#ignore if ya want to understandable it is 3am

[murdermitties]

Gon give some boon giver info cuz I've been thinking about it again

These are copied straight from my notes under the cut

The Journey was Fire saying fuck the Stars and trying to reconnect with the Sky's.

He went the the other leaders and told them his plan, after a bit they agreed, and during the meeting it was agreed that each clan send one or two cats to join Fire.

Young warriors only, as they wanted someone unbiased to create a connection between the clans.

Fire agreed to lead these chosen cats up the mountain to connect with the Sky's again— the Sky's had been shunned and neglected by the Stars for renouncing their support and belief in them, and so for many generations, the Sky's were lost to isolation and never ventured out of their territory on the other clans' side of the mountain.

The cats chosen for the Journey were Feather and Storm from the River's, Storm would not let his sister go alone and Feather was chosen for her views on the Stars being a very vocal opponent to them, making her feel for the Sky's abandonment.

Tawny from Shadow's, Black had his eyes set on her as his successor and wanted her to have a vaster set of skill and knowledge.

The Wind's sent their Field Healer's apprentice Crow, a more close minded but kind at heart young tom, the leader hoped this would open the kits mind some.

Fire took along his daughter Squirrel, both to teach her some responsibility and to work as a messenger if needed— her balance and speed unmatched by anyone else in the Thunder's.

Sol later is sent to the Sky's when it's clear he can't fit in with the Shadow's, the Sky's don't turn him away for his inability to hunt or fight. He is instead given the role of Mediator and Lore keeper, roles of which he thrives in, making big spectacles and speeches for his clan to teach and entertain them.

Hawk takes on a mixed story between Sol and Tiger, his father, and strives to rule the Shadow's but building loyal warriors from other clans with the grand promise of immortality as Boon Givers.

He ropes in many cats that fear joining the Stars or left to wonder about till they're forgotten.

Hawk worms his way into his sister's heart, under the guise of wanting to know her better, be convinces Moth too making his bluff more believable.

Tawny welcomes her siblings into her life and even offers them a place in her clan should they ever want it, no questions asked. Hawk uses this offer, by saying to Moth and Leopard that he'd like to be in a clan where his memory of his mother isn't tainted by her disappearance. Moth and Leopard feel bad but understands his choices and wishes him happiness in the Shadow's.

Tawny welcomes him, happy to have a sibling back after having drifted from her littermate Bramble.

Bramble later becomes one of Hawk's snakeskins because Bramble fears meeting their father again and fears the Stars will punish him for Tiger's deeds.

The realities of the world

There's the living, the Stars, the Givers and the Drifters

The Stars exist above them in an alternate realm of existence, with the Drifters beneath them in a mirrored empty world.

The Gifters are just left of them, on the same plane of existence but just out of sight.

The Stars can enter dreams or the real world in weak places and physically interact with cats.

The Drifters cannot see or interact with the Stars, Living or Givers— only see and talk the living in weak spots. Otherwise they're alone among each other with the ability to catch glimpse of the Stars.

The Givers can see shadows of the living but can only see other Givers or their acolytes, their acolytes are only if the acolytes are doing an act that pays tribute to the Boon Giver or if the acolytes speak to their Giver for guidance.

Thunder gives the boon of strength in Thunder's only Shadow gives the boon of stealth Wind gives speed And River gives stamina Sky gives the Sky's wisdom, he gives it to them all for free cuz he's a wet noodle

Grey gives another life to those he deems worthy or to his willing acolytes. This means a leader having this boon gas 2 lives, no more.

Thunder's Clan:

- leader have highest rank followed by deputy and healer and then elders

- they hold meetings between the high ranks to make decisions

- a kit isn't named till they're 4 moons when they start hunting lesson just outside camp

- kits are usually referred by physical traits by their families and clan (ie Greystripe would be simply Stripe and then named Boulder at 4 moons)

- cats can change their names 3 times in their life after their 4 moon name (no more, they had a problem in the past with someone renaming themselves twice a day)

- very good climbers as they live in a lush forest with huge trees

- names are usually plant or nature based

Shadow's Clan:

- the leader wears a crown of a plant of sorts

- the clan cats wear a bit of their current leaders plant on them

- if they don't support their new leader they wear the plant of the previous leader

- leaders stay hidden unless important or battles

- this means the gathering groups are very small with the healer acting as the representatives

- leaders successor is chosen early and trained from a young age

- very very dense pine forest

- most of the cats are day blind, so they have big pupils 24/7

- none of them have blue eyes

River's Clan:

- their funeral practices are frowned upon

- they leave the body to decay for 4 days by their river downstream, guided at all times before they're buried by the banks

- all of them are counter shaded

- very graceful but also smaller than the rest of the clans

- name's usually fish, fowl or water based

- swampy, marshy and generally waterlogged areas

- healers are more respected than leaders and leaders are chosen by the clan in a vote

Wind's Clan:

- all of them have some white on them

- two kinds of healers: field and home

- they move their camp every so often

- hunt for raptors when possible

- very strong and slender build, second smallest clan cats

- life very openly with few bushes and trees scattered around

- new leader is chosen via battles (non lethal)

Sky's Clan:

- all of them have some kind of blue in their eyes

- very reclusive but inclusive

- stick to their mountains

- seem to be very mellow and wise by nature, even kits

- only a leader no deputy

- they have mediators and lore keepers however

- cave and cave systems, with very minimal amounts of plant life

#kat murmur #ignore if ya want to understandable it is 3am #kats givers au

[softxsuki]

i wanted to know for the urgent request if it could be for the obey me! boys, mammon, levi, satan, asmo, and barbatos when reader has been really down and depressed and even told them they thought about committing so they comfort them for it? i haven't gotten any comforting recently and i love your writing so i was hoping you could do this :( <3

Obey Me Boys Comforting Reader With Depression

TW: PLEASE DON'T READ IF MENTIONS OF DEPRESSION, SELF-HARM, AND THOUGHTS OF SUC*DE WILL MAKE YOU FEEL WORSE RATHER THAN COMFORT YOU. THANKS

Pairing: Mammon x Gn!Reader, Levi(OM) x Gn!reader, Satan x Gn!reader, Asmo x Gn!Reader, Barbatos x Gn!reader

Warnings: mentions of self-harming and old/new scars, depression, and mentions of reader wanting/thinking of taking their own life

Genre: Comfort

Post-Type: Headcanons

Word Count: 1.8k

Summary: In which the boys find out that MC is feeling depressed and thought of taking their own life, and that they also self-harm, so they provide MC with comfort in their own way :)

[A/N: Kya!!! Thank you so much for trusting me with your urgent request! I hope I did an okay job with it. It's been a little while since I last played Obey me, so I cam very much behind with it (and I'm stuck on the regular game bc I can't level up mu cards fast enough. rip) but I really hope this brings you some kind of comfort. I'm here if you ever need anyone to talk to if if you just need someone to listen to you. Feel better soon <333]

Mammon:

Mammon notices the sudden change in your mood straight away since he’s always around you

He does his best to try and cheer you up without directly confronting you about it

So he’d invite you out with him and might even spoil you with pretty things in hopes that using his money on you helps distract you from whatever you’re feeling

But that all changes when he sees your self-harm scars

Fear fills him and he knows he can’t just avoid the topic anymore, he doesn’t want to see you in pain or have you harm yourself anymore

So one day when you’re out with him in town, he softly takes your hand and leads you to a bench away from the hustle and bustle of the town

He’s a little cautious, he’s not really good with being direct about his feelings, especially not with you because he gets so nervous and this was serious…he was scared to mess up

“Y’know MC…I may not be the best person to go to about troubling things in your life, but I want ya to know that I’m here for you. I…don’t want to lose you. Actually, I can’t lose you–never. So maybe things are hard for ya right now, but you’re one of the most important people in my life. Your problems are The Great Mammon’s problems as well, so let me in, won’t ya?”

He’s awkwardly rubbing his neck now as he feels his face heating up, but at least he got everything he wanted to say out

So when you do open up to him about your depression, self-harm, and thoughts of taking your own life, he feels relieved that you are finally speaking about it with someone, but he’s also scared that you’ve been feeling that way and he had been trying to ignore it for so long

He’s scared to let you out of his sight after that, so if he shows up to your room at 3am with a spare pillow, you know why

Mammon’s always inviting you to his room as well so you can watch stuff together until you fall asleep

Extra clingy Mammon who’ll probably bug you about how you’re feelings every few minutes, but at least you know someone cares

You’d find all your issues slowly dissolving as he covers you with love and attention, just don’t block him out

Leviathan:

Oh boy, Levi is very overdramatic when he finds out what’s been going on with you

He’s beyond scared to lose you–you’re his only best friend after all, the one who truly understands him and cares for him unconditionally

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t realize MC. I’m such a good-for-nothing. I can’t even tell when the person I care about the most is going through a tough time. Y-you’re amazing MC! You’re one of the best people I know, unlike all these other normies out there. You’re always so kind to me and I just hate that I couldn’t be there for you when you needed me…”

Yeah, he’s definitely beating himself up about it because how could he not realize???

“You’re always here for me, that’s why you’re the only one I felt comfortable telling this to. Please don’t blame yourself…I kinda didn’t want anyone to know at first; I thought I could deal with it on my own…” You’d explain to him

He’s a little relieved to hear it, but it still won’t make him feel any better

Levi is always throwing himself in the ground, so not being there for you at a time when you really needed him AND when he could have potentially lost you, scares him to death

Like Mammon, he keeps you by his side, but in your room since he sleeps in his tub and that’s not very comfortable for you LOL

He’d move all his games and game stations into your room and make a little base there to stay by your side until you’re feeling better

He probably goes to one of his older brothers who are more responsible like Lucifer or Satan and asks for their advice (without giving you away ofc. He’d make it sound like one of his online friends are dealing with this issue since you only trusted him with this info)

He’s very awkward and shy at times, but he’s glad that you trusted him to let him in on the pain you were feeling internally. He makes it his mission (literally, like he’s playing a game, but knowing that it’s far more serious) to get you back on your feet and in a better mental state

And we all know Levi is good at games, so this is one he won’t fail either :)

Satan:

Satan reads a lot, books of all genres, so he picked up on your sudden change in behavior very quickly and he’s actually the one who goes to you first to talk about it

“What’s going on?” He bluntly asks one day when you’re in his room reading with him in a peaceful silence

That catches you off guard…did he know? You could see the serious look on his face so you decide to just open up to him about everything; the depression, the self-harm, and even the thoughts that flash through your mind of taking your own life

Satan listens silently as you speak, taking in all your words and you see his eyes soften the more you reveal to him

“I see…” he’s lost in thought for a moment, but then stands up and walks over to you, taking your hands in his as he leaves a gentle kiss to the back of your hand. “I knew something was up, but I wanted to hear it from you before I assumed too much. I’m sorry you’ve been feeling this way. I’m here though, and now that I know what’s going on, I’ll do anything and everything I can to ensure you feel better.”

And he really will

Whenever you come over to his room to do your daily reading together in each others presence, he spends his time reading books on mental health that give him plenty of advice on how to best help you

He isn’t overbearing though, he gives you your space and allows you to reach out to him whenever you need him, only checking up on you when it seems appropriate so you don’t feel suffocated, but deep down he is worried and scared to lose you

So he offers you his own help, but also asks if you’d like to go to the human world to see or speak to a professional who might be more helpful to you than he could be

He even volunteers to go along with you if you don’t want to go alone–he just wants you to be happy again to not feel so claustrophobic in your own skin

Whatever you decide to do, just know that you have his 10000000% support

Asmodeus:

This man is very dramatic as well, but in a different way than Levi…

He throws tons of compliments your way in hopes that they help lift you up, but really, he’s better at giving physical acts of care

SO, your self-harm scars? He goes out of his way to wash them up and lotion them up, pressing small kisses the the older scars and newer ones as well

“Even with these marks, your skin is still as soft and beautiful as ever, darling. My lovely MC, I’ll do everything I can to take care of you from now on. I’ll pamper you everyday and remind you how much you mean to me, so please don’t harm yourself any longer…”

Asmo isn’t one to be very serious at times, but he knows now isn’t the time to joke around with you, so he’s uncharacteristically very serious, yet still as charming as ever

He’ll treat you to extra tight hugs and kisses, a little scared to let go in fear that he’d never be able to hold you again, so bear with him a little…he can be a bit suffocating

He isn’t the best listener or remarkably great at giving advice that doesn’t have anything to do with fashion or beauty, so he’d probably go to Lucifer for help, or maybe even Solomon, who’s more familiar with human emotions like depression

Anything you need or want, Asmo will get it for you

Get ready to feel more loved than you’ve ever felt before in your life

Barbatos:

He knows…of course he knows, Barbatos knows everything 😀

The first time you attempted to self-harm, he was there to stop you, so you never even got the chance

What he didn’t know about though was your thoughts of attempting to take your life, since you never actually made the move to do it, you only really thought about it

So when he sits down with you to hear you out about attempting to self-harm and you open up about your other darker secrets as well, he’s shocked

Momentarily, it’ll show on his face, but he’ll catch himself and gently smile to you as you continue to speak your mind

He doesn't want you to feel embarrassed by any of this or to beat yourself up for getting caught or for feeling what you feel–you were human and humans experienced moments of intense emotions that they can’t control sometimes, he understood this very well

“Oh dear MC, I am relieved that I was able to stop you this time. Though, I must admit I do feel particularly regretful that I am not able to read minds so I could put your own mind to rest from your dark thoughts. Now that I am aware of everything, I shall do my best to assist you in recovering mentally”

He’s not the most emotional guy out there, but you know he cares for you and when Barbatos dedicates his time and attention to something, he WILL get it done

Barbatos takes your hand in his and presses a delicate kiss onto each of your fingers, and leans his head onto the back of your hand, in almost a way that he’s ready and willing to serve you (not that he didn’t already, but it’s more of like his own way of physically showing his dedication to you??? Does that make sense? KINDA like when a knight is knighted and vows to protect whoever he’s assigned to??? Am I making sense? hopefully…)

He doesn’t need to keep an eye on you because he’d be able to stop you anyway if you ever decided to do anything drastic, but he does free up time in his busy schedule to be with you, he’s dedicated to serving Diavolo, but you very quickly become his number one priority (you already were, but he was never aware of it himself lol)

I don’t know, but I just feel like Barbatos is such a soothing person to be with, his voice is like silk, it wraps you up like a warm blanket and feels like a big tight hug when you need it the most

SO I imagine you’d feel better pretty quickly with all the attention he’s giving you, and the warm tea he makes you????! You’re set for life, get ready to feel brand new

REQUESTS ARE OPEN :D

Posted: 7/11/2023

#obey me x reader #mammon x reader #leviathan x reader #satan x reader #asmodeus x reader #barbatos x reader #obey me x you #obey me x mc #mammon x y/n #mammon x you #mammon x mc #leviathan x you #leviathan x mc #leviathan x y/n #satan x y/n #satan x you #satan x mc #asmodeus x mc #asmodeus x y/n #asmodeus x you #barbatos x you #barbatos x y/n #barbatos x mc #obey me headcanons #mammon headcanon #satan headcanons #barbatos headcanons #leviathan headcanons #asmodeus headcanons

[pupphe-additions]

"You Were Suffocating."

Overview: Jamie's first heartbreak. Word Count: 1,646 Tw/cw: Arguing/yelling, hitting, heartbreak/betrayal, and swearing

July, 2021

Jamie hasn’t been able to sleep for a few days, his girlfriend has been acting really weird with him recently, and he can sense something is up. He has asked her on several dates over the past few weeks but she kept making excuses saying that she’s busy doing this or that. It’s currently 3AM and he got a message from his best friend growing up that simply said “I’m sorry.” Jamie was very confused and when he went to press for more answers he realized that his friend had either blocked him or was just ignoring him. He just wanted to know what was going on and he got no replies. Why is he sorry? Last they talked and hung out they were fine, what happened? What did he do?

He could feel his heart sink and he spams Soobin with screenshots and confused emotions. He knew the older boy was likely asleep but he didn’t know who else to go to for something like this. He started to pace his room and went through his contacts to see if anyone was awake but with no success. He scooped up his cat Smores and buried his face in her side as tears fell down. He was so confused as to what was going on anymore. After about an hour he finally fell asleep while Smores sort of purrs against his face and lets him cry.

The next morning while practicing he got a message from his girlfriend saying “Hey, Jammies, we need to talk…” He thought about that message the entire time he was working and when he was able to reply to her “Did you want to meet up? What is going on? Why is everyone acting so fucking weird? I should be done with work at the normal time. Reply whenever you see this PLEASE.” with that he takes back off to finish what he needed to do for his schedule.

When he got to his room he read all the messages from his girlfriend that she had sent. 

Her: “Jammies, I’m sorry but you may not like our conversation, you want to meet up? It may be worse that way.” Him: “Yes, I want to meet up, my love, we need to figure this shit out. I can’t keep living like this. I haven’t slept for 3 whole days. The sooner we meet up the better.” Her: “Meet me at our usual spot in 15 minutes?” Him: “Yeah. On my way.”

Jamie rushes out the door with his dog Snickers, their usual spot is a park not far from his dorms. He used to sneak out to meet up with her all the time back when he was a trainee but he’s been way busier since his debut, and he’s felt very guilty because of it. She keeps telling her she understands and that it’s fine but it seems like that’s not true anymore. He feels like he’s neglecting some of her needs, he’s afraid of her breaking up with him.

Jamie paces the length of the park twice before he sees a familiar figure approaching him, he doesn’t feel the usual spark, the usual happy energy that radiates off her, instead it feels cold. He stiffens as he walks toward her slowly, holding Snickers’ leash rather tightly. Soon they are inches apart, he wants to wrap her in his embrace and kiss her but something deep inside him stops him.

The slightly older girl speaks first. “Jamie… I’m sorry…”

Jamie nearly growls, his usual gentle understanding toward his girlfriend is just turning into annoyance and anger. “Can you fuckers quit saying that with no explanation?! What happened? Why are you sorry?!” 

The girl gently grabs his hand and leads him to sit at a nearby bench and she sits near him without touching him anymore. She sighs and hands him her phone as she begins to run her hand through her hair. Jamie stares at her in confusion.

“You know I trust you, why are you handing me your phone?” Jamie asks with a bit of a hurt tone.

“You shouldn’t trust me Jamie. I hurt you. Look.” She points to the contact of his childhood best friend. He can see the last message she sent him was:

“Ya, I had a really nice time last night, please let’s do it again. Don’t worry about Jamie, I’ll deal with that. I know you feel just as hurt as I do by it, but it’s done now. We can’t live with that regret forever.”

After he read it he just threw her phone down and stared at her, Snickers is now hiding under the bench. “What the fuck does that mean dude?”

“Exactly what you think, Jamie I’m sorry. It just sort of happened.”

“WITH MY BEST FRIEND?!” The pain in his raised tone is evident. 

“Jamie, let me explain more, please.” the girl pleads but Jamie feels disgusted and doesn’t give a fuck what she has to say anymore, but of course he is willing to hear her out, I mean he was going to propose to her after his next in between promotion time, he had the ring already.

“What? What is there to explain?” His tone is harsh and he’s trying not to cry.

“It’s sort of your fault.” she starts before shoving him a bit to create more space between them which causes him to fall to the ground, he just sits where he landed and stares at her in disbelief. 

“My fault? You fucking MY BEST FRIEND is MY fault? Fucking HOW? Enlighten me. HOW?!” He’s now standing over, his face inches from hers. She slaps him hard and he takes a staggered step back, this would be the second time she has hit him since they got back together in 2015.

“I stopped loving you a long time ago Jamie. You’re just so fucking clingy and needy I felt like shit leaving you. You were SUFFOCATING. I felt like if I left you you’d hurt yourself.” She hisses at him, spitting at his feet. “You were clearly falling more and more in love with me when I felt like we were just going to be a temporary chapter. I apologize but I just never had the heart to break up with you. Until now. Your best friend was there for me when I dealt with you talking about your stress all the time. I felt like I could never go to you for anything you always made about YOU. So, I’m breaking up with you Jamie.”

“You felt like you could never come to me for anything yet told me about all your issues? Yeah. That makes sense…” He pauses for a moment before speaking again. “Is this the true you? A player who wants to tear people down?” Jamie asks coldly he can feel his soul shattering as she speaks. He was suffocating? Why didn’t she say so? 

“Jamie… I’m still the person you love, I just-”

Jamie holds up a hand and cuts her off, “No, the woman I love I wanted to marry, this person before isn’t someone I even know.” 

“If you were falling out of love with me you should’ve broken it off then, I spent all this time planning our wedding in my head and planning our future together just for you to not even love me the same way. Do you know how that feels? No, you don’t because to me you were my everything, I even told you I would leave my group if it meant you and I could be together and you told me not to.”

“Jamie…”

“Shut up, please, just, shut up.” Jamie says his voice cracking now as tears threaten to fall. “I treated you like royalty, and you do this to me? You didn’t deserve my time, my energy or my love. You can keep my so-called best friend. I never want to hear from either of you fuckers again. I’d give you the world and you turned around and used me, for what?”

“I didn’t use you Jamie.”

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow in disbelief and started laughing. “You didn’t? Then what? You just lead me on?”

“I didn’t do that either.”

“You’re an idiot.” Jamie scoffs and grabs ahold of Snickers’ leash again that he just realizes that he had dropped. “I wasn’t kidding about not wanting to hear from you two. You are dead to me.” with that he walked away with Snickers. His now ex-girlfriend is screaming at him to come back and finish the conversation but for him he heard what he needed from her. She hasn’t loved him for a long time and went to someone he thought was his best friend about things that she didn’t even need to do. He doesn’t know who he’s more mad at, her or him. He was supposed to be Jamie’s ride or die but yet he fucks the girl that he knows Jamie wants to be with forever. 

When he goes back to his dorm he shoots a message to the group chat of his members and simply says “I’m asking for a hiatus. My anxiety has kept me up for three days. I can't keep doing this right now.” Jamie curled into his bed with all three of his pets and just sobbed for the rest of the night after he put his phone on to DND to ignore all outside voices. He just wants to rot. He was suffocating? How? He just tried to be a good boyfriend, how was that suffocating. He regrets now not asking her to go into more details about that. 

“I love you…” He says as he stares at photos of the two of them together that he has in a private folder on his phone. He will eventually need to delete these but not tonight…

#pupphe #pupphe additions #pupphe jamie #jamie imagine #jamie story #kpop addition #enhypen addition #enhypen added member #enhypen 8th member #enhypen male additional member #kpop oc #fictional kpop oc #fake kpop idol #fake kpop community #kpop male oc #kpop male addition #kpop additional member #kpop au #fake kpop oc #kpop fake oc #kpop fake idol

[pepperonibread]

My Little Darlin’ Knows My Nature

“Such a mysterious business, motherhood. How brave a woman must be to embark on it.” ― M. L. Stedman, 'A Light Between Oceans' READ ON AO3 or below the line break Title inspired by this song Vibes

A/N: OKAY, so I have a lot of feelings about this. I've been listening to a lot of different music lately, and been thinking about things in my head, and I have so much going on in my life right now. But I got an idea in my head at work the other day, and those that know my ADHD brain well knew the second I got on lunch I was on my phone ignoring the middle aged people I work with and WRITING. So I wrote until like 3am last night, dehydrated and crying internally. But here's the thing that makes this different (if it holds any significance at all, which it probably doesn't), I wrote this for me. Not with the intention of sharing it not with the idea of creating something for others to read, or bothering to care what people thing of it. I think a lot of the time we get so wrapped up in peoples opinions of writing and what others think, that we don't realize it could negatively effect our writing or our creativity. It's a hard realization, especially with imposter syndrome. Taking a break from actively writing for this fandom (and not jazzing up things I never posted) may have been a good decision for my creativity? I was able to focus on my original work, and really decide who I wanted to be as a writer, which is just someone who tells stories regardless of what people think of them. Also, I found you the illness I have could be passed down to any children I have, so maybe me being kind of bummed out about that may have been a little bit of inspiration for this. If you enjoy my work, please feel free to let me know. Also don't @ me, I don't know how horses work. As always, I suck at editing.

