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ginanosakka · 3 years

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We Were Kids

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We’re Older Now | Next

“You’re going to make her disappear again, Bakugou!” Mina said, frustration breaking through the tone of her voice as they patrolled the streets together once again.

Ever since Y/N had made her grand appearance back into their lives, Mina and Katsuki talked more than ever. Katsuki needed help taking care of Ryu since this was obviously brand new to him so he’d ask Mina for help on how to handle him, and Mina wanted to be kept updated to make sure he didn’t screw anything up. They were both so unsure on how to help you, especially when you were so closed off about your side of the story. Being around eachother wasn’t as bad as either of them thought though, and they could thank you for making them find that out.

It was talk to Mina about Y/N or Kirishima and something about that didn’t sit right with him.

“She’s not that stupid,” Katsuki grunted in his defense. “I was trying to be fucking nice to her, she knows that.”

That was only kind of a lie, he was trying to be kinder, softer for her. That immense guilt that weighed down his chest everyday since you came back into his life only got heavier the more he chipped away at the walls you put up, because he was beginning to realize that he should have never been your hero. Every memory he had where he thought you were acting spoiled and trying to buy him like your father was, he was able to reevaluate it and see that you were genuinely naive and trying to love him. How the hell could he blame you for being spoiled when that’s how you were raised?

He did almost exactly what he did to Deku to you: project his insecurities.

“What did she say? Did she yell at you?” Mina pressed the topic.

The smile completely washed off your face, replaced with that cold expression he had been given before. Katsuki knew now that it wasn’t who you were — you weren’t cold hearted and ruthless like your father, but you were smart enough to pick up on his mannerisms and use them — but it didn’t fail to bring him back to the bigger picture.

The relationship between you two was severed, he was a thick branch on the root of your trauma, and you were strong enough to pretend it was okay, but you refused to forget.

“Yours? Don’t get ahead of yourself, Dynamight. I can build an empire from ashes, and I can easily turn this life you love so much into a personal hell. I don’t belong to anyone, and I owe nothing to anyone. You on the other hand, owe me your respect and your loyalty if you want to be in your son’s life. If anything you are mine, and from what I’ve been told, that’s not something to be proud of.”

He felt that sharp pain hit his chest again and his lungs tighten, “don’t worry about it.”

Mina rolled her eyes and threw her hands up as they walked. “Did you tell her about the press conference today? She hasn’t even considered staying at your place yet.” Katsuki stopped in his tracks as her sentence finished, his whole body frozen in step and Mina face-palmed.

“She’s totally going to kill you.”

The noise from the television playing Ryu’s favorite channel broadcasting hero events was barely audible over the sounds of him stomping and imitating noises of guns and his explosions going off. You expected that your wooden coffee table would once again have his footprints on them, and some of his toys would be scattered on the floor mimicking hurt heroes. Hopefully your couches would still be brown and without burn marks when you went back out there, but that concern was easily put to rest by the one who currently had his eyes on your son while you made them snacks in the kitchen.

You finished platting the carrots and grapes — Ryu would refuse to eat any snack if grapes weren’t included in the mix — and grabbed the two plates with varying portions of the snack you threw together before walking back out into the “war zone”. The moment you were in view with a plate Ryu was at your legs, hopping up and down in anticipation for his afternoon snack he probably desperately needed from all the constant running he did. You put his plate on the coffee table for him to sit on the floor and eat, hopefully without playing around with it, and took a few more steps to the couch where your unexpected guest sat.

“Thank, Y/N! You didn’t have to make me one too,” Kirishima grinned, flashing you all of his sharp teeth in appreciation.

You smiled softly, “it’s really no problem. You’re the only visitor I have that doesn’t cause me unwanted stress, so feel free to make yourself comfortable.”

Kirishima watched you take a seat on the floor next to your child, the one that looked nothing like you, but like the boy that broke your heart. He watched as you smiled at him eating, picking up the pieces of food he’d drop onto the tables, and running your hands through his hair and fixing it to your liking. It was so clear what your priority was — what your life centered around. It was nostalgic because he had seen that look on your face before; with Katsuki.

He couldn’t shake the realization now; you had always been a decent person. When Katsuki would talk down about you as if you were less than, it had nothing to do with who you really were, and had everything to do with the image he had projected on you. What made him feel worse is how he saw how much you loved Bakugou — not only Bakugou, but Mina too — and he still somehow believed what Katsuki was saying. He was the only one of his friends that didn’t feel right using you like that. He watched them all, Kaminari, Sero, Uraraka, and even Momo, but never voiced a single concern.

“I’m sorry.” He gasped as he tried to contain the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. He had to close his eyes and clutch his knees, but even that couldn’t stop the waterfall from pouring down his eyes. “I can’t imagine what you must have felt when. . how lonely you must have been. . “

“Red Rio-“ Kirishima cut Ryu off.

“I don’t deserve that hero name when I did something so unmanly!”

“Kirishima!” You scolded, standing up and guiding Ryu to go into the kitchen, giving him a look that told him to just stay put and you’ll speak to him later.

Going back into the living room, you shook your head at the crying man on your couch. This wasn’t something you expected from him, but then again he had more emotional awareness than any of the people involved at a young age. You couldn’t help but wonder what he uses to think of you, what Katsuki told him you were truly like when you two were alone. Seeing him cry and apologize in a fit of obvious guilt didn’t make you feel good, and the thought of it being Katsuki doing the apologizing didn’t bring you any kind of comfort either.

But why?

You took a seat next to Kirishima with your hands cupped together on your lap. “Growing up, I wanted to be just like my dad. . He was this amazing business man that was good at everything, and no one could tell him anything, you know? He made it seem like the only way to succeed was to crush someone else, to have more money than everyone else, and that shaped who I was.” You recalled, going back through your memory as best as you could the same way you did when you sat alone in a hotel room with nothing but pain and resentment.

“All of you saw me like I wanted to be seen, whether I want to admit that or not, it’s true. They did exactly what anyone would have done to me as soon as I stepped into my father’s shoes if I had stayed naive and believed that money and love were the same thing. If you think Katsuki could have done what he did in a lot better way, I agree, but if you think that I should have you all eternally in my debt like my father would have, then you still see me as the man I’ve been running from for a long time now. So. . whatever you’re apologizing for, thanks but that isn’t what I’m looking for.”

Kirishima had stopped crying midway through your life story, finding himself immersed in your point of view. It was absolutely flooring that you weren’t looking for revenge or even apology. Especially from Katsuki after hearing what he had told you all those years ago. He couldn’t help but wonder if you were the girl he knew that only wore name brand dresses and worried more about why her mother bought her ugly shoes than the world around her — the answer was both yes and no.

You were that girl, but now you weren’t mirroring someone else’s views.

His heartbeat picked up and he felt his cheeks grow red as he stared at you. It was wrong how his entire body seemed to steam up when you were sitting there in your lounge wear that wasn’t even close to you looking done-up. You were the mother of his best friend’s kid, it was so much more than just being off limits.

Kirishima turned away from you when you looked at him, and you chuckled. “Don’t start getting all sappy on me now. I may not want to bury Bakugou and Ashido like you guys think, but I still don’t trust their friendship, and certainly not a relationship with the blonde bombshell.”

Suddenly, Kirishima remembered why he came here in the first place, and the whole reason Mina had given him your address. He whipped his head to the television that had been playing the entire time in the background, to see the very thing that he was meant to prepare you for. You followed his gaze in confusion, but that quickly changed to dread when you saw that explosive blonde hair and red eyes looking back at you on your TV. . along with a picture of you and Ryu.

“They are my family, and there is no story for any of you. Where they are isn’t any of your concern, and because of recent events where their lives were threatened they will be relocating to a safe location. There isn’t any need to worry, because I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt them.” Katsuki said, and immediately you could hear the press at the meeting talking and attempting to question him, but he walked off the stage with the same strict expression he had spoken with.

“Kirishima.”

“. . . You’re really pretty.”

“How pretty will I be with my hands around your neck?”

(A/N: Big thanks to @xwackk and @misssugarless for their help <3! I hope you guys enjoy, and I really can’t show how much I really appreciate all the kindness you guys show me on this book! ❤️❤️❤️)

Taglist <3 : @fandomgirllover @cloudsgathering @that-bipolar-renegade-romantic @jazzylove @that-chick212 @bonbonthedragon @misssugarless @insomniac-nerd-posts-things @bakugous-bakahoe @pinkykookie17 @animexholic @arielting @samkysnks @simpforeveryone @damnirina @deneuves @tsumuuumiyaaaa @ladybeautiful18 @vintage-teddyxo @regalmigraine @samvmgh @iamagalaxy @officialtrashbusiness @xwackk @videogameboiwhowins @marajillana @ellasdilemma @plutoneu @saucey-kneecapzz42020 @thestarsanctuary @dewdropwifu @star-light-imagines @kritiiiii @bakugosbottombitch @the2ndl @candybabey @simply-not-the-same @sam-i-am-1025 @mes-bisous @eternallyvenus @peppytine @chaelysian @definitely-yours @oikawarc @suneaterofthebig3 @m0na-l0ver @nkb0048 @losertsukki

#bakugou x reader #bnha bakugou #bnha #bakugo x reader #katsuki bakugo x y/n #x reader #bnha fanfiction #bnha x reader #bnha angst #anime x reader

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hemmingslftv · 3 years

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Not in the same way

Word count: 3k Warning: angst, mention of abortion. Requested: no but requests are open! A/N: hi! It's been almost a year since I last posted on here but I've had this idea on my mind for a while now and I just needed to write it down so here it is. I wrote it real quick so I don't think it's one of my best works. Enjoy! and, as always, any feedback is appreciated. Masterlist

- C'mon! We're gonna be late for your own party! - Ashton shouted while you ran down the stairs of the house you both shared as fast as you could with your high heels.

- I'm ready! - you said and you gave him a quick peck on his cheek while he grabbed the keys to your car.

It was your 25th birthday and Ashton had planned the perfect party. He had rented a house just outside of LA and you both wanted to get there before everyone arrived so you could welcome them. At first, you weren't so excited about the idea because you loved to spend time with your friends but you didn't really enjoy crowded places. But Ashton had convinced you that you only turn 25 once and you should celebrate it.

You arrived right after Calum, who was the first one to get there. One by one all your friends and family got there and you had to admit it was exciting to share the same space with everyone and to know that they were there for you. As the afternoon went by, you all had a few drinks and ate while chatting to each other, there was a chilled environment and you loved it.

When it was around 10PM, Ashton decided it was time for his speech. You knew it was coming sooner or later, he loved to speak in front of people and you loved to listen to him express his love for you so openly.

- Baby, can you come here for a bit? - he asked after everyone was silent. You blushed, the shyness that characterized you coming to the surface.

- Is it really necessary? - you asked making everyone laugh (even though it was a genuine question). Ashton smiled at you softly and you protested silently and started walking towards him.

- Thank you, love - he whispered once you were close enough so that only you would listen.

- So, as everyone already knows - he started his speech - it's y/n's 25th birthday today, which means she's getting old, but don't tell her or she'll freak out - you punched him jokingly on his arm and giggled - and it also means it's the 5th birthday I get to spend with the love of my life - he looked at you and you could see his eyes full of love, making you feel the luckiest girl on the planet. You stared at each other for apparently too long because Luke had to clear his throat to tell him to continue.

- Sorry, I got lost on her, it happens quite often - he said earning a few "aws" from the crowd - So, as I was saying, I couldn't have asked for a better person to spend my life with - he turned to face you and took your hands on his.

- y/n, I know you think I'm too cheesy or sentimental sometimes, but I need to tell you how I feel because I need you to feel loved. You've gone through so much and I've come to realize you must be the strongest person on earth because you have made it out of every possible situation, and always keeping a smile on your face. You've made me the man I am today, you helped me get out of my addiction and you stuck by my side when I didn't deserve you to, but I desperately needed you to. I think we both helped each other to love ourselves and we can put ourselves first in this relationship and I think that's what has kept us strong for a little bit over 5 years now. We went through the saddest event of our life together - you knew he was referring to the abortion you had almost a year ago that nobody knew about except for you two and you couldn't help but shed a few tears. You could tell his eyes were teary too and after a short pause, he continued - but we worked past it and we got out of it together, and stronger than we were before. y/n, you are the love of my life, you are the woman I want to wake up next to every day, my whole heart belongs to you and I couldn't imagine a future without you so - he said while kneeling down, making you cover your mouth with your hands as you realized what was going on.

- Ashton please don't - you tried to say, but you weren't sure if the words had actually come out of your mouth or if they were loud enough for him to listen. You were panicking more than you ever had before and you wished he was able to see it in your eyes. He was always so good at reading you, but this time he didn't, he was too excited himself to notice how your whole body tensed as he continued.

- So, y/f/n, do you wanna marry me? - he asked with hope and happiness written all over his face. You were frozen, this was the last thing you were expecting from this party and you felt suddenly trapped in your own body, unable to move. After a couple of seconds, Ashton tilted his head, waiting for your answer and you could tell he was starting to get nervous. - I... y/n? do you want to marry me? - he insisted and you snapped back to yourself but to everyone's surprise, you turned around and started running towards your car.

You ran as fast as you could. Halfway there you stopped to remove your heels and even though your heart was pumping louder than it ever had before you could listen to your best friend shouting for you to wait for her. But you didn't. You kept running until you got to your car and drove away.

As soon as you got home you started packing a bag. You didn't even know where you were going but you were more than sure you weren't welcome here anymore. You expected to cry at some point but you didn't, all you felt was numb. Not even 10 minutes after you had arrived you had your bag ready and you were about to leave your room when you heard the door open. "Shit" you muttered to yourself.

- Do you want me to stay? - you heard Calum ask from outside the door.

- No, it's fine. I can take it from here.

- Okay, call me if you need anything - he said before you heard the door closing. You took a deep breath, grabbed the bag, and started walking towards the door.

- Are you leaving? - Ashton asked as he saw you enter the living room. His tone wasn't an angry one, as you had expected, he sounded just sad. You were too ashamed to even look at him but you thought that was the least you could do and you built up the courage to look him in the eye.

- I guess, I didn't think you'd want me to stay here

- What? Why not? I wouldn't have asked you to marry me if I wanted you to leave

- No, I know, but I mean, after what just happened. Not only did I reject you but I also run away leaving you all alone to deal with the mess I made and I did it in front of all our friends

- Please stay, we need to talk - he said getting closer to you and you dropped the bag to the floor while he held your hand guiding you through your house. Both of you sat on the kitchen table, the place where you always had your serious talks - I need you, to be honest with me, do you not love me anymore? Have you fallen out of love with me? Is there... - he looked down for a second and you could see his jaw and hands clench - is there someone else you've been seeing? I know you always try to protect me but I need to know, I promise I can handle it

- No, no, no, no, why would you? Well, I mean, I can see why you would think that but no, since the day I met you, there's never been anyone else. And of course, I still love you, I love you more and more every day.

- You love me, just not in the same way I do, right?

- I don't know what you mean

- You say you love me, and I believe you, but you don't love me enough to marry me, is that it? Am I getting it right?

- No, I - you tried to reply

- 'Cause I would give my life for you, do you hear me? I would literally die if it meant you were safe. I'd do anything for you. And to be completely honest, I thought we were on the same page.

- We are, I promise, I would die for you too, Ash. But I don't know, I didn't expect you to ask me to be your wife just then and there, out of nowhere.

- Well, I guess that's the point, it's supposed to be a surprise, you know?

- Yeah, I know, but people talk about it first!

- C'mon! We've talked about it. I've told you a million times I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you and all those times you agreed, how was I supposed to know you didn't want to marry me?

- It's not that I don't want to. I do want to wake up next to you every morning and I definitely want to grow old with you.

- What's it then? Why did you run?

- I'm not sure. I panicked. I could perfectly picture us together in 10 years, 20 or 40, and with all our kids and grandkids but I don't know, being your wife? That's a responsibility I doubt I am good enough for. How do you know you won't get tired of me? I mean, I'm great, but we both know I'm not the best you could have. You could literally marry any girl, and you chose me. And I guess I hadn't realized that until tonight and it was just too much for my brain to process at the same time. I'm sorry I ruined everything. See? That's what I mean, I am not perfect.

- I don't want perfect babe, I want you. And I will always want you. You would be the best wife ever, I just know it. You've been the best girlfriend all these years, it's not gonna change because we change the label.

- So you don't hate me?

- Of course not, I could never hate you. I get it, maybe I should have talked to you first, not ruining the surprise but making sure you had in mind it could happen soon.

- Yeah, that would have been great - you smiled slightly and relaxed when he smiled back at you. You thought you had ruined your relationship and you could now see that nothing could ruin what you both had, it was too strong.

- By the way, I think your father hates me, I left him quite angry but I didn't really have time to deal with that.

- Oh god, I'm so sorry - you both laughed for a bit, and then you asked - Ash?

- Hmm? - he mumbled looking at you.

- I do want to marry you - you were sure about your decision, you knew there wasn't anyone better for you than him and if he was just as convinced, why not take it a step further?

- Yeah, you do? - he said while he got up from his seat and you did the same - then let me try this again - he reached for the velvet box in the pocket of his jeans.

- You know what? - you said taking the box from his hand - let me try this time - You knelt just as he had done almost an hour ago and took a deep breath - Ashton Irwin, you light up my days, you are the reason I wake up every morning, the first and the last thought I have every day. Every moment I spend with you becomes my favorite one so far and I haven't really had time to prepare this speech and you know I'm not as good as you with words but I love you. I've never known anyone with a busier schedule than yours and you have made time for me every single day I needed it, and I think that shows how much you care for me, and I want you to know I care just as much. Every single feeling you have for me, I have for you, and I couldn't picture my life without you. Ashton Fletcher Irwin, do you want to marry me? - you said as a few tears slipped down your cheeks.

- Yes, of course, I wanna marry you! - he cheered holding your arms and helping you get up so he could kiss you.

- I don't have a ring but you do so, do you mind doing the honors? - you said opening the velvet box. He took the silver ring at slid it down your finger. It fit perfectly and it was the most precious ring you had ever seen.

- Do you like it? - he asked while kissing your cheeks and nose, cleaning the tears that still run down your face.

- I love it boo, it's perfect - you kissed him and the kiss heated up quickly but you took a step back as soon as his grip on your waist got a bit loose.

- What are you doing? I want you - he pouted.

- I know, I want you too but I need to tell you something before - you ran to your purse to get a little present you had planned on giving to Ashton at your birthday party. When you got back to the kitchen, he was already shirtless. You groaned at the view and bit your lower lip - I told you to wait - you said shaking your head so you could focus.

- I can't, you're too hot! - he giggled.

- I love you. Open this - you said handing him the small package. He knitted his brows together.

- I have no idea what this is - he said starting to open it.

- I know - you pressed the record button on your phone without him realizing and put the phone on the countertop so it recorded his reaction. You were excited for him to finally know what you had kept to yourself for almost 4 months now.

- It's a box! - he joked while he ripped out the paper it was wrapped in. As soon as he opened it you could see the tears building upon his eyes and they started running eagerly down his face as he held the tiny converse shoes that were inside the box - Are you? Please tell me you're not kidding me - you shook your head 'no', not able to contain your tears either - Oh my god! Are you okay?

- Yes, we're perfectly fine and healthy - you said while he hugged you and spun you around - I'm 4 months in.

- You're what? And you haven't told me? Babe, you don't have to keep doing things on your own, I'm here for you now.

- I know, I just didn't want to get your hopes up just in case, you know, I failed again

- Don't, please. It wasn't your fault, those horrible things just happen and they shouldn't, but they do, there was nothing you could have done better - he put his hand on your belly softly making you shiver - So that's why you haven't been drinking lately - you nodded.

- And that's why I wasn't in the mood for morning sex either. To be honest, I thought that was gonna give it away.

- Well, I had no clue, I thought it was just a phase. I can't believe we're gonna be parents babe, and you planned on leaving me with our creation inside you? - he teased.

- I hadn't thought about that! okay? I have the perfect excuse, it was the hormones - you laughed and removed his hand off your belly so you could pull your dress up - if you look closely you can clearly see them growing, I think it's showing already.

- Oh my god! It totally is! How have I not noticed this?

- You're not the greatest observer I guess

- Yeah, I'm definitely not. Did you go to the doctor's appointments all by yourself?

- No, Calum always came with me, he's the only one who I knew would keep the secret.

- Calum? Oh, so that's why he was so sure you weren't cheating.

- Did you seriously thought I was seeing someone else? - you asked kind of hurt.

- No, not really. I guess I was just trying to go through every possible situation in my head so that it wouldn't take me by surprise.

- I'm sorry Ash - you said cupping his face with your hands - I shouldn't have run. It's the last thing you deserve. You've done nothing but be there for me all these years.

- So have you, it's okay. Are you ready to share the news with the world? - he asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

- I guess so, I was gonna tell you in front of everyone at the party, now that the first trimester is over the chances of it going

- Shh, don't even think about it. It's gonna be okay - he assured you while he hugged you from behind - let me capture this moment - he got his phone out of his pocket and took a picture of his hand holding yours, with the wedding ring on it, on your belly - perfect - he whispered once he was happy with the result.

He posted it on Instagram with the caption "I couldn't have asked for a better mum for my children, including the one that's on the way. Love you forever y/n, your future husband".

#5sos #ashton irwin #5sos blurb #5sos angst #5sos fluff #5sos fic #dad!sos #ashton irwin blurb #ashton irwin fic #ashton irwin angst #ashton irwin fluff #ashton irwin fanfic #5sos fanfic

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nodameshield · 3 years

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how are we doing? have the tears dried yet? I know mine haven’t ::

let’s start light : research fellows count ! (also, lady, only ten years old? - I resent that).

Goh understands this?? he’s got a silly proud smile and it’s following Ash’s butchered storytelling??? love

research fellows count !

perfectly attainable dream

sure, go for it. (look at both of their supportive lil smiles, we love best friends)

we all know the scene that’s coming ahead, but I thought this was a beautiful demonstration of growth already on Goh’s side.

Listen before the sad part begins let us appreciate for a moment how Ash and Goh were smiling at EACH OTHER after the interview was over. cuties.

behold : the last frame we have of baby Sobble. I’m going to miss you, bean. thank you for everything<3 (he was so proud of his good deed as well!! my very heart)

just how fast the night changes, indeed.

Drizzle went through shock and pain at record speed and swiftly landed on anger - only to fall into ✨depression✨ just as quickly.

and then we just stayed there.

someone

(oh hey Cinderace ! good to see ya)

having

a rough morning

(I’m sorry, this scene was just fucking funny - the drama)

Cinderace’s proud big bro moment was just too sweet to leave out - let us not forget, he’s been a big bro since he was Raboot (and even as a temperamental Raboot, he was always gentle to Sobble). And now his baby bro has evolved as well. precious !

