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cheynovak · 22 days

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Shadows of the Past

Soldier boy x F/Reader (Y/N Barnes) & Bucky Barnes ( Brother)

Warnings: Angst, Aggression, nothing to extreme

Side note: English isn’t my first language.

*Multiverse: between MCU and The boys*

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Story:

1941

In the heart of Brooklyn, nestled among the bustling streets and towering buildings, lived Y/N Barnes, the younger sister of James Buchanan Barnes, known to many as Bucky. At the age of seventeen, Y/N was a senior at Brooklyn High School, where she spent her days immersed in books and dreams of adventure.

But amid the ordinary rhythm of school and homework, she was like any other teenage girl, and so there was one person who made her heart race like no other – Ben, the mysterious and enigmatic badboy who will later be known as Soldier boy.

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From the moment Y/N first laid eyes on him, she knew that he was different, someone who saw the world through a lens of possibility and adventure.

But there was one person who didn't share Y/N's enthusiasm for Ben, her older brother, Bucky. He always thought of Ben as a bully since he had a fight with Steve once.

Bucky had been fiercely overprotective of Y/N, his concerns for her safety drove her insane. She couldn’t understand why but she let him be, but knowing he meant well.

Y/N wasn’t what we would call popular girl, she always stood in shadows. But she did have a crush on Ben, a guy the same age as her older brother. But she knew Bucky wouldn’t like that. Besides that, in high school Ben never dated the younger girls. So, he never noticed her back then.

Y/N Barnes strolled through the crowd of the Brooklyn youth at the carnival, her laughter mingling with the joyful sounds of the bustling fair. Beside her walked her brother Bucky and his friend Steve, their easy camaraderie a comforting presence in the sea of strangers.

Ben and his pals stood by the Ferris wheel as he watched Y/N weave through the colourful chaos of the carnival, he couldn't help but feel as though he was seeing her for the first time. Sure, he had known of her existence, she was Bucky's younger sister, after all. But until that moment, she had been just another face in the crowded halls of their high school.

As he watched her laugh and joke with Bucky and Steve, there was something about her that captivated him in a way he couldn't quite explain. She was no longer just a young girl tagging along with her older brother. She had a newfound glace of womanhood over her.

“Don’t do it man.” Ben heard his friends say. “She isn’t worth the trouble with Barnes.” Ignoring the cautionary whispers of doubt, he made his decision, determined to seize the opportunity before it slipped away.

As Bucky and Steve became momentarily engrossed in the sights and sounds of the carnival, Ben saw his chance. With a steadying breath, he stepped forward, closing the distance between himself and Y/N with purposeful strides.

"Hey," he called out, his voice carrying over the din of the bustling fairgrounds. Y/N turned toward him, her eyes widening in surprise as she registered his approach. Y/N looked around seeing is he was talking to her before answering. "Hi," she replied, her voice tinged with curiosity.

"I, uh, I just wanted to say hi," Ben continued, his words stumbling slightly as he fought to keep his nerves at bay. "I've seen you around school, but I've never really had the chance to talk to you before."

"Well, I don’t blame you." she quipped, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "I figured you were too busy with all your other girlfriends to notice little old me." Ben couldn't help but chuckle at Y/N's boldness, she caught him off guard in the best possible way.

Ben stepped closer "Trust me, none of those other girls even come close," he replied, his voice low as he locked eyes with her. "You're something special, Y/N Barnes."

“Hey, leave her alone asshole.” Their conversation interrupted the moment Bucky caught sight of them. His expression darkened, a storm brewing behind his steely gaze as he stormed over to where they stood. "Come on Y/N, we're leaving," Bucky declared, his voice sharp with anger as he grabbed her arm, his grip tight.

Y/N's eyes widened in surprise at her brother's sudden appearance. "Hey, man, I didn't mean any harm," Ben said, his voice calm but firm. "Just wanted to say hi, that's all." But Bucky's anger simmered beneath the surface, his protective instincts overriding any sense of reason as he levelled a fierce glare at Ben.

"You said it, now go, I don't want you anywhere near my sister," he spat, toe to toe, his words cutting through the air like a knife. "You stay away from her, understand?" “And what if she wants to talk to me?” Ben answered cocky before looking at Y/N.

Y/N watched as his friends crossed the street, "Bucky, please," she implored, her voice gentle but firm, “Let’s go.” Knowing he might take on Ben alone, but 3 against one. She tugged his arm looking at Steve for help. “Come on Buck, he isn’t worth it.”

“Yeah, listen to the midget. And run along.” Ben’s voice followed you. Bucky's blood boiled at Ben's audacity, his temper flaring as the younger man's words cut through him like a knife. Without a second thought, he spun around, his fist connecting with Ben's face with a sickening thud.

It took Ben a second to straighten his back. He could taste the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. Just when he wanted to return the punch Y/N places herself between the men, facing Ben. “Don’t.” she said firm.

Ben’s green eyes pierce through her. “You’re lucky your sister is here Barnes, I don’t hit girls.” He said still looking at Y/N. “Take him away.” he said now to her. Once around the corner Y/N broke the silence. "What the hell, Bucky?" she demanded, her voice trembling with anger. "Are you insane three to one?!"

Bucky's expression was grim as he met his sister's gaze, his own anger simmering just below the surface. “What was I supposed to do? He talked shit about Steve.” Y/N pinched her nose. “How about not interfere or if you do be nice?”

“I don’t want him to talk to you! He is a ladies man, a player.” “Takes one to know one, right?” she bit back. Once they reached their house, she runs inside ignoring her brother. “Goodnight Steve” she hugged him before going to bed.

The next day

As the school bell rang, signalling the end of another day of classes, Ben made his way to the gates, his heart pounding with anticipation. He had waited anxiously all day for this moment, hoping that Y/N would show up. As he approached the school gates, he couldn't help but notice the girls walking past him.

All trying to get his attention with flirtatious giggles and batting eyelashes. But Ben barely spared them a glance, his eyes scanning the crowd for one person and one person only.

And then, he saw her, standing at the edge of the crowd, her expression a mixture of surprise and curiosity as she caught sight of him. Ben's heart skipped a beat at the sight of her, his pulse quickening as he made his way toward her, pushing through the crowd with determined strides.

"Y/N," he called out, his voice filled with relief and excitement. "I was hoping I'd see you." Y/N's eyes widened in surprise at his words, her cheeks flushing with colour as she met his gaze. "I... I didn't expect to see you here," she admitted, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

Ben smiled, his heart swelling with warmth at the sight of her. "I wanted to talk to you," he said earnestly, taking a step closer to her. "Can we go somewhere quieter?" She nodded, feeling his hand on her lower back as he walked her through the crowd. She couldn’t help but to notice how everyone looked at them. Thinking Ben still has a way of getting attention at this high school without trying. Knowing Bucky will find out soon enough.

As Ben and Y/N stepped into the cozy diner, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and sizzling bacon enveloped them, wrapping them in a warm embrace as they made their way to a secluded booth in the corner.

And as he settled into the worn vinyl seat, he couldn't help but feel a sense of peace wash over him in the presence of Y/N. "I come here whenever I need to clear my head," Ben explained, gesturing around the diner with a fond smile. "It's like my home away from home."

"It's cozy," she remarked, her voice soft with appreciation.

A waitress approached their table, her pen poised and ready to take their order. Ben glanced at Y/N with a playful grin, knowing exactly what she would want.

"Two milkshakes, please," he said, his gaze never leaving Y/N's as he placed their order. Y/N's cheeks flushed with surprise at his gesture, her heart fluttering with warmth at the thoughtfulness of his choice.

"You didn't have to do that," she protested softly, her eyes meeting his with gratitude. But Ben simply shrugged, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes as he leaned back in his seat. "Consider it a peace offering," he replied, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "After all, I did get punched in the face yesterday."

“Which means I have to buy you, not the other way around.” He leaned forward “I mean the date sweetheart.” That nickname left her flustered. As they settled into easy conversation, sipping on their milkshakes and sharing stories Y/N got lost track of time.

It wasn't until a glance at the clock on the wall revealed the lateness of the hour that Y/N realized just how much time had passed. Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the late hour.

"Oh my gosh, I had no idea it was so late," she exclaimed, her voice tinged with disbelief as she turned to Ben. He chuckled softly, a warm smile playing at the corners of his lips as he met her gaze. "Time flies when you're having fun," he replied, his voice filled with warmth and affection. Y/N couldn't help but smile at his words, her heart fluttering.

“Let me walk you home.” Ben got up, taking her coat holding it for her like a real gentlemen. As Ben and Y/N walked through the quiet streets of Brooklyn, the night air crisp and cool around them, Y/N couldn't shake the nagging question that had been weighing on her mind since their conversation at the diner.

"Ben," she began, her voice breaking the comfortable silence between them. "I've been meaning to ask... why do you act like such a bully sometimes?" Ben's steps faltered slightly at her question, his expression clouding over with a mixture of sadness and regret.

He sighed heavily, his gaze fixed on the ground as he struggled to find the right words. "It's... complicated," he admitted finally. She is quiet but Ben feels the awkwardness. "My dad... he's not a good person," Ben began slowly, his voice tinged with bitterness. "He's... he's abusive, since my mom died it, just got worse."

"I'm so sorry, Ben," she murmured, reaching out to gently squeeze his hand in a silent gesture of support. Ben offered her a small, grateful smile before continuing.

"I guess I've always felt like I had to be tough, you know?" he confessed, his gaze distant as he spoke. "Like if I showed any weakness, he'd... it just make things worse."

"But that's not an excuse for how I've treated people sometimes," Ben added quickly, his voice filled with remorse.

As they reached her house she turns to him as she reached out to gently touch his arm. "It's okay, Ben," she said softly, her voice filled with compassion. "We all have our struggles, I won’t tell a soul.” She promises him.

A tension crackled between them, thick with unspoken emotions. Y/N's heart raced as Ben closed the space between them. His intent clear in the gentle brush of his lips against hers.

But just as their breath mingled in the space between them, Y/N gently pulled away. "Ben, wait," she whispered, her voice barely above a murmur, but firm with conviction. Ben's brow furrowed in confusion, his eyes searching hers for answers as he took a step back, giving her space. "What is it?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

Y/N took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to say.

"If you truly want to be with me, you need to stop bullying Steve or fight with my brother," she declared, her voice unwavering despite the flutter of nerves in her stomach. “They are important to me.”

Ben nods, agreeing to her terms with a renewed determination to prove himself worthy of her trust. Feeling the warmth of Y/N's lips against his cheek, Ben's heart skipped a beat, a rush of tenderness washing over him at the simple gesture of affection.

As Ben watched Y/N walking to the door call out to her. "Wait," he called after her, his voice filled with a mixture of hope and uncertainty. Y/N turned back, her gaze meeting his with a curious tilt of her head. "When will I see you again?

She smiles soft, eyes glistering, flirting, “Goodnight Ben. “Goodnight sweetheart.” And as he made his way home, a flicker of hope burned bright within him.

Y/N stepped through the front door, the warmth of the house enveloping her as she entered. But her sense of comfort was quickly replaced by a wave of anxiety as she was met with the stern gaze of her mother, her arms crossed and her expression one of unmistakable displeasure.

"Where have you been, young lady?" her mother demanded, her voice sharp with concern. Y/N swallowed nervously, her mind racing for an explanation that wouldn't land her in even more trouble. "I... I was out with a friend," she stammered, her voice tinged with guilt.

Her mother's brow furrowed in frustration, her disapproval evident in the set of her jaw. "You were supposed to be home hours ago," she scolded, her voice rising with each word. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

"I'm sorry, Mom," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "I lost track of time." Her mother's expression softened slightly at her apology, but the worry in her eyes remained.

"Just... don't let it happen again," she said sternly, her tone softened by a hint of maternal concern. Y/N nodded, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she hung her head in shame as she walked to her room.

Y/N's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her brother's voice outside the door, his tone tinged with a mixture of concern and disapproval. "Come in," she called out, her voice barely above a whisper as she braced herself for the conversation to come. Bucky pushed open the door, his expression stern as he entered her room, his gaze fixed on her with unwavering intensity.

"This friend of yours... was it Ben?" he asked bluntly, his tone leaving no room for evasion. Y/N's heart sank at the question, her guilt washing over her in a tidal wave of anxiety. "Yes," she admitted reluctantly, her voice barely audible. She never lied to him why would she now.

Bucky's jaw clenched at her response, his frustration evident in the tight set of his shoulders. "I don't like it, Y/N," he said firmly, his voice leaving no room for argument. "He's trouble, and I don't want you getting mixed up with him."

"But he's not like that," she protested weakly, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

Bucky remained unmoved, his expression unyielding as he met her gaze with a steely resolve. "I don't care," he insisted, his voice firm but tinged with concern. "I won't have you getting hurt because of him."

She had to make Bucky understand that Ben wasn't the person he thought he was, that there was more to him than the facade of a troublemaker. "Ben promised to stop teasing Steve," she blurred out.

Bucky's brow furrowed at Y/N's suggestion, “why?” He knew that stopping his teasing of Steve had a price. "He's trying to change, Bucky. I believe him." Bucky shook his head. “I better not see you two together.” he said as he walked out the door.

Y/N found herself walking along the winding paths, the soft crunch of fallen leaves beneath her feet. Her heart raced with anticipation as she made her way to their secret meeting spot at the park, a secluded clearing nestled among the trees where she and Ben had shared countless conversations and stolen moments together over the past few weeks.

Ben, who stood waiting for her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. His arms were laden with a picnic basket and a blanket spread out on the ground, a small feast laid out before them.

"Surprise," he said with a grin, his voice filled with excitement. Y/N's heart fluttered at the sight of him, her cheeks flushing with warmth at his thoughtful gesture.

"You didn't have to do all this," she protested, her voice tinged with gratitude.

But Ben simply shook his head, his gaze unwavering as he met hers with a gentle smile. "I wanted to," he replied softly. "I wanted today to be special.”

As the gentle breeze rustled through the trees, casting dappled shadows across the picnic blanket, Y/N's gaze fell upon the faint cut that marred Ben's otherwise flawless complexion. Her heart clenched with concern at the sight, a pang of worry coursing through her veins.

"Ben, what happened to your face?" she asked, her voice soft but tinged with concern. Ben's smile faltered slightly at her question, his eyes flickering with uncertainty as he hesitated to answer.

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied casually, attempting to brush off her concern with a dismissive wave of his hand. But Y/N wasn't convinced, her brow furrowing in concern as she reached out to gently touch the cut. "It doesn't look like nothing," she insisted, her voice filled with sincerity. "Have you been fighting again?" She asked disappointed.

Ben's expression softened at her words, a flicker of guilt crossing his features as he met her gaze with unwavering honesty. "Yeah," he admitted, his voice tinged with regret. "I got into a scuffle with some guys. It's stupid, really."

"You promised me you'd stop fighting," she stated, her tone tinged with disappointment. Ben's gaze faltered at her words, a flicker of guilt crossing his features as he met her unwavering stare. "I promised to stop bullying Steve," he countered, his voice tinged with defensiveness.

Y/N sighed softly, her frustration evident in the furrow of her brow.

"But getting into fights is just as bad," she argued, her voice soft but filled with conviction. “Why do you want me to change Y/N?” Y/N's heart sank at Ben's question.

"Because I care about you, Ben," she replied softly, her voice tinged with emotion. "I don't want to see you get hurt." “I don't understand why you can't accept me, like I accept you," he confessed, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "You're a geek, and I’m still sitting here with you. While I could have chosen popular girls."

Y/N's heart sank at Ben's defensive words. "Ben, that's not fair," she replied, her voice tinged with sadness. But Ben shook his head, his expression hardened with frustration as he met her gaze with unwavering intensity.

"Isn't it?" he countered, his voice laced with bitterness. "You're always hanging out with your geeky friends, talking about stuff I don't understand. Maybe I'd rather be with someone who actually gets me. Instead of nagging about what I did."

Y/N's heart shattered at Ben's hurtful words, the tears gathering in her eyes. "Fine!" she exclaimed, her voice trembling with emotion. "If that's what you want, then go find those girls!" With a heavy heart, Y/N turned away from Ben, her tears blurring her vision as she fled from the park, desperate to escape the sting of his rejection.

As Ben approached Y/N's house late that night, his heart weighed heavy with remorse for his hurtful words and actions. He knew he had crossed a line, and the thought of the pain he had caused Y/N gnawed at him.

With a shaky breath, he reached out to knock on the door, his hand trembling with nerves. But before he could make contact, the door swung open to reveal Bucky, his expression cold and unwelcoming.

"What are you doing here?" Bucky demanded, his voice sharp with suspicion.

Ben swallowed hard, his guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders as he met Bucky's gaze. "I... I need to talk to Y/N," he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper.

"She doesn't want to see you," he replied firmly. Ben's heart sank at Bucky's words, the weight of his rejection hitting him like a ton of bricks. He knew he had messed up, but he couldn't bear the thought of losing Y/N.

"I just need to talk to her," he pleaded, his voice filled with desperation. "Please."

Bucky's expression hardening with determination as he stepped forward to block Ben's path. "I said leave," he growled, his voice laced with warning. "Before I make you."

“I’ll leave if she tells me to.” Bucky's stern gaze softened at Ben's words. "Fine," Bucky relented, his voice softer than before. "Wait here."

With a nod, Bucky retreated into the house, leaving Ben standing alone on the doorstep. Minutes ticked by like hours as Ben waited anxiously, until he hears her voice. "What is it, Buck?" she asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

But before Bucky could respond, Ben stepped forward, his gaze locked on Y/N's.

"I need to talk to you," he blurted out, his voice tinged with urgency. "Please, just hear me out." "Ben, I appreciate that you want to talk," she began, her voice tinged with hesitation. "But I think it's best if you leave." Ben's heart sank at her words, the weight of her rejection hitting him like a ton of bricks.

“But.. I...” he looks at Bucky and then back at her. "I understand," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

Y/N sat in the dimly lit kitchen, her heart heavy with sorrow as she replayed the events of the evening in her mind. The ache of her recent breakup with Ben weighed heavily on her.

Lost in her thoughts, Y/N was startled when Bucky entered the kitchen, his expression serious as he made his way over to her side. She looked up at him, her eyes searching his face for any sign of what was to come.

"Hey," Bucky began, his voice quiet but determined. "I need to talk to you about something." Y/N nodded, her heart pounding with apprehension as she waited for him to continue. "I've made a decision," Bucky continued, his gaze unwavering as he met her eyes with a sense of resolve. "I'm going to join the army."

She knew how much joining the army meant to Bucky, how it had always been his dream to serve his country. But she couldn't help but worry about the dangers that lay ahead, the uncertainty of what the future might hold. "Bucky, are you sure about this?" Y/N asked, her voice tinged with concern.

"It's a big decision." Bucky nodded, his expression serious but resolute.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," he replied firmly. "But there's something I need to ask of you before I go." "Of course," she replied, her voice filled with sincerity. "Anything."

