#but I looked over at the cliff from my base and thought it would look good to have a tower there lol

[lostgirlmuseum]

The Signal

Made this using images from Pinterest ^ Word Count: 6.1k 

Pairing: Bucky x f!reader

Summary: You and Bucky get separated from the team after an unfortunate mishap, of which Bucky blames you. Except you’re not at fault! You thought… you aren’t too sure anymore.

A/N: Thank you all so much for all of the positivity on my first fic, I am actually BLOWN AWAY. You are all so kind!! I actually started writing this all the way back in February of 2022, but seeing the response gave me the motivation to finally finish it. 

Warnings: Nothing absolutely horrible, just a bit of angst and fluff(?), plus a little gaslighting and violence.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

“Everything is going to be okay. We’re fine. Everything is fine. Everything–” She repeated the mantra over and over again, not quite believing it.

“Will you shut up?” Bucky growled. 

Only an hour prior had both of them been sneaking through a dense forest and scoping out a running ex-HYDRA base deep in the frozen woods. Steve, Bucky, Natasha, Sam, and Y/N were used to missions like this, except this one required a higher level of subtlety and a successful sneak attack was critical. Their intel informed them that the base was rigged to blow if any unrecognized technology was detected, including any disturbances in the radio waves. Because of this, they all turned off their communications signals once they approached the range of the base. At least, they were supposed to.

“I’m just trying to keep myself from freaking out.” She grumbled, slightly trailing behind Bucky as they crunched through the brittle layer of snow.

“Why? You should be freaking out. You should very much be freaking out right now. Considering we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no connection to anyone who can help, and I’m stuck with you.” He recognized he was being cruel, but he didn’t have the strength to stop.

“It wasn’t my fault!” 

“The sooner you stop lying to yourself, the better.” Bucky responded without even looking over his shoulder. He hadn’t looked at her for the majority of their trek to the nearest safe house since they got separated from the rest of the group by the explosion.

“This is not my damn fault! I turned off my signal, just like Steve told us to.” She struggled to keep up with him, but she wouldn’t tell him that. She couldn’t show him any weakness–he’d just use it against her.

“Except you didn’t!”

“How are you so sure it was me? There were five of us!” She awkwardly jogged to get a bit ahead of him, and turned around to face him as she walked backward. “What makes you think it wasn’t you?”

“Please, like I would ever be so careless.” His gaze remained on the terrain ahead, and it looked like the trees of the woods were starting to thin out, signaling an exit soon.

“And I would?”

“Yes! Yes, you would. I knew from the start it was a bad idea to take you along. You can’t even follow simple instructions like turning off a signal.” He managed to pass her again, leaving her to struggle to stay next to him. He saw out of the corner of his eye her pointing a finger at him.

“I’m trying really hard not to take your attitude personally. You’ve been acting like a dick for the past week, but I’m sick of it.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” 

“Don’t call me that.”

“Sweetheart?” He finally glanced at her. 

“Yes.”

“Why? Is it reserved for Steve?” Bucky’s eyes quickly returned to the path in front of him.

“What are you on about?” Genuine confusion laced her voice, but her question went unanswered as they reached a block in their path. 

“Y’know your genius safe house plan?” Bucky gestured to the map balled up in her hand, the thing they had been using to guide them to safety. “Well, looks like we’re here.”

“This can’t be right,” she shook her head, quickly unfolding the map, “maybe we got turned around.”

“Just look up.” 

She followed Bucky’s gaze to the sky, at which she finally realized the ridiculousness of their situation. They were stranded at the bottom of a steep cliff, which looked to stand nearly a hundred feet in the sky.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Because who the fuck puts a safe house on top of a cliff? “There’s got to be an elevator or something, there’s no way we’re expected to climb this.”

They both scanned the base of the cliff, looking for any indication of a secret passage to the top. She ran her hand along the jagged rock and ice, and bit her bottom lip as she concentrated on the wall, eventually spotting a thick rope among a couple vines. 

“Shit.” 

Her voice gained Bucky’s attention, and he looked over to see her holding not one, but two ropes, each attached to a relatively large weaved basket. It wasn’t quite big enough for the two of them, but one person could definitely fit. 

“After you,” he mocked, gesturing to the basket that was meant to work as a (sketchy as hell) pulley system.

Instead of answering, she merely pointed to the inside of the damp basket. Bucky peered his head over to see the bottom had completely fallen apart, leaving a gaping hole where a person would supposedly stand. 

“Looks like we’re climbing.” Bucky sighed.

“I can’t–” 

“Afraid of heights?” He snapped.

“No, but–” 

“Good. Then there shouldn’t be a problem.” 

He grabbed a knife from his belt and efficiently cut both sides of the rope from the basket. She watched, dumbfounded, as he took one rope and tied it around his waist. Then, he gave the rope a hard tug, and satisfied by the lack of give, turned to his belt and grabbed three more knives. He grabbed duct tape out of his tac pants, and expertly taped one knife to the bottom of each shoe. Finally, he tossed her the duct tape, knowing she already had her own knives. She watched both impressed and annoyed as he firmly stuck his feet as best he could into the ice and rock of the cliff, and used the other knives in his hands as leverage.

He made it about ten feet up before glancing back down to see she hadn’t moved.

“Are you coming or what?” The impatience of his voice stung almost as much as the cold did her nose. 

She looked at him, then the rope, and then the knives attached to her legs, before making a move. Unlike Bucky, her combat boots came equipped with hidden spikes that could be used for climbing (although she had never used them for such activity, and normally used them as a treat when fighting, basking in the pride of catching her enemies off guard with a swift kick and metal spike to the face, groin, etc). She adjusted the spikes to be poking out of the toe of her boots, and tried not to think as she grabbed the second rope and knotted it around her waist. 

Ignoring her left hand, she grabbed only one knife opposed to Bucky’s two, and stabbed it into the ice. She cautiously looked down at her feet as she began her climb, and looked back up at her hand as she found purchase a foot above her head. Already exhausted from the fighting and explosion earlier, she winced at the tension in her right arm as she pulled herself up. 

At the slow pace she was going, Bucky was already 15 feet in the air by the time she was 3 feet off the ground.

Bucky looked down to see her far behind, and raised an eyebrow when he saw her climbing with only one hand.

“You’re supposed to use both hands, you know?” He mocked.

She rolled her eyes, but said nothing, as she let her left hand join her right hand on the handle of the knife protruding from the rock. Bucky noticed her silent grimace as she successfully pulled herself up to the next level. He continued to watch as she stiffly removed her right foot from the wall and placed it above her left foot, before once again grabbing the single knife with both her hands and pulling for a second before letting out an agonizing cry.

Out of curiosity more than frustration, he called down.

“What’s going on down there?” 

She briefly looked up at him before looking back at the ground, “I can’t climb.”

“Missed the training day on it?” 

His sarcasm went unappreciated as she growled.

“My wrist is broken, asshole.”

Her wrist is broken, and she’s climbing? What is she thinking?

“And you’re still trying to climb? You should’ve told me.” 

“I fucking tried telling you! But everytime I try to say something, you interrupt me! Constantly! Besides, what’s the point in telling you if you’re just going to brush it off?”

Bucky swiftly removed the knives in his hands from the cliff, and held onto his rope, before half-hopping and half-climbing down the wall to the ground.

“Bucky, just go,” she sighed, “I’ll figure something else out. I’m not going to be a burden on you.”

She said it in part because, yes, she didn’t want to burden him, but also because she didn’t want to hear his whiny complaints.

He ignored her protests and gently reached for her left hand, inspecting the incredibly swollen wrist. He winced at her soft whimper. He let go and simply looked at her.

“Hop down.” 

She didn’t like that he was ordering her around, but his voice was void of any emotion, and out of curiosity and self preservation skills, she obeyed.

“C’mon.” Bucky turned around so his back faced her.

After a couple moments of silence, he looked over his shoulder to see her face twisted in confusion.

“C’mon now, just get on.” He repeated, squatting down a bit more. “You’re going to have to hold on tight.”

Ignoring the absurdity of the situation, she did her best to climb onto his back, at which point he gently grabbed her non-injured arm and wrapped it around his neck to encourage her to not be afraid to cling to him.

After what likely was about twenty minutes of climbing in utter silence, minus the whipping of the cool wind, Bucky made the mistake of looking down. The good news was that they were almost at the top–probably about a quarter of the climb left. The bad news was that meant that they had already climbed about 75 feet, and despite Bucky’s fearless persona, he was not fearless.

“Fuck.” He whispered.

“What’s wrong?” She rested her chin on his right shoulder.

“Nothing… I just didn’t realize how high up we were.” He grimaced the moment he said it. He’d shown weakness. He’d given her ammo. “Gonna make fun of me now?” He started to shake just a little, and prayed that she would assume it was because of the cold and not his anxiety…even though it had been cold for the entirety of the climb.

“No.” She stated.

His head started to spin from the memories. He tried to push through it, but all he could think about was the first time he was this high up. It was as cold as this too. He felt as his left arm subconsciously twitched. 

The first time I was this high up, I still had two human arms.

A sweet voice interrupted his thoughts. 

“I think I can see the compound from here.” 

It was a stupid joke, but he couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“You know, I’m pretty scared of the ocean.” She continued.

He didn’t respond, unsure of where she was going with this. He continued to pull themselves up.

“Just deep water in general scares me. My brother always made fun of me for it.” 

Don’t look down, Bucky. Don’t look–

“One time when I was like–fifteen? I think? My family took a trip to this really big lake. We got on one of those pontoon boats and went out into the water.”

He was glad that she was so close to him, otherwise the whipping of the wind would’ve been too loud to hear her calming voice.

“My brother thought he was really funny, and told me to look over the edge of the boat while we were still in motion.”

He tried to grunt to indicate he was listening, but no noise came out.

“He pushed me right as my dad started speeding up. I fell in, and freaked out. Especially as I watched the boat leave me behind.”

He continued to listen to her and focused on her voice, and the vibrations. Her tone was casual, but he couldn’t help but sense she was telling him a secret.

“Luckily, my mom saw what happened, and got my dad to turn around.” She chuckled. “He claimed he was trying to help me get over my fear. But I got my revenge later that day, so it was fine.”

“What’d you do?” Bucky finally spoke up.

“Well, he’s afraid of peanut butter.” She tried to shrug, despite having one arm around his neck and the other hanging limply. 

“Do you mean allergic?”

“No, I mean afraid. The stuff freaks him out. He won’t go near it. He’s weird like that.” She sighed in remembrance, and continued.

“So once we got back to the house I grabbed some peanut butter, and slathered it into his hair when he wasn’t looking.”

Bucky looked up again and was surprised to see how close they were to the top. When did that happen?

“He screamed so loud–it was hilarious.” She smiled. “He ran to take a shower, flailing around and being dramatic. ‘Mom! She put peanut butter in my hair! My hair! Mommy, get it out!’” 

Worried that Bucky was judging her, she quickly added,

“He was seventeen at the time, by the way.”

Still no answer.

“I don’t think he’s forgiven me yet.” She whispered more to herself than Bucky, but he still nodded as he grabbed at the top of the cliff.

“We’re here.” Bucky didn’t mean for his voice to come across gruff, but the cold wasn’t helping his throat. 

“Thank you for carrying me.” She smiled once she had both feet on the ground. It didn’t reach her eyes, but he could still tell she meant it.

Slightly embarrassed, Bucky attempted to grumble out a ‘Thank you for distracting me,’ but he wasn’t sure she heard it.

Come on, you can do better than that Barnes. Just apologize to her, he thought.

“Listen, I know I’ve been acting like a–”

Bucky’s words were cut off by a mysterious and sudden mangled…shriek?

“Oh my God, Bucky.” She patted his arm to get him to turn around.

He obliged, and his eyes became saucers when he saw what had made the noise. 

At the top of the cliff was a partially snowy but also grassy plateau, inhabited by a herd of roaming goats. So, so many goats. 

“Look at all the goats!” She gasped.

Right as she had said it, one goat had snuck up to them and started biting at Bucky’s prosthetic. 

“Get off,” he quelled his shock and grumbled as he shook the animal off of his hand.

“Aw, it likes you.” She giggled, falling to her knees to pet the goat—more like ‘goats’, plural, because the animals seemed to multiply, and fast. 

“Let’s get inside. We need to fix that wrist.”

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Beside the disturbingly large population of goats, and the absurd location of the safe house, the house itself was fine. Well, it was shaped more like a barn, but it was decorated like a house. After coaxing Y/N away from the “adorable” (her words, not Bucky’s) goats, and inside, Bucky led Y/N to the forest green rug where he had started a fire in the fireplace. 

When he finished briefly looking around, Bucky grabbed some ice that had frozen outside the barn and wrapped it in a cloth from the kitchen. With her permission, Bucky carefully placed the ice pack where he saw the most bruising around her wrist. 

“So,” Bucky had settled himself across from her, so they could face each other as they talked. He couldn’t help the pang of sadness he felt as she stood up and backed away to sit on the couch.

She wouldn’t move away if I were Steve, he thought, staring into the fire. They’d probably cuddle up together like they do on the couch during movie nights at the tower. 

Y/N didn’t want to move away from Bucky, especially now that he was being amicable again. But the heat from the flames was melting the ice that cradled her wrist, and she didn’t want to add ‘soggy’ to her list of problems.

“So?” She asked, noticing Bucky never finished his thought.

“I’m just thinking about the logistics of this. There’s a high possibility we could be stuck here anywhere from a week to a month. Your signal was fried in the blast too, right?”

She nodded, and released her right hand from holding the ice, letting it balance on her wrist, as she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her signal. Definitely fried. 

He pulled out his own signal from where he had kept it in his pants pocket, and showed her how it was crushed. “Well, without our signals, our team can’t track us. We just have to hope that they’ll figure out that we made it to a safe house, and that they don’t check this one last. Because I’m pretty sure there are at least two more safehouses dedicated to the vicinity of the Hydra base, right?”

She nodded. “We got unlucky with this one.”

“First thing we need to worry about,” he raised his eyebrows, trying to gain her attention, “is food. I looked at the kitchen pretty quickly and there’s not that much stuff stocked. A couple cans of beans, and such. Not nearly enough for how long we’re going to be here though. So unless we want to climb back down again, and see if we can find any food anywhere…”

She squinted and tilted her head as if she was a confused puppy.

“We’re going to have to kill a goat.” He finished.

Her eyes went comically wide. “I am not letting you kill Cheetoh!”

Bucky shook his head, exasperated, “You’ve already named them?”

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

The longer they were there, the worse the winds got. But that didn’t stop Bucky from hearing the strange overlap of whipping winds, leading him to lean into the noise from his spot on the couch. 

“Do you hear that?” Bucky nudged her.

“It sounds like the wind got a lot worse,” She nodded.

“No, something’s off.”

At Bucky’s concern, Y/N got up off the couch and beat him to the doors. She looked at Bucky, who stood directly behind her, before pushing hard to get the sliding door to budge. Instantly the biting cold attacked them again, and she had to place her right arm over her forehead to keep her hair from whipping into her eyes. Everything outside seemed to be an array of grays, until she was able to spot a shadowy figure emerge from the settling fog. A person appeared, as well as a helicopter.

“Sam?” She called, hoping her voice carried far enough to be heard above the wind.  

“Y/N! Bucky! Thank god you guys are okay,” Sam called back, and was quickly met by Y/N who had run the rest of the distance to meet him. Bucky was shortly behind. 

“I’ve never been so happy to see your face, Sam.” She giggled, setting her right hand appreciatively on his shoulder. 

Quickly spotting Steve exiting the chopper, Bucky hid a scowl as he watched Y/N light up and bound over to the bundled up blond, while calling, “Steve!” He wished he had looked away before seeing her pull him in for a hug.

Wanting to distance himself from the interaction, Bucky stood by Sam.

“How did you find us so fast?” Bucky shook his head, and raised his voice, as the wind started to pick up again. 

“My signal, man.” Sam yelled back, despite being three feet apart. 

“What?” Bucky wondered if he heard him right. 

Sam reached into the left pocket of Bucky’s under jacket, and pulled out a small familiar looking device. 

Bucky felt a punch to the gut as he suddenly remembered.

The group had just landed the quinjet deep into the forest. They couldn’t land too close to the base and risk setting off alarms, so they settled for a three mile hike away. Bucky and Sam were meant to approach from the north side, while Steve, Natasha, and Y/N planned to approach from the south side, so the group split off after the jet to take opposite round-a-bout paths. It was about two miles left to go when Sam started complaining. 

“Dude, does this thing actually fit in your ear?” Sam gestured to the communications device in his hand. “Because it keeps falling out. It’s getting on my nerves.”

Bucky gave a short grunt, which Sam translated to a ‘yes, it does fit in my ear.’

“I can’t,” Sam finally huffed, “I give up. I don’t have any pockets, can you hold this so I don’t lose it?” 

Simply wishing for Sam to shut up, he obliged, and shoved the tiny device into his pocket for safe keeping. Neither of them thought to turn it off first, because in their minds, and past experiences, it always stays turned on in the field. Excluding the moments when people turn them off in acts of defiance. 

About a mile later, both men heard a small rustling to their right. In hindsight, it was probably just a rabbit, but Sam suggested he go check it out, just in case. That’s what led to the two splitting up, but Bucky wasn’t worried. He knew that if there was a problem, Sam would’ve made it clear immediately. He also knew that Sam knew his way to the base all on his own. 

Bucky arrived at his location at the same time that Steve’s voice buzzed in his ear. At this point, the extra signal was long forgotten. 

“We’re in position.” Steve’s voice rattled. 

“10-4.” Bucky responded. 

“Alright, going dark now. Turn off your comms, let’s go.” 

Steve’s voice was followed by the soft beep of Bucky’s signal as he turned it off. 

He didn’t realize Sam’s signal was still active in his pocket.

“It was just bad luck dude, don’t feel too bad. I should’ve turned it off before I gave it to you, and I shouldn’t have assumed you’d turn it off yourself.” Sam tried to hide his pity with a half-smile.

“I–I was the leak?” Bucky whispered right as the wind started to calm again. He stared at the small device as Sam hid it in the pocket of his own coat. If only Sam had worn that on the way to the base.

“Yeah,” Sam said at a normal level now that the noise had nearly ceased, “but everyone’s safe now, that’s all that matters.” Sam reassuringly pat Bucky’s shoulder twice before looking back at Steve helping Y/N into the chopper.

Bucky let out a short hum, and focused on the ground. He wanted to crush that stupid little signal. He hated the way it made his chest feel tight, and his heart heavy with guilt. 

Sam’s voice interrupted Bucky’s thoughts.

“Those are a lot of goats, man.”

Before Bucky could respond, Steve appeared in front of them.

“Hey Buck,” Steve smiled, pulling him in for a quick hug, “I’m glad we found you so fast. Are you injured at all?” Steve pulled back to examine Bucky’s form.

“No, I’m fine,” Bucky swiftly assured, before feeling the throbbing of guilt consume him again, “but Y/N’s wrist is broken.”

“Don’t worry, I know. I already told her I’d take her straight to medical once we get back. Speaking of, we should get going.”

“Right.” 

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Three hours later, the group made it back to New York. As the ramp lowered, Bucky quietly pulled Steve aside.

“I can walk Y/N to med.” He nodded to where she was sitting, staring off into space.

“You sure?” Steve struggled to hide the surprise in his voice.

“Yeah.” Bucky nodded.

“Okay.”

Bucky gave his friend a firm pat on the shoulder before sauntering toward Y/N, who remained in her seat.

“Come on, Y/N.” He held out his right hand, offering her to take it.

“Huh?” She blinked twice, and stared up at him, eyebrows scrunched.

“I’m walking you to med.” 

“Oh. Okay.” She paused for a moment before standing up. “So much for being stuck for months.”

“Yeah, I guess that calculation was a bit off.”

“I’m just glad we’re back home. And that you didn’t need to kill any goats.”

“I was going to leave Cheetoh alone.”

“I don’t know if I believe you.”

The rest of their walk was relatively short, but silent, until they reached the doors of Dr. Cho. Bucky didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, as Dr. Cho was given a heads up to Y/N’s injury, and already whisked her away.

Bucky rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet for a minute, until he decided it would be uncomfortable for all parties involved if he stayed. He knew she’d be alright, he convinced himself, so there was no need to be in the way.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

A couple of the Avengers found themselves mentally recovering in the lounge, waiting for Y/N to get out of her evaluation.

“She’ll probably be out for two months. Broken wrist and all that.” Steve relayed, taking a seat on the couch.

“Two months?” Sam repeated, looking up from his bag of chips.

“I think she’s pretty bummed, so try not to mention it.”

As if on cue, Y/N entered the room.

“Hey guys,” she smiled, waving with the arm that wasn’t in a cast.

“Hey Hon. How’s the wrist?”

“Really, Tony?” Natasha glared at him.

“What?” He feigned innocence, throwing his hands in the air.

“It’s fine guys. It doesn’t hurt that bad, I’m more embarrassed than anything.” 

“Embarrassed by what? I think that cast makes you look tough.” Sam added, doing his best to cheer others up as always. “And hey, you and Bucky can be twins now.”

“Yeah, kinda. Look at that Buck!” She lifted her left arm in the direction of Bucky, who had been silently brooding in the corner. The bulk could be seen under the fabric of her hoodie, but she felt the need to emphasize the point by taking the pullover off.

She first tried tugging the sleeve off her cast, but it was a bit too snug. After a couple more moments of failing, she switched tactics to just pulling off the hoodie from over her head, but that got her stuck in an awkward position too.

After a second too long of borderline uncomfortable silence and shuffling, Steve spoke up.

“Do you want help with that?”

“Nope, I got it. Just gimme- a second…” 

Somehow she had gotten the garment twisted around her right arm and upper body.

“Hon, just let us-” Tony started, but was quickly cut off.

“You know what? It’s suddenly cold again. There’s a weird draft over here.” Y/N quickly tugged the hoodie back down and gave a weary smile. “I’m going to go to my room.”

She ran off before anyone could offer an opinion. Unsurprisingly, Steve was the first to speak.

“I’m going to go check on her.”

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

A soft knock came to her door.

“Come in.”

“Hey, Y/N.” Steve gave a sympathetic smile as he gently closed the door behind him.

“Hi Steve, what’s up?” She looked fine, but he could hear the strain in her voice.

“Nothing, I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” He stood in front of where she sat at the edge of the bed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got a little frustrated, it’s no big deal.” She shrugged it off, avoiding his eye line.

“It’s okay to feel frustrated.” 

“I know. I shouldn’t though. It’s my fault, anyways.”

“How so?”

She cast her gaze to the floor and swept a hand through her hair.

“Well, I think the whole reason we were ambushed was because of me.”

“What? Why would you say that?”

She took a deep breath.

“After Bucky and I got stranded after the attack, I was sure it wasn’t my fault. But then he started saying things, and they were mean… but he was also right. I started second guessing myself, and I thought about it. I mean, out of all of us, I’m the newest. And I was so sure that I turned my signal off…but now I don’t know. I can’t remember. And if it really is my fault they found us, then it’s my fault that fight happened, and it’s my own doing that this—” she pointed to her cast, “happened. I just feel stupid.”

“You weren’t the leak, Y/N.”

“What?”

“It was an accident. Bucky was carrying an extra signal, and no one thought to turn it off.”

“Bucky?” She looked bewildered, shaking her head at this fact.

“Yes.”

“Does he know?”

“Um…I’m not sure. I didn’t tell him. We never had a proper briefing after the chaos derailed our schedule when we got back.”

“I have to go find him.” Her shock turned to a quiet determination of which Steve decided not to push her on.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you still want your hoodie off?”

“Yes please.”

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

“Buck, wait up!”

Bucky slowed his jog around the track to a stop when he heard her voice.

“Y/N?”

“Hey.” She gave him a sweet smile once she caught up, one he felt undeserving of.

“Is there something you need?” 

“No. I just had to tell you something.”

“I’m listening.” He nodded, crossing his arms. He didn’t mean it in a defensive way, it just happened.

“First of all, you should know it’s not your fault.”

“What?” 

“I just found out how we got ambushed, and I figured I should tell you.”

“Oh.” He fought the urge to look away.

“Sam gave you his signal, right? But it was never turned off. It was just an accident. But I needed to tell you, because I know you’re going to blame yourself when they tell everyone at the briefing.” Her concerned tone and eyes met him for the briefest second before he wiped his hands down his face.

“I feel like an asshole.”

“No, please don’t.” She softly touched his elbow.

“I’m going to be honest Y/N, I thought you were going to take it a lot worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you found out that it was me. I was worried you were going to get really mad.”

“Wait, you already knew?”

“Yeah? Sam told me right when he found us…I thought you knew I knew, isn’t that why you just told me all that?”

“I thought you didn’t know. I wanted to be the one to tell you before the briefing, to tell you not to worry about it, because I knew you’d take it hard. But–but you already knew?”

Bucky just stared, jaw dropped at a loss for words.

“And–” She scoffed, “—and you didn’t tell me?!”

“Y/N, I-” 

“Don’t ‘Y/N’, me! You—you, jerk! I can’t believe you knew all this time that you were the leak, and after belittling me and convincing me it was my fault, you didn’t tell me the truth!” She laughed in disbelief. “You selfish, cold-hearted, dickhead!”

He wasn’t sure what to say, but it didn’t matter, because she kept going.

“I’m stuck off missions for the next two months with a broken wrist, and you let me think it was my own doing! You made me feel like an idiot!”

“I was going to tell you—”

“When? After I was already told at the meeting? I can’t believe you!” She turned around briefly as if she couldn’t even face him, but quickly turned back. “To think I felt bad for you when I found out it was you who got us ambushed!”

With each insult she managed to get a little closer to him. So close, in fact, that Bucky was struggling to even comprehend what she was saying anymore. All he could think of was how close he was to her, how his hands were just itching to grab her waist. His head was nearly empty when he finally did carefully grab her and pull her closer to him. She paused her rampage to look up into his adoring eyes at his sudden movement.

“Bucky?” She whispered, a swirl of confusion and intrigue.

He replied by placing his lips gently on hers, feeling the warmth of her touch. She reciprocated, kissing him back for a couple seconds before bringing her hands to his chest to furiously push him away, followed by a swift slap to the face.

“Jeez-” The sudden change from bliss to reality was shocking.

“I can’t believe you James!” She yelled, her flustered look from both the kiss and her rage. “I can’t believe you just kissed me! I have a right to be angry, fuck you for thinking you can shut me up by locking my lips!”

‘Shit, I messed up,” he starts to think, about to spew apologies, when he gets cut off by her grasping his hoodie in her hand and pulling him back in for another kiss. The moment his shock subsides and he sinks back into the waves of her kiss, he’s just as abruptly taken from it, head dizzy as she parts from him just to slap him across the cheek again.

“Ow! What was that for?” He brings his hand to the sting. He’s so dazed and confused, a hurricane of thoughts and emotions all fighting for his attention.

“You make me so mad! I’m fuming right now! You are so selfish—”

She cuts herself off, pulling him in for another kiss, one that he’s still not prepared for. His frustration rising at her antics, he brings both hands to either side of her face and holds her steadily against him, resulting in their first kiss that lasted longer than five seconds. When he finally feels her about to let go for breath, he lets his lips leave hers, and continues to cradle her head, their foreheads resting against each other as they both gasp for breath. 

“You’re not going to slap me again, are you?” He carefully asks, looking into her eyes.

“No.” 

“You’re sure?”

“No.”

He laughs and slowly lets go of her.

“You okay?”

After a few seconds of silence, she responds with hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“I’ve already given you enough reason to hate me, I was sure that if you found out I was the leak, you’d finally hate me for good.”

“I don’t hate you Bucky. I always figured you kind of hated me. Lately you’ve been acting kind of like-”

“A dick, I know,” he nods. “And I’m sorry for that. Really, I am. It’s just-” Bucky’s voice seizes as she sees him look intensely at her mouth.

“It’s what?”

“Can I please kiss you again?”

She slowly nods, and allows Bucky to kiss her for the fourth time. It was fucking heaven to him. Regardless, he abruptly pulls back when a thought crosses his mind.

“Shit, what about Steve?”

“What about Steve?”

“Don’t you like each other?” 

She couldn’t help but think his concern was cute, the way he acted like he was talking about middle school crushes.

“Bucky, no,” she laughs, “Steve and I have just always been really good friends. You know, when people are nice to each other, and they like to hang around each other?”

“I just always thought that-”

“Never. He’s my friend. And I can guarantee you he feels the same as me.”

She lets him process the information, watching him nod to himself as if taking it in.

“Oh.”

“Are you jealous?” She smirks, giving him a flirty shove.

His cheeks go pink as he starts to stutter.

“Jea- jealous? No, not jealous. Just-”

Was he jealous? Was it emasculating to admit it? It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t care, he’s sick of lying.

“Okay, maybe I was a little bit jealous.” He mumbled, drawing his attention to a pebble on the ground that he was toeing. “So, you do like me, right?” 

She lifts his chin upwards and gives him the softest, sweetest, slowest peck. 

“Does that answer your question?” She flutters.

“I think so. But the slapping earlier was a bit confusing.” He teased.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright, it was well deserved.”

“No, I still shouldn’t have hit you.” She said with certainty. “But I am still a little bit upset that you didn’t tell me.”

“Doll, I know I should’ve told you that you weren’t the leak. I wish–”

“No,” she shakes her head, “I’m upset you never told me how you felt about me. Instead you acted-”

“Like a dick, I know–”

“No, I was going to say like a child. But yeah, a dick, too.”

They just stood together for that moment, appreciating the start of something new. New, and beautiful, with a lot less animosity, and a lot more kisses.

A/N: If you’ve made it this far, thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope you liked it. If you feel like it, please lemme know your thoughts! I hope you have a peaceful day/night 💕

#bucky x f!reader #bucky barnes x reader #Bucky fic #bucky fanfic #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky angst #bucky barnes fanfiction

[1d1195]

Dolcezza VI

Read Dolcezza here.

Warnings: fluff, angst--lots of it. I know we're all waiting on the big reveal or whatever based on my cliff hanger but you're going to have to wait a little bit 😊

~8.4k words

The sun coming through the blinds outlined her like the angel she really was, and Harry was sure there were cartoon hearts floating around his head as he gazed at her.

