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itjazzbicch · 3 years

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The Big Bang

Pairing: Hook x Fem Reader

Summary: Hook and the reader have been friends since high-school, making it together in pro wrestling and a part of Team Taz. The problems within Team Taz become too overwhelming for them, they try to ignore it and when Ricky explodes on the reader, Hook explodes on him…

Warnings: The reader gets shoved down, but that’s about it

Requested by: No one, but I hope you all enjoy! (This is my first time I’ve written for Hook, so I hope I did well!)

Word Count: 2224

Tag List: @demonqueen29 @jessiebean00 @new-zealand-chic @crowleysqueenofhell l @justamess44 @thatpanpal @hungmanhorsecarriage @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @linziland13 @xxx-jazz-xxx @writtingrose

I DO NOT OWN THIS GIF

“I’m not going to tell you guys again!” Taz yelled, coaching Ricky, Brian, and Hobbs, “We are a team! The best team and you all are gonna start acting like it!”

Being a member of Team Taz was killing me right now. The whole team was a ticking time bomb, except for Hook and I.

[You trying to get out of here? I can’t stand this rn] I texted to Hook who was sitting next to me.

He looked up at me with a small smile, texting back:

[I was going to ask you the same thing. Let’s get out of here]

I quickly looked to see Taz still lecturing the guys , none of them paying attention to us.

Exactly when they had their backs turned, we snuck out. Whenever we made it far down the hall, I let out a deep breath, huffing:

“I don’t know about you, but all their arguing is getting on my nerves.”

“Welcome to the club,” Hook sighed, “They are being so childish like just shut up and wrestle.”

“Yeah no kidding,” I murmured, walking slowly next to him, “Wanna go to the football field?”

“Yeah,” Hook smiled, “I’m down.”

Hook and I have been best friends for a long time, trained together and now, in AEW together.

We thought it would be awesome to be a part of the same team, but the only team there truly was, was Hook and myself.

When we made it to the football field, I went into the center and just laid in the grass.

“I just wish we could wrestle our own matches and get away from all the guys’s bullshit,” I groaned, looking up to see Hook standing next to me.

“Wanna wrestle?” Hook teased, “Then let’s wrestle.”

“A sparring match?” I smirked, sitting up.

“If that’s what you want to call it,” Hook murmured, looking away when he said, “More like a test for you. I’m obviously stronger.”

“Oh?” I chuckled, standing up, “You’re gonna get it now.

“Bring it on!” Hook encouraged, going into stance whenever I came at him with a lock up.

At first, it was a challenge to overpower him, but to gain the advantage, I stepped on his foot, then put him in a headlock, quickly doing a snap headlock take down, putting him in the grass.

“What was that about being stronger?” I teased, rubbing my knuckles against his hair, “Come on, Hook! Bring it on!”

At first, I thought he was crazy when he started laughing, but then he start tickling me!

“HEY!” I yelled out with laughter. I was trying to fight it off, but I couldn’t handle it for very long, I was way too ticklish.

“You cheater!” I screamed over his laughter, the tickling becoming too much.

I let go and ran away, but Hook jumped right up, chasing me.

“Come on! What about our match?!” He laughed, sprinting to catch up with me.

It didn’t take long till he caught up to me, both of us laughing when he wrapped his arms around my waist, reeling me in.

“Hook, stop please!” I laughed, trying to break his force, but he was too strong, tightening his grip.

“This is what you get for running away!” He laughed, somehow still tickling me.

I needed to get out of his grip and finally, I was able too. I was able to squeeze my arms down, slithering away, crawling backwards between his legs then jumping on his back, putting him in a sleeper hold.

“Time to go night night,” I chuckled, not really trying to put him to sleep.

We would play fight like this all the time, we met in high-school and our friendship never really changed. Hook was always the quiet type, but when we became friends, he opened up to me and we always had fun like we were little kids. It was only with me because of how strong our bond was, still play fighting now as young adults.

Like usual, Hook found a way to reverse. He used a lot of strength to swing me and I screamed because I almost fell off of him, but with one arm, he pulled me back up, swinging me around and holding me in both arms.

We were both out of breath, but smiling when our eyes met, staring into each other’s eyes deeply.

“Can we call it quits?” I huffed, still laughing a bit.

“When are you gonna grow up and stop being so ticklish?” He teased, tickling me one last time.

“What do you mean?” I scoffed, “You just can’t stop being ticklish!”

“Take a joke!” Hook groaned, but smiling, his voice a little deeper when he whispered, “I don’t mind. Your laugh is cute.”

“Is that why you tickle me so much?” I said nervously, feeling my cheeks heat up.

“Maybe,” He smiled, his tongue darting across his lower lip.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I chuckled, about melting in his arms when I saw his head leaning towards mine a little.

I even let my eyes close, but we both jumped when we heard:

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO OUT HERE FOR??”

It was Taz. I forgot how loud he could yell and he about scared me half to death.

“We have to get out to the ring now! Come on!” Taz yelled louder and we just ran, following him.

When we finally made it to the stage, I wasn’t surprised. Ricky and Brian were fighting, AGAIN.

Ricky had the FTW title for some reason and at the same time, they were distracting Hobbs, which made him lose to Adam Page.

They didn’t even care about that. Brian was yelling in Ricky’s face, demanding he give him back the title. Then Hobbs came over and none of them would listen to Taz.

I had enough of this. I couldn’t stand it anymore. So, when Ricky’s hand swung back, the FTW title swinging along with it, I grabbed it.

They all stopped, staring at me and I stood in front of them all, pleading:

“Guys, this needs to stop! We’re a team and a good one when you guys aren’t bickering like children. Please, just stop! We are better than this. We really are!”

“Y/N is right,” Hobbs agreed, nodding his head.

It felt like a moment of peace between us, for the first time in what felt like forever.

Hobbs made me smile with that comment and now that everything was silent, I sighed, “Here, Brian. You’re the champ.”

Brian was smiling too, going to take his title whenever I began to hand it to him, but when I did, Ricky shoved me, knocking me to the ground.

I got slammed right into the titantron, hitting my head hard. I held my head quickly, looking up to see Ricky scared shitless because they were all ready to kill him.

“You son of a-“ Taz began to yell, but all I saw was Hook, knocking Ricky to the ground, throwing punches.

“Hook! Hook!” They all began yelling, Ricky yelling and clenching his injured neck.

“Hook! I said stop!” Taz yelled, but there was no stopping him.

I have never seen Hook so enraged like this before. Hobbs was the one able to contain Hook , turning him to Taz so he could say:

“Son, I don’t blame you for being angry. I know how you feel about her and I’m proud of you for whoopin his ass, but you need to stop.”

Finally, I snapped out of it, Brian kneeling in front of me asking, “Y/N, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I groaned, watching Hook.

His chest was heaving, his eyes animalistic and the moment Ricky picked up his head and looked at Hook, all hell broke lose again.

Hook must have had a crazy adrenaline rush in order to break free from Hobbs grip, going right back to Ricky and about punching his face in.

There was so much yelling and commotion, Hobbs and Brian now trying to hold Hook back, one of them had each of his arms. Hook was still fighting and that’s when I realized that I needed to do something.

Quickly, I jumped to my feet, running at Hook and hugging him.

“Hook,” I stressed, holding his face so he would look me in the eye, “I am just fine, okay? Please just stop. Ricky is not worth the energy.”

Finally, Hook settled down, but was still ready if Ricky even dared to stand up.

“Guys, let him go,” I asked politely, Brian and Hobbs listening.

As soon as they let go, Hook’s arms latched around me, one of his arms around my head, his hand rubbing right where I hit my head.

“You sure you’re alright, baby girl?” Taz asked, “You hit your head hard.”

“I’m fine,” I assured, “I promise.”

I laid my head on Hook’s chest, hearing how hard and fast it was pounding, that increasing when we both looked to see Ricky on his knees.

“We have to go,” I sighed, looking up at Hook, “We can go back to the football field, somewhere.”

Hook still had his eyes set on Ricky, but he quickly looked to me and nodded his head, but before we left, he gave Ricky a death stare, then he kissed my forehead.

“Let’s go,” Hook whispered to me, hearing all of the anger in his voice that deepened.

“Brian, take them to where ever they’re going,” Taz commanded, then pointing to Ricky, “And you?! Your ass is coming with me! Get the hell up!”

Brian came to our side, walking through the tunnel with us and once we were far away enough, Brian said:

“Good job out there, Hook. I enjoyed watching him get his ass kicked.”

His comment made me chuckle, it even made Hook smirk a little despite how angry he still was.

We began to go towards the football field and once it was in sight, I stopped walking, my eyes meeting with Brian’s.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but can Hook and I have some time alone?” I asked sweetly.

“You’re fine!” Brian smiled, “Take your time. I won’t be far if you need me.”

“Thanks, Brian,” I smiled back, “And thanks for walking us out here.”

Brian gave me a simple nod with a smile, then began to walk away. When I turned around, I saw Hook stepping on the football field, kicking at the grass.

I had to jog a little to catch up, but I caught up with him, his pace slowing down once he noticed I was behind him.

“Hook,” I sighed, taking a deep breath when he turned around, a blank expression was on his face, but I smiled, “Thank you.”

Hook looked at me as if he was surprised, curious as to why I was thanking him, at first is expression gave off the feeling that He was ready for a lecture.

“You’ve always had my back,” I smiled, “And I love you for it.”

When I said the word love, a bright smile he was trying to fight appeared but there was no fighting it.

He took a few steps towards me and I thought he was going to say something, but his arm hooked around my hip, pulling me in and his lips crashed right into mine.

It was like the big bang theory blasted in my mind when I felt his lips against mine. A kaleidoscope of colors turning behind my eyes when I felt all the sweetness, a lot of built up emotion, like he had been waiting forever to do this.

My whole body broke out in goosebumps, all of those emotions rolling right off his lips onto mine and every bit of it was so strong.

I made sure I kissed him back with the same amount of passion, so much of it built up inside because there was no trying to hide the truth. The truth that I’ve been dreaming about this for years, happy that we finally gave in and crossed the barrier of friendship and turned into something more.

When my hand stroked his cheek, they were so warm, finding his jaw line and keeping it there, holding it a little tighter when our lips parted and we both gasped quietly.

Our lips were just an inch away, Hook titling his head up just a bit so he could look into my eyes. Slowly, I pushed the little part of his hair that was blocking the view of his eyes, his eyes glowing, brightening when he whispered:

“I wouldn’t have done what I did if I didn’t love you, Y/N.”

I couldn’t stop smiling when he kissed me again, whispering against my lips, “I love you.”

After one more kiss, he hugged me, keeping my head to his chest. I had never been happier in any other place like I was in his arms. Even after that huge fight, our night ended up being beautiful.

“You’ve always had my back,” Hook sighed, looking down at me, “And I will always have yours. You are my girl after all.”

Just when I thought I couldn’t smile any brighter, I did. My cheeks hot again and being raised by my smile, saying to Hook, “Wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”

#wrestling #wrestling imagine #wrestling fic #aew #aew imagine #aew fic #hook #hook x reader #hook fic #hook imagine #read and enjoy

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archaxwii · 3 years

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The Tiny Fox Thief

Warnings: This story contains soft, safe, vore. Scott catches Fundy trying to steal his stuff for the 100th time and decides to punish him to deter him from doing it again.

I promise I didn’t stop wanting to write these, I originally wrote this like two months ago but works been rough recently and killing my motivation and time to write, but hey at least I got this out in time for Origins to come back? I’m hoping the next one won’t take as long but I can’t make any promises. Despite the long wait I hope you enjoy!

A tiny fox man was rummaging through his things.

Again.

Scott had causally walked into his house to get some payment for Ranboo and Tubbo for a trade they were doing for his new build, and he was greeted with a familiar sight.

He opened one of his chests to grab some gold and out of the corner of his eye he spotted a tiny ball of orange fluff hiding behind a diamond that was suspiciously not with the other diamonds.

Scott rolled his eyes, he grabbed the gold he needed and safely stored it away from the greedy fox before plucking Fundy up from behind the diamond.

Said fox yelped a little at being caught and now being so close to the giant.

Scott shifted his grip so Fundy was gently held in his hands instead of dangling by the fingers. Even if he was a little thief Scott didn't want to hurt his friend.

Scott raised an eyebrow at him." This is the fifth time this month Fundy, don't you ever get tired of gong through people's things?" He questioned flatly.

Fundy gave Scott a sheepish look." Uh, heyyy, Scott...I uhh, don't know what you're talking about, I was just looking at your pretty gems, they're uhh, very shiny from down here, you know?" His eyes darted around, trying not to make eye contact with the agitated giant.

Scott didn't seem convinced.

"You know, you'd have your own shiny diamonds to look at if you went and got them yourself instead of stealing from other people." He deadpanned.

"Pshh, what's the fun in that?" A look of fear crossed his face as he realized his mistake." Uhh, not that I was stealing, cause, uh, heh I was totally not doing that, I promise haha." His ears flattened against the back of his head as he grinned nervously.

" What am I gonna do with you? You know I could blow you to smithereens right?" Scott shook his head. He was obviously joking, but a little intimidation never hurt anybody.

"Ahah, but you'd never do that right?" In the back of his mind he knew Scott wouldn't do that, but Fundy did shrink a little further into Scott's hand nonetheless.

"Hmm, maybe I should, teach you a lesson to quit stealin' from everyone." Scott threatened.

At first it was an empty threat, but a small rumble from his stomach gave him a different idea.

It wasn't uncommon for someone to go missing for a little while due to being tucked away in a persons belly. Most of the giants in this server had the ability to protect their prey and keep them safe for as long as they wanted, and for the ones who didn't have those powers there were potions that could easily help keep prey safe as well.

That's why Fundy knew as soon as he heard that growl, with the look that crossed Scott's face, that it was time to bolt. He immediately panicked and started trying to squirm out of the hand he was trapped in.

"I think I know a good place I can put you for tonight, maybe it'll teach you a lesson." Scott himself had never eaten anyone before, but he knew he had a control over his own digestive system, so he wouldn't actually hurt Fundy.

"P-please, Scott! I-I promise I won't steal again, I've changed, I've mended my ways and all that!" He stuttered frantically.

Now, Fundy has spent a fair few nights in the belly of one of his friends, especially after he'd been caught stealing from them, but just because he knew it was safe didn't mean he liked it. It was just so humiliating.

And I mean do you know how long it takes to get saliva out of fur?

In a stroke of luck, Fundy managed to squirm out of Scott's grip and he leapt off of Scott's hand onto the floor.

Fundy was speedier than the average tiny, fast enough to almost make it to the little hole the tinies used to get into Scott's house.

Key word there is almost.

Right as he got to the entrance, as the scent of the outside hit his muzzle...he was swept right back up into Scott's hands.

He whined as Scott's grinning face looked down at him." So close, yet so far Fundy." He petted Fundy's head with his thumb." I promise it's just for tonight, it'll be a good nights sleep and I'll let you out in the morning." Scott tried to reassure.

It was quite warm inside, it was soft and it was easy to fall asleep knowing he was safe.

Fundy huffed. That didn't mean he liked it! It was slimy and gross, it was so loud, and being eaten was so just embarrassing, and don't even get started on the trip down! No, he most certainly did not want to get eaten.

Scott kept a firm grip on him as he lifted Fundy above his head. Fundy yelped as Scott opened his mouth and unceremoniously dropped him in.

To Fundy this was a familiar hell. To Scott this was an unfamiliar heaven.

He hummed as he felt squirming around. Fundy battered his tiny paws at his teeth, trying to get him to open his mouth.

Scott didn't relent and instead started licking the little fox. He had a very salty taste that made his mouth water.

After Scott figured Fundy had been covered in enough saliva, he tilted his head back so Fundy knew what was coming. It was strange to feel Fundy physically tense, and after a couple seconds he swallowed him down.

Fundy yelped as he was shoved into the dark tunnel.

This was always his least favorite part. Not that he liked any of it, mind you. But this always left him dizzy and disoriented and feeling a bit sick.

He squirmed at the painful crushing that slowly pulled him down. He could tell Scott had never eaten someone before, it was much more painful than usual.

After a few more swallows his feet were pressed against something, he whined as he was squeezed through something much tighter and then unceremoniously dropped into a shallow pool of liquid.

Tired as the decent down left him, Fundy didn't hesitate to scramble up and start battering at the walls. He didn't want to actually hurt Scott, but he was still upset, it was so disgusting and humiliating. Why did they always do this to him?

Scott stumbled a bit, leaning against the chest at the unexpected assault on his stomach.

He didn't expect to be able to feel everything so strongly, and it felt kinda nice, despite the attack inside.

He hummed, pressing a hand to his stomach." You doing alright in there Fundy?" He inquired. He wanted to make sure he wasn't gonna actually hurt him.

"No, Scott, you just ate me!" He growled, trying to jump and climb up the slick walls to no avail." Please let me out, it's really gross in here!" He whined.

Scott chuckled, rubbing circles on his belly." Well I didn't exactly swallow you for your enjoyment, this is meant to be a punishment after all." He lowered his voice, tone more serious." Are you actually ok in there? I'm not hurting you, right?"

"...If I said yes would you let me out?"

"Fundy."

"Ok, ok, yeah I'm not dying or whatever." Fundy huffed, slumping against the wall with his arms over his chest.

"It's just for the night Fundy, I promise I'll let you out in the morning." He reassured.

Fundy remained grumpily silent, until Scott heard the thumping of footsteps and a figure appeared in the doorway.

"Scott?" Inquired the dark, imposing figure of Ranboo. The poor ender hybrid had to duck to see into the door.

Caught up in catching Fundy, Scott had forgotten his original goal when coming in here.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ranboo, I was trying to grab the gold for you guys and found a certain someone rummaging through my things again, so I had to deal with that." He quickly explained, sliding off the chest.

At the mention of Ranboo, Fundy scrambled up trying to claw at the walls again." Ranboo! Help me! I don't want to stay in here please!" He cried.

Unfortunately for Fundy, Ranboo couldn't hear him from the inside, but from the slight glance to Scott's belly he seemed to be able to figure out what happened.

Regardless of whether he knew or not Ranboo only lightly chuckled." You'd think he'd get tired of stealing one day." He stepped into the house, shaking his head." Well, do you have our stuff?"

Scott did a little "Oh yeah!" jump before turning around to dig in his chests. Fundy was still fiercely trying to get Ranboo's attention, which Scott blithely ignored.

After a couple seconds Ranboo was in the possession of 3 stacks of Redstone, a couple gold blocks, and some obsidian, and Scott now owned several stacks of concrete that he couldn't be bothered to harvest himself for a new build he was working on.

After saying their goodbye's Ranboo wandered off to...wherever he and Tubbo wandered off to, and Scott was left alone with Fundy, who was now grumpily sulking against the stomach wall.

After shifting his spades of concrete into his chests Scott retired to his room, flopping backwards onto his bed, trying not to jostle Fundy around too much.

He curled up around his middle, wrapping his arms around his stomach and allowing himself to revel in the sensation of Fundy being in there. Fundy wasn't moving much anymore but Scott could feel his weight, like a warm stone sat in the center of his belly. If he concentrated enough he could even feel the fox's soft breathing.

As much as Scott wanted to punish Fundy he did still feel bad for trapping him all night." You gonna be alright in there?" He softly asked.

Fundy huffed tiredly. It wasn't...that bad. It could actually be quite calming if he had wanted this to happen. It was much warmer than his cave and softer than the bed he slept on. The deep sounds of Scott's lungs and organs working around him did much better to soothe him than the dead silence he slept in at home. It wasn't really that bad in here if you ignored the disgusting amounts of slime...it's just that he hated feeling like food. And he knew nobody on the server felt like that towards him, but it didn't stop his brain from thinking about it that way.

He curled up tighter in a ball." I don't like being food for you guys." He mumbled, Scott could barely even hear the fox.

Scott pressed a hand to his belly, surprised at the sudden vulnerability. He didn't know Fundy felt that way about being eaten. Scott had assumed it was a fun game to him like it was everyone else." Fundy...none of us think like that about you, any of you, we like to have fun and mess with you guys but I-none of us- would ever think of you as food." He reassured. He'd never taken much consideration into how tinies really felt about being eaten, since people like Tubbo, Tommy, and Niki seemed to enjoy it (most of the time) and with the knowledge that it was safe, he didn't consider how negative it could be for some tinies.

He rubbed circles into his belly, feeling regretful." Do you actually want me to let you out? I don't want you to be in there if it upsets you."

Fundy sighed, licking at the few stray salty tears on his face."...No, there's no point when I'm already in here. And it isn't...that bad, I just...hate being reminded of where I am."

Scott chuckled lightly." Just think of it like a really weird waterbed, except with more slime." He offered.

Fundy snorted. It was like a waterbed of sorts, except it felt more like you were inside it than on top of it.

He laid his head down on his arms, closing his eyes. He didn't fall asleep immediately, but Scott's words soothed his nerves enough to where he found the stomach much less distressing than it had previously been. With Scott gently rubbing him and the sound of his heartbeat filling his ears and drowning out his thoughts, Fundy drifted to sleep.

Scott wasn't tired just yet. Being a Starborne, he much preferred being out at night and as such he was mostly nocturnal. He didn't mind staying awake anyway. He didn't know the next time he would be able to do something like this and wanted to enjoy himself as much as possible.

For now, Scott was content to just settle down and comfort Fundy. He'd had a rough couple hours thanks to him so he wanted to make him feel better as much as possible. He hadn't eaten tonight, but Fundy filled his belly enough where he didn't need to, a nice comfortable weight to keep the hunger at bay. He softly rubbed circles into his belly around Fundy, who seemed to slowly be drifting off. He was happy to lay like that for another few hours, enjoying the feeling of Fundy inside, as close and safe to him as a friend could be.

#tw vore #mcyt g/t #mcyt gt #soft vore #ember's writing #feel free to give any feedback if you want

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spenciegoob · 3 years

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Who Needs Luck?

A/N: hi! I solely wrote this because of my 3 recent visits to NY (no, I sadly did not meet mgg)... plus i’ve been going there my whole life.. this is becoming the longest authors note, but as i’m writing I just want to say the people who work at food trucks in nyc are the nicest people ever, ask them about their day (AND TIP OMG PLS)

Summary: Reader invites Spencer to go to New York City with her where he finally sees the beauty right in front of him.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Category: Fluff!

Content Warnings: reader can’t drive very well (I apologize if this is a callout post), slight road rage, language

Masterlist

Word Count: 2.4K

____

I never considered myself a lucky man. Life had proven time and time again that no matter how many four leaf clovers I set out to search for, how many pennies on the ground faced heads up I stumbled across, luck was never on my side. I’ve learned to live with it, accepted my fate as the world’s smartest punching bag long before I was even in college.

But then I met her, and as cheesy as it sounds, I didn’t need luck that morning.

The second I woke up, the universe seemed to have it out for me specifically. I swung my legs over my bed, and in my half asleep daze stepped on my glasses, successfully breaking them. Unable to see on my short trip to the bathroom, I stubbed my toe… twice. Once I finally finished my morning routine more methodically, I walked out of my apartment only to bump into a stranger, sending the coffee she was holding all the both of us.

I had tried to apologize so many times, cutting my words short when they didn’t feel right. I had gotten through a series of “I’m, uh, oh, I, you,” before her smile interrupted my thought process, leaving me awestruck instead.

“That’s okay, but you owe me a coffee now.” She giggled, actually giggled, even with the scorching liquid causing her shirt to stick to her body. “Maybe… together?”

I didn’t hesitate to agree, taking her up on the offer that weekend and never looking back. Even when a loud crash, followed by a quiet, harsh ‘shit’ woke me up in a startle, there was no regret. Maybe just a little concern for my girlfriend who now that my eyes have adjusted to the darkness, can be seen holding her knee on the floor of our bedroom.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered out, grabbing onto the dresser to stand straight again. Once she was on her feet, she came over to sit on the edge of our bed, immediately running her fingers through my hair. If I wasn’t so worried about her knee, I probably would’ve fell asleep again.

“Are you okay?” She giggled at my scratchy morning voice before nodding her head. It’s then I realized how the sun hasn’t even begun to rise, the room still pitchblack. “What are you doing up?”

“Getting ready to go to the city, sleepyhead,” she said as if it was the most obvious answer, but truthfully, it left me with more questions.

“At... 5 am?” I sat up, glancing at the alarm clock three times just to make sure I was reading it right. She may have always been a little strange, but usually at a reasonable hour.

At this, she stood up to continue getting ready for the very early morning. Now I notice why she fell, the piles of clothes leading to the closet had to have at least half of her outfits compiled together.

“Well, yeah. I want to get there before noon.” Even in my perplexed state, I rose from the bed and carefully tiptoed around haphazardly thrown clothes to reach her.

While wrapping my arms around her waist still hidden under my t-shirt, I questioned. “It’s right outside? You have 7 hours.”

She turned to look at me funny as if I wasn’t the one digging through clothes and waking up before dawn to walk literally 5 minutes to my desired location. My eyebrows must have subconsciously furrowed at one point, because she brought her hand up to stroke her thumb on my forehead. Immediately, I felt the tension melt, no longer caring to correct my confusion. She still did it anyway.

“Not DC, silly. New York!” I wish it were untrue, but my heart dropped at her words. She was leaving, going to a city I wasn’t familiar with beyond reading about, solving cases, and memorizing subway maps. Is this how she feels every time I board that jet?

“W-what? You’re just going to New York City?” I inwardly cringed at how desperate and sad I sounded, but I really didn’t want her to leave.

“Mhm,” she mumbled, turning back around to return digging in her closet.

“For how long?” Please change your mind. Please change your mind. Please change you-

Realizing that I was fully awake, she let out a boisterous laugh, allowing the way it bounced off our four little walls to return back to us. It was a sound most treasured. “I was hoping to get back around 9.”

“What?” I leaned back to look at her like she was absolutely preposterous. I mean, she was!

“Roadtrip!”

That’s how I found myself in the passenger seat of her car, no coffee in my hand because I wasn’t allowed until I have “a real cup of coffee.” Whatever the hell that means better happen soon, because as much as I loved watching the way she concentrates on the road in front of her, my eyes were starting to droop.

“It’s going to be another 4 hours. You can sleep, my love.” How she knew me so well, I will never be able to figure out, but I was out before we even made it across state borders.

That however, didn’t last very long. My girlfriend may be short and sweet, but behind the wheel? That’s a different story. The horn to her car is a very familiar sound when I’m jolted awake by a sudden stop.

“Really, asshole? Go!” She yelled, slamming her hand against the top of the steering wheel before looking over at me. “Hey, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to wake you yet. I forgot how awful drivers are here.”

“Where is here exactly?” I questioned, sitting up from my slouched position to find cars practically on top of each other on a road not wide enough for two lanes.

“New Jersey. We’re 10 minutes away.” Wow, I didn’t realize I slept for that long, and I have to admit I’m a little surprised I wasn’t woken up sooner.

“How are we 10 minutes away? It’s at least another 30 to get to the tunnel.” Looking at our surroundings didn’t help me determine our exact location. To the left of us, there were dozens of graffiti murals on the side of what I assumed was another elevated highway. To the right, sidestreets with local businesses ranging from auto repair shops to fast food joints to gyms.

“Nuh uh, stop analyzing mister. You’ll know when we get there.” She waved a finger in my directions, putting a pin in my scrutinization. I pouted right back, successfully playing along to the theme of her scolding me like a 5 year old.

“I don’t like surprises you know.” It was the truth, but her contagious laughter that filled the car made me slightly less disinclined to stop asking questions.

