#but then nina came and the way she was handled - not like a side character here to assist the heroine and disappear | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stylesyourmine · 2 years

Text

i could teach you ll peter parker (andrew's version)

a/n: hiiiii my sweets, it's nina! happy holidays! i just watched tasm again and it got me in the mood for absolute peter fluff, i'm dying.

pairings: peter parker x reader

word count: 2.5k

word bank: y/m/l/n- your moms last name

warnings: fluff warning

could the day be any more boring? you were currently sitting in the lounge chair in your room, reading a book you'd received from someone for christmas. to be quite honest, it was terrible. after a while your eyes started to peel away from the book and onto the cream walls around you.

was it closing in on you or were you falling asleep? unable to tell you shut your eyes.

downstairs, there was a knock at the door. soon enough, your mom came over to open it, grabbing the cold metal handle and pulling it towards herself.

now that the door was opened, it revealed a brown haired-brown eyed boy. he'd been moving his feet around anxiously, and his head snapped up to look your mother in the eyes.

"he- hey mrs.y/m/l/n! i uh, is y/n here?" he smiled at her and she smiled back. his hands were on front of him, holding his skateboard pressed against his body. your boyfriend was truly a character of his own.

“hi peter, she is, she’s upstairs.”

he nodded and looked behind her at the stairs in your house.

“cool, cool. um- so uh-“ his hand found its way to the back of neck, scratching it lightly while trying to find the right words to say.

“do you- or would you, i should say would you- would you mind if i took y/n to the skating park? it’s like over by the creamery,” he pointed his thumb backwards, “y’know the one that just opened up?”

he looked up at her, not finished with what he was saying but wanted to see her facial expression. she had the same look she’d had two seconds ago, so he couldn’t tell how this would go. your mom really liked peter, so she was just confused as to why he was over analyzing a simple hang out with his girlfriend, but still, she stuck through it because he was being a gentlemen.

“yeah so i just wanted to show her some-“

“11.” she said firmly, moving to the side and opening the door wider, giving him space to come in.

he instead stayed put, and his eyebrows furrowed. 11?

scratching his forehead confused, he looked at her again.

“11?” he repeated.

“her curfew. i don’t mind as long as she’s back by 11.” she pointed at him and then to the stairs. he grinned widely and walked in,

“thank you so much!”

“you know you could’ve just asked to come in, right?” she stated as he stood at the bottom of the steps with his hand on the railing and the other on his board.

“i-uh…yeah of course i did i just wanted to give you the full plan.” peter said, trying to save himself from that whole speech. he always came in from the window in your room, so coming in from the front and having to talk to your mom and confront her with plans was new to him, since you asked him why he was “afraid” to last time.

she nodded and he took that as a signal to go upstairs. he practically ran, so eager to see you. he turned left and walked all the way down the hall, approaching the last door, your door. he knocked lightly- and you looked up from the other side, wondering who it was.

opening the door you were met by the most handsome face you’d ever seen. your boyfriends. a grin shot up onto your face, jumping onto him. he let go of his board quickly and it fell onto the floor. he was the person you’d least expected to come in through that door.

“hey baby!”

“hi gorgeous.”

your legs were wrapped around his torso tightly. his hands found your waist and gripped it. cupping his cheek your eyes looked down onto his lips with overbearing lust in your eyes. he could sense you wanted to kiss him, so he leaned into you and pressed his soft lips against yours.

your lips intertwined, moving back and forth with each other. both trying to fight a silent battle of who loved each other more. he groaned as he remembered the door was open and started taking steps backwards towards the walls and not the door. farthest from the door as he could be he, his left hand cupped your cheek now, continuing to kiss you immensely. with his right hand he webbed the door closed as quick as he could. noticing your eyebrows furrowed and broke the kiss, and you stared at the door he’d just closed.

“how did you just do that?”

“got my suit under here beautiful.” you nodded in understanding. he pressed his forehead against yours, and guided your face to look at him.

“you came in through the front door. i’ve gotta say i’m impressed parker.” your fingers brushed his lips, wiping a bit of your lip gloss off the bottom one.

you we’re still clinging onto him, and he was still amused by it. you were as close to him as could be, and that was the thing he loved most. you were safe in his arms.

“oh yeah. did the whole asking permission from your mom thing, awkward rambling thing too.”

“oooooh the rambling?” your face scrunched up, making slight fun about his adorable banter he does when he’s nervous.

he leaned his forehead into yours and mimicked the same face you were making right then. you giggled and pecked his lips.

“so anyways,-

you jumped off of him, but left your arms up behind his neck, listening to what he had to say.

“i wanted to take you out. like to skate- i thought we could skate together. i was at the park earlier but i wasn’t having any fun without you. and then it hit me,” he smiled, and pointed to his head, now talking about himself,

“maybe you should teach y/n how to do this so she could come with you instead of just imagining her here.”

he imagines you in places with him when you’re not!

you pouted at his adorable-ness, he was so cute for wanting to teach you things he loved himself. but you were just nervous because you’d watched him so many times, you know how easy it is to stumble on these things. the amount of bandaids and cleaning up you’d had to do for him was what was going through your mind.

“you think i could learn? i mean i bust my ass just walking- he cupped your mouth to prevent any bad self talk that was about to come out.

“you can, i know it. my girl has plenty of talents-“ and with that sentence he smirked at you. knowing exactly what he was referring to, you put your thumb over his mouth and rolled your eyes.

you let go of peters embrace and walked over to your closet, grabbing a jacket and slipping it on, and then your shoes. you walked over to your bed now, and started placing them on. trying to fix the sole of your shoe while getting up, your head was still down as you spoke.

“how long of a walk is the park from here cause i could tell-"

he cut you off swiftly,

“who said we were walking?”

you looked up confused and placed your foot on the ground just to be met with the boy in his spider-man suit.

“no. peter! we are not-“

next thing you knew you were swinging through the streets of new york, screaming at the top of your lungs and trying to find a place for your face to tuck into. the wind was blowing so hard on the both of you, and you were full on panicking. swinging was something that you happened to despise, but enough to like it when your boyfriend did it, preferably without you.

your hands glided his face, trying to find a place to put them.

“baby i cant see!”

“oh my god oh my god oh my god peter im going to kill you!”

your eyes opened and widened at the sight. you were above the mean streets of new york, and cars below you seemed like ants compared to where you were.

you guys finally arrived at the park, and he landed behind a small restroom area, to take off his mask and put his clothes on. as soon as you landed, you stumbled over yourself, peter catching you. you pushed him off of you lightly.

“are you crazy?!”

you hit his chest lightly and looked at him with enough intensity for lasers to start shooting out of your eyes.

as he was putting on his pants he looked at you with big puppy eyes.

“no! i just wanted you to see how it felt!” he reasoned, you rolled your eyes and pointed at him,

“seeing you do it yourself always gives me a heart attack, you think i wanted to do it?!”

“well y’know maybe? i don’t know it was quick though! it was quick! please don’t hate me, i love you!”

he walked over to you with his pleading eyes and placed his hand on your cheek and kissed you over and over until you mumbled,

“i love you too.”

he stepped back, and admired you, glad you weren’t mad anymore.

“good. great let’s go.” he smiled and grabbed your hand, practically running to the park.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*

it was about three hours into it. you’d been at it for too long now. all you learned was how to literally ride it. like, get on it, and push off without falling. that's it. he’d been trying to show you how to do a kick flip, but every time you got on the board you scared yourself and got off.

you kicked, you fell off.

kicked again, this time the board went flying and lets just say it was a good thing peter had amazing reflexes.

"come on you got it!" he yelled, holding his hands in a clap form right in front of his mouth.

and you fell once again.

“c'mon baby look,

he grabbed your waist, and you placed your foot on the board as instructed. your left foot was at the top of the board, while the right was at the very bottom of it, he placed his chin on your shoulder to inspect your form, and nodded.

"okay, good, now lean."

you turned you head up at him, from looking down at your feet before and gave him a confused look.

"lean?"

"like lean forwards, your toes, point them forwards so the board is leaning towards the floor, but not so much that it is."

you nodded and looked down starting to point your toes. peters hands got a better grip onto you and helped keep your body upright.

nights like these were ones that you were forever grateful for. nights where it was just you and peter, and no one else. no spider-man either. you loved him as spider-man, sure, but it was so stressful and your forever priority was peter, always. he was the person you fell in love with, not spider-man, even though you learned to love him as well.

you knew you were peters main priority but obviously fighting crime was up there with you. these moments meant the world to him because it was a break from his crazy life. you were his muse, the person that kept him going. the person who helped him care about not just spider-man, but peter parker as well. you made him have time for himself. he would be forever grateful for you.

"okay good, now put all of your weight on your back foot, and kick up but make sure to kick and then land on the board so you dont fall,"

"yeah okay sounds easy enough, tony hawk!"

he chuckled and let go of your waist, stepping back and looking at you. you just stood there as well, in the same position he left you on the board. you looked at him questionably and just took a deep breath.

and with that he smiled and shot you a thumbs up, in means of good luck. what you didn't want, was to fall all over again. it was inevitable at this point though, because surely after so many tries you weren't going to make it.

so, you looked down and bent your knees, and kicked up like he'd said earlier.

and before you knew it your feet were back on the board, reasonably about to fall off, but you'd still made it!

your eyes went wide and when you turned around peters were as big as yours. he ran over to you, and lifted you up in the air. you guys were so excited! you'd actually made it after many tries. lets be honest, you were both shocked and relieved you didn't fall and scrape a knee or two.

letting go of his embrace you were grinning from ear to ear. "i totally just fucking did that!"

chuckling he looked down and then back up at you, lifting his hand up for a high five in which you gave to him. peters fingers held onto yours, turning your high five into a hand hold. his cold fingers met yours, and pulled your body into his in one swift move.

with his other hand, he grabbed a piece of your wild hair and tucked it back behind your ear, and then grabbed your chin lightly so you were looking straight up at him. with the biggest smile his face he said,

"i told you you could do it. my girls a professional. like, better then me, even."

you agreed and nodded your head with a sarcastic smile on your face. you slowly inched closer and closer to his face letting your feet tiptoe so you became taller to reach him.

"i know, i think i'm ready for the big leagues baby"

"oh yeah, most definitely" you both looked into each others eyes and he slowly grabbed your neck bringing it close to him, and attached his lips to yours. as they intertwined you could feel him smile. your heart was full, this was all you'd ever wanted. you were happy.

breaking up the kiss you let go of him and walked backwards, to go grab your water on the ground. turning around and bending to the floor, you go up and uncapped the bottle, a thought occurring in your mind.

"hey pete,-" you started, taking a sip of the ice cold water bottle.

"how am i getting home?" you finished while closing the bottle and turning around.

you were met not by your boyfriend, but spider-man.

"oh hell no-"

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ*

a/n: hi loves! this was a fic that took me multiple days to finish! i really tried to incorporate peters little stutter he does, (especially when he's nervous, at least in TASM) because i feel like it's very influential to his character! i lovveeeeddd writing this one so much and i think its now one of my favorites! if you have any specific requests or even a broad idea of something you'd want me to write let me know! if you could leave me some feedback it is super appreciated! -nina <3

#peterparker #peter parker x reader #peter parker (andrews version)#spiderman xreader #spider-man andrew garfield #andrew garfield x reader #y/n x peter parker #peter parker x y/n #theamazingspiderman #tasm x reader #spider-man no way home #mcu #marvel #gwen stacy #andrew x y/n #stylesyourmine #marvel spiderman #andrew garfield #andrew garfield spiderman

410 notes · View notes

triptuckers · 3 years

Text

Fix her - Kaz Brekker

Request: nope Pairing: kaz brekker x reader Summary: kaz sent you out to gather information, and you always return on time with the intel he needs. well, maybe not always. Warnings: angst, language, mentions of BLOOD, BRUISES, INJURIES, typical soc stuff, slight six of crows and crooked kingdom spoilers Word count: 2.2K A/N: hello my darlings it is I and I have read almost every book leigh bardugo has written in the past month. I am now hopelessly in love with jesper, kaz and nikolai. I'll be updating my character list soon! I still have a few wips but I don’t have any motivation / inspiration for those. so have my first kaz brekker x reader instead! enjoy reading :)

It was a rather easy job, really. Kaz had received word that the Dime Lions had an important meeting coming up. Because he always wanted to know what exactly was going on in the Barrel and with its gangs, he wanted someone to listen in on said meeting.

Normally, he would send Inej. She was the obvious choice when it came to gathering information. But she was still recovering from a rather nasty cut in her side, and so you had offered to go.

Inej insisted she could go. But all it took was you raising your eyebrows when she moved to sit up, only to wince and flop back down onto the bed. Though he didn’t quite like it, Kaz had assigned you to the job.

No one said it out loud, but everyone knew there was something between you and Kaz. Neither of you had spoken about it. There were just a lot of lingering glances, smiles from you and what you think was almost a smile from Kaz, and you even had stolen his coat once when you had lost your own. He didn’t seem to mind though.

When you had left that evening to listen to the Dime Lions meeting from the shadows, Kaz had sent you a look that you knew all too well. He reserved it only for you. It was him telling you to be safe. You’d respond with a wink that basically meant always am.

The rest of the crows started a card game to pass the time as they waited for you to come back. They didn’t worry, you were always careful and are considered one of the most dangerous criminals in Ketterdam. They knew whatever happened, you could handle yourself.

But after Jesper had lost four rounds of card games, the tension began to rise between them. Most meetings typically didn’t last this long. Still, no one said anything as they started their fifth game. You would show up eventually, probably bringing valuable insight with you.

After two more games, there was still no sign of you. Nina was the first one to speak up.

‘She should have been back by now.’ she says, absently looking out the window into the dark street.

‘Have a little faith, Zenik.’ says Kaz, though on the inside he was filled with worry. He shook it off and focused on the game again.

More than once he’d scolded himself for allowing you to get this close to him. For putting so much trust in you, especially after what happened the last time he’d really trusted someone. But he couldn’t help it. It was like he was drawn to you like Jespers trigger finger was to his revolvers. He couldn’t help it.

Still, he knew your skills. He knew you were smart, and a fighter. Whatever was going on with you out there, he had no doubt you’d show up at the door in a few moments, cheerfully announcing what good intel you’d gathered and wondering how many card games you’d missed.

But you still didn’t show. And one by one, they all lost their interest in the card game. They fell silent and looked out the window or fiddled with their empty glasses. The tension in the room grew. Until Kaz suddenly stood.

‘Finish the game.’ he says. ‘I’ll go and look for her.’

‘I’ll come with you.’ says Jesper, getting up as well.

‘No.’ says Kaz, earning a frown from Jesper. ‘Just me.’ he says. And with that, he pulled on his coat, grabbed his cane and was out the door.

‘Right.’ says Jesper, sitting back down. ‘Anyone fancy another game? I have a feeling I’m gonna win this one.’

They played three more games. They were tired, and it was well past midnight. Still, none of them went upstairs to their rooms. Too anxious to play any more cards or to even have a normal conversation, they settled for silence and more drinks.

Jesper was fiddling with his rings and bouncing his leg. Nina had her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. Matthias was trying to not look at Nina. And Wylan was attempting to build a house out of the cards.

Finally, they heard the sound of the door opening. All of their heads shot up and turned to look who it was.

Kaz stumbles awkwardly through the door, carrying you in his arms. Nina gasps softly and Jesper murmurs ‘Saints’ as their eyes land on your body.

It’s bruised and bloody, and your eyes are shut. Was Kaz too late?

‘Clear the table!’ says Kaz loudly, limping toward it with you in his arms.

Instantly, Matthias and Jesper seize the glasses and cards off the table as Wylan pulls some of the chairs back to make room. Kaz lays your beaten up body on the table and turns to Nina.

‘Help her.’ says Kaz.

But Nina is looking at you body, bruised and bloodied, nothing like the cheerful girl that buys her waffles and laughs as she teases Matthias. It’s almost impossible to find a spot on your body that doesn’t have a wound on it. There’s slashes from knives everywhere, bruising around your neck and the side of your face, and to top it off, blood is slowly leaking out of a bullet wound in your leg.

An expression of horror is written across Nina’s face, her hands pressed against her mouth.

‘Nina.’ Kaz presses on. ‘I said help her.’

‘Kaz, I don’t think-’ stammers Nina. ‘Come on, fix her!’ says Kaz loudly, surprised of how much anxiety can be heard in his voice. Fix her, he thinks, because I need her to fix me.

‘I can try but-’ ‘Do it.’ says Kaz and then he turns away, he can’t bear to look at you any longer. Memories of Jordie flood over him, mingled with memories of you. Your laugh, how he fights his own smile every time you wink at him or send a flirty comment his way, the way you smell. How you look at him when he catches your eyes.

Kaz shuts his eyes, attempting to drown the memories out. Taking deep breaths, he tries to focus on the voices behind him.

‘Jesper get the bullet out of her leg.’ says Nina.

‘Just pull it out?’ questions Jesper.

‘Saints, you’re Grisha, Jesper, pull the fucking bullet out!’ says Nina in a loud voice laced with fear.

After a while of listening to Nina’s murmuring and instructions to others, Kaz finally turns back around to look at you. A wave of nausea hits him unexpectedly and he swallows hard.

Nina had treated most of the wounds, with Jesper’s help. But your entire body is still covered in bruises, and now bandages as well. Nina’s cleaned the dried blood off of your face, but your arms and legs are still covered with it.

They’re all nervously looking at Kaz.

‘I don’t know if she’s going to-’

‘Don’t.’ says Kaz, interrupting her. He needed to think straight. He needed someone to help him focus. Normally, you’d be the one to do so. But you’re in no condition to softly talk to him to reassure him everything is going to be alright. He needed to be his own soothing voice tonight.

‘Matthias.’ he says. ‘Bring her up to my room. Nina, go with him, see if there’s anything else you can do for her. Jesper, get Inej up to speed. Wylan, clean this mess up before someone notices.’

Without waiting for their reactions, Kaz walks up the stairs to his floor. Several moments later, followed by Matthias, who is carrying you, and Nina and Jesper. Jesper disappears into Inej’ room, while Matthias and Nina continue to walk the stairs to get to Kaz’ floor.

When they arrive, Matthias carefully places you on Kaz’ bed as he was instructed. For a while, the three of them look at you. Until Matthias and Nina go to their rooms as well, leaving Kaz alone with you.

None of them had questioned why he insisted Matthias brought you to his room and not your own. Of course, they were dying to find out exactly what was going on between you and Kaz, but they all knew tonight was not the night to push him.

As he looks at you, Kaz feels the strong urge to touch you. Lay his hand on your cheek, to see if it’s still warm. But he can’t. Instead, he merely pulls out a chair and sits down next to the bed. He lets his eyes travel over your body, wondering how much pain you’re in, and who the hell was responsible for it.

He needed you to wake up. He needed you to tell him who did this so he could send his biggest most muscular members of the Dregs to them. Kaz wanted them to hurt the way they had hurt you.

His mind is running at an alarming speed. But eventually, even Kaz can’t fight his tired body anymore, and he falls asleep in an uncomfortable position in his chair.

From that night on, he instructed that you shouldn’t be left alone. He doesn’t want you to wake up and realise you’re on your own. The next day, it’s business as usual. The members of the Dregs are coming and going like they always do. The familiar flow of people helps to take everyone’s mind off things, but as soon as they’re by your side, they remember.

Nina had tried her best to heal you, but it still took you almost a week to wake up.

When you wake up, your first thought is that your entire body feels way heavier than it’s supposed to. You try to open your eyes but it’s like your eyelids are made of lead. After a couple more tries, you finally open them.

You take in the room, and realise it’s not your own. Kaz.

Why would you be in Kaz’ room? Why aren’t you in your own room? And why does your body feel so damn heavy?

And then all of the memories flood back. Like a tsunami, they catch your breath in your throat, making it hard to breathe. You try to inhale deeply, but it’s like your throat is sealed shut. You start to panic when you notice you can’t breathe.

Then a pair of hands land on your shoulders and gently push you back onto the bed. Whoever it is, is talking softly to you. You close your eyes and try to steady your breathing.

Then the voice yells out, but from much farther away, like they’re standing in the doorway, and not next to the bed.

‘Kaz! Nina! Get up here!’

It’s Jesper.

You try to ask him what’s going on, but it’s still hard to breath normally. You try to focus on something else. Jesper’s voice trying to calm you down, his eyes looking into yours, but nothing’s helping.

Then you hear a sound you know all too well. A familiar stumbling, of someone walking up the stairs with a cane.

Seconds later, Kaz rushes into the room and roughly shoves Jesper away, taking his place next to the bed.

‘Who did this to you?’ he says.

His voice is that familiar rasp, and normally you love it. But now it just makes your head hurt. You shut your eyes and softly shake your head, trying to drown the sound out.

‘Y/N, who did this to you?’ says Kaz, more firmly this time.

‘Kaz.’ says Nina’s voice. ‘Let her rest. You can talk later.’ Nina’s voice is softer, more gentle than Kaz’. You try to focus on it as you open your eyes again.

Kaz is close. He looks down at you and you’re surprised by the look in his eyes. Was that a hint of worry you detected? You open your mouth to say something, but Kaz is faster.

‘Y/N, tell me who did this to you.’ says Kaz.

‘Couldn’t see their faces.’ you manage to say in a hoarse voice. Your throat feels dry and you start to cough. Immediately, Nina moves to get you a glass of water and helps you to drink it.

‘Did you notice the way they moved? How they walked? Were they Dime Lions? Could you see any tattoos? What about scars? Clothing? Voices?’

Kaz keeps on firing questions at you, but you can’t focus on his words. Your head feels heavy and you feel your eyelids slowly closing again.

‘Kaz.’ you say softly. ‘Tomorrow.’

