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queenshelby · 5 months

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Chemical Reactions (P. 21)

Pairing: Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer x Student Reader

Warning: Age-Gap, Infidelity, Smut, Torture

Words: 1,889

Note: The fic is spoiler free and my own fantasy and imagination. It is not historically and scientifically accurate.

It was early December and a few more weeks had passed since Robert had sent the letter to you, to which he received no response.

Concerned, Robert met with General Groves who informed him about the progress of your case and difficulties for him to obtain correspondence from you. Unfortunately for Robert, Groves also informed him that reaching a conclusion in respect of your release still required more time than initially expected due to bureaucratic delays.

Feeling helpless and anxious, Robert continued to pour his energy into his work, focusing solely on the task at hand which, again, proved more difficult than he had anticipated.

The first implosion test failed and a series of subsequent tests resulted in setbacks too. Although these failures might have discouraged lesser men, they served to intensify Robert’s dedication and tenacity. Each failure drove him further into his research, leaving behind nothing short of success when the stakes were highest.

But, it wasn't just the scientific aspect that consumed him – the mere thought of failing you made his predicament worse.

It didn't matter how many hours he spent poring over equations and calculations, his mind always drifted back to you. Your image haunted him like a phantom, taunting him with visions of your smiling face, tender touch, and warm embraces. And then, late nights turned into sleepless nights as thoughts of you invaded his dreams, making sleep seem like an elusive creature refusing to grant him respite.

These agonizing days wore on, each bringing fresh torments. Nightmares plagued Robert's slumber, filling his waking hours with a profound exhaustion until, one afternoon, just weeks before Christmas, everything seemed to fall into place when Groves came to visit.

"Robert," Groves greeted with a solemn expression as, without knocking, he entered his office and startling him from his thoughts.

"General," Robert acknowledged with equal gravity, rising slowly from his chair, a hint of worry etched across his brow.

"Do sit, Robert," Groves ordered calmly, gesturing towards the seat and, as Robert sat back down, he noticed that General Groves appeared unusually serious and formal.

Swallowing hard, Robert composed himself, preparing to confront whatever dire situation lay ahead, thinking that, clearly, his day could not become any worse after, just that same morning, yet another implosion device failed to detonate.

"I have an early Christmas present for you," General Groves announced abruptly, casting aside any pleasantries.

"General, I am Jewish, we do not..." Robert began to say, but the General interrupted him sharply.

"Trust me Robert, you will be delighted nonetheless," Groves chuckled, causing Robert to furrow his eyebrows.

"Unless that surprise is going to helpful when it comes to activating the gadget, I must apologize if my excitement remains contained, General," Robert retorted with a rather exhausted look on his face, making the General realize how little he must have been sleeping.

"Well, for a matter of fact, the surprise I have for you is a scientist and I am hopeful that she might be able to help you become inspired with new ideas that will, indeed, help with the activation of the gadget," Groves responded confidently, knowing full well how important your contribution would be.

"You are bringing a new scientist on to the project without my consultation?" Robert asked incredulously, his initial disbelief transforming into anger.

"Indeed, I am Robert. Now come. I want you to meet her," Groves commanded briskly, stepping past Robert's desk to lead the way. Robert hesitated briefly, wondering why the urgency, feeling somewhat unwilling to get excited. But, curiosity piqued his interest, driving him to follow suit despite his reservations. Together, they descended the steps leading outside and, soon enough, Robert realized that General Groves was leading him past the security gate and towards his own house.

"General, forgive me for asking, but why precisely are we heading to my home?" Robert enquired curiously, attempting to contain his growing suspicion.

"Like I said Robert, I want you to meet the newest addition to your team," Groves stated firmly, opening the door to his residence, whereupon Robert found himself suddenly standing inside, bewildered by the sudden shift in locale.

"General, please explain to me..." Robert began to plead, his tone displaying a mix of frustration and impatience, just before he got interrupted.

"Robert, believe me when I say you will appreciate meeting this woman," Groves answered cryptically, guiding Robert into the living room where, suddenly, he saw you sitting there, looking up at him with those intense eyes that had captivated him so completely.

Robert froze in shock and disbelief upon seeing you. The unexpectedness of the encounter left him momentarily speechless, taking in the sight of you before him as though he were viewing something unreal or a mirage. Time stood still as he gazed at you, lost in admiration. His heart raced wildly against his rib cage while his mouth went dry.

Standing up, you rose gracefully, walking towards him with an undeniably feminine sway, your soft footsteps echoing against the wooden floorboards beneath you. As you reached closer, Robert felt his breath hitch, watching your every movement intently, struggling to regain control of his erratic pulse.

"Do I not at least get a kiss?" you teased playfully, tilting your head to the side, flashing a shy smile. Robert felt his heart skip a beat, overcome with both relief and longing, the familiar yearning returning with vengeance. Reaching forward, he took hold of your hands, pressing his lips fervently against yours, feeling a surge of desire coursing through his veins.

"Where is our son?" Robert demanded passionately, pulling away momentarily while you clung onto him, reciprocating his affection wholeheartedly.

"He is asleep. In your bedroom. He cried all the way here, so he really needed the rest," you explained earnestly, caressing his cheek lovingly. Robert leaned down, planting a gentle kiss on your forehead, relieved that your son was safe.

"Thank you, my love," Robert exclaimed gratefully, embracing you tightly, unable to let go even after several minutes had passed. This was the second chance he never imagined receiving – a gift straight from heaven. For about a year, you two had been kept apart, separated by deceit, distance, and obstacles, but fate had conspired to bring you together again.

"Perhaps I should give you some privacy, but before I go, please be advised that officials are going to keep a close eye on the both of you. Y/N will not receive security clearance and must remain at Los Alamos until the project concludes. She has been cleared of all wrongdoing, but these are the precautions we will need to take to bring her back on to the project, Robert," Groves began before addressing the fact that Robert now had not only one, but two, children to be looked after.

"As far your children are concerned, they will remain here, with you. This includes Kitty's son who she chose to leave in your care upon her departure from Los Alamos. I have taken it upon myself to employ a child nurse to look after them both. She will arrive tomorrow," Groves informed, pausing briefly as Robert digested the news. It was certainly a lot to process - finding solace in your arms, having been reunited with you, and now learning that he would also bear responsibility for raising not one, but two young lives. "Now, you must understand that, for obvious reasons, I expect you to retain professionalism at work. The only reason I have allowed Y/N back on to the project is because I consider it beneficial to the well-being of the man who runs Los Alamos for me. So now, I expect focus from you, Robert!" Groves instructed sternly, drawing attention back to matters concerning national security before saying his farewell, hoping not to be back until after Christmas.

After Groves left, silence fell heavy around you both, giving you both time to truly reflect on what transpired. Both hearts racing, filled with gratitude and apprehension, Robert pulled you closer, allowing your bodies to nestle snugly into each other. He couldn't believe this was finally happening, you being right there beside him, holding him close, cherishing moments previously stolen from you.

"I need to see our son," Robert insisted, breaking free from your embrace gently as he heard him squirm, making unsettling noises.

"Of course," you smiled before, overwhelmed, you closed your eyes, savoring the tender memory of his touch.

"Come with me and I will introduce you," you offered, entwining your fingers with his as you led him toward the bedroom, sharing a comforting warmth as you walked shoulder to shoulder.

You then opened the door to the dimly lit room where your tiny son stirred peacefully, swaddled in blankets, angelic features contrasting the gloomy atmosphere. The sight of him stirred mixed feelings of joy and sadness in Robert, reminding him of the responsibilities he faced along with the happiness derived from being reunited with you in this world, at war.

"Go on, pick him up. He is awake," you encouraged softly, reaching across to guide Robert's hand toward your son's small body.

Gingerly, Robert lifted him from the cradle, feeling like the weight of the world was now balanced precariously in his palms. Carefully, he held the infant close to his chest, feeling his fragile frame trembling slightly underneath the pressure of fatherhood. The sweet innocence radiating off of his son struck Robert hard, filling him with both immense pride and trepidation simultaneously.

"See, that's your daddy, my sweet boy," you whispered softly, your voice resonating with genuine tenderness as Robert rocked him gently.

"He looks just like you, Oppie," you added lightheartedly, referring to his striking features, causing a hint of laughter to surface in Robert's strained expression.

"He's got your smile though," Robert remarked pensively, gazing deeply into the baby's eyes which mirrored his own intensity. Seeing the resemblances brought forth fond memories of the days spent together when everything seemed perfect, a stark contrast to reality.

With tears beginning to pool in his eyes, Robert turned to face you, trying to hide his vulnerability behind a facade of bravado. Unable to maintain composure any longer, he wrapped you both in a protective embrace, holding onto you fiercely until, suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Dr Oppenheimer! You must come quickly!" his secretary announced frantically, catching Robert unawares with the urgency in her voice. Startled, Robert glanced hurriedly towards you, hesitation evident in his eyes as he contemplated leaving your presence prematurely.

"Go, Robert! I will be here when you get back," you reassured him, stroking his arm affectionately as he moved closer to you.

Taking a deep breath, bidding you goodbye, Robert set off towards the sound of his secretary's distressed call and, before you knew it, he barged out the door.

Tags:

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the-eeveekins · 9 months

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Prospera: my more serious thoughts on her and her character.

Like Suletta, I fully support Prospera's actions. You can't show me the Prologue where her whole life is violently taken from her and NOT expect me to root for her. She's just as much a victim of Delling’s actions and the systemic oppression of Earthians as many of the other characters in the show. I feel like a lot of people who don't empathize or sympathize with her either haven't seen the Prologue or haven't watched it since it was released nearly a year ago.

Yes, she did terrible things along the way, especially to Suletta, Eri and Miorine; but Suletta affirmed her choice of trying to help Eri over revenge (and arguably, affirmed her very existence in the process), Eri agreed with Suletta's choice, and even Miorine was willing to accept her as family if it was the decision of her fiancée. Fixing those mistakes will take time, years even, and who knows if Miorine especially will ever forgive her, but she has that time and she has that chance. I love that the show gave her a second chance at the life she was robbed of and a chance to make amends and fix her mistakes. Most shows would have killed her outright or gone with the Redemption Equals Death trope. Characters like her, especially female characters, almost never get that chance.

And, personally speaking, the scene where Suletta pulls her into the data storm is one of my favorites in the show. She gets to speak with the memories of her colleagues and Nadim, and express her guilt for deciding to focus on Eri's future at the expense of avenging them, only for Suletta and Eri to affirm her choice and tell her it's time to move forward. The mask breaks, Prospera "dies" and Elnora finally gets to hold Eri again and apologize to both of her daughters. It's one of the most cathartic moments in the show, a perfect conclusion to the Mercury family story and it brings me to tears every time.

I know not everyone is thrilled by Suletta's acceptance of her mom after everything she did to her, but I think it's highly appropriate: she loves people unconditionally more than anyone, understands Elnora did what she did from a place of love and selfishly wants to be with her whole family, mistakes and all. And again: Elnora is as much a victim in this show as anyone else. And even if Suletta accepted her mother, it's not like G-Witch forgave every awful parent of their sins: as I mentioned here, Delling may have surived, but his power to oppress is gone, he's under investigation for his crimes and by all accounts he's no longer a part of Miorine's life. We never see her forgive her father for what he did, and to be honest, I don't think she ever does. It's a hand she only extenda to Prospera because of her selfless love for Suletta.

And that brings us to one of my major issues surrounding Prospera: the difference in how certain parts of the fandom treat Prospera and Delling. The greatest trick Delling ever played was being a little nicer to his daughter before falling into a coma for half the show. Suddenly so many people forgot all he'd done and were willing to forgive his past actions and offer him up for redemption, all while condemning Prospera to death for her actions and claiming she was unredeemable.

It just reeks of the usual fandom sexism with it's double standards towards male and female characters. I just found the idea that Delling was redeemable but Prospera wasn't to be wrong, and find it especially frustrating the way people still tend to focus on Prospera's wrongs while ignoring Delling's.

Still, I think she's an amazing character, one of my favorites of all time. I'm so glad the show stuck the landing on her ending, not only giving her a chance to attone for her mistakes, but also giving her back the peaceful family life cruelly taken from her in the past. Mending her relationship with Suletta, Eri and Miorine will not be easy, it will take time and care and effort, but I believe someday those bonds will be repaired and they will truly become a family with mutual love for each other.

#lady prospera #prospera mercury #elnora samaya #delling rembran #g witch #the witch from mercury #gundam the witch from mercury

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theladybarnes · 1 year

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DON’T YOU WANT ME, BABY? : CHAPTER FOUR

“Mistakes have been made.”

▸ summary: a happy reunion happens, but boy drama ruins it all ▸ characters: steve harrington, billy hargrove, max mayfield, & the party ▸ word count: 4.8k ▸ warnings: angst, toxic exes, and general billy behavior ▸ series masterlist

The clock in Ms. Kelley’s office ticked loudly in the empty room, making you slightly more irritated as you continued to wait out for your counselor.

It was only a minute back to your group at gym class that Coach Duffer sent you to leave class early and go into the main office of the school. Something you didn’t think over until you were coming through the threshold with wet hair that soaked the top of your blouse. Could they not have given you at least a second to towel dry your hair?

“Alright, Miss Henderson.” Ms. Kelley chimed as she entered the room. “While I’m always happy to see you, I’m afraid I’m a bit unsettled by today’s visit.”

“You and me both, Ms. Kelley. Which is why I think we should reconvene on better circumstances and call it a day!” you clapped, going as far as to pick up your bag from the floor. The cheery tone only caused her to raise a brow as she settled into her seat across from you.

“Miss Henderson, it’s clear to me that today was quite the off day for you. Did something happen before school? Are you feeling alright?”

There was no good answer that you could give to the poor counselor. Was it the weird sex dream? The hangover? The boys who lie? How do you give her the gist of all that and come off as sane?

Bringing your hand up, you rub gently at your chin. Normally in court, you would plead a case and go through a million questions before allowing the jury to come to a conclusion. But with Ms. Kelley playing judge, jury, and executioner, you had to go about this differently.

“Guilty,” you sighed. “I’m not feeling well. And my severe actions deserve their proper consequences.” Leaning forward, you tilt your head towards the women, giving your best sorry face you could muster. “I’ll take whatever punishment you see fit.”

The thought up answer didn’t seem to satisfy Ms.Kelley. In fact, it made her frown harder as she jotted down a few things on her notepad. “Ms. Henderson, you flipped off a teacher, yelled at two students, and hurt one with a basketball. You mean to tell me that you want to play all that off from not feeling well?”

Sensing that there was a need for a small bit of honesty, you let out one piece of information that could hopefully close this case. “Well, that and some of the boys are spreading lies about the tellings of my personal sex life.”

Her jaw slacked a bit, pen falling to the side before she scrambled to pick it back up in her hand. “That is a serious accusation, Ms. Henderson. Are you sure that’s the reason?”

“Well, it’s definitely the main one.”

