#he was aiming for connection but skipped straight to soulmates | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

comebackassholes · 4 years

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I’ve been lost in the Sterek and Stucky rabbit hole for months and just got back to reading Larry fics last week so here are fics I’ve read and loved!

🍉 What Side Of Love Are You On? by @fallinglikethis Ever since Harry finally made the decision to come out to his mother as bisexual, she’s been foisting women on him left and right, determined it’s just a phase. But when she puts out a personal ad to find the perfect partner for her son, things really get complicated. Suddenly, Harry’s heart is being pulled in two very different directions. On one side is the sweet, caring woman he has fun with, but doesn’t know his mother chose for him. On the other is a man who seems to be his mother’s worst nightmare, but makes Harry’s heart flutter in ways he’s never felt before. When all is said and done, maybe they’ll all learn that when there is no clear path to go down, the best option is to follow your heart. A Because I Said So Au with a bisexual twist.

🍉 Say Something by @kingsofeverything At fifty years old and recently divorced, Omega Harry Styles isn't interested in dating. When his doctor suggests a heat and rut matching service, he signs up out of necessity. It’s the only use he has for an Alpha in his life. Twenty-eight-year-old Alpha Louis Tomlinson aims to change that.

🍉 Missed Connection by @littlelouishiccups Soulmate AU where your soulmate’s first words to you are tattooed on your skin. With a boring and generic soul mark like Hi, Harry is pessimistic he’ll ever find his soulmate or that he’ll realize it when he meets them. But he could always have it worse, like his new friend Louis who had a drunken one night stand with his soulmate a few years ago and woke up the next morning alone.

🍉 It Feels Different When You’re With Me by Rearviewdreamer Harry fell in love with sign language as a kid. He never imagined the first love of his life would lead him straight to his second.

🍉 come as you are by @aliensingucci “I think it could be like this all the time,” Harry says. “I know it doesn’t make sense but I think you should consider it. I could make you happy if you let me.” louis is a professor of literature at oxford and harry is his newest and most eager protege. both are caught in a story about forbidden love, loss and second chances, in which one is on the brink of heartbreak and the other comes along when he's needed most.

🍉 Untamed Hearts by @laynefaire It could have been the heat of the summer sun; it might have been the silvered sheen of an early harvest moon. If he dug deep enough, Liam could find every reason ever needed to explain away what happened. In the end, though, it all came down to two meddling friends, a touch of Prince, a bit of Keats, and the moon over the ocean. Its a recipe for disaster. Or love. Probably love.

🍉 i must admit i thought i'd like to make you mine by @disgruntledkittenface Louis fell apart when her ex broke up with her and moved across the country. Just as she’s starting to move on, Zayn comes back to town for their mutual friends’ wedding – with a new girlfriend as her plus one. Blindsided and scrambling to save face, Louis lets herself get talked into a fake relationship with her new friend Harry. Their arrangement makes Louis feel pathetic and embarrassed, but it’s only going to last a few weeks. She just has to get through the wedding – what could happen?

🍉 Follow Your Arrow by @bitter-leaf Harry was the golden child, blessed in every way; Niall was the charming miscreant, a bad boy; Liam was the future-son-in-law parents of daughters dreamt of, and Zayn was the kid parents wished was their son. But Louis, Harry thought, Louis was the special one. It's senior year and everything is about to change.

🍉 Front porch and one more kiss by @femstyles A goodnight kiss on a front porch

🍉 We Had Everything by @lightwoodsmagic “You know Harry’s coming, yeah?” Louis’ fingers twitched, faltering where he was straightening the knot in his tie as he tried to ignore the false nonchalance in Zayn’s voice. He had no idea how he missed the name on the invite list, how he skipped over the initials on the small gifts, didn’t notice the elegant swirl of Harry’s name inked onto an emerald green place card. Or, Louis and Harry fell apart, and Louis' never forgiven himself. He gets a second chance at Zayn and Liam's wedding.

🍉 Live a Thousand Lifetimes by @laynefaire It’s 2025. After secretly writing and producing their first album in ten years, One Direction is weeks away from releasing their first new single and announcing a world tour. With the whirlwind about to begin again, Liam re-evaluates the last ten years - the fame, the money, the people who changed his life forever - and the person who walked away.

🍉 Time Passed by coffinofachimera Louis struggles with their relationship as Harry grows into his identity.

#fic rec #28th appreciation

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miraculouslycool · 4 years

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Rae Rewatches Miraculous Ladybug

Season 1: Dark Cupid

Rose is me about love when I'm reading fanfics

Max is me about love in real life

I wish I had Adrien's photographic memory Part 2

But maybe he was listening cause he's a romantic sap

I love how happy Marinette looks that Adrien didn't get caught

Why....is Nathaniel carrying a whiteboard down the stairs? How did he not get caught?

Son no!! Your poem is beautiful!

Adrien only signed that poster to shut Chloe up

That poem is the cheesiest thing ever

I love it.

"There are plenty of girls with dark hair and blue eyes" Oh Kagami.....(okay maybe not the blue eyes part but still)

How did Tikki pinch Marinette she has no fingers lmao

Kim and Max's friendship is amazing! Love that he did all that high level research just to help him out. What a bro.

