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rhinotheamazing · 3 years

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One side, Two lives

Chapter 11

That’s all I needed to hear

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Warnings: panic attack, blood, mild self harm, suicidal and self deprecating thoughts and swearing

“I’m so freaking stupid!” Roman shouted as soon as he rose up in his room. He dropped to the floor, his eyes shut tightly as they started over flowing with tears that he had held back earlier. He had been so mad and hurt after the wedding but that doesn’t excuse what he said!

“What was I thinking! Why did I say that to De-Janus! Making fun of a side’s name?! God dammit that’s one of the worst things I could say!” Roman yelled at himself as he pulled at his hair. The creative side grabbed both of his arms in a death grip as if he were trying to physically hold himself together. His breathing was becoming erratic but the prince didn’t pay it any mind as thoughts continued to swirl in his head.

I was so angry I caused Patton to have a meltdown! Janus was only tying to help and I just kept treating him like a villain and a threat! Hell he felt the need to protect Thomas from me and Patton! At this point Roman was gripping at his arms so badly that his nails had broken the skin. He didn’t even notice that his sleeves where starting to turn a bit red.

Janus was right. He’s always been right! I am the evil twin. The creative side thought sadly. I mean even Patton agreed with him and he’s the one that created the concept in the first place so it has to be true!

Well of course its true. It’s not that big of a surprise, you’ve always been a disappointment. Roman’s head snapped up when he heard the voice. It didn’t sound like just a voice in his head this time, it sounded like someone standing in the room right next to him, it sounded so much more real.

Of course I’m real! As real as what you said back there. You’re such an idiot by the way, saying that, not only to Janus, but in front of Patton? I didn’t think you could get anymore stupid but I guess I was wrong. The voice seemed to chant in his ear. Roman covered his ears with his slightly bloody hands, his breathing becoming even more frantic. He felt as if the walls of his room where caving in on him and there was no way out.

I have to get out of here, he thought, I have to get away form him! The prince looked around and spotted his closet door. Without thinking the prince got up and ran, opening the door and sprinting into the imagination. He wasn’t sure if he remembered to close the door but that was the last thing on his mind as he ran deeper and deeper into the woods of the mystical terrain.

Unfortunately even as he ran the voice didn’t let up.

I mean would it have been that hard to just listen to the others? Even I’m surprised at how egotistical you were back there! Hahaha! The voice didn’t stop for a moment and Roman didn’t either. He felt bushes and branches tear and rip at his prince costume but he didn’t care. The only thing on his mind was getting away form that dam voice!

Roman didn’t stop running until his legs eventually gave in on him and he hit the ground, he’s knees getting scrapped in the process. The prince finally took a moment to look at his surroundings. He was somewhere very rocky and its didn’t look like there was any foliage in the area. A heavy fog had set in wherever he was so he couldn’t see more than a foot away from him. He carefully stood up, his legs still shaking.

Where even am I? This doesn’t look like mine or Remus’s part of the imagination? As Roman thought that the fog began to clear. The creative side looked up, horrified as he saw the mouth of a giant cave. He knew exactly where in the imagination he was in now. Roman began backing away form the cave, memories he’d rather forget coming to mind.

How could I come back?! I have to get out of here now! The prince turned to run away but tripped on a rock that he didn’t see.

“Ha! You’re so pathetic, its no wonder all the others hate you!” The voice shouted.

“Shut up” Roman whispered back as he covered his ears.

“You cant even do you’re one job right! Your useless and everyone knows it, especially Thomas!”

“Shut up.” The fog started to swirl around the side angrily.

“There’s no way Virgil could ever care about a weakling like you! He’ll just abandon you in the end, especially when he finds out what you did today!”

“I said shut up.” Romans voice now held a hard edge to it.

“Even your brother will leave you once he realizes he’s been wasting his time caring about you!”

“Shut up!” The fog had become a storm at this point, Roman kneeling in the eye of it.

“YOU WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH! YOU COULD CHANGE EVERY LITTLE THING ABOUT YOU AND YOU’LL STILL BE A WORTHLESS NOTHING! A BURDEN TO EVERYONE AROUND YOU!”

“SHUT UP” Roman yelled as he stood up and faced the storm around him, the voice having become the thunder. “DON’T YOU THINK IV BEEN TRYING TO BE GOOD ENOUGH?! IV BEEN TRYING MY WHOLE DAM LIFE TO BE THE PERSON THEY WANT ME TO BE!”

“AND YOU’VE FAILED! ALL YOU DO IS CAUSE PAIN TO THE ONES AROUND YOU! YOU CANT BE WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO BE! HELL! YOU CANT EVEN BE WHAT YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE! YOU’RE NOT THOMAS’S HERO!”

Roman felt as if he’d just been stabbed in the gut. All the other things the voice said, he’d known all that, he’d just been trying to deny them, but today had confirmed it. He was no longer Thomas’s hero, the one thing that mattered most to him. The thing that made him keep trying to be better. Now all Thomas will sees when he looks at him is a villain.

The stormed died down as Roman fell to his knees, completely broken. The voice spoke again, this time much softer. The tone would have almost been comforting if not for the words it spoke.

“It would be better for everyone if you just disappeared.” Romans face held a sad smile as he heard those words.

“Your right. They would all be better off if I was gone. I wish I could just disappear.” You could practically hear the smile in the voice’s next words.

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

Roman realized his mistake too late.

“No! Wai-” but before he could finish his sentence a golden chain wrapped round his arm. Roman struggled and tried to pull it off but to no avail. Before he knew it more and more chains continued to wrap around his limbs and drag him into the cave. Roman tried to resist but he was in no state to fight. The cave was much deeper than it appeared to be and by the time the creative side’s back hit the wall he was in near complete darkness. A figure started to emerge in front of him and Roman could do nothing but stair wide eyed in fear.

By the time the thing in front of him completely took form the figure looked more like Roman than his own twin did. The only physical difference was a streak of black in his bangs and his outfit change. The thing wore a similar costume to that of the prince’s except the white was replaced with black and a long golden cape followed behind him. The insignia on his shoulder also had a golden crack in it going right down the middle.

The figure took a deep breath and sighed.

“It’s nice to finally have a body again, its been ages since I’ve actually been able to walk around.” The figure opened his eyes and instead of the apple green Roman’s were they were a dark red that seemed to glow ever so softly golden. Roman gasped and simply continued to stare at the side in front of him.

“Do you honestly have nothing to say to me Roman? Are you not happy to see one of your oldest friend? The side sneered at the captured prince.

“I thought you were gone.” Roman said as he now glared at the other side. “I thought me and Remus got rid of you a long time ago.” The side smiled a cruel grin and laughed.

“You actually thought you got rid of me? Ha! I may have just been reduced to a voice in the back of your head but I was never gone.” The side pulled out golden sword and twirled it around.

“And now that you’re finally out of the way, I can finally take full creative control for myself.” The figure started to walk out of the cave as Roman struggled even harder to get out of his chains, he couldn’t risk letting him go and him hurting Remus, he had to do something! Not being able to get out of the chains Roman tried his last option, talking.

“PRIDE!”

The side finally looked back at the sound of his name.

“Please,” Roman said, practically begging at this point, “please don’t hurt the others. Your conflict is with me so jut leave them out of this!” Roman yelled desperately while Pride smiled cruelly.

“You care a lot about them don’t you Roman.” He said in a smooth tone. His eyes seemed to glow a bit brighter and his smile grew ever so slightly.

“That’s exactly why I’m going to make their lives a living hell.”

Pride continued waking even a Roman yelled at him to leave the others out of it. He smiled as he reached the open fields of the imagination and saw the closet door.

“You’ve had you chance at being in charge long enough Roman, now, its my turn.”

***

Remus knew something was wrong. He had just been drawing gore in his room when he felt as if the world had shifted. What in this horrible world was that? The duke thought to himself. Although he would usually ignore something like this part of his mind told him that something important just happened, and he needed to find out what it was.

Maybe Roman will have a clue whats wrong, he was summoned earlier to talk to Thomas right? Maybe thats why I feel like someone stabbed my brain with a rusted spoon? The creative side decided he would investigate and started heading over to Roman’s room. There was a heavy feeling of unease went he got to the light sides area which confused him.

Was the argument that bad? Usually this place is filled up with disgusting rainbow and sunshine feelings but now its just, dull. Nevertheless Remus continued forward and tried to open his twins room but was slightly surprised when he found it locked. Roman almost never locks his door. The duke was starting to worry about his brother so he sunk into his twin’s room, not bothering to knock of course.

The creative side was surprised when he didn’t find his twin but a much less energetic room than on average. Usually Roman’s room radiates creative and hopeful thoughts but today a feeling of hurt and anger covered the room. Ok so somethings definitely wrong here, and where the hell is Roman? The dark side thought as he looked around the room. Remus spotted something that might help him in his endeavors.

There on the window sill sat Alexander the venus fly trap, shaking like he was in freezing cold weather. Remus crossed the room and petted the little plant.

“Hey little guy, do you know whats going on because I have absolutely no clue.” Alexander leaned into Remus’s hand as if he was trying to hide. Remus only became more concerned. He created Alexander to be a strong and brave creature, so if something scares him, it can’t be anything good. For the first time the duke noticed that Roman’s door to the imagination was open.

Ok that’s definitely not a good sign. Before the creative side could go though the door he saw a humanoid figure approaching. Remus breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hey Ro, you really got me worried there for a while.” The duke failed to notice that Alexander tried to hide even more as the side stepped though the door.

“Ha,” the figure said as it finally stepped tough the door, “sorry Remus, but I’m not Roman.” Pride smiled as he saw Remus’s face turn white as the duke recognized him. The dark side jumped back as he summoned his morning star.

“Wheres Roman?!” Remus shouted. Pride laughed at him.

“Your dear brother is gone, and soon you will be too.” The new side said as he drew his sword. Remus growled in pure anger and charged forward at the side. Pride dodged Remus swings easily and landed many blows. The creative side wasn’t in the right head space to fight as he worried about what Pride could have done to his brother. In a matter of minutes Pride had managed to disarm the duke and cornered him, the room nearly being destroyed in their fight.

“You’re nearly as pathetic as Roman and I didn’t even think that was possible.” Pride laughed as Remus growled at the fact that someone would dare talk about his twin in such a way.

“You’re just a stupid little beast. Actually,” Pride said as a smile made its way onto his face, “that gives me an idea.” The red clad side snapped his fingers and Remus let out a scream of. pain and shut his eyes tightly.

When he opened them he looked up at his now much taller foe. The duke raised his hands to look at himself and saw that they had been transform into, green tentacles?! Remus tried to curse but he could only make small clicking sounds with his beak. Pride chuckle and using his powers crafted a tank on the still standing desk. He then proceeded to pick up the green octopus and chucked it into the tank, Remus slowly sinking to the bottom and as a lid was placed over the inclosure.

Pride, now having full creative control, fixed the room with a wave of his hand. The room took up a much darker aesthetic with black and gold being the main colors. The new side smiled at his work. Things were finally going his way after so long of waiting. A dark smile came onto his face as he whispered to himself,

“Long live the new king.”

Tag list:

@lovelivingmydreams

#sander sides #roman sanders #pride!roman #roman angst #octopus remus #remus sanders #my writing #mention of panic attack #self deprecating thoughts #slight self harm #mention of gore

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innocentbi-stander · 4 years

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just stumbled across your blog in my conquest to consume all feral and bamf Jaskier content within 24 hours, and i read your headcanons for necromancer Jaskier and was wondering if you had anymore, or if you had a small ficlet involving some sort of necromancer Jaskier?? (i also saw your demigod Jaskier, where he was a son of Hades, and LOVED IT) if you don't, or aren't into that trope, that's okay. i absolutely love what you've already written. god-tier writing, truly

Hi there! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my writing! I do have a small little ficlet that I wrote that I posted on ao3 featuring necromancer Jaskier, I’ll link it below! However I’m also never above writing more necromancer Jaskier content, so here you are:

Fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25272997

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Sometimes Jaskier cursed the day Death had made a pact with his unborn soul, tying him to the immortal life of a necromancer and all of the bizarre powers that came with it.

Today was not one of those days.

Because when you’ve been locked in a cage in the depths of some decrepit castle after being ambushed on the road with your witcher boyfriend and badass witch friend, those powers really come in handy.

The bard pulled himself up into a sitting position on the cold stone floor, taking a look at his surroundings.

He was clearly in the dungeon of a long forgotten keep, by the look of the worn stone walls and rusted bars. The room was dark, and shadows flickered in the light of the few torches along the wall.

Jaskier cursed to himself as he felt the ache of his head, where he had been knocked unconscious during the attack.

The attack. The attack on the path that he had most certainly not been alone for.

A look around the cells confirmed the location of Geralt and Yennefer, each located in their own cells across the room. Clearly their attackers had deemed them the more worthy threat, as Geralt was weighed down in chains and Yennefer sported her own pair of silver cuffs decorated in runes. Magic suppressants.

Jaskier scoffed. They hadn’t even bothered to use rope to bind his arms, too confident that the supposedly human bard would be little more than a nuisance. It was their mistake.

The pounding of his head moved into the background of his thoughts, and Jaskier became increasingly aware of a pain in his stomach. His fingers that caressed the area came away covered in blood. Shit.

Flashes of memory reminded him of the man who had run him through with his sword when one hit to the skull hadn’t stopped him from fighting back. On any other human this wound would have been fatal. For Jaskier, it meant a bothersome hole through his torso for a few days, and a very fussy witcher poking at his bandages and offering bowl and bowl of soup.

Yay necromancy powers.

The bard lazily scanned the inside of his cell, looking for anything that might aid them in their mistake. Not that he necessarily needed any assistance, but Jaskier wasn’t fond of revealing the true depths of his powers to anyone, much less some low budget crew of hired bandits. He preferred to keep his abilities known to the few, better to be underestimated than overtaken.

He spared a glance over to the corner where Geralt and Yennefer lay. Jaskier sighed, a long and bothersome sound. For such a great witcher and even mightier witch couldn’t they wake up a little bit faster? He’d prefer being able to break them out when they could walk on their own, Jaskier didn’t think he could haul either of them back to their campsite.

As if on cue a small moan sounded from the other side of the dungeon.

Jaskier glanced up to meet violet eyes blinking at him.

“Ah, Yennefer, welcome to the land of the living! Or should I say ‘land of the living, also occupied by me’?”

“Jaskier?” Yennefer’s brow furrowed, “What happened?”

“It appears as if we were attacked by bandits on the way back to the campsite, and not even clever ones at that. Hired men. Probably from that lordling Geralt and I pissed off a contract back. He seemed like the type for stupid baseless vengence.” Yennefer sat up, pulling herself to her feet to pace her cell. She jangled the cuffs on her wrists.

“Magic resistant cuffs. They must have been fairly well informed.” Jaskier laughed.

“Not well informed enough it seems. They haven’t bound me at all.” He flashed his unbound arms at her along with a smirk. A stupid mistake really, he had forgotten the blood that streaked his hands and forearms from his middle. Maybe Yen wouldn’t see.

Yennefer, clever witch that she is, noticed immediately. She crossed to the front of her cell, narrowing her eyes at him through the darkness.

“Jaskier, are you hurt?”

“......no.”

The look on Yennefer’s face had killed better men than he.

“We’ve talked about not covering up injuries to look braver. That includes you too.” Jaskier had a will as strong as a limp noodle when it came to his witcher and his witcher. So he fessed up immediately.

“One of the men may have poked me a little with his sword when they nabbed us on the road.”

“Jaskier”

“Fine, he ran me through like he was intending to make the most musically inclined shish kebob known to mankind. Happy?”

“Ecstatic. Are you still bleeding?”

Jaskier sucked in a breath as he peeled up his blood-soaked shirt. Even though he wasn’t technically dying, that didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt like a bitch. He winced at the blood running down his stomach in little rivulets.

“Yeah, it’s still bleeding a little.” Yennefer cursed.

“Fuck. We need to get out of here as soon as possible or you’re going to have to end up taking one of my blood replenishing potions again.”

Jaskier resolved to leave immediately. Those potions were fucking disgusting. Luckily, Geralt seemed to sense the urgency and chose that moment to reawaken.

“The fuck?” Geralt threw himself to his feet at the ready as quick as one wrapped in chains possibly could. Yennefer clapped her hands together, drawing his attention to her.

“Fantastic Geralt, you’re finally up. It appears we’ve been kidnapped, you’re covered in chains, I’ve got magic suppressing cuffs, and Jaskier’s been run through with another man’s steel.”

Nothing got Geralt furious quicker than hearing of harm done to his bard.

“Jaskier?” The witcher pressed himself against the bars of his cell, eyes searching to meet Jaskier’s own. He raised his arm in an awkward wave, trying not to flinch at the steadily increasing pain.

“Hello Geralt. Lovely day to get stabbed, isn’t it?” Geralt wasn’t amused.

“Are you okay?’

“I’ll be better as soon as we get the fuck out of this awful, disgusting dungeon. I feel like I’m going to catch a disease just from brushing up the wall in here. Now how about I get us the hell out of here?”

The look on Geralt and Yennefer’s faces was one of intense worry as they watched Jaskier heave himself to his feet, almost gagging at the pain that flared throughout his stomach. Geralt barely stopped himself from reaching out to assist him, realizing that he’d never be able to help through the iron bars between them.

“You don’t have to Jaskier. You’re hurt, you need the energy to heal, not drain it summoning the undead. We can find another way.” Jaskier laughed.

“Another way? You’re covered in chains and Yen’s locked off from her magic. I can get us out of here, and then take a nice long nap.”

He met Geralt and Yennefer’s eyes, waiting for each of them to nod their assent before his next actions.

The bard held out a hand in front of him, closing his eyes and letting his subconscious drag down into the earth below. He could feel his power begin to condense in his fingertips, creating a soft blue glow. His power sent a call out to the underworld, and a smile crossed his face when he felt something answer.

Jaskier opened his eyes to see a skeleton pulling itself from the earth in front of his cell. As soon as it stood in front of him, it swept into a low bow and hissed words in a language foreign to all living beings except those with a connection to Death.

Masterrrrrrrrr……..

Jaskier grinned.

“Hello there! As you can see, we’re in a little bit of a predicament, if you wouldn’t mind it would be great if you could release us?”

The skeleton spared no second thought before enacting Jaskier’s wishes, ripping open the bars of his cell like they were made of paper, and proceeding to do the same for Yen and Geralt and their bonds.

Just as the skeleton was finishing up with Geralt’s chains, a troop of bandits swarmed into the dungeon, a man dressed in red at the head.

He was no doubt the leader of the crew, and was understandably shocked to see all of his prisoners standing free.

“I hate to interrupt the part of this whole ordeal where you’ve undoubtedly come down here to tell us all about your evil plan of capturing us, who hired you, and what’s going to become of us, but I’m afraid we simply must go. Places to be, and all that. Luckily you won’t have to go explaining to the lordling who hired you why we’ve gone missing, because you’ll be a little preoccupied dealing with some of my dear friends!” Jaskier performed a lazy wave of his hand, his fingertips resuming the familiar glowing blue hue. The bandit seemed to be having trouble processing what exactly was going on.

“What-how,” he sputtered, but was interrupted by the screams of his men in the halls behind him. The clickity clack of bone on the stone floors brought a smile to Jaskier’s face, and the tears of flesh and ligaments being torn away filled the dungeon. The men spun around, attention taken by the new imminent threat, swords raising in shaking hands. Too easy.

Jaskier felt a hand tug on his shoulder, and was pulled through a door into a forgotten corridor after Yen and Geralt. They traipsed down hallway after hallway, collecting Jaskier’s lute and Geralt’s confiscated swords.

After a few minutes Jaskier’s steps became less steady, and his knees began to feel more like jelly. The third time the bard had to grab the wall for support Geralt lifted him into his arms seamlessly, making sure he was comfortable before ambling on.

It wasn’t long until they reached sunlight, but by then the world had already begun to go hazy for Jaskier. He had used up too much of his energy summoning the undead and he had lost too much blood.

Jaskier allowed the gentle rocking of Geralt’s pace to lull him to sleep, his eyelids drifting shut against the midday sun. He knew that when he woke he would be safe and the campsite, protected in his lover’s arms and soon to be met with his overbearing fussing. There would be a warm bowl of stew, a roaring fire, and plenty of blankets. There would be laughter as Yennefer told the tale of the most recent fool who had dared to cross her, and Geralt would bury his face in Jaskier’s hair to disguise his amused smile. It would be home.

Jaskier closed his eyes, and allowed himself to dream.

___________

Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to send more prompts!

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hailhydra920 · 3 years

Text

Fight On

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Summary: Bucky has a long way to recover. Songfic. Song is Fight On by For King and Country

Warnings: Blood, violence, nothing too bad though

I was there

On the day

That your world changed

“Bucky!” You screamed as Bucky fell off the train.

