#and then you get literally left for dead by your comrades and best friend hating your guts

[lord-squiggletits]

I think the key component to my personal reading of post-Delphi Pharma is that he's trying to be a horrible person on purpose. Not "on purpose" in the way that people have free will to exercise their own choices, but in that Pharma's "mad doctor" persona is a performance he puts on to deliberately embrace how much everyone else hates him. Basically, if people already think you're a "bad Autobot" and a horrible doctor who just kills his patients for fun, why try to prove otherwise to people who have already made up their minds about you? Just fully embrace the fact that people see you as an asshole. Don't try to change their minds. Don't plead for their forgiveness or understanding. Just stop caring. If you're going to be remembered as a monster, you might as well be a memorable monster, and eke as much pleasure and hedonism as you can out of it before karma catches up to you and you inevitably crash and burn.

I mean, I guess you could just go the route of "Oh, Pharma was always a fucked up creepy guy and Delphi was just him taking the mask off," but I really don't like that interpretation because, for one, it feels really wrong to take a character like Pharma becoming evil under duress and going, "Oh well clearly he did the things he did because he was evil all along," as if somehow Pharma breaking under blackmail/torture/threat of horrible death was a sign of him having poor moral character. As opposed to, you know, suffering under the very real threat of horrible death for himself and everyone he cares about while being manipulated by a guy who specializes in psychological torture.

The second reason is that it just doesn't make sense to write Pharma as having been evil all along. I mean...

Occam's Razor says that the best argument is the one with the simplest explanation. Doesn't it make way more sense to take Pharma's appearances in flashbacks, his friendship with Ratchet, his stunning medical accomplishments, and the few we see of him speaking kindly/sympathetically (or in the least charitable interpretation, at least professionally) towards his patients and conclude "This guy was just a normal person, if exceptionally talented." Taking all of these flashback appearances at face value and assuming Pharma was being genuine/honest is a way simpler and more logical explanation than trying to argue that Pharma for the past 4 million years was just faking being a good doctor/person. I mean, it's possible within the realm of headcanon, but the fact is Pharma's appearances in the story are so brief that there simply wasn't room in the story for there to be some sort of secret conspiracy/hidden manipulation behind why Pharma acted the way he did in the past.

I just can't help but look at things like Pharma's friendship with Ratchet (himself a good person and usually a fine judge of character) and the fact that even post-Delphi, pretty much every single mention of Pharma comes with some mention of "He was a good doctor for most of his life" or "He was making major headways in research [before he started killing patients]" which implies that even the Autobots themselves see Pharma's villainy as a recent turn in his life compared to how for "most of his life" he "used to be" a good doctor.

And although Pharma doesn't know this, we as the readers (and even other characters like Rung) know about Aequitas technology and the fact that it actually works, so... if Pharma really was an unrepentant murderer, why couldn't he get through the forcefield too? The Aequitas forcefield doesn't require that a person be completely morally pure and free of wrongdoing or else how could Tyrest get through, just that they feel a sense of inner peace and lack feelings of guilt. Pharma has murdered and tortured people by this point, and put on quite a campy and theatrical show of how much he sees it as a fun game, so why then can he not get through?

It circles back to my headcanon at the start of this post that the "mad doctor" persona is just that-- a persona. Delphi/post-Delphi Pharma's laughing madman personality is just so far removed from every flashback we saw of him and everything we can infer based on how other people see/saw him before that, to me, the mad doctor act is (at least in large part, if not fully) a persona that Pharma puts on to put his villainy in the forefront.

To avoid an overly simplistic/ableist take, I don't think Tarn tortured Pharma into turning crazy. To me, it's more like the constant pressure of death by horrific torture, the feeling of martyrdom as Pharma kept secret that he was the only one standing between Delphi and annihilation, the physical isolation of Messatine as well as the emotional separation from Ratchet, being forced to violate his medical oaths (pretty much the only thing Pharma's entire life has been about), etc. All of that combined traumatized Pharma to the point that the only way he could avoid cracking was to just stop caring about all of it. Because at least then, even if he's still murdering patients to save Delphi from a group of sadistic freaks, Pharma doesn't have to feel guilty and sick about doing it. As opposed to the alternatives, which were probably either going off the deep end and killing himself to escape, or confessing to what he did and getting jailed for it.

In that light, Pharma becoming a mad doctor makes sense. It avoids the bad writing tropes of "oh this character who was good his entire life was actually just evil and really good at hiding it" as well as "oh he got tortured and went crazy that's why he's so random and silly and killing people, he's crazy" and instead frames Pharma's evil as something he was forced into, to the point where in order to avoid a full psychological breakdown and keep defending Delphi, he just had to stop caring about the sanctity of life or about what other people might think of him.

Then, of course, the actual Delphi episode happens, and Pharma's own lifelong best friend Ratchet basically spits in his face and sees him as nothing more than a crazy murderer who went rogue from being a good Autobot. Then Pharma gets his hands cut off and left to die on Messatine. At that point, Pharma has not only been mentally/emotionally broken into losing his feelings of compassion, he's received the message loud and clear: He is alone. Everyone hates him. Not even his own best friend likes him any more. No one even cared enough about him to check if he actually died or not. He will only ever be remembered as a doctor who went insane and killed his patients.

So in the light of 1. Having all of your redeeming qualities be squeezed out of you one by one for the sake of survival and 2. Having your reputation and all of your positive relationships be destroyed and 3. People only know/care about you as "that doctor who became evil and killed his patients" rather than the millions of years of good service that came before.

What else is there to do but internalize the fact that you'll forever be seen as a monster and a freak, and embrace it? People already see you as a murderer for that blackmail deal you did, so why not become an actual murderer and just start killing people on a whim? People already see you as an irredeemable monster who puts a stain on the Autobot name, so why beg for their forgiveness when you could just shun them back? You've already become a murderer, a traitor, and a horrible doctor, so what's a few more evil acts added to the pile? It's not like anyone will ever forgive you or love you ever again.

Why care? Why try to hold on to your principles of compassion, kindness, medical ethics, when an entire lifetime of being a good person did nothing to save you from blackmail and then abandonment? Why put yourself through the emotional agony of feeling lonely, guilty, miserable, when you could just... stop caring, and not hurt any more?

#squiggposting #pharma apologism #i'm sure the doylist reason for the writing is just that pharma was a designated villain #so since he's a villain and 'crazy' it's fine for everyone even the good guys to treat him like complete trash #i just think from a watsonian perspective taking a sympathetic approach is way more interesting and logically consistent #what i mean is like. from a meta perspective one of the best ways to show that a character is super evil and not worth saving #is when even the good guy heroes. the ones who are supposed to be kind and compassionate and wise. see him as dirt #and this is also kind of a necessity in most plots bc TF is the kind of series that just needs action villains and long-term antagonists #so not every villain is written or has a plot to be made redeemable. and pharma is one of these bc he's not important or a legacy character #so from a doylist (meta) perspective you could read the autobots' disregard of pharma as a sign of #'this guy is not meant to have your sympathy as a reader. pay no attention to him' #but from a watsonian (in universe) perspective it paints a miserable picture of pharma being utterly forsaken by the ppl he served alongsid #and like yeah i'm super autistic about pharma so of course i view him with sympathy but like #the idea of being a loyal and good person for years only to be subjected to a Torment Nexus of #being blackmailed into breaking all of the oaths you held sacred. under threat of you and all your comrades dying horrible torturous deaths #then when your comrades find out about it they focus solely on the 'harvesting organs' and not on the 'blackmail' part #and then you get literally left for dead by your comrades and best friend hating your guts #and then you get rescued by a guy who uses you as a test subject for his evil machine #this is a fucking nightmare scenario like pharma could hardly be suffering more if the author TRIED to make him suffer #and for me it's like. the evil pharma did can't be decontextualized to what drove him to that. as well as the question of like #how easily ppl can write someone off as evil and turn a blind eye to (or even find satisfaction in) their suffering bc theyre evil #and either brought it on themselves or it's just karma paying a visit #like. i feel like if pharma WERE a shitty doctor and a terrible person his whole life then the delphi situation would feel like karma #but the way it's written and the lore retroactively put in makes it feel more pharma getting thrown in a torture carousel #and THEN becoming evil. but then being treated as if he was always evil or was some sort of bad apple #bc like i'm not opposed to LOLing when a villain gets a karmic torture/death related to the wrongs they committed #but in pharma's case it feels less like karma and more like endless torture + being abandoned by ppl who should have been more loyal

[realcube]

The Maid Café || Saiki K x Reader

summary: nendou and kaidou keep pestering saiki to visit their favourite maid café but he shuts them down every time. however, after a bit of prying they manage to convince him to give the place a try and while they are there, you just so happen to be on shift. 

tw// cussing, maid café, (she/her) reader

key:

“non italicised text” = somebody besides Saiki speaking

“italicised text” = Saiki telepathically communicating

‘italised text’ = Saiki’s thought

‘Of course Nendou and Kaidou would be into maid cafés of all things — not cat cafés, not internet cafés — it just had to be maid cafés.’  

Saiki’s internal monologue began as Kaidou continued gushing on about the cute lady he met at the café a few days ago as an argument to why Saiki should join them next time they go. Not to say Saiki wasn’t listening as he felt extremely sorry for whatever lady had to tolerate Kaidou’s advances and his prayer went out to her but besides that, he really couldn’t care less about the maids or the café. 

Until, his attention was involuntarily aroused at the vocalisation of his name from Nendou, “Saiki’s definitely in for Friday, I’m pretty sure I sold him when I told him that the sandwiches there are almost as good as the ramen we usually get.”

‘No, you didn’t. I won’t be coming to join you on Friday. I’d much rather stay--’ 

Somehow Kaidou managed to cut off Saiki’s internal monologue with his annoying voice, “Don’t be silly, Nendou. You’re not going to win Saiki over with such a ridiculous comparison, one that he clearly doesn’t care about.” 

‘Am I delusional? Is this a hallucination? Or did Kaidou just say something logical and based in reality?’

Kaidou’s aura immediately changed to dark and sinister as a mischievous smirk crossed his face, the background squawks of the crows suddenly became much louder for some unknown reason. “Instead, you must locate your opponent's weak point before you can recognise the crucially important moment to exploit it. The process takes patience but it is one I have learned from my many years rebelling against Dark Reunion. Now, young Nendou, watch and learn.” He finished with a dramatic flip of his school jacket which was slung over his shoulders as a cape.

‘What was all that about?’

Saiki wondered before Kaidou turned to him, much less brooding than he was a few seconds ago, and said casually, “Your loss if you don’t come, Saiki — you’ll be the one missing out on some of the best desserts in our whole town — not to mention the coffee jelly.”

✿✿✿✿✿

‘How do I always end up losing to these people? I am a psychic for god’s sake!’

Saiki mentally cursed himself out as he stood shamefully in front of the maid café, wearing a carefully curated outfit — including his germanium ring  — created especially to hide his identity from anyone from his school that might pass by the café and spot him in there through the window or something. Honestly, he wouldn’t be caught dead in a maid café, or so he thought.

However, all the reviews he read along with both Nendou and Kaidou’s thoughts helped him conclude that this place’s coffee jelly and general dessert selection is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, his favourite Tumblr blog - DeadlyDesserts11037 - visited the place and gave it a 5 star review, recommending everybody who happens to pass by the town to definitely check the place out. After that, he was sold.

Saiki looked over at his friends and couldn’t help but facepalm in response to their bright red, thrilled expressions. “Good grief, please don’t tell me you are both that excited over ladies in maid outfits.” As you might’ve guessed, Saiki didn’t really understand the concept of a ‘maid café’, so he simply assumed the male obsession with maids had something to do with the objectification of women hence he obviously did not want to take part.

“Saiki, you’re seriously just built different if this doesn’t touch your soul.” They both brushed the pink-haired boy’s comment off, completely mesmerised by the sight of a particularly pretty maid-lady walking by the window — probably on her way to serve a table — carrying a notepad in one hand and a plate with a scrumptious-looking coffee jelly on top. 

Saiki followed their gaze, his breath hitching at the sight. He was speechless; no sarcastic comment, no running commentary, nothing. Just..woah! If he had known that the girls that work at this place were so gorgeous and the food looked so delicious, he would’ve came a long time ago.

He wasn’t even sure which one he wanted more; the girl or the jelly. In a way, one wasn’t complete without the other because the coffee jelly which she held high next to her head brought out her (E/C) eyes while her shapely figure highlighted the defined curves of the jelly. Drool was quick to start forming at the corners of his lips but he was even quicker to wipe it away; he was starving.

“We’re going in.”

✿✿✿✿✿

To Saiki’s dismay, it was not the stunning (H/C)-haired girl who he had caught a glimpse of through the glass that ushered them to their table. Rather, it was a slightly less gorgeous maid-lady who had long, bright purple hair which was clearly a wig. 

Fortunately for him, after she left Kadiou, Nendou and himself to take their seats, she rushed off saying that someone will come take their orders whenever they are ready.

Even with his psychic abilities, there wasn’t much he could think of to alter fate so the pretty coffee-jelly lady would end up serving their table, and besides that, he was way too caught up in gawking at all the mouth-watering desserts they had pictured on the menu. 

Simply glancing over the menu brought a stupid grin to his face, he wanted to try every delectable treat presented in front of him. However, he knew he must exhibit restraint, which was fairly simple as he knew deep down there was only one thing on the menu that he was truly after. You guessed it  — coffee jelly.

Usually, he couldn’t care less about what his friends comrades were going to order but in this case, he was tempted to try convince both Kaidou and Nendou to order something he liked so he could take a bite of whatever they were having, “What are you two going to order?”

Yet again though, he was ignored as Nendou and Kaidou were both too busy checking out other types of snacks to care about the ones on the menu. 

Then, a movement out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention so his head jolted from the menu to his new target, the beautiful girl he had saw through the window earlier. Previously, she was holding a coffee jelly but now she was basically empty handed, until she approached the table and pulled out a notepad and pen, “May I take your orders?” She asked in the most calming, melodious voice Saiki had ever heard, the sounds that left her mouth were nothing short of angelic. Which made sense since her serving their table must’ve been god’s gift to Saiki for all his hard work.

Chills, Saiki got literal chills before he mused, “A coffee jelly, and two brownies for the pair of clowns.” His blood ran cold; curse his smooth sarcastic comments! Most of the time, he was able to filter himself but due to the nerves that arose while talking to you, he probably shouldn’t be surprised that he had a little slip of the tongue. But now, you probably think he is a bitch that insults people on the regular; which he is, but not usually aloud! Plus, he couldn’t even tell what you were thinking due to his germanium ring and your distant expression, awful combo!

While he was in the middle of feeling bad for himself and considering teleporting away home, a miracle happened, you burst out laughing. And somehow, your laughter was even more silvery than your voice. 

Saiki had zoned-out from pure shock for a moment before coming back to reality, noticing that you had started jotting down something in your notepad, a sweet smile still lingering on your face despite the fact you had stopped laughing. “Alright, so one coffee jelly and two brownies. Anything else?” You asked, glancing back and forth between the three equally unique and strange men sitting at the table. 

“That’ll be all, thank you.” Saiki telepathically communicated as he usually did, considering actually using his mouth to speak for a change so he didn’t seem weird but in all honesty, he couldn’t be bothered. In any other situation, he would’ve gotten a drink of water or perhaps hot cocoa but right now he was way too afraid of making another error in his speech to request something else. 

Silently, he extended his arm to hand you the menu he was given when he entered the café, along with the ones Kaidou and Nendou were given too. His actions single-handedly shooting down your plan of leaning across the table to ‘take the menus’ but in reality it is just a subtle way of showing-off how nice your torso looked in this maid outfit, a trick you learned from your supervisor. 

You nodded, closing over your notepad and making your way over to the kitchen, being sure to swing your hips just a little bit extra to impress the pink-haired megane at the table you just took an order from. You mentally cursed your stupid brain though for always crushing on guys/gals who don’t seem the least bit interested in you. In this case, the guy’s attention was divided between his star-struck friends and the desserts on the menu, rather than you which was an unusual sight in a maid café considering that most people would only come to ogle at the waitresses. 

✿✿✿✿✿

“So, Saiki.” Kaidou finally landed back into reality after a large chunk of the waitresses roaming around were now in the kitchen which he didn’t have viewing access to, “What did you order us?”

‘So, he was fully aware that the waitress came to take his order, he just chose to ignore her and left me to order his food. What a child, it must be a side-effect of his eighth grade syndrome.’

Saiki couldn’t help but sigh, “I ordered you both brownies.”

Kaidou stuck out his bottom lip to form a pout as he crossed his arm over his chest like a toddler, “I hate brownies.” He muttered to himself, realising that if he wanted something done right, he’d have to do it himself.

An amused smirk tugged at Saiki’s lips but he resisted the urge to laugh, ‘I know.’ He thought, his masterplan to eat more food without looking greedy falling into place. “Oh well, more for me then.”

Suddenly, Nendou spun his head around to abruptly join the conversation, “Hey guys, did you see the hottie that was serving our table?” He inquired with starry eyes, as if he was a kid in a candy store.

Saiki nodded, ‘Obviously I did, you moron. I was the one who ordered the food for goodness’ sake!’

Kaidou shook his head, his eyes lighting up as he leaned in close to Nendou, “Nope! I was busy looking at the other girls, but tell us!” 

Nendou chuckled at Kaidou’s enthusiastic reaction before glancing to the side, outstretching his arm and pointing at the waitress that was now approaching the table with the food in her hands. “There she is!”

‘Don’t point at her, you idiot!’ Saiki mentally insulted his friend but instinctively followed the guidance of the tip of his finger until his eyes landed on your shapely figure — accentuated by the nature of the maid outfit  — slowly heading toward his table, holding the coffee jelly and the plate of brownies in the same graceful way you did when he saw you through the window. 

The gleam of your gorgeous hair, the movement of your luscious lashes, the gentle bounce of your upper body, how your perfectly manicured nails clutched the base of the jelly glass; everything about what he was seeing made him believe that if/when he were to die, this would be his ideal first sight as he passed through the gates of heaven. 

Before he knew it, you had reached the table and placed his jelly down on the table, gently nudging it towards him, “One coffee jelly for the cute boy with antennas.” You mused, making Saiki’s heart flutter in a way he was unfamiliar with. Then, you placed the brownies in front of Kaidou and Nednou who sat opposite from Saiki, “And two brownies for the clowns.” 

If it wasn’t for the fact the pair of clowns were too busy leching over you in your maid outfit, they’d probably be curious as to your choice of words but luckily for both you and Saiki, they were way to entranced by your visible bra strap to care about the little nickname.

Saiki felt a light blush creep onto his face, which only got worse as you discretely sent him a playful wink before turning on your heels to stroll back to the kitchen, “If you need anything else, just give me a wave.” 

All of them hummed agreement in unison until the waitress was out of sight, giving Saiki a moment to process the events that had just went down. Not only did you refer to him as ‘the cute boy with antennas’ but you also winked at him, if that wasn’t a clear sign you were interested, what was? However, Saiki still had his doubts since this was a maid café after all, perhaps you were just trained to do that with all your customers.

Luckily, the had the foresight to slip off his germanium ring to read your mind and that helped him come to the conclusion that you were either interested in him or you were just very competitive as the whole time you were serving the table your thoughts were along the lines of;

‘I’ll adjust my skirt- Ha! You looked! Try resist falling for me now, you hot lil’ megane! Your heart is mine and I know it! See, I’ll fidget with my corset too-- just make a move already, pinkie!’

Although he didn’t appreciate being called ‘pinkie’, he had no right to judge what was going on in your brain. All he could do is be thankful that you didn’t say that aloud.

✿✿✿✿✿

You sighed as you noticed the pink-haired boy and his little posy exit the establishment without so much as a goodbye, or even a wave! 

It was disappointing as you had already mentally planned your future with this guy and he had the audacity to do the real life equivalent of leaving you on read. But oh well, it would be approximately a week until you developed a crush on a random customer that lasts for around 30 minutes and for the time being, you can focus on doing your job.

You glumly shuffled over to their table to gather their plates to be washed, then a piece of colourful paper attached to the empty jelly glass caught your eye. As you held up the glass to inspect it further, you realised that it was a sticky note with a message written on it in black ink and neat, cursive handwriting. It read:

‘Dearest waitress,

Thank you for the excellent service, we (myself) tipped accordingly.’

You hadn’t finished reading yet but you were curious as to what he meant by that, and apparently you service must’ve been exceptional as the writer had left a whole ¥2000 tip. That’s a huge addition to the demonia fund.  

Followed by this charming little message was an extra tip for you; the writer’s phone number! Meaning that this little sticky note was something you had to protect with your life..so you shoved it in your bra for safe-keeping. 

But not before taking a moment to giggle with delight at who the note was signed by, 

‘Sincerely, the hot lil’ megane (aka Kusuo Saiki)’ 

#saiki no psi nan #kusuo saiki x reader #the disaster of psi kusuo saiki #the disastrous life of saiki k. #saiki k x reader #saiki x reader #saiki headcanons #saiki k headcanons #kusuo x reader #saiki kusou no psi nan #kusou saiki x reader #saiki fluff #saiki k fluff #saiki k oneshot

[warm-starlight]

"levihan is homophobic"

-Hange's gender was never disclosed, we literally don't know whats in their pants

"they have no interactions"

-Levi asking moblit to take care of them in smartpass

- Levi referring to them (and the 104th) as family

- Levi saving them in the library story and commenting on their wits

- Hange saying he's too kind

- Hange referring to him as their best friend they share everything and he confides in them too

- Hange always knows it's him when not wearing glasses despite their terrible eyesight

- Levi making them sweets for valentine's/white day

- Hange planning a party for his birthday

- Levi sharing his good tea leaves

- Cleaning their appartment in chuugaku

(-also I think they kinda lived together towards the end?)

- Again in chuugaku cooking for them (nanaba wanted to be mikasas apprentice after tasting her cooking, later revealed it was so good bc she cooked out of love for eren and Hange shared some cookies Levi made for them bc they're always broke and that changed nanas mind and wanted to be Levi's apprentice, make of that what you will)

"well, no CANON interactions"

- Hange being the only one to understand and translate what Levi means

- Levi torturing sannes the same as pastor nick and THEN asking questions, meaning he did it partially to get Hange feel better

- Levi being drawn constantly with them

- Hange knowing Levi's backstory and connection to Kenny

- Hange being the first to welcome openly Levi and his friend into the survey corps with no ulterior motive just curiosity

- Levi getting mad at Kenny when they got injured

- Levi knowing them by their knock

- Hange trusting his choice in serumbowl despite disagreeing bc it's him

- Saving him and putting everything on hold to do so even endangering their own wellbeing

- Admitting of wanting to run away with him

- I know for a fact I don't exchange that kind of looks with my besties....

- Levi going dead eye when they had to sacrifice themself

- Putting his fist over their heart in a unique way to salute (remind me, isn't the left hand the one you wear your wedding ring because supposedly there is a vein in the ring finger connecting to the heart? And furthermore in case of a heart attack left arm pain is a main symptom so there's clearly a connection, whether that was intentional from yams we don't know but within the realms of possibility ig)

- 3 freaking panels dedicated to Levi's face with expressions that speak for their own

- Hange in the center of the mist, deliberately standing out between fai haired people & the only one interacting with him based on expressions

- despite all the shit I've seen about Hange and the plane and people diminishing it, Levi 100% thought of them. It was the anniversary of their death, Levi hasn't been shown to have any connection to airplanes whatsoever except the one instance he had to say goodbye to his oldest living friend and comrade and generally most important person at this point, so what other explanation could be there? Just filler? Its his last panel!!! Shouldn't it be something telling? Even so, say it doesn't have anything to do with them... why is onya looking at him like that? Hange doesn't have a grave, their body is impossible to recover and bury, this was yams giving Hange a last memorial in a way.

Point is, there's plenty of material. People just.... Don't want to see it ig and honestly, okaayyyy??? Just don't spread hate and bully others???

(The only thing that did confuse me too was during shiganshina, where he said use them and their squad as bait and they lead so erwin stays safe. That did seem weird and despite me knowing the world they live in, and reading your analysis over that anon, I keep thinking it was kinda shady Levi said that. But that's one thing among very others that show he cares for Hange and maybe towards the end it wasnt all platonic)

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. ❤

#snk #aot #levihan #anonymous

[dat-town]

wish you were here

Characters: Mark Lee & you

Setting: wish dragon au (and a bit of aladdin because mark even has a tiger in their garden like jasmine did. don’t ask why, just blame the regular mv), childhood best friends to lovers (at least there’s potential?)

Genre: fluff and humour

Warnings: mentions of a sick animal and a wild animal kept as a pet in a huge garden (just like jasmine’s tiger, it’s very tamed)

Summary: A magical teapot, a dragon that wants everyone to be happy and an old friendship being revived. Oh yeah, have I told you that you have 3 wishes?

Words: 6.4k

For @restlessmaknae​ 💕

When your mother told you you got delivery to your childhood home, you certainly did not expect this: a brown box as big as a small watermelon with your old Canadian address and MARK LEE scrabbled next to your name as another recipient but no sender. Not to mention, the first stamp on the thing was dating back to the early 2010s. Where the hell was this package for 10 years? And what would you and your old neighbour slash best friend have gotten together?

Okay, first things first:

You and this clumsy, kind of cute kid, Mark had been quite tight while growing up. You were born in the same year, only a month apart, and his family lived in the house next to yours in the suburbs of Vancouver, so it was kind of natural. You two might have been against the world kind of comrades, playing hide and seek when you were six and wondering about whether time travelling was possible through black holes at twelve. But no matter how close you used to be, you fell out of touch when Mark's family moved to the other end of the world, back to Korea, their roots when you were fourteen. You slowly forgot about him, and started university in the city, moving away from home, so nothing really reminded you of him ⎼ and your stupid, big fat crush on him that you had no courage to tell him about in middle school ⎼, nothing until this box.

You put the delivered package on your kitchen table while you make some dinner for yourself out of what you have gotten during grocery shopping earlier just before you picked up the mysterious stuff at the post office. You eye it suspiciously over your pasta, really not wrapping your mind about what it could be but instead of annoying yourself with this pointless curiosity, you put your fork down and stand up to open it. It’s a struggle at first, the box being secured with multiple adhesive tapes over the years but when you finally get rid of all that and can look inside of it, an intense feeling rushes through you… immerse disappointment.

