was that kind of beauty to her that instantly told you she was a Slytherin, a kind of untouchable coldness that didn’t match the warmth hidden inside her heart. “Tell that to the amount of detention I’ve been forced to do,” she protested. “I had hours last week, while you--”

“Never seen a Slytherin so eager to serve detention.” Fred had returned, leaning on an empty portrait’s wall with a familiar smirk on his face. “Y/L/N, Tzuyu. Any mischief to let me in on?”

“McGonagall nabbed us for wrecking the Quidditch Pitch,” Tzuyu rushed to explain before you, a hint of pride sparking in her eyes when she beat you to the punch. “It’s collapsed. And all my doing.”

“Your-” You shoved her, hands colliding with her arm slightly harder than you meant to. But you didn’t bother to apologize, declaring, “I’ll have you know that I did more. I collapsed two of the bleachers, for Merlin’s sake!”

Fred watched the exchange with amusement, egging you on when Tzuyu glared at you. “Go on, pick a fight. You’re right outside old Flitwick’s classroom, though. I’m sure he won’t be too happy for the resident couple of troublemakers to interrupt lecturing first years on Charms.”

“We aren’t a couple,” Tzuyu blurted, stepping back from where she’d been inches away from your throat with her wand. You stared at her in confusion; when had Fred mentioned the two of you to be dating? “Just-- I don’t even like her.”

There was an all-knowing smile on the portrait’s face that you didn’t like, an expression that must’ve been passed on to his nephews as well judging by how often you saw it. “I know. Didn’t even mention that, really.”

“Yeah, Tzuyu, the hell?” When she avoided your gaze, you sighed and grabbed her arm, ignoring how she attempted to pull away at first. “Well, good seeing you, Fred. I’ll let you know how the next attempt goes.”

“Good luck!” he called out as you left. “She’s a stubborn one.”

You stopped at one of the arches leading out to the courtyard, your back to the students idly roaming. Tzuyu still avoided your gaze, crossing her arms and running her thumb over the engravings on her wand. “Hey. What was that about, Chou?”

She hesitated to answer even with her lips parted, and the bell that rang loudly in your ears served as her excuse. “Well, you heard it. Time for potions, don’t want to fail out.”

She walked off, ignoring the group of 4th year boys staring at her with parchment scrolls crumpled in their hands. But your brow was knitted as you stared at her retreating silhouette, and at the way that she walked too fast to notice Dahyun and Chaeyoung raising their hands to wave at her. “Since when have you cared about that?”

Mina and Chaeyoung were disgustingly adorable at the dining table, but you were grateful enough for their company that you didn’t really care. “Maybe we should get Tzuyu’s ears checked,” Mina chuckled as she took a bite of the cake that her girlfriend fed her. “It’s not unlike Fred to say those things, but it is unlike her to take it so seriously.”

“Right? I didn’t think he was insinuating us to be a couple at all,” you frowned, digging into the treacle tart that you’d been picking at for the past hour. To be honest, you weren’t all that hungry, your mind only fixated on your friend/rival. “Do you think something else is going on?”

Chaeyoung shrugged, lips jutting out in a pout as she thought. “If it was anyone else, I’d think she was shaken up from being lectured by McGonagall. But it’s you two, so I doubt it. Double Troublemakers, aren’t you?”

“Double Troublemakers,” you snickered. “Jeongyeon really didn’t know what she was doing, coming up with that name first year.”

Jeongyeon herself, passing by on Nayeon’s arm, shouted out in protest and threw a balled-up handkerchief at your head. “Watch out, Y/N, I’m not scared of you and your pranks.”

“You should be,” you shouted back, incinerating the ball with a simple spell. “Tzuyu’s not going to protect you from me!”

“Hey, hey, speaking of Tzuyu, shouldn’t you be helping her with a potion right now?” Mina mentioned, tapping your arm. “I think you promised to help her at half past seven, and it’s already eight.”

Your eyes widened to the size of a house elf’s, and you scrambled up. “Oh, bloody hell. Thanks for the reminder, she’s going to be pissed.”

Chaeyoung commented offhandedly, “I don’t think she’ll be too pissed off at you.” But you didn’t pay too much mind, rushing out into the icy hallway and leaving your half-finished dessert behind with your friends. You cursed yourself for not bringing your scarf to dinner as you rushed to the Potions wing; for whatever reason, Snape insisted on charming that specific tower to be at the level of the Arctic Ocean. Tzuyu never seemed to mind, but it wasn’t comfortable when you only had your house robes to protect you from the chill.

The door banged into the stone wall unflatteringly, but the Slytherin girl didn’t even bother to look up from her cauldron. “Tzuyu, I’m so sorry--”

“It’s fine, Y/N,” she sighed, flashing you a quick smile as she snapped her book shut. “Just gave me some more time to memorize the potion.”

As you rounded the corner of the huge table, you peered at the array of ingredients laid out. Potions had never been your strong suit-- you’d usually been too busy pranking Jihyo than listening-- and you had no clue what you were supposed to be making whatsoever. “Uh. How am I supposed to help you if I don’t have a recipe?”

Tzuyu raised her eyebrow slightly at you, tying her hair up loosely and motioning for you to do the same as she lit a flame under the cauldron. “Just do what I tell you. It’s not difficult. Besides, I’m going to be working with Dahyun on this, I need to practice how to give directions.”

“Are you jabbing at my Potions skills, Chou?” you rolled your eyes, taking off your cloak. Despite the chill of the potions wing, the other girl had evidently cast a spell that made it boiling hot in the classroom, leaving you in a normal sweater embroidered with the crest of your house.

She didn’t answer, handing you a plant to cut open inside. “By the way. You aren’t wearing any perfume, are you?” Tzuyu asked suddenly, avoiding your gaze as she ground pearl dust even finer in a stone mortar. “It distracts me, don’t look at me like that.”

“You being close enough to smell my perfume is out of the ordinary,” you snorted in response, sprinkling the peppermint into the boiling water. “But no. I’m not wearing any.”

The thing about working with Tzuyu was that everything usually ended up in silence. Not uncomfortable silence, but the kind that made you focus on the way that the candles cast a warm light onto the wooden tables, and the kind that made you notice the smell of the opened potion books. As the girl stirred in more and more ingredients, though, and as colored steam rose from the cauldron, the musty scent of parchment and tinny metal was replaced with--

A clatter sounded as Tzuyu shoved the cauldron over, the potion fizzing when it met the table. You could only stare as your hard work spilled out of the pewter cauldron rolling on the table, but the other girl spoke before you. “O-oh. I’m sorry, I think you should go. I can clean this up myself.”

“I... are you sure? I can help,” you offered, reaching for your robes nonetheless.

“I’m fine. Go.” Her voice was strange, like she wanted to say something to you but was holding it in, but you didn’t comment on it. Despite everything the two of you had been through together, you realized that you didn’t really have a right to ask more out of the girl; you didn’t know her outside of bickering, after all.

When you closed the classroom door softly behind you, though, you realized that you could still smell the potion’s aftermath in a cloud around you. Kerosene, like the kind you used to blow up the stadium a week ago, bitter chocolate, and the faintest hint of the house elves’ kitchen when you snuck in to steal Tzuyu’s favorite bread.

It was the kind of familiar that made you miss it while it was still here, like a ghost that you couldn’t grasp and hold close to your heart in the way that you desperately wished you could. And it made you stare at the closed door of the classroom, listen closer to the sound of Tzuyu mopping up the spilled potion by hand even though she didn’t have to.

It was weird, that’s what it was.

Momo and Nayeon clutched onto each other as you shined the light of your wand into the dark. Tzuyu was just behind you with her own wand held overhead; you were pretty sure that you could see Sana clutching onto the Slytherin’s arm and cowering behind the tallest girl of the group. “Are... are you sure that this is a good idea?” Jihyo asked, her voice uncharacteristically small.

“Ah, come on. It’s one of the Marauders’ abandoned tunnels, who knows what we could find?” you persuaded, turning back to grin at them. When no one reciprocated, you switched to a pout instead. “Rude.”

“We’ll split like this.” Tzuyu waved her wand between the eight remaining girls, parting them like the red sea into two groups. “Nayeon and Momo, you split, you’re too scared to be in one group together. Y/N and I will go together.”

Dahyun wiggled her eyebrows at that. “Ooh. Together, huh? Just the two of you?”

Even in the darkness of the tunnel, you could see Tzuyu’s cheeks flush brightly. She stabbed her wand in front of her in an attempt to shine the light away from her face, muttering out, “Let’s go.”

You waved goodbye at your friends, being tugged forward by the Slytherin girl and nearly tripping over the tree roots winding through the tunnel. “H-hey, why’re you walking so fast? Trying to kill me, Chou?”

“If I killed you, there wouldn’t be any fun in prank wars.” She glanced back at you, eyes straying to the map that you had clutched in your hand. “Where’d you get that, by the way?”

“Fred,” you answered, waving the scroll around. It was stained, of course, with the pumpkin juice that Sana had spilled on you that morning, and with the ink that you had smeared when copying down the Weasley’s overly complicated instructions. “He said that something in here’s going to help us with whatever we plan to do next.”

Tzuyu frowned at you slightly, still pushing aside cobwebs and vines to forge further down the tunnel. “Did you tell him about the rig we’re going to set up for McGonagall?”

You shrugged and peered down at a cockroach skittering over the dirty ground. “Of course not. Fred may be a legend, but legends don’t get treated any differently when it comes to knowledge about Double Trouble’s plans.”

“I hate that name.” Tzuyu stepped through another archway into a tiny cave, a rough stone throne with a button on the armchair the only thing inside. She flicked her eyes over, nodding her head at the chair. “This it?”

You lunged forward, pressing down on the button before you could have any regrets. “Only one way to know.”

And-- nothing happened whatsoever. Your partner in crime stood there with crossed arms, the backs of her calves almost hitting the stone of the throne. “What’s supposed to happ--”

A strong gust of wind, stronger than anything you’d ever felt before, punched all the breath out of you and sent you flying, the force of your body knocking Tzuyu onto the chair. To prevent injury, your hands flew out in front of you and pressed into the crumbly dirt wall on either side of Tzuyu’s head, your knees probably bruising with how hard they hit the stone.

When you opened your eyes, previously squeezed shut, you found yourself sitting on the lap of the Slytherin girl, her hands hovering on either side of your waist and your foreheads almost pressed together. She looked somewhat shocked, eyes wide and her breath shivering on your lips.

Before you could apologize and scramble off, though, you were interrupted by someone coughing at the entrance. “Dahyun’s right, apparently.”

You leaped off of Tzuyu’s lap faster than you could’ve thought possible, heat burning at your ears when you found Jeongyeon and Nayeon smirking at the entrance at the cave. “S-so. Uh. You found anything?” you questioned, attempting not to look directly at either of them.

“Nah,” Jeongyeon answered after a pause, apparently feeling merciful. “I think Fred was messing with you.”

“Damn,” you breathed out, adjusting the collar of your sweater to be perfectly straight. All of a sudden, it was too warm underground, and the heavy robe you wore was pulling you down into the ground. Maybe that last part was wishful thinking. “Let’s go, then. I’ll go get Momo’s group,” you volunteered, brushing past your friends into the tunnels again.

Tzuyu didn’t follow, thankfully, because you didn’t need anything else confusing your senses with the smell of kerosene, chocolate, and sourdough bread wafting past your nose already.

“GO MOMO!”

You cheered louder than anyone else in the bleachers, maybe except for Jihyo, who was practically hanging off the railing as she waved a banner for your Hufflepuff friends.

Chaeyoung laughed, her nose bright red in the winter chill. Sana and Momo waved at you and all her friends as they strolled out with the rest of her team, hands gloved and what seemed to be 3 scarves wrapped around both of their necks. But you were holding in the loudest cheer of all for when the Slytherin team descended to the pitch, and you raised your voice even more when Tzuyu appeared with her broom in her hand.

Unlike Jihyo, she looked nervous, face drawn tight as she stopped with the rest of her team on the grass. She only wore her usual green robes, wisps of caramel brown hair fluttering about her face, but she was more stunning than anyone else in the entirety of Hogwarts. “CHOU TZUYU, YOU KICK THEIR ASSES!”

She looked up in surprise at your shout, a small smile coming onto her face when she spotted you clustered among your friends, all dressed in contrasting house colors but cheering for the same people. You only waved harder when she stared at you, almost hitting Jihyo in the face when you swung both arms in opposite directions.

And when the game started, it was just as chaotic as it ever was to be sitting on the bleachers. Jihyo, who played for Gryffindor, and Chaeyoung for the Ravenclaw team, were thankfully undivided this time, merely screaming their friends’ names instead of houses. Usually, you were next to someone much quieter in their support, a certain Slytherin who was dominating the field instead.

“And Tzuyu scores! Brilliant Chaser, this one, and gorgeous, too, if Y/L/N would just take the hint!” Felix shouted out at the announcer’s podium, his usually growling voice higher pitched to be heard over the crowd’s shouts.

No one seemed to hear him, not even your friends as they thrusted the Slytherin banner up in the air and whooped. You and Tzuyu both stopped in your tracks, staring blankly at the tiny blonde dot that was Lee Felix. For the Chaser, though, it turned out to be much more dangerous, as a Bludger hit by a Hufflepuff Beater slammed into her right below her right arm.

Everything went silent, a dolphin-like tone ringing in your ears as you watched Tzuyu plummet down to the ground. With the way her hair streamed in the wind, you’d think she was floating, but you were cruelly brought back to reality when she hit the ground like a bag of loose bones, a sharp whistle from Madam Hooch making time move normally again.

“Tzuyu,” you gasped, stumbling back into Dahyun, who didn’t complain. “Tz--”

“Three fractured ribs, along with a completely shattered wrist. Can someone tell me what she was looking at?”

Your nails tightened on the skin of your palms as you stared at the wrinkled bedsheet underneath Tzuyu’s good hand, your foot tapping relentlessly against the tile of the hospital wing. Perhaps Jihyo and Mina, talking quietly with Madam Pomfrey, didn’t think you could hear them talk, but every word of theirs echoed unfortunately loudly in the otherwise empty wing. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at Tzuyu, or at the violent purple bruises all along her right side, or at her frail and newly healed wrist cradled to her chest as she slept.

“I’m sorry, Madam Pomfrey. Sana... Sana and I asked Felix to say it as a joke, we didn’t think that Tzuyu would be so surprised,” Jihyo sighed. “And we didn’t think that Steelman would take advantage and hit her so hard.”

Pomfrey was quiet for a second, and the jagged tip of your nails nearly ripped your skin as you waited for one of them to speak. “I see. Well, I do believe you had good intentions, all of you. I will be speaking with Ms. Steelman about her actions, but Quidditch is tough sometimes. Please, refrain from asking Mr. Lee to play such jokes from  now on.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Mina joined you first, her hand a comforting weight on your shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself, Y/N.”

“Who said I was blaming myself?” you laughed listlessly, shaking your head. “Who am I kidding? I am blaming myself. Because it’s my fault. It isn’t Felix’s for playing an innocent joke, and it isn’t Jihyo and Sana’s--”

Jihyo shook her head as she knelt near you, her head obstructing the view of Tzuyu’s sleep-peaceful expression. “Y/N, please. You couldn’t have gotten there on time. It’s none of our faults, okay? Besides, we shouldn’t... we shouldn’t have rushed you on this.”

“What?” you blinked up at your friends. “Rushed me?”

They exchanged looks, Mina closing her mouth when the Gryffindor girl shook her head in warning. “I think it’s best for you to find it out on your own time. Because you will,” Jihyo smiled. “I have faith in you, Y/N. Now, don’t stay here too late, Pomfrey will take care of Tzuyu just fine.”

“Seriously,” Mina warned as she retreated, the sympathy in her eyes the last thing that you wanted to see. “Sleep early!”

You raised a hand in farewell, sighing and leaning back in your chair once they were gone. Your friends meant well, of course, and you genuinely didn’t blame anyone for the incident, but you couldn’t help but think about what you could’ve done to save Tzuyu. There must’ve been some spell, some prank mechanism that would’ve done something...

And just like that, hours passed. The sky had begun to turn back to cloudy blue-grey from the black of the night by the time you found your head drooping onto your arms; you had draped one of the blankets that Pomfrey left behind over your own shoulders, your hair loose and splaying out at the foot of the bed when your friend woke up. “Y/N?”

Blinking blearily, you found Tzuyu staring blankly at you. “Why’re you still here? It’s almost dawn.”

There should have only been one answer at the tip of your tongue-- “I was worried” or “I couldn’t leave you alone” or something normal-- but instead, you found answers to questions that you didn’t remember asking just begging to be let out.

Because the potion that you had made all those weeks ago was Amortentia, and it smelled like the kerosene that you used in so many prank wars with Tzuyu, and the bitter chocolate she tried to convince you to like. It smelled like the bread that you stole from the house elves to cheer her up, and it smelled like the vanilla hand lotion that you bought for her on Valentine’s day in 3rd year.

And she asked you whether you were wearing perfume because she wanted to know if Amortentia smelled like you for her, and Tzuyu must’ve knocked the cauldron over because it did. Because--

“You love me.”

You didn’t expect the jolt that shook the entire hospital bed, the Slytherin girl jerking back like you had burned her with your words. “I... what?” Her eyes darted back and forth as she bit down on her lip, almost scrambling back as your eyes began to shine with a revelation that turned your entire world upside down. “Y/N, what’re you talking about?”

Her fists were ice cold in your hands, her expression unrelenting as you attempted to persuade her to admit the truth that should’ve made sense all along. “Your Amortentia smelled like me, didn’t it? Because mine smelled like kerosene, and... and bread, and everything you like. And you reacted so intensely when Fred called us a couple because you like me,” you breathed with the biggest grin of your life on your face. “No, because you love me.”

Tzuyu shook her head and snatched her hands out of your grasp, clutching the bedsheets closer to her chest as if that would protect her from you or something. “You aren’t making sense right now, Y/N. I.. I want you to leave. Before you confuse me further.”

You stared at her for a good twenty seconds, at the girl who was avoiding your eyes like you had told her you’d murdered her mother. “Wh-what?”

“I want you to leave.” The Chaser’s voice sounded steady, but it wasn’t confident in the way that you knew it to be. There was something lying underneath that made her voice that of a stranger to you, and you obeyed it as you stood. 

“Okay.”

Not another word slipped from your lips as you made your way out of the Hospital Wing, standing on the balcony of a silent castle with blankets still wrapped around your shoulders.

That definitely wasn’t how you expected anything to go.

For nearly a week, you spent your free blocks alone, poring mindlessly over all your books by the Great Lake. Nothing you read actually stuck in your mind, though, the words floating before your eyes in hurricanes of black ink. No matter how much Chaeyoung or Momo attempted to convince you, you wouldn’t go back to the hospital wing; instead, you asked Mina for updates, probably the only one of your friends who you knew wouldn’t pressure you to talk to Tzuyu.

Groaning, you collapsed down onto the grass, flicking your quill away from you. It wasn’t fun devising pranks and coming up with plans to rig the Headmaster’s office without her, and there was no real lure in winning when there was no one to win against. Instead of thinking about the water that you wanted to splatter down on McGonagall, you could only think about how to apologize to your friend, how to take back a truth that you weren’t sure you could forget yourself.

But with the way that she responded, could it mean that you were right? Was it possible that Tzuyu really loved you, and you... you really loved her back?

“Y/N?”

Your head jerked to look at the source of your voice, a crack sounding when you turned too fast. “Ow,” you mumbled, raising your hand up to cup the back of your neck. However, you were completely fixated on the slightly paler-looking girl, standing just a few feet away from you. “Uh. Hey?”

“Hey,” she smiled. So she’s not angry. Tzuyu wasn’t wearing her characteristic expensive robes for once, dressed instead in a pretty skirt that was too cold for the lakeside and a black coat slung over her shoulders. “You didn’t come to visit me.”

Shrugging, you reached over and cleared your books away for her to sit. “I figured you wouldn’t want me to.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she frowned, plopping down beside you and crossing her legs. “You’re my friend.”

“Friend, huh?” You chuckled listlessly, leaning back with your arms supporting you. The surface of the Great Lake rippled softly, and you wondered whether there really was a squid inside that could drag you away from the awkwardness sitting between the two of you. “That’s it?”

Tzuyu laid her hand over yours, her skin cold from the spring weather. She almost looked like she pitied you even though she was the one fresh out of the hospital wing, and you hated that expression on her. “What do you mean? Should there be something else?”

If you were slightly less impulsive, you wouldn’t be scrambling to your feet, crossing you arms to stare in disbelief at the beautiful girl sitting cross-legged mere feet away from the Whomping Willow. “Are you serious? Tzuyu, are you just going to ignore everything we-- everything I said that night?”

She stood as well, her hands still reaching out for yours and her eyebrows furrowed. “Y/N, I wasn’t going to ignore it, I just don’t know how to talk about it. That.”

You scoffed, jerking away from her grasp. Some part of you thanked Merlin that you were alone, because you didn’t know if you wanted your friends witnessing anything that you knew was about to go down. “That. Answer me something, Chou. Would it be so bad to be with me? To admit that... that you love me. And I love you back?”

Tzuyu froze, her hands faltering in midair. “You love me back?”

“Of course I do!” And suddenly, you were rushing forward to meet her again, eyes pleading for her to understand how genuine you were being. “I meant it when I said so, and Amortentia doesn’t lie. Tell me, what did your potion smell like?”

She stammered out, “B- burning books. From the time we set the library on fire, and the stupid perfume you wear. Ink, because you refuse to use the pens that Jeongyeon bought you, and--”

You still paused a second before connecting your lips, giving Tzuyu time to back out, but she might’ve moved even faster than you so that her hands were wrapped around your waist. She tasted like chocolate and bread, too, and you smiled into the kiss when you realized that she probably stole from the kitchen before coming to find you.

The long, winding roots of some tree tripped you over, your back colliding with the grassy ground with a loud thump, but you didn’t care as the Slytherin girl landed right on top of you. “To-- to answer your question. It wouldn’t be bad at all, to be with you,” Tzuyu laughed breathily, her smile so much brighter than you ever remembered it to be. “I love you, Y/N.”

And instead of responding, you pulled her in again, lips moving against hers for maybe a minute before you were surprised by a bug that Tzuyu held up against your face. “Chou Tzuyu, you devil!”

#twice #twice x reader #twice tzuyu #twice chou tzuyu #tzuyu #chou tzuyu #tzuyu x reader #tzuyu imagines #tzuyu scenarios #twice imagines #twice scenarios #girl group imagines #girl group scenarios #girl group reactions #twice reactions #twice incorrect quotes #tzuyu icons #twice icons #twice x you #chou tzuyu imagines

[brokenangelwings22]

Here's probably my only entry for IHweek. I've finally returned to writing. This is an excerpt from chapter 2 of my story Come Back Down to Earth. You can read the first chapter either on AO3 or FanFiction

Confession (IHweek 7/4) Please enjoy!

Chapter 2: Crawled In and Never Left

Give me the chance to tonight

I'll prove to you what's in my eyes

(It’s My Turn To Fly - The Urge - Titan AE soundtrack 2000)

Ichigo considered himself a reasonable man, but his patience was growing thin with his roommate.

“C’mon, man! You had a solid chance with Hime last night!” Renji pleaded with him. “Why are you so obtuse?”

“That’s an awfully big word for you.” Ichigo rolled his eyes at his friend. “Ever think of taking your own advice with Rukia?”

Renji let out a long suffering sigh. “You’re both hopeless, and therefore perfect for each other.”

“I’m perfectly happy with how things are with Hime. I don’t want to chance it.”

Renji pulled out a box of pretzel sticks from the cupboard. He fixed a concerned look on his face, and the seriousness unnerved Ichigo.

“Look. I’m not gonna force you. Even if I think you’re absolutely nuts not to. I will, however, point out that you’re an idiot for not telling her how you feel.” Renji pulled out a piece of pretzel and pointed it at Ichigo to emphasize his thought. “You’re gonna lose her one day if you continue to be ridiculous.”

Ichigo narrowed his eyes as his scowl persisted. “You think I am not aware of that?”

Renji placed the stick between his teeth and grinned toothily. “Yup!”

A sleepy noise came from behind the two men just as Ichigo opened his mouth to snap at his friend.

“Mm morning guys,” Orihime yawned as she stepped into the kitchen. “Any coffee? It’s too early.”

“Sorry Hime. Were we too loud?” Ichigo asked, his previous scowl morphing to something more kind.

“No,” she murmured. Her voice was still thick with sleep. She stumbled a little, bumping into Ichigo. “Oh hi wall. You smell nice.” Orihime leaned into his chest and snuggled him.

There was a strangled sound from Renji as he watched the young woman wrap her arms loosely around Ichigo’s waist. Instinctively, Ichigo wrapped his arms around her to steady her.

“Renji,” Ichigo said softly as to not disturb Orihime. “Please brew some coffee for her.”

“Jeez if I had known that Hime could instantly dissolve your sour mood with an embrace, I’d handcuff you both together.” Renji grumbled and shook his head, walking over to the coffeemaker on the counter.

Ichigo hummed a distracted acknowledgement as he idly stroked Orihime’s long auburn hair. She snuggled into his broad chest further. “Thanks. I’ll move her back to her room.” He was already moving towards the living room as he heard Renji’s snarky reply.

“Oh take your time. I’m merely here to serve.”

~*~*~*~

Ichigo sighed heavily as he stepped out from Orihime’s room and shut the door behind him quietly. He turned to walk down the short hallway, only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw his two friends standing a few feet away with evil grins on their faces. Squaring his shoulders and fixing a glare at Renji and Rukia, he taunted “Don’t you both have something better to do? Like, absolutely anything?”

Rukia’s grin sharpened further. “Nah, we’re more interested in heckling you.”

Ichigo grumbled, raking his fingers through his unruly hair. “Yeah yeah. You’re both insufferable.”

He flicked Rukia’s forehead and smacked Renji’s upper back swiftly as he moved to leave.

Rukia’s retort was loud as she declared, “And YOU are the annoying brother I never asked for and yet somehow got!”

Renji’s muttering was barely noticeable under the small woman’s rage. “C’mon, Rukia. Let’s leave him be.”

Ichigo rolled his eyes, stepping around the ornery woman and made his way to the kitchen. Of course, Renji was right. It annoyed him to no end that he hadn’t spoken with Orihime about how he felt towards her. Hell, if he were being honest, he knew that he was in love with her at first sight.

She’d stumbled into his dad’s clinic, buckling under the weight of her brother’s prone body. This girl, only 12 at the time, carried her six foot and change older brother from the scene of the car accident all the way there. She was battered and bruised from the wreckage too. It broke him to his very soul when he had to tell her that his father was unable to save Orihime’s brother. The ambulance Isshin had called to rush him to the trauma ward of the hospital had simply not gotten there in enough time.

He did his best to console Orihime, who collapsed in a heap on the clinic floor. Her clothes were soiled with dirt and caked in her brother’s blood.

Yuzu had entered the room, and with a kind and understanding voice, ushered the broken girl to the bathroom to wash up. Orihime stayed at his house for several days, mostly walking around with mechanical movements, much like a zombie or a robot, just going through the motions of a semblance of normalcy. At night she’d cry herself to sleep. Ichigo stayed by her side when she was awake, and would help her to bed when she could barely stay up right.

Slowly, but surely, Orihime processed the loss of her brother. Ichigo stuck to her like glue, promising her and to himself that he would always be there to protect her. Orihime professed her gratitude to him soon after she moved back to her apartment, telling him that she was eternally grateful for everything he had done. As time went on, they became inseparable. They went to the same middle school and then high school, which introduced them to new friends that they quickly established into a tight-knit group.

Orihime had grown up beautifully. Her smile, warm and bright, had the ability to render him speechless and lightheaded. He felt invincible and vulnerable all at once. Far too many times, their friends would catch him when he was slack-jawed and mindless, teasing him mercilessly when Orihime wasn’t looking.

He began calling her ‘Hime’ their senior year. He hadn’t meant to, but it just slipped out. She had been followed by a group of boys who often flocked around her, taken by her beauty and her curvaceous body. One of them had ventured to put a hand on her shoulder without permission and Ichigo had snapped. Any restraint he had frayed instantly and before he understood what was happening, he had slammed the cretin against the wall and threatened him.

“You don’t touch women without consent, especially Hime.” He growled at the other guy, clenching the offending limb.

Orihime had called his name softly, telling Ichigo to let the man go, and he had simultaneously dropped him and her request. Ichigo made it a point to be by her side every chance he had. To protect her, love her from a distance if need be. It was enough, at that time.

But once Ichigo, Orihime and their friends entered university, the strain to keep a tight seal over his feelings became increasingly more difficult. His best friend flourished in academics and her social life expanded to include other people outside of their small group. With that also came obstacles, and Ichigo had to fend off more than a few of Orihime’s admirers.

Ichigo gripped the handle of the carafe of coffee angrily at the memory. The steam and scent of the hot brew brought him back to the present. He sighed after loosening his grip and poured two cups, adding cream and sugar to Orihime’s.

Soft footfalls behind him reached his ears, along with a quiet yawn. A grin spread on his lips as Orihime came into view.

Orihime blinked away the remnants of sleep from her eyes, smiling brightly at Ichigo when he offered her the cup he’d gotten for her.

Taking a big sip, she sighed happily. “Thanks, Ichigo. You always know how to make my coffee just how I like it.”

Ichigo smiled gently at her, shrugging his broad shoulders. “Well, after knowing you for ten years, I’d like to think I know you well enough to get your preferences right.”

Orihime giggled and gazed up at him from behind the mug pressed to her lips. “You do, and I’m grateful for that. Lord knows why Rukia insists on adding extra sugar and Tatsuki puts in too little cream. You are a hero among men, good sir.”

Ichigo’s smile widened at Orihime’s playfulness. “I try my best, m’lady.”

“Where are Rukia and Renji?” Orihime asked as she looked around the kitchen.

“Don’t know. Don’t care. Hopefully somewhere off annoying someone else more deserving.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

Orihime snorted bemusedly, shaking her head in disbelief as he tried to sound convincingly bored and grumpy. She raised her hand to place it on his right cheek in a fond manner.

“What am I going to do with you?” Her question came out more flirtatious than she intended.

Ichigo’s eyes widened at her sweet gesture and instantly leaned into her touch, closing his eyes and revelling in it. He had never realized how touch starved he truly was until Orihime would step into his personal space with her warm smile and kind gaze. It was as if that one thing, a fleeting brush of her fingers, or a soothing embrace had the ability to heal his wounded heart or eradicate any scar left on his soul.

Losing his mother at such a young age had made him a hardened and angry child. He blamed himself for her death, believing that if he had done something, spent more time with her, taken care of her and his sisters more, that she may very well have recovered from cancer. But his father had explained to him many times that the disease was caught too late, and the malignancy had metastasized from her cervix to her uterus and ovaries very quickly. Ichigo was still struggling with the loss of his mother two years later, when Orihime stumbled into their clinic with her brother.

He’d figured that no matter how miserable and heart wrenching it was, he had found purpose in consoling Orihime. It gave him unbelievable strength to bond with her over the loss. Helping her ultimately helped him as well in the end. The desire to be with her only grew. It had crawled in and never left. He’d become greedy for it, overthrown by his desperation to be close to the light that was Orihime.

She continued to lightly graze his cheekbone with soft brushes against him, her warm fingers causing pleasant tingles on his skin.