A sour sort of look spread over her face and she looked between you and her notepad for a second before she tore off the paper and threw it in the trash can beside her. “I need you to apologize to Coach Duffer for the unsavory hand sign you gave him, and clean up the gym after practice today for Coach Troy for disrupting his class.”

To say you were shocked was understatement, but you certainly don't question it as you stood up from your seat. Holding onto your bag tightly to leave before she changed her mind. “Sounds like a reasonable punishment, Ms. Kelley.”

“I also want to let you know you’re free to come talk to me if anyone else starts spreading more misinformation, okay?”

“You got it, Ms. K!”

You made your way over to the door, giving the woman a thankful wave as she called out one more request to you.

“And please don’t attack any more boys!”

While Ms. Kelley had given you a break today, most of the day seemed to go on longer than you expected. During lunch you had a hard time finding Jonathan, needing to be with someone who isn't currently judging you. But that ended up being a bust. Then when it came around time for you to clean up the gym, Coach Troy seemed to purposely drag out practice.

Though you spent a good chunk of the day avoiding conversing with others, you couldn’t help but feel bad as you finished cleaning up. Most of the other students were a bit wary of you. Possibly worried they’d be the next target in your yelling spree. Although not everyone seemed to get the hint. Considering you did see Steve by your locker earlier that day. And while you’d like to maybe talk things over with him, it was best not to add fuel to that fire.

It was nearing the evening when you finally left the gym. The winter sky had turned dark blue due to the time change. Since Jonathan seemed to disappear from school grounds today, you were stuck taking the long way home. Something you’d definitely be complaining to him on the phone tonight.

Just as you get on your bike and down the long driveway of the school, you’re about to pass the middle school’s joint hill when you first notice them. Or mostly notice her. The group you now know as your cousin’s “party” were all crowded together on the front steps. Each of them looked worried while the young girl looked confused.

“Maximilian! As I live and breathe!”

The boys all look over at you with a curious look before the redhead lets out a chuckled sort of gasp. “No way!” She said, rushing down the steps. “You’re here too?”

Her body colliding with yours nearly took you off your bike, making you giggle as you wrapped your arms around her figure. It’s been quite a while since you’ve seen the young girl and you’re happy seeing her in different circumstances.

“Is this where you went to?!” Max exclaimed, moving to look you over. “You still look the same.”

“Well moving would never stop me from looking good.”

Giving her a once over, you smile at the sight of her slightly Tom boyish style seeping through in fall clothing. She was always more bright and sunny back in California. You wonder if she’s struggling with the cold as much as you did.

“How the hell do you guys know each other?” Dustin blurted, stepping down the steps to join at your side. “And why are you at the school so late?”

Frowning you point a finger at him sternly. “I’m here because it’s none of your business and I know her because she's from back home.”

“She used to date my step-brother before she dumped him.”

“You have a brother?” Mike asked, a familiar look of displeasure on his face as he crossed his arms.

“Step-brother.” you both corrected him.

Turning back to the others you can’t help but feel their tension. “Are you guys hanging out together?” Peeking, you notice someone missing. “Why are you guys here so late? Where’s Will?”

Max scrunched her nose, pushing a fiery lock behind her ear. “I’m not hanging out with these guys. They were stalking me. And Will just—“

She’s cut off with a harsh nudge from Dustin. The slight push caused her to bump into you, making you nearly trip off your bike. “Geez!” she whispered, looking over at him with wide eyes. You can’t help but notice that they’re keeping something from you.

“Hmph,” you hummed, looking over at the group. “You guys are acting weirder than usual.”

Lucas stepped up with a sorry sort of smile on his face. “Uh we’re not, just worried about Will. His Mom had to come pick him up because he went into another weird episode.” The rest of the boys turned back into a slightly worried expression.

Jonathan had told you before how Will would become spacey sometimes, but lately it seemed like things were going backwards in his development.

Nodding your head, you place a hand down on Max’s shoulder, giving her a small smile. “He’s going through things. He'll be better in no time.” It wasn’t easy to lie to her, but considering you didn’t want to involve someone else in the mess from last year, you’d have to tough it out to protect her.

“Considering we’re not clouded by smoke from Billy, I’m guessing you’re gonna take your board home.”

Max peered over your shoulder to see across where the parking lot was. “Asshole.” she muttered before looking back at you. “I guess I am.”

Turning to the boys who were trying to huddle together, you pointed over to the bike rack. “Let’s get going! We’ll all ride together.” They all groaned a bit, hating the break up of their little get together. “Nuh uh, I won’t have any of that bitching, twerps. It’s gonna get dark and we don't need to be here a minute longer.”

Max ran back inside to quickly grab her backpack from her locker, leaving you alone with the boys for a second to quickly discuss what you couldn’t before.

“So, do you guys think Will is okay? I thought he was getting treatments or something down at the Lab?”

“We have no clue.” Mike sighed, adjusting his footing on the bike pedal. “He was off on Halloween and today he totally seized out on us. I wish we just had some clear answer.” The other two boys nodded, looking back at the school door to spot out for Max.

“And what about Max?” you asked, catching their gazes again. “What is she doing in the mix of all this?”

“Geez, you sound like you don’t want us to hang out with her.” Dustin scoffed, gripping onto his bike handle tightly.

“As much as I’d love for her to have friends she can punk around like you guys, I’m worried she might get involved in something that’s too big for her. Like you guys already are.”

Mike frowned a bit at that. “She’s not a part of the party. Don’t worry.”

There’s a slight disdain in Mike’s tone. Which you’re pretty familiar with, but it felt slightly unwarranted since he’s most likely known Max for less than a week. “Okay, noted.” you chuckled, making him shrug his shoulders.

The heavy door creaked loudly as Max pushed her way out. Bright hair blowing in the wind as she placed the board down on the ground. “Alright, you guys okay?” she panted, noticing the change in the group’s demeanor. The boys gave you a glance before you smiled over at Max.

“Yup! Let’s get going!” You called out, turning your bike to lead the way. It was just in time to miss the look of suspicion from her blue eyes.

To your surprise, when you finally got home with Dustin, Tina had been waiting on the phone. Wanting to hear the details of what happened after you left the gym class. Mostly because the rumor mill must have had some missing details.

Your vague answers did little to satisfy her, but she was willing enough to share the news of Billy having come over to them at lunch. Claiming he wanted to spend some time with Vicki that day. It would seem he was finally over you and therefore making Tina accept you back into her inner circle for now.

The phone call left you with a sort of sick feeling.

After a few attempts of trying to call Jonathan, you gave up for the night. Eating dinner quickly to get into bed early that night. All you could hope for was tomorrow being a better day without any trouble.

“Did you hear about your little weirdo and Nancy Wheeler?”

You had barely been able to get your book out of the locker when Tina and Vicki came into your line of vision. “No, can’t say I know what you’re talking about.” The brunette raised a brow, leaning against the metal door with a slight smirk.

“Some say they ditched early the other day. Left around lunch.”

“Others say they ran away together because they’re secretly in love!” Vicki giggled.

You stole a glance over to the locker beside you. Usually you managed to avoid the girl when getting your books, but now and then you’d see her there. But now that you’ve thought about it, it’s been three periods and you haven’t even seen her or Jonathan yet.

“I doubt that’s what’s going on.”

“Enlighten us, babydoll.” said a deep, agitating, grating voice.

The metal locker door creaked as he slowly shut it to reveal Billy’s face. The toothy grin plastered on his face as he annoyingly chewed gum loudly. “The girls and I have been trying to figure it out since first period.”

The other two giggled a bit, even going as far to twirling a piece of their hair as they nodded eagerly. Unfortunately, with the lack of contact from either person, you couldn’t give any of them the truth.

“They’re friends. Probably skipped the day to go hang out.” you shrugged, trying to play it off coolly. “Is that suddenly a crime?”

The two girls seemed slightly to agree before Billy scooted in closer, placing his arm across your shoulder as he leaned in to you. “We both know that Wheeler recently dumped Harrington too. You mean to tell me she’s not trying to rebound onto this Jonathan guy?”

Did Nancy break up with Steve? Was the reason why he had been crying at the party? Had it been yesterday when she went into the gym after you left?

Something in your face must have given off the confusion because suddenly the two girls are giggling at you. Playfully pushing at your shoulder. “It seems not even Byers’ only friend would know what the hell is going on.” Vicki said, making Tina smirk slightly in amusement.

“Poor thing.” Billy cooed. “I should help her catch up. We’ll see you guys at lunch.” he winked, waving them off with his free hand. You silently pleaded with your eyes, even shaking your head a bit to get them to stay. But the two giggled at Billy, ignoring your pleas as they waved goodbye to the two of you. Billy finally released you from his grip, allowing you to take a small step back. He remained cocky as he slid to lean against the locker.

“What is your damage, Billy? Since when do you care about gossip?”

“I care when it involves our friends.”

“God, they are not your friends.” you spat, rolling your eyes. “They’re like your obsessed followers.”

The comment made him chuckle, rubbing his hands together in front of him as he gave off a meek shrug. “What can I say? They adore me here. Not like they have anyone else to look up to considering Harrington is nothing but a loser these days.”

Something didn’t sit right with you to hear Billy talk about Steve that way. He didn’t know why he had fallen out with his friends. And while he wasn’t sitting with the same group of people, there were some who still held him in high regard. So why did Billy’s words bother you so much?

“So, if the competition is low, why bother with checking out rumors that don’t mean squat to you?”

“Well for one, competition is still competition. And two,” Billy leaned in, a dark cast over his light eyes as he pointed a finger at you. “because it matters to you.”

You frowned down at his finger. “It doesn’t matter to me. I hate the guy. Anyone will tell you that.”

“And yet he likes you.”

There was no way in hell Billy did not hit his head on the way into Indiana. Because at this point in time, even a child could tell that Steve Harrington only had eyes for Nancy Wheeler. Shaking your head, you look at Billy skeptically. “You’ve been here less than a week and think that?” you laughed, turning to go towards your next class. “I think you need a new informant because he is definitely not into me.”

“I have eyes, no need for clarification.” he sighed. “I’ve also been told by Tommy that you like him too. Since you came into town.”

Your sneakers squeak against the floor as you quickly turn to face Billy. Eyes glaring hard on him. “Tommy Hagan was practically trying to get real estate up Steve Harrington’s ass last year and you want to believe one of his deranged rumors?”

“He says you were practically all over him despite his attempts to get with Nancy.”

Laughing loudly, you shake your head at the boy. “I hung out with Tommy and his scheming girlfriend for one week and they came up with that shit?” Billy only stared at you with his calculating eyes, trying to pick out the lie in your words like he usually did with others. But you know him well enough now to cover up what you didn’t need for him to know.

“The three of them were assholes and I was done with all their bullshit by the weekend. When they figured I wasn’t going to hang out with them anymore, they decided to campaign against me.”

“Because you’re so worth lying about?” Billy asked, cocking his head to the side.

“What can I say, Billy? People tend to act a certain way when it comes to me.”

Your words seem to work because Billy chuckled lightly, nodding his head a bit before he extended a hand towards the direction you were going before. “Just thought I’d ask about it. I’m only looking out, babydoll.” The nickname made you cringe lightly.

“Well I don’t need you to look out for me.”

“Oh I know,” he smirked, waving you off. Not waiting for your leave, he turned to walk down the opposite direction. But not without giving you what felt like a warning.

“I’m looking out for me.”

As of this week, the school day left you falling into a funk. Not only were most of your friends icing you out because of Billy, but Jonathan really did skip out on the day. Leaving your lunch plans practically dead.

It wasn’t until you were inside the cafeteria, holding a plastic food tray tightly in your hands that you suddenly felt ill.

Never in all your high school life had you been such an outcast. You had so many friends back home. But as of right now, the idea of being friends with anyone felt like a risk. Were they going to leave you too? Was there anyone you could trust anymore?

Not one for letting your real emotions show, you cock your head up, ignoring some of the leering eyes of the student body as you made your way to one of the center tables that had been abandoned. You’d eat quickly, but confidently. With no signs of discomfort on your face. That way no one could get the satisfaction of thinking they made you feel bad.

You pulled out a magazine from your bag, placing it down in front of you so that you could keep your attention focused on something other than the students around you. But just as you had begun to eat into the school’s overheated pizza slice, another person slid on the seat across from you.

“We need to talk.”

You kept your eyes down on the page rereading the same paragraph of the quiz ‘who your celeb soulmate is’ as you ignored the boy across from you. “Don’t really see what we have to talk about.” you mused, turning the page for results.

“Would the fact that everyone keeps talking about us not be good enough reason?”

“Nope.” You drawed out, frowning down at the paper. “Damn, I got Tom Cruise. I wanted Michael J. Fox.”

The magazine is snatched from your line of vision. Making you snap your head up to finally look at your unwanted guest. “Give that back, Steve! I have to find out if Tom Cruise likes what I do!”

Steve folded the paper over, giving you an exasperated look before leaning in close. “You can figure all that out later. We gotta get these rumors under control.”

Blowing air through your nose, you keep your composure under control as you begin to pick at your lunch. Eating bits of the pizza with your fork. “Us sitting together is just gonna make things worse.”

“That’s what I’m talking about! We should be able to do things like sit next to each other without it meaning anything.”

Leaning back against your chair, you raise a brow at Steve. “Well, get Nancy to help clear some of the air. She’s a part of this as much as we are.”

His face fell at the mention of the girl. Suddenly emotional, he reached over to your lunch, ripping a chunk of pizza off as he chewed on it harshly. “We can’t go to Nancy right now.”

Glaring at the now torn off piece, you try and move past his sudden indulging of your lunch. “Well no, I know she’s not here today. But tomorrow..”

“No, we can’t go to Nancy right now because..she and I are fighting.”

“Okay, so make up with her.”

“It’s not that easy, trouble.”

Something was telling you that you’d regret going on with this conversation but your curiosity had a better hold on you than you thought. “Well why the hell not? You guys are practically making out in the hallway these days. Just bring her flowers and make up already.”

Steve, having grown more annoyed, leaned towards the table, brows furrowed as he spoke softly. “I can’t just make up with her because she thinks we killed Barb.”

Pushing your tray aside, you move to lean close to him. Not wanting to risk anyone hearing the conversation now. “What the hell do you mean? Is this why you were crying the other night?!” you hissed.

“I was not crying…but yes. Among other things.”

“Like what?”

He looked hesitant at first before he dived into a brief explanation of the night. And you were unfortunately correct on them being off from the start. But you really didn’t expect the last part. “..Apparently, we were never in love, I’m bullshit, and now she’s run off with Jonathan out of town.”

“Shit.” you said, reeling back a bit. The two of you have a bit of a stare down as you try to think of how exactly you were supposed to reply to that. While you had your own problems with Steve.

What Nancy was blaming him for was unfair. No one could have figured that Barb would be taken by a demogorgon that night. It was just a party, where stupid teens were supposed to make stupid decisions. How could the blame be on either of them for something that wasn’t even a part of this world?