“Do you want me to get Harry?” Niall asked.

“No!” She nearly shouted. Niall blinked in surprise. She cleared her throat and her face warmed as Harry’s best friend looked at her like she was nuts. She honestly felt a little crazy and she prayed to God the man up front didn’t hear her and give away that she was slowly losing her mind. “No, no... it’s... he’s not doing anything wrong,” if she lied to herself enough, maybe the problem would go away.

“He’s allowed to be in the same place as you?” Niall’s eyebrows rose half-way up his forehead. Obviously, he hated this.

If Niall hated this... she hated to think what Harry would do.

She shrugged one shoulder as casually as she could manage, then nodded. “It’s only fifty feet,” she murmured.

“You know the dimensions of this place?” Surprise and distaste were evident in his tone.

She swallowed the figurative rock that had wedged itself in her throat. She tried to take a deep breath as quietly and shallowly as possible. She could still feel his gaze on her back. He had to know she was terrified, and she didn’t want to give him any more excitement into knowing she was scared. “You learn to measure 50 feet by sight,” she mumbled.

“Tesorino, please let me tell Harry,” Niall begged.

She shook her head rapidly, feeling the intensity of his stare never faltering. “Niall, please. He’ll worry and it’s—”

“I’m worried,” he admitted, speaking lowly so only she could hear.

There was thick exasperation in her sigh. “Please don’t. It’s fine. He’s just...there.”

Niall answered her sigh with his own angry, frustrated one. “Tesorino, Harry would lose his mind. Worse, he would be devastated if you didn’t tell him. He’s already probably going to hate me for waiting this long to tell him and it’s only been three minutes. Please let me tell him.” She didn’t say anything. But Niall could see the exhaustion on her face. This couldn’t be easy for her. None of it. On top of a long day with her crazy family and car trouble. Niall thought she was brave just for being upright. “Tesorino,” he repeated leaning close. There was a pause that seemed to stretch on for hours but couldn’t have been more than ten seconds. Niall was doing his best not to stare back in the offending direction.

She had to say yes. Niall needed her to say yes. He didn’t know what would happen if she said no. He couldn’t imagine looking his best friend in the eye and keeping that from him. Not when he knew how much he adored this sweet girl. Niall was equally terrified. Over the months she lived above his workplace and stole his best friend’s heart, she turned out to be one of the funniest and best people he knew. He loved her in a way Harry didn’t. Because he adored her like a sister he never had and like the best-friend-in-law he already assumed she’d be, he couldn’t stand the thought of her getting hurt. He was ready to throw himself over the bar and stand in front of her if needed.

He held his breath for the ten seconds she paused. Waiting wordlessly, panicked that he would have to ruin his relationship with her if she said no. There was no way he wasn’t telling Harry.

Fortunately, she nodded. The slightest headshake. He knew it probably took a lot out of her to say she needed help. It wasn’t lost on him, and he hoped he could convince Harry to see it that way. He released a breath for about as long as he held it. “Thank you, Tesorino,” Niall sighed with relief. “Harry!” He shouted, starting back for the kitchen.

She grabbed his hand right as it lifted off the bar before he made his way to Harry. He turned his attention back to her. Her hand squeezing his gently. “Please don’t leave me alone,” she whispered, her voice small.

Niall’s heart broke right in half. “Fuck,” What an idiot. “Of course not, Tesorino,” he promised and covered her hand with his other and squeezed it back with a gentle smile. It was meant to be encouraging but he was afraid it was filled with pity.

“I was looking for you. S’matter?” Harry asked, stepping up to the kitchen window. His hand zoomed in on Niall’s touching hers. Her gaze dropped to the bar already feeling like she was in trouble. “Oh...hey, Principessa. Y’okay?” Niall turned, still holding her hand giving it a reassuring squeeze as he faced Harry. Never once letting go. Patrons at the bar beside her were staring every so often at the weird chain she and Niall made as he spoke to Harry—it couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds. But the only thing she could really sense was the gaze at her back. It killed her to stay facing forward. It felt like the hardest thing in the world.

Niall spoke quietly. The din of the restaurant covering the noise of his words. Words that she didn’t want to hear and words that made her feel sick. She felt hot and scared.

Not to mention, completely defeated.

She couldn’t look up to see the disappointment on Harry’s face.

Suddenly there was a hand on her back, and she was startled so badly she let a tiny yelp out of her throat before Harry’s cologne invaded her nose. Before she could jolt her head back Harry’s lips were right near her ear. If anyone heard her, they paid no mind. She could almost feel his lips touching her earlobe as he spoke. The hand on her back pressed gently and soothingly against her spine. “S’time t’go Principessa,” he murmured lowly.

It was one of the only times in her life that she could remember letting someone else take charge and worry about her. It scared her almost as much as feeling the gaze of her stalker on the back of her head.

*

The poor thing must have whispered sorry about ten thousand times. It broke Harry’s heart. Especially after the nice day he had with her. He thought he had broken down a ton of walls and was excited to kiss her until she was breathless when he brought her back to her place.

Now they were in the kitchen strategizing, or at least, Niall and Harry were. The three settled by the lockers for the staff, sitting on the little bench. Harry was pacing nervously while Niall tapped on the bench with his fingertips while thinking. The rest of the staff ignored them. They were getting close to closing the kitchen down anyway, so Niall wasn’t needed as much, and Harry wasn’t even supposed to be there.

She was sitting mutely beside Niall, feeling like an idiot for believing this wouldn’t catch up to her. It had been a blissful, almost year. She was hopeful he was just gone, found someone new to bother. Or something else... anything but this. Harry was pacing listening to Niall trying to get an idea of what was happening up at the front of the restaurant by asking one of the waiters to keep an eye on that table and let them know when the guy there left. Harry had his hands pressed to his lips, steepled in front of him.

“Principessa,” Harry said putting a hand on her shoulder making her jump again. “What do y’think?” He asked.

She shook her head. “I’m... I’m so sorry. I wasn’t focused, can you—”

Niall smiled at her sympathetically. “S’okay, Tesorino,” he promised reaching over and squeezing her knee soothingly. “Harry—but also very much me, too—would feel more comfortable if you stayed at our place.”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Trying to sound braver than she felt. Which was albeit very little. “It’s probably not that big of a deal... I can stay in my apartment. I wouldn’t want to put either of you out or—”

Harry sighed and tilted his head back. It was obvious he was frustrated. Maybe even... angry... at her. “S’not a problem, Principessa,” his voice was clipped. Irritated.

She felt like everything that she talked about with Harry today was ruined. She looked at her hands in her lap. Fiddling with the thumb ring she bought she spun it around and around below her knuckle. “We’d feel safer with you at our place,” Niall was a little calmer than Harry. She envied that. Wished she could be calmer. Harry looked like he was going to rip the hair out of his head. He ran a hand over his face. The waiter came by to report that the man was gone, and all three sighed with relief.

“Can I get some stuff?” She asked quietly.

Niall tutted sadly. It really felt like she was in trouble at school. Harry looked so worried but immensely... mad. An emotion she hadn’t seen on his sweet features once in the nine months she had known him. “Course, Tesorino,” Niall nodded easily. “Harry will take you up to get whatever you need.”

*

Harry was silent the entire drive. Further making it feel like everything that was and could have been between them was ruined. He didn’t even hold her hand. It was completely unfair because she had spent many car rides without his hand in hers and it wasn’t a big deal. Now, after one day, it felt cold and horrible. It felt wrong and made her want to hold his hand so very badly in an attempt to fix it.

The time she spent packing was tense and silent too. Harry didn’t rush her, but he may as well have had a timer. It felt like everything she did was wrong and awful. She also packed way too much stuff which added to her stress. It looked like she was going on vacation for a whole week and that had to be overwhelming for Harry. For all she knew, he wanted to make out with her and maybe start dating. Not have her move in immediately.

Due to her frustrated daydreaming, she didn’t realize they were parked in a driveway. Niall had gotten a ride home from Antonio just a little before them, so he was able to do a scan ahead of time and sent a reassuring text that it was all safe to enter. She opened her door and Harry leaned across her immediately and pulled it shut. She turned to him, her expression a bit bewildered.

He got out of the car wordlessly and came to her side where he opened the door for her. He smiled weakly. The first sign of her Harry in an hour. “S’my job t’open doors for you, Principessa,” he murmured.

Her heart fluttered. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she answered because she didn’t know what else to say to that. She stepped out of the car and Harry released a light chuckle. She could tell Harry was trying to be casual as he looked around. Luckily, the neighborhood was small. It would be obvious if there were an unknown car parked nearby. Or a stranger lurking in the shadows. Someone would have called the police for such a suspicion before Niall even noticed.

He grabbed her duffle bag from the back, and she pulled her backpack from the passenger floor and slid it on before they walked toward the house. Niall’s car was parked beside Harry’s. The house was adorable. Not too big. Just one story with a nice yard. Niall mentioned it was two bedrooms, two bathrooms. Of course, there was a big kitchen because it’s where Niall and Harry shined, and it was important they had one.

Even if they rarely used it since all their time was spent at the restaurant.

She jumped when the light turned on for the front steps. “Jesus Christ,” she muttered.

Harry smiled sadly. The poor thing. Harry let her inside first, peeking one last time over his shoulder grateful there was nothing out of place as he closed the door. The three seemed to sigh with relief as Niall closed the front door and locked it.

“Welcome home, Tesorino,” Niall winked. He yawned, stretched, and smiled sweetly. “Make yourself at home, but m’very tired.”

“Yeah, of course,” she nodded quickly. “I’m sorry—”

“Shh,” he hushed, shaking his head easily, and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Sleep well, love. S’all good,” he promised and shuffled down the hall.

She felt wildly uncomfortable. Poor Harry. This was not what he signed up for. “C’mon,” he hummed and started after Niall toward what she assumed was the hallway with the bedrooms and bathrooms.

Harry opened one door and flicked on the light. “S’my bathroom. Niall’s is connected t’his room, so if y’have t’use it, y’gotta go through his room. But be careful, he has laundry mountains,” he warned. She wanted to inspect it more. What kind of shower curtain did he choose? Did he pick out the hand towels himself? Was it annoying that when they had friends over, they had to use his bathroom?

She smiled. “I don’t see myself going through his room.”

“Jus’ letting you know,” he shrugged.

She frowned. The vibe was so incredibly tense. He was visibly mad. “This is my room,” he flicked on the light as he entered the door across the hall from the bathroom. It was pretty minimalist. A dresser, a bed, a nightstand, a desk. On top of his desk was a collection of books lined up and bookended by a pair of brackets shaped like a bicycle going through the books. His laptop and a picture of what she assumed was his mom and sister were next to the books, too. There was a closet along the front wall, and she felt the need to look in and see all of Harry’s clothes. Most of the time she saw him in his ever-present black kitchen ensemble. Today’s adventure was one of the only times she saw him in dark jeans and a long-sleeve Henley. She imagined there was more where that came from but still wanted to know. Or maybe he just used it as storage and dress shirts. But it was exactly the kind of thing she wanted to know because of the stress of the last hour.

The room was painted with a light color. It was almost white, but she swore there was a hint of yellow-almost-peach color hiding in there and she only knew that because she was staring at it trying to figure out what color it was. “Mum insisted on the color,” he rolled his eyes. “Said m’choice of dark blue was depressing.”

She smiled again thinking about how nice it was that he listened to his mom. His bedspread was dark navy, pulled to the top of the mattress with four fluffy pillows. It matched the area rug he had under the desk. All his furniture was dark brown in color. “Blue would have been too dark,” she agreed. He smirked and rolled his eyes. It eased the anxiety in her heart a little.

“Are y’tired?” He asked.

“Hmm?”

“Tired, Principessa?” He repeated and she wondered if he thought she was stupid now. It felt like she was stupid.

“Uh...yeah.”

Wordlessly, he opened two drawers grabbing a couple of things out of his dresser. Then he stole a pillow off the bed. “M’gonna let y’sleep, then,” he said. “Wake me up if y’need anything. M’usually up by eight at latest on the weekend. But wake me up if y’get up earlier,” he promised heading for the living room.

She shook her head as if all at once, her brain returned to her head after the last hour. “Where are you going?” She asked stepping into the hall watching his retreating figure. He looked so boyish, carrying a pillow at his side, dragging it like a little kid. It was adorable.

He turned around to her looking at her with confusion. “T’sleep, kitten,” he smirked with an eyeroll.

Her heart stopped and she felt flustered all over again. “On the couch?!” Her voice cracked.

“Uh... yeah?”

“Harry,” she shook her head. “I can’t... I can’t kick you out of your bed,” she said hurriedly. “I won’t sleep.”

He smiled softly and shrugged. “S’okay, Principessa. Want you t’be comfortable.”

“I will be so uncomfortable if you sleep out there while I’m in your bed,” he looked pretty resolute in his decision, and she thought she might lose this one. It made her feel horrible. And she wasn’t sure she was very-well brave enough to go follow him into the main room and cram herself against him on the sofa if he did make his way out there. “Harry,” she whined and twisted her fingers together anxiously. “Please, don’t,” she begged.

“Well s’no chance m’letting y’sleep on the couch, kitten. So... s’very limited in our options here.”

“You can sleep with me,” she said quickly. Then her face turned the same shade as a firetruck. Harry smirked and she put a hand over her eyes. Harry stepped back toward her.

“I can, hmm?” He asked with a lilt in his voice that sounded like her Harry. The one that teased her, soothed her, and made her feel like nothing bad could ever happen to her simply because he liked her so much.

She pulled her hand away from her blushing face. Harry was standing with just inches of space between them. Her head tilted back so she could look at him. His green eyes hooded by his eyelids, and she realized he looked damn near exhausted. As much as she wanted to make out with him, it seemed unfair. The car, her family, the driving, the stalker. It was all a lot for anyone to deal with and definitely not what Harry signed up for today.

Of course, he made it seem like it didn’t bother him, but even she was tired. She couldn’t imagine how he felt. “Er...” she swallowed. “I meant... your bed is big,” she murmured. “And when I’m tired, I sleep like a zombie,” she admitted. “I mean, I won’t move or roll around and get in your space.”

“Hmm...” she could feel the breath of his exhale across her cheeks. “What if I want you in my space?” He wondered. Her voice felt like it was dead. Gone completely. No longer there.

“You don’t hate me?” She managed to whisper. “Or think I’m annoying? Or want me out of your hair? I know this is more than what you ever wanted to deal with today. On a day off to boot.”

She watched him wince very minutely. A twinge of his lips, a wrinkle on his forehead, and a quick jolt of his head twisting to the left. “M’not answering any of those silly questions, Principessa,” he responded instead.

“But you’ve been so mad the entire drive here. You... you didn’t hold my hand,” she whispered like a dumb elementary school student whose crush pushed another girl on the swing set.

His gaze softened. The pinch in his brow disappeared and his eyes went back from laser focused to the gentleness he always seemed to have when he looked at her. He brought his hand to her face and brushed his thumb on her cheek. “M’not mad at you. Of course, m’not. Y’did nothing wrong. You are...” he shook his head. “M’terrified of something hurting you. Someone hurting you. M’mad at him. I could never be mad at you, m’Principessa,” he whispered. “Been dreaming ‘bout you in m’bed. I’d probably sleep like a rock jus’ thinking ‘bout you in here while out on the couch,” he admitted making her heart stop. Harry knew all the right things to say. “After the last couple hours...” he stared at her steadily. “If I sleep in the same bed as you, kitten,” he shook his head and clucked his tongue. “I wouldn’t be able t’let y’go,” he promised.

Part of her thought she should be embarrassed by his statement, but she had been dreaming about way worse than Harry sharing a bed with her since she met him. Each time they touched she thought her heart would explode. When she watched him chop vegetables, or any time she caught a glimpse of his fingers doing anything, she imagined inappropriate touches that would make him think she was insane. “I’m okay with that,” she whispered breathlessly.

“M'gonna kiss you now,” he told her leaning closer to her. “M’not going t’stop for a while,” he promised.

“Are your rooms soundproof?” It wasn’t even a whisper anymore—it was quieter than that. The air that escaped her lips came out nervously. She was lucky he could understand her. It was a stupid thing to ask but her brain was malfunctioning once more, and it was the only thing she could think about; Niall just two rooms over and across the hall.

There was an ache in his jeans at her question, and he let out a low moan from his throat. His lips were so close to hers. “We’ll have t’find out,” he whispered, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. Not a kiss, just touching as he said the words. It still set her on fire. Harry dropped the pillow and his clothes and wrapped his arms around her waist firmly, before sinking his mouth on hers in a kiss that she felt all the way to her toes. She ached everywhere, immediately and let out a groan as he lifted her just so her toes brushed the floor and could easily push her back into his room. He kicked the door shut and she truly prayed the walls were thick and wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of Niall tomorrow morning.

*

She woke up after feeling like she had slept for a whole week. Her lips felt swollen, and light was filtering in from the window. It landed on the expanse of Harry’s muscular back unmarred by tattoos which she now knew covered almost every inch of his torso and most of his left arm, but not the right. As much as she wanted to take Harry’s boxers off last night, she could see the same amount of fatigue in his eyes as she felt in her own body. So, true to his word, they kissed and kissed and kissed and didn’t stop for a while—until her breath was so shallow Harry started to worry about her all over again.

Harry pulled almost all her clothes off, running his hands up and down her body in a way she had never experienced. It was as if he was searching for something but was still so gentle. Like whatever he was searching for was in an area filled with bubbles and he wasn’t allowed to pop any of them. It made her feel beautiful and whole. For however long they kissed, (she hadn’t a clue because she didn’t time it) she forgot about everything except Harry.

The tiredness took over eventually and Harry clutched her body to his. His body was warm and protective around hers, spooned behind her. “Is it everything you dreamed?” She whispered, her arms stacked and nearly crossed around the cage he had her in his embrace.

“S’better, Principessa,” he mumbled and kissed the back of her head. Her skin was so soft and warm. It really was better than he could have dreamed. But he promptly fell asleep.

Obviously, they had turned and moved a bit in their sleep. She leaned over and pressed kisses at evenly spaced intervals down his spine. She caught sight of his alarm clock reading 7:18. She didn’t want to wake him up—at least not till eight because he deserved all the sleep he could get after yesterday. But she couldn’t keep her lips off him. The room was chilly and lifting herself from under the covers to lean over and kiss his skin let the heat out from their little cocoon. It killed her to think he would have to go to work in the evening. Maybe earlier. He probably had prep stuff to do.

Her mind spiraled a bit, wondering if she would go with them. Maybe she should go back home? She kind of missed the smell of garlic and olive oil and didn’t realize it was such a comfort to help her fall asleep. Or would she stay here? She could get a new comfort in Harry’s lips.

Harry’s breathing was steady, no indication that her lips had woken him. But she heard her phone vibrate from somewhere in the pile of her stuff. She slipped out of bed feeling guilty and wrong about leaving him. She grabbed her phone and managed to find a shirt and pair of pants from her duffle bag and picked up her phone so when it started to vibrate again, signaling the person at the other end was not giving up, it wouldn’t bother Harry. Near silently, she stepped out of the room closing the door quietly.

Luckily, Niall and Harry’s floors didn’t creak when she padded back toward the main room. “Hello?” She asked her phone softly.

“Where are you?” Eleanor asked alertly. “I’ve never seen that address before and I’m terrified. Are you alright?”

Shit. She should have warned her.“I’m fine,” she assured her immediately. “Really, everything’s fine,” she promised her through her whispers.

“Why are you whispering?”

“Because Harry and Niall are sleeping,” she sighed and put a hand to cover her eyes.

The silence was deafening. “Are you...?” Eleanor gasped. “Halelujah!” She sang. She smiled and felt herself blush even though she had no reason to. It’s not like Eleanor or anyone for that matter could see her. “So that’s Harry’s address?”

“Yes, Mom,” she rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to worry—” She stopped and cleared her throat because she didn’t want to worry Eleanor and certainly didn’t want to lie to her. But technically, there was a need to worry. “You don’t have to worry right now,” at least that was the truth. Technically. Hopefully, she could figure something out before it became a serious problem. “Why are you awake?” She asked.

“I had to pee and needed water and I checked my phone for the time, and it said you were at a new, unfamiliar location,” Eleanor sighed with relief. “How did you end up there?”

She sighed. “It’s... a long story,” one that she didn’t have details for yet because she didn’t know all of them. Ones that she didn’t want to worry Eleanor with when she was supposed to be asleep. “I’ll... call you later. Go back to sleep. I’m okay,” she promised.

Eleanor released a yawn, and she could hear the ruffle of sheets. “She’s okay,” she whispered.

“Wonderful,” she heard Louis grumble.

“Jesus Eleanor, let the poor man sleep,” she rolled her eyes.

“Enjoy La Casa di Harry,” Eleanor sang once more, then hung up almost instantly.

*

Harry was just starting to wake up. Bits of a dream he didn’t remember still on the edge of his mind. But he smelled bacon, home fries, and toast. He moaned quietly as he stretched and turned to see the sweet girl, the star of all his daydreams, standing in the doorway with a plate of food steaming in the early sunlight. His chest felt a warmth he couldn’t describe. “Hey Principessa.”

The groggy, warm, and creaky voice he had when he woke up was her new favorite thing. She felt a pulse of adoration for him flow through her like she had been electrocuted. She was lucky she held onto the plate. “I made you an omelet,” she answered softly. She hated being loud in the mornings. Mornings were meant to be quiet and gentle.

“You didn’t have t’do that,” he sat up against the headboard. She walked over to him, dodging Harry’s discarded jeans and T-shirt, and stepped around her own jeans and sweater.

“I did, though,” she nodded knowingly.

“Did y’sleep okay?” He asked as she settled the plate in his lap. It looked delicious and Harry’s stomach growled without him fully realizing how hungry he was.

“Very,” she smiled. “I... I just want to bring Niall his breakfast, then I’ll be back,” she said standing beside him as he looked at her. The sun coming through the blinds outlined her like the angel she really was, and Harry was sure there were cartoon hearts floating around his head as he gazed at her.

“Hurry,” he said cutely biting into the toast. She giggled and scurried to the kitchen and then back down the hall. Harry sipped from the water bottle he left on his nightstand and nearly choked as he realized his mistake. “Wait!” He called.

“Oh... oh I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, you make breakfast, too?” Niall asked sleepily. Harry sighed, tilting his head back against the board behind him and rolled his eyes. “Gonna have to compete for you soon, Tesorino, if Harry doesn’t make a move,” there was a pause and Niall shuffled by Harry’s door. Naked as the day he was born.

She stood in the doorway looking a little surprised and pink cheeked as ever. Harry smirked. “Should have warned you.”

“Any time you want to make me breakfast in bed, Tesorino, my door is always opened.” Niall smiled and pecked her blushing cheek as he headed back to his room holding the plate and ketchup bottle in his hand.

She looked at Harry who casually nibbled on his yummy food. “Did y’make yourself some or are we sharing?” He asked.

She shook her head to rid herself of the image of Niall naked across his bed. “Uh... hold on,” she said. “I’ll go get my plate,” she answered.

“Must have got her second guessing,” Niall shouted.

“Niall, shut it,” Harry growled.

*

After they ate the yummy food, she put their plates in the sink and promised she would wash everything in a bit. She closed the door as she returned, hurried to snuggle under the blankets, and curled up to Harry’s warm body. This had to be what heaven was like. Harry holding her in the sun-rising morning on a Saturday. After a few little turns and movements, she wound up lying with her ear pressed to his heart. His fingers skimmed up and down the length of her arm and it was hard to believe that after all the time he spent thinking about her in this capacity, she was here. Even if there were a million problems and he was still exhausted just by thinking about last night... she was here.

There wasn’t a thing he had done in his life that felt as nice as holding her.

The rise and fall of her body against his made him happy. She was okay. Physically. He certainly wasn’t going to let anyone get to her. After a bit of contemplation, he noticed she had fallen back asleep. He brushed his lips on her forehead and combed her hair softly along her hairline with the pads of his fingertips.

It was easy to pretend nothing was wrong because it felt so perfect. He tried not to think about all the problems that were outside their little cocoon. He wanted to take the night off but honestly, not working might make his mind a little too wandering to all the bad that could happen.

Plus, if she came along to the restaurant or her place, she would only be a short walk away. Not a ten-minute drive across town that would make his anxiety skyrocket. She startled awake, just about as quickly as she fell asleep. It couldn’t have been more than seven minutes. She twitched and frowned, nuzzling her nose against his chest. “Y’okay, Principessa?” His voice was low and gravelly. He kissed her forehead, but it felt like he was kissing on the part of her heart that was infatuated and in love with him.

“Hmm,” she hummed. “Think I fell asleep again for a minute,” she murmured.

“S’okay. Y’can sleep,” he offered. “M’not going anywhere for a while.”

“No?” She asked, was that hope in her voice? God, he was going to say something stupid like he loved her.

“Niall’s going t’do prep. I’ll go in right before the waiters and waitresses do for the evening,” he explained. “So, we’ve got some time t’relax,” he promised. The smile on her face couldn’t stop and Harry thought he might explode from how sweet she looked. “What?” He asked.

“I’m glad... we get to spend the day together,” she admitted, her cheeks turning his favorite shade of pink. It was adorable to see her tuck her face into Harry’s chest. He thought his heart might explode if he fell any harder for her.

“All y’had t’do was ask, Principessa,” he pressed his lips to the crown of her head. Her skin was so soft and he had blindly felt every inch of her in their late night make out session. He kissed her repeatedly until his lips were sore and the tug on his own lips from hers got weaker. “’D’ve been at y’door any time,” he promised.

“I really thought you were mad at me last night,” she whispered sadly.

“You?” He shook his head. “Can’t imagine a way, la mia dolcezza.”

Her heart ached so badly for him.

*

They shared at least a thousand more kisses. Her breathing was erratic when Niall knocked on the door and Harry managed to calmly answer him. His body was hovering above hers, his hips locked between her thighs. “M’heading out,” he called.

“Bye Niall,” Harry said without an ounce of suggestion that they were doing anything other than playing a board game. She was astounded he could keep his composure like that. Maybe she wasn’t so good at kissing him like she had hoped (but Harry assured her it had nothing to do with that, but he just wanted Niall to go away faster).

“Bye Tesorino,” he called with a smile in his voice. Her voice felt shaky when she answered (even though Harry assured her many times over that Niall had no idea she was breathless from kissing).

Harry’s body was lean but sinewy. His boxer briefs pulled tight around what had to be... she couldn’t think about his penis too long or she would be done for. But she could feel his hard length grinding against her core as he kissed her and kissed her for way longer than she thought she’d be able to emotionally handle after a day spent with her family and finding out her stalker was back.

Eventually her stomach signaled to the pair of them that it was time to eat again. Harry headed to the kitchen to get something ready for her. “S’no garlic bread and eggplant,” he shrugged with a wry smile handing her a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and celery sticks.

She never wanted to leave.

“M’gonna, shower, kitten,” he kissed her forehead. “Shout if y’need something, yeah?”

“Or if I want to join?” She asked, batting her eyelashes up at him innocently.

He groaned. “Don’t tempt me, Principessa,” he kissed her quickly on the lips. Fortunately, Eleanor texted her to keep her occupied the length of his shower.

Do you live there now?

She put the phone to her ear and Eleanor answered on the second ring. “I don’t live here.”

“You haven’t left yet. Which is awfully suspicious.”

She smirked and rolled her eyes. “He spent the day with my family yesterday,” she said softly. “Emma called me a bossy bitch and he told her that it wasn’t very nice,” she swallowed the lump of emotion in her throat—the same one she had yesterday when she overheard the conversation. “And he met Ethan—”

“Jesus Christ,” she whispered back.

“—El, he’s...” she sighed shaking her head. “He’s wonderful.”

“I know. We’ve been waiting for you to notice!”

She rolled her eyes but chatted with El for the length of his shower. The sound of the water running eventually stopped and she promised Eleanor to call her again with a better update.

Harry returned to his room with a towel wrapped on his hips and even though she had spent all night and morning pressed to his mostly naked body, save the boxers, this was somehow more naked. Her heart was flying, and she tried not to stare. “Could I also shower?”

He chuckled. “Course, kitten. Let me get you a towel.”

She wished she was cheekier to ask him for his. But instead, she took the time to let the hot water run over her body and further forget about the crazy day she had yesterday. The difference between the state of her brother’s bathroom versus Harry’s was immense. She wanted to send a picture to him and Ethan explaining what their bathroom was supposed to look like, but she didn’t want him to know she was in Harry’s bathroom.

Once showered and dressed, Harry was waiting in the living room. He smiled at the sight of her, dressed in leggings and a dress that fell just above her knees. She looked beautiful, simply put. Even with wet hair he swore she could be a model. (But she strongly denied such a statement when he voiced it to her). She settled herself next to him. Snuggling into his embrace. The afternoon was quiet. He kissed the top of her head every so often while running his hand up and down her arm. She suggested reading for a while and Harry thought it was adorable and sweet. Her face was concentrated while her eyes scanned the pages. A pucker between her eyebrows. Harry thought she was adorable. It was hard to concentrate on his own book when she was in his house, on his couch, sitting so close to him.

About an hour before Harry mentioned they needed to leave for him to head to work, she noticed a shift in him. It was like the night before. When he didn’t hold her hand in the car and when he seemed so...cold. It was almost subtle, the way his body language and demeanor changed. Although they spent the better part of the day in silence (between reading and kissing) the silence within the last hour before they left was tense and cold.

Harry held the door open to his car again. She thanked him graciously. “Oh... I forgot my stuff,” she realized. The distraction of his change in attitude had thrown her off again. It was hard to think straight. She meant to take it with her when they left but, in the moment, Harry had asked if she was ready to go and his voice was so flat, so devoid of inflection, she wondered if he had been replaced with someone else that looked like him.

He cleared his throat putting the car in reverse despite the predicament. “M’bringing y’back here,” he shrugged.

She frowned. “Oh.”