Orihime cupped the side of his face as she watched in awe how he was drawn to her touch, feeling the soft smile that pulled at his lips. When he raised his hand to place it over hers, she felt herself being pulled by an invisible force, almost magnetic. He had always been like that, and she adored being the one that he let in entirely. She stroked his cheek and began to pull her palm away until he held fast to her. His eyes fluttered open, and the look he had in them made the breath catch in her throat.

“Ichi-“ she murmured breathlessly.

The raw emotion that flashed in his dark amber gaze made her spine tingle, her heart stutter and her cheeks warm. He had the ability to render her tongue-tied with the flicker of something deep and foreign to her. Ichigo pulled her into his arms, finally allowing her hand to move, and she found herself slipping it to the back of his neck and burying her fingers into his soft hair. He wrapped his arms about her, pulling her to his lean, muscular body and sighed happily as Orihime sifted her fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp comfortingly.

Orihime pressed her ear over his heart, as he towered over her five foot one frame. The thumping, strong sound of it beating quieted her mind immediately. He slid his hands up and down her back, and she felt herself melt into it.

“I… I just need this, Hime.” Ichigo’s whisper filtered into her ear as he pressed his lips to her temple, sending a shiver through her body. Though quiet, she heard the fervency in his tone. She nodded against him, continuing her movements through his hair. She felt him shudder in their embrace and the breathless ‘thank you’ that he uttered.

“Were you thinking about something?” Orihime whispered back, her eyebrows drawing inwards as the possibility fluttered through her mind.

Ichigo nodded, letting out a stuttering sigh. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it. I’m better now.”

She hummed thoughtfully at his response, resigning herself to his simple answer. She wouldn’t push him further.

Finally Ichigo pulled back from her to look her in the eyes. His gaze was still intense, as it flickered with what she could only identify as resolve and something far much more akin to what she assumed she wore as an expression often in his presence. It made her heart skip a beat and her mind to race at the possibilities.

“Hime,” he murmured. The way he said her name was like an urgent plea. It caused her stomach to swoop down like she was on an out of control rollercoaster. She waited on baited breath as he gathered his thoughts.

Ichigo’s mind was restless. His need to put into words how he felt about her, loved her, desired her rushed through and permeated the recesses of his brain. He should’ve been used to the intensity of it by now, but he most certainly wasn’t. The way she watched him gave him strength to form the words, stilling the overbearing thoughts warring to leave his mouth.

“I want to kiss you,” he whispered. His simple response was anything but, knowing deep down that this could make or break their friendship. The smile she gave him nearly shut down his brain entirely.

“What took you so long?” Orihime breathed before Ichigo’s mouth was on hers, his lips holding nothing back as kissed her with all the desperation and hunger of a man starved. The radiating joy splashed over the burning desire thundering through his veins.

Orihime parted her lips as she let out a sound that would’ve embarrassed her outside of this situation. Instead, she felt exhilarated to an immeasurable degree. Her body quaked at the reverence and pure heat he poured into it. It was as if the dam of years of keeping everything bottled up in fear of losing each other burst and flooded them all at once.

She clenched her fingers in his hair as he delved his tongue into her mouth. Orihime felt her body fight between melting and being drawn taught, like a string on a bow. Ichigo’s hands slid down to her hips, flexing and gripping at her flannel pajama pants and flesh. She angled her head when he held her firmly, seeking out his tongue with her own.