“I’m sorry,” reaching out, you placed your hand gingerly on top of his. Feeling the warmth from his palms as his fingers twitched from the contact. “It’s not your fault..I hope you know that.”

Steve’s lips parted slightly, words being suddenly taken from him as his gaze moved between your hand and your face. Turning the hand over, he gently allowed your fingers to slip into his. Only for a second before he gave a squeeze. “Thanks.”

Figures that the one time you’re actually having something of a nice moment with Steve it has to do with you comforting him about Nancy. But a small selfish part of you is lingering onto the way his touch feels to you right now.

“I know I’m probably the last person you think would suggest this. But maybe we can find a way to figure out where Nancy and Jonathan are. Help figure out what mess they’ve gotten into-”

“You know Harrington. When I mentioned leaving behind some girls for you, I wouldn’t have expected you go after my girl of all people.” The chair beside you screeches loudly as Billy plops down beside you. The strong scent of his Aramis making you nearly gag as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders. Steve is quick to drop your hand as he leaned back in his chair, glaring over at Billy.

“Okay, first off. I am not your girl. Second, what the hell are you on about, Billy?” Pushing his arm off, you turn a bit to face him. Though his tone was playful, you couldn’t help but notice the familiar look of fire behind his eyes. He was upset.

“Lover boy here is obviously having some relationship problems as we’ve discussed.”

Steve’s brown eyes snapped to you, giving you a questioning look as Billy went on. “I thought I gave him some humbling advice but he clearly ran off with it.”

“God, do you ever stop talking?” Steve muttered in disbelief.

“No, he lacks the capacity to have any sort of tact.”

“Others would say I'm just brutally honest.” Billy interjected, attempting to make a point. But all you and Steve did was scoff in reply.

Scooting your chair away from his side, you turned to face him better. Not needing to be plagued by his close scent anymore. “What asinine advice did you give Steve?”

“Easy, I told him there was plenty of girls–”

“Not the word I remember hearing.”

Billy blinked hard, nose flaring before he went on. “That he should move on and find some other bitch to help him forget Wheeler.” The harsh words made your face twist uncomfortably. “And like I mentioned before, I didn’t think he’d do that with you of all people.”

You couldn’t help but recall the conversation you had with Billy earlier in the hall. His comments about Steve possibly liking you felt so out of pocket. Even now, right before he had come in and invaded your conversation. All you and Steve were doing was talking about how upset he was because of Nancy.

“Who she talks to is none of your business.” Steve said suddenly. “From what she’s told me, she dumped you last year, leaving you a mess back in California.”

“Oh is that what she said?” Billy asked, followed with a dark chuckle that you knew was being led to a worse reaction. “What else do you suddenly know about her?”

“I know she’s obviously grossed out by you and yet all you’ve done since you’ve gotten here is invade her space, man. It’s like you aren’t getting the hint.” Steve countered, almost leaning across the whole table with how close he got.

“Really! You of all people are able to grasp hints all of a sudden!”

“Believe me, I’m not the only one seeing the signs. She’s practically crawling away from you every time you’re by her.”

“And just how many times are you watching whenever I talk with her? She’s my girlfriend!”

“She’s not!”

“ENOUGH!” you yelled, suddenly pushing your chair back. The cafeteria deafens as the students around you notice the drama that's at your table. “I’ve about had it with you two!”

Both boys’ jaws dropped as they noticed your sudden anger. It wouldn’t be the first time that either one of them has dealt with your fury and from the way they act it certainly wouldn’t be the last. And while you hated the idea of having an audience, you could not hold back anymore.

“For the last and final time, Billy. I am NOT your girlfriend. You’re an egotistical man-whore who needs a god damn reality check! Leave me the hell alone!” The blonde nearly paled through his tan complexion as his eyes flickered to those around him.

Your gaze turned to Steve, making him nearly jump in his seat as his face almost mirrored the same look from last year when you gave him a piece of your mind. And while the anger wanted to come out, a part of you held back. “We’re not friends.” The words felt heavy when you saw Steve’s face fall. “I don’t need you to defend me and I definitely don’t need you to speak for me.”

Turning the students around you, you cock your chin out, letting out a calm breath before speaking again. “Shows over, assholes!” And with that the other students quickly diverted their attention back to their meals, not willing to be the next target in your tirade.

Grabbing your bag from the table, you quickly gather your tray, and push in your chair. Steve defeatedly holds up the magazine to you, making you swallow at the sight before you snatched it from his hands.

The stress of dealing with petty high school drama was beginning to get the best of you. And for the second time in your life, you’re walking away from telling off Steve Harrington. And like last time, it’s left you questioning just how you really felt about him.

a/n: pls be kind. this chapter was such a struggle for me 🥹

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things fanfic #angst #toxic ex #adopted reader #dywmb

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lume-nosity · 1 year

Text

spending christmas with them

characters: arataki itto, tartaglia, beidou, venti, kamisato ayaka, cyno, noelle, ei, xiao, hu tao, kazuha, tighnari, albedo

style: fluff/crack

pronouns: they/them

song inspo: holly jolly christmas - burl ives

an: fuck everything i’m feeling festive rn. i’ve written this at the start of november & i might do more of these but it’s not guaranteed unless i feel like doing more. (i can’t write for the majority of these characters because it’s my first time branching out for more characters so apologies for any ooc moments (even though i’ve specified that so many times FHWHFH))

notes: reader is gender neutral, not proofread, lowercase intended, this is in scenario/hc form, swearing, this is obviously going to be ooc & weird since i want to fuck around with the christmas prompt, not really an x reader on the last portion but reader was briefly mentioned, last portion was lazily written

you in snowball fights with itto, tartaglia, and beidou

just imagine tartaglia going ‘a perfect backdrop for bloodshed.’ this is what he was referring to.

itto’s like ‘OH HELL YEAH!!- wait- hold on- nobody’s going to be bleeding anything here. it’ll allll be just some friendly competition!’

and beidou’s like ‘ha, big guy, i’m pretty sure he didn’t mean actual bloodshed.’

while the two of them weren’t looking, you and tartaglia made some snowballs. giving each other a sneering look, before you threw your snowballs at itto and his at beidou.

itto completely flabbergasted and beidou had a scary bloodlust look on her face as she wipes the snow off of her face.

‘oh, you’re on.’

‘WHA?!- OH HO HOOO YOU’RE FUNNY. YOU GUYS ARE GOING DOWN!!’

it’ll literally be the four of you guys hurling snowballs at each other, making a loud ruckus but who cares!!

beidou with her skilled snowball throws and itto with his quick and reckless ones omg, the sheer difference

tartaglia is pretty serious in fights, even if it’s a snowball fight. any fight is fun to him yk? so expect him do tricks and shit with his throws

“say, you guys aren’t bad yourselves.”

“haha, you flatter me captain. you guys are up to par with my skills, which is impressive. and i want to see more of that.”

“uhhh is this battle talk or something??”

and then you’re just having the time of your life hurling multiple snowballs at a time towards the opposing team, laughing your ass off at the same time

venti trying to open up his gifts before it’s time but was stopped by cyno and ayaka’s a witness

imagine venti just sitting down on a chair with ayaka sitting right next to him in her own chair.

venti’s just leaning in his seat in boredom while ayaka peacefully sips her hot cocoa. until venti had the bright idea of opening their gifts early.

‘psst. hey. let’s open up our gifts before everyone else.’

ayaka, who sets her cup down and glanced towards him, ‘huh? but y/n told us to not open them yet.’

‘aw come on, it’ll be okay! look, we’ll get to be the first ones to know what we got!’

ayaka looks away for a bit before sighing and turned back to him, ‘i apologize. i cannot.’

venti pouts, and said ‘oh okay then.. your loss~’

venti jumps off of his chair to make his way towards the tree behind them as ayaka watches him. she sees him bend down to his gift, admiring it. ayaka notices a presence coming towards him. it was very hidden she couldn’t make it out to be someone. but before she tries to warn him, venti was stopped by a familiar general’s narrowed gaze.

‘what are you doing.’

‘ah, if it isn’t the general mahamatra! i wasn’t doing anything. ehe~’

‘we were specifically ordered by y/n to not open up our gifts until they say it’s okay. if you didn’t get the memo, allow me to rephrase it,’ *cue his intimidating look from his teaser* ‘in a way you’re able to understand.’

ayaka squeaked a bit by how terrifying cyno’s aura is, she made a mental note to not fuck with the mahamatra.

in conclusion, venti is done for in terms of stern lectures and ‘whatnot’ from cyno LMFAO

noelle teaching xiao and ei on how to make gingerbread houses as hu tao makes her little gingerbread haunted house in the background

ngl, noelle is more than happy and very honored to teach xiao and ei. while also shitting herself inside because she’s teaching the best of the best and she doesn’t want to mess things up

but ei would be so into it. she’ll be like ‘oh! so this piece would be here? and i can add some of these sweetish assortments to top it off?’ and noelle, who snapped out of her thoughts went: ‘ah! yes, that’s right. get the glue to your left and stick those together. you are free to apply as many sweets as you want!’ ei is probably fighting the urge to eat the gumdrops and other sweets laying around for her house tbh

xiao is just watching them at a respectable distance with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall while observing their actions. he couldn’t quite understand the concept of ‘christmas’ since he’s never celebrated it before. he didn’t want to interfere since he’s afraid of what’s to happen should he try to participate. but having to see the people he holds dear enjoying it, he’s at ease.

‘adeptus xiao, would you like to join us?’

xiao glanced at her from the sound of his name, though a bit confused as to why noelle was formal around him, so he told her: ‘just call me xiao. and no, i’m alright with only observing.’

ei turned around, with a gumdrop in her mouth, ‘you should try this festivity! it may be foreign, but i was told this is a one time thing during this time of year. so i believe it’ll be best if you’ll join us.’

xiao grimaced a bit, ‘no. didn’t you hear me the first time? i’m alright with watching you do..whatever it is that you’re doing in case one of you get injured. i must always stay vigilant, no matter the scenario.’

hu tao who paused in making her original gingerbread haunted house barged her way into the conversation and added, ‘mr. grumpy old xiao, you don’t have to always be like that! look, it’s christmas! a time where we all gather around and spend all day doing all sorts of fun activities! you just lazing about in the background, doesn’t make you fun at parties.’ she giggled a bit.

xiao, pretending he never heard of the name he was given by hu tao, groaned quietly, ‘you…’ he sighed again.

‘xiao, you don’t have to force yourself to do something you aren’t comfortable with doing, it’s okay. we can just-‘

‘i will do it.’ ‘huh?’ ‘i will do it. i will accompany you in whatever activity you call it.’

noelle and ei sighed a breath of relief as hu tao went back to what she’s doing. xiao is in for a repeat of what’s to come in the art of making a gingerbread house. no matter, as long as he’s enjoying it even if it’s far from his familiarity. none of them were aware of the tiny smile that’s growing from his lips.

albedo, kazuha, and tighnari staying up to admire the snow outside, but albedo had the bright idea that they’d all sketch out the scenery and is willing to teach them how to draw

guys listen, i want them all to interact okay

they’re all just chilling next to the fireplace in silence, looking outside your window to see snowflakes glaze the glass.

until kazuha complimented the snow because that’s just him

“wouldn’t you all agree that snow is an entranced sight to see? everything is coated in white, and the atmosphere has transfigured to peace and solitude.

while tighnari has sparkles in his eyes because he’s never seen snow like that (ahem referring to his voicelines)

“wow… snow never fails to look this eye-catching. in fact, from where i’m from, it’s always so humid. and it’d be nice to get this once in a while. not only is it a captivating sight, it’s also much cooler compared to deserts.”

albedo’s just sketching the sight in his little sketchbook you gave him as a present

‘yes. might i suggest we sketch out the scenery laying before us?”

the two glanced at albedo, both confused at the request

kazuha: “ah… i’m not particularly skilled in the art of drawing, ironic enough. i’m around the lines of an amateur artist.”

tighnari: “if you count little doodles or scribbles, then yes. otherwise.. i can’t draw.”

“that’s no problem. i’m willing to teach you, if you both are interested in the offer.”

the two looked at each other before a soft smile was plastered on both of their faces, both piqued by the offer.

“from the silence and your expressions, i’m going to assume you’re both interested.”

albedo ripped two pieces of paper out of his sketchbook and lends them both a pencil (that came from his magical pockets)

“now then, allow me to walkthrough the basics.”

imagine tighnari’s ears,, like how they perk up or do a little ‘fwip’ because of how focused he is in drawing. while kazuha is the same, with his eyes squinting and using his pencil in a gentle, and careful manner. while listening closely all at the same time.

albedo’s ‘tutoring’ voice,,, enough to make someone fall asleep on the clock

okay i’m leaving the rest up to you guys because my brain is melting (in a good way)

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stray-dogrose · 2 years

Text

I'm here rereading and thinking about the last chapter again so I'll throw here something I've noticed. I apologize in advance for my bad english and my poor skills in analyzing and exposing things.

Spoilers from chapter 101 ahead.

So let's start with the first panel, in which Chūya seems to be very tired: he's sweating and panting, as if he's reaching a limit. His eyes are whiter than the last time we saw him in chapter 98, there are fewer "wrinkles" under his eyes and even his fangs are significantly shorter. I think Harukawa-sensei drew a similar pose in both panels to allow us to notice these differences.

For the next bunch of panels we can only see Chūya's figure but he's faceless, so we can't get his expression.

Here we have the detail that rang an alarm bell in my poor and fucked up head.

"He's got the circuit already..."

I checked multiple translations plus the original japanese text in order to confirm that Fyodor was already aware of Dazai's plan from the start, he knew he would tamper with the circuit. And he gets scared, but just for a moment, 'cause his expression immediately changes in a more serious and concentrated one, as if he still has everything under control, as if he were waiting for it.

Even when Chūya starts to brutally punch the wall, Fyodor's eyes are clear and focused like we've never seen them before.

Then we have a close-up of Chūya's face again, where we can only see his still vampirized eyes but not his mouth, and again it's hard for us to tell exactly what kind of face he's "wearing".

In my opinion these two panels are just meant to be a glimpse of what Fyodor's seeing, they serve to draw attention to Chūya and his current state.

In fact, I think Fyodor's not looking at the wall to see if it will break. He's looking right at Chūya, he's evaluating his state. I mean look at his frowned expression: it's almost like he's calculating, maybe he's already planning an alternative escape route.

And only after having established that Chūya is still a vampire he says "this is bad". This can be referred to the fact that Dazai acted earlier than he had predicted and that Chūya is still a vampire. It's bad because it'll take a little more time for Chūya to regain his human form, and Fyodor clearly needs it to happen as soon as possible, even if we still don't know why.

Than we have the most painful panel of the entire chapter (of the entire manga, honestly), where Chūya is drowning and it seems that his "humanisation" is now completed, so here it comes what Fyodor is expecting from him.