Bucky took a deep breath, his gaze softening as he met her eyes with a sense of gratitude. "I need you to take care of Steve," he said quietly, his words heavy with meaning. "I need to know that he'll be okay while I'm gone. That you’ll be okay."

She nodded in response.

And as they sat together in the quiet of the kitchen, the weight of their shared responsibilities hanging heavy in the air between them. "I can't help but notice you've been down lately. Is everything okay?"

Y/N looked up at him, her eyes reflecting the pain that weighed heavily on her soul. She forced a small smile, with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"I'm fine, Bucky," she replied, her voice tinged with sadness. "Just going through some stuff." Bucky nodded, his gaze softening with empathy as he took a seat beside her at the kitchen table. He knew she meant the break up.

"Listen, Y/N," he said quietly, his tone gentle but earnest. "Why don't you give Steve a chance?" he asked gently, his voice tinged with sincerity. "Bucky, Steve's like a brother to me," Y/N replied, her voice tinged with embarrassment. "I couldn't imagine going on a date with him."

Bucky raised an eyebrow, a knowing smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

"Sure, sure," he teased, his tone playful. "But you can't deny that you've got a thing for blond guys." Y/N rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at her lips.

"Okay, maybe I have a type," she admitted with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean I'm interested in Steve that way." Bucky chuckled softly, his gaze warm with amusement as he regarded her fondly. "Fair enough," he conceded.

"But you never know what might happen if you give him a chance." Y/N shook her head, a soft laugh escaping her lips at Bucky's persistence. "Thanks, Bucky," she said sincerely. "But I think I'll pass on you setting Steve up with me."

Bucky grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he leaned back in his chair. "Suit yourself, kid" he replied with a playful wink.

As Bucky and Steve excitedly discussed at the Stark Expo, Y/N couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia for the carefree days of her past relationship with Ben. She had heard rumours that he was considering joining the military, but seeing him in uniform at the expo brought a wave of mixed emotions crashing over her.

"Hey, Y/N, are you coming with us?" Bucky asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. Y/N hesitated, torn between her desire to follow her friends at the expo and her need to talk to Ben. But ultimately, she knew that she couldn't let Ben slip away without at least trying to talk to him.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," she replied, offering Bucky and Steve a small smile. "There's someone I need to talk to first." Finally, she spotted him standing near one of the military displays, his expression stoic. She approached him cautiously, her heart pounding in her chest as she prepared herself for the conversation ahead.

"Ben," she called out softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Ben turned to face her, his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of her. "Y/N," he replied, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "What are you doing here?"

Y/N took a deep breath, her nerves getting the better of her as she struggled to find the right words. "I heard about the military," she began hesitantly. "Is it true? Are you really going to enlist?" Ben nodded, his gaze fixed on the ground as he wrestled with his emotions.

"Yeah," he admitted quietly. "I've been thinking about it for a while now. It's something I need to do." She pleaded with him, her voice trembling with desperation, begging him not to go. "Ben, please," she implored, her eyes brimming with tears. "Don't do this. I can't bear to see you leave."

He reached out to gently cup her face in his hands, his touch tender in its reassurance. "I'm sorry, Y/N," he murmured, his voice filled with regret. "But I have to do this. It’s the only way to make my old man proud.” Y/N shook her head, her heart aching with sorrow as she struggled to come to terms with the reality of their situation.

"But what about me, Ben?" she cried, her voice cracking with emotion. "What about us?" Ben's gaze softened with sympathy, his thumb brushing away the tears that stained her cheeks. "I'll come back for you, Y/N," he promised earnestly. "I swear it.”

As Ben turned to leave, a sense of finality settling over them, Y/N couldn't bear the thought of letting him go without one last gesture of love. With a surge of courage, she stepped forward and gently pressed her lips to his, pouring all of her love and longing into the fleeting kiss.

When they finally pulled away, their breaths mingling in the space between them, Ben's eyes searched hers with a mixture of surprise and vulnerability.

"Does this mean you forgive me?" he asked softly, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

Yes, Ben," she replied earnestly, her voice filled with conviction. "I forgive you."

And as they stood together in the midst of the bustling expo, their hands intertwined, and their hearts entwined. Ben grabs her cheeks and kisses her again.

As Ben and Y/N shared their passionate kiss, lost in the whirlwind of emotion and desire, they were unaware of the eyes that watched them from across the room. Bucky and Steve stood frozen in surprise, their gazes locked on the scene unfolding before them.

Bucky and Steve exchanged a meaningful glance, a silent acknowledgment passing between them. Despite their initial surprise, they couldn't deny the depth of Ben and Y/N's connection, nor the sincerity of their feelings for each other.

Ben looked up meeting Bucky’s eyes. With a nod of acceptance, Bucky and Steve welcomed Ben into their circle, only to please Y/N. Her heart was aching, knowing she had to send the two man she cared about to war. Well, three but she didn't know that yet. But tonight was full of laughs, music and dances.

Present day

Ben walked through the streets of New York, trying to understand what happened. "I'm glad we finally found you." A familiar voice said.

As he turned around, he finally saw two faces he recognised. “Barnes, Rogers.” He said relieved and yet firm. “You need to come with us.” Steve said, “We need to fill you in what happened the last 40 years.”

“But first,” Bucky walked up to Ben pushing him to the wall behind him. “You need to tell me what happened to my sister.”

To be continued...

Please feel free to like, share or comment. Make sure you check out my masterlist.

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kylietellin · 2 months

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Curtis sister dating a senior as a freshman and the gang finding out

A/N : this is so funny cuz i was just thinkin abt the time my friend did this in freshmen year😭

There was one rule, NO BOYS! Especially, no good ones or older guys.

I’m not going to lie and said this was your best choice of relationship because it was not.

You were young and naive

You met him the first day of school

Ponyboy’s a sophomore in this, but everyone else is the same

Two-bit gave you his version of the true highschool tour.

Darry and Soda told you to stick with Pony, but you didn’t.

You ran off with some of your friends, didn’t bother sitting with your brother and his friends at lunch.

He had came up to you during lunch and got your number

Your friends gave him it

You decided to start going out with him and received the benefits.

He had a car, he had had your teachers in freshmen year and told you how to pass, he was taller than a lot of guys in your grade, etc.

Sometimes his friends would joke and mention your age, but it never went too far.

Your relationship wasn’t hidden, but not many knew for a while.

Until they did.

It had spread that you and him were getting cozy and his friends started to reveal that you’d been going steady for months.

That started rumors and false narratives which went through the small town you live in—Tulsa.

The first to confront you was, surprisingly, Dallas.

I swear he knows everything about everyone.

He confronted you about “screwing with a senior”, which could’ve been partially true, but you were DATING, not fucking.

You denied it and he walked off before you could explain that you were only dating him.

The next day, he had walked you to class and Johnny & Two-bit had passed by, which you didn’t notice.

When you came home, the gang was all sitting in the living room.

“Why did you lie about seeing that guy. I hate lyin’ man.” - Dallas

“You didn’t give me the chance to—“

It did not go well

Let’s just say you didn’t bring him around. Ever.

When you broke up, the gang HAPPILY went and beat him up.

#kylietellsજ⁀➴₊⊹ 🎀#curtis gang #dallas winston #ponyboy curtis #darry curtis #johnny cade #sodapop curtis #the outsiders #two bit mathews #steve randle #curtis sister imagine #curtis brothers #curtis sister

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exololyunho · 1 year

Text

just a babysitter

masterlist

wc: 6.4k

in desperate need of easy cash, you get set up with a babysitting gig that pays well, in both money and the view of your new boss. an innocent crush takes a turn during a lonely night that changes the employer-employee dynamic

warnings: unprotected sex, fingering, making out, brief mention of hickies, age difference (8 years), diff Yunho, one child

taglist! @becky4733107-blog

an: im not dead and I'm trying to start posting but life's been crazy lately. also sorry if this is a little disjointed it was written in chunks and has been in my drafts since December

Your bank account balance was a grand total of $136.89. Thankfully, you lived in school housing, so rent wasn’t an issue, but groceries, sorority fees, and textbooks were.

You needed a job, bad. Your senior year classes took up almost the entire day except for Wednesdays and Fridays and therefore didn’t leave you with many options besides a shitty fast food restaurant nearby or, as your friend San had so eloquently put it, a gentlemen’s club. You had shot the fucker down, telling him so way in hell you would become a stripper. All respect to them, but you just didn’t have the coordination or the skill to become one.

Nowhere else in town was hiring as quicker students than you had snatched up better positions so you were fucked.

San’s smarter friend, Yeosang had said he might actually have somewhere you could work where you were expected to keep your clothes on and you wouldn’t come home smelling like a fryer.

His great-great-great grandbig was looking for a babysitter for his daughter. That sounded promising. If he had been a brother of ATZ, San and Yeosang’s frat, he had to be a nice guy and probably a good boss. ATZ was known for being good guys around campus, men that everyone was comfortable around. They still held crazy fun parties, but they took care to make them safe. That meant no punch bowls, no one they didn’t know invited, no glass, and plenty of sealed water bottles for inebriated guests.

It was during one of their parties freshman year that you had met San and Yeosang. It had been your first college party and your first party after getting accepted into ATY, ATZ’s sister organization. The three of you became fast friends and you quickly became acquainted with their other brothers, too.

Yeosang had told you he’d get you in touch with his many times great grandbig. Within a day after he mentioned it, you got texts from one Jeong Yunho. After exchanging greetings and letting him know you were available from 3 pm on every day except Mondays, Yunho invited you over the next Thursday afternoon for a trial run. He had told you he mostly worked from home doing something business related that had sounded rich, but every Wednesday and Friday he had to go into the office.

That brought you to now, standing in front of the massive house in a fancy neighborhood. The front door was red and had a gold plated knocker. It looked menacing. The rest of the house was equally as intimidating. It was white with red accents and was two stories tall. The manicured lawn and perfectly sculpted bushes screamed ‘I pay someone to do this for me.’

You steadied yourself, smoothing out the loose black slacks you wore and making sure your olive green blouse was tucked in right before you raised your hand to knock.

You didn’t get a chance, though, because the door swung inwards to reveal a little girl. Yunho had told you she was five, but she looked very tall for a five year old. Her black hair was in pigtails and she was wearing a purple dress. She peaked out at you shyly, half hidden behind the door.

You smiled, trying to be as friendly as possible. You squatted down the porch. “Hello, you must be Eunha.”

Her pigtails bounced as she nodded and stepped out from behind the door. She seemed hesitant but she walked much closer to you until you were nearly face to face. Her small hands balanced on your shoulders as she stared into your eyes. This was a little odd.

“Are you my mommy?”

Your jaw dropped open and you struggled to find an answer that wasn’t a shouted ‘no!’ Thankfully, you didn’t have to struggle long.

“Eunha! What did I say about opening the door for strangers?” A man appeared in the entryway. You hadn’t had a chance to take in the interior of the house and now you definitely weren’t. The man in front of you was tall, fit, and handsome. His black hair looked like it probably needed a trim, but it was framing his face messily in an extremely flattering way. And god his face. He was extremely handsome, but his features were soft and inviting even as he looked from you to his daughter in concern.

“She didn’t say anything weird, did she? She’s still figuring out boundaries with strangers,” the man, who you correctly assumed to be Jeong Yunho, picked the girl up.

“Um…” you didn’t really want to mention what she said. It would probably be awkward and you didn’t want to start off your trial run by asking Yunho about the girl's most likely absent mother.

“Oh god she did,” he looked at the child in his arms. “What did you say, Eunie?”

The nickname was so sweet but you didn’t have time to swoon over such a handsome man with a little girl in his arms because the kid pointed at you.

“Mom?”

You cringed and looked away from them.

“God, I’m so sorry Y/n,” your name coming from his mouth gave you butterflies and a blush, which you hoped he took as you being somewhat embarrassed by this girl you just met calling you mom. “No Eunie, we’ve talked about this. This is Y/n, your new babysitter.”

“Oh,” the little menace looked like she was thinking. “But I like her, why can’t she be mommy?”

She liked you? You’d barely shared ten words and you’d met her about a minute ago.

Yunho looked like he was thinking the same as he stared at his daughter before looking at you. “No, baby, she's here to be your friend while daddy has to work.”

Something was wrong with you. The way he called himself daddy made you hot in ways you should not be while there was a child between you two.

“Fine,” Eunha was pouting while Yunho shook his head.

He set her down on the ground. “Go play, darling, I need to talk to Miss Y/n.”

The little girl darted off through one of the doorways in the entryway and you breathed a sigh of relief. He gestured for you to come in, removing your shoes while he shut the door behind you. With the two of you standing next to each other you finally realized how tall he was and how good he looked, even if he was half dressed for work in just slacks and a white button down.

“I am so sorry, Y/n,” he rubbed the back of his head. “She’s a weird kid. She scares off every babysitter by pulling some weird crap like this, so I totally understand if you want to back out.”

“As long as she doesn’t try to stab me, I think I’ll be ok, Mr. Jeong,” you’d dealt with far worse kids after babysitting in high school. Granted, none of them had called you mom before, but Eunha seemed unthreatening, even if she was odd.

“Just Yunho is ok. Mr. Jeong makes me feel old,” his ears were a bit red.

“How old are you?” the question escaped before you could hold it in. “Sorry, that was inappropriate-”

He was smiling down at you. “I’m barely 30. You?”

Cool, cool. Your hot boss was eight years older than you. “I’m 22.”

His smile dimmed a bit and he nodded before clearing his throat. “Well, I promise Eunha won’t hurt you, but she doesn’t hold her tongue very well. She has a tendency to say whatever comes to her mind but we’re working on her filter.”

Yunho started to lead you the way Eunha had run and you found yourself in a spacious living room. Eunha was lost in her own world, sitting in front of a fancy coffee table playing with some dolls.

“Oh,” Yunho’s hand caught your arm with his left hand before the two of you walked closer to the little girl. “If she calls you ‘mom’ again, please correct her.”

“Of course,” you didn’t really want the kid calling you mom anyways. Even if she was cute and her dad was hot, he was much older than you were and you were just her babysitter. Although…

You couldn’t help yourself, glancing down at his hand. No ring.

He nodded and thanked you. “I have to go into the office for a few hours. I know I said this was a trial run and I’d be home, but Yeosang said he trusted you and I trust him. If you have any problem, please don’t hesitate to call me and I’ll come straight home.”

“Of course,” you glanced at the girl behind you, still playing happily. You turned your attention to Yunho again and tried to ignore the heat of his hand soaking through the thin sleeve of your blouse. “I think we’ll be ok, but I have your number.”

“Great,” his smile was wide and warm, but he removed his hand to go finish getting ready upstairs, leaving you with the little girl in the living room.

You approached her and sat down on the other side of the table. Her pretty brown eyes, the same eyes her dad had, lifted to you quickly. Eunha was only five, but her gaze felt like she could see straight through you. Even so, her eyes were still friendly.

“Whatcha playing?” You asked, starting to roll up the sleeves of your blouse.

“Dolls,” she handed you one with long blonde hair. She clutched her own doll with brown hair tightly in one hand. “You can be Minsoo, I’ll be Miyeon. Minsoo stole Miyeon’s pet dinosaur.”

“Oh no,” Eunha nodded seriously at your comment.

“Minsoo won’t tell Miyeon where Mr. Dinosaur is but,” she put a finger to her lips and pointed to the couch parallel to where the two of you were sitting. There was a large stuffed spinosaurus wearing a red tie that was most likely Yunho’s perched on the middle cushion. “He’s over there, but play like you won’t tell.”

“Got it,” you mimed zipping your lips and throwing the key away. Eunha giggled and the two of you started playing.

Yunho popped in a little while later, suit fully put together and hair gelled out of his face. He still looked insanely good, but you almost preferred the messy hair more casual look he had early.

With a kiss to Eunha’s head, he turned to you. “I probably won’t be too late, only a few hours.”

You assured him you got this and he was gone with a wave. You could only stare after him for a few minutes longer before Eunha started interrogating you with her doll again.

Yunho was in fact gone for much longer than a few hours. You’d been here since 3pm and it was now 9pm. He’d texted you frantically at 6 asking if you could stay a little longer since his meetings were running late. You didn’t have anywhere better to be so you agreed, telling him it was no problem. You’d cooked Eunha some dinosaur nuggets and had cleaned the kitchen while she ate.

At 8:30, Eunha had started yawning. She informed you very matter of factly that it was her bedtime, so you helped her through her routine before settling her into bed with her stuffed spinosaurus tucked into her side, quickly falling asleep.

Thankfully, she hadn’t called you mom again.

Once she was out, you quickly ran to your car parked in front of the house to gather your textbooks and notes. If you were going to be here for a while, you might as well study.

It was about 10:15 when Yunho came tumbling through the door. His neatly gelled hair was messed up, like he’d spent the last few hours running his hands through it. His tie was also loosened and, to be honest, he looked exhausted.

“Yunho?” your voice caught his attention. You were sitting in front of the coffee table, much like how you had been when he left, but your notes and textbooks were spread in front of you.

“Y/n,” he walked into the living room. You could almost imagine the scene was domestic. If you weren’t a babysitter and almost a decade younger than him.

“I’m sorry,” he ran a hand through his hair again. “Meetings ran late and there was a bunch of last minute work for a new proposal.”

“It’s alright,” it really was. What else would you have done on a Thursday night? Drinking with San and Yeosang was the answer, but looking at Yunho was so much better than getting wasted with your friends, not that you’d ever tell them that, though.

“Still, I shouldn’t have just dumped Eunha on you for twice as long as I should have.”

“It’s really ok Yunho,” you rose from the floor to begin packing your study materials in your backpack. “She’s a really sweet girl.”

“She’s unique,” he responded with a laugh. “But I love her to death, she’s all I’ve got.”

You wanted so badly to ask about her mom, but that was most definitely not an appropriate question for your first day of work. And definitely not when Yunho looked like he was going to pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

“She is,” you couldn’t help but agree. “But I like her and if you’ll have me, I’d love to keep babysitting her.”

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah. She’s sweet,” you paused, your cheeks heating up. “And I need the money.”

“Oh of course the money,” Yunho reached for his pants pocket and began rifling through the brown leather wallet he pulled out. When Yunho tried to hand you almost $500, you backed away, hands in the air.

“There's no way six hours of childcare is worth $500,” he kept trying to give you the money, but you kept dodging him. It evolved into him chasing you around the room.

“I insist,” he had caught you by the waist and was holding your chest tight against his. With his free hand he grabbed yours and placed the money in your hand.

You couldn’t help but look up at him in shock, from both the amount of money he gave you and the way you were pressed against him. Neither of you moved as he seemed to realize the situation you were in. It felt like hours passed with just the two of you staring into each other's eyes.

“I told you you were my mommy,” Eunha’s sleepy voice shattered whatever spell had been cast around you and Yunho jumped apart quickly, both of your cheeks flaming red.