Ichigo was quickly lost in the taste of her skin, the sounds she made and the feel of her. His nerve endings felt like they had caught fire. It was a sensory overload in everything Orihime. If he didn’t think he was greedy before, he certainly was now.

~~~(TBC)~~~

I certainly hope you all liked this! I should have the chapter finished bit up fairly soon. Thanks so much for reading!

Also— I’m uncertain why this isn’t showing up in the tags, so I’ll try it again.

#ihweek2021 #ichigo kurosaki #orihime inoue #ichigo x orihime

[petersasteria]

Request: "When Will My Life Begin" but with Haz

When Will My Life Begin? - Haz Osterfield

"𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐱, 𝐝𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐩"

Manservant!Haz x CEO!Reader

1.8k words

* * * *

“7 AM the usual morning line up...” Harrison sang softly to himself as he put the laundry in the washing machine. He started the machine and left the basket on the floor. He turned around and saw your three year old son, Oliver, raising his arms up.

“Good morning, Ollie!” Harrison greeted with a smile and picked him up.

“Morning, Hazzy.” Ollie yawned. “‘M hungry.”

“I know you are. Let’s make breakfast!” Harrison said and walked to the kitchen. He sat Ollie on his chair and started making Ollie’s favorite and your usual breakfast.

You walked to the kitchen all dressed up and ready despite it only being 7:15 AM. You kissed Ollie’s cheek and sat down on your seat.

“Good morning, Miss Y/N.” Harrison said. He didn’t need to look at you to know that you were there. He just knew. After all, he’s been working for you for three years now. He watched Ollie grow up and everything.

“Haz, darling, you’ve been here for three years and I always tell you to call me ‘Y/N’ instead.” You chuckled. “Good morning to you too.”

Harrison served breakfast for you and Ollie and immediately walked up to your room to fix your bed and pick up the mess. It was his daily routine. His mates told him that he should quit his job and to just live his life like he wanted. As much as he wanted that, he grew to love his domestic life. Plus, Ollie was his main priority and he couldn’t leave Ollie just like that. He also couldn’t leave you. He loved you from the moment he met you and he loved you even more when you gave birth to your son.

You were 4 months pregnant at that time and your mom suggested that you should hire someone to help you around your penthouse. Harrison saw the ad and immediately sent in his resume. Since he was the first one to send it in, you immediately hired him and removed the ad. After all, you only needed one.

“-And this will be your room. This was a guest room, but I don’t bring guests at my penthouse. I bring them to my actual house.” You told him. “D’you like it?”

Harrison looked around and nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Please, call me Y/N.” You chuckled. “Anyway, I’m so glad you’re here to help me! Being pregnant and alone is rather difficult.”

“I can only imagine.” Harrison said. “You’re glowing, though. I’m sure the baby will come out and have your beauty and brains.”

You blushed, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled. He didn’t know if it was because you were glowing or if it was all a dream, but he could already sense that he was starting to crush on you.

“Anyway, make yourself at home. You’ll start tomorrow and if you wish to go somewhere, just tell me so that I know. You’re not doing anything today except for settling in. We’re ordering take out tonight. I’m craving for pizza and I expect to see you downstairs in the living room soon.” You told him. You pat him on the back and smiled, “Welcome to your new home.”

Three years later and still feels at home. 

After fixing your bed and cleaning your room, he did the same to Ollie’s room which was always a disaster to clean. One time he found something sticky in the toy box only to find out that it was gum.

He went back to the kitchen and cleared the table. Ollie went to the living room to watch his cartoons and you walked to wards Harrison who was washing the dishes.

“Haz, I have a question.” You leaned your lower back on the sink, with your arms crossed, to see him better. He hummed in response.

“How come you’re still here?” You asked curiously. Realizing that you sounded like an asshole, you rephrased the question. “I mean, why aren’t you quitting yet? You’re the same age as I am and you’re still here. If I were you, I’d quit by now.”

Harrison glanced at you before turning back to the dishes, “I don’t mind working here.”

“But I feel like you can be more than just, well, a maid or something. I feel like you’ll be better doing something you really want to do.” You told him.

“Are you firing me?”

“God, no! You’re the best person ever!” You gasped. “I’m just asking because when I was little, maids would leave all the time especially when they’re unhappy.”

“I’m happy with what I’m doing, though.” Harrison assured you.

“Okay.” You trailed off. “How about you take a couple of days off as a reward? I’m sure I can handle myself and Ollie.”

“Are you sure? No pressure, though. Because if you’re-”

“Yes, I’m sure and you deserve it. Go see your family and friends or whatever. Go and shop! Do anything you want! Just-” You stopped yourself.

“Just what?” He asked.

You blushed, “Just make sure you come back.”

“Of course, I’ll come back.” Harrison smiled.

And with that, Harrison packed a few of his belongings and left. He told you that he’d be gone for 5 days and he quickly gave you a rundown on how things worked and went, what not to do and what to do. That kind of stuff. He even said you could call him if you’re having trouble with anything. 

You didn’t call because you didn’t want to spoil his fun. So, you desperately tried to do what he’s been doing for 3 years. Everything went to shit.

Some of your clothes shrunk when you washed them, your burnt Ollie’s pancakes, your blazer got ruined when you ironed it, your bed was always a mess, Ollie’s room desperately needed de-cluttering, you didn’t know where the flyers of restaurant menus were when Ollie wanted Chinese food for dinner, you were late to everything; only to name a few.

Right now, Ollie was throwing a tantrum and he was crying. You were stressed because one of your employees didn’t do their job and now YOU had to fill in and do their work instead. And to add a cherry on top to your ‘my life is falling apart’ cake, the knob on the sink came loose and now water was splashing you everywhere and you didn’t know how to fix it.

Harrison unlocked the door and went in, “Y/N, I’m ba-” He stopped himself as he looked at the mess. He dropped his bag and slowly walked to the living room to see the damage. “Right. Work starts now.” He cracked his knuckles and began cleaning up the living room.

When he was done, he began to take notice of loud noises coming from the kitchen. He went there only to see Ollie crying on the floor and you, desperately trying to put the knob back on the faucet. You were also crying.

“What happened?!” Harrison shrieked. You looked at him and smiled because right now, he was your savior. Ollie looked at him and got up from the floor and hugged his legs.

“Hazzy!” Ollie exclaimed.

“Hey, buddy. Why are you crying?” Harrison crouched down to his level and wiped his tears.

“I want a cookie and mummy won’t give me one!” Ollie cried once more. Harrison stood up and carried him, “I’ll give you a cookie, okay? Stop crying now.”

And just like that, Ollie stopped.

He turned to you and saw that you were drenched. You looked at each other, but it was hard for you to see him because of your tears.

“What happened?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” You broke down. “How do you do this shit?!” He stared at you for a while and whispered something to Ollie before setting him down. Ollie ran to the living room and watched tv.

He walked to the sink and crouched down to open the cabinet and turn the knob off, so that water wouldn’t splash you anymore. He stood up and you gave him the knob. You wordlessly stepped aside as you watched him fix the knob of the faucet. He crouched down again, turned the knob on, stood up and turned the faucet on. It was functioning well again. He closed the cabinet with his foot and walked to the cleaning closet to get the mop. He mopped the floor and after that, brought out the ingredients for cookies for Ollie.

“Thank you.” You finally said after a few moments of silence. He smiled at you, “No problem.”

“No, seriously.” You chuckled lightly and wiped your tears. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. Everything went to shit and Ollie’s mad at me.”

“Hey, he’s not mad. He’s just throwing a fit. Why won’t you give him cookies, anyway?”

“I-I don’t know how to bake.” You said quietly.

“That’s alright.” He smiled.

“I don’t have a talent for doing chores or anything domestic, I suppose.” You frowned.

“Don’t punish yourself for it.” Harrison said as he started mixing the ingredients. “Women are as powerful as men, if not, more powerful. Women aren’t required nor subjected to just stay at home and serve. That’s not what you’re supposed to be, darling. We all have strengths and weaknesses and it just so happens that your weakness is doing the housework.”

“Your weaknesses don’t define you, Y/N. You’re worth more than that. And if I see that you’re great, you should see that you’re great too. Your strength is your company and you’re very good at handling it. I wish I could-”

You cut him off with a kiss which he quickly returned. It was a kiss full of passion and you had to pull away after a minute before it escalated quickly.

“I’m sorry.” You pinched the bridge of your nose. “It’s just that you’ve been so helpful and I’m so grateful to have you and I thought kissing you was so appropriate at that time and-”

“I don’t regret it if you don’t.” Harrison stated.

“What?”

“I said, I don’t regret it if you don’t. I’ve been wanting to do that for years!” He chuckled.

“Years?” You gasped. “I only started wanting that two months ago.”

Both of you stayed in comfortable silence. Harrison was busy shaping the cookies and putting them in the oven while you just stood there watching him.

“You know, I could leave Ollie with my mom.” You said. He looked at you and smirked, “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“I’ll just say it, then. Will you go on a date with me?” You rushed out. 

He walked towards you and put your hands on your waist, “I thought you’d never ask.”

You grinned and kissed him again. It was more heated than the previous one and before you knew it, you were pressed up against the wall while your tongues fought for dominance.

He kissed your neck and you moaned when he found your sweet spot. “Shit. If you keep doing that, we might end up giving Ollie a sibling!”

He pulled away and looked at you, “Geez, take me to dinner first.”

You playfully slapped his arm and kissed him again.

* * * *

I GOT CARRIED AWAY, I’M SORRY-

No, I take that back. I’m not sorry bc I loved this. Anyway, shout out to my powerful women out there who take no shit from anyone: @dudethisvoid @lovingsiriusoswald @blueleatherbag @sweetdespairbarnes @petersholland @t-lostinworlds @t-holland2080 @peeterparkr @rubberducky-jrr @greenorangevioletgrass + so many more x

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[evil-overlord-scriptology]

Do You Have Power Over Me? Pt. 2 (ARCHIVED)

Document has been perserved in its original state

And now begins the wonderful part two, enjoy *bows*

vvv

 Sakura screamed when she saw the familiar walls of home take place of the goblin throne room. Akanbou joined her and Sakura clutched him close sobbing. It wasn't fair. She should have realized that Kanari never intended to go home. Why else would she have told Sakura to quote her? If she truly wanted to go home, Kanari would have just spoken for the both of them. For a brief moment, Sakura hated her stepsister. She have never felt such hatred to anyone, not even Gaara when he betrayed her. Shocked and ashamed at herself, Sakura focused her loathing off of Kanari and onto King Itachi, for making Kanari stay. Why couldn't he have been a good sport and let them all go?!

 Her parents came home around midnight, to find Sakura still clutching her half brother. Kizashi looked at his daughter with concern, "Sakura... is something wrong?" She waited for him to ask where Kanari was, to blame his step daughter like he usually did, but Kizashi said nothing. Sakura would have to tell them where their oldest daughter was. She gulped, "K-Kanari... is-is-is..." Could she say it? She swallowed the lump in her throat and choked out, "She's gone." Mebuki looked at her step-daughter confused, "Who's Kanari? A new friend?"

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Sasuke sat lazily against his brother's throne, his legs thrown casually over the elegant armrest, as he watched the crystal ball in his hand with great amusement as Sakura's struggled to realized that she was the only person in the human world who remembered Kanari. He couldn't wait until she realized why she was the only one. Sasuke hoped that she would realized it before the sickness took over. Itachi said that he couldn't bring her back unless she realized why, part of Sasuke's punishment for not keeping her under control. Sasuke thought that was a little unfair, considering it was his blasted girl, Kanari, who put the idea in her head.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 "So are you saying that not all of... Itachi's subjects are goblins?" I asked Temari as she piled my white-blonde hair in different styles, trying to figure which one fit me best. Temari was my new servant, being that she was the only human-like fey that was close to my age and female. She laughed, "Of course, anyone who wants to live in the Labyrinth have to submit to his rule. The Labyrinth may not be the safest or prettiest place, but it sure is the most fun! And to the fey, fun is better than safety or beauty." I shook my head ruefully, "You creatures are strange..." I laughed. Temari wrapped my in an awkward backwards hug and said, "Well you're one of us now. By staying, you automatically became one of his subjects. Well almost, Labyrinth runners are special."

 My mood soured at the mention that I was now technically fey, "Thanks..." Temari, who didn't understand sarcasm, smiled, "You're welcome. Now what am I going to do with this hair?! It's too beautiful to style too casually." I rolled my eyes at her in the mirror and my somewhat new friend giggled. I couldn't help but ask, "Is King Itachi... uh... a flirt?" Temari gave me a sly look, "Why, hoping that you have the king to yourself?" I bit my lip, when she put it like that I sounded like a jealous girlfriend, and I wasn't even dating him! "Well I was wondering why he would kiss me in the Oubli-" "He did WHAT?!?!?!?" Temari suddenly shouted, making me jump. In the two hours I had known her, Temari didn't seem like the person ever to shout, she was too happy-go-lucky.

 "H-he kissed me... is that wrong?" I asked in a small voice. Temari stared at me for a few more seconds then burst out laughing, "He kissed you! King Itachi kissed you!!! Oh he must really really like you!!" I blinked now, confused. "It was just a kiss." I muttered, getting angry with her obvious joy in my discomfort. Temari grinned at me, "You don't understand Kanari. Fey don't go around just kissing anyone; fey only kiss who they love. Sure, we fey can have many lovers, but that's beside the point. And as far as I know, Itachi never ever kissed anyone before!" I had to admit, for being his first kiss, he was very good at it.

 As if on cue there was a knock at my door and Itachi's voice, "Kanari, may I be permitted to enter?" I opened my mouth to say yes or no, I really didn't know which, when Temari grabbed my arm, distracting me. I turned to her, surprised to see her expression so serious when only a few seconds ago she was jumping up and down in glee, "Careful Kanari... according to fey rules, once you invite someone in, they can come in whenever they want until the ownership of said room changes." I stared at her, "So how were you able to come in without my permission?" I asked. Temari flashed me a grin that cut through her seriousness, "Because I come with the room! I serve whomever owns this room." That made sense.

 I glanced back at the door, where Itachi was waiting. Sighing I shook my head, "I can't turn him away for all eternity..." I whispered, more to assure myself than to convince Temari, then raised my voice and called out, "You may come in... Your Majesty." The door was pushed open to reveal Itachi leaning against the door frame, his dark eyebrows raised, "I thought I told you to call me Itachi..." He said and I gulped. I couldn't, not yet. It was too awkward. Temari hid a grin behind her hand as she arranged hairpins on the dresser, trying to look inconspicuous. Itachi straightened and came in the room. His presence seemed to take the air from the room. "Kanari if you'll please come with me..." He said politely.

 Automatically I was suspicious, "...Why?" I asked cautiously. Itachi gave me a look, "Because I wish to show you something." He said as if it were obvious. I glared, "It's not an Oubliette is it?" Surprisingly he actually laughed. Even more surprising is that I liked the sound of it. "No. I wish to show you the gardens." I hesitated, I liked gardens and somehow Itachi had found out. Any other time I would have thought the gesture sweet, but I knew Itachi and his stalkerish tendencies. It was just plain creepy when it came to Itachi. Temari made the decision for me and shoved me forward, "Just go! I've got things to do!" Before I could say no and pull away Itachi had me out the door and down the hallway.

 "How do you like my castle?" He asked as we walked down the corridor, his subjects in such a hurry to get out of his way. I snapped back, "I'm not saying 'piece of cake' if that's what you're looking for." Itachi looked down at me, I had never realized how tall he was compared to me, "Will you ever forget what happened in the Labyrinth?" He asked. I glared at him, "Will I ever be able to go home?" When he shook his head, I added, "You have my answer then." Itachi pulled me to a stop in the middle of the hall, towering over me, "You can't keep a grudge forever." He stated confidently. I grew angry, but he placed two fingers of my lips before I could say anything, "Don't. I do not wish to spoil your evening. Please." It was the 'please' that got me. I looked down and nodded mutely, all my anger gone in a flash.

 True to his word, Itachi did show my his gardens, and I instantly found the place where I would be spending most of my time. Shrubs of the brightest green lined the ivory walk, reminding me of the maze through the bushes in the Labyrinth, opened up into a moonlit garden too beautiful to describe. I let out an involuntary gasp of delight when I caught sight of the gardens rolling out before me like an untouched meadow. Flowers of every color imaginable, and not imaginable, dotted the emerald grass in a random but artistic way. Benches made of ivory, marble, and ebony sat under drowsy trees, their branches swinging low over the ground, creating arches over the path. A glassy pond was tucked against a crop of silver-veined rocks, its surface rippling as the fish underneath it danced. A weeping willow stood at the north end of the pond, under its sweeping branches I found an ebony bench nestled against its soft trunk; I had found my favorite place in the Fey Realm. I turned to Itachi and actually dipped into a shabby curtsey, "Thank you for showing me this place." I said sincerely. He merely nodded, but I think he was glad that I liked it.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 "Dear, why won't you tell us who this Kanari you keep speaking of?" Mebuki asked for the hundredth time that night. Every time she asked, Sakura wanted to cry all over again. Her own flesh-and-blood daughter was gone, and the blonde haired woman couldn't even remember that she had a daughter! Mebuki couldn't remember the pain of birth, the joy when Kanari took her first step, anger over all the rebellious teen acts, nothing! It was like Kanari never existed. It tore Sakura up that her sister's sacrifice would go unnoticed to everyone except her. She pushed her dinner plate away and stood without behind excused, "I'm not hungry." It was the truth, she wasn't, and she didn't know why. She should be starving, since the last thing she ate was that cursed peach in the Labyrinth hours ago.

 Sakura went upstairs to Akanbou's room. Kneeling by his cradle she began to tell her baby brother about Kanari, determined to make at least one person besides herself remember Kanari.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 The next day I was wondering aimlessly through the halls when I ran smack into someone. I was about to apologized when the person spoke, "Kanari!? Why are you here? I thought you went home!" I glanced up at Naruto's shocked face and frowned, "Didn't you know? I gave up my place so Sakura could go home." "But... why?" Naruto asked again. I rolled my eyes, "That peach that Gaara gave Sakura... mortals can't have fey food without consequences... I don't know, it's too complicated to explain!" I wailed, feeling the pent up tears coming. Naruto, sensing my distress, wrapped an arm around my shoulders and stayed quiet as I spilled all that had happened since I saw him last. After the strange things that had been happening, I was glad for a shoulder to cry on.

 vvv

 I was reading in the garden when Gaara found me. He didn't seem surprised to see me, Naruto must have told him I was here. He stood there, silently questioning. I moved my feet off the bench I was curled up on and patted the seat beside me. The red head sat and still didn't say anything, he just watched the willow branches sweep across the still pond, creating tranquil ripples. I watched him, trying to get a read on him. I hadn't been close to him like Sakura was, I had been too distrustful, but now I saw a hopelessness that stabbed at my heart. I followed his gaze to the pond and asked quietly, "You liked her, didn't you?" I saw Gaara lift his head to look at the orange tinged sky out of the corner of my eye.

 "She was the first person to call me a friend." He whispered and my heart broke. Once again my little stepsister had managed to squirm under someone's skin and to their heart. I chuckled humorlessly, "She does that. Make you love her, that is." Gaara finally looked at me and raised an invisible eyebrow. I smiled sadly at my hands, "I hated her when our parents first got married. We aren't actually sisters, just by marriage. But she managed to bring down my defenses within a week of the wedding." I finally looked at Gaara, "I sometimes wonder what would have happened if we really were related by blood. Would we have been so close?" The red headed gate keeper only shrugged. We sat there quietly for a long time, watching as the willow tree swept its drooping branches across the water. I smiled, it reminded me of a child playing in the water, the branches like little fingers skimming across the silky surface of the water.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Three days went by and Sakura still didn't eat. Her parents grew worried, but not matter what they tried, she just couldn't force herself to eat a thing. It was late at night, Sakura was trying to sleep when a sudden gust of wind blew her windows in. Sakura leapt out of bed and slammed the glass panels shut again before latching them together. She didn't move back to bed, instead she stared at the moon hanging high in the sky. In the three days she had come back she hadn't been able to sleep either. Her body shivered at a sudden chill and Sakura sighed. Maybe tonight would be the night that she actually fell asleep. School started tomorrow, and she didn't want to miss out on that.

 Sakura turned to head back to bed and froze. In the darkest corner of her room was a pair of red glowing eyes. Sakura narrowed her own sea green ones, she knew who had come to visit her, “Don't you have goblins to torture?” She snapped. Sasuke chuckled and came into the moonlight. The pink haired girl hated how handsome and brooding he looked. “I was just checking up on you, my dear...” Sasuke murmured. Sakura crossed her arms and refused to respond. The Goblin Prince smirked and settled down on her bed, “Aren't you going to ask after your sister?”

 That caught Sakura's attention. She eyed the fey suspiciously, but he didn't seem to be teasing her. “...How's Kanari?” The girl asked cautiously. Prince Sasuke leaned back on his elbows and stared at the ceiling, “Better than you.” He stated, then shot a smirk at her, “You look thin, my dear, have you been eating?” Sakura stiffened. He knew something, he had to. That question was too casual to be innocent. “You know something.” She accused. It wasn't a question. Sasuke smirked, “...Maybe...” He drawled. Before Sakura could question him further Sasuke stood, “It's been a nice chat, but I must get back. This mortal world is bad for my health.” He gave Sakura a pointed look before disappearing. Sakura stood there for a long time, blinking, wondering what he could possible mean.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 I was too preoccupied with the book I was reading to notice that I walked straight into the thrown room right as Itachi-san growled, “You. Did. What?” I looked up surprised at the venom in his voice. Since I had elected to stay in my sister's stead I had learned that Itachi-san was a perfect gentleman. He never did anything to remind me of the nightmarish time in the Labyrinth, and he never raised his voice. I knew Itachi's voice grew colder as he became more angry, not higher, having had witnessed it when the Goblins tried to play pranks on me in the beginning.

  Prince Sasuke was looking away mulishly, sulking like a naughty child. Whatever he had done, his elder brother apparently did not like it. I was about to turn away and head back the way I came when Sasuke muttered, “You said I couldn't bring her here, you never said I couldn't visit.” There was only one person those two could possible be talking about, “What are you doing with my sister?” I asked before I could think. Both brothers turned to look at me, a smidgen of surprise in their dark depthless eyes.

 When they didn't answer I knew that whatever they were hiding from me, it wasn't good for Sakura. I spun and left, marching down the hall my fists clenching. I felt the hot prick of tears in my eyes and couldn't believe myself. I wasn't crying for my sister, or for being helpless to save her. I was crying because those two had betrayed what little trust I had allowed myself to build up. These were the men that just a week ago they were trying their best to make me lose my brother. These men had bullied both Sakura and me and forced their subjects, Gaara mainly, into doing things they didn't want to to slow us down. So why was I crying over them? Why was I feeling torn for being betrayed when Sakura was in danger? Why, why, why?!

 vvv POV Change vvv

 “You've done it now.” Temari informed Itachi when he reached Kanari's closed doors. The servant was leaning against the doorjamb, her arms crossed. “My lady has locked herself in her room. Just like the last runner who stayed. If you don't watch it you'll be forced to send this one away just like the other one. Then where would you be?” Temari wasn't one to disrespect her monarch like her younger brother, Gaara, was; but sometimes she felt that King Itachi needed to know the flat truth.

 Itachi gave Temari a red eyed glare, “I thought I ordered you never to mention that one.” He growled. Temari gave an involuntary shiver and held up her hands in surrender, “I'm just stating the facts. I actually like this one. She's not a spoiled brat like that last girl, she seems to actually care for this place and it's people. Including you. So don't muck it up with those ever twisting speeches of yours.” Temari snapped, poking the Goblin King in the chest. King Itachi didn't show any outward surprise, but inside he was shocked that Temari was able to pick up such things from her new mistress. He hadn't noticed at first, but now that he thought about it, Itachi realized that the fey girl was right. Kanari was a perfect match for this place, and for him. His eyes slowly darkened until they returned to normal. He turned to Temari, “I shall leave her in peace... for now.” The servant bowed, her face surprised. Itachi never backed down from anything, for him to do so would be like Prince Sasuke apologizing.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 I hadn't left my room in days. No matter how many times Temari tried to convince me, I refused to leave the safety of my room and risk getting emotionally attached again. I didn't care if I stayed in this room for the rest of my life, I wasn't going to look or speak to either member of the goblin royalty ever again. I curled up on the window seat, watching the strange fey birds circling in the orange tinted sky, their beautiful and haunting cries hypnotizing me. I laid my head against the crystal window and closed my eyes, letting the melody wash over me, to sooth my heavy heart...

 Sudden knocking shook me from my trance-like state. I glared at the closed double doors, “What?” I snapped, angry to be interrupted. Instead of answering the doors burst open and I couldn't help the scream that escaped from my lips. Some... thing stood hunched over in the doorway. At first I thought it was King Itachi, but it was something else entirely. It's entire body was a shiny black, like that of a beetle's carapace, and skeletal. Red eyes, bright as blood, glowed like embers, filled with murder and malicious thoughts. Long white fangs glistened with something unnameable jutted out from the too small mouth.

 The creature gave a low gurgling growl and scuttled forward. I screamed again and scrambled backwards until my back hit the window. For some reason this creature reminded me of Itachi, and I didn't know why. It opened it's horrible mouth and screamed, it was strange and horrifying to hear my own scream coming from the abomination. The creature took one more step and froze, it's swollen head tilted as if listening for something. Then I heard it, a soft and comforting voice, whispering incoherent things in my ear. A look of dim confusion passed through the creature's sunken, glowing eyes and it shrieked again, only this time out of agony; it's body began to smoke as it folded in on itself like a wet dishrag.

 Slowly I followed the ghostly trail away from the creature, my mind leaving the horrid place to somewhere safe and warm. Where the soft voice belonged to...

 vvv

 "...nari, wake up. You're alright, safe. Kanari... wake up..." The voice that had brought me back kept murmuring, taking on a form that I recognized. Itachi. Itachi's voice had dragged me back from that strange dream world I hadn't even known I entered and back into the Fey world, back to my bed. A small whimper crawled out of me and I moved a little closer to him, clinging just a little tighter to him. I refused to open my eyes and face the possibility that maybe whatever had happened wasn't a dream and that evil thing was real. I felt the Goblin King stiffen in the slightest when I tightened my grip, then he relaxed and continued to sooth me, "It was just a dream, Kanari... it's okay, you're safe now." He whispered. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out excepted a hitching gasp. Itachi wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head, "Shhhh... you don't have to speak. It wasn't real, they're never real."

 "What was it?" I managed to ask after a moment of silence, when my heart calmed back down to a normal pace. Itachi didn't answer for a long time, then he said, "A Nightmare." I pulled away, looking to see if he was teasing me. The king looked dead serious, "What do you mean?" I asked. Itachi sighed and slowly stood up, holding me in his arms. Slowly he lead me to the window and pointed, one arm still around my shoulders, "Nightmares. They're creatures under my rule that bring out a victim's greatest fears." He stated, but I was hardly listening to him as I watched the creatures flying in the air. What I had thought were strange fey birds were really black skeletal horses with bat-like wings soaring though the air, their mane and tail made of shadowy ribbons. I shuddered and turned my face away into Itachi's chest, they reminded me of the horrible creature in my dream. Itachi had said that they take on a person's worst nightmare. So what had mine been? I knew the creature in my dream looked like Itachi, but what did that have anything to do with it?

 Itachi lead me back to bed, "Just lay down. Sleep.” He whispered, pushing me down gently. I clung to his shirt, “What if they come back?” I asked, my eyes wide with panic. Itachi stared at me for a minute, his dark eyes unreadable, then he climbed into bed beside me. I stiffened and blushed, but didn't move away. I knew I shouldn't trust him, he was the reason why I was here alone in this strange world, but I couldn't help feeling protected around him. “I'll stay with you...” He whispered softly in my ear, his arms wrapping around my waist as I started to drifted away into a dreamless sleep. The last thing I felt as I succumbed to sleep was Itachi's warm lips on my forehead, comforting me.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Sakura slammed her locker closed, if one more person shot her a pointed look at her she was going to call for the goblins to take them to the Labyrinth. It wasn't her fault that she looked anorexic, she had no appetite to speak of. Sakura wanted to eat, but everything tasted like ash in her mouth and made her gag. Her parents already threatened to send her to a shrink if she didn't eat. To avoid that humiliation, Sakura learned to eat in front of her parents and hold her food in until they were out of sight. The minute Mebuki and Kizashi were gone Sakura was vomiting in the sink. The pink haired girl was really starting to hate it, not being able to eat was dragging her down; but she didn't seem able to sleep either, which added to her misery. Now it was lunch and Sakura had no clue what to do. She couldn't sit around pretending like everything was perfect then end up puking. And she couldn't skip, that would only fuel the fire that she had become an anorexic.

 Sakura groaned and turned to walk toward the cafeteria, she should have thought ahead on this. Dimly she wondered if this would continue or if it was only a phase that would pass. She hoped desperately for the latter, Sakura knew she would die if she didn't eat and that scared her. To survive the Labyrinth only to die of starvation, how ironic. If it wasn't such a dire situation, Sakura would have laughed. Her friend, Hinata, was waiting for her at the large metal double doors that lead to the cafeteria, fretting as always. Sakura smiled wanly at her friend, “Hey.” She rasped. Hinata's brow pricked with worry, “Sakura, are you okay?” She whispered, her pearl eyes scanning Sakura's super thin body. It had only been four days since Sakura returned from the Labyrinth and already her clothes hung on her. “I'm-” Sakura started, but she fainted before another word could pass though her lips.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Hinata yelped when her friend fainted, sagging under Sakura's sudden weight. “Help!” She called out, but no one heard her. Struggling to shift Sakura so she wasn't in danger of falling down, Hinata called out again, screaming. Still no one came. Hinata felt tears pricking her pearl colored eyes, was she going to have to hold Sakura up until someone came around? And how long would that be? Hinata grunted, for someone who was skin and bones, Sakura was heavy.

 “Need help?” Someone asked behind Hinata, the girl turned to see a boy her age leaning against the wall of the cafeteria. Hinata should have felt relieved that someone had finally come to help, but something about this guy seemed off. It could be that she had never seen him before, and there was no rumor of a new kid. So what was he doing here? On top of that, he looked extremely dangerous. His dark blue hair was spiked in the back and  his black eyes were depthless. He wore all black, from the black jeans to the black leather jacket, the only color he had was a small red and white fan charm hanging from his neck. His choice of clothing should have made him appear sickly with that pale skin, but it made him look even more dangerous.

 Hinata didn't trust him, but he was her best shot in helping Sakura, “Um, yes... can you help me take her to the nurse?” Hinata asked, blowing some of her dark hair out of her face. The boy came forward and easily took Sakura in his arms, as if she weighed nothing. “I'll take her. Go eat lunch.” He said dully. Hinata frowned, it could be that it was her paranoia or the way he spoke, but Hinata got the feeling that if she let him take Sakura, Hinata would never see her friend again, “I'll go with you.” She stated. The boy frowned and Hinata swore she saw a flash of red in his eyes, “It's alright, I can do it myself.”

 Now Hinata knew something was definitely wrong. This boy wouldn't turn down help so determinedly unless he had malicious intent. Still Hinata kept her face carefully polite, “You seem new, what's your name?” The boy didn't seem to like this change in tactic, instead of answering he turned and started to walk away. “Hey!” Hinata called out and reached out to grab his sleeve just as shadow enveloped him. Hinata screamed, but the outside world didn't hear her.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Knocking on my door brought my head up from the book I was reading. Ever since the freaky Nightmare encounter last week I had asked Itachi if I could borrow books over the Labyrinth and its inhabitants. He had readily agreed. So far I had finished four books, one over the basic history of the Labyrinth, another of creatures to avoid in all the Faerie Realms, the last two were over the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Apparently the Labyrinth had once been apart of the Unseelie court, but defected centuries ago under King Fugaku, Itachi and Sasuke's father. The book I was reading now was about the goblin race in general.

 “Yes?” I called and Temari slid the door open her eyes wide, “Kanari... King Itachi wants you in the throne room, now.” She said timidly. I frowned, wondering why I was needed and why Temari seemed so freaked by it. Shaking my head I placed a pressed flower in the spine of the goblin book and shut it gently. When I had asked Itachi for a bookmark he picked one of the flowers in the garden and gave it to me. I thought the gesture was oddly sweet and knew I would treasure the pressed flower for eternity. Standing I followed Temari down the long halls towards the throne room.

 A voice I recognized all to well reached me long before Temari and I reached the throne room, “What is going on?! How did I- What... I-I-I-” I walked into the room and there was Hinata staring around the throne room with bewildered pearl eyes. Itachi was looming in front of his throne, glaring down at Sasuke, his eyes spinning wildly with red. Sasuke, who usually looked indifferent when he pissed his older brother off, seemed very uncomfortable; but that could have been the fact that he was wearing modern human clothes instead of his usual elegant clothing. Hinata seemed freaked out about the Goblin King's strange eyes, like I had been when running the Labyrinth, but I hardly noticed anymore, and that surprised me.

 Sakura's friend spotted me before I could think about my revelation, “KANARI!!!” She shrieked and dashed for me, wrapping her arms around me. I held her close, I didn't really know Sakura's friend, but I knew that she needed someone vaguely familiar at the moment. Smoothing back her rich black hair I shushed her, feeling her whole body shake with sobs. Hinata didn't deserve this. No one did. Not Akanbou, not me, Sakura, or any of the past runners. Still I was stuck here, by my own will in my desire to save my sister. Hinata however...

 I shot a fierce glare over the young girl's head at Sasuke, “Why is she here?” I growled. Sasuke looked indignant, as if he didn't want me to find a backbone, “She grabbed a hold of me when I came back here.” He snapped. I narrowed my eyes, “And why were you in the human world?” I snarled. Itachi answered before his younger brother could, “Kanari...” I glared at him, “Did you have something to do with this?” I snapped. It surprised me how desperately I wanted him to say no. Itachi glared at Sasuke as he told me, “No. My foolish little brother went into the human world without my permission.” Both Sasuke and I opened out mouths to say something, but the Goblin King spoke before we could, “You have gone against my orders, Sasuke, for disobeying I forbid you to see Sakura until I deem fit.” Sasuke looked like he wanted to argue, but knew better.

 I had a bad feeling that Itachi didn't mean going into the human world to visit Sakura. I eyed him, hugging Hinata closer, “Where is Sakura...?” I asked, my eyes darting between the brothers. Hinata was the one who answered, “Sh-She... He- That thing... t-t-to-took h-h-her, a-and-” The poor girl fainted before she could finish. I yelped at her sudden weight and would have fallen over, if Itachi hadn't intervened. He wrapped one arm around Hinata, pulling her off of me, and the other arm around my shoulders, keeping me upright. Instinctively I grabbed his clothing, burying my face in his chest. I knew what Hinata was trying to say, that Sakura was here and my sacrifice was wasted because of a selfish Goblin Prince. Silently I let the tears come.

 vvv

 “She'll be right as rain as soon as we get food in her belly, don't worry!” A blonde girl chirped happily as I stared at my unconscious sister. Only a week had past since I had last saw her and it looked like she had been starving herself for months. Sakura's skin sagged over her bones, having barely any nutrition. I looked up at the blonde girl, “What happened to her?” I asked hoarsely. The blonde girl, I think she said her name was Ino, never lost that smile, “That's what happens when a mortal eats Fey food and returns to the human world. She's lucky that Prince Sasuke grabbed her when he did, another hour and she would have died.” I closed my eyes to ward off a glare and crossed my arms, tucking my chin into my chest. It wasn't fair that what Sasuke did was the right thing to do. It meant I couldn't be mad at him.

 Then a thought occurred to me, if this fey girl knew about the rule, then both Itachi and Sasuke knew, which implied that they knew all along that Sakura would have to come back to the Labyrinth, or die alone. Anger whelmed in me and I found myself standing and walking towards the door. I didn't stop to explain where I was going to Ino when she called after me. I needed to find a certain king and give him a piece of my mind. The prince would do in a pinch though. I really didn't care who I talked to but one of the Goblin Royals was going to hear from me, and soon!

