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starrylothcat · 3 months

Text

Dawn of Us

Pairing: Crosshair x Gen!Reader

Summary: Crosshair feels bad about being cold to you and struggles with his ~feelings.

WC: 2100

Warnings: None. Kissing, fluff, some angst (c’mon, it’s Crosshair). Mentions of nightmares. Happy ending. TBB AU in which Crosshair is rescued and with his brothers.

A/N: This is based off of an ask from @banthasworld ! This took an incredibly embarassing amount of time, I am so sorry. It is based on the sunshine x grumpy trope, with Crosshair being…well Crosshair. Reader is always nice to him, and he struggles with that of course. Reader isn’t super described, since this is more from Crosshair’s point of view. But he sees reader as a ray of light, his sunshine, so it kind of works? ANYWAY, I hope you like!

Crosshair furiously chewed his toothpick, watching with feigned disgust as your shoulders shook with mirth, laughing as you placed a delicate ring of flowers atop Wrecker’s head.

Omega let out a giggle, handing Echo a crown of flowers of his own.

Tech was already adorned with one, and Hunter was adjusting his flowers around his bandana.

Everyone had a smile on their face, and Crosshair couldn’t help but retreat to the back of The Marauder to clean his rifle, hoping it would distract him from the merriment happening in the cockpit.

Earlier that day, Tech guided the ship down on a grassy planet for re-supply. They had agreed to pick up a shipment for Shep to bring back to Pabu.

While you were waiting, you and Omega found a lovely patch of flowers not too far from the ship, the fields blooming with color.

You were reminded of your childhood, sitting in meadows and making flower crowns with your friends. You showed a wide-eyed Omega how to make one for herself, which in turn inspired her to make one for all of her brothers.

Crosshair had been back with his brothers for some time now, and while he had mostly gained their trust back and things were somewhat back to normal, he couldn’t help but still keep himself at arm's length.

Crosshair looked up from his rifle once more, connecting his narrow-eyed gaze with your bright eyes.

He felt his stomach flip, something that he noticed was happening more often, something that he was desperately trying to ignore.

You were there when they rescued Crosshair from the Empire’s grasp. You had been kind to him from the start, even knowing everything that he had done, at least whatever his brothers told you about him.

You were laughing now, Wrecker telling a story of a mission Crosshair didn’t remember. It must have been a mission they went on while he was gone.

Crosshair scowled, retreating even further into himself as he flung what was left of his toothpick to the ground.

He glowered at his Firepuncher, waiting to be distracted from the sound of your voice, the beautiful glimmer in your eyes, the sneaking thought of wishing he could make you laugh as joyously as Wrecker…

He snapped out of his thoughts when your shadow changed the lighting around him, realizing you were standing right in front of him.

“Here.” You smiled, holding out a flower crown to him. “This one’s for you.”

Crosshair frowned, not making a move to take it, looking back at his rifle. He couldn’t bear to make eye contact with you. His heart thudded, hoping you’d just walk away.

“Tell the kid thanks, but no thanks.” He muttered.

“Omega didn’t make this for you.” You paused for a moment.

“I did.”

Crosshair’s eyes snapped to yours. You made it for him?

You hesitantly placed the ring of flowers down next to him.

“You don’t have to be back here by yourself, you know.” Your voice was soft, a kindly cadence that Crosshair couldn’t get out of his head at night, no matter how much he tossed and turned.

Crosshair bit down on a fresh toothpick, glancing at the intricately made ring of flowers next to his thigh.

“Who says I want company?”

He knew he was being an asshole, but it was the only way to get you away from him.

Every second you were close to him, every time you glanced his way, brought him a cup of caf, or asked him how he was doing, it was making it harder and harder for him to not take your face in his hands and kiss you.

He wanted to hear your warm words in his ear, feel your lips on his, finally let his guard down for once, and bathe in your light that outshone his darkness.

He couldn’t, though. Why would you want him?

The severe and unyielding traitor who broke his family’s trust? Something he was still gaining back, and may never truly get back.

He was broken. You deserve someone better.

These were the intrusive thoughts that kept him away from you, the nagging voice in the back of his mind that he just couldn’t keep quiet, no matter how hard he tried.

“I can sit with you if you want.” You asked, still standing in front of him, a glimmer of hope in your eyes.

Ask them to sit with you, you idiot.

Crosshair huffed. “I want to be left alone.”

Why am I like this?

You bit your lip, nodding and turning away from him, respecting his space.

Crosshair’s eyes didn’t miss a thing, watching as your shoulders slumped in such a subtle way that you may have done it subconsciously.

You looked over your shoulder at him, your lips parting like you wanted to say something, but continued to walk to the front of the ship, where his brothers and Omega had started some sort of card game.

Crosshair furrowed his brows, trying to focus on cleaning his rifle again.

This was normalcy he thought he’d never have, and it was right in front of him, waiting for him.

And yet he was still choosing to be alone.

Guilt, something he had never really felt before he came back to his brothers, sat like a stone in his stomach. He felt bad for being cold to you. You didn’t deserve this.

He watched as you sat, overseeing the card game, a smile back on your face. You glanced at him quickly, before being dealt in.

✼　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　✼ ✼　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　✼ ✼　

The Marauder was quiet, except for Wrecker’s soft snores reverberating on the durasteel walls.

Crosshair lay in his bunk, gently turning the crown of flowers in his hands, holding it above him.

It was made with extreme care, his fingers grazing against the delicate petals, observing how thoughtfully you crafted it, the vines and stems intertwining with one another without being broken.

Could that be him? Could he be entwined with something beautiful without breaking it?

Crosshair laid the flowers on his chest, slinging one arm over his eyes. He replayed earlier in the evening in his head, except this time, he invited you to sit with him.

You watch as he demonstrates how to take apart his rifle, explaining each part, and showing you how to put it back together. He imagined your face close to his, paying close attention, feeling your breath on the side of his face. Laughing at something he says, a cheery smile just because you’re near him…

A tidal wave of unfamiliar warmth engulfed him, a peculiar fuzziness spreading in his chest.

Crosshair held on to that feeling, this time not trying to push it away, letting it spread and take hold of his heart. The sensation was strange, but comforting. He fell asleep with the ghost of your lips on his, your soft hands embracing him.

✼　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　✼ ✼　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　✼ ✼　

Crosshair awoke early the next morning, something he still did out of habit. He was a light sleeper, and ever since he decided to leave his brothers, his sleep was interrupted by nightmares from his choices, and what was done to him while he was captured.

This morning, though, he realized the usual terrors that plague his mind did not make a visit. Instead, his dreams were filled with you, with flowers, with feelings he could only describe as…peace?

Crosshair sat up, realizing he was still holding the crown of flowers from last night. His head was spinning with emotion, with the realization of how much you meant to him, how much he needed you.

Crosshair didn’t expect anything in return from you, especially after how he’s treated you. But at the very least, you deserved an apology and a thank you for the gift.

Everyone was still asleep, except for you. Your bunk was empty, made up neatly. You were an early riser too, Crosshair often catching you staring at the sunrise on Pabu down at the beach by yourself. He never joined you, assuming you wanted your space.

Crosshair knew you’d be right outside the ship, waiting for the sun to cast its glow over you.

Crosshair silently slipped out of the ship, the ramp cracked just enough for him to slip through without waking anyone else.

The sun was just beginning to rise, casting soft pink and orange glows over the dewy fields, the flowers still closed up for the night, waiting to wake with the rays of the sun.

Crosshair saw you sitting alone in a small clearing, staring toward the horizon.

Crosshair didn’t realize he was holding his breath as he approached you, his heart pounding in his chest.

He cleared his throat, not wanting to scare you.

You turned immediately, your eyes lighting up the second you realized it was him.

“Crosshair! I hope I didn’t wake you?”

Crosshair shook his head. “No, I was already awake.”

He stood awkwardly, not knowing if he should ask to sit with you or not. He wanted to give you the chance to tell him to buzz off, like he told you the night before.

“Would you like to join me?” You asked, your voice quiet, a hopeful spark in your eye.

Crosshair didn’t say anything, taking a seat next to you in the damp grass. The horizon was beginning to turn a kaleidoscope of color as the sun began peeking above the grass on the horizon.

There were a few moments of silence, and then you spoke.

“I’m sorry.” You said, your voice almost inaudible.

Crosshair’s head snapped toward you.

Why the hell were you apologizing to him? He was supposed to be apologizing to you!

“For what?” Crosshair’s brows were knit, wondering what the kriff you were trying to apologize for.

You fiddled with some of the grass under your fingers.

“I know I can be too much sometimes, when I know you just want to be left alone…” your voice trailed off.

“I’m sorry if I’ve been too pushy, especially last night. I realize I’m making you uncomfortable. I will back off.”

Crosshair’s heart sank to his feet. This is not how this was supposed to go. He felt even guiltier than before. You and your big heart, assuming it was all your fault.

Crosshair shook his head. “You’re wrong.”

You looked at him, confused.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Crosshair took a breath. “You don’t deserve how I’ve treated you. I…appreciate everything you do for me. I’m sorry I don’t return it. I have no excuse.”

Crosshair felt something on his hand. It was yours, barely touching his. Rays of sunlight were reflecting in the dew of the grass, spreading across the plains. Petals stirred, beginning to open toward the light.

“Crosshair…” You whispered his name, your fingers threading together. “I care about you, a lot.”

“I know.” Crosshair’s voice cracked, barely above a whisper. “I’m not a good man, you shouldn’t…

Here I go again, pushing them away.

Crosshair wanted to yell, to take you up in his arms, say how much he cares, how much he wants you, how much he needs you…

You must have seen the battle in his eyes, and your lips were on his cheek before he could continue.

Crosshair froze at first, his body going into overdrive of a million different emotions.

You’re kissing him? You’re touching him? Was this a dream, one that he has secretly wanted for so long?

Your lips were softer than any fantasy as they pressed softly, pulling away as quick as they were on him.

Crosshair’s body erupted in sensations he’d never experienced, goosebumps spreading throughout his body as you kissed him. As fast as it happened, you pulled away.

You quickly took your hand out of his, seeing as he wasn’t responding to your bold move.

“I’m sorry, I-“

“Quit apologizing.” Crosshair muttered before capturing your lips with his in a needy kiss, wrapping one arm around you to bring you close, cradling your head with the other.

Crosshair never, ever wanted to let go of this moment. Feeling your body relax against his, your own arms wrapping around him. He held onto you for dear life, wanting to say so much more, to keep apologizing, to warn you that his darkness may never be cured. Your lips didn’t stop moving together, expressing everything that words could not.

Finally, you both pulled away for a much needed breath, the sun’s rays now fully shining down on you.

“The flowers…” Crosshair uttered against your lips. “Thank you.”

You smiled, tucking your head against his chest as he held you. Momentarily, Crosshair forgot everything as you embraced. It was just you and him, and the hope of the new day, both of you bathed in its light.

Maybe, just maybe, it was time to let himself be cared for. Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay.

As long as he had you, he knew it would be.

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#crosshair x reader #crosshair x you #crosshair x gen!reader #crosshair x gender neutral reader #crosshair tbb #tbb crosshair #the bad batch #the bad batch fanfiction #tbb fanfiction #tbb #x reader #starrycatwrites #star wars fanfiction #the clone wars #crosshair fanfiction

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filmbyjy · 2 months

Text

MISUNDERSTANDING

— the mafia series

PAIRING: nishimura riki x fem!reader

SUMMARY: you were never curious about people's lives but ni-ki's one has you intrigued. why weren't the teachers scolding him? getting mad at him for leaving in the middle class. it was just weird. that is until you find the very reason as to why the teachers were not doing anything. one thing led to another and somehow, you were roped into this mess.

WARNING: blood mentioned, fights and mafia, stabbing. if you remember the dark blood fight scene with sunghoon and ni-ki, you can imagine that but way more gory and also actually stabbing the person with an actual katana (not to sunghoon though, but to an actual bad guy)

WORD COUNT: 9.3K (I BEAT JAKE'S ONE?? WTH)

NOTE: lord have mercy, this took too much procrastination, sweat and tears to do finish this. like no joke. plus with the edition of me either forgetting to do it or me just having no mood to write. I FUCKING FINISHED IT!!! BE PROUD OF ME 🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼

ONE

being a kid exposed to crimes at a young age wasn’t a peculiar thing. however, it was the life of a young boy who went by ni-ki. you see, ni-ki was one of the seven successful young billionaires in the world. his family name was already plastered to every billboard. the Nishimura Cooperation, they were one of the pillars to korea’s and japan’s success. any normal person would just look at them and acknowledge their power but what they didn’t know was…how did they get their power?

the nishimura family built their entire empire by doing dirty work which led to a huge money income. they bought their way up to the top and managed to gain countless of loyal followers. Eventually collaborating with the Park Corp. which was jay’s family company. Many were surprised to see that ni-ki was dabbling in a little of his family business because at the age of 18, nobody would willingly want to participate in business. The Nishimura Corp was mainly stationed in Japan so ni-ki handled the work done in Korea since he was already here.

as usual, as a teenager, ni-ki would be in school. however, he never studied nor did he care about his scores. why should he when is already a millionaire/billionaire at 18? he could easily buy his way through the system but his parents didn’t allow him. they wanted their son to get his certificate the right way. the same way his 2 other sisters were going through in Japan. ni-ki could only obey his parents’ words, they knew what was best for him. which leads into the female protagonist of his life story, you being his classmate.

ni-ki was like any normal teen boy. angsty, hates school and a little jokester who is always on the verge of getting detention. you had never understood why the teachers never actually sent the boy to detention, it was…weird.

“(name) and ni-ki.” the teacher announces. there was this project that you had for an English class, something about literature and poetry. you had to find some classical romance novel that fits the criteria. which you didn’t fully understand. honestly, you never even liked English class, the teacher just rubs you the wrong way. either way, ni-ki was now your project partner. you were already plotting different ways to approach him and actually get him to do his work. you weren’t oblivious to the fact that ni-ki rarely ever participates in school work.

“hi, we have to do a project together.” you timidly say after you approached him. The boy before you looked bored, seems like he doesn’t fancy English class too.

ni-ki sighs, “yeah, listen. I don’t really like English class so we should get this stupid project done and over with. i also have other important things to do.”

well, at least he was honest. you hummed at his words, “seems like we have something in common. let’s get this project done quickly then let’s meet in the library at 3pm?”

ni-ki shrugs, “alright then. if i’m late, don’t bother waiting for me. I have a pretty busy schedule and life so school and this project is the least of my worries.”

“no problem, just let me know if you can participate in this project. If you can't, I'll just do it by myself and slap your name somewhere on the paper.” you say. ni-ki tilts his head but he didn’t protest your suggestion.

“that will be great. Now, I need to run some errands.” he leaves the classroom, the teacher not even bothering to even ask where he was going. clearly, they were too used to him leaving the class in the middle of nowhere or maybe they knew something you didn’t.

“he is weird…” you mutter under your breath.

as expected, ni-ki did not show up at the library. you sighed and just continued working on the project. you weren’t exactly surprised he wouldn’t show up but you still hope he’d at least have some manners and actually show up. It was 5pm, you were finishing up on your part of the project. You still had to do his part and then come up with a short little poem because your teacher wanted to make it more sentimental or whatever she wanted.

ni-ki shows up, busted and bruised up. his hair was dishevelled, blood at the corner of his lips, he looked rough. something an 18 year old boy shouldn’t be having, you confused. just as he draws nearer, you notice there was a cut on his cheeks, small drips of blood slowly falling down. you gasp.

“sorry, had some business to attend to.” he says sheepishly.

“this is your business to attend to? why are you so bloodied and bruised up? who did you have a fight with?”

“just some group.” he shrugs. “don’t worry, my older friends were there to help me out. well, it’s not like they really helped.” he mutters the last part.

“uh, well this can’t be some sort of tiny thing. you’re bleeding.”

he reaches to touch his cheek and swipes the blood away. he winces a little and shrugs, “nothing too bad. been through worse. anyways, what’s the part I have to do? feeling a little bad if I don’t help you out a little at least.” you sighed when you noticed the blood he swiped away continued to flow.

“come here.” he tilts his head at your words but still goes over to you.

you made him sit next to you and you took out some antiseptic from your bag. you had one because you usually volunteered at the orphanage and the kids there played quite rough.

“this might sting a little.” you told ni-ki. he sighs and just lets you do whatever it is. you wiped the blood with a wet tissue and then placed the antiseptic on the cut. ni-ki winces.

“while i am curious as to how you got this since it looks like you had a huge fight, I’ll keep my mouth shut.” you placed a bandage on the cut. “there it’s better now. here take this and wipe the other blood that’s dried up on your face.”

ni-ki thanked you quietly. he quickly wipes the blood that you had previously pointed at. “so which part am I supposed to do? also, didn’t the teacher say we have to do a romance novel?” he grimaces at the thought of having to read a romance novel. he was never a fan of romantic things. Sure, he liked cheesy things like matching clothes or matching items but he was too single for that (and still young).

“yeah, it’s some romance novel. from the synopsis, i can tell it’s really similar to ‘Twilight’.” you could hear ni-ki sighing.

“so some vampire romantic novel thing?”

“basically. have you watched ‘Twilight’?”

“no. i don’t have time for movies or series or dramas. i have a busy schedule.”

“sounds…boring but i understand if you have a job and it’s more important than watching a basic show.”

“i-” ni-ki sighs. “we can watch it. well, i can watch it on my own and then read the novel the teacher suggested us to read.”

“alright, we can split it and then summarise the novel with our own thoughts. makes it more sentimental.”

ni-ki nods, “uhh send me a link to the ‘Twilight’ story or something.”

“i don’t have your number.”

ni-ki holds his hand out and you gave him your phone. he quickly types in his number and sends a text.

“there, now i need to go. i have work.” ni-ki doesn’t even bother to wait until you uttered a word, he just leaves. you huffed and looked down at your laptop. maybe you should just stay and complete some work.

TWO

ni-ki entered the Decelis Resort and clicked on the elevator button to the top floor. he was met with his 6 other older friends. each of them huffing and sighing, it seems like they found out something.

“uh, what’s wrong?”

“this.” jungwon shows off the screen on their database. a warning which was basically telling jake about his brother. ni-ki tilts his head.

“isn’t your brother dead a long time ago, hyung?” ni-ki asks jake.

“yeah.” nabi says. her arms were wrapped around jake as she comforts him. right, he forgot they got together already and they aren’t blindly being stupid and not confessing to each other (read: please save ni-ki, he already witnessed two of his hyungs kissing their girlfriend/wife).

ni-ki scrunches his face at the affection that jake’s girlfriend was giving him. just as he looks to look over in the other direction, he witnesses heeseung giving his wife heart eyes. ni-ki has had enough of it, he rolls his eyes.

“why did you call me in, i had a project to do with my partner.” he says.

“oooo project with a partner, who is this partner. is it a girl~” sunghoon teases. ah, the ever so annoying thing sunghoon loved to do with ni-ki, tease him. sunghoon should be thankful that ni-ki could hold back his anger. or else, ni-ki would’ve initiated a war crime on him.

“none.” ni-ki simply says. he folds his arm.

“none what?” sunghoon tilts his head, slightly confused at the short answer.

“none of your business.” ni-ki fires back. sunghoon clenches his jaw and gets ready to swing when jay holds him back. sunghoon practically hisses like a cat as he scrambles to get out of jay’s grip.

“okay okay. calm down.” heeseung claps his hand to get their attention. “we called you back here because while jungwon and jake fix the database, you, sunghoon, jay and sunoo are going out to find the target.”

“old school style?” sunoo asks.

“yeah. since our database is fucked up right now.”

“so…how are we going to do that without the database?” sunghoon asks.

“stakeout. you guys should know what he looks like after i send the photo of him. sunoo and jay will be in charge of ground level. ni-ki and sunghoon take high ground.” heeseung explains.

“what about you, hyung?” jay says.

heeseung turns to look over at his wife and the older boys instantly knew. ni-ki was still clueless until he realised…

“OH MY GOD EWWWW. can’t you leave the baby making for another time? we are literally on a mission.” ni-ki fake gags.

“you guys are on a mission. i can stay back.” heeseung reasons.

“you can fight too, hyung??”

“yeah, no. I wanna stick with my wife, thank you very much.”

“whatever, let’s just start this mission. I’ll just take charge as usual.” jungwon says.

THREE

ni-ki and sunghoon stayed up above while jay and sunoo stuck below. each of them had their own disguises since they were going in old school style. even if it sounded ridiculous but at least nobody would know it’s them.

“you guys going in now?” sunghoon asks.

“yeah, me and sunoo are going in separately to avoid any suspicions.”

“jake hyung says that they are working on getting the app online. if we find the guy without the app then we just strike and kidnap.” sunoo says.

“hyungs, you two are the only ones who have eyes inside. let us know if you need more help, me and sunghoon hyung will come down and help you.” ni-ki says.

“mmm, will do. you guys watch out from upstairs if the client left the building.” jay says.

“got it.”

both ni-ki and sunghoon watched from above the building. what they didn’t expect was for someone to come up behind them and shove them off the side. ni-ki grabbed sunghoon and pushed him closer towards the side of the building’s wall so that sunghoon could catch himself. ni-ki grabs his grappling hook and throws it so sunghoon can catch it. Both of them were eventually ‘safe’ on the side of the building.

“shit, they’re onto us.” sunghoon curses. “you good, ni-ki?”

“yeah, sure. dangling about 656 ft above the ground is totally fine, hyung.” ni-ki sarcastically says. sunghoon rolls his eyes.

“i can just let go of the rope and let you fall, you know?”

“you wouldn’t, hyung. you love me too much in a brotherly way.” ni-ki says.

sunghoon sighs, “yeah whatever.”

“we should find a way back up. those assholes decided to shove us off.” ni-ki says.

“yeah, we should.”

sunghoon taps on his spy earpiece, “heads up guys, I think they’re onto to us. Me and ni-ki just got shoved off the rooftop.”

“so you guys are just dangling at the side of the building?” jay asks.

“yeah, we need to clear the way. sunoo, could you find a way to floor 76? we’re currently dangling beside one of those hotel rooms on that floor. i think someone is occupying this room though.” sunghoon says.

“don’t worry, i’m on my way right now. they don’t call me sneaky sunoo for no reason.”

“nobody calls you that, hyung.”

“shut up, ni-ki.”

“i’ll keep a look out for the mafia leader. he’s probably in the party they have in the small casino of the hotel.” jay says.

“alright, seems like this is the plan we have for now. we’ll meet up after sunoo saves us.” sunghoon adds.