Tense silence ensued. Biting the inside of her lip, she wanted to be braver and reach out and grab his hand. Just like the night before and try to squeeze his fingers between hers. It felt unfair they had to leave their bubble of peace and quiet. Heading to the restaurant—especially knowing he might show up—was obviously ruining whatever was happening here between her and Harry.

He parked outside the restaurant, the sidewalk filling with people for the Saturday dinner rush. Harry scanned as quickly as he could and took a deep breath. “Do y’see him?”

She swallowed and shook her head. She knew she would know if he was there. It happened every time he was around. It was like his gaze was magnetic toward her and there was nothing like the sense of someone staring at her. “Are y’okay?” He asked. “I can take y’back t’my place.”

The thought of being alone in Harry and Niall’s house while Harry was working seemed agonizing. He wouldn’t be home until midnight—maybe later. She bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head. “I’m fine,” she promised.

“Principessa,” his voice was gentle.

“You didn’t hold my hand,” she whispered. “Again.”

Harry sighed, ran a hand over his face and then tapped his hands on the steering wheel. “M’sorry. But...m’scared,” he admitted. “M’going t’do anything t’protect you, my love,” he promised. It felt like her heart skipped a beat at the new pet name. “But, m’really scared,” he admitted. “If something happens t’you...” he shook his head. “I feel like...like I just got you,” of course he did. He did just get her. It was barely twenty-four hours ago that he had kissed her for the first time. “There’s so much I want t’know ‘bout you. So much I want t’spend time learning and m’jus,’” he shook his head. “S’not fair.”

It wasn’t fair. Harry didn’t deserve this. He deserved easy. Deserved a girl that didn’t have a crazy loud family or a stalker. Harry deserved a pretty girl that... wasn’t her. “Nothing is going to happen to me,” she whispered. It was nice that her voice sounded more courageous than she felt.

“Principessa,” he looked at her pointedly. He reached out, cupped her face softly and skimmed his thumb along her cheek. “You are deflecting,” he said knowingly, a sad smirk on the corner of his mouth. “Trying t’get me not t’worry ‘bout you.”

It felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. She did it implicitly without even her brain acknowledging it. She looked at her lap even though Harry still held the side of her face to keep her from moving. “You...you don’t need to.”

“M’always going t’worry ‘bout you, Principessa,” it sounded like a promise.

No one ever worried about her. Except maybe Eleanor—but mostly about the stalker and not much else. Not in a bad way, Eleanor just knew she was okay aside from that . But Mom and Dad depended on her for everything. Growing up she did way more than was expected of her. Carrying a weight on her shoulders that she didn’t know she could hold. James and Emma did the same thing. They didn’t even mean to, it just happened. She didn’t need to be worried about by other people. She was the worrier. Like it was her job. We don’t need to worry about her. She’s lovely. Every parent-teacher conference. Every guidance counselor. Every supervisor or boss. No one ever worried about her.

But here was Harry.

The emotion in her throat felt like it was tying her vocal cords together. She nodded silently. “Okay,” she whispered.

“What do y’want t’do?” He asked softly. He could see something wracking her brain. Something making her spin out internally. He wanted to read her mind more than he wanted anything in the world. Wanted to know what she was trying to keep from him.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. That was probably as close as he could possibly get to reading her mind.

“Okay,” he grabbed her hand with the one not holding her face. His gaze dropped to her eyes, and he applied gentle pressure to the side of her face. A reminder he wanted her to maintain the eye contact she was obviously nervous to hold. “Then m’going t’make a few decisions for you. If y’don’t like it, y’don’t have t’do it, alright?” She nodded. She wasn’t sure anyone in her life had ever given her direction before. It felt weird just imagining. Always the decision maker, always a leader, never a follower. “I’d like y’to hang in the kitchen. Y’can work or whatever. M’sure there’s stuff t’do. When we’re done, I want you t’come home with me again,” he scanned her face for anything that might upset her. “S’that sound alright?”

She nodded silently. It did sound nice. “Can...can I check a couple things I didn’t get yesterday?”

“Of course,” he nodded. “M’not...” he sighed. “M’not ordering you that y’have t’do this. M’jus’ trying t’make this easier on me and you,” his voice was gentle, of course it was. She nodded.

“I know, I appreciate it,” sincerity thick in her voice.

“One last thing,” he murmured, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

She pulled back, away from his mouth so she could look up at him expectantly and he smiled, the first real smile since his demeanor changed with the thought of heading back to work, her apartment, and essentially, the scene of the crime. “If y’want t’hold m’hand, you jus’ have t’reach out and grab it, Principessa. M’all yours,” he promised and kissed her forehead again before dropping her hand and her face to exit the car.

*

When there was a lull, she told Harry she was going to head upstairs and check on a few things. He responded with a half-smile. It was so sexy it made a shock short through her. Her hands smelled like garlic from peeling cloves of it and her eyes kept watering from chopping shallots, so she knew her mascara was smudged. But Harry was looking at her as if she was made out of Christmas lights, sunsets, flowers, and anything else that was beautiful.

“Principessa,” he said quickly stepping away from the flutter of activity of the main part of the kitchen. “You’re sure he’s not here?” He asked again.

She nodded. “I’m sure,” she promised. “I wouldn’t...I wouldn’t go up there alone if he was.”

“Okay,” he pecked her cheek. “Jus’ call if there’s a problem, yeah?”

She smiled assuredly. “Of course.”

She headed to the front of the restaurant, sidestepping the waiting customers and realized her car still wasn’t there. In her hot kisses and time spent with Harry, she forgot completely that her car was still at the shop. Nonetheless, she went to her mailbox—blended in with the other businesses nearby and unlocked it with a small key. The complaints of the wait were minimal—even in the February degree temperatures. “There’s a really hot chef here,” a girl about her age muttered to her friend.

She smirked excited to tell Harry about the compliment. Fortunately, the alleyway still wasn’t creepy. Neither was the stairwell to her apartment. Both miracles because she was a little worried that might happen and another reason why she wanted to get the mail before heading down the small space. Everything in her apartment was in the very same place.

She sighed and sat on her couch with the pile of mail. Since most of her important mail was online, she didn’t really go to the mailbox all that often. She grabbed a notepad of paper she had been using interchangeably for a grocery list and to do list. She pulled the top layer off which read eggs, milk, bread, standard things she always needed. The grocery list went on her coffee table, and she started scribbling a second list. Chores she needed to get done around here, in theory tomorrow. She was pretty sure she could convince Harry to take her home earlier while he did prep work.

The car needed to be dealt with Monday—especially if she was to drive herself to work in the office on Thursday. She added a couple details about work and then sifted through the envelopes. Not much mail was delivered to the apartment. There was the standard issued fliers for the grocery store, which she set aside to clip coupons. Mostly junk mail and letters asking for donations. Her W-2 arrived—finally. It turned out that HR didn’t finalize her new address when she moved above Dolcezza. Which was a good thing in some ways, but she wanted to get her taxes done sooner rather than later—which was then added to her do list now that she had the paperwork to do it. While she went through the remaining envelopes, scanning expiration dates for coupons she might not have gotten to in time, she decided to answer her text messages she had missed.

Thanks for the help, little love. Her mom had texted. It was nice to meet Harry.

Her cheeks heated up as she slid her finger in the envelopes making piles of trash and things to add to different files. Coupons for her favorite retailers also made a significant little pile.

Always, Momma.

Thanks for the cupcakes. Emma had messaged her at about noon. Probably in the middle of the bake sale, but at the time she was making out with Harry and completely forgot to respond. She tried to remember if Emma had ever texted her thanks, ever.

No problem, Em! I'd do anything for you. She hoped she already knew that but after overhearing her talk to Harry, she wasn't so sure, and wanted to be clearer.

There were two messages from Eleanor that she would get to later, still. She didn’t need to open the thread to know she was asking for details about Harry that she wasn’t sure she was ready to answer yet. The final missed messages came from the three-person chat that included James and Ethan. It was a picture of a freshly cleaned bathroom. A candle lit and new fluffy hand towels.

Would you sleepover with me now? Ethan asked.

She rolled her eyes and snorted. James sent a vomiting emoji.

No, but I wouldn’t hate having to pee there.

Ethan answered immediately. Even after her long delay. Hot, with a heart-eye emoji.

You need help.

Quit hitting on my sister!

She honestly couldn’t wait to show Harry the messages. It was funny.

For a moment she forgot about the weekend. The craziness of it all. She was simply going through her mail, smelling the garlic and olive oil rising from the restaurant. Harry was down there waiting anxiously for her to get back, she was sure.

So, in the forgetfulness of the crazy weekend, it was a bit jarring to look at the last piece of mail she had pulled from the envelope and see herself in a picture of the little alleyway from about a week prior. Her work bag on her shoulder and a coffee cup in hand. She had stooped to pick up a package outside the entry way of the door up to her place. There was a small note behind the picture. A scrap piece of paper, really.

It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t because the writing was illegible, but because her hand was shaking while she held it, her eyes blurring with tears.

I knew I’d find you again. I missed you.

--

general taglist: @justlemmeadoreyou @daydreamingofmatilda @sunshinemoonsposts @youdontcaredoyou @tiredinwinter @loving-hazz @likeapplejuicenpeach @straightontilmornin @freedomfireflies @littlenatilda @kathb59 @babegoals @angel-upon @lilfreakjez @mleestiles @ameliaalvarez06 @canyonmoondreams @summertime-pills @daphnesutton @l4rrysh0use @perfectywrong @foreverxholland @lolyouallsuck @buckybarnessimpp @stylesfever @harrysxcarolina @haarrrys @lovrave @st-ev-ie @pandeebearstyles @toosarcastic03 @luvonstyles @tenaciousperfectionunknown @classychalamet @love-letters-to-uranus

Dolcezza: @matildasatellite @crossyourpeter @lovingfurypanda @sideboobrry11 @slayyyyyyyyyyyyyysblog @theresnooneheretosave @emmaawbr

I'm sorry if I missed anyone in the taglist. Please let me know if you'd like to join, if I put you on the wrong list, if it didn't work, if you no longer want to be included, etc. :)

If you like this, check out my masterlist for more of my writing.do

#harry #harry styles writing #harry styles fluff #harry styles blurb #harry styles blurbs #harry styles smut #harry styles angst #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #one direction #one direction writing #dolcezza

[jaidens]

You got that Long Hair, Slicked Back, White T-Shirt - Dallas Winston ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🍒 ꒱

❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

“James Dean day dream look in your eyes,”

pairing [s] : Dallas (Dally) Winston x Soc!Reader

warnings [s] : smoking | making out | beginning action of sex (pulling off pieces of clothes, humping, etc..) |

a/n [s] : my requests are open!!

wc : 1,076

When the famous Greaser; Dallas Winston approached you, you were confused about his actions. Why was he of all people asking you if you had anything planned that Saturday? Of course, people thought he was handsome. Cherry, your best friend, had told you even though she thought he was cute and that if he came back around she'd fall in love with him. So, you gave him a chance.

He had taken you to a small diner around the middle of the ‘territories’. You never believed in the whole hatred between the classes. Your best friend when you were in elementary school had been a Greaser before she moved away from Tulsa.

The first date was nice and sweet. He had worn a cleaned-up white wife-beater and a slick leather jacket. You had worn a small, flower-printed dress and your black wedges. Dallas called you beautiful and set his hand on your lower back. It was protective, showing other people that you were his and to back off.

That's when you knew you had fallen in love with him. When you stared into his eyes as he shared a milkshake with you. When he gave you his leather jacket after the wispy, cold November wind went through the soft, white cardigan you thought would be enough. That was the night he kissed you on the porch of your Daddy’s house. As well as the same night you shared the three words that changed your life, “I love you”.

You had been dating for twelve months and you were celebrating your anniversary at the same diner you had your first date at. You decided to go on a late-night drive in his Thunderbird. You had stopped at a cliff waterfall and watched the sunset. Now, he was smoking a cigarette while you lay on his shoulder with his leather jacket draped over your body. “Hey.. you awake?” His New York accent filled your ears pleasantly. “Yes, Love. Why?” You answered and picked your head up to stare as best as you could with your neck pulled up.

“Wanna hit?” He asked, holding the cigarettes closer to your lips. You shook your head no. You were never fond of smoking ever since your mother developed a horrible cough due to smoking. He smirked and said it was fine you didn't want to. Dallas put his cancer stick out and pulled your face into his. He kissed you desperately and you pushed your head against his.

His tongue touched your lips, tasting the cherry lipstick that you wore that night. It was always his favorite, and it gave him an excuse to “taste your lipstick” to make out with you. “It always tastes so good, you and your cherry lipstick baby..” Dallas groaned out and put his hands in your styled hair.

You jumped up and pulled yourself into his lap. His hands fell to your hips and he started helping you move back and forth. “Baby.. take it slow. You can take me back to your house whenever we do it..” You spoke out, after pulling away from sucking his face to take a breath. You stared into his half-lidded eyes that had lust slowly sucking into them.

His dark eyes followed around your face, admiring your slightly bruised lips and the lipstick that was smeared around your face. “Y’know you're the prettiest girl I've ever seen?” Dally was always a romantic, trying to make you cover your face in embarrassment or start giggling at his compliments. He got a total kick out of making you smile brightly and rub your soft thighs together. “Oh hush, Dal. Acting like you aren't the hottest and absolute hunk of a guy? Can't believe I'm dating you.. a James Dean duplicate.”

Dallas could've sworn that was the best compliment anyone could've given him. He had definitely based his look on the James Dean hit movie, “Rebel Without A Cause”. “With your slick back hair.. the white t-shirt.. could you be less obvious, baby?” You smiled at him and kissed his nose. “My James Dean boy..”

Dallas laughed and threw his head back. “You caught me, didn't you? But, now I gotta ask, who's hotter, me or Dean?” He watched your expression change as you started thinking deeply. “To be honest.. you. I'm not into blonde guys. I love myself a certain brunette boy.” You saw Dally’s eyes light up and he showed off his iconic smirk. “Oh yeah? Who’s that baby?” 

You pushed him backward in the seat and started kissing him again. You wiped that tease smirk that he gave you right off his face. It starts going further, and you slowly put your hands under his white shirt running across the firm abs he had been working on. The windows of his car started to become foggy, heating up with you and Dallas’ passion and love. Your limbs tangled up together as he started to kiss down your neck.

His hand travels past your pretty dress, touching your thighs. You pull away gently once more, as another car pulls up next to you. You know this is Dallas’ spot for taking you. It wasn't uncommon to see someone Dallas knew almost every time. You both look over, seeing his old high school friend and the friend's girlfriend. His hand touches your face making you look back over. The soft glow of the midnight moon casts a beautiful look on his face. You’re absolutely obsessed with him. The way he makes your heart rate speed up whenever he touches you, the way he’s touched every part of you and still makes you get excited to see him. 

This moment will forever be etched into your souls. 

As the intensity of their makeout session peaked, Dallas and you found yourselves breathless, lips lingering in a final, lingering kiss. Your bodies pressed against each other, the warmth and electricity of their connection still pulsating between them.

Dallas gently brushed his fingers along your cheek, his eyes filled with a mixture of desire and adoration. "You're something else, darlin'," he whispered, his voice husky with emotion. "I can't get enough of you.” You're staring into his dark brown eyes with a soft look. “I can’t either, Dally. You’re my forever.” You fall into a last kiss with him as you pull the switch to pull the seats back up. “Let’s get me home before my Daddy kills you. He probably will either way..”

#dallas winston #dally winston #dallas winston x reader #dally x reader #dally winston x reader #the outsiders 1983 #matt dillon x reader #dallas winston the outsiders #dallas winston imagine #dallas winston smut

[shinycupcakebaker]

Holding me tight

Pairing: Robert ‘Bob’Floyd x single mom reader

Summary: Bob surprises you for a late Valentine’s Day celebration. Inspired by the song Bubbly by Colbie Caillat.

Content warnings: fluffiness, surprises, ‘cliff hanger’ ending

Word count: 1.6k

A/N: This is my contribution to @ohtobeleah Galentine’s Day Special. I hope that y’all enjoy it. 😊

You sat in the hospital lab, your leg nervously bouncing as the nurse drew your blood. You glanced at your watch as she withdrew the needle from your arm and placed a cotton ball over the area. You pulled your arm up and held it in place as she placed a piece of tape over the cotton. You stood quickly, “Thank you Chloe. Can you have the results texted or emailed to me? I have to pick up Myka from school.”

She nodded and you quickly headed out to your car. You called the school from the car, letting them know that you were running late but on your way. 20 minutes later, you were pulling up to the school. Parking and hopping out of the car, you headed into the school to sign her out.

“Sorry,” you signed. “An emergency came in and I had some bloodwork drawn.”

“You okay, Dr. L/N?” The secretary, Mrs. Greene signed.

You nodded quickly. “Yes, I’m fine. Just been a bit tired lately. And I had that stomach bug that was going around.”

Mrs. Greene nodded and sighed. “It’s been going thru school like a wildfire. Here she is.”

You turned and saw Myka walking to the front office with her teacher. You smiled as she ran to you, hugging her tightly.

“Hey Myks, you ready? You do you say about pizza for dinner? And we can watch a movie as we eat.”

Myka nodded excitedly and waved good bye to her teacher and Mrs. Greene. You thanked her teacher and headed out to the car, hand in hand.

Myka excitedly told you about her day at school. That there was a new student in her class that was assigned to the desk next to hers. And that they were starting the times tables in Math class. Before long you were pulling into the driveway of your modest 2 bedroom home.

Entering the house, you had Myka put her lunch bag in the kitchen and change out of her uniform before starting her homework at the kitchen table.

“I’m going to take a quick shower.” You had told Myka before making sure the front door was locked and headed upstairs. Walking into your bedroom, smiling softly at the base of peach colored tulips that sat at your bedside. Bob had them sent to you at the hospital for Valentine’s Day.

You and Bob had been doing the long distance thing since you had met at the Naval Ball in October. You had to figure out a way to thank Rooster for asking you to be his ‘date’.

Whenever you talked to Bob or even thought of him, this feeling came over you. It was like tingles combined with butterflies. It started in your toes and worked its way up your body. Your cheeks would flush pick whenever he looked at you with that shy knowing smile. Everyone seemed to think that he was this shy guy that had no game but oh boy, they all were dead wrong. That man had swept you off your feet. He was always 2 steps ahead, carefully observing everything and taking it all in.

He and Rooster had come out to visit for Christmas and he surprised you by learning ASL for Myka. She was so excited and you were beyond touched. Usually when guys found out that you had a daughter, and that she was hearing impaired, they headed for the door. Not Bob. He wanted to know all about her. What she liked. What her favorite color was. He warmed your heart by wanting to get to know her.

You headed back downstairs, sitting down next to Myka and looked over her homework with her. She was working on her times tables with you placed started to place the order for pizza.

“Myks, plain cheese or pepperoni?”

“Pepperoni please.” She smiled and went back to her homework.

You ordered a small pepperoni and a large veggie, no mushrooms with bacon and extra black olives.

“About 30 minutes. What movie did you want to watch?”

She thought for a minute, smiling. “Can we watch The Marvels?”

You nodded and kissed the top of her head as you stood up. “Of course.”

Standing at the sink, you emptied her lunch bag, washing out the plastic containers and the inside of the bag. You started making up her lunch for the next day when the doorbell rang. It hadn’t yet been 30 minutes. Glancing out the window, seeing it had started to rain and frowned.

“Myks, can you see if it’s the pizza?” You dried off your hands and went to grab your wallet for a tip.

“Momma!!! It’s for you!!” Myka came running back to the kitchen with a huge grin. You looked at her strangely and headed out to the front door. Opening the door, gasping loudly as Bob stood in front of you with a large bouquet of roses and tulips.

“Bob!!” You pulled him inside, out of the rain, and threw your arms around his neck. “What are you doing here?”

He pulled you in close, kissing you. “Well, surprise. You said you work Valentine’s Day but you managed to get the early shift today and you were off tomorrow, so I wanted to come out to see you and Myka.”

You sighed softly , laying your head on his chest. “You are amazing, Bob. You know that, right?”

He smiled, looking down at you, and kissed the top of your head. “You’ve told me once or twice.”

Myka ran over, grabbing Bob hand and pulled him towards the living room. “Come on Bob! We’re gonna have pizza and watch a movie.”

He followed behind Myka as she tugged him. “That sounds like fun. What movie are you ladies watching?”

Myka giggled. “The Marvels.”

“I haven’t seen that one yet.” Bob smiled. “Myka, I have something I wanted to ask you. Would you be my Valentine?

She turned her attention to Bob as he revealed a small bouquet of 2 pink roses and 2 pink tulips held by a stuffed bear. She smiled brightly, nodding as she hugged him and took the bouquet from him.

Your heart melted and that warm and fuzzy tingly feeling came over you again. Seeing the two of them interact was something that you had worried about. You hadn’t really dated since Myka’s father had passed and you weren’t sure how she would react to you ‘dating’. But she warmed to Bob instantly and he made sure that she was involved in everything. Myka ran over to you, beaming. “Bob got me flowers Momma!”

“He did? They are beautiful Myks. Let’s put them in some water and we can put them in your room when you head to bed.” You took her hand and led her to the kitchen, looking for a vase. Cutting off the ends and put the flowers in water, the doorbell rang again. Smiling and booping Myka’s nose, “I bet that’s the pizza now.”

Setting the flowers on the counter, you turn and see Bob with the pizzas in hand. He walks to the kitchen, smiling and set them on the counter. “He said they were already paid for, so I gave him a tip.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” You turned, grabbing some paper plates and napkins from the cupboard. “But thank you. Myka, how many slices do you want?”

“Two, please.” She called from the living room. You placed 2 pieces on a plate and opened your pizza box when the smell of bacon and onion combined hit you and you scrambled for the bathroom.

Bob watched as you ran down the hallway, glancing over at Myka. “Momma’s been sick a lot lately.”

He raised his eyebrows, jogging down the hallway as he heard you getting sick. Knocking softly on the door, “Y/N, you okay?”

You quickly rinsed out your mouth and opened the door, nodding. “Yeah, I’m okay Bob.” You placed a hand on his cheek, smiling up at him.

“Myka said you’ve been getting sick a lot.” Bob looked concerned, taking your hand in his, brushing his thumb over your knuckles.

There was the feeling again. You crinkled your nose and nodded. “A couple of weeks ago, a bunch of us from the hospital got food poisoning from the diner across the street from the ER. And last week, the stomach bug was running thru the ER and Myka’s school. I’m really okay.”

“Okay. Myka has the movie ready to go.” Bob nodded and kissed your forehead before leading you out to the living room. You sat down on the couch with him, leaning into his chest as he pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over the two of you. He wrapped his arms around you, his fingers trailing gently up and down your arm as the movie started.

Smiling as the warmth enveloped you, your head tucked under Bob’s chin. As your head laid on his chest, his steady breathing and heartbeat relaxed you. You could imagine staying like this forever, wrapped in his arms. You shifted slightly as your phone chimed with an alert. Pulling your phone from your pocket, the alert was from your MyChart app with your test results. Opening the app quickly, seeing the results, mumbling, “Oh shit….”

#leahsgalentinesdayspecial #bob floyd x reader #bob floyd #top gun maverick

[fuedalreesespieces]

Inuyasha & Demisexuality

i think halfway into writing this i thought about just cramming all my thoughts into a semi-coherent rant due to a combination of a.) lack of access to decent translations of the manga and b.) paranoia about over-analyzing scenes and coming off as delusional (i think by now it's probably too late to thwart that claim) buuut this headcanon in particular is near and dear to me so i want to try and get as in depth as possible.

what is demisexuality?

in simple terms, demisexuality is when an individual doesn't experience primary attraction - that is, the sort of attraction based on immediate observable (often physical) characteristics - and instead only experiences secondary attraction first: the type of attraction that forms after the development of a deep emotional bond.

inuyasha and kikyo

this aforementioned term perfectly describes inuyasha and his relationships with the only women he's ever loved romantically. you could make the claim that his inability to feel primary attraction first stems from his trust issues and not inherent sexual orientation. and to that, i would disagree - he and kikyo develop an emotional bond despite an unspoken lack of trust, which may have improved had naraku not meddled in their lives. still, both find solace in each other's similarities, loneliness, and "outlier" status (though the similarities are in isolation only, if i'm being completely honest) and establish a connection that persists post-revival.

inuyasha eventually did start to feel primary attraction to kikyo during their time together - in the second chapter of the manga, when he compares kagome to her, he states that kikyo "looked pretty."

[source - viz. i haven't been in this fandom long, but what i've gathered is that there are a lot of mis-translations of this manga, even from viz. since i have yet to buy physical copies of the manga and don't have an account for the site, i'm going to be using fan-scans for the rest of these, which hopefully won't really affect what i'm trying to convey since i'll be looking at character expressions rather than dialogue for most of them.]

i'd also note the order in which he lists those traits: kikyo looked intelligent and pretty. her intelligent appearance is the first part of her he remembers, which i think underscores his priorities in this regard. he values things like intelligence and companionship - facets that come to light when developing secondary attraction towards someone - more than aspects of primary attraction.

inuyasha and kagome

as mentioned before, demisexuals don't feel physical attraction before establishing a tight emotional bond. the most blatant examples i could think of this were any instances in which inuyasha sees kagome nude and his difference in reaction - in particular, during the yura of the hair and togenkyo arcs, which are roughly seventy-three chapters apart. there are two new moons in that time, and from that we can say at least two months have passed.

chapter six: yura of the hair

kagome's bathing below him, and i'm sorry, but this expression literally screams "zero fucks given." he does not care in the slightest. not a blush. not a spot of red on his cheeks. not a sweatdrop. not a tee-hee. if i were to describe what he's feeling in this moment i would say "extreme ire." when she uses the sit command on him, it's on the assumption that he's "peeking," but kaede understands that it's actually because inuyasha is trying to steal a shard of the shikon jewel.

"huh?" - he sounds genuinely confused that she reached that conclusion, even though he was quite literally peering over the cliff's edge in what obviously has very perverse connotations. it's almost like he doesn't understand why kagome would think his actions come from a place of sexual attraction because that sort of thing just isn't on his mind at all, and he doesn't get why it would be in the first place.

another extremely blatant example can be see in miroku's introductory chapter: chapter 51, the delinquent priest:

do i even have to say anything. this scene also further emphasizes my previous point - before, the only reason he was there was to try and steal kagome's jewel shard. if his true intentions had been driven by primary attraction, this would have been an opportune moment to "peep." in his words, however, he just isn't interested. note that he could have said something along the lines of "i wouldn't do something like that" (which, if he was attracted to her in that way from the start, wouldn't have done anyway) but specifically i'm not interested. the primary attraction is not there in the slightest. at least, not until:

chapter eighty two: fateful night in togenkyo

the scene i'm talking about needs no introduction, but for context: kagome's half-freaking out after having woken up in a sake bath. inuyasha breaks down the door to come and rescue her, accidentally seeing her naked in the process. well, i'm sure his reaction won't be that dif-

...it's only one panel-

okay, two-

i think at this point it's fairly obvious that primary attraction has developed. besides the fact that he's spent three panels trying not to look like he's having a quasi allergic reaction, it's been approximately two months since they've met, and by now they've definitely formed the deep emotional bond required for him to begin feeling any primary attraction at all. in fact, the chapter where he tells kagome "there's no replacement for you" - that chapter, where he's vulnerable and honest and opening up to her, strengthening their bond further, (ch. 78, a tender smell) is directly before the togenkyo arc begins, and, thus, just before these scenes occur. these chapters have all been building up secondary attraction, and now that primary attraction is just starting to show up.

several chapters later we have this iconic panel from 173:

this is such a look of awe, as though he's gazing up at a goddess. jaw dropped, eyes-wide, words trailing off awe. he's entranced. fully head-over-heels in love, feeling both primary and secondary attraction in regards to kagome, and this trend only continues throughout the entirety of the manga.

conclusion + extra thoughts

my belief in this headcanon comes from not just the evidence depicted above, but because i just related a ton reading those scenes. i found myself just nodding along (as someone who's demisexual themselves!) plus, since ace-spectrum representation is so rare, it's nice to see it reflected in a character whose story and relationships i love dearly.

tags: @nightshade-lullaby

#sorry this is formatted badly lmao #anyway we should totally make this a fandom consensus guys trust me #i realize i could have done this during inuvember's pride day #but i STILL haven't finished reading the manga (excuse: university) and wanted to give this post the more detailed explanations it deserve #honestly i'm ass at analysis but i hope this makes some sense #inuyasha #inumeta #inuyasha headcanons #inukag #inukik #i suppose #kagome higurashi #inuyasha x kagome #inuyasha a feudal fairy tale #inuyasha anime #inuyasha manga #demisexual #ace spectrum #next analysis: me crying about the jineji chapters and its impact on inukag #u dont understand how FERAL those chapters make me

[sonamytrash]

Angel

Levi x Fem!reader

Warnings: Nudity, Reader is described as female. Flirtatious, and suggestive dialogue between characters. OOC in parts for Levi.

Plot: Reader is a charismatic, flirty, fun and popular. She convinces Levi to join her when she's caught trying to sneak off from the camp.

Author's Note: Nothing serious just a fun thought I had. I don't write often so apologies if it isn't upto people's standards. I'll write a part two if people enjoy it though.

---------

Laughter and the hum of conversation radiates from the campfire. After a busy day of travelling, the scouts settle down for the evening, enjoying each other's company and a well-deserved drink. Levi is seated further away from the roudier members, contemplated going to bed soon, but wasn't entirely sure leaving the younger scouts unattended was wise. While this mission was within the safety of the walls, he was no stranger to the dangers humanity posed to one another.

He notices movement behind his tent and walks over to investigate. Finding you creeping towards a pathway that would lead you away from camp.

"And where do you think you're going, y/n?" You stop in your tracks and turn to face the captain. "Captain." You reply with a hint of mischief, knowing you'd been caught sneaking off. You look back towards the path, trying to figure out how to get yourself out of any discipline from the captain.

"Don't look away when I'm talking. Who do you think you are, walking off without permission, brat." He says with a hint of amusement.