Kiran's mind wandered as she brushed her horse, Twister. She couldn't help but wonder how long horses typically lived, and if Twister was considered old for a horse. She hoped that he would outlive her, but she couldn't shake the nagging worry in the back of her mind.

She had asked Cooper about it before, curious if she could still ride him despite his age. How many years did horses usually live for anyway? What was their natural lifestyle like before humans domesticated them? And why was she thinking about this so much lately?

The more she dwelled on these thoughts, the heavier her heart felt. But then she remembered the advice of an old rancher: "You still see me walkin' around don't ya? No matter how ya feel, sometimes you just have to do yer job. Twister understands that. Trust me."

Cooper had been the one to gift her Twister, back when he wasn't as old, and the nickname "old man" came from his temper more so than his age. Cooper had also mentioned that the horse was just as stubborn as she was.

Despite this, she still took the time to talk to him and bring her young daughters to see him whenever they asked. She would lift up Beatrice or Adeline, depending on who needed it at the time; so they could reach out and touch the horse's nose or neck.

Evangeline was different. She didn't need help reaching out to Twister, for he would bow his head down to her. From a young age, the girl had an uncanny affinity for the horse. It was as if they shared an unspoken understanding, an invisible thread of connection that echoed the natural bond between girl and beast. But maybe Kiran had looked too much into it.

Despite his hot temper and stubborn nature, Twister always calmed down when Kiran's children were around. It was a pleasant sight for her, reminiscent of visits to her Uncle in Portia as a child. Her father used to lift her up so she could stand on the edge of the stable where Cloud, a mare, resided. She was tiny back then, but for a long time, all she could think about was how big she was compared to the animals; like her life had meant so little compared to theirs.

"Horses are great at keeping secrets," her father always said. And as a young child, she believed him. She was small and innocent, and no one ever suspected that she could be a reliable confidant. But they underestimated the horses, for they heard everything, even if they couldn't speak. The only secrets she had at five were her own. Even then, she wasn't sure if the horse understood or not when she whispered her hopes for the future: "I wish to be strong, brave, and smart like my Pop!" Of course, Kiran never learned how to keep her voice down back then, so her father heard every word from his spot right beside her. He chuckled at her words, a rich and hearty sound that echoed within the confines of the stable.

"Ah, Kiran," he'd said, placing a hand on her small head, his touch as familiar as the rhythm of a lullaby. "You’ll be stronger, braver, and smarter than your old Pop. You just wait."

Kiran let out a deep breath, placing her hand on the soft material of the saddle horn. As the desert sun slowly dipped below the horizon, its warm orange glow enveloped everything around her. She couldn't help but feel grateful for its beauty. If she could go back in time and tell her childhood self one thing, it would be that this color - this stunning sunset color - would become her favorite.

The passage of time often changed a lot of things, but the true beauty of the desert would never become irrelevant, even as the sandstorms proved to be an occasional annoyance. She urged Twister, who had decided to stop again for seemingly no reason.

Something's not right with this guy, she thought, perhaps a bit uncharitably, but nobody else could hear her inner monologue. And he was just a horse after all.

Maybe he was simply tired of it all. Perhaps he could sense Kiran's mounting frustration with her husband, which drove her to spend all day riding and trying to clear her mind. She knew deep down that Logan's stubbornness was a part of his core identity, and she found some comfort in that. He would never be able to change completely, no matter what they went through. This was his world, and they were just living in it. Just like Twister who, despite the wear and tear of his old bones and the passing seasons, seemed to exist in his own world. A world where he was king, reigning over the vast expanse of dry desert and arid grassland with an iron fist (or rather, hoof). He moved when he wanted to, snacked when he pleased, and didn't give a damn about what anyone else thought. In a way, Kiran found herself envying him.

She missed the simplicity of life that Twister seemed to enjoy. The freedom from family turmoil and husbandly disagreements. The ability to find solace in solitude and strength in stillness.

Andy, now almost a young man, surprised Kiran by expressing his desire to join the Civil Corps. She couldn't help but smile at his words as he explained that watching her work had inspired him to want to be someone people could rely on. Logan, who had been studying a map of the Northern Eufaula range at the table, suddenly looked up with interest.

"What did you say, son?" he asked curiously; even though he had clearly heard what was said. Andy had repeated his plan.

"Well, that's quite an ambitious goal," Logan commented in a calm manner. While Kiran tried to keep her face neutral, she couldn't help but feel proud as the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile.

Logan leaned over his map, deliberately drawing attention to himself. "Who's been filling your head with these ideas, kid?" He looked at her pointedly.

Andy blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the situation as he glanced back and forth between them. Finally, he slowly inched towards the door. "Er, Pa, it's not what you think. We've just been doing a lot around here lately and I..."

Logan held up a hand to cut him off. "That's enough," he said with a stern expression.

Andy crumpled like a wilted plant without sunlight. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing at all." Logan rolled up his map, displaying an unreadable look in his eyes. Kiran watched him and couldn't help but be impressed by how easily such a simple gesture could evoke fear in others. From his posture alone, it was clear that he didn't want to admit his own opinions about Andy not following in his footsteps as a monster hunter. "Anything you want to do, Andy, you go ahead and do it. I'll have your back the whole way through, son."

Logan's tone carried an undertone that Kiran couldn't quite decipher. It could have been concern or fear, but she couldn't blame her husband for feeling that way. She knew it wasn't the work itself that was too difficult or hazardous.

As Andy stared at her with a pleading look, Kiran smiled and nodded, giving him a small smile in return. "Me too, kiddo."

Once Andy had left, Kiran let out a sigh loud enough for her husband to hear. She wanted him to know she caught on to the hint of disappointment in his voice. "Do you want to talk about it, hotshot?"

"What are you talkin' about?" He responded nonchalantly.

She dryly remarked, "I can sense that you're slightly unhappy about Andy's decision to join the Civil Corps."

"What gave it away?"

"Oh, just your body language." She pointed out. He snorted and leaned against the chair he was in, crossing his arms defensively.

"Kiran, you're being a little melodramatic," he grumbled.

"Am I?" She didn't miss a beat as she responded. He nodded.

"Fine then." She stood up. "What was I supposed to say? Tell him no? Because if you were serious about what you told him -"

"Kiran, I didn't mean -"

"That he can do whatever he wants and we'll support him." Her eyes narrowed as she noticed his slight shift in emotions, betraying his attempts to hide his true feelings. "Unless you were lying about that."

His face contorted and he shook his head. "I wasn't, alright? I really wasn't."

A small sigh escaped her lips and her body tensed. "But you didn't tell him the truth about what you were thinking. You just told him what he wanted to hear, without even acknowledging your own thoughts. He's probably not even sure if you're being honest with him." Kiran placed her hand on her face, staring at her husband with frustration. "Is it really so bad that he doesn't want to follow in your footsteps? Who are you to make that decision for him?"

He scowled at her, running his hands through his hair and giving her a disapproving look. "Kiran, I didn't say no to him. What are you on about? I'm allowed to have an opinion, you know. But I would never stop the kid from pursuing his dreams - even if it seems crazy to want to join the Civil Corps." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hardly," she snapped, pointing at him. "It's hardly an opinion when you make assumptions like that. Did you want to tell him no but then change your mind because you were afraid of hurting him or something?"

"What?"

Kiran knew that was the reason, she knew her husband well enough. "You did! You always do that. You have this complex where you pretend not to care so much, but you do it all the time." She spat out the words angrily. "You always find a way to twist things and try to save face with a stupid 'dad joke' or whatever it is you do."

"And you're doing that thing right now, twisting my words to fit your own narrative of me." He rubbed the back of his neck again, another scowl forming on his face - one that was almost endearing, but not the point.

"I don't care," she had mumbled, shrugging.

Kiran let out another frustrated sigh in the dry desert air as she kicked Twister with her heel. She knew she should head back to the house before it got dark and check on everyone, but right now she couldn't bring herself to worry about anyone else.

It was just her and her horse out here. That is, until a snake slithered into view, startling both Kiran and Twister. The snake lunged at them, causing Twister to rear up in defense. Kiran quickly tried to calm her horse down, but before she could even react, she was thrown off and hit the sand with thud. As she fell, she instinctively tried to protect herself from the impact, but there was no stopping it. It wasn't even Twister's fault.

"Ah, fuck." Her words could barely form, but her exclamation was clear nonetheless.

The snake slithered away, along with Twister.

"You fuckhead!" Kiran shouted at the horse, trying to catch her breath as she struggled to stand up. She brushed sand off her face and attempted to regain her balance on the uneven desert ground, feeling a sharp pain in her ankle. "This is just great!"

The sun disappeared from view, leaving the desert shrouded in almost complete darkness. The faint light barely revealed Twister's light brown fur, making it difficult for her to keep track of him. To make matters worse, he was gradually moving further away from her.

Shit. No no no!

Even if Twister did come back, she had no means of getting back onto the saddle, let alone ride the damn animal back home.

"Just hold on, old man," she whispered, pushing away the overwhelming urge to crawl over to some nearby rocks and give in to her fate. In the distance, the horse simply stared at her before nudging the ground with its hoof and trotting off in no particular direction, but still moving away from her.

"Shiiiiit."

Tears gathered in her eyes, but Kiran scolded herself. If she had been paying attention then maybe she would've caught herself.

Maybe she could make the trip back home on foot?

No, there was no way, especially since it was getting darker.

"Ah fuck!" Kiran cursed under her breath, looking around the vast expanse of desert sand around her. The wind started to pick up as she made a sudden decision, heading off in the direction she'd last seen Twister. "Hey, boy! C'mon!" Nothing. Just a slow gait away from her, always maintaining the same pace and keeping distance.

"Twis-ter." She sung quietly, hoping to catch his attention but also cursing him for still being able to pull away and basically run like that. Some old men could really put on a show.

"Why are you like this?" She hissed, watching as he went further and further away. "Fuck you, then." her voice cracked, tears spilling over now, threatening to blind her in the midst of trying to follow him. "I hate you! Fuuuuuuuuck yoooooou."

As she scanned her surroundings; noticed a cluster of rocks not too far away. If she walked towards them, she could find shelter from any strong winds that may blow in the night. Fire was what she needed now, even though it wouldn't completely protect her from the elements or ease the throbbing pain in her ankle. In her stubbornness, she hadn't thought about the consequences of walking such a distance, but she would just have to bear through it. And so she did, taking a deep breath before lowering herself to the ground and searching for sticks under the faint light of the moon. Building a fire was her only hope, and Kiran couldn't help but feel grateful to her late father for teaching her the basics of survival. It was a skill she rarely had to use, but one that was coming in handy now.

Despite her better judgment, she began to gather whatever scraps of wood she could find. Tossing them onto the pile, she struck them together with increasing force and frustration until they were beyond salvageable. A loud hissing sound filled the air, mirroring the anger building inside of her. Swirling emotions churned in her stomach like a ball of fire, coming in quick bursts before dissipating into a hollow feeling. It was a sensation she couldn't quite explain; almost like being deprived of all sensory input. But then, a single spark caught among the dusty ground and dry twigs, causing the desert to light up in a warm orange glow as the flame spread across the pile beneath her hands.

Kiran gazed into the flickering flames, her hand burning from the heat that radiated off them. She pulled back, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the mesmerizing fire. It was her only source of warmth in this vast desert where she knew no one would come to look for her.

No, she couldn't doubt it. Logan wasn't foolish enough to believe she was simply out for a ride. One of her daughters would stumble in, most likely Adeline, complaining about Evangeline once again stirring up trouble because, at ten years old, Evangeline always had to have the last word. And then Logan would ask "Where's your mother?" and they would all realize, oh, her horse is missing too...

They would surely figure out that she had gone on an angry solo ride. And Logan would definitely know to search for her. He wasn't as skilled at handling their daughters' arguments without Kiran there to mediate. He often chose sides based on what he thought was fair or funny--which the girls weren't interested in hearing; they wanted their mother's comfort. They needed their mother. And their mother was somewhere alone and vulnerable in the darkness. Because she had made a habit of neglecting herself and believing that she didn't matter. Sometimes...

She only hoped there was some type of argument to prompt this search in the first place.

The children were all well-behaved and kind. Occasionally they would bicker and tattle on each other, but at their core, they were good kids. However, when watching Evangeline interact with her younger sisters, one could never have predicted the outcome of their relationship. She was not only intelligent, but she also knew how to manipulate the system. Adeline was known for pestering her father, but he only had himself to blame for being overprotective due to her anemia. Beatrice was still young at five years old, so her personality was still developing. But she enjoyed spending time outside, often wandering off to a nearby tree or playing with the chickens in the backyard. As for Andy, he had a strong sense of family and treated his sisters as if they were his own blood. He taught them valuable skills like bug-catching, reading, and using a slingshot accurately - never once complaining about being the only boy in the household.

"Where are you, Yakboy?" She huffed. She knew she was alone, a good few miles from town. And it was getting pretty fucking cold. Cursing her own forgetfulness, Kiran adjusted the coat tighter around her, staring out to the vast expanse of sands before her.

It wasn't cold enough yet for her to completely freeze. Most would assume it wouldn't ever get to that point in the desert, and honestly she could barely remember if there had been a time, but she knew cold. Her fingers ached, as she rubbed them to keep them warm against the fire.

"I fucked up. As usual." She muttered, though, an almost proud sort of sound danced across her lips in a light-hearted chuckle that erupted in her. She looked out across the desert before her, and for a second the flames almost seemed to change in height, but the rest of the desert was eerily still.

She gazed up at the night sky, filled with twinkling stars and a crescent moon. Perhaps Logan would tell their children a bedtime story tonight, one of his many wild tales from his real-life adventures. The girls adored his stories; they never had to fear monsters under their beds because their father was the bravest man in the world. Always able to vanquish any foe.

"Alright, alright," he would say with a grin, raising his hands in mock surrender before plopping down on the floor and lifting up the comforter to peak underneath for any supposed monsters. "Aha, there he is," he'd declare with a smirk.

"Daddy, did you get him?" Little Beatrice would ask eagerly.

He'd snort and widen his grin, "oh yeah, I got him good. He won't be coming back anytime soon. One look at me and he scurried back through the vents."

With an exaggerated expression of triumph or accomplishment, he would entertain them and make them believe that he could conquer any enemy with just a glance. Maybe they didn't fully understand what an enemy was like their father did, but that was okay. They wouldn't have to.

Sometimes Kiran would look at her children and wonder if they were too young, too pure and kind to understand the darkness her and Logan had faced. They would grow up without truly comprehending the trauma their parents endured and how it shaped their lives. But she never voiced these thoughts to Logan; she had shared her fears of spiders and scorpions with him. But his fears never stopped him. And she knew they never would.

But each of the girls had their own struggles and challenges to face, and Kiran acknowledged that there were ups and downs to being a mother. But ultimately, she believed it was worth it to be able to give her children something Logan never had: a loving mother. A mama who truly cared for them.

She let out a deep sigh, leaning her body against the cold rock. Despite feeling exhausted and freezing, she knew she had to tough it out. If she gave up now, death was a very real possibility. The sound of something skittering by caught her attention, but she didn't bother investigating.

Her mind wandered to her regrets and her own shortcomings. She despised how much of a burden she used to be, and even now still felt like one. Logan had been similar to Twister in some ways - kind yet stubborn as hell. He never let anything get past him.

But she loved him for his kindness and thoughtfulness, always putting others before himself without outwardly showing it. It was almost ironic how different they were as a couple, yet also oddly similar. They both had the hearts of heroes, despite their differences.

She drifted off like that - the fire crackling and glowing slightly, but the noise not disrupting her. If anything, it comforted her, knowing it was slowly heating her skin and warming her bones and body.

She pictured those icy blue eyes. How passionate he was about everything he believed in - that was so admirable.

However, there were moments when he could be an irritating jerk, laughing at something that was actually just immature. But she would have to tolerate it - even though it annoyed her - because deep down, he truly was a caring and loving person. After all, he was her husband, her partner in mischief, and the father of her kids. She couldn't deny how much she loved him, despite his occasional flaws. The carbon copies of him were constantly around as well, the mischievous little fuckers who knew exactly how to push both their buttons. But she would not trade it for the world.

She jolted awake, maybe hours later, to the fire dwindling and a damp sensation on her forehead. Twister sniffed at her and nudged her gently with his nose. Kiran sat up quickly, almost pushing away her horse before realizing who it was.

"Twister!" She exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes as she leaned against the rock, brushing her blue hair out of her face with a sigh of relief. Then came a soft thud as Logan dismounted from the saddle. Twister seemed unphased, but Logan approached with a look of concern etched into his features.

"What happened here?" He asked gruffly, a hint of seriousness underlying his rough voice.

Kiran pointed to her ankle, which was swelling up slightly, and he noticed her face had traces of tears. He knelt next to her, rolling up her jeans past her knee to survey the damage. "Shit."

He removed his hat and placed it gently beside him. She could see the disapproving look in his eyes, and she hated it. It was the same look he always gave her when she did something reckless or foolish. He reached out to touch her ankle, trying to assess the damage. "You should have known better, Kiran," he said sternly, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. Kiran couldn't help but wince as his hands moved over her injured ankle; it was probably a sprain, or maybe even something worse.

"Twister got spooked. I don't control how snakes work, dumbass."

A small chuckle escaped his throat, but it was clear that he never stopped worrying. That's just who he was. "Horses are instinctively flight animals," he said. "You were lucky the old man had the sense to find his way back home. Otherwise-"

"My family would have shrunk to just five members." Kiran interrupted, sitting up and causing Logan to sigh and adjust his position in the sand. "Sorry."

"I don't know what to say," he said, as usual, struggling for words. Instead of continuing, he simply closed his mouth monetarily. "Do you want some water?" Logan offered, pulling out his canteen.

Kiran made a face but then nodded her head. "I owe that old horse my life. He deserves retirement." She smiled, reaching for the canteen and unscrewing the cap.

"Sounds fair. Is your ankle going to give us any more trouble?" Logan examined her swollen ankle, gently moving it with his fingers. Kiran winced in pain.

"Yeah, it might. I don't think it's broken, but it still hurts." She took a long drink from the canteen.

"You had me really worried."

"Was it before or after you thought about being a single father?" Kiran teased with a smirk, taking another sip from the canteen before offering it to him. "But seriously, I appreciate you coming to get me."

"Couldn't exactly not come out here to get my damn wife," his voice sounded like he was offended but his grin showed a different story. "Got at least three daughters that'll be askin' where ya gone off too. And if anything, you know you're Twister's favorite. Let's get you up, darlin'." He stood, holding a hand out to her to help her up, but as soon as she attempted to put weight on her bad foot, she collapsed into him.

"Ow ow ow-" she clung to him, gripping his shirt tightly with closed fists. "Fuck..."

He exhaled a shaky breath and wrapped his arm around her, helping her to stand. Kiran leaned on a nearby rock for support, trying to relieve some of the weight from her injured ankle, though she still needed assistance. She shot Twister an angry glare, although she couldn't deny her affection for him.

"Stupid piece of horseshit - don't give me that look - ow, yes, it's your fault," she continued her rant, glancing to Logan to see him; a half-assed attempt to hide his amused grin. "Nothing funny about this. Asshole."

Logan tilted his head, his smile finally coming through. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time-"

"We agreed not to talk about the last time."

This caused Logan to laugh softly and shake his head. He came forward, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You're something else, you know that?"

Kiran gave him a look. "Yes, I'm amazing and strong, Logan. You only tell me that every fucking day." She paused, mocking his accent when she continued and quoted him, "You're somethin' else, woman." 

His grin widened even further. "Heh," he let his thumbs roll in gentle circles against her shoulders. "You could kill a man with words if you ever tried." He tilted his head, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to her forehead, thumb brushing through her hair that was swept by the breeze.

She smiled at this, leaning into him, tilting her head up towards him. "Don't underestimate my creativity. I can do great things," she murmured, her words a gentle brush against his collarbone that rose goosebumps on his skin. His blue eyes nearly bored a hole into her from staring, she blushed harder under his gaze, eyes meeting for only a moment.

"Right," he acknowledged her, bringing his lips to graze hers gently. It was only moments. It was barely a connection. A light touch that felt like a spark of electricity hitting a wire.

To say their relationship was an electric storm would have been the most accurate. Their lives had been entangled and turned upside down by storms and violent waves, and their energies collided when they met.

She smiled, breathless, into the kiss. All the feelings of loss and desperation that had drawn her to that fire had seemed to just disappear, leaving them both wrapped up in one another and longing for something. A mutual yearning that ran so deep and true. They had found something beautiful - something perfect - in each other, and to separate from that would have left them empty and starving.

Logan smiled, slipping a finger under her chin and tilting her face up slightly so he could see her clearly. "What can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again?" he rasped gently, running his fingers under the hair and to the nape of her neck.

She loved the feeling of his fingers against her skin, trailing delicately and feather light. The intimacy, the feelings and the emotions that bubbled up when they touched was inexplicable, leaving her to want nothing else.

"You could tie me down," Kiran laughed hoarsely. "Put a leash on my ankle. Chain me. Hell, you could've probably - you know..." She couldn't help it. Even teasing had its merits. And doing anything to get his blood rushing and make him angry (or something else) always had it's perks.

Logan chuckled. "Really? You've been in the desert too long," he smirked, placing a hand on her waist. Kiran's smile nearly matched his. She watched him, enraptured in their dance.

"I hate to make you mad," She poked at his chest. Kiran adjusted herself, pulling her hips closer. "But you get mad too easily."

He was listening, turning his head slightly to show he was focused, as much as his eyes seemed glazed over when he was just watching her. Her words struck him deep, sometimes, or so she supposed. Either it was her words or his own worries that would do it. As much as he ignored her teasing, Logan had proved to have a protective side. Everyday it showed more and more.

"Good point," he relented, but Kiran didn't reply. His lips formed a thin, straight line before continuing, "its just that," his voice deepened, rough and scratchy, a voice she'd hear more than often - a voice she had always heard when they were alone like this - when he was calm, and confident. Like his heart was beating just for her.

"I couldn't stand it if I lost you," the words were smooth, sincere, slow-dripping and raw like an open wound, the color and life dying out; like it had only been a taste of how much he really feared that. The look on her face left no doubt about how hard it was for him to admit that.

"You won't," Kiran took his face in her hands, eyes boring deep into his. She was smiling at him, in a way.

Logan smirked, a calloused hand coming to rest on her upper back. "Can't exactly plan a rescue out here. So I'd like to reduce your chances of becoming snake bait," he pulled her closer.

"Let's get me home," Kiran said with a laugh, their breaths mingling in the air. They both moved closer to each other instinctively. Logan leaned in first, followed by Kiran as their lips met in an urgent and passionate kiss. She melted into him effortlessly, a smile forming on her lips. He chuckled softly, reminding her to be cautious, but it was quickly forgotten as she eagerly sought to taste him again.