“A teapot? For real? What were we thinking?” you furrow your brows taking the small, green and pretty old teapot into your hands. It looks like a piece of a traditional Asian set with its jade colour and dragon pattern. It couldn’t have been in a much better shape 10 years ago either seeing how wayworn it is but still, you expected something more… exciting? Something funny that might or might not give you an excuse to look up Mark Lee on the internet and message him for the sake of old times. But how lame it would be to befriend him on Facebook only to tell him that you got delivered a teapot under both your names. Hah, you would rather not embarrass yourself like that.

You shoot one last glance at the teapot before leaving it on your counter and going back to your food, you successfully forget about the whole ordeal. You carry your life on with only one small difference: Mark Lee back on your mind after long, long years.

It was just a small crush, you tell yourself, sighing as you look into the mirror, absentmindedly wondering how he’s doing. Does he think of you sometimes as well? Did he go to music college like he has always wanted? Is he happy? You wish he was even if he’s half a world away and with that thought you think it’s time to go to sleep despite the upcoming weekend days. You don’t want to mess up your sleep schedule over some boy but as soon as you pull the blanket over your chest and close your eyes, something explodes in your kitchen.

You jump out of bed faster than lightning, in slight panic over the fact that your neighbours will hate you for bothering them late at night and your landlord would kill you if you managed to blow up your microwave. But the sight that welcomes you is like no other that you imagined. The whole room is covered in thick pink glittery smoke. Like your worst Barbie nightmare.

“What the⎼” you cough, waving your hands to clear the air and once it dissolves into nothingness with its weirdly cotton candy smell, there’s a boy in the middle of it all, sitting cross legged on your kitchen counter so casually as if he owned the place. His pink-ish purple hair hangs into his eyes and he seems to find your coffee machine strangely interesting. You grab the first thing you can ⎼ a blender ⎼ and hold it up in defensive before yelling at the boy: “Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my apartment?”

The stranger’s mouth pulls up in a charming smile, his eyes sparkle as he turns his attention to you, hopping off the counter. He’s all thin and long limbs, so you hate how you hate to look up at him as he walks towards you before bowing ceremoniously.

“Hello, sorry for the sudden appearance, I just couldn’t wait any longer! I’ve been stuck in that teapot waaay too long. I didn’t mean to be rude or anything. My name is Taeyong, I’m a wish dragon and you’re my new owner,” he smiles and what he says makes absolutely no sense.

“A wish dragon?” you mumble in shock, looking around to see if this is just another prank of Johnny. You wouldn’t be surprised to see him jump out from under one of the cupboards. Or maybe you just fell asleep and you’re dreaming. Yeah, that seems like a realistic scenario.

“Ah, yes! I know I don’t look like it but modern times require modern solutions. Most people freak out because of my dragon form, so human it is,” the boy who seems only a few years older than you grins as he’s chatting and you have to give it to him, he takes this role pretty seriously. “You have three wishes as my owner. You can ask for anything as long as it’s not about death or love.”

So you got yourself someone who thinks he’s basically a genie? Oh gosh, is he that drunk?

“Aha, very funny. I’m too tired for this prank, so I would appreciate it if you left the same way you came...” you point towards your window because there’s no way he came through the door. Putting down your blender because the guy looks pretty harmless despite his crazy blabbering, you move to go back to your bedroom.

“No, no, no, I can’t do that,” the boy, Taeyong as he introduced himself, appears in front of you within a second and grabs your shoulder as if he could shake some sense into you. He looks pretty desperate. “I can only get a new owner if I fulfill all wishes of yours. It was super stuffy in that box the last decade, you know.”

At that excuse you let out a laugh.

“You don’t even fit it the⎼”

“You were saying?” Taeyong is suddenly nowhere near ahead of you but instead a small creature, supposedly a dragon, in the size of your palm flies in front of your eye level. “It’s magic!”

Okay, now that sight makes you feel like it’s you who is drunk. Or worse.

“Am I dead?” you have to ask in a small, uncertain voice, trying to think back what could have happened. Maybe that explosion literally blew your apartment up? But it hurts when you pinch your arm and turning back into his human form, Taeyong wants to prove the very same thing. Not the hurting but the not dead part, obviously.

“No, you’re very much alive and a happy owner of a wish dragon. Not permanently, of course, but still,” he tells you as he drags you onto your couch in the living room. As if sitting down could help processing all this.

So you have a wish dragon in your home, a magical creature that can casually switch between its dragon and human form and he says you should wish for three things, so he could leave and you could go back to your old, boring life without magic and things that scare you to death at 11PM.

“Can I ask… why? Why me? I’m not really owner-material,” you whisper because heck yeah, you even managed to kill your cactus before. Taeyong purses his lips as he sits down, a hand at his chin.

“Well, it’s unusual indeed to have a peasant girl, no offence, as my owner but as far as I know, you and your friend asked for a sign that magic was real.”

Oh, you remember that, being so obsessed with shooting stars and other stuff like that, you two used Mark’s brother’s computer to browse the internet, trying to find evidence about all that. You were kids wanting to believe in a world beyond the one you knew. But...

“That was like 10 years ago,” you furrow your eyebrows, not getting the timing.

“Well, sorry, you weren’t put on the top of the Heaven wish list and the shipping from Shanghai to Vancouver isn’t the fastest either,” Taeyong shrugs as if it was supposed to be natural. As if that was the most unbelievable thing. Well, delivery services are sometimes a pain in the ass, that’s true but getting a wish delivered by Heaven was something you would have never thought of and it all drains down on you. Strangest realisation of your life.

“So… it’s all real,” you whisper ahead of yourself: magic, dragons and all that. You could basically see your old best friend’s I told you so smile and let out a soft chuckle. “I wish Mark could meet with you, too.”

At that the guy ahead of you claps his hands and rubs them together, creating the same purple smoke from before. You look at him alarmed.

“Your wish, my command,” Taeyong grins and lifts his hands and before you could make a sound of protest because gosh, you didn’t mean it literally, you feel the ground move under your feet and you’re falling, into the darkness but despite shutting your eyes automatically, fearing the impact of the crash, nothing comes. Only the smell of soy sauce in the air and warm sunshine on your skin… Wait, what?

Your eyelids fly open and you notice in shock that you’re not in your flat anymore, ready to sleep. Instead, you stand in the middle of a goddamn street somewhere in Korea based on the signs still in your PJ shorts and tee. Oh my gosh! You hide in an alley right away and yank the seemingly proud Taeyong with you.

“I didn’t tell you that I meant right now! I can’t meet Mark in my PJs and I need my phone and wallet to function anyways. Not to mention, I don’t speak Korean at all...” you ramble panicking, the realisation that you’re indeed on the other side of the Earth due to some magic is yet to register. But the awkwardness from the stares you have just gotten has already turned you bashful.

Listening to you, the wish dragon seems sheepish and slightly embarrassed as he scratched his nape, his colourful hair falling into his cast down eyes.

“Oh… sorry. I got so excited over the wish that I didn’t think about it! It’s been a while since I did teleport magic but hey, I still have it in me. Anyways, sorry. Phone and wallet, you said? Here you go,” he pulls out something from his pants which magically seems to be indeed your belongings. That definitely makes things earlier.

“Uhm, thanks. Where are we exactly?”

“Ah, well you mentioned your friend Mark Lee, so we’re here. Well, one bell away because I did remember that it’s rude to intrude other’s houses without permission first,” oh now, you know, you snicker internally and gulp because hell, even if you wanted to see Mark, you wouldn’t have thought that the meeting would come so soon. You didn’t have enough time to prepare yourself mentally.

“So… you’re telling me that this… is where Mark lives?” you point at the impressive apartment complex on the corner of the street but Taeyong shakes his head.

“Nope, This is where your Mark lives,” he says and before you could object about the ‘your’ part, the dragon points at the other side of the road at a luxurious house with a huge garden, basically a palace. Seeing the beautiful fountain, the modern and yet traditional Korean style building beyond the fences makes your jaw drop.

“Hahaha, alright for a magic dragon you must have made a mistake. There’s no way the Mark Lee I know lives here,” you look back at Taeyong finding it funny that the kid who used to wore his favourite tees until his mother basically threw them out would live at such a place.

“Mark Lee, korean name Minhyung, supposed to be 22 years old internationally soon. Bad eyesight, contagious laugh, clumsy but has surprisingly good reflexes, gets embarrassed easily. Sound familiar?” Taeyong crooks a brow at you as he reads the information off from a parchment he just took out of his pants. Everything he listed is just so Mark that you’re left in disbelief.

“Uuh… that sounds about right.”

“His father hit it big in 2016 with a tech company, their net worth has too many zeros to count,” Taeyong explains, seeing how surprised you were over the fact that he lived a lavish life like this. Not that he doesn’t deserve it! Mark is such a sweetheart, so of course, you would only want the best for him but as if half the world wasn’t enough, now you have another huge gap between you.

“Gosh, I really can’t believe this. How am I supposed to just ring the bell and say hello after so much time?” you sighed with your head in your hands. “Argh, I need to buy some clothes and change.”

Taeyong approves the idea based on how enthusiastically he hollers, you wonder why nobody on the street seems to pay no attention to him. Maybe only you see him, just more reason for you to be crazy.

“Good idea because we’re having dinner with Mark!”

“What?” you look up in shock, not following through. Taeyong grins down at you, flashing a giddy smile and with a twirl he’s changed from his baggy, casual clothes to something more chic but still laidback.

“Your wish was him meeting me, so I arranged everything. I can't meet him without you and the teapot there, you know,” he explains as if it was supposed to be obvious. You aren't ready yet though.

“You just want to eat all the fancy delicious food he has,” you squint at him suspiciously and the dragon stays silent, so you must be right. He laughs nervously.

“Maybe, but can you blame me? I haven’t had a feast since a literal decade!” he hollers and somehow you really cannot find it in yourself to be angry at him. You are in Seoul for god's sake after all and magic is real, you can put up with the inconvenience of buying clothes and making yourself look decent before dumping all this surprise on Mark.

An hour later you stand in front of the gates of the Lee mansion and nervously you wipe your sweating hands into your dress. You can totally do this, you just say hi to an old friend, it's not like you're afraid he wouldn't remember you, hah, of course not–

"Y/N!" 

You whip your head at the call of your name to the source of that all too familiar voice. Sure it's deeper than you remember but there's no mistake in whose it is. Plus, who else would call your name in South Korea of all places.

"Mark, hey!" you wave the boy who just got out of one of the fanciest cars you've ever seen in your life. And yet, despite the Prada suit and expensive shoes, styled hair and Swiss watch on wrist, Mark Lee still has that goofy little smile and the doe eyes that used to make you weak in the knees. Hah, who are you kidding? They still do.

"Oh my god, dude, you… you got pretty," Mark jogs up to you and having no filter like always he blabbers immediately only to stutter as his ears turn red. It was so him talking before thinking, so you didn’t really mean to dwell on his words. Although you felt your cheeks dusted with pink soon enough. "I mean, it's really good to see you! I was so surprised to see your name in my calendar for today's dinner! You should have told me you were coming to Korea, I would have picked you up at the airport."

His calendar? Ah, of course, he must have been busy and all that. You wouldn’t have been surprised to see an assistant run after him at this point, so you wonder how your wish dragon magically put you onto his list of important people to meet. Gosh, it was so weird.

"Ah, I have a funny story about that…" you chuckled to yourself but before you could have get out anything, even a please, can we go to a more private place? Mark’s eyes zero on the guy next to you and his eyes grow comically wide.

"And uhm, who is your friend?" he points at Taeyong who waves him in exchange with a kilowatt smile. He looks back at you with his mouth agapé. "Oh my god, you came to invite me to your wedding?"

He says oh my god way too many times for an eloquent rich kid, he really is the Mark Lee you knew.

"No, never! I mean, of course, I would invite you but Taeyong and I– I literally met him on my way here," you explain hastily cursing yourself for the silly lie. You came to tell him the news not to try to make it believable. 

“I heard there’s food,” the wish dragon pipes in very helpful and you shoot him a disapproving glance he doesn’t notice. Luckily, Mark doesn’t seem to mind.

“Oh, yeah, of course, dinner! Come on in, let’s get you two settled,” he grins albeit a bit awkwardly as he leads you through the gate after opening it with his card.

On the way through the very, very, very big garden, he’s chattering about how he misses the Vancouver weather, especially on humid, hot days like this and talks about how he thinks the fountain in their yard is a bit too much but his mom loved it and then before you know it, you sit by a huge dining table with fine food in front of you. Suddenly you can’t decide whether you're grateful for Taeyong’s shameless presence – he digs into the jjigae right away – because at least the situation isn’t awkward because of your silence or you’re annoyed by it because you must seem like a weirdo because of him. That’s why you decide to rip off the bandage and tell Mark as soon as the last maid has disappeared too.

“Okay, so actually I came here because I have a surprise,” you speak up, probably too serious because the boy almost chokes on his food due to how fast he turns his head towards you.

“More surprise?” he coughs out and you offer him a glass of water which he takes with a smile.

“You literally won’t believe this one!” you assure him and wait until he gulps down the drink. Only then you point to Taeyong and tell him that your childhood wish has come true. 

Mark almost falls off his chair this time.

Not after you tell him that though. He laughs at that with that wheezing laugh of his as if you told the joke of the century then pats you on the shoulder murmuring That was a good one, bro and turning back to his food. But then you look at the magic dragon pointedly and Taeyong puts down his chopsticks with an exaggerated sign. Then he flexes his magic: turning into his dragon form among additional sparkles and Mark suddenly looks like he’s about to faint. He reaches out to tap on your shoulder while not taking his eyes off the wish dragon.

“Am I dreaming?” he whispers and honestly, you totally get his reaction while Taeyong mumbles something about ‘people these days not believing in dragons’ as he shows off all the things he could do: gift riches, make one stronger than they are, giving skills of whatever one wants. He starts rambling about how this one Chinese emperor became wealthy thanks to this, how that one actor in martial arts and all this before changing back to his human form and he continues eating his pasta like nothing ever happened.

“I can do this all day,” he shrugs as if he didn’t just perform the coolest magic tricks.

“This… this is the best thing ever!” Mark exclaims with those sparkles in his eyes you missed so much. He was always so excited about new things and it automatically makes you smile how he bombards Taeyong with million questions like: ‘So you are the wish dragon that grants wishes?’ or asking him about his scales, his unique color, how it feels to live in such a small teapot, how old he is and the dragon glows under all the attention. Can’t blame him but Mark has always been so curious about the world, it’s endearing.

“So your first wish was to meet me?” he turns to you after long minutes of interrogating Taeyong and suddenly, under the spotlight you don’t know what to do with yourself. You can feel yourself blushing because you didn’t necessarily mean to wish for that but it’s not like you’re regretting it, it’s just… you don’t want him to misunderstand.

“I thought you should meet him, too, after all the package was delivered for the two of us,” you look down, trying to sound nonchalant while picking your food, avoiding Mark’s gaze. No matter how open armed he welcomed you, you still aren’t convinced that it’s okay to be here because the more time you spend with him, the more you would like to stay a part of his life. “It’s just… I wasn’t really sure we could ever meet again. We didn’t keep contact after you left.”

With dropped shoulders, you try not to sound too downhearted because of what happened because you know all too well, it wasn’t his fault, it was a family decision and look at him, it did good for him! He seems happy, they live in a practically mansion but most importantly, he didn’t seem to change with the wealth. He might wear expensive clothes but under it all he’s still the boy with the most loveable smile.

“I… I was thinking about you a lot, I just thought you forgot about me,” Mark admits with a sheepish smile, tucking his hair behind his ear shyly. He really still is the same and it’s playing silly little games with your heart. If this was a cheesy Disney movie, a slow bgm would start to play as you look into each other but your moment is broken when Taeyong accidentally kicks into his chair as he stands up. At first he looks alarmed but then giggles.

“I will just… go. Don’t mind me,” he disappears like smoke with a wink, leaving you two alone at which Mark lets out a woah. You chuckle at his cute reaction, heart doing somersaults in your chest.

You thought it would be awkward, just the two of you alone after long years but Mark has this thing that he makes people feel comfortable around him, so it’s actually quite nice. You catch up on everything and anything that comes to your mind: old neighbours, studies, friends, what are you doing now and what would you like to do, too.

After finishing the delicious dinner, Mark offers a home tour which you would never refuse and you jaw drops at the huge crystal chandelier in their living room as well as their swimming pool but your favourite place in the whole mansion is Mark’s room because it’s just so him. You can’t describe it well but the moment you step inside, it feels like home. It’s cozy to the point it makes you want to cuddle a pillow. It has colours of pastels, a synthesizer here, a guitar there, posters of singers framed on his wall and vinyl records hanging down. His window has a view of sunset and Namsan above their green garden and although you haven’t been in Seoul before, you’re pretty sure it’s your favourite place in the whole damn city, too.

“Wait, there’s someone I would like you to meet,” Mark suddenly exclaims while you’re looking through his pictures and he pulls you out of his room, out of the house, into the garden: You giggle all the way as he’s being so secretive about it but then your steps halt unexpectedly and the hand you have in Mark’s yanks him back.

“Mark… why is there a tiger in your garden in the middle of Seoul?” you ask as quietly and as immobile as you can. You don’t want to attract the sleeping animal’s attention to yourself. But to your biggest surprise, the boy just laughs, his thumb caressing your skin soothingly.

“She’s Jasmine and she won’t hurt you,” he reassures you but needless to say, you’re not too calm and you’re pulled close to the wild animal that lifts its huge head towards you lazily. “She was abandoned by her mother as a cub and she was outcast in the zoo because she’s a bit sick, so she has always been weaker than her siblings. Dad made a donation and we have raised her since she was young.”

You hiss when Mark reaches out without fear but the tiger basically purrs as he strokes down his fur at the neck. You watch in awe as this big wild animal becomes a soft cat under the hands of Mark Lee. When the boy encourages you to pat her too, you hesitate but he promises you that it’s gonna be alright and you take a leap of faith. 

“What’s her sickness?” you wonder aloud as your fingers get lost in the soft fur of the tiger. You hope she’s not in a lot of pain.

“It’s an immune system thing, not sure what exactly but she wouldn’t have survived this long in the wild,” the boy tells you and his mouth curls up in a smile when Jasmine licks your hand. It seems like you’re tiger-approved. You look into its warm brown eyes and your heart churns at the thought of her condition.

Mark tells you stories of Jasmine, about that one time she crashed his birthday cake or how much she likes to swim with him in their pool during summer and gosh, you could listen to him go on and on forever. You’re only reminded of the reality, that all this is just a possible one-time thing, a weekend getaway with magic when Taeyong shows up in swimwear, ready to crash in said pool.

“I guess he might have been bored in that teapot,” Mark laughs, not minding at all. He even offers you to join but you have a better idea.

“Taeyong, I have my second wish!” you call out for the wish dragon who’s suddenly much more excited about that than the water. He’s beside you in a moment, beaming and curious. You glance at Mark with a soft smile before looking at your personal genie confidently.

“I wish Jasmine would be healthy,” you whisper, playing with the tiger’s furry ears which she seems to enjoy. You were a little bit afraid the dragon would say it’s not possible, that he can’t cure sickness but to your relief, he just grins.

“Your wish, my command,” he nods and puts a hand over the animal. Nothing but a smoke of purple signals the magic being done but you believe in it and so does Mark by the looks of it. He reaches out for your hand and squeezes it gently. 

“Thank you,” he smiles and you smile back. He used to be your best friend after all, it’s the least you can do for him.

Mark convinces you to stay the weekend and there’s no way you could tell no to him, not when he clears his schedule just for you. He never complains about how busy he must be working for his father’s business while being a music major at a local university. All he ever talks about is the places he wishes to show you and he takes you around Seoul as if he was your certificated tour guide. It’s lovely how enthusiastic he is about it while what really matters to you is the time you spend together. He makes sure you two take a million photos to remember by, Taeyong posing on half of them since he joins you on your little trips and sometimes it’s just the two of you watching the wish dragon being genuinely in awe by modern technology, 10 years is a long time after all.

On the last day before you have to go back to Vancouver (thanks to Taeyong’s kind offer to take you the same way you came back since he misunderstood you, you don’t have to sit through a 10+ hours flight and you have more time), Mark not only tries to make you breakfast despite having an in-house chef (his eggs are ugly as heck but you appreciate his efforts and can’t help but coo at his dreamy smile under that grey hoodie when you tell him it tastes yummy) but he also introduces you to his friends in Korea. Of course, they tease you (mostly Mark) about where he has been hiding you but it’s all chill and fun you’re not quite ready to say goodbye. But you should go because the more you stay, the more you don’t want to leave. You’re lucky enough for this chance to reunite with Mark but all good things end eventually.

“Let’s not disappear from each other’s life again, okay?” the boy grins at you as you’re ready to go, Taeyong already working on his magic.

“Yeah, let’s not,” you agree easily, looking forward to your video chatting and constant texting even if it’s from the two opposite ends of the Earth with a terrible time zone difference.

You glance at the wish dragon who’s drumming with his fingers while pursing his lips as if he was waiting for something and you let out a huff before working up the courage to actually do something about these feelings inside of you. You might have regretted not confessing in middle school, you have spent years wondering about the what ifs, so you don’t want to make the same mistake twice but still, you want to give Mark a chance to ignore it all if he wants to. So you step forward and wrap your hands around him as you hug him close. It’s obvious that your action takes him aback, he suddenly doesn’t know what to do with his hands and his body tenses under you but it all melts as you say those words that have been threatening to fall from your lips all this time:

“I have missed you.” you confess, honest and based on the hitch in his breathing, Mark must be surprised. You can’t blame him though, you just wanted him to know. You step back with a weary smile, his big Bambi eyes on you but before he could say anything you nod at Taeyong and you feel yourself falling, purple fog pulling you in. A few moments later you’re back in Vancouver, in your apartment, without him.

The first few days pass in a blurr, you can still barely believe what just happened. Your weekend with Mark feels like a too good dream but Mark kept his side of promise and texted you almost immediately as you left. He sends you selfies, songs that remind him of you and you talk about your days like you never did before. Still, it feels like you’re dancing around certain topics which are basically the elephant in the room and maybe that’s why Taeyong tries to cheer you up in his own way. Though, he soon realizes that you not being happy isn’t the problem, you are happy, you just… miss Mark more than you ever did.

“Enough of moping, you still have a wish left!” Taeyong exclaims, throwing himself onto your bed. “Come on, close your eyes, imagine what you want the most in the world and make a wish!" he singsongs. However, before you could even just indulge him, your phone pings with a new notification.

fullsun00 tagged you in their post!

You click on it right away, wondering what Mark’s friend Donghyuck is doing online at 1AM. The uploaded post turns out to be a photo of you and Mark when you all hang out near Han river. You were too busy at the time laughing at how the boy almost lost his whole scoop of ice cream before he could have had a single bite to notice his smile while looking at you. Based on his caption Donghyuck apparently wasn’t.

fullsun00: just old friends, they say. friends my ass @buttercupyn @onyourm__ark

You click your tongue wondering what Mark thinks of the callout but you press like on the post anyways. You put your phone aside before you could see how his other friends join the teasing in the comment section.

“Actually, I do have my third wish,” you speak up as you turn to Taeyong before he could make a remark on your tinted cheeks.

You’ve been thinking a lot about it during the past days. You could wish for anything but you’re at a point of your life where no riches or fame would make you happier because you’re happy enough just the way it is. It might not be perfect but you don’t want to be selfish and you want to make decisions you won’t regret: like catching up with Mark, curing his tiger and bringing happiness into the life of somebody who only ever served other people in his life.

“Ooh, what is it?” Taeyong claps, giddy as if he was waiting for this to happen. He probably did.

“I wish you would go on a vacation and enjoy life,” you tell him but unlike his usual reaction, this time the dragon’s smile fades and he blinks at you, confused.

“You could ask for anything in the world and that’s what you want? Are you sure?” he furrows his brows, not quite believing your words but you just smile, knowingly.

“Yes, Taeyong, I’m sure.”

“Your wish, my command,” he bows with his hands put together and with a twirl suddenly he’s in a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, looking as ready for a holiday as one can be. You chuckle and tell him to just go, you’ll be fine.

You’re fine, you really are. Life goes on, you study and work, you laugh with your friends, you video call with Mark regularly and his friends are regulars on your social media, too. It’s just sometimes the feeling of missing something hits you harder than other days. Especially when you’re looking through the pictures you have from your Seoul weekend.

“I wish you were here,” you whisper ahead of you at one particularly good photo of Mark and the sunset, smiling at you behind the camera. You miss his smile, the cute wrinkles around his eyes when he crunches his nose, the sound of his laughter, his hand on your wrist… you miss him.

Ding-dong.

You stand up startled at the sound of your flat’s bell, running to the door to open it even though you have no idea who it could be so early on a Saturday morning. Not having a better idea, you expect it to be either a neighbour of your landlord but on the other side of your doorstep stands a boy who you thought was a continent away. He’s dressed semi-casually this time, his shirt tucked in his jeans, hair lightly falling onto his forehead and a nervous smile on his thin lips.

“Mark! But I⎼ I don’t even have more wishes,” you blink, taken aback, looking around to look for Taeyong in case he came back. But your behaviour just manages to confuse Mark instead.

“What?”

“I just wished you were here,” you blurt out without thinking, your words only processing later in your brain and it’s then when heat creeps onto your cheeks. Mark tries to but can’t really hide his growing smile at that.

“Really? I’m glad then. I just took my new private plane on a test drive,” he says bashfully, a silly excuse for real.

“All the way to Vancouver?” you tease, watching Mark fumble with the hem of his shirt. Your heart beats overtime just because of the fact that he’s there. 

“Well, what can I say? I did miss the weather here,” he plays along with a shrug but he’s more serious when he looks deep into your eye and adds: “And you left without letting me answer.”

Oh yes, you did. You were kind of afraid of his reaction but seeing how he was ready to travel across the world just to see you, maybe there’s no reason for you to be so afraid. It feels like deja vu but a reversed one in a way as Mark gently pulls you into a hug, his lips grazing your hair with a whisper that makes your heart skip a beat: “I have missed you too.”