“Oh I know, but trust me, you’ll like this one.” She went to go reach over to grab my hand from where it was resting in my lap, but stopped short and retracted in favor of slamming the horn. “Oh, come on!”

***

“So you drove to a train station... in New Jersey?” I asked while she was… attempting to park the car.

“Well, yeah. I’ve been taking this route since I was a little girl.” Once she finally figured out how to evenly space a two door convertible in a very spacious parking spot, she unbuckled her seatbelt, and was quick to grab her bag from the backseat. “Well, come on mister, we’re going to miss the train.”

To be quite honest, I have never been so lost in my life. I could probably pinpoint our exact location on a map if I wanted to, granted I was given any sort of information, but part of me didn’t want to. Scratch that, all of me didn’t want to, because my entire life has been planned out in front of me before, but right now, I get to be spontaneous with the most beautiful girl on the planet.

“Don’t let go of my hand,” she told me, lacing our fingers together and pulling me forward. “Don’t stop to look around, you will get pushed.”

We made it inside, and if I thought the DC transit system was bustling with people constantly, this place was so much worse. There were hallways left and right, all packed with people in a rush. It seems everybody had some place to be and zero time to get there.

“Upstairs.” We walked up two flights before reaching a platform, buying our tickets and making it just in time for a train to arrive. “I know they come every 8 minutes, but thank god we made this one,” she said as she sat down.

The cart we were in wasn’t too crowded, and once I finally found a map on the wall across from us, I saw that it was a direct ride to the World Trade Center.

“You said you took this train when you were little?”

“Yeah, I went to the city a lot as a kid. This was the easiest, and the cheapest way there.” A small smile played at her lips, obviously the product of some childhood memory. “I used to hop it.”

“Of course you did,” I laughed back with her, thinking about how an innocent looking child would be the first person to get away with sneaking onto the train.

***

“I said it before, I will say it again. Do not let go of my hand.” This time it was more stern, and if I were being honest, I would say that it got me the slightest bit nervous. She must have noticed, she always does, because she continued. “Don’t worry, it just gets congested and I don’t want to lose you.”

She was right about that, it indeed was very congested, but that was okay because she was holding my hand, and I would follow her just about anywhere if it meant she kept looking over her shoulder and smiling when she saw me. Once we made it across the way, and in front of heavy looking glass doors, she turned to me and started walking backwards.

“You okay? This is definitely not off to a great start.” She was wrong, it was off to a perfect start.

“Yeah, I’m okay, but you might want to watch where you’re going,” I said before her back hit the door.

“Please I can get here with my eyes closed.” And then we were outside, and all 5 of my senses were hit immediately. The sun was shining down on us, and before I could complain about not bringing my sunglasses, she handed them to me. My heart fluttered at the innocent act, taking the sunglasses with such gratitude even though she had already moved on to retrieve hers. “Do you smell that?” She asked.

“There are a lot of answers to that question,” I told her, not knowing if she was talking about the smell of the construction happening at the corner, the permanent garbage smell or something entirely different.

“The hotdogs, silly. Come on, there’s nothing like ‘em.” This time, I laced our fingers together, not because I was scared of losing her, I was, but I just really wanted to be closer to her. She didn’t mind, in fact, she let out a content hum and leaned her head on my arm as we walked to the stand.

“Can I get four hotdogs with sauerkraut and two grape sodas,” she asked the vendor, who politely nodded before moving on to prepare our food.

“You’re going to have a heart attack by 35,” I said as I nudged her with my shoulder. She gave me a small push back before answering.

“Is that a doctor’s diagnosis?” She asked as she took our now ready food into her hands, after paying the man before I even had time to blink. I just grabbed the two cans of soda and followed her where she was making a beeline for a park bench. “Watch out for skaters.”

“Yes, it is indeed a doctor's diagnosis.” I unwrapped one of the hotdogs before taking a bite. I closed my eyes and let out a content hum. “It may be a little worth it.”

“Exactly.” We sat there quietly, enjoying the warm weather and sounds of wheels against pavement. At one point, she rested her head against my shoulder, and I am convinced wherever she went would be Heaven.

***

“Are your eyes closed?” We found ourselves with both our hands interlocked, my eyes closed while she walked backwards. I gave an ‘mhm’ before she continued. “We’re here, just keep them closed, and…” her words trailed off. “Okay open.”

I opened my eyes to her holding her arms out in the middle of the largest bookstore I’ve ever seen. “Surprise!” My eyes were bouncing everywhere. It wasn’t too crowded, the large stairwell across the store catching my eye first. There were bookshelves tens of feet high, all loaded with different genres and authors. To the right of us, tiny knick knacks and pins and socks. It was beautiful.

“Wow,” I whispered out, still stuck in my place admiring our surroundings. She was beaming up at me, a hint of pride at her successfulness to drag me 6 hours away to the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.

“The Strand has always been my favorite place in the city. Come on, let’s go explore.” She grabbed my hands again, pulling me deeper into the store towards a shelf labeled adult fiction.

***

Six books, three pairs of socks and a postcard later, we were back on the busy streets of New York, aimlessly walking and admiring the tall buildings and different attractions. Well she was, I was admiring the way she was looking around like it was her first time here. Maybe I should have been paying more attention to our surroundings, but no amount of skyscrapers or fountains could possibly ever match up to her level of beauty.

“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” I asked randomly, startling her into jumping a tiny bit before giggling. She stopped us, turning to face me fully before reaching up to grab my face in her hands.

“Once or twice.” The kiss we shared on the New York streets were no different than the ones before, but this time, it felt like a silent promise. A passing between two lovers that no matter where we are, our love is the most beautiful thing there is. “I love you too, dork.”

___

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dalishious · 3 years

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DA:O and DA:2 Loading Screen Texts

“The Andrastian Chantry believes that if the Chant of Light--first written by the prophet Andraste--can be spread to all four corners of the world, the Maker will forgive humankind for their sins.”

“Dwarves have no formal religion, instead venerating the Paragons--those of their ancestors who have contributed in some meaningful way to society.”

“The second elven homeland, the Dales, fell to an Exalted March called on the “heathens” not long after the end of the Second Blight--almost 700 years ago.”

“There have been four Blights in total; the last ended four hundred years ago at the Battle of Ayesleigh. Humanity mistakenly believed the darkspawn were permanently defeated there.”

“The Grey Wardens were once exiled from Ferelden for conspiring to overthrow the king. They were permitted to return twenty years ago by King Maric, Cailan’s father.”

“At the Battle of River Dane, Loghain Mac Tir became known as a hero when he and his men finally drove the forces of the Orlesian Empire out of Ferelden after more than 80 years of occupation.”

“The Grey Wardens were once known for the griffon mounts on which they flew into battle. The griffon numbers waned after the last Blight, finally disappearing completely 200 years ago.”

“Grey Wardens possess the Right of Conscription: they may draft anyone into their ranks without question, from prince to lowly commoner. This is not always done without consequence, however.”

“The dwarven kingdom once encompassed 12 great thaigs spread across Thedas, joined by the underground Deep Roads. Only two remain: Orzammar and Kal Sharok.”

“An elven alienage is a city quarter where elves live, often poor and walled off from the rest, rampant with crime and strife.”

“In their first homeland, Arlathan, elves were immortal and possessed an advanced culture and language. After a millennium of slavery and poverty they lost it all, and even the Dalish have only reclaimed but a little.”

“The Orlesians conquered Ferelden in 8:24 Blessed, beginning a long and brutal rule that ended only 30 years ago. Most Fereldans still remember that time vividly.”

“King Cailan Theirin assumed the throne five years ago upon the death of his father, marrying Lady Anora Mac Tir--daughter of Teyrn Loghain--exactly one month later.”

“The Circle of Magi was formed by the Chantry to keep a watchful eye over the mages. According to the Chant of Light, magic is meant to serve man and never to rule over him.”

“Templars are warriors that exist to monitor mages and hunt down those that go rogue from the Circle of Magi. They have the ability to disrupt magic and drain mana from their adversaries.”

“The Korcari Wilds extends far to the south of Ferelden, stretching into an uncharted frozen wasteland. It is a dangerous place, supposedly filled with witches, barbarians, and monsters.”

“The Circle of Magi's tower, standing off the shore of Lake Calenhad, precedes the mages themselves. It was built by the Avvar a thousand years ago, before being conquered by the Tevinter Imperium.”

“The ancient Tevinter Imperium, ruled by the magisters and powerful blood magic, once spread over all of Thedas. Many of its ruins still remain in Ferelden even today.”

“The Fade is a dream realm where the spirits of all beings but dwarves go when they sleep. Only mages remain conscious once there, but others can “awaken” if they are trapped there unwillingly.”

“The Fade is the realm of hungry demons that constantly seek to pass through the Veil into the land of the living. Those that succeed will try to possess a body, living or dead.”

“Demons are drawn to mages, and should they ever succeed in possessing one they transform them into an abomination--a terrifying and intelligent monster with access to great magical powers.”

“Demons primarily come in five varieties, based on the part of the living psyche that they feed from. From weakest to strongest they are rage, hunger, sloth, desire, and pride.”

“Not all spirits of the Fade are evil things. Some are beings of compassion, fortitude, and justice. They have little interest in crossing the Veil unless summoned, however, and thus are far less known than demons.”

“Ferelden has existed as a nation since the fabled King Calenhad, the Silver Knight, united the warring Alamarri teyrns almost 400 years ago.”

“The Qunari landed on the northern island of Par Vollen three centuries ago, coming from an unknown land far off to the east across the Amaranthine Ocean. They began a war to conquer Thedas almost immediately, one that ended in a truce after more than 150 years of fighting.”

“According to the Chantry calendar, every hundred years is an age--named at the end of the last age according to omens discerned that year. The Dragon Age is the ninth since the ascension of the first Divine of the Chantry.”

“Dragons were once worshipped by the ancient Tevinter Imperium, and existed in number until the Nevarran dragon hunters brought them to the brink of extinction. They only reappeared at the beginning of the Dragon Age, giving the age its namesake.”

“Those that survive the darkspawn taint eventually become “ghouls,” their minds corrupted and twisted to seek out and serve the darkspawn until eventually they die in anguish or disappear underground forever.

“Without an Archdemon to lead them to the surface, the darkspawn remain below in the Deep Roads, battling the dwarves. Few—save for the Grey Wardens—know anything about them.”

“The ancient mining tunnels beneath Hightown and Lowtown now form the city's sewers, as well as the slum known as Darktown. Residents refer to these tunnels collectively as the Undercity.”

“People from the Free Marches are called “Marchers,” but usually only by outsiders. A citizen of Kirkwall thinks of himself as being from the city first and the Free Marches second.”

“The Fifth Blight began in 9:30 Dragon and lasted only a year before the Archdemon was slain. The Hero of Ferelden spared the world from the ravages of another war against the darkspawn.”

“There are fourteen Circles of Magi in Thedas, excluding those in the Tevinter Imperium. The Circle at the Gallows in Kirkwall is one of two in the Free Marches and is the center of templar power in the East.”

“Kirkwall was once part of the Tevinter Imperium and the center of its slave trade. Slaves worked the quarries until they revolted more than 900 years ago.”

“The Qunari live on Par Vollen, an island nation in the tropical northern climes. Some believe they originally came from elsewhere, since they weren't seen in Thedas until 300 years ago.”

“The Qunari invaded mainland Thedas 200 years ago, and were driven back during the New Exalted Marches. The Llomerryn Accord in 7:84 Storm established an armistice between the Qunari and every nation except the Tevinter Imperium.”

“The raiders who plague the waters of the Waking Sea and the Amaranthine Ocean are based out of the chaotic Rivaini city of Llomerryn.”

“Although the slave trade is legal only in the Tevinter Imperium, their slavers are present almost everywhere. They prey on elves and the poor, bringing victims back to the Imperium to sell to magisters and shady foreigners.”

“The largest guild of thieves in Kirkwall calls itself the Coterie. Although the association is very informal, the Coterie is vicious against anyone who looks like competition.”

“The Gallows sits in a harbor that was carved through the cliffs by magic to allow ships to dock in the middle of Lowtown.”

““The Twins” is the local name for the two great Tevinter statues that flank the entrance to Kirkwall’s harbor. They are not merely for show: a massive chain net can be raised between them and the fortified lighthouse.”

“Kirkwall’s Lowtown once held the city's slaves. Individual sections could be closed off in the event of a rebellion, and the winding streets were designed to discourage slaves from attempting to organize.”

“Both the Viscount’s Keep and the chantry were built by the dwarves. They were originally intended to house the city’s magister overlords, back at the height of Imperial rule.”

“The Free Marches is not a single nation, but an alliance of independent city-states. Kirkwall, Starkhaven, and Tantervale are the largest.”

“Kirkwall has been ruled by a viscount since the Orlesian Empire installed one as governor in 7:60 Storm. The city retained the title even after it rebelled against foreign rule.”

“Kirkwall’s less illustrious residents assemble at the Hanged Man. The tavern's feature dish is its stew, made from a different mystery meat each morning.”

“Kirkwall was built almost entirely through slave labor. Part of the city was once a quarry, worked by thousands upon thousands of slaves. Massive quantities of jet stone were carved straight out of the rock face, eventually creating the pit that is now Lowtown, as well as the city’s broad harbor.”

“Kirkwall has had numerous dragon sightings, but they are generally peasant exaggerations. One “imminent high dragon flight” turned out to be an emaciated drake in a pained rage caused by passing a Griffon Helm.”

“Kirkwall declared the common nug a noxious vermin in 5:20 Exalted over fears that the animals carried the Blight. The extermination became known as the Battle of the Squealing Plains. It is not spoken of in polite company.”

“Don't play cards with Qunari--it's impossible to tell when they're bluffing. Don't play against elves, either--they never pay their debts. And never play against dwarves--they'll kill you if they lose.”

#dragon age #dao #da2 #da lore #loading screens

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unstoppableforcce · 3 years

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ghosts

—CHAPTER FOUR: sour guilty sickness

pairing: Javier Peña x f! reader

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a/n: well it took a while but here she is ! things are turning a bit of a brighter corner here but don’t worry, the angst will be back soon enough !! thanks for waiting yall, I’m so glad to finally get this out !! hope you enjoy !!

The version of him that you photographed was the man he wished he could be.

Unburdened. Happy. In love.

That man, that version of him, didn’t exist. Not really. Not for any longer than it took you to take the photo in the first place.

Reality was darker. Blurrier. Emptier.

The man in the photos was never suffocated in darkness or stalked in shadows, yet he spent his days drowning in the deepest depths of humanity’s darkest days. The water was at his head, every breath was a fight, and there never seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Another day, another massacre. Another mission, another mistake, another man who didn’t get to go home, another family left with a hole that no rousing speech, commendation, or memorial could ever fill.

The man in the photos was never out of focus, yet Javier couldn’t remember a time when things had been clear, when the line between good and bad wasn’t an indiscernible mess he had no chance in hell of ever making sense of. There was blood everywhere he looked, it stained his hands and everything he touched, he could scrub for hours and he still felt wrong holding you close. The horrors he witnessed, the horrors he executed, all of it lined the uneven, narrow passageway that separated the good from the bad. It was grey, blurry and messy. Not sharp edges, no clean cuts.

And the man in the photo was never alone. That just wasn’t fair, because all Javier ever felt was alone.

The photos always captured him as a man of the world around him: gently examining tomatoes on your instruction as the two of you moved through the market overflowing with life, laughing shoulder to shoulder with Murphy in the packed booth of a bar with his fingers cradling the neck of his beer, holding your hand or touching you someway even if you were out of frame. The photos painted him as a man who was never alone, but he was, he was so painfully alone. In the darkness surrounding him, in the blurred alley that existed between the lines, even in bed as you slept beside him, he was alone, trapped in the horrors that haunted his lonely mind.

There were moments when he could forget, moments where the hot press of your mouth along the length of his neck lit a fire of warmth in his chest and kept him on fire for hours while his hands clung to your skin, moments where the soft hold of your hand found his, your linked grips swinging between the two of you as you walked through the humming streets as the golden glow of the setting sun settled over the two of you, moments where the two of you felt like the only two people in the world and he could never imagine ever being without you. There were moments, plenty of them, but it was never enough.

He felt empty in a way your photos could never capture, alone in a way he never shared with you. In a way he never shared with anyone.

The man you photographed was the man he wanted to be. The man you photographed was the man you deserved.

Waking up to that man staring back at him was plainly mocking and exactly what he deserved.

The photo had slipped from the mess of photographs stacked in your lap and found itself a place to rest against the flat of the bed between where you sat up, already awake, and where his head rested on the edge of his pillow as the morning finally woke him. It was a photo of him, unburdened, happy, and in love.

As aged as it felt, he knew it had only been a few months ago. A Sunday. A simple Sunday.

He had lost you in the street, or at least, he thought he had. Not intentionally, but in the excitement of the crowds pouring out of every church that lined the streets of the neighborhood, it was relatively easy to do. His attention was pulled one way and yours the other. A small cart of flowers had been his hook, catching him out of the crowd and reeling him over. Buckets and buckets of beautiful flowers bunched together in bountiful bouquets, the aroma itself could have kept him there for hours.

“For someone special?” The older woman sitting beside the cart asked, her accent thick, as soon as she spotted his interest and he had no chance in hell of hiding his smitten smirk, even as he replied with a short nod of his head. “A beautiful girl?”

“The most beautiful.” He conceded.

She gestured towards a particularly large bundle but he shook his head, pointing to a different collection, smaller but no less beautiful.

“Ah… simple, good choice.”

He handed over a few folded bills and she nodded graciously, wishing him luck as he pulled the bouquet from the cart.

For just a second, maybe even less than that, he lingered. He brought the flowers to his nose and took in a deep breath of beauty, the same smitten smile still sitting on his lips as he gave one last nod to the woman and moved back into the crowd. He hadn’t seen you through the crowd, just a few yards away, capturing the moment. You had caught back up with him seconds later, intertwining the fingers of one hand with his and accepting the flowers with the other, a surging smile stuck on your face as the two of you continued your walk.

It was a good picture of him. Not of Javier, but of the man he wanted to be. Unburdened. Happy. In love.

If only he could be. If only it were that simple.

You turned as you heard him rustling in the sheets beside you, a soft smile sitting on your lips as you watched him pick up the picture and admire it for a minute. “Good morning.”

“‘Morning baby…” He hummed back, returning the photo to your lap.

There were at least twenty photos there, a couple of him, a few of Connie and Steve, both separate and together, and a couple duplicates of photos you had taken for work, streets lined with people, small cultural centers and jaw-dropping landscapes of the gorgeous Colombian nature. This wasn’t exactly a regular routine of yours, but every month or so, you’d assemble a collection of your favorites and find a place for them among the pages of your worn leather journal. Your private worn leather journal.

That wasn’t to say he never saw inside it, but it was yours to let him see. If you weren’t there to open it, it was never opened, no matter how overwhelming the affliction of curiosity could be sometimes when you left it out on the counter, he knew better.

There were six or seven of them in total, but the oldest ones typically stayed tucked away. This was the one you had kept for as long as he had known you though, your affectionately termed Colombia edition. In between the photos and their detailed descriptions scrawled beneath in your unique script, you filled the journal with general descriptions of your life, of the culture around you, and everything you’re feeling. Part of him has always wondered what you had written about him, a separate part of him, the part that always won out, never wanted to know.

“You slept in…” your words trailed off once your stare moved back to the selection of slices of your life in your lap. “You haven’t done that in a while…”

“Yeah.” He huffed, rolling onto his back as he rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. Lulling to the side, his head turned and his eyes stayed on you, admiring every inch of your profile as you worked.

Your smile stayed soft. Gentle. Miraculous. “That’s good…”

You deserved better than him. You deserved the man in the photos and he wasn’t that.

He needed to talk to you, to tell you why life had been hell for the two of you for the past few months, to tell you why he was keeping you up at night tossing and turning, terrified of his own mind. There were things he didn’t know how to talk about, things he didn’t know how to tell you, but that just wasn’t fair. He loved you and that meant something. Day after day, you begged him to talk to you, and he owed you that. He owed you more than the fear of losing you.

He just wasn’t ready yet.

Rolling back over, he positioned his head by your lap, laying a gentle kiss to the skin of your thigh. “How long have you been up?”

“Just about an hour or two,” you bit the end of your pen cap off to write something on the back of a photo of Connie in her scrubs getting back from work, and continued on, your words garbled by the cap between your teeth. “Whenever the sun came up.”

By this time on any other day, you’d already be out, either exploring every corner of the city or out as far as the soldiers would let you get into the surrounding jungle on your own. It had been a long time since he woke up beside you. He pressed another lazy kiss to your thigh. He missed you.

Another kiss. And another kiss.

“Javi…”

Another kiss. He’d take as many as he could get before things came to a painfully inevitable head.

He wasn’t naive, he knew you had seen bad things before. Colombia was far from your first rodeo when it came to nations in disarray, be it war, genocide, drug trade or dictatorships, he knew that. You weren’t a photographer, you were a photojournalist. He knew that.

There were things you left out when you told your exciting stories at the bar, parts of your cultural escapades in South East Asia or the Middle East that didn’t come with chuckles and smiles. He saw the way your stare absconded when Steve pressed too hard in a direction you weren’t quite willing to go and the chuckle you offered as cover as you reached for your drink and changed the subject skillfully. He listened to the things you told him beneath the blanket of darkness in his bedroom, before it became your shared bedroom, hushed whispers covering for your voice cracks as the details caught you. And he had read more of your journals than anyone else, he read passages you didn’t typically share and he saw some of the photos folded between the pages while others were showcased openly.

One was just a little girl. The folded half of the photo had caught his undeniable curiosity when a phone call interrupted you while showing him some of your older work. He hadn’t asked, he had just opened it. It was a little girl. Big smile, beautiful brown eyes. Just a little girl. There were hundreds of photos filling your journals, many of them children, but this one was folded. Hidden.

And when you returned to the table, you folded the picture shut and he knew better than to ask.

Just like he knew better than to ask when he first noticed you shying away from his gun. He never thought twice about leaving it out openly before you first showed your hesitancy and he never thought twice about putting it in a drawer after you had. He knew it wasn’t a typical civilian gun-shyness, he knew there was a reason for it.

He knew you had seen bad things before, but this wasn’t just that. He hadn’t just seen bad things in his line of work, he had done bad things. Too many bad things.

Another kiss.

Eventually, you stopped writing and recapped your pen. “Javi…”

“I know, baby.” He laid yet another kiss along your skin, actively avoiding your stare as he felt you shift to look down at him. “I know.”

“You’re going to have to talk to me…”

A rough sigh escaped his tight chest as he pressed his forehead into the curve where your thigh met your hip. Muffled, his words vibrated against the fabric of your loose-hanging tee, baggy around your hips. “I know, baby.”

He did know. He really did. But that didn’t make it any easier.

As his eyes clenched shut, buried in the warmth of your side, he could feel you shuffling around, stacking up the photos and abandoning your work by the foot of the bed. He thought it was just so you could turn all your focus to him, but you kept moving, adjusting until you laid back against a carefully constructed mountain of pillows. He readjusted almost automatically, resting his head in your lap as your fingers wove themselves into his hair.

“I miss you, Javi…” your hand brushed the flattened mess of hair back out of his eyes, carding through all of it strand by strand. “You’ve been here this whole time but I… I miss you.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want to leave Javi, that’s the last thing in the world that I want to do, but you’ve gotta work with me here. This is new for me too, alright, staying in one place is new for me…” he pressed a kiss to the indent your skin had made on itself while you were sat up for so long, urging you on as your voice grew weaker. “I want to stay here. With you.”

He could hear every word you weren’t saying just as clearly as the ones you were.

Don’t give me a reason to leave, you said. This is your last chance.

He owed you more than the fear of losing you. He owed you the truth.

“Things are bad here, baby. They’ve been bad for a while, I know, but they’re getting worse.” Still, he couldn’t find the words he needed to. Vague wasn’t what you deserved. You deserved answers. “I’m doing a lot of bad things. Bad things that I can’t… I can’t bring home to you.”

“But you do.”

He sucked in a sharp breath, dipping his stare from yours and instead settling his eyes on the stitched hem of your shirt where it rucked up across your stomach. “I don’t want to,” he corrected himself and you seemed to accept that for now as his breath released in a ragged cascade across your lap. “There are parts of me that I don’t want you to see.”

“You mean parts of your job.”

No. He didn’t.

He had grown too comfortable pulling a trigger to separate himself from his work anymore, the guilt never went away but he stopped hesitating. If a man pointed a gun at him with the intent to kill him, then he did the same. It didn’t matter that he was doing things for the right reason anymore, at some point, a line needed to be drawn. Doing bad things for good reasons sounded just in theory, but he was doing more and more bad and coming out with less and less good.

Carrillo. Los Pepes. How much was too much? When was he going to be able to look at himself in the mirror again?

“Javi…”

“I know that the guys I’m fighting are much worse than me, but the lines keep getting blurrier, and what I’m willing to do to stop them… at some point…” He lost his breath, and no amount of gentle strokes through his hair could get him to keep going.

“Baby…” you cooed, dragging your nails along his scalp as his eyes fell shut. “I’ve known my fair share of bad men, you aren’t one of them.”

With his eyes shut, his mind had free reign. Over and over again he watched Carrillo line the boys up in the alley, over and over again he watched the kids talk back to him. They didn’t think he would do anything. They were just kids. Over and over again he watched him level the gun to the kid’s head and pull the trigger. Over and over again.

Extracting your hand from his hair, your warm palm moved down to his cheek. “Bad men don’t think like that, Javi.”

His head shook but your touch remained constant.

“Javi, baby, what is it? What do you keep seeing?”

Your touch was too soft, your gentle hold bordering on suffocating. He couldn’t breathe. Over and over again, the trigger pulled, the gunshot echoed, and the kid dropped.

He left a numb, barely there kiss to the hem of your shorts where they laid on your thigh, and pulled himself up. It was a weak promise he made to you, to cut back on his smoking, you knew that when he made it, yet he still felt guilty rolling over and reaching for the half-empty pack he pulled from his pockets last night and left on the nightstand. He could feel your eyes lingering on the tension held taut between his shoulders, he could feel the concern smothering your stare, he could feel the weight of it chilling his spine.

“Javi…” he could hear you sitting up behind him but he didn’t stop, he threw his legs over his side of the bed and lit his cigarette with an effortless flick of the lighter. Your hand found his shoulder and he flinched. “Javi, I—”

“He was just a kid.”

He could feel the comforting confidence leave you, your grip losing all its strength where it lingered on his shoulder. You didn’t pull back, but you might as well have, your touch was numb. He inhaled a deep breath of smoke, but the warmth was nothing compared to the chill emanating from you the second the word ‘kid’ left his lips.

“Javi, what happened?” There was an edge to your tone, a careful cut.

“Carrillo he… he told me that he wanted to send a message. I didn’t ask what that meant… I trusted him so I didn’t ask…” He coughed out, wiping over his face with his hand as he folded even further in on himself. Again and again, he watched the kid drop. Again and again, the echo of the shot rang through the alley and became all he could hear. “Escobar, he uses kids as spotters, to keep an eye on the military. Just boys, maybe as old as fourteen, and young as seven, maybe eight. And Carrillo, he wanted to round them up, he wanted to send a message.”

This was as quiet as the room had ever been.

He could hear each of your stilted breaths, every rustle against the sheets as you shifted carefully behind him, every beat of your heart.

