#me strategically only having my facial hair cut down not all the way since I also don't want any hair trying to grow down cut | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sohin-ace · 3 years

Text

Josuke & Okuyasu - Magazine

Inspired by that one fanart I can't use because I can't find the artist.

Enjoy~

'Boys will be boys'.

We don't count the times this excuse was used to justify the hormone-driven and often stupid decisions or behaviors of male teenagers.

This applies to our two protagonists, Josuke and Okuyasu who just happened to be at that age where boys were curious about their own selves but most importantly of course, curious about the opposite sex.

They couldn't really be blamed, sexuality was a normal part of a teenager's life after all. Which may or may not imply them oogling questionable things here and there or watching specific videos, for instance.

Josuke and Okuyasu decided to feast their eyes as a part of their numerous 'bro dates' as they called them, and made it a regular thing.

Of course, they made these moments very secret. Only them could know what sinful things they were doing after school. They trusted no one else than each other and nobody should ever know about their activities.

They especially couldn't let a girl know about their shenanigans. Oh no, that would be an absolute disaster if they were to be caught red-handed by a girl from their school. They would have to carry the heavy title of 'disgusting perverts', stamped right on their foreheads for the rest of their highschool years, if not their life.

One day as they got out of school, they decided to check out the X-rated section of a local konbini, section placed strategically in the far corner of the shop, and opened some nice porn magazine for their needy eyes. As one does.

"Yoooo Josuke check this out!" Okuyasu exclaimed to his friend while pointing to one of the pages, already blushing madly and coughing up an impressed chuckle.

"Oh my god!!" Josuke whisper-yelled to his friend, trying to not catch people's attention. "That's hot! You think those boobs are real?"

They kept on drooling over pictures of sexy women in bikinis or underwear and posing suggestively for 10 more solid minutes, completely forgetting about their surroundings.

They weren't really worried about getting caught as the section they were in was pretty far away from the entrance of the store and nobody really passed by this corner of the shop anyways.

As they were in their own little fantasy world, they didn't notice a certain H/C haired female coming up behind them.

"Hey isn't that the red head girl from last time?" Josuke commented as he pointed at a certain picture.

"The one who was licking a cherry? Yeah I think so." Replied his tan best friend who started chuckling.

"Who even licks cherries like that?"

"I don't know but she can lick my cherry if you know what I'm sayin'~"

They both snorted obnoxiously and stupidly to themselves until they suddenly heard a very familiar someone right behind them.

"Hey guys! What's up!"

The boys jumped, screaming high pitched 'Eeeks' and 'Uwahs' at the sound of your sweet voice startling them into the worst heart attack they'd ever experience, threatening to cut their short lives even shorter.

Josuke nearly dropped the lewd magazine from his clammy hands and they both turned around abruptly, sweating bullets as they desperately and clumsily hid the piece of dirty evidence behind their backs.

'Oh no. God, everything but not this...' They both thought in unison, as if connected.

The last thing they could have ever expected or wanted, was seeing YOU, of all people, here out of all places and now, out of all times. They really had the worst luck. Suddenly, getting struck by thunder seemed appealing.

"O-o-oh hey Y/N-chan..." Okuyasu stuttered shakily, still sweating profusely.

"What uh... Ahem... What are you doing... here...?" Josuke continued clearing his tight throat and eyeing his best friend with rising anxiety.

The boys were silently communicating, trying to come up with anything, any excuse to either hide their shameful crime from you, or make you leave as soon as possible. They had to work their so-called 'bro-telepathy' like they never did before.

"I was passing by to get some strawberry milk, but then I recognized your hair in the distance! I'm so glad to see you!" You smiled angelically at them while showing them your little pink carton of strawberry milk like it was some prize.

You were beaming so brightly at them, they almost had to squint at your radiating light and beauty. Oh no this was bad, they were both striked by you like an arrow right through their heart.

'She.... SHE'S TOO CUTE FOR THIS WORLD!' They both screamed in their heads.

You, in particular, should never know about what they were doing. EVER. You were way too pure and too innocent for this. Who knows what your reaction would be if you discovered their lewd secrets? Would you judge them? Be disgusted by them? Never talk to them ever again? They couldn't possibly risk that.

Sadly, they were not as glad to see you here as you were to see them. You eventually asked them the oh-so-dreaded question that they wished you'd never ask.

"So, what were you boys doing? Reading manga?" You leaned over to the side slightly trying to see what they were hiding behind their backs and they both panicked.

Obviously you didn't notice the big 'R18' sign over all three of your heads and surely, you couldn't know what this part of the store was since you probably never checked it in your entire life.

In an amazingly coordinated moment, Josuke swiftly handed the magazine to Okuyasu while walking towards you, passing in front of the Jobro, the action completely hidden from your sight.

Josuke came in front of you and grabbed your shoulders, smiling big and trying to act as natural as he could.

"Aah um yes! Manga! Actually there's this one manga I wanted to show you, good thing you're here!" The pompadour-haired haafu was still obviously in utter panick, even if he tried his best to play it cool.

As Josuke was trying to deflect your attention from their guilty pleasure, Okuyasu took this advantage to turn around and scurriedly hide the magazine back in it's original shelf.

You were confused at their shady behavior and furrowed your eyebrows a little bit. You noticed Josuke was sweating and panting slightly, but your eyes traveled to Okuyasu fumbling with the magazines behind and you tried to make out what he was doing.

But Josuke wouldn't let you discover their evil plan for anything in the world, and so, he cupped both your cheeks in his large hands earning a gasp from you as he almost squished them, and turned your head back to face him.

He leaned down to your height and your eyes widened, puzzled by his spontaneous actions.

"Y/N Look at me! Look at my eyes!" He stared at you with a serious expression and you blushed at his sudden bold act and how close he was.

"J-jojo...?" You yelped as your heart was beating fast in your chest.

You were so confused as to what the hell was going on and why they were acting so weird. You knew the two could be up to some truly bizarre adventures sometimes, but that was just so strange.

Whatever they were trying to distract you from, it was working. His face was so close to yours, and his big hands were so warm, you subconsciously put your small ones over his wrists in response, face now red with blood and adrenaline.

You were beyond puzzled at everything that was happening, but you were so lost in Josuke's ocean blue eyes, you completely forgot about what Okuyasu was hiding so clumsily.

Speak of the devil, the tan male suddenly came up to you both, and Josuke released you from his grasp as his best friend made a surprisingly genius offer.

"Ohh Y/N, you didn't pay for that milk yet, right? Good, it's my treat then! Josuke, let's get some too! I'm thirsty."

The scar-faced boy casually wrapped a large arm around your shoulders and swiflty turned you around in his strong hold, effectively dragging you away from the adult section of the store, and barely letting you any time to even glance at the overly sexual display around you.

"Eh? What about that manga you wanted to show me?" You looked back at Josuke, regaining your composure slowly.

"Oh that? Never mind, it's not important anyway- Hey Okuyasu, do you want banana flavor or chocolate?" The fourth Jojo quickly changed the subject as he opened the fridge doors and picked up some drinks.

"You guys are acting so weird today..." You loved the boys, and they usually brought you into their messes, that wasn't anything new, but sometimes you really couldn't understand them. "I'll go wait in line while you guys make up your minds."

You gently patted Okuyasu's chest who almost forgot to let you go and you walked away towards the cash register.

When you were finally out of earshot, they both stared at each other, thinking of how they just dodged a bullet so big, it might as well just have been an atomic bomb.

"D-dude... That was so clutch man...." Josuke sighed, still swallowing his stress out and his best friend only shut his eyes and cringed before grabbing his drink.

"Just shut up, let's not talk about it..."

"Aaahh!!" Okuyasu let out a loud sigh of delight as he sipped his banana milk. "Man, that hit the spot."

"Yeah! Nothing better than some fresh milk in the summer. Great idea Y/N."

You three walked out of the store and headed back home, enjoying your drinks. You giggled at their over-the-top reaction and handed them your own carton.

"You guys want to try strawberry flavor?"

"Oohh~" Okuyasu gushed before smirking and taking the item from your hands. "An indirect kiss from my little Y/N! Lucky~"

Josuke gasped and snatched the drink as well, snickering when he was done. "Can't say no when she's the one who proposed huehue!"

"Well you both drank from the same straw, so technically you two kissed too!" You laughed at their priceless shocked facial expressions.

"WHAT?!"

"Naah dude, no homo, no homo." Josuke patted his friend's back, reassuring him with the holy expression famous for saving countless men from potential homosexuality.

Okuyasu sighed in relief. "Yeah, no homo! Still in the bro zone, bro."

You snorted at their questionable reasoning and kept on walking when you suddenly saw two familiar faces coming towards you.

"Oh! It's Koichi and Yukako!" You waved and smiled at the couple who approached you.

"Oh hey guys, what are you doing?" The short male greeted with a smile.

"Oh nothing much, I bumped into them in the konbini." You sheepishly answered and Yukako quirked an eyebrow at the two suspicious looking males next to you.

"Really?" She feigned, still staring at them. "What were they doing without you I wonder..."

"I don't know, reading manga I think? I'm not sure, they wouldn't tell me." You tried to look between her and them and they seemed to glare at the girl as hard as she did them.

"Huh?" She scoffed and shifted her weight on one leg." I bet you guys were reading porn again. Y/N I can't believe your patience around those guys."

"HUUUHHH???" Koichi yelled in pure surprise at the revelation and you three widened your eyes.

"YOU FREAKIN- OH MY GOD SHUT UP!" Okuyasu gasped and screamed at the girl who was smirking in victory.

"W-what?" You stuttered and looked at the two visibly stressed boys. "Po-... I don't- ... What??"

"Y/N DON'T LISTEN TO HER SHE'S LYING!" Josuke guiltily tried to reason as you covered your mouth in shock.

"Well it's the truth, right? Did I hit a sensitive subject, perhaps?" The brunette chuckled cutely, infuriating your friends even more.

"YOU'RE DEAD!!!"

Josuke sprinted towards Yukako who easily hoisted her awe-struck boyfriend over her shoulder and ran for dear life, having no regrets whatsoever.

An old one. A very old fic, it hurts to read it. I'm going to go ahead and post some old stuff I wrote just to get them out of my drafts. I hope they'll be enough for my beautiful gangsters.

#jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #jojo #jojo no kimyou na bouken #writing #x reader #reader insert #jojo part 4 #part 4 #diamond is unbreakable #josuke higashitaka #nijimura okuyasu #platonic #josuke x reader #okuyasu x reader

170 notes · View notes

iloveitwhen · 3 years

Note

jasonette but like siblings but like angst- like that whole trope where they are blood related and got separated, or they didnt get separated idk thats cool too i just want some sibling jasonette😅

Wow. ok. uhmmmm. this is a lot i think?? I got a little jk a lot carried away and this past week was super busy so i’ll finish the second part later??

Again... a lot...

Jason is walking home after another night at the bar when he sees a small woman, teenager? Slip into a dark alleyway and two men follow in after her a few moments later.

Jason curses and bolts across the street, what was this girl thinking? How stupid do you have to be to go into a dark alley where no one will hear you or care to help?

He jumps into the alley to find one man already slumped on himself on the floor and the other getting kicked in the teeth by army boots then falling limply.

Jason curses again, impressed this time. He scans over the men noting that they probably had pretty good concussions judging from the dent in the garbage can the first man was laying next to and the way the second guy’s head smacked onto the concrete when he fell. He lands his eyes back on the woman, no, definitely a teenager, with a smile on his face that instantly falters. The girl is in a fighting stance and waiting for him to attack so he quickly raises his hands to placate her.

“I’m not here to fight you, I saw you get followed and I was coming to help.”

“Nobody helps in Gotham,” she states, a dangerous edge to her voice that held a carefully hidden accent.

“Not from around here, are you?”

The girl narrows her eyes, “I was born and raised here, take a step further and you won’t be waking up tomorrow.”

Jason pockets his hands and smirks. He likes her, she’s a fighter, she reminds him of himself when he was younger.

“Ok. Just make sure you make it home safe. A girl’s going to get some unwanted attention at a time and place like this.” He turns around and crosses the street but as soon as he’s out of her sight he turns back and hides in the shadows to track her and make sure no one else tries to catch her alone. Just because she could handle herself the first time doesn’t mean she’s necessarily safe from the next attempt.

The girl exits the alley and starts toward the direction of Jason’s apartment calmly as if she didn’t just get attacked. At least that means less walking for him. After a few minutes she slips into another dark alley, of course she does, and Jason crosses the street again going into his own empty alley before pulling his helmet on and scaling the building. As he peers over the side of the building his helmet scans the area giving him feedback he would normally miss due to the horrible lighting and telling him that the alley was empty. He figured she had somehow gotten into one of the buildings and decided to go home by rooftops since he was already up there.

However, as he landed on the opposite rooftop his feet slipped from underneath him. Jason managed to roll out of it but before he could get his footing his hip was kicked into and he stumbled, tripped over a seemingly perfectly placed rock and smashed his head on the side of the stair house. Then, just as quickly as this all transpired, there was a body behind him, they hooked their fingers under his helmet and lifted it to expose his neck and press a knife with jagged points onto his neck. How did he know the knife had jagged points? Good question, it was, as previously mentioned, against his neck and piercing into his skin, drawing blood.

“Why are you following me?” a girl’s voice filters through his mask and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His mask let him know through the constant visuals that the voice belonged to a female in their late teens, not that he didn’t already know that.

“Making sure you got home safe,” he says carefully, weighing his options and trying to decide if he should let her feel like she got him or escape with a slight nick on his neck.

Eh. Jason preferred to not have a bleeding neck no matter how small the cut.

“Lies,” she hisses, digging the knife a bit deeper as a warning, maybe getting out sooner was a better idea. “What do you want?”

“Knife off my throat first,” he manages without pushing his neck further onto the blade.

A second later the girl releases him and jumps back with enough space between them to react if he ended up deciding to attack her.

Jason gives her a quick glance as he stands up, a hand to his throat to check for blood.

“I wasn’t lying-”

“You’re not fooling anyone you Red Hood wannabe,” she snaps. Jason just laughs in surprise, no one has ever accused him of being a Red Hood wannabe. He's the one who made the mantle into something to respect, something to fear. He stops laughing and levels a glare at the girl, his helmet telling him unhelpfully there was no match of facial recognition in any database.

“I am Red Hood-” he started to growl out but she cut him off again. The audacity.

“Red Hood wouldn’t have been caught by the person he was trailing, Red Hood wouldn’t have been caught off guard, Red Hood doesn’t have a stupid streak of white hair on his head. He may have been a theatre nerd but he wouldn’t do that.”

Wait what.

“What are you talking about?” But it was more of a demand than a question.

“You’re not…” she trailed off waving her hand in the air trying to find a word, “slick. Same jacket, same shoes, same build, yeah. You’re not fooling anyone.”

“Ok. Whatever, I’m going home.” He turns and starts jogging across the rooftop towards home. So much for helping out.

“Where is he?” she calls out after him.

“Right here, princess,” he spat before jumping to the other rooftop.

But as soon as his feet leave the building a big dark blue warbly hole appears and swallows him before he can react. Unfortunately for him the other side of that weird black hole was a face full of concrete.

“Prove you’re him.”

Oh this girl was something else. Jason shakes his disorientation away, he didn’t know how she did that, nor did he care but he was pissed. He swings his foot around and connects with her ankle, she falls as expected but easily bounces right back up and hops out of his range.

“Do that again and I’ll have to break my no killing kids rule,” he growls out, staring her down for a moment. Her face was finally lit by the dim yellow street lamps and he could see the entirety of her face and all the raw emotions she was trying to hide. For a split second familiarity passed through him, like when you see someone at the library then at the store a few weeks later or you see an old school friend ten years later and can’t quite place them. Jason dismisses the feeling and turns to go.

“Wait.” She says it so vulnerably that Jason gives her a chance, when he turns she pulls up her sleeve and shows off her forearm.

In the center of her arm is a faded black tattoo that was a writing symbol, but because of its name and one of its uses it was used to brand child soldiers in Gotham from a particular gang that Red Hood obliterated as soon as his first order of business in Gotham.

‡

It was the double dagger, or better known in Gotham as the death dagger. The children were expendable although highly trained and dangerous, they could give Damian a run for his money in the child assassin department. The tattoo was a reminder to the children and to the people they came across that they were soulless, emotionless, their lives and actions were not their own and they would give their lives willingly for the mission

Meaning who they were before was dead. No family, no connections, no one would notice if they went missing and no one would be able to identify their bodies if and when the time came. Sometimes poor families would sell one of their children and promise to forget them and to never contact them.

Jason was led to assume that this was another child soldier looking to thank him, or kill him. It was 50/50 these days, some of those kids just never recovered.

“So what is it that you want? You want my autograph across your head?” Jason asks dryly.

The girl just huffs and pulls her sleeve back down.

“I want to know if my brother is underneath that mask.”

I want to know if my brother is underneath that mask.

The words struck Jason deep in his chest but it only fueled his anger. He didn’t know why that hit so deep but he was not in the mood for this nor would he be at any time.

“Just because I ended that gang doesn’t mean we’re family. Go find your other assassin siblings to play house with.”

“Annette,” she calls after as he turns his back again. A strike of familiarity pulses through him and when he hesitates she continues, “that was my name before I was initiated. I was one of the first. Daddy’s little girl,” she was still talking louder than necessary since he hadn’t turned back around. “I’m the only one left from The 13.”

Right. The 13. That’s what everyone called the first batch even as they were killed off, they were the most ruthless being the oldest and were also the most aggressive in proving their worth. It was common to find a number from 1-13 placed strategically behind at the crime scene, whoever had the most successful missions would be highly rewarded, or so he was told.

“Do you remember?”

“I remember destroying that gang and their stupid leader and having to kill some of your little friends and I also remember The 13 died within the first year and a half and were easily replaced by their younger friends.”

“Do you remember me?”

“Look, kid,” he finally turns to look at her, “I don’t care, ok? Yay whoopdeedoo I saved you, get in line. It’s what I do, kill bad people and let the rest walk away. You’re not special.”

“Annette Marie Todd,” she says hurriedly, like it’s a last resort. “Jason Peter Todd,” she continues, “just you. Me. And a blitzed out Mom.”

Jason did not like this, he knew the Dagger Children were ruthless and expert manipulators but this was pushing it. He spun around to face her, ripping off his helmet, she already knew what he looked like and it was in the way of his death glare.

“You don’t know who you are messing with. If you really were a Dagger you’d know that I am not one to be fucked with.” He slides his helmet back on and without a backward glance he runs off to the next roof and continues home. Thankfully not another portal thing opens up in front of him.

———————————

Jason didn’t have a sister. He did not have a sister. He would remember having a sister. He would remember having a Dagger for a sister. But Annette was such a familiar name. And she had said her name was Annette Marie Todd. Todd.

No that’s stupid. Impossible. She was just messing with him, for all he knew she could have been subtly showing her face in random places for him to react to the familiarity of her face and she could have said the name sometime in the last few months for him to vaguely recognize the sound of her name but not place it.

But the Lazarus pit did alter his memories from childhood, it was like looking through a fog of red anger, or maybe it was always like that even before the pit, and it also completely wiped out other parts of his memory. But a sister? No. No way.

Hours of this, circling around the possibilities and shifting around on his bed trying to get comfortable until he finally drifted off in a very restless sleep.

Jason found himself in a familiar apartment, the one he lived in before his “mother” died. He looked around and it was more of the feeling of familiarity that convinced him where he was than anything else. He steps aside for a younger version of himself to run by him and turns to the window that led out to the fire escape and watches him climb out of it and close the window. Jason turns back around to see what Young Jason was hiding from. A man hands a thick envelope to his mother, Catherine Todd who had wrapped herself in a thin silk robe, her bony frame visible as well as her happy focus on the money inside that envelope. Jason couldn’t make out the man’s face but he turned around and grabbed the small hand of a little girl in pigtails. She turned her head and faced the window sending a smile but he couldn’t quite make out her face so he instead turned to himself sitting outside.

As he turned his surroundings changed but in his dreamstate he paid no mind to it. This time he was standing in an aisle of a store as a child. He looked around and found his mother dressed embarrassingly in a thin tank top and ragged jeans and flip flops. He feels a squeeze of his hand and looks down, his little sister is looking up at him and pointing to a rack of stuffed animals of Clifford the Big Red Dog that were suddenly there. He sends her a smile and looks up, intent on catching up with his mother and asking her to buy one but as he chases her his intent slips from his mind and instead he wants to taste the cupcakes he just saw. He opens a case and takes a bite but yelling makes him turn around and there is Batman towering over him. Instead of a tasty cupcake he is holding something thick and metal, a crowbar. He throws it at the man and turns to run away and jumps out of the parking garage and jumps into the air flying up. But he’s too slow, he tries kicking and swimming in the air to propel himself further away from Batman but a hand wraps around his foot.

Jason jerks awake, breathing heavy and feeling uncomfortably hot. This was much more mild than his usual nightmares, if it could even be called a nightmare, but it was bad in a different way. It wasn’t unusual for Jason to be getting chased in his dreams by one thing or another and it always ended before whatever or whoever was chasing him got him but it was getting a little old honestly.

His head was pounding so he slipped out of bed and poured himself a glass of water from the kitchen. As he takes a sip he recalls his dream and how he had looked down at his sister. But that couldn’t be right.

A searing pain in his head forces him to tighten his grip on his cup before it goes away again. Stupid head. Stupid dream. Stupid girl trying to get in his head.

As he lays back down a memory of clear grey eyes flashes across his mind’s eye.

---

Throughout the next few days Jason tries to ignore the headaches and his dreams of the young black haired girl with grey eyes and of getting chased which was more frequent and more urgent than he remembered them being. It was just all a big waste of time. At least the Dagger girl wasn’t trying to find him anymore, he didn’t know how he would react if she showed up again.

After another dream of getting chased, this time he was just so tired of it he got a few good punches in on the Bane/Joker demon that was chasing him when his phone buzzes, startling him awake. He ignores it in favor of a cup of coffee and checks the time on the oven that he never uses, it’s almost two o’clock.

His phone buzzes again several more times in quick succession. He finally heads over and clicks his phone on to see five messages from Stephanie.

Replacement’s replacement🤰

so u have a little sister and u never told me???

anyways shes at the big house and getting interrogated by bruce and i think hes ready to adopt her

hello

so rude

i mean it looks to me shes tellin the truth but like seems sus for obvious reasons and ur the only one that'll actually know so… hurry up??

Jason curses and rushes to grab his things before running outside and zooming to the Wayne Manor on his motorcycle.

welp i’ll add with another part soon that i havent finished yet but anywho let me know if jason is too ooc or something😁😁

#sibling jasonette #maribat #this is real late #sorry about it #is it angsty??#im not that great at angst #also tumblr was not letting me use the cool version of that symbol #just rude #btw I edited this feb.23 just so you know but not very big changes #i dont know if you care or not

205 notes · View notes

sinner-as-saint · 4 years

Text

Love Made Me Crazy - 2.

CEO/ Mob!Bucky Barnes x Reader.

Part 2 of the Love Made Me Crazy series.

Run-through: It was all strategic; a plan meticulously constructed by you and your business partner; against James Buchanan Barnes. Not to take him down, no. But just to be one step ahead of him in the business world by uncovering his secrets; to learn his ways and hope to be better than him in every way possible. The façade you put up – of being close to him and earning his trust was supposed to be short-lived, most importantly; harmless. But then as always, things got a tad bit more complex when feelings intervened…

Themes throughout the series: ceo!bucky, angst, smut, fluff, manipulative reader, mob!bucky

You were miserable for the first few days after you got home.

But then Tony’s confidence rubbed off on you, and the moment he said, “Remember who you are, kiddo.” You stopped sulking and you were up and ready for work in no time again.

For the next few weeks, you were engrossed in work.

You thought about Bucky from time to time. But each time Tony would come by your office and saw that you were zoning out; he’s say something funny to snap you out of it.

And while Tony never noticed, you were always keeping an eye out for Bucky. You noticed that the news stopped talking about him, so did the magazines. It felt as though he just disappeared out of nowhere.

But you knew, deep within you, that one day he’ll come by.

Little did you know that that day would be just a few months away…

Between travelling with Tony on business trips, making more and more deals and expanding your company and making both your family and Tony proud; you lost track of time. And before you knew it, it was around three months since the last time you spoke to Bucky.

Tony never mentioned him, but Bucky was always there in the back of your mind. Then some more time went on and a certain rumor floated around – about how James Buchanan Barnes morphed into what they called a mob boss. Rumor had it that he was mean and ruthless now. That he dealt with things he didn’t before, and his associates were no longer famous businessmen, but other members of the underworld and the mafia. Some even went to say that he had a gang; a large, armed association who worked for him.

No one knew exactly what he did, or how. All they ever said was that he had turned into a ‘monster’. And people wondered what triggered this sudden switch in his behavior; but you didn’t. You did have an idea of what might have done that.

You looked everywhere, just to feed your curiosity, for more information about him. But never found anything; no pictures, no articles, nothing.

So you gave up.

If he’s a mob boss, with a gang and dealing with stuff which are out of your league – then he surely wouldn’t have time to even think about you. or find you, to extract some stupid revenge.

Right?

---

Wrong.

Almost another month later, while you were trying to shut out any news about Bucky, or what he had become – he managed to find you.

You came home one evening; after – not a bad – but a rather bizarre day. You hadn’t heard from Tony all day. Usually, on days when he can’t drop by your office, he calls. But you heard nothing from his end today. You called him, and texted him, but he replied to nothing.

Upon entering your front yard you realized that your front door was wide open. You looked around and you saw several black SUVs and a little voice in the back of your mind whispered to you;

Well, seems like he found you.

You closed your eyes and sighed. There was no escaping the confrontation. So you put on your serious, mean face and entered your own home with caution.

And there he was, standing in the middle of the living room, with his back to you. This was the first time you were seeing him in six months and he seemed so different. Not even his stance was the same as it used to be.

He heard you step closer and he turned around to face you; with a smug smirk on his face.

“Hello baby.” he said, and you were surprised for a moment.