You directed your attention to packing the rest of your things while Yunho tended to Eunha. He quickly scooped her up and out the living room to presumably put her to bed. It was extremely tempting to run out the front door before you had to face him again, but if you were going to be seeing him regularly, you had to act at least a little professional, so you waited by the front door for him to come downstairs.

After a few minutes, he returned, looking slightly more disheveled and exhausted.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” you didn’t know if he was talking about holding you like that or Eunha calling you mom again. You were really hoping he was apologizing about the latter.

“It’s really ok,” you waved him off, eager to escape the now awkward atmosphere of the house.

“I really appreciate you coming over,” Yunho opened the door for you. “Eunha said she had a very fun day. She said she wants you to keep coming over.”

He followed you outside and the two of you walked to your car parked on the street.

“She’s really sweet. I’d love to keep babysitting her,” and you’d take any excuse to see Yunho. You did like Eunha, despite her odd tendencies.

“Are you free tomorrow night?”

Your brows raised as you face Yunho, your back to the passenger side door of your car. He looked just as shocked by his own words.

“I- not like that. I have a work dinner and I promise I won’t be as late as tonight,” his hand was on the back of his neck and he looked sheepish. His movements left you with a great view of his bicep straining through his white shirt.

“Yeah I’m free most friday nights,” Yunho seemed to relax slightly as you ignored the implications of his statement.

“Ok, I wasn’t sure if you’d have a date with Yeosang or anything,” was that relief in his eyes?

“Yeosang? Date? Why would I have a date with Yeosang?” What on earth did Yeosang say to this man when he called him about the babysitting job?

“Oh my bad,” Yunho was back to looking embarrassed. “I heard he had a girlfriend then he called me about you and I just assumed… I’m sorry I shouldn’t have.”

You stepped forward to put a hand on his arm. “Yeosang and I are good friends. He’s dating one of my sisters, not me.”

Yunho once again relaxed as your hand made contact with him.

“Alright, good,” you didn’t have the time or will to find the meaning behind that. “I’ll let you head home, it’s late. I’ll text you tomorrow morning.”

“Alright,” you moved away from him to the driver's side. “Goodnight, Yunho.”

“Goodnight, Y/n.”

You spent the next three months babysitting for Yunho about three to four times a week. During the days you didn’t see him, you couldn’t get him out of your head. You often found yourself thinking about Eunha, too.

The kid hadn’t gotten any less weird the longer you knew her. One day she had made you pretend to be cats to hunt and kill her stuffed animals for food and another day she had you help her build a city of foam blocks populated with dolls and other random items she declared were citizens of Eunhatown, only for her to pretend to be god and destroy it. She liked to draw unflattering pictures of the random people who walked past the house and keep them in a binder under her bed. Eunha’s favorite pastime was playing dodgeball with her large collection of dinosaur plushies until she got bored of that and then asked you to play dead while she had the dinosaurs pretend to eat you. The girl was bizarre with slightly morbid interests, but she never did hurt you and listened to directions you gave her. And, thankfully, she hadn’t called you mom since she caught you and Yunho in the living room that first night.

Things with Yunho were getting more and more friendly as the two of you spent more and more time together. You’d often spend an hour or two talking with him after he put Eunha to bed on nights you had to stay late and you could almost consider yourself friends instead of just his daughter's babysitter.

Yunho had avoided physical contact with you after the first night and you weren’t sure if he was trying to be respectful or if he genuinely did not want to touch you. You really hoped it was the former, as you hadn’t been able to shake the stupid crush you’d had on him since you met.

Because of your crush that was clinging to you like some sort of parasite, it had stung a bit when he asked you to babysit one Friday in early December because he had a date. He hadn’t told you much besides the fact that he needed you there at about 6pm and he would be home by 11pm.

What he hadn’t told you, was that the date had canceled on him. You quickly found out at 6 that night when he opened the door in sweats and a t-shirt with a glass of wine in one hand.

“Shit,” was the first thing he said when he opened the door. “I knew I forgot something. My date canceled on me last night so I sent Eunha to my mom’s to have a night in.”

“Oh,” that was surprising. You couldn’t imagine any woman canceling on the man in front of you. Although, it was a little presumptuous his date was a woman, it probably wasn’t off the table since he did have a daughter.

“Yeah, sorry Y/n I should have remembered to let you know. You probably had better things to do than drive all the way over here.”

“Not really,” you shrugged. “If I hadn’t driven out here I’d be getting harassed about going to a frat party at the moment.”

“Sounds much more exciting than what I’m doing right now,” he chuckled, leaning against the doorframe.

“And what are you doing now?” Your eyes flicked to the glass in his hand, it was a little under half full.

“Drinking and thinking,” he was smiling down at you. “A deadly combo.”

Something about the look in his eyes, the way his body was positioned towards you, and the unrelated chill in the air that had settled in once the sun set a while ago caused a shiver to run through your body.

He noticed the shiver and moved off the doorframe. “Would you like to come in?”

You answered him with a nod and followed him back inside. It was much warmer in here. In the past few days since you last babysat, the house had been decorated on the inside with Christmas decorations. There was a nutcracker on the side table of the entryway and you could see a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the living room.

While you removed your shoes, Yunho headed into the living room. When you followed him, you could see there was a fire in the fireplace that usually sat empty and unused. All of the normal pillows and throw blankets on the couch had been replaced with red and white ones that fit the holiday theme.

“Wine?” Yunho was holding an empty glass, his own having been set down on the coffee table beside an open bottle. He had either opened a new bottle just before you arrived or he hadn’t had very much to drink. You could see about three quarters of the dark liquid still swishing around when he picked it up to pour you a glass after you nodded.

When he had poured you a glass, the two of you took a seat on the couch facing the fireplace, not looking at each other. With a sip of wine for confidence, you shifted to face him.

“So,” you began. He turned to give you his full attention. “You said you were drinking and thinking. I get the drinking part, but what were you thinking about?”

He let out a sigh and took a sip. He stared into the glass as he began to speak. “This was my first date since Eunha’s mom left.”

Well, it seemed like it was time for you to get the answers to your questions from three months ago. It was best to approach this as diplomatically as you could, despite how curious you were so you stayed silent and he kept talking.

“I figured it was time to start dating again. This woman,” he paused and finally looked up at you. “She canceled as soon as I mentioned I had a daughter.”

You wanted to interrupt but he kept talking.

“I honestly don’t blame her, that’s a lot to sign up for, but I figured I should say something before we actually went out.”

He was right. As much as you wanted to shit talk the woman for seemingly hurting him, you didn’t really blame her. Before you met Yunho, you probably would have done the same if a man told you he was a single father. Hell, you still probably would if any man except Yunho told you he had a child before your first date.

“It’s just disappointing for my first first date in almost seven years,” he took another sip of his wine.

It was now or never. “Can-can I ask what happened to Eunha’s mom?”

Yunho’s eyes closed and he sighed. He was leaning forwards with his elbows on his knees and you got the impression that it was something he didn’t want to talk about.

“Yunho I’m sorry it’s none of my-”

“No no don’t apologize,” he turned his head to look at you now. “It’s just a touchy subject I don’t usually talk about.”

You stayed silent, letting him continue on his own. He sat up and took a deep breath.

“We weren't married, her mom and I. We’d been dating for barely a year when she found out she was pregnant and immediately everyone tried to get us to marry.” Yunho’s gaze was back on the dark red liquid in his glass. “We both realized we were falling out of love and didn’t want to be tied together forever, but it was too late…”

He trailed off looking somewhat ashamed. “It was too late to do anything about the pregnancy. We stayed together so I could support her and when Eunha was born, we were going to give her up for adoption. I couldn’t do it, though, and her mom could. So I took Eunha and her mom gave up any parental rights. Last time I heard from her was on Eunha’s first birthday. She was living in London,” he shrugged at that.

“Damn,” that was all you could think. What a shitty situation to be in. Yunho would have been what, 24? 25? Only a few years older than you are now and you couldn’t imagine finding out you were pregnant by someone you didn’t love anymore…

“Yeah,” he laughed for the first time in a while. “Damn. I got lucky though. I can’t imagine my life without Eunha. And I wouldn’t have met you without her.”

That brought red to your cheeks. His gaze was back on you, and a smile was on his face. He had faint smile lines that betrayed the fact that he was out of his 20s, but they only accentuated the way he shined when he smiled.

“I’m glad I met you, too,” you couldn’t help the awkward giggle that accompanied your quiet voice. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him any longer, instead facing the fireplace. Your cheeks felt hot and all of a sudden you became acutely aware of just how close the two of you were. Not that you were complaining, you’d had the hots for this man since you first saw him, but this scenario was not something you had imagined actually happening.

His hand landing on your knee nearly caused you to jump. Your head whipped around to look up at him.

“I’m serious, Y/n,” his eyes were staring so intently into yours. Yunho’s hand on your leg rose up to cup your cheek. “I’m so unbelievably grateful for everything you’ve done for Eunha and I.”

His eyes were darting between your lips and eyes, as if he couldn’t decide where to settle them. You found yourself having the same struggle. His face was so close and there were so many details you wanted to drink in, but his lips, stained red from the wine, were stealing your attention.

“Yunho…” his name came out as a breathy whisper. You could see his jaw clench in the flickering firelight, his eyes blinking shut for just a moment before they were back on your own.

“Fuck, Y/n,” Yunho’s voice was husky and the way he damn near moaned your name made it sound like the best noise in the world. It sent a shiver through you, your whole body heating up. “Can I kiss you, please. Wanted to for way too long.”

You couldn’t reply. It was like your throat was blocked. All you could do was nod before he was surging forward. His hand on your cheek migrated to your hair as his lips met yours. Despite his urgency, his lips were soft, gentle as they slowly moved with yours. The feeling had you floating, not quite present as your mind went blank, lost in the sensation.

It wasn’t until his tongue was prodding at your lips that you snapped out of your daze. Your hands came up to rest on his chest as you shifted on the couch to face him better. His other hand landed on your waist as he tugged you towards him. You gasped, which provided him the perfect opportunity to tangle his tongue with yours.

It was impossible to contain the groan that you breathed into his mouth as he continued to manhandle you. Yunho had seemingly decided that having you pressed against his side while you kissed wasn’t enough. His hand left your hair to grab your thigh, moving you to straddle his lap as he sat back against the couch. From there, his other hand shifted to push on your lower back, pressing you as close as possible to him.

With your arms around his neck, hands tangled in his hair, you parted from his lips in order to take gasping breaths of air. Yunho didn’t seem to need to breathe, as he immediately started planting kisses on your neck. You whined as he nipped the skin beneath your ear. For a brief moment, you thought about telling him no marks, but you weren’t sure if you’d get a chance like this with him again. If this night was going the way you thought it was, you’d probably end up very satisfied, but out of a job and no way to see your hot boss anymore so it wouldn’t hurt to have a few reminders of him, even if they would fade within a week.

Yunho licked a stripe up your neck, his hand on your back moving to grope your ass as he brought the two of you face to face again. For a moment, the two of you just stared at each other, both panting, until you leaned forwards to kiss him.

He eagerly reciprocated, holding you tighter to him in the process and pulling you down in his lap. You couldn’t help letting out a little noise of surprise as you felt the tent in his sweats pushing between your legs.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, Y/n,” Yunho pulled his lips from yours, resting back on the couch and letting his hands move to your waist. Your own fell to his chest “This… this wasn’t what I had in mind when I asked to kiss you, I promise.”

You didn’t reply, only watching his chest rise and fall as you both panted. It wasn’t a conscious decision, at least you don’t think it was, to slowly grind down on him. Yunho’s eyelids fluttered and he let out a groan, hips bucking upwards to meet yours.

“Shit, Y/n, don’t do that,” his words gave you pause. What the hell were you doing?

“Fuck, fuck sorry, Yunho,” you rose, moving to get off his lap but his hands wouldn’t let you.

“I meant don’t do that because I can’t control myself if you do.”

You settled down again, rolling your hips over his experimentally. When he groaned again, you grinned. “What if I don’t want you to?”

Yunho gaped at you for a moment. “You can’t- fuck Y/n.” Then he brought his mouth back to yours, tongue sweeping into your mouth. As his mouth moved against yours, you continued grinding down against him. Both of you were panting into the kiss, hands frantically roaming each other.

Regretfully, you had to part in order for him to yank his shirt over his head. It gave you a wonderful view of his lean torso, which you immediately started running your hands over, thoroughly enjoying the feel of his warm, smooth skin beneath your palms. He wasted no time in yanking you back into him, lips smashing into your own as his tongue invaded your mouth.

His right hand migrated from your waist to the front of your pants, fumbling to undo the button and yank down the zipper. Yunho’s hand slipped down inside and his long, nimble fingers quickly made contact with your clit. That first contact had you gasping into his mouth. As his hand down your pants made tight circles around your clit, his other hand grabbed your ass and held you in place.

His hand kept working on you and your tongues tangled. You unleashed moans and gasps between deep, aggressive kisses. As his movements brought you higher and closer to your impending orgasm, kissing devolved into panting into his mouth.

Your hips were grinding against his hand as the pressure built. Yunho’s lips traveled to your next while your head tipped back, gasping moans flowing free. His lips sucked small marks onto the column of your throat. Your hand came up to grasp his hair, pulling at the soft strands as your orgasm washed over you. It hit you like a ton of bricks, slamming into your body and making you tense as the sensations wracked through you, wave after wave as you clung to Yunho.

When you had stopped shaking for the most part, Yunho withdrew his hand. Leaning back on the couch he brought his fingers to his lips, licking and sucking your juices that had been left on them. You could only watch, transfixed by the sight of his fingers disappearing into his mouth.

When he withdrew his fingers he hesitated for a moment, simply staring at you sitting on his lap. Yunho seemed to pull himself together after a moment and sprung into motion.

“Lay down,” he ordered as he pulled your top off, followed by your bra.

You did as he said, sliding off his lap and onto the couch. Propped up on your elbows, you watched as he hooked his fingers in the waistband of your jeans, tugging them and your underwear down before throwing them across the room.

“Hurry,” you whined at him as he reached for the waist of his own pants.

“Why, baby?” he laughed, smiling down at you as he slowly lowered his own pants. “We have all night.”

With that, he quickly climbed over you, slotting his hips between your open legs and bringing his mouth down on yours again. It only took a few expert shifts of his hips and his hand to have him slipping inside you. Your head dropped back away from his as you gasped at his girth and length filling you.

“Fuck,” he exhaled, his own head dropping to your breast bone as he took a moment to recover.

“Yeah, fuck,” your voice was breathy. Both of you chuckled at that, until the movement of him laughing and the subtle shifting of his body had you gasping again as he shifted inside you.

“Fuck me,” you whispered, connecting your lips to his again.

With slow, testing movements, his hips drew back before easing back into you. Every push in had soft whines leaking out of your mouth and into his. Yunho repeated his soft motions for a few moments before he was pushing away from you.

He sat up on his heels, his hips still pressed to yours and his hands locked around your hips. You had been still expecting the gentle movements he had been subjecting you to previously, so you were wholly unprepared for the nearly aggressive thrust back into you.

Yunho’s new rhythm was still slow on the backthrust, but his thrusts into you only grew in speed and power. This new pace was forcing out strangled gasps of his name out of you.

He himself was panting and groaning as his eyes darted between your breasts bouncing, your face with your eyes shut and mouth open, and the spot between your legs where his dick was disappearing into you.

“Shit,” he breathed out when he paused. His grip on your waist was still tight and he shifted your hips up for a better angle. With your legs thrown over his and your lower half under his control, he sat up on his knees, drawing you with him.

Your eyes met his briefly as he pulled back quickly to pick up his rhythm again. The eye contact didn’t last long as his new angle had his tip perfectly hitting your g-spot over and over. At the repeated stimulation, your eyes rolled back and your back arched even further into the position he was holding you in.

Yunho kept up his pace until his hips started to stutter and his mouth dropped open in a long groan.

“Fuck, fuck, Y/n,” you could tell he was getting close. You were slowly reaching your peak, but too far away to cum with him.

Yunho was getting even closer and you decided to give him a little extra help. All it took to toss him over into his orgasm was a firm squeeze of your interior muscles and one of your hands coming up to palm our own breast.

His head fell back with a groan as he gave a few final thrusts into you before pushing as far as he could inside you. You couldn’t help but admire the sweat shining on his skin in the firelight and the way all the muscles in his body tensed.

Yunho’s moment of euphoria passed quickly as the reality of the situation hit him in the face.

“Holy shit, Y/n please tell me you’re on birth control. I cannot have another kid right now,” his eyes were frantic as he leaned down over you.

You laughed and nodded, a little out of breath. “Yes I’m on birth control. You’re not going to be a dad again.”

He let out a relieved sigh before his eyes lit up again. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind being a dad again, but preferably in a stable relationship this time.”

Your breath caught in your throat but you recovered quickly. “Is this your way of asking me out?” Reality also hit you again as you realized you didn’t know if this was casual sex between an employer and an employee or something more, but you could only hope.

Thankfully, he laughed. “I suppose it is.”

#jeong yunho smut #ateez smut #jeong yunho #yunho smut #jeong yunho fanfic #ateez fanfic

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fallenclan · 5 months

Note

The steady beat of Silverbelly's pawsteps kept tempo with Feathersight's heart, instilling an even deeper sense of familiarity within Feathersight. Silverbelly had been one of the cats to mentor him, yes, but she had also become far more than that. If FallenClan was like his extended family, then the medicine cats were his immediate family.

He loved and valued each of them deeply, so Silverbelly's raspy breaths were dually upsetting. The two medicine cats were making the trek back from Sungleam Lake, evading squawking twoleg kits while they carried home their precious comfrey, which grew abundantly in this particular location.

"Silverbelly?" Feathersight called out, causing the senior medicine cat to halt. Try as she might to hide it, it was evident that the long walk was taking a toll on her. "Can we stop for a few moments? My paws are sore." It was a fib, but a small one.

"Oh, of course, dear. I wouldn't want your paw pads to tear." After speaking, Silverbelly promptly sat down, inhaling deeply. Feathersight followed suit, wrapping his tail neatly around his paws and gazing out across the water. The two had reached the portion of water where lake gave way to river. Feathersight knew that if he followed the river, he'd eventually reach the Split Stones, and beyond that still was the river split.

Feathersight felt a deep love for his home. He could ask for no better place to live.

"You've been spending time with Ospreyswipe," Silverbelly commented mildly.

"Mm." Feathersight gave a tiny nod. "He's my friend."

"Do you still spend time with the others?"

"Juniperfoot, Myrtleclaw, and Sandstep spend most of their time together. Russetflare and Cinderstone are hardly apart these days, too. That leaves me and Ospreyswipe."