The last thing you saw were his scared blue eyes as he fell toward his death. Your eyes began to well with tears as the thought of Bucky’s body crashing onto the white snow filled your mind. Steve hugged you as you soaked his uniform with salty tears.

“He loved you.” Steve whispered to you as you sobbed loudly.

“I-I just wish I could’ve saved him.”

You were scared

Unprepared

For the heartbreak

Bucky lay in the snow. His heart beating rapidly in his chest. He was cold and scared. Luminous blood covered the snow beside him. Frantically, his eyes scanned his body for any injuries. So far so good. Then, he saw it. His arm. It wasn’t attached to him anymore. He screamed.

His heart was beating a thousand miles a minute. Bucky scanned the area above him, looking and tying to listen to the train, but there was nothing. He needed to get back to his friends. Heck! He needed some serious medical attention! All his thoughts began bouncing around in his mind like a pinball machine. The dark red snow was the last thing he saw before blacking out.

Everything you knew

Faded out of view

Stole a piece of you

The stench of bleach and chemicals filled Bucky’s nose. He awoke in some sort of hospital, at least that’s what he had concluded. But he was strapped down, not something very hospitable if you asked him. Everything came crashing down on him, and his eyes snapped toward his left arm. It was there, but it was not the arm he knew. It was made of metal. It reflected the lights above him and had a red star painted on the shoulder. Cautiously, he tried wiggling his new fingers. He heard little gears click and hum as he moved his fingers.

“Ju like ze new arm?” A person said as he walked toward him.

“Who are you?” Bucky barked.

“Ah, straight to ze point, ay Soldat?” He chuckled.

“Answer the question.”

“Ju vill be our Soldat. Hydra’s to be exact.”

“Hydra?” Bucky asked before cursing.

The man chuckled again. “But not to vorry. Ju vill be reprogrammed to do our bidding.”

Bucky tried to break from his restraints, but they just tightened against his flesh.

“Have a nice rest, Soldat.” The man said before stabbing Bucky with a needle.

If I could

Oh I would

Be your hero

You looked at the soldier in front of you. His hair was now longer and peskier. But you weren’t focused on that. You were focused on his eyes. There was a raging sea inside of those blue eyes. Waves of rage, hurt, and confusion crashed upon his rocky shore of reality. You knew the man you once loved was still in there, but it was buried deep down.

“He’s more stable now.” Steve said standing beside you.

You put your hand against the glass separating you from Bucky. Steve looked at his best friend who sat in a lonely room.

“He needs you.” Steve said looking at you.

“S-steve. I-I don’t know if he even remembers me.” You said looking at the broken man.

“The Winter Soldier is really all he knows. Maybe you can help bring back Bucky. He’s hurting, and I can only do so much as his best friend. He’s trying to remember; I can see it.”

You looked at Steve and then back at Bucky. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Be the one

Who would take

All the arrows

“Hey.” You said entering the glass room.

Bucky looked up at you and it took every ounce of strength to not engulf him in a huge hug. He looked so scared and confused. And those eyes. Man, could they tell a story.

“I’m Y/n, and I know this can take some getting used to.” You said shooting him a gentle smile.

“Why am I here?” Bucky asked, his voice just above a whisper.

“Well, we saved you from Hydra. And let’s just say that they didn’t treat you very kindly.”

“I know that, it’s just, why save me, when I’ve killed so many others. You should be helping others who are actually worth it. You should help the people of the family members I’ve killed. I am the last person who should be saved. So why me, of all people?”

Save you from the pain

Carry all the weight

I know that you’re brave

You were a bit taken back by his comments. You wanted to help him. You wanted to share that load of sorrow and guilt with him. Take some of that burden away from him. But what you really wanted was your Bucky back. You couldn’t stop yourself from what happened next.

You hugged him. He froze and didn’t move, but you didn’t care. You wrapped your arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He hadn’t had physical contact for so long, he didn’t really know how to react. You threaded your fingers through his hair and his eyes slowly closed.

“I know you can get through this, Bucky. Be the brave soldier I know you are.” You whispered as you hugged him for a few more seconds.

Once you pulled away, Bucky missed how it felt. That feeling of comfort and love.

“I, uh, also brought you some food. You don’t have to, um, if you don’t want to. I just thought you might—“

“Thank you.” Bucky said cutting off your rambling. “I am actually quite hungry.”

As if on cue, his stomach growled, and you held back a laugh.

“Well, I’ll let you eat your food.” You said getting up.

Sudden panic began to well in Bucky’s chest. “Will you come back?”

You heard desperation in his voice as he spoke. You smiled and nodded your head. “I promise I’ll be back later.”

Bucky let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and gave a you a ghost of a smile. “Thanks again., Y/n.”

“Anytime.”

Fight on, fighter

Don’t let anyone steal your fire

Fight on, fighter

The spirit is alive inside ya

“I-I can’t. The screams, the memories, everything! Th-there becoming too much.” Bucky groaned as he shook his head.

“Bucky.” You spoke softly. “Look at me.”

Shakily, Bucky looked at you. The storm in his eyes was getting worse. You could practically hear the screaming winds of despair and the loud crash of waves of grief spilling over. You took his shaking metal hand into yours and squeezed it.

“I need you to fight. Okay, Bucky.”

“It’s a fight, I-I don’t think I can win.”

Your heart almost broke upon hearing that. You hugged him again and this time he hugged back. He let out a few shaky breaths before relaxing in your arms

“Please fight, Bucky. For me, please, please fight.”

There’s a power

That you hold

That you lock down

Bucky punched the punching bag ferociously. His thoughts mocked his endeavors as he tried to free his mind from the horrid memories. He just wished they would go away. That he could be free and forget about everything he had done. THUD! Bucky was taken out of his thoughts as he saw that he had knocked the punching bag off it’s chain. Again.

“Bucky? Are you okay?” You asked entering the training room.

You walked toward him and took his hands in yours. “You’re holding it in. You have so much strength.”

“But my strength can also cause harm.”

“I wasn’t talking about your muscles, Bucky. I’m talking about in here.” You said pointing to his heart.

“I don’t understand.”

“Bucky, you can save you. You are strong enough to conquer this. Just trust in your friends, but most importantly, trust in yourself.”

Let it breathe

Give it wings

Set it free now

Bucky squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to remember, but he had to. Sometimes memories hurt more than reality. Like the whole world just crashes down on you. Deep breath. He was a monster. A life taking monster.

“I killed so many people with these hands.” He whispered. “Destroyed so many people’s lives.”

Bucky laid on his bed. His blue eyes focused on the blank ceiling. He was starting to remember who you were. What you meant to him. He loved you. He couldn’t deny it any longer. And even if you didn’t know it, you made him feel stronger. More human than he had felt in a long, long time.

A noise came from outside his window, and he froze. Was it Hydra? No, it couldn’t be. Right? Suddenly, he felt something hit his flesh arm. He quickly pulled out the tranquilizer dart. He cursed. Then his eyes slowly began to close. Then, there was darkness. Something he knew very well.

Time to make your mark

Break the prison bars

Show them who you are

Bucky woke up in a dimly lit room. He heard people chattering on the other side of the room, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Ah, Soldat. It’s nice to have ju back.” A Hydra agent laughed.

“Let me go. Haven’t I done enough for you?!” Bucky growled as he clenched his fists.

“Uh, no, ju haven’t. Ve need ju Soldat.”

“I’M NOT YOU’RE SOLDIER!”

“Ju vill alvays be our Soldat.” Another Hydra agent said.

Bucky wasn’t going to become their soldier. He wasn’t going to let them take away his happiness and turn him into a mindless killing machine. Energy began to surge through him. Energy that was powered by his love for his friends, his hatred for Hydra, but most of all, his deep love for you.

Bucky roared as he broke from his restraints. The straps that were containing him snapped, and he stared right into the Hydra agents’ eyes. Their eyes were swirling with terror.

“My name,” He stated, strength resonating from every word. “Is Bucky Barnes.”

Fight on, fighter

Don’t let anyone steal your fire

Fight on, fighter

The spirit is alive inside ya

“Ze asset is out of containment. I repeat. Ze asset is out of containment.” One agent said as Bucky began attacking the agents in the room.

Bucky fought like there was no tomorrow. All things considered, there really wasn’t a tomorrow for him if he fell into the hands of Hydra again.

A crackly, but firm voice came over the intercom. “Longing.”

“No.” Bucky breathed as he punched someone in the face.

“Rusted.”

“Please, stop.” Bucky groaned as he fought the Hydra agents and his own mind.

“Seventeen.”

“Leave me alone!”

Bucky grabbed a nearby table and smashed a group of agents.

“Daybreak.”

Stronger than you ever thought

I know you’re stronger

Braver than you were before

I know you’re braver

“Furnace”

He wasn’t gonna let them take him away from you again. He just had to get through it. He could overcome this. He had to. Soon, all the agents in the room were either dead or unconscious. The trigger words wouldn’t stop coming over the intercom. He felt his mind getting fuzzy.

“No, I can’t.” Bucky whispered. “I have to stay strong. I have to fight. If not for me, for Y/n.”

“Nine.”

“Bucky!”

“Y/n?!” Bucky exclaimed as he heard your voice from the other side of the door. “I’m here!”

“Benign.”

“Th-they’re calling out my trigger words. I-I don’t know if I can resist it.”

“I’m just on the other side of the door with Steve, Bucky, but I need you to be brave. Can you do that for me? I’m right here, so please fight this.” You said as Steve was currently trying to get the door open.

Oh, you don’t have to be afraid

Together we’ll face it

So don’t ever stop, no matter what

Cause you’re gonna make it

“Homecoming.”

Bucky took a few deep breaths. “Can you keep talking to me, Y/n? I-I don’t want to lose you.”

“It’s okay, Bucky. You’re not gonna lose me. I just want you to focus on my voice. You can overcome this.” You said trying to use a soothing voice.

“One.”

“You are so much stronger than you think. You are more than just their soldier.”

“Freight car.”

“I love you.” You said, tears rolling down your cheeks, as the last trigger word sounded out of the intercom.

There was silence. That was never a good thing.

“B-bucky?” You asked trying to compose yourself.

Silence. You began to cry and Steve hugged you.

“Y/n? Steve? You there?” Bucky coughed.

“Bucky! You did it! You were not affected by the trigger words!” You exclaimed.

“I couldn’t have done it without ya, doll. I just wish I could see your pretty face right now. And I love you, too.”

“Don’t worry, Buck. We’re working on opening this door, and then we are getting the heck out of here!” Steve said.

Fight on, fighter

Don’t let anyone steal your fire

Fight on, fighter

The spirit is alive inside ya

“Bucky!” You exclaimed as the door opened.

You engulfed him in a huge hug and he chuckled as he held you tightly. “I missed you, doll.”

Steve cleared his throat.

“You too, pal. Get in here.” Bucky said as you and Bucky held your arms open.

Steve walked over and you guys all had a nice group hug. Suddenly, alarms began to blare loudly.

“Maybe we should get out of here.” Steve said as he hit an incoming agent with his shield.

“Agreed. We can celebrate when we get home.” You said as you all got in fighting positions.

“Let’s fight these little buggers.” Bucky said as they charged out of the room.

They still had to get out of the Hydra base, but he knew that with his friends at his side, he could conquer anything. He knew that with you by his side, he could become a little more like himself every day. And that love and freedom was worth fighting for.

#bucky x reader #Bucky Barnes #cute bucky #reader insert #marvel fanfiction #marvel #hydra #bucky needs a hug #songfic

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woodelf68 · 4 years

Text

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

My long-promised homage to @worryinglyinnocent‘s Playtime ‘verse, because she managed to write fifty installments without doing hippies, and I had to rectify that. Also my contribution to @rumbelleishope. Rated E.

***

The large cardboard box bearing items from the estate sale was like a time capsule from the late 1960s. Gold sorts through the items, fond memories of his early childhood stirred by such things as the beaded curtain and concert posters and the heavy stack of albums, their cardboard covers worn along the edges but still bright with the distinctive graphics of the era. The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Iron Butterfly. Donovan, too, Glasgow-born like himself. He can hear them in his head, like a soundtrack to the Summer of Love, and he wonders if Belle will like any of them. He’s fairly certain that she’ll like the clothes, and holds up a loose, flowing smock with wide sleeves and delicate flowers embroidered around the neckline and hem. It’s a pretty thing, and he can easily see Belle wearing it, hopes that she’ll want to.

Methodically he sorts through the contents of the box, dividing everything into three piles. One to be priced and sold – the two posters were what had drawn him to bid on this lot in the first place, and he knows that he can sell them for a pretty penny – one of things he thinks Belle might be interested in, and one of a few items of clothing that he looks at doubtfully, unsure if he wants them to fit or not. But he thinks of Belle in the short dress, thinks of surprising her with a scenario they haven’t played out yet, knows he won’t regret any temporary feelings of silliness at wearing what are, after all, fairly normal clothes compared to some of the things he’s put on for her. Making up his mind, he goes into the shop’s small bathroom and locks the door.

Several minutes later he’s studying his reflection, and surprisingly not feeling too ridiculous. although he would die of embarrassment if anyone other than Belle were to see him wearing a suede leather vest adorned with long fringes. But the undyed linen shirt with the open neck and band collar is soft and comfortable, and if it’s a little too big, it’s not overly so, and he can roll up the sleeves. Same with the trousers, he’s sure that the flare-legged rust denim was originally meant to fit a bit more tightly than they do on his frame, but although he knows that Belle would no doubt appreciate that, he’s gotten used to more freedom of movement. With a belt and the cuffs turned up if he doesn’t want them to drag on the ground, the jeans fit well enough. The clothes remind him of his childhood, those years after he had been taken in by his aunts, where he had learned the feeling of security, and being wanted, and what it was like to be praised and encouraged instead of constantly belittled. Whether it’s the warm memories associated with the era, or simply the fact that he knows his ten year old self would have loved to have had a fringed leather vest, he’s satisfied with his image. Now all he has to do is suggest a scene. He thinks about it as he changes back into his suit and tucks the vintage garments into a bag. The shop is small, and would be easily decorated, but far too public for more than a quickie. The large Victorian house filled with fine antiques is not right at all. That leaves the cabin, he decides.

Saturday morning, he drops Belle off at the library and hands her a box tied with string that he’d stashed in the back seat of the Cadillac. “Don’t open it until lunchtime,” he says, knowing the pleasure of an anticipated surprise. “I won’t be in the shop today; I’ve got some other business to take care of.”

“All right; see you later.” Belle watches him drive off, mystified by the package in her hands. By the time lunchtime rolls around, she’s more than ready to tear off the box lid and find out what’s in it. A piece of paper sits on top of some tissue paper-covered contents, with the heading “Playtime?” She forces herself to read the rest before folding back the tissue paper and seeing what awaits her. “It’s 1968. Fibre artist and co-founder of Storybrooke’s new “Enchanted Forest” commune “Rumpelstiltskin” Gold has agreed to an interview with the hip young reporter from the local newspaper. Please confirm interview at 6 pm Saturday.” Intrigued, she folds back the tissue paper and nearly squeals with delight, instantly picking up the beaded, white leather headband that lays on top of the other items and tying it around her head. She gets out her compact mirror to admire how it looks for a moment before texting Rum back.

“Interview confirmed. Looking forward to it.”

He must have been waiting for her reply; his return message is swift. “Dove will have the car there for you at five; I’ll see you later.”

Dove arrives with the keys to the Cadillac before she closes the library at five, and as soon as she locks the front door, she retires to the restroom to change into her outfit. It’s a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and she drives out to the cabin as instructed, deciding what she’s going to say when she gets there. Parking, she starts to head for the door of the cabin when she hears music coming from around the side of it and alters her course. Gold is there, sitting on top of the picnic table, his spindle hanging down and twirling as he spins a smooth yarn from the basket of wool roving in the basket beside him. He is dressed – well, he is dressed to match her, obviously, and it suits him. It suits him incredibly well. He looks softer, younger, his dark hair set off by the off-white linen shirt, feathering out over the band collar, the open neckline displaying the line of this throat and a string of love beads, mostly black with a few white and sky blue ones mixed in at regular intervals. The rust-coloured denim of his jeans sits low on his hips and flares out below the knees and the fringed vest…she’d like to see him move with it on, see the fringes flare out. She kind of wants to borrow it herself, and thinks about what it would feel like to wear it with nothing on underneath. Preferably while she was riding him in bed, rocking back and forth, the open edges of the leather rubbing back and forth against her bare skin… She swallows hard, and pushes that image back to take out and play with again later. Gold looks both snuggly, and sexy, and she wants nothing more than to go over to him and slide her fingers into his hair to hold him still while she kisses him breathless, but she has a part to play first.

”Mr. Gold?” she asks, approaching. “I’m Belle French, with the Storybrooke Mirror. You agreed to an interview.” She holds out her hand and he lets go of the dangling yarn forming between his fingers to reach out and shake it.

“Call me Rum, please.” He goes back to smoothing the spinning fiber into a smooth, even yarn, and Belle can’t help but watch his hands.

“That’s a nickname, right?” She takes out a pen and notebook from her purse, ostensibly jotting it down. “For Rumpelstiltskin, because of the spinning.”

“It is. I quite like it.”

“How did you get into spinning?”

“My aunts taught me. We had a wee croft, a few sheep, chickens, that sort of thing. Turned out that I was quite good at it. I like the rhythm of it, and there’s a lot of satisfaction in taking a bit of dirty, rough wool and combing it clean and spinning it into a strong, even twist of yarn that can be made into things.”

“Do you use the yarn yourself? Make it into things?”

“Aye, we do a fair bit of that here, at the commune. Granny’s our champion knitter, ponchos and scarves and mittens, they always sell really well at the Miner’s Day Festival. And my son and his girlfriend like to make dreamcatchers with the wool; they’re another popular item. And of course we make things for ourselves as well.”

“So is that part of your goal here? To be as self-sufficient as possible?” Belle drops her bag on the grass and sits down beside it, cross-legged, resting her notebook on her thigh and glancing back up after scribbling a few things down in it. It’s a lazy sort of day, and for once she isn’t in a hurry to rush to the sex, instead interested in the unusually detailed background story he’s made up about himself, and hinted at in the letter he’d written. She wouldn’t mind being a journalist if she wasn’t a librarian, she thinks, and wonders if the Mirror might be interested in her starting a weekly column about books.

“Aye, I suppose. It’s cheaper to make your own bread than to buy it, for example, and better for you. You’ll have to talk to Anton, our crops expert, if you want to know more about that side of thing. He’ll talk your ear off about beans if you show even the slightest bit of interest.”

Belle grins, thinking of the gentle giant who ran the local health food store, and knowing it was actually true. “You mentioned your son; tell me about him.”

Gold smiles fondly. “He’s an artist. Does portraits when he can get a commission, freelance political cartoons, sign painting, anything really.”

Neal is indeed a good artist, she knows, even if he has chosen the steady paycheck that came with a job at the hardware store over any artistic dreams, preferring to keep it a hobby. “You sound very proud of him .”

“I am.”

“What about those other people you mentioned? His girlfriend, and Granny. Do they live here, too?”

“Aye, Emma and her parents are fairly new here. Her mother’s our respectable member of society – she’s a teacher at the school – and her father can do just about everything around here. Good with the animals, construction work, anything that needs doing. And I can’t even be jealous of him because he’s so nice, too.”

Belle laughs; it really is a good summation of David.

“And Granny, well, she’s been here since the beginning.”

Belle makes a note, and looks back up to watch the whirling spindle, his fingers never still as he forms the yarn between his fingers. “Tell me about the beginning. What made you decide to start a commune?”

“Well, we didn’t, not really, certainly not at first. When my son was young – “ he hesitates, and then continues. “His mother left us, and there I was, needing to go to work and having a wee boy to take care of at the same time. We didn’t have any family, or friends. But I knew the woman in the flat across from ours had taken in her granddaughter recently and was raising her on her own – there’d been some scandal with the mother, from what Milah had gathered. But the lass looked hearty enough, so I figured that the woman knew how to take care of a bairn and I was desperate. I went knocking on her door, thinking she might be willing to look after Neal for what little money I could offer her, since it would be in the convenience of her own home. And he was a sweet, well-behaved boy, no trouble at all.”

Belle looks up at him uncertainly, knowing that he was talking about his own real life here; at least as far as Neal’s mother leaving them went, and wonders about it. He normally never talks about that period of his life, maybe this was one way he could do so? She isn’t sure about the Granny part; they don’t seem to have that sort of relationship. She stops herself from asking if Granny had really watched Neal, though, not wanting to break character yet. Rum has gone through a lot of trouble putting together a backstory for this particular scenario, and she doesn’t want to break the mood. She realises that she knows even less about Granny’s past, or Ruby’s parents, and makes a note on her pad to ask later. She squints against the sun, positioned behind his head and outlining the locks of hair falling forward into his face, and tries to think what would be the next question that a journalist would ask.

“Were you working as a spinner then?”