He was so different. His long hair was gone. His facial hair was somewhat the same – a light stubble as always. The shine in his eyes was no longer there. He looked like his past self, just meaner and more ruthless – like people said he was.

Dark coat, hands in his pockets; he looked powerful. Even more than earlier.

Seeing you weren’t replying, he spoke again. “It took me a month to track you down, you know that.” He said, that smug smirk never leaving his face.

You decided to straighten your back and face him with confidence. “Really? I thought your people would be quicker than that.” You said, carefully hinting that you were aware of who he had become. What he had become.

He scoffed.

“Tony hides you well. I bet you’re his favorite weapon.” He was bitter, and honestly, he had every right to be. You would be too, if you were in his shoes.

You scoffed.

“That I am. Care to tell me why you’re here?” you needed him to get to the point already. This suspense was killing you, and the guilt was too.

His answer was short. “For you.”

You chuckled, throwing your purse on the nearby couch and crossing your arms over your chest and faced him with the same powerful stance he faced you. Neither of you was less than the other; if Bucky was now an infamous, mighty mob boss. Then you were no less; you were the owner of the largest business company at the moment. Hence, this confrontation was a clash of egos more than anything.

“What are you gonna do, kill me because I left you at the altar?” you asked, knowing damn well you were pushing his buttons.

He chuckled, looking down momentarily before he took a few steps forward and looked you in the eyes again.

“No. I’m going to drag you to that same altar again. And you will be mine.” he said and you almost laughed again. “You’re arrogant, and proud. Of what? Your name, your job?” he chuckled again and leaned in closer. “I’m going to take all that away from you.”

One could say he was threatening you, but his eyes told you that he was almost daring you to snap back.

“You know, people did say you were a monster. They never said you were a lunatic as well. But I see it now.” you sassed at him. “Now get your delusional ass out of my house.”

He scoffed.

“I heard you sent your mom on a world tour, correct? And she’s currently in Maldives, is that right? Well then I’m sure neither of you would mind if her little trip is interrupted by a couple of bullets. I don’t know, if she’s not careful, one or two might hit her, don’t you think so baby?” he spoke, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was aware of everything going on in your life right now.

You wanted nothing more than to just punch his pretty face, but you contained yourself. And kept your calm and composure. Being hyper would only show that you were the weak one here.

“So, if I don’t marry you, you will hurt my mom?” you said it as though you found his threat childish and idiotic.

Bucky scoffed. “I never used any of those words. See, all this time and you’re still manipulating me and twisting my words, you-,”

You cut him off.

“Oh for fuck’s sake! What are you gonna do, tie me up and take me with you?” you sounded much more calm than you expected but you were starting to lose your patience.

Bucky looked like he was mocking your state.

“Well, technically I can do whatever I want with you.” He sounded cocky. “You see baby, I just bought your entire company. And you and Stark with it.”

To you, he still sounded like a lunatic.

“That’s impossible.” You shook your head at him, refusing to believe his crap for even a second.

He looked over at you and smirked, then signaled one of his guys to bring you a file of some sort. You hadn’t even realized that you were surrounded by his guards and his people until now.

The man handed you over the papers and you skimmed through and immediately noticed that the papers and signatures were fake. Tony’s signature was on there too, and you got worried.

“Where’s Tony? I swear to God, if you hurt him I-,”

He cut you off.

“Relax babygirl. Tony’s fine, he’s been taken care of.” Bucky sounded like your typical villain.

Now you were really starting to lose it. “This is fake. Everything on this is f-,”

He cut you off again like it was nothing. “Yeah, and? What are you going to do about it?” he shrugged like he hadn’t just ruined everything in your life.

You could tell he didn’t do it for the money, but rather just for the sake of snatching your power away from you.

You were running out of things to say. “You have no right.”

He clenched his jaw and stepped closer to you, almost too close. “And you didn’t have the right to mess with me either. To fuck me over and use me however you wanted. And leave me when your heart desired. But you still did it, didn’t you baby?”

He had refrained himself from saying ‘guess we’re even now.’ But he wasn’t done yet. Oh, he was far from done.

The guilt weighed you down. It hurt. The one thing you did everything for, the business whose responsibility your dad left in your hands, was now gone. It wasn’t even yours anymore. You knew the documents were fake, but you also knew that no one would even dare to oppose James Buchanan Barnes now; they barely did it back then, and now that he had become…this, there was no way you could legally fight him to get back what’s yours.

“Hurts, doesn’t it? Loving and caring for something, doing everything you can for it but then having someone come in and snatch it away from you. It’s killing you, isn’t it?” his taunts hurt like a thousand cuts.

You knew you couldn’t shed a tear and seem hurt or weak in front of him; so you held it all in.

“Why do you want to marry me? You’re taking everything from me already. You’ll never be happy with me.” You sounded calm again, broken this time.

He nodded, agreeing.

“Neither will you. That’s the price I’m willing to pay. You never wanted to be mine, but now you won’t have much of a choice. Your family, your job, your reputation, it’s all under my control now.” he leaned in as to whisper in your ear. “I own all of you, babygirl.” He said, teasing. More like mocking your helplessness.

You glared at him when he pulled away. He had chosen his words right just to trigger a memory – a rather old one…

-flashback-

“I own all of you, babygirl.” Bucky mumbled against your skin as he kissed every inch of your body while you laid naked in his bed.

You and Bucky were back from a dinner party, and he was being persistent that someone had been flirting with you all night long. So now he was reminding you that you’re only his.

You giggled as his soft lips kissed your neck, while his hands fondled with your breasts. His hair tickled your skin and your giggled turned into a whine as he mercilessly nibbled on your sweet spot; making you arch your back off the surface of the satin sheets of his large bed.

“You’re mine, you hear me?” he growled in your ear while you whimpered just at the sound of his voice.

You felt his hand roaming your body, touching you wherever he could; down your sides, your thighs, and dragging his fingers along your legs as you wrapped them around his waist – pulling him closer.

The need to have him was growing deep inside you.

His cologne and his raw smell filled your mind and his beard scratched your skin as he pressed his lips to yours. And you moaned into his mouth as you felt his hand dipped in between your legs – determined to remind you that you belonged to him, and scared that someone might snatch you from his grasp.

He dipped his head down and nuzzled your neck, nibbling on your soft skin and leaving marks behind which would definitely show for the coming few days.

Your back arched off the bed surface and you let out a quiet moan as soon as he found your sweet spot. He left a loving bruise there and went back to kissing your lips.

His body was warm and comforting. You relished his warmth.

He rubbed his knuckles up and down your folds. It was almost embarrassing how quickly your arousal started leaking out of you.

Bucky chuckled as his fingers spread your wetness around and dipped his head into the crook of your neck again. He kissed your skin all the way till he reached your breasts; and took one of them in his mouth.

His tongue toyed with the bud while his fingers slipped past your entrance.

You rolled your hips against his hand and moaned when he curled his fingers inside you. He pumped his two fingers in and out of you while his mouth teased your sensitive bud. Bucky kissed down your body and soon, his face was in between your legs.

You supported yourself up with your elbows as you watched his actions intently. He didn’t break eye contact as he brought his face closer and closer to your dripping core. You let out a quiet moan when you felt his lips on your sensitive spot. His hands wrapped around your thighs as he angled your body better and slipped his tongue past your wet folds, poking your entrance lazily.

The tip of his tongue circled around your clit and your body shuddered under him. Your elbows couldn’t hold you up anymore so you let go and fell back on the bed.

Your hands found their way into his soft hair again and you tugged on it as his beard scratched the skin around your core. In that moment, you were undoubtedly under his control. And you shamelessly loved each second of it.

He devoured you passionately, and the wet sounds erupting from his actions were downright obscene – and didn’t affect him in the least. Instead, each sound which slipped out of your mouth only intensified the fire he felt within.

With a couple more strokes from his tongue, your legs began trembling against him. Your grip on his hair got a little tighter and your moans were much more audible as you came all over his tongue. He lapped up all that you gave him and kissed his way up your body again.

“You belong to me.” He mumbled against your lips before he leaned in and kissed you deeply again.

-end of flashback-

You could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking about the same thing as you. Judging by the smirk on his face, you could tell that he wanted you to think of that exact moment.

Despite the uncountable amount of things that were wrong with this situation, you couldn’t help but feel as though the Bucky you had betrayed was still in there somewhere, hiding behind the façade of the big bad mob boss. And you wanted to apologize, but then the smirk on his face ruined the moment.

“Seems like I triggered a memory. Was it a good one?” he teased. And you rolled your eyes at him, whispering swear words under your breath.

He chuckled. “Pack your bags, I’ll come and get you tomorrow morning.” He spoke and started walking away but then halted and turned around again. “And don’t even think about running, my guys will be outside, keeping an eye on you.” he finally turned around to walk away. “See you tomorrow babygirl.” He added.

You scoffed and swore under your breath again. “You’re crazy you know that?” you yelled after him.

And you heard him chuckle again as he approached the front door. He turned to look at you, a smug smirk on his face which hid all the pain perfectly.

“You made me crazy.” He spat bitterly. And with that said, with a straight face and no emotion, he walked away and slammed the door shut behind him.

---

Tag List for this series (OPEN):

@heyitsmeimdead @chontellaa @dopelandconnoisseur @sophiesvalkyrie @sweetlittlegingy @widowlcver @ex-bloodjunkie @silent-loucidity @rebeccccccaaa @meghapillai

Permanent Tag List:

@the-omni-princess

@saharzek

@unlikelycandylove

@sparkling-gayyyy

@minetticatinwonderland

@imsoft-barnes

@destiel-artemis

@avnngrss

@pleasforhelp

@randomfangirlonline

@peaceinourtime82

@cupids-quiver

@nec-me-ire

@sexytholland

@isabelcrichards

@ahappylilybug2019

@gentlethunderstorm

@scarlettequinn

@elevatorsnot-worthy

@ya-lyublu-tebya

@everything-is-awesomesauce

@mmyepic

@breatheeagainnnn

@ashlieadelia

@enigma-xlii

@imrisaluk

@grayxswan

@freshprincessofwakanda

@scuzmunkie

@aflightlessborb

@xinyourdreamsx

@starstar1012

@scuzmunkie

@sebabestianstan101

@mischeviousliar

@stuckybarton

@vnarniav

@wintersoldier1017

@sebabestianstan101

@mannls

@cal-ifornication

@t-kageyamama

@dreams-in-blxck

@miraclesoflove

@stangirl-fangirl264

@lokilvrr

@sedulouswrtr

@fafulous

@tardisin221bst

@yeahhemmings-

@yikes-buckybarnes

@partlybcrnes

@givinggoodvibes

@supernatural-fanfic

@honeyydippaa

@siriusjohnpotter

@bastianbarnes

@luvu3000times

@sebastian-i-stan

@msruchita

@xoxabs88xox

@gingerbread-in-july

@buckystanluvr

@babyyysucc

@heartislubbingdubbing

@zainabmmm

@rynabarnesrogers

@rororo06

@xcravingyoux

@morrellica

@134340-cm

@nsfwsebbie

@cerberuxs

@mvrtjnafc

@disaster-rose

@thesumofmychoices

@nickyl316h

@sberumenm

@blindedbyyourgrace17

@ultimatesadboi

@unlikelygalaxygiver

@thefridgeismybestie

@ariesmadness97

@jamierdr

@saliarheva

@shakespeareanqueer

@xbuckxnastyx

@goodgodimaweirdperson

@dibsonamericasass

@unicornslothfish

@jenn0755

@uhh-katie-griffiths

@joannie95

@jesseswartzwelder

@chennyetomlinson

@wannabetonkin

@darlingtholland

@bucky-lents

@gabbie-is-sad

@2017booklover

@oliviastan17

@kiki5283

@mrsbarneswillseeyounow

@hailmary-yramliah

@notyourtypicalrose

@moshymosh

@jesseswartzwelder

@just-a-littlebit-of-everything

@infinityexe

@dyanna-corona

@marshyrebelcloud

@jenn0755

@sebastianstanslefteyebrow

@sweetkingdomstarlight-blog

@rororo06

@paperrstark

@crazymexicanfangirl

@kelly-fasel

@supernaturaldean67

@marvelsangels

@twsbuckybarnes

@lovvliies

@deadscarlight

@vapingisntmything

@thesoldierrogers

@neerness

@pinkcigar-ettes

@ladymidnightt

@godsaverosemary

@mandi616

@h3xenkind

@sebbysstangirl

@theoria850

@angelsuni

@phantom-soilder

@softboibarnes

@kaetastic

@that-place-called-middle-earth

@squirrelacorngliterfarts

@fckdeusername

@20coldhearts

@marvelismysafezone

@for-the-love-of-the-fandom

@groovyhumantrashherring

@buckybarnesatemyheart

@sebastianbarnesandchrisrogers @marvelouspottering @spidey-skye

Seb Tag List:

@oliviastan17

@moshymosh

@great-goddess-of-sin

@richhdesire

@nd1998sc

@theoralpha

@gabypatd

@amirahiddleston

@unknown-salvatore

@glossierfairy

@charlieferret

@winterboobear11

@heyitsmeimdead

@fultimefangirl

@almond-butter

Eveything Tag List:

@charmed-asylum

@ravenmoore14

@stangirl-fangirl264

@xbuckxnastyx

@starkerhowlter

@fafulous

@smolandrare-coffee-bean

@alexxcorona113

@heartislubbingdubbing

@buggy-blogs

@livsheph

@tt-nikithakppr

@chowder200

@curlyhairedandconfused

@beckloves

@inez-lannister-stark-martell

@amantedelcalcio

@reniescarlett

@siriusjohnpotter

@scarygoodgirl

@ladymidnightt

@unlikelycandylove

@fentybucky

@marshyrebelcloud

@talk-geek-to-me

@tasteslikeblueberries

@the-jer-bear

@aynaraxas

@dreams-in-blxck

@socksracoon10

@moony-tonks-lupin

@anncutamarica

@secretlyactivated

@xoxabs88xox

@noirwarrior20

@chrisevansgirl

@starydreamer

@shutup-sorry

@sofutostuff

@coconutqueen21

@precious-starkerr

@bangtan-serendipity

@swoonhui

@mayumiirenetheodora

@fvithsxo

@sweetkingdomstarlight-blog

@sambucky8

@marvelrose

@morrellica

@mrsbarneswillseeyounow

@thewitchysoldier

@gogokeener

@fivesosbucky

@trop-mango

@grayxswan

@rvgrsbrns

@buckysegerton

@tonib666

@el-lizzie

@snazzyjazzyjayy

@enigma-xlii

@ii-ir-ii

@marvelousell

@angel-spidey

@the-omni-princess

@nsfwsebbie

@ahappylilybug2019

@babyboyjames

@stonerosedheart

@amirahiddleston

@sebastianbarnesandchrisrogers

@grincheveryday

@lauratang

@krazycags01

@teetles-and-other-stuff

@fckdeusername

@momobaby227

@unknown-salvatore

@lokigonnakmsforbucky

@mushyjellybeans

@gabypatd

@burninmatches

@socksracoon10

@wimpydummy

@emilykjhgsj

@cadence-on-beat

@rae-deation

@polireader

@caitlin-b-cls

@vousfleurdelys @theunwantedomega

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut #sebastian stan au #sebastian stan #sebastian stan smut #bucky barnes imagine #mob!bucky #mob!bucky x reader #marvel #marvel au #tony stark #bucky barnes x you #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x reader smut #sinner-as-saint

525 notes · View notes

aggresivelyfriendly · 4 years

Text

Hi! So, this is just smut, I’ve been in a mood. It’s not even the same POV, but I decided halfway through my fantasy about shaving Harry’s face so I could see the curl of his lips, it would fit in this universe. Or not, but I don’t think you all will mind, 😉!! Enjoy!

Day ?: The One With The Mustache

"Is there a reason you are wearing so many clothes?" He asked from the French doors separating our bathroom from the bedchamber.

It's not a ton of clothes, not really, a thigh high robe and some strategic silk rigging beneath. It is, however, way more coverage than every other greeting Harry has gotten from me since we moved in together if he's been away more than a night.

There is a plan though. I have an agenda to carry out this evening. Things have gotten out of hand. I love my boyfriend, even have an affection for the dirtbag college kid on a worldwide backpacking adventure thing he has going on. Some affection, but I miss the way his lips move when they are unobstructed, when he speaks and when they touch my body.

He's been scruffy off and on since we met. Quarantine has gone on a lot longer than we expected,honestly, and everything is overgrown. My hair is super long and my brows are a bit unkempt, I know, but Im going to need the facial scruff he grew out of laziness and kept out of relish, to go. I kinda like the dimple peeking beneath the 70's porn stache sometimes. I can at least see the camp value and the era reference he revers, but I really miss his mouth.

The structure of his jaw and strength of his chin, the smooth, perfect skin under my hand. I have a plan to get him to shave it. A good one, I think?

"Would we call this a lot of clothing?" I pretend to be confused and run a finger beneath the lace and silk to pull it out so a shadow of full breast is on display.

Harry groans. The smile playing at the corners of my lips is suppressed, I gape my eyes and tilt my head in faux confusion.

"Not a lot, but way more than you usually favor me with when I've been away." His eyes have zeroed in on my cleavage.

"Ahh, well, maybe I want you to take it off me."

He's already moving. "I can do that!" His fingers are also at the top button of the peasant shirt he is wearing.

I'm laughing, "looks like you've got yourself taken care of!"

"Now you!" His hands are on my shoulders, trying to push the robe off.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" I chide.

"What, why?" He looks bewildered, and I suppose we always move at a hasty pace, except the first time, so slow down or wait aren't words he hears on my lips often.

"I have a plan for you, a surprise." His eyebrows raise and he's smirking.

"Yeah!" That expression solidifies my plan. I can't see the glory of it for his facial hair friend. I do need one more go with it though, for posterity's sake.

"Yeah! So, you keep doing what you were doing." His hands are already popping the button on his classic fit jeans. "Good boy." I slither by him, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek, and my breasts to his chest. I'm even more obvious when I bend down to the bath, and light the cinnamon candle he keeps there. I make sure he can see the bottom of my ass cheeks beneath my silk drawers. "Was the drive miserable?"

"The drive?" Ah, attention diverted. I smile over my shoulder and his eyes glance up to my face. "No, no, actually it was lovely. Just missing you."

"You look like you've had a long couple days. Hop in the tub,"

"Are you gently saying I look dirty?" He's joking, but spot on.

I sit at the back of the tub on the stool I've placed there, pulling up my robe so my knickers flash. "I'm going to wash you up." I give him the grin I know he loves. "Then i have another plan of how we can get dirty again."

His pants hit the floor and he's going right along with me. I chuckle when he splashes some water over the claw foot rim. "Ok!" He looks up at me.

"Get wet." I tell him.

"You too."

"Already taken care of." He groans and turns his whole body around to bury his head between my thighs. "Hold on!" I delay. "Let me pamper you."

"Then let me smell you." he looks up at me and it's like seeing his devastating eyes, squared. The water is just below his chin, so he has a handsome, wet haired twin. He looks so enticing, his eyes so magnetic I nearly forget my plan."

"I wanted to wash you up." I lean forward so he has a good view of my chest again.

Harry pushes me back and drifts his hand low. "Let me get dirtier first." He's edging my panties aside and leaning in. I can hear the audible inhale and I'm convinced. "Ill even leave your clothes on, play by the rules!" His nose glances up the gatherings of my clitoral hood and hits my center while he gives me a textured kiss on my opening.

I guess I'm having my mustache ride now. "Yeah." And my head gets soft on my neck. "Let me stand up, you'll hurt your back." He nods and comes to his knees at the edge of the tub. The stool clatters behind me as I step up to his mouth. I push back my robe and he pulls the scrap of silk bunched over one labia all the way to one side.

His grip on my ass cheek alone could still me in the moment, but the thumb he hooks inside me, with unerring accuracy on my spongy spot, anchors me to this act, this moment, his face. The bristles of his mustache prickle at my swelling lips and I sigh. He smiles and swipes his face over the angles where my hips meet my torso. He looks proud, and it does feel nice. I may as well enjoy it while It lasts.

It's past the stage where it scratched the tender pink skin of my pussy, it's softer and textured and smells of me when he kisses me after he's given me head.

Maybe I won't shave it?

Or, I can just let it grow back to enjoy all the stages again.

Like this one, where it tickles and smoothes over me top to tail when he gives me the long broad stroke of his tongue, just the way I like. It does blunt the pressure a bit, so that's another point for team shave. The gentle wet glide up and over me over and over has my hips going.

His thumb is providing pressure from the inside as I ride his tongue where his mouth has latched onto my clit. "Oh fuck, Harry!" My neck has gone completely soft, and when I see his other hand working over his thick cock, I'm not sure how my knees hold up.

I'm afraid to put so much pressure on his jaw, But then the electricity gathering in my veins snaps and the seize rolls up my spine and my muscles relax. The choice is out in my hands and all my weight comes down on him. His busy hand stops to wrap around my waist while he gentles his tongue over my leavings and nuzzles his mustache over my trimmed mound and caresses me softly from the inside out.

"Mmmmm." He nips my thigh and licks me once more. I push his head away and collapse backward nearly tripping over the stool.

"Damn." Is the only word I can find.

"Ready to take off the robe and get in with me?" His slim eyebrow is high and his dimple is dented deeply.

"No," I giggle in my boneless state and lean forward to kiss his messy mouth. The mustache captures more of my flavor and I can smell myself while I taste his tongue covered in my release. "You're really very dirty, still." We both chuckle. I stare in his eyes and take out the clip holding his curls back. They bounce over my forehead. "Let me wash your hair now you've taken such good care of me."

He pecks my lips, it tickles. "Alright baby." He settles into the water and dips below, the tan of his skin and black or his tattoos blurring around the edges. He looks like something out of a surrealist movie; I ache over it. I trace a bird as he surfaces before focusing on his hair. I run my hands through the lush whirls and make sure it's wet before putting a dollop of shampoo into my hand and onto his head. I rub it in and get a good lather before scratching his scalp and massaging behind his ears. He's moaning and his dick is back to full mast from the attention.

"Who knew your scalp was an errogeneous zone?" I whisper into his ear.

"You make my whole body alive." He says and kisses me before in playfully submerge him and work out the lather with my fingers.

The conditioner is slick through his tresses and I let it sit while I massage his shoulders.

"Are you going to do this every time I come home? Might make leaving worth it." He looks back. "Almost."

"No," I lean in again. "I'm buttering you up."

"Whatever you want, it's yours." He moans over a tight knot in working out. "Consider me buttered."

"I want." I kiss his cheek. The corner of his mouth, slick my tongue quickly at the curl of his top lip I love so. He's turned into me and his breath pants over my mouth. "To shave you." He narrows his eyes before I complete the almost kiss we've been breathing.

"Shave what?" Oh, I forgot I shaved his balls that one time. He palms his jewels. "I've been keeping that up."

"No, not there." I kiss him, and the mustache interferes with the lip bite I try for. So I chew it a little. I hope ha catches my drift as I confirm it has to go for myself.

"My mustache?" He pulls back to look. "You seemed to like it a moment ago.

"I do, and you could always grow it back. But, I miss your face, and the way your smooth jaw feels on my neck, my thighs. Your lips, I need unfettered access to them." I'm saying all this a hairsbreath from his mouth.

"I like it." He harrumphs.

"I like it too. But not as much as I like you clean shaven." I finally kiss him. "I'll reward you! Shave and a haircut for my bits?" I let my robe Hit the ground then.

"You want me to cut my hair?" He's smirking. He knows how I like his long hair. I confessed it was my favorite.

"No, but my deal wasn't as cute without it."

"Alright love, so long as I can grow it back."

"It's not gonna take you 26 years again. You can grow a mustache now Harry! Triumph completed." We are both laughing as I grab a towel and he's stepped out while I dry him from the bottom up. I move the stool and pull out the kit I readied. "Have a seat."

"When does your top come off." He gives his cock a lazy pull and it's still chubbed. It's distracting; I'm impatient to get to that later.

"Well, since you're starting to look like you actually bathe," I roll my eyes. "I'll give you a little now."

"How does this work? One nip for half of my mustache? What do I get for the beard?"

I slide a bra strap down to the crook of my elbow and know my nipple presses up and out of it. I straddle a thigh too and grab the towel I soaked in hot, hot water and wrung out. "Close your eyes."

"Then I miss your nipple." He pulls the fabric down farther, and once again his mustache tickles over my body, his tongue on the peak of my breast and the hard suck make up for it.

"Good things come to those who wait."I remind him and buss his wet lips. I'll see more of their see pink color with out his facial hair as wel. "Lean your head back and close your eyes."

I wrap the towel around his tipped back face and he sighs. The bra is gone before the 30 seconds are over. His eyes naturally come open when I take off the towel, but before he can give some cheeky comment to accompany his widened eyes, I turn on the trimmer.

"That sound usually means something different?" I'd blush if he didn't like using my vibe on me so much.

"Does it?" I step closer and my thigh grazes his shaft.

"I guess not."

"Tighten your lip?" He makes a face but complies and shrugs as if to ask if he's got it.

"Perfect!" I kiss his forehead and trim his mustache down to stubble, continuing on to his cheeks. I sigh. "Hi handsome!"

"I've been here." He says.

"I just haven't been able to see your pretty face." I pucker his lips and kiss them and he raspberries a breath out.

"Alright, I get it, you don't like it!"

"Not really, but I like you!" I straddle his lap to spread the shaving cream.

"You didn't even like it between your thighs?" He cups my ass and his fingers linger at my entrance. I suck in a breath.

"This would be sexier if you didn't look like Harry Claus." I giggle.

"It would be sexier with my beard." He pouts. "You really didn't like it." I slowly smooth the razor over his cheek, he moves with me like a dance. We rock and he rolls just the way I need him to, flexing and tightening his jaw to make the skin taut so I don't nick him.