“roger.”

the wind blew onto their hair, ni-ki sighs.

“is it too late to tell my project partner that i won’t be coming to school tomorrow.” ni-ki asks.

“you’re still worried about your project?! we’re dangling off the side of like one of the tallest skyscrapers right now and you’re worried about that?!” sunghoon says as he is bewildered by ni-ki’s words.

“well, i’m still a high school student. i don’t want to fail my classes.”

“when have you ever cared about school.” sunghoon deadpans. ni-ki was about to counter but ultimately shut his mouth.

“you’re right. i hate school.” ni-ki huffs.

“no no wait. we’re not stopping there, tell me why are you suddenly thinking about this? is this about your project partner? because this is my first time hearing you actually want to go to school.”

“no.” ni-ki simply replies.

“don’t just say ‘no’. there is something more to that. are you falling for your project partner?”

“you’re crazy, why would i fall for my project partner. i’m only a high school senior, i’m too young to be falling in love. i’d rather focus on our mission than her.”

“ah, so it’s a her.” sunghoon egged further. though ni-ki couldn’t see sunghoon face, he knew the older was smirking at him, seemingly amused that ni-ki was actually showing some slight unknown feelings.

“the teacher assigned us together, we’re forced to do it. it’s not like i wanted to do this project with her.”

“okay but is this girl at least cute to you?”

“hyung, can we not talk about this?”

“no no. we have time. there are at least 10 rooms on this floor, sunoo will take a long time. tell me if this girl is your type.”

“i am not telling you and also, i don’t have a type.” ni-ki grumbles.

“so, it’s a yes?”

“i’m just talking to her because i am forced to.”

“does she intrigue you in any way?”

“hyung-”

“yo, i am here to save the day.” sunoo opens up the window just enough so that sunghoon and ni-ki could slid through.

both sunghoon and ni-ki climbed through the window quietly.

“how did you get inside the room?” sunghoon whispers.

“simple, the room was occupied by some girls so i just used my sunoo charms and boom they let me in. i told them i’ll be back soon but i’m gonna bolt out of this room after grabbing you guys.”

“the girls don’t appeal to you?”

“oh no, they are just…how do i put this in a nicer term?” sunoo thinks for a split second, “they are way older than me, about 40 years old?”

“ayo?” ni-ki says.

“anyways, we need to get out of here chop chop. i was informed that the system and database is back so we don’t need to stakeout. we can just find and capture the guy with a simple call for backup.” sunoo says.

“great. now, let’s get out of here.”

sunghoon, sunoo and ni-ki snuck out of the hotel room and went to find jay. jay gestures for them to come closer and they went over to him.

he nudges his head to point where the guy stood, “our target is being surrounded by some other innocent people and his bodyguards. we need to find a way to bring them around and away from these people.”

“did you call for backup?” sunghoon asks.

“yeah, they are on the way now. they’ll just clean up whatever mess we’ve done.” jay explains.

“hey umm, guys.” jake says.

“what’s wrong?” sunghoon asks.

“we can see from the security cameras some bodyguards walking to the casino hall. jungwon had eavesdropped into their convo from their walkie talkie. it seems like they’re going to report about sunghoon and ni-ki.”

“shit, we really need to take them down. jay, how about you proceed with sunoo and play a round with our target while me and ni-ki take down those guards.”

“yeah, that works.” jay says.

“perfect, we’ll watch over the security cameras. we’ll report if there is anything else. jay, your men are about 10 minutes away from the location, they’ll come closer after the deal is done.” jake says.

“got it.”

“so? can we go now?” ni-ki asks.

“yeah, let’s go.” sunghoon says.

about 1 hour later, they managed to kick down their bodyguards with no suspicions from other bypassers. both ni-ki and sunghoon locked their unconscious bodies inside the bathroom stall and went to find jay and sunoo. jay flips the coin and it lands on heads, he smirks. he cracks his knuckles and neck.

“showtime.” he mutters.

chaos quickly ensues. everyone was running out of the casino, jay flips his gun and shoots. sunoo slides towards the entrance of the casino and allows all the innocent people out before cooly shutting the doors for all the bad guys. he puts his hands up once he turns around when the henchmen were holding up their guns at him.

“ehem, i suppose you guys have me cornered.” he innocently says. “i suggest you turn around though.” he smirks.

before the henchmen could even turn around, their necks were snapped and they fell to the ground. sunghoon and ni-ki managed to run in time just to help them fight off with jay’s men. ni-ki corners their target in one spot.

“hand over what we want and we’ll let you free.”

the guy laughs maniacally and ni-ki laughs along with him, “no.”

ni-ki stops laughing, “okay then.” with one simple shot, the guy falls to the ground, blood surrounding him. sunghoon winces.

“i can never get over this scene. you’re so brutal and direct with it like no hesitation. at least jay waits for the guy to say something.”

“we don’t wait for people like him and besides, what good is he going to bring us when all he has done is sell personal information, drugs and solicit women.” ni-ki says.

“ni-ki is right though.” jay shrugs. he turns to his men, “anyways, let’s clean this up before police get here. which should be in 15 minutes.”

“10 minutes.” jake corrects them.

“okay thanks.” jay says.

jay pats one of his men's backs, “there isn’t much people this time so it should be easier.”

“there are a few unconscious people in the bathroom. maybe we can use them and turn them into our men.” sunghoon suggests.

“good idea, you heard sunghoon.” jay says. jay’s men nod, they get to work and went to clean up everything while sunghoon, jay, sunoo and ni-ki went back to the Decelis Resort.

FOUR

ni-ki went to school the next day after not getting much sleep. he was barely awake during the whole class, almost dozing off. it’s not like the teachers cared anyways. well, except for you. you had whacked the table to get ni-ki to wake up. he groans and wakes up.

“nishimura, we need to finish up the last bit of the project.”

“do we have to? i’m tired.”

“yes, we do.”

he sighs, “fine but can we do it after school?”

“we have consultations with the teacher right now and we barely have any work done other than my part.” you told ni-ki.

ni-ki deadpans. “and? look, i barely got any sleep last night due to some things in my life and i want to sleep right now.”

ni-ki almost looked too pitiful, you could see the dark circles under his eyes. the way his eyes were slowly about to shut. the slow blinking. which made you feel bad and so you sighed.

“fine, just sleep. i’ll find a way to cover you from the teacher if he asks.” you say.

ni-ki tilts his head. he was surprised to even hear that you’d cover for him. it’s not like the teacher cared so why did you care? either ways, at least he could sleep so he lays his head onto the desk and falls asleep. you sighed and turned away from looking at him. you still had to do something with the project hence you just continued to work on it without him.

about 2 hours later, the class ends. something was off, really eerie. you had went to the bathroom because you know, you had some business to attend to. you were about to turn the corner to the classroom when all of a sudden, someone bumped into you. you apologise but something was weird about them. they didn’t look like a high school student so why were they here?

ni-ki spots this and so he runs over and grabs your wrist. he doesn’t even mention anything, just grabs your wrist and walks. it leaves you confused as to who that guy was. ni-ki turns the corner and stops.

“get to class,” he says.

“umm, who was that?”

“just get to class. i need to settle something. don’t leave and make sure everyone stays inside.” he warns.

“okay?” you say a little confused. ni-ki grabs your shoulder and turns you around before pushing you a little to direct you to go inside the class. he runs off after. you were still confused.

after school, you still hadn’t seen ni-ki and so you were a little worried. of course, any sane person would be worried for their classmate after they disappeared without a trace. which led to you looking for him. not a very smart idea but what could an 18 year old boy do? he may or not be strong enough to fight some people.

there was an alleyway behind the school. dark and scary. you had to pass by it every time you went home. maybe, they were hurting him behind there. it was possible. you had turned to the corner and ducked behind the wall. there ni-ki was with a foot on top of the guy, it seemed like he was on the phone with someone.

“hyung, can you get here quick? this guy called for some backup.” ni-ki sighs. “you want me to settle with possibly 10 more men coming over? wow, for once you aren’t doubting my skills? i’m surprised.”

“no seriously though, find out why they went to find me at my school. this place is filled with innocent people and it would not be great for them to be caught in the middle.”

“no, the guy is knocked out. may want to interview him or something. he seems like he knows some useful info.” he pauses. “i am not carrying him, i’ll look too suspicious and besides, i have a project to work on with my partner.”

your heart races as you hear his words. wait. that makes no sense, you can’t like ni-ki. you shook your head. it was probably just the adrenaline, there were other things that were more important. who was ni-ki calling and why did he sound like he was on some creepy team. what do they call those people.

“what? obviously! we’re the mafia!” ni-ki says.

ah, right. the mafia. that thought flies over your head until you kept repeating it, you froze. ni-ki was part of the mafia? that explains the cuts and bruises he constantly has. why he rarely gets any sleep. why the teacher does not care. he was part of the mafia and the teachers knew about it. this new found knowledge changes your whole perspective of ni-ki. he was not weird, he was in fact a dangerous person who was living a very wild life.

“okay, get here quick.” ni-ki says before ending the call. you had ran away from there. your legs were dragging you somewhere where you had to process everything and maybe get your mind off it. how do you continue working on your project knowing your partner was part of the mafia?

you had finally sat down in the school library. you were trying to comprehend everything. all you knew was that you can’t let anyone know about this and ni-ki can’t know that you know about him. what if you get hunted down? or what if ni-ki tries to hurt you? you could feel a cold shiver run down your spine, your life may be mundane but there was no way this was real. it felt surreal, this was real life and not a spy movie.

there were footsteps approaching you, a deep voice followed by it.

“hey, we still have to complete our project. we should get it done and over with. i have about.” he checks his watch. “30 minutes or so to spend.”

“we don’t have to do it. if you’re busy, we can just text.” you say. ni-ki tilts his head, he grabs the chair in front of you and sits.

“why do you look so scared to talk to me?” his eyes narrowed. you visibly gulped.

“what do you mean? why would i be scared to talk to you.”

ni-ki didn’t believe you, he leans forward. your breath hitches. his face up close, a strand of his brown hair falling right on his face. he once again tilts his head. “tell me.”

you felt the air being knocked out of you. you can’t look at him in the eyes. your face was heating up, this wasn’t good. “no. i’m really fine.”

ni-ki cocks his eyebrows and clicks his tongue, “then you should have time to do this project. we wasted too much time already.” he finally sits back in his seat, leaving you to able to breathe. his phone rings and rolls his eyes, he doesn’t pick it up.

“so what do we have so far?” ni-ki says.

30 minutes turned into 4 hours where you were working on the project with ni-ki. he cooperated really easily. he does the research and everything you ask him to do with ease.

“nishimura riki.” an unfamiliar voice says. you had looked up a guy with silver hair was standing there.

“hyung, what are you doing here?” ni-ki says not bothering to look behind him as he continues to work on the project.

“we called you hundreds of times and you’re here in the fucking library doing school work?”

“it’s a project. it’s due soon.”

“last i heard, it was due in a week.”

“and? me and my partner haven’t done much.”

“oh my god, this is the first time you’re acting like this. is it because you like her?” the silver haired guy points over at you. you blushed. ni-ki looks up at you and then behind him.

“no. sunghoon hyung, you always assume it’s something else.”

“yeah but you hate school.”

“i’ll go back in a bit. just leave.”

the man named sunghoon glares at ni-ki and then looks over at you.

“you have to be careful, remember. they watch our every move.” sunghoon warns.

“yes, i know hyung.”

“i’ll wait in the parking lot. finish this up because we have somewhere to be.” sunghoon says before he walks away. ni-ki sighs.

“is he your guardian?”

“one of them. my parents live abroad, i have 6 other ‘brothers’ who take care of me.” ni-ki nonchalantly says.

“oh.” you would’ve said more but you didn’t want to mention ni-ki's secret life. it was scary.

“i’ll just complete this last part and then we’re done. i believe that’s what we have to do for the project.” you hummed at his words.

ni-ki does as he said he would, finish up the last part and then packs his stuff. he gets up and pauses. “get home safe.” he says before quickly leaving. your heart races.

FIVE

2 weeks passed by quickly. it was just like any typical day at school, lessons for the day and then walking back home. you had walked past that dark creepy alleyway when suddenly, a few people had grabbed you. you were struggling in their grasp, fighting your way out of their arms. you kicked and bit their hands, finally they let go and so you did what was best, you had bolted away from them.

you grabbed your phone and dialed for ni-ki. the phone rings and rings as you ran but he wasn’t picking up. frustrated tears fell down your face. you hated feeling helpless, you weren’t strong enough and these people were fully grown adults. you needed help. out of nowhere, someone grabs your wrist. it was sunghoon, he pulls you over to one of the stores at the side of the road and then went through the staff room before going through the back door.

a van was waiting there. sunghoon opens the door and pushes you inside, he shuts the door and the driver starts driving away. you were panting heavily, you were also sure you’d get a bruise on your legs from being pushed into the van. ni-ki pulls you up so you could sit down properly. he places a jacket on your lap to cover your legs since you were wearing your school skirt. he also unintentionally brings your face closer so he could further inspect you for any bruises on your face.

“are you really sure you don’t have feelings for her?” sunghoon says. ni-ki rolls his eyes before dropping his hands to his side.

“can’t i just be concerned for a classmate who literally got chased by some bad guys? any normal person wouldn’t have to go through this if they didn’t interact with us.”

“yeah, whatever but there is something laced under your actions. what normal guy will hold her face like that? you look like you’re going to kiss her.” sunghoon mentions.

ni-ki’s face was stone cold, he definitely did not like that statement.

“do you really have to say that? I’m seriously just showing concern for a classmate.” ni-ki deadpans. you were staring in between both sunghoon and ni-ki, you didn’t even notice the other guys that were staring at you in confusion.

“so, what are going to do now? it seems like those guys think ni-ki has a love interest which means it’s only going to get worse from here on out.” a blond hair guy comments.

ni-ki sighs, “we need a way to distract them, i am sure her parents are going to be targeted next.”

“my parents…they umm aren’t present in my life…” it went dead silent.

“well, that’s good at least. we don’t have to worry about more people getting hurt-” sunghoon gets whacked by a guy with blond streaks in his hair.

“do you have any sense of awareness? she’s only 18 with no parents and you are thankful we don’t have extra people to get hurt??” the guy with blond streaks in his hair comments.

“it’s alright. i don’t exactly remember my parents much. i was really young.”

“so you’ve been living with your grandparents or something?” the guy blond hair adds.

“yeah. pretty much my whole life- hey, wait how did you know?” you had pointed out.

“idiots.” the guy with blond streak mutters under his breath. he holds out his hand for you to shake. “i’m jay. that idiot over there is jake.” he points to sunghoon, “the other idiot is sunghoon. i’m sorry for their stupidity. they clearly don’t know how to empathise with people.”

“it’s alright.”

“we’re here.”

“oh, right. that’s sunoo.” jay pats sunoo’s shoulder. sunoo playfully rolls his eyes before turning to look at you.

he gives you a smile, “nice to meet you, ni-ki’s girlfriend.”

his words fluster you, you didn’t expect to be addressed like that.

ni-ki shoves sunoo. “could you not call her that? she could be uncomfortable for all you know.”

“she isn’t saying anything or looking too disgusted so it is true. she’s your girlfriend.” sunoo shrugs. ni-ki rolls his eyes as he finds sunoo’s judgement of yours and his relationship to be something completely untrue. sunoo snickers before putting up a straight face.

“annoying fucks.” the one with the cat-like eyes sighs. he holds out his hand for you to shake and you took it. “i’m jungwon. the leader of this little…” he looks towards the others and then back at you, “boy group.” he says, dragging out the last part.

“BOY GROUP!?! we aren’t those pretty fuckers who dance and sing.” sunghoon rolls his eyes. “if anything, i’m stronger than them. they probably can’t lift up a gun if they wanted to. scaredy cats.”

“jeez, what’s gotten you so spicy with the topic of ‘boy groups’.” jay says.

“probably cause they get more bitches screaming their names than he ever has.” jake shrugs.

“damn.” heeseung adds.

sunghoon could only sit there and huff.

“okay, that’s enough.” jungwon pinches the bridge of his nose. “sunghoon, you know how to make plans last minute, what should we do?”

“can’t think of anything right now. all the plans i have in my head involve abandoning her.” sunghoon points to you. ni-ki smacks his hand.

“we can’t leave her.”

“and why?”

“because there could be other ways.”

“like what?” sunghoon folds his arms. “how about you suggest other ways, nishimura.”

all eyes were on ni-ki before he sighs, “since they already think, (name) is my girlfriend. we can take advantage of that and find a way to actually infiltrate their base or at least find out who is responsible for all of this.”

“so…you wanna fake date…her.” jay points to you.

“i-” ni-ki could feel his face heat up. “if you put it that way, sure. i guess.” he looks away so you and the other boys don’t notice the colour of his face change.

“i thought you were the one who said that you didn’t want to you call her your girlfriend? what happened to that?” sunoo deadpans.

“it’s just for the mission.”

“uh huh, the mission…ni-ki you like her don’t you?”

“no. i don’t, i just-” he groans. “i’m only 18, i have never fallen for anyone. why are you expecting me to know what feelings are?”

“he is definitely in love.” jake declares.

“uh, guys…i’m still here.” you say.

just as you opened your mouth to utter another word, the driver stops and announces that they had arrived their destination. you had zero clue where they had brought you to. however, the exterior of the place amazes you. it was huge, beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. there were greenery all over the place.

“welcome to our hotel.” jay says.

“woah. you guys built this place?”

“instructed and led the project. we obviously aren’t made to construct the place because that isn’t our job but yeah, for the most part.”

“it’s pretty.” your eyes trailed around the exterior and beauty of the decor. ni-ki stares at you, you truly looked pretty whenever your eyes twinkled at things you really liked looking at. a smile creeps up but he holds himself back. he couldn’t let anyone see him like this.

“anyways, here are the card to your room.” jay hands you a card. “since the mobsters seem to think ni-ki is your boyfriend, you won’t be able to get home.”

“right but what do i do? i don’t have any of my clothes and other stuff. most of my textbooks are still at home.”

“oh don’t worry about that. i’ll get some people to grab your stuff and we’ll clear it so that you can stay in this hotel safely with our men around.” jay smiles.

you turned to look at the other boys and they didn’t make a single face.

“i get to stay here for free? that’s not possible right? i mean, staying at this luxurious hotel for free doesn’t seem exactly right.”

“you’re right. there is a catch.” jay gets close. ni-ki nearly reaches out to stop him but he stops himself. “help us out.”

“oh, umm. look, i don’t know much about your little scheme. i just know these people you work with just do shady stuff.”

“you’re right, we do shady stuff but it’s not all legal. just…maybe illegal to a certain extent. after all, we do help good people. we don’t kill people unless they’re bad. which is why, you’re safest in our hands.” jay explains.

“alright. what do i have to do?” jay points to ni-ki as soon as you’re done speaking.

“be his girlfriend.” jay simply says.

“WHAT?”

“HYUNG!” ni-ki says. he could feel his ears heating up.

“don’t pretend i didn’t see how jealous you got when i got close to her. plus, it’s for a greater cause. we can use her and bait out those people and then find their boss.”

“but jay hyung.”

“do the others agree with me?” jay asks. the others nodded.

“sorry ni-ki, we just have to use this method. for some odd reason, they wanna use this ‘weakness’ of you having a girlfriend so we can take advantage of that and find out who is behind this.” jungwon says.

ni-ki’s eyes met with yours before he turn to the other boys, “fine but (name) has to also agree. this plan won’t work if she disagrees, i am not forcing her.”

“wow, the ever so gentleman.” sunghoon rolls his eyes. “(name), what do you say?”

you looked in between the boys and ni-ki. there was honestly no other choice, you were already roped into their life and it would only be harder for you if you just disagree. “yeah, i’ll do it. i’ll be…ni-ki’s girlfriend.” you could feel the heat rush to your cheeks as quickly as possible after those words left your mouth.

“ayyy.” jake smacks ni-ki. “ni-ki’s first girlfriend. now lead her to her room, she doesn’t know the place as great as you.” he shoves ni-ki to you.

“you guys know the place as well as me, why do i have to do it?”

“because she’s your girlfriend now, so be a gentleman and do it. besides, you’ll get jealous if we send her to her room.” jake continues to tease ni-ki.

“very funny. i am not jealous.” ni-ki deadpans.

“yeah and i’m ugly.” jake says.

“you are.” ni-ki yells as he grabs your hand and brings you over to the elevator. you could hear jake yelling a string of curses to ni-ki but he only ignores it. he taps the card on the elevator and clicks on the floor. the elevator closes and you were now in a confined space with just ni-ki.

“we have to make our relationship believable to those bad guys.” he turns to meet your eyes. “any suggestions?”

“uh, why are you asking me? I don’t know anything about dating.”

“considering we worked together during the past project, I think you should know more about love than I do. you did finish your part quicker than me.” ni-ki explains.

“yeah but that doesn’t mean I know much about datin-”

“romance is part of dating so, you should know.”

“well, too bad I don’t.” you say. ni-ki sighs.

“fine, I guess I have to follow my hyungs method.” ni-ki walks closer to you and you can’t help but step back. he corners you in the elevator. “we have to make it believable so you better play your role well or else, we won’t be able to get information we need.”

you meekly nodded. ni-ki was towering over you and it couldn’t help but feel small and helpless. after all, who's to say ni-ki couldn’t just i don’t know take out a knife and stab you. then leave you dead in the elevator. finally, the elevator reaches the floor. ni-ki steps back and grabs onto your hand. he easily interlaces it and drags you over to your hotel room.

it was one of the executive lounges so there were only 2 per floor. Hence, ni-ki was assigned to the room that was nearby yours. he stops in front of the large double door.

“this is your room and since you have no clothes. I’ll just lend you some of mine until the hyungs grab your stuff from your house.” he points to the other door on the other side of the hallway. “that is my room. considering I stay here most of the times, that room is off-limits to other people from booking it. if you need anything, just go over. for now, go in and just rest up. i’ll bring my clothes to you so you change into them and not wear our school uniform.”

you nodded. ni-ki hands you the card to your room and he keeps the other card so he could go in easily and possibly protect you if anything happens. he quickly goes to his room to grab a shirt and sweatpants before coming back and handing them to you.

“we have some ball, party thing tomorrow night and so you’ll be going as my plus one. there are a bunch of big media people going there to create a publicity stunt. it will make this whole thing even more believable since you’re with me.”

“okay, what am i supposed to do in the day though.”

“as it’s the weekends, you can just stay here or around the hotel until the party. there is room service just make your order, you won’t need to pay for it.”