"Oh." There was a shift in Silverbelly's tone that caused Feathersight to glance at the she-cat quizzically. "It's just, you and your friends. . . you were always so. . ." She trailed off, gaze foggy with memory. "You remind me of myself sometimes, Feathersight."

"How so?" Feathersight blinked in surprise. He wasn't sure what had brought this on.

"I used to have a group of friends, too. I was always the quiet one, but I never felt left out."

"I'm guessing Applebranch and Maplestar were a part of this group?" Feathersight's gaze had returned to the water. With a start, he noticed a single maple leaf, drifting along the river. Before he could comment on it, Silverbelly continued speaking.

"Yes. There were two others." She paused. "Honeygleam and Dawnshine."

"Oh?" Feathersight's gaze was still locked on the maple leaf, disquiet settling over him. Is Cherrydust ready?

"Dawnshine is, ah, was my brother. He and Honeygleam died a long time ago. I've been thinking about them a lot, lately."

Feathersight's gaze snapped to the medicine cat. "Do you ever ponder your own mortality, Silverbelly?"

"What?" Silverbelly let out a nervous chuckle.

Feathersight felt a pang of annoyance with himself. He had done it again. Sometimes, he blurted things without thinking. Disturbing things, things cats don't like hearing. "I mean, you're quite old." Silverbelly blinked. "Wise. You've experienced so much. It must be nice knowing there are cats waiting for you, that one day you won't have to grieve anymore."

"Grieve? Feathersight, have you seen something?" Alarm was beginning to edge into Silverbelly's voice.

"No, no, I-" Feathersight took a step back. "Sorry. Nevermind."

"No, I'm sorry." Silverbelly sighed. "You just caught me off guard. It's strange thinking of myself as having so little time left."

"Knowing you, that time will be spent doing something wonderful. You're an amazing cat, Silverbelly." I'm going to miss you was left unspoken.

"Thank you, dear." Silverbelly leaned forward, pressing her nose against Feathersight's cheek. "I'm very glad you chose to be a medicine cat. Sometimes the things you say can be a bit, well, startling, but you're such a kind-hearted and caring individual. The clan couldn't ask for a better medicine cat. You remind me so much of. . ."

"Yourself?"

"Yes, but I was going to say Stormsight."

"Oh." The cat whose memory seemed to haunt the medicine den. "You loved him very dearly."

"I did. I still do." Silverbelly's gaze had begun to water.

"I'm sorry," Feathersight murmured, feeling Silverbelly's pain as strongly as if it had been his own. In some ways, it was his own. He felt sorrow at the thought of forever slinking along in a murdered cat's shadow. Would he always be compared to Stormsight? Could he ever live up to their memory?

"No, don't be. I shouldn't be dumping this on you."

"It's okay."

"It's not." Silverbelly sighed. "You aren't Stormsight."

"No," Feathersight replied carefully. "I can never be Stormsight, but that doesn't mean I won't try to honor his memory."

"You honor his memory just by walking the path of a medicine cat." At Feathersight's doubtful look, Silverbelly pressed on. "You are your own cat, Feathersight. You bring your own light into the medicine den. I don't want you to feel pressured to live up to Stormsight's legacy." Feathersight started. It was if Silverbelly had read his mind. "If it's worth anything, you have already beyond proved yourself to me."

". . . thank you."

"Are your paws feeling better?"

"What? Oh, right. Yes, they feel a lot better."

"Good. We should head back to camp before sundown."

Silverbelly turned to pad off and as Feathersight moved to follow, he also cast a hesitant glance towards the river. The maple leaf was gone, presumedly swept away or sunken beneath the current.

Something to ponder over another time, he decided. For now, he would focus on getting back to camp. One pawstep at a time.

-🐉 (i decided to elaborate on the feathersight & silverbelly conversation about her "mortality." i'll be writing something for rustmoss next!)

EATING THIS EATING THIS EATING THIS!!!!!!!!!!! the little nods to feathersight's omen sense. seeing a maple leaf sink into the river. ohh my god dragon your fics . i want them in my brain forever

#i was so mad earlier i tried to go back and read through the fallenfic tag and tumblr wouldn't let me </3 #fallenasks #fallenfic #dragon anon

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puppercupboard · 1 year

Text

Summoning

Ship: Secondo/Dew Rating: Questionably NSFW Contains: Very Lite D/S themes, Non-explicit dirty talk, Cardinal Secondo(Referred to by Brama), Demon Dewdrop Summery: Dew is a mouthy brat even before becoming a ghoul. Unfortunately for him, he's also entirely unprepared for a human who knows what to do with that.

There was only one thing for certain about any summoning, no matter how experienced one was with doing them - they sucked. No matter how smooth they went - and they rarely did - they were taxing in a way that few other things were. They left one aching and sore on all levels, from the physical to the spiritual. Brama has known this since he was given that designation - a Cardinal’s name as reward for his first successful summoning.

His older brother had put up more of a fuss than their father had about his volunteering for it - just more proof for him that Nihil didn’t care much for his second in line, not when his older brother was so clearly the favorite for taking over the papacy. And with his baby brother being the darling of the flock, Brama felt he need to step up his game. He’d not been talked out of it.

He had done a few of them in the years since then - just never for himself.

He was well familiar with the ritual leading up to the summoning at this point. The methodical bathing was handled himself, though overseen by a senior member of the church to ensure it was done properly. The apotropaic mark is paint across the span of his chest in cooled ash suspended in oil. The taste of flesh and wine lingers on his tongue even as he lays back in the sigil - as much a means of providing him strength as it was an offering to the demon that would soon be using him as a doorway.

The candles light one at a time, the last being left unlit for a brief moment while the woman guiding the event asks him if he’s ready. He nods, and bites back a playful remark as the last candle sparks to life. Instead, he closes his eyes and focuses on breathing, slow and steady.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The drop hits him like a wave slamming into him at the waist, bending him in half and and dragging him under.

The water wraps around him fast enough that for a brief moment, he thinks that the demon already has him. Then he realizes that he’s not sinking, the water was just rising far faster than he’d anticipated. He feels weightless, surrounded on all sides by water that was just a bit too warm to be comfortable.

He turns to look over his shoulder, ensuring that he wasn’t going to be snuck up on, before turning forward again - just in time to see the rapidly approaching form of the demon that had answered his call. For a moment, he thinks the demon plans to slam into him full force, putting him on the physical defensive before he’s even had time to speak a word.

Thankfully, that doesn’t happen.

Instead, the demon’s slows slightly over the last few yards, enough to twist and swim around him in a circle - tight enough that he could reach out and touch the gorgeous fins. They covered the full length of the demon - short, if one didn’t count the added length of his tail - every one of them a pale, dusty pink that passed through pastel blues on it’s way to a purple the color of the night sky. He doesn’t get the chance before the demon’s face is back in front of him, all soft angles and features that were delicate but sharp - large eyes solid black, save for a ring of silver that could only be the iris with the way they surround his pupils. Hair paler than moonlight floats around the both of them as the demon gets settled.

Gorgeous.

“I want to offer you a position among my ghouls,” Brama’s voice echoes through the water, bubbles rolling up from his mouth with every word. A little off script from his usual offer to serve the church, but after seeing the demon that has answered his call, he can’t help but feel a little selfish.

The laugh that the offer gets makes him set his teeth in response. Cruel, but clearly made to echo through the water in a way that his own voice was not. “I’m not in the business of serving humans, what makes you think you’d be any different.”

The statement doesn’t phase Brama - he doesn’t know any manner of demon that would answer a summoning and wasn't willing to serve humans, however complex the standards that one might have to meet to earn that service. He’s sure he’s up to the task, even if he’s not quite as sure he’ll have the time to prove it. Water ghouls were a time sensitive process, after all - the apotropaic mark paint on him protect him from actual possession. It did nothing to protect him from drowning, whether that be the demon’s doing itself or just because he’d spent too much time talking.

“I could make it more than worth your while.” Brama’s tone doesn’t waver, even as the demon shifts and begins to swim around him again, wider circles - no longer close enough for Brama to touch.

A shame, maybe he should have taken the chance when he’d had it.

“Drowning you could be worthwhile too.” The threat is clear in the tone that the demon uses. Clearly, he wasn’t one to appreciate vague promises.

“You’d get nothing out of drowning me but the pleasure of doing it once.” The bubbles stop, a sign that the timer has started ticking down.

“Once might be all you’re worth.”

The demon has a mouth on him, that’s for certain. But he almost seemed to be all bluster - fluffing up like a betta fish flaring at anyone who passes the tank. “If you thought that, then why haven’t you drowned me already?”

The demon whips around to get in Brama’s face, white hair just as puffed up by the motion as the large fins that he flared wide. He seems quite a bit bigger that way, and those teeth he bare at him were certainly sharp. Brama doesn’t flinch, though. If he flinches, the pretty demon might slip through his grasp - or worse, make good on that threat to drown him.

His hand lifts as quick as the water allows, and he grasps the demon’s face - gentle but firm, keeping his fingers out of the way of those teeth. He can feel the tiny scales that cover the demon’s face, iridescent in the light streaming down from above them, hitting every tone in his fins and then some.

“You don’t want to drown me.”

The confidence with which he says it might be undue, but he's not going to waver when he can see that he's thrown the demon off. Perhaps entirely off, if the way that his flared fins fall still and his eyes start flicking back and forth - probably trying to figure out which eye of Brama's he should be looking at.

He settles on the white one.

"No, what you want is proof that I'm not going to roll over because you got a little mouthy."

If he fucked this up now, he might actually drown whether the demon intend to do it himself or not. That was a threat looming over his head that he's not unaware of, but if he showed weakness now, it would be a sure end to the negotiations. The demon would slip from his grasp and he'd have his first unsuccessful summoning. He can't have either of those things happen.

"Nothing to say to that?" The question is rhetorical, and he doesn't give the water demon time to answer. Not that he's sure that he could get his thoughts together that quick regardless. "Good, as pretty as you are, you're even prettier when you're minding that tongue of yours."

The demon looks like he’s not quite sure how he got here. Silver irises are like thin rings of light swimming in darkness, mouth slightly agape. He looks good like that. Brama imagines that he would look just as good on his back, hair fanned over the sheets and moaning.

He leans in a bit closer, the demon’s eyes tracking him the whole way. He’s close enough that he could have kissed the demon’s cheek with ease. He’s also close enough that the demon could have put those teeth to use with great effect.

The demon doesn’t even try. He’s got his undivided attention, and he was living for every moment. He could feel the water rushing past his gills at this distance - an odd sensation but one he would gladly get used to if it meant more time around the demon in his grasp. He had potential, and that attitude meant that he’d be unlikely to show just *anyone* what a diamond in the rough he was.

“Why don’t you behave yourself for me. Come be one of my ghouls, and let me show you how well I can handle a pretty thing like you. ” Brama’s free hand wanders down the length of the demon, starting just under his pecs and moving along his slender waist to the Demon’s hip. No sense in not touching him, if he was going to be playing up the seduction to secure himself this demon. Even if he didn’t he didn’t, and the demon decided to run off, he’d have at least gotten to feel the lean frame of the demon under his hand.

“I know you can be be a good boy, Dewdrop. Come with me."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cardinal’s body arches off the shape burned into the wood beneath him. Brama’s eyes fly open and he twists, turning himself onto his side as he coughed up water - the taste of sulphur and salt linger in his mouth well after he’s stopped. No meat or wine in the mess he’s made, only water. A few hacking coughs later, and he looks across the room where the offered body had been laid out.

The candles around the both of them had been extinguished, and while Brama had been coughing up water, the new ghoul was instead sitting in a puddle of it, mist settling around the small, silver haired form that was looking back at him.

He smiles, self-satisfied, and he wonders if the taste of salt water will linger in his mouth with this ghoul as the taste of charred meat had lingered with the last one.

#pupper writes #'questionably nsfw' don't look at me you're lucky i didn't give into instinct and use the citrus scale #i would have post this some other way but like hell im going to figure out posting to AO3 so i can be witnessed further #secondo #secondo emeritus #secondo ghost #dewdrop ghoul #dewdrop ghost #dewii #secondo/dewdrop #secondew #the band ghost #drops this and runs

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clumsiestgiantess · 7 months

Text

Chapter twelve of the Other-world Universe; Alexis returns after four years of time away. How much has changed? (tw various hints of abuse)(disaster is afoot)

[Who all this was for]

For the rest of the summer, I focused my attention on other important things, mainly getting into college. Next school year would be my senior year, and I’d already narrowed down my top picks. The summer dragged on, but I was more determined than ever to avoid the other-world. For once, I did not give in to temptation and visit it for anything. I kept myself busy with various small summer projects instead.

Of these, my favorite was a silly little shark plushie I tried to make myself. Its proportions were very squished and it bulged a bit at the front, but I thought it looked awfully cute. However, I began to lose interest even in the little projects. I was almost relieved when school started up again. High school easily distracted me more than any of my summer plans had. Though every once and a while I would catch myself wondering about the other-world — whether Erica was doing alright. I’d always disregard those thoughts once I began longing to return. They often disappeared as quickly as they emerged. Once I remembered how I’d left, there really was no reason to go back. Erica was probably fine. She finally had a life completely separate from me, and any harm I might cause.

School was.. well, school. Tough, but nothing I couldn’t do with enough practice. Before I knew it, volleyball season had returned and things started looking up. I actually enjoyed my new routine. It was certainly a lot less stressful dealing with only one world instead of two. By the end of the year I’d been accepted into one of the colleges I had looked at over summer break. Time flew after that. A bucket list formed of things I wanted to do before I left home, and I constantly strived to complete everything on it. I was anxious but content, and dare I say happy. Before I knew it, graduation day had arrived. Suddenly, I could barely recall the other-world anymore. After a large graduation party, and weeks of preparing and packing, I officially left home. Adult life was more difficult than it was made out to be, but I managed. I mean, technically I was still in school.

I tried to even out the stress of assignments and due dates with a steady relationship. There was this nagging ache I'd feel from time to time whenever I got bored or lonely that needed to be filled. However, none of the guys I'd ever dated felt quite right. Something was missing. I had no clue what it could be. Some of the relationships I’d been in had come pretty close to perfect, yet that small ache was never quite satisfied. So in the end, I never stuck around.

It was the week before Thanksgiving, three years after my high school graduation, when I got an unexpected call from my dad. He and Liam were cleaning out the house and trashing a bunch of unnecessary things. They’d even rented a dumpster and everything. Dad asked me if I could come over during my break and help them move the heavier things out. Of course, I agreed. I was happy to go back home, I had lots of good memories there, and thanks to the holiday, my grandparents were there too — the whole family.

Everyone celebrated the small family reunion upon my return. My first day home, I stayed up late talking with my brother and reminiscing. The next day, after sleeping in late for the first time that month, I got to work. All morning I was preoccupied with moving an old sitting room setup. The furniture was heavier than it looked. I was barely able to drag everything into the dumpster in the driveway before throwing in the towel and stopping for lunch.

My next task was removing a flimsy ping pong table from the storage room in the basement. As tired as I was, the ping pong table was made of old plastic, so it wouldn’t be very hard for me to lift. While I walked downstairs with my father, he gestured vaguely to the main room of the basement. “We’ll probably be dumping the playtable too. I got Liam to clean all the crap off of it so we can trash it.” He shook his head, “I don’t think that thing’s been touched in years.” Just then, my grandmother yelled down to Dad. She was having trouble with the automatic coffee machine, trying to figure out how to make tea with it. “I’ll be back when I can,” he sighed, “This might be a while.” He disappeared upstairs, leaving me in the basement alone.

The table, having been mentioned, suddenly appeared in the forefront of my mind. It was like visiting old ruins, forgotten by the world — a piece of my childhood I’d forced out of my mind, back from the dead. As if in a trance, I walked slowly over to its edge. It was completely empty. The city and everything else I remembered was gone. Of course it’s all missing; I’ve been away for years. Still, its blank surface was unnerving to me. It didn’t help that I could still feel the strange static sensation that had first drawn me to it. That feels like a lifetime ago.

I glanced at the stairs, then back to the table uncertainly. The age-old question returned from the depths of my mind. Should I go back? It’s been so long, but I probably shouldn’t risk it, right? I hesitated for only a moment. A strangely familiar feeling overcame me, and I was in the other-world again. It was uncanny how little things had changed there. The valley I always appeared in still seemed completely untouched. Well, it’s only been four years. What did I expect? Honestly, I expected it not to work. I had doubts that I’d actually been to this place, but this world is very clearly still here, as real as it ever was.

My nostalgia trip which started at home continued into the other-world. I meandered through the old mountain range and followed its edge down to the subdivisions and the city. So much had happened since I was last there. I was only eighteen when I left. I'm twenty-two now, closer to twenty-three. Yet, the familiarity of the other-world brought me right back to older days. Memories I'd long since suppressed came back to me in a sudden rush.

Purposefully, I’d tried my hardest to forget what happened on my last day, but once I passed by the hidden lake, the weight of what I'd recognized was too much for me to dismiss. I hurt so many people here. Why do I want to come back again? Now I remembered why I left. I'm too dangerous for this world; I don't belong here. I'll just check to see if the city still looks like how I remember it, then I'll leave. I'll ask Dad to throw away the table today so this world can't tempt me anymore.

Sure of my decision, I walked on without a single glance back. However, when I neared the beginning of civilization, I stopped dead in my tracks. I gagged on the heavy scent of gasoline in the air as I gazed out over the little houses. The whole neighborhood was shredded, like the aftermath of a tornado or hurricane. Many of the houses were completely destroyed, and upon closer observation, even the ones left completely unscathed had long been abandoned. Many of the peoples’ possessions were still left in their houses. They hadn’t even had time to bring everything with them.

Looking out at the horizon, I saw even from a distance that a similar devastation had taken place in the city too. One of the signature pronged buildings had collapsed, damaging the skyline. What happened here!? “Oh no,” I gasped aloud, “Did this happen because the table was cleaned off?” It can’t be, I realized, or everything would be completely gone. The table and this world are not the same. Some of these houses aren’t even damaged; that isn’t the reason. I was utterly baffled. The amount of mass destruction was terrifying to see.

So if this wreckage wasn’t caused by the table, then what happened? I looked around, distraught. “Hello?” I called, “ Is anyone here?” I had turned back from invisibility; there was really no need for secrecy anymore. In all honesty, I would rather catch someone shrieking in fear of me than finding no one at all. “Hello?” I called again. Still there was no response. Stepping through the wreckage, I slowly made it to the city, stopping every few feet to call out again. Each time I was met with silence. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a single person left. A single living person, that is. An unnerving amount of damaged and shredded corpses were scattered about the ground almost everywhere, sending chills down my arms.

The silent tension grew as I walked the abandoned streets. I used to have to be intangible just to be nearby. Now I can walk right through. I meandered up and down rows of empty buildings and roads, an unnerving static humm in the air. There wasn't a single soul in sight. Where did everyone go? I don't understand, how could everyone just disappear? There has to be someone left! In my rapidly upsetting state, I returned to invisibility. I wasn’t quite sure why, other than some vague gut feeling.