Kiran felt his hands on her body, gentle yet powerful, a perfect contrast to the rest of his strong physique. She deepened the kiss, feeling her heart racing with excitement. And she could feel his heart beating just as fast against hers, their frantic rhythms matching perfectly. She let out a soft sigh and pulled at his shirt, craving more contact for her burning core. He complied eagerly, pulling her closer with his arm around her back.

She moaned softly, trying to keep quiet lest anyone hear them in this open desert space. It made her blush to think about it - there they were, pressed together intimately as husband and wife in the middle of nowhere. Her good leg was able to support her weight as their tongues explored each other passionately. It was almost too much to handle.

But Logan maintained some sense of control and took charge of the situation. However, that didn't stop Kiran from rocking her hips against his thigh and sliding her hand under his shirt to feel his muscles flex beneath her touch. She had him right where she wanted him - smitten and helpless against her trembling body as she struggled to contain both her desires and her breathless gasps.

Twister made a noise.

Kiran broke apart, Logan let his forehead fall to her shoulder and her hand had moved to his head, fingers running through his silver hair. Logan moved, his breath hot and heavy on her, a steady drum against her throat. Logan was hot, too, face flushed as he attempted to remember his composure, muttering swears like a mantra as his grip on her loosened, his gaze landing on the horse, who only snorted.

She knew what Twister was telling them. To get a move on.

"Dammit," Logan whispered, clearly frustrated. He leaned into her, his shoulders falling slightly, slowly trying to remove himself from her but Kiran tangled her fingers into his hair and refused to let him go, trying to savor what she could. She let out a quiet, teasing laugh at his own cursing, glancing to her horse in amusement and smiling when her mind wandered. She hoped that maybe, if her eyes screwed shut tight enough, he would give up, tell Twister to go screw himself and he would fuck her mercilessly. Unfortunately, the universe seemed against them. Or fate was cruel. Or perhaps Twister was simply a horse of impeccable timing.

Logan ran his fingers through his hair and placed his hat on his head with a heavy sigh. He glared at the horse. "Don't you have anythin' better to do?"

Twister snorted, almost as if he understood. But it was more likely that he was just tired and wanted to go back home.

"Damn horse," Logan grumbled, causing Kiran to laugh in a hoarse cough. She stumbled away from him, managing to stand for a brief moment before nearly falling again. He caught her quickly, concern etched onto his face.

"Shit," he sprang into action immediately. Twister was quiet, as if sensing something was wrong and moving closer to them.

"We gotta get you home, woman."

"No shit," she managed, her voice slightly hysterical as he hooked an arm under her legs and his other supported her back, lifting her up against his chest. The movement silenced her suddenly, and for a few seconds she listened to the sound of his footprints against the coarse sand. Twister was waiting patiently, bobbing his head lightly, watching them. He kept going until he stopped next to Twister.

"Am I too much for you to handle?" Kiran asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty. "I did have three kids, after all." Her admission caught him off guard, but he didn't let it show as he helped her onto the saddle.

"It's not polite for a man to comment on a woman's weight," Logan replied, trying to lighten the mood as he patted her knee reassuringly. "Just scoot forward a bit more, will ya?"

She followed his instructions, shifting as far forward as possible to give him room to climb onto the saddle behind her. "Okay, okay," she mumbled, gripping the reins tightly. The soft sound of leather rubbing against each other filled their ears as Logan settled into place behind her.

With a smirk, she said, "Just this once, I'll let you be in charge."

He chuckled softly and reached for the horse's reins. "Noted," he muttered before clicking his tongue.

Twister took a step forward, but only one.

Kiran wondered how Logan managed to get him back out here again. Perhaps it was Twister's instinctive knowledge of her whereabouts that saved her. But she didn't mention it - this situation was enough to deal with. It was a miracle that the old man even showed up, and both Kiran and Logan knew it.

She heard Logan huff behind her as he firmly grasped the reins and attempted once more to lead the steed home. Twister made a noise, almost as if he was annoyed.

"Listen to me," Logan's voice had an edge to it that startled Kiran. "You've done a lot for us today; you owe us just a little bit more, don't you, you old bastard?"

Twister seemed hesitant to move, even after Logan nudged him again. Kiran couldn't help but chuckle at the stubbornness of the beast, but she knew it wouldn't do any good.

"Come on, Twister," she urged, patting his neck gently. The old stallion finally obliged and began to move. A wave of relief and gratitude washed over Kiran, causing her body to relax.

Under his breath, Logan grumbled about the horse having an attitude, but Kiran simply smiled - the expression seemed permanently fixed on her face now. And as they continued their journey, that smile only grew wider and more intense.

"He's just mad two people are on him." She commented, looking down and watching the sand hit the horse's legs. "He's getting old, he's too picky with who rides him."

"He's always been picky, you're the only one he listens to anyway."

"I happen to have that effect on people," she heard his laugh and turned her head toward it.

"Sure." His response was cut short by the need to speak to Twister, asking the horse to hurry up just this once, as if the beast could understand them. Of course he did, in a way. But in Twisters world this meant taking his time. Eventually his hooves echoed on the railway bridge just before town.

"How long was I out there?" Kiran mumbled, noting that the lights were all off. The residents must have been in bed, or about to be, anyway. How long had she been gone? "What time is it?"

"Few hours," Logan muttered, exhaustion in his voice. Twister was obviously tired, his steps heavier, pausing every few feet to be sure where he was walking, his head bobbing. He must have been exhausted after carrying them. But soon they were at the gate, a familiar sight. This was where Twister could finally rest - so he halted and refused to take another step forward.

Logan looked over to their house, sighing and muttering about the horse. "At least we're not waitin' for him anymore. My ass hurts."

He reached out to pat Kiran and then dismounted from his horse, beckoning for her to come down as well. She appeared a bit bashful but still managed to smile, lowering herself into his waiting arms. He made sure to hold her securely as she alighted from the horse. She winced slightly, clearly in pain.

"Thank you both," she said, placing her hand on Logan's chest and staying close to him for support. She found her footing and pulled on Twister's reins with determination.

The horse shook his head, his ears pinned back in a sign of frustration. She affectionately ruffled his white forelock, noticing that he needed some grooming. His tail was tangled and his hooves were caked with dirt, but he seemed more interested in taking a rest at the moment.

Logan returned his attention to the horse, expressing his gratitude through gentle pets and pats on the neck. He then carefully picked up the woman, much to her disappointment as it meant no more freedom to move around. However, she was relieved to not have to hobble anymore. Once inside, Logan released a sigh of relief as he shut the front door behind them and gently placed her on the couch. Despite feeling uncomfortably warm, she smiled at him. He set his hat down on the nearby table and took a seat in the chair next to her. It looked like he collapsed into it more than anything else.

"My ankle," she reminded him.

"Right," he replied absentmindedly, looking exhausted and drained. But he had always been handsome to her. He tilted his head towards the stairs and called out for Andy. "Andy! Get down here!"

There was a mumble and shuffle from above before the silhouette of the young man appeared, rubbing his eyes sleepily in the dim light. "What is it, Pa?" The boy's voice was heavy with sleep, his hair tousled in a way that reminded Kiran of Twister's forelock.

"Ma hurt her ankle," Logan explained. His tone held an unquestionable authority yet a softness that only revealed itself when he spoke to family. Andy's gaze turned to her and widened slightly at the sight of her sitting there, obviously in pain but still managing to hold onto that ever-present smile.

"Oh fu - shoot, you okay Ma?" Kiran nodded, her smile calming Andy’s worry slightly. "Just twisted it a bit." she conceded. She glanced towards Logan, who was eyeing the stairs, no doubt thinking about finding their stash of bandages and painkillers hidden away upstairs. Andy, followed his gaze, nodded once before disappearing up the staircase.

"I talked to him, ya know." Logan admitted this like he was admitting to doing something he wasn't supposed to - something wrong. She looked at him, curious, and watched him try to hide his embarrassment in his hand when he rubbed his chin, clearly enjoying the reprieve for his poor knees that was being offered in his seat. "He made me talk it out," the slightest smile tugged at his mouth.

"You boys have been bonding?" She played it dumb, of course, knowing full well that the young man upstairs wanted, no, needed a father figure and a brother who didn't hide behind some film of not projecting emotions clearly.

"Naw, I mean, he just sat there. Told him I felt some way about him not taking after me." As he spoke, he got out of the chair, moving to where Kiran was on the couch and flopping down again. "Boots, woman. Take those damn things off." He pointed, but patted his thigh regardless. There was no question, he wanted her leg on him so he could check on her ankle.

She shook her head, mumbling that he was impatient as she shuffled her body on the old sofa until she got comfortable again. "And what did he say?" Kiran's ankle pulsed with an ache.

He grasped her boot gently, pulling at the laces and beginning to ease the article off of her leg. "He said he respects me, a lot. But," he laughed, "he's nothing like me. That if he has to be anyone he wants to be like you. I can't even be mad. He's a great kid, stubborn as hell, but-"

The sound of the boy's footsteps caught the attention of the two adults, who turned to see him returning downstairs. Andy carried an old, worn medical kit, with Evangeline and Adeline following closely behind him. The youngest child, Beatrice, remained upstairs as she was the deepest sleeper among them. With his brows furrowed in concern, Andy walked briskly towards them. His sisters trailed behind him, with Adeline appearing to be the most tired as she let out a big yawn and rubbed her eyes while leaning on Evangeline's shoulder for support.

As Logan continued to work on the boot, easing it past Kiran's swollen ankle, he shot a glance towards the gathering crowd of youngsters. The soft lamplight illuminated their concerned faces.

Andy took a seat on the armrest of the couch, opening up the worn kit with practiced ease.

Adeline rushed to her mother's side with concern, wrapping her in a tight embrace. "Mama, did you hurt your ankle? I was so worried!"

"I'm home now, Addie," Kiran replied, hugging her daughter back just as tightly. She found comfort in her child's presence, not wanting to let go even when Evangeline joined them in the hug.

"We're so glad you're safe, Mama," Evangeline chimed in, kissing her mother's cheek. Kiran couldn't help but smile at her daughters' affection.

"Yes, I'm okay. Even though I took a little tumble."

Evangeline's surprise was evident in her tone. "You fell?" she asked Kiran, who looked up at her husband's cracked grin.

"Yeah," Kiran admitted sheepishly. "Right off the saddle."

Adeline, always curious, had her mouth slightly open, ready to bombard Kiran with questions. Logan quickly intervened.

"It was quite a fall," he explained. He delicately held Kiran's injured ankle as if it were about to explode. Adeline leaned forward eagerly, wanting to hear all about her mother's accident. But Kiran was not amused; she knew her injury was not life-threatening.

"Thankfully, I survived thanks to my hero over here," Kiran said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Logan couldn't resist exaggerating his role in saving her.

"I had to carry her... on the back of Old Twister!" he exclaimed, emphasizing each word for effect. Kiran couldn't help but scoff and pout like an offended five-year-old - except hers was asleep upstairs.

"Well, thank you very much," she said dryly, knowing that even if Logan hadn't been there, she would have found a way back home - maybe?

Logan's smile transformed into a cocky smirk as he refocused on the injured ankle. His thumb assumed a gentle, circular motion, massaging the exact spot where the worst pain was located. "Ice, anybody?" he asked nonchalantly, his voice oozing with confidence.

She would have kicked him if she could, but her injured ankle prevented any sort of retaliation, and she fought the urge to curse from the pain.

Evangeline spoke up eagerly. "I'll go get it!" she declared, causing Adeline to gasp quietly as she watched her sprint out of the room.

"What's my job?" Adeline asked, rubbing her tired eyes. "I want to help."

Kiran lovingly ran her hand through her daughter's beautiful white hair, gazing at her admiringly. "Go get Daddy some water, I think he's pretty thirsty," she instructed. As Adeline obediently jumped off the couch and scurried to the kitchen, Kiran turned her attention back to Logan. She couldn't help but smirk at his cocky attitude.

"How do you manage them?" He asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Kiran countered, trying to stifle a laugh by biting her lip.

"Just-" He gestured with his hands, struggling to find the right words. "Handle them."

She couldn't contain her laughter any longer. He watched her with a slight chuckle, as if he had given up trying to understand.

"What's so difficult? They're just girls, not wild animals."

"Sometimes they don't seem all that different," he muttered, his brow furrowing again. "But then again, what if-"

"Comparing them to wild animals doesn't make me like you any more," her statement cut off his train of thought, which probably wasn't going anywhere useful.

Logan huffed and glanced towards the other room, where Evangeline now emerged.

"Here, Daddy," She handed him a bag of ice wrapped in cloth. "Be careful, it's melting," she warned.

"Thanks kiddo," Logan said, taking it carefully with one hand while keeping Kiran's ankle elevated and steadied with the other. His touch was gentle and comforting as he pressed the ice against her swollen ankle, causing her to let out a soft grunt.

"Thank you," she added sweetly, smiling gratefully at her daughter.

"I got the water!" Adeline chirped as she returned to the room. Kiran almost gasped at the sight of the tall glass filled nearly to the brim, with only a few drops spilling over the sides. The little girl her father without spilling a drop.

He played along and took it from her. "Trying to drown me?" He joked, but seeing Adeline's joyful expression and Kiran's disapproving frown, he didn't dare set the full glass down. Instead, he took a long drink from it, emptying some of the liquid. "There, now there's enough for me." He handed the water back to Adeline, who grinned and placed it on the table within his reach.

"Here Ma, take these." Andy handed her a pair of white pills from a small brown bottle, the light from the hanging lamp casting dancing shadows upon his face. The quietness of the room was shattered by the rattling sound when he put the cap back on the bottle.

"Light," Kiran said with a chuckle, "it's like a hospital ward in here."

"What?" Andy feigned innocence with an innocent shrug.

"I mean, what's next? You going to take my blood pressure?" she asked, taking the pills from his hand and washing them down with a sip of water Adeline offered her.

"Andy, see to Twister. Brush him off, he deserves it." Logan instructed.

Andy didn't care to object and nodded. The floorboards creaked under his weight as he walked towards the door, pulling on his boots. "Sure thing," he said, his voice filled with the carefree confidence of youth.

Logan looked up at Evangeline and spoke again, "I think it's time to call it a night, ladies. We've had enough accidents for one evening. I can't imagine sleepin' on the couch after all this excitement."

Evangeline's brow furrowed in confusion as she asked, "Are you going to move her?" Her face brightened with the thought of executing a daring rescue.

"Yeah, I'll take her to bed. She'll have a tough time tomorrow with that sprained ankle. We don't want her waking up in pain, do we?"

Adeline bounced on the sofa, watching her father closely. He met her gaze but held back from saying anything entertaining for her sake. However, before Logan could even consider playing along, Evangeline chimed in again.

"No, we definitely don't want that to happen, Daddy."

"Alright then," he rubbed his chin as he thought. He took a moment to stare at the floor, or maybe longer - too long for simply looking at an object without any significance. Kiran knew what he was doing; he was pretending to include their opinions so he wouldn't have to stand up right away.

She waited a moment before speaking up. "So, what's going through your minds?"

"Someone needs to help you move," Adeline chimed in, following her father's lead. She was just like him. Logan nodded, deep in thought as he rubbed his chin and tapped his finger against his lips in consideration.

"You are absolutely right," he looked up, his expression beaming. "Thank you, Addie, you think for the rest of us."

She giggled, bowing her head, rubbing her eyes and playing a proper little girl.

"Oh hush," Kiran muttered, offering him a hand. He smiled as he took it, pulling up on it gently - careful not to drag her with him as he stood.

"What're you on about?"

"She knows you're faking." Kiran claimed.

Adeline shook her head. "He only looks at the floor like that when he's thinking!"

Logan scoffed, as if this was a ridiculous notion, and shook his head. "Am I really that obvious?"

"No way," Adeline shook her head, looking to her sister for confirmation, who nodded and hummed quietly in agreement. It was their solidarity against him, and to his credit, he didn't seem all that offended. He wouldn't have had it any other way, really, even if the youngsters weren't aware of it.

He didn't continue the argument. Mostly because it was already losing his attention, and partly because his goal was to get Kiran to the bedroom - for the time being that was much more pressing than joking with the girls.

"I got you." He warned, though he wasn't cruel enough to do anything without her permission. Just having the option made her mouth twitch, annoyed, but she nodded and let him swoop in for the pick up. "No use fightin' it, honey, you're hurt."

She grumbled, frustrated with the current situation. She knew it was necessary, but still couldn't accept the fact that she had to endure it. Her husband's embrace did little to ease her discomfort from her injured leg and achy ankle. She concentrated on ignoring her children who were humming and giggling behind her, commenting on how ridiculous it all seemed. If she could block them out completely, maybe she could forget about the incident and enjoy the moment.

The journey up the stairs was quick. He gently placed her feet on the smooth hardwood floor and led her, one cautious step at a time, to the bed. She winced, wondering how she managed to get hurt again. As if she could ever forget the memory of falling from old Twister long enough to relax. She sat down slowly, his hands supporting her as she lowered herself onto the soft mattress.

"Careful, hun," Logan advised, just as he grabbed an extra pillow from the other side of the bed, fluffing it up briefly. "Think you can get your foot up here?" She obliged, placing her foot on the pillow. "Perfect."

"Glad it pleases you." She grumbled.

"How's it feel?" He asked, avoiding her ire, and took a seat at the end of the bed.

"It hurts, but I'll live." She gave the response as if nothing had happened. That was the intent, anyway.

"Had a feeling you'd say that." His hands moved to the sock she wore, which he began to roll off as gently as possible.

"No, it's okay. Leave it." She sighed.

Logan laughed and shook his head. "It's fine, Kiran." But he tried not to be rough about it as he tugged the material down the length of her foot. She bit her lip and sucked in a quiet breath through her teeth when he had it off.

"See, that wasn't so bad," he said, a note of triumph in his voice. Kiran simply rolled her eyes in response.

He examined her foot, studying the raised blue-purple bruise forming on her ankle. She watched as his face creased with worry. It was a look she knew all too well; Logan wore it often when he thought no one was looking, but she always noticed.

"Stop fretting," she murmured.

"It could have been worse," he mumbled, though she thought his words were a bit insensitive. She didn't often get hurt this badly. His hands gently traced over her swollen skin, his mouth twisting in sympathy. He reached up to hold her shoulders carefully. "Lie down. Let me know if you need to move, okay?"

She nodded obediently.

"Good girl." He couldn't resist the chance to tease her, his wink and faint laughter giving him away.

She rolled her eyes again. "Why don't you go check on the kids? You'll be back soon enough."

"Won't miss me while I'm gone?" he asked with a sly grin. She shook her head and turned over.

"Not a chance."

He snorted and gave her back a brief pat before leaving her alone in the room, lit only by the lamp on her bedside table.

The sound of shuffling footsteps echoed down the hallway, accompanied by occasional giggles. Logan was likely moments away from stepping in to settle things. Not that he minded the disturbance; some days, chaos was a welcome change. Other days, not so much. She could hear their incessant questions from the next room over as Logan expertly fielded them for the time being. She was so used to his voice that she could almost hear every word he said, even when he spoke softly.

"Well, Addie, that's a great question. Yeah, I think we should get him a carrot tomorrow." As Logan agreed with Adeline's request, Evangeline started to speak up, suggesting that Twister deserved two carrots instead. His response was hardly a disagreement with her opinion. "Alright, alright. He definitely deserves it after saving Mama. We'll get em for him bright and early tomorrow morning. Got it?"

Evangeline must have been satisfied with his answer because they didn't vocalize any further. A moment later, Logan entered the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind him. "Well, it's one o'clock in the morning."

"Well," Kiran smiled coyly, "That means it's technically not tomorrow yet. They could get him three carrots."

He chuckled and rubbed his eyes before speaking. "You'd think they would want to sleep in a little longer. Maybe they just enjoy being around you as much as I do."

Kiran returned his smile, tilting her head slightly. He perched on the edge of the bed. He didn't look as tired as she had expected. Most likely he was trying to appear strong for her sake, even now.

"Do you need help changing?" he asked, although his tone suggested that he knew she could handle it on her own. He was willing to risk her anger in order to take care of her.

She grunted in response and shifted, attempting to sit up. Logan leaned forward and caught her shoulder, stopping her movement. "What did I tell you?"

"You asked a question, I think I can handle a few seconds without you monitoring me," she retorted, pulling off her shirt - too exhausted to stand and not wanting him to see her from behind anyway.

"Yes, ma'am." Logan huffed, waiting until she removed the bra; tossing it aside while the loose gray sleeping tee replaced it. He glanced at her for permission before slowly helping her to the edge of the bed so he could pull down her jeans. His grin when she did was less than comforting.

"So this is how it ends, huh? With me stripping you?" He paused, pursing his lips in deep thought. "There is no right way to put this, is there?"

She pulled back and dropped the jeans into a heap. "I'd like to think that if this is the last time you take my clothes off, there'd be something more special in the air." She raised her eyebrow when she stared at him, waiting for his reply. It only got worse when she saw the color fill his cheeks.

"Oh yeah? You could have fooled me."

"Shut it." She warned, "What are you doing, trying to fight me?"

"Always," he teased, flashing another easy grin. She watched him close, trying to break down this look, searching for something from him. When he bent closer, trying for a kiss, she shoved him in the middle of his chest. She laughed heartily, using him for balance as she pushed. He grunted, eyes wide.

"Oh, you're just full of jokes tonight, ain't ya?" He gasped, touching his chest. "I should be offended, ya know," he crossed his arms, pouting. "My wife, shoving me away."

"You started it. If you want my kindness, you've gotta earn it." She replied quickly. "Can we go to bed, please?"

"Suppose we have no choice." He let the mock defeat slide through his voice, and even so she smiled.

"Careful," she mused. "You know. 'We.' Like we're old or something."

"Is there something wrong with 'we', Kiran?"

"Just calling it like I see it."

"Remind me to kick myself in the mornin', if that's what you'd like," he snickered. He didn't even wait to get permission to stretch out his aching body. Kiran was all the more amused, watching him move his weary limbs. She doubted he really could have denied her any request, even with as much work as he did - there was no way he would have turned her down.

"I hope it's better by the morning." She frowned at her ankle. The thought of bed-rest over several days was more daunting than she expected. Though, the more she turned it over in her mind, the more the feeling was giving way to guilt. Here she was complaining about something that wasn't as bad as it could be, which was her right, wasn't it?

He slid the window ajar - a cool evening breeze to help them sleep soundly. She leaned forward, fiddling with the light as he let the curtains flutter, though they soon settled back against the worn panes. Her eyes darted around the room as she tried to focus and turned the light off, plunging the room into a dull glow of the small night light near the door. He came back to her, a hand moving to brush through her hair.

"Get comfy," he instructed. "That way the swelling will go down some, and you'll have an easier time in the morning."

His words couldn't have meant more, all that he was not telling her was clear to him. He smiled, tender, for once not forcing his charm. She snuggled down into the sheets. When she was sufficiently distracted with getting comfortable, she shut her eyes; feeling the mattress dip beneath his weight. His warmth was a comfort to her. In a whisper, she muttered quietly, "thank you."

The response was an arm wrapping loosely around her waist, a gentle pull towards him. Their heads brushed against each other, and his grip tightened. It was a silent cry, she felt, for her to stay with him and him with her. No matter what he had been through in these strange lands, and no matter what he thought about it, she was proud of him.

She knew who the real heroes were. He was all hers. And she knew he thought the same about her.