 I mindlessly wandered through the Goblin Palace until I found Itachi standing under my willow tree, watching the surface of the lake ripple from the fish dancing underneath it. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, his onyx eyes serious and knowing, he knew why I had come here, before he turned his gaze away again. “Why didn't you tell me?!” I screamed at him, feeling the hot tears prick the backs of my eyes, but I didn't know why I was crying; was I crying because Sakura was stuck with me, or because Itachi betrayed my trust again? Itachi didn't look at me, he just kept watching the water, “For this exact reason.” He said, using the voice that had haunted me throughout the Labyrinth. “She's my sister! You should have told me! You should have-” Itachi cut me off with a fierce glare, “Should have done what? I am the king of the Goblins, you are a lowly human staying here willingly. You had the chance to go home but you wasted it on your foolish sister.” He growled, his voice icy. The tears were running freely now, pouring down my cheeks in an endless flow. Had it been only last week that this man was holding me against him, repelling those awful Nightmares? Only hours ago that he once again held me as I cried?

 I slapped him. Itachi didn't even flinch or looked surprised. He just stood there, watching me, before turning back to watch the water silently. With a final sob I turned and ran away, I ran away from the man who broke my heart like it was nothing. I wanted to go home, to leave this dreadful place behind, but I couldn't. I couldn't leave Sakura here to suffer like I had. Running blindly down the halls I finally managed to escape to my room. There I pushed past Temari without explanation and flung myself down on the bed, letting the flood gates open and all the tears I had kept pent up ever since I sent Sakura back to the human realm loose.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Hinata stayed curled up in the corner of the recovering room, or wherever she was. Sakura laid placidly on a nearby bed, bright little floating lights bobbing around her, their glows flickering periodically. Hinata had no clue what had happened. One minute she was arguing with the dark boy whether she should accompany him to the nurse's office, the next she was stuck in this twisted place.

 Things had started looking up when Hinata saw Kanari walk in wearing a beautiful floor length silk green dress, like the ladies in the medieval times. That was until she started arguing with the two dark looking men, Hinata realized then that Kanari wasn't the same. As she got a closer look at the older girl, Hinata saw small things had changed. Kanari was always beautiful, she never had a problem with self-consciousness, but when Hinata saw her, Kanari looked even more beautiful. Her skin seemed to glow and her green eyes were larger and brighter, framed with even thicker eyelashes. Kanari's hair seemed more white then blonde, like the color had bled from her hair, but it worked for her. It made Kanari seem dangerous and regal, almost...fey.

 Hinata shivered and hugged her knees even tighter around her, the Kanari she knew had definitely changed. Hinata wasn't sure if this new Kanari was the same as the one she knew as Sakura's stepsister.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Soft knocking brought me out of my pity party, “Go away.” I moaned out, my voice scratching from wailing. The door opened anyway, “Um... Lady Kanari...? King Itachi said for me to tell you that you were to figure out what we should do with the human girl...” Someone I didn't recognize stuttered. I twisted to see a girl with mousy brown hair peeking around my door timidly, her eyes wide with something akin to fear. It surprised and scared me how satisfied I felt to see the poor girl frightened of me, though I did not know why. I sat up, rubbing the back of my hand across my eyes, “What are you talking about?” I asked, a little sharper than necessary. The girl fidgeted then said, “The girl... that Prince Sasuke brought back... the one who wasn't here before.”

 My frown deepened, “Hinata? What do you want me to do with her?” “I-I don't know m-my lady, King I-It-Itachi said that you were to decide her f-f-ate. A-And and if you had a-any q-q-q-q-questions y-you were supposed to a-a-ask him.” The poor girl bobbed a quick curtsey and was gone before I could question her farther. I crossed my arms, I was not going near Itachi until I knew I could do so without bursting into tears. What he had said at the lake... my chin trembled just thinking of it. I shoved away my feelings, it Itachi wanted me to find a place for Hinata, I would do so without his help. “Temari!” I called and my maid/friend called in, her dark teal eyes watching cautiously. “Do you need something?”

 I stood and began to pace, wanting something to occupy myself while I spoke, “King Itachi wants me to settle in Hinata, what do you think I should do?” Temari blinked at me, her eyes wide, “No one has ever asked me my opinion...” She whispered. I spun on her, my eyes wide, surprised by the fact. Temari was so wise, it was shocking to hear no one ever asked her opinion. Shaking my head I returned to the matter at hand, “But what should I do?” I insisted. Temari blinked, coming out of her own daze, and turned to me, “Can this girl be returned to the human world?” Temari asked me, I shook my head, Hinata had fainted and that qualified as sleeping in the fey realms; when I told Temari she hummed, “That complicates things. I assume that King Itachi already took her family's memories of her then, so they won't go looking for her. The best thing to do now is to just give her a room and... Lady Kanari?” She broke off when I sat down hard on my bed, suddenly unable to stand.

 I had stopped listening when Temari mentioned taking memories. Tears sprang anew to my eyes, burning them. I blinked to clear them away, but they weren't leaving. Slowly I sank into the bed, “Itachi... takes people's memories?” I asked though the lump in my throat. Temari opened her mouth to say something, then stopped, unsure what to do. She stood there while I buried my face in my hands and cried once again. If what she said was true, then would Sakura even remember me? Did Itachi take her memories of me so I would suffer when Sakura was forced to come back? And what about my parents? How could Itachi cut me out of my mother's life? I was her pride and joy, how could she possibly forget me?

 A gentle hand touched my shoulder and I slapped at it, I just wanted to be left alone; I had suffered enough in this hellish place. The hand grabbed my wrist, stopping my attempts to shove the person away from me. That caught my attention, if it had been Temari, she would have left me alone. And the only person I had really kept company with was...

 Itachi's dark eyes stared back into my own green ones. Slowly he reached over with his free hand and brushed a stray lock from my face, “Your maid says I have been exceedingly cruel to you.” He said softly. I glanced over Itachi's shoulder in time to see Temari slipping from my rooms, the door clicking softly behind her. I didn't even hear her leave the first time to go fetch the King. I looked back into Itachi's depthless eyes, “D-Do you take memories?” I asked. His fingers brushed up my jawline, pushing my white blonde hair away from my face, “Only when it is necessary.” He said softly.

 I was too exhausted to be angry, “When it's necessary? When is taking someone's memory necessary?!” I asked, but there was no fight in my voice. I was tired of fighting. Itachi tilted his head, his low ponytail curling around his shoulder, “Would you rather have your parents worrying sick and grieving about your whereabouts? Or have them blissfully ignorant that you were ever alive?” I knew the answer, but didn't say it. It would be better that my parents never knew I existed, it would save them the pain of losing their daughter. Instead of telling Itachi what he obviously already knew I asked, “Did you... take Sakura's memories?” How desperately I wanted him to say no, I would do anything for Itachi to give me what I wanted. Itachi smiled gently and leaned over to kiss my forehead, “I may be powerful, Kanari, but I am still unable to control the minds of my subjects; you're sister still retains her memories of you, do not worry.”

 I looked down at my hand in my lap, “I'm tired of being left out, Itachi... You say I'm not a prisoner here, but I feel like it. I have to figure a lot of thing out by myself, but... I'd rather learn it from you.” Shyly I glanced up at Itachi, his dark eyes unusually kind, he held a hand out to me, “Walk with me and I'll tell you my reasons.” He said. I blinked, for the brief time I had known him, Itachi wasn't one to be very open about anything. I eagerly accepted his hand, wondering what he could possibly have to say.

 vvv

 Itachi took me to the gardens, not that I was surprised, Itachi knew how much I loved the gardens. As we strolled along the path through the small emerald green hills, I sighed. After all the ups and downs I had rode through the past few days, the garden was a nice change of pace. Itachi was silent for a while before saying, “You're not the first runner who stayed here.” That surprised me, to say the least. “Then... why haven't I heard of her?” I asked. Itachi glanced at me, “Because I refuse to let my subjects talk about her. She was... a problem... for everyone.” I opened my mouth to say something, but Itachi held up a hand, “Please, let me finish.” He said politely and my jaw snapped shut. Itachi eyed me for a moment, as if testing if I would speak or not, and continued, “When she was running, Yakkaina seemed to be on top of things, nothing could faze her. I had never met anyone like her before. Needless to say, Yakkaina defeated the Labyrinth and got her baby sister back. I then gave her the choice of staying here. Surprisingly Yakkaina took me up on my offer, and I gave her the room you have now.

 “At first I didn't notice any changes. Around me Yakkaina acted like she always did, a little clingy, but I knew I could get used to it. I trusted Yakkaina, and thus I kept no secret from her, much to my later regret. A week after she chose to stay, I began getting complaints from the cooks, Temari, and a few goblins. When I asked Yakkaina about it, she played innocent, saying she had no idea why my subjects were lying to me. I foolishly believed her and punished those who were complaining. It wasn't too long before I started getting even more complaints, but I dismissed them all. Finally my younger brother began informing me of some of Yakkaina's activities, she had been abusing the power I gave her for cruel purposes. I knew I couldn't ignore it anymore; I threw her out of the Labyrinth with the threat of death if she ever came back and made to silence my subjects in case any future runner, such as yourself, decided to stay.” Itachi finished. I stared straight ahead, trying to process what Itachi had just told me. Finally I gave a small laugh, “And here I thought I had it bad.” I said in a desperate attempt to make things light.

 Itachi faced me, his expression still serious but there was a spark of need deep within his dark eyes now, “Kanari... I haven't been fair to you. I gave you everything you needed, but not the one thing you wanted.” He said softly, pushing a stray hair away from my face. I blushed and looked down, dimly wondering where the evil Goblin King from the Labyrinth had gone, not that I missed him, “And.. what is the thing I... w-want?” I asked huskily, meeting his bold gaze. The king leaned down a little so that our lips were inches apart, “My trust.” He whispered back, but he came no closer to my mouth. I was surprised how much I wanted him to kiss me, how much I needed him to. Itachi leaned in even closer, but still not kissing me, “But, I also want your trust in return.” He said so softly I almost didn't hear him.

 I knew what he was asking, and I was willing to give it. I came the rest of the way and tenderly pushed my lips to his, my breath coming in fast and short. I could feel Itachi smile against my lips before he began kissing me back. Over and over again, he rained down small quick kisses upon my starved lips. I whimpered, going weak at the knees. I would have fallen if Itachi hadn't wrapped his strong arms around my waist, pulling me ever closer. Painfully close, smashing my body to his, but I did not feel the pain for my nerves were singing with a deep pleasure. My lips parted on their own accord and his tongue swept in, filling my mouth with his intoxicating taste, pushing against my own wet muscle demanding for a reaction. My tongue quivered in response and began stroking Itachi's tongue slowly, enticing a moan from the king of Goblins. This wasn't the seductive kiss Itachi gave me in the Oubliette, or the gentle kiss on the forehead on the day I had a run in with the Nightmares. It was both and more, in ways I couldn't try to explain.

 Itachi pulled away, satisfied by my reaction if the smirk that graced his wonderful lips was anything to go by. I blinked up at him, “If you had kissed my like that in the beginning I would have stayed with you.” I managed to say after a while. Itachi's smirk softened into a tender smile, “But then I would not have learned your strength, I would have thought you weak to be won over by a kiss.” He said softly. I groaned a little and buried my face in his chest, rubbing my nose against the smooth fabric of his ebony shirt and inhaling his masculine scent, “Anyone could be won over by that kiss, even the most stone hearted crone.” I grumbled. I felt more than heard Itachi's chuckle, “Indeed, but I am still glad the way things have played out the way they did. Come, I am sure your sister is awake by now.” Itachi said as he began leading me back towards the castle. I should have felt pain and sorrow at the reminder that my sister had returned here, but I was too happy to care.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Sakura flung another colored orb at the wide eyed fey girl, “Get the hell away from me, you freak!!” The pink haired girl shrieked as the colored orb shattered against the wall behind the fey girl, purple light dispersed from the glass and disappeared into thin air. Sakura reached out to grab another orb, but there was none in reach, so Sakura reached for the next best thing, a glass of water sitting on the table along side her bed, “LEAVE ME ALONE!” Sakura cocked her arm back, ready to throw, when none other than Prince Sasuke stormed in, “What is going on in here?” He snapped, dark eyes flaring red as he looked from the fey girl to Sakura then to the five shattered orbs littering the ground. Sakura aimed at him instead, but the Goblin Prince dodged more easily than the fey girl. He bared his teeth like a wild animal and began stalking towards her, his intent of harm showing clearly in his eyes.

 The fey girl bravely leapt in front of her prince, “Highness, p-please... she needs rest a-and-” When Sasuke's eyes swung towards her, the fey girl paled and she cut off what she was going to say, but she still didn't move from Sasuke's path. The prince raised his arm, as if to back hand the poor girl, but Sakura screamed. Not because of the drama unfolding in front of her, but because of the two figures standing in the door way. She scrambled from the bed, the sheets tangling around her legs, and pounced on her sister, causing Kanari to fall back against the Goblin King, who caught both of them while glaring at his younger brother. Sakura clung to her older sister, “Kanari! I'm so glad you're okay, I was so worried that they were being awful to you! It's horrible, Kanari, your mom doesn't know who you are and I couldn't eat or sleep and- and...” She broke of with a sob and buried her face into Kanari's neck. Sakura hated crying, but this time she couldn't help it.

 Kanari laughed and wrapped her own arms around Sakura, “It's okay, Sakura. Everything will be explained in time, you just need to get some rest.” Kanari soothed, petting her sister's pink hair as she sobbed. The king spoke behind them, “Actually, it would be more wise if she ate something.” Sakura turned runny eyes towards the king of Goblins, “I'm not eating anything here! You can't pull that one over me again!” She snapped, glaring at King Itachi. The fey shrugged, “Then you will starve for eternity. Sasuke, I wish to speak with you... alone.” Prince Sasuke shivered a little and reluctantly slouched forward, he opened his mouth as if to defend himself, but Itachi snapped his fingers and his younger brother's jaw snapped shut by itself. King Itachi then grabbed Sasuke by the collar and proceeded to drag the prince away.

 vvv POV change vvv

 When the Goblin royals were gone Sakura straightened and grabbed my hand, “Come on, we can escape while they're occupied. All we have to do is find Gaara and he'll lead us away!” Sakura said and started to walk in the opposite direction that the direction Itachi had taken Prince Sasuke. I stayed where I was, drawing my sister up short. Sakura shot me a funny look, “Kanari? Let's go, before those two come back!” She said, sounding a little confused at my reluctance. I shook my head, “I'm not leaving, Sakura. I like it here.” Sakura shot me a disbelieving look, “Kanari, did they brainwash you or something? This is the Labyrinth! Of course you want to leave.” She said, sounding so certain, it killed me to tell her otherwise, “Sakura, you haven't seen what I seen, or did what I do. Trust me, the Labyrinth was the worst part of everything, in the castle it's so much better. Itachi is so nice, everyone is! You'll like it here if you give it a chance.” I said eagerly. It wasn't until the words left my lips that I realized how much it was true. Itachi's kingdom had it's faults, but it was still a paradise. In the back of my mind I wondered when exactly I had fallen in love with the place.

 Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off, “Hinata is here too. She grabbed Sasuke when he brought you here and ended up being dragged along.” Sakura snorted, “Then we find her and take her with us.” She said decisively, as if it were that simple. I exhaled exasperatedly, “And go where? The minute any of us return to the Mortal World, we'll die.” That didn't seem to bother Sakura, she just shrugged, “Then we'll hide out somewhere near the Labyrinth gates and warn future runners of their fate. Or maybe we can find a nice place where people treat us better.” I rolled my eyes, Sakura didn't understand how dangerous the world outside the Labyrinth was. But then, neither did I. I frowned as doubts began to wash over me, I only knew what Itachi told me. He made it seem as if the Labyrinth was the safest haven in the Faerie Realms. “I want your trust in return,” That was what he said; my trust for his. Could Itachi be lying about that? It wouldn't be the first time he lied to me, I had thought that staying in Sakura's place would save my sister, but it only trapped both of us.

 Sakura tugged on my arm again, and this time I didn't balk, “It's about time you understand what I'm getting at. This place is full of lies and danger” My stepsister muttered under her breath as she dragged me though the halls. I followed her blindly, like a small child clinging to her mother's hand. Sakura, not knowing the Goblin Halls as well as I, managed to get lost in no time. Frustrated she kicked a wall and turned to me, “Kanari, you know how to get out of here, and how to find Hinata.” It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway. Still in my hazy despair I lead Sakura to where the Goblin King had put Hinata until I could find a better place for her, it looked nothing more than a broom closet. Hinata was awake by the time we reached her, and sobbing uncontrollably. I stood there dumbly as she clung to Sakura, tears rushing from her eyes like waterfalls. Was this how I should have acted when a chance of escape was presented to me? Then why did I feel so guilty and torn? Was Sakura right and King Itachi did brainwash me into believing that he could care for me? Was it all a lie from the start?

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Itachi stared deeply into the crystal in his hand, his eyes shining red with anger as he watched the three mortal girls leave with that red haired gatekeeper. Sasuke leaned over his brother's shoulder, “That's why you dragged me away? To test that girl of yours? Seems she failed, pity. I kind of like her.” The Prince mused, deliberately mocking his older sibling. Itachi shot a withering glare at Sasuke, who looked away quickly. It wasn't often Itachi showed his anger, and when he did there was reason to fear. Not even Itachi's younger brother would be safe from his wrath. Sasuke glanced back at his brother lounging casually on the menacing goblin throne. Itachi didn't seem to have any intention of going after the girls.

 Sasuke couldn't help but ease his curiosity, “You're not going after them?” Itachi shot his brother another dark look and looked intently back into the crystal ball, “Why chase after something that is sure to come back?” He asked, his voice void of all emotion. Sasuke gave a small shake of his head and left. The Prince couldn't believe that was was actually starting to miss the other Itachi, the one who seemed so... happy around Kanari. Sasuke couldn't believe he was actually wishing for the girl to return and bring back the peace that had dominated the Labyrinth while she was here.

 Dimly he wondered how Sakura would fare now that she was back to full health. She always did seem stronger than her sister, the Prince had to admit reluctantly that he did admire the pink haired girl for that. But then he couldn't deny that Kanari was far more logical than her younger sister. Sakura's lack of logic would be her downfall. Sasuke grinned, the day Sakura blundered would be the day that Sasuke swooped in and picked up his prize.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 I shivered and rubbed my arms, stupid freak snowstorm in the middle of stupid no where. We all sat huddled under a snow drift, crowded together to try and preserve warmth. The snowstorm had come without any kind of warning, giving us no chance to find wood to build a fire. Gaara, knowing how to survive out in the harsh Faerie climates, was smart enough to find a leeward depression in a large rock, big enough to provide shelter out of the howling winds. Shakily I brought my hands up to my mouth to blow warm air on them. It wasn't even a minute that we had stepped out of the Labyrinth gate, with the help of Gaara, that I already regretted my decision. But Sakura and Hinata needed me, no matter how much I wanted to be with Itachi. Besides it was too late to go back now. Gaara had taken the extra step to warm me that Itachi would likely kill me the minute I showed my face to him.

 Gaara was the only one who knew of my reluctance of leaving, but then he had seen how Itachi had treated me, so he could understand why I felt a false attachment to the Goblin King. Just before the snowstorm crept up on us the red head had taken me aside and warned me not to say Itachi's name out loud. When I asked him why, his answer surprised me: because I had bonded with the Goblin King and was well in danger of becoming Itachi's mate. Should I even speak his name, Itachi would know exactly where I was. But as the cold settled deep into my bones, I stared to entertain the idea of calling for Itachi's help and forgoing the risk of being killed.

 Sakura moaned in the cold, pressed up against Hinata, “Where did this fucking blizzard crop up from?” She asked, her teeth chattering loudly. I glared at her, “Watch your language.” I growled instinctively, Sakura's father didn't mind what she said before he married my mother and as a result her loose tongue was a problem- a problem that my mother and I tried to fix. Sakura glared at me, ever since we had left the Labyrinth, Sakura had kept me at a distance, “Or what? Will you go tell your mom? She can't remember you ever existed!” Gaara and Hinata shifted uncomfortable, probably wishing they were anywhere but here at the moment, and not just because of the storm. At least that jab told me Itachi hadn't been lying about one thing- he really did erase me from my mom's memories.

 “I would rather her not remember me then be suffering with grief and wondering where I am.” I said calmly despite my anger that was boiling under my skin. Sakura scoffed loudly over the wailing wind, “Is that you speaking, or that Goblin King of yours?” She snapped. I narrowed my eyes at her, dimly wondering why I wasn't exploding with anger yet. I hadn't been one to keep my temper in check, not even around a powerful being like Itachi. Was the cold dousing my rage? Or was it something else? I lifted my chin, “Does it matter? What I say is true.” I asked. Sakura threw up her hands, “Ugh! You're just like them! Speaking in riddles and responding to questions with vague answers. You even look like a stupid fey, all white haired and otherworldly beautiful!” Under any other circumstances I would have taken her comment as a compliment.

 Gaara tried to step in then, “Now Sakura, Kanari can't help that she changed, that's what happens when a mortal becomes a subject to King Ita-” Sakura cut him off with a wave of her arms in my direction, “And that's another thing! Since when did you become that bastard's subject?! I thought no one owned you, Kanari!” My younger step sister finished with a scream that caused some snow resting precariously atop the ledge of the rock to fall. I raised an eyebrow, “Are you finished yet? Or are you determined to bury us in the snow?” I asked calmly. Given my insecure feelings about leaving Itachi, I was surprised I was so calm. How could I be, with the raging whirlwind of confusing emotions swirling in me?

 Sakura was breathing heavily, but she made no move to speak again. I spoke, “Good, now listen to me. I became his subject when I gave up my freedom in bargain for yours, however wasteful it was. The King was kind to me, so forgive me if I ever had doubts about leaving the immediate second you come waltzing back into my life, rocking the world I was just beginning to settle in. Also, he does not own me, I am still myself, even if I have physically changed. So don't think for a second I will kick you into next week if you ever take that condescending tone with me!” I ended with a shout. Hinata leaned away from Sakura and I, her face white as the snow around us. Gaara snorted a laugh and shook his head ruefully, “Boy you would make a great Goblin Queen.” He muttered to himself. I frowned at the red head, “What was that?” Though I knew what he meant, I still wanted to hear him.

 Gaara sneered at me and Sakura, “Still haven't figured it out yet? Why King Itachi even bothers to bring young pretty girls to run his Labyrinth? It's not for pure entertainment purposes, though that is a big part.” Sakura frowned at her friend, “Why does he bring runners in then?” She asked, by the tone of her voice it seemed that she didn't want to know. I snorted at her naivety, “For wives, idiot. That's why they gave you the peach, to insure that at least one of us stayed here.” Gaara smirked, amused, “And that's why you would make a great Queen, you seem to be on top of all this.” He said. I glared at him, “I'll have you know I do not intend to become a queen anytime in the near future.” I snapped. Gaara was enjoying this too much, “But what you plan and what King Itachi plans is two very different things.” “Then King Itachi can-” My hand slapped over my mouth before I could finish.

 I had said Itachi's name out loud.

 Almost as if someone had turned a switch, the blizzard stopped. The only evidence that it was even there was the snow that still covered the ground in a thick blanket. A sudden dark menacing presence radiated from behind me. I didn't have to turn to know who it was, but I did anyway. Slowly I turned my head to look over my shoulder at the man who had occupied most of my thoughts from the moment I left the castle and shivered. If I thought Itachi had been frightening before, it was nothing compared to the sinister fey before me. If looks could kill, I would already be nothing but decomposing bones six feet under the ground.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Sasuke enjoyed the frightened looks of the two girls he currently held in chains, both waiting for their judgment from Itachi. Gaara lounged beside the Prince, having once again managed to sweet talk his way out of any punishment. Sasuke had to begrudgingly admire the red headed gatekeeper for his quick tongue, though Sasuke wondered if the gate keeper had been let off easily because Itachi wanted to rip into Kanari. Sasuke glanced at the two talking just out of ear shot. Kanari was on her knees, begging, tears visible against her cheeks, while Itachi stood there immobile, deaf to her pleas. Sasuke hadn't a clue how Kanari was going to survive this, the prince could already tell that Itachi was planning her murder.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 I had run out of things to say, now I just knelt there in the freezing snow, my tears dripping down my face, as I looked up at Itachi's blood red eyes. When it was clear I wasn't going to beg again, Itachi finally spoke. His voice colder than the snow around me, “Give me one good reason why I should trust you.” I swallowed and looked away. I couldn't think of any reason at all why the Goblin King should trust me after I betrayed him like I did. I timidly looked up at Itachi out of the corner of my eye, “I-I can't, but I will work hard to regain your trust in me.” There was no way to tell what Itachi was thinking, he still looked as expressionless as he did in the Labyrinth, if not more.

 Roughly the Goblin King grabbed my arm and dragged me to a stand. Leaning down he whispered harshly in my ear, “Do not think I will hesitate to cut you down if I even hear a rumor that you plan to betray me again, understand?” I cringed when his hand tightened on my upper arm, and nodded hurriedly. Itachi pulled back to look down at me, the menacing glare he had been giving me ever since he arrived took a malicious turn and he smirked, “I think I'm going to enjoy this.” He growled and I shivered. If ever I was afraid for my life, it was now.

 vvv

 “Where are we exactly?” I asked as Itachi lead, more like dragged, me into a room I had never been in before. I looked around, it was an elegant bedroom, but sparsely furnished. Nothing but a large bed, desk, and a chair adorned the room. Still, despite the lack of furniture, the room remained very elegant and... kingly. My eyes widened and I spun around to face Itachi. He stood in front of the closed doors of his bedroom, arms crossed over his chest, as if daring me to try and escape. The only scrap of emotion was the small sadistic smirk gracing his face, “Like it?” He asked smoothly. I shivered and back away. I would take even the indifferent King Itachi from the Labyrinth over this dark fey standing before me. “Why did you bring me here?” I asked, my voice raising to a squeak.

 Itachi took a step towards me and I took a step back, feeling like cornered prey. It didn't help that Itachi's red eyes held a predatory gleam deep within them. He took another step towards me and I took another away, maintaining the same distance between us. All too soon the backs of my knees met the edge of Itachi's bed. That was when Itachi lunged and tackled me to the bed, rendering me helpless beneath him. “Itachi... please don't.” I begged. He actually growled, “Refer to me as lord, majesty, or King Itachi; do not speak in such a familiar tone, girl.” His voice was so cutting, I wouldn't be surprised if his words scratched me. I blinked back tears, “P-please don't do this, Your Majesty. I'm begging you.”

 The Goblin King tilted his head, “Do what? So far I only have you pinned to my bed.” He said mockingly. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep in the tears that were threatening to spill over. “P-p-p-pl-please...” I whimpered, barely able to form words. The Goblin King scoffed and his weight disappeared from atop of me. Cautiously I cracked open an eye then opened both when I saw Itachi sitting at the edge of the bed, glaring at me. It could have been my imagination, but he looked almost... hurt? “Do you have no faith in me?” He snapped. I could feel my anger starting to finally make a comeback. I sat up, matching his glare with one of my own, “It's kind of hard to when you drag me to your bedroom, then proceed to lay on top of me. So forgive me, my king, if my faith in you is somewhat lacking!”

 “Oh you're one to talk. Who promises to trust me, then goes off on some foolish adventure with her deranged little sister?” Itachi snarled at me. “And I instantly regretted it. Do not think I left happily, Itachi.” I snapped back. Itachi's gaze turned deadly and I shivered, my anger fleeing back into the dark hole where it had been hiding since the blizzard. “Call me by my name again and you'll see how lenient I have been with you so far.” Itachi said, his tone colder than that of the blizzard's biting winds. I didn't say anything, having known I was pushing it. Itachi eyed me for a minute, probably thinking I was going to snap at him again, then scoffed, “Go to sleep.” He growled. My head whipped around to stare at him, “Here?” I squeaked. Itachi glared at me, “Until I trust you again, you can either stay by my side at all times, or join your sister in the dungeon.” Sakura forgive me, but I would much rather stay out of a Goblin prison, even if it meant staying glued to the fey who probably dreamed of murdering me now.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Sakura glared at Sasuke though the bars of her cell, “What does a prissy Goblin Prince need down here?” She growled at him. Sasuke smirked, letting the insult slide just this once, “I thought I'd tell you that Kanari is fine. I know you must be concerned for her.” Sakura stiffened, “What have you done to Kanari?” She asked, fearing the worse. After all, Kanari had the most to suffer of all of them. Sasuke snorted, “I haven't done anything to her, and neither has my brother, besides yell at her a little. Right now you sister is sleeping, not that I can say peacefully, but she is warm in a proper bed. Which is more than you have right now.” Sakura glared at the cocky prince, “Well isn't that just peachy? Now why don't you just skedaddle on out of here, now that you've played with my mind?”

 Sasuke knelt so he was face to face with Sakura, “I can't do that. You see, Itachi has given me strict orders not to let you out of my sight, in case you try anything funny.” Sakura barked a short laugh, “Where on earth am I going to go in this cell?” The pink haired girl asked. Sasuke smirked, “No where, but I have Itachi's orders, and no one disobeys the Goblin King.” Sakura wanted to hit that cocky little smile off the infernal prince's face, “Tell me, does Hinata get the royal treatment? Or is she lucky?” Sakura hissed. Sasuke smiled a true smile, which surprised Sakura, “Oh, Itachi deemed that she was just blindly following your idiotic idea. So she's staying in one of the guest rooms. In fact, Itachi firmly believes that all three of them, Kanari, Gaara, and Hinata, were tricked into following you out, that's why you're here and they're not.” Sakura glared hotly at the infernal prince, “Do you ever shut up? What happened to that brooding prince in the Labyrinth?”

 The Prince continued to smile, “You think I'm brooding, I'm flattered. Maybe things aren't so ruined between us as I feared.” He said in a mockingly cheerful voice. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, “Come near me and I'll castrate you...” She threatened and suddenly she was flush against the bars, her front digging painfully into the faerie metal bars, her feet dangling in the air. He moved so quickly that Sakura didn't even see him move. The pink haired girl swallowed at the look of raw anger flashing deep within Sasuke's ruby red eyes, “Should you even speak of such an act again, and I'll kill you in the slowest most painful way possible. Do you understand me, wench?” The fey prince growled, his face feral, all mocking playfulness a forgotten memory. Sakura nodded quickly, too scared to say anything.

 Without ceremony, Sasuke dropped her again and Sakura crumbled to the ground. The Prince was towering over her menacingly, he stayed there for a minute, making sure that the girl was good and scared, before he spun and left. Sakura leaned up against the brick wall of her cell, panting. Suddenly she understood why Kanari had been so fidgety during the blizzard, those Goblin Royals were dangerous. To even irritate one was to flirt with death.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Hinata sat in her bed, knees curled up against her chest. There was no way she was going to go to sleep, not in this place. She had thought they had been safe, but then Kanari had said the king's name and suddenly they were all back where they started... well almost. Sakura didn't start out in the dungeon. And Hinata had not a clue where Kanari disappeared off to. The Goblin King had snatched her away the minute he and the Goblin Prince dragged the four of them back. Gaara had disappeared too, but he seemed to be in on the whole trick anyway. Hinata wanted to go home, this place was like a strange endless nightmare. A nightmare of dark scary men with red eyes and blizzards that jumped out of no where and left just as quickly. Where the most hot tempered girl Hinata knew begging on her knees and tears in her eyes. Hinata shivered a little at that, she could handle strange things to a point, but when the familiar became one of those strange things was beyond what she could handle.

 The door opened and Hinata let out a reflexive scream and threw the closest thing to her, which happened to be a feather pillow. The person at the door let out a startled yelp and dodged the pillow with ease, “Sorry! I thought this room was empty.” Someone male said. That voice didn't belong to the king or prince or to Gaara, it was something new entirely. Hinata drew the covers up so that only her eyes and above were peaking out, “Who is that?” A bright green light came into being, illuminating a very cute boy's friendly face, “I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Sorry I bothered you, no one bothered to tell me- hey are you alright?” Naruto broke off in a panic when the girl slumped forward, her eyes fluttering closed.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 When Itachi opened the door to his room, he stopped. Kanari laid curled up on his bed exactly like he had left her, but that wasn't what pulled the Goblin King to a halt. The Nightmare that had Kanari under its influence flinched when it saw the king and made to fly away, but Itachi didn't move. He watched Kanari with cold eyes as she suffered in her dark dreams, giving no indication that he was going to save her this time. Itachi glanced at the cowering Nightmare, “What do you show her?” He asked, knowing that even if the Nightmare could speak, it would not offer up it's dark secrets.

 Instead Kanari answered Itachi's question by moaning, “Itachi... no, don't.” He glared at the girl, even in her sleep she thought less of him. Was she fearing that he would attack her, or ravish her? The Goblin King was tempted to bring light to her nightmares, but his honor restrained him; even if she did not deserve his mercy. The king scoffed to himself, who was he fooling? Itachi still found the girl intriguing, to say the least. Itachi stood over Kanari as she whimpered in her nightmare, twitching from wraiths only she could see. The King of Goblins found a sick joy in watching the girl who had betrayed him suffer from her self-induced dreams, though he wished it was not true. Kanari reached out to him then, her fingers searching across his wide bed for an anchor in her nightmare, “No... don't go. Please... Itachi.” She said softly and Itachi stiffened. She wasn't dreaming of him coming toward her with a malicious intent, but leaving her.

 Gently he laid his hand on hers and she sighed, the tension leaving her body as she finally found peace in her slumber. Itachi frowned, if she left him to go with her sister, then why did Kanari dream of the horror of him leaving her?

 vvv POV Change vvv

 It had been several weeks since King Itachi had brought us back from the fail escape attempt. Though he had been more patient towards me, the Goblin King was still not the same fey I knew from the gardens. The one who held me when I was suffering from the power of Nightmares, or brought me flowers to use as bookmarks. I sorely missed that version of Itachi. As I knelt beside King Itachi's throne, I wondered how many more personas the fey man had. He had already shown me three: The terrifying King who wouldn't hesitate to kill those closest to him, the master of the Labyrinth who enjoyed playing with the minds of his subjects, and the man beneath it all who gave small rare smiles and spoke of trust.

 “Bring the prisoner forward.” Itachi commanded and I couldn't stop fro cringing, to hear my sister referred in such a derogatory term hurt. Two tall (for goblins) guards came forward with my sister in chains. I cringed at the sight of her dirty form, but at least Itachi hadn't been cruel enough to starve her. My sister still had her fiery spirit, I could see it sparking in her sea green eyes as she glared at everyone in the room. The goblins holding Sakura forced her to her knees in the center of the throne room. Itachi leaned back in his throne, casually placing a hand upon my head. I couldn't believe how happy I was to feel his touch. I should be angry at the king, for treating me like I was some pet curled up at his side begging for attention, not wishing that he would hold me.

 Sakura seemed to be indignant enough for the both of us, “Hey, stop treating my sister like she's a beast craving your attention!” King Itachi tilted his head, “Are you ordering me?” He asked causally. Sakura glared hotly at the king, “Yes, you bastard! Let. My. Sister. GO!!” She shrieked. Prince Sasuke made a move to shut Sakura up, but Itachi help up a hand, “Let her speak.” He said calmly for someone who was just insulted, his fingers slowly combing though my hair. I pressed my lips together to suppress the moan begging to be released. Sakura didn't waste her chance, “You drag us both here, then proceed to torture us with your little mind games. Then you f***ing trick Kanari into thinking she could set me free, but dragged my ass back here and Hinata's along with it. After THAT, don't you think Kanari at least deserves some dignity to be left alone?!”