“Lord, no, an accountant. It’s only been in the last few years that people have begun appreciating handcrafted items again, enough to pay a little more for them than mass-produced factory goods. It was when the last of my aunts died that I took it up again. They’d left me their cottage, and everything in it, including their wheels and a good stash of both raw wool and spun yarn. I would have moved back to Scotland and lived there, but Neal had his friends and his life here, and wanted to stay, so I sold the place and brought as many of their things home with us as possible, things that I remembered from my childhood, even though I had to place most of it in storage. But I made Neal a scarf for Christmas from the yarn, and his friend Emma then asked if I could make her a hat, and paid for it with her allowance money, and then Granny’s Ruby wanted one, and pretty soon the boutique in town contacted me about selling some of my stuff there. I took a leap of faith and quit my job, but if I was going to spend all day at home spinning and weaving, then I wasn’t going to do it in my tiny apartment. This cabin was for sale, needed a lot of fixing up, but Neal was old enough to help by then and enlisted a bunch of his friends from woodshop at school as well. We had it fixed up and livable in quite a short amount of time, and well, that was the start of things.”

Belle mentally sorts out the facts from fabrication. His aunts had been real, she knows, but the cabin has never been more than a weekend getaway place. She is saved having to think of another question by the music in the background coming to a stop and Gold putting aside his spindle and going over to the record player to flip over the disc. A new song begins playing, with what she thinks is a bass line, a deep, thumping riff that gets under her skin and makes her want to move. She stands up, leaving her notepad and pen lying on her bag in the grass, and goes to meet Gold. “I like this song,” she says, beginning to sway in place as he turns back around to face her.

“Do you?”

“Mm-hm.” She takes his hands, trying to get him to dance with her. “In-a-gadda-da-vida, honey, don’t you know that I love you,” she sings, and nearly laughs at the way his eyebrows go up in surprise, biting back the remark that Storybrooke does have an oldies radio station, and it’s kind of hard to forget a song that seems to go on forever. “In-a-gadda-da-vida, baby, don’t you know that I’ll always be true?” She lifts his arms up, spinning beneath him, and smiling; he helps twirl her, her lightweight skirt flaring out around her.

“Oh, won’t you come with me,” she sings, and her mind completely derails in a sexual direction. “Won’t you take my hand?” With a filthy smirk on her face she tugs at his hands, backing away, and he follows, entranced, helpless to do otherwise. “Oh, won’t you come with me and walk this land? Please, take my hand.” She stops as they reach the picnic table, putting her hands on his shoulders, swaying to the music, forcing him to move as well, his feet staying planted but hips and shoulders moving to the beat.

“That’s it,” she encourages, and he smiles, drawing her close with his hands on her hips, pulling her flush against his body. She loops her arms around his neck, playing with his hair, her gaze drawn to the open collar of his shirt. “You look good,” she says.

“Do I?’ He tilts his head, grazes his lips against hers.

“Mm-hm. You should wear light colours more often.” She dips her head, pressing a kiss against his collarbone, mouthing against the warm skin.

“Have we moved into the second portion of the programming?” he asks, amused, leaning in to run his tongue around her earlobe.

“New questions. Like, do you believe in free love?” She runs her hand up his back, feeling each bump in his spine through the soft shirt, and then back down again, slipping up underneath the sun-warmed fabric.

“Oh, most definitely,” he assures her, his breath ghosting over hers as the music throbs in the background, a primal beat that makes him want to move against her, inside her. He debates the practicalities of just lifting her up onto the top of the picnic table and taking her right there.

“And is there a reason for that picnic blanket that you spread out so thoughtfully in the shade of the tree over there?”

“There are twigs and bugs in the grass,” he says, and Belle snorts. “And I thought, if any visitors should wish to recline in comfort…”

“Well, then,” she says, and takes his hand, leading him behind her towards the blanket. She sinks down upon it and he sits down beside her, facing her, and she can’t think of anything else to say, because all she wants to do is touch him. She slides her hand beneath his hair at the nape of his neck and draws him closer and he tilts his head and then they’re kissing languorously, need slowly building between them. Belle slips her hands up under the hem of his shirt, then back out again, tugging at the hem. “Off,” she instructs.

Gold breaks away from the path he’d been nuzzling along her neck to grin at her. “Run out of questions, have you?”

“The only thing I want to know is what you’re going to look like spread out naked before me,” she says, her voice gone a bit husky.

Gold sheds his vest first and then reaches back and yanks his shirt off over his head, his eyes darkening. The light breeze rustling the leaves above them feels good on his heated skin as he shakes his hair out of his eyes, reaching out to splay his hands over Belle’s ribs before she can touch him herself, very much aware that she isn’t wearing a bra and grazing his thumbs over her nipples. Her breathing quickens and her head falls back as he rubs them, back and forth and back and forth, feeling them tighten and swell until she moans and reaches down to grab the hem of her own shirt. Gold obligingly drops his arms so that she can pull it off and cast it aside, the motion lifting her breasts and stretching out her taut belly. She kicks off her sandals and Gold takes the opportunity to remove his own low cut boots and socks, shifting more comfortably now onto his knees, and drawing Belle forward to straddle one of his thighs before kissing her again, more urgently than before.

Belle begins moving, riding his hard thigh, rubbing herself against him. His belt buckle digs into her stomach, and she reaches down, tugging it open and free impatiently, and then going for the snap and zipper of his jeans, wanting only warm skin against her, feeling Gold slide his hands up under her skirt, his palms smoothing along her legs. She slips her hand inside his jeans, palms his growing hardness, and Gold makes a desperate sort of noise, pressing up against her and then pulling back, scrambling to his feet to shove down his jeans and underwear together, while Belle makes quick work of removing the rest of her clothes and tossing them to the side, where she spots his discarded vest and, with a small smile, pulls it on over her bare chest. It feels as good as she had imagined, the suede soft but with just enough of a roughness to its texture to make her very aware of it as it shifts over her breasts, the edges grazing her nipples. Gazing up at Gold, she thinks it’s a good angle, his cock already half hard and lifting away from his body, and she thinks about rising back onto her knees and taking him into her mouth, but as she shifts onto her knees and curls a hand around his ankle, he braces his hands on her shoulders and lowers himself back down to the blanket, stretching out above her, one hand supporting her lower back, and she lets him ease her down, enjoying the weight of his hips pressing her down against the ground. They kiss, long and slow, and then he begins working his way down her body, touching and tasting, fingers and lips and tongue as her head falls back and her body arches into him.

She buries her fingers in his hair and gazes up into the branches of the tree as he suckles at her breasts. Something glints there, catches the sun and magnifies it. She closes her eyes briefly against it, becomes more aware of the pulse of the music in the background, the pulse of her blood in her veins. She opens her eyes again as his mouth leaves her and he moves further down, leaving her nipples wet and swollen and aching. She looks down at her body as she lifts her hands to cup her own breasts, to tug and pinch at the nipples and sees small rainbows dancing over her chest, her skin dappled in light and shade from the sun filtering through the leaves. She looks up in puzzlement, and then smiles in delight and reaches up as if she could reach the crystals she spots hanging from the branches of the tree, their prisms catching the light and breaking it up into the bands of colour that paint her skin and increase the dreamlike quality of the moment. She knows at once where they’re from, thinking of the box in the shop’s back room full of dismantled chandelier parts, but the knowledge doesn’t lessen their magic. She traces one along her skin, then takes one of the vest’s long fringes and shifts it back and forth over her nipple, sucking in a breath as it catches briefly before rolling over. Gold runs a hand along her thigh and she lets her legs fall apart and half closes her eyes as his fingers slip inside her, drawing out her moisture and using it to draw slow circles over her clit.

He watches her rolling the fringe back and forth over her nipple, the flesh visibly puckering around the hardening nub, and his own cock hardens in response. He longs to take her into his mouth, but cannot look away.

“You would fit right in at Woodstock,” he says huskily. “Imagine us there, listening to the music, and I’m standing right behind you, and we’re swaying to the music. You’re wearing nothing but your skirt and that vest, and it’s open, and I’m cupping your breasts in my hands, and playing with your nipples.“

Belle’s hips jerk, as the image goes straight to her core.

Gold dips his fingers into her again, and feels the effect his words are having on her. There’s plenty of slick now, for his thumb to glide easily over her flesh, that light, grazing touch that causes her clit to swell and harden in response. His voice drops in pitch, his Scottish accent strengthening without him being quite aware of it. “There’s people all around us, but it doesn't matter, no one does more than glance our way.” He searches his memory for images from the documentary of the famous concert. “It’d been pouring rain earlier, and your shirt had gone drenched and transparent in minutes. Other people were stripping off their wet things, and you’d boldly done the same; there’s no shame here, no constraints. Bodies are natural, they’re beautiful, there’s no need to hide them. There’s people with body paint, offering their services. Perhaps we’ll ask one to decorate your breasts; would you like that?”

Belle can’t keep from squirming, her eyes wide as they rake over his smooth, lightly tanned chest and lower, his cock blatantly erect for her.

“If we could paint you, too. What about you? Is your shirt off?”

“Oh aye, my chest is bare against your back, and my jeans are clinging to me like a second skin, and my cock is straining against the zipper; anyone who looks at me would know how much I want you. I want to take you away from the crowd and find a place to lay you out on the ground and rut into you like a wild beast, but I need you to come first, come on my hands, come for everyone to see – “ He slid his free hand up her chest, pushing the suede leather of the vest aside, completely baring her front, and cupped her breast in his warm hand, his hips shifting and pressing down against her pubis as he leans over her, thumb being replaced by middle finger, changing the angle, rubbing relentlessly. “Come on, sweetheart,” he urges, kneading her breast, his touch rougher here where she prefers lighter down below.

The music pulses in time with her blood and Gold’s hair falls forward to hang in his face. He blocks out the sun, he is haloed by it, sun and shade and the scent of grass and incense and she is here and she is there at the same time and his cock is heavy and stiff against her thigh and the hard knot of pleasure bursts within her and she comes with all her muscles clenching tight and her fingers digging into his skin where she’d reached for him. His finger stills against her, knowing not to move again until she relaxes, the tension sagging out of her body, and she feels good but it’s not enough, there’s an aching emptiness inside her that needs to be filled. She sits up abruptly, tumbling him onto his back, and straddles his hips, taking hold of his cock and stroking it firmly.

“We’ve gone away from the crowd now,” she tells him. “Found a place by the lake, behind some bushes. They offer us some privacy, but we can hear people nearby, going down to the lake, to bathe, to swim. Someone could easily come upon us, if they came in just the right direction.” She rubs her thumb over his slit, coaxing out a bead of moisture, and he lets out a nearly inaudible whine. “I don’t care, though. I want you, and I don’t want to wait. Are you willing to risk it? Willing to risk someone seeing me riding you into the ground?”

“Hell, yes.” He can’t wait, either. “Let them see. Let them see a beautiful woman like you wants someone like me.”

“You say “someone like me” as if I’m not dripping wet for you, as if I don’t want to have you buried inside me more than anything in the world,” she says, and rises up, positioning him at her entrance so he can feel the truth of her words. “You have to be quiet,” she warns, mischievously, and sinks down.

Gold swallows down the noise that wants to escape his throat as she engulfs him. “I don’t know if I can promise that.” He splays his hands out on her waist, just under the edge of the vest, his thumbs brushing the undersides of her breasts. Hanging open as it is, the vest only half covers them, baring a lovely wide strip of pale flesh right down the center of her body, adorned only by the love beads she still wore around her neck. As she shifts above him, the edges of the vest fall back, just revealing her nipples, and his cock throbs in response. He bucks up, everything feeling tight, and hot, and urgent. “That vest is a good look on you; we should keep it.”

Belle grins. “I’m glad you think so; I quite like it myself.” She leans forward over him, resting her weight on her hands, and begins to ride him, deliberately shifting continuously in a way that keeps the edges of the vest moving and rubbing against her breasts, her nipples staying hard and sensitive from the teasing friction. She undulates; rising and falling and pleasuring herself on his shaft, the long fringes falling forward as she lowers herself above his body.

Gold arches up as the leather fringes trail over his belly and swing forward to drag over his nipples, driving himself deeper inside her as he seeks more of the teasing sensation. He cups his hands over her breasts, rolling her nipples between forefinger and thumb, and Belle moans. He grins. “I thought we had to be quiet.”

"I never said I would be." She lifts herself up until just the head of his shaft remains within her, glancing down to see the hard column of his flesh joining their bodies. She tightens her muscles around him, squeezing as hard as she can.

Gold's whole body jerks as he cries out, his balls tightening and drawing up. He drags her back down upon him and rolls them over, pulling back out just enough to slam forward into her, rocking her backwards. He thrusts into her again, all control gone, feeling his climax rapidly approaching.

"That's it." Belle braces herself with drawn up knees and urges him on. "Come on, Rum, give it to me." He is all lean, wiry muscle, and dark hair falling forward and shielding his eyes from her view. She arches up into his next thrust, digging her fingers into his lean buttocks and feeling him long and thick and solid inside her. "That's it, so good, come on, come for me."

He snaps his hips forward, driving deep again and again until his body seizes with pleasure and he stills, braced on his forearms with his hips sealed against hers while the hot flood of his release spills inside her. After a few seconds his muscles unclench and he lowers himself to lay atop her, panting and letting his eyes fall shut as he savours the fading rush of ecstasy, his cock twitching a few times in aftershock as he softens inside her. He feels her fingers run through his hair and turns his face into her neck, breathing in the scent of her skin and the smell of crushed grass beneath the blanket, the air moving lightly over his sweaty back. A bird chatters above them, and he realises that the record had stopped playing at some point, unnoticed. He takes in a deep breath and rolls off to the side, blinking up at leaf-dappled sunlight and rainbows dancing in the air. He turns his head to the side and the corner of his mouth quirks up as Belle does the same and meets his eyes. She looks as debauched as he feels.

"So, Rumpelstiltskin," she says, reaching out to twine her fingers with his. She feels thoroughly well-used and it is about all she has the energy for at the moment. "Do you have any final words for the readers of our paper?"

Gold's smile widens into a grin. "Yeah. Turn on," He draws their joined hands to his lips and presses a kiss to her knuckles. "Tune in, and drop out." He lifts his free hand and flashes her a peace sign, feeling utterly sated and stupidly happy. He thinks of the box from the estate sale.

Best buy ever.

#rumbelle fic #rumbelle is hope #worryinglyinnocent #ficwoodelf #turn on tune in drop out #AHAHAHA I FINALLY FINISHED IT #THE SMUT HAS BEEN FIGHTING ME FOR TWO YEARS #BUT I WAS DETERMINED TO GET THIS DAMNED THING OUT OF MY DRAFTS #i'll put it up on ao3 in the morning #i want to give the smutty half a better edit when my eyes aren't so burning and blurry #also i'm never writing anything in present tense ever again #but i wanted to match the style of the others #every read through i kept finding spots where i'd slipped back into past tense and had to change all the verbs #ugh

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moonlight-mellohi · 5 years

Text

I Would Have Waited Forever if You Needed, But I Would Always Be There for You - part one!

OOOOOOOOOOOOH MY GOSH I'm so sorry this took so long! I've been working hard on it but inspiration seems to hate me.

But @sugarglider9603, its here! And once again the longest oneshot/chapter I've ever written at OVER FREAKING 4.3K WORDS

Alright alright I'm calm.. just happy

Now go enjoy that fluff

W-wait theres angst to? WAIT-

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Due to the size of this fic, I have to spit it into two post. As soon as the second part is posted (which will be not long after this goes up) i will put links. Dont panic, Tumblr is just being mean with post length :)

Ao3 link

Ao3 series link

Part 3 Part 4.5

Master post

Words: 4,334

Summery: 'Logan understood why everyone was so quiet as dark grey eyes met violet.'

' Patton's eyes widen with joy, smiling as silver eyes met purple.'

'Roman, who was facing that direction, perked up, his chocolate brown tail swishing with joy as a familiar dark brown Eevee poked his head fully out'

'"Roman, what's going on- buddy.."

Thomas has successfully befriended the Eevee, but what about catching him?

Logan

MJ and Thomas watched most of their pokemon play smiling, Logan and Elliott sticking by the trainers sides. Patton leapt around Iris and Issac, playing a small game of tag with the Vulpix and Prinplup as Roman faced Linda in a mock battle, Eevee slipping between the Scyther’s sharp claws.

Logan pawed at the page as he sat in MJ’s lap, staring in awe at the stars. It had become a tradition MJ would show Logan a book on space and assist him on learning how to read when the two groups collided, the trainer borrowing most of them from libraries or his mother. All but the first one he had shown the dark silver Eevee, “A Magnus Quantity of Space” which was currently open as Logan drank up the knowledge for the infinite time. He was happy.

“Logan! Looooooogan! Logan Logan Logan Logay-” “what” Logan snapped, lifting his head as the smug faced Roman grinned back.

“Come on, join us!” Logan rolled his eyes and just wanted to ignore him, but Patton looked over, hope and joy sparkling in his shiny grey eyes. Logan sighed but stood, sending an annoyed stare at Elliott as the shy Absol snickered.

The dark silver pokemon let out a huff, joining the other five as they set up game rules for tag. Logan half listened, half stared at a nearby wind-rustled Pecha bush. The berries were much too sweet for his taste, having always been ‘up Patton’s alley’ as Thomas and Roman would say. Though the berries did hold a memory in his heart from long ago, because-

“Boop, your it!” Logan jolted as Patton tapped his nose before dashing off. The game had begun.

Logan was surprisingly fast for an Eevee, tagging Linda before she even knew he was next to her. They continued their game, the speedy pokemon darting away without getting tagged again.

Logan carefully pawed forward, looking around as to make sure no one was there. He calmed his spiked fur from his last dodge, glancing ahead. There was that Pecha bush once again, shaking as if “tag!”

Roman crashed into him having lept from the bushes, sending both suddenly tumbling forwards. Logan fell right into the Pecha bush, hitting something inside before continuing his roll until both beings were out before Thomas, MJ, and Elliott.

“Ow..” Logan groaned, Roman’s ‘Mysterious One AM Disappearance’ plan already half done as he stood up, looking around to see what had rolled with him-

Logan understood why everyone was so quiet as dark grey eyes met violet.

Virgil scrambled up, fur on end as his eyes darted around. He squeaked when his vision caught MJ, turning to run off when Issac and Roman came out of the Pecha bush, confused by the lack of noise.

The dark furred Eevee looked for a non existent escape as Linda and Iris emerged, Patton squealing with joy as he spotted the wild pokemon. Virgil pressed up against Logan’s chest, fear most likely figuratively ripping his mind apart.

Logan tucked a paw around the smaller Eevee, sitting as he flicked his tail around him protectively. They were thankfully not near the center, though far enough the bushes looked miles away.

Thomas, who had watched the entire scenario, slowly stood up and made his to Logan and Virgil, before settling down about two feet away.

“Hey Virgil” The trainer couldn't help but smile, happy he was seeing the anxious Eevee once again. After leaving the field of flowers, he was scared that fate would not be kind and their paths wouldn't cross again. MJ, recognizing Thomas’ caution from when he himself first approached Elliott, joined a few inches behind the other.

Roman and Patton bounded up “Virgil!” Roman cried happily as Patton nuzzled their cheeks in greeting. He flinched, startled, but calmed with Patton's very soft fur.

"So.." MJ turned away from the chattering pile of Eevees to Thomas, who stared back confused

"You have attracted another Eevee" Thomas ducked his face into his hands, blushing.

Patton

Patton watched the sun set, Logan not that farther down the hill watching the rapidly darkening sky with excitement, a few bright stars already shining. The gang was taking a night in rolling open hills, soft grass and flowers lay blowing in a warm wind, one of the few trees around them shadowing Thomas as the trainer set up the tent, Roman some feet away scratching out a wide circle for a fire.

Patton tilted his head as the wind ruffled his fur, purring in the setting sun's warmth. These last few days had been so calm and nice. He approved of taking a break, they had been training hard for so long, a few days off wouldn't set them back.

He flicked his tail in content, listening to the flying types chirp their last goodbyes to the day, a few nocturnal pokemon already waking the night with quiet music of hoots and song-like whistles.

Somewhere near him, soft brushing of grass on fur caused him to open his eyes, glancing around. Logan was back with Roman and Thomas, the trainer poking at the now lit fire. If it wasn't them, then who..

The light silver furred Eevee turned his head the other direction, his eyes catching another of special fur slightly crouching in the grass some distance away. Patton's eyes widen with joy, smiling as silver eyes met purple.

"Hey kiddo!" he cheered, Virgil hesitantly looked up at the rest of the group before making his way to Patton, flopping down next to, but not touching, the other Eevee.

It had been some time since they found that the dark furred Eevee ended up following them, a few more interactions strung between then and the current moment. Virgil had gotten a bit closer with the others, but was always gone before next sunrise, watching once again from the shadows.

Patton, knowing Vigil's shyness with engaging contact, flipped his over tail over the smaller and pulled him close, nuzzling the other's cheek. The Eevee shuffled in slight embarrassment but in the end cuddled back.