You sigh. "I apologise, captain. I was hoping to bathe in the hot springs over by the cliff." You tell him. "I was trying to keep it a secret so that I could go alone." You admit reluctantly.

"A bath can wait. It will be there when your shift ends. And going alone isn't one of your better ideas. We might still be within the safety of the walls, but don't let that fool you into thinking you're safe enough to be wandering off." He speaks in a way that makes it seem that you shouldn't be so eager to get away from him, almost as if he wants to keep an eye on you for his own amusement.

You pout playfully. "My shift ended twenty minutes ago, sir. If you want to accompany me, that way you can keep watch?" You suggest a little bit of a bold move, but Levi definitely had a soft spot for you. Whether that was romantic or not, you couldn't quite figure it out. But you definitely got away with a little more than he'd allow from others. You really don't want to miss out on the opportunity to soak in the natural hot springs, so it seemed like the question was worth the risk.

He thinks about it for a bit, seeming slightly interested in the idea. He leans forward ever so slightly before speaking in an accusing way, "You trying to get me alone, brat?"

You smile flirtatiously "No sir, just hoping humanities strongest might keep watch while I take advantage of a natural hot springs. It's too good to pass up on. But if you want to take advantage too then you're welcome to join me in the water" you suggest "Of the opportunity that is" You add, knowing your last sentence could easily be open to interpretation.

He smirks, seeming amused by your flirtatious teasing. Before speaking, he leans back slightly, getting into a more relaxed position.

"And what would you do if I decided to join you?" He asks.

You shrug before you start walking again in the direction of the springs. Knowing that you had piqued his interest enough now to get your own way. "I guess you'll just have to find out."

Banter between you and Levi wasn't unusual. Your playful personality was refreshing. Feeling his curiosity getting the best of him, he slowly starts to trail behind you. His eyes move from your face to your hips, watching your body as you walk. His smirk shifts to a more playful grin that he keeps to himself.

You arrive at the springs at the base of a cliff, surrounded by trees and gorgeous flowers. The steam from the water is telling of how warm it'll be. It's a clear night with hundreds of stars and a full moon. You're not too far from the rest of the camp, enough for it to be private, but people talking around the campfire can still be heard in the distance.

He, too, notices how secluded the springs are, enjoying the peaceful surroundings. As you stand at the springs, he walks up and stops a few feet behind you, allowing you the space and privacy to undress.

You remove your top and pants before removing the rest of your clothes and step into the water. Your figure is something to be desired amongst the regiment, and many men and even women are attracted to you. Levi is well aware of your popularity. While he tries to ignore idle chit chat amongst soldiers, there have been occasions that he's had to make a point to scouts not to speak of you in such an inappropriate manner. It angers him to say the least, these men making comments about you, he'd be lying too if he said it didn't ignite jealously within him. You relax into the water, a blissful sigh escaping your lips. Pulling Levi from his thoughts as he looks over at you in the water.

Levi watches with a mixture of awe and lust, looking you up and down. When he sees you put your head back and close your eyes, his eyes wondered down to your breasts, the water barely covering your nipples. He wonders to himself if he's in the presence of a goddess. Seeing you like this is something he's only dreamed of.

You open one eye to look over at him "The water is beautiful, this was a good find. You should get in" you say playfully, having caught him staring at you but you decided not to make a point of it. "And you can thank me later for my bright ideas and minor insubordination."

He chuckles, allowing your cheekier side to come out while you were both alone without any reprimand. "I'm sure I will, brat." 

He decides against his better judgement that it would indeed be a shame to pass up on the opportunity to enjoy what the springs have to offer, but even more a waste to miss the opportunity to have this intimate moment with you.

He removes clothes, exposing his defined and muscular body and makes his way into the water. The hot water feels amazing, and he relaxes a bit. You try to avert your gaze from his body, that looks like only a god could have sculpted him. A light blush bringing colour to your cheeks, which you're sure you can blame on the heat of the springs and not the heat in the pit of your stomach. You'd always had a crush on Levi. Working within the medical units of the scouts and not necessarily the front lines of combat meant while you still came under his command and instruction out on missions like this, there wasn't quite as much in the way of restrictions that could stop you pursuing a relationship if you so wished. But you certainly didn't take the captain as the type to have time for such things. But at the end of the day he was a man, with needs, and you weren't shy of the art of seduction when it suited you. And you think he knew that too.

As the two of you soak in the warm water, you enjoy the beauty of your surroundings "This is heavenly, nature is incredible." You say, trying to focus on something other than your handsome company. You admire the details of the moss and flowers that are situated along the waters edge as you trail your fingers gently along the mosses and rockery.

Levi nods, "Yes, but nature can be cruel and unforgiving too. One moment it can be beautiful, the next it can be deadly." He looks at you and pauses for a moment, staring up at the sky. "This world is full of contradictions."

You smile at the captain "Try to relax, it's not often we get an opportunity like this." Trying to encourage him not to think into your statement too much. Nature truly was cruel, putting a man like Levi on the earth, forever so close yet so far from your reach.

He takes a deep breath, attempting to relax as you say. He tries to ignore the distraction of your body within arms reach of him as he tries to focus on the surroundings. After a couple moments of silence, he speaks again.

"You're right... we don't get a lot of quiet moments like this... It is nice..."

You nod in agreement, closing your eyes as you continue to relax, hearing your comrades talking at the campfire in the distance. You laugh to yourself. "People might wonder where you've gone captain, hopefully nobody interrupts us" You tease playfully.

He turns his face to you with a smirk, his deep masculine voice now carrying a slight hint of flirtation in it.

"Oh yeah, what would you do if those same people came over and found us out here, brat?."

You shrug and smirk "It'd be a shame, my secret hot spring would be discovered and those kids would probably want to join us."

He starts to chuckle as your response. A smirk on his face as he looks at you from the corner of his eye, taking in every inch of your body that he can see above the water.

"I'm sure you could handle having an audience." He comments.

"An audience?" You scoff "Can you imagine what Eren and Jean would be like in here with us?" You groan painfully at the thought.

Levi chuckles "Arguing over who gets to sit next to you. A testosterone fuled competition as always." He sighs, his constant efforts to separate the two young men seems to be a daily chore for the captain.

You smirk playfully at him "I suppose it is flattering, but I much prefer the company of a man like yourself over boys any day." You reply confidently. "And what about you? What do you think they'd think if they found us together like this? Naked in the hot springs together." You ask flirtatiously "They'd be so jealous" You tease "Would you enjoy that, captain?" You wink playfully.

He lets out a small chuckle as he hears your question. He gives you a playful grin without hiding the fact that he enjoys the idea of the scouts being flustered at the sight of you, many of them too shy to even talk to you while he gets to be with you in such an intimate environment like this.

"Hm, I suppose I would enjoy that. But keep it between us." He replies, the smirk still present on his face.

You laugh in response "I'm sure some of the female cadets would enjoy seeing you like this too."

He chuckles at your comment, amused by the idea.

"Well we wouldn't want to just make the male cadets jealous would we?" He says in a flirtatious tone, his eyes roaming briefly across your body as he speaks.

"Absolutely not" you laugh playfully "Though I don't need any of the girls to dislike me more than they already do." You say with a hint of amusement noticing the way his eyes scan over your body in the water. Pressing your thighs together to provide some relief for the developing heat having him look at you with such hunger.

"Yeah, can't imagine why you're disliked..." He says sarcastically before turning his attention back to your face. His eyes meeting yours across the water.

You sigh "They're young. I'd have disliked working with me too at that age." You laugh smirking back at Levi.

He smirks at you, He leans back slightly, letting his arms hang by his side as he looks at you.

"You must have been quite the little troublemaker back when you were that age, seeing how you still manage to get under peoples skin all this time later. Or you've honed your charm." He says almost exasperated with your teasing nature.

"Oh believe me, I was. I don't know how I had the energy." You chuckle.

He laughs with you before answering, "Im sure you still have plenty of it, the way you can tease men like me like you do, without getting shy at all." He continues to gaze at you, struggling to fight his arousal with every moment that passes.

You smirk knowingly back at him, enjoying his honesty surrounding your playful treatment towards him these past few years. "Well that's true, I'd say I definitely have honed my skill." you wink playfully at him.

He chuckles a bit at your wink, leaning back slightly and stretching out his arms. He begins to speak again, seeming more interested in exploring your charms.

"Confident and flirtatious. I bet the majority of men fall at your feet, don't they?" He asks curiously. He can't imagine it's only him that struggles with your alluring nature.

"Oh Levi, whatever makes you think that" you say with smirk. He looks you straight in the eyes, clearly wanting to hear your answer.

"Are you denying that men will do just about anything for an angel like yourself?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

He speaks in a playful tone, clearly amused by you trying to pretend to be modest when he fully well knows how popular you are.

You giggle "Angel you say?" You press your finger to your lip "I don't know if that's the word many would use for me." You look over his muscular build and gorgeous face once again. "But you're not wrong, the efforts men will goto always keeps me entertained... trying to get a taste." You say seductively.

He chuckles again at your response, loving the idea of you having every man at your disposal.

"Oh you're definitely an angel, with a face as beautiful as yours, and a body most men could never get enough of." He says bluntly. He leans forward slightly, as he looks at you, a seductive look in his eyes. "It's a full time job trying to keep brats away from your barracks. Having to Discipline them when I overhear their filthy mouths and desperate desires they have for you."

You tilt your head to the side playfully.

"You're right, Levi, and once you've had a taste of the heavenly nectar, it's impossible to go back" You say seductively as you lean towards him

You're inches apart from each other "But what about you Levi, would you like a taste of heaven?" You ask him, your tone quiet and dripping with lust as you bring your hand gently to his cheek.

He sighs as he hears you ask him the question. Without a word he pulls you towards him, your bodies pressed together. He looks down at you for a moment as if to gauge your reaction before speaking.

"I'd love a taste, angel...."

#levi ackerman #levi x reader #levi aot #levi x y/n #levi x you #captain levi #levi smut

[marigoldenblooms]

Unica Semper Avis - Chapter 2

Pairing: Cleric!Wanda x Fem!AvianShifter!Reader x MonsterHunter!Natasha

Prompt: Ever since you’ve come of age, you’ve never been able to stop yourself from transforming into a monster. Whenever the sky would dim with a New Moon, you’d ravage the world with a fury unknown by many. Such is the bane existence of your species. This time, however - something was different. Now, you need help. On the feeble doorstep of the so-called ‘Spirit Healer,’ you found yourself both at the mercy of a cleric, and of a monster hunter’s blade. Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

MINORS DNI - 18+

TW/General Tags: No mention of Y/N, slow burn, stranger to lovers (Wanda), enemies to lovers (Natasha), eventual smut (lord have mercy), Swearing, Fantasy violence, occasional descriptions of light body horror during transformation, slight self harm, slight restraint, angst, fluff, will add tags as they appear!

Chapter Warnings: Non-consensual touching (arms/shoulders), slight transformation description, threatening, mentions of pain (burning), intimidation tactics, arguments, manipulation, angst, canon-level violence, mentions of scarring/burnt skin, restraint, we're finally leaving Belmoor y'all

A/N: Holy crap y'all, thanks for the incredible responses on everything once again! We finally get some trio dialogue going in this chapter ^^ Natasha’s interrogation is based within Latin, while R’s occasional text is built primarily within greek. Russian is also here, as expected. I had nothing for Smut Saturday, so I hope lore will suffice ^^' We will see if the writing block ceases, lol

Equally, we’ve got a Unica tag list coming along! Let me know if you’d like to be added to it! 

Word count: 3.9k - Read Length: 14 minutes, 29 seconds. ~~~

You’d never dreamt awake before. 

You could feel your mind faintly, cognition ghostly as you’d blink within your own head. Your transformation’s destruction was never something you were aware of until you rose out of it, covered in viscera from your form’s hunt. Was it really your body, after that? As you’d drift hazily in a river of your own thoughts, you couldn’t separate feathers from skin. You and your monster were one in the same.

You’d try to shut your eyes again, fall back into the painless slumber your molt offered. A part of you knew the horror you’d awake to- perhaps your succession had slaughtered them all, friend and foe alike. You would grieve her as you had the others, the fiery healer with her crimson magic. The knight would become a cliff note to your psyche, a tack onto an endless tally-board. You were used to being hunted. 

It’d be minutes before you realized you weren’t alone. 

Gaze snapping upwards, you’d bare your teeth towards the intruder which marred your thoughts, only to find a translucent figure. You could feel her chill from here, Her feathered speckling like a shawl over her shoulders, the wings behind her blanketing into a beautiful frame. She reached a hand towards you, although her smile was too thin to be kind. She didn’t look much different than she’d appeared days prior within your dreams yet again. The Aegyptius creation deity. Why was she here?

You didn’t shy from her gaze, looking at her with both respect and provocation. She was in your mind, fragmented as it was while your body rampaged elsewhere. If there was anywhere you were dominion of, it was this. “I know who you are now, Matron,” you’d assure, your voice echoing in the dim expanse, rippling along the water of your thoughts. She seemed to catch your words, and her grin grew wider, eyes narrowing. She’d tut, and in a second you could feel her cold, mist-like hands on your shoulders, “I expect something more reverent from my martyr..but you will learn.” 

“Martyr?” Your expression grew sour as she wouldn’t elaborate, toying with your frustration as she’d run her palms down your arms. An uncomfortable shiver would brace through your body, and you could feel your form stretch beneath as if her touch spurred your transformation all over again. She was cruel, a pained sigh leaving you as your teeth would clench. 

Her grasp on you would tighten, feeling the brittleness of pin feathers beneath flesh, “Your mind may not remember, fledgeling…but all my creations know my whims. And yet you wish to rid yourself of me?” Her laugh would be musical, but the bite in her tone was awash with rage, thinly veiled as the Matron stalked circles around you. 

The frustration that had flowed through you prior to your molt was flimsy now, embers against a cold snap. You felt your gut sink, fear bubbling thickly in your throat. You’d stopped looking at her by now, your gaze piercing down into nothingness. All you could manage was a pitiful nod, and you couldn’t tell if her snicker was anger from your lackluster response or joy from how compliant she’d rendered you. They were one in the same with your kind, you supposed. 

“You cannot..although I’m certain you’ve already understood that.” She’d pause in front of your face, ghostly touch icy as she’d claw your chin to meet your gaze with hers. Her phrase would come quickly, as if she was excited to utter it, “And for penance…you must kill that witch.”

“What?” They weren’t dead already? Your molt would’ve torn her to shreds by now. What was happening in the waking world? Even within a dream, the thought of murdering another with your conscious mind churned your stomach, especially one that brought you food. Mercy. “Command my body to do it, then-”  

“No. You must do this as human,” Her smile was dagger-thin now, and you swear sparks flashed from her maw when she spoke. “Not as bird. Your hunger will be your guide.” Her hands would cradle your face now, the chill of her spectral palms almost forgotten as your mind would rush and lurch. You could feel the knaw of famine in your gut, a terrible feeling, all too real. 

“I reject this- she has been kind, I-” The Matron would’ve disappeared immediately, the thawing of your flesh the only reminder.  Your plea would be met with silence, hyperventilation coaxing your heart into overdrive. Thudding in your skull, you could almost feel the weight of bone in your jaws, your throat suddenly parched. You’d rasp, drawing your hands close to cradle yourself as the world grew fuzzy and vague, “I don’t want to be a monster..”

“Oh, my martyr..” She’d murmur, her voice suddenly swirling along the shell of your ear, freezing your hunch in place. 

“That’s what I made you for.”

Your mind would swim, lucidity and unconsciousness blending into tar which filled your brain. You’d blink, heavier than before..and just before you’d wake, you’d feel her touch on your shoulder again. 

“Survivε, mυ μάρτυρας..” 

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

You’d regain your mind halfway through it all. Your body ached and tore within you, the subtle itch of plumage molting from your skin a feeling you couldn’t soothe. You were in the barn. 

Your arms were held back as you’d kneel on the floor, a searing heat plaguing your wrists as you’d fight against its hold- your chains. They’d manage to cage you. If you hadn’t been in so much pain, you would’ve wheezed relief at that. Your tongue was dry, the taste of blood and bone absent on your lips. You hadn’t eaten anyone during your transformation, and yet your body twinged with agony all the more for it. You had no fuel to offer you shifting body, and so it ate you from the inside to power your return to being humanoid. Panting a low whine, spasms would twitch your form as your bones would grow heavier within your flesh, solid all the way through. Even through your strain, a quiet shuffle would draw your eyes immediately- your heightened instincts were always the last things to go. In the recluses of the barn stood your prior attacker, although her attention was focused elsewhere, ghosting over something in the palm of her gloved hand. Thank fuck.

It was only now you could get a good look at her. Her hair was auburn, braided sharply in cascading strands which met the nape of her neck. It had been chilled near its ends, pale and almost wispy, as though something had leached the color from it. Sorcery? Stress? You couldn’t tell at first glance, but the perpetual scoff that seemed to mold into her face signaled the latter. 

Blueish gray irises stared into what she held, and it was only when you growled a restrained snarl at the sight did her eyes lock to yours. She was holding one of your shorn feathers, the visage making your hackles raise. You wouldn’t shy from her gaze as you had with Wanda, even raising your chin higher so you looked down at her with pinprick pupils- you were an adversary. A challenger. You didn’t fear her. Your head throbbed, the heavy burn of your engraved chains a constant reminder. 

She’d approach you with malice- unsurprising given your circumstances, but the prick of a metal blade against your neck was a little more shocking. This early? Damn. You’d grit your teeth but remain steadfast, even as she’d glower over you. 

“Ossifraga, dic omnia quae scis.” She’d spit, her words foreign yet familiar in your ears. ‘omia’ was a word you gleamed in an instant - ‘everything’, yet the rest was butchered in her mouth. You’d bare your teeth at her, grin sickeningly raw even as she’d press her knife’s edge to your nape. “Dic mihi omnia Fraga, ne te interficiam sicut columbam-“ 

Her anger would shatter at the creaking barn door, flinching just as you did. At least one similarity between the two of you. A familiar soothing tone would echo to you, honeyed and thick, albeit strangled from…anger. Anger? 

“I leave you for one second, you глупый козел-“ Wanda muttered harshly, her stomping footfalls sharply rattling in your skull. She’d pluck the knight’s hand away from you, grip harsh as she’d try to wrestle away their weapon- futile, as their shock to Wanda’s insult only lasted so long. From your attacker’s reaction, it seemed they shared a language. Interesting. “And here you are, nicking my patient-“ 

You’d struggle at Wanda’s words, trying to show her your discomfort. Your wrists continued to burn, and you swear their imprint would be branded on your skin if they weren’t taken off soon. And yet, it may be safer if you remain chained. The Matron’s words still throbbed in your ears, a blinding sight locking your gaze onto Wanda before you bit it back down. You’d breathe, ragged, before gasping a sound which seemed to catch her attention. Her nimble fingers would move to start unshackling you, before being caught by Natasha’s rough grip, pulling her immediately back, “What are you doing-!? It’ll kill you-“

“I won’t harm…her..-“ You’d hiss, finding your bearings as your larynx would thrum with your voice again. You’d glare at the hunter, voice steadfast even through your pain, “You’re- a different story, knight..let me go, and maybe I’ll consider.”

You saw her jaw flex at your tone, malice seeping from every beat of her heart. She’d release Wanda with a tight-lipped grumble, your wrists losing their binds seconds later. You’d rub at the tender flesh for a split second, gasping and hiding away as it’d still bubble with scorching heat. You were too late, and soon your wrists would scar over. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt as bad next time, perhaps.

You’d sit up, movements sluggish as you’d sync again with a heavier frame. Your glance would be wary, looking to Wanda as if the knight wasn’t there. You saw annoyance flash across the hunter’s expression, and satisfaction bloomed in yours. Let her be upset. “What happened..? You shackled me, I am thankful for it.”

“And yet your wrists don’t look happy..” Wanda would respond with muffled concern, although you’d retreat from her scarlet magic’s attempt to heal- scars proved you had lived, this one above all. This one showed you could trust the healer to protect you when you couldn’t protect her. The slow rumble of starvation proved you wouldn’t be able to protect her for a long time. She’d sigh, but wouldn’t press further. “You’ve been in the barn for three days, we put you here on the evening of the first-“ 

Your expression faltering would quiet her words, a shaky inhale slicing into the room’s air. Three days. “I’ve never been..” you’d grip your hair as you spoke, bending to pull more of you closer. You’d stare at your shorn feathers, brilliant white where they lay unheated, almost ghostly in the thin light of Wanda’s shed. 

“I’ve never been transformed for that long.”

“And why should we believe you? You could feather again as we speak- kill us all.” The knight would glare at you, though there was a chance she never stopped, boring a hole into your skull which you gladly challenged. You’d bark a laugh, the sound uncomfortable in your raw chest and yet you reveled in how she flinched away. The air grew thick and still, “If you hunt my kind with that attitude, you obviously know nothing of the Aegyptius.”

“Then enlighten me, Fraga-”” She said that like an insult to you, and yet it didn’t register. 

  “And why the hell should I-?”

 “Because we have a common goal, you dolts-“ 

At Wanda’s interjection, your voice would sliver and slip away, her face red and scrunched with frustration. It was almost adorable how her nostrils flared with her words, yet the rage in her eyes was something that stirred sorrow inside you. Something clicked in the back of your mind, memories from your brood when you were young, and yet nothing registered in the fog of retorting anger. There was curiosity on the hunter’s face, shoulders squared back at Wanda’s tone, and yet your mind still held what the knight had said before.

“What did you call me?” Your words stumbled as you’d shift to stand, legs frail under the weight of yourself. You wouldn’t see the knight’s bewildered expression until much later, too busy keeping your feet underneath you, “Fraga…do you not even know what you are?” “Enlighten me,” you’d taunt, clipped thin between your barred teeth. Wanda would scoff, shaking her head in your peripheral.

“You are Ossifraga. Bone-breaker, the unclean bird..” Your eyes would narrow, but not in the way the hunter wanted, it seems. These names meant nothing to you. “A mistake upon your feathered kind. A blight-'' Her words would build in strength, low as she’d stalk dangerous steps towards you. You looked towards Wanda, her hands slowly raising as scarlet magic grew to weave around her fingers.

“Others of your kind can be minstrels, songbirds or doves- even raptors can experience valor as warriors…but you, Fraga, are the mutated husk of your false god.” She spit her tone with vitriol, acidic. The receding down on the back of your neck rose as your blood ran cold- Your heartbeat thudded in your ears, a lump swelling in your throat, but it wasn’t all fear. There was something else, a chill unfamiliar to your waking form, coaxing your mouth open. You resisted, even your back reached the worn wood of the barn’s walls and the knight’s voice swarmed back into focus. 

 “A dangerous monster, consuming the bones of innocents and leaving plague in your wake,” A gleaming metal shone near her wrist, and your stomach dropped all too late. The knife was probably sacred, intricately carved with markings you could hardly make out in the blur of motion, her gloved hand grasping your shoulder while the other swung to pierce your stomach. 

“You’re the infection I must quell-” 

Your maw opened before you could think.  

“Αμολάω-!” You’d shriek, your voice hissing with the inflection of many. You heard the clatter of metal on the ground as your tone echoed forth. The knight would barrel backwards, clutching her head as Wanda flinched behind her, the shockwave of your words hitting her fainter the further it went from your mouth. 

You kicked away the knight’s dropped blade, another command echoing from you, your tone no longer your own, cold and bitter on your tongue, “Γονατίστε, παράσιτα- Θα σε καταβροχθίσω χωρίς δεύτερη σκέψη..”

The hunter sunk to her knees before your sentence had finished. You’d gasp a second later,  your lungs filled with air as though they’d never have before. Blinking, you’d feel a tenseness in your body, arms trailing with thin plumage which quickly sunk beneath your skin. You’d watch it leave with a cold numbing shock, jaw slung open with a heavy breath. Your thoughts translated your foreign words after a few moments, ‘Let go. Kneel, vermin. I will devour you without a second thought.’

Your feathers had never grown beyond your molt, confined to the hellish day a month where you were no longer yourself. Your hands tremored, ghosting over the goosebumps that had been left behind. It’s like the feathers had never been there- and yet you could feel your body creak and crunch, as though impatient.  

The hunter stood a few seconds later, gait slow as she’d physically wrench herself from your command’s thrall. She’d brush at her scuffed armor, plagued with the barn’s dirt which clung to the metal, “I know what you’re saying. Your pronunciation is weaker, and yet it is still-” 

“The language of my kind,” You’d mutter without sympathy, scoffing as the knight seemed to take offense to your interruption. “You’ve stripped it of its history..it's what you spoke before.” You’d never learned your own tongue, and yet half your thoughts spoke in it now. A shiver rolled down your spine, a cascading chill that felt like an awaiting grasp. 

“Ah, so it can listen..” She’d sneer, glance harsh as she’d eye her forlorn blade again. Wanda’s interjection would be seen before it was heard, scarlet magic weaving around the hilt before daintily grasping it, pawing it over to her awaiting palm. “And so must you, Romanova..” The way she curved the words had a sense of familiarity, drawing a frustrated huff from the other woman. You’d narrow your eyes, but it wasn’t your turn to speak anymore, “You both listen, or you leave my barn with nothing but a death wish. Am I clear?”

You’d nod slowly, and by Wanda’s sigh, you assumed the knight did the same. “Alright. Let’s go somewhere cozier, shall we?”

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

Wanda’s home would’ve been just as comfortable as it had been the prior evening, albeit more cramped. Between three people in the living room, a thin glow of red magic seeping through the slats of wood that boarded the kitchen up, and the deadly eye contact you and the knight shot at each other every second, the air was never thicker.

“And you tore through the kitchen wall,” Wanda’s words were analytical, the gnawing feeling of guilt settling heavy in your gut. You kept your distance from her, a pang of hunger grinding into your thoughts the second you grew closer to the witch. You chewed at the inside of your lip as her palm waved towards the construction her sorcery partook in. Her shrug was too easy, “Not afraid of remodeling, after Romanova mistook my window for a door-” 

She’d almost bite towards the hunter, a simmering scoff laced between her accented tone. “Is that your name? ‘Romanova’?” The knight would leer at your question, slinging her arm against the heavy metal of her armor. From Wanda’s scoff, it seems she’d gotten the same reaction while you were out. “You butcher my family title, Fraga-” 

“Give me your name and I won’t have to.” You’d raise a brow as her eyes locked to yours, your breath thin and still. You felt the cold in your throat again, creeping like a retch up your windpipe- yet you swallowed it with huskier words, “Since we’re all in the sharing mood. Aren’t we?”

Her sigh was almost palpable, hissing in a low breath, “I am Natasha Alianovna Romanova. Templar of Latrodectus, it’s esteemed widow.” That title meant nothing to you, although your unfitting reaction seemed to knock her down a few pegs. Her reply was less angry than curious, “Did you ever earn a name, Fraga?”

“Earn?” Your snort brought an angry heat to Natasha’s face, perplexed laughter ricocheting through your solid skeleton, “You really do know nothing of my kind. We do not remember names. Unimportant.”

You wouldn’t see Wanda’s furrowed look until she exhaled sharply, looking away from you with crossed arms. Your mind sunk and crackled whenever you looked in her direction, suddenly parched. The flutter in your stomach remained, bringing an uncomfortable nausea rather than burst of curiosity. You kept your eyes on Natasha, expression hollowed, “Why do either of you stay? This..is your house, Wanda, I know-” 

“Because we want to help you-” “She does- mhph-” Wanda’s hand would outstretch towards Natasha, blocking her mouth with a wispy scarlet sheen. You looked at Wanda’s shadow, feeling her sigh as your gaze never met hers. Her voice was calmer yet thin, strained between forces, “Do you want to rid yourself of your feathers?”

“Yes,” Your quick response earned an unseen smile from the witch, although your skin grew clammy at the thought. Natasha shuffled, and when you met her eyes you saw hers were raised, almost in shock, her mouth still clasped closed. “Then we have a common interest. This one can find a method beyond violence- and if your transformation is progressing faster, then it is my role to bring you back to normalcy.” 

You’d meet her glance now, her smile radiating a warmth into you that culled away some of the chill, satiated you. Your palms felt your own, awkwardly poised as you offered your hold to the witch, her touch filling you with an unfamiliar satisfaction. You shook her hand against yours, ignoring Natasha’s silent indignation burning into your skull. Perhaps you could control yourself- you could protect each other, “Thank you, Wanda.” 

“Ah, none of that- you are a medicinal marvel..” She’d tease, your thanks rolling right off of her. You met her grin with your own, her words shushing as she’d lean to you, “Think of what it will do for my prices, to heal an Ossifraga-” 

Your laugh was a startling welcome, filling you with mirth as it was returned. “I will pay you then. How many feathers-?” Her hand patted yours before receding, wiping her palm along her clothed side. “...I’ll keep a running tab for you, Птичка.”

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

The sun had risen into midday, and you basked in its sunlight. Your shoulders felt tense as you hauled supplies towards the wagon Wanda and Natasha had acquired an hour ago from Belmoor proper. You’d hung back, admiring the hazy scarlet tendrils which packed Wanda’s belongings. The two had found you handing random objects to the sorcerous helpers when they returned, although Natasha was pulled away by the witch before she could crow about the non-essentiality of bringing Wanda’s butter churn. 

The mule that was attached to the wagon- Daisy, Doris, something like that- had been chewing on the turf as you’d settled another crate of rations along the wagon’s bed, pushing it into place with a heavy shove. It was a ten days road travel to Arkridge, the capital of this province, as you’d been told. Its libraries held what could be the first of many secrets. The forest never spoke of it, yet its grandeur was palpable even through Natasha’s gruff words. She hadn’t tried to stab you again, although her glare was seething whenever you met it. 

You passed each other by as you’d return towards the house, huffing an unimpressed groan as her haul was much smaller than yours. She’d abandoned her armor for now, and you watched as the musculature of her back shifted as she’d set her barrel down. You could take her if you had to, even without your strength- though the scabbard along her back gave you pause, the longsword’s hilt gleaming in the light. It had been engraved, similar to the leather sheath that bound it, and you’d guess it was the same inscription. Runic and familiar, it brought your thought to your chains, their markings similar yet worn. Perhaps you’d find a way to ask about it, if you could have a conversation without insulting each other.