 Itachi just continued to stroke my hair, watching my sister rant with a dispassionate expression. When she finished he asked, “What would you do if someone whom you trusted deserted you for an enemy?” Sakura blinked, having no clue what he was getting at, but I did. He was talking about me. “What do you mean?” My sister asked cautiously. Itachi's expression didn't change, “How would you feel if that same person who broke your trust came back, begging to be let in your good graces again?” He asked, as if he didn't hear Sakura speak. Sakura blinked her sea-green eyes, then glared, “I'd tell that person to get lost, if they broke my trust then they don't deserve to live.” Itachi smirked, “So are you saying your sister should be put to death?” He questioned coolly. Sakura's eyes widened and flicked towards mine before going back to the Goblin King, “You wouldn't dare.” She growled at him.

 My king's eyes flashed red briefly, but his smirk stayed in place, “So far I have not. I am being merciful to Kanari even though, by your own mouth, she should be killed for betraying me.” He said. Sakura surged towards the king, but Sasuke grabbed her by the collar and forced her back to her knees, “That's not what I meant!” Sakura shouted. Itachi raised his eyebrows, “Oh? Then what did you mean?” Sakura snarled, “Kanari had every right to betray you, you had been tricking her and lying to her from the start! I meant if someone broke my trust with no grounds to break it, but Kanari had every grounds to break your trust. You don't deserve to even look at Kanari, she's too good for the likes of you. Do you hear me, shit-for-brains?! YOU CAN NEVER OWN KANARI!!” Sakura shrieked. Itachi remained impassive as he nodded to his brother. Sasuke smiled cruelly and withdrew a slim katana from seemingly no where. Slowly the Goblin Prince raised the sword above his head, ready to strike down my unsuspecting sister.

 I couldn't move. I sat there staring at Sakura as she continued to yell at Itachi, unaware of the danger behind her. As the blade began it's decent towards my sister, I turned to Itachi. He was watching me with dark eyes, as if expecting me to do something. “Please...” The single word left my lips and I reached out for him, Itachi didn't move. He continued to watch me. My fingers gently grazed his arm, latching on to his dark shirt, “If you must kill someone, my lord, take my life...” I whispered, my eyes silently pleading. Itachi's right index finger lifted barely a centimeter, but it was enough to stop Sasuke from killing my sister. The king leaned down and hissed at me, “You would throw your life away, after begging me for it just weeks earlier?” I looked down, my fingers still curled in the soft fabric of his shirt, “To save someone else... yes.”

 King Itachi leaned back, “Your sister is right, you are too good for me. Which is why...” Before I could even wonder what he was going to do, Itachi had a silver dagger at my throat, it's sharp point pricking at the tender skin, but I didn't flinch. Sakura screeched and surged against Sasuke, but the prince held her still. I just knelt by Itachi's throne, watching him with a surprising calmness. Itachi's eyes flared red and the world suddenly fell away.

 vvv

 I blinked and looked around at the blood red sky and barren black landscape. This was not the throne room I had been kneeling in a few moments ago. Was I dead? Or had I fainted and Itachi had dumped me here... where ever here was. “You are surprisingly calm for someone who is about to be killed.” A voice I knew too well said behind me. I turned slowly to look upon Itachi himself. The Goblin King stood before me, a black katana in each hand. I bowed my head, “Why should I be scared when I willingly give my life away?” I asked, more to myself than Itachi. The king scoffed a little, “You are starting to think like a fey.” He commented and I was reminded of our time alone in the Oubliette in what seemed like ages. So much had passed since I had been a runner in the Labyrinth. It felt like that was just a dream.

 My eyes flickered to the katanas, “Is that what will kill me?” I asked. Itachi smirked, “Yes, but first I have a question for you.” I met his glowing red eyes, eyes the exact shade of the sky behind him. I couldn't help but ask, “What is this place?” I glanced around to take in the scarce environment. Itachi raised an eyebrow, “Are you stalling, or are you truly curious?” He asked instead of answering. I eyed him, “What will you do if I say both?” I answered with a question. Itachi's red eyes narrowed a bit, but he didn't answer my question, instead he answered my original one, “This is the Tsukuyomi, a tool of the Mangekyu Sharingan, a place of torture and nightmares.” A spark of fear finally embedded itself in my heart, “The Mangekyu Sharingan? Is this… the death of darkest fears?” Itachi smirked, “Yes.” I looked down at the black ground beneath my feet. “Now... My question.” Itachi said and I met his gaze, defiant yet submissive. I would answer any question he asked truthfully, even if it cost me my life.

 Itachi leaned closer so that his lips were brushing my ear, “Do you trust me?” He whispered so lowly that I almost didn't hear him, even with him so close. My eyes widened and I pulled back. My mouth opened but no words left my lips. Even after all I had done to the fey king, he still wanted me to trust him? Itachi watched me for a minute, his feelings carefully guarded, though I had a impression he was hopeful that I would say yes. After a full minute passed, though it felt like a day, Itachi's expression slowly turned from blank to angry. He raised his chin, “I see.” He growled and drew back his right katana, preparing to stab me through the heart.

 Suddenly I lunged forward, my body acting on it's own, just as Itachi thrust forward with the blade. I choked back on a scream when I felt the sword cut into my side, sliding painfully through my ribs and piercing my lung. I didn't care, I was where I was supposed to be. Itachi stared down at me, his red eyes wide in surprise that I would purposefully impale myself on his blade just to be close to him. Reaching up with shaky hands I cupped the Goblin Kings face and yanked him down so that our lips met in what felt like an eternity. Itachi released both swords, one clattering to the ground while the other remained inside me, and wrapped his now free hands around my waist, pulling me ever closer. I grimaced when the katana lodged in my side pulled painfully to the right, but I didn't pull away.

 He pulled back after we were both breathless, “Forgive me...” He murmured against my lips, his still red eyes boring into mine. I struggled to smile, the pain in my side nagging at me, tearing at my happy moment, “Only if you forgive me.” I whispered back. Itachi kissed me again, swallowing my scream of pain when he yanked the katana from my side. He pulled away again, his eyes once again dark as a starless night, “Done.” He whispered and the world around us bled into a swirling mass of red and black. Just like Itachi's ever-changing eyes.

 vvv

 When I came back to reality, the pain where Itachi had stabbed me remained. Groaning I doubled over, my hand going to cradle my unharmed side, it was only the memory of the pain that was there, nothing physical. Not even a faint red mark or scar. As if nothing ever happened. As if our time spent in the Tsukuyomi was just my imagination, even though I knew it wasn't. Sakura screamed and lurched against her captor again, “You bastard, what did you do to her?!” She shrieked at Itachi. Itachi didn't answer her, instead he helped me slowly to my feet, his dark eyes only on me, like I was the most important thing to him. I gave him a shy smile, maybe I was the most important thing to the King of Goblins, it was plausible.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 Sasuke could not keep the smirk from his face as he watched his elder brother lead Kanari away, acting very much like a man in love. Sasuke knew that Itachi had used Tsukuyomi on Kanari, what had transpired in that dimension was between only the two, and would remain a secret for eternity. Not that Sasuke minded, he was glad that Itachi was back to his normal self and not the ruthless king he had been of late. Sakura struggled to follow her sister, but Sasuke tightened his grip on her, “Calm down. Your sister is in no danger.” He hissed in the pink haired girl's ear.

 Sakura shot a disbelieving look over her shoulder, “Did you see the way she winced? He did something to her, I know it! I have to save her from him, I have to-” Sakura would have continued, but Sasuke asked, “Save her from what? From happiness? Did you not see her expression?” Sakura elbowed him, but he refused to let go of her, “She doesn't know what she's doing! Kanari is under a spell. She could never want to be with that bastard.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, wondering once again why he was stuck with the annoying sister. At least Kanari accepted her fate and didn't make up ridiculous excuses to explain the unimaginable.

 “You would rather your sister be ignorant in your eyes than happy? What kind of selfish sister are you?” Sasuke asked. Sakura gave another ear splitting shriek and bashed her head against him. Sasuke bit back a groan and spun the hot tempered girl into a wall, pressing himself into her to keep her from moving. Sakura stilled instantly, immobilized by fear of his blood red eyes now glaring down at her. “Your sister truly fits into this world. You however...” He growled, teeth bared in anger adding a feral look to the fey prince. “You should be put out of your misery. No world will take you now that you are a Labyrinth subject, yet you refuse to bend. It is only the fact that Kanari would be miserable if you were to die that keeps you alive.” Sakura's sea green eyes widened as the gravity of her situation settled over her.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 “T-Thank you, Naruto-kun...” Hinata mumbled as she accepted the bowl of ramen from her new friend. Of all the people she had met so far, the blonde was the most friendliest and she felt safe around him. Kurama laid curled at Naruto's feet, he was the size of a large dog, though Naruto told Hinata that he grew much larger when outside the castle. When Hinata asked why he was small now Naruto said that King Itachi had a spell in place that prevented the nine-tailed fox demon from growing any larger. Hinata took the blonde's word for it, she never wanted to see Kurama at his actual size, she feared she would faint if she did. “You're welcome, Hinata! Man it's great to find another friend in this place. Gaara is always running off and Sasuke is a teme half the time so I don't get to hang out with them much. Plus Sasuke has all his princely duties and Gaara is always out leading runners astray; I'm only here to scare a few people into line so King Itachi doesn’t have to...”

 Hinata giggled a little, Naruto could go on for hours explaining just one thing, but she didn't mind. He didn't try to make her speak like her friends did back home, and he definitely didn't point out her stuttering problem, which was a good thing. It was strange though, before she met Naruto she never had a problem stuttering unless she was stressed. Now she could hardly open her mouth without stuttering. “Hey, Hinata?” The pearl eyes girl looked up at her new friend. He stared fiercely at her in a way that it caused her to blush, “You're not eating your ramen. Don't you like it?” He asked and Hinata blushed even more. Why did she think he was going to ask something serious?! Shakily she handed the ramen back to him, “Y-y-y-you c-c-ca-can h-h-have i-it.” She managed to get out, her cheeks red. Naruto perked up and took the bowl back, slurping down the noodles without so much as a thank you. She looked away, staring out into the garden they sat in, silently willing her blush to go away.

 Warm air brushed her right cheek and she looked up to see Naruto leaning in precariously close so that his nose almost touched her cheek. Hinata could feel her entire face warming as the blood pooled in her cheeks. Naruto frowned, “Hey Hinata, are you feeling okay? You look red...” Hinata would be surprised if there was any blood left in her body as it all rushed to her face. She closed her eyes tightly and breathed deeply, determined not to faint on poor Naruto a second time.

 Peals of laughter floated around the garden and both Naruto and Hinata looked up to see Lady Kanari and King Itachi walking through the garden, arm in arm. They looked so happy. Much different from the picture they both painted of themselves only hours before. Hinata mentally sighed, wondering dimly if she and Naruto could ever that close. Hinata could not help but notice how different their coloring was from each other. King Itachi, with his dark hair and eyes, dressed in palpable shadows was the embodiment of darkness while the woman beside him, her now white hair flowing down her back and icy green eyes, was light. Hinata sighed, a small smile touching her face, so opposites did attract. Her pearl colored eyes slid to Naruto as he continued to stare at his monarch and lady, Hinata could help but wonder if Naruto and she were opposites as well.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 ~Several Years Later~

 Sunlight managed to filter through the dark curtains that hung over the ceiling high windows and land right across my eyes. I cracked an angry eye at the light and rolled over to evade the sunlight and try to catch a few more minutes of rest. Itachi shifted in bed beside me, his arm tightening over my waist. I mentally groaned, there was no use in sleeping now. Sighing I opened my eyes to stare deep into the darkest pair of eyes. I smiled and reached over the brush Itachi's bangs from his face, “Good morning.” I whispered. Itachi smirked and pulled me even closer, pressing his lips to mine as was his way to say good morning. I sighed happily as Itachi's mouth molded to mine, drinking in his familiar scent that intoxicated me more than any fey alcohol could. I had to forcibly remove my mouth from his, “Not today.” I said breathlessly.

 Itachi narrowed his eyes and reached up to cup the back of my neck, forcing me to kiss him again. I didn't put up much of a fight. “Do not order me around. I am not your subject.” Itachi growled good-naturedly when he pulled away from me. I glared playfully back, my fingers skimming up his bare chest, “Neither am I yours.” I retorted. Itachi grunted and pushed my hand away, making me laugh.

 Before either of us could say anything else a sudden weight landed across us with a small war cry. I groaned and tried to sit up, but the figure tackled me back down, “Get up get up get up! You have to get up!” Daiyu, Itachi's and my son, yelled happily. Itachi reached up and dragged our son off of me, wrestling Daiyu playfully into an loose choke hold, “Then stop jumping on us so we can get up.” My mate growled. Daiyu squeaked and tried to throw his father off, but it was useless. I laughed and slid away from Itachi and Daiyu, every morning it was the same. Itachi and I would whisper in each others arms until our son came and ruined our quiet morning with his yelling and permanent energetic nature. If Daiyu wasn't the embodiment of his father I would be worried that I had somehow gotten Naruto's child and not my own.

 Before my son could notice that I wasn't in bed anymore, I slipped into my personal bedroom, which was hardly ever used anymore except on the rare occasion. Temari was grinning when I came in, “I heard a commotion...” She said mildly while I glared at her. When I became Itachi's mate in full and the Queen of Goblins, my first act was to free Temari of her servitude and promoted her to my lady-in-waiting. Though she still remained my best friend first and foremost, “You always hear a commotion every morning.” I growled at her as I sat down in front of the vanity so Temari could work her magic on my hair. Temari grinned at me through the mirror, “And sometimes in the night.” She said slyly then laughed as a blush marred my cheeks.

 As my friend brushed out my glistening white hair she asked, more serious than before, “So when will you tell him?” I frowned, “I'm sure Itachi already knows.” I said sagely. It was true, there was nothing I could keep from my fey mate. His crystal scrying balls made it impossible to keep anything from the king of Goblins. Temari grinned, “Oh I'm sure he knows your pregnant but-” I shushed her before she could continue, “It's talking over such matters that reveals the secrets, dummy.” I said while Temari smirked. “I dare you to tell him over breakfast.” She challenged. I thought about it. Though Itachi could very well know that I was pregnant again, I knew for a fact that neither Sasuke or Sakura could know. Not unless Itachi told them himself, which he never did unless it pertained to them. I sighed, “But then I'll get an earful from Sakura...” I grumbled. Temari laughed again, “So what? Sasuke will shut her up if it gets too annoying, you know he will.” It was true, I had learned very quickly that Prince Sasuke had no patience for any level of annoyance and he found Sakura more annoying than anything. Temari nudged me as she finished tying off my elegant but simple braid, “Stop making excuses and tell him. At least you'll get a funny reaction out of Sasuke and Sakura.” I smiled, she was right as always.

 vvv

 Seven years had passed since Itachi forgave me for running off on him, yet Sakura had not adjusted completely to life as a Labyrinth subject. Or so she claimed. There were times when I would catch her looking out of her balcony smiling as the orange sun set against the Labyrinth, her expression being on of peace. Though she always denied ever being happy, I knew otherwise. In truth I believed she only did so to irritate Sasuke. My sister and brother-in-law had made up a kind of game to see who could get on each others nerves first. More often then not Itachi or I ended up yelling at the two to shut up, which ended their little game.

 Like everyday, Sakura came into the dining hall being loud and obnoxious, just to irritate Sasuke- though it did a good job of annoying Itachi and I as well. My pink haired stepsister deliberately threw all table manners she had been taught out the window as another jab at Sasuke, who stood for decorum and manners more than anyone at the table. I watched as Sakura ate everything with her fingers and belched whenever she could. After seven years of eating like that for three times a day, I couldn't help but wonder if she did it on purpose anymore or if she had truly lost all manners. Being pregnant I felt queasy as I watched her gobble down the strange fey food without pausing. I pushed my own plate away, not able to eat with my sister acting like a pig.

 Itachi shot me a questioning look, then followed my glare to my sister. He frowned, “Sakura.” Immediately my sister halted in her gorging to meet the eyes of her king. Sasuke smirked at her, obviously enjoying seeing my sister being reprimand like a child. Meekly Sakura picked up her silverware and began eating like a civilized person. Itachi didn't say anything else as he returned to his own meal, but my appetite was lost. I picked up my fork and began playing with my food halfheartedly. Sasuke stared at me hard, then glanced at the disinterested Itachi and back to me, his black eyes searching for answers. Itachi finished his breakfast and looked at me, raising knowing eyebrows.

 I mentally sighed and rolled my eyes, I should have known he would hear Temari and me speaking, and now expected me to tell everyone that I was pregnant again. I set down my napkin and stood, bringing the attention of Sasuke and Sakura. I wasted no time, “I'm pregnant.” I said. Sakura choked on her drink and sputtered, “W-what?! Pregnant? You just had Daiyu!” She shrieked. I winced and glared at my younger sister, as did the two brothers, “Five years ago, Sakura. I had Daiyu five years ago.” Sakura grumbled something under her breath that I didn't catch, though it made Sasuke glare at her. I continued before the conversation got off hand, “And I'm carrying twins.” That gave even Itachi a pause, but only for a little bit. Sasuke and Sakura however stared at me, their mouths hanging open. Having told my news I sat back down beside my mate. Itachi gave me a soft smile and leaned down to whisper, “I love you, beloved.” I giggled like a girl falling in love for the first time, even though I had heard the same four words everyday at multiple intervals.

 vvv

 Over the seven years since I had become the Queen of the Goblins, Hinata and I became closer. The fact that we were both pregnant at the same time cemented our friendship. While Sakura was busy flirting/arguing with Sasuke, Hinata and I followed a more mature route and became mates to the fey men we loved. Daiyu and Minato, Naruto and Hinata's son, already acted more like brothers than friends. Kurama, retired from scaring the subjects of the Labyrinth, finally found peace from his surly nature as a babysitter. I had yet to see anyone handle Daiyu and Minato so well as the fox demon did. I trusted the nine tailed demon with my son more than with my own brother-in-law. Though Sasuke was right behind Kurama- my moody brother-in-law had turned out to be the best uncle I could ever ask for. When I asked Itachi about it, my mate said that he had learned from taking care of my own brother Akanbou back when I was still a runner.

 After my family had been informed of my pregnancy, I went directly for Hinata and Naruto's rooms, since they were as close to family as I could get them. Hinata answered my knocking with a finger to her lips and lead me into the main room where I could see Naruto passed out on the couch, an arm thrown over his eyes, his son curled up beside his father snoring almost as loudly as Naruto. I suppressed the giggle raising in my throat as I followed Hinata into her private receiving room. “If I ever found Itachi snoring like that I would probably die of laughing.” I said as Hinata giggled, “Yes, I was surprised when I found out how loud Naruto is.” I smirked at her, “Did you faint?” It was a running joke that every time Naruto surprised Hinata she fainted. Naruto had started taking the sign of Hinata fainting as a yes, it was how she answered him when he asked her to become his mate.

 Hinata blushed, “No.” She whispered, then giggled. “How rude of me, my lady... you wanted to speak of something with me?” She asked politely. I glared, “I won't tell you if you call me 'my lady' again. You know I hate that.” Hinata smiled, “It stopped you teasing, though, didn't it?” She asked sweetly while I glared. She had been hanging around Kurama too much, if my innocent and shy friend had started thinking like him. I squinted at her, “What happened to that stuttering girl who fainted at the mention of insidious plots?” I asked her. Hinata smiled, “She became the mate to a flamboyant knucklehead who had a grouchy demon as a pet-companion.” I shrugged, there was no arguing that point.

 “Now, are you going to tell me why you came or do I have to guess?” Hinata asked. I fluttered my eyelashes, “What makes you think I came here to tell you something, what if I just wanted to talk?” I asked teasingly. Hinata pursed her lips a little and said, “Because I know you, Kanari, you don't make social calls. Something that your mate rubbed off on you, I would think.” Hinata answered. I sighed, how well she knew me. I could hardly remember a time when Hinata was more of Sakura's friend than mine, back when fey and the Labyrinth was just something I read in books. “Fine. I'm pregnant again, with twins.” I said flatly. Hinata blinked her pearl eyes a few times before shrieking in happiness and flinging herself at me. I fell back in my chair, surprised by Hinata's rare display of strong emotion, just as Naruto burst into the room, Minato tucked under his arm, blinking his sleepy bright blue eyes. “What's going on in here?” He asked loudly. Hinata blushed, “F-Forgive me, Naruto-koi. I was just excited over something Kanari said.”

 I waved my fingers at Naruto when he turned his gaze on me, clearly surprised to find me in his apartments and not with Itachi. It was a well known fact that I hardly left my mate's side. Minato struggled in his father's arm, waving his arms for me, “Aunt Kanari! Aunt Kanari!” He called until Naruto set his son down. Minato shot for me like a bullet and jumped up into my lap, “Aunt Kanari, where is Daiyu?” The little boy asked, his blonde head looking back and forth for my missing son. I hugged Minato close, “Sorry, honey, he didn't come with me today. He's with his father, learning about boring stuff.” Naruto snorted, “If it's coming from King Itachi, it probably is boring.” He laughed. I shot a glare at the blonde while Hinata gave him a hard elbow and disapproving look. Then I smiled, “At least it's not coming from Sasuke, he'd probably corrupt my son before the first word left his lips.” I joked, to which Naruto laughed.

 vvv

 Later that night as Itachi and I laid curled up together, he commented, “Sasuke and Sakura are starting to irritate me.” I snorted, it was good to know that Itachi's patience lasted about seven years before something started annoying him. “So throw them in an Oubliette and don't let them out until they have at least three children.” I said jokingly. It was frightening that Itachi actually considered it, “Maybe not three children...” He mused. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Itachi chuckled and tightened his grip on me, “You fit in well, my queen.” He whispered in my ear, his voice coiling around me warming me from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes. “I'm glad to hear it, my king.” I murmured back.

 Itachi drew up on one elbow so he could look at me, “To think I would actually have killed you that day.” He said, referring to the first time he had cast Tsukuyomi over me. Over the years anytime we disagreed on something, Itachi would drag me to the Tsukuyomi landscape so we could hash it out. It worked perfectly, we could say what we wanted, and no one save Sasuke would know that we ever left. To our court we were unbreakable, living in a true happy ever after, when in reality we were like any other couple, mortal or fey, but we knew how to hide it.

 I smiled and reached up to cup his cheek, “I trusted you that you wouldn't, even if you were fully prepared to do so.” I said softly. Itachi gave a small scoff, “You trusted me wrongly.” He stated, so confident in his answer that I would enjoy proving him wrong. I rolled flat on my back so I could face him better, “Oh really? Where were you aiming when you took a stab at me?” I asked. Itachi's eyes darkened as he remembered, “I had planned to stab you through your treacherous heart.” He growled. I decided not to take offense to that, it was in the past. I took his hand and laid it over my side, “You stabbed me in the least critical place, though. Just my side and lower half of my lung was hurt. Nothing fatal.” Itachi smirked and moved his hand, massaging the spot where his imaginary blade had pierced me and left no mark, before his hand started inching higher. I shot him an irritated look, “Stop.” I growled. Itachi leaned up and kissed me, “Make me.” He growled back. I frowned at him but made not move to do so.

 Seven years had passed since I became Itachi's mate, yet neither of us had any power over the other.

 vvv POV Change vvv

 A little boy of seven years sat up with a gasp. He had that dream again, the one with the pink haired girl and white haired woman and their two dark companions. The dream had been plaguing him ever since he could remember, which wasn't much. The boy climbed out of his little bed and got down on his hands and knees to pull out a tarnished old book that he had found crammed under one of the old bookshelves. When he had turned four, the boy's parents had given him one of the two guest rooms. There had been large bookshelves packed with books that his parents don't remember buying. Regardless the bookshelves were removed and replaced with things found in a boy's room. Still the boy never told his parents about the little leather bound book he had found.

 Slowly he opened the book to the cover page where a girl had written her name there in pretty handwriting. Somehow he knew that her name was tied to the dreams he had, but he could never remember how.

 Kanari.

 That was the name. The name in the book. The boy mumbled it out loud, stumbling over the simple syllables of a name he had never heard or seen before he saw it in the book. When he finally said the name correctly other words began to fill up his mind, as if that name was the key to the memories that he had forgotten he had.

 I wish... I wish... I wish the Goblins would come and take you away right now.

 Akanbou blinked at the sentence that flooded his mind, pushing away bizarre and strange memories of ugly twisted creatures and red eyes glowing amid a pale face and black hair. He frowned, where had he heard those words before? For some reason he knew that somehow those words had started the strange dreams and even stranger memories. Should he say them?

 Akanbou opened his mouth “I wish the Goblins would come and take me away... right... now.”

 ^o^

 *Pant pant pant pant* After a full year of writing this story... I AM FINISHED!!!!!! And you'll have to forgive me on the (probably) sucky ending, but after a year of one piddling on this thing, I was ready to quit.

 Sorry for the cliffhanger, but then I'm not really. I might continue with other parts, but Part 1 & 2 are Sukoshi-NinjaFox'sBuddy Birthday Present, so I needed to get it done.

 Flame Friendly! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUKOSHI-NINJAFOX'SBUDDY!!!!!

#Script's Archives #Do You Have Power Over Me #naruto fanfiction #fanfiction #ItaOC #SasuSaku

[liljungie]

$OLD | KIM TAEHYUNG one shot

Pairing: [mafia leader] taehyung × reader

Trigger warnings: mentions of drugs/guns/rape( but not really¿)/ dirty talk / psychotic taehyung.

Word count: 2144

> My writings Masterlist <

Requests are open ^_^

A/N: I swear I'm not a psychopath

_

Working late at night has it's perks or maybe just to you it was a blessing.

you didn't have to face a messed up step father when he's drunk, high on toxins and out of his mind, and you don't have to hear your mother yelling at him for harassing you, again.

Not like he would stop if she did, he didn't care, he would push your mother out of the room and he would come back to your bedroom and he would lock the door and continue to abuse you, hurt you, each time it was different depending on the day.

You never knew why he did what he did, so you just let him do what he wanted and walk out ,you learned the hard way that if you say or do something or push him away you'll end up with broken bones and a lot of bruises and scars, funny enough you rather have bruises and scars rather than having a broken limb.

broken limb meant no work and no work meant you're available to your messed up stepfather to do as he please 24/7 and that's the last thing you wanted to grant him.

Ever since your mother got married to that lunatic you never been the same you became weaker, sad as ever and lost all hope in life, you worked for the local bar as a bartender to pay for the small apartment you live in and to put food infront of

your mother,even though you're young you learned mixing drinks fast you knew which tastes better and which were too strong you had to try the drinks before you served any.

Which lead you to be drunk at the end of the day most times.

Most of your drunk nights ended up in

you being unconscious behind the building naked from the waist down sometimes fully naked depending on how shitty the guy you were with the night before.

Strangers having their way with you was a hell lot better than your stepfather.

__

One night a man walked through the doors like he owns the place, suite and tie,clean face long dark hair, basically the guy was drenched in money and glory, and not to mention awfully young around your age maybe a year or three older,he had two guards on each side of him as he walked through and took a seat right in front of the bar, where you were working.

You raised your brows questionly usually rich men would sit in the booths far away from the bar that was decorated with bright colored lights so they could deal and do their dirty work privately or it would definitely be evident to everyone and men like him usually have women around him to entertain them as they sip on beverages that makes them forget reality and do whatever they want without the mind controlling their movements, not to mention this part of town was poor as hell he definitely wouldn't get that type of luxury here, middle class men and under do come here drink what they ordered and go on with their lives.

Nonetheless a job is a job and you had to do as you're told.

"good evening" a fake smile was planted on your face as you greeted the man "what would you like to drink?" He smirks as he placed his hands on top of each other on the wooden surface as he looks at you, almost analyzing you, licking his lips then he spoke "vodka"

You smiled and turned your back to him you grabbed the vodka bottle and a glass then you placed the glass infront of him and poured the liquid in and placed a lime on top and moved the glass closer to the man's hands, still offering a smile.

You went back to wiping the table, still suspicious as to why he was sitting here, of all places..you shrugged it off and decided not to pay much attention to it anymore thinking nothing of it and pushed it to the side focusing on work instead then you heard him ask "you're Christopher's step daughter aren't you?" He glanced at you still the smirk was there mocking you.

You titled your head, your eyes were glossy the mention of your stepfather's name obviously terrified you but nonetheless you answered "yes I am" sadly you wanted to add, trying your hardest not to show how much you despised that man that was your stepfather.

a million questions raced through your mind after his abrupt question you never talked about him to anyone, you didn't even know anyone you could talk to, but you figured to start with the easy questions and work your way up, you stopped wiping the table and looked him in the eyes "and you are?" You thanked the gods that your voice came out strong and clear.

The man infront of you smiled then he downed the last bit of what was left in his glass "Taehyung" he smiled at you "Kim taehyung" he winked "what about you sweetface?"

"_____" you mutter and he smiled "beautiful name for a beautiful girl" he remarks as a red hue coverd your cheeks and you looked away, you weren't used to sweet talk..not from guys around your age at least.

Taehyung signaled for his guards at the snap of his fingers and they went away..slightly but it was enough space for him to talk to you without being interrupted.

knowing his guards they get a bit overprotective and he didn't want to scare you off knowing that you lived with someone like Christopher for years was enough for him to know that you were troubled, and you would be defensive and the talk he wants to have with you is going to trigger a reaction out of you that his guards would definitely point a gun or two at.

He sighed and leaned forward taking a better look at your face, you watched him with wary eyes, slightly afraid of how the hell did he know Christopher? Your stepfather was definitely not on this man's level, this man is everything your stepdouche wasn't; Young, rich and powerful.

Why would he stoop so low unless Christopher fucked up which appears in this case;he definitely has.

"You see,______ I run a business...some would say it's deadly, which it is, but not from my end" he smiles as he starts to sweet talk the clueless girl "I'm a mafia leader" as he said that you can't believe how nonchalnet he was speaking these words like he was talking about his favourite color, your eyes definitely popped out of their sockets if you were afraid before now you were terrified, slightly shaking in your cheap boots.

"Your stepfather took a little too much candy that he couldn't pay for..." you knew exactly what type of 'candy' taehyung was talking about drugs you saw it on the tables at home before you wiped them clean, you saw him line up the powder and stuffing it in his nostrils before he made his way to your bedroom,it made you sick.

But it's not like you could have stopped him or done something.

He spoke again breaking you away from your trance "He kept promising he would pay up but as you can see darling..he never did" he licked his lips "so instead I made a deal with him" he says way too cheerfully, adjusting his collar while he sent you a smirk.

Your body was shaking with anticipation? Nervousness? You wiped your hands on the back of your jeans you didn't realize you were sweating so much you placed your hair behind your ears as if somehow that will help you understand better, which was a habit of yours "what kind of deal?" You ask afraid of the answers yet you braced yourself to hear the worst.

And it definitely looks bad for you.

He chuckled "the stupidest one baby" he chuckled louder "your stepfather is so stupid" he shakes his head, you felt his gaze change to lust the seriousness in his eyes vanished completely, you swallowed as you feel your heart drop.

And the pet names he gave you weren't helping your fragile state, it almost lured you in but not quite.

There's no way you're letting your guard down "He is messed up but he's not stupid I know he isn't" you didn't know why you were defending him as if somehow that would scare the mafia boss off, hell to him it was so adorable and he's anything but scared of you, taehyung was amused at your response.

"Oh?"He laughed and stood up from the stool leaning closer to you the only thing that was separating you from him was this bar.

He bit his bottom lip as he looked up and down on you like you were a tasty dish that he couldn't wait to devour and boy he is starving "oh yeah?" He smirks "he sold you to me babygirl"

You stared at him astonished,'he's drunk' you thought 'he is not thinking straight..he's lying' deep down inside you knew it would take a lot more than one glass of vodka to get this man drunk out of his mind you're trying to convince yourself that it's not true that there's no way your stepfather would sell you to pay up his debts.

You didn't think he would be this fucked up

But then again Christopher didn't think it's messed up to try and sleep with you; his step daughter, so selling you definitely was okay to him, you felt disgusted by him you always been but this? It definitely takes the cake and was the cheery on top of it all.

"Babygirl why the long face hmm? I knew that pig has been hurting you, it was my idea that he sells you..to me" he chuckles, your insides went up in flames you were so embarrassed and hurt and terrified you never felt this way ever, every bad emotion you could ever feel was hitting and jabbing you at once "I'd treat you so much better angel" he purrs.

"You're no different you're just as mental as he is" you spit, tears slowly run on your face, taehyung killed and tortured many he ruined lives by selling drugs to men like Christopher and worse, and he won't ever stop, it's his job and if he's capable of doing all of that surely he is capable of making your life a miserable living hell when you leave with him tonight.

Taehyung's face softens and he reaches forward wiping away your tears pitying you almost, you turned your head pressing your lips in a line trying to ignore the taste of your tears,taehyung didn't know much about emotions so he couldn't understand why you were crying, he wasn't going to kill you! Not now at least.. he thought.

'she should be thankful that I didn't shoot her right then and there at least that counts for something' he thought he's sure you're a pleasure to your stepdad and there's nothing more he loved than riding people of what they loved the most. You shouldn't be afraid of him he thought to himself.

Although firing his gun was a pleasure he didn't feel elsewhere and something he won't ever give up,his guns were everything to him,

Watching the life leave his opponent eyes was euphoric it made him feel like a hero almost.

"Don't cry babydoll" he coos as you close your eyes defeated,his hand creassing your cheek softly he kept smiling to reassure you that everything will be fine but that's so far from reality.

God the fun he's going to have with you is making him hard and he barely touched you, he can't imagine how you're going to feel around his dick or how sweet you taste.

He thinks to himself you're the overly sensitive type which turned him on massively, he wanted you to save those tears for when he's deep in you moving slowly in and out savoring every second he spends inside you stretching you out, feeling every inch of you, hitting your soft spot again and again until you're full of his cum he's sure all the dicks you had before don't compare to his and he can't wait to go home and play with you until you beg him to stop which of course he won't.

He loves his new dolls the most, you're not the first and definitely won't be the last.

"You're all mine now" he whispers sounding sweeter than honey, just like that you were wrapped around his long,gorgeous fingers.

And just like that Taehyung strikes again.

[sequel]

#taehyung imagine #taehyung smut #kim taehyung #taehyung #taehyung x reader #taehyung x you #taehyung scenarios #writing #taehyung x y/n #taehyung imagines #v imagine #v imagines #bts imagines #bts fanfic #bts scenarios

[basura2319]

Bruh. Me again. I need some uhhhh *slides over a $20* I need a gram of Dogma x reader fluff

A/N: *slides a gram of Dogma x reader fluff your way* I’m sorry this took like a month to make lol. I hope I did you proud!

Dogma x reader fluff

Jedi knights Anakin and (Y/N), plus some of the 501st were sent to accompany Senator Amidala on her way to Naboo. She wasn’t in danger by any means, but Amidala has been known to her have her life be in constant danger for voicing things others would be afraid to speak out on. Of course everyone in Theed knew of her arrival so everyone was expected to be on high alert in case anything happened. However, The general letting them off duty was unexpected for Dogma, especially since it was their second day on Naboo and it’s the middle of the day. At least they were away from battle, even if it wasn’t for long.

 But he especially didn’t expect for his lover to come running at him in full speed and almost knocking him down.

“Um, hello?” he said tentatively, wrapping his arms around you.

“Sorry about that,” you said breathlessly. “I just got excited.”

He quirked a brow. “About what?”

You let go of him and started tugging at his arm. “Come on! I have something to show you!”

“What? Where?” he asked letting you drag him along.

“I’ll show you when we get there. Now let’s go!”

———

You practically sprinted towards your destination carrying a picnic basket and blanket with a visibly confused Dogma in tow.

“Why are we in the forest?”

You said nothing and continued to run the path.

“Seriously (Y/N), where are we—”

“Aha!” you shouted. There it was. The beautiful lakeside. The perfect place, at least you thought, to relax and have some downtime at. You were in Naboo for crying out loud! How could you not take this opportunity to explore it.