“oh-” you hesitated, “but like isn’t it too much…this hotel is fancy looking and high-end…i am sure the food is expensive too.”

he leans down to your height, “it’s free since you are my girlfriend. the staff at the front desk know you’re my girl. you don’t have to worry.”

you felt your face heat up. his girl. a sentence you thought you’d never hear ni-ki say to you. it almost sounded too real, however you knew this wasn’t real. you were only a victim and ni-ki was your protector.

“r-right, it’s late. have a goodnight!” you quickly swiped the card and bolted into your room. leaving the door to shut quite hard. ni-ki snickers.

‘how cute’ he thought. he catches himself and so he shakes off the thought. it was only for a little while, he can’t fall for you. after all, he was a dangerous guy. it would put your life at risk if there was ever anything going on between you and him. that thought kinda made him sad, he frowns before turning around and walking over to his own room.

SIX

at around, 6pm someone comes knocking at your door. you went to peek through the peephole and realised that it was just a hotel staff. you opened the door and they entered with a rack of clothing and a present.

“these are the clothes that Mr.Nishimura hand picked for you.” the staff points to the rack. they hand you the present. “Mr.Nishimura also prepared this for you and told you to wear it for tonight. We will have a makeup artist coming soon to help with the makeup and hair.”

you nodded and the staff left the room. you had opened up the box and pulled out the dress from inside. it falls down perfectly as you hold it up, a beautiful long black dress with ruffles that cuffs around your arm until it reaches just below your shoulder. it was beautiful and it was also paired with a masquerade mask to hide your identity at the ball. the makeup and hairstylist arrives and quickly does your hair and makeup. just as they spun you around to let you look at yourself in the mirror, you were in shock. that was not you. they had tied your hair up in a half up and half down, along with curling the ends in loose curls and even making your curtain bangs look nice.

the doorbell rings, the staff letting ni-ki in. he walks over to you and he pauses in his step when he sees you. you looked beautiful. his heart races, was this love? the boy was completely speechless.

“umm, how do i look?” you had asked ni-ki. his eyes scanned you from head to toe and you blushed under his gaze.

“beautiful. you look beautiful.” he mutters. “let’s go. the older guys are waiting for us. they’re also looking out for the bad guys. security is tight today so you don’t have to worry about getting harmed.”

you nod. “that’s good.” ni-ki holds out his hand for you to take and you do so. he intertwines your hand with his and brings you over to the ball.

just as you entered, cameras start flashing. most likely capturing every part of yours and ni-ki’s arrival because it was it big thing. another member of the Decelis Boys was taken. there were whispers, mumbles and gossips all over the ballroom but ni-ki paid no attention to it as you leads you to where the other boys were.

“nice, the media is going crazy ni-ki. you’ve done it.” jake says.

“now, they’ll probably attack later on so make sure to bring (name) somewhere safe.” jay adds. ni-ki nods.

“you can enjoy your little couple time now. just keep a watch out.” sunoo teases.

“hyung.” ni-ki says. sunoo laughs, he pats ni-ki’s back and the other went their separate way as they split up to cover the ballroom. ni-ki turns to you, “want something to eat? or drink?”

“umm, is there only wine here?”

“i suppose so. hmm, maybe we can eat some nacho chips. i’ll request the waiters to prepare some for us and of course some plain water.” you nod at ni-ki’s words. “I’ll be back in a short while. you’re okay with being alone for a bit right? i need to find the waiter.”

“i don’t mind.”

“that’s good. wait here.” you hummed once more at his words.

right as ni-ki left, someone comes up to you and strikes a conversation. it felt off though, definitely not right like something was about to happen. the guy smirks and hands you a drink that he apparently grabbed from the waiter that had passed by previously. you shook your head and politely rejected it since it was wine and you were still technically a minor here in Korea.

the rejection doesn’t sit well with this guy, he frowns and shoves the glass into your hands and tells you to drink it. thankfully, ni-ki came back on time and shoves the guy away.

“what are you doing to my girlfriend?” ni-ki’s deep voice resonates. the guy wasn’t fazed by it and so ni-ki grabs the glass in your hands before splashing it on the guy’s face. he turns to you and whispers, “run. get to the elevator and click on the penthouse button.” he hands you a card.

you do as he says and left the ballroom. ni-ki taps the bracelet on his wrist. it sends notifications to the other boys. jake and heeseung’s significant other quickly left the place too. jungwon smacks the button on the wall for emergencies. a siren blasts the whole room and it sends everyone in a frenzy. everyone except for the bad guys, ran towards the exit. they stayed and took out their guns, aiming at the boys.

jay and sunoo pulled out their guns and so the battle begins. the bad guys ran towards each of them, but the two boys ducked and shot twice without looking back. jay eyebrows furrowed, this certainly wasn’t going to be a simple fight like back at the hotel.

“they’re stronger now, it seems like whoever is behind this has finally start to slowly show their power and skills.” jay says. sunoo looks down at the weapons and outfit that the guys they shot wore.

“this person is definitely smart.”

“but not smart enough.”

“he could be toying with us, hyung. we need to watch out.” just as sunoo says so, someone tries to attack him. ni-ki slashes his katana right on the guy’s back, saving sunoo and jay. the body falls right beside them.

“i think they’re going to get up to the penthouse. me, sunghoon and jake are going up there. jay hyung, we need more people to get up here.”

“on it. i’ll get some backup.” jay runs off. sunoo nods at ni-ki before he goes to shoot more people. sunghoon, jake and ni-ki went up to the penthouse by a different and secret entrance. once they arrived, it was eerily quiet.

“this definitely does not feel right.” sunghoon says. suddenly, a loud shriek was heard. the 3 of them ran over, only to see you, nabi and eun crouched on the ground with 3 guys cornering the 3 of you.

you had made eye contact with ni-ki, fear evident in your eyes and it makes ni-ki mad. something switched inside him and all that was left was anger. the red vision covering his eyes. he spins his 2 katanas and charges forward easily slashing two of the people. the last guy tries to fight him but couldn’t as ni-ki easily stabs the guy right in the middle. the guy falls to the ground. jake and sunghoon the whole thing with their jaw dropped.

ni-ki turns back to them, the blood right all over his shirt and some on his face.

“guard the elevators and get more people here. check up with the others downstairs. we may need to move. they found our little hiding spot here. i’ll move the girls to the garage since they have no idea where it is.”

with not a single word uttered, jake and sunghoon quickly left. they’ve never seen this side of ni-ki before and honestly, it scared them quite a bit. after they left, ni-ki checks up on you. his eyes softened.

“are you okay?” he asks.

“yeah, just startled. i didn’t expect this to happen. i thought, i was going to die.” ni-ki pulls you into a hug.

“don’t worry, you have me. i’ll protect you…always.”

it was quite a romantic moment, even nabi and eun were shocked to hear this come out from ni-ki. they didn’t expect him to be so kind-hearted towards a girl. after pulling back from the hug, “we should get going.we don’t have much time before they send more people up here.”

ni-ki leads you, nabi and eun to the secret elevator which led to the garage. it was definitely safer around here and there even was backup. there was a loud slam to the door after the rest of the boys poured in. jake and heeseung ran up to their significant other and hugged them. there were small whispers of sorry’s amongst the both of them as they tried to calm down their girls.

“well, this resort is fucked. we have to move somewhere else.” jay says.

“we could move to this resort near the airport. whoever is charge most probably won’t know that we own it.” sunoo suggests.

“we should move there. if don’t move there now, the innocent people staying here will be hurt.” heeseung adds.

“that means we need to divert the attention of the reporters right now.”

“but what could we possibly use to divert their attention from?”

“i think we could use a distraction of love. like ni-ki and (name).” nabi says.

“but everyone already knows (name) is my girlfriend.”

“oh, no hesitation-” jay whacks sunghoon.

ni-ki wraps his arm around your waist, “yeah, no hesitation because she is my girlfriend.”

“holy shit.” jungwon’s jaw drops.

“i’ll give the reporters some scoop about mine and (name)’s relationship details.” ni-ki says.

“but we- aren’t we fake dating?” you looked up at him.

“not anymore.” he simply says.

you could feel your face warm up at ni-ki’s words.

“i’ll tell them that you’re mine and i like you a lot.” ni-ki says.

“damn, ni-ki with the rizz?” jake says.

jake and jungwon gets notified of the police cars and reporters driving to the resort.

“you have to get ready quickly, ni-ki change your clothes and then we need to delete their memories of the fight that happen and organise the place quickly. hurry!”

all of them had quickly done their parts. with one large bright flash of light in the resort, everyone forgets the fight that happened. jay’s men quickly cleans up the place and pretends to escort the affluent towards the hall as if nothing happened before. the place was lively again.

when the police and reporters arrived, it was strange. someone filed a report that there had been a gang trying to tear Decelis Resort apart but the police didn’t see anyone fleeing in terror. they tried to look for the very person who filed the report but when they did, the person seemed confused and didn’t know what they were talking about. they simply just brushed it off and left. of course, the reporters were more nosy then the police they had to figure out what was going on.

that is exactly when ni-ki and you walked towards them, giving them free information about your newfound relationship. the reporters left happily as they could use this huge scoop for their headlines. just as ni-ki got ready to leave with you to meet up with the others. someone taps his shoulder and hands him something.

“this fell out from somewhere i think that waiter over there dropped it. you should really discipline your staff from throwing litter on the ground.”

it was a strange object, something a waiter should not be harbouring.

“thank you for the feedback but mind your language when you’re speaking to one of the founders and this resort.” ni-ki’s tone was laced with venom. the guy nods.

he carefully makes his way to the garage again and hands the item to jake. it cracks open the moment jake touches it.

‘kinda pathetic to wipe their memories don’t you think? it’s a one in a lifetime for those elites to experience such a scare. they should think twice when pushing around people who aren’t rich.’ - a voice recorded message.

“whoever this is definitely doesn’t like rich people.”

“and they used a voice modulator. it’s not their voice. we should run a test at the other resort.” jungwon says.

“yeah, whoever this is…we have to find them. our families are in danger.” sunghoon says.

ni-ki turns to look at you, “are you coming with us?”

“of course, i have to but you have to teach me how to fight. i want to help you guys out. this person will probably take more precautions now.” ni-ki holds your hand and squeezes it.

“that means we will have to miss some of school.”

“is school really our priorities right now when we are being chased by some evil dude?”

“she makes it a point there.” jungwon says.

“alright, we’ll be a team. my girlfriend.” ni-ki shyly says.

this emits groans from the rest of them with how cheesy it was.

“we will, boyfriend.” you could only smile up at him.

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asterias-record-shop · 19 days

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moan our name (p.p. (t.h.) & p.p. (a.g.))

(No forgotten memories, Peter 1 isn’t with MJ, Peter 3 is with you, never got with Gwen — in Peter 1’s world you’re this college girl he has a crush on.) When experimenting with a Sling Ring you found with your boyfriend, you couldn’t believe it when you both fell into a portal in another Spider-Man’s room. — 1.3k words

“Babe, I thought you said you weren’t going to keep messing with that thing?”

Peter was concerned for you, mainly because he was worried about your safety. He really didn’t want you to fall through a portal with no way to get home like he did.

“I’m just trying…” you muttered, humming softly as you attached a clip to it. “To see if it’s a conductor.”

Peter snorted as he came behind you, letting his arms wrap around your torso, softly pressing kisses to your temple. “Why do you need it as a conductor, baby?”

“To see if I can put its powers into something like a bracelet or something,” you muttered in response, heavily focused until it blitzed slightly. You gasped when it did so, and Peter jumped slightly as flickers of gold started to pour out through the ring, proceeding to sink down into some sort of ring-like portal.

“Son of a bit-”

Peter didn’t get to finish before you both fell down what seemed to be a portal like when Peter fell through one a few months ago and helped save another universe. Peter quickly uses his powers to shoot a web at you, pulling you into his chest and twisting so he makes impact with the floor instead of you.

He grunted as you looked around, inhaling as you sat up in his lap, letting your eyes trail the posters in the high apartment that seemed as though it cost more than all of Peter’s lab. “Where are we?”

Peter looks around, sighing thankfully. “Oh thank fuck.”

“What? Peter, where are we?” You asked as you slowly stood up, helping your boyfriend up as he softly kissed your head.

“We’re on the other Peter’s earth,” he mumbled into your hair, thankful that you were okay. “Remember I told you about him?”

You swallowed, about to nod before someone yelled.

“Peter 3!”

Your boyfriend pulled away, smiling when he saw the other brunette. “Peter 1!”

He was about to give your boyfriend a hug before he noticed you, his face immediately flushing. “Y/N?!”

Peter 3 paused, looking from Peter 1 from you to Peter. “You have a Y/N here?”

Peter 1 swallowed, nodding — he had literally just got off to the thought of you. Well, his you.

“Oh, you’re Peter 1!” You said as you stepped forward, offering your hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you! My Peter has told me all about you.”

Your Peter grinned when you called him ‘my Peter,’ watching as you stepped forward to greet the other Peter. Still, Peter 1 was shocked when you touched him, the firm shake of your hand making his jaw go slack.

“This must be Tony Stark’s empire you took over,” your Peter said as you stepped back, face scrunching slightly.

“Who’s Tony Stark?”

“His… dad, I believe,” your Peter said as you looked around. “We don’t have a Tony Stark. Or, a famous one at least.”

“Wait! Do they have Goblin?” You asked as you turned around, almost as though you needed to prepare before your Peter laughed as he walked over to you.

“You don’t have to worry, baby,” he whispered, softly kissing your lips as Peter 1 looked away, putting his hand over his groin area to try and hide himself from getting hard again. Your Peter noticed this, smiling as he pulled away and looked over at Peter 1.

“You mind if we crash here? Until we figure out how to get back,” he hummed as he softly brushed his hand down your back. “My darling girl was trying to put the ring’s power into some bracelets.”

Peter 1 nodded frantically. “Y-Yeah, of course,” he whispered, swallowing. “I’ll call Dr. Strange so he can get you both back.”

Your Peter grinned as you yawned into his chest. “Thanks, kid.”

Peter 1 was upset. Very upset.

For one, you were even nicer than he could ever imagine – and he hated it.

For two, you both were stuck here until the wall between the worlds were thin enough again.

For three, the walls in the Stark Tower were thin with his enhanced hearings. Very, very thin. So much so that he was jacking himself off everytime you both had sex, just like he was doing right now.

He knew you were on your third orgasm. Peter 3 had barely just came, and you were about to cum, but Peter 3 knew just what he was doing.

“Come on baby, come on… moan my name, moan my name baby,” he groaned, the squelching of your pussy bouncing off the walls. He could only imagine how wet you were, the wet thrusts matching his pace of Peter 1 pumping his cock.

He had came just as many times as you had, mainly because he was so desperate to fuck you. What kind of coincidence was it that Peter 3 and you were together?

The thought made him pump his fist faster. He couldn’t stop, he was so so desperate to feel you.

“P-Peter, Peter!” You wailed, sobbing as you threw your head back, the bed continuing to slam into the wall. “I-I’m going to cum!”

Your Peter laughed. “Aw baby, you’re such a good girl… keep moaning my name, moan our name…”

That made Peter 1s eyes fly open.

Oh, he truly knew what he was doing.

It didn’t take Peter 1 long to get up, not even covering his cock as he walked through the halls and banged on the door.

“Ah, took him long enough, my darling…”

“Fuck you!” Peter 1 yelled, not even waiting for Peter 3 to open the door because he knew damn well he wouldn’t pull out of you – because Peter 1 wouldn’t either – stepping inside and stripping his clothes.

“W-We had a bet,” you giggled tiredly, inhaling. “Peter already stretched me out from behind.”

So that’s where he was fucking you earlier.

And so, Peter 1 wasted no time walking toward the bed before your Peter fixed the position of both of you, pulling you into his lap, spreading your legs with his thighs. “Like hell I was going to let you fuck her pretty cunt.”

To be completely honest, Peter 1 would take whatever he could get.

So he kneeled behind you, slowly steadying himself before snapping his hips forward to push into your ass. A loud wail left your lips, your teasing finally biting you in the ass as both Peter’s slowly started to fuck into you in sync.

Peter 1s thrusts were a lot more unsteady, almost as though he was still questioning what was going on, but your Peter’s thrusts were strong and rough.

He looked so pretty under you, sweat dripping down his temple as Peter 1 slowly fucked you from behind, moaning loudly as he kissed your shoulder blade. He was starting to get rougher, and the fact that two men were fucking you at now very different paces made your mind blur as their hands roam your body.

At this point, you truly were just a toy for them – and they were determined to use you like that.

“Come on baby, does it feel too good that you’re silent? Huh? Make some fucking noise,” your Peter basically snarled as his teeth graze your jaw, but that’s truly what you were feeling – you felt so good that you could barely make any noise, only with your mouth agape.

A soft sob fell from your mouth as you finally gave into your pleasure, your mouth wide open as you started to groan loudly. Your stomach felt like it was being penetrated, but it didn’t hurt at all, or you didn’t register that it was hurting.

Their hands squeezed and groped your body, their lips kissing every inch of your skin as you let out another sob. “Fuck, fuck! I-I gotta cum, I need to cum, please let me cum!”

Both Peters basically laughed in unison, a groan falling from your Peter's lips.

“Cum. We have until that portal gets figured out to fuck you.”

I do not ever give consent to my work being published on other platforms or being translated at any point, even if it is a request. If my work is on any other platform, it’s without my permission. Your media consumption is not my responsiblity.

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arlana-likes-to-write · 2 months

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Second Chance - Chapter 10

Masterlist

Warnings: mention of drinking and drug use, jealously, angst, italicized are text messages

Word Count: 4.1k

Relationships: Yelena x reader, Tony x reader (platonic)

It was a feeling Yelena wasn’t used to. Doubt. She was a Black Widow, trained to survive and overcome torture. She and her sisters could entire countries to bring down empires and start wars. They were trained to be the best, and Yelena was. But why was her anxiety spiking, her thoughts racing, and her stomach turning to knots just by looking at the brief conversations between you and her? She rewrote the message a hundred and one times, but nothing sounded good enough. With the time difference, Yelena knew you would be sleeping, especially with the late-night adventures you and your friends partook in. The blonde liked receiving the pictures you sent her. So she wanted to draft a message for you to wake up to, but why was it so difficult? “You know,” Val sat beside her with a protein bar. “Starring at a screen for a long period can cause eye strain which could lead to headaches,” Yelena rolled her eyes and took the breakfast bar the warrior offered her. “Come on, talk to your king.” Yelena scuffed, shaking her head. She never spoke to anyone about this. She was ignoring her sister and Wanda and snapping at Kate for the teasing comments. There were no words to describe what she felt when it came to you. She never felt this way before. The way her life was, she never had the time.

“There is this girl,” Yelena spoke slowly.

“Awe, young love,” the warrior teased, cutting Yelena off. “I remember mine like it was yesterday. It was-”

“You know what, if you are going to tease me like everyone else, then I won’t tell you,” she stood up to leave, but Val grabbed her hand and forced her to sit back down.

“Whoa, pump the breaks. I do want to help, but first eat that because you’re hungry, and I hate dealing with your sister when she hasn’t had food,” Yelena tried to fight her lips from curling up but failed as she opened the bar and took a bite. “So tell me, what’s going on? Who is it?”

“It’s Stark’s kid,” Yelena answered. “The one who is sick,” she refused to say ‘the one who is dying’ because she had to believe you would get better. “I feel drawn to her and don’t know what to do.” When she glanced at Val, the warrior was looking forward. She was watching Carol interact with one of the families affected by the missing people. There was a soft smile on her face, a kindness in her eyes. A slight pang of jealousy rushed through the blonde, but she pushed it away. “How do you do it?”

“Do you love her?” Val asked, looking back at her. She was a little startled by the straightforward question. What was love? She was told love was for children, a distraction, a way to make you weak and vulnerable to manipulation.

“Love is-” her voice trailed off.

“Complicated. Messy. Hard. Scary,” Val finished her sentence. “But also rewarding, fulfilling, and a lead of faith,” the warrior sat back on the couch and crossed one leg over the other. “Do you want the chance to be with her even though she could die?” It was like a boa constrictor wrapped around her throat. Death was a concept Yelena knew well; it surrounded her daily. Her biological parents were no doubt killed by the Red Room. She had no memories of them, but their death led her to Natasha, Alexei, and Melina, and they filled that role. In the Red Room, death was everywhere. As Alexei once said, she was the best child assassin the world had ever seen. Death followed her when she worked for Valentina, and even now, she works with the Avengers. Her hands were covered with blood that she wasn’t sure would go away.

But your death sent shivers down her body at the mere thought of it. It was unfair and cruel that the universe gave this disease to a kind and nice person. She cursed the serum that ran through her veins; she would give it to you in a heartbeat if it meant saving your life.

However, it wasn’t a guarantee that the disease would kill you. Everyone was destined to die one way or another. You could survive the treatment, be cleared as cancer-free, and get into an accident the next day. So, was the idea of you dying holding her back, or was it the vulnerability of opening up to someone outside her family? It was pathetic. She shouldn’t be scared of you. She was a Black Widow, a part of the Avengers. Even though she was those things, she was damaged, scared, and broken beyond repair. There was already a lot going on for you; it was unfair for Yelena to add her problems.

“I don’t think I deserve her,” Yelena answered.

“Did someone say that to you, or is that what you think?” Yelena refused to answer. “This life we choose to live is very lonely. We fight, put our lives on the line to keep others safe, and sometimes our best isn’t good enough,” she continued. “It can be exhausting, but I’ve learned that leaning on someone helps.”

“What if she doesn’t feel the same?” Yelena whispered. Even though America said you felt the same, it was impossible for the fear of rejection to find a home in Yelena’s mind.

“That’s the leap of faith part,” Val said, smiling. “She may catch you, or the ones around you will.”

“Guys,” Yelena looked in the direction of Maria’s voice. “We got a lead. Meeting in 5 minutes.”

“Duty calls,” Val sighed, stood up, and walked over to Carol. Yelena watched her as she wrapped her arms around Carol’s waist and rested her head on her back. The captain rested her hand on Val’s arms but never stopped her conversation with Steve. She sighed and once again found herself staring at the text conversation. Val called it a leap of faith. A leap of faith.

‘Hey,’ Yelena started to text. ‘We got a potential lead of the mission.’ She sent.

‘Not sure how often I’ll be able to text you, but I’ll be safe.’ Again, she sent the message. ‘I’ll keep an eye out for your old man too. Even though he’s a pain in my ass.” She had to add a joke; it was in her nature.