"You're welcome."

Nothing needed to be discussed, nothing else mattered. When the time came to wake, that would be an entirely different matter.

#mtas #mtas fanfiction #mtas builder/logan #mtas logan #mtas builder

[lovcyme]

Can you make an KuroKen Fanfic abt them like comforting eachother when their day's going bad?

Hello anon tysm for this ask !! This is a bit messy bc it's literally 3am here as I write this but I hope you like this !!

note: i used headcanon pronouns for kenma and i use they/them on them and theyre non-binary bc theyre not into gendered shit here just a heads up

pt. 1/1

tw: homophobia

This is proofread !! ✅

"Kenma, what's up ? The expression you have looks like hell." the older male said, observing his partner's facial features.

The junior looks up from their game as they gave their boyfriend an irritated look. "It's nothing, Kuro." they said, clearly irritated at something. Tetsurou knows something is indeed wrong by his partner's tone.

"Doesn't seem like nothing when your face looks like the first time you had to toss to Lev." the black-haired male said cheekily.

His partner ignored him which made Tetsurou suspect that something serious probably happened. Choosing to respect his partner's boundaries for now, they continued to walk to the train station.

After they have sat down in the train, Tetsurou's suspicions start to become more likely as Kenma put their PSP away. It was an unlikely occurrence, one that Tetsurou rarely sees. However, Tetsurou knew this state would make his partner uncooperative. He usually would have to wait for a while before he could get them to open up so he waited until they got to their neighborhood.

Arriving at Kenma's house, Tetsurou spoke up. "Hey Ken, I think we need to talk. Somethin' seems to be bothering ya so I'll be here for a while. I already texted my dad so there's no need to worry." he spoke with a hint of concern in his voice. "I-... I understand. Let's go in." Kenma spoke rather nonchalantly, but they knew and understood their boyfriend's concern, they just didn't know how to project those feelings.

As the two entered their house, Mrs. Kozume greeted them both as the two greeted her back politely. In a somehow awkward but comfortable silence the two walked to Kenma's room. Allowing themselves to indulge in the privacy of their room.

"So, what happened that made you so upset ?" Tetsurou inquired, placing his bag down as his partner immediately sat on the bed. Tetsurou waited patiently for his partner to respond, not wanting to pressure them.

Tetsurou heard a long sigh from his partner. "I'm just tired of people being stupid. Like, why can't they just be open-minded ?" they said, clearly frustrated at the thought. Tetsurou does not understand what his partner was saying. Instead of telling them to explain more, he simply waited as he sat on their desk chair.

"They don't get that I'm non-binary and that I'm not into being tied down to the gender spectrum." they ranted more, leaning their face on their palms. "Is it really hard to respect someone's identity ? Or is it just because their brain isn't working properly due to their lack of knowledge."

Tetsurou just listened to his partner rant about their situation. He didn't want to interrupt them. He knew very well that they don't always open up so this was a good chance to just let them be them.

The smaller person continued to rant about the homophobes in their school, letting their anger and frustration take over as they know that their partner is listening to them and allowing them to release their pent up anger.

"I could've thrown a chair at him, seriously. And the fucking audacity to call me gross for dating you ?! I know this'll sound cheesy but what's so wrong with being true to myself and loving someone with the same biological sex ?" They said, flopping on their bed feeling relieved to finally have let those feelings out.

Their boyfriend who had been listening to them rant looked at them and sighed as well.

"I understand how you feel, Ken, I really do. And honestly I would be frustrated too. Your feelings are valid, don't worry." he started.

"It's unfair that a lot of people tend to invalidate your identity, in all honesty. And y'know what I'll give them a beating if they say something that hurts you." Tetsurou said which stunned Kenma because they never said that it hurt them, but knowing their boyfriend he probably read them.

"Yeah, it's a lot to take in. Being referred to as a boy, being misgendered and using the wrong pronouns on me...It's just unsettling." Kenma sat up, locking eyes with their boyfriend.

"But I've got your back. I know it's so frustrating to be invalidated but you have the entire team, plus Karasuno to validate your identity. I'd say Bokuto's team validates you too."

Kenma's lips quirked up a bit and he let out a small smile which made Tetsurou smile back fondly. The smaller person spread their arms, signaling the older male to come closer and embrace them to which the latter did.

That night, they enjoyed each other's presence and company, not wanting to let go even for one second.

hope you enjoyed this piece !! ik its a bit short but i tried !! its hard when you dont have enough sleep. so sorry if this is rushed and it mostly talking about kenma !! ^^' ill probably make a part 2 with kuroo's part but ill try !!

reblogs are not necessary but v appreciated <3

#haikyuu #anime #kuroken #fluff #anime fluff #mlm concept #nblm safe #lgbtlove #haikyuu kuroo #haikyuu kenma

[kythed]

“pillow talk” - a collection of conversations between you and matsukawa issei.

1. october 23rd, 1:03am.

“that was fun.” matsukawa props himself up on one elbow, lower half still covered by a disarray of blue dorm sheets.

you’re sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling your t-shirt back on, but you turn to look at him, smiling slightly. “fun?” 

“great. excellent. out of this world amazing,” he says teasingly. there’s a glint in his eye and a flush in his cheeks. 

“that’s what I thought.” you make to stand up, but matsukawa grabs your wrist before you can move another muscle. 

“you can stay,” he says, face strangely hopeful and childlike (a sharp contrast to the night’s earlier… activities). “if you want, I mean.” 

your body aches to climb back under the covers with him, to press yourself against his hot skin and let yourself fall asleep in his embrace… but what you have with matsukawa is new and fragile, and you refuse to close your fist on something delicate and shatter it in the process. 

“maybe next time. I have class in the morning.” advanced calculus, to be specific. hell on earth, to be even more specific. 

“will there be a next time?” there it is again. that hope. 

“if you’ll have me,” you say, rising from the mattress.

“I’ll do more than have you.” he grins, cocking his head. “I’ll take you.” 

and there it is — matsukawa issei, ladies and gents. you smile to yourself as you slip out of his room, committing the feel of his hands gripping your hips and his lips on yours to memory. 

2. october 27th, 4:36pm. 

you stay this time. it’s a weeknight, and there’s class in the morning again, but the bed is warm and matsukawa’s arm fits like it was made for you. he’s nervous, you can tell, what with the way his fingers shake slightly as they brush the hair from your eyes — but that’s okay. it’s endearing. cute, even. 

“hey,” he says, voice low and throaty. 

“hi,” you respond, turning your face to look at him, his sharp, angular face shaded even more dramatic by moonlight. he really is a little too pretty for his own good, you decide, running a light hand down his torso. his mouth twitches when your fingers skim over his waistband and back up again. 

“tease,” he sighs, and you laugh. 

“it’s what I’m best at,” you say. 

“among other things,” matsukawa concedes, grinning. you gasp and hit him lightly on the chest.

“you’re so dirty minded!” you scold, and he scoffs. 

“I’m the dirty minded one? listen sweetheart, twenty minutes ago you were —” 

you shut him up with a swift kiss on the lips, swallowing his indignant words as he chuckles somewhere in the back of his throat and pulls you on top of him. you slide your fingers into his mess of dark hair and smile into the kiss until he finally breaks away and begins dusting smaller kisses along your jaw and collarbone. 

“you know,” you breathe, trying to avoid gasping when matsukawa presses his mouth to that soft spot right below your neck, “you’re acting awfully boyfriend today, issei. you’d better be careful before I up and decide to make you mine.”

“maybe that’s what I want you do to,” he says without looking at you. 

you start in surprise, a small smile creeping onto your lips. “oh, really?” 

matsukawa unattaches himself from your neck and takes your face in his hands, staring up at you with a grin. “really.” 

“okay,” you say, and in response he squishes your cheeks and laughs. you roll your eyes and tug on his wrists until he lets go. “okay, boyfriend.”

“okay, girlfriend.” 

you’d never anticipated a relationship to fall into place so easily. but then again, with matsukawa, everything — everything from his sweet talk to his skin to his stupid pickup lines — is pretty damn smooth.

3. january 1st, 11:24pm.

“you have a nice nose,” he says, running a finger down its bridge. golden afternoon light slices through the gaps in his shutters, casting odd stripes across his face.

“I hate my nose.” you bite back a sheepish smile. “it’s weird.”

“no, it’s cute,” he insists, and despite yourself, your heart swells. maybe it’s silly, maybe it’s shallow, but nothing really beats having someone refute your insecurities, however insignificant they may be. “I’m the one with a weird nose.”

you sit straight up, nearly knocking him back. “you do not have a weird nose. I love your nose!” 

“I love your face.” matsukawa gently pulls you back down, gathering you into his chest so he can rest his chin on your shoulder. 

“well, it is a pretty nice face,” you say, and he huffs.

“you were supposed to say you love my face, too,” he whines in a small voice. you almost giggle at the thought of this six foot two giant baby-talking to you.

“I thought that was self-explanatory,” you say. “I like everything about you.”

matsukawa shoots you a dramatic glare, furrowing his brows. “yesterday you said you didn’t like my t-shirt.”

“it was a rick and morty t-shirt! I was morally obligated to disparage your fashion taste in that moment,” you say piously. 

“so you don’t like everything about me,” matsukawa sighs, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. “my girlfriend is a liar.” 

“I like everything about you except for the fact that you like rick and morty,” you correct yourself. 

“I like everything about you except for the fact that you don’t like rick and morty,” matsukawa shoots back, and you let out an ugly guffaw. 

“alright, then. agree to disagree?”

before answering, he leans forward to give you a brief kiss that you return, enjoying the faint taste of spearmint on his lips. “you’ll come around eventually.” 

“I really won’t.”

“you will.”

“I won’t.”

“you won’t.”

“I will,” you say, and then — “wait, no. damn it, issei, I can’t believe that worked on me.”

“gotcha!” 

4. march 20th, 3:16am. 

“dude,” matsukawa says. “we should go out for ramen.”

“did you just call me dude?” you raise an incredulous eyebrow. 

“sorry,” he says, sitting upright and pulling on a shirt. “I meant babe. can we get ramen?”

“it’s 3am,” you say, catching the shirt he tosses to you and putting it on. “is there any place nearby that’s still open at this hour?” 

matsukawa whisks you out of bed, bridal style, and spins you around, ignoring your protestations as you attempt to scold him between giggles. when he finally sets you down you’re dizzy, clinging to him for balance. “obviously you don’t understand the ramen business. when the craving hits, it hits, and these guys know that. that’s why there’s a 24 hour ramen-ya near every college campus in the country.” 

“then,” you say, blinking hard as the room comes back into focus. “I say we go eat.” 

“let zem eat ramen?” matsukawa says in a phony french accent. you want to roll your eyes but you can’t quite bring yourself to do so. he’s too damn charming about it. 

“let zem eat ramen,” you repeat, and he laughs, rumpling your hair before grabbing his keys off the bedside table. 

“you’re adorable.”

“I’m a legal adult,” you sigh. “why do you insist on calling me cute? I’m sexy.”

“you’re cute and sexy,” he agrees, opening the door for you. “the two are not mutually exclusive.” 

“fancy words.”

“I’m just trying to impress you,” he says with an obnoxious wink. 

5. april 4th, 1:58am. 

“do you think there’s life in space?” 

you’re lying side by side next to matsukawa, both staring up at his dorm room ceiling, where a handful of plastic stars glow in the dark. 

he snickers. “you mean, like, martians? little green men with antennae?”

“sure,” you say, ignoring his jab. “or maybe enormous space whales swimming somewhere deep in the cosmos. galactic empires of cyborgs and robot servants. train stations that take you from star to star.” 

“that reminds me,” he says. you feel him slip his fingers into your hand. “we should watch star wars together sometime.” 

“you avoided the question,” you complain, and he laughs. 

“sorry,” he says. “I’ve never given much thought to huge space whales or interplanetary train stations.”

“you’ve never wondered might be out there? never wanted to fly to the moon and see what there is to see?” the thought is alien (pun intended) to you. how could anyone look into the star speckled sky and see anything other than a mass of worlds waiting to be explored? 

“I don’t need to. kinda have everything I could ever want here on earth already.” matsukawa shrugs, flashing you a grin. “good friends. perfect girlfriend. a really excellent ramen shop down the street.” 

“and that’s all you need?”

“that’s all I need,” he agrees, and you stay silent, scooting closer to press yourself into matsukawa’s larger frame. maybe he has a point. you count over your blessings in your head: good friends, perfect boyfriend, a really excellent ramen shop down the street. even space whales can’t really compare, you decide, sneaking a glance at issei only to find he’s already looking down at you with a soft smile. 

and maybe that’s enough. maybe it’s enough to have someone who loves you and your flaws, someone who lets you borrow his dumb graphic tees and never lets you pay for your own dinner. maybe what you have here with matsukawa issei, feet on the ground and hands intertwined, is enough.

#because i've recently been obsessed with One (1) mr. matsukawa issei #i'm pretty sure i used the i'll take you line before but you know what #screw it #it's smooth and i'll use it however many times i want #haikyuu #matsukawa #matsukawa issei #matsukawa x reader #matsukawa issei x reader #matsukawa headcanons #hqcorenet

[joonie-beanie]

The Demon Brothers + their reaction to you having a nightmare

[The Undateables Reactions]

Lucifer:

Is surprised to hear a knock at his door a little past one AM. He’s still up going over documents for RAD, and doesn’t bother looking up

“Come in,” he says simply, too tired to be mad at whoever is interrupting him at this late hour

He hears the door open, but no one greets him. After a moment, he finally looks up and finds you standing there--shyly clinging to the door frame

You’re dressed in your pajamas, bottom lip caught between your teeth

Lucifer is immediately concerned, all of his attention shifting to you.

It’s not like you haven’t paid him late night visits before to check on him when he’s working, but this time something is clearly amiss.

“Y/N, come here.” He holds out a hand, beckoning you closer, and you finally enter his room--the door clicking closed behind you.

Once at his side, Lucifer takes your hand and presses to his feet. He hooks his other hand gently beneath your chin--flashing you a tender smile as you meet his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I...it’s stupid,” you mumble, but when Lucifer only stares patiently.

You sigh and continue. “I had a nightmare...”

Knowing you, Lucifer bets that you’re feeling childish for seeking him out, but he cannot blame you. As powerful as he is, it’s not like he hasn’t been afflicted by bad dreams.

“Would you care to stay with me, tonight?”

You glance up at him, and he sees the relief in your gaze. Nodding--too shaken up to think about saying no to company--and lean into him, and Lucifer immediately sweeps you off to his bed.

“Sleep,” he speaks against your hair, pressing a kiss to your head, and you nod. With Lucifer nearby, you’re not scared to go back to sleep.

You spend the night safely in his arms--with his warmth on your back--and no more nightmares plague you.

Mammon:

Happens to pass by the library at 5am, because man that was a long ass night at the club, and sees you huddled by the fireplace.

He immediately pauses because uhhhhh...it’s Saturday. Why the fuck are you awake at 5am?

“Oi,” he greets as he walks into the room, catching your attention.

He can tell that you’ve barely slept--dark circles beginning to form under your eyes.

“Why the hell are you up?”

You muster up a small smile, your legs still tucked to your chest. You’ve managed to drape yourself in a soft blanket, and Mammon can only guess that you’ve been here for a while.

“I, um...had a bad dream.”

Mammon frowns, not liking that your brain decided to make you scared for no good reason.

Is it possible to fight a brain?

“How long ya been up for?”

“Since 1,” you admit, laughing softly. You’re exhausted.

Despite being a little hungover, Mammon can’t stand for this. It’s only 5AM--you’ve still got a chance at getting some good sleep! After all, it’s the weekend!

“Come to bed with me,” he mumbles--his cheeks pink as he sheepishly rubs at his neck. “I’ll make sure no more bad dreams come your way...”

Your eyes widen in surprise, but after a moment, you press to your feet and Mammon is quick to take your hand.

He sheepishly leads you to his room, grumbling about how he doesn’t necessarily care about you and your dreams until the moment his head hits the pillow on his bed.

Then he finally shuts up.

By the time you both wake up that day--snuggled together beneath Mammon’s sheets--it’s already afternoon.

Levi:

He’s a light sleeper--so he jumps awake the moment his door clicks open

Startled, he flings himself into a seated position--wide eyes sliding to look at the door

When he sees you standing there, his brain pauses. He figured it would be Mammon trying to break in and steal his stuff.

“I...,” you can see how you’d made him jump, and immediately feel horrible. “Sorry, I can just--”

You start to back out into the hall, and Levi quickly reaches out his hand as if to stop you.

“No! N-No, you can stay. I just...you surprised me.”

Nodding, you step back into his room, and he regards you curiously. You...seem a little...off

“Are you okay?” he finally asks, sitting cross-legged in the tub as he stares at you. You avoid his gaze.

Levi is suddenly reminded of one of his shoujo games, but he pushes that thought to the back of his head.

“I had a nightmare, and...I don’t know, I guess I just ended up...here.”

The demon tries to ignore the way his heart goes doki doki. Luckily, he’s more concerned for you than he is flustered over your comment.

“I-I mean...you can stay here, if you want.” His eyes fall to the mess of pillows and blankets in his tub. “I don’t know if it will be weird, since this is the only bed, but...”

You smile at him, and he can see the remnants of fear etched into your face. “As long as you’re ok with it.”

Levi nods, and within seconds, you’ve climbed into the tub.

Levi decides to sleep with his back to you (because how much space is he supposed to give you?? Will you be bothered with him so close?? He’s not prepared for this kind of situation at 3am!!)

However, by the time morning rolls around, he’s managed to entangle his limbs with your own--his arms around your waist, and his tail slung securely over your hip.

If you notice his clinginess in your sleep, you clearly don’t mind. 

Satan: 

Legitimately opens his door the moment you intend to knock--and you both startle

As you drop your hand to your side and struggle to find your words, Satan regards you with scrutiny

Satan, for one, is confused and concerned at your appearance. It’s nearly 2am. He’d gotten wrapped up in reading, but you have no reason to be up this late.

“Is everything okay?” he ends up asking when you don’t speak. 

When you look up at him, your eyes are like that of a scared puppy dog, and he feels something tug at his heart.

“I...had a nightmare. I saw the light on under your door, and...”

You glance to the side, and Satan suddenly understands why you’re acting all guilty. However, it’s not like you’re imposing.

“Why don’t you come in?” he asks with a smile, hoping to ease some of your worries. “I’m not much company, but I’d be more than happy to be in yours.”

At his words, and tiny smile lights up your face, and he sees a bit of the remnants of fear dissipate from your eyes.

“Thank you, Satan.”

Once inside, he invites you to take the bed--letting you know that if you fall asleep, it’s no big deal.

You’re determined to not fall asleep and hog his bed, but...after about half an hour, Satan looks up from his book and finds you passed out beneath the covers.

Breathing a laugh, he closes his book, and moves to the edge of the bed--regarding you for a moment. Then, he carefully maneuvers himself to join you--one hand moving to wrap around your waist.

He feels your body relax against him and, for once, Satan feels at peace as well.

Asmo:

Is walking to his room one night when he passes your door and hears a little strangled cry from inside

Immediately concerned, he knocks on your door, and enters your room when he doesn’t get a response.

He finds you in bed, thrashing around. Your eyes are squeezed closed--sweat beading on your brow--and he knows you’re having a nightmare.

“Y/N--wake up,” he gently rocks your shoulder back and forth--reaching out to hold you when you shoot awake--chest heaving.

“Wha--Asmo?” 

Once you realize it’s him--the Avatar of Lust hugging you softly and cooing reassurances into your ear--you instantly cling to him

As you ground yourself, Asmo seats himself on your bed and curls you into his lap--his hand petting against your hair as you calm down.

“Asmo, I...” your weak voice breaches the silence after a few minutes, and Asmodeus can hear the unsaid plea in your voice.

“Would it be okay if I stayed with you tonight?” he questions sweetly, asking so that you don’t have to. “I just don’t feel right leaving you alone.”

“Sure,” you respond with a nod and smile, and Asmo dedicates himself to putting you back to bed.

He tucks you in and brushes your hair out of your eyes, and when you grab his shirt--seeking more comfort--he curls up in front of you so your forehead and knees knock together

Between your bodies, he slots his fingers against yours.

“If you have anymore bad dreams, I’ll fight them, okay? Pretty humans having bad dreams is not allowed!”

That gets you giggling, and he presses a sweet kiss between your brows.

“Now~ No more thinking, just sleeping.”

And, as if his words are magic, you’re out within minutes.

Of course, Asmodeus stays with you--snuggled in bed--the entire night.

Beel:

Some days, his stomach wakes him up in search of a 3AM snack, and today is one of those days.

Dressed in his pajamas and still half asleep, he makes his way to the kitchen--pausing in surprise when he sees someone sat on the kitchen counter.

After a moment, he realizes that it’s you--nursing a glass a water, and staring blankly at the wall.

Beel frowns with worry. “Y/N?”

His voice startles you out of your thoughts--quite literally causing you to gasp, and jump. Your head whips towards him, fear in your eyes, and you lift to press a hand against your heart when you realize it’s only him.

“Are you okay?” he immediately asks, making his way to your side. It’s clear that something is wrong.

He gingerly raises his large hand to cup one of your cheeks, his heart cracking a little when you instinctively flinch away. Thankfully, after a second, you sigh into his touch--your hand lifting to cover his.

“I had a bad dream.”

Beel nods in understanding, because he knows how shitty it can be when your brain plagues you with a nightmare. 

“Here,” he walks over to the fridge, and pulls out a tub of ice cream--snatching two spoons from the cupboard on his way back to you. “This will help.”

You giggle, leaning against him and taking a spoon when he hops up on the counter beside you.

Since Beel’s appetite is much bigger, he gets a little lost in devouring the dessert. He’s not sure how much time has passed, but at some point, he pauses and looks over to find that you’re asleep against his shoulder.

Carefully, he leans over and curls you into his strong arms--making his way back towards his bedroom. 

Tonight, you’re saying with him. He’s sure he’ll keep the bad dreams from coming back (and besides, he just really wants to hold you).

Belphie:

Since Belphie’s sleeping schedule is basically ass-backwards, he tends to go to bed just after his brothers and you have left for RAD.

He’s used to having the house to himself--complete peace and quiet--so when he walks past the lounge and finds you tucked into a chair near the fireplace, he pauses.

You’re nursing a mug of coffee between your palms--dark bags hanging beneath your eyes.

“Why are you here?” he asks, walking up beside you. His first question was honestly “why do you look like shit”, but that seems a little mean. Especially considering you...unfortunately look like shit.

“I had a nightmare, and couldn’t get back to sleep,” you sigh, not turning to look at him. “I’ve been up since 2.”

“You should have come and found me,” he blinks. “You know I’m up that late.”

“Yeah, but...,” you fingers curl tighter around the mug. “It just a stupid dream. I didn’t want to be a bother...”

Belphie frowns. He wants you to be able to rely on him--to let him be there for you when you need someone.

You pause as he grabs the mug from your hand and sets it aside.

“C’mon,” he says, grabbing your wrist and tugging you to your feet. He slots his fingers through your own, gripping tightly, and you glance up at him as he starts leading you through the halls.

“Belphie?”

“I’m going to bed anyway, so sleep with me. You need rest.”

“But--I was planning on going to RAD later--”

“Taking care of yourself is more important.” His words leave no room for argument, and you fall silent. Moments later, you find yourself beneath the warm sheets of Belphie’s bed--his arms wrapped tightly around your middle.