"Love is like a baseball game, right? You have a strategy or you'll strike out, if you aim right, you'll hit it out of the ballparks! SCORE!"

Why does that actually make sense

"What a lovely metaphor!" "Meta-who?" Kim you himbo

So, Max knew it was Chloe and still did it?? What a bro.

Marikim friendship. Warms the heart

I like how invested Max is in Kim's love life

I mean, Alya is advising Marinette and he's just looking after Kim with that dopey smile

The Chronicles of the Unsigned Note continues

I really wish sometimes the show would stop treating Adrien as a prize to be won among girls. Actually more the fandom than the show

"Uh she's not crying enough" skjskslals

'Cher Adrien' is a good way to start

Dorkasaurus

Alya is such a good friend

"Don't forget to sign it!"

"So she's got eyes, arms, legs, big deal!"

Adrien looks so done

Plagg's baby voice lmao

I love the contrasts between Marinette and Adrien!! Marinette confesses indirectly through a letter, and Adrien just wants to straight up spit it out.

"Ugh, gross! You're making me lose my appetite!" *Swallows cheese* "Almost"

"Bill it to Daddykins, I mean uh, Mr. Bourgeois"

This episode has the funniest dialogue I swear

Chloe never hung up the call, so that poor assistant over the phone probably heard Kim's public humiliation

That was just plain cruel

*skips Hawkmoth monologue*

"Day of love and Day of fools" I'm pretty sure the day of fools falls on Gabriel's birthday

*skips two more Hawkmoth monologues*

Candy apples, nice foreshadowing!

"Since when did she start texting us?" Since when do you have Chloe's number?

"What a witch!" One letter away from disaster

Marinette is a mood

But she also needs to stop transforming behind benches

Why does Chloe need a 24k toilet

Sabrina can lift people that easily?

Just between you and me she should have been given a miraculous

You know, I think it's very important to note that Kim isn't upset that Chloe rejected him or isn't pursuing him, just that she humiliated him. Nice job.

Always so dramatic Gabriel

How did Dark Cupid not see her? He's literally up in the air!

THE LADYNOIR TENSION IS REAL

SHE DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO STOP HIM OR TELL HIM THAT AN AKUMA IS AROUND

HE ALWAYS HUGS HER WHEN HE PROTECTS HER

Okay they could have chosen a better word than 'loathe'

Dumbmoth is at it again, just grab his ring, it's right there

Does he have to shoulder his stick like that, it's not appealing except when his son does it

"Everyone would love to get their hands on it!" Wtf Chloe don't leave your gold out on the streets

I love how she dragged Chloe out lmaooo

See, shouldering of staffs is only appealing when Adrien does it

"Because hate conquers all!" That's not what you said this morning

I LOVE HOW HER MIND IMMEDIATELY GOES FROM TRUE LOVE TO KISSING HIM

SHE DOESN'T EVEN CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF YOU KNOW, THAT SHE DOESN'T 'LOVE' HIM??

I SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU LADYBUG

And this is before Glaciator??! Canonically isn't she supposed to not know that he loves her?

"Come on, kitty, just a peck!" "GET BACK YOU SAVAGE"

Why are Chloe's meltdowns the funniest thing ever

"Don't worry, I'm not looking forward to it either." MHHHMMMHMMM

Bug-eyes

So Dark Cupid's arrows make someone the opposite of who they are, so Chat casually talking about how murdering someone with Cataclysm would be like is the equivalent of his normal self being terrified of his power's consequences if someone were to abuse it.

Why are they just standing there?

That was too close

Did she just bounce on the top of his head?

The lucky charm is pretty straightforward this time too

Don't ever pause in between the time when Chat Noir pins Ladybug to the ground

"Finally I'll find out who you are, Ladybug!" His spelled version is doing things that he would never do if he were in his right mind

I REMEMBER BEING TORN BETWEEN SCREAMING ABOUT THE KISS AND WONDERING HOW THIS IS IN A KIDS SHOW

Also I don't think anyone was expecting a kiss this early in the show

Ladybug: "Just a peck!" Also Ladybug: *makes out with him for 10 seconds*

He's still under the influence of the akuma (his lips are still black) and yet he just melts into her

SHE SMILED AT HIM AFTER SHE PULLED AWAY

*replays kiss 100 times* okay I'm done

*replays it one more time* SHE HELD IT FOR SO LONG

The Dark Cupid kiss is still my favourite

He got out of her space the minute the spell wore off, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to pick him up seconds later

How did he not cataclysm his chest?

I love how quickly he caught onto her plan despite having been spelled for the better part of the battle

How is he not more suspicious about her talking about kissing?

Damn it, I wish she told him, Prime Queen is too far away!

"Even with all this hate everywhere, love still wins!" YEAH YOU JUST BROKE A CURSE WITH TRUE LOVE'S KISS,HUN.

I need to stop over analysing

Adrien the Disney Princess

Why did Plagg chose to throw that specific one at Adrien?

Connect the dots, Adrien; you threw your poem away at school, in your CLASS'S bin, so someone in your class has a crush on you! God Chat Blanc is so so far awaaayy

"Anyone who writes as sickeningly sweet as you must be your soulmate" I dare you to watch this and not claim that Marinette and Adrien are made for each other.