Once his face and chin are clean, I stand back and slide off my panties before stepping in and gesturing for him to tighten his lip. I wick one side free of hair, and wipe the area to kiss it. "I did like when you ate my pussy with it, especially today, before the stubble kinda scratched me sometimes. But the full mustache felt nice, if it didn't tickle." I take off the other side of his mustache as well, wipe his face and sit full across him with his weeping shaft between us. I languidly kiss him, the way he loves, and he may not have known the mustache impeded. "I don't like anything getting between me and this mouth!" My hand slides between us and I grip him tight. "Or this cock." And I slide my bare skin over him hoping he catches the other surprise I have for him.

I'm pressed back on the vanity top with my toes clutching the lip and my hair mussed against the mirror with my beautiful man between my thighs a moment later

"Nothing between us?" His tip is resting impatiently at my opening.

"IUD is in. Play through- ahhhh!" The words aren't over my lips before he's balls deep inside me.

It's rough, my head bounces on the mirror and the slaps of our skin fill the air.

It's perfect. The hour long foreplay means I'm dripping onto his neatly trimmed bush already, only an easy give at his considerable intrusion.

"Fuck, Harry!" I say after aso close already.

"You about to tap out?" He looks amused. "I'm just home."

"What can I say?" I moan over a deep stroke, and my fingers find my clit to help myself along. "I just needed some firm," my other hand sweeps over his jaw, "smooth," I wick my thumb over his upper lip. "Strokes!" And then My blood is fizzing through my veins and my hand loses its rhythm.

Harry fucks me through the denouement, and then I'm flipped onto my belly, my toes leaving the floor occasionally with his powerful thrusts.

Hours later, he's looking at himself in the mirror where he's shaved again. Against the grain, so no stubble troubles my thighs. "You really won't miss it, at all?"

"You can grow it back." I shrug, "At some point, I'm sure I'll miss my mustache rides."

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagine #the one where harry styles sneezed on me #day ?#the one with the mustache

140 notes · View notes

midnight-inthe-kitchen · 3 years

Text

“Hotel Potter” (Part 1)

Pairing: Remus x Reader (Marauders Era)

Word Count: 1313

Warnings: FLUFF, mentions of anxiety

Okay okay okay, but hear me out....

I had a dream last night and I’m going to come up with some out of the ordinary scenario to get my scene across so bear with me. (Also... I haven’t had a proper non-chaotic stressful dream in a while, so believe me when I say I woke up smiling).

“Come on, Lily...” You threw her a small suitcase you had brought home from last summer. “It’s only going to be one weekend out of the entire winter break...”

Lily groaned as she slumped off her bed to start packing. “I still can’t believe you agreed to go without telling me first. I mean everyone knows James keeps inviting me so that-”

“...You’ll actually accept one day? Yeah, we all know... We hear about it every year,” You grumble. With a content sigh, you start to pack your own clothes. “It will be really nice because it’s just going to be the eight of us and James says his parents gave him permission for us to stay the weekend and-”

“How is that more fun than sneaking out to the Black Forest every night and taking trash about people while we stay in our own school beds?” Lily cut in.

You rolled your eyes at the memory of every winter break for the past six years. “Safety equals Fun, my dear Lily.” You hummed back peacefully. “And I bet their house has a library and a nice reading corner AND a pretty view to watercolor-”

Lily scoffed at your daydreaming. “Are you sure you don’t just want to pay rent for the rest of the year? Sounds like your waiting to move into your retirement home, grandma.”

You passive-aggressively tossed one of her shirts she had let you borrow in her direction. “Oh shut up, I’m just trying to make the best out of a prolonged social experience.”

Lilly rolled her eyes. “Funny, I just thought you wanted to go because you expect Remus to be going...”

You look back instantly. “Is he not?” You ask almost upset you were packing a suitcase for a meaningless trip.

Lily smirked. “Of course he is, you absolutely hopeless romantic... I just wanted to see your face.” The both of you laughed at your embarrassed completion before making fun of her and James for a few more hours.

When everyone who was going home for the holidays had clambered back on the Hogwarts express, you could feel your heart thumping ferociously. It wasn’t like you to not get a little anxious going into any social situation, even with people you knew, but wow, you must’ve been hit with a big wave of nerves because all you could do while sitting in the compartment you promised the boys you would be seated in was try to slow your breathing. Yay.

You heard a cluster of footsteps make they’re way down the hall and you looked up to Lily who was almost asleep on her bag. She had strategically placed herself on the end of the seat and sat her bag next to her so that James wouldn’t be able to break her selective personal space bubble.

The silhouettes of three boisterous boys aligned themselves with the sliding door and an unmistakably messy haired boy pulled it open.

“Took you long enough,” Lily snapped, slowly sitting herself up to greet the new party. “I had almost fallen back asleep.”

After putting up his suitcase, James fell right into her trap. He plopped down next to her large bag and reached to tuck her hair behind her ear.

“There’ll be loads of time for sleeping when we get back to my hou-” Lilly slapped his hand away from her face without looking up. Sirius followed right behind him.

After putting his and Peter’s bags up, he sat right next to James and Peter took a seat on your side by the door.

Remus was a little ways behind it seemed, because while Sirius had taken his seat and propped his leg up over his knee, a loud couple of thuds echoed thought the hallway as a familiar voice stuttered and apology.

He quickly made his way to the compartment door, but dropped his suitcase right in the middle with no regard for Sirius’ feet. He also tossed torn book bag into the middle before turning in his heel and darting back through the hallway.

You stood up to peak around the corner, making sure he didn’t need any help, but saw him hunched over about five of his favorite books. He was frantically trying to pick them up as impatient mother truckers tried to skirt around or step over him.

You watched as he looked around for the last book but you managed to spot it first. “Accio,” you muttered as he watched his book fly to some unknown place.

When he stood up to find the beholder, he knew it was in safe hands and followed you back into the compartment.

You had already taken your seat again, not wanting to block the hallway any longer and watched as Sirius grumbled about having to put EvErYoNe’S suitcases away.

Of flipping coarse when Remus came in he sat down next to you (even though that was literally the only open spot, you still took it personally for some reason)... because why wouldn’t you have a comfortable train ride to the Potter’s mansion.

About an hour in to the trip, Lily had slapped various parts of James six times and Sirius had randomly laid on the floor twice. (It actually looked really nice). Instead, however, you had finished three small watercolors of the passing fields of flowers, grass, and mountains.

You think you might have overestimated how awkward it was going to be because you found yourself surprisingly at peace painting next to Remus reading.

You were startled however, when he leaned over slightly to mutter a thank you. “What?” You asked, tearing your eyes from your work. Remus’ face was a little pink, but the sun in the window was making it pretty warm in there.

“Thank you for helping with my books,” he finished, giving you a kind smile. It was nice to be recognized even if it was for something you barely helped with.

“No problem,” you you hummed back, giving him an asymmetrical warm smile. “Oh, and I can fix your bag if you want... My mum is a muggle tailor, so I know a little bit about sewing,”

He smiled but you slightly noticed his shifting gaze. “I would love that, thanks,” he laughed. “I don’t know much about fixing things...”

Your smile widened, barely letting yourself laugh because you weren’t sure if it’d be rude or not. You looked back up at him and confirmed your theory... He must hate eye contact like you did.... Sad, I know, but it’s okay for you to uncomfortable with normal things right? Yes, but your thought were cut off by Sirius’ loud mouth.

“What if I could like....... Eat the sun?” He philosophized from the floor. Remus audibly sighed before closing his book.

“You would probably die since it is about 92.4 million miles away and burns at temperatures not even your pick up lines could reach...” You spitballed to the floor.

Sirius sat up. “Your no fun...” he added, while making weird facial cues to Remus.

Remus shook his head disapprovingly and you pretended not to see anything.

“Thanks,” you answered, accepting the typical compliment you got from most everyone. “But if you were looking for a more exciting answer, I would say it would probably taste sweet and sour like white heated energy and feel like a fizzing whizbee...”

Sirius crossed his arms approvingly before taking a seat back next to James. “I was thinking more like, I would get the ability to light things on fire, but that works too.”

You heard Remus mumble something under his breath before reopening his book. “You don’t need to eat the sun to do that.”

#remus lupin #sirius black #books and libraries #funny #fanfiction #fanfic #maruaders imagine #marauders #marauders era fanfiction #harry potter #lily evans #marlene mckinnon #peter pettigrew #james potter #winter vacation #hogwarts #mary macdonald

19 notes · View notes

1-800-fiction · 3 years

Text

Nightmare

Fandom: Marvel Request: “could you do an angsty fic where boyfriend!Bucky gets pissed off that you’re gonna hang out with a guy friend again two Friday nights in a row and you say something awful to him and regret it immediately?” Word Count: 1502 Author’s Note: heres ur angst, anon. Not gonna lie it hurt a little to write this.

————————–

Bucky had officially been your boyfriend for a month now and you loved every moment. The honeymoon phase was in full effect and only made life sweeter. You had a crush on him for over a year when you first met him. No way would you have thought he felt the same way until he was dying and you confessed your feelings.

Every night you spent cuddled up to him and stayed through all the peace and nightmares. Last Friday you had spent the night at Peter’s apartment as you hadn’t seen your best friend in such a long time. It felt weird not being wrapped in Bucky’s arms however you were happy to catch up with Peter. Bucky didn’t seem to mind and you happily made it up to him the next night.

You had been asked to hang out again with Peter again and of course, you accepted. After you told Bucky, you could tell he was annoyed but he didn’t say anything. You felt bad but Peter was your best friend and you missed him so much. Instead of a night in, you both decided to go out for a night on the town.

“How this?” You asked Bucky as he came into the room.

“Where are you going dressed like that?” He replied seductively as he pulled you in for a kiss. You smiled against his lips and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Remember I’m going out with Peter tonight?” Bucky instantly tensed at your reply and peeled your arms off him.

“Right” He mumbled, walking away.

“What’s wrong?” You asked with his back turned to you. He didn’t even acknowledge you, just walked out. Maybe nothing was wrong and he was just trying to give you space; yet again he did change moods really quick. Bucky was really hard to read and you felt like something was off but he was an adult and could handle it on his own sometimes.

You shook it off, not letting it get you down. Turning back towards the mirror, you flattened out your short black dress. You wore a classic night out look along with matching black heels. A knock at the bedroom door caught your attention.

“Hey Y/N, you ready to go?” Peter said excitedly which you replied with a nod and followed him out.

“Bye Buck!” You yelled out to him but he didn’t respond which stung a bit. Maybe he was just in a mood so you didn’t let it get to you. The air was awkward when you left and you contemplated staying home but you already promised Peter.

“Do you think this will work?” Peter huffed. You chuckled at his question.

“Of course, Peter. Liz will be all over you by the end of the night” You winked. He laughed nervously at your answer. He had been crushing on her for so long that you both hatched a plan to make her jealous. Yes, it was a juvenile plan however you wanted to help your friend.

Once you got to the party at her house, it was full of people and pumping music. You both grabbed a drink from the entrance before spotting Liz from across the crowd. She waved excitedly, beckoning you over.

“Hey guys, welcome!” She smiled, obviously tipsy with the way she slightly slurred.

“Yeah, gl-glad to be he-here” Peter stuttered nervously while chuckling at his awkwardness. You strategically placed your arm around his waist and pulled him close.

“Yeah, we are both glad to have fun tonight” You smirked, hoping your innuendo would set the scene. Liz raised an eyebrow at your advance on Peter but didn’t say a word. It was all part of the plan which was going well so far. You ran your hands through his hair while drinking the god awful alcohol out of the red solo cup.

“So, Liz, are you seeing anyone?” You asked abrupting, making Peter choke on his drink while staring daggers at you.

“Uh, no,” Liz said slowly while obviously eyeing up Peter. This may be quicker than you thought. You always knew she had a thing for him and you could clearly see it now. Her slightly drunken self couldn’t conceal her facial expressions as easily as she usually could.

“Well, Liz-“ A strong grip yanked your arm away from Peter and pulled you away before you could finish your sentence.

“Hey!” You screamed out before turning to see Bucky as the perpetrator. You froze in confusion, letting him guide you through the crowd to a closed-off room.

“What are you doing?” You gasped.

“What am I doing?” He yelled.

“What are you doing with him like that?!” He growled furiously, fists tightly curled at his sides.

“Woah Bucky, calm down its okay. I’m helping him with a girl he likes” You laughed softly, trying to cut the tension and anger in the room. He scoffed furiously.

“With your hand around him like some whore?” He spat.

“Excuse me? I tried to tell you earlier but you were cold with me. It’s not my fault you can’t deal with your own issues” You screamed back, instantly regretting it. His face turned from fury to shock and pain. Your own heart ached at that expression and even worse since you caused it.

“Bucky I’m sor-“ You tried to apologise but not before he stormed out. You ran after him but lost him in the crowd of people outside. Your heart dropped into your stomach knowing how awful he must be feeling. You never wanted to hurt him, let alone use his own past against him.

“Y/N!” Peter came up to you with happiness written all over him before his face dropped.

“What happened?” He wiped away the tears from your face. You didn’t even realise you had started to cry. You felt terrible, your heart aching from your outburst.

“I have to go, sorry Peter” You pulled away and walked out of the house. Good thing your car escort was waiting for you, it made getting back quicker. You jumped in the car and instructed the driver to go as fast as he could.

Once you arrived back at the compound, you ran inside looking for Bucky. On your way down a hall, you bumped into Steve.

“Have you seen Bucky?” You asked franticly.

“Yeah, I saw him go into to your room” Steve raised an eyebrow in concern. You didn’t have time to explain so you quickly thanked him before making your way to your chared room. You sighed in relief when you saw Bucky sitting on the bed, face turned away. You closed the door gently behind you and slowly walked over to him.

“Bucky?” Your voice cracked, making him turn instantly to face you. Once he realised you weren’t injured, he turned back around. Even though he was angry and hurt by you, he still checked to make sure you were in one piece.

“I’m so sorry” You struggled to say, trying to keep yourself together. He sat still, not moving or responding. You moved closer and placed a hand on his shoulder which made him tense up so you pulled away. You both stayed there in silence, not a single movement.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this” Bucky sighed after a few minutes. Your heart skipped a beat when you heard the words come out of his mouth.

“Bucky, please” You tried to apologise but his sudden movement stopping you in your tracks.

“Y/N” He mumbled quietly. You started to tear up, even more, knowing what he was going to say.

“I can’t do this. I cant do us” He couldn’t even look at you as you started to cry. You tried to stay quiet but you couldn’t help it. Your heart was breaking, in fact, it was shattering. The love of your life was breaking up with you and it was all your fact.

You couldn’t even respond so you walked out, furiously wiping the tears away but you couldn’t keep up. You pressed the button to the elevator as you struggled to breathe, praying it would be empty. Just as luck would have it, Steve was there and was shocked to see your current state.

“Don’t ask” You snapped, not meaning to sound so aggressive. He nodded, still concerned as he got off the elevator. You rode it up to the roof and stepped outside into the cold air. Not even the 8-degree chill could wake you up from the nightmare.

You walked over to the side and gripped the metal railing on the side, trying to steady yourself. You dropped to your knees as you let out a scream, not stopping until you were shaking and out of breath. You stayed there on the concrete feeling like an absolute wreck. The pain was too much, something you had never experienced until now. You waited for the darkness to consume you and hoped to wake up the next day with this all being one big nightmare.

#marvel #mcu #bucky barnes #james buchanan bucky barnes #bucky / reader #winter soldier #fluff #angst #jealous

17 notes · View notes

jenoptimist · 4 years

Text

Moving houses wasn’t considered a tragedy; tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were all tragedies. They were all extremely serious and devastating to be considered one. And yet there you were, staring at your new house with a large box in your hands, practically reeking of misery. Logically, you knew why your parents up and moved your small family from the busy, largely populated city to the quiet suburbs with its tight-knit community–rent was disgustingly high in the city but a mortgage in the suburbs, while not dirt cheap, was certainly worth the money when they did the figures. But still. Your whole life was in the city. It wasn’t like you had many friends or anything, however the few that you did fortunately lived within walking distance.

At least decorating your room would be fun. Your brother wasn’t as artistically talented as his close friend, Ten, but he had better artistic skills and vision than you did. You knew that he wouldn’t disagree when you’d ask him to help. At least you hoped so, anyway, because Taeyong had the tendency to be too absorbed in whatever game he had just recently purchased. His newfound love seemed to be Animal Crossing at the moment as he talked about it non-stop. In the off chance he’d decline, you would probably just resort to searching up a Bob Ross painting tutorial on YouTube. Although you hoped you wouldn’t have to. You wanted to spend some quality time with your brother before he inevitably disappeared in his room to play his games or produce some mixtapes in his makeshift at-home music studio.

“Isn’t it fantastic?” Your mom breathed out enthusiastically as she came up from behind you, a small box in her hands. Not wanting to see her face wrinkle with a frown, you decided to agree.

“Yeah, it looks great.”

If she heard the melancholy in your voice, she chose to ignore it.

It had been a few months since you moved in and you tried adapting to your new life in the suburbs. Not changed that much really–you still just stayed inside your room alternating between reading books and watching movies on Netflix. What did change was that you could no longer just walk up to your friend’s house when you were bored. Facetime was fantastic and everything but could only do so much. You loved your friends. Really, you did, but the commute to the city was almost two hours by bus. What made it even worse was that the bus was infrequent, showing up either a few minutes early or vice verse. In rare occasions the bus wouldn’t make an appearance at all. Your older sister sure was lucky that she had a stable job and could afford to maintain her life in the city.

Deciding that you needed a change of scenery, you abandoned your seat by the window and made your way to the kitchen where you found your mom chopping up some vegetables. When she declined your offer to help her, you beelined towards the fridge to grab a glass of water before sitting down to watch her as she hummed, skillfully cutting the carrots into thin strips.

“Honey,” she said as she dropped the knife on the chopping board, looking up to face you. “Do you ever get bored in the house?”

You shrugged noncommittally. “Sometimes.”

“Well, what if I gave you a task?” You scrunched your nose. The last time your mom had given you something to do because you were ‘lazing around’ it ended up with you almost breaking your arm, and probably your leg, because the ladder wobbled. Fortunately Taeyong was with you at the time and was able to help break your fall. “Please? Our neighbor, Mrs.Na keeps asking me about ‘the child that keeps looking out the window wistfully’ and I think that you could use a bit of fresh air.”

“So you want me to,” you said slowly while practically disappeared into the chair, “make friendly with the neighbors?” She tittered at your reaction. But could she blame you? You weren’t a social butterfly or anything. In fact it was even amazing that you had friends in the first place considering how introverted you were.

“No. Not if you don’t want to. I was thinking more like you could fix up our front garden.”

The garden wasn’t horrendous looking. At least you didn’t think so. Sure, there were some weeds that littered the majority of the grass and there weren’t any flowers, but not everybody could have beautiful front gardens like Mrs.Na! Her sons was super conscious about how their garden looked. It was a regular occurrence to see one of them, usually the one with the bubblegum pink hair, water their plants at least three times a day while you were reading by your window, with a large smile on his face. Although you weren’t sure that plants needed to be watered that often, their garden was super lush and vibrant. Maybe they just had a magic green fingers and that was why none of their plants died of over-watering and always looked spectacular.

You eyed your mother suspiciously. “And it isn’t because you want to have the best front garden in the neighborhood.” Your mom was as competitive as they got; any time a festive season was due she had to outdo the rest on the street with the decorations that she hung up, she never let you or any of your siblings win at Mario Kart and you remember when you were younger, you had to have the prettiest lunchbox in the class. There were more instances you could think of but those remained vivd in your memory.

The smile that she let out was a guilty one. “Well, maybe just a little.”

You snorted, knowing that the opposite was true. “I’ll do it but only if we buy Disney Plus.” You had been bugging your parents to buy the subscription for a while, needing to fulfill your love for Disney movies, but they didn’t budge no matter how hard you pleaded. If you received allowance you would have subscribed the day it became available but you didn’t and Taeyong, sadly, had to decline because of his recent gaming purchases. You waited patiently as she mulled it over.

“Alright kiddo. You got yourself a deal,” you whooped loudly, “but the garden needs to look fabulous.”

You mock saluted her as you hopped off of the seat. You had garden plans to make.

It was disrespectfully hot when you decided to put your plan into motion. The sweat trickled down your back as you tried to remove your first weed. You had been at it for a few minutes but it didn’t shift, not even a little bit, and you were getting more and more impatient as the seconds flew by.

“Can’t you help me?” You whined, gloved hands still gripping tightly onto the annoying little plant, as you turned to look at your brother who was sitting on the steps.

Without raising his eyes from his phone he said, “nope. It’s your job. I’m just here to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.”

You mimicked him silently as you returned your gaze to the weed, hoping that your glare would somehow disintegrate it. The annoying thing was that you had everything you needed except, apparently, a small digging spade. Grumbling to yourself, you exerted what you hoped was enough energy as you pulled harder. Nothing. It didn’t even budge. You folded your arms as you scowled, watching as it danced with the breeze. It definitely seemed to mock your failure with each movement that it made. Wiping your forehead you stood up and marched back inside your house, making sure to lightly kick your brother on the way in, and determinedly searched for something that could help you dig out the little monster.

Deciding that one spoon disappearing mysteriously wouldn’t be noticed by your parents, you grabbed one and stomped back outside. Taeyong slapped your leg as you passed by which made you stick your tongue out at him–not that he noticed, too engrossed in his game. As you began harshly shoveling at the soil surrounding the weed, you reasoned that your mom couldn’t be annoyed at you if she were to find out about the spoon. She was the one that wanted the prettiest garden after all.

It felt like more than an eternity had passed before you successfully managed to rid the garden of its weeds. The sun was setting and while your parents told you to head back inside, something about removing all of the weeds made you more motivated to execute the plan that you had for your garden. As you bagged up the remaining stems, you heard footsteps approach you from behind.

Taeyong squatted beside you, holding out a Caprisun. “You did a great job.” He smiled, ruffling your hair affectionately when you took the juice pouch from him. “Let’s go back inside. You can continue tomorrow.”

“Looking good.” A voice that definitely did not belong to your older brother commented. Whoever the person was had to be lying to you, seeing as your flowers were only cute little sprouts. Standing up and turning from your position near the steps that lead towards the door, you found yourself staring at Mrs.Na’s sons. They stood side by side on the pavement, just a few inches from the grass, surveying your garden.

“Thanks.” You mumbled, growing self conscious at your work the longer they looked at your unblossomed flowers. It had taken a few weeks but the garden was finally starting to take shape; you mowed it to perfection, planted the seeds strategically and planned to convince your parents to add a wooden bench just beside the steps so that you could read while bathing in sunlight. Maybe you could even purchase a bench from IKEA, assemble it with Taeyong and somehow convince him to paint it so that it can have some personality.

The pink haired teen, you weren’t sure but you suspected that they were around your age or maybe even a bit older, smiled brightly. It was the smile you saw when he watered his flowers. You returned his smile, albeit awkwardly, and hoped that that would be the end of the conversation. Your hope was brutally crushed when he strode towards you, stopping just a few meters away from you before thrusting his hand out.

“I’m Jaemin, your neighbor across the street. Nice to meet you!” The smile still sat on his face and you briefly wondered if his facial muscles ever grew tired. “That’s my best friend Jeno.” He continued when you shook hands.

You nodded at his not-brother, geez you were so embarrassed that you assumed that they were related, who remained at their original spot. You held your smile as you met his eyes which earned you one of his own–he had a pretty smile. It was a smile that took over his entire face, his eyes adorably disappearing into little crescents. Jeno apparently deemed the small interaction between the two of you as an okay to head over to stand beside his best friend. You felt a little dazed the longer you looked at his cute smile so you averted your gaze back to Jaemin.

“Your garden is prettier.” You complimented, hands wringing the t-shirt you sneakily took from Taeyong–it was an old one, anyway, so hopefully he wouldn’t notice that it was missing from his closet.

Jaemin visibly preened, his smile somehow growing even wider. “Thanks! Hey, we were on our way to grab some milkshakes or something,” he side-eyed Jeno who nodded slightly. “Want to come with us?”

You blanched at his suggestion. What on earth possessed this guy and his best friend to compliment your garden and invite you to their hang out? Was this a common thing to do in the area? Although you doubted it seeing as they only approached you now and your family had moved in months ago. Unless, maybe, they were waiting until the perfect time to corner you? Whatever the reason, you had to reply because they couldn’t smile and wait patiently forever.

“They’d love to!” You turned immediately and stared at your mom incredulously. “What?” She asked as she smiled serenely. “They look like nice young men. Now go and get changed while I get them something to drink.”

The days that followed the impromptu hang out were fun. It was routine at that point to care and maintain your garden during the morning and then seeking out Jaemin and Jeno for company when it was the afternoon. While you and Jaemin bonded over horticulture, the teen freely offering advice on how to care for your plants and asked for your opinions on pots, you and Jeno preferred to spend your time with each other by talking about various books or him playing his guitar as you tended to your garden. Jaemin regularly teased the two of you for being ‘boring nerds’ but neither of you cared because you both knew that he was aware that his extroverted-like nature could be overwhelming at times for the two of you.

It was the afternoon and, like clockwork, you collected Jaemin from his house so that you could both walk to Jeno’s house down the street. Jaemin chatted animatedly, comfortably filling up the silence like he always did, not stopping even as the two of you approached Jeno’s house where your friend was waiting patiently at the steps on the porch of his house.

“So what are we doing?” The black haired teen asked as he jumped up and made his way towards you. He and Jaemin did their handshake when he was close enough.

When they were finished he smiled radiantly at you, raising his hand. The gentle high-fives he gave you every time he saw you was something that you always looked forward to. There was nothing special about it or anything, you just liked the feeling of his hand against yours–which you knew was absolutely pathetic. Sometimes, though, when you were feeling particularly courageous, you folded your fingers so that your hands would interlock. It was something you did quickly, fold and then immediately let go because you knew he wouldn’t return it anyway, so there was no point in making things weird.

Your brain almost short-circuited when this time it was Jeno who folded his fingers, smile turning shy, but you managed to fold yours as well. You supposed that the two of you looked stupid; two teenagers staring at each other with their hands interlocked in mid-air however you couldn’t find it in you to care. Not when your heart was beating as fast as it was, your hands becoming clammy.