You really wouldn’t wish for anything more.

#nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct x reader #mark lee x reader #mark lee x you #stories

[spike-and-faye]

Hello, I require your infinite wisdom please!! :O So I just finished cowboy bebop and I am so confused like who the fuck was Julia. WHAT was Faye's past. I literally never process tv shows and the bebop was not immune to my stupidity LMAO like... I guess the ending just really confused me, from what I gathered Spike and Vicious were friends? But then they weren't? And Julia dated Vicious but also Spike? And he? Went after Vicious even after Julia had died? I am Confusion. Please help. Thank u...

Oh BABEY I am so glad you asked! :) Be prepared for a long answer and I apologize in advance for how incoherent it will probably be.

ALSO Please note: this show is fucking complicated. I have watched it all the way through several times a year, every single year, for over a decade now, and I am *STILL* finding new shit every time I watch it. It's packed with symbols, motifs, allusions and underlying themes that are just so rich. It is so extraordinarily well-written that it could give a lot of classic literature a run for its money. I'm literally working on an in depth literary/film analysis my husband lovingly calls my Manifesto on the series right now. SO PLEASE don't beat yourself up about not catching everything on the first go round.

HEY BTW for anyone who hasn't finished the show, please know there will be MANY spoilers ahead!

Anyways ~

1.     Spike / Julia / Vicious:

The information we get on Spike's past, including Vicious and Julia, is pretty limited considering how big of an impact they have on the story. We get our first glimpse in Session 1: Asteroid Blues, then again in Session 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels, Sessions 12 + 13: Jupiter Jazz, and Sessions 25 + 26: Real Folk Blues. I recommend reviewing these episodes for you Julia and Vicious fix.

What we know:

Spike and Vicious were both members of an organized crime syndicate called the Red Dragons, which is roughly analogous to the Yakuza or the Mafia. Their positions in the organization are not clear, but there are some images alluding to them being hitmen, and they likely rose up in the ranks as they were close acquaintances of Mao Yenrai, a Capo of the Red Dragon.

Spike and Vicious were close comrades. Spike taught Vicious everything he knew about fighting, and the two had a deep trust in each other. Which Spike fucked up ….

^^Vicious looks hot asf here

Julia was Vicious' lover/girlfriend. One night in 2068 (three years prior to the time we watch in the Bebop) Spike is injured, presumably from a syndicate-related fight and he passes out in front of her door. She takes him in and nurses him back to health and he SIMPS HARD for her. We’re all but told he's in LOVE love with her. They start an affair, and Spike tells her he's ready to abandon the whole life - the syndicate, Vicious, Mao, all of it - and they could run away together.

WELL Vicious finds out about this whole affair, and is DOUBLY betrayed because his literal best friend and girlfriend have been having an affair, and tbh I think he was just as jealous of Spike's attentions as he was of Julia's. (Whether or not it’s a sexual thing for Spike … well … I have my own headcanons about that). SO when he finds out they're going to run away together, he gives Julia an ultimatum: you can either kill him, or I'll just kill you both. Spike had written her a letter about meeting him in the graveyard to start their new life together, which she tears up to hide his location from Vicious. (This is the falling ripped up pieces of paper we see in Spike's flash back in Session 5).

^^ r/gifsyoucanhear

**NOTE: There are those who disagree with this view, (looking at you Cowboy Bebop wiki) instead suggesting Vicious and Spike were buds in the past, but then hated each other once they were both considered as potential successors to Mao. That's why Vicious wanted him dead, and he was enlisting Julia (who he didn't necessarily have a romantic connection to) to help kill Spike since he knew Spike loved her. Personally, I think there is plenty of evidence that Vicious also wanted Julia, and in fact was already with her, when Spike started seeing her. If you want me to cite my sources please send an me an ask about it :)

Spike gets the idea, whether by her just not showing up or word around the syndicate being like YO Vicious wants you dead. Despite Vicious' ultimatum to Julia, he was gunna kill Spike either way. SO he sets up an ambush, and SadBoy™ Spike walks intentionally into their trap. Somehow, he doesn't die, though the entire syndicate thinks he did. (Note Annie's reaction to seeing him alive in Session 5). It’s also implied that this is where he lost his eye.

HIS EYE - possibly the most important symbol in the show so I do have to mention it. In episode 26, he explicitly explains to Faye that one of his eyes only sees the past. (PS this isn't dissimilar to Jet's arm… we can get into that another time). Basically, he's constantly living halfway in the past and halfway in the present, and describes the past like a dream he can never wake up from. Because dysfunctional or not - the syndicate WAS his family. (Again - see his relationship with Annie, Mao, and Vicious (prior to Spike's betrayal)). It's his reminder that Julia didn't run away with him, and that he'd left behind that life for her. (He didn’t know she was being threatened until the final episode). Basically Spike is hyper-fixated on what he had and what could've been.

Not long after this, Spike starts bounty hunting because like? What else is he going to do. He doesn't care if he lives or dies but if he has to be alive, he may as well be able to eat. He joins up with Jet Black on the Bebop.

TL; DR: Spike stole Vicious' lover, Julia, so Vicious made Julia choose between her killing Spike or Vicious killing them both. She instead went into hiding and Spike thought he'd been stood up. He fake died and got the hell outta dodge.

2.     What was Faye's past?

Ok let me start by saying Faye is my wife and my life. HOWEVER I hated her the first time I watched this show circa age 13 because I thought she was annoying/vain/shallow (also because #internalizedmisogyny lol am I right fam). Good news! She is all those things! But she's also very lonely and scared and an amnesiac and secretly a sweetie and she realizes she loves the crew of the Bebop like family.

SO my wife's backstory:

she was born in the 1990s (#only90skidsremember). There's some debate over her race/nationality, but due to the images of her hanging out in Merlion Park in Singapore, my bet is that she's Singaporean. She comes from a wealthy family with a big house, and we see some utterly *adorable* film of her as a child/young adolescent in Session 18: Speak Like a Child. I cry everytime </3

^^ Holla for the representation

In 2014, circa age 20, she and her parents were going into space when the shuttle they were on had some kind of malfunction/accident and it killed an unknown number of people, including her parents. At the time, the technology didn’t exist to be able to save her, so she was put into a cryogenic sleep state. Meanwhile, the Lunar Gate accident occurs, breaking up the moon and causing rock showers on Earth's surface. Most people died, moved to Mars, or settled underground.

She wakes up from her cryogenic sleep in 2068. (Also the year Spike leaves the syndicate.) She's 'woken' by the corrupt Dr. Bacchus who plans on charging her for the years and years of medical debt she's accrued. (See Session 15: My Funny Valentine.) Luckily a lawyer takes interest in her case (Whitney Haggus Matsumoto) and tries to help get rid of her debt. The two fall in love, but turns out Whitney is a Scumbag. He's actually Dr. Bacchus's nephew, and faked his death, writing Faye as the sole inheritor to his will. This means she'll take on all his debts. So baby girl has LOTS of debt at this point.

In the intervening years prior to her joining the Bebop, she gambles, cheats, gains a lot of street smarts, and adopts a very seductive character to get her way. She joins the crew on the Bebop in Session 3: Honky Tonk Women.

TL;DR: Faye is Austin powers

YIKES this is so long I am so sorry. Bitches are obsessed with this show. (I am bitches)

3.     The Ending

Okay I'm going to present this in the way, in my scholarly opinion, would be correct, though there are SO many interpretations other than simply 'Spike died :/".

To understand the plot of the last couple episodes we actually have to go back to Session 5: Mao is instructed* to sign a treaty with a rival syndicate called the White Tigers. (*He's instructed by The Van (Council of identical creepy old men) who are the actual head of the dragon. I think we only see them in Session 26.) Well - Vicious is a Bastard Man and he and his fellow mutineers blow up the White Tiger guys' ship and slit Mao's throat. Before he dies, Mao is like "Gotdamnit if Spike was still here this shit wouldn't have happened." Later in the Cathedral battle, Vicious explains to Spike he killed Mao because Mao 'lost his fangs'. He planned on killing Spike for good her, IMO, so there'd be no rival to take over as Capo for the Dragons.

^^These guys are The Van btw

THEN in Session 25, the Van basically catches Vicious and is like “you killed Mao and now you have to go to Time Out.” The Van also decides to just kill everyone associated with Vicious, just 2 B safe. That's why there's a big ass shootout at the Loser Bar where Jet and Spike are chilling, drinking, (missing Faye and Ed and Ein lol) and Shin (younger brother to Lin, who's helping Vicious overthrow the Dragon) explains all this to Spike. OH and PS JULIA IS ALIVE AND HERE IS HER LOCATION :). (**Notice Spike's reaction at this point is different than his reaction in Jupiter Jazz when he hears there's a Julia on Calisto. Much less excited… hmm…).

SO THEN you know we get some flashbacks of the past as previously explained *and* Julia just happens to run into Faye. She recognizes that Faye is one of Spike's friends from the Bebop (she was keeping tabs on him it seems) and picks her up. Faye doesn't know who Julia is but is like damn bitch I'm a little gay for you. (I mean … that may just be my bi ass projecting, but Faye is REALLY struck with her. Look at how she describes her to Jet, I mean come on.)

 Faye's like, 'we should team up' and Julia says 'no thanks but also tell Spike to meet me at *the place*'. Meanwhile back on the Bebop Spike and Jet are talking and Spike goes on about some dream woman who was his other half. (We assume he means Julia … I have my reasons to doubt this … I have a lot of angry DMs about my opinion here lol but I just do not give a fuck (: I can expand on this in another post or you can refer to the title of my fucking blog haha) Personally, I think Watanabe personally left this specific scene open ended, the same way he does with the ending and various other things.

more like SIMP Spiegel

ANYWAY Faye comes back to the Bebop to tell Spike about Julia, and Jet gets intel from a former cop buddy that there's some shit going down with the Dragons. (Again, the Van is hunting down everyone ever associated with Vicious, including your pal Spike). Bebop is attacked, Faye tells Spike what's up with Julia, and he heads out.

 PAN TO VICIOUS chained up - about to be executed - but what's that!? It's a bird!? It's a pla- no it's just a bird. (With one glowing red eye … hm … reminds me of Spike, also the drug Red Eye. Pls let me know if you have any thoughts on this). Just a bird with a BOMB! Explosion (RIP bird c. 2065 - too soon), Vicious kills the elders, his buddies show up and are ready to go fuck shit up.

this show could not be more of an aesthetic

MMMPhhh okay RAINY CEMETERY. Spike and Julia. She draws a gun, explains why she didn't meet him that day, and then hugs him. Now Spike is not *great* at showing his emotions but he literally just stands there. Maybe it's a stoic expression of how sad he is that he never knew she still cared, when it seemed like she dumped him. Maybe he's finally getting some closure on his past. Maybe the past doesn't mean the same thing it used to. (I'll elaborate later on this).

They go to Annie's to get stocked up on stuff, she lets them know she denied knowing Spike was still alive and hey also the Van was assassinated by Vicious and his guys so. Watch out for that. Then her shop is surrounded by Vicious' guys and she dies :(. Spike and Julia escape to the roof, but she's shot and dies in Spike's arms, and says 'it's all just a dream' :(. (Refer to: Spike living in a dream of the past).

Anyway Jet SAID he wasn't gunna go after Spike but. Jet's parental instincts kick in (oh yeah he was shot in the leg earlier btw) and he goes to Sitting Bull to see if he knows where Spike is. He basically says yeah Spike's about to die somewhere. (I want to do a further analysis on all the Sitting Bull scenes.) Well conveniently Spike returns to the Bebop, eats, tells his story about a tiger-striped cat. (At one point Jet asks if he's going there for her, and Spike is like well she's dead now so whatever). THEN we get to the scene where Faye is like HEY YOU CAN'T GO OFF AND DIE ASSHOLE and he's like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I 've been living in the past so I might as well see if I'm living now. (**This will play heavily into my interpretation of the ending). Faye is pissed, shoots the ceiling and he goes off to the syndicate headquarters to fuck shit up.

He basically John Wicks his way through the building, Shin dies, he and Vicious have the big boss battle and whatnot. He kills Vicious and stumbles back out down the stairs and says "Bang!" and collapses. We pan to the sky and see a star fade away.

Well that explains the plot … now here's what I think happened!!! ALSO may I mention, anon - you picked up on something I feel like a lot of people miss out on. Why *did* Spike go back to kill Vicious if Julia was already dead??

Basically, once it became clear that anyone associated with Vicious was being killed, Spike knew they'd hunt him down, and they weren't beneath Kill-Billing their way to him, (i.e. systematically destroying this companions to get to him). And for all his apparent indifference - he really loves his new found family. Jet is literally like an older brother to him. Ed is a little sister. Ein is well … a very good boy. And Faye? Well the relationship is complicated, and I'm not going to get into the 69,420 reasons I ship them here, but I think it is beyond argument that he really does care for her, even if that just in a filial way. He didn't want the syndicates to kill them for their association to him, or in order to get to him. So he did what he had to do to protect them. *AND NO* I am not saying that he didn't love Julia. But it was clear that his desire was no longer to run away with her. I think he genuinely loved and cared about her, but at some point between Jupiter Jazz Pt 2 and now, he accepted that their time together was over. Now he had a new raison d'etre, which is the Bebop.

I think at this point Spike has 'woken up' to reality (as he implied to Faye in their final conversation in episode 26: "Look at these eyes. One of them is a fake, because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I have been seeing the past in one eye, and the present in the other. I had believed that what I saw was not all of reality...I thought I was watching a dream that I would never awaken from. Before I knew it, the dream was all over." (This is from the sub btw I'm too lazy to look up the dub transcript.) He wasn't going there to die, he's going to find out if he's really alive. This line is fucking cool and everything - but it's implications are multitude. I won't go into them all here but basically : what makes him alive now is that he's free from his past. He's alive because he has this new family and protecting them is all he really wants now. Spike was protecting Jet, Faye, Ed, (and Ein) by going and facing the entire syndicate, knowing that their lives would all be in danger.

SO - did Spike die? Well again - Watanabe has purposely and artfully left this open ended. Well, if we're following the symbolism from Sitting Bull, then yeah, the man is as dead as disco, and wouldn't that be a fitting ending? BUT at the same time, Spike always refers to having 'died' before (meaning when he was ambushed by the syndicate, and they all thought he died, and he pretty much did). Don't forget that in  movie (takes places roughly between episodes 22 + 23, and yes, was made AFTER the series but whatever) he like .. DIES dies. He goes to the afterlife and everything. He wakes up to find he's chilling with Sitting Bull, who's like nah it wasn't your time to die yet. So the fact Sitting Bull confirms Spike will die in the final episode, means yeah, Spike is pretty much dead.

BUT -- okay now hear me out -- could this death in the final episode be a death to his previous life? The person he was in the syndicate? Now that he's extinguished the Red Dragons for good, is it not possible that its merely *that* life which has ended? That's the optimist in me saying that, but if it keeps me from staying up all night crying, I guess it'll have to do. Watanabe definitely wants to leave it up to the viewer, so whatever you think, I feel like there's validity to it.

WELL any anon, sorry for the fucking lecture - and believe me, I could've said MUCH, MUCH more - but I enjoyed this question. I always love talking about this show so please all you fuckers feel free to message me or send an ask about anything any time. I am really slow at replying because #life'sAbitch.

Love you all.

SY,SCB <3

#sorry for the long ass rant #i could seriously talk about this all day. #i even trimmed this down so much #cowboy bebop #fuck man this show is everything #spike spiegel #julia #faye valentine #jet black #vicious #radical ed #ein #<3 #spoilers #rant

[quinncupine]

Obscured Chapter Two: Back To Work

Chapter Word Count: 2,952

Relationship: Izuku Midoriya x Reader

Link: AO3

Previous Chapter: One

Next Chapter: Three

MASTERLIST

...

It didn't exactly surprise Izuku when the hoard of journalists jumped him once he arrived at the hero agency. They surrounded his car as soon as he parked. We wasn't sure how they could pop up that fast with all that heavy camera equipment. They probably trained for it, it seemed they literally chased leads these days.

He stepped out, wearing his signature smile he'd perfected years ago for the public. Camera's and microphones were shoved in his face as they hit him with all sorts of questions. So many talked at once that they drowned each other out.

"Deku, Deku!" Once of them shouted. "Tell us, what have you been doing these past two weeks?"

Deku didn't see a way out of the little crowd that formed around him.

"Have you been investigating the murder of Kanaye Tatsuya?" Another asked.

He gently pushed his way through, he really didn't feel like answering any questions.

"What about your wife?" Someone stubbornly blocked his path. "How is she handling all this?"

"Yes," Another added. "Where is Y/N Midoriya? What precautions are you taking to protect your family?"

They were rapid firing questions too fast for him to think of any safe answers to give.

"Do you think villains will continue to target your family?" Someone yelled above the rest of the chatter.

Izuku glanced around him, nervously flexing his hands. He'd forgotten how...persistent these reporters could be. Camera's flashed in his face. They were waiting for him to show some sort of emotion, not that they didn't know he was the emotional type, that was public knowledge by now. They were waiting for something juicy to gossip about, but he held firm, keeping that soft smile on his face as he tried to think of something to say that would satiate them for the time being. It was a hard thing to do when surrounded by wolves, ready to rip apart their prey.

"Well, I, uh..." Yeah, he was great with words. "Mr. Tatsuya's death is under police investigation. They will do everything in their power to find the one responsible."

"Are you saying that you're not involved in this case anymore?"

"I-"

Someone cut him off. "Are you happy Mr. Tatsuya is dead? He kidnapped and attacked your wife, you must hate the man."

Izuku frowned. They were trying to lure him into a trap, to get him to say something he'd eventually regret.

"Some are saying you had a hand in this?" A man shouted from somewhere within the crowd, holding his mic over a few heads. "Is that true?"

Izuku's calm façade faltered for a moment, ready to counter him, but he froze. He couldn't let himself get bested by some hungry gossipers. He looked for another escape route, but they had surrounded him with a wall of people.

One of the reporters stepped too close to Izuku, a cheeky looking redhead with a wide grin. "There are a lot of rumors out there. Some are saying a diehard fan killed him for you, yet there are others that say it was a plot devised by a drug ring based in Tokyo." She stuck the mic in his face. "What are your thoughts Deku?"

Woah, that information was not supposed to be public knowledge and based on the reactions of the others, they didn't know this info yet either. How the hell did this woman know about the Kobaruto? Someone was feeding her information.

The others went wild, tossing crazy and speculative assumptions around, waiting for him to answer the question.

"Uh..."

Fortunately, he was cut off when someone roared behind him.

"Buzz of vultures!" Bakugo yelled. "This is private property."

The reporters took one look at Bakugo and scrambled away as he stalked over. Even they weren't dumb enough to mess with someone like Katsuki Bakugo, especially if he appeared to be in a bad mood, which was most of the time. They learned early on that the now number two hero doesn't take ambush journalism kindly.

"Kacchan?" Izuku blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think dumbass?" Bakugo grabbed Izuku by the collar of his jacket and dragged him into the building.

Once they were inside and out of prying eyes, Izuku freed himself, straightening out his jacket. Bakugo was wearing civilian clothes which surprised Izuku, he was supposed to be working today.

"You found something, didn't you?" Izuku's eyes widened.

Bakugo growled and kept walking. "Office, now."

Izuku caught up to him and they walked together through the building. Every time they ran into an intern or sidekick, they were stopped as they welcomed Deku back. Bakugo looked irritated, but kept his mouth shut. The entire place seemed to buzz with excitement now that Deku had returned. It had been a strange two weeks without him there.

When Izuku finally made it to his office, he saw Shoto waiting inside, leaning on one of the couches.

"Shoto," Izuku paused at the open doorway. "Is everything alright?"

Shoto straightened himself, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Yes, things are fine."

Bakugo pushed past Izuku and sneered at Shoto. "What's this bastard doing here?'

"I could say the same for you." He crossed his arms.

Izuku glanced outside before shutting the door. "Kacchan is helping me with the investigation."

"I came to offer my assistance as well."

"Pass, we got enough losers on this case as it is." Bakugo stuck his thumb at Izuku.

"Midoriya, I want to help."

Izuku looked at Shoto. He valued him as a close friend and comrade, probably his closest friend, and yet these past few weeks were strenuous on both parties. Shoto was still holding that anvil of self-hatred over his head and it was getting heavier and heavier to carry.

He blamed himself for almost seriously injuring you when they had all come to your rescue. Since then, Shoto seemed to only be distancing himself from the both of you. He barely talked to Izuku, who had tried several times to get through to him, and completely avoided you altogether, as if that would somehow fix things. Poor Momo was acting as middle-man between the two of you since Shoto refused to talk.

"Alright," He said after a long moment of debate. "But you can't keep avoiding...people. This case revolves around her."

Shoto lowered his head. "I apologize. I realize that I've been acting-"

"Like an asshole?" Bakugo supplied.

"Childish." He finished. "There is a lot of unresolved issues that I hadn't realized were still there." He looked up. "But I want to help now."

Izuku studied him. He was standing taller, a more confident shine to his eyes, something he was seriously lacking these last few weeks. Between the cracks of that old familiar wall Shoto had buried himself behind again, he saw remnants of his friend.

Izuku beckoned him to follow as he went behind his desk. He set his bag on the top and pulled out a large stack of folders. It was a mess of sticky notes, tabs, and a few coffee stains. His handwriting was scribbled in every blank space he could find, all his thoughts put in pen.

"These are the case files." He handed them to Shoto. "Everything Tsukauchi gave me."

Shoto leafed through them. "Are you sure it's the Kobaruto behind this?"

"I know they're connected somehow." He crossed his arms. "Tatsuya was dealing with them, and they're the only known suppliers of Trace."

"Trace. It's fairly new, right?" Shoto pulled out a crumpled paper and looked it over.

"Yeah, started showing up a little over six months ago." He nodded. "It's reminiscent of Trigger. They share similar traits. I wouldn't be surprised if this is some variant of it."

"Trigger. The quirk enhancing drug." Shoto looked up. "I haven't seen that in a while."

"Apparently, Trace is the new drug of choice now." Izuku narrowed his eyes. "But they're careful who they sell to. We haven't been able to catch any of the dealers yet."

"And we can't rely on the druggie's." Bakugo said. "Trace degrades your mental state." He shook his head. "No, more like shreds it. Even if Tatsuya wasn't killed, he was never going to recover after months of that kind of abuse."

"What do you know about the Kobaruto?" Shoto asked.

"That's the problem." Izuku frowned. "We know next to nothing about them. They appeared out of the blue one day with a brand new drug. They might be small, but they know how to evade us."

"That's because I wasn't looking for them before." Bakugo punched his hands together. "I'll find them and destroy every last one of those bastards."

Shoto placed the files back inside the folder as neatly as he could. The colored tabs stuck out at various angles looking like the entire might explode any second.

He tapped the top of the folder. "I'll follow up on some of these leads. I'll let you know what I find."

"Shoto," Izuku called as he turned to leave. "Don't talk to anyone else about this. For now, it's still technically in Tsukauchi's jurisdiction. There is no official co-op on this."

He nodded and left quietly, closing the door behind him.

As soon as they were alone, Bakugo rounded on Izuku. "You sure he's up for this? The bastard's been flakey as of late." He narrowed his eyes. "I can beat some sense into him."

Izuku stared at the door. "You know he's always been insecure about his fire. What happened just pushed him over the edge." He shook his head. "He won't talk to me about it and he won't even look at Y/N."

Bakugo rested his palms on the back of a chair. "He's an idiot, that's nothing new."

Izuku plopped in his chair behind the desk and rubbed his head. "You found something right?"

Bakugo glanced at the door before sitting in front of the desk. "Yeah, about that imposter at the police station. I've been looking into it."

Izuku sat up. "What did you find?"

"Nothing much." He grumbled. "If this guy was good enough to impersonate All Might, in front of Tsukauchi no less, then he's good at covering this tracks."

Izuku leaned back, folded his hands and stared out the large windows that covered half his office. The first sign of the sun was just coming over the horizon and cast gentle waves of light through the office. It usually calmed him down, but today, it seemed like his nerves were ready to break straight through the window.

"This isn't good."

"No, it isn't." Bakugo agreed. "But I did find one thing."

Izuku looked back at him.

Bakugo pulled out his phone and set in on the desk. The screen showed a grainy picture taken in the dark. It was hard to make it out, but it was clearly a figure that was running across what looked to be a rooftop. The only distinguishable trait was the blue Kabuki mask underneath a black hood.

Izuku picked up the phone and examined the picture closely. "Who is this?"

"Don't know." Bakugo crossed his arms, a deep frown on his face. "This is the only solid picture I could find. Guy's a ghost."

"You think he's connected to the Kobaruto somehow?" Izuku zoomed in on the mask.

"There's been rumors spreading around the underworld, about a man in a mask." Bakugo took the phone back.

"So how's he connected?"

"Eyewitness reports put him in their territory." He leaned forward. "I don't have any solid evidence yet, but if I had to guess, I would say he's one of their runners."

"If we can bring this guy in- Izuku stood up. "-then he could actually give us some answers."

"Now that sounds fun." Bakugo smirked. "He likes to roam the Maridun district, but he only seems to come out at night to play."

"Then we'll wait for night to head out."

"No way, this is my lead." Bakugo stood up.

"But-"

"No. Besides, you have other things to take care of." He narrowed his eyes, daring Izuku to argue.

They had a glaring contest before Izuku huffed and looked down. Again, he felt conflicted. He really wanted to track down this guy. The sooner they could solve this case, the sooner everyone could get their lives back on track. On the other hand, he didn't want to leave you alone for so long, not when there were so many serious dangers still lurking out there. He ran through all the scenarios in his mind, trying to find a way to do both, but Bakugo was right.

"Fine," He relented. "But at least bring someone with you. Shoto wou-"

"Hell no!" Bakugo yelled. "I'm not going anywhere with two face."

"Kacchan..."

Bakugo ground his teeth and looked away. "I'll bring Kirishima in on this. I trust him."

Izuku nodded. "Fine. Keep me updated."

"I'll let you know when I bring this fucker in." Bakugo pocketed his phone and turned to leave.

"Thanks," Izuku said quietly as he reached the door. "Kacchan."