‘Good morning, by the way, lol,’ she wished her hands would stop shaking. ‘Enjoy your time with your friends, and I’ll text you when I can.’ She added a smiley face and locked her phone.

Maybe it wasn’t a leap of faith. Hopefully, it was a leap in the right direction.

“Oh my god,” Chelsie groaned. “Can you stop staring at your phone and help me pick an outfit?”

“Shit, sorry,” you dropped your phone on your open sketchbook. “I was,” your friend had a teasing smirk on her face. It was a clear giveaway that she wasn’t mad at you. “She hasn’t texted me back yet. Sorry, it’s stupid, but I’m worried.” Worried for your friend? Your friend who happened to be a superhero.

“She’s probably busy saving the world,” Chelsie turned back to face her closest. “She said she would text you when she could, so don’t stress about it.” Right, easier said than done. When you woke up this morning, you were surprised to find a few texts from her, especially a good morning text. A simple two-word text made your stomach flip; it was a message you haven’t received since college. But the bubbly feeling soon passed with anxiety due to now knowing what Tony and the others were facing. You weren’t sure how Pepper and those back at the tower could do it. The waiting. The uncertainty. You were about to have a panic attack. “Here,” you had enough time to catch the long leather jacket. “Put that one with these,” she threw a few clothing pieces at you. They hit you in the face.

“Excuse me,” you said, looking at the pile of clothes in your lap. “What are you talking about?”

“You are going to be a part of this shot,” she raised her hand to stop your protest.”You need a distraction, and what better way to look and feel hot for your girl.”

“She isn’t my girl,” Chelsie shrugged.

“Technicalities,” she smiled. “Go shower, put on some makeup, and get changed. We leave in 40 minutes.” You groaned, throwing your head back. There was no use trying to argue out of it; besides, it could be a good distraction.

Delete Created with Sketch.

“Stop moving,” Austin said, applying a few finishing touches to your makeup. Since you were a last-minute addition to this photo shoot, you had to wait till everyone else was done. Waiting wasn’t something you were good at, especially when you wore a black dress and knew high black boots. You swore every pair of eyes were on you. You huffed but relaxed as you felt a makeup brush on your eyelid.

“Sorry,” you mumbled. “I’m anxious.”

“Don’t be,” you heard the smile in his voice. “Raymond will make you look hot. Not like you need more help with that.” You fought the urge to roll your eyes, not wanting to get yelled at again. “Perfect, and just in time because he’s ready for you.” Ryan had to push you towards the photographer since your feet refused to move. He was messing with the settings on his camera but looked up when you got closer.

“Ah, our last model of the day. Raymond Mulrooney,” he extended his hand, and you shook it. “A friend of Chelsie is a friend of mine. Is this your first time in front of a camera?”

“It’s been a minute,” you admitted and walked against the chain link fence they used as a backdrop. The last time you were part of a photo shot was before your diagnosis, before the car accident. Your mom had a picture in her wallet. So you began to pose. You were a little stiff, nerves getting the better of you. You felt exposed, vulnerable in the face of the lens and each passing moment seemed to amplify your anxiety.

“Hey,” you felt a hand on your arm. Raymond was talking to Chelsie, so you looked at who approached you. “My name is Aria.”

“Hi,” you smiled. She was wearing black jeans with a fitted white long sleeve. Over that was a blue button-up and a gold chain. Her hair was curly, down to her shoulders, and she had a black beanie. She was pretty, and if you were at a different part of your life, you would ask for her number.

“You’re nervous,” she said. “Shake away the nerves.” You hummed in question. She grabbed onto your hands and began to shake your arms. The action caught you off guard, but her smile was infectious, and you smiled and laughed alone with her. “See, much better,” you felt better, a lot lighter. “Mind if I join you for a couple of photos, pretty girl?”

“Uh, sure,” your voice shook of it’s on accord. Aria was fun, and she made the shot entertaining, whispering funny jokes that made you smile and laugh. Even Raymond loved the poses she put you in. Her arms around you. Bodies pressed against each other. Aria was pretty, but you couldn’t help but wish her arms were someone else. You wished it was a certain Black Widow. What would her arms feel like around you? Your body is close to hers. Even when Aria pressed her lips against your cheek, you wished it wasn’t hers.

You tied the bathroom rope around your waist. It was nice to shower after a long day. Your phone buzzed that was charging on the nightstand. There was no way to stop your heart from skipping, and anticipation filled your stomach. But it wasn’t a text message from Tony or the Black Widow. Since you were alone, there was no need to mask your disappointment when it was an email from the photographer today. “Damn,” you whispered. He worked fast, but that was the nature of the industry. Book a job. Complete it. Move on to the next. If you even think about slowing down, you will lose your next opportunity to someone else. The photos he took of you were edited slightly; a filter he had no doubt had pre-saved was on them, and sent to you. You expected nothing less since you hadn’t paid him. He owed Chelsie a favor. Still, the pictures were stunning.

“Why aren’t you dressed yet?” You looked up from your phone, raising a questioning eyebrow at Chelsie. She wore a black dress like you wore in the photo shot but shorter and more skin-tight. “We are going out.”

“Chels,” you groaned.

“There is no room for dis. This is your last night, and, and we don’t know when you’ll return back. So we are meeting the group for dinner then going to a small party,” you huffed, falling to your back. You needed to leave in the morning to get settled before your doctor’s appointment, which meant confronting Tony and Pepper. However, you weren’t a fan of spending your last night in DC in a cramped, sweaty house like your college days. Chelsie tapped your thigh, and you forced yourself up, leaning back on your arms. “Hi,” her smile formed at the pout on your face. “1 hour, maybe 2 at this party, then we can leave.”

“Who will be at this party that you want to see so badly?”

“A friend,” you smirked at the blush that covered her cheeks and chest. “A good and hot friend.” You rolled your eyes and stood up to join her in her closet.

“If you need my help getting laid,” you hit your hip against hers. “That’s all you had to say.” She flipped you off.

“I hate you,” you giggled.

“I’m too lovable to hate.”

You were happy that you brought ibuprofen to dinner as an annoying ache began to grow in your bones. Michelle had their arm lopped around yours. You hated how much you were leaning against her. Jeffrey was their other side while the three of you trailed behind Chelsie, Kandis, and Ryan. “Are you okay, Picasso?” Michelle whispered. You nodded.

“Just a little tired,” you answered.

“You didn’t have to come,” Jeffrey said. “I think we could handle Vogue.”

“No one can handle her,” you deadpanned, causing your two friends to laugh, but you knew if you stayed in, not even a movie could calm your thoughts. There was still no text from the blonde. However, Tony texted you advising he was okay and wasn’t seeing action. You wondered if he messaged you because of your panic call with Pepper when you went to the bathroom at the restaurant. If he wasn’t seeing action, who was? Kate? America? Wanda? Blondie? You were at your wits end with no word from her.

As a man hit your shoulder, a jarring impact pulled you out of your thoughts. The pain radiated through you. “Hey, jackass,” Jeffrey called out. “Watch where the fuck you are going.” The mysterious figure never looked back and continued on his way. You rubbed your shoulder and stared at the man’s back.

“What was that about?” Kandis questioned. Jeffrey’s yelling must have gotten the attention of the others.

“Just some idiot not paying attention,” you told her. The pain was going away, but you knew a bruise would most likely form. “I’m good, guys, I promise,” your friends gave each other a hesitant look. “Come on,” you laced your fingers with Chelsie. “Let’s go to this party.” Since your cancer treatment, you have been sensitive to smells. Even before you found yourself associating scents with people. Chelsie was cinnamon and vanilla. Ryan smelt of paint fumes. All of your friends were different but so did them. So that man passed you smelt of motor oil and copal, a woody fragrance used in spiritual ceremonies and often used by indigenous people of Mexico and Central America. Why was that odd combination so familiar to you?

Yelena rubbed her eyes with her free hand that wasn’t giving her coffee. It had been wild, with a quick undercover mission that required her and Wanda to be kidnapped and rescued by the rest of the team. The bad guys were caught, and Maria, Steve, and her sister were on clean up. She could not wait to be back in the city. She missed her bed, her shower, and most importantly you. The fact she missed you didn’t worry or scare you. She was toying with asking you to join her in Central Park or maybe Bryant. The zoo would be fun too with all the animals you could draw. Yelena needed a quiet moment with no pepping eyes from her team to text you.

American and Kate were sitting on the couch. They were nursing their cup of coffee. She had a feeling that Valkyrie would send Tony a bill for all the caffeine the team consumed. The archer turned her head as the sound of Yelena’s footsteps grew closer and slammed her phone down, the screen pushed into the cushions to conceal whatever she was looking at. The action caused Yelena’s eyebrows to rise to her hairline, and she sat in the space. “That was weird, Kate Bishop, even for you,” Yelena said, taking a slow sip of her coffee. “That was weird, right?” The blonde asked America, who was staring at her girlfriend.

“Extremely weird,” Kate cringed a her tone.

“What’s on your phone that you do want me to see?”

“It’s nothing,” Yelena sat back, crossing one leg over the other, and waited for the lie Kate was crafting in her head. The archer stared forward, but Yelena saw her blue eyes glance her way. “Stop looking at me like that.” The blonde smirked. She knew she was intimating. It was why when the Avengers needed to interrogate someone, Yelena or Natasha were sent it. It was a running competition between the two sisters on who could get them to break faster. Yelena was winning by 45 seconds. “Okay, okay,” Kate sighed. “We were Instagram stalking her friends.” Yelena sat up straighter at the mention of you. “Someone posted a picture of her that wasn’t part of her core group.”

“Are you going to show me it or…?” Kate looked at America for confirmation, but she shrugged. The archer handed Yelena her phone. Instagram was opened to a profile of a name she had not known or cared to find out. The model’s most recent post was two pictures. The photographer posed you and her with your arms around her waist, looking at each other. There was a warmth in your eyes as you smiled at the girl, and the genuine joy reflected on her face pierced through Yelena like a dagger. She swiped to the second photo. The model’s lips were against your cheek, and your arms were draped around her neck. Her fingers tightened around Kate’s phone, nails digging into the device as she tried to erase the images.

Rationally, Yelena knew it was nothing more than a photo shoot, a scene staged by someone behind the camera. Rationally, she knew the way you looked at her was acting. The kiss on your cheek meant nothing. These moments captured were probably the first time you and her met. It was the nature of being creative. All her rational thoughts went out the window when jealousy filled her chest and blinded her sight. The deadly emotion was poisonous. She was ready for it to consume her. However, the emotion was quick to leave. A surge of conflicting emotions swirled within her—disappointment, envy, and a pang of insecurity. She couldn’t help but compare herself to the girl in the photo, questioning what made her so special.

“Lena,” Kate’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she forced a mile. “Why wouldn’t I be?” She handed her friend her phone back. The buzz of her watch reminded her to start her report. Perfect. She thanked her past self. “I have some stuff to do before we leave. Maybe we can watch a movie on the way back.” She quickly stood up and walked towards the room she used. Locking the door behind her, she could hear her heart beating against her ribs. Why was she feeling like this? You weren’t hers. You could kiss, love, and give your heart to anyone. It meant nothing to her.

She sat on the bed and pulled out her phone. She was angry, jealous, and upset, but she promised you a text. She never was one to break her promises. ‘Back and safe.’ Simple. It was all she could muster.

The sound of the bass vibrated through your bones. It was a pleasant hum as you were sandwiched between Kandis and Austin on a couch. The smell of alcohol and weed tickled your nose. You refused whenever someone tried to pass you a joint or a red solo cup. A game of King’s Cup was happening around you, but you were unsure how they could hear over the music. Your phone vibrated in your pocket, and your heart skipped when you took it out. Back and safe. Back and safe. It was strange how a simple two-word text lifted all your worry and stress away. “I’ll be right back,” you said to Kandis, not waiting for a response. You found a window that leads to a fire escape. The cool air caused goosebumps to form on your skin. A quiet sigh left your lips as the closed window blocked the music from the party.

‘I’m glad you’re safe,’ you typed. ‘I’ve been anxiously waiting for your reply.’ Maybe it was a little forward, but it was the truth. You saw that she read the message, but no dots appeared, singling that she was responding. Frowning, you typed out another message. ‘When will you be returning to the city? I leave tomorrow morning.’ Again, she read it, but there was no response. Was it something you said before that made her act like this? Quickly rereading the conversation, you found nothing. Maybe you were overthinking it. She was done with a mission, and she was tired. It wasn’t you. ‘Glad you are safe Blondie. Get some rest.’ This time, your message went unread.

You locked your phone and stared at the city you used to call home. It was strange, this feeling that bubbled in your chest. You felt trapped between this city and New York. Both places weren’t home. You haven’t felt at home since the accident, since the person who was home to you was ripped away.

You whipped away your tears. Mindlessly opening up your phone and pressed call. “Hi,” he answered on the first ring.

“Tony, hi,” you whispered. “I’m sorry I called. I know you’re probably busy, but I needed to make sure you’re okay. I can-”

“It’s okay,” he cut off your nervous rambling and heard movement on the other side. “I’m glad you called.” The sound of a door shut behind him. “Are you okay? You sound like you’ve been crying.”

“I’m-” it felt stupid to lie. “I was thinking about Mom and the car accident, so I think that’s why I called you.”

“I’m fine, no injuries.”

“And the rest of the team?” You questioned. The way he sighed made your throat tighten up.

“Minor injuries,” he said. “Sam has a pretty nasty bruise, Natasha twisted her ankle, and Maria had her shoulder dislocated.” You let out a shaky breath, nodding her head. “Tell me what else is going on, butterfly,” you made a surprise squeak; the sound came from the back of your throat. “Do you like that one?”

“Yeah,” you whispered. “Yeah, I do.” You had no energy to tell him that was a nickname your mom called you. It took a moment to collect yourself. “I’m sorry,” you told him. “About the conversation we had before you left. I’m sorry,” you ran your hand over your head and covered your eyes.

“There is no need to apologize,” he said. “We’ll-we’ll figure it out,” the stutter in his voice broke your heart. “If you won’t use Morgan’s bone marrow or continue with Plan B, we’ll figure it out.”

“Okay,” you whispered.

“We’ll probably be back before you. We can talk more than,” you nodded, knowing he couldn’t see you. “You are a Stark. We don’t back down from a fight,” a smile graced your lips.

“Right,” you said. “Safe travels.”

“Same to you,” you hung up and stared at your hands. You are a Stark. His DNA ran through you. You are a Stark, and Starks never backed down from a fight, but it seemed easier to give up.

Taglist: @likemick, @averagetmblrusser, @wandaromamoff69, @simpforyelenabelova, @cd-4848,

#second chace #yelena belova x reader #yelena belova x you #tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stark x reader

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kazukazuhas · 9 months

Text

˗ˏˋ ꒰ 💌 ꒱ old friends, lloyd garmadon.┊ ˚➶ ｡˚ ☁️

˗ˏˋ ꒰ 💌 ꒱ act two ;; scene three┊ ˚➶ ｡˚ ☁️

୧ ⎯⎯ RECAP

୧ ⎯⎯ WARNINGS ;; one (1) suicide joke ;; mentions of ill treatment // discrimination ;; unspoken trauma ;; ninjago lore but it’s vague asf ;; some pining

୧ ⎯⎯ NOTES ;; so, this is more on the filler chapter side of this but this breakdowns down the lore of this au too! (that an i need a filler before i drop some twists <33) +skylor's verified for the hell of it (because she runs the noddle empire–)

୧ ⎯⎯ PREVIOUS ┊MASTERLIST┊NEXT

୧ ⎯⎯ 2 IMAGES ;; TEXT ;; 1 IMAGE [CLICK FOR BETTER QUALITY]

finally, you flop down onto your bed with a relieved sigh, burying your face into the sheets of the slightly cold blankets and humming happily. finally, that sad week in the hospital passed –though it only passed so quickly was because of lloyd bugging you for most of it (with the occasional appearance of another one of your new friends, and several video calls from your parents and friends back at home). maybe it wasn’t so sad when that ball of sunshine– lloyd was around.

so far you’ve learnt many things about this city (and surprisingly you were somehow ignorant to all of some of it’s sometimes worldwide news).

there were literally ninja superheroes, one of which –the green one– saved your ass from being robbed and injured, worst case killed. they had been around for several years at this point and did multiple patrol runs daily. not only did they stop major threats, they helped out in the community.

the secret ninja force; named by the public such because the ninja are incredibly secretive about their personal lives and identities (which was called for because they are superheroes), consists of six people.

the green ninja is the leader with some weird green power. the water ninja is one of the two tech heavy heroes in the city, having a close resemblance to a samurai while having that ninja aesthetic. the blue (or lightning) ninja earned his title as the human –are they even human?– plasma ball; while the earth ninja could probably throw a whole building at someone. they earned the title of the strongest. the white ninja (a nindroid?) is the master of ice, and probably the most deceiving of them as one of the sweetest people; albeit a little morally grey, you’ll ever meet despite the cold presence he has. then the red ninja is the most open one of the lot, the master of fire and swords –hey, there's a lot of skill before his wielding.

the ninja also had a goddamn flying ship named the destiny’s bounty.

there’s also samurai x, having the largest panel of debate on whether they’re a guy or lady. they’re the other tech heavy hero in ninjago, following in the footsteps of the previous samurai x who later became the water ninja. you have your suspicion that it might be cyrus borg’s daughter and assistant, pixal. (it was one of hell of a ride when you found out that pixal was actually a robot– nindroid despite her human-like appearance. well, the more you know.)

and well, elemental masters aren’t much of a surprise to you –not when your aunt was one. master of something, you don’t remember too well what it was; just that either skylor might inherit it or it would skip her and possibly manifest in her kids. or you might get it, and frankly that would be sick. but it looks like neither of you did, atleast you choose to believe that instead.

you turn, laying on your side and staring out the window, watching the quiet streets and city through the clear glass with an unfocused attention on it. lloyd’s words on his father stuck in your head, you were curious about him.

you heard of all sorts of things about ninjago before moving here, things you chalked up as elaborate stories before he confirmed it all to you.

stories of overthrowing and controlling the realm, bloodlust and a power hungry fight many villains fought to win but inevitably lost in the end. golden weapons and a boy, a devouring evil that could only ever consume; an evil that never rested, a dark lord. and as of more recently, a princess that tried to rise all hell.

when the ninja defeated the overlord –the never resting evil– lloyd’s father, garmadon was freed from the poison and evil he was under because of the dark lord’s influence. once the man was a tyrant and now you hear he is a sensei of a small, tranquil monastery in a small village somewhere near the city. garmadon sought out lloyd and koko, and became the father and husband the evil forced him not to be.

he was a tyrant and then became a father.

you turn again, laying on your back and stare up at the ceiling with zoned out eyes. the whole situation was peculiar, especially if now since garmadon is good; why was lloyd still so mistreated?

no one necessarily needed to say anything about it; you’ve noticed the looks sour faces the nurses, doctors and patients gave him when he was escorting you out of the hospital. you noticed the vaguely visible tension on his face while he kept his guard up when you two were walking to his busted car and the way he looked as though he was expecting the worst.

a defense mechanism, you could tell from the way his eyes were scanning his surroundings; expect the worst so it doesn’t surprise you.

he softened up only when you two got home, back to your place. but despite the lighter atmosphere in the comfort of the car; you didn’t quite feel he was ready enough to answer your question about the ill treatment he was being faced with subtly. maybe that would also explain why he was so scared that something worse could’ve happened to you.

why’d everything need to be so difficult...?

you frowned, looking out the window with now more focused eyes. it’s been a hell of a week– or several if you count the ones you've been in ninjago; and there’s something nagging you to go home where you’d be safe. but, that would throw everything you’ve worked for, the seat at the best university in all the realm– a ticket out of that house. you’d have to stick it out for a while; at the least for your course to finish before you do anything else.

well, even if you leave, you’ll have lloyd’s number this time; a way to contact that greenie (the one thing you wanted so badly since eleven.)

you close your eyes, trying to get some rest again despite half that week you spent in the hospital consisted of you sleeping when lloyd wasn’t (excusing himself to do something work related–not that you’d known him to be employed at the moment). the soft blankets, now warmed by the gentle sun seeping into your room, call you to fall asleep. and you comply wordlessly, willingly.

until there was a knock on your door and a call of your name.

୧ ⎯⎯ PREVIOUS ┊MASTERLIST┊NEXT

୧ ⎯⎯ TAGLIST ;; @spoopy-fish-writes // @spoops-inliyue ;; @decaffeinatedcloudkryptonite // @shaantiofher ;; @sunangelstears ;; @comicbookweirdo ;; @cl0udyw4ter ;; @chamille-trash ;; @candy884422 ;; @rossivette ;; @veiyx ;; @pix-y-styx ;; @a3th3rrr ;; @deluludhii // [pm/send in an ask to join]

˗ˏˋ ꒰ 💌 ꒱ kazukazuhas copr. 2023 darling┊ ˚➶ ｡˚ ☁️

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theearthwassoup · 1 year

Note

2. 12. 19. from fluff for natasha x reader :)

snow globe memories

a/n: hi! Thank you so much for this request, i hope i did it justice!!

word count: 1.6k

warning(s): none, pure fluff | mentions of the red room | does this make sense chronologically? probably not

2: “you remembered” 12: “I can’t believe you did that for me” 19: “I’ve been in love with you since we were kids”

Natasha leaned back and studied her workmanship, brushing her hands against her pants in an attempt to remove the sawdust. Sweat stuck to her skin, as she had refused to move her project out of the garage, where heat seemed to accumulate quickly. On her heels, Natasha tapped the unused paintbrush against her lips, contemplating what she should do next. As a memory sparked in her mind, a soft smile grew on her lips.

“Someday, Nat, my walls are going to be full of snow globes,” you told your friend, laying on the snow as you looked at the clouds. Natasha laughed, rolling over on her side, propping her head up on her hand.

“You know, I don’t know why you like those things, they’re so breakable!”

You gasped at your best friend’s words, sitting up to look at her incredulously. Your eyes were wide and your cheeks flushed from the cold. You waved her hands in the air as you tried to tell your friend the appeal of snow globes.

“They’re mini worlds! Anything can be in a snow globe! Empire State buildings, ballerinas, Santa Clause, princesses, you name it! They transport you to worlds where everything it perfect and organized.”

Natasha laughed, laying back in the snow, you following her actions as well.

“I guess I can understand that, Y/N.”