The two laid under the rapidly appearing stars, Patton feeling Virgil shift a bit away at one point but said nothing, just kept their tails intertwined. Logan had joined them at one point, cuddling up to Patton's side as stars reflected off his eyes, making no comment as the sky stole once more his star transfixed gaze.

A shuffle of feet made Patton tiredly blink, slowly turning his head as Roman and a pajama wearing Thomas approached the trio.

The trainer softly chuckled "c'mon guys, time for bed" Logan sent a death glare his was but Thomas just shook his head with more chuckling.

Patton turned his head to the darker Eevee "want to *yawn* join us kiddo?" the shiny Eevee stood, only to realize the other had been asleep as Virgil jolted awake, blinking tiredly at Patton.

Patton barely held in a squeal. Virgil was asleep! Next to him! He trusted Patton! The light silver Eevee frowned as the kiddo started to droop once more, before light grey ears perked up as he whipped around to Thomas, chirping a few times.

It took the trainer only a moment to understand before giggling. He kneeled slightly and picked up the limp Eevee, Virgil only whining a bit and pawing toward the ground. Thomas looked concerned before looking were Virgil was pointing, smiling.

"Hey Patt, I think Virgil was trying to make you a gift" Patton looked and sure enough, a half built blue, pink, and white flower crown lay in the grass, one of the end flowers squished as Virgil fell asleep on top.

Patton grinned with joy and carefully picked the strand up, walking back up to the campsite.

The fire was now extinguished, water and burnt wood mush stood in its place. Patton laid the half finished flower crown near the stick Thomas used to poke at it before following the trainer in the tent.

Thomas held Virgil close as he scooted into his sleeping bag, Eevees flopping on top almost immediately.

Roman curled up next to his left ear, shoulder now his pillow. Logan settled down on Thomas' waist, Patton curling up with him as his tail tip brushed Virgil's, the dark Eevee laying right in the center of Thomas' chest.

Thomas smiled as purrs erupted in his ear from his Eevees (thanks Roman, that's quite LOUD) hugging Virgil a little closer before sleep fell upon the human.

Thomas blinked awake, finding some weight off his chest.. literally.

He sat up, Eevees already fallen to the ground in vibrating puddles that night, and stood, carefully making his way out of the tent.

He emerged in the early dawn light, blinking away the tiredness as the sun rose above the horizon. Early bird pokemon unknowingly chirped a morning greeting, bushes rusted in the not to far off forest as pokemon skittered for food. Though that wasn't what grabbed the trainer's attention.

Virgil lay bathed in morning sunlight, tying the final blue flower into last night's flower crown. The Eevee glanced up startled but hesitant, purple eyes worried as he stood, a paw stepping back. Thomas understood, not yet.

He smiled at the Eevee "I'll make sure Patton gets it" Virgil stood frozen before relaxing, hesitantly letting out a "thank you" and "goodbye" chirp, before dashing off, fur at ease.

Thomas smiled and delicately picked up the small crown, inspecting the colors. Patton would absolutely adore it.

Though as Thomas went back to the tent, he could of sworn somewhere he read Eevee had an evolution with these colors..

Roman

Thomas flopped onto the soft grass, staring at the small fire as flicks of flame disappeared off into the night. Roman laid dramatically over the trainers outstretched legs, mumbling tiredly in Eevee. Thomas couldn't blame him though, same going for the two shinies who joined Roman, sprawling across his kneecaps.

They had been training hard all day, exhaustion had been inevitable. From wild pokemon battles, to targets and even between each other, the three Eevees had pushed far into training mode for their next challenge, their next adventure.

The next town was about half a day away, so camping out was the best option. With the low energy though, Thomas could probably lay down right here in the grass and pass out with ease.

A rustle in the bushes made him look up, confused. A smile overtook his face though, as familiar violet eyes poked through. Roman, who was facing that direction, perked up, his chocolate brown tail swishing with joy as a familiar dark brown Eevee poked his head fully out carefully, inspecting the clearing they picked.

"Hey kiddo" Thomas murmured sleepily, failing to stiffen a yawn. "Wanna join the cuddle pile?" he offered.

Virgil looked curiously at their pile as though considering, before ducking back into the bush. Thomas slightly frowned sadly, Roman's tail slowly drooping in disappointment as Patton let out a chirp.

Thomas sighed, about to turn back to the burning wood when the bush shook once more, catching all their attention.

Virgil's tail came into view first as the Eevee back tracked, pulling something by his teeth. Thomas stared, eyes wide.

The Eevee pulled the huge leaf a couple of feet away from the gang, turning his back to enormous pile of Oran berries.

"Did.. did you pick these for us?" Thomas asked, amazed.

Virgil ducked his head in embarrassment as he nodded, chirping something to the other Eevees. Roman suddenly sprang up and chipped something back, walking up to the darker furred pokemon, placing a small lick on Virgil's head before moving to drag the Oran berry pile closer.

Patton and Logan chirped gratefully as they grabbed two, Thomas smiling as he poked one on a stick to toast over the fire.

Roman watched Virgil shuffle his paws awkwardly, glancing curiously with those wonderful eyes.

"Hey Virgil, you can have one if you want" Roman offered, only for the Eevee's ears to droop.

"I've already eaten" he murmured, only to be betrayed by a quiet gurgle from his stomach. Roman hesitated, not wanting to discomfort the other.

".. I ate a bit earlier myself, we could possibly split and share one?" Roman shyly offered, causing the violet eyes to widen.

"I couldn't, it's your.." he hesitantly looked down for a moment, before lifting his head up a bit, looking right into Roman rich brown eyes "are you sure?"

Roman grinned, picking up the largest Oran berry before carefully draping his tail over the others back, leading him a bit closer to the fire. As they settled Roman used his claws, slicing their berry in half (and perhaps giving Virgil the larger piece).

And if anyone noticed Virgil cuddling Roman as the night wore on, only waking and leaving when the lighter of the pair stirred at sunrise, no one said a thing.

FamILY

Water droplets sparkled as they dripped off the leaves above, soaking up into the group's hair and fur. The early morning sky drifted blue with scattered clouds, hints of the rain showers from last night only shown by the damp plants around and slightly muddy earth.

Thomas laughed as Roman froze, water once again dripping onto his chocolate fur. The Eevee whined, only for Logan to lean on his back feet, standing up from where he lay on Thomas' messenger bag and slap Roman in the face, effectively shutting the other up with a splutter.

They stayed the night in a cave, setting up the tent inside as it started to show signs of a heavy storm approaching by sunset, the light sprinkle from earlier growing heavier as the clouds darkened.

The cave wasn't the biggest, more of a deep hole as it only fit the tent with two feet of coverage before rain splattered in your face, but it's entrance raised a few inches off the ground, giving them safety from a wet tent. They didn't need to stay that long anyways,only staying the night to escape being wet, the next town merely an hour or two journey.

Thomas smiled, but a dark hint shown through as something bothered him. He had called out several times before bed, informing Virgil he could join the warm cuddles inside, but the Eevee never showed. Worry traced his mind, only hoping he found a sheltered enough spot.

He brushed Patton's fur, the Eevee chirping with a nuzzle to the cheek. The trainer giggled, Logan shifting back to laying down, content. Virgil would be alright, he was wild. The Eevee must have gone through this kind of experience befo-

Roman sat up on Thomas' shoulder, startling him. The Eevee's ears were pricked, nose twitching as he caught something.

"Roman, what- hey!" Thomas spluttered as a tail smacked his face, Roman ignoring the wet grass and mud as he leapt off Thomas without warning, bolting off back in the directions they just came from.

Thomas secured a hand on both remaining Eevee's backs to enforce they didn't fall with the sudden change, before turning and rushing after his starter.

They didn't have to go far before spotting the Eevee anxiously pacing circles, perking up at the sight of Thomas before diving into the bushes, chirping from the other side.

"Roman, what's going on- buddy.." he fought through the bushes, Patton and Logan calling out in distress as Thomas sucked in a harsh breath, kneeling down next to the grounded Eevee's.

Roman licked Virgil's forehead, the smaller barely opening his eyes in pain and exhaustion before closing, letting out a relieved huff and relaxing as if only now feeling safe.

The dark furred Eevee's fur was dirty, his limbs weak and thoroughly soaked to the bone. Scratches were in several places as though he recently fought in a battle, the latest being from yesterday.

Thomas' didn't hesitate to check and sure enough his forehead was warm, to warm. Glazed eyes stared up as raspy breaths labored from his mouth, trust within exhaustion.

"I-I'm sorry Virge, I need to get you straight to a Pokemon Center" he lifted the Eevee, Roman leaping forwards to get scooped up as well, cuddling up to the sick pokemon.

He felt Logan move up to where Roman sat before, nodding in the corner of Thomas' vision. They were ready to set off.

And with that, Thomas ran.

Thomas speed walked through the streets, nearly bumping into others as he kept glancing down at Virgil. The Eevee had curled up against Thomas chest, Roman curling around the other giving occasional comforting licks.

"Hey!" Thomas stumbled as he nearly crashed into someone turning a corner, the other jumping to the side before collision.

"Sorry!" He called back half turning around to the girl, the Fraxure in her arms wide eyed. He only saw her and the pokemon give a started look at the Eevees in his arms before Thomas turned back around and dashed off, Pokecenter now in sight.

The automatic doors nearly caught his arm as he entered, rushing through the mostly empty entrance up to the Nurse Joy.

"Please help" he gasped having not stopped once, carefully setting Virgil down. Joy's eyes widened before calling out a stroller, two Chansey pushing it out.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of Eevee" the Joy comforted, joining her pokemon by the ER door. "Virgil" Thomas managed, voice a somewhat raspy whisper "his name is Virgil." The Nurse nodded.

"Virgil will be fine" she smiled, turning away and closing the door, a bright neon red "Do Not Enter" lighting up above the doorway. Thomas took in a shuddering breath, the Eevees each nuzzling Thomas' face from their spot.

Thomas gave out a small, strangled laugh "thanks guys."

______________________________

Part two link here!

#sander sides #pokemon #thomas sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #dragon witch #mj (matthew jones)#cuddling #a lot of cuddling my gosh #prinxiety #prinxiety hints #virgil is sick #flower crowns #worryring #fluff and angst #my writing #Teaming the Pieces Together

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spooky-raccoon · 5 years

Text

Road Trip (Part 7)

Rufo the Clown X Female Reader

Part 7 of Road Trip

Tag List: @trig-loves-clowning-around @rottenhearts-and-sharpteeth @booklover2929 @the-clown-crypt @chii2blog

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of the shower running and decided to take the time to get dressed for the day. I was slipping on my shoes when Rufo came out, dressed in his usual attire of slack pants and a button up. Though as he was coming out I watched as the human looking skin grew over his body and his hair changing back to black. I couldn’t lie, it was interesting to watch. He saw me watching him from the mirror he was in front of and turned to me with a smile.

“Morning doll. Hope ya slept well. Figured we could take a break from driving right away and we can explore the town a little bit. How does that sound?” His brow raised as he strolled over to me so he could put on his own shoes.

“Uh, yeah, that sounds good. I did see a lot of antique stores when we were coming in. A lot of them looked pretty neat.” I nodded as I finished tying my laces.

“We can hit up as many as you like. Ladies choice.” He seemed so pleasant, as if yesterday didn’t happen at all.

Once his shoes were on we decided to head out on foot into town. It was a beautiful morning with only a few clouds in the sky. I even brought my camera with me to take some pictures here and there when something caught my eye. Every antique store we stepped into was a little treasure trove of assortments that I wished I had more room in my car for. We found ourselves in a particular one that had two floors and Rufo had found something that he was telling me about. There was such enthusiasm in his voice as he talked about memories on how he used to use it back in the day. When his eyes landed on old circus memorabilia though that’s when he really lit up.

“Almost looks like my own.” Rufo mused as he picked up a vintage throwing knife. It was rusted in some spots but other than that it held up its age well. “Just needs a good polish is all and all brand new.” He had a fond smile before setting the knife back down, letting out a small sigh. When he left to go look around the corner I picked up the knife and held it to my side so he wouldn’t see it. Nothing wrong with getting him a little something as a little thank you, right? “Hey, (Y/N)!” Rufo called from around the corner and I quickly made my way around. In Rufo’s hand was a little clown. “Look at this little fella.”

Rufo held up the clown for me to take and I did with my free hand. The small clown was in a bright red outfit with a small hat that topped his bright green hair. The makeup on the porcelain face consisted of red lips with a red outline a little bit out, a green dot on his small nose and big blue eyes. There was a little charm about the doll that I couldn’t help to smile at and Rufo looked very pleased with himself when he saw how I was smiling.

“He’s adorable Rufo. I think he’s pretty great.” My eyes glanced up to Rufo and he took the clown from my hand.

“Perfect. I did say we would find you one. Maybe find him a friend or two at some of the other shops.” Rufo turned on his heel as he went to look around again.

“Rufo, don’t think you’re paying for him.” I did my best to keep up with him. It was easier said than done when Rufo had such long legs.

“Nonsense. I’m a gentleman and a gentleman should get the little lady some gifts now and again. I’m going to get you this little fella and that’s that. No arguing with me doll.” He turned to give me a side eye, so I understood to drop the subject and I did but only after giving him an eyeroll. I was getting him a gift so I could let it slide.

We wondered through the shop and I managed to get away to pay for the knife and tuck it into my bag so he wouldn’t see it. After he paid for the small clown we left to explore the rest of the shops and he indeed did find me a couple more clowns. There even had been one that was almost like him except the triangles were smaller and the dots at the end of the mouth were also triangles that pointed upward. Along our walk around the small town we would see some posters for a circus that was coming up in two days close by in the next state.

“I haven’t been to a circus in so long.” I tried to think of the last time I had been to a genuine circus, but the memories were fuzzy of a younger age with a smaller me.

“How about we change that then? We’re ahead on your little schedule. We’d have plenty of time to enjoy a circus.” Rufo had the bag of clowns in one hand, his other in his pocket as he looked down at me.

“Are you sure? Don’t you need to get to your um, job?” I raised my brow, looking back up at him to meet his gaze. The way he was looking at me made my cheeks blush. He had such a gentle smile on his lips and there was a bit of a sparkle in his eyes.

“Don’t worry about the job, doll. I always get them done, one way or another.” He chuckled, plucking two tabs off the poster that offered free entrance. “This is a vacation after all, and you’re supposed to be having fun. So, let’s have some fun.” He tucked the stubs into his pocket the put his arm around my shoulder to lead us away to somewhere else. “And a clown knows best about fun.”

After that, we had some lunch then we checked out of the motel so we could take off down the road. Things almost felt back to normal between the two of us as we eased back into idle conversation between singing along to the music. After a while Rufo flipped off the music and let out a long sigh.

“(Y/N), it’s not usual I have someone I can open up to things about. I usually end up killing anyone who tries to know too much about me. Heck, even if they catch me in an off mood if they tap me on the shoulder just a little too hard. Only one who really knows me well is the man I work for. You’re probably the only willing living person who knows who I am.” There was a bit of solemnness in his tone.

“I still don’t know too much Rufo. You don’t have to tell me either if you aren’t comfortable with it. Yeah, I’m curious but I wouldn’t want to push you.” I shrugged and Rufo chuckled with a slight shake to his head.

“Oh doll, you couldn’t push anything out of me even if you tried or gave me some big old puppy dog eyes.” His fingers ran though his hair as he let out a few more chuckles before having a more serious look on his face. “No but I think it’d help to explain things just a little with me. Seeing as we’ll be around each other a bit longer and you agreed to stick around with me.”

Rufo went on to tell me about the time before. How he was a boy named Cecil Phelps who grew on a farm with a little sister who looked up to him. How he ran away to the circus so he could try to get to his dream life of being an escape artist. He even would write to his family and send them money when he could. I could see an old pain in his eyes when he spoke about his sister, but he would quickly move on. He told story after story about the circus and each of the members of his new strange little family. For a while there he had even become a ring master to fill in now and again. Then he told me about Serenity Falls, how the townsfolk hated them all and that one night after some murders and a scuffle some of the towns people came to the circus late into the night to kill. And kill they did. They burned the trailer with the clowns inside, Rufo being one of them. Rufo then went into how he clawed himself out of Hell, wandering the town of Serenity Falls until Albert came into the picture. Even Albert had tried to send him back a few times but Rufo kept coming back, so Albert decided to put the stubborn angry soul to use and eventually got him a new body to help further. Rufo had been enjoying his new life to the fullest despite some bumps in the road of trying to help the souls of his friends but he was making due.

“And now I’m here. On another job on some other part of the country. Been doing this for a long time. Don’t plan on stopping any time soon.” There was a stone look on his face, a stiffness in his jaw that had set about halfway through his story telling. I had turned my body so I could look at him better as he spoke, and I found myself resting a hand on his arm which surprised him. He looked at me with a raised brow before quickly looking back to the road.

“Rufo, I’m so sorry for what happened to you. What they did was horrible and I’m sure each and every single one of them will get what’s coming to them. In some way or another.” He could see that I was sincere and there was an odd look on his face. Something that he never had felt before perhaps of someone accepting and knowing of what had happened. ��Thank you for telling me. It means a lot to me that you told me.”

“I… Thank you, (Y/N).” He only nodded and I slipped my hand away, facing the road again. There was a sense of ease on his face that settled in with the restlessness that had been there the start of the drive.

It had been a few hours and now I could see he was getting tired. The next time we had to fill up I suggest we switch off and he agreed, leaning the seat far back so he could stretch out his long legs. He even fell asleep at one point. I draped his jacket over him like a blanket so he would rest better. We wouldn’t be driving much longer anyways as the sun was starting to set and I could see some storm clouds rolling in. It was nice to have a moment to myself to just sit and dwell on everything and how I felt. Even after finding out everything I still couldn’t ignore the way I felt for him. The butterflies fluttered in my gut and I could feel how my heart pounded in my chest. I hadn’t known him for more than just a couple of days but there was still the nagging feeling of something there. Though I could push it down for now and ignore it as he slept next to me. For now, at least.

#rufo #rufo the clown #rufo x reader #rufo x female reader #rufo the clown x reader #rufo the clown x female reader #more love for rufo #serenity falls #rufo the clown spoilers #serenity falls spoilers #smile no more spoilers #smile no more #rufo the clown: road trip part 7 #rufo: road trip part 7

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pingo1387 · 6 years

Text

A Little Bit Different

Zoro doesn’t see the world quite like most others do, but that’s okay. Autistic Zoro fic for @caffeinelemur. Happy bday!!

FFN / AO3

Usopp scratched his head, tapped his pen on the ground, and sighed, staring in frustration at the paper in front of him. He wrote something down and then crossed it out.

“Something wrong?” Zoro asked. He didn’t even open his eyes, still keeping the appearance of sleeping against the railing.

“Well, yeah, but nothing you can help with,” Usopp muttered.

“Why not?”

“It’s math.”

“Try me.” Zoro opened his eyes and sat up, watching Usopp expectantly.

Usopp squinted. “Okay. So, I’m trying to figure out how many projectiles I can possibly fire in an hour. Because I’m assuming any given battle won’t last more than an hour, so if I figure that out, I can save space in my bag by packing less ammunition. Though, I might pack more anyway, just to be safe.”

“Right.”

“I know I can fire about forty of them in thirty seconds, give or take,” Usopp continued. “And I forget where to go from here. I’m trying to add but I keep making mistakes.”

Zoro was silent for a moment, staring into space. Usopp rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I figured you couldn’t help. I’ll just keep trying and—”

“Four thousand and eight hundred.”

Usopp paused. “Huh?”

“Right?” Zoro said, frowning. “Did I get it wrong?”

“I dunno, that seems like a lot,” Usopp said, skeptical about Zoro’s apparently random answer. “Hey, Robin!”

Robin came up the stairs. “You called?”

Usopp explained the problem. Robin stared pensively at the paper, studying the numbers and tracing them.

“That’s four thousand and eight hundred,” she said at last. “Though, I don’t think you’ll need that many. You won’t be firing them non-stop for a full hour, will you?”

“Good point,” Usopp said sheepishly. “But, Zoro, you got that so fast!”

Zoro furrowed his brow. “That was the answer. I just saw it. Was that fast?”

“It was really cool,” Usopp said to Robin in excitement. “I asked him and he said what you said, like, right away!”

“Impressive,” Robin agreed, smiling at Zoro. “I didn’t know you were so savvy.”

“What, you guys didn’t know the answer?” Zoro said, surprised.

“Don’t be rude!” Usopp exclaimed.

“I’m not!”

“Luffy—!”

Zoro slowed to a stop, glowering after Luffy, who had stolen his bandana while he was sleeping in order to play capture the flag with Usopp, Chopper, and Franky. He returned to his spot on the deck, but was unable to return to sleep, fidgeting and feeling the spot where his bandana should be.

“Something wrong?” Robin asked, having come up to the deck to water her plants. “Is your bandana missing?”

