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chiliiscereal · 3 years

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Rottmnt headcanon:

The boys with an S/o that’s terrible at basketball

Raphael:

-sweetest boi when he finds out you’re terrible at basketball

-surprised you hadn’t even mentioned it before

-“did you think I’d make fun of you? Raph doesn’t make fun of people for not knowin’ how to do somethin’!”

-offers to teach you one on one

-denied every time

-basketball isn’t something you felt you could learn!

-“please let me teach you!”

-“no.”

-“pleaaaaaaseeee?”

-“no.”

-after weeks of bugging and bugging he finally gets you to say yes

-Definitely invested in making sure you learn how to play right

-this guy will pull up YouTube videos and NBA clips just so you can become an expert on the game

-will take you to the basketball court at night

-brings water for the both of you to every practice

-is the type of guy to stand behind you and correct how you’re holding the ball before you try to take your shot

-does whatever it takes to make sure Leo isn’t there while you’re learning and progressing

-will even hide that he’s teaching you in the first place

-trust him, Leo can sniff out amateur basketball players

-“Leo’s just gonna rub his skills in your face! Trust me, you don’t want him to know.”

-loves how far you’ve come and will celebrate every little victory you make

-will go easy on you when you have your first 1 v 1

-he’s the biggest cheerleader whenever you score, even if it’s against him

-never once makes fun of you for tripping over your feet or for your lousy aiming

-after a few more games against him, you finally won

-sure it was by one point but that’s okay!

-this boy lifts you off your feet in a huge bear hug to celebrate your victory

-finally, you’re ready to be involved in a turtle family game

-Raph will make sure you’re on his team so he can pass you the ball and let you show off how good you’ve gotten

-feels a sense of pride whenever you get a basket

-especially when it’s YOU dancing in Leo’s face once the game has been won

Leonardo:

-oh boy you’re really in for it

-you knew from the start of your relationship that Leo was amazing at basketball

-you ALSO knew he was a huge gloater and loved teasing people

-you didn’t need to be Einstein to figure that out

-you didn’t want him to know that you were terrible at it!

-“wanna play with us? You can be on myyyyyy teaaaaaam~”

-“Sorry can’t play! I twisted my ankle earlier!”

-“hey we need another player!”

-“I just remembered I have to be at a birthday party in like, two minutes.”

“Donnie quit wanna take his place?”

-“I think Splinter needs help organizing his ‘do not touch’ shelf. You guys go ahead!”

-it never bothered Leo

-well... not at first

-you would stay and watch their games only to jet once he invited you onto the court!

-he began to pressure you to play

-that includes begging, dragging you to the court, and even picking you up and physically placing you there himself

-it was easier just to give in

-you decided you’d just play a game and get it over with

-maybe even just sticking to passing it to other people

-...until Leo picked up on it and started passing you the ball more often

-especially when you were close to hoop

-“you got this babe!”

-he realized moments after you took the shot that you very much did NOT

-the ball fell short of the hoop by about three feet

-oh you never heard the end of it from there

-at the next game you guys played, he made sure to be on the other team

-“ready to smoke y/n, Donnie?”

-“you mean ‘am I ready for you to bounce the ball off my face again?’

-“yeah!”

-“then no.”

-“that’s EXACTLY what I wanna hear!”

-Leo made sure you were involved in the game the whole time

-it didn’t help your pride when he assigned himself the position of guarding you

-lots and lots of showing off

-even jumping over you to slam dunk it

-you, Mikey, and Raph didn’t stand a chance

-you had enough when Leo won and started dancing

-“I’m just... I’m just gonna head home. It’s getting late anyway.”

-he ran after you right away

-“hey what’s wrong? You didn’t have fun?”

-“kind of hard to have fun when you’re constantly shoving how bad I am in my face!”

-“it’s just how I play the game!”

-“Leo, I love you, but when you act like that then I don’t enjoy playing the game.”

-trying to walk away from him after that proved an impossible task

-“look, I’m sorry okay? I didn’t mean for you to feel that way! I just wanted you to see how good I was. That’s all.”

-turns out it’s very hard to stay mad at Leo

-especially when he’s got your hand in his and giant sad puppy eyes

-“alright, I forgive you.”

Donatello:

-initially thought you were just being humble when you said you were terrible

-you were probably just trying to make him feel better about himself

-you saw how he played!

-but...he was very very wrong

-he first found out how bad you really were when Leo invited you to play a game with them at the court that night

-you really were terrible

-he watched you shoot the ball only for it to go about five feet off course

-torn between feeling bad for you when Leo gloats and feeling happy that he’s not the only one that sucks at the game

-pulls you away from Leo before you can deck him in the face

-“hey hey hey there’s time to punch him later.”

-doesn’t bring up how much you suck at basketball

-he knows it’s not fun

-“oh I didn’t even notice! No, not even when you accidentally passed the ball to Leo. Nope.”

-instead, will try to draw the attention away from you

-everyone already knows he’s terrible at the game, and since they’re brothers, he’ll be an easier and more desirable target for teasing

-won’t even bother trying to aim when you’re around

-shouts “transfer it!” Even if he’s being guarded

-you know what he’s doing though

-“are you doing that on purpose?”

-“why would I do such a thing? I would never!”

-“you totally are!”

-“I’m offended you would suggest such a thing.”

-becomes a silent competition to see who can be the worst at basketball

-knowing Donnie, he’s not gonna go down without a fight

-but neither are you

-everyone feels bad for Mikey for always being stuck on a team with you two

-well, sucks to be him

-maybe Mikey should actually figure out how to play Rock Paper Scissors when you’re all deciding teams

-all that matters to your two though is that you’re both having fun being terrible together

Mikey:

-didn’t even realize you were bad at it to be honest

-sure, you missed the hoop by like a mile every game, but he never said anything about it!

-only realized your terrible when you actually bring it up

-“did you see the way Donnie practically tripped over his own two feet last night? It was INSANE, baby!”

-“I didn’t, I was kind of too busy tripping on my shoelaces.”

“Oh I didn’t see that. Are you okay?”

-“yeah I’m fine.”

-“how’d you trip over your shoelaces anyway? Weren’t they tied?”

-“they were... but I somehow found a way to trip over them. I’m terrible at the game, babe.”

“What? Psh, no way!”

-loves being on your team anyway

-it’s bonding!

-he’d never miss out on an opportunity to bond

-adores being on the opposite team and purposely dropping the ball for you to grab

-he’s just giving you an opportunity to get better!

-but, what he loves more, is working with you on the same team

-you’re both shorter than the rest of the turtle family, so naturally you both decided to create a technique

-he gets to crouch down, you jump on his back, and he launches you toward the hoop for you to slam dunk!

-it works most of the time

-key word: most

-the rest of the time in ends in a couple bruises and a lot of laughter

-this boy won’t let Leo even get a word out about you being terrible

-and Leo knows better

-he’s had too many run ins with doctor delicate touch in past experiences

-Mikeys always there to listen to you complaining about Leo as well

-even makes ‘after game snacks’ for the two of you while you rage about Leo’s dancing

-looks like Leo has another appointment booked with doctor delicate touch

#rottmnt mikey #rottmnt x reader #rottmnt raph #rottmnt oneshots #rottmnt leo #rottmnt imagine #rottmnt headcannons #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #wattpad #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt

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drabbles-mc · 3 years

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Take A Little Ride

Angel Reyes x F!Reader

Request from @bishopslosawife: What if one of the Mayans’ S/O was an NFR professional barrel rider from the south? Like S/O plans a trail ride for everyone to get them to relax and someone recognizes her and asks her to show off her moves? Maybe S/O has a horse boarding at the stable?

Warnings: language

Word Count: 4.3k

A/N: (Sorry if this is the second time you’re seeing this fic! I’ve had some issues with posts disappearing from my blog and the tags and I’m trying to get everything back on track haha.) I know we talked about this fic forever ago, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since lol. We threw around a lot of ideas and I tried to fit as many into this fic as possible without it feeling cluttered. Also, I know this is technically an Angel fic, but we get to see a lot of our boys in this story. Hope you enjoy! xo

Angel Taglist: @mayans-sauce @encounterthepast @helli4nthus @lilacyennefer @angelreyesgirl @everyhowlmarksthedead @starrynite7114 @rosieposie0624 @queenbeered @mylittlelonelyappreciationtoo @sincerelyasomebody @mijop @sadeyesgf @xladymacbethx @thesandbeneathmytoes @blessedboo @appropriate-writers-name @holl2712 @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @multiyfandomgirl40 @sillygoose6969 @beardburnsupersoldiers @louisianalady @gemini0410 @paintballkid711 @chibsytelford @yourwonkywriter @sesamepancakes @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @georgiaaintnopeach @plentyoffandoms @twistnet @themoonandthewicked @garbinge @bucky-iss-bae @enjoy-the-destruction

“Oh come on,” you pleaded as you sat in Angel’s lap, “It would be so fun!”

He chuckled, shaking his head, “Yea, for you maybe. I’d have no fuckin’ clue what to do.”

“It’s really not that hard,” you reassured him.

EZ sat down across from the two of you, “What is Angel fighting you about now?” he smirked.

You laughed, “I was saying that we should go for a trail ride sometime soon—all of us. It’s such a good way to unwind.”

“What’s the issue then?” he was clearly confused.

“She means a horseback trail ride, Boy Scout,” Angel piped in with a shake of his head before returning his gaze to you, “Anyone besides you and Taza even know how to ride?”

You paused, trying to think back on your conversations with everyone. Truthfully, now that he said it out loud, you couldn’t say for certain if any of the guys knew how to ride. You didn’t want to cop to that, but you weren’t a good liar, “I have no idea,” you chuckled, “I mean for some reason I wanna say that at one point Riz said something to me about it but I’m not sure. You guys could learn, though! It’s not like we’d be competing or anything, just a nice mellow trip. Like a hike! Besides, it’d be good for you boys to learn something new.”

“Y/N,” Angel started, “I’m not gonna fu—”

EZ cut him off, “I’m game,” he was genuinely interested, but he also loved being a little bit of an instigator when it came to things like this between you and Angel.

Your eyes lit up, “Yea?”

“Bro,” Angel shook his head, “What the fuck?”

“Put it to a vote!” you said excitedly, “That’s what y’all do, right?”

EZ laughed, nodding, “Yea, that’s exactly what we do.”

“What, we gonna go to Templo for this?” it was getting more and more difficult for Angel to keep a straight face.

“We’ll do it right here,” you leaned forward and grabbed your empty beer bottle off the table, rapping it on the wooden surface a few times to get everyone’s attention, “Hey! Boys! I have an offer for ya.”

If Angel had the ability to melt into the couch cushions, he would’ve. The guys could see the look on his face and it only made them more interested in what you were going to say. EZ was sitting back with a smug grin, extremely invested in where this was all going to go.

“What’s the offer?” Taza asked with a soft smile.

“So,” you got up off Angel’s lap, “I know y’all have had a rough couple of weeks. And I think it’d be good for everyone to get out and unwind,” they were all nodding along in agreement so far, “I just so happen to know of a really great ranch about forty minutes North of here. What would you guys say to a day trip and a trail ride? Switch things up a little.”

Taza’s response was immediate, “Sounds good to me.”

You could see the apprehension on some of their faces, so you tried to reassure them, “If you don’t know how to ride, they give you a rundown of the basics. Plus, the horses that they have there are all push-button—absolute gems.”

“How do you know about this place?” Bishop couldn’t help but to ask.

“I’ve been boarding my horse there since I moved to Cali,” you paused, “So, what d’you say?”

Sure enough, everyone started to speak up in agreement. You had never felt so excited. You looked back at Angel, who was shaking his head trying not to crack a smile. He had a feeling it was going to go this way.

“Majority vote,” Bishop said with a laugh, “It passes.”

“Yay!” you clapped, “Alright, I’ll call and get it all set up for this week. It’s gonna be so much fun, trust me.”

As the week passed by, Angel and a few of the other guys asked you questions about just what exactly they had gotten themselves into. They all knew that you rode, but they never thought it would have any crossover with their lives.

You all met up at the clubhouse late Saturday morning. You had your jeans and boots on, along with a tank top. You’d packed a backpack with water bottles and a few snacks, as well as your riding helmet. There was a palpable sense of excitement in the air, along with nervousness.

“You guys might not wanna take the bikes,” you warned with a laugh, “Your legs might be a little sore afterwards.”

They all stood and thought about it for a moment before deciding to take your word for it. They split up and piled into the few trucks they had, allowing you to lead the way since none of them knew where you were going. It was one of the very few times that Angel ever rode shotgun and let you take the wheel. You’d seen EZ crack a smile as his brother begrudgingly handed you the keys.

You rolled into your parking spot at the ranch, instantly jumping out of the truck once it was in park. The rest of the guys weren’t far behind, their vehicles falling into line with yours. You waited for them all and then waved for them to follow you as you confidently strode across the grounds to the barns. A few of the other people there smiled and waved to you, recognizing you from your frequent trips there.

The man who ran the ranch came out of one of the barns, arms out wide as he approached you, “Y/N, so good to see you,” he gave you a hug, “I was excited when they told me about your call.”

“Who’s this fuckin’ guy?” Angel murmured to EZ under his breath, elbowing him when he saw his brother trying to bite back a laugh.

You hadn’t heard the exchange, but you turned around to introduce everyone regardless, “Boys, this is Matthew—owner of this fine establishment and also one of the first people to help me settle in when I moved here to California. Matthew, this is my crew,” you laughed, “Best group of troublemakers you’ll ever meet.”

He laughed, nodding in acknowledgment, “Gentlemen, it’s a pleasure. I’m here to help and get you guys up and running, but you’re in good hands with Y/N here. She knows the trails out here like the back of her hand.”

“Well,” you chuckled, “I wasn’t gonna say it, but he’s totally right,” you clapped, “Let’s get you boys all saddled up and ready to go!”

It was refreshing to see them a little out of their element, with the exception of Taza, and surprisingly enough Coco seemed rather comfortable in the barn. You didn’t comment on it, wanting to see just how much he knew. But so far he had gotten all his tack on without much of an issue, and he seemed really comfortable with the horse they had provided for him.

You went back and forth with the guys about wearing helmets. Angel was adamant that he would be fine without one, “You’re not even gonna wear one! Or Taza!”

You laughed, “And when you’ve clocked as many hours as we have, you won’t have to wear one either. But for now, you’re gonna have to. Deal with it.”

“Yea,” EZ chuckled as he clipped his on, “Gotta save all the braincells that you can.”

“Shut up,” Angel shoved him as they both broke down in laughter.

Your horse was waiting patiently in her stall, all tacked up and ready to go. You were thankful that she was so mellow and patient, because you didn’t have to worry about her while you got everyone else situated. Up until that point, you had never realized just how diverse the ranch was when it came to breeds of horses. Most of them were rescues in some capacity, bought at auction when they weren’t competition or breeding material anymore, but they still made great companions, especially for beginners.

The fact that Taza let the boys struggle on their own a bit wasn’t lost on you. He was already perched atop his horse, waiting for the rest of them to get their acts together. You were certain that it was the most entertained that he had been in a while—you could see it in his eyes. To make up for the lack of Taza’s guidance, you were running around helping however you could.

“C’mon,” Coco taunted as he hoisted himself up onto his horse with ease, “What’s takin’ you guys so long?”

“Since when do you know anything about horses?” Angel said with a hint of bitterness to his voice.

“Psh, you don’t know everything about me, ‘mano. Don’t worry about it.”

Once everyone was on and ready to go, you finally went back to bring your own horse out. She was waiting patiently as ever in her stall. You slid the door open and stepped inside, gently resting your forehead against hers. It was exciting to be able to share this part of your life with all of them, even if it was going to be a little extra chaotic the first time around. You hoped, though, that they would enjoy it enough to want to come back and do it again. You thought that it would be good for them, because it certainly was for you.

You led your horse out of the barn, not that you really needed to be holding onto her reins anyway—she’d follow you wherever you went almost without question. You had her stop so you could slip your foot into your stirrup and hoist yourself onto her. The guys looked on in slight awe, not able to believe that it was so easy for someone of your height to climb up that easily onto a horse that was so tall.

Once you were situated in your stirrups and adjusted your backpack, you turned and looked around at your crew with a wide smile on your face, “Everyone feel like they sorta know what they’re doing? Matthew give you an overview of the basics?” there were various mumbled of agreement as they nodded their heads and you had to laugh, “You’ll be fine. Just remember, gentle on the reins—it’s attached to their mouths. Squeeze with your legs and nudge with your heels if you wanna go faster. These horses are super well trained so you shouldn’t need to kick, or be loud with them at all. Just use a clear voice,” you paused, “We should probably do a couple laps around the arena first before I take you guys off-roading,” you laughed, “Follow me.”

Admittedly, you were pretty impressed at how well the guys were picking it up. A lot of it had to do with the horses that they were riding, but still. It was the first time you could ever remember Bishop seeming out of his element and you had to admit that you found it amusing. Angel and Gilly found themselves struggling together while EZ practically rode laps around them, of course.

“Show-off,” Angel said with a laugh and a shake of his head as he shifted slightly in his saddle.

“You’re just mad because I’m already good,” EZ chuckled as he made his way over to where you and Taza were watching the rest of them.

Once you started making your way towards the trail, you and Coco found yourselves side by side. You glanced over at him and had to smile at how comfortable he seemed. For a man who seemed to be a little jumpy at baseline, he seemed really calm.

“I have to admit,” you said as you glanced back to make sure you didn’t lose anyone yet, “you surprised me a little bit with all of this,” you gestured to him and the horse.

He laughed, “Yea, I’m full of fuckin’ surprises.”

“You ride for a long time?”

He shrugged, “Not in a while. Started when I finished my four years. One of the guys who came back with me told me to try out equine therapy. Seemed kinda pointless but I really wasn’t in a position to be sayin’ no to anything—I was pretty fucked up. And it helped. Stopped when I started getting in with the club.”

You nodded, unable to hide how invested you were in everything that he was telling you, “Got it. That why the guys didn’t know?”

“Yea. Plus, they don’t gotta know everything,” he chuckled.

The topic fell by the wayside as the group of you continued on your little adventure. It was peaceful, and it was nice to hear all of them laughing and joking around with each other. You felt like you were constantly turning around to make sure that you hadn’t lost track of anyone, but you really didn’t mind it. It was hard to not be a little amused at how out of sorts Angel still seemed. The downside of being as tall and lanky as he was, is that it’s impossible to miss when he is feeling uncomfortable or out of his comfort zone. It was written all over his body language.

You looped around so you could land yourself next to him. You smiled over at him as he focused intensely on his reins, “Still getting the hang of it?”

“You guys make it look so easy.”

You laughed, “We’ve got years of practice. You’ll pick it up.”

“Gilly wants to know why he’s the only one that didn’t get a horse,” Angel laughed.

You chuckled and shook your head, “Mules are great, he’s got nothing to complain about. They’re strong, and smart, and a little stubborn but that’s just like the rest of you guys so it should be fine.”

“I know I’m not good at this shit,” he shifted slightly in his saddle, “and I dunno if I ever will be. But it’s nice to see you enjoying yourself like this. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen you like this.”

You smiled, feeling your face get warm, “Well, now you know,” you paused, laughing, “Plus I think this is one of the only times that I’ve been better than you at something.”

“Couldn’t let it be a sweet moment, could you?”

You chuckled, “Is this how you feel all the time with me?”

“I’m not better than you at everything, querida. Stop bein’ dramatic,” he smiled.

“Cooking and horseback riding are the two things I definitely have over you. And I’m holding onto those for dear life,” you laughed.

“I’ll let you have them. Just for you, I promise I won’t get any better at this.”

��For me?” you pressed a hand to your chest with a smile, “You’re too sweet.”

You nudged your horse onward so you could get back to the front of the pack. You’d ridden the trails hundreds of times but they never got any less beautiful. They were different than where you used to ride back home but the change was nice. The trail that you had taken them on was one of the easier ones—no crazy inclines or anything like that. It was a slow but steady ride up one of the smaller peaks that surrounded the ranch. The view from the top was beautiful—you could see for miles. You had a feeling that the guys were going to love it.

“We’re almost to the top,” you called back over your shoulder.

Within a few minutes, the whole group of you had made it to the clearing at the top of the peak. They were all letting out their own murmurs of approval and you felt so proud of yourself. A few of them hopped down, wanting to get a little closer to the cliff edge so they could look down over it. There was nothing but the sound of the breeze and the screaming of the birds while you all stayed there and took in the view. It was the most peace that they’d probably felt in a while.

“Pretty great, right?” you looked over at Angel, who had managed to guide his horse to they were right next to you.

He nodded, “Beautiful. Had no idea any of this was out here.”

“This is what I used to do with pretty much all of my free time when I first moved here, back before I really knew anyone.”

“You gave this shit up to hang out with us?” Angel chuckled as he gestured to the rest of the guys.

You laughed, shaking your head, “I didn’t give it up. I still come out here at least once every weekend, if not more during the week if work allows for it. I still make the time.”

“I love you,” he had a starry look in his eyes as he gazed over at you.

You smiled, “I love you too. Thanks for doing this—I know you weren’t really all that thrilled about it.”

“I’m glad I did. It’s nice to see something that means so much to you.”

After a few more minutes of lingering, chatting, and getting photos of everyone, it was time to complete the loop and head back towards the ranch. You were glad that the guys had pacified you and allowed you to do a little impromptu photoshoot of them with their horses—it was a moment that you wanted to remember. They were quite the diverse pack and you couldn’t help but to smile.

The ride back down was smooth. It was evident that for the most part, the guys were starting to feel more comfortable in their saddles. There weren’t as many, “oh fuck’s” said under their breath. There was a little more talking and joking going on and it made your heart feel fuller.

Cutting through the quietness of the trail was Angel’s voice, “Shit, fuck, oh fuck,” he wasn’t yelling but you could tell that he was worried.

You whipped your head around to see what was wrong, and you had to bite back your laughter as you watched the scene that was playing out. Angel’s horse had bumped up from a walk to a jog and clearly it wasn’t Angel’s doing. The panic that was on his face was priceless. Realistically, the horse wasn’t even going that fast, but it was enough to send Angel into panic mode.

“I’m just gonna fuckin’ jump off.”

You laughed, “Do not jump off. Just apply a little pressure to the reins and tell him to walk. He should slow right down. They don’t understand curse words.”

He did as you instructed, and sure enough the horse dropped right back down to a leisurely walk. You were trying not to laugh but the rest of the guys weren’t as kind and forgiving as you. You knew that that was going to be something that he wasn’t going to be living down anytime soon.

The rest of the descent was uneventful. The whole squad made it back down to the base of the trail unscathed. You hopped down off your horse and began to help all of them to do the same. You told them where to go and put all of their tack once they took it off, and also told them that if they could walk their horses for a couple minutes just to help cool them down it would be appreciated. It wasn’t the most intensive ride but it would still be good for them. Besides, it would be good for the guys and their legs too.

You were getting ready to bring your horse in when a girl came walking up to you, trying to politely get your attention. She couldn’t have been more than seventeen or eighteen. Her t-shirt and jeans were streaked with dirt but there was a giant smile on her face as she walked up to you and your horse.

“Hi, excuse me, are you Y/N?” her voice was quiet, shy.

You nodded, slightly confused, “I am. Everything alright?”

“Yea! I just, um, god sorry I don’t mean to be weird. I used to watch you race, though. I went to almost every NFR circuit event for a few years back when we still lived in Nevada. They said you moved but I had no idea it was here and I,” she stopped herself, “Sorry, I’m rambling.”

You shook your head, smiling, “Don’t be sorry. I don’t think I’ve ever had a fan before,” you laughed.

“Well that’s not true,” the girl laughed. She paused for a few moments, “Would it…would it be weird to ask if I could see you do a run?”

You raised your eyebrows, “A barrel run?”

She nodded excitedly, “Yea.”

You laughed, “I mean, I don’t see why not. I’m a little out of practice but I think we can still manage it,” you patted your horse on the shoulder.

“Oh my god this is so cool. The big arena inside is already set up—I just finished my lesson.”

The two of you walked together, your horse following behind without you having to hold too tightly on the reins. You listened to her gush and talk about riding and it made you miss what it felt like to be training for competitions. You didn’t regret stepping back from it to live the life that you have now, but there was nothing quite like that rush of adrenaline.