The night finished quickly, with Natasha being called into her home by her mother, Melina’s voice urgent and almost panicked. You walked down the street to your home, a skip in your step as you cradled your new snow globe against your chest, watching as the fake snow fell down around the tiny snowman. You stepped inside, prepared to call out to your parents, when a loud crash rang through the air. A man dressed in military gear stepped out of your living room, a gun pointed at you. The snow globe dropped to the floor, glass shattering as you ran past the unfamiliar man, your chest heaving as you looked for your parents, the silence of your home scaring you. Your house started to shake as you ran into your room, finding shelter in between your shelves lined with precious memories. You let out a shriek as the shaking got worse, bringing your hands over your head as glass and water surrounded you.

Natasha shook her head, removing the memories from her mind. That night was the last time you had a semblance of a childhood and now, Natasha wanted to bring back the memories before the Red Room interfered in your lives. Standing up, Natasha walked over to the garage shelf, picking up light grey and blue paint cans. Returning back to her project, Natasha started humming, sunlight dimming on the horizon as dusk made an appearance.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

You hadn’t seen your friend in days, her excuse being that she had been caught up in a project. You had asked Fury about any missions you could be privy to involving Natasha but his confused look answered your question. Sitting on your couch, you sighed as your cold hands wrapped around your mug, the hot tea warming your bones. It wasn’t a particularly cold day but you still felt the chill against your skin, allowing you to snuggle up against soft blanket wrapped around you. While you enjoyed the peacefulness of the silence, you yearned for the sound of Natasha cursing in Russian as she attempted to cook, always giving up with a huff before making a peanut butter sandwich. She practically lived in your home, having her own key and blanket, mug and preferred silverware. It just didn’t feel like a home without Natasha and that warm feeling that rose in your chest when you thought of her was an indicator why. Relaxing, you almost didn’t hear your phone ringing but soon the sound of Black Widow by Iggy Azalea burst you out of your mediation like stance. You quickly answered the call, embarrassingly desperate to hear your friend’s voice.

“Hey Nat!” You sounded breathless and wanted to scold yourself.

Stop sounding so lovestruck, Y/N!

“Y/N, hey, could stop by Clint’s farm for a bit?”

You paused, questioning why Nat would be at Clint’s. Sure they were best friends but when you had asked the archer is he had heard from the redhead, he had denied it. With a little bit of weight on your heart, you agreed to meet Nat at the farm, dragging yourself off of the couch, downing your tea in one gulp, scalding your tongue. You slipped on a pair of shoes, adjusting your hair and clothes trying to look presentable.

As you drove to Clint’s home, the long drive making you sleepy, thousands of thoughts crossed your mind, mostly wondering why Natasha sounded so urgent over the phone. You pulled into the dusty road of their home and smiled when you saw Natasha waiting for you, hands behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels. Her clothes were splattered with long dried paint and her hair was falling out of its brain. Her disheveled appearance made you want to laugh while being confused at the same time.

“Hey, what’s up?” You asked, getting out of your car, eyes narrowing once you realized your best friend was hiding something behind her back. Natasha noticed that you noticed and a small smile formed on her lips. When she spoke, she sounded almost…nervous?

“I, uh, have something to show you,” she cleared her throat, bringing what she was hiding behind her back in front of her, “but first, i want to give you this.”

You gasped at the delicate ornament in Natasha’s hand. The snow globe had a silver base with a simple snowman inside, a replica of the one you lost on that dreadful night. You gently took it from Natasha’s hands, tracing the ornate designs on the base of the globe. When you looked up, Natasha was surprised to see little tears in your eyes.

“You remembered.” You whispered out in wonder, that one conversation from years ago blossoming in your mind. You didn’t think she would remember something so small, so mundane in the grand scheme of things. Natasha smiled and shrugged sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck. She had a bright blush spanning on her face down her neck. Natasha gestured for you to follow her and so you did, careful of your steps as you admired your gift. You hadn’t restarted your collection since that night. Natasha led to to Clint’s garage, separated from the house. When you walked inside, you looked around in confusion. Nothing except hay, a tractor, and some miscellaneous tools Tony had left from when he last worked on said tractor, stood in the dark room.

“Nat, what-”

Soft, ambient lights flickered to life, illuminating the space. You gasped softly when you saw what Natasha was standing next to. Sitting on a table was a shelf, three rows full of snow globes of many sizes and appearances. You noticed the color of the shelf matched the paint splotches on Natasha’s clothes and it was your turn to blush. You trailed your finger on the shelves, examining each and every globe.

“You really liked them when we were younger so I thought…” Natasha trailed off and you looked up at her, admiration shining in your eyes.

“I built the shelves and painted them, then I raided every store I could find that had snow globes. I swear half the cashiers in this town think I’m crazy.” She chuckled nervously at your intense stare, not noticing that you had picked up a specific snow globe that caught your eye.

“I can’t believe you did that for me.” You whispered as you came to stand in front of her, heart beating rapidly in your chest as she seemed to loose all nervousness as she looked into your eyes. Her confident stance was broken slightly when you raised the snow globe you had taken off the shelf so she could see it. Her eyes widening made you smile a bit, her cute expression blossoming warmth in your chest. Slowly, you brought your eyes down to the inscription on the base of the globe, the Russian flowing off your tongue smoothly, making Natasha’s deer in headlights expression worse. She never knew you were taught Russian.

“dlya moyey lyubvi” you looked back up at her, hope shining in your eyes as you translated the words into Russian, “for my love.”

Natasha licked her lips, flustered as you looked into her eyes inquisitively.

“Did you know it said that?” You asked her with a soft voice, setting the globe down back on the shelf. Natasha nodded, too scared to speak. She wasn’t one to talk about feelings but when she bought the globe, Natasha saw it as a way of confessing to you without you realizing. You noticed her nervous expression and brought your hands up to cup her face, a giant smile taking over your expression as your body hummed with joy.

“I’ve been in love with you since we were kids.”

Your words broke Natasha frozen stance, melting into your hands as her hands on your waist pulled you close to her. With a relieved laugh, Natasha buried her face into your neck, squeezing you tightly. She leaned back and captured your lips with her own, the softness of the kiss sending happy tingles down your spine. After a few moments of just basking in the glow of your confessions, you leaned back and cocked your head to the side.

“How are we getting this back home?”

Natasha shrugged, slinging an arm around your shoulder as you walked out of the barn.

“Clint owes me a favor.”

a/n: i hope this made sense lol. Thank you for reading!! I hope i did alright

#natasha romanov #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff fanfic #black widow x reader #black widow x y/n #black widow x female reader #black widow x you

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onlycosmere · 1 year

Text

OUTSIDE by Brandon Sanderson

Snow is falling. So I look up.

The world mystifies when you stare up through falling snow. Even standing still, you can soar. Even alone, you are surrounded. Even mundane, you find magic. I’ve spent my life chasing the fantastical, yet everything I’ve ever imagined can be casually matched by someone tilting their head up. The soft. Settling. Aspiration.

Of snow on an otherwise ordinary day.

When I was eighteen, I moved from Nebraska to Utah. Here, snow is fleeting, embarrassed to be an obstruction. But in Nebraska, snow squats. It claims land, builds empires. You fight it all winter, carving pathways, reconquering your sidewalks. The cold digs inside, frosting your bones with a chill that lingers, even after you return to warmth.

I often think of those snowy days, now that I live in a desert. But each year my memories are a little less fresh. We build our lives with layer upon layers of years, like falling snow. And like the new snow, most experiences melt away. In interviews, I’ve been asked to recount my most frightening experience. I struggle to answer because it’s the lost memories that scare me—the unnerving knowledge that I’ve forgotten the majority of moments that made me who I am. Those dribbled away when I wasn’t looking and joined the spring runoff of life.

Fortunately, some experiences do remain. In one, I’m fourteen, and it’s a cold night in Nebraska. My best friend at the time was a boy we’ll call John. Though we went to different schools, he was one of the only other Mormon kids around, so our parents often had us play together. When you’re very young, it’s proximity—not shared interests—that makes friends. This often changes as you age. By fourteen, John had found his way to basketball, parties, and popularity. I had not.

On that day, after a youth activity, another friend suggested we leave to go have some fun. I don’t remember where. Strange, that I’ve lost what this was about, though the rest of the scene is etched into the glacial part of my brain. One of us was old enough to drive, so we headed out to their car.

Five seats. Six teens. They’d already counted.

Without a word to me, the others climbed in. John gave me one hesitant look, then settled into the front passenger seat and closed the door. They left me on the curb. The car vanished, taillights flaring in the night like lit cigarettes.

The memory settled in for the long winter. That night. Watching. Remembering John’s face, which was so strikingly conflicted. Half ashamed. Half resigned.

I was no stranger to being outside. It happens when you’re one of three Mormon kids in a large school. You’ll be at a birthday party, and the wine coolers will come out. Everyone stands there worrying you’ll judge them—while you just want them to stop staring. But you leave anyway, because you know they’ll enjoy themselves more if you and your unusual morals aren’t there to loom.

It should have been different that night though, watching John and the others drive away. They were in my church group—ostensibly, my tribe. They’d still left me outside.

This event shocked me in how dramatic it was, as I wasn’t generally bullied. I tended to be adept at social settings. People generally liked me. At the same time, there was something I’d begun to notice. Something distancing about me.

It happens still. It isn’t that people shun me or don’t want me around; indeed, they seem to appreciate me. When I join a group, I generally end up leading it in some way, and I never sense resentment to this fact. But I also have an air around me. Some writer friends call me the “adult in the room.” I tend to attack projects too aggressively, tend to be the one who steps in and gets things done—even when they don’t need to be done immediately, and when everyone else would rather relax.

This comes, in part, from a certain…oddity about me that started in my young teens, around the time that John drove off. As my friends grew hit puberty, they became more emotional. The opposite happened to me. Instead of experiencing the wild mood swings of adolescence, my emotions calcified. I started waking up each day feeling roughly the same as the day before. Without variation.

Around me, people felt passion, and agony, and hatred, and ecstasy. They loved, and hated, and argued, and screamed, and kissed, and seemed to explode every day with a pressurized confetti of unsettling emotions.

While I was just me. Not euphoric, not miserable. Just…normal. All the time.

Often, it genuinely seems like I exist outside of human experience. It’s not sociopathy. I’m quite empathetic—in fact, empathy is one of the ways that I can feel stronger emotions. I’m not autistic. I don’t have a single hallmark of that notable brand of neurodivergence. It’s also not what is called alexithymia, which is a condition where someone doesn’t feel emotions (or can’t describe them).

I care about people, and I feel. I’m not empty or apathetic. My emotions are simply muted and hover in a narrow band. If human experience ranges between a morose one and an ecstatic ten, I’m almost always a seven. Every day. All day. My emotional “needle” tends to be very hard to budge—and when it does move, the change is not aggressive. When others would be livid or weeping, I feel a sense of discomfort and disquiet.

My emotions do go a little further than this on occasion, maybe once a year. It takes something incredible—such as being deeply betrayed by someone I trusted.

I’m not looking for sympathy; I don’t want to be fixed. I appreciate this aspect of my makeup—and it’s part of what makes me so consistent at writing. When everyone else is in crisis, I’ll just steam along. At the same time, when everyone else is elated by some good news…I’ll just steam along, unable to feel the heights of the joy they feel.

It makes people uncomfortable sometimes. Makes them think I’m judging them. While I’m absolutely not, I do try to be careful how I talk about my condition. Not as something to fear. Something, instead, I’m proud of—not because it makes me better than anyone else, but because it’s me. I like being me.

My neurodivergence came up in a recent interview I did. The interviewer latched onto the fact that I don’t feel pain like others do. (More accurately, some mild pains don’t cause in me the same response they do others.) I asked the interviewer not to mention it in his article, as I felt the tone to our discussion was wrong. I worry about my oddity changing the way people think of me, as I don’t want to be seen as an emotionless zombie. So I try to speak of it with nuance.

As the interviewer ignored my request, I thought I’d talk about it here. Profile myself for you—because this aspect of who I am has deep ties to another happening from my teenage years. In this, I want to answer a big question for you, the one everyone wonders about. The key to understanding Brandon Sanderson.

Why do I write?

Why do I write so much?

Why do I write so much fantasy?

Let me tell you about the first day, that beautiful day, when I found myself inside.

It was when I opened a fantasy novel. I was an isolated kid whose emotions were doing something bizarre. Even John leaving had left me feeling…disturbed more than angry. Alone, and outside. Then I opened a book where I found emotion.

In that story about dragons, and wonder, and people trying impossible things, I found myself. I felt a variety of powerful emotions through the characters—emotions that I remembered from when I’d been younger.

I hadn’t tried reading fiction in a long while, so I was blindsided by this perfect book. The experience transformed me, quick as a boy tilting his head back, looking up, and finding a new world.

When I read or write from the eyes of other people, I legitimately feel what they do. There’s magic to any kind of story, yes—but for me, it is transformative. I live those lives. For a brief time, I remember exactly what passion, and agony, and hatred, and ecstasy feel like. My emotions mold to the story, and I cry sometimes. I legitimately cry. I haven’t done that outside of a story in three decades.

Stories bring me inside.

My second published novel is called Mistborn. It’s about a world where ash falls like snow, and I can linger, looking up through it via a character’s eyes. Near the beginning of Mistborn, the teenage protagonist finds herself standing outside a room. It is full of light and laughter and warmth. But she knows, she knows she doesn’t belong inside that room.

She’s wrong.

Nearer the end of the book, I linger on as similar scene—only now, she’s sitting with the others. Light and laughter. Warmth. Mistborn was the first novel I wrote after getting the call offering me a book deal. Finally—after slaving over a dozen unpublished manuscripts—I knew I was going to be a professional writer. With that knowledge, I wrote Mistborn, the book about a girl who learns to come inside.

While writing Mistborn, I changed. Now that I’d made it inside of publishing—now that I’d joined those authors I’d loved for so long—why would I keep writing? I needed a new goal, and I discovered it that year.

So let me tell you why I write. It isn’t about worldbuilding; that’s a mistake everyone makes about me. Assuming I write because of worldbuilding is like assuming someone makes cars because they love cup holders. It’s also not because I’m Mormon, as some profiles bizarrely conclude. My faith and cultural heritage are both important to me, but if I were any other religion, that aspect of me would rightly be a footnote—not a headline.

I don’t write for plot twists, or dragons, or clever turns of phrase—though I enjoy all of these. I write because stories bring people inside. And I sincerely, genuinely believe that is what the world needs.

Lately, I’ve seen a resurgence of something that genuinely disquiets me: an attempt by some members of our community to hold others outside. Science fiction and fantasy is forever gatekeeping what constitutes good or worthy stories. Like my old friend John, who sought cooler friends, we renounce anything accessible—part of our perpetual (and largely fruitless) plea for legitimacy with the literary establishment.

Thing is, I can’t really get mad when someone does this, because I’ve done it myself in the past. The unfortunate truth is that we all probably have at times. The moment a group finds cohesion—discovering the warmth and peace of being inside—we decide there aren’t enough seats, so we start muscling and pushing. Readers who came in because of the latest popular teen novel? Outside. Fans of the film version of a story, instead of the book version? Outside. People who don’t look the same as the supposedly conventional fan? I suspect they know this struggle far better than I do.

To use a thematic metaphor, it’s like we’re dragons on our hoard of gold, jealously keeping watch, worrying that if anyone new enters, their presence will somehow dilute our enjoyment. The irony is that there is infinite space inside, and if we open the way, we’ll find many of these newcomers are the very treasure we’re seeking.

Fantasy, out of all genres, should embrace the different, even if it doesn’t match our specific taste. This is the genre where anything can happen—and should, therefore, be the most open genre. Only fantasy offers me the full range of emotion. The wonder of exploration. The magnificent highs of epic scope and the miserable lows of cataclysmic terror. In writing it, I can learn. Monomaniacal, I hunt experiences of people different from myself, then explore them in prose until I feel—in some small part—what they do.

This is why I write. To understand. To make people feel seen. I type away, hoping some lonely reader out there, left on a curb, will pick up one of my books. And in so doing learn that even if there is no place for them elsewhere, I will make one for them between these pages.

Those who interview me seem to have trouble understanding this fundamental part of who I am: that writing for me isn’t so much about performance as it is about exploration and elevation. I love prose both literary and commercial. And I think I write great prose. I’ve slaved over my style, practicing for decades, honing it for crisp clarity. My prose is usually intended to convey ideas, theme, and character, then get out of the way—because this is how I strive to bring everyone inside.

That said, I know my goal is impossible. Occasional strolls through the outside are part of being human, and I can’t eliminate that. And even I have to admit that there are lessons to be learned on those lonely paths. For example, contrast is the only way to appraise growth. Emotional alien I may be, but that very alienation has motivated me to understand. I value the connections I’ve made so much more for that struggle.

Moreover, I find that occasionally looking in through a window at everyone else gives a person a more complete perspective. Inside, things can get messy, and a streak of color finds it hard to comprehend the painting. I’m a better writer because of my time spent looking in. I don’t know that I could have written Mistborn if I hadn’t been left on that curb.

This isn’t to discount the pain of those who have been forced outside. Nor is it an advocacy for extended periods spent in the cold. I also don’t know if I could have written Mistborn if the wonderful people of the science fiction and fantasy community (including many of the friends I now work with) hadn’t latched on to me in college and—at times—forcibly pulled me inside to be with them. Beyond that, as I’ve grown older, I’ve found people like Emily, who love me in spite of (and partially because of) my quirks. Blessedly, because of this, my times outside have been increasingly brief.

My goal here is merely to point out (as I’ve had occasion to remember recently) that beautiful moments do accompany the isolation. You can only watch the snow fall when you’re outside. Only then can you look up and experience that mystifying world, where fragments of the sky drift past and lift you toward the heavens.

I’m forty-seven now, enjoying desert snowfalls in early April. The man I am is separated by distance and time from that boy who stood on the curb, and I’ve forgotten most of the steps that led between the two. I still don’t feel strong emotions outside of stories—but I did tell an interviewer lately that I sometimes cry when writing scenes in my books. They just aren’t the scenes that I thought he’d expect.

I don’t necessarily cry when characters die, or when they marry, or even when they find victory. I cry when it works. When it all comes together, and in a beautiful shimmering burst of humanity, I feel what it is to be that character. At those times, I remember what I learned twenty years ago writing Mistborn. That there’s a reason I do this. And even if I’ve lost more memories than I retain, each of them had a point, because they collectively brought me here.

So when you find yourself in the cold, know that sometimes, there’s a purpose to it. Trust me; I’ve been there. I might be there right now. Feeling the cold on my cheeks—but these days, no longer in my bones. Knowing that this will pass, and that it might be for my good. Most of all, looking up so I can appreciate it. The still. Solemn. Perspective.

Of one who stands outside.

#brandon sanderson #cosmere #cfsbf #root #branderson #wob #kind of #long post

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daughterofthequeen · 8 months

Text

The Last Moments of Solace

Pairings: Ezra Bridger x reader

Request: I saw that your request are open and I was hoping that you could write an Ezra Bridger (season 4) x reader?? Maybe fluff and smutty?? Maybe reader can be also a Jedi of his age? For the plot…mhhh…maybe something based on episode 6 (season 4) or episode 17 (season 3)?

Warnings: Suggestive content cus I don’t write smut yet, yet, fluff, kissing, groans, moans, the overuse of comma’s

A/N: I’ve been wanting to write lately, and I’m so excited to start. And this request just reopened my Ezra hyper-fixation. And I’ve been wanting to write my first series too, I just haven’t figure out which one of the characters I’m currently invested in, to do it on first. You just made the choice harder Anon, you’re no help😫!!! (nahhh I’m just kidding I love you for this, I forgot how much I loved my first Star Wars crush🥰🧡) Ezra had 11 year old me giggling and kicking my feet every Monday night before I had to go to bed 🤭. So I chose episode 6 of season 4 but I couldn’t find a way how to incorporate the reader into the show that I liked so, it’s taking place in episode 7 so technically it’s still based on episode 6. This is my first time doing suggestive too btw and I’m very nervous so cut me some slack pleassse🧡

Y/N POV

How did we get here?!

This was only meant to be a recon mission. But no, Sabine just had to get the data recorder and the hyperdrive. Which is good use for the rebellion, but it still doesn’t stop me from wanting a easy day. Next thing I know there’s cats, Thrawn, a wolf, troopers, me and Ezra falling over crates, then us jumping into the newly designed TIE that Sabine hijacked. Which was a nice touch may I add. Well it was, until we found out it had a kill switch that we barley got out of alive. And that lead to us on top of a nice loth wolf, that only me and Ezra could remember since Sabine fainted and didn’t wake back up until we got back to the hideout. Yeah, it was a lot.

The Next Day

Currently me, Ezra, Zeb, and Jai were collecting the hyperdrive, well trying to anyway we couldn’t find where we left it.

“Hurry up.” Ezra told Zeb after he lifted up his mask to his scout trooper uniform. Identical to the ones Jai and I were wearing.

“Where’s the hyperdrive?” Zeb asked looking around the rocks.

“Over here somewhere.” Ezra replied. “Jai keep watch.”

“Over here somewhere? All these rocks look the same!” Zeb whispered frustratedly

“It was dark and we just crashed, we didn’t have time to make a map!” I whispered just as frustrated, sassily putting my hand on my hip. Suddenly we heard the meowing of a white loth cat, like the one from last night sitting on top of a rock.

“Hey, when in doubt follow the loth-cat.” Ezra said while smirking, causing me to lightly chuckle.

“You’re kidding right?” Zeb asked hesitantly as we walked towards it. “You and your loth-cats.” Zeb told Ezra as they moved the rock revealing the hyperdrive. As they started moving the hyperdrive, a small empire ship flew over us towards the crash sight, and I got a strong feeling that we had to hurry, to speed up the pace I grabbed a hold of the back of the hyperdrive to help them move it onto the trailer.

“Uh, Ezra, we have to problem.” Jai called while he was looking into his binoculars.

“What is that?” I asked while walking up beside Jai.

“I don’t know, and I don’t think I want to know.” Jai responded.

Ezra turned to Zeb. “We’ll draw them away, you get the hyperdrive out of here.” He said as me, him, and Jai, closed our helmets and started walking towards the weird bounty hunter looking guy who was using all four of his limbs to run.

“Just let me blast it.” Jai said anxiously, on the left side of Ezra while I was on the right.

“It’s ok, I can get us out of this.” Ezra said in an unsure tone.

“You don’t sound too confident about that blue.” I said also feeling his unease.

Ezra let out a breathily chuckle at the nostalgic nickname that he remembers you giving him back when you both first met.