Even though you went earlier to see for yourself how the lakeside looked like, the scenery still managed to take your breath away. The atmosphere was just so refreshing and peaceful. You owed a lot to your best friend Anakin for letting you tag along on this trip. But especially to Padmé for recommending this area of the lakeside since there was a low chance of anyone seeing the both of you and also for providing the food.

You ran towards a spot that seemed good and started unfolding the blanket.

“Well?” you said turning to Dogma whose jaw was hanging open. “What do you think?”

He was silent, his eyes shifting between you and the view of lake.

“Dogma?” you said hesitantly.

“Why are we here?” he managed to say at last.

“Isn’t it obvious?” you chuckled lifting the basket for emphasis. “We’re having a picnic.”

“We can’t do this!”

“Why not?”

He looked at you as if you asked whether the sky is blue or not. “Because someone could see us!”

“No one is going to see us, okay?”

Dogma scoffed. “How do you know that though?”

“Come on Dogma!” you groaned. “When do we ever get the chance to enjoy ourselves on planets like Naboo?”

“Probably because we’re always fighting a war on whatever planet we get sent to,” he pointed out.

“But we’re not fighting one right now.” You sat down and patted the empty spot next to you. “Please. Just this once.”

Dogma was silent for a moment as he looked into your pleading (e/c) eyes and then sighed. “Okay.”

“Alright!” you said cheerfully, while taking out the plates and food. “So, we have sandwiches I’ve never seen before, Jogan fruit cake, a bottle of some sort of fancy Naboo wine…”

———

An hour later, you both were stuffed. The food was absolutely remarkable and so much better than the food served at the Temple and the military rations. Dogma thought so too judging by the content face he was making. He removed his armor so you could rest your head against his chest as you both were sprawled over the blanket in comfortable silence peering up at the abundance of clouds in the sky.

Dogma, meanwhile, was running his hand up and down your arm in a soothing motion. It was almost enough to make fall asleep instantaneously. But you didn’t want to sleep the day away. There were other things you could do here like…explore the lake!

You slowly got up, causing Dogma to sit up and when he saw you taking your tunic off which revealed your tank-top, he immediately looked away with his face burning.

You saw his reaction and couldn’t help but giggle at his adorableness. “I’m not stripping all of my clothes off Dogma, I swear.”

He looked at you sheepishly. “Then what are you doing?”

You removed your boots and belt, along with your lightsaber and tossed them on the ground. “Going for a swim.”

“Are you insane?” he exclaimed. “You have no idea what’s in there. For all I know you could get swallowed up by a Gooberfish and then I’d have to explain to everyone why you got eaten up by a giant fish in the first place!”

You smirked at him as you tied your hair back. “You could use my lightsaber to try and gut the fish open.”

His brown eyes widened in horror.

“I’m kidding,” you laughed and gestured him to you. “Come with me.”

“Are you sure?” he asked dubiously.

“Yes and I don’t sense any potentially dangerous lifeforms within the lake,” you said. “Happy now?”

He nodded, but before proceeding forward, he took off his shirt and was left wearing his pants.

You didn’t to mean to stare, but damn. The sight of his well-toned chest and his lean muscles filled your stomach with butterflies and felt the blood rush to your cheeks.

Dogma’s face was turning a light shade of pink under your gaze.

He cleared his throat. “Shall we?”

You dipped your toe into the water and surprisingly it wasn’t that cold. Soon you were walking towards the point where the water reached up to your chest.

“This actually feels nice,” murmured Dogma.

“See?”

You took a deep breathe and dove underwater, letting bubbles out as you swam further and further into the water until you felt the need to reach up to the surface for air. You wiped the water from your eyes and moved around to see where Dogma went. He was still at the same spot where you left him.

Seeing how far out you went, he began swimming towards you.

“Took you long enough,” you said with a teasing smile.

“How was I to know you were going to swim away from me” Dogma said, pulling you closer to him.

You wrapped your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. He snaked an arm over your waist and with his free hand, cupped the back of your head. The sight of how the sun illuminated your soft (e/c) eyes and the features of your face made his chest tighten in adoration. In his eyes you were perfect and everything good that was in his hectic life as a soldier.

You began tracing the intricate tattoo over his face and laughed softly. “What are you staring—”

He silenced you with his lips brushed up against yours. Then slowly trailing kisses from your jaw to your neck. You closed your eyes and angled your head to give him more room, gasping at the sensation of his teeth grazing your skin.

“Kriff, what did I do to deserve you,” he murmured against your wet skin.

You held his face in your hands and kissed him again, this time running your tongue over his bottom lip, eliciting a moan from him.

“I should be the one asking that to be honest,” was all you said before your lips met his once more. The kisses going from soft and playful to full on frantic. Honestly, you wished you could stay like this forever, but for now you relished being in arms in the middle of the lake for just a little while, without the thoughts of war and the Jedi code looming over your head like a dark cloud.

And that was all you both could ever ask for.

#requests #clone trooper dogma #clone trooper dogma x reader

[empyreanwritings]

Long Way Home

Pairing: Bucky x assassin!Reader

Warnings: Some language, mentions of murder, mentions of rape (no details, just saying someone was raped), and killing a pedophile by beating his face in with a phone. 

Word Count: 4.6k

A/N: I let myself really get away with this one, and I’m very happy with it. I hope yall enjoy it! Maybe there will be a part two? I left it open for a reason! Just let me know what you think :) x

          The sun started to set, leaving streaks of dark pink and purple in the sky. It felt like a whole day passed since we started driving, but it had only been six hours. My legs cramped up more than once, and I was pretty sure I lost feeling in my butt two exits ago. Bucky swore up and down that we weren’t lost, but when he refused to let me turn on a GPS, I knew he was trying to cover himself. We were definitely lost. What was it with men and asking for directions? Being openly lost should hurt an ego more than stopping and asking for help!

           Fury sent Bucky and I on a mission to gather some intel on a possible HYDRA hideout popping up. We spent three days staking out for no reason. The hideout wasn’t HYDRA personnel at all; it was a group studying Bigfoot sightings in the area. When I found out, I wanted to shoot all of them even if it wasn’t their faults. If Bucky hadn’t pulled me out as soon as my hand touched my gun, I might have.

           Three days of eating nothing but protein bars and getting only two hours of sleep each night for Bigfoot? I was a little touchy.          

           “Hey, so, I know we’re not lost or anything. . .” Bucky gave me a sideways look, and I forced myself to not smile. “But can we hop off the highway and get something to eat? I’m starved.”

           He didn’t say anything, but in the dim light I could see a small smile playing on his lips. We had an odd relationship dynamic. I liked to tease him and point out when he was being a stubborn ass on a daily basis. He never entertained my antics, though. He’d smile or roll his eyes, which always drove me crazy. Why didn’t he ever respond the way I wanted him to? I’d push his buttons as many times as I could, and he’d stay perfectly calm. Never an outburst. Never a fight. I’m not exactly sure what I was looking for, but damn, I wanted something!

           I read the exit signs as we passed them to see what places sounded good. Every suggestion I made, Bucky would crinkle his nose and turn it down. We eventually settled on stopping at Waffle House because he had never been to one before. Their food was mediocre at best, but I was so hungry that I could have eaten a bowl full of grease.

           Odds are that’s what we were about to be served.

           It wasn’t that late, but we were the only ones in the diner. Bucky chose the booth in the farthest corner possible. I wanted to tease him about making us seem dark and mysterious, but my stomach growling kept distracting me.

           “Oh my god,” our waiter gasped when he came over to our table. “You’re the Winter Soldier.”

           I could visibly see Bucky tense as soon as he said this. People had mixed views of him because of the media. Some thought he was a damaged hero with a heart of gold. Others looked at him and saw “MENACE” written across his forehead in bright red letters. He never admitted it out loud, but I know it got to him. How the hell could people judge someone they never met? Sure, they’d see whatever the news wanted to post, but it was all political bull anyways. They knew nothing about the real James Buchanan Barnes.

           The waiter, Tom, didn’t look older than twenty-one, but I couldn’t believe he’d be that stupid.

           “Is it true HYDRA mind controlled you into killing a ton of innocent people?” He sounded so enthused, I wanted to punch him.

           I slammed my hand against the table to get his attention. “Are you seriously that stupid?”

           “I—“

           “Let me tell you what you’re not going to do.” I was seething at this point, and it didn’t help that I was hangry already. “You’re not going to ask any questions that aren’t related to our food. I’ve killed more people than Sergeant Barnes has, and I’m not above adding you onto that—“

           “Just get us coffee for now, please,” Bucky quickly interrupted.

           Tom practically ran away once he said that. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could feel Bucky’s eyes on me as I did. I didn’t want to look at him cause I know he’d be smirking at me over my outburst.

           The biggest reason I hated people’s perception of Bucky was due to the fact I lived much worse. I didn’t have to be brainwashed to kill people, and my list grew past the hundreds. Bucky had some of the best intentions. He had no control over the evil he did when he was with HYDRA. But me? Everything I did, every life I took was on me and me alone. If Fury hadn’t sent Nat to find me, I don’t know if I’d ever let myself out of that evil lifestyle.

           “Just order me a waffle and a side of bacon,” I mumbled. “I need a second.”          

           The temperature dropped significantly since we’d gotten there. The crisp air felt nice against my face. I could literally feel the anger bubbling inside of me and needed to take a breather. If that dumb ass inside made another rude comment before I calmed down, I’d end up putting his face through a window. And I didn’t care how awful that sounded.

           My eyes stung with tears threatening to come out. I hated how emotional I was feeling.

           I felt Bucky approaching before I heard him. He stood behind me, his chest barely grazing my back. We stayed quiet for a moment. He knew his presence was all I needed right now. Even the way his fingers gently grazed the back of my arm was enough to pull me back into reality. The mutual understanding between us spoke a thousand words.

           “I’m fine,” I whispered.

           Bucky rested his chin on top of my head. “I know you are.”

           I turned around and looked into his eyes, searching for any signs of disgust at my outburst. There was none. He held my gaze and reassured me with a smile. I was okay. We were okay. Nothing could ever change that, especially a minor freak out in a Waffle House.

           “You should eat something.” His voice was so warm and calming. I wanted to listen to him talk for hours.

           “I could just use a hug right now.”

           He didn’t hesitate to envelop me into his arms. My nose pressed against his chest, and I couldn’t stop myself from inhaling his scent. He smelled faintly of pine needles and new car. This wasn’t his usual smell—which was vanilla, if you were curious—but it worked for him. My fingers clutched onto the back of his shirt. I feared that if I loosened up for even a second, he’d disappear.

           “I hate how people see you, James,” I mumbled against him. “You don’t deserve it.”

           “You don’t deserve thinking you’re somehow worse than me, doll.”

           I didn’t have a response to that. Bucky always managed to find the good in me no matter the situation, even when we first met. We had a silent connection in knowing all the evil we both committed. Neither of us had to say anything, we just knew. When Nat first brought me back to the compound covered in someone else’s blood, he was the only one who didn’t feel wary of my presence. There had been a debate over whether I was stable enough to be a part of the team, and he and Nat had been the first to defend me.

           I sat on the edge of the tub, scrubbing furiously at my arms with a washcloth. Blood was caked on my arms, on my hands, and under my nails. Specs of it scattered my face, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it somehow got in my hair. Flashes of beating the man’s face in with his office telephone kept going through my mind. I scrubbed harder, trying to distract myself from the images, but nothing worked. Before I knew it, I scrubbed my skin raw and tears streamed down my face.

           I focused so hard on scrubbing that I hadn’t heard someone come into the bathroom until he kneeled in front of me and wrapped his hands around mine. I stared down at my lap, refusing to make eye contact with the man. I could hear Tony Stark and Steve Rogers debating over me just outside the hall. The last thing I wanted was for another person to think I was a monster. Deep down I knew I was, but I didn’t want this stranger knowing.      

           “Nat says he forced an underage girl to marry him,” he whispered to me. “You saved her from a life of torture.”

           He didn’t say anything after that. He simply took the cloth from my hands and began gently washing the blood away from my skin. If he saw me crying, he didn’t say anything about it. I knew were connected in a dark way. We remembered every life we took vividly. I didn’t need to look into his eyes to know the pain, the secrets, and the blood behind them. I remembered the name of every person I murdered; I kept a list written in small journal. Somehow I knew he did as well.

           “He raped her.” My voice was hoarse from all the screaming I had done during the fight. “He would have killed her. I know men like him all too well.”

           “I know, doll. I know.”

           We stayed in each other’s arms for at least ten minutes. I only managed to pull myself away when the sound of his stomach growling interrupted the silence. There was nothing left for either of us to say, so we headed back inside to finally eat.

           This was always the dynamic between us. We’d have a tender moment that only ever stayed between us. After the moment was over, we’d never talk about it again. There were nights I’d let him sneak into my room because we both had nightmares keep us awake. In the morning, he’d be gone. I never felt the need to bring it up either. What we shared in those moments was our business. No one else needed to know. And even if they did, they knew not to say anything.

           I stared out the window as I ate. Cars sped through the empty roadways like they didn’t have a care in the world. I wasn’t ready to go back to the compound. As much as I’d like to sleep in my own bed, I wasn’t ready to embrace reality. Fury liked to keep up busy because he knew we’d get ourselves into something we shouldn’t if we got bored, so as soon as we’d get back, there’d be another assignment waiting for us. I’d like one day to turn my brain off. I wanted to lounge around the compound in pajamas with a cup of tea. One day was all I needed.

           “I was thinking,” Bucky’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “We’re technically not due home for another three days.”

           I looked over at him and raised my eyebrows. Did he read my mind or something?

           “We should rest for the night and find a decent motel. Maybe take a day to just relax.”

           I nodded, trying my best to hide the grin sneaking onto my face.

           He always looked out for me, even when I didn’t understand why. I think he knew what I wanted before I did. Hell, maybe that’s what he wanted and used me as an excuse. I was okay with it either way. It wouldn’t be the first time we had to share a room.

           The mission was supposed to be easy and only take a night. None of us expected our target to hide in a hotel for most of it. We weren’t allowed to barge into his room without probable cause, and he refused to meet us outside. He must have known he pissed off the wrong people. Once you get on Tony Stark’s bad list, you weren’t going to get off easy.

           Nat suggested we all stake out in rooms surrounding our target. She and Steve took the room to the left; Tony and Sam were across the hall; and Bucky and I were on the right. We agreed to take sleeping shifts every three hours so at least one room was awake in case something happened. The plan was to catch him doing something that allowed us to break in his door, but I had a feeling he was too smart to fall for that.

           Bucky and I volunteered to take the last shift. We both enjoyed the six hours of sleep that he hadn’t had in a long time. When it was our time to stay awake, we were wide awake and ready for action that never came.

           “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?” I asked as I propped myself up against the headboard.

           “I want to see the northern lights,” Bucky admitted. He walked back over to the bed and lay down in the spot next to me. “What about you?”

           I thought about giving him an honest answer. I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt and explore the pyramids or their ruins. The knowledge that they provided the world with was monumental. To be in that environment and experience it hands on would be amazing. But I wasn’t ready to fully open up to him like that, so I had to give him a goofy answer instead.

           “If I say your arms, would you hold it against me?” I flashed a smirk his way.

           Bucky rolled his eyes and pulled the pillow from under his head to smack me with it. I swiftly caught it before he could and threw it towards the end of the bed. For a split second, I could see his face fall. Whenever I evaded answering a deep question, he’d make that same face. I began to wonder if he wished I was honest with him for once. I trusted him more than anyone on the team, I just hated feeling vulnerable. Maybe that thinking hurt him more than I thought.

           “Egypt,” I answered after a beat of silence. “There’s so much history there. I want to know all of its secrets.”

           He laid there for a moment, staring at me in shock. Never had I ever given him a straight answer like that, and I think it was going to give him a heart attack.

           “What would you want to see first?” His voice was soft and full of worry that I would shut him out again.

           I slid down so I was lying next to him, our faces just an inch away from each other. “They say there was a library in Alexandria that the Christians burned down during their ‘I hate pagan temples’ escapades. I’d like to try and find its ruins. They say so much knowledge was lost that day, I can’t imagine what it would be like to find something.”

           Bucky hummed in content at my response. He wasn’t going to push anymore, and I appreciated it. Surprisingly, though, opening up to him wasn’t all that hard. His eyes had been so inviting, I was ready to spill all of my secrets to him. Of course, I couldn’t do that. Some secrets aren’t meant to be talked about, but he certainly made me feel like they could be.

           “Bucky?” I looked over to see him fast asleep. We were supposed to stay awake for the mission, but he looked so peaceful. I reached over and brushed a stray hair off his forehead. My fingers lingered against his skin, and I silently prayed he wouldn’t wake up. “Thank you.”

           “Are you sure getting the motel isn’t your way to try and cover up the fact we’re lost?” I pondered.

           He leaned his head back against the booth and groaned, which prompted me to smirk. I could hear victory trumpets playing in my head. Celebratory fireworks were being set off somewhere in the distance. I finally got him to crack. I didn’t think I’d ever get him to do it, but tonight I finally won. Was it pride filling my heart? Absolutely. I deserved a gold medal for this occasion.

           “We’re not lost,” he grunted. “We’re taking a scenic route. The long way home, if you will.”

           I wiggled my eyebrows at him, not believing his words for a second. Men really hated admitting when they were wrong, huh? He huffed and threw enough cash on the table to cover the bill and a tip before heading outside to the car. I laughed so loud; I knew he could hear me even when the door closed behind him. I didn’t want a gold medal for the this—I wanted three.

           Before I could follow him, the waiter called to me from behind the counter. When I turned, I felt my heart sink to see how terrified he looked. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down several times, and I’m sure there was a sweat bead trickling down his forehead. I guess I had been a little scary.

           “I wanted to apologize,” he stammered. “Sometimes I get so excited that I say horrible stuff without thinking.”

           I shrugged. “Sometimes I get overly protective and threaten to kill people when I shouldn’t. Consider us even.”

           “Honestly, I’m okay with it.” This made us both laugh. “I wish I had a girlfriend as protective as you. He’s lucky.”

           “Oh, I’m not—“

           I stopped myself and glanced back at the man leaning against the car. His arms were crossed against his chest, and he was kicking at something on the ground. My biggest secret that I swore to never tell? I wish I was his girlfriend. The way he looked at me made me feel perfect despite being the complete opposite. The more time we spent together, the more my heart ached for him. If a waiter I’d never met before now could see that, why couldn’t he?

           “Tell him that,” I replied sadly and stepped out to meet Bucky.

           There was only one time I ever thought about confessing my feelings to Bucky. It was during the New Year’s Eve party Tony was hosting. Bodies packed so tightly into the compound, I thought we were a can of sardines. Whenever I walked somewhere, I had to walk sideways and hold my drink in the air so it wouldn’t spill.

           Bucky stood off to the side, awkwardly tugging at the tie Steve made him wear. Tony wanted all of us to be formal. I’m not sure why, but he insisted. I had to admit, he looked fantastic tonight. His deep red button up was a little too tight for him, but I was not complaining. I could see every ripple of his muscle underneath the fabric. I was surprised he hadn’t torn the sleeve off to expose his metal arm and loosen up the shirt a bit.

           Now that would have been a sexy sight.

           I walked over to join him and held out the glass of champagne I snagged for him. He took it gratefully and downed it, which made me chuckle. Parties never got easier for either of us. We hated having to fake enthusiasm for whatever crazy show Tony tried to put on. I especially hated how many girls would be there trying to get into one of the guys’ pants. They’d twirl their fake hair and bat their fake eyelashes at anyone who paid attention to them for more than a minute. I wanted to hurl.

           Thankfully, Bucky was infamous for blowing off a woman’s advances so they avoided him all together at parties now. I loved being able to spend time with him in peace.

           “Nice dress,” Bucky complimented while stealing my glass of champagne. “Did you purposefully try to match me?”

           I looked down at my dress and laughed. I wore a floor-length, off-the-shoulder dress that was the same shade of red as Bucky’s shirt. It was very tight at the waist and had a plunging neckline, but I hadn’t actually picked it out: Nat did. She told me she wanted me to look capital H hot. I wondered if she knew what Bucky planned on wearing and coordinated.

           “You caught me,” I responded sarcastically. “I snuck into your room just to see what you were wearing tonight and picked my outfit based on that.”

           Bucky rolled his eye playfully. “I knew it. You’re so in love with me, doll.”

           I am.

           God, I wanted so badly to tell him. The words danced on the tip of my tongue. If I told him now, it would make everything easier on us. We’d be able to move past this will-they-won’t-they game and just be. I’m not sure when I wanted that change, but it hit me so strongly just now. Would it be so bad to admit it? The answer was yes. I couldn’t risk everything I had with him for love.

           “You wish.”

           He scoffed and downed what I had left of my drink. He was lucky his metabolism burned off alcohol quickly. If I drank the way he did and as fast, I’d be on the floor within the hour. I may be a tough assassin, but I was unable to hold my liquor. It was absolutely embarrassing to admit, so I tried not to drink a lot in public if I could help it. Sometimes I’d participate in drinking competitions with Sam, but those were the only times I’d let myself get a little out of control.

           Every time I got to that level, Bucky was there to take care of me. It was sweet.

           “You better get me another drink,” I ordered as I poked his stomach. “It’s five minutes to midnight, and I need something to kiss. Alcohol is the only option.”

           “Is it the only option?” He challenged.

           I hesitated for a moment, trying to read whether or not he was joking. Maybe the alcohol was getting to him a little more than I thought. His eyes trailed down my body, and I didn’t miss him biting his lip. I sucked in a breath. Was he attracted to me? After all of the things he’d seen me do during my time with them, did he really feel something for me? No, he couldn’t. I had to be reading into it.

           “You know I can’t handle kissing some stranger here,” I laughed off the heat rising in my cheeks. “You, on the other hand, should go find someone to make out with. We both can’t start our New Year off pathetic.”

           I stepped to the side to begin my journey back to the bar when Bucky moved to block my path. I let out a small gasp and looked up at the man in front of me. His jaw was set, but his eyes were bright as he looked at me. He never acted like this around me before. The little alcohol in his system couldn’t have made him this bold. It must have been something else; I just couldn’t read into what it was. My brain turned to mush under his gaze. I had so many questions, but nothing came out.

           “I don’t want some stranger, Y/N,” he mumbled. He spoke so quietly, I thought I had imagined it.

           Tell him you idiot, I thought to myself. Tell him how you really feel just as the ball drops. There’s nothing wrong with starting off the new year happy.

           “James, I—“

           Five.

           Four.

           “Just be honest with me about your feelings, doll. Just this once.”

           Three.

           Two.

           “I-I can’t,” I whispered and brushed past him without another word.

           One.

           He never told me so, but I knew that would be the last time he’d ever try to get me to admit my feelings. I ruined my one chance, and I’m not even sure why.

           Bucky seemed lost in thought when I approached him. The way he clenched and unclenched his jaw, I knew he was annoyed about something. I figured it had to do with the whole being lost thing, so I didn’t comment on it again. He looked up at me when I leaned on the car next to him.

           “What did he want?” Bucky nodded his head in the direction of the restaurant.

           “Oh, he wanted my phone number,” I sighed in a fake dreamy content.

           “What?!” He yelled—practically roared.

           I jumped at the volume of his voice. Usually when I said something like that, he’d brush it off. I guess I had been picking on him too much tonight. I really needed to learn boundaries.

           “James, I’m just kidding.” I tried my best to keep my voice steady.

           His nose flared as he took a deep breath. The anger practically rolled off of him in waves. I suddenly became very aware that I may have gone too far tonight and didn’t even realize. I actually felt bad.

           “Why do you do that? Why can you never give me a straight answer?” Bucky snapped. “You’re so-so—“

           “Don’t finish that,” I begged quietly. I refused to know what he really thought of me. “Let’s go. I think there’s a motel at the next exit.”

           I headed towards the other side of the car, but Bucky’s hand grabbed mine to stop me. I didn’t turn around, and he didn’t pull me closer. We just stood like that with our fingers interlocked for what felt like hours. The air around us felt like electricity. If one of us moved, a fire would probably spark. At least that’s what it felt like.

           “I just want to know what you’re thinking.” His statement came out more like a plea. “You’re such a mystery to me. I let myself believe that there is something between us and then you shut me out.”

           His grip tightened on my hand, and he pulled me back to face him. Our chests bumped into each other, and his breath fanned my face. I felt intoxicated by his presence. My heart hammered so hard in my chest, I’m sure he could hear it.

           “What are you so afraid of?”

           His eyes scanned mine. Every inch of him pleaded me to be honest for once. What was I afraid of? Everyone I loved usually died, sometimes by my hand. I trained most of my adult life not to love because it was easier. I never knew where life would take me or force me to do, and I couldn’t risk being attached to anyone. But that was years ago, long before I met the beautiful man with the metal arm. The day he washed blood off of my body and didn’t flinch, I knew I was screwed. My life, my opinions on love and friendship, would never be the same.

           I wanted so badly to tell him, but I was terrified. Terrified he’d stop loving me one day. Terrified my past was too dark for him to handle.

           I didn’t want to be scared anymore, though. I didn’t want to walk away from this man who made me feel so alive. I wanted a life filled with happiness. I wanted to let myself feel like home in his arms. My past was dark and filled with images of blood, but that didn’t mean I had to be unhappy in my future. I needed him. I needed this.

           “I love you,” I blurted out.

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes one shots #bucky barnes imagines #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #marvel fics #marvel one shots #marvel imagines #marvel #mcu fic #mcu fanfiction #mcu imagines #mcu one shots #MCU

[averagemarvelbitch]

The (Wedding) Cake Is A Lie / PART TWO

Summary: Steve and Bucky get drunk and invite Tony Stark to their fake wedding, thanks to something they saw on the internet. Best case scenario, Tony’s PA sends a gift without even wondering who the hell they are. Worst case scenario, the PA doesn’t send shit. However, they didn’t actually believe for a second that billionaire Tony Stark would call them up to RSVP to the freaking party!

Well, time to plan a wedding, I guess!

Stony / Mentions of Bucky/Natasha / Fluff / No Angst / AU - No Powers

Based on this / Read it on AO3 / Part One Here

Buy me a coffee, I could use the caffeine to stay up writing! (;

---

Natasha, as it turned out, was much less angry about the whole thing than they expected. She remained silent while Steve and Bucky told her everything that had happened during brunch and didn’t say a word, not even when they finished talking. Needless to say, they both just sat there, terrified, thinking of all the ways Natasha could kill them. After a while, however, she merely nodded.

“Okay. Let’s have a wedding, then”.

“Wait, what? You’re okay with that? Just like that?”

“I’m very much not okay with my boyfriend fake marrying his best friend, but I understand that telling the truth now would make you two look like drunk assholes so I’m going to accept this turn of events and try very hard not to strange both of you on the foreseeable future”.

“That’s… That’s actually very reasonable. You know, for you”, Steve commented.

“So, we’re planning a wedding”.

“Yes, we are. Now, we need someone to officiate the wedding. Preferably someone who’s not ordained because we don’t actually want to get married”.

“Call Sam. He’ll do it”, Natasha replied, looking at her own cell phone, “We also need flowers and a caterer”.

“Actually, Tony took care of that too. He hired this awesome chef to make all the food and the cake and the sweets”.

Both Natasha and Bucky looked up. “Oh, it’s Tony now, is it?” Natasha said with a smirk.

“Well”, Steve replied, defensively, “that’s his name, isn’t it?”

“Indeed it is, Stevie. I’m starting to think you have a crush on Mr. Stark”.

Steve’s face went red and he opened his mouth, probably to deny everything, but thought better of it and just groaned, covering his face.

“I knew it! That’s why you wanted to go to brunch so badly! You like him!”

“Yeah, okay, I like him. Happy now?”

“Stevie, you monumental bag of potatoes, why the hell didn’t you say something? You could’ve just told him it was a joke and asked him out”.

“Well, we’re gonna see him again for the rehearsal dinner, so maybe I’ll do it then”, Steve replied, defensively.

Bucky and Natasha exchanged an amused look.

“Wow. It’s like his brain just vacated the premises”, Bucky said, shaking his head, “Steve, are you seriously thinking of asking Tony Stark out on your WEDDING REHEARSAL, you muppet?”

Steve seemed to finally realize his mistake. He moaned, covering his face, and fell to the side, pressing his face on the couch.

“What am I going to do?” he asked, voice muffled but the couch cushions.

“Well, we could pretend that the pressure of the wedding became too much and fight in front of him and then break up”.

“That is a horrible plan”, Natasha said, deadpanned, “You should do it”.

---

Steve knew he was being weird. A part of his brain, the part that hadn’t completely shut down after hearing the price of a cupcake ― it costed more than his rent, for God’s sake! ―, was screaming at him that he was being weird. Take a breath, Stevie, the voice would say inside his head, sounding an awful lot like Sam, you look like a gaping fish, dumbass.

“I think Steve didn’t like this one”, he heard Tony say in a playful tone.

They were at a fancy bakery in Manhattan, surrounded by couples who were, much like them, deciding on flavors and designs for their wedding cakes. Steve was looking down at his own table, staring at the cupcakes and pieces of cake neatly aligned in front of him, the fancy glass of sparkling water on his right and the three tiny cups filled with different toppings for him to sample. The whole experience was surreal. He didn’t know how to act. Bucky, however, was not having such a problem.

“Yeah, he hates lemon”, he replied, already taking another bite of said lemon cake, moaning as he chewed, “this is absolutely delicious”.

“My favorite so far is the strawberry one, to be honest”.

“Yeah, that one was to die for. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a cake this good in my entire life. Stevie, which one is your favorite?”

Steve finally looked up at Bucky, and then turned to look at Tony, blinking several times before answering.

“Ah, the strawberry one, yeah. And the coconut one”.

Tony moaned softly, an indecent sound that should definitely be illegal in Steve’s humble opinion. “Yeah, the coconut one was just perfect”.

Suddenly, Bucky dropped his fork on his plate, making a very loud sound, “Sure, you want the coconut one. God, Steve, could you be more of a dick?”

“I… What?”

“You KNOW I can’t have coconut. You KNOW I’m allergic, God, you’re so insensitive! So what, I’m not gonna have cake at my own wedding because YOU just needed to have the coconut cake, is that right?”

Steve blinked, utterly confused at Bucky’s behavior. He opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again when he noticed everyone was looking at them.

“Uh, I actually need to use the restroom, so… I’ll be right back”, Tony excused himself, throwing a very apologetic look at Steve.

When Steve was sure Tony was out of earshot, he turned to his best friend, angry.

“What the hell was that?”

“Dude, I’m following the plan, remember?” Bucky replied, rolling his eyes, “We need to make this breakup look real, dumbass”.

“Wait, we’re breaking up now?”

“No, not now. But we need to start the fighting, otherwise Tony won’t believe it when I actually dump your ass”.

Steve shook his head. “Excuse me, why are YOU dumping MY ass?”

“Stevie, come on”, his best friend replied, licking the frosting off his fork, “You’d have to be crazy to dump a hot piece of ass like me. It just wouldn’t be believable”.

“Does it ever get to heavy to carry?”

“What?”

“All the shit inside your big ass head”.

Bucky was ready to retort when Tony finally came back, sitting down.

“So, I was thinking… Since Steve liked to coconut one so much and you liked the strawberry one better, we should have two cakes! So there’s no need to fight anymore, I already ordered them both!”

“Tony, that’s… That’s too much”.

“Nonsense! Anything I can do to make this easier on you two! I know how hard planning a wedding can be for the couple, I remember when Pepper and Happy got married, it was a nightmare, so you can rest assured I’ll do everything in my power to make this whole thing as smooth as possible for you two!”

Bucky and Steve looked at each other, grimacing and then back at Tony, forcing a smile.

“Yeah, thanks for that, Tony, we really appreciate it!”

“No problem at all. Now, a toast to the soon to be husbands!” Tony replied, smiling and raising his glass.

Steve and Bucky did the same, trying very hard not to cry out of desperation.

---

The same thing happened over and over again. Every time Steve and Bucky started fighting over something to do with the wedding, Tony would intervene and bring a solution. They fought about literally everything: the color of the napkins, the food they would serve, the table decorations, the music, anything they could think about, really, was a reason to start screaming at each other. In one of those times, Bucky had even stormed out, crying and screaming it’s over, this is over while Tony desperately tried to calm him down. It was awful and it was definitely not working.

“I don’t get it, why is he so invested in this? I mean, he doesn’t even knows us!” Bucky whispered his complaint to Steve while they both greeted the guests for the rehearsal dinner.

“I know, I don’t get it either. Maybe we should just come clean”, Steve replied, shaking the hand of a person he was pretty sure he had never seen before in his life, “who are all these people anyway?”

“I told Clint and Sam to invite some people, to pretend to be our friends and family”.

“You did WHAT?”

“Dude, what was I suppose to do? It would be weird if we had like five friends over for the wedding and no family!”

Steve didn’t even bother to reply and just focused on greeting a bunch of people he had never seen before in his life.

The dinner part passed without any problems and they actually had a lot of fun. They talked and drank good champagne with Clint, Sam and Nat while Wanda danced with some guy Steve could’ve sworn said his name was Vision and Pietro flirted with a girl who was clearly enamored with him. It was only after the best men toasts ― Sam and Clint had told every dirty little secret they knew about the fake couple ― that Steve finally found time to talk to Tony.

He found the billionaire standing outside, looking at the beautiful gardens ahead.

“Breathtaking, isn’t it? I’m glad you decided to move the wedding here”, Tony said when he noticed Steve approaching.

To be fair, they hadn’t decided anything. Bucky had just thrown a tantrum saying the beautiful, very expensive hotel they had rented was not ideal and they should just call off the wedding and wait for the beautiful space at the hotel upstate to be available. There was an eight months waiting list, but hey, it was worth the wait. It took Tony less than three minutes on the phone to get it for them at the exact date Bucky wanted. So yeah, that plan had backfired.

“It really is”, Steve agreed, standing right next to Tony, “you’ve been doing a lot for us, Tony. You really didn’t have to”.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just happy I’m able to make this dream of yours come true!”

“Yeah, it’s definitely…” a complete nightmare I would very much like to wake up from, “a dream”.

“Something wrong?” Tony asked, worried.

“Just… Not sure this is the right thing to do”.

“Well, you love Bucky, don’t you?”

“I… Yeah, but… I don’t think it’s the kind of love for marriage”, Steve tried, grimacing at his own words.

“Wow. Well, you need to really think about this, Steve. You don’t want to make a mistake and have to live with it for the rest of your life”.

“Yeah. Yeah. I just don’t think we could make each other happy”, he insisted.

“Oh, I don’t know… You’re amazing, Steve. Anyone would be lucky to have such an incredible, kind, handsome man like you. And I know we haven’t known each other for long, but…” this time, Tony grabbed Steve’s hand and squeezed it, looking anywhere but into his baby blue eyes, “… you deserve someone who respects and loves you. And if you think that isn’t Bucky, then you should talk to him. I’m sure everyone would understand”.

“Would you? I mean, you’re paying for all this and it would all go to waste”.

“Nah, don’t worry about that. It’s not like you lied to me all this time, you just figured out that maybe you and Bucky are not ready to marry, that’s totally understandable”.

It’s not like you lied to me all this time, the words circled through Steve’s head, oh God, I can’t tell him.

“Hey, talk to Bucky, okay? Let me know if I need to make some calls”, Tony said, giving Steve a hug, “everything is going to be fine”, he whispered, before leaving.

Oh my God, what are we going to do?

---