He's so dramatic my god

The Chronicles of the Unsigned Note continues.

#miraculous ladybug #ml rewatch #ml season 1 #Rae Rewatches Miraculous Ladybug

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sofuckingchuffed · 6 years

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Soulmate AU + heroic sacrifice + Barisi

Read it on AO3

Unlike everyone else, Sonny hated the mark on his arm. He hated the idea that fate had determined when he would meet the person he should spend the rest of his life with, his soulmate. He could only be grateful it was so far in the future as he went to church and smiled and listened to talk of soulmates and God bringing people together.

More than that, he was terrified that either his soulmate would be a woman and he would feel nothing for her and be forced to live a lie, or his soulmate would be a man and he would have to finally come out to his family. He’d known he was gay for a long time, had finally accepted it with the help of his priest, but he couldn’t let his family know. The way they spoke of people like him… he couldn’t bear the thought of them knowing.

With each transfer through each borough, he grew more and more terrified that his soulmate would be a colleague and not someone completely random. He longed to cover it up, try and forget that he’d already worked out what time and date he would meet his soulmate, but he knew he couldn’t. He knew even if he tried his own family would never let him forget. His mother had had that day marked in the calendar from the moment they came home from the hospital, and though it was distant, though Sonny would be older than they would have liked, they still smiled, they still reminded him of it when he was feeling down, when another relationship failed.

His stomach churned as he walked in for his first day at Manhattan SVU, but he tried not to let it show. He thought that maybe if he just dove straight in, buried himself in work right off the bat, then he would be too busy to notice he’d met his soulmate.

It didn’t matter how many times he’d heard about the blinding flash of pain before another heart seemed to beat alongside your own, jolting and uncomfortable. It didn’t matter that he knew he was to expect a hyper-awareness of the other person, always on his mind. He was holding onto the hope that if he tried hard enough he could ignore it. He knew there had been cases of soulmates not connecting, of their timers just running out and them never having felt anything, not knowing who their soulmate was supposed to have been.

He was grateful for being thrown instantly into a case, grateful to meet all of the squad members early in the day, before his clock ticked down. And then they were off, chasing leads, racing through paperwork, meeting what felt like a million people, and it wasn’t until some time in the afternoon that Sonny realized he’d felt nothing.

He glanced down at his wrist, his clock reading a big fat zero, and he felt relief wash over him in waves. He’d done it. He’d successfully avoided his soulmate.

At that moment his phone buzzed, ‘Home’ flashing up on the screen, and dread clouded his relief as he realized he would have to explain to his family, his church, that whoever his soulmate was didn’t matter, that they had clearly rejected each other by accident, that he had been so busy on the job it could have been any number of people, victims, witnesses, perps, police. He swallowed hard and declined the call like the coward he knew he was.

That night he dreamed of their ADA, of a tan suit he could slowly remove layer by layer while the ADA smirked at him, talked dirty to him, encouraged him. He woke in a cold sweat, cursing himself for, once again, finding himself attracted to a colleague.

He couldn’t help wanting to show off and gain Barba’s attention. He was sharp and funny and rude and intelligent, and his suits fit snug in all the right places, and Sonny found himself absolutely smitten.

Except Barba seemed to hate him. Even as Barba slowly softened towards him, let him shadow on trials, offered kind words of encouragement and congratulations on passing the bar, Sonny always felt he was kept at arm's length. And maybe it was for the best.

Sonny nodded to Barba’s wrist one night while helping him go over paperwork. “Who’s the lucky woman?”

Barba frowned before glancing down at his wrist with a sigh. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Did you wanna know?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Barba snapped, but there was an underlying sadness there that told Sonny all he needed to know.

“I don’t know who mine is, either,” he said softly.

Barba looked up at him, eyes searching for a moment, and Sonny felt his stomach flip under his gaze. It was always piercing, penetrating, like Barba could see right into his soul. But this time it felt different. This time it was like Barba was truly seeing him for the first time, not looking to snark or snipe, not looking to tease or taunt, just…looking.

Sonny’s heart thudded in his chest, tongue feeling thick in his mouth. He wanted to look away, wanted to go back to what he was working on, but it was almost as though he couldn’t, and before he could think about it he was moving, sitting so close to Barba their knees touched.

Barba’s gaze softened for a second, and Sonny felt transfixed. He was hyper aware of his own heartbeat. He felt so close to giving in to what he wanted, and for the first time, he thought maybe Barba wanted that too.

The moment between them shattered at the sound of a knock at the door, and both of them sprang apart in an instant. Sonny felt his heart lodge somewhere in his throat as Benson entered Barba’s office, and he forced himself to focus on the trial papers once more, willing the heat on his face to disappear.

For the next few weeks, every time Sonny saw Barba his heart skipped a beat. There was an ache growing inside him, a desperate need for release he couldn’t get, building and building, and he was sure one day he would snap.

He dreamed of Barba almost constantly, always waking with a buzzing headache that faded by the time he got to work.

“Barba,” he shouted, running to catch up as Barba beelined for the elevator.

“Detective,” Barba muttered with a small smile, barely glancing up at him.

Sonny had a plan. He figured if he just got it out of his system, slept with Barba, maybe he could finally let him go. He wasn’t sure it would work, but it was all he had.