You expect him to press on, to find out who did this to you. But instead, he looks at you and holds your gaze. He doesn’t say anything, he merely nods at you. You know what it means. Despite his harsh voice and the million questions, he’s glad you’re safe. And the ones who did this to you will pay for it. He’ll make sure of it.

You offer a weak smile before closing your eyes, already drifting off. You hear two pairs of footsteps leave the room, and assume Nina stayed behind to check on you.

The chair next to you gets moved back and you hear how someone sits down in it. When you feel something brush against your fingers, you assume it’s Nina checking your pulse.

But then you feel a gloved thumb on the back of your hand. It slowly rubs over your skin. To most people it wouldn’t mean anything. But to you, it meant the world. A tiny smile reaches the corners of your mouth, as you fall asleep.

A/N: If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rules Here’s the list of characters I write for. Everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. Please don’t repost my work, as I spend much time and effort on it!! Thank you for reading! Much love, Jo

938 notes · View notes

pink-surftable · 3 years

Text

Initials (Pt. 1) | Kaz Brekker

kaz brekker x fem!reader

well i did lol. thanks everyone for your encouraging words <3 this is my very first fic so i hope you like it! this is the first part so let me know if you like it and i’ll be hopefully posting the next parts soon.

ps: english is not my first language so if there are some gramatical mistakes i would love if you pointed them out so i can improve.

also i haven’t read the books yet so i hope i did the characters justice.

summary: after a mission goes wrong kaz does everything in his power to save you.

——————————————————————————

You knew what you were signing off to when you accepted this mission. You and the rest of the Crows knew how difficult this could be, but when it came to Pekka Rollins there was no way to persuade Kaz out of something. He was stubborn and there was no way to change his mind.

“I have a feeling this is going to go terribly wrong” you said to Jesper as you both made your way through the dark alleys of Ketterdam. “Believe me, I know but you know how he gets with this stuff, let’s just stick together and we’ll be fine” the Sharpshooter had told, minutes before you lost sight of him.

You grew nervous but figured that Jesper could handle himself. So you did your part of the job and went to the spot Kaz had pointed out earlier at the Slat.

You were in the right place, you were sure. Kaz had said meet by the fountain, but when you got there, you couldn’t spot any of the other Crows. Maybe you were early or maybe things had gone extremely wrong. But before your thoughts could spiral any further you felt your back collide with the stone walls behind you. Looking up you saw none other than Pekka Rollins himself, staring right at you with a dagger up your throat.

“Well if it isn’t Brekker’s girl, you know this isn’t your territory right? Your head is worth a lot of kruge, did you know?” You kept staring at him too in shock to move. He had caught you off guard, your knives too far down your legs that you couldn’t reach them. Brekker’s girl, he had called you. What did that even mean? Yes, you and Kaz were close but it’s not like there was anything going on between you two. You honestly didn’t know if there would ever be.

But now it wasn't the moment to get into your head. You swung your legs and managed to kick the man into the ground, but just as you were about to grab one of your knives, more men showed up grabbing your arms with a solid grip that made you drop your knife.

“Not so fast darling, I still have plenty to show you. We better continue this elsewhere, shall we?” And then it all faded to black.

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

Kaz was about to have a heart attack. Nina could feel it, hell all of the Crows could feel it. He was pacing back and forth, gripping his cane tighter than usual, his knuckles turning white from such force .

“Kaz, can you please stop and sit down, your heart is about to burst” Nina said sighing.

Of course everyone was worried that you hadn’t showed up with Jesper at the meeting point but they knew you could protect yourself. You would be fine.

“I’ll calm down when I have all of my Crows by my side” Kaz grounted. All of my Crows he had said, everyone knew that he meant when I have Y/N by my side but no one uttered a word.

It’s not like he didn’t care for his crew but Y/N was different. Their relationship, well if you could call it that, was complicated. None of the Crows knew what was the nature of it, they just sensed that Kaz and Y/N were close. That Kaz opened up to her, unlike everyone else. “She should be here already. Jesper you were supposed to stay by her side but you lost track of her” He was starting to get angry snapping at everyone around him.

“Calm down, you know how she is. She’s fine, she’s better than all of us” Matthias interfered before things got out of hand. Kaz knew that, of course he did. She could shoot like Jesper, or even better (not that he would ever say that). She was just as a great mastermind as the Bastard himself. She was sneaky like Inej and could fight just like Matthias. She was no heartrender like Nina but she was just as charming and could take care of her friends just like she did. She was smart like Wylan and loved the arts just like the boy. Y/N was a beautiful mix of all the most complex and wonderful parts of all of them.

That was what attracted Kaz. That was what pulled him in. She remained a light in the darkness that was Ketterdam; in the darkness that was Kaz.

Right as he was about to snap back, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Turning around he saw a kid with a piece of paper in his hands, he took the letter as the kid ran out, disappearing into the shadows.

Kaz looked around. Everyone was looking at him with disbelief, the anxiety in the air could be felt from miles away. He read out loud:

I have the thing you’re looking for. Pretty little thing you got here Brekker. I have to say very pretty girl indeed. Too bad you kill everything that comes close to you. Maybe we could make a deal? Looking forward to our meeting. Bring no Crows or princess here will suffer the consequences-P.K.

Fuck.

#six of crows #kaz brekker imagine #kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker #jesper fahey #inej ghafa #nina zenik #mattias helvar #wylan van eck #six of crows imagine #six of crows x reader #fanfiction #shadow and bone #writing #grishaverse #leigh bardugo #freddy carter

213 notes · View notes

sirenprincess15 · 3 years

Text

Please Don't Leave Me Chapter 9

Title: Please Don’t Leave Me

Author: SirenPrincess

Description: What if Aleksander hadn’t answered the door when Ivan interrupted the war room kissing? What if Aleksander and Alina had a bit more time to get to know each other before Baghra told her his true identity? Alina is the only one who can comfort Aleksander through his nightmares. Will she leave once she knows who he is?

This story is based on the show version and features a soft on the inside, hard on the outside Aleksander with an emphasis on emotional hurt/comfort and angst. If you are looking for lots of hurt!Aleksander thoughts, then this story is for you. Mal exists but pretty much solely to cause Aleksander some angst. Don’t worry. It will be a Darklina ending.

Chapter 1 is a missing scene at the end of Ep 4, and Chapter 2 takes place alongside Ep 5 and then diverges from canon there.

Pairings: Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, bits of Ivan/Fedyor

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Grisha are oppressed in this universe, and I don’t shy away from showing the horrors of that. There may eventually be mentions of canon-typical torture (Fjerdan pyres), death of family members, and cruelty to Grisha children. It’s not the focus, but that backdrop is definitely there and comes up as characters discuss their past.

In this chapter: After centuries of being alone, Aleksander struggles to share his problems.

Chapter 9

Aleksander was busy working in his office. The roaring fire warmed him as he poured over ship manifests and army documentation on this Dmitry. If they could find who Dmitry traveled with, who was likely to be loyal to him, then perhaps they could identify any threats before they even came to the Little Palace.

When Inessa and Fedyor delivered Alina, Aleksander rushed to her side. “Thank you,” he said, dismissing them. He pulled her into his arms, rested his chin on top of her head, and deeply inhaled the scent of her. She was safe. “How was your day?”

“Boring. Fedyor and Inessa wouldn’t even let me go outside, not even for training. I’m never going to get stronger if I don’t train.”

“It’s just a precaution.”

“A precaution for what?”

He ignored her. She didn’t need the stress of knowing how anxious their enemies were to kill her. “I thought we’d take dinner in here tonight, if that’s okay with you.” His emotions were a mess. As haunted as he had been since Marie’s death, it was even worse now that the continued active threat was confirmed. He was relieved to be with her because he could see she was safe, but he was also still deeply ashamed of his panic attack from the nightmare the night before. He feared she would bring it up. He couldn’t talk about it. Eating in the main hall would stop her from doing so, but he was worried about security and didn’t want her with a large crowd. Her food would be easier to poison there, even with her taster. Truthfully, though, Aleksander wasn’t sure he had it in him to perform the intimidating General Kirigan act tonight, and he wanted her nearby for safety. Then he worried about what would happen when it was time for sleep. He had unleashed shadows last night, and they could have hurt her. He would never be able to forgive himself if he harmed her. That morning he had decided they’d have to sleep apart, but that was before he’d known of this new threat, of spies sneaking into the palace to check her routines. There was no way to know if the man he’d killed had been the first or the last. He couldn’t risk letting her sleep without someone strong guarding over her, and she’d never agree to let someone like Ivan stand over her bed. She had to stay here. Selfishly, he was grateful to have the excuse to keep her in his bed.

“Of course.” Her expression begged him to answer her previous question, but he didn’t. He well remembered what it was like to be afraid everywhere you went at all times. He could protect her from that.

“I do have quite a bit of work to complete, though. I’m afraid I’ll be quite busy. I did take the liberty of having Genya select some books from the library for you.”

She raised an eyebrow, as if signaling to him that she saw right through his attempts to distract her, but all she said was, “That was kind of you.”

He sat back at his desk and tried to focus on the lists in front of him. Something wasn’t adding up. Dmitry would appear on a ship crossing into West Ravka, but not on a return, and then somehow a time later be on a manifest for a ship crossing the wrong way. How was that possible? Was he missing manifests or was Dmitry paying someone off to keep his name off the lists?

Alina stepped behind him and started rubbing his shoulders. “Alek, you’re so tense. The stress coming off you is nearly unbearable. What happened today?”

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

She sighed. “Are we really going to do this thing tonight?”

He lifted his eyes to take in the annoyed look on her face. “Thing?”

“You know, where you pretend to be the oh so busy and important General Kirigan who uses his sense of authority to push people away? And then acts like he couldn’t possibly have any feelings or needs of his own? He’s fine. Everything is fine. He doesn’t need any help.”

He hadn’t even realized he was doing it, but she had. “Accurate,” he admitted.

“I’m going to let you in on a secret. The act doesn’t work with girls who have shared your bed.”

He laughed. Only she could call him on his behavior like this without irritating him. Only she could make him smile when he was otherwise so miserable. “I can assure you it worked fine on girls who have shared my bed. Apparently, it doesn’t work on the one girl I have let into my heart.”

“You’ve let me into your heart? So … let me help you.”

“Alina, it’s not that simple …”

“You can’t bear this burden alone, Aleksander. I won’t let you. Whatever is happening, it is crushing you. If not me, then get Ivan in here and talk to him. ”

“You want me to summon Ivan in here? This must be serious.”

“He is a good friend to you, and I know you trust him. I just want you to let someone help. You are not alone. This,” she said, putting her hand over the papers, “is not yours alone to figure out. Stop trying to solve everything with no support.”

“I’m not … used to having support.”

She nodded, took his hand, and squeezed it. “I know. I’m not really either. We’ve learned to do things alone, to hide pain and keep it to ourselves, but I know that problems are better solved together. Together, Aleksander. Stop trying to protect me from scary truths. Fedyor scanned every room we went into before he’d let me enter. I’m not stupid, Aleksander. If I can handle you cutting a Druskelle in half on top of me, I can handle whatever is threatening us now. Stop trying to push me away when it comes to important things. Let me help.”

He sighed. She was frightened already; she might as well know the truth. “Zoya caught a man trying to break in today. I have her guarding the palace exterior since she can’t seem to behave herself around you. He is working for Zlatan and was sent to spy on you. They’re making a plan for a better attempt on your life.”

Her shoulders slumped and her gaze fell to the floor as she took that in. “Hunted wherever I go. Still not used to that.”

He stood and wrapped his arms around her. “I will not let them succeed. I promise you that you will come to no harm.”

She looked into his eyes, stared there for a while, then found her strength. “Tell me about the papers.”

He quickly filled her in on what he had discovered about Dmitry and the mystery of the paperwork. It did actually feel good to have someone to discuss his findings with and not keep the thoughts spinning in his head. He talked through all of his ideas, no matter if they led nowhere. She indulged him and asked appropriate questions at all the right times. Finally, he arrived out loud at the stuck place he was in his head. He had so many theories, but how did he figure out if any of them were right?

She was quiet as she turned from page to page. Dinner arrived, and they ate in silence as they continued to try to find a pattern among the papers--the same captain, the same record keeper, accomplices that might travel with him. All ideas led nowhere, but they continued to look.

Hours later, Alina stood and walked into the war room.

“Alina?” He trailed after her. She was staring at the map. After a long time, he prompted her. “What is it?”

“I’m sure it’s stupid.” She shook her head and hugged herself.

He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t like it when you put yourself down like that. That’s not you. Those are words from your past.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Hmm, well then, let’s hear it. I’m frustrated. Maybe if it’s really stupid we can have a good laugh about it.”

“I used to stare at the map and dream of finding a way around. I was told there is no around, but … is there? Any secret path or …”

Aleksander felt his stomach twist as the implications became clear. “There are reports of Fjerdans in West Ravka, rumors that Zlatan is aligning with them, letting Druseklle ...” A vision of Nina being tortured popped into his head. He had to fight his jaw from trembling so she couldn’t see how upset this made him. “There is an around if you’re in bed with the enemy. He’s going through Fjerda.”

She gasped as it came together in her head. “He sends his emissary to Fjerda with messages, who then gets a free pass into our country to deliver orders to his spies, but then he needs the quick return across to do it again. How long would it take to travel through Fjerda? Check the dates. Do they match?”

“Fjerdans. It’s worse than I thought.” He could feel the Fjerdan fires licking at his skin.

They spent another hour pouring over records and checking their theory. Finally, Alina yawned. “We should get some sleep.”

He wanted to tell her to go on ahead, but he didn’t want her sleeping in a room away from him. He almost offered to just watch over her, but he feared he would accidentally fall asleep and end up as he had the night before. His chest tightened with worry as he considered possibilities, none of which were acceptable.

“I tell you to come to bed, and that sense of dread is what I get? I might think you don’t want to …” she tried to lightly tease.

“You know why,” he whispered, still not wanting to talk about it.

“Which is all the more reason to get you to sleep soon. Your nightmares are worse the longer you try to keep yourself awake. Have you noticed?”

He sighed. “This morning I was trying to work myself up to telling you that it’s not safe to sleep with me anymore, but now with this information on this potential attack, it’s not safe to sleep away from me either.”

“Don’t you dare do that to me!”

“What?” To her?

“Don’t you realize what you do for me? For years I cried myself to sleep every night, Aleksander. For years! I used to lie there and wonder what was wrong with me that no one could want me, how it was possible for me to not belong anywhere. I slept with a weapon under my pillow to fend off anyone who might come to hurt me. And now I sleep in your arms. Desired. Loved. Don’t you dare take that away from me.”

His heart ached for her. Was it possible she needed him as much as he needed her? “I hadn’t realized …”

“No matter how bad our nightmares get, we stay together. You make sure I can sleep, and I will do the same for you. Just promise to wake me up tonight. You can’t get yourself overtired like that again.”

“And you will wake me if the shadows start again?”

“I promise. Right away.”

“Okay,” he agreed, feeling less selfish about allowing it if it benefited her too. It was better than the alternative of some spy finding her room in the night or her lying awake with a knife under her pillow wondering if someone was coming to kill her. He would have to take care of himself more for her--get an adequate amount of sleep, actually stop and eat meals instead of working through every waking hour, maybe even share some of his stresses with her. He would do those things if it meant he could be there to protect her.

“Now,” she said, kissing him gently. “What do I have to do to get you out of that kefta so I can kiss away all those battle scars?”

#darklina #alina x darkling #general kirigan #kirigan x alina #alina x kirigan #aleksander x alina #alina x aleksander #aleksander morovoza

17 notes · View notes

randombtsprincessa · 4 years

Text

Backfire

Author: Randombtsprincessa

Characters: Park Jimin x Reader (2nd POV)

Words: 3.9k

Genre: Smut

Rating: Mature (18+)

Summary: There is a little misconception between you and Jimin. What do you do? You fuck your brother’s best friend in the bathroom.

Warning: Frenemy to Lovers, Jimin exists, teeny tiny jealousy on both ends, Yoongi makes an appearance, oral (female), mild dirty talk, protected sex, bathroom sex.

A/N: To my love, to my angel, to the darling serendipity, a happy birthday, Park Jimin.

The simmering, roiling heat of a flame lit deep underbelly, the constriction of your chest just because you set your eyes on something vile, the natural grimace that twisted your face and brought lines to your forehead…

All were reactions you were well familiar with; all pertaining to deep, genuine hate.

Which is ridiculous because you shouldn’t – can’t – hate something that has nothing whatsoever to do with you; or so you’d thought.

Well turns out, you can hate someone who has nothing to do with you in the simply case that it is Park Jimin. Park Jimin had nothing to do with you, absolutely nothing.

And yet his name brought fiery heat to the apples of your cheeks, flushed down to your chest.

All he was; was your dearest brother’s best friend. That’s all he was. He was just some guy your brother had known for ages, trusted explicitly, would always have his back and most likely throw a punch for. That’s it. Nothing very special for two bros, who would die for each other?

His involvement with you should end with that. You’d think so, right?

But Park Jimin was everywhere.

Park Jimin was the usual crème de la crème of the male species. He had fluffy raven hair that he had a habit of running his fingers through. Plump cheeks and lips gave his face a childish glow but his eyes…

His eyes would keep you up seven nights in a row and then some. They were a flecked deep mahogany; that radiated mischief and softened in giggles at the same time. All of that would still be okay to pass off – after all, hot men weren’t exactly a lacking commodity, it was the good hot ones that were rare – if not for the fact, that there was nothing usual about Park Jimin.

Your brother Dean, bless his heart, had never managed to grow up from the freshman boy phase that miraculously slipped past the years into graduation. You had followed suit at the same university, effectively moving in with him in his recently bought apartment as he started his interning in and out of the college odd jobs.

He also forgot to mention that aside from him and you, one other person was practically always there.

You had finished homework one day, venturing out to rummage through the kitchens for something to eat until your brother returned home with takeout for dinner when you had first seen him.

A simple black shirt and jeans and head faced you, a box of fruit loops upended over a wide open mouth. You had squeaked, ducking behind the sink. You were only wearing a pair of shorts and a huge shirt with nothing underneath and a stranger stood in your new home.

When he turned, mouth bulging from the amount of cereal in his mouth, his own eyes had widened and he’d choked, coughing out almost his entire mouthful.

“Fuck, I didn’t know there was a girl in here.” He’d spat out.

Of course, the first few moments where you’d taken the liberty to run straight to your room and get properly dressed, you’d made a few keen observations. Ok, it was only one.

The guy was smoking hot.

Dean had arrived when you came back out, painstakingly admitting to having completely forgotten about mentioning you to his friends and vice-versa. Jimin stood behind his shoulder, an easy smile on his face when you shook hands.

Now…you hadn’t been planning to have anything to do with him necessarily. He was still your brother’s friend and the small flicker of excitement you’d felt when Dean mentioned that Jimin was almost always there was mostly harmless.

So, when you heard your brother teasingly warn off Jimin from flirting with you and the retort was a short, ‘no thanks, I have enough girls lined up to keep my mind off your baby sister,’ your smile vanished, replaced by a disgusted grimace.

As lax as Dean was and as open about his relationships he was, you hadn’t thought that he’d be associating with a fuck boy.

You didn’t know when your initial disgust and disdain of Park Jimin turned into full blown hate. Perhaps it was the incessant snark, the teasing…

Perhaps it was the fact that Dean hadn’t been lying about him always being there. The times when you had a boy over, even if it wasn’t a date – he was there, on the couch, stuffed with popcorn. The times you would mention going out to a café, or an arcade with a guy, he happened to be there – spotting you all too easily and coming over to say hi.

Or maybe, it was just him being the general hot asshole. He dripped sin and no matter how hard you tried to not notice and move on from the place where you had nothing better to do but look at him, he would tease you about how he riled you up.

You couldn’t escape him.

Which made no sense…because his demeanor meant that he wasn’t a fan of yours either. You spat back retorts as fast as a gun, had compared his dick to one of the moldy carrots in your brother’s fridge, and had once physically pushed him away from a guy you had made the mistake of bringing home.

You were sure, he enjoyed it. There was something about the flare in his eyes that made you curious, wondering if maybe he was doing it on purpose…if the push and pull was something he found exciting.

You wouldn’t be surprised at all if he did.

The same held true for your place of work.

You had scoured and scored a job as a barista at the café and bakery nearest Dean’s apartment. The situation was lovely, the workers were friendly and the pay wasn’t unfair. You were happy in donning on a simply powder blue apron and doing the works behind the register every day.

Right up until Park Jimin began to show up there as well.

At first, you thought it was because Dean was the one dragging him there; having already warned you he was going to show up and scout out your new work place – just in case. You only wished he had done without Jimin hanging about, his own head swiveling about inquisitively before landing on you, sizing you up.

You couldn’t deny the flush of heat around your neck at his curious gaze and that made you angrier.

He had started to parade around in all his glory even without your brother about, smarmy smirks throw at you while he waited for you to serve him. He would blow kisses, raise an eyebrow challengingly when you threw disparaging looks at him.

And then one fateful day he took it too far.

He stood in line at the counter, you saw him first thing when you handed out change to the customers while another co-worker, Nina, handed out the orders.

You completely turned away from the counter when it was Jimin’s turn, not catching his eyes but ears working on hyperactive as he flirted heavily with the other girl.

Nina, for all her sweetness, blushed, stammered and nearly messed up his order which had you rolling your eyes in disgust. God, he wasn’t even that good. Why were girls all over themselves for him? You could at least give as well as you got.

The final thought had your head snapping up – in horror at you. Where had that come from? Since when had you wanted to be at the receiving end of Jimin’s flirtations? Granted, you always were the one he’d pick on, zero in on, whenever he was around but he did to annoy you.

You looked over your shoulder, finally meeting Jimin’s eyes, which were already on you. Nina had still not managed to get his drink done right, adding a bit too much sugar, you’d noticed than Jimin took but he only grinned – waving a hand to show it was all fine as he dropped a couple bills on the counter.