Zoro didn’t look at her, taking a moment to respond. “Luffy took it.”

Robin set down her watering can and left. She found Usopp desperately trying to explain the rules of the game to Luffy while Chopper and Franky waited.

“Guys,” she said. They looked over. “Zoro wants his bandana back.”

“But we need a flag,” Luffy protested.

“It’s just for a little bit,” Chopper added.

“He feels uncomfortable without it,” Robin explained. “Luffy, what if someone else took your hat for something like this? Or yours, Chopper?”

They frowned. “I wouldn’t like that,” Luffy agreed. Chopper nodded.

Robin held out her hand, and Luffy handed over the bandana.

“I’ll get you a new flag in a minute,” she promised. “In the meantime, learn the rules.”

“Right, Luffy, as I was saying,” Usopp continued.

Zoro stared at the bandana deposited into his lap. He looked up at Robin and then back down, muttering, “Thanks,” before brushing it off and retying it around his arm. He fell back asleep in no time.

“Breakfast?” Zoro asked, poking his head into the kitchen.

“Pain perdu,” Sanji replied, just getting his apron on. Zoro nodded and left, walking past Luffy, who was wide awake and ready to eat.

When the crew trickled in for food, Zoro stared at the pancakes and scrambled eggs on his plate as if waiting for them to turn into pain perdu. When they didn’t, he looked up at Sanji and glowered.

“What?” Sanji said. “Oh, right. Sorry, everyone, we were going to have pain perdu, but someone ate the last of the bread last night.”

He turned a pointed glare to Luffy, who shrugged. “Well, I was hungry, and what’m I supposed to do if the fridge is locked?”

“Ask me, dipshit!”

“You were sleeping! That would’ve been rude.”

“Since when do you care about manners?!”

The others had started on their food already. Zoro didn’t start until Luffy and Sanji had finished arguing, and even then he ate very slowly.

When Zoro finally came out to the deck for his after-breakfast nap, he found his usual spot taken by Usopp, who had sat down to tinker. He stood stock-still, staring at the spot, and was just about to move when Usopp saw him.

“Oh, shoot, this is your spot, isn’t it?” he exclaimed, standing. “Sorry, go on—”

Zoro looked away and left without a word.

“Well, geez, I was trying to be nice,” Usopp muttered, confused.

Zoro took his nap on the other side of the ship eventually, though it was a restless one. He woke up, ready to start training, and was on his way to the observatory when Franky interrupted him.

“Hey, bro,” he said with a grin. “You seen Usopp?”

Zoro pointed to Usopp.

“Oh, thanks!” Franky playfully drummed his fingers across Zoro’s shoulders and left, waving. “See you!”

Zoro was rooted to the spot, shuddering, before he managed to start moving again to get to the ropes.

He breathed slowly at the top, removed his shirt, and began training. But he hadn’t even finished his first rep when panicked shouts below alerted him of an approaching pirate ship—it was time to fight.

He set his weight down and pulled his shirt back on, too frazzled to fix it so it faced forward, and tied his bandana around his head, stumbling out of the room and down to the deck. The others were already fighting, and he joined them, his movements purely muscle memory.

“Zoro, help!”

He turned towards the sound and found Usopp cowering under a joint attack. With a slash, that was taken care of.

“Moss-hair, go help Nami-san!”

Zoro looked around, vision blurring, and spotted an orange head of hair. He ran over, but stumbled to a halt when Nami’s attackers were wiped out by her thunderbolt.

“I don’t need help, Sanji-kun!” she yelled, too close to Zoro’s face. Sanji cried an apology to her while Zoro swung his head around, searching for what to do next.

He had only just sliced down another enemy trying to board the ship when the enemy captain called for their ship to retreat. The conscious crew gathered their less-fortunate friends and headed off.

The Strawhats cheered all around Zoro as he stared into the distance, vision blurred, sheathing his swords and tying his bandana around his arm again. His hands shook; everything was too bright, and everyone’s voices were indistinct and far too loud, surrounding him on all sides, leaving no escape. His backwards shirt rested over his haramaki and brushed his skin in all the wrong ways. His eyelids fluttered as he blinked slowly. He needed to . . . needed to . . .

The voices became quieter, and blurry hands waved in front of his face, making him shut his eyes in pain. His legs wobbled, but someone took his hand in their large one, holding on firmly and slowly turning it to face him another way. He blindly followed, slowing when the hand moved downwards, indicating stairs.

He heard rhythmic splashing, and could barely see in the dim light of the room they were in.

“. . . Zoro? Squeeze my hand if you hear me.”

It took him a moment to respond, but he clenched his hand inside his companion’s. He recognized the voice as Chopper.

“Do you want to stay here? Squeeze if yes.”

He paused and squeezed.

“Alone? Squeeze if yes.”

Another pause, another clench.

“Want help sitting down? Squeeze if yes.”

Silence.

“Okay.” Chopper released his hand slowly. “If you’re not back up already, someone’s gonna come down here and tell you when dinner’s ready. Okay?”

Zoro managed a tiny nod.

“Anything else?”

A small shake.

“Okay. Bye.”

Chopper left. Zoro lowered himself against the wall and wrestled with his arms, fixing his shirt. As soon as he’d finished, he collapsed, falling into a light sleep while the waves splashed.

Zoro didn’t speak for the rest of the day, but he exited the Mini-Merry Docking Room for dinner, and went to sleep in the men’s quarters with everyone, who made sure to keep their voices down for his sake.

Zoro tapped the uchiko ball along the blade of his sword and wiped the powder away with a cloth. Satisfied, he slid it back into his sheath and put away his cleaning supplies, standing to stow the case in his locker.

“I’m sure I’ve said this before, Zoro-san, but those are marvelous blades you have,” Brook remarked, falling into step with him.

“I know,” Zoro said, smiling. “I rely on them as much as I do you guys.”

“May I ask about them?”

“Yeah,” Zoro said, stopping outside the door to the men’s quarters. “This one was my first real sword. The person who gave it to me inspired me to learn the three-sword style, since before I received this I used the two-sword style, and I wanted to use this one as well. It’s my oldest and dearest sword. The ones I used before these two I received at the dojo I grew up in, but they broke when I fought Hawk-Eye.”

Brook leaned against the cabin wall, listening without ears.

“This one is called Kitetsu, technically Kitetsu III,” Zoro continued, smiling, “and I got this one in a test of luck. It’s a cursed sword, but it didn’t cut my arm off when I challenged it, so it’s mine now. The shopkeeper who gave me this also gave me Yubashiri, but that one broke at Enies Lobby thanks to a rusting ability one of the Marines had. After that I got Shusui from that zombie, Ryuma.” He paused for breath. “The three-sword style I developed by—”

The door opened, bumping into him and startling him out of his rambling. Sanji gave him an eye-roll before going to the kitchen.

“So . . . that’s it,” he finished, train of thought broken, and went inside.

The Marine pushed Sanji face-first up against the alley wall. “Blackleg Sanji, is it? Your eyebrow gives you away, you know.”

“Watch the face, please, ma’am,” Sanji said, unable to fight back.

“You’re under arrest for aiding and abetting,” she said as Zoro walked by the alley and stopped, looking at them, “as well as participating in various—”

She looked at Zoro and paled, releasing Sanji. “Uh, changed my mind,” she said, backing up. “You’re free to go.”

She ran away.

“Guess your face scared her off,” Sanji remarked, dusting himself off.

“Hey!” Zoro called after her. “Weren’t you gonna arrest him?”

Sanji kicked his calf. “Don’t fucking taunt her!”

“What? I was just asking.”

“This never happened,” Sanji said as they started heading away.

“Huh?” Sanji glared at him. “Oh. Right.”

“Learn to read a situation,” Sanji snapped. “Honestly, you—”

He stopped and looked back. Zoro had fallen behind, examining a market stall of trinkets.

“And quit wandering off!”

“Hey!”

Zoro opened his eyes and stared at the person in the jail cell with him. They were a short redhead with glasses, and they stared at him expectantly.

“What?” he said when they didn’t continue.

“What’d you get arrested for?”

“Being a pirate.”

“Oh. I got arrested for homicide.” The person stared at Zoro’s swords, which the soldiers had foolishly left with him. “Hey, you’re that pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re really good with those swords, then?” the person said, voice growing high with excitement. “Can you break us out?”

“Sure.”

The person waited. “So . . . are you going to?”

“Yeah. I was just resting.”

Zoro stood and faced the wall, preparing two swords.

“Hey!” the person exclaimed. “I have a bad sense of direction, too, but even I know the bars are over here!”

“Breaking the wall gets us out faster,” Zoro pointed out, cutting the wall open without another word.

“I guess, but . . .” The person approached the hole and stared down. “It’s a long way down . . .”

Zoro grabbed them around the waist and ignored the scream as he leapt from the building. He set them on the ground and wandered away.

“One hundred . . . one hundred one . . . one hundred two . . .”

“Hey, Zoro,” Luffy said, poking his head through the trapdoor. “Lunch! Sanji told me to come get you.”

“One hundred three . . . one hundred four . . .” Zoro didn’t look away from his weighted lunges.

Luffy frowned and disappeared. A minute later Franky showed up.

“One hundred eleven . . . one hundred twelve . . .” Zoro muttered.

“Hey!” Franky yelled. “Lunchtime!”

“One hundred thirteen . . . one hundred fourteen . . .”

Franky shook his head and left. It was Nami who showed up next.

“Zoro, get your butt down here or I’m charging you for every minute you’re late,” she snapped.

“One hundred twenty . . . one hundred twenty one . . .”

She climbed up into the crow’s nest and smacked the back of his head. He froze and turned to her, shocked.

“What?” he snapped.

“Lunch. Is ready,” she hissed. “It’s been ready.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

He toweled himself off and left, leaving Nami to stare after him, mouth agape.

Franky, knowing Zoro wasn’t asleep, sat next to him on the deck. “Hey, bro. Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.” Zoro didn’t open his eyes, keeping his arms folded firmly against his chest.

“I messed up. I ruined one of her maps.”

“Nami’s?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t finished, she’d hung it out to dry, and I was holding cola and I went to look at it and . . . tripped.”

“You spilled cola on her map?”

“Yeah. She grabbed it and stormed away. What do you think I should do?”

Zoro was silent for so long Franky worried he’d really fallen asleep, but then he spoke.

“If you messed up one of my swords somehow, and went to ask someone what to do while I tried to deal with the situation,” he said slowly, “I’d probably be pretty pissed if you didn’t even apologize.”

“What?” Franky said. “We’re not talking about you.”

“I know. I’m trying to make sense of the situation.” Zoro lifted his face to the sky but didn’t open his eyes. “Go say sorry to her.”

“Okay. What next?”

“Oh. Uh . . . I guess offer to help her or get new materials at some point. Let the cat out of the bag.”

“Excuse me?”

“What?”

“Let the cat out of the bag? What do you mean?”

“It means use every tactic you have on hand. In this case, do whatever you can to apologize and make it up to her.”

“But that’s not what that . . . never mind. Got it. Thanks!” Franky grinned and stood. “You’ve got a weird way of going about things, but it works.”

Zoro opened his eyes as Franky walked away.

“Weird?”

“What’s wrong?” Sanji asked.

Zoro’s face had only scrunched in disgust for a moment at the taste of his snack, so he was surprised that Sanji had caught it. “Uh . . . it’s sweet,” he said.

“Really? I thought it was plain enough. You want something else?”

“Dunno. You have anything else?”

“Bit of leftover ham,” Sanji said, taking the plate away. “I need most of it for the stew tonight, but if you want some of that . . . ?”

“Sounds good.”

Zoro rubbed his temples, wandering towards Chopper’s office. He opened the door and stared at Chopper until Chopper looked up. Zoro spread his arms out. Chopper trotted outside, bit down on a Rumble Ball, and transformed into Guard Point. Zoro fell against him, closing his eyes and rubbing his fur. Luffy found them and joined them for a minute before getting bored and heading away.

When Chopper turned back, Zoro hugged him before heading away to nap.

Zoro, worn-out from a stressful day, leaned against the railing but couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Chopper came upon him and Zoro looked up at him hopefully. Chopper turned big and grabbed Zoro, squeezing him in his lap. Zoro fell asleep in minutes.

“Zoro helped me with some calculations today,” Robin said at dinner, smiling at him. “You were very helpful. Thank you.”

“Well, since you helped Robin-chan,” Sanji said, setting an extra glass of booze in front of Zoro, who nodded and took it without a word. “Need anything else?”

He shook his head and started drinking his glass down. Luffy tugged at his bandana, but a look made him stop. Zoro fixed it and went back to drinking.

“Thanks for sharing your napping spot with me, Zoro,” Chopper said, waving his arms.

“I never knew you knew so much about your swords,” Usopp said, shaking his head. “You talked my ear off!”

Zoro stared in alarm at his ears.

“It’s a figure of speech,” Usopp added. Zoro relaxed.

“Surprised we could get you away from your training for dinner,” Franky said with a laugh. Zoro shrugged.

“Seconds, Sanji-san?” Brook said, holding out his plate in front of Zoro’s face. Zoro closed his eyes and moved back. “Ah, forgive me, Zoro-san.” Brook moved his arm out of the way. Zoro opened his eyes and slowly moved forward again.

“Zoro, we’re gonna have a party tonight,” Luffy announced, bouncing in his seat. “You gonna come or you gonna sleep?”

Zoro shrugged and gave him a thumbs-up. Luffy grinned. “Awesome!”

“Try not to hog all the alcohol,” Nami shot at him. Zoro made a point of rolling his eyes at her before returning to his dinner, carefully prepared without a hint of sweetness.

#zoro #one piece #opfanfic #writing adventures

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waywardandwestward · 6 years

Text

Let Me Be Your Shelter (Chapter Four)

Chapter 4

Gally x OFC (It should be noted however that while this is the main focus of the Fic, this chapter is primarily Newt x Friend!OFC)

Warning(s): This chapter does include blood and the subject of periods. If that makes you uncomfortable, you may want to skip this one.

It’s an odd feeling. Knowing that I’m the only girl. Knowing that no matter what I do, I’ll always be an outsider inside these walls. The boys try so hard to make things better, and I love them for it, but sometimes it’s just not enough. I pray every month for another girl to appear out of the box, so maybe I won’t feel so alone, and every month I’m disappointed.

I have to get out of here. But I’m terrified of leaving him behind, and I know he’ll refuse to leave.

A/N: Not a lot of Gally in this chapter folks. I wanted to really get into some of Jo’s other relationships. And apologies for any grammar mistakes. I currently don’t have a beta reader. Enjoy!

Master List

If you prefer to read on Wattpad, here is the link!

Previous Chapter

Day 19

Days past and being in the Glade had become easier... More or less. It was kind of nice having a routine. I woke up at dawn, worked in the Gardens with Zart and Newt, ate whatever Bach had cooked up for dinner, joked with the Gladers around the fire, and then went to sleep in the hammock forest. Convincing myself to accept the fact that I had agreed not to leave had certainly helped too, even if sometimes I had a hard time believing myself. The boys all did their best to include me as well, Mikey sometimes a little too much. In any case, I finally started to feel like one of them and not just the new kid.

And then it happened.

In retrospective it seems a bit silly to dwell on something so small, but at the time it was the worst thing that could have happened.

I had woken up suddenly from a pretty nasty nightmare. I can't say what it was about, mostly because what I woke up to was far, far worse. Sweat covered my body, and a splintering pain surrounded the bottom of my stomach all the way up my back. Using my arm I pushed myself up into a sitting position, while using my other hand to brush the sleep out of my eyes.

This pain that I was feeling wasn't unfamiliar. I knew I had felt it before. I peered down at myself and my body became totally alert. What I found was blood soaking through my pants and seeping into the hammock.

My windpipe closed in on itself. I was so dizzy it felt like a hurricane was bouncing around inside my head. I felt my stomach begin to churn in circles. I was fairly sure that I was going to be sick.

After nearly falling out of my hammock, I made a run for it into the Deadheads. I took a quick look back to make sure I didn't wake up any of the boys. From what I could see they all looked sound asleep. I moved quickly through the dark forest and only stopped once I needed to catch my breath. My body collapsed hard against a tree. Inhale, Exhale, I reminded myself. Inhale, Exhale. The more I controlled my breathing pattern the more my stomach settled, but the cramps in my back were still unbearable.

"Jo?" Newt's voice broke through the night air in a loud whisper. "Are you alright?" His footsteps blended in with the cool breeze and the crickets chirping.

"I'm fine," I squeaked anxiously. I realized after I replied that I should have just kept my mouth shut.

"Jo, where-" he laid eyes on me and my cheeks immediately burned red. Without having looked at him yet I could already tell his eyes had been drawn to the blood on the back of my pants. I turned around to see that the lowkey, calm, collected Newt was gone. "What happened?" he asked, the panic crisp in his voice. "You're hurt. Come on, let's get you back to the others!"

"No!" I exclaimed a little too loudly. "I'm n-not-" I stuttered before lowering my voice. "I'm not hurt. I just have my period."

"Your what?" he blinked.

"It happens once a month," I explained through a groan. "It's annoying and gross, and it makes you feel like crap."

If I hadn't been so embarrassed, the confused look on Newt's face would have made me laugh. "Are you sick?"

"No, Newt," I replied. "I'm not hurt, I'm not sick, I'm just a woman with her period," I said. "A woman with a particularly heavy flow, I guess."

"Oh," Newt was still not following. "W-Why?"

Why? Did he just ask me, "Why"? I thought. This was never a discussion I had ever pictured having to explain to anyone, let alone a teenage boy.

"So I can give birth."

Newt's eyes grew even wider. "Oh," he said again, trying to keep himself from panicking more than he already was, and slightly pretending to understand what I was fully getting at. It was clear there were still questions circling around in his head. "So, how do you stop it from happening? And if this happens every month, why are you freaking out now?"

"Well," I sighed through the pain. "A: You don't. It stops on its own after a few days. And B: this is the first time it's happened. I mean, it's probably not the first time. I've probably had it before, I just don't remember. But I must have, if I know about it, right?"

"I... uh..."

"What am I gonna do?" I groaned again as another set of pins and needles went through my body, the back of my head bumping into the tree.

"There are some spare clothes in the supply shed," Newt suggested frantically. He pulled his jacket off. "Here, put this around your waist for now."

"Thanks," I said sincerely taking the jacket and tying it around my waist to hide the blood stain.

We walked side by side quietly over to the shed keeping a fair amount of distance between us. "You don't have to be embarrassed by it you know."

"I'm not," I replied quickly. Newt gave me a knowing glance. "Okay, maybe I am a little, but I'm not embarrassed to talk about it. I'll answer any questions you have. I just don't want the others all freaking out at once, like you did. I'd rather be able to explain it to them when I'm ready. And when I'm not covered in blood. That's the embarrassing part. I mean, you'd be embarrassed if you peed your pants, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," he nodded.

We made it to the small shed just outside of the homestead, which was still a bit of a work in progress. The roof was missing, but everything else was intact.

The door creaked as Newt pulled it open. I was still amazed every time I saw any door that Gally had built, and was still baffled at his skills in architecture. He was just a kid. We were all just kids, and yet somehow he knew how to do all of these things that kids probably shouldn't know how to do, like how to build makeshift hinges for a door. Seriously, how could a kid know how to do that?

The shed was just big enough that Newt and I could both fit inside. On the left was a pile of unused clothes. I dug through them to find something that might fit me, throwing anything that looked too big to the side. They were all male cut, and given my my small stature it was hard to find a pair of pants small enough. I had hoped that when more girls arrived this would change.

"Jo," Newt whispered. I pulled my hands out of the pile and turned to see that he was holding a small, rusted, metal box with a clasp on the front. "I thought this might help too. Alby and I found them in one of the crates when you came up. Truth be told we didn't know what they were." I took the box from him and undid the clasp to find a stack of sanitary pads inside. "It makes a lot more sense now."

I smiled at him gratefully. "You're a good guy, Newt. I'm glad you're the one that found me."

"Anytime," he said placing his hand on my shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze.

I went back to the pile of clothes and finally found a pair of boxer shorts and the smallest pair of pants in the pile. They were an old pair of faded jeans that were slightly ripped over the left knee. "Um, Newt?" I spoke up. "Could you maybe wait outside."

"What?" he said and then noticed the clothes in my arms. "Oh, yeah, sorry," he awkwardly walked out of the shed shaking his head in stupidity.

After he closed the door behind him, I untied his jacket from my waist and I slipped off my pants, nearly falling over trying to get my shoe out of the pant leg. "You know, there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now." Newt said quietly from outside.

"Oh, yeah?" I asked as I switched my underwear with the new boxers and put on a sanitary pad.

"Yeah," he said. "Don't give up hope. We're going to get out of here. One day."

"That's gonna be a little hard considering, we're not aloud to leave." I pulled the pants over my hips, zipping them up and buttoning them. They fit almost perfectly with the exception of the length. As he continued to speak, I bent down, grunting in pain a little, to roll the bottoms up.