“Was, er, wondering if you wanted to grab a drink after work?” He rubbed the back of his neck as he felt his face grow hot.

“A drink after work,” Barba repeated back to him, looking at him properly. He smirked, eyes raking up and down Sonny’s body before settling on his face. “Okay.”

“You...really?”

“Why not?” Sonny was sure Barba was teasing him, and he felt his face grow hotter. “Forlini’s, 8pm.”

“It’s a date,” Sonny said before he could stop himself, internally cringing at his choice of words.

As his shift ticked to a close, Sonny considered canceling, saying he had to pull overtime, or that he was simply too tired. The buzzing was back, vibrating the base of his skull, growing with intensity. He knew this was a stupid idea, knew it would be insane to sleep with a colleague, especially one he worked so closely with. And if Barba rejected him, if Barba wasn’t interested, then Sonny would be back at square one anyway, having been humiliated for his efforts.

He had just been about to send off an apology when the man himself strode into the office, stopping by Sonny’s desk.

“I had to see Liv,” Barba said softly, leaning into Sonny’s space almost conspiratorially. “I thought we could leave together if that works for you?”

“I still have another 40 minutes left of my shift,” he protested weakly.

“I’m sure you’ll be the one waiting for me, Detective. I’ll be a while.”

Before he could protest, Barba tapped his desk and strode off, leaving Sonny gaping after him, heart pounding almost painfully in his chest. He couldn’t deny his excitement, though. Underneath all the fear and uncertainty and dread, there was now a thrumming anticipation, a knowledge thay Barba was actually looking forward to this.

Time ticked by painfully slowly as Sonny finished off his paperwork and waited for Barba, but eventually, he strode out of Benson’s office, expression unreadable.

“Walk you out, Counselor?” He asked with a grin, and Barba returned it with a tired but genuine smile.

As they stepped outside Sonny was hit by a sudden pang in his chest, fear blooming behid his ribs, though he couldn’t, for the life of him, work out why. It was as though everything had slowed down around him.

“Are you okay?” Barba’s voice sounded distant and far away, like his ears had been stuffed with cotton.

He could hear the deep rumble of a car headed towards them, could hear muttering, the click of a gun as the window wound down.

Sonny’s heart leaped to his throat, panic engulfing him as, in slow motion, the gun aimed right at Barba, who was completely oblivious, looking at Sonny with concern.

“Get down,” he heard himself shout, and the world sped up again, rushing back into full focus as he lunged at Barba.

A searing pain filled his head, his vision whiting out completely, and for a moment he felt sure he was going to die. His heart seemed to stutter in his chest, beating an impossible rhythm, and he felt choked by it.

“Sonny,” a voice called, somewhere beside his head, and he forced his eyes open.

Barba was beneath him, looking pale and panicked, hands running over Sonny’s body like his life depended on it. Sonny groaned, heart still beating erratically, and tried to lift himself up.

“No, no, no, don’t move,” Barba muttered, pulling him close. “Don’t move. You’re gonna be okay.”

Sonny frowned, ready to ask Barba what he meant, but then Barba pressed firmly on his side, and he felt another flash of pain, different to the one he’d felt before, and he became distantly aware that he’d been shot,not in the head, but in his side, as a wetness spread across his shirt under Barba’s hand.

“You’re okay,” Barba whispered, but his voice shook and his eyes were full of tears, and Sonny was sure he’d never seen that look on Barba’s face before.

“‘Course I am,” he croaked out, but he could feel his body growing tired, resting his weight more and more on top of Barba.

He tried to focus on breathing, on the beat of his heart, but it still felt off, too slow and too fast at the same time, and as hands grabbed him, pulling him onto a stretcher, the last thing he saw was Barba’s tear-stained face, and then the world faded to black.

Sonny blinked awake to the sound of beeping, eyes adjusting to the blinding white around him. He shifted a little, groaning at the pull in his side.

“Hey, don’t move,” Barba whispered from beside him, and Sonny turned to look, confused.

“What are you doing here?” He croaked out.

“You’re an idiot,” Barba muttered, but there was no bite to his words. He just looked exhausted and pale, and Sonny’s heart clenched.

It was then that he became aware of his heartbeat, still unfamiliar and wrong somehow, and panic slowly clawed its way up his throat.

“You feel it too?” Barba whispered, placing his hand over Sonny’s heart.

It was then that it dawned on him that it wasn’t his heart beating strangely, it was simply that there were two hearts beating alongside each other. He took a moment, swallowing hard before nodding, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at Barba.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, turning his face away.

Barba sighed, removing his hand, and Sonny wanted to reach out and grab it, pull it back, hold it tight, but he didn’t dare. They were quiet for a moment, and Sonny tried to find solace in the steady thrum of Barba’s heart, just a little out of time with his own.

“I won’t pretend to understand,” Barba said slowly, quietly. “I’m sure you have your reasons for rejecting me, but—“

“I wouldn’t if I’d known,” Sonny blurted out, surprised by his own words. “I’m sure I fell for you from the moment I met you.”

“Then why—“

“I was scared. I so desperately didn’t want to know who my soulmate was that I unconsciously rejected you.” Sonny paused, taking a deep breath before forcing himself to look at Barba. “I’m not sure I wouldn’t have even if I knew it was you.”

