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puckinghischier · 2 months

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Chef’s Kiss

Nico x fem!reader, soft!Nico, domestic!Nico

summary: Nico fluff, basically

notes: i just really love soft nico and couldn’t get him out of my head so here’s this (also ignore the fact i keep using the same pics in my posts, i need to find more 💀)

[2k]

Nico was always trying to do little things to bring a smile to your face. Whether it was having the laundry washed, folded, and put away by the time you got home, sending you funny videos and silly selfies throughout the day, or simply having a glass of your favorite wine waiting on you as soon as you walked through the door, he loved providing small moments of happiness for you. He didn’t have time to do things for you often, his schedule getting increasingly busier as the season goes on, but today he had a completely free afternoon and wanted to have your favorite meal plated and waiting for you to enjoy as soon as you got off work. The idea came to him when you called him on what was supposed to be your lunch break.

“Neeks, I’m so sorry but I have to work late again. I’m having to re-do all of my reports for the day because my boss didn’t like the format that I used, even though it’s the exact format he told me to use three days ago! I swear sometimes he just wants to make my life a living hell. I don’t get paid enough for this shit.”

Nico had a fond smile on his face, despite the nature of your call; hearing you rant to him about work was always something he looked forward to. While he didn’t love the fact that you were upset and that your boss was a grade A asshole, he loved being the one you came to when you were frustrated and just needed to blow off steam. It always made him happy to know that he was the one you called when you needed a mid-day pick me up on particularly stressful days. He had tried to tell you multiple times to just quit—that he makes enough for the both of you to live on – but you wouldn’t even entertain the thought. You’d always tell him no and that you needed to pull your weight with the bills and rent, too. You didn’t want to have all of the tears you shed while you were in college go to waste. To quote your exact words ‘I’m going to use this damn degree even if it kills me’. He admired your work ethic and that you didn’t want to have him be your own personal bank, but it was times like this he wishes you would just take his suggestion to heart and actually quit.

“I understand, but don’t work too late, schatz. It’s not good for you. Tuck and I will be here waiting on you when you get here,” Nico looks over at the cat quietly snoozing over on the couch. “I noticed you left your lunch in the fridge; do you need me to bring you something? I don’t have to go back to the rink today for anything, so I could pick up something from that sushi place you like and we could have a little lunch date? Give you a few minutes to reset and recharge?”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t have time to eat today anyways. At this point working through lunch is the only way I’ll be able to come home before midnight. Thanks for the offer, though, Neeks. I have to go, my boss is calling me, probably to tell me something else I did wrong. I’ll text you when I leave, love you,” you hang up the phone, not giving Nico a chance to respond. He knows your boss hates when he catches you taking personal calls on company time, so he just sends you a simple “I love you, too. Please eat something and don’t work too hard” text since you hung up before he had time to tell you himself.

As soon as he pressed send, Nico grabbed his keys and took off to the grocery store. He really only went to pick up the ingredients to make dinner, but he couldn’t help making a quick stop at the local florist, grabbing a small bouquet of daisies he knows you’ll love. As he was driving home, he remembers this bakery you had told him you’ve been wanting to try, so he finds himself in said bakery picking out a few baked goods for you to taste test (and maybe a few for himself, too). By the time he had made it back home it was well past five, when you typically leave your office for the day. Once he brought his haul of groceries, flowers, and pastries in the door, Tuck greeted him by meowing loudly for his food.

“Sorry, Tuck, I’m late for dinner, aren’t I?” Nico asks the cat as he walks over and fills the hangry cat’s food bowl. “Now that you’re fed, I need to get to work on feeding your mom. That is, if I can manage not to burn anything.”

Nico got to work immediately, turning on the cooking playlist you had made and grabbing his ‘Kiss the Swiss’ apron you had jokingly gifted him for Christmas. He pulled out the recipe book that your mom gave you two as a house-warming gift when you first moved in. Just last week you had been talking about how you missed your mom’s famous pasta, so he decided that was his attempted dish of the night. He laid out all of the ingredients and followed the recipe as closely as he could, paying special attention to all of the little notes your mother added in the margins of the typed recipe. About an hour into Nico’s cooking you sent him a text that you were nearly finished and would be home soon, but he was so busy trying to perfect making pasta from scratch that he never even looked at his phone. When he was on his third attempt at the pasta dough, he heard the front door open.