And then he threw you a cheeky, exaggerate wink, before turning on his heel and retreating back to his customary table.

That’s it.

You snarled to yourself mentally, tapping on Nina’s shoulder a little harder than necessary.

“I’ll do the customers now, you can handle the register.”

If there was anything off about your voice or your face, Nina didn’t mention it. She was probably way too into thinking about Jimin to be very observant anyway. She obediently moved to the other side of the counter, letting you stand to the front, now facing the rest of the line.

You couldn’t feel Jimin’s usual gaze on you, for the most part whenever you glanced at him; he was busy staring intently at his phone.

So, you swiftly handled and dispensed the customers, until one guy walked into your line of sight, hands stuffed into the pockets of his coat and a nervous look in his eyes.

“Hi,” He said first thing.

You put your server smile on. “Good morning, sir. Welcome and what may I get you today?”

“Just a simple black coffee, for Min Yoongi,” The man said. You thought you caught him burying his hands further into his pockets, your smile flickering uncertainly.

“Just a simple black…? No additions?” You clarified, pen hovering over the order slip.

“Yeah no, it’s just it’s embarrassing…I’ve never had coffee in a café before, I always have my homemade blend. But my coffee maker broke so…”

None of the above information was necessary, but you could feel a small smile twitching at the edges of your lips. He was cute, shy and blushing.

“A simple black,” You scribbled the order, passing it to the kitchens, “Perhaps, you should have that machine looked at,” You laughed.

The answering laugh was slow but bubbling. “Well, I mean I could wait a few days – depending on the coffee here.” He said.

“We do have good coffee.” You considered, lowering your voice as you motioned for him to move to the checkout line. A simple black didn’t take much long to make and the line was thankfully empty for now. The paper cup stood steaming on the counter, the name Min Yoongi scrawled over in the chef’s large writing. You grabbed it quickly, putting it in a carrier and placing it in front of him.

The man carefully lifted the cup up, taking a sip, before shrugging. “It’s not half bad. Maybe, I can come by if the machine stays broken.” He lifted hopeful eyes to you.

You couldn’t help but flutter slightly. “I’d keep our simple black lane open.” You teased back and he nodded, still smiling before pulling out the bills for the coffee. He slipped in another bill to your hand.

“A tip, don’t be too eager to spend it.” He flushed heavily, turning quickly on his heel to walk out, the bell tinkling at his exit.

You glanced at the one note curiously. It wasn’t too big of an amount but what mattered was the little red numbers at the base – a phone number. You grinned to yourself. He must have written his number out when you were packing his coffee. You slipped the numbered bill into your pocket, getting back to work to the line when you saw him.

Jimin’s eyebrows were drawn together, thick lips pursed tightly as he drummed his fingers on the counter. His eyes snapped to you immediately when you walked to him.

“Want something else?” You asked lightly, trying not to ruin the small lift Min Yoongi’s number had given you.

“Yes, I would actually, if it’s fine with you.”

You glanced up, eyebrows rising at the curt tone.

“Your little friend over there couldn’t get my order straight. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like a decent drink.”

“Park, you were the one flirting with Nina.” You scowled at him.

His jaw clenched. “Does that mean I have to suffer through a cup of torture?”

You determinedly looked down, writing down the order Jimin had wanted before, passing it to the kitchens to be processed. Jimin didn’t wait for you to ask him anything else, moving to the checkout line before you could say anything. You silently passed him his drink when it came and he took one sip, before wordlessly exiting the shop, your eyes trailing after him.

You didn’t wait for the official lunch break. You knew he’d be gone by then and you didn’t want to talk to him about his stupid behavior in front of your brother. Grabbing a simple cappuccino to go, you tugged on your coat, exiting the shop, tracing his steps where you knew he would’ve gone – Dean’s apartment.

You didn’t have to go very far. He had stopped near a lamp post, leaning against his car, phone back out as he scrolled roughly on it.

“Hey, Park Jimin,” You arrived in a huff, fingers snapping under his nose that had him jumping – looking at you with a heavy glare in his eyes.

“Y/N, what the fuck,” He backed up into his car door.

“I should be asking you that question. What the fuck is your problem?”

The glare in Jimin’s eyes subsided, replaced with a cold indifference. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean, that you’re usually a jackass to me but today you just crossed a few more lines. Why would you flirt with Nina if you didn’t like the coffee she made? And why would you take it out on me?”

“Whoa, ok, I’m not a jackass to you, ok? I was just teasing you with that girl; I didn’t think she’d be so bad at a simple coffee.”

You crossed your arms across your chest. “Doesn’t explain why you were being all stuck up and awful, simply because I served another customer before you?”

Jimin paused, eyes trailing over you. “He gave you his number, didn’t he? I know guys like him; they act all shy to get girls like you falling over them. You’re my best friend’s sister, Y/N; I’m just looking out for you.”

“That is such…” You tried to think of a bad enough word, but looking at Jimin now, the smug arch of his eyebrow, the tilt to his head – you knew he was vying for a fight, anything to get out of the fact that you had called him out on his behavior.

So you did the exact opposite.

“You acted like you were jealous, Park.” You prodded, watching his eyes widen in vindictive pleasure.

“Don’t be stupid.”

“No, no, that’s what this all is about, isn’t it? All the interruptions on my dates, all the intimidating the boys I hung about with…you were just jealous.”

Jimin was backing up now, his hand clenching his door handle. “Y/N, I’m warning you.”

“Oh please, how ridiculous could you get?” You snapped and so did he. His hand shot out; he grabbed onto the back of your coat, yanking you to him, chest pressing tight to his.

Unfortunately, your arm caught between your bodies, the paper cup crumpling from the pressure and splashing all over him. Thankfully, your coat took most of the brunt while his shirt soaked through with what was probably sizzling coffee.

“Son of a bitch,” Jimin jerked away from you, hands pulling away the fabric of his shirt from his skin.

“Oh god,” You dropped the cup in the trashcan under the light post. “Are you burnt?”

“No – no, but I need to get home. Fucking now,” Jimin growled, unlocking the car to roughly pull the door open. “Get in.” He called curtly and for once you obeyed, circling the car as he revved the engine, driving to your apartment.

The car ride was silent, except for the soft curses Jimin let out, squirming in the seat as the wet fabric cooled against his body.

Once home, you led Jimin straight to the washer, letting him unbutton the shirt so you could stash it and your coat in to wash them. Of course, watching nimble fingers work to pull away a sticky cloth from Jimin’s chiseled torso did distract you for a bit but then he opened his mouth.

“You’re paying for the shirt, you know. It was expensive.” He grumbled, leaning against the bathroom door.

You rolled your eyes immediately. “It’s just a shirt, Jimin, and machine washable, it’ll come out fine.”

“Sure, sure,” Jimin smirked. “Isn’t this awfully domestic of you, washing my clothes?”

You didn’t even deign to stand up to face him. “Fuck yourself Park,” You said calmly.

“Actually,” there was a heavy pause. “I think I’ll just fuck you.”

The next thing you felt was a hand at your chin, turning you sideways where Jimin placed his lips on yours fully.

The squeak you let out was not the sexiest sound you could’ve made in that moment. But then, you hadn’t exactly expected Park Jimin to be kissing you in any way possible. His eyes were clamped shut while yours were blown wide open, watching his brow furrow with effort as he delved deeper into you.

Your hands had grabbed onto the sides of his waist, the curve smooth and cold under your slick palm, if not a little sticky too.

When he pulled away, perhaps to gauge your reaction, your mouth fell open about as wide as your eyes, watching him stunned.

“Yeah,” He huffed, “not exactly the most self controlled thing I’ve done.”

“But…what about all that shit about Dean and watching over me?”

“Are you kidding? He’d be thrilled if you and I got together – but he’d still knock my blinkers up and down the street for not telling him first. Which was what I was texting him about,” He pulled out his phone from his back pocket, showing you a text conversation between him and your brother.

You didn’t even glance at the screen.

“So, all that time when you were being a jerk, you could’ve just come up and kissed me?”

“Well, not really but,”

“Fuck, stop talking.” You groaned, dropping your head in your hand before growling. “Take it all off.” You dug your hand into his waist band, to drive your point home before reaching down for the hem of your own clothes, lifting and tugging it over your head.

“Oh, okay,” Jimin took a second to move, removing everything, your own jeans and underwear joining his on the bathroom floor before the both of you migrated to the wall next to the bathtub, kissing with fervor.

“You’re an idiot, just so we’re on the same page.” You managed to spill when Jimin’s lips – and better, his tongue and teeth – moved to your neck, lining the slope of your throat with harsh pink suckles.

“Babe, we both need to shut up if we’re going to finish this before Dean gets home.” Jimin looked up with a heavy smirk as he ran his tongue over your bottom lip, teeth digging in to part the seam of your mouth. You groaned, feeling him let go as he trailed his fingers down to your exposed breasts, thick fingers digging into the supple flesh, smacking one to watch it jiggle.

“Goddamn, if only I’d had the guts to just do this before when I saw you prance about the house in nothing but that huge shirt and panties.”

“Ironic, I’ve wanted you for roughly the same amount of time.” Your arms wound around his neck as he took a nipple in his mouth, sucking on it hard and rough, letting it go just as abruptly.

Your head thudded back, Jimin dropping to his knees easily. “I’ve wanted to eat this pussy for so long. All those times I’ve come over to see you on your stomach on the couch, or with some dude who probably doesn’t even know how do it -,”

“I thought we were going to shut up.”

Jimin threw you a dirty grin. “Make me.”

You smirked right back – if Jimin thought you were going to take the bait, he didn’t know you too well. Instead, you tangled five fingers in his sleek hair, yanking him closer to your core. “I will,”

His hands travelled up the expanse of your thighs, goose bumps soothed by his nails as his thumbs hooked into the apex of your legs. Jimin hummed against the burning skin, tongue placing kitten licks over the exposed clit.

If it wasn’t the sensation that had you leaning against the wall for balance when Jimin threw a knee over his shoulder, it was the fact that he never removed his eyes from your face.

His tongue traced over your glistening folds, dipping into your hole then fluttering back to your clit to suck it into his mouth, all the while his eyes burned into yours, as if he was devouring more than just your heat, your very essence.

You reached for his shoulders. “Come here,” You kissed him almost savagely, your taste on his lips as you plunged your tongue into his mouth. Fumbling with the free hand, you stroked his length, hands slickening in his arousal.

Finally when he pulled away, he went straight to the bathroom cabinet. “Your brother keeps his condoms here.” He explained.

“I don’t even wanna know why you know that.” You crinkled your nose, ignoring his chuckle as he rolled the sheath onto his shaft. Coming back to you, he kissed the wrinkle off your nose.

He grabbed your thigh, letting it rest over his elbows as he stretched one hand along the wall, holding it tightly in his. Tilting his hips at an angle, he fed his cock into you, a deep guttural groan escaping him as your velvet walls engulfed him tightly.

“I’d take a million ass beatings for a few minutes of this.” He grunted, his first thrusts slow and shallow, stretching you out before he was hefting his arm higher, parting your legs further.

The first angled deep thrust had you gasping, his lips sneaking over yours, subtly muffling the moans and whimpers by swallowing them.

Jimin maintained a steady pace, slow but deep, pushing himself to your limits, mouth wet over any inch of you he could reach, before he was pulling out, turning you to bend over the bathtub. Your fingers wrapped around its lip, tight and bloodless when he delved further back into you.

This time, however, there was nothing slow about him.

He entered you ruthlessly, fast, going even deeper if possible, his teeth clenched when you felt him lean over your, brushing away hair from your ears.

“Do you feel me, Y/N? You’ve been missing out on this.” He laughed, breathless when he reared back and then started plunging into you again, battering his pelvis against your ass.

The sounds of your broken whines accompanied the sharp slaps of your skin meeting his. His hands gripped at your neck, pushing your further down until your were completely bent in half, his head rubbing against your spot and then you were exploding – almost pulling away from him.

“Not done yet, babe,” You felt him enter you again, somewhere through the haze of your bliss, your orgasm seemingly endless as his ferocious speed kept you on the sweet edge of never quite finishing.

When he finally erupted, arms wrapped tight around your chest and waist, standing as he worded curses against your neck, you came once more, arching into the wall, before he rested the both of your exhausted bodies against it.

“We’ll have to talk to Dean if you wanna do this again.” You mumbled.

“Yeah,” He sighed. “But we still have some time.”

He glanced at you sheepishly.

“Round two?”

#btsbookclub #ficswithluv #smutcentralnet #jimin smut #bts smut #bts fanfic #jimin fanfic #jimin #park jimin #bts jimin #bts #jimin x reader

243 notes · View notes

noladyme · 3 years

Text

La Cuervo - Chapter 21

She is used to the biker-life, having grown into a woman in the familiar embrace of SAMCRO. A bad decision and a gun-shot later, she gets whisked off to Santo Padre, and put under the protection of another club. What is supposed to be a short stint in the Mayan headquarters just north of the border to Mexico, turns into something more; when la quervo begins to develop feelings for el angel - and he seems to return them in kind...

TW: violence, blood, drug use, alcohol, smut, fluff, angst

In the spirit of "The Crown Princess of Charming", this is a story about O.C. Nina and Angel Reyes. It is obviously non-canon, as characters who have passed on, on Mayans M.C., are present in it, and others have been excluded completely. Nina is written as a cis-female, but I have tried to keep her race and looks as ambigous as possible. Should you find any of this story offensive, please let me know.

21.

“The bullet only graced her leg; but the wound was still deep enough for her to need crutches for a little while. Do you know of any pre-existing medical conditions?”. The doctor was explaining Nina’s condition to Angel. Nina was annoyed at how he seemed to think the curtain separating him and Angel from her and the other patients, was a wall; that would keep their conversation private. “She’s got asthma”, Angel replied. He sounded tired and angry. “That shouldn’t come in the way of her recovering fully… Not physically at least”. “What do you mean?”. “She is in chock. What she just went through did a number on her”, the doctor said. “We offered her a sedative, but she wouldn’t let us come near her with the needle. The nurse had to hold her down for me to apply the local anesthetic, to stitch her up; and she refused to let us do any blood tests, before we swore you were just outside”.

Nina shifted in the bed. Her leg was burning with pain, and all she wanted was to be far away from where she was. “You should have let me in there with her!”, Angel growled. He was clearly unhappy with Nina being prodded with needles against her will. “It’s against protocol…”. “Fuck protocol!”, Angel exclaimed. “And what fucking blood tests?”. “Sir; there are other patients here! You need to keep it down…”, the doctor said. “What blood tests?”, Angel demanded. “The woman who shot herself bit her. We’re checking for hepatitis B and C, and rabies…”. “Rabies? She’s not a fucking dog!”, Angel almost roared. “Just let me see her…”.

He opened the curtain, and met Nina’s eyes; trying for a warm smile, and failing miserably. “Hey mami… Have you been giving the doc a hard time?”. He came over to take her hand, and kissed the top of her head; before looking her over. “Why haven’t you cleaned her up?”, he asked the doctor. Nina was wearing a hospital gown, having been wrestled out of her own clothes, for the police to put it into evidence bags. She was still covered in blood-specks everywhere but her stitched and bandaged calf, and the around the bite wound on her arm; which had been covered by a band-aid. The doctor sighed defeatedly. “Look, I have about fifty sick and wounded people to tend to within the next thirty minutes; and my nurses are short staffed”, he said, and edge to his voice. “We have to help those who need us the most; and we can’t spend time washing down a patient who won’t cooperate”.

Nina tightened her hold on Angel’s hand. “I wanna go home”, she whispered. The doctor looked at her, as if startled that she could in fact speak. “Miss Teller, you should stay the…”. “Angel, take me home!”, Nina demanded. Angel nodded at her; letting the furrow between his brows speak for him. He put an arm behind her back, to help her sit, and grabbed her shoes from a bag on the floor.

“Mr. Reyes; Nina needs the care we can provide for her here”, the doctor said. “She’s not staying in this shithole. You wouldn’t even give her a private room”, Angel growled, and helped Nina put on her shoes. He let his hand hover over the bandage on her leg for a second. “We’re out”. “What about after care? Pain medication?”. “I know how to deal with bullet-wounds”, Angel said. The doctor gave him a displeased once over. “I’m sure you do…”, he grunted. He sighed defeatedly. “Ok… But I’m going to need you to sign some discharge papers, Miss Teller; stating you’re leaving against my recommendations”. Angel wrapped the blanket from the bed around Nina, to cover her naked backside. His movements were gentle but brusque. “Leave it by the desk. We’ll handle it”, he said, and put his arm around Nina’s waist. “Let’s go…”. The doctor rushed away to get the paperwork ready, and Angel half supported, half carried Nina out into the hallway.

It looked like the entire charter of Mayans were gathered by the front desk. Nina didn’t have the energy to speak, and focused on not supporting her weight on her pained leg. “How are you, mija?”, Bishop asked. Angel shook his head. “They can’t do shit here… The doc stitched her up, but that’s pretty much it”, he said. “That fucking bitch could have killed her!”. “Don’t…”, Nina croaked. He looked down at her, and his expression softened. “I’m sorry, cuervo”, he muttered, and led her to sit down in a chair. A nurse came over with a clipboard of papers, and pointed at the places Nina needed to sign. With shaking hands, she scribbled some intelligible doodles; and handed the board back. “Come back if you experience any unexpected pain”, the nurse said. “What, from her gun-wound?”, Gilly asked with a raised brow. The nurse scuttered off with a displeased look on her face.

“I’ve got the van outside”, EZ said, and looked at Nina with a worried expression. “But are you sure…?”. “I want to go home…”, Nina said bellow her breath. “Please”. Angel ran a hand through his hair, and shook his head. “The fucking exterminator… We can’t go back to ours until tonight”, he groaned. “The clubhouse is crawling with cops”, Gilly said. “Take her to mine. We got you, niña”, Coco said, and he and Angel got on either side of her; to help her get to her feet. More or less carrying her outside, the two men got her out to the van, and into the middle passenger seat. They flanked her, with Coco behind the wheel, and Angel letting Nina rest against him. She heard the other Mayans start up their bikes behind the van, and they drove away from the hospital. Looking out of the van’s windows, she noticed Hank and Taza drove up alongside them, and Bishop went up to front the caravan. They were in protection mode.

---

The Mayans were gathered on the small porch outside Coco’s house. Nina could hear them muttering and arguing quietly, as she sat holding her mug of steaming instant coffee. “Fuck! What the fuck are we going to do? We don’t have a switch!”, Bishop growled. “Keep it down, Bish’. She’s right inside”, Taza grumbled. “At least she took out our rat”, Riz said. “She didn’t kill her… Camille killed herself”, Taza said. “Fucking bitch…”, Creeper grunted. A muttering of agreements was heard.

Nina took a sip of the coffee, and picked at her broken nail. The pain from it, the bite, and the gun wound on her leg distracted her from the visions she was seeing every time she closed her eyes. She’d killed another person; no matter what Taza said. If she hadn’t twisted Camille’s wrist, and the shot hadn’t hit her head, she would still be alive. And Nina would have been dead.

Letty walked quietly through the living room, shooting Nina a wary look, before opening the screen door. “Angel. I filled the tub”, she muttered. She heard Angel grunt a reply of thanks, before he came inside with Coco at his heels. “I’m gonna clean her up”, Angel muttered, and went over to help Nina up. “Come on, mami”. Coco led Letty down the hall, and muttered something about her going to stay at Gabby’s for the night. He was worried; all the Mayans were worried. With no snitch to hand over to Palo, they most likely had a war on their hands.

Angel supported Nina into the bathroom, set her down on the toilet lid, and closed the door behind them. Almost unable to move herself, Nina let Angel untie the strings of the hospital gown, and pull it off her. Letty had left a bundle of clothes by the sink for her. It looked like a mix of her own and Coco’s; as she probably didn’t know what would fit Nina. Once she was naked, Angel carefully helped Nina into the tub; with her leg hanging over the edge, to not get the bandage wet. He cupped some water in his hand, and began washing her gingerly. For a long while, they didn’t speak; neither of them able to find the words for what had just happened. Nina knew that Angel had probably taken a few lives himself – it came with the territory – but she wasn’t a killer. At least she wasn’t supposed to be.

She closed her eyes, and leaned back in the tub, emerging herself in the water. The water filled her ears, and the world went silent for a few seconds. Closing her eyes, Nina tried to let calm fall over her. The water was warm, and Angel’s soothing strokes down her arms, made her drift into something resembling peacefulness. Her foot knocked over a shampoo bottle, and it fell into the tub with a clanking noise, that sounded like am explosion in Nina’s ears. It all came back again. The gunshot. Camille’s eyes. Gael’s eyes. The red mist of blood and brain matter. Death. It felt like arms were trying to hold her down – drowning her – and she let out a scream under the water; frantically grabbing for anything to get back to the surface.

Angel’s strong arms wrapped around her, and quickly pulled her out of the water; and onto the floor, where she sat shaking in his arms. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to… please…”, she coughed and sobbed. Angel held her tight, and rocked her back and forth. “You’re ok… No one is gonna hurt you". “No, because I killed them… Everything I touch, dies”. “That’s not true…”. “Gael… Daniella… Camille… Jax…”. Her stomach was hurting from the muscles contorting as she sobbed. “You didn’t kill your brother, Nina…”, Angel said, burying his fingers in her hair. “Maybe if I’d done something…”.

With both hands on either side of her head, Angel made Nina look at him. “You didn’t do anything wrong…! You just survived”. He grabbed a towel, and began gently drying her off. After a while, he sighed. “I’m so sorry, querida. This was on us… on me”, he said. Nina met his eyes for a nanosecond, afraid to see her own reflection in them. “No. I killed her…”, she breathed. “I’ve murdered two people”. “No… No, cuervo”, Angel said. “You protected yourself from a monster, and you forced the hand on a crazy bitch, who was about to get herself killed anyway… You did nothing wrong”. “Then why do I feel like I deserve as much as I gave?”, Nina rasped. Angel cupped her face, and made her look at him. “Because you’re too good for this fucked up world”, he said. He put his forehead against hers for a second, before hissing her temple. “Te amo… so fucking much. If she’d taken you away from me…”. He seemed unable to finish the sentence, and simply held her close for a few more moments, before getting to his feet, and pulling the plug in the tub.