Goh handled this situation very maturely from the beginning. And here’s when the build up starts. He’s saying ��hey, let me help you how I think you need to be helped” and he genuinely doesn’t mean any harm! naturally, his reaction is to help his Pokémon, in the way that has worked in the past.

but then he starts to understand maybe that’s not the best approach this time around.

and he’s ready to respect those new boundaries (of course, there’s no blame on Cinderace, either. Much like Goh, he - and everyone, really - was just trying to help in the way he thought was the best).

shoutout to the animation on this bit because Pikachu’s ears darting down was a delightful detail. Chloe’s expression and Grookey’s simmering down drove the point home as well.

ah, you coy little thing. Did you forget how your trainer almost left you behind because of how rebellious you were??? Because you made him feel as though you’d be better off without him?? (Cinderace has selective memory, you can’t change my mind, don’t be miss-leaded by the cuteness)

this build up was wonderful - we begin to hear all these reasons why, yeah? maybe he just wants to be alone.

maybe he’s still very afraid and careful of his surroundings, and his evolution made it worse? (he’d been popping up in random places in previous episodes, hiding, which was also great foreshadowing for this episode !)

maybe he’s cocooning himself until he’s ready to evolve again? (which, considering his disappointment and how badly he wanted to be Inteleon already, is a very plausible reason)

but Prof. Cerise gets it right when he says ‘we can’t really know for sure’ (which ties greatly with Goh’s upcoming scene) - is it your Drizzle’s quirk? are they all like this? who cares? Isn’t wonderful how he’s a living creature? how he’s got nuances and a personality? shouldn’t that be enough of a reason to look after him, and try to help him right now?

my child, still thinking he’s got to do everything on his own.

and these two are just like ????? Goh ??? watchu talking about ???

can you imagine how MUCH this moment means to him?? he was ready to keep going alone (it’s what he knows) and even when Ash and Chloe prove him, time and time again, that he’s not alone, there’s still something in Goh coded to believe others won’t care as much/won’t be there when he needs them. and that’s why he insists: I’ve got this. I can do it alone.

and, sure, but you don’t have to. that’s the beauty of friendship.

you tell him, Chloe. (actually, without Chloe calling him out, he might have taken longer to figure out where Drizzle was. so...) // but also, it gives us a glimpse into the fact that, while Goh might have felt very lonely, Chloe has been observing and caring for him - in her way - for a long minute as well.

my very point above.

HEY, LISTEN: he doesn’t know, either. he’s a child, words are hard, and you rotate along the four moods of childhood (happy, upset, scared, hungry (?)) and don’t ponder much on anything else because you are a child, there’s no emotional intelligence to speak of, no need for it, you’re being shaped by your environment and all the stimuli of the world being a new place. things like loneliness, confusion, anxiety... we can’t put those into words - hell, they’re fucking abstract and confusing even when we are adults.

and Goh’s stimuli and environment was, given what we know of his family life, a rather lonely one. Did his parents have a lot of spare time to take him to the park? I don’t think so. Was he good at going out there and asking other kids to play? ... probably not.

Chloe doesn’t strike me as an extrovert, either, so even if she wanted to get close to Goh or invite him to hang out, perhaps she was too shy as well. Heck, perhaps Goh’s reaction would’ve been like the one above, he simply didn’t know. Maybe he didn’t want to ! and that’s perfectly fine as well.

am I forgiving the anipoke team for making Goh cry? no, never. but this was beautifully executed so I can grow to live with it.

“why are you depressed?” “you have nothing to be sad about!” “look at all the wonderful things you have!” “just be happy again!” - sound familiar? yeah, this was incredibly well done.

as adults, perhaps we see this and think ‘shit, how cool that they’re prodding on these topics, it’s important’ and it is !!! so important !! but if it’s this impactful as young-adults/grown-ups, imagine how impactful it must be as a child to see this and feel perceived. I’m honestly so proud of this moment, this whole episode. I’m grateful they took the time to look into this maturely. and even if children don’t do a full-fledged analysis on it, if they relate (like I know so many of us did) they won’t forget it. and that’s beautiful.

darling I’m blanking on your TW handle I’m so sorry - but someone in a tweet SO RIGHTFULLY pointed out that these are the words Goh would have needed to hear when he was younger. saying them to Drizzle it’s a full circle moment for him, he’s hearing them as well, and it’s helping both of them grow.

He’s not forcing himself as Drizzle’s trainer. Goh bears no entitlement here. He’s saying ‘Hey, if you’re comfortable, if you want to share , I’ll be here’ / as a kid, people did care for him, they kept wanting to know what was going on, but Goh couldn’t put that in words and people pestering him only made it worse, but if someone had said ‘hey, when you’re ready...’ then,,,,yeah,,,,maybe it would’ve been different.

he’s offering that safety now to his Pokémon, something he didn’t have, but he grew to understand is what he (and now Drizzle) needed. If that doesn’t have you breaking down in a teary mess then you are stronger than I’ll ever be, because my glasses were cloudy by this point.

why, why, why. because you needed to hear all that as well, baby! so did a number of us. thank you.

I’ll say that, however it was that you connected with this moment, that’s yours to cherish.

Personally, I too had a lonely childhood marked by parents who overworked, and I too spent a lot of time alone in kindergarten and through elementary school because it was hard to make friends (turns out i’m an extrovert, ha, talk about breaking out of your shell...) so, obviously there were easy common grounds for me in this episode.

but I LOVED to read the reactions and realize so many people still connected with it, one way or the other. So many of us felt seen and understood and acknowledged in emotions that are so hard to put into words !!

so, again, if you identified with Goh or Drizzle or any of the topics in this episode, that’s very beautiful, and I hope the underlying message that you’re not alone gets through.

With Sobble, and now with Drizzle as well, Goh is very adamant to remind us that, however we are, that’s fine. there’s something that makes us special, regardless of other people’s opinions, or their ideas of how we *should be* // that’s the message I’m taking with me, at least.

and i can’t wait to see how this story line evolves !! I have no doubts that, when the moment comes, Inteleon will be a wonderful addition to the team, but Drizzle is here now, and he’s plenty wonderful already x

Bonus:

ha ha, yes. I watched this episode three times. And all three times I was a mess.

side note but a very important one: the animation, the voice acting, the dialog, the scenery of the starry night - the entire scene was so beautifully executed. so carefully crafted. ugh, amazing. just perfect. so happy.

#all right this took forever #if you are still reading thank you #anipoke #pokemon journeys #ep 62 #we won't be forgetting this one now will we #journeyshipping #Pokémon Journeys: The Series #SatoGou #Firstfriendshipping #Goh #satoshi #Chloe #ngl Chloe was the mvp #calling Goh out on his bs #we love to see her #Goh I'm so proud of you #please keep growing #you're beautiful and i love you

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hopelesshawks · 3 years

Text

Official Accounts Part 22- Keigo

Summary: (y/n) was perfectly happy remaining anonymous, even if her best friends were all pro heroes and she worked under THE Hawks. Handling the technical aspects of hero work from the background suited her just fine, thank you very much. That goes out the window when suddenly her twitter blows up thanks Denki and the famed no. 2 hero is asking her to run his own official twitter as a result

If you don’t want to see Official Accounts content blacklist #hopelessoa

Warnings for manga spoilers related to Hawks’ backstory

Masterlist

Seeing Hawks without his wings isn’t any easier the second time around. If anything, it’s harder because the first time you’d seen him he’d barely been lucid, certainly not lucid enough to feel his wings’ absence, and he’d passed right back out before he could truly become aware of his surroundings. Now you can practically feel his grief as you step into his room. He’s sitting up in the hospital bed but his face is turned away from you as he stares listlessly out the window. The nurse who had helped you from your room to his gives you a quiet “good luck” before closing the door behind you. “Are there any cameras or audio recording devices in here?” you ask with faux casualness by way of greeting. “No. HPSC can’t risk my health info getting out so this room is as private as it gets,” Hawks replies, “why?” “Because Keigo,” Hawks freezes, his eyes snapping to meet yours, “I kinda promised I wouldn’t call you that where anyone else could hear,” you finish. To your surprise, and his, a tear slowly makes its way down his face. “I’m sorry! You told me I could! I didn’t think you’d-“ “Me either,” he laughs, cutting you off before swiping at his eyes to make sure no more tears fall. “Sorry I guess it’s just uh- no one’s called me that in a very long time,” he explains as you sit on the side of his bed. “Do you want me to stop?” you ask cautiously but he shakes his head. “No it’s... it’s nice. Different,” he admits.

For a moment you both sit in silence. You figured he shouldn’t be alone but now that you’re actually in his room with him you have no idea where to start. “Hey, look on the bright side, at least you’re finally getting some time off,” you joke in an attempt to lighten the mood. “I don’t want time off!” Hawks snaps gritting his teeth. You’re stunned by his reaction. Not by the fact he doesn’t want to take time off. Hawks’ workaholic tendencies were no secret to you. More you were shocked by the vehemence of his reaction. “I’m sorry I just....” he says as he scrubs a frustrated hand over his face. “You just what?” You press slightly. “I can’t not work that long.” “What do you mean?” “I don’t know how.” “Hawks” “Keigo” “Right, Keigo. I know you were like the youngest pro ever to have their own agency or whatever but you still started your career at what 17-18? You lived before you were a pro hero you just need to recapture that a little.” “No... I didn’t. My hero education was a little.... different.” “What does that mean?” “It’s a long story.” “We’ve got time.” Hawks laughs at your response, although there isn’t much joy in it. You notice the muscles in his shoulders and back twitch as if trying to flex his wings and it pains you a little to see the way his face drops when he doesn’t feel anything move.

“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to,” you assure him. “No. No I want to tell you. I was planning on it actually. That’s why I was with Chargebolt when he went back home yesterday,” he explains. “Well in that case I’m all ears.” He takes a deep breath to steady himself and leans back against the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Literally no one except the HPSC knows what I’m about to tell you. No one,” he admits as one hand grips the sheets tightly. You place a gentle hand on top of it and he shoots you an appreciative look before taking your hand and then returning his gaze to the ceiling. He takes one last deep breath. “My uh real name is Keigo Takami. My father is a villain. He’s currently serving time for multiple robberies and homicides. Endeavor was the one who picked him up. My mom had long been out of the picture by then and no one could find her so I became the state’s problem. I was 5, just starting to figure out how my w-“ his words catch in his throat for a moment and you give his hand a reassuring squeeze but say nothing to avoid interrupting him. “Just starting to figure out my quirk and I guess the HPSC took notice and saw potential so they stepped in, arranged a meeting with me. All I had were the clothes on my back and a little Endeavor doll my mom must’ve given me when I was little. They offered to make me a hero like Endeavor so I agreed and became a ward of the HPSC. By the time I was seven I had a hero name and by the time I was eight it was the only thing they’d call me. I barely remember a time before I was training to be a hero and the few memories I do have from before aren’t good ones. So yes, officially, my career didn’t start until I was 18 but pretty much my whole life has been devoted to being a hero. Without hero work I am nothing.” “That’s not true.” “It is. Everything I do outside of hero work is fake. My personality is manufactured. Quiet broken kids from broken villain families don’t play well in the press as top heroes so they killed Keigo Takami and birthed Hawks from the ashes.” “Well I’m not speaking to Hawks right now am I?” you ask. He’s a little stunned to find you’re right. “No, I guess not,” he concedes. It’s quiet for a moment.

“Move over,” you tell him. “What?” “I said move over!” you insist, using your free hand to push him to emphasize your point. He continues to give you a confused glance but eventually does as asked. You release his hand as you climb into the hospital bed, trying to be careful not to further disturb your injuries or his. Once you’re situated and comfortable you turn to Keigo and open your arms wide in an invitation, the same way Denki has done a million times for you. “What are you doing (y/n)?” “When was the last time you let someone hold you?” Keigo thinks about it and comes up pretty empty. “The HPSC isn’t the loving family type so much as the nonstop brutal training type.” “I figured as much so come here.” “(Y/n)...” “Look if you’re really that uncomfortable I’ll drop it but we’re friends now Keigo. And in my friend group when one of us is upset we cuddle,” you declare. Keigo’s calculating gaze casts over you looking for the slightest hint of hesitation, doubt, or regret yet he finds nothing to indicate your offer is anything but genuine. So he gives in. He falls into your embrace, letting you wrap your arms around him as he buries his face in your neck and wraps his arms around your torso. The silent tears come shortly after but neither of you comment on it. “How about you stay with me until your wings grow back. We can learn who Hawks is outside of hero work together,” you offer. Keigo freezes in your arms for a moment but only melts deeper into your touch when you move a hand to stroke through his hair. “I’d like that,” he responds in a whisper. “Good.”

Author’s Note: Honestly I expected this to end up longer but I’m happy with how it turned out. Keigo deserves friends and I’m excited to explore him outside of hero work. The next few parts should be interesting and I have a feeling the rest of the series will feature a lot of written parts based on the ideas I’ve got bouncing around rn but I guess we’ll see

Taglist [open]: @cathy8taffy @katzurras @grumpyfroggies @captaincyberqueen @itskindofafairything @420-uwu @someweirdshitman @oliviasslut @the-adzukibean @main-ruthyruth

#hopelessoa #wing hero hawks #hawks #hawks x reader #hawks x y/n

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theladyofdeath · 4 years

Text

Swipe Right {Rowaelin Fluff Modern AU}

Part TWO to Swipe Left {Rowaelin Fluff}

Written alongside the beautiful and talented @throne-of-ashes-and-beauty

Aelin looked in the mirror one final time. She had to look absolutely perfect, of course, even though she was just visiting Rowan at work. It had been a little over a year since she had met the love of her life in the airport, and life was pretty perfect.

She had no complaints.

And from what she could tell, the perfection would only continue to grow.

After brushing through her long, golden hair, Aelin slipped on a pair of brown sandals to go with her turquoise t-shirt dress and called it good.

It had been an eventful morning, to say the least, starting with a quick workout and brunch with Lysandra. After that, she’d showered and gotten ready, checking her email for an offer letter from one of the many companies she’d applied to. The paid internship she’d taken had ended a couple weeks back and while Rowan had been more than generous, not asking her to pay rent when she’d moved in, she needed to start pulling her weight.

Rowan said she could pay him in other ways and she snorted and shoved him.

Aelin liked to contribute. She liked to help out.

Nonetheless, she was hurrying down the steps, as quickly as she could, and to her car. Once inside, she was starting the engine and pulling out of the parking space before the radio could even catch up and begin playing music.

She was giddy, could hardly control herself.

She couldn’t wait to show Rowan.

In her defense, though, she was also bringing him lunch just before his lunch period, so it wasn’t all about her surprise. It was about the kind, loving gesture that could only be shown through bringing your significant other food.

She had to make one stop before she stopped at the school, though, and that was the most important of the day.

Rowan turned around and crossed his arms as he looked at his class. “Can anybody tell me who Abigail Williams is?”

He was met with silence.

“You learned about her last year, with Ms. Lochan.”

Not even a blink of recognition.

He sighed and rubbed between his brows with his thumb and forefinger. “First person who can tell me anything about her gets to leave for lunch ten minutes early.”

A male voice spoke up. “She was accused of being a witch, right?”

“Good, Quinton, she was.” He pointed at the student, who was a basketball player. He’d never put any effort into his studies until recently, when he realized colleges care about your grades, too, not just how many three pointers you can hit. “Where?”

Quinton hesitated.

“Starts with a S,” Rowan slowly.

“Salem,” Quinton said, without any hesitation.

Rowan leaned back against the whiteboard, arms crossed. “Very goo-.”

His words dropped off as he noticed a flutter of movement in the doorway out of the corner of his eye. His class had noticed, too, because he instantly lost their attention as Aelin gave him an amused look.

Rowan couldn’t be mad. His eyes softened as he said, “You all remember my-.”

She was met with a series of loud hellos and hollers, which only made her grin widen - and her ego grow to an uncontrollable level, no doubt.

She held up a bag. “I brought lunch. I didn’t mean to be early. I’ll just…” She pointed to Rowan’s desk in the back corner of the room, indicating her destination.

He chuckled and nodded. He turned his attention back to his class, trying to reclaim their attention. “Alright, next week, we’re going to start on the Salem Witch Trials.” There was a flutter of excitement, which was atypical for sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds in school. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, because yes, it’s extremely interesting, but there’s also a lot of dates or boring stuff.” There was a collective groan, knowing Rowan would give one of his date only quizzes for extra credit. “But...we’re also going to be watching a movie next week. Which leads me to our homework…” Cue the groans again.

“Witches are a commonly adapted piece of folklore in modern media. Monday, I want you to bring in an example of your favorite adaptation of witches from movies, tv shows, music videos, whatever it may be. Wednesday, I want an example of other times there were witch hunts in history, aside from Salem. Not too hard, but we’re going to be taking a lot of notes. Be ready.” He glanced at his watch and saw it was ten til. He nodded his head at Quinton. “Q, you ready for lunch?”

He nodded yes and started packing up his backpack.

Rowan shrugged and said, “I’m feeling generous today. Pick a buddy to go with you.”

Quinton smirked and turned around, pointing to Aelin. “You hungry, Miss G?”

The class erupted into good natured heckling.

Aelin laughed, quietly. “I’m afraid I’ve already eaten.”

“Too bad,” Quinton murmured, earning another round of laughter. “Evangeline, then.”

Evangeline rolled her eyes but began packing up, anyway.

Rowan gestured for them both to go then told the others to get started on their homework, which meant they’d be talking quietly among themselves or on their phones, until the bell rang.

Rowan made his round around the room and ended by his desk, sitting on the edge. His smile had faded, and he wore a concerned frown. “Why’d you come in such a hurry? Don’t get me wrong, I love that you’re here, but...I mean, is everything okay? Did something happen?”

He hated that he had to miss the appointment, but he was saving his vacation days for the months when Aelin would need him home.

“No, nothing, just…” She shrugged her shoulders trying to appear cool and casual, but inside she was about to explode. “Wanted to see you.”

She couldn’t tell if he believed her, he smiled softly, but the wariness was still in his eyes. “Well?” He asked.

She laughed, quietly. “You don’t think I should maybe wait until you don’t have a class of eavesdropping teenagers around?”

She gave a pointed glance behind him and he caught two of his students quickly turning around.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. He glanced over at the clock, they still had a few minutes. “What did you bring me for lunch?”

Aelin chuckled before she said, “Ham and cheese sandwich, a bag of chips, and cut up apples with some caramel to dip them in.”

Rowan’s smile was genuine when he said, “You spoil me.”

He reached for the bag, but she snatched it back. “It’s not fair of you to eat in front of your students,” she replied, smirking.

He rolled his eyes, but got back up, making another quick circle around the room.

“Mr. Whitethorn?” A girl’s hand raised. “We have a question about what we can use for our media. Movies are okay, right?”

He figured the question would be coming and he was glad someone asked it, rather than half the class having to scramble like the grade before them did last year. “Movies are permitted, but PG-13 or lower. Can’t be rated R.” There was a chorus of groans. “I don’t make the rules, sorry, but if I did, you still wouldn’t be allowed to.”

The bell rang and as everyone rushed for the door, he called, “Alright, don't forget your homework and have a great weekend!”

They were out the door before he’d finished his sentence. Aelin was chuckling from where she sat on his desk.

In a flash, Rowan was at the door, locking it, pulling the privacy blind and then at his desk. He pressed his lips to Aelin’s and said, “Okay, well?”

She laughed and handed him the brown sack that his lunch was in. Rowan looked at the bag and said, “I appreciate you bringing me lunch, baby, but that’s not what I’m asking.”

The urge to roll her eyes was almost too strong to resist, but she said, “Open the bag, you frantic buzzard.”

With narrowed eyes in her direction, he did as he was asked, and froze. His eyes widened as his hand reached in and pulled out the little black and white ultrasound pictures.

He said absolutely nothing as he shuffled through them, his green eyes growing bright and misty.

Aelin watched him with complete adoration.

“Shit,” he breathed, shaking his head as he met Aelin’s loving gaze. “This is our kid.”

She nodded, a smile breaking on her lips. She didn’t try to stop the tears that slid down her cheek.

Aelin and Rowan had gotten married on the beach, almost six months to the day after they’d met. Neither of them had any immediate family and they both knew the wanted no one but the other for the rest of their days.

They’d suspected Aelin was pregnant a few weeks earlier. Her cycle hadn’t come and Rowan was actually the one who noticed it was late.

Now, their baby was growing and would be there in a matter of months. These were the first ultrasound pictures where the baby actually looked like a baby, not just a blob. They could see the head, the hands, the feet, everything.

“Yeah,” she smiled, and he took her face into his hands and kissed her, softly. “It’s our baby.”

“I’m so sad I missed it,” he whispered. “Instead, I was here talking about shit that none of these kids will remember tomorrow.”

“There will be others,” she promised. “Much more important appointments that you’ll be able to come to.”

His eyes lit up. “When do we find out if it’s a boy or girl?”

She rolled her eyes, kissing him once more. It had been a constant debate for them both the past month. Rowan was adamant it was a girl, but Aelin said she could feel that it was a boy. “She wants to schedule that for eighteen weeks, but says we may not be able to tell until twenty.”

Rowan waited and he asked, “And how pregnant are you right now?”

“Ro!” She laughed but shoved him. “This morning was eleven weeks.” She placed her hand over her stomach, the bump just barely starting to show.

He laid his hand over hers. “Six weeks until I get to see my beautiful baby girl.”

“Or your perfect, handsome son,” she laughed.

Rowan just said, “We’ll see.”

Aelin rolled her eyes and took a bite of his sandwich, which earned her a scowl from him. When she claimed it was because she was eating for two, Rowan couldn’t argue with that.

He sat in his desk chair, pulling her onto his lap as he started to eat. He only had thirty minutes before his next class came in, and he hated to say he was dreading it. As much as he loved his job, he was ready to be at home with his wife, rubbing her belly on the couch in his sweatpants.

Life was never as good to him as it was now before he met Aelin. Things weren’t bad, not at all, but he was never this happy.

Before, he used to love teaching. It was his passion and he was always one of the first into the school in the mornings and one of the very last to leave in the evening. He poured over his lesson plans at home, spent all of his spare time grading papers or homework. But now, he wanted that spare time to go to Aelin. Rather than get up at five-fifteen, and make it to school by six-thirty, he stayed in bed with Aelin as long as he could, sometimes not making it until right before the bell. Those were usually the mornings that Aelin awoke with his first alarm and scooted back into his warm embrace. And then continued to scoot until he had to get up.

She had completely consumed him, but he definitely wasn’t complaining about it.

And soon, there would be another little person to captivate him, too.

It was a Saturday, and the second Rowan opened his eyes, he realized Aelin was gone. He sat up, slowly, and blinked a few times to clear his surroundings.

She was nowhere.

“Ace?” He called.

“Kitchen!” She called back.

He picked up his phone to catch the time. 9:06. Just when he was about to ask why she was already out of bed on a lazy Saturday morning, the thought hit him.

Their gender reveal party was at noon.

He was up and rushing around the corner, grabbing it for traction as he rushed into the kitchen. His wife had an eyebrow raised, her hair piled into a messy bun on her head. She wore an old shirt from his college baseball days and a pair of his sweat pants she’d claimed as her own once her belly began to get too big for her own comfy clothes to fit. She held a cup of tea in her hands, carefully blowing on it. “Good morning,” she said with a smirk.

He stood upright and leaned on the wall. “Morning, babies.”

Aelin laughed as she rubbed a loving hand over her belly. He’d begun to refer to them as one, and she thought was the cutest thing she’d ever experienced.

“Is that breakfast?” He asked, with a yawn, throwing open the fridge for the entire carton of orange juice.

“No,” she said, with a pointed finger in his direction. “This is for the party, and if you touch any of it, I will kick you in the balls.”

Rowan froze as he turned, the carton halfway to his mouth. He was just now realizing how much there was on the counter. Multiple crockpots, bags and bags of junk, and something in the oven, seeing as how it was turned on and cooking.

“Exactly how many people are coming?” He asked, surprised.

Aelin shrugged. “Enough.”

At least they had just bought a new house and could fit a herd of people. Either way, Rowan was not a fan of large groups of people. His socially awkward nature prevented it.

Standing up in front of a class of kids? Sure. Easy.

Entertaining guests? Nope. Not his thing.

“I see that look on your face, calm down,” she said, chuckling as she meandered toward him and grabbed him by the hips. “I’ll entertain, you just make sure all the bowls I set out are constantly filled to the brim.”

Rowan grinned, leaning down to press a soft kiss against her mouth. “Alright, I can do that.”

She turned back to the counter, picking her tea back up. Rowan began pulling things out to make himself a protein shake. After blending it up, he hopped up on the counter and looked at Aelin. “What can I do to help?”

“I need you to go pick up the cake,” Aelin said, washing her mug and placing it back in the cabinet.

Rowan blinked at her. “Like the cake? Like the cake our baby is in?”

She rolled her eyes. “First of all, you’re an idiot, you know that the baby isn’t in the cake. And secondly, we’re not doing a cake reveal, remember? But we are having a cake for the party.”