“Oh get a room!” Jaemin exclaimed as he pretended to gag. The two of you jumped apart, avoiding eye contact as your pink haired friend snickered. While Jeno started a play fight with him, you took the time to calm yourself down. When they finished, they looked at you.

“What?” Hopefully there wasn’t a flush evident on your cheeks or something because you would be mortified.

“It’s your turn to choose something for us to do today.” Jeno replied, peeking at you through his lashes.

You tilted your head slightly as you thought. The three of you had already gone to the cinema and ice-cream parlor that week because that was what Jaemin had chosen to do two days ago and yesterday, when it was Jeno’s choice, the three of you went to the small museum before he requested that the two of you model for him so that he could work on his photography skills. There wasn’t much else to do so you were stumped.

“How about we build something from IKEA?” Your parents caved in and bought the bench however Taeyong declined your invitation to assemble it because of work. At his refusal you immediately began to sulk but quickly cheered up when he promised that he would paint it when he had the chance.

“Do you mean the bench that your parents bought the other day?”

Pleased that Jeno remembered the tidbit of random information, you beamed. “Yep! So, what do you guys say?” They chirped their agreement and with that, the three of you spun around and walked back to your house.

“Are we nearly finished?” Jaemin asked from where he was laying down on the grass, resting his face on the palm of his hands.

Jeno clicked his tongue at response. “You mean are me and y/n nearly finished.” He corrected as he continue to twist the screwdriver. Jaemin pouted which made you huff out a laugh. He was the one who eagerly volunteered to read out the instructions as the two of you assembled it, imitating a loud buzzer when either of you did something wrong.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost finished.” You assured him then you turned to face Jeno. “Can I have that screwdriver when you’re done?” He nodded in reply. As you waited, you allowed your eyes roam his figure; from how his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and then all the way down to his bicep and hands. Your eyes averted immediately to the large tree behind him when he moved suddenly. “Thanks.” You said as he held out the tool towards you. The two of you held eye contact for longer than necessary, your hand over his as you swiped the screwdriver from him.

“Your welcome.” Jeno responded quietly, his eyes searching your own.

From your right, you heard Jaemin flop onto his back and release a loud, groan that spoke of long-suffering.

Unable to fall asleep, you scrolled through your phone aimlessly. It was four in the morning and the entire house was asleep. As you were about to click a random YouTube video that was in your recommendations, you received a text from Jeno. You smiled goofily at your screen as you tapped your reply to his question. Just as you were about to start the video, there was a light tap on your window. You waited, hoping it was just in your imagination or a bird that crashed into your window by mistake. Another tap convinced you to slowly get off of your bed and check the winow.

Jeno stood on your lawn in a puffer jacket and sweats, camera strap hanging on his neck. “Come with me.” He said, keeping his voice low.

“Where?” You inquired, already ready to grab your hoodie and your shoes.

“It’s a surprise.”

The surprise ended up being a forty-five minute away. The location he lead you to was on top of a steep hill, where a large cherry tree stood. The hill overlooked the neighborhood and, if you squinted hard enough, you could just about make the outline of your house. The view was very pretty. You made a mental note to read in the shade of the tree some time during the week or maybe even host a picnic there.

“Why’d you take me here?” You questioned, turning to look at Jeno.

“I thought that we could watch the sun rise,” he kicked at the air lightly, fiddling with his camera. “And that maybe I could take some pictures of you?”

“Okay,” you agreed easily, loving how he beamed at you in return. You sat on the grass, patting the spot next to you, and hugged your arms against your chest. Resting your temple on your knees, you caught Jeno looking at you. “What?” He shook his head. “So how’d you find this place?” You asked. You were mesmerized by the way he spoke, calm and gentle as always. Sleep was threatening to possess you but you fought against it, not wanting to miss anything.

When the sun made its slow appearance, Jeno hopped up and held his hands out to you, pulling you up when you grabbed onto them. Him taking pictures was nothing new but you felt a little bit antsy because it would be his first time taking pictures of you without Jaemin. As you contorted your body to create a variety of silly poses, you tried not to think about how intimate the whole situation felt. It was probably all in your head anyway.

“Wait, just two more.” With that, he let his camera go and retrieved his phone from his pocket. He took a photo of you and then he walked up to you, put his arms around your shoulders and snapped a quick picture.

The walk back involved plenty of saccharine smiles, bashful gazes and Jeno handing you his puffer jacket to keep you warm. You didn’t feel brave enough to take his hand on your own or kiss him sweetly like they did in the movies when you were saying goodbyes. But as you stared at your ceiling, smile so wide it hurt your cheeks, you wished that you did.

“What are you guys doing?”

The two teens stopped bickering, Jeno placing something behind his back. You quirked a brow but took a seat in the booth opposite them, anyway. Jaemin wanted to watch a movie again and so to pass the time, the three of you decided to grab a milkshake in the diner before the screening.

“Oh no,” Jaemin gasped dramatically as he patted at the pockets of his denim jacket. “I forgot my wallet at home,” you shrugged, offering to pay for him immediately. “No, it’s alright. I’ll just go and grab it. Ow! Jeno, what the hell!” You glanced at the aforementioned teen, who smiled innocently before wincing. “Well,” Jaemin sighed as he stood up, “I’ll just head out.” Jeno covered his eyes with his hand, avoiding the look that his best friend gave him. As soon as he disappeared, Jeno’s phone buzzed numerous times which made him mutter something you didn’t catch.

“Okay,” you said, dragging out the word. “What was that all about?”

“Who knows?” You remained somewhat suspicious. There was something going on, you were sure of it. “I, um, ordered your regular for you if that’s alright?”

You nodded an affirmative and allowed a beat of silence before you spoke again. “He’s not coming back, is he?”

Jeno sputtered. “I– Well, you see–” You giggled at him, causing him to whine out your name as he hid his face in his hands. “There’s something I need to give you.” Then, without further hesitation, he produced a mason jar from behind his back. “It’s a terrarium that I made for you yesterday.”

You took it from his hands and held it with caution as you inspected it. It was very pretty. The plants that he chose were extremely vibrant, the stones different colors and he even placed a cute little cat figurine that was made to appear like it was sleeping.

Removing your gaze from the mason jar, you met his eyes. “Is this why you couldn’t hang out with us yesterday?” You asked softly. When he nodded, you returned your gaze to the mason jar so that you could continue to stare at the terrarium in wonder. “Oh my God,” you breathed out, gently placing the container onto the table. “This is totally a date, isn’t it? That’s why Jaemin abandoned us the minute I got here.”

Jeno fidgeted with his fingers as he met your eyes, clearing his throat before he spoke. “I wanted to ask you before, you know the day we watched the sun rise together?”

“Jeno that was two weeks ago.”

He winced. “Yeah, I know. I chickened out last minute.”

“Oh my God,” you repeated, eyes widening. “If you had told me this was a date I would have dressed nicer. Jeno, how could you do this to me?”

“So you don’t mind that this is a date?”

“Jeno, sweetie, I’ve had a massive crush on you for ages now. I’m surprised you didn’t notice or I didn’t accidentally tell you.”

A goofy smile lit up his face. “Oh.” He looked extremely pleased, like a dream of his came true. You supposed it probably did. “You look great, anyway, so it doesn’t matter. You always look great.”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t stop the smile that emerged. “So does this mean we can hold hands on the table as we share the same milkshake and stare adoringly into each others eyes?”

Jeno threw his head back to laugh and you were quick to follow. “If that’s what you want.”

Later that evening after your date was over and the two of you were sitting on the bench, the one that Taeyong successfully gave some personality, you kissed him softly like you wanted to weeks ago. And as you watched him walk away, him repeatedly looking back at you, you startled when you saw Jaemin waving his arms erratically on his porch. When you acknowledged him with a wave of your own, he gave you a huge thumbs up.

“Finally!” He hollered before breaking out into a silly dance.

“Thank you!” You yelled back.

Finally indeed.

#yall i bought a ticket to wayv’s online concert !!!!#I AM SO EXCITED LIKE OMG #I CANT BELIEVE ITS THIS SUNDAY SMDMFKD #i also downloaded the lysn app so that i could apply to be in the video call thingy #well its not a video call but i forgot the word for it because my brain has stopped working #buT Y E A H #i wanted to watch all of it but like ???#i dont have €32 just laying around you know #so i had to pick and choose and it ended up being wayv 😔✌🏻#oh yeah this was supposed to be a pocket sized!jeno fic #but that isnt what happened?????#idk what this is tbh 🥴#but i do hope yall like it !!#also lmk if any of u guys are gonna watch wayv this sunday so we can cry tgt #okay im gonna shut up now dkdkdk bye 🤪#anyway here come the tags:#nct scenarios #nct #nct au #nct writings #nct dream #nct imagines #nct x you #nct x reader #lee jeno #nct jeno #nct dream jeno #jeno scenarios #jeno imagines

24 notes · View notes

chibivesicle · 5 years

Text

Golden Kamuy chapter 210: holy shit, this is a chapter that we’ve all been dying for.

Ah yes, chapter 210, you are already a chapter that I’m completely in love with and it shows many of Noda’s strengths as an artist and a storyteller.

The chapter is called “sweet lies” and this is clearly a reference to what Tsurumi has told many people but the focus is on Koito and Tsukishima in particular. The title page makes it very clear that Koito will be a major focus of this chapter. I have been waiting for these events ever since Ogata called Koito a bon-bon in Russian and kicked him in the face before escaping.

Koito’s right hand holds his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that he had acquired from Tsukishima back in chapter 101.

Recall that he was upset that Shiraishi had escaped and he had also encountered Ogata on the airship who helped in the escape. Tsukishima is in part trying to get Koito to calm down by giving him this very photo.

Looking back at this panel for the first time in awhile, it shows that Koito has a little light in his eyes and he wishes he were born earlier to serve at Tsurumi’s side in the war. Koito immediately has a pre-cut photo of his own head that he wants to glue on over Tsukishima’s and he tells him to make him some rice glue.

Tsukishima says, no, but based on the title page for 210 he definitely found some glue somehow.

When they were heading to Abashiri, recall that Koito had more doctored photos including this one here:

At some point, he got another photo with Tsurumi in it as well as other commanding officers and he added his own head to all of the men in the photo, longing to have had a chance to serve with Tsurumi. Koito pre-photoshop - he was pretty dedicated to making his photo collages!

Now, also recall that this photo has been used for the cover of chapter 147 - Igogusa, where Tsukishima’s backstory and loyalty to Tsurumi was solidified.

Really, all of this is indicating that Tsukishima and Koito are tied to Tsurumi and this photo shows how closely they are tied. I’ll come back to this in a bit. Like some of the other dense and intense chapters, I’m going to jump to the part between Asirpa and Sugimoto, that creates a pause and adds to the tension between Koito and Tsukishima.

The quick and dirty about Sugimoto and Asirpa’s separate paths:

The chapter continues to keep us in the dark about the end of Sugimoto and Asirpa’s conversation after the movies. It is now the night before Tsurumi will arrive in Odomari. Asirpa reminds us that she’s never actually met Tsurumi, she only knows about him through her interactions with everyone else. This really does two things for me as a reader - it seems to speak to unresolved issues between the two and she’s musing what type of man Tsurumi is. Hasn’t she gotten enough information to in part figure this out from what others have said and done? I’m a little surprised by this statement, she saw what Tsurumi did to Sugimoto’s face with those dango skewers.

Either way, just like before her encounter with Wilk at Abashiri she’s expressing her concerns about what will happen. She wants to know what Sugimoto will do in the gold hunt? What will Tsurumi do with the gold? Most importantly, what will happen to the Ainu, her community in all of this. Sadly, Sugimoto can’t see the forest through the trees. His current vision on all of this is “Asirpa vision”. As long as Asirpa is removed from the hunt for the gold, it will be alright - she’ll be clean and she can go back home to Huci. As the lovely Merdopseudo has written, Sugimoto is back to his usual habit of “Sugisplaining”, that Asirpa doesn’t need to think about things. Just be good, give up the code and walk away from the gold, the Ainu and just go back home, safe, clean and pure. Kiro told Ogata that Asirpa’s time on Karafuto was to mature her - and it has. I still miss Kiro’s character greatly but he really helped Asirpa see the bigger picture than just her kotan in Hokkaido.

These entire two pages almost fade to the background compared to the rest of the chapter. Their relationship dynamic has changed. Both are holding back now thinking about their own concerns and their goals which have shifted or the fact that Asirpa is gaining a new and different goal. Her new focus is scary for Sugimoto. I don’t think they are being as honest to each other as they should be. They aren’t good at conflict - both are dancing around the major issues involved in this entire gold hunt.

In a way, I like how fucking awkward these two pages are - it really highlights that their reunion wasn’t what either of them expected it to be and that they are currently on different paths. I love this tension - I’m waiting for it to explode.

Now onto the meat of the chapter.

Koito has put the pieces together and his world view is shattering:

The chapter has a lovely two page spread of the harbor at Odomari as Koito asks Tsukishima a question before Tsurumi’s arrival. We first see Koito looking at his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that his face has slid off of. Koito’s brow is very furrowed and he’s really intense looking. I love how the picture of a steamship is followed by his face shaded and more focus in his eyes. Tsukishima makes a comment that Koito isn’t at excited and cheerful as he would normally be about Tsurumi’s arrival. Remember that Koito was in tears as they left for Karafuto as he longingly looked at his Tsurumi bromide!

As Koito speaks to Tsukishima not looking at him, he tells him that Ogata told him something at the hospital in Akou before he escaped. He first mentions the Russian term for bon-bon. Tsukishima’s eyes narrow a bit before he continues on. He goes on to tell him that Ogata (with his face completely shaded in black) tells him that “the next time he meets Lt. Tsurumi . . .” and then he turns to him and looks at him directly (please get some chapstick Ogata!) to “ask him about the Manchurian railway.”

Tsukshima’s reaction is both one of surprise (as indicated by the light burst) and also one of annoyance and stress. Tsukishima has stress lines under his eyes, his cap covers part of his eyes and his face is shaded as he’s only able to reply with “. . . .”

Koito then begins to describe the Manchuria Railway as a concession from the Treaty of Portsmouth, meaning it went from Russian control to Japanese control. This then solidified the Japanese presence in Manchuria under the guise of the expansion of the influence of Imperial Japan and its increasingly aggressive colonial role in the region.

If you have any knowledge of the history of this in the region leading up to the second world war than this doesn’t come as a surprise to you as a reader per se. The important part is what Koito then adds in.

Koito has additional information due to his background; he knows that one member of the army was quite vocal about the whole Manchuria Railway, Hanazawa. He is still a shitty father in my mind, but hey, it looks like as a member of the military and Satsuma elite he did think about things from a strategic perspective. Therefore, Hanazawa was the lone critic about the whole railway situation.

Koito then goes on further to explain that b/c his father was friends with Hanazawa, he also knew about the controversy surrounding the railway and that Koito heard about it in his household. Koito also knows that Tsurumi connects the bodies of their comrades from the Russo-Japanese war will be at rest on Japanese soil and that it should include Manchuria. This was mentioned in the flashback that Tsurumi and Tsukishima had in chapter 150 when both were wounded at Mukden.

Tsukishima still doesn’t have a response to Koito’s inquiries as he continues to connect Tsurumi’s goals with what happened with Hanazawa’s death. Tsukishima’s eyes are barely visible, his eyes are almost completely obscured by his cap and its shadow. This does NOT LOOK GOOD AT ALL. This looks very concerning and that Tsukishima is thinking about likely bad things. Koito continues forward and very emotionally asks Tsukishima is there is a direct connection between Hanazawa’s death and Tsurumi.

By the time he’s blurted it out, Koito is nervously sweating, his hair is a bit loose and his stress lines under his eyes are intense. He’s almost pleading with Tsukishima for him to not confirm what he’s thinking. Tsukishima looks anything but pleased, his face is deadpan and his eyes are pretty much obscured completely and his face is half shaded.

Koito still doesn’t get an answer from Tsukishima, so he becomes even more emotional, still sweating and gesturing with his left hand for emphasis. He throws out the theory that Ogata wasn’t happy with the fact that central put the blame on the 7th and Hanazawa which resulted in his suicide, so he joined with Tsurumi’s plan for the coup. But since Hanazawa was in the way of the Manchurian Railway, Tsurumi had him eliminated and Ogata found out and defected against him. The then asks why Ogata would tell him that and we still can’t see Tsukishima’s facial expression well!

When Tsukishima finally looks up and replies to Koito his looks are so robotic. His eyes seem cold and even though he’s got stress lines his face is deadpan. He replies that Ogata will say anything to foil their plans and then he turns the conversation around to ask him why he trusts Ogata’s words now. Koito was ready to shoot the wildcat to kill previously - this is a 180 for Koito’s opinion on Ogata for sure.

With great emotion and intensity Koito then says “Barchonok” the Russian term for bon-bon. He flat out states that Ogata was one of the kidnappers at Hakodate. He knows it. Koito is correct and on the money - he’s not backing down and he needs answers now.

The chapter then transitions to the two pages with Sugimoto and Asirpa to build the tension between them. Technically they don’t even get a full 2 pages as Koito and Tsukishima are on the bottom here:

Koito looks shocked when Tsukishima deadpan asks what is clearly a rhetorical question. That the bodies were Russian. Koito was there - he’d know what he saw right? Eh? Eeeeehhhh? Koito looks so shocked at his reply - this can’t be Tsukishima’s answer to him? He knows Tsukishima!

He then asks Tsukishima to confirm that he was one of the masked kidnappers too! Koito is at his limit of patience. He’s so many emotions at once; upset, hurt, confused, sad, angry . . . a man whom he has trusted hurt him in the past all for Tsurumi’s own personal gain.

Tsukishima’s reply is still dead pan though now he’s lifted his hands in defense of Koito’s aggressive questioning. He falls back on the idea that Koito, is falling prey to Ogata’s manipulations, while Koito recognizes that Tsurumi made sure he and his father are in debt to Tsurumi. I love the fact that Koito sees that he and father were set up to be used by Tsurumi and so were Hanazawa and Ogata.

With Tsukishima’s reply that it is delusional, Koito forges ahead in his accusations of Tsurumi’s manipulations. Koito then realizes, he’s getting no where with Tsukishima and he’ll just make sure he and his father ask Tsurumi directly. I love this facial expression from Koito! He looks so determined as he’s physically turned away from Tsukishima in a sense giving up on him and moving forward on his own.

Finally, Tsukishima strikes back stopping Koito dead in his tracks. With an absolutely creepy facial expression, not even looking at Koito directly he asks about the fact that the two of them were saved during the kidnapping. This is such a loaded statement, since it implies that there was a possibility where they weren’t saved!

Yes, if Koito and his father didn’t play along to Tsurumi’s tune during the kidnapping, well it implies that the 27th didn’t need to spare them. They could have killed Koito and his father during the process!

This stops Koito. He turns back to Tsukishima with a very uncomfortable “what?” . . . that his brain is trying to process exactly what Tsukishima just said.

Tsukishima then goes on to state that he didn’t realize that Ogata knew of the connection between Hanazawa and the railway. He thought Ogata’s goal has always been to expose Tsurumi and turn him over to Central Command. This is a reference all the way back to his shoot out with Ogata in Yubari here.

This confirms that what Tsukishima told Ogata was his own personal theory behind Ogata’s motivations. I was always curious about it, since I had always though this was something that Tsukishima thought, but I was never sure if this was something Tsurumi told Tsukishima or something that Tsukishima came up with. With the way that Tsukishima describes it to Koito, I will read that this is a Tsukishima theory - not one from Tsurumi. I think this makes sense, Tsukishima worked with Ogata long enough that he thought he had a decent read on him - but as we’ve come to expect - most characters never have a good read on him - they still place their own ideas on him to explain his actions.

This continues with his statement that he can’t figure out what Ogata was unhappy with - that Tsurumi gave him the opportunity to kill his father wasn’t enough to please him?

Koito looks like he’s in a state of shock as he asks for confirmation that Ogata killed Hanazawa as a part of Tsurumi’s plans. His face is covered in sweat drops, his face is shaded he doesn’t really know what to say or do. . . . When Koito was first introduced, he wanted to know why Ogata would betray Tsurumi with his father’s death under the pressure of central command.

Tsukishima doesn’t even stop to confirm or deny this, he just keeps talking deadpan in expression. He simply states that he was tricked as well and by a very elaborate ruse. Tsukishima is just short of saying that Tsurumi must have manipulated Ogata into killing Hanazawa or making him believe that this is something that he would want to do . . . . He can’t outright say that Tsurumi manipulated Ogata to do the actions he’s done - instead, he goes on to state that he was deceived as well.

This seems to indicate that there must have been something between Ogata and Tsukishima - he’s done many terrible things for Tsurumi, but he’s still almost judging Ogata actions as different than his.

Anyways, back to Tsukishima’s poor explanation for Koito - he leaves out a lot of information that we will remember from chapter 149-150 and instead jumps into state that he met another man from Niigata, Sado in particular in the field hospital during the battle of Mukden, when he angrily then approached Tsurumi but still protected him when they both were injured. Only much later did Tsukishima realize that there was no way for him to bump into a member of the 2nd, the division that he and Tsurumi were in during the Sino-Japanese war.

Therefore, that man was a plant by Tsurumi to test his loyalty to Tsurumi and his future plans to go after the Ainu gold. Tsukishima freely expresses to Koito that Tsurumi molded him into the perfect right hand man for him. He went to a great length to shape Tsukishima and that Tsukishima would do whatever he asked.

The scariest part is how Tsukishima has accepted this. And it all makes sense how despite working hard and being a dependable individual, that he never seemed to break away from Tsurumi’s influence on Karafuto.

This entire panel haunts me. Tsukishima is stating that he sees no value in his own life. He’s accepted the fact that he is totally fine with what Tsurumi has done to him. He won’t even bother getting upset in the first place b/c his life has had little value to begin with. Therefore, he will follow Tsurumi’s plans to help the 7th.

Most importantly, when a completely wrecked Koito is finally able to ask him if that is all of Tsurumi’s goals - Tsukishima can’t look him in the eyes to reply. Just that Tsurumi’s specialty is “saving people with “sweet lies”.” and that he has no idea with his final goal is.

This implies that Tsukishima sees himself as “saved” by Tsurumi and therefore he owes him for his life. If the reader still takes Tsukishima’s Igogusa flashback at face value and he killed his father and it was of Tsukishima’s own free will that it happened - it returns to the idea that Tsukishima sees himself as a dead man walking and that he’s using his borrowed time to serve Tsurumi.

I can’t help (along with many other readers) wonder if Tsurumi manipulated Tsukishima into attacking his father so that he could “rescue” him from prison and created loyalty by killing his father. I mean it is clear that is the method he used with Ogata in 103.

Koito tries to get an answer from Tsukishima on why he’d continue along with this, but Tsukishima simply states it is better to align oneself with an individual with grandiose plans. In the most detached way possible with a blank face, he states his true desire is to watch Tsurumi’s manipulations all the way to the end. He seals his fate of going down with Tsurumi like the loyal right hand man that he was molded to become. Free will isn’t a Tsukishima thing.

He then finally states that Koito must keep all of this information to himself as Koito is sweating, breathing heavily and literally on the verge of a panic attack as he warns him that Tsurumi will kill him and that Tsukishima will be the one to do it.

And keep in mind. Despite how respectable Tsukishima may look, he’s the man who shot Captain Wada in the head at point blank range! Wada commands Tsukishima to fire at will, to which he replies yes and shoots Wada instead of Tsurumi.

Tsurumi then mentions Manchuria to the rest of the men of the 27th present when this happens.

Okay, back to the current chapter.

It zooms out to Koito leaning forward, panting as his knees are beginning to give out. To me it looks like he’s about to have a full blown panic attack. Readers are used to Koito as being overly dramatic, and he drops to his knees declaring that Tsurumi is amazing. His fingers are contorted and he looks stiff when he’s on his knees as his eyes almost roll up into his head.

He’s sweating and blushing all over his nose and face, something that we haven’t seen on him before. He can’t help but scream out that he’s pleased that Tsurumi wanted him to join him so badly.

He does his usual overly dramatic prostration but then spins on the dirt as he declares how impressed he is as being a part of Tsurumi’s plans.

Tsukishima just watches him from afar as this happens.

Thankfully, Sei Kobiyama on twitter was able to point out a key point during this scene. Usually, when Koito had a meltdown, he would end up expressing himself in his local Satsuma accent - thus making his screams unclear to the reader and those around him.

This time, when Koito becomes distraught, his understandable accent is maintained, as mentioned here:

This is a linguistic change that Koito no longer sees Tsurumi as his saviour and someone to look up to - instead, he’s a man who will go to great lengths to get men to serve him loyally.

The chapter then ends with Tsurumi and the 27th arriving in Karafuto. Both Usami and Warrant Officer Kikuta are with him. Usami’s face is obscured so we can’t see his eyes and he’s likely pleased while Kikuta looks a bit sad. He’s likely torn between the recent events in Noboribetsu with Ariko and serving Tsurumi.

This was one hell of a chapter!

What are the major take home points from this:

Koito’s innocence is lost.

With Ogata’s hints, Koito has realized how much of his life has been influenced and manipulated by Tsurumi. Encountering Tsurumi in Kagoshima when he ws visiting his brother’s grave. Spllling out his feelings to Tsurumi a nice and pleasant man in 1900. How the entire kidnapping was to make sure Koito and his father would fall into line with Tsurumi. He gained access to the navy (necessary for defending Hokkaido from the main island in the event of a coup) and also gained a talented but unwavering subordinate in Koito.

Koito was raised to be an ideal 2nd lt. for Tsurumi - much better than the very annoying and rule following Yuusaku. With how elaborate Tsurumi’s scheme was to get Koito to worship him, it makes it even more clear that Yuusaku would have be the largest impediment to Tsurumi’s goals with the 27th. In this chapter, Koito tells Tsukishima that he’ll call Tsurumi out in front of his father - I am not 100% certain that Yuusaku would have done the same thing - we know he was a rule follower to the end and I wonder if Yuusaku may have said something to a similar effect. Or the idea that Yuusaku if left alive would also run to his father to expose Tsurumi’s plans. Whatever the background with Yuusaku - it was clear that he was a non-manipulable individual.