"We just need bigger numbers," he said. "The more of us there are, the stronger we'll be."

"That is true, I guess." I checked to make sure the bottoms were even and grabbed my stained clothes before standing up straight. Pushing the door open, I looked over at Newt, who was sitting in the grass, his back up against the shed. He looked back up at me, smiling slightly before standing up himself. "What am I gonna do about these old clothes?"

"We'll do what we always do when we need get rid of something," he said stepping back into the the shed for a second, only to pull out an old sack. "We'll throw it into the maze tomorrow morning. The Grievers will get it."

"The Grievers?" I raised an eyebrow.

"That's what I call the things out there," he shivered just thinking about them.

"Isn't that a little...gross?"

"Maybe," Newt shrugged. "But don't you think it would be better out there with them, then in here with us?

Thinking about the smell it could erupt, I chuckled and said "Very true." He handed me the bag and I stuffed my clothes inside it.

We made our way back to our hammocks in silence. I stopped at his first before heading to my own. "Goodnight, Newt," I whispered.

"Wait," he said pulling his old, fleece blanket off his hammock. "Here, you can use this to cover the stain on the hammock. I saw it, when I went to go look for you."

"Thank you," I said. "I really do owe you one."

"Jo, we're friends. You don't owe me anything."

Next Chapter

#gally #newt #tmr #the maze runner #Newt x friend!ofc #Newt x friend!reader #Gally x reader #fanfiction #fanfic #lmbys #Gally x Jo #will poulter #thomas sangster #tmr fanfiction #gally x oc #newt x friend!oc

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unchartedterritoria · 6 years

Text

Dangerous (Sam Drake x OC) - Chapter 19

Man, the holidays really gave me a wicked case of writers' block! Things are looking up now though! New chapter! Sam learns about ‘edutainment’. Comments are always appreciated!

You can read it and previous chapters on A03 if you prefer:

A03 Chapter 19 Link

Faith and Sam spent a week searching every private estate erected before 1865 in Key West. Every day started the same. Sam made a coffee run while Faith showered, then she poked fun at whatever garish Hawaiian shirt Sam had chosen to wear while they plotted out which properties to explore and research that day. In the afternoon, they went from house to house, property to property, hoping, praying that something, anything would link between its history and Dr. Samuel Mudd. They ended each day at Mallory Square, the harbor that served as the center of the town, and watched the sunset with the rest of the locals, while they drank Coronas and hoped the next day would bring some piece of evidence.

As each day passed without a lead, Sam grew weary. They hadn't found a damn thing; Nothing even remotely close to a clue. He also knew that Jasper and his men would eventually find out where they were. Jasper was an asshole, but an asshole with a lot of power and a lot of money, two things that Sam knew would make anyone talk. He suppressed the worrisome thought and kept it to himself. Sam was sure that Faith had already thought of it and he didn't want to remind her of it.

With the morning came a new week and a new plan.

“Museums,” Faith declared, “We hit every one of them and see what we can learn.”

"Good idea. I like museums," Sam said, a mischievous glint in his eye.

“No stealing,” Faith ordered, pointing at him.

“What? Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

“C'mon. Whaddya take me for?”

“A thief,” Faith replied as she finished tying her shoes.

“I promise I'll be a good boy,” He assured her as he stuffed his wallet in the pocket of his jeans. “We wanna keep a low profile, right?”

“I think you blew that plan out of the water when you put on that shirt,” Faith said with a sigh, giving him a clap on the back as she opened the door to their room and headed out into the bright sun. Sam grabbed the hem of his shirt, a loud orange number covered in a pattern of beer bottles in front of yellow suns and palm trees. He looked down at it with a frown.

“I happen to like this shirt,” Sam said to himself while he stalked out the door on her heels.

“That was not a museum.”

"Yes, it was!"

“That was a sideshow!” Sam insisted.

“Didn't you see the stuff they had?”

“I'm sorry, I was a little distracted by the guy dressed as a sea captain yelling 'Wreck Ashore!'”

Sam absently patted himself down while he stalked down Duval Street, the main artery of the island. As Faith kept pace next to him, she laughed to herself. The Pirate and Wreckage Museum was a bust. While it did have some interesting artifacts, nothing there linked Lincoln or Mudd to Key West.

“It's a tourist museum, what did you expect?” Faith asked.

"To not be asked for a tip when I left!" He answered, utterly agog at the question, while his hand continued to feel for the cigarettes he knew he grabbed before they left the room.

“Shirt pocket Sam,” Faith said while she scanned the street for signs and ads for other museums.

“Thank you,” Sam grumbled, grabbing the pack from his shirt and lit one for himself.

“It was meant to teach and entertain. Haven't you ever heard of 'edutainment'?” She asked him. The question made him stop short and stare at her.

"What? What the hell kinda word is that? 'Edutainment.'" He said, accenting each syllable of his new word with more disdain than the last.

“A made up one to sell parenting books and educational toys,” Faith informed him. She checked the time on her phone. “We have time to hit another one before sunset.”

While Sam found the pirate museum off-putting, Faith found it charming, much like she found the whole island. It functioned at a laid-back pace, which Faith wasn't accustomed to.

She knew they had to get somewhere with their research soon, they couldn't hide from Jasper forever, but she wanted to savor the time she was spending down here on this adventure, she even was enjoying who she was spending it with.

Faith and Sam strolled down Duval Street, weaving their way through the tourists that lined the sidewalks. They passed shop after shop, bar after bar while the smells of sweet suntan lotion and cheap vodka permeated the air. As they crossed the street, Faith spotted a dark blue sign above a large doorway.

"'Mel Fisher Museum,'" Faith read as they approached the large white building, "Name sound familiar to you?"

Sam shook his head.

“Windowless building, solid door, modern looking security system,” He said, his eyes darting quickly to the cameras and sensors on the corners of the building. “No sign of a vaudeville skit out front, this place might just give us something useful. Shall we?”

Faith nodded and pushed open the heavy wooden door.

The drab, white facade on the outside of the museum was mimicked on the inside. Lit by stark, fluorescent lights, the building held two floors, the second a lofted balcony overlooking the center of the main room. Ugly black cabinets ringed its edges while pastel prints of seaside scenes attempted to accent the walls. The bottom floor consisted of four rows of display cases, all dazzlingly lit to showcase their contents.

“This looks like an old church,” Faith observed.

"Probably was at one point. One of the old mission style ones," Sam elaborated. Faith and Sam entered the building slowly. Faith was puzzled. As she passed by each display case, she found almost all the items had price tags attached to them.

“I don't think this is a museum,” Faith muttered, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Oh, it is," Sam called from behind her, causing her to turn around towards the sound of his voice. "It's just all for sale."

Sam stood in front of a large printing close to the front doors of a middle-aged man in scuba gear. Mel Fisher.

"For sale?" Faith repeated, moving back next to Sam to get a look at the picture for herself. Sam skimmed the paragraphs of information that overlaid the photo.

“Looks like all of this is from the wreck of a Spanish ship that he found not too far from here. Almost 32 million dollars worth of treasure on board,” Sam summed up for her.

"Holy shit that's a lot of money," Faith muttered, the information suddenly making her feel underdressed and underclass for the value of goods she was sure she was surrounded by. Meanwhile, the awe in Faith's tone caused Sam to let out a low chuckle.

“What?” She questioned, walking towards the middle of the gallery.

“Nothin'. It's just that, well, 32 million isn't that much. I mean, I've seen hauls bigger than that so I'm just sayin' it could be a lot more,” He explained as he shoved his hands in his front pockets.

Faith turned and stared at Sam, a look of utter disbelief on her face.

“More than 32 million dollars?” She asked in a low voice.

Sam felt the worn down features of the coin from Libertalia in his pocket. The body warmed metal under his fingers triggered memories of being aboard The Fancy, surrounded by mountains of treasure collected from every notable pirate of the 17th century. And being trapped under a beam while the boat went up in flames.

Almost ended up dead but I still found it, he thought to himself with a smirk.

“It was a lot more. Didn't get to keep much of it, but I did find it," He emphasized by pointing the coin between his fingers at her. Faith quickly snatched the piece out of Sam's hand and flipped it over in her hands.

“Hmm, I wonder how much this is worth? Where is one of those appraiser guys?” She said, doing her best greedy cartoon villain voice.

“Uh, I don't think so!”

Sam plucked the coin out of Faith's hand. She cackled comically while Sam stowed his pirate treasure back safely in the pocket of his tan pants. Faith leaned a hip against the glass case next to her.

“You don't want to find out how much money something's worth? Since when?” She asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Since I know the rest of them are gone. It's the only one left. Also a reminder of a hell of a goddamn adventure. So you see, it's priceless. And since when do you care how much something's worth?”

His eyes narrowed down at her.

“I don't. Just gotta bust your balls a bit,” Faith said with a smile and gave him a gentle, playful bump with her hip.

Sam gave a little smirk and followed Faith down the aisle. Faith glanced in each case, taking stock of what was in them. Pieces of pottery in one glass box, misshapen silver and copper coins marked with various crosses in another. She passed another full of rusted spikes and musket balls.

Such a steal! Only Three hundred dollars a piece! The thought made her shake her head incredulously. The sound of Sam letting out a low wolf whistle caused Faith to stop.

"Would ya look at that," Sam said, his large arms stretched wide and braced against the display below him. The light from inside the case illuminated his rough face, giving it a youthful, excited glow. Faith stepped next to him and looked down to find an extensive collection of emeralds and pearls. Sam thumped his finger above a massive, rough cut, forest green emerald with an $85,000 price tag.

“That's a nice one.'

“Yeah, I guess.”

He turned his head quizzically towards her.

“You guess?”

“Yeah. Don't get me wrong, emeralds and gems are pretty. Like those two little bright ones right there would make an awesome set of earrings,” She told Sam while pointing towards two small stones at the very back of the case with wide eyes, making him snicker.

“But as far as treasure goes, eh. Anyone can find gems, or silver, or gold. It's stereotypical treasure stuff.”

"Treasure's treasure in my book, it's all worth money," Sam interjected.

Faith slid closer to Sam and lowered her voice.

“Now our treasure,-”

“Our treasure?” He interrupted again.

“Our treasure which will come to be your treasure,” She corrected, “There is nothing else like it in the world, it's got history. It's priceless. Kinda like that Libertalia coin in your pocket. You can't put a price on the story behind that.”

Sam bobbed his head in a begrudging acceptance of her explanation.

"Remy thought that way about the Lincoln Bible when I showed it to him," Faith said. The mere mention of his name caused a sad fondness to creep into her voice. Sam's head dropped; the mere mention of Remy caused him to look at the floor in shame.

"The history of it excited him so much; it made it priceless to him. Just like what we're looking for," Faith finished. Sam slowly nodded in agreement while his eyes traveled up, finally able to meet Faiths.

“You really don't blame me at all for what happened to him?” Sam asked quietly.

“You didn't pull the trigger so no, I don't,” She replied.

Sam knew she had told him this before, but it was an answer during the heat of the moment. Truth be told, Sam wasn't sure she still meant it weeks later, plenty of time for a person to think about things and change their mind. Thankfully, she didn't. Maybe now in the back of his mind, the blanket of blame that was smothering Sam from his chat with Nathan would ease a bit more.

"Can I help you?" A smooth, male voice echoed, causing the dense, slightly tense air between Faith and Sam to dissipate. A lanky man in a linen shirt appeared from behind one of the large cabinets with records on the balcony of the second floor.

"No, we're just looking, thanks," Faith called to him as he descended the spiral staircase with a rapid smoothness that came from repetition. The pair of palm tree patterned board shorts that he wore with his shirt accented the deep-set bright green eyes of his long face.

"All of our stones are inspected and certified for authenticity. We also offer multiple sizes and jewelry settings. Our smaller emeralds are a perfect size for a pair of simple yet understated earrings," He suggested. Faith's eyes shot up from the case as the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle, despite the heat.

"See? I said the exact same thing to him!" She said, playing it off as coincidence.

"Well, I must confess. I did overhear snippets of your conversation," The man admitted with a bashful grin.

“Ah,” Faith responded, the information making the anxiety in her start to wain.

"I know it's not overly polite, but it does help to talk up a sale. So sir, what do you think? Earrings for the wife?"

Faith turned her head towards Sam, a pursed lip grin on her face as she tried to contain her laughter.

"You know, she might say she is, but she isn't the fancy jewelry type. Nice try though. Let's grab a beer, more our speed. Right, babe?" The lie rolled off Sam's tongue without missing a beat, along with the term of endearment he tacked on so quickly, so comfortably, as if he had been calling Faith that for years. It was unsettling for him; it was too comfortable.

The laughter disappeared from behind Faith's grin as the lie that Sam produced so easily rang true for her.

“Right. One question first,” She said, turning her attention back to the salesman with the vivid green eyes, “Do you have anything in here from the Civil War?”

He clucked his tongue and shook his head gently.

“Sorry, every we have in here predates it by a good hundred years,” He answered, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his shorts in a very 'awe shucks' fashion.

“Didn't think so. But, I had to ask. Let's go dear, the bar and the sunset awaits!” Faith said as she grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him towards the door.

“Thanks!” Sam called out behind him and raised his free hand in a half-hearted wave.

"Have a nice evening!" The man called back as the heavy wooden doors closed behind Sam and Faith with a massive, echoed thud.

The man behind the counter slinked over to the phone that he kept near the staircase. An ancient yellow relic of a thing that still had a coiled cord and was attached to the wall. He jabbed the numbers quickly with a pointed finger. Three muffled rings passed before it connected with a statically click.

“Wallace? Eddie. Where's your boss? Well, get him on the phone. Oh, I'm pretty sure he's gonna wanna talk to me. Just-, ask him if that reward money is still up for grabs.” He listened to the crackle of the phone as it changed hands on the other end.

“Hey cuz! Knew that would get you on the phone! It was Drake, can't miss that voice and that nose. Yeah, she was with him, why?

The man's brow furrowed in confusion.

“Her? I thought the reward money was for him.”

#dangerous #sam drake x oc #samuel drake x oc #OC X Sam Drake #uncharted fanfiction #sam drake fanfiction #my writing

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vesperlionheart · 7 years

Text

Fluff Friday Rusted

(I’m super late and super sorry)

“I’ve never seen a synthetic rusted over before.”

Sakura drew up the bottom of her face scarf and narrowed her eyes over the edge. “That’s because they don’t. This one’s been damaged and parts have been replaced with subpar metal works.”

Kain didn’t draw up her face scarf but let it flap under her chin, unbothered by the grains of granting sand that occasionally would fly her way. It was windy in the Country of Wind, but not that windy. “He must have been terrible if someone chose to patch him up like that instead of take him to an Industry facility.”

Sakura looked over at her friends with tired eyes. “Don’t joke.”

Karin scratched at the corner of her skin. “They have to have something here they could use.”

“Not since their open rebellion against the Country of Fire. Here’s a bite of history for you if integrating is truly something you want, when our enemies tried to bring us down we made sure they couldn’t stand up again. In retaliation my father’s units raised the lands and destroyed all advanced technologies. It’s taken them years to scrape together this much.”

“I thought your teammate and the new Wind Leader are friends. Isn’t Naruto gonna do something about this then?”

Sakura didn’t answer right away. They were standing across the street in the market while the rest of the world flowed around them like fish in a current. She was still staring at the red haired synthetic unit with the one bad arm made out of metal and rust that likely wasn’t even connected to any rural circuitry. From the elbow down it was an ugly sight that reminded her a little too well of her own war scars.

The androids face found her and didn’t look away. Parts of him were ugly and rusted, but he had the face of an angel.

She was crossing the street before she knew what she was doing. The seller wrapped up in ugly tan rags smiled through the folds to see her approach and jumped in front of his unit to snag her attention. “Only the finest for exotic beauties such as yourself, pretty lady. Behold the sweet spices of a desert land.” He then went off of a rave about the different spices that would cure her love life, bring her fertility, stimulate her acuity, heal a sore throat, and keep her young. Suna was nothing if not sexist at its core.

The redhead watched her without blinking the entire time Either he lacked the emotional intelligence that synthetics were famous for, or he knew he was being unsettling and didn’t care. It was hard to place his year or model, since he seemed so customized.

“It smells.”

Karin’s voice broke into Sakura’s senses and she turned to see her friend working the seller with her usual routine. When bartering, Karin didn’t bother to try and hide the fact that she had money, but complimented it with a disdain that managed to middle prices down to suit her needs.

“Is there truly something here you might need?” Sakura sighed, walking over to stand behind Karin’s shoulder and look out to the market road.

“I’m looking, such,” Karin playfully hissed, smacking her friend lightly. Sakura let her. It was all part of the act. After a few minutes of haggling Karin managed to get a price she liked for the tea spices that was a deal to both parties.

The man was scooping the dried spices into a silk bag for her when he looked to Sakura and asked, “And what does your heart desire?”

Sakura was about to tell him goodbye or maybe just walk away, but the glint of light on gold metal made her stop. “I want that AMD chip around your neck.”

She had said it so casually he didn’t miss a beat tying up the silk bag, but once the words registered his hands stopped. Slowly, greedy little eyes looked up to her and she knew he was willing to sell.

“Oh, that will cost you.”

“I’m sure it will, but you’re over pricing the hunk of junk if he’s already missing visible parts. Do you even know his make and model?”

“He’s pre war, but not by much. He was part of the last line we ever put out, the most advanced!”

Sakura studied the synthetic carefully, tilting her head to one side and playing up her inspection. She let her eyes run over his form and then trail away as if she had seen all of him and found herself wanting. “That may be the case, but that was an entire generation ago. We’ve made leaps and bounds in technology since then. What was his designation?”

“He was a custom model.”

Karin snickered behind Sakura. “With a face like that he was probably a love model.”

Sakura wanted to roll her eyes. He had a pretty face, but he was way too stern and unnerving for such sensitive work.

“You don’t have a certificate of imprint?” Sakura asked, glancing to the chip on a chain around the man’s neck.

“Don’t need one. He needs this and it’s just as good if you’ve got it on you.” The old man grinned wide. “So, what’s he worth to you.”

“Probably not what you want or him considering the models we can get back in our country.”

Karin huffed, “You mean the models you can get. Some of us still don’t pass the bar exam yet.”

Owning synthetics in the Land of Fire was rare due to the fact that only specific, qualified individuals could keep them. Sakura was highly qualified in her position so close to the Hokage, but she had never taken one for herself. Last she checked, she qualified for a total of four units, but that was many months ago. It might have gone up again.

“He’s not built with the silly safeguards you’re so insistent on. He’s from the golden age in the golden country,” the man went on. “He’s worth 1,000,000 ryō to me.”

“I’m sure he is, but that’s what we get paid for S Class missions and you must think too highly of me for that. I’ll do…sixty for him.”

“You insult me.”

It begun and between the two of them the back and forth banter last a total of fifteen minutes with plenty of pro and cons being thrown out all while the unit sat, without speaking or moving. Finally Sakura got him down to 85 and that was only after she pulled out that much money and showed it to him. That was a lot of money to be carrying around in Suna and it might have made him think her foolish for it, if not for the fact that she equated his price with an S Class Mission. That factoid had flavored the tone of negotiations favorably for her.

He took the money greedily and handed over the card. “Have fun.”

Sakura held onto the chip and looked up at the unit. He still didn’t blink. “What’s your name?” she asked.

It was a heartbeat later before he answered. “Sasori of the Red Sand.”

“Sasori, it’s nice to meet you. Will you come with me now?”

“No.”

Karin had been looking off but turned around suddenly. “No?” she nearly screeched. “What you mean no? You cost a small house.”

Sakura rubbed the card between her fingers and the adhesive design began to peel off. Fake. She turned her eyes to the seller, but Karin was already screaming at his empty seat, cursing out the old man. Sasori didn’t move and Sakura didn’t react. Behind her face cloth she schooled her emotions back into something close to calm. She knew the old man’s scent. She could find him later.

“Why not?” Sakura asked, looking back at Sasori. “Are you calibrated to someone already?”

“Not since the war, no.”

Sakura nodded slowly. “Then the man I just did business with…why were you with him?”

Sasori held up his rusted arm. “He gave me this. I had no other purpose or place to be. I can do as I please from his shadow well enough.”

“Do you want to stay here with that man?” Sakura asked.

His expression shifted for the first time and Sakura started to feel a thrill of hope that there was something more to his programing. “You ask me a question.”

“Do you?”

“I’ll pay my debts.”

“I actually just paid your debts.”

His face shifted again and there was a cut of humor to the curve of his lips. “You are not the first one he’s sold me to, and maybe not the last. I’ll stay here, I think. I don’t have a reason to leave.”

Sakura felt pieces of a puzzle fall into place. “You were a military unit. One of my mentors told me of a line based off the Suna zodiac. Sasori means scorpion, doesn’t it?”

The muted disinterest that softened his posture was from the war, and she kicked herself for not recognizing it right away. It was the same way Kakashi held himself. He hadn’t been programed without emotions, but with enough to feel depression and trauma.