He looked over at the clock to see that it was nearly seven-thirty. He heard your keys hit the bowl sitting on the small table beside the front door and your sigh of relief once you took your shoes off. He could hear the soft thuds your feet made on the hardwood while you walked into the living room. He looked up from the counter to see your tired body drift over to the couch where Tuck laid sound asleep.

“Hey, Tuck. How was your day? Did you catch a lot of Z’s? Dream about catching mice? Poop on your dad’s pillow again?” Nico heard your soft voice say, chuckling at your last question.

The poor kitten had, somehow, got locked in yours and Nico’s bedroom a few weeks ago and neither of you noticed until it was well past feeding time and the little furball hadn’t come running into the kitchen screaming for his dinner. It took the two of you twenty minutes to hear the soft meows coming from your bedroom, the TV in the living room having drowned them out for most of the day. As soon as you opened the door Tuck came sprinting out of the room as fast as he could, acting as if he’d been in there for days. He ran straight to his food bowl and turned around, glaring at Nico and yourself. Later that evening the two of you made your way to the bedroom to settle down for the night only to find that Tuck had left a nice, smelly present on his pillow. Nico was appalled, to say the least. Gagging and holding his pillow out with straight arms as if it was poisonous. You, however, were doubled over with laughter. You fell onto the bed and were laughing hysterically when Nico finally came back into the room, no pillow to be seen.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing; it’s disgusting! The cat shit on my pillow!” Nico expressed, standing in front of the bed with his arm crossed, looking like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

“Neeks, it’s hilarious! Out of all the places in the room he could’ve shit, he saw your pillow and thought ‘Ah, yes. Dad’s pillow. I think this will be my new bathroom.” You wipe the tears from your eyes, slightly out of breath from your laughing fit.

“Well, of course it’s funny when it’s not your pillow! If he would’ve shit on your pillow, you would be as upset as I am.” Nico huffed, still in his childish stance.

“Wait, where is your pillow?”

“In the trash.”

“You threw away the whole pillow!?” you exclaimed, starting to laugh all over again.

“Of course, I threw away the whole pillow! I’m not about to sleep on that thing tonight! It’s contaminated!”

“Nico, you could’ve just gotten a new pillow case. You didn’t have to throw your whole pillow away! What are you going to sleep on tonight?” You asked him, amusement clear in your voice.

“Well…I didn’t think that far ahead,” Nico said, his stance deflating a little.

He ended up sleeping on a throw pillow from the couch that night, picking up a new pillow on his way home from practice the next morning. Since then, the two of you have always made sure to keep your bedroom door open anytime Tuck isn’t in his usual spot on the couch.

Nico smiles at the memory, completely forgetting the fact that he was supposed to be kneading the pasta dough in his hands. By the time his thoughts circulate back to the task at hand, he hears you ask the cat “Where’s your dad, huh?” followed by the sound of your clothes rustling as you move to get off of the couch.

“Nico? You in here?” you call as you walk around the corner of the living room into the kitchen. “Neeks- Oh, there you are. What are you doing?” You stopped in the doorway of the kitchen when you took in the scene in front of you. The pots and pans on the stove, the steam coming from a pot of boiling water, the smell of chicken in the oven, and the bouquet of flowers and box of pastries on the counter next to them. Then your eyes move over to Nico, noticing he was absolutely covered in flour. He had flour in his hair, on his face, on his apron, in the floor, and all over the counter.

“Nico, what the hell are you doing? What is all of this?” you asked him once the two of you made eye contact.

“Well, I was trying to have dinner waiting on you when you got home because I know you’ve had a shitty day, but I’ve just now realized that I don’t know how to make pasta from scratch.”

“Why are you trying to make pasta from scratch?” you walk towards him, laughing at how distraught he looks.

“You said you’ve been craving your mom’s pasta recipe, so I thought it would be a good way to cheer you up after the day that you’ve had,” he replied, grabbing a towel to wipe the flour off of his hands.

“Nico, I love you, I do. And I appreciate the effort, but please throw that ball of…whatever that is in the trash and just use dried pasta next time,” you look over at what’s supposed to be pasta dough, reaching him and placing your arms on his shoulders, hands coming together to rest on the back of his neck.

“I try to make you a nice meal and this is the response I get? No ‘nice try’ or ‘wow, it smells great in here!’” he jokes, looking down at you, attempting to look offended, but his eyes only reflect love and amusement.

“You’ll get real praise when you learn how to make pasta from scratch. For now, consider this your compliment,” you stand on your toes, pressing a small kiss to his lips.

“You call that a compliment? Read the apron and try again.”

You laugh before meeting him halfway for a real kiss this time, thinking to yourself just how lucky you were to have Nico in your life.