“It's time to end this shit. Were going to war with VM”, he grunted. Nina’s heart fell to her stomach, and she tried to stand; but slipped, and fell into Angel’s arms. “Don’t! Palo will kill you!”, Nina exclaimed, tears returning to her eyes. Angel wrapped his arms protectively around her, letting her lean on him. “This isn’t just about you, querida… We…”. “I don’t care! Please, Angel. I can’t lose you…”, Nina sobbed. Someone knocked on the door. “You ok in there?”, Coco asked. “We’re good. Be out in a minute”, Angel replied, before pressing his lips to Nina’s. “We have to finish this”. Unable to respond, Nina simply let him dress her in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She was shaking, and tears continuously streamed from her eyes. Angel wiped her cheeks, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Come on”.

With her arm around Angel’s waist, she limped back into the living room. All the chairs in the house had been gathered in there, and the Mayans were seated down on them; making the room a makeshift templo. EZ hovered by the door, keeping his eyes on the street outside. He looked over his shoulder for a second, locking eyes with Nina. His gaze told her he wanted to say something, comfort her somehow, but now wasn’t the time. Angel led Nina back to the couch, to sit next to Coco. She let out a tiny yelp in pain, as her leg brushed against the coffee table, and Coco picked up a joint he’d apparently just rolled, and handed it to her. “For the pain, ma’”, he muttered, and lit it, as she put it to her lips. Taking a deep drag from the blunt, Nina instantly felt the dulling sensation of the marijuana stream through her body. Angel sat down next to her, and took her hand.

“First of all…”, Bishop began. “Nina, I’m sorry. From what I understand, what Camille did to you, didn’t have anything to do with you situation with Palo. We let her into our inner circle, and she… fuck… We let you get hurt”. “That’s not on you…”, Nina muttered. “Yes, it is", Bishop said. “I broke my promise that we’d keep you safe. We owe you". The rest of the Mayans nodded solemnly. “I… ok", Nina said quietly.

The president sat up straight in his seat, and lit a cigarette. “Ok… Let’s start with the good news”, he said. “Our rat is dead”. Nina had to swallow thickly, in spite of the cloud of calm the joint had left in her head. “Bad news is, we don’t have a switch”, Taza said. “And we don’t have anything to hold over Palo’s head”, Hank muttered. Taza looked at Nina. Their conversation about his secret returned to her, and she frowned at him just enough to let him know she still wanted him to keep quiet. “Let me talk to him”, Nina said. “He wants me; maybe I can…”. “No”, Angel said. Nina scowled at him for cutting her off. “I don’t want you getting killed over me! Just let me see him, and I’ll… I don’t know, apologize, or offer him a deal like I did with you”. Angel gave her a hard look. “You’re not going anywhere!”, he growled, and looked around at his brothers. “Even if Nina wasn’t here, Palo’s already fucked us over enough for us to go head-to-head with the Vato’s”, he said. “I agree”, Bishop said with a nod. “Bishop! Don’t do this!”, Nina exclaimed. “She’s got a point…”, Hank muttered. “Listen to the woman, Bishop. War doesn’t have to…”, Riz began. Bishop shook his head. “I’m done kissing Palo’s ass. Nina’s out of the equation from here on out. It’s war”. Angel nodded fervently. “War!”.

Nina took a final deep draw from the blunt. “I guess you don’t need me here, then”, she sneered, and got to her feet. “I’m gonna go sleep for about a hundred years; and if your dumb asses are still alive when I wake up, then yay… But I’m not holding my breath”. Bishop looked angrily at her. “I’m gonna chose to believe that’s the pain and the blunt talking”, he growled. “Shove it up your ass”, Nina sneered. “Coco, do you mind?”. “Letty’s room is down the hall to the right”, Coco muttered. “Follow the smell of hairspray”. Nina wanted to storm dramatically out of the room, but her wounded leg wouldn’t hold her weight, and she stumbled. Angel caught her, but she shrugged him off. Taza got up, and walked over to take her arm. “Come on, kid”, he said quietly, and led her down the short hallway, into the teenager’s room.

Nina sat down on the bed, and went to lean against the headboard. She wiped away a few stray tears. “I’m good. Thanks”, she said. Taza sat down on the edge of the bed. “You’re not… You’ve had too much happen to you to be ok”, he said. “And now, the man you love is walking into what will probably be certain death”. His words broke the fragile strings holding Nina together, and once again, she began sobbing. “I don’t want that… I don’t want any of you to get hurt for me!”. Taza scooted closer, and pulled her into his arms for a moment, before pulling back. “Nina, I love you; but you’re thinking a little too much about yourself at the moment”, he said. “Any one of those men out there would throw themselves in front of a moving car for you; but this war isn’t about your situation with Palo. They want war”. “Why?”, Nina croaked, and wiped her eyes. “Bishop and Angel are right. Palo’s overstepped our boundaries in more ways than one; and he needs to pay”. “So you’re behind this? You want war as well?”, Nina asked. Taza sighed. “No… I’ve seen Palo at his worst before… He’s a nightmare”, he said. “He’s not going to stop until every Mayan in the charter is dead, and then he’ll move on north; try to take out Oakland”. “Is Vatos Malditos really that strong a club?”. “They don’t fear death… And that makes them dangerous”.

They sat for a moment in silence, before Taza spoke again. “We know what needs to happen”. Nina’s eyes widened. “No, Taza; please!”. “I can finish this before it starts”, Taza said. “And I want to”. “What if they…?”. “I’m tired, sweetheart”. The VP squeezed her hand. “Every day I’m not being honest about who I am, I feel like I’m betraying both myself the man I loved”. Nina swallowed thickly. “You want to come out to the club”, she whispered. Taza nodded. “I’m afraid to… but by doing it now, I can avoid the people I love being killed in an unnecessary war. I have to”.

Nina took a deep breath, and then blew it out. The haze of the joint was already wearing off from the seriousness of the situation. “Do you want me to come with you?”, she asked. Taza smiled, and stroked her cheek. “No… This is something I have to do on my own”. He kissed her forehead, and got to his feet. “Whatever happens, just know that I think you’re one of the best things that has ever happened to this club”. Nina tried for a warm smile. “I love you, Taza”, she said. He winked at her, and left the room; closing the door behind him.

She laid back on the bed, letting herself accept the situation. A murmur of voices from the living room broke the silence. On one hand, she was happy she couldn’t clearly hear what was going on; on the other, she wanted to jump out of bed, and run after Taza – if only her leg would have carried her. She heard Taza speaking calmly, before being interrupted by Bishop; his voice a little more gruff. Taza continued speaking, before a group of voices rose. “You’re fucking kidding me!”, she heard Riz exclaim. Taza spoke again, being interrupted by Creeper’s voice. “… keep this from us?”, was all she could hear, before Angel cut him off. “… Nina in on this?”. Taza muttered something more, when Bishop growled. “… done!”. The president’s voice was cold. Taza spoke again, and then the door opened and closed. Nina heard a bike start up, and drive away.

She turned her back to the door, and fell back into tears. She didn’t know how long she cried, but in the end, she fell asleep.

---

When she woke, it was dark outside. The door to the hallway was slightly open, and a set of crutches were leaning against the wall by the bed. Nina sat up, and grabbed the crutches to get to her feet; before hobbling into the hallway, and went towards the living room. Coco was seated on the couch with a dazed expression, probably only partlydue to the blunt he was halfway through. Nina sat down on one of the empty chairs, and he handed her the joint. “How’s the pain?”, he asked. Nina took a huff of the blunt. “Better”, she said, unable to avoid chuckling, as the smoke left her lips again. Coco smiled at her. “Where is everyone?”. “Bish’, Riz and Hank are at the clubhouse; cleaning up after the cops. They brought the boy scout”. “Then I know who’s really doing the clean-up”, Nina said, and rolled her eyes. “Yeah… Angel’s grabbing food, and Gilly and Creeper went to Vicky’s”, Coco said. “Said they needed it”. Nina clenched her jaw, and braced herself. “Taza?”, she croaked. Coco reached for the blunt, and took a huff himself. “He left after he told us… Shit, I never knew”. “Are you going to… What are you going to do to him?”. Taking a last draw from the joint, Coco put it in the ashtray, to let it smolder. “I don’t know… We never had to deal with anything like this before”, he said. “What do you think should happen?”, Nina asked. Coco shrugged. “Taza’s a good VP. He kept a secret, but he hasn’t hurt anyone, or done something against our rules”. “He broke one rule”, Nina muttered. “It’s a fucked-up rule”, Coco grunted. Nina let a smile ghost her lips. “Taza can ride, and he can make decisions… That’s what I care about”.

Angel pulled up outside the house, and came in, carrying a large paper bag. He gave Nina a short smile. “You get some sleep?”, he asked. “Yeah… some”, she said. “I got burgers…”, Angel said, and put down the bag on the coffee table. “I went by the house, and opened the windows; but it still smells like shit in there”. “Letty’s out. Stay the night”, Coco said, and went to get beers from the fridge.

Angel sat down on the couch, and began unpacking the food. Realizing she hadn’t eaten all day, Nina’s stomach made an angry growl of hunger. “Woah…”, Angel said, and looked down at the blunt in the ashtray. “Munchies?”. “A little”, Nina admitted. “Are you ok?”. “Why wouldn’t I be?”, Angel asked. “Just… Everything that happened today, I guess…”, Nina began, before sighing, and shrugging. “What? You mean the part where my girl yelled at me, and then got shot?”, Angel said. “Or the part where I find out she’s been keeping secrets…”. He raised a brow at her, and Nina felt her cheeks burning. “It wasn’t my secret to share”, she muttered. “If you’re gonna fight, do it later”, Coco said, returning with three beers, and handing them out. “I’m hungry”.

They ate in silence, before Coco called it a night, and went to bed; tired as fuck, as he declared. Angel and Nina sat for a few moments more, avoiding each other’s gaze. “I couldn’t tell you…”, Nina finally said. “No, I get it”, Angel sighed. “It’s just… You kept this secret, that could have saved your life. And you didn’t let me help”. “That’s what you’re angry about?”. “I’m not angry, querida… I just wish you’d let me protect you”. “By hurting Taza?”, Nina asked. “I would have had his back!”, Angel said. “I knew that… At least I think I knew”. Nina shook her head defeatedly. “But if the rest of the club decides to punish him, you can’t stop that!”. Angel took the last sip of his beer, and began clearing the table. “We’re not letting that happen”, he muttered. “Who?”, Nina asked. “Me… Coco and Gilly… you”. He gave her a warm smile, and went to throw away the trash.

Nina got to her feet, and with the help of her crutches, she followed him into the kitchen. “How did everyone else take it?”, she asked, leaning against the doorway. “Riz and Creep are pissed Taza didn’t tell the club a secret that could save us from war. Tranq is… Tranq. He doesn’t let anyone know what he feels until he’s sure about it himself. And Bish’… I can’t read the man”. “But you’re behind Taza…”. “Yeah”. He came over, and gave her a short kiss. “Thank you”, Nina said. “For what?”, Angel asked. “For being… you”, she smiled.

Letting Nina support her weight against him, Angel led Nina back into Letty’s bedroom; carrying her crutches for her. She winced a bit, when she accidentally stepped down on her bad leg, and Angel frowned. He closed the door, and helped her get in to bed, before shedding his cut, and climbing in with her. “You gonna sleep in your jeans?”, Nina asked. “If I take them off, you’ll just start getting ideas…”, Angel smirked. “I got shot today, just before being drenched in another woman’s blood… And, we’re lying in a bed under a poster of Zac Effron. I think I can gird my loins”, Nina said with a scowl. “Maybe I can’t”, Angel whispered, and pulled her into his arms. He accidentally bumped against her leg, and Nina let out a small yelp. “Fuck. Are you ok? I’m so sorry!”, Angel exclaimed. “I’m ok…”, Nina whimpered. “Just don’t touch it”. “I’ll get you some drugs tomorrow. The good kind”, Angel promised. Nina chuckled, and pressed a kiss to his lips.

Thinking about the day after, she suddenly frowned. “What’s wrong, cuervo?”, Angel asked. “Tomorrow… What’s gonna happen?”, Nina said. “Clubwide lockdown…”, Angel sighed. “I’m taking you back to the house in the morning, to get your stuff. Coco’s gonna go with us, as an extra gun; but after that it’s back to the clubhouse”. “And then what?”. She felt herself starting to shiver, and Angel gingerly pulled her closer. “We called in backup. Bishop met with Alvarez today; and Oakland is coming down to back us up if needed”. “SAMCRO?”, Nina whispered. “What do you think?”, Angel smiled. “SAMDINO too… Don’t run away with Packer”. She pinched the skin of his arm playfully. “Ow!”. “So you’ll have the numbers… You might not even have to use Taza’s secret”, Nina said; ignoring his exclamation of pain. “We don’t know Palo’s numbers yet… VM has grown since Taza’s day”, Angel said. “We gotta be ready for a fight”.

Nina sighed, and put an arm across Angel’s chest; burrowing against him. “After this morning… I’m so sorry I got so angry…”. “Nah, I had it coming", Angel said. “I said some stupid shit… That could have been the last thing I ever said, before I lost you…”. “I did leave you; I fucked up so bad…”. “We’re past that, querida. I shouldn’t have brought it up…”. Angel brushed his thumb over her cheekbone. “But you were right. I should have found a better way… And now you’re going up against Palo, and you might not make it…”. “Nina…” Nina continued, unable to control her panicked breathing. “I’m gonna lose you! He’s not gonna stop until you’re all…”. “Nina, stop!”, Angel said. Nina felt her lungs beginning to close up, and she took a few heaving breaths. Her anxiety worsened, when she realized she didn’t have her inhaler. Angel dug it out of his own pocket, and pressed the button on the top, before holding it to her lips. Breathing in the powder, Nina felt her breathing return to normal, and Angel put away her inhaler again. “You have to relax, ma'. You’ve been through too much today". Wiping her eyes for her, he kissed her forehead. “I can’t lose you…”, she whispered. Angel looked deep into her eyes. “I’m gonna do whatever I have to, to get back to you”, he said, and kissed the top of her head. “I love you”. “I love you too”.

Tilting her head, Nina sought out Angel’s lips, and breathed him in, in a deep kiss. Angel carefully lifted her knee, to let her leg rest over his. She craved his closeness, needed him near her, more than ever; for fear that it would be the last night she’d get to sleep in his arms. Angel soothingly brushed his fingers up and down her lower arm. “I can’t deal with any more death…”, Nina said. Suddenly, without even knowing it herself, she’d made a decision. “I want to see Palo”. Angel’s eyes widened. “No, Nina. That’s not happening…”, he said, and went back to stroking her arm; though a bit more roughly than was comfortable. Nina pulled herself away from his grasp. “I can’t run away from what I did”, she said. “So, you’re going to let Palo punish you? Kill you?”, Angel asked. “No, I’m… You’re right. I haven’t done anything wrong; I’m not looking to be punished for anything”, Nina said. “But I can’t let anyone else die on my account. Not again”. "It's like we said. This isn't about you anymore". "But if I hadn't been here...", Nina tried. Angel sighed. “Get some sleep”, he said. “But…”. He looked at her intently. “Sleep. You’re in pain and you’re high. You’re not thinking straight. You’ll have a clearer head tomorrow”. He brushed his lips against her cheek, and closed his eyes.

To Angel, the conversation was over. To Nina, nothing was settled; and it took a long time, before exhaustion finally forced her to drift off.

---

#angel reyes #angel reyes fic #mayans mc #mayans #ez reyes #coco cruz #angel reyes x oc

34 notes · View notes

annabethisterrified · 3 years

Text

Book Review: RULE OF WOLVES by Leigh Bardugo

“Love was the destroyer. It made mourners, widows, left misery in its wake. Grief and love were one and the same. Grief was the shadow love left when it was gone.”

Official summary:

The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible. The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost. The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart. King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.

---

Watch me gush/ramble about RoW on YATL Live: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CNlVL7Cj6DN/

NO SPOILERS TIL YOU GO BELOW THE CUT. (Or should I say the Fold?)

You know I’m in too deep when I start scheduling my own personal and professional deadlines around the release of a book. I literally organized my life in March 2021 with the single goal of making sure I would be untethered by responsibility and commitment when Rule of Wolves released.

This book, immediately followed by the release of Shadow & Bone on Netflix.... this spring has thrust me straight back into the Grishaverse mania of my younger years.

As a conclusion (...?) to the King of Scars duology, Rule of Wolves delivered on compelling politics, satisfying character actualization, and just deliciously exciting content all around. Bardugo has certainly created a mesmerizing world, and this story sharpened and expanded its details even more.

And if you’ve taken even a glancing look at my blog, you’ll know I might be a little TOO into Zoya Nazyalensky and Nikolai Lantsov. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this book was an extremely rewarding end to one of the most intriguing and tear-your-hair-out-in-a-good-way slow burns.

All in all, a hearty thumbs-up from me! If you’re cool with spoilers, follow me below....

Okay, let’s get into this a bit more.

Y’all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look, I can’t understate how invested I am in Zoya and Nikolai both as individual characters and as a couple. Like????!!!!! They are ENDLESSLY interesting and endearing and just off-the-charts incredible.

Like many readers of the original trilogy, I was NOT a fan of Zoya for a long time. She did some messed up stuff, and it wasn’t until we got to be IN her head that I realized the depth and intrigue of her character. Not to be like “Oh, well _____ went through trauma so that excuses and explains why they were mean!”. It’s more nuanced than that with Zoya, and her journey really made me consider (for the first time, maybe) that there are actual upsides to cutting through frivolity and niceties. That’s not to say anyone should intentionally be cruel, but especially seeing her articulate how certain veins of “niceness” can be useless and fake, and watching through Nikolai’s lens as he genuinely appreciates and relies upon her ruthless, straight-to-the-punch guidance, I came to realize how cool it is to see a female character who is good but not nice. There is a world of difference between those two traits, and especially for the now-queen of Ravka, the former is far more important to possess.

And Nikolai, this absolutely enchanting and determined and whip-smart and romantic and brutal guy... the MULTITUDES this man contains!!!! I adore him and his whole arc. Every decision he’s faced with is tremendously difficult, but his cleverness and growing maturity really came to a head in this installment. I loved watching him realize that the only thing he REALLY cares about is having the agency and ability to fix problems and take action. He can be with or without the throne; he cannot be without forward movement. (My favorite bit of the book might just be Alina remarking how Nikolai still technically manages to “keep” the throne even after giving it up, via Zoya’s hand.) So I don’t think we’ve seen the end of “king” Nikolai by any means, and it was enthralling to watch him take on the war in this book through so many angles: engineering, flight, diplomacy, disguise, weaponry, AH!

Of course, I’d be remiss not to bring up the stunningly gut-wrenching midpoint reversal of this book -- losing David. I’ll admit I got spoiled about his death before reading, but not the specifics. I imagined that it might be some emotional confrontation with the Darkling, or defending Genya, but in the end? His was a passive, random death. IF YOU MENTION THE JOURNAL I WILL CRY. And I think that’s exactly why it’s so doubly devastating. To lose such a pivotal character in such a seemingly senseless way really underscores the reality and consequence of a war of this scale and nature. I appreciated all the complicated, no-right-answer reckonings there were in this book about weapons and developing arms. Lots of difficult ethics there for sure, and it’s not a conversation I’ve encountered in many fantasy stories before.

Back to some more FUN stuff, it was of course wonderful to finallyyyyyy witness Zoya and Nikolai get together, and I love the way it was handled. The intimacy and comfort they’ve found in each other just makes me want to burst, and their scenes together (as always) were sharp and electric. God. Their dialogue is just so, so good. It’s a bit bittersweet to know that the road ahead for them will not necessarily be an easy one, given Zoya’s likely VERY long life versus Nikolai’s very human one. That raises lots of questions about the Nazyalensky dynasty’s heirs (?) and whatnot, so I do hope we get to see more of them in the future to see how some of these things are unpacked and discussed. Plus, it’d just be really great to see these two as a more established couple now that they’re “allowed” to be together. (”I WILL LOVE HER FROM MY GRAVE.” That’s cool, Nikolai Nazyalensky. I’m already sobbing.)

Side note: How amazing was Zoya’s reckoning throughout this whole book about resisting love in an attempt to protect herself? I loved how it tied in with unlocking her DRAGON POWERS, and her realization that “you’ll mourn anyway so you might as well love big” was so, SO poignant I’m crying again.

It was of course terrific and exciting to see more of Nina AKA Mila’s action. I thought the reveal about Joran was really difficult but ultimately hopefully something healing for her. I also thought that where we left Nina and her prince was very fitting and I’d love to see where their new lives “ruling” Fjerda take them.

Anyway, it was also really fun to see some Crow cameos, and I’m hopeful based on the way things ended in this book that we’ll get to see more of both the Ketterdam crew and the new/future rulers of Ravka and Fjerda. Crossing all the fingers!

#review #rule of wolves #leigh bardugo #zoyalai #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #king of scars #grishaverse

23 notes · View notes

trassellynn · 4 years

Note

Post series Wylan comforting Jesper during his bouts of restlessness/anxiety?