Rowan frowned. “Since when are we not doing a cake reveal?”

Aelin came up between his legs and looked up at him. “Since everyone else in the world did one.”

“Then why do we need a cake?” Rowan asked.

Aelin blinked. “Are you serious?”

Rowan just cleared his throat. “Okay, I’ll get the cake. What else?”

“Hang the decorations I got because I’m short.”

Rowan chuckled as he hopped off the counter. “Fair enough.”

A loud knock came to the front door but before anyone could walk toward it, it flew open and Lysandra came flying in, plastic bags full of decor in each hand.

“Hello, mommy and daddy-to-be!” She sang, setting the bags on the counter and immediately getting to work.

“Or I guess Lysandra is going to take care of that,” Aelin chuckled.

Rowan pressed a kiss to her forehead and went to go get ready for the day while Aelin sat and talked to Lysandra. Just like Rowan, her best friend hadn’t allowed her to lift a finger throughout her pregnancy. He was just entering the bathroom when he heard Aedion enter the house and say, “Good morning, Aelin. You’re looking plump this morning.”

Thirty minutes later, Aedion was riding to the bakery with a freshly showered and shaved Rowan, having been kicked out of the house by Lysandra.

“How was I supposed to know she was going to cry?” He asked, shrugging his shoulders.

“She’s five months pregnant, man,” Rowan laughed. “Her emotions are all over the place, pretty much assume everything might make her cry right now.”

“Huh,” Aedion said, staring out the window. “The pregnant mind is one I don’t wish to understand.”

“Me either,” Rowan muttered. “Just wait until you knock up Lysandra.”

Aedion groaned. “Yeah, that can wait.”

Rowan laughed as he drove into the parking lot of the bakery and hopped out. He ran in to pick up the biggest, most elaborate gender reveal cake. It was for a small gathering, of course, but for a handful of people, the five tier cake was a bit much.

Which was why Rowan walked ridiculously slowly, cautiously, to the back of the car. He opened the trunk and slowly slid it in.

Aedion was just staring. “No wonder Aelin didn’t want to come pick it up. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for ruining that.”

“Thanks, man,” Rowan mumbled, climbing back in the front seat.

Aedion picked up the receipt and looked at it. “Gods, that’s way too many zeros at the end for a cake.”

Rowan sighed and said, “If it makes her happy, I do whatever she asks.” Aedion smirked. He asked, “What?”

The smirk softened. “Nothing, just… I always hoped Aelin could find someone who loved her the way I love Lysandra. I just didn’t think it would be on Tinder.”

Rowan groaned. The fact that they’d met on a glorified fuck-buddy app brought Aedion a lot more joy than it should have.

“Technically,” Rowan began, “We met in the airport.”

“Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that,” Aedion said, as Rowan slowly pulled onto the road. The drive back to the house was ten minutes longer than it should have been, due to the ridiculously slow speed Rowan was driving at to keep the cake safe.

When they arrived, it was just after eleven and Lysandra was already wrapping up her intense decorating agenda. The house was draped in pink and blue streamers, banners, and little frilly things that Rowan thought were ridiculous and pointless, but he kept that thought to himself.

“Where’s Aelin?” He asked, once he and Aedion set the cake, successfully, on the island.

“Bedroom, dressing,” Lysandra said, still scowling at an exasperated Aedion.

“I’ll be back,” Rowan sighed.

He walked down the hall to their bedroom, knocking softly on the door. “Ace?” There was a quiet answer and slipped in.

She was in her closet, and when he entered the bathroom, she said, “Baby, can you help me put on my shoes? I can’t reach my feet anymore.”

He found her sitting on a small chair, her foot halfway in a sandal.

He laughed and knelt down, latching the shoe around her - honestly, very swollen - ankle and then did the same with the other. He kissed her knee then her pronounced bump, and looked up her face. “Aelin, I love you…but that cake is fucking excessive.”

She smiled. “Yes, it is.”

He rolled his eyes and stood, helping her to her feet as he went.

She was wearing a white dress, that hugged her body, highlighting the pronounced bump that grew more and more every day, and a loose, comfy cardigan. Her hair was piled on the top of her head.

He softly kissed her. “You look so beautiful.”

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. It was becoming difficult. She sighed and said, “Are you sure I’m not looking plump?”

“Baby, he was just joking,” he chuckled, rubbing her back.

She sniffled.

“Aelin, baby, don’t cry,” he cooed.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” she said, throwing her hands in the air, “and I don’t know why it makes me so mad that Aedion called me plump, which I am, and why I hate that my house is covered in pink and blue. I mean, pink and blue? That’s so normal, Ro, and I hate normal. Why didn’t we do purple and red? Or, shit, green and gold? I love green and gold. Pink and blue sucks, Ro.”

Rowan just stared at her as she babbled on before taking a long, deep breath. “How about this? Next week, when we start decorating the nursery, we’ll do it in green and gold. Okay? After today, you never have to look at blue or pink again.”

She wiped angrily at her nose. “Fine.”

“Fine,” he repeated, trying his hardest not to laugh. “I love you.”

She leaned up on her toes and he met halfway, pressing his lips to hers. “I love you, too.” She stepped out into the bathroom and made sure that her makeup was still intact and then said, “Let’s go see my fucking excessive cake.”

One by one, their friends showed up. Lysandra made everyone give their official guess as they came in and after everyone had arrived, it seemed the majority agreed that Aelin was correct and there would be a little heartbreaker running around soon.

Even with the pink and blue decorations, Aelin had to admit that everything was beautiful. Lysandra had done an amazing job, which she told her time and time again.

When the time came, everyone filed out into the backyard, Lysandra carrying a bat and a white box. She handed Rowan the bat and Aelin took the box, explaining that the ball inside would explode into a colorful cloud when hit. All she had to do was get it to Rowan. All he had to do was hit it.

“No pressure,” he mumbled, setting the bat down. He rolled up his sleeves, to which his friends whistled and howled, and got a few practice swings in. When he felt he could confidently hit a moving target, he got into position and nodded to Aelin.

Her grin was glorious as she threw the ball.

It was a terrible throw, but Rowan swung at it, nonetheless, and pink dust filled the air.

Everyone erupted into cheers as Aelin yelled WHAT THE FUCK, but when the cloud cleared, and Rowan caught her gaze, she was smiling at him with tears in her eyes.

Rowan whistled, looking around at their living room, which was full of opened gifts. Their baby shower had been that morning - Rowan had spent it playing basketball in the park with Lorcan - and they had been spoiled.

Earlier that week, Rowan had painted the nursery gold, and it seemed that everyone who went to the shower got the hint that gold and green was the theme.

Aelin sat in the chair, her feet up on the table in front of her. She nodded. Her voice wavered as she said, “I love our people.”

He smiled softly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He knew this wasn’t a crazy pregnancy crying. No, this was the love she felt for their friends, how blessed and overwhelmed by their own love and generosity she was.

He took her hands and helped her to her feet. “Let’s go get comfy and put together our sweet girl’s nursery.”

She groaned as she moved towards their bedroom. “I’m eight months pregnant. I don’t even remember what comfortable is anymore.”

“Just take off your pants,” he suggested, as they entered their room. “No pants equals comfort.”

She snorted. “You just like me pants-less.”

He shrugged. “It’s a perk.”

As much as she thought he was joking, she did just that, putting on a gigantic t-shirt and some fuzzy socks. In his sweatpants, Rowan followed her down to the end of the hall, to where the nursery was.

She sat in the plush rocking chair they’d bought, knowing they’d be spending quite a bit of time in nursery. Aelin quietly watched Rowan as he worked, humming a lullaby and slowly rocking in the chair. One by one, Rowan built, put together or set up everything they received from the day.

He dragged a big box towards him, puzzled. “What is this thing?”

Aelin smiled. “A cooler with a built into bluetooth speaker and charging station.”

He blinked. “And why does the baby need that?”

“The baby doesn’t, but you do.” She laughed at his shocked expression. “It’s from Aedion and Lysandra. He said it was your bro shower gift.”

Rowan opened the box and peeked inside. “Have I mentioned how much I love your cousin?”

She snorted. “He’s aware of your bromance, yes.”

Rowan grinned as he put the box in the hallway and looked around. “Anything left that has to be put together?”

Aelin shook her head, slowly. “Just stuff that has to be put away.

Rowan opened up a little gift bag and pulled out a little red, polka dotted sundress. “Are you fucking kidding me? This is tiny.”

Aelin’s grin widened. “That’s from Elide. Along with a hundred other little outfits.”

But Rowan was staring at the newborn sundress. “Aelin, this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

She laughed. “Come with me, I’m about to blow your mind.” He raised an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes. “Not like that.”

With Rowan’s assistance getting out of the chair, she led him back down to their room. “I can’t bend over so… There’s a storage box under the bed. Put it up here.” She patted the mattress.

He did as he was told, grabbing a hold of a long, thin plastic tub, it’s lid was snapped securely in place, but it was full to bursting.

Rowan murmured, “She has more clothes than me. How does she already have more clothes than me?”

Aelin chuckled but skimmed through the small outfits, pulling a few of her favorites out. “Because Lysandra is her auntie.”

Rowan took the small blue onesie from Aelin. He held it in his hands, gazing down at it.

Aelin noticed his silence then and her smile faltered. “Baby?”

Aelin was floored when he looked up and there were tears shimmering on his face.

She hesitated, and when she spoke it was a whisper, “Gods, Are you crying?”

“No,” he said, but a tear had, in fact, fallen down his cheek. “It’s just so...small.”

She watched him, smiling softly, as he took in the little outfit.

“The baby is going to be tiny,” he breathed. “What if I break her?”

He chuckled, brushing it off, but she could see the genuine fear in his eyes.

“You won’t, Ro, you couldn’t.” She reached up and brushed the tear from his cheek, cupping his face in her hands. “She isn’t even here yet and you’re so in love with her. You wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt her.”

He nodded, but Aelin could see the trepidation still on his face. The whole pregnancy, he’d been her rock, the one constant motivator. She knew he was so ready for this baby, that she was already so loved, but it was normal to be scared.

“I love you,” she breathed, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss him. Her belly got in the way and she groaned as she was just barely too short of his lips.

He laughed and leaned down, letting her stand back on her feet and wrapping his arms around her. “I love you, too.”

They went back to the nursery, Rowan carrying the massive tub so Aelin could begin folding them and putting them in her dresser. As he was unwrapping diapers and putting them in their designated drawer, Rowan said, “So I had an idea for a name.’

Aelin paused and turned. “Okay?’

She was having this baby in less thirty days and they had yet to find a name they agreed on. The closest they’d come was with Nora, which Aelin had decided after a day of overthinking, was that Nora was an old person's name. Rowan had said that it was classy and timeless. Nonetheless, it went into the no pile, and they continued looking.

He leaned his back on the gold wall, crossing his arms over his chest, almost like he was bracing himself for her response. “Sloan.”

Aelin tilted her head to the left slightly. “Sloan?”

He nodded. “Sloan.”

“Hmm.” She closed her eyes and repeated the name a few more times, slowly, then with their last name, just to see. At last, she opened her eyes back up to meet her husband’s gaze and said, “I like Sloan.”

Rowan hesitated. “Wait, seriously?”

She laughed, leaning back on her hands from where she sat on the floor. “Yeah, seriously. I love it.”

Rowan still was in shock that she was in favor of a name suggested by him. He was still frozen in his place along the golden wall. “You’re worrying me. Are you feeling okay? I’m calling your doctor.”

“Shut up, you prick,” she said, smiling. They’d finally decided on a name, a name they both loved, a name they both agreed upon.

He chuckled and laid down in front of where she sat, his face inches from her round stomach. “Did you hear that, Sloan? Mama just told daddy to shut up. You should kick her in the ribs for that.” Their daughter did no such thing and Aelin quietly laughed, running a hand through Rowan’s newly cropped silver hair, as he scowled at her. He pressed a kiss just above her belly button. “What about this? Can you tell her how much I love her?” Aelin took a sharp breath in through her teeth as she felt a sharp pain in her side. Rowan’s deep rumble of a laugh traveled across her skin. “That’s my girl.” He pressed another kiss to her stomach, and gazed up at Aelin through his lashes, smirking. “Won’t take orders from a man. Just like her mama.”

Aelin sighed and shook her head. “Already turning her against me.”

“She’s a daddy’s girl,” Rowan muttered, yawning as he closed his eyes. It had been a long day, and he wasn’t even the one growing a human being inside of him. When he looked up at his wife, he could see her exhaustion. “I think we’ve done enough today, mama. Let’s go to bed.”

“Mama,” she repeated, quietly, eyes shining.

Rowan nodded, slowly, and took her hand. “One more month.”

Aelin brought Rowan’s hand to her lips as she smiled. “Yeah, one more month.”

___

“Ro.”

Rowan was having a beautiful dream, sleeping soundly, when his wife suddenly began shaking his shoulder with the wrath of a cranky, nearly full-term pregnant woman.

He groaned, opening his eyes, just barely, to look up at the alarm clock that sat on his side table. It was just after two.

“Go to bed, babe,” he mumbled.

“No, Ro,” she said, jabbing him in the back with her knee.

“Ow, Damn,” he hissed, pushing himself up on his elbows with a sigh. “What? Are you okay?”

“No,” she breathed.

His body tensed as he reached over to turn on the lamp, and when he did, he saw Aelin sitting up, eyes wide, a dark circle spotted on their light gray bed sheet.

Rowan blinked. “What? You woke me up cause you pissed your-“

“My water broke, you asshole,” Aelin snapped.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered, eyes wide. He jumped out of bed, grabbing for the jeans he’d discarded on top of the hamper the night before. “Oh, shit!”

Aelin was breathing heavily, and clutching at her stomach. “She’s coming,” she whispered, “she’s coming, she’s coming, she’s coming.”

Rowan was there immediately, sitting on the bed in front of her, taking her hand in his and letting her squeeze as hard as she could. “What do you need me to do, baby?

“Are the bags packed?” She asked, voice tight.

He nodded. “Yes, ours are in the dining room on the way out the door and Sloan’s in the truck, with her carseat, already buckled in and ready for her.”

“You’re such a good daddy,” she breathed, face showing relief as the pain in her abdomen subsided.

Rowan pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “Come on, let’s get you changed and go meet our precious girl.”

A slight look of panic crossed her face, but it quickly turned to excitement and adoration. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Rowan breathed, and helped her to her feet. She kept on the oversized tee she had and Rowan helped her slip on some cozy pants and her flip flops before they were hurrying out the door.

The car ride was miserable. They got stuck at every red light along the way and the contractions quickly became stronger and closer together.

When they got to the hospital, Rowan parked as close as he could to the entrance. It helped that it was the middle of the night. After helping her to the door and into a wheelchair, Aelin was met with a nurse and then she was being wheeled away. Rowan, and their bags, just behind.

“I feel like we forgot something,” Aelin said, as Rowan tied the back of her hospital gown and helped her into the bed.

“We talked about this,” Rowan began, pulling a chair up close to the side, “Fleetfoot isn’t allowed in the hospital, Ace.”

She chuckled, but the gesture was quickly replaced with a contorted look of pain.

“Breathe,” the nurse whispered, calmly, as she finished hooking Aelin up to a series of machines. One took blood pressure, one kept track of the contractions, one monitored her heartbeat, another monitored the baby’s.

Looking at all of the machines gave Rowan a headache.

“How far apart are your contractions, dear?” The nurse asked, taking notes on her chart.

“About eleven minutes apart, but my water broke,” Aelin said, resting back in the bed, trying to get comfortable while she still could.

She smiled and said, “Not uncommon for a first time mom. We’ll keep an eye on it, but for now, why don’t you try and get some more sleep.”

“Sleep?” Aelin asked, her eyebrows raising. “I can’t sleep right now, I’m having a baby. I want my epidural and to push her out.”

The nurse, a sweet-looking older woman named Alis, laughed softly. “Sorry, hon. You can’t get an epidural until your contractions are about five minutes apart. Just relax and we’ll come check on you in a little bit.”

Alis left and Aelin stared after her. “I can’t sleep,” she mumbled, looking at Rowan. “How does she expect me to sleep? I’m about to shove our daughter out of my vag.”

“Great visual, babe,” he sighed, sitting next to her and taking her hand with his free one. His phone was in his other. “Here it is,” he began reading. “In the early stages of labor, mothers-to-be are encouraged to rest and relax. If labor begins at night, it's best to try and go back to sleep until contractions have increased to require all of your focus.”

“Fabulous,” Aelin mumbled. “Can I have my phone?”

“Sure, baby, where is it?” He asked, reaching for her purse.

She looked at him. “I thought you had it.”

Rowan’s brows furrowed. “Why would I have had your phone?”

Aelin’s eyes narrowed. “Because I asked you to grab it on the way out the door when you went back for your tablet.”

Rowan didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. His eyes said enough: Ohhh shit.

She let her head fall back against the pillows and closed her eyes, settling back and trying to get comfy. “I knew we forgot something.”

“I’ll ask Aedion and Lysandra to get it on the way.” He yawned and leaned back in the chair, pulling the ball cap covering his messy, silver hair lower over his eyes.

It was quiet for a minute and then Rowan said, already dozing off, “If you don’t have your phone, I assume that means you haven’t told anyone she’s on the way?”

Aelin replied, “Nope.”

He re-situated his hat and pulled out his phone. Since things didn’t seem to be progressing too quickly, he sent a quick text to their friends, not wanting to call and wake everyone. Save for one person: Lysandra.

Thirty seconds later, Rowan’s phone was ringing. With a sigh, he answered. “Hell-.”

“You didn’t call me on the way to the hospital?!” Lysandra’s loud voice came through to his ear.

“Sorry, I was a little busy trying to get my wife to the hospital,” Rowan said, yawning. “Nothing’s happened yet, don’t worry, I’ll call when things pick up. Her water broke and now she’s being told to go back to sleep.”

“Which I can’t do and my husband forgot my phone!” Aelin said, loudly, obviously frustrated.

There was a second of silence on the other end before Lysandra said, “Seriously? You didn’t grab her phone?”

“Don’t worry, she’s giving me a look that is equivalent to being stabbed, I’m being punished,” Rowan muttered.

“Let me talk to her.”

Rowan held out his phone without any hesitation. He heard Lysandra rattle off a series of questions and Aelin silently nodded along to each, softly biting the side of her finger. It was a nervous ‘twitch’ she’d picked up in the past few months and couldn’t seem to break it when she was thinking. “Okay, I got it. You know where the spare key is and I’ll send you the rest.” He heard Lysandra saying something else and Aelin’s eyes flicked over to him. “I haven't decided yet. I’ll let you know. Love you.” Lysandra replied and then Aelin ended the call, handing the phone back to Rowan.

He had an eyebrow raised, and though every instinct in his body instinct told him not to, he asked, “Decided what?”

She pouted her lips slightly and was about to reply when another contraction began. “Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, holy shit.”

He was up, his phone forgotten on the side table, and he took her hand. “Breathe, baby. Just breathe through it.”

“I’m deciding,” she said, through her teeth, “if I’m having Lysandra pick something up from Starbucks for you on the way here, or just me.”

He raised his eyebrows, rubbing soothing circles in her back with his free hand, but he said, “That’s cold, baby.”

“Well you forgot your pregnant wife’s phone on the way to give birth to your daughter,” she said, finally remembering to do the breathing exercises they’d learned.

Rowan sighed and said, “That’s fair.”

Aelin ended up having Lys get Rowan his coffee, too. They were even able to get a couple more hours sleep between the contractions, but when Lysandra blew threw the door at five-thirty, a bleary-eyed Aedion behind her, they were both up and Rowan was eating a sad, cold, hospital cafeteria breakfast.

“Oh, bless your hearts, thank the gods I brought real food.” She held up a bag from Aelin’s favorite bakery.

“Chocolate croissants?” Aelin asked, her eyes going wide.

“And they’re still warm, haven’t even been out of the oven for ten minutes,” Lysandra said, handing her the bag. With the other hand she extended her phone.

Aelin snatched both. Rowan knew better than to ask for a croissant. Lysandra held up a cup of coffee to him, her emerald eyes narrowed. “In your defense, she had left it in under the blankets in the bed.”

Aelin was sniffing the croissant as the door swung open, once again, and Alis came in, cheerily asking, “Good morning!”

“Good morning,” Aelin groaned. “When can we get this thing out of me?”

It had quickly turned from my daughter to this thing as the morning went on.

“I’m going to check where you’re at, and we’ll see,” she smiled.

Alis eyed the coffee and bag of goodies as she approached, but before she could say anything, Aelin said, “Don’t worry, they’re just for smell. I’m waiting to eat them after baby gets here...which will be soon, right?”

Aedion had made himself scarce the moment Alis ordered Aelin to put her feet up, but Lysandra was sitting on the edge of the bed. Rowan was still eating his shitty cafeteria waffle as Alis checked where Aelin was at. Five minutes later, the nurse was tossing her gloves into the trash and washing her hands.

“I believe your baby girl will be here sometime this afternoon,” she smiled, hands on her hips. “I’ll be in to give you the epidural in a few hours. Until then, continue to relax as much as possible. I’ll bring in more ice chips for you to munch on while you sniff your baked goods.”

She left and Aelin groaned as she let her head fall back into the pillows. “After noon,” she said, making sure the words were separated. “As in after twelve pm, which is still seven hours away.”

Lys patted her hand. “It could be sooner. She might decide she’s ready to be here now.”

Aelin turned and looked at her best friend, a look in her eyes that she hadn’t seen since they were in middle school and beating the shit out of each other in the girl’s locker room. They’d been inseparable ever since. “That would be horrible, too. Because then I wouldn’t get my epidural and I’d be in even more pain.”

Aedion said from the couch, mouth full, “She’ll get here in the perfect amount of time that you get your drugs and you aren’t in labor for two days.”

Aelin looked at him. “What are you eating.”

Aedion crumpled up the wax paper bag it had been in, trying to obscure the chocolate within. “Nothing.”

Aelin’s voice was like ice. “If I wasn’t due for a contraction any minute now, I’d punch you right in the dick.”

The room got silent and then Rowan’s phone rang. He glanced at it. “It’s Lorcan, babe, I need to get it.”

“Go,” she said, smiling wickedly. “Aedion can help me.” She held out her hand, waiting for his to squeeze.

Rowan patted his back as he walked by. “Hope that croissant was worth it.”

He answered as he stepped out into the hall. “Hey, man.”

Lorcan asked, “Your wife push out your demon spawn yet?”

Rowan rolled his eyes. “No, she’s still a few hours away from her epidural and a while from pushing.”

Lorcan’s response was simple. “Gross. Hey, is your substitute giving your finals?”

He sighed, “I would assume, Lor, since they start on Wednesday, and my wife is giving birth to our daughter right now.”

“Fair enough,” Lorcan said. “Elide will be coming by at some point to see Aelin, and I’ll come by after classes end.”

“That’s probably about when she’ll be here, so make sure you call Lysandra first. I might be a little busy,” Rowan laughed.

Lorcan snorted, “Why? It’s not like you’ll be doing any of the hard work. You did your part nine months ago, when you nutted inside of-.”

Probably louder than he should have, in a hospital wing just after sunrise, Rowan said, “Goodbye, Lorcan,” and hung up the phone.

Considering how his best friend usually spoke, Rowan had to admit that the conversation had actually been pretty tame. I’m fact, he was pretty sure that was Lorcan being sweet and caring. Which is why, once he opened the door to Aelin’s room, Rowan said, “Lorcan said good luck.”

Aelin, next to Aedion who was rubbing his now-sore hand, blinked. “Are you sure? That’s uncharacteristic of him.”

“He also says that Elide will come by soon.”

“That sounds more accurate,” Aelin said, then yawned. “Can you at least go get me some magazines or something? I’m bored as hell and hurting like shit.”

His stomach grumbled and he said, “I’m absolutely starving, so what if I go grab some food that doesn’t look like it could come to life and eat me instead, and I’ll pick up that new book you’ve been wanting?”