Her right hand tingled.

The Zodiac unit were elite solo operatives on the field, loyal to the Kazekage, but once that man was killed their purpose died with him. The old country collapsed and became something new. His place was gone, but there was no where else for him to be.

The loyalty to the man who gave him that arm made sense, the stories said the old Zodiacs were built with traditional values of chivalry and virtue. They were the golden heroes for the golden country.

No wonder the line didn’t circulate well. No one in Suna wanted virtue anymore. They just wanted water and food and maybe a bit of blood now and then. Among his own people there wasn’t really a place for him anymore.

“Is there any hope that I might convince you to come with me?” Sakura asked.

“No, and not to the Land of Fire.”

“Is there nothing you want?”

He looked her over again, staring at her with searching eyes. “You ask odd questions for a human speaking with a synthetic. Are you not used to treating others like they are inferior, or is that only when you’re bartering for them?”

“I think there is something you want, but you don’t know how to get it. You might not even know what it is, but you haven’t felt right in a long time.”

Sasori watched her, wordlessly. Ever so slightly, his body turned towards her, listening.

Sakura pulled back her cloak and extended an arm. She spread her fingers, rolled her wrist and showed off the pale peach color and style before extending it to him. She beckoned with her fingers and he hesitated only once before reaching out to shake her hand with his metal one.

“That hand served you well but mine serves me better.”

With their hands still held, Sakura pulled at the pin in her arm and there was a light as her arm separated from the socket that fit over her scarred biceps. A myriad of glowing green wires extended between the socket and her arm end before snapping off and winding back up into the socket.

Sasori’s eyes seemed to be more alive than before as he looked over her false arm with new interest. She watched his mouth part as he ran his fingers over the knuckles.

“Where?” he asked.

“I designed and built it. I’ll do the same for you, that was my plan anyway. It’s the reason I wanted you. That arm you’re wearing doesn’t suit you.”

There was real want in his eyes as he looked up at her. “But why would you pay so much for the trouble of such labor?”

The hand that wasn’t metal supported her elbow while the metal one still held her at the hand, fingers almost interlocked.

The green wires snaked out of her socket and connected with the end of her detached arm like opposite magnets seeking out each other. Across the distance, Sakura’s wires tugged and her arm came back, sliding seamlessly into place as the tissue over the socket stretched and smoothed. She was seamlessly human once more, flexing her fingers and rolling her wrist with all the grace it took to tickle strings on a violin.

“I like pretty thing.”

She offered him her newly attached hand once more, but this time it was an offering and not a handshake.

“So, what do you say?”

#Sasori #Sakura #sasosaku #Fluff Friday #my writings

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hq-hq-headcanons-blog · 7 years

Note

Fem!so watches the boys practice. How would Tsukishima react when she gets hit in the face by a stray volley ball, lets say the culprit is Kageyama 😁 ty~

So, some fair warnings. 1. I haven’t written anything this long in over 5 years, and I think the rust shows, and 2. There are an unfortunate amount of time skips, detail glosses, and lengthy information dumps in this because oops, this totally needed to be more of a 5,000 word story than a 1,500, which is already 3x the amount I said I would write for scenarios.

I hope you enjoy anyways, and maybe I’ll come back and make it better someday.

(Oh, and I guess, in the end, I made it more of female crush got hit. My bad)

Sitting on a bench in the boy’s volleyball gym, you and Yachi couldn’t help but giggle and talk as you shared with her your tips and tricks on being a manager, along your advice on how you personally handle being the manager of the very ‘interesting’ boy’s volleyball team on Kiyoko’s days off.

While you were only a first year yourself, your experience being a manager for the female volleyball team for half a year meant you could easily come over and help the boy’s team whenever Kiyoko was absent.

Pointing at the informational book that sat next to Yachi, you had been in the middle of explaining all the different spikes that could come up in a game when a volleyball suddenly zoomed between the two of your faces. While you remained relatively composed by the sudden interruption, Yachi was frozen stiff, dropping her pencil and notebook in complete shock.

“Well well, look at the toddler manager over here. No longer getting scared by the ball,” Tsukishima teased, raising a water bottle to his lips.

You immediately let out a loud groan, not realising that he’d been there.

“Since when have I been 'toddler’? I thought I was 'baby’ manager?”

“What can I say? The addition of a new baby manager called for a promotion.”

While you gave him an angry pout, he quickly ruffled the top of your head, messing up your hair in the process and wordlessly telling you to 'be careful’. Even though you wanted to be mad at him for his teasing, you couldn’t help but smile and lightly blush as he returned to practice.

“___-san? ___-san?” Yachi called out, shaking your shoulder a little to get your attention.

“Huh? Oh, right. Sorry, what was I about to say agai–”

“Are you and Tsukishima-kun dating?”

Both of you stare at each other in slack jaw silence, entirely in shock of the question that unintentionally came out of her mouth. Tsukishima, on the other hand, began snickering at the edge of the court, clearly having heard Yachi’s question.

“I-I-I-I-I’M SO SORRY! I didn’t mean to–!!You don’t have to–!! PLEASE HAVE MERCY! I don’t have any firstborn children to give!!!”

“Yachi-san! It’s okay! You don’t have to apologiz– wait, what?!”

“I-I can’t guarantee when I’ll have one! But I-”

“Yachi-san! I don’t need your firstborn child!”

After calming Yachi down and helping her actually breathe in-between her words, Yachi quickly apologized to you (again), and said you didn’t have to answer the question if you didn’t want to. You insisted that it was alright (again), and that you had just been surprised by her question.

“It’s completely fine to ask me questions Yachi! Even ones about Tsukishima and I.”

“I-if it’s really alright, umm, c-can I ask how the two of you met?”

——————————————————-

It all started when Suga came to the girl’s volleyball gym,asking for help from the team’s 3rd year manager. From what you overheard, it seemed as though they had a practice match coming up with a rival school, but their own manager was out sick and they needed a replacement.

The two of them talked for quite a bit, seemingly unable to find an answer to the problem until your senpai ushered you over and introduced you.

“Suga-san, this is ____, my manager trainee, and your temporary manager of the day!”

You were completely frozen stiff.

“W-whaat?! Senpai, I-I can’t manage by myself! I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do, or say, or act, or write, or–”

You were immediately cut off by a softly placed hand on your shoulder. Looking over, you were immediately relaxed by Sugawara’s gentle smile and voice.

“Don’t worry, ___-san! We won’t ask for more than you can do. We just need someone who can help with the basics, okay?”

In the end, you really felt like you had no other choice being surrounded by two senpais. But maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as you thought. Maybe, hopefully, you’ll calm down during the walk to the other gym.

…. You didn’t.

“My name is ___, first year manager of the girl’s volleyball team. I’m, uh, still inexperienced, so please be patient with me.” You finished with a nervous bow.

While some players responded in kind, it seemed like everyone was in a rush to get things done. They must have been more behind than you hoped, and just as your anxiety increased, the number of mistakes you made did too. Chairs, volleyballs, and water bottles were dropped, just to name a few, and the number of times you tripped was more than you could count on both hands. Every mistake was embarrassing to say the least, especially since a certain tall blond kept staring every time.

He was there. Every. Single. Time.

“Can I help you with something?!” You snapped, picking up the water bottles you dropped and staring way up to meet the other’s gaze.

At first he only stared down at you, seeming as though he wasn’t going to respond, before letting out a small huff of laughter.

“Is that the baby manager’s first words?”

“Excuse me?! What did you just say-- Hey! Wait!”

You called out to him, very tempted to throw a water bottle at the back of his head, but he was already walking away. For some reason, the freckled player who was nearby gave you a small apologetic bow before following after him.

Luckily in the end, even with your clumsiness, everything was ready just in time for the rival team. Everyone lined up, bowed, and went to their respective area in the gym.

You quickly sat down on the bench and sighed. The flashes of embarrassment over what had happened made it hard for you to pay attention, so you were grateful that you didn’t have to write anything more than the scores of each round.

At least, that was until you got hit straight in the face by a stray volleyball.

Thankfully, by the time the ball came into contact with your face, it had already lost most of it’s momentum. Having bouncing off a metal beam on the wall. To your dismay though, that fact did nothing to stop every eye on the court from looking straight at you.

As the entire gym went silent, coach Ukai examined your face for any signs of serious injury. You kept insisting that you were alright and hoped everyone would just move on, but a certain blond just had to speak up and break the silence.

“Wow. You’re not even going to apologize for hitting the baby manager? You really are an Egocentric King, aren’t you?”

“Haah?! It’s not like I wasn’t going to! And why do you care anyways?”

“Psst! Hey!” The small orange haired player pointed to the team captain, who already looks as though he’s about to bring the wrath of gods down upon the two boys.

After doing the various things coach Ukai asked of you, he seemed convinced that you’d be fine.

“But still, you might wanna go to the nurse’s office. Just in case. I’ll get one of the boys to do it, so just wait a bi-”

“I’ll take her.”

You were taken aback a bit the voice. The tall blond was already halfway to you when he spoke up.

“You?! You’re going to take me?” You said, a bit louder than intended.

“Yes, me. You got a problem?”

“Yes I’ve got a probl-”

“Alright, alright you two,” The coach interrupted, “Just get moving. The fast you leave, the faster you get back. Get there and back as fast as you can Tsukishima.”

The walk to the nurse’s office had been somewhat quiet. Neither one of you saying a word. While it’s not like you wanted to talk to this ��Tsukishima’ guy or anything, the silence left you with only your thoughts, which weren’t the best right now.

Every single trip, every single fall, and and every single slip-up kept replaying in your mind, along with the faces of second hand embarrassment from everyone who saw. On top of that, the whole ‘getting hit in the face with a volleyball in front of at least 30 people’ didn’t help. At this point, you wished the ball had just knocked you out. Maybe then you could claim to be too afraid to continue being a manager.

“Oi. Are you seriously about to cry?”

“Are you kidding me?! Of course I’m not about to--” Before you could even finished, your voice began to crack.

“You seriously are a baby aren’t you?” He sighed.

Even though he seemed annoyed by you, he nonetheless placed his hand on your head, ruffling your hair a little bit.

“It’s just a club, you know? Why are you so worried about it?”

You bit your lip and sniffled, trying to stop yourself from crying.

“It was just… so embarrassing.”

“Getting hit with the ball? That happens to some idiot in there once a week.”

“And tripping? And dropping everything 50 times?!”

“Isn’t tripping natural for a baby trying to walk?” He smirked.

All you could do was wipe your eyes and pout back. You wanted to argue back at him a bit more, about how you should be better than this, but he was already walking away towards the nurse’s office.

When you finally began walking again, Tsukishima stopped, letting you catch up with him before slowing down to your pace. Despite him having been a jerk, and despite you still sniffling through your nose, the rest of the walk to the nurse’s office felt really… nice.

#saltytsundere #Tsukishima Kei #Scenario #Exactly 1600 words

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86-was-his-year · 7 years

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The Contaminated chapter 2

Warnings: just swearing, possible grammar mistakes. __________________________________________ Today was the same as any other day. I was walking. Walking away from everything I've known, everything I've seen. Walking down long empty road makes you miss the noises you would normally hear. The cars, trains, people talking. You don't realize how much you actually need it until your listening the song your breath and the wind on the trees make. Last night I slept in a tree. I know not the safest place to sleep but it keeps me away from them. Rope comes in handy if I toss and turn which really doesn't happen. One night I woke up sliding off and never made the mistake of not tying myself off ever again. I ate a bit of granola bar while I waited for myself to finally fall asleep and I was feeling pretty great today. I had found a stream and filled up my bottle so it was now filled to the brim with warm fresh water. I was on a mission. I was so tired of walking and I needed a place to hole up. Just for a while so I can scavenge and move on again. Many places had been ransacked already but there's almost always something hidden under a couch cushion or a bed. I had to find somewhere. My shoes scraped at the street that I was walking on. The road was enclosed by a few rows of trees each which means if someone were to come from either side I would have time to prepare myself. The view was very pretty. It's like something you would see in the movies, when the protagonist is having hardships they would take a walk down a road that looked just like this, listening to the cars drive by. Now, it was just me and the trees. I regret not trying to find another place earlier. Or people. I was getting very lonely, singing songs I remember or having conversations with myself, acting like another person was actually there. I can't believe that a few years ago I was worrying about who was going to ask me to dance or what would happen if my mom found out what was on my phone. Shaking my head I put those thoughts aside. The familiar groan of one of them could be heard in the trees. The snapping of leaves and branches made me stop in my path and look to my left. It came out of the trees, a flap of skin getting caught in one of the braches causing it to tear and break away. "Ew." I said silently to myself. I gripped the handle on my knife and pulled it out of my belt loop, ready for it to come shuffling towards me. It finally noticed me after a while and groaned loudly, outstretching it's arms for me almost like it had wanted a hug. As I began to go forward ready to end it's suffering a while herd if them came slowly filtering through the trees. "Oh fuck!" I said turning around to break into a run. Now I didn't have to run fast but I had to create enough distance to where they would forget about me and move along to somewhere else. My breath increased as I looked back and saw more of them filtering through the trees. It was about a group if 15 or 20. If I had a couple other people and a gun I would be able to take them but with a small knife and my little body, I was no match for them. I would be torn to shreds. My heart beat roared in my ears as I turned a corner, finding my path blocked by a bunch of stalled cars. My fear increased as I heard them becoming close. The first thing that came to my head was 'Get in the damn car.' I tried the first one but it was jammed or locked. "Fuck! Oh my God okay." I said walking around to another car, pulling the handle. It didn't budge on bit. Tears welled in my eyes as u heard them just around the corner, waiting for their meal to be served. "Come on mother fucker. Open!" I yelled and I finally flew open letting me scramble inside as they came shuffling around the corner. The cars were piled together in wreck and suitcases and other pieces of rubble had been scattered around. I had to climb over cars to get to where I was, nice and tight between three other cars. The only way they could get me was at the front. I locked all the doors even if two of them were unreachable and cranked the driver side window open just so I could fit my knife through. They pushed there way through some rubble a couple at a time and settled themselves around the car, banging and stretching at the hood and windows. I was able to take out a few by my window creating a small baracade of bodies that they would have to move to get to me. I sat back in the seat, blood covering my face, knife, and hands. "This is it Gracie, this is how you die. God damn it!" I screamed hitting my hands on the wheel. It had caused them to groan louder, knowing that I was still alive. I did the only thing I could think of in the moment and that was bring my knees to my chest and cry. I hadn't cried in a long time. In the beginning of all this I was in tears because of the family I most likely lost and the possibility of everything I've known to be gone. But eventually I became so number to the feeling of crying that I just stopped. I did what I had to do and survived but now all I could do was let the salty tears run down my face. It's either I was going to die if starvation or them and I didn't want either. I didn't want to die, period. I know it's a shitty life to live but still, no matter what everyone has a large urge to live. Its what being human feels like. "I refuse to just fucking give up." I told myself, using my dirty arm to wipe the tears that were flowing down my face. "There's got to be something in this damn car." I said turning my body so I was on my hands and knees. I checked under the driver's seat. Nothing. Under the back seats. Nothing. Under the passenger seat? Well, nothing. I was getting tired if not finding anything but maybe it was shut my luck to choose an empty car. I crossed my fingers and opened the glove compartment, hoping something was worth having. There was crack and dust flew out like a tornado. I coughed and waved around the air to at least try and filter the dust. I shoved papers around and found some Advil. "Finally, fuck!" I said opening my bag before throwing it in. After finding a sad handwritten note that was distressed and covered in blood splatter I tried the too compartment, finding it locked and not willing to give. "Let's hope there's something good in you." I said pushing the tip of my knife under the crack before pushing it up, eventually getting it to open. My eyes lit up at the sight before me. Some kind of hand gun laid surrounded by rounds of ammo. My mouth opened in are at find. I was like a kid on Christmas. I briefly remember gun training with my dad but I knew enough to unload and reload and check the chamber, basic stuff. It was fully loaded and the safety was on which meant it hadn't even been used yet. "I might be able to get out of this." I said smiling. My feelings of sadness long gone with my recent discovery and the happiness it brought. As I was preparing myself tonight them off or die trying a gunshot rang out into the air. I jumped and looked around me. I couldn't hear voices over the constant groaning of them but they must have because her attention turned away from me and was on something behind them. Another shot was fired and they all moved away from the car. Somebody was here! And they were helping! It was strange but I wasn't going g to question it now. I sat in the car and watched through the grubby windows as they feel one by one. "Are you alright in there?" It was a male. He came up to the door and began to pull. I guess it had gotten jammed again from rust or the blood that was spilling into it. "Yeah, I'm fine. Here lemme help." I said turning my body so I could push the door with my feet. With him pulling and me pushing the door flew open and he backed away quickly, holding his gun as a precaution. "Are you okay?" He asked again scanning over my appearance. I grabbed my bag, knife, and fun and slowly climbed out of the car. "Yes. Thank you." I said slipping the gun in my belt before holding my hands up in surrender. "Frank, are they dead?" Another person asked from a distance. "No, she's alright." The guy, Frank, said putting his gun in the holder that was strapped to his thigh. I heard footsteps hitting against the pavement and a bunch of dudes came into view. Not one girl was to be seen. "Are you alone?" One of them asked. "Did you get bit?" "How did you get in there?" "Did you find any medical supplies?" "Alright! Alright one at a time. Don't frighten the poor girl." A man with faded red hair said. I smiled and he smiled back. "Okay, so Ray you can go first." The red hair man said looking to, who I could only guess, was Ray. "Did you find any medical supplies you're willing to share? Were quite low." He said furrowing his brows in concern and in question. "Um, yes. Just some pain killers though and I have more in my bag." I said pointing the the back bag that sat in my shoulders. "Okay, Will now you." He said pointing to a smaller kid. "How did you get in there?" He asked looking at the bloody car behind me. "Well, I turned the corner and found this jam and thought it would be the best place to wait it out." I said looking at the car behind me. "Now you, Bob." The red haired man finished, pointing to a larger man with blonde hair with a matching blonde beard. "Are you bit?" He asked roughly. It wasn't mean, it just sounded like he was tired or he yelled a lot. "No." I said simply. A simple answer for a simple question. "So you don't have a group or a partner?" Frank asked looking at me like he was still debating on trusting me or putting a bullet in my brain. "Nope, just me." Said crossing my heart to show I am being honest. "Do you have a place to camp out?" Frank asked adjusting the rifle that sat in his back. "No, I was trying to find one when the herd showed up." I said gesturing to all the dead ones on the ground. "Well, I say we take..." The red haired man looked back at me expectantly. "Gracie." I provided happily. "Thank you," he said nodding before turning back to his group. "I suggest we take Gracie back to camp with us." He said smiling as the other members nodded. "Would you wanna come back with us?" Frank asked looking to the red haired man then back to me. "Sure. I was just going to check these cars and be one my way but we can do that together now I guess. I have some medical supplies in my bag for you... Ray." I said trying out his name, feeling relief when he nodded making his brown curls bounce slightly. "Well, there's a lot of cars to go through so let's get started," The red haired man said. "By the way I'm Gerard, that's my brother Mikey, and you know Ray, Frank, Will, and Bob." He said gesturing to all the members of the group. I nodded and smiled around getting smiled back. I feel like I'm going it like it from here on out

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paradoxicalca · 5 years

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r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 4: Power Outage Edition