After walking through the abandoned city streets for some time, I began to feel a strange connection. As if I subconsciously knew I needed to be there somewhere. I invisibly stalked the ruined streets until I came to the place I was drawn to. I'd never been in that part of the city before. It was always too crowded for me to ever get close, but with everyone gone it became an eerie and desolate wasteland.

Shouts echoed through empty halls and a door suddenly swung open behind me. People! I turned in excitement. A rough looking gang burst through the open doorway, and I was instantly disappointed. There were about five or six men filing roughly down the stairs; each one carrying an impressive array of weapons with them. They had everything from simple crowbars and home-made weapons to rifles and pistols. One even hauled a machine gun on his back. Why was I taken here? Who are these people? Where's everyone else?

One final man marched out of the building. I recognized him instantly. John, Erica's awful ex-lover whom I'd thankfully never officially met. He was holding some kind of metal dog chain, the other end of which was still inside the building. I was instantly repelled by the sight of him. I hate this man. Out of all the people I could have found, why him? Why did HE survive whatever apocalypse happened while I was gone?

I watched him saunter down the stairs, and as the men flanked him on either side, I realized he was the leader of this post-apocalyptic gang. John yanked on the chain he'd been dragging, and I readily expected some scary breed of dog to come rushing out. However, that was not the case. I watched in sheer horror as an even more familiar face was yanked into the open, gagged and bound.

Erica was practically thrown down the stairway outside, landing in a heap in front of the other gang members, all of whom began to laugh cruelly. What in the actual fucking hell!? Every so often I would get nightmares of Erica or the destruction I’d caused. She would always be yelling at me, my own size, hunting me down to hurt me for what I’d done to her — face blurry with the years of forgetting. Sometimes I would be trapped in a dark room, other times I’d be running through the forest by the lake. If I hadn’t woken in fright by then, I would eventually come across the crushed corpses, and then I’d wake up. It was so horribly surreal to find her in such an awful situation when she’d been my tormentor for so long.

The chain and Erica were roughly tied to a streetlamp just outside the door. That pole in particular was caked in dried blood. "So much for your escape plans, little girl," John remarked coldly, prompting more laughter from the other men. "Did you really think you could get away from me that easily?" He was leaning in close to Erica's face, forcing her to look at him with an iron grip on her throat. Suddenly, she lashed out and kicked him square in the groin. John fell backwards in pain and called out to the others. "Fuck! Give her hell!" Every man raised their weapon. Those who had short range weapons surrounded her, and those with guns took aim.

"NO!" In a split second, I leapt forward, reaching out in front of Erica to defend her. Though she’d been torturing me in dreams for years, I knew that it was only in my head. I couldn’t stand by and watch her get hurt. I rushed blindly into the side of the building, sending everything crashing down around me. Thankfully, Erica was spared the brute of the avalanche I'd created, having been shielded from its force by my hands. Some of the men were not as lucky. A good half of them had been buried under the rubble, including John. From the corner of my eye I watched his shocked expression as clouds of dust billowed around him. The last I’d seen of him was that very face being torn apart by debris before a wall of cinder brick collapsed on top of him.

To the remaining men, I appeared as if from the air — a towering shadow of an angry behemoth, obscured by the cloud of rising dust off the crushed rubble. They all looked up at me in fear, and for once I was delighted by it. "YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" I screamed, reaching for them. A few tried to fight back, but most of them just ran. Someone even shot at me, but the bullets barely stung more than a bug bite would.

I killed them all easily. Too easily. Each thug was crushed unrecognizably between muscle and rubble. In sheer anger, I picked up a couple men and hurled them at the side of a building. Another, the final escapee, I tore apart in fury; like you would tear apart a bad drawing or unwelcome notice.

After the last man had been finished off, I screamed aggressively out into the barren streets. The thugs' punishment had been too quick, I had nothing left to inflict my wrath upon now besides warped corpses. All my anger over Erica’s captors, as well as my actions in this world and their awful consequences, spilled out into a blind rage.

Instead of searching for more bodies, I took out my anger on another building. It toppled to the ground in a groaning broken sound that only further fueled my wild adrenaline-filled rampage. I kicked and clawed, beating it down mercilessly until I was bloody and bruised. My chest heaved with heavy breaths as I finally began to feel the pain lashing out. Legs going numb, I fell to my knees in the center of the destruction. My anger subsided just as quickly as it emerged.

Easing out of my fog, I remembered who it was for. I turned, unsure. Erica was still chained to the streetlamp, fighting desperately against her bindings. I rushed to her side and she went completely still, eyes going wide. Reaching out, I carefully took the chains between my thumb and index finger, crushing them until they snapped. The metal fell onto the concrete with a dull thud. Instantly, Erica struggled to undo the rest of her bindings. As she freed herself, I surveyed the damage I'd done, recognizing that I'd proven yet again how destructive and horrible I could be.

I heard more chains fall to the ground, and I carefully lay myself down to look Erica in the eyes. It had been so long, and she looked awful. Bloody, bruised; as messed up as I was, she looked inherently worse. The moment she was free, I began an apology. This was by far my worst episode yet. At least the other times I’d hurt people I'd done so by accident. Not that it mattered to her.

"I'm so sorry, I-'' she didn't let me finish. Erica raced forward and grasped my open hand, desperately sobbing into it. I realized shortly afterwards that this was her attempt at a hug. My massive size made things a bit more complicated, but I delicately scooped her up and held her to my chest. Erica continued to cry; I could feel her clinging tightly to me. An angry burning feeling rose in my throat, and I pressed my eyes shut to keep tears from seeping out. For what seemed like an eternity, we sat together. Both of us were locked in an embrace that neither of us wanted to let go of.

Eventually I could feel Erica's grip loosening, and I carefully placed her back on solid ground, giving her a moment to gain her balance and stand. "I missed you so much," Erica whispered hoarsely. "I didn't think you were coming back." She'd missed me? She wanted me back? Of course, I realized, my slight torture of controlling minds to make her life better was likely a paradise compared to whatever hell she's gone through without me.

"You're ok," I told her softly, "You're alright. They can't hurt you now." I whispered sweet nothings to her as she crawled back into my outstretched palm, just like the day I'd left her. I stood ever so slowly, cupping her close. "Don't leave," Erica begged quietly, half asleep. Her drowsiness worried me; it was very unnatural, likely brought about by drugs or whatnot, but she needed the rest either way. "I won't leave you," I assured her. Erica nodded drowsily, then passed out, her body falling limply across my palm.

The sight of Erica's forlorn form laying in my hand forced forwards the tears I'd been trying to hold back. My eyes began to water, and tears slid silently down my cheeks, but I managed to cast them away with a swipe of my free hand. How did this happen? What's going on!? The city is destroyed, abandoned, and overrun. Where is everyone else? Is this really all that’s left? It can’t be.

I was sure Erica would answer my questions eventually, so I headed to the cliffside where the mansion once stood. Erica's house had been completely demolished in whatever event had taken the rest of the houses there. Despite my being gone for years, the now barren mountainside still felt like home. I watched my step where I walked; it was a force of habit, though many of the buildings around me had long been torn apart.

When I reached the cliffside, I carefully placed Erica down on a rubble-free part of the lawn. I dug through the remains of her old house and found a blanket that was only a little worse for wear. I shook it out and draped it over her sleeping form. An echo of a memory flashed before my eyes like deja-vu.

My heartstrings were pulled taunt as I watched Erica laying on the cliffside where her house, that I'd bought her, lay in ruins. She looked different now. Older, for sure, and her hair had grown out from her favorite neck-short cut, but she also looked a lot more worn down. It was fairly obvious why, but at the same time, it made no sense. Why would she go back to seeing John? How could he get away with doing something like this? However, judging by the ruined state of the landscape around me, I assumed that laws were likely a lot more lenient in the apocalyptic aftermath of whatever disaster had struck the other-world. I badly wanted Erica to wake up and talk to me, so she could help me understand what had happened.

Solemnly, I stood at the cliff's edge, watching valiantly over Erica’s sleeping form. Was she always this small? My hand hovered briefly over her for a moment before she shifted in her sleep and I quickly backed off. I remembered the people of the other-world were little, but she was only a bit taller than my pinky finger.

Not knowing when exactly Erica would wake up, I took the chance I had to rush into my world and grab some food. I haphazardly threw together a quick sandwich and grabbed a few things for the road. Both my father and grandmother were in the kitchen at the time, confused at my rushed gathering of supplies, but I was in too much of a hurry to come up with a decent excuse. I only worked faster to avoid any more attention and returned to the basement. I had no idea when I would be back, so I left dealing with my family for later.

Gathered items and shrinking box in hand, I quickly returned to the other-world, only to find myself right in front of Erica's mansion. I almost walked right into the rock face. Oh shit, I can go to more places than the field? I guess I’ve never tried. That would’ve been useful to know before I left.

Thankfully, Erica hadn't moved since my pit stop, so I settled into a more reasonable pace and shrank a few items for her to have whenever she woke up. Her unnatural drowsiness kept bugging me, though. For the next few hours I spent waiting for Erica to wake, I frequently checked her pulse and breathing, just in case. What I would've done if either had stopped I don't know, but thankfully it never came to that. With nothing else to do, I addressed my own wounds. Most of which I'd given myself in anger. The bullet holes were actually quite painful. I knew I should get the metal out of my skin, and I had preemptively grabbed a first-aid kit from the basement. I removed the tweezers from the small box and set to work.

It was hard going; the metal pieces were miniscule, and I could barely latch onto them with the tweezers. Once the bullets were all finally removed, I was left with raw gaping holes in my skin where they'd hit. I sucked in a pained breath of air and began to bandage them up. Taking a tiny bottle of rubbing alcohol from the kit, I stepped away from the cliffside to pour it over my cuts before I finished wrapping them. While I was at it, I poured some water over my hands to wash off the blood and grime from the city.

When I returned, I saw Erica’s little form sitting up on the cliffside and I ran over in an instant. I was starting to get worried she might not wake up. She stood shocked at my sudden appearance. "Alexis?" Her eyes shone hopefully for a brief moment, then they dulled. "This has to be a dream," Erica whispered, "You left," she stated, pointing at me, "I know you did." After looking me over, she shook her head and sighed longingly. "God, you're so gorgeous this time. This is torture; I know you're not real," she grumbled. "I'll probably be chained to the wall somewhere when I wake up." Did she just call me gorgeous? And how often does she get chained to a wall!? I stared down at Erica, who was pacing back and forth across the cliff edge in front of me, ranting about the likelihood of everything being a fever dream.

"But," I interjected, slightly confused, "I am real. Erica, I'm back. I know I shouldn't be, but I'm here. What happened? Where is everyone?" She only laughed and brushed me off with a dismissive wave. "Yeah, like you don't already know," Erica chuckled sarcastically. "I'm sure the real Alexis wouldn't give two shits about this place. She's off in her own world — probably forgot about me." Saying this, Erica stopped pacing and her expression fell. She turned from me, and I suddenly felt very melancholy about disappearing for so long. How do I get her to listen to me? Usually in movies someone needs to feel pain before they know they're not dreaming. I won't hurt her, but maybe…

Tentatively leaning over the cliffside, I reached out and brushed her arm gently with the pad of my finger. I couldn’t think of much else I could try, but maybe that would be enough to snap her out of it. At my touch, Erica stiffened and slowly turned to me, eyes widening with recognition. She dazedly reached out with her free hand and gently placed it over mine, still hovering by her side. Finally, she seemed to realize that our meeting wasn't her imagination.

"Is this..? Are you..?" Try as she might, she couldn't finish a sentence without choking up. I was filled with ecstatic joy now that she recognized me. A smile spread lopsided across my face. "I'm here. It's me," I assured her. She grasped my hand in a fierce wave of emotion before stumbling backwards out of my grasp. "But.. how? Why? You're here! You're actually here, holy shit!" she yelled, overjoyed. "You asshole," Erica chided suddenly, "Where the hell have you been? I waited weeks, months even, and you didn't come back. Then the world went to shit and I thought: 'for sure she'll show up to fix this', but you didn't!"

Now she had her arms crossed, glaring up at me. "My house was destroyed, I barely escaped with my life. I went to John, I- fuck, I don't know why. I shouldn't have, but I didn't know he'd gone batshit insane! I- he.." Erica quieted, thinking back to who knows what. Eventually, she held up her wrists in silent explanation. They were rubbed raw where the chains had been, and I shuddered at the sight. "Where were you? I needed you!"

I looked down at her indignantly. Although I did feel sorry for her, I couldn't help it. "You told me to leave and never come back! I was traumatized by what I'd done, and I swore I would never return to this world again!" I explained in exasperation. "I'm only here now by coincidence, and I have to leave in a week to go back to school. I came here to say my final goodbyes before my way here gets destroyed, only to find everything in ruins, and people dead in the street!"

Erica was taken aback by this. Her arms fell limply at her sides and her angry expression melted away. "But you can't leave," she said solemnly, "I- I know I told you not to come back, but I didn't think you'd actually listen. You- You never actually really left before, just distanced yourself for a while." Erica tilted her head back to gaze up at me meaningfully. “I honestly thought you would still come around to check up on me, and try to help out like you always do to make up for things. You actually leaving.. That is what I told you to do, but I guess it.. it isn’t what I wanted. It isn’t what I meant! I just wanted you to leave me alone for a while! I- I didn’t want you to leave for forever! You were supposed to come back for me.”

Erica was quiet for a while, then gasped. "That fight in the city, did that-? That actually happened, didn't it? He.. he’s dead?" I nodded slowly. Erica stilled, undoubtedly realizing the full extent of what I'd seen and what had happened. Her face flushed and she looked away, ashamed. I doubted she'd have wanted me to find her so helpless like that. She was even forced to wear an awful outfit the thugs from the city had given her; if you could even call it that. There was significantly more bear skin than fabric, but she had no other option. Her actual clothes were likely lost to the rubble of the mansion.

A long, heavy silence filled the air. My mind was still reeling from the fact that she'd been waiting for me all this time. I was so sure she never wanted to see me again. "I remember.. in the city.." Erica whispered, barely audible. "You said you wouldn't leave me."

I could practically feel my heart shatter at her words. For so long I'd been trying my hardest to forget about Erica, and all along she was right here waiting for me. To stay would mean undoing all of the progress I made moving on in life; to grow up and forget this fantasy. But leaving would prevent any chance for me to start something new. I wanted so badly to have Erica’s trust. I’d broken it too many times, but now she truly needed it.

As Erica gazed up at me with gut-wrenching uncertainty, I could feel something steel up inside my chest. Some primal, protective urge clawed its way through my mind with chilling determination. Whatever happened to her while I was gone will not happen again. Not on my watch. Leaning over the cliffside, I carefully inched a finger closer until it brushed lightly against her cheek. "Never,” I said earnestly, “I will never leave you again." My words resounded in the soft quiet between us. "I'll only ever go if you ask."

Erica nodded, tearing up. I bent down even further, resting my chin on the ground in front of her. Hesitantly, Erica stepped closer and brought my head even lower, pressing her forehead to mine. I held my breath as chills wrung down my spine. We've never been this close before. I closed my eyes; I've only ever dreamed of a moment like this, back when I had good dreams about her. Relief swept through me in a shuddering gasp, and suddenly I was in tears. I guess I’d never realized how much I missed being there.

I can't really lie to myself, though; I didn't miss this world nearly as much as I missed her. "Oh god, don't cry," Erica laughed halfheartedly, "Then I'll start crying too." I smiled as she brushed a tear off my cheek, lifting my head slightly to see her. I couldn't help it, I blushed rose pink. We held each other's gaze for a moment, then I sighed. "I'm just happy to be back." Erica nodded, and I slowly pulled away, propping up my head on my arms, smiling blissfully. Then I caught a glimpse of the ruined mansion.

I bolted upright. Suddenly, all my questions came racing back to me. "What happened here? Where is everyone?" I asked. “I was so worried; I came back and everything’s dead.” Erica blinked in confusion, her smile slowly disappearing in thought. Damn it, I didn't mean to upset her. "You know what, nevermind. I- You don't have to tell me now. Let's celebrate my return; I brought snacks!"

"You really don't know?" Erica asked, interrupting me. She studied me closely. "I guess people might want to keep this a secret," she mumbled, motioning for me to come back down. I knelt in front of her over the cliffside so we were eye to eye. Erica fidgeted nervously with her hands, flinching as she touched the raw circles of skin on her wrists. "Well, there's no easy way to say this, but.. I think your people have been abducting us for science… And before you say 'that's impossible'," she added hastily just before I could say it, "I've seen it happen. That's where everyone went. I think. Hopefully some of us escaped."

I was struck speechless. Why? How? Did they know the secret to this world? Obviously not, or whoever it is would be mind-controlling everyone to their will. "You have to help us," Erica insisted suddenly, "I know you don't care about my world or anyone besides me, but.. Are you really just going to stand by and watch everything burn?"

"What?" I asked in disbelief, "I- Why do you think that? I care about your world!" "Then help us,” she spat back, “If you care so much." "I will," I said matter-of-factly. "Great. When the hazmat giants come back through their portal you can tell them to fuck off." "What makes you think they'll listen to me? Clearly they aren't very reasonable." "You're one of them," Erica said, exasperated, "They have to listen to you."

I sighed and sank to the ground below, trying to process everything that happened while I was gone. I lay back on the face of the cliff. It’s only been four years, yet it seems like a lifetime ago. How did my world even find this one? What are they planning to do with everyone they took? Maybe Erica misunderstood, and the people who used to live here are just hiding somewhere. Why haven’t I heard about anyone finding this place on the news? It must be some top-secret government project. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I would’ve heard about the discovery of a tiny world.

Looking out over the wreckage of neighborhoods, I could now see the slight hints of people my own size. Footprints in the ground and divots made by machinery suddenly became glaringly obvious. The overpowering stench of gasoline also made a bit more sense. It was too powerful for anything other-worldian, but about average for something my own scale.

“So,” Erica prompted, “you’ll get rid of them?” I nodded, “I’ll talk to them, find out what’s going on.” “But you’ll get rid of them, right?” I glanced up at the top of the cliff, a few inches above me. Erica was standing there, peering down at me while trying to keep away from the edge. “Yeah, I’ll try. I don’t know how well they’ll react to some random person from their own world telling them to get out, though.” Erica shrugged, “Worth a shot.” I nodded in agreement. The sun was slowly sinking; it wasn’t getting dark quite yet, but it was low enough to tell the day was coming to an end. I pulled some of the snacks out of the pile of my things on the ground nearby. “Here, eat something,” I told Erica, handing her some of the shrunken food. I stood to go collect wood for a fire, since the lights in the house were clearly damaged beyond repair.