He sucked in another breath of smoke. “He lined them up in this alley, he was talking to them, he was trying to scare them but… but one of the kids wouldn't shut up. He didn’t think… I didn’t think…”

Your grip found itself again as you started pulling the rough puzzle pieces he choked out for you together.

“I just stood there watching when he pulled the trigger. Everytime I close my eyes, I see it again and I can’t…”

“Javi, baby—” Tighter and tighter, your grip grew as you held his shoulder, fingers digging in as he slipped further and further away. Each flash of memories in his mind took him deeper and deeper down, until the darkness of his guilt began to swallow him whole.

“I just stood there, I let it happen. I knew something was different with him, I knew and I just let him do it—”

Your other hand ran up his back, your body heat pressing closer in behind him as the chills settled in his spine grew constant, a cold wind swirling in his chest. “Javi—”

A violent breath of smoke fell from his lips as he scoffed, disgust bubbling up from deep within his gut. “I didn’t even try to stop him.”

“Could you have?”

The brutalized scene playing behind his mind froze. “What?”

“I only met him a few times but he wasn’t a man to compromise. If you had tried, do you honestly think you could have stopped him?” Your voice was closer now, right over his shoulder as you tentatively wrapped yourself around him from behind. Every inch of your touch was timid and hesitant, like you thought one wrong move would shatter him into a thousand pieces.

Maybe you were right.

He smashed the butt of his cigarette into the ashtray on the nightstand as his tone grew deeper, rough with a tone he never took with you. “I was standing right there.”

“You just said you didn’t know what he was planning to do, Javi—”

“I should have known.”

“Javi—”

“I watched his men march them into the alley, I stood there when they lined them up on their knees,” he cursed, rubbing rough over his face, incapable of looking back at you. “I should have stepped in before it ever got that far.”

Your lips pressed weakly to the back of his neck. “Okay.”

He shook his head and stubbornly fought, “I should have—”

“I’m not placating you, Javi, you’re right.” You sighed, leaning forward to rest your head between his shoulders. “It’s okay.”

“Things are bad here, baby… I do bad things and I don’t want to…” curse you with it.

One of your hands scaled up the treacherous landscape of his back, winding your fingers into the short bits of his hair hanging down his neck. “Hiding things from me isn’t going to keep me here. I don’t need you to protect me.”

Again, his head shook, with the last of the strength he could muster. “That doesn’t stop me from wanting to.”

No, you pressed a soft kiss between his shoulders again, you knew that.

Wrapping your hand from the back of his neck around to his cheek, pushing his face towards his shoulder where yours met him. “You’re not a bad man, Javi, it’s just a bad situation.”

His voice broke, weaker than you had ever heard him as his hand reached up to pull yours from his face. “Then why does it feel like this…”

“Because it does,” you sighed. “Because when bad things are happening and you can’t do enough, that kind of sour, guilty sickness is all you can feel.”

There was a knowing bite to your words, a telling drop of your stare from his.

“That and anger.” your chuckle broke through your solemn resolve. “I don’t know, I spend a lot of time as a bystander, I can’t speak to what you do. But I know about seeing a lot of bad and not being able to do enough good to make a difference, I know a lot about that anger.”

The years he had under his belt in Colombia were nothing compared to the years you had on him. Before moving here, before picking up this fight against the narcos as his own, he had been a low-level agent in the States. That wasn’t to say he didn’t see his fair share of violence, but it wasn’t this. It wasn’t a day to day struggle for humanity. The same couldn’t have been said for you. He asked once, how long you had been traveling for, and you had answered mainly with the shrug of your shoulders.

When he pressed on for an actual answer, you shrugged again. “I don’t know, I was in school for journalism and bored out of my mind. A friend suggested a trip to Mexico and I didn’t ever really go back to the States after that.”

Whatever he was feeling, god, it must have been nothing compared to the years of compounded anger settled in your bones. And still, your touch remained the softest thing and your work the most beautiful. You could take the horrible city around you and find a way to highlight the glorious humanity afflicted by the shadows of reality. You could take the ghost of a man he was and capture the unburdened levity of his smile, the happy crinkle of his eye, and the loving center his job forced him to bury deep.

He loved you more than life itself, but more than that, he cherished you. Because for you, he wanted to be better. For you, he wanted to be the man you photographed.

At the very least, he owed you that.

The two of you stayed like that for a while, not knowing how to move from there, but when you finally got up and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, he at least knew Brazil was off the table.

For one day, one quiet morning, it was enough.

tags: (let me know if you’d like to be tagged or untagged) @cinewhore @tiffdawg @gravegoth @xjaywritesx @leonieb @burnt-august @doodlingbreak @mistermiraclee @theocatkov @lovinglokiforever @friendscall-me-mom @lazybeeches @sesamepancakes @rogueonestan @videogamesandpoorlifechoices @paperbag33 @witchyavenger @littlevodika @hoodedbirdie @nominalnebula @seasonschange-butpeopledont @thehippiequilter @anu-simps @republicansithlord @mrschiltoncat @hnt-escape @frietiemeloen @mishasminion360 @melaniermblt @phoenixpascal @justanotherblonde23 @justrunamok @yooforia @gracie7209

#fic: ghosts #javier peña x reader #javier peña x female reader #narcos #angst #tw: trauma #tw: gun violence #tw: ptsd

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eelistolvanen · 3 years

Text

Atlantis - Ryan Graves

Pairing: Ryan Graves x Y/N (established)

Warnings: mentions of depression, angst

Word count: 6.1k

A/N: So this is my first NHL fic. Warning: I didn’t proveread and my first language isn’t english. This idea is based on those tiktoks about people losing their sparkle. The title is from the song Atlantis by Seafret.

Hope you enjoy :)

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You hurried along the concours at Pepsi center, swearing under your breath. You had already missed the warm ups because you had been held up at work. You didn’t really want to miss puck drop as well. Out of breath, you made it to your seat, happy to realise that you had, in fact, not missed puck drop. You plopped down besides Mel Landeskog and groaned.

“God, I wish I could kill my boss. What a dick.” You said between trying to regain your breath. Mel chuckled beside you. “I wish you did, I don’t know why you keep working for him. I know I wouldn’t.”

Mel had briefly met your boss when she visited you over lunch at your workplace once. And she quickly let you know about her dislike for him. You weren’t a fan of him either, but besides him you liked the job and was one you had worked hard to get.

You and Mel caught up, even though you had seen each other only a few days prior. Then the players started to trickle out of the tunnel and onto the benches. Both you and Mel put the conversation to the side to focus onto the ice. Your eyes went on to search for your boyfriend immediately. It didn’t take very long to spot him, given that he was towering over all the other guys.

As if Ryan had know that you were looking for him, he turned towards the Wags section and locked eyes with you. And although you were too far away to see it properly, you were sure Ryan gave you a simple nod. He always gave you one in warmups when you were watching him. Since you weren’t able to make it in time for warmups, you got the nod now.

The game passed quickly. Both the Avs and Dallas had been playing a good and very tight game. In the end the Avs won it 4-3, thanks to a late 3rd period tiebreaker by Mikko. Ryan played a good game as well, getting an assist and a plus 2 rating.

Soon enough you found yourself down in the families room waiting for Ryan to emerge. You were holding conversation with Mel and some of the other Wags, happily letting them distract you from your long day at work.

The moment Ryan stepped out of the locker room, your eyes moved to look at him. Your subconscious was so in tune with him, you always felt his presence as soon as he entered a room. A few quick steps and he had scooped you up in his arms. This is exactly what you needed after a long day at work. A Ryan hug could fix everything.

“Good game, babe. Sorry I missed warm ups, the boss kept me in today.” You muttered into his neck, while he seemed to melt into your body. He pulled away to look at you.

“Thanks, love. It’s fine, you didn’t mean to miss it. And you made it in time for the game, that’s the important bit.” He gave you a smile and a quick wink while wrapping his arms around you and turning to say goodbye to the team. He took your hand in his while leading you out to the car and driving home.

Unfortunately the long day at work wasn’t a one off. Recently your boss had kept you in longer seemingly every day, excusing it with you needing to more effort into work since many would love to have this job. And it was starting to war you down. You knew Ryan was understanding but you still felt bad that he had to wait up for you.

By the time November rolled around, you were more stressed out and exhausted than ever. You were drowning in work and you felt like the wasn’t any end in sight soon. It didn’t help that the Avs weren’t having a good time. Instead of being at the top of the standings they were battling to stay in a playoff spot. Ans even though it was still early in the season they wouldn’t want to drop back now and even fall out of the playoff race early.

You were currently standing next to Mel and Mikko’s girlfriend waiting for the team to exit the locker room. You knew the mood wasn’t good. The team just lost against the Preds. A team who was battling against them for a playoff position. Also, you were pretty sure that Ryan noticed that you missed the first period due to being held back at work. A few players started clearing out of the locker room and you could see the loss imprinted on their faces. Riding a losing streak was bad enough, but losing against a division rival made it even bitterer.

You felt like you were barely able to breath, not knowing what Ryan’s reaction was gonna be like. Once he finally exited the room, as one of the last out, he held his head low and you could see the disappointment on his face.

He didn’t really lift his head walking over to you but still pulling you in for a hug once you were within reach. He engulfed you with his huge body and held you tight. A huge weight lifted off your chest almost immediately. And you suddenly felt like everything was going to be okay. That you had just worried to much, he would never be angry at you for missing part of a game because of work. You tried to pull him even closer, while he gave you a kiss on the head.

It was nearing the end of November and you had just pulled yourself out of bed an hour ago. It was already 2 pm and while you hoped that sleeping in on your off day would help you with the constant fatigue you were facing, all it did was making you feel even more tired. And you felt like you couldn’t get anything done recently and sitting around in your apartment all day lazily wasn’t helping your guilt at all. But you felt too lethargic to move, the grim weather wasn’t helping. You knew you should get outside more, recently only spending time at work or being holed up in your apartment, but you just couldn’t get any motivation to get up and go outside.

It wasn’t helping that Ryan was away on a road trip and wouldn’t be back in almost a week. The avs had been playing better but the still weren’t where they were supposed to be. HE had been so focused on playing well recently, you didn’t really feel like bothering him with your everyday problems. His career was important to you and you didn’t want to mess with it.

This week passed slower and you felt yourself being sucked into the black hole even further. Then on top of all the stuff that was doing badly at work at the moment, your boss had decided to bring in a new intern. He also made it pretty clear to you that the intern was trying out for your job position. You slowly felt like the weight on your shoulders was staring to crush you. Once Friday evening came, you were wrapped up in blankets on your couch, binge watching some Netflix series and eating ice cream. Ryan would fly in after his game, presumably late in the night. So you didn’t bother staying up, you would only fall asleep on the couch anyway.

You were woken up by sounds outside of your bedroom and not soon after you heard Ryan slip in. He was trying to be quiet, but you were awake now anyway.

“Hey Babe, you’re back.” Your whispered statement probably sounded more like a question but you didn’t care. His reaction told you that he wasn’t expecting you to be awake.

“Oh hey, baby. I’m sorry for waking you” You barely heard him, his voice quiet and hushed. Soon enough he slip into bed and wrapped his arms around your waist pulling you close. He must have sensed that you had a hard day at work, just from the way he was holding you close to him. And you tried your best to relax into his touch and fall asleep again.

November passed and you just couldn’t seem to catch a break anymore. Today was another horrendous day at work, where everything seemed to be going wrong lately. Your boss was more than displeased with your performance and it didn’t seem like you were able to get out of your slump anytime soon. The new intern threatening your job position was obviously not helping in easing your nerves. Now you wanted nothing more than to get home and curl yourself up on the couch in Ryan’s arms.

Finally making it to your shared apartment, you had never been so glad that Ryan wasn’t on a road trip than tonight. As soon as you were inside the door you dropped your coat and the purse in the entry, kicked of your shoes and made your way to the living room. You let out a deep sigh, the tight feeling in your chest that you had all day still letting itself be known.

As soon as you entered the living room Ryan looked up from his space on the couch. His gentle greeting went mostly unrequited. You felt a lump in your throat forming. The team had hit a rough patch time lately again and you didn’t really want him to have to deal with your problems. You knew that he had enough on his mind. So you quickly tried to give him a smile but he’d already risen from the couch, knowing you well enough to see by your posture alone that something wasn’t right.

With a couple big steps he closed the distance between you two and wrapped his arms around you tightly. You were trying to relax, let yourself drown in his big embrace but then you slowly you realise something that you had been dreading for a while now. The tight feeling in your chest was still there. You anxiety didn’t lift of you like it used to. His embrace didn’t seem to let you forget about all your worries. It didn’t seem to heal you, put your pieces back together anymore. And suddenly you realised that it hadn’t for a while now. Slowly hug after hug his power to keep you together, to calm you down, had weakened. You used to call his hugs his superpower, that no one hugged you like Ryan did. No one else’s hugs made you feel at home, made you feel safe.

But now his hugs just felt like… hugs. Normal hugs. Nothing special. Simply a hug you could get from any person you knew. No magic, no superpower. No sparkle…

You could feel your heart shatter at the sudden realization. He hugged you still the same way. He still put all his power into trying to keep you together, to pick your pieces up, to heal you. It wasn’t Ryan who lost something. It was you. You had lost your sparkle, your magic. And Ryan wouldn’t be able to fix it. Not this time.

You hadn’t even realised that silent tears had started to run down your cheeks. You let out a shaky breath, trying to steady yourself. But all it did was making it worse. You let out a sob you didn’t knew you were holding deep inside you.

“Hey, hey! Shhh, it’s okay baby. Everything is gonna be okay.” Ryan slowly rubbed your back, trying to soothe you. But you knew Ryan well enough to know, that even he himself wasn’t believing his words anymore.

You quietly cried into his chest and he held you close to him. You had stayed like that for a while after. But the tight feeling in your chest didn’t lift. If anything your sudden realization made it worse.

You hit your breaking point in the beginning of December. You felt like you fell apart. You hadn’t been going to games for a while now. You came home after work and holed yourself up on the couch or tired to cry yourself to sleep.

Ryan tried to reach out to you as much as possible. He tried and tried and tried, but no matter what he did he wasn’t able to help you. His presence didn’t relieve the pain in your chest and that heavy feeling you’d been carrying around for a while now. It had gotten so bad that you had started to pull away. You didn’t consciously want to, but did it anyway. He just wasn’t able to get through to you anymore.

And this killed him. Nothing hurt him more than to see that light in you fade. Day after day, week after week, your once so bright sparkle had started to dim. And no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t fix you. Not anymore.

You had been thinking about it for a while now. You hated your work, Denver started to turn all grey on you and you felt like a burden to Ryan recently. You needed change.

Now, you were standing in the living room, a couple steps away from Ryan. You knew he wanted to close the space, hug you, try giving you comfort but he wasn’t sure if that’s what you really needed anymore. Silent tears ran down your face and you could see Ryan shatter right in front of you.

“Tell me we can fix this. Please Ryan, tell me that leaving isn’t the right thing to do.”

“You’re not happy here anymore, Y/N. You don’t have to stay here for me, you know? I can’t expect you to stay.”

You wanted him to be wrong. You wanted him to tell you that everything would work out, that you would be able to fix your life in Denver, that leaving wasn’t the right thing to do. But you knew better.

“Ryan, please tell me you know how to fix this. You always find a way to fix me!” You were desperate now, your voice shaking.

You hated how you could read the answer in his eyes before he even parted is lips. You knew this was it. Game over, you had nothing else to give.

“I look at you and see the ghost of someone you used to be and nothing hurts more than knowing that there’s nothing I can do to fix you. To save us. I can’t save us.” You felt yourself shatter. Game over. Nothing made it more real than him telling you. He finally closed the space between the two of you. But he didn’t hug you, he simply put his hand on your face and gently stroked the tears away with his thumb.

“I know you’re trying to look out for me, thinking about me, about us first. But you need to start looking out for yourself now. This life here isn’t treating you right anymore. It’s breaking you! You know yourself that you won’t be able to fix this here.” You inhaled shakily.

“I know, I just…” Your voice gave in.

“You know that if there was a way for me to fix this, to heal you, to do something about it, I would. You need to go, cause you won’t get better here. With me. And as much as I love you, this life here is ruining you.”

His forehead was touching yours now and both his hands were placed on your cheeks. You could feel his silent sobs. You could feel the way his heart broke when he said the following words.

“How do you look at the person you love the most and tell yourself that it’s time to let her go?”

“Don’t let go then!”

Slowly he pulled away. You tried to catch his hands in yours but of no use. Slowly he lowered them and pulled his hands from his grasp.

“Just promise me you’ll try your hardest to get better. To get that light back, that sparkle back. You will get better, but this time you have to fix yourself. I love you so much, Y/N, but I just want you to be happy. Maybe one day this will include me again.”

With that he gave you a last kiss on your forehead and turned around and walked towards the door. That’s when you broke down. You knew this was real know. The bags you packed would actually be used, the calls home you made to tell your family about coming home would actually hold its promise, the resignation on your job would actually be sent in. You knew this was only supposed to be a break for you to find yourself again and come back after. But right now this felt more like a finale breakup than anything else.

At first being home seemed to do you good. You spent a lot of time with your family, you didn’t have to think about your job anymore. But it didn’t take long for that cold, nagging feeling in your chest to return. So you had started to visit a therapist. And you tried your hardest to do the little tasks she sent you home with after each session. But somehow you just felt so broken. You felt so exhausted, so lifeless. It was hard for you to find joy in something nowadays. You felt… empty.

Weeks passed. Christmas came and went. You tried to set yourself some goals, some solutions for the new year. But things didn’t seem to get better.

Ryan really didn’t want to look at his phone. Another loss, another season that seemed to go to waste. An now he couldn’t even go home and hold you in his arms for consolidation. He already dreaded the empty house he would come home to. He really couldn’t call it his home anymore. Just a place he used for sleeping or the occasional nap. Nowadays he spent as much time at the rink or at teammates houses as possible. The house was just so cold without you. Like all life had left it. Once he was seated in his car he finally gave his phone a quick glance. He did a doubletake to make sure his eyes weren’t betraying him. But there it was you name on screen. Had had left him a voicemail.

His chest tightened as he realised that you probably called him on purpose during the game. You knew that he was playing, he was sure of that. He had to take a couple of deep breath before being able to press play on the voicemail.

At first he could only hear your shaky breath, presumably teary eyed. He felt a sudden stab to his heart.

“Hey Ryan, I know this is out of nowhere but I just…” Your voice went silent again. This time he was sure that you were sobbing quietly.

“I’m trying so hard, but I don’t know how much longer I can fight… But I want you to know that there was nothing you could have done to help me, Ryan. You did your best.” He could hear your sobs now loudly and clearly, and it broke his heart.

“And you have to know that if I ever lose my battle to depression… know that I fought, know that I tried, know I did my best to overcome it. I love you so much, Ryan.”

And with that the voicemail ended. Ryan felt like someone ripped to ground from underneath him. Felt like he was spiralling down a dark hole. He let out a gasp, feeling himself tear up.

He knew he had to call you back, as soon as possible. But it was proving to be a challenge. His vision was blurry from his teary eyes and it wasn’t helping that his hands were shaking uncontrollably. It felt like he was just sitting there in his car for ages, before he had calmed himself down enough to press the call button.

He didn’t really know what he was going to say. He didn’t even know where to start, all he knew that he needed to hear your voice. Now.

It kept ringing and ringing but you didn’t pick up. He tried multiple times but nothing. His calls went unanswered. With a heavy heart he decided to drive home, since he was still sitting in the parking lot at Pepsi center.

At home he tried again. And again just before letting his exhausted body fall asleep. But you didn’t pick up. Finally, the next morning just when he thought another call would go to voicemail you answered.

“Hey.” Honestly you didn’t know what else to say and you also didn’t know to expect.

“You wouldn’t do it, right? You wouldn’t… you know end it, right?” He sounded desperate, you could sense the urgency in his voice.

“Ryan…” “No, you wouldn’t do this to me, right? I love you, Y/N. I need you. I let you leave so you could get better, not to …”

His voice cut out, and his sentence went unfinished. You didn’t really know what to tell him. The voicemail was made impulsively. You had a bad day yesterday. Well, you had a lot of bad days recently.

“What do I have to do Y/N? Tell me what I can do? I thought that letting you go home, getting out for a while might help, apparently it didn’t. God, if you tell me that you want to come home, home to me, I’ll step on the next airplane and will get you myself.”

You laughed humourlessly.

“No, you were right. I have to fix myself. I had to get away from all of that. But I just can’t seem to get better. I don’t know that else to do, Ryan. I try to focus on myself, I go to a therapist, I try to get outside a lot. But… nothing.”

“You will get better, you have to. I couldn’t handle losing you, Y/N!”

Denver airport was buzzing this particular early February morning. You stood at the baggage claim, waiting for your suitcase to appear. The waiting time left you questioning yourself whether you made the right decision to come back here. You were only coming for a few days. To catch up with Mel and Linnea. Really Mel had been the one pushing you, saying that it would do you good to talk with someone you used to see almost everyday.

Finally you spotted your suitcase and made your way towards the exit. Finding Mel was easy enough, since she had spotted you way before you were near her and was now waving frantically. As soon as you got to her she gave you a big hug. Still, you were feeling at unease. You didn’t really know why. The team was on a roadtrip and wouldn’t be back for a few days, so there was no possibility to run into Ryan.

You weren’t actively avoiding him but you weren’t ready to face him either. YOU hadn’t spoken to him in weeks. You were supposed to be gone for a bit and come back once you felt better. Now over 2 months had passed and you weren’t better at all. You weren’t ready to come back, you were just visiting. You weren’t even sure anymore if you could ever come back. And that scared you. You used to love the city, loved living here, loved your job. Now, that was all gone. How would you be able to tell Ryan this? Tell him that you were failing at fixing yourself. Tell him to wait around for you, in hope that maybe one day, one day you would get better.

He had tried to call you occasionally but you usually weren’t picking up. Just sending him lame excuses for not answering the phone, knowing that he would see right through you. But you couldn’t stand to hear his voice. He cared so much, even though you weren’t giving him any reason to. You wouldn’t be able to lie to him, wouldn’t be able to give him false hope, that it would all work out. Cause truly, you’d given up hope.

Mel was right. Catching up did you good. You had missed her, in a way you had also missed Denver. The Denver you used to love, before everything turned grey and lifeless. You talked to her for hours. You played with Linnea, went out for lunch and even agreed to watch the Avs game in the evening.

Talking with Mel put a lot into perspective for you. You saw things from a different view. You realised that not everything always was gonna be perfect. That you didn’t need to have that dreamjob to feel happy. Quiet the opposite actually. Trying to be enough had torn you apart.

You didn’t just talk about you and your struggles but also about stupid everyday things. About that coffeeshop you went to, about funny stories on the team, about Linnea’s newest adventures. And you realised how much you wanted this back. This life you used to love so much, before you let it take control over you.

Those couple of days seemed to pass in a hurry and you would soon return home. This time with a goal to return rather sooner than later. That morning Gabe had left for the first practice since returning from their roadtrip. When he came back the three of you, Linnea was asleep upstairs, hung around in the kitchen making light conversation. You heard the door open and close, but you really didn’t think of much. Mel’s panicked look threw you off guard.

“You were supposed to tell Ryan that he can’t come over after practice today,- !” Mel’s harsh whispering towards Gabe was cut short as Ryan entered the kitchen. Suddenly everything went silent. It took Ryan a couple seconds to spot you, but his shocked look his face told you that Gabe at least hadn’t told the team that you were back in town.

Ryan was still wrangling for words, while Gabe and Mel quickly escaped the kitchen. You wished you could have too.

“You’re back. I didn’t know…” You knew he didn’t mean to sound so accusing and hurt, but it still stung. “Were you going to tell me?”

You were fighting for words. You didn’t think you would see him, you were hoping he wouldn’t find out. Your silence was enough of an answer for him, the disappointment written all over his face.

“I only came to visit, I’m not staying, Ryan.” You realised too late how wrong your words sounded. Ryan let out a sigh, frustration slowly building up.

“Obviously not to visit me.” He sounded sad and hurt. “I thought this was just some time away for you, not like… a breakup or something.”

“It’s not, Ryan. I- “ But you really didn’t know how to answer this honestly. Because it did feel like a breakup to you too.

He stepped closer to you before speaking up quietly. “ I love you, Y/N! I always will. And I’ll wait for you as long as you want me to. I won’t give up on you, ok? But if this is not what you want anymore, I need to know. Cause I can’t keep calling you, reaching out to you, keep holding on if you have already let go.”

You wanted to speak up, but you just didn’t know how. You just didn’t know how to let him down easy. And you could see in his eyes that he was waiting for you. But the longer you waited, the further he seemed to slip away.

He gave you a sad smile and a silently mouthed “I love you” before turning around and walking towards the door.

You knew he was long out of earshot when you finally spoke those words back to him.

“I love you too, Ryan.”

The rest of the day passed slowly. Everything seemed to drag on. You would fly back home the next day and you knew you had to tell Ryan to hold on just a bit longer. But you felt immobilized. Mel tried to talk to you about your confrontation, but to no use. You pushed her away, shut her out. So she let you be.

You were sitting in Mel’s car on your way to the airport. Mel was making light conversation and was actively avoiding the elephant in the room. And you were thankful for that. You wouldn’t know what to say.

For a minute you considered telling Mel to turn the car around and drive you to Ryan’s apartment. To your apartment. But you couldn’t do it. And a couple hours later you were sitting in the plane taking you towards your hometown.

You’d been sulking at home the entire rest of the day. You had to tell him. The sooner the better. But you hated confrontation so you waited til the next morning, when you were sure he was at practice. Your voicemail was short but hopefully enough to get the message across.

“Don’t… don’t give up on me, Ryan. I’m trying ok?” That was all you had said.

When he called you in the evening, it was the first time in a long time you answered to one of his calls. You talked for what felt like hours. Nothing deep or meaningful, just the little things. But when you hung up and you went to bed, it was the first time in months where you didn’t have trouble falling asleep.

Now you weren’t missing a single call of his. He asked you about your day, about your session with the therapist, whether you’d drank enough water and you would ask him about his day, about the team, about practice or about the game. Over the next months those calls started to become your favourite part of your day. It was one of the things you were looking forward to.

As you were sitting in your therapist’s office late in march, you kept replaying something she’d said earlier during the session. “You only know how to use the tools to fix your heart, but that doesn’t mean someone else can’t stand beside you and hand them to you.”

And you realised just how right she was. While nobody else could use those tools, it helped to know that there was someone standing beside you supporting you, helping you out, guiding you. And that someone was Ryan. And you knew then that that two of you would be fine. Even if it took a while til you got better. You’d already gotten better over the last few weeks.

So a couple of days before the regular season ended you flew back into Denver. This time not for a visit. You hadn’t told Ryan that you were coming. Since Mel or Gabe couldn’t come pick you up EJ came and drove you home. Talking with him on the drive home made you realise just how much you missed the team. They were like a second family to you. EJ was probably more excited for you to be back than you himself. He kept telling you how hard it had been for Ryan to be away from you and that he was glad that you were finally back so he wouldn’t have to hear Ryan pour his heart out to him on every team flight.

EJ helped you carry your bags up to your apartment door but told you that he would let the two of you reunite in peace. It took you a bit to calm your nerves before you were able to knock. Technically you still had the key and it was still your home as well, but you didn’t want to just barge in.

You could hear his footsteps walking towards the door and you were sure that you could feel your heart beating louder than ever before. You couldn’t hear any hesitation in his steps, indicating that he definitely hadn’t looked through the peephole before opening the door. This was only further proven by his shocked expression he wore when realising who was standing in front of him.