Barba schooled his expression, and Sonny was sure he could physically see the walls going up. He reached for Barba’s hand, needing him to understand.

“I’m glad it’s you,” he whispered.

“It took getting shot for you to want me,” Barba muttered, but took Sonny’s hand anyway. “I’m not sure that’s want, so much as fear.”

Sonny shook his head, wincing as the motion jostled his body. “I’ve been dreaming about you for months. I can’t get you out of my head. I chose you before I knew the universe had chosen you for me. I asked you out, remember?”

Barba’s lips twitched up in a small smile and he lowered his head. “So that was a date?”

Sonny snorted. “Really? The great Rafael Barba can’t tell when someone’s asking him out on a date?”

Barba was silent for a moment, thumb brushing Sonny’s hand lightly as he thought.

“I felt the same,” he whispered after a while. “At first I hated you. For absolutely no reason. Maybe it was my soul’s reaction to rejection. But over time you...ever since that night in my office, our almost moment, I thought about the potentials.”

Sonny squeezed Barba’s hand, willing him to look up, but he didn’t.

“I never thought you’d want that,” Barba admitted. “Good little Catholic like yourself.”

Sonny’s stomach seemed to bottom out at that, reality setting in, and he squeezed Barba’s hand again. “It’s not ideal,” he acknowledged. “But we’ll work it out.”

Barba finally looked up again, searching Sonny’s face before pressing a soft kiss to Sonny’s forehead. “We’ll work it out,” he agreed.

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#barisi #rafael barba #sonny carisi #barba x carisi #soulmate au #law and order svu #fanfiction #my writing #prompts #drabbles #lmao this ain't no drabble #this got way too long but oh well #jezzaslew

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raendown · 6 years

Link

Pairing: HashiramaMadara Word count: 2099 Soulmate au: The one where when your soulmate is injured your skin will grow flowers in the same place

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

Chapter 109: HashiramaMadara

In a drawer in his home Madara had a box. The box was beautiful: handcrafted of the finest wood, carved and painted with intricate details creating the scene of a beautiful garden. And inside this box Madara kept a little garden of his own, a single petal from every flower which had ever blossomed on his skin. When he was very young his mother had given him the box and told him to keep only his most precious possessions within. Inside his box, Madara kept the pieces of Hashirama which belonged only to him.

He couldn’t truly prove that Hashirama was his soulmate; at least, not yet. Keeping track of the exact locations of Hashirama’s wounds was made difficult by the constant movement whenever they battled. Stopping in the middle of a fight to see if the other’s cuts and bruises matched up with the blossoms he always found under his clothing after these encounters wasn’t exactly smart, either. While he was certain that his old friend would have laid down arms if asked, Madara wasn’t so certain that the other members of either clan would do so. For most of his life he had made do with only being mostly sure.

Now he stood at the edge of a river eyeing the man standing tall on the opposite bank. Hashirama grinned at him with all the same brilliance as he had when they were children, setting both hands on his hips in exactly the same way, and Madara wondered how he would react to an active Sharingan committing this moment to memory.

“I have to admit,” Hashirama called across the lazy flow of water. “You kind of surprised me yesterday. I know I keep asking but you’ve never shown any signs of accepting peace between us.”

“Hmph. Peace was my dream too, remember?”

“Yeah but then you hit puberty and you never grew out of your grumpy phase.”

Madara scowled, not appreciating the teasing at all. “I did not have a grumpy phase! Why did I bother to come speak to you if you’re just going to – never mind then! I’m leaving!”

“Ah! No! Madara wait!”

Ignoring the other man’s cries, he turned away and stomped towards the trees. Maybe he should rethink peace if Hashirama was going to be acting like such a classless idiot already. He made it perhaps halfway across the small clearing before Hashirama’s feet alighted just behind him and a large hand grabbed his wrist, forcing him to turn back. When he met his old friend’s eyes Hashirama was wibbling his lower lip as though he’d never grown out of childhood.

“You wouldn’t really leave, would you?”

“Well maybe if you could stop being dumb for five seconds I would consider staying,” he shot back.

“Don’t be mean! I was just teasing!”

“Hmph. You can take your teasing and stuff it. When you asked me to meet you I thought you wanted to talk about the treaty, not poke fun at me just because you can now.”

Letting his pout fall away, Hashirama squeezed the wrist still held in his grasp. “Nah, I just wanted to see you. It’s been so long since back then. This is nice, isn’t it? Us being friends again?”

“Who said we were friends again?” Madara grumbled. Over the years he’d forgotten just how open Hashirama was with his emotions and how awkward it always made him feel. He wasn’t the best at handling emotions himself; usually he fell back on covering up his missteps with standoffishness and haughty growling.

Luckily for him, Hashirama seemed to have retained the ability to tell when he didn’t really mean what he said and plough onwards with a cheerful smile. He was doing so now, chuckling freely and not seeming to notice that he was swaying their linked arms back and forth. Madara put in a good effort to make sure it didn’t show on his face how much he wished he could shift his arm and slide the hand on his wrist downward to link their fingers together.

Showing such vulnerability when he wasn’t sure what the response would be was absolutely unacceptable. He didn’t even have irrefutable proof that Hashirama was, in fact, his soulmate let alone interested in a relationship of some sort.