Your side met Wanda’s as you leaned in her vicinity, your gaze locked onto the knight a dozen meters away. The witch’s voice was smoothed and sweet, honey-like as she’d offer her palm to yours again, inspecting the scarring along your skin as you’d accept. “Your name isn’t Margo, is it?” 

You shook your head, still in her embrace, “No. I just needed something to give to you. Satisfy..”

Your words petered out into silence, her squeeze of your hand gentle, shying away from the raw flesh of your wrists. “You don’t have to do that, Ласточка. I have countless things to call you that you won’t forget.” Her wink made your face flush, shying away from her gaze as her tone wrapped around your thoughts. Her giggle wasn’t lost on you, a fondness in her expression you couldn’t decipher. “Will you tell me what that means?”

She’d shake her head, just before you heard Natasha’s heavy footfalls towards you. The forested grove retreated behind as you three would set forth a few minutes later, silence thick. Bellmoor would be forgotten, in favor of new memories. Perhaps your first night at camp would be more riveting. 

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

Tag List: @mousetheorist

#minors dni #wanda maximoff x fem!reader #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff #natasha romanoff x reader #black widow x reader #scarlet witch x reader #wanda maximoff x natasha romanoff #wandanat #mommy wanda #wandanat x reader #natasha x reader #female reader #fem reader #smut with plot #wanda smut #wanda maximoff smut #natasha smut #slow burn #fantasy au #bearrrwrites

[luxesiren]

⸻ 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄 :: solo vanitas scene x implied fem!reader.

cw :: 18+ MDNI. edging, vivid dreaming, masturbation, overstimulation

a/n :: i wrote this for my bby @smiley-babe. she loves this man and like felt her fr!! btw vanitas owns a bookstore in this. when i say implied at the top, i mean she’s just in his imagination, not really there.

it’s slow in the bookstore right now, barely anyone here and all he can think about right now is you. every word you say to him has him gripping his desk and he can’t focus on fulfilling this order. he has to get it done but the thought of you makes him so sick that he has to do something about it, he sighs and places the order to the side and walks away — he locks the front door and turns the sign to where it signifies that the store is closed.

it doesn’t take much to make him needy and desperate, he’s never had anyone interest him the way you have and it’s affecting him in ways that he can’t explain. he could explain them but every thought is riddled with lust and all he thinks about is putting all that energy into your warm cunt.

vanitas is throbbing in his jeans, it’s painful and he needs some form of relief so he’ll do it himself. he locks himself in his office and palms his bulge already teasing himself even though he just needs to be relieved, so sensitive and he hasn’t even fully touched his own cock.

a whimper falls from his lips when he bucks into his hand, unbuckling his belt and unzipping his jeans, taking note of the big wet spot that already formed in his underwear, almost embarrassing, really but he doesn’t care. he could’ve cum in his pants and he still wouldn’t have batted an eye, he looks down at his cock, his tip slightly red and so sensitive.

he spits on his hand and starts to slowly stroke his cock, precum leaking steadily from his tip and making the glide much easier to navigate. he tosses his head back against the chair, a small breathy groan leaving his lips as he continues to stroke over himself, keeping the same snail pace before slowly speeding up. he twists his wrist over his shaft and moves it just the way he likes it — his mind clouded with thoughts of you and only you, how you were speaking to him, and thinking about he would act if you were this close to him.

he closes his eyes and imagines how bad he wants you in his lap and grinding down on him and speaking to him softly in his ear. he whimpers so loud that it rings out in his own ears, he forgets about his hand on his cock and imagines being engulfed by your warm cunt. you’re riding him practically teasing him and he can’t get over it, “pretty boy, vanitas, does that feel good?” you would say, your voice laced with arousal and some sort of dominance that he can’t get over.

he would whine and thrust into you, trying to reach that spot that makes you cry out. “mm yes…it feels good, please, please..” he’s begging but he doesn’t know what for, you don’t speed up, you keep that same pace and it drives him up the walls — he doesn’t know where to place his hands but you guide him anyways, placing his hands on your tits and his instinct is to squeeze and fondle them to make you proud.

you clench around him and his eyes start to well up, tears forming in his lash line and threatening to fall over. soft sobs begin to over take his body as he’s reaching his peak but then it stops, the soft edge of almost leaping off a cliff now gone because of the way he’s edging himself. he squeezes the base of his shaft to stop himself from cumming and starts again once the feeling wears off.

he thinks about how you would teach him to finger you, his fingers soaked with your arousal but he doesn’t care. he likes to see it, so much slick covering his index and middle finger and he wants to lick it off his fingers. all this imagining has him shaking and trembling, damn near sobbing because all he wants is to touch, feel, and taste you.

he speeds up, fucking his fist with no regard because he wants to cum now. he doesn’t care to edge himself, this was the first time he’s felt overly desperate and it’s all because of you, because of that nickname, fuck, he wishes he could cum deep inside you and make you cry out for him. high pitched whimpers are continuous, “fuck, fuck, m’please, please…” he’s begging for reprieve, something to ground him.

he finally snaps, cumming so hard that he almost blacks out, the sticky substance hitting his chest and his chin. he doesn’t even care that he ruined his shirt, not one care in the world as he strokes over his cock again — making sure he can’t cum anymore, he knows that if you were here, he wouldn’t be stopping until both of you passed out.

© 𝐥𝐮𝐱𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐧 | all rights reserved to me, please do not steal, copy, or repost to other websites.

#𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜… #vanitas x reader #the case study of vanitas #memoir of vanitas #vnc vanitas #vanitas no carte #vanitas smut #vanitas x you

[thatdeadaquarius]

Friend. F r I e N d. Your smol brother Razor hcs made my insides flippyflop. I beg, I plead...

My daughter QiQi? Holding onto my sleeve while we go picking herbs so she knows she can get home? Getting her a little bag with a notebook and pen so she always has memory?

SAYING THE LINE FROM WHERE THE WIND LEADS AND ASKING FOR A HUG?!

Scolding Baizhu for letting her go herb picking when he knows she probably won't remember the way home?!?! Because Archons man like NO.

Hello!! Flippyflop??!! Over my writing ??!! 🥺🥺 <3

AND FOR MY NEXT TRICK... WE SHALL DO... THE OTHER CHILD THAT NEEDS A CARING ADULT!!

Also srry im rlly slow getting to yalls asks i promise it will come and i love u all for giving me asks <33

(*´▽)ノ✨️ NOW LETS GO ! ! ✨️

(Now before yall come at me, I am aware Baizhu does care about her, but BUT, he still is studying her/canonically has ulterior motives, and lets her pick herbs when she may not be able to find her way back, also he doesnt strike me as the type to be super affectionate/parental, as cute as it is to write him that way)

What a b l e s s e d ask, this is so cute i love all the kids in genshin their adorable

So... im kinda a consistent Sagau writer, and i love requests like this! But also, im not sure if u guys want me to still apply Sagau/Isekai setting to these requests on top of what was initially asked??

So i will pretty much always make all requests will be SAGAU/ISEKAI Reader based, UNLESS YOU STATE OTHERWISE IN THE ASK!!

Oh Qiqi, another child product of ✨️traumatic events✨️

(Future me after finishing this: oh god what monster have I unleashed upon the world, upon the sagau tag, upon my innocent followers...)

Damn ur lucky u didnt land in Jueyun Karst or nothin

Or on one of the many mountains/cliffs all over Liyue

Its honestly more a shock u arent on a mountain bc theres so many,,

Ur pretty close to Liyue Harbor luckily, not in town, but sort of at the base of Mt Tianheng by the looks of it, almost behind it

Its about sunset too, WOW

Liyue Harbor is hella bigger than in game, holy fuck its actually a huge port city

Should u go into the city??

Ur not sure, do they speak English??

...Wait u dont got a single mora

U cant even get an inn rn RIP

?? Should u just? Find a cave?? To sleep in??

But what about monsters??!

(Call Xiao? Nah he'd freak tf out on u, Shenhe maybe? She is the only option u can think of that seems like she would possibly take in a random homeless traveler from another world, mostly bc she could beat ur ass no matter what)

So,, Shenhe? Maybe? Ur still not sold on the idea but maybe u could gather something out here to sell on a street corner?? Or to Wanmin maybe for fresh ingredients?

Yeah sure why not,

With that, u just wander around the area, checking out all the plants and animals

The fennec foxes are so adorable

Oh shit some mint and sweet flower, finally

Oh hell yeah a sunsettia, u got food now 💪

U hold onto some of it to sell (including a low violet grass hell yeah)

Crunchin and munchin ur way thru Liyue now, it isnt until u find a particularly wooded area that u hear ur first sign of human life

...

Stand corrected,

Unlife...?

A soft hum, almost a lullaby, comes from Qiqi as she picks up other flowers youve never seen before (ooo new liyue plants)

Should u just leave? She seems busy and u dont wanna distract her bc she might forget to go back to her task..

Wait a minute.

On the other hand,

Now you can finally achieve one of your many goals in Genshin that you couldn't as a player.

Help Qiqi collect herbs and guide her back,

And scold Baizhu. >:)

.

(whats he gonna do?? call the milieth on you??? for some rude person who doesnt like the way he makes a child wander off, who has memory issues and cant find her way back??? thats what you thought)

.

Approaching the tiny zombie girl, you purposely step on a branch to let her know ur there

...she doesn't even flinch, instead she vvveerrryy slooowwwlllyyy lifts her head up from her bent position

Her big doe eyes 🥺

They dont look empty, or dead just kinda dreamy

She tilts her head, the adepti paper covering an eye

Qiqi: "...do I know you? ..you feel... familiar..."

Oh this is crazy, she sounds exactly like in game, but instead of in a screen, her voice is in front of you

You respond "Oh I don't think so?" You introduce yourself,

"Are you alone out here? The sun is setting..."

It didnt strike you until now, but the zombie girl is so... so... tiny

OMGGGG😫💘

I mean, you knew the kids were small, but not 5-6 year old small!!!

Qiqi stands, and you see her holding a basket in the crook of her other arm, full of greenery

(some u recognize like violet grass, horsetails, but others are completely new, wow u gotta wander around Liyue after u find somewhere to sleep tonight to check out how much more fleshed out it is irl...)

The little cryo user is the picture perfect image of sweetness 💝✨️

The paper falls to the side, and both of her gentle pink eyes look up at you (💔)

Qiqi answers slowly, "...I messed up my routine, I forgot to get herbs this morning...so I couldn't make the medicine for today... I'm getting them now instead.."

She turns to the right, then left, and blinks a few times (💔💔💔)

She kinda looks like she forgot the way back,, you figure you might as well ask

"Do you want help getting back to town? The pharmacy right?"

Qiqi looks back at you, and nods, "Okay...thank you..."

And

And!!

She takes YOUR HANNNDDDD 😫😫😫💔💔💔

Her small fingers are cold, and they wrap around only two of your fingers

SOBBING

Trying to hold the squeal inside urself, you turn and begin to walk off together, following the path around Mt. Tianheng into town

♤

HELL YEAH QIQI TIME LETS GOOO

After hearing about your homeless situation, Qiqi and Baizhu offer the guest room for the night, also partially as a thank you for helping Qiqi (thank fuck theyre that nice)

After talking on the way over,

Turns out that Baizhu lives just out of town of Liyue, (not found in the game, was is it with not showing characters houses...) that way he has some greenery around his house, and has a garden out back :D 🌱

Baizhu just gets this strange familiar feeling from you (it almost reminds him of,, seeing a regular customer that has been to see him hundreds of times...) that convinces him to offer you a job at the pharmacy, in exchange for living in the guest room for awhile ! ! WOO

MISSION 1:

FIND SOMEWHERE TO SLEEP + GET A JOB, COMPLETED

♧

Now MISSION 2:

GET MONEY, GET FOOD, SCOLD BAIZHU, LOVE QIQI

Literally on the first day out ur like,, Baizhu.

My boss, my friend, my buddy, my homie, my guyyyyy

U gotta let me go with Qiqi from now on, she will literally get lost hoe. 😐

Tapping ur foot at him and everything,

He's a little intimidated tbh bc ur so upfront about it, and agrees

U lowkey shame his parenting (and he actually feels quilty wow)

WITHIN THE FIRST COUPLE DAYS SHE ALSO SAID THIS!!

"Since we first met, I have had a warm feeling inside. Not the kind of warmth that makes me feel rotten. The other kind of warm. The one that happens inside my heart. Thank you. I am happy. Sadly I only recognize the current you. If I forget you... No. I will order myself to remember you."

AHHHHHHHH PERFECT CHILD <333

(Once again, if u read my Razor post, another person who can't quite articulate what you are as the Creator, but just has a feeling about you that ur cozy and safe :')

◇

SO QIQI CANONICALLY HAS A NOTEBOOK ALREADY!!

(U help her press flowers in it to both leave inside as a pleasent surprise when she forgets about them, and attach some to the front 💖)

And SHE HAS A SCHEDULE.

In the morning, she goes herb picking, then makes medicine, and then does stretches at the end of the day before bed

(At least im pretty sure thats it, it was like 3 things so she could remember easily)

ON LIKE,, THE FIRST FEW DAYS WITH HER, SHE STARTS TO FOLLOW U AROUND MORE AND MORE LIKE A LITTLE DUCKLING

And she even says "...I started memory training exercises recently. So don't worry, I won't forget who you are." 🥲💘

◇

Qiqi seemed excited to tell u all the plants u dont recognize and what they do in medicine,

U mostly think that bc she walked and talked a little faster,

her emotions arent super obvious bc apparently her facial muscles arent super flexible... :/

(she later on after she trusts you more, will sometimes let u rub her little cheeks and massage her face to let her have more range, she looks like a content kitten those times 😭😭)

But when ur not out and about Liyue's nature with Qiqi,

U do little odd jobs around Liyue, like dog walking, delivering peoples' medicine, and u even registered w/the Adventurer's Guild so u could take on small commissions :D

U used ur money to buy ingredients to cook food for urself and the household (bc Baizhu cant make anything besides soup and tea apparantly srsly how is this man alive)

And thru a series of trial and error (and consulting Xiangling..)

U made coconut milk!!! ✨️🥥🥛

Qiqi loved. It. Every. Time.

She's not tall enough to reach the kitchen counters w/o a stool, but she can peek her little head over it and put her fingers on the edge, which she does everytime u make it 😫😫🥺🥺

She has a 6th sense for everytime u make it, no matter where she is in the house/nearby lol

It was also one of the things she wrote down in her notebook that she didnt wanna forget LMAO

Next to a reminder that she knows you + other facts abt u, is "can make coconut milk"

You can bribe her with it too lol

QIQI BEST KITCHEN HELPER

Shes already Baizhu's assistant, so she is great at cutting, chopping, and prepping ingredients

She insists on helping u everytime, she'll even delay her morning routine for u to make breakfast <3

(U also make sure to remind her to eat and hydrate consistently, bc thatd be hard af to keep track of w/ memory issues, i would know 💀)

◇

U also used ur money to buy clothes for urself and her!! <3

Also apparently u still have access to the character menu? And ur inventory?? And quests???

U CAN UPGRADE QIQI

(YESS YESSS- MAKE HER THE STRONGEST CHILD IN THE WORLD, GODLIKE STRENGTH THE IMMORTAL UNDYING QIQI AGENDA HAHAHAHA)

(Her outfits show up in her outfit screen!! theres just kinda a hologram button hovering over her chest at all times..)

She seems rlly fond of upgrading her, her weapon, and artifacts bc she likes to be a stronk 💪girl to protect ppl she loves aw <3

(SHE SAID SHE WAS HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT U BETTER THE FIRST TIME U ASCENDED HERRRR 😭💘

She also likes to help u out with commissions too, it brings her some variety in her day that shes become fond of!!

(Shes also become fond of you and all the exciting things ur doing)

AND

Ur quests menu is rlly helpful for you but also her!! U just gently reroute her or remind her everytime she needs it :)

(she has slowly gone from asking you what she forgot/what she was supposed to be doing, to just... LOOKING UP AT YOUUUUU FOR THE ANSWERRRR W/O SAYING ANYTHINGGGGG 💔💔💔💔💔💔)

◇

Bc u got jackshit all else to do in ur freetime, other than exploring, u started picking up some hobbies thatll benefit the both of you!

U bought some fabric and whatnot to make Qiqi a backpack!! So she doesnt have to carry around the herb basket anymore

(the ones being sold were too expensive, and werent quite right for her anyway, but u did stab urself enough times that Baizhu gave u bandages..)

You give it to her on her birthday!! (she also remembered yours!! She gave u herbal medicine and a necklace of gemstones she handmade like noctilous jade and cor lapis cries)

It has lots of pockets, bc Qiqi also likes to get interesting rocks or non-medicinal flowers to give you while yall are outside <3

She loves the backpack, u saw her make the

♡tiniest♡

Smile ever, which made it even cuter to see

(She also just, held it to her chest the whole day 😭)

◇

ALSO BC SHE STRIKES ME AS A SLOW BURN TYPE OF PERSON TO LOVE SOMEONE (idk if u get that feeling but thats what it seems like to me esp with her memory needing time to remember a new person, she apparently canonically cant always remember Baizhu's face??)

SO A RANDOM DAY AFTER ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF, YALL WERE ABOUT TO GO HERB PICKING AGAIN AS USUAL,

WHEN SHE TOOK UR SLEEVE AND JUST,, STAYED THERE THE WHOLE TIME,,

EVEN WHEN SHE WAS HERB PICKING-

🫂🫂🫂

Was that your soul leaving your body? Maybe 🤷‍♂️

But when yall r in a crowd of Liyueans and tourists, she straight up latches onto ur hand like a vice grip

She WILL NOT lose you, and ur holding back just as hard, you WILL NOT lose ur amnesiac child!!!

She likes to come into town with u when u go bc while shes not a fan of crowds, she can deal with them a lot better when ur there 🥺

Plus she wants to be able to look out for you!!

SUCH A SWEETHEARTTT

When u asked why she didnt like crowds the first time yall went SHE SAID

"Some people want to take advantage of me. Others are terrified of me. But you... You are not like any of those people."

QIIIIQQQIIIIIII MY BELOVEDDDD CHILDDDD 🥲🥲🥲😭😭😭😭

(ALL OF THESE ARE CANON VOICELINES BTW EXCEPT FOR YALLS FIRST MEETING AT THE TOP!!!)

♡

Ok so she was already pretty strong before you, but now esp since u started upgrading her-

Qiqi is hella strong and has great stamina

U saw this in action in real time when Hu Tao was strolling down the path near where yall were herb picking off to the side

Hu Tao and Qiqi like... locked eyes-

U were looking down at plants but noticed Qiqi not moving, and looked up to see the most intense staring contest ever LMAO

AND LIKE SOME KIND OF LIKE BIRD OR SQURRIEL WHEN THEY LIKE FREEZE AND THEN BOLT WHEN U ARENT EXPECTING IT THEY ARE OFF LMFAO

QIQI IS RUNNING FOR THE HILLS, ITS LITERALLY INSANE TO WATCH HER BE SO FAST AHSHAKKALDFH

HU TAO IS ALSO FAST BUT LIKE THERES STILL A GOOD AMOUNT OF DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM-

AS U FINALLY GET OVER THE SHOCK, U RUN AFTER THEM LOL

THEY QUICKLY OUT PACE UR SLOW ASS AND UR HUNCHED OVER DYING AND JUST BEFORE THEY GET OUT OF RANGE U HEAR-

"YOU HAVE TO LET ME PUT YOU TO REST, DON'T WORRY YOU'LL LIKE IT DOWN THERE THE DIRT IS NICE AND COLD!!"

AND AN INDIGNANT "No!"

LMAO HU TAO GIVES UP 2 HOURS LATER, AND QIQI WAS LITERALLY RUNNING AND CLIMBING THE WHOLE TIME LMFAO

◇

SO IDK IF YALL SEEN IT BUT THERES A TRAILER OUT ABOUT XIAO i think??

AND AT ONE POINT QIQI CANONICALLY SAYS SHE CARRIED HIM WHEN HE WAS PASSED OUT BACK TO THE PHARMACY 💀

U WERE THERE WHEN YALL FOUND XIAO

it was kinda shocking to finally have ran into him (bc u figured there was no way he would come down to see some rando human, even if u had almond tofu)

AND HE'S PASSED OUT??!!?!?!

Top ten most disturbing images: Xiao face first on the ground, out of it

And while ur like panicking "omfg how tf am i gonna carry this mf all the way back to the pharmacy, omg what happened, oh jesus this is insane its literally XIAO and he's PASSED OUT-"

Qiqi in the background like, "hup"

And just arranges him in a piggyback carry, his legs and arms sticking straight out in front of her, his ass almost touching the GROUNNNDDD😭😭😭

You: *shocked pikachu face meme LMAOOO

◇

I LOVE THAT THIS IS CANON OHMYGODTHIS MIGHT BETHE FUNNIEST SHIT OUT OF GENSHIN LORE/STORY YET

♤

Bonus: Zhongli has been going in-fucking-sane trying to locate where u are lol, Hu Tao literally made him take a few days off bc he was pacing around the harbor so much 😭

He always seems to get to where you are, just as you leave the area (apparently Qiqi's deathlike presence throws off ur very full of life one)

Literally as soon as you landed (woke up?) On Liyue soil, he was hyper aware of you

The other adepti are searching the rest of Liyue just in case ur someone where else

Lol wonder how long it took him to realize u were just workin at Bubu Pharmacy LMAO

Tell me what to write! :) ♡

Reminder: A 100+ Followers celebration POLL!!

HOLY FUCK!!

OML

OMFG

SATAN ON A STICK-

THIS IS SO LONG 😭????? WHAT HAPPENED

THIS THING AS LONG AS A FALL INTO THE ABYSS

HELL-

WHAT THE FUCK

WELL NOW I KNOW WHY IT TOOK ME SO DAMN LONG TO POST ANYTHING FOR A FEW DAYS BC THIS IS A FREAK OF NATURE

I ALREADY MADE THE LAST ONE TOO LONG AND NOW HERE WE ARE CRYING

I hope u enjoyed this fucking monster anon sob-

oh my god im actually shocked you guys, i just scrolled up and down this thing-

I can't even like, flick it once and let it scroll really fast and reach the top u know what i mean?? 😟😰🙂🙃🥲

I just,, i had so many ideas, and as i typed and tried to get them all down i-

uh,, aNyWaY,,, enjoy yalls week guys...😟😃 distantsobbing

Cheers,

🌒🌊🌧Aquarius♒️🌌🌘

♡ the beloveds ♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza

#why r there so many unsupervised children in Teyvat #where do they come from #where did their parents go??? #where did u come from cotton eye joe #like its not that hard to give a flimsy excuse as to why their alone all the time #like fischl still has parents #benny has his guild dads #even SHENHE got another parent #a literal adepti #genshin impact #ask box open #genshin sagau #my asks #sagau #genshin imagines #genshin sagau ideas #gender neutral reader #genshin fluff #genshin scenarios #so many tags #genshin qiqi #platonic genshin #genshin isekai #genshin god reader #Holy god it got even longer #im actually scared of this thing #should i even post this ?? 😭 #i feel like i gotta edit it #christ #genshin found family

[pearl-blue-musings]

Just a Friend?

This has been a long time coming ahahahah but yeah

Pairing: Kaeya Alberich x reader

Warnings: this is based off of an @anigomi kaeya audio that I’ll link, slight angst, we’re all bad at feelings

Word count: 1.6K

110% based off of this anigomi and give it a listen before you read for context!

Just a friend?

Is that all you were to him? Sure, you truly did value your friendship with the Cavalry captain and vice versa. But you thought you were special! He stayed with you the entire time you were recovering and was the one to bring you to the infirmary.

So why did hearing those words hurt so badly?

It has been three weeks since your accident and you’re just returning to active duty. The rest of your battalion was happy to see you. You gave them anxious waves as the injuries are still newly healed, not wanting to worry any of them further. Your goal right now is to report to Jean and then start your shift. Your armor clinks as you walk into the acting grand master’s office, coming to a stop to salute.

“Acting Grand Master Jean,” you say on instinct as you finish your salute. “I’ve come to return to active duty. My recovery has finished and the reports of what happened that day and all subsequent work are right here.” You hand Jean the file and return to attention. You watch her carefully look over everything and nod curtly. “Hmm,” she begins softly, “everything seems to be in order. Alright,” Jean says firmly, “report to Kaeya immediately. You two are scheduled to patrol around Starsnatch Cliff. There’s been a strange increase in Abyss Mage and hillichurl activity and the two of you are our best people.”

You gulp and fidget in your stance, feeling your anxiety and sensitivity to rejection rising to the surface. You clear your throat. “If it’s alright with you, I would like to be reassigned.” Your heart is racing as you think more about your commanding officer, the one who’s had your heart for longer than you’d like to admit. Jean’s eyes narrow in on you and calmly places your file down on her desk.

With a sigh, Jean looks toward you. “I’m sorry, there isn’t much I can do. You can ask for a change the next time the schedule goes up. You think you can bear it today?” She gives you a kind and understanding smile. Your shoulders sink as you politely walk out of her office. Your lips purse as you walk out of the knights’ headquarters. At the end of the steps, you see the back of the one person you’ve been dreading to see.

“Oh?” The baritone of his voice tilts upward as you approach him. You notice his body relaxes as he sees you. Kaeya gives you a knowing smirk and cocks out his hip. “You’re earlier than expected,” he coolly states, “shall we begin our patrol?” You nod sharply and start ahead. You miss him giving a small pout as he inhales deeply and follows behind. There’s so many words he wants to say. As much as he needs to focus on the increase of the presence of the abyss that’s been causing trouble for his fellow Mondstadters.

The long trek toward the cliffs is full of awkward silences and the sounds of the windblumes flowing in the wind. Too many times Kaeya attempts to start a conversation with you and you brush away his advances. “Well,” he chuckles an hour into your patrol, “I didn’t expect such an icy reception from you. And after all I did to help you recover. I’m hurt.”

You can hear the fake hurt in his voice and tighten your hand into a fist to resist caving into him. “Well we are coworkers,” you finally speak out. “It’s understandable you would see that I recovered well. You are my boss.”

“And that’s it? I’m just your boss?”

Your eyes tighten shut and you control your breathing. Who is he to imply what he’s implying? Your pace of walking speeds up as your head and heart are having a battle you thought you wouldn’t be having currently. He can’t know about the ways your heart beats out of time every time his cool blue irises bore into yours. He’s not allowed to know how many nights you’ve dreamt of sleeping and waking in his arms. No, the two of you are just friends. Nothing more, nothing less.

His soft voice breaks you out of your thoughts. “You know,” he slowly begins, “I really missed you these last few weeks. How come you wouldn’t let me see you? After I nursed you back to life and I get the cold shoulder from you?” Kaeya skips ahead of you to stop you in your tracks, his eyes more serious than before. “Why are you avoiding me? There’s no use in denying it.”

You lose your balance briefly as he quickly stops you from walking further. The sun is setting over the ocean waters, casting a beautiful glow on the cliffs as night begins to roll in. The sparkle in his eye is more menacing and serious than before. His hands rest on your shoulders as he searches for the answer in your visage. Your eyes dodge his own as you attempt to find any stains on your uniform. “I,” you stutter out, “I’m not avoiding you. I needed to recover.”

Kaeya’s eyes roll as he grips you tighter. “That’s not the answer, snowflake. I know you and you know me.” He suddenly gets closer to you and his breath is brushing against face. “I was the one on your bedside when you woke up, and now I get nothing? I gave up,” he chuckles dryly, “nights at the tavern to be with you, which by the way you still owe me for. You’re someone I adore and have a connection with. Why are you pushing me away?” His hand had softly began to caress and cup your face. You want to give in to his touch, something you’ve craved for so long. Despite his semi gloved hand and frigid vision, his hand is warm against your skin. You naturally relax against him before your flight or fight kicks in.

You abruptly push him away and turn your body away from him. “You can’t do that! Friends don’t,” you huff, “friends don’t do that. You, you can’t touch me like that a-and expect me to just say “what a great friend you are Kaeya!” I can’t do that. So don’t, d-dont touch me.”

Shock comes to his face as his hand falters against your skin. His bottom lip trembles slightly as his eye takes in your visage once more. Your shoulders are tight, possibly to the point of shaking and your eyes are downcast and to the side. You can’t look at him, not with the way your heart beats erratically in your chest. You hate that his touch sends shivers down your spine and has the butterflies in your stomach fluttering around. You hate that despite how special he treated you, he dare only call you a friend? What were those lingering looks, soft gazes from across the bar, his hand holding yours when you needed support? The audacity of him to kiss your cheek as a way of saying hello and goodbye when he took care of you! What was it? Is it just platonic? Perhaps you were deluding yourself.

The captain studies your face and softens his expression. He takes a deep breath and carefully takes your hand in his. Kaeya takes note of how you flinch and attempts to hide his own smirk. “What if I want to keep touching you?”

“Kaeya..” you exacerbate.

“No listen,” his hold tightens. “You are a friend, a great friend, the best friend I’ve ever known. And when you got hurt under my watch… I had convinced myself it was because someone knew how special you are to me. The farther away you are from me, the least likely you are to get hurt. But I know how much of a strong soldier you are, one of the strongest in my opinion…” He trails off as he relaxes his grip on you. Kaeya hangs his head low, something you rarely see from the confident and charismatic man. Almost weakly he whispers, “why can’t I tell you how I feel? Well I am a man of action after all.”

You lift your eyebrows in confusion as his hands cup your face. You’re taken aback as you feel his lips over yours, your stomach moving like a yo-yo. Your hands fall easily onto his chest, continuing to kiss the man you’ve harbored feelings for. When you both pull away, a shy giggle escapes your lips as your fingers lightly graze the warm and soft skin. His smile is infectious as he extends a hand out for you to take. You gladly take it and proceed to walk along toward the cliff. You clear your throat as you feel yourself wanting to word vomit. “So, do you really have feelings for me? Or was that you trying to get your way? Because I know you Kaeya and-“

You’re cut off by another surprise kiss and come to a halt. Any words you had left to say die in your throat as Kaeya pecks your lips again and again. “You wound me, snowflake. Yes, I love you okay? Now let’s continue our patrol, okay?”