Before I could take more than a step away from the cliff, Erica called out after me. “Wait! Where are you going?” She sounded so concerned; did she think I was leaving to my own world? "I'm just going to get firewood, I'll be right back." Erica glanced around uneasily, as if she were expecting some apparition to appear in the growing shadows and steal her off. "Do you have to?" I gave her a small knowing smile, I had promised not to leave her. "Would you rather come with me?" I asked, offering her my hand. Erica hesitated briefly, then nodded and climbed on.

Despite having been gone for years, she seemed rather comfortable with me. I knew it likely had something to do with events I wasn’t there to witness, though. Erica brought the blanket with her, and settled in a cozy little heap in the palm of my hand, tucked against my cupped fingers. I couldn't help but smile slightly at the feeling. Whatever the reason, I'm glad she's safe. For once it actually paid off to come back to this place.

There was plenty of easily accessible wood lying around thanks to all the destroyed houses, so it wasn't long before I'd gathered what I needed. Soon, a raging campfire was steadily burning on the cliffside. We ate dinner together and caught up on eachothers' lives. I didn't get much of an update on Erica's life; she didn't want to say much, which I completely understood. The only thing I noticed was that Erica had a scar over her left eye. I hadn't noticed it earlier, as I was a bit distracted by everything going on. That definitely wasn't there before I left. I didn't ask about it, though. I was afraid it might bring up some awful memory of John and the looters. In the end, I mostly just blabbered on about everything that had happened to me since the last day we were together, four years ago. Afterwards, we watched the sun dip below the horizon. The ruined skyline glaring at me from afar.

I should help them, right? My world shouldn't be messing with this one; that's not really a fair fight. Then again, that's a little ironic coming from me. I glanced down at Erica. She was tucked away into a sleeping bag she'd pulled from the rubble earlier, staring blankly skyward in thought. Our little bonfire had died down to a few smoldering wooden planks.

"Look at that!" Erica whispered suddenly, pointing at the cloudless night sky. "You never see shit like that around here. The city's usually too bright." I bent my head back to see what she meant. The stars shone so vividly without the light of suburban houses or the city to compete with. They flickered brightly in the vast black sky; it was as if you could reach out and grab one. I was in for a small surprise when I noticed that some of the stars were wild colors, not just the normal whites and blues. I’d spent so long in the other-world when I was younger, how had I never noticed that? "It's beautiful," I nodded, "but we should get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." "You mean you have a long day ahead of you," Erica corrected me. "I'm not going anywhere near the hazmat giants, they could kill me way too easily. But then again, so can you."

I flinched; it was upsetting to think about. Even if I did eventually get Erica to fully trust me, there would always be a drastically uneven divide in power between us. Erica watched as I slowly hunched back down the cliffside, looking slightly guilty for ruining the mood. I'd tried to change my height to match hers a few times years ago. I’d created a small object for me to wear — similarly to how I the boxes I'd made in the past — which was supposed to make me their size when I wore it. However, when I tried it on, nothing happened. I guessed whatever influence I had on the other-world only worked with objects, not living things. How is it that I can become invisible, walk through walls, manipulate minds, and generate infinite money, but can't make one simple bracelet to shrink me to their size? It's unfair, really.

I turned to face Erica, "I would never-" "I know," Erica said, cutting me off. She turned over on her side, facing away from me. "I was just saying you could. You wouldn't. I.. I don’t think you will... Nevermind, just- Let's get some sleep." Sighing, I drifted down to the bottom of the cliff and sat with my thoughts for a while, just short of miserable.

#why’d the world have to get ruined while Alexis was gone?#hopefully Erica will be ok now that she’s safe…#other-world universe #g/t #giant tiny

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murswrites · 1 year

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Patrols 1 ⎯ Joel Miller One-Shot

Pairings: Joel Miller x Nonbinary!Reader Fandom: The Last of Us MASTERLIST Word Count: 1.4k Warnings: Cursing, gore, panic attack, description of a bloater (yuck), y/n & joel being a weirdly good team ;) SUMMARY: Patrols have been kicking your ass but luckily you're paired with Joel Miller instead of Jesse. Unlucky for you: You're on patrol period.

A/N This has been in the works for like a year now LMFAO but I finished it instead of doing my work <3 Pedro Pascal IS the only Joel Miller I know <3 This is going to be a multi-part series so I'm not rushing relationship development

Patrols were kicking your ass. A recent resurgence of infected made for more work for everyone. It was exhausting but primarily annoying. You weren’t bad at patrols, you just didn’t like going on them. You were paired with Joel some of the time and Jesse others. It wasn’t too bad with Joel, he did the job and did it well.

Jesse on the other hand liked to make small talk and you weren’t known for your friendliness. Thankfully you were paired with Joel today, you would have collapsed from exhaustion had Maria put you with Jesse for the third day in a row.

“Mornin’,” Joel nodded toward you.

“Hey,” You yawned loudly from atop your horse, “Ready?”

He chuckled, “Seems you’re less ready than I am.” You shot him a dirty look, “Woah, I didn’t mean it like that, now.” Joel held his hands up.

Your horse, Ochre, was mild-mannered and usually sassy but it seemed she sensed you were exhausted. “Where are we patrolling today?”

“West side of the pines, someone said they heard somethin’ funny yesterday.”

“I bet you what we find isn’t going to make either of us laugh.”

Joel shook his head–a smile ghosting on his face. You were never too interested in getting closely related with anyone in Jackson. Sure, the town felt like home and you would protect the others with your life–but you didn’t have any family. Not like Joel did. He had his brother and a daughter.

You didn’t even have many close friends. Dina was the only person you could really tolerate, and by extension, you tolerated Ellie–Joel’s daughter. The two girls were the funniest people you’d ever met, they were the only people who could get you to crack a smile anymore. It was weird because ever since the outbreak, you’d been completely empty.

Only 17 when things went to complete shit–you were supposed to start college before the outbreak. That never happened. Nobody in your family made it out alive. You’d been in New York when it happened on your senior trip, everyone was at home, and before you could even think to go home… you were quarantined in NYC. You were probably lucky to be alive considering how quickly things spread in big cities.

Some days you wished you’d been unlucky. With how tired you were, today was looking like one of those days.

“Don’t fall asleep atop that horse now,” You yawned once more, struggling to find the energy to glare at Joel, “Hey, don’t give me that look. You should go on back.”

“We’re almost there, I’m fine.” You gathered the reins tighter and brought Ochre into a steady gallop. Joel sighed loudly but followed you.

The pine trees in this area were massive, they loomed over you two ominously. You hated this area of the woods the most. You two stopped and tied your horses to a tree, beginning to walk deeper into the woods.

“I honestly really hate these woods.” Your shotgun was heavy in your hands as you looked around quickly. “The trees look like infected sometimes.” You mumbled, keeping your focus on watching around you two.

Joel slides his rifle onto his back and carries his pistol in hand, “Ellie used to get frightened in this area, she said stalkers like to hide under the branches.”

You scoff at his attempt to make conversation, “That doesn’t help me at all, Miller. Let’s get this over with.”

—

Half an hour of wandering aimlessly, listening for the sound of infected. The only sound came from the pine needles under your feet. You were beginning to lose your patience, wanting to scream and hope for the best.

“I swear to god if they were making this up about there being infected out her–” Joel shushes you loudly and that sets you on high alert–raising your shotgun to look down the sight.

He jerks his head to the side and you slowly turn, two clickers were facing your direction. The infected chattered to one another and you leaned down to grab a hefty pine cone. You arched the cone over the pair of clickers. The clatter of the cone smacking a tree made one of them screech and rush for it.

Joel snuck behind the one that stayed behind and you followed his lead, slinging your shotgun over your shoulder and squeezing your shiv tightly. While he took out that clicker you moved as quietly as possible.

Your attention was pulled away when you spotted a runner a few yards away. Luckily it wasn’t paying you any mind and so you stood up behind the clicker and stabbed it through the fungal growth–effectively killing it. You didn’t know how but Joel got behind the runner and choked it out.

There being a runner meant that somebody was out here recently. Runners were quite rare all the way out here.

“Check that body, Miller, it’s a new one.”

Joel kneeled down, “Already on it,” You did the same with the clicker just to be sure that there wasn’t anything useful on it.

It wasn’t unusual to be rifling through the pockets of a dead body… you were desensitized to nearly every gory part of the new world. You just couldn’t get over the smell of blood. Copper and metallic would upset your stomach so bad that sometimes you’d have to wear a mask just wandering around.

“They were a Firefly.” Joel tossed their pendant to you.

Another commonality… while runners were rare, whenever they were found… it seemed more and more of them were Fireflies who had bad luck.

“Aren’t they all Fireflies these days?”

“Yup. Come on let’s make sure we got ‘em all.”

—

There were three more infected wandering in the pines. But the cabin ahead seemed to have been recently vacated.

“I really don’t want to go in there.” You admitted, cringing at the thought of what could be inside.

Joel shrugged, “Then stay here.” He was the only person who didn’t force you to follow him inside buildings. Typically you would but the cabin was small, what could go wrong?

You sat on the ground and leaned against a tree, now that there wasn’t anything to keep your focus on–you were getting sleepy. Just as your eyes began dropping a loud bang startled you into an upright position. “Joel!?”

The door to the cabin slammed outward and Joel stumbled out, “Might wanna run,” His eyes were wide with surprise. “Move!” Joel pushes you in front of him and you bolt.

You sneak a glance behind you and see it. A huge bloater with three legs and four arms, “What the fuck is that!?” The infected disgusted you and it made your stomach churn. “That’s so fucking nasty!”

“We just gotta get some distance between us and it.” The bloater was slow-moving and seemed very unstable. “We’re gonna kill the son of a bitch.” That didn’t sound like a question to you.

“I know. Just haven’t killed too many bloaters.” You began lighting a molotov cocktail, “Guess we should get to work?” Joel gave you a single nod and you both launched a molotov cocktail toward the bloater.

It roared in pain as the fire spread across its skin. Joel brandished his rifle and began taking calculated shots. You stepped a few feet closer in order to make best use of your shotgun ammo. The bloater took any chances it could to throw poisonous sacs of spores at you too. It made firing harder but after about ten minutes it finally went down.

You dropped your gun on the ground and sighed loudly, “I think I’m gonna pass out.”

“Woah, woah, woah, what’s happening?” You shrugged, Joel watched you carefully as your head spun. “Y/N, you need to breathe.”

When he said that you noticed a lack of air in your lungs and tried to force your body to do its job. But it was no use. Exhaustion paired with disgust pushed your brain into panic mode. You just wanted to lay down and die, honestly. You could tell Joel was a bit freaked out because if your actions (or lack thereof).

“I’m–” You gasped through a breath, forcing air into your nose. “I’m okay. Just really tired.”

Joel nodded, “How about you wait here and I’ll bring the horses to you?”

That sounded really nice, “Oh god, that’d be great. Thank you.” He gave you one long look before jogging off in the opposite direction.

Tags: @musicallisto <3

#murswrites #joel miller #the last of us #joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #joel miller one shot #tlou imagine #tlou x reader #tlou one shot #the last of us imagine #the last of us x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x y/n #pedro pascal joel miller #tlou hbo

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snowflakeanimelover · 2 years

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Love Letter

Relationship: Eddie Munson x Female Henderson!Reader

Fandom: Stranger Things

Warnings: Embarrassment, major fluff, friendship, short anger, cuteness, cussing

Author Note: yeah…my friend told me to put “Fuck em.” In this, so you’ll see that just put in there randomly lol.

— — — —

It was around ten in the morning when Eddie came knocking on our door. Dustin was already up and welcomed the man in while I was still waking up. I was a little embarrassed by Eddie seeing me in my pajamas, but remembered the Senior is my best friend. Eddie claims to have been too bored to stay at his own home and came to ours.

Dustin was overjoyed. So excited to talk about their Dungeons and Dragons game at the dining table. I decided to take my weekend time to study on the couch. The back of the couch was facing my younger brother and my best friend.

I zoned out to their discussions, the math problems soon taking over. But a certain voice ruins that perfect studying moment.

“Studying? What the hell does that do?” Eddie teases me.

I turn in my seat, looking at him over the back of the couch. Our eyes meet intensely as I think of something to say back. “Oh, yeah? At least I’ll graduate.”

Eddie smiles widely. “You trying to say something?”

“No. Just figured I’d tell you what a little studying does to most people.”

“Let me guess, I’m not a part of those most. You say freaks don’t study?”

I let out an exaggerated gasp. “I would never! You know I only call you King of the Freaks.”

He kept his smile. “Good. It better stay that way.” We stopped our banter, taking the time to stare into eachothers eyes. It’s a silent game between us to see who would keep it going the longest.

“You guys are so gross.”

My eyes quickly moved away from my best friend, and focused onto my younger brother, Dustin. My wide smile is then turned into a frown. “You’re gross, Dustin.” I scowled at him. I hear Eddie scoff behind me, probably agreeing with me. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I remember him talking about biking to his friend's house.

Dustin completely ignores me, his smile soon creeping up as he glances behind me at Eddie. “I got you, bro.” He then runs off to his room.

I decided to go back to my studying, ignoring my brother running back to Eddie and heading out the door. Eddie runs to the door. “What is this?!” He calls after him.

“It’s a letter!” I faintly hear Dustin yell back.

I shake my head at his weirdness. Eddie closes the door in a huff, turning back around to give me an odd glance. I raised my brow at him. “Fuck em.” I say.

He smiles at that. His feet pad back to the table behind me. But before he escapes my view, I notice the letter in his hands. A very familiar name was written on the envelope, his name, and a familiar drawn heart right next to it. So familiar, I flinched when Eddie turned it around to look at it.

Eddie was so fast, my brain wouldn’t catch up. Just as I heard the envelope being ripped open, I remembered exactly why that heart was so familiar. It was a letter I wrote to him about a year ago. A letter that was supposed to be burned the second I sealed it. It was shortly after Eddie and I became such good friends that I wrote that letter.

“W-wait!” I squeal out, standing up from my seat to stare wide eyes at him. My books and papers fall straight onto the floor with a loud thud.

He froze, the letter halfway taken out of the envelope. “What?” He asks quickly.

“D-don’t read that. Dustin was just pranking you….a-and there’s nothing in it.” I felt so dumb right then and there. How would he believe that?

“A prank?” His steady focused look soon turned into a wide grin. I should’ve known that he would do whatever he isn’t supposed to. His fingers pull out the letter, about to open it.

I screech as I jump onto the couch and right over it to land on Eddie’s back. He grunted at the quick attack, but was able to keep his long arms straight and away from my reach. My legs kicked from both sides of him and my arms flailed around his head to grab the letter.

“Dear Eddie!” He yells out.

“No!”

He chuckles at my struggling. Although, he was struggling, too. “I know this is stupid, but I can’t hold it in any longer.” He couldn’t contain his laughter as I covered his mouth to keep him from continuing. But a wet sensation quickly breaks that ceal. I yelled out in disgust as he licked my hand to keep him from talking.

“I know I’m just a baby putting this in a letter,” He snorts. “But I love you…” His laughter fades after reading that last sentence. Our constant movement of struggling soon stops, and my nose scrunches up at what he just read.

That’s when I knew I was done for. Just after a few seconds of both of us frozen in our position, I slide myself down his back and land my feet onto the floor. My hands pull at my hair as I walk away, too embarrassed to even look at him.

His face was now in serious mode as he read the letter.

It’s so weird to write this down. I feel like anybody would think I'm crazy for writing a letter that will probably be thrown away right after I finish it. We haven’t known each other for long, but I couldn’t help but notice how much of a good person you are. A bit crazy, yes, but also a good man. I always wondered why people won’t allow themselves to get to know you first before making fun of you. You are incredibly kind and thoughtful, handsome and humorous. So many traits that a guy needs to be boyfriend material.

Through time, I ended up having feelings for you. But knowing you, and knowing me, it’s impossible for us to be together. I would get too embarrassed if you rejected me, and you seemed like someone who wouldn’t have feelings for anyone.

I guess that’s just life.

Love, (Y/N).

“You…love me?” Eddie finally breaks the silence.

I avoid eye contact. “Did. I did love you. Past tense.” It was so incredibly awkward, I didn’t care how harsh my words were. I just wanted to push him out of the house and lock myself in my room to never come out.

His shoulders sink. “So…” He looks down at his rings, turning them and playing with them in nervousness with the letter still crinkled in his hand. “You don’t… love me anymore?”

I didn’t know what to do. I was embarrassed, awkward, dying on the inside, and scared. What should I say? What would he say? He’s my best friend, and this letter could ruin that.

Oh man, I am going to kill Dustin for this.

“I just….I don’t know, Eddie…” I whisper. So quietly that Eddie had to lean in to hear.

Eddie lets out an awkward laugh, looking away as he plays with the letter in his hands. “Well…Um, since it’s already out there…I guess I can confess, too.” He had a wide smile on his face.

Knowing him, it could be a smile to hide his real emotions, or he was really happy at the moment. But hearing his words made me look up at him in question. My eyebrow raised at him to hear more.

“Wait.” I started before he could finish. “Don’t tell me…” I was bewildered at the look on his face. That’s when I knew his expression was nothing about hiding his true emotions. He was showing his true emotions right then and there.

He nodded with another laugh. “Yup! Wow! I never thought it would come to…this!” His hand rakes through his curly hair.

“You…you like me…?” I choked up a sob. It was so incredibly shocking that I started crying. I was so relieved our relationship wasn’t ruined.

“Like? Sweetheart, I love you.” Once he took a few steps closer to me, he saw the tears streaming down my face. “Oh! Shit!” He races towards me, dropping the letter as his hands caress my face. He rubs the tears away with his thumbs, making me giggle. “I’m sorry, (Y/N). I didn’t — I didn’t mean to make you cry-“

I lightly punched his shoulder. “You idiot. These are happy tears.”

He laughs, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug. I welcomed the warm hug. “Don’t scare me like that.”

— — — —

Bonus:

I picked up the letter that laid on the floor with a grunt. Eddie went to pick up my books that fell onto the ground earlier.

“Hey!” He suddenly calls, making me jump.

I turned to him. “Wh-what…?”

“What are you doing with that?” He had a serious look in his eyes, pointing at the piece of paper in my hand.

“Um…throw it away?”

He runs up to me, snatching the letter out of my hand and stuffing it into his back Jean pocket. “Nu-uh. I’m keeping this.”

“What?! No!” I yell out. If I said I was going to die if he rejected me, now my death will be from him keeping such an embarrassing love letter.

He chuckles. “Oh, yes! And I’m going to hang it on my wall.”

I pout. “I hate you. Seriously.” He only laughs harder when he starts to look through the kitchen for food.