How pathetic of him to wish for such things.

“Are we just going to stand around here all day? You’re the one who dragged me out here, apparently without any real purpose. Entertain me or something.”

“Do you want to skip rocks?”

Madara blinked in surprise. He felt as though he should have expected that but he truly hadn’t. After a few moments of gaping like an idiot he huffed and grumbled out his acquiescence. Skipping rocks together after all this time actually sounded like a great idea. He wondered if Hashirama was feeling alright to have come up with a true good idea all on his own.

Fairly soon they discovered it was only half a good idea, however. With age and experience there wasn’t really much of a competition between them anymore to see who could skip their rock the farthest. Although he would never admit it in a hundred lifetimes, Madara had spent the last few years skipping rocks across the pond behind his home on the nights when thoughts of the one who got away plagued his mind. His hard work paid off now as every rock that either of them threw made it all the way across the river to disappear among the trees there.

In the end they changed their competition to a slightly different game. Hashirama hopped over to the opposite bank and the two of them aimed their rocks for each other to see who could dodge the best and who could aim well enough to hit. No mercy was shown as they pinged rocks off each other’s armor, shouting ridiculous battle cries and feeling very much twelve years old again. Madara found himself grinning more freely than he could ever remember. It felt as though a weight he had almost forgotten about were lifted from his shoulders. His mind was empty of all but the feel of another rock in his hand as he listened to his last missile bounce off of Hashirama’s shoulder.

“Getting slow old man?” he called out tauntingly.

“I’m two months younger than you,” Hashirama protested, hefting another stone of his own. “Take this!”

By the way he wound his arm back Madara judged the angle of release to be slightly to his right and dodged accordingly. However, what he failed to take in to account was that Hashirama’s most common training partner these days was his own brother and one had to be either fast, tricky, or both to get the upper hand on Tobirama. When the rock flew it went instead to Madara’s left, straight for the space he had only just dodged in to.

A sharp grunt escaped him as he bent awkwardly, trying not to get hit. His efforts only mostly worked as he felt the pebble slice in to the side of his neck with a barely noticeable flash of pain. Right away he could feel a few droplets of blood well up and trickle down, hidden by the tangle of his hair and the high collar of his breastplate. A quick peek across the river told him Hashirama hadn’t even noticed that he’d scored a hit. In fact, his friend had twisted his mouth to one side distractedly as he reached up underneath the masses of his own long hair to scratch the side of his neck.

Madara’s heart nearly stopped when that hand came back out holding several flower blossoms.

“Hmm.” With a shake of his fingers Hashirama sent the blossoms fluttering down in to the rushing water at his feet like they were little more than a nuisance. Madara watched him in horrified consternation.

“What are you doing?” he demanded. His friend shrugged.

“It’s just a weird side effect from my mokuton or something. Flowers grow on me sometimes.”

“You–!” Madara choked on his words briefly and had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “You absolute idiot! Those are Soul Blossoms! From your bonded getting injured!”

Hashirama made a thoughtful face. “You think? Brother says so too but sometimes I really do just grow flowers. I guess I’ll never know until I find them!”

Words failed him, leaving Madara to snarl and squeak with inarticulate rage as he stomped across the surface of the water towards the other man. Finally confirming what he had always wanted to know only to have Hashirama shrug it off as something so blasé as merely some chakra getting a bit out of control drove him past his tenuous connection to polite behavior. He firmly ignored the squawks of fright his murderous expression earned him as he stalked right up to Hashirama and took a firm grip on the top edge of his armor.

Raising the pebble still in one hand, he pressed it against Hashirama’s skin and dug deep. After countless battles facing off against each one would think he was used to the sight of his own hands drawing out Hashirama’s blood yet Madara still shuddered almost imperceptibly as his fingers left behind a straight cut with the one sharp edge of his skipping stone.

He didn’t have to check to know that flowers had bloomed on his own cheek. It was evident in the widening of Hashirama’s eyes and the brush of silken petals against his skin. Out of habit he dropped his pebble and reached out to free one of the flowers, tucking it safely away inside the pouch at his hip.

“Madara, you have flowers on your face,” Hashirama breathed in wonder.

“Well spotted,” he deadpanned in reply. His friend only blinked and continued to stare.

“You cut me and then you grew flowers!”

Scowling, he forced his fingers to let go of the breastplate he was still holding so that he could cross his arms defensively. “They’re Soul Blossoms, you idiot. Because we’re soulmates. And poor luck to me for being bonded to someone so stupid.”

“Hey! You don’t have to be mean again; I really didn’t know!”

“Because you’re dumb!”

“Oh yeah? Well – well how about this then!”

Not giving Madara any time to guess at what he was doing, Hashirama reached out and dragged him closer to meet each other in a messy kiss that almost entirely missed. Only the corner of their mouths touched and Madara was scowling even deeper as he wrenched his face away with a healthy blush working its way up on to his face.

“That’s not how you do it!” he shouted.

Then before Hashirama could offer any counterarguments he mirrored his old friend’s move, pulling them together once more. Some smug little part of him noted that his kiss met the mark perfectly. No other thoughts crossed his mind, however, since the rest of him was busy melting and reshaping, every nerve ending in his body sparking with electricity. His skin felt hotter than his hottest katon but all he wanted was more, more, more.