The surprised expression didn’t stay for long though and before you knew you were being scooped up into his arms. You could hear him exhale slowly. “You’re back…”

Your breath was caught in your throat. Shocked you looked down at the ice where your boyfriend had you moments before made heavy contact with the boards. It was midway through the third period and an opposing player thought the best was to avenge his teams 4 goal deficit by giving out a dirty boarding hit. It was the last regular season game and the clinching game for both teams, so emotions were running hot. He was still down, not moving. You watched in shock as the athletic trainers made their way onto the ice. Mel had wrapped an arms around your shoulder but you barely acknowledged her.

You could faintly hear her soft “He’s going to be fine Y/N, okay?” All you could do was give her a slow nod. In what seemed like slow motion, Ryan was helped onto his feet by the trainer and some of his teammates. His head hung low and he was basically dragged towards the tunnel but at least he was able to get up on his own.

You released the breath you were holding. You were still shaking but he seemed to be better than you first anticipated. The rest of the game passed by you in a blur. You were on autopilot. You barley registered Nate scoring on the powerplay that resulted from the hit. Neither did you acknowledge the empty netter from Mikko making it 6-0 for the avs in the end and subsequently clinching a playoff spot. As soon as the buzzer sounded you were out of your seat, trying to make your way down to the locker room.

Mel caught your arm and tugged you towards her. “Hey, he will be just fine, okay? He’s a though one. Let’s go down together, yeah?” You quickly nodded and gave her a hug. “Thank you, I don’t know what I would do without you sometimes.” You meant it, she was always such a good friend to you. She gave you a reassuring smile before wrapping an arm around you and making your way down to the locker room.

You were pacing holes into the carpet in the families room, impatiently waiting for someone to come out of the locker room and give you an update on Ryan. You nearly jumped EJ when he finally emerged as the first player.

“He’s fine Y/N. Just a little shaken up. He’ll be out soon.” He gave you a quick hug. And it really didn’t take long for Ryan to emerge. He looked tired and worn out, but he was walking on his own and you couldn’t detect any injury so you took this as a good sign.

He quickly closed the distance and pulled you in for hug. It was quiet but you could still hear him mutter “I’m fine, Y/N. I’m glad you’re back” into your hair. And in this moment you realised that the anxiety, the tight feeling in your chest and the worry about Ryan had lifted. One simple hug let all your worries wash away. It seemed to fix all your problems and worries. Just like it had used to do.

When Ryan pulled away you could see it in him as well. That realization. He gave you a kiss on your temple.

“You’re back, Y/N. You’re back. God, I missed you so much.”

And you knew he didn’t just mean your physical return to Denver. You were back.

*the end*

#ryan graves #ryan graves fic #ryan graves imagine #ryan graves x reader #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #colorado avalanche

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whereisten · 4 years

Text

Fish Out of Water

A Chenle fic that’s part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: You work at Neo City Aquarium. One night, you meet a peculiar but pretty boy named Chenle who claims to know you.

Pairing: Merman! Chenle x female reader

Genre: romance, fluff, angst

Warning: none

Word Count: 5.5k

(A/N: hiya! This is a little late and not proofread so I apologize 😭 I hope you enjoy! Thank you so much for all of the support for our stories!)

_______

[June 2020]

Your family was well known for their rehabilitation and release program at Neo City Aquarium. Your grandparents founded the aquarium and formed ties with wildlife rehabilitation centers in your hometown to expand their work into rescuing local marine life.

Following your high school graduation and having just turned eighteen, you were finally allowed to participate in dolphin rehabilitation. At the beginning of the summer, you joined your parents on a rescue mission to save a dolphin that'd been stabbed in a failed hunt for its meat.

You were tasked with nursing the dolphin’s wounds with the team of veterinarians and veterinary assistants. Socializing with wildlife animals wasn’t encouraged but you found yourself attached to the dolphin. You got to swim him when the rehab staff wanted to check his energy levels and confirm he was near his re-release into the ocean. You named him Happy for his smile and he was affection towards you whenever you fed him fish. Naming him Happy was a secret you shared only with him.

“Are you excited for your first dolphin release?” Hendery asked.

Joining Hendery, you entered into the dolphin pen at the beach, where Happy and three more dolphins were waiting to be released. Hendery was a college student who was interning with the rehab team.

You nodded. “Yes.” You were about to cry.

Hendery’s smiled faded. “What’s wrong?”

You couldn’t wipe your eyes because you’d been immersed in saltwater. You weren’t about to miss this release because you got salt in your eye. “Nothing. It’s just...I’m going to miss him.”

Hendery laughed. “I get it. My first release was emotional. Lucas, an intern from last year, had to hold me while I sobbed, begging the dolphins to come back and visit.”

You sniffled and smiled. “That’s so sweet.”

Hendery put a hand on your shoulder. “You’re okay. Happy is eternally grateful to you.”

“Yeah...I- Wait, how did you know I named him-”

“Your voice carries,” Hendery teased.

You splashed him. “Did you tell anyone?”

Hendery shook his head. “Don’t be embarrassed. I named these guys: Jisung, Sungchan, and Shotaro.”

“Those are human names!” You gasped.

Hendery raised an eyebrow. “Of all the names you could give a majestic dolphin...You named him Happy?”

“Okay, fine. To each their own.” You shrugged him off.

You were in charge of opening the pen that would grant the dolphins their freedom. These releases were so important because these animals were wild, meant to be free to explore the ocean to their hearts’ content. Because of global warming, people’s constant neglect for the environment, and animal cruelty, animals like Happy were negatively affected. Your family’s mission was to educate and rehabilitate. You planned to carry this mission on because the environment’s troubles weren’t going to go away for a long time, you were sad to say.

Releasing the dolphins meant that they would get a second chance to live freely and happily. You hoped no one and nothing would hurt them again.

As much as it pained you to say goodbye to these patients...They weren’t patients anymore.

“Okay, guys,” you addressed the dolphins, “It’s time to go home.”

You opened the pen and the dolphins quickly rushed out. They jumped into the air and whistled.

Happy was the only one who lingered and looked at you.

“Go on, Happy!” You encouraged him. Your tears fell but you were ecstatic. This was such a fulfilling moment.

Happy dove beneath the surface and joined the rest of the dolphins into the deep ocean.

_______

[July 2020]

When you weren’t at the rehab center, you worked at the aquarium as a tour guide. You were giving a tour for the governor and his family. Your family hoped to get more government funding for the aquarium so you could expand the rehabilitation center.

The kids were so wide-eyed and happy to be at the aquarium, seeing the fishes of all kinds of colors and the whale shark that loomed overhead.

The governor was hosting a private party at the aquarium tonight. The Neo City Aquarium boasted monthly sleepovers for anyone who wanted to sleep with the fishes...

Literally, not figuratively.

The children ran around while the adults mingled at the buffet area that was set up for their party. You helped run the event with your parents. Your mom was helping out with the caterers. Your dad was schmoozing with the state’s elite.

You took a break and walked through the underwater tunnel. You stole some champagne from the party and sipped it lightly.

Someone tapped you on the shoulder and you almost spilled your champagne on the floor. “Agh!”

You turned around and found a boy who grinned from ear to ear. Donning a cerulean tux, he was handsome. He had soulful brown eyes, a boyish smile, an unforgettable eye smile, and his soft, straight brown hair that nearly reached his eyes. He couldn’t have been much older than you.

“C-can I help you?” You winced, feeling like you were caught doing something you shouldn’t have.

“Y/n, it’s me!” The boy said enthusiastically. He couldn’t believe he was here with you.

You frowned. “I’m sorry...I don’t…”

His smile faded but it returned full force as he tried to convince you. “It’s me, Happy!”

“Huh?” You tilted your head in confusion. “How do you know about Happy?”

He said it slowly, “I am Happy…”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that...If you’ll excuse me…” You weren’t getting anywhere with this guy, even if he was your type from a physical standpoint.

He lightly touched your arm. “You saved a dolphin off of the Nakamoto Coast two months ago…”

Now you were listening.

He let you go and explained. “I know that this is going to sound crazy but I was the one you saved that day.”

You furrowed your brows. “What are you talking about…”

“The dolphin you saved has a scar on his underside. It’s shaped like a lightning bolt, almost…” He raised his shirt to reveal his lower abdomen. “Like this…”

It was shaped exactly like Happy’s scar. You dropped your champagne flute. It was a good thing it was made out of reusable plastic. “I…”

He offered you his hand. “Please come with me.”

“Where?” You hesitated.

“To the beach,” he said, “I want to prove to you that I’m not lying.”

You shot him a look. “You better not be. If Hendery put you up to this…”

“You can tell him that Jisung, Sungchan, and Shotaro send their love...I’ve met them in my travels. They liked their human given names so much that they kept them,” he said.

How the hell did he know about those three dolphins?

Now you were curious.

You’d excused yourself from the party. Your mom was thrilled because she thought you finally landed a boyfriend at the ripe old age of eighteen. Like you didn’t have the rest of your life to find a partner. That’s even if you needed one.

The aquarium was located right on the beach so you didn’t have to walk very far. You took off your heels and held the pair on your left hand. Chenle took off his blue dress shoes and did the same. His look had been one color, matching the deepest ocean blue.

You’d reached the shore, where the water reached your toes. “You’re gonna try and drown me here, aren’t you?”

He laughed. “Are you kidding? You are the last person I would drown.”

Did that mean he was capable of drowning people? You laughed nervously. “Thanks?”

He wasted no time and ran into the water with his suit on. You started. “Wait, dude, what are you-”

The water began to glow a bright aqua green. You squint your eyes to see where the boy had gone. The light faded quickly and instead you saw a dolphin tail break the surface.

The boy who brought you here had just turned into a dolphin.

He was telling the truth: he was Happy.

You put a hand over your mouth and simply watched. He jumped into the air and made clicking noises.

“Happy?!” You exclaimed.

Once again, the beam of light appeared. It was brighter that you had to shield your eyes. Happy was gone and the boy’s upper body reappeared.

Along with an aqua green fish tail.

“I...I…” You started.

He made his way back onto shore and regained his nightwear as a human. He was back on two legs again. “I know you named me Happy...It’s a nickname I’ll always treasure in my heart. But my name is Chenle,” the boy said...

Excuse you, the merman said.

“You’re...you’re a merman…” You said.

“Yes…”

“But...you’re also a dolphin…” Your head was about to explode.

“I can transform into any aquatic being...Well, except for clownfish...I can never get the right shade of orange for them…” He started.

You shook your head. “If you were a merman...then why didn’t you transform back...all the time you were here?”

You started remembering just how much you’d told Happy...Chenle...about your life, your aspirations, about how some of your friends were moving away for college, and how you hoped you wouldn’t let your family down…You even made goofy faces at this guy.

You turned away from him in embarrassment.

Chenle continued. “The attack severely injured me...Had it not been for you and your family…I would’ve perished. I did not have the strength to transform back until you released me.”

“Oh…” You said.

He smiled. “I can’t thank you enough. You saved my life.”

You shook your head. “Oh, I didn’t do anything. The doctors and the rehab staff did everything.”

“But you were with me,” he said as he laced his fingers against yours without you realizing it. “You were the one who cared the most. The one whose face hasn’t left my mind since I was released…”

Your face felt warm. “Well, I…”

This was crazy. First, Happy was a dolphin. Then, Happy was a man. And THEN, Happy was a merman.

Someone must have laced your champagne with something. You passed out from the shock of it all.

“Y/n!” Chenle yelled as he caught you from hitting the sand.

A few minutes later, you felt like you’d awoken from a deep, uncomfortable slumber. You felt yourself wrapped in the arms of someone strong, warm…

Wet.

Your eyes opened and you found yourself in the water. What the-

“You’re awake! Thank Poseidon!” Chenle said as his arms were wrapped around you. He looked down at you, drops of water falling off of his slicked back hair. He looked absolutely glorious under the moonlight.

“Chenle, what are you-” You started as you shrugged yourself off of him.

Chenle shushed you. “Y/n, take it easy. I used some of my healing magic to help you wake up…”

“Healing magic?” You asked.

Chenle nodded. “Yes.”

You looked at him carefully. “I can’t believe you’re real…”

He sighed. “Really? You still don’t believe me…”

“No, I believe you...It’s just…A lot for me to process.” You said.

You still wondered if you were losing your mind.

You and Chenle talked for hours that night. He actually used magic to dry you and your dress. He was able to walk on land because of the full moon. That was why it took him a month to come see you and explain himself.

Chenle was the prince of the underwater kingdom, Atlantis. The mythical kingdom had proven to be real. Chenle told you all about it. How his parents ruled the seven seas in harmony. The merpeople had all sorts of abilities. They can transform into other marine life. They can heal. They can control the weather. They can manipulate water.

It was during the full moon every month that merfolk had the opportunity to walk on land to understand humans and their lifestyle. Chenle turned eighteen last year so he’d explored the human world a couple of times already. He was able to learn how to walk after the first couple of visits, apparently.

It was his first time visiting your hometown after being rescued. He’d only wanted to see you because you’d been so kind to him. He knew everything about you and he’d fallen in love. He couldn’t wait to see you again.

“So you’re a prince…” You started.

“Yes…” He answered.

“Then how come your...royal subjects didn’t come and find you?” You asked.

Chenle chuckled. “Actually, they watched me from afar…”

“What? Really?”

Now that you thought about it...You remembered pods of dolphins close to the shore the entire month Chenle had been at the rehab center.

“Yes...And they were relieved to see that I was in good hands. The entire kingdom wishes to invite your team down to the palace to bestow medals of honor to each of you.”

“Wow,” you said, “That’s...incredible...Too bad, we can’t breathe underwater or else I’d be the first to join you.”

He hesitated before he asked you the next question. “Actually...If you did wish to see Atlantis...I could make that happen.”

You gasped. “What?!”

He laughed. “Yes. So long as I’m in saltwater, I can use my magic.”

“I’ve noticed…” You said.

“y/n!” Your father called out to you.

Apparently, he’d been kept out of the loop about your “date”.

“Dad!” You started as you got up from the sand.

“Who is this boy?” He demanded as he walked over to you guys with his loafers still on.

Shocked at your father’s hostility, you said, “Dad! It’s Ha-”

You turned to Chenle and he raised his eyebrows.

“This is Chenle, my-”

Chenle continued, “I’m her friend from school.” He got up from the sand and stood beside you. His demeanor changed then. “It is nice to meet you, sir.” He extended his hand out and gave your father a firm handshake.

Chenle acted like he’d been fully employed with an MBA and a six-figure salary. That must’ve been his prince personality coming out.

Your dad was taken aback by how confident Chenle had been. “It’s nice to meet you, too...May I ask why you and my daughter are out here so late?”

Chenle continued, “I apologize, sir. I hadn’t seen her in a month...And I missed her so I came to see her.” He looked at you then, a meaningful look on his face. You knew he was being honest and you felt your heart sway, then.

Your father cleared his throat. “Well, that’s very nice of you, Chenle but...it’s 2 in the morning...It’s time you called it a night, you two.”

You both looked at each other then, disappointed. It wasn’t like you could call Chenle up on his phone. You wondered if technology could factor into Atlantis...Or if they even needed it. You doubted it.

“Okay, dad,” you said, “Do you mind?” You motioned for him to leave you and Chenle for a few minutes.

Your dad shot you a look, feeling quite overprotective of his only child. He relented when you gave him the same unwavering look. “Alright. Good evening, Chenle.”

Chenle nodded and your dad walked away.

“So much for the trip to Atlantis,” you said as you crossed your arms in disappointment.

“Next time,” Chenle said, smiling down at you, adoring the way you pouted.

_______

[October 2020]

You met Chenle at the beach at nightfall several times since the night you first met at the aquarium. It was your turn to get to know Chenle more since he knew most things about you with you knowing.

He admitted to some embarrassing secrets, like how, during one of the times he visited land, he’d talked to a betta fish in a tank located inside a convenience store and everyone looked at him like he was insane. But what was most embarrassing for him was that he failed to realize that he couldn’t communicate with freshwater fish.

Chenle was courageous and kind. He told you that the reason he turned into a dolphin the day you found him was because he’d gone to help rescue a pod of dolphins from being hunted. In the process, he’d been struck. A Good Samaritan reported his injuries to the rehab center and that was how you met.

Chenle was second in line for the throne for his older brother would soon be crowned king of Atlantis.

Today was the day you would go to Atlantis with Chenle.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

You replied, “I...think so…”

You both held hands as you stood in the water together.

“Trust me,” he said as he winked.

You sighed. Chenle explained and showed his process for helping you breathe underwater.

Chenle had the ability to create an air bubble shaped to your person that surrounded you and kept your oxygen intake high.

In August, you’d tested the air bubble 12 feet under the surface and in September you worked your way up to 1200 feet under the surface.

Each time, it worked seamlessly.

However, you were going thousands of feet underwater so you were freaking out a little. You tried to not show it.

Chenle took your face into his hands. “You’re safe with me.”

You nodded, meeting his beautiful eyes as they glowed the same aqua green from the first night he revealed his true self to you.

You both dived down and Chenle extended his hands out, enveloping you with the clear air bubble.

You were able to maneuver yourself with your legs, like you were the one who swam.

Diving down with Chenle was always an adventure but now that you dove deeper and faster, you saw more of the wildlife and greenery underwater. The ocean was a force to be reckoned with but to you, it was also the most beautiful part of this planet.

Holding Chenle’s hand, he controlled the speed in which you traveled. He wanted to entertain you with the most gorgeous sights the ocean offered. He loved the awe and admiration in your eyes. He wished to always make you happy.

Chenle moved you two faster because your hometown was hundreds of miles away from Atlantis. You two didn’t have a lot of time until sunrise when you needed to get back.

And Chenle would have to retreat. Humans couldn’t know of the merfolk’s existence.

You finally saw it: the kingdom of Atlantis. The buildings stood tall, looking almost like modern-day apartment buildings. The merfolks swam alongside fish and other deep sea creatures. As the people recognized Chenle, a group of armed mermen approached you two.

“Who is this, Your Highness?” One of the armed guards asked.

He continued, “Jaehyun, this is y/n.”

At the sound of your name, all of the guards bowed deeply before you. “y/n, the savior of our prince.”

You put a hand over your mouth. “Oh, no, please don’t do that…”

Chenle laughed. “Alright, let’s go greet my parents.”

“Wait, you parents?!” You exclaimed. Chenle never mentioned meeting his parents.

The guards escorted you to the palace doors. They were heavily guarded by the biggest jellyfish you’d ever seen so no one could break in or break out without getting severely injured. The doors opened and the castle was beyond your wildest dreams. It was translucent and the towers ran high, shaped like icicles. It glowed with a magic of its own with all colors of the rainbow glowing, depending on the angle from which you looked at the structure.

You entered into the palace and into the grand throne room where the king and queen of Atlantis stood. Chenle was the spitting image of his mother. It was in the eyes and the smile.

You bowed. “Your Majesties.”

The queen and king looked at you in adoration.

“We can not express our gratitude enough for saving our son,” the king said.

The queen continued, “Whatever your wish is, we can make it so.”

“Oh,” you said, shaking your head, “That’s okay...In fact, I wasn’t the only one who helped the prince...I don’t deserve anything.”

Chenle looked at you then with so much love and respect. “You deserve the world, y/n.”

You nearly choked. “Chenle...I mean, Your Highness, I-”

Another young man entered the throne room and greeted Chenle by rubbing the crown of his head. “Little brother, you’ve brought a girl home to mummy!”

“Kun, gah, knock it off!” Chenle asked as he pulled himself off of his brother.

Kun resembled his father more but he was also handsome. You realized he was the crown prince and bowed. “Your Highness.”

“Y/n, it is an honor to finally meet you. I’m amazed that the wedding festivities haven’t begun.”

“Wedding?!” You asked and shut your mouth, thinking you spoke out of turn.

Kun and his parents laughed. Chenle sighed. “You’ll have to excuse Kun. He has a flair for the dramatic.”

Once you finished your time with the royal family, Chenle took you to the highest point in the castle. You two looked over the palace. You could see the darkness of the deep blue sea that laid beyond.

“Chenle, this is nothing at all like I imagined it. It’s...a dream,” you said.

Chenle held your hand. “You’re a dream, y/n.” He took it and kissed it.

_______

[December 2020]

You haven't seen Chenle since your visit to the kingdom. Every night that you could visit him, he was never there. You started to wonder if something had happened to him.

You even started to wonder if you’d dreamed his existence this whole time. You cried to sleep some nights, missing him. Longing to see him again.

It was New Year’s morning a few hours before daybreak that you sat alone on the beach, resolute that this would be the last time you would wait for him.

That was when he appeared.

“y/n…” He started.

“Chenle, what happened?” You asked. “I thought you-” You broke down in tears on the shoreline.

It wasn’t a full moon that night so he couldn’t run up to you and hold you like he’d wanted to do since last he saw you.

“y/n...Kun… he died,” Chenle said, trying to fight back his tears. As he was not the crown prince, he had an image to maintain of being strong for his subjects. Strong for his parents.

But with you, he broke down. Hard. Kun died during his travels along the eastern continent. He’d been intoxicated from an oil spill. His body was recovered by the royal guards and he’d had a royal funeral. The kingdom has been in mourning since then.

You didn’t care if you got soaked. You ran into the water and held him. You cried with him. Because of the negligence of your people, marine life suffered. That always pained you but to see it hit so close to home now, you were livid.

You held each other for as long as you could. Daybreak would occur anytime now but you imagined that most people would be at home asleep, nursing hangovers or recovering from being up all hours of the night. You wanted to be with Chenle for as long as you could help it.

“Chenle...what does this mean for you?” You asked.

He sighed. “I am the crown prince and...y/n...I will be wed.”

You pulled yourself away from Chenle’s embrace. “What?”

“It is the custom of my people. My parents are stepping down from the throne. As the crown prince, I must get married and produce a royal heir.”

You put a hand over your mouth. Marriage and a baby? You’d only finished your first semester of college. Chenle was on his way to becoming a king, a husband, and a father.

Now, you had to shove down your growing feelings for Chenle. Because you’d fallen hard. And now this was the sign you needed to know that you two had been from completely different worlds. It would never have worked out.

So you swallowed your pride and said, “I understand...You came to say goodbye.”

Chenle’s eyes widened. “What? Goodbye?”

Your eyes become glassy. You tried so hard to keep yourself from crying. “You’re spoken for...And I’m sure your wife will not be keen on you coming up to see a human woman…”

“y/n-” Chenle began as he tried to hold you again.

You moved away from him. “Don’t. Please.”

Chenle put his arms down and looked at how defeated you looked. He wanted nothing more than to make you his wife. You would’ve been his first choice in the long run but now that Kun had passed, he was crown prince and with that position, there were responsibilities.

He had originally planned to wait until you were both older to ask for your hand in marriage and try to convince you to live with him in the palace...Somehow...But he knew that you belonged to the land...He could never ask that of you. So he kept his dreams to himself. He simply enjoyed being in the moment with you.

But, you were right, he realized. He couldn’t be with you like this anymore.

Chenle cried before you. “I’m so sorry, y/n...I love you.”

You froze. “What?”

“I’ve loved you since the moment you made that dolphin noise…” You both remembered your first days together, when Chenle had been Happy the dolphin. You were playing around with the other interns and you tried to make a dolphin noise to get Happy’s attention. Everyone laughed at your impersonation and you covered your face in embarrassment. Chenle thought you were adorable.

“Chenle, I love you, too,” you said. You started falling for him the day he appeared to you at the aquarium. But you fell for him when he showed you the ocean, told you his stories, and made you laugh. You both showed each other the best of your worlds and you hated that this was how you would part.

Chenle held your face and you wrapped your arms around him. You kissed each other for the longest time before you bade each other farewell.

_______

[July 2036]

It was moonrise. The sun had just set and night had fallen. You walked hand in hand with your four year old son. You walked along the shore you’d ingrained into your memory. The shore where you met with Chenle so many times. You hadn’t seen him since your last farewell so this beach once again became a happier place to be.

“Mommy! Mermaid! Mermaid!” Your son pointed out to the ocean.

“Sweetie, that’s probably a dolphin,” you said as you looked out into the water and recognized an aqua green fish tail.

Your heart nearly stopped.

Chenle, older and more handsome, swam closer to the shore and watched you. You looked just as beautiful as he’d met you. You had a more determined and confident look in your eyes. You become who you were meant to be. He could see it.

“Mommy, that’s a mermaid!” Your son said.

“Chenle,” you started.

Chenle walked out of the water, now in his human form.

“Wow!” Your son exclaimed.

“Just like your mother,” Chenle said to your son as he knelt down to greet him. “What’s your name?”

“Finn,” he said.

“Hi, Finn. My name is Chenle.”

“Hi, Chenle!” Finn said.

Chenle got up and met your shocked expression with his radiant smile. “It’s been a long time.”

You nodded. “It has.”

“Have you been well?” He asked.

You nodded. “Have you?”

“Yes,” he said, “Shall we sit?”

You and Chenle sat together with Finn playing right beside you. Chenle told you he’d married the daughter of one of the family’s royal advisers. She’d never loved Chenle either. They both entered the marriage as partners for the sake of the kingdom. They produced seven heirs, seven daughters.

Chenle’s wife had a lover, a man she’d loved since before she’d married. She’d told Chenle about him. Chenle also took on a couple of lovers over the years but you were all he thought about.

You’d done what you set out to do. You graduated college with a degree in marine biology. You went to veterinary school and graduated with high honors. Now, you were the leading veterinarian at Neo City Aquarium’s Rehabilitation Center. You’d met your husband Jeno through a mutual friend. You two hit it off, dated for three years, got married, and had Finn.

Chenle surprised you with the news that the condition of the ocean had improved in the years since you’d met. It was because of generous people like you who advocated for the respect of the seas that Chenle and his people could help their kingdom thrive. The temperature of the ocean overall had improved and oil spills and pollution were the lowest they’d ever been.

You two were happy in certain ways. But it pained Chenle to see you’d been happy with another man. A part of him that he hated so much wished you’d waited for him. It was a selfish desire but he couldn’t help it.

You knew from long ago that waiting for Chenle was a dream that you could never entertain so you pushed forward with your ambitions. You wanted to do what you could to protect the ocean. You loved it as much as Chenle had. It showed in your work with marine life and in your advocacy to combat climate change.

“Mommy, where is Daddy?” Finn asked.

You remembered that Jeno would be here at any moment. You checked your texts and Jeno told you he’d pick you and Finn up in ten minutes.

“Ten minutes, sweetie. That’s soon. Let’s get ready to go,” you said. You looked at Chenle’s eyes. You knew this was another farewell. Even if it was less devastating than the first. Both of you still harbored a little bit of pain over what could’ve been.

“Goodbye, y/n.”

“Goodbye, Chenle.”

“I’m happy that you’re happy,” he said.

“I’m happy that you’re happy,” you echoed.

He gave you a beautiful, polished conch shell. “Perhaps you can make a necklace out of it. I want you to have it. It’s a gift from my parents and I.”

It was a beautiful shade of cream with traces of pink. “Thank you.”

Giving you one last longing look, Chenle got back into the water and smiled at you before he dove into the water again. A tear escaped your eye but you quickly wiped it away.

[July 2076]

Your children had their own children now. You and Jeno had divorced when Finn was 19, Dylan was 17, and Kai was 14. You split on amicable terms. You simply fell out of love with each other. Jeno could always tell you couldn’t get over your first love. No matter how hard you tried.

What gave you joy was your children. And like you, they’d all been invested in the aquarium and the center. They kept the legacy on.