The guys had heard the entire interaction and all of them had since gotten their own horses situated so they could come and see what was about to happen. EZ and Angel were leaning against the side of the arena, their voices carrying in the echo chamber it created.

“You know she used to compete?” EZ asked as he watched you hop back up onto your horse.

“Yea, I mean, she mentioned it,” Angle replied, “Didn’t know that she was a fuckin’ celebrity, though.”

“Paparazzi is gonna show up any minute,” Bishop materialized next to them, chiming in with a laugh.

You settled into your saddle, getting both you and your horse positioned so that you could start your run. You could tell that she felt the shift in energy as the two of you stood at the entrance to the arena. You could feel her starting to get a little antsy, a little wound up. It had been a long time since you ran the pattern, but you had no doubt that it would be like riding a bike for the two of you.

As soon as you nudged her with the heel of your boot, your horse took off. You couldn’t stop the laughter that erupted out of you as she flew around the first barrel, gliding seamlessly into the turn. You could faintly hear the guys from the sideline over the sound of the wind in your ears. You felt your hat fly off your head and you didn’t even care. You’d almost forgotten how fun it was to neck-rein at that high of a speed.

You looped around the second barrel, and the third, and your horse all but flew down the center of the pattern as she ran out of the arena. You sat back in your saddle, trying to get her to slow down but you didn’t really want her to. It had to have felt just as good for her as it did for you—the two of you hadn’t done more than a light canter in a while and she was clearly itching to get out some pent-up energy.

Finally she slowed to a walk as you turned her around to head back towards the arena. The young girl came running out of the building with a huge smile on her face, your hat hanging from her fingertips.

“That was so cool!” she handed your hat back to you.

You hopped down off your horse with a smile, “That was the most fun I’ve had in a while, I can’t lie,” you laughed, “I’m glad you asked us to run it—that felt amazing.”

“Do you board here?” she looked at you expectantly.

You nodded, “I sure do. Here every weekend, pretty much. Not that we’re really training to compete anymore, but you know.”

“If we’re ever here at the same time do you think that you could give me some pointers?”

You nodded, feeling your heart swell inside your chest, “Absolutely.”

“Yes! Oh that’s so awesome. Thank you so much. I’ll, um, I’ll let you get back to your friends. But thank you so much.”

You smiled, “Of course. I’ll see you around.”

She bounded off, an excited spring to her step. You chuckled and shook your head as you started to lead your horse back to the barn so you could take off her saddle and bridle. As the two of you meandered, Angel and the guys all came out of the arena, looks of surprise all over their faces.

“What the fuck was that, querida?” Angel laughed as he shook his head in disbelief.

“What?” you feigned ignorance.

“When were we gonna find out that you know how to do all that?” EZ piped up.

“I told you guys that I ride!”

“That,” Angel threw his arm around your shoulder, “was not just riding. That was insane! You guys were fucking flying.”

“Shoulda seen how fast we could go when we were actually training for it.”

“Also, didn’t know that you were apparently a celebrity,” there was a smirk on his face as he pressed a kiss to your shoulder.

You laughed and shook your head, “Not a celebrity. The horse world is a small one.”

“You gonna be able to teach us how to do all that?” EZ asked with a laugh.

“Not a fucking chance,” you smiled over at him, “But you guys are more than welcome to come here with me any time.”

“Well now we definitely have to,” Angel said, “Gotta see what other moves you’re holding out on.”

“Oh,” you laughed, “you’ll see. Don’t worry.”

#mayans mc #mayansmc #mayans fx #mayans mc imagine #angel reyes #angel reyes x you #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes fanfic #my writing #drabblesmc #fanfiction

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xgiannax · 3 years

Text

Hey guys, I hope everybody is safe and well❤️I mean as well as one can be considering the state of everything😭 also I guess I’m just I’ve just been in a Bakugou mood lately? Not sure, but here’s another one with boom boom boy hope you like it😗✌🏾

🦋Jelous?🦋

“This heat is not the move guys, I’m sweating so bad my thighs are sticking to this leather seat! Ugh” you adjusted yourself for emphasis, Ashido nodded in agreement handing you an unopened water bottle from the nearby cooler. You and some of your classmates from class 1-A had decided to go to the beach . Ashido, Yaoyorozu and yourself were lounging under a huge umbrella on some fold up lounge chairs Momo had brought for the trip. The rest of your class was playing volleyball on the sand.

“Are we almost out?” Momo asked, lifting her sunglasses to glance at the cooler.

“Yeah, but I have no clue where we could get more” Ashido pouted, leaning back in her chair.

“We passed some consession stands on the way here, I’ll go see if they have a case we can buy” you offered standing up to stretch and wincing when your bare feet hit the hot sand, the shorts you had on over your two piece swimsuit were damp with sweat.

“Seriously, this amount of heat is unnecessary” by now you were positive that the work you put into swooping your edges had completely been sweated away. You grumbled quickly peeling off the shorts and tossing them on your lounge chair leaving you in only your swimsuit. You felt eyes on your back, but ignored them because right now the only thing you were concerned with was water. You began walking toward the concession stand which was just a little past the volleyball court, you passed the everyone and a girl laughing loudly caught your attention. Ochaco was on Bakugou’s back, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he ran and spun around in circles with her .

“I- are you serious?” You seethed to yourself, Bakugou looked over at you and you stormed off quickly.

~•TIMESKIP•~

When you returned with the case of water Momo and Ashido had joined the rest of the class, but you were in no mood. The image of Ochaco and your boyfriend instantly pissed you off the more you thought about it, you quickly cut the plastic open with your keys and began angrily tossing the water bottles in the cooler

“Hey, idiot. Where’d you go?” You jumped slightly not hearing Bakugou approach, he stood before you with water dripping down his bare chest and his hair wet and messy- but in an very attractive way. You almost gave up and just kissed him. Almost. You turned your back to him continuing to slam the water in the cooler

“Are you deaf or something? Where the hell were you, you were gone a long time. Hey- cut that shit out” he growled grabbing your waist and forcing you to turn to him, he looked at your face and his eyebrows drew together in confusion

“What, Katsuki?” You said harsher than you intended.

“Why do you have an attitude? What the hell did I do?” He asked a little lower trying to pull you closer to him, but you twisted out of his grip and put the last of the water in the cooler

“I don’t have an attitude. But you can finish playing the game if you’d like, I’m sure Ochaco is waiting-” it slipped out before you could catch it, you closed your eyes and silently cursed yourself. A few beats of silence passed

“You’re jealous” Katsuki stated, the amusement in his voice and smug smile on his face made you even angrier

“N-no! I’m not jealous, so stop.” You caught the mischievous glint in his eye quickly enough to take off running in the opposite direction , but you weren’t fast enough and he quickly scooped you up bridal style ignoring your protests and struggles

“Tch. I can’t believe you’re actually jealous, dumbass. Don’t even try to argue, just admit it“

“I am not! Ahh!” The ice cold water hit your feet and butt when he was in the water up to his waist

“If you’re not, then why’d you say Ochaco was waiting for me?” When you didn’t answer he wiggled his fingers on the hand holding your waist and giggles quickly poured out of you as you squirmed in his arms

“Nohoho please! Our classmates might see!” You hissed at him through angry giggles

“Say it, Y/N/N ” he teased shifting you so he could reach up and bury his hand in your neck, pulling louder tickle me Elmo laughs from you. Your shoulders shot up trapping his hand and Bakugou laughed at your reaction

"You trapped my hand, you know i can still tickle you right idiot" he wiggled his fingers and you squealed reaching up to pull his hand out and squirm away from him

"Stahahay away!”

"Oi! Don’t try and run!" You tried to swim away but he pulled you back latching both hands on your sides quickly spidering his fingers, your laughter grew loud and frantic no doubt drawing attention from the people around you

“KAHAHATSKI STOHOP PLEASE!”

“You know I’m not stopping until you admit it” he laughed with you pulling you against him so he could blow a raspberry into the side of your neck, you melted into him falling into silent laughter. He stopped letting you catch your breath, but keeping his hands on your sides as a threat.

“Okay okay, I was a little mad- ack!” He squeezed your sides again

“Nope, say the word Babe”

“Fine! ..I was jealous, but why was she all on your back like that! I don’t-mmf” He pushed his lips on yours quickly cutting you off before your rant began.

“There’s no need for you to be jealous. I love you, not her. Okay? If anybody should be jealous, it’s me. The way that all these extras are drooling at you wearing this bathing suit” he sneered pulling you flush against him with his muscled arms. You smirked gently

“Psh. Stop it. And-I’m sorry. For being so rude to you” you apologized resting your head on his chest, it vibrated as he chuckled at you

“Yeah yeah. Now, I’m gonna give you a 10 second head start, because I’m the only one who should be seeing you dressed like this. So now you’re in trouble” he playfully growled and squinted at you

“You’re kidding” you laughed looking up at him

“10..9” he smirked down at you and you backed away giggling in anticipation

“Wait! That’s not even fair-“

“7, 6, 5 you’re waisting time kid”

“Katsuki no-WAIT AHAHHA”

#katsuki bakugo x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki #ticklish!reader #tickle fic #tickling #boyfriend #bnha fluff #bnha x reader #black!reader #thick and curvy #anime #sfw tickles #tickle fluff #bakugou x you #mha bakugou #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x y/n

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elyvorg · 4 years

Text

Remember that analysis post of mine debunking the ridiculous myth perpetrated in this fandom that Kaito never apologises, in which I discuss how he actually apologises way more than he should? Well, while thinking about and writing that post, I also got curious. What’s the cold, hard data on that? What if I just straight-up counted every single instance of each character apologising throughout the main story of DRV3, in order to be able to indisputably prove at a glance that Kaito is actually one of the most apologetic characters in this game?

…I wasn’t willing to go so far as to play through the entire game again just for the purpose of counting every time a character apologised, mind you. But several months ago, I began watching yet another V3 Let’s Play – and since I was already committed to watching said LP all the way through, I figured I could count all the apologies as it went along and collect that data with minimal extra effort on my part. So here’s the full dataset, at last!

There we go. It is objective and indisputable that Kaito apologises the third-most out of any character in this game, behind only the incredibly insecure Gonta and the still-rather-insecure-and-has-the-most-lines Shuichi. And pretty close behind them, at that!

I noticed a bunch of interesting things while doing this, though, so I can’t resist the chance to break this down and talk about it in some more detail.

Data collection criteria

For the sake of Scientific Thoroughness, I should explain my exact criteria for counting these. Every way of phrasing an apology, be it “sorry”, “my apologies”, “my bad”, etc, was counted. I also decided to count statements along the lines of "I need to apologise for this", because that itself is essentially already expressing the apology, too.

If a character apologises multiple times for the same thing, each of those times counts separately. This isn’t a measure of how many individual things each character apologises for, but rather of how inclined they are to apologise. Even if multiple apologies are grouped together, such as “Sorry… I’m so sorry…” or “sorry, my bad”, those still count as two, because that’s essentially a double-strength apology.

I did not count optional dialogue that was mutually exclusive with other optional dialogue. Which is to say, I didn’t count any FTEs, since you can’t get all of them in a single playthrough, and as much as I might like to insist that Kaito’s and Maki’s FTEs with Shuichi should definitely be considered canon, I’m trying to be unbiased here. I also didn’t count any FTE invitation dialogue, even though you technically can get all of the first parts of those (the lines before you actually make the choice to invite someone) in a single playthrough, mostly because it’d have taken forever to go through them for absolutely everyone.

However, I did count optional dialogue in those bits where you’re free to talk to everyone in the room before advancing the plot by talking to a specific person, because that can all be assumed to be canon. The bonus item scenes also count, because they should be assumed to be canon, too. There may have been some apologies that I missed here, because the LP I was watching occasionally missed these bits of dialogue, and while I tried to check myself for these missed bits, I may have overlooked a few. But if so, it was definitely only a few and not enough to significantly affect the overall picture of the data.

I only counted Shuichi’s and Kaede’s apologies when they were spoken out loud. It’d be unfair to count their inner-monologue apologies as well when we have no idea how much any other character might also be apologising in their head.

The pregame characters’ apologies were not counted, because they are not the same people. I would have counted Tsumugi’s and Rantaro’s apologies prior to the “reset” if they’d had any, since they are already themselves from the very beginning.

Obviously there’s still a lot of inherent bias here towards the characters who get more screentime and more lines, such as especially Shuichi. There isn’t much I can do about that, short of counting the exact number of dialogue boxes that every single character has throughout the whole game and using that to normalise things. As you can imagine, I don’t want to do that. (Though, on the extreme off-chance that someone does somehow happen to have data for that lying around somewhere that they can access with minimal effort, I’d love for them to send it my way.)

Characters who totally never do anything wrong

I was not at all surprised to see that Kiyo and Angie never apologise for anything at all, sincere or not, warranted or not. Psh, what do you mean they might have done something wrong, of course they never do anything wrong ever.

Miu almost ended up on the zero-apologies list, too. Interestingly, the four times she does apologise in canon dialogue are all during the Virtual World trip. Three of them happen when people are frustrated that she isn’t telling them stuff about the Virtual World sooner, and one is for being about to murder Kokichi in the flashback to that. Since she never apologises at all the entire rest of the time, this is a neat sign that she actually does feel pretty guilty about deceiving everyone and plotting to get them all killed.

In another effort to be as objective as possible, I also counted every apology regardless of how sincere it was. However, in Kokichi’s case, I did keep a track of how many of his apologies were actually sincere, out of curiosity. (Other characters may have a few insincere ones here and there, but it only felt worth my time keeping track of that with Kokichi, because he’s obviously the biggest offender for this.) I included this information on Kokichi’s bar of the graph, because I feel that the implication otherwise given of him being the fifth most apologetic character in this game is deeply misleading. If you discount all of Kokichi’s screamingly insincere apologies, suddenly his apology count is just unremarkable background noise on par with most of the others.

It is notable – and also very unsurprising to me – that Kokichi’s five actual sincere apologies are all for things that, according to Kaito’s principles on this, he doesn’t really need to be apologising for at all. They are all within chapters 1 to 3. He never sincerely apologises for any of the many things he actually does wrong that really do warrant being apologised for, because Kokichi is totally never in the wrong about anything, you guys, and he definitely doesn’t ever murder anyone.

Three of those five sincere apologies happen when he’s hit his head during investigation 3 and is dazed and disoriented. Apparently Kokichi needs to be literally injured in order to be made to feel like anything is his fault for more than a brief moment. …That said, that evidently only works for accidental slip-ups that aren’t really his fault at all. Kokichi’s totally-never-in-the-wrong-about-anything defence mechanisms work full time to protect him from ever having to acknowledge and feel remorse for any of his many very real and deliberate misdeeds, even when he’s painfully poisoned and dying.

Kaede

Kaede’s apology count is very notably high for someone who was only alive for one chapter. If she’d stayed alive for longer, she’d almost certainly have rivalled Shuichi for total apologies. (So, technically, Kaito is probably only the fourth most apologetic character in this game. Still, though.)

You might assume that Kaede’s high count here is because of the murder she does, but actually only like two or three of them are related to that. Most of her apologies are evenly spread throughout the entire chapter. Some of it’s just general politeness, but an awful lot of it comes from her being too inclined to feel bad over not being as good a leader as she wishes she was, when she really hasn’t done anything wrong at all. Kaito is right to try and encourage her not to apologise when things aren’t her fault! She of all people needs to hear that!

Chapter-by-chapter

The majority of the rest of the characters aren’t that interesting to talk about. For the most part their low counts are basically just, like, background noise politeness, a vague measure of how polite that character is and nothing more. Very little of those counts has anything to do with how insecure that character is, or any actual things they do wrong that genuinely warrant apologising.

But for the other three of our most-apologetic characters, since they’re alive for several chapters, it’s kind of interesting to look at how their counts fluctuate from chapter to chapter. So here’s another graph, to help me break their huge counts down a bit more.

Shuichi

Despite him obviously having the most lines, I was pretty surprised that Shuichi ended up with the highest apology count overall. I wasn’t even expecting him to top Kaito’s count, let alone Gonta’s.

This conclusion did, however, seem a lot more likely once I’d made it through chapter 1 and seen just how much he apologised during that time. Geez, is that one hell of a headstart for even Gonta and Kaito to catch up to. My surprise over this was probably because, when I think about Shuichi, I usually think about the post-Kaede protagonist-Shuichi (perhaps especially because I usually think about him in a Kaito-centric context, whoops). So it’s easy to forget just how incredibly insecure – and also apologetic – he was in the very beginning.

Shuichi apologises exactly as horribly much as Kaede during chapter 1. Again, this is partly politeness, but also far too much of him having an inclination to feel bad over things that aren’t his fault because of how insecure he is. Kaede and Shuichi basically spend most of chapter 1 constantly apologising to each other for existing, and it’s heartbreaking. Every time I had to add another of theirs to my spreadsheet, I was all, “No! Stop it!”

What I find really fascinating about Shuichi’s count, though, is that he pretty much loses this bad habit entirely after Kaede’s death. Despite him still kind of moping around and struggling to know what to do until Kaito steps in to help, it seems like Shuichi’s resolve to carry on Kaede’s wish and believe in himself more really had already had a tangible positive effect on his confidence!

This also means that Kaito never has any reason to give Shuichi advice telling him not to apologise if he hasn’t done anything wrong, which he absolutely would have done if he’d spent more time with Shuichi in chapter 1 when he was apologising so much. As I mentioned in my original post about this topic, this fact is important.

Shuichi’s counts in chapters 2 and 3 are especially low. This is what background noise politeness from a character tends to look like – and it also pretty clearly proves that his and Kaede’s huge apology counts in chapter 1 are down to way more than them just being generally polite people who are getting the most screentime.

It might look like Shuichi gradually gets more insecure again as the killing game goes on, but that’s not actually quite why his count goes up again like that. Instead, it’s that, when something particular does go wrong, Shuichi still feels inclined to apologise for it a lot more than most people would. Turns out, most of his excess apologies in chapters 4 and 5 are spurred by very specific incidents involving Kaito.

Literally five of Shuichi’s apologies in chapter 4 are over the cell phone incident with Kaito during the investigation. That genuinely did warrant an apology – he should have thought to warn Kaito that he’d be logged out beforehand so he wouldn’t be so startled – but even then, apologising that many times was still rather excessive. Shuichi evidently felt really bad about startling his friend like that in the first place. But it also doesn’t help that Kaito reacted more strongly to it than he should have done, for reasons rooted in his own issues that Shuichi was completely oblivious to, which is probably a lot of why Shuichi felt he had to keep apologising.

Three of Shuichi’s apologies in chapter 5 are over the awkward situation between him and Kaito, albeit directed at Maki and not Kaito. This is despite Shuichi himself asserting that he doesn’t believe he should apologise for his actions in trial 4. Even then, he’s still feeling insecure enough about the whole thing that some unintentional apologies slip out of him anyway, not precisely about Gonta’s trial, but about not being able to fix the rift between him and Kaito. He seems to feel like that’s meant to be his responsibility, when he should be able to realise himself that it isn’t. The real responsibility to fix this is on Kaito. Once again, it’s Kaito’s issues – and Kaito not talking about his issues – that causes Shuichi to apologise for something more than he ought to.

Another three of Shuichi’s apologies in chapter 5 are over lying to his friends at the end of the trial in a desperate attempt to protect Kaito. (…Well, technically all of these apologies are part of the lie and therefore not really him apologising for lying – but his inner monologue confirms that he really is sorry for lying, which is almost certainly why he ends up fake-apologising so much within the lie. More on this principle in a bit when I talk about all of Kaito’s apologies in trial 5.) Again, this is another thing that does genuinely warrant an apology, but probably not three times? And while this one isn’t related to Kaito’s issues, it is still because of Kaito that Shuichi needed to try and lie to everyone in the first place.

(One more of Shuichi’s apologies at the end of chapter 5 is for Kaito’s death, because in his grief he’s hurting enough to have slipped back into feeling like everything is his fault. At least this is just the one, and Maki manages to talk him out of blaming himself any more than that.)

Without these specific incidents that he’s still a bit too inclined to feel bad about, Shuichi’s count would be three in chapter 4 and five in chapter 5. So, basically just background noise politeness again. Maybe he’s being slightly more generally insecure in chapter 5 than usual, perhaps due to Kaito not quite being there for him, and/or the whole despair thing. But he’s no longer constantly apologising for existing to nearly as much of an extent as he was in chapter 1.

Delightfully, in chapter 6, with Kaito’s death spurring Shuichi’s determination into overdrive, Shuichi’s count goes right back down to insignificant background noise politeness. Nothing at all happens to make him feel like he needs to apologise way too much.

This is exactly how I hoped it would end! He is being a hero and none of his actions here are anything for him to make himself feel bad about. Kaito would be proud.

Gonta

Gonta’s background-noise politeness in the earlier chapters is noticeably higher than everyone else’s, because there’s also quite a bit of insecurity and apologising-for-existing going on with him. But it’s still not, like, super high on its own. It might not even be quite as bad as Kaede, even accounting for him getting way fewer lines than her?

His somewhat higher count in chapter 2 could be because of the Insect Meet and Greet, but it could also be because the way Ryoma’s body was discovered made Gonta feel especially strongly that he should have been able to prevent Ryoma’s death.

But then, of course, there’s chapter 4. As you’d imagine, almost all of those are in the trial, and almost all towards the end of it. Poor Gonta. It also doesn’t help that there’s two Gontas in the room for the trial conclusion, and naturally I included Alter Ego Gonta’s apologies in Gonta’s count, too.

Kaito

For the first two chapters, when he doesn’t have any sidekicks and therefore no expectations to live up to as their hero, and/or when he’s not struggling with weakness and worrying that he’s failing those expectations, Kaito’s apology level is just unremarkable background noise like most other characters.

(Well, one of them is actually not background noise and is a meaningful, warranted apology for punching Shuichi at the end of trial 1. But because he correctly doesn’t apologise for this any more than he needs to, it kinda blends in with the background noise.)

Then chapter 3 happens, and, predictably, his count shoots way up. All but one of Kaito’s apologies in this chapter are over being sick due to his phobia. (And if I’d been counting the free time invitation dialogues, there would be another four added on here, again for being too sick to hang out with Shuichi.)

Of his five in chapter 4, one is genuinely warranted (for laughing at Maki’s katana story), and two are over being physically sick, goddammit, Kaito. The other two in this chapter are for letting Kokichi’s taunts get to him, which is also not quite a thing he should be apologising for. Kaito can’t help it if his emotions react in a certain way to Kokichi making him out to be worthless. He can control how he responds to it, but not how he feels over it.

Then there’s chapter 5, which somehow manages to even eclipse Kaito’s chapter 3 count – but most of this is about the trial. Only three of his apologies in this chapter are from the Daily Life. (Naturally, two of them are still over being sick. No, Kaito, stop it.)

Literally half of Kaito’s fourteen apologies in the trial boil down to being sorry for tricking and deceiving his friends. This is something that warrants an apology, according to Kaito’s principles, even though he’s doing this deliberately for the purpose of hopefully saving everyone. He is still choosing to hurt them as part of that, and that hurt deserves to be apologised for.

What’s interesting about most of Kaito’s apologies for this, though, is that they’re technically insincere. He’s apologising for tricking everybody while he’s still tricking them, which sure makes it sound like he doesn’t mean it. This even applies to the majority of these apologies that happen during the bits where he’s speaking in his own voice. Because “Exisal Kaito” is a fake and overexaggerated version of himself that he wants everyone to conclude was really just Kokichi pretending to be him, anything he says during those moments is never going to come across as genuine.

But obviously, there’s not a shred of doubt that Kaito really is sorry for tricking everyone the entire time he’s doing this. It says a lot that during those bits where he’s being himself, Kaito just so happens to have a particularly high density of apologies-per-line. He feels awful for being this insincere and deceptive towards his friends, and he really wishes he could just communicate to them how genuinely sorry he is for all of this. But because he can’t, the next best thing to try and scratch that itch is to just apologise anyway even though he needs them to assume it’s all fake.