A very displeased noise erupted from him like a whining snarl when Hashirama pulled away, gasping for air. Evidently his idiotic soulmate hadn’t thought to breathe through his nose. Madara had a lot to teach him, it seemed.

“Wow! Can you believe it!? We’re soulmates! I never even knew but now I do and I’m so happy! Madara we did it! We made peace and now we’re soulmates!”

“Uh-huh. Took you long enough to figure it out you dunce.”

“Hey! Hey! Can we do that again?” Hashirama leaned in to him with an eager smile. It was incredibly distracting.

“Do what?”

“Kiss, of course! Let’s do it again!”

Rather than answer, Madara rolled his eyes and huffed for a moment just so the other wouldn’t realize how eager he was to take that suggestion. Only then did he deign to lean forward and indulge his bonded, enjoying the way he could feel petals pressing between their cheeks.

In a drawer in his home Madara had a box. And inside this box Madara kept a little garden of his own, a single petal from every flower which had ever blossomed on his skin. With events happening as they were, he couldn’t wait to give his box a new home in the village that he would soon build with his soulmate. Maybe if Hashirama didn’t piss him off too much he would share his precious treasures.

Maybe.

#soulmate collection #rae writes #hashimada #madara #hashirama #fanfiction #naruto shippuden

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cupnoodle-queen · 7 years

Text

CHASING SUNS: Chapter 6 Flesh Wounds

1,837 words FINA-FUCKING-LY, MY DUDES. Sheesh.

The naga hunt was located near the Disc of Cauthess, the impact site of a meteorite from generations ago. More than once Cam considered turning the truck around, after all the drive was a long one, but then her side would flare up as flashbacks of Gladio and Steph rapid-fire assaulted her concentration and she’d give it more gas, reaching speeds well over the posted limit. Not like anyone would pull her over.

Self preservation was absent tonight. Cam knew somewhere in the deep recess of her psyche that what she was taking on could result in major injury; getting killed was also in the cards. Regardless, she had to do this. Even if it offered her tormented mind a moment’s release, it was enough.

Cam pulled over at the dead end of the access road and scanned through the flyer again, the flashlight held between her teeth. She plotted out a route using the map on her phone, shouldered her ammo pack and headed out into the endless night.

Fucking woman has a lead foot, Gladio thought as he pushed the Jeep to its limits, the boxy vehicle whipping around tight turns so hard he had to lean upright to counter the steer. He’d only caught sight of her taillights further back, and even then they were blurry at best. There was also another key issue; He didn’t know the exact location. Sure he’d review the hunt details before, considered starting a hunting party to go claim the bounty, but the specifics were foggy. All he could recall was that it nested near the Disc, but at which side? There was a gravelled access road to the south that didn’t appear on most map sites. His gut instinct told him she’d probably never known about the unmarked path, so he turned off onto the main exit.

The wrong exit.

Cam wove through the brambles and dead foliage, startled by the absolute silence that made the crack and snapping of twigs under her boots almost deafening. She could just make out an end to the treeline up ahead, an open field on the other side. She checked her phone’s GPS; it was close.

Having reached the edge of the small clearing she skirted the perimeter and checked for any telltale signs of the daemonic snake. A thick fog hung low in the air, a miasma of foreboding and warning. The long-since dead grass lay flat against the earth in spots, curving patterns cutting through sections leaving random tufts in patches. It had definitely come through here.

Checking her six, she withdrew her pistols, safety off.

Gladio reached the end of the road, concern creasing his forehead as he rounded the last turn. Lady luck missed role call; her truck was nowhere to be found. Still he pulled up to the dead-end street sign, killed the ignition and got out.

His hearing wasn’t top notch but after several seconds of silence, six consecutive gunshots echoed in the distance to the south, closer to the Disk. After a pause, another five shots, and then…

A horrifying scream cut the darkness, female and brimming with pain. Then silence.

NO-

Gladio panicked and bolted back to the Jeep, pulse frantic in his head as he threw the driver’s side door open and was driving off before he shut it, white-knuckling the steering wheel as he whipped the Jeep around, his soulmate marking seared to the bone.

As expected when he reached the end of the access road, her truck lay abandoned on the shoulder. He pulled up behind it and all but leaped from the vehicle, taking off headstrong into the trees without forethought. It was too goddamn quiet. His insides did back flips and he began to second-guess his sense of direction. He had no indication where she was, only a scream from across the forest to go on. Yet at the same time, he knew exactly where to go, the path leading towards the edge of the woods. He could make out an open space up ahead.

Gladio entered the clearing and the world stopped moving.

Several yards away, Cam’s body lay in a crumpled crescent facing away from him, motionless. Still.

His knees faltered, feeling like the ground was giving way to swallow him whole. It might as well have for the sight before him was shattering his soul, his sanity, slivers of his being spilled between the cracks, out of reach. The edges of his vision greyed out and the sun at his hip hardwired pain to his chest, like connecting to a car battery.

He approached her, each step daggers to his heart as he neared her broken form, the person assigned to him by the Astrals, this stranger who he’d let go on for far too long not knowing a thing about, all because he was afraid, afraid of the unknown, afraid of caring, afraid of who he was...He cursed himself as he hunched down to turn her over on her back, leaning her shoulders against his thighs.