Bakugo looked him over and left.

Izuku deflated into his chair, running a hand through his hair. This case was growing more and more complicated by the minute. There was just no way that Tatsuya's death was a coincidence, everyone knew that, even the media had come to the same conclusion. There was something bigger behind this, he was sure of it. That's why he didn't want to leave you, even if Ochaco and Momo were with you. You were his responsibility to keep safe and so far, he'd failed pretty miserably at that.

His phone rang, startling him. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at the caller I.D. and saw your name. A million thoughts ran through his head, most of them not good, as he answered the phone.

"Y/N, is everything okay?" He practically yelled into the phone.

"What? Of course." You answered casually. "I just thought I'd call to make sure everything was going well. The media's already twisting your words."

"You know you shouldn't watch the news." He leaned back in his chair. "It'll rot your common sense."

"Yeah, well, there's not much else to do when you're stuck inside all day." You grumbled.

Izuku frowned. "I'm sorry. This is my fault-"

"Hey, what did I say about throwing self-pity parties?" You scolded.

He rubbed his eyes with a smirk. "Sorry."

"And stop it with all this sorry crap. Sorry is for idiots who actually did something stupid." You huffed. "And don't think I don't see all those heroes casually strolling past the house. I know you asked them to."

Izuku rubbed his neck. "Uh, well..."

"Yeah, yeah," You sighed. "I know you're just worried. I also know that you're keeping things from me."

"W-what do you mean?" A lump formed in his throat.

"I know there are certain things you don't tell me. Stuff about your hero work and I get that, but..." You paused. "You would tell me if there was more to this, right?"

You were smart. You could always catch him in a lie. He hated lying to you, it felt horrible, but he also hated the look that crossed your face whenever Tatsuya was brought up. It was still affecting you big time and he couldn't stand to see you so upset. Nothing good would come of it if you were let in on the case, so there was really no need to tell you. At least that's how he justified it.

"Look, Y/N, I-"

"Save it." You interrupted him. "Just go back to work...and stay safe."

"Yeah." He said quietly. "I'll be home before dinner."

"Ok. Love you." You muttered.

"Love you too."

You hung up before he could even finish, leaving him with a sour taste in his mouth. You had every right to be upset, but you were keeping it all to yourself. You didn't let Izuku in on your personal thoughts anymore like you used to. There was a growing gap between the two of you and he didn't like it one bit. Everything he did seemed to only widen that gap and he wasn't sure how to build the bridge over it.

He groaned and laid his head on the desk. The cool wood felt comforting and he closed his eyes for a minute, trying to get in the right headspace to start the day. He was scheduled to start patrols again, but at the moment, his heart just wasn't in it.

After awhile, the phone on his desk rang and he almost vaulted out of his chair to reach it. "Hello?"

"Midoriya." It was Tsukauchi. "Sorry to call so early."

It's fine chief, what is it?" Izuku felt his stomach churn, Tsukauchi's voice sounded tight.

"You know the Hashira gang?" He asked. "They run drugs, mainly operating out in the Agamar Quarter."

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, small-time. What about them?"

"We just found them."

"What do you mean?" He had an excellent guess as to what he meant.

"They were all killed last night." Tsukauchi said. "Got an anonymous tip this morning on where to find them. It's a real mess out here."

"The entire gang was taken out?" Izuku stood up, gripping onto the cord. "A gang war?"

It couldn't be a coincidence that a rival gang was just exterminated. This was a big move, one with a lot of consequences.

"Possibly. We just got here. I'll know more when I inspect the scene, but," He paused. "Well, you need to get down here. There's something you need to see."

If that didn't spell ominous, Izuku wasn't sure what would.

"I'm on my way."

It seemed he'd have to postpone patrols for a little while longer.

Tag List: @miriobaby @hmm-cats @thecindy @awilddreamerwrites @in-this-house-we-stan-izuku @sailorstupidsblog @kehlaniwwe

...

Chapter 3

If you wanna be added to the tag list just let me know!!! Thanks Loves!

#izuku midoria x reader #deku x reader #pro hero Deku #pro hero bakugo #my hero academia #bnha #mha #taken series #deku #midoriya izuku #izuku x reader #izuku x y/n #language #boku no hero academia #reader insert #midoriya x reader #pro hero todoroki #Naomasa Tsukauchi

[indigosprite]

Chrome Callout post.

relax this is just my love hate relationship with chromes writing and potential. spoiler, it ends with all the love... hate is only in the middle. 

My absolute favorite thing in fanfics is Chromes characterization. Like we all know Chrome is completely aware that Mukuro and co need a reoccurring dose of Valium and a therapist willing to do illegal things in order to lower their sadistic points to ”kind of disturbing but tolerable”. Or at least we hope she does even though she proves to us again and again that she’s not phased by it in the slightest and might actually be just as bad. TYL and she’s still running around helping them do god knows what. She follows them on this massacre pridefully, she “believes in” them ( its sweet actually. They’re what she thinks of when Mukuro asks what she believes in and makes a young kokuyo gang.)

In fanfics when people write her to be a double edge sword it’s hilarious, and it should’ve been the character depicted in the Anime and manga instead. But I guess if she hadn’t been the quiet, breathy & compliant 14 year old people wouldn’t have morphed her into the fanon I enjoy now. Here’s some stuff i love and HC abt Chrome  and the things I absolutely hated.  

1. When she actually speaks not just when spoken to. She voices her concerns although she has no intent of not doing what’s asked of her. Who knew she could speak and still be the obedient gang member Mukuro trusts her to be. And when she does this it’s funny. She is the conscience he buries underneath disgust and amusement for chaos, but that’s not her entire character. She’s not reduced to the mom friend either because of this, she’s too passive on the matter. She indulges/Enables it just the same as Chikusa or Ken, although she knows better meanwhile the thought never occurs to them. To summarize :

she’s Brian

2. She’s unhinged and the best part is nobody knows even though it’s blatantly obvious. She may not have the same bloodlust or violent disposition as her peers but there are other ways to showcase this. To Allow Mukuro the leader of this little fearsome Five-some to possess you whenever he feels like and witness whatever horrors he decides to inflict upon someone that day means she’s accepting of literally everything he does. She never resists or expresses distaste/fear for him or anything he does. We assume she would in some capacity because she was depicted as this wide eyed innocent girl trying her best to repay the man that got her to join a gang under the guise of a found family. She quite literally signed up for guts n glory. She knew this and never had second thoughts. Mind you she doesn’t share the same hatred for the mafia as the boys, theirs is blind hatred regardless of who you are. Hers is through them, they are her looking glass rightfully so, so if they say it then their word is law. I’m not sure about you but I would definitely be mindful of the girl who was raised semi normal and willingly turned into a killer for Mukuro of all people. They’re killing adults not shaking them up, they aren’t Tsuna and his friends they finish the job when necessary. The body count is unimaginable. She is just as loyal as Ken and Chikusa and would probably strike you where you stand for speaking ill of him. (She wouldn’t but would definitely be opposed to whatever you’re saying, unless it’s name calling. He takes no offense to that and welcomes it in fact.)

3. The fact that she’s a person apart from Mukuro (physically speaking.) and the Vongola team at all is a blessing in few fics. Although she was made to stand in for Mukuro, when he is released it’s not necessary hence him pushing her to be apart from him and his duties. He did this in the future as well when he possessed Guidio Greco no longer using chrome which lets us know she was successful in becoming a useful comrade and not just a vessel and vongola stand in. She had to otherwise he would’ve left her alone whether she was keeping his Vongola ring warm or not. She is just as aloof as Hibari, always off with her own people only engaging when it’s asked of her. I adore when people keep that in mind and don’t lump her with following behind the vongola as if she were one of them. She shows up for them when asked but her main focus is ultimately committing felonies with Ken and Chikusa per Mukuro’s orders. let her be with the kokuyo gang and let her contribute in the way she’s meant to as a fighter. figure her out give her something cool 

 ik that’s hard considering what we got in the manga. warning things i hate ahead 

what we got in the Anime and Manga: 

so we know Chromes entire purpose was to be Rokudo Mukuro’s stand in, while holding the Vongola ring he soon takes back she is just the girl that is able to get him to come fight their battles when necessary. The Anime and Manga rarely let Chrome fend for herself. We all knew he was coming the second it got serious. By giving chrome that ring she ended up being the one thing to keep him loyal to his contract with being their guardian. If she’s in danger he comes and saves her, the Vongola put her in danger because he will show up and do his job it’s like a rat trap. She is not meant to be a Vongola guardian but more like a Mukuro whistle. They never openly admit it but in the show they will expect/ask her to do things that her track record doesn’t imply she can do and just silently expect Mukuro to show up like always. SKSJDWDN they’ll be like “oh yeah call the girl who passed out and all her organs disappeared I believe in her to do this job even though i’ve never seen her make it to the end of a fight ever not worried at all” sksksjjd They never actually expect chrome to do a job they expect her to go there and manage to get Mukuro to come out and play and we should acknowledge it was just an unspoken thing.  Now I know that despite what I just implied about her not being that great a fighter but just good enough there are two comments made in all 400 chapters that are supposed to negate this.  

Mammon says her illusions are powerful just not enough to fool him , and reborn says she could turn the tide if she were to fight against Mukuro but with confidence, these mean nothing to me because amano throws in so many useless comments like this and then fails to develop it further to make it believable.  and she made powerful characters make note of this so it would be non negotiable and we would just take it at face value because its them but hello ?? ofc we want to see it just like we had to see Tsuna grow before we even considered taking him seriously. hell Dino got a quicker rise to his title than chrome bc its that easy to say oh he can come into his own when needed they just never meant to do it for chrome. 

it’s so irritating when they try to say she’s powerful or could be but give no actual footing for anyone to take those comments seriously when they make her pass out for thirty chapters after doing the bare minimum.

let chrome win on her own not just start strong then step out of the way then have some character say “no really she could be powerful we aren’t going to show you though” .  

when she helped them sneak in the base on her own and even makes those illusions of them fighting we should have gotten more of that!!! 

literally every character is fighting the funeral wreaths and chrome is running in the woods out of breath...even Lambo got to fight. 

you made her sit out of the rep battle to focus on making organs like that wasn’t something she already accomplished in the future and suddenly can’t do anymore ?.....

Chrome finally makes one fighting decision and its to make a mist forcefield that’s dangerous but hell yeah we think she will finally pull through with something powerful and prove herself and then they have mukuro come in a panel later saying “your flames are far too weak to do that I will make it better and help you not die” BYE  that was a perfect time to have her come in to her own seeing as she was powerful and confident enough to initiate it in the first place. 

breaking the barrier daemon spade makes * chefs kiss * give me more 

 when they’re not blindly robbing chrome of character development  she’s just getting kidnapped, passing out  or helping them with small things like making a fake Yamamoto for a party or sneaking in the base with illusions to disguise them. Hello she’s training under mukuro right ??? why did we ever get to see her get stronger each fight and have them say ‘she’s learning quick” instead. 

enough abt what we got, back to what I’ve managed to make out of the scraps we were given..

4. Mukuro is the only one who reassures that she actually is a fighter and she eventually grows to be a good one bc of this and you should write about that dynamic and why it exists more. this one is long.

 the whole dynamic I was referring to exploring is the one where Mukuro and chrome are meant to be equals. He meets this girl whose been neglected and left for dead, another kid messed up by adults neglectful selfish behavior. she willingly follows the boy who is plagued by the same demons and made a small group dedicated to getting revenge for it.  Mukuro & Chrome know they’re two sides of the same coin. he is anger and she is acceptance. He probably finds it amusing she isn’t as angry as them wants to draw it out of her  where as chrome wants to pull out the peace that comes with moving on once you’re in a better place. the girl is so happy to not be near her mom and grateful for this little family while the boys are quite literally holding a grudge against the world.  and like none of them even see it the way she does but she wants them to.  Mukuro and chrome didn’t go through the same things but it doesn’t matter to either of them because its the same story, nobody loved or valued them enough to protect them. In the end chrome will learn to be angry abt things that happen and use that to find a will to fight for something and Mukuro will learn to be at peace because they’re not in that lab anymore and those people are gone from their life. as fighters they’re so important to each others balance Mukuro’s rage cannot be left to be so blind and hers unattended and i know it’s supposed to be Tsuna that cleans his soul but i think chrome definitely plays a more active role in that.  I think he sees a better him in her, he makes her his second gives her his name because she’s the good he knows he can never fully be. she posses a peace he’s not hopeful enough to believe he can achieve or want and ultimately it will make her far more capable of the change he wants. in believing this it means he also believes she will be just as powerful as him with the right training. he’s literally training his demise and her name is Chrome. he wont take over a (mafia) world he wants her to save.  we all know he’s like annoyingly stupid when it comes to showing his emotions, he rather pretend he’s sending you to die when he’s quite literally ushering you to what he thinks is safe and sacrificing himself. so I can totally see him being like  “okay Tsuna might really change the mafia and I want to see that but I've already dug my own grave here's a better newer me that will be way easier to accept than me turning over a new leaf 40 dead families later.” 

5. in the future Hibari is much more happy to help and be around because he knows what a powerful fighter Tsuna turns out to be, i think this is the exact same reason why he goes and helps chrome save herself. Kyoya knows and possibly even respects future chrome enough to save her when she’s at her weakest which he usually detests. Chrome grows to be much more in the future and that’s exactly why he even gives this sick chrome a push. everyone likes to think it’s a Mukuro thing for him but what if it actually is a chrome thing. in the show he’s never been present to witness her show any kind of power so we can only assume that at some point he saw her in action. 

  6. it’s implied in the future that Mukuro fights alongside her, he views her as more than just a vessel and doesn’t baby her in the slightest when he pushes her to become her own being. I won’t call it respect per say but he doesn’t look at her as a doll even though that’s the part she played for him. He still trains her the way he eventually does Fran. We all know he just wants Mini Mukuros to aid him in his endeavors but the fact that he chooses her says a lot about how she’s meant to be viewed. He also chooses a nine year old brat with an apple hat but hey he must see something everyone else doesn’t until he’s done with them seeing as Fran was kidnapped by the freaking Varia once Mukuro’s teachings were for the most part implemented. “Oh you learned under Mukuro ? We can’t have Mukuro you need to join us immediately” (I’ve just realized Mukuro gave the vongola their strongest mist guardians all while claiming to hate them. Funny man). imagine how powerful Chrome gets, even better when Mukuro is actually there in the flesh to teach her where as Fran got some illusionary version of him. WRITE ABOUT IT. 

7. for the love of god give that girl her own fighting style. yamamoto has his sword gokudera is literally baby genius ryohei is a boxer and hibari has like the most random weapon ever. go crazy. i love it when chrome isn’t pulling a trident from her bag. because she’s not mukuro anymore. she’s a reticent mist guardian, compliment that.  Mukuros trident has his own history with him. give her some history of her own.    

in my fic Chrome uses a scythe and tears through reality with it. 

reason:  because she is a grim reaper in her own right. she rose from the dead and is showing up to collect the souls of the wicked. a silent but fearsome person. 

her style ? :  personally I like to believe chrome dabbles in profiling, hear me out. Her parents were neglectful and in turn she really has little experience with relationships in general, i think her curiosity would lead her to constantly study peoples relationships and behaviors and see how they affect her target. aka she fights by showing up getting in your head and haunting you with your own past because even if they see through it damn what a nasty wound or insecurity to bring up in the form of a hell loop illusion. this also ties into her being Mukuro 2.0 he’s known to just be eerily in the know of everything going on even when he’s not there. this would be a great way of her matching that aspect of him and possibly surpassing it.  

#THIS WAS SO LONG #But worth it #im so excited about writing chrome rn thanks for letting me rant #fic talk #chrome dokuro #khr #khr headcanons #SpriteLand #SpriteRot

[cabin7-hufflepuff]

PJO/HoO/ToA characters as MCU quotes. You don’t need to know MCU context, because it’s just about the meaning of the quote for the character. **TBM and *slight* ToN spoilers, read at your own risk**

Percy: “I’m with you til the end of the line, pal.”-Bucky Barnes “I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they’re from.”-Steve Rogers

These two should be pretty self explanatory. Bucky and Steve are loyal to each other the way Percy is to all of those he loves, his fatal flaw being personal loyalty. Percy is someone who can’t stand bullies just like Steve, considering his time with Gabe. Both of them had dealt with horrible situations that made them sympathetic. I just feel like these fit him perfectly.

Annabeth: “I have nothing to prove to you.”-Carol Danvers

I couldn’t find one that clicked for Annabeth in my head, but this quote to me shows how strong of a person Annabeth is considering what she’s had to deal with since she was 7. I feel like she could say this to anyone, even Percy, and no one would question her, because she truly doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone.

Nico: “It’s not about how much we lost. It’s about how much we have left.”-Tony Stark

This one may not seem as good of a fit, but hear me out here. Nico has lost so much throughout his life and had to deal with his identity. His mother, Bianca, Jason. He loves very strongly and when he loses someone, he is devastated. But once he figures out how to move on from what he’s lost, he can turn to what he has left: Hazel, Will, Reyna.

Jason: “Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. To stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.”-Abraham Erskine “Don’t waste it. Don’t waste your life”-Ho Yinsen

PAODIGDSFGN the Erskine quote to Steve is what made me want to make this textpost because it could be said to Jason, and it would fit right in with his story. Steve and Jason’s stories can be compared quite easily, even if you have to dig a bit before you make any connections. The Yinsen line to Tony fits him too well, and imagining Jason saying that to Piper...

Leo: “I came to realize that I had more to offer this world than just making things that blow up.”-Tony Stark

Sure, this one looks like I didn’t really try, but Leo was honestly one of the more difficult characters for me to match. Leo and Tony are so alike it’s not even funny, and I like to try and see through Leo’s humor to find the other facets of his personality. Leo has always felt like the 7th wheel, which he technically is, but this Tony quote matches with Leo realizing his part in the plan, even if it’s going against all of his friends’ wishes. He finally feels like he is doing his part, instead of just being the extra.

Piper: “The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best we can do is to start over.”-Peggy Carter

Ok so I don’t really care for Piper, so I didn’t put as much effort into this one, but this quote can still fit her pretty well. This is something that would apply to her after Jason has passed, and refers to her moving on to her new girlfriend. Sure, it’s definitely faster than anyone should move on from a dead ex, but she’s trying her best, and that’s all we can ever do, right?

Reyna: “We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe.”-T’challa

I couldn’t find a quote that fit Reyna as well as I wanted it to, but this one still works. I feel like a lot of people forget what her demigod powers actually are. Yeah, she’s super helpful in battle and is a great comrade, but her actual power is giving others strength. Strength is literally her power, and this quote from T’challa seems to mirror that quite well.

Frank: “I choose to run towards my problems, and not away from them. Because that’s what heroes do.”-Thor

Frank started out as a more timid, hesitant person who wasn’t exactly willing to take risks. This is mainly due to him being worried about his wooden lifeline, but then by Trials of Apollo, he has overcome this fear, and saves Camp Jupiter. I think Frank was slow to accept his position in any situation, not entirely confident in his abilities, but he gets there eventually and becomes the hero he was meant to be.

Hazel: “Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say, ‘No, you move’.”-Peggy Carter

Peggy and Hazel man. They would be a power duo, that’s all I’m saying. Hazel is probably the most resilient out of the 7, considering her age and the things she’s experienced. I also like this metaphor of being like a tree, since Gaea had the biggest grudge against Hazel, and Gaea is the earth goddess, so Hazel being a strong-rooted tree would be perfect.

Lester: “I know you were only doing what you believe in, and that’s all any of us can do, it’s all any of us should. So no matter what, I promise you-if you need us, if you need me, I’ll be there,”-Steve Rogers

Yes, I mostly chose this because of its similarity to the end of ToN, but there’s more to it. I think this quote does a good job of meaning any point in Lester’s journey. It could be about when he was originally turned into Lester and hated everything, or it could be about when he turned back into Apollo and understood what Jason meant. I just like the idea that he is there for his friends and family, finally grown into the person he was meant to be.

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #nico di angelo #jason grace #leo valdez #piper mclean #reyna avila ramirez arellano #frank zhang #hazel levesque #lester papadopoulos #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #steve rogers #tony stark #thor #peggy carter #carol danvers #t'challa #bucky barnes #why did i do this to myself

[writing-mermaid]

Siren, part 2 : Concentrating my moves, I'm on a mission

Summary : Y/N is a mutant, a Siren, the last of her kind, with deadly dangerous powers and a hidden past. If most of the Avengers likes and get along with her, Steve doesn’t, and it’s getting worse when Y/N and Bucky become close. After all what can bring two broken souls together if it’s not a dark past.

Pairing : Bucky Barnes x reader

Warnings : Fight, mention of injuries and blood. 

Word Count : 1 643

Square Filled : @buckybarnesbingo : Free square

Author’s note : Second part, I hope you guys will still like it. Thanks for the few responses I had for first part and I hope this will not disappoint you. This story my entry for @sourpatchkidsandacokecan ‘s Little Darlin’s Mystery AU Challenge, the prompt I chose is Siren AU. I also made a library blog in case the tags don’t work, so feel free to follow @writing-mermaids-library and to turn the notifications to know when I post something new here. Don’t forget that feedback is appreciated and really important.

Song of the title : Bad Blood - Jess Glynne

Masterlist

Bucky Barnes Bingo masterlist

Siren masterlist

Buy me a ☕

A little more than an hour later, I make the plane land a few feet away from HYDRA's warehouse.

  “So, what's the plan ?”, Bucky asks, looking down at me.

“I don't really know”, I answer, tucking one of my blue strands, one of the results of my mutation, the only visible sign, behind my left ear. So, if you see a girl with Y/H/C hair scattered with blue hair, that's me. “Maybe we just get in, being careful that nobody sees us, take pictures and probably blow up whatever they're up to.”

“Sounds like a plan”, he answers, a half smile on his lips, pushing the button that opens the back of the Quinjet, before going outside, a gun in his hand.

  I grab my fight sticks, same kind as those as Natasha has, and follow him. It's a total wasteland. No sign of life except around the HYDRA facility. We silently move to the fence, once there, I take out of my belt a tiny scissor to cut it.

  “Lady's first”, Bucky whispers, holding it for me, and I lightly step through the opening I made.

  We slowly walk to one of the entries. Bucky slips behind one the guards and knocks him out, while I take care of the second guard, by poisoning him with my fingers with the sleeping poison I have in my body, just by wrapping my hand around his ankle. Well, I hope for him that it's the sleeping poison or in a few minutes, he’s going to be stone dead.

  “There are two locks for that door. They have to be open in sync.”

“And they need this”, I say, rising on my feet, with two opening cards in my hands.

“Well done, Siren”, he smirks at me.

“Please, don't call me that, Winter Soldier”, I answer, matching his facial expression.

  Siren, that’s the made-up name the Avengers, well Nat, gave me when I was recruited. And she’s right I’m a Siren, the literal definition, or almost. I literally can enchant men and women and kill them. I’m deadly dangerous, even if I look like an innocent and fragile thing, that’s why I have to take suppressors and why I don’t let anyone touch me. The only one that never were affected by my power were my parents and some members of my family, because we shared the same blood.

  “Ready ?”, he asks, and I nod, “one, two, three.”

  We slide the cards at the same time and the door opens. Bucky looks inside, before nodding towards me, a silent way to say that the pathway is clear. We both step inside and look around, Bucky with his assault gun between his hands, my glowing sticks in mine. We progress in the facility silently, trying to not get detected by HYDRA's henchmen. Bucky opens the path and I follow him, watching our back. We finally step into a huge room, full of alembics.

  “What the hell is that ?”, I hear Bucky whispering.

  We progress in the room, looking closer at the see-through containers. Some are full of a transparent liquid, the others of some kind of colored gaz.

  “I don't know”, I murmur back, “but I'm not really reassured by this.”

  A loud bang makes Bucky grab my arm and suddenly, I'm trapped between a wall and his toned, muscular body. I raise my head and my gaze crosses his bright blue eyes.

  “What...”

  He shushes me by putting a finger on his mouth, ordering me to stay silence. I hardly dare to breath.

  “Fuck, can't you be more careful with this ?”, a male voice yell.

“Sorry, it's heavier than I thought”, a second male voice answer. “Anyway, what's in that ? What's that gas ? Is it dangerous ?”

“I don't know, but look it's leaking, you might have unscrewed the plug”, the first one tells his comrade. “Seriously, we were just supposed to take this from point A to point B, but you had to drop it. Now put the cap back on and stop asking stupid question.”

  I breath heavily, afraid to be discovered, because, I'm less stealth than Bucky, when he's at least two or three times bigger than me. I can almost feel every muscles of his body against mine through my suit. Bucky must feel my panic because he takes one of my gloved hands in his, plunging his eyes into mine. The two HYDRA hands men finally leave, and he steps back.

  “It was a close call !”, he says.

“Yes, thanks.”

  I walk past him and try to see if something is written in front of the containers. I can hear Bucky sighing behind me.

  “This thing smells strange, don't you think ?”, he questions me.

“No, I don't think it smells weird”, I answer, trying to have a clue on what are the gas and liquid stocked here. “I don’t even smell anything, just HYDRA’s awful smell.”

  I continue to look around. There's no clue about anything. Suddenly, a pair of lips are attached to the nape of my neck.

  “What the hell are you doing Barnes ?!”

“You smell so good. You're intoxicating me”, he says, burying his nose in my hair.

“Let go of me”, I hiss, trying to unhook his arms that he snaked around me.

“Come on”, he adds, “I want it and I know you do too”, he slide his left hand to my arm in order to lift my sleeve to touch my skin.

“Stop it !”, I clench my teeth, knowing that I can’t get rid of the man who at least weight three or four times my own weight.

“You’re driving me crazy, that smell, of yours, I can’t resist it.”

  And it clicks in my head, the last time I heard this was before I had suppressors, before those who worked, a scientist said those exact words to me, and everything his clear. That gas is made of either my blood, either my cells. This has exactly the same power as I do, the one that makes everyone uncontrollably attracted to me. I try to make up a plan to get rid of Bucky without hurting, or worst, kill him. The dots of my brain connect quickly with an idea.