“You mean you’re going to leave?” Her eyes went wide, filling with tears.

He was instantly by her side, her face in his hands. “I won’t, I don’t have to. I can eat the radioactive cafeteria food and run down to the gift shop for the magazines. I was just going to run to the Walmart that has a McDonalds in it down the road. Two birds, one stone.”

Her eyes were still panicked and Lysandra, hearing Rowan’s stomach growl ferociously again, said, “Ro, why don’t you run down to grab some magazines, and Aedion will go get you food and the book for Aelin?”

It was less of a question and more of a “Get your asses in gear, this is what we’re doing” statement, and with Aelin’s sniffling nod of confirmation. The men were off, Rowan coming back with a few magazines and the sweetest stuffed animal that Aelin had ever seen.

“What is that?” she laughed, eating another bite of ice chips.

Rowan sheepishly held the white ball of fluff in his hands. “I realized that when we were packing her bag, we didn’t bring her anything but clothes and diapers and the essential stuff. And I know she has tons at home, but... I wanted to give her her first stuffed animal, as her daddy, so…”

Aelin’s eyes were rimmed with tears as she said, “Can I see?”

His cheeks burned. “I didn’t have many great options, they’re doing a remodel down there, so… The White-Tailed Hawk was the highlighted animal of the month.” He held the soft bird out to her.

Aelin huffed a laugh as she took the bird into her hands and ran her fingers over the soft fur. “It’s perfect.”

She clung to that stuffed animal for the next few hours as Rowan ate his McDonalds. The book, however, had to wait, because by the time Aedion got back with everything, the contractions were brutal.

At least Rowan had finished his egg McMuffin before they pulled out the longest needle he had ever seen, making him lightheaded.

He nearly fainted when they stuck that needle into Aelin’s back.

It wasn’t much longer that she grew numb from the waist down, and not too much longer after that she felt the slightest bit of pressure, letting Alis know that the baby was wanting to make her grand appearance into the world.

Lysandra, much to her disappointment, was told she had to leave while Rowan remained, holding her hand as she began to push.

“You’re doing so good,” Rowan whispered, five minutes in. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Aelin closed her eyes and pressed her sweaty forehead against his, just as she started to push again.

They had both heard horror stories of women who had to push for hours and hours and hours. Thankfully, Aelin was not one of them, because half an hour after the first push, a soft cry filled the silent room.

“She’s here, baby, she’s here.” There were tears streaming down Rowan Whitethorn’s face as the doctors placed the small, wailing infant on Aelin’s chest. The cries quieted almost immediately and he kissed her head. “I love you so much. You did so amazing, Ace.”

Aelin was crying, looking down into the perfect face of her daughter. “Hello, beautiful girl. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Rowan laughed quietly, though even Aelin admitted that it sounded closer to a sob.

————

About an hour later, a quiet knock came from the door. Rowan opened the door to find Lysandra and Aedion waiting.

All it took was one smile from Rowan and Lysandra began to cry, throwing her arms around him. “Congratulations.”

He hugged her back, trying his best not to tear up again himself. “Thank you. Come meet her.”

After a quick hug from Aedion, Rowan led them into the room, where Aelin, fresh faced and hair in a messy bun on the top of her head, sat in the bed, gazing adoringly at the small bundle in her arms.

“Do you want to meet Auntie Lys and Uncle Aedion?” She cooed down at her daughter.

Sloan was sleeping, but it didn’t stop Lysandra from pressing her lips against the newborn's head, where a striped knit hat was pulled over her tufts of golden hair.

“Meet Sloan Elia Whitethorn,” Aelin said, quietly, brushing her finger over Sloan's soft cheek.

“She’s beautiful,” Lysandra whispered, and the moment Aelin asked if she wanted to hold her, Lysandra was crying again.

Rowan watched the entire scene play out from just inside of the door, leaning up against the wall. His wife, holding his baby girl. His friends, family, admiring their little creation. There was nothing like it. He had never imagined life could be so perfect, so joyful. He had never imagined he could love someone, two someones, so much.

And to think, he owed it all to a fucking dating app and an absurdly long layover at the airport.

He was so damn happy he swiped right.

#part 2 #rowaelin #tog #throne of glass #rowan #aelin #fanfic #fanfition #oneshot #sjm #collab

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monsoonblooms12 · 3 years

Note

It's time for Pooja and Ethan to play round two of our favorite game ;)

Here we go!

For Both

What’s the most embarrassing childhood story you know about your spouse?

What did they want to be when they were younger?

What was your spouse's favorite band in high school?

Describe your spouse in high school using memes or/and gifs only.

How old was your spouse when they had their first kiss? Who was it with?

If you two were the same age and had met in college, how would you have met? Would you have liked each other? Dated? Eventually married?

Which of your spouse's friends is the most attractive?

Who was your spouse's hero when they were growing up?

Can you name all your spouse’s exes before you?

Bree, thank you so much for these! I loved answering them (and got a little carried away, hehe😅)! But seriously, thank you and love you❤️!

1. What’s the most embarrassing childhood story you know about your spouse?

Pooja: (Evil Laughter)

Ethan: Anything except that Teddy Bear tale.

Pooja: Anything?

Ethan: Why does that scare me?

Pooja: Because I do have some good stories to share about you (winks)

Ethan: My God.

Pooja: This story is around the time when he was 10 or 11. This man was quite an aspiring chef when he was young, I must say. So, it was the first time he was going to make pancakes and he was super enthusiastic about it. He was like, "you just put the batter, flip them and tada!"

Ethan: That's not true.

Pooja: Keep convincing yourself, sweetheart (giggles)

The preparation was going really nice, he had the batter made perfectly, all ready to pour. And then he switched on the stove, placed the pan and poured the batter in it. In the goddamn cold pan.

Ethan: Ugh.

Pooja: And then when he realized that the pancake was taking much longer than it should to get prepared, he put it on high flame and went to drink water. Safe to say, by the time he returned, the poor pancake was all black. 27 years after, he still cannot make them (chuckles)

Ethan: At least I try.

Pooja: (still chuckling) Definitely, I give you a point for that.

Ethan: Pooja's story is more about her trying to be a mini detective when she was 7.

Pooja: Oh no!

Ethan: Oh yes. It was her mother's art exhibition, and she, like the perfect kid she was, she walked all around the place with her mom. One lady, was very curiously gazing at one of her mom's paintings and then started taking pictures of them. Little Poo thought that she was going to carry out a heist and steal all the art pieces, so she took out her faux phone, went close to the lady, and said as loudly as she could, "Hello 911? One lady is trying to steal my mommy's art."

Pooja: She was being suspicious, I couldn't help it.

Ethan: Mini detective (chuckles)

2. What did they want to be when they were younger?

Pooja: Ethan actually wanted to be a chef until he pancake burnt up to ashes. After that, he wanted to be a detective.

Ethan: She wanted to be a private investigator too, later it was forensic investigator.

3. What was your spouse's favorite band in high school?

Pooja: Ethan's favorite was Snow Patrol, and I am glad to be married to a man with superior music taste.

Ethan: Pooja was not much of a band person. She was and still is, an old classic Bollywood music lover. But if I had to choose, Silk Road & Sanam, both Indian bands.

4. Describe your spouse in high school using memes or/and gifs only.

Pooja: Ah, yes, love this question.

Ethan: I will never understand this craze over gifs or memes or whatever they are called.

Pooja: Well, it's quite easy to guess, because I don't think there is much difference between this Ethan & that Ethan.

Ethan: Pooja has two very clearly distinguishable moods, one when she is hyper productive,

And the other when she is super lazy.

Pooja: I- You just described my entire life with those two.

Ethan: I just know you well, Rookie.

5. How old was your spouse when they had their first kiss? Who was it with?

Pooja: He was almost 15 when he kissed his Highschool sweetheart, Eva. He wanted to make his first kiss a special occasion, with a date and all, but it just happened and I don't think he regrets it.

Ethan: She wasn't my high school sweetheart, we just liked each other. And I do wish that my first kiss was you.

Pooja: Aww, stop (blushing)

Ethan: (After giving Poo a cheek kiss) Pooja's first kiss was actually an accident.

Pooja: And here I was relaxed thinking you won't bring it up after the embarrassing story question.

Ethan: (Whole-hearted chuckle) But technically it was your first kiss, accidental or not.

Pooja: (Totally embarrassed) Whatever.

Ethan: This was when she was 14. There was guy in her class who liked her, and wanted to date her. One day, Pooja slipped on a puddle of water, and he, trying to help, held her hand. The next moment, he was on the top of her, lips touching.

Pooja: (in a pleading tone) Please, Pleease, Stop. It's too embarrassing!

6. If you two were the same age and had met in college, how would you have met? Would you have liked each other? Dated? Eventually married?

Pooja: Oh, most definitely! Honestly, I feel like us falling in love is inevitable.

Ethan: I do not believe in soulmate stuff, but it's unimaginable for me to not fall in love with you.

Pooja: (lays her head on his shoulder as he gives her a kiss on the forehead) I think we would have met as opponents at a debate competition. We would be the only two yelling till the end of the competition, trying to prove the other wrong, until the judges got fed up and asked us to stop. Even after the competition, we would still meet in the corridors and tell the other how wrong they were.

Ethan: After sometime, we would become friends over shared interests, and after getting to know her, I would naturally start to fall for her.

Pooja: Me too! I would be totally like, "No matter how much he yells and how wrong he was, he is still cute. And not a totally bad guy." We would gradually become best friends.

Ethan: I would be the one to comfort her when she discovers her crush is in relationship with someone else.

Pooja: And you would realize that you are in love with me (gives him an elbow nudge)

Ethan: (softly smiling) Maybe I would. And I would imagine you falling in love with me not much later.

Pooja: And then we would be sitting alone, talking about random stuff. Suddenly we look at each other's eyes, and before we realize it, we are kissing.

Ethan: We would start dating afterwards, all through med school and residency. I would definitely want to marry her, have a future with her. I like to imagine that I would be lucky enough and she would agree to be mine.

Pooja: No matter which universe, I would always agree to marry you. Every time.

(They share a soft kiss, heart full of love for each other)

7. Which of your spouse's friends is the most attractive?

Ethan: All her friends are quite attractive, even if she the only one who catches my eye.

Pooja: I am assuming that you mean all my current friends and not ex-friends. Or Landry.

(Ethan's face scrunches up in disgust and Pooja's question is answered)

Pooja: For me, it's Tobias.

Ethan: (Rolls his eyes) Him out of everyone else? You could have said Mark.

Pooja: Mark is attractive, for sure, but he has become more of my brother over time. Also, if he got to know it, he would never let me live it down (chuckles)

Ethan: But still, Tobias...

Pooja: You are jealous, aren't you? (Winks)

Ethan: (Quickly straightens his face) No, Of course not. I don't get jealous Rookie, don't forget.

Pooja: Sure thing, E, sure thing.

8. Who was your spouse's hero when they were growing up?

Ethan: Pooja and I have similar opinions on this. We don't have a hero or an idol. Yes, there are quite a few people who have inspired us, but we both don't have any hero. For Pooja, it was her parents, especially her mother. Later on, it was Kadambini Bose, the first woman from India to practice medicine and (gives a striking smile, bubbling with happiness) of course, me.

Pooja: (Mimicking him) Of course, me.

Ethan: (in a teasing tone) Is it not true?

(Pooja just rolls her eyes)

Pooja: For Ethan, it was his father and Naveen.

Ethan: You too, Rookie.

Pooja: (With genuine curiosity) Me?

Ethan: You have inspired me to appreciate the little things in life and to love myself. You have played a big role in making me the man I am today.

Pooja: (Sniffles) Did you come here with an aim to make me cry, Dr Ramsey?

Ethan: (Smiling at her) It's the truth and you should know it.

9. Can you name all your spouse’s exes before you?

Ethan: This is probably the easiest question for me to answer. She has had three relationships in total. A lot of crushes, but very few actual relationships. One was during her middle school, I guess his name was Shresht. The second one was with her best friend, Ayaan and lasted all through med school. The last one, is Me.

Pooja: The ones I know are Eva and Rosalie in high school, Renia in med school and Harper during his residency and after. Ethan has a number of casual and serious relationships and honestly, I am not surprised. Everyone wants to be with a man like him (Winks)

Ethan: You are the only one who can have me.

Pooja: (Places a hand over her heart) I am honoured, Dr Ramsey. And lucky, so damn lucky.

Ethan: I am lucky one here, love. (Gives her a forehead kiss)

#ethan x pooja #asks answered🤍#newlywed questions with our favourite host Bree💕

9 notes · View notes

filamero · 3 years

Text

A Mother’s Rage

[SEQUEL TO A MOTHER’S LOVE]

Word Count: 2885

Summary:

- It is often said that a mother’s rage is incomparable with anything else in the world. Fierce, scalding, passionate as long as its coals are fanned.A mother’s rage is a force to be reckoned with.

( In which Niki thinks about her son, from both the past and the present. )

[ ao3 link!: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28952805 ]

(fic below the cut!)

It is often said that a mother’s rage is a type of anger that burns bright and hot. It decimates anything that decides to get in its way, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake. Mightier than the worst of storms, drawing energy from deep within the heart and soul, strong enough to make even the most powerful bow down to its will—It is said that nothing in the world could ever compare. Fierce, scalding, passionate as long as its coals are fanned.

A mother’s rage is a force to be reckoned with.

Niki remembers the night that Puffy brought Dream home with her.

She was surprised that their windows were holding their own, the rain pounding down so hard on the glass that it sounded like the knocks of a madman looking for shelter. The waves on the nearby shore came crashing angrily, filling the air with loud noises to accent the booms of thunder that seemed to shake the ground. Her feet had led her outside, standing at her door and looking out for Puffy, just in case the former captain would need help carrying supplies home. She was glad that she had listened to her instincts after seeing her strikingly red overcoat—in comparison to the blues, browns, and beiges that characterized their home—amidst the raging droplets of water. Tucked into the shorter woman’s arms was a small child, clinging onto her as if his life depended on it.

She didn’t even bother putting on her shoes before lifting up the skirt of her dress and scurrying to aid her.

“Puffy!” Niki cried out once she was close enough, using her arms to shield herself from the rain. Her efforts were in vain though, her own hair and clothes beginning to match the state of her lover and the boy in her arms. “You’re both soaked…Come hurry back home,” she frowned, the chill of the air already nipping at her skin through the material of her sleeves.

“It’s a little hard to run like this, Niki,” Puffy joked lightly, bouncing the child and the bag of traded supplies to prove her point.

Pursing her lips, Niki held her arms open and sighed, “I’ll take one, we just need to hurry before it picks up even more.”

Puffy nodded, loosening her grip on the boy and looking at him. He looked almost reluctant to let her go, his own hold on her tightening when he felt himself slipping. “Hey, hey, now,” she cooed softly, giving him one of the softest smiles that Niki’s ever seen on her face. “This is Niki, she’s a...really good friend of mine.” (Niki would’ve snorted in laughter at the description, but she had higher priorities that distracted her from the comical part of things.) “I trust her lots, so she isn’t going to hurt you, Duckling, okay?” The boy hesitated for a moment more before slowly turning to Niki and extending his arms to her instead.

Niki put on a soft smile of her own, taking him from her arms and not wasting a moment to go running towards the safety of their cottage. She used her arms and head to shield him from the rain; he already felt light and thin in her embrace, something told her that a storm like this one could easily make him fall ill without trying. Relief coursed through her veins once the sand and gravel underneath her feet became wood, opening the door with practiced ease and stepping inside. She couldn’t have been in the rain for more than a few minutes, yet the material of her dress clung to her skin almost as much as the boy in her arms held onto her neck. Water dripped from both of their soaking figures on the floor. The boy watched guiltily as the fallen droplets began to pool into small puddles, but Niki only combed her hands through his hair and tutted her tongue. “We can worry about that later,” she hummed, carrying him to the washroom.

The tiles of the bathroom were cold against her feet as she leaned over the tub to get some warm water running. She set him down carefully, taking extra care to let him stand on an extra towel instead of the floor. “Do you mind taking off your clothes?” she asked softly, making a twirling motion with her hand. “I can turn around while you do, if you’d like. Privacy is important, after all,” she smiled, already making a show of turning halfway to let him know she was serious.

He slowly nodded his head, and she turned around all the way.

His clothes hit the floor in an almost hilarious ‘splat!’, though Niki made sure to keep any bouts of laughter to herself. After a few moments, she felt a small tug on the end of her dress, accompanied by s soft, “I’m done, miss.”

“Do you think you can get in the tub yourself?” She asked softly, still facing away from him and looking at the wall. “Or do you need my help?”

A beat of silence. “Can I have a little help? Please?”

Niki felt herself mentally coo. “Of course.”

She turned around fully, hooking her arms underneath the boy’s and lifting him up once more, easing him into the warm water. His eyes lit up with a certain glow, immediately sinking further into the warmth—and Niki couldn’t help but chuckle softly to herself.

“Thank you for letting me use your hot water, miss.”

Niki grabbed a small bucket off of the bathroom shelf, dipping it into the water and gently pouring it atop his head to start washing him off. “I appreciate your politeness,” she chuckled, leaning over to grab the shampoo, “but you don’t have to be so formal. My name’s Niki.”

“That’s a pretty name,” he murmured softly, and she could see him playing around with the water a little.

“Mind if I ask yours?”

“Dream.”

Niki smiled. “That’s a lovely name as well.”

Dream had ended up falling asleep as Niki washed him off, her heart swelling with a certain fondness for the boy she just met. Gentle with wrapping him up in a towel and heading to the bedroom to scavenge something for him to wear, she set him down on their bed to sleep soundly. It was hard—even if she and Puffy weren’t the largest people themselves, Dream was much too small and young to be measured by their standards. (And don’t get her started on trying to find underwear that wouldn’t potentially embarrass him by wearing it.) The smallest she could find was an old pair of shorts and a shrunken shirt from a laundry mishap, being careful not to wake him up as she slipped them on for him. Tucking him into the covers and changing into another pair of clothes herself, she made sure to shut the curtains and close the door softly as she retreated to the kitchen.

Puffy met her in the kitchen—while she was midway through cooking soup—also changed and dried off.

A conversation or two later, Niki found out how exactly Puffy knew Dream.

There was an ache in her heart, imagining just how long he must’ve been alone. Everyone had their own lives and worries, but she couldn’t help but ask herself why no one thought to help him out sooner. A kid, who couldn’t have been any older than six. People ran their businesses differently, she was aware of that too—but that vendor couldn’t have let losing profits of one loaf of bread slip and instead chose to chase after the poor boy? The ache grew into a small seed of bitterness at the thought, tugging her lips into a growing frown. The heat emitting from the stove furnace mirrored the one threatening to ignite in her veins, though her thoughts were interrupted by the gentle patter of footsteps into the kitchen.

She turned her head to the side to see Dream looking bashfully down at his feet, playing with the hem of his clothes. “Miss Niki?” he asked softly, standing on his toes and attempting to look into the pot. “I’m a little hungry…”

Niki smiled, the sparks of anger at unknown faces extinguishing before they could even ignite. “Soup’ll be done in a minute, Dream. Say, why don’t you and Puffy set the table, alright?”

Puffy held her hand out to him, and the pair scampered off into the conjoined living-dining room.

They had their first ‘family’ dinner that night.

Niki managed to work Dream into her schedule perfectly; he was a delight to be around. Though it took a little bit for him to warm up to her, their relationship eventually became like Puffy’s and his: a mother and her son. She was fond of the days that he chose to stay home, begging her to let him help her bake. An occasional crack of the egg here, a mixing the ingredients together there. Nothing too hard, and nothing that he couldn’t handle.

One day, while she left the kitchen to go grab a damp cloth from the kitchen to clean with, a loud shattering noise quickly brought her back. Shards of the plate that she had set her cookies on laid scattered on the ground, the cookies semi-piled where the plate must’ve made the first contact. Dream stood sheepishly at the wreckage, putting on a tight smile and folding his hands behind his back. “I…I wanted to try one.”

Niki put her hands on her hips, and Dream shrunk a little more into himself. “Dream,” she started off, her voice gentle yet stern. “You should’ve waited for me to come back.” Leaning down and opening one of the cabinets, she pulled out a hand broom and dustpan. Careful not to step on the shattered porcelain, she continued, “I would’ve come back in only a few seconds. There was no need for you to rush.”

“Sorry, Niki,” Dream mumbled, his voice impossibly quiet. She would’ve missed it if the sound of glass dragging against the tiles would’ve been even just a smidge louder. Saying that she hadn’t been a little annoyed would’ve been a complete and utter lie; slight irritation did simmer beneath her skin for a moment. But seeing the genuine look of regret written on Dream’s features, slouched posture, and soft tone to his voice made that small bout of temper dissipate. She sighed softly, shaking her head and carefully making her way towards him.

“I’m just being cautious,” she explained softly, taking his hands into her own and crouching down to be in his line of view. “I’d hate for you to get hurt, Dream. You’re my little duckling,” she chuckled, tapping the tip of his nose and reveling in the subtle but clearly there perk up of his lips.

“You’re not mad?” he asked, tilting his head to the side a little.

Niki pinched his cheek and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “I could never.”

A flash of stark white porcelain brings Niki out of her thoughts. Her grip is impossibly tight on the flint and steel in her hands, the metal warming in her grasp. Not too far in front of her, explosives rain down from an eerily perfect obsidian grid in the sky, deepening the crater that replaced New L’manburg. Though it is high and far beyond her reach, she catches glimpse of a figure—clad in a green sweater and dark jeans—navigating his way across them with an expert’s ease. The sight alone was enough to make her blood begin to boil, her heart igniting with a strong fire that couldn’t be matched by anything she’s ever witnessed.

For Niki isn’t mad.

She’s livid.

At what, you may ask?

Well…

Everything.

Especially at the events of the world that led to the current moment. A plethora of wars, failed elections, and countless conflicts piling on top of one another and shaping L’manburg into something painfully unrecognizable. The place she had come to love as her home was now something that she felt no connection to. Hell, there was a twisted satisfaction curling in her gut as seeing it all come tumbling down in flames. The country was already ruined beyond belief in her eyes, and to finally see something so insufferable, so unlikeable, so infuriating meet the fate that she wanted so desperately to come.

She doesn’t realize that she’s ignited the flint and steel until the flames’ tendrils reach out to her, warmth caressing her face. Taking a step back, she watches as the ‘L’mantree’—the only natural tree of the land left standing—gets overtaken in splashes of red, orange, and yellow. An ironically beautiful ‘sunset’ in the midst of all the chaos and destruction.

Niki feels the fire grab ahold of her, tendrils curling around her limbs and sinking in through her skin—but it doesn’t burn. Instead, it rages through her veins and heart, crying out with a feeling that she was foreign to. Not a single tear dares fall, and if one tries to, the heat of her wrath seems to evaporate it without even giving it a chance to start running. She lifts her hand up into a salute as the tree goes down, but solemn is far from what she is feeling. It’s almost as if she had taken her sword by the handle and sliced clean through the ropes of the bridge that connected her to her past, her now-empty promises, her memories of long-ago whose importance scorched away into nothing. They didn’t matter to her anymore, and as she watched the bridge fall and burn away into ashes, she’s sure that it never will matter to her again.

Her eyes drift up to the obsidian sky once more, landing on a figure—wearing a stark-white mask with a poorly scribbled-on smile—sitting casually atop it. Watching, as if it were a Saturday-morning television show. Grinning, as if nothing else in the world could be more amusing. Laughing, as if everything were just a game to him, and everything could be reset with the simple click of a button.

Niki grits her teeth, the fire of anger within her suddenly blazing into an inferno.

Dream.

What had happened to him?

Her sweet little duckling, one that she said she could never get mad at, had thrown a lit match straight into a sea of gasoline, and Niki just so happened to be sailing in the midst of it.