“Yeah well, I know you have my back no matter what.” He said. Hearing his smirk under his helmet, I can’t help but smirk too.

“No doubt.” He has no idea how right he is, I would do anything for him. But our small moment was cut short when the assassin made it to us, sniffing?

“LS-3226, LS-3227, and LS-3228, reporting. We’ve checked out this area and found nothing. Should we continue our search?” Ezra once again sounds unsure, but this time it’s understandable given this guy is up close sniffing his armor. Jai slowly raises his blaster, ready to shoot but I try to discreetly raise my hand to tell him to wait so, he wouldn’t blow our cover.

“No.” Is all the bounty hunter said before turning the opposite direction then quickly turning back around swinging at Ezra to catch him off guard, but Ezra was able to dodge and punch him instead until the hunter was able to trap Ezra with his legs, and that’s when me and Jai let loose with our blasters. Though the hunter was extremely fast as he dodged and our stray bullets were landing all around Ezra.

“Don’t shoot me, shoot him! Blast it!”

“I’m trying, I’m trying!” “What do you think we’re trying to do blue?!” I yelled back and the hunter was quickly running towards us and quickly dodging our shots so, I lifted up my helmet and force pushed him into a boulder as soon as he made a jump for Jai.

“Jedi.” The bounty hunter stated as Governor Pryce made it use and recognized or faces immediately.

“It’s Bridger and (L/n), blast them!” Pryce ordered.

As shots were coming towards us, me and Ezra took out our lightsabers and started blocking blast. Then the three of us jumped on our speeders.

“How many of them are back there?” Ezra asked then I turned around to check. “More than enough! Let’s try to loose them in there” I replied pointing to the sea of rocks, as I seen the bounty hunter coming towards us with a disrupter and I quickly took out my lightsaber and blocked him.

“Can’t this thing go faster?” I said already tired of this assassin guy.

“Hold him there. Just hold him there!” I looked to see why, just in time to see Jai in front of us going in between two rocks and understood Ezra’s idea. The hunter caught on and turned off from us to keep from crashing. That’s when the troopers behind started firing, but Ezra was able to dodge them. I seen a overhead we were speeding towards and took out a bomb and threw it. Causing the large rock to explode and block the troopers. But the hunter was moving to fast to stop so he sped up making it over the piles of rocks and I took my shot hitting the speeders engine causing it to explode and the assassin jumped off just in time to grasp onto a rock before he could fall, and glared at us. I smirked, then looked forward to see Ezra do his signature two-fingered salute and we sped off to the campsite.

We made it back skidding to a stop and seen Kanan walking towards us. “Good job, looks like our hyperdrive problem is solved.” Kanan said as we got off the speeders.

“Yeeeah well, you know how one problem usually leads to another?” Ezra asked Kanan

“Yeeah?” Kanan question in an annoyed tone knowing where Ezra was going with that question.

“We have another, and its small, creepy, and very dangerous!” I explained dramatically as we started walking towards everyone else.

————————————————————

Jai, Ezra, and I went to change back into our regular clothes, while everyone else was discussing the plan. Just as I was finished fixing my shirt, I felt two arms wrap around me and a nice sensation on my neck. I smiled knowing it was Ezra due to the affection and me sensing him as he was walking towards me. I sighed in relief, finally able to let my muscles release their tension even if it’s only for a minute. I closed my eyes and rested all of my weight into him taking a deep breath, lazily looking over my shoulder as he moved up from kissing my neck to my cheek. I giggled lightly and turned my body slightly to meet my lips with his and the deep soft groan he let out drove me crazy. I ran my fingers through his short soft hair, causing him to groan again, this time a lot stronger, precisely why I did it. I moved my hands down to rest them on top of his, that had started massaging my hips bringing out a soft moan from me. I released his lips and opened my eyes to see his lips chasing after mine to reconnect them. I leaned back still trying to catch my breath, but eventually I gave back in as he knew I would.

“You okay?” He asked while our lips were still pressed together continuously trying claim each others, I almost didn’t hear him.

“Mhm.” Is all I could reply back, but I knew better, when it came to my well-being mumbled answers are never accepted, especially after a mission but with his soft lips intertwined with mine I couldn’t focus. He pulled away causing me to whine and turn around completely wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him back down to me, but he wasn’t having it.

“(Y/n)” was all he said, I opened my eyes and responded back with a sigh.

“I’m fine, Ezra.” He frowned as if he didn’t believe me. “I promise.” I reassured him bringing my hands up to his face gently rubbing the permanent scar on his left cheek. He sighed and leaned into my touch, then leaned back down to capture my lips again. His hands started moving under my shirt, thumbs starting to rub my stomach. Enjoying the sensational buzz it was bringing me, I reached down to the waist of his pants to start unbuttoning them, until we heard someone clearing their throat and we jumped apart from each other. It was Hera. A strong heat immediately went to my cheeks, as I hurriedly fixed my shirt and smiled like everything was normal, awkwardly seeing Ezra out the corner of my eye quickly rebutting and zipping his pants back up before quickly turning around with the same smile.

“Hera! Heyyyy! What’s up?!” I say trying to act casual, but that was way out the window. I could tell with her with the way she was standing. Arms crossed with her hip poking out to the side with a small smirk on her face. I looked up at Ezra to see him turning red as he looked up somewhere over Hera that I couldn’t pinpoint.

“I came to check on you guys, and to see if you wanted to see how Sabine was coming along with the hyperdrive, but I can see you two are already preoccupied.” Hera stated

“Oh no, we weren’t doing anything important, come on let’s go.” I said trying to move pass the awkward moment missing the way Ezra head swung to me with a offended frown on his face.

We made it to the ship Sabine was working on. “How’s it going?” Hera called out.

“Well it wasn’t easy but I got it patched in. Still I give it a 50/50 chance of working.” Sabine explained.

“I’ll have to live with 50/50.” Hera responded back, when I felt Ezra’s dread and turned towards him and seen what he was looking at.

“Oh no.” He whispered. “We’re out of time!”

We quickly finished packing up a speeder-car with the supplies to send with Jai, to our allies.

“We’ll hold off the Empire until you’re clear, we’ll signal rendezvous coordinates later.” Ryder tells Jai

“And if we don’t hear from you?” Jai asked worriedly

“You will.” Ezra reassured him.

“Alright Bridger, good luck.” Jai said then sped off.

We all got ready to defend Hera for her take off, lining up behind some empty crates. I looked over to Sabine after seeing her move out the corner of my eye, seeing her looking at something behind us. I turned to see Hera and Kanan kissing. I smirked still a little shocked. “It’s about time.” I said as we all got ready to defend ourselves.

“We won’t stand long against those tanks.” Zeb stated

“We have that transport and a bike.” Ryder explained until the transport was blown up.

“How many can we get on a bike?” Zeb asked and I playfully rolled my eyes at the question. Until I hear a wolf howling and felt Ezra nudge my arm.

“There! That’s our way out.” He told everyone as continued to stare at the wolf that helped us last night.

“Loth-wolves?” Ryder questioned

“Look they helped us before, we should follow them.” Ezra told Ryder still a little unsure.

“Are you serious?”

“Do you know the way out?!” Ezra asked the wolf who immediately started running in a opposite direction after his question.

“Come on.” Ezra said grabbing my wrist and running to catch up with the wolves.

“Kanan?” Sabine asked worriedly.

“Seems like the best idea we got, let’s go.” He replied breathlessly

“This is good, when it gets strange like this, it’s a good thing.” Zeb reassured Ryder.

“How have you people stayed alive so long?!” Ryder yelled following everyone else.

We all were running after the wolves. Well Ezra was, we were following him.

“Ezra wait up!” Zeb called out which he ignored

“Ezra!” Sabine yelled this time.

“I don’t want to lose them, come on!” Ezra finally replied starting to run after them again, but stopped suddenly seeing the wolves all laying down, lowly growling as everyone else caught up.

“Hold it, stay back.” Ezra warned

“Why have they stopped?” Kanan asked

“I don’t know.” Ezra replied as he started walking towards the white wolf who seemed to be the leader of the three.

“Ezra, wait!” I whispered trying to reach for him but he dodged me.

He walked up to the white wolf slightly crouched and carefully talking to it.

“There is a way out of here, isn’t there?”

“You wanted us to follow you, didn’t you?”

“What are you waiting for?” All these questions Ezra was asking and the only reply the wolf gave was looking up at Kanan. Which made me uncomfortable.

“Kanan? Kanan it’s looking-”

“-At me I know.” He cut Ezra off and walked up to the white wolf. “What does it want?” He asked, that’s when the wolves got up and walked into a cave.

“I guess they were waiting for you.” I said as I walked up to them.

We all walked down into the cave, Sabine turned on her flag light looking at cave drawings.

“There are images here of people, people following a wolf.”

“I guess we’re not the first ones.” Zeb said

“Hold on. Shut your light off.” Ezra told Sabine. We were in complete darkness all we could see was the wolves eyes and listening to the wolves still lowly growling.

“What now, Ezra?” Kanan asked

“I’m not sure.”

“There wasn’t a picture of wolves eating those people was there?” Zeb whispered to Sabine.

All of a sudden the cave started shaking, dust and rocks falling, proving the cave wasn’t going to last long. The wolves looked up growling louder.

“The Empire’s bombing the mountains.” Ryder stated

“We’ve gotta get out of here!” Ezra stated turning seeing the white wolf tail in his face, and looking up to see the wolf nod.

“Everyone join hands.” Grabbing a hold of the wolf tail.

“Ezra?” I said unsure.

“Just do it!”

“The cave is going to collapse.” Zeb stated.

“There’s no way out of here.” Ryder said

“That we know of.” Kanan said trying to reassure everyone.

As we walked deeper into the cave a bright blue glowing light started to appear similar to hyperspace when we walked into it. Next thing I know, we’re all waking up in a cave, but it’s a totally different one.

“Where in blazes are we?” Zeb asked shocked

“Let’s find out.” Ezra said walking outside, the rest of us following.

Sabine came up with a data pad. “Uh, you’re not going to believe this. We were in the northern hemisphere, now we’re in the southern hemisphere. Somehow we’ve moved halfway across the planet.”

“Huh.” I said seeing the wolves go back into the cave with Kanan, so me and Ezra followed.

“Kanan?” I called out making sure he was ok.

“Look around, tell me what you guys see.” Kanan told us.

“This place reminds me of the Jedi temple here on Lothal.” Ezra stated as I walked to the pictures on the walls.

“The walls are telling a story. There are people coming down from the sky, I think they might be Jedi.” I told Kanan.

“There’s a message here for us.” Kanan said.

“What, because we’re Jedi?” I asked confused.

“Dume.” The wolf said.

“What does that mean? The wolf said it before.” Ezra asked.

Kanan took off his mask, shock on his face.

“Dume is my name. Caleb Dume is the name I was born with.” Kanan told us placing his hand in the wolf’s head.

“How does the wolf know that?” I asked even more confused than before.

“It has a deep connection to the force, to the energy of this planet.”

“Don’t all living things?” Ezra asked.

“This is different. More focused. Like it has a purpose.”

“And we’re apart of it?” I said starting understand in a way.

“I’m getting the feeling building the TIE defender isn’t the worst thing the Empire is doing here. There’s something else, something more sinister.” Kanan stated worriedly.

“Dume.” The wolf said while backing up into the shadow disappearing. And as the sunlight made its way further into the cave revealing that nothing was there but a wall with a picture on it, and a crack through the middle of it.

“So? All the paths are coming together, right?” Era asked

“Yeah, I’m just not sure if we’re going to like where they lead.”

“Do we ever?” I said sarcastically causing Kanan to scoff in amusement .

“No and yes.”

“I wonder if Hera made it.” Ezra said worriedly causing me to wonder as well.

“I know she did.” Kanan reassured us, he then placed his hands on our shoulders and walked outside with everyone else, and we followed.

————————————————————

A/N:

Sorry this took me so long anon. I wasn’t sure if I liked this or not. I’ve edited this too many times, but you’ve waited long enough. Just let me if you like it and if not, I’ll try to edit it to how you like. Thank you for requesting anon! I hope enjoy!

#star wars x reader #star wars fanfiction #star wars #ezra bridger x reader #star wars rebels fanfic #ezra bridger #star wars rebels

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justanotherperson1 · 7 months

Note

Imagine the kids scrambling to handle this mess. Jack handles Prime, Raf goes for Ratchet and Miko deals with Bay. Someone needs to remind the bots that not everyone is against them.

Miko thinks the only way to get Bay's mind out of this unhealthy slump is to remind about the good side. Throughout all his adventures, he had key help from humans who still believed in him despite everything. Bay died to protect Sam who later almost dies bringing the Matrix of Leadership to bring him back.

Cade still repaired the Autobot Leader despite knowing his identity and kept faith in him. It's okay to not fully trust others but he can't group an entire race in the same category when there were humans who helped the Autobots until the end. Plus Cybertronians are in the safe boat. Both species have their good/bad sides.

Raf and Jack remind everyone that if Fowler really wasn't on their side than everyone would already be in hiding already. He may be rough at times but the agent is like Lennox. Still loyal to his companions.

A liaison doing the best he can to keep the peace despite the Autobots absolutely sucking at staying incognito. You want to prepare or be cautious? Okay but don't throw someone whose clearly still has faith and trust into the possible enemy bin.

There's also issues with the Matrix of Leadership. Both Optimus have gone through a personality change and Ratchet doesn't trust the relic one bit. Orion Pax incident already showed what Prime was like before becoming the person he is today.

It will mark any potential threat to Cybertron as a danger despite the circumstances. A onesided piece of scrap metal that cannot be trusted. Everyone has to work together or sink by the inner turmoil than just Decepticons.

I feel like Bay! Optimus would find the most wisdom from Arcee in this moment. Though Miko’s words would be kind, Arcee’s experience would be a inadvertant comfort.

After the reveal of what the humans did to his Ratchet he would retreat to the roof where Arcee would find him.

She wouldn’t scold him or try to lure him back with the others but istead, under the low light of a setting sun, they would sit and look over the world just beyond Cliffjuper’s memoral in a certain solidaridy.

They are the most alike and therefore, Arcee would be the most likley to understand him. Unlike Prime! Optimus who is the ‘figurehead’ and the ‘ideal’, I feel she would be more likley and more willing to hear Bay!. Does that exuse his actions? His brashness? What could Arcee say? She’s been where he was and is still activly trying to tame the rage she sure as the pit feels.

That’s not to say none of the others in the team don’t experience loss, but Arcee and Bay! Prime seem to deal with loss and the feeling of failure the same way.

She wouldn’t try to defend humaninty as a whole, but tell stories of Jack and how he helped her after the death of Cliffjumper, and maybe…. Just maybe, Bay! Would recall the young boy he once knew that the first human he ever talked to. Who was there when few others would stand with him.

But your last line couple of lines raises an iteresting thought.

Bay!’s matrix has been stained long before him and found a kindered spirit in a Crucader become Prime. In the very first movie he said that Cybertron was an Empire, and later we learn that he and other knights like him traveled the stars in a PRISON ship Lockdown later comindeared from him. Do you guys remember what it looked like? What was in it?

“Bone grinders, brain blinders, flesh peelers, chromazonal inverters, catatonic slug, black hole trap doors and, of course, radiation.” - Crosshairs, Age of Extinction.

What the hell is he doing with a ship like that?!

Even then, everything the Bay! Allspark touches turns into a rage-filled, blood thirsty vile creature who’s only initiative is to destroy everything around it. We see this again and again in the years we Optimus is on Earth. The more and more electronics accidently get turned into Cybertronian creatures- so then what rules does the Matrix follow when heralding and protecting such a naturally violent race? What morals would it really have.

What was he doing? Before and after the matrix?

And what was the Matrix truly instilling in him?

Do you think, in Prime! Optimus seeing himself he saw something not like him? a being who was already a conqueror before the fall of their race? Something who, in theory shared his ideas, but in action truly was brutish? A Cybertronian more like Unicron than that of Primus?

Did Bay! Optimus really change after the Matrix?

#transformers #tfp transformers prime #tfp #bayverse optimus #bayverse #crossover #optimus prime #yeah I dont know about this bay guy #the more I think about it #the more sinister he gets #but why does that make him so much more inticing???????#And interesting?????#I need help

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lovelyyandereaddictionpoint · 1 year

Text

Yandere Overlord | A Little Crush

“Oh, my–who is this?”

You had been allowed to sit in on the meeting with Ainz, reading his hidden plea that you actually help him understand some of this. Of course under the guise of learning the guardians pay no mind in fact their barely able to contain their excitement to see both you and Ainz.

“That is the insolent emperor of the Vassal country of Baharuth Empire–”

Albedo continued to spew insults but you couldn’t help the heat that spread all over when you looked at his purple-pink irises. You put the picture down before your typical smile could change too much instead using your abilities to inform, Ainz as you promised.

‘Scared him into submission? I don’t remember doing anything but making peace before…’

‘Demiurge is specifically thinking about your appearance at the match…apparently, he was trying to meet with the Slane theocracy but your showing up immediately scared him into submission. Wow! Good job, Ainz!’

‘No good job! I didn’t even know that was happening!”

‘Sure. Sure.’

The meeting continued, which ensured a constant struggle as you tried not to look at the image they had crafted. When it ended you fought with yourself not to take the image instead opting to use your power to photocopy the image onto paper later…or maybe a body pillow.

“Jircniv huh? What a cutie!”

______________________________________________________________

You didn’t have Ainz’s emotional regulator…that much was clear. Yet in the beginning, your true emotions illuded the guardians of Nazarick. But after many months of observation and talking with you they picked up on the subtle signs. Like today the heat emanating from your body, the way you crossed your legs, the bite of your lip to restrict the larger smile–it was all too clear.

“FOR A CRETIN LIKE THAT NO LESS!?” Albedo smashed the table.

Demiurge rose, fighting the urge to angrily thrash his tail about.

“Calm yourself Albedo…this could just be mere interest. (Y/n)-sama has expressed a growing interest in politics…we shouldn’t be so quick to judge!”

“B-but they n-never looked at anyone else like that!” Mare spoke sharing worried eye contact with his sister who returned the favor.

“At this rate…they’ll like them more than us!”

A pregnant silence hung over the room; each of the floor guardians imagining horrifying images of you leaving them for a mere human. Some were of you on the emperor’s arm in wedding garments, others had you sharing a milkshake and feeding the emperor, and another had you promising to run away with the dreaded emperor. Fear and horror enveloped all in the room bringing them to their knees as they reeled in pain. Amidst this Cocyutus took a stand, prepared to bring these worries to light.

“I say…we bring our concerns to Ainz-sama!”

“YES!” “Y-yeah!” “I agree.”

______________________________________________________________

It doesn’t take long for Ainz to see this behavior himself. Hearing your telepathic giggles when you open the same page in the book you’ve been reading for a month is enough confirmation for him. And like always he is the one left to make the hard-hitting decision.

“AINZ-SAMA I suggest I personally help quell their sexual needs!”

“I’m more equipped to take care of them, ariska. ”

“Are you kidding, Mare and me cuddle with them all the time! Maybe you should make them do more with us!”

“Y-yeah!”

“Perhaps they simply wish to explore its healthy for youngins to—”

“Shut up Cocuyutus!” “Grrrr!” “Quiet Cocyutus, ariska!”

And while he agrees you’re boredom is probably a good indicator it’s also because you’re you. He’s sure if he knew you in his old world or even in his guild this would have been normal. As your technical guardian, he shouldn’t really interfere…but even he can’t help but be annoyed with the telepathic squeals you keep making. So maybe on a whim, he’ll make a judgment call.

“A trip to the Vassal state?”

“Yes, it's important that you publicly integrate yourself with the Sorcerer Kingdom.”

‘Do you want to?’

“I’m especially grateful!! I’ll take my mission with pride!”

‘Yes!!! Thanks, Ainz!’

Your telepathic voice warms his nonexistent heart and he sends you away with Aura and Mare. He hopes their presence will deter any acting out on the Emperor’s end and as a deterrent from you possibly…deepening relations. At the guardian's insistence, Ainz sets up a magic glass to watch you from. So with great anticipation, they all watch as you pull away in your carriage pulled by the undead as you make your way to the Baharath Empire.

______________________________________________________________

“Oh, Aura Mare now that we’re practically here I’ve suddenly become so nervous!”

You nervously mused playing with your headdress and veil resting on your lap. You could see through the carriage with your power easily; watching the people of the Baharuth Empire look on in astonishment. But your nervousness wasn’t about meeting people at least not entirely, you were going to meet the man who plagued your imagination with his face for the last month.

“U-uhm (Y-Y/n)-sama why are y-you so nervous! You’re the most amazing Supreme being next to Ainz-sama s-so y-you should be c-confident.”

Mare peeped out, blushing as he complimented you. You gave him a loving smile patting your gloved hand on the tip of his clenched fists causing him to release.

“Thank you Mare, for reminding me! It’s just I’m more nervous about meeting one particular person.”

“Oh? Who is this particular person? Have they done something that we should punish them for?”

Aura probed leaning close to you as if on the verge of discovery. While Aura understood good and well that the Emperor was the cause of this she couldn’t place how; or why the guardians were so averse to it. She guessed it was similar to the way Albedo felt about Ainz but you didn’t do anything as she does so she was stumped…how could a weak human have anything against a Supreme Being like you?

You giggled, “Oh Aura, you’re so cute! I’ll tell you when you’re older!”

She blushed at your statement hiding her face against the corner of the carriage as she mulled against her shaken resolve. She just couldn’t help but crumble when your attention was solely focused on her like that. In a way, she related to big sis Albedo a bit.

With your Sorcerer headdress resembling Ainz and a dark veil covering your face you stepped out of your carriage with Yuri lending you a hand out of the carriage with a bow of respect.

“Presenting (Y/n)-sama, the flower of the Sorcer Kingdom!”

The people guffawed as you traveled up the stairs of the Emperor’s palace, many whispering words of awe as you made your way up the steps. Thankfully the people were so focused on you that they failed to notice the twins who so easily killed a great mass of people before their vassal status.

The guide into the palace was one of his personal guard, fighting the tremble in his voice as he recognized Aura and Mare. Passing by various staff and soldiers you drew their attention easily many dropping weapons or papers as they watched you for as long as they would be let. Past a set of golden double doors you finally laid eyes upon the deeply bowing emperor.

“Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix, at your service.”