Kaito even apologises a couple of times as Exisal Kokichi for lying to them! This is absolutely categorically not something Kokichi wrote into his script, because Kokichi never apologised for lying, not even in a blatantly-insincere-sounding way. Kaito’s desperate desire to express how awful he felt about this was just so strong that it even accidentally slipped into a couple of his ad-libs as Kokichi.

However, while Kaito apologises so many times for this, it’s not because he’s blaming himself a bit too excessively much for his wrongdoing like Shuichi was still liable to do at this point in the story. The only reason Kaito apologises this much for tricking everyone is due to how insincere he was forced to sound almost every time. He kept apologising again and again because each insincere apology never felt like enough, and he desperately needed them to know that he meant it.

When Kaito reveals himself at the end of the trial, he pretty much immediately apologises again for tricking them – once, and that’s it. This time, they know he means it, and that’s all he needs. He’s not going to wallow in his bad feelings any more than that.

This is also the case for the other genuine wrongdoings he goes on to apologise for in the conclusion. Kaito gives a double-sized but still concise apology to Shuichi for lashing out in trial 4 like he’d needed to give this whole time, and then one single apology to his friends for lying to them about his illness. He gets those apologies out like he should, but once he’s done so, he doesn’t linger on them and mope any more than he needs to.

Which is good! Look at Kaito finally following his own advice again and being emotionally healthy about this!

…Except for the part where he then goes on to apologise twice for dying on them. That one is still not his fault.

#danganronpa v3 #danganronpa v3 spoilers #ramble #kaito momota #shuichi saihara #gonta gokuhara #kaede akamatsu #kaito's hero issues #i may be just a little bit bitter about this ridiculous myth #i am also fully aware that i'm preaching to the choir here in terms of people who read my blog #but shush let me geek out about this data anyway

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cadence-talle · 4 years

Text

Ink Blossoming Across Your Skin

Pairing: Keefe Sencen/Fitz Vacker

Wordcount: 2,295

Summary: “Have we even met the owner? How do we know they don’t, like, beat people up?”

“I think you’re reaching,” Biana says. “Besides, I’ve seen the owners.”

Fitz blinks, reaching up to move one of the soil bags over on the shelf. “You have? When?”

“They’re right behind you.”

Other notes: Based on the amazing au created by @queersofthelostcities and @enbies-and-felonies! It’s not completely like the prompt, but I hope it lives up to your original vision.

Fitz first notices the shop on a Monday morning, bright colors of the We Are Now OPEN! sign in the window catching his eye as he crosses the street. He frowns, unlocking the door of his flower shop and setting his bag down.

“Do you know what that is?” He asks Biana, who’s come in a few minutes after him. She shrugs, leaning out the doorway to glance at the store.

“Looks like a tattoo parlour,” she says. Fitz wrinkles his nose.

“Ugh. That’ll drive away business.”

Biana hums noncommittally and moves into the back to grab ice cubes for the orchids as their first customer of the day comes in. Fitz forces himself to focus and not think about the tattoo shop.

It doesn’t work very well.

“Look, I’m just saying, a lot of our customers are old ladies or moms with kids. Having a tattoo shop next door, with an entirely different vibe and clientele, is going to mess with us.” Fitz angrily stabs the salad he brought for lunch.

His sister raises an eyebrow, taking a bite of her sandwich. “Are you really talking about the ‘vibe’ of our flower shop?”

“Ugh. I just- who wants to get a tattoo anyway?”

Biana looks pointedly at him and then to her arm, which is covered in twisting vines and flowers. Fitz sighs.

“Point taken.”

He leans back against the front desk a few hours later, mentally counting the bags of soil they have stacked on the shelves behind the counter.

“Have we even met the owner? How do we know they don’t, like, beat people up?”

“I think you’re reaching,” Biana says. “Besides, I’ve seen the owners.”

Fitz blinks, reaching up to move one of the soil bags over on the shelf. “You have? When?”

“They’re right behind you.”

Fitz spins around, almost falling over, just in time to see two people enter the shop. One, a short, smiling woman with silver-tipped hair, immediately moves into the shelves of potted plants. Biana taps Fitz on the shoulder.

“I’m gonna go, uh, see if she needs anything.”

Fitz snorts but nods, and Biana disappears. The other owner, a man only a few inches taller than Fitz, leans against the countertop. Fitz gives him a once-over. Blond hair, blue eyes, smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth- he’s hot.

Only if you pay attention to that sort of thing, of course, and Fitz most certainly does not. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why he currently can’t talk that has nothing to do with the man in front of him.

“I’m Keefe,” he says. “You own this store, right?”

Fitz nods hurriedly. “Uh. Yeah. It was my mom’s- that’s where the name came from, her name’s Della- but now she’s retired, so now it’s mine and my sister’s, and- I’m rambling. Sorry.”

Keefe laughs. “It’s fine. I think it’s sweet.”

Face burning, Fitz glances down at the register. “So, what are you here to buy?”

“Nothing,” Keefe shrugs one shoulder. “Linh wanted to see if you guys had lilies, so we closed the shop and came over here.”

“You-” Fitz blinks at him- “You just… closed your store? Randomly?”

“I mean, what’s the point of owning a store if you can’t just close it at any moment?”

“I…”

The shorter woman- Linh, Fitz remembers- appears behind Keefe with a pot of Canada lilies. She sets them on the counter and smiles at Biana.

“Thanks for helping me find these,” she says. Biana flushes slightly.

“No problem. Have a good day.”

“You too!” Linh picks up her flowers and turns toward the door. Keefe shoots Fitz a smile.

“Nice to meet you,” he calls. “See you around.”

Fitz nods slightly before they’re gone. As soon as the door closes, tiny bell at the front chiming merrily, he lets out a long breath. Biana’s still staring at the doorway.

“Uh.” She says.

“Yeah,” Fitz agrees. “Yeah.”

-/-

To be quite honest, Fitz isn’t expecting to see Keefe (or Linh) the next day. He’s not sure he wants to. A nervous, bubbly feeling rises in his gut each time he thinks about it, and he needs to work. He should just focus on the flowers and not think about anything else.

Unfortunately, flowers are incredibly boring. Fitz loves them, but they’re not exactly the best distraction material; he waters the peonies, rearranges the daisies, and moves one vase of tulips over to the counter for better visibility. And then he has nothing to do.

Not to mention that it’s Wednesday, which is always one of the lowest-traffic days in a week. Fitz has seen maybe three different customers by the time lunch rolls around, and he doesn’t even feel like moving into the back to eat. Might as well stay out here and watch people walk past the front window.

His head snaps up as someone opens the door.

“Keefe!”

“Hey,” Keefe says, flopping down onto the stool in front of the counter. “Business slow over here too?”

“Yeah. What’d you need?”

“Well-” Keefe waves a sketchbook in the air- “I have to practice art, for stencils and all that, and I figured, flowers are fun to draw. It’ll be a change of pace, at least.” He grins at Fitz. “So, can I lurk in the corner of your shop and sketch?”

“Uh, sure?” Fitz blinks. “Just don’t interrupt customers.”

Keefe pumps his fist and moves his stool against the wall, leaning his sketchbook on his lap. Fitz does his best to ignore him and moves back up to the register to help the tiny blond woman who’s purchased a huge bouquet of marigolds.

“Thank you,” she says as Fitz hands her back her credit card. “My girlfriend is going to love these.”

“No problem,” Fitz responds, smiling. “Have a nice day.”

He turns to look at Keefe after the woman’s gone, bent over his notebook furiously scribbling. Five minutes later, he slams the page down on the counter.

“Eh?”

Fitz picks it up, marvelling at the accuracy; it’s the marigold buyer, the teasing light in her eyes somehow captured even in a black-and-white sketch.

“Wow,” he says, handing the page back to Keefe. “This is amazing.”

“Psh.” Keefe waves a hand in the air. “It’s not that good.” Still, his cheeks have a definite tint to them as he snaps his sketchpad closed. “I should be getting back to the shop. My lunch break is definitely over.”

“All right,” Fitz says. He’s not sure why he feels so sad. “See you tomorrow?”

Keefe gives him a thumbs-up and ducks out of the store.

-/-

It’s a week after the first time Keefe comes into the shop on his lunch break that Fitz finally says something about it.

“Doesn’t Linh need you?”

Keefe looks up from his latest drawing- this one an inked recreation of the vase sitting in the front window. He’s been running his hand through his hair as he works, so it’s sticking up all over the place. Fitz chooses to ignore the warm feeling in his gut.

“Huh?”

“At the shop,” Fitz elaborates. “Don’t you two need to be doing, like tattoo stuff?”

“Nah. She’s on break right now too. Honestly, it’s just nice to get out of the store and away from her terrible attempts at flirting with Biana.”

“Wait, Biana’s over there?” Fitz blinks. “She usually goes to Starbucks for lunch. If she goes out at all.”

Keefe shrugs. “I don’t know. She’s been coming in to eat lunch with Linh for the past couple days now.” He cocks his head at Fitz. “Why? Are you trying to get rid of me or something?”

The question is teasing, but the underlying edge shows how much Keefe cares about the answer. Fitz hurries to backtrack.

“No! I was just- wondering.”

Shrugging again in a way that says it’s fine and also can we end this conversation, Keefe glances towards the door. “Today’s pretty low-traffic, huh?”

“Yeah,” Fitz says. “Wednesdays usually are.”

“Huh.” Keefe drums his fingers on the table, seemingly bored of sketching, before his eyes light up. “Do you know how to play Spit?”

“Do I know how to play what?”

“Spit! It’s a card game.” Out of nowhere, Keefe produces a deck of cards. Fitz looks around the empty shop and sighs.

“Sure, why not. Let’s play.”

Fifteen minutes later, Fitz slaps his hand down onto the smaller pile of cards, yelling triumphantly as he picks it up. Keefe groans.

“I win,” Fitz grins at him. This is the first game he’s won since they started playing, and he is probably far too excited. He slips off their stool, heading over to one of the tulip displays and picking out a wilting flower that had been bothering him. Behind him, he can hear Keefe get to his feet.

“I should probably be getting back,” he says. Fitz nods and turns around to face him, hand holding the tulip coming out almost automatically. Keefe looks at it quizzically. “Are you… giving me a flower?”

“Uh.” Fitz says, shrugging as nonchalantly as he can. “Yes? I mean, if you don’t want it, that’s okay, I wouldn’t be offended or anything- not that there’s anything to be offended by, it’s just a flower-”

Keefe plucks the tulip out of his hand, staring at it for a minute. “It’s pretty,” he says. “Thanks.”

Then he turns and leaves the shop.

-/-

Fitz is a little worried that the impromptu flower-giving is going to make things awkward, but when Keefe comes back the next day, there’s no sign that anything has changed. He still sets up in the corner, still jokes with Fitz between customers. They’ve settled into a peaceful rhythm; it’s simple, easy in a way things haven’t been in a long time.

And when, a few days later, Fitz hands Keefe another tulip on his way out, the smile he gets is genuine.

They start to hang out outside of work, just little trips; heading up to the Bronx Zoo to see the elephants (Keefe claims he’s not invested in them, but the way he gasps as soon as he sees one says otherwise), walking along the boardwalk at Coney Island with Biana and Linh. Fitz smiles and takes photos and tries to ignore the looks Biana sends his way- they’re friends, this is what friends do. It doesn’t mean anything.

It means so little that, when Keefe suggests they get matching ‘bros’ tattoos, Fitz agrees.

He’s pretty sure he’s drunk. No, scratch that; he’s definitely sure he’s drunk. It’s been a long week, and he’s drunk, and this is not a good idea.

But Keefe- drunker than him, that’s for sure- is holding tight to his hand, pulling him along the street. He turns back, grinning brightly under the soft light of a streetlamp, and Fitz feels warm all over.

So. They get the tattoos, and now Fitz has proof of his totally-platonic feelings inked along his collarbone.

This is fine.

-/-

“What do you think, lilies or asters?” Biana slides the tattoo book over to him, and Fitz examines the carefully-drawn designs.

“Asters,” he answers, thumbing through the pages. “Assuming you’re getting them in color. Purple looks nice on you.”

Biana nods, tracing patterns on her as-of-yet uninked arms. Fitz frowns. “You sure you want to get flowers on your other arm too?”

“Yes,” his sister says confidently. “I didn’t go for both arms the first time because I wasn’t sure how good they’d turn out, but Linh’s doing these, so I know they’ll be beautiful.”

Fitz raises an eyebrow. “Linh’s doing these, huh? So you two will be alone in a room together for hours?”

Biana glares at him and Fitz offers her an innocent smile. “Look, you should just get together already. Ask her out or something.”

Offering him her most you’re being an idiot look, Biana snorts. “Like you’re one to talk. How many not-dates have you been on with Keefe?”

“That-” Fitz sputters. “That’s completely different!”

“Is it? How?” Biana picks her bag up off the counter- it’s almost closing time. Fitz scowls, clenching his hands into fists.

“Because you have a chance!”

The store is silent for a moment before Biana sighs softly, giving him a quick hug. “Oh, hon.” She looks him straight in the eye, smiling a little. “You’ll figure it out.”

Then she shoulders her bag- “Gotta run!”- and leaves Fitz standing in the middle of the shop, completely and utterly confused.

-/-

He’s still confused the next day, trying to focus on customers and work. He completes his to-do list for the next week just in one morning, and is getting a head start on designing flower arrangements for a wedding- a wedding six months away- when Keefe walks in.

“Hey, dude,” he says mildly, dropping down beside Fitz. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Fitz responds, harsher than he means to. Keefe blinks.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” Fitz says, and then, “No.” To hell with it, he thinks, turning to face Keefe head-on. “I’m annoyed at myself because I can’t control my feelings.”

Keefe tilts his head, a glimmer of something that might be hope in his eyes. “Control what feelings?”

“All of them,” Fitz laughs hollowly, “but especially the ones for you.”

He looks down at his lap, afraid to look at the other man. “We keep doing all this ‘friend stuff’ that feels like it should be a date, but it’s not, and I’m just- I just. I’m sorry, I’m rambling again-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Fitz chances a glance upward to see Keefe grinning at him. “I think it’s sweet.”

-/-

They can’t, unfortunately, remove the misbegotten ‘bros’ tattoos. Instead, Linh carefully inks two images next to each one; a heart, and a flower.

#lynn rambles #keefitz #keefe sencen #fitz vacker #linh song #biana vacker #my writing #kotlc

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lisatelramor · 4 years

Text

Truth and Lies

I’ve wanted to write something for FF15 since I started playing the game and reading fic, but hadn’t had any ideas my brain latched onto. So here, finally, is something it deigned to write. @vulcansdarkest, hope you enjoy <3 (It’s not detective!Ignis, but it is Ignis-centric ^_^ ) To everyone in quarantine or living their lives, hope you can keep safe!

***

“I’m bored,” Noctis groaned, flat on his back in the tent. It was raining outside as it had been all evening. Ordinarily, this would mean a round of King’s Knight, but their phones were on the last dregs of battery life after days of hiking in the wilderness. Their second-best option would have been a card game, but a mishap during one of Noctis’s fishing marathons had taken away that option.

“Read a book,” Gladio said, tossing one of his paperbacks at Noctis’s head.

“Ow! Not all of us are into whatever historical epic-romantic whatever you’re reading at the moment,” Noctis grumbled tossing the book into the Armiger.

Ignis was about to suggest Noctis help go over their inventory and funds if he had such a dire need to keep himself engaged when Prompto sat bolt upright with a wide grin.

“Ooh, I got an idea!” He pulled something out of the Armiger and set it on the tent floor with a soft thump. “Ta-dah! We could play a drinking game!”

“Prompto,” Ignis said looking over the bottle of high proof vodka he’d pulled out. “Where did you get the funds for that?”

“Psh, I didn’t raid our budget, Iggy,” Prompto said with a wave of his hand. “I sold off some bits and bobs I collected a while back. Sometimes you can find neat stuff near all those fishing spots. I figured it might be nice to relax and have a drink once in a while.”

“I’m not sure we can really afford a night of drunken revelry,” Ignis said, though it was tempting. They’d been working hard lately, pulling hunt after hunt to gather up a better buffer of money. And when they weren’t doing that, they were looking for any hint of a royal tomb around them. It was wearing them ragged even when they weren’t roughing it camping for over a week straight.

“Please?” Prompto asked with the puppy eyes that were far more effective on all of them than they would ever admit to Prompto lest he abuse them. “It doesn’t have to be drunk-drunk, just like, a few shots?”

Gladio examined the bottle. “Vodka’s crap, but you got a less shitty brand so, sure, sign me up. Noct?”

“Sounds better than staring at the tent ceiling,” Noctis said.

Outnumbered three to one, Ignis sighed. “Very well, but we’re not drinking straight vodka.” He had a can or two of fruit juice in the Armiger to water it down with.

“Yes!” Prompto did a little seated dance. “Ok, what’re we playing? Never have I ever? Buzz? Most likely?”

“Dude do you just have a list of drinking games you want to play?” Noctis asked.

“Uh, maybe if you’d have come to one of the parties in school you’d recognize them.”

“Yeah, that was never going to happen back then and you know it.”

Prompto pouted and Ignis and Gladio exchanged an amused look. Ignis pulled out juice and a carafe and started mixing the alcohol. “Well it’s not like we can do the games with other props,” Prompto said after a moment. “No cards. No cups and balls for beer pong. Not drunk enough for the games like Thump.”

“I can’t even remotely imagine what any of those games are with names like that,” Noctis said with a yawn. “Hey Ignis, what game do you think?”

“Well, considering there’s only four of us and we don’t have props, games like never have I ever are probably the better choice. Although given how many shared experiences we have here…” Everyone grimaced. Between growing up together in the citadel to running around all of Lucis on this trip, Prompto would likely get them all drunk very fast on the sheer principle that he had more unique personal experiences that the rest of them lacked. But a game that involved talking was more or less a given. “How about… two truths and a lie?”

“Not truth or dare?” Prompto asked.

Ignis gave him a look. “With everyone’s competitive streak and magic to fuel drunken shenanigans, I think not introducing the possibility of wild dares is the best option.”

“Ok, yeah, fair enough.”

Ignis still remembered a memorable occasion where Noctis got stuck on a roof when he was still new to warping thanks to one of Gladio’s dares. They were not going that route. “Besides, two truths and a lie will be a good test to see how well we actually know each other.”

Prompto sighed. “Dude, you guys all grew up together. Kinda rigged.”

“And yet we have very little knowledge of your life,” Ignis countered. “So if any of us has an advantage, it’s Noctis for knowing all of us.”

“Ooh, good point. Guess it works in the name of bonding.” Prompto grinned. “Gonna know you guys better than I know myself at the end of this trip.”

“Quite.” This hadn’t been what any of them expected when they left but leave it to Prompto to find a glimmer of brightness in the mess. “Here’s how we’ll play: we each have a cup, no more than two helpings of the drink to work with, and will take turns telling various facts and lies while the next person in the circle guesses which was the truth or lie. If they guess wrong, they take a drink, if they guess right, the person whose turn it was takes a drink. When you run out of alcohol, you’re out of the game. Does this seem fair?”

“Geeze, Iggy, that’s a lot of rules for a drinking game,” Prompto says. “But sure, sounds great, gimme the booze!”

Ignis rolled his eyes and handed around glasses of vodka mixture.

Gladio sniffed it. “Smells more like juice than vodka.”

“The point is not to have a debilitating hangover tomorrow,” Ignis said drily.

“Ok, but those two are lightweights and I have an iron liver.”

Ignis rolled his eyes again and added a shot to Gladio’s cup. “Is that satisfactory?”

Gladio grinned. “Yeah, that’s a bit more like it. Now who goes first?”

“Specs,” Noctis said, sniffing his own cup with a wrinkle of his nose. “Since you chose the game.”

“Very well.” Ignis sat in their loose circle. Two truths and a lie… “I speak six languages, I stabbed a man when I was five, and I can do a backflip in heels.” He looked pointedly to his left at Prompto.

“Damn, starting things out on hard mode,” Prompto said with a grimace. “Uh… The flip in heels is the lie?”

Ignis smirked.

“Aw man.” Prompto took a drink. He at least didn’t seem to dislike the taste. “Wait, you can do a flip in high heels?” A beat. “You’ve worn high heels?”

Ignis kept smirking.

“Iggy!” Prompto groaned. “What was the lie?”

“He only speaks three languages,” Gladio said. “He can read six. I don’t remember you stabbing anyone when you were five though.”

“It was an accident learning how to use daggers.” Ignis’s lips tilted into a real smile. “I never said I stabbed someone purposefully.”

“None of you are surprised by the heels?” Prompto asked.

Noctis and Gladio exchange a look. “A bet,” they said in unison. “Though only Ignis would take it as a challenge to master movement in high heels in general,” Noctis added.

“One never knows if that skill might be useful,” Ignis said. He wasn’t exactly going to admit that he’d liked how they’d accentuated his legs.

“The more ya know,” Prompto said. “Okay. My turn! Uh, lesse…” He tapped his cup absently. “My first kiss was with Jessia from eighth grade, I love cucumbers, and I have a whole USB filled with nothing but dog pictures.”

Noctis pointed at Prompto. “The first kiss is the lie.”

“Bzzzt,” Prompto said.

“What? You’d have told me if you’d had your first kiss!”

“Dude, I had it before we were friends. Also, like, it went horribly and she never talked to me again so I don’t really bring it up much.”

“Wait, so either you don’t have a USB of dog photos—which you totally do—or you secretly hate cucumbers? I thought you liked vegetables.”

“I eat healthy cuz it’s healthy not cuz I like all of it,” Prompto said. “You should try it.”

“Pass.”

Ignis made a mental note to avoid giving Prompto anything with cucumber in the future. “Drink up, Noct,” Ignis said when Noctis kept giving Prompto a look like he’d just destroyed one of the pillars of his understanding.

Noctis rolled his eyes and took a swig. “Whatever. Ok, Gladio. My favorite character in King’s Knight is Toby, I once pet a cat that had ten toes on each paw, and I caught a two-headed fish one time.”

Gladio raised an eyebrow. “That’s not even hard. You’d have talked our ears off if you caught a two-headed fish.”

“Eh, fair enough.” Noctis took another swallow of his drink.

“You just want to get drunk, don’t you?” Gladio said, amused. “My turn. I can bench a hundred and twenty kilos, on one of my camping trips I hiked forty kilometers in one day, and I once ate eight cup noodles in one sitting.”

Ignis hummed, turning the numbers over in his head.

“You know,” Prompto said, “I honestly would believe all of those actually happened. You’re not normal.”

Gladio snorted. “Thanks for the backhanded compliment.”

“You’re welcome.”

“The hiking one is a lie,” Ignis said after a moment. “I know your average bench press numbers and I remember you trying to prove something stupid with how many cup noodles you could eat in one sitting—and definitely remember you throwing them back up.”

“Worth it.”

“So the hiking distance has to be the lie.”

“You would logic it out,” Gladio said, snickering. “Yeah, you win.” He took a drink. “Your turn again Iggy.”

“Wait wait wait,” Prompto said. “I’m not going to have to guess Ignis every time am I? He’s like, way too good at deadpan for that.”

“Hmm, you have a point,” Ignis said. “Noctis and I can swap positions this next round and then you can swap with Gladio and by alternating like that we can keep things fair.”

“You’re making this way too complicated,” Noctis said, but he obligingly swapped places in the circle with Ignis.

“It makes things more interesting,” Ignis countered with a sharp grin. He had every intention of playing this game to win—by which he meant he intended to stay as sober as possible while watching his friends fall into drunken antics.

“Whatever, just get on with it,” Noctis said with a sigh.

Ignis glanced at Gladio. Gladio was privy to far more of Ignis’s private life than perhaps anyone in part because while he couldn’t always talk to Noctis—because friend or not, there were still the occasional professional boundary lines—Gladio was someone who shared a responsibility in caring for Noct and as such someone who could commiserate over some of the worse aspects of their prince’s personality. Still, he didn’t know everything about Ignis’s life. “My favorite knives are a gift from my uncle, I’ve always loved the taste of Ebony…” He pretended to put an extra second of thought into this, like he was hesitating over a lie. “One of my earliest memories is of reading a book.”