You nod lightly and walk alongside him. You can’t help but muse over how his hand feels in yours. The way your heart is excited yet calm at the same time leaves you giddy and smiling like the teenager you were when you first fell for the captain. You’re pretty sure when this shift is over you’ll have a lot of explaining to do to Jean and the other members of your troop.

#kaeya alberich #kaeya x reader #kaeya alberich x reader #kaeya x fem!reader #kaeya x gn reader #genshin kaeya #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #anigomi #this took wayyyyyy too long for me to finally finish 😅 #although I’m not happy with the ending #I’m bad at ending things #my writing #i did the thing

[cf8wrk4u-us]

How The Lost Light Canceled The Hunger Games

Summary: To a Cybertronian, 200 years is nothing, barely a foot note in this peaceful time where bot are trying to rebuild their world and society.

But 200 years is a lot to humans though, 200 years is a lot for Earth in general.

Things change, humanity changes.

And as Cybertron will learn, not for the better.

But this is something the members of the Lost Light wouldn't stand for.

(Based on these ask given to @yes-i-write-fanfiction

https://www.tumblr.com/yes-i-write-fanfiction/735322098308890624/in-honor-of-the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes?source=share

We're on a flat, open stretch of ground, a plain of hard packed dirt. 

Behind the tributes across from me, | can see nothing, indicating either a steep downward slope or even cliff. To my right lies a lake. To my left and back, spars piney woods. This is where Haymitch would want me to go.

 Immediately.

I hear his instructions in my head. “Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water”

But it’s tempting, so tempting, when I see the bounty waiting there before me. And I know that if I don’t get it, someone else will. That the Career Tributes who survive the bloodbath will divide up most of these life-sustaining spoils. Something catches my eye. There, resting on a mound of blanket rolls, is a silver sheath of arrows and a bow, already strung, just waiting to be engaged. That’s mine, I think. It’s meant for me.

I’m fast. I can sprint faster than any of the girls in our school although a couple can beat me in distance races. But this forty-yard length, this is what I am built for. I know I can get it, I know I can reach it first, but then the question is how quickly can I get out of there? By the time I’ve scrambled up the packs and grabbed the weapons, others will have reached the horn, and one or two I might be able to pick off, but say there’s a dozen, at that close range, they could take me down with the spears and the clubs. Or their own powerful fists.

Still, I won't be the only target. I’m betting many of the other tributes would pass up a smaller girl, even one who scored an eleven in training, to take out their more fierce adversaries.

Haymitch has never seen me run. Maybe if he had he’d tell me to go for it. Get the weapon. Since that’s the very weapon that might be my salvation. And I only see one bow in that whole pile. I know the minute must be almost up and will have to decide what my strategy will be and I find myself positioning my feet to run, not away into the stir rounding forests but toward the pile, toward the bow. 

I notice Peeta, he’s about five tributes to my right, quite a fair distance, still I can tell he’s looking at me and I think he might be shaking his head. But the sun’s in my eyes and-

CRASH!

A symphony of broken glass and metal erupted across the arena, the once sunny and clear blue sky darkens into a mess of pixelated screens and  crumpling scaffolding. But that's not what had our attention. 

From the growing crack in the forcefield  was a large aircraft, far bigger than the Capital hovercraft that had brought us to the arena. It was colored in a bright orange red and yellow with tinted dark glass on its front, so massive was its size that it literally scraped the sides of the entrance it cashed through. Sending more of the broken structure to crash down.

My breath picked up, heart hammering in my chest as I saw the craft get closer and closer to us,  I noted absently how its shadow easily shaded over me the rest of the tributes. Practically eclipsing the whole arena. 

A part of me screamed to move, to run, I thought of images of a hawk as it swooped over a desperate rodent. But the rational part of myself firmly and calmly reminded me that I needed to stay still on the circle before me or I would end up in pieces from the land mines.

But even that became a physical struggle as the aircraft landed sending a heavy gust of wind that threatened to blow tributes back from their stands. I braced my knees and even as I couldn’t stay on I grasped to stay right on the circle. In fact I noticed how others did the same , but a few weren’t successful. Such as one male tribute, from District 5 I believed, who was sent tumbling off. I gave a quick look from my position, ready to hear and see a mess of explosions…but nothing happened.

Even the District 5 tribute, whose face had paled, was now looking confused at the fact he wasn’t a mess against the grass.

The gong hadn’t gone off, yet the mines were not active, so what had the trigger time run out?

Has the Hunger Games begun?

In my head the passing thought came of how this could just be a scenario made by the Gamemakers. 

That perhaps the games already started and here I was just standing like easy prey.

But as I heard another groan of metal from the collapsing field above, even I had to admit that was a stupid idea.

Even so, then what was happening?!

Finally the craft opened and a bridge slid down, then stepping out with a thump of metal and heavy footsteps were what I can only name as giants.

Giants covered, no, made of metal!

Then it barely took me a second to recognize what these beings were.

Transformers.

In our history books it always seemed that throughout Panem past and even before the creation of the country, humans have always been each other's greatest enemies. But as stated in our history books, thousands of years ago, there was another race of beings that almost wiped out the planet and the entire human race with it.

Aliens from another world, giant transforming robots known as Cybertronians.

Beings of metal brutality and cold indifference, a warring species who brought their conflict with one another to Earth and put humans right in the crossfires of it.

Only leaving once almost irreparable damage was done to the planet.

As a child and learning about them in class I sometimes would look to the night sky in terror at the thought that these aliens were still out there. Just hiding among the deceptively beautiful stars.

But after losing my father, struggling to hold what was left of my family together, and the helpless dread that came with the annual Reaping; I learned rather quickly that the monsters in real life were far scarier than that of thousand-year-old metal terrors that hadn’t been seen in ages.

What was there to fear of beings who hadn’t been interested in Earth for centuries?

How ironic that my only fear had been my fellow humans when it came to surviving the arena.

Four stepped out from the ship, taking the lead was a fiery red and orange mech whose colors matched the design of the ship. Next to him came the largest of the group was colored a deep blue and red with white high shoulder guards on each side. Besides them was the shortest of the group of Cybertronians, his dark armored body barely reaching the orange one's waist and who unlike his companions didn’t have a visible face of sorts but a blue visor that fitted their red and white helmet. And finally from behind was an imposing gray and black figure, whose armor may appear more subdued in coloring and design than his group, his helmet a simple flat triangular design, nonetheless was buff and strapping. Power practically screaming from just his image alone, and when his red eyes gazed over to us I couldn't help but shiver under their intensity. Not feeling any better when I noticed a sort of dark blaster on its right arm.

He seemed familiar, his image perhaps one I had seen in my aging textbook?

I didn't have the time to ponder further as they finally stepped away from the ship and made it to the grassy field of the arena.

Like earlier I shifted my legs for a sprint, forgetting all about the food and weapons, my eyes shifting to the large expanse of forest that would be the only way to try to avoid whatever these stalking giants had in stored for us.

It was the only plan I could think of, the safest choice, and I’m sure Haymitch would agree.

Is he seeing this? Is the Capital? The whole country? Do they know where being invaded-

“Hello, there”!

I was taken off guard as the orange and red Transformer, the presumably leader of the group, called out to us. His voice was jovial and the smile that spread across his metal face was friendly.

Nothing that gave me a reason to trust him.

His grin persisted as he marched closer only shifting as several tributes cried out and scrambled to escape.

“Wait! Wait”! The giant robot hurriedly said “It's okay”!

I didn’t stop in my sprint  till I made it to Peeta, not complaining as he firmly grasped my wrist and pulled me into a hurried pace.

We needed to leave, put as much distance as we could from these metal monsters.

“We're not here to hurt you”! The Transformer said in a surprisingly desperate tone “We're here to help you! Save you! Too Stop The Hunger Games”!

I nearly fell as Peeta stopped.

“Peeta”! I hissed trying to tug him towards the forest, but he refused to move instead looking dumbfounded at the robot. As if he believed what it was saying.

But as I looked around I could see the other tributes had stopped as well, with the ones who made it to the woods actually peeking from the edge of the treeline.

The red and orange robot's face morphed into a softer expression before he went down on one knee. 

I gestured I couldn’t help but recognize from my sister Prim when she approached the small scared animals she nursed back to health or in my mom to the anxious sickly children that were brought to be treated at our home.

This Transformer, this giant of a being, was trying to make himself smaller so that the tiny humans before him wouldn’t be frightened. 

That…didn’t sound like the hostile warring species from my history class.

I stopped trying to move Peeta.

Seeing that he had our attention the robot spoke again, his voice soft but clear.

“We're here to save you, you won’t have to die today, not for some game, and especially not for your Capital” he stood up before looking at the smaller Transformer “Rewind, are we ready”?

“Just about” they, Rewind, answered “Though before we start mind stepping a little to the left”?

“Huh, why”? Asked the leader

“Because captain, if we were trying to sell the whole “we don’t mean any harm” image maybe we shouldn’t be showing how we trashed their enclosure”? Rewind said 

The apparent captain looked to the shattered entrance they had created before sheepishly smiling “Yeah…better not let them see that yet”

“Doubt it will make much a a difference” said the gray and black Transformer, his voice was sharp and curt “No doubt their Capital already knows about the damage done to their little arena”

“This difference is Megs is that we're making a statement” said the Captain “One that has to be said as soon as possible, ready Rewind”?

“Whenever you are” said the smaller bot, tapping the side of his helmet.

I was confused why he did that till I noticed a redlight shinning on the side of his helmet, a video recorder perhaps?

With that the red and orange giant stood straight ahead, his gaze intense as he looked at Rewind “Citizens of the Capitol and Panem, we come in peace”!

CRACK! CRASH!

At that moment more scaffolding and material decided to come tumbling down into the arena as if to loudly object to the statement.

I winced at the noise and off to the side I could see the largest of the Transformers actually pinch his brow in an exasperated manner. A scene I could almost find funny.

 Despite this though the captain gave only a nervous chuckle before speaking again “This is Rodimus Prime, and despite our rather abrupt entrance, we have only the best of intention for our arrival” he face then became more serious “While I understand that as of now most of the citizens of this country recognize us in a hostile light, we Autobots,  many members of the Cybertronian race have viewed Earth and its people as sentient like minded beings. Ones who needed protection and safety when our war did unfortunately touch your planet. With some humans even becoming valued allies who fought besides us during such a perilous time” Rodimus stopped then, his blue glass eyes dimming even “After the war we left Earth, both out of a need to protect this planet from any further conflict we may have had  and out of respect for humanity who wanted to independently run their society once it was rebuilt, a wish we were determined to honor” his voice then harden as he continued “But recent discoveries and findings have forced us to decide to break this arrangement, this biggest being your so called Hunger Games” Rodimus practically spat that word out “A society whose higher caste who not only feeds greedily on it’s citizens but demands blood tributes out of its children, making a game out of their very lives! It will not continue! Not if I can help it”!

I watched transfixed as he raised a fist to his fiery chassis “I call an end to the Hunger Games! Starting now”! He calmed “Again this isn’t a message made out maliciously, I want more than anything to resolve this peacefully, I hope you can believe me citizens of Panem”

Rewind then made a gesture and Rodimus visibly relaxed, even giving a small laugh.

“So did we get all that”?

“Sent it right to our sources, hopefully it was enough to get it to the other Districts but you can bet those big cogs in the Capitol must have seen it”

“That's good” Rodimus nodded before beginning to walk “All we got to do is wait for now”

“You know Optimus Prime isn’t going to be happy about the stunt we pulled today” the gray and black one, Megs, spoke again.

“Well Optimus shouldn’t have been dragging his pedes over this,” responded Rodimus “But if anything just say you were following the captains orders, I’ll take the fall”

“I highly doubt he believed that” the blue and red Transformer said

Rodimus actually shrugged before looking our direction again, he gave another reassuring smile “Just hang tight” he said “I almost got you all out of this”

No one responded for the longest time, till in a quiet voice spoke out.

“Is this really happening”?

I couldn’t pinpoint who spoke, but that voice echoed a question I was asking myself.

Was this really happening? 

I recalled the proclamation made by the Transformer not even a minute ago.

An end to the Hunger Games.

No more Hunger Games.

The games were canceled.

Was this really happening? Barely a few minutes earlier I was ready to run for my life and fight against my fellow tributes in a bloody arena, but now I was being told that we didn’t have to fight by a giant metal alien.

I felt Peeta shudder beside me and when I looked at him I could see how wet his eyes were getting, he covered his mouth trying to muffle a sob. Without thinking I pulled him close and let his weight sag against mine.

I was ready to let our time in the tower be our final goodbye, knowing that the chances of us making it from the Cornucopia was slim at best and remaining allies had an even smaller chance.

But saying I wasn’t relieved would be a lie, I was relieved that the games hadn’t started, relieved that Peeta and I were still together, relieved that we were going to be okay.

And if a few tears and raspy breaths left my mouth I wouldn’t find myself ashamed for it.

When we were calm enough to pull away I looked to the other tributes; most  stood with their Districts. Some crying and clinging to one another, a few who decided to look through the packs of supplies littered around the arena, but most just staring at the Transformers that stood by their ship.

Well most of them.

The apparent captain, Rodimus, was actually walking leisurely towards the pond. Then literally popping open his chest cavity pulled out a pole of some kind that had a string at the end of it.

It took me a second to realize what he was doing.

“Is he…”? Peeta started

This Transformer, a giant metal warrior, a captain that led his own crew, and just broke into the Capitals arena and called an end to the Hunger Games; just plopped himself at the end of the water and began to fish!

Peeta actually coughed a laugh besides me “Can robots even eat fish”?

I didn’t know and wasn’t sure to find out.

But surprisingly enough Peeta let go of my hand and actually got towards the robot!

“Peeta”?! I whispered harshly “What are you doing”?

“I want to get a closer look at them” he said 

“Peeta, wait”! I said urgently “They’re Transformers, it might not be safe too-”

“They saved our lives Katniss and you heard them, they don’t want to hurt us” Peeta said but before he kept moving he held out a hand to me, encouraging me to take it.

I hesitated though.

Despite what these Transformers had done for us, despite their promises, I still didn’t feel comfortable putting myself in a squishing range of them.

Peeta gave me a disappointed yet understanding look and continued on. Surprisingly even some tributes began to take his lead, forming a small crowd.

The bot, Rodimus, began to notice their approach and gave a large smile at them. 

“Hello there,”!  he said 

None of the tributes worked up the nerve to greet him back verbally but I could see Peeta giving his own smile in return along with an energetic wave of his hand.

A part of me had to keep myself from rolling my eyes, it was just like Peeta to try to get people to like him. The games may have been over and these giants claimed not to mean any harm but Peeta was still trying to play it safe.

He really was clever like that.

But ultimately it wasn’t Peeta who opened up to the metal giant.

“You know how to fish”?

This came from the young 12 year old from District 4.

“Yup” Rodimus said “Back when I was stationed on Earth a good friend of mine taught me, I got really into it after that” He ended that by adjusting his line a little.

The District 4 boy's eyes widened before giving a curious gaze at the pond next to them.

“Do you think there’s anything in there”?

“I hope, in either case I’m just glad to be fishing again”! The robot said “I told myself that if I ever came to Earth again it would be one of the first things I did”! He stopped before asking the Tributes besides him “Do any of you fish”?

Again most stayed silent but the District 4 didn’t hesitate to raise his hand and say “My district is responsible for most of the fishing done, some of my father and uncles are even allowed on the boats to go to sea for the bigger stuff, we even have competitions during the season”

Rodimus' eyes seemed to glow brighter “Oh, so you're a bit of an expert huh”? He asked leaning closer “So what's the biggest fish you’ve caught so far”?

The young boy's face went red, from the freckles of his nose to the bouncy curls on his head.

“Um, just a couple of mackerel with my dads old fishing rod ” he said quietly almost embarrassed “I catch a lot more with nets with my friends”

“Mackerel! Wow that impressive”! The giant robot expressed eagerly “Most of my fishing is done in freshwater, I say the biggest I got was just  5 pound bluegill but boy was he a tough one-hey I didn't catch your name by the way”

“Luca” said the boy “Luca Alberts”

As the red and orange Transformer continued to chatter on about his fishing experiences the group of huns around him seemed to relax more and more, feeling at ease his casual attitude. And it seemed to affect some of the other tributes too who had previously kept their distance.

I moved closer to where Peeta was in the group, catching more of the conversation made by Rodimus to the District 4 tribute.

“So do you really hope to catch anything”? Asked the boy, Luca

“Who knows? Best way to pass the time anyway” Rodimus responded

“You might want to be careful” a voice suddenly said

It was one of the male tributes, I didn’t recognize him initially given he looked like another of the 14 year olds that were taken into the games. Then recalling a yellow suit I realized this must have been the tribute from District 3, his bright yellow dress shirt being the only thing that stood out in his rather dull interview with Cesar.

“You don’t know what might be inside the pond” the District 3 Tribute explained “The arenas are supposed to be set up with all kinds of traps, ones operated by the Gamemakers and ones set loose like the Mutts”

“Mutts” Rodmius said quietly “Right, those lab made animals they make” his happy expression turned into a somber one before his smile returned “Well, it’ll be fine! If there's anything dangerous lurking in these water, just trust your friend Rodimus to help”

He added a thumbs up that honestly felt corny, but seemed to please the younger tributes.

“I’d like to fish too”! Luca announced

Rodimus hummed unsure “Well, I only have one-”

“It’s fine” he stated before going to the nearest pack and rummaging through it “There pretty simple to make if you have the right supplies”

Rodimus nodded “Then I'll trust the expert on this”

The boy gave a proud grin though mad a disappointed sound at not fighting anything before moving onto the next pack.

From where I stood I gave another glance at Rodimus and his robotic teamates.

To be honest it wasn’t enough to say these were robots, the Capital miniature cleaning or delivering drones definitely fit the definition. There movements stiff and uniform, moved with purpose in their singular task.

But these Transformers, they moved as a human would. Maybe not with the same fluidity but unrestricted, like the armor they were wasn't just something attached to their bodies but actually a part of them. Even the metal on their faces, despite how alien they looked,  moved so easily. And given Rodimus examples, with so much expression and versatility.

How could metal and gears and inanimate material move and soften so much like flesh, like actual breathing beings.

Because they were alive obviously….

For years I had it in my head that these aliens were nothing but cold hearted machines of war. That's what our history books told us, showed us.

But then again those books were written by the Capital.

And the Capital says a lot of things.

 I looked at the large Transformers before me; Rodimus chatting with the other tributes, the smaller one Rewind holding the side of his face as he gazed around so obviously still recording, and finally to the two largest bots who stood rather detached from the rest of the group.

I part of me wondered how different things have been if Rodimus and his people had come sooner.

Would the first Rebellion have been successful, would the Capital still have demanded to Hunger Games, would their even have been a Hunger Games, would-?

My hypothetical thoughts were cut short when a piercing scream went through the air.

Turning I could see some of the tributes scattering away from the Cornucopia as the male District 2 tribute came barreling out of the entrance swinging a large sword.

“Stop! What are you doing”?!! cried Rodimus, quickly getting up and abandoning his fishing pole “Why are you fighting! Your free now! No one is making you kill anyone”!

The brutish tribute, Cato if I member his name,  looked at the robot and actually gave a snarky smile.

“Are you stupid”? he asked “Do you really think you can stop the games? That we'll let you”!

From behind him I can see more of the Career Tributes gather behind him, each brandishing their own weapons.

“We're here for a reason! And I'm not about to let you take that away from us”!

More tributes scattered as the pack of Carriers ready their weapons and stalk forward.

Despite everything, despite all of Rodimus hopeful promises, I'm sure that there's going to be death even if these aliens did call for an end of the games.

Really how stupid was I to believe them, how stupid I was for not grabbing a weapon, or not just running when I had the chance.

“That's enough”! Rodimus ordered taking a step forward, barely restrained anger in his voice “Stop this now or-”

But already Cato was rushing forward sword already at the closest, hapless target.

Luca.

The District 4 tribute quest for fishing line and other supplies had put him just close enough to Cato line of attack, he kneeled by an open bag, to startled or afraid to run.

Rodimus quickly moved , the ground quaking in his hurried step forward. Avoiding get accidentally trampled on I didn't notice when Peeta left my side till I saw him rushing past Rodimus bright orange feet right for Luca.

The instance was too fast and too slow at the same time, Peeta running to the boy, taking him his arms to try and pull him away from the attack, the sword swinging down and blood sprinkling out.

I can feel myself yelling, Peeta name clawing its way out of my mouth as I saw the sword about to swing back down again.

BOOM!

A roaring blast echoed through the air as a bright hot beam of purple shot over the heads of the Carrier tributes.

The arena grew hot, it felt like the very air was singed from that one blast. Leaving A smoking crater in the far off distance that no doubt could have easily sizzled away any puny human in its path.

It felt hard to breath and my stomach threatened to lurch the meager breakfast I stomached back at the tower. But still I turned my head to look at the cause of the blast.

The gray and black mech.

Everyone was silent, afraid too move. Even the Carrier tributes, who had been a savage pack thirsty for our blood were left shaking. The District 1 tribute actually scared off his feet, ass to the ground as he look terrified at the glowering red eyed Transformer.

"You wanna try that again”? the Transformer said, his voice like a rumbling storm, his still smoking cannon leveled at the group of Carriers “I came here because I thought I was saving innocent humans from a cruel game made by a tyrannical society, not a rabid creature who sees fit to attack his own kind" 

Cato stupidly tries to argue "Its the Hunger Games-"!

"And as my captain stated, there are no more games from here on out" said the bot, but his face actually looked to soften a bit "Your a Carrier tribute, from what I understand, you were raised for this, all of you" he cast his eyes to the rest of the group "Raised to murder, slaughter, and entertain...but understand that from here on out the games are done….but if you feel so free to continue fighting than do it" 

The cannon lights up.

"Come forward and strike, make your District proud, make your owners proud" 

Cato seemed to be hyperventilating, he turned to his fellow Carrier tributes but they were all shrinking away under the gaze of the giant robot aiming their weapons at them.

All of these Carrier tributes, made into these roughness killing machines for the benefit of the games, reduced to scared children.

I find it laughable if I wasn't fixed on a moaning Peeta lying on the top of a silent Luca.

But I didn't dare approach till Cato, with an almost wheezy cry, squeezed his blade one more time before throwing it away.

The others following his example.

I rushed forward trying to evaluate the damage, kneeling besides Peeta I carefully tried to move him on his back and off of Luca. The boy looked fine but I startled to see that Peeta had a long slash cutting across his right arm. Cutting deeply by his elbow before becoming shallow by his shoulder. Bleeding very heavily.

I did my best to press on the wound, the warmth stickiness of it pooling between my fingers.

Peeta eyes were open with pain but still he managed a strangled “Katniss…”

“You idiot”! I couldn't help but snap “What were you thinking”?! 

He was so close to getting out! Getting out alive at least!

A shadow overtook us and I looked to see both Rodimus and Rewind staring down at us.

Rodimus was clear with horror as he looked at Peeta's wound.

“Scrap” I heard him mutter, I didn’t know what it meant but couldn't help but share his sentiment.

The sleeve of my coat was already soaked with blood. I knew I couldn't continue on like this, then stupidly I member there was a pack besides me.

I grabbed at it hastily looking through, cursing as I only found a few crackers, a empty canteen, and a pair of socks.

Despite this I stretched the socks as far as I could, rembering from my mother and Prims work that no matter what I had to press to keep the blood in! Huh, even with something so obvious I still was failing.

“Here” a voice said and I felt a weight besides me.

It was the young girl from District 11, Rue, and in her hands was a roll of bandages.

Quickly grasping it I thanked her and made to work trying to wrap the wound. Rue wordlessly held up the arm gently to let me encircle it further, though Peeta gave painful gasps still.

“Let's try tying part of the arm” said Rue tapping just above his elbow “It'll help with the bleeding” 

I nodded following her instructions, just like I would if it were my sister and mother. I was never a gifted healer like them and I didn't have confidence in the wrappings as I still saw red peaking through the white of the bandages. But I was still too glad that it stopped spilling on the grass.

The shadow above us got bigger and I felt Rue press up to me while Luca fliched.

“Will he survive”? asked the gray and black Transformer

“I-I don't know” Rodimus said “Oh, slag, we really should have brought Ratchet”!

“To be fair he may nor have been as helpful considering this is a human and not a Cybertronian patient”

“Yeah but-will you put that thing away Megatron”! Rodimus suddenly yelled in frustration 

Megatron.

I felt my blood run cold as I finally realized why I recognized this specific Transformer.

Images of him, him and his Decepticons, littered the chapter of my history book.

Describing one of the leaders of the two waring Cybertronian factions, this bot name was meantioned as to put a face to the carnage that was the species of Cybertronians. Deemed so evil and callus for his not only his utter disregard of human life but in his delighted in the utter suffering and destruction to the organic life on this planet. Pictures and accounts left no room for nightmarish imagination.

He barely looked any different,  I could still recognize him.

This was him.

This was Megatron.

I didn't hesitate to push myself in front of Peeta and the younger two. Despite knowing I was helpless to anything he want to do to us.

“It was just too prove a point” said the metal ravager “Wasn't even looking to maim”

“That's not the point Megs-”! Rodimus would have continued if the whole arena didn't begin to shake causing even the giant robots to become unsteady on their feet.

Suddenly the forest erupted in a burst of flames! And the once tranquil pond bubbled ominously, growing inside till literal waves were sloshing closer to the field the stood.

“I believe the Gamemakers are not too happy with us interrupting there game” said the blue and red bot named Mags as he approached his captain.

Getting a serious face Rodimus loudly ordered “Grab the humans, were getting out of here”!

Rodimus kneeled before us “We got to leave” he said before cupping his metal hand and holding it low “I know your friends hurt but we gotta move you guys”

There's a lot I can distrust Rodimus for, being a Cybertronian for 1. and having Megatron on his crew for 2.

But seeing the earnestness in his blue glass eyes and knowing staying in the arena meant only death, I could only silently shuffle Peeta onto the bright red metal with Rue and Luca following behind us. The metal felt oddly warm beneath me.

“That's it little buddies ” Rodimus said encouragingly “There we go” 

His fingers curling as the only warning before Rodimus lifted us up to a dizzying hight, from their I could see the other bots Mags and Rewind collect the rest of the tributes with surprising gentleness.

Something I also noticed is Megatron himself, simply standing there and staring at the Carrier tributes who panicked as the ground around them began to muddy as the tide of the water lapped at their feet.

I guessed that the metal destroyer maybevwanted to finish the job,but to my surprise he leaned down and scooped up the scared tributes. 

Soon enough Rodimus and the others rushed us towards their ship

It started dark before opening to a control room full of machinery and screen monitors.

“Magnus, get us ready for lift off” said Rodimus before going towards a large glass tank and gentle settling us inside there. Rewind did the same to the two tributes he held and the bot Mags/Magnus set down the rest.

There was some hesitancy as Rodimus saw Megatron with the Carrier tributes but he only made a clicking noise before jumping into one of the seats, no doubt the Captain chair.

“Are we ready”?

“Thrusters on captain”!

I barely felt the ship move but on the monitors is clearly showed us soaring above the almost decimated arena and lift towards the dome. I shuddered and continued to hold Peeta as once again the ship jolted as it scrapped against the size of the force field.

“Rodimus, I'm detecting several hostile flight carriers coming our way”

“Guess they really didn't appreciate our little peace demonstration” Rodimus said dryly as he gripped the steering device.

The monitors showed what was obviously Capital shuttles coming at the ship. 

There was a violent shudder from the side of the ship.

“Rodimus…should we engage” said Magnus quietly 

Rodimus voice was determined as he said “No, we agreed we weren't taking any lives today” but then an almost cheerful tone came to his voice “But I got something else in mind”!

The ship gave a jerk and I felt myself bracing against the surface of the tank.

“They want to chase us, then we'll go somewhere they can't follow”!

Despite the optimistic way he spoke it was becoming worryingly hard to breath.

“Rodimus” Megatron said in a stressed tone “Rember the elevation, the humans-”

“I think I know how to transport humans” Rodimus said sarcastically, but I couldn't help but notice that it was getting easier to breath.

I coughed and checked on Peeta, concerned how paled he was though with how alert he looked I was still hopeful.

The jostling stopped and soon it was a smooth ride. Though not a comfortable one as Megatron gazed at all of us within the tank.

I did my best to meet his gaze fearlessly, my eyes flickering to the scared Carrier tributes still in his hands. The squirmed and cried, terrified to be in the hands of a titan who could easily squish them.

The one-sided stare off was broken by Rodimus hysterical laughter “We did it! We did it”! the bot practically leaped from his seat to fist pump the air “We saved the humans and showed those higher cassette up”

“Yes” Magnus said in a tired voice “With 23 anxious young humans and 1 injured tribute in our care”

“Well, we can figure it out” said Rodimus jovially “Doesn't this prove we can do anything”? 

“Rodimus-” started Magnus 

“Oh, we need to get ready to dock”!

The way Magnus sighed you would think he was a  tired parent to a rambunctious child and not the crew member following his captain.

There was another shudder and soon a bright light entered the hall we had come from, soon Rodimus left his seat to the tank we were in.

He was all smiles as he began to roll the very platform our tank was on towards the entrance.

“Your safe now, your safe” he kept murmuring.

I wondered if it was more for his assurance then for our sakes.

The light at the end of the hall was blinding but when we emerged from it a roar of cheers followed.

“WE'RE BACK”! yelled Rodimus

As my eyes adjusted to the light I could see we were in a large hangar of some sort and inside it a group of Transformers stood, bots of versions colors and sizes all whooped and hollered in congratulations to Rodimus and his group.

Once we got closer several of them surged forward.

“You actually got them”? said one with sharp helmet a grey face and red marking around his eyes.

“Ha! I wish I could have seen the faceplate of those Capital jerks when you burst in there” said one bot who only had a single yellow glass eye that made up his greenish blue helm.

“Are these humans”? one small white and blue bot asked as they struggled to look at them from the height of our platform “They're so cute”!