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #Eddie munson #Eddie munson x female reader #Eddie munson x reader #cute #friends to lovers #fluff #confessions #love letters #Henderson reader #Dustin Henderson #funny #cussing

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5water-kohaku · 1 year

Video

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Sparkkey Studio’s Lunar New Year 2023

Qin’s Moon, 9 Songs of the Moving Heavens, Wu Geng Ji, Legend of Exorcism, Soul Land, Swallowed Star, My Senior Brother Is Too Steady, and Ghost Blade

#qin's moon #9 songs of the moving heavens #Wu Geng Ji #Legend of Exorcism #Soul Land #Swallowed Star #My Senior Brother Is Too Steady #Ghost Blade #秦时明月 #天行九歌 #武庚纪 #天宝伏妖录 #斗罗大陆 #吞噬星空 #师兄啊师兄 #鬼刀 #donghua #chinese animation #3D animation

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julieverne · 10 months

Text

"You're my daughter, darling. Of course I love you," Constance says, and Maura wishes she could believe her. She lets herself be held anyway, understanding that Constance is trying. That Constance believes she loves Maura.

+++

"I loved you before you were born, and I'll love you long after I'm dead. I only regret that I didn't have as much time with you as I could have." Hope's eyes fill with easy tears, and Maura nods. Knowing how it must have felt for Cailin to live up to a dead baby, because that's what she's trying to do. She lets Hope hold her, rock her like the baby Hope sees when she looks at her. The one she still mourns.

+++

"I'm sorry I'm calling and I'm sorry about the way I was, last time you saw me," Frank Rizzoli says, and Maura knows how hard it must be for him to apologise. "I know I can't make it up to you, and I really do appreciate you taking care of them all the way you did when I..." And he's gone, and Maura stares at her phone.

+++

Maura visits Paddy in jail, now and then. Sometimes with Jane, sometime without. He's never said it, but Maura knows. She remembers the sepia photos of her school days, knows Constance fed him information, even knowing who and what he was. Maura has always wanted to be loved, and Paddy has always loved her. From afar. It's awkward up close, especially since he knows so much about her and she knows so little about him.

"Thanks for coming," he says, his voice low like he doesn't want to scare her. He fiddles with rings that aren't there, and Maura clenches her own fingers, aware she is mirroring him. She reaches out a hand across the table, the guard watching carefully for any transfer, and she covers his hand with hers. Jane's smile is soft and sweet, her hand on Maura's lower back on their way out to show support.

+++

"Maura, you're brilliant and I love you, but you are so wrong." Cailin pulls up an article - one Maura hasn't seen. One that adds ambiguity to a previously straightforward scientific statement. Maura reads it, her brow creased.

"I love you too, but the parameters of this experiment are not holistic enough to give a definitive conclusion," Maura informs Cailin. "The sample size is insufficient, and it hasn't been peer reviewed."

"Yeah, but it's possible," Cailin goads, and Maura concedes with a nod. Jane watches with wide, pleased eyes.

+++

"Would you like to come to a lecture with me?" Arthur asks, and Maura agrees. Knowing that Arthur is a simple yet complex man, and that his love for her, however misguided, is firm and steadfast.

+++

Maura brings LC to the aged care facility, and today Paddy Senior smiles at her, then Jane, before smiling at LC.

+++

"I couldn't love you more if you were my own," Angela says, and Maura is already adopted, a single child with a dead half brother and a living half sister after nearly four decades. She does not need another mother, but sometimes she does need mothering so she lets Angela's embrace enfold her.

+++

Jane wakes from nightmares; she texts. Sometimes Maura goes to her, sometimes she comes to Maura. They huddle together in the same bed like all the sleepovers Maura always wanted and never had.

"Thanks," Jane says quietly. She cradles Maura's head on her chest, and Maura can't imagine being closer to any other single living thing in her life. Jane's heartbeat, so familiar and steady. Jane's breath brushing through her hair. Jane's fingers rubbing at any tension she finds in Maura's shoulders and back.

There are people who say they love Maura, and people that don't. There are people Maura doubts, because sometimes she doesn't feel she deserves to be loved.

But here and now, with Jane, she has no doubts. Nothing but Jane's heartbeat bared to her, the soft Jane that only Maura gets, treasures and hoards.

"I love you," Jane whispers, hours later, assuming Maura is asleep. Maura chuckles, and Jane's heartbeat spikes, beating crazily beneath Maura's ear.

"I know. I love you too," Maura says, nuzzling closer into her favourite pillow of Jane's chest. Jane's heartbeat slows and steadies, and Maura has found the one love she's never doubted, has never had to doubt.

Anything else can wait until morning. Because now she's lying in the arms of the woman she loves, the woman that loves her. And Maura knows she deserves to be loved by Jane, and she never, ever doubts that she is.

#rizzoli and isles #rizzles #rizzoli & isles #maura isles #jane rizzoli #constance isles #hope martin #cailin martin #arthur isles #paddy doyle #paddy doyle senior #LC #anglea rizzoli #frank rizzoli #rizzles fanfic

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duhdumb89 · 7 months

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A Forbidden Happiness | Chapter 14

Duchess Zian was 52 years old and looked every bit of it today. It was jarring.

The Empress was used to her sister-in-law almost glowing with youth, barely looking a day older than 30. Duchess Zian was famous for the meticulous care she took of her body. Many women in the capital followed her, spending hours oiling their hair and skin. The Duke was also fond of gifting The Duchess jewels, gems, and other accessories. She never wore the same thing twice.

The woman in front of her bared no resemblance to that. Duchess Zian was free of her tasteful makeup and glistening jewels. The whiteness of mourning clothes cast her face in a gray shadow. Her eyes, red and raw, were bone dry. She had cried out all her tears before the funeral. It wasn't often that the Forbidden City went into mourning for branch members of the Imperial Family. It was unfortunate that Yigue was given this honor. While the public mourning would only be in place for a month instead of the customary 100 days, it was a greater honor than many of His Majesty's brothers would ever obtain.

Ministers and nobility alike crowded inside Dafuge. It twisted The Empress' heart to watch those who barely remembered Yigue cry and wail, hoping their noise would catch The Emperor's eye. She expected a performance from His Majesty's concubines, but seeing middle-aged men use a funeral as a stage for their opera turned her stomach.

It was a blessing to hide away in Yikungong with Duchess Zian.

"Duchess Zian," said Shiyi, "The funeral was long and exhausting. Please, replenish your body with this red date and ginseng soup. Her Highness made this with the ten-thousand-year ginseng she received on her wedding day. It will revitalize you,"

Shiyi held out the steaming bowl, but Duchess Zian made no move to take it.

The Empress locked eyes with Shiyi and gestured for her to leave the soup nearby and withdraw. The senior maid did so, taking the surrounding servants with her.

"Prince Yuanjun of the first rank," Duchess Zian said, her voice hoarse, "I won't ever be able to repay His Majesty for this grace,"

"His Majesty would've preferred if Yigue were able to earn this title many more years down the line," replied The Empress.

A small smile slipped onto Duchess Xian's face, "Yes. That would've been nice,"

"Have you been taking care of yourself, jiejie?" Asked The Empress.

"Your Highness is too kind to ask after me. I don't deserve it. Yigue died because of my incompetence. I was so sick when I was pregnant with him, remember? I couldn't even carry him to term," Duchess Zian clenched her hands together until her knuckles turned white, "I should be grateful he lived this long,"

The Empress grabbed The Duchess' hand, "Don't say that. I remember how you suffered during your pregnancy and his birth. But I also remember that he gained vitality year after year and had no trouble charming Royal Father and His Majesty. Yigue lived well because of you, not despite you,"

Duchess Zian shook her head, "No. Her Highness is kind to comfort me, but I know the truth. We all know the truth. I failed, and His Majesty knows as well,"

"What do you mean?" Asked The Empress.

His Majesty had never spoken ill of The Duchess. He held her in just as much esteem as he did Duke Zian.

"At the end of the eleventh month, two girls will be marrying into the household, as decreed by His Majesty,"

"How can that be?" Asked The Empress, "Duke Zian has refused concubines from His Majesty for decades now,"

Taking a deep breath, The Duchess raised her chin high and spoke in a strong, steady voice, "I accepted the concubines,"

Only the years of etiquette stopped The Empress' mouth from gaping open. The Duke and Duchess had the household that countless noblewomen dreamed of–a peaceful one. They respected and learned to love one another easily. Despite his status, the Duke was content and lived happily with only three concubines, personally selected by The Duchess. The three concubines were treated well by both The Duke and The Duchess and lived lives free of scheming.

"Don't look at me like that," snapped The Duchess, "I am the wife of Duke Zian and the Aisin-Gioro clan. I exist to give the Aisin-Gioro clan sons. If I cannot do so, I must find someone who can. All His Majesty did was search for me,"

Duchess Zian pursed her lips, "I'm surprised you didn't know,"

"I only know what His Majesty allows me to know," The Empress said, surprising herself by the even tone in her voice, "These two girls, where are they from?"

"The Xue family,"

"Which Xue family?" Asked The Empress.

"Your huang gui fei's Xue family. Her youngest sister, Xue Chungrong, and her niece, Xue Suyin,"

The pieces fell into place for The Empress quickly. These last few years, huang gui fei had made it evident that she believed that The Empress had The Emperor's favor because of her powerful clan. However, the idea that Duke Zian would be swayed into giving His Majesty lip service to promote her father was laughable. The Duke hated politics. While His Majesty held him in high regard, The Duke was The Late Emperor's least favorite son. The Duke rejected learning to manage the state and avoided court as often as possible. He'd never been to war and only socialized with his family.

"Ah," said The Empress, "You'll have an easy time then. They'll listen well,"

"I can only hope. I knew I could govern concubines Sun, Fai, and Kang easily. Their mothers were concubines, and their clans are small," Duchess Zian sighed, "An Imperial Noble Consort is a great backer,"

"But an Empress is an even greater one. Jiejie, don't fret. You're no fool. I know you'll rise above if they cause any trouble,"

Duchess Zian nodded her head.

The Empress reached for the bowl of still-warm soup, "Here, have just one sip,"

––––

The somber tone that blanketed The Forbidden City after Yigue's funeral made it all the better for The Empress to spend her evenings at Dafuge, praying for Prince Taio's and Princess Anhe's reincarnations. She would've preferred to be alone, but she couldn't find in her heart to chase De gui fei away when the other woman was already deep into prayer by the time she walked inside. It was comforting. De gui fei was honest and felt the loss of each child like it were her own. Her soft chanting was a balm on The Empress' heart.

It was a selfish thing. The Empress should've been praying for Yigue or the many other children The Emperor lost, but she couldn't help it. Here in the temple, under the haze of incense and the quiet murmurings of Buddhist chants, all she could think of was them. Prince Taio would've been 16 by now and Anhe 10 if her fate had been better. The Empress' days were rarely light, yet the memories of her children had chained her to this place.

A light touch to her elbow roused her from her thoughts.

"Huang gui fei is here," whispered Shiyi.

The Empress nodded but kept her face forward and eyes closed. It was surprising to hear De gui fei wait until the last moment to greet Shen huang gui fei. The Empress waived away the formality. She tried to focus as Shen huang gui fei settled on a cushion slightly behind her.

"Duke Zian must be honored by the way His Majesty is mourning for Prince Yuanjun," said Shen huang gui fei after she had finished settling in.

"Huang gui fei is by His Majesty's side day and night," said De gui fei, "His mourning shouldn't come as a surprise,"

The slyness of De gui fei's response gave The Empress pause. Had some conflict occurred between the two?

"Of course, De meimei. When His Majesty aches, I ache. When he cries, I cry. That's why I came here today. I came to pray for His Majesty's happiness," said Shen huang gui fei.

"Huang gui fei is so tender and true. It's no wonder His Majesty holds you so in his heart," replied De gui fei.

The Empress quickly glanced at De gui fei. There was no mistaking the venom in her tone.

Shen huang gui fei continued, "His Majesty tossed and turned all night. He kept..he kept calling out to Yiqi,"

The Empress' eyes shot back open at Shen huang gui fei's audacious use of Prince Taio's birth name.

"Huang gui fei has mourned in His Majesty's stead for so long that she's forgotten her manners. May Your Highness forgive her," said De gui fei.

The room turned silent. At one point in their lives, De gui fei was a higher rank than Shen huang gui fei, and even then, De gui fei never scolded her like this.

"Ah," said Shen huang gui fei, "De meimei is correct. I misspoke. I was startled when His Majesty called for Prince Taio. I saw him in my dreams that night as well. I asked for forgiveness for any mistakes we made, and I promised I would pray for him,"

The Empress closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. Shen huang gui fei was in a good mood today. Prince Taio died well before His Majesty was crowned. Only The Empress cared for him. If any mistakes were made, only The Empress could have made them. It was strange to hear from the mouth of a woman who could barely keep a plant alive.

"Huang gui fei is a good servant," said The Empress. She held out a hand and let Shiyi help her stand, "She's lost too many children to count and still remembers that the son of her master is her priority. She is truly a model for His Majesty's concubines. Please, spend the day praying for Prince Taio's reincarnation,"

"I'll walk with you, Your Highness," said De gui fei.

The Empress turned around so she could watch Shen huang gui fei struggle through respectfully bidding her farewell. Never let it be said that The Empress wasn't a merciful master. Shen huang gui fei begged for a reaction. The Empress complied with aplomb.

As they stepped through the gates of Dafuge, The Empress turned to De gui fei, "You don't have to walk with me. It's alright if you just wanted to escape,"

De gui fei shook her head, "I need to speak with Your Highness. Privately,"

––––

Perhaps it was foolish of The Empress to think that her excitement would end when she left Dafuge. The Empress should've known that the excitement was only getting started. Then she wouldn't have been so surprised when De gui fei dropped to her knees the moment she settled into her chair. She was even more surprised when De gui fei went further and pressed her forehead to the ground.

"Your Highness," she said, "I have something to confess,"

"De gui fei, don't fret. Sit and chat with me. I'm sure we can resolve whatever small problem you're having,"

Shaking her head, De gui fei stayed planted on the floor, "Your Highness, I have a crime to confess,"

The Empress nearly leapt to her feet in shock. De gui fei commit a crime? Just the idea of it was preposterous. It looked like the servants standing by thought the same. Shiyi caught her look.

"If one word of this is heard outside, you'll be absent a tongue. Do you understand?" Shiyi asked.

The maids kneeled, bowing their heads.

"Yes, Shiyi gugu,"

Shiyi nodded, "Withdraw,"

"De gui fei," The Empress said as she sat back down, "You should know better than to speak like that in public. Rise,"

De gui fei finally took a seat.

"Now, what is this crime?" Asked The Empress.

"I want to kill Shen haung gui fei,"

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the-heaminator · 7 months

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OKAY SO; Heinrich's mom died when he was young like 8-9, and his dad being a veteran of ww2 with ptsd & some pretty heavy survivors guilt & now a wife who just didn't wake up one morning turned to drinking. So Heinrich has this whole "after my mom died my dad was never sober, not as far as i remember, and yeah he went through a lot but I still resent him for not being there for me".

Heinrich's dad dies when Heinrich is just shy of 18. He has a little melt down, goes "i don't want to be here anymore". And with literally zero plan and two bags of his stuff just leaves. Ends up in the UK, with no job, barely anything to his name, and not sure if he's even going to stay there. (part of him thinks it's not far enough from Germany)

Romulus was a hippy through and through, he was all 'peace and free love ✌️' probably lived in a commune of sorts (just too many people in one house but hey it was home). He had run away from home when he was about 16 because his parents were ✨shitty✨, and was living his own found family trope.

Heinrich finds out finding a job when technically you're not there at all, and also homeless is harder than he thought. So he's on the streets for a solid two weeks until Romulus is walking home from a party and finds him. He tells Heinrich he can come stay with him and his 'family' and Heinrich has a moment of "i could get murdered if I go with him, i could also get murdered sleeping on a park bench" he goes with Romulus. They share a room (did I mention too many people in one house) and it's fine bc they're strictly homies, plus it's just for a few nights until Heinrich finds a job.

a few nights turns into a few months, about a month and a half in Romulus tells Heinrich "Listen, I don't mind you staying, but you should come with us to this march! It'll be fun, and it's for a good cause and I don't think it's much to ask on our part :\" While there some idiot says something, Romulus looks at Heinrich "Can kiss you?" "what?!" "Can I kiss you?" "...sure?" and Romulus kisses Heinrich right on the mouth for the cause of pissing off a homophobe.

a few nights later before bed "you know how you kissed me a few a days ago?" "Yeah, why? Did u like it :p?" "...yeah" "do you want me to kiss you again?" "...yes please" they never officially label their relationship but they sure are kissing a lot.

anyway six to eight months go by, Heinrich still hasn't found a job. And while he's grateful for a roof over his head, and he doesn't mind pitching in with housework, and Romulus sure isn't bad either, he gets tired of waiting around, and he gets real sick of the rest of the housemates.

One night he tells Heinrich they have to have a talk, he enlisted in the military. He was going to be an army mechanic, they get in a whole argument "I want a family Romulus!" "we are your family!" "no! I want a spouse! someone who's just mine, I want kids, I want my own house, I don't want to have to rely on kindness for food that night or money for rent," Romulus gets really quiet, "We're anti military, if you joined the military you can't live here anymore. Leave" Heinrich didn't say he expected anything else. He leaves.

He's going to get his wife, and his kids, and the house and a steady job. Romulus will too eventually, it would take him awhile longer though.

Then fifty years later they're both going to show up for some seniors game night and go "...oh fuck"

but anyway yeah thoughts?

thoughts. THOUGHTS?????

MY BROTHER IN CHRIST I HAVE NO THOUGHTS THIS IS WONDERFUL AND ACTUALLY SO WELL THOUGHT OUT WTFFFFFFFFF.

Imagine seeing the guy you lived with and kissed a couple times in a free love commune in the 80s 50 years later and you once again have the violent urge to kiss him after 50 fucking years even if the last time you saw him you had a massive argument.

And they're both widows, Heinrich at this point has a 7 year old Gilbert and a 3 year old Ludwig and needs help and Romulus is more than happy to provide it but over time they get really close again and Ludwig basically grow up with Romulus as Grandpa number 2 and so much of Gilbert's formative experiences with affection between adults comes from Heinrich and Romulus being fucking Weirdly Cuddly. Which is why later on he can't tell the difference between having a crush on Alfred and just being good friends.

But also imagine present day Gilbert going, hey, how did you two even meet?

Heinecih evades the question and Romulus flatly goes hippy free love commune. And blows Gilbert's mind.

"Opa, you weRE A HIPPY?

"NO, NO, I just needed a place to stay."