He could see Gladio labeling the knife fact as truth; Ignis hadn’t been subtle about his preferred weapon choice in combat and the topic had come up before. But Ignis was also banking on Gladio’s association of Ignis and Ebony; he’d been drinking some form of coffee since his early teenage years, and for as long as he and Gladio had any significant interaction.

“As hilarious as the idea of baby-Iggy reading is, I’m calling that out as a lie,” he said after a moment.

Ignis smiled triumphantly. “While not my earliest memory, I was reading full sentences by the age of three, so yes, it is one of my earliest memories. I actually detested Ebony the first time I tasted it and poured the can down the drain. It was only the lure of caffeine that ever got me to pick up another can.”

“No kidding.” Gladio didn’t look the least upset by guessing wrong, but he was probably happy enough to be ingesting some alcohol. “Sometimes I think you pretty much run on the stuff like the Regalia does gasoline.”

Ignis snorted. “It’s not an inaccurate assumption.” Thank goodness for caffeine for his overworked, frequently sleep deprived body.

Gladio took a larger-than-necessary swallow from his cup. “Right. So. I ran away from home when I was six, I tried to give Iris away when she was first born because she kept crying, and I can’t float when I swim.”

Noctis frowned. “I’m pretty sure everyone can float. That’s swimming 101.”

“Take a drink because I can’t.” Gladio grinned, then grimaced. “It’s actually a downside to muscle. It’s dense as hell and sinks more than my lung capacity can make me float. I can swim just fine, but it’s kind of hell trying to tread water for long.”

“Huh. You learn something every day,” Noctis said taking a drink.

“Did you really try to give Iris away?” Prompto asked. “Because I can’t see it.”

“No. I mean I was tempted because she was the worst, colicky baby ever but I was old enough that I wasn’t that impulsive.” Gladio picked at the edge of his cup. “Now if I was a couple years younger at the time…”

“I remember hearing your dad complaining to my dad,” Noctis said. “She was only quiet when she was asleep and even then that was almost never the first month.”

“Yeah, I feel so lucky she grew out of that.”

“Noctis’s turn!” Prompto chirped. “Go easy on me, buddy.”

“You wish,” Noctis said, sticking his tongue out at him. “Okay. I’ve killed every plant I’ve tried to grow, I broke three priceless vases as a kid and told no one, and I set Iggy’s first boyfriend on fire once.”

“Noctis Lucis Caelum!” Ignis said, scandalized and more than a little annoyed. “That was you?!” Ignis had been dumped very soon after that incident.

“That guy was a jerk,” Noctis said.

“I could have dumped him myself instead of the indignity of it being the other way around!”

“Uh,” said Prompto. “I’m guessing that’s not the lie.”

Ignis huffed, and Noctis waited.

“Plants are the lie?” Prompto said tentatively trying to steer things back toward the game.

“Nope. Actually it was Gladio that set the guy on fire.”

“Way to throw a man under a bus, Noct,” Gladio grumbled. He held up his hands when Ignis turned his glare on him. “Hey, he’s right. The guy was a dick.”

“Gladiolus!”

Gladio leaned a bit away from Ignis, a sheepish grin on his face. “I mean, no one got permanently injured.”

“Which of you ran off my next boyfriend, then?” Ignis demanded. Neither of them met his eyes.

“Uh,” Prompto said again into the tense silence. “So… Iggy, you like dudes?”

And Ignis had the horrifying realization that Prompto didn’t know.

“Oh shit,” Noctis said. “Uh, sorry Specs…”

“It’s fine,” Ignis said, hoping that it actually was fine and this revelation hadn’t just made their current close-quarters living arrangements strained. He’d forgotten for a moment, too comfortable with Noctis and Gladio being in the know, that not all of his friends actually had the knowledge that he was more interested in men than women.

“No, hey!” Prompto waved his hands frantically. “It’s cool, I’m fine with it, shit, I wasn’t trying to make things weird!”

“Prompto…” Ignis took a breath. “If this is—”

“My turn next,” Prompto blurted over him and Ignis frowned, trying to cut in only to have Prompto keep talking over him. “I’ve only kissed girls,” he said, which stung a bit considering what was just revealed, “I’m bi,” oh, “and I’ve never, uh, never had a crush on anyone here,” Prompto finished, his confidence draining into nerves. There was a faint blush on his face.

“Prompto,” Ignis said softly, “you didn’t have to do that.”

“What, continue the game?” he said with a forced smile. “Uh yeah I did, we still have booze so…” His gaze pleaded for Ignis to play along.

And Ignis couldn’t refuse considering his friend had chosen to out himself just to make Ignis feel less uncomfortable. “I take it the last one wasn’t a lie,” he said gently.

“You got me there.” Prompto took a large swallow of his drink. His cheeks were pink and he couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes.

“Shit,” Noctis mumbled. “…I wasn’t trying to make this real, I just wanted to tease Ignis.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Full disclosure, you’re not the only one who’s had a crush on someone here, Prom.”

Prompto’s jaw dropped. “Wait, is Gladio the only one here that’s straight?”

Gladio snorted. “I mean I’m mostly straight,” Gladio said. “But if we were playing a game of never-have-I-ever, the only one of us who wouldn’t drink to having a crush on Ignis is Ignis.”

Ignis went bright red.

“There was more than one reason we didn’t think your boyfriends were good enough,” Gladio said with a snort of laughter.

“…Did either of you approve of any of them?”

“Uh, the one Glaive was okay but…”

Noctis finished for him, “You weren’t into him half as much as he was into you.”

Ignis pinched the bridge of his nose. He was going to have to reevaluate so many previous interactions with a new perspective.

“Wait, Prompto, is that why you keep taking ass shots of Gladio?” Noctis asked.

Prompto sputtered. “I do not take ass shots! Of anyone!”

Gladio laughed. “Uh, hate to break it to you but you kind of do. Don’t worry, I don’t mind.”

“You take ass pics of Gladio, Ignis whenever he’s doing acrobatics, and usually half of what you take of me is mid-warp.”

“That’s just because you’re always warping, Noct,” Prompto said, settling into an embarrassed pout. “And Iggy’s usually doing backflips or setting something on fire like a boss so…” His shoulders hunched. “Also Gladio’s always rushing in so of course I get pictures from behind in battle.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Noctis said with a shit eating grin.

“Well,” Ignis said, feeling vaguely uncomfortable and ready to finish the game, “I think we’ve learned enough about each other for one night.”

“No, no,” Gladio said. “Prompto’s right. We still have booze. Also you and Noct haven’t interacted yet and I haven’t traded lies with Prompto.” He swished his cup around. “Besides, we’re still bored. Scared you’ll get embarrassed more?” he teased.

Ignis rolled his eyes. “Not at all.” It was just that if things continued along the current lines of affairs things could get complicated in ways that their trip didn’t allow for. From the way Gladio gave him a teasing eyebrow wiggle, he was thinking along the same lines without considering the fallout. He sighed. Ignis was not going to let things run in even more flirtatious directions thank you very much. “Noct.” Coming up with something for Noctis was about as hard as Gladio. On the one hand, Noctis could be unobservant. On the other, when he did use his powers of observation, they were uncannily accurate and stuck in his memory. “I choose to keep my accent,” he said after a moment of thought, “I had tutors before I was chosen to train to be your chamberlain, and I hated cooking when I first started learning.”

Noctis frowned. “I could see you keeping the accent because you like it and it reminds you of home. I know nothing of your life before you came to the Citadel more or less, and knowing you you’re probably banking on that. So, weird as it is to think of you hating cooking, I’m calling the second one a lie.”

Ignis smiled ruefully. It figured that he’d apply logic to it. “You’re correct.” He took a swallow of his drink and was pleased at its flavor, the alcohol a faint aftertaste on his tongue.

“If you didn’t like cooking, why’d you stick with it?” Prompto asked.

“Because it’s a useful skill,” Ignis said. “Knowing it is an important life skill as well as useful for caring for others; it was non-negotiable to learn. It just took a bit of a learning curve to get good enough at it that it wasn’t troublesome. Once I started looking at it as a puzzle made of ingredients it was a lot more enjoyable.”

“You know, you’re allowed to like or dislike something based on other things than usefulness,” Noctis said with a slight edge to his voice like he was somewhere along the lines of sad and exasperated.

Ignis, of course, knew that. But when growing up with a large job to fill, there had never been much room for non-useful things. Even his hobbies were chosen to be practical. “I can also enjoy things that also happen to be practical,” he pointed out. He liked languages. And while he couldn’t say he liked cleaning, it gave him a sense of satisfaction. Cooking was similar. These days it was one part puzzle, one part challenge, and the satisfaction of an end result. Baking on the other hand… “I do enjoy baking though.”

“Oh?” Noctis said.

Ignis smiled. He’d started because he’d hoped to make Noctis smile. And every time Noct ate one of his desserts and looked a bit happier, it had made Ignis happy. “I’d have to to make the same dessert over and over with slight changes for years.”

“Wow, that almost sounds like you’re accusing me of something,” Noctis joked.

“Accuse? Never,” Ignis said, grinning back. “I am surprised you never got sick of me trying though.”

“They were good,” Noctis said. “Even the worst of the failures. And they were…”

“They were?”

Noctis looked faintly embarrassed. “They were part of how you showed you cared so… it meant a lot.”

More than the cleaning and cooking or giving condensed reports ever did if Noctis’s embarrassment meant anything.

“And this is getting weirdly emotional,” Gladio cut in. “I know Noct drank a bit, but you only took a sip.”

Ignis rolled his eyes. “It’s reminiscing and nostalgia, Gladio.”

“Uh huh. Sure.” Gladio gave him a look that had Ignis blushing slight enough that hopefully no one would notice. “Anyway, Noct, either you go or I’m going next.”

“Fine.” Noctis drummed his fingers for a moment. “I like traveling and helping people out. I don’t like how crowded we are. I sometimes wish that things could always be this simple.”

Ignis had the strong desire to give Noctis a hug, like he’d done when they were children. There was vulnerability and defensiveness warring under his attempted nonchalance and if they still had the sort of uncomplicated relationship that children had, he’d already have Noctis in an embrace. But they were adults and Noct might accept side hugs and slaps on the shoulder from Prompto and Gladio, there had been a wall of propriety between him and Ignis for a while. A wall that he should really start to take down. Propriety was pointless when there wasn’t anyone left who would care.

“The second one is a lie,” Ignis said softly.

Noctis smiled, lopsided. “Yeah.” He took a drink.

“Aw, we like crowding you too,” Prompto said, nudging Noctis with an elbow. “I mean, sometimes a little privacy would be nice, but honestly you can’t feel lonely like this and that’s been good.”

Left to their own devices they weren’t the sorts to spend every waking moment with another person, but they had been spending more or less that for months now. Ignis, if asked before their trip started, would have thought that they’d have gotten on their last nerve at some point or another, but they hadn’t. There was quiet, introspective time on car rides, or brief moments at havens to break away from the group and have a private moment, but surprisingly they hadn’t needed more than that so far. It was almost nice if Ignis didn’t think about the circumstances. And for Noctis who had never really had enough time to spend with friends with his busy life… Well, Ignis, having a busy life of his own, could more than understand why the lifestyle they’d been living appealed.

“We can’t forget our purpose though,” Gladio pointed out.

“Dude,” Prompto said, “I don’t think any of us could no matter how many fetch quests people send us on.”

“I’m just saying,” Gladio grumbled.

“And I’m just saying that tonight’s time to not think about the things that are always looming over us,” Prompto said, pushing back more than he normally would. “Please? Like we’re all strung out, that’s why we gotta relax and recharge sometimes or we’ll just burn out.”

Gladio rubbed a hand down his face and took a drink even though it wasn’t part of the game. “Yeah.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Noctis added in a quiet voice. “I promise.”

“We’re really missing the point to this game,” Prompto said with a sigh. “Getting too real, guys. On that note, Gladio—Two truths and a lie. I’ve always wanted a pet, I bought my first camera with allowance money, and I am naturally a morning person.”

Gladio took a second to switch gears but when he did he relaxed in a very deliberate looking manner. “Well considering how you go on about chocobos, I wouldn’t be surprised if you always wanted one as a pet. And how you’re friends with Sleeping Beauty over there, it’s a mystery because you don’t need coffee in the morning like Ignis and you don’t sleep in like Noct. So, how’d you actually get your first camera?”

“I bought it with money from a part time job,” Prompto said after taking a drink. “Technically I had a phone camera before, but I was kind of frustrated at the limitations and after taking a photography class… Yeah, I was hooked.” He smiled. “So I saved up and bought this beauty,” Prompto said patting his camera. “It’s not like high end, but with multiple lenses and filters and a hella good zoom, it’s a pretty dang good first camera, you know?”

“I commend your work ethic,” Ignis said, though Prompto’s work ethic had always been good, even if he and Noctis were enablers in indulging in their gaming interests at the expense of other tasks at times. Prompto had gotten decent grades his whole life, and worked from no prior combat knowledge to full-fledged Crownsguard, pulling his own weight on this trip purely because he cared for Noctis. It wasn’t really surprising that he’d seen the goal of a nice camera and put the effort into getting it.

“Thanks, Iggy,” Prompto said with a pleased grin.

“Now if only Noct had a bit more of that,” Gladio joked.

“Of all of us, I think Prompto and I have the best work-life balance,” Noctis shot back.

“Besides,” Ignis added, “Noctis is hardworking. Unfortunately he just has a tendency to drop less pressing tasks in favor of immediate ones.”

“Is this about not sewing the button back on my shirt? Because I’m going to sew the button back on my shirt.”

“I’ve actually been impressed by how much help you’ve been with tasks like dishes and laundry,” Ignis said, a bit mean to do, but it was a sore point between them. Then again, Noctis was more likely to drop what he was doing and help than Gladio. Prompto was fine if given directions at least. Goodness knew Ignis couldn’t run every minutia of their lives no matter how much he wanted to.

Noctis groaned. “You’re never going to let high school go are you?”

Ignis smiled. “If it was only high school, I would.”

“He’s got you there, dude,” Prompto said. “You’re kind of a trash master when you get distracted.”

Distracted being anything from work, to a gaming binge, to one of Noctis’s occasional depressive episodes. Ignis was sympathetic to the latter and exasperated by the former.

“It’s Gladio’s turn,” Noctis said pointedly turning the conversation away from himself.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I am a dog person, I kill houseplants no matter how I try to keep them alive, and I kind of wish I’d gone to college.”

Prompto squinted at him. “This is the sort of thing I was worried about playing this. I have no idea which of those is a lie.”

“Guess,” Gladio said unhelpfully.

“Plants?” Prompto asked more than stated.

“Bzzt. I’m not a dog person. They’re cute and all but they’re high maintenance compared to cats.”

“Harsh, dogs are great,” Prompto said taking a drink. “They’re loyal and hard working. Don’t get me wrong, cats are adorable, but they’d abandon you for a sardine.”

“Lies and slander,” Noctis said.

“Dude, they’re super picky and you fall for their begging every time.”

“You feed every dog that looks your direction,” Noctis countered.

“Uh, no, we’ve seen like three dogs and one of those is Dave’s. You’re the one busting out super expensive cat food. Anyway, we can all agree chocobos are best.”

Noctis laughed. “I think it’s just you there.”

“Nah, chocobos are more useful and better fighters than either of them,” Gladio said, “so they win in my book too.”

“Why didn’t you attend university?” Ignis asked.

“You think I’d have had the time? I don’t know how you did it, honestly. I had my plate full learning everything I needed to protect Noct.”

Ignis could see a small, guilty twitch from Noctis. Ignis’s own university years had been…hmm, eventful. And the largest reason for his caffeine addiction. “Out of curiosity, what would you have studied?”

Gladio shrugged. “I dunno. I like history, and some of the stuff I’ve talked with Sania about’s pretty cool.”

“Oh yeah, you are friends with her aren’t you?” Prompto said. “Are frogs really that exciting?”

“Okay, the frogs are just one of the things she studies,” Gladio said. “Her greater research is on wildlife in general and you’d know that if you listened to what she said when we help her that she’s been looking into the change in daylight and the increase in scourge infected wildlife—”

“Holy shit have you been hiding a nerdy side this whole time?” Prompto said with the expression of a man who’d just witnessed something life changing. “Gladio, are you a science nerd under all that muscle?”

Gladio frowned. “Could you not say it like that? Also, I haven’t been hiding anything. I already know a lot about physiology from training, and nature is a thing I clearly enjoy as you guys love to complain about how I like camping. At least one of the books I’ve read on this trip was Sania’s research.”

“Well shit, man.” Prompto downed the rest of his drink. “The more you know. I think we all learned something today.” He blinked. “I should not have drank that all at once.”

Noctis laughed. “So we’re all on board to just drink now, huh?” He took a pointed swallow of his drink. “Might as well.”

“Really?” Ignis sighed.

“Eh, let ‘em,” Gladio said, taking a drink from his own cup. “As you guys keep saying, we’re trying to relax. Besides we were getting nowhere fast with the game.”

“That’s the point,” Ignis said. “To not get drunk.”

“They can’t get that drunk,” Gladio pointed out. “You made sure of it.”

Ignis pursed his lips, but Noctis and Prompto were elbowing each other and laughing and no one was going to end up so inebriated they were hung over the next day. It was almost like back in Insomnia…

Gladio slung an arm around him. “Don’t think too hard.”

“I am trying not to but…” They hadn’t really given themselves any proper time to grieve had they? One moment they were watching Insomnia burn and the next they were throwing themselves into seeking out royal arms and helping random strangers and going on hunts with barely any time to breathe because if they relaxed too much it might all fall apart. Ignis was used to setting how he felt aside, and so were the rest of them, but that didn’t necessarily make it healthy. Noctis and Prompto could laugh like this, so they would be okay. But sometimes Ignis wondered if he would be. That if he ever stopped he’d pull himself back together again.

“Drink if you think it’ll help,” Gladio said softly under the shriek of Noctis engaging Prompto to an impromptu tickling fight. “If you think it’ll be worse, leave it. Be in the moment, not the past.”

“I know that,” Ignis said. “I have been.” But the game had been about the past. On automatic, he saved the alcohol from getting spilled all over the tent floor as the tickle fight got wilder. Gladio gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“How about we team up against them, hmm?” Gladio offered.

Ignis pushed the mess of feelings back to deal with another day and managed a smile that almost reached his usual standards. “Would that be fair?”

“Anything’s fair in a tickling fight,” Gladio said. “Noct or Prompto first?”

“Noctis; Prompto is easier to subdue.”

“I’ll get his arms.”

“And I’ll handle his feet.”

Noctis and Prompto jumped when they entered the fight and Noctis yelped as Gladio caught him and Ignis exploited his weak points until he was gasping. Prompto laughed at his misfortune. At least until Ignis and Gladio shared a glance and turned to him, leaving Noctis to recover.

Later, much later, after more alcohol and Gladio ultimately emerging the victor of the tickle fight—he was only ticklish on his neck and that was hard to reach even when he wasn’t guarding it—they collapsed into a comfortable pile of bodies, curled up around each other, propriety and personal space be damned. They needed this, Ignis thought hazily on the edge of sleep. The laughter. The contact. The reassurance that they were still friends and close even after—or perhaps because of—everything that had happened.

“I haven’t done something like this in ages,” Gladio said, breaking the silence. “Not since… Hell, I don’t know. When I was a teenager?”

“Same,” Noctis said.

“Do our elbow fights over racing games not count?” Prompto asked. “Because we did that less than a year ago.”

“Yeah, but that’s… different,” Noctis muttered. “For one, Ignis joined in this time.” He lifted himself on one elbow long enough to fake-scowl in Ignis’s direction. “You’re brutal, by the way.”

Ignis laughed and had to stifle it on the nearest surface, which happened to be Noct’s thigh. When the laughter ran out though, he felt a bit drained, happy and sad at the same time. “I don’t think I’ve let go quite this much before.”

“Eighteenth birthday?” Gladio countered.

“Mm, but not everyone here was present for that.” And it hadn’t ended in a cuddle-pile on the ground. This was much better and would hopefully have less hangover-induced nausea the next morning.

“Well we’re all here now,” Noctis said, and like that was all that needed to be said, they went quiet, just the soft sounds of breathing and the occasional shift of limbs as they got comfortable.

Ignis ended up with Prompto’s head on his stomach and his own in Noctis’s lap. Gladio was both Noctis’s pillow and a heat source in how he managed to curl around Noctis and half of Prompto in the process. They were all going to wake up with limbs asleep and cricks in their necks, but for the moment it was all terribly comfortable.

Ignis drifted, letting the familiar sounds of his friends existing lure him toward sleep.

He was almost there when Prompto shifted against his chest.

“Ignis?” Prompto whispered, easily heard above the whistle-y start of Gladio’s snores and Noctis’s softer breathing.

“Mm?” When Prompto was silent, Ignis let a hand curl against his back, reassuring.

Prompto breathed out, relaxing minutely. “Do you think we’ll do this again someday?”

Ignis hummed. They didn’t have much downtime, though playing games happened when they did, but he knew that wasn’t what Prompto meant. They’d all shared parts of themselves tonight and boundaries had been crossed in other ways too, or they wouldn’t be curled up like this. But would it last beyond the morning?

Altissia loomed in their future and Ignis, for all that he would be glad to reach the city safely, equally dreaded it. It was one more step along some pre-destined path Noctis had laid out for him that only seemed to grow more burdensome the more Ignis let himself dissect what little he knew about Noct’s fate.

No, Ignis didn’t think that they would do this again. Not with this level of uncomplicated friendship, with their burdens as easily set aside. Those burdens only grew as days trickled by.

But he knew that wasn’t what Prompto needed to hear though, so for the moment he pulled on comforting hopes instead of his more realistic fears.

“We will,” he said, making himself sound sure.

“Promise?” Prompto asked.

He was so young, all of them were, but Ignis felt it in this fragile moment. All the more so because Prompto didn’t come from a life where things were predetermined. He’d forged his own path here, and perhaps that made him the most driven out of all of them. But because of that, he didn’t hold the same assurances. He didn’t see that he’d forged his own bonds here or that they were just as strong—if not more—as anything Ignis or Gladio shared with Noctis. Or with each other truly.

They were all friends and more than by this point. Comrades. A family of a sort, the last that each other had.

Ignis wanted to protect that with all his heart.

“I promise,” he said gently.

“Double promise,” Noctis slurred, patting randomly in Prompto’s direction. “Now go t’sleep.”

Prompto stifled a giggle. “Back at you, dude.” Noctis, apparently, fell truly asleep at that. Or perhaps he was already asleep and in one of his odd, in-between lucid moments.

“You’re one of us,” Ignis murmured, “and we’re going to stick together.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Prompto said, getting comfortable again.

As Ignis relaxed again, letting sleep pull him under, his last thought was how lucky they were to still have so much in each other.

#final fantasy 15 #fanfiction #my writing #chocobros #i was gonna hold off on posting this #but i like validation and was asked to post :p #hope you like it mae #i like ignis very much yes #also i am incapable of writing anything entirely happy and i accept this by this point #hope i got their voices down ok

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lovechesters · 5 years

Text

HEADCANON

John promised Sam a baseball game when he got back from another one of his hunting trips, only he never showed. Instead, he called Sam as a courtesy after he got off of school just to tell the poor teen he’d be missing the game, that he’d be gone an extra few days. Always the exact same excuse ‘There’s a monster terroizing the town.’ Or ‘Engine trouble’, not like the first time John let his boys down...

Dean finds Sam all alone, sitting on the broken glass window of an old garden shed, he needed some place quiet and all Bobby was going to do is talk shit on their dad for his horrible parenting, which is basically the icing on the cake for Sam if he chose to stay.

He’s throwing the ball into the wooden boards and baseballs don’t really bounce so he had to cup a hand underneath to catch it, wood clattering, the harder Sam’s throw.

Dean didn’t want to meddle but he also couldn’t leave Sam all by himself, he hated seeing him like this. And Dean’s been cleaning up John’s messes since day fucking one.

Dean hovers over his little brother, hand soon clenching Sam’s shoulderblade and giving it a small tug to get his attention.

Sam’s eyes are suddenly ripped away from the ground, the firm hand on his shoulder was quite comforting, not causing alarm because the shallow breathing he felt down his neck belonged to his older brother and no other.