Well, but what is Fyodor expecting from him? What should we expect?

Chūya obviously represents a key part of his plan, but in what way? If you think about it he hasn't played a part yet. Why is he here? Is he meant to deceive Dazai? Or to use Corruption?

[As much as I love Soukoku, I highly doubt that Chūya's been turned into human form by Dazai's voice, it's too "Disney Princess style", don't you think? We all know that the princess here is Dazai, but we're talking about Chūya now, it'd be out of character.]

C'mon, do you really think this is the face of someone on the verge of death? He has some plan in mind, he still has one, whether it's Chūya, his own ability, an external help or god knows what. He's mad as hell and I'm a bit scared of him right now, I think he will finally start acting serious.

In conclusion: it would be interesting to know if the vampire infection has a duration and I hope we'll get to know more about it in the next chapter, but I wouldn't be surprised if Asagiri took us back to where Aya and Bram are and gave us an explanation of a possible duration of the effect of his ability, if that was really the case.

Idk guys, maybe I'm just rumbling and all of this is so obvious for all of you that I'll make a fool of myself, but I wanted to point it out.

#bsd 101 #bsd analysis #bsd nakahara chuuya #bsd fyodor dostoevskij #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd manga #bsd manga panel #asagiri kafka #kafka asagiri #harukawa 35 #sango harukawa #bsd manga spoilers #bsd theories #bsd thoughts #bsd dazai osamu

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ethereal-engene · 2 years

Text

pocket money | seungcheol

pairing: seungcheol x gn!reader

genre: slice-of-life, fluff, a poor attempt at humor // warnings: mentions of food, and stress (nothing too much in detail)

summary: you encounter a good looking stranger and decide to talk to him. out of all of the questions to be asked of you, you don’t expect this one. // word count: ~1.7k

note: … enjoy :)) also @sungbeam

You had gotten off of work and decided to walk around the city for a bit. Settling for this little patio looking space filled with tables and chairs waiting to be occupied with.

It would be odd to sit down by myself here without having bought something from them. So you walk in the cafe and place an order. Ordering some of your favorite tea to sip on as you enjoy the view. You wonder how long it’s been since you’ve had this tea and gotten to relax.

It’s been too long. Way too long. After picking up your drink, you head back to what brought you here in the first place. The view here is absolutely stunning.

The trees branches have lights hanging from them accompanied with the sunset getting dimmer by the minute. Taking a mental note to come here again. Even the tea is brewed nicely.

Getting lost into your thoughts about your plans for the night, you stare off into the distance. This week was quite long, or so it felt like it.

Especially with work being stressful and busy. The deadlines were getting closer and closer, you wondered if your team could really get it done in time. You quickly shake your head. No more thinking and stressing about work once you clock out.

Now you’re back in reality. You hear loud laughter, and can’t help but find out where it’s coming from. It’s kind of contagious. Hearing it makes you chuckle. Your eyes do a little search for the culprit.

Spotting a pair of friends. One of which is posing while the other takes their picture. While it’s happening, you hear him laugh again. It seems like the friend taking his picture is probably making jabs.

You must admit, the one who is getting his photo taken is super handsome. He poses like a natural. Is he a model of some sort? There’s no way he can’t be. With his good looks, modeling agencies must be scouting him.

While you admire from afar, the two friends notice that you’re staring at them. They’re slightly uncomfortable but not enough to leave the place.

Amongst themselves, they come to the conclusion you’re likely a carat. And based on the way you’re gawking are Seungcheol, he’s your bias.

As some minutes pass by, you muster up enough courage to talk to them. Walking up to them, you introduce yourself and give your compliments to the man. They introduce themselves and you learn that their names are Jeonghan and Seungcheol.

Seungcheol thanks you for the compliment and before you get the chance to say anything else you’re cut off with his question. A question you’ve never been asked before.

“Do you need pocket money?” He asks you in a deadpan tone. Seungcheol even holds eye contact with you.

Oh wow, he was being serious.

Tilting your head to the side, and your eyebrows raise up. You’re silent for a solid five minutes before answering. Thinking to yourself, do I look poor or in need of money? Ahaha sure it’d be nice but you don’t need it. Especially from a stranger you’ve just met.

Not even Jeonghan knew that he was going to ask that. Judging from your reaction and the fact that you had asked them what their names were, it was likely that you were not a carat. When he heard that question slip out of Seungcheol’s mouth, Jeonghan strikes his stupid friend in the chest.

He not so quietly yells at him “why’d you ask that?”. What a great first impression. Jeonghan does not blame you if you were to walk away right now.

It hits Seungcheol a bit late that not everyone may know him and that you’re not a carat… Instead of apologizing after the realization, he just covers his face with his hands. God this is so embarrassing. How in the world is he going to recover from this now? Maybe he should just walk away and pretend this didn’t happen.

“Thank you for the offer but I have to decline. I have to ask though. Do you ask that to everyone who approaches you?”, Stifling a bit of your laughter to continue. “Because if so, I would suggest you ask another question”

Unable to hold back any of your laughter, you’re now bellowing in laughter. They both nervously laugh along with you. Seungcheol scratches the back of his head before giving a reply. Followed by a ninety degree bow from him and several apologies spilling from his mouth.

You didn’t think too much of it honestly, even though it was an audacious question to be asked. It’d just be a funny story for you all to tell one day. So you frantically wave it off and reassure him that it’s okay.

“Still I’m sorry that I asked you that. I shouldn’t have asked you that. It’s really rude and disrespectful. I promise you that I don’t ask everyone that approaches me that question!” There’s distress in his tone as he explains himself.

He’s so distressed that he speaks so quickly. His hands are rubbing together indicating that he’s sorry. You almost couldn’t understand what he was saying. This makes you laugh because it’s really okay. Assuring him again it’s okay and it was a misunderstanding. Nothing more and nothing less.

“At the very least, let me give you money for the next time you come here. Or your next drink is on me. If you tell the owner that you’re a friend of mine, you won’t have to pay anything.”

Jeonghan is baffled and watching this unfold. It’s amusing to see his friend so flustered. The next thing you know, you’re shaking your head that Seungcheol is afraid it’s going to roll off. Making the letter X with your arms. You exclaim to him no.

“Seungcheol, really. It’s okay! There’s no need for that.” You’ve had to raise your voice in the tiniest bit to get him to stop blabbering about how to fix this.

After that, silence fills the air until Seungcheol speaks up again.

“If you’re curious, I had asked you that question because I thought you were a fan of ours. As you can see, we’ve been terribly mistaken.“ Nodding to show that you’re listening.

“You see, we’re a part of a group called SEVENTEEN! I’ve told our fans that if they ever bump into me or see me somewhere, they can ask me for pocket money. And as you can see, thinking that you were a fan and looking at me. I guessed that you might have wanted some money from me.”

“I see. That makes sense but to be quite frank with you. I was looking at you because I thought you were super good looking.” Seungcheol tries not to go weak in the knees. Hearing that you think he’s good looking is making his ego boost and slightly humiliating.

He gives you another thanks. Seungcheol now has the courage to look you in the eyes. Getting a better look at you, it was hard not to look away. You looked so gorgeous.

Noticing that he was holding eye contact with you for longer than expected, you two simultaneously turn your head away from each other. Jeonghan is like “I’m not even here baby. I’m an illusion✨”

In all seriousness, Hannie is waiting to mess with Cheol on the way home about this entire interaction.

Not really knowing what to do or say next, you’re about to bid them goodnight since … What more is there to say? You had only really come to start a conversation with them to give your praise for Seungcheol’s looks. And since you’ve given it to him, you’re beginning to wish them goodnight and to get home safely.

Bowing to them as you say your goodbyes and small apology for not knowing who they were. When you’re done and standing back up, you wave and start walking. However you don’t get too far before you feel a tug on your sweater.

“Don’t apologize for not knowing who we are. It was pretentious of us to assume you were a fan. Thank you again for letting me explain why I asked you that question,” It’s not like you were going to walk away before hearing an explanation.

“Since it’s late already, let us walk you home! I’d be more than happy to do that for you. It’s the least I could do.” You didn’t even take notice that it was indeed dark now. He calls for Jeonghan to come with. Little does he know but Hannie has already left for the dorms a while ago. He had texted Cheol to get you home safely and enjoy the walk with them.

Cheol checks his phone after realizing that Hannie had left. Of course, Jeonghan would leave him alone. He’s half grateful but also fearful that he’ll somehow screw things up (even more) with you.

“Sure, I’d love that. So Seungcheol, tell me about yourself or SEVENTEEN.” And so he talks about himself on the way to your apartment. Even though the stars might be shining tonight, nothing is shining more than him at the moment.

He speaks with a lot of love in his heart. It’s admiring and wholesome. Making your heart swell up. When you guys reach the entrance, it feels bittersweet. Having learned much about him and his group, you’d like to learn more; as he wants to learn about you more too.

“Well, this is it. Thank you for walking me home Seungcheol. I might not need any pocket money from me but I might need your phone number, if you don’t mind or can’t, so we can meet again.” Clicking your tongue and shooting finger guns at him.

Making him laugh the same way he was earlier when you first saw him. His laugh is truly contagious because the next thing you know you’re laughing too. “Now it’d be a shame if I couldn’t meet you again, y/n. By the way, call me Cheol. We’re friends now, aren’t we?”

With him dialing his phone number into your phone. His eyes meet yours for the last time in the night and gosh. They’re so pretty. “Yes, I suppose we’re friends now. Now get home safely Cheol!!”.

Waving him goodbye and giving him a finger heart, he walks home. You can no longer see him as he gets further away but he’s smiling hard as you are too.

the seungcheol brainrot never ends y’all! LMAO I cannot believe I finished writing this last night even though I had to wake up for a 9am class. I did wake up in time btw.

I hope you enjoyed this! If you did, please leave feedback by reblogging with tags, sending an ask, or leaving a comment! Thank you reading and take care.

Signing off with love

- ash

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nyoomfruits · 1 year

Text

the moon’s never seen me before

pairing: max verstappen/charles leclrec word count: 800+ a/n: uuuh so i recently fell down the lestappen hole and then did what i do whenever i have a new obsession: i wrote a fic about it the prompt was ‘"Can you imagine us being together?" "Pfft, nightmare material."’ taken from this list. set somewhere after the abu dhabi gp.

It takes Charles a few tries to find a door that actually leads outside, and when he finally does he takes a deep breath in the chilly night air, the anxious feeling that’s been sitting in his stomach all night finally dissipating a little.

He takes another deep breath and looks around, realizing that he’s on a tiny balcony overlooking the city and that he’s not alone.

Max is leaning against the railing, bottle of beer dangling from his hand as he raises an eyebrow in Charles direction.

“Ah,” Charles says, “my apologies. I wasn’t aware this rooftop was taken. I will,” he makes an aborted move towards the door, but Max stops him.

“It’s fine,” he says, turning his back to Charles to look back over the city.

Charles, who isn’t really looking forward to going back inside to rejoin the party, figures that’s good enough, and joins Max at the railing.

A silence falls over them, and it’s both comfortable and unsettling all at once. It makes Charles realize that even though they talk now, are on good terms, might even be something close to friends, they are hardly ever alone together. There’s always other drivers around, or press, or team members.

Now it’s just them, Charles finds himself at a loss as to what to say.

“Congrats,” Max eventually says, toying with the label of his beer bottle. “On your P2. You deserved better.”

“Thanks,” Charles says. “You too. Congrats, I mean.”

Max hums noncommittally. They’re right next to each other, arms leaning on the railing, close enough to touch.

Charles figures it’s as good a time as any to ask the question he’s been dying to ask since he stepped out here to find Max already there. “Shouldn’t you be inside? Celebrating?”

Max looks at him, and there’s the little twinkle in his eyes that always makes Charles’s stomach feel like it’s floating inside of his body. “Shouldn’t you?” He raises an eyebrow, challenging, and Charles snorts.

“I’m not the world champion.”

Max makes a dismissive motion with his hand. “Meh, been there done that.”

“Oh, you asshole,” Charles says, punching him the shoulder as Max laughs loudly. During their interaction they've somehow impossibly moved closer, so their forearms graze together with every small movement.

“Feels overwhelming, sometimes,” Max says, suddenly a lot more serious, a lot more vulnerable. “All eyes on you, all the pictures, the questions, the expectations. Suffocating.”

Charles, who still feels the ghost of the anxiety that made him search out this balcony in the first place, nods in understanding. “Yeah, same, I guess.”

Max looks at him, and it almost startles Charles how close their faces are. The soft light from the moon illuminates Max, makes his eyes stand out even more, and he’s looking at Charles with an almost disarmingly honest expression on his face.

Charles opens his mouth, to say something, anything, to break the weird tension that seems to suddenly be simmering between them, when the door swings open.

The boys turn around in unison, panicked looks on their faces, as an elderly woman in a beautiful red gown steps onto the balcony. She startles when she sees Charles and Max and looks them over, clearly coming to the completely wrong conclusion when her confused look turns into a knowing smile and she winks at them as she says, “I’m so sorry, boys. Carry on.” Before disappearing back inside.

There’s a second of silence, but then Charles and Max look at each other and burst out in slightly uncomfortable laughter. “God, I think she thought we were making out up here or something,” Max says, as their laughter dies down a little.

“Can you imagine?” Charles says, still chuckling a little. “Us being together?”

“Pfft, nightmare material,” Max says, bumping their shoulders together. Neither of them mention how they haven’t moved an inch since the woman showed up, how they are still pressed so close together their forearms are touching, how when they turn their faces towards each other, their noses almost touch.

“You wish you were so lucky,” Charles says, smiling softly at Max.

“Oh, definitely,” Max says, and Charles is pretty sure he’s joking, but there’s that twinkle in his eye, that goddamn twinkle, and Charles breath hitches for a second. Their faces are still only inches apart, and for a second Charles can’t help but think it would be so easy to just lean over and kiss him.

The moment is broken when Max turns to look back over the city. Charles can’t tear his eyes away just yet, glancing at Max’s profile illuminated in the moon light. He knows this should scare him, this whatever they have going on right now, but it’s the first moment all night all his feelings of anxiety seem to have completely disappeared.

So instead, he lets himself have this moment, this quiet little moment where it’s just the two of them, and joins Max in staring out over the city. Max says nothing, just gently bumps their shoulders together, and Charles knows he understands.

It’s a long time before either of them rejoins the party.

#lestappen #drabble #am open to prompts if you want to send them in!!!

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howlingday · 4 months

Note

cauiten of hte blake and yang maidne au

And so it begins...

First / Previously

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

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." The headmaster of Beacon waved his arm to the four girls, who then took to the stage. Standing before an audience under a blinding spotlight, Blake fought the urge to cover her eyes. Looking to her fellow faunus, Ruby Rose, she noticed she didn't feel such hesitation and raised an arm over her brow. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose."