“Is this okay?” he mumbles, and you nod--your eyelids already drooping. Within minutes, you’re fast asleep, and Belphie joins you soon after.

He’s right, sleep (especially when it’s in his arms) is way better than school.

[The Undateables Reactions]

#let me know if you want me to add in the undateables! #obey me #obey me shall we date #om! #lucifer #mammon #leviathan #satan #asmodeus #beelzebub #belphegor #obey me hc #obey me scenarios #obey me headcanons

[obeiii-mee]

Heyo, this is my first time asking (im kinda new to tumblr, so please dont judge) if you would'nt mind, could you do some headcannons (or oneshots, it dosen't matter) with all the demon bros and a MC who is crippled/paralized in their legs, and has to use a wheelchair to get around? Thank you!!

——————————-

This is the first time I’ve written about a crippled MC, so I hope I didn’t fuck this up or anything. I found out that being paralysed in both legs is a disability called Paraplegia so that’s how I titled this post. And y’all are too sweet, you are more than welcome anon! I hope I can portray this properly because I am not crippled myself so I’ve opted to do some research before writing this! I hope you like it! Also, I feel inclined to add that none of the brothers would treat you too differently if you happen to have a disability because you’re their human nonetheless :)

——————————-

The Brothers with an MC that has Paraplegia and needs a wheelchair to get around:

Lucifer:

-Lucifer was in charge of choosing the final human, exchange student for the program so it’s guaranteed he already knew about your predicament before you even arrived

-Him and Diavolo probably had many meetings concerning your disability before the program could commence, considering that being unable to walk would double the chances of you getting killed since you are obviously more vulnerable

-Not to mention all the treatment you would require

-Lucifer is not well versed in human illnesses and disorders, but he makes sure that he is educated enough on the matter before you get brought down there

-It would not be easy, but he is determined to help you survive your year in DevilDom for the prince’s sake

-First problem of the day was, of course, your wheelchair

-Due to lack of time, Lucifer was unable to instal ramps around the House of Lamentation which meant that for the first couple of weeks, someone would’ve had to help you move around certain parts of the house

-He gave that highly prestigious job to himself because he didn’t trust his brothers and thought they would accidentally drop you and your wheelchair down the stairs

-He talks a lot to you, even at the beginning, because he needs to establish your needs and what he should do to make sure you don’t die for the following year

-You would have to tell him about physical therapy and how most commonly it uses heat, massage and exercise to stimulate your nerves and muscles, making it a great treatment for people with leg paralysis

-Once you two enter a more intimate and personal relationship, it’s more than likely he’ll help you perform those things himself (instead of kidnapping a human doctor from somewhere)

-Lucifer knows you have no problem getting around with your wheelchair by yourself but there are times where he’ll insist to push you along in order to give you a quick break

-I can totally imagine you two strolling around DevilDom and having cosy chats about RAD and your adjustments to DevilDom

-He has a softer side to him that he’s afraid to show most of the time, but he feels so at ease when you’re around, it’s hard for him to hold that part of him hidden from you

-Of course, your safety still remains his primary concern and he acts more like your guardian than Mammon does, even if he was originally supposed to look out for you

-He will accompany you almost anywhere. And if he can’t, he’ll have one or more of his brothers do it. And even then he’s probably lurking nearby, just in case

-He would always be willing to listen about your condition, if you wished to tell him whether you were born with the defect or why you ended up crippled later in life. Either way, he’s all ears

-If you would rather not speak about it, he wouldn’t pry and respect your decision because he knows it’s not his place to pressure you

-Because of your paralysis, it’s quite obvious to demons that you are even weaker (physically speaking) than most humans and that usually puts a target on your back

-Howver, never fear, because Lucifer is pretty quick to put lower rank demons in their place with just a mere stare

-Oop one of them passed out from the fear, haha

-In conclusion, he’s the most responsible when it comes your comfort and safety during your stay

-He makes sure you are always left in good hands and and provides most of the requirements you need

-Y’all should see how his wings puff up when he senses a threat approaching you, he looks like a peacock ready to go on attack lol

Mammon:

-The second born is unsurprisingly a bit of a jerk at first

-He stays really grumpy the whole day of your arrival because he’s stuck babysitting you stupid human

-“Lucifer c’mon, what’s all this workload for? The human can’t even walk by themselves, why do I have to help them out?”

-Wtf Mammon you can’t say shit like that

-Anyways, the following very few days, the only thing he’s thinking about is how much money he could sell your wheelchair for

-He’s the literal incarnation of greed, what else did you expect from him?

-After a while, he starts feeling a bit guilty every time he thinks about it though

-Mammon is gonna take this secret to the grave (laughs in immortal) but he actually really likes pushing you around

-Maybe it’s because it’s a clear indication to everyone around him that you are HIS human, under HIS protection and therefore you trust HIM the most since he was your FIRST MAN

-He will insist on helping you get out of that thing when you need to go to bed and stuff every night and he will get pouty real fast if you let any of his other brothers do it

-You wake up to him trying to roll around in your wheelchair one night at like 3am

-At some point, he stole a wheelchair from the human realm to match with his human. You can guess the consequences of his actions

-I can imagine you having to face a staircase or something at school and Mammon being like:

-“Fuck it, imma carry this fragile human instead; wheelchair and all!”

-Like you were a sack of potatoes or something smh

-Cue his brothers watching him from a distance as he heaves you and basically weight-lifts you up the stairs

-Ok but every now and again, he gets so sad thinking about you not being able to walk, like he starts crying kinda sad

-While you stand there like 😐 “Why are you crying?”

-He’s so quick to help if he senses you’re in danger too

-It’s canon that Mammon is crazy fast if he wants to be so if he has even the slightest impression that your life is threatened, his feet are already moving

-He will charge at your immediate threat at around 120 miles per hour-do not try him when he’s mad

-“The Great Mammon saved the day! C’mon MC, let’s go buy some ice cream. My treat! Ya better be grateful!”

-He says while the demon that tried to eat you lies on the floor with about a dozen broken bones

-Mammon is the second most powerful demon out of all of his brothers, even if he doesn’t resort to violence often

Levi:

-He didn’t really know how to react when you first teleported to DevilDom

-I mean, from the very beginning he considered you to be a human normie but at the same time, he felt bad you were stuck with his brothers for the rest of the year

-I think he would understand you would have an even harder time integrating yourself in their house because of your disability and he knows his siblings are really fucking annoying, always pushing you around and whatnot

-So, he kinda lets you hide in his room quite often

-You guys chill out in there all the time, much to the dismay of the other brothers who also want to spend time with you

-At some point, Levi definitely begged asked Lucifer to let you start online classes with him

-“But wouldn’t it be easier for MC to do online school from home rather than go to R.A.D since there aren’t any ramps or anything around there???”

-“The answer is no Leviathan.”

-“Ugh fine! What a fucking boomer-“

-For some reason, he gets so flustered whenever you ask him to push you around

-He blushes right to the tips of his ears and then he starts sputtering some nonsense that you can’t make out at all

-But he’s more than happy to do it, especially if you guys are going to a convention or if he’s dragging you out to buy new merch

-You two would get along in the sense that Levi realises the struggles you faced all your life were tough to overcome and he believes you are just like him

-Usually left out by other people, ignored even

-He knows you always listen to him ramble on about whatever he is currently obsessed with and how much you check up on him to make sure he never isolated himself

-He wants to do that for you too! Talk to him about your hobbies, please I’m begging you-he feels so bad whenever he’s doing all the talking

-If you ask him to help you with anything (getting something, helping you into bed—that sort of thing), he legally and physically can’t say ‘no’

-And he would get envious enough to stop talking to you for a day or two if you let his brothers do it instead (the second and third born are indeed similar lmao)

-S T A Y I N H I S R O O M, W H E R E Y O U C A N B E P R O T E C T E D !

-He will feel so much more at ease if you’re in his room because to him, that’s his haven

-If you’re in there with him, that means you’re not getting involved in his siblings’ endless and dangerous shenanigans

-Whenever you’re at school, he can’t help but worry about your well-being

-Because you’re human! You’re gonna get killed!! Do you know how much your organs sell on the black market in DevilDom??? 100x more than in the human realm, that’s for sure

-Would they have a black market or would it be a regular market lol

-For some reason, he also likes staying in your wheelchair when you’re not using it

-I think he just takes comfort in knowing it’s something that belongs to you and smells like you and-

-OK Levi, sit back down

-He wouldn’t treat you any differently if you had a disability tbh, but he’d be more concerned because you can’t even run away or anything

-So he’s so fuckin’ relieved when you guys are just vibing in his room

-He could die happy knowing he kept his best friend/ partner safe

Satan:

-Satan would be even more prepared for your arrival than Lucifer would, in a sense

-Out of all of his brothers, he’s most likely to understand and recognise paraplegia (either from studying human illnesses/birth defects/disabilities or from encountering humans with said disability)

-He’s a smart boy, alright?

-Always seems to be the first to notice if you need help or if someone’s bothering you

-Though in the very beginning, he was pretty tempted to just let you get killed to see how angry Lucifer could get

-Seeing dear Luci’s misery brings him great joy 🥰🥰🥰

-Once you two manage to build a very honest and strong relationship, he feels more and more inclined to keep you out of harm’s way

-Pls, he would feel so honoured if you let him push you around (it’s like you asked him to h*ld h*nds or something)

-If you require treatment of any kind, he would be so happy to help

-But in a subtle way...?

-Satan makes it seem so smooth too like he doesn’t mind lending a helping hand when in reality he’s all giddy inside

-*Kinda wants to rub it in his brothers’ faces but at the same no, because he’s definitely the bigger person here

-He wants to know how your wheelchair works

-It’s got all of these neat mechanisms and he wants to learn how they’re constructed because he never had the chance to inspect one before

-He’s such a sweetheart about asking you as well and never pries about your disability unless you start elaborating yourself

-Most of the time, he acts all charming and very gentleman-like

-So people have a hard time spotting and acknowledging the building rage inside of him every time he sees you are threatened by some moronic low rank demon

-Satan’s usually chill when it comes to injuries, unless he can see you’re in horrible pain

-There’s nothing a few spells can’t accomplish

-But when others purposefully try harming you?

-It’s like he loses all the self control he’s been trying to perfect over the centuries and he can’t help himself from at least breaking someone’s rib cage

-Satan’s a weird one because he’s protective of you even though he’s more on the relaxed side when compared to his siblings

-He very much acknowledges that you made it this far in life with your predicament so he doesn’t feel the need to baby you or anything

-You’re strong and he knows this

-It’s one of the many things he clearly loves about you

-That one time you rolled over Mammon’s foot with your wheelchair on purpose, he was wheezing

Asmo:

-Even now, he can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be stuck inside a wheelchair for the rest of his eternal life

-I mean, he’d obviously still be absolutely fabulous, have you seen him? He’s gonna be gorgeous either way

-But after the two of you meet, he definitely starts thinking about how he takes his feet for granted all the time

-It would be so difficult to complete his daily tasks without the ability to walk or run around

-That’s why he gets sad every time he remembers that’s your reality and on days like that, you’ve noticed he gives you a helluva lot more attention than usual

-He knows you don’t need pity or anything so he’s just making sure his human has all the support they can get

-Paraplegia or not, shopping trips are still a go-go

-He loves buying you clothes! And he loves helping you try them on! Asmo takes it very seriously

-Might have a go at the employees if they’re being rude to you

-You don’t even ask him to, but he subconsciously starts pushing you around himself whenever the two of you are out together

-“MC! Look at that new shop that’s just opened! Isn’t it adorable? We have to check it out!”

-He can’t help it! There’s so many places he wants to visit, he sort of just drags you with him wherever he goes

-Even at home, he always pops out of nowhere to coax you into coming to his room

-Y’all have so many skin routines to do each day

-Like he’s in your room most nights to greet you goodnight and tuck you in, with the rest of his brothers it gets so awkward at times

-Asmo just wants to see you smile, ok? He thinks you have a beautiful smile and laugh and he wants to remind you that you’re marvellous, disability or not

-And if anyone does anything to put an end to your self confidence, he will swiftly put an end to their life

-Please, he’s a pro at ruining lives, he’s been doing it for centuries

-Asmo has such a huge influence over the people in DevilDom, he just needs to make this one post on Devilgram to end said demon’s whole career

-I mean, who is he compared to him, Hmm? So don’t worry MC, scum like that don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you :)

-That one time Mammon tried lifting you up the stairs and Asmo started shrieking, like put them down! Don’t manhandle them like that, poor human :(

Beel:

-I know I sound repetitive, but he would be an overall sweetheart to you no matter the circumstances

-If Mammon is not by your side, then Beel definitely is

-His big, scary aura and figure usually scares off any threat in a 10 mile radius

-Most demons don’t fancy being eaten by the Avatar of Gluttony, ya know?

-Idk why but I feel like he’d be the type to ask for oral consent every time he wanted to push you around

-He doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable :(

-Surprisingly also the type to lift you and your wheelchair whenever an obstacle gets in your way

-You basically weigh the same amount as a paper plate compared to him, so he has no problem doing so

-He doesn’t really understand your condition as well as Satan may do, but he’s trying his best

-You mean so much to him and he feels it’s only fair he learns more about your disability as a thank you for what you’ve done for him

-He has a rough time keeping up with you when it comes to stuff like physical therapy because he’s very unfamiliar with it but that doesn’t mean he’s not gonna help

-Of course, Beel believes that this is the second best way to show you how much he cares for you besides the obvious ‘I love you’

-Giving you a hand whenever you need his support the most

-That’s his way of saying “I’m not going to let you down. I want you to trust me, the same way I trust you.”

-And knowing him, he will try to do everything in his power to keep you safe and sound

-After a while, you’re bound to notice he’s the first one to pull you out of his brothers’ pranks before you have a chance to get hurt

-Beel is always the one handing you stuff from high places you can’t reach, without teasing you for it like Mammon might do

-Always the first one to remind you to get plenty of rest and to eat enough

-He wants to protect you and his brothers because he knows he failed to do so with Lilith so yeah, he’s a bit overprotective at times

-He doesn’t mean to be overbearing, but he gets so anxious knowing you’re by yourself

-After a few months of getting accommodated with him, your disability is no longer brought up in the conversation

-Because he doesn’t care that you are crippled and forced to use a wheelchair

-You are part of his family and he loves you no matter what

Belphie:

-He didn’t really care, even when you first met and his hatred for humans was at its very peak

-It didn’t matter that you had a disability

-All that mattered to him at the time was killing you to satisfy that deeply rooted need of vengeance inside of him

-Though he was sort of surprised his brothers didn’t get to you first

-In general, he’s pretty chill about you being crippled in both legs

-It takes too much effort to worry about your well-being 24/7 after all

-Surprisingly, he does keep an eye out for you if his siblings aren’t nearby

-It’s his redemption arc people, he’s trying to be nicer

-But he has such an irritating way of showing his affection for you

-Do not let him push you around

-He’s either going to a) fall asleep after 30 seconds and slump over you in the middle of RAD’s halls

-Or b) be annoying and fling your wheelchair in every direction possible just to piss you off

-He likes messing with you because you give him the best reactions and he thrives on that

-You’ve almost fallen off your wheelchair multiple times because of this asshole

-Not that he’d actually let you fall, he just wants to see how easily he can get you to yell at him

-Speaking of said wheelchair, like Mammon and Levi, he also loves using it when you’re not

-You’ve woken up to him curled up and asleep in that thing quiet often and he’s gotten in trouble over it every time with Lucifer

-But he doesn’t care

-And at this point, I don’t think even he knows whether he’s doing it to get a reaction out of you or because he somehow found a way to make himself comfortable there

-He would low key use you as a mode of transportation every time you go to RAD

-Just clings the damn wheelchair and almost topples both of you over

-“Belphie, there’s nothing stopping you from walking 😐”

-“Shh, just bring me to class and let me nap until then.”

-He doesn’t mention your legs but he still lays his head on your lap often

-Might make you hold him like a bride every time you stroll around the house

-It’s done out of love, I promise 😌😌

———————————

Al~

#obey me #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me imagines #obey me leviathan #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me satan #om #obey me headcanons #obey me hcs #paraplegia #⭐️ requests #🕯 general #☂️ demon brothers

[plaidbooks]

Friends

A/N: Okay, so sometimes I write incredibly self-indulgent fics to process shit happening in real life. And I almost didn’t post this, but I feel like if it can help someone, then it’s worth it to post. I promise to work on other things shortly, but here’s a short thing until then.

Tags: none, just loneliness

Words: 1041

Taglist: @witches-unruly-heart  @beccabarba @thatesqcrush @itsjustmyfantasyroom @permanentlydizzy  @ben-c-group-therapy @infiniteoddball @glowingmess @whimsicallymad @lv7867  @storiesofsvu @cycat4077 @alwaysachorusgirl @glimmerglittergirl @joanofarkansass  @caracalwithchips @berniesilvas​ @reading--mermaid  @averyhotchner  @mrsrafaelbarba @detective-giggles @crowleysqueenofhell @dreamlover31

It was your third week in Manhattan SVU, and you were still coping. You had moved from California to New York, and you missed your friends back home. Sure, you kept in touch—when you could—but it wasn’t the same. And though the squad you now worked with was friendly, you felt out of place. The last new person, Sonny, had been there for two years already and you could see how close all their relationships were to each other.

They had invited you out for drinks and get togethers, but you always came up with some excuse. You were always too nervous, too afraid of what they’d think of you. So, you instead spent your nights at home, alone, catching up on whatever hobbies kept you entertained. But eventually, the soul-crushing loneliness ate away at you.

You were in the breakroom, grabbing a snack from the vending machine. There was laughter behind you, and you glanced over, seeing Fin, Sonny, and Amanda talking and joking with each other. You tried to ignore the stab of sadness, tried to blink away your tears before they fell. You were so wrapped up in your own emotions that you didn’t hear anyone approaching.

“Hey, are you okay?” a voice asked. You recognized it as Sonny, and you quickly wiped away your tears before giving him a fake smile.

“Yep! Fine! How’re you?” you replied, voice a little too high pitched.

Sonny’s brow was furrowed with concern. “Are ya sure you’re okay? Wanna talk about it?”

That was the last thing you wanted to do. But him asking if you were alright with that look of deep concern made your nose burn with unshed tears. “I—I’m fine. Back to work,” you said, giving up on the snack and practically running out of there. He watched you go, wondering what just happened.

 ***************

You had been able to compose yourself the rest of the day, but there were a couple times you came close to breaking down again. If I can only hold it until I’m home, I’ll be fine, you thought. Though, you caught Sonny glancing at you every now and again.

Just when you were getting ready to leave for the night, a small emergency came in. Liv apologized to you before asking if you could pull an all-nighter in a stakeout—to protect a victim. She offered to give you tomorrow off, to catch up on some sleep, and you accepted; you weren’t going to be doing anything, anyways.

But your heart sunk when Sonny volunteered to join you in the stakeout. Liv agreed, and Sonny shot you a big smile, which you tried to return.

 ***************

“Are we gonna talk about the breakroom?” Sonny finally asked. It was nearing 3am; you had endured most of the night without him bringing it up, and with three more hours ahead of you, you had hoped he wouldn’t.

You swallowed. “Nothing happened in—”

“You were crying, doll,” he said softly. He let the silence drag on for a moment before continuing, “look, I don’t want to pry into your life or make ya uncomfortable. But if you wanna talk about it, I’m all ears. No judgement, promise.”

You took a deep breath, looking out the window, away from Sonny. “I miss my friends, Carisi. I’m…I’m lonely.”

You weren’t sure what he had been expecting, but from his shocked silence, you guessed not that. “I guess you would be a little homesick, being so far from home,” he muttered.

“I’m not homesick; I am heart-breakingly, soul-crushingly lonely! I don’t know anyone, don’t have anyone to talk to or hang out with! They’re all across the country from me!” you took another deep, shuddering breath, wiping away the tears that had appeared.

Silence reigned as Sonny thought through his words. “I’m sorry, doll. I’m sorry that I haven’t made more of an effort to hang out with you. But I do count ya as a friend, if that makes a difference to ya—”

“The last thing I want is you blaming yourself, or any of the squad. It’s my fault; you all have been so sweet, so accepting. And you’ve asked me to come out multiple times.”

“Yeah, but you’re always busy. I should try and wait until you’re free—”

“I’m always free, Sonny. I’ve been lying to you. You’ll ask me out to drinks, and I’ll lie and say I’m unpacking; I’ve finished unpacking weeks ago! In reality, I go home and sit alone, doing nothing.”

He looked stunned as he took in this information. “Then why don’t you want to go out?”

A few more tears escaped your eyes as you looked at him, begging him to understand. “Because I’m afraid—afraid of butting into all your relationships. You’re all such great friends with each other and I don’t know how to approach that.”

“You know, I had trouble making friends, too,” he mused, a small smile on his face.

You scoffed at this. “You? Mr. Social Butterfly?”

He let out a chuckle. “I know, shocking. But I had ta force myself to become like that. I went through four departments in less than a year; I had ta make friends over and over again. And like you, it was hard to insert myself into established friend groups, but I did. It may seem like I’m used to it now, but it wasn’t always like that.”

“I—I just don’t know how to change…” you whispered.

Sonny smiled at you. “Well, you come hang out with me one day. Liv gave us both tomorrow off. So, after we sleep for a little bit, why don’t you and I go out and do something? It can just be us, if that makes ya more comfortable. Or, if ya want, I’m sure I can get Rollins and/or Fin to come, too.”

“I…think I’d rather just one person first,” you said sheepishly.

He nodded. “Understandable. So, just you and me. We can do whatever you want: bowling, hiking, checking out a museum, whatever. Just come hang out with me, okay?”

You wiped away what remained of your tears, giving Sonny a bright smile. “Yeah, okay. No excuses this time. Let’s be friends.”

“Absolutely, doll.”

#sonny carisi x reader #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfic #fanfic #my writing

[scandeniall]

It was terrifying—but we were in love

pairing: ex!atsumu x reader (exes to lovers type energy/connection but y’all don’t get together) mention of Kuroo x reader

Summary/warnings: your little brother joins Atsumu’s frat (who takes him on as his little) and takes it upon himself to help him out. It leads to you trying to stop that mistake but instead you find yourself reflecting on a time with Atsumu/ mentions of sex—loss of virginity, alcohol college au obvs, language

a/n: set in the same greek life universe as fancy seeing you based on the show greek. Another 3am ramble this time more on Atsumu x reader dynamic

——

Music could be heard all throughout Greek row. The sounds of a Saturday night good time we’re always your favorite but not tonight. Tonight you were on a mission, an important one to stop someone from making the biggest mistake of their life. Ignoring the pain in your own feet from your shoes you approached a house that just a few months ago you would’ve insisted that you’d never step foot in that house again.

Yet here you were again. For the second time this month. However, this visit different than your last had you pushing through throngs of students, drunk, high, neither or both in search of one of two people. You cringed as you brushed past someone’s sweaty skin almost sighing in relief when you found the cause of your worries.

Atsumu was toasting a shot when your grip surrounded his bicep and before he knew it he was yelling over the loud music that he’d be back. He nearly stumbled as you drug him up the stairs to a hallway much quieter than the chaos going on downstairs. “Atsumu where the hell is he?”

Your question was met unanswered, instead Atsumu eying you up and down something you couldn’t quite place in his eyes. “Whoa. You look-“

You’re quick to cut him off the urgency in your tone causing him to sober up as you repeat the question.