Some people may have thought he faked things or was spazzing out at the end of the chapter - I read it that he’s in part now aware of what he should say but at the same time his own viewpoint is so shattered that it comes out as a bizarre mix of drama, comedy and horror. The best way I can approach it is from personal experience. Where something happens and you just don’t know how to react so in part you are almost laughing but crying at the same time but you are a total mess of emotions and it becomes overwhelming.

If we stop and think about it - Koito was manipulated since he was 14! 14! This is horrible and he’s digesting this in his early 20s now. Not like this woudln’t upset him at all? Furthermore, this is all from Tsukishima, a man who he looked up to and felt like he knew and trusted. Sure, Koito could be rude with him, but this is the man who carried him to a dog sled, who placed him on the sled gently and protected him from Kiro’s explosives. All of Tsukishima’s actions benefited and protected Koito. To have that same person threaten to kill you. Well, that would be a total emotional mindfuck.

This is setting up an interesting dyanmic between Ogata and Koito. With the flaskback to the kidnapping, it was Ogata who patted Koito on the back while Tsukishima held back. Ogata didn’t need to be nice to him but he was. Both men were ignored by their fathers for a “favored” brother. Once was legitimate despite being younger while the other was older and was supposed to carry on the family honor. At one point in time, Koito and Ogata were not seen as useful by their fathers. Tsurumi’s actions got Koito’s father to notice him, while nothing Tsurumi did, could get Ogata’s father to notice him.

I am comfortable enough to throw out the idea that Ogata is acting like an older brother to Koito. Not an amazingly great older brother, but at least as one who is giving him enough information to see what is happening and maybe change things. Koito’s older brother was kind and had very pale skin tone as shown here from young Koito vision.

We see a sparkle of light in his older brother and the old idea is that he was a very good older brother to Koito.

Ogata is canonically referred to as being usually pale - most obviously here by Shiraishi.

Ogata does not like involving innocent individuals in schemes - when Koito was younger he was still innocent - enough that kidnapper Ogata would be kind to him.

You could try to write this off as Ogata being an agent of chaos - but agents of chaos don’t have a soft spot for innocents. We know that Ogata has a whole hang up on innocence and purity in the context of those who commit atrocities and who can wipe their hands clean of them. But, since Koito is a military man who has dirtied his hands, he’s already someone that Ogata can relate to much better than Yuusaku.

The bonus of this, is that Ogata can deal a blow to Tsurumi’s plans by releasing Koito from his control. Ogata in addition to his obsession with finding a blessed path, is one of exercising free will. This may explain why he was upset at Wilk’s role to set Asirpa up as an idol for the Ainu - she does not have her own free will to decide and she was too similar to Yuusaku.

Thankfully, their showdown in the ice floe really helped to shift some of her thinking in addition to Kiro’s death.

Can the tiger’s curse be Koito having to face his own actions and choose a free will in the 27th? Realizing that he is tied to the lynx, Ogata and that the two men have much more in common than Koito already knows in regards to their fathers’ friendship? I think Ogata even respects the fact that Koito is an intelligent man, just that he didn’t apply himself. He was able to easily catch up to his peers to pass the military exams so Ogata was likely banking on his intelligence to connect the few bits of information that he left Koito with before escaping. I personally really want Koito to break away from Tsurumi and team up with Ogata. I think Ogata is working with the partisans and if Ogata re-appears, Sofia will be with him and Koito can talk to Sofia (still banking on both of them bonding by talking in French).

Is there any “hope” for Tsukishima?

Oh man. This is a hard summary for me here - I love Tsukishima. When the action moved to Karafuto, I really fell in love with his character more. I have a meta about how upstanding and respectful he is as a character to others. He did what was expected of him, made sure Svetlana told her parents what happened, helped up a Russian guy he knocked down in the stenka and kept having all of these “soft” nice guy moments.

But what began to worry me was his lack of doubt at things. Koito seemed to be more open to questioning what was happening. He told himself to shoot a thieving cat on sight - that he had to tell himself facts about Ogata to make sure he’d capture and kill him. Meanwhile, Tsukishima remained silent. He relayed facts to Sugimoto about the wildcat nickname but he never said anything to get Sugimoto more riled up or less upset by Ogata. He just did what was required of him.

He only became pushy once they reached Toyohara where they were to wait until meeting up with Tsurumi in Odomari (next chapter?). It is almost as though Tsukishima is a example of the trope that one should be worried about the “normal” ones. He has done his job always with benefiting Tsurumi in the end. He’ll now follow him to the end even if it means he dies alongside with him.

Noda called him the conscience of the 7th back when he made the character guides at the beginning of the tankobans. I am beginning to wonder if his conscience is more of the fact that Tsukishima will express a moral doubt or concern only to still follow orders?

I can’t help but look at these eyes here, here he blankly tells Koito he’s fine with his situation in 210.

Are similar to Ogata’s in chapter 103 to Hanazawa.

Both express the emotions - or lack thereof of men who are doing horrible things that are clearly harming them but following through on those actions b/c Tsurumi is leading them to that.

For volume 15 Noda expanded chapter 150 to include how Tsukishima let go of the lie that kept him tied to Tsurumi from the end of the Sino-Japanese war until the Battle of Mukden.

Special thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting for these edited images of the volume version.

While in Otaru, Tsukishima goes out alone in the evening. He reveals that he’s held onto Igogusa’s hair all these years. He is a dark figure against the lighter buildings in the harbor.

He pulls the hair the Tsurumi had given him that was folded between some well worn paper, that may even have some of his blood stains on it, indicating he kept it close to his chest when he was in battle.

He stands on the edge of the harbor and holds the open paper in his left hand, the hair in his right as his eyes are completely covered with his hat. There is a slow motion opening of the right hand as it releases the hair so that it almost slides out. Not throwing or anything active. A passive release of the hair back into the ocean, depicted as a black abyss.

We get his own view as the hair falls out of his hand and into the water to dark to see any details of.

As the hair falls into darkness on the next page we see Tsukishima walk back to the 27th barracks and he enters the back of a room full of men. The two page spread shows Tsurumi removing his bandages in front of his men and the introduction of his face shield.

Tsukishima watches all of this from the back of the room deadpan. He has let go of his ties to his past and his love of Igogusa. All that remains is his loyalty and devotion to Tsurumi.

This is it. This is the point when Tsukishima dedicated himself full to serving Tsurumi. He’ll follow him straight to hell if that is how things go down.

In some ways, I’m having a hindsight is 20/20 moment in regards to Tsukishima. The entire time on Karafuto, Tsukishima has been relatively quiet. He’s done what he was supposed to do and other than his emotional outburst with Svetlana, he’s been very tight lipped and silent. This is a parallel with Ogata who was keeping quiet to not reveal his skills in Russian. Tsukishima hides his devotion to Tsurumi through his banal and normal actions. He doesn’t give us much to go on, it is easier for him to show nothing - by showing nothing or slight annoyance, others can’t get a read on him.

I would argue that Ogata is much more emotional and it shows on Ogata’s face much more than Tsukishima’s. His default is to have a blank face when wants to cover, Ogata’s eyes frequently betray his emotions. They are subtle but his are more obvious that Tsukishima’s.

What all does this mean for the future?

I am still under the indication that Koito will break away from the rest of the group.

I’m still hung up on this image from the end of 180. We now know that Tsukishima will follow Tsurumi to the end. Tanigaki has no problem following him as long as he doesn’t have to return home. Sugimoto sold out Asirpa for 200 yen to Tsurumi.

Cikapasi and Ryu stayed behind with Enonoka and her grandfather. Koito stands separately. I thought maybe he’d end up with Enonoka and her grandfather after he found out about Tsurumi. That could still happen but what if Enonoka and her grandfather are a stand in for Asirpa and Huci and maybe Retar?

He would still be aligning himself with the Ainu, just Hokkaido Ainu versus the Karafuto Ainu.

I want to know what makes Tsukishima different from Ogata? Both men were involved in the kidnapping of Koito. Tsukishima continues to come back to Tsurumi despite that he’s in an abusive relationship. Ogata snapped at something and couldn’t do it anymore?

We know he doubted Tsurumi when he had him kill Hanazawa. What was it that pushed him over the edge? Why has Ogata escaped while the rest remain loyal to him. Granted some of the men are less intelligent than Tsukishima, Koito and Ogata, but the smart ones see what his happening. Is Kikuta also in this group of the more intelligent Tsurumi inner circle. So far he’s proven himself to ge a quick witted and smart guy.

What happens if things begin to unravel? How does Sugimoto think he can get out of this one? The only reason he was able to escape Tsurumi the first time was with Asirpa and Shiraishi’s help and Tsurumi letting him go. Now, he’s handing both Asirpa and Shiraishi into Tsurumi’s control - he won’t be able to rely on them being on the “outside” to help him.

Furthermore, Ogata demonstrated that if one escapes (as with Tanigaki in Kushiro) you escape before your watchers get close to the deadline. The earlier you escape the better since they will become more attentive. I’m sure Ogata learned this from Tsurumi and Tsukishima will know this.

Sorry I don’t have much more for you guys. I’m still mulling things over and I’m re-adjusting to my work schedule so that will throw me off for a bit more.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #koito otonoshin #koito heiji #tsukishima hajime #tsurumi tokushirou #asirpa #sugimoto saichi #ogata hyakunosuke #kiroranke #hanazawakoujiro #hanazawayuusaku #Igogusa

77 notes · View notes

eureka-its-zico · 5 years

Text

Pricked Pt. 4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Scenario: You and Mino have been together since you were eighteen years old. You’ve been through so much together, but time changed who you both were, what you both wanted and, ultimately, it ended. It ended once, twice, and a million times after. Each time fate somehow bringing you back to one another; but how cruel could fate really be? For with every time you crashed back into one another, you felt pieces’ fray and rip at the seams; pricked by love thrones that never healed.

A/N: Okay.Admit it. How many of you thought this would never get finished? It’s finally happened. I finished Pricked. Over time, I received countless private messages and anonymous asks about finishing this. I’m sorry it took over two years for me to get back into writing. I’m sorry it took so long, you guys. But, my sincerest hope is that after reading this, it all feels worth it. I appreciate the countless support for my fiction. For the continous shares and likes while I’ve been away. You all helped remind me why I started writing in the first place: for the love of telling a story. I hope you love this one. Much Love, Jenn.

Genre: Mino x Reader

Words: 5850

Disclaimer: As always, any gifs that are used are not mine and all credit is given to their rightful owners.

It was almost comical how a room that felt so big became hauntingly small. The echoes of his last words etching themselves in your bones until they ached where you sat. Immobile, like a frightened child that hears the creaking sounds of old stairs; threatening to make your heart leap at the thought of old monsters.

Mino couldn’t have meant it. Just like you knew, without a doubt, you were only pretending to be self-righteous. To care about an unnamed woman who should’ve never taken your place to begin with: a poor man’s replacement. A replacement you yourself tried to make of him. The whole reason you showed up here, now, was to force him to choose you. Or else what had been the whole point of the large affair you’d created, if it wasn’t to lead to an end that favored you both.

But this was where your self-righteousness ended.

In the distance your ears could hear the shower running. You knew Mino was undoubtedly undressed on the other side of the door. His last words a farewell forever: a painful dismissal.

How could you blame him? When your lips failed to move and voice refused to work. Because that self-righteousness flared back up and made you believe you could do the right thing.

What was right?

What could be right about losing him, and spending the rest of your life with the maybe’s and what if’s. All you needed to say was what you’d wanted, and allowed, the selfishness that rained over the past year to win. Because honestly, why did you decide now of all times to act so holy? You wanted to do the right thing, regardless of it being too little too late. To believe that self-sacrifice, being a martyr, would be enough to forgive yourself for choosing to hurt so many.

But you were done falling on swords. Done playing games. If you didn’t tell him now, right the fuck now, that you couldn’t live with the idea of him waking up besides the wrong woman every morning, not you, some stranger who only saw what she wanted, knew nothing about how he used to hide his favorite snacks under pillows during his first year of training, and bleached his hair so badly it left his head raw for days. How he ruined so many school shirts with stains of ink from broken pens that drove his mother into an annoyed rant. She knew nothing of his past. What made him. She only knew what he chose to show her like a carefully wrapped present. But you - you knew all. Past and present. You wanted to know who he became in the future. To see the version of yourself he talked about with confidence reflecting in his eyes.

You knew, deep down, underneath the claustrophobic hands of fear, that you could be better for each other. There would be no more running. No more imaginative ‘What If’s’, to keep you at bay.

You weren’t surprised to find your feet already guiding you towards the door of the bathroom. Your heart already knew where it was trying to go: it had just been waiting for your mind to catch up. And somehow, after all that mental pep talk, you still found your hand hovering above the knob.

“No more caving,” you whispered. “I’m doing this.”

Without another moment spared to thought your hand closed around the knob and turned.Whether you were conscious of it or not, you were holding your breath. As if you would find something other than Mino’s naked body on the other side.

Immediately, your body was engulfed by a hot breath of steam. The mirror fogged up to hide your reflection, and condensation dripped from every surface. If the shower wasn’t strategically placed in the middle you were sure you could’ve gotten lost in the large high-end expanse of the bathroom. The showers glass enclosure covered a majority of the room and offered no privacy. Your eyes able to roam over every available inch of flesh that it left exposed, and you drank in the sight of Mino greedily.

Even slumped with his hands splayed out against the patterned granite - body being drenched every second in a heavy flow of water - Mino was still able to command the room. Although, you knew by the heavy sigh between his shoulders that he was a man in mourning. A dull ache wormed its way inside your chest and threatened to bloom, but a memory batted it away.

It was the beginning of spring; months after you’d begun your secret affair. Both of you pretending it was just something simple as convenience. A past history of being first loves and promises of fairy tale ever-afters allowing you the false ideal it would be over once either of you had your fill.

You could see now, caressed in a fog of steam, what a lie it was.

That day the humidity had been worse than the heat. It ended up like that a lot during the peaking days of summer. The two of you finding solace in the new studio Mino rented out; a private, safe place for his artistic ideas to flourish and die in a privacy only he knew.

He’d rung you to come by. Mino’s voice tempting your body already with the sweetness of kisses and a promise of that honeyed voice that was held between those lips kissing its way between your thighs. You didn’t need much prodding after that. Your fingers already on an app to hail the nearest driver.

You’d arrived minutes before he’d asked, and found him surrounded by splattered canvases. A majority of them thrown to the ground, like an island of misfits. Mino was already working on a newer canvas, but the frustration radiated off of him and hit you in waves. You could see it in the way his teeth dug themselves into the wood of his brush, and the large strokes of his fingers, covered in paint, across the canvas. You could’ve sworn you could hear the brush beginning to snap under the pressure.

Mino had always been this way. His drive for perfection charging his artistic nature, usually with him being completely unaware. He was in such a trance focusing on his work that he hadn’t paid any kind of acknowledgment to your entry. All Mino could see was the canvas before him and the irritating fact it wasn’t coming out like he’d wanted.

You were more than ninety-nine percent sure if this had been anyone else, you would’ve been annoyed at not being acknowledged. But here in his artistic heaven you were just fine being ignored. It left you plenty of time to gawk at the mosaic piece that covered an enormous section of a wall. The bright pieces coming into the colorful shape of a cartoon man holding a wilting flower. The petals somehow becoming larger until they landed on the ground at his feet. The back wall displaying a dozen or so paintings. The theme of them all painstakingly the same.

In one various arrays of color, he had the facial outlines of a man and a woman. You could only assume by the way the woman’s face was comforted and the way the lips of the man drew near to caress her lips, that it was a painting with the image of intimacy in mind. That feeling of intimacy causing your cheeks to flush and a yearning to be touched. Another showcased a couple outlined in white against the charcoal of the canvas. There were stars small as speckled dust that told you he’d brushed a single finger through the hair to obtain the effect. The longer you looked at it a stirring feeling of recognition began to ache in the back of your mind.

“It’s that night we spent by the Hongdae river.”

Mino’s voice cut through your thoughts and brought you clarity. Your eyes barely shifting to acknowledge his body turned in your direction, before looking back at the painting. It seemed the second he mentioned it everything about it began to make sense.

It was the moment he’d caught your gaze stuck to the bright sky. So bright and full of endless possibilities.

“Do you remember what you asked me?” He questioned.

You didn’t even need to consider the thousands of possibilities. You already knew.

“Do you ever wonder if the stars miss each other. Millions of them are in the sky. You would think with so many, they would be close to one another, yet they’re so far apart.”

It wasn’t until your eyes took in the shape of dying dust behind a falling star that you finally turned to look at Mino. Your full attention on dried paint that scattered itself on his hands and arms; splattered in rainbow hues all over his shirt and pants. He resembled a piece of art himself, housed inside a room you realized held painted moments of past times together, and more recent. Through this act of whatever it was you’d both created, Mino made something beautiful out of it. He made something beautiful out of you.

Looking at him now...you knew, Mino would forever stay a work of art that would take your breath away. And in that realization, your mind only came up with one solution to end his creative slump he currently found himself in.

You didn’t think twice before your hands found the hem of your shirt and began to lift it over your head. Mino’s eyes widened slightly; no doubt enjoying the unexpected show you put on.

“You’re having trouble painting today.”

It wasn’t a question. You didn’t need an answer, but Mino’s mind wasn’t truly listening to you. It followed his eyes as they watched your hand loop around your back and undo the clasp on your bra.

“I’ve actually been unable to draw - paint - anything. No matter where I go or what I draw, it never comes out right.”

You were stepping out of your shorts when you nodded in acknowledgement. As the last article of clothing fell to the floor, you were left exposed, in all your glory. For some reason, as ridiculous as it sounded, being naked in front of Mino this way sent your nerves into overdrive. It took everything you had not to begin to fidget with your hands.

“Y/N, what are you doing?”

“Use me.”

You blurted it out so harshly it caused Mino to jump. This time you did close your eyes as the embarrassment began to burn against your cheeks.

“Use you?”

By now, Mino was slowly moving towards you. The playful tilt of a smirk drawing up the side of his mouth as his eyes took you in. He radiated a heat that sent your body trembling; not in a bad way. No, no. Far from that. It was an undeniable urge for him to touch you. For his hands to leave burning trials of his exploration of your body on every inch of your skin.

You had to swallow twice to be able to speak.

“Yeah. Use me as your canvas. Paint on me and see if this helps break you out of your creative slump.”

That appeared to stop him cold. His feet no longer coyly bringing him towards you and the smirk now drawn in a thoughtful pout. The first real hint of fear hit your tongue and you tried to swallow it away. You hadn’t considered the fact Mino might call your idea ridiculous and, perhaps, stupid. You were about ready to tell him never mind when his hand motioned for you to move next to the canvas and paints he’s been working on previously.

“Come lay over here.”

You couldn’t reply. Your head giving a curt nod in response as he moved to grab a blanket. It wasn’t the length of your body, but just enough to cover your more...precious parts from the dirt of the floor. Once it was laid in place, you moved to lie down and waited patiently for him to spread his paints out on the tray. Your mind going to counting sheep to pass the time. Around sixty-seven, a gasp of surprise from the cold of the brush against your skin.

“Babo!” You shrieked.

Your hand shot out to smack his arm, which only awarded you with the deep bass of his laugh.

“Should I have warned you?” He asked playfully.

“Duh!”

“Okay, okay. Lie back down and be ready this time, eh.”

You wanted to smack him again and it sent him into more hysterics. You did what he asked though and laid back with your arms out by your sides.

“I’m gonna move the arm closest to me, alright.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“I’m letting you know so you don’t smack me again.”

This time you chuckled to yourself as his hands took gentle hold of your arm and moved it into place. A few moments later the coldness of the brush touched down on your skin. You didn’t jump this time.

You couldn’t tell how long you laid there. Mino moving around different points of your body; spreading different colors along your torso, down your legs, and under your breasts. The two of you making light conversation as he worked, until after a while he informed you he was finished. You were ready to move, but your body was heavy with relaxation and you settled on wiggling your toes.

The sound of a Polaroid camera going off shot your attention back in Mino’s direction. His fingers snaking around to drag the film gently the rest of the way out.

“You better not show anyone.”

Mino gave you a cynical glance over the side of the camera before snapping on more.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Y/N. I wouldn’t share you with anyone: not even as artwork. I just want to save these.” Mino set down the Polaroid and gave the two photos a couple last good shakes before he set them gently down. You began to get up when he knelt beside you, stopping your movements completely. “Y/N, I mean this more than anything. I think this is the best art I’ve made in a long time. What we’ve created together today.”

The compliment sent your lips into a humbled smile that you did your best to hide, but Mino refused to let you.

“Mino-ah, I did nothing.”

“There you are wrong.”

He didn’t allow you to argue further: his lips crashed down on yours. His body collapsing against yours and hands moving in a heated rush to remove his clothes. You weren’t surprised to find your own helping. The two of you soon making love in a flurry of still wet paint that helped to create a new work of art against the studio floor.

With the memory fading away, and leaving you to stand back inside the bathroom and Mino a few feet away, it filled you with renewed resolve. What did it matter if you hadn’t graduated from college yet. If you didn’t know a major to stick with, and you worked like a majority of everyone else in customer service jobs and not a giant firm. That your apartment wasn’t in an established part of Seoul.

You were every bit as good for Mino. Hell, you were the right person for him. You knew that more than anything, and you refused to feel any less unworthy anymore. Without waiting another second to allow doubt to stop you, you reached out and took hold of the shower door and opened it to step inside. Mino turned at your entrance with alarm spread clear on his face and raised eyebrows. After his panic subsided, recognition began to lower his shoulders and formed a question in his brow.

“Y/N,” he started huskily, “What are you-“

You didn’t give him a chance to finish. Using the momentum you gained from entering the shower you pushed into him. The warm water from the shower drenching you both as you wrapped your arms around his neck and brought him to you. Your lips pressing against his the only answer that you needed to give.

Mino matched your desire with his own. His mouth opening yours up to him allowing him to drink down every moan he could elicit from you. When pushed to move you back against the wall of the shower, you gave no protest. The need every placement of his hands made coursed through you and sparked like an electric current. Every tug on soaked fabric and delicate graze of teeth skimming down lips until a tongue lashed up to soothe it's haunting ache. Underneath the basic carnal need that plagued your body for Mino’s touch - his touch alone - you knew it was something deeper.

The idea of soulmates and fate seemed like a fairytale of pleasant dreams meant to keep the boogeyman of life at bay. That there was some hope of a Disney ending, definitely not G-rated, far from PG, but still somehow attainable in life. The thought alone used to be enough to make you roll your eyes. In the end, you couldn’t allow your cynicism tarnish the truth you knew was true between you two.

How could you deny the power of the universe when the cosmos rested solely in his lips? The way his name was written in stars along your skin. For fate to align itself over and over until you stood face-to-face wrapped in each others arms in a tangled connection that refused to make sense.

There had to be a reason for all this chaos.

Mino and you were swollen lips and ragged breaths. His naked body pressed against your soaked clothes stirred a desire to finish what you’d started in the other room. Mino, apparently, hadn’t shared the same sentiment. His lips suddenly breaking free of yours only to lead you in a daze from out of the shower.

When you came back into the room, he didn’t bother with a towel. Instead, Mino opted to struggle his wet appendages into the legs of his jeans. He gave small hops of hope that he used to wedge the fabric up his hips. The whole ordeal already making you fight back the rising fit of giggles, only to end up as a losing battle. The shoulders of his t-shirt becoming trapped around his head; face peeking out through the open collar enough to look ridiculous, and finally broke you down into hysterics.

When Mino finally was able to get his shirt comfortably on he walked over to where you’d collapsed onto the bed. You were soaked and the sporadic dry patches on your jeans were annoying. Your body still vibrating from your earlier outburst and you watched as he moved to kneel beside you. Not caring that both of you resembled drowned rats. Mino reached out to calmly take both of your hands. The angle he was at giving you perfect clarity of his face. Perfect enough to be able to see a decision rapidly being made in the softness of his eyes.

“This is gonna sound nuts.”

You reached out to cradle his cheek in your palm. Your thumb rubbing lightly to try and calm the storm of emotions that whipped his eyes frantically back and forth searching your face.

“Mino, this whole year has been crazy. I don’t think anything you could say would surprise me.”

“Marry me.”

Okay. You were wrong. His outburst did surprise you. Your body went still in front of him and your thumb no longer grazed against his lips. You were going into shock and he was taking your silence as denial.

“I mean, I know it’s stupid. It’s a stupid idea, Y/N, and you deserve a better proposal than this, but I don’t want to waste another moment without you and-“

He was rambling. The both of you knew he was and only because the room swelled with the panic of finality you both felt. That terrible chance that if either of you stepped out of the room, whatever spell of courage happened between you both would end. You could see the pleading in his eyes and could only think of doing one sure fire way to bring his frantic speech to a close. You took his face in yours and gave him one good kiss. When you pulled back he was stuck in place looking for all the world like a wound up doll who’d run out of juice.

“To answer your question, Mino: yes.”

It took his ears a second to register what you’d said, but the minute he heard it Mino broke into a smile so big you couldn’t help but smile back. He rushed to close the small space between you and wrapped his arms with a constrictors grip around you. Only pulling back to kiss you rapidly all over your face raising giggles from your throat.

“Yes? Yes! She said yes!”

“Ya, Mino,” you chided playfully. “You act like someone is going to hear you.”

“I don’t need anyone to hear me. All I needed to hear was your answer. Come on,” he urged rushing to grab both of your jackets. “I know somewhere that’s still open that they’ll do the ceremony right now.”

Your heart was pounding in your chest as you moved hand-in-hand to the front door. This was it. You were on your way to get married. Nothing and yet, everything was about to change. Mino shot you one last smile over his shoulder before he ripped open the door. The both of you coming to a halt in front of the woman, closed fist raised to knock, frozen in shock before you.

You didn’t need Mino to tell you who she was. By the way her face crumbled like all the cheated souls before her, you knew this was his fiance. The look of pain replaced itself with something much colder and harder. The anger coming in waves to steel herself against the pain you no doubt swimming inside her like a monsoon.