More cheers and applause followed. Ruby dropped her arm in surprise, while Yang immediately squeezed her new leader, embarrassing her by lifting her off the ground and swinging her. Weiss was moreso shocked, likely expecting herself to be made the Team Leader instead. But Blake looked past her team and to the headmaster, who gave a solemn nod.

Soon it would be time to talk.

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

"Dad! Dad!" Ruby called into the screen from her seat. Taiyang, on the other side of the screen, shoved her dad. "Dad, did you hear me at all?"

"I heard ya just fine, kiddo." Her dad said with a yawn. "Ya got into Beacon, right?"

"I said that weeks ago!" She whined, her wolf ears going flat. "I'm here now, and I-"

"Made team leader, right?"

"Oh, so you were listening?" Taiyang said with a scowl. "We're both proud of you, Ruby."

"I was up late doing an important job for your headmaster." Dad gave a grin. "And he's wanting me to swing by in a couple months." At this Ruby squealed.

"Would you keep it down over there?!" Ruby winced as her partner shouted over the barrier between them. She'd been so caught up in the excitement of the day, she'd forgotten she wasn't the only one with family to tell the good news to. "Apologies, Winter. My team leader decided she just has to be as loud as she possibly can."

"Hey, by the way, where's your sister?" Dad asked. "Coulda sworn she was gonna tell us with you."

"She got called to the headmaster's office. I don't know why, though." At this, the two men looked at each other with concern. "I-I'm sure it's nothing serious! She's just, y'know, got, uh..."

"It's fine, Ruby." Taiyang sighed. "I just didn't expect her to go to see Professor Ozpin already."

"It's probably because of her previous record at Signal." Dad explained. "She was a bit of a troublemaker back there."

Aside from a few pranks, not really. Maybe a little anti-bullying violence after Ruby showed up, but nothing to the point where she'd have to go straight to the headmaster's office. What could have happened that required her to go after her initiation?

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

"Ms. Belladonna?" Blake looked up from her seat in the waiting room. The deputy headmistress, Professor Goodwitch, eyed her from her towering position over her. "The headmaster will see you now."

She and Yang had been called to the headmaster's office for some reason. At first, she thought it was in regard to herself being the Fall Maiden. However, the inclusion of her newest partner Yang muddied the conclusion. Could this be because Yang was now her partner, or something else entirely? Yang hadn't left yet, so she was still in there.

With a nod, she stood up and entered the elevator leading to the Beacon Headmaster's office. The large room at the top was massive, almost dome-like with it's ceiling nearly obscured by massive, moving gears.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Belladonna." Professor Ozpin formally greeted.

"Wassup, Blake?" Yang informally greeted.

"Now that you are both here," the headmaster began, "I would like to congratulate you both on passing initiation. And with that said, I would like you both to properly introduce yourselves to each other."

"Of course." Blake nodded, then turning to Yang. "My name is Blake Belladonna, and I am the Fall Maiden."

"No way!" Yang covered her mouth. "You're a Maiden, too?!"

#rwby #rwby au #maiden blake au #maiden blake #yang xiao long #ruby rose #weiss schnee #ozpin #qrow branwen #taiyang xiao long #blake belladonna #my answer #my answers #glynda goodwitch

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hikari-drkspc · 1 year

Text

❅ “Run Away” ❅

character: yandere! minamoto teru [jibaku shounen hanako-kun]

warning: yandere, mentions of m0rder ; MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DNI, PUT YOUR AGE IN BIO/PINNED POST TO INTERACT

words: 427

a/n: this is a repost from my main blog (@/hikari-writes) so yes this writing is old + bad, i just moved them here w/o editing bc im lazy and wants to keep reminding myself how bad my writing used to be

“If I were to run away from you, would you chase after me?”

A small smile makes its way to your lips as you question Teru this, earning a confused blink from him.

After a moment’s silence and no response came from him, you decided that the teasing went a bit far and were about to apologize when he finally replied.

“Before you get the chance to run away, I would have already gotten rid of those beautiful legs of yours.”

You flinched and the atmosphere suddenly turned heavy. Teru’s still smiling, just like his usual self but you of all people knew that it’s definitely not genuine.

“Ah…ahaha….I’m just kidding, Teru. You don’t need to go that far. I just wanted to see how much you love me, that’s all.”

You give him a nervous laughter and softly pat his shoulder in a playful manner. His expression stays the same and it makes you actually wonder if he’s really serious about what he just said.

“I’m quite serious though? If you wanted to know how much I love you that badly, I’ll be glad to tell you about all the things I’ve done to protect you.”

You quickly pick up on the bad vibes he’s giving and try to get up and leave him but his gaze on you made you freeze in your place. Heck, even trying to scoot away from him proves to be difficult for you to do.

“Including killing someone.”

Your face went pale and you stared at him in disbelief. You wished you could just say “Come on, that joke isn’t funny,” at him but you knew well that that line has been used over and over in horror films rather than in comedies.

“Are you scared?”

It was a simple yes or no question yet it weighs on you so much. You can’t just say yes and expect him to let you go just like that but you also can’t just say no and still expect him to let you go.

Either answer will only bring the same conclusion, whether you like it or not.

You now regretted ever asking him that question.

No…

You regretted ever going out with him in the first place.

He has you completely wrapped up around his fingers and you are left with no other choice than to stay with him. You won’t even be given the chance to think of escaping.

Since you know for sure he’ll carry out his words and get rid of your legs without a moment’s hesitation.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk #minamoto teru #jshk teru #jshk x reader #tw: yandere #tw: mentions of murder #jshk yandere x reader #jshk minamoto teru

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tetsunabouquet · 1 year

Text

Basic Instinct Part 9,7

Basic Instinct Chapter 9,7

A/N: This is the final part of Basic Instinct Chapter 9. I hope it's a worthy conclusion of the date (this isn't the ending of the series though, don't worry!). Masterpost

"Okay, but if I win, I get to pick a prize with your membership points for my girlfriend." Akashi demanded, and that made your eyes widen. 'He can't be serious! As awful as these boys are, they spent money and time on their membership points. Even if it isn't a lot. He cannot seriously be demanding a prize from them?!' But the boys nodded in agreement, so you groaned towards all three boys present. Akashi turned to you, "This isn't becoming too much of an ego battle, isn't it?" He asked you and the boys made mocking faces towards him. "We both know you're going to win. You're ripping these boys off." You chastized, and he smiled fondly at you. "I'm not. These boys are bothering you, so I'm making them apologize. Perhaps it will be an educational experience for them too." He reasoned, and you sighed, unable to disagree with that. 'He really knows how to convince me. I mean, certainly my prize will be at the back of their minds, warning them not to hit on a girl who clearly is with her date next time.' "Pfft. You're a little but too cocky, aren't you?" The tipsy boy hissed at Akashi, who stepped in front of the machine. "I am absolute." "We'll see about that. I'm starting." The sober friend stepped to the side of the machine, allowing Akashi and tipsy boy full access to the machine as tipsy boy and Akashi started the game. Tipsy boy's turn was first, and whilst the ball did went inside of one of the hoops, it was clear he had been aiming for another one. A mistake an amateur like yourself had comitted. Yet he was really acting like he did something there, giving Akashi a smug grin. You couldn't help but giggle when Akashi picked up the ball, fully knowing the boy would be annihilated. Akashi, almost to piss on the boy, directly stood in front of the hoop the boy had actually been aiming at, and he flawlessly scored the basket. Just like expected. Your giggles became cackling, you just couldn't help it. Meanwhile, tipsy boy was only growing angrier, but sober boy who thanks to being sober and thus a little more clear-headed, was eyeing Akashi with the full realization you hadn't been bluffing when you called them amateurs. They had just entered a bet anyone could see they were going to lose. And people did see. A few other players at the arcade were slowly gathering around, anyone could see Akashi was a real pro, and they were in absolute awe of his game. One boy in particular, was studying Akashi with curiosity. Your boyfriend won with ease, again, just like the two of you had predicted. Sober boy held up his friends, shaking his head. "Look, it's clear you're a pro. You win, okay." You giggled as you threw your arms around Akashi. "Of course he's a pro! He's one of the Generation of Miracle players. He's famous amongst junior basketball players." You said, puffing up your chest out of pride that you scored such a catch for yourself. Because you could create a list of reasons why Akashi was perfect and amazing, one that could make a large family's grocery list pale in comparison. The boy in the small gathering around you that had been studying your boyfriend exclaimed, "I knew it! Akashi Seijuro! Number 4 of Rakuzan and Teiko Middle!" He clearly had a small fanboy moment, and you smiled widely at your boyfriend. "Look, you've got fans." You teased, and he kissed you on the top of your head. "The only fan I want is you."

By the time you got home, your mom was already on the couch having a glass of wine before she'd went to bed, a ritual she had for work days and saturdays in cases of the previous week having been intense. Which allowed you to stay in your bubble. Because the date had furthermore been great. After Akashi had made the boys pick an adorable pink rabbit plushy and a simple necklace with an adorable kitty cat from each of their cards respectively, you had played a few more games and you had swollen with pride when Akashi complimented your pinball skills. Dinner had been great. You weren't familiar with most of the things on the menu though, not even by name, so you ended up picking the things you were most familiar with. Akashi ended up ordering spaghetti and fed you one of his meatballs. You wondered if he had seen Disney's Lady and The Tramp. It had made you smile and blush nonetheless, so you figured if Akashi had a plan it was working. He and his driver carried your stuffed animals and your shopping purchases to your door, and Akashi had made the driver leave before you could go inside. After saying goodbye for a final time, he hesitantly leaned in for a goodbye kiss, and this time, fully consensual, you kissed. It had been wonderful, your heart felt like it had grown wings and had dived straight of Mount Everest, soaring so high in the sky no one could see. When he withdrew his lips, he had whispered, "It's like my soul is flying in outer space when I taste you." A blush once again had graced your face as the two of you broke apart. With the slightly sad look on his face as he stepped into the car, you knew he felt the pain of seperating physically as badly as you did. In one day, Akashi Seijuro had became the air you breathed, and he breathed you in just the same.

#knb #kuroko's basketball #akashi #knb x you #knb x reader #basic instinct #akashi seijuro #akashi seijuurou x reader #knb akashi #akashi x reader #first date #arcade #dinner #goodbye kiss #cute plushies #kitty merch

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inkstaindusk · 2 months

Note

Do you wanna share more about rinnes game partner? She's UNCANNILY similar to my 777s game partner oc (so far lol) so now i like her by proxy

BOY DO I

Her name is Azusa and she's an artist! Her entry fee was her impulse control. When I started thinking of her I wanted her to be Rinne's total opposite in every way but I ended up doing, eh, not quite that.

When they first meet, Azusa is a very Proper Young Lady, a Model Honor Student. She has glasses and neat hair and wears her uniform perfectly, and she genuinely, truly likes being this way but I think at first, Rinne would see her as like him or like Hiiro, trapped in expectation she never wanted. When it becomes clear that she's not, he'd probably hate it, or he would think no she's just lying to herself, no one really wants to live like that. Azusa in turn hated Rinne's everything. At some point she calls him out on being self destructive and he calls her out on being too serious to be genuine to anyone else and it doesn't necessarily fix anything about either of them but it does stick a little bit. By the end of the game, Azusa is still a very meticulous person except now when someone (Rinne) steps out of line she'll directly slap him in the face instead of trying to keep her composure - in other words, she decides to loosen her impulse control a little even after getting it back. They still hate each other but also not really. Are they friends? They would say fuck no, Niki would shrug, and Niki's former partner (a chill but cowardly photographer) would be the only one to say yes. Quietly. When neither of them can hear.

Azusa also knows absolutely nothing about idols. Could not identify a single idol that isn't Rinne or Niki to save her life. If you put two pictures of idols with similar hair colors in front of her she'd probably think they were the same person. Literally the only reason she knows about Crazy:B is because post-game she made it a point to keep tabs on Rinne and Niki, which means she also followed his whole thing in the main story. She didn't really understand what was going on but she did some research and came to the conclusion that he might have been right but was being stupid about it. Plus he didn't need to be that mean to his brother what the hell was that >:(

And that's the story of how Himeru and Kohaku watched a five foot girl with green hair wearing a sweater vest absolutely read Rinne to filth backstage only for Rinne to call her a nosy ignorant priss while the person who came with her repeatedly apologized for the trouble and Niki just cracked up in the background

#i just think rinne's eye should twitch at the sight of another person for once #as i was writing this i learned that entry fees are shibuya only but we're ignoring that ok #asks #anon asks #au: partners in dreams #enstars lb #oc tag

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storiesbyjes2g · 2 years

Text

My turkey was perfect, and our conversations were even better. I enjoyed not worrying about someone else's feelings and what not to say. That's why we were friends. It's just so easy! We spent most of dinner catching up on the latest happenings in our life. Dwayne liked his new job so far, though he wasn't sure what exactly the company did. They had way more equipment in the lab than needed for synthesizing serums and analyzing metals. And there was an entire floor he didn't have access to. For a company that claimed to produce life enhancing products, it had an overabundance of communications equipment. He suspected they contact aliens and maybe even experiment on them. I wasn't sure where I stood on their existence.

I told him about my kids' crushes and the house I'd found. He'd been to that neighborhood and said it was nice. Lots of cute bungalows and a park. It's attractive for young couples looking to start a family, apparently. I only hoped to have cool neighbors. Courtyard Lane was kind of dead with one empty house, one neighbor I didn't like, and another I'd never met.

After dinner, we retired to the living room and continued our conversation. Dwayne asked how I got into crafting candles. Telling him about Ali's dream was sad, but I enjoyed recanting the parts about practicing, improving, and the positive reception on Plopsy. It was 100% my business now, and I even had Ali's blessing.

Dwayne gazed at me inquisitively.

"It's interesting we're both doing something the other didn't expect. I didn't peg you for a crafter."

"Yeah...me neither. I'd never worked with my hands like that before. Ali told me I was a natural. My first candle was perfect. I don't know... I just ended up falling in love with it."

He smiled warmly.

"We've been friends all this time, but we're still learning about each other," he said like an epiphany.

I considered his statement.

"I guess that makes sense. We've never spent time together like this before. Well, except...the jungle."

He smirked.

"That's cuz you was always chasing after some dude," he said and winked at me.

I feigned disgust.

"I beg your pardon! Finding a husband was serious business! I couldn't waste time with the likes of you."

He laughed so hard; I thought he'd fall over.

Though it was a joke, I saw another opportunity to ask a question that had been boring a hole in my brain ever since the affair. Despite knowing I could trust him not to jump to conclusions or get the wrong idea, I was still afraid to ask. My first opportunity was when he apologized to me, but I wasn't ready to get into any conversations with him that night.

"Dwayne?"

"Yeah..."

"I need to ask you something. I'm not judging you. Watcher knows I have no room. But...something has been bothering me for a while."

"Come on now, Ki. You know how we do. Say what you need to say."

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "We talked about this already, but I need to understand something. Were you waiting around for me to cheat on Ali all that time?"