  “Actually”, I tell him, turning in his arms, “I think you have read my mind and you and I can have a little fun, don’t you think ?”, I wink at him seductively, sliding my hands on his strong arms. “So first, why don’t you kiss me”, I whisper, approaching my face to his, my lips grazing his.

  My left hand stays on his right arm while my left hand finds its way on the back of his neck. He leans towards me and I push a little on his nape to force him to lock his mouth to mine. His lips are soft against mine and I’m surprised about this, I never thought that Bucky Barnes would have such soft lips. His lips are moving against mine and as I did for the HYDRA hand man, I concentrate to make him sleep, or Steve Rogers will have one more reason to hate me. Well, I think that the fact that I put his best friend to sleep by a kiss during a mission might be one too. After a few seconds, I feel him stumble towards my body. I try my best to catch him before he falls flat on his face.

  “Sorry Barnes”, I murmur, “but you didn’t give me a choice.”

I manage to drag him behind one of the alembics, praying that no one will find him or that he will wake up too soon and try to jump on me again. I pull out of my pouches a few bombs and their detonators. I start to place them around the tanks, moving as fast as I can and program them. Five minutes should be enough for me to pull Bucky outside and go back to the Quinjet.

  “Ok, now let’s take care of you 1940’s man”, I state, turning to where I left Bucky before setting my bombs.

  I grab his metal arm and start to haul him to the Quinjet. He is heavy and I do this task as fast and as quietly as I can. I finally manage to go back to the fence and push the soldier through it. I take a look at the device connected to the bombs’ detonators, I have a few seconds now before the bombs explode. I go back to my burden and pull him again to the jet. I don’t see on the way back the two men we knocked out when we arrived, and to be honest, I don’t really have time to think about it. I don’t even reach the jet’s door when the warehouse explodes throwing me a few meters away from Bucky’s sleeping form. I land badly on my right hand felling it twist under my weight, and blood flowing from my left hand. Maybe I shouldn’t have put so many explosive blocs, but I wanted to be sure that everything would be destroyed. I can’t straggle, I have to put Bucky in the jet and leave that place before HYDRA’s men come after us. I go back on my feet and manage, clenching my teeth because of the pain, to pull the Winter Soldier again, the blood of my hand drenching his sleeve. I open the jet’s door with the button on my belt, bless Tony for that, and pull a little more my sleeping partner. I abandon him on the ramp, heavily panting while the door closes. I can’t even breathe for a second because I know that we have to leave now. I take back my place behind the commands and take off.

Taglist :

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[jhenifer202]

Until death meets us again

Until death meets us again

"Sam? Sam?"

"(Who's calling me)"

"Buckethead!"

Sam wakes up suddenly seeing the person on his side

"Peter?" 

"Who else bucket head? What.... "

Sam hugs him tightly

"Sam?" 

"You're okay " He hugs him harder as he starts to cry" 

"Sam" Peter hugs him too

They met again

****

"So a field of flowers?" Sam asks with his head on Peter's lap

"If I've been here since you know, you remember everything we lived through" He says playing with his helmet 

"When we met we only argued to see who was the best obviously it was me"

"Although I was the leader, we fought too much but it's our way of saying I love you"

"When you became so cheesy"

"You gave it to me, you are the one who told me my love, spider, honey, baby, sexy spider"

"I understood but you weren't left behind bucket, darling, sweetheart, love of my life, my guardian "

" We were totally in love, mi cielo"

"Yes, but our statement was not the best"

"You took me to an alley and kiss me and you said you love me because you were jealous of Ava"

"And still you accepted "

"A kiss to remember, let's see" Peter begins to think remembering

"When the boys saw us, you remember you were congratulating me and we thought we were alone"

"A kiss natural, it was embarrassing"

"More embarrassing went to tell Aunt May"

"For you it was your aunt for me it was my mother and sister" Peter laughs remembering 

Flash black

"He was so small" Peter says looking at pictures of Sam as a baby bathing where he was totally naked

"Sam too"

"Umh? Oh ... Jajajaja"

"Mom!"

End of Flash black

"Your mom was right you were so young"

"I'm grown up now!" She blushes

"I mean the size, not that!"

"If Sam has already grown" Roll your eyes

"I love you you know Peter"

"I love myself too"

"Parker"

"Just kidding I love you too"

"Not even death will prevent our love" Sam begins to remember something else

"The day that got more power you stayed by my side to support me"

"That is what the boyfriends do, they lean on everything"

"Do you remember that day we had the house alone, without SHIELD or cameras and an evening with a dinner prepared by your server the best in the world , your words are not mine"

"If that day was our first time" Peter says smiling with a silly smile

"How could I forget it I had to tell Fury that a villain had hit you and you couldn't move the part of your butt to downstairs, I'm sure he knew the truth but he didn't say anything since the scratches on my back gave me away"

"That day I had to tell Aunt May that I fell from the stairs, because I couldn't sit up and my hip hurt without mentioning that I had to hide the bites and hickeys" They both laugh 

"Or when you kissed me f I rented the Avengers when I was going with them"

"Until now, their faces make me laugh Black Window had to shut Captain America's mouth before he got a fly"

"When the new warriors arrived and the  web Warriors you were so jealous" 

"Hey! I wasn't jealous"

"Tiger told me"

"Gossip"

"So if you were jealous"

"If I was jealous, happy they just got all the attention and this time you gave the initiative"

"You were going to do it so I preferred to win you, kiss you in front of them Amadeus had to check his armor because he thought there was something wrong with his vision"

"No one would have thought we would end up together" Peter starts patting his head

"No one thought everything was fine if it weren't for Octopus" Sam frowns

"Don't mention it, it's his fault you're here" Sam clenches his fists angrily 

Flash black

"Spiderman why..?" Peter had pushed him

"Spiderman!!!" A tube had pierced him straight into his heart 

"Hey, mats well just don't sleep"

"Nova no .... Now not ... My ... Factor ... Healing will save me"

"Don't talk like that you'll see that everything will be fine" Try to move the tube but listen to Peter's gasps of pain

"Sam ..." Peter extends his hand

"Don't move please" Nova grabs his hand

 "Sam .... You .... I ... Love .... " His hand falls

 End of the Flash black"

"If you had come before" Peter kisses him

"Don't think if I was the idiot when I jumped in without thinking I didn't want to see you die"

"Instead the one who died it was you" Sam gets up and Peter too

"It was my mistake I forgot all my training and I forgot the rules of heroes, Sam can you forgive me?" Peter asks with a sad tone

"Of course, I will spend eternity with you" Peter denies it

"No Sam, it's not your time yet"

"Come on Peter, I'm already with you because I'm leaving" Peter puts one of his hands on his cheek

"They need you there"

"I need you"

"This is not goodbye It's a see you later, please Sam "

"But when I'll see you again" He looks at him sadly

"Nobody knows that, they need you alive you can still save people I'm already dead"

"Okay but if I have another chance to come here I'm sure this time I'll stay" Peter laughs

"Peter I don't know when I'll see you again so" He gets on his knees and takes his hand

"Peter Parker would you marry me right now, imagine I put a ring on you"

"Yes Sam I would marry you"

***

"Don't move"

"It's easy to say it, Sam, but not to do it"

"There is little left and that's it" He had put a wreath of flowers, he also had one

"He also gave him a ring of flowers" Well let's start the flowers are the witnesses" Peter says mockingly Sam Cough falsely to start his ceremony

"I Sam Alexander never believed that I would fall in love with you, the first day I saw you I hated you, but over time my hatred changed to admiration, trust and finally love and I realized that I had chosen to the right person not a girl but a boy, someone I can trust and love"

"I Peter Parker fell in love with you after spending time with you, I gave you my trust and you gave me yours, we take care of our backs and we protect ourselves, you helped me when I needed it when I had no one to help with, you were my first option, I don't regret having done the things I did because that led me to where I am now by your side loving you for all eternity"

"Peter Parker you accept this handsome man and g ouch like your husband in health and illness until death finds us"

" If I accept oh handsome improvised priest"

"And I Sam Alexander agree to marry you in health and illness until death finds us again" He puts the ring of flowers Peter does the same

"By the power that I have been granted, Spider and husband declared us I can kiss the groom" He smiles at him

"Until death finds us again Peter"

"I love you Sam Alexander"

"I love you Peter Parker" They kiss

"See you later, send my regards to the other little bucket" She looks at him sadly

"See you later, spider" Peter puts his helmet on

***

Sam opens his eyes and starts coughing

"Nova you're alive!" Shouts happy Power Man

"How is it possible a few minutes ago you good ...." Flash asks this was impossible

"I can't even be a corpse in peace" He says angrily and sees that he was in the infirmary

He gets up as if he had not died

All the tension that there was minutes ago to think that his comrade had died like his great friend Peter Parker vanished

"Nova you must rest literally you just came back from death" Ava tells him seeing it

"I know I was in heaven"

"That is scientifically impossible "Amadeus says

"Amadeus you just saw him" Miles says pointing with his hands to Nova

"Sam sit down you are not recovered yet"

"Never mind Danny, oh and Peter sends greetings from heaven"

"...."

"I told them that I died but it was not my time yet and they gave me back" Look at his finger

They are surprised, he still had the flower ring

"Until death we meet again "Happy whisper

***

Cemetery

On Peter Parker's tombstone you see a wreath of flowers on his end cross

End

#sam Alexander #Peter Parker #Nova #Spiderman #oneshot #death #sad/happy #Spideynova

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Blessed: A Thor One-Shot

Thor loved being back in the training room with the Avengers. After the Second Snap and the Blip, After Thanos. After getting his life back, it felt better. He felt better. Some of the endless pain and desperate longing lifted off of his chest. 

It also brought new challenges. And Frustrations. For instance, the struggle to get his body back to what it had been. He hated to admit it but part of the reason he had adored Midgard was the adoration of its women. And Men. Now though, there was less of it and that irritated him. Still, he reflected, deflecting the team up move that Steve was doing with Tony, it wasn’t the worst. He didn’t hate his new body. He was still strong. And fast. And... And there was you. You didn’t seem to mind his soft middle. Or have any desire for that to change, as long as he was happy. And healthy. But then, you’d never seemed to notice his body before either.

 And he did, in fact, really like eating. Midgardian food was leaps and bounds away from Asgard. Ever evolving. So many flavors and textures. He loved being able to sample them all.

Thor had never really known what to make of you. Not even before the snap. He admired you greatly. A Fierce warrior with a surprisingly tender heart, though, he hadn’t been meant to see that part. No one had. Thor could see that night in the back of his mind as he wandered towards the shower. It was snowing outside but that didn’t mean he wasn’t coated in sweat. And all he wanted was out of his armor and into his clean clothes. The warm water reminded him of that night, you’d found him in the shower. 

He’d been hurt on a mission. Hurt and he was angry about it. Frustrated at the foolish pride that made him ignore orders. He’d charged headlong into battle and left his comrades vulnerable and scrambling for cover. Steve had been furious and that fury had been well deserved. Thor had studied the gaping wound in his side with detached interest. It would heal. He had no real need of the medical bay he knew. Only if he wanted it to heal without a scar. But this one would be a lesson. A reminder to follow orders. He hadn’t heard you behind him. Going to your locker for something from your kit. This hadn’t been your mission. You had still been healing from the last one. One where you’d put yourself in harm’s way to protect some terrified civilians. 

“Thor!” You’d gasped, startled.

“Lady, Y/N,” he said curtly, wiping the blood off this side. “I see you’re recovering well.”

Your cheeks had heated and you looked away. As if he had rebuked you. As if you were ashamed you hadn’t been alongside all of them. He didn’t like that. You were a good fighter. There was no shame in being too injured to fight again. “I’m sorry,” he said, hissing as the corner of the towel brushed his wound. It stung. 

You’re at his side in an instant. Unphased by his nakedness which somehow makes him feel more exposed. “May I?” you ask quietly. Thor doesn’t know why but he nods. He finds your presence oddly settling. The way his mother’s had been. “Lie down,” you instruct, “This doesn’t look bad but the creature’s venom seems to be slowing down your healing factor. You’ll bleed to death if I don’t at least put some stitches in.”

Thor complies, feeling his cheeks color. He hadn’t even realized and your keen eye had seen it in an instant. He should have known. You work quickly. Efficiently. A row of neat stitches into his side like it was nothing and he hardly felt it. He was too distracted by the freckles that dot your nose and cheeks. The way your lashes brush your cheeks when you blink.  When you finish and help him sit up slowly he wants to kiss you but you’re too busy cleaning up the kit. Carefully wiping up the blood and stripping off your gloves, “You should be fine in a couple days,” you tell him, “But I’d go to medical to get them taken out.”

“Thank you, My lady,” he said, claiming your hand. “What brought you down to bring my rescue?” he asked.

“I needed my coat,” you say, not looking at him.

“Ah, you go to meet a paramour,” he teases, “one your mentor Barton doesn’t approve of.”

“No,” you snort, “Nothing that interesting.”

“For what then?”

“I have Christmas presents to deliver,” you tell him simply. 

“It’s the dead of night.”

“All the better to be unseen then. Everyone should be asleep,” You smile and mischief, a childlike sweetness glows in your eyes for a moment. Infectious and warm. He can’t help but smile back, “This is a secret then?”

You wink and shrug into your coat, bundling your hair under your hat simply. “Then it will stay that way,” he chuckles, “Your secret is safe with me.”

He watched you go. Smiling to himself. He didn’t know how many gifts you had to deliver. Or where. But he knew that all over, there was going to be a little bit of magic where there hadn’t been before and the thought warmed him. Christmas brought out the best in some Midgardians. This time of year always had. The darkness drew them closer together. It opened their hearts almost as if to protect them from the horrors of the long nights. Even now. Even now that they didn’t huddle around central fires and make merry in defiance of their shivering. 

Even today, years later, as Thor stripped off his armor, he wondered. He wondered if you had gifts to give tonight. If anyone had gifts to give you. 

Thor couldn’t get a fix on you. Your face was unchanged but, like so many who had lost five years, time seemed sort of, meaningless. There was nothing of that childlike glee in your face and it stung in a way he couldn’t quite define. Like some fundamental piece of you. A piece of you no one even knew to miss, was gone. 

“FRIDAY,” he called, “Could you call a meeting for me? Excluding the lady Y/N?”

“Certainly, Sir,” she chirped, “What message shall I give the others?”

“That we have a friend in need of assistance.”

_____________

“So,” Stark said sipping coffee, “You’re saying you want us to buy and deliver literally hundreds of thousands of gifts and deliver them to poor kids all over the city?”

“Yes,” Thor said.

“And you want us to not say one word to Y/N until we’re doing it?” Steve asked.

“Yes,” he said again.

“Thor,” Natasha cautioned, “This could end really badly. Y/N didn’t really. I mean. It wasn’t a public thing. She did it in someone’s memory. Not as a public spectacle... She’d take lists from shelters and stuff. People whose requests no one took and fill as many of them as she could then drop the stuff off Christmas Eve... It was like. A months-long process getting enough money to do all of it and then hustling to get it all bought.”

Thor frowned and nodded, “Then what do we do?” he asked. 

Natasha and Bruce traded looks, “Tony,” Bruce said, “How many shelter’s lists can you get hold of?”

“All of them,” Tony snorted, “Most of them are online.”

“How many did Y/N Usually do?” Bruce asked Natasha.

Natasha sighed, “As many as she could. Usually Seven or Eight. Wherever she could find where her old Clients were, you know? Her people from legal aid. She always felt bad she couldn’t do both jobs.”

“Legal Aid?” Thor asked.

Barton nodded, “It was her other life, you know? Before she was a science experiment she was a bright little legal eagle helping get people out of shitty leases and going after bad bosses. Then the accident happened and. Well. SHIELD sent me out to go get her.”

Thor nodded, “Does anyone know why she does this?”

Natasha smiled a little, “Her Grandma,” she said, “Every year on Christmas Eve they did volunteer work.”

“Can we find the woman?”

The spy shook her head, “She’s been dead 10 years now,” she said, “Died before Y/N finished law school.”

“Why is this so important?” Bruce asked gently, mindful that Thor is getting upset. That he doesn’t understand that you might not want help. 

“She is sad,” he stated simply. You had always been hard for Thor to get a fix on. Friendly but uninterested in him. He’d only gotten one small glimpse into who you were beyond your Avenging. And it made him feel like he knew you.

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, “Look, Point Break,” he said, “You’re heart’s in the right place. Really. It is but-”

“But?” he pressed, folding his arms.

“What if she doesn’t want to be your elf while you play Santa?” Rhodey snorted.

“Wait-” Barton said holding up a hand, “Tony, how many of her old clients are still nearby?”

“Why?” He asked.

“Because what if we throw a Christmas Party?”

“Bring clients here?” Tony asked.

“Whoever we can find,” Clint said nodding. 

“You do like a Party,” Pepper pointed out, nudging his arm. 

“Alright!” Tony said throwing up his hands, “We’ll do it. But only because It’s two days before Christmas and Y/N has yet to bake one single cookie. And that’s just depressing.”

Thor beamed, “Excellent, now how do we keep her from finding out?”

Natasha and Steve exchanged a look and Natasha hopped off the table easily, “Pepper, Girl’s day?”

“Yes!” she gasped, “Perfect. There’s never been a bought of seasonal depression some retail therapy can’t cure.”

_____________

Thor was giddy. Actually honest to goodness Giddy with excitement. It had been a long time since he felt that way. He’d been a boy. A young boy. Back when Odin still had both eyes. Before they’d gone to Midgard the first time. 

He’d been racing through the columns, chasing Loki with Fandral and Volstag on his heels. Loki had stolen his toy sword and he wanted it back. They were all laughing. Breathless with childish joy. Until. Until they weren’t. Until Odin had thundered at them to stop and ordered them taken away. Called them fools and declared them too old to act like hellions. After that there had been no more play. Only training. Only study. 

This. This felt like that. It was exhilarating, knowing what was coming. Knowing that in all corners of the tower, for the first time in 5 years, a proper party was going to be thrown. His old friends and many new ones in one place. The chance to maybe, hopefully, give you back some of the magic you had made for others. It makes him feel light. And the more he sees you, the more he feels like he’s doing the right thing. 

You don’t look like yourself. Not like the self he remembers. You’re quiet and withdrawn. Sad. Still nice to everyone, just. Sad. There is not Christmas tree up in your room. You aren’t singing Christmas Songs at the top of your lungs with Banner or Tony. It’s like you’re completely removed from the time of year. He hasn’t even seen you using your “Don’t Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle” mug. He’s not really sure what tinsel is. Or why it shouldn’t be tangled but, gods if it wasn’t weird. Having you back and not being carried along on a tide of Christmas Cheer starting the day after Thanksgiving. 

That he doesn’t like. So, as he stands outside your door, fidgeting and holding a plate of cookies, he hopes this helps. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and he desperately wants to try and lift you out of your funk. That moment of kindness years ago still seared into his mind. The scar left on his side, paler now and stretched out with the changes in his flesh, a souvenir. A momento. Something that, over the years, he wore as a badge. A reminder of how much he’d grown.

When the door opened, you leaned heavily on the door frame and rubbed your eyes. “Are we suiting up?” you ask confused, rubbing your eyes with a too-long sweater sleeve.

“I- no I thought you might be hungry. I hadn’t seen you all day,” he says uncertainly.

You smile a little, “Do you want to share them with me?” 

Thor blinks at you for a second. The messy hair. The sleepy eyes. The sweater that fell to your mid-thigh and the soft bare legs underneath. It looks so inviting. He nods, swallowing hard for a moment and following you as you stepped back. 

Your room was dark but for the glow of your television and a candle on the coffee table. He knew what wallowing looked like. Seeking whatever felt comfortable. Whatever numbed the pain. He watched you climb back into your nest and snuggle into a soft white faux fur blanket. Rabbit fur, he figured it was supposed to be. It looked silk soft.

Thor set the plate on the coffee table and went to your little coffee bar, helping himself to making cocoa to go with the cookies. Warmth, he decided. You needed warmth. Comfort from another person. A real person.

He watched you flip through things to watch impassively and his heart twisted. It was Christmas films. Things you’d shown to him his first Christmas on Midgard. Kindly explaining things to him when he didn’t understand. He liked the Santa creature. And the Reindeer. He liked the songs. Men finding redemption through a simple act of giving. Love lighting the way. It was comfortable if a bit dull. “What about the Elf movie?” he asks.

“Sure,” you murmur, flipping the program on easily. Thor smiles and hands you one mug and sits carefully on the sofa. “Thank you,” you murmur.

Thor felt his cheeks color. Your voice was so genuine and soft. “You’re welcome, Lady Y/N,” he hummed, satisfied. The movie plays quietly and Thor gently hands you a cookie, “Are you cold, my lady?” he asks when you shiver slightly. 

“Pretty much constantly,” you answer snorting. 

“Well,” he hums, “I may not be much to look at anymore but I am, I’m told, very warm.” He grins at you and it’s satisfying when your eyes lighten just a little and you bite your lip to keep from smiling. “Come on,” he presses gently, still teasing you gently, “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

That makes you smile and you snuggle close tentatively, resting against his side with a sigh. “Thor?” you murmur after a long moment.

“Hmm?” he answers, afraid to move too much. Your cheek is resting on his belly and he’s comfortable with it. He likes knowing you’re there and cozy.

“What’s all this about?” you ask softly.

“I missed Christmas when you were gone,” he admitted, “And I miss Christmas with you now. I don’t like knowing it isn’t the same for you.”

You look up at him and he brushes hair out of your eyes gently, “I’ll be okay,” you tell him, “I mean. I’m alive. I’ve got nothing to complain about.”

Thor smiled a little, “But up here,” he said, tapping your forehead gently, “Might think that while your heart is broken. It’s okay. You can feel sad. And I’ll sit with you for a while.”

“You don’t mind?” you ask, snuggling close again.

“A beautiful woman, cookies, and some hot drinks? Gods no. That sounds like a nice way to spend a day.”

Thor isn’t lying. He’s pretty sure this might be heaven. It’s nice, holding someone. It’s nice when you doze off against him. He wraps you gently in you furry blanket and shifts you onto his lap, letting your head rest on his heart. He just lets you sleep and lets movies play. This is less about making you feel like celebrating, he realizes, and more about. About something else. About finding solace of his own. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed you. Until you were back and just. Not the same. Until you weren’t a puzzle to him anymore. Someone for him to flirt with and tell jokes to. Someone he loved flirting with precisely because you had no real attraction to him. You were a puzzle. And now? Now you weren’t. Not long ago, he would have gotten bored. It wouldn’t have been fun to watch you sleep. He’d have pressed buttons until you fell into his arms and begged him to fuck you until you were a mess of trembling limbs and bodily fluids. And there may come a day where he’ll be blessed with the opportunity to do that for you. But now? Now he wants you to rest. He knows what it feels like to be dragged down by the weight of a warzone in your mind. How it feels to FEEL so unworthy that you can’t bring yourself to do anything but lie there and rot. Because you deserve it. You deserve this suffering.

When you stir, nuzzling his chest and making some of the cutest sleepy confused sounds Thor had ever heard, He chuckles. “You snore, you know,” he hums affectionately.

“I’m sorry,” you murmur, cheeks heating.

“It’s cute,” he reassures you, chucking you under the chin, “How do you feel?” 

“A little better,” you concede, “I forgot how nice it is to have someone to cuddle.”

Thor tilts your chin up gently and brushes his thumb gently against your cheekbone, “I’m happy to be of service,” he breathed, feathering a soft kiss against your forehead. Careful not to press for too much and mindful that you are, in fact, a lady in truest fashion. Your affections are not given, they are earned. 

“I like you better when you’re not being an asshole,” you tell him, wrapping your arms around him.

“Was I?” he asked, slightly surprised.

“Yeah,” you sigh, “Always so loud. And kinda mean to me.”

“Mean to you?” he frowned, He didn’t like that. He didn’t like to think he’d ever been mean to you. Even not meaning to.

“You laughed at me a lot,” you murmur, face heating. 

“I thought you were funny,” he said, tucking a lock of your hair behind your ear.

“But I wasn’t kidding.”

He chuckled and sighed, “And that, dearheart,” he says, “Is why you’re funny. Hearing you yell ‘Jesus suffering fuck, Stark,’ over comms made me laugh so hard one day that I very nearly fell right out of the sky. I didn’t expect such things to come out of a mouth that sweet.”

You snort, “Clearly you weren’t paying attention.”

“Oh but I was,” he hums, shifting you over slightly to straddle his hips and resting his hands on your lower back. “Especially after the night, you patched me up.” He doesn’t move his hands to ride up your sweater or seek the silk of your skin. He can feel you heating under his hands and he doesn’t want to push. He just wants you closer to him and he likes having women straddling his lap. Even with his belly in the way, he decides as you snuggle close and lean against him. “Such gentle hands,” he praised, taking them in his gently, “So soft. And so skilled. You’re blessed, dearheart, and we’re blessed to have you.”

When you tear up, and he pulls you gently closer, he holds you tightly, “Shh,” he soothes, “Please no tears, my lady. I mean that sincerely. And I want you to know that your mind is lying to you. Come to the Party with me tomorrow?”

“I don’t know Thor,” you murmur.

“Please?” he pleaded uncertainly, “You don’t have to stay all night. If you get tired we’ll leave. We’ll come back up here and I’ll tuck you into a mountain of soft furry blankets.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

__________________

Thor decides as he watches you sip a glass of champagne and try to stay out of sight that he likes you in red. Your red sweater, bought by Natasha, is soft and looks warm. It suits you. 

Clint catches his eye and jerks his head towards the main room, prompting him to herd you in. Thor, over your quiet protests, sweeps you into the other room, excited, he said, to show you the tree that he helped pick out. It doesn’t take long though, for your surprise to be unveiled. 

Kids, and their parents. People who grieved you. People who knew you as a friend. People you had grieved yourself, were waiting for you. And in that moment, together, as they hug you and everyone is having trouble fighting back tears, one of your kids, now almost grown takes up a song.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light From now on your troubles will be out of sight.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas Make the Yuletide gay From now on your troubles will be miles away.

One by one, voices join that one child until everyone is singing the words back at you. It fills the air in ways that Thor has never heard before and won’t hear since. It’s a thank you. It is a welcome home. It is an I love you all in one. 