It was a demeaning bow for someone called the “bloody emperor” and you couldn’t help feeling pity. Already knowing what you wished Yuri cleared her throat and demanded that his personal guard and any remaining staff clear the room. She even sent a look towards the twins who pouted until you turn to them with a pleading tilt of your head. Sulking they excused themselves finally leaving you and Jircniv, with the exception of Yuri, all alone.

Worldlessly she bowed towards you once more before raising your veil, you smile when shock overtakes his face.

“Its a pleasure to meet you Jircniv! I hope you can show me the best Baharuth Empire has to offer.”

“Of course my liege!”

______________________________________________________________

When Jircniv had been informed of a visit from Nazarick he near crapped himself in fear that it be in reprimand to his attempt to betray...but when he heard that the “Flower of Nazarick”was in attendance he relaxed…a little. This probably was the final nail in the coffin for him, pulling at his hair and cursing his hubris he ordered the best for your arrival. Even as you arrived with those dreaded dark elves as guards he was sure you would be the one to rip out his heart.

To that, he was right. The lifting of your veil was the fist, tightly grasping his heart as it slowly revealed your face to him. The pulling was the ethereal gleam of your smile and voice. In complete juxtaposition from Ainz Ooal Gown you glowed with a heartwrenching presence that had him practically becoming a puddle on the floor. If he were a lesser man he would have been far to floored to look away to bow even harder than before but he was an emperor for blood’s sake.

Immediately he rearranged the whole plan for the day, changing seating arrangements that would have put space between you two to eliminating them entirely. Offering his hand to you when there was so much of a change in tiles. Even when maid with the gauntlets threatened to kill him for overstepping he remained steadfeast. All his fear had dissipated the moment you revealed your face, he wondered if it was some sort of sorcery that made him so infatuated. If it was, he doubted he’d ever wanted it removed. Even when your veil dropped over your face again and he felt misery take hold of his being once more–he still didn’t want to be relieved of this joy. Watching you feast on the various delicacies as they disappeared behind your veil overtook him with a feeling of pride.

Hearing the relayed words of joy as you experienced the different activities and festivals he had prepared in your honor. Had him swooning all the more, completely nulling the deathly glares from the elves that had so easily lay waste to his army.

“Ahem (Y/n)-sama would like to thank you for the griffin egg, tch, they say they will be thinking of you when they raise it.”

“I’m honored, my highness!”

Hardly able to hold back his tears when you must retire he takes a bold step that leaves all your guardians itching to pulverize him. A kiss against your gloved hand before you dismiss yourself for the night is all it is.

“Good night, oh luscious flower of Nazarick! I’ll be counting the seconds until I may see you again!”

In the comfort of your room with Aura and Mare sitting on the grand bed you received they watch as you float about as you scream into the various pillows.

“Keeee he actually said that to me! OhmigoshOhmigoshOhmigosh! Can you believe he said that to me!? Hehehe!”

So enveloped in your joy you fail to register the dark shadows that have cast over Aura’s and Mare’s faces.

“Yeah…it sure is great…”

“Isn’t it? Who’d think he’d be so sweet! Especially on the first day, too! Weeee, its just like those romance fanfics–”

“U-uhm (Y/n)-sama? C-can y-you tell me how g-good I was today!? I followed Ainz-sama’s and your orders and I didn’t hurt any humans!

Mare’s outburst had Aura incredulously looking at her twin. Especially because she knew well and good how many times her twin opened the ground to swallow the humans following after your entourage. But she watched as your floated back down to the bed pulling Mare into your chest as you pet his head, she hurriedly crawled to your other side.

“M-me too! Do me too (Y/n)-sama!”

“Okay okay you two get over here!”

Miles away in the safety of Nazarick the other guardians watched as the glass ball they had been watching from received a crack.

They weren’t the only ones who were regretting letting you leave.

On a completely personal level...

This man just sends me...

I wanna bite so bad I don't know why! 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

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fanfoolishness · 12 days

Note

Hello lovely! Adoring your blog!

Can I request something for your drabble post?

Was thinking (in keeping with current events lol)

Crosshair and Omega and 'Eclipse, Goggles'.

Maybe some fluffy angst about trauma bonding by watching an eclipse through Tech's spare goggles? 😭😅

Thank you! X

thank you so much for the prompt! This ended up being quite a bit longer than a drabble - nearly 1K. Enjoy!

under sun and shade

Omega and Crosshair share memories of Tech on a sunny day.

He finds her under the shade of a vast spreading tree, sunlight streaming through gaps in the leaves and catching in her golden hair. Batcher frisks beside him, then lets out a happy bark, charging to Omega’s side and rolling on the ground beside her. Omega pats her absently, then squints up at him.

”Hi, Crosshair.”

”You weren’t at lunch. I told Hunter I’d check on you.”

She gives him a wan smile. “You both worry too much.”

He raises his eyebrows. This from the kid who’d been kidnapped by bounty hunters and the Empire, who still had the Empire after her. “I’m not sure we worry enough.”

She chuckles a little, but it’s nothing like the laugh he’s gotten used to. Crosshair frowns, leaning against the trunk of the tree. His shadow blocks the dappled sunlight playing over her hair and face. A guilty look crosses her face, and then he realizes what she’s holding.

Tech’s broken goggles.

He goes cold, despite the sunny day.

“I just…” She hangs her head. “I miss him, Crosshair. I thought maybe I’d go and think about him for a while.”

Crosshair swallows. He’s not sure what to do here. She left them to go off by herself. Is he supposed to let her be? “I can… leave you alone.”

Her face twists to one side. She’s crying silently, trying not to show it. For a moment he almost does leave — he’d want to be alone, if it were him (wouldn’t he?). But that doesn’t feel right. He sinks down to the ground beside her and reaches out, stiffly patting her on the back.

She curls up under his arm so quickly he’s taken by surprise. He shifts his arm, brings her a little closer. It’s strange, feeling like a shelter, like he’s… safe, for her. The chill in his chest fades.

”Don’t you miss him, too?” she whispers.

”Yes,” says Crosshair. “Of course.” A muscle works in his throat. He closes his eyes, blinking back a sudden sting. “Did he like it here?”

Omega laughs, though she still sounds teary. “I think so. I was remembering how he recorded all the birds. Not just their calls, but everything to do with them — how their wings sounded when they flew, the sounds of the bugs they liked to eat, the noises their babies made. He used to sit right here recording sometimes. Then he’d play them back for me, telling me all their names.” She lets out a long breath. “I think talking about him helps.”

Scenes flash before him. Tech in their quarters back on Kamino, acting out every new plan that came into his brilliant mind. The confident little smile he’d get, pulling off something insanely clever. His voice rising with excitement when figuring out the twists and turns of a new language. Understanding you does not mean that I agree with you.

Crosshair opens his eyes, looking out at the distant sea, the sunlight shimmering on the waves. “Did he ever tell you about the eclipse on Ryloth?”

”No,” she says, scooting closer to him. He squeezes her shoulder.

“I was on watch. Hunter and Wrecker were laying low, resting up for a night mission. Tech was supposed to be, but he joined me. He wouldn’t stop talking about an eclipse by the largest moon.”

“An eclipse? During your mission?”

“It was very rare. He knew exactly how rare, of course.” Crosshair smiles slightly at the memory, though he’d been irritated by Tech’s chatter about the stages of the eclipse and Ryloth’s five moons and the fact that only the largest moon could initiate a total eclipse.

“Of course.” Omega looks up at him, curious, her eyes dry. “What was it like?”

“Strange,” Crosshair admits. “The light went wrong. We’d been on Ryloth for two weeks. I thought I knew the place. Until totality approached, and everything fell dark. And quiet.”

His arms prickle with goosebumps. It’s still such a powerful memory, the shift in the light’s register, the deep unreal shadows descending upon the world before them, the noises he’d gotten used to in the distance faltering into silence. And then Tech beside him, voice hushed: “Totality. It will last for six point two minutes, and this planet will not see such a spectacle again for thirty years. We will have no other chance to see this event on this world in our lifetimes -- now, Crosshair! Look!”

Crosshair shivers. “We’d seen a lot of the galaxy by then. But that stays with me. It was… beautiful. And Tech wanted me to see it with him.”

He tries to describe it to Omega, though his halting words are nothing like as clear as the memory he still carries. The image flares in his mind once more, the sun a black upon black disk, a white halo of hazy corona swirling and shifting around its borders, its light not moonlight or sunlight but something else entirely. He’d drunk it in, goosebumps rippling on his arms. And then he turned to Tech, whose brown eyes were wide and unblinking behind his goggles, his face shining, transported. “It is…” Tech paused, then shook his head, gazing up at the corona. “It is beyond my ability to describe.”

Crosshair had just nodded. “I think I know what you mean.”

They didn’t get to talk much about it after; the mission had taken precedence, and then there was the next mission, and the mission after that. But every time it came to mind, his arms prickled, and he remembered Tech, his face glowing.

Omega shifts beside him, and he’s back on Pabu, on a bright sunny day beneath the shade of a drowsing tree. She pulls away from his embrace, looking down at the goggles in her hands.

“I like that story, Crosshair.”

He takes a deep breath. Perhaps talking does help.

“I do, too.”

#crosshair tbb #tech tbb #omega tbb #crosshair the bad batch #tech the bad batch #omega the bad batch #the bad batch #the bad batch fanfiction #season 3 #eclipse #i did not see 2024 in totality #but i did see 2017 #and those goosebumps i still get every time are real #my batcher fic

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f0point5 · 6 months

Note

Charles Leclerc just in general is my Roman Empire with all the lore behind him and again can talk about him for hours.

I don't think that there is a window for when we as fans believe that he can't win a WDC anymore. Because if there is one thing about Charles Leclerc then it is that he'll fight for it regardless of the car that he has.

Il Predestinato was a name given to him by Vanzini when he was like 15 by Carlo Vanzini. Vanzini was interviewing Charles and during the end (I think as vanzini was leaving) Charles said "It will never be possible that we end up fighting for the title and it’s my teammate fighting for it instead of me." The nickname was only popularized when he won Monza 2019 but Vanzini had used it for Spa 2019 and also when Charles was in Alfa Romeo Sauber.

Charles has shown that if he has the car he will challenge and fight for wins, but also this season I don't think is as big of a hit to his abilities as people make it out to be.

Yes he is behind Carlos in the standings and Carlos has gotten a win (on a track that Red Bull, but let's be completely honest, wasn't good for Max. And Singapore is a slower track in comparison to others.) But Charles is 17 points behind Carlos. He's 17 points behind in a car that wasn't built for him, with multiple DNFs (many of which were not his own fault), and Ferrari screwing up his strategy. Charles being so close is due to his ability as a driver. If Charles was having a bad season the points difference would be similar to the one between alonso and stroll.

Just looking at Austin, Charles started on pole but finished p6 and Carlos finished p4 (before the disqualifications due to Ferrari/Mercedes not having thin planks). However, the only reason Carlos had the better strategy was because he had worn out his tyres and it forced Ferrari to pit him early.

Charles is overdriving the car, but most of the time he's also extracting more than is possible from the car which is why he has multiple poles this season.

If he doesn't win a WDC (but I do think he will win eventually), he'll still go down as one of the great drivers in F1 like Stirling Moss and Gilles Villeneuve. There's something special about Charles Leclerc that other drivers don't have.

Charles Leclerc is the kid who was in an endurance karting race on a team with his brother (I think), Jules, and some other guy and when they didn't come back after the first hour, raced for like 3 hours so they wouldn't lose first place. He was born in Monaco but raised in Maranello. He is a tifoso at heart and bleeds rosso corsa. He loves the tifosi and they love him so much that there were talks of storming Maranello to get rid of Binotto.

Ahhh this was much longer than I thought it would be but I can write essays on this man.

Yeah honestly can we talk about how Ferrari literally STOLE Charles’s Il Predestinato brand? This is not talked about enough but I was talking about it the other day, I don’t remember with whom. I feel like Ferrari has kind of appropriated the Il Predestinato lore and entwined it so much with their brand and his love for the team that most people don’t even know he was destined to be a champion before he was destined to be a Ferrari driver.

I guess you have answered the question of when will people stop believing - Never.

I also wholeheartedly believe if he had the car and the team he would fight and he could win. But I don’t think Ferrari will be that team for him. So for me it all comes down to whether he will ever leave.

For me what’s special about Charles is his lore. There’s a gold dust about him that evokes the ghost of heroes past. It’s just a magic. And I think he will be remembered regardless of whether he wins a title. But I think he wants a title. Sadly I think he wants it with Ferrari enough to be wasting time.

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theshimadaslovers · 6 months

Text

THE ONRYO

Chapter 1

(ONRYO HANZO X YOU FEM!READER)

Genre: Magicpunk/DungeonPunk, drama, fantasy, romance.

Summary: You and a couple of friends were telling some ghost stories in a campfire, looking for new adventures. So, one of your closest friends, who knows the forest with the palm of her hands, tells an interesting myth about a spirit known as an Onryo, a violent ghost that can hurt you for real.

?? - All right, that one is not real, Briggite! *laughs* Ghosts are not real!

Brig- Not real? Dragons are real, Olivia!

Olivia- They are animals and when people die, they're dead!! Right, y/n?!

You- *eating* Mm…? Oh! I mean, it's possible. Is interesting actually… Tell me more about that thing, Brig.

Brig- Well well! Someone is nice here! *laughs and sits close* They never told anybody the true story of the Onyro, but I know.

Olivia- How? *roll eyes*

Brig- My mother was a witch, you know, right? She met this demon! She said that his true story is that, actually, he's a man from a powerful empire of crime called Shimada and he killed his own brother! And his father paid coins of gold to a powerful witch to curse his own son and he became this demon, now, they call him a Sleepy Dangerous Spirit of The Darkest Forest.

Olivia- Bullshit, there's not such things as demons!

You- I've heard about that… *thinking out loud*

Brig- What do you mean? *surprised*

You- No! Nothing! *laughs* It sounds like an old story from my parents! Is there any kind of cure for this curse?

Brig- Is a flower in a high cold mountain, something like that. A lot of people said that this is not the real story, but, it may actually have something more about him. Isn't it interesting?

You- I like that! *laughs and stands up* Well, girls, I have to go, my uncle is waiting for me.

Olivia All right, but don’t listen to Brigitte, I know you’re crazy about those myths, but, come on… is there any chance that it could be real?

You- *smirk* The world is a mysterious box of Pandora, Olivia. There’s always a chance. We live inside of a Pandora Box.

Olivia- *swallow dry* That was a little creepy…

*later in your house located in the middle of the forest, you open the door finding your uncle exploding some alchemy*

Uncle- Oh! Holy damn! That was a big one! *he was a wizard hided from the government*

You- Uncle, what are you doing? *laughs* You’re gonna get attention from the guards like that.

Uncle- *turn around with his face dirty with pink dust* Well well! My sweet niece! I’m trying to figure out how to make color without using natural materials! For your paintings!

You- We live in the middle of nature, uncle, it is alright to use flowers and other things. By the way, I have a question for you.

Uncle- Yes yes! *cleaning his face* What is it?

You- Remember the myth about the demon Onryo? *your uncle stopped for a moment a little shocked* What? You told me that he was real.

Uncle- Yes, he is real! But you don’t mess with him!

You- Brigitte told me his real story, her mother told her before die.

Uncle- Yes, I remember her mother… She was a wize witch, she saw the demon with her own eyes.

You- So… I said that he’s murdering people in the forest, right?

Uncle- Yes! But this is not our business! *go back to the experiments but you get in his way*

You- Since I was a kid, I have wanted to know this spirit.

Uncle- Evil spirit, y/n! You should not invoke him!

You- You want to be known as a great wizard again! This is your chance to get away from the government's eyes!

Uncle- This spirit is dangerous! He’s sadistic, powerful and will laugh at you while you bleed! And a liar too.

You- If you won’t do it, I’ll do it for you.

Uncle- No! *his aura starts to get red and visible* I said no! You’ll die in a blink of an eye!

You- He is the biggest enemy for our kingdom! The greatest fear of the king! He killed the queen! The only one able to turn this man back to normal or kill him, is you!

Uncle-... *get closer* I would never dare to be face to face with this demon. Never! Is possible to kill or cure, but only with a flower that’s impossible to reach!

You- A flower! In the highest cold mountains!

Uncle- Guarded by a great dragon! *annoyed* A dragon of fire! A such a powerful fire that would NEVER freeze in that mountain! Hotter than hell! Burns as lava!

You-...*take a deep breath* Fine! I don’t need to convince you anyway.

Uncle- What?

You- *Make a spell that makes you disappear in a smoke*

Uncle- No no! Y/n! COME BACK! *inhales* I should never have taught spells to this girl…!

*at your uncles library*

You- *walk to a specific shelf picking up a thin notebook between the books* If you won’t do it, I’ll do it! *you open up the notebook and grab a book about myths and other one about the kingdom history* I’ve been preparing that for him for years! And he says “no”?! Idiot! *open the book of myths in a page of Onryo* “A guarding evil spirit from the Darkest Forest…” blah blah… here! Invocation! “Set two red candles in the ground in the middle of the darkest spot of a forest, light it up and place a red fire flower between, walk two steps back and hold an incense, light it up and speak the spell”. Right! I’m ready.

*you put everything in a backpack and walk to the window, open up and with no hesitation, you jump. Lucky you that has a tree in front, so you hold in the stem and go to the ground, then, your adventure starts, while your uncle, try to look for you a hour later*

Uncle- *open the door of your room* Y/n can we talk for a…? Y/n? *sighs and close the door going to the library open up* Y/n are you here? *see the open window* What? *the rest of the room looks totally normal, but he thought in the worse* Aw shit! *Close the door running out of the house* Y/n!! Y/N! Oh no…!

*in the middle of the walk, you were reading the book about Onryo again*

You- Why did they make up so many different stories for him? *sighs* I hope Brig is right about that one. Darkest place of the forest… *look around* Maybe, south? No… Too close to the cannibal tribes. *look back* Maybe East, but my uncle can detect me easily *look forward* It may have some cave around here.

*The first rule is to find the darkest place of the forest to make the invocation work, to avoid attention if someone is close, if there’s more than one person in the invocation ritual, the Onryo won’t appear, if insists, he will kill everyone with no excitation in a blink of an eye. After about two hours walking, around evening, you spot a deep cave with the entry covered with a curtain of leaves*

You- Yes! *you smile running tired to the cave, getting closer, you felt a something cold in your spine* Creepy… *swallow dry and slowly entering the cave* Fine… the candles.

*you pick up the candles in your backpack placed in the ground as the rules say, the flower that was safely stored in a glass jar, you place it between the red candles. Light up the candles in stand up now holding the incenses* All right… *take a deep breath lighting up, closing your eyes and starting the spell*

“Homo damnatus in gehennam aeternam.

Malus spiritus surge e sepulchro tuo.

Ostende faciem tuam in mundo, ostende cornua tua et fortitudinem tuam.

Magne Onryo, invitum te invoco, pro viribus verborum meorum, sepulcrum tuum aperio.”

*Nothing happened, you open one eye and see everything quiet*

You- What? *you grab the book open up in the right page* The latin spell didn’t work…! Of course! He’s a japanese spirit! *you slap your own forehead* Dammit! I’ll try to translate…? *take a deep breath closing your eyes again, but suddenly you smell something burning* ?!

*You open your eyes and see the flower between the candles burning without touching anything, you step away a little scared and see two fine lines of fire coming from the candles touch each other making the flower turn into a bigger fire that makes you step away a little more. The fire started to grow bigger every second, like a huge campfire, the light was so strong that it made you put the book in front of your face and close your eyes, than… everything stops*

You- …? *you heard a growl making you keep the book in front of your face, now, scared and shaking* Oh shit…! It worked! Oh shit shit shit…!

Onryo- Who dares to invoke me?! *you hear others growls, but not coming from him* How dare?!

You- *slowly and shaking putting the book down* I…! I did! *you gasp seeing this blue demon figure looking to you*

Onryo- *tilt his head* You… *two creatures similar to dragons, skeletons dragons, appear behind him growling to you* A foolish woman…? *walk towards you* Where should I start? From the legs? They look taste *chuckles* Should I smash your head and eat your brains? *stay face to face* Take your pretty eyes off? *you felt his claws caressing your arms* Fresh… *the dragons wrap you around making you gasp and panic* Shhh shhh… *he hold you face* You know the consequences.

You- Please…! I have a proposal! For you! *the dragons squeeze you more* Hm…!!

Onryo- You want to make a proposal to a demon? *chuckles moving his face to you neck and smelling* Hmmm… such a good smell of meat…

You- Please! *squeezing more* Hm! I know your true story! I…! *gasp*

Onryo- *chuckles and whispers with his demonic voice in you ear* Out of air? No one knows the truth, no one cares… *Look in your eyes* Liar…!

*The dragons squeeze you until you roll your eyes almost fainting*

Onryo- Good girl… *laughs stepping away*

You- *gasp* A witch…! She…! Knew you!!

Onryo-... A witch? *walk fast back to you and grab your neck making the dragons letting you go* What witch?! Do you know her?!

You- *gasp* That witch you told her your true story!

Onryo- Hmm… *let you go make you fall in your knees catching some breath* I remember that witch, I told her my story.

You- You’re a human… you’re cursed by your own family... killed your own brother…

Onryo- I DIDN’T KILL MY BROTHER! *He voice echoed like hell* I would never dare to kill him! I…! *he growls* Give a good reason to not kill you!

You- I have the cure! *you stand up* I can bring you back!

Onryo- *chuckles* You? A little girl? What are you?

You- Daughter of witches! I know about the cure, I know what can bring you back!

Onryo- And why do you want to help me? Reckless girl!

You- You’ve been killing innocent people for blood!

Onryo- Oh, is that so? Want to be a hero? *laughs*

You- Do you want to be hunted forever?

Onryo- I’m feared by everyone! *walk towards you* I’ma god! I’m powerful!

You- And lonely! We hate you, Onryo! You’re a demon!

Onryo- Demon? *chuckles* You think I care about being lonely and hated? I love that!

You- Right… So you actually killed your brother in cold bloo-! *he grab your neck* Is that what everyone thinks about you!

Onryo- Talk about my brother again and I will break your neck!

You- So you gonna have to break everyones neck! *smile* Don’t you wanna prove to them that you’re the victim here?!

Onryo- Victim? *he chills but still holds your neck* I’m the victim…

You- My…neck! So listen to me! You come with me to get the flowers that can bring you back! All right? You become human again and we go hunt that stupid witch!

Onryo- And kill my father… *laughs and bring you close to him* So you’re going to make an deal with the devil!

You- What?!