His eyes flicked open, as if surprised by my question. It wasn't every day someone asked if it was your goal to sabotage someone else's marriage.

He sat silently, staring at the floor, giving the question serious thought. Honestly? I didn't expect him to think on it that hard. I thought for sure this would cause our first fight.

"No," he said confidently. "At least not consciously. I told you before, I was holding onto the idea of us and should have let it go a long time ago. You kept telling me to date, and that wasn't bad advice. But I couldn't jump into a relationship knowing my heart was somewhere else. It wouldn't be right."

I gasped.

"So you've never been with anyone else?"

"I didn't say that."

I knew Dwayne wasn't the home-wrecking type, but it relieved me to know, officially, that was not his goal.

Another question came to mind that made me even more nervous. We were doing well as friends, and I still hadn't decided if I wanted to give a relationship a shot. But despite knowing he had things he needed to work through, the idea of him moving onto someone else pained me. I needed to know where he stood. Maybe it would help me decide.

"So...where is your heart now?"

Dwayne squirmed and sighed a lot as he considered his answer, and I got even more nervous. Maybe his fresh start didn't include me and he was trying to think of a way to let me down gently. Maybe I needed to move on, too. Was this not the same situation Mommy told me to get out of? But I-

"My heart is still right here...if you want it."

I smiled softly and nodded.

"That's good to know."

"I think you misunderstood me," he said. "Letting go of us doesn't mean I don't want to be with you. I just needed to free myself from it. That thing had me in a chokehold and held me back in a lot of ways, so I let it all go. I needed to be in a place where I'd be okay if nothing happens."

"Wow," I said. "That's...so mature."

I thought about how I had to let Tofu go. Glaring at my daughter behind her back and being passive aggressive was not mature. How was it, at this age, I still had growing up to do? At least I knew he wasn't running away. Now I needed to decide what I wanted in all this.

#ISBI challenge #sims 4 story #sims 4 gameplay #sims story #adolting #adolting gen 2 #Emerald Pope #Dwayne Pancakes

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drowningfishy · 1 year

Text

Happy April Fools Day!

characters : 4 sumeru bois (Alhaitham, Cyno, Kaveh, Tighnari), g/n reader (SEPERATED) summary : it's 1st April and you decided to prank your boyfriend by hiding a ring he gave you on an important day and saying that it's gone.

warnings : swearing

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

Alhaitham

- "What?" - Now, this man is confused of how clumsy a person can be - How could you lost something so precious that easily? - He helped you look for it - Sure he was worried but he kept cool - He helped searching the ring for hours and still said that he's fine - If you ask what he feels, then he'll probably say something like, "Yes, I do feel disappointed but I'm not mad at you." - He's actually angry, more of frustrated. Having to search the house for a small thing sure is tiring. - Not too long after that he realizes something fishy about this problem - I mean, he is a very smart person - like genius. - He felt like you weren't the type of person who would lost important things. - Sure humans can be clumsy, but you're just not that kind of person - He tried to remember anything that has connection with that ring, the place you lost it, and the day you lost it. - So he checked the date and realized. - He just looked at you in disbelief and sighed - He probably thinks it's a very lame prank and suspects Kaveh as the one who came up with the idea. - "Sometimes I regret my own decision to agree and deal with you everyday." - It's fine, he doesn't mean it like that - He's just tired - Probably.

Cyno

- "Which ring?" - "OH" - He needed some moment to finally realize that is was that ring. - "Uhhh when did you last use it? Do you remember?" - If you say no then he would panic even more - "Where were you this morning??" - "So you were in the bathroom, and then when you came out you forgot to use the ring again? Then it must be in the bathroom." - Proceeds to check the entire bathroom, everything. Even inside the shampoo bottle, the toilet bowl. He was worried for dear life. - "WHY IS IT NOT HERE?" He's getting frustrated. - The sight of your serious boyfriend shouting with a panicked face is very entertaining. - After that he just walks out of the bathroom and kicked the door with a gloomy face. - "Why would you do that? Why would you lost it? Don't you know how important that ring is to us?" - You're in serious trouble - Once he uses his emotions, he won't use his brain at all - He still hasn't realize the date and is now having a mental breakdown. - You need to calm him down.

Kaveh

- "WHAT THE FUCK" - "DID YOU JUST SAY CALM DOWN? ARE YOU CRAZY? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN?" - My man is running around in the house. - Alhaitham would just lock his self inside his room instead of getting into this problem - A very helpful roommate. - He could search easily because his and your room is always nice and tidy - He would clean your room on a daily basis - He did it because he wanted to and because he thinks that it is disturbing - What a perfectionist. - He remembers every corner of the house and where the stuff are arranged - "That's weird.. If you actually lost it in this bathroom, it would be in the bathroom." - "I am 100% sure that I have checked everything here." - He thought for a moment and ended up with a conclusion. - "You know where it is, don't you?" - He knew the date all along but didn't expect that you were pranking him - You'll need to apologize to him a lot of times or he'll do something worse.

Tighnari

- "Where and when? Did you remember?" - Doesn't overreact and asks the important questions immediately - Helps you find the ring - "You lost it in the bathroom because you don't use them when taking a shower? Okay.." - This man is interrogating you, it's scary - But we know that he's doing this because he cares about your relationship - Overall he's very kind until he realizes what was going on - "Oh yeah, by the way, happy april fools." - Of course you were shocked by how calm he is - He gets usually irritated easily but this time he just brushed it off - If something like this happens be careful, he can turn the tables real fast - "It's in there, isn't it?" yep, he knows all along - He'll take the ring from the place you're hiding it and put it in your fingers again. - "It's back to its home." - I BET HE'S SMILING PROUDLY - I CAN SEE HIS ANNOYING SMILE RN - I guess your plan backfired.

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note : Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy and remember, my request are always open.

#hcs #genshin #genshin impact #genshin fluff #genshin x you #sumeru #sumeru boys #alhaitham #tighnari #kaveh #cyno

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spnhunter4life · 1 year

Text

So Long Chapter 4

Word Count: 8.6k

Warnings: canon typical violence, character death

A/N: Another longer chapter. I don’t know what else I expected at this point. I’m pretty confident the next one will be shorter though. Thanks to everyone who has liked this story so far!

I decided I want to post a second version of this fic. It will be the same thing, except everything will be chronological instead of the stories jumping around to fit the lyrics. So if anyone would prefer to read it that way, you can expect that in a couple of weeks.

Series Masterlist

You know you make me feel loved Make me feel like I’m home So if we knew all along Why did it take so long?

Ages 20 and 22 May 18, 2001

We unlocked the door to the abandoned factory and took off in different directions, moving quietly, guns at the ready. After searching the entire manufacturing floor, we met at the bottom of the stairs leading to the office area. Dad started up the stairs first and I followed closely. The first office we checked was empty. The second too.

The third is where we found it. Peeking through a window, we saw the wraith standing above a man who had been tied to a chair. The wraith let the spike slide free from her wrist and moved to stand behind the man. He was struggling, trying desperately to free himself as she placed the tip behind his ear. Dad kicked the door in.

There was nothing I could do but watch in horror as the wraith, startled by the noise, shoved its spike deep into the man’s brain, killing him instantly. I knew I was dreaming. This was the third time I’d seen his death tonight, my mind processing the disastrous events of the day the only way it knew how. By making me relive it in excruciating detail.

Dad fired three times in quick succession, each silver bullet finding a home in the wraith’s chest. I ran over to the man, desperately checking for a heartbeat even though I knew I wouldn’t find one.

“Let’s take care of this,” Dad said gruffly, already dragging the body of the wraith to the middle of the room.

And then we were at the factory door again, starting the whole nightmare over. We had just met up at the bottom of the stairs when I was woken up by a fist banging on the door. I groaned and turned on the lamp on the nightstand before getting out of bed and drowsily making my way to the door. Dad had gone out to drink. He never handled it well when we weren’t able to save somebody. He’d probably forgotten or lost his key, not for the first time.

I opened the door, ready to be faced with the sight of my dad drunk out of his mind and needing help getting to bed. My breath caught at what I saw instead.

“Dean? What’s wrong?” I asked, alarmed at the sight of him.

He was there, red eyed and miserable, looking completely lost. It concerned me more than it would have if he came here covered in blood.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” he admitted, voice cracking. A tear rolled down his cheek.

“What’s wrong?” I asked again as I let him into the room, trying to remain calm despite the panic flaring in my chest.

After shutting and locking the door, I began to look him over for any sign of injury. He looked ok apart from a mostly healed scratch on his right temple.

“Sorry to barge in on you like this,” he apologized as he wiped away another tear. He stood in the middle of the room, seeming unsure what to do with himself. “It’s just… well, like I said. I didn’t know where else to go.”

I’d only ever known him to be confident, unbreakable, ready to take on the world. I was one of the only people who ever got to see his more sensitive side, but even in his most vulnerable moments I’d never seen him this… broken. It scared me.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me to the couch. Seeing that he was ok physically, the next conclusion I came to was that something must be wrong with Sam or John. It couldn’t be anything too serious. If there was something really bad happening he would have told me right away so that we could fix it. He probably wouldn’t have even come to me, he would have found a closer source of help. On the other hand, if it wasn’t serious, why was he here, looking like his world was collapsing?

I’d talked to him three days ago. It was our monthly phone call, a tradition we’d kept going. Everything seemed fine then. He seemed happy enough. They were between cases, keeping their eyes out for something new. They had been in Indiana. Dad and I were in Pennsylvania, so we’d even talked about meeting somewhere in the middle once we finished our hunt. What had happened between then and now?

“If you’re not ready to talk about it, that’s fine,” I assured him even though I felt like I’d go crazy if I didn’t find out what happened. “Just at least tell me that Sam and John are ok.”

He laughed bitterly.

“That depends on how you define ‘ok.’”

My heart skipped a beat. Had I been wrong? Were things more serious than I anticipated? Were Sam and John laid up comatose in a hospital somewhere or something equally bad? I’d never been a big fan of John. I cared for him only because Sam and Dean did. I would mourn his loss only for their sake. But Sam… if something happened to him I didn’t know if I could handle it.

“What happened?” I asked again, a little more demanding this time. Dean seemed to notice the room for the first time, looking around as if searching for something.

“Where’s Ben?” he asked, noticing his absence.

“Out. Drinking. Dean-” I tried again to get some answers, but he cut me off.

“Rough hunt?” He knew my dad wasn’t usually one to spend the night getting drunk. He only did when things went wrong.

“The guy didn’t make it,” was all I said. “What’s going on?”

He ignored me again.

“How are you doing?” He asked, avoiding the conversation I was trying to start. Worrying about someone else was Dean’s go-to way of avoiding his own problems.

“I’m fine,” I told him, giving up on my questioning. He would talk when he was ready. He looked me over doubtfully.

“You don’t look fine,” he said.

“Gee, thanks,” I muttered, self consciously trying to smooth down my hair and noting my very wrinkled pajamas. “I see you haven’t lost your ability to flatter the ladies.”

“I just mean you look tired,” he clarified.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when someone knocks on your door at,” I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “3 in the morning and wakes you up,” I deflected. There was no reason for him to know about the nightmare that had been playing on a loop. He couldn’t do anything about it anyway and he clearly had enough on his mind.

“Sorry,” he winced. “I shouldn’t have come. Or at the very least I should have waited until morning.”

“No, don’t apologize,” I quickly backtracked. “You can always come to me when you need to. You know that. It doesn’t matter what time it is.”

He nodded in understanding.

“Seriously, Dean. No matter the time, no matter the reason. I’m always happy to see you,” I told him, wanting to be sure he knew I meant it.

He sighed, ran a hand over his face, and turned to face me, tears shining in his eyes, threatening to spill over.

“Sam’s gone,” he said. “He left us.”

“What?” I gasped out, shocked.

“He’s going to college. Says he’s done with hunting,” he continued. I hugged him, wanting to comfort him and not knowing what else to do. He hugged me back immediately and buried his face in my shoulder.

“I can’t believe he actually did that,” I said, feeling more hurt than I had any right to. I’d barely seen Sam in the last three years. It’s not like he’d abandoned me. Somehow it still felt like he had. And I knew how unbelievably painful this would be for Dean. His appearance and behavior suddenly made sense.

“What do you mean? You knew he was planning this?” Dean asked, pulling away from me, sounding betrayed.

“No!” I assured him. “I mean, he always talked about wanting to go to college, but I thought that’s all it was. Talk. I didn’t know he was ever actually considering it.”

“Well apparently he was. Thanks for the heads up,” he snapped, standing up and starting to pace.

“Dean, I’ve barely talked to him in the last year. How was I supposed to know?” I snapped back. “Plus, you were there for all of our conversations, so you know it’s not like I was secretly planning with him.”

“You’re right,” he sighed, sitting back down. “You couldn’t have known. But he’s never in his whole life said a word to me about college. I didn’t realize that’s something he wanted. Why didn’t you tell me back then?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I figured you knew. Besides, I thought it was just a dream. I didn’t think he’d ever actually go for it,” I explained.

“Looks like neither of us know him as well as we thought we did, then,” he said, putting his head in his hands. I put my hand on his shoulder and rubbed my thumb back and forth.

“Why did he leave already?” I asked. “It’s only May. He just graduated. Literally days ago.”

“From what I could get out of him, he wasn’t planning on sticking around much longer anyway. He just… announced it, out of nowhere. That he was leaving us. And he seemed relieved.” he told me resentfully. He looked up at me then and I moved my hand away.

“I know he’s never loved hunting or the way we were raised. I know he’s always wished we were normal. But how could he leave us like that? How can he care so little about our family that he would tear it apart? Things weren’t perfect, but they weren’t that bad were they?”

“No,” I agreed. “It wasn’t bad.”

It broke my heart to see Dean hurting this way. I desperately wanted to make it better. But I knew I couldn’t.

“What did your dad say?” I asked. Dean let out another bitter laugh.

“If you think you’ve seen my dad mad before, think again. My ears are still ringing from all the shouting. From both of them.” He paused as if remembering the argument. “He told Sam if he walked out that door he’d better never come back,” he said.

I let out a breath. I didn’t want there to be any more tension between them than there was likely to be already from the fallout with Sam. John would undoubtedly take his anger out on Dean.

“And he was ok with you coming here?” I asked. Dean straightened.

“If he’s got a problem with it, it’s his own damn fault,” he fumed. “He took off as soon as he and Sam were done screaming at each other. I waited for hours, but he never came back and wouldn’t answer my calls. He left me too.

“So I got in the car and just started driving. I didn’t even know where I was going until I was halfway here. I guess I must have known subconsciously where I wanted to go.” He took a deep, uneven breath before continuing.

“Sometimes I feel like I care about my family more than they care about me. That I need them more than they need me,” he confided. “And it must be true. Otherwise they wouldn’t have left me.”