Here we are as in olden days Happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are dear to us Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together If the fates allow Hang a shining star upon the highest bough

So have yourself a merry little Christmas Have yourself a merry little Christmas So have yourself a merry little Christmas

Thor doesn’t know the song, but it doesn’t matter. As he watches the tears fall down your cheeks, all he knows is that this might have been what you needed. It might have been the reminder you needed that the things you did had mattered. That you had fought. And died. And people had noticed.

He pulls you gently into his side and uses his sleeve to wipe the tears off your cheeks tenderly. “Merry Christmas, my Lady,” he rumbles, kissing your forehead. 

“Merry Christmas, Thor,” you murmur, cheeks heating as you wrap your arms around him.

Tags: @lancsnerd @etherealwaifgoddess @blameitonthecauseway @thorfanficwriter @stevieang

#Thor Odinson #Thor x reader #thicc thor #fluff #angst if you squint #hurt/comfort #Christmas #christmas party

[ghostmartyr]

SnK 124 Thoughts

Have some faith, Reiner.

As if we’d ever forget Han Solo.

The only nice thing about what’s happening now is that it’s forced the right priorities on people. Despite Eren saying, way back in Trost, that people all uniting to face one enemy is too rosy an idea to have a place in reality, for this one island, in these final, traumatic moments, no one wants all these people to die.

With various faces painted on it, most of our main cast on either side has always been focused on one thing: survival. Now Eren rejects that entire concept for the protection of one group. In the barest of bones, that is what every single villain of this manga has always done. Of course the only option is to reject him.

And of course Gabi, who has always been compared to Eren, who has had the most traumatic series of experiences of her young life, stands up and starts fighting.

(One in shadows, one in light. Winning all the high school book reports here.)

This is the best of Eren, in a child who has been ruined by this world just as thoroughly. Gabi will bring back her friends.

Eren chases after slavers to save a girl he doesn’t know.

Gabi runs into streets full of monsters and saves someone who hates her.

I’ve always enjoyed Eren as a protagonist (his dip into antagonist, not so much). In Trost, he takes on the burden of being a symbol of humanity’s hope, but I’ve always felt that his true symbolic nature is that he’s the one who lays claim to humanity’s outrage.

There are things in this world that are simply wrong. Righteous fury without limits is a satisfying reaction to that, and at the start of the manga, it’s something that all of Paradis has basically lost. They’ve grown complacent with their lot in life. Even when the titans invade, they don’t dream beyond reclaiming the territory that they’ve always known.

Eren’s status as a rage monster is very much a meme, and he’s very much more than that, but it has always been fitting that the main character is a bonfire that lights the sparks of the rest of the cast. Eren inspires motion. Before he has any touch of competence and plot magic, he talks and his comrades find themselves listening.

Gabi takes up that torch here.

Reiner is done (again. sorry, Reiner). The world is probably done. Gabi has spent this whole arc being some kind of done.

Gabi gets up, and goes to look for her friend. Falco follows her onto an airship; she follows him into hell.

Gabi gets up, and protects the girl who wants her dead. She faces down a titan with a weapon not meant for the job, and she wins.

Just like the young woman she murdered.

Sasha joins the Survey Corps after Trost. She comes face to face with a titan, and she falters. She fails to kill it, and it comes after her, and she’s scared. She wants to leave. She considers leaving.

Dot Pixis’ speech reignites her will.

Sasha stays, and a month later she saves her little sister.

Her little sister protects a pair of enemy child soldiers.

One of those child soldiers saves her life.

Paradis begins without a spark. Even the people who are signing up to be soldiers are mostly doing it so they won’t be seen as cowards, or so they can go further into the walls as Military Police. People who want to go outside and kill the titans are nuts. The Survey Corps is nuts. They’re a waste of taxes, and anyone who wants to join them is a suicidal idiot.

Enter Eren. Enter enough fury and impact that the fire can’t be contained in one person, and the sparks start spreading. The people who have been left to tend their own fires for years are given kindling. The people who don’t know what it’s like to not be freezing cold are given a taste of warmth.

For a series that begins in stagnation, a protagonist devoted to movement is going to inspire the most change.

Then he decides to commit genocide and ruin everything, but hey, look at how much that’s inspiring people to get along!

Eren, you’re a fucking disaster.

Niccolo basically hands us the series’ thesis on a silver platter, so I’ll refrain from trying to fit his quotes into anything resembling a paragraph.

Niccolo is not Eldian.

Eldians are the one with the ability to literally transform into monsters. A physical manifestation of the horrors all humans are capable of if you take away their reason. That’s why the world calls them devils. They’re all a bunch of ticking time bombs just waiting to go off; why wouldn’t the world condemn, hate, and fear that?

Those ticking time bombs always take at least one more person willing to start the timer for them.

In the current era, Marley has been the force happily strapping bombs to children’s chests.

Niccolo hits on the truest point. From someone who is not Eldian, who cannot physically manifest the horrors all around them that could not exist without certain genetics--

Niccolo has a devil inside of him, too. He’s given in to it. He has been a monster, so lost in his despair that he’s willing to kill children.

The true enemy of this world is not titans. It’s falling prey to the demons every human carries inside. That is the universal human experience, and everywhere people fall in that fight, evil follows.

Titans exist because a man rapes a slave and has her children eat her.

That evil is a fault of human nature, not blood.

Niccolo and Gabi have been the monsters.

Unlike most titans, they have the option of coming back. They’ve had the fortune to live long enough that they can come back. Hell, it might be because she hits the bargaining phase, but even this chapter Gabi goes from suggesting killing Eren to talking to him and using his power for something actually useful.

-pats Gabi on the head-

Not bad, kiddo.

To the left, we have Jean and Connie.

Hell.

Connie’s simplest (as well as the most exciting, because he’s running off to Wall Rose territory with Falco, who has Ymir’s memories), and rather devastating. For four years, his mother has been a titan. Unable to move. She’s his only remaining family. Everyone else in his village, Connie spent their last night alive praying that they would die. He’s one of the three people left who remember Utgard.

Being trapped on a tower in the middle of the night, being hunted for sport by people he’s known all his life.

On Zeke’s command.

The man Paradis is forced to consider an ally. The man Connie is not allowed to touch. The man who is still, years later, turning people into titans. The man one of his closest friends ostensibly betrays them for.

After all that, his friends have someone who can save his mom, and they try to tell him no. Because that might hurt the feelings of their enemies. People like Reiner, for instance. The guy Connie still cries for in Return to Shiganshina.

Don’t worry about your mother, Connie. Worry about the feelings of everyone else.

Also Sasha is dead and this kid’s bestie pulled the trigger.

But seriously Connie, chill.

[chill not found]

Connie has, frankly, done a fantastic job holding everything together. The fact that he’s only snapping now speaks greatly to his character, and leaves me not too concerned about Falco. Connie ranks as one of the lowest on who’s left of people who would be willing to kill a child. Even if it’s for his mother, if Falco’s awake, I don’t think Connie can do it.

...If he can, the manga will have actually found a way to get even darker, which, if we’re being honest, I sort of thought we were beyond at this point, so flip a coin I guess.

Jean likewise has some of my favorite material in this chapter. He’s grown into a far better commander than he was at Trost, and having the terrain duplicated so well only emphasizes it.

But as ever, the true entertainment comes from Marco.

Who is also dead.

Yes, still.

“You’re not a strong person... so you can really understand how weak people feel.”

Jean is not wrong that destroying the rest of the world sort of fixes Paradis’ main problems. The issue is that it’s horrifically immoral, not that it wouldn’t be effective (until a civil war breaks out).

Because everyone spent all their time hating them, their only protection was murdering them all. And it’s all on one person’s decisions. They’re hardly involved, aren’t they? If they sit back and do nothing, it’s just karma, right? What could they possibly do at this point?

“But you’re also good at recognizing what’s going on at any given moment. You know exactly what needs to be done. I mean... most humans are weak, including me... But if I got an order from someone who saw things like I do... no matter how tough it was, I’d do my damnedest to carry it out.”

Jean’s right. They do reap the benefits of this horrible choice. No more complicated politics. Just a blank slate to do better on. Everyone on Paradis gets to live. Without putting too fine a point on it, that’s an argument we’re probably all familiar with, and here a character is, pointing it all out.

This fixes all their problems. Good, right?

No.

Because standing back and doing nothing while genocide is committed is fucking wrong.

That’s a question this series has grappled with from the beginning; which is more important, survival or doing what’s right?

In the start, we have a protagonist who is fully comfortable throwing his own life away in the name of doing what’s right. At the moment, he’s giving every appearance of being fully comfortable throwing away everyone else’s life in the name of keeping the people he cares about alive.

This chapter, we have Connie arguing for his mom’s life over someone more politically relevant’s.

Bringing back another fandom favorite, Serum Bowl pretty much locks these arguments in a cage and pokes them gently with an assault rifle.

Survival says Erwin. Armin doesn’t matter, except to Eren and Mikasa. Erwin matters to Levi in a way he doesn’t to them. What’s right falls to the floor except to be brandished like a machete against the other side’s wants. Hange has to swoop in and pick it up, and by then Floch’s involved and clubbing everyone over the head with his newfound fanaticism.

Once it’s gotten to that point, humanity’s continued survival still says Erwin.

It’s still saving a man’s life.

A man who will die without this intervention.

For the reason of bringing him back to life to suffer in everyone’s place.

It’s pragmatic, and it truly is best for humanity’s survival beyond the walls.

It is also deeply unkind.

Send these thousands of people to their deaths so  the rest can live. Eat each other. Die, die, and die until someone can live. Anything that promotes survival is, in fact, the right choice.

In the Female Titan arc, when Armin and Jean are watching the full extent of Erwin’s plan in front of their eyes, Armin says that Erwin might very well be evil for it, but given where they are, that’s a good thing. That someone strong enough to be that measured with their few remaining lives is in control--even if he’s committing a moral evil, he’s protecting something more important.

It is the preliminary version of Floch’s eventual conclusion.

They need a devil to ensure their survival.

Levi ultimately rejects that.

He doesn’t bring a man back to life so that he can bear their burdens.

It’s one of the smaller goods of the series. After a life of suffering through what is necessary, Levi chooses to release Erwin from it, even though he’s still tactically essential. Again and again people have discussed how much it would help if one more strategist was out Paradis’ table in these times. Levi’s decision is what prevents the most experienced from taking a seat.

Levi picks to be kind over making the choice that more properly secures survival.

Because the survival of what? More choices leading down the exact same road? The endless cycle of sacrifice that’s turned human bodies into resources instead of recognizing them as people?

Titanization at its core?

In the Serum Bowl, Levi doesn’t choose who he wants to survive. He chooses what. He chooses to recognize a man as human instead of a commodity. Something the two brats screaming at him couldn’t let go of. Something he couldn’t let go of.

Do you want to survive, or create a world worth surviving in?

Eren’s actions will destroy the world beyond the walls he always wanted to see. Indiscriminately. Some of it deserves destruction and worse. The parts that don’t will be swept away all the same.

This plan creates the world the First King told them they all lived in; there is Paradis, and nothing beyond it. The rest of humanity is dead.

Thanks to forfeiting all humanity.

And I guess if anyone on the island has a problem with it, kill them too. Also anyone who encourages anyone to have a problem with it. Just set up your secret task force, give the names, and keep those named living in terror for a century until one of them becoming a serial killer in response seems perfectly reasonable.

For those in need of the reminder, Karl is a douche.

Karl thought genocide was such a bad thing that he committed genocide over it, but it’s okay because his genocide was smaller.

Eren thinks genocide is such a bad thing he’s set up to commit genocide over it, but it’s okay because his genocide is going to be so big it’s going to end all genocides. Until Floch remembers he has a gun, probably. Which seems to be always. In which case this genocide will lead to a series of smaller genocides, eventually leading to not enough people being alive for genocide to be committed.

Curing the world of genocide once and for all.

Yay.

.

What I’m saying is that genocide is bad.

Full stop.

Genocide is bad.

-draws underlines-

-draws angry grrr face-

Bad.

Perhaps maybe these people should stop doing it.

For all the moral reasons, sure, but since we’re clearly beyond that point, maybe someone could just quietly suggest with the force of the world ending that maybe imitating the exact behavior that led to literally all of our cast’s problems is not the best move.

Also, Floch shouldn’t get to point a gun at Yelena’s head. Only Yelena gets to hold guns to people’s heads. She makes it cool. Floch makes everyone wonder why Floch still hasn’t died, only to remember that ah, yes, of course people like Floch don’t die.

BUT HEY, AT LEAST THEY KILLED ALL THE TITANS THAT USED TO BE THEIR COMMANDING OFFICERS. I’M SURE THAT’S NOT RELATED TO FLOCH’S GOOD MOOD AT ALL.

You know, it’s not that things are continuing to get worse. They are simply following the roadmap of horror we were handed in the brochure for this arc. None of this is new, it’s just now in play. So it’s not getting worse, it always was worse.

...Yelena, just take the gun and shoot Floch before you die. I feel like that’s the fastest path to something good happening.

Let’s see... points to all our kidlets being a dominant force against titans now. Them Trost Redux feels. Points to Jean realizing that Eren has power of friendshipped himself into villain status (allegedly). Points to Armin remembering how Pixis gave the humans of Paradis their first victory. Points to all of Sasha’s family because I like them.

Then that’s the chapter.

HOW YOU FEELING, ANNIE FANS?

#Shingeki no Kyojin #SnK 124 #Gabi Braun #Connie Springer #shingeki no spoilers #SnK spoilers #spoilers #tl;dr #chapter post

[krinsbez]

GI Joe: Remixed, Viper Leaders 1

More OCs by Night_stalker, in this case, the bosses of various Viper cadres

(It was very fun trying to make it fit when we found out one of the Viper-types already HAS a boss)

TELE-VIPER LEADER:

Name: Kyu-Hwang, along with many usernames online. Codename: Gwisin DoB: Unknown Former Affiliation: Bureau 121 Orientation: Het Bio: Little is known about Kyu's past, but given his past affiliation, one can make some guesses. The fact that he also has a fondness for snapping to attention whenever a superiro comes by, and is a bit rickety makes one suspect North Korea was involved in some way. That said, he's not your sterotypical nerd. Suave, charismatic, ruthless, bit paranoid.... Kyu is one part hacker, one part cat manager, as having to run a department of IT personnel in a terrorist organization does tend to turn off the actually qualified people from turning up in person. Hobbies: Movie pirating, Coffee roasting, Cooking, and Tai Chi.

LASER-VIPER LEADER:

Name: Adrian Townes Codename: Rytov DoB: April 28th, 1965 Former Affiliation: US Army Corps of Engineers ERADC Orientation- Homosexual Bio: Born into a family that had lasers in their blood, Townes was fascinated by them. In fact, he could say he was all but in love with them. Getting appointed to the Army Corps of Engineers was his dream, where he started looking at the applications of lasers on a smaller scale then his comrades. While they tinkered with making lasers able to shoot down Ivan's ICBMs, he looked at fitting them inside tanks, if not smaller. However, finding funding for laser armed tanks and such, even in the 80s was difficult, to say the least.  Matters were not helped considering that while he was incredibly gifted when it came to developing lasers, he was less then skilled at interacting with others, or with what he termed "Petty minded bureaucrats seeking only to further their own power". When the 90s came around, he found himself out of a job, the laser projects all being put into cold storage. Faced with the prospect of his life's work being left to rot in some musty filing cabinet, Adrian started making the rounds of the Pentagon's higher ups, as well as the GAO. His arguments, while very technically impressive and certainly promising quite a lot of things, well, were considerably out of touch with fiscal reality, as well as the political realities. Left fuming in a dead end post, mostly being spent watching over the laser projects in cold storage, Townes heard of Cobra's announcements, and decided this was the means to affect revenge, while also finally vindicating himself. The fact that, as an added bonus, he could likely turn his weapons against his hated rivals in the Pentagon was, in his mind, icing on the cake. Hobbies: DiY Electronics, 3D Printing, Caligraphy, and Kombucha brewing.

RANGE-VIPER LEADER:

Name: Venus Callahan Codename: Ishtar DoB: Asking a Lady her age isn't polite. Much less a ex SF Lady with more guns then employees. Former Affiliation: Canadian Airborne Regiment Orientation: Hetero Bio: Venus had a relatively normal life in Canada. Growing up in the frozen wilderness, Venus learned how to clean a rabbit before she could walk, and viewed icy temperatures as "Bit nippy". Shockingly to literally nobody, she signed up to be a officer in the Canadian Army, where she rose up the ranks due to her jocular personality, as well as being able to set a personal example for many of the men to live up to. That said, she was given one of the tougher assignments in the army, namely, the famous, or depending on who you asked, infamous, Canadian Airborne Regiment. Unfortunately for her, she was assigned to it barely before the infamous Somali Affair occurred, which meant that when the resulting inquriy occured, she was one of the victims. Naturally, being the most junior officer present who could be held accountable, she was thrown under the bus as much as possible. Being "suggested" that she resign in order to avoid a lengthy court martial that would probably lead to a lot of unsavory details being outed, well, it doesn't inspire loyalty in one towards their government. Holding a grudge against the government and establishment that had tossed her aside so easily, Venus signed up with Sandline International. When that was shut down in the early 2000s, she signed up with MARS Industries, but didn't quite fit in. Her once jocular personality had turned acidic over the years, and while her skills hadn't degraded any, well..... There were certain topics one didn't bring up around her. Or in earshot. Or someplace gossip might reach her about it. So when Cobra started headhunting, HR for MARS pitched her over so fast it was a miracle she even realized what was happening. That said, she seemed to fit in like she'd been born for the role. Her skills, combined with a refusal to take shit from literally anyone, and backing up that stance with the threat of stranding them in the middle of the Arctic, buck naked, well, it got results. Hobbies: Archery, Stamp Collecting, Gardening, Latin Dancing, Trainspotting, and Hunting. 

SNOW SERPENT LEADER

Name: Otto Koskinen Codename: Wendigo DoB: November 11, 1975 Former Affiliation: UTJR Orientation: Bisexual Bio: Formerly a Finnish sniping instructor, Otto ended up leaving the army under circumstances he's refused to reveal. That said, people suspect it's tied to his fondness for eating almost anything, and a shrink's diagnosis of him basically being a sociopath with some severe mental hangups. Shockingly, he seems to get along well with the Snow Serpents, which has helped make him the leader of those frosty psychopaths. Hobbies: Skiing, Trail Skating, Ballroom Dancing, Model Trains (N Scale), and Sewing.

EEL LEADER:

Name: Ro Yun-Soo Codename: Selkie DoB: November 18th, 1984 Former Affiliation: Republic of Korea Navy Special Warfare Flotilla Orientation: Asexual, formerly heterosexual Bio: Ro grew up in a small fishing village on Baengnyeongdo Island, the only child of a fisherman and his wife. A few years into her young life, her mother died from a North Korean artillery barrage, leading her father to bring her along on his fishing vessel to keep her safe. There, she grew to love the ocean, and hate North Korea with a passion. These passions led her to join the Navy, where she excelled in diving and swimming, leading to her transfer to the Special Warfare Flotilla. She had a promising career ahead of her, even had a fiance who was an RoK Marine assigned to the Flotilla as a liason. Then it all fell apart in a manner of weeks. Her fiance was struck and killed by a drunk driver, at first. Then she was discharged from the Navy due to what she has described only as "office politics". The final straw was her father dying in yet another North Korean artillery barrage, just a week after her discharge from the Navy. Furious at the world, and the Norks most of all, she joined Cobra, where her talents had her assigned to the Hydro-Viper program. Hobbies: Rowing, Wrestling, Chess, Starcraft, and Fishkeeping.

MORAY LEADER:

Name: Secondina Vespa Codename: Lemure DoB: December 12th, 1982 Former Affiliation: COMSUBIN Operational Raider Group Orientation: Bisexual Bio: Growing up in Sicily, Vespa learned to take crap from nobody, and that above all else, family came first. Unfortunately for her, this proved to be a dangerous combo when, years into her naval career, her brother was revealed to be a member of the infamous Motsi Mafia Clan. This naturally sank her career faster then a crash diving submarine, but thanks to her brother's career, some doors were opened up for her. Turns out the Mafia saw some benefit in a diver who was combat trained and would have no qualms helping to smuggle cargo or loot shipwrecks. Though after awhile, her brother vanished. Well, to be fair, depending on who you asked, he said he was going off to the cafe with some friends, and would be right back, or said something like "I gotta get out of town, they're after me man". Shockingly, without a brother who was a Capo, people who are openly bisexual don't tend to last long in the Mafia. That said, she wasn't stupid enough to be unprepared this time around, and on her way to the local airport, swung by the local Carabinieri ROS office to drop off a thick file of evidence for their perusal. Her bridges by now more then thoroughly torched, she fled to the Florida Keys, doing mercenary diving work for local OC. This came to the attention of a Cobra headhunter, who also saw that she had no quarrels with body alteration, or at least didn't totally read that employment contract well enough, and she was slated for the Moray program in no time at all. Hobbies: Wine tasting, Audiophile, Magnet Fishing, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

HYDRO-VIPER Leader:

Name: Brad Thor Codename: Leviathan DoB: August 21, 1969 Former Affiliation: USMC Force Recon Orientation: Het, married to a Nitro-Viper. Bio: Once a Marine Force Recon captain, Thor ran into hard financial times. Desperate to earn money to pay off some debts, he made a deal with Destro. Unfortunately, Destro didn't show, but rather a NCIS team, who arrested him. While enroute to his new prison, he reached out to Cobra, and requested a job. This was granted, and before long, he was assigned into the Hydro-Viper program. Of course, he requested it on the grounds of it being the one he was least likely to interact with Destro with, and also suited his talents the best. As luck would have it, he even met his future wife while in the basic Viper program's bootcamp. Of course, she was a Nitro-Viper, so it turned out great for all involved. His loyalty was cemented, and she got a loving husband to help get her over the last husband's untimely demise at the hands of faulty Destro merchandise. Hobbies: Fantasy Basketball, Glass Sculpting, Poetry, and Drama.

#GI Joe #GI Joe: Remixed

[yeet-or-be-hawed]

Hunters of Flesh and Money: Part 3

Trelawny has another job for you, but this job comes with a familiar comrade. 

Arthur Morgan x Reader

“Shit,” You sighed as you dropped the corpse back down to the ground. Nine cents was all the poor bastard had. With a wipe of the brow you lifted the body and threw it into Flat Iron Lake, it will wash ashore in a couple of days but by then it would be impossible to track down the culprit. If there was one constant in your work it was your thoroughness.

With a sharp whistle, Garbanzo flew around the bend. When you reached into your pocket for your handkerchief you audibly cursed. It was lost somewhere between here and Roanoak Ridge so you washed your gloves and arms best you could in the lake. The water was warm and murky, not ideal for cleaning.

Garbanzo rested his head against your shoulder and you dried your hands to give him a pat. “Sun’s still high,” You said to the big horse. “Think we got time to go visit our old friend?”

The horse did not respond, but it really wasn’t up to him. Lemoyne was hot as ever, your clothes stuck to every inch of skin they touched and left you feeling sticky and uncomfortable. The smell of body odor was wafting into your nostrils with every gallop, maybe it was time for a bath. As you approached the center of town, you paused. Trelawny was still staying in his caravan north of Rhodes, it wouldn’t take long to meet him.

As you entered the saloon, you were greeted by the same old saloon gals, they were always happy to see you- it wasnt often they were paid in money and pleasure. Your favorite girl, a young blond waved at your from atop the spiral staircase. “Hey honey,” she called. “You here for me?”

You laughed, “not tonight sweetheart,” you placed a coin on the bar and slid it to the owner. “Just a bath today.”

The man behind the counter nodded, “Sylvia will have it ready for ya, you know where to go.”

You nodded, “Thanks Pete.”

Rhodes had become your semi-permanent home, as much as it bothered you to stay in once place for too long Sadie’s company was enough to keep you grounded. You would meet her at the saloon regularly, she would tell you about he people she rode with and you would tell her about the jobs you had been taking. She would bring up Arthur often, you tried not to linger on the subject. You hadn’t seen him since the night he came and checked on you and Trelawny after the whole kidnapping incident. You had made the mistake of admitting to Sadie he was a handsome man and she wouldn’t let you live it down since. She seemed to think you were a perfect match but the thought of being intimate with another person was scary. You had only loved once, and it ended with her being put six feet under because of you. When you needed a fix, saloon girls and random strangers at the bar were enough. It was safer for the men and women you slept with to remain anonymous, for their own good.

You couldn’t help the sigh of pleasure as you slipped your body into the warm water. The bubbles tickled your nostrils as you submerged yourself. It had been far too long since your last bath, you made a mental note to do this more often. As you began scrubbing your head, there was a gentle knock on the door. “Need some help, darlin’?”

You smiled at the beautiful blonde headed woman. “Well now, you know I cain’t deny you Ms. Sylvia.”

She giggled as she dipped her hands into the water, “it’s been so long since you called for me I reckoned you forgot bout me.”

“Forget bout you? Never.” Her hands glided across your arms and you melted under her touch. “I just been busy, you know me always gettin’ into somethin’.”

“Well, at least make an effort to come in for a bath every once ‘n a while, you’re covered in dirt head to toe!” Her hands moved down your back and rubbed slowly. Her lips were close to your ear now as she whispered, “you’re mighty tense honey, you sure you don’t want a bed for the night? No charge.”

She placed the softest of kisses behind your ear and you inhaled sharply. “No charge, huh?”

“That’s right.” Her lips were moving down your neck now.

“Well, who could deny that? I think I’m all clean now.”

You started to pull yourself from the tub and she pushed you back down with a soft chuckle, “not yet you ain’t, no need to be impatient, we got all night.”

You couldn’t refuse that, so you relaxed under her nimble fingers. Trelawny could wait until tomorrow.

The beams from the morning sun poured in the window and woke you. Sylvia was already gone, slipped out after you passed out. It was better this way, it was too dangerous to get attached. You stared at the ceiling as you puffed a cigarette, in your twenties these flings were nothing, but now? Now you just felt tired. Strangers and night women didn’t fill the void like they used to, with age the hole in your chest grew wider and wider. But this life doesn’t allow a family, doesn’t allow the deeper vulnerability that comes with love. Not without a price, and you had already paid it once.