“Careful, What you tryin to do with that thing? Break a window?” Dean thought he’d first humor him, a little lightheartedness never hurt, and he thinks he’s sooo funny because the window was already broken. That’s the joke.

“Dad’s not here...He’s not coming.” Sam pouts, the clattering of wood subsides, because now he’s fisting the baseball in his hand, bringing it up to his chest.

Dean snatches the baseball right out of Sam’s hand, shooing the shards of glass off the window sill before planting himself down across from the mopey teenager

“Well, ‘know I’m not dad, but— There’s that old wildlife preserve in Sioux Falls, maybe we could sneak in and toss the ball around.”

There’s a change in Sam’s face. Was that a smile? Dean was 99.9% sure what he saw was the beginning curl of a smile. No, he was certain.

“Really? And you’re cool with that?” Sam gawks across the way.

“Psh, sure.” Dean hops down and the baseball jumps in his hand. He’s already heading out of the shed and Sam tugs onto his brother’s flannel shirt, following behind.

“But this is a wildlife preserve, w-what happens if— If I hit a deer?” Sam scrambles around, in panic

“Well, that’s nature 101, if you’re playing baseball in a restricted area and you hit a deer... the best thing to do would be to say you’re sorry.”

“... You’re an idiot...” Sam retorts, finding Dean’s commentary somewhat amusing.

“But, if it’s a girl deer, you gotta buy her dinner, give her your first born, erase your name from the book of chivalry or just— Have a completely new idenity to hide yourself from the deer kingdom. But you’ll never be safe. They will find you.”

“Wh—...” Sam slugs Dean’s shoulder and beats on his back a little til this pit of laughter is just forced out of him. Dean grabs Sam’s flailing arms by the wrist and gestures to one side, smirking wide.

“But first, let’s get you a baseball mit, Bobby’s got a spare in the garage.”

“Thanks, Dean.” Sam sighs and adds a soft smile, face lighting up like a christmas tree. He was looking at Dean like he was just this savior that swooped in at just the right moment

Dean messes up Sam’s hair and turns away, rolling his eyes so far back they might have just stuck. “Alright, quit looking at me like I just saved the damn world, It’s baseball.”

“Saved mine, ‘counts for something, right?”

Dean neglects to comment, and Sam rushes into the Bobby’s garage to retrieve the baseball mit. He’s now coming back out, runnning straight at Dean. The eldest Winchester is in panic, waving his arms around, but his brother was relentless and kept on running, if he wasn’t careful, They both were in for a nasty grass burn.

Then Dean’s eyes are snapping shut and he feels arms wrap around his back, Sam’s chin hooking over his shoulder, then he opens them, sees that Sam made Dean a little home in his embrace. It was the best feeling, rays of sunlight warmed their skin and made the hug even more lovely.

After Dean could see clearly, the messy haired hobo who thought it was all fine to get into his personal space, he’s leaning his head into Sam’s and flicks his nose, the boy jerking back and whining from the tingling nerves.

“‘Counts for something.” Dean smiles, taking his own mit from the back of his pants and slipping it on, shoving his brother in the cheek.

Sam’s appreciation’s the only type of clarity he needs right now and Sam was ready to have his happiness flood like a broken dam. These two were gonna play some baseball.

#winchesters #sam winchester #dean winchester #big brother dean #supernatural #spn #headcanon #wincest #wincest!multiverse #the epic love story of sam and dean #samxdean #au #my gifs

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weeping-petals · 4 years

Text

A New Game - Part 1

Word Count - 3,403

The Temple in the Chalcedony Forest has become active, and the Crystal Gems take Steven along to check what affects the ancient relic has undergone. In the forest, someone waits, and she does not want visitors.

The sales guy was told there was another home on the far point of Beach City. It was way out of the way, but his pitch hadn’t landed on most of the residents who answered their doors, and it was mentioned casually that the owner usually indulged hard working door-to-doors.

The home was actually really nice, and he could see why the owner would indulge a pitch. It was built in the front of - or into - an enormous statue reminiscent of some sea goddess or whatever. Not a fancy place by no means, but the property tax alone must’ve been astronomical.

He scaled the long series of steps to the front of the home and knocked on the screen door. While he waited, he straightened his tie and fixed the lapels of his suit. Most the home was visible behind the screen, it went far back, into what resembled a cave. A genuine naturalist, interested in preserving the native rock. Footsteps rocketed from above, from what he could presume was an upstairs loft. There sat some windows up there, for what must’ve been a splendid view.

A small and what he would describe politely as a pudgy child hit the door. Hit the door before he grabbed at the latch and pulled it open. “Hi!”

“Hello,” began Fran – short for Frankenstilk. “Can I inquire if either of your parents are home?”

“Either?” responded the child. “Can I ask, which would you want?”

“Which? Hmm. Your mother or father, or grandparent. Any suitable guardian.” Fran hefted his briefcase. “I have a revolutionary product that will change how you do dishes.”

“Well,” the boy looked like he was giving this serious consideration. “That pitch might fall best on Pearl. Is it a cleaning product?”

Hopeful, Fran brightened. “It’s actually a machine. A new dishwasher, saves water and energy.” At that mention, the boys eyes lit up. “And time, might I add.”

“That sounds cool! But, we don’t have a dishwasher. We do it all by hand.” He looked down and prodded the threshold with his toe. “I’m the only one in the house that eats, so I don’t know if Pearl will come to the door. Between you and me, she really doesn’t like talking to people.”

This was getting weird, and going nowhere. “Could you try and get her for me? Maybe she’ll talk to me. It is a wonderful product, and we have several sizes to fit your family’s needs.”

At the far end of the room, what appeared as a kind of flat platform with crystals embedded on the base, lit up. Like a concerts lighting effects or stage, it beamed with radiance that flooded the interior of the home. Fran gawked, and the boy spun around, going tense. Something appeared in the center, but in a blink it was gone and once more the interior catered to the typical light from lamps.

“OHH!” squealed the boy. “Did you see that?”

“Uhh….”

“I knew I saw it! I knew it! The ghost! You saw it too, right?” he grabbed Fran by the pant leg and shook him. “I didn’t have my camera! Can you wait here? I gotta get someone! Pearl! She’ll want to talk!”

“Uhhh…..” Fran wanted to leave. Now.

The strange formal man with the briefcase was gone by the time Steven had located one of the Crystal Gems, not Pearl. Garnet figured Steven would be looking for her, but there were any number of scenarios that could have led to him needing her. The one where he saw a ghost was not one, and that concerned her.

“This is the third time I’ve seen it.” Steven had a book loaded with spectral apparitions, stories of unsolved conundrums, and mystical time portals. All rubbish in Pearl’s eyes, but it fascinated Steven.

To Garnet, none of that made sense. Over the centuries, she and the other Gems dealt with corrupted monsters left over from the war, unaccounted shards that needed a good sturdy bubble, and passive gems corrupted, but rooted to their locations and passive, but needed to be looked after. Corrupted Gems and shards could not use the portals, yet, that was where Steven insisted, he saw this apparition.

“Did you get a good look at her, this time?” she posed. She sat on the couch, watching Steven pace back and forth – a habit he picked up from Pearl.

“No. It happened too fast.”

Garnet hummed, contemplating this information. She skimmed through the twisting timelines, searching for insight into these visions Steven was having. None came to her, immediately. “Are you sure Amethyst isn’t playing a trick on you?”

“No. I don’t know.” Steven let the disappointment leak into his voice. “Usually, she surprises me and gloats about how I’m so easy.”

Yeah. This didn’t sound like Amethyst’s doing.

Over the next few weeks, Steven poured into the spooky and mystery books from the local bookshop. The mail carrier was hauling one or two large volumes a day. Pearl was at her wits end.

“Steven. These volumes are not accurate education materials. There’s no such things as… spirits,” she huffed.

Thankfully, Amethyst was at the bar folding a burger into a pizza. “Psh, yeah. Except the creepy gem bits we keep in the basement.”

Steven looked up from the book he was perusing through. “Gem… bits?”

“Amethyst!”

A loud argument irrupted from that. For the most part, Steven was confused, and Amethyst teetered on the edge of divulging something, which Pearl was having none of. It only came to an end when Garnet entered from the portal doorway, her presence and stoic expression demanded silence.

This didn’t happen immediately. Garnet had to clear her throat to break the others out of bickering. “We need to make a trip to the Chalcedony Forest. The temple in the heart of that region has become active, and one of the warp pads there is now silent.”

Pearl and Amethyst remained pensive. Steven was the first to speak up.

“What does that mean?”

“My plans for the day are canceled,” Amethyst quipped.

“You didn’t have any plans,” Pearl rebuked.

“Aside from eating my purrurger. It’s a pizza, burger, and a burrito. All rolled up in one.” Amethyst began gnawing on the culinary behemoth, while Pearl made the gag face. The one she made, whenever Amethyst shoved a none traditional, edible food item into her face.

“Steven. Would you like to come with us?” Garnet bypassed the bar, to look on the child with his book.

“You mean it?” he beamed. The face faded, he looked at his book. “Even after the Moon Temple?”

“Lunar Sea Spire,” Pearl corrected.

“One minor error.” Garnet ruffled his curly hair. “We all make them, one time or another. What matters, is that you want to continue and learn. And avoid repeating the same mistakes. No artifacts this time. Our mission will be simple recon. Maybe your short stature will help us locate anything we miss.”

“I’m short!” Amethyst burped.

“But Steven does it better,” Garnet responded. “We need to leave soon. Go get packed.”

Steven bolted from his chair and rushed to the loft. He grabbed the hamburger backpack off his shelf and dumped all the supplies from it, then restocked it, accounting for new gear he needed for the so named forest.

“Do I need bug spray!”

“No.”

“Suntan lotion?”

“Dude! We’re going to be in a forest!”

“What about a canoe?”

“Steven!” All three said in unison.

Steven stuffed in one snack, and felt ready for the trip. He raced downstairs, and joined the other gems at the front door. “So, what’s the Chardony Forest like?”

“Chalcedony Forest,” Pearl corrected. Amethyst facepalmed. “It was a land in the midst of gem petrifi—”

In a beam of light, the gems vanished from the surface of the warp pad and shot through the light stream. Within a matter of minutes, a flash burst halfway across the globe on a sister pad.

Deep in the forest terrain.

“—Since then, ah, we’re here,” Pearl announced, when the light faded and the chaotic land rose up around them. The trees clustered close to the area of the pad, and it was askew in the soil. Steven wobbled where he stood on the slick surface. “Since then, the forest has adapted to the partial terraforming.”

“Wow.” Steven bounced off the pad and weaved among the shrubs. The trees were the largest he’d ever seen, some had trunks larger than his own home. He shielded his eyes from the falling sun, the light cascaded down was intense. Though, some of the looming timbers shimmered and reflected light, the surface polished like glass. Smaller and less impressive foliage remained traditional bark and fiber. “Oh, so they’re like glass.”

“The Chalcedony Forest,” Garnet restated. “Many of these plants adopted gem like qualities. Some are primarily mineral.”

“Chalcedony is a kind of gem?” Steven questioned. He leaned down, inspecting the jagged crystals shooting from the sprouts of a shrub.

“Yes.” Garnet stepped by, patting his head. “Let’s get moving. We won’t have much daylight, especially with the trees. Amethyst.”

Amethyst was prodding a root. “What? I’m just looking.”

“It’ll be important to stay close. The thicket is dense, and it will be easy to become separated, and difficult to call out for each other.” This was Garnet code for, keep a close eye on Steven because he might get distracted by something and wander.

“So Pearl!” Steven bounded up beside his favorite tall and booky gem. “What else can you tell me about this place? How are the trees both glass and growing?”

Pearl smiled, “Well, the technology was very sophisticated at the time, and this region was intended to be utilized for aristocratic gatherings. See the view?” She cast an arm out, gesturing the expanding valley stretching from the slope of the mountain. Steven hurried ahead, eyes beaming. The forest went on

FOREVER

Unbeknownst to the gems, in the low canopy above them, a dark shape plopped onto a branch and stood, bent, surveying the three. It was loosened, looming, gleaming eyes narrowed. In a flash, the figure was out of sight. Aside from leaves spiraling down from where the figure darted, no evidence was apparent to warn the others.

A half hour later, the gems were hiking uphill. A path wove among the branches and breaching roots, but the terrain was not clear of rocks or shattered tree mineral.

“Hey,” Steven wheezed. “How far is the temple?”

“Mmm,” Garnet thought. “Another three hours.”

“What!”

“That was the closest warp pad?” Amethyst grouched. Though not tired, walking was boring. And they weren’t here to fight any creatures or living islands.

“There was one nearer to the temple, yes,” Garnet answered. “Though seismic events might have….” There she stalled, and raised her head to the canopy above. “Watch out!” She knocked Amethyst backwards, then bolted forward snagging Steven and Pearl. She crouched beside the base of crystal spikes, shielding them from a rapid succession of bursting sparks that erupted on the trail.

Amethyst rolled backwards, narrowly evading miniscule shards. A few hits struck home, inflicted damage to her arm. “Hey! What gives!”

Laughter spilled down from the branches. From the dense leafy assortment, a lanky thread slunk down. It alit on a branch, recalling its body into a concise shape.

“Well-well-well, what have we here!” the speaker hissed. “Look who’s come to invade my territory.” The lithe shape dropped, swinging from its legs, directing an oversized finger at each below under scrutiny. She sang in a mocking tune, “If it isn’t Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Oh dear, Pearl, long time no see. Eh?” She slung around, and flipped back up onto the branch. “What happened? Run out of Corrupt Gems to Terrorize!”

Pearl eased out of Garnet’s arms, squinting at the silhouette. “Who is…? No. It can’t be.”

“But it can. And it is! Oh, and now you’re here, for me. Come to finish what you started! IS THAT IT!” She bounded down tree limbs, marching with her fists swinging. “You’ll all have another thing comin’, mark my words.”

Steven shuddered. Garnet held tight in her arms, while all focus was directed up at the strange… person. He’d never seen her this tense before, not since the arcade. “Garnet,” he murmured. “Who is that? Do you know… her?”

Garnet didn’t respond. She set him down and moved to place herself between him and the figure up high, descending beat by beat. This movement didn’t go overlooked.

“Ah! Who’s that you got there? Another reject, from the furnace!” The person sprang up and down on the branch, stamping her feet. “If you think—”

“Amethyst,” Garnet hissed. She didn’t need to look, to know she caught the other’s attention. “Return to the warp pad.”

“Who! Is! That!” The figure demanded, cocking those gleaming eyes.

Pearl already had a spear summoned, and was moving around the side of the tree. In part striving to conceal intents, partially tempting attention – feigning a poorly construed sneak attack. Meanwhile, Amethyst crept among the brush from the other side, to where Garnet with Steven stood poised.

“Come on, Steven.” Amethyst nabbed his hand and tugged him away. Her quick response on the command and lack of resistance made Steven uneasy. Amethyst was prone to argue if there was a chance for a fight, but here and now, she hefted him above her head and hurried into the retreat.

“Wait,” Steven countered. “Who?— What’s—?”

“Steven!” The silhouette barked, bristling. “Steev-En.” The body of the odd figure went limp noodle. “Oh. Ooh. Perfect.” Her gleaming eyes slanted. “Steven. All grown up. Look atchoo. Aren’t you cuute. I have a surprise. How ‘bout a new game. The rules are simple. Winner takes all. Won’t you stay? Can’t you play? Think of all the fun we’ll have!”

“Spinel!” Garnet boomed.

Pearl was scaling the tree, vaulting up the branches, fast as she could manage. She reached height with Spinel and thrust her spear, intending to shoot a bolt or energy. But Spinel already lept backwards, extending an arm. She caught Pearl by the foot and knocked her out of the elegant ascent.

“Just like old times,” Spinel cackled. Her limbs uncoiled, she snatched ahold of branches near the forest floor and hauled her body downward like a missile. “Have fun while I wasn’t around? Learn new tricks? Make new games?”

Amethyst hurtled around trees, while Steven flailed his arms. “Who is that? What is—” He crashed to his backside when Amethyst came to an abrupt halt, dropping him and scooting backwards. On the ground the lanky gem was coiled and flattened, a wild grin plastered on the face. An arm snaked out and snared Amethyst by the ankle, in one fling Amethyst went skyward. Steven shuffled backwards.

Spinel sprang off the floor, limbs jagged and bent. “Found you!”

“Don’t you dare harm him!” Garnet snarled. She launched over Steven’s head, gauntlet extended. The blow narrowly connected with Spinel’s shoulder, but rather knock the enemy gem off balance, legs coiled about Garnet’s shoulders and wrist, looping tightly.

Spinel twisted into the flip, hauling the bulkier gem along. Arms unraveled catching at the trunks around them, and she began spinning in an unrestrained vortex, abandoning control. A bright glimmer emitted from the core of the cyclone, and when Spinel released Garnet, the fusion collided with a crystal tree. The Chalcedony burst, collapsing into glittery bits and forming a glittery cavity.

Perched in the low branches, Pearl saw an opening. Spinel skidded across the soil, whipping around to face an oncoming lilac buzzsaw. Soundlessly, Pearl vaulted down, extending her spear. Unfortunately, she forgot the critical rule of fighting Spinel.

Spinel was already relocating, a constant motion, never ceasing step aside from a millisecond beat. She spied Pearl in descent, and once Amethyst was a hairpin close, grabbed the whirring ball by the sides and launched her upward. Amethyst collided with Pearl, and the two plummeted.

Steven backed away when the gem spun his way; a wide grin met him, the arms loose and curved. She made no move on him, didn’t acknowledge him aside from the sinister gleam. The barest suggestion of an encounter sent a shiver up his spine, and he continued to retreat, until his back hit the bent root of a tree. He didn’t know what to do, how to help. This was unlike any scenario they practiced for. This was clearly not a creature, he didn’t think she looked like one. This was a gem. A real gem person.

Why were they fighting?

Pearl and Amethyst were struggling to recover from the impact. That was when Spinel sprang into their midst, spinning and kicking one or the other. “How I MISSED YOU!” Pearl rose to jam out a spear, but Spinel smashed it to the ground underfoot. Amethyst cracked her whip, and Spinel countered by coiling an arm into the lash and hauled Amethyst downward. “How lonely I WAS! Can you IMAGINE?” She grabbed Amethyst, swept around and flung her against Pearl’s body. “Remember all the fun we used to have? Do ya! Well I DO!”

Spinel’s gem gleamed, and she slapped a small block to the back of Amethyst’s shoulder. Pearl sprang in, not recovered from the last blow. She tried to spear Spinel with a wild shot, but missed when the other gem bowed aside. Not only swung, but scooted up right behind Pearl. Spinel pried at her shimmering heart, and shoved a third and final device to the back of Pearl’s head. The force of the delivery sent Pearl into a flip.

“You LEFT ME! Thought you could forget all about me, HAUGH!” Spinel spat, as she backed away. Directly behind her, Garnet launched in, gauntlets out stretched and energy crackling across her knuckles. Spinel performed a tight twirl on one leg, bending backwards, the other leg slung up and tripped Garnet. While the larger gem somersaulted, Spinel snatched the shades from her face.

And fitted them over her own eyes. “Thought you’d just… abandon me, didja?” Her gem gleamed, this time, she brought forth a device about the size of her hand. “Not a one of you thought to come find me! Thought you’d be through with me! Dust your hands of that lil trifle? Well, GUESS AGAIN!”

The three gems saw the device, but it was Amethyst who spied the something… on the back of Pearl’s head. She blurted, “She’s got a—”

Garnet landed and recovered, right beside Spinel. But she didn’t contend with the gem, instead, she propelled herself forward. There was no time. Spinel hit the switch, and sneered at the other two.

Each tech on each gem, Garnet included, blazed a bright light. The forest around them was engulfed completely by the intrusive radiance, even sound burned away. Too near the radius, Steven covered his head and body, perplexed and terrified by everything spiraling out of control. It very well could have been their end. He would never see another Cookie Cat. His dad would never know what happened. Their adventures were over.

“Steven,” Garnet howled. Voice nearly enveloped completely by the grating yowl of the light. She wrapped her arms around the boy, intending to shield him, and defend him from whatever may come.

Right beside her, Spinel laughed. “Nice try. No dice.” Garnet nearly missed the comment. She curled around Steven tighter, reminiscent of another time long-long ago, when she had protected a friend.

Eventually, the light faded by layers of haze, and even then, the gems could not see clearly. The surroundings were apparent, but they remained in a glaring fog.

“What was that?” Amethyst grumbled. She walked into another tree. She tried crawling, but wound up waddling right into a crystal rock.

“A flash,” Pearl supplied. She leaned on her spear struggling with the affects, shaking her head – where her gem was situated. “It impedes our gems ability to perceive surroundings.”

“Just say we can’t see. That makes more sense,” Amethyst spat. “Man! I thought she was gone, like, forever ago. Garnet? Is Stev okay?” Worryingly, Garnet was silent. “Hey! Was he affected? How’s he doing?”

Garnet was the first able to recover. She managed to summon a pair of shades, though still suffered some intent of the radiance. Which meant, Spinel was affected as well, to some degree. Which on its own was troubling. What bothered Garnet more, was that she was holding only the hamburger backpack, and it was empty. They lost Steven.

#steven universe #suf #steven universe the movie #su the movie #spinel #spinel fanfic #spinel fanfiction #pearl #garnet #steven #amethyst #crystal gem #spinel crystal gem au #garnet fanfic #steven fanfic #pearl fanfic #amethyst fanfic

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chiliiscereal · 3 years

Text

Too tall part 2

Raph x tall! Fem! Reader

——-

So here we are again lol I liked writing it so here’s part two!

——-

“Yeah he was a douchebag.” You agreed, tapping the seat nervously. Sure you were glad to have conversation but it didn’t need to be any info dumping. Quickly, you turned the conversation back around to him. “You kept calling yourself a monster earlier. Do you guys get called that a lot?”

You could easily see the nervous expression on his face shift to something more... bitter.

“You could say that.” He grunted.

Immediately you felt bad. It makes sense that he’s get called that. To be honest, the word ran through your head when he and his brother fell from the roof. But to call someone that to their face? That’s cold.

You straightened up, desperate to fix what you’d said. “I personally don’t see it. Well, other than you guys breaking my phone that is.”

He looked up at you with a glare, only for it to melt slightly when he noticed the grin on your face.

“Who knows, maybe that perv was on his way back with a few friends and you guys dropping down was exactly what I needed to get rid of him.” You shrugged, watching his golden eyes intently. Sure you just met him but you needed him to have the right impression, even if you might not see him again.

“Maybe.” Was all he offered.

Well, maybe sitting in the quiet was better. Running your mouth might have the wrong effect.

“Got a pretty good punch.” He commented after a moment of silence. He wasn’t sure what else he should say but he didn’t exactly want the conversation to die... purely because it would be awkward. “You...uh... you box at all?”

You examined the hand he’d previously wrapped, grateful you weren’t the only one talking. “No just had to learn to beat up guys when they messed with my friends. I’d like to in the future though.” You cleared your throat nervously. “Do you? Do you box?”

He nodded. “Yeah, a bit.”

You nodded as well. “Very cool.”

The conversation began to dwindle again so he picked it back up.

“If ya’d like... I could show ya a few moves.” He immediately regretted offering the moment he spoke. He.... he couldn’t help it! What was wrong with him? You’d said a few words he’d never heard before! That was it! And... well, you also cracked a few jokes with him... denied him being a monster... hell you even apologized to him. Apologies weren’t things he got often. “If ya ever in need ‘a course.” He covered himself quickly. “Got lots a spare time an’ a punchin’ bag.”

You blinked in surprise. A giant, mutant, teenage turtle... was offering you boxing lessons?

Raph mentally kicked himself for saying that. “Neva’ mind ya probably got other places to be-.”

“I’d like that.” You sat up a bit. “It’s not everyday that I get offered a boxing lesson by a mutant hero.”

The term ‘mutant hero’ threw him off. He was used to ‘monster’ or simply being referred to as ‘giant turtle’. But ‘mutant hero’? That was a title he could get behind.

“Can’t have ya goin’ around breakin’ the skin on your knuckles again.” He clarified quickly, gaining a bit of confidence back. “An’ I noticed that ya had your thumb in your fist when ya hit the guy. Coulda broken it.”