Hi Anon! Here we are, hope you’ll like it! WRITING TO FEEL BETTER When he entered the house, Jesper rapidly and silently walked towards the staircase, hoping Wylan wouldn't have heard him. He didn't want to make him worry and he was terrible at lying about his feelings. Wy would have immediately noticed something was wrong with him. He had almost reached the first floor, when the redhead's voice called for him. "Hey, Jes!" The sharpshooter felt his own heart sink. He grabbed the handrail, closing his eyes and sighing. "Jes?" Jesper turned his head, trying to put a fake smile on: "Hey, Wy. How was your day?" "Good" the younger boy replied, slowly reaching him. "I received a letter from Nina and Matthias... I waited for you to read it, but... are you okay?" "I..." an unpleasant lump started to torment the tall boy's throat. "I need to stay alone, sorry..." He ran into his room (well... their room) and he laid face down on the bed, hiding his face on the mattress and letting a suffocate cry out, his hands clenching his thick, black curls. Those days had been horrible. And he tried, he tried to hide all his sadness and frustration, but his negative feelings eventually found a way to burst out. He thought it would have been a great idea, starting the university again, he thought he would have been able to handle studies, the training of his Grisha abilities and the business he and Wylan managed together. For the first period he actually did a very good job but, during the last weeks, he started to struggle. It was quite hard, to him, sitting for hours on a desk, trying to listen to the lesson while his mind was distracted by thousands, different stimuli and his thoughts were mostly about the training that was waiting for him in the afternoon. He followed the professor's words for the first, few minutes, and he ended up wondering what Fiona, his Materialki teacher, had prepared for him. And, after lesson, he felt guilty for having pay a little attention and his sense of guilt had soon started to affect his training. He kept on like these for days, until that afternoon, where he had an outburst and ended up arguing with Fiona. The woman was a very good teacher. She was a bit severe, but always just, and much more empathetic than she seemed. Jesper knew she was only there to help him and she didn't deserve his rage and frustration. I ruined everything, he thought. I ruined everything, as usual. I'm a disaster... “Jes...” The boy tried to wipe his tears, without changing his position. Wylan laid next to him, his hands rubbing the older boy's back. “Jes, what happened?” The Fabrikator sniffled: “I am a failure, okay? I am a pathetic, useless, incompetent being, that's what happens! I try, Wy, okay? I always try to do something good, but I always fail, I cannot help but disappoint everyone who cares about me! I am unable to follow a single lesson without getting lost in my thoughts. I am making messes during the training and I am a terrible student to Fiona! I bet she will kick me out of her class, after what I yelled her today! And she would be right! If I were her, I wouldn't loose my time with an ungrateful idiot! I... I...” He hid his face against Wylan's shoulder, bursting into tears. They hugged, laid on the bed, Wylan's hands gently caressing his hair and back. He let Jesper vent his tears and frustration for a while, then, he started talking him in a soft, gently manner. “It's a bad period, Jes... it can happen to anyone. It doesn't mean you're failing or disappointing anyone.” “Fiona was mad” the boy sobbed. “She's disappointed for sure...” “I'm sure Fiona believes in you. Like your father does. Like I do. Like my mother and our friends do. We all know the wonderful person you are, Jes. We cannot learn, if we never commit any mistake. And we wouldn't be humans. Hey, you know what? We can try a little trick Inej taught me: I'll bring you a copybook and a pencil and you'll write short letters to anyone you want. And in each letter, you will tell one or more of your painful thoughts, explaining what has happened, why do you feel like this and then adding a little positive thing. Meanwhile, I'll make you some tea.” Jesper rubbed his eyes with his hands, then, he sighed: “Okay.” It was quite easy writing the negative thoughts on the first part of the letters, while he struggles a lot trying to find a positive thing to add. Sitting at the dining table, Jesper soon filled several paper sheets. He wrote his first letter to his dad, saying how demotivate he felt about his studies, and he closed it with “But I'm happy we'll come to visit you next week.” He then wrote to Inej, to Fiona, to Kuwei, to Kaz, to Nina, to Matthias and, eventually, to Wylan. His boyfriend sat next to him, giving him gentle caresses, hugs and kisses every time Jes stopped to take a break and a tear ran down his cheek. Somehow, writing down his thoughts, imagining his beloved ones' encouraging answers and taking pleasurable sips of hot tea, he felt his anxiety fading and he struggled less to find something positive to write. “Inej, I'm happy you will come to Ketterdam next month. Fiona, I am happy because you taught me how to stop several bullets at once into mid air. Kuwei, I'm happy your training is going well. Kaz, I'm happy you finally admitted you miss Inej, last evening. Nina, I'm happy because tomorrow morning I'll eat waffles and I'll think of you. Matthias, I'm happy you and Nina are making progresses in you mission. Wy, I'm happy I have you by my side.” “Come here” he whispered, once he finished, patting on his own knees. “Come here, Wy.” Wylan sat on his lap, wrapping his arms around the Fabrikator's neck and rubbing their noses together. “Do you feel better?” “A bit” Jesper answered. “Maybe I would feel even better with this...” He gently kissed the redhead's soft lips, holding him closer, while Wylan cupped his face with his hands. “I love you...” “I love you too, Jes. And I know you will never fail me. We have each other and, every time we'll fall, we will be able to rise again together.” Jesper tried to add something, when the doorbell rang. He felt quite surprised, seeing a well built woman in her forties, on the threshold. “Fiona?” he said. The teacher gave him a polite nod: “Hi, Jes. I hope I'm not disturbing.” “Oh... no, I was... I was drinking some tea with Wylan and... do you want to come in?” “No, thanks, I have some commissions to do. But I thought about your difficulties at the university, when you have to sit at your desk and stay still for one or two hours. I knew a boy who had your same problem and he found useful having his hands busy during a lesson. That's why I brought you this.” She gave him a little, wooden cube, with little push-buttons on each face. “Let's try it and tell me if you find it useful too.” “Oh... thank you... I...” He sighed: “Fiona, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have behaved like that, this afternoon...” Fiona smiled, giving him a gentle pat on his shoulder: “It's okay. We all have bad moments. Take care. Hope tomorrow afternoon things will be better.” “Who was it?” Wylan asked, once Jesper came back to the diningr room. “It was Fiona” the sharpshooter answered, sitting next to his boyfriend. “She... she isn't mad at me... and she didn't kick me out of her class.” Wylan smiled, kissing his cheek: “See? She wouldn't lose her time with a failure. She knows you can do it.” Jesper gently caressed the younger boy's cheek, playing with Fiona's cube with the free hand. “So” he finally said. “Didn't Nina and Matthis write us? I can't wait to read some news from them...” *** A little note: The detail of the cube is a reference to one of my friends, who has Jesper as her favourite character and she identifies a lot with him. And Fiona is a character she created.

#Prompts #Anon #SoC Prompts #Jesper Fahey #Wylan Van Eck #Wesper #Jesper x Wylan #Kaz Brekker #Inej Ghafa #Nina Zenik #Matthias Helvar #Kuwei Yul-Bo

27 notes · View notes

harringtonheartache · 4 years

Text

Daybreak | Part Eleven

Part Twelve

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Lab Escapee! Reader?

Summary: Part eleven of this fic. Steve and Dustin turn to previously dismissed forces for help.

Word Count: 3,000 +

Warning(s): Physical violence, some of which could be considered intentional self-harm. Cussing.

Nine sat in the corner of her room, if you could call it that. More accurately, the room she landed in since her welcomed return. Her back was against where two walls connected, like a kid in punishment. Through the narrow window she had the privilege to watch, she stared at the small wad of green that sat on the floor of the opposing room. If she looked hard enough - and she did - she could still read the Hawkins P.E. logo on the pant leg even though the shorts were wadded up. She preferred the view from Steve’s car window.

The new clothes she wore were actually her size, a white t-shirt and shorts. She missed the sleeves of Steve’s thick sweatshirt. She wanted to pull it’s hood around her face right now.

Instead she scratched at her own skin. Her leg was becoming red, pale streaks of white running in long lines overtop of her thigh from her fingernails. She clawed like she was digging a way out of the lab, but all she achieved were irritated marks dotted faintly with blood.

“Do you guys understand what you’re trying to tell me, here?” Jim Hopper sat comfortably at his desk, chair pushed back enough to allow room for his feet to rest atop of it.

“Yes”. Dustin sat upright almost studiously, occupying one of the two chairs positioned in front of Hopper. Steve had not taken a seat, and instead stood behind the chair he was offered with his teeth biting at his fingers. It was never his intention to end up in this office.

“So your ‘friend’ — why would people from Hawkins Lab want to kidnap her? And why the hell have I yet to be given her name?” Hopper hadn’t been filled in on all of the details, as Dustin (the head of the operation) opted to omit the more far-fetched parts. “Oh, uh, sorry. Her name is…” he paused briefly to retrieve the false name he had been given days earlier, as if continuity were important. “Nina. She’s not-” he hesitated again with his lie, figuring out how much was appropriate to fictionalize and questioning why he hadn’t written the story earlier. “She’s not from Hawkins, we don’t know why they took her, but we saw them do it. We know she’s there, we have to go in and get her.”

Hopper pulled his feet from his desk, sign that the boy’s tale had drifted from entertainment and become more irritating. Leaning forward, he put his arms on his desk and offered the two kids a look. “Listen, this story you came in here with, it’s a serious one.” Dustin swallowed like he was in the principal's office about to be given a detention. “We are serious!” he started becoming more panicked, before having been strangely comfortable in the position of talking to the police. “And she-” how much does he tell? “She knows stuff about Will.”

Steve was still standing behind Dustin like he was his father, simply a background character to this conversation. He let out a breath of air as the boy’s story got closer to reality.

“Will. Will Byers?” Hopper said his name like an accusation. Dustin only nodded.

“She knows stuff that might help us find him.” He was telling the truth but it only felt to Steve like he was digging them deeper. With the look Hopper was giving them, it felt like he was going to throw them in jail, too. How could they help Nine if all three of them were locked up? They needed Hopper’s muscle, Dustin had told him, and he had just taken backseat to the thirteen year old’s plans.

“Okay, so what are you advising we do? This girl, Nina, did you say?” he asked but didn’t want reassurance. The fake name sounded sour to Steve, almost offensive, and he was glad he wasn’t the one who had to say it. “She was taken by Hawkin’s Lab. Do you have any idea how secure that place is? We won’t be able to get a warrant. Especially since this girl isn’t from here, doesn’t have a last name, and doesn’t seem entirely real.” Dustin cursed himself for not having written Nine a last name to offer Hopper, but couldn’t decide on one with his eyes eating at him from across the desk. Steve questioned for half of a moment if she was real himself.

“Why would we make her up? We have no reason to want inside the lab if she weren’t there.”

“Do you know what perjury is?”

“We aren’t lying!” One of Dustin’s arms was thrown up in exasperation, and he almost regretted being so bold with a sheriff.

“We’re telling the truth, I swear,” Steve chimed in finally. Hopper looked at him like he had forgotten he was there at all.

The silence in the air reminded Steve of his empty home.

“Okay, you know what? I’ll take a look at them tomorrow. I’ll knock on their front door - only because of the gravity of the accusations you brought here today. If there’s not much I can do beyond that, I apologize in advance”. There was sarcasm in Hopper’s tone but truth in his promise. Dustin was still exhilarated despite the attitude, and turned around to look to Steve who exhaled deeply.

Steve thought he had grown used to nights alone at his house. With his parents so often gone, he adapted to a life lived half-alone. Nine hadn’t even been with him that long, but her absence tinted the room blue and left the air feeling weighted, like it cost something to breathe. He glanced over the blanket still on his floor from the bed he had made for himself there, then looked to his real bed where the covers were still thrown back on either side from this morning. Neither seemed like an appropriate place to sleep.

Regardless, he made himself climb on top of his mattress anyway because he wanted to be asleep. The invitation to stop fucking thinking: while it was something he desired to accept, it was also something he felt he didn’t deserve to. He laid on top of the covers, as if it would be less wrong than the alternative. The dialogue running through his head returned, but he couldn’t claim it had ever quieted. Bet Nine isn’t sleeping right now. Bet she won’t sleep at all tonight. Steve could have sworn he heard the words out loud.

It took him well over an hour to fall asleep. His body seemed to prefer staring at the lamp he was used to leaving on for Nine. It was still lit up as if she were there, perhaps acting as a beacon telling her it was safe to return.

Nine’s bed felt familiar in the worst way. She pulled the frail sheet closer to her exposed skin, but still felt bare. The room was dark, and although small, the threats built up in her mind occupied the entire space. She had forgotten about the scratchings across her legs until they started to flare with heat again, calling her to resume where she had left off. She curled her fingers into the sheets to resist.

“No, nope. That is not how this works, you two are not police. I am going alone and I will report back to you,” Hopper spoke with rightful authority as he walked swiftly to his car. The kids had ambushed him the second he left the doors swinging behind him as he exited the station. They had been waiting outside for him, but would have easily hid in his backseat had his car been left unlocked.

“Hopper, we have to go,” Dustin spoke from behind him.

“This isn’t a ride along, okay?” He was digging in his pockets for his keys now, hoping that if he just got his car door open they would give up.

“Can we just… sit in the car?” Steve joined the negotiation, trying to find a compromise before Dustin completely ran Hopper away. The sheriff turned around to face them, finally finding his keys.

“You two are insufferable”. Hopper’s voice was forceful, the tone you’d expect from somebody in uniform.

Dustin only smiled.

“Fine. You don’t leave the car.” He pointed a finger solely at Dustin, although his command applied to the both of them.

Steve matched Dustin’s elated expression.

Hopper hadn’t expected much from the visit, let alone actually getting inside the building. Everything looked so… clean. It was like a doctor’s office, the kind you only go to for really serious stuff. The kind of place you are told bad news. The man who had let him inside walked with long strides down the corridor, and just as he was about to follow, another man took his place.

Back out front, Hopper’s car had been abandoned. Steve and Dustin stayed close to the ground as they made their way to the front of the building they had watched him disappear into. The tall white vans in the parking lot made Steve recoil. He almost wanted to check the back of each one, as if they’d leave her in there like a dog deserted in a hot car with a cracked window.

“How exactly are we planning on getting in?” He mumbled to Dustin to shake the thought.

“What are you talking about, dude?” The kid responded. He was much better at sneaking, although being half of Steve’s size did help.

“Getting in the building. How are we going to do it, mastermind?”

“The door isn’t locked, just the gate. Have you not been watching? We already did get in.”

They approached the entrance and Steve stood up straight. “Oh. That’s- yeah.” Dustin reached for the handle and pulled it open, shooting Steve a look full of pride (and condescension).

Upon entrance, the first thing Steve noticed were the floors. The shiny white surface gave off a false professionalism, and it made him uncomfortable. He wondered how easily it scuffed when someone was being dragged kicking down the hallway.

He almost had time to test out his hypothesis, pulling his foot back to slide it across the floor forcefully. He didn’t know why he was doing it. Just as he kicked though, an alarm blared, as if it was in response to his action. Dustin jerked his head back to Steve, having been looking around at the blank walls and questioning just how easy things have been for them up until this point. “Shit,” he choked. Not even considering turning around to make an exit, the two took off down the hallway and the floor squeaked

“Well, I can’t say I’ve seen any little girl around here, Sheriff.”

“Not little, teenager. High-school kid, maybe seventeen or eighteen.” Hopper wanted to get the details right, if only because of the ill impression the man had left on him. He was already referring to him as ‘lab coat’ in his head.

The man smiled with his lips pressed together, like he had to give disappointing news but didn’t care who he was upsetting. “No older girl either, sorry”. False condolences.

Hopper thought over the conversation he had with Steve and Dustin in his office (well, mostly just Dustin), scanning for details he could use to ask more questions. He couldn’t tell if the feeling in his gut was because he had forgotten something or because something about the place was just off. An alarm made the room glow red, telling him his time to decide was up. Lab coat looked almost as confused as he imagined he did. Hop could have sworn he heard him mutter the fuck?

The word shit fell in quick mutterings repeatedly from Dustin’s mouth. Deciding that he had been at the mercy of a thirteen year old for too long, Steve took up the lead. He turned a corner, extending his arm backwards to grab a hold of Dustin’s and make sure he followed. He dropped it when he faced a new door, throwing it open with his shoulder and finding himself in a staircase. The red light still lit the descent in flashes.

“Where the fuck are we going? What’s the plan?” Dustin’s words caught up to Steve faster than he did. “Have we ever had a plan? I don’t know!” Steve still spoke in a tone that dwindled on hushed, as if the alarm hadn’t already alerted the building staff of their presence. Another door thrown open led them into another hallway, this one equally as bleached as the floor above. Steve noticed that he had been scanning the tiny windows of each door they passed, wishing a familiar face to appear and turn their hurried break-in into a breakout. Dustin was still cursing behind him.

Nine drew all of her focus onto the small pillow laying on the bed that she refused to sit upon. She began to question if she had somehow forgotten how to use her powers. The back of her hand swiped across her nose, and while she swore she could have felt a wetness on her skin, it came back dry.

The alarms scared her when they went off, and for a moment she felt as if she had done something wrong. She threw her hands over her ears to soften the blow of the loud blaring. Had she been able to move the pillow, she would have wrapped it around her head. Having instinctively clamped her eyes shut when the sound had started, she gave herself twenty seconds to stay like that. She got up on second twenty-one, and stood peering through the window in any search for the action that had induced the alarm. Her hands stayed over her ears.

Steve turned another corner. He was certainly out of breath by now, but the flashing lights had since been accompanied by shouting and the shuffling of more than two pairs of feet. Three men seemed to appear out of nowhere, but logic suggested they had filed out from a room the duo passed. Dustin had stopped questioning where they were going, speeding up and coming close to being side-by-side with Steve as the men tailed them. They had the upper hand, a good twenty or so feet ahead, but they did not know where they were headed, only wishfully hoping that they may stumble over Nine sitting perfectly through one of the doors they hushed in.

Feet skidded to a halt as they reached the end of another hall, this one without a door to continue through. Shoes dragging sharply against the floor, scuffs of black painted themselves upon the surface just as Steve had hypothesized. He failed to notice.

“Shit, shit, fuck!” Dustin exclaimed again. “What now?”

Steve looked around for an answer to give, eyes scanning the windows again. Just two doors away from him, a figure caught his eye; color amongst the smothering white. Passed by only a few feet, Nine stood watching from her window, hands still covering her ears until her eyes found Steve’s. They left her face to form fists and bang on the door, as if to get him to notice her. That alleviation Steve had been chasing after finally dosed him, and he almost fell forwards backtracking towards Nine. She was mouthing words to him, but the sound-proof room consumed her speech. It was erratic, but if he had really been trying to decipher her words, he’d land on his own name, broken up by different variations of pleads for help.

He had willingly stepped closer to the impending men, getting both of his hands on the large handle to Nine’s door and tugging wildly. It did not give way though, and his hair flopped down before his eyes as he kept pulling, arms straining. Dustin hadn’t moved. “Steve!” he yelled, shouting warnings destined to be ignored.

The ounce of relief was swallowed whole by gallons of fear. One of the three men took a hold of Steve, the second going after Dustin and the third joining in to assist the first. Nine’s pounding only sped up, startlingly loud to her inside her room but silent otherwise. Steve had begun kicking, perhaps instinct or perhaps learned from Nine’s capture. It didn’t work anymore for him than it had for her, and man number three threw a punch at Steve’s face to discourage the struggle.

Nine was rattling inside her cage relentlessly, screaming to no one but herself. The punch temporarily shocked Steve, but he had kept resisting. This mistake earned him another, and blood started to seep from his mouth. Held by man two, Dustin pulled forward to no avail. His captor was nicer, simply keeping his grip and refraining him with ease.

“Fucking stop!” bounced off the glass in front of Nine, landing right back in her mouth. Steve, almost limp now, was being dragged down the hall, and Nine pushed herself against the window to follow with her eyes. The shaking of the room grew, now something more than human rage at play. The men hadn’t managed to rid the hallway of the two they caught before every door blew open, viciously enough to leave holes where the handles met the wall behind them. They stopped now, and one of Steve’s arms was dropped from its constraint. He winced, partially conscious to the sound of the detonation. Dustin just stared in awe, not even attempting to step from the man’s grasp.

Nine emerged, the door of her room cracked down the middle as it laid against the wall, unhinged completely. She was bleeding too, from more than just her nose. Streaks of red ran along the side of her face descending from her ears. Her mouth tasted like copper but she ignored it, the sensation barely registering to her in the first place. Knees wobbling, she lifted an arm and the three figures at the opposite end of the hall dropped their hold on the two in front of them. They were thrown backwards, hitting the wall just as forcefully as the doors had. Steve slumped to the ground, no longer held up by two, but caught himself with weak wrists. Dustin had fallen forward yet recovered quickly, standing to turn towards what had happened behind him. He snapped his vision back to Nine, who struggled to keep her eyes from rolling backwards to be lost in her skull. She didn’t know what happened first: her body hitting the ground or her eyes closing.

---

Tag List: @ggclarissa @hyp-oh-critical @orchideax @we-are-band-sexuals @cpt-lamby @l0ve-0f-my-life @girlyisthatweirdkid @easyvtohat @ireallylikerugby @used-avocado @kwyloz @itzpikapie @samwise-babeyy @stevesvlog @kaelyn-lobrutto24

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things #stranger things fic #st3 #dustin henderson #stranger things fanfiction #st

147 notes · View notes

ddixons-angel · 4 years

Text

Fated: Season 4

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff)

A/N: Woot woot! We are on Season 4!!! Who’s excited??? :D I’m excited and kinda nervous for what you guys think haha the first half of this season will be taking place in the 1-2 ish month time lapse they had between seasons in the show, hope you guys like that ^^ enough of my rambling, let’s go! finding gifs for the first half of this season was so hard guys lol

Chapter 1

It’s been a month since the survivors won the war against the Governor. Rick had taken up farming with Hershel and they even built a pen for some wild piglets they had found in the woods. Daryl had helped him round them up and herd them into the prison fences. It was now peaceful within the prison, lively with the newcomers from Woodbury but peaceful. Sasha and her brother, Tyreese, had come with the Woodbury residents. They’d all set up a job system for everyone; some people assigned on watch, some on the fences to take care of the walkers that had gotten piled up so that the fences wouldn’t collapse from the weight.