You stretched and pulled yourself from the bed. Your clothes were scattered about the floor and you yawned as you retrieved them. “Shit,” you whispered as you fummed with the buttons on your shirt; the last button had popped off in the frenzy of lusting hands. You examined yourself in the mirror, your clothes were worn and dusty. Little holes were beginning to wear in the arm pits of your shirt. The closest tailor was in Saint Denis, and god did you hate it there. It would almost be worth the ride all the way to Blackwater just to avoid the congested city. But that would have to wait, you needed money.

The downside to staying so close to town for the sake of your old friend was the lack of animals around Rhodes. Sure there were plenty of deer- whitetails and pronghorn a plenty but you lived for big game. Elk, bears, cougars- that was what gave you the thrill and most importantly they were the big money makers. Maybe after you get done with Trelawny you would write to Sadie and let her know you were heading North West for a couple of weeks. Surely she would be safe with the others. You felt silly, of course she would be safe they saved her when she needed them most. This gave you a pang of guilt, had you been there for her when she needed you, maybe Jake would still be alive right now and maybe she wouldn’t look like a dead woman walking. A part of you wanted to stick around, but you couldn’t revolve your life around her and she wouldn’t want you to.

When you exited the saloon, you headed for the stable. Garbanzo whinnied excitedly when he saw you enter. The man working the stable looked up from grooming his horse. “Take it you’re here for pick up?”

You nodded. He pointed lazily towards the stall. “It’s unlocked, you can go ahead and grab ‘em.” He stood. “That’s one well behaved horse ya got there.”

You gave him a pat, “that’s my beanie boy.” You turned to the stable hand. “You damn right, best horse I ever had.”

You paid the stable hand well and led the hulking horse outside. The morning sun was rising steadily and the heat rose by the minute. As you rode to the bundle of caravans, you tried to remain in as much shade as possible; the midsummer heat was damn near unbearable.

When you approached, Trelawny was in his same spot reading his same book. He looked up as you dismounted. “Ah, hello old friend!”

“Hey there Trelawny. Looks like yer bout done with that book there.”

“Ah yes,” he folded down the page and closed it. “I assume you aren’t here to discuss literature.”

You chuckled and rubbed your neck, “naw, but I’ll always listen. Used to be a reader myself before I got in knee deep with the law.”

He extended the book to you, “here take it, that is if you’re still literate.”

You waved your hands in denial, “You ain’t gotta do that, I could pick up a book next time I find one.”

“But I insist! I’ve read this one so many times I know what the next word is before I read it.” His tone turned solemn. “Please, take it. Think of it as a small payment for my eternal debt to you.”

You scratched your nose as you took the book. “Thank you, Josiah. I’ll be sure to read it.” You leaned against the railing of the small porch. “You got anything for me to do today?”

“Ah yes,” he straightened in his seat. “You’re an avid hunter, yes?”

You looked at the pile of furs on your horse and turned back to Trelawny with a smirk. “Guess you could say that.”

“Well how do you feel about hunting down some wolves?”

You spat on the ground. “Shit, I’ll kill anything worth killin’.”

He nodded, “good, good. A farmer down at Bolger Glade is paying well for the skins of the wolves who have taken a liking to his farm. Says they’ve been eating up his livestock.”

With a nod you mounted your horse. “Sounds like my kinda job. Ain’t far from here neither. I’ll come back when I get done if it ain’t too late.”

“I look forward to your return.”

You tipped your hat to him and you were off. Trelawny watched you disappear over the horizon. Something was nagging him, he immediately felt uneasy about sending you by yourself.

You frowned at the bloodied corpse. He sure looked like a farmer, with a grimace you wondered if there would be anyone to pay you. Well, if anything the butch will pay well for the furs. The tracks were a winding mess and the farther you followed, the more evident it was this was more than a couple of lone wolves. You clutches your rifle tight, a wolf can be taken down easily with one shot but with this many you were beginning to feel uneasy.

You followed the tracks to a pile of bones, covered in teeth marks. You counted at least four sets of tracks. Nothing you hadn’t dealt with before, you inhaled then exhaled deeply. As you stood, the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. As you turned you heard the snarl. Coming on you fast we’re three big grey wolves. You backed away as you put a bullet in the skull of the first. As you reloaded, you whistled for your horse. The second wolf was almost on you when you shot it clean between the eyes. The third followed right behind, hardly giving you time to reload. It knocked you to the ground, but not before you pressed the gun to its chest and fired. Luckily it only knocked you to the ground, no blood was shed. Your eyes studied the woods around you, one more wolf was left, that you were certain. You whistled again, where was Garbanzo?

You turned around to search, the big animal didn’t scare easily but wolves were one of the few exceptions. He was on the far side of the field, trotting wearily towards you. Another growl from behind you drew your attention back to the woods. It was fast, but not fast enough. You had already reloaded and the wolf was making a beeline straight for you, an easy kill. A single bullet and the wolf fell forward. With another look around, you finally allowed yourself to relax. As you began skinning the first wolf, Garbanzo trotted up behind you. When you loaded the skin, you gave him a pat. Most of the pelts were quite perfect, except the one that knocked you to your feet. You frowned at the poor pelt as you examined it before stowing it.

The last wolf was the farthest away, lying just on the edge of the wood. You wiped the sweat from your brow and skinned the wolf quickly. It was afternoon now and the heat was sweltering. As you slid your knife along the spine of the wolf, Garbanzo whinnied. “I’m bout done, ‘Banzo just hold on.”

A branch snapped behind you, you looked up in time to see the huge black wolf mid-jump. Before you could react, it’s claws were in your back. You threw your elbow back hard and knocked it to the ground. Your rifle was back on the horse, you drew your knife. In order to time it right, you would have to make a risky move and allow yourself to act as bait. You crouched low to the ground as the wolf circled you, you circled with it so it couldn’t pounce your back again. With a snarl and a bark it charged. Lightning fast, the wolf was on top of you, one arm held up above your body to protect yourself, the other plunged the knife through the wolf’s jaw. You winced as you pushed the dead weight off you. When you touched your back, you could feel where the wolf’s claws tore through your shirt. Your hand was covered in blood. It’s hind claws tore through your pant leg on your thigh, leaving angry red scratches. Luckily for you, it didn’t break skin.

You quickly loaded the big black wolf into your horse, better to find a safe place to skin it than risk a run in with another wolf. Mounting Garbanzo, you pushed him hard back to Trelawny’s caravan.

You arrived back early evening, you couldn’t feel the blood trickling down your back anymore so you assumed it had stopped bleeding. You had used all your bandaging last week, you prayed Trelawny had some. As you approached, you saw another man standing on the porch talking with Trelawny. Those broad shoulders looked familiar, when he turned you recognized him.

“Howdy fellers,” you greeted the men as you hitched your horse.

“Howdy,” Arthur repeated back with a wave.

Trelawny stood, “Ah, hello my dear girl! Seems as though those wolves didn’t give up much a fight.”

You chuckled lightly and turned and pointed to your back. “Well, I wouldn’t say that.”

Trelawny inhaled sharply, Arthur took two long strides and inspected your back thoroughly, “Shit, you okay?”

You weren’t used to physical contact with other people, his soft prodding hands made you feel uncomfortable but you didn’t shift from under them. “I’ll be fine, may need some new clothes though.” You turned back to face them and looked pointedly down at the gashes in your pants. “I’d say these are done for.”

Trelawny chuckled. “I would be inclined to agree. It’s about time, I thought you’d be in those rags til the day you died.”

You shrugged, “probably. You got any spare bandage I can borrow? Pretty sure the bleeding stopped, just don’t want it to get infected.”

Trelawny frowned, “I’m afraid not my dear.”

You sighed, “guess I could shred this shirt for bandage-“

Arthur interrupted, pulling a roll of bandage and a bottle of whiskey from his satchel. “I gotcha. Sit on down.”

You sat on the crate in front of the fire, his big hands gently pulled the shirt up above the claw marks without revealing your chest. “This okay?” He asked.

You just nodded, his rough hands were surprisingly gentle. You winced in pain as he poured whiskey in the gashes. “Sorry.” He whispered.

“S’ okay.”

He made quick work dressing the wound. You were glad to be facing away from him, his touch filled your brain with static and sent a wave of heat across your face. It was very strange, you didn’t know how to feel about it. When he finished, he pulled your shirt back down and gave you a pat on the shoulder. “Yer good.”

You stood and nodded to him, “Thanks.”

Trelawny cleared his throat, “You wouldn’t happen to be feeling up for another job would you?”

You scratched your head, “depends, does it involve wolves?”

Trelawny laughed heartily. “No, not at all. It should be very easy for you, I just need you and Mr. Morgan here to deliver some supplies.” He scratched his nose. “It really needs to be delivered to Emerald Ranch before sun down. I’m sure Arthur here can handle it on his own though if you aren’t-“

“Nah, I can do it.” You said as you stood. “Emerald Ranch ain’t too far from here anyways, long as there ain’t no distractions we should be able to get there ‘fore night fall.”

“Wonderful!” Trelawny exclaimed. “The wagon is just behind that caravan there.” He pointed past the neighboring shack. “Hurry along now, you’re losing time!”

“Yeah, yeah we’re goin’.” You rolled your eyes as you hitched your horse. “Well be back soon now, ya hear?” He responded with a huff.

“You ready?” Arthur asked as you joined him beside the fire. You nodded.

As you turned Trelawny called back, “be careful this time! You won’t get paid if you wreck the wagon again!”

Arthur smirked, “Again?”

You crossed your arms and your lips pulled into a mischievous grin. “Ain’t never quite got the hang of wagons, always try and go too fast around corners.” You scratched your chin, “come to think of it, I don’t think Trelawny’s given me a delivery job in months. Not since I almost killed myself crashin’ a wagon full a dynamite.”

Arthur laughed as he climbed up the wagon. “No offense, but I think I’d be more comfortable if I drove.”

“None taken,” you said as you took your seat beside him. You pulled your shot gun off your shoulder and into your lap. “And no offense to you Mr. Morgan, but I think I’m better suited as the strong arm anyways.”

His brows flew into his hairline as he scoffed, “I dunno bout that one.” His tone went to a more joking manner. “‘Sides, I’d say my arms are stronger than yours.”

With his free arm he flexed with a goofy smile. He did indeed have very nice arms. You cleared your throat and mirrored his flex. “What’s that phrase, bout the size of the ship?”

He laughed, “It ain’t the size of the ship, it’s the motion of the ocean?” Another laugh. “Guess there’s some truth behind that.”

You giggled, “you seem pretty familiar with the phrase, you use it a lot for compensation?”

Arthur’s face turned bright red and he began to stammer when your eyes glanced pointedly at his trousers. “No-“ he started, more defensive than he meant to sound. “No, I don’t think I got much to worry bout in that department.” His tone sounded more smug.

You chuckled, “Good on you, Mr. Morgan.”

“I ain’t never cared for the whole Mr. This and Ms. That, ya know.”

“Sorry, Mr.” You cut yourself off. “Sorry Arthur.” You looked up at the sky. “Ain’t much stuck with me as far as manners go, ain’t quite sure why but that’s just bout the only thing I remember my parents tellin’ me.”

“You ain’t gotta apologize, I understand.” He scratched his chin in thought. “Guess I don’t really remember much a what my ma tried ta teach me. Ma daddy ain’t never taught me much more than to be a thief.” He turned back to you, “Is Fletcher yer real name?”

“Is Tacitus Kilgore yours?”

“Fair enough. But you know my real name.”

You returned his gaze. “Ain’t nothin’ to a name. Just another word people use to talk boutcha behind yer back.”

He nodded, “Ain’t quite thought of it that way.”

You nodded and a silence fell over the ride. The bench seat of the wagon was terribly short. Arthur’s thigh was pressed against yours and with every tremble of the wagon you could feel his body against yours. You kept your eyes forward and tried to ignore the static in your brain. As the sun fell behind the trees, the sky was filled with bright orange and red, the clouds were pink and lilac. As your eyes wandered, you caught Arthur rubbing a bald spot on his chin. “That a scar?”

Your question seemed to pull him from his trance like thoughts. “Huh?”

“On your chin there,” you pointed to it. “Is it a scar?”

“Oh, yeah.” He smoothed the hair around his chin line as he spoke. “Got thrown off a horse one day and got skidded up pretty bad. Took a nice little chunk outta my chin and sprained my wrist.” He nodded to the scar that ran across your right cheek. “What bout you?”

“Cougar, our near Strawberry back in ‘88. First time huntin’ a big cat.” You chuckled, “learned the hard way to never leave your back open, and always pack one of these.” You dug in your satchel and pulled out a mask. Arthur laughed, it wasn’t pretty that’s for sure. It was nothing more than a thick parchment with a crude face and strings that tied in the back. The artwork was terrible, but Arthur would never say it. “What in the hell is that gonna do?”

“Well,” You said as you tied the mask to the back of your head. “Met a man from India years back, he said their cats back home are even bigger than cougars. I didn’t really believe him, but he showed me a picture in a book. Looks like a mean son of a bitch. He said his people made masks to wear on the back of their heads, keeps ‘em from sneakin’ up behind ya.” You turned your head to show Arthur the mask, “don’t even have to be a good lookin’ one, as long as it has a face.”

Arthur was stunned, “and that really works?”

You nodded, “ain’t had one jump me from behind since.”

“Amazing” he whispered.

You nodded and put the mask away. “Learned a lotta tricks of the trade in my years. Makin’ money off the land can be just as deadly as makin’ money off the people.” You lifted your shirt to reveal a round scar above your stomach. “Got too close to a Whitetail Buck during mating season. Always thought I’d get pummeled by a bison or eaten by a bear before I got stabbed by a damn deer.”

Arthur averted his eyes from your skin quickly, even on your stomach you were riddled with scars. It reminded him of his own body, a body he always thought was grotesque and ugly because of his scars. So why didn’t he find your scars so horrible to look at? He didn’t want to find the answer. He coughed, “looks like we’re bout there.” He paused for a moment then brought his spare hand to his brow and squinted towards the horizon. “Hold on a minute, we may have company. You got that shotgun loaded?”

You gave it a solid pump. “Always.”

He kept his eyes on the horsemen ahead. The path went up a small hill and at the very top, two men were stationary on their horse; that’s always a suspicious sign. As the wagon approached, Arthur could clearly see the men were holding guns. “Yep,” he sighed. “Definitely got some company. Keep a level head, if they let us clear we-“

You had also examined the horsemen on the hill, you had also noticed the guns. Whether they were waiting for this wagon or not, their presence was not welcome by you. You stood and pulled the rifle from your back. Arthur’s eyes were trained on the men ahead and he was saying something, but you weren’t listening. You lined up your sights and landed a perfect headshot.

Arthur jumped in surprise to the loud pop of the gun. He watched as the first man fell. “What the hell are you doin’?”

As you lowered your gun to reload, the second man barreled down the trail, accompanied by six other men who appeared from the trees. You lined back up for another shot, “Ambushin’ them before they ambush us.”

“Shit!” Arthur cursed as your gun let out another loud shot. He began to pull out his pistol. You switched your rifle back out for the shot gun as the men approached firing range. “Just keep drivin’! I can take care a these guys you just make sure we get there in time!”

Arthur watched as your slugs blew back one body after another. He nodded and whipped the reins hard. Luckily for you, Arthur was a master driver; he maneuvered the wagon off the path and around trees and shrubs as you tore through the pursuers. Arthur hit a small rock and the bump almost threw you off the side, you let out a small yell before a big hand caught your wrist and pulled you back down on the bench seat. You nodded a quick thanks to Arthur before turning back and delivering the final blow. You kept an eye on your surroundings before finally relaxing and turning back to the front. “Okay, think we’re clear.”

Arthur nodded. “Just in time.” He pointed and just over the rolling hills of the Heartlands you saw the towering windmill of Emerald Ranch. Arthur pulled the wagon into the barn just as the sun was turning to a sliver over the horizon.

“Didn’t think you’d make it.” The man in the barn said as he handed Arthur a stack of cash.

He nodded, “wasn’t quite sure we would.”

“Have a good one!” He farm hand called as the two of you exited the barn.

Arthur silently counted the money and handed you half. He let out a sharp whistle. After a few minutes and a handful of whistles, a beautiful white Arabian came appeared from beyond the horizon. You turned to Arthur, “we not takin’ the wagon back to Trelawny?”

“Naw, it’s their wagon. I take it to load up and bring it back.”

“Shit, I left Banzo with Trelawny. There’s no way he’d hear me if I whistled for him.” You rubbed your neck and cursed again. “Guess I could rob the next unfortunate soul I see of their steed.”

Arthur mounted the horse, “ain’t no need for that,” he offered you his hand. “I can take ya back.”

You eyed the tiny horse suspiciously, Arthur looked huge on the little thing. “I dunno Arthur, that’s one tiny horse ya got there.”

He rolled his eyes, “not all of us ride mammoths, you know.”

You took his arm and he pulled you up, “What did you just call my horse?” You wrapped your arms around his waist and frowned. “Jesus Arthur, this is a child’s pony! Next real horse I see I’ll nab for ya.”

He chuckled, “I thank ya, but this ol’ girl is good enough for me.” He patted her neck. “Strong gal, this one is.” He paused. “Bet she could beat your ol boy in a race any day.”

You scoffed, “I’m sure she could, Garbanzo isn’t meant to be fast, he’s meant to be strong. He’s meant to be fearless.”

“You sure love that horse, don’t ya?”

You rolled your eyes, “course I do, don’t you?”

He smiled, “yeah, I do. They really are somethin’ aren’t they?”

You nodded. “Loyal, beautiful, strong creatures. Everything we’re supposed to be. A horse has never lied to me, or killed someone I love. A horse has never betrayed me or sold me out. A perfect companion.”

Arthur nodded, “couldn’t agree with you more.”

By the time you arrived back to Trelawny’s humble abode, the moon was high and the crickets and cicadas were singing. He was no longer in his usual spot on the porch and the lamp inside was turned off.

“Probably asleep.” Arthur whispered as he peeked inside. “Yep, definitely asleep.”

“Good thing we already got paid.”

He nodded. A strange quiet fell between the two of you, not awkward or uncomfortable but not familiar either. You rubbed your arm uncomfortably and cleared your throat. “I should uh, I should go.”

Arthur stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded. “Me too.”

You unhitched Garbanzo and as you passed Arthur you tipped your hat, he returned the gesture. It wasn’t a long ride back to your camp, when you arrived you crashed into your bedroll immediately. That night you dreamed of a familiar feeling you had long forgotten.

#arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan x oc #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #rdr online fic #rdr online #oc #van der linde gang #hunters of flesh and money #arthur morgan #arthur x reader

[emperorsfoot]

While everyone celebrates their victory over the Horde, Glimmer mourns the loss of her mother. 

And a remnant of the Horde tried to launch a last ditch attack against the Princess Alliance. 

Glimmer’s reflection gazed despondently back at her from the surface of her drink. She ran a finger around the rim of the glass. A sparkling wine. White wine, technically golden in color. The light and tiny bubbles in her reflection just seeming to add to Glimmer’s own natural sparkle.

All around her everyone was happy. They just defeated the Horde. Hordak’s Sanctum was destroyed, the literal heart of Horde Command was gone –along with its Commander by all reports. Lord Hordak was nowhere to be found. The Horde was no more. They had won!

Glimmer should be happy.

Lifting her head from her glass of undrunk wine, she looked at the empty seat next to her.

The Queen’s seat at the high table. Angella’s seat. Her mother’s seat.

Empty.

At first Glimmer didn’t want to believe Adora when she said Queen Angella was gone. Trapped in the portal between worlds. After all, Angella hadn’t come with them to Horde Command. When Glimmer and Shadow Weaver teleported out of Bright Moon, they left Angella behind. She couldn’t have been there. She shouldn’t have been there!

And the story Adora told! It was so absurd! An alternate reality created by the portal collapsing. Reality constantly changing and re-writing itself as time collapsed. The only two people left at the end of the world were Adora and Angella, and whoever removed the sword was doomed to stay. It was completely ridiculous!

Glimmer did not want to believe it.

She flitted and flashed through the whole palace, teleporting in and out of every room, corridor, chamber, hallway, workroom, storeroom, basement, and attic. She looked in the kitchens, she looked in the stables, she looked in the throne room, in the council chamber, in her mother’s private rooms, in her own private rooms, Adora’s room, Bow’s room, the spare room they repurposed as a prison cell. Everywhere. Glimmer looked everywhere for her mother.

But Queen Angella was nowhere to be found.

As Adora said, she was gone.

Not dead. Not technically. But still just as permanently gone.

It was hard for her to celebrate the defeat of the Horde when it came with such a high personal cost to herself.

Bow and Adora slid in on either side of her. Adora was careful not to bump or jostle Queen Angella’s chair.

Glimmer knew that it was not Adora’s fault that he mother was now gone. Adora had not killed her. Adora had not asked her to retrieve the sword for her. Angella made her own decision. But, still… on some level. On some low, base, and dark level, Glimmer might still blame her friend. Not consciously. Certainly not intentionally. But somewhere deep down, insulated from intelligent thought, where primal feeling reigned.

Adora was sensitive to this and took extra care around the late Queen’s things. She did not want a repeat of her first ever strategy meeting with the Princess Alliance wherein she unknowingly sat in the late King Micah’s chair.

Bow placed an arm around Glimmer’s shoulders. Adora reached for her friend’s hand, but the other woman pulled away. She knew Adora meant well. But she was not the one Glimmer wanted comfort from at the moment.

Honestly, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted comfort at all. Glimmer was in a sort of numb, insulated state. She didn’t feel much of anything, because she knew the moment she started to feel things she would feel her mother’s absence, and her own guilt over the tensions and strains in their relationship.

Adora pulled her hand away, avoiding eye-contact.

A tense silence settled over the Best Friends Squad. None of them felt much like celebrating their victory over the Horde.

“How’s the wine?” Bow blurted out. Desperately needing to break the atmosphere. “I’ve never had wine before. My dads don’t let alcohol in the house.”

Wordlessly, Glimmer slid her glass of sparkling white wine to him. She wasn’t drinking it. Someone should.

Picking up the glass by its delicate stem, Bow took a small sip. Then made a face of displeasure. “This tastes like its turned.”

Wine was not as great as all the grown-ups of Etheria made it out to be. It was bitter. Almost like medicine, but without the promise of health afterwards.

Adora reached for the glass. “Let me try.” She asked. “Before I defected, the Horde would sometimes give us beer. I wanna see how wine compares.”

When Bow passed her the glass, she chugged its contents in one long gulping sip. As if she were used to a room full of rowdy soldiers chanting ‘chug, chug, chug’ as it passed down her gullet.

“Wow! That’s way sweeter than beer!” She announced once she was finally able to take a breath.

“Have as much wine as you want.” Glimmer pushed back from the table. Standing, she stomped out of the party.

Perfuma and Frosta gave her curious or questioning looks as she passed, before looking up to Adora and Bow. Silently asking if she was alright. It was not protocol for the hostess to retire from a party when its barely just begun. Not that protocol was a significant concern at the moment. This was not a formal diplomatic event like the Princess Prom. This was a victory celebration. People could do what they wanted.

Nobody tried to stop Glimmer as she exited the great hall.

But Adora did chase after her. “Glimmer! Glimmer, wait!”

Bow gave a bit of an awkward smile, barring his teeth at the room. “C’mon, people, this is a party!” He called over the crowd. “Turn up the music! Let’s dance! We defeated the Horde!”

Taking Perfuma by the hand, he spun the both of them until they were in the center of the dance floor. They continued to move together until others joined in, either with a partner or by themselves. Moving to the music and celebrating the fact that the Horde was gone.

Yes, the victory was at a cost, but nothing in life worth having came without cost. There would be time to mourn Queen Angella, and after the appropriate period of mourning, Glimmer would be crowned Queen in her mother’s place. But right now was for celebrating.

Bow dipped Perfuma dramatically, before twirling her around and letting her go. She went spinning into the arms of Mermista –whom was actually trying to fend off Sea Hawk, not catch wayward blond damsels. The two blinked at suddenly finding themselves in each other’s arms. But Mermista quickly adapted, smirking with triumph. Sea Hawk was successfully deflected.

The musical pyromaniac sea captain looked downcast and slunk away.

Shadow Weaver watched all of this with mild amusement. It was nice to be among young, happy people again. Everyone in the Horde was always so… grim. She stood, observing the party. Holding a wine glass of her own but unable to drink it without taking off her mask. She laughed at Perfuma’s antics and Sea Hawk’s expense.

Castaspella slid next to her, perhaps to reconcile their difference –Shadow Weaver had been instrumental in rescuing She-Ra and defeating the Horde- or just to reminisce about the late Micah.

The party back on track, disturbance forgotten, and everyone enjoying themselves again, Bow ducked out of the great hall after his two best friends.

He found them both standing on an observation balcony. Glimmer, slouched over the railing, looking out over the landscape of Bright Moon. Adora standing close behind her, one arm outstretched as if to offer a comforting hand, but hesitating.

Bow came up on Glimmer’s other side. “We all miss your mom, you know.”

“I know.” Glimmer muttered, speaking more to the open landscape sprawling out before her than her actual friend.

“I never really got the chance to get to know her very well.” Adora admitted. Queen Angella was welcoming enough, but she always seemed to keep Adora –the defected Horde soldier- at a bit of an arm’s length. Only allowing the younger woman in past her emotional barriers at the very end, in the depths of the portal. “But she seemed like a strong woman. And she loved you very much.”

“I know that!” Glimmer snapped. Pushing off the railing she was slumped over to glare at her friend. “I know she loved me! She was my mother!”

Adora took a step back. Growing up in the Horde, emotions were seen as weaknesses. Adora never really learned how to offer comfort or support because to give comfort and support to a comrade in need was to make yourself appear as emotional and weak as they were. The idea of comforting a grieving friend was still relatively new to Adora. Something she only started learning after she took up permanent residency in Bright Moon. “Sorry, I’m just trying to help.”

Glimmer turned back to the balcony view, not wanting to look at either of her friends. “I know that. I’m not mad at you.” She tried to assure the other woman, not looking at her. “I’m just… I’m just mad. Let me be mad.”

Opening her mouth, Adora looked like she was about to say more. But Bow placed a hand on her shoulder, silencing whatever it was she was about to say before it could get out.