You snorted. “Yeah I wasn’t exactly thinking about that when he attacked me.”

“Impressive though.” He commented. “Thought we’d have to jump in an’ save ya.”

“Instead you jumped in after I did all the hard work and broke my phone.” You raised an eyebrow jokingly.

He looked down in embarrassment. “Yeah you can blame Mikey for that. Dumbass wanted to make bets about how long it would take for you to take the guy down.”

You flushed a bit at the thought of them watching you take your rage out on the creep. “I don’t really know what to say to that.”

He nodded, not really knowing what to say either. He was new to the whole conversation thing. Usually Mikey or Leo carried the conversations.

“Well looks like you’re all good.” He leaned back once he finished wrapping your hands. “Guess you can get your phone and we’ll get outta your hair.”

You stood up, backing up a bit when he did to. Man he really towered over people. “Well, except when I come back for that boxing lesson.”

He was surprised to be honest. You really wanted to come back?

You pointed your finger at him jokingly. “I’m holding you to it. You offered and there’s no backing out now.”

“Yeah... sounds like a plan.”

——

It was a plan indeed.

In fact, it became the plan for almost every afternoon.

You brought over your homework to finish up (with Donnie insisting he could help), chatted a bit with Splinter (he loved having new company), finally got to the boxing lesson (your favorite part), and then played video games with Mikey to cool down.

You had to admit, you were nervous the first few times you came over. They were to. You, of course, cracked many nervous jokes and accidentally made far too many cookies on your first trip back. You were excited and scared! Food was then way to peoples hearts right? They seemed nice and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to make out of the ordinary friends.

They’d definitely been surprised when you showed up with about 3 tons of chocolate chip cookies but they were teenagers; it was eaten within the hour.

In your opinion it helped you break the ice. It was hard enough to find things in common when they’re completely different species! Cookies had become the common ground.

Being different species wasn’t the only thing. They were HUGE! For once you were the shortest out of everyone in the room.

Well, until you met April.

She’d been talked up so much that you couldn’t wait to meet the girl that helped them save New York.

She barely went to your shoulder.

But you two got along. Sure she was an adult and it was a bit awkward that she was smaller than you, but you managed. In fact you even liked having someone smaller than you around when you were with them. It made you feel more... normal.

“I was a bit awkward the first time I came here to.” She admitted as you two sat on the couch. You two were supposed to be trying to figure out calculus but it was fruitless. “They’re just so... huge!”

You nodded as you erased your work. “Yeah, I’m used to being the tall one. But now it’s like I’m gonna get stepped on!”

“Well you’re pretty tall yourself.” She waved it off. “Does that ever give you any trouble?”

You set down you pencil with a sigh. “A bit. It’s... hard to find a guy that will like all 6 feet and 4 inches of me.”

April shook her head. “Psh. Men. What do they know.”

“Absolutely Nothing.” You grinned. “The only thing they know is that they like small girls.”

“Eh, I can think of a few guys that like tall girls.” She hinted slightly, disappointed when you didn’t seem to notice. “You’d just have to... branch out.”

You shrugged and leaned back on the couch. “I’ve tried that.”

“Maybe you just need a different... angle.” She held up her hands to fully frame your face. “Maybe there’s a reaaaaally tall guy out there for you. Someone who won’t care that you’re 6 foot 4 inches.”

You snorted, wrinkling your nose at her. “Yeah, let me know when a seven foot guy shows up in New York. Preferably, he has to be my age, and my type.”

Just then, Raph walked into the room. “Done chattin’ it up or are ya gonna go for another hour?”

You jumped. “What in the hot tater tots, dude!” You put your hand over your beating chest as if that would calm your heart down. “I get that you’re a ninja but come on! You’re gonna give me a heart attack showing up out of nowhere like that!

“Ya gonna box or what?” He rolled his eyes, mentally facepalming himself.

You weren’t like his brothers.

You weren’t even like him.

He had to be more careful. But he wouldn’t make it obvious of course. Stealth was clearly his thing.

You rolled your eyes right back at him, grateful that he was at a point where he felt he could joke with you. “Can you let my soul return to my body first?”

He frowned, unsure of what that meant. “Uhh... you okay?”

You jumped up off the couch, breath finally caught. “Alright I’m good. I’d rather get another lesson in then have to deal with calculus anymore.” You kicked your notebook a bit.

“You could... I don’t know... get Donnie to help ya with it?” He offered half heartedly.

You shook your head. “Nah, I’d rather do boxing with you.” You patted his arm as you passed him on your way to the training area. “Let’s go!”

His face flushed immediately.

Shit.

April raised an eyebrow from the couch. “Damn. You got it bad don’t you?”

Double shit.

He glared at her as the blush on his face grew hotter. “Shut up. Don’t know what the hell youre talkin’ about.”

She pursed her lips and tried not to laugh. “Of course. Just can’t help but notice that you never offered me any boxing lessons. Strange.”

He turned before he could get anymore embarrassed. “I don’t know what you’re on but you’re dead wrong.” And with that, he left.

———

“So these are your katanas?” You asked leo curiously, holding the weapons as gentle as possible. He’d let you look at them while you waited for Raph to show up. Never did you think he’d let you actually touch the blades.

He did, however, stand cautiously next to you. “Yeah, Master splinter gave them to me. Wanna see a few moves?”

You nodded eagerly. “Maybe when I’m actually good at boxing you can teach me some as well.”

You watched as he swing the blades with ease, talking you through each move and it’s purpose.

“Mikey, I’m NOT using my tech to fit every cheese and meat in the world into one pizza!” Donnie stated firmly, walking in with his younger brother right on his tail.

“Why not?” He begged. “It would be genius! We could offer it to the world! Give it our blessing!”

“The world wouldn’t take it from us.” Donnie rolled his eyes.

“Then we give it to Y/n in our honor!” He gestured to you. “She could give our gift to the world.”

“The world don’t want no gift of ours.” Raph commented, finally walking in.

You perked up immediately, altho you were unsure why.

“That’s why we label it as y/n’s” Mikey protested.

“I’m not gonna argue with you about this!” Donnie brushes past him and you.

“Then just say yes!” Mikey exclaimed, accidentally shouldering you.

Now these guys are pretty big. When they shoulder someone, they really move them out of the way.

And unfortunately, out of the way was closer to where Leo was practicing with his katanas.

“Shit!” You hissed quickly when you realized how close you were.

You’d have been chopped up into finely slice pieces if not for the arms that wrapped around you and moved you away quickly. Your feet left the floor before you could even realize what was going on. All you could feel was your back pressed against something solid and hands at your waist.

“Mikey watch where you’re goin’!” Raph shouted, setting you down gently.

“Sorry bro!” He called over his shoulder.

You took a deep breath and squeezed your eyes shut, trying not to stumble when your feet touched the floor. “Wow, that was a little too close for my liking.”

“Ya good there, short stuff?

At this, your eyes flew open. “Short stuff? Excuse me?”

He saw absolutely no problem with the name. “What?”

You placed your hands at your hips. “Never, in all my years, have I been called short stuff.”

He snorted. “Get used to it. Around here, you ARE short stuff.”

You narrowed your eyes at him as he prepared the boxing gloves. How was he so casual about this?? You were never talked to like that! “If I were in the human world, I’d be treated with respect because I tower over all the underlings.” You attempted to joke to cover up your surprise.

He found your reaction... amusing. You reacted better than he thought you would actually. “Well you’re the only underling here, SHORT STUFF.”

You tensed, so very very VERY unused to nicknames. “Come on, you can’t make an exception for human standards of height?”

You didn’t hate it, you just hated that it caught you off guard. Being off guard was the last thing you wanted.

“Nope.” He tossed you a pair of boxing gloves. “Now let’s get to it.”

———-

Why did that name make you feel so... giddy? You couldn’t help but play that scene over and over in your head as you sat at the lunch table with your friends. Was this how all your friends felt when they got called stuff like that? Was this what you’d been missing out on?

And you’d never been picked up before. Not like all the other girls in your grade had.

It was strange... and you liked it.

“Hey, again, I’m sorry about what happened.” Your friend apologized. “I know it’s been a month already but it’s clearly eating you up!” She took your hand understandingly. “I know that whenever this happens you lock yourself away but I’m here for you.”

You snapped back to the land of the living. “Oh! Actually... I’ve been fine!” It was almost like you hadn’t had time to be sad about what happened when that guy stood you up. Like other stuff took his place in your head.

She frowned at you. “Are you sure?”

You nodded, a smile creeping on to your face. “Positive.”

She gasped suddenly. “Oh my goodness. You met someone didn’t you?!” She shook your arm before you could answer. “Don’t deny it! Who are they? What’s their name??”

You shook her off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But your blushing face said otherwise.

“I don’t believe you.” She pursed her lips. “Can I just have a name? Does he go to our school?”

You snorted. “Dude, I don’t like him. He’s just a friend I’ve been talking to lately. He’s been giving me boxing lessons-.”

“Oh my goodness you two are basically married now.”

“Wait what?”

“Personal lessons? Girl he’s got it bad!”

Her words stuck with you the whole day. Even when you walked into the lair that afternoon. They spun in circles like a loop, playing over and over.

Psh you didn’t have feelings for Raph!

No way.

And he had a bad for you? No. No, your friend just misread the whole situation.

Just friends, as you’d been for the past month or so.

But the moment you walked in and saw him... you weren’t too sure.

He glanced up at you and then back at his phone. “Hey, you’re here early.”

You shrugged, setting your bag down. “Didn’t feel like heading home right away.”

“Donnies in his lab area if you’re gonna do more a’ that math shit.” He offered, eyes not leaving his phone screen.

“Actually I don’t have any homework today.” You started slowly. “And if you’re not busy...” you waited to see if he would catch on. You continued when he didn’t, “then could we skip ahead to the boxing?”

Now he looked up. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

He attempted to cover his reaction. “I mean, yeah I got time I guess.”

“Alright, then let’s get some water and get started?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Mikey, Leo, and master splinter were all in the kitchen.

“Hey didn’t hear ya come in!” Mikey grinned, patting your shoulder.

You jolted at the strength he put behind it, unready.

“Ay watch it.” Raph ordered, guiding you slightly away from Mikey.

It was just that he didn’t want Mikey to hit you too hard. Because... then you’d give up boxing too soon for the day. And then he’d have nothing else to do.

“It’s fine.” You waved him off, flushing a bit as you uncapped your water bottle. “Can I get through guys?”

Unfortunately Leo and Raph had started an arguement about the way Raph handled Mikeys action and now no one was really letting you get to the sink.

“Fine I’ll do it myself.” You tried to go around Raph, and succeeded. He backed away immediately when he saw that you had moved. But getting around Leo and Mikey? Not so successful.

With Leo’s strictness turned to Mikey, the two began arguing.

You tried to dodge them but Mikey took a step back.

“Oh my goodness your brothers aren’t making this easy.” You complained to Raph.

“Tell me about it.” He rolled his eyes. Suddenly.. he got an idea. “C’mon short stuff.” He grabbed you and set you on his shoulders so you wouldn’t get squished by one of his idiot brothers.

“Holy shit!” You squeaked suddenly. Now it was you that towered above everyone else. “Should I get used to you grabbing me randomly or is this only a temporary thing?” You held onto his shell as he shouldered past his brothers.

“Possibly.” He shrugged, “but it’s funnier if ya don’t.”

You hit his shoulder. “So you’re doing this for FUN??”

“That, and you gettin’ hit by Leo or Mikey would be an inconvenience.”

Wow where was all this joking coming from?

“Then I guess I gotta stop reacting.”

————

From then on it was a contest.

He would move you randomly out of the way and you’d do your best not to react.

You never did get used to it but he didn’t need to know that.

He never gave you any warnings either, which didn’t help.

You’d be standing in the tv area and he’d pick you up and move you out of his way, smirking while he walked by if he got a reaction.

You had fun with it though. It was fun... and you enjoyed having something like that in your friendship.

You flopped down on your couch after your hard day at school. Today you had no boxing lesson planned and only a few chapters to read. You WERE planning on relaxing by yourself but...

Mikey sent you a message.

Shreks_love_child: hey are you planning on coming over?

You frowned at it. Didn’t he know you had the day off?

You: I’m just going to relax at home today

Shreks_love_child: could you do that another day and come over? Raph’s in a mood

You: why would me coming over help anything? And why is he in a mood?

Shreks_love_child: no reason. He just doesn’t yell as much when you’re around

That wasn’t true... was it?

With a bit of thought, you responded back.

You: fine I’ll be there in a bit. But you better give me a better explanation when I get there. AND you owe me

“Mom I’m headed to my friends house!” You shouted, slipping on your shoes and heading out there door before she could make you do something like doing the dishes before you left.

You walked down the street, enjoying the scenery.

Why would Raph be in a mood?

And why would you being there make it better?

Well Mikey better have a good reason.

Just as you were about to come upon the sewer lid that lead you to their home, you recognized a person walking your way...

...the same guy that had stood you up.

His eyes widened when he seemed to recognize you to. “Hey, Y/n!” He shouted.

Nope.

Nope nope nope.

You began walking faster, turning the corner and heading towards the lid quickly. You had to act fast. You absolutely did NOT want to get caught face to face with him.

You lowered yourself and placed to too heavy lid over yourself as fast as possible, moments before he turned the corner.

You let out a sigh of relief.

Dumbass. Why has he wanted to talk? He made it clear how he felt and what he thought.

Whatever. You didn’t need to think about him now.

You could already hear the sound of shouting.

“Mikey I told ya not to touch it! It’s not finished and ya coulda broken it!”

You made your way down the ladder and through the tunnels quickly. From the sounds of it, Mikey was close to being murdered.

“I’m sorry! You left it on the counter dude! I didn’t know what it was!”

You rounded the next corner, coming face to face with two defensive turtle boys. Raph held a small object protectively in his hands and his brother backed away.

“That don’t mean ya gotta mess with it!”

“I already apologized bro!”

“Apologies are shit! Ya got pizza sauce all over it!”

You cleared your throat, letting yourself be known.

Both of them turned to you immediately.

Relief washed over mikeys face. “Hey! It’s y/n! Whatcha doin’ here angel cakes?” He rushed over quickly, practically standing behind you to protect himself from his older brother. “Today was your day off! Huh. Well now you’re here, right?”

You rolled your eyes at him, moving your attention to Raph.

His whole demeanor had changed. He no longer looked ready to kill. Instead he stood up straighter and held whatever the object was behind his back. “Why ya here?” He asked with a frown. “Today was the day off.”

You decided to not give Mikey an even harder time than he was having and not rat him out. “Thought maybe I’d just hang out with you guys if that’s okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah I’m cool with it.” He narrowed his eyes at Mikey as if he suspected what he’d done. Unfortunately he couldn’t hurt him in front of you so he turned his attention away from his younger brother.

“Cool cool.” You nodded as well. “Wanna watch a movie or something?” You leaned closer a bit to see what he had in his hands.

“Yeah, just let me go get my... my phone from my room.” He closed his fist over the object and moved aside.

“Whatcha hiding?” You raised a brow at him. “Candy?”

“Not hiding anything.”

You followed him to his room with a smirk. “If it’s candy you gotta share.”

“Nope. Not candy.” His face darkened as he grew embarrassed about the possibility of being caught before it was ready. “Just go wait on the couch.”

You rolled your eyes and held up your hands in surrender. “Fine. But I hope the shame of candy hoarding follows you forever.” You turned on your heel and walked to the couch.

Just as you sat down, your phone buzzed.

Hey, I just wanted to apologize for what happened. Are we good?

The absolute audacity. That guy ignored you for practically five months! And now he was apologizing? And he wasn’t even giving you a good reason??

You wrinkled your nose at the screen as if it were his face.

It was a stupid idea I just wasn’t ready for anything serious

You shut your phone off and tried to swallow the temptation of throwing it at the wall.

You know it’s rude to ignore people right?

The phone hit the brick wall with a thud.

It had an otter box case it was fine.

You took a deep breath and held your face in your hands, elbows resting on your knees.

“You good, short stuff?”

You groaned into your hands. “Just let me die.”

Raph frowned, unsure of what to say. One moment you were excited and bugging him. Now you looked like someone stole your dog.

“Somethin’ wrong?”

You sat up furiously. “Yeah this dipshit guy keeps texting me!” You paced the room, snatching up your phone as you went. “He stood me up the night I first met you guys and now he wants to talk?? And he’s calling me rude for not responding!” You shook your phone angrily. “Either I’m gonna die or he is!”

“The douchebag?” Raph attempted to clarify. “Ya still got his number?”

“I didn’t have time to delete it.” You admitted. “I got so caught up with you guys! And then he tried to talk to me on the way here!” You sat down beside him with a huff. “Fighting crime is your thing right? You think it’s justified if I run to his house and kill him? Would you stop me?”

“Wouldn’t try very hard.” He huffed. “He’s a dipshit. Don’t see what’s right in front a’ him.”

Crap out of room. To be continued!

@sophiedoodles-blog @fanlovedlt

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that-gal-kay · 5 years

Text

Sooo @accidentally-a-writer and I got distracted from the Past Patiently Waiting-verse and we've been playing with a magic AU that turned out both adorable and so, so angsty

So this is a ficlet with magic user! Alexander and Washington. Alexander is about 17 in this 'verse, and Laurens is a few years older.

This is also dedicated to Avie, for putting up with my insanity

TW for underage drinking (not that it's under age in the 1770s...)

***

Try as he might to get Alexander to be quiet, Laurens is sure his life is going to end the moment General Washington discovers what they’ve been up to. They stumble along the dirt path to headquarters, an unsteady light lingering alongside them thanks to Alexander’s magic, which thankfully takes little focus. A laugh interrupts their attempted soft steps, and he has to again turn to the boy and put his finger to his lips.

“Shh, Alexander. If we’re heard…”

“Psh, nothing will happen,” Alexander responds with a wave of his hand. The little ball of light hovering above them flickers in and out like a flame thanks to his lack of concentration. “Th’general doesn’t need’a know. He’s prob’ly asleep anyway.”

Oh but Laurens can only imagine the trouble they’ll find themselves in if the general is not asleep. Alexander’s cheeks are colored bright red, his eyes glazed as he totters along. Every once in a while the boy trips and has to reach for Laurens’ coat to steady his steps. In truth, Alexander is not that drunk, but he’s never had liquor before, and the general would certainly say his boy is too young for drinking with soldiers.

But, war is war, and Alexander is as much a part of it as the others, despite Washington’s attempts to keep him and his magic out of it. It’s Alexander’s birthday, he’s seventeen now, and, Laurens decided that seventeen is plenty old enough for a couple of drinks.

He curses when he finds the door already locked and bolted for the night. Laurens thinks of all the awful things he’s sure the general will do when he finds out that he snuck Alexander out after curfew. Trying to turn the handle does nothing, so Laurens turns again to the boy behind him. There are some benefits to having a mage for a companion, drunk or no.

“Can you do something?”

Alexander stares blandly at the door for a moment, then lifts his hand as if to knock. Laurens pulls his hand away with a softened shout.

“Not that!”

“I know what I’m doing,” The boy scoffs at him, rolls his eyes as he pulls his hand free with such force the only thing that saves him from falling on his ass is Laurens reaching out a hand and grabbing his arm. Alexander mutters something, straightens himself, and brushes his fingers across the door in a pattern. An instant later the door unlocks, and Alexander pushes it open. Laurens breathes a sigh of relief, and Alexander grins triumphantly, “Y’see?”

Perhaps he’ll survive this after all, Laurens thinks as he escorts the boy inside. It’s just a short trip across the office, up the stairs; Washington may not even hear them. He tries to think positive thoughts as he takes Alexander by the wrist and leads him across the room.

The steps behind Laurens are heavy, unsteady, and he finds himself quickly losing patience. “Alexander-“

“What?”

“Must you walk about the house like a horse? You’ll wake everyone.”

Alexander snickers at the comparison, and as they reach the stairs Laurens notices little creatures made of light moving about their feet. Horses. Laurens sighs. Magically constructed horses the size of mice. “Quiet horses,” The boy can’t contain his laughter, and he nearly doubles over as they start up the stairs.

“I swear, Alexander-”

“You said we were gonna have fun,” Alexander whines, sluggish on the steps. He trips on one and almost falls face first, but Laurens manages to catch him by the arms.

“We did. We were having fun, but now it’s time for bed and you must be quiet.”

Alexander sighs and Laurens smells the liquor still clinging to his breath- perhaps the boy drank more than he thought. “No fun,” He slurs.

“I am warning you.”

Another laugh, cackling, louder than the last few, and Laurens springs on the boy and covers his mouth.

“Shh!” Laurens leans in so close that their noses nearly touch. Alexander laughs again, but it’s muffled by his hand.

Alexander seems to think this is a game. For him maybe it is. It’s not his head Washington will have if they’re found out. Bubbles, different colored like something out of a dream float by Laurens’ head. One pops against his nose as he leans close again.

“Stop with the magic, Alex-”

“I’m a mage.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Magic’s what I do.”

“Yes. Listen. We’re both going to be in trouble if you do not stop this, quiet down, and retire for the night.”

He makes a face, “No fun,” Alexander says again.

Laurens scowls and practically drags the boy to his bed, Alexander snickering the whole way. He moves his feet as if to help, but it only seems to make him harder to maneuver. Once he drops him on the mattress it’s practically a wrestling match to remove his cloak and shoes and cover him with a blanket, all accompanied by teasing, flashing little stars hovering in the air around them.

“Pretty, aren’t they?”

“Alexander…”

“Hm?”

“Go to sleep.”

Laurens has never regretted a birthday celebration as much as he does now.

Alexander stares at him for a long moment and Laurens expects more commentary. He cannot take another word from him tonight. The boy- and he looks so much like a boy as he blinks up sleepily, finally allows his eyes to slip closed, and within a minute he’s fast asleep.

Laurens sits back, flooded with relief. He did it. Got Alexander upstairs and into bed without being caught. He’ll get to live another day. He rises from the bed and turns to go back to his own quarters.

And he promptly trips over one of Alexander’s boots, lands in a heap on the floor.

Footsteps respond instantly, moving up the stairs, heavy but quick. Laurens doesn’t need to put any thought into it to know it’s General Washington. Behind him Alexander lets out a snore, no doubt his cheeks still flushed in sleep. The doorknob turns.

Laurens lets his head drop against his arm and groans.

“We are never doing this again.”

#hamilteaser #Hamilton fic #magic au #canon era #Alexander Hamilton #john Laurens #bromance #Laurens is a good bro

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sethrine-writes · 5 years

Text

Daughter of a Devil - Ch. 14

Main Characters: Father!Dante & Daughter!Reader

Words: 1654

Warnings: Dante being a shit

Summary: Being a parent wasn’t easy, nor was there such thing as being perfect at it. Good news for Dante, seeing as how he doesn’t have the slightest idea in hell what to do with a child. Sometimes, he was certain that fighting off a horde of demons was a far better match than keeping up with his own daughter. Well, at least he wasn’t going down without a fight.

A/N: I remember enjoying writing this chapter so much! It was just as delightful editing it and reliving the whole thing. Enjoy!

------

Chapter 14 - Goodbye, Potential Boyfriend (14 yrs.)

The relationship between you and Hunter had started out as a simple friendship nearly two years ago when you had advanced into the “junior high” stage of your teachings in the private school Dante had thrust you into (only courtesy of the Dean who owed Dante a huge favor after saving his ass from a horde of swamp creatures).

It was nothing new to you, as you had many friends that were boys. Your only guess as to why at that time was because you could relate to boys a little more because of the teachings of your dear ol’ father. Many of the girls didn’t much care for the same things that interested you, and that was cool. You had others who did, and Hunter had been one of them.

When said friend moved up into high school, however, you began to see him in a different light. His hazel eyes seemed to catch you more often when you glanced at him from the corner of your own gaze. His sandy blonde hair had a much more appealing look to it than the year before, and that smile…it was enough to make your heartbeat quicken and butterflies flutter in your stomach.

It was hard enough keeping such strange yet perfectly normal emotions at bay, and there was more than one instance you were sure he knew of the crush you had on him. If he did, he didn’t voice his concerns or consequent lack of them, so you continued on with your friendship within the charade of feeling just friendship.