/r/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Oct 21, 2019 - Oct 27, 2019Thank YouThank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.RankersSpoilerOrganizersSpoilerVisualizationThe visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /r/hockey opinion.It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it hereProcessHow does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /r/hockey!Rankings (29/31 Rankers Reporting)Ranking (avg)TeamDeltaOverall RecordRecord This WeekComments1 (2.68)Colorado Avalanche-8-2-11-2-0Avs had two tough losses sandwiching a great win this week. They looked tired and sluggish in the losses while they dominated for the full 60 in the win. Hopefully the losses can be chalked up to a bit of exhaustion, but the Avs have to play at the level they brought against Vegas more often or they won't live up to their potential this season. The other good/bad news is Rantanen's injury while unfortunate should only really keep him out until December. It will be interesting to see how far our new depth will carry us with MacKinnon still leading the charge, he has a point in every game so far btw. Calder Update: Makar has had his minutes shifted a bit, but it has really benefited him he has started to look a lot more dangerous and managed his first goal and several posts this week. Also he is tied for the league lead in Rookie points with 10 in 11 games. In the loss against Anaheim he looked especially excellent and hopefully is starting to feel more comfortable.2 (2.77)Boston Bruins28-1-23-0-0The Bruins go on a 3-game win streak this week to stay competitive in the buzzsaw that is the Atlantic. Leafs Legend Tuukka Rask played in his 500th career game against the Leafs while noted Leafs-killer David Pastrnak got his 300th career point against them. The Bruins had some respite before their own tight schedule with 3 games in 4 nights. In a Finals rematch with the Blues, a testy game ends with Carlo getting an empty netter to blank the Blues and Mike Milbury reminiscing drafting Zdeno Chara. In a traveling back-to-back, the Bruins almost fell for the trap game when they took the foot off the gas in the yawning minutes of the game with some lazy play to the let the Rangers score a couple. The top line did fight over who would get the hattrick. Bergeron eventually won said battle with an empty netter. The Bruins will host the Sharks on Tuesday.3 (3.13)Buffalo Sabres-9-2-12-1-0Our competitive edge seems to have fallen off. We don't look nearly as dominant as the first few games of the season and our power play looks like it has been figured out by the rest of the league. We are still limiting high danger scoring chances against, yet also allowing high volume shot totals. Finding sustained offensive zone time has been challenging over the last few games, even against teams in the bottom half of the standings. Our goaltending has been fantastic and has consistently given us the chance to win. Brandon Montour looks like he will be joining the lineup for the first time this season and will be a welcome addition to an already much-improved D corps. Coming up this week we have Arizona and then a real test in a back to back weekend against two hot teams in the Capitals and the Islanders. Only Auston Matthews and Alex Ovechkin have more shots on net than Jeff Skinner.4 (5.32)Washington Capitals48-2-32-0-1An amazing comeback performance against Vancouver but after the last couple of weeks it may have been premature to name Samsonov as the next big goaltender. Not that he may not be but as of late Holtby has been playing much much better.5 (5.9)Edmonton Oilers-38-3-11-2-06 (7.06)Carolina Hurricanes-17-3-11-0-1Rough California trip and the Fair traffic took the wind out of the sales of the Hurricanes fans. An outstanding 4-0 win against the Hawks, and 2 shutouts by Mrazek are showing the line shuffling to be working.7 (8.1)New York Islanders68-3-03-0-0Things have picked up and they picked up fast. Proud owners of the NHL's longest winning streak (7 games) the Isles look great right now. They are doing this despite missing a few forwards (Eberle, Komarov, Kuhnhackl, and Martin). Eberle and Komarov should be back sooner than the other two, but they've shown their depth can step up and play good hockey. Barzal continues to dazzle, Nelson dominates in October, and Leddy has shown flashes of him at his best. Most importantly, Varlamov looks comfortable and is playing very well. Looking for the roster moves as the forwards get healthy will be interesting, with Wahlstrom seeing less and less minutes, its likely he is the first to go down.8 (8.97)Nashville Predators47-3-13-0-0Losing back to back games last week must've sparked something in the Preds, because they came out this week and absolutely dismantled the Ducks 6-1, and then recorded their first shutout of the year against the Wild. They did come back down to earth a bit against the Bolts, but were still able to pull out the win in OT; perhaps more importantly it was a game where Saros seemed to be shaking off his annual early season rust, posting his first W on the season. Special teams also hummed along nicely this week, somewhat making up for the abysmal numbers the week prior. On the less than stellar side of things, Forsberg continues to miss games with a mysterious lower body injury, one that is apparently contagious as Duchene now looks to be in the same state of limbo. This week is a 3 game home stand, including the first match-up of the Hawks season series and a Halloween showdown against the Flames.9 (10.03)Vegas Golden Knights-38-5-02-2-0Marc-Andre Fleury masked a lot of the team's mistakes earlier in the week but was exposed against Colorado what seems to be a wake up call for the team. The Golden Knights then turned around on Sunday allowing only 15 SOG while getting 49 of their own against the Ducks.10 (11.06)Pittsburgh Penguins-17-5-01-2-011 (11.71)Anaheim Ducks-47-6-01-3-0As the ducks cool off, the injuries have begun. Also made a trade for Gudbranson. Consistency is not a word painted in the ducks locker room.12 (11.94)Toronto Maple Leafs-26-5-21-2-1It's just a regular week for leafs fans - losing on the second half of a back-to-back, fans are angry with the coaching and lack of team effort, and losing on the second half of a back-to-back. Mike Babcock likes to have the starting goalie play the front half, to secure the two points, and "see what happens in the second". On Monday in Columbus, the Leafs failed to secure two points. A sloppy game ending with an OT penalty shot, losing 4-3. Next up, Tuesday against the Bruins. It went as well as most expected. The Leafs did not look good, a 4-2 loss. A bit of a bounce back on Friday, hosting the Sharks and letting up and early goal, the Leafs kept fighting (although they didn't fight Dillon after a questionable hit in the head on Matthews, forcing him to exit the game but he did return and scored), tying it late in the second and potting 3 goals in the final five minutes of the game to take two points in a 4-1 win. And then on the big Saturday night, the Leafs look pretty bad again, with Montreal beating them 5-2. Michael Hutchison (backup goalie) is 0-3-1, allowing 4+ goals in all 4 of his starts this season, all on the second half of back-to-backs. The Maple Leafs would probably like to upgrade their backup goaltender, but with the well-documented problem of limited cap space, it seems unlikely. Let's see how those big contracts are working out: Marner (6x10.893): 15pts in 13 GP, Matthews (5x11.634): PPG through 13GP including 9 goals. The Leafs will be getting some reinforcements possibly as soon as Tuesday in Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott (torn ACL and shoulder surgery), as they will make their season debuts, as well as John Tavares returning from a broken finger in a week or two.. Let's see if they'll turn it around.13 (12.39)Arizona Coyotes56-3-12-1-0Coyotes manage to attain 4 of 6 possible points this week, after finishing last week having attained 6 of 6. On Sunday night, the Yotes sit in the bottom wild card spot, but have played at minimum 2 less games than all of the teams ahead. The Coyotes D struggled a bit this week, finally allowing more than 2 goals against in a game; this is probably attributed to the Hjalmarson and Oesterle injuries. Regardless, the Yotes face a tough test as they conclude their road trip in Buffalo on Monday night.14 (12.94)Tampa Bay Lightning-35-3-21-0-1I was slightly hoping that Tampa would beat Nashville by 3 goals so that I could declare that Tampa Bay this year has a better goal differential in 10 games than last year but alas that was not in the cards. I think everyone expects Tampa to be the same as last year but that would be folly. They have implemented a new system and while it was slow to start the season it is starting to pay off some dividends 5 on 5. The system is designed in mind for the playoffs and this may result in some additional losses compared to last season as they get accustomed to it. That being said special teams play has been well below par and arguably was the real reason why Tampa had such an incredible season last year. As the team that finished with the #1 power play and penalty kill last season, #11 and #28 won’t cut it.15 (13.29)St. Louis Blues-6-3-33-1-0Perron, ROR, Schenn all look great to start. The rest of the team and general team play need to clean up though, but it's still really early in the season. These boys continue to show flashes of what made them the champs, and the question is less whether they'll make the playoffs and more just their seeding. It's a good time to be a Blues fan.16 (14.74)Vancouver Canucks26-3-11-0-1Horvat lead the Canucks to a spooky comeback against the Red Wings on Tuesday, and Friday night saw a performance that was somehow both scintillating and complacent, where the Canucks allowed the Capitals to climb back from a 3 goal deficit in the third. The good news is that people were upset about the loss instead of just being flippant like we might have seen during the last few years of misery. That means expectations have risen. Wait, what am I saying? People would be overreacting about a loss like that regardless of the team's playoff hopes. But it is a sobering reminder that this surging young team is still fragile, and no win is guaranteed. Either way, if they want to keep scoring 5 goals a game I'm not complaining.17 (17.55)Montreal Canadiens-35-4-21-1-0Though loss against the Sharks, but they always lose against them so no big suprises. Big win against the Leafs, showed how good they can be. As mentionned previously, they need consistency. That is all.18 (17.58)Calgary Flames-26-5-21-1-1Most fans are patiently waiting for the 2018/2019 regular season Flames to reappear, but they're still missing. The Flames are struggling to put in a full 60 minutes of effort and most of the team looks mediocre.. not bad, just mediocre.19 (18.81)Florida Panthers15-2-42-0-1It was a good week for the Panthers; some puck luck against the Pens, a terrible game that ended up as a OTL in Calgary, and a solid victory against the Oilers (f in chat for Mike Smith's balls). It's the start of a brutal road trip for the Panthers, so starting strong was very important.20 (19.06)Philadelphia Flyers25-4-13-1-0The flyers were fun to watch this week which means I am a happy ranker. Elliot played absolute beast mode for the 3 games we won. Hart is still looking in a slump even though we know he is better than how he is playing currently. Our lines are gelling and getting the results that our Advanced Stats(tm) said we should be getting. Hayes has been playing a lot better than his contract value is worth, arguably been our best player only next to TK or Lindblom. If we can get G and JVR and Snek going, and our defense doesnt decided to take certain nights off, we should be in good position to take on most any team in the league.21 (19.1)Winnipeg Jets-26-6-01-1-0Definitely a week to remember for the Jets, Plus number 1, no hometown hockey, man that show is terrible, Plus number 2, Helly is back looking like his former Vezina self, Plus number 3, scoring a goal in an outdoor game, and finally Plus number 4, winning the Heritage classic after getting screwed by a terrible call. We may have only gona 1-1 this week, but there is looks to look forward to with this team. If Helly continues to play like this, and the forwards can get their shooting percentage about 8%, this team may actually surprise a lot of people. Cheers22 (20.35)Columbus Blue Jackets-15-4-22-1-0After going 4-0-2, the Jackets drop an absolute blunder vs the Flyers that really show exposed the special teams pretty hard. The Jackets are easily one of, if not the worst, power play team in the past 3 seasons. 11.43% so far this year, 15.83% last year, 17.18% the year before that -- all well below the league average. For this team to be elite, this problem needs to be fixed about a season and a half ago.23 (23.87)San Jose Sharks14-7-11-2-1The Sharks are still looking to put things together. The defence and goaltending is looking better than the first couple of games, but the forwards are really struggling to get shots on goal. 5v5 play has been awful this season, and will need to improve a lot if the Sharks want to make the playoffs.24 (25.48)New York Rangers-13-5-11-1-1Decent week overall. We pushed the Coyotes to overtime, so that was cool. OT was rough though. Then we exploded and won 6-2 over the Sabres. This team is very young and very inconsistent, so we should expect the unexpected going forward.25 (25.65)Los Angeles Kings14-8-01-3-0Lots of talk about the Kings “trajectory” this season, especially considering they weren’t expected to do much at all. Decent start and Tmac is looking like a decent coaching choice.26 (25.94)Dallas Stars34-8-12-1-0Two steps in the right direction. One step back. It's better than our previous weeks. But we have ground to make up and it looks like we've made 0 progress towards the core issue - scoring. We're sitting at the lowest goals for per game played (1.92), and until that changes, we're not going to win consistently - no matter how great our goalies play. Hell, we actually looked good against the Penguins until things crumbled in the third. But looking good doesn't mean putting points on the board, and those points are the only way to get the W.27 (26.13)Chicago Blackhawks-23-5-21-2-1The Hawks went 2-3-2 on their 7-game home stand and start a 4-game road trip Tuesday. The Hawks scored 2 goals in 3 games before Sunday. The PP has gone 1 for the last 26. Crawford's 58.8 SV% on the PK is the worst in the NHL. Toews, Keith, and Seabrook are without a 5-on-5 point this season. And Toews and Seabrook have both played poorly defensively. Seabrook was a healthy scratch Sunday. Strome was in the doghouse, and Cat joined him Sunday. But they responded by scoring 3 goals. The Top 6 has not worked. The line of Saad-Kampf-Kubalik has been the best line (even after Nylander replaced Saad Saturday). Dach played well, earning his first NHL goal, but hasn't earned significant playing time.28 (27.55)Minnesota Wild34-7-02-1-0The good: The Wild are 3-1 at home. The bad: The Wild are 1-6 on the road. The ugly: The Wild have 6 of their next 7 on the road. The uglier: Whoever was in charge of creating the schedules this season. The ugliest: Devan Dubnyk's 3.92 GAA and .880 SV%, prompting the question every struggling team loves to answer - is there a goalie controversy to add to the dumpster fire?29 (28.45)New Jersey Devils-12-5-20-1-0Well, we only had one game this week and we lost. We didn't even play horribly, all of our mistakes just seemed to get amplified and turn into goals. On the positive side, Hughes is starting to score and we can only hope this is a sign of things to come.30 (28.61)Detroit Red Wings-33-8-10-3-1Today’s regular scheduled blurb will be replaced with a prospects update as that is the only thing worth watching in the Detroit Red Wings organization after an eight straight loss. Moritz Seider is looking comfortable in the AHL despite being only eighteen, impressing his coaches and being rewarded with around 19 to 20 minutes per game. He makes his plays and when he makes a mistake he is quick to fix it by the next shift. Robert Mastrosimone, a 2nd round from this years draft, is climbing the BU roster thanks to an effective work ethic. Rasmussen is slowly improving as a Center in the AHL and he is learning how to use his body to his advantage. Zadina and Veleno haven’t been tearing it up like we all want them too but they are getting their chances and they are clearly having fun competing every game. The Red Wings are going to be a dangerous team in two or three years. The Yzerplan was never an overnight fix, but at least we can see the path to greatness ahead!31 (29.84)Ottawa Senators-13-7-12-2-0(I'm writing this in advance on Friday since there's a very real chance I won't be able to update my rankings on Sunday) A morale win versus the ice-cold Red Wings was a nice deviation from our usual tanking pattern. Fortunately, Losses against the Stars (where Nilsson played like a god) and Islanders (where Nilsson looked like a mere mortal at best) have kept the Sennies Tank Extravaganza firmly in 31st overall at time of writing. Hopefully the Sharks don't choke in Canada's capital so this continues to be the case as we head into a 6-day stretch without a single game in sight...thanks NHL schedulers? r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 4: Power Outage Edition Source

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buddyrabrahams · 6 years

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15 biggest disappointments of NFL Week 14

Whether it was a matter of players going down with injuries, failing to produce, or teams blowing games, there were plenty of disappointments in Week 14 of the NFL. We saw the Browns do their usual thing, a fight between a player and fans in Jacksonville, and even league officials not protecting a player the way they should have.

Here’s a look at the 15 biggest disappointments from Week 14.

Cleveland Browns

This was it. This was the chance. The Browns were at home and entered the fourth quarter with a 21-7 lead on the Green Bay Packers. Brett Hundley isn’t exactly an outstanding quarterback, and it seemed unlikely that he’d be able to drag the Packers back from two scores down. This is the Browns, though, and with the Browns all things are possible as long as they’re negative things. A game-tying touchdown with 17 seconds left was followed by a horrible DeShone Kizer overtime interception, and that was that. 0-16 seems more likely than ever.

Derek Carr, QB, Raiders

Carr and the Raiders finally had a chance to make up for most of their tumultuous season. They had the Kansas City Chiefs head-to-head with the opportunity to move ahead of them in the standings — a scenario that seemed impossible even a month ago. The Chiefs’ defense hadn’t been performing well, which should have led to Carr feasting. He didn’t. He was picked off twice while throwing for 211 yards and one touchdown. They didn’t score in the game until garbage time, which was also where he ran up his yardage total. How bad was Carr? He fell on the sword for his performance in this one.

NFL concussion protocol — again

The sight of Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage twitching on the field was shocking and frightening. His response to a big hit seemed like possible symptom of a traumatic brain injury, and Savage did come out of the game to go through the concussion protocol. That worked as designed until Savage was somehow allowed to return to the game minutes later before ultimately being pulled again for good. The NFL simply must answer as to how someone who was visibly shaking on the field in plain sight of a referee walked back on the field a few moments later after receiving medical clearance. How can anyone say the system works if something like that can happen right in front of everyone, especially when it happens far too regularly?

LeGarrette Blount, RB, Eagles

Blount had a second straight down week, this time against the Los Angeles Rams. Jay Ajayi hasn’t exactly been great for Blount’s personal production, as the former Miami Dolphin got the bulk of the action — and the yardage — in Week 14. Blount only got seven carries and didn’t make good on them, coming up with only 12 total yards. Ajayi looks like he might be taking over the lead back role, which will be disappointing to Blount, who has done serviceable work this year.

Marcus Mariota, QB, Titans

Coach Mike Mularkey admitted after the Titans’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals that his quarterback was playing on an injured knee, which explains a lot. Mariota was bad again on Sunday, throwing for only 159 yards and no scores in the loss. He turned the ball over twice, and those interceptions were key in allowing Arizona to win the game. Mariota has been on this list quite a bit recently. Perhaps his health — he’s dealt with hamstring and knee injuries this season — is a reason why.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Redskins

Cousins on Sunday became the latest victim of a steadily improving Los Angeles Charger defense. Cousins went 15-for-27 for only 151 yards, throwing one touchdown and one fairly brutal interception. The Redskins are more or less done at 5-8, so this wasn’t a particularly damaging defeat, but Cousins has a lot to play for. He’s due to become a free agent. And while opinions are pretty well baked in on him at this point, he can’t afford to struggle too much down the stretch.

Ending of Jaguars-Seahawks game

Seattle has, at times in the past, not exactly lost with grace and class. That happened again on Sunday. Things really kicked off when Michael Bennett inexplicably went for the low block as the Jaguars moved into their victory formation. Things got worse, though, as Jacksonville fans began throwing things at Quinton Jefferson, which nearly sparked an all-out brawl. Nobody really came out looking good at the end of this one.

Jimmy Graham, TE, Seahawks

Seattle’s touchdown machine suddenly stopped working on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Graham enteredd the game hot, having scored at least one touchdown in four consecutive games and seven of his last eight. Not only did he not score a touchdown on Sunday, but Graham was held without a reception for the first time in three years. Ultimately, Russell Wilson was simply looking elsewhere, and the Jaguars did a good job — not that it’ll be any consolation to him.

Latavius Murray, RB, Vikings

Minnesota’s eight-game win streak was halted by the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and the fact that they were able to bottle up the Viking run game was a big reason why. Murray has been a consistently strong contributor to the Minnesota offense since roughly October, but he didn’t get it going here, with only 14 yards on nine carries. That forced Case Keenum to make plays. The QB couldn’t quite make enough, resulting in Minnesota’s first defeat since Oct. 1.

Greg Olsen, TE, Panthers

Olsen was back in action against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, but didn’t have much to offer. He had one brief moment where he left the game to have his problematic foot checked, but he returned to action. Even so, he was targeted only once and didn’t make any catches. Minnesota limited Carolina’s passing game, but the issue of Olsen and Cam Newton not quite being in sync dates back to his first attempt to return from injury. Hopefully it’s just a rust issue.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals had been playing pretty good ball over the past month. They had beaten the Broncos and Browns, and they were leading the Steelers on Monday Night Football until blowing that game. They had a good opportunity to inch back into contention with a matchup against the Bears at home, and they blew it. The Bengals allowed 33 points to what was one of the league’s least productive offense entering the game. They surrendered 482 yards to a team that entered the game last in the league with 275.8 yards per game. They allowed 232 rushing yards and couldn’t stop Jordan Howard or Tarik Cohen, who both had big games. On offense, Andy Dalton couldn’t get anything going, while A.J. Green did very little. Overall, the injuries from Monday night’s brutal game against Pittsburgh may have caught up to Cincinnati in this one.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense

Just like the Bengals, the Steelers may have been feeling the effects of a rough Monday night game. Pittsburgh, previously the No. 4-ranked scoring defense, allowed 38 points to a pretty pathetic Baltimore offense. They couldn’t stop Alex Collins, who rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown. Joe Flacco tied a season high in passing yards. The defense didn’t record a sack in the game despite being second in the league in sacks entering the contest. Luckily their offense was able to outscore Baltimore. They sure look like they already miss Ryan Shazier.

Dontae Johnson, CB, 49ers

DeAndre Hopkins turned in one of the biggest games of the weekend for a wide receiver with 11 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns. He can partly thank Dontae Johnson for that. Pro Football Focus graded Johnson out at a lowly 26.8 out of 100. They say he allowed nine catches out of 10 balls to his zone for 140 yards and a touchdown. On top of that, he was called for three penalties. He simply could not hang with Nuk.

New York Giants’ defense

The Giants entered Week 14 allowing the most yards per game in the NFL (390.8), so seeing them give up big plays is somewhat expected. Still, what happened on Sunday was just unforgivable. The Giants’ defense allowed three plays of 50 yards or more to the Dallas Cowboys. Rod Smith had an 81-yard touchdown; Dez Bryant had a 50-yard TD; and Cole Beasley broke a 54-yard play. These plays mostly came on catches and runs where the Giants’ linebackers and secondary just allowed Dallas’ receivers/backs to get behind them. That’s been the story of the season for the Giants’ defense, and it’s an embarrassing one.

Sterling Shepard, WR, Giants

Eli Manning’s return to the starting role didn’t end up doing much for Shepard, who was suffocated by the Dallas defense. He got three targets and caught two of them for a total of 16 yards, his second-worst game of the season and worst output overall in two months. The Cowboys were up for this one, and Shepard was always going to have a rough time, but this was a really disappointing showing — especially when you consider that he and Manning have linked up nicely this year.

from Larry Brown Sports http://ift.tt/2AudIGs

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