Her face was expressionless, tranquil, save for the angry vertical red gash spanning above her left brow straight down her cheek, abruptly ending at the soft edge of her jawline. Blood mixed with tears and smeared in the socket corner of her eye and Gladio lifted a hand to wipe it away, as gentle as he could muster with his calloused fingertips.

Without warning her eyes flicked open, lashes brushing his digits as two pools of molten copper knocked the breath from his lungs. In this proximity of her being, her soul, her life...Like finding the missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle you started ages ago and left out, too invested to disassemble it and start over until that piece turned up where you least expected it to.

The corners of her mouth twitched upwards into the slightest smile possible against her tawny, chapped lips.

For the first time in twenty-five years of life, his heart skipped a beat.

Weakness was not an option, despite how easily her stare induced it. “Just what do you think you were doing?” He growled, a pang of regret in is throat as her smile disappeared in an instant.

Though not impart from his tone, as her eyes flicked from his to the side, fear shrinking her pupils. Her jaw quivered as she whispered. “Behind you...”

He could sense it, the movement, the shift in the air. Gladio froze in place. Sure enough the telltale hisssss curdled his blood. He had to act fast, think later. He leaned forward and hooked an arm under Cam’s legs and another around her back, hoisting her up. She winced but didn’t protest. The hiss from behind grew louder, more animated.

One shot, that’s all he had. It was this or their lives.

Gladio inhaled, gripped Cam close, and launched up into a sprint towards the trees. The naga roared with enough guttural force to make the ground tremor as it made pursuit of its prey. A viscous, hot liquid spat at him and Gladio changed course slightly, veering more to the left to avoid the assault of venomous acid. Cam locked her arms around his neck, clutching to him for dear life, her head tucked into his chest.

A whooshing sound caught Gladio off guard and he turned his head, but the incoming tail whip from the naga swept and disconnected his feet from the ground and they fell hard, Cam rolling her shoulder in the process. She cursed through her teeth as she scrambled back, the naga setting it’s sights on Gladio, who had his back turned. Cam located one of her pistols and flicked the safety off, aimed for the naga’s face, and fired, over and over.

The naga reeled back in response, it’s agonizing throes shaking the trees surrounding the clearing. Cam became the primary target. Good, she thought, better me than him.

Cam reached into her ammo pack...one clip left. She must have lost some in the scuffle. Shit.

The naga was rearing back, fangs exposed and poised to attack, preparing for the kill.

Not today. Not yet.

She unlocked the spent clip, slammed the ammo in the chamber, took a deep breath and emptied her weapon into the daemon’s face.

All ten rounds pierced through the naga’s right eye, one right after the other in perfect succession. It jerked, brain riddled with lead, swayed drunkenly to the side before its body slammed into the earth, the last seconds of life twitching out violently.

She did it. She’d downed one of the most difficult hunts possible, thanks to a little luck and fierce aim. Cam blinked, still trying to convince herself the beast was dead yet there it was, slumped over in the dead grass, its pockmarked humanoid face spilling blood. Without hesitation, she pulled out her phone, took a few pictures of her kill for good measure and slid it in her back pocket.

Gladio seemed at a loss for words. He exhaled, turning over to stand upright above her. “Stupid, dumb luck,” he finally mused, admonishment in his tone. “Could’a gotten yourself killed!”

Despite his words, he held out a hand for Cam to take. She pursed her lips; he was raining on her parade. She took his hand and he pulled her up without any effort.

The draw was back with a vengeance, almost impossible to resist. It didn’t help that he was so close, that he hadn’t let go of her hand yet. His skin was hot, she could almost feel their pulses synch into rhythm -

Gladio dropped her grasp, his arm jerking back as if he touched a hot stove element. Before she could question it, he pointed to the left side of her face. “You’re bleeding, we gotta get you back and have Dino look at it.”

Cam frowned, gently testing the gouged skin. It stung. “That bad?”

“Probably need stitches.”

“Great.”

When they got back to the vehicles, Gladio stepped in front of her and barred access to the driver’s side of Greyson’s truck. “Excuse me?”

He shook his head. “Nuh uh. You aren’t driving with a fucked up eye. Not safe.”

“My eye is fine,” Cam groaned. Why’d he have to make this difficult? “It’s only a flesh wound.”

Gladio scoffed, crossing his muscular arms. “Not the first time I’ve heard someone say that…”

“Pardon?”

“Nevermind,” He moved passed her towards his Jeep. “You’re coming with me. I don’t trust your word and I’d rather not pull you from a wrecked vehicle. Only get one life saving per day.”

Cam chuckled dryly. “That so? Well this isn’t my truck, so you’ll have to figure out how to get it back to HQ.”

“If the doc clears you, I’ll bring you back here to pick it up myself.” His tone was sincere; he’d follow through.

Sighing, Cam ensured the truck was locked before circling around the passenger’s side of the Jeep and hopped in as Gladio turned the ignition.

“Buckle up, naga slayer.”

#gladio soulmate au #Chasing suns #chapter 6 #gladio x female OC #gladiolus #gladio #ffxv fanfiction #ffxv #ffxv soulmate AU #gladiolus amicitia

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