“Gonna need to be a little more specific than that”

“My fucking brother Atsumu. I know you’re trying to set him up to get laid tonight and that can’t happen.” Your eyes shift towards Atsumu’s room and your feet are instantly moving only stopped by his body barricading the door.

“Listen ya probably don’t wanna go in there.”

“Atsumu move.” Your attempt you slip around him is futile as he continues blocking the door.

“(Y/N) the kid was tired of being a virgin so I decided to do what any big brother would. Help my little pledge out.” His palms rest themselves on your shoulder lightly pushing the two of you away. “Besides why the sudden care for a brother that up until a few weeks ago, no one knew existed”

“That’s not the point Atsumu,” your quick to shove his hands off of you yet you make no move towards the door. “He’s different. He’s not like-“

“Me? Just say it (Y/N). I know ya want to. Sorry I’m not mr perfect rooster head. Oh wait? Didn’t he try to fight your brother” You don’t miss the hurt that peeks through his tone and it has you narrowing your eyes.

“Any of us. You. Me. Our friends. He doesn’t just find someone to have sex with because he’s bored. He has values and morals and he’s a good kid. He’s a honor student for gods sake. He chose to join a frat but not for this Tsumu.” You completely ignore the mention of Kuroo. Right now it didn’t matter. Both if you freeze as the old nickname slips out.

“Listen Atsumu. Don’t you remember our first time,” you’re clearing your throat before any of you could dwell on that moment. Your eyes catch his for the first time that night and you don’t miss the fondness that crosses his face.

“It was pretty amazing wasnt it?”

“No it wasn’t. It was terrifying. Terrifying and awkward and uncomfortable. But we were in love so it didn’t matter.” His expression shifts from hurt to understanding immediately.

“We were in love and we trusted eachother. And I dont regret it for a second. I want him to have that experience too. Or at least the choice to lose it to someone he loves. Not the pressure as a frat guy. He deserves that opportunity Atsumu so please-“

Atsumu finds himself nodding along. “You’re right. Listen. How about ya go wait downstairs and I’ll go in yeah?” His hand comes to rest on your shoulder again. This time it’s softer and you nod.

“Thank you Atsumu” with a gentle squeeze of your shoulder you let him go handle things as you head back down, ignoring the lump in your throat.

#haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #atsumu x reader #atsumu imagine #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu imagines #hq imagines #atsumu imagines

[oikawasass]

IM A BAKUHOE CAN U PLS DO 74 OR 76 WITH BLASTY ASS 🥺🥺🥺 - midoriya anon

hi I did both cause they were cute.

also new posting format baby lets goooo 😎

its also like almost 3am and this is half-ass edited so forgive me but I hope its alright

prompt 74 : “You’ve shown me what love can feel like.”

prompt 76 : “I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”

reassurance.

‣ pairing : bakugo x fem reader.

‣ oneshot.

‣ synopsis : bakugo finally confronts his girlfriend on why she’s been so distant.

‣ wordcount : 2.1k

‣ warnings : swearing, angst if you squint.

a series of heavy knocks could be heard on the other side of her door, immediately alerting her of who exactly it was. there was only one boy in the u.a dorms who could knock like he was about to punch straight through the wooden panel, and that was, of course, bakugo katsuki.

(name) shut off her phone and pulled her pillow over her head, dreading the conversation she knew would come about if she let him inside. so naturally, she ignored the knocks in hopes that the blonde who was about to start throwing down with her door would go away.

but we all know katsuki is far too stubborn for that.

another series of much louder knocks erupted from the doorway, as bakugo grew more and more impatient from the lack of response.

“oi, open up already dumbass, I know you’re in there.”

truth is, (name) had found herself in a bit of a rut, and had been feeling rather insecure for the past few weeks. the first little while she’d been begun feeling that way, she was able to bite the bullet and keep going about her life, pushing most of her negative thoughts aside as best she could. but now, for the past 5 or so days she’s been completely cut off.

talking to her boyfriend about things wasn’t hard for her. she trusted him and didn’t find it too difficult to open up when something was bothering her, but this was different.

insecurity was something bakugo typically didn’t acknowledge and quite frankly, looked down on most of the time. (name) didn’t wanna find herself bothering him with something she knew he most likely would think is annoying, hence the multiple weeks she had kept quiet about it, hoping it would go away on its own or she’d be able to figure it out herself.

unfortunately for her, things didn’t go quite according to plan when she continued to spiral downwards.

she’d been quiet in her classes, noticeably dodging bakugo and her friends, not sticking around for lunch or after training like she normally would, and everyone noticed she was off. everyone including katsuki.

he wanted to give her space to ‘sort her shit out’ before he began pestering and questioning her, as normally he’d want the same thing, but now it was coming up on a week and they’d hardly spoken. a few mutters of (name) saying “cant, homework.” or “sorry, I’m tired.” was all that had been said that week.

so naturally, bakugo got tired of all the silence and went to do what he did best. confront her. he wanted to know what the hell was going on, he was tired of pulling his hair out trying to figure out what he did wrong.

(name) didn’t answer the door once more. she knew she had fucked up pretty bad by ignoring him, but she didn’t know what else to do. and now she had to confront whatever problem she may have caused, which only made her want to curl up and hide more.

alas, when she heard a much softer, much quieter,

“please?”

coming from the hallway, she broke.

standing up with a heavy sigh, the (colour) haired girl stood up from her bed, rubbing her eyes and walking over to unlock the door, immediately going and flopping down into her mattress afterwards.

katsuki walked inside, shutting the door behind him and shoving his hands into the pockets of his black sweats. scanning over her figure, he took note of her tired eye bags, messy thrown up hair, and these fuzzy black penguin patterned pyjama pants which he knew she only wore when she was upset. paired with one of his hoodies she had stolen, of course.

“you look like shit.” bakugo grumbled, going and sitting down on the end of her bed, sinking into the soft (colour) duvet on top.

“good to see you too, babe.” (name) replied sarcastically, turning and shoving her face into a pile of her pillows.

there was an uncomfortable silence hanging over the room for a moment as katsuki figured out what he wanted to say, and it was obvious that (name) wasn’t gonna say anything first. with a heavy sigh, the blonde ran a hand through his thick, spiky hair and spoke up.

“did I- did I do something or whatever the fuck?” he asked, his words a bit harsh but his much quieter tone helping to deliver them much easier.

(name) bit the inside of her cheek gently, keeping her face hidden in the pile of sheets and freshly washed pillows.

“what makes you think that?” her response was mumbled by the fabric practically eating her face.

“don’t play dumb, shithead. you’ve been dodging me all week. you’re normally all- all clingy and shit and you never cancel plans.”

clingy. that one stung a bit.

“so if I did something to piss you off just- just fucking tell me already cause I’m getting really damn tired of-“

“you didn’t do anything, alright? chill out.” (name) cut him off, rolling onto her back so now the couple was making eye contact once more.

bakugo tsked, throwing his hands in the air a bit and letting them fall onto his lap.

“so then why the hell have you been blowing me off all week, huh?”

(name) sighed heavily, rubbing her eyes and sliding her hands down her face as she struggled with how exactly to articulate that she’d been feeling incredibly insecure and didn’t wanna be a nuisance to him without sounding like an absolute moron.

“I just- I’ve just been feeling shitty lately and I didn’t wanna bug you with it while I sort things out, okay?” she explained vaguely, nervously fidgeting with her fingers while she avoided his gaze.

when she mentioned she hadn’t been feeling well, bakugo softened up a little bit. he knew sometimes she got like this, having periods of time where she just wasn’t herself, but normally she came to him herself and told him what was up. so he couldn’t quite understand why this time was different.

bakugo sighed and stood up to go lay beside her, propping himself up on his elbow while resting his cheek in the palm of his hand.

“well why did you just say that in the first place, dumbass?”

he wasn’t a great advice giver, and he wasn’t great at comforting, but when it came to things like this he was a pretty good listener, so he always offered up his ears when (name) was feeling down.

“what’s got you down, huh? talk to me already.”

the girl beside him continued to fidget and play with her fingers, debating on whether she actually wanted to explain to him her feelings, or just shrug him off and do her best to convince the blonde it was something else.

she was ping-ponging back and forth. lie and most likely not get away with it but still not sound stupid, or tell the truth and have your boyfriend think you’re an idiot. a wide variety of lovely choices she had to choose from.

yet, in the end, she decided it would be best to be honest with him. oftentimes, nothing good came out of lying in these types of scenarios, and she surely didn’t want to fuck up more than she already might have. sure, katsuki wasn’t mad for the time being, but that boy’s temper can switch on and off like a light sometimes. so she still approached the situation cautiously.

“I feel just- annoying and like I’m a bother to you with this shit all the time so I didn’t wanna throw all my problems or whatever into you again, alright?

you’re practically this idol student who’s so damn cocky and confident in himself, so when….”

she sighed, trying to find the words once more.

“when I start feeling gross and insecure, or when I’m starting to completely flop in some of my classes, I just- i feel like I just become this huge weight on your back and..” she swallowed, slowing herself down as she felt herself begin to rant.

“…and it’s embarrassing! you shouldn’t have to deal with me feeling like an idiot, you have enough on your plate as it is and- and I should be able to deal with this kind of shit on my own, not immediately run to you whenever I feel-”

(name’s) midoriya-muttering speed ranting was cut off when a familiar pair of plush lips were pressed up against her own, immediately shoving all her worries into the back of her mind. she hadn’t realized how much she missed something as simple as a kiss from her boyfriend in the week she’d been distancing herself from him.

after a moment or so, when bakugo was sure she would be shut up enough for him to speak, he pulled away.

rolling onto his back, bakugo waved her over to him, using his other hand to prop up his head from behind.

“come here, just be quiet and listen for a sec will ya?”

(name) was not hesitant to cuddle right up into his side, tangling her legs in with his and resting her head atop his toned chest. after wrapping an arm tightly around her shoulders, rubbing her back slowly, the boy began to speak.

“it’s my job to be here for you, okay idiot? as sappy as it sounds, when you’re upset, I’m upset too. I don’t like seeing you down, it makes me feel like a shitty boyfriend for not bein’ able to help.” he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

“you shouldn’t be embarrassed to tell me shit, doesn’t matter how stupid you think it is.

nobody’s perfect, alright? get that through your head.” bakugo said, flicking her forehead gently. (name) chuckled quietly.

“even you?”

“only sometimes, but that doesn’t leave this room.” bakugo answered, smirking to himself.

“listen, I know you’re a badass, and you can get through shit on your own. you’re strong as hell.

but that doesn’t mean you can’t take it. speaking from experience, sometimes it’s better to just bite your tongue and accept the help from people that care about you.”

(name) listened to every word that he said very carefully, letting them sink in as she processed them. it was rare that bakugo got like this, but when he did, it was rather impressive how easy he was able to make her feel better. his advice sucked half the time, sure, considering “blasting the fuckers to hell” isn’t always an option, but this kind of advice was something she’d keep with her always.

“you’re damn special, you know that? you’ve done somethin’ even better than getting a decent grade on your stupid chemistry test.”

bakugo stated, leaning his head back so his gaze was fixated on the ceiling, closing his eyes with a sigh. (name) furrowed her eyebrows together slightly, tilting her head up to look at her boyfriend.

“wait, but what did I do exactly?” she asked, curiosity lacing her tone. bakugo placed a hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair a bit.

“you’ve shown me what love can feel like. somethin’ I thought i’d never know or go through. so to do that, you’ve gotta be pretty fuckin’ incredible.”

(name) smiled up at him and leaned up a bit more to kiss his jaw, returning to her comfy spot on his chest right after.

“I’m sorry that I get like this. I’ll work on it, ‘kay?” (name) said quietly, still feeling a bit bad that bakugo had to go and tell her all this, though she can’t deny that it made her extremely happy to hear.

“shut up with that already, will you? you know I wouldn’t change a damn thing about you.”

and that was enough to reassure (name) almost completely, that her negative feelings and emotions weren’t as bad as she had been painting them out to be.

with a soft smile, and a slow close of her eyes, (name) nuzzled closer up into bakugo, her cheek squished up against his chest.

“I love you, you big softie.”

“yeah yeah, whatever. I love you too.”

#bakugo x reader #bakugo fluff #bakugo katsuki #bakugo oneshot #bakugo imagine #bakugo x you #bakugo x oc #bakugo x y/n #boku no hero academia #bnha x reader #bnha #bnha fanfiction #bakugo headcanons #bakugou katsuki #my hero academia #mha x reader #bnha oneshots #mha oneshots #bnha fluff #mha fluff #bakugo katsuki x reader #bnha imagines #bnha x y/n #mha imagines #mha x y/n #bnha bakugou #bnha bakugo katsuki #mha bakugou #mha bakugo katsuki

[sadaboutniall]

Without Fear

masterlist | tag | wattpad

Chapter One. January.

remember that first laugh? all it changed once I had that // like a hurricane, but I don't care where I land - rome, dermot kennedy 

The whole thing had started out as a joke. Or maybe a pipe dream. Or maybe a massive mental breakdown and a poorly thought-through trip to the passport office for a rush renewal and a visa application. 

No matter how it had started, Luna hadn’t actually thought it would pan out. Two and a half months ago, standing in her parents’ kitchen in New York, reading the lawyer’s letter, it had been a shiny, exciting, half-baked idea—an escape she could cling to while everything else was going to shit. It hadn’t been a reality. 

It was hardly a reality even as it began to happen: Luna, packing her bags on a Friday night, deciding which pictures of her ex to keep and which to toss; Luna’s dad, hoisting her bags into the trunk of the car for her; Luna’s mom, petting her hair as she hugged her goodbye at the airport.

And it wasn’t real when she got to Inis Mór either: her snug little apartment above the coffee shop, the smattering of mismatched furniture that her Great Aunt Niamh had left behind, Ruairí, the black cat her new neighbor had been feeding, the mess of her suitcases, exploding on the floor, markedly different to the seemingly ancient chairs and quilts and sweaters that Niamh left for her. 

Or, just left. It’s been hard for Luna to tell what’s for her and what isn’t. 

And even now, nearly a month into living here and it only half feels real, the way she gets up every morning and putters down to the shop to open up, the cat following behind her, meowing for breakfast and Siobhan, the baker, already well on her way to done with the morning’s pastries, the smell of cinnamon and dough and vanilla and the cold air outside wafting through the shop to wake Luna up sweetly; the way old Mr. Whelan is always her first customer, never deviates from his order of a black coffee and a croissant, toasted; the rush of cold air every time someone opens the door, feeling like it’s flaying the shop open, sending napkins fluttering to the floor, causing Ruairí to hiss in protest and curl up closer to the fireplace. There’s nothing real in the way the sun sets at 4pm these days, quick as a wink over the hill outside the window, a flash of orange and purple the only reminder that day once broke in this place that always feels dark, under cover. There’s nothing real in the way Luna needn’t worry about anything here—her rent is paid and there are no deadlines anymore, no screaming bosses, no one angry with her for dropping an artist file or fucking up a coffee order. It’s not real, not even when she calls home and talks to her parents, when they tell her about her brother Sam’s new PhD research and his girlfriend Mary’s trip to Honduras. It’s not real, any of it. And it works. It’s fine. And so is Luna. 

It’s hardly real on a Monday night at the end of January, either, after Siobhan has already left for the day and Luna is quietly closing up, tucking mugs into cabinets and dropping bits of pastry on the floor for the cat. She’s not thinking about much of anything—in the month she’s been here, Lu’s found the very start and very end of her days to be the most relaxing, the way she can clear up the shop or fire up the coffee maker without having to talk to anyone, think about anything. It’s so markedly different from what feels like a lifetime ago: bustling into the office at 8:30 and still feeling like she was late, a tray of coffees balanced in one hand, someone’s dry cleaning in the other, 12 voicemails already waiting for her, 30 emails, more coming through as her phone vibrated in her pocketbook. This is quiet and slow: Ruairí is weaving between her legs, meowing gently when he wants more treats, and outside it’s dark and still and cold, despite it being only 7pm. Luna is tired but not wiped—a feeling she forgot existed before leaving New York—and it occurs to her that she can have a slice of cake tonight in front of the TV, and maybe a glass of wine, while watching Law and Order until she falls asleep. 

She’s lost in that thought—and the already building annoyance at the fact that she knows she’ll inevitably wake up on the couch at 3am and have to stumble to bed—when the door creaks open, nighttime wind rushing in, a boy stumbling after it. 

“So sorry,” Lu looks up from where she’s been wiping down the counter behind the pastry display. “I’m closing up. But I still have a few leftover slices of cake if you want—”

“Oh, erm,” the boy stills, maybe surprised, and Lu does too. He’s—well. Lu hasn’t seen anyone here who looks like him. 

He’s a mess of hat hair, dark at the roots and an unnatural blonde at the tips, curling over his ears and flopping over one eyebrow. He’s bright blue eyes, wide when he looks at her, and cheeks flushed red to match the tip of his nose, and a smattering of stubble along his face, darkening in the dimple of his chin, his pink lips chapped where his tongue darts out to soothe them. He takes her breath away for half a second—or maybe that’s the rush of wind that crashed against her chest when he opened the door. 

The boy is clutching a guitar by its neck, gloved hand wrapped almost reverently around it, and his white high-top sneakers are mucky where the rubber soles have been sludging through the perma-mud outside. He looks like something out of a dream, maybe, Lu’s heart catching a little in her throat. 

“Hi,” he says, finally, looking just as out of sorts as Lu feels. She’s not sure if that’s good or bad, but he carries on. “I wasn’t expecting—I didn’t think you would be so… uh. American? Uh,” gently, he tucks the guitar under his arm and tugs off his navy blue gloves, the cotton pilling from wear. “I’m Niall,” he reaches out a hand. It’s cold when Lu takes it to shake, when he wraps it gently around her own. “I live Kilronan.” 

“Hiya,” Lu’s voice comes out softer than she expected it to. “I’m Lu. I work here.” 

“Right, right,” Niall nods, swallows thick. “You’re Niamh’s niece? I was so sorry to hear about her passing—she—”

“Great niece,” Lu rushes over Niall, exhausted, even a month later, of every introduction on this island starting with a condolence. “I actually only met her once. But it sounds like she was a force.”

“You—once?” Niall shoves his gloves into the pocket of his puffer jacket. 

“Yeah,” Lu shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine. Was there, uh,” she doesn’t want to get rid of him,  but doesn’t know where to go next. “Did you want one of those slices of cake? I’m sorry for you to come all the way from Kilronan for nothing.”

“Oh,” Niall looks like he’s only just remembered where he is. “No, I didn’t come for cake. I, uh, I have a… a question? An idea?”

Briefly, Lu worries if she should be nervous—but crime doesn’t happen here, not like this, and Lu knows the statistics when it comes to stranger attacks. Either way, Niall keeps talking before she can spiral, the words tumbling out like he knows he has to speak before he thinks better of it.

“I, uh, I was wondering if there’s any chance you were looking for someone to, like, play guitar and sing a bit? Like, live music in the shop for a couple hours a week? You don’t have to pay me or anything, ‘m not asking for that, but I could maybe leave my case open for tips? I can do covers or requests or—whatever you want, really. And I can give you my work schedule and we can work around that; I’m free on the weekends mostly, except for when I coach football, but also on weeknights if you’d prefer that and if you want to split the tips I understand, we can do that too, and also—” 

“Niall,” Lu can’t take it. He’s speaking so fast it’s shuttling her toward an anxiety attack, and throwing up on the shoes of the first cute boy she’s seen in a month was not on her agenda for today. Meeting a cute boy in general was not on her agenda for today, but Lu’s been learning that things don’t tend to pan out the way she plans them. “I like the idea. That sounds cool.” 

“I totally understand if—wait, really?” Niall pauses, hand halfway up to his face, like he was going to cover his mouth, or rub his eyes, or bite his nails. His brow furrows and his mouth drops open a little, like he didn’t expect it to be that easy. Like he didn’t accept Lu to be agreeable at all. 

“Yeah,” Lu shrugs, then nods at the guitar still tucked under Niall’s arm, “but you’ll need to audition for me,” she bites back a cheeky smile, watches Niall do the same. “I can’t have a crap singer driving away all my customers.”

“Ah, fair play,” the left side of Niall’s mouth pulls up into a smile, and Lu pointedly ignores the kick in her chest. “What would you like to hear?”

She shrugs again, as if “casual” or “easygoing” were ever words people would’ve used to describe her back home. “Your favorite song?”

“My favorite—” Niall scoffs, but there’s no malice in it—it’s playful, inviting, fun. It makes Lu feel like he wants to keep talking to her. Like he wants her to keep winding him up. “You think I can narrow it down to one favorite song?”

“I can,” Lu smiles, soft, “I’m good at making decisions.” 

“Go on, tell us then.” 

“You first,” Lu gestures toward a table, the only one in the shop that isn’t rickety when there’s too much weight on it. “Then I’ll tell ya.” 

Niall hums under his breath, approval, and settles himself on top of the table easily, feet perched on the chair, guitar natural in his lap. He strums once, to check that everything is in tune, and then glances up through the bit of hair that’s fallen over his eye. He’s striking—bright blue eyes, a shock of blonde at the tips of his hair, a lone dimple digging into his filled out cheeks—and Lu feels her stomach swoop and kick again. She takes a deep breath, crosses her arms over her chest. Niall sits up straight. 

“Alright,” he says it so quietly that Lu thinks it might just be for him. She’s suddenly struck with the notion that she’s intruding on something, a moment between Niall and his guitar and himself that isn’t for her—that, maybe, this isn’t something a lot of people get to see. 

And, if that’s true, Lu realises the second he starts strumming, it’s a damn shame. 

It takes Lu a second to recognize the song, but it doesn’t even matter. With a guitar in his hand Niall is even more mesmerizing. Hypnotizing. Completely, incomprehensibly, irresistible.

And then he opens his mouth. And Lu feels sick. 

It’s “With or Without You”. 

But there’s none of the corniness, none of the playful groaning and eye rolling that usually accompanies a U2 cover. Instead, Lu feels frozen to her spot in the middle of the shop, Niall, seated atop the table, eyes down, an anchor in the middle of this island. His voice, lower than she expected, and raspy in all the right places, is somehow vulnerable and confident at the same time—somehow makes her want to simultaneously hold him and be held by him, to protect him and let him protect her. It’s real. It’s vulnerable. It’s terrifying. Lu doesn’t know what to do with it. 

The song lasts forever and is over in an instant. Eyes closed, Niall carries out the final, desperate, confident, terrified, “I can’t live, with or without you,” as he stops playing and lets his voice take over. The whole shop shakes with it. Or maybe that’s just Lu, trembling. 

His eyes don’t open for a few seconds. Lu can feel herself breathing, she can feel her heart beating, she can feel the wind, outside, throwing itself against the shop’s ancient windows. She can feel it when Niall opens his eyes. 

“Was it that shite?” 

Overwhelmed, Lu exhales an unstoppable, lovely laugh. Niall’s cheeks are red and his eyes are a little glassy and he runs a hand through his thick hair, his bicep flexing just a millimeter. Lu already knows there’s no way this can last.

“Terrible,” she smiles. “Worst I’ve ever heard. When can you start?” 

####

They work out the schedule together, leaning over the only good table, comparing planners. Lu still keeps her old Moleskin, dark purple, embossed with her college seal and the year she graduated. She hasn’t needed it much lately—after years of her work, and eventually her social life, revolving around Google Calendar, she feels a freedom in being able to jot down appointments and approximate times in a messy journal. Niall’s got a battered leather one—doodles on the front, his name in script on the first page. He flips through it quickly, keeps it close to his chest. 