Carol and Gloria were in the kitchen near the main area of the cell blocks serving lunch to everyone. Another serving of Carol’s classic squirrel and rabbit stew, courtesy of Daryl’s hunting skills. Two girls from Woodbury happily bounce up to Gloria and Carol.

“Hello Lizzie, hello Mika.” Carol smiles at the two girls.

“Hello Carol and Gloria!” the girls speak in unison with a happy grin on their faces.

Gloria chuckles at how cute they are then passes one of the filled bowls to Carol then goes on to fill up another one. The girls thank Carol and Gloria for the food then happily go over to their father. Glenn smiles as he walks over to the kitchen area, leaning on the counter.

“So uh... Carol made this right?” Glenn says jokingly, teasing Gloria.

“Rude. Okay, you aren’t getting any, this is for Maggie.” Gloria playfully eyes Glenn, taking a bowl away from him.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry! I was kidding!” Glenn pleas, reaching out for the bowl again.

“A word of advice, Glenn. Never mess with a woman in the kitchen.” Carol chuckles at him, shaking her head.

Glenn chuckles and nods, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Here, go eat.” Gloria gives him a second bowl filled with stew for Maggie.

He takes the bowls and goes to the table where Maggie is sitting and sits down beside her. Another newcomer, Nina, walks up to the women this time.

“Good morning, Carol!” she smiles then tries to hide her grimace at Gloria, “and hi Gloria.”

“Good morning, Nina.” Carol says with a fake smile, handing her a bowl.

“Oh, can I get another one? I wanted to get a bowl for someone else too.” Nina smiles sweetly at Carol with pleading eyes.

Not bothered with being ignored, Gloria hands her the second bowl and Nina murmurs a thanks then heads to one of the tables. Carol eyes Nina as she walks away then looks over at Gloria and nudges her with a disapproving look.

“What?” Gloria asks, confused.

“You better watch out for that girl.” Carol tells her, nodding pointedly in Nina’s direction.

Nina had sat herself down at Daryl’s table, sitting beside him and placing the second bowl in front of him. Gloria let out a breath, she knew exactly what Carol was saying and they both knew the new girl liked Daryl.

“She’s just being friendly, it’s fine.” Gloria says, not bothered at all.

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” Carol frowns then leans in and whispers to Gloria, “I think you should keep an eye out for her, call it mother’s intuition, but there’s just something off about that girl.”

“Alright, I will.” Gloria says then looks at Carol and nudges her, “did you just adopt me without me knowing?”

“Please,” Carol scoffs, “I adopted you a long time ago.”

Gloria laughs with Carol and then sees that Sasha is on her way out the building. As she had eaten before, Gloria makes her way out with Sasha since they had their shift on the fences together.

“So what’s the bet today?” Gloria asks as she catches up with Sasha.

Sasha slows down her pace until Gloria is walking along her side, “that you and I will kill most of them judging with who was placed on our shift.”

Gloria furrows her brows in confusion then Sasha gestures back towards the building and Gloria glances back to the building to see Nina coming out holding a pipe. Sasha had nothing against Nina, she just knew the girl was not a fighter, not when she was back in Woodbury and definitely not when she got to the prison with the others.

“Well, this’ll be fun.” Gloria chuckles.

Sasha scoffs and rolls her eyes, “yeah, carrying the group is always fun.”

Gloria runs ahead to the fence first and unsheathes her dagger, stabbing a walker through the fence, “first kill!”

“First doesn’t always mean you’ll win!” Sasha chuckles and jabs a walker through the fence.

The two continue to bicker competitively as they kill the walkers through the fence. Eventually, Nina gets to the fence and she also joins in stabbing the walkers, but not as quick as Gloria or Sasha. Even though Gloria and Sasha got off to a rocky start when they had first met, they'd become fast friends with their competitive nature. Sasha never blamed Gloria for not letting them into the cell block, understanding that it was for the safety of Carl and the others.

Gloria was about to stab another walker through the fence when an arrow whistles through and pierces the skull, killing it instantly. A knowing smile creeps on Gloria’s face when she sees the arrow.

“That does not count as your kill.” Sasha teases beside her.

Gloria chuckles at Sasha’s words and yanks the arrow out from the walker’s skull, letting it fall to the ground. She turns around and as expected, sees Daryl walking towards her with his crossbow now slung behind his shoulder.

“Show off.” Gloria calls out, wiping the arrow on her pants before handing it back to him.

“Thought ya needed help with that one.” Daryl teases, a side smile tugging at his lips.

Gloria rolls her eyes and scoffs jokingly, “I had it handled, Mr. Dixon.”

Sasha chuckles behind her, “hey, are you two lovebirds gonna flirt all day or help?”

“See what you did? Making me look lazy.” Gloria nudges him and stabs another walker through the fence, making Daryl laugh.

A whining cry from Nina captures their attention as she struggles with killing one of the walkers. Her pipe got stuck in the skull of a walker she had just killed.

“D-Daryl, help me, please!” she whines.

Being the way he is, Daryl goes to help her. He pulls the pipe out from the walker with one hand, looking rather effortless. Gloria had gone back to killing walkers through the fence.

“Wow, Daryl, you’re so strong!” Nina gleams at him helping her.

Sasha gawks at Nina then turns to look at Gloria, “how are you not bothered? You can not be okay with this.” she says in a whisper.

“Because,” Gloria starts then leans in and whispers to Sasha, “she can flirt all she wants but at the end of the day, Daryl’s mine and he knows that.”

“Oh wow.” Sasha chuckles, feeling quite proud of her friend’s confidence.

“Plus, you wanna take in how uncomfortable Daryl looks with her advances?” Gloria can’t help but point out that he’s been shifting on his feet, clearly not comfortable with how much attention Nina’s paying him.

Sasha glances and notices it too and laughs, nodding in agreement, “you’re right, you got nothing to worry about.”

Daryl comes back to Gloria once Nina is done bombarding him, “hey, Glenn wanted to do some meeting for tomorrow’s run.”

“I’m included?” Gloria looks over at him, yanking her knife out of a walker.

“Yep.” is all he says as he walks back to the prison.

---

Gloria had finished her shift with Sasha and Nina. Tyreese and a few others were in charge of taking the corpses to a designated area to burn. After getting cleaned up from her shift, Gloria came back out to the main area where Glenn and Maggie were already seated at a table with a map spread out. Gloria sat across from them and looked at the area Glenn had circled in red. Daryl came by and sat down beside Gloria, automatically snaking an arm around her waist. She smiles at him as Glenn starts to explain the plan.

“So this place used to be a really popular mall, I’ve driven past it before and it seems pretty overrun, but with the right team we can get a pretty good run out of it.” Glenn says, pointing to the circled area.

“By the right team you mean...” Gloria ponders out loud while looking at Glenn.

“Us four.” Glenn tells her.

Gloria chuckles, “Glenn, if you wanted a double date, you could have just asked.”

The others chuckle at her comment, “yeah yeah... well, jokes aside, I’m thinking we can enter the mall at opposite sides, clear it and meet in the middle. Maggie would be covering me, and Daryl covering Gloria. Scavenge what we can find and exit through the main doors.” Glenn explains, his hands guiding them through the map and the other smaller map Glenn had drawn to give them a good visual of the place.

“So we’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning, that way we can make it back for dinner?” Maggie confirms.

“Depending on how it goes, we might even come back with dinner.” Daryl says.

“Speaking of dinner,” Glenn looks around the room, “where’s Carol?”

Gloria rolls her eyes, “I swear, you just ate.”

“I’m a growing boy!” Glenn grins cheekily at her, Maggie puts her hand to her face in slight embarrassment.

Daryl looks at Gloria with a smirk, “ya sure he’s older?”

“He is...” Gloria sighs jokingly.

---

Next Chapter

There you have it, first chapter of Season 4! We have a newly introduced character, I have a feeling not a lot of people are gonna like her at all hahaha I wanted to create some kind of love triangle or even have a jealous Gloria but... I just couldn’t see her jealous so it became this xD let me know what you guys think and what you think will happen on that run they’re gonna go on? (it’s not the Big Spot run, that comes after hehe)

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, please don’t panic, we will get through this!

And as always, I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

Taglist (please let me know if you’d list to be added/removed!):

104 notes · View notes

stressedoutteenager · 4 years

Text

Since the Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows Netflix series is going to be released soon (hopefully), I read Shadow and Bone and then reread Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. While talking to @nothesc about how much I love the characters, I had an idea for a short scene I would like to see between the crew and it escalated into something a little different but I thought I might as well share it.

---

some things don’t change

summary: A couple years after the Big Heist Inej and Nina are back in Ketterdam and the whole crew stays at Wylan and Jesper's house. They are (becoming) close friends, after all.

AO3 link

"They're in their own little bubble again.", Jesper says.

Wylan and Nina follow his gaze, but they really don't have to. They already knew who Jesper is talking about, who is sitting at the far end of the dining table hunched together slightly, in quick conversation. Even if the room were full of people, they'd know.

"Some things don't change.", Nina shrugs and can't help herself and smile slightly.

Wylan chuckles and draws his eyes away, focusing on the two Grisha in front of him. "Well, they're definitely aware we're talking about them. So… You're right."

As if on cue, Inej and Kaz look up. Wylan quickly looks away, Jesper grins at the two of them and Nina, as brave as ever, saunters over to them and grabs Inej's hand. Jesper's eyes follow that action and when Nina whispers something into Inej's ear, she stands up laughing, hooking her arm in Nina's.

His eyes wander over to Kaz, who keeps a straight face but doesn't hide that he's looking after the two women walking out of the room.

Finally, he turns to Wylan and Jesper and raises a single eyebrow. Jesper holds up a deck of cards, which by now is only used for leisurely games at home, usually between Jesper and Wylan alone.

They're staying at Wylan and Jesper's house. Nina always does, if she's ever in Ketterdam. And so does Inej. Officially. She might slip away at night and come back in the morning, but her belongings settle in the guest room she's currently in once she steps off her ship. Kaz.. Well, he is the leader of the Dregs, he has his bedroom in the Slat. You could say it all belongs to him, but he only takes his bedroom in the attic and his office on the ground floor as his alone. The rest is his Dregs'.

When Inej comes back into town, Jesper and Wylan have their friends over but Kaz never stayed too long. Always busy with something. Always the first to go back to the Slat, to leave the rest behind. But for the last couple of visits from Inej (sometimes accompanied by Nina, but not nearly as often) that has changed. Kaz stayed later and later each night and for the third time now, he has not refused Wylan's offer to stay the night.

Inej slips into his room, not long after everyone retires to their rooms. Kaz stays next door to her and it's been like this since he started staying the night when she visits. When Nina and her visit. When they come together at the van Eck home. The room is lit by a small light on the windowsill and her eyes are immediately drawn to Kaz who's leaning against it. He was expecting her. His gloves are nowhere in sight, his shirt is unbuttoned on the top, his cane stashed away in a corner.

"Didn't bother to come through the window this time?", Kaz asks Inej, his eyes following her slow movement towards him. The window was slightly ajar.

Inej meets his strong gaze, she might have missed the familiar feeling of his eyes on her more than she could imagine. Inej shakes her head.

"Nobody is going to hear me either way.", she answers, they didn't want the others to hear or see. She stands at the windowsill for a second, before placing her hands on it and pushing herself up, turning mid-air and sitting herself on the windowsill. The candle is between her and Kaz. She looks at him and sees his eyes already trained on her. She can tell that he wants to say something but when he doesn't, she doesn't push it either.

They sit in silence for a moment. How is it possible that she missed even this small thing. Keeping Kaz company while he does his work in his office, perched on the windowsill, feeding crows. She didn't like being alone all the time and he didn't expect anything of her in those moments, she realizes now how soothing it had been to have those quiet moments in his office.

Kaz turns his head first, and turns completely to look at Inej. His gaze wanders over her face, her jet black hair that is falling out of its braid, her throat, her bare shoulders. She didn't bother with a nightgown, only a simple shirt she'd sleep in.

"I missed seeing you on my windowsill.", he finally says and knows it to be a hundred percent true.

It's been a couple years since Inej started hunting slavers, it's been a couple years since Kaz looked at his window and expected to see her but was faced with disappointment. He wouldn't have her stay behind for his sake anyway. He knew, he couldn't give her what he deserved. She deserved so much more.

Yet, he tried. He worked on himself. When he met Jesper for a game of cards or on business, he tucked his gloves away as soon as he got to their door. When Wylan came to him on questions shout merchants of the city, who to trust and who to avoid, Kaz slipped his gloves off. He didn't necessarily touch them at every meeting. They didn't always shake hands, they rarely hugged (Jesper tries every time, and sometimes Kaz lets him). However, the knowledge that it could happen and that he needed to prepare himself for it helped immensely. He wouldn't try it with anyone he doesn't trust. He is still the Bastard of the Barrel. No matter how much he grew up in the past years, how many deals he struck, how many alliances he forged. He couldn't show weakness. Not to anyone. Expect the few people in this house tonight.

Inej holds his gaze and smiles. That smile. Kaz wants to engrave it in his eyelids just to never forget it. "Is this your way of recreating all those moments?", Inej asks. She's always been bold, always said what she thought. But she had become more open towards him. And he liked it. It terrified him, but he liked it.

"There has been no premeditated planning.", Kaz answers but his eyes tell a different story. He moves to stand in front of her now. The candle on his right. Kaz puts his hands on the windowsill, on each side of Inej's thighs.

Her concentration on him doesn't waver, not even when his fingers move closer. They’re at the point in their relationship to each other, that they know they can handle this. At least most times. Still, Kaz stays still when he gets as close to touching her as he can without laying skin on skin, until Inej gives a nod.

Kaz slowly puts his hands on her thighs, takes a second to take a breath and when she seems comfortable and he doesn't feel the waters rising around his ankles immediately, slowly drifts his hands up. A light touch on her bare thighs, until he gets to her shorts. He lets himself enjoy every second of being able to do this, so does she. She shivers under his touch and when he meets her eye, he can see the glimmer in her eyes. When his hands arrive at her waist, he lifts her in a quick motion and sets her down right in front of him. They're only touching where Kaz's hands meet Inej's waist over her shirt. But he can feel the warmth through the material, he can feel her breath quicken when he draws slow circles with his fingers.

In this moment, Kaz wants to pray to and thank every God he has ever heard of for the fact that he can do this. That he can touch her, that she can rest her hands on his cheeks and let her fingers trail down his arms. It's slow, a light touch, but they know that's what they need. At least at first.

Being close to each other, touching each other, hasn't always been possible.

The first time they had tried, when Inej came back for the first time, Kaz couldn't do it. He instantly felt the waters rising, he got nervous, he broke out in sweats. He was ashamed and simply.. Sad. He didn't want to admit it to himself yet but jumping off the deep end straight away was not going to work for either of them.

But they tried. He did his best. He concentrated on Inej, her pulse, his feelings toward her, he let himself feel them.

After that first attempt, they tried each night Inej was in Ketterdam. Sometimes they just sat and talked about new info he had about slave trades happening in Kerch, giving her all the information he had. Sometimes they sat and talked and Inej told him of her adventures, of her parents she goes to see as often as she can. Sometimes they sat as close as they could. Sometimes they were able to lay next to each other, to touch briefly, to hug. And sometimes they could do so much more - they could make their dreams come true, however big or small.

Still, it was never guaranteed that each day would be better. There were setbacks but there was also progress.

Inej's hands make it into Kaz's hair and he sighs. Who would've thought Kaz likes having his hair played with, but only by Inej. She threads her fingers through his hair and suddenly he shudders. She quickly takes a step back but Kaz holds her tighter around her waist.

"No.", he says briefly, and after taking in a deep breath, "I'm okay."

She knows he wouldn't say it, if he didn't mean it. Not only did he change throughout the years when it comes to working on being able to touch her, touch his friends. He also changed in behavior. Not towards everyone, of course. He had a reputation to uphold. But when it comes to his friends, he lets them closer, he lets himself see them as friends. As people that don't need a stoic front every time they talk. It hasn't made him less sarcastic though.

He smiles at her and leans his head lower, their faces almost touching. "You've been gone too long this time, not getting rid of me so easily."

Inej smirks. She has been gone longer than any other time. Following a slaver ship that was harder to catch than her crew thought would be, a visit to her parents and then to Ravka's capital to pick up Nina, made her stay away longer than she ever had.

"I'm here now.", she feels his hands slip under her shirt now, slow and steady. He closes his eyes for a moment and rests his forehead against hers. She knows that it helps that she's talking and that her skin is so warm. She loves how hard he has been trying. "And will be here for another week."

At that she can see the change in Kaz's facial expression. She hadn't told him how long she'd be staying, he'd apparently assumed it would be less than this. Surprising him is always fun, especially when his hands roam around her waist, up and up.

Still, they know their boundaries. If Kaz doesn't want to admit it, she will now. She takes one of his hands in hers, and leads him to the bed. She sees his chest move quicker and his free hand clench.

"I arrived just a couple hours ago, all I want to do right now is sleep.", she says plainly and knows that he understands. He chucks off his button-up and still has an undershirt on. Inej lays down, turning her back to where she knows he'll lay down in a few seconds. She feels the mattress dip, she feels his hands slide up from behind her and he rests them on her stomach, over her shirt. A quick movement backs her up and she's settled right in front of him.

"Good?", he asks her.

She nods. Being confined like this isn't easy for her. She knows this is Kaz, that she's safe with him. It's none of those men from her nightmares. She breathes in and out deeply an rests her head against him slightly.

"Good?", she asks him now. She can still feel his breathing being quick, his chest moving up and down faster than usual. It takes him a minute or two but he calms down and nods against her hair.

"Sleep tight, my Inej."

When Inej wakes up before him, she slowly stands up, trying not to wake him. He needs every bit of sleep he can get. And they wouldn't want the others to know that she slept in his room, she should get back to her own room. When she goes to open the door, she notices that Kaz did not lock his door. He always does, be it with or without her. He's letting his guard down, even if he's not realizing it.

The door to her room is locked and she makes quick work of getting the key from under the rug in the hallway, where she put it last night. She freshens up a little and sees it's later than she would ever wake up. But she had had a good night's sleep and that wasn't always a given. She smiles to herself, remembering Kaz's chin on her shoulder, his cheek touching hers. He was sleeping, didn't even notice it, it was a good sign.

She decides to go down into the kitchen and see who's already awake but when she opens her door, she is greeted by a still sleepy Kaz. He brushed his hair back and put on a proper shirt, but his eyes looked sleepy enough. It always spreads a warm feeling in her when she sees him like this.

"Good morning.", she says, as he says, "Everything okay?"

She nods. "Why?"

"You…", he begins but cuts himself off, "I woke up alone."

Inej has to lean back a little to be able to look him in the eyes. "The others.. ", Inej says and looks around the hallway. They both like their privacy. They're working through their own issue and their friends are part of it to some extent but they had decided that it might be better this way.

Kaz shakes his head. "I don't care."

Inej smiles at him instantly, can't help herself. They went from 'I protected you because you're my investment' because he couldn't admit anything to her or himself, to him not caring that anyone else knows what he is feeling.

"Alright.", she says.

"Good.", he says, lips drawn in a small smile.

"I'm starving.", Inej finally says after a couple seconds silence.

Kaz steps aside and says:" Lead the way, Ghafa."

When Inej and Kaz arrive in the kitchen, Jesper and Wylan are already there. Wylan looks up from his coffee and wishes them both a good morning. Kaz only nods but Inej says good morning with a bright smile.

"Somebody is having a good morning.", Jesper comments at that.

Inej and Kaz sit down across from Wylan and Jesper.

"Your guest rooms are very comfortable, thank you for letting me stays here.",Inej says, looking from Wylan to Jesper.

They just wave her off. "You know, you're always welcome here.", Wylan answers and means it. Without Inej none of them would be here today.

"And if she weren't, she wouldn't be without a cozy room anyway.", Nina says, as she waltzes into the room. She looks well-rested and finds her place at the head of the table. Wylan coughs to cover up his laugh, Jesper doesn't bother. His laugh echoes through the room and all eyes turn to Inej and Kaz.

Inej smiles at her friend and says: "Good morning to you too, Nina."

"Morning, morning.", Nina answers and looks between Inej and Kaz. Kaz sits straight up, letting his eyes wander over his friends. Wylan is still sometimes surprised to see him in his kitchen. Kaz always held up his end of a bargain, he has helped Wylan more than he might be aware and sure, Kaz usually never does something if there's nothing in it for him, but him sitting here with the rest of them on a lazy Saturday morning is a welcomed surprise.

"So Kaz, how did you sleep?", Nina asks, leaning forward in her seat and resting her chin on her propped up hand.

"Like a baby.", he answers, "Your guest rooms are indeed very comfortable.", he adds turning to Wylan and Jesper.

"Would you look at that, Wylan. Never have we gotten so many compliments on this particular subject.", Jesper muses, "Might have to see if the room they stayed in is more comfortable than even our bed."

Nobody misses the singular form of room and even if they did, Jesper's grin would've explained what he meant anyway.

"I can't believe you didn't go back to the Slat last night, Kaz.", Nina says, batting her eyelashes at him, which makes Wylan bite his lip to refrain himself from commenting himself.

He shrugs. "Had plenty of reason to stay here.", then adds with raised eyebrows towards Nina, "How's Ravka treating you?"

Suddenly everyone stops whatever they're doing. Wylan sees Kaz's lip tug in the smallest smile at the reaction he just got. He's satisfied.

"Is Kaz Brekker inquiring about my well-being?", Nina asks with a loud gasp.

"It's not like it's the first time he does.", says Inej, but gets ignored because Jesper shoots out of his seat. Wylan just smiles up to him.