Your daughter Kai had gotten married today at the beach. Everyone was celebrating on the makeshift dance floor on the sand. You stood at the shoreline alone, feeling the water hit your toes. You enjoyed the sensation every time.

You saw his aqua green tail. You couldn’t believe it. You must’ve been seeing things. You’d recently retired. You were as bright and alert as that of a healthy fifty year old’s but perhaps your eyes were now deceiving you. You had been in your seventies, after all.

Chenle, as gray as you were but as handsome as he’d been the first time you saw him, beamed at you.

You told your kids about Chenle. Finn remembered meeting him. Your eldest son knew it wasn’t in his imagination so he begged you to tell him about Chenle, Atlantis, and the ocean. Kai and Dylan had also been curious. Now your three children watched as you met eyes with Chenle.

Your three kids walked over to you. Kai put her hand on your shoulder. “Mom...go be with him. We support you.”

“But Kai...Your babies…” You started. You didn’t want to leave your children so abruptly. Even if they were older now and independent, you wanted to be there for them in whatever they needed.

“My daughter is my first and last, I promise you that. You promise to come visit, right?” Kai laughed. She’d had her daughter with another man a few years before her marriage today. She’d named her daughter after you.

Dylan started, “Mom...You’ve given us so much love and support...We want you to go after what you want. Who you want.”

You fought back a sob and hugged your children. “I love you three. You are the loves of my life.”

“We love you, too,” Dylan said, wiping his tears with his jacket sleeve.

Finn waved at Chenle. “Hi, Chenle! I knew you were real!”

Chenle laughed. “Hi, Finn!”

You hugged your children tightly and walked into the water. Chenle had his arms wide open for you and enveloped yourself into his embrace. With his magic, you became a mermaid. You sported a radiant fuchsia tail. You both waved to your children before you dived deep into what always felt like home.

[Fin]

Come back tomorrow for another spooky story...

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in-slytherin-we-trust · 4 years

Note

Can we get Cedric x reader, when the reader found a bunny in the forest at night and trying to sneak it to her bedroom but getting cought by perfect Cedric? Like we cant take animals from forest because its dangerous. Sorry if my english is badd, hope you have a nice dayy 💕💕

Yours To Keep (Cedric Diggory x Reader)

Additional info: Cedric is in his 6th year and he is a prefect.

Y/L/N = Your last name

Fifth year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws are gathering around a clearing somewhere in the outskirts of Forbidden Forest. Hagrid standing in the center of it with one hand on the unicorn, the creature that they’re studying today. It is a magnificent view for sure. Hagrid said that unicorns preferred a woman's touch but the young ones were more trusting and don’t mind men as much. Such as this one that they have the pleasure of meeting, it is still silver in colour and its horns are just starting to grew in.

Y/N was standing in the back near the bushes, it’s not because she’s not fascinated by today’s lesson, in fact as a kid she was obsessed with anything unicorn related. At some point she had even asked her mother to do a unicorn horn inspired hairstyle for her (which didn’t turn out great might I add, she looked more like a saiga antelope). The reason why she chose to be in the back because something near the bushes has caught her eyes, it’s a cute little white bunny. It looked soo lost and Y/N had spend a considerable amount of time watching it, thinking that a fellow bunny might appear, but it seems like this one is a lone rabbit.

She discretely flicked her wand and build it a mini fort from fallen twigs and leaves, not that anyone would notice her seeing that all eyes are dead set on the unicorn. The bunny jumps into the air with all four paws off the ground and twists in mid-air before landing, it looks like it’s very happy about its new makeshift home. Adorable little thing... Y/N wishes that she could take it in but Hogwarts has a strict policy on what kind of animals are allowed as a pet and sadly rabbit is not on the list.

But then again.... nobody needs to know right?

Y/N mulled it over, concocting a plan inside her head to abduct the bunny and make herself the new owner. It’s much safer with her anyway than roaming alone inside this sinister forest filled with unknown dangerous creatures. It’s been decided then, tonight she’s going to pull a bunny heist.

———————————————————————

Night has fallen over Hogwarts and almost all of the students have crossed over to the dreamland, everyone except Y/N maybe. She’s laying in her bed under the cover of blanket but sleep is the farthest thing from her mind. All the girls that share a dorm with her are already fast asleep, now is her window of opportunity.

She carefully put one foot on the wooden floor, pulling the blanket off her body and tip toe across the room towards the circular door that leads to the tunnels that connects their dormitories with the common room. So far so good, the common room is empty, illuminated just slightly by warm copper lamps so students who come in late won’t trip over something.

Times like these are when she’s most grateful about Hufflepuff’s basement location. They are one floor below the ground, near the Hogwarts Kitchens. The chances of running into a fellow student is slim because they are so far away from other houses dormitories. Y/N proceeded stealthily, wrapping her robe tighter around herself as the chily night air starts to creep in. She go up a flight of stone steps and arrived near the Great Hall, where she then took a right turn towards the entrance hall and courtyard. ———————————————————————

Y/N managed to found the clearing where they held the Care of Magical Creatures class earlier in the day with little to no trouble since she has memorized the path. She walked to the bushes and sigh happily when she find the white bunny still lying down inside its mini fort. Its front paws pointing forward and rear legs stuck out sideways in a relaxed manner. Y/N kneel down and slowly reached out a hand, watching it’s reaction but found no sign of it being scared or aggravated, then scratch the bunny’s ears softly.

“Hi there cutie... would you like to come with me?” She cooed, knowing that it wouldn’t understand her anyway but still that doesn’t stops her.

The bunny looked up to her with its round innocent eyes and Y/N carefully scoop it into her arms. Rocking it from side to side like what you usually do to put a baby to sleep. It looks pretty content so she took it as a sign that it likes her.

“Alrighty then, time to go back” She mumbled to herself.

Y/N put the bunny inside the hidden pocket inside her robe, concealing it from sight just in case, and trudge her way back to the castle.

———————————————————————

Everything was going smoothly up until she made the mistake of looking behind her back the whole time, she forgot to watch where she’s actually heading and bump into something tall and hard, probably a wall. Or so she thought.

When she looked straight ahead, she took a huge gulp and let out a quiet “Uh oh” as she realized that it is most certainly not a wall, but rather a person.

And not just any person, it’s Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff prefect, her house’s prefect. Bloody hell, damn her luck.

The impact of the collision also caused the very thing that she’s trying to hide to poke out of her robe. Cedric actually look dumbfounded when he saw two pointy white ears peeking out. He flicked his illuminated wand between the illegal creature to the guilty face of an underclassman, one who surprisingly bears a Hufflepuff symbol on her chest.

“Do I get a say in this, Prefect Diggory?” She muttered weakly, trying her best to look innocent although she just got caught red handed.

“Breaking 2 rules in one night huh? I never took you as the troublemaker kind” Cedric replied, one eyebrow raising up. One would say he actually look rather amused than cross.

Y/N still hasn’t found the courage to make up an excuse seeing that it wouldn’t help her case by much anyway, she couldn’t believe her own audacity when she finds herself ogling over the handsome boy in front of her instead. Of course she’s aware that Cedric Diggory is ridiculously good looking, I mean he’s literally one of the most sought after guy in the entire school. It’s just that she never really stood this close to properly see his features before, he was always surrounded by his friends or admirers so it’s kinda hard to have a closer look. Not until now.

“Cat got your tongue, Y/L/N?” His teasing tone snapped her out of her reverie.

An incredulous gasp escaped from her mouth, “Wait a minute... you actually know who I am?”

“Well I am the prefect of our house you know..” He said sarcastically, “—I make it my business to know all those under my supervision and that includes you”

Y/N hums, looking very much impressed at the amount of effort that he’s putting into his responsibility. When she thought he couldn’t get more perfect, Cedric Diggory proved her wrong again.

“So mind explaining to me what were you doing in these hours of night? I wasn’t aware that fifth year student has the liberty of roaming the corridors freely as they pleased” Now the tone of his voice took a serious turn but besides that he still keep his face in a friendly manner, encouraging her to speak.

“I found a bunny earlier during Care for Magical Creatures class and it’s just soo cute I can’t help myself, so I sneaked out to come and take it in because I couldn’t possibly do that under broad daylight, could I?” She replied sheepishly, now that she spoke it out loud, it sounds silly and childish. Not exactly the impression that she would like to make on this stud in front of her but oh well.

Y/N is taken by surprise when Cedric let out an amused snort and his mouth tugged up into a huge grin, charming. “Sorry for causing trouble” She added for good measure.

“Nahh.. it’s no trouble at all” He said good naturedly.

“So does that means i’m off the hook?” She asked hopefully, pulling her puppy dog eyes on him.

“Yes, Y/N... i’m letting this slide but don’t you go and get yourself in trouble again, understood?”

“Thank you so much” She half shout as she flung herself to him, giving him a hug out of excitement and relief. But when she realizes what she’s doing, she awkwardly pulled herself back. “Sorry ‘bout that, I got carried away”

Cedric chuckles at the girl, she really is entertaining. He has actually known her from some time, looking at her from afar on several occasions because she may or may not have caught his eyes. It’s just that he never has any excuse to talk to her seeing that they’re in a different year and has no mutual friends. He’s really glad he’s on patrol duty tonight because he got more than he bargained for, not that he mind it one bit.

“You planning to keep the bunny?” He asked curiously.

“Well yeah... if that’s okay” She said, biting her lower lip, eyes darting nervously.

“It’s yours to keep” He shrugged his shoulders, trying to play it off nonchalantly, “I mean you did find it after all”

Cedric watched as Y/N beamed from ear to ear, it’s adorable really, seeing her light up like that certainly got him smiling back.

He put his hands on both of her shoulders gently, making her look up to him quizzically, “Take care of yourself, angel”

Y/N can feel her cheeks burning up at the endearment term. Finding it hard to meet his intense gaze back, he seemed to enjoy making her fluster though, smirking to himself.

Oh no he didn’t... two can play at this game

“If getting myself in trouble daily means that it’s you who will deal after me, it just tempt me to cause even more ruckus” She half purred, now that certainly startled the poor boy he even let out a chocked noise.

Y/N grinned widely at the reaction that she’s getting, she definitely made the Cedric Diggory hot and bothered just like that. What an accomplishment indeed.

She then winked at him, “I’ll see you around, lover boy” before she sauntered off, leaving the prefect with his mouth gaping.

———————————————————————

A/N : Hi there anon! thank you for requesting this💛 I hope this is good enough, I had such a blast writing for Cedric since he’s actually one of my favorite characters and I don’t think I would ever get over his death 😢

#cedric diggory x reader #cedric diggory #cedric diggory imagine #cedric diggory x you #cedric diggory fluff #cedric diggory angst #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter imagine #harry potter #harry potter x reader #harry potter smut #harry potter oneshots #harry potter oneshot

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karikarasuno · 3 years

Text

The Sun Doesn’t Shine in Tokyo, Part II

Pairing: Tanaka Ryunosuke x Fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Angst, Character Death(s), Violence, Graphic Descriptions of Injuries, Mentions of Blood, Grief, Smut, Soft Sex, Vague knowledge of Computer Engineering (once again, please bear with me)

Summary: The end is near. Time is quickly running out. Hope is fleeting, but not entirely gone.

Part I | Part II

Word Count: 9.8k

June 17, 2065

8:24am

It’s morning. The digital clock on his bedside table flashed 8:24am, the angular digits barely seen through the grogginess of your sleepy brain. You shift to go back to sleep, which easily draws you in until there’s a stinging burn on your side. Your wound is itchy and uncomfortable.

“Shh,” fingers are brushing the hair on your forehead from your eyes. “Just gimme a second. This is gonna hurt.”

A wet cloth is pressed to the wound, the stinging sensation returning as you feel the alcohol clean out the dirt and grime from the night before. You squeeze your eyes shut and bite your lip to deal with the temporary pain. “I’m sorry, a little longer then I’ll be done.”

The cloth is removed as you sit up to rest on the headboard, too awake after the cold stinging to go back to bed. A calloused hand comes to stroke your cheek, chapped lips pressing a tender kiss to your temple. “Morning,” you croak, voice rough with sleep.

“G’morning, baby,” you can tell he’s been up for a while, the hoarseness that usually cracks his voice almost entirely gone.

“I should probably shower and then head downstairs. I never actually got the chance to brief everyone on what happened.”

“Don’t worry about it. Yamaguchi already did late last night. So just shower and meet me in the conference room for breakfast,” Tanaka explains before he pushes off his side of the bed, fully dressed as he places clean clothes for you on his dresser. Yachi probably gave them to him this morning and you remember you have to apologize to her today since you most likely sent her into cardiac arrest last night.

Lethargy and anticipation dictate the way you go about your morning, hardly remembering how you ended up sitting between Tanaka and Yamaguchi at the first officer strategy meeting of the day, showered and your gash freshly wrapped. Suga and Daichi are running it, images of the city’s infrastructure holographically displayed above the switchboard. The 3D landscape spinning and flickering as they outline different plans for tonight.

You didn’t realize your leg was bouncing beneath the table until Tanaka’s hand spread out on your thigh to stop it. “You listening?” He questions staring at you intently. Your thoughts have honestly traveled elsewhere, so you shake your head no.

“Do you have the tracking device?” Daichi repeats.

“Oh, no I don’t,” you lean forward and adjust your posture. “I slipped it into Oikawa’s pocket before he lost his shit, but I’m not sure if it survived the crash,” you explain, recalling the exact moment when he was gripping your chin, the distraction of your dagger on his sternum giving you enough time to plant it on him.

“We’ll have to ask Kenma then, maybe he can still locate it. And if that’s the case we’ll be able to see where he is, what he’s up to.”

The meeting continues, your attention drifting in and out trying to formulate a solid plan of your own. Something to ensure that everyone makes it out alive. After your encounter with Iwaizumi you were especially concerned about fighting an army of volunteers. Not that you weren’t confident in the people here, but you managed to plunge your dagger into one of his arteries and he still got up at Oikawa’s demand.

“The tunnels are a no go,” Yamaguchi says at some point when they began deciding on entry routes. “The grenade I threw blocked the only entrance we had into the basement.” You nod in confirmation as you remember the chunks of rubble and debris that were now closing in the stairs.

“The main entrance is our best shot. It’s bold and what they’ll least be expecting. There’s also a chance we could disarm the alarm system if we can break through the firewall. We have the manpower, the only unknown are the volunteers and what they’re fully capable of,” you add on, the floorplan of the estate replacing the flickering city. You stand to describe the various points of entry and what you assume would be the places they are most likely going to have guards stand outside.

“You should have the long range fighters stationed here,” your finger hovers over a patch of tall trees near one of the side doors. “And here,” you shift to point out an area near the front that is also beneath the shadows of the woods.

“Those specialized in hand to hand combat should form the frontlines, while everyone else flanks out in a diamond formation. Yachi in the middle with y/n and Yamaguchi,” Suga suggests while he visually demonstrates the formation on one of the large screens. “Since Yachi doesn’t have much combat experience Tanaka and Terushima will go with them,” he tacks on, giving Tanaka a pointed look.

“And obviously because the two of you are practically useless with your injuries,” Suga teases before he proceeds to assign and explain other roles. The rest of the meeting moves forward without a hitch and everyone agrees on the plan that factored in as many uncertainties as possible. The chairs scrape against the floor as the officers shuffle out to start preparing for tonight.

You stand with Tanaka’s hand in yours and start to make your way through the first floor before you stop in front of one of the only staircases in the building. “I’m actually gonna go visit Kenma,” you explain as Tanaka looks at you silently confused.

“I wanted to ask him a few questions before tonight,” you add as you slip your hand from his and he gives you a solid shrug.

“Alright, I’ll be in the vault, checking the inventory,” he grins, his hands circling your waist to pull you into his sturdy frame. “Maybe I’ll be able to find you a better weapon,” he bends to toy with the dagger on your thigh that you refused to travel without after last night.

“Better?!,” you feign offense. “You don’t think my dagger makes me look sexy?” You grin cheekily at him as his own teasing smile spreads across his face.

“Oh, I always think you look sexy. But you know what would make you look even sexier,” he leans down so that he’s staring directly into your eyes, voice dipping low. “Protection,” his eyes glint with mischief and a knowing smirk settles on his lips.

You shove him lightly and playfully smack the side of his head, his beanie shifting sideways. “Haha so funny,” you roll your eyes as your smile brightens. “Gimme some options and we’ll see.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he responds when you turn around to walk away, his palm smacking your ass as you bound up the steps. “Payback for the beanie,” his hands rise in defense before he winks at you and turns to keep walking down the hall.

You take the steps two at a time like you usually do, except now you have your healing gash as a reminder to slow down. Unlike the other floors in the building the second level is a single large room coined the “Zone” by many of the guys. One half hosts Kuroo’s test lab, usually unkempt with sulfur and boiling chemical concoctions covering the surfaces. The other half belongs to Kenma with his various half built devices stuck between keyboards and multicolored wires.

While Kuroo often ventures out into the other rooms of the hideout to seek socialization, you can always find Kenma sitting exactly where he is now. Headset nestled over his ears, hair pulled back in a messy bun with his controller tight in his hands.

You walk up behind him and pull one of the cuffs from his ear. “Hey loser,” you release the set from your grasp so it snaps back on to his head, this time all lopsided.

“Not a loser,” he responds as he shakes his head so that the headphones fall back around his neck. His screens flashing a bold ‘victory’ to affirm that he is, in fact, not a loser.

“You are the only person I know who can play video games the day our world might end,” you say with a laugh when he shoots you an apathetic stare.

The relationship between you and Kenma developed rather naturally, a sibling connection unfolding before either of you realized. On your many sleepless nights wandering and exploring the compound you often found yourself here. At first, you stumbled upon him accidentally in the middle of the night, while everyone else was either asleep or working on their own projects to prepare for the upcoming conflicts. He awkwardly invited you to sit with him as he played or tinkered with new or semi thought out inventions. You really only watched at first, curiosity overcoming your intentions to not disturb him, but you soon found yourself asking questions. The questions turning into overnighters where he would teach you how to play his favorite games or help him code software he would embed in his tiny devices.

He puts his remote down and swivels in his chair to face you. “I was brainstorming,” the corner of his lips quirk up a little as he gets up and bumps your shoulder with his to step around you.

“Brainstorming what exactly?” You ask, your eyes following his thin frame as he walks to his crafts table and picks up a few things. He tilts his head to signal for you to walk over to him. “I’ll show you.”

You move to stand beside him and he hands off the small devices to you. You inspect them and realize they are watches, complete with a touch screen center and small dials on each side.

“These are reinforcement devices,” he says. “I don’t have enough for everyone but you clasp them around your wrist and twist the dials. A shield will manifest from here,” he points to the watch’s face, and what you incorrectly assumed was a touch screen surface is actually a reflection of the software’s veil.

“This is actually the code you helped me develop a few weeks back.” You smile up at him fondly, remembering the argument you got into after he refused to explain what it was for.

“How many do you have?”

“Six are complete,” he answers. “But I also have this.” He grabs a larger cylindrical device from a shelf attached to the wall.

“This is essentially a bigger version of those. The shield covers way more surface area. You can stick it to a wall or door, enter the pin and the shield will reinforce the structure to protect whatever’s inside,” he finished explaining before he places it back on the shelf.

“When did you have time to do all of this?” His production rate when it comes to his inventions is impressive to say the least.

He takes some of the reinforcement devices from you to organize them beside the others. “You know I hardly sleep,” he shrugs as if his lack of rest doesn’t bother you.

You open your mouth to voice this for the millionth time, but he lifts his finger to shush you. “Don’t. I get it,” he interrupts.

“Fine. But this doesn’t explain why you were brainstorming,” you say instead of nagging him about his awful sleep schedule, not that yours was really any better.

“Right,” he slides you over by your shoulders to switch spots. “This is for you,” he opens the locker in the corner of the room to pull something out. It’s another round device about two inches thick with small legs to hold it up.

“What’s this?” Your intrigue successfully piqued.

“Just watch,” he walks to Kuroo’s lab table and pushes some stuff around to clear a spot.

“I’ve been working on this for a while now,” he grabs his phone from his back pocket and punches in his password and then opens an app. The device begins to illuminate as streaks of ultraviolet waves burst through the top. “It’s a simulation machine that kinda works. I can’t seem to get the graphics right for some reason, hence the gaming,” he explains.

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t have been playing regardless,” you say, which earns you an eye roll from him and a chuckle from you.

“Pay attention,” he points to the device, redirecting your attention instead of answering you. There’s a distinct humming noise before the room’s image starts to ripple. A pixelated version of a beach envelopes the room warping and disguising the furniture.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s an illusion that can trick enemies into believing they are somewhere else,” he whispers, looking a bit sheepish. “I’ve only been able to generate this stock photo, but eventually I want it to replicate different rooms or even scenery we haven’t experienced in a while.”

“Kenma,” your voice is wistful as you absorb the sway of the palm trees, the gentle rolling of the waves lapping the shores. “This is amazing. H-how did you do this?”

“I had Yachi’s help. She came up one night freaking about the control center’s algorithm and asked if I could help since you and Yamaguchi were already asleep. We ended up talking about sunsets, mainly her rambling,” he lightly snorts. “So I showed her some games with high resolution graphics that had some pretty cool sunsets and she came up with this. She coded it really quickly while I built it. I just haven’t been able to fix the kinks.”

You were near tears. The words escaped you, but mostly because you could never describe what you were feeling out loud. The snapshot of a panicking Yachi running to Kenma makes you laugh because there is no way he calmed her down without having a silent stroke of his own.

“And this is for me?” You ask for clarification before the tears really start falling.

“Yeah,” he raises his hand to rub at the back of his neck. “Other than computer engineering, you are really the only thing we have in common.”

“Kenma, I-,”

“Woah!” You both turn to what used to be the floor’s entrance, which is now limitless sand. “The beach! This is so cool!” Hinata squeals, his eyes lighting up with wonder and amazement.

“Oh hey, Shoyo,” Kenma fumbles with his phone to turn off the display.

“What’s up?” You’re grateful for his interruption, afraid you were about to become a sobbing mess in front of Kenma, which he would not have appreciated.

“Tanaka asked me to come get you,” his smile is wide and enthusiastic. “Said something about your options being ready.”

“Of course he actually went through with it,” you shake your head not the slightest bit surprised.

“Also said if you don’t hurry he’s not afraid to kick some ass,” Hinata adds on, his smile turning impishly cheeky.

“Of course he did,” you laugh before turning back to Kenma, who’s a subtle shade of red.

“We aren’t done here,” you tell him, knowing how flushed he gets when he’s alone with Hinata and you walk away from him backwards until you’re standing behind your new guest. “Watch him, he’s known to cause trouble,” you whisper to Hinata but it’s still loud enough from him to hear you.

“Oh, I know,” he plays along, only for Kenma’s neck to burn a brilliant red as Hinata steps further into the Zone. You make kissy faces behind his back to tease him as much as possible before you run down the stairs, narrowly missing the object he threw at you.

June 17, 2065

4:57pm

The gun is spinning on the turntable in front of you. The gun you and Tanaka compromised on. It’s a small black pistol, the deep metal drinking in the harsh light from the screens lining the walls as it spins and spins. In the center of the room, Yachi is typing vigorously, the reversal code practically finished, but she tended to be a perfectionist, so you sit beside her waiting for it to be done.

“I can help,” you offer, hoping she will let you this time. She just glances at you, a flick of anxiety flashing in her gaze before she shakes her head no.

“Why not?”

“It’s already done,” she responds, fingers still tapping on the keys. “I just have to double check if everything is in order.”

“Well, what is it?” You’ve been begging for her to share the code with you, trying to convince her that it would be smarter if more than one person had it, especially if she’s not able to reach the control center in time.

“Not telling you,” her hair falls to cover her face as she looks down at her stilled hands. “It has to be me. I just need for you to get me there.”

“Yachi, c’mon, at least tell Yams,” you argue, not understanding why she won’t share the information with anyone.

“S-sorry,” is all she says in response, and you let out an agitated sigh because you won’t win this argument. “What’s with the gun?” She motions towards it with her hand as she leans back in her chair, avoiding the initial topic.

“Tanaka doesn’t believe my dagger is enough protection,” you look back down at the spinning gun and your chest tightens at the mere idea of having to use it. “It was this or a fucking katana.”

She laughs, the abruptness startling you, but she doubles over and wheezes. A blush is blooming on her cheeks at the lack of oxygen going to her lungs, her laugh turning into hiccups and breathless gasps. It’s contagious, your own laugh soon wracking through you.

“I don’t get it,” you say through snorts. “What’s so funny?”

“I cannot imagine you wielding a katana,” tears of laughter are decorating her face. “You’d probably accidentally cut off your own arm before you manage to land it on anyone else.” She’s wiping the tears from her eyes as her breath slowly returns, her cheeks still flushed a pretty pink.

“I take offense to that. I would be such a badass with one,” you rebuttal.

“Sure,” she squeaks out.

“I just might need a little practice first.”

She falls into a fit of giggles again, probably imagining you tripping over the long blade forgetting that she’s the clumsy one. Your cheeks are hurting from smiling, a warmth rooting itself within you, and for the first time in weeks the flower of hope feels like it will bloom soon. The delicate petals unfurling with a promise of prosperity, a promise that things will be okay.

“Hey,” Tanaka bursts through the door, a little out of breath like he ran here. “Kenma was able to track Oikawa. He’s still at the estate, probably never left.”

“You think he’s still alive?” You jump from your seat, Yachi at your side in an instant.

“Definitely. Yamaguchi said you left him in the basement, but Kenma can see his movements and he’s currently on the move.”

“But what if it’s not him? What if someone just found his body and is carrying it around?” You are skeptical, unsure if Oikawa was able to survive two gunshot wounds and a crash.

“First of all, that’s nasty,” he wrinkles his nose in disgust. “Second of all, I don’t think it matters. The person, Oikawa or not, is heading to the control center. We have five hours before the thing is set to explode, so we leave in four.”

“Got it. The reversal code is ready,” Yachi interjects before you can. “I’m ready,” she straightens her shoulders, eyes determined as she meets yours.

You grab the gun that is now still on the table and place it in the holster on your hip. “Me too.”

June 17, 2065

9:22pm

The front of the estate is surrounded by steel poles, roughly 16 feet tall. Weaved between each pole are copper wires that conduct heat and electricity constantly, making it difficult to enter without burns or electric shocks. Fortunately, Kenma was able to hack into the compound's firewall rather easily since it had been abandoned for months and disconnected the alarm system.

The group gathers around the front gate, those who specialize in combat form the first row and once you enter the plan is to split into various smaller groups. You would head straight to the control center with Yachi and Yamaguchi, while Tanaka and Terushima serve as bodyguards. Yamaguchi’s ankle is doing better, his limp gone and the reinforcement device adorning his wrist. You are all wearing bulletproof vests, the material surprisingly thin and breathable as it’s strapped over your tank top. Your cut is safely hidden beneath it.

The gates are set to open at 9:30, the distance fighters successfully hidden in the trees while everyone else fans out on either side of your group. Kuroo managed to hand out flash grenades and smoke bombs to every unit, the sulfur in the lab results of failed bombs that blew up prematurely. You search the crowd counting the bodies, committing the number to memory; twenty-six, hoping that it will be the same when you exit tonight.

Kenma is standing next to Kuroo and you watch as he sends up a mini drone. The device flying into the trees and an image of Hinata and Nishinoya flash on his phone. The boys are settled high up in the trees, Noya’s crossbow strapped to his back, while Hinata is busy tying knots into rope, his knives and shuriken hidden beneath his clothing.