The fond memories that should fill her with sorrow at witnessing such a drastic change in her son only ignite white-hot fury, seizing her mind until all she can see is red. She can’t remember the fuzzy sensation that would overtake her senses whenever she heard him laugh brightly at a joke that she or Puffy made. She can’t remember the warmth that bloomed in her chest whenever he would cuddle up to her side and fall asleep ever-so-peacefully in her embrace. She can’t remember the fondness that would bring a smile to her face whenever she saw him grin toothily at her from across the room. Dream has long been thrown out of her heart, back into the harsh storm that she sheltered him from all those years ago.

And she hopes it stays that way.

No son of hers was going to be known as cruel, unforgiving, manipulative—everything that she raised and expected him not to be.

Niki takes a deep breath and spins around, not a single ounce of hesitance in her step as she walks away from the scene. From the burning tree of what once was, from the large crater of her former home, from the man who looked identical to her son yet was completely different in every way imaginable.

She pictures him in her head: scarred face obscured by the unbelievably aggravating smiling mask at all times; tousled, dirty-blond locks that were beginning to grow just past his shoulders; eyes that could pierce sharper than a poison-tipped arrow; and a malicious smile that she wanted to tear right off of his face whenever she saw it. She compares it to the son that she loved way back when: freckled face with rounded cheeks; wavy, borderline-curly hair that he always begged to get braided by his mothers; eyes that were friendly and filled with a child-like wonder; and a big, impossibly contagious smile brightened her day whenever it came out to say ‘hello!’

Each note of a difference was just another coal tossed into the overheating furnace, and then and there is when Niki makes up her mind.

She wants that man—that stranger that killed her son, took his face, and replaced him—dead and gone. To meet the same ill-fate that L’manburg met just moments before this one. She doesn’t care how it happens; through the powers of nature, by the weapons of all the people that he crossed, or even by her own two hands if it came down to it.

A crack of thunder booms and echoes in her ears, a bolt of lightning striking nearby but steering clear of Niki’s path.

For even nature knows that a mother’s rage is a force to be reckoned with.

#niki nihachu #niki #dreamwastaken #dream mcyt #dream fanfic #mama niki #i was thinking about how puffy and niki are promised to each other #and puffy adopted dream #so that makes niki his mom too #and she canonically has a vendetta against him #so this happened #angst #yum

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kayokos-villain-imagines · 4 years

Text

The Villains’ Interpersonal Relationships

// This is just kinda how I picture them acting around each other when they’re not really working. It’s 98.5% personal speculation, so be aware that you don’t have to think the same about this. //

// Honestly, I just sat at my computer at 3 am when I should’ve been doing math and wrote these down as they came to me. //

~I’ll start with the Shie Hassaikai~

Tengai and Rappa can’t stand each other, so they stay as far apart as possible when they can help it.

That being said, Tengai feels a sort of responsibility for Rappa’s actions, so he tries to stay aware of what Rappa is doing at all times.

Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe are practically inseparable.

This is best illustrated when Tabe drags his friends to the kitchen to get a snack, rather than going by himself.

Hojo will straight up throw hands with whoever tries to hurt Setsuno and Tabe.

When Setsuno is upset, Tabe goes out of his way to make him smile.

Rappa and Katsukame are either at each others' throats or punching someone through a wall for insulting the other. There’s no in between.

Hojo and Nemoto get along well.

Sakaki actually really respects Nemoto for how put together he seems. Still thinks he needs to loosen up a little, though.

Nemoto is jealous of Hari for how close he is to Overhaul

Hari ignores this to avoid conflict

Nemoto always tries to “correct” the others (especially Hari) when they do something he thinks Overhaul wouldn’t like. It’s mostly little stuff that doesn’t really matter.

Basically Nemoto just really wants Overhaul to notice him (poor bby)

It’s an unhealthy relationship, someone please help him.

Setsuno, Tabe, and Sakaki are a little bit scared of Rappa and Katsukame (can you blame them?)

Tengai sometimes feels like a failure for letting his life get to this.

Tengai enjoys talking to Hojo, Hari, and Setsuno

Hari often gets frustrated when trying to brush his hair. Usually has Overhaul or Tengai help him.

Rappa and Irinaka get on each others’ nerves

Irinaka secretly wonders why certain members of the Hassaikai *cough cough* Rappa *cough* are still around. Knows not to question his boss, though.

Setsuno and Sakaki drink together.

Nemoto sometimes vents to Hojo.

Actually, everyone vents to Hojo. He’s a good listener, and less likely to make a harsh (but usually true) statement about your life choices than Tengai.

It sometimes bothers him, but he doesn’t really say anything about it.

Hari, Nemoto, and Setsuno are secretly always worried about Sakaki

He’d probably cry if he found out that they actually cared about him.

Nemoto has a soft spot for Setsuno

Katsukame is the furthest from a morning person that someone can be.

Tengai is in charge of getting him up.

Katsukame is *slightly* insecure about his size. He covers it up with aggression. This sparks the majority of the fights between him and Rappa.

Katsukame is actually pretty close to Irinaka (and not just when he gives smol Irinaka piggy-back rides). Katsukame may or may not be a little jealous of him because he can downsize whenever he wants to.

Rappa and Katsukame can sometimes be protective of each other, though they’ll never admit it.

Basically, they’re ~bros~.

Tengai acts like he hates his job, but he kind of likes having friends.

Somewhere along the line, Rappa started focusing less on beating Overhaul and more on being a good friend to the others.

Because he was in a street gang as a kid before becoming a fighter (I’m 74% sure it’s canon), he sort of missed that particular sense of friendship and camaraderie.

Still 100% wants to beat Overhaul, it’s just on the back burner for now.

~Now, the League of Villains (...this post is going to be so long)~

Canonically, Twice and Toga are friends.

Twice likes Toga because she accepts and is kind to him regardless of his flaws, and Toga likes twice for pretty much the same reasons. (Kinda random but I hate when people ship them because she’s 17 and he’s like 30 and I ugghghhgghhhh)

Dabi sees Toga as a little sister and would do anything (within reason) for her.

He sees Twice as a brother and will sometimes discreetly distract him from splitting by talking to him.

As much as Dabi likes to tease Spinner and Shigaraki, he’d stand up for them if anyone else tried to hurt them.

Dabi won’t admit that he’s gotten attached to anyone though, and will act offended if confronted with evidence.

Twice is almost overbearingly supportive of everyone in the league.

Besides Toga, Spinner appreciates it the most. It helps him take his mind off of other things. Big Sis Magne.

Even though they’re not as Stain-obsessed as him, Spinner really appreciates his fellow league members. Finally, he’s found people who not only accept him, but think he’s cool.

Mr. Compress and Kurogiri like to have intellectual discussions when everyone else is asleep or busy with something else.

Mr. Compress sometimes helps Kurogiri at the bar.

Mr. Compress likes showing his magic tricks to Twice, because it’s not hard to get an amazed reaction from him.

Shigraki is secretly really grateful for the league. As friends, not just tools to accomplish a mission. He tries to hide it, but Dabi picks up on it easily. Dabi never says anything because he’s in a similar situation.

Those two understand each other in a weird way.

Shigaraki has also grown to appreciate and respect Kurogiri more than he did when they first met.

Whenever Shigaraki has to ~deal with~ someone, he tries to take it outside so Kurogiri doesn’t have to clean up the ashes.

Kurogiri genuinely cares for everyone in the league, especially Shigaraki. He doesn’t outright say so because emotions make Shigaraki nervous.

When Mr. Compress loses his arm, everyone sort of drops the act for a bit to make sure he’s okay.

Even after he has his prosthetic, everyone still acts concerned for him and tries to make him as comfortable as possible.

Mr. Compress has always been more independent than not, so it embarrasses part of him to have everyone fussing over his injury, but a larger part of him is touched and enjoys their attention.

Spinner is also accommodated a bit because he was the closest to Magne. He stays in his room for a while, so Kurogiri, Twice, and Toga alternate between who brings him food.

Dabi even stops teasing him for a while. He knows how it feels to have to leave loved ones behind subtle Touya Todoroki reference.

If Shigaraki feels it’s been too long since someone checked up on Spinner, he’ll force someone to. He says he only cares because he can’t have non-functioning league members, but he really does care about Spinner.

~How about a weird AU where the league and Shie Hassaikai eventually join forces and don’t try to kill each other everytime they meet.~

Overhaul and Shigaraki share leadership responsibilities, but not well.

Most executive decisions are actually made by Kurogiri, because he often mediates their arguments. Despite being a part of the league, Overhaul respects his level-headedness, and in return, Kurogiri keeps Overhaul’s goals in mind.

Spinner carries a subconscious resentment of Overhaul, both for killing Magne, and his indiscriminate disregard for human life that goes against Stain’s ideals.

Spinner doesn’t like to talk to most of the Hassaikai, but he gets along well with Setsuno, Tabe, and Hojo.

Twice is the only sparring opponent that Rappa consistently holds back on. He’d never forgive himself if Twice got hurt because of him.

On one occasion, Toga got ahold of Sakaki’s sake. She didn’t like it but she drank enough to cause significant trouble for everyone else for a while.

Hari and Dabi hang out sometimes.

Shigaraki and Overhaul have the potential to get along. Like, if they were drunk and locked in a room for a while, and one of them kind of opened up about his past, they’d find out that they have more in common than they thought. Afterwards, they’re still both prideful little gremlins, but they’re more willing to cut each other some slack and move on from an argument. I’m not saying I’d write a oneshot if you asked but I’d totally write a oneshot if you asked.

Dabi and Rappa like to prank Nemoto.

Nemoto doesn’t really like the alliance, but wouldn’t dare disagree with Overhaul.

Nemoto appreciates Kurogiri’s honesty.

Kurogiri eventually comes to care about the Hassaikai like he does the league.

Irinaka displays a surprising amount of patience with Katsukame (though from him, any amount of patience is surprising).

They can sometimes be protective of each other, though they’ll never admit it.

Tengai likes Kurogiri because he helps keep Rappa in check.

Nemoto and Mr. Compress gossip about everyone else.

Tengai, Hojo, and Kurogiri are the stoic introvert dream team.

Toga actually gets along with Irinaka. At first, Irinaka found her annoying because she likes to put him on her lap whenever he’s in his small form, but he grew to like her enthusiastic demeanor.

Sakaki likes Twice because he can clone sake bottles, and all of his good qualities (read: all of his qualities) are amplified when he’s drunk.

Katsukame finds most of the league annoying because they make noise and often interfere with his sleep schedule. Kind of likes Toga’s spunk though.

Like Spinner, Toga’s also still upset with the Hassaikai for killing Magne, but she grows to associate that event more with Overhaul than anyone else.

Setsuno brings out the sweet side in Toga, and she can often be seen comforting him and/or making death threats to his ex.

Dabi likes to hang around Sakaki, because he’ll sometimes drunkenly offer him alcohol.

Tabe and Hojo are slightly suspicious of the league’s motives for the alliance, but they appreciate Toga’s care for Setsuno.

Tabe and Twice are friends. They just are. You can’t convince me otherwise.

Hojo and Dabi have a habit of making really awkward small talk. If one walks into a room the other is in, rather than ignoring each other or starting an actual conversation, they’ll talk about the weather for 15 minutes.

To the people who actually read this whole thing: are you okay?

Now that I think about it, if y’all want to request fics of some (or all) of these boys (and girl) just being wholesome and caring about each other go right ahead

(◕‿◕✿)

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irandrura · 4 years

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Now, just for fun, I’m going to list everyone I recruited and give some brief thoughts on each one. If I spend more time on a person, it’s because I found them more interesting, or did more supports, or the like.

I did go a bit overboard recruiting people, but I feel validated by that decision considering the number of people I might have had to kill otherwise. As it is I only had to kill two people I didn’t want to – Lorenz and Caspar; Linhardt also appeared but I was able to avoid him – and while I’m sad, especially since I should have gotten Caspar for the paralogue with Mercedes and the Death Knight, it could have been a lot worse.

I will, however, skip the four DLC kids, since apparently you need to start their supports in White Clouds, I missed them, and didn’t feel like going back. So I don’t have the content there.

Here we go:

Byleth: I covered some of my thoughts on him in the post on Jeralt. I wouldn’t say that I dislike Byleth as such, but because Byleth has no dialogue and has few definite character traits beyond “doesn’t show emotion much” and maybe “likes being a teacher”, there isn’t much to work with. I suppose I find Byleth a serviceable enough player avatar protagonist, but if I were writing fan fiction or anything, I think I would need to work hard to develop a memorable personality for Byleth. As it is, Byleth only works because you imagine yourself in his or her shoes.

Sothis: I was originally quite worried about Sothis, since I thought she might be too sexualised. Fire Emblem has a bit of a tradition of uncomfortable loli characters, but fortunately in the game itself Sothis was not that bad, and definitely walks back the creepiness level from someone like Nowi. Instead it felt a bit more like Byleth was playing the same role as Micaiah, with a child-like fragment of the goddess accompanying him. I suspect other routes do more with Sothis, though, because on this route, you could probably cut Sothis from the game entirely without losing much. Azure Moon seems to be the route that is least interested in the history of the goddess, so I should not judge too prematurely.

Dimitri: The hero of this route, even if he sometimes feels like an anti-hero, or even just a psychotic maniac we unfortunately have to deal with. Of the three house leaders, I think it’s fair to say that Dimitri looks the most like a traditional FE protagonist, but as it shakes out, he might be one of the least. He seems to be quite straitlaced, reliable, and even bland at the start, but a lot of that turns out to be a cover and he goes on a real emotional journey, I suspect to a much greater extent than the other two. I do think his emotional arc goes a bit too fast and the game should have spent more time on it, but it was still a good idea, and I genuinely appreciate just how messed up and traumatised Dimitri is. He has issues, he suffers, he runs off into the wilderness and talks to ghosts, but I like it. I feel like he validates the idea that it’s okay to not have everything together. For him, overcoming his demons was the real triumph, and defeating the Empire was just a coda.

Dedue: He reminds me quite a bit of the Tellius games, with their overall subtheme of selfless service and lord/vassal relationships. Like Dimitri, he has issues, but because he’s such a quiet and reserved person, it can be easy to miss them. I suspect he’s a very easy character to misinterpret as well, both IC and OOC, where the temptation for Westerners to interpret him in terms of contemporary racial politics is going to cause problems. But ultimately I quite liked him, and felt that his faithful service really ennobles the person he serves. My one concern or regret around Dedue is that he isn’t present during the period of Dimitri’s madness, so we never get to see how his dedication to his lord might be tested. Would he enable or even encourage Dimitri’s instability? On the other hand, it seems like the belief that Dedue was dead was a major contributor to Dimitri’s madness in the first place, so perhaps if he’d been around, he would have held his friend back from the brink.

Felix: I like that Felix never stops entirely being an asshole. As time goes by his abrasiveness seems less important, and you get a better understanding of why he feels the way he does, but he’s still a bit of a jerk even to the very end, and that’s part of who he is. I also appreciate that he plays a useful role in being the only Blue Lion who actively dislikes knights and chivalry, so he’s important for the way he can provoke the others into justifying themselves. After all, the Blue Lions are a bit of a knight fan club, and he provides some contrast. Nonetheless, for all his scowling, he is a faithful retainer and can be relied on.

Ashe: He’s just a sweetheart, really. A commoner background contrasts nicely with the others, his lockpicking skill is useful, and he’s just generally very genuine and kind. Plus his appearance and voice-acting sell that he’s a bit younger than the others and on the callow side. I feel like he’s one of the characters who grows most in overall maturity, and his journey towards knighthood is probably the longest. He was a character I relied on a lot and I never got tired of him taking down the boss with a single arrow from halfway across the map. In my playthrough he ended up together with Petra and I am sure the knightly order they create will go on to be fantastic.

Sylvain: I’m a little confused by Sylvain. Early on it seems like he irrepressibly flirts with every girl he sees and always gets dumped, but later on, in part two, he clarifies that girls constantly flirt with him because they want to marry into a bloodline with a crest. It seems like it can’t be both ways? I suppose the best reading might be that Sylvain constantly flirts with strangers, who don’t know his heritage or his crest, while rejecting advances from people who do know about them, because what he really wants is someone who loves him as a person, not as a mere opportunity to increase in social status. For someone who seems so cheery and laid-back on the outside, he actually has some real problems beneath it all. That said, at times I was a bit suspicious of the translation: there are a few opportunities to call him a jerk, and I wonder if those were added, since otherwise his flirting seems like it’s presented as harmless, fun, or even a charming character quirk.

Mercedes: I didn’t think a whole lot of Mercedes at first: the caring healer character appears in a lot of FE games, she didn’t seem to put much of a twist on it, and I found her voice acting a little stilted at first. I suppose, to be fair, a soon-to-be-ordained friend of mine has a similar cadence, so it’s possible, but it did throw me off a little. For the most part I found Mercedes very reliable and my primary healer/mage, but I think a more full judgement of her character will need to wait until I do her paralogue with Caspar. Her family background and relationship with the Death Knight seem key to understanding her.

Annette: The translators and voice actor were clearly having fun with her dorky improvised songs, and I love them. They’re great. That said, Annette didn’t really come alive for me as a character until she got to interact with Gilbert. He’s probably a more interesting character than she is, really, but their relationship is what makes them both start to stand out. Overall I find her likeable and reliable, but, Gilbert aside, not one of the most fascinating characters on the roster.

Ingrid: Again, a quite straightforward character in many ways. She wants to be a knight. She trains hard. She becomes a knight. Okay. I did find it a bit odd that even at the end of the game she still talks about wanting to be a knight, even though she’s spent the last few missions entirely in the Falcon Knight and Holy Knight classes, has battled across the continent at the side of her liege, and has defeated countless enemy champions. Eventually I wanted to ask her, “What more could you possibly need to do before you’re a knight?” There is some drama around marriage and social expectations for her as well, and it surprised me that it took her so long to figure out that she could be a knight and serve her family. Her family don’t want a political alliance through marriage or anything: it is specifically money and resources that they need. Knighthood seems like a career that can bring you great wealth – plunder, ransoms, tournament rewards, etc. – so it seems like knighthood, no less than marriage to a wealthy noble after a crest, could be a path to restoring her family’s fortunes. (Also, she was the one I S-supported, so I suppose the marriage plan worked out anyway. *shrug*)

Ferdinand: Everything about him is laser-focused on this question of, “What is nobility?” At times it got a bit tedious, and I wanted him to just shut up about being a noble for five minutes. However, while he laid it on a bit thick sometimes, what I like about him is the way that his character development seems like it could really change based on which route he ends up in. After Edelgard declares war and dispossesses his father, he has a really interesting choice to make: take up arms against her and join the resistance, or accept her offer of rank and power in the Empire. Since I recruited him at the very last minute, in the last month before the assault on the monastery, I might have imagined him struggling with that choice, and I like to picture him debating the importance of visible rank and status to the nobility that he tries so hard to achieve. I could easily imagine him going either way on that choice, believing in Edelgard’s vision or passionately warring against it, and that to me made him much more interesting.

Bernadetta: Her voice actor was clearly having a ton of fun. The energy she brought to the role made the character very entertaining to listen to. That said, I feel bad for her: her extreme social anxiety is sometimes played for laughs, but knowing that it’s the result of an abusive childhood makes it quite a bit less funny. Oddly my favourite support with her was Bernadetta/Sylvain, mainly because of the supports that I saw, he was the only one who made a serious attempt to respect her boundaries and to communicate with her in a way she would find comfortable. Seriously, writing her a letter and tucking it into a book was quite clever and sensitive of him... even if he ruined it by just walking up afterwards and saying hello.

Dorothea: Judging from the online stats the game showed on loading screens, Dorothea must be one of the most popular characters in the game, and was deployed almost every mission. This makes it a bit awkward that I never really deployed her at all, or focused much on her. I don’t have anything against her, and she seems interesting enough, but I suppose I already had enough mages and other people were higher priority. Oh dear. Maybe next time. She seems to be a popular choice for the dancer class, but since I made Marianne my dancer…

Petra: On the other hand, I did like Petra a lot, built her as an assassin, and got a lot of use from her. I wonder what her odd speech pattern is in Japanese? Looks like in Japanese she misunderstands idioms, rather than misuses the present continuous tense. At any rate, I really like the role Petra plays in worldbuilding, since her status as an outsider taken to the empire to be educated as a hostage serves to characterise both Brigid and the empire itself. Like Ferdinand, I also think she’s in a fascinating position where she could plausibly end up either pro- or anti-empire. I enjoyed being able to fight for freedom and self-determination, but I could also see her buying into Edelgard’s vision of a reformed empire. That sort of flexibility seems really valuable in a game with different routes like this.

Raphael: Unfortunately another character I recruited only at the last minute and didn’t get to spend that much time with. The fact that I avoided brawlers probably didn’t help. However, from what I did see, I liked that they included a character who genuinely struggles with his studies, and I also thought it interesting that he presents yet another character who wants to be a knight, but for a totally different reason. Ashe has a romantic view of knighthood; Ingrid has a relatively romantic view as well but also thinks of fighting for her ideals; Felix outright hates knighthood and chivalry as a bunch of lies. In contrast, Raphael’s pragmatism is a little refreshing. He just wants to support his family, given his strength fighting seems like a good way to do it, and knighthood promises more stability than mercenary work. Good for him.

Ignatz: And yet another character thinking about knighthood, albeit again for a different reason. He doesn’t want to be a knight as such, but has to because it’s his duty. At times even I got a bit sick of the game constantly talking about knighthood, but the wide range of opinions on it was definitely a good thing. Alas, all Ignatz wants to do is paint and worship the goddess. Sadly I used Ashe as my main archer, so I didn’t see as much of Ignatz as I might have liked. Another playthrough, then.

Lysithea: See above, really. I get the impression she’s a quite popular character, but as with Dorothea, I already had a few mages and didn’t have much need for her. I’m guessing she would have a lot more importance on a route where her backstory with what are presumably creepy Slitherer magical experiments is more relevant? As it is, sorry, I just didn’t see that much. Young, likes sweets, ambitious in order to help her family because she hasn’t got long to live… but that’s about all I got.

Marianne: On the other hand, I did use Marianne quite extensively. She was my backup healer after Mercedes, and she was my dancer, so she was very useful. (Some might say it was cruel to make her dance in public: I thought it might help build her confidence!) Her paralogue also stood out to me as one of the most interesting and fun. At first I thought her self-loathing might be irrational or a symptom of depression, but it turns out that she actually has quite an understandable reason for thinking that she’s awful and that no one should ever get close to her. Bringing peace to her ancestor and giving her the opportunity to increase her confidence and bloom as a person was very heartwarming. Her character arc gave me some WAFFy feelings, and I enjoy that sometimes.

Leonie: It’s weird to me that a character defined by her relationship with Jeralt, the player’s father, is so easy to miss recruiting. Nonetheless I did pick her up, because I love cavaliers and use far too many of them. Still, most of the other cavaliers were nobles, which made Leonie’s role as a mercenary knight a nice change. I think it might have worked better, though, if I’d known a bit more about the role of mercenaries in Fódlan. Are there mercenary companies? How do they usually find work? It would have been nice to know a bit more about the world that Byleth supposedly comes from, and which Leonie is so keen to break into.

Seteth: I was not a big fan of Seteth at first, but he grew on me, which surprises me particularly since I was on a route that never actually explains what his deal is. I feel like every long-term series fan, on meeting Seteth and Flayn, must have gone “oh they’re dragons”, because they fit that archetype just so closely, but somehow I got through the entire arc without anyone figuring it out. Nonetheless, while he starts off as quite suspicious of you, and even hostile, I enjoyed how further supports gradually humanised him. Seteth/Felix or Seteth/Ingrid, for instance, stood out to me as nice: the older man going out of his way to give practical advice to someone who’s still sorting himself or herself out. He’s a good mentor. I know often the thing people remember about Fire Emblem is the young protagonists and the shipping and so on, but sometimes it’s the older, more mature characters that I find the most interesting.