"Oh isn't this wonderful. Kaz and Inej had a great night", he sends them a meaningful glance and expects something to be thrown at him but nothing comes, so he continues, "they had a great morning, Nina is happy. Wylan, we're doing a great job as hosts. And next time we can just prepare one less room."

"I see, nobody really grew up then?", Kaz smirks and leans back in his chair.

Wylan notices Inej leaning slightly towards Kaz.

"Hey! Not true", Jesper interjects, "Wylan grew two more centimeters since the big Heist."

Wylan rolls his eyes and laughs:"And Jesper learned not to pair every single pattern in his wardrobe."

"Hey!", Jesper jumps in, but the rest of them murmur in agreement with Wylan.

"Wow, okay. In my own home, when I'm happy for my friends… unbelievable. I might need to eat all these waffles on my own then.", he theatrically grabs the plate with the waffles and moves to the other side of the room.

Nina shakes her head: "Jesper, just because our love sick Brekker here started something, doesn't mean you have to punish us all."

"I can still hold up a fight against each of you, don't forget. Grisha or not.", Kaz warns them, but there's no real danger behind his words.

"You could.", Nina says, and Jesper and Wylan finish her sentence, "But you wouldn't."

Kaz raises his eyebrows in question and Jesper answers: "You've grown soft on us."

"Kaz is not soft.", Inej remarks. Her thoughts of his hands on her, his word in her ear beg to differ, but they didn't have to know that. There's always that instinct in her to protect Kaz's facade, his reputation. It's hard to turn off.

"I said, he's grown soft on us. Not everyone else.", Jesper sets the plate on the table and rounds the room to stand behind Kaz.

Without moving, without looking up, Kaz says: "If you try to hug me, I'll show you soft.", and Jesper's arms freeze mid-air, he's hunched over Kaz.

Wylan then says: "Jes, set your ass down next to me please and let's eat. I'm starving." Jesper nods and Wylan notices Kaz showing Inej a look that could pass as flirty if it wasn't Kaz.

"Oh, I bet you're starving, alright.", Kaz says now and Nina jumps in on it.

"If we're talking about a good night, we should be talking about you two.", she says, pointing between Jesper and Wylan. Jesper just grins and Wylan can feel his cheeks turn red.

#six of crows #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #kanej #shadow and bone #nina zenik #jesper fahey #wylan van eck

59 notes · View notes

triptuckers · 3 years

Text

Sunshine - Nikolai Lantsov

Request: yea! “Can you make a Nikolai Lantsov x Reader where the reader has been with the Crows for a year, so when she sees him again, he recognizes her immediately and vice versa.” Pairing: Nikolai Lantsov x reader Summary: Someone looks very familiar, and you can’t wrap your head around it Warnings: crooked kingdom spoilers!! Word count: 1.6K A/N: hi! there’s (slight) crooked kingdom spoilers in this one, so don’t read it if you don’t want any spoilers for the book! thanks for requesting this, enjoy reading!

‘The Ravkan king is sending a pirate to go to the auction.’ says Kaz, making you look up in confusion as you’re walking through the halls of the fancy hotel. You are on your way to meet with the Ravkans, but you didn’t know the king would send a pirate to go to the auction.

‘He’s sending a pirate?’ you question. ‘To represent his country?’ ‘He prefers the term ‘privateer’.’ says Kaz, slightly clenching his jaw. ‘Probably because it helps him sleep better at night.’ chuckles Jesper beside you.

You roll your eyes, but chuckle as well. ‘Would it make you feel better if I called you a distance expert, instead of a good shot?’ you say.

‘Oh no, I’m good with flattering, you don’t have to use fancy words for that.’ says Jesper, making you laugh again.

‘Keep it professional, you two.’ says Kaz as you’re approaching the double doors at the end of the hallway.

‘Why?’ you say. ‘You’re intimidating enough for the three of us. Jesper and I can just be your bright side, you know, bring a little sunshine.’

‘We don’t need sunshine.’ says Kaz. ‘We need to bring Van Eck and Rollins down.’

You sigh as you follow Kaz through the doors. ‘Never a bright side with you, is there?’ you say.

Once you enter the room, you immediately look at the three people waiting for you. As you walk up to them, you take all of them in.

On the left is a stunningly gorgeous girl. It’s hard to keep your eyes off of her. She has her arms crossed and looks very sternly at Kaz, Jesper and you as you approach them. You can tell she’d much rather be in Ravka if it was up to her. You weren’t familiar with most grisha’s, but you’re sure Nina would know her.

On the right is a grisha you do recognise. But only because of the eye patch and scars. Genya Safin. Despite her scars, you can see her beauty. She looks a lot nicer than the other girl.

Between them in the middle is a boy, not much older than you are, who you assume must be the pirate. Despite being flanked by two powerful Grisha, he’s the one that catches your attention.

He doesn’t look like a pirate. At least, not like the one’s you’ve met. He’s holding his chin up high and standing up straight, not exactly like a criminal would. He smiles as you approach him and there’s something familiar about him you can’t place.

‘We’re glad you’re here.’ says Kaz, as the three of you stop in front of them.

‘We’re here on business.’ says the grisha on the left. ‘Zoya.’ says the pirate. ‘Be nice.’ But she only scoffs and rolls her eyes at him. Clearly, she didn’t want to be in a city like Ketterdam.

‘Well, this is Zoya.’ says the pirate, motioning to the girl. ‘And this is Genya.’ he says, gesturing to the other girl. ‘And I’m Sturmhond.’

‘I’ve heard that name before.’ says Jesper. ‘Only the good things, I hope.’ says Sturmhond.

‘This is Jesper.’ says Kaz. ‘That’s Y/N.’

Jesper nods at the Ravkans, but you narrow your eyes at Sturmhond. Sturmhond looks at you, waiting for you to say something, but you merely continue to look at him, slightly narrowing your eyes.

‘Why is she looking at me like that?’ he asks.

You don’t say anything, but notice Jesper moving closer to you.

‘Scheming face.’ he says, studying your features. ‘Her brain’s running at top speed right now. Best not to ask anything ‘til she speaks up herself.’

Kaz and Sturmhond start talking business, and you take Sturmhond in once more. There’s something so familiar about him, and you’re going through all the memories you made in Ravka, trying to determine where you could have met him before.

Some time later, Sturmhond turns to you again.

‘I know I’m nice to look at, but you’re over selling it a bit, sunshine.’ he says.

Sunshine.

Suddenly, memories of a summer night flood back to you. It was before you came to Ketterdam, when you were in Ravka. You did all sorts of jobs, because you had certain skills not a lot of Ravkans had. On one night, you had a run in with a few soldiers.

You thought you were done for, but they’d won an important battle that had lasted days, and weren’t in the mood for more fighting. They shared their food and kvas with you, and told you stories. You didn’t want to tell them your name, so one of the soldiers had decided to call you sunshine instead.

He had told you his name was Nikolai, and when you asked him about his family name and he said it was Lantsov, you didn’t believe him. What were the odds you ran into one of the Ravkan princes in the middle of nowhere?

Maybe he had spoken the truth after all.

You smile at Sturmhond and finally speak up. ‘You don’t look like a pirate.’ you say. ‘Privateer.’ he corrects you. ‘Pirate, privateer, all the same. You don’t look like one. You don’t talk like one either. Or act or stand like one.’ you say. ‘Then what do I look like?’ he asks you.

A smile tugs on your lips as you look at him. ‘A royal.’ you say. ‘Why would the Ravkan king send a pirate to such an important auction? If I was king, I’d want to know what was going on. I’d go myself. And have one of the best Tailors in the country help me with my disguise. Turn myself into a pirate named Sturmhond.’

‘That’s an interesting theory.’ he says. ‘Are you implying I’m king Nikolai? It’s a good one, but not the right one, I'm afraid.’

You nod at him but aren’t convinced. Next to you, Kaz pulls his watch out of his pocket, and tells you you need to go. The six of you walk toward the door, you and Sturmhond trailing at the end of the group. Just as you’re about to walk through the doors, he stops you and closes them, leaving the two of you alone.

‘You’re smart.’ he says and you smile at him. ‘I never thought I’d see you again.’ ‘So I’m right?’ you say, very pleased with yourself. ‘Maybe.’ he says. ‘Maybe?’ you say, laughing softly. ‘It’s good to see you, Nikolai.’

‘It’s good to see you too.’ he says. ‘You know, when we met and you told me your family name was Lantsov, I didn’t believe you.’ you say. ‘I wouldn't have believed me either.’ he says. ‘Some soldier claiming they’re a Lantsov? I’d think it was a bad move to try and impress a pretty girl.’

‘Ah.’ you say. ‘So you think I'm pretty now?’ ‘I thought you looked absolutely gorgeous when I first met you. Even in that ridiculous coat that you wore to hide your revolvers.’ says Nikolai.

‘Why come to Ketterdam as Sturmhond?’ you ask. ‘I’ve always been Sturmhond.’ he says. ‘Everything you’ve heard about him, that’s me. I sailed the seas when my parents thought I was at a university.’

You’re silent as you look at him. Genya had done a good job tailoring him. If you hadn’t spend an entire night talking to him, you wouldn’t be able to tell it was actually the Ravkan king, and not some pirate. But you had studied his face that night, and it had been imprinted in your memory ever since.

‘What’s on your mind?’ asks Nikolai.

‘Genya did a good job.’ you say, moving closer to him and taking in the details of his face. ‘I like your own eye color and nose better though.’ you say, making him smile.

‘Do you like it here?’ he asks. ‘In Ketterdam?’ you say and he nods. ‘I do.’ you say. ‘It’s messy, and you need to have some kind of weapon on you every time you’re out on the streets, but believe it or not, it feels like home. I can be myself and use my skills without a civil war or soldiers bothering me.’

‘Don’t they have Stadwatch here?’ questions Nikolai, and you laugh. ‘They’re here, yes. But they don’t do much. All it takes is a little kruge and they look the other way. Plus, in the Barrel the gangs have territories, the Stadwatch doesn’t decide how we handle things down here.’ you say.

‘If you ever get tired of this life, Os Alta is very nice.’ he says. ‘Is the king of Ravka asking me to come to the palace with him?’ you ask teasingly. ‘No.’ he says. ‘Nikolai is asking if you want to come to the palace with him.’

You smile at him. ‘I have to admit, it does sound nice. But I’ve found my place here with the Dregs. Kaz, Jesper, they may not look like much to you, but I trust them with my life, they’re my family.’ you say.

Nikolai nods, taking a step back and away from you. ‘I understand.’ he says. ‘Forget I asked anything.’

‘I wasn’t finished yet.’ you say. You step closer to him and look up at him. ‘Ketterdam is now my home, but I wouldn’t say no to the occasional visit to Os Alta.’

Nikolai’s face lights up upon hearing your words and he starts grinning like an idiot. ‘I’ll make sure there’s a bottle of kvas waiting for you on your first visit. Along with a gorgeous hazel-eyed, blonde king.’ he says.

You raise a hand and run it through his hair, which Genya had tailored to be a shade of red instead of the golden blonde you remember. ‘I prefer you as a blonde.’ you murmur softly.

‘Next time you’ll see me, I’ll be blonde.’ he says. ‘Next time I see you?’ you say. ‘Promise.’ says Nikolai.

#nikolai <3 <3 <3 #nikolai lantsov #shadow and bone #grishaverse #nikolai lantsov x reader #nikolai lantsov x you #nikolai lantsov fanfiction #nikolai lantsov fanfic #nikolai lantsov fanfics #nikolai lantsov fic #nikolai lantsov fics #nikolai lantsov oneshot #nikolai lantsov oneshots #shadow and bone fanfiction #shadow and bone fanfic #shadow and bone fanfics #shadow and bone fic

280 notes · View notes

medea10 · 3 years

Text

My Review of Fruits Basket: 2nd Season

It’s really happening! It’s fucking happening! The never-before animated story to one of the best shoujo series in the 21st century is finally happening!

HISTORY: Just read my long-ass review for that.

Okay, okay!

Tohru Honda stumbles upon the family secret of her classmate, Yuki Sohma when she moves in the Sohma household. Whenever a member of the Sohma family is hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. Because of this, the Sohma family is very secretive about this issue and only let close people in on the family secret. And even then, it rarely happens! But after a lifetime of worry and hell these members have been put through, they learned that Tohru cares about each and every one of them. She was able to bring out the sun for many of these characters who have suffered a lifetime of ridicule, pain, and isolation.

SEASON TWO: It’s the start of summer and many things around Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo are changing. For Yuki, it means taking over the student council full-time, as his seniors will be graduating in the spring. And for one Sohma family member, she’s made it her mission to lift the curse that has plagued the Sohma’s for generations. This season is filled with the cute and fluffy moments it’s known for where characters are having fun. But then you remember this is Fruits Basket and the cute and fluffy moments are shrouded in pain and misery.

And when you have an unstable character like Akito, people are going to be hurt. With the addition of several characters, we do detour from time-to-time for stories about them instead of following Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru. But many of these characters have some sort of connection to the main cast. With the introduction of Rin, we see the desperation in finding a way to rid the Sohmas of the zodiac curse. The student council members introduced this season helped Yuki come out of his shell even further. And the introduction of the final zodiac Kureno gave us possible hope for Tohru and a possible love interest with someone you probably didn’t see coming.

LICENSING: Thank you FUNimation. Thank you for once again taking the helm by licensing it and putting in the delicate care the mangaka went in to creating it! And also thank you for not being greedy dickholes and letting Crunchyroll and Hulu air it too. Anyways, the cast from the previous season have returned to do their respectable roles in both the English and Japanese cast. It’s just that due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the dub wasn’t as frequent as it was last year so I spent a good chunk just sticking to the original Japanese audio.

NEW CHARACTERS: In the final episode of season one, we were quickly introduced to several new characters who are going to make a big splash this time around. Just a reminder, there are only two zodiac members that were never introduced until this very moment. But there are several characters, who may not be part of the Sohma clan, but are a big part of the story and to several main characters.

First, I would like to introduce Kakeru Manabe and Machi Kuragi. They will now serve under Yuki as Student Council Vice President and Treasurer. They’re also half-siblings (same father, different mothers). Now by no means are these two ever going to be let-in on the Sohma family secret like Tohru, but they definitely make a big impact on Yuki’s life as Yuki seems comfortable enough to have one-on-ones with Kakeru and share common themes with Machi.

Isuzu (or Rin) is a Sohma with long, black hair. She is the horse of the zodiac curse. She doesn’t let a lot of people in her corner and usually only confides in either Hiro or her boyfriend, Hatsuharu. A lifetime of family issues and Akito being a cunt has something to do with it. Rin’s mission is to find a way to break the curse set on her and the rest of the Sohmas. But after an altercation with Akito, Rin has taken it upon herself to become a lone wo-, um horse in this mission.

Kureno is the final zodiac member to be introduced. And if you haven’t guessed, he is the rooster! Kureno is usually never seen by anyone in the Sohma family due to the fact that Akito keeps him on a short leash. But once Kureno was able to step away from Akito’s side, he finds comfort in one of Tohru’s friends.

I’m familiar with many of these voice actors they’ve added to these new characters. The only one I was surprised at came from Aki Toyosaki playing Rin. I think it’s just leftover questioning after hearing her voice these cutesy, moe characters (blame K-ON for that one). But Rin’s voice isn’t bad.

As for the dub, thank you FUNimation for bringing Aaron Dismuke back to the Fruits Basket family. If you’ve been following Fruits Basket from the very beginning, you might recall him being the original voice of Hiro Sohma. But since he was quite a young child when voicing Hiro, that voice he carried at the time wasn’t going to stay forever. Puberty happens! Aside all that needless info, I really liked his Kakeru! I’m digging Ian Sinclair as Kureno. I spent a full-on decade imagining who would voice him. And back in the day, I always thought Micah Solusod or Vic Mignogna would do him justice. But once 2019 happened…

*crosses off a name on a list*

…Yeah, Micah Solusod would do his voice justice, just him, no one else! But Ian Sinclair is awesome in nearly every thing he’s in and this is fine by me. Brina Palencia as Rin…eh, I mean she always plays characters who are monotone or serious. I’m not bashing it, but it was a predictable role for her. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Kakeru is played by Takuya Eguchi (known for Cheren on Pokemon BW, Takeo on My Love Story, Ryouma on Love Stage, Kujo on Gosick, Watanuki on Inu x Boku SS, and Fumiya on Domestic Girlfriend)

*Machi is played by Ai Kakuma (known for Misaka Worst on Index III, Rossweisse on High School DxD, Lala on Monster Musume, and Hato on Genshike Nidaime)

*Rin is played by Aki Toyosaki (known for Uiharu on Railgun/Index, Yui on K-ON, Suu on Shugo Chara, Satsuki on Maid-sama, Momo on To Love Ru, Chitose on Yuru Yuri, and Aoi on Beelzebub)

*Kureno is played by Yuichiro Umehara (known for Gorou on Darling in the Franxx, Mars on Black Clover, and Goblin Slayer)

ENGLISH CAST: *Kakeru is played by Aaron Dismuke (known for Al on FMA, Hiro on Fruits Basket, Young Hohenheim on FMA: Brotherhood, Van on Escaflowne [redub], Marx on Black Clover, and Takami on Deadman Wonderland)

*Machi is played by Caitlin Glass (known for Winry on FMA, Haruhi on Ouran HSHC, Maki on Love Live, Miria on Baccano, Petra on Attack on Titan, Evergreen on Fairy Tail, and Kirigiri on Danganronpa)

*Rin is played by Brina Palencia (known for Nina on FMA, Ciel on Black Butler, Yuno on Mirai Nikki, Saten on Railgun/Index, Juvia on Fairy Tail, Touka on Tokyo Ghoul, Holo on Spice & Wolf, and Chopper on One Piece)

*Kureno is played by Ian Sinclair (known for Whis on DB Super, Bard on Black Butler, Sousuke on Free!, Chuck on Panty & Stocking, Magna on Black Clover, Brook on One Piece, and Space Dandy)

SHIPPING PART II:

I still know who everyone ends up with and I’m doing my darndest to keep my mouth shut and not let out a decade-old spoiler. So let’s get some crap over with!

*Yuki x Motoko: Yeah, remember Motoko? That Yuki-obsessed chick who literally can’t breathe without the boy in her life! Well, first episode of the season, we get an episode featuring her once more. Because Motoko is one year older, she faces the harsh reality of graduating a year before Yuki and is pretty depressed over that. Not only that, but she's still super jealous that Yuki spends so much time with Tohru. But it gets a little deeper when she noticed that Yuki has changed as he’s smiling a lot more (and those smiles are not fake this time). She so wanted to be the woman in his life to make him smile like that. But Motoko’s probably just going to admire him from a distance. Oh and she still finds time to harass and/or threaten any foreign girl that hangs around Yuki’s aura.

*Ayame x Mine: I almost forgot to talk about this one. Probably because we really only got one episode to show the slightest ship hint from them. Mine has got to be the only female on earth who is able to handle Ayame’s wacky behavior 24/7. Then again, Mine has a few quirks herself. But both of them find that they can confide in each other. Here’s the thing with this one, it is unknown if Mine actually knows about the family curse up to this point. And if they are really in a relationship, Akito hasn’t given her “blessing”. I don’t know, maybe everyone in the family thought it would be best to not pry into Ayame’s private life for many valid reasons.

*Hatsuharu x Rin: So these two were actually in a (secret) relationship. Secret for obvious reasons! They knew the consequences after what Akito has done to Hatori and Kisa for being loved. In this season, we see how much these two really care for each other. Rin is so desperate in finding a way to rid Hatsuharu and everyone else of the zodiac curse that she’ll pursue it by any means necessary. And when she dumped Hatsuharu, this devastation built up pretty big until it burst in the destruction of a classroom. Hatsuharu can be very laid-back, but the break-up really devastated him. Later this season, we do get the development of this ship. Hatsuharu is one of the few people in Rin’s inner circle she was able to rely on and this blossomed into both of them confessing their love. And even sleeping with each other! Yep, Fruits Basket gave us a sex scene! However, Akito found out and Rin took the blame for everything.

…And Akito gave her blessing by shoving Rin off the second story.

Akito’s blessings really should come with an advisory.

Advisory: DON’T ASK AKITO FOR HER BLESSINGS!

*Hatori x Mayu: If you’re wondering who Mayu is, that is Tohru’s homeroom teacher. She surprisingly has some history with Shigure, Hatori, and Kana. First of all, Mayu is best friends with Kana. When Kana was dating Hatori, Mayu started to get these feelings and she ended up dating Shigure (seriously, bad choice). But she knew like the rest of us that Shigure is distant, sneaky, and you just can’t trust him. But Mayu was the only one to cry for Hatori’s sake. Mayu does hold out hope for one day going out with Hatori. Five, ten years, however long it takes!

*Kureno x Uo: The one time Kureno was allowed to escape from Akito’s grasp and he enjoys the company of Tohru’s best friend Uotani. When I first read this in the manga, I thought this was absolutely random, but cute nevertheless. And after watching their small time together, I yearned for there to be more time for Kureno and Uo to be together…but you know it’s not possible because you know the real deal. I mean, Kureno has spent the majority of his life as Akito’s personal bitch. After that one episode, Kureno has remained on the Sohma estate and Uo has wanted to see him again. So much so that she quit her part-time job where she first met Kureno because she feels like she’ll never see him again! Thing is Kureno promised to stay by Akito’s side after a really big revelation happened (stay tuned). Kureno is like the only Sohma that is able to cast his shackles aside and be with someone he loves. And Uo is the first person he’s ever truly felt that about!

No…I’m not going to mention that OTHER ship just yet. I get upset just even thinking about it.

*sniffles*

Just let the little bird fly and be free already.