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ravisinghs-wife · 10 months

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The seven + Nico and Reyna and their red flags ✼

warnings: not proofread, swearwords, lmk if I missed anything!

a/n: okay I'm sorry I didn't post for like two months, ngl I simply forgot that this blog existed😭

notes to the fic: reader is written as gn (one mention off y/n), but pls don't read Nico's part if u identify as female! :)

masterlist

Percy

he's always barefoot during spring and summer

you'll never catch him with shoes on because he things that they are "blocking the fresh air his toes need"

at least they never get that dirty because he can't survive five minutes without jumping in the sea

when he was younger sally had to force him wear shoes to school, to the parkt et cetera and he was always so angry at her after that because he hated it with all his passion

that anger quickly faded after she baked some blue cookies

after growing up he learned that he should wear shoes to school et cetera but the second he is at camp he gets rid of them

after you dressed it he delegated that he always washed them and kept them clean so there was no wrong doing it and that it's actually healthy for your feet

Annabeth

listen, I love annabeth

but she's always mansplaining

Like u could be talking about ur close family that she only met once and she‘d say something like „actually, i had the impression that…“

It’s so annoying

she doesn't even mean it mean or something

but it also could be just a conversasiation that she isn't even involved in and she'll just randomly pop up and mansplain the topic

jason

That boy doesn’t have any basic knowledge

Like he is at camp jupiter since he’s three or something

I‘m not sure if they even knew what they where teaching him

Like that boy doesn’t know algebra

You could be talking about something in history and how deeply that event infected the way society lives now and he‘d be like „what do you mean?“

And he’s serious

Everytime Percy and Leo make fun of him for not knowing something he‘ll run to you and beg you to explain it to him

Most of the time you make a bit fun of him too because a 17 year old boy who doesn’t know what the french Revolution was is kinda funny

He knows that you‘re just joking though

hazel

I love her but she's like one of the extra careful mom's whose world break when their child hears a swear word

every time you are someone near both of ou swears she has this weird shocked and impressed look and looks around the room

you had to stop swearing around her bc she always starts blushing and looks at you in awe

they don't even have to be the "bad" swear words, it could be something like shit and she'd still be shocked

you had to learn to find alternatives like fudge or fox

she made you browse for the alternatives to swear words for around two hours at midnight and made you subscribe to the mommy blogs incase they had "more cool little alternatives"

piper

she's a die hard romance book hater

she always gives you the weird look when you read one or even only look at one at the bookstore

like she doesn't even have a plausible reason besides that they "always have the same ending and are very predictable"

I mean she's right but still

when she was 14 she had an instagram where she just talked shit about romance books because she was bored

it's not even that she doesn't like reading or books that much, she just doesn't like them because they (as already said) have the same ending and because she gor sick of the perfect romantic ending after drew talked night in and out about it

you once convinced her to read your favorite romance book and she tried her best to be nice

she actually didn't find it that bad and liked the ending but she would never admit that to you

leo

that boy either doesn't shower for one week or takes two hour showers

it's a bit better in the summer but especially in winter he never shower because he "would just get dirty later again"

you have to force him too properly shower because he would just forget it again

and when he actually showers for once he takes two hour showers

but especially in summer he's just gonna swim in the lake and call it a day because he basically "got clean already"

frank

I love frank sm but he would 7 in 1 shampoo

he doesn't get why it's bad and insists that it makes his hair shinier

you try to explain it to him once but he just doesn't understand 😪

he also tries to convince you all the time that it's so much better than owning body wach, shampoo and conditioner

nico

is a pop music hater

he always has this annoyed look on his face when you play pop music

he always makes this disappointed dad sigh and says "again?"

nico sounds so disappointed

he secretly loves it about you tho

reyna

she's like a confused mom and never gets jokes

"what do you mean by that, y/n? I never do that"

you try to explain the joke to her but give up after 10 minutes

she's grumpy for the rest of the day because you wouldn't finish explaining it to her

eventually she gives her pride up and asks you again

and after another ten stressful minutes she finally gets it

she kept arguing that what you said doesn't make sense

#x reader #dating headcanons #percy jackson x reader #fanficton #masterlist #annabeth chase x reader #hazel levesque x reader #frank zhang x reader #piper mclean x reader #jason grace x reader #nico di angelo x reader #reyna avila ramirez arellano #Reyna Ramirez Arellano x reader #Reyna ramirez x reader #percy jackson fanfiction #pjo x reader #pjo x you #red flags

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creativewritersposts · 7 days

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fucked up - Nico Hischier

summary; Nico Hischier x reader.