A purple Transformers with a narrow face and red eyes leaned forward “One of thems injured”

“Scrap”! Rodimus said “Ratchet?! Where's Ratchet”?

“I'm here”! called a gruff voice, a red and white mech pushed through the crowd “What happened”?

“Um, we ran into some complications” said Rodimus gesturing to Peeta “Can you help him”?

“A human patient” the robot frowned “I can try, but I can't promise I'll be as much use given how long it's been and what supplies I have ir should I say don't have”

“Haha, he just being modest” Rodimus said nervously looking at Katniss “But he'll be in safe servos” 

That obviously didn't assure me and both bots could tell as I held Peeta close to me.

The one called Ratchet came forward before lowering his hand into the tank, tributes did scramble back till it was only me and Peeta before the metal hand that was as big as a storage door.

“I see your worried for your friend, I understand” he said “ But I need to take a  look at him, it's the best way to ensure his wound is properly treated”

“Your not a human” I found myself saying “You don't know what your doing”

“This isn’t my first time with an injured human, it's just been some time and I don't exactly have what I need….” He stopped before saying “He looks like aid was administered, was this your work”?

I nodded but admitted “I had some help”

Ratchet hummed and nodded before nudging his hand more instantly towards me “You can come along, perhaps you could help me treat him”

I gulped looking between him, the hand, and a grimacing Peeta. Then finally helped push Peeta onto the outstretched hand before placing myself onto the cold metal of the palm. I braced myself as once again lifted by a metal giant.

Ratchet began to quickly walk away with us, but I could still hear Rodimus speaking.

“Megatron make sure you keep those tributes separated” he instructed curtly, obviously talking about the Carrier group.

His voice became more lighter as he said “As for the rest of you, I want to welcome you all to the Lost Light”!!!!

#transformers #transformers idw #transformers mtmte #hunger games #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #rodimus #rewind #ultra magnus #megatron #ratchet #crossover #the hunger games

[rowsdelusions]

Flatline (Luke Hemmings/reader)

Flatline (Luke Hemmings Imagines)

Title: Flatline

Rating: None

Pairing: Luke Hemmings/Reader

Word Count: 2116

Warning: Language

Summary: You're the guy's tour manager for their new tour

Author's Note: I am entirely grateful for all the love and support my last story got!! >_< It means the world to me that people like my stories! I hope this one is to your liking as well. I've got a few ideas for the other guys so don't worry!! I'm in the making of a few but wanted to ask if anyone is up for a series of imagines based off of their songs?! I did my Older one and this of course is Flatline, but just wanted to ask if people would like that?! Again, thank you so much for the support!!!

⋆ ★⋆ ★

“You guys are on in 5 minutes. So do any last minute touch ups and rituals; and if you need me for anything I’m always here you just have to get me.” I say smiling at the group of 4 men who I have grown to love over the short period of time I've been their tour manager. Their personalities and them as people just make it so easy to fall in love with them. Except for one; Luke. Anytime I would try to be close and nice to him like the rest of the boys I am not even given the cold shoulder I just get a blank stare or just a nod yes or no. It’s like he’s numb. If he had given me the cold shoulder I would at least know he just doesn’t like me, but I just get a blank stare.

I’ve asked the guys if I did something that offended him and why he didn’t like me, and they would just look at each other with the same look they are having right now when they see I’m waiting for a confirmation from Luke after I announced they had 5 minutes left and I got nothing back not eve a blank stare this time just nothing. He doesn’t look at me at all. Not looking up from putting his makeup away into his makeup bag even with the uncomfortable silence that wafted over the dressing room once everyone knew he wasn’t going to respond back.

It was like he was in an entirely different world that no one else was privy to except for him. But his face didn’t show the bliss that you get when you're daydreaming. It held nothing but concentration. Not knowing what had him so concentrated that made him look like he was about to explode into a million pieces, I walked over to him to see if there was anything I could do to help him. He might not like me, but I'm still his tour manager and bottom line I will do anything to make this tour more magical than the last even if talking to him has me on an edge of a cliff from nerves.

“Luke, is there anything I can do for you? You guys are on in a little less than 5 minutes.” I said to him softly, barely over a whisper looking at him with so much sincerity that a tour manager probably shouldn’t have for the lead singer of the band she is managing, but I couldn’t help it. Even with all the blank stares and nods. I couldn’t help but fall in love with him, going beyond the platonic love that I have for the other guys. He was just perfect with all his flaws, although I don’t think he has any he might be standoff-ish with me, but I can’t help but see how he interacts with the other guys, the crew, the fans during a show or in general, and his family when they come to some of the shows.

He always gives anyone he’s talking to his full attention sometimes looking like a puppy while doing so but it’s endearing. It shows he cares even if what you're talking about isn’t all that important. I can’t help that when he does his makeup how beautiful he looks and the look of being alive and doing what he loves while he's on stage makes me feel like I’m in the presence of an angel. Suddenly getting caught off guard from my thoughts by the man himself. When he abruptly stands up pushing the chair he was generally sitting on while cleaning up his makeup. I back up not out of fright but more out of shock looking around for a moment noticing all the guys are not in the room anymore.

The look of confusion crossed my faces wondering when they left, but before I could get too far in my wondering, Luke asked, “Are you going to be on the side of the stage for this show?” Even more confused, I answer in an unsure tone.” umm… I guess?” It sounded like more of a question than I intended. I tried to recover from it.” I was going to get the schedule for our next stop situated during this show so I wasn’t planning on it but if you want, I can just do it after the show.” Not even a second passed before he answered me,” Can you do it after the show? It will be easier if you were by the stage tonight.”  I stare at him for a moment, questions in my head that I’ll never asks run through it before I ponder any longer on them though I see that he’s waiting for an answer looking almost nervous but I see on the wall clock that he has to be on stage in 2 minutes so leaving my questions in my head I answer him,” Yeah I'll be there on Cals side.” Without anything more said between us he leaves the dressing room leaving me with nothing but his presence and the questions in my head left unanswered.

By the time I composed myself in the dressing room and went to my designated spot on the side of the stage on Cal's side, the boys were already on their third song. When I got there, I was handed an earwig from one of the workers on tour so I can hear the tech crew and everyone else if there's a problem that needs to be fixed. Getting a weird look from the crew around me made me self-conscious, questioning why everyone was giving me that look on top of the questions I have from my discussion with Luke.

Putting all my focus back onto the show, I see that instead of Luke having his talking part first like usual it’s Michael who is doing his. Confused, I turned to the closest person on the crew besides me and asked,” Why is Michael doing his talking portion at this moment and why was I not informed by this?” The crewmate looked nervous when I asked, not knowing if it’s because there scared on losing their job or something else, I try to clarify more for them trying to ease their nervousness," I’m just asking because any new changes need to be made through me, you're not losing your job and I’m not mad I’m just wondering why this decision was made without at least talking to me.”

Seeing their nerves not lessening, but answering anyway in a rushed stutter manner,” The guys asked for this request and said not to tell you.” Turning towards them like they had a second head I see the crewmate walking briskly away stopping where a bunch of the other people apart from the crew where and talking heavily with them before they all stopped once they saw I was looking over them. Why is everyone being secretive about something and why did no one tell me about the last-minute change on the show.

I questioned myself, getting madder by the second once I saw that even more people were looking at me. Staring ahead after I get tired of the stares that are burning holes into my head every passing second, I try to focus on the show making sure it goes off without a hitch. Even though I see that each of the guys are going in a different order for their talking portions than what we’ve planned in the start of the tour, I see that after Michaels talking portion and a few songs, Ashton went next for his talking portion.

Why are they going in a different order than the one we picked even when there's a different order Luke always goes first so it’s easier on the guys and the crew to switch out guitars. Why did the guys not tell me about this or Luke when we were talking in the dressing room earlier. They clearly knew it was happening from what I’m seeing on stage and what the crewmate told me when I asked about it. Worrying even more, questions ran through my head that I was going to ask the boys once the shows were done. I didn't realize how much time went by with all of my worrying.

Until I heard Luke doing his talking portion missing all of Cal’s one, I tried to pay attention pushing the worry and questions till after the show. I hear Luke make a nervous laugh continuing the nervous streak while talking like he did with me earlier in the dressing room,” I know that you all have realized that we're doing things in a different order on this show and that is because… I have something special I'm going to do for this show.” he laughs at the end when he hears the fans screaming at the top of their lungs. “As I know how exciting this is. I need you guys to do me a favor. Can you do that?” 

He questions the fans in an exciting tone, the nerves still blatantly present though how much he’s trying to hide it from the fans covering some of it up. I've spent enough time with these guys to see all of their tell-tell signs. Coming back from the fans screaming yes. Luke laughs again, "okay, good so for our last and final song I would like you all to please be courteous because I'm going to be bringing someone out for this song and I would love it if you all sing along with me.”

Drowning out all the exciting screams from the fans I grab the closest crewmate to me,” What is he talking about bringing someone on stage?” I asked hurriedly. When I don’t get an answer from them, I hear Luke start to talk again this time with an almost desperate tone that you wouldn’t have catched if you didn’t know him well.” Now can I please get are ever so brilliant tour manager on stage please.”

Looking confused I see Cal walking towards where I am on the side of the stage walking towards him in an almost run. When I reached him, I asked in a hurried manner,” What the hell is going on?” looking down at me he says in a calm tone,” Everything is going to be explained but you just have to trust me and go on stage please.” Looking into his eyes, seeing them have a pleading look, I slowly nod my head.

Walking with Cal on stage was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve ever done. My admiration for the boys is growing. When we met Luke in the middle of the stage all the fans were screaming. Blocking them out I turned to Luke asking what I’ve been dying to ask him this whole evening. "What the hell are you doing and what the hell am I supposed to do up here?” Giving Luke my must baffled look and all I get in return is him saying, "Just please listen to the lyrics it will explain everything I promise and all you have to do is stand here looking beautiful.”

Before I can question him anymore, I see him giving a nod to the other boys, and next thing I know I’m hearing the strums of Cal's bass and Lukes's voice combining into their song Flatline. Hearing it before and loving it like any other song they release. I still don’t understand why I'm out here in front of 10,000 fans until Luke turns towards me walking, chest to chest singing the chorus of the song looking nowhere but my eyes, and all I can do is be hypnotized.

Not once looking away from him even when everything clicked into place. He likes me, that's why he has been acting the way he has. The man who made me hypnotized in every sense likes me, and I've never noticed. Without thinking I lean up to his face, wrapping both of my arms around his neck, my hands reaching into his beautiful blonde hair, curling my fingertips into the curly pieces I move his head down to my own. Looking into his eyes for permission but instead of him giving me one he grabs my hips and crashes his lips against mine. The kiss felt nothing like I’ve ever had before, like everything was aligned. Breaking apart when the fans' screams reached a new level, I looked into his eyes with the brightest smile on my face, “I fell the first day I met you.”

⋆ ★⋆ ★

AHHH, I hope y'all like this one because I do!!! and if you guys want to see the song series pleaseee let me know!!! thank you for the love and support!!!! >_<

#5sos fanfic #5 seconds of summer imagines #5sos imagine #luke hemmings imagines #michael clifford x reader #ashton irwin x reader #luke hemmings fluff #5sos #ashton irwin #michael clifford #5 seconds of summer #luke hemmings #calum hood #calum hood x reader #5sos fluff

[idyllic-ghost]

Title: And We Meet Again

Pairing: immortal!Minghao x reincarnated!Reader

Warnings: discussions of death, mentions of medication, mentions of an anxiety attack, angst in general.

Genre: Soulmates, Romance, Fluff, Angst

Synopsis: There is something familiar about that house on the hill, even though you swear that you have never seen it before. But you’re drawn to the lavender fields and the ocean view - and the lonesome looking man you see sitting on the porch. When you approach him there is something in his eyes that you cannot understand - a knowing, a deep feeling. The question is, will you ever have enough time to figure out what that look means?

A/N: i want to thank @wondernus and @heartkyeom for helping me out with this one!! your comments helped me stay motivated and embellished the story a lot more <33

Word count: 6k

This is a collab with @svthub!

Click here to see the other fics in the collab!

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“Where do you want it, my love?” Minghao asked as he carried the shovel over to where you were standing, “Is here good?”

“It’s perfect.” You looked down at the tree sapling you were holding in your hand.

The wind was blowing around you. This really was the best place to build a home. A big field, up on a high cliff, with a view of the ocean. Your fiance was helping you plant a tree in what was supposed to become the garden. Minghao’s long hair was getting in his eyes while he shoveled up the dirt to plant the tree sapling, making you giggle. He looked up at you.

“You know we won’t be able to see the tree grow, right? Those take ages to get to their normal size,” he sighed.

“That means someone else can enjoy it in the future, darling,” you explained, “It is like we are leaving our mark on this place.”

“Anything you want, I suppose.” He smiled and kept digging. “Should this be deep enough?”

You hummed and placed the sapling in the hole, brushing your hands together to get rid of any dirt. Minghao shoveled the dirt in and patted on the ground. As soon as he put down the shovel and turned to you, you hugged him tightly. 

“Imagine our house here,” you sighed, “Just the way we want it.”

Minghao pressed his lips to your temple, pressing a warm kiss on your cold skin. The base of the tree was thin and frail - but you knew that, with the right amount of love and care, you’d get it to a grand and beautiful size.

“I will see to it that you get the exact home that you want, love,” Minghao murmured.

“Hm? Even with a patio with lots of plants? Or a garden filled with lavender?” you asked with a beaming smile.

“Anything you want, darling.”

“I’ll give you a list then.”

The tree stood proud in that spot in front of where the house was supposed to be. You couldn’t be happier with your now husband standing right beside you in front of the place that you were going to call home.

Five hundred years later, the tree was still standing. Much larger and with ridges that showed its old age. Minghao’s hand grazed the rough bark of the tree. A sad smile appeared on his lips as he thought back to when the two of you planted this tree. The tree was dying, it was dry and had a grayish brown color instead of its past lively green bark. Time was disappearing like sand through his fingers, but he didn’t feel it. Unlike the tree, no signs of age could be seen on Minghao’s skin. He put his forehead against the wood. It was warm from the sun’s rays. Spring had finally come, and the buds on the branches were about to bloom. At this moment, it felt like only yesterday that he had planted this tree with you. He stepped away from the tree, the feeling of the rough texture lingered on his skin. He wasn’t sure why he ended up by the tree. It might have been the thought of you that led his subconscious to move his legs for him. He missed you, there was no denying that. However, even if you weren’t here with him right now, you would return soon.

The train rolled past beautiful scenery, ocean views and lavender fields. Your train cabin was cramped, but at least you were the only one in there. The small luggage you had brought along was tucked under your seat, except for a smaller backpack laying on the seat beside you. It contained anything you could need; tissues, a book, a phone with the notifications turned off, and your pain meds. So far the ride had been peaceful. It was quiet, the only sound being the clashing of the train tracks against the wheels. Outside you saw the most calming view you had laid eyes on in a while. Color flooded your senses; purple, green, and blue hues spotting the landscape right in front of your finger tips. You could picture how fresh the air was. The clear skies and slight wind blowing through the trees, and the white spots of seasalt clinging to the window, made you want to go outside to take a deep breath. This was exactly what you needed for your final vacation, a quaint village by the seaside with an utmost harmonic atmosphere. Houses were sparsely built in this area, but a bit further away you could see the village where you were going to stay.

The moment you stepped foot in the village, you could tell it was a tight-knit community. Everyone seemed to know everyone and tourism didn’t seem to be very common. Still, you were given a warm welcome. The hostel you were staying at had a nice older man running it. He showed you to your room - a small but cozy room with a low ceiling. It was good enough for you especially since the bed was comfy enough for you to fall asleep right away. In the morning, you set off immediately after breakfast. Your feet took you to the big lavender field and you were hit with a huge wave of the wonderful scent. There was a small path paved for you between two big fields of purple flowers. On top of the hill was a house - a white villa with a black roof. Beside it stood a big oak tree.

From where you were standing, you could see the outline of a man sitting on the porch. Everything felt so awfully familiar, a huge wave of deja vu hit you. It felt wrong to just go to some stranger’s house, but you told yourself it would be right to ask for directions - you were out in the middle of nowhere after all. When you got closer, you could see that the man was looking back at you - and you swore you saw him smiling.

“Hi! Sorry for intruding,” you said as you approached the porch, “I’m just a little lost.”

The man was slender with dark hair - there was something mysterious about him, specifically in his deep brown eyes. But he was calm, you might even describe him as peaceful. 

“You’re not intruding.” His voice was smooth, and his emphasis on ‘you’ had you taken aback. 

He got up from his seat and approached you with a warm look on his face.

“I’m just here on vacation, I’m living in the town across the fields,” you explained. “And I was going to go to the sea, but these flowers got my attention.”

“They’re pretty, aren’t they?” The man looked out across the fields.

“Lavender’s my favorite.” You nodded.

He gave you a knowing smile before silently inviting you to sit down with him. There were two cups on the table on the porch, and one pot of tea. You would never normally do this, but you accepted his kind gesture.

“My name’s Minghao,” he said and brought the cup to his lips.

“Y/N,” you answered and drank the lavender green tea.

“That’s a pretty name,” he said.

“Thank you.” You put down your cup and looked around you. “Do you live here by yourself?”

“Mostly.” He nodded, and you could tell that he wasn’t going to explain further.

You closed your eyes and took in the spring breeze. Everything was calm and peaceful. You thought about what a nice life you could live here. It was something you could see yourself doing something like this in another life. You felt Minghao’s eyes on you, and you turned your head to look at him.

“How long are you staying in town?” he asked.

“A few weeks.”

He nodded. Suddenly something sad appeared in his eyes, but it disappeared as fast as it got there. There was no doubt that there was a connection between you and this stranger - although it seemed insane. The two of you had only spoken a few words but it felt right. Just as right as it had been getting on the train over here, and just as right as it had been to walk down this path.

“Have you lived here for long?” you asked.

“Longer than you can imagine”

You gave him a weird look, which he responded with a soft chuckle. It felt restrained, his entire posture was restrained. There was more to this interaction than he let on, but you had no idea what it could mean.

“I think I should start heading back.” You stood up, “Thank you for the tea”

“Come by again sometime.”

“I will.” You nodded. “... is it alright if I pick some lavender?”

“It’s all yours,” he hummed.

Minghao gripped the armrests of the chair tightly as he watched you walk away. You bent down beside the path and picked up a few lavender flowers, turned back to the house, and waved before walking back. 

He took a deep breath. This wasn’t the first time you had walked away from him. 

Far from it. 

You were the same as you always were -  sweet, curious, and just as he remembered you. Every single time he got to see you again, you were perfect. You had been from the start.

The first time Minghao had met you was five hundred years ago. It was a different town than where he lived now. There, the two of you lived far apart but close at heart. You were the child of the duke of the land; Minghao, nothing more than a physician’s apprentice. Despite getting proposals from people of high standings across the lands, your eyes never wavered from him. Minghao was the one you had set out to marry no matter who disagreed. 

That’s exactly why you decided to run off together. Not much had been planned out, except that you’d try to steal two horses, or maybe even one, and that you’d do it during a night when the moon didn’t cast light upon your trail. The night when you followed through with your half-finished plan, it came to you unexpectedly. You ran off to Minghao’s cabin as soon as dusk came.

“Come on, get your things!” You shook Minghao awake.

“Your majesty-”

“We don’t have time for this, my love,” you interrupted. “No one’s around, this is our only chance. Get yourself ready, I’ll go get the horses.”

The two of you escaped into the night, planning on never stepping foot into the town again. You found a small village where you decided to stay. It was right by an open field, and close to the seashore. You immediately fell in love with this field, which is why the two of you decided to build a house there.

It was all you would work on, day in and day out you would sketch new ideas. You had picked a spot right in the middle of a big field. There was open ground, perfect to build upon, and a view over the sea. However, just a few years after getting married, you died. 

A weak heart, was the only explanation he ever got - but there people just weren’t as knowledgeable back then. Minghao, a few moments before you passed, made a promise that he’d see you again, that his life would never be complete without you. He finished building the house you wanted, following every instruction you had written down, and planted a tree right next to it. Since he had already planted your favorite tree, he began planting lavender patches around it, they were your favorite, and every year he’d plant more. 

Many years passed and Minghao never seemed to age, he didn’t feel it, and others noticed it. When his childhood friends started passing away while he still looked the same as all those years ago, he knew that something was wrong. 

Minghao couldn’t die. 

At first he didn’t understand, but then he saw you again. A visitor from a nearby town, who had no idea who he was. So he thought of it as a coincidence, maybe he was going mad. But then, a few decades later, it happened again. And again, and again, and again.

 Every time it was different, but it was you - it was definitely you. Minghao learned to live with it at first. He’d move away a few years, come back just in time for you to visit, and it would keep going in an infinite loop. 

Around the fifth time it had happened, he tried to tell you about all of your past lives. He somehow managed to convince you, but a week or so later you passed away suddenly. That’s how he found out he wasn’t allowed to tell you, but he also found out that his actions could change things - meaning that there had to be a way for you to stay. Finally, after all these years, he might know how. 

Once you were back in the village, you were looking for a place to eat lunch. Your eyes fell upon a cheerful looking house with a small restaurant at the bottom floor. The old lady working there sat you down at a corner table and gave you some bread and water, leaving you some time to look at the menu. When she came back, and you placed your order, she asked you where you were from. You answered and she nodded with a smile.

“We don’t get many tourists here nowadays,” she explained. “It’s hard to not spot an unfamiliar face.”

“Well, this place is absolutely wonderful.” You smiled. “I’m surprised more people don’t come here… I mean, just the lavender field out there is enough of an attraction.”

“Oh, so you’ve been wandering around this morning, then?”

“Yes, I talked to the man who lives out in the middle of the field - Minghao I think it was,” you said.

“Oh, you’ve talked to Mr. Xu?” She sounded surprised. “We rarely see anything of him… he comes to the market a few times, but that’s about it. I’m surprised he’d talk to a stranger.”

You watched as she went to give your order to the chef, shocked to hear about him in this way. Minghao had been so friendly and didn’t seem like what the lady described him to be. After lunch, you walked around the market - at first just looking, but soon enough you were interviewing. You began talking to the townsfolk, asking them about the lavender fields and the house right in the middle of it. Everyone told the same story; the fields had always been there, so had the house, and no one could seem to remember when Xu Minghao moved into it.

Minghao was in his kitchen when he saw you walking back over the field, just a few days after the first visit. He quickly dried off his hands from washing a few fruits. With rushed steps, he made his way toward the front door. This was important, the second visit always was. His hand lingered on the door handle, but the thoughts were pushed away as soon as he pushed open the door. Light flooded into the dusty hallway, but he quickly closed it behind him. The sound of the door closing caught your attention. You were looking up at the crown of the tree, but now your attention was turned to him.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning,” you answered, “Sorry for just dropping by.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” He shrugged it off and approached you. “I enjoy a bit of company.”

You gave him a strange look, which he couldn’t decipher. However, it quickly faded and was replaced with a smile. You met him halfway, walking closer to the house. 

“I was about to go on my morning walk,” Minghao lied. “Do you want to come along?”

It was a steep way down the hill towards the shore, but the two of you took it slow. You walked close behind him, watching each step you took. But the closer you got to the beach, the smaller the rocks were under your shoes - making it harder to walk. As if he somehow knew, Minghao held his hand out for you to take just as you were about to fall. 

“It’s hard to walk here,” he hummed even though he was walking perfectly fine like he had walked there a million times before.

“Thank you,” you answered breathlessly, “I don’t have the right shoes for this.”

“You’re doing good,” he assured you with a smile.

His hand gripped yours a bit tighter, as he helped you over a more difficult part. Nevertheless, you weren’t doing so good. You thought back to your family and friends at home, to the letter you had left them. There had been no warning signs, from what you could imagine, and then you suddenly left them. 

Suddenly, it’s like you were back there. You had received the news of the state of your health. A few months left to live, is what the sum of it was. It wasn’t something that you expected would ever happen to you. From that moment, you moved on with your life as normal - but the second you started feeling symptoms, you knew it was time to leave. You couldn’t stand seeing the worried faces of your loved ones while you slowly decayed. So, you wrote them each a letter and left - they explained your condition, and that you wouldn’t be returning. It hurt, but it was for the best. After this trip, you had decided to go to the hospital and spend your last days there. It wasn’t what you wanted, but you didn’t want anyone to see you in such a fragile state. Perhaps it was selfish, but you saw no other way.

The air was salty and warm like in a daze, but the cold breeze and the few droplets occasionally escaping from the ocean brought you back from your thoughts. You looked over at the man beside you. He was still holding your hand, still leading you across the safest path. A part of you wanted to ask Minghao a billion questions, but something kept you quiet - a single thought that you were mulling over in your head. 

How was it possible that you seemed to know him? 

No, you didn’t know his favorite color, or what kind of music he liked, but you remember his face from somewhere - like a distant memory. Minghao stopped walking, seemingly tired of the silence between you.

“This is my favorite spot,” he said.

He let go of your hand, and you immediately missed the warmth of his touch. Minghao looked at you. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocky shore filled your ears, and the noise seemed to drown out all thoughts. Nothing else but the depths of his eyes existed in this moment. He smiled, a dimple appearing on one of his cheeks. 

“It’s beautiful,” you finally answered.

Your eyes never left his - it seemed impossible to do. His eyes had looked black before, but now, with the sun reflecting in them, they were a warm and inviting brown color. One of his hands reached out to your face. His thumb brushed against your cheek.

“Eyelash,” he murmured.

You smiled at him, silently thanking him. The sound of the waves echoed in your head, a slow rhythm building and merging with your heartbeat. Minghao’s hand lingered before he let it drop to his side again. 

“Are you enjoying your time here?” he asked softly.

“It’s been calming,” you answered, “I finally feel at peace.”

Minghao’s eyebrows furrowed, as if there was something about you that he wasn’t expecting. However, as soon as the sound of another wave hitting the shore echoed toward you, his face readjusted to its normal state with a flinch. He was an enigma to you, a mystery you were unable to solve - a paradox.

“There’s something about you…” You stopped, unable to find any words that could accurately describe what you were feeling.

“Perhaps it’s infatuation,” he joked.

You let out a flustered laugh and looked out over the ocean, just to avoid his sharp eyes. It was a more bold comment than what you had heard from him before. As you’re about to go back on your word, to try to find the words you were searching for, you feel a sudden pain in your chest. It was a frequent symptom that you had gotten to know all too well recently. It’s sharp, starting in the middle of your chest before it spreads and eventually dulls. There’s nothing to do about it; it happens at random, and leaves too quickly for any pain meds to take effect - constantly numbing yourself wasn’t an option either. No, you saved your medication for more dire situations.

“It’s nothing.” You shake your head and bring your hand to your chest. “Should we head back?”

“Are you alright?” Minghao held his hands out, hovering around your body but not daring to touch you.

You can’t help but to look at him. Minghao is looking right at you, but his mind is somewhere else. A distant memory rumbles within him. He’s right next to you, but he’s mentally in another place. Despite your pain, you give him a small smile. You take one of his hands in yours, and you place your free hand on his shoulder. Minghao’s breath quickens, his eyes drifting away from you. Your hand leaves his shoulder to cup his cheek. He looks at you, and you smile at him again.

“Should we head back?” you asked again.

Minghao nods.

He watches you walk in front of him, his hand still in yours. However, as much as he tried, he couldn’t shake the gnagging feeling away. Seeing you just now, clearly in pain, put everything in perspective for him once again. You were dying, much like every other time you were here. There was always the slightly unsettling inkling that you had shorter and shorter time on earth each time you got reincarnated. He thought back to the first time you had died - how you had reached for your chest just like before, and how you had the same scrunched up facial expression. That time, you had collapsed - right in front of the tree the two of you had planted together. He wished he never had do see you like that again. Mindlessly follow you back home was all he could do now.

When you find yourself in front of Minghao’s house again, you also find that the pain in your chest has faded. It never lasted for long. A hand landed on your shoulder, and you turned to look directly into his eyes.

“Do you want to come inside? Maybe you should rest?” he asks, worry dripped from his words.

You wouldn’t mind staying with him for longer, and you were curious about how he lived. Playing up your pain felt wrong, but it also seemed like Minghao wanted you to stay for other reasons than your wellbeing. Moreover, when he, just a few seconds later, offered you a cup of tea, it was hard to say no.

Minghao’s home was exactly what you thought it’d be. Old trinkets, plants everywhere, and large windows that let lots of light in. He showed you into his kitchen, where he let you sit down by a dinner table, and he situated himself by the counter. The arcitecture of the house was old, but he had clearly renovated it to add a few modern details. As if he was afraid to leave the past behind, but found himself needing to adapt.

“So, what do you do in order to afford to own a place like this?” you asked.

“I’m a doctor.” Minghao speaks with his back to you, as he started the tea kettle.

“A doctor?” You look around the house, trying to find some sort of proof of his profession. “You’re not very busy for a doctor.”

“... I work privately,” he said.

Minghao takes out two mugs from the cupboard and walks up to you. You watch as he puts one mug in front of you and one mug in front of the chair opposite of yours. He doesn’t look at you, and goes back to the counter quite quickly. It wasn’t time for questions, you could feel it in every way he moved. Minghao was tense, and his movements almost robotic. He had done this routine a thousand times before, you could tell from the way he didn’t even have to look when he reached for the many tea leaves. He never asked you what you wanted, but you weren’t questioning it.

“So, are you going to tell me what happened on the beach?” he asked.

You thought that you could ask him the same question, but you decided to not voice this hypocrisy. 

“Chronic pain,” you hummed, “It’s…”

You were going to say that it wasn’t serious, but it seemed as if Minghao could read your mind about these things. He hummed in response, setting down the tea kettle right in front of you before sitting down. 

“It’s an illness,” you admit, “I won’t bore you about it… but I don’t have long left.”

It’s silent - you can hear a pin drop. Minghao picks up the kettle, and pours the tea in your mug. The sound of the water pouring is calming to you, his act makes you think that he’s understanding. 

“There’s nothing you can do?” he asks.