“Dean, no,” I told him firmly. “Don’t you ever think that. Of course they care about you and of course they need you. I don’t think they realize how much. They’re too stupid and stubborn to see how much they rely on you. Don’t let them make you feel bad about yourself. They don’t see how important you are to them. They don’t see how you’ve held your family together. But you know what I see?” I asked him, making sure he was paying attention.

“I see a man who puts the needs of his family above his own, who has done so his entire life. I see a man who cares so deeply about his family that he’d do anything for them. I see a man whose family really doesn’t deserve him.”

He was looking at me intently, face full of gratitude and pain.

“Don’t leave me,” he pleaded. “I couldn’t bear it if I lost you too.”

“John didn’t leave you,” I told him. This much I knew. John was a grade A ass, but he hadn’t left Dean for good. “He just needs a day or two to calm down. I can’t believe he was selfish enough to not even answer the phone though,” I grumbled.

“Please,” was all he said. My heart broke for him again.

“I would never leave you Dean. Never. I promise. You can stay here with me for as long as you want, and then you’re always welcome to come back. Anytime. You won’t lose me. You can’t lose me. Even if you try,” I told him with a small smile.

He smiled back before collapsing back against the couch.

“I should let you get back to sleep,” he said.

“I’m happy to stay up and talk. Or just hang out,” I told him.

“I know. But I’m actually pretty exhausted myself. I’ve been driving since yesterday afternoon,” he said.

“Okay,” I agreed. “You might as well take my dad’s bed,” I told him. “Who knows when he’ll stumble back in. And he can take the couch.”

“I’m fine on the couch,” he answered, standing up. “I’m just gonna grab my stuff out of the car.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Positive,” he said. He pulled me in for a quick hug and I felt him relax a little. He gently nudged me in the direction of my bed and left the room.

I sat on the edge of my bed, waiting for him to come back. I relaxed when I didn’t hear the Impala’s engine roar to life. He came back in a minute later with his duffel and a small blanket I remembered being left in the car for nights they slept in there.

I laid down, getting comfortable as I watched Dean take off his layers of jackets and unlacing and taking off his boots. He laid down on the couch and sighed.

“Goodnight Jenna,” I heard him say.

“Goodnight.”

~~~~~

Apparently I wasn’t meant to be getting much sleep tonight. It took about an hour for me to settle down again and I was just on the edge of sleep when my dad stumbled through the door. Thankfully he didn’t wake Dean up – the slow, even breathing I could hear coming from the couch assured me of that – but the disturbance left me once again wide awake.

I rolled over to look at the clock. 4:30. I sighed and restarted the process of getting to sleep, resigning myself to being very tired in the morning. I would need a lot of coffee.

~~~~~

Despite the rough night I had, I was still the first one up at 8. I wasn’t surprised my dad was still out. After the night he had, he’d probably sleep for at least a couple more hours. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised about Dean either. He’d had an emotionally exhausting couple of days. That took a lot out of a person. Coupled with his twelve hour drive here, he would need as much sleep as he could get.

As quietly as I could, I got dressed, threw my hair into a messy ponytail, and slipped out the door. I walked four blocks to a little coffee shop and bought coffee and donuts for everyone. Drink carrier and plastic bag full of donuts in hand, I slowly made my way back to the motel, enjoying the morning air.

I quietly opened the door and a quick scan of the room confirmed that both men were still sleeping. I set our breakfast on the table and sat down. As I waited for them to wake up, I sipped on my coffee and started a book I’d been wanting to read for a while. I’d barely started the second chapter when I heard Dean moving.

“Hey,” he said in a sleep-roughened voice. I looked over and saw him sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Hey,” I greeted, bookmarking my place. “How’d you sleep?”

“Not bad,” he said as he got up and stretched. “You?”

“Not bad,” I echoed. “I got breakfast,” I told him.

“Aww, thanks sweetheart. You really know how to take care of a guy, don’t you?” He teased, protective humor fully in place this morning.

“Well you’re not particularly difficult to take care of,” I informed him. He laughed and headed to the bathroom.

I opened the noisy plastic bag and took out one of the donuts while I waited for him. I wasn’t really worried about being quiet now that Dean was up. Drunk as I knew he was last night, I figured Dad would sleep through a bomb going off.

“What did you get?” Dean asked when he emerged from the bathroom and sat across from me. I just pushed the bag in his direction in response, letting him look through the variety of donuts I’d chosen.

He picked a powdered sugar one, looked me right in the eye, and took a big bite, getting the sugar all over his mouth. I just shook my head in amusement.

“You’re like a three-year-old,” I informed him.

“Nah. A three-year-old doesn’t know that this stuff,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee, “is where it’s at.”

I chuckled and took another bite of my own donut. We spent the rest of the morning talking, filling in details of things we didn’t have enough time to talk about over a phone call. My dad woke up around 11. I’d ended up drinking his coffee a couple hours ago, needing the caffeine boost and knowing it would be cold by the time he got to it anyway.

He gave Dean a cursory greeting, not even bothering to ask about the surprise visit. After taking a quick shower, he left to do who knows what. He didn’t give an explanation.

I was still sad about the news Dean had brought last night. I couldn’t imagine how hard he must be trying to cover his pain right now. But I was also happy, so incredibly happy, to have Dean here with me. In the same room. It happened so rarely these days that I never failed to appreciate it in the moment. I secretly dreamed about a day when we could be together every day again.

For now I’d content myself with the time I did get with him. I wondered how long it would be this time.

~~~~~

Turns out, it wasn’t very long. Dean and I had gone out for lunch, reminiscing about some of the sketchy looking places we’d eaten in over the years. We were just getting back to the motel when John called. And he was mad.

From across the room I could hear the angry tone of voice coming through the phone speaker. I could only hear Dean’s side of the conversation, but it was enough to piece together what was going on. John had finally gotten over his fit of anger and come back to the motel to find Dean gone. Dean mostly stood there and took the verbal beating. Only once did he try to defend his actions.

“You left. You just took off. And you wouldn’t answer the phone.”

I couldn’t hear John’s response, but I could take a pretty good guess as to what it was. He would say something about how Dean should have known better than to take off. He should have stayed put and waited for John to get back. Like a dog, sitting at home, waiting for its master’s next command.

Dean’s posture changed, any thoughts about arguing gone. He was back to being that good little soldier, ‘Yes sir,’ or ‘No, sir,’ the only words escaping his mouth.

There were few things in this world that made me as mad as John’s treatment of his eldest son. I wanted to snatch the phone from Dean’s hands and yell at John for throwing a temper tantrum. For abandoning Dean in that heartbreaking moment and leaving him behind, the exact same thing he was mad at Sam for doing to him. I wanted to tell him if he was going to behave like a child and treat Dean like a broken toy, then he didn’t deserve to get him back.

I didn’t say any of this though. I clenched my hands into fists at my side, gritted my teeth together, and kept my mouth shut.

Dean hung up the phone and immediately went to grab his bag.

“You’re leaving?” I asked, unwilling to let him go so soon. Not wanting to let him go at all.

“I have to. Dad needs me.”

I scoffed.

“Don’t start with that Jenna,” he said tersely. “You wouldn’t abandon your dad. Why would you expect me to abandon mine?”

“Yeah, well my dad wouldn’t abandon me. Tell me again what John did just a couple days ago.”

“He didn’t abandon me. He just needed to cool off. Like you said. And I’m sorry, but where exactly is your dad right now?” He snapped.

“That’s not even close to the same thing and you know it.”

“How is it any different?” He asked.

“First of all, my dad didn’t just up and leave me behind because he was angry. He’s out trying to deal with what happened last night.”

“And my dad wasn’t trying to deal?” He challenged.

“Your dad left you behind!” I shouted. I was mad at John, not him, but I was also frustrated that he couldn’t see how terribly John treated him.

“My dad would pick up the phone if I called him right now. And he wouldn’t have left at all, except you’re here and he’s trying to give us some time alone.” I told him.

Dean opened the door and stepped into the parking lot, walking around to the trunk of his car.

“Dean, stop.”

“I have to go, Jenna. It doesn’t matter if you don’t agree because it’s not your decision,” he said as he threw his duffel in.

“I know,” I said placatingly. “But can you just stop for a minute?”

He closed the trunk and looked at me expectantly.

“I don’t want to fight,” I told him.

I saw the anger leave him. That quickly. And I realized his anger hadn’t been at me either. He was probably just overwhelmed.

“Neither do I,” he agreed. He sighed and wrapped me in a hug.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” I said sadly.

“I know. I’m sorry,” he said, squeezing me once before letting me go. Then I thought about the reason he was even here.

“You want me to drive to Cali and whoop Sam for you?” I asked teasingly, hoping that making it into a joke was the right call.

“Thanks, but no. All I ever wanted was to protect him. And when we were kids I wished so badly that he could have a normal life. That he didn’t have to be caught up in all this hunting crap.” He smiled ruefully. “Be careful what you wish for, I guess.”

I didn’t know what to say in response. I’d undoubtedly come up with a good reply later and kick myself for not thinking of it now. So I settled for the best thing I could think of.

“Call me when you get there.”

“I will,” he assured me. Then he climbed into the passenger seat and drove away.

Ages 12 and 16 July 23, 1995

Dean’s POV

The beds at this motel were probably some of the best quality I’d ever seen. The mattresses weren’t lumpy or too hard and they didn’t smell musty or like cigarette smoke. There weren’t any questionable stains on the blankets either. It was actually a comfortable bed, and I didn’t take that for granted. I would undoubtedly be sleeping on a bed that was much less comfortable and much more sketchy in the next day or two.

We were in Washington right now, but we’d just finished the job last night. It had been my second official hunt, and I was still thrilled that I was finally allowed to be involved, to actually get to chase down and kill the monster instead of being stuck at home doing research.

It was only a simple salt and burn case, but I’d still had a lot of fun. Things had gotten exciting when the ghost showed up as we were searching the abandoned house she used to live in for the object she was tied to – it turned out to be the knife she had been killed with, still covered in her blood – but other than getting a little bruised up from being thrown across the room, nobody had gotten hurt.

It had been a long night though, and so, exhausted, I hadn’t been able to do more than strip down to my t-shirt and boxers before collapsing on top of the bed and falling asleep almost immediately.

I had slept deeply. I was slowly making my way towards consciousness, clinging to the dream I was already forgetting. It was about me and Jenna. We were… out with friends? On a date? The details were hazy and fading quick. I think we were at the movies maybe. I was startled into alertness by Sam’s gasp.

I grabbed the knife from under my pillow, rolled onto my back, and sat up, scanning the room for a threat. There was nothing though. Dad was gone, probably either talking with Ben or gone out to grab breakfast and coffee. There was just Sam standing at the foot of my bed, eyes wide, mouth slightly open, staring intently at my ankle. Staring at the name that was tattooed there.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” He cried out in the voice of a little brother outraged at being left in the dark.

“Shit,” I muttered as I got out of bed and started getting dressed to hide the evidence. But the damage had already been done.

“Dean!” Sam protested.

“Let it go Sammy,” I ordered, rifling through my duffel bag for some clean clothes, deciding a shower was in order.

“Let it go?” Sam echoed, trailing me towards the bathroom. “Dean, this is huge! I thought we didn’t have secrets. You guys should have told me!” he insisted.

I set my clothes on the counter and was ready to threaten him to keep his mouth shut when something seemed to occur to him.

“Wait,” he said, backtracking a little. “Jenna does know, doesn’t she?”

“I’m only going to tell you this once Sam, so listen up. I don’t care if you’re my brother. If you ever tell anyone, especially her, I will end you,” I warned before slamming the door in his face.

Great, I thought. I’d been able to keep this thing a secret for less than a year. I wasn’t at all sure that I could trust Sam not to say something. Sure, he could keep a secret if he wanted to, but I didn’t know if I would be able to convince him that this needed to stay between us. Anxious thoughts swirled in my head throughout my shower, but by the time I got out I had a persuasive argument ready to go.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, Sam was on the couch, restlessly tapping his fingers against his knee. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and stood to face me.

“I won’t say anything,” Sam rushed out at the same time I said, “We need to talk.”

“What?” I asked, not having heard him over my own statement.

“I won’t say anything,” he promised. “But… why haven’t you told her?”

I sighed. I should have expected this. Should have, but didn’t. I’d planned out how to persuade him not to tell anyone, had considered potential arguments he might throw my way. I hadn’t anticipated him immediately complying or the simple question that followed. I ran a hand through my hair as I considered how to answer.

“You know why,” I finally said, deciding that the argument I’d planned out would work as an explanation to his question. He just stared at me expectantly.

“I haven’t exactly made a secret of the fact that I don’t want to know my soulmate. That I don’t want her stuck living this life,” I told him.

“You love this life,” he pointed out.

“Yeah. I do. But it’s dangerous and it means never having a home. I won’t force her into that,” I explained.

“But she’s already a part of it. You won’t be forcing her into anything,” he responded.

“Just because she’s in this life now doesn’t mean she has to be in it forever. She’ll be able to make her own decisions in a few years. She can find somewhere she likes and stay there. She can get out of hunting.”

“Who says she wants to?” Sam asked.

“Well then that’s her choice if she doesn’t want to quit. I’m not going to be the reason though. I don’t want her hunting with me out of a feeling of obligation. I won’t do that to her.” I told him.

“You keep talking about her being able to do what she wants. What if what she wants is to be with you? Did you consider that?” he argued.

I had considered it. I decided that until I had a reason to think that she was interested in something more, I would leave things the way they were. I was happy just to have her in my life, in any way. I wasn’t going to push for more when what I had was already more than I could have ever hoped for. My soulmate was with me every day. And I didn’t have to worry about scaring her away. She already knew the whole truth about me and my life.

Frustrated that he kept pushing, I snapped, “I thought you weren’t going to say anything.”

“I’m not,” he insisted.

“Then why won’t you let it go?” I demanded. He scowled at me.

“If I’m going to be keeping this a secret for you, you can at least tell me why it has to be a secret. I told you I won’t say anything and I won’t, but I still don’t see why you don’t just tell her.”

“I don’t know how to explain it in a way you’ll understand,” I told him. “Can you just believe that I’m doing what’s best?”

He thought about it for a while.

“Fine,” he agreed.

“Fine?” I asked, relieved, but surprised he wasn’t putting up more of a fight.

“Yeah. Fine. Because you have less than a year before Jenna turns 16. You know she’s going to find out then,” he said confidently.

I hadn’t been letting myself think that far ahead. I wasn’t sure what to expect when her birthday came around again. Would she find my name somewhere on her body? Would she be happy or disappointed? Would she want to be with me or would she rather stay away and have a normal life? Would it even be my name she found?

“Maybe,” I said, humoring him for the moment. “But until then, this stays between us. Actually, this stays between us until I say otherwise,” I told him.

"Fine," he agreed. He wasn't happy about it, but he felt secure in the knowledge that he had less than a year before it would no longer be a secret. I both hoped he was wrong and hoped he was right. "Jerk," he added a little frustratedly.

I just smirked at him.

"Bitch."

Ages 21 and 22 December 29, 2001

Dad and I were currently in Chicago, working a case we suspected to be ghouls. Three different mausoleums had been disturbed in two different cemeteries. Whoever had broken into these places hadn’t stolen any of the valuable items inside, but had opened up the caskets. And then the bodies. And they’d eaten them.

It was late afternoon and we were going over the information we’d gathered over the past few days, working on narrowing down the location these things might be hiding in when I heard the rumble of a familiar engine. My focus, which had been tenuous at best at the anticipation of this moment, flew out the window.

John was taking a few ‘personal days,’ whatever that meant, so Dean was coming to stay with us for a few days. I wished we weren’t working so we could just spend time together, but I was excited to see him either way.

I jumped out of my chair so quickly it would have fallen over if my dad hadn’t caught it. I stood at the door, waiting for him to knock before opening it. I didn’t want to seem too eager or like I’d been watching for his arrival. Which I hadn’t been, despite how much I wanted to. The curtains had remained closed in order to discourage looking out the window and not focusing on the case. It’s not my fault his car was so loud.

The thirty seconds or so it undoubtedly took for him to grab his bag and walk to the door felt like an eternity. Finally, there was a knock. I quickly unlocked the door and threw it open, huge smile on my face as I hugged him.

Dean seemed a little startled at how quickly I threw myself at him – so much for not seeming eager – but didn’t hesitate to hug me back.

“Hey, sweetheart. I missed you too,” he mumbled so only I could hear.

“Alright, give the man some room to breathe,” my dad teased.

I wasn’t even close to ready to be done hugging him. We hadn’t seen each other since the night he told me about Sam going to college, and I missed him so much. Not that that was a feeling I was unfamiliar with, but being away from him was getting harder. I let him go and took a step back, giving him space.

“How’re you doing, son?” My dad asked him, placing an affectionate hand on his shoulder.

“I’m good, Ben. Thanks for letting me crash with you,” Dean said, moving to the couch to set his bag down.

“Of course. We’re always happy to see you,” he assured Dean. “We’re still working on a case right now. You’re welcome to join in if you want, but if you’d rather take a few days off, that’s no problem.”

“I’m happy to help, sir,” Dean said, unsurprisingly.

“Great!” Dad said, smiling warmly at the younger man. “We’re trying to track down some ghouls. We were just working on figuring out where they might be hiding,” he said, walking to the table. Dean followed.

“So far, we’ve narrowed it down to-” My dad’s phone rang, cutting him off. He fished it out of his pocket.

“Hello?” He answered, business voice in place.

“Where?” He asked. Then, after a brief pause, “I’ll be right there.”

He put the phone back in his pocket and looked at me and Dean.

“They just found another grave that’s been opened up. I’m going to go check it out. You two keep working here,” he instructed.

“Where was this one at?” I asked.

“Same cemetery as the last one,” he said as he shrugged his coat on.

“So that makes two at each cemetery,” I commented.

“Right. So let’s get on top of this before there’s another one,” he said, closing the door behind him. I heard his truck’s engine sputter to life, and then it was just me and Dean.

“Which two cemeteries have been hit?” Dean asked, in full hunter mode. I fondly rolled my eyes at him, but answered his question. The sooner we finished this hunt, the sooner we could just relax together. I listed the two cemeteries, pointing to their locations on the map we had rolled out on the table.

“They’re probably hiding out somewhere in between the two,” Dean said.

“Yeah, that was our thought too. We were just working on narrowing down the most likely locations,” I told him.

Working with Dean was comfortable. We easily fell back into our old rhythm of working together as we analyzed and theorized. When Dad came back an hour later we were feeling pretty confident that we’d found the two most likely places.

“Good work,” he praised when we told him what we’d come up with. “Let’s go grab something to eat and then we’ll go check them both out.”

“We can go check them out first,” I suggested, wanting to finish this case as soon as possible.

“Food first,” Dad said. “There’s no reason to be hunting on an empty stomach when we’ve got time. Based on their pattern, they won’t hit another grave for a few more days, and they won’t leave their little nest until then.”

We piled into my dad’s little truck, me squished in the middle seat between the two men, and drove to a nearby diner.

We chatted as we ate. Dad mostly listened, letting Dean and me do most of the talking, but joining in every now and then with a comment or question. It was nice. It was the happiest I’d been in a long time. I looked forward to the next few days of this.