#no. But I wish we were. One day he'll realise but let's hope we're both still alive by that point cause it's taken #him 50 years #Spy au #This is becoming a universe #I want to write so many spin offs save my soul. I want to write Gilbert and Alfred's adventures in uni I want to write romulus and heinrich #Bisexual old men I love them #But also imagine Romano and Feli going ......nonno are you dating the repressed old german man #And romulus going

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ravensilversea · 5 months

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the first fic of yours i thought about was I'll Tell You How the Sun Rose! even if i only get half of it considering it's a crossover and i know nothing about the other fandom lol, the way you wrote colonnello in it is simply *chef's kiss*. the way you wrote him in this very lowkey but also so tangible and real way i personally haven't seen done often and gave me the opportunity to think about him in new ways. also this line you left me in response to my comment: "I may not have been the best brother, but I’ve always been a worse son.” hello?? it has absolutely been ROTTING my brain ever since, thank you. <3

also i scrolled through your khr works on ao3 just to make sure i wasn't forgetting anything, and what do you know, i almost didn't mention Steady as the Rain. and it's a short one so i reread it and listen, i'm always gonna hold this fic close to my heart. i love it. just--*gestures at the whole of the fic*.

and now i realize i just love the way you write colonnello full stop actually!! thanks for the quality food <3

That line slipped into my draft, and I FOUGHT to keep it. It was so good, though I'm not too upset with how it actually turned out in How the Sun Rose: "He’s always been a shitty son, and this is now the second life running he’s left his mother grieving while he fucks off into danger to run away from his own grief." But the rawness of the original!!! Anyway, I'm really glad you took a chance on it despite it being a crossover because your essays on R56 and Colo/Lal/Reborn definitely gave me brainrot and well... *gestures* There's just something about being separated during the apocalypse and finding each other in the next life and the world that came after that apocalypse that works for them

Also wow! Steady as the Rain is such a throwback, I wrote that in my creative writing class senior year of high school. It's five years old and I don't think I'd change a thing about it. Honestly, high school!me had some takes on Flame Lore, and I do kinda want to go back and poke them. Especially if they pop out lines like this: “Rain isn’t always a soothing drizzle that washes the Earth clean. The rain in a storm can never be called soothing and tranquil."

Aaaaaa, you're welcome! Colonnello's a bit harder for me to pin down when writing (he's much quieter than Reborn and Skull are), so to hear you say that really means a lot!

#raven answers #hopeswriting

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italoniponic · 2 years

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Fairy Hands | Jack Howl

Synopsis: After the ending of the day’s rehearsal for the Fairy Gala, Jack was already feeling his feet screaming for help but, as always, he wouldn’t say a thing and try to endure the pain the best he could to not worry you. But you noticed it… and you had an idea.

Jack Howl x gender neutral reader / fluff / hurt and comfort / establish relationship / use of “you” pronouns / slightly self-indulgent bc it’s my birthday~

Word count: 3,4k / Warning: This is not meant to be k*nky. If you think so, I’ll bonk you in the head with Jack’s heels

Notes: Okay so, this idea was born after the reveal of the full Fairy Gala2 sprites and I loved Jack’s outfit until I saw the rest of it… the top parts? Good, decent, very Jack-ish. The pants? The heels? Atrocious but that’s just my opinion, who cares right? So I got into this spiral of picturing the fact that Jack never wore this type of thing and as someone who wears heels sometimes, yeah the lack of practice is an enemy :) and I never asked nobody to massage my pained tired feet so, I wanted to imagine making Jack feel better. This also turned more deep in feelings matter, the good old hurt/comfort thing that I love doing with Jack. He fits so well with this trope!! I said once in another fic for him but if you don’t have ideas for Jack, first think of hurt/comfort. It’s a solid start!

And for a title-context: to say that someone has “magic hands”, means that this person is very skilled with their hands. In Brazil, we say “oh, you have ‘fairy hands’ (or hands of a fairy)”. Shoutout to @lovetals who first heard of this idea <3

And for last but not least, happy birthday to me~

Fairy Hands

Jack always had the ability and patience to endure everything.

Being the eldest of three brothers, he sometimes had to act as a “father” for the younger ones. As a tall guy, everyone asked him to pick up things that were out of reach — or too tall on the shelf. As a strong young man, he impressed students with how much weight he carried. For his newest friends, he needed to be mature and rational and know how to stop them from getting into trouble.

But even Achilles had his heel. Well, an analogy not very welcome at that time, was what you thought.

You still hadn’t quite understood what the fairies wanted with the school — always the NRC, always — and the weather was so chaotic outside that you didn’t even know how to get from place to place without getting a heat shock. But seeing the boys training a fashion show for the fairies, it was obvious that long days lay ahead.

And Jack might not survive until there because of the heel they forced him to wear.

It was a silver high-heeled shoe with a somewhat simple design. Strings braided the boy’s ankles like gladiator sandals. A strong heel to support a tall, muscular figure, like Atlas holding the world on his shoulders.

But as much as Jack tried all the time to stay steady and not miss the steps or the choreography once again, you could see the suffering on the surface of his eyes.

The posture he was forced to have so as not to destabilize himself, the care at every step so as not to fall. The weight of hardships is often shaped from person to person. Some can handle almost anything, others almost nothing. Some people may face an iceberg, but they can’t face a piano.

“Come on, Jack,” Vil clapped his hands. “High heels never killed anyone.”

You checked the clock, bitterly. Luckily it was almost time to leave because another fifteen minutes and maybe that statistic would actually change.

It was painful to watch that rehearsal. Silver nearly falling asleep while walking, Ortho’s gears needing oil because of the sudden humidity, and Jack feeling like an elephant walking a tightrope. At one point, when he walked back, you needed to run to hold him so as not to fall into a false step.

Jack sighed to himself, tired. Suddenly he looked back and exclaimed. “Silver-senpai!”

The Diasomnia senior woke up just in time before crashing head-on into a mirror on the opposite side of the room. By the great seven, Silver was one point away from developing sleepwalking.

“Thank you, Jack,” he smiled back at the freshman gratefully and then yawned.

You looked at the heel of Silver’s low boots, small and humble. Why didn’t they choose something like that for Jack? He didn’t need to get taller than he already was.

But that discussion could wait. You led Jack to a bench near the wall going as comfortably slow as possible because the pain of wearing that shoe was equated with the desire to take it off. He couldn’t force himself too much. Still, Jack’s ears were attentive to everything.

Maybe it was a Big Brother Syndrome or the result of spending too much time with Ace and Deuce, but Jack paid close attention to everything and cared about his peers even when he should care more about himself. In fact, from what you could see, even in the opportunities to be selfish, he eventually would put the needs of others first.

When you needed him most to face Leona and Azul. That day, that moment, that exact second. Always. Only fair that you want to take care of Jack.

You finally got to sit on the bench. Jack almost melted there, body and mind allowing himself a single second of vulnerability — and that was all that lasted. Pulling himself together, he crossed his legs and took off his high heels.

You were then taken aback by the state of Jack’s foot up close. Taking the shoe from his hands — suppressing a protective urge to aggressively throw it far away from your beloved boyfriend — and setting it aside, you knelt on the ground to analyze that poor, exhausted foot.

“Huh... are you alright?,” Jack asked awkwardly.

You made that same expression when you analyzed strange plants in potions class — these too exotic for the world you used to live in.

But before your eyes was something not strange, but heartbreaking. And agonizing to your own feet. Marks from the high heel’s laces stood out around Jack’s ankles, leaving his skin slightly red and irritated with skin rash. No wonder it was hurting more than it should.

Because, usually, wearing high heels hurts those who aren’t used to it and gets worse when it isn’t properly shod.

“You can’t tighten the shoelace so much or your skin will get irritated like that,” you advised him, looking at his foot from all possible angles. “Looks like a Thanksgiving turkey.”

Jack ended up not asking what the hell Thanksgiving was — maybe he would do it later. At that moment, the information about your world that you sometimes let slip could make him curious another time. He took off the other shoe, frustrated. In addition to suffering an entire afternoon, the blame mainly came from him.

Not that he could know what to do! Give a vacuum cleaner to a cat and maybe the animal will do a better job — though the Ramshackle Ghosts gave a full account of how bad an idea it was.

“I was afraid that if it were too loose, I would fall,” Jack explained, and then sighed. “I'll... try again tomorrow.…”

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“No…,” you lightly touched his foot, and he stifled a groan. “…very much…”

Who was he fooling? Or rather, who did you think you were talking to? Jack Howl wouldn’t admit when he wanted to carry your groceries just to help you, obviously he wouldn't be any different with his own pain. Poor thing.

No, maybe it wasn’t the right way to look at the situation.

You knew Jack was already feeling bad about tying his shoe in the worst way possible, pitying him would only make him feel worse. And that’s not what you wanted. You were determined to do something to help. That’s why Crowley called you a Beast Tamer!

You looked around. Ace had already fled from there centuries ago, Silver was led by a talkative and animated Rook back to Diasomnia and little Ortho commented with Vil and Crewel on the fabulous mechanisms created by his older brother. They were far away enough to not listen or see about what was going on with you two.

It would be easier to convince Jack that way.

“If you want, I can do a massage,” you dropped this sentence on the air.

Because of his tiredness, Jack took a good minute to understand your words and you knew the exact moment of it because his eyes widened in size, distracting you a little because of the golden glow — maybe a little scared — of that beautiful gaze. Jack’s first words were actually small breaths of air before he spoke very quietly:

“M-massage? On my feet?”

“Why would I do it on someone else’s feet?,” you took a deep breath after retorting, not wanting to be rude beyond the limit.

“B-but... but…”

It's something couples do! Jack wanted to scream but there were still people in the room.

And in a way, there wasn’t much reason for such a scandal. You were a couple after all. But it seemed too soon. Jack was used to seeing more established couples — read: married — doing this type of thing.

How many times has he seen his mother offer his father a foot massage when he came home tired from work? Or the other way around: his father doing the same thing when his mother was exhausted and in the times when she was pregnant with each of their three children?

It was such a simple and intimate thing in a way. There was a certain degree of trust put into this action, a sense of comfort that only the person who loves you too much can offer.

Maybe it’s not something restricted to couples only, but it’s the only thing Jack could think of.

He wouldn’t go so far as to massage Leona’s feet and even for Ruggie — another veteran he greatly admired — the most he would do was to look after exfoliating soaps and other things that should manage to help foot stay soft and healthy. And how about you? Jack held his own face, trying to control himself.

He needed focus.

“I promise not to make it weird,” you said suddenly, drawing his attention. Your hands were raised in a sign of promise. “And if you get bothered, just say so. I let go of your foot faster than a hot potato.”

You both looked at his feet at the same time and you regretted making that comparison.

“O-okay... just a little,” Jack said and you nodded happily.

You tried to get up from there as calmly as possible, but you were so glad that you managed to convince your stubborn boyfriend to get help — and it was so obvious. You darted around the room in search of a towel, some cream, and Jack’s normal uniform to already have it on hand.

He watched you in the distance, moving his foot in small circles despite the difficulty. He thought it would alleviate the pain but he could hear something cracking along the way.

Maybe that was one of the reasons he never saw Mrs. Howl wear high-heels at all, just sneakers. She was already tall enough compared to other women and didn’t need to overtake her husband’s already tower height. And those shoes can be awful when they want to be.

“Where is the Prefect going this time?,” Vil asked as he approached.

“Ah…,” Jack swallowed hard, not knowing if he should answer or lie. Damn, were his ears down? They certainly were. Why wasn’t the day over yet?

“Lock the door when you get out, okay? Whatever you're gonna do. Practice, in fact, makes perfection.”

Jack smacked himself on the forehead for misinterpreting that for a brief second — rehearsal practice! — but Vil didn’t seem to notice. He gave the keys to the room and said goodbye to his friend, rubbing his own arms a little as he opened the door and received some cold air. The temperature was still chaotic.

Finally you two were alone. You suddenly appeared with a bunch of things in your arms and after organizing everything, you sat down and used your knee as a temporary support to put Jack’s foot. You looked like a shoe store clerk or someone about to propose.

What was more embarrassing to imagine?

“You ready?,” you asked and Jack sighed a “yes”.

He closed his eyes, tense and bracing himself mentally for whatever reaction he would have — you swallowed a comment about you just massaging him, not squeezing a pimple. But after the first touch, Jack gradually relaxed.

You first passed a cream with a light touch of coconut scent. Because of the strange room temperature, the cream felt warm, and you wrapped his foot with all care, massaging it up and down. You could feel all of Jack’s tension, his body felt harder than a rock.

He was exhausted. A little regretful but still certain that he would do his best to help with the mission. Squeezing that restless foot, you wondered if people didn’t expect too much from him sometimes. They asked too much too often.

You just wanted Jack to relax from time to time. When all this fuss gets over, you’re sure to do something fun and quiet together! You would make it happen!

“Hey!,” Jack's exclamation scared you for a second.

It wasn’t for nothing, you just squeezed the middle of his foot a little too tight.

“Sorry! I got carried away for a moment,” you said, pushing your hands away quickly.

“Alright, just... pay more attention, okay?”

Jack refused to look directly at you, but all he did was swap his left foot for his right. That made you a little more cheerful. It was a small token of his confidence, no big deal — but it meant everything to you.

The process from before was repeated and you tried to be as attentive as possible this time. The dance hall was in complete silence. There was only some kind of a paced movement of something hitting in the air. For a minute, you were distracted by Jack’s flapping tail, but with a clearing of his throat, you turned your gaze back to what you were doing.

He didn’t want to say that his feet were hurting more than usual. Running and exercising always produced a tired body, but as time went on, Jack got used to the pain and made it a mere unfortunate nuisance that was easy to pull to the back of his mind.

That foot pain, though? As a child, Jack and Vil once found a book of morbid tales and one of them was of a lady who wore beautiful bright red iron shoes and danced to her death — or something, he erased that memory over the years to get close to red sneakers again.

But it was how he was feeling at the time.

Jack wanted to simply put the blame entirely and solely on his lack of ability to wear those shoes, but it was much more than that — although that was still one of the reasons. He was frustrated with a lot of things.

They had an important mission, Leona and the whole school were counting on them to resolve the situation. Part of Jack shared Ace’s complaints about the fairies making such a mess unnecessarily, though he didn’t verbalize any of it. He wanted to make everything work out and be able to fulfill the goal.

But Jack didn’t intend to do anything like this again.

Truth be told, there was no way anyone could be good at everything. He was doing his best, but would it be enough? Could he meet the expectations of others? Even if he wasn’t made for that kind of thing? At least, he didn’t have to worry about what you thought.

This was obvious from the way you so patiently held and massaged his foot as if it were a piece of expensive tapestry that you were carefully folding and smoothing, pulling out all imperfections, relieving stress from the fabric. Jack only knew this because it was the way his mother advised him to keep a good bed with comfortable sheets.

Staring at you from that high point, the uncomfortable feeling of standing still doing nothing and the comfort of receiving a lovely care act were fighting like angry wolves in his heart, wrapped in the silvery glow of the Moon and the thin blouse he wore.

Jack wondered how you were able to do things like that with him.

Your touch was gentle and pleasant, charged with a sweetness you didn’t share with anyone else. At least not the way he received it. If you gave sugar to your friends, Jack received the most tightly sealed and expensive honey, with a spoon chosen especially for him. Did you really love him that much?

Did you find him enough, even though he was still incomplete and immature at times? In what you circled his heel, what were your thoughts? Jack could only watch you and torture himself with the doubts he didn’t have the courage to express.

Slowly, he ended up distracting himself bit by bit from the pain. It was still there, but your presence alone took that alert away from his nerves. Jack knew he would walk again the next day thanks to you and he felt extremely grateful. He would find a way to compensate you later for all that.

As you were finishing massaging him, you noticed Jack start to pull the flowers out of his hair, the two bracelets and the necklace he had around his neck. It made you smile.

“Are you feeling better?”

“A little,” Jack answered when he pulled the last plant out of his hair, the largest with white “petals”. It was too stiff to be an actual flower in all honesty. “I think I can already walk to my dorm, at least.”

“Oh, okay. Just when I was getting it right…,” you sighed. “Can we do this more often? I m-mean, I don't want you to bruise your feet for anything! Of course not! But...!”

“Yes.”

It took you a moment to absorb that response.

“Are you serious?!,” your voice ended up sounding loud in the empty room.

“Not all the time but, I think, yeah, it's okay.”

Jack looked away from you to the echeveria elegans — the “Mexican snowball”, a succulent — in one of his hands, the free one going automatically behind the back of his neck. He just hoped you were excited and distracted enough not to notice how flustered he was.

“Yay!,” you ended up putting your hands on your cheeks. “Um. “

There was a solid minute of silence. Jack stared at you as you took a little sniff, smelling sweat and cream mingle on your face and reaching your sense of smell. A strange feeling, to say the least.

“I… I really shouldn't have done that.”

Jack couldn’t stand it and laughed a little.

“Finally a normal reaction.”

“H-how dare you! I have normal reactions!”

“No, you don’t. You? Where? When?,” he gave another light laugh and you saw his smile increase, to the point that you could see his extremely white fangs glowing.

If Jack knew how much that smile played with your heart, he would also be as embarrassed as you were. But you wouldn’t say anything. Not when Jack smiled at you like that, making the Sun marvel at the golden glow of his gaze and the Moon envy him for his silvery, gentle light.

Jack didn’t need to be a flower to be admired. He had his own kind of beauty, something that you would nurture to stay in your memory until the very end of your days.

Because you got distracted for that brief moment, Jack ended up leaving the echeveria on top of your hair. While he picked up his normal shoes, you touched the little white succulent and held it carefully in front of you.

“I think that ends today then,” you suddenly commented.

“Thank goodness,” Jack tapped his foot one last time to adjust his shoe, and then quickly turned to you, a little desperate. “I'm not talking about this moment! It’s this day in general! That... that whole thing! Not you!”

“I know, don't worry. It's just, I'm gonna have to go back to Ramshackle, you go back to Savanaclaw, and... it's always lonely coming back.”

“I will accompany you there.”

“No, that's not it. In fact, you don't even have to do it today! I don't want to abuse you just because your feet got better.”

Jack gave you a small smile and stroked the top of your head, putting a little pressure — light, gentle — on you to bend down a little and not see how much he looked at you sweetly. If he had the courage and the necessary romantic streak, he would have picked up one of his hair-flowers and proposed to you right there. It was how much he loved you from the bottom of his heart.

“You don't have to worry about that. I’ve already promised that if I need it, I’ll call you again. Thanks for the, um, massage,” he gulped but just for a second. “You have fairy hands.”

At this, Jack relieved the grip on his hand and as he walked, it passed over your head in a stroke so fine as to be elegant. You stared at his back as he continued, resistant.

It was time for your heart to beat again and Jack to call your name for you to go out together — or he would leave you alone there, it was your second choice. You laughed and as you followed him, you closed the door. Feelings forever in bloom.

Special Notes: Ik it’s explained already about the “Mexican snowball” flower/succulent but I want to make a disclaimer that this is the most similar plant I found to name the one Jack is wearing in his card, so I’m not 100% sure about it but it serves the purposes of this story. Another curious fact is that, in portuguese, this plant is called “stone rose”.

#twisted wonderland #jack howl #jack howl x reader #twst x reader #gender neutral reader #twst scenarios #twst imagines #twst fanfic #fluff #hurt and comfort #cherry's writing #cherry's mumbling about twst

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