“Nothing that I have heard of,” you said, “And I’ve gone through a lot of tests.”

“What about traditional methods?”

“Traditional?”

“I might have something for you,” he explained, “If it doesn’t cure you, it might just help your passing.”

You looked at him, skeptical at first but seeing his serious expression made you let go. At this point, you were willing to try anything.

“Come by tomorrow,” he said, “And I’ll have something prepared for you.”

You don’t know why, but you trust him without a doubt.

The very next day, you got worse. The pain in your chest was there when you woke up, but wouldn’t go away. You took your pain meds, which kept the pain at bay. However, you knew it was only temporary. You stayed in bed all day, only going out to the bathroom or to get food. The next day, you did the same. Then the day after that, and the day after that, until you had to ask the owner to bring your food to your room. Your body was betraying you, and you had no idea what to do. The thought of Minghao stays with you throughout this time. How you’ve failed him: you said you would be there, now you’ve left him alone for days. You wonder if he saw it coming, or if he was disappointed that you didn’t show.

By day five you decided you had to try to get to him. Your medication was running out, since you had taken more than you were recommended to, but it was enough to carry you through the journey. You left all of your things at the hostel, you couldn’t carry anything in this state, and snuck out without anyone seeing. The owner had grown attached to you, and had urged you to not go anywhere these past few days - so you didn’t want anyone to see you leave. 

Minghao sits on the porch, where you had first seen him, when you arrive at the villa. You’re out of breath and limping, but it doesn’t stop you. His eyes widened when he first spotted you, and he hesitates before running toward you. You collapse in his arms, finally feelingn safe enough to relax.

“I didn’t forget you, I promise,” you whisper hoarsely.

“I didn’t think you would,” he hummed and soothingly started stroking your back. “Let’s get you inside.”

He lifts you up, and lets you prop yourself against his shoulder. You steady yourself on him, and limp in through the house. Instead of stopping in the kitchen, like you thought he would, he carried you into a different room. The room was brightly lit, due to the large windows, and was different from the rest of the house. This room didn’t have any modern touches, it was seemingly completely original. And untouched. Dust flew around the room, although nothing was dirty. The room was well taken cared of, but not frequently visited.

“Rest in here,” Minghao said.

He sat you down on the bed, then proceeded to remove the linens that covered it just enough for you to settle down under the duvet. When he helped you into the bed, he made sure to handle you carefully. His touch was gentle, and you swore that he barely even breathed. 

“I’ll get your medicine.”

In the kitchen, Minghao hurried together his ingrediendts. Lemon, honey, jasmine flowers, sage, root of valeriana, and, most importantly, lavender grown from the fields outside. He got the potion from one of his old books - two different sleeping potions mixed together. Maybe, just maybe, with a little help of some of his other trinkets, he could save you. He ground the ingredients up together, making it into a paste before diluting it with water. Before bringing it to you, he needed to gather a few other things. An old locket, a branch from the tree outside, and a bouquet of lavender and other wild flowers he had found outside. Memories from your past lives. The tree and the lavender was vague enough for you to not question it, but the locket he had to act carefully with. Inside it was a picture of him and you, from your wedding ceremony. It had been a small affair, so no one could tell it was a wedding picture from just looking at it. But the picture alone was suspicious for you to see. Nevertheless, Minghao put everything on a tray and carried it in to your room. 

You had fallen asleep when Minghao walked back into the room. He put the tray on the bedside table. The bouquet went in a glass and golden vase, and then he sat down next to you. To wake you, he put a hand on your shoulder and gently shook you. As soon as you opened your eyes, your eyebrows furrowed in pain.

“I’m sorry,” he winced.

“It’s okay,” you mumbled, “Do you have it?”

Minghao hummed and helped you sit up. Once you had done so, he put the cup in your hands but stopped you when you attempted to drink it. One of his hands covered the top of the cup, and he kept it there.

“I have to warn you. This is strong,” he said.

“I don’t care, I just want to get better,” you said in a cracked voice, “Any way possible.”

Minghao nodded, and reached for the locket. He looked at you, hesitating before putting it around your neck. You were about to ask, but he stopped you with one, serious look.

“You’ll be different when you wake up, Y/N.”

“Different is better than dead,” you said dryly.

You put the cup to your lips and turned it upside-down. Minghao took your cup when you finished and helped you lay back down. Pulling the covers up over your chest, he watched as sleep took over you and as you fell into your deep slumber.

Days passed and you hadn’t woken up. Minghao had put fresh flowers in the vase for you, and had put the tree branch in your hands, laying on your chest. You looked peaceful like this, not like you had when you came to him. Seeing you stumble towards the house, sweating and heaving, was more painful than having knowledge of all the times you had passed on - your suffering was forever carved into his memory.

The more time that passed, the more anxious he grew. Minghao stopped going into your room altogether. Maybe it was a mistake to try, maybe it wasn’t supposed to be this way - what if he was doomed for all eternity to watch you come and go, what if that was his destiny? Had he ruined it all? Would he never be able to see you smile again? His thoughts kept spiraling, and he didn’t know how to stop it. His routine was the only thing that kept him calm. Wake up, breakfast, morning walk, take care of the plants, eat, read, make tea, eat, sleep, repeat. Everything was done with the same robotic motions, it was the only thing to keep him from going completely insane with anxiety. Patience is a virtue, but it’s impossible to keep up when time had gone on for an eternity already. He was so close - if this could only work. 

Once half a year had passed, he decided to check up on you. Despite his fears, you looked exactly the same. Dust had settled on your figure, but you were the exact same as before - peaceful, with your hands across your chest, and the locket around your neck. It must have worked. If you had died, then you would’ve decomposed by now. Then it was only a matter of time. Another winter alone, but the love and hope for you was enough to warm him.

You took a deep breath. Everything smelled of lavender. The corners of your mouth turned up, and you finally opened your eyes. The sun was bright, but the curtains dulled it’s glow. You sat up, looking at the twig in your hand. The tree. Yes, you remember. You remember planting it, and seeing it each time your life was renewed. You remembered everything. The cold locket against your bare skin made you aware of it’s presence of it around your neck. When you opened it you found your fondest memory - your wedding day. You looked around. Everything was just as the room you had designed for you and Minghao, all those hundred years ago. Minghao. You took off the duvet and put your feet on the ground. It was cold, and when you got up to walk it felt unusual, like you hadn’t walked in ages. As you stumbled your way to the door, the only thought in your mind was the one of him. You would finally see him again, remember him again. 

When you got to the porch, you had to sit down. Everything was just the way you wanted it to be, the exact way you had planned it. Minghao had done well with your instructions. You sat down in one of the chairs on the porch. The tree had grown big - and he said you would never see it grow. Life found it’s way. What intrigued you the most was the lavender fields. Sure, you had asked Minghao for some lavender in your garden, it was your favorite flower after all, but you never imagined he would take it this far. As you looked over the fields, you saw someone coming towards the house in the distance. A tall man, with black hair, and a graceful walk. Though you couldn’t walk far, you stappled toward the railing and steadied yourself against it.

“Minghao!”, you shouted and waved one of your arms.

The man noticed you. At first he stopped walking, but then he began running. You stumbled down the stairs, and tried to close the distance between you even faster. The two of you collided, and he engufled you in his embrace. You lost your balance, and both of you fell to your knees. 

“My love, you’re alive.” Minghao’s voice was cracked with tears threatening to spill from his eyes. 

“I’m alive,” you sniffled, “I’m alive, and I remember it all - everything you have done for me. Thank you.”

Minghao released you slightly from his embrace, before bringing his lips to yours. Kissing you for the first time in ages felt like heaven on earth. He never wanted this moment to end, and neither did you. For the first time in over a centennial, you could fulfill a life together.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Seventeen taglist: @junhui-recs ✧ @enhacolor ✧ @shuabby1994 ✧ @dkakapizzaboy ✧ @just-here-to-read-01 ✧ @loviehan ✧

#svthub.collab #svthub collab #garden collab #svt #seventeen #kpop fanfiction #kpop #kpop fanfic #kpop writer #fanfic #bee buzzed εїз✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* #svt fluff #minghao fanfic #minghao #minghao fluff #minghao angst #minghao seventeen #xu minghao #the8

[breakonthroough]

Some thoughts about the differences between manga and anime in the story of Law and Cora.

The illustration for the title is not entirely on topic, it’s just funny how they played up the situation, expanding the moment with touching changes in Law’s behavior - he prepared breakfast for Cora. UwU

As we know, anime adaptations as a rule bring something new to the plot and events of the manga, expanding and complementing them. But sometimes it happens that some manga panels are subject to censorship, or are not transferred to the screen at all. There are many such examples throughout anime, but I am primarily interested, of course, in the story of Law and Rocinante.

In episodes 700 to 706, the anime creators added many additional scenes that expand on the characters and plot. For example, we were shown Rocinante's last fight with members of the Donquixote family. In the manga, as we remember, this was left behind the scenes. We only hear, together with Law, who is sitting in the chest at that moment, only the sounds of Rocinante being beaten by Doflamingo's officers.

The moments of their personal interaction during the journey in search of a cure for Law were also slightly expanded. We saw a little more cute smiles and caring from Rocinante. Especially in the final part of their story. I will never forget this sad and tender look from Cora.

However, to all the good things that happened, some ridiculous and even slightly inappropriate, in my opinion, scenes were also added. At least, it seemed to me that they distorted the image of the character.

For example, the scene of Law being thrown out of the window of the Donquixote pirate base again in second time - why was it so necessary? Wasn't once enough, like in the manga? Add gloomy and cruel senselessness to Corazon’s behavior, increase the degree of his ominous and repulsive aura? Or just for fun? Well I dunno..

Or the scene of Cora-san’s absurd panic over Trafalgar, who had fallen unconscious after his condition worsened.

Of course, I understand that at that moment he was really very scared for him and was upset that the rescue plan would fail, but why was it necessary to add this inappropriate comedy with falling from a cliff and spilling water? To show that Rocinante is clumsy? But this is already understandable, especially since it’s my opinion that he wasn’t THAT clumsy in reality, and, for the most part, he was putting on an act.

But that scene itself was quite tense and disturbing, and certainly not comic.

But the manga scene with Rocinante bandaging himself the wound inflicted on him by the angry boy Law was removed from the anime.

I can understand that they apparently decided to censor the “nudity,” as they did with both Levi and Erwin from Attack on Titan when they similarly removed the wound bandaging scene from the anime.

But at the same time, other characters appeared on the screen with a naked torso quite routinely, so I don’t understand this selectivity of censorship.

Of course, what speaks to me is solely a thirst for justice, and not at all a desire to see his handsome male figure in animation. Hehehe..

But, speaking seriously, this scene had a certain significance in revealing the characters, since it clearly showed what the Donquixote brothers had to go through in childhood and youth. Because, perhaps with a certain degree of probability, Doflamingo also hides somewhat similar scars on his back and shoulders.

Well, this scene also shows Doflamingo’s reaction to his brother’s injury, which is different from the anime version. In the anime, in the presence of other family members, he is quite sympathetic and caringly interested in what happened, how it happened, and advises Corazon to take care of himself.

In the manga, this scene is quite awkward in itself. They both flinch when Doflamingo catches a glimpse of his brother and his wound as he passes by in the hallway. At this moment, when they are "talking", Rocinante stands with his back to his brother, and Doffy looks into the room, and in this communication there is no sense of brotherly care, as it seemed to me. The expression on Doffy's face at this moment is more tense and dissatisfied than worried, which completely changes the entire emotional tone of this scene.

But I will end this mini-analysis on a positive note. Because it was anime episode that gave us that priceless smile of Rocinante. Since in the manga he practically did not smile at all with his real sincere smile. Animators just simply gave us such a priceless treasure ❤️‍🔥

Russian translation below 👇

Некоторые общие мысли про различия манги и аниме, касательно истории Ло и Коры.

(Иллюстрация для заголовка не совсем в тему, просто забавно, как обыграли ситуацию, расширив момент трогательными переменами в поведении Ло — он приготовил завтрак для Коры) UwU

Как известно, аниме адаптация всегда привносит что-то новое в сюжет и события манги, расширяя и дополняя их. Но иногда происходит так, что некоторые панели манги подлежат цензуре, либо не переносятся на экран вовсе. Таких примеров немало во всем аниме, но меня в первую очередь интересует, конечно же, история Ло и Росинанта.

В эпизоды с 700 по 706 создатели аниме добавили множество дополнительных сцен, раскрывающих персонажей и сюжет. Например, нам показали последний бой Росинанта с членами семьи Донкихот. В манге, как мы помним, это было оставлено за кадром. Мы слышим только звуки избиения Росинанта вместе с Ло, сидящим в этот момент в сундуке. Также немного расширили и моменты их личного взаимодействия во время путешествия в поисках лекарства для Ло. Мы увидели чуть больше милых улыбок и проявления заботы со стороны Росинанта. Особенно в заключительной части их истории. Этот печальный и нежный взгляд Коры я не забуду никогда.

Однако, ко всему хорошему, что было, также были добавлены и некоторые нелепые и даже чуть неуместные, на мой взгляд, сцены. По крайней мере, мне так показалось, что они исказили образ персонажа.

Например, сцена повторного выбрасывания Ло из окна базы пиратов Донкихота — зачем она была так нужна? Разве одного раза, как в манге, было недостаточно? Добавить мрачной и жестокой бессмысленности в поведение Коразона, повысить градус его зловещей и отбитой ауры? Или просто для прикола, как мне сказали на одном форуме? Ну не знаю..

Или сцена нелепой паники Коры-сана над упавшим в беспамятстве после ухудшения состояния Трафальгаром. Я конечно понимаю, что в тот момент он действительно очень сильно испугался за него и расстроился, что план спасения сорвётся, но зачем нужно было добавлять эту неуместную комичность, с падением со скалы и проливанием воды? Чтобы показать, что Росинант неуклюжий? Но это ведь и так понятно, тем более, мое мнение, что он был не НАСТОЛЬКО уж неуклюжим в действительности, и, по большей части, разыгрывал это представление. А ведь та сцена сама по себе была довольно напряжённой и тревожной, и уж точно не комической.

Зато вместо этого удалили сцену из манги с перевязкой Росинантом раны, которую ему нанес обозленный Ло. Могу понять, что тут видимо решили зацензурить "обнаженку", как, в свое время, поступили и с Леви, и с Эрвином из Атаки титанов, когда аналогичным образом убрали из аниме сцену перевязки ран. Но ведь при этом других персонажей нам спокойно показывали с обнаженным торсом, так что мне это непонятно.

Разумеется, во мне говорит исключительно жажда справедливости, и нисколько не желание увидеть его красивую мужественную фигуру в анимации. Хе хе хе..

Но, если говорить серьезно, то эта сцена имела определенное значение в раскрытии персонажей, так как показывала наглядно, через что пришлось братьям Донкихот пройти в детстве и юности. Потому что, возможно, с определенной долей вероятности, Дофламинго также скрывает похожие шрамы на своих спине и плечах.

Ну и ещё эта сцена показывает отличную от аниме версии реакцию Дофламинго на ранение брата. В аниме он в присутствии остальных членов семьи вполне участливо и заботливо интересуется, что случилось, как это произошло, и советует Коразону позаботиться о себе.

В манге же эта сцена достаточно неловкая сама по себе. Они оба вздрагивают, когда Дофламинго мимоходом видит брата и его ранение, проходя мимо по коридору. Общаются они в этот момент со спины, и братской заботой от этого общения вовсе не веет, как мне показалось. Выражение лица Доффи в этот момент скорее напряжённо-недовольное, чем озабоченное, что полностью меняет всю эмоциональную окраску данной сцены.

Но закончу я этот мини-анализ все же на положительном. Потому что именно аниме подарило нам ту самую бесценную улыбку Росинанта. Так как в манге он практически совсем не улыбался своей настоящей искренней улыбкой, а тут нам взяли и подарили такое бесценное сокровище ❤️‍🔥

#one piece #donquixote rosinante #donquixote rocinante #rosinante corazon #donquixote corazon #corazon one piece #one piece rosinante #donquixote doflamingo #doflamingo donquixote #analysis one piece #op rosinante #op doflamingo #op corazon #op cora and law #cora san #cora #cora and law #my thoughts #op manga #one piece manga #op manga and anime #donquixote brothers #one piece meta #meta breakonthroough #my meta

[blogforwritinggenshin]

Hi I have a request for an sagou Au

This will be a imposter Au but ok ok here's the twist the Devine that the find first is Your twin and now they think your pretend to them so the reader is trying to go to their twin with out being executed

-☕️

Divine Twin

Note: I didn’t follow your prompt perfectly, just because the train of thought I had diverted very quickly. Heh, sorry (>_<;)

CW: Swearing, reader gets hurt

Nothing makes sense right now.

There’s no ”creator” in the game.

The only other person that looks like you is your twin.

Who you haven’t seen in weeks!

That’s why you were digging through their stuff in the first place. You usually wouldn’t go looking through their stuff but this was an emergency situation.

Where did they go?!

And then suddenly you’re on the ground in the grass and not their bedroom. Your senses overwhelmed by your new surroundings.

The way you’re so enraptured and in awe of the water and cliffs and statue of Morax is quickly interrupted by what sounds like a whoosh and then burning. Someone has teleported behind you.

You’re yanked off the ground and hauled to your feet, the voice of your closest adeptus friend– (at least that’s what you liked to imagine)– speaking darkly.

“How dare you. You think you can deceive me? Your attempt to copy my creator’s face has only earned you my hatred.” He summons his mask and spear, “you will have no mercy from me.” He thrusts forward, and you flinch back.

“Wait!”

The tip barely pokes through your shirt.

“Who dares protect this disgusting imposter?”

“Great adepti,” the tengu general runs up to you two, “I am not trying to protect them. I simply have a suggestion that may please our creator more than a lifeless corpse.”

You’re tense in Xiao’s grasp. You consider struggling, but your limbs betray you. You don’t even dare to breathe.

“We are both making our way to Stormterror’s Lair to see our great creator, right? Why not take this imposter prisoner and see that they feel the full gravitus of their crimes? We should see that they suffer under their own guilt and disgust for copying our creator’s face.”

You’re mortified by her words. You don’t want to hear any more. You don’t think beyond that as you start running, yanking yourself out of Xiao’s grip and running down the small slope. You should have known that it would be futile. Against an adeptus or tengu alone, winning would be impossible. Your odds are only made worse when a thin blue string suddenly wraps around you and Yelan suddenly appears before your eyes.

“Oh no you don’t.”

“Hmph.” Xiao looks at you in scorn. If looks could kill you’d be dead three times over under the gaze of these beloved characters.

You’re not sure you want to meet this “creator.” If they’ve ordered all the main characters to execute people based on looks alone, you’d hate to see what they do themselves. Then again… if they look like you, they could be your twin. But your twin isn’t that cruel. They can be a massive idiot and way too resentful at times but not murderous.

Then again… it only makes sense that you get the shitty side of this fate and your sibling gets the wonderful role of playing god. You swear that’s how it always happens. You always get the short end of the stick.

You squirm in your bindings and wince when they automatically tighten around you, digging into your skin.

“Stop resisting,” Sara is stern as always, “we should take them to the creator. It only makes sense for them to give divine punishment to such deceitful beings.”

“No. We shouldn’t bother them with such lowly scum.”

“...what if the creator gives them mercy?”

The two generals turn towards the spy.

“We should take this one to the creator. That way they can let everyone know what their decision is. If we execute this person now, when the creator would have spared them, then we’ll be the monsters.”

“But–”

“Xiao. I know. I don’t want this bastard to get away with this either. It’s revolting that anyone would have the audacity to try and mimic our supreme god, but this is the best decision. If we are punished for wasting the creator’s time, I will take full responsibility. Now come on. I don’t want to wait to see them any longer.”

Yelan tugs on the line, and you start walking behind her, fearing what might happen if you don’t comply.

Xiao holds his tongue and follows. He could easily teleport and make his way to Stormterror’s Lair, the creator’s chosen home, easily. But he wants to keep an eye on you, even if looking at you makes him angry.

Sara walks alongside Yelan, they briefly exchange greetings and introductions before going silent. All three of you travel in silence until you make it to the intersection where you can see Dawn Winery down the way, where you run into some of the Knights of Favonius.

Amber looks shocked to you, and Lisa’s vision starts to glow. Kaeya doesn’t even pass a witty quip. He and Diluc share the same serious, angry expressions.

You really have attracted everyone’s ire.

You look away from them. You wish you could disappear. You just wanted to find your twin. Now you’re walking towards your own execution at the hands of those you imagined to be your friends.

You try to speak to them, try to say something in your defense, but Kaeya shuts you up with a simple threat.

“Open your mouth again, and I’ll freeze your tongue all the way down to your stomach.”

You look down at your feet. You want to cry.

The journey to Stormterror’s Lair is long. You’re not used to walking for so many hours. You trip and stumble a lot more as time goes on. Diluc scoffs at your lack of coordination. He probably believes you’re doing this on purpose, trying to slow them down to prevent your ultimate demise.

Things aren’t perfectly silent anymore thanks to Lisa, who casually talks to the others. You can’t help but feel at ease by their voices. You loved listening to their voice lines, sometimes their battle lines got tiring but hearing them talk as real people is oddly thrilling and makes you happy. It’s especially comforting to feel the tension ease after being put under the heat of their stares.

You trip and fully fall over as you reach the entrance to the ruins of the city. You struggle to get back up with your arms pinned behind. Diluc seems to have had enough with you as he hulas you up, but instead of setting you on your feet, he throws you over his shoulder.

“C’mon. We’ve been delayed long enough. We should cover ground faster this way.”

You assume the others nod, because you hear nothing before you feel a sudden lurch and then wind blowing past you as your carrier starts running.

They make their way into the city quickly. You feel dizzy as you’re jostled around.

They make their way into the central tower, and you’re dropped on the cobblestone.

You look up to see that the tower has changed greatly. It’s no longer in ruins. It looks like a real palace. Banners hang against the columns, a hanging chandelier, and a large circular rug at the center. Most important of all are the archons standing next to the giant dragon who is laying on the rug. D’valin almost looks like a house pet, curled up on the rug.

You marvel at the sight. Zhongli, Ei, Venti, Nahida, even the Tsaritsa. She’s even more beautiful than you imagined.

As you follow along the dragon’s body you realize that there’s someone tucked under his wing, reading a book. That someone… They look just like you.

So the acolytes weren’t lying. Their great and marvelous creator is practically an exact replica of you. Except they have slightly different cheekbones, and their nose isn’t the same shape. This is definitely your twin.

You cry out their name and are instantly hit with a blast of ice.

“Who dares speak the creator’s name?” Zhongli’s rich, deep voice echoes through the tower.

You can feel the hairs on your neck stand up as electricity crackles in the air, which becomes restless as the winds pick up.

“We bring an imposter before you—,” Sara begins.

“Why do you waste the time of our great creator with such scum?” Even though she’s insulting you, you can’t help but be enchanted by the Tsaritsa’s voice.

“That’s what I said,” Xiao mutters.

“I deeply apologize if I have made a mistake, but I felt the need to bring them before the creator to ensure that the correct decision was made. I have heard the many stories of the creator being merciful to their enemies. I have also heard the many recallings of their strength and power. I did not think it appropriate of me to make such a decision on their behalf. Once I know their decree, I will never bother them with such a trivial matter again.”

You can’t help but feel amused and annoyed by all of this formality and praisal towards your twin. They certainly don’t deserve to be treated like a god when the last interaction you had with them was them bullying you about how you built your team and characters. You want to tell these poor people about all the times your sibling was a massive asshole to you. Tell them that they might as well be buying snake oil from them if they truly believe them to be their creator. Neither of you had anything to do with the creation of Genshin. They’ve got the wrong people.

Then again… if you mentioned that, you both might be executed.

You sigh, forgetting you’re being heavily scrutinized and thus are kicked in the stomach.

“How dare you act disappointed in the midst of our highest god.” It seems Xiao is finally getting his chance to take his anger out on you.

Why? Why aren’t they doing anything? Why aren’t they saying anything? Don’t they care that you’re being beaten up by these people?

You’re hauled by your biceps only to be dropped once again, but this time only a few feet from the archons.

The bindings dissipate.

You force yourself onto your hands and knees. You look up and see them all looking down on you. A deep, soul shaking shudder goes through you. Your twin looks distressed, but they say nothing.

Then…

I’m sorry

They mouth.

The Raider Shogun’s cold voice reaches your ears, “Let it be known that all imposters will be executed on sight.”

Vines climb up through the cobble and wrap around your arms and legs. You’re stuck in the position on your hands and knees. The stone quakes beneath you, and the temperature in the room drops. You feel the air start being sucked out of your lungs, the water in your body is painfully forced out of your pores, and your insides heat up. You aren’t even conscious by the time the Musou No Hitotachi comes down on you, ensuring that you don’t awaken from the darkness.

A tear rolls down your twin’s cheek. They can’t bear to watch you be executed.

Again.

But it’s the greatest mercy they can grant you.

At least you get to wake up.

At least you get to go back home.

Unlike them.

They’re trapped in this game.

Chained to a throne.

You always come back.

But they’re determined to make sure you don’t get trapped like them.

They hope one day they’ll be able to make it back out to you.

They at least want to share one more birthday with you.

One happy memory to help them endure every time they have to watch you be murdered by their…

friends.

#genshin impact #sagau #genshin x reader #ei #zhongli #venti #the tsaritsa #yelan #Diluc #Kaeya #Lisa #amber #Xiao #genshin #creator au #genshin sagau #blog asks #raiden shogun #kujou sara #imposter au

[multicolour-ink]

Mario carrying Luigi to safety

For the prompt list?

Person A carrying Person B to safety

writing prompts

Takes place in the Mario Movie verse. Based on Superstar Saga (not plot related but can be interpreted as such).

- - -

Carry You

Mario gasped as a long range attack narrowly whizzed passed his shoulder. He gritted his teeth as he clutched at the cliff face.

Not far. Just a little more and they could get away. They could escape from the enemies persuing them.

He could finally get Luigi to safety.

He glanced back briefly at his brother, passed out unconscious on his back from the last battle. Mario had only just been able to get away before the enemies nearly dogpiled on them, in an attempt to finish them off.

With jubilation, Mario managed to finally pull himself up and over the edge of the cliff, then quickly scouted the area. To his great relief, he spotted a small cave opening, obscured just slightly by a jutting out rock face.

Mario dived into it, pausing briefly to lay Luigi down on the flattest bit of ground there was, before sneaking back to peer out of the entrance.

He watched silently as the enemies looked around just feet from where the brothers were, before giving up and moving away and back down the cliff. Mario breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately, he turned back to his brother and started to try and make him more comfortable. He pulled his brother's hat off, as well as his, to make a pillow, before taking the travelling bag and rummaging inside for some medicine.

They had used up all their full healing mushrooms, and the only things left were just normal Super Mushrooms. But it would have to do. Gently, Mario pried his brother's mouth open, and pushed the mushroom into his mouth. The mushroom dissolved instantly, and his brother glowed with the magical healing essence it gave him.

Mario sat back on his heels. The mushroom had done its work. Now he had to wait.

He sat in silence, lost in his own oppressive thoughts. It hadn't been that long ago, before they were suddenly thrown into another adventure, and into a new strange land. The Mushroom Kingdom had its challenges, but the Beanbean Kingdom seemed especially cruel. There were enemies the brothers had never encountered before; creatures that seemed even tougher than those in the Mushroom Kingdom!

None of it had mattered though, because as long as the brother's had each other, then they could get through anything.

But Mario wasn't so sure now.

If things were getting this hard, then how could he and Luigi save Peach? How could they help save this kingdom?

How could he keep his brother safe?

"Mario?"

He was suddenly drawn out of his thoughts at the soft voice of his brother. He looked up. Luigi was awake now, gazing at him through half sleepy, worried eyes, as he rubbed his head.

"Luigi!", Mario gasped. He was next to his brother in an instant.

"Are you ok?! How do you feel?"

"Like I just got used as a punching bag", Luigi groaned.

Mario sank back onto his knees again.

"Hey", Luigi said. He reached out and placed a hand on Mario's arm.

"I'm fine now. Are you ok?!"

"Yeah", said Mario, his voice now deadpanned. "I'm ok. We're safe now."

He seemed to be saying that as if he was trying to reassure himself, as well as his brother. And Luigi noticed.

Luigi sat up as carefully as he could, being mindful of his now minor injuries, and sat closer beside his brother. Mario was staring at the wall again, deep in thought. Luigi knew it was never a good sign when Mario went this quiet.

"We had a scrape. But we're ok now."

"It's not just that", Mario replied softly. "What if that was it? What if I had not been able to get you away in time?"

Luigi sighed. He placed his hand over Mario's trembling ones, and squeezed gently.

"But you got me away. And I knew you could because I know you would never give up that easily."

Mario sighed again, and leaned his head into Luigi's shoulder.

"And I know...that you'll always have my back to make sure I can keep going."

"Never stopped you before", Luigi laughed.

The younger brother paused for a moment. He shuffled around so he and his brother were facing each other, and then leaned forward so their foreheads touched.

"I'm sorry I got taken out back there. If I hadn't, we would've had a better chance..."

"It's not your fault", said Mario firmly. "It's never your fault. It's just...this adventure seems to be getting tougher by the minute..."

"Means we're getting close to the end?", suggested Luigi.

"The final boss?", Mario now joked.

Luigi chuckled.

"So...don't you think we should keep going, and finish the level?"

Mario had to laugh at that. He pressed his forehead closer to his brother's, suddenly overcome with emotion.

"Thanks Lu."

"Anytime. Let's stay and rest here a bit."

"Yeah...let's do that."

#oof have some angst and wholesomeness #so pleased I got this done in one sitting #I hope this suffices anon #thank you for the prompt :) #and hope you all enjoy this <3 #super mario #mario #luigi #the super mario bros movie #super mario movie #mario movie #mario and luigi #brothers #mario movie 2023 #mario and luigi superstar saga #superstar saga #writing prompt #mario fanfiction #mario fanfic #fanfiction #multicolour ink writes #my writing #supportive brothers is my good food