“How long?”

Her voice trembled in a way that would have made anyone consider it to be sadness. Anyone else, besides you. You knew it was simply the sound of her choking back on a heartbroken rage cocktail that was brewing deep in her chest. Her tears scolding while the judgement her eyes held a very clear hatred for you. Her world slowly falling apart as she drank you both in. Clothes still clinging to your body like a second skin with both lips puffy and red from each other’s kisses. Her world was collapsing into ruin in quiet milliseconds of betrayal before her.

Mino finally let go of your hand and stepped towards her. She instantly retracted from his touch and swatted away his hand as if it were a pest.

“Don’t touch me!” She shrieked.

“Jang-mi, please,” he protested. This time Mino didn’t make the mistake of trying to touch her. His hands simply motioning for her to come into the safety of the room. “Let’s discuss this inside the room. Not the hallway.”

Her face turned a bright red, and you understood why. Mino sounded like he was coddling a tantrum throwing child. Not a woman who just had a brutal awakening of her soon-to-be husband’s affair. Jang-mi took on last reproachful glance in your direction and moved to go inside the room; taking careful steps to touch neither of you.

As soon as the door to the room was closed, she whirled on you both. Maybe it would’ve been better to remain at Mino’s side to seem like a united front. But you couldn’t bring yourself to give her another theoretical smack in the face with that. So you kept a few inches between you and your head cast downward at the carpet.

“How. Long.”

Jang-mi enunciated every word. Her small fists now in tight fists as her eyes scanned from one face to the other. Waiting for one of you to find the courage to answer. You wanted to let out a sigh of relief when Mino finally spoke: “Close to a year.”

That answer wasn’t what the other woman wanted. The air appeared to be knocked out of her, as her knees collapsed from under her and she ended up sitting on the bed.

“I should’ve known,” Jang-mi began with her voice breathy as if she was talking from a memory. “That day in the alley. When I seen you two together. I knew by the look on your face.”

She looked up at you then, and you didn’t dishonor her by looking away. You held her gaze and knew you deserved what she thought of you. For in Jang-mi’s story, you were the villain. The one who came and stole her ever-after and did it without apology. You wouldn’t ask her to offer forgiveness for your selfishness.

“His mother has a picture with you in it still. When you were younger at Danah’s eleventh birthday party. I know you were his first love. It’s clear on your faces, but make no mistake, I am the one he chose to marry.”

Jang-mi found her strength to stand and it was against you. You admired her fight but, in this, you refused to let her win.

“That can change,” you snapped.

Your response surprised her, but she made it clear in her squared shoulders and upturned chin she wasn’t backing down.

“How? For a year, you were nothing more than a girl kept in the shadows. No better than a whore-“

“Jang-mi, enough!”

Mino cut in and went to shield you. You stopped him with a hand to his shoulder and stepped around him. Mino could be your knight in shining armor any day - but not today. Today, you would do it for yourself.

“Think what you want, but I will be what you can never be: the woman he loves.”

Your cheek erupted in flecks of pain that radiated along the side of your face. It was so intense, your eyes blurred with unshed tears. This time you didn’t stop Mino from stepping between the two of you. Their arguing words drowned out to the ringing in your ears.

“You need to choose Mino: right here and now! Either me or her, and you better make the right choice.”

You knew her threat wasn’t empty. It was backed by outrage with need for you to be proven wrong. That she was the one that held his heart; not willing to admit to the fact she might never have to begin with. Tears were freely streaming down her cheeks now as she reached out to hold onto him. Mino’s guilt leaving him unable to look away from the tears she tried to claim were of anger, but really a reflection of her breaking heart.

The small room erupted in silence, and it began to make doubt creep into your thoughts. There was always the off chance Mino could choose her, and that was something you couldn’t bear. With your cheek still burning and eyes roaming back and forth between the both of them you didn’t notice Mino moving to stand beside you. His hand moving out to gently take yours in his, while his eyes sadly took in the woman before him.

“I’m sorry, Jang-mi for being a coward and not telling you sooner. I love you, but I’m not in love with you and...because of that I cannot marry you.”

If things had been different, you would’ve went to her. You were sure that you were the last person she would ever want to comfort her. Not when the two of you stood mockingly the day before her would-be wedding. You knew Mino didn’t want to leave her this way. That he would carry the guilt of what transpired here tonight, and maybe he should for now. No one should go without acknowledging their own wrongdoing in someone else’s pain. Before he could say anything to Jang-mi, however, a sudden knock came at the door.

“Mino, are you there?”

The sound of Mino’s father at the door immediately made him stiffen. The anxiety evident on his face, and here it was Jang-mi saw her opening to share her grief with someone new.

“He's here with another woman!”

“J-Jang-mi, is that you?”

Mino’s father sounded perplexed and you couldn’t blame him. He probably wasn’t expecting to hear his future daughter-in-law yelling about another woman. A tight squeeze into your hand reminded you of Mino at your side. Throughout this whole moment, Mino remained calm and allowed Jang-mi to react how she felt, because he knew he’d given her one of the greatest forms of betrayal. But the quiet understanding he’d used to compose himself was now gone. Now he just looked plain pissed off.

“You have no right to bring him into this!” He snapped.

“He deserves to know the kind of man his son is,” Jang-mi retorted. Her disdain dripping off of every word.

“Mino! Open this door! Is Jang-mi in there with you?”

“Oppa, everything is alright!”

“No everything is not!”

Jang-mi screeched the last word high enough it made you wince. She moved forward and slammed an angry fist down on Mino’s chest. You moved to grab her, but Mino simply shook his head and placed his hands gently on her shoulders.

“Jang-mi,” he began sadly, “this will not make your pain hurt any less.”

“No, you’re right. It won’t.” She moved her hands to rest on his arms and stayed there. Just for a moment. Her looking up at him, Mino staring back, and you feeling like the odd third wheel in what seemed like an intimate moment. Suddenly, her gentleness turned cold and her arms shoved his away and stepped back. “But if I can make you feel any ounce of humiliation that I feel, just for one second, then it’s worth it.”

The room swelled with tension of the unknown before Jang-mi opened her mouth wide and let out a scream. Her mascara running down in droplets that reminded you of the matchmaker in Mulan. For all the world she had passed her pain and went start to rage and called out the worst things. That you were assaulting her. That Mino has struck her. It was enough to send Mino’s father into a frenzy outside the door.

“Fuck this,” Mino growled.

He reached out his hand and clasped it securely around yours. He didn’t wait to grab your coats or cellphones. Mino moved straight for the door not caring for the howling woman at your back and opened the door to startle his father, and a few gawking hotel guests.

“Mino, what’s going on?”

Mino didn’t answer his father. He pushed past him and forced you to do the same. The Song elder finally noticing your presence and his confusion only aging him faster.

“Mino. Stop!”

But he didn’t stop. He kept running you both down the hallway and to the stars. The sound of his father and others rushing to catch up to you. Mino was running down the stairs at a speed that forced you to jump two at a time to keep up. It should’ve been odd. Maybe embarrassing, to be seen bursting from the stairwell into a fancy lobby. Your abrupt entrance startling guests waiting and checking in. In truth, it caused you to laugh.

It didn’t matter what strangers thought as you moved through the prestigious double doors with people from the bridal party giving chase. Not even seeming crazy that Mino, or you, had any idea where you were going to run too. You just kept running, hand in hand, until he finally spotted a bus a few yards ahead.

The both of you started waving the driver down in hopes he would see you and wait. There was a brief moment your heart dropped when it seemed he was about to shut the doors, but noticed his annoyance at having to wait for you written plainly on his face. You silently wished him and his family a thousand blessings as your feet took the small steps loudly. Mino and you digging like crazy around in your pockets to find the exact change to put it.

You both couldn’t present it fast enough when his family came tearing into view, causing Mino to take the wad of money and shove it towards the driver.

“You can keep all of it if you’ll just shut the doors and take off now. Please.”

It didn’t seem the older man was going to comply. His wary eyes moving from the money to both of your sweaty figures gasping for air and damp clothes. You were almost about to step back off the bus when he motioned with his head for the two of you to sit down. You were ready to hug him, but didn’t want to push your luck.

The both of you moved to sit at the far back of the bus. Mino taking the window seat and you curled up against him with your head resting on his shoulder. The two of you stayed silent for a long time. Neither of you commenting on his father and, maybe, the groomsmen or the brides’ family, slamming their hands against the door just before the driver merged into the Seoul traffic.

You listened only to the sound of his heart beating. The way it began to ease into its natural rhythm after the storm passed. It’s what helped you sort out all the thoughts that raged for purpose inside your head. The main one being the only one you chose to speak out loud.

“What now?”

Mino let out a sigh as a lazy hand moved to stroke over your hair. He remained quiet a while longer before he spoke.

“Now? Now we just live out our happily-ever-after.”

A snort of laughter left you as you looked out the window; not wanting to move less it caused him to stop playing with your hair.

“Oh, is that all?” You teased.

“Forever is simple. It’s the in between of getting there that’s hard.”

“You saying I’m hard?”

You looked up him and took in the wistful smile that danced behind almond eyes. His finger moving delicately to trace the outline of your face.

“No, jagi . You are the part of getting to forever that makes it all worth it.”

He spoke the last of his words against your lips. His nose playfully kissing across yours, before he actually moved down to give you a kiss and as he did you couldn’t help but agree. Everything that led to this point had been hell and messy, but it was easy to breathe once again. Your world righted itself and begun to make sense and that, you knew, was because your forever was simple. Your forever was kissing you, and that was the magic of finding your happily-ever-after and never letting go.

41 notes · View notes

medea10 · 5 years

Text

My Review of The Promised Neverland

#anime review #the promised neverland #yakusoku no neverland #isabella #emma #ray #norman #phil #sister krone

17 notes · View notes

fluffy-marshmallow-heart · 6 years

Text

TRR New Beginnings ch.20 - Everything Will Be Okay

Drake and Emma return home. How will their first day go?

Words: 2142

Warnings: Slightly NSFW

Drake opened the door to the cabin and stepped inside, still holding Emma’s hand. She was tense and gripping his hand so tightly it actually hurt a bit. Once they were both in he closed the door and locked it. He turned to face her.

“We don’t have to go in the kitchen yet, if you don’t want. We could…”

“It’s fine” She interrupted. “I need to get it over with.”

Drake nodded and led her into the kitchen.

“Someone cleaned” She said softly. Looking around, everything was sparkling. The counters and floors were gleaming, there were no dishes anywhere, no broken glass or blood on the floor. Everything looked completely normal, except there was one stool missing.

“Yeah…” Drake started. “A cleaning crew came in while we were in the hospital. No one wanted you to come back to it the way it was.”

As she let go of his hand and started wandering around the room inspecting the places that were hit, Drake eyed her curiously. She stopped in front of the coffee pot.

“This is new” She stated. Drake remained silent as she examined it.

“I like it” She told him. “And finally, I can have my coffee”

Drake grinned and strode over to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind and holding her close. “I’m so glad you’re home” he murmured in her ear.

She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Is this really my home?”

He turned her around in his arms and kissed her nose. “This has always been your home. I built it for you. For us. You just weren’t here in the beginning...But it was all for you, Rose.”

Tears started glistening in her eyes. “Thank you, Drake. I’ve never really had a place to call home before.” She whispered

Drake gently brushed his lips against hers. “Until now” He told her. “Come on, let’s go to the sunroom. It’s your favorite.”

“How do you know that?” She asked, “I don’t think I ever told you that.”

He shrugged “You didn’t have to. I just knew.” He interlaced his fingers with hers, and together they went to sit on the loveseat and look out at the beautiful day. Emma was extremely sore, but she was just happy to be alive, and to be with him.

“How are you feeling?” Drake asked her

“Oh, you know. Like someone kicked the crap out of me.”

Drake frowned until Emma nudged him. “Hey…don’t be sad, okay? Everything is going to be okay from now on.”

“That wasn’t funny, Rose. And how do you know that? What if…I don’t know. What if his family comes here or…”

“They won’t.” She said. “And even if they did…what could they do? There’s plenty of evidence of what he did, and you definitely can’t argue against the car crash.”

Drake took a deep breath and nodded. “I know, it’s just…I feel like we’ve been fighting either each other or something else for so long, it’s hard to believe that you’re really here, safe and sound. And loving me.”

“Drake…you know it’s always been you, right? When I first came here, to be Liam’s suitor…it was never really about him. It was about Maxwell literally offering me the trip of a lifetime. If I had to compete with ladies for Liam, then why not? Seemed like a small price to pay. I never thought he would fall for me, or I would be Queen. That was too extreme. I knew Liam liked me from the moment he met me, but you…you were so different. You were so completely shut off from the world. You wouldn’t let anyone but Liam into your life, and even that was a bit limited. Liam asking you to watch over me was literally the best thing he’d ever done for you. Even though he had no idea he was doing it.”

“I don’t think he would agree.” Drake responded. “In fact, he might say it was the worst thing he’d ever done. He never thought I would fall for you.”

She chuckled “If it makes you feel any better, I never thought I would fall for you either. God, you were so awful in the beginning. But the more time I spent with you, the more I realized what a marshmallow you are. An overcooked campfire marshmallow. Crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. “

This time Drake laughed “Right…damn, it’s been awhile since anyone has called me that…. actually no one called me that but you.”

He looked over at Emma and saw that she was looking right back at him, adoringly. His heart swelled, and he leaned forward to kiss her. Her lips parted, and she moaned into him, running her free hand through his hair and pulling him closer to her.

“Rose…” He whispered. “Stop, please.”

But she didn’t listen. She scooted closer, wincing a bit at her bruised ribs, and started trailing soft kisses along his neck. He responded in kind, peppering her neck with kisses, then moving to kiss her swollen face. He pulled back and cupped her cheeks with both his hands.

“I see you wincing, Rose. I can see it and I can feel it. You should be lying in bed, resting, and not trying to climb on top of me.”

“I’m tired of lying down” She sighed.

“I’ll lay with you” He suggested

She nodded in defeat. “Alright. But only because I’m tired. Not because anyone told me to.”

Drake chuckled as he led her up the stairs. He slowly and carefully stripped her down, frowning at the different colors of blue and purple the majority of her skin was. He lightly trailed his fingertips along, leaning in to kiss the injuries.

“I really want to shower, Drake. I feel…gross. I’m covered in dirt and grime and hospital germs and overall yuckiness.”

He paused his kissing and looked up at her. “Okay…only if I help.”

She smirked. “You’ll be helping me for a while, considering I’m down an arm.”

Drake grinned at her seemingly high spirits and quickly worked to ensure her cast would not get wet. He removed the bandages that were placed strategically around and then turned the shower water on, making it the perfect temperature. Then he helped her in, stripped himself, and climbed in behind her.

“Mmmmmm” she moaned quietly, as the hot water ran down through her hair and down her body. Drake swallowed. This was going to take some willpower on his part. He reached around and grabbed her shampoo. He squirted a bit of her shampoo into his calloused hands, and worked his fingers through her hair in slow, gentle circles. The scent of jasmine and vanilla started filling the room. Emma was enjoying having Drake shampoo her hair. He was working it into a thick lather, and once the suds started bubbling down between them, he positioned the showerhead and started rinsing it for her. The water swept the lather from her hair and down her bare back, and lower on the round curves of…

Drake shook his head. She was hurt. This was not the time to start getting hard. So, since he was there, he decided to shampoo his own hair and quickly rinse.

“Now what?” He asked, quietly in her ear.

“The conditioner.” She said, pointing at another bottle. He reached around her, wet skin skimming wet skin and instantly he was hard.

“Shit” He muttered as he grabbed the bottle. So much for self-control. There was no way she wasn’t feeling him pressed against her, and to his horror, she pressed back against him.

He gritted his teeth and poured the conditioner into his hands and put the bottle back down. He began working his fingers back through her hair, forcing himself to slow down, lest he get too excited. But when he went to adjust the showerhead again, his cock brushed against her smooth wet ass and Emma let out an involuntary sigh at the touch.

“Rose. You are in no condition to be poked and prodded with my erection right now. I’m really sorry.”

Emma chuckled lightly. “Did you hear me complaining?”

He just shook his head and reached for her body wash. “I’m assuming this is next”

She nodded

“Tell me if I hurt you.” He said gruffly. He worked his way down from her shoulders, and when he was at her lower back he felt goosebumps on her skin.

“Are you cold?” He asked worriedly.

“No” she whispered

“Okay just…keep your hand on the wall for balance” he told her. Then he knelt down to focus on the lower half of her body. He swirled a soapy path along her legs, careful to avoid the cuts there.

Then he took a shaky breath. “Ok…turn around.”

Emma complied, slowly turning to face him. Instinctively she held on to his shoulder as he started soaping her feet, ankles, and worked his way up. Her fingers dug reflexively when he swept the soap higher, skimming his hands over her thighs. She let out a gasp when he lathered her stomach and bruised ribs, and he instantly let his touch become feather light. He stood back up slowly and ran his hands across her bare breasts. He tried not to notice the way her nipples perked up at his touch, but he was failing.

His throbbing dick now jerked across her stomach in response, and he grimaced. “Almost done” he breathed. She was watching him through hooded eyes now, her lips parted. He leaned in and tasted her mouth. He wanted to taste all of her. He wanted to push her up against the wall and lift a leg around his waist and take her there…but more than that, he wanted to take her pain. He stepped back, rinsing all the soap off of them, then turned the shower off and stepped out. He grabbed a fluffy towel from the rack and wrapped it around her. The way Emma was eyeing his massive hard on made him quickly grab another towel and wrap it around his waist.

“Emma” he warned. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” she asked, innocently.

He rolled his eyes as he gently toweled her dry, then led her back into the bedroom. Grabbing her brush, he instructed her to sit on the bed. He slowly ran the brush through her long hair, inhaling her shampoo yet again. He loved this scent. He saw the corners of her mouth turn up as her hair became more controllable.

“Do you have any…I don’t know…after shower care I should do?” He asked her.

She nodded and pointed to a bottle of facial moisturizer on the dresser. He gently rubbed a dollop in his fingers and started applying it to her face. He was really able to study the bruising there now, and although he was as gentle as he possibly could be, she was still wincing at his touch. Finally, he stopped.

“Okay…maybe no moisturizer for a few days.” He suggested.

“Do I even want to know what I look like?” She asked him.

“I’ve seen worse” He assured her, but to his surprise she lightly smacked his shoulder.

“I know when you’re lying Drake Walker.”

“I’ve seen violent movies that led to injuries worse than this” He responded

“That may be true, but I bet you weren’t affected by that like you are me right now.”

He bit his lip. She was right, as always. Those injuries had never bothered him in the slightest, but the sight of Emma scraped and bruised completely wrecked him.

“Stop blaming yourself. Again.” She murmured.

“The only way I’m going to stop blaming myself is if I’m asleep, so I guess we better get in bed” he told her.

Together they slid under the covers, and he held her against him. Only moments later, Emma’s breathing turned deep and steady. She was already asleep. Only now Drake allowed himself to really breathe. She was okay. She was alive, and she was back home with him. He rubbed his free hand over his chest and hoped to God that his heart would recover as well. When he had come home and seen the broken kitchen, he had immediately thought the worst, and had fought those demons the entire time it took to find her, for her to wake up, and for her to come home. Those same demons may have had consequences for Randy, but he wasn’t going to allow himself to go there anymore. He couldn’t.

He was pulled back out of his thoughts by Emma snuggling closer to him. He kissed the top of her damp head and wrapped his other arm around her, so she was safe in both his arms.

Everything is going to be okay

@blackwidow2721 @sleepwalkingelite @flowerpowell @agent-bossypants @annekebbphotography @carabeth @gardeningourmet @eileendannie @dancetothestoriesinyoursoul @alesana45@imaketerriblechoices @zigortega4life

@innerpostmentality @mrsernestsinclaire @nekkidmolerat @wannabemc2 @blubutterflyy @sweetest-marbear @choicesmacmakes @andy-loves-corgis @sstee1 @furiousherringoperatortoad @traeumerinwitzhelden @speedyoperarascalparty @notoriouscs

Characters belong to Pixelberry!

#the royal romance fanfic #drake walker fanfic #trr fanfic #the royal romance #choices the royal romance #drake walker #drake x mc #drake x emma #trr drake #choices trr #trr

82 notes · View notes

thekeybladehero · 5 years

Text

i have a lot of thoughts about KH3 so i’m going to put them below. it’s pretty long and obviously, spoiler-ish, so it’s under a cut in case anyone hasn’t played / finished it yet

okay, i have ... a lot of disappointment with KH3. when i first finished the game i was heart broken and hurt but i thought the journey had been incredible, but the more and more i thought about it, and the more hours and days started to pass and i started to really think on it, the more disappointed i became. i was just trying my best not to admit or recognize that i was disappointed because this is a game i, that all of us, have been waiting over a decade for, and to admit that it was anything less than what we’d hoped and imagined it to be is heartbreaking. but it wasn’t what i imagined it would be like, it didn’t feel like a proper end to a 16 year saga.

that isn’t to say i hate the game or that i even dislike it, i loved playing it, and the journey was incredible. there were so many things that KH3 did right and did amazing, a lot of amazing moments and the way they pulled everything together, convoluted plotline and dozens of characters and all, was interesting to see. it had a very different feel to the other games, especially the title games KH1 and KH2. it was far more poignant, more mature and serious. throughout the game you got the sense that this was the end to things, because everything was coming together and sora was reflecting on his journey so far.

so i feel like between that, and between nomura’s comments on how the end of the game would be hard to accept / how some friendships would change, i should have seen things coming, and i thought i did, but i didn’t. and i wish i could say that i was only disappointed in the ending of the game, but there’s far more to it than that. the ending however definitely felt a bit like a slap to the face, especially when you put it together with everything else that kind of fell flat.

to start off on the technical side: i feel very bad for any new players, because right off the bat square enix throws a whole lot at them, game mechanic wise, and it was a little tough even for me to keep up with all the controls at first. all the shortcuts and command switching in the middle of combat can be difficult sometimes. that being said, the way they incorporated all of the game mechanics from previous games and morphed into something more streamline, sleek, and uniform was fucking great. they really did well on that, and on making combat fun, exciting, and dynamic. all the links, the spells, the attacks, the combos, the team attacks and summons were great! the keyblade upgrading was a fun aspect too and i had fun maxing out starseeker and wheel of fate.

speaking of wheel of fate, aside from ultima which will always be the fuckin best keyblade to ever grace the goddamn planet, i LOVED wheel of fate so much!! it was so fucking badass and very powerful and along with starseeker, once i got it i don’t think i ever unequipped it lol.

also, one BIG THING that i absolute loved and could not stop talking about to anyone who would listen: THE NPCS!!! THE WORLD POPULATION!!! the fact that there were PEOPLE in the worlds! actual PEOPLE who walked, talked, laughed! people you could interact with and who reacted to you! It was so much fun just walking around the world and hearing all the conversations, seeing all the different NPC models. It really, really REALLY helped make the game feel more real. Like the worlds were actual worlds, and not just empty sets like in the other games. It really added another layer to the game, making it much more immersive, and I think the devs did a fucking AMAZING job and a fantastic decision on including them. :-)

and speaking of NPCS, the developers who scripted them and were in charge of them, i would like to thank them a whole lot. especially when it comes to the companions / teammates. because holy FUCK. CAN I TALK ABOUT THAT? BECAUSE I CAN’T GET OVER IT. in KH1 and KH2, it was always fun having your world companions with you, but there was never really much of anything to them apart from the fact that they fought beside you in combat and that they interacted with sora during cutscenes. but that was all there was to them. in between, while traveling, walking running breaking things or jumping on / off things, going different places, there was no reaction from them. teammates were silent companions and that was always kind of sad, always felt a little lacking.

and kh3 changed that. the scripts for your NPC teammates, having them interact with you during the actual game, point things out to you or comment on stuff you did. like flynn whenever you showboated tricks in the town, or the little games you could play with them while journeying through the world with them like in corona, when you slid down the meadow with rapunzel and flynn or danced in the town square with them. even whenever you took a selfie with them or a photo of them and they would look at the camera, comment on it, react, pose maybe. it’s those little things, the little reactions and the interactions between sora and his teammates / companions that made the journey seem much more ... real? it made the friendships more believable, that you actually did have someone traveling with you because they had personalities that shone and were shown outside of cutscenes or battle. but the cutscenes helped, too. there was much more interaction between everyone in the cutscenes this time around, and the dialogue -- while still cheesy at times (its kh and disney, of course, why wouldn’t it be?) was much more believable and natural as compared to the past few games. it felt more polished, more like conversations between actual friends, there was more emotion being displayed. in how they reacted verbally and also in the minute micro-expressions. the micro-expressions!!! god!! watching a brow twitch or an eye twitch or someone’s eyes crinkle or their hair move with the wind and the little subtle facial changes and scrunches !!! i loved it!!!

also, obviously ... the fucking graphics. the level of detail in the game. was fucking. GORGEOUS. the entire time i played i could understand why the game took so long, with everything that went into it, and how the gameplay graphics blended in so seamlessly with the in-game cutscenes. it was amazing. absolutely beautiful. all the models, all the textures, the lighting, the style --- so fucking gorgeous. and THE VIBRANCY OF THE WORLDS! the EXPANSIVENESS of them! they were HUGE! the fact that you could go so many places and weren’t bound to a small box room for the most part, no fading to black as you entered a new area. you just keep going for the most part and it doesn’t break you out of the illusion of actually being there. the maps were so expansive and the work that went into each of them was so clear...it was absolutely gorgeous and so much fun exploring them all and testing the limits and boundaries of them all.