You start to feel the signs of a tension headache strain your neck, the anticipation sucking your soul from the confines of your skin. Tanaka is kneeling in front of you and you stare at the muscles of his back flex and relax through his black sleeveless shirt as he laces up his boots. Once he’s finished he twists on the balls of his feet to face you, hands going to check your laces and tucking the hem of your cargos into them, your ankles thanking him for the extra support.

“It’s almost time,” he whacks your thigh so you look down at him. “You ready?”

You give him a small nod, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“You remember the plan, right? Once we enter those doors you stay behind me. I’ll say when the coast is clear, but if things get too crazy, Yachi is the priority,” he rises from his position. “Get her to the control center, then find me. Don’t do anything irrational,” he finishes.

You give him a nervous laugh, “I’ll try.”

“No, it’s not you’ll t-”

“I’m kidding, Ryu,” you cut him off.

“Not funny, love,” he turns around to settle next to Terushima, whose arm is extending behind him, pinky linking with Yamaguchi’s.You link your arms with Yachi’s as you wait, only five more minutes left.

“Welcome!” Everyone’s attention snaps to the balcony above the double doors of the entrance. Oikawa is standing there, pale and bloody. “I wasn’t expecting to have this many guests come to watch the end with me. This is so heartwarming.”

The gates creak and shudder as they shuffle open. Volunteers begin to reveal themselves from their hiding spots to gather at the front doors, but no one on your side of the gates moves. Your hand wraps around the hilt of your dagger and your stance shifts so that Yachi is partially blocked by you.

He spots you in the crowd and he has the nerve to smirk at you, the once endearing gesture looks pained on his hollowed cheeks and sunken eyes. A daunting beauty transforming his features. “Oh, darling, I’ve been expecting you,” he waves with his good hand, his injured arm is supported with a sling.

“I’m sure you’re glad to see me alive, but Iwa didn’t make it,” you can’t tell if he actually is pained by this with the way he sulks and leans on the rails. “So obviously I can’t let you leave here alive,” he giggles, almost drunkenly. “An eye for an eye or whatever they used to say.��

“I’ll kill him,” Tanaka snarls, gun pointing at Oikawa. You grip his arm to yank it down, fully aware that now is not the time.

“What was that about being irrational?” You hiss at him so he lowers his weapon. Oikawa sees this and you watch his entire demeanor change, his taunting gaze igniting into something far more terrifying.

“Who’s this, princess? You brought me a new toy?” His tone is flat, monotone. “Since you killed my last one!” You flinch at the rise in his voice, the rebels frozen in disbelief, a motivating fear beginning to billow through the crowd.

“We need to move,” Daichi’s deep voice diminishes Oikawa’s immediately. “NOW,” he screams and he’s the first on the move, gun firing shot after shot in the volunteers’ direction.

“STOP THEM!” Oikawa’s shrill shriek is hardly heard above the sounds of battle, but the volunteers do not hesitate. Their smell smacking the air from your lungs, no description adequate enough to warn you. Yachi’s hand is now firm in yours as you run close behind Tanaka. Your dagger unsheathed as your biceps tense with untapped energy. You slip through the front doors quickly, most of the fighting designated to those who formed the front lines.

You deduce that the volunteers are abnormally strong as you witness them tear metal like paper, and crack the estate’s concrete in single punches. Luckily, they are incredibly slow, their limbs swing and jerk in unsynchronized movements, as if they are babies taking their first steps. The rebels on the other hand are nimble, even the largest members fight with the agility of trained ballerinas, their movements fluid and graceful.

You yell for Tanaka and Terushima to take the stairs down to the basement. The claustrophobic idea of being stuck in an elevator is enough to stop your heart. Terushima reaches the door first, the force with which he tears it open rips it from its hinges.

You fly down the first flight, your grip on Yachi never loosening. Yamaguchi brings up the end, he’s holding nunchucks that you have no idea where he got them from. He flicks his wrist to swing them at one of the volunteers that followed you, the wood thwacking against her nose, splatters of blood erupt from her skull and dot Yamaguchi’s skin as she crumples to the floor, her body splaying out across the steps. “Don’t stop running!” He yells, hand grabbing Yachi’s elbow pushing you down the final flight to the basement.

The elevator dings at the end of the hallway, a ghastly Oikawa steps through and you catch a glimpse of silver. At first, you thought it had to be his veins visible through his milky skin, but now you can see the thin lines of silver snaking throughout his body. “He did not look like that yesterday,” Yamaguchi skids to a stop behind you.

Tanaka and Terushima have their weapons raised in front of you, a spear twirling in Teru’s hand. “Where’s the control room, Oikawa?” Tanaka calls out, his voice dripping with poison.

“Why would I tell you when they already know?” He quips, his retort losing substance when a wet cough breaks through his chest. “As you can see I can’t put up much of a fight,” he coughs again, dribbles of thinning blood leaks from his lips. “Iwa’s device doesn’t suit me too well,” he leans his neck to the side, a sickening pop coming from it.

“Iwa’s what?” You say it before you mean to, the situation only becoming creepier with every drop of new knowledge.

“You see, when Iwa was crushed, I found his body in the rubble. The implants we use jutting out from the skin between his shoulder blades, so I tore it out,” he staggers towards your group, the leg he was shot in scraping against the floor with each step. “I inserted it into the bullet wound above my knee,” he points to his twisted leg. “That way Iwa and I will always be together.”

“Dude, what the fuck,” Terushima says behind his hand as he gags. The smell of rotting flesh and rusty metal wafting through the hall with each drag of Oikawa’s leg.

You know he’s not down here alone, that he probably has volunteers stationed somewhere near the control center, but that’s down the hall, through another room. The five of you don’t stand a chance alone without knowing exactly how many are here. You also know that Oikawa’s breaths are numbered, his body actively rejecting the implant stealing away his time like he’s stalling yours.

“But if you really want to know,” he draws in a shallow breath and stops a few feet away from your group. “The control center is down this hall through that room,” he points to his right, the door cracked open. “I’ll let you pass, but good luck. I already input the code,” he inches towards the door and dramatically looks at his watch. “Seems like you only have 8 minutes.”

He wags his fingers at you as he leans into the door, his weight pushing it open fully and he disappears in the darkness. Tanaka’s running first, fluidly rushing to the open door, but before he reaches it many of the other ones open. Decaying bodies hauling the burden of their transformation into the corridor. “Ryu, wait!” You call out to him but he’s already surrounded. He unsheathes the sword strapped to his back and swings it out in a swift circular arc to force the volunteers back. You count seven in total, all focused dangerously on your boyfriend.

Terushima bends down in front of the three of you and unzips the pouch clipped around his hips. “Fall back,” he says.

“What’re you gonna do?” Yamaguchi bends at the waist to look over his shoulder. “I’m gonna use one of the stun grenades to distract them. Tanaka’s quick on his feet and he’ll know he only has a split second to escape. But first I need you guys to fall back.”

You’re hesitant at first, but Yachi tugs you away from them while Yamaguchi follows, still a step ahead. “Tanaka, get ready!” Terushima yells before he pulls the clip and tosses it. The grenade rolling to a stop at Tanaka’s feet.

“Get down,” you turn to tackle Yachi in your arms, your body shielding her from any fallout. The flashes and popping noises signaling its detonation. You look up when some of the noise dies down, the door leading to the control center swinging wildly while the volunteers trip over themselves, disoriented and scattered at the end of the hall. You missed the exact moment, but three of the volunteers were now on the ground, their implants sliced out from their shoulder blades. The pincers on the devices opening and closing in search for their host.

“Thanks, Tanaka,” Teru whispers in awe. “Impressive bastard took three of ‘em out on his own and discovered that you disable them by removing those creepy shits,” he laughs.

“Okay, babe, we’ll go in before the ladies,” he stands and helps Yamaguchi to his feet. “You take the small one in the corner. Leave the three big guys to me,” he smirks.

“Now’s not the time to compete, Teru,” Yamaguchi sighs, grabbing a switchblade from his pocket, while clutching the revolver in his other hand.

“A little healthy competition never hurt nobody,” he nudges Yamaguchi with his shoulder, sending him a sly wink. “Trust me.”

The boys bolt forward, weapons in hand as they twirl in combat, the first heavy body thumping to the ground. They clear the path for you and Yachi quickly, the space in front of the door now empty.

You grab Yachi and book it. Your concern for Tanaka’s safety rises exponentially as you rush to the control center, where he and Oikawa surely are.

The room opens up and near the center you see Oikawa and Tanaka arguing loudly, Tanaka’s gun pointing at Oikawa while he grips the sword behind him to keep the volunteers at bay. The control center is blinking, digital numbers floating above the panel counting down ominously. You have five minutes left and the prospects of disabling the system are low. The ring of volunteers lining the perimeter is your main obstacle because at any given moment their motionless blank stares could be activated.

“What do we do?” Yachi whispers hurriedly beside you, no one noticing the two of you enter the room yet.

“We get you to the panel in the next five minutes. How?” You’re trying to think as fast as possible. “I don’t know yet.” Thoughts are racing through your mind, words popping out to form some coherent thought before you rattle out your best plan.

“I’ll distract Oikawa. You run as fast as you can to the panel,” you suggest. “And we pray some of the other rebels show up as back up.”

“That doesn’t sound like a very good plan,” Yachi bites the nail on her thumb.

“Well unless you have something better, I can’t think of anything else,” you respond, eyebrows raised and she shakes her head no.

“So just walk behind Oikawa and hopefully he won’t see you. Once you’re out of his line of sight I’ll say something to get his attention,” you explain.

“Got it,” she nods, releasing your hand as she steps across your body to start moving towards the control center. The boys are still arguing and you get the sense that Tanaka knows you're there. Coincidentally, maneuvering his body to obscure Yachi until she isn’t visible to him.

“Tooru,” your voice echoes in the chamber. “How about we talk this out?”

His voice dies in his throat once he notices you. Somehow surprised that you would chase them down here. “I know I blew up on you in the past but just give me another chance. We can stall all of this,” you wave your hands around at the control center and all the volunteers. “And maybe come to a compromise.”

Four minutes.

“Compromise? As if you even know the meaning of the word, princess,” there’s no endearment in his tone anymore. Just condescension and disgust. “I’ll start by killing your boyfriend and you can watch me. Then I’ll kill all your pathetic friends. Saving my sweet, sweet love for last,” his voice is eerily flat, similar to when he was speaking from the balcony earlier.

Three minutes, twenty-three seconds.

“You son of a bitch, I’d like to see you try,” Tanaka growls, the sword that was pointed at the volunteers now positioned over Oikawa’s chest. “I’ll tear your heart out before you can lay a finger on her.”

“I sense a challenge,” Oikawa chuckles and steps so the tip of the sword is touching his chest. “Let’s test that. You heard him, right guys? Why don’t we see if this knight in shining armor can save his damsel in distress,” he knows he’s going to die here, he’s smiling from ear to ear at Tanaka and he reaches to wrap his hand around the sharp edge of the sword, blood spilling from his palm down his wrist. “Kill them.”

The volunteers bumble forward, their numbers overwhelming the three of you. Tanaka pulls his sword from Oikawa’s hand to go after them. Yachi is almost to the control panel, but a volunteer suddenly blocks her path, lunging to crush her beneath their fists. You sprint for her, she has a knife on her leg but it’s clear she forgot to reach for it. She ducks beneath their arm, she’s surprisingly agile despite her frequent clumsiness. There’s an opening between the monstrosity’s legs as they stupidly move to follow her. You slide on your knees straight between their legs to slice through their achille’s heel, cutting off the function of their lower body. They faceplant by Yachi’s feet as she shrieks from nearly being crushed as you climb the limp body, your fingers locating the implant and stabbing into the tough skin, the implant wiggling in your hands as you tear it out. The device latches on to your pointer finger to dig into your skin. You scream and shake it off immediately and it lands at Yachi’s feet before she stomps on it like a bug, the crunching resembling the sound of a cockroach beneath her boot.

There’s a grunt from Tanaka’s direction and you see he’s pinned Oikawa to the floor between his knees. The tussle looks like it’s in his favor when Oikawa rips the implant from the wound above his knee and attempts to insert it into the smooth skin of Tanaka’s neck. You stare as he screams in pain, the pincers scratching and cutting into him. You’re too far to use your dagger, you won’t make it before the implant is successfully transferred to him, so you reach for the pistol on your hip. You hold it out in front of you preparing your shot but it’s too risky. Tanaka’s back is to you and only with perfect aim will you be able to land a shot on Oikawa from over his shoulder, the trembling of your hands only worsening the situation.

Two minutes, twenty-five seconds.

The time will be out before you shoot your gun, before Yachi will make it to the control center. Despair ruining your disposition and any confidence you would have had taking this shot is snatched from you as Tanaka screams in pain. You position the gun as best you can, praying to any divine being who happens to hear you to bless you with perfect aim. You begin to squeeze the trigger, forcing your eyes to stay open, when an arrow comes whizzing past your cheek, the speed of it burning the soft skin. You stare in astonishment as it lodges itself in Oikawa’s eye, blood spraying everywhere from the impact and his body slumps to the ground, hand still clasping the implant as it fidgets in his fingertips. Tanaka cringes when he gets off of him and turns to Nishinoya, whose crossbow is still aimed at them and the tension in your shoulders ease slightly.

Your relief is short lived as you survey the situation. Nearly all of the rebels are here, but there are simply too many enemies and they don’t have enough energy to continue to fight. You jump from your spot to look for Yachi and she’s still running to the panel, the disaster gathered in the room preventing her from reaching it. You know it’s too late. Your naive dream beginning to wither away before your eyes so you rush to go get her.

“Yachi, stop! It’s over,” You scream over the noise of the chaos around you, bodies strewn across the floor while blood begins to pool and smear everywhere. You are holding her arm, pulling her away from the control center in the middle of the room.

“It’s not over, how could you give up so easily?! I can do this, you have to trust me! I am the only one who can decode the software. It’s my fault any of this is happening anyway. I did this!” Tears are flowing down her face in a violent stream. Her cheeks red with frustration and stress, eyes pleading with you to let her go. “I put all of you in danger! I’m an idiot and I should’ve been able to figure out their plan, but I had to go and try to prove myself to my mom! I-I had to ruin everything because I was so stupidly naive,” her voice was breaking around every syllable, guilt ripping through her.

“But I can’t lose you!” The lump in your throat was making it difficult to speak as the only option dawned on you. The only option she is pleading for you trust her with. Tears are stinging at your eyes, threatening to spill over while you try desperately to hold them back. “Y-you’re my best friend,” you’re exhausted, the words sincere as they slide through the space between you. Yachi steps towards you, hand coming up to rest on your cheek to catch the stray tear slipping down.

“I know and that’s why I need to do this. I need to save you. I need to save Yams. And the others. We can’t lose anymore lives because of something I created,” you let your eyes shut, all the fight you had leaving your body as your grip loosens on her arm. She wraps her arms around you for a final embrace, her body still for once, the trembling gone from her nerves as your arms hold her. “I know I can fix this, but I need for you to get as many people as you can out of here first,” she untangles herself from you.

“There’s a large safe at the end of this hallway. The code is my birthday. Grab anyone left, anyone still alive and shut yourselves in there. I won’t be able to disconnect the devices in this building because I won’t have enough time so there will still be a loud explosion. When you hear that it’s safe to come out,” she takes a step away from you, expression fixed leaving you no room to argue.

“O-okay,” you force the word from your lips because this was far from okay, “j-just know that, um, that I love you. So fucking much,” her figure begins to blur as the tears gather in your eyes.

“I love you too, y/n. Promise me that you will make it out of here. Promise me that you will get to watch the sunset. A real one. For me,” she pleads and you blink to clear your vision, hot tears burning the raw skin of your under eyes. “Yes, I p-promise,” you choke on these last words.

“Thank you. Now go, please” this is the calmest you have ever seen her as she steps away from you, body turning to clumsily run to the control panel. Time is moving in slow motion. The bodies around you moving in vivid detail. Every swing, punch, and kick are stuttering like a stop motion film. You don’t know if you’re breathing anymore, all of your functions glitching in a solitary moment of grief.

“Hey, look at me!” You can hear Tanaka’s voice, see his figure pummeling towards you, but he’s fuzzy, out of focus. You think his hands are on your arms, but it feels distant and cold, a ghost of everything he is. “Hey!” He shakes you aggressively, your brain fighting against the current of sorrow dragging you below the murky surface. “Don’t let the last words you said to her be a lie! Don’t break this promise!”

You cut through the surface and see Tanaka clearly. He’s covered in blood, his neck bleeding from where Oikawa punctured his skin with the implant. “We have to go. You have to go,” he shoves you to the exit, your motor functions working on autopilot. You grab who you can as you run for the safe. Yelling orders and instructions to anyone who can hear you.

One minute, seventeen seconds.

Suga’s at your side holding up Ennoshita while Daichi is calling for people to rush to the safe. You make it there first, and incorrectly punch in the code at first, the small numbers duplicating, but you get it right the second try. The heavy door swinging open with surprising ease as you move out the way to let Suga and Ennoshita in before you. A few of the other guys bolt in soon after and you just stand there waiting for Tanaka, waiting for Yamaguchi, and Kenma, and Yachi.

Yamaguchi cuts the corner first, Terushima on his tail. You feel a flash of relief when you see them, the distance between you closing rapidly. Yamaguchi trips over the step into the safe, but Terushima catches him before he makes contact with the ground, mumbling something to him that you can’t quite make out.

Tanaka’s next and he’s screaming at you but you hardly hear him over the commotion. You hardly register the distance until he’s right in front of you again. “What are you doing just standing here?!” He yells. “Let’s go,” he practically lifts you into the room and holds your back to his chest against one of the metal walls, preventing you from running out again.

You can’t tell who else enters the safe, your panic and grief merging in a merciless waltz. The door slams shut and Daichi is the last to come in, his strong hands holding firm on the handle. Your eyes now begin to scan the bodies in the room, some fine with just a few cuts and bruises, others worse, bleeding dangerously from various points in their body. You count like you did before any of this started.

Twenty-six. Minus one. Twenty-five.

You start from the corner opposite you, whispering number to face to name.

Twenty-one, orange hair, brown eyes: Hinata. Twenty-two, flash of blonde, fixed glare: Nishinoya. Twenty-three, disheveled black hair-

“Where’s Kenma?” Kuroo’s voice breaks your trance. There’s only twenty-four people in the safe.

“Where’s Kenma?” You repeat, fighting Tanaka’s grip to bolt to the door.

“Daichi!” Kuroo screams. “Answer me!”

“He stayed behind,” Daichi’s shoulders fall in defeat. “Said something about this being his final move. That this was game over for him and the prize for winning would be our lives. Then stuck something on the door and told me to tell you that he’s,” he pauses, his usually solid voice wavering. “He said he’s not a loser.”

“And you let him?!” Kuroo runs at him, intent on pulling him away from the door and ripping it open. “He’s an idiot! I have to go get him!” Daichi locks Kuroo’s arms behind his back. “Let me go!” He’s kicking and shoving, but Daichi refuses to stand down. “There’s still time! I HAVE TIME TO SAVE HIM!”

“There is no time, Tetsuro! We are out of time!” At this moment the floor rumbles, the walls vibrate as they shield you from the brunt of the blast. Kuroo’s reaction is visceral, a primal scream blowing out his vocal chords as dust starts to fall from the ceiling. You watch Hinata fall to his knees, the inhibited light dimming in his eyes as his head falls in his hands, body convulsing with sobs.

00:00

You’re drowning, your lungs are full of water, air sticking to the lining of your esophagus, the burning pain of no oxygen clouding your brain. Your head heavy on your neck, the effort of holding up your body wearing away as you let all of your weight fall back on Tanaka. His own body sliding down the wall until you’re both on the floor, you wailing pathetically between his legs and he just holds you to his chest, even when you resist and scream for him to leave you alone, he silently holds you.

No one makes a move to leave. The burden of losing people weighing heavy in the tight, crowded room.

You don’t remember too much after this. The solemn, dreadful walk back to the hideout is syrupy, your body hardly moving through the thickness of desolation. You stumble over bodies and slip on spilled blood, the aftermath of the explosion evident on every surface, making your ascent cumbersome as you climb out. The familiar fog an odd comfort concealing you from intrusive eyes.

The hideout is stale and uneasy. Your heartbeat pulsing irregularly in your chest, grief induced anesthetic numbing your bloodstream. Tanaka’s room is dark and his bed looks unusually comfortable. You lurch towards it, but Tanaka stops you. His arms pulling you into the bathroom, the shower already running with steam creeping over the top of the glass door. He helps you undress and step into the tub, tying your hair up in a messy bun before the water hits you. He steps in behind you and swipes a wet cloth over your body. Blood, dirt, and dust turning the water at your feet a translucent brown as it disappears down the drain.

Tanaka wraps new gauze around your waist, the sting of the alcohol barely noticeable anymore. You’re wearing one of his t-shirts as he tucks you into bed. His body settling in beside you, his strong arms cradling you in his embrace as he whispers gentle words of affirmation into your hair. His soothing voice eventually lulling you into a dreamless slumber.

You wake up unexpectedly, the sounds of your own whimpers breaking the awful silence. “I’m here,” Tanaka pets your hair. “I’m not going anywhere, I’m right here,” he reassures you as his arms press you deeper to his chest. Your fingers clinging to the sheet draped over his bare torso.

He leans down to pepper kisses across your tear stained cheeks. His lips connecting with every inch of skin. You tilt your face to catch his lips in a slow kiss, his movements initially hesitant. You drift your fingers to outline his collarbone, tracing along each line of muscle and ridge of scar tissue, determined to memorize all his imperfections. Determined to cement the entirety of his physique into your memory so he will never fade if he ever leaves you too.

Your fingers stop at the waistband of his underwear, toying with the elastic before you venture further down as you sketch the dip of his hip bone, the sharpness of his pelvis, and the strength of his relaxed thigh behind your closed eyelids. He stops you before you can delve deeper. “We shouldn’t,” is all he says, lips still slotted perfectly between yours.

“I want you, Ryu,” you’re aware of the desperation in your tone, aware of your need for physical touch emitting off of you in heady rays. “Please.”

He screws his eyes shut, his internal dialogue written all over his handsome features. It’s not because he doesn’t want to, the evidence of his quiet arousal mere inches from your fingertips. He’s afraid of hurting you, afraid of pushing you too far even though you’re asking for this, but you want to show him how much you want him. How much you need him.

How much you love him.

You gently pry your wrist from his loose grasp to massage the soft skin of his erection, slowing your motions when he stiffens. “Let me,” you plead beneath your breath.

“Let me feel you, let me know you’re here.”

You feel him nod above you, his body relaxing into your touch, his hips rutting gently into your palm until he’s painfully hard. He shifts to caress the back of your neck, tilting your head to look at him as he places a lingering kiss to your forehead. His lips smoothing over your features before he melts into you again. His kisses are slow and passionate, a welcome distraction to the flurry of disheartening emotions plaguing you.

He rolls the both of you over so he’s resting on his elbows above you and removes your hand from his cock to place it over his heart. The action is cheesy but you can feel the heartbeat beneath his muscle. The steady, rhythmic pulse pumping blood through his veins, a sign that he is alive, that he’s breathing and he’s with you.

You fight the tears begging to spill over, fearing that you might ruin the moment. He strokes your cheek, thumb rubbing soothing circles beneath the skin of your eyes.

“I’m gonna touch you, okay?” His voice is broken from exhaustion and vulnerability, but his hand moves to shift your panties to the side when you nod for him to continue. His fingers slipping between your folds to gather the slick at your entrance, circling your clit lightly. You lift your hips to roll into his fingers, silently asking for more as your pleasure begins to prickle at your nerves.

He begins to move away from you and for a moment you think he’s going to stop, instead he pulls himself from his boxers and strokes whatever slick he gathered over his erection. The tip of his cock a blossoming red as he continues to touch himself. “Ryu, hurry,” you whine, impatience beginning to nag at you, body seeking the delirious sensation of pleasure.

“I’ll take care of you, don’t worry,” his voice is soft, the meaning of his words holding avenues of interpretations as he positions himself at your entrance. His arm shakes with strain beside your face as he pushes his head past your initial ring of muscle, stopping midway to thrust shallowly. Despite your begging for him to hurry up, you’re still tense, your walls clenching tight around him.

“Baby, I need you to relax,” he says through gritted teeth, the efforts of restraining himself lock his muscles into place, but you take a deep breath at his words, allowing your legs to fall open around his hips, crossing your ankles behind the small of his back.

“Move,” your breath catches in your throat as he thrusts a little deeper that time. “I’ll be fine, just move.”

He looks at you for a long moment, eyes searching yours for even a semblance of doubt. When he doesn’t find it, he rests his forehead on yours, eyes closed as he sheathes himself inside you entirely. You feel too full when he doesn’t follow through so you wiggle your hips to press firmly into his, a low groan reverberating through his chest as you grind against him, your arms stationed securely around his neck.

Not too long after he begins to meet the rocking of your hips, his movements deliberate and measured. You keen into his touch as his head falls to rest beside your neck, mouthing the skin to muffle his moans as his pace quickens.

He slips his arms beneath your back, hugging you tightly to his chest. The new angle sends a jolt of electric pleasure through your veins, his thrusts are determined as he searches for your release.

“Not gonna last long,” he groans into your neck, fingers digging into your sides as he tries to stall his own release. You’re closer than he thinks though, your head is swimming with euphoria, brain clouded with the tastes of ecstasy.

“Don’t stop, Ryu. I’m so close,” you beg, your voice dripping with desire. You feel one of his hands move to fist the sheet below you as he breaks his steady pace, the force of his hips jostling you passionately. The pressure building in your abdomen is unbearable, his cock slamming into your sensitive walls fervently.

“Fuck,” you moan into his ear as your senses crash, your body singing with unexpected bliss. His thrusts begin to falter, his own release on the horizon as his grip on you hardens.

“M’gonna come,” he stutters out, voice gravelly with need. “Need you to move, so I, shit,” he’s struggling to get his words out as the hand fisting the sheet moves to wrap around your calf. “So I can pull out,” he groans and pushes on your leg to unlock your ankles.

“No,” you refuse. “Inside, just come inside, please Ryu” he never has, the implications too dangerous for him to ever consider, but right now you need to feel every part of him.

“Baby,” he whines, his voice an octave higher. The desperation in your tone crumbling his resolve and before he can say no he’s spilling inside you. The sporadic contractions of your walls around his cock coupled with the way you whimper his name against the shell of his ear is what ruins him.

He collapses on top of you, his dense weight flattening you into the mattress as he twitches inside you. You don’t mind the heaviness, content with falling asleep just like this but he rolls the both of you on your sides, probably realizing he was crushing you.

His face is still nestled in the groove of your neck when you feel him chuckle against your skin. “Can’t believe you tricked me into doing that?” A small smile stretching his lips on your shoulder.

“Trick? I wouldn’t it call it that,” a matching smile plays on your features.

“It was sneaky and you know it.” You laugh despite everything that happened today.

“I love you,” you never said it back, but you’re certain now as your body flows with appreciation.

“I love you too.”

June 18, 2065

6:38am

It’s too early to wake up, but your mind disregards your obvious fatigue when you find yourself on Tanaka’s balcony. The events of last night looping perpetually in your head as you stare at the city that was supposed to be demolished. There’s no movement, hardly any noise beside the buzzing neon sign flickering four floors down. It’s as if everyone is in mourning. A victory cause for celebration, but the density of grief burdens the atmosphere.