Flayn: In contrast, I did not find Flayn as interesting as Seteth. She’s a nice enough person, and the enthusiasm of the Flayn/Dedue support was cute, but ultimately I didn’t see that much of her. Mercedes and Marianne were my primary healers, and Byleth had a high Faith skill as well, so I didn’t need another one and didn’t take her along that often. I hope there are more depths, because as it is, I wasn’t that struck by her.

Hanneman: Another character I generally did not take along, so most of what I learned about Hanneman was around crests and his scientific curiosity. I think Hanneman supports my previous speculation that Fódlan might be starting on an intellectual renaissance at the time of the game. He is the Father of Crestology, even though crests have been known for a thousand years. That suggests that the organised, academic study of such matters is in its infancy.

Manuela: Again, not someone I looked at too closely, and her most obvious character trait, her romantic loneliness, could be a little bit cringeworthy at times. I would have to do more supports and look more closely at her to form a stronger opinion. The parts that I found most interesting with regard to her were about her history with the opera. Her relationship with Dorothea seems like it might reveal some more about both of them, but alas I didn’t use each character much.

Gilbert: On the other hand, I did use Gilbert quite a lot, since Dedue went missing for a while and I needed a substitute tank. Gilbert is clearly a loyal man who has suffered an immense amount, especially under the weight of guilt and self-doubt. It’s striking that he abandoned his family and homeland and fled to the church in order to assuage the weight of guilt he felt for the king’s death; but in the end the separation from his family only intensified feelings of guilt and unworthiness. Nonetheless, despite being a man who’s really screwed quite a lot up, he stoically tries to coordinate the Faerghus war effort, even when Dimitri is in his worst state. I was very glad to eventually get the Annette/Gilbert paired ending, as a valuable reminder that even at Gilbert’s age, it is possible to start healing and putting your life back together.

Alois: I really only got the Byleth support with Alois, so I don’t have that much to say. His cheery optimism is a nice change after a lot of the other faculty and knights are either serious or sad, and I enjoy horrible puns as much as the next man, but I think I need to see more.

Catherine: Speaking of cheery knights, Catherine’s rough-and-tumble confidence is also pretty appealing. Unlike the students, Catherine is strong and she knows that she’s strong, with a confidence that comes of years of fighting. What I saw of her personality I generally liked, and I learned a bit about her history, but I’m going to hold off on any further comments until I get some more context for her and Rhea. She is obviously incredibly devoted to the archbishop who saved her life, and in some ways seems to have reinvented her life from who she was before (cf. Dedue, the loyal service theme again), but I think I should need to see a route where Rhea plays a larger role before I come to conclusions.

Shamir: I like Shamir quite a lot, and she might be my favourite of the knights, even though she doesn’t have much to do with the actual plot. Her outsider status is the most striking thing about her: unlike pretty much everyone else, she has no personal investment in Fódlan or its politics, which frees her to focus on the needs of the moment. I would like to know a bit more about Dagda and Brigid, to be honest, but I suspect I’ve seen all there is to see already...

Cyril: Unfortunately I never used him. I can tell that he’s the Est of the game, a young character who probably has excellent growths and can excel in any class, but my roster felt pretty complete by the time I got him, he didn’t seem like he had interesting relationships with other characters that I might want to explore, and he’s so young that I feel uncomfortable making him a soldier. I can completely accept that there might be really good material around him, perhaps especially on the Golden Deer route where Almyra might come up, but as it is I don’t know any of it.

Anna: Yep, she’s Anna. Not much to say. Anna is always the same character, and Fódlan’s Anna doesn’t seem particularly special or unique.

…phew, that took much longer than I thought. These games and their giant casts, man.

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 9/30/20

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 6 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – Another series down to “once a year” release—I had to jog my memory at the start to recall what had been happening. Many things are going wrong for our heroine, who is trying to be strong and tough but is also starting to break down, and I felt that the scenes with her and Dean struck just the right balance of comforting and letting the heroine cry without making her seem weaker. This sets the stage for her comeback, which is extraordinary. (And also has a corrupt Church, a constant in Japanese light novels, though at least here there are also honest and good religious people in it.) That said, eventually Dean’s identity will come out, and I do wonder how this very good “villainess” isekai will handle it. – Sean Gaffney

The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Jack Flash and the Faerie Case Files, Vol. 1 | By Yu Godai, Mako Oikawa, and Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – A faerie switched at birth for a human child, Jack never fit in in either world. Only in the mortal realm could she earn money for anime collectibles, however, so she decided to make herself into a tough, capable woman like her literary heroes and set up shop as a detective. Together with her fellow changeling, Larry the werewolf, Jack takes on supernatural cases in New York City. In this volume, Lindel tasks them with tracking down a missing dragon egg. I liked the resources Jack uses to obtain information, which include a dapper theatre ghost and a spell with components of rat whiskers and taxi tires because “Nobody out there knows this city better than them.” I still found this a bit hard to get into, though, especially the parts involving a perpetually tearful off-off-off-off-Broadway actress and her pickpocket boyfriend. Still, I will check out volume two! – Michelle Smith

Black Clover, Vol. 22 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – At long last, this interminable arc comes to an end. I enjoyed a lot of it, but I cannot deny it should have been about two volumes shorter. Most of the book is taken up by shonen battles, with the villain being nigh unkillable, the heroes almost breaking themselves to stop him, etc. Fortunately, the day is saved, and even the Wizard King turns out to be… sort of alive again? Shota fans should be happy. Asta fans perhaps less so—the sheer amount of damage done to the kingdom in this arc means someone has to be blamed, and give Asta has the “dark evil magic” it’s gonna be him, especially when he takes the incredibly obvious bait they use to get him to fight. Oh well, if Asta were smart, this wouldn’t be Black Clover. – Sean Gaffney

Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, Vol. 3 | By Nanashi | Vertical Comics – Part of the problem with titles like this and the other teasing works (Takagi-san less so as Nishikata doesn’t fall into the category) is that they are, at heart, the classic “extroverted girl acts overtly extroverted to bring introverted guy out of their shell,” and that’s not really a plot that feels comfortable in the Gen Z days, where you’re more likely to say “why doesn’t she just let him be in his quiet, safe space?” And by she I mean they, as Nagatoro’s two friends appear far more often here, which offers some good two-way teasing action, as they clearly see her crush on him, if not why. It’s still sort of hard to read, but if you pretend he’s more OK with it than he actually is, this is cute. – Sean Gaffney

Failed Princesses, Vol. 1 | By Ajiichi | Seven Seas – The concept of “popular girl meets unpopular girl” is a common one in yuri manga, and we do indeed hit several of its tropes in this first volume. The amusing thing is that Kanade, the shy outcast girl, is perfectly aware of how things are supposed to go, and keeps pulling back a bit to try to save Nanaki from, well, making herself an outcast by associating with the wrong people. The best part of the volume is that Nanaki really doesn’t give two shits about any of that, and seems set on making Kanade her best friend… and also making her over, which backfires a bit as Kanade cleans up nicely. I hear this gets a bit dramatic later, but for the moment it’s a cute and fluffy proto-yuri story. – Sean Gaffney

In/Spectre, Vol. 12 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – The first story in this volume is another “Rikka tries to make people understand Kotoko is an evil Machiavellian schemer,” this time with one of her ex-classmates, but again the response seems to be “we know she’s a manipulative bitch, but she’s a good person anyway.” The larger story, which will continue into the next book, seems to be a chance to write Kuro and Kotoko as an actual romance, as the man we meet here and his relationship with a yuki-onna… as well as his penchant for attracting misfortune… very much parallel them. That said, they’re very cute together, which is why I hope he avoids the murder charge he’s now being investigated for. Still a favorite. – Sean Gaffney

Interviews with Monster Girls, Vol. 8 | By Petos | Kodansha Comics – The author knows what people want to see, but also knows that the best way to get readers is to drive them crazy by not showing it. We finally get what we’ve been begging for here, as Tetsuo asks Sakie out on a date. (This is after rejecting Kyouko’s love confession, both because she’s his student and also, as he is forced to admit, as he likes Sakie.) The stage is set for the date… and the rest of the book is thus spent with the three main student girls going to Kyouko’s for a fireworks viewing and meeting her family. They’re good chapters, and I really liked showing how difficult Kyouko has it as a dullahan in terms of everyday life, but GOD, please get back to the teachers, I beg you! – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 16 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The series has gotten to the point where the more rewarding chapters are the ones as part of a larger arc. Not that the one-shot chapters are bad—though Maki’s journey to India may be the most pointless thing in this entire series to date, we do get Chika’s iconic “shut up or I’ll kill you” here. But the larger arcs, featuring Miyuki and Kaguya attempting to date without interruptions, and setting up Ishigami and Iino for a romance—though given the number of limbs broken in this book, and Iino’s own horrible lack of self-awareness, it may be a ways out—are better. This series is still hilarious, but we’ve come to read it more for the heartwarming moments. Heck, there’s even some serious drama here. Very good. – Sean Gaffney

Nineteen | By Ancco | Drawn & Quarterly – Although it was translated and released second in English, Nineteen is a precursor to Ancco’s internationally award-winning manhwa Bad Friends. The volume collects thirteen short comics originally published in Korea over a decade ago which absolutely remain relevant to today’s world. While understandably not as polished as some of Ancco’s later work—one can observe her style evolving and growing over the course of the collection (which is fascinating)—the comics still carry significant emotional weight and impact. Nineteen includes diary comics, which tend to be more lighthearted, as well as harder-hitting fictional stories, many of which also have autobiographical inspiration. As a whole, the collection explores themes of young adulthood, growing up, and complicated family relationships. In particular, there is a compelling focus on the relationships among daughters, mothers, and grandmothers. Some of the narratives can be rather bleak, but a resigned sense of humor threads through Nineteen, too. – Ash Brown

Ran the Peerless Beauty, Vol. 8 | By Ammitsu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Shoujo manga that has couples getting together BEFORE the end of the series is inevitably going to have an arc dealing with how far the lead couple should go now that they’re dating, and this is Ran’s turn, as she and Akira and their friends go to a beach house Ran’s family owns and have some beach fun. Unfortunately, the cast gets winnowed down one by one until it’s just the two of them… and her overprotective father, who arrives in time to provide the cliffhanger and no doubt ensure that nookie does not ensue. Not that I think it should—these two kids are even purer than the couple from Kimi ni Todoke, and I think they should mature a bit more before going further. Plus, watching them blush and kiss is wonderful. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 2 | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – Having spent our first volume establishing that our found family can really come to love each other deep down, this volume shows off how they are also, at heart, fundamentally awkward and unable to socialize normally. This is unsurprising—hints of Loid’s life we’ve seen show him as a war orphan, Yor is a contract killer, and Anya basically grew up being experimented on by bad guys. As the school soon finds, this leads to issues. The second half of the book introduces Yor’s sister-obsessed little brother Yuri, who turns out to be a torture expert for Loid’s enemies. As always, half the fun is that everyone except Anya has no idea who their real selves are, and the cliffhanger tells us we’re in for some hilarious family fun. I love this. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 2 | By Tatsuya Endo | VIZ Media – After a brief spell atop the waiting list, Anya officially makes it into Eden Academy. Loid is anxious to progress to the next stage of his mission and, believing there’s not much chance in turning Anya into an elite scholar like his agency wants, focuses instead on having her befriend the younger son of his target. It does not go to plan, of course. Anya is very cute in this volume, and I also really appreciated how Loid genuinely listens to Yor and values her input. The arrival of Yor’s brother, a member of the secret police, is going to be a fun complication, and another cast member with a secret, but my favorite part of this series is probably always going to be how much love these three are already feeling for each other. So unique and good! – Michelle Smith

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, Vol. 6 | By Tomo Hirokawa, based on the story by Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – The weakness of this manga is the same as always—it’s written to tie into the games, and features several characters I just don’t recognize, which can be a problem given this is the big final let’s-save-the-world ending. That said, this is still a decent SAO title. Kirito gets to be cool and badass, but because this isn’t written just by Kawahara others do as well, and it’s a nice balanced effort that focuses on heroine Premiere. I also really liked the point where all the NPCs are worried when everyone has to log out for several days for maintenance. While I’ll still remember this as the “SAO only everyone is alive” manga, I enjoyed reading it, when I wasn’t confused. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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helloivymew · 4 years

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Pokémon: The Power of Us — A Rant

So I finally got around to watching this one movie and...

I don’t know if it’s because the past few weeks have been so hard for me or if it’s because the story, the graphics, the relatability of the characters, or the message of working to together, but Pokémon: The Power of Us genuinely has me crying

Like, I was crying through the whole last 30 minutes of the movie

And not just tearing up, I’m full on ugly crying. I’m also currently sick which tmi made my nose all snotty and so overall I’m sure I looked very gross

I just— I loved the entire movie and how there were several characters with their own motivations, stories, and personalities all interacting and working towards one goal to save Fula City. I feel like the writers did a good job to evenly flesh out each character as much as they could with this being our first introduction to them (save Ash & Pikachu) and within the limited time of a movie nonetheless. They all had development and purpose in some way and I appreciate that.

And I want to talk about Risa for a moment because she holds a special place in my heart. The reason why I love Risa isn’t because her design is cute or because Eevee is her partner Pokémon. It’s because of how much I relate to her. In a very similar way to Risa, I had a sport that I loved very much, I put my heart and soul into it and much of my free time during the week was dedicated to going to practice. And then, combined with a feeling of burnout that had been growing for a while, I got injured. I quit my beloved sport so I could heal. It’s been years since then but I never returned to the sport. I’ve let my physical health get out of hand and I don’t have the speed or stamina I used to so I feel stupid whenever I even try getting back into it. So, I really relate to Risa loosing a sport she loves and being too afraid to try it again. The difference between me and her though is that I’ve given up trying to make it work again, but it seems that Risa may be able to reclaim her spot in track. It’s also just icing on the cake that she’s about the same age as me. So I just— she’s important to me ok??

Also,

For a long time, before I saw The Power of Us, I didn’t have very high expectations for it. I didn’t like how far apart they spaced Ash’s eyes and I expected the writers to treat his character like a dumb kid (which he is goofy but I feel like him coaching Risa how to direct Pikachu showed a level of knowledge and experience). I thought the story wouldn’t matter much, I didn’t care for the larger cast of main characters, and I wasn’t too keen on Risa because I thought she’d just be another one shot & one sided love interest for Ash. This is how I prejudged the movie. I don’t know how others feel about the movie yet because I haven’t gone to look through Tumblr yet to read other opinions, but I’ll do that later. These are my feelings immediately following seeing the movie for the first time. Perhaps I set my expectations low enough so the movie turned out being better than I could have imagined, or maybe this movie is just darn good. Either way, I loved Pokémon: The Power of Us and I’ll have to re-evaluate the hierarchy of my list of my favorite Pokémon movies now.

#pokemon #the power of us #pokemon: the power of us #pokemon the movie #pokemon movies #anipoke #pokeani #ash ketchum #pikachu #pokemon risa #eevee #text post #rant

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iron-fam · 5 years

Text

Dinner with the Avengers

A prompt that was an ask from @just-the-daydreamer

Tumblr screwed up (more like I screwed up but I'm blaming tumblr) and deleted their ask. I kinda remember what it was though lmao. Anyways, thank you for the prompt and for the nice compliments to my writing!

Prompt: Peter meeting all of the Avengers and Tony having big dad energy.

_________________________________

Focus. Just- fucking focus.

Don't be dumb.

Don't be cringey.

Don't talk too much.

Don't ask any stupid questions.

Don't be yourself.

"No one wants that."

Peter Parker is currently in an elevator with Happy Hogan, freaking the fuck out.

He's on his way to have a nice lovely dinner at Avengers Tower.

It sounds so easy when you say it like that. Peter's had dinner with Tony, Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey at the tower plenty of times.

This time's different.

The whole Avengers team is having dinner at the tower tonight. Everyone. This will be the first time the entire gang has been together since before the whole Sokovia Accords bullshit.

Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, Thor, Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson, Colonel Rhodes, and even Vision and Scott Lang are attending.

Weeks ago, Tony and Peter agreed that it was fine to reveal his identity to the Avengers.

But now the day was finally here, and Peter couldn't seem to breathe.

Happy sighs, "Relax," he sounds irritated, but he tries to offer some sound advice. "Don't worry about anything. These are the weirdest freaks you'll ever meet in your life. You're gonna fit right in."

He gives Peter's shoulder a light punch. Peter would almost appreciate the gesture if his heart wasn't trying to crawl it's way up his throat.

The elevator dings, indicating that the destination has been reached.

The doors slide open, and Peter is greeted by two smiling faces.

"There he is!" Tony bellows, a bright grin on his face. "Just the man I was talking about."

He claps Peter on the shoulder as he exits the elevator.

Next to Tony, stands a plain looking man with glasses and a lilac button up shirt.

"You're, uh," Peter swallows. "Bruce Banner, right?"

The scientist smiles. "Sure am. Tony said you'd recognize me."

"W-well yeah," Peter shoves his hands in his pockets and looks down at the floor. "I did a couple papers a few years back. They were, uh, heavily influenced by your work in astronuclear physics. Really interesting stuff."

"Wow, that's pretty c-"

The genius is cut off by a thunderous laugh erupting from an approaching figure.

"Stark! Is this the Spiderman you've been speaking of?" The man asks.

Peter is in awe. He focuses on keeping his mouth closed and not looking like a total idiot.

"Sure is, Thor! This here's our newest Avenger." Tony gently punches Pete's shoulder, similar to how Happy had done in the elevator.

"How magnificent!" The god stares Peter down, judging him. "He's quite small, is he not? For a human?" The warm smile never leaves his face.

"He's only sixteen," Tony chuckles.

"And taller than you, Mr. Stark," Peter mumbles under his breath. Bruce smiles.

Tony's head snaps to Peter, "What was that, pipsqueak?" Thor breaks into another thunderous cackle. "Go sit down, squirt. Most of the others are already in the dining room. I'll be in in just a minute."

Peter is anxious to go in without Tony, but he doesn't protest. As he walks, he is aware of Thor's heavy footsteps not far behind him, matching up with the heavy pound of the boy's heartbeat.

Peter can already hear each distinct voice in the dining room around the corner. He can hear drinks being poured, voices laughing, hearts beating, and even a fly buzzing close to the ceiling.

The moment Peter turns the corner to the dining area, silence washes over the room. Eleven pairs of eyes are staring at him, and he feels like fainting.

Pepper stands up from her seat next to Natasha. "Hello, Peter!" Her smile is so warm and genuine, it could melt the arctic. "Everyone's been wanting to meet you. Here, have a seat."

She gestures to an empty seat on the other side of her.

Peter happily strides over, relieved to be dining next to someone he knows and is comfortable around. Now he can only hope that Tony sits in the empty seat on his other side.

Natasha leans forward, staring at the teenager with cold eyes. "Hello, Peter." She doesn't smile.

"Hello," Peter's voice quivers slightly.

To Peter's relief, Tony interrupts. "Don't scare him, he's very fragile." The billionaire winks discreetly at Pete and leisurely strolls to the empty chair next to him. Oh, thank God!

"Fragile?" Clint scoffs. "I heard that kid can throw a schoolbus like a baseball."

"Impressive," Wanda Maximoff breathes, her face hidden by a mug of coffee.

Scott Lang laughs, "That's nothing! I can lift a car while being an inch tall!"

Nat rolls her eyes, "Like hell you can."

"You can barely move a thumbtack, tic-tac." Sam Wilson retorts.

"That was some straight bars, birdbrain!" Scott barks.

"Shut up, Lang."

Tony has to intervene before things get to crazy. "Let's be nice, there are young ears present."

"Since when did you become his dad?" Clint smirks. Peter's can feel his face heating up. God, I never should have come. This is so embarrassing.

Steve is ready to change the subject, and he speaks to Peter for the first time since Germany.

"So, Peter. How long have you been 'Spiderman?' I've read a lot about you in the papers. New York seems to appreciate having you around."

"Who still reads 'the papers?'" Clint mutters under his breath, laughing. Wanda elbows him.

Peter is suddenly aware of all the eyes on him; all the ears awaiting his answer to Steve's question.

"Um," he pauses for a while. "I, uh, got my powers when I was thirteen. I didn't start using them to help people until a few months later when I was fourteen. That was about two years ago."

Wanda tilts her head to the side. Her intrigued gaze sears into the boy. Peter can feel his blood running cold. He is abruptly struck with a paranoid thought- can she read my mind?

The curiosity in Wanda's eyes doesn't waver. She asks him, "How did you get your powers?"

Peter breaks eye contact with Wanda, timidly leaning back into his chair.

"I was bitten by a radioactive spider. It mutated my DNA, and I developed traits that a spider would have."

"Fascinating," Bruce whispers, bewildered.

"Can you lay eggs?" Scott asks, mouth hanging wide open. "Can you summon an army of spiders? Can you turn into a spider?"

"No, no, and no." Peter answers.

"Lame,"

Tony glares at Scott. If looks could kill, then Lang would be nothing but a pile of ash.

"I'm kidding," Scott quickly takes back his comment. "I've seen you throw webs though. That's pretty cool."

"Not as cool as you growing sixty feet tall." Peter replies, gaining a small drop of confidence.

"Ha! I keep forgetting you were there in Germany."

"Y'know, I try to forget Germany, too." Peter says.

"Don't we all," Rhodey mumbles through a bite of food.

Steve's eyes are stuck on a fixed point on his plate. "I can't believe I dropped ten tons of steel on a fifteen year old."

Peter laughs. "Don't be, it was a good workout. And actually, I was fourteen."

A small wave of laughter washes over the group, and Peter feels proud for a moment or two. Like he belongs.

"What the hell were you thinking, Stark..." Bucky quietly says. It's the first thing he's said all evening. Peter had almost forgotten he was there. "You brought a fourteen year old kid to Berlin."

Tony cringes, "I know, I know. Not my best move."

Pepper puts her hand on Tony's shoulder. "Yes, well it definitely wasn't your worst move either."

Bruce nearly chokes on his food, thinking about Ultron.

The group collectively gasps and then laughs.

After a few peaceful moments, Tony rises to his feet. He picks up his champagne glass.

"Well, I propose a toast. To our newest Avenger."

Everyone picks up their glasses, and raises them.

"Uh, Mr. Stark." Peter smiles. "I didn't get any champagne."

That gets a few chuckles.

"Yeah," Tony nods. "I tried, squirt, but Pepper said it would be irresponsible." He rolls his eyes and gestures to the blonde.

Pepper doesn't protest. She simply sips her champagne and mumbles "Yes, it would be irresponsible."

"Welcome to the team, Peter." Natasha says, the corners of her mouth slightly turning up.

"Welcome to the team," the others mutter in unison.

Tony claps his hand down on Peter' shoulder, almost showing him off like a proud dad.

Peter smiles.

These people aren't half bad.

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the-lupine-sojourner · 4 years

Text

I Promised, Didn’t I? [Traitor(?)!Reader/Izuku Commission] [Fantasy!AU]

Ta-da! Here it is at long last, @elite-guard-hardygal!! So sorry to keep you waiting so long! TT^TT

Anyway, Hardygal commissioned this fanfiction based on some ideas they had and the song ‘Not while I’m Around’ from the Sweeny Todd movie. I like the song and the idea behind the commission, so I was eager to get to work on it, but then I got distracted with work and Miraculous Ladybug cus I was too curious as to what was going on so I binged the latest episodes--anyway, on to the commission!

If you want one for yourself, all you need do is ask! Here’s Info on My Commissions.

As always, I give the word count for my commissions. This one sits at 3807-ish cus there was just so much story there, I couldn’t stop writing! XD

Ok, that’s all for now! Hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving! :)

God Bless and Happy Holidays!

~The Lupine Sojourner

(Here’s a cute Izuku GiF cus why not?)

There he was; Eijiro Kirishima, the one you’d been sent to observe and eventually turn over to your boss, Kai Chisaki.