The honest opinion from a person you really like can hurt the most. But what if Nico regrets it?

warning(s); bad language, angst, argument, fluff, maybe grammar errors

author's note; based on a true story. I'm sorry for not posting "happy-clappy fluff imagines" like usually (promise they'll come back soon). I can't write just pure fluff when I'm crying a river.

--------------------------------------------------------------

It's the third day in a row that Nico doesn't want to talk with you. You can't explain why, but your stomach feeling tells you, something is not okay. You tried to distract yourself with work, work and more work. But when you step in your apartment, you're mentally break down. Your overthinking says hello. You grab your phone, trying to call him, just his mailbox.

"What did I do wrong", you mumble to yourself, biting on your lip. It's rainy outside, like how you feel. You're starring at other people out of the window, until your phone vibrates. "hello?", you start the conversation without looking on the screen, who it is. "it's Nico, are you at home?", his voice sounds deep and kinda annoyed, "yes", you smile, happy to hear he's alive. "Ok bye", he hangs up without a second. You stress yourself to cook a nice dinner in an hour until the door bell rings. "hi baby!", you want to wrap your arms around his neck, but he pushes you politely away, "we need to talk, something is bothering me", his brown eyes let you feel confused, he never been so serious. You nod and let him walk in your kitchen. "I cooked dinner for us two", you smile to blow the negative vibes away. "Do you think dinner will change the fact you act exaggerate?!", his tall body turns around because he stands before you. "huh?", you're even more confused. "We're not together and you stress me out", he tolerates no argument whilst speaking. Honestly you're not able to argue. It's like a punch in your face. "what did I do?", you feel so small. Even when he told you this in a respectful way. "you stress me out. You want to text non-stop and you're not my girlfriend, not yet. After last night with five text messages I'm thinking if it's a good idea to ask you for that", Nico grabs your shaky hands,"it's not like I'm not interested anymore", he kisses your forehead. You're just able to nod and accept the fact. What he needs and wants.

"Thank you for telling me this", your fake smile shows sadness. Nico doesn't want to hurt you on purpose. "I'll pack in the pesto for you", with blurry eyes you do that, giving him the lunch box. Nico just stays calm, taking it and when you close the door behind you, he thinks of hoping you understood what he meant.

The next days your chest feels heavy, texting no message, you don't call him, you let him his freedom. You know Nico lost the finals of the world championship, he looked so disappointed and usually you would at least send him something lovely, but your brain tells you; you were clingy. You're the problem. You're a bad Person for bothering someone. You don't enjoy being a clingy girl.

In the middle of night your phone vibrates again, like ten times until you groan, you're not in the shape to talk happy phone calls. "hey, are you ok?", his voice sounds occupied. "Sure", you reply. "You didn't text me once. I'm worried. We lost", he let you know the news. Of course you're not saying that you watched his game. Like he gave you a clear message. You would be clingy you're not his girlfriend and he owes you nothing.

"I'm sorry to hear that", your hands shake again. You don't feel comfortable anymore, more like you have to hide your personality to be not the problem anymore. "I didn't mean that I don't like to talk with you", he coughs. "I really like you anyway as a person who you are", he talks more. "I'm tired, good night", hanging up until he can hear how much you're hurt. Just thoughts hunting you in your head;

what are you doing now?

What is the right way to deal with this?

#nhl blurb #nhl x reader #nhl hockey #nico hischier #nico hischier blurb #nico hischier fluff #nico hischer x reader #nico hischier angst #nhl angst #nhl imagine

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2nd2ndalto · 8 months

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Broken

Here's something angsty. Will loses a patient. Nico comforts him.

___

“Hey Will? I’m coming in to brush my teeth,” Nico calls, pausing with his hand on the knob of the bathroom door.

The boy in the shower doesn’t answer. Nico opens the door a crack.

“Will?” he tries again.

“Yup. Okay.”

Nico closes the door behind him, hesitating. Will sounds… off. But then, he’s allowed. It’s been an especially rough day. Three new campers arrived around lunchtime, all of them badly injured. Two survived.

Will might want to talk about it later, Nico thinks. He sometimes does, once they’re alone, curled together in Nico’s double bed. Guilty sentences choked out in the dark, Will’s breath against his neck. I should have been able to do more. It’s my fault.

Sometimes Will doesn’t want to talk. Sometimes he just wants to be held, no words exchanged. It’s messed up, honestly, forcing a kid to become a field medic at age ten. But that’s the nature of demigod life.