~~~~~

We were back at the motel, readying weapons and just about to drive to the first location Dean and I suspected of being their hide out when Dad’s phone rang.

“Hello?” He said. He listened to the voice on the other line, frown growing on his face. “I’m on my way,” he said, hanging up the phone.

“Change of plans,” he told us. “Jenna, I guess you were right. We shouldn’t have stopped to eat first. That was the groundskeeper at the second cemetery.”

“There was another one?” I asked. “Already?”

“Apparently,” he said, climbing into his truck. “I’m going to go check it out, see if I can catch a trail. You two go check out that abandoned church like we planned. Be careful,” he warned.

“And Dean?” He added, almost as an afterthought. “Take care of my girl.”

“Yes, sir,” Dean answered without hesitation. Satisfied with his response, Dad backed out of the parking lot and drove away.

Dean put his shotgun in the trunk of his car and I threw mine in alongside it. He closed the trunk and slid into the driver’s seat as I got into the passenger side.

“It’s weird that they’re breaking pattern like this,” Dean mused as we pulled up to the old church. There was a crypt below it. The perfect place for a monster that fed on the dead to hole up.

“Yeah, I thought so too. Let’s just hope that it gives us another lead if neither of these places end up being right,” I said.

We made our way into the crypt, Dean going first. It didn’t take long to realize we were in the right place. The remains of chewed on corpses littered the ground. Coffins that were decades old had been opened to make room for the bones of bodies the ghouls had dragged back here to feed on. I wrinkled my nose at the smell.

We made our way through the place carefully, guns at the ready. In a small room in the back we found three old mattresses laid out beside each other.

I heard a noise behind me and spun around just in time for one of the ghouls to reach me and knock the gun out of my hand. Before he could do anything more, I punched him in the nose. I used the half second it took him to recover to aim a kick straight at his stomach, sending him stumbling back a few steps.

“Get down!” I heard Dean call from behind me. I dropped to the floor and heard the gunshot behind me. The ghoul went down, head blown to pieces. I quickly grabbed my gun off the floor and stood beside Dean, aiming at the doorway, ready for the other two to come.

“Where are they?” Dean hissed after a couple of minutes.

“Maybe they haven’t gotten back yet,” I said.

“What?” he asked, agitated at not knowing where the threat was.

“Maybe the other two went out to the cemetery and this one was left behind to guard the place or something. They might be on their way right now. Maybe we should find some place to hide and wait for them to get back. Ambush them,” I suggested.

Dean considered the idea, weighing our options. Then he stiffened.

“We need to go. Right now,” he said as he hurried from the room.

“What? Why?” I asked as I followed him.

“Why would they leave one behind to guard the place? They shouldn’t have any reason to worry about someone stumbling in. And even if someone did, they wouldn’t find anything they’d consider suspicious,” he said.

“So they knew we were onto them and left one behind to kill us if we found them. It was a trap,” I concluded, catching onto his thought.

“No Jenna,” Dean said. We made it out of the church and ran for the car. “There’s strength in numbers. Why would they send two out to a place they would be long gone from by the time we heard about them and leave one behind to take on a group of hunters alone? It was a trap. But the trap wasn’t for us.”

“It was for my dad,” I said in horror. We reached the car and Dean had the Impala screeching away the second the doors were closed.

“They found out about you guys somehow, so they dug up another body, probably somewhere they knew it would be found quickly, and then sat back and waited,” he continued piecing things together. He hit the steering wheel in frustration. “I knew something was up when they changed their pattern,” he seethed.

I got my phone out of my pocket and dialed my dad’s number. He didn’t pick up.

“Drive faster,” I urged, the dread I was feeling building.

When we made it to the cemetery we jumped out and split up. Dean had wanted to stay together, but I argued that we’d cover ground faster apart. My dad’s life was in danger, and I wasn’t going to waste time.

I ran through the cemetery, keeping my eyes open for any recently dug up graves – they would be particularly easy to spot with the layer of snow on the ground – or open mausoleums. I was about halfway through when I noticed one of them had a door cracked open. I made my way over as quickly and quietly as I could.

I probably should have taken my time, assessed the situation and gathered as much information about what I was about to walk into as I could. I should have. But I didn’t. I kicked the door open the rest of the way and took in the details as quickly as I could.

There were two people in the middle of the room, standing over a dead body. It was fresh, partially eaten. It was the cemetery groundskeeper. And his face was staring back at me from one of the two men above him. The ghouls. They both lunged for me. I had my gun already aimed and fired at the closer one. His headless body collapsed to the ground.

“Jenna!” I heard Dean call, alerted by the gunshot.

Realizing he was outnumbered, the third one bolted out of the building. I was about to go after him when I noticed the other person, sitting against the wall across from the dead body. Dad.

“Jenna!” Dean called again when I didn’t answer him. His voice was much closer now.

“I’m fine, Dean!” I yelled back, willing it to be true. Willing my dad to be ok. “Go get him!”

I rushed over to Dad, gasping at what I saw and choking back tears.

“Dad!” I cried out. There was a knife in his chest. And he was in a pool of blood, not so much sitting as being held up by the wall.

“Jenna,” he rasped out. I grabbed his arm and put it around my shoulder, trying to help him stand. He gasped in pain and sagged against me. I let him go, not wanting to make things worse.

“It’s ok. It’s going to be ok,” I said through my tears, trying to assure myself more than him. “We’re going to get you out of here. As soon as Dean gets here we’ll get you in the car and to a hospital.”

“Stay with Dean,” he said.

“Dean’s fine. He’ll take care of the last one. I’m not leaving you,” I told him.

“Stay with him,” he repeated, reaching for me. I grabbed his hand. “You’ve been… so sad without him,” he breathed. I could tell talking was difficult for him.

“Shh,” I ordered. “It’s ok.”

“No, listen,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to live… without him. You should… be with your soulmate.” I gasped at his statement.

“You knew?” I asked.

“I’ve suspected for a long time,” he confessed. “Since before you even turned 16. He’s… a good man. And I want you to know… for what it’s worth… that I would be proud to have him… as a son.” There was blood coming out of the corner of his mouth now.

Hurry up Dean! I mentally urged.

“That doesn’t matter,” I told him, trying to get back on track. “We’ll get you help. Everything will go back to normal.” I heard the gunshot then.

“I love you Jenna,” he told me. “Be happy.”

“Dean!” I screamed, and then in a quieter voice, “Dean’s coming now Dad. Just hold on.” His breathing was getting more strained.

Dean came crashing through the door then, gun held at the ready. His eyes zeroed in on us and he lowered his gun, coming to my side.

“Help me get him to the car,” I told him.

“No,” Dad protested.

“I’m not just going to leave you here to die, Ben,” Dean said as he bent to grab him under the shoulders. “Grab his legs,” he instructed me. With the knife buried in Dad’s chest, Dean wasn’t able to swing him over his shoulder.

“Stop!” Dad gritted out, gasping in pain as our attempts to move him jostled the knife.

“What do we do?!” I wailed as we reluctantly set him back down.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Dad breathed out. “Remember… what I told you,” he said to me. “Be happy.” Then he turned to Dean.

“Take care of my girl,” he said to Dean for the second time tonight. Only this time his meaning was very different.

“I will,” Dean assured him, realizing we were running out of time. I realized too.

“I love you,” I sobbed out as I hugged him as tightly as I could. I felt his hand smoothing over my hair once. Twice. Then it fell to the floor beside him.

~~~~~

I didn’t know how long it had taken him to convince me to leave the cemetery that night. He’d sat with me for a long while before he left to take care of the bodies of the two ghouls.

“Jenna,” he said gently a few hours later. “I know you don’t want to hear this, and I don’t want to be the one to say it. But we have to get out of here. We have to…”

“We have to burn his body,” I said numbly, finishing his trailed off sentence.

“I’m sorry,” Dean said. I knew he was right though.

Dean carefully carried my dad’s body over to the Impala, laying him on a blanket in the backseat.

“Are you ok to drive?” he asked me. “We’re going to need to get your dad’s truck out of here too.”

“No,” I said.

“Ok, no problem. I’ll take care of it later then,” he assured me.

“No, I mean I don’t want it,” I told him. “We have to burn the body anyway, right?” I asked rhetorically. “So let’s just do it in the truck. That way at least we don’t have to spend the rest of the night building a pyre.”

Dean hesitated a little before answering.

“Are you sure, Jenna?”

“I’m sure,” I told him. I didn’t want to keep that truck. I didn’t ever want to see it again. It would just be a constant reminder of what I’d lost tonight.

We drove to an open field a few miles outside the city, Dean in the Impala, me in my dad’s truck. I watched stone-faced, all cried out for now, as Dean transferred Dad’s body from the Impala to the truck and then covered them in gasoline and salt. I watched as he lit the match. And I said goodbye to my dad for the last time.

~~~~~

I’d spent the last three days laying in bed, crying until I couldn’t anymore. Dean stayed with me the whole time, sitting beside me, holding me, his presence a silent comfort. One that I couldn’t appreciate right now. I felt hollow inside.

He did his best to encourage me to eat and drink. I made myself drink a little each day, but I couldn’t eat.

John called Dean on the fourth day, wanting Dean to meet him in Arizona. Dean told him no. He said he wasn’t going to leave me alone and that John could do the job alone or find someone else to help. It was only the second time I’d ever heard Dean openly defy John. And that’s when I realized how concerned he was. So I decided it was time to move on.

I started eating again and made an effort to talk and make jokes. He seemed relieved to see me doing better.

On the fifth day, I told him he needed to go back to John.

“I’m not leaving you alone. I’m going to stay with you as long as you need. Dad will be fine on his own for a while. We’ll meet up with him when you’re ready,” he told me.

“I need some time, Dean. I don’t know how much. But I’m not going to ask you to leave your dad on his own. I’ll go stay with Bobby for a while. I’ll be fine,” I said.

Dean wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but after a little bit of convincing, he finally agreed.

“Let me know if you need anything,” he said when he pulled up at Bobby’s, reluctant to leave me. “I promised your dad I would take care of you. I intend to keep that promise,” he told me.

I just smiled as I grabbed my bag from the back seat.

“Thanks for everything Dean. I’ll see you later,” I told him. Then I walked to the house, not giving him a chance to answer. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep from crying if I had to watch him drive away.

As I climbed the porch stairs, I remembered my dad’s last words to me. Be happy. Maybe I’d see about meeting up with Dean and John soon. Once I’d had time to process and was ready to start hunting again.

Chapter 5

#supernatural #spn #dean winchester #sam winchester #john winchester #original characters #original female character #soulmates #soulmate au #dean winchester x ofc #dean winchester x original female character #dean winchester x soulmate!ofc #fanfic #supernatural fanfic #so long

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