He works at a local furniture and home goods boutique most days, as a design consultant, and coaches the middle school’s co-ed soccer team on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons, with games on Saturdays. Lu tells him not to overbook himself but he does it anyway, and they settle on Monday, Thursday, and Friday nights, as well as Saturday mornings, starting the next week. He says he’ll have a friend work up posters to advertise, and tries, again, to tell Lu he’ll split his tips. 

At 10:30, he notices the time, his cheeks pinking up, his chapped lower lip caught between his teeth. They’d been splitting the final two slices of cake, and there’s a tiny glob of chocolate caught in the corner of his mouth. 

“Fuck,” he says, looking reluctant, “I’ve got to go, I’m meant to be at work at 8 tomorrow morning.” 

“Oh, God,” Lu feels a bit like she’s coming out of a daze, that feeling she gets, sometimes, when she’s been reading a book or watching a movie and then has to reimmerse herself in the real world. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you.” 

“No, no,” Niall rushes, “you didn’t. I—thank you. For the chocolate cake. And the, uh, opportunity.” 

“Don’t mention it.” Lu presses her lips together, resists the urge to lean forward and thumb at the chocolate on his mouth. “You’ve got, uh, a bit of chocolate,” she touches the mirroring spot on her own mouth, “right there.” 

“Right,” he smiles, tongue darting out to catch it. “I won’t. Thanks.” 

Lu gathers the plates and cups and totes them to the sink while Niall gets his things together. When she turns around, he’s bundled in his coat and scarf, hat pulled low over his brows, free hand shoved into the pocket of his puffer. She doesn’t know how to look away from him. 

“I guess I’ll see you next week, then?” He asks, fiddling with the zipper on his puffer. He hasn’t got all the chocolate—Lu wonders what it would taste like against his lips.

“Next week,” she echoes. “Yeah.” 

“Brilliant. I’ll, uh—I’m excited. Have a good week.” 

Lu’s “and you” gets lost in her throat as she watches Niall head toward the door. His hand is on the knob when he turns back around. 

“Wait, Lu.” 

The sound of her name in his mouth makes her heart stutter. She hopes her raised brow will pass for a response. 

“You didn’t tell me.” 

“What?” She gets that out, at least.

“Your favorite song of all time,” Niall smiles, dimple prominent. “What is it?”

Looking back, Lu has no idea where the sudden confidence comes from. But, somehow, it does. She smiles, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Not sure I want to tell you yet,” she says, kind. “I want to see if you figure it out for yourself.” 

####

taglist: @missy14us @coconutdawn @ficnarry @okaaayniall @theresnooneheretosave @niallgolden @tinyfelthat @adoremp3 @thelifeofbo @crocodileniall @niallsguitarthings 

Join the tag list here.

#one direction #1dff #one direction fan fiction #niall horan #niall horan fic #niall horan fan fiction #niall horan imagine #niall #without fear #eeeeek! #ok hope you like this!! #im nervous

[imagineclaireandjamie]

Shielded. Chapter Four

Happy Sunday all, back to the usually scheduling this week. I hope you enjoy the next week of lockdown with Jamie and Claire <3 Mod MBD.

Anonymous said to imagineclaireandjamie: 

It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it. [Seneca]

CHAPTER FOUR: WEEK TWO - Home and Away.

As Monday rolled around again, the weekend having passed by in a blur, Claire sat at the breakfast table with a fresh cup of coffee in her hands. Having ventured down during the day on both Saturday and Sunday, she had hoped to bump into Jamie and pass on her thanks to his generosity but he had been out before sunrise each day and she had been asleep before he’d returned home.

Resolute, however, she chose to spend her day downstairs and hopefully get something on for dinner before he came back so she could at least start the week off right.

Fate, however, wasn’t on her side. By 10pm, with the lasagne tucked away, wrapped in foil, in the fridge, she covered her mouth with a yawn and pulled herself up the stairs to bed.

The crash and smashing of a glass bought her out of her sleep as the clock beside her bed clicked over to 3am. Pulling herself from beneath the sheets, she crept downstairs, eager not to scare him as she approached the kitchen.

“Couldn’t sleep?” She asked, knowing full well he had only just returned home.

He was stood by the sink, cold lasagna on the countertop and his mucky boots still on his feet. With the fork held to his mouth, he smiled as he took another bite of the pasta, chewed and then shook his head. “I havena ever been the best sleeper but it’s lambing season, aye? One of them got into bother and I couldna leave her until I knew she was safe.”

“And she made it?”

“Aye. I was luckier tonight than I was at the weekend.”

“Oh, dear...that doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s the job, I’m afraid. If I didna lose at least a handful a year I’d be shocked.”

It was the first real (and longest) conversation they’d had since she’d arrived and she was suddenly grateful for the company. He was calm, grounded and relaxed in the way a lot of city dwellers weren’t. She could tell in the slump of his shoulders that it didn’t matter how long and awkward his day was, how messy or how little sleep he had gotten the night before, he was still weightless almost, free of the constraint modern living brought to most.

“I wanted to say thank you,” she broke in, remembering the reason she’d half-blindly stumbled down in the middle of the night, “you’ve been so amazing - to get me materials for a garden, that’s...above and beyond the call of duty.”

“Ach,” shaking his head, he finished the last of his supper, balled the tin foil up and placed it in the bin, “dinna fash yersel’ about that. It’s no’ a problem.”

He was embarrassed, she could tell. Abashed, his accent had become incredibly thick and almost impossible to understand. But it was quiet enough here that there was no background noise to blot out his sentence and luckily she didn’t have to ask him to repeat himself.

“Well, nonetheless,” ignoring the slight reddening of his cheeks she continued, “I am very grateful to you. For everything.”

With nothing more to say between them, she waved, smiled and backed off, feeling strangely pleased with herself for breaking the silence between them. Hopefully, she thought as she climbed the stairs back to her room, there would be some evenings in the future when they could eat together and she could show her appreciation by making him something warm and fresh.

-- --

By mid-week, she had yet to see Jamie again. His work was intense, and yet, despite that, he had still managed to begin construction of her tiny garden.

In her haste she had forgotten that she wasn’t allowed outside the house and, as she’d watched the greenhouse foundations being laid, she had become almost inconsolable about the fact that she probably wouldn’t get the chance to tend to any of the produce grown in it.

She knew, however, that safety was more important than new hobbies and she chose, instead, to make detailed lists of the daily needs of each of the seeds and plants Jamie had procured for her.

She started with the tomatoes and grapes, which needed to be contained within the glass walls in order to collect enough light and heat to survive. She noted water levels, soil PH and balance and daily rituals which would need to be abided by in order for the best crop to be formed. It filled most of her days and when the sun went down, she’d swap her notepad for the computer as she researched all the differences she might see in her fruit and veg determined all by the way they were treated as they grew.

Though she had never been an artist, she started to search for youtube videos on how botanical art could be created. Having no coloured pencil crayons or watercolours, she stuck to pencil sketches and began to leave more post-it’s, this time with future predictions on what the garden might produce for the household.

Once again Jamie enjoyed coming home. There had only been a few days lapse in her communications but when he didn’t see her for days, it was the one thing he could rely on to buoy his spirits.

They were different, in so many ways, but on a subconscious level, he pondered to himself at night as he held the drawing of some rare cabbage in his hands, Jamie felt as if they had very many similar quirks. He’d been pleased that his idea to leave her be for as long as she needed had been a success and was grateful she felt at home enough to reform her life around his. Her asking for the garden made him realise how easy it might be for someone else to fit into his own life without causing him much grief.

It was only a small thing, but to him it had made a huge difference. Having lived alone for so long, he had almost forgotten how malleable people could be. Though, he thought as he rifled around in the fridge for more pre-made meals, he had probably just gotten lucky with Claire.

The thought also occurred to him that she had been inadvertently raised more suited to this life than her old one, but he didn’t know enough about her to advance on the notion.

It wasn’t until late on Thursday when they came face to face together. After another heavy day and late night, Jamie finally toe-ed off his work boots at nearly midnight and made his way, quietly, through to the kitchen.

He had not expected to nearly bump straight into Claire has she dished up what looked like a very tasty stir fry.

“I thought you might be sick of reheating pasta dishes, so I thought I’d try and wait for you this time.”

“Ye didna have to, it’s very late.” He scratched the back of his neck bashfully, even she couldn;t find the truth in his words and she smiled as she placed a fresh bottle of soy sauce in the centre of the table. “But this does smell delicious.”

“It’s taken me a few attempts to hone it, but I’ve been practicing most evenings this week to try and get it perfect, flavour as well as how long I need to cook the veg for.”

“What’s the meat?” He asked, watching as his stomach rumbled audibly.”

“I used the duck, I hope you don’t mind. I used chicken earlier in the week but I couldn’t seem to get it as tender as I wanted it and a few forums online suggested that duck might be a better substitute if I wanted meat with a bit more moisture.”

“Perfect. Use any meat you want from the freeze, for anything. Honestly, I forget most of the time what I’ve got in there.”

Placing several bowls filled with various meats, vegetables and sides, she went back to the sink to wash the remaining stickiness of her hands before beckoning him to start without her. “I had hoped you weren’t saving anything for a special occasion.”

“Ach, I think the virus has put pay to anything like that for a while,” he began, filling his plate with noodles, duck and beansprouts, “my sister - she lives in Canada now - had planned a summer visit, but we’re no’ sure of anything at the moment.”

“Is she the one in the photo,” Claire enquired, taking a mouthful of her own concoction and swallowing back the relief when it tasted nice - a mixture of sweet and savory that wasn’t as overpowering or as dry as it had been earlier on in the day when she’d made the first of the final tests. “The one with brown hair?”

“Aye, she is. Her partner, Ian, got a job out there a few years ago and they emigrated. We talk as often as we can on Skype and FaceTime but it’s become sporadic recently wi’ my erratic work hours. She’s a nurse, ya see, and works odd shift patterns too. But we try and keep in touch at least once a month.”

“Do you miss her?”

“I didna really think about it, we were close....until we werena. Then they moved away and I fell into a new routine.”

He had begun to speak without thinking, filling up the silence with answers to her questions as they ate in between conversation. He had, though, had the forethought to stop before giving too much away. The thought hurt his heart and he had to inhale between a bite of his dinner to gather himself back up. He knew, given time, that he would be alright with sharing his past (as he hoped she would be with hers) but tonight wasn’t the night for revelations.

Sensing his reluctance to continue, she moved on, understanding that she herself wasn’t in a place to open up about her own family life.

“I can imagine Skype is about the only way most are communicating at the moment.” Sighing, she started to collect the empty dishes and load the dishwasher. “I’m quite grateful, actually, that I don’t have anyone to keep in touch with. It’s all...quite scary.”

It was the first time Jamie had consciously thought about the pandemic, being cut off from the outside world had its benefits and he felt relieved that he could separate himself from the constant barrage of news that he supposed others would be exposed to. He realised that both he and Claire were unique now, part of a smaller section of society where being remote was almost a blessing rather than a curse.

“If you ever need to talk, lass,” standing, he helped to clean up the remaining mess from dinner, his hand almost brushing against hers as he wiped the countertop down, breaking only to hover for a second before returning to his job, “ye know where I am. Please dinna think you have nobody...if yer concerned, aye?”

“Thank you Jamie.” Pulling her fleece cardigan across her chest she walked slowly to the kitchen door, pausing for a second in the doorway just to make sure she’d left nothing out to go cold and mouldy overnight. “The same to you. I’m a good listener, I promise, if you ever need to talk, or if you need any help.”

She’d been thinking about his life on the farm for a few days now, watching the rolling hills out of her window, seeing the sheep and cattle on the horizon and -very occasionally- seeing the silhouette of him roaming his land. There was little she could do from indoors, she knew, but there had been chores around the house that she could potentially complete. Putting herself to task, she had learned new basic kitchen skills but only this morning she’d noticed the beginnings of a hole on the seam of his trousers as they dried on the rail in the courtyard and she thought it might be something she could tend to...should he be alright with it.

Leaving with the quiet settling calmly between them, she noted the relaxing of the muscles in his face as he smiled and nodded as she turned and carried herself to bed.

Resting against the faux-marble worktop, Jamie closed his eyes as he waited for the soft slam of her bedroom door before he followed her up. She just might, he thought to himself as he undressed himself, taking a towel from his radiator and making his way to the shower, be better equipped for this life than I am.

#anonymous #ask #shielded #Jamie X Claire #;mod mbd

[tokyoghoulaspecs]

Like I said in my last post, I’ve been putting more and more aspecs into my writing lately. This fic in particular is being written extremely scattered, so i have no idea when it’ll be posted, if at all. But I wanted to at least share the aspec bits I have written!

This time, it’s Hide’s segments!

(Word Count: 2200)

(Warnings for a brief scene of romance and lots of internalized aphobia/amisia)

[This takes place shortly after Dragon, while the ghouls are all still staying at the CCG]

“Um, Hide? Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course!”

“So, um, I was thinking about what you said...” Kaneki began.

“Which one?” Hide asked. So much had happened over the past few weeks, Kaneki could have been referring to literally anything.

“A-about... you liking me.”

“Oh.” Hide could feel his face heating up. He’d almost forgotten about his confession.

“And, I think I’d like to try? As long as that’s okay with you?”

Hide lunged and hugged him. “Of course it is!”

Kaneki hummed contentedly and hugged him back.

-

It was 3am, and Hide was awake staring at the ceiling.

He had forgotten the reason why he stopped dating in high school, why all of his relationships ended badly. Something was different about him — about his sexuality. Kaneki had just confessed and they became a couple, and already Hide could feel his feelings changing. Most people would write it off as anxiety, but Hide knew better. He’d felt this feeling before, and he knew what was happening. His romantic feelings were fading.

Hide groaned and ducked his head into his knees. “I was hoping I would be fixed by now.”

He had given up dating after he broke two people’s hearts. Two people that he had loved romantically, and even when his romantic feelings faded he still cared about, but the relationship became too much for him. Too many expectations, too many things he didn’t understand, and he had to end it. After not even a few months, going from passionate to repulsed, he unintentionally broke their hearts. And then they broke his when they screamed at him, accusing him of never loving them in the first place.

He had hoped that taking a long break from dating would fix whatever was wrong with his sexuality. He had loved Kaneki for so many years, with none of it fading, even when Kaneki went missing time and time again. Hide thought it would stay forever. But now that they were in a relationship, it was fading.

“Maybe I can hold on, and it’ll come back.” Hide said, trying to ignore the fact that he said the same thing in his prior relationships, and it had never worked before.

-

“I love you.” Kaneki whispered, nuzzling him before kissing him on the cheek.

Hide pulled away. “I can’t.”

“Did I do something wrong?”

Hide shook his head. “It’s not you. It’s me.” He grimaced. “I know that sounds cliché, but its true.”

“What’s wrong? I can fix it.” Kaneki reached out to take his hand.

“It’s nothing you can fix!” Hide snapped, yanking his hand away.

“Hide…?”

Hide stepped back. “S-sorry!”

“Wait, Hide!”

“I’m so sorry.” Hide ran off.

-

Hide tried to busy himself with CCG work, which Marude was more than happy to provide. It was boring, but gave him time to think, which he really needed. And after a while, he needed someone to talk about it with.

“Hey, Marude-san…” Hide began. “What are your thoughts on queer people?”

Marude laughed.

Hide winced and continued on his work. Maybe they could just pretend he never said anything.

“So you’re saying you’re queer too, huh?” Marude asked. “I guess I shoulda known, the way you talk about that one eyed bastard.”

Hide perked up. “Too?”

“Hm?” Marude looked at him. “Yeah. You’re far from the only queer person I know.”

“Really?”

Marude gave him a look. “Nagachika, you really think everyone is straight, in the entire CCG, all these years I’ve worked here?”

“Well, no, but…” Hide trailed off.

“So what are ya, then?” Marude asked. “I noticed you said queer and not gay.”

“I’m pansexual.”

“Which one is that?”

“It’s kinda like bisexual. Usually people use it to mean more gender-blind, whereas with bisexual there’s usually some internal difference with attraction to each gender. But not all people use it that way.”

Marude hummed and nodded. Hide was glad he accepted it at face value and didn’t try to pick it apart.

“But the past few days, I’m beginning to think I’m something else…”

“What, like you’re just gay or just straight?”

“Not like that.” Hide shook his head. “Like, an additional label.”

“Transgender?” Marude guessed.

“Not trans, but you’re on the right track on how trans is an additional label on a different axis.”

“Then what label are you thinking about adding? I’m at my limit of vocab here!”

“Aromantic.” Hide said, deciding to keep it as simple as possible.

“And that is?”

Here it comes…

“Not experiencing romantic attraction.”

There was silence. Hide braced himself.

“Romantic?” Marude asked. “So, wait. Separate from sexual stuff?”

“For me, yeah. But some other aros don’t experience sexual attraction either.”

Marude hummed. He seemed to accept it, but Hide couldn’t tell what he was thinking beyond that.

“So what’s the issue?” Marude asked.

“I can’t love.” Hide whispered. “And that’s scary.”

“Eh, love’s overrated.” Marude waved him off.

Hide sighed. He was glad Marude was being so accepting, and it was really nice to hear someone not put romance on a pedestal for once, but at the same time Hide wanted some validation for his fears.

“For so long now I’ve prided myself on being loving. And now knowing that I can’t… What am I now?”

“So was everything fake?”

“No. Yes? It’s complicated.” Hide groaned.

“Look, kid. You feel how you feel. You can’t force it or change it. And that goes for everything, not just sexualities.”

“I know.”

“You’re a sweet kid. It’s overbearing to me, but I appreciate that in a world so cruel, people like you exist. And from what I’ve seen, the care you show isn’t fake.”

“The non-romantic love? That’s not fake. But the romance? The crushes and flirting? It’s not fake but… it disappears. Way sooner than it should.”

“Disappears?”

“I think I’m, like, a subset of aromantic? I get crushes but they fade after I’m in a relationship. Way sooner than it should. I’ve been in love with Kaneki for years, but now that we’re a couple, that romantic attraction is gone.”

“That’s certainly a dilemma.”

Hide scoffed. That was an understatement.

“So what do you wanna do about it?” Marude asked.

“Huh?”

“Break up, or keep it up?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then just talk to him.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t give you any advice on the romance aspect, but you two have been through things much worse than relationship drama. Just talk to the guy. Can’t be any scarier than what you’ve gone through.”

“I’d beg to differ.” Hide muttered.

Marude rolled his eyes. “Even I know he’s not gonna get pissed and eat you.”

“Of course not! That’s not what I’m afraid of!”

“Then what are you afraid of?”

“I don’t want to hurt him.” Hide whispered. “Or make him think I hate him.”

“Just communicate with him. You can’t work it out all alone. You both need to work together, or else how do you even expect your relationship to work?”

Hide sighed. “...I guess you’re right.”

-

Akira huffed as she sat down next to him. “How do people deal with it?”

Hide gave her a look. “Deal with what?”

“Crushes!” Akira said, as if it was obvious. “They’re so distracting.”

Hide chuckled. They certainly were.

“I thought one was bad enough, but now I have two! Ugh!”

“Oof. That’s rough. I’ve been there.”

“Hey, you’re allo-romantic, right? How do you deal with crushes?”

“Huh? Allo-romantic?” Hide asked. He thought he was pretty well-versed in sexuality terms, but he hadn’t heard that one before.

“It means people who aren’t on the aromantic spectrum.”

“You’re aromantic?” Hide asked. He had known she was asexual for years, but he never knew what her romantic orientation was.

“Demi-romantic.” Akira explained with a nod. “Got my first crush at 20 on a friend, and now a double-whammy of crushes #2 and #3 at 25.”

“Huh.” Hide whispered. He was 22, and it was pretty incredible to imagine only having a single crush in that much time.

Akira-san is aromantic…

“Do you know a lot about aromantic terminology?” Hide decided to ask.

“I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but I have been researching it these past few weeks. Why? What do you want to know?”

“I’ve been wondering if I fall somewhere on there…” Hide said.

“Really?”

“I’ve actually been wondering since high school, but its come back full force now.”

“What makes you think you are?”

“I get a regular amount of crushes, I think. But they, like… fade…?”

Akira hummed in understanding and nodded. “I do recall seeing a few terms like that.”

Hide’s eyes widened. “Really? More than one? Like what?”

“Um, off the top of my head I remember Aroflux, that fluctuates. Hold on.” She pulled out her phone and typed into it.

“Maybe, but that’s a bit vague…” Hide said.

“I know Grey-romantic can be used as an umbrella term.” Akira added. “Ah, here we go! Fray-romantic means you’re only romantically attracted to strangers, and it fades as you get to know them!”

“That’s close, but it’s not that quick. Well, maybe I can use it anyway.” He knew that a lot of queer terms had a lot of grey area to them.

“Oh, and there’s also Lithromantic, that fades at reciprocation!”

“Reciprocation...?” Hide asked, his eyes widening. “That’s… That’s it…”

“Ha, really? That’s awesome!”

“I got crushes and tried to date them, but once I was in a relationship my feelings would disappear. I tried to push on and fake it, but it didn’t work out and we had to break up. Eventually I just gave up dating entirely.”

Hide sighed and held his head in his hands.

Akira frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Kaneki.”

“Kaneki?”

“We just confessed to each other and started officially dating, and I can already feel it fading.”

Akira frowned, not sure what to say.

Hide laid down. “Who’d want to date me? A person who can’t love them back.”

Akira scoffed, laying back to join him. “What about me, huh? Someone who takes forever to like you back, and even then isn’t capable of sexual attraction.”

“You like Amon-san and Takizawa-san, right?” Hide guessed.

“Yeah. So what?”

Hide turned on his side to face her. “Well, Amon-san doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to care about that. And I don’t think Takizawa-san does either. If they really love you, then I’m sure they’d be willing to find a way to meet in the middle.”

Akira sighed, considering his words. Then she gave some of her own, “You know, you and Kaneki are really close. We can all tell. And I know Kaneki, too, and how he is. I’m sure he’d accept your aromanticism. Maybe you could even be in a non-romantic relationship with him.”

Hide blinked. Akira chewed her lip. They were both silent, thinking on each other’s words.

“You really think someone would be okay having a relationship without sex?” Akira asked.

“Of course.” Hide replied. “Do you really think someone would be okay with having a committed relationship that’s not romantic?”

“Of course.” Akira replied.

-

As he talked, Hide walked around the room, taking in the tiniest of details. And then he came across small pride pins, clipped to her bag laid in the corner.

“Is that what I think it is?!” Hide cried out.

“Huh? What is what you think it is?” Kimi asked, turning around.

“That!” Hide pointed to the pin that had gradients of greens and blacks. “Is that an aromantic pin?”

Kimi’s eyes widened. No one had ever recognized it before. Hardly anyone even recognized her bisexual one. “Yeah. I’m aromantic.”

“Wow.” Hide muttered. “And I know the bi one, but… what’s this other one?” He pointed to the one on the other side of the aromantic pin, the one with stripes making a gradient from pink to green.

“It’s aroflux.” Kimi said. “I fall in the grey area of the aromantic spectrum.”

Hide untensed his shoulders. “You know… I think I do, too.”

“Really?”

“I’m Lith-romantic, I’m pretty sure.”

“Neat! It’s always exciting to meet more aromantics!”

“You know others?”