“Sometimes people just need to feel things.” He told her. Then to Glimmer, “We’ll be inside if you need us.”

Bow dragged Adora back inside to the party.

Glimmer slumped down onto the railing again, resting her chin on its smooth, highly polished surface. It sparkled almost as brightly as she did. Everything in Bright Moon sparkled. Just looking at the palace, at the water, the mountains, the Whispering Woods, one couldn’t tell that they’d just lost their Queen.

Heck! Standing inside the late Queen’s own palace you couldn’t tell they’d just lost their Queen! Not with the way everyone was dancing and partying in the great hall.

Glimmer hated it.

Why should everyone else be happy when she was so very, very angry. Not at anyone in particular. Just at the situation. At the victory. At the portal. At the sword. At Hordak for inventing it. At Entrapta for making his half-assed invention work. At her mother for spending almost the entire war trying to play things safe then out of nowhere deciding to sacrifice herself in a last-ditch effort to save all of reality.

How dare she!?

But, most of all, Glimmer was mad at herself. For constantly defying her mother. Going behind the older woman’s back. Flat out ignoring her direct orders. For making her mad and straining their relationship. So much time spent being mad at each other. So much time wasted. Now she was gone. That was time they would never get back.

Most of all, that was what filled Glimmer with rage.

Standing on the balcony, looking over the landscape, she thought about her mother. Were these feelings –this anger and resentment- something that she ever felt? After Glimmer’s father died, maybe? Did Angella ever feel this way? Would she understand how Glimmer felt? Could this be something they might have bonded over?

Staring out over the water, Glimmer realized she didn’t know.

She watched the light of the moons play across the water. Even the darn water seemed to be celebrating. Rippling under the moonlight. The surface moving against the wind. The-

The surface moving against the wind!

That didn’t happen.

Glimmer lifted her head, eyes narrowing as she squinted across the water. The ripples weren’t from a natural current. They were surface disturbances from something else. Something moving across the water.

It was dim outside, and she was looking directly into one of the moons. It was the night time equivalent of staring into the sun.

But from the horizon line she could just barely make out the outlines of several skiffs. Several Horde skiffs!

Apparently, the Horde was not quite as defeated and gone as they thought.

With a bit of an alarmed gasp, adrenaline pumping, Glimmer teleported directly back into the great hall.

“The Horde’s coming!” She shouted for the crowed room to hear.

“Uh, what?” Mermista crossed her arms over her chest, skepticism dripping from every word. “The Horde’s gone. We defeated them yesterday. I’m pretty sure you were there.”

“That’s right!” Perfuma clapped her hands together cheerfully. “We saved She-Ra and defeated Hordak! It was a wonderful example of harmony and team work!”

“I kicked butt.” Frosta recalled fondly.

Bow came up and took his friend by the hand. Expression gentle and sympathetic. “Glimmer, I get that you’re upset right now. You’re mad and maybe you feel like you need to hit something. But you don’t have to invent enemies to fight. We can-“

Whatever the end of that sentence was going to be, Bow didn’t get to say it. The building was suddenly rocked by a powerful explosion. The concussion of something hitting it –hard- and bursting on impact.

Something like a Horde tank shell.

Glimmer just frowned at Bow. As if to say, ‘do you believe me now?’

“I’ll get my sword.” Adora informed them. She dashed from the hall, running to her room where she left the sword of She-Ra. She didn’t think she would need it at a party celebrating all their enemies being defeated. She thought all their enemies were defeated.

Everyone else waited. Staring at Glimmer.

“Why’re you all looking at me?” She demanded. The palace was under attack! Shouldn’t people be doing something? Adora was doing something. She was getting the thing that made her their savior. She was acting. Why was no one else acting?

One of the Bright Moon guards cleared her throat. “We- ahm –we await your command.”

For half a moment Glimmer looked confused.

“Glimmer,” Bow began gently, as if reminding her of uncomfortable facts she should already be aware of. “You’re the Queen of Bright Moon.”

Realization dawned on her. The Bright Moon guards took orders from the Bright Moon Queen. Glimmer had always been on the ground when the fighting came to Bright Moon. In the thick of the battle. The Princess Alliance equivalent of a ‘Force Captain’. But the Queen stayed in the palace or with the Runestone. The Queen oversaw the battle. Maintained the defenses. Commanded the palace guard.

With Angella gone, Glimmer was the Queen now. There hadn’t yet been time for a formal coronation. But for all practical intents and purposes, that was her new role.

“To the defenses, then!” She shouted for the whole room to hear. “Guards to the walls! Bow, I want you and your trick arrows in a high place! Perfuma, on the ground. That’s where She-Ra will be when she gets her sword, she might need back-up. Netossa and Spinnerella should go with you too. Mermista, in the water. You and Sea Hawk try and stop or slow down as many of their skiffs as possible! Frosta, stick close to Bow and clobber any Horde soldiers that get close to him. Shadow Weaver-“ here she hesitated for only half a moment “-to the Runestone with me.”

“You have the command and bearing of a true Queen already.” Everyone could hear the amused smirk in the old sorceress’ voice as she glided over to stand next to Glimmer.

Another shell rocked the building just as Glimmer teleported with Shadow Weaver.

The Runestone overlooked the whole bay. From its vantage point, Glimmer could see that the attacking Horde force was not actually as terrifying as she originally thought.

It was comprised primarily of skiffs carrying infantry –and not even very much infantry at that. They had two ground tanks, but the treads on them were warped or even broken, and so the tank canons had instead been mounted on the skiffs. It took two of the hover-boats to support one tank. The tanks themselves were heavy and unbalanced the skiffs. The pilots were hard pressed to keep their vessels vertical, never mind move in sync with the other partner pilots sharing to carry the tanks.

This didn’t seem like an evil onslaught attacking them at a time when their guard was down, at a party celebrating a seeming victory. This was a mad rabble of disorganized and near feral zealots bent of revenge but lacking anything actually resembling a strategy –or even much of a plan, really.

Looking down at the bay, Glimmer didn’t know why she felt the need to bring Shadow Weaver with her. She didn’t even need to do anything, never mind borrow power or skill from someone else.

The moment Adora appeared outside the palace, she held her sword high and shouted the words that incanted her transformation from simple Horde-defector, into the Princess of Power.

Spinnerella threw the skiffs off course. Causing the ones weighted down with the tanks to topple over and capsize. Perfuma tangled the infantry that made it to the bank in vines. Any canon blasts they managed to get off before the tanks sank into the bay were shot down by Bow’s trick arrows.

It wasn’t a battle.

It was a rout.

The Horde soldiers retreating almost as quickly as they had come.

She-Ra managed to capture their leader before she could escape with the rest of her forces.

Force once, it was not Catra.

Maybe Adora was a little surprised by that –or maybe she was downright shocked. It was hard to tell when she was eight feet tall, glowing, and you had to peer up and squint to see her expression.

The big question was, what to do with Octavia now that they had her? The space room they repurposed as a ‘prison cell’ was currently in use by Shadow Weaver –as an actual room now that Glimmer had deemed her an ally. Bright Moon didn’t have any dungeons.

Not really knowing what else to do, She-Ra carried her inside. To the great hall the party had just vacated. For what would be a rather public interrogation.

“I’m not saying anything!” Octavia announced after She-Ra threw her down on the –perfectly polished and sparking- marble floor.

“T’ch, you just said something, dummy.” Frosta pointed out, unimpressed by this Horde leader.

She-Ra reverted back to Adora. “Frosta, don’t be mean! Octavia might be a Dumb Face, but that’s no reason to call her a dummy.”

The Force Captain only growled wordlessly at that.

“Where’s Catra!?” Adora demanded, taking charge of the… interview. She refused to call this an ‘interrogation’. This was not how she was taught to interrogate prisoners in the Horde. But the Princess Alliance always did do things shockingly different.

“I donno. Dead, probably.” Answered Octavia, in complete contradiction of her earlier statement that she was ‘not saying anything’.

“She’s not dead!” Adora insisted. “I saw her! She escaped with Hordak!”

Octavia blinked at that, truly surprised. She didn’t think Hordak had survived either. “Well, then she’s with Hordak. Obviously. Who’s the Dumb Face now?”

“Wait…” Glimmer pursed her lips in thought. Something not making sense. “If you thought both Catra and Hordak were dead, then they didn’t order this attack.”

Finally, Octavia caught on that she should stay true to her word and ‘not say anything’. She clamped her mouth shut.

“The Horde’s without leadership!” Bow drew the correct conclusion anyway. She didn’t even have to say anything.

Mermista gave a snort of humorless amusement. “They’ll tear each other apart!” She announced. “We don’t even have to lift a finger. With Hordak gone, they’ll all be at each other’s throats to try and get his job. They’ll defeat themselves for us!”

This prophesy was met with several relieved smiles. This little blip of an attack not withstanding, they truly had won. The Horde truly was defeated. Now it was time to usher in a new age of peace and renewal.

Glimmer pursed her lips, not quite as optimistic as her fellow Princesses –she was feeling the burdens and misgivings of a Queen now.

“You guys…” She began softly, almost as if she were afraid to ask. “If Hordak’s not leading the Horde anymore… where is he?”

#entrapdak #entrapta/hordak #entrapta #hordak #she-ra #season 3 #clone baby au #ao3 #RenkonNairu

[raendown]

@letliv3 You will take it and you will like it because this is your fault.

Pairing: MadaraKakashi Word count: 3745 Summary: In which Obito helped found the village, Madara was a member of Team Minato, and Kakashi gets lost down a few different paths in his life.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI in the blog header!

Building Our Own

Kakashi was pretty sure he didn’t like Madara. Pretty sure. There were times when it was really difficult to stay inside his shell and hate the world because watching Madara – barely taller than himself yet filled with enough attitude for the whole village – face off against the taller, brighter, unsuspecting Minato-sensei was always the highlight of his week. Knowing the two of them had so much in common did not mean Kakashi wanted to make friends with the other boy. He didn’t need friends to become the greatest ninja this world had ever seen and restore his family’s honor.

Anyway that Gai idiot followed him around too much already. His non-existent friend quota had been filled, thank you very much.

It was still kind of hard to ignore Madara. The boy refused to not be seen but he wasn’t obnoxious about it. There was just something magnetic about his competence even at such a young age, the confidence in every move he made, even the spiky stupid mess of his hair. Most of the Uchiha that Kakashi met had beautiful smooth hair but Madara seemed to have skipped that gene; his hair stuck straight out from his head in stiff spikes reminiscent of Kakashi’s own locks. Yet another thing they had in common and could have commiserated about together – if he had time for stupid things like friendship. Which he did not.

Much to their sensei’s despair, Madara didn’t seem all that upset that one of his teammates refused to bond with him. The majority of his concentration went to edging a few words about his precious baby brother in to every single conversation ever. None of them had ever met Izuna but after less than a month of being a team they all could have probably picked him out of a crowd and recited at least ten different points of trivia about him off the tops of their heads.

And that right there was the one thing that truly set them apart, the one bit that stopped Kakashi from allowing himself to at least like the boy, even if only from afar. Where Kakashi had lost everyone he ever loved Madara still had someone, even if it was just a useless little brother. He still had someone to care about, someone precious, and besides that he had a clan that treated him like absolute royalty. Apparently Madara was a direct descendant of the great Uchiha Obito, founder of their village and betrayer of the Shodaime Hokage. Kakashi didn’t really see why he got to be venerated for being related to a traitor when others were shunned for the same thing but the one time he had tried to question it Minato-sensei had hushed him and Kakashi felt his heart grow a little bit smaller.

So Kakashi stayed small and quiet and spent the hours he wasn’t training with his team training in private instead. He would grow bigger, stronger, and someday he would be the one to show Madara his back. He would be the one that others watched from afar.

He would restore the honor his father had lost. Only then would his life be worth something.

-

“Your father’s honor is not your own.”

Madara’s words left him reeling, adrift and unsteady where he had always felt solid logic underneath his feet. Kakashi waited for the world to stop spinning before baring his teeth behind the mask that hid them.

“What would you know about it?” he snarled. Madara scoffed.

“I’m descended from the biggest traitor this village has ever seen but does my clan care about that? No. They care that I inherited his strength. Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘innocent until proven guilty’ before?”

“At least you have a clan! Don’t talk like you know me!”

“Of course I know you, dumb ass.” Everything Madara said was always said with confidence, as though it was an absolute immutable truth. It made refuting him very difficult sometimes because the way he spoke made Kakashi want to believe.

He resisted because clearly no one else should have a say in his situation not when they weren’t the ones living it.

“I will restore my father’s honor!” he began. He got no farther in to his rant before Madara rolled his eyes and interrupted.

“There’s nothing to restore, he’s dead. We build our own honor. And you have plenty of that even if you’re an asshole. Take the stick out of your ass and wake up. You’re Kakashi, not Sakumo. You can’t fix his mistake any more than I can. He didn’t even make one!”

“He – what?”

Kakashi sat, stunned, and listened to the entire fifteen minutes of Madara’s rant about how true dishonor was in abandoning your comrades and how the entire concept of their village itself had been founded on the desire to protect one’s comrades. Apparently the history books left out quite a bit of information about Uchiha Obito’s life before he abandoned Konoha; Kakashi never knew it was him that had named their fledgling settlement or him that had come up with the idea in the first place as a way to protect his own precious ones.

All through the boy’s impassioned speech he remained silent, soaking in every word like a message from on high, and when Madara finally stopped to pant angrily, kicking at a nearby tree stump, he cleared his throat with more awkwardness than should have fit in to his twelve year old body.

“We should find Rin,” he murmured. It was the best he could do for an apology. Madara narrowed his eyes, probably trying to determine whether or not he meant that, then nodded decisively.

“Good to see you got your head out of your ass. Damn right we go find her. No more of this ‘the mission is more important’ bullshit, alright?”

“Yeah…”

“So what are we waiting for? Aren’t you supposed to be mission leader? Lead on, jōnin-taichou!”

Amazed that his teammate still trusted him to do so when he had only just a few minutes ago suggested abandoning Rin to her fate, Kakashi nodded and closed his eyes to think. “My summons will be able to follow her trail more easily than we can.”

Kannabi Bridge went on to become the mission famous as a long-awaited turning point in the war, the incident that finally gave them a clear advantage to end things in Konoha’s favor. For the ones who carried it out, however, it was memorable for a different reason. The mission to Kannabi Bridge was the day they finally – finally – became a true unit, the day Madara brushed that chip off of Kakashi’s shoulder and offered the hand of friendship instead.

It also became the day Kakashi would look back on and realize he was completely and utterly screwed.

Of course he would fall in love with his best friend. Of fucking course.

-

ANBU suited him a little bit too well but that was fine. Everything was fine as long as he had Madara there with him, eagle mask covering his face and endless black hair spilling around it like a cloud of death. He wondered why they bothered with the masks sometimes. Both of them were entirely too identifiable by their hair alone so really all the masks did was add a bit of extra dramatic flair.

Shaking his head, Kakashi forced his attention back to the task at hand, pushing just a little more speed out of his tired legs. The two of them had run countless missions together since becoming true comrades, both in the name of Team Minato and as the perfectly matched pair they were now in ANBU, but never had they run a mission this important before. It was only the second time Rin had been captured and already it was starting to feel like a pattern. He wondered which idiot had been the one to decide this time that she was the weak link in their band of comrades. Rin was many things but she was not weak.

As evidenced by the carnage that came in to view when they finally found her. More than half of the bodies that lay dead around her were decorated with perfectly normal wounds, their flesh opened by blades and the extra clean sort of cut that could only come from her weaponized medical jutsu. The rest had been mauled as though by a hungry beast – and a beast she looked, right then.

Her pretty brown eyes glowing red and her entire body bubbling with a sickly green cloak of pure poisonous chakra, it was hard to tell whether or not she recognized them at first. A low growl rumbled across the space between them and the two young men shared a look before hastily removing their masks.

“It’s fine now,” Madara attempted a soothing voice. “They’re dead.”

“Don’t,” she warning when he tried to take a step towards her.

“It’s just me, it’s just Madara.”

“Shut up! I know who you are, dummy!” The growl in her words cracked and hiked to a whine that Kakashi recognized all too well. He’d raised eight dogs on his own; he knew what a wounded animal sounded like. “I can’t go back with you. Not like this.”

Unfortunately neither of them had been born with an ounce of tact. Kakashi snorted. “Can and will. Haven’t you heard the rumors, Rin-chan? We’ve had a beast living with us the whole time and I’ve never seen Kushina-nee bite anyone’s head off yet. Well, not literally. She’s scary but she’s not out for blood no matter what the monster trapped inside her wants. She can help you.”

It was a terrible thing to see in a friend, that broken light of hope too small to be believed in. Kakashi inched forward, saddened when she flinched away but determined to reach her, and when her bubbling chakra burned his skin he refused to show any sign of pain.

“Come home. If we can survive Madara for this long then we can survive you. He’s more of an animal than anyone.”

His friend’s offended screech broke the tension and Rin’s startled laugh was a balm on all their souls, just enough of a positive emotion to push the beast in her belly down. The effort left her exhausted but Kakashi caught her and Madara took point to protect them both as they turned for home, wearing a pout still but it was a very cute pout so Kakashi only teased him a little bit. It was good to be together.

-

“That’s a big fox.”

“Your observations are as astute as ever,” Madara’s voice drawled from behind his shoulder.

“We have to fight that big fox? He’s just a big scary dog. I don’t wanna hit a dog, Dara-chan!”

“Stop calling me that!”

Kakashi smiled briefly to see Madara stomp one foot. Fifteen years old and he still hadn’t grown out of the habit. Then he turned his eyes back to the carnage in front of them when Rin touched down at his other side.

“Isobu says that Kurama isn’t acting like himself,” she reported. “Something must be controlling him.”

“Right. Let’s found out who, shall we?” Kakashi narrowed his eyes, all traces of amusement gone from their little trio of death as they all pushed off the Hokage monument they had been perched on to make their assessment. Team Minato, as they still sometimes thought of themselves, were not the first line of defense in any fight. They were the ones who ended the fight.

When they found the man controlling the Kyuubi he was much older than they might have guessed – ancient, in fact. The fact that he could still move the way he did seemed to be due to the fact that one entire half of his body had been reconstructed with an unidentified white substance that reformed and reattached itself when injured, healing faster than they could hurt him. And that wasn’t even the part that made the fight difficult. No, that was the fully formed Sharingan in his one good eye, an abomination that enraged Madara.

It took all three of them to bring him down, one unit moving perfectly in sync. It took Isobu and Susano’o and eight dog summons. It took everything they had but in the end Uchiha Obito lay ancient and exposed at their feet, screaming his impotent rage and crying out revenge against a man who had never truly wronged him.

“Senju Hashirama is dead,” Kakashi muttered in exhaustion, kicking away a severed limb still trying to crawl back to its host. “You should be too. Hold still and let me fix that.”

“He abandoned me! He will pay! The world will pay! I will have what I am owed! The perfect world, don’t you see? We could all live in the perfect world!”

“Something tells me your perfect world would not be like mine.” With his blade raised Kakashi shook his head in pity. “The world owes you nothing. Those who go back on their word like he did are trash, that’s true. But those who abandon their comrades? People like you who break bonds, you’re nothing but scum. Goodnight, Uchiha Obito, I hope you find rest.”

“Poetic,” Madara noted, watching as Kakashi impassively drew a blade through their defeated enemy’s throat.

“Maa, I didn’t mean to be.”

Rin groaned and sat down on the bloody grass. Then she fell over backwards with a sigh of relief. “Well that wasn’t what I wanted to do with my Tuesday,” she said.

“Any chance one of you can sense how Minato-sensei is doing with the Kyuubi? I’m fresh out of chakra.” Very gently, slowly so as not to jostle his sore body, Kakashi lowered himself down to join Rin. Madara snorted at them both.

“Your reserves are pathetic,” he pointed out. “The Kyuubi’s chakra has been split but I can still feel Kushina-nee. It would seem sensei was able to seal the beast in to two places at once. Very interesting.”

Both of the two on the ground made soft noises of curious agreement but investigating would have to wait. Just knowing their precious ones were alive was enough for now. Everything else could be left until after they had recovered the feeling in all of their limbs, possibly until after they had slept for a week. They had gone head to head with a legend today, after all. That definitely deserved a nap.

Madara wandered over to perch next to Kakashi, brushing something out of his hair without seeming to realize he was doing so. As much as he didn’t seem to want to admit it he was just as tired as the other two. Kakashi held his breath and allowed gloved fingers to trace the shape of his jaw.

“You took a lot of stupid chances today,” his friend murmured. Kakashi nodded.

“So did you.”

“Hn. Dumb ass.” His piece spoken, Madara’s eyes rolled back in his head and his body gave in to the exhaustion he’d been trying not to show. Unfortunately when he passed out he flopped down across the other two, who both grunted in surprise and then wriggled in dismay to find themselves trapped, lacking the energy to roll the idiot off of them.

Rin was the first to give up, flopping back down to the grass with a sigh. “You know for a second there I thought he was going to lean down and kiss you.”

Then she laughed as best she could at the redness of Kakashi’s face and the disconnected syllables gurgling out from behind his mask.

-

Twenty years old was a terrible age all of his friends were at least one year older. Twenty years old meant that all of his friends could drink while they oversaw the chūnin exams here in Suna but all he could do was sip soda and watch. What was the point of such a high drinking age anyway? And who had ever heard of a shinobi being denied a drink? He’s been getting served back home since he reached jōnin at the age of twelve.

Actually that probably wasn’t a high point and Minato-sensei should probably make sure that practice wasn’t still being followed. But his point still stood!

Kakashi felt cheated when his decision to go out with his friends in the hopes of watching them all make fools of themselves ended with sitting in the corner of a dusty Suna club watching over the ladies’ purses while Madara snoozed next to him. He’d really been hoping Madara would get drunk and do something stupid. Or maybe that he would get absolutely blackout drunk and do something completely out of the blue like, say, decide to make out with the comrade who’d been silently in love with him for almost a decade now.

Life was so unfair.

Jerking his elbow in to the other man’s side at least got him the amusing reaction of bleary eyes jerking open and an angry expression. He muttered something too but it was impossible to hear of the thumping music so Kakashi shrugged and shook his head, completely unrepentant. Madara scowled deeper and leaned over to put his lips right next to Kakashi’s ear.

“I said, you’re a dick. I was trying to sleep until we can get the hell out of here.”

Kakashi pushed away the urge to shiver and shouted over the music. “So let’s get out of here.”

Rin and Anko both tried to wheedle them in to staying when Kakashi wound his way through the dance floor to give them back their purses but he skipped free of their reaching hands and hustled back to Madara’s side. Stumbling outside was heaven on his ears, stepping passed the barrier of excessive noise and in to the blessed silence of the desert at night. Both of them groaned with relief and rubbed at their aching heads as they hurried away, ignoring the judging eyes of the club’s bouncers, eager to get back to their hotel rooms and just relax. Neither of them were really the sort to enjoy this stuff anyway. A nice homey bar would have been more their style but it had been Rin who invited them out so it had been her choice of venue.

Madara’s steps were surprisingly steady for someone who had pounded back enough alcohol to fall asleep in that blaring chaos. He wove side to side a bit whenever something interesting caught his eye but for the most part he didn’t seem too dizzy and Kakashi felt cheated all over again that he wasn’t needed to heroically offer his shoulder as support.

“Where are we?” The sudden question made him furrow his brows.

“Uh…Suna?”

“No! I mean I don’t recognize this street.”

Stopping to look around, Kakashi bit his lip. “Huh. You’re right. I think we’re lost.”

“That’s fine. As long as I’m lost with you.” Madara shrugged and continued on while Kakashi’s feet stumbled to a halt, one hand pressed against his chest to sooth his suddenly racing heart.

He glared as best he could and hoped the darkness covered the blush on his face.

“You can’t just…say stuff like that.”

“Oh. Shit. You’re right.” Confusingly, Madara looked embarrassed as well to realize what he’d said, clapping a hand over his mouth and sending a guilty look out the corner of his eyes.

“Wait. I know I’m right but why do you think I’m right?” Kakashi asked.

“Cause I don’t want you to know that I like you!”

“Maa, of course you like me, we’re best friends…”

Now frustrated that he wasn’t being understood, Madara stomped his foot and turned to shake a finger under Kakashi’s nose. “No! I mean like like you! Love like you! Don’t misunderstand me! I swear sometimes you do it on purpose because you know it annoys me and–”

His friend continued to rant but most of it washed over Kakashi, who had of course heard this lecture a hundred times and more. Well, except for the part where Madara was apparently in love with him, that bit was new. And mind-blowing. Life-changing, really. It took a while to sink in that Madara didn’t seem to realize what he had just confessed, either because he was too drunk or because nothing else ever mattered when he’d found something to be irritated by.

Why Kakashi found that cute was a mystery.

He did finally shut up when Kakashi kissed him, though. Actually, to be fair, he did make a few aborted attempts at speaking before finally giving in and kissing back, one hand fisting in the front of Kakashi’s vest to keep him in place. When they slowly pulled apart he licked his lips and fell immediately back in to a scowl.

“The mask, you idiot,” was all he said. Kakashi scrambled to pull it down out of the way.

“You want–?”

Madara’s answer was another kiss. And it turned out he was right, it was definitely better with the mask out of the way.

Someday, when he had eventually recovered his scrambled wits and picked himself up from the puddle of goo he could feel his body melting in to, he would need to say thank you. Not for the kiss, although the kiss was good enough on its own to warrant starting a diary just to describe it and Kakashi very much hoped they could do this again. Preferably every day from now on. But eventually he would need to impress upon Madara how grateful he was to have the other man in his life, how important it was that Madara had never abandoned him even when he was a young child with a terrible weight on his shoulders that he should never have been carrying in the first place.

Eventually he would need to say that he owed everything he was as a person to Madara.

But not now. Right now he pressed forward slowly to bury his fingers in long thick hair and cling to the one person he had been striving for since long before he had ever acknowledged it.

My honor is my own, he thought as they stumbled against the front of a nearby shop, his thoughts going back to a moment between them half a lifetime ago. And I owe my honor to you, who showed me how to believe in it. How to believe in us.

#rae writes #madakaka #madara #kakashi #fanfiction