Onryo- I have my conditions… You'll be loyal to me, no lies! No betray! And you will obey me…! Only me!

You- And that's my condition…you'll protect me! *he growls* Yes! That's the deal!

Onryo- You're a witch! You have a lot of power in your veins!

You- I…! *gasp* I'm not that strong yet! *he immediately let you go laughing out loud*

Onryo- Daughter of witches?! No power?! Liar!

You- It's a deal?! Or not?!

*He look at you for a few seconds and chuckles*

Onryo- All right, human… is a deal with the devil *smirk*

Continue...

#she/her #overwatch #overwatch x reader #fem!reader #overwatch fanfiction #overwatch x you #hanzo shimada #hanzo x you

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yacinthemorning · 1 month

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Birdsongs

Chapter 5

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Summary: The Life Pilgrimage is the biggest music festival of the century, set to take place all across the continent. Small-time rock band, GIST, and the up-and-coming alternative band, Empire, are both lucky to be among the hundreds set to make appearances, but there's just one problem. Neither can afford the travel expenses on their own. For better or worse, they're stuck with each other for the next five weeks as they try to make their dreams come true.

And, perhaps, among the chaos and music, two unsuspecting souls find one another...

Ships: Jimmy/Tango (slow burn romantic), Joel/Lizzie (romantic), Jimmy & Scott (platonic)

Warnings: Harassment, threats of violence, hangovers, shovel talk

“Do you think if the trailer caught fire it would explode like in the movies?”

Every person previously nursing their hangovers turned their eyes on Skizz. Tango reached out while he was still lost in thought and snatched away the blunt about to fall from his fingers. “Okay, that’s that.”

“Hey! Give it back!”

“Nope. It’s all fun and games ‘til the train of thought turns to arson.” He said, putting it out and pushing a bag of bugles towards his old friend. “We know how that ends.”

“You guys really don’t hold back, do you?” Lizzie murmured with concern.

Tango shrugged the same moment they hit a pothole, throwing him into the air. He glanced over his shoulder towards the front seats. Sure enough, Jimmy was looking back, mouthing an apology before Fwhip turned his attention back to the road. That day’s drivers were decided purely on who was sober enough to pass a breathalyser if they were pulled over, or in other words, Jimmy and Pearl.

The night before had gotten wild, from what little Tango could remember, and now the day after it was like they were all running on empty. Even after brushing his teeth thrice there was an awful taste left in Tango’s mouth. Joel could barely lift his head off the wall. Scott and Gem had never even gotten out of bed, and for once Impulse couldn’t find the energy to tell them off for not being buckled in. It may have had something to do with, while wasting time fiddling with his own, nearly puking across the table, had he not been next to the window. Someone had attempted to put a movie on, but the noise nearly caused Lizzie to cry.

All in all, it was not a fun day so far. Still, no one seemed to mind. Tango smiled as he rested his chin across his arms. Both their bands had hit it out of the park in their first performance. The others’ music wasn’t half bad either, especially with Jimmy there. Despite all his worries they got on like a house on fire. It gave him hope he could actually get through this trip without exploding. One member of Empire down, four more to go. Or maybe he should stop while ahead?

Pain pulsed through his skull, groan matched by Lizzie. Okay, so maybe he could wait until tomorrow.

“We’re pulling off the freeway in a minute.” Fhwip announced. “Pearl wants to stop in town for the day since we’re way ahead of schedule.”

Lizzie lulled her head to the side in order to give her manager the stink eye. “Really? While we’re like this?”

“You’re free to stay in the trailer, I’m just relaying the plan! We’re gonna check in at the campsite and then head out.”

The clock on the wall declared it quarter past two. Skizz scraped a bugle claw across the table, then ate it absently. “Could hit up a pub for dinner.” He suggested.

“More drinking?” Complained Jimmy from the front seat.

“We don’t have to drink! Might be fun though. Have a couple burgers then get our groove on to whatever honkytonk music they got out here.”

Tango barked, “God, don’t subject these poor kids to your geriatric wiggling!”

There was shuffling in the bedroom, and Gem pulled open the door looking like a very excited zombie. “W’goin’ dancin’?” She asked so hopefully. Scott appeared behind her, scrubbing his dyed hair out of his face before shuffling her forward so he could lock himself in the bathroom.

“Oh, we haven’t been dancing in forever, Joel!” Lizzie joined in on the excitement, reaching her hand out to flap it in front of her husband to get his attention. It did little, only getting a hung-over grunt. She huffed, then stretched out across the table to get a look at the drivers. “Full steam ahead, Jim, my toes are a-tappin!”

“It’s not even dinner time yet, at least wait!” He said back, voiced pitched up in panic.

“They’re a-tappin, Jimmy! Hurry!”

“You’re unbelievable!”

Tango replaced his bugle claws just to jab Skizz. “Then I guess that’s that.”

They’d only just put the blocks under the wheels of the trailer when a commotion had already began. Jimmy looked up from where he was pulling chairs out from the car at the sound of his sister’s ‘pay attention to me’ whine. Both she and Gem had surrounded Impulse like a pack of hyenas, circling him to keep him from getting far with the bag he was carrying. Not a situation Jimmy was dumb enough to get involved with.

Tango had also noticed the scene and, in his ignorance, dared approach. “Hey, what’s all the hubbub about?”

They pounced on him, eliciting a funny little screech. “Tango! Come with us!” Gem demanded more than asked. It was too late for him. He was already being dragged off. Jimmy quietly saluted the lost soldier and went back to work.

“Wh- What! What’s going on?”

“We’re gonna go shopping for outfits for tonight.”

“But you already have a bunch of clothes!”

“Some of us change more than once a week, Tango.”

Jimmy yanked the tent out of the car just in time before Tango was shoved into the now-open backseat and locked in. The pathetic expression he pressed against the window reminded Jimmy of a cat being taken to the vet. Impulse slipped into the driver’s seat with more dignity and resignation. Then they were off.

Skizz dropped the cooler down between himself and Jimmy. “Well, better them than us.”

“We probably aren’t seeing them before dinner.” Jimmy said. Not once in his life had Lizzie ever been decisive enough not to try on everything in a shop.

“Oi, Skizz,” called Pearl from the side of the trailer. “We’re almost out of propane, and we could use a couple more drinks and toilet paper I’m thinking. Mind walkin’ down the road and grabbing some?”

Skizz shrugged, then slapped Jimmy’s shoulder hard enough to send him a few feet forward. “You heard her. Let’s go, buddy!”

“Me? She asked you!” But Jimmy was already being dragged off.

“I need someone sober to make sure I don’t drop kick the propane into my own face.”

It didn’t sound like a job Jimmy was either looking forward to nor qualified for. Regardless, they found themselves walking down the road together towards the campsite store. It was a warm afternoon, thankfully, with birds going wild in the trees above. The canopy hid them well from view, but their songs gave them away. Several chikadees called to one another while a jay and crow fought to make the graveliest caws. Between them a sparrow screeched like it was trying to replace the cicadas that were still hidden underground that year. He could see the little thing shaking on a branch protruding right out over the road, hanging on for dear life. In the far distance there was the clucks of someone’s chickens, but most oddly-

“Earth to Jimmy! Yoo-hoo!”

Jimmy blinked, focus narrowing until he could barely hear the songbirds over Skizz’s hard stare. They were at the store, standing awkwardly at the bottom of the ramp onto its porch.

“Y’okay?” Skizz asked, pushing past him towards the door. “And I thought I was hungover.”

A blush dusted Jimmy’s cheeks. “Sorry.” He wasn’t hung over at all, but given how out of it Skizz was before he even got back to the trailer he wasn’t surprised Skizz didn’t know that. “It just sounds nice around here.”

Skizz threw his hands up. “It sounds like a bore! It needs more pizzazz, a little more boogie on the roads, bit o’ radio leakage.” He paused at the door as a breeze passed. Several wind chimes, clearly homemade, rattled away as if out of spite. A peculiar bird song lulled underneath them, difficult to tell apart. He huffed in amusement. “But I guess it’s got its charm.”

“You’d know better than me, probably.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The bell of the store rang, catching the campsite owner’s attention. They nodded to the old woman and moved past. There was only two aisles of goods in the store, selling only basic emergency supplies and a few candy bars. Skizz went straight for the gas and ice. Jimmy hummed thoughtfully as he grabbed a four pack of toilet paper. “You guys have been playing for years right? And I’m probably the worst here, you’d know better than me about sound.”

“Jimmy!”

Both Jimmy and the poor owner jumped at Skizz’s shout. He glared daggers, and shoved a bag of ice into Jimmy’s hands. “The first thing any musician needs to know is skill is bullshit! It’s opinions all the way down!”

Jimmy wasn’t quite sure what to say, especially not with the owner staring into the back of his skull. “Skizz-”

“No, no, no! You listen here, mister!” Skizz continued to speak far too loud. “I heard you on that disc. It’s complete malarkey. Guys like you and me, we might not be big shining stars like Lizzie or Gem, but we’re still important! You gotta have confidence in yourself, kid! You got a sound all your own!”

His face was surely beet red by then. What decisions led him here, stuck getting preached to like a Saturday morning cartoon while he awkwardly held overpriced toilet paper? “I guess.” He murmured, just trying to get the scene Skizz was making to end.

“Don’t guess! You know what?” Skizz crossed his arms and smirked. “I’ve decided you’re stuck with me until you say the magic words.”

Jimmy gaped. “Magic words?”

“Yeah, magic words!”

“... Which is?”

“I’m an amazing musician!”

“I’m an amazing musician.” He deadpanned.

“No, not like that! You gotta mean it! I swear, you’re almost as bad as Tango.”

“I really don’t think-”

“Um, excuse me.” The two turned to the owned, who looked so incredibly uncomfortable. “Would you mind paying for that?”

They’d strayed dangerously close to the door during their back and forth. Jimmy shrank into his shoulders as he brought it over to the counter. Skizz quickly grabbed a camping-sized canister of gas and threw it on the counter as well before reaching for his wallet.

“That’ll be 21.65.”

Skizz’s nose wrinkled. “Shit.” He turned to Jimmy an awkward grimace. “You wouldn’t happen to have a ten I can borrow, would you?”

Everything was most certainly overpriced, but not by that much. Jimmy only shrugged, pulling out his card. “I’ll just get it.”

“You don’t have to-”

“We’re all pitching in, it’s fine.”

Though he went quiet his eyebrows never relaxed. Not until they were outside did he pipe up again, “Dude I’m so sorry, I spent way too much at the venue.”

“It’s fine, Skizz.” He tried to assure, though there was a sour note left at the explanation. They hadn’t hung out much, but anyone within half a mile could smell exactly what it was he spent his cash on. “Don’t you have a card, though?”

There was an awkward groan. “Yeah, but I can’t touch it ‘til next week.”

“Bills?” It made some sense, though the timing seemed all off.

“Yeah, my mom’s nurse. She’s nice but she really bleeds y’dry on a bad month.” He rambled more than explained, going on about this and that miscellaneous expense.

Jimmy felt a bit bad now, though it raised a particular question in the back of his mind. Why are you out here on a music tour, then? Luckily, he was able to keep it off his tongue. He hardly had room to talk. Not that there was any room to, with Skizz’s ramble going off the rails into a story about his college days with Impulse.

There was that odd twitter once more, just as they descended the steps. Jimmy almost missed it. The song was irregular, soft and sweet but not natural. Jimmy twisted around.

There, just over a fence separating the campsite from someone’s backyard. One of the windows was wide open, its old curtains dragged out by the breeze, collecting dust every time it buffeted against the mouldy panelling. It gave way when the wind stilled for a moment, revealing a white painted bird cage. Within, hopping from one wood bar to the other, was a tiny finch, feathers the colour of butter. A canary. Though, Jimmy had never seen one, but that’s what he had to assume. Trained, so it seemed, with the lovely tunes it altered between. As if it knew it had gained an audience it halted in its hops, and picked up volume. Jimmy smiled. Maybe just for a bit they could…

“- And I said ‘Well, I can’t beat off four people at once!’”

Jimmy’s foot tangled against his ankle and with a sharp squawk he went down. Only the toilet paper cushioned his fall, avoiding breaking his nose against the dirt road, though a face full of plastic was unpleasant in its own right.

“Oh my god, are you okay, dude?” Skizz asked, yanking him back onto his feet with a single hand.

Jimmy nodded his head through the pain, “No- yes- I’m sorry. You did what?”

There was a nervous laugh, “Dude!”

The ridiculousness finally sunk in with dizziness. “You can’t just say something like that in public!”

“We aren’t in public!”

Jimmy threw out his hands towards the open lot. Skizz waved him off, a fit of giggles filling the air.

“There ain’t no one around!”

“But there could be!”

But Skizz shook his head, pulling him in to eye level and patting his shoulder. “See, is that your problem? You got stage fright, kid? I bet it is. Not to brag but I’m pretty good at reading people.”

Stage fright? Well certainly, who doesn’t? Well, Scott and Lizzie. And probably Joel. But the crowd wasn’t anything to worry about once he got going. “I came to help you buy toilet paper, not get a therapy session.” He whined, trying to shake off the guitarist.

“Well to bad! You’re stuck with the Skizzleman ‘til you believe in yourself!”

Maybe this trip actually was going to be as bad as he thought.

Tango waded through the aisles of some tiny store, one eye on the changing rooms. The selection was understandably small, mostly graphic t-shirts with the town name on it, maybe a mining helmet or a terrible post card picture of the old abandoned mines-turned-museum that was apparently the only thing the place was known for. A whole corner for generic patriotic merch, a small section for crafts by artists from the local reservation, and an entire wall of hats with vaguely funny fishing and nature jokes made up the rest of the store. Not exactly prime location for night-on-the-town clothes. But Gem had spotted a Bon Jovi shirt that was admittedly pretty cool and now Tango was stuck playing with dream catchers while the girls tried on Large Women’s T-shirt #12 that Gem would take a pair of scissors to as soon as they got back to the trailer.

“How does it look?” Lizzie squealed, throwing the curtains to the side. “Too boring?” It was a jean jacket, pre-worn to a faded sky blue that went well with her pink hair. Not exact her style, from what Tango had so far seen, but fit well with the atmosphere of the highway town.

Gem popped her head out, and made a similarly excited noise to her friend. “It looks so good!”

Giggling at the compliment, Lizzie did a spin, her long skirt flaring out and catching on the racks of the cramped store. “It’s so cheap, too! I think I need it.”

“Oh, I could make a cute little patch for it right here!” Hands grabbed at the hem, running fingers over the coat’s large pockets. Lizzie beamed.

“A Genuine Gemini Patch, oh please do!”

Their conversation turned to whispers that were drowned out by their own laughter. Tango snorted, smiling fondly at the scene as he leaned against a wall of flyers. “How’s it over here?” Impulse paused beside the blond man. “Still going, huh?”

“Yeah, Lizzie’s been meticulous.” He drawled, flicking the brim of the baseball cap the girls forced on Impulse. The local highschool’s football team apparently had a little yellow and black demon as its mascot. They both settled against the wall, watching Gem race from the clothes to the accessories, Lizzie right on her tail. “Nice seeing her get to hang out with people her own age rather than a couple of old farts like us.”

Impulse watched for a moment, humming in agreement. “It doesn’t seem like that big a difference ‘till you see them like this or get a ‘what’s that,’ huh?”

“Yeah.” Tango knew in the grand scheme of things they weren’t that old, barely breaking middle-aged at most, maybe a few early grey hairs to show for it. But it was hard not to feel it when he was in the corner reminiscing about once running around town with his buddies instead of joining them.

... What a stupid thought. They were right there, and Gem was his bandmate. Why couldn’t he?

He’d just pushed himself off the wall, about to call out to the girls, when he realized they weren’t alone.

Some guy, maybe mid-twenties and a strong build with a cowboy hat of all things on. A local, Tango guessed. He practically loomed over the two tiny women, saying something that had Lizzie backing away and Gem balling her fists. That was never good.

Tango sauntered up, pulling on the goofiest grin he had as he stepped into the circle. He could feel Impulse’s presence behind him, catching the man’s attention far more than Tango probably did. “Ready to roll, ladies?” He asked.

Gem was about to say something when the local spoke up first, “Who’s this, sweetheart? Your dad?”

“None of your business.” She snapped. Oh, she was very not happy. Which meant time for Operation: Skadoodle Before Someone’s Nose Gets Broken. Again.

Tango put his hands up in peace. “Sorry but we got some prior commitments we’re gonna be late for.”

Lizzie didn’t need another word, slipping behind Tango towards the register to swiftly pay. It took another second and Impulse breaking their line of sight to convince Gem to stop glaring at the man and head over as well. As they rushed their way out of the shop the local shouted after them, “Maybe another time after you put your dad to bed, sweet cheeks!”

If Tango hadn’t been blocking the doorway he was sure Gem would have done a running tackle at the man. She continued to protest even as they filed into the car. “I can take care of myself, you know!”

“We know, Gem.” Impulse sighed. “That’s what we’re afraid of.”

Tango tried to pat her shoulder but she jerked away, folding her arms and huffing. “You really wanna spend the night in some backwater jail over a guy like that? C’mon, we got better things to do than let some creep ruin our day.” He said.

“Oh, yes, I’d rather spend our money on some mai tais then bail.” Lizzie chimed in, nodding sagely.

Gem still seemed to want to protest, but the fight soon left her. “True. Fine, but one more shop. I still want some nice earrings, all I got are my stage stuff.”

“Aye aye, we can do that much.” Impulse agreed, switching into reverse while Gem turned up the radio.

At once Tango and Lizzie collapsed back into their seats in relief. Bad move on his part, as his neck hit the headrest awkwardly and send him shooting back forward. Lizzie let out a small giggle. “Don’t break anything.”

“Thanks.” He said, then hiccuped. “Uh, for actual real. That sounded sarcastic but I mean for real.”

The pink haired woman waved him off, instead turning her attention to her new jacket she’d worn out in their haste. “Oh, I’m used to dealing with stuff like that. Between Gem, Joel, and Jimmy, I’m basically an expert.” She stuck up her chin.

“Wait- Jimmy?” He laughed. From everything he’d seen in the past week, Jimmy was about as intimating as a mouse. Not to knock the guy, but Tango had trouble even imagining him angry.

Lizzie eyed him with a strange look, like she knew something he didn’t. Well, she was Jimmy’s sister, so there was probably a lot she knew that he didn’t. “Oh yes, just you wait. Especially if Joel’s around, those two get each other so worked up over the silliest things you can imagine. It’s all hot air of course. No one ever taught my foolish little brother not to start things he can’t finish. But I suppose that’s what Joel and I are there for.”

Tango hummed, leaning his forehead against the back of the seat in contemplation. It probably wasn’t so different to how Impulse could get. Still hard to imagine, but that last part certainly fit. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. The thought was almost...

“Cute?”

A very manly squeal escape Tango. He nearly jumped out of his skin. Lizzie was leaning in towards him, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Huh?” He squeaked.

“You know, Mr. Tek- If that’s really you name!” Her face contorted into a sneer as she looked him up and down. Hold on, what had he ever done to make her think that wasn’t his name? “I’ve notice you spending quite a bit of time with my dear brother so far.”

“Y-yeah?” Had he? It was probably true, between the driving and bunking together and spending the day with him at the festival. Getting to know five whole new people at once was hard, and serendipity had separated both of them from their respective flocks.

“A-ha! So you don’t deny it?”

“Um, no?”

Lizzie hummed and hawed, rubbing her chin as she looked at him like a puzzle to solve. “Interesting. And exactly what are your intentions with him?”

His brain short circuited. Intentions? “Whoa, whoa, whoa, I think you got the wrong idea-”

“A likely story.” Her eyebrows shot up. “But you can’t fool me!”

When did he get stuck in an interrogation? Over Jimmy at that. He turned in hopes that Gem or Impulse would save him, but both were drowned out by the radio and their own argument. He was alone, left in the lion’s den for his corpse to be discovered only once they got wherever they were going. No one but himself could save him, and he knew he was terrible at that. “Listen, Lizzie-”

“Do you find him annoying?”

This girl needed to stop pulling the rug out from under him, or maybe he needed to give his brain a spa day to get all the gunk and rust off it. “Huh?” He repeated instead of anything of substance. It was fair, in his opinion. “No?”

“Don’t try to lie to me. It’s alright if you do, plenty of people including myself would agree! But I will not have someone giving him the run around pretending to be nice just to mess with him-”

“No! No, no, I ain’t doing anything like that! What sorta question is that?” He snapped. “He’s a nice guy, we get along fine I think? Who’d do that?”

Lizzie’s expression almost immediately softened. “Oh, I suppose you seem nice enough, but I’m still keeping my eye on you. My brother’s kind of an idiot sometimes. Especially when it comes to other people. If we weren’t around he’d get hurt and tricked so often. When he started talking sweet about you I guess I got a bit worked up thinking it might be that.”

Jimmy talked about him? Tango shook his head. That wasn’t important or strange. If course he did, they spent most of the past week together. Jimmy talked sweet about me, his brain cheered anyway, even when he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. Whatever it was he liked the sound of it. Something else caught his thoughts as well, however. “So, do you usually do this interogatication thing, then? With new people?” He dared to ask.

She shrugged, “Well, Like I said, my dear brother would be lost without us looking out for him, so don’t take it personally.”

“Then...” Part of his brain tried to stop him there, telling him it certainly wasn’t any of his business. But her words had finally helped click together something that had been bothering him for a few days now about the younger band, and he couldn’t help himself. “... What do you do if you’re wrong?”

“Pardon?” Her eyes snapped to him, and it was almost enough to keep him quiet, if not for being more frightened of not answering.

“What if you’re wrong about someone?” He repeats, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Like you didn’t get the full picture of someone, or you were biased. No offence, but this is the longest conversation we’ve had and I don’t really feel like we’ve gotten to know each other. Why trust this conversation more than Jimmy? Why can’t he judge for himself?”

She gaped at him, some type of hurt in her eyes, and he knew instantly he’d said too much. From the look Impulse gave him through the mirror he’d also heard at least part of what Tango had said. That was him, king of shoving his foot directly into his mouth. He sank down into his seat as Lizzie’s expression soured, then flicked away.

“I change my mind, you’re the worst, actually. Never speak to Jimmy again.”

“Tangooo, don’t be mean to my friends!” Gem whined from the front seat.

He sighed. “My bad...”

#tangotek #jimmy solidarity #team rancher #solidaritek #rancher duo #trafficshipping #traffic series #hermitpires #mcyt #fanfiction #fanfic #modern au #hurt/comfort #sharing a slice of cake

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