The last thing you wanted was for your father to catch wind of your little crush. God only knows what he would do when – no, if he ever found out.

As any normal friend would do, you invited Hunter over to Devil May Cry with the assurance that your father had been called out on a mission that morning and wasn’t expected home until much later that night. It was hard enough keeping secrets from the old man as it was; you didn’t need him harping on you just for bringing a “friend” over, a boy friend, no less.

“Devil May Cry, huh? I’ve heard a few people talk about this place before.”

“You…you have?” you asked nervously. It wasn’t a secret that the shop was renowned around the city and bordering towns for getting rid of “unwanted” problems, but you were afraid of the rumors ruining Hunter’s interest in spending time together.

“Yeah, just a few things, nothing bad, I swear.”

“Oh, well that’s good, I guess.”

With a hidden sigh of relief, you grabbed the key that was around your neck and unlocked the door before entering the shop with your crush right at your heels. You watched Hunter’s reaction as he took in the surrounding area, his honey-hazel eyes wide with fascination. It wasn’t often children his age were able to see the shop’s interior, nor was it often that the place was as clean as you had gotten it the night before just for this occurrence.

“Whoa, nice place.”

You could feel the heat rise to your cheeks at his statement, though you tried desperately to brush it aside by moving forward toward your father’s desk.

“Thanks. My dad, uh, likes to collect artifacts from various locations around the country. He’s really into the weird and freaky, as you can see.”

“Weird and freaky? I think this stuff is pretty cool!”

You could have sworn you felt your heart leap in your chest.

“Really, Hunter?”

“Yeah, I sure do! Do you think I could, maybe, see that shrunken head thing over there on the shelf?”

You looked over at the shrunken head your father had named Artichoke, or Artie for short. Why he had decided on that name, you weren’t sure, but you did know that your father loved that thing more than most of his other little trinkets, for whatever reason.

Well, what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt, right?

You smiled as you moved behind the desk, and reach for the little shrunken head with several small braids running through his hair and stitching over his mouth and left eye. With careful fingers, you plucked Artie from his perch atop the wooden shelf, turning and nearly tripping over your own two feet with how close Hunter had gotten. You hadn’t even realized he had moved in behind you!

“Whoa, careful, there! You could hurt yourself!”

You gave a somewhat nervous laugh, fully aware of the arms that had found their way around you. He was just being polite as any young man should be. It was just your imagination that he was pulling you closer; it was just your imagination that the look in his eyes changed from amused to almost tender; it was certainly your imagination that made you think he was moving in much closer….

“H-Hunter, what are you...?”

Hunter’s face had closed in mere inches from your own, and you swore that if you had died right then and there, you’d have been one happy teenage girl just for him being as close as he was. And he was moving closer still! Did that mean that…that he was going to kiss you?!

“(Y/n), I –“

-Click-

In a flash of pure, embarrassing agony, reality came crashing back down on you. With a hesitant twist of your head to the right, your wide eyes fell upon the one person you had hoped would never, ever meet Hunter.

Wait…when the hell did he even get here?

“Dad?”

Though you had called out to him, Dante kept his eyes focused on the lad he currently had Ebony pointed at, the boy’s eyes wide with fear as he turned and stared straight into the barrel. Dante’s baby blue eyes were calm, as was his expression, though you could tell he was masking what he was truly feeling in that moment.

You weren’t sure if he was being serious or playful, but either mood would be a call for disaster.

“So, Hunter, was it?” he started off nonchalantly, as if he were just discussing casual business with Morrison, “I see you have an interest in my little girl, here. Well, allow me to explain something to you, and get it through your head quick, because I won’t explain it again.”

As a follow up to the suspenseful warning, Dante pulled out Ivory and held it out with Ebony, Hunter’s eyes twice as wide than they were previously.

“Dad, stop it! You’re scaring him!”

“You see, Hunter, that’s my precious little girl, right there, and if you’d like to, oh, I don’t know…date her, then you’ll have to beat me at a little game. I gotta warn you, though, I never miss a shot.”

It took only a moment to process what had been said, and just like that, Hunter was scrambling away and out the door as if death itself had given him the choice between living and dying.

You watched, despaired, as your crush flew out of the shop, a sad sort of ache entering your heart at a missed opportunity for something more. As you looked at your father, however, that ache flared dangerously until your own eyes darkened with the rage that coursed through your veins.

“You…you are such a…A JERK!” you screeched, balling up your fists at your sides. You were dangerously close to hitting your own father, the only thing keeping you from doing so being that he had two guns in his hands at the moment.

He wouldn’t shoot you, of course, but you didn’t want to chance accidentally damaging anything in the shop, should he misfire upon the impact of your fist in his face.

Apparently, you weren’t angry enough. Dante merely brushed off your anger as being hilarious and began laughing justly, holding his stomach as if it were too much to take in.

“Did…did you see the way that kid’s face looked? I’m surprised he didn’t piss his pants!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?! You pointed a gun at his head!”

“Psh, relax, Squirt, they aren’t even loaded. Besides, if he truly likes ya, he’ll come back and won’t be afraid of a little challenge.”

That was the final straw. Knowing the guns weren’t loaded, you reared back and put as much force as you could behind your fist as you threw it right into your father’s jaw. Surprised, Dante was knocked back a few feet, though there was no initial damage done. He rubbed at his lightly stubbled face, giving you somewhat of a pout.

“Hey, that kinda hurt.”

“I don’t care! You’re…you’re…you’re such an ass! That is the last time I ever bring anyone over, ever again! I swear, when I get my gun, the first shot I make is in you, Daddy!”

With the final word in, you gave one last, heated glare to your father before storming up the stairs, making sure to hit each creaking step hard with the sole of your shoe as if further proving your hate towards him at that very moment.

Dante watched as you went, still rather amused at the whole incident. Sure, he could have handled it a little better, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun if he had.

He moved to sit in his big leather chair, deciding that it was best to let you let off some steam before he attempted to make amends with dinner and your favorite dessert. He paused momentarily when his foot collided with something on the floor, looking down just as something rolled beneath his desk. Curious, he reached beneath it just as he heard your bedroom door slam shut, nearly hitting his head against the top of the desk when he popped back up and eyed the item with a fond, confused look.

“Artie, my little buddy! What in the hell are you doing on the floor?”

#dmc #devil may cry #dmc dante #devil may cry dante #reader #reader-insert #dante sparda #Daughter of a Devil

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fics-for-my-heart · 5 years

Text

Window (b.h)

Summary: Maybe forgetting your key wasn’t so bad after all

Word count: 1373

Warning: some cussing

A/N: Ask and you shall receive. I hope you guys enjoy this. I thought about a different ending and I might make a little short with the idea I’m not sure. Let me know what you think!

Masterlist

“Just knock.” You said to yourself, trying to psych yourself up. “It’s not that hard. Make a fist. Hit the door.” You made a fist, holding it to the door before grunting and walking back toward your door a little. “You have ice cream that’s going to melt. Knock.”

Turning on your toes you made your way back to your neighbors door. This time knocking.

Nothing.

Finally the door opened and a very amused blonde looked back at you. “Was wondering when you’d finally knock.” You stared at him for a moment. He was standing there in just sweatpants holding a game controller. “I heard someone at the door. Listened to you give yourself a pep talk. Everything alright?”

“Uh. I uh. Locked myself out of my apartment.” You pointed down the hall trying to will the burning in your face away. “The fire esca- you know what. This is too weird. I’ll just go talk to the super.”

He reached for your arm, stopping you mid turn. “He isn’t here. What was your plan with the fire escape?”

You sighed and rubbed your hand over your face. “This is embarrassing and weird. My bedroom window shares the fire escape with one of your windows.” You looked at him as he gave you a raised eyebrow look. You closed your eyes and quickly finished your statement. “I was wondering if I could use your window to get into my apartment.”

He laughed. He actually laughed, it was a cute laugh but still. You opened your eyes, then your mouth ready to tell him off but he opened the door more and stepped aside. “Sorry. Sorry. That’s just, not what I expected.” He dropped his head shaking it. “Please, feel free.”

You sighed, realizing when you walked in that it was even weirder than you’d expected. You’d lived beside this man for almost a year and had only spoke in passing. Sometimes you’d go weeks without seeing him. And you were pretty sure you’d seen him on TV.

His apartment was simple. A comfy looking couch and chair, huge tv with the pause screen of Spider-Man, and a coffee table with a few beer bottles and pizza box.

“Uh, I’m Ben.” He said, sticking his hand out when you didn’t move.

Your eyes widened when you realized you’d been stock still looking around his apartment. “Y/N.” You shook his hand. “I’m sorry. I’m such an idiot for leaving my key.”

“Really. It’s fine. You can use my window whenever you need.” He nodded his head toward the hall and you followed. “So, I’ve seen you around but how long have you lived here?”

“About a year and a half. I really should hide a key somewhere but I keep forgetting.” You cringed.

“Just like your key.” He laughed.

You glared at him as he pushed open a door with a cheeky smile. He walked across the room, kicking a pair of boxers under the bed and pushing the window open. He held a hand out to help you climb up. “Careful.” Once you were out, you went to your window, pushing it open. Ben’s head popped out his window. “Do you always leave your window open?”

You winked. “Maybe.” Then you disappeared inside.

———

It happened again a week later. You’d been late for work and ran out. After an awful day you were ready to have a glass of wine and relax, but that crumbled when you reached for your keys only to find an empty spot.

“Fuck.” You groaned, resting your head on your door. Tears of frustration welled in your eyes as you tried to build up the energy to walk to Ben’s door.

“No key?” His voice made you jump and his soft laugh filled the hallway. “Sorry, didn’t aim to scare you.”

You sighed, lulling your head to the side. He was sweaty from a run, and had a soft smile on his face that warmed your heart. “Can I use your window?”

“Of course.” He said, pushing his door open and waiting to you. “Rough day?”

You pulled at the coffee stain on your shirt. “What gave it away?”

He closed the door behind him and leaned against the kitchen doorway. “Want a beer, talk about it?”

“I’m more of a wine girl.” You shrugged. “But I would like to talk about it. Can I change and come back?”

“I need a shower so yeah, I’ll leave the door unlocked. Don’t forget your key.” He smiled as you flipped him off before heading to the fire escape.

He did leave his door open and you spend almost the entire night talking, and by the time you went home you’d forgotten all about your bad day.

Later that week you found a note in your mailbox from Ben. “Off shooting for a few weeks, I hid a key under the light by my door. See you when I get back! x Ben”

You had to use it only once before he came back. When he did, the two of you hung out a few times, and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t started to get feeling for him. But you guys couldn’t hang out as much as you’d wish because he had to leave more and more for filming.

One night, you were a little tipsy. Heals in hand you went straight to Ben’s door, having realized earlier that you didn’t have your key. When you entered, you knocked into the door after you closed it. “Shhh.” You giggled, turning and making your way to the now familiar window.

You did good, till you made it to Ben’s room and tripped over a pair of shoes. “Shit. Where did those come from?”

“Y/N?” A groggy voice asked.

“Oh my god!” You screamed, holding your shoes up. “Ben?”

He sat up, rubbing at his eyes. “Are you okay?”

You were unable to control your giggle or your eyes as the blanket fell down his bare chest. “I’m a tiny bit drunk.” You laughed, trying to stand up straight but swaying a bit. “I needed your window.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He moved out of the bed, stepping beside you.

“Psh, I’m fine.” You reach for the window but trip over your own feet. Bens arms wrapped around you.

“I don’t think so.” He laughs, pulling you up. “You stay here.” He sat you on his bed. “And I’ll go in and get your key.”

His face was serious so you just nodded. You weren’t sure when he got back because once he left you laid down and fell asleep.

When you woke up, you were confused because you weren’t in your bed. You quickly assessed yourself. Still had you clothes on, a hangover, and when you looked around your room you realize you were in Ben’s bed. “Haha, oops.” You sighed, slowly sitting up. There was a bottle of water and pills and the smell of food wafting through the door. You took the pills and finished the water. Grabbing a hoodie to slip over your dress.

When you walked into the kitchen you could hear soft singing. Ben was bopping his head and scrambling eggs.

“Ya know,” You started, earning a jump from him. “You could have just told me you wanted me in your bed.” You joked.

Ben smirked. “Is that so?”

You shrugged. “I hope I didn’t embarrass myself too much.”

“Your fine. I went to get your key and you’d fallen asleep.” He set a plate of pancakes and eggs in front of you.

“Thank you.” You took a few bites before speaking again. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” He kisses your head. “I will say though, I was hoping to take you to dinner before getting you in my bed.” He shrugged taking a bite.

“Oh my god.” You laughed, nudging him and hiding your face. “Is that and offer for a date?”

“Maybe.” He looked at you with hopeful eyes.

You were shocked for a minute before nodding. “I accept.”

Ben turned to you with a tooth grin. “Ya know. I never thought I’d be so happy about someone forgetting their keys.”

“Shut up.”

Tags 😘

@ziamhathrisen @frandalf @hermionedeservesbetterthanron @unlikelysamwinchesteronahunt

#ben hardy #ben hardy fluff #ben hardy x you #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy fic #ben

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agardenofmonsters · 5 years

Text

Rhythan | Dragon BF | Fem x Masc | Part 2

Feminine Human Reader x Masculine Dragon Boyfriend You x He/Him PG-13 for Violenccceee and Swearing Revenge Fantasy, Size Difference, Magic-User Fantasy

Special thanks to the anon who asked about this story—kicked my butt into gear! I hope it was worth the wait!! ... You have continued to be plagued by nightmares, even with your new companionship offering the incredible relief of safety and belonging. You see their pervertedly content faces as they bound and gagged you and left you to die. You keep hearing their saccharine lies that burned your flesh like a dagger being slowly dragged down your neck. You relive these wounds every time you close your eyes...wounds more painful than a dragon’s ever could have. The dragon that never did...and never would have. You sit up fast, gasping as if relieved of a sword that had been plunged into your chest. You’re on the floor of the cavern, curled up in one of the fine, thick fabrics that Rhythan provided at the foot of the giant pile of gold. It must be the middle of the night, as no sunlight shines in. All you can hear is the deep, heavy breathing of Rhythan as he sleeps. Following an unexplainable urge, you stand up and begin walking down the tunnel, clutching the sheet like a cape as it drags behind you. You walk silently toward the entrance, your bare feet used to the cold rock of the mountains by this point. The soft bubbling sound of the waterfall greets your ears as you get closer, and you slowly step your way to the edge of the cliff, looking out at the forest. Even from a distance you can find your village; they’ve kept the bonfire going for days...the one that celebrates your death. You stand and stare, frozen and unblinking, at that little light in the distance. Never did something so warm feel so god damn cold. “Are you not cold, little one?” asks a curious voice from behind you. You glance down at the forest below you, acres of silent pines hundreds of thousands of feet down. You don’t look at him, you don’t move. “Look at them,” you start. “So proud and content of themselves for leaving me, using me as a bargaining chip for a game they never had to play...it disgusts me.” You’re silent for a moment, taking a breath to try and control yourself. “But...how can I blame them? Wouldn’t I have done the same thing? And the people, they were lied to...right? And, I shouldn’t bother about the kinds of people who would do something like that but it doesn’t change at all how I feel...and it feels like I’m dissolving in acid.” “Those that lack empathy do not learn from death,” he says. “Even the ones at their own hands.” “They don’t care...” you whisper to yourself. “...they don’t care...” “But who are the ones that sought your pain?” He asks. “Who are the ones that poison your heart?” Your throat cracks: “It sickens me that they even dared to touch me!” The tears pour, and the cape drops from your shoulders. The wind chill is biting, but soon there is a warm sigh of air at your back, and your cape is dropped back over you. You turn around and see Rhythan’s dark form half-hidden in darkness, his glowing green eyes the only salient feature at this time of night. Before, this sight would have frightened you, but now it was the only thing that could comfort you. Even cast in shadows, he exuded dignity. “You are allowed justice,” he says. ”Few are offered the chance...and fewer take it.” You look down contemplatively for a moment, and then look back up at him with conviction: “I want them to fear the power of a vengeful seamstress.” Rhythan chuckles, seemingly impressed: “So it is settled, then. Come, let us rest and tomorrow, we’ll plan.” He scoops you up into his palm gently—you’ve gotten used to the drill—and he takes you back down the tunnel

“I’m sorry you have to deal with an emotional wreck,” “It’s the reason I like you, my dear.” “Th—thanks?” “You have a heart of true, unbridled emotion,” he says. “I have never encountered anything quite like that.” “I don’t know if that’s something to be proud of though,” you admit. “It hardly seems helpful at all.” “Everything has its usefulness,” he simply says. “I’m too tired for your wisdom, Rhythan,” you sigh, lying back in his palm and looking at him upside-down. He snorts hot air at you and you can’t help but laugh. “Ah, I wonder how much magic that sound holds,” he says, you barely catching it as you fall back asleep against the warm scales of his palm. ...... The next time you wake up, you go back to the waterfall with an armful of old books that tell you of different magics. It is now cold enough that the water has frozen over, and you are glad that you took the time to fabricate some new clothes from the textiles in Rhythan’s stash. “But can anyone do this stuff?” you murmur to yourself. “Can I do magic, if I just say these incantations or do these hand motions? I’d rather not have to have a sack full of random items required for these spells...and they’re so old, would they even work? Did they ever work?” After several different attempts of spells of all kinds, you stop and look at all the different tomes set around you, a vein in your temple pinching from stress. Nothing had worked, and the only effect from any spell you had cast was a cramping hand, oh, and the headache in your temple. Rhythan returns from his hunt with a deer and a few more bushes of berries. He steps around the pool to where you are studying behind the waterfall and sets the deer to the side, licking off some of the blood from his jaw. “Had some luck hunting?” you ask him, happy for a break. “Quite,” he says. “And you, my dear?” “I can give myself a headache apparently,” you say with a soft laugh. “You wouldn’t happen to know any magic, would you, Rhythan?” He lays down beside you with a grunt: “I do not believe Draconic magic and Human magic are even compatible...and human spellbooks are often way too small and delicate for me to handle. “What I know about our magic is that its inherent, and different species of dragons are equipped with different magical abilities, but it is not always obvious. I have red scales, so I have heat and fire-related abilities...but depending on my lineage, I could have had different colored scales with the same powers...or the same-colored scales and different powers.” “Hmm,” you hum. “Red suits you.” “I guess I’ll keep it then,” he replies, voice lilting with amusement. You smirk down at the book you are flipping through and then look up at him: “Rhythan, what was your family like? Do dragons have families like humans do?” The pause he takes before answering is subtle, but you can almost feel his mood change, like a gate dropping down to protect a castle. “Rhythan?” “I did not have one,” he says. “So I do not know.” You put a hand on him: “I didn’t mean to cause you pain.” Rhythan looks at you with soft eyes: “You did not cause this, little flower.” You give him a small smile before a sound of cracking interrupts the moment. Rhythan puts a hand in front of you as both of you look over at the frozen pool that is growing white cracks that spread out like a ripple of lightning and crawl up the frozen pillar until all the ice shatters, leaving a warm freshwater pool and a flowing waterfall. “Did...it get...warmer? While you were out?” Rhythan drops his hand: “I think that your studying has paid off, young magician.” You stare at him and then back at the pool as he turns to take his kill into the cave, flicking you with his tail. “H-hey!” He turns to look back at you—some of the deer’s limbs poking out of his mouth as he carries it—and gives you a goading expression. What are you gonna do about it?

You start jogging to catch up to him: “Hey! I could turn you into a frog if you’re not careful!” Rhythan glances at you with a raised eyebrow. I’d like to see you try!

...

A couple days of preparation: practicing, testing, sewing, and organizing.

That morning you give a warm smile to Rhythan, pull up the hood on your cloak, and start walking.

Although it was the only time you had made the trip, you knew the way well enough from watching the forest from the mountain. And you had a feeling in your gut that you would be safe.

After everything, that was good enough for you. And really, the walk through the woods was a stabilizing kind of tranquility.

As you step onto the familiar dirt path that leads to your old town, you pull your hood forward even more to shroud your face. The townspeople start to notice the ominous approaching stranger and begin to whisper to themselves, some racing ahead to tell others. You notice all of it, but you hold yourself dignified and do not quicken your pace to satisfy their desire for more.

“Look at the detailing on the cloak...”

“....never seen a design like that before...”

“...far traveler, perhaps? It bothers me to why are they alone...no one travels through thick forest unguarded! The horror!”

“I may not be wealthy, but I know authentic gems when I see one! Must be royalty—!”

“Don’t be foolish, a royal, psh! Coming here? Alone? You must be absolutely—-“

“Shh! She’s right there!”

By the time you reach the town square, the mayor and her son are already waiting outside of their house to confront you, but you stop at the still-burning bonfire in the center of the square instead of paying them any mind.

The mayor’s son takes initiative: “You there! What business do you have stirring the townspeople with your presence? I demand you show your face at once!”

“Well, since you asked so nicely...”

You grasp the edges of your hood and carefully reveal your face to the people that have gathered around—staring directly at the mayor’s son as you do. You watch as it takes him a second to recognize who he is looking at, and his hardened exterior gives way to wide, fearful eyes. Scattered gasps from the villagers reveal their collective shock. Someone shouts your name from behind a wall of people.

“What is the meaning of this! Imposter!” he shouts, making his way toward you and drawing his sword.

“Surprised I’m not dead? I thought you would be, since you tried so hard to kill me...even going as far as to kidnap me and lie to the villagers.”

“Silence!” He shouts, raising his sword. “What sort of trickery!”

“Are you upset that the dragon frightened you so? Were a few sacrifices enough to make you feel like a hero?”

Two bodies drop from the sky and into the clearing: the two guards that had accompanied him on his quest to stop the dragon, untouched besides the many puncture wounds that adorn their armor.

Some of the villagers shriek in panic but one of them shouts above them: “Look! It’s the arm! The one that he lost! Right in the grip of his fellow knight!”

The mayor comes forward, trying to protect her son: “Can’t you see this is a trick! If it weren’t for him we’d all be burnt to ash from that blasted dragon!”

A thunderous roar shakes the world, and Rhythan comes crashing down onto the mayor’s house, reducing it to rubble. People scream in terror, but Rhythan does not make another move.

“Ah, yes, that blasted dragon that kills for fun...” you start, eyeing your companion, who lies down and folds his hands patiently, doing his best to look as harmless as a large fire-breathing thing can. “It’s almost laughable, you were so afraid of a dragon, when you should’ve been afraid of a witch.”

“You…” she spits, pointing a derisive finger at you. “...bring this monster here, and you have the nerve to blame me for protecting MY FUCKING TOWN!?”

“The town was safer when you were not a part of it...the only monster here is you,” you say firmly, feeling the vile words on your tongue.

“Filthy, lying harlot,” the mayor says, pushing herself in front of her son. “You dare think that yourself better than your superiors just because you give up your body as freely as a martyr! You would’ve been lucky to serve as carrion with a body as dry and hollow as yours!”

You glance over at Rhythan, who is tensing up.

“Dry...Hollow...” you whisper, noticing the feeling of your feet on the ground. “Is that it?”

You feel yourself smirk like you just thought of the best insult: “Wow, I’m a little disappointed...that’s all you got?”

“What’re you——“ she starts, only to choke on her words, coughing and hitting her chest as if to pound them out of her. She starts to look a little more old and withered.

“Being tied to a tree with no food or water, left to die, really makes one thirsty...dehydrated, even...” you start, staring at the woman that allowed her son to abuse you. “But I can’t....”

Her lips go dry and cracked.

“Even imagine...”

Her body thins, skin going dry.

“What it would be like...”

The mayor coughs out dust, and her body grows brittle.

“To be...”

She falls to her knees and gasps like a fish out of water.

“As hollow and heartless a person as you...”

She collapses to the ground, a skeleton as dry and barren as a field in the winter.

“You——!“ the son swings his sword at you with a desperate ferocity in his eyes, but his sword does not strike true—for the blade’s metal drips to the ground like warmed butter, and he is left with only a hilt.

“The fuc—“ Rhythan slams him to the ground with a claw, caging him in and then dragging him through the dirt, the son shouting as he does. Rhythan then holds him up, his grasp not easing up in the slightest.