*Kyo x Kagura: I probably should have covered this in the first season. But I was too focused on the sad ship and cute ship. Anyways, it’s well known that Kagura loves Kyo. REALLY LOVES HIM! But after Tohru moved in, Kagura slowly learned that Kyo has changed because of Tohru and knows that Kyo might not like Kagura that way. In the 11th episode, we get a moving storyline where Kagura goes on a date with Kyo and we learn a little more into why Kagura began to like Kyo. Kagura pitied Kyo as a child since he was the unfortunate child cursed under the cat. It made her feel better about her own sad fate of being cursed under the boar. But she still played with him until she accidentally took off Kyo’s rosary beads that revealed the demonic cat curse. By this time in the story, it’s absolutely cemented with Kyo that he’s in love with someone else and is ready to tell Kagura that he will never love her. But that doesn’t stop Kagura from telling Kyo that she loves him.

*Yuki x Machi: Unlike all the other girls in school, Machi doesn’t see Yuki as a prince. She sees clearly through his fake smile that he gives off all the time. At least that was her thought at the beginning of the series! Machi has been pretty quiet and kept to herself whenever at the student council. No one even knows what her favorite foods and colors are! Truth is, Machi doesn’t know either. But it wasn’t until a simple (and I do mean simple) gift from Yuki that Machi changed a little bit! This ship didn’t get much action until near the end of this season where the student council met up for some lunch. This was the first time we saw Machi act all tsundere around Yuki when he noticed she held onto the gift he gave her.

It was a leaf. He gave her a friggin’ leaf. And then she turned it into a bookmark.

*Tohru x Yuki: Sigh. He kissed her on the forehead and cried. Moving on! She’s not even friend-zoned. She’s MOM-zoned! Tohru is the mother that Yuki turns to because Yuki’s mother is an uncaring cunt. I know who Yuki really ends up with in the end, but if you ask me, I prefer Yuki x Kakeru.

Don’t at me, I love seeing these two together! Okay, final shipping for the category.

*Tohru x Kyo: There is no doubt that Kyo and Yuki have changed for the better since meeting Tohru. Both of them felt that there was no hope and only self-isolation in their life. In Kyo’s case, he knew early on that his life was fucked. His mother committed suicide, his father abandons him, the Sohma family shuns him, and once he reaches a certain age, he faces a lifetime of being locked in confinement. So Tohru’s kindness and persistence has definitely done wonders for the boy. Romance, wise? Let’s just say that things were almost said at the beach. And we get a realization from Kyo that Tohru is precious to him. His precious!

Oh, there is ONE certain ship I feel I should mention. However, it’s still too much of a shock for people to take in. So I will wait for the final season to let it rip.

HORRIBLE PARENTS: The original series only scraped the surface of how horrible the Sohma parents truly are. I could have done my worst parents/mothers/fathers list with at least half of these people. But the original series never showed us the ugliness when it came to Yuki’s mother, Kyo’s father, and queen of the bitches, Ren Sohma. Bitch, I will see you in season three! Thankfully, we’ve got at least one or two nice parents like Hiro and Kagura’s mothers.

Before I bring up the worst this series had to offer, can we just talk about how precious this woman is? Hiro’s mother loved rams and was very happy when Hiro was born. Hiro’s mother is just so precious for this series. She loves her son and even loves Kisa. It’s adorable! As for Kagura’s mother, even with Kagura’s aggressive personality, her mother is quite supportive of her daughter and even Rin. So let’s go down this rap-sheet of the worst ones!

Kyo’s father was never able to forgive his own son for “causing the death of his wife”. He even refuses to call Kyo by name, he only refers to Kyo as “It” or “That Creature”. Thank God we have Kazuma to replace this dick. I know Kazuma’s hands aren’t clean either, but he has treated Kyo like the son he never had. More than what I can say about this fucker!

Yuki’s mother did some unpleasant things to her son. For starters, selling Yuki to Akito for her to do whatever she wanted with him. Because the rat in the zodiac was the first to arrive, it is said that the rat is closest to the god. This gave Yuki’s mother the opportunity to have Yuki deal with Akito’s scary tantrums and scar him for years. Ayame doesn’t have anything pleasant to say about his own mother either. Last I recall, she’s quite cold to Ayame as well. She’s a cold, uncaring witch.

Ah shit, here we go again! Momiji’s father! Yes, that very same father who told Momiji that his mother’s memories of him had to be wiped away in order for her to get better. We see him once again taking away more from Momiji because his daughter Momo is catching on. In an episode, Momiji is told that he should give up playing the violin. Why the fuck for? Well, Momo’s getting music lessons from Momiji’s teacher and feels these two should not meet or even cross paths. And of course, his father isn’t too keen about Momiji coming to his office so he can watch the family he sacrificed so his mother could be saved. This boy just can’t catch a break and I still want to hug my little bunny-kins.

Rin gets panic attacks spontaneously due to her parent’s physical abuse and abandonment. Rin’s home life was okay until one question sparked years of abuse. Because Rin caught on to her parent’s fake smiles, they showed who they really were. Rin hid her abuse until she passed out from so much pain that she had to be checked into the hospital. It was there that Kazuma and a young Hatsuharu learned she was being beaten by her parents. And what do the parents do? Abandon her then and there at the hospital!

Kakeru and Machi aren’t a part of the Sohma family, but that doesn’t stop the fact that they have a messed up home life. Kakeru and Machi are half-siblings (same father, different mothers). Kakeru was an illegitimate child, but was the elder sibling (+ male), so is a prime candidate to be his father’s heir. And both of their mothers fought over who would be the heir to their father’s fortune in the future, putting endless stress on Kakeru and Machi. As a kid, Kakeru would have spontaneous panic attacks because of the stress his mother put him under. While Kakeru was able to tell off his mother and she begrudgingly accepted it, Machi’s mother still puts pressure on her to a point where Machi just does what she’s told and has infrequent bouts of panic attacks.

Oh, there’s another parent worth mentioning. But the final season will take care of that one. I know you’re expecting me to say something about Ren Sohma (Akito’s mother). Problem is, she only had one line in this whole season. I could say there was a scene where her name was mentioned at Akito and Akito went a little berserk. But that’s all I can say here.

SADDEST MOMENT OF THIS SEASON: Hands down, anything involving sweet, little Momiji is going to hurt. Granted, this doesn’t hurt as much as the backstory between him and his mother. But when we get the episode of Momiji’s sister Momo spying on Momiji playing the violin, it’s like a knife to the chest. You want these two to see each other, but it’ll trigger some unhappiness with the family. Momiji sacrificed a butt-ton just for his mother to recover. Momo knows that Momiji exists, she just doesn’t know that Momiji is her brother.

So what does Momo do?

Ask Tohru to ask Momiji to be her big brother.

Ouch. Ow, Fruits Basket! I know this scene hurt when I read it, but it nearly killed me in animation. God and Momiji’s crying. I want to hug him so much.

EVERYONE’S FATE: In this season, we hit the asphault when it’s revealed that Kyo made an ultimatum with Akito. If Kyo is able to beat Yuki in a fight before the two of them graduate high school, he will obtain his freedom and avoid a lifetime being caged (like the previous cat). As this clock ticks, Kyo knows he doesn’t have much time left before he spends the rest of his life sealed away.

And it isn’t just Kyo! All the other zodiacs are destined to live on Akito’s estate so that Akito can have her delusional “eternal banquet”. So of course, Akito feels threatened that Tohru has such a hold on almost all of the Sohmas. That’s why Rin wants to free everyone from this curse and a little later once she learns about this, Tohru wants to do the same.

THE HAT: Remember the hat that seems out of place for Tohru to have? An old, dusty hat that doesn’t match anything! It was mentioned briefly in the original series and expaneded a bit in the first season. This season gives us a little surprise in the form of the hat connecting to Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru.

The hat originally belonged to Kyo. When they were children, Yuki tried to talk to Kyo and it turned into Kyo yelling at Yuki because he’s the rat of the zodiac. And as the story goes, the rat lies to the cat about the banquet and the cat is left out. A lot of the zodiacs were always sour at Yuki growing up. Moving on! Kyo’s hat fell and Yuki never returned it to him. Yuki once wore the hat on his head and ran away from the Sohma estate. It was at that time he came across a lost, little girl (Tohru). Yuki lead Tohru back home and puts the hat on her head as he leaves from her sight. And that’s the tale of that mystery hat you might have seen prior.

Oh, there’s another connection with Kyo…yeah, you guessed it. Third season! Wait for it.

ENDING TO SEASON TWO: So this season seems to be getting 25 episodes as well. That means if the final season only has 13 episodes that would equal up to 63 episodes in total. And that would make Eric Vale’s comments in a video a year ago correct. Eric Vale is bad with spoilers, isn’t he?

Anyways, this season has given us a lot to mull over. We get new characters that have no connection to the Sohma family, but has a big impact with Yuki that he changes for the better. We finally get to see the two zodiacs that have never made their debut until now. And the backstory of Tohru with the out-of-place hat as a child is settled. Inching closer to the second season finale, we get some cute and semi-impactful stories around the school. Tohru and Kyo were in a class production of Cinderella where Kyo finds out Tohru knows what’s going to happen after graduation when she accidentally blurts out the wrong thing on stage. Then we have Yuki opening up more to his student council members (especially Kakeru) and long-time holdout Machi opening up and becoming a blushing girl like many her age.

Well folks, it’s New Years and time for another zodiac banquet. And Yuki was feeling a sense of weight being lifted from his shoulders. He was going to make a change with his life by not blaming others for his problems. So Akito gives her blessing by…

You should know by now that when I say that, it’s not going to end well.

Let’s just say, hearing Yuki say those words, Akito started to recall a time with Kureno that really struck a cord. I’ll get to it in a second. Akito struck Yuki in the face with a blunt instrument and thankfully he did not end up blind like Hatori. Akito had yet another psychotic outburst that resulted in one of the Sohmas being hurt. And you have to wonder why Akito is this evil, twisted soul that hurts her family physically and mentally. Hatori permanently loses the sight in one of his eyes and still forgives Akito. Kureno stays by Akito’s side no matter what she did to him.

In the final episode, we get quite a few revelations exposed (especially for Tohru). The play, Tohru, Hana, Uo, and Kyo were in was videotaped and Momiji gave a copy to Kureno. Let’s just say that Uo sent her own secret message of wanting to see a certain someone again. Kureno was conflicted that he wanted to reach out and talk to Tohru. When Tohru met with Kureno, she came upon some startling discoveries about the man possessed by the rooster zodiac (or bird).

When walking towards birds, they flew away from him. If you recall, many animals are drawn to the zodiacs (i.e. cats to Kyo, rats to Yuki, etc.). But with Kureno, they all just flew away! And finally, Kureno walked right up to Tohru, hugged her, and he didn’t transform.

Kureno has been curse-free for several years. Actually, since he was in high school and dude is in his 20’s currently. It’s unknown why only he was released from the curse and everybody else still transforms. Kureno kept it from everyone in the Sohma household (even though Shigure was suspicious for a while). And when the curse lifted from Kureno, he felt as though he could finally fly free (irony is that he can no longer “fly” being a zodiac bird). Problem is that Akito had a mental breakdown when she saw Kureno was free from the curse and she screamed at him to stay and never leave her side. This was actually the one time Akito didn’t hit or injure someone during one of these fits, so this felt very different.

And because of Kureno’s decision to stay by Akito’s side, he feels he can no longer see Uo. Even though, he really feels a connection towards her despite only seeing her two times. This was his first actual love! And then, Tohru learned another bombshell.

Actually, this bombshell isn’t as huge as it was years ago.

You see, up until this point in the manga it was hard to decipher what gender Akito was. In the original anime ALL of Akito’s voice actors (even in Japanese) were male. Yes, including when Akito was a child. Aaron Dismuke was everywhere 15 years ago. But then a chapter from the manga came out where Kureno clearly tells Tohru (who had no idea at the time) that Akito was female. So, for hardcore fans such as myself, this wasn’t so much of a bombshell. Although I forgot Tohru didn’t know about Akito’s true gender. New fans to the anime, it might’ve caused great impact. Anyways, the second season ends on that note.

Come on Fruits Basket, you announced another season on my birthday last year. Surely you can give me something to go on for my birthday this year.

OH HELL YEAH!

This totally…doesn’t make up for RBG dying over my birthday weekend, but it’s a start!

Aside from ONE episode, this season was totally brand-spanking new, never-before seen in anime form. And it was satisfying to watch many of these moments I thought were going to remain on the printed page forever finally in animation. This season gave us the good and the bad. We’ll have those light and funny moments that Fruits Basket was notorious for. Tohru visiting Ayame’s clothing store, Yuki’s class taking a trip, and the Cinderella storyline. But then you get all the heavy stuff like Akito coming to see Tohru at the beach house, Rin’s backstory, Kureno’s reveal, and Momiji’s sister wanting to know more about him. Every Momiji episode hurts me! Momo is too precious for this world and she just wants to know her secret onii-chan.

Now some people might think the lineup of these episodes and story is a bit sloppy with how it’s listed. Well, that’s how most of it was in the manga, just go with the flow. I mean, yeah, I’d agree with you there and maybe if this series were one continuous anime with no breaks, you’d get no complaints there. But whatever, you can’t please everyone on everything. This season gave us more character development from these characters. Kyo, while still an angry kitty from time to time has really matured a bit. He doesn’t fly off the handle to fight Yuki every day like you’d see in season one. Yuki was able to realize many aspects of his life and grow from there. Hatori was able to move on from Kana. Ayame learned to be a better big brother…though he’s still a yutz.

Shigure is NOT to be trusted!

I know some people have been saying that since season one and I feel it’s well worth repeating. And it’ll get worse next season, believe me! The only character I was disappointed in by not seeing that much of was Ritsu. But as I recall, Ritsu doesn’t get that much action in the second year arc. I’m so happy to hear the original dub (most of them anyways) with this new material that they’ve never done before for these characters. And I’m hoping to ride this train going into 2021. I love this story and I can’t wait for the final season.

Yes, watch this. Watch the first season too! Hell, watch the original series, it’s not out of print yet!

All of the episodes are available to watch on FUNimation, Crunchyroll, and Hulu. The dub is available through FUNimation only. And if you want to watch the original anime (w/o the new story), Hulu still has it available.

#anime review #Fruits Basket #fruits basket 2nd season #Tohru Honda #kyo sohma #Yuki Sohma #hiro sohma #hatori sohma #kagura sohma #kakeru manabe #machi kuragi #rin sohma #akito sohma #ayame sohma #shigure sohma #momiji sohma #kureno sohma #arisa uotani

11 notes · View notes

awesomehoggirl · 4 years

Text

it’s wip wednesday so i thought i’d share a quick writing wip from my multi chapter fem howince fic which will maybe be done in 20 years ! it’s got 8 chapters and i am still on chapter 2 if this gets finished it’ll be a miracle. the fic is called eau d’bedroom dancing because i love le tigre and imagine how fantastic riot grrl vince would be ...

mentioning before hand that i write all my first drafts and oneshots with no capitals because i find it a lot easier but with this fic when i go back over i’ll put capitals in :) (also this is a section from chapter one not the opening)

—

her name is vincenzia mirabella lucie-marié le manteau rafflesia vaisseau-spatial noire (the longest name in the class, and the only one never written up on the ‘star student!’ chalkboard) but everyone refers to her as vince. she’s new to the school, and seemingly england, but her accent is pure south london. two teachers have quit because of her already. holly moon has never been so interested in a person in her entire tiny life.

oh, she’s read up on musicians, heard their stories, wished ever so slightly that her life would someday be just as interesting — did you know nina simone had seven siblings, that john coltrane was in the navy? but the weirdness that seems to just bounce off vince’s tongue beats every story she’s ever read hands down.

it quickly becomes apparent that she’s borderline feral: if the staff-room murmurs of the teachers are to be believed, she came from a ‘neglectful home’; if vince’s own word is to be accepted, she was raised in the jungle by a cast of rock stars, animals and french nobility. holly is sensible enough to doubt her at first, but before long (and after many demonstrations of her ability to talk to animals) she’s genuinely on board. they sit behind the ash tree at lunch time, out of sight from dribbling boys and disapproving teachers, and holly figures out that through half a chocolate bar vince can be coaxed into revealing all sorts about her unorthodox childhood.

‘dunno why you’re so desperate to know about my life,’ vince complains once, when asked again to tell the story about the great order of frogs and the backwards waterfall. ‘why can’t i hear stories about you for a change?’

‘all in good time,’ says holly, whose mother is a tax attorney married to a geography teacher. ‘plus, i know you love the attention.’

and so vince sits there and talks until she goes hoarse, or loses interest, or feels like changing the subject right at a crucial moment, or the school bell rings and they have to go inside. she talks about her house made of bus tickets and her animal friends, her french duke uncle who would come down on bank holidays and teach her table manners, about joining the jackals for hunts, about skimming the treetops in the claws of squabbling vultures, about the hoots and screeches of the monkeys as they chased her through the undergrowth on the back of a hippopotamus. and holly will listen breathlessly, trying to seem nonplussed when in reality she is clinging to every last word. (tell me again about the paper-mache tiger and the rhinoceros’ game nights. tell me again again again.)

because no matter how hard her sensible brain tries, she really can’t prove them wrong. vince is hopeless at all forms of spelling or arithmetic. she is genuinely flabbergasted when explained to that, in fact, biting and shoving are not always seen as ‘playful’ in the human world. she swears like a sailor (or perhaps a rockstar) would, until the little old lady vicar gasps, snaps her bible shut and refuses to read to the year six class ever again. idioms are beyond her, let alone algebra, and the teachers insist there’s no hope — but they can’t help liking her, despite it all. there’s something so genuine about her ever-present toothy grin, her bubbly demeanour, that they soon allow her to get away with anything.

and yet holly is her best friend. and the only person (maybe in the world) vince will tell her stories to.

‘once upon a time,’ she begins one lunch break, dipping holly’s generous sacrifice of a curly wurly into her pocket for later, ‘i was out with jahooli the leopard, who was my best friend — he’d give me rides on his back when i was really small, swattin’ the bloodsuckers away with his giant tail. he’d catch me fish in his big strong jaws, crush ‘em up so i could eat ‘em right, i was just a nipper, i’d not got all my teeth in yet, but he was a right sweetheart about that sort of thing. on the surface jahooli always seemed to be a reckless character, a real rough-and-tumble kind of cat, but i knew the reality: he’d lost his mate and his litter and he was gettin’ on a bit, i was all he had left in terms of fatherhood. it meant he did get a bit invasive at times, yeah, he could be real clingy. i didn’t mind though, see, i’m wise beyond my years, so i was quite good with all that stuff, i let him vent to me when it all got a bit too much for his poor leopard heart to handle. anyway, this one day he was lookin’ after me, on account of my foster father bryan ferry being away on tour. and it was a hot afternoon, this one. really hot.’ she sinks down on her heels. ‘the kinda hot that drenches you in sweat no matter how still you stand. the kinda humid that makes your palms slick and your eyelashes heavy. most of the animals were tucked away underground by midday, but the bigger sorts like me and jahooli, we couldn’t exactly join them. so jahooli said, why don’t we make our way down to the river?’

holly feels her spine prickle. it is eerie, the way her friend’s stories pull her in.

she follows vince along to said river, feels jahooli’s long speckled tail curling round her shoulders, bumping against her collarbones, keeping her close. feels the slick wetness of the air, feels the burn of her lungs as they work in shallow pumping gasps. breathes in the hot dark of the bush, the low chatter of the canopy. soon the lumbering gait of the leopard slows, the river is in sight — the banks are busy with boars, bucks and buffalo, sunning lizards and mice. slow-blinking crocodiles cruise in the shallows. vince is not afraid of them. (holly would be.)

‘is it true if you’re being chased by a crocodile you should run in a zig-zag pattern?’ she interrupts (not because the story is getting a little too tense for her or anything).

vince rolls her eyes, makes a face as if holly has asked her the stupidest question in the world (considering just yesterday she asked holly whether all numbers bite or if the three digit ones are just especially fiesty, they clearly have different opinions on what counts as a ‘stupid question’). ‘if a crocodile were to haul its fat arse out of the nice cool water just to give you a bit of trouble, you probably did something awful to deserve it. why? are you plannin’ to go pokin’ sticks at ‘em? cause if you are, insult their music taste, they’ll go absolutely mental. most crocodiles are obsessed with alice cooper, so there’s a good starting point, have that one on me.’

‘so what’s—‘

‘oi, hush! do you want this story or not?’

holly shuts up. vince lowers her voice.

the jungle is sweaty now, the riverbanks a dripping piccadilly circus. jahooli has left vince’s side, gone to make conversation with ranbir the great panther, so she ventures alone to the water’s edge (the animals watch over her, they all like her, tiny and pink and strange as she is) and dips her feet in. the water is so clear and cold it hurts, but soon the pain ebbs and gives way to a calm coolness. she sits down, slides in up to her knees, lies back against the soft mud

the jungle is treacle now, bubbling and pooling, thick. vince soon drifts off and the leaves behind her eyelids are red. the stars are wheeling gulls, the air is thick with salt-spit, her eyelashes tangle and she slips down into the mud. somewhere else, the dulcet waves begin to lap. the elephants have arrived. jahooli and ranbir share a look before they approach, hackles raised (they are not mean-spirited creatures, but they do like to play a prank).

the jungle is long gone now, and vince dreams of strawberry ice cream. somewhere else, jahooli and ranbir wind around each other dizzyingly, teeth flashing slick and sharp. somewhere else, the elephants are fussing, distressed by their feline dance, their ashy trunks whirling as they back up their feet. pelts twist and brush together before the big-cats turn, open their jaws and let out a combined roar that wakes vince, sends animals scattering, splits the sky in two —

and the jungle rumbles. and the elephants charge.

#this is such a weird section for me to use as a teaser LMAOO im so sorry #vince noir #howard moon #howince #wip wednesday #primmy writes #the mighty boosh

20 notes · View notes