He and his group were...less than thrilled that a rogue barbarian king named Katsuki Bakugo and his companion, Eijiro, and their group of friends had been taking down his thugs and operations left and right, and as such Kai himself had sat you down and told you about sending his stealthier cronies to track and observe Eijiro and his friends, taking note of their relationships and which member would cause the most damage if they were to be...removed.

Eijiro was, apparently, one of the most innocent and a key player in keeping another group, led by Izuku Midoriya (another target, turns out), in fairly good terms with each other.

Eijiro was also married, after a somewhat fast-paced romance, to one of the most powerful magic-wielding adventurers in recent memory, Takara Yamada.

Only Shoto Todoroki, a rather reserved fellow who ran from his princely duties to find a cure for a curse that befell him, his fiance and bodyguard, Momo Yaoyorozu, and Izuku Midoriya (who was trying to find the missing king, Toshinori Yagi) could best Takara in terms of power and the way they use it.

The Chisaki told you to help hunt down Eijiro to unbalance Takara and the other powerhouses so it would be easier to kill them.

“Hey, are you okay?”

You look up. You’d been so wrapped up in your thoughts you hadn’t realized you were standing in the middle of the street, staring into space.

“Oh, y-yeah. I’m fairly new to the area, and was just getting my bearings. I look like that when I’m concentrating.”

Eijiro smiles. “Well, um, do you have a place to stay tonight?” He asks.

You chuckle. “Yes. The tavern, for now.”

“You should stay with me and my wife instead! She’d love you!” You act like you were surprised, but thanks to Chisaki you knew this was typical for Eijiro.

He always strove to help those he could. Poor naive boy.

Well, it would provide you an in with your targets. “Oh, no. I couldn’t ask you to do that. Really, I’m fine. I’m asking around for jobs, and I’ve got plenty of money to last me till I got a steady job.”

“It’s honestly no trouble. Takara would love to meet you.” You act like you were flattered and shyly accepting of the generous offer, and you could genuinely appreciate what this meant to him and his new wife.

Chisaki had even told you of rumors about Takara and what would happen in around 6 months.

You hope that rumor wasn’t true. You’d hate to make a child an orphan like you were before Chisaki snapped you up.

“Oh! I just realized; I don’t know your name.”

“Oh you’re right! And I don’t know yours, come to think of it.” You give the name you were told to use, Koi Dirisk.

“Lovely name. I’m Eijiro Kirishima.”

“Pleasure.” You shake hands and try not to think of the future too much.

=#=#=#=#=

“Darling, I’m home!” Eijiro calls, smiling broadly as he walks into the house.

“Perfect time! That deer you got this morning is just about cooked.” Comes a female voice, approaching.

Then, Takara comes into your view. She was...prettier than you thought she’d be. The description hadn’t done her justice, though you suppose that was either to avoid attachments or because the Chisaki were focused on the basics rather than her beauty.

“Oh. Eijiro, you didn’t mention a friend.” She says and you can tell she’s surprised but not angry or about to throw you out.

“She’s new to the area. Her name’s Koi. I offered to save her some money until she gets her feet under her.” Takara nods, smiling warmly at you and you feel your heart clench at the prospect of what will happen. You glance at her stomach as she walks over. It was starting to show, her pregnant belly. Just enough that you could confirm the rumors about Takara.

“Well, alright. We’ll see what we can do.” The two of you shake hands and you almost feel sick at the thought of turning this young bride into a widow so soon after her nuptials. And the kid would grow up without their wonderful parents.

And yet, you had to do what Chisaki said, or you’d be the next victim of his awful magic, creating deadly spikes out of the ground or simply destroying the body from within.

You’d been a witness in many executions now, and yet you hadn’t turned him in. You couldn’t.

You subtly shake yourself as Takara offers to show you around and to your borrowed room. You had to play the part for now.

The house was amazing, cozy and charming. The perfect place for a family, complete with a room for the upcoming child.

As soon as the tour was over, Takara returned to the kitchen and finished the meal preparation.

“So what brings you into town?” That question had come up fairly quickly as you ate dinner.

“Ah you know; traveling the world, seeing the sights, getting some exploring done before it’s too late.” That was what Kai wanted you to say. You felt the food turn to dust and ashes in your mouth as you lied.

This poor family would be torn apart and they had no idea.

=#=#=#=#=

“You established contact with Kirishima?”

“Yes.” You report in a small side room in a local tavern a day or so later.

“Good. Does he trust you yet?”

“Not sure. We’ve barely begun a friendship, much less trust at this stage. We’re going to do some magic practice later. That should help.”

“Y/N, are you having second thoughts?” Kai asks suddenly, leaning over a little.

“Not at all. I just noticed Takara Kirishima is in fact pregnant. She seems to be in the first trimester.”

“Is that a problem?” You knew the right answer.

“No. Just thought you should know.”

“It’ll make it easier for us to take care of her when the time comes. Good work.” You nod, swallowing subtly.

“Right. I’ll report to you again when I find the others in the group containing Izuku Midoriya.” Kai Chisaki nods, humming.

“See that you do, Y/N.”

“Yes, sir.” You reply, knowing the right answer.

=#=#=#=#=

Things only got worse as you were introduced to Izuku Midoriya.

He was even dressed like a proper gentleman, acting so polite you felt your heart clench at having to look at him like an enemy, scanning for weakness.

And so far, his main weakness was his easygoing, friendly, fairly trusting nature. Practically as soon as you were introduced to him, he was shaking your hand and talking about how ‘any friend of Eijiro and Takara’s is a friend of mine’.

You wanted to throw up. How could these people trust you so easily? Didn’t they want to know more about you?

So far, you’d been all but blindly taken in, asked the bare minimum of questions, and accepted as a new ally and friend by these people.

You tried to just continue like nothing was wrong.

=#=#=#=#=

“You sure know how to go on the offense there, Koi.” Izuku notes, smiling that damn warm smile of his as you two sparred.

“Well, my instructor was a victim of assault. It made her paranoid, and she passed that on to me. She told me ‘end the fight before the tricks up their sleeves come out’.”

Most of that was true. She was a victim of assault, but for being a villain, not in a random act of violence.

Izuku pauses. “That’s fair advice.” He concedes. “I wish I could help everyone, you know. It just doesn’t work that way sometimes.”

“But when you see something, you do something, right?”

“Of course.”

“That’s all anyone can do, if they even decide to do anything.” You weren’t sure when you started getting emotional, but here you were. “Most people are too afraid.”

“Well, yeah, but the ones that aren’t afraid can mean a life is saved and a villain is apprehended.”

You weren’t sure, but you’d swear he was saying something between the lines. A subtle chill went down your spine. Did he know? Or was it just coincidence?

You couldn’t be sure, so you made a few solid excuses to avoid him for the next few days. You had to get your story straight in case you were questioned.

Kai was pleased you were in contact with his next victim already, and had sparred with him. “Did he have any weaknesses in his fighting style that you noticed?” You shook your head.

“Not many. He’s sharp as a sword and quick as a spooked rabbit. We’ll have to be quicker and hit harder.”

“Excellent insight, as always, Y/N.” Kai smiles, curled finger lifting your chin to make you look at him. “You know you’re indispensable to me, dear. No one else has quite your ability to blend into any role I assign them.”

You nod, forcing a smile. “I try, sir.”

“So get out there and keep trying.” You nod and leave, trying not to let your stormy emotions show. You were growing to hate this assignment with a fiery passion.

You’d killed people and betrayed many others to their deaths, but never had you had to be a part of a man’s death with a pregnant wife. Normally, it was single people you dealt with.

At night, you cried yourself to sleep as quietly as you could. Surely, there had to be some way to save Eijiro, Izuku, and their friends, right?

You couldn’t think of anything and it was tearing you apart. You hated every mission you were sent on, but what choice did you have? Kai Chisaki had practically raised you, lording that over you to manipulate you into doing his bidding.

Somehow, you had to save these people.

Gods above, they were your age! How were you supposed to help kill them?!

=#=#=#=#=

“Hey, are you okay?” Takara asks over breakfast. You probably looked like shit.

You spent too long crying and still looked like it.

“Didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Anything you care to talk about?”

For a fleeting moment, you thought of saying ‘screw it’ and telling them the truth, but that was suicide and these people would die, anyway. “Not really. Sorry.”

“No, that’s okay. It’s not easy opening up. I get it.” Takara assures you gently, smiling warmly at you. “Just know you got two ears whenever you need to talk to me, okay?”

You fake a smile and continue eating. “I appreciate that.” Unfortunately, it didn’t spawn any plans to allow everyone in this scenario to survive.

=#=#=#=#=

The cruelest part of Kai’s undercover assignments he gave you was the few weeks you were given to get to know the victims and earn enough of their trust that they’d follow you into the trap the Chisaki laid out for them.

Usually, he talked you into hating the people by portraying himself as the victim, claiming these people betrayed him and left him no choice but to seek retribution.

And you always took his side after all he’d done for you.

But now...now you weren’t so sure.

How could killing people your age, who were just settling into life and starting families, be in any way a good thing, like Kai was claiming?

He’d just given you the week’s notice so you can get a plan for how and when you would lead the targets into a trap.

“Hey, are you okay?” Izuku asks, sitting beside you in the cool evening air atop a hill. About an hour ago, you’d probably have seen a gorgeous sunset if it weren’t for the tears going down your face.

You subtly wipe them away. “Yeah. You?” He nods, gently wrapping his arm around your shoulder. Your cheeks flush a little. Izuku was so...genuine and friendly.

He didn’t deserve to die.

“I think I am. Did you come up here to watch the sunset?” He asks, and you can tell he knew precisely why you were here.

“Something like that.” You reply glumly. You’d gotten closer to Izuku over the few weeks you’d known him, and you hated yourself for getting so caught up in the part you were playing that you could almost forget why you wore the mask.

Almost.

“You know, I’ve always liked taking moments to just sit and...be myself. Everyone looks to me as a leader and I hate to let people down.”

You nod. “So you only let yourself feel things when you’re alone.” You murmur.

Izuku squeezes your shoulder gently.

“You can be yourself around me, you know that, right?” You bite your lip.

“I know.” It was the right answer...right?

Izuku leans his head on yours, and you lose your train of thought.

“You ever feel like we were destined to meet?” He asks. “I mean--um...not necessarily romantically, just- -I- -ah, not that I am opposed to that, Koi! I just- -crap I made it weird…” You laugh.

“Izuku, I feel the same.” It wasn’t destiny, though; it was Kai. However, you couldn’t deny a feeling that beyond Kai, like maybe there was something there. You two seemed like strings being woven together for a tapestry.

“Oh, good.” He chuckles nervously as you readjust yourself against his strong chest. “What I was trying to say is, um…” He clears his throat, “nothing’s gonna harm you. Not while I’m around…” He sings softly all of a sudden.

You sigh. Even his voice was amazing. Honestly, given time, you may have fallen truly in love with him, but...he was a target of the Chisaki.

There’s no way he’d survive.

“I’m sorry. It’s something my mother would sing to me when I was little.” He apologizes. “It was dumb, I’m sorry.” You chuckle. Maybe, just for one night, you could let go and truly enjoy yourself. You snuggle up to Izuku.

“No, no. Go on. I’m sorry.”

Izuku starts over, and continues from there. “Demons are prowling everywhere, nowadays. I’ll send em howling, I don’t care. I got ways.” You smile, almost believing him. If he somehow, by some miracle, survived the week, you could see yourself maybe giving him a shot, regardless of the consequences. “No one’s gonna hurt you, no one’s gonna dare. Others can desert you. Not to worry! Whistle, I’ll be there! Demons will charm you with a smile, for a while, but in time...” That, you felt, was Izuku talking like he knew about Kai and your undercover work. In case he didn’t, you snuggle closer as if charmed by his words. And you were, but you were also a little wary. If he knew, it might mean danger for you, especially if Kai found out. “Nothing can harm you. Not while I’m around…”

You two sit for a moment in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

Your heart ached to tell him everything while part of you knew better so you sat there, wondering what to do. It’s then you reach a decision.

Izuku was one of the most powerful magic wielders to date. If anyone stood a chance at saving himself and his friends, it was Izuku. But only if he knew it was coming.

“Hey, um, Izuku..?” You begin, wondering how he would react. As long as he survived, though, it didn’t matter what he thought of you. You could rebuild trust eventually, but only if he survived. “I don’t want anything to harm you, either. Not...not while I’m around.” You weren’t singing, you were looking him in the eye. You had to do this. You knew it was the right thing to do. “I- -”

“Whatever it is, Koi, you can talk to me. I want to help you. Just tell me what you need to overcome.” You take a breath. “Koi, I won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise.”

He had no idea...no idea you were about to shatter his perception of you.

“I don’t want to hide anything from you…” You began. “But this...this is big.” Izuku perks up now that he’d started to crack at the armor you put around your secrets. He let you talk, his eyes betraying his eagerness to know more. You closed your eyes. “I...when I was young, maybe 6 or so, my village was attacked and burned by a villain group that was trying to get themselves started. For days afterward, I wandered around, homeless and an orphan…” You were shaking. You had never ever confided in anyone like this, and yet...you knew you had to keep going. Izuku’s warm, steady hand on yours helped ground you. You opened your eyes focused them on him and somehow found the strength to keep going. “And then someone took me in. I didn’t know it at first, but he was a villain. He wasn’t famous yet, and he hadn’t done anything flashy or impressive, but his magic was devastatingly powerful and he had convinced many people to join him.” Izuku’s eyes go wide.

He could fill in a few blanks just fine, but he kept his mouth shut, afraid Koi would stop talking if he dared utter a word.

“He told me his name was Kai Chisaki and he wanted me to be his spy, his little chameleon. I’ve been sent on many assignments, I’ve done so many horrible things to people, but I always thought Kai was right. He always made me think it was the right thing to do.” Tears formed in your eyes. Izuku hadn’t said a word. You didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing but you kept going. “But this time, for the first time, he made me go undercover with people my age, just starting out in life. I...I’ve grown to like you all a lot, even that barbarian king. You all accepted me with hardly any questions and Takara’s pregnant, and...and I can’t keep going on like I don’t know what’s coming. I made up the story about King Toshinori, and about my eavesdropping on those villains. It was a cover so I could remain a chameleon without you and Eijiro and the others ever suspecting I was the leak. You’d be ambushed and dealt with quickly so you’d stop interfering with Kai’s plans.”

You swallow. You’d done the hardest part, now you had convince him that you wanted to help him survive and protect him. “Now, I want to help you, Izuku! I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner! It’s just...Kai is terrifying! I know that’s no excuse, but…” You take a breath before you broke down in tears. “I don’t want the Chisaki to kill you or your friends. I...I want to protect you and make sure nothing harms you! I promise I’ll do my best to protect you and everyone else!” At this point, you couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. You tried not to be overdramatic, so you took deep breaths to steady yourself. “I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me, Izuku. Just know that I will protect you, no matter what. I’ll do what I can to make up for what I’ve done.”

You stood there, trembling as you waited for his reaction.

Izuku was stunned. He’d had had his suspicions about you from the time you avoided him for a few days. He checked on your excuses and they didn’t quite pan out, but he always thought maybe he was wrong. Now...he knew he was right. There was more to you then meets the eye.

But at least you had come forward and confessed in time to ensure everyone survived. That was what was important.

While he was hurt that you’d only joined his group as a ploy to kill him, he knew if he didn’t do something to make sure you knew he wouldn’t abandon you, he’d lose you and you’d think he hated you.

And that wasn’t true at all. In fact, it was the opposite. He’d grown very fond of you and was proud that you were coming forward and warning him about the impending ambush.

This way, he could be prepared and deal with the villains while still maintaining Koi- -or whatever your name was; Koi was likely a cover- -’s cover before you were found out and killed for your betrayal. Izuku knew Kai wouldn’t take kindly to his spy revealing herself to the enemy, much less getting so attached to them.

“So...what’s your real name?” He asks, giving you a small smile.

Your eyes go wide. You hadn’t expected that reaction at all.

Izuku didn’t seem to hate you for your role in Chisaki’s plan. At least, not right now.

You wipe your eyes. “W-what?”

“What’s your name?” He repeats, smiling at you. “I’m guessing Koi isn’t your real name.”

Hardly knowing how to feel, you let out a nervous chuckle. “N-no, it’s not. I’m, uh...Y/N.” You murmur, unsure how to take Izuku’s reaction.

Izuku’s smile goes wider and he holds out a hand as he stands. “Well then, Y/N, we’ve got work to do if we’re gonna survive the attack from the Chisaki group. C’mon.”

You hesitate, then take the hand, letting him help you up. “Izuku...I don’t know...I don’t want everyone to know and hate me.”

“Trust me, they’ll be thrilled you joined our side against someone like Kai Chiaski and want to help them survive. Eijiro will side with you, I know it.”

“Katsuki will kill me…” You moan, suddenly remembering the barbarian’s temper and explosive magic he could barely control. Those factors combined sent a chill down your spine. But maybe you deserved it for befriending them under such treacherous circumstances.

“I’ll handle Katsuki. He’ll be happy as long as he has villains to fight.”

While you appreciate the thought of Izuku convincing Katsuki to not kill you, you knew it was a long shot at best.

“I’ll be one of those villains.”

“No you won’t.” He assures you. “Y/N, trust me. I’ll talk to him. I know how to handle the barbarian king. You just need to talk to Todoroki and Momo, and we’ll get a plan together.”

Shakily, you nod. “I...I guess, yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Nothing’s gonna harm you, Y/N.” Izuku says, leaning his forehead against yours. “Not while I’m around. I promised, didn’t I?”

You try to believe him as you walk back into town, hand in hand.

There were so many unknowns going through your head, but one thing was for sure; you and Izuku were going to figure it out together.

#Fanfiction #fanfiction commissions #my hero academia #MHA #Izuku Midoriya #Izuku Midoriya/Traitor(?)!Reader #Fantasy AU #MHA Fantasy AU #BNHA Fantasy AU #Fantasy!Izuku #Eijiro Kirishima #Eijiro Kirishima/Takara Yamada #My Hero Academia OC #Mentioned but not central to the story #Hardygal

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seraph-novak · 5 years

Note

Not sure if you take asks for one-shots but what about the GHC + TJ, Jonah and Marty (or less) taking a trip to a haunted hotel/mansion and Tyrus being equally oblivious, clingy and scared to death. You're a talented writer and I adore your tyrus fluffs

I’m sorry this is so late! Now that school is finished for the summer, I can finally get back to writing… This fic ran away from me a bit, but I hope you like it!

As always, likes/comments/reblogs are very much appreciated! Thanks for reading ♥

~~~~~

There was something undeniably creepy about the house behind the woods. It was old, for a start. And empty. Cyrus could feel it as they approached the treeline: an eerie stillness surrounding the building. It oozed from the rotting bricks and threw a strange aura into the air, discolouring the sky that hung above it. The others could feel it too, if the sudden hush that had fallen over the group was anything to go by.

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” Andi asked. She was leaning against Amber’s arm with a tight, panicked expression as she stared up at the house.

At the front of the group, Buffy turned around with a slightly manic grin. “Because it’s fun!”

Cyrus frowned, genuinely perplexed by that. “I think we have very different definitions of the word ‘fun’.”

“Look.” Buffy dumped her rucksack on the ground, a cloud of dust rising like fog around her feet, and approached the group. She was in coach-mode right now, hyping up her team before a big game. “The rules are simple, okay? The couple who lasts the longest without chickening out wins.” She considered the small sea of frightened faces staring back at her and smirked. “And judging by the fear in all of your eyes, we probably won’t last more than a couple hours. So don’t worry.”

Amber scoffed. “Is that trash talk, Driscoll?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, I wouldn’t get too cocky.” Amber slung an arm around Andi’s shoulders and smiled, arching a perfectly shaped eyebrow as she looked Buffy up and down. “This idea might be dumb as hell, but that doesn’t mean we’re not gonna try.”

Buffy folded her arms and snorted. “You honestly think you have a chance against me and Marty?”

“Oh, I think we have more than a chance.”

“Okay. Sure.” Buffy barked a laugh. “Good luck with that, Kippen.”

Cyrus glanced at TJ. “Well, this is gonna be a fun night.”

“Yeah.” TJ tore his eyes away from the house and swallowed thickly, giving Cyrus’ hand a brief squeeze. There was a thin sheen of sweat glittering across his forehead, probably from the hike. “This place is kinda creepy, right?”

“I was actually talking about Buffy and Amber bickering, but yeah. Creepy’s one word for it.”

TJ huffed a laugh. “Oh. Right.”

“You okay?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m fine.”

Cyrus touched his boyfriend’s arm, frowning at the shudder that trembled beneath his fingertips. TJ had gone back to staring at the house, and his eyes were wide and watery. But Cyrus didn’t question it. After two years of dating, he could read TJ like an open book, and now was not the time to push him.

“What about me?” Jonah asked from the back of the group, completely dwarfed by the large rucksack mounted on his back. “I’m the only single one here.”

Andi grabbed his arm and yanked him towards her and Amber. “You can go with us!”

“Is that allowed?”

“I don’t care,” Buffy said with a shrug. “It only makes your odds of losing higher.”

Amber patted Jonah fondly on the cheek. “Jonah’s not gonna bail on us. If he can survive teaming up with two of his exes, he can handle a haunted house.”

“Wait,” Cyrus squeaked. “Both of us have to stay to win?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Well, duh.”

“Oh, no…”

“Don’t worry about it, Underdog,” TJ murmured softly. He lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed the knobbly bumps of Cyrus’ knuckles. “I’ll protect you.”

“Sure,” Amber coughed into her fist, feigning a cheery smile of innocence in response to TJ’s cautionary glare.

“TJ’s right,” Buffy said, fixing Cyrus with a mocking smile as she wrapped an arm around Marty’s waist. “There’s no point in worrying about it, because none of you have a chance at winning. You might as well accept defeat and go home now. Right, babe?”

Marty lifted his fist, and Buffy bumped it with a wicked grin. “We’re gonna own these suckers.”

After a few more rounds of repartee, they gathered their things and broke through the trees, the house standing tall and proud without the veil of leaves cloaking its presence from the outside world. The stone steps leading up to the porch were caked in cobwebs, and there was a single band of sun-faded police tape stretched across the front door. Probably to keep out trespassers.

“Well,” Cyrus said, his stomach twisting unpleasantly, “isn’t that inviting.”

Buffy flapped a dismissive hand in the air. “It’ll be fine.”

“People come here all the time,” Marty concurred.

“But, the police –”

“Are you forfeiting already?”

“Um…”

Andi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled. “It’s okay if you don’t wanna do this, Cy. No one’s forcing you to.”

All it took was one glance at Amber and Buffy’s smug faces for him to make up his mind. If he backed out now, he’d never hear the end of it, and he was determined to prove them wrong. Plus, he couldn’t stand the thought of letting TJ down like that, even though he was fairly certain his boyfriend wouldn’t hold it against him.

“Okay,” he said, sucking in a deep breath. “I’m in.”

The door fell open with the slightest touch of Buffy’s hand. Inside the decaying hallway, shadows shrank away from the sunlight as it spilled inside, splashing the walls and lapping into the dank and distant corners. Specks of dust floated like stars in a beam of light that gushed from a hole in the roof, reaching through the cracks in the floors and scorching the crumbling planks of wood beneath their feet. At the end of the hallway, a regal flight of stairs ascended into the shadows, disappearing behind a wall of curling, floral paper muddied with patches of damp. There was a strange, sorrowful scent hanging in the air. Muted, but definitely noticeable. It gave Cyrus the creeps.

“Wow,” Buffy breathed, dropping her rucksack to the floor. With a stunned smile, she reached out her arms and tilted her face towards the exposed sunlight dripping from the ceiling. “Isn’t this place amazing?”

TJ scratched the back of his neck. “Do you want my honest opinion, or…?”

“There’s no internet,” Amber pointed out with a grimace as she tapped impatiently at her phone.

“It’s very big,” Andi acknowledged.

“Yeah,” Cyrus agreed, gulping as he glanced around. There were only two rooms on the ground floor, one on either side of the staircase, and the hole in the ceiling appeared to journey through half a dozen floors before reaching the sky.

Buffy shrugged. “The more room the better, right?”

“I guess.”

They spread out their things in the room to the right, next to an ancient fireplace stuffed with hunks of festering wood and stone-grey ashes. It was already growing dark outside, the dust-speckled sunlight dwindling as the murky shadows of dusk pressed against the windows. With nothing else to do, they crawled into their sleeping bags and turned on their torches, casting stark shadows across their trembling faces.

“What do we do now?” Jonah asked, his teeth chattering at the sudden drop in temperature.

Buffy leaned back on her elbows and smirked. “Now we wait for the haunting to start.”