“What’re doing up?” Tanaka appears behind you, arms enclosing around your waist.

“Couldn’t sleep anymore,” you reply dryly. He hums behind you and rests his chin on your head as you two watch the sky change from a deep purple to the dull pink that never cuts through the fog.

“What now?” You ask, not really expecting an answer.

“I’m not sure,” he shrugs, this transition stretching into miles of uncharted area.

“We leave,” he says, finally.

“Where would we even go?” Confusion laces your tone. The two of you have never left Tokyo, partially because it was impossible with the barrier surrounding the city.

“Miyagi,” he says as if he’s familiar with the prefecture.

“I don’t know,” you hesitate. “There was a project I wanted to complete for,” your voice fades into the early morning. The image of the simulation machine popping into your mind as you remember the pixelated beach glitching in the large room. The last moment you had with him.

“Bring it with you,” Tanaka suggests as he turns you in his embrace to look at him.

“What’s in Miyagi?” His adamant stare confusing you further.

“My sister,” he’s never mentioned her before, and you raise your eyebrows in question. “A few of the rebels left here right before you showed up to search for others. She led them,” he explains.

“I hadn’t heard from her until she called me two days ago. I was worried something happened, but she’s fine,” he shakes his head.

“I obviously didn’t get the chance to tell you, but she’s there and they found more than they were expecting.”

“How did they even get past the barrier?”

“Kenma.” His tone softens around his name, but you're not the least bit surprised that he managed to break down the barrier.

“Of course.” You rest your head against his chest.

“The rebellion is stronger there. We may have a chance to save all of Japan. Not just Tokyo,” you process his words, unsure of how to respond.

“And,” he cups your neck so you’re staring into his eyes. “The sun sets in Miyagi.”

#tanaka ryunosuke #Tanaka x reader #tanaka smut #tanaka fanfic #apocalypse #the smut pile collab #hq #cyberpunk

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cozy-the-overlord · 3 years

Text

Dances and Daggers

Summary: The Summer Festival is upon Asgard, as is the tradition of the dagger ceremony, where each unmarried gentleman chooses a lady to bestow with the honor of carrying his dagger for the night. As Prince Thor’s betrothed, Teki’s only goal is to accept his dagger with grace and hope that her violent stepfather doesn’t find fault with her in the process. But Prince Thor is unpredictable, and when he ignores his engagement on a whim Teki finds herself in a desperate situation. Luckily, Thor isn’t the only prince in Asgard…

Pairing: Loki x Original Female Character

Chapter 17: The Resolution

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Word Count: 2,424

Chapter Summary: Now that the truth is out, Teki and Loki navigate their way through the aftermath.

A/N: I can’t believe we’re on the second to last chapter! It blows my mind that this has gone by so quickly-- I feel like I just started posting a few weeks ago. Also, sorry this is going up about an hour later than usual-- my classes got cancelled today, so I decided to sleep in XD

Thanks for reading!

TW: Violence, child abuse

Tags: @lucywrites02 @gaitwae @moumouton4 @berriemalfoy @whatafuckingdumbass @sophlubbwriting

if you want to be tagged, feel free to just send me an ask/message! :)

Read it on Ao3!

Teki stood in the center of the Throne Room, struggling not to wilt under the scrutiny of over a dozen pairs of eyes. She had always known that someday in the future she’d have to attend the King’s council meetings, but never had she thought that she would ever be the focus. The old men of Odin’s courtroom seemed to glower down at her like she was an insect they had accidentally stepped on as they bickered over what was to be done with her. Luckily, the friendly faces in the crowd were almost enough to drown out the tension.

Loki smiled encouragingly from his place at the base of Odin’s throne, rolling his eyes whenever someone said something particularly hurtful. Frigga too supported her with a warm grin. Even Thor seemed to shoot her a sympathetic glance every now and then.

Still, the council continued arguing.

“The marriage engagement is in writing. We cannot change it—”

“That writing is in blood. Would we have the daughter of a murderer as Queen?”

“We should not hold the girl accountable for the sins of her mother—”

“But what of Asgard’s reputation? What will other realms think when they learn how easy it is to cheat their way into royalty—”

“The circumstances are irrelevant. The agreement was made. To go back on it now would be to sully the word of the king—”

The last few days had been a whirlwind. Teki felt as if she had repeated the same story over and over again at least a thousand times, to a thousand different people. At first, there had been the scramble for evidence, gathering anything and everything that might be used to prove her word—the vials from her mother’s liquor cabinet, the document of dissolution that her father had been forced to write moments before his death, written statements from Völundr and Asta (the real one this time). They had even taken her father’s journal, although that had been returned to her after they decided that the unfinished letter he had written to her mother was all they needed.

But once Áslaug signed a full confession, the focus shifted. Now that she was good and caught, everyone could concentrate on capturing Osvald. He had been gone when Frigga’s guards arrived at their apartment to arrest him and hadn’t been seen since. It seemed he had caught wind that the game was up and made a run for it, a thought which terrified Teki to no end.

“Don’t worry,” Loki assured her one night, in the new rooms in the royal wing that she and Brant now occupied. “They’ll catch him before long.”

Teki only nodded as she stared out into the inky blackness beyond her window, praying to the Norns he was right.

There were also the questions popping up now, everywhere she turned. Was she still engaged to Thor? Did the marriage agreement stand if it was made under false pretenses? No one seemed to know.

Some felt that since Steinn had opposed it, and since Áslaug very clearly did not have Teki’s best interests in mind when she agreed to it, that it should not be allowed to stand. Others were quite adamant that the agreement had been signed and that it must be followed through, for better or for worse.

Of course, nobody had asked Teki what she thought should happen.

Well... that wasn't entirely true. Queen Frigga had approached her the day after her mother was arrested to talk about the whole situation, and while she didn't ask for her opinion either, the topic of her engagement had come up.

"The AllFather is not one to go back on his word," she told her. "I doubt the betrothal will be drastically changed."

Her tone was encouraging, but Teki couldn't bring herself to mirror her optimistic smile. Of course she'd still have to marry Thor. The actions of her mother would have no bearing on something that had been set in stone for nearly her entire life. She knew this. Still, a part of her, the small, hopeful part that had dared to dream of someone else in place of Thor's hand, withered at the return to reality.

The ache in her chest must have been reflected on her face because Frigga frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Teki shook her head, forcing her features back to familiar neutrality. "Of course not, Your Majesty," she said with the same artificial cheeriness. "As always, I will be honored to wed your son."

For a moment, the Queen only studied her, as if searching for something hidden behind her eyes. "Yes," she finally said, voice distant. "My son."

It didn’t even matter anymore. They’d all been going round and round in circles for what seemed like an eternity, and Teki was tired of standing there bearing the brunt of their speculation. She wished they would just sentence her to life with Thor and just end it already. It took everything in her to keep from picking at the sash of her dress in front of everyone.

But then Frigga stood, and the voices fell silent. “If I may, my King?”

Odin nodded at his wife, and Teki couldn’t help but think that he looked as exhausted with this as she was. “Please.”

She stepped forward, addressing the council directly. “If I am correct in understanding, the conflict here surrounds the question of whether Lady Tekla is suited to be Queen in light of what we now know of her mother and stepfather, yes?” A chorus of affirmative hums answered her.

The Queen smiled broadly. “Well, I believe there is a way to honor the agreement without jeopardizing the queenship.” She turned back to Odin with a respectful bow of her head. “My King, you have two sons. If Lady Tekla were to marry Prince Loki instead of Prince Thor, she’d still gain royalty, but not the throne.”

A flurry of whispers broke out across the Throne Room. For a moment, Teki thought she had misheard her. Wait, did she mean…

She whipped to Loki, who was staring at his mother with eyes were so wide they were almost bugging out of his head. When his gaze returned to Teki’s, there was a stunned sort of hope in his smile.

The King cocked his head to the side, seemingly lost in thought. He turned to his son. “Would you be willing to pursue such a course of action, Loki?” he asked.

The prince sprang up. “Yes, I would, my King. That is —” he looked back at Teki nervously. “If Lady Tekla was willing.”

The collective stare of the council flipped back once more to her.

Teki inhaled. “I—I’m willing, sire.”

“Very well.” The King motioned towards Loki, who stepped purposefully off the platform and down to her side. “Prince Loki, you will take the hand of Lady Tekla in marriage. Prince Thor, you are released from your betrothal.” He sighed. “Perhaps now we can finally lay this matter to rest.”

Teki didn’t hear the rest of what he said. Loki lifted her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckle.

“My lady,” he whispered with a breathless smile. She beamed, heart soaring higher than any wings could ever carry her.

…

Going back to their apartment was strange.

It had been decided that Teki and Brant would permanently move into the royal wing of the palace, sharing a suite until Teki married and moved into Loki’s rooms (although Frigga assured her that wouldn’t be for quite some time). Their old apartment was gutted of all items of importance to be transferred to their new rooms, leaving only its skeletal remains when Teki and Loki returned for one last look through.

There were several things Teki wanted to be sure to get. Brant’s reading notes, for one, and his unfinished map of the tunnels of the Nine Realms. She wouldn’t be giving him reading lessons anymore—he had already begun to attend proper class and was doing quite well—but he had confided in her that he still preferred her lessons. The music books gifted to her by the Queen—she was particularly excited about those, because Frigga had ordered a piano constructed just for Teki’s new sitting room.

“I hope you don’t mind that I didn’t ask you first,” she had said, almost apologetically. “I just you’d enjoy being able to play at your own discretion, without having to rely on me.”

Teki could’ve cried.

And then there was a dagger. Teki nearly had a heart attack when she checked under her mattress and found it wasn’t there, only to remember that she had shoved it in her nightstand that time her mother walked into the room.

Loki grinned when she slid it out of its sheath.

“I had wondered what you did with that,” he said. “I never saw it when I would come over.”

She laughed. “Well, I couldn’t exactly hang it from the wall.” Now that she thought of it though, it was probably a blessing that she had been forced to move the dagger to her drawer. As furious as her stepfather had been upon discovering she had taken her father’s journal, it would’ve been infinitely worse if he had realized she was also keeping a weapon under her mattress. The image of Osvald advancing towards her flashed before her eyes, this time waving a blade instead of a leather book. Teki shivered. She sheathed the dagger, placing it in the box with her other items.

They combed the apartment one last time, a cursory look-through to make sure that Teki had gotten everything she wanted to save. There really wasn’t much. It was a bit startling—this place had been her home her entire life, and yet she felt practically nothing upon saying goodbye to it forever. If anything, it was relieving, like coming to the surface to breathe after being underwater for far too long. She was ready to leave this bad dream behind.

Teki only hesitated at the downstairs table, staring at the same chair in which her father died. Loki came besides her, squeezing her hand in comfort.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. It’s just…” She struggled to find the right words. “I ate here every single day,” she said finally. “My whole life. And I never knew what happened right next to me.” Had her father been watching in frustration from the realm beyond? Had he been begging her to ask questions, to look for him, to discover the truth as she munched on her morning toast?

Tears were pooling in her eyes once more. Teki swallowed shakily. “I should’ve done something sooner,” she whispered. “I never did anything. I just let it all happen.”

“You were a child,” Loki said softly. “What could you have done? You’ve brought justice for your father, and for you. That’s all that matters now.”

She sighed. Maybe he was right. What she did or didn’t do in the past wasn’t important. Now, her father could rest easy knowing his killer would rot in prison, her plans in tatters.

Teki hoisted her box up with one last glance about the room. “I think I’ve got everything,” she said as she headed towards the door. “Thank you for coming with me.”

“It was my pleasure,” he smiled, rushing to hold the door for her. “It seems that—”

He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence.

Osvald barged his way through the doorway like a living battering ram, smacking the prince into the wooden door. Her stepfather didn’t even spare a second glance as Loki crashed to the floor. Teki barely had the chance to scream before his fist caught her in her sternum. The box flew from her hands, contents clattering across the floorboards as she fell backwards.

No sooner had her head hit the ground than Osvald was on top of her, eyes as frenzied as wildfire.

“You thought I’d let it go?” he snarled, holding her down by her shoulders with his forearm as she struggled. “You thought I’d let you fuck everything up?”

She almost didn’t see the glint of the blade in his free hand.

Norns!

Teki jerked just as the knife came down, cold metal grazing her cheek as he buried it into the floor beside her head. She grabbed for the hilt as her stepfather spat curses in her face.

Get it away from him!

He smacked her away, ripping the knife from the floorboards and stabbing towards her again. Teki braced her arms against his wrist, pushing against him with all her might, her eyes tearing up. Come on, please! Still, the tip of the blade inched forward, closer and closer and closer…

Something crashed into the two of them. One moment, her stepfather was on top of her, pinning her to the ground, the next he was on the floor next to her, thrashing wildly as Loki fought to rip the blade from his grasp. Teki rolled to her stomach, trembling as she gasped for air.

“Get help!” Loki yelled at her as the two wrestled on the ground. Osvald landed a kick to his stomach, and he hissed in pain.

Teki struggled to her feet and tried to make a run for the door. Her foot slipped on one of the papers strewn about from the box and she tripped, slamming against the floor.

Behind her, Osvald’s knife clattered to the ground. Still, they struggled.

Her legs were shaking too badly to stand. Teki crawled towards the door across the mess, unable to hear anything else over the pounding of her heart.

Without meaning to, her hand closed around the hilt of her own dagger.

Loki cried out, a short, quick gasp of pain. Her stepfather’s footsteps vibrated deep in her stomach as he approached.

He yanked her to her feet by her collar and whipped her around, his fingers at her throat, grin wide and demented.

“Now—”

Teki buried the blade in his chest.

For a moment they just stared at it, gasping, the golden hilt crowning the fast-growing stain of crimson across his chest. He glanced up at her, icy eyes having lost their chill. Teki gaped back at him, frozen.

On the other side of the room, Loki pulled himself to his feet, eyes wide.

Her stepfather collapsed, a marionette with its strings cut, his blood splattering across the same floor he had so often beaten her against.

#dances and daggers #loki fanfic #loki x ofc #loki marvel #dances and daggers chapter 17 #the resolution #cozy writes

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babybubastis · 3 years

Text

Inspired by the prompt “Welcome to fatherhood” sent to me by @prettylittlebirds82. I hope you don’t hate it lol. And I’m sorry it took me so long 🙈

Just some angsty, domestic WinterPrincess.

Warnings: pregnancy, pregnancy complications, hospitals

———————————————————————

He moves as the mattress shifts, rolls over in his sleep to place his hand in the warm indentation left by her body.

Footsteps, rustling, whispering flutter on the edge of his consciousness. He burrows into the covers, groaning when his hand still searches, comes up empty, searches again.

“James.”

The whisper of his name is what does it. Whatever is in her voice sets off an alarm and he’s out of the bed and at her feet, blinking his eyes against the bathroom light.

“What’s wrong, sugar?”

Shuri looks up from her perch on the toilet, hands clutching her round belly, then drops her gaze again.

“I can’t stop,” she rasps. It’s then that he notices the steady trickling sound.

Bucky frowns, tilts her chin up so he can look her in the eyes. “You can’t stop what, angel?”

A sniffle. “I had an accident in bed, so I got up to use the bathroom, but I can’t stop peeing.” She shakes her head, whispers under her breath to herself, “It can’t be, it’s too early, it’s not time.”

The crease in his brow deepens, and his stomach drops even before his brain fully registers what she’s saying.

For maybe five seconds, he doesn’t breathe. His chest feels heavy, his right hand shakes, his vision tunnels.

Then she grabs his arm to try to stand, and a switch flips.

Bucky lifts his wife into his arms and strides over to the counter top. He sets her down like glass, eyes and hands frantically roving over her slightly trembling form.

“Are you having any contractions?”

He’s read enough to know that rupture of membranes doesn’t always mean labor is coming immediately. But it’s a damn good indicator, and he has to fight down the panic flooding his veins.

Panic isn’t something Bucky’s accustomed to, despite his whole life basically being one long shitstorm. From being taking captive as a prisoner of war over eighty years ago, to literally being snapped out of and back into existence, he’s had enough stress for three lifetimes. And somehow none of that has prepared him for the slow but powerful dread gripping his gut as his fingertips slide through the small puddle gathering on the cold marble underneath his very-pregnant-but-not-quite-pregnant-enough wife.

A large tear spills over and down Shuri’s cheek, but she shakes her head. “No, I feel fine, otherwise. This doesn’t make any sense...”

Bucky lifts his hands to cup her face, fingers gently wiping away the moisture before placing his right hand on her belly.

“You’re both gonna be okay, you understand me?”

His Queen nods once, bottom lip trembling before she presses both lips together and closes her eyes. She sucks in a breath and blows it out. When her eyes open, they still shimmer. But there’s resolve there, a determination and strength that makes him straighten up. He presses his lips to her forehead and lingers there, breathing her in before pulling away.

The next few minutes are a blur as he rushes around their suite grabbing clothes, shoes, phones, keys, wallets.

She’s still sitting on the counter when he comes back. Her eyes are closed again, head bowed, lips moving silently as both hands rub her belly. Bucky falters as he notices the towel now tucked between her legs. And there’s the panic again. He swallows it down and walks over to Shuri.

When he places his hands over hers, she sighs.

“Let’s get you dressed, baby, then we’ll head to the hospital.”

Her eyes flutter open and she nods. They’re silent as he helps her dress, a cloud of anxiety gathering around them.

“Wait, Bucky.”

“Hm?”

“How are we getting there?”

Shit.

He’s so out of sorts- exhausted, terrified, and trying to shove it all down enough to think straight, but he forgot to actually secure them a ride. Today was only the second day of their “baby moon”. Shuri had wanted to see New York City at Christmas time, just the two - make that three - of them.

Her water breaking at the end of her second trimester wasn’t part of the plan.

Bucky finishes helping Shuri tie her shoes before he runs into the bedroom again to grab his phone.

An ambulance is their best bet, but it’s 8:07 on a Friday morning in Downtown Manhattan. And according to his phone, it’s snowing. Heavily.

Shit.

“What about Tony?”

He whips around to find Shuri slowly climbing down from the bathroom counter. Rushing over to help her, his heart swells in spite of everything at the adorable grunt she lets out as her feet meet the floor.

“Now what about Tony, doll?”

Shuri huffs. “I thought I told you he and Pepper bought a second place in the city? They had their youngest last year at one of the hospitals here, but I forget which one.”

Bucky’s brow furrows. He doesn’t remember any of that.

His wife rolls her eyes and steps past him, waddling over to the desk near the door to grab her phone. “He invited us over for Christmas when I was on the phone with him last night, so they should be nearby. Maybe he can help.”

Before he can say another word, Shuri is on the phone, nervously chewing her bottom lip as her hand cradles their baby.

“Tony-“

Bucky can hear Stark’s voice on the other end then, way too loud for as early as it is, and he busies himself with double checking the small bag he’s packed to avoid becoming agitated.

He really doesn’t have anything against the other man. Despite their history, Bucky can’t blame Tony for what transpired between them all those years ago. And after Tony nearly died to defeat Thanos, Bucky only has respect for the man.

Tony had flatlined on that battlefield.

It was Shuri who sprang into action, refused to take no for an answer. She shouted orders at Doctor Strange to open a portal to her lab, and within minutes, she had Stark on a table while she ran diagnostics and went to work.

She was behind closed doors for hours, allowing only Pepper and Bruce back, along with Strange.

Bucky has no idea what exactly happened. He had waited outside of her lab until his eyes drooped, and the sound of the doors sliding open jolted him awake. Shuri emerged, hands bloody and shaking, but her expression gave nothing away. When it was all said and done, Tony Stark ultimately had her to thank for giving him his life back.

The friendship that bloomed between them after that made Bucky uneasy for... a while. Even after Bucky managed to work up the courage to confess his feelings to Shuri, and she confessed that she loved him back, he couldn’t shake the streak of possessiveness that flared unreasonably whenever Tony was around.

But he never begrudged his love her friendship, even when she decided to build a second Wakandan Outreach Center in New York, and Tony - who was making every effort in using his resources to help rebuild the world he’d saved - eagerly offered to be of assistance to Shuri in any way he could, in exchange for some “playtime,” as Stark called it, in her lab.

And Tony wasn’t the only one who had become a bit enamored with the then-Princess; the entire Stark household loved her, too. And yet, the retired Iron Man and the former Winter Soldier had barely ever exchanged more than two words and a few terse nods over the last few years.

Shuri calls to him, effectively bringing him back to the present, and Bucky realizes he’s nearly worn a tread into the carpet with his nervous pacing.

“Tony is on his way.” There’s a tinge of relief in her voice, but her left hand hasn’t left her belly, and she taps her phone against her thigh in an uneven rhythm.

Bucky walks over to his wife and grabs her hand. He brings it to his lips and inhales deeply.

“You ready?” It’s an effort to keep his voice steady.

She nods once, attempts a small smile that barely reaches her eyes at all.

Then Bucky interlaces their fingers and leads her toward the door and out of their suite. He slings their duffel bag across his shoulders and scoops her up into his arms, barely breaking stride on the way to the elevator. Shuri gives a surprised little yelp that, under different circumstances, might make him chuckle.

Instead, he holds her a little tighter and fights the urge to tap his foot while they wait for the car to reach their floor. It feels like an eternity waiting in that hallway, Shuri’s shallow breath against his neck, their baby cradled between them. He can hear Shuri’s heartbeat, wishes he could hear their little Bean’s heartbeat, too.

When he steps inside the elevator and reaches toward the button for the lobby, Shuri grabs his hand. He arches a brow in question.

To Tony’s credit, they don’t wait long at all. It can’t be more than ten minutes since Shuri hung up the phone when Bucky hears their ride approaching.

Any other time, he might roll his eyes and accuse Tony of having a flair for the dramatic. But he’s never been happier to see a Stark Industries helicopter in his life.

The chopper barely lands before Tony hops out, waving them forward. Once inside, they get buckled and take off in record time.

“How you feelin’, kid?”

Shuri looks up and gives a small smile. “I’ll be better when I know Bean is alright.” Bucky runs his thumb across the back of her right hand, and Tony reaches across from his seat to briefly squeeze her left.

“Don’t you worry about a thing, alright? Pepper’s OB owes me a gigantic favor, I already called ahead of you at the hospital. All we need to do is get you to OB Triage, and her colleagues will take it from there.”

Bucky exhales slowly and clears his throat. “I don’t know how to thank-“

Tony waves him off before he can finish his thought. “It’s the least I can do.”

Bucky nods. Shuri sags against him, and he turns his head to place a kiss to her temple.

“But if you want to repay me,” Tony interjects after a moment, “Anthony could be a great middle name.”

Shuri snorts. “You’re insufferable, you know that?” But there’s humor in her voice, and a genuine smile on her face this time, and Bucky is grateful to Tony for the second time that day.

By some miracle, triage isn’t busy at all. The on-call doc and a nurse greet them and take Shuri back while Bucky deals with the paperwork and Tony goes in search of caffeine.

It takes everything in Bucky not to chuck the clipboard back across the reception desk and follow after his wife. By the time he’s done filling everything out, every nail on his right hand is bitten down to nothing and his stomach is full of lead. He hands everything over and leans both hands on the desk, fighting the urge to crush the cheap fiberboard.

“So if you could tell me where they took my wife...?”

The middle aged woman behind the desk gives him a sympathetic smile. “Gimme just a sec, hun, I have to make sure they’re ready for ya.”

Before he can object, she stands and disappears through the door behind her desk. Bucky pinches the bridge of his nose and counts down from ten in Xhosa. He has to start over twice before the receptionist comes back.

“Mr. Barnes? They just took your wife down the hall for an ultrasound. She should be back in the room shortly, and then we’ll have someone take you back. Just sit tight, okay?”

But Bucky’s already been away from Shuri and Bean for ten minutes, and ready to crawl out of his own skin for every second. He tries for a smile - something charming yet authoritative, but hopefully not menacing - and sets his fists on the desk, leaning forward.

“Look-“ he starts, but a hand taps him on the elbow before he can finish his thought.

“Hey, let’s take a breather, huh?” Tony nods toward the double doors to the unit.

Tony must see the hesitation in Bucky’s eyes, because he gently nudges him.

“Just a few minutes. You look like you need it,” he says.

Bucky flicks his eyes to the receptionist, then back at Tony and the two large cups of coffee in his hands. He sighs heavily and gestures in front of him. “Lead the way.”

The waiting area is blessedly empty. Bucky walks over to a TV in the corner and searches for the remote. He can hear Tony slowly approaching behind him, but decides to distract himself with finding a decent show. But almost every station he clicks on is on commercial. He swears under his breath and slams the remote back down onto the coffee table.

“You break anything in this room, I’m not payin’ for it.”

Bucky whips his head around to find Tony smirking at him, and lets out a little puff of air.

“I just... I want to do... something.” He rakes both hands through his sweat-dampened hair. Then, almost so quietly, he’s not sure Tony even hears: “I’m goin’ a little outta my mind, here.” His voice cracks at the end, and he squeezes his eyes shut against the burn of unshed tears.

“Welcome to fatherhood.” Tony claps a warm hand to Bucky’s back.

“Yeah,” Bucky chokes out through a watery, humorless chuckle. All of his weight slumps into the chair behind him then, and it teeters backwards on wobbly legs. “Baby’s not even here yet, and they’re already giving me a frickin’ heart attack,” he mutters into his hands.

“Like I said,” Tony replies, “welcome to the club. That kid’s gonna scare you shitless about a hundred more times before they’re even outta diapers, so,” he pauses to take a sip of his coffee before saluting the weary man next to him with his styrofoam cup, “buckle up.”

Bucky groans.

Slumped in this stiff chair under too-bright fluorescents, the adrenaline is beginning to wear off.

His hands are beginning to shake again, and a shiver runs through him.

“How far along is she, again?”

“Hm?” Bucky lifts his head, blinking to clear his vision.

“How far along is Shuri? I forget,” Tony repeats.

Bucky blows out a breath. He doesn’t even need to think twice, he’s been keeping track just as closely as her. “Twenty-four weeks, three days.”

“Hm.”

“Yeah,” Bucky rasps, panic threatening to clog his throat again.

Tony clears his throat after a moment. “She still insisting you guys don’t find out the sex?”

“She told you ‘bout that, huh? She uh, she thought it would be a nice surprise. Now I’m not so sure we should’ve waited to find out...” Bucky rubs his mouth.

Another silence.

His fingers twist the fabric of his pants, knees bouncing and jaw clenched as he resists the urge to go up to the nurse’s station for the twentieth time and ask when he can go back and be with his wife.

Tony gently pats his knee, and almost automatically, Bucky stops fidgeting. A little bit of the tension leaves his body and he inhales slowly to keep it at bay.

“Twenty-four weeks, three days,” Tony muses. “That’s early. But-“ he says as Bucky opens his mouth to respond, “but, it’s not terribly early, and you’d be surprised at the things they can do. This is the best place on the East Coast.”

Bucky drops his head again and nods.

“Shuri told me you guys had Arlo here.”

“Sure did.” A small smile lifts the corner of the other man’s mouth as he presumably thinks about his rambunctious and adorable youngest child.

They sit there for several minutes, Tony sipping his coffee quietly while Bucky ignores his in favor of chewing on his nails again.

He doesn’t know how long they’ve been sitting there, but he has half a mind to just burst through the doors and bypass the receptionist all together to find Shuri. He’s halfway out of his seat when Tony pulls his phone out and glances at the screen.

A twinge of guilt shoots through Bucky, and he sits back down. “You can take off whenever you need to. You really didn’t have to keep me company. I appreciate it.”