HOWEVER, one of my main gripes with KH3, was the level of difficulty in the game. which is to say ... it had absolutely zero challenge in it. and it was extremely disappointing. in the other games you at least had to strategize on what items to equip and more importantly, what ABILITIES, but here they just hand you everything on a silver platter and let you go wild and yes, that can be fun, but not if it makes the game so unchallenging. even the boss fights were disappointing because they weren’t tough at all. the final fight against master xehanort wasn’t difficult, just time consuming. the boss battle of all boss battles in kingdom hearts 3, and he wasn’t even as difficult as riku or ansem from KH1. like. what? how does that make sense? they gave you kupo tokens in case you die but i literally never had to use it once. maybe it’s different on pride mode, but i’ve talked to people who have played it in pride mode, including my brother, and they say it’s not challenging at all either.

which, i don’t want to be eternally frustrated and never be able to beat a game because it’s so hard, but damn. at least some level of difficulty would have been nice. the enemies had a lot more HP this game but as far as their attack style went and how much damage you took, with all the accessories you were given and could equip, it didn’t matter how much HP they had, you’d cut through them easily and never be in any real danger of losing.

the worlds were also so short. like, incredibly short. unbelievably so. to the point where i really thought, for over half the game, that there would be a second go at them and you’d come back to them until i found out that that wasn’t the case, and you only go there once. the stories in so many of the worlds, toy story, mount olympus, twilight town and tangled especially, felt so ... incomplete. not only that, but so many of the worlds were just cut and dry repeats of what had happened in the original movies. it wasn’t like the other games where there were new plots and stories introduced that you could go through. the cutscenes were all basically just the movie repeated but with sora somewhere in the background. which, they looked absolutely beautiful! no joke. i won’t lie about that. it’s amazing how faithful to the disney movie art styles they stayed and how they recreated them. that’s amazing. but as far as actual content and story? they felt lacking. especially since so much of the worlds were made up of cutscenes. not even gameplay or battles but cutscenes.

there was eleven hours worth of cutscenes in the game. eleven! on average it takes around 20-29 hours to beat KH3. that’s practically half the game. that’s insane. and i hesitate to complain about this because i love cutscenes, i love seeing the characters and seeing them interact, but unlike the other games KH3 felt less like a game you played and more like a movie you watched where you could on occasion participate.

okay. now to the worlds:

Mount Olympus: so gorgeous....what a big ass fuckin world too. mount olympus had the most GORGEOUS lighting and colors and i probably spent a good hour just. turning every which way and staring for a couple of minutes at how beautiful and scenic everything was. the friendly back and forth between herc and sora was so cute too, really felt like they were good friends, it felt very natural and i adored it. sora’s instagram post on herc’s dad was hilarious too, oh my god.

Twilight Town: SO BEAUTIFUL! i love how they expanding on Twilight Town’s world, made it so much more open, made it so populated! the sunset was gorgeous and i took way too many selfies in front of it on the rooftops than necessary. hayner pence and olette were adorable and i adore them and how much they wanted to learn about roxas and get him back, and how they juped xemnas LMAO. ratatouille’s bistro was a lot of fun as well but cracking the damn eggs are devil’s work and i never fuckin got to five stars BECAUSE I COULDN’T GET EXCELLENT ON ANY EGG RECIPE BFBFRJFESJSAB

Toy Story: VERY VERY CUTE VERY NOSTALGIC GOD HOW CAN ANYONE NOT LOVE TOY STORY’S WORLD??? they did an amazing job in every world recreating the movie art styles but MAN ... TOY STORY FELT JUST LIKE THE MOVIE. fighting in the mechs was a lot of fun, the doll heartless was creepy, i had way too much trouble finding the stores i needed to go to and spent far too much time getting everyone’s voice high on helium LOL. woody was MVP of the world and he kicked ass, loved the sass he gave ymx. and speaking of ymx, how he kept subtly fucking with sora’s head, really fucked with me and left me so fuckin worried and anxious. also did we ever get an explanation on how they got home?? like we left them in a world split in two and we were just like okay bye now g2g laterrrr and its like, WELL ... OKAY THEN ... im glad it seemed their world was repaired at the end in the credits but, also, that means they forgot about sora and that makes me );

Tangled: My second fav world!! i admit ... i wasn’t looking forward to rapunzel’s world. i thought it would be my least favorite cuz tangled is my least favorite disney movie. i thought it was too boring and bland. but her world was anything but! and rapunzel and flynn themselves were very dynamic and active and interactive too. :-) it sucked that her world, like many of the other worlds, was just cut and paste of her movie with no difference, but her world was so beautiful --- full of vibrant colors, so expansive, and the movie cutscenes were gorgeously recreated. the festival where you dance with the townspeople was the CUTEST FUCKING THING EVER AND I MUST HAVE DONE IT LIKE TEN TIMES.

Frozen: i was very tired at the end of it after being thrown off the mountain like 5 times LOL BJSKDBA. the fact that they had sora poke fun at their plot after the last time he gets thrown off is funny too haha. other than that, frozen was cute. too cold and the colors too muted / the same in every direction for my tastes, and i had the most trouble finding one of the mickey lucky marks here too. all that fucking snow man. GAH. hearing idina menzel sing though was surprising but a blessing and while frozen has never been one of my favorite movies, i adore how much emotion idina delivers in let it go. the fact that sora was so clearly in awe of her voice and powers and his instragram post on it just makes it even better fbksba.

Monstropolis: this was fun! boo was adorable. sully and mike caring for boo and their back and forth banter, the way they just yeeted vanitas through one of the doors was fucking hilarious. sora’s reaction to being monster-ified was funny as well, and it was nice that there was a somewhat different plot to this world from the original movie.

POTC: MY FAVORITE WORLD HANDS DOWN ... nothing compares imo bjsakdbsa. the fucking hours i spent grinding to get my leviathan ship to max level and finding all the treasures and all the ingredients AND THE GIANT TREASURE COVE FULL OF ORICHALCUM AND PRECIOUS MATERIALS AND ACCESSORIES. WHOOOOOO! sora’s enthusiasm for being a pirate was cute as always, and the fact that he finally became captain of his own ship!!! the sailing of the seas and ship combat was so much fun too and unexpected, and the undersea combat was very fun as well. diving down and seeing all the fish and coves and caves!! man. it was so much fun. easily my favorite world by far.

San Fransokyo: i think my favorite part about this world was the fact that it was modern day, and so phones and cars and television were a thing, and the fact that we SAW! HEARTLESS! ON NATIONAL TV! ON THE NEWS! PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT HEARTLESS ATTACKING AND IT FELT SO MUCH LIKE TWO WORLDS COLLIDING AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH. and i know the BH6 world was the movie version of the world but i like to think it’s still connected to earth-616 like in the comics anyway and therefore marvel and therefore sora in the same world as the avengers and the x-men. as for the actual world itself...i was really excited at first, but it felt a little ... anti-climactic? it felt very short compared to the other worlds, and san fransokyo itself was probably the smallest out of every other one. so that was a little disappointing, but BH6 team was adorable, and i loved all their interactions with one another and with sora donald and goofy. :-)

Pooh’s World: pooh’s world probably gave me the world’s biggest heart attack, with sora reassuring pooh and having us think everything was fine and innocent and carefree like the other times and then BAM you hear sora’s thoughts and he’s like ‘he’s right something’s pulling us apart, what’s happening to me?’ and you’re just left like HUH WHAT ? THE FUCK, EXPLAIN. other than that, it was very cute. very short, but cute.

now onto the actualy story of the game. i was kind of shocked about how serious, how dark and much more intense the story was in this game. the tone and the emotion in KH3 was so vastly different compared to the other games. it’s partly due to the dialogue but also, i think there was much more of an emphasis on realistic emotions and reactions as well. in the other games, whenever something bad happened, it sucked, but it was never really a big deal. the characters would never really react like it was something world ending or horrible, they’d just move past it like it wasn’t grave or like it weighed on them. there were times where things were more serious, sure, but even then, it was usually resolved with a smile or a laugh or a joke or some motivational speech or saying.

KH3 on the other hand? totally different. everything felt like it had so much more gravitas, because the situations that the characters were put into, the battles they faced, the people they met or fought against --- they weren’t resolved with a laugh or a speech, they weren’t moved on from after a few seconds of deciding everything was alright. there were some moments like that, but there were far more weighty situations where the characters really took everything in, really reacted to it. showed negative emotions -- fear, sadness, confusion, doubt, anger. there wasn’t just symbolic talk of death in some abstract form, where you could interpret the loss of a heart for someone dying but still vague enough it could be said it wasn’t really death. there were far more realistic and understandable forms of death: flynn getting stabbed with a knife, will getting stabbed with a sword, xigbar purposely letting himself fall off the ledge down a cliffside. sora going to ‘heaven’, and chirithy telling him -- and us, the audience -- that when the heart and body perish together someone is dead, and that that’s what happened to sora and the others. and the reactions to those deaths were far more real as well. in the other games death, when it happened, was never given much weight, apart from a few -- the main characters in each of the game mainly. but for the most part, the organization members, the NPCS who lost their hearts?

they were given moments but sora and the others all just kind of. moved on very quickly, and that was that. but for this game the reactions to seeing someone die were so much more intense. they were more real. when someone was dying, like flynn or will, people cried, sora got angry and violent and lashed out. for the organization members, they all had their own moments, there were conversations that were had, emotions displayed and truths told, and when all of the trios reunited there were tears and joy and breakdowns of relief. you could feel all of those emotions and you could see it in them and just how much this journey had cost each and every single one of them. there was no moving on right away, there was surprise but blink and they’re over it moments. each reunion and each goodbye held so much real, raw emotion, where the pain and the exhaustion and the sadness and joy were able to be felt.

in general, there was much more of a range of emotion and personality for all of the characters during moments of duress or conflict, but especially when it came to sora. and i absolutely adored it, even though it gave me so many heart attacks lol and a lot of pain and worry. he was showing such a mature side of him that we haven’t been able to get in other games. the closest one is DDD, where we saw sides to him that were serious, had more weight, but even then his faith was never broken, never shaken, and he had unwavering faith and radiated positivity. this game pushed sora to his limits. we saw him at his weakest, and his strongest, and every moment in between. we were able to hear his thoughts --- hear all the directions his mind takes that he doesn’t speak out loud. we were able to see that yes, sora is smart, and no, when things happen to him, he doesn’t just brush them off. he feels them - the pain, the hurt, the anger, the sadness, the doubt - just as much as anyone else. and the doubt. i’ve been saying this for YEARS that sora, while his strength lies in his friends, he relies on his friends too much, in the sense that he attributes all his success and all his strength and his worth from them. that he believes he’s ordinary and unextraordinary without them. this game fucking confirmed that. the moments where he doubted himself, where he lost hope in himself, where he admitted that he didn’t think anything of his abilities without his friends. it was heartbreaking to see but it showed us that sora isn’t just happy - go - lucky all the time like some people like to believe.

and riku ... RIKU! i’m SO PROUD OF RIKU. so proud of who he’s become. his empathy, his kindness, his thoughtfulness was so beautiful and so sweet. especially when it came to aqua. that first time we saw him and mickey in the realm of darkness, and riku was hesitant to leave, and he voiced how lonely and sad aqua must feel trapped there, it really showed how empathetic he is towards people, how caring he is. his conversations with repliku, his reassurance towards sora, how he picked up on what mickey had been planning to use stopga, the way he protects everyone. he’s warm and kind and he has a strong heart and while his moments were sadly quite few in the game, he really shined bright in a couple of scenes.

for kairi, i couldn’t shake the feeling all game that they were shafting her, pushing her to the side again. more so really in the first half of the game because, wow, while riku didn’t get much screen time (and i’ll talk about that in the next paragraph), kairi had even less. i’m pretty sure hayner, pence, and olette had double her screentime in the first half of the game which ... i love them, but really? c’mon. i was hoping we’d see more of her and lea training, or their conversations, or something. the moments they had were lovely and cute and so scenic and very deep, but i was hoping for more, especially for kairi. ): they also really fucked her over fighting wise. despite stressing that she and lea have been training together to become keyblade wielders and despite both of them being told in the game that they were ready to fight xehanort and organization xiii, they only showed kairi needing to be rescued. we saw lea fighting, but kairi? maybe one or two seconds. and that ... sucks. they still didn’t do her justice in that sense. she’s prepared - she’s capable. why not show that? that being said, i’m happy she had more focus on the second half of the game, and i absolutely ADORE her being determined to be the one to save sora this time and not the other way around, and making good on that promise, and being sora’s light to guide him back to the world of the living.

that being said i am very disappointed we weren’t able to play as her, or even as RIKU apart from those two short battles in the realm of darkness. i thought we’d be able to play more as him or kairi or even aqua, seeing how this is the third and final game in the saga, and we were able to play as riku for half of DDD and aqua had her own prequel to KH3 but it seems not. :/

not only that, but the characterization for riku, while i definitely think it started off strong, felt like it fell flat after that first fight in the realm of darkness. the fact that sora and riku were in the same room together, twice, at yen sid’s tower, and yet hardly even acknowledged one another, felt so odd. especially considering the fact that in every other game, their friendship and bond was stressed heavily, implying how close they were and how much they cared for one another. the fact that this was the end to the saga, the third game in the series, and they had only two significant moments with each other, both which lasted only about a minute or two, was so weird. it was so so weird.

i know nomura said that he wanted to keep the friendships realistic, that friends can grow distant over time as goals change, and fine, that’s fine, but it doesn’t make sense when you look at literally every other game and see how close sora and riku are, and then they hardly even look each other’s direction out of nowhere. it was just so ... disjointed. not just sora and riku either, but riku and kairi. we never ONCE saw them interact or even TALK. not once! sora and kairi were the only ones who got any real screen time and development together in the game, which i’m happy for, because that was long overdue, and kairi was a STAR in the second half of the game and that moment between them where they FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY share the paopu fruit with each other and make a promise to protect each other was so ... fucking long overdue ... and so gratifying and sweet and romantic.

but it’s just incredibly disappointing how all the other trios were able to get their reunion EXCEPT for sora, kairi, and riku. every other trio. literally every other trio was close, were friends, had a reunion scene. were able to relax, to find peace and rest after this long journey they’ve all been on. everyone except sora kairi and riku. we were all expecting for them to finish their journeys the way they started it: together on the island. after years of searching for one another, chasing each other, fighting, being apart. they were constantly looking out for each other and looking for each other and in the end? we never got that. we never got them together on destiny islands at last, after everything. never even got them together, period. it felt like such a slap in the face, alongside the fact that sora is dead.

and i know sora will remain the protagonist of the kingdom hearts series, and that the secret ending set up KH4 and sora’s next adventure, where possibly riku stars in it like DDD as well, but ... FUCK. it doesn’t take away the disappointment and the bitter feeling of knowing that everyone else is able to be at peace and find happiness and be among their friends, together with everyone at last, while he’s dead and gone and alone. and i try to justify it, because sora was fine with sacrificing himself for kairi. his journey started when he looked for her. he loves her. he loves his friends. he doesn’t want them to be dead. and if they’re happy, if they found peace, he’s happy.

but it also just hurts to think that after all that, after all of the sacrifices he made, after all the people he brought together and saved, he doesn’t get that happy ending for himself. doesn’t get to relax after everything. that he doesn’t get to be with his friends, that he’s alone.

it’s a very bitter ending and i know nomura intended for it to be that way, but understanding and knowing that the ending was meant to be like this doesn’t mean that the ending is any good, or satisfying in any way. it’s just disappointing and a little insulting.

in the end, i’m very mixed on kh3. i’m trying very hard to focus on what i enjoyed and take it for what it is and accept it, because there were a lot of good moments, but i can’t help but feel like the game could have been better in many ways.

#〈 out of worlds! 〉 ♕ ooc.#long post tw #spoilers tw #kh3 spoilers #very very long ....#i am very mixed and trying to stay positive and enjoy the good but

3 notes · View notes

adelmortescryche · 7 years

Text

YOI Fantasy Week - Day Two

AN: Okay, this turned out even later than the day one prompt. Apologies for that, @yoifantasyweek! Apparently today’s prompt did not want to be written. *winces* That said, here we go, day two. Filling the prompts Elves and Happiness.

Premise: Mild crossover with LotR, but don’t expect it to hold up to canon, since I didn’t attempt to stick to Tolkien geography and languages. Though I did borrow certain aspects of the canon, as will become obvious. Elf!Victor, Hobbit!Yuuri. Er, love at first sight? Of a sort? Affection and weird longing at first sight, let’s go with that. *laughs wryly*

Fantasy Week Promptfills: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Yuuri wasn’t quite sure what to expect when the deer he’d been stalking darted away, spooked off by a sound, but it hadn’t been the tall fellow in a hooded cloak who appeared on the other side of the clearing from him.

There was a long, still moment in which they continued to stare at each other, blank faced. When the fellow tilted his head forward ever so slightly, Yuuri could see strands of moonlight pale hair slip forward, out of the shadows of the cloak. When he straightened, the half light of the morning sun penetrated the shadows covering his face enough that Yuuri was able to make out an aquiline nose, a sharply cut jaw, fair features that looked altogether too lovely to be of the race of men.

Coupled with the color of the cloak, and the smoothness of the weave…

Yuuri swallowed, and nodded back, immediately withdrawing the arrow that he’d shifted to point at the cloaked figure when he’d first appeared. By the time he’d straightened to his feet and put the arrow away in the quiver hanging from his belt, and unstrung his bow, the fellow had drawn closer, something in his air seeming curious.

“Yes?” Yuuri asked cautiously, once it was obvious that the other being would not be speaking up on his own. Nor would he let Yuuri leave, from the look of it.

It got him a sharp intake of breath; clearly Yuuri hadn’t been expected to speak up. Then, before Yuuri knew what to say, or possibly quip because his brain worked in strange ways when he was unnerved enough, the fellow was pulling down his hood, allowing the light from the sun to fall over his face.

Yuuri felt any words that might have been waiting to burst forth from his chest die away, the beauty of the being’s features robbing him of speech.

For his part, the elf – and he had to be an elf, the ears gave him away – carelessly straightened out his moonlight pale hair, and looked down at Yuuri with a strangely inquisitive gaze.

“We aren’t anywhere near a hobbit settlement, halfling. Is there a reason you’re journeying abroad on your own?”

Yuuri stared up at him, distinctly incredulous, even in the sight of that pretty face. The dissonance in his head was caught between awe and bemusement, enough so to overcome even his usual anxiety when it came to meeting someone new, especially someone as singular as the being before him.

“I… was hunting?” he responded, tone a little dry.

Seeing as the elf spooked the deer Yuuri had been tracking for roughly three days now, you’d think he’d be a little more apologetic about it. The townspeople had always said that elves were lost in their own heads, but he’d never expected to have it confirmed in person. The elf actually seemed surprised at the words too.

“Truly?

“Yes. And I nearly had it, too.” Yuuri sighed heavily, gently running his fingers over the fletching of the arrows in his quiver. Well, you won some, you lost some. Yuuri would just have to grit his teeth and get back to it, if he wanted to take anything back with him.

“Oh no! That cannot do!”

The tone the words were delivered in were pained enough that Yuuri actually started in place, eyes darting back to the elf, who now looking terribly upset. The expression was nearly enough by itself to make Yuuri feel better – an elf was apologizing to him! About something he could have bungled all on his own! How… weird. And weirdly wonderful, since nearly anyone who’d mentioned elves to him also mentioned that they were massive assholes with sticks up their asses. Which really hadn’t been the most pleasant of mental images to have been left with.

This elf in particular looked earnest enough that Yuuri was willing to give him a chance. So he smiled softly, and shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. Honestly, I might have missed, or the deer might have moved just as my arrow left the bow. And anyway, it’s not like you could have known I was hunting here, right? It’s on me that I wasn’t skilled enough to make up for your appearance.”

He got a suspicious stare, the elf clearly unwilling to take him at his word. The expression seemed so incongruous on the being’s face that Yuuri couldn’t hold back the giggle that erupted out of him. The giggle erupted into full-blown laughter when the elf continued to stare at him, flabbergasted.

“Oh, oh. Really, its fine, you don’t have to worry yourself-” Yuuri said finally when he came back to himself, lifting a hand to brush away the tears that had appeared in his eyes. He broke off midway through, because the elf abruptly stepped forward to curl the fingers of one hand around Yuuri’s shoulder.

“Break your fast with me. Please. It’s the least I could offer, hunter, before you needs must leave to hunt again.”

…that earnestness was a lot more compelling from up close. Especially so when one had to crane one’s neck so far to see it. Yuuri’s breath caught in his throat.

The elf’s eyes were so blue. It was like looking up into a sliver of the sky caught in ice.

“Yes,” he found himself whispering, without any real choice on his part. How could he say no to that face?

It had to be said. Elf bread was wonderful, filling and somehow tasted amazing and bland all at once. Yuuri wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to react to it. The elf had plenty of other options to eat, fresh fruit for one, but all of it was traveler’s fare and not one bit of meat to be found. Sure, he remembered that elves didn’t eat meat, but it was all the stranger to be presented with the reality of that at meal time.

Yuuri just buckled down and tried to finish the meal he’d been graciously offered. Because for all that the moonlight haired elf seemed rather sweet, and very kind, his companions weren’t anywhere near as congenial about Yuuri’s presence.

Case in point: the little blond one with his hair pulled back in dizzyingly complicated braids was still scowling at him.

“I don’t see why we should have to pander to this- this halfling’s presence!” he burst out suddenly, making everyone jerk in place, Yuuri for his part almost dropping the bread, which would have been a damn shame.

“Yura-” Yuuri’s elf hissed, a tight smile in place as he segued into that fast, musical speech he’d used earlier, when they had returned to the elven camp. It wasn’t too far away from where Yuuri had been hunting, which explained how they’d stumbled upon each other at all.

The little one just looked sullen now, chewing on his bread with a scowl. It almost made Yuuri want to laugh at him. The quiet ranger that had been traveling with the elves certainly wasn’t holding back the small smile on his face, though he took the pains to hide the faint curl of his lips whenever the little one glanced around at him.

“Don’t mind Yuri, he’s been irritable for the last few days. We’re all glad to have you here.” The elf said after a long moment, settling down at Yuuri’s side again. The words made him glance up in surprise.

“Yuri? His name is Yuri?” Yuuri asked incredulously. It gets him a bemused look from his elf, and a dirty look from the little one, Yuri. The other elves at the camp simply met the words with more dismissal – which was how they’d been treating Yuuri since his elf had brought him back to the camp.

“Yes, is there something odd about that?”

The words drew another involuntary laugh from Yuuri. How was he supposed to react to these facial expressions, really. The poor elf just looked more confused at his reaction, his head tilting to the side enough that his long and lovely hair slipped down over his shoulder. For all that it was tightly bound in place at strategic points to keep it off of his face, the majority of it was long and loose, much longer than anyone else’s in the camp, except maybe for the one female elf Yuuri had seen.

It was also very distracting to look at. Yuuri was probably biased, especially since this was the first elf he’d met, but really, he didn’t think anyone else in the camp could compare to his elf.

“Oh, no, it’s just that my name is Yuuri too. I’m Yuuri, son of Toshiya, of House Katsuki.” Yuuri offered up, once his mirth cleared enough to speak. His elf’s eyes lit up immediately, while Yuri snarled, holding back his words only after the ranger murmured something to him in an undertone.

Really, Yuuri hadn’t known that it was possible for any elf to be as angry as this one. No one had said elves could be quick to temper.

“And I am Victor, son of Vasiliy. Well met, Yuuri Katsuki, son of Toshiya.” His elf said suddenly, voice soft. It made Yuuri’s gaze dart back around to him, surprised.

His elf’s, Victor’s, eyes were filled with some strange emotion. Yuuri couldn’t put a name to it. But whatever it was, it softened his face a great deal, and coupled with the faint smile tugging at his lips, left the inhumanly beautiful features far more approachable than before.

Yuuri could only smile back helplessly in response, nodding when Victor offered him more bread.

“Are you sure you should be following me out like this? It seemed like all of you had a long day ahead of you.” Yuuri said uncertainly, later, once they were done with their meal.

“Yes, I insist. We can afford another day’s wait,” Victor responded easily, walking calmly by his side. The words were just as careless now as they had been earlier, when he’d told Yuri that he would be taking a walk with Yuuri out in the woods. It had taken all of the ranger’s, whom Yuuri had learnt was named Otabek, strength to hold the little blond elf back. The other elves in their party seemed exasperated, but they hadn’t seemed angry. Only a little sad.

The sadness was what made Yuuri wary. Against his better judgement, his gaze drew again to the weave of Victor’s cloak, and its color. For all that his people didn’t interact with the elves all that much, they did trade with towns that did.

Yuuri knew all too well what that specific shade meant, when worn by an elf. Even if he’d never actually seen it in person until now.

Victor glanced back at him, expression curious. Yuuri shook away his unease, and stepped forward with a smile pasted in place.

They spent most of the morning simply wandering about the woods. For all that Victor had offered to help Yuuri find another deer to take back with him, Yuuri found that he didn’t care much about the deer. Not anymore. And, anyway, Victor seemed distracted as well. They’d spent the earlier moments of their walk conversing quickly, jumping from topic to topic like a pair of children, delighting in each other’s company, but the conversation had worn away to silence, over time. Not strained, no – just quiet, but for the sound their footsteps made against the ground as they walked.

Yuuri’s chest felt strangely full, in a way he hadn’t ever felt before.

“I don’t want to leave,” Victor said, apropos of nothing, voice uncomfortably loud.

It made Yuuri stumble, startled, but Victor was there to steady him with a hand to his shoulder. When he looked up at the elf, wide-eyed, it was to find Victor staring back at him, lips pursed, the corners of his eyes drawn tight. He didn’t remove his hand from Yuuri’s shoulder, and Yuuri found that he didn’t want to shake it away either. Instead, he reached up with his free hand to run the tips of his fingers along the edge of Victor’s jawline, mouth going dry when Victor leaned forward into his touch, properly allowing Yuuri to cup his face and his eyes slipping shut.

“You’re journeying to the Undying Lands,” Yuuri whispered, voice hushed, biting his lower lip when Victor gave a single nod.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t guessed it, honestly. The solemnity of the elves at the camp, their lack of interest in Yuuri being there, and in the little blond elf’s aggression – it spoke of a greater detachment with the world than even what most people said was common to elves.