~~~~~

For the next hour or so, they entertained themselves with cheesy ghost stories and plenty of snacks, and Cyrus was surprised to find himself having fun. While Marty tried to scare the group with his laughable Freddy Krueger impression, Cyrus snuggled against TJ’s shoulder with a contented sigh. He could feel his eyes drifting closed when he suddenly realised how tense his boyfriend felt beneath his cheek.

“TJ?” he asked, keeping his voice as soft as possible. “Are you okay?”

TJ nodded. “I’m fine, sweetheart.”

Cyrus blinked at the unexpected pet name. When TJ was being affectionate, he always called him Underdog. That was their thing. He only ever used words like ‘babe’ or ‘hon’ or ‘sweetheart’ when he felt guilty. Usually when he was hiding something from him.

“Talk to me, Teej.” He threaded their fingers together and held TJ’s clammy hand against his chest. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s probably thinking about the Hanging Lady,” Amber said, a devious smile twisting her lips.

Cyrus frowned. “Who?”

“It’s nothing,” TJ said through gritted teeth. “Just a stupid story from when we were kids.”

Buffy clapped her hands together. “Ooh, tell us the story!”

“No way –”

“You really wanna hear it?” Amber asked, deliberately ignoring her brother. Her eyes were shining as she stood up and moved to the centre of the group, grinning like a fame-hungry actress bowing in front of a crowd. “Okay, fine.”

TJ groaned.

“In our old house, before we moved to Shadyside, there was a hot water tank in the loft that made this horrible creaking sound at 3:15 every night. TJ was, like, five at the time, so he still peed the bed –”

“Not true!”

“– and I was seven, so I loved to mess around with him. The tank was right above his bedroom, so you could hear it the loudest in there, and it really freaked him out.”

Buffy sneered. “Why?”

“Well,” Amber continued, her lips twitching with a smirk, “I told him an old lady had hung herself in the loft years ago, at exactly 3:15, and you could still hear the creaking of the rope swinging back and forth in the middle of the night.”

“You were seven when you made that up?” Buffy asked, sounding impressed. “Not bad, Kippen.”

“I know.”

“That’s sick,” Jonah said, but Cyrus could see him fighting back a smile. “I bet that really scared him, huh?”

Amber laughed. “Oh, yeah. He used to cry himself to sleep. It was hilarious.”

Cyrus wrinkled his nose. “That doesn’t sound hilarious.”

“Calm down.” Buffy rolled her eyes. “You’re just sticking up for your boyfriend.”

“Well, yeah.”

“It’s okay,” TJ told him, a shamed blush creeping up his neck. “Don’t give them the satisfaction.”

“But –”

“Are you still scared of the Hanging Lady?” Amber asked as she crept across the room, a creaking noise rising from the back of her throat as she crouched in front of her brother. “Can you hear that? She’s coming for you, TJ. The Hanging Lady knows you’re here.”

TJ pressed his lips into a thin line. “I haven’t been scared of that story since we moved house.”

“It doesn’t matter where you go,” Amber continued. There was a cruel gleam in her eyes now, reminiscent of the old, spiteful version of the girl Amber had worked so hard to shed over the years. It was unnerving. “Ghosts latch onto people, you know? They follow you through your life, watching you grow old, waiting for the perfect moment to strike…”

As if on cue, a sudden gust of wind knocked against the house, rattling the old wood of the front door with a sickening creak. TJ yelped, and Cyrus felt the solid warmth of his hand jerk out of his grip, slicing an arc through the air as he tumbled backwards and slammed his head against the floor.

“TJ!”

“I’m okay,” his boyfriend groaned in response, blindly reaching for Cyrus’ proffered hand as the rest of the group burst into fits of uncontrollable giggles.

With his arm looped protectively around TJ’s waist, Cyrus shot the rest of the group a venomous glare. “What is wrong with you?”

“C’mon, Cy!” Buffy wheezed, her cheeks glistening with tears of laughter. “You have to admit, that was pretty funny.”

“It really wasn’t.”

“We’re just tryna have some fun,” Amber insisted, her tone surprisingly gentle. She was smiling just as widely as the rest of them, but her eyes had stopped glimmering, and Cyrus could swear he saw a flicker of guilt cross her face as she glanced over at her brother. “It was just a joke, TJ.”

Cyrus scoffed. “He could’ve really hurt himself.”

“How was I supposed to know he was gonna flip out like that?”

“You shouldn’t be ganging up on him in the first place!”

“Well, he shouldn’t make it so easy then.”

“Screw you,” TJ spat at his sister, the hardness in his voice crushing the final titters from the group into silence. There was an angry blush creeping up his neck, and the muscles in his jaw were twitching in time with his rapidly blinking eyes. Cyrus felt him trembling in his arms as he struggled to his feet, sweeping a fierce gaze across his so-called friends before shrugging out of Cyrus’ grip and storming into the next room.

Cyrus watched him leave, then sighed. “Well done, guys. I hope you’re pleased with yourselves.”

“It’s just a game, Cy –”

“A game that’s turning you all into a bunch of jerks,” he interjected, his cheeks flaming with heat as the unfamiliar insult fizzled on his tongue, tasting like one of those sour sweets you can’t bear to swallow too quickly. He hated conflict, especially when it involved the people he cared about, but some things couldn’t go unsaid. “You knew he was getting upset, and you kept pushing him. That doesn’t sound like a game to me.”

Amber lowered her head, a curtain of blonde waves falling across her face. When she looked up again, her fair skin was glowing faintly in the shaft of white light protruding from the torch in her trembling hands. “I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she said, quiet and earnest. “Can you tell him I’m sorry?”

“Do it yourself.”

And with that, he got to his feet and walked away, following his boyfriend into the other doorless room painted an ugly, yellowing white. TJ was standing at the very back of the room, his forehead pressed against the chipped wood of an old dumbwaiter. He was shaking all over, and Cyrus’ heart pinched at the sight. All he wanted to do was rush across the room and throw his arms around him, but he knew it was best to take things slow. TJ was like a wild animal when he was hurt and embarrassed, easy to startle and quick to run away. So instead, he approached him calmly, letting TJ know he was there before putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey,” he said softly.

TJ turned away. “I’m sorry, Cyrus.”

“What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I overreacted.”

“You were scared.”

“I know.” TJ rubbed his face against his shoulder, drying his eyes as discreetly as possible. “I’m such a coward… I mean, what kind of seventeen-year-old is still scared of stupid ghost stories?”

Cyrus chuckled. “Um. Me?”

“But I’m supposed to be the brave one!”

“You’re not supposed to be anything other than who you are.”

TJ glanced up at him, his eyes underlined by dark lines. He looked exhausted. “I told you I’d protect you.”

“You still can.”

“You really believe that now?”

“I believe one thing,” he said, gently cupping TJ’s chin and tilting his face towards him. As soon as he had his boyfriend’s full attention, he kissed him sweetly on the lips and took him by the hands. His palms were slightly greasy from the thick layer of grime clinging to the wooden lip of the dumbwaiter, but Cyrus didn’t care. “You love me, right?”

TJ nodded, wide-eyed. “More than anything.”

“Good.” Cyrus smiled. He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of the matter-of-fact way TJ told him he loved him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And I love you. That much we know for certain, okay?”

“Yeah,” TJ concurred, his tears thankfully starting to cease.

“So, if a ghost suddenly flew through this wall and tried to hurt me…”

“I’d kill it with my bare hands.”

Cyrus grinned. “Exactly.”

A tentative smile appeared on TJ’s face, instantly outshining the sticky sheen of tears drying dully beneath his eyes. “Are you saying my love for you is more powerful than an actual spirit, Underdog?”

“I’m saying there’s no one else I feel safer with than you.” As if to emphasise his point, he drew TJ closer, the toes of their shoes kissing shyly in the murky shadows swimming around their feet. It wasn’t exactly the most romantic setting, but that didn’t stop his heart from stuttering as he stared into TJ’s eyes, impossibly green and desperately tender as always.

“You really mean that?” TJ asked.

Cyrus bumped their shoulders together, a teasing smile dancing on his lips. “There aren’t many guys who would kill a ghost with their bare hands for me, are there?”

“I think you’d be surprised… I’m sure there’d be people lining up to protect you.”

“Yeah, well.” Cyrus shrugged, gave TJ’s hand a slow, meaningful squeeze. “There’s only one person I want in my corner, and he’s standing right in front of me.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

When TJ ducked his head, Cyrus could see the beginnings of a blush creeping up the back of his neck. He watched fondly as his boyfriend directed a bashful smile at the carpet of dust beneath his feet, then glanced back up at him with a dazzling grin that sucked the air out of his lungs, leaving him breathless and dizzy for a moment.

“You don’t mind having a wuss for a boyfriend?”

Cyrus pretended to consider the question, then smiled, leaning forward to press a featherlight kiss to TJ’s muck-smeared forehead. He plucked a sprinkling of rust from his dirty blond waves and gave his ruddy cheeks a playful pinch. “Only if you don’t.”

“I guess we’re okay then.”

“Yeah,” Cyrus said, his smile turning even fonder. “We’re okay.”

A few minutes of comfortable silence passed between them, the damp odours and slithering shadows of the old house fading away as they held each other close. Cyrus dried TJ’s eyes with the sleeve of his jacket while TJ wiped his grimy hands on the backs of his jeans, grimacing at the dirt still crusted beneath his fingernails. Once he was relatively muck- and tear-free, TJ’s eyes followed the muffled sound of laughter in the next room, his throat bobbing nervously. Cyrus guided his attention back to his face with a gentle smile.

“We don’t have to stay,” he told him. “If you’re not having fun, we can leave right now.”

TJ shook his head. “Nah. I’m good, I just… They’re all gonna look at me funny.”

“No, they won’t.”

“I made a scene, Cyrus. I gave them exactly what they wanted.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, Amber looked kinda guilty after you left. She asked me to tell you she’s sorry.”

“Right.” TJ rolled his eyes. He was anxiously rolling his left thumb and forefinger together, his other hand holding onto Cyrus for dear life. “I know it’s in her nature to show off. Buffy’s too. But still… I wish we could even the score, you know? Give them a taste of their own medicine.”

Cyrus paused, his thumb freezing mid-sweep across TJ’s knuckles. The outlines of a plan were taking shape in his mind, an impish smile slowly spreading across his face. He patted his back pocket, making sure his phone was still there, then turned to the dumbwaiter buried in the wall to his right. Its sliding door was nibbled with mould and crawling with dirt, but it seemed sturdy enough. And when Cyrus lifted it up (his fingers twisted in his sleeve to keep them from touching the slimy surface of the embedded handle), it easily clicked into place, revealing a gaping mouth stacked with three wooden shelves, and a fraying rope threaded through the middle.

“Don’t worry,” he said, turning to TJ with a mischievous grin. “I have an idea.”

~~~~~

When they finally returned to the group, they were met with awkward smiles and mumbled apologies, but nothing considerable enough to put a stop to their plan. Even if they’d all fallen to their knees and begged for TJ’s forgiveness, Cyrus probably would’ve stuck to it anyway. He was tired of TJ walking on eggshells around his friends, and he was tired of constantly playing the meek and submissive role in the group. If Buffy and Amber wanted to have some real fun, then that’s exactly what they were going to get.

“Have you calmed down now?” Buffy asked TJ, the mocking lilt of her voice adding more fuel to the fire burning inside Cyrus’ gut.

TJ flashed her a fake smile. “Yeah. Thanks for asking.”

“Maybe you should worry about your own boyfriend,” Cyrus said, nodding at Marty. “He’s looking a little peaky.”

Marty sat up straighter and forced his drooping eyelids open. “Huh? Oh, no… I’m just a little tired. And cold. And, um… Hungry?”

“Suck it up!” Buffy cried, giving her boyfriend’s shoulder a firm shake.

As Buffy and Marty exploded into a bickering match, TJ turned his body towards Cyrus, effectively cutting them both off from the rest of the group, and rested his forehead on Cyrus’ shoulder. His voice was hushed when he spoke, too soft for anyone else to hear above the shrill sound of Buffy throwing insults at her boyfriend; if it weren’t for the adoring smile on Marty’s face, Cyrus would probably feel sorry for the guy.

“You don’t have to stick up for me, you know,” TJ said, affectionately rubbing his nose against the base of Cyrus’ throat. “I mean, it’s adorable, but… You don’t need to do that.”

Cyrus gave his ear a gentle flick. “Stop it, Teej. You know I’m never gonna stop sticking up for you.”

TJ responded with a kiss, his palm grazing the back of Cyrus’ neck and his thumb stroking the jut of his jawbone. When they pulled away, there was a familiar, dreamy expression lidding TJ’s eyes and softly dimpling his cheeks, and Cyrus could feel the popping of fireworks deep inside his chest, showering his heart with bursts of colour that made the dark and dusty room seem a little bit brighter, if only for a few seconds.

“I love you,” TJ murmured.

A golden peony erupted in the sky. “I love you, too.”

“Hey, love-birds,” Buffy called over to them, leaning forward to pat the empty space they’d left in the circle. “Care to join us?”

“Sure.”

Before Cyrus could shuffle back towards the group, TJ took him gently by the arm and lowered his voice to a barely audible whisper. “So, when are we gonna do this thing?”

“Buffy told us to wait for the haunting to start,” he said simply, lifting his shoulders in a noncommittal shrug that completely contradicted the devious twinkle in his eyes. “So, that’s what we’re gonna do. We’ll wait until their defences are down, and then we’ll give them the scare they’ve been waiting for.”

TJ blinked at him in surprise. “Who are you and what have you done with my sweet and innocent boyfriend?”

“I think you secretly like it.”

“Well, you could literally spit in my face, and I’d still find you adorable, so…”

Cyrus scrunched up his nose and laughed. ”You’re disgusting.”

“I guess you don’t wanna share a sleeping bag with me then?”

“I never –”

“Hey, it’s okay! I guess I’ll just have to cuddle by myself.”

“That’s not even possible, Teej.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Just shut up and get in the sleeping bag,” Cyrus said, giving his boyfriend a gentle shove as he squeezed in beside him, a pleasant shiver rolling down his spine as the warmth of TJ’s body thawed the chill in his bones. And as the rest of the group slowly but surely fell asleep, Cyrus closed his eyes and pretended to snore, quietly waiting for the perfect time to exact their revenge…

~~~~~

It was the whispers that woke them up. One by one, they rubbed their eyes and lifted their heads, still groggy with sleep, and glanced at the same spot on the ceiling, where the noise seemed to be slipping through a spider-shaped crack in the crumbling plaster.

“What is that?” Buffy asked, sounding more annoyed than frightened.

Jonah swallowed thickly. “It… I-It sounds like a voice.”

“Huh?”

“A voice,” Andi agreed, her eyes fixed on the ceiling as she jerked her head up and down. She was clinging onto Amber’s arm so tightly that Cyrus could see the white bands of her fingers glowing against Amber’s skin. “Do you think somebody’s here?”

“No,” Amber said, wrapping a protective arm around her girlfriend all the same. “We would’ve heard them before. Right, guys?”

They all mumbled in agreement, but it did nothing to quell the whispers. In fact, they seemed to be getting louder, more pronounced, as if someone was trying to tell them something…

“Oh my god,” TJ breathed. He was staring at his phone, and looking convincingly terrified, which made Cyrus feel weirdly proud. He even felt a pinch of fear when TJ raised his head and sucked in a shuddering breath. “It’s 3:15.”

“What?” Amber squeaked.

All at once, the rest of the group started checking their phones, the blood draining from each of their faces as they saw the same time staring back at them.

“The Hanging Lady,” Jonah muttered, voicing what they’d likely all been thinking.

Marty snorted a weak laugh. “No, that’s… That’s just a stupid story. Amber told us she made it up.”

“Exactly,” Buffy said. Now that she was fully awake, her annoyance had shifted into wariness, but not absolute fear. Cyrus had predicted she’d need a little extra push.

As if on cue, the indecipherable whispers took the form of real, solid words – names, to be exact. They were distant and muffled, but definitely there, and Cyrus could see the exact moment on Jonah’s face when he decided that enough was enough.

“Nope!” Jonah sprung to his feet and raced for the door. “Sorry, guys, but I’m out.”

Andi was close behind him, followed by a slightly disgruntled- (but mainly petrified-) looking Amber clutching tightly onto Andi’s hand, the pair of them flicking panicked glances around the room as they hurried to join Jonah outside. From the doorless gap in the wall, Cyrus could see them shivering on the stone steps. They were staring up at the twisting staircase at the end of the hallway, where the whispers could be heard even more clearly, and holding onto each other with shared expressions of pure terror.

“What’s going on?” Andi moaned.

Buffy poked her head into the hallway, clearly masking her own fear with a boastful smirk. “You’ve lost, that’s what’s going on.”

“Hey, babe?” Marty placed a hand on Buffy’s shoulder as he followed Andi’s wide-eyed gaze up the stairs. He tilted his head to the side, his ears perked up, and listened closely as the whispered words rolled steadily down the stairs, like ghostly footsteps. “I think maybe we should leave…”

For a split second, there was a crack in Buffy’s stubbornly brave façade, as if Marty’s fear had suddenly made the whole thing seem more real to her, but she quickly patched it up with a scoff. “Are you insane? You wanna forfeit the game? No way!”

“Buffy –”

“It’s probably just the wind!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “Old buildings always make weird noises.”

“Do they talk, too?”

“No one is talking, Marty! You’re hearing things. We’re all hearing things.” Buffy breathed deeply through her nose, as if trying to calm herself down, then sauntered into the hallway, shrugging off Marty’s desperate grip on her shoulder. With her back to the staircase, she placed her hands on her hips and waited. “See? There’s nothing –”

“Buffy!”

The whispers were verging on screams now. Raspy, ghoulish-sounding screams that kept calling Buffy’s name over and over again, their pleas turning sharp with impatience as Buffy stood at the bottom of the staircase, frozen still with shock.

“Marty,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut as more whispers pierced the shadowed hallway. “Please tell me this is some kind of joke.”

Before Marty could answer, another scream tumbled down the stairs and knocked Buffy forward, effectively shattering her hard exterior into a million, irreparable pieces.

“Buffy! Buffy! Buffy! Buffy –”

“Let’s get out of here!” Buffy cried, grabbing Marty by the arm and dragging him towards the exit.

Cyrus and TJ watched gleefully as they made a break for the front door, almost knocking Jonah down the stone steps in their haste to get out of the house. The moment they were outside, clutching their knees and gasping for breath, TJ fished his phone out of his pocket and silenced the voices with the press of a button.

“That turned out better than I expected,” Cyrus grinned, giving TJ a triumphant high-five as the rest of the group gawped at them from the doorway, their mouths hanging open.

Buffy frowned. “What –”

“What’s going on?” TJ completed her question with the quirk of an eyebrow. “We just won the game, that’s what’s going on.”

“But… But…”

“You messed with my boyfriend,” Cyrus explained, his eyes lingering on Amber and Buffy as he said this, “so I decided to mess with you.”

Jonah took a hesitant step towards the house. “You mean, this was all you?”

“Yep.”

“Oh.” He blinked a few times in obvious confusion, then graced them with a smile of relief as he stepped back inside the hallway. “That was pretty cool, dude.”

Andi laughed nervously. “But, how?”

“We found an old dumbwaiter in the next room,” Cyrus told them, oddly enjoying the rare attention the entire group were giving him right now. “We recorded the voices on my phone and set it as my ringtone, then put my phone in the dumbwaiter and sent it up a couple floors.” He flicked a knowing smirk at TJ. “Then TJ rang my phone when you were all asleep.”

“At 3:15?” Amber asked, sounding unimpressed.

TJ shrugged. “It was just a lucky coincidence.”

“Sure.”

“How did we not hear you recording the voices?” Buffy interjected. She was a little pink in the cheeks, either from her sprint across the hallway, or the humiliation of defeat slowly sinking in.

Cyrus mirrored TJ’s shrug, feigning innocence as he looked Buffy straight in the eye and said, “Maybe you couldn’t hear us over the sounds of you laughing at TJ’s expense?”

For a brief moment, Buffy’s cheeks flared even brighter, her eyes softening slightly as she glanced over at TJ. “Oh. Right.”

“I’m sorry for laughing,” Jonah was the first to say. He walked across the hallway and offered his hand to TJ, giving it a firm, brotherly shake. “That trick was awesome, guys. How the hell did you pull it off?”

TJ tapped his temple with his forefinger and winked. “It’s not about being brave, it’s about being smart.”

“Well, you were definitely smart,” Andi said, still looking a little bit shaken up, despite her tentative smile. She gave Cyrus a quick, one-armed hug, then shook her head at TJ. “You almost gave me a heart attack, you know?”

“Sorry,” Cyrus chuckled.

Amber heaved a heavy sigh as she joined Andi in the hallway. “I’ve gotta admit, that was pretty good… Even though you stole my bit,” she added, punching TJ in the arm.

“That’s what you get for sharing the story with all our friends.”

“Touché.”

On the opposite end of the hallway, still standing in the doorway with an expression almost as cold and grey as the stone steps she was standing on, Buffy folded her arms and lifted her eyebrows as high as her hairline. “You know that’s cheating, right?”

Marty touched her arm. “Babe –”

“I never said you were allowed to use your phones like that.”

Cyrus considered this, then shrugged once again. “Well, you never said we couldn’t either, so…”

For a quiet and seemingly endless moment, Buffy simply glared at him from across the hallway, her face twisted with a scowl as she drummed her fingers against her arm, silently judging him from afar. But then, after a beat of pregnant silence, her lips twitched with an uncontrollable smile, and Cyrus knew she’d already forgiven them.

“Okay,” she sighed, dropping her arms to her sides in surrender as she strolled across the hallway. “You got me.”

TJ grinned. “Are you admitting you lost, Driscoll?”

“Don’t push it.”

“We’re gracious losers,” Marty said, now standing behind Buffy with his arm draped around her shoulders. “Right, babe?”

Buffy plastered on a smile. “Absolutely.”

“She’s dying inside,” Amber said with a snort.

“Definitely,” Andi giggled.

Before another argument could break out, Jonah stepped between them, hands raised in a placating manner, and gave them all a soothing (if not slightly desperate) smile. “Okay, okay… Now that Cyrus and TJ have won, can we please get out of here?”

Amber nodded in eager agreement. “Yes! That sounds like a good idea.”

“You’re just having Instapic withdrawals,” Andi said fondly.

“So what if I am?”

Andi appeased her girlfriend with a kiss on the cheek, then turned to the rest of the group. “Who’s up for leaving?”

Everyone’s hands shot into the air.

“Oh, thank god.”

As he watched his friends collecting their things from the other room, each of them smiling and laughing in ways that made his heart soar with a dizzying sense of contentment, Cyrus found TJ’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Even with the shadows creeping across the splintered floorboards, and the dim wash of moonlight casting an eerie glow across their faces, Cyrus didn’t feel an ounce of fear as he stood there in that rickety old house, holding onto his boyfriend’s hand with an easy, gratified smile.

“Would you come with me to get my phone?” he asked.

TJ pulled him closer, already dialling Cyrus’ number to help lead the way. “Still scared?”

“No, I just… I think I’d like the company.”

And with that, they made their way up the creaking staircase, hand in hand, and followed the sounds of the whispers.

#tyrus #andi mack #tyrus fics

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