Tony finishes typing something on his phone and puts it back in his pocket before looking up.

“Believe it or not, I’m happy to do it. Couldn’t just leave you here.”

Bucky flicks his gaze to Tony’s, searches his eyes for any hint of falsehood or irritation.

The corner of Tony’s mouth lifts slightly. “Really, Barnes. I know you and I have some shit to work through. But a lot of that got put into perspective after... all the other shit.”

Bucky huffs out a laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.” The knot in his stomach unravels just a tiny bit

“And that woman in there,” Tony gestures toward the doors to triage, “I would do just about anything for her. She’s done a hell of a lot for all of us over the years. And she indulges my old ass when I need a virtual lab partner and Bruce is too busy to be bothered. My kids love her, Pepper loves her. I know she saved you, too.”

Bucky’s throat is clogged again. He looks down at his hands, rubs at the upgraded arm Shuri gifted him on their wedding day: black inlaid with gold and purple, a permanent ring of gold Wakandan lettering etched into his left third finger.

“And you feel like it’s your turn to save her.”

Bucky chuckles, in spite of himself, in spite of everything going on right this second. Because Tony is way too on the nose. He sighs, a heavy, weary thing that seems to leave him deflated. He doesn’t look up as he replies.

“How do I save her from this? How do I fix this? This isn’t the way any of this was supposed to go...”

“You don’t fix it,” Tony interrupts. “Just be there. Whatever happens, don’t hide from her, and don’t try to shield her, either. Just be there and take care of them both. I know I don’t really need to tell you that.”

Bucky takes in Tony’s words. He nods, presses his lips together as he looks up to meet Tony’s eyes. A thank you is on his lips when one of the double doors behind them swings open, and his heart stutters for a second.

“Mr. Barnes?” A petite woman in navy blue scrubs looks back and forth between Bucky and Tony.

Bucky shoots up immediately. “That’s me.”

The nurse waves Bucky forward. “Your wife is back in her room, you can come on back.”

He shoots a glance over his shoulder as he heads toward the door. Tony is on his feet now. “Tell the Her Majesty I’ll call her later to check on her. Rub that belly for me. And take care of yourself, too, yeah?”

Bucky tries for a smile, hopes he makes it. His heart rate is climbing again. “Will do.”

Bucky pulls open the curtain and Shuri opens her eyes.

The bed practically swallows her up, she’s so tiny, even with her large belly. The pang in his chest is so acute, it takes him a couple of tries to find his voice.

“Hi, babydoll. How are my two favorite people?”

She gives him a wan smile and shrugs. “We’re okay, I think. Bean has been moving a bit, and the ultrasound looks alright. But,” she pauses and closes her eyes briefly. Bucky walks over and sits on the edge of the bed, reaching out to take both of her soft hands in his.

“It’s okay, angel.”

She clears her throat and looks up at him. “The doctor says my amniotic fluid index is 2 centimeters.”

Bucky frowns. “Is that low?”

“Normal range is 5 to 25 centimeters. Almost all of my fluid is gone. Somehow my cervix is still completely closed, but they want to keep us until the baby is born. The doctor said most people go into labor within 72 hours of their water breaking, so traveling back home is too risky. They’re bringing one of the NICU doctors up soon to discuss things.” Her teeth gnaw at her bottom lip as she pauses, gives him a chance to absorb what she’s saying.

He feels what little breath was in his lungs being knocked out. They’re stuck here. And they’re baby is coming 16 weeks early. The dread in his gut builds. Feels like it’s clawing its way up from his stomach to his chest, and he clamps his mouth shut to keep it from escaping. Something else is bothering his wife. Truth be told, he’s not sure he wants to know what else she hasn’t told him, but he needs to know. He reaches up to pull her bottom lip out from between her teeth. His fingers linger there, caressing her face and memorizing every detail for probably the billionth time.

“What else did they say?”

She sucks in a long breath, then puffs it out. “They said I’m at increased risk for infection now that my water has broken. There’s significantly less protection for Bean and me, the longer I stay pregnant, so they’re putting me on antibiotics, and betamethasone shots to help speed up lung development.”

Bucky swallows thickly. “Do they know how this happened?” She’s been doing everything right - sleeping eight hours a night, taking her vitamins, eating clean, drinking tons of water, exercising appropriately -he can’t wrap his head around this.

Shuri gives a shake of her head and another tired shrug. “I tested negative for any kind of infection. Apparently, most cases of premature rupture have no known cause. Not that that makes me feel any better.” She looks down at her stomach and rubs it slowly, methodically. “According to the scan, Bean is only 1.4 pounds. So tiny, Buck.” Her voice catches on that last part, and then her face crumbles.

Bucky feels like he’s fracturing into a million pieces as he leans forward and draws her into his chest. One hand cradles the back of her head while the other rubs up and down her back. Her belly presses into his, and his control slips.

He’s terrified. For Shuri. For the baby. Heartbroken, because he honestly doesn’t know if their Little Bean is even going to make it. And frustrated, because there isn’t a damn thing he can do about it. Except be here.

Shuri feels the gentle shake of his shoulders. She lifts her head to press her forehead to his, the salt of their tears mingling together as their lips meet. The life inside her belly stirs enough that they both feel the movement, and everything else ceases to matter.

She manages to stay pregnant for six more weeks.

Six weeks of daily ultrasounds and bed rest and no privacy and lab draws and living in the hospital because the risk of traveling back home is too great.

Bucky is sure his back will never recover from sleeping on the hospital cot, but he’d give the health of his back and more to have his sweet baby and their Bean safe. He refuses to leave her. Even when Shuri flies in her mother, her OBGYN, her doula, and a couple of the Dora Milaje and puts them all up in a hotel, Bucky sleeps by his Queen’s side.

And when, six weeks to the day that she was admitted, their sweet baby boy makes his way into the world, Bucky is by her side for that too, holding her hand and supporting her as she pushes with more strength than he ever thought any one person could possess.

Ikemba T’Challa Buchanan Barnes is beautiful. Way bigger than predicted for a thirty-weeker, and so strong, but still tiny in the grand scheme of things, and vulnerable.

Bucky barely sleeps because he can hardly stop marveling at the long fingers, the soft tuft of dark brown hair, the satiny chestnut skin. He stays up nights talking with Shuri until she passes out, then quietly reads to baby boy until the wee hours.

It’s another five weeks before they get discharged- five weeks of Shuri faithfully pumping breast milk around the clock until their baby is strong enough to nurse, five weeks of her barely even leaving his room. They’re both a wreck, The White Wolf and the Queen, trying to hold it together enough to make sure their baby boy makes it out of the NICU and back home with them where he belongs.

They can’t get out of there fast enough the day he’s finally discharged. Shuri dresses him in the tiniest little onesie made of black and gold Vibranium thread. She made it herself, embroidered the insignia of the Golden Tribe on the front, and her hand lingers as she brushes softly across it. Bucky’s chest tightens a bit as he watches her eyes squeeze shut for a moment. He knows she’s thinking of her brother.

Silent tears stream down her face as she hovers over Ikemba in his car seat. Bucky flies the Royal Talon himself, because he’s too on edge to let any of the Dora do it. He trusts them with all their lives, but he’s too fidgety to sit in the back with his family.

Home. Get them home. That’s all he wants, and his shoulders don’t settle back down into a normal position until they step onto the tarmac.

Tony calls just as they’re walking into their quarters. Interestingly enough, he calls Bucky’s phone.

“Stark?”

“Hey, daddy, how’s it goin’? You guys in safely?”

Bucky suppresses an eye roll. “Stop calling me that, it sounds gross coming from you.”

Tony laughs on the other end, and Bucky finds himself chuckling as well.

“Whatever, you like it. And you better get used to it, because once my godson learns ‘daddy’ and ‘mommy’, that’s all he’s going to want to say for a while.”

“I think we’re going with ‘baba’ and ‘mama,’ actually,” Bucky replies as he takes Ikemba out of his car seat and hands him to Shuri. He puts the phone on speaker and busies himself with putting their luggage in the closet.

Tony huffs. “You know what I mean. Anyway, how’s my girl?”

“I’m fine, Tony,” Shuri chimes in, settling in the recliner to nurse.

“I’m giving you a week, and then Pepper and I want a ton of pictures of baby boy.”

Shuri chuckles. “Of course. Give Pepper and the kids our love, okay? Well call you later in the week.”

“Alright, Your Majesty. Try to get some rest. You too, pops.”

Bucky snorts as he walks out of the bedroom and into the sitting room to give his loves some peace and quiet. He pauses briefly at the threshold, watching his wife nourish their son, his tiny little grunts and sighs practically melting him into a puddle of gratitude and adoration, before closing the door. “I’ll try. And Tony?”

“Yeah, Barnes.”

“Thank you.”

Tony hums in response. “Nothin’ to thank me for. You guys are family. Just take care of each other.”

Bucky’s chest warms, and he nods. “Of course.”

“Oh, Barnes.”

“What’s up?”

He can hear the smile in Tony’s voice as he replies, “Welcome to fatherhood.” And then the call ends.

A wide grin blooms across Bucky’s face as he walks over to the window overlooking the city. Bright, bustling, beautiful. Home. He closes his eyes and takes a real breath for the first time in three months.

After several minutes, the sweet lilt of Shuri’s voice singing a Wakandan lullaby reaches his ears and Bucky’s face hurts, he’s beaming so hard. He takes one more look at the landscape in front of him, then heads back into the bedroom to bask in the warmth of his family.

#winterprincess #royalwolf #shuri x bucky #bucky x shuri

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flowersandskeletons526 · 3 years

Text

“The Harshest Future We Could Have Imagined” - Lumity Future AU Fanfic Part 4

Luz catches up on training.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

---

Luz yelped and dodged three massive stone spires that sprung from the ground.

“Spikes?!”

Eda cackled, doubling over and almost dropping her paper and pencil. Scrambling to her feet, Luz huffed and glared at her teacher. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Amity sit on a stump and hide a laugh behind her hand.

“You know, when I imagined your training, I thought it was going to be more smelling moss and eating snow,” Luz panted.

“Oh please, I did enough of that trying to teach the new troublemaker over there.” She pointed to Amity, who rolled her eyes. “She’s the one who found that glyph.”

Luz frowned. Amity shrugged.

“Eda had me licking rocks in a cave and I angered a rock demon. It broke a stalagmite and I found the glyph inside. It was growing like tree rings.”

“And now Eda can attack me with spikes.”

“Hey, you wanted to show Willow that you know how to fight. You don’t have the same range of magic as Belos’ soldiers and you’re not ready for a staff yet, so you need to learn as many glyphs as you can and use them to fight inherent magic. You have to train outmatched because you’re going to be outmatched on the battlefield.”

“Give me a staff! Then I won’t be outmatched and I won’t have to worry about running out of paper or getting skewered!”

“You’re not ready, Luz. If you’d been here…” Eda’s voice trailed off. Luz bit her lip and glared at her feet, avoiding looking at Amity. The reminder sent a pang through her heart. Eda sighed. “Maybe it would be different. You’d complete your education and have your staff, but right now, you have to catch up. This war changed things. It changed everything.”

A hush fell over the yard. Luz nodded slowly and sighed.

“I know,” she murmured. “So let’s learn some new glyphs. How do I do the spikes?”

“What, you think you’re going to skip learning from the island? Geez, kid, how much did you forget? No, you’re going to learn the same way you used to. From little Miss Perfect, this time.”

Amity choked, face going red. “What?”

“I’m too old to be traipsing all over the Boiling Isles finding new glyphs with you. This is how it’s going to be: I’ll teach you to fight, Lily will teach you history and the inner workings of the Emperor’s coven, and Amity will train you in magic the same way I trained her.”

“Amity doesn’t use glyphs.”

“But we do.” She tapped beneath her one gray eye. “She learned glyphs with us after you left. That was one condition of learning from the strongest witch on the Boiling Isles.”

Luz looked to Amity. Amity shrugged one shoulder.

Eda clapped her hands together. “Speaking of which, that training starts today. Now. Amity, it’s up to you where you want to take her, but you’re going to be doing this every day that you have the time. Willow already agreed to start handling more of the rebellion.”

“You asked Willow for permission to let me train Luz?” Amity asked.

“No, I told her to be aware that she would be taking on more leadership responsibilities. I don’t ask permission from anyone. You know that.” Eda crossed her arms. “Luz, she does want you to fight with them. She just wants you to be ready first.”

“We all do,” Amity chimed in. She stood next to Luz, staff in one hand and the other resting on Luz’s shoulder. “You’ll get there.”

“You will. Now, you two get going. I am going to go take a nap.”

Amity passed Luz her staff as Eda disappeared into the house. “I’ve never shown you Raja, have I?”

“Not yet.”

“Take her.”

Luz took the staff and inspected the palisman sitting on top. It wasn’t simply a snarling tiger; two goat horns sprang from its head, and a pair of feathery wings was folded against its back. Luz rubbed a thumb over the tiger’s paw and turned to Amity.

“A winged tiger?”

“She found me when I was looking for a tree. I started carving her, thinking I was going to do a falcon, and then my mind went blank and she turned up.” She smirked and patted the wooden animal’s head. “I already had the codename Tiger, so it was only fitting.”

“Where did you get that name, anyway? I understand Willow and Gus being Thorn and Clone, but how did you get Tiger before you found your palisman?”

Amity chuckled wistfully, flashing her fangs. “I was wearing face paint for camouflage on a stealth mission that sort of looked like stripes. One soldier was about to find me so I tackled him and let him go but scared him half to death. He started running around saying the rebellion had a tiger demon after that. It’s on my wanted posters. I’m the ‘Tiger Demon.’”

Luz guffawed, studying the palisman once again. “That’s awesome.”

“Emira thought it was funny.” Amity’s smile disappeared. “Edric would have, I think. Before.”

Luz touched Amity’s hand. “Hey, you don’t have to think about that right now.”

“I’m always thinking about it, Luz.”

“Well, now’s your chance to not think.” She swung around the staff and stopped inches from Amity’s face, oblivious to how the shorter girl blushed. “Take me to the cave where you found the spikes!”

Amity giggled and hopped on the staff, holding out a hand. “Come on.”

Luz grinned from ear to ear. She sat behind Amity and wrapped her arms around her waist. The wooden wings on the palisman extended, just like Owlbert, and they launched into the air. Luz let out a loud, whooping laugh as they rose to the clouds, clinging to her old friend as the staff carried them over the Isles.

She rested her chin on Amity’s shoulder. “I forgot how much I missed this!”

“Not everything on the Isles is bad now,” Amity laughed. She covered Luz’s hands on her stomach with one of her own. “All the magic is still here, figurative and literal.”

Luz leaned back. She took in the rising bones of the ancient fallen giant, the wispy yellow clouds and purple sky, the oddly colored trees. Between the great fossilized islands below her and the beautiful witch wrapped in her arms, a double edged blade of elation and longing struck her heart. She held Amity tighter.

Amity stiffened and tried to ignore Luz’s head resting between her shoulder blades.

“I missed this place, Amity,” she sighed. “The human world is my home, but… I think I always belonged here. With you.”

Amity gripped her staff tighter. “With me,” she mumbled under her breath.

“What?”

“I-I said probably!”

Luz lifted her head. “You think so?”

Amity sighed. “Yeah, I do. Even though life’s gone to shit, I… I mean, we, we really, well… needed you. Here. W-We needed you here.”

Luz smiled and gave Amity a quick squeeze. “I wish I was. Do you really think Willow will let me fight once I get back into magic?”

“She will. Willow’s just worried right now. Worried about you, worried about the rebellion. I’m a commander but she’s the real leader. She’s always been.”

“Because she tried to assassinate Belos?”

“She almost succeeded. I’m just glad she got out of there before he hurt her worse than the scar on her face. But, we did learn one thing from it.”

“What?”

“He bleeds.”

Luz shuddered, then startled. “Oh! I forgot!” She reached under her shirt and retrieved a small triangular pendant, strung on a fraying cord. She handed the souvenir to Amity. “I’ve kept this since we rescued Eda. I want to give it to Willow now. Show her I’m ready and I’ve been ready.”

“What is it?”

“A piece of Belos’ mask. I hit him in the face with an ice spike.”

Amity chuckled. “Of course, you did.”

“Do you think Willow will reconsider when I show her this?”

“It depends, Luz. That was a long time ago and you are out of practice. It’s a new world.”

“I know. That’s all you guys keep telling me.”

Amity sighed but didn’t press further. Luz huffed, closing her eyes and leaning on Amity until they began their descent.

They landed outside the mouth of a large cave. Thin stone spines hung from the ceiling and sprouted from the floor, gashed with deep claw marks. Luz shuddered at the thought of what could have made those. Amity nodded into the cave and sparked a jet of pink fire in her palm, leading the way into the depths. Luz followed, listening to their echoing footsteps and the click of Amity’s staff against the stone floor.

They weaved between the rocks by the light of Amity’s fireball. After about a half hour of walking, Amity glanced over at Luz. A tiny smile graced her lips.

“Y’know,” she said, “when Eda first brought me down here and started training me with her methods, I thought she was insane. Well, more so than normal. Compared to Lilith’s teaching, it was a little, well…”

“Unorthodox?” Luz suggested.

“That’s it. I didn’t think I would ever learn about magic by licking rocks and eating snow.”

“Yeah, learning from Eda was always a little odd. It teaches you a lot, though.”

“It taught you how to steal my wand and anger a Slitherbeast.”

Luz laughed in surprise. “You remember that?”

“Of course, I remember that. That’s when we made the Azura book club. I’d never forget that.”

Luz smiled fondly, thinking of Amity’s blushing face and the twins teasing her…

Her heart sank. The twins. Edric.

Titan, Edric.

“Luz, are you listening?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry. Spaced out. What did you say?”

“I asked if you were ready to get the glyph.”

“Yeah! Okay, what do you want me to do? Fire magic? Karate kick the stalagmite in half to get it?”

She struck a pose as Amity tilted her head. “I have no idea what a karate is. No, Eda told me to train you exactly how she trained me. Which means that we are going to be using that to get the glyph.”

Amity drew another spell circle and sent a large light orb into the air. A ways down the tunnel, the light reflected off shiny brown scales. Luz sucked in a sharp breath, and Amity put a finger to her lips. A six legged creature faintly resembling a large dog lay sleeping between the spikes. Armored scales puffed and flattened as it breathed, and one large eye was situated in the center of its long face. Haphazard fangs poked out of its mouth. It kicked one leg in its sleep, which Luz found reminiscent of King and by extension very cute.

Nudging her with her elbow, Amity smiled at Luz and slowly drew another circle as she spoke. “When I did this,” she whispered, “I accidentally stepped on it. I’m not doing that again, so we’re going to improvise.”

“Improvise how?”

She completed the circle. A firework blasted from her hand, whistling down the tunnel, and exploded on a far wall. Luz covered her ears as the explosion echoed. The rock demon jolted awake. Its single eye fixed on them.

“Uh, Amity? What now?”

The creature roared.

“Run!”

They took off back towards the mouth of the tunnel with the monster crashing after them. Luz screamed as Amity laughed, the creature snarling and snapping at their heels. Barely managing to outpace the rock demon, they hurdled over spikes and ducked low hanging ceilings by the light of Amity’s fire spell. Luz stared at her old friend in terrified shock.

“This is how you learned the spell?!” she squawked.

“More or less!” Amity replied.

“How did you not die!”

“I almost did a few times! Training with Eda, remember?”

“What do we do now?”

“Try to get it to hit a spike!”

Luz glanced behind her at the demon. It glowered at her savagely. She pushed Amity’s shoulder.

“Go left!”

Whistling to the demon, Luz grabbed its attention as Amity split off. She weaved between spikes and watched the demon do the same. A towering stone loomed ahead of her.

“Luz, look out!”

She leapt to the top of the spine at the very last second.

The demon jumped too late.

It slammed head first into the rock with a thundering crack. Luz jumped aside as half of it came crashing to the floor, shattering into pieces. Amity grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back while the rock demon staggered to its feet. It shook its head, whimpering, and slunk back into the midnight depths of the cave. Luz let out a tired, relieved laugh as Amity dropped her arm. The witch stepped over to the broken spike and gestured to the now flat surface revealed.

“Come get your glyph,” she said, smiling.

Luz grinned and stepped up beside her. Amity was right; the glyph sat inside the stone like a ring in a tree. Fumbling for her paper, Luz hastily copied it down and slapped her new glyph on the ground. Amity yanked her back as the paper glowed.

A thin, sharp spike shot up and smashed into the ceiling. Luz burst out cheering while Amity crossed her arms and smiled.

“Spikes! I can do spikes now!” She jumped into Amity’s arms. Amity stiffened in shock, face going red. Luz pulled back, still holding Amity as she grinned down at her, Amity’s hands resting against her chest. “Thank you so much!”

“As long as you keep them away from me,” Amity chuckled.

Luz smiled sheepishly, remembering their early rivalry days. “Hey, you tried to squish me with an abomination.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

They smiled, reminiscing, holding each other in gentle silence. Luz dragged a hand down Amity’s arm as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Her fingers bounced over a long, raised scar running down her bicep. She frowned and looked down at the strip of pale tissue. Amity looked away.

“What’s this from?”

“An old fight. It was just a flesh wound, it wasn’t anything serious.”

“It looks serious.”

“It wasn’t, really. I’m okay now, anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

Luz bowed her head with a sigh. She pulled Amity closer and rested her chin on her shoulder. Amity disentangled her arms, wrapping them around Luz’s neck as tears pricked her eyes. Luz rubbed Amity’s back as she closed her eyes.

“You have no idea how much I missed you,” the human mumbled. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you guys. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise to you.”

“What promise?”

“I’m your fearless champion, remember?”

“Luz, that was for Grom.”

“I meant it for more than Grom.”

Amity held her tighter. “You had to go back. You know you did.”

“There’s nothing for me in the human world besides my mom. I should’ve stayed here.”

“Well, you’re back now. That’s all I care about.”

Luz sighed and buried her face against Amity’s neck. Amity, hardly able to think with Luz’s warm breath on her skin, carded her shaking fingers through the human’s hair. She couldn’t remember how many times she had imagined this, imagined Luz in her arms, holding her tight amidst the disaster their world had become. She shuddered and let herself relax into Luz’s embrace.

“I can hardly believe you’re here,” she admitted without thinking. “I missed you for fucking years, Luz. I didn’t know if you were ever coming back, or if you were safe in the human world, I didn’t know anything.”

“I’m sorry. I should’ve been here with you, Amity.”

“Don’t apologize.”

A huge roar split the quiet. The two jumped apart in time to see the rock demon barreling at them again.

“Ah okay heartwarming discussions can wait until later!”

----

The next few weeks continued like that. Luz would follow Amity all over the Isles, retracing the years of training she missed from Eda. With each new glyph she added to her repertoire, she added new memories to make up for all the years she missed, most of them to do with a certain golden eyed witch.

Amity, laughing beneath a forcefield that Luz summoned in the boiling rain.

Amity, covered in abomination goo after another failed attempt to find a glyph in it.

Amity sitting in the sunlight.

Amity grinning at her.

It was amazing until Amity was called away to lead the rebellion. She would disappear for a day or two, sometimes longer, only to come back without an explanation and a myriad of new scars. She didn’t talk to Luz after; she didn’t talk to anyone, save a quick hushed briefing with Eda and Lilith before disappearing into her room.

Luz left her alone when she got like that, after a few warning looks from Eda and a fumbling, patchy, halfhearted explanation from Lilith. But in the end, Luz got the message herself. Amity’s haunted, shadowed eyes were explanation enough.

The outbursts were worse. Out of nowhere, any little inconvenience would have Amity shouting and cursing at the top of her lungs, eyes alight with pain and rage. Only Eda and King could calm her down when she got like that. Luz watched sadly as Amity curled up on her sleeping bag, hiding her face in trembling hands, with King draped over her back with sad eyes.

Sighing and shutting the door quietly, Luz left them alone and went to sit between Eda and Lilith on the couch. Eda nudged her with her elbow and passed her a mug. Luz took a swig and almost spat it out.

“Oh gross, what is that?” she coughed.

“Apple blood.”

“How do you drink that?”

“It’s an acquired taste.”

“Everything you consume is an acquired taste,” Lilith chimed in, sipping a cup of tea.

“Hey, remember when you cursed me?”

“Oh for the love of the Titan!”

Luz managed a tired giggle as the sisters squabbled over her head. Her grin disappeared as soon as it arrived, and she slumped into the cushions. Eda noticed and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Kid, what’s wrong?”

“Does this always happen now?” Luz asked.

Eda sighed and leaned back, sipping her apple blood. Lilith cleared her throat.

“Amity has seen too much for someone your age,” she began. “They all have. It has taken a toll on them, and, for Amity, at least, this is how it manifests. Just let her work through and she’ll be fine.”

“How long has she been doing this?”

“Since her first few battles. The big ones, anyway,” Eda answered. “They’ve all got their own way of coping. This is Amity’s.”

Luz sighed and looked over her shoulder in the direction of their shared room. “I don’t get it. She seems so happy when we’re training and then out of nowhere, this.”

“Huh, wonder,” Eda snorted. Lilith shot her a look, and the younger Clawthorne turned aside. Luz frowned at her feet.

Lilith tapped Luz’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go talk to her?”

“Weren’t you two just saying to leave her alone?”

“We said that this is how she copes. She’s never been all that open to us, but she might say more to you.”

“I’m going to talk to her.”

“Luz,” Eda called, “don’t push.”

“Okay.”

She knocked lightly on the door to their room and stepped inside. Amity was curled into a ball on her bed with King laying on her. King jumped up to meet her, hopping into her arms and climbing onto her shoulder.

“She hasn’t said anything since she got home,” he whispered. “It keeps getting worse.”

Luz gently pushed him off. “Hey, Amity,” she said gently.

“What?” Amity mumbled into her hands.

“Do you want to talk?”

“About what?”

“Anything.” Luz sat down on her own bed beside Amity. The witch uncovered her eyes, and Luz offered a smile. Amity sat up.

“Did Eda and Lilith send you up here?”

“Not necessarily. I wanted to check up on you.”

“I’m fine, Luz.”

“Really? You don’t seem fine.”

“I am.”

Luz sighed. “Okay.”

Amity pulled her knees to her chest and sighed. Luz sat back, idly drumming her fingers on her legs. Amity hid her face.

“Three people,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“There were three casualties today. Not dead, but too hurt to fight. One has a broken leg, another was cut to shreds, and the third…” Amity shook her head as her voice trailed off. “There was so much blood, Luz. There’s always so much blood. I can’t stand to be in that fucking healer’s building just because it stinks so fucking badly. I can’t stop smelling blood…”

Luz touched Amity’s arm. When she didn’t pull away, she wrapped her arms around her and flopped down onto the bed. Amity stiffened, ready to thrash her way out of Luz’s grip, but the gentle hand that found hers calmed her within a moment. She screwed her eyes shut and tried not to cry as Luz pressed her face against the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She pressed her front against Amity’s back. “I wish I was there to help.”

Amity shook her head. “I never want you to see shit like this.”

“I’m sorry you have to.” She pressed closer. “Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Good. Promise me you’ll be safe if I can’t be out there with you.”

“I don’t need you to protect me, Luz.”

Amity’s scroll buzzed. She sat up out of Luz’s arms to look at the message and frowned.

“What is it?” Luz asked.

She stood. “Willow wants to see us.”

“Us?”

“Yes, both of us. Let’s go.”

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #amity blight #willow park #gus porter #eda clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #king toh #emperor belos #future au #rebellion #tw blood #tw violence #lumity

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