But Victor wasn’t like that. Victor had laughed freely when they spoke, sharing tales of friends he’d made in his travels, particularly this one bard and his propensity to have lovers waiting for him no matter where they went – the stories of his and Victor’s shenanigans over the years reminding Yuuri all too well of his own hair raising experiences with Phichit, whenever the long-legged merchant had stopped by his home. Had darted after the shadows of what he called deer in the distance, ignoring Yuuri’s taunts about Victor just wanting to lead them on a wild goose chase for the fun of it, had sung along with birdsong, quick and bright. All the while Yuuri had followed after him with a dazed smile, laughing whenever the elf had glanced back at him with a grin.

“I don’t want to leave.” Victor repeated, voice softer, and Yuuri couldn’t have stopped himself from dragging the taller being down into a tight hug even if he’d tried.

“Your Yura is going to be very angry with me,” Yuuri murmured, much later, leaning back into the solidity of the tree trunk behind him.

Victor hummed in response, not shifting from where his head was pillowed on Yuuri’s lap. It made Yuuri chuckle to himself, running his fingers through the long hair that pooled partially behind Victor, and also spilt over his shoulders. It felt as soft and light to the touch as Yuuri had imagined it to be, earlier.

“You could come with me. I travel a lot – I’ve been traveling from town to town and to the larger cities for years. You’ve probably seen all of it, you seem to be so much wiser than me, but maybe it could be interesting?”

“Anything would be interesting if you were there. I should have met you sooner, Yuuri.” Victor murmured back, making Yuuri laugh softly, leaning forward to press a light kiss to the elf’s temple.

Victor turned around, gazing up at him in surprise, the expression quickly waylaid by the flush that colored his cheeks, and the tips of his ears. Yuuri, for his part, grinned down at him awkwardly.

“Well. You’ve met me now. Let’s travel together, Victor.”

His words were met with wide eyes that all but sparkled in the pale light filtering down on them through the leaves, Victor’s mouth rounding out into a lovely heart-shaped grin that had Yuuri laughing with delight.

There might come a day when Victor would want to follow that call, like others of his race. Until then, though, Yuuri supposed they could spend their days together. Traveling far and wide. And maybe laughing from time to time, just like this.

46 notes · View notes

erurifluff · 7 years

Text

Sacrifice

Welcome to chapter 1/10 of my first multi-chapter eruri fanfic! This fic started as a 3 chapter idea about how Erwin Smith’s romantic encounters had affected his decisions that led him to become Commander, and that quickly morphed into the thing I am now writing which explores the above, and then has 6 chapters about his relationship with Levi. I make no apologies for it. <3

I hope you enjoy reading it. The entire thing is essentially finished bar editing so it’ll be updated fairly rapidly and regularly. Eventually I’ll put it into Ao3 but someone (that is, me) didn’t realise that it’s still in beta right now, so until I get my invite through, I’ll just post it here.

Thanks to everyone in the eruri fandom here for inspiring me to write this.

***

Chapter One – Marie

“Why have you brought us here?” Nile grumbled as he slumped down onto a polished wooden stool with frayed stitching on the cushion. He was looking accusingly in Mike’s direction.

“Because I want a drink,” Mike replied, taking his own seat next to me behind a small, bare circular table. “And no one here is going to know us so we won’t be bothered.”

“You don’t think the uniform is a bit of a give-away though?” I asked playfully, thumbing the collar of my jacket. Though a glance around the tavern made it clear he was right; there was not another military uniform in sight and the other patrons seemed to be enjoying quiet conversations together, not interested in much else.

Mike shook his head as I turned back to face him.

“The uniform will attract the right kind of attention,” he explained. “The feminine kind of attention-“ He paused and added a shrug. “-or the whatever kind of attention.”

“Oh. strategic attention? I see,” I chuckled. “Well if you can actually get us a drink I’ll take that sort of attention.”

“Nile, why don’t you give it a try?” Mike challenged with a smirk, swivelling his head round to face him instead of me. Goading Nile was one of Mike’s favourite pastimes. And Nile always fell for it. Every time.

“Just because I’m not hoarding charisma in my facial hair like you are, you think I don’t stand a chance?” Nile scowled, a slight flush to the tips of his ears. “Though some luck we’ll have in cadet jackets – either with the drink or the romance. Even if half the barmaids in this city are barely older than us.”

“Just tell them we’re joining the survey corps,” said Mike. “Girls love the tragedy of it.”

“Maybe the kind of girls you like,” Nile rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. “What a cheap way to get what you want.”

“If it was a lie I’d agree,” I said, frowning. “But it is the truth, only presented at the right moment.”

“See Nile? Erwin gets it.”

“I didn’t say I approve of it,” I added quickly.

“Even if you did I wouldn’t take that as an endorsement,” Nile retorted. I looked away uncomfortably, the subject of my reputation amongst the cadets was not one I enjoyed discussing, and my friends so loved to tease me about it anyway.

“Fair point,” Mike nodded and eyed me for a moment in his quiet way of his. “Just out of curiosity Erwin – and I’m not saying that you have – but if you had to cheat on a test, would you do it?”

“You can’t ask me such a broad question as that,” I replied, unsure how to answer without sounding far too serious for the situation. “I mean consider all the external factors that might influence that decision an-“

“-Hypothetically,” Mike insisted.

“For the wall’s sake Mike, leave him alone,” Nile interjected with an irritable growl. “What the hell good would it even do Erwin to cheat on tests? First of all he’s already pathetically smart-“

“-Thanks Nile-”

“-Secondly he’s trying to join the Survey Corps,” Nile continued, ignoring me. “People usually cheat on tests to avoid them. All you need to do to get into the Survey Corps is show up able to swing the blades around a bit, they’re so desperate.” He tapped the table with his knuckles and started to look around to his left, trying to flag down a barmaid. “Let’s get a drink before we kill each other.”

“Finally a sensible suggestion,” I agreed.

“Evening soldiers,” said a voice to my right. “What can I get for you?”

I looked up to see a young woman there, standing over us, arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was long, with the fringe falling over the top of bored eyes, and there was no smile on her mouth; serving us with beer was clearly not her interest. It made me wonder what was. There was a depth in her eyes that I found instantly interesting. I wanted to know who she was, where she was from, what she liked. It was a few seconds into my burningly curious thoughts before I realised I was staring at her. I abruptly looked away, towards Nile, whose own head had whipped round and he too was staring. Unlike me, he had not yet stopped.

“Three beers, thanks” Mike responded and I saw his fingers literally crossed under the table, his smile completely confident and relaxed, almost a smirk.

“I’m going to join the Survey Corps!” Nile blurted out in a sudden splutter of words rushing after one another to get out of his mouth. We both stared at him. Mike did a completely appalling job of hiding his amusement behind his hand.

“Oh, uh,” the woman said slowly, clearly completely taken back by the outburst. She too stared at him now. Then her nose gave a little twitch and she begun to laugh, a smile breaking across her features.

“Nile is very brave, Miss,” I said, taking pity on my friend as he sank down in his seat as if he wished he could just get under the table and hide until she went away.

“Well I bet you are – Nile,” she said once she’d stopped laughing. “Don’t think your bravery gets you a discount though because it doesn’t. You still have to pay the full amount just like everyone else.”

“N-no!” Nile managed to say. “I wouldn’t dream of it! Of course!”

“I’m Marie. What are your friend’s names then?” she asked him, the smile now staying put.

“Uh,” replied Nile, looking like he’d forgotten, so I answered for him.

“I’m Erwin, and this is Mike,” I said pleasantly. “We’re all going to join the Survey Corps.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Marie nodded at each of us and I marvelled at how her demeanour had changed once we started talking to her. I suspected that she was used to being spoken to at best like some kind of tray that existed to deliver alcohol. Now, quite unlike before, she was expressive and looking upon her was easy to do – far too easy. A glance at Nile said that he felt the same but there was a touch of something different in his eyes, a feeling I didn’t think was quite one that I was feeling, something quiet but heated. Marie was looking back at Nile in exactly the same way, her eyes exclusively on him.

“So,” she continued with a wry quality to her smile. “If you’re all going outside the walls to fight does that mean you’re all equally brave or all equally foolish? Either way I think I’d better get you your drinks. I’ll be back soon.”

“Yes, th…thanks!” Nile stammered, watching her as she walked away.

“Nile you’re about as subtle as a titan to the face,” Mike said.

“Get lost Mike. Marie didn’t seem to think so.”

“I agree,” I confessed. “She looked quite taken with him actually.”

“Oh don’t encourage him,” Mike sniffed at me. “He’s already big-headed enough without pulling the barmaid on his first go.”

“Hey bastard!” Nile glared. “It was not my first go, or my first success.”

“Nile the only thing you’ve ever pulled before is a door open, a chair out and your di-“ Mike retorted but was cut off by Nile kicking him under the table, hard enough that Mike grunted. Nile’s eyes were so full of sulky fury that I couldn’t help chuckling at him, which only served to make him wheel round and point the expression at me as well.

“Oh screw you both!” he fumed. “I’m going to ask her out.” He stomped off before either Mike or I could say anything more.

“Poor woman,” Mike grinned, then he looked at me with a more serious expression. “If you like her too Erwin you should go for it, don’t let Nile get in your way. You’d be doing her a favour.” I shook my head.

“I won’t deny she’s intriguing,” I replied, choosing my words very carefully to explain properly my dilemma. “But I only just met her – I don’t know her – and I’m not about to start wooing a civilian two months off joining the Survey Corps. Besides which, I think she really does seem interested in Nile. He can have quite a bumbling sort of charm about him.” I nodded in the direction of the pair across the room, just visible through the crowds. Nile was rubbing the back of his neck and Marie had her hands clasped in front of her. They were both smiling brightly. The very antithesis of mutual attraction.

“Hm, it better not delay us getting our drinks,” Mike sighed and rested his head on his hand, looking at me through his floppy fringe with a wistful expression. “I just thought…I’ve never really seen you look that interested in anybody before. I thought you’d at least want to give it a try. It’s not like you have to marry the woman, just have some fun, while we still can?”

“I’m fine,” I assured with a smile, staying patient despite feeling that Mike had completely missed the point. “It’s not really me.”

Nile fell back into his seat at that moment, a grin running from one side of his face to the other like a rail track, and it was no surprise when he told us that Marie had said yes. She was soon a frequent addition to our nights out, so it was equally no surprise that at the Scouting Legion recruitment rally Nile - the friend who had been at my side since the day his family had taken me into their care - shot me a look of unadulterated guilt and walked away, towards a life with Marie and the Military Police.

#eruri #erwin smith #erwin x levi #clarissathewriter #mike zacharias #nile dok #marie dok #fanfic #attack on titan

2 notes · View notes

imaginetonyandbucky · 7 years

Note

Hi i just wanted to say i adore ypu blog❤️ So my prompt is a Highschool AU with a Nerdy!Shy!Tony and a Popular!Jock!Bucky and bucky askes him on a date and you can get creative after that or just finish it there! Thanky You

Combined with:

In high school, Tony was in love with the school’s star quarterback, Ty, who used and abused him. Bucky was in love with Tony, but beyond smiles and friendly gestures Tony didn’t really notice him. 5 yrs later Tony is quite disillusioned with chasing after people who stomp on his heart, and is determined to live a quiet life with his roommate, fellow scientist Bruce. All that changes when he meets Bucky (now a mechanical engineer) at a tech conference.

Now

“C’mon,Brucie, stop looking like you’re carrying an unexploded bomb andhave some fun!”

Brucesighed and pulled the lanyard over his head. “It’s a roboticsconference, Tony; I don’t think ‘fun’ is really the word you’relooking for.”

“Sureit is!” Tony said, sweeping his arm to encompass the labyrinthineshowroom hall they were entering. “Cutting edge gadgets! Demos thatare going to fail horribly to laugh at! All the free crappy pens andstickynotes and branded toys you can shake a stick at! And best ofall, booth babes!”

“Youridea of fun and mine are very, very different.” Bruce rolled hiseyes, but he gamely accepted the bag that Tony handed him to putmarketing swag in. The bit about booth babes was bullshit; Tonyhadn’t so much as gone on a date in almost two years, focusinginstead on building his fledgling company.

Tonyconsulted the floor map. “Let’s see, where should we start?”Bruce didn’t bother answering. He’d only agreed to come with Tonyto the conference because the symposium on medical applications ofminiaturized robotics sounded interesting. “Oooh, robotics-enhancedprosthetics!” Tony crowed. “That’s right up my alley, come on!”He charged up one crowded aisle without looking to see if Bruce wasfollowing.

Brucefollowed anyway. By the time Bruce caught up with him, Tony wasalready staring at a display model behind plexiglass, showing theinner workings of a mechanized arm. “Bruce, look at this! They’reusing that specialized weight-distribution joint that I designed lastyear, but they’ve reworked the power core. This is gorgeous,I can’t even–”

Theguy behind the counter turned toward them with a professionallybright smile. “Good afternoon, sir, can I he– Tony?”

Tonylooked up from the arm and his eyes suddenly went round. “Oh mygod,” he breathed. “Bucky?”

Bruceblinked. That was a name he hadn’t expected to hear, here, thoughhe heard it often enough when Tony was drinking or sleep-deprivedenough to start rambling about “the one who got away.”

(Look out for the cut.)

Then

“I’mgonna do it at lunch, Steve.”

“Goodfor you, Buck. Do what, exactly?” Steve didn’t even look up fromwhere he was copying Bucky’s CompSci homework.

“Haveyou even been listening? I’m gonna ask Tony to prom.”

Stevefrowned, compared what he’d just written to Bucky’s notes, thengrunted irritably and started erasing the line he’d miscopied.“Isn’t he dating that asshat Stone?”

“Youreally haven’t been listening, have you?” Bucky demanded. Hewaved a hand under Steve’s face and waited until his best friendfinally looked up at him. “They broke up last night. It’s allover school.”

“What’sthat, the fifth time this semester?” Steve mused. “You know theynever stay broken up long.”

“That’swhy I’ve gotta ask him at lunch!” Bucky said. He felt giddy withexcitement. He’d been nursing this damn crush for Tony since theeighth grade; it was damn well time to do something about it. “Theydon’t have any morning classes together; they won’t have had timeto get back together! If I can get him to say yes now, then he won’tbe abletogo back to that jackass.”

“Idon’t think it works quite that way,” Steve said.

“Maybenot, but I have to try,” Bucky said. “We’re gonna graduate intwo months, and I’ll never see him again.”

Stevelooked thoughtful. “Yeah,” he said. “Okay. You’re right. Do it. I’ll keep an eye out for Stone’s cronies.”

Now

Jesus,Tony looked even better now than when they’d been in schooltogether. In high school, Tony had been a quiet, nerdy kid, kind ofscrawny, always so desperate to please everyone that he never quitefit in anywhere. But he’d filled out in the years since, still leanbut now sporting wiry muscle, and the sparse and scruffy facial hairhe’d once had had filled in and been immaculately trimmed intosomething that made his face sharper and more striking.

Andit wasn’t like Bucky hadn’t known that Tony had turned out to bemoderately successful – it was no accident that the new prostheticdesign had incorporated some of Tony’s developments in robotics –but there was a world of difference between looking at thecarefully-curated photos in the industry journals and seeing the manstanding not three feet away, just as surprised as Bucky and visiblysteeling himself

“Inever thought I’d see you again,” Bucky heard himself say throughthe shock.

“Oh,I’m like a bad penny,” Tony joked lamely, then looked down at thearm on display. “They give you a patter for this thing? Or betteryet, a datasheet? I’d love to pick the design team’s brains.”

“You’relookin’ at ‘im,” Bucky said.

Tonyglanced up at him again, eyebrows lifted in surprise. Bucky pushedaside the pity party that had been building and found his show grinagain, because there was no way he was going to let a five-year-oldheartache stop him from taking credit for the work he was so proudof. Laying groundwork for a strategic partnership with StarkIndustries would be good for Bucky’s career. The damage to hisheart was already done; he might as well get somethingoutof it.

Hethumbed the security lock on the display case and lifted out the armso they could take a closer look. “So, what d’you want to know?”

Then

TheStarks lived in a big, fancy house, damn near a mansion. Buckycouldn’t believe someone who lived in a place like this had saidyes to someone like him.He chewed on his lip and stared up at the house for a good fiveminutes before he finally made himself get out of the car. He brushedthe wrinkles out of his rented tux and reminded himself not to crushthe little plastic box that held Tony’s boutonniere. Every step hetook up the path that led across that immaculate lawn seemed to makehis heart beat a little harder.

Hehad to take another few breaths before he rang the doorbell. He hadto calm down a little; if Tony’s parents were anything likeBucky’s, he was going to have to make small talk for a while andlet them take about half a million pictures before they were finallyable to make their escape.

Hewondered what kind of curfew Tony’s parents were setting. Buckyusually had to be home by midnight on the weekends, but his mom hadtold him not to worry about it tonight – just to be home bybreakfast, and to text whenever he was going somewhere new.

Herang the doorbell, and then waited. And waited. He was wondering ifhe should ring again when the door opened to frame a thin olderwoman: Tony’s mom. “Hello?” She looked down athis tux, the boutonniere box in his hand, then up at his face again,apparently confused.

HadTony not toldhisparents he was going to prom? Or had he not told them that he wasgoing with another guy? Shit shit shit… “I’m, I’m here topick Tony up,” Bucky managed to say.

Thewoman looked him down and then up again. “Tony left half an hourago,” she said.

That…didn’t make any sense.

“ButI told him…” Bucky started, and then stopped himself. Mrs. Starkwouldn’t have any answers for him.

Shegave him an apologetic smile. “Maybe he misunderstood,” sheoffered, “and is planning to meet you there?”

Howcould “I’ll pick you up at seven” be misunderstood?

Obviously,there was somesortof misunderstanding going on. Bucky gave Mrs. Stark a small, tightsmile. “Maybe. I’ll… I left my phone in the car; I’ll texthim. Thank you.”

Hisheart was beating faster, now, with something closer to panic thanexcitement. What had happened? He all but ran back to the car andfumbled for his phone.

MessageNot Delivered.

What?He poked the Retry button.

MessageNot Delivered.

Whatthe hell? A sick twist in his stomach, Bucky started the car andheaded for the prom, alone.

Now

Themore Bucky explained the design decisions and concepts, the more Tonyhated himself for having let Bucky get away, five years ago. Tony hadknown even then that Bucky was smart as hell, but this exceeded evenTony’s expectations. He was still hot, too, of course. Theintimidating breadth of muscle Bucky had maintained as a member ofthe football team had melted some without constant upkeep, but it hadleft behind just the faintest hint of roundness that Tony founddesperately appealing

Andthe way his eyes sparkled and snapped as he pointed out some of themore subtle features – Tony probably could’ve fallen for areasonably well-dressed monkey if it had that level of passion andfire.

Brucekept giving Tony that Look every time Tony turned his way, too. Tonysteadfastly ignored it. He’d lost that chance, thrown it away withboth hands. He was lucky Bucky was even willing to speak to him.Probably wouldn’t, if it wasn’t a tradeshow and Bucky’s actualjob to do so.

Eventually,though, Tony ran out of things to ask. He was going to have to walkaway, knowing exactly what he’d thrown away… Of all the horriblethings Ty had done to Tony, this was probably the worst, in the longrun.

Bruceglared at Tony as he stepped back, and caught his arm. “I wouldn’tmind having a quiet dinner back at the hotel if you guys wanted tomeet up after the floor closes tonight and reminisce.”

Tonycouldn’t help the flinch, or miss the way Bucky’s professionalsmile went brittle and cold. “There’s not that much to remember,”Bucky told Bruce. “We can pretty well sum it up with, ‘Hey,remember that time you stood me up for the prom?’” He made anoise that approximated a laugh and pointedly did not look at Tony.

Then

“Oh,goodness, Anthony,” Tony’s mom said, looking out the window.“Your date really went all out, didn’t he?”

“What?”It was only six-thirty; Bucky wasn’t supposed to pick him up untilseven. Tony ran up beside her and looked.

Sureenough, there was a limo parking at the curb. “Crap,” Tonygasped. He ran his hands through his hair – he hadn’t had time todo it properly yet, but he didn’t dareletBucky come inside to be grilled by his mom, or worse, his dad. “Okay,I’m going!” he said brightly, dashing for the stairs before shecould grab him. “Don’t wait up!”

“Anthony!”she protested, but he pretended not to hear her, jogging down thestairs and practically diving through the door. He slowed to a briskwalk as he crossed the lawn, his heart hammering with excitement.

Thecar’s driver was waiting to open the door as Tony approached, andTony flashed him a huge grin as he ducked into the vehicle.

“Wow,Buck, this is–”

Thatwasn’t Bucky, lounging in the plush seat.

“Ty,”Tony snapped. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh,darling,” Ty sighed. “You didn’t really think that BuckyBarneswasactually going to take you to prom, did you? I know you’re given toflights of fancy, but that’s a bit farfetched, even for you, don’tyou think?”

“Wait,hang on,” Tony told the driver before he could shut the door. “I’mgetting out.” Tony glared at Ty. “We’ve been planning it forweeks, so yes, I think that Bucky Barnes is going to take me toprom.”

“Oh,darling,” Ty said again, shaking his head. “It was a prank. Asetup. He was never going to show up.”

Tonytried to ignore the way that echoed his own late-night fears. “God,you are such an asshole.”

“It’strue,” Ty insisted. “I heard him planning it with Rogers in thelocker room.”

“Rogerswould never. He’s such a goody two-shoes,” Tony protested.

“That’swhat he wants everyone to think, but you should’ve seen what he didto Rumlow after the Homecoming game,” Ty said with a sympatheticwince.

Noone had ever confirmed what had happened to put Rumlow in thehospital for two weeks after Homecoming, though rumors had flown fastand thick. Rumlow himself wouldn’t talk about it. “Rogers didthat?”

Tynodded. “I helped pull him off, or Brock probably would’ve died.Coach swore everyone to secrecy.” Ty grimaced in distaste. “He’svicious, when he wants to be.”

“I’dstill rather go stag than go with you,” Tony said.

Tysmiled, that bright, slick smile that he saved for when he knew hewas going to get exactly what he wanted. “And walk the gauntlet ofthe entire school as they laugh at you for showing up without the‘date’ everyone’s heard about? Come on, Tony, you know betterthan that.”

Tonyclosed his eyes, unwilling to let Ty see how much he was hurting.God, he’d thought Bucky had actually likedhim.What an idiot. He should’ve known he couldn’t be that lucky.

“Ofcourse you do, you’re too smart to let a thing like that happen.Luckily, I overheard them and decided to come to your rescue. For oldtime’s sake.”

Tonydrew a breath and held it for a count of ten, until he was sure hewouldn’t let a single tear slip free, and then slid silently ontothe limo’s bench seat.

“That’sa good boy,” Ty purred. The driver shut the door, finally, a heavyslam that felt like the vault door on Tony’s heart. “Come on overhere. Delete that asshole from your phone and have a drink or two,” Ty suggested, and the cabin filledwith the smell of rum. “Once you’ve loosened up a little, youmight even have some fun. And I’m sure I can think of a couple ofways for you to show your gratitude, later.”

Now

“Itwas Ty,” Tony said softly, not looking at Bucky.

Theold rage and hurt blossomed to life again behind Bucky’s sternum.“I know it was Ty,” he growled. “Steve told me you two showedup, already half-lit–”

“Tytold me,” Tony said, a little louder now, riding over Bucky. “Hetold me that you were never going to show. That it was you and Rogersplaying a, a fucking pranktohumiliate me.”

Buckyopened his mouth, closed it again. “Why the hell would we do that?”was all he could think to say.

“Topunish me for trying to get above myself?” Tony grated. “I don’tknow. It doesn’t matter. Rogers cornered me on Monday and damn wellput me in my place. He told me that you–”

“Iwent to pick you up,” Bucky said, the flame of anger snuffing andleaving behind only the hurt. “And you were gone, so I went to theprom and I saw… I saw you dancing with him. And I left.”

Tonyhad wrapped his arms around his middle and was staring into thedistance, off to the side. “Well, those weren’t the words heused, but I… figured out that Ty had lied. To prove that he couldstill make me dance to his tune. To get revenge on me for breaking upwith him, I guess. For… for daring to be happy.”

Buckydidn’t know how to respond to that. He should have known that wasTy’s fault, shouldn’t he? He should’ve marched into the damndance and told Ty to take his disgusting, lying hands off Bucky’sdate. He should’ve… at least asked.Everyone had known how Ty treated Tony. But Bucky had been so hurt hecouldn’t think straight.

Buckycast about for something to say, anything.Tony’s friend caught Bucky’s eye and raised an eyebrow, noddingtoward Tony significantly.

Buckyopened his mouth, closed it again. He knew he shouldsaysomething, but what? He could practically seeTonyshrinking back into a timid, shy kid with no self-esteem.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” Tony said. “For whatever that’s worth. I never…I’m sorry.” He took a step back. Another, slowly, as if he werehoping to be stopped, but Bucky still had no words. Tony turned.

“Wereyou really happy?” Bucky blurted.

Tony’shead lifted, though he didn’t look back. “What?”

“When…Before Ty fucked everything up. Were you really happy that I’dasked you?”

Tonylaughed, just a little, or maybe it was a choked-back sob. “I don’tthink I’d ever been happier before in my life.”

Buckybit his lip, glanced at Tony’s friend. The curly head bobbed infervent approval.

“Havedinner with me?”

Tonylooked at Bucky finally, hope and fear twisting his mouth. “Really?”

Buckynodded. “Seems I owe you a date.”

“Youdon’t–” Tony’s friend elbowed him, not being at all subtle. Tonyglared back, but took a breath and turned back to Bucky. “Okay,yeah. Yes. Dinner.” Tony glanced down at the schedule. “Pick meup at eight?”

“I’llbe there,” Bucky said. He grinned a little, to take the sting outof it, and said, “Wait for me this time.”

“I’vebeen waiting for five years,” Tony said. “What’s another coupleof hours?”

~ @everyworldneedslove

#prompts #winteriron #tony stark #bucky barnes #tony x bucky #au: high school #(and afterward)#bruce banner #tiberius stone #maria stark #everyworldneedslove #werewolfsinatub

244 notes · View notes