You walk up gently towards the person that tied you up and left you to die, held strong by the dragon he was so afraid of, but not before picking up the remnants of the mayor’s body—which was as light as a dried corn husk—and toss it into the bonfire.

“Y—you...fuckin’ cunt...” he sputters. “You’re nothing!”

“You must be even weaker than I thought then,” you tell him. “If a nothing like me bested someone like you.”

“You...you think they’ll listen to you after all this?” He scoffs. “You’re a dumber bitch than I—ugh!”

Rhythan squeezes a little tighter to shut him up. You walk right up to this asshole’s face, smiling angelically.

“You think I care about this town?” You tell him with a whisper. “You think I care about what the people here think of me now?”

You grab his face: “Y’know, I was upset at first about you leaving me to be a sacrifice against my will, but actually what I hated the most was the fact that you even believed you had the right to touch me...”

You squeeze his face a little tighter, a dark purple rash beginning to spread out from where you grabbed him.

“What’re you…” he coughs. “What’re you doing!”

You release his face, the purple rash giving way to black, crumbling ash that fell from his face like lobs of coal. He screams as the rash spread and his skin and clothes become scorched like an overcooked pastry. Rhythan then throws him onto the bonfire to join his mother, setting the fireplace ablaze with an angry roar, disintegrating everything in that circle to black powder.

You place a hand on Rhythan’s side, telling him that you were ready to go, but instead of holding you in his claws like usual, he sets you onto his back, right between his wings. You look down at the frozen and awe-stuck crowd below you that emits no sound, and say: “I never want to see any of you ever again, understood? Now actually go and make something of yourselves.”

Rhythan takes off without waiting for a response from the villagers, just as you planned...

It wasn’t your town anymore; their everyday matters did not concern you.

Not anymore.

As you are taken above and beyond the clouds, you can’t help but cry out in victory!

“Woohoooo!!! Rhythan!! We did it!!” You shout, putting your hands in the air and feeling the currents play with your fingers. “And I didn’t throw up once!!”

He glances back at you with pride in his eyes: “Do not jinx yourself while you are riding me!”

You laugh, and you laugh without heaviness.

...

You return home—that’s what it was now—and Rhythan glides right through the waterfall while you are on his back, completely soaking you.

“Hey!!” you cry, wiping the water from your eyes.

Rhythan circles his main treasure pile and lands softly on it. You roll right off of him and into the pile of gold coins, your cloak wrapping tightly around you.

“Rhythan! We did it!” you say, sitting up fast.

“It was all you, little magician,” he insists. “It was your bravery that let you complete what you set out to do.”

“I guess, but you helped!”

He snorts hot air at you and lays his head down as if to rest. You clamber up to him and wrap your arms around his neck, waking him.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, though,” you say, eyes filling with tears.

“Thank you,” you whisper into his scales. “Thank you so much.”

His neck moves under you and his head looks down at you with what you can only tell to be regret.

“I wish you did not have to lose your old treasures, little one.”

“My old treasures...have no more value to me,” you promise him. “And, don’t you know I have found a better one?”

“Something amongst these old things?”

“Yes, even amongst thousands of worthless gold coins and cut gemstones and century-old artifacts...” you tease, looking around in the pile for something. “Aha! Here it is...but you can’t laugh!”

You hold up something sleek and silver to show him.

“Hmf...a silver plate? Is that all?”

“You gotta look closer!”

“The object remains the same.”

You angle the plate a bit so his reflection is displayed.

“It’s you, dummy!”

His tail sweeps your legs out from under you and you land on your back on the pile gold coins, still clutching the sterling tray.

A warm laugh beats from Rhythan’s chest: “You have chosen well.”

You sit back up just in time to see his full magnificent wingspan and watch him fly effortlessly up to his alcove to rest. But instead of enjoying the splendor, you notice something that you hadn’t before: a large scar that tears across Rhythan’s left wing.

But you decide to leave that question for another day.

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rmg91 · 5 years

Text

The Woes and Antics of Living Together-3

THIS CHAPTER! Gaaaahhh!!! It felt like it goes on forever even though it doesn't because I just couldn't get the right words to come out! So, sorry if it seems rough in places I was trying to work through my slight writers block. More slice-of-life like stuff will start next chapter as I attempt to drag this out a little bit rather than just skipping all the way to the Broppy goodness like I want to. (Also we need some of that mutual pining I promised all of you heehee~)

Enjoy.

Previous Chapter/Next Chapter; AO3/FF.net

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day after morning classes found Poppy skipping her way up to Branch's soon to be old building to help him collect his things. The day was bright and sunny, a sure fire sign that it was going to be great and she couldn't wait to have her new roommate all settled in. Humming a cheerful tune, she glanced around the hallway as she found her way to Branch's door and thought the place could really need a new coat of paint and maybe some pictures of puppies and kittens, everyone loved seeing puppies and kittens! Glancing at the slip of paper Branch had hastily wrote his apartment number on, she found the correct door and knocked in tune to her song.

She heard a muffled 'In a minute' and figuring he had all however many extra locks locked up -he could be so paranoid the dork- leaned against the wall with her phone to wait for him. Making a quick post on all her accounts to tell all her wonderful followers about the excitement happening, Poppy started to scroll though her feed to pass the time, swaying in time to her humming. After a few moments a shadow was suddenly looming over her and she glanced up to see a large man standing next to her.

"Well hey there, Girly~ Never seen ya here before." He said, leaning a hand on the wall.

"Hi! I'm Poppy!" She beamed, "I'm just here waiting for my friend."

"Heh, well how 'bout I...entertain ya till this friend shows up, eh?" He leered closer, musty breath fanning into her face, "The backroom of the lobby is nice and cozy."

"Back off, Griff." Branch's familiar growl echoed as he suddenly appeared between Poppy and the man.

"Oh-ho! Why should I? She ya girlfriend?"

Branch sputtered, "What?! No!"

Poppy smiled and placed her hands on Branch's shoulders, "But I am his friend! And his new roommate! I'm here to help him move!"

Griff snorted, "Shackin' up with a girl, huh? Heh, sure she ain't ya girlfriend?"

Branch growled and tried to fight down the blush he felt rushing to his cheeks, "Just leave us alone, alright? I'm moving just like you wanted."

"Che, whatever. Good riddance." Griff then lumbered off down the hall leaving the new roommates alone.

"Bye! Have a good day!" Poppy cried after him.

Huffing, Branch grabbed her arm and dragged her into his apartment, "You do realize he was trying to come onto you, right?"

"Psh, oh please, Branch." Poppy said, flapping her hand in the air, "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself and would've been fine. And can't you just be nice for once?"

"No."

Heaving a fond sigh and rolling her eyes, Poppy glanced around the fairly barren apartment, seeing nothing but a few boxes and an old mattress, "Oh...wow. This, uh....this all you have?"

"Pretty much." He had to sell whatever secondhand furniture he had to make rent sometime ago.

"Well...At least it'll only take us like one or two trips to get in loaded in my car!" She proclaimed, finding the bright side of things, like always. "Say, what's in here?" She asked suddenly, going to open a lid of a box.

Branch slammed his hand down on the lid, "Nothing important."

"Aww, come on, Branch. Let me see! I promise not to tell if it's embarrassing~"

It was embarrassing but like hell was he going to let her see it was his collection of all the invitations she had given him, "It's just personal stuff, alright?"

"Fiiine." Poppy pouted before glancing at the some of the other boxes, "What's all these?" She grabbed an unopened can of beans and grimaced at the date, "Dude, these are all expired, you know that right?"

"They are not." He tapped the top, "Those are just the purchase by dates, they haven't been open so they're still good. As for what this is all for, is provisions of course. Food, water, medical supplies all in case of an emergency."

Poppy snorted, "What kind of emergency? Zombie Apocalypse?"

"Maybe. You just never know."

Giggling, she placed the can back in the box, "Okay, fine. You can bring your 'Emergency Supplies' but you're going to have to freshen some of the stuff up."

Branch rolled his eyes and grabbed a couple boxes, "You'll be grateful for them when there's a zombie outbreak, just wait."

Poppy merely laughed in response as she lifted some boxes and started taking them out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been easy enough to fit Branch's minimal possessions in Poppy's hot pink Volkswagon Beetle before leaving the decrepit apartment building behind and Branch couldn't help heaving a silent sigh at finally being out of that place. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all? Minus having to keep his feelings in check and to try to not watch every little thing she did with that adorable passion she had and to keep from spouting all the poetic words that wanted to spill out right this very moment for giving him this opportunity and-Nope! Branch growled to himself to stop thinking like that and stared out the window, trying to ignore the way Poppy bopped her head to the music playing on the radio and sang along.

He watched the old, grey and crumbling buildings of his old neighborhood meld into the better part of the city as they drove to Poppy's apartment complex. Bright shops and businesses flew by and Branch made a mental note to work out a new bus system for himself now that he'd be living somewhere new. Soon they turned into a parking lot and parked in front of a cheery, tall white building with sparkling windows and vibrant foliage surrounding it. Branch quietly appreciated it's curb appeal as he got out of the car, this was defiantly a place fitting for the pinkette dancing around the front of the car.

"Ok, so! Do you want to see the place first and then come back for stuff? Or start taking stuff up now?"

"Might as well start taking things. Get this over with."

Poppy gave him an exasperated look as she gently smacked his arm, "Oh, stop acting like this is the end of the world. This is gonna be great!" She weaved around him to go unlock the trunk before grinning wildly and jumping up and down, "Creek! Over here!"

Branch's almost relaxed state vanished as he turned with a scowl to watch the person he disliked most casually walk over. Creek Ophir, who wore bright, eye burning yellow pants, sandals, had the worse combination of teal and green ombre hair and was always spouting something about 'spiritual enlightenment' had been a thorn in Branch's side since middle school. He hadn't even done anything to him, they just never got along and it never did Branch's poor heart any good to see just how happy Poppy became in the presence of the 'guru'.

"Why the hell is he here?"

Unlucky for Branch, Creek had heard that, "Why, I simply came over to help Poppy move in her new roommate of course. No need to be so hostile, Mate." He then smiled at Poppy, "And hello, Poppy."

"Hi~!" She chirped, "And, Branch, chill. This will go faster with three people verses two."

Branch scoffed and reached inside the tiny car to grab the few boxes they fit into the backseat, it wouldn't have taken them that long, he barely had anything! Grumbling to himself and wishing Creek would just disappear, Branch followed Poppy as she skipped up to the building, leading the way into the lobby and to the elevator. A short ride later found them on the sixth floor and Poppy led the way to her apartment.

Dropping the boxes in her hands by the door, the pinkette danced in placed as she rummaged around in her sparkly teal purse for her keys. Laughing in success, she pulled out a keyring full of mostly silly keychains and jiggled them as she unlocked the door. Dropping them back into her purse, Poppy picked the boxes back up and bumped open the door with her hip as she declared brightly, "Ta-dah! Welcome to your new home, Branch!"

Rolling his eyes at her dramatics, Branch followed in after her and took in where he'd be living for an indefinite amount of time. The front door opened into a small foyer overflowing with Poppy's shoes and a cluttered end-table before leading out into the open concept living room and kitchen. The kitchenette was small but not cramped and looked like it had pretty good counter space between the oven and fridge, with a little more on the other side where the sink sat in the island/bar. Branch set his boxes on the table that was butted up against the island and covered in various magazines and colorful binders as he looked at the living room portion.

Cozy and warm were the best way to describe it with it's pale blue couch (overflowing with multi-colored cushions), bright pink armchair (was that a giant stuffed animal peeking over the top?) and beanbags sitting around a scrapbook and glitter covered coffee table. A decently sized wide-screen TV sat across the wall, surrounded by game consoles and racks full of movies and games. Shelves and pictures covered the walls, each overflowing with bits of Poppy's personality and her love for her friends. Branch couldn't help but feel a little out of place in this brightly colored apartment as he looked around at Poppy's life.

"Soooooo," Said young woman drawled as she watched her new roommate look around, "What'cha think?"

"It's...bright." He grimaced, "And do you ever clean up around here? There's clutter everywhere."

Poppy placed her hands on her hips, "Excuse you, it has a healthy lived in feel, thank you very much!"

"Now, now, let's not let any negativity ruin such a...fun occasion, shall we?" Creek said as he sat a large box on the counter, "Branch, mate, there's no need to be so judgmental. And, Poppy, Love, you have a very unique way of letting yourself be captured in everything you do. Don't let anyone ever tell you to do different."

Poppy giggled as she grinned at Creek, "Oh, I know~ But thank you for saying that."

Branch gagged before gesturing to the small hallway he could see, "I'm going to go put this in my room."

"Oh! Right!" Poppy grabbed her boxes again and flounced down the hall, "This way~!"

"I think I could've found it on my own, Poppy."

"Says the one that couldn't find me when we played hide n' seek when we were kids ever."

Branch blinked at the sudden callback to their childhood but didn't let that stop him from replying, "For your information I let you win." She never had to know he actually had the worse time finding her and she was as good as she thought she was.

"Ha! Sure~ Anyway!" She hip checked the door at the end of the hallway open, "Here you go!"

The room was decent size, able to fit the full-sized bed in the corner plus the dresser and desk already in there nicely. The bed was made with soft looking periwinkle sheets and the window had some gentle blue curtains framing it. There was also what looked to be some overflow of Poppy's craft supplies in there but all in all it was a nice looking room, it was just missing a bookcase. Although it was shockingly bare compared to the rest of the apartment.

"I'll get the rest of my stuff out, don't worry." Poppy said as Branch sat his stuff down on the bed.

"That would be good." He snarked instead of saying thank you like a normal person would.

Poppy stuck her tongue out at him before turning around, "Let's go get the rest of your stuff, yeah? Then you can 'Branch' up the room to your liking."

"Haha." He replied as he followed her out and back down the picture filled hallway glancing into both the bathroom and her room as they went by. A lot of pink was all he managed to see.

They came back to the living room to find Creek plucking cans out of Branch's ration box and placing them on the counter. He looked up with that stupid condescending smirk of his when he noticed them, "You do know most of these are expired, yes?"

"That's what I told him."

Branch rolled his eyes, "And I told you they're rations and as long as they aren't opened or the cans dented they're fine. Those dates are just when they should be sold by. Now let's go get the rest of my stuff."

As Branch stormed out the door, Poppy couldn't help shaking her head, "He can be so touchy about things."

"Well some people are just like that. The thing to remember is to not let their life choices effect yours." Creek smiled at her, "And do be sure not to eat anything is these cans, I don't want to hear you've gotten sick."

"Don't worry, I'm gonna make sure they get replaced." Poppy giggled. She then bounced up and kissed him on the cheek, "And thanks so much for helping today~"

"Not a problem, Sweet~"

Giggling some more, Poppy skipped out the door with Creek following to go catch up with Branch at the elevator. He frowned at them before pressing the down button and waiting for the doors to open. Once inside, Poppy bounced and sang softly between Creek and Branch before suddenly exclaiming, "Oh!"

"What?" Branch asked, without thinking.

"I almost forgot!" She pulled her phone out of her pocket before suddenly wrapping her arm around Branch's neck and smooshing their faces together, "Selfie~!"

She snapped a picture just before Branch could pull away, "What was that for?!"

"Duh, to commemorate the occasion." She said as she typed away on the small screen, "Gotta post an update on the moving day for the followers."

"Huh?"

"Don't you follow social media, Branch?"

"No. I use the computers at school for homework and real news." And maybe some conspiracy video's now and again, just to know what to look out for.

Rolling her eyes, Poppy pocketed her phone, "Social media is news. Oh! We should make you an account on Instagram or Twitter! Wouldn't that be fun? You could follow me and the rest of the Snack Pack!"

"No."

"Aw, come on. You'd love it."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Yes, you would."

"No."

"Yes."

Creek chuckled at their childish banter, "You know, Branch, Poppy's right. I'm sure you could find something pertaining to your...unique tastes."

Glowering at Creek as they exited the elevator, Branch growled, "No."

"You don't have to be such a stick in the mud, Branch. Posting is fun! And so is vlogging!"

"Ah, yes. Poppy is quiet the known vlogger. She's fairly popular on Youtube, then again it is very hard not to love her."

"Creek~" Poppy giggled.

Branch gagged again as he went toward her brightly colored car, "You do know that there could be anyone behind those so called 'followers' right? Serial killers, rapists, sicko's with a weird fetish! And you're just giving away your personal information like it's nothing!"

"Oh please, you worry too much. And I know not to trust everything on the internet, I'm not stupid, Branch. Also I'm surprised you know what a vlogger is."

"I've heard Bridget and Gristle gush about it before." And he wasn't a complete idiot, just because he wasn't into keeping up with social media didn't mean he hadn't seen a vlog or two. He just didn't get them. "Let's just finish this up."

Another trip up to the apartment was all it took to finish getting his things in and Branch was ready to unpack and to try and ignore the personified sunshine he now lived with. However, Poppy had other plans as she stopped him before he could retreat into his new room.

"Before I forget again..." She started before pulling something out of her pocket with a flourish, "Dah! Dah! Da-dah! Your key! You are officially my roommate now."

She dropped the key into his hand and he couldn't help tilting his head as he looked at the wink face emoji key cap she had added, "...Thanks."

"No problem~" She giggled.

"Well, as fun as this has been, I'm afraid I must be going." Creek spoke up, "I have a yoga class to get to."

"Oh! Of course!" Poppy skipped over to him, "I'll walk you out. Be right back, Branch. No disappearing into your room yet! We're gonna do some roommate bonding when I get back!"

"What?" He asked but they weren't listening as they walked out the door.

Rolling his eyes and deciding to ignore whatever 'roommate bonding' Poppy had in mind, Branch turned to head down the hallway but something on one of the shelves lining the wall caught his eyes. Wandering over, Branch stared in disbelief at the old, dingy and dinged up cowbell that Poppy had kept with her all throughout elementary and middle school. He couldn't believe she had the stupid thing, he had thought she had finally grown out of it in high school but apparently he was wrong.

Now sort of curious, Branch looked though her collection of pictures, seeing snapshots of her life. Most of them had her main group of friends in some variation, while others held her and people she clearly had charmed with her sunny personality. There were shots of people partying, playing games, her dad of course, Branch was even surprised to see one of him and her. Her seven year-old self was smiling widely, freckles gleaming in the sun with arms wrapped tightly around his ten year-old self, who was smiling just as brightly as he held onto her with one arm, the other holding a first place trophy from the science fair he had entered. Branch let himself remember that moment for a second, back when things were happy and uncomplicated but snapped out of it as he heard Poppy come back inside.

"Hey~ What'cha lookin' at?"

Unwilling to admit what he been thinking about, Branch picked the most random thing he saw sitting innocently before him, "This. Why the hell do you have a dressed up troll on your shelf?"

"Hey!" She came over and picked up said troll, cradling it gently in her hands, "Don't diss Princess Poppy. As princess of the trolls she has to look her best."

Branch snorted, "You named it after you?"

Pink hair flew around her as Poppy shock her head, "No, you did. Don't you remember that you gave her to me?"

Now that she mentioned it, he did vaguely recall presenting a younger Poppy with the toy, "Not really, no."

Rolling her eyes, Poppy placed the treasured item back in her spot, fluffing the hair a little, "Well I do. And she's still one of my favorite gifts from you. Along with these~" She gave the rainbow bangles a little shake to call attention to them, "Anyway~" She sang, "I was thinking since it's still pretty early in the day why don't we go to the store as our first roommate bonding experience?!"

Branch gave her a deadpan look, "I'd rather unpack."

"Aw, come on!" She whined, twirling around him and tugging on an arm, "You can unpack later, we need groceries! Cause let me tell you, mister, I am not sharing my Lucky Charms with you." She playfully wagged a finger at him.

"Like I would touch that sugary junk."

"Exactly! We gotta get you some boring cereal. And some bread...chocolate chips...eggs...maybe some mayo, I gotta check."

Branch stared at her as she fell into thought, finger poised by her chin, "When was the last time you went grocery shopping?"

"Eh, it's been a little while yet. Hence why it's a good time to go!"

"So you're using 'roommate bonding', as you call it, as an excuse."

"No!" She crossed her arms and pouted at him, "I think this'll be a fun first experience for us, I've always had fun going with my previous roommates. Plus come on, when was the last time you ate real food?"

"I eat real food!"

"That didn't come from a can!"

"Uggg!!" Branch groaned before throwing his hands into the air, "Fine, we'll go!"

"Yes! This'll be great! Trust me."

~*~*~*~*~*~

A little while later, they returned burdened with more groceries than Branch thought they'd get from a very...eventful trip to the store. After Poppy had managed to force him on camera to introduce him to all her 'wonderful subscribers', they had gone from practically corner to corner of the store as Poppy kept remembering things she either wanted or they actually needed. Branch had tried to stick to just a few things but after a brief argument over wither getting just canned soup counted as grocery shopping or not, he had relented and actually picked a few things he hadn't allowed himself to have in a few months.

He'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't just a little happy to have fresh pears and peaches again, plus the small chocolate bar he snuck past his new roommate.

Getting everything put away now was an even bigger event as Poppy, who just couldn't seem to slow down for a second, put on some bubbly pop song and was dancing around the kitchen as Branch tried to figure out where she liked to put things. Her cabinets were a seemingly random host of things that had no rhyme or reason to being stored together. Branch made a mental note to reorganize everything soon so it would be easier to find certain things, for both of them.

"Show the room what you can do, Prove to them you've got the moves, I don't know about you, But I feel better when I'm dancin, yeah, yeah~" The pinkette sang before hip checking Branch, "Come on, Branch! Sing with me!"

"No. I don't sing."

"Oh please, you use to sing all the time when we were kids." She responded as she tossed a boxed of cereal into the cabinet.

"Well I don't anymore."

"Gah! Such a spoil sport." Poppy groaned before suddenly jumping in place as her phone rang, interrupting the music, "Hello? Oh, hi Satin! Really?! A party?!"

Branch rolled his eyes, wondering if there was ever a time where Poppy wasn't excited about a party, and continued shuffling groceries into their places. At least he'd get a few hours to center himself in this new place since she was sure to go.

"Of course I'll be there! When am I not?!" She nodded along with whatever Satin was telling her before replying, "Okay~! Meet ya at your place in twenty!" Then as she hung up, she grinned at Branch, "Branch. My man. How would you like to go to a party tonight? Eh? Eh?"

"No." He was not going to let her drag him to any parties anymore now than before their living arrangement.

"Pleeeease?!" Oh god, she was trying to puppy dog eyed look again.

"No, Poppy." He growled, glaring at her, "No parties means no parties!"

"Oh fine." She pouted before glaring back at him, "Gesh, I was just trying to get you to lighten up a little. As your friend and now roommate it is my duty to make sure you're living life to it's fullest!"

"No, it's not." He waved her off toward the door, "Now go. I'm looking forward to unpacking in peace."

"Fine, fine." She sighed, rolling her eyes before rushing into her room to grab her make-up bag before flying to the door, "Bye~! Happy to have you as my new roommate even though you're still a grumpy troll~!"

"Don't come back drunk!" He shouted but the door had already slammed shut behind her.

Sighing, Branch finished putting away their food before wandering to his room and sliding down to the floor, back against the bed frame. Tilting his head back, he groaned and wondered how he was ever going to survive living with the tornado that was Poppy Meadows. Reaching for his backpack after a moment, he grabbed a notebook and opened it to a blank page and begun to pen down the words that had been swimming in his head since seeing that old picture of the two of them. That woman just had no idea what she did to him and now he'd have to be extra careful not to let any of his unrequited feelings show. She believed them to be friends and he wasn't about to ruin that with his stupid, messy feelings.

Groaning once more, Branch really hoped he wouldn't regret living with her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I swear I either focus too much on certain details and then not enough on others but then again maybe it's just me as the beta has given this chapter a pass *shrugs* I don't really wanna write Creek I be honest but he's necessary for what little plot I have so.... Also the Snack Pack will be coming in next chapter! I have not forgotten them! I'll also make sure to try and add more snark between Branch and Poppy, like I said still getting the hang of them. c:

Read and Review!

Song Credit: Better When I’m Dancin’-Meghan Trainor

#Dreamworks Trolls #Broppy #Branch #Poppy #Fanfiction #Human AU #Modern AU #Roommate AU #Creek #Ew Creep

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