“Okay, we need to get married”.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Tony had paid for Nat, Bucky, Sam, Clint and Steve to stay at the hotel that night, so they wouldn’t have to go back home only to return some hours later for the actual wedding. They were all in Steve’s room, drinking and chatting, when the blonde finally walked in, looking more terrified than he ever had before.

“We need to get married. Coulson can say he’s ordained and he can marry us and it will be all fake so it’s no problem and we pretend were married for a few months and then break up”.

Everybody just stared at him.

“Why the ever loving fuck would we do that?!” Bucky asked, “Pal, we already have a plan, a perfectly good plan, a plan that doesn’t involve me marrying your sorry ass!”

“Fake marrying”, Steve corrected.

“I don’t fucking care, Stevie, I’m not marrying you. Not sober, anyway”, he added, taking another long sip from his bottle.

“Why can’t you just have a huge fight tomorrow morning and be done with it?”

“Because Tony spent a lot of money on this, okay? And if we break up tomorrow before the wedding he’s might get suspicious. Or worse, he might think I’m still hang up on you and he won’t want anything to do with me”.

“Do you hear yourself? You sound like a crazy person right now”.

“No, he’s right”, Nat said, nodding, “You have to do it”.

“WHAT? What side are you own?”

“Imagine if Stark gets suspicious. Imagine if he learns we’ve all been lying to him. He could go to the cops, say we were robbing him”.

“We’re not robbing him! He offered to pay for all this!” Bucky complained, looking terrified.

“Yeah, who you think the cops are gonna believe? The dumbass who looks like a homeless person or the guy who owns the biggest technology company in the world?” Clint supplied, calmly.

Bucky just stared at his friends for a moment before finishing his bottle.

“Call Coulson, we’re getting married”.

---

Everything so far was going according to plan. The people Sam and Clint had invited to pretend they were Steve’s and Bucky’s friends and family had all arrived and were sitting down in their respective seats, all quietly waiting for the ceremony. Both Steve and Bucky were already dressed and waiting to walk down the aisle. Everything was going fine. And that’s, of course, when everything went wrong.

Clint appeared all of a sudden, huffing like he had just ran a marathon.

“Coulson’s sick. He can’t make it”.

“WHAT?”

“Apparently, he’s throwing up like crazy, he can’t make it”

“Okay, we need a backup plan”, Steve said, trying to calm himself down.

“Yeah, there’s only one problem”.

“What?”

“Tony knows and brought a minister”.

“WHAT?”

As if summoned by the mere mention of his name, Tony showed up, a big smile on his face.

“Hey. There was a slight issue with the program, but don’t worry, everything is fixed. My friend Rhodey is ordained and he’s gonna marry you guys. So, chop chop, it’s time, lovebirds”.

Not knowing what else to do, Steve and Bucky just nodded and turned as the doors opened. The music started playing softly on the background as they walked down the aisle. Sam and Nat took the front, with Clint and Wanda right behind them. Steve was sure the whole scene looked beautiful for anyone watching, but he, well, he just felt like throwing up.

“We could always get a divorce, right?” Bucky asked right before they stopped in front of a very well dressed man, probably Rhodey. Rhodey, who was ordained. Rhodey, who was going to marry them. Bind them forever in the eyes of… Well, everyone.

“Dear beloved…”

“STOP!” someone screamed. It took Steve a moment to notice that the shout came from him.

Everybody was staring in silence. The man, Rhodey, was looking at him, an eyebrow raised, waiting for Steve to talk.

“Steve? What’s wrong?” Tony asked from the front row, getting up.

“I can’t do this. Okay, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Tony, but we were lying”.

“You… What?”

“Look, Buck and I, were friends. We’ve been friends ever since we were kids and sometimes we get drunk and we do stupid stuff and we got drunk and thought it would be funny to send you an invitation to our fake wedding so maybe you would send us like a gift or something and then you called and you wanted to pay for the whole thing and I kinda wanted to spend time with you so we didn’t tell you anything and then it just got bigger and bigger until we couldn’t tell you because you were spending a shitload of money on this and we felt so bad but I can’t marry Bucky because I’m pretty sure Natasha would cut my balls off and I kinda really like you and I wanted to ask you out and I wouldn’t be able to if I married Bucky and I’m just SO SORRY”.

Tony just blinked, staring at Steve.

“Well, at least he’s just as insane as you, Tones”, Rhodey said, rolling his eyes.

“I… What?”

Tony smiled. And then he laughed, shaking his head.

“Steve, I know you and Bucky were never together. I know Bucky and Natasha are the ones dating. And I knew you were lying”.

“Since when?” Bucky asked, his voice sounding all funny and high.

“Since you sent me the invitation”.

“But… How?”

“Well,” Tony replied, still smiling, “remember three months ago? You were at the Maria Stark Gallery showing your work?” When Steve nodded, dumbfounded, he continued, “I saw you. I couldn’t talk to you at the time, too busy, and then I had to leave because I had an emergency at SI and I didn’t have a chance to talk to you. I knew your name and where you lived, but I couldn’t just go after you like some sort of stalker, so I decided to wait until the next time you were at the gallery. Imagine my surprise when I received an invitation to your wedding in my mail a month later”.

“But… How did you know about Bucky and Nat?”

“Natasha worked for Pepper for a little while. I got her phone and called. She thought my plan to pretend to believe you guys was hilarious and helped me out”.

“YOU WHAT?” Bucky screamed, turning to his girlfriend, who was smiling cheekily.

“Payback for all those times you two idiots got drunk and almost gave me a heart attack. Also, everybody else was in it too”, she said, gesturing to Clint, Sam and Wanda.

“You’re kidding”.

“Nope, it was hilarious”.

“So, you’re not mad at us?” Steve asked Tony, looking lost.

“No, I’m not mad. In fact”, he said, turning to the people who were sitting down behind them, “great job, everyone, time to party”.

Everyone cheered and got up, waking towards the ballroom.

“Well, this was… Not fun at all and I need a drink. Or four”, Bucky said, taking of his tie and grabbing his girlfriend’s hand, “Anyone up for some champagne? I feel like celebrating the fact that I didn’t in fact marry down”.

Steve felt very tempted to slap the back of Bucky’s head, but refrained, instead watching as everyone else left the room, leaving only Tony and him behind.

“So”.

“So”

“Would it be weird to ask you out on my failed fake wedding day?”

“A little bit, yeah. But I happen to like weird”, Tony replied, taking Steve’s hand and pulling him towards the door, “So, were you actually going to marry him? Because, to be honest, you could totally do so much better”, he joked when the blonde pulled him closer, arm on his shoulders, hugging him.

“Damn right I could”, Steve agreed with a serious expression that quickly turned into a smile.

---

Later that night, Bucky and Steve were sitting at a table, watching Tony and Nat laughing in the middle of dance floor.

“So… This definitely tops all the other times we got stupid drunk, right?”

“Definitely”, Steve said, taking a sip of his glass and looking at Bucky, “At least this time nobody woke up in the middle of a corn field with no pants on”.

“Well”, Bucky replied, drinking some more, “the night is still young”.

#stevetony #stony #superhusbands #ironshield #stony fic #stevetony fic #superhusbands fic #steve rogers #tony stark

[forever-yoongis]

The Chemistry Of Love

Ships: Yoongi x reader, Namjoon x reader, Jungkook x reader

Genre: Fluff with a teeny tiny bit of angst.

"You really don't have to do that. It's fine, I'll manage it somehow".

"No Ann, you don't understand. Being a senior ALWAYS means you have to help out your juniors...you don't have to do this surgery. You really need some rest", Alex insisted. The nurses gawked at him. It's not everyday you see Alex favouring someone..everyone knew that he was the most arrogant doctor in the hospital. I shuffled nervously, thinking if I should really accept his favour. I knew this man. He'd never let me hear the end of it. But I had done five surgeries in a row and let's just say that if I didn't have the fresh rush of adrenaline pumping through my veins, I would have collapsed long ago. "Ann it's really okay to take rest. I'll handle it this time. Please, you don't look good right now", he kept trying to convince me. "Plus,you did a fantastic work today. I could expect nothing less from my Ann", he smiled brightly.

I winced. 'My Ann?' Seriously? If the nurses had been gawking at the two of us for the last half an hour, this time their jaws literally dropped. Like literally. But Alex didn't seem to be fazed by it all, the words came out naturally, as if it hadn't been the first time he said those words. I tried best to ignore the hammering heart in my chest. I clutched the files to my chest, "T-thank you for this, I really appreciate it," I stammered. Why's he doing this to me? Did he really find out about my teeny tiny crush on him? Oh fuck...that definitely has to be the reason. Ugh,but I never made it obvious! I made sure I didn't stare, or talk to him too much to raise suspicions..then how? But then, that is what is so special about him. He's really smart, I thought dreamily. No Ann, get a hold of yourself, I chided myself. Okay you idiot heart of mine, stop getting overexcited. Just FRIGGIN CALM DOWN!

I tried to tip-toe my way out of his chamber after thanking him, when he makes me freeze in my tracks with his words. "If you're really thankful dear, how about you repay me by letting me take you out for dinner?" I dared not turn back. The nurses' jaws probably had fallen out by now. I shut my eyes. What is he thinking, asking me out publicly like this? Oh this is bad for my heart. This has made it even hards for me to reject him..not that I want to though...ugh!

Nodding my head furiously with my back turned to him, I lunged at the door and ran out, not turning back once. I had tied my hair quickly that morning in a loose ponytail since I overslept and was almost late. I could feel my hair getting undone and as I ran at full speed towards the stairs, climbing up the steps running into a startled Sophie who, before going "whoa girl..what's wrong" I pulled her into my chamber and closed the door shut.

____________________________________________

"You did WHAT?" She almost choked on the bottle of juice she took from my table (and which she immediately started having after entering mind it). She raised an eyebrow. I sighed, "Alex asked me out and I said yes", I covered my face with my hands which rested on the table peeking out a little between the fingers to see how she reacted. She made a choking sound, pulled at her hair, repeatedly saying "what am I gonna do with you" and then straightened up in her chair. "You do know what you did right?" She sighed. "You know how he is..." She trailed off. "Yeah proud-" "that would be the understatement of the century. Remember how he made that girl cry because she fainted on seeing so much blood". I huffed. "That was alright! This profession is not for weak-hearted girls. Served her right". "You're being as bad as her you know, you mean woman", Sophie glared at me. "Already defending your man, huh?" an amused voice said from behind. "Yah don't you dare encourage her," Sophie scolded the girl behind me. I turned to see Exci snickering. "I'm not defending him!!" I puffed my cheeks in annoyance. "Sure", she replied as she poured out the contents of the bottle into a glass. "Heyy stop having my drink you two!" I complained, but I might as well have been speaking to deaf people. They were busy drinking from their glasses. "So since our Ann has already decided what to do, we have no choice but to get going now" , Exci put down her glass and looked at me. "Let's get her dressed for the big date".

_______________________________________________

I had never seen Alex dressed in anything else other than his work-clothes and the while lab coat, so I'll admit I had been quite impressed to see him dressed so well when he came to pick me up. I hardly ever wore dresses, but somehow my two very awesome friends (or as they liked to call themselves) coaxed me into wearing a blue dress that reached upto the knees and heels. "You look lovely", he had said while smiling brightly as he held out his hand.

Being with Alex was like a ride on a roller coaster. Thrilling. But nothing more. I had never been very comfortable with talking to him. It was like walking on thin ice, carefully choosing my words, afraid of pissing him off. But I blamed my uneasiness on my inexperience in these things, for my studies had never really allowed me to do spend time in other things all these years. It was hard to get his compliments and it became one of my motives to keep getting them.

I don't really remember what we talked about during the date but I do remember that I had never been more nervous about anything else in my life. But I felt that I should be happy and satisfied by just getting his attention.

I do remember that we never dated. But that hardly mattered for me. My friends told me I smiled a lot more and watched too much of rom-com. They said I sung too many love-songs nowadays and had become cheesy. Everything seemed to be out of a fairy tale movie back then. Brushing hands while examining the ruptured artery of a patient diagnosed with aneurysm would make me blush and he would comment my cheeks became as red as the blood on our hands. Not very romantic,but back then it was the loveliest thing I've heard. He would pull strings so that he could be in the same ER as me. He would know by looking at my trembling hands that I had done one too many surgeries that day and he would quietly shoo me away asking me to rest. I was thrilled to see this whole new side of him,caring ,sweet and understanding.

The day I remember most vividly is when I went to his office just to see him trying hard to understand what the patient was suffering from. His symptoms seemed vague and weird. When I had suggested a solution to him, his eyes had lit up as he rushed to the patient's room. I remember how that evening he stumbled into my room as I was packing up for the day with a glint in his eyes I could not really understand.

He had grabbed hold of my shoulders,panting and had told me, "Marry me you idiot. Ann, you are a genius,that was indeed a case of trigeminal neuralgia". I couldn't care less about my diagnosis being correct. I could only think that he had asked me to marry him. "When are we getting the wedding cake?" ,the nurses had asked. "Soon enough, right?",Alex had winked at me. But now I know those were words that held no meaning to him as he could carelessly throw them at any girl that caught his fancy. But how was I supposed to know then? I was purely, hopelessly, pathetically head-over-heels for this guy.

______________________________________________

"Oh him? I think I saw him entering his chamber a while back", one of the nurses told me smiling. "Thanks", I replied hurriedly. It was my off-day but I suddenly had this urge to see him so I thought I could just surprise him with my visit. Yet, who would've known that I would be the one getting the surprise that day.

I practically skipped down the hallways, humming a tune, anxious to see him, my head full of scenarios of how he might react on seeing me. I pushed open the big wooden door, "Alex!Guess who's here to see-" I stopped mid-way. In front of the table, Alex was leaning over his chair and kissing a girl who looked like a nurse from the hospital. "Oh Ann, I thought it was your off-day", Alex smiled apologetically. The nurse looked confused seeing me. "I thought you said you weren't dating..."

"Oh no really he isn't. Sorry for interrupting", I forced a bright smile and left quickly closing the door behind me. My "break-up" wasn't like what you see in the movies...the guy running after the girl and trying to call or message everyday, asking for a second chance...he never came after me. Neither did he text or call. In fact, he never spoke to me again. For a week, I had harboured a faint hope that maybe, maybe he would ask for a second chance and even though I would never have trusted him again, I badly wanted to believe that I meant something to him at least. But that never happened. And I was quick to accept things. But it hurt. A friggin lot. However, I managed to show that I hardly cared what happened to us. The nurses were curious, but I didn't bother explaining.

My tears dried after a week of crying over him and it took me three months of counselling and how-to-kick-Alex's-butt sessions with Sophie and Exci before I could talk about him without falling into depression...

#bts yoongi #min yoongi #yoongi

[exoticarmy127]

For you (anything) - Jin

WTSILY #4 - Jin Chef au

“Okay, I specifically said the backdrop ought to be gold… This is yellow, people! Now remove that thing, it hurts my eyes.”

“Yes, doves. We ordered doves but this morning we got a bunch of pigeons instead.”

“What do you mean the linen came in Ecru?! Boss specifically said it should be Ivory!”

“Y/N, when you’re done I need you to sign some things!”

Y/N looked up from her clip board briefly and gave a quick nod. She wasn’t entirely sure who had asked—too busy checking her list through.

The latest wedding project was in a week and there were a few things that needed to be done still. The last few days of preparations were always the worse but there’s nothing Y/N—Seoul’s top wedding planner, couldn’t handle. She had been through worse than delivery and color mix ups. The toughest ones were when her clients didn’t get along in decision-making (there was one time the bride and groom took a week to decide on their wedding cake flavor alone) or when brides have cold feet. That’s why Y/N always stuck close to her bride’s hours before the big event—making sure they’re comfortable and making sure they won’t be running away.

“Y/N, it’s eight. Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”

Y/N looked up from her clipboard and saw Janice, one of her colleagues, holding a delicate flower arrangement and giving her a knowing smile.

“I…do?”

Janice chuckled and plucked the clipboard from her hand. “You’re seriously lucky to have the most patient boyfriend in the world, Y/N. You have dinner with him at seven.”

Just then, it all clicked. “No! I wouldn’t forget. Let me see…” she took the clipboard again and flipped through the schedule, seeing that she had a meeting with the caterer at 7. She showed her the form, “See? I have a meeting with…”

“The caterer.” Janice finished for her before grabbing the clipboard once again. “Who is also your boyfriend, if you’ve forgotten?”

Y/N blinked once, twice, before realization hit her. She was juggling three weddings this month and she had forgotten one of those weddings booked her boyfriend’s business to be the caterer.

“Hey, go on, I’ll take over here. He’s probably waiting. And those dishes aren’t going to taste itself, you know?”

Y/N smiled at her gratefully before taking her phone out. “Thanks Jan. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“See ya! Tell Jin I said hi.”

Y/N smiled before turning and moving towards her car on the lot out back, all the while sending a quick “Sorry, got caught up. Be there soon. :*”

As she was halfway to the restaurant, by the stoplight on the second intersection, she received a reply:

“I’ll be waiting :)”

 “Good evening, miss Y/LN.”

“Hey Jay,” she gave the young server a small smile before her eyes searched for that one familiar figure. The restaurant was still packed, as it should be during this hour. “Where’s Jin?”

“Second floor; he has everything set up for you.”

Y/N smiled in thanks before moving up the stairs to the second floor. What welcomed her made her heart stop.

The set up was just as her clients had asked: everything from the centerpiece down to the linen, plates and utensils set up on the table was spot on. She sighed, thinking if only all her business partners were like this. It would definitely make her job a lot easier.

Y/N moved towards the array of dishes on the table and knew they were delicious by a single glance. She didn’t need to taste them as Jin never disappointed in that department. All his restaurants were rated 5 stars for a reason.  

“You’re late.”

Y/N turned at the sound of the familiar voice and she swore she felt her heart skip a beat. Jin stood by the doorway, still donned in his chef uniform with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She remembered the first time she had ever met him: exactly like he was now at one of his restaurants uptown. She remembered thinking how handsome (she may have stared longer than necessary and forgot to introduce herself) and polite he was with how he had offered to feed her after the meeting, as well as the rest of her staff. After that, they started seeing more of each other as Jin’s business became more popular and every bride and groom wanted him to cater their wedding. 

It was almost too easy: falling in love. Jin made it easy with his sweet smile, his gentlemanly gestures, and his ability to put a smile on her face. Even his awkward tendencies and dad jokes became endearing.

And perhaps Jin did bribe her a little with the food. Food was life, and who was Y/N to say no to good food?

“Sorry babe, things were a little crazy back at the venue and—“ Y/N didn’t get to finish her sentence as Jin had reached her in three long strides and gathered her up in his arms—before leaning down to capture her lips in a sweet kiss.

If Y/N thought his food tasted divine, there were no words to describe Jin’s kisses. It was simply put, on another level; the type that made your toes curl and your heart drum like it was trying to escape from your chest.

When they parted, their cheeks were flushed and their smiles were brighter than the sun. Y/N thought how she could look at him all day and never get tired.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Hungry?” Jin asked with a chuckle before taking her hand and leading her towards the table. 

“When I am ever not?” She laughed as Jin pulled out a seat for her. “And besides, it looks like we have some food tasting to do. My client wanted a—”

“Oh that?” Jin scoffed as he pushed her chair a bit closer to the table. “The bride and groom came in earlier today and tasted everything already. She loved it,” before Y/N could say anything he added, “I tried calling you around lunch, but you weren’t answering.”

Y/N’s mouth hung open for a moment, realizing that Jin practically did her job—crossing out a huge chunk in her list. She felt so relieved and thankful that she couldn’t find the right words to say.

Thank you didn’t seem enough.

Jin moved over to the serving tray and picked up two plates before returning to the table to serve it in front of her. Y/N smiled when she saw the dish.

“I figured you were busy. But tonight, just try to relax please?” He kissed the crown of her head. “For you. I made your favorite.”

Y/N’s gaze softened as she watched her boyfriend take a seat on the opposite side of the table. She watched as he placed the table napkin on his lap, feeling a sense of peace at watching him doing something so mundane. Jin often stayed at her apartment and she at his depending on their schedules and she liked watching him cook in the kitchen more than she liked to admit. They were both early risers and so their bonding often took place in the kitchen; with Y/N lounging by the counter drinking fruit juice while Jin whips up something absolutely delicious by the stove. 

As if feeling her stare, Jin looked up and smiled shyly when she caught her staring.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

She shook her head slightly. “No…” she looked down at her food and grabbed a fork—smiling. “I just, it’s been a really tiring day but you somehow managed to turn it around.“ She looked at him then and their eyes locked. “As you always do. So thank you. I just want you to know that.”

A soft expression passed over Jin’s face, endeared and touched by her words. He held out his hand and Y/N took it, their palms sliding over each other and fingers intertwining in a perfect fit.

“For you? Anything.” Jin smiled before bringing her hand to his lips for a kiss. 

Y/N’s heart fluttered at the gesture but she gave him snort to hide how completely head-over-heels she was at that moment. “You’re such a sap.”

“A very romantic sap and you love it.” Jin winked which made her chuckle. He then grabbed a spoon before digging into his dish and reaching out to feed her. Y/N opened her mouth and took a bite, then closed her eyes and moaned slightly at how delicious it was.

Jin chuckled. “Good?”

“Really really good! God, I could marry you right now.”

Silence hung in the air, and Y/N realized what she had said a little too late, unable to hold her tongue and keep her thoughts to herself. She instantly blushed when she caught Jin smiling to himself.

“I…I mean…”

“Why don’t you?”

Y/N paused, unsure if she heard him right. “What?”

“I said,” Jin chewed for a second before swallowing then looked at her, his expression serious. “Why don’t you? Marry me, I mean.”

Y/N’s gaze softened at that. “You want to?”

“More than anything.”

Y/N was practically screaming on the inside at how quickly he had replied. “Is that an official proposal?”

Jin bit his lip before pushing off his chair and standing up. Her eyes widened when she saw him retrieve something shiny from the right breast pocket of his uniform.

“Oh my god. Wait—You were serious? You already have a ring?!”

Jin looked at her like that wasn’t obvious already. “Yes. I ah…” he looked down, suddenly shy. “I had one since June.”

Y/N’s mouth hung open. She never thought Jin had planned on proposing for so long… It was already December! 

“But… why did you wait so long?”

Jin was looking sheepish as he rubbed his nape. “I tried, several times. I just… I was finding the right—perfect time, I guess. And I wasn’t sure if you wanted to settle yet. I know you have a career going for you and I just wanted to support you and—“ Jin stopped when he was suddenly engulfed in a warm embrace.

Tears threatened to spill from Y/N’s eyes as she hugged him, unsure however she got so lucky to have someone love her this much…To have someone like Jin in her life.

“Stupid. I would have said yes without delay.”

And this time, it was Jin’s turn to cry. Relieved or overjoyed? It was definitely both.  

END

To the first person in BTS who has ever made my heart race, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 

Hope you guys enjoyed this! Tell me what you think ;)

BTS series: Ways to Say I Love You masterlist

- Kaye Allen

#WTSILY #Jin scenarios #bts scenarios #bangtan scenarios #network bangtan #BTS #kim seokjin #Mr Worldwide Handsome #HappyJinDay

[cecilspeaks]

112 - Citizen Spotlight

If you see something crawling across your floor in the dark, don’t worry. It’s probably just a tarantula. Welcome to Night Vale.

Listeners, in this fast-paced world of community radio and local news, I think we’ve lost sight of the truly important thing: the individuals who make up our diverse community.

So today, I want to try out a new segment I've put together called Citizen Spotlight, in which we will profile a randomly selected citizen, diving deep into who they are, and maybe discovering some things about ourselves along the way.

Oh, here’s an intro I’m working on for it.

[very deep, menacing voice] Spotlights, roving in the night. Hunting. Closing in. But everything is backwards. The night is hot and bright. The spotlights are deep and black. Everything they touch turns to darkness. They are searching for the light. They consume it.

[chipper voice] That’s a rough draft. I’m open to notes. Anyway, today’s inaugural spotlight was curated by closing my eyes and pointing in the phone book. And so today, we will talk about Sigrid Borg. She’s a brand new citizen who has just arrived in Night Vale. I have hear this classified dossier, we had a team of heist experts – thanks, Janice – steal from the Hall of Public Records. The dossier says that Sigrid was relocated to Night Vale as part of a witness protection program, and that Sigrid is not her real name. Nor is she of the Scandinavian origin her name might suggest. Thus all of the information we managed to obtain on Sigrid for this segment is fictional, created by a government software program to ensure her total anonymity, and in no way represents who she really is as a person. In all probability, it is in most ways the opposite of her true identity, but for safety, it’s important that we all believe this made-up biography is absolute fact. It is extremely, extremely important. She would be in great danger if anyone from the outside world started to doubt who she claimed to be.

We’ll get to our Citizen Spotlight momentarily, but first, as a way to make Sigrid feel more at home, I’ve asked other Night Vale citizens to reveal a dark secret that they’ve never shared. I will be reading those throughout today’s broadcast. The first comes from Susan Escobar, second grade teacher at Night Vale elementary school. She writes: “One night, I was at school late grading homework, and I heard strange sounds coming from the cafeteria. When I looked inside, I saw a giant mandala on the floor made entirely of frozen fish sticks. It seemed to be undulating and alive. When I blinked, it vanished. But every night I dream of flying toward a cloudless sky, and in the center of that sky is that fish stick mandala. And I wake before I reach it, but each dream a little closer. And the night that I reach that mandala in my dream is the night I will die.” Thanks Susan! Sounds fun.

Now let’s talk about Sigrid. Though new to town, Sigrid Borg was born in Night Vale and has lived here her entire life. Her parents were immigrants from the picturesque Swedish port city of Halmstad. She tries to go back at least once a year to visit her grandparents, a retired grade school teacher and a retired timber farmer, who have a lovely cottage overlooking at the mouth of the Nissan river, where it meets the North Sea. Sigrid has always been close with her grandparents, though in recent visits, has become distressed at her grandmother’s increased mental confusion and grandfather’s drinking habits. She doesn’t call them as often she used to and feels guilty about that. She’s torn between the desire to take more responsibility for their health and well being and the desire to block the situation out of her mind completely, as it has become a signifier of the irrevocable loss of her own childhood, and a direct confrontation with morality itself.  

Sigrid’s favorite food is smorgåstårta, a Scandinavian layer cake that is made of sandwiches and fish paste. Ask her to make it for your next big event. She’s been carefully drilled by her witness protection handlers on the foods of her childhood, and has almost got the hang of making them, although she has failed to acquire a taste for fish paste.

Some fun facts that you may not know about Sigrid, despite having lived in the same town with her all your lives. She has a degree in marine hauntology from an online university. She has a disorder that makes it impossible for her to sweat or cry. She has served on the board of the Sand Wastes Conservation Fund for six and a half years. She is deeply embedded into our community and way of life.

And now, another confession from a local resident about a dark secret. This one from my dear friend Earl Harlan. It reads: “On a Boy Scout training maneuver near the old dirt road, I witnessed the apparition of my 10-year-old self wearing the scout uniform of my youth. He trained with us all afternoon, and I tried not to give him any preferential treatment. As the afternoon passed, new memories appeared in my mind of training at 10 years old with a group of strangers, one of whom seemed familiar and stared at me constantly in horror.” That’s adorable! Thanks, Earl!

Back to Citizen Spotlight. Sigrid spent her childhood in the Hefty Sycamore Trailer Park near downtown. She didn’t have many friends; she was shy in school. One year, she tried out for a solo in the school holiday pageant. For the audition, she sang a Flakey-O’s jingle that was very popular at the time, but no one took her seriously. They all thought she was making a joke. She apologized and faded back into the bleachers. She truly loved that jingle. It spoke to her soul, it made her feel something. She recorded it off the radio and listened to it often, rewinding and replaying it out at the picnic table on summer nights, when the rest of her family was asleep. But she never listened to it again after the solo tryouts, because it only brought back the sound of the other kids laughing, of her teacher’s scolding voice lecturing the class to take themselves seriously, or no one else would. And it made her feel ashamed. She eventually recorded over the tape with audio from a TV special about orphaned lion cubs. But sometimes, under the hungry sucking sounds of giant kittens drinking from baby bottles, she thought she could still hear the song.

In 7th grade, she finally made some friends during the unknown creature dissection unit in science class. She wasn’t squeamish, and her ability to identify and extract misshapen internal organs without flinching made her an attractive lab partner. Everyone thought she was new in town because they had never noticed her before. She still has that effect on people. In the spring of that year, someone asked her to to the junior high dance. The team was “heat death of the universe”. The boys spent a lot of time licking the crepe paper decorations to dye their tongues bright colors and impress the girls. The girls were not impressed, but laughed anyway. Sigrid’s date tried to lick her hand to see if the dye would come off on her skin. This caused Sigrid to feel a surge of strange tingling panic, and she fled to the bathroom for 30 minutes. Her friends eventually found her and dragged her back into the gym. She danced with them for the rest of the night, hiding from the boys with the blue tongues.

There were bountiful crops that year. Some say this was not a coincidence. Some say the junior high dance is a secret crop fertility ritual outlined in the town charter, but kept secret from the children who participate. When the dance was cancelled in the following years, due to the crepe paper dye related poisoning incident, Night Vale experienced extreme drought and locust plagues. Some say this, too, was not a coincidence.

A quick bulletin board reminder: the reinstated junior high dance is coming up! May all you young citizen make lush and plentiful memories, and have a cornucopia of fun.

More Citizen Spotlight soon, but first, The weather. 

["Try Try Try" by Rachael Sage]

Another secret confession. Ah, what a treat! This one comes from iconic local celebrity and recent donut food truck entrepreneur, Lee Marvin. It says: “There is a void. Within that void a light. Within that light, a hand. Within that hand, a movement. Within that movement, a potential. Within that potential, everything that ever was.” Thank you Lee, and of course, a happy 30th birthday to you today!

Citizen Spotlight time. In high school, Sigrid’s left hand started to itch below the pinky finger. A small lump appeared which grew slowly over time. She became self-conscious about this and wore bulky sweatshirts with long sleeves pulled over her hands, which was luckily a fashionable look then. The nurse at the health clinic assured her that it was nothing to be concerned about, but it kept growing. Eventually, it took the shape of what appeared to be a second, smaller pinky finger. She was even able to wiggle it if she concentrated very hard. As you may know, the Hefty Sycamore Trailer Park was built on the dried-up shores of the old pesticide waste river, and Sigrid’s father felt there might be some connection between this and the extra finger. They decided to relocate.

They moved into a two-story house by the train tracks, a fixer-upper that shook on its foundation twice a day when the train came through, and once or twice erratically every night when the secret night trains passed, with their nameless and unspeakable cargos. Sigrid’s parents began to fight often, never having the money to fix up the fixer-upper, and they both spent as much time as possible away from home. Sigrid had a complicated relationship with her extra finger at this point, partially blaming it for the rift in her parents’ relationship. Once, when Sigrid was alone in the house, she heard something creeping up the stairs. She hummed the Flakey-O’s jingle til she couldn’t hear it anymore, and then she started spending a lot more time away from home also.

There was a small group of kids who hung out around the train tracks at night, so she started hanging out with them to avoid going home. They liked to smoke cigarettes and light off fireworks and dare each other to look at the secret night trains, although none of them ever did, as they all knew that to look at one of those trains meant an instant and painful death. They would talk and gossip about kids and teachers she’d never heard of before, and she began to wonder if they even went to her school. When she was hanging out with them, she would often glance up at the dark windows of her own empty house just down the tracks and see movement behind the glass. Or soft white eyes staring out.

During one of these movements, while she looked at the house, all her friends disappeared and she found herself alone on the tracks. No sign of the teenagers that had been there mere seconds before. She never saw those kids again, but she often heard their voices in portable radios on the wind, and she spent her evenings wandering up and down the tracks, looking for them.

At the end of senior year, the high school yearbook featured fun awards for each student, voted on by the class. Smartest girl and tallest boy and most likely to survive a mass extinction event, and best smile. Every single student received a commemorative award, except for Sigrid. It wasn’t intentional or out of spite. Everyone forgot that she existed. She was inexplicably absent during every school picture day throughout the years. Never participated in any extracurricular activities, didn’t speak up in class, got average grades, and ate lunch alone. Which some say contributed to her lack of memorability. But she was there, and is here, and always has been. She belongs here. It’s totally normal to forget someone you know, but you do in fact know her. Some of you know her very well.

One time you went thrift store shopping together, and she picked out a jacket for you that was too big, but she said it looked great on you. It was fuzzy and resembled furniture upholstery. Royal blue with gold stripes. The lining was ripped. She bought it for you. You found that old jacket recently, royal blue with gold stripes, you put it on. It almost fits now. You felt something that you hadn’t felt before, sticking against your ribs, tucked into the ripped lining. You reached inside and you pulled out a piece of notebook paper, folded into a hard little square. It was from Sigrid. It described a thing that she shouldn’t have seen, and couldn’t speak about. It instructed you to burn the note immediately, and you did. It instructed you to never acknowledge to her that you even received it. You can never tell anyone what the note said.

If you do run into Sigrid, remember that she is a real person filled with blood and misshapen internal organs, just like you and me. Everything I have told you about her is completely true. Well, none of it is technically true, but it was crafted by state of the art technology to evoke a range of 1-4 feelings in the listener. And as we all know, feelings are real, and truth is in the mind of the beholder. And the beholder lives out in the scorched orchard under the floorboards of the old cherry-picking stack.

Stay tuned next for a mysterious distress signal that requires urgent action, but is impossible to locate.

On behalf of everyone here at Night Vale Community Radio, welcome to your new town, Sigrid – the town where you have lived your entire life.

And to everyone else: Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: Be yourself. As if you had any choice in the matter.

#welcome to night vale #wtnv transcripts #episode 112 #citizen spotlight

[3monthsineurope]

January 15, 2020

Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, was on Wednesday! Emily and I slept in until 9ish and got ready in the room. This was our last port of the trip. We had breakfast at the buffet on the Lido deck, then headed out for the day.

St. Kitts the day before had a huge port with tons of shops. Tortola on the other hand was smaller, but then as still developed nicely. Martinique was much smaller than Tortola. There just wasn’t many souvenir shops—it was more high end jewelry. We went through the few shops there, then left the port area. We found a “craft village” and explored those shops for a bit. A lot of the shops had similar things, and they weren’t made super well. All the shops were vibrantly colored, which I did really like. It started raining again! We took shelter in a shop, then wandered around, trying to find a cafe.

We found one and had some yummy coffee. This island was definitely one of the more expensive ones: my small iced mocha was $6! I haven’t mentioned but everyone on the ship thinks Emily and I are sisters! Seriously, we get asked all the time by the staff. We had our coffee and used the WiFi, then decided to head back to the port area.

We ran into Kurt and Carol (the one bitten by a shark that we met in Grand Turk!), which was nice. We’ve met so many nice people this cruise! Earlier that morning we ran into Cynthia and her husband. Her husband had really badly stubbed his toe on the pier, what a bummer! We went back into the port and got some things shopping. We decided to have a drink, so we sat down at a bar. I chatted with some super nice cousins who were on the boat next to us, the Celebrity Edge. They have this cut out of one of their family members, Tony. They gave me one to bring on my trip to India, which is super funny! They were really nice and encouraged me to keep on traveling! Emily was chatting to two guys next to us, who actually worked for the cruise. Dariel plays guitar and Martin plays the piano. They both are solo acts. Dariel has seen us around the ship but hadn’t got up the nerve to say hi to us. He was definitely crushing on Emily. Coincidentally, I had seen Martin the night before for the first time.

We hung out with the boys for a few hours. It was really interesting hearing some “crew secrets”. Dariel actually bought Emily and I a couple drinks, which was really nice. We hung out with the guy who did our caricature, too. After a bit, the four of us wandered over to this one store, where Emily and I bought some hibiscus infused gin. We had had a few drinks made with it at the bar and they were sooooo tasty! We decided to call it a day in Tortola, so all four of us headed to the ship. I wanted to take a nap, but once we got to our room I realized we were missing our souvenirs bag.