“Nishiki-kun is arospec too. And I’ve helped a few other people question.”

“Nishio-senpai is too?! You’re in a relationship with another aromantic?! That’s amazing!”

“Tell me about it! It was just a coincidence! He didn’t know he was aromantic before I told him about aromanticism! Although, in hindsight I guess it explains why we fit so well together. We both have very complicated feelings on romance, that our previous partners never were able to grasp.”

Hide felt warm and happy, a sense of comfort and kinship coming over him. He often had a lot of internalized dislike of his aromanticism, but it was really nice to talk to someone who was similar — someone else who was on the aromantic spectrum.

Whenever he talked to other people — other allo-romantics, was the term Akira had used — they never grasped what he was trying to explain and always blew it off. As much as he liked people and socialized, he always felt a heavy disconnect from them.

And it suddenly dawned on him. He knew three arospecs so far, and Kimi had implied more.

#tokyo ghoul #aromantic #aro #lithromantic #demiromantic #aroflux #hideyoshi nagachika #itsuki marude #kimi nishino #akira mado #tg #lithro!hide #demiro!akira #aroflux!kimi #fanfiction #syn writes

[aroarolibrary]

Oh man so, first off: congrats to angel/dean shippers on getting your canon thing in spanish but secondly:

Man this whole thing that’s been happening with this show over the last few weeks has 100% reminded me that this show and Sherlock were the two fandoms that made be super romance repulsed because of all the internalized self-hate and trauma they caused me. Like. I was romance repulsed before but those fandoms?? Jacked it up to 100% for years in which I couldn’t interact with any romantic stories or fandoms at all.

Story time!!!

Tw for: self harm, self hatred, hypersexuality, mental health issues, child neglect.

So imagine you are me: a young person who has just graduated high school and, very suddently, went from being “single mother of your little sister” who you had essentially raised on your own for the last four years when she was 5 to 9 yo to “every day college kid that sees their sibling that they raised for the last four years maybe once a month.

Also imagine that, out of all of your high school friends, none of them are attending the same university as you and so. Well.

You’re feeling pretty lonely and depressed.

Now also imagine: you didn’t really have a chance to consume media I HS because: parent. In fact 90% of what you watched was kids cartoons for your sibling +bonus Inuyasha at 3am as a...Uh....treat.....(that’s the kind way of saying ‘setting an alarm at 3am to check to make sure the parents actually got home from wherever TF they vanished to nearly every night).

But hey! You are free now and can watch/read what you want between classes! Only, well, where to start? You go to a book store and find a Sherlock Holmes book and think “okay ya I’ve always wanted to read these!” And proceed to consume them in one week flat.

They are amazing. The relationship between Sherlock and John reminds you of your and one of your best friends/honorary cousins that you haven’t seen in a while and it brings you comfort to read, but now you are out of stories so, you do what any person this day in ages does: you find fanfiction. Now, Sherlock wasn’t a thing at this point and so nearly all the fanfics were based on the books and, of those, 80-85% you gen. No romance at all. Just relaxing stories about friends and solving mysteries.

Then Sherlock happens and, don’t get me wrong, I was definitely a fan when the show started, but suddenly fanfiction was no longer mostly gen, it was shifting, becoming more and more shipping and romance related and it became harder and harder to find non-romantic stories.

Then a person I was living with suggested supernatural. “It’s a story about brothers and it focuses on them.” They said “very little romance. You would probably like it.”

And so I watched it and, they were right, I did. And ya, that one wasn’t exactly like the early Sherlock Holmes fandom, it had a lot of shipping from the get go, but I could also really easily find gen fics that focused on siblings and familial relationships and ignore the rest since there was a pretty even 50/50 split with a slight favor on the gen side.

(Keep in mind there is a LOT of other irl trauma going on in the BG of this story which I know I’ve talked about before. A lot of which is also feeding into the romance repulsion and my avoidance of romance in fandom spaces along with my “blossoming” hypersexuality)

Anyway, the familial relationship in spn was a comfort. At the point I moved from Sherlock to SPN I was in my second year on university and was doing a bit better mentally (in the “sadness” front at least) but I was still missing seeing my sister a lot and so SPN was a comfort in that sense. It was something to relax with that didn’t have romance or anything of the sort that, at that point, was only driving me further and further into hypersexuality (I was dating my first ‘official’ partner at that point and, while I can recognize it now looking back, romance in shows and movies made me feel inadequate as a partner. Like I was failing and not doing enough. Was not romantic enough. Was not showing affection enough. But physically I also couldn’t bring myself to do those things either. What I could do was sex. And, well, when that’s all you have to offer...)

ANYWAY: spn was the one show I knew of on TV that was low to no romance and that the fandom was also decently low on romance, instead focusing mostly on family and the brothers.

Cut forward a few years, I’m back into a depression, I’ve failed at a relationship again because all I can offer is sex and that’s really not enough for people that are looking for actual romance and:

And supernatural introduces an angel character to the show. It’s interesting but I’m pretty depressed and not really all that interested in the show anyway at this point-

But then the fandom happens and it’s like a flood. The romance pours in from all corners along with the absolute hate for anyone that doesn’t see anything romantic happening. It’s like watching a wild fire go through a fandom, what was once a fandom that mostly was just about siblings all of a sudden became all about this angel character and Dean. So much so that it over shadowed everything and any attempt to just enjoy the show as a gen thing or as a family-centric show became impossible.

It was also around this point that a lot of...idk what to call it really because it wasn’t exactly hate, it was like a “this is the only way to read/be in this fandom and if you aren’t we are going to harass you non-stop until you see things our way”. If you couldn’t see the romance between these two characters it was because you were homophobic. If you preferred gen it was because you were homophobic. If you focused on just the brothers and their relationship it was because you were homophobic. If you couldn’t see that Dean was better off in a romantic relationship then with his brother who he had an ‘unhealthy’ relationship with then you were homophobic.

(Keep in mind at this point I was out as bisexual and had attempted to date a woman at this point. I say attempted because, well, again: aromantic even if I didn’t know it then)

It was intense and, from the POV of an aromantic person struggling with being unable to understand even basic romance: it was traumatizing.

I tried to see it, to understand what these shippers were seeing that I couldn’t. Yes, I could see how Sam and Dean’s relationship could be viewed as unhealthy, but as someone who had lived a similar life to theirs as a kid, and to suddenly be bombarded with this idea that the “healthy” way to cope with that is a “romantic relationship” it was a lot. And by a lot I mean a death spiral.

There was...a lot of one night stands and sex and half-attempted relationships after that, in that desperate attempt to understand. There was also panic, nausea, fear that my own relationship with my sister was unhealthy. Was causing both of us harm. That the only way I could keep from hurting her further was to find a “healthy” romantic relationship instead because siblings aren’t meant to be close, not even those where one raised the other alone for years on end.

I had no context outside of fandom about what a healthy sibling relationship looked like and, hell, most TV shows at the time painted sibling relationships as antagonist 90% of the time and with them only interacting when necessary. My parents both had siblings but my dad talked to his maybe once a month and my mom faught with Hers a lot. I had never faught with my sister. We got along perfectly, mostly because from the ages on 13 - 18 I lived for her alone and so I was used to putting her first no matter what.

But this fandom, that had been a comfort for me for a while, suddenly said that was wrong. That instead romance was the way to go and I...

Well. I am conscious of myself enough now to know that I was purposely hurting myself. A lot. Punishing myself over and over and over again, not just because I couldn’t figure out how to “feel” romance like I was supposed to do but also because I was a terrible sibling. Because I had failed my sister some how and had ended up in an “unhealthy codependent” relationship with her since, if Sam and Dean’s relationship was like that according to fans, then obviously so was ours.

(God and don’t get me started on the spiral that the new Inuyasha Sequel put me into a few months ago. I’m STILL not out of that spiral yet. These last few months have not been good for the “romance isn’t important/is unnecessary” front)

I would like to say that I soon realized how terrible the fandom was for my mental health and that it was causing me to harm myself but that isn’t how this story ends. How it ends is that I Eventually I ended up not being able to watch SPN any more. Every episode was just another dagger in my side. Another failure to press my face into. Another series of interactions where I couldn’t see. Couldn’t understand. Another episode that would let to another desperate one night stand/attempt at understanding how this was better. Healthier. How this was how things were supposed to be. Another night of not talking to my family or friend and another few days of not talking to my sister because talking to her too much was wrong.

So ya. This story doesn’t end nicely. It just slowly fades to black. To a point where I hate myself so much that I can’t bring myself to interact with the fandom or internet at all. Where everything just kind of...goes away and vanished but where the trauma still exists. Where stories that start out about family and, suddenly, introduce love interests leave me nauseous and choked. Where my romance repulsion gets so strong that I can’t sleep because I just keep remembering my failures. The fact that it’s not healthy to focus or care about your family. That there must be romance. There must There must there must. Because with out it all other relationships are bad/wrong/unhealthy and you are bad/wrong/unhealthy for only having those.

Just the endless mantra. All night long.

Bad.

Wrong.

Unhealthy.

Bad.

Wrong.

Unhealthy.

Bad

Wrong.

Unhealthy.

Over and over and over again.

#can you tell what’s been on my mind all night? #ah memories #at least I’m at a point where I can recognize this as self-harm behavior to ‘fix’ myself #and not a healthy ‘but maybe if I have more sex I’ll fall in love’ situation i had going on before

[deuynndoodles]

a new oneshot is up! read on ao3 or click read more

end of the beginning by deuynndrabbles

Then Fenton rummages through his bag, pulling out a . . . Thermos? He presses a button on the green-accented metallic canteen, and the ghost that entered is sucked into the thermos. Danny Fenton hasn’t looked up from his test at all.

The alarm cuts off.

Foley bursts out in laughter at the expressions on the other students. Manson offers a quick thumbs up on the opposite side of Fenton, barely suppressing her giggles as well.

(aka 5 times danny was a cryptid/super weird and one time people were really weird to him)

2.8k | oneshot

Star hates the cafeteria food.

Though the fact that said food is glowing, has sharp white teeth, and flying is probably enough to make anyone not want to eat a hot dog ever again in their entire life.

She dumps the food off her tray and swings it at the floating hot dogs. When Star turns around, she sees that everyone else is doing the same. Even Sam Manson, who is usually stoic and reserved when ghosts are around. To be fair to her, the meat sticks are chewing at the edges of the brunette’s hair.

Star takes a deep breath and readies herself. She pulls out a pocket-knife from her pocket (don’t you dare ask her what she’s doing with it, have you heard of creeps?) and flicks it open, swiping all the hot dogs surrounding in half. A good dozen of them fall to the ground limply, but they are still glowing brightly.

Why is the food ecto-contaminated, anyway? How the fuck did that happen?

In the corner of her eye, the blonde sees Danny Fenton enter the cafeteria. He leans his head back, exhausted, and she hears him say, “Oh no, not again.”

It’s the last word that caught her. That insinuates that this has happened before to him. What happens next is even more weird- all of the food drops to the floor, losing their ectoplasmic glow. There’s a collective gasp of relief from every mouth in the room, including Star.

The girl turns to Fenton. She’s sure she is the only one looking at him, and he returns her gaze. What startles her is that his eyes are glowing a toxic green instead of their regular sky blue. Star blinks and then it’s gone.

The boy then walks up to a hot dog that’s sitting on one of the student’s trays, popping it in his mouth and then leaving. Star tilts her head, watching the boy.

She must have just been seeing things, surely.

•

•

•

Edward Lancer is a teacher, and a fairly good one at that. He’s had many students, far too many to count and he unfortunately doesn’t remember everyone’s name. There is definitely one name he’ll never forget though-

And that name is Danny Fenton.

Edward always sees the brunet walking around with his best friends if he can help it, a wide grin on the young boy’s face as Tucker Foley makes a remark that he can’t hear. Whenever he sees the boy he hides a smile and continues on doing whatever he’s doing, may it be repeating a word in the shakespearean novel for the umpteenth time to his confused class, or simply washing his hands in the bathroom.

To be fair, the reason the boy sticks in his memory isn’t because of his grades. Yes, the boy is brilliant when he tries, but it is not the purpose that the words “danny fenton” are always on his mind. No, it’s because of how quirky the boy is.

This is what he thinks when his class is taking a test, all scribbling furiously. Some are chewing on the eraser of their pencil, a few of the girls are twirling their hair around their finger in thought, and Fenton is almost glaring at his paper as if it personally offends him. The boy licks his lips and scribbles a quick answer on the second page of the quiz, proud of himself.

Then the ghost alarm goes off.

A blue-skinned ghost in denim overalls phases through the window, bringing his hands up in a mock-scary way that actually causes some of the kids to scream.

“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, calm down students!” Edward says before he can stop himself. To be fair, he’s slightly scared himself.

Then Fenton rummages through his bag, pulling out a . . . Thermos? He presses a button on the green-accented metallic canteen, and the ghost that entered is sucked into the thermos. Danny Fenton hasn’t looked up from his test at all.

The alarm cuts off.

Foley bursts out in laughter at the expressions on the other students. Manson offers a quick thumbs up on the opposite side of Fenton, barely suppressing her giggles as well.

Edward opens his mouth to ask what that is about, and where is the fear that Fenton usually shows when there was a ghost before running off, when the bell rings and the boy just runs up, blurts a quick “Done! Bye Mr. Lancer” before running off with his friends as if he hasn’t just did the weirdest thing ever.

One of his students starts off with a “What the fu-” before Edward gives him a look. Honestly though, that’s the same thing he’s wondering right now.

Dash is going to teach Fentoenail a lesson.

This dodgeball game is a perfect chance to do that. All of the A-Listers on his team, and the losers on Fenton’s team, there’s no possible way Dash could lose. There are jocks he doesn’t know the name of on his team, and the girls are cheering for him on the side of the gym; this is perfect.

At the beginning of the game, it’s Fenton’s little girlfriend who starts. The brunette leans to the floor, holding the ball securely in her hands, and throws. It hits one of the boys in the back on his thigh, and Dash claims war.

The blond takes a dodgeball from the floor while everyone else does at the same time, and suddenly balls are flying everywhere. He distinctly hears Paulina complain about a ball missing her just by a foot at least twice, but he ignores it in favor of getting more hits in. He rushes about the gym, not slipping in the slightest.

However, Fentina is a different story. The puny little boy has horrible footwork, slipping every time he tosses a ball which constantly throws off his aim. He’s huffing with every breath, slowing down every ten seconds. Dash takes the chance to throw his current ball at the heaving brunet.

Dash has no idea how fast the ball is going, but he can see it blurring in motion. Fenton turns around, seeing the ball. The jock waits for the ball to hit him in the nose, the specific spot that he aims for.

Fenton catches it.

He has his palms out, catching the ball cleanly. The boy narrows his eyes and squares in on Dash. Dash doesn’t care, it’s not like Fenturd can actually hit him; the catch is just beginner’s luck.

He’s proven wrong when the ball hits him straight in the face, and he’s forced to leave the game.

“You’re dead, Fenturd!”

•

•

•

Mikey is a nerd. That’s the simple truth everyone about him knows, no one wanting to look further. He’s bullied often, no one daring to help him in favor of staying on the A-Listers’ good side. The redhead also knows that Danny Fenton is a nerd, and because of this the boy is bullied as well. He doesn’t dare help him though; if he does, then he’ll take the bullying upon himself.

Yes, a little cowardly, he knows. This is why he simply stands by when Dash shoves Danny in his locker for the sixth time this week. (It’s Tuesday.) Mikey gulps and turns to his own locker, placing his math textbooks in. He walks to his next class on shaky feet.

He hears some rattling as he passes by the boy’s locker room to retrieve his change of clothes, and he inhales to calm himself down. If it’s a ghost, Danny Phantom has surely fought it off, right? He inhales again, this time it is more effective.

He realizes that as he was breathing, everyone in his gym class has come into the locker room as well. He grabs his clothes out and slams the locker door closed, which is lost in the chatter of all the other teenage boys.

A boy opens his locker a few feet away from him.

“Fenton?”

Dash turns his head at the noise, ignoring Mikey. He lets out a breath of air he didn’t realize he was holding; but then startles as Danny waves at one of the jocks, suddenly all the way on the other side of the school when no one has seen him come out of the locker.

Mikey blinks twice, and then pulls his shirt off. He is still confused, but he needs to get dressed so that he could sweat all over the floor and hear the whistle of Tetslaff telling him to “pick up the pace!” He sure as hell didn’t like it, but he needs one more year of physical ed before he could take the classes he wants to take.

The fact that Danny had somehow teleported is on his mind for the rest of the day.

•

•

•

Tucker Foley is tired.

After helping Danny fight ghosts up until 3AM last night, it’s understandable. His teachers don’t know it, though, which doesn’t help in the slightest if he’s startled awake every other minute.

Tucker glances over at Danny, who looks even worse than he did. Danny slumps over on his desk, his fist slipping off of his face. The brunet’s face slams against the desk, and he jolts up; fully awake for a few seconds before the cycle repeats.

And as perfect compensation, of course the ghost alarm decides to go off right then and there.

Tucker bites his lip. Danny is half-asleep, there’s hardly anything he could do fighting-wise. The boy sees a wisp of cold air blow out of the other’s mouth, and he barely acknowledges it.

Tucker reaches into his bag and pulls out his personal Fenton Thermos, ready to suck up a ghost. The boy glances out the window, and braces for impact.

Tucker doesn’t have Danny’s ghost sense, so he has absolutely no possible way of knowing who it is. To be fair, Danny probably doesn’t either, but he knew the ghosts better than he did. The boy leans over, shaking the other tired boy.

“Danny, time to go ghost!” Tucker says as Danny grumbles. “C’mon, Danny. I’ll cover ya, just go!”

Danny raises his hand and Mr. Lancer gives them both a look, but lets Danny leave. Tucker smiles nervously, worried about the halfa. He sits stiffly, waiting, and once nobody has their eyes on him he bolts out the door with the Thermos.

•

•

•

Sam is quick to follow. She rushes out the door and outside to see the ghost boy trading blows with Spectra. The goth bites her lip nervously and bates her breath, lost in time. The only thing she can see is the two battling ghosts.

Danny is clearly too exhausted to come up with any quips, his eyes tired and his mouth sagging into a frown. He throws another punch again, but misses by at least a foot as the other ghost kicks him right in between the shoulderblades.

Sam is suddenly aware of the crowd of people surrounding her on all sides, pressing her in so she can no longer see the boy. She elbows herself to the front, and shouts out to Danny,

“Use your Ghostly Wail!”

It is the only logical thing right now. Danny’s getting more and more clumsy, and if he aims an ectoblast it’s likely he’ll burn a tree instead of his enemy. The white-haired teen glances back at Sam, an expression on his face that probably means you sure? Sam responds silently, her face pleading, do it.

Danny inhales deeply, and Wails. Spectra is blown back from the force. Everyone in the crowd cover their ears, including Sam. The girl rushes forward to where Danny has stumbled in midair, and then he starts falling to the ground.

His transformation rushes over him, and he falls immediately to the ground, unconscious.

Sam gasps, this is the one thing she didn’t think of. She tries to block him from sight, but everyone else has already seen.

The brunette gulps.

There’s immediate chatter, but Sam ignores it completely. Tucker comes out of the crowd and helps Sam carry Danny inside after he captures Spectra, his sneakers dragging on the floor. The conscious boy turns to the girl, his mouth opening.

“Yeah, I know. Shut up.”

Admittedly, Tucker hasn’t spoken a word. But Sam just knows that he’s going to rant on and on in panic; and she wants to stop that because if he starts, he will never stop.

“Wait.”

The two turn around to see Dash of all people. Sam glares at him, spitting out the words,  “Whadd’ya want, asshole?”

Dash looks at his feet and shifts them. It’s very uncharacteristic of him. “I wanna help.”

Sam’s face must’ve changed, because then Tucker looks at her and blanches. “That’s a scary look, dude. When’s the last time you smiled at Dash?”

Sam ignores the boy’s remark, instead giving the blond a stiff nod. Dash nervously walks forward and takes the unconscious halfa by the chest, throwing him over his shoulder as gently as possible. Sam takes the chance to run back to the classroom, and pulls her emergency first aid kit out of her bag. She doubts she’ll need it, but she doesn’t know the full damage Danny sustained.

Dash enters the room and plops him in his assigned chair. Sam turns to Tucker, not believing she is going to say this.

“Ya wanna do the honours?”

And Tucker smirks, licking his finger and sticking it in the unconscious boy’s ear.

•

•

•

Danny startles awake, pushing Tucker’s hand away. “Fucking gross, dude! Why’d you even do that?”

Both Tucker and Sam look at him with an expression he can’t place. The brunet tilts his head. For some reason, it is kinda ominous.

“M’sorry.” The voice is harsh and masculine, the words almost sounding ungeniune. But it’s because the person doesn’t like saying sorry, no that they aren’t sorry.

It isn’t Tucker who said that. The voice comes from behind him, and he blinks. He turns around, unaware of Sam making the cut it out gesture with braced teeth. When he sees Dash, he’s understandably confused.

“Wait, what?” He must’ve heard that wrong.

“I’m sorry for bullying you.”

Danny just pauses. There’s no other way to explain it. He reboots with one sentence immediately out of his mouth.

“Why the fuck is Dash apologizing?”

Sam inhales, her chest rising and slumping like it’s a burdensome task. She stares at the floor, unsure. Danny finds it startling to see the girl looking so awkward; first Dash, now Sam?

“Y’know Spectra?”

He recalls that he just blew Spectra away with his Ghostly Wail, and he furrows his eyebrows. “Yeah, what about her?”

“Well. . .”

Tucker interrupts. “Remember when Sam said to use your Wail?” He’s rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Yeah? What about it?” Danny asks

.

You may or may not have transformed back. And it may or may have not been in front of the whole school.”

“What?”

Tucker shamefully pulls his beanie over his eyes so he can’t make eye contact. “Sorry, dude.”

Danny throws himself back. “That’s it. I’m ruined,” he groans.

There’s a creaking sound, and then Dash reappears in his line of sight. The jock looks unsure, before he says, “I’m sorry,” yet again with his voice cracking in the middle of the o.

This entire thing is unreal. Is Danny dreaming? He pinches himself on the cheek and moans in pain.

I’m sorry, this isn’t a dream."

Tucker is the one to break the ice with a quip. “I mean, at least it wasn’t on live TV.”

Sam eyes him, judging the boy. “Don’t jinx it.”

“Oh shit.” The words have finally sunken in for Danny. He holds his head, hunching over his chair with a distressed expression.

“Well,” Tucker shrugs, “we can always worry about it tomorrow?”

As he hears a stampede come down the hall (likely searching for him) he reaches over and grabs his friends, tiredness forgotten. He taps into his core and tugs, invisibility flickering over the trio.

Dash blinks at air where three people were just standing, before recovering. “I’ll hold them off, get out’a here.”

Danny grabs his backpack as the other two do the same.

“But. They’re gonna want an explanation, Fenton. So ya better give it to them tomorrow.” Leaving the and me unspoken.

Danny pauses, speaking before he could stop himself. “Thanks, Dash. I owe ya one.”

Dash has seemed to finally return to his senses, finally saying a characteristic sentence. “Ya sure fucken do.”

Danny bites his lip, he knows that the students will eventually reach this room. He activates his intangibility, spreading across Sam and Tucker as well, and walks through the wall.

And if he gets regular ice cream cones for him and Tucker (Sam wants vegan) leaving the money in the cash machine, no one is there to judge him for it.

#oneshot #my fics #drabbles