Oh gosh! Emily had put the bag by our feet at the bar and we had left without it. We were supposed to be back in the boat in fifteen minutes. I wanted to try to get it, so we ran down to the disembarking area. They told me not to run, but I was frantic. Emily stayed near the boat, in case they tried to leave without me and I ran down the pier. I made it to the bar, but the bag was gone. The bartender hadn’t seen it. I went to where we bought the gin, the police, the information area, and the security for getting back on the ship. No one had it. I was so sad that someone had stolen my bag. I had postcards, a magnet, a really pretty Christmas ornament for Mom, and mug for Haley, and a hot sauce for Ingvar in it. I was just so bummed. I never put things by my feet like that, because I’ll forget it. I was frustrated that Emily had put it there, but obviously it wasn’t her fault. It was just such a bummer because this island was expensive, so I spent the most there, compared to the other islands.

I was crying, walking back to the ship—I just couldn’t help it. Emily tried to console me, but I was really upset. I video called Ingvar after I bought WiFi, back in our room. It was so nice to see him! I really do miss him. It made me feel a lot better to talk with him. There was a lot of snow at home! I calmed down after chatting with him and called Mom and Haley in LA. They both said it was okay that their gifts were stolen, but I was still sad about it.

Around five, it was time to get ready for my Chef’s Table experience! I was actually so excited! My make up didn’t run off when I had cried, so I just had to do my hair. I straightened it and dressed in a dress with wedges. I met Holly and Betty (from our dinner table) in the Atrium and checked with guest services. No one had turned in my bag, sadly.

The Chef’s Table was absolutely amazing! It started out with the sous chef of the entire cruise boat taking us into the kitchen for a champagne toast and three amus busches ____. We saw Ari, one of our waiters, and waved at him. We had a two little bites and some mushroom tea. It sounds weird, but it was like really flavorful broth. It was so good! A woman named Francine helped the chef make the batter for the famous Carnival melting cake, which we would have later.

The chef then took us to our table. It was situated in the Beauties nightclub, where we had danced just the night before! Hahah! I sat next to Betty and Holly, and Francine and her husband Joseph. They were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Have I mentioned that Emily had cancelled her ticket to the chef’s table? She decided she didn’t want to spend the money. I was fine doing it without her. I was really looking forward to it! The chef had nine cooks and servers for the thirteen of us eating that night. It was the fanciest meal I’d ever had in my life! The chef would come to the head of the table for each course and explain what was in front of us.

Our first course at the table was a fresh parmesan bread with honey butter. They served us each water, a red wine, and a white wine. Betty got her and I some of my favorite wine, Riesling from Chateau St. Michelle! The next course was a three parter: yogurt, raspberry, and green apple, an olive oil sponge with foam, and pork belly with kimchi. Dang, I was gonna have to pace myself! I tried everything, but if I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t eat it all, because there was a lot more coming for us!

Next up was probably my favorite course, duck! It was so tasty, I ate every bite. It was served with plum and a parsnip purée. Next is was the “surf and turf”. It was a super fancy, flavorful soup. I really enjoyed the soup. A lot of the courses were interactive. For example, for the soup, we were given some additional spices and we stirred that into the soup with our vegetable spoon, and “popped” the lobster cream at the bottom of the bowl and mixing it into the soup.

Next up was sea bass. I don’t know if I’d had sea bass before, but it was a nice and mild fish. Everything was plated so perfectly! For a break, a magician came around and did a few tricks for us. I’ll never know how they do their tricks, haha! Lamb was next. It was served three ways. I tried it all three ways, but definitely couldn’t finish this course! Our final savory course was veal. I don’t think I’d had veal before. When I think about veal it makes me a little sad, with veal being from baby cows. The veal was served with sweet potato mash and milk chips. The milk chips was like nothing I’d had before! It was tasty, but I was ready for dessert.

They served us tea and port wine with dessert. The first dessert course was a trio. There was a peanut brittle, oat cookie, dark chocolate ganache, parmesan cream, and a coffee custard. It was amazing! The next dessert was another trio. This one had a small creme brûlée, a raspberry jelly, and a dark chocolate cake, served on coffee beans. And finally, was the melting cake dessert that we had helped make in the beginning. We sang happy birthday to two of the attendees and heard a speech from the chef about the team who had helped us that night. It was an amazing experience that lasted more than three hours! I am not kidding when I say that it was one of the best meals of my life. They gave us a photo of the group, which I thought was a nice extra touch.

After the Chef’s Table, I went up to the Alchemy Bar. Emily was there with Keke and David, watching Dariel and Martin do a set together. It’s really nice to listen to live music. Their music was nice, but I was basically in a food coma, so I decided to call it a night. I wasn’t feeling like socializing. I went up to the room and relaxed. I watched some Food Network and wished I could take a bath, but alas, I showered instead. Emily came back to the room around midnight, she was shocked that I was awake, hahah. We watched a bit of TV, then headed to bed. It was a pretty eventful day, and I was ready for bed. :]

[ooc-but-stylish]

iprinny

 “There’s a lot that gets me about the love story in FFXV and how it…”

Im super curious to know what your thoughts are on that absurdity with prompto’s “dramatic reveal” in chapter 13

Hoo boy. My opinion about the “dramatic reveal” is pretty much my opinion on the whole game, which is 

“Good plot, terrible execution”

Prompto was an MT? Neat. However,

it should have happened earlier

it should’ve been resolved earlier

it should have had a bit more foreshadowing if it was going to be dragged out to Chapter 13 of all things. 

With regards to the actual scene, my first impressions were “Damn, Prompto looks good for a guy that fell off a moving train and got tortured!” then “Oh, oh shit, this is the twist– Prompto’s gonna strangle the shit out of Noct, isn’t he? He’s right there–” and finally “…. Oh.”

The game has Prompto like “Oh, I’ve been tortured for a while in this dungeon, also I wanna tell you guys I’m a Nif/MT”(1) and the bros are like “Ok so? That doesn’t change anything. We still care about you.” which matches more the reaction parents should have when their kid comes out of the closet than anything else. One of their own revealed themselves to be part of the same army that, like, has been attacking them relentlessly on the World Map every 15 minutes ( and interrupting the important dialogue we’ll never hear again ). You know the reaction Wakka had about Rikku being Al Bhed? Yeah. I was expecting that, most likely from Gladio. But they’ve known each other since they were kids, more or less, and those of us who have played the game, regardless of whether we did or didn’t see Brotherhood or the extra media, have likely already seen proof of their unwavering friendship toward each other even in portions of the game where it wouldn’t even make much sense for them all to still be cool.(2) So this… is a waste. It reinforced what we already knew. It served no purpose except to reveal a plot-convenient serial code on his wrist to help them escape, and it raised more questions. 

MTs are made from daemons made from Starscourged humans, and Niflheim would need a lot of humans, so they started making clones and infecting them. Prompto is supposedly one of them, but escaped when he was super young and adopted into the Argentum family. Okay, so who got him out of that lab? Why did he still have “no parents” in Brotherhood? Who were his parents? Were they natives to Insomnia? How did he get a nice place to live in and not end up in the outskirts/slum parts of Lucis on account of his being a foreigner? If he got a serial code imprinted when he was a baby, wouldn’t it have deformed as he grew up? How did it maintain its shape? Was the barcode the same size throughout his life? Why isn’t he wearing light-resistant armor, like the other MTs? This is stuff we’d have to read the Wiki or the strategy guide about, except I’m still asking these questions, so the answers exist nowhere. Even to this day. And people still have theories on whether the Naga in the beginning of the game ( the one that kidnapped Prompto and cried about her baby ) was actually Prompto’s mother. That’s fucked up storytelling, not because they did it on purpose, but because they didn’t.

The reveal happens and is resolved so quickly, no one has the time to process anything. A lot of this game is pretty much “Here’s this earth-shattering detail! Let us never speak of it again”. 

Like, yeah, Noct is broken up he attacked Prompto and knocked him off the train, but did he process the part where he said everything was Prom’s fault and demanding that Prom stop following him around? Right to his face?

Did no one stop to think that Ardyn being able to make himself look like another person means that there’s 0 chance any of them would know for certain that their allies were their allies? Wouldn’t they be in an intensely paranoid state, questioning each other on stuff the “real” them would know about? How do any of them know Ardyn isn’t still right there, hiding in plain sight?

Details that would have worked as foreshadowing for Prompto’s reveal, instead of Ardyn dropping eleventh hour infodumps on Niflheim’s army allowing for post-hoc bullshit:

The constant Magitek encounters come specifically from the Nifs geotracking Prompto’s barcode. The party actually brings up the frequency of these attacks, but Prompto is hesitant to say anything.

None of the Magiteks attack Prompto, focusing on the other three in the party instead of “one of their own”. Possibly dumb luck, and saves every gamer the trouble of Prompto always dying first somehow.

Increased frequency of goofy Ardyn selfies and creepy Prompto pictures on any day Ardyn is with the party.

Instead of Ardyn’s “stitch in time” thing that is never explained again, and Ardyn’s immortality just being the Astrals going “Ew, cooties” and banning him from the Beyond to inflict him on the living, have this: the way 'Ardyn’ appears and disappears is by body-hopping from one Starscourge-afflicted/daemonified person to another. Some individuals are more receptive to him than others based on how far along they are in their daemonification or MT experiments. So why was he on that train, in the place of Prompto? Because something inside Prompto allowed him to be there ( enough to alter his looks but not his speech patterns ). He could drop that particular bomb in Ch 12 before telling Noctis that Prompto is in Gralea.

Ardyn’s immortality comes from the fact that when he ‘dies’, he just manifests in the next likely person to host him or maybe someone of his choosing if he wants. That adds the drama of Ardyn not really ever being dead for good, and the possibility that he could take over Prompto in his next life if he felt like it. That’s a better justification for “You have to kill this dude, then kill yourself, then kill him again” than “Because the gods said so”.

TLDR the Prompto reveal sucked ass.

(1) Let me get this out: Fuck This Game. The localization sucks in its consistency by language. Bahamut is either the Draconian or the Aetherian. Ardyn could have either vaguely “known” Gentiana died, or personally had a hand in killing her. Izunia is either a relative of Ardyn, and Noctis’s ancestor, or is a completely random name Ardyn made up that he forgot the origins of. The Japanese version of the game, rather than hinting that Prompto is an MT, has sections where Ardyn instead taunts Noctis about “Did you know he’s originally from this city?”, and when Prompto reveals it to the group he says “I’m a person of Niflheim”. Even the JP VA confirmed it. So whether or not Prompto is even a Magitek is dependent on language of the game. I can understand that they were trying to go for, but they should have been consistent. Must have been something to do with the constant rewrites of the plot.

(2) Fuck This Game Part Duh: No, seriously. It tried to eat its cake and still have it, and I’ll tell you why. The game doesn’t actually give a shit about your choices. It wants its narrative both ways, telling us that Noctis in particular has certain “fixed” character traits but giving us a choice to make him another way in his dialogue options typical of Western RPGs which have “blank slate” characters. Using both methods and no lasting plot divergences to support those choices beyond the immediate cutscene makes it so that the dialogue options have no impact on the story or make sense, suggesting you play it “Square’s way” or else the game ignores your choices, which is fundamentally not how open world western RPGs work.

A playthrough in which Noctis acts like a total jerk to Prompto and dismissing him every chance he gets will still result in Prom wanting to hear from Noct that he cared about his well being, as well as Prom expressing sadness that Noct will die. 

A playthrough where Noctis puts only platonic or indifferent notes into the book he sends to Luna will still result in the scenes in Chapter 9 where he sheds a tear at her speech, laments that he wanted to save her, and then is quiet rather than impassioned and vengeful, even though he summoned Ramuh and busted a base to rescue the Regalia and to get revenge for Jared of all people.

A playthrough where the Altissian woman interrogates Noctis and Noctis answers by straight-up fucking metagaming and showing more understanding of the lore of the story than he’s ever been told and treating her with respect should count as “gaining her implicit trust”, but we still see a scene where Luna is sitting in the chair across from the Altissian woman and Imperial forces come in and surround Luna anyway, meaning the Altissian lady sold them out.

A playthrough where Noctis only ever responds maturely to Gladio, and his conversations with others have the options for him to act like a leader and the King he’s meant to be, will still result in Gladio chewing him out unnecessarily while the game clunkily tells us Noctis “is a spoiled brat/selfish”, “is being immature” and was “moping for weeks” about Luna even though we just saw her death five minutes ago and Noctis is shown to be quiet but otherwise not stalling the quest in any way. We didn’t even see a funeral, or excessive crying or outbursts, or Noctis demanding that everyone focus on his pain and staying in Altissia locked in a hotel room. He’s just quiet on a train. 

Chapter 13 of the game is especially awful, when both it and Ardyn insist that Noct is supposed to be some scared, frightened puppy without his weapons when he’s wielding the most canonically powerful item in the game, casually ripping gashes in reality and insta-killing a fortress full of daemons with an anti-daemon ring, and the player is able to ignore most (if not all) stealth mechanics and blitz through that chapter with no penalty.

For those that did the side quests throughout the game, the only trait from gameplay that sticks in the narrative is that Noctis is a passive entity. He’s told to do something, he just does it. Otherwise, no matter what, even if you played the game and had Noctis act like a rude shit and played as if none of the Bros were his Bros, they’re still going to be Bros. They’re still going to care about him, including Prompto. Especially Prompto.

#iprinny #ffxv critical #ffxv negative

[warwidowed-a]

here are my collective thoughts on my first listen at b.andstand on broadway. a lot of comparisons are gonna be made to papermill just because i’ve been listening to it for like six months straight waiting for this transfer, so it’s the version i’m used to. this post is NOT spoiler free, by the way. alright, let’s do it.

opening/just like it was before:

totally new arrangement from what it was at papermill, but i still really like the song

lyrical similarities right off the bat to ‘right this way’

“i’d like a good nights sleep, is that too much to ask?”

“the cream always rises” hmmmm, i see what y’all did there (see: donny novitski)

“you talk in your sleep” “i should have warned ya”

why is this score so lit

“if i can’t play, then what’s the point of making it back home?” have i mentioned today i love donald novitski because i feel like at this point i need to say that

that last harmonizing note fuck fuck fuck

donny novitski:

pretty much entirely the same as papermill

donny has some serious animosity at frank sinatra

i like hearing this song with the full orchestra though it’s lit

“donny needs something to block all the memories and break his insomnia spell” again, hello, i love donald novitski thanks

corey cott could kill someone with that last note his vibratto is killer

scene before i know a guy:

“we’re not open yet” “your back door is”

THEY GAVE NATE HOPKINS APPLAUSE AFTER HIS SAX SOLO I’M SCREAMING

i still can’t believe they call michael ‘rubber’ through most of this show

i know a guy:

the “drivin’ me nuts’ joke is still hilarious

JIMMY YOU SKINNY SON OF A BITCH

why is nick radel me

“how do you miss a b flat? it’s a b flat trumpet!”

THAT LITTLE JUST LIKE IT WAS BEFORE REPRISE

why did they skim wayne and johnny shy though like we got full scenes with davy, nick, and jimmy why not them too??

ain’t we proud:

still a catchy song but not one of my favs

NICK GOT APPLAUSE AFTER THEIR SOLOS HECK

corey fucking cott teaching himself piano for this show and you wouldn’t have even guessed what a fucking champ

post-ain’t be proud, pre-who i was:

i love johnny simpson more than anything in this life i will choose his happiness over mine every time

“how much slower will you get, will they put you in reverse” FUCK

you can hear johnny mumbling “sunday.... sunday” before he asks what day of the week is sunday i swear to god i would die for him

“the high balls are on me” “i don’t get it” “well see, griaffes are really tall”

“how bad was it?” “friendly fire got him” “were you the friend?” what kind O F FUCKING FORESHADOWING

“aren’t you a little old for ding dong ditch” julia,,,,,, julia,,,,,,,

i don’t like that they have that interlude and have julia invite him over a different day instead of just inviting him in right away. i feel like that could be cut out honestly

“i just want to know what happened” “what will that get you?” “i don’t know, sleeping through the night? closing a chapter? maybe just getting out the door?” juliaaaaaaa i’m a fucking wreck it’s fine

who i was:

AHHH I LOVE HEARING THIS SONG WITH THE FULL ORCHESTRA

the dinner scene:

“you look pretty” “well, turns out there’s better cosmetics than cake flour” Me: Fucking Squints(tm)

MRS ADAMS USED TO PLAY THE PIANO

THE DEVILED EGGS

“the top of the paprika shaker fell off” i’m

oh shit since they took donny’s parents out of the beginning number from papermill, his mom died when he was thirteen

julia crying while they go through the pictures i’m fine

JULIA ENOUGH WITH THE  CON DOM JOKES

“your daughter’s voice is beautiful, it’s really high” my god donny

just like it was before (reprise):

the chorus of “donny no” and “what are you doing?” from julia and wayne when he tells julia to come sing with them i’m shrieking

“wait, i gotta transpose” JOHNNY

first steps first:

it’s a bit different than what it was but gd i’d still die for laura osnes’ voice

“no need to be so shy, take reassurance i know how to guide you through the worst steps, first steps first” uh more foreshadowing re: donny

“why don’t you kick it up” “oh, thank god” DAVY

oooh yeah i like this new arrangement

“you want a drink?” “oh i hardly ever drink” “you wanna trade livers” davy please

“the best i could hope is to teach the kids choir at church” “DON’T. TEACH.” i love nick sm 

JULIA ASKING ABOUT WAYNE’S KIDS I’M SOBBING OH MY G OD

JULIA TROJAN IS THE LIGHT OF THIS ENTIRE WORLD AND I WOULD DIE FOR HER

their names are emily and grady btw 

“as far as i’m concerned i’m one of the lucky ones” “yes you are, you made it home” “no, lucky i don’t remember” again, i would die for johnny simpson too

god damn julia’s voice is so soft and sweet i’m dying. the voice laura uses is even softer than her ella voice i just wanna hug her

heck they kept the “parents warn their kids about people like you” line god bless

“oh a wise cracker! you might be watching too many pictures” uh ya did you not get the “avid cinephile” line, donny?

“i don’t need to be rescued” ur goD DAMN RIGHT JULIA

“i’ll give it a thought but there are a lot of things i want to know about michael” “first steps first” oh fuck i see what y’all did there

breathe:

“stop touching my stuff with your sweaty hands” this is literally a band full of five year olds

??? this song doesn’t really do anything ???

they could easily cut this song tbh

it’s pretty much just like them rehearsing for you deserve it

you deserve it:

DID YOU MEAN MY FUCKING JAM SECOND ONLY TO ‘NOBODY’? YEP

this song didn’t change pretty much at all and it’s still a bop

CAUSE WHEN YOU GOT THE CALL YOU STOOD UP PROUD AND TALL AND YOU DESERVE IT

post-you deserve it/pre-love will come and find me again:

donny and julia bonding over music i’m shook

“michael is buried in some place called manila, i'll never get to manila, i never got to say goodbye. a lot of things just vanish with not explanation and i wanna know. if-if he was in pain, i wanna know how his hands were folded in the casket and if-if his uniform was pressed and his hair was combed right and a million other things that keep me up at night” i’m sobbing 

julia takes no shit and i love her so much

“i survived mustard gas and pepper spray, i guess that makes me a seasoned veteran” davy’s jokes oh my god

JULIA BREAKING UP THE FIGHT BETWEEN DONNY AND NICK

“WALK ME HOME, DONNY, COME ON”

awwww julia’s poem

“don’t stay up all night reading them, get some sleep” “eh, gave up on that a long time ago” :////

THE LITTLE REPRISE OF WHO I WAS

“when i lost him it broke my soul. who knew my voice could be one part of the whole? well... perhaps someone does” fuck

“gershwin’s got nothing on you” MRS ADAMS 

“i’ll stay up all night, i’m good at that” again i’m ://///////

love will come and find me again:

laura osnes could step on me and i’d thank her

nothing has changed with this song but fuck it’s so good

right this way:

“bayer-FUCKING-asprin”

holy fuck this song might just win corey cott a tony nomination

ACT TWO

nobody:

AKA MY FUCKIN JAM AGAIN

literally the same nothing changed it’s still a bop

NICK ASKING WAYNE TO MOVE IN W/ HIM

“I JUST GOT A LIVE IN MAID” JFC

i got a theory:

LAURA ON THE UKE

nothing much changed with this song either tbh

JIMMY’S GAY AND HE LITERALLY WATCHED HIS BF DIE WHEN HIS SHIP EXPLODED FUCK THIS SHOW

i said it probably like twice already but i love johnny simpson

julia still having her moment of trying to convince davy to stop drinking ://///

post-i got a theory:

“was it quick? did he suffer? was he trying to save someone?” “you don’t wanna know”  “for a year and a half it’s all i’ve wanted to know. was he scared? what was the last thing he said? were his eyes open?” AND D ONNY SNAPS AT HER IM “

JUST STOP IT”

“i’m still waiting”

oh myg od

they changed michael’s entire death 

donny had accidentally dropped a grenade while they were in a trench and couldn’t find it. he tried to tell michael to get out and he didn’t make it and fuck he’s crying telling this to julia what the fuck has this show done to me

everything happens:

“IT WAS HIS FAULT” JULIA JULIA JU L I  A

i love mrs adams so much

what would julia have done without her

welcome home:

JULIA AND MICHAEL LITERALLY MET IN HIGH SCHOOL DOING THEATRE FUCK ME UP

“you know the first thing he said to me? don’t sing because you need to get the lead, sing because you just need to sing. you know what he said next? the girl who got the lead stuffs her bra with so much kleneex, one cigarette act and she’ll go up” no wonder julia wrote poetry for this guy he was smooth as FUCK

“stop picking up my clothes, if i wanted them in the drawer, i’d put them in the drawer” nick relax

donny singing welcome home i’m in tears

HE ENCOURAGES HER TO WRITE WELCOME HOME AS A LOVE SONG IF MICHAEL HAD COME HOME FUCK THIS ENTIRE SHOW

“sometimes i just think, maybe the wrong guy came home” again, fuck this entire show

a band in new york city:

THE GUYS AT THE VA PAID FOR THEIR TRIP SO PURE

this song is still a bop too

this is life:

idk i like this song but i think i almost prefer “give me a reason”

this also hasn’t changed at all from when they sang it at broadwaycon

but holy fuck do corey and laura sound incredible together

welcome home (reprise):

jimmy campbell: the real hero

“we came, we saw, we said fuck it” DAVY IS ME

THIS IS LIFE REPRISE FUCK F UCK FUCK

WHAT I FEEL FOR YOU JULIA IS TRUE. NO MATTER HOW TOUGH IT IS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH TIME IT TAKES, I NEED TO BE WITH YOU. AND THAT IS TRUE.

I’M SERIOUSLY HOPING THAT THE CROWD CHEERING IS BECAUSE THEY KISSED BECAUSE FUCK YOU GUYS I’M CRYING THAT WAS SO MUCH BETTER THAN JUST THE “I LOVE YOU JULIA TROJAN” FROM PAPERMILL HE WAS LITERALLY CRYING AND I’M LITERALLY CRYING

the lyrics changed a bit to welcome home and it still breaks my heart

finale:

awwwww sweet betsy oh my god

donny inviting her and her family backstage to meet her father who served i’m sobbing it’s fine

it’s literally just a reprise of nobody oh god

it could have been a little longer but !!!!!!

okay, so overall holy shit. a lot changed from papermill. dialogue, songs, you name it. i think the book needs a little re-writing and there are a lot of pointless interludes between scenes that could be cut but!!!!!!! holy fuck overall i love it so much. i can’t wait until we get a video boot i need to see this choreography and ESPECIALLY this is life and before welcome home

#this took so long but fuck i have so many feelings #it's completely different from papermill and i have so much to update re: julia #❛ && █ ▌EXIT; PURSUED BY A BEAR. ( ooc )

[purplesurveys]

510

What was the brand of your first ever cell phone? It was one of the Nokias with a lime green screen and Space Impact and a super ancient version of Snake. What are your 3 favorite internet sites? Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit. Do you have a favorite pair of blue jeans? Describe them. They’re skinny jeans and high-waisted. I just borrow them from my sister though so I don’t get to use it a lot. :( What profession do you respect? All of them. Have you ever been the recipient of a practical joke? Sure. My mom once pulled a joke on me when I was about 8. I told her my hiccups wouldn’t stop; she didn’t mind it first, but then she tells me about how she received a call from my school saying someone had stolen some of the eggs from the cafeteria. Now, as someone who used to buy egg sandwiches in school, I was immediately interested haha. Soon enough my mom tells me that the school claims they saw me did it, so I started to panic and beg for my mom to cover my ass. I was absolutely scared and freaking out at the mall at that point, and I just wanted to be let off the hook from this random-ass egg fiasco.

She ends her entire spiel by saying, “Your hiccups stopped, didn’t they?”

Have you ever ate something you've dropped on the floor, if so what? I eat food off the floor when I drop them all the time, but there was one instance my siomai fell onto the ground that had a gravel finish. Immediate regrets. Would you consider being an Uber driver if you needed to make extra money? Yes. How do you know when you're in love, what's the main sign? I’ve only fell in love once, but the main sign for me during the time was that I began crying over them. Like just outright emotional, and I didn’t understand why. Turns out that not-understanding is just me trying to deny it. Have you ever gotten anything autographed, if so by who & what was it? I bought an already-autographed poster of AJ Lee. I dunno if that counts. Although, Andrew DID just have a meet-and-greet with another wrestler, Sheamus, last Tuesday. He said he had a print of Sheamus’ autographed for me. I don’t know if he was serious, but it would be so swell if it’s real. Do you prefer Walmart or Target? I haven’t been to either. What do you long for? A successful thesis. If you could be a personal assistant to anyone, who would it be? BEYONCÉ What is the most important thing you can do to improve yourself? Seeing a therapist would probably be the first, most obvious way to go. What makes it hard for you to keep your focus? The internet haha. Case in point: I planned to study a 33-page reading last night, but I kept getting distrated by notifications that came in my phone. Even if I tried to turn off the wi-fi, I’d turn it back on if I wanted to check for any new messages. After three hours, I was still only on page 9. Do you think society has become too PC (politically correct)? It definitely has, and I might be the only person on this hill but I’m kind of glad it has. I don’t mind a little or a lot of political correctness. PH isn’t a very progressive country in itself and you’d be shocked to find out just how many Filipinos still use a lot of backwards terms, so it’s healthy for me to know what the inoffensive words are. What tragic love story do you relate to? I don’t know if there’s any. Has your intuition or "gut" served you well? Its definitely had its ups. Back in 2015, coming home from school, I saw my mom’s car parked in our driveway. That NEVER happens. Immediately felt sick sick to my stomach and believed a grandparent had died. Not because my mom was sick and had to go home, not because my mom had an errand to run, but because a grandparent died. It was my grandfather (her dad) who died that day. What's the longest you've ever waited in line for something and what was it? My sister and I lined up for 8 hours outside the Mall of Asia Arena for our One Direction concert. The titanium section was first-come first-served, so we wanted to go in in early. SPOILER ALERT: arriving 8 hours before the concert – for One Direction for that matter – is late as fuck. Who is your favorite model? Taylor Hill or Kendall Jenner. What have you done that is out of character for you? Be head of the external affairs committee in my org. Literally the last committee I would have had signed up for. The job is everything I hate, until super super recently. Would you rather get a gift card or a gift that someone bought for you? As long as they thought of me while getting the gift, it’s immediately special for me. Who is the most visionary person in your life & how do they inspire you? My internship boss is so cool. She’s one of the smartest people I know and she has a really snappy sense of diskarte (Filipino word that’s hard to translate; think resourcefulness or mojo). She’s seen a lot and been through a lot, and I couldn’t help but look up to her during my stint in their company. How do you handle a betrayal? Cut the betrayer/s out of my life. What do you feel strong enough to protest about? Anything that aims to support or glorify the Marcoses. What's the biggest blooper you've never lived down? We were playing Heads Up! at a family Chrismas party several Christmases ago. My category was Filipino Christmas food – and mind you I’m not super familiar with all of them because I’m generally not a fan of Filipino rice cakes. Anyway, I name every food I know one by one, and I excitedly scream out “PUTO BIMBING” and I saw every single damn relative in front of me collapse and start having seizures and SCREAMING AT ME from laughing too hard. I swear they must have laughed in my face for like 3 minutes. Apparently, the right word is ‘puto bumbong.’ To this day I still don’t know why I blurted out bimbing, I’m literally laughing so hard right now just typing this down :((((( My family brings it up literally once every couple of months or so. This blooper is probably only funny for Filipinos, but still. If you owned a restaurant what kind of food do you want to serve? Gourmet burgers. What will we find if we look in the bottom of your closet today? You would see the books I was assigned to read in school, so that includes a copy of Holes, Number the Stars, Bridge to Terabithia, etc and all of my Shakespeares. All of my AJ Lee action figures are there too, as well as my signed poster of hers. There’s a bunch of other knickknacks in there. What kind of car did you learn how to drive on? The first car I ever tried to drive was my parents’ old Mitsubishi Lancer. I only drove it once because my trial drive drove my mom crazy. I passed my driving test in a Hyundai Elantra, which is honestly such a shitty car and I nearly failed the test because I simply didn’t work well with it. I mostly had to learn with my present car, my Mitsubishi Mirage. I was going to start college and had little time to practice, so when I had to start driving myself to school, that was my practice in itself. What is the best thing you have done just because you were told you can't? Be in a healthy, long-term relationship. My mom used to tell me all the time that no one will ever love me because of how disorganized I am. She meant it seriously, so it stung for many years and also affected the way I dealt with other people. Have you ever had to go to court or testify and if so what for? Nope. Do you believe in karma? It’s fun to fantasize about, but I don’t religiously or spiritually believe in it. Are you more worried about doing the things right, or doing the right thing? Doing the right thing. I hate getting in trouble. Do you believe in the term "Mother knows best?” To some extent, yes. Who is your favorite movie action hero? I was never big on the hero narrative in movies, or any text for that matter. What is one thing you can get in your hometown you can't get elsewhere? My grandmother’s cooking. How important are looks in someone you're in a relationship with? Like, a 4 out of 10. I almost went with dating Mike because he’s really intelligent, even though I found him 0% attractive. What freedom do you feel is not really free anymore? Social media. It used to be a place where we would just post updates, share music, talk to our friends, be goofy in general; nowadays if you fuck up on a joke you thought was harmless, it’d be so easy to end you for good. Also, people would EASILY shoot you down over an opinion that’s different from theirs. I dunno, I just think that we think it’s a ginormous free space for all when really, everyone’s just kind of out there to catch our asses when they see fit. What are you most thankful for? The people who never left. Do you have any favorite talk shows or talk radio programs without music? Not really. I’m a fan of several YouTube series/specials, but I don’t follow talk shows a lot. What was the last book you read? Do readings count? I had to read materials for my Contemporary Philippines class just earlier. What's your favorite online store? I don’t remember where I bought my coloring books from, but it’s either Shopee or Lazada. What band would you love to tour with or be a roadie for? Paramore.

If you were to throw a message in a bottle into the ocean, it would say? I dunno how I feel about that. I feel like it contributes to polluting the oceans more, so I’d rather not do it even if I can come up with a witty message. Do you have common sense or do you think people are lacking in it? Hahahaha it’s here and there. Sometimes I embarrassingly lack it. What's your favorite non-alcoholic drink? Salty Cream Chocolate milk tea from CoCo. How do you feel about thrift shops or flea markets? I don’t really go to those, but something similar we have is called ukay-ukay, which sells secondhand clothes. I’ve recently been converted as a fan after shunning them for a very long time, as all my new tops have been from ukay-ukays haha. What do you like to put gravy on? Fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Have you ever gone canoeing/kayaking? Yes! I did it in Palawan. It was breathtaking to do it there.  What one thing in particular makes you feel good about yourself? Knowing where I go to school, hahaha. What is priceless to you? Dogs finding their forever homes. What do you wait for discount sales to buy? Clothes, mainly. What is one thing you know about your family history you're proud of? I have a lot of amazing ancestors who were crucial to my country’s history, e.g. I’m related to one of the women who sewed the first Philippine flag, one of the diplomats who signed the Treaty of Paris (the treaty in itself is definitely not something to be proud of, but my relative is permanently etched in history nonetheless because of this), and one of my distant great-uncles published a nationalist history book that’s still being greatly relied on in the PH educational system and academe to this day. There’s a lot to be proud of, definitely. What 3 songs will always be found at the top of your playlist? I don’t have a permanent three-song set as my favorites will always change. But right now, it would be composed of Saw You In A Dream by The Japanese House, Pool by Paramore, and Outta My Head by Khalid and John Mayer. What is the craziest thing you've ever done for someone? When I was a freshie in college, I once drove for an hour and a half to visit Gabie for ten minutes. Do you keep a budget? I have to. If you could cast a spell on someone what spell would you cast and on who? For freeloader groupmates to help out in class projects. What makes you feel rested and refreshed? Uh. Sleep? Who depends on you the most? My parents, probably. Could you ever be someone's bodyguard? I doubt it. Pretty sure anyone could break my bones easily lol. Has one of your biggest fears come true? Nope. Is there anything about the opposite sex you just don't understand? A lot of things... Have you ever let your mom or significant other fight a battle for you? I’ve allowed Gabie many times because I was always just too weak, yeah. Did you create a checklist for your ideal spouse? Not really, but when I was in high school I had a stupid phase where I wanted my future boyfriend to be a certain name, because back then I thought that name was attractive LMAAAAOOOO.

If so, what were two things you wanted? He had to be named Gino (IT WAS A POPULAR FILIPINO NAME IN 2015 OK), and he had to be academically smart. This was before I realized I really really don’t like boys. Have you ever ridden on a subway or train an what did you like about it? I rode the train once when I had to do legwork for a journ class and there was no other way to get to the place than to commute. I rode with Jum because I have no idea how to commute alone. I remember liking the fact that it was cold and spacious in the train at the time I got in – then again, it was at a dead hour. I’m sure it’s nothing like that in reality. What song on your playlist gets played the most? I try to listen to all my favorite songs equally. Have you ever received a harsher punishment than you deserved? I don’t think so. Back when my mom used to ground me I used to think I was being abused and I felt so victimized lol. At 21, looking back, it turns out my rebel ass deserved to be whipped with a belt lmfao. Do you prefer sporty or academic members of the opposite sex? I prefer people I can vibe well with, regardless of their strengths and sex. Do you have to experience something to fully understand it? Yes. Has anyone in your family ever served in the military? My great-grandfather is a WWII veteran and a survivor of the Death March in Bataan. Finish the next line in your style: Roses are red, violets are blue... Why am I on Tumblr, when I still have much to do? :((( What embarrasses you instantly? Dropping stuff. Do you think you could be a firefighter, why/why not? No, but I did want to be one when I was young. Firefighters have to be insanely strong because they carry a lot of heavy stuff and...I’m just not...that. Also because I panic easily, and that’s certainly not a good thing in that line of work. Do you often read your horoscope? Never. I don’t care for mine. What current event are you tired of hearing about? Mmm I’m not sure. I kind of care about everything that’s happening in the world at the moment, especially with regard to Hong Kong. Are you a daredevil? Nah. What do you think should be censored? Homophobic / biphobic / transphobic shit. Are you related to anyone famous or historical, if so who? I already expounded on this quite a few questions back in this survey. Would you ever donate a kidney to anyone, and who? Yeah, to people I find really important. How do you encourage yourself when you go through hard times? It doesn’t last forever and I’ll be getting my own house in the next 8-10 years. Have you ever fired a gun? Nope. Do you think people, including yourself live up to their full potential? We should be, anyway. I try to. How are you different from most people? My left pinky is super crooked :( What is the main quality you think makes a great parent? The ability to apologize to your child and recognize that parents can make mistakes too. What creature do you admire for its ability to adapt? As much as I despise them, fucking cockroaches. Have you ever stayed up for an entire 24 hours, why? Nah. I just know I wouldn’t function properly if I did, and I’d be so cranky too. Who is a female role model in your life? I don’t have any. What childhood dreams have you neglected? Being an astronaut, a veterinarian, a writer, and a firefighter. How often do you reevaluate your life? I honestly don’t get the time to, which sucks. I’ve always thought of getting one of those 5-year journals that let you answer one question everyday for the next five years so that you’re able to see how much you mature in that time. It would be nice to have mini-reflections/evaluations everyday, but one copy of it is pretty expensive so I never got around to buying them. What's your favorite place just to hang out? Coffee shops. What do you have trouble seeing clearly in your mind? The future. What three things do you think of most of each day? The tasks I have to do, feeding my dog, and calculating the amount of sleep I’ll be getting at night. Would you travel to space if possible? YES. I’ve always said this has always been a dream of mine. Name a famous person you wouldn't mind for a business partner. Kylie Jenner.

#survey #surveys