The worst is when Will doesn’t want to stay the night at all. Sometimes he goes back to his own cabin, sometimes he finds an empty bed in the infirmary. Nico aches at the thought of the other boy keeping his hurt to himself - he only does that when things are really bad - but they’re learning to give each other space.

Nico finishes brushing his teeth, spitting into the sink. His heart swells a bit at the sight of Will’s toothbrush in the cup next to his. A spare, for the many nights Will stays over. They’ve shared a bed for months now, many more months than they’ve actually been together.

The being together - that’s new - fresh and green and blossoming, stolen kisses and fingers twined together. Nico’s well aware that most of the camp probably thinks there’s more than that going on. Let them think what they want. He’s never been happier.

Nico pauses in front of the steamed-up mirror, realizing he hasn’t heard any signs of life from the shower for a few minutes.

“Solace? You okay in there?”

Silence.

“Will?” Nico’s pulse picks up speed.

“I can’t - I feel like I can’t get it off my hands.” Will’s voice is cracked, broken, words choked out between sobs he’s clearly been trying to mask under the running water.

Shit.

“What do you mean? What can’t you get off?” Nico steps closer, one hand pressed to the mottled glass door of the shower, as close as he can get to the other boy.

There’s another long pause.

“Will?” Nico can hear the rising panic in his own voice. Should he go get Austin?

“Her blood,” Will gasps out. “It won’t come off.”

Nico’s heart sinks. Will’s hands had looked clean when he arrived at Cabin Thirteen. Will is notoriously diligent about hand-washing.

Nico keeps a hand pressed hard to the shower door, as if he can offer some modicum of comfort that way.

“Hey. Will, it’s - it’s not real, okay? It’s just - it’s just in your head. There’s no blood on you.” Nico can just make out the form of his boyfriend huddled on the floor. What the fuck is he supposed to say?

He stands there in the steamy little room, helpless, just the heartbreaking sound of Will’s sobs and the rush of the water.

“Will, do - do you want me to get someone?” Nico’s own voice nearly breaks and he frowns, swallowing hard. This is not the time.

“No, don’t.” Will’s answer comes immediately. “I don’t want - please don’t tell anyone.”

“Okay, but - Will, tell me what to do,” Nico pleads. “Please tell me how I can help.” He tries to keep his voice steady, tries not to blurt out, you’re scaring me.

“No. I’m fine,” Will chokes out, and Nico would laugh if it wasn’t all so awful. Will’s always fine, isn’t he? That’s his job. That’s the problem.

Nico can only manage another moment pressed against the shower door before he’s in motion, because gods, he can’t bear another second. All he wants to do is pull the other boy into his arms, soothe him any way he can. Offering platitudes with a door in between them isn’t helping anyone. He spares only the briefest moment for embarrassment before he’s pulling off his pajamas and letting them fall to the floor.

He pauses then, hand on the shower door, because they haven’t ever done this. And though he can’t stand to be separated from Will for the space of another breath, he still needs the other boy to have some say in the matter.

Moving to the bathroom door, he flicks off the lights, plunging the little room into complete darkness.

“Nico?”

Nico stumbles back to the shower. “I’m coming in,” he says, doing his best to hide the way his voice is shaking.

“No, you -”

“Please, Will.” He pauses, fingers tight on the door handle.

There’s a long silence and then, “okay.” Will’s voice is just barely audible over the water.

Nico steps into the steamy little space, dropping to the floor and reaching for his boyfriend in the darkness. His hand finds Will’s shoulder, and in the next second Will scoots into his arms, pressing his face into Nico’s neck, clinging, his body shaking with deep, aching sobs. Nico gathers him in, desperately hoping that maybe if he holds on tight enough he can fix this. One of his bare knees is pressed into the pebbled floor of the shower and one arm bent at an odd angle, but he doesn’t loosen his hold. His own tears fall fast and silent, washed away in the spray of the shower.

It’s several minutes before Will’s tears begin to ease and he takes in a gasp.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. I thought I could hold it together. I wanted to see you, but I should’ve -” The words fall out in a rush, desperate, like Will’s trying to push them out before the tears start again.

“Will. Stop. I want to help. I want you here. Please let me help.”

“I don’t think anyone can help me.” Will’s voice breaks again, and he pulls in a gasp, convulsive

“Then let me hold you,” Nico says, trying for sure, steady. He doesn’t think he manages it.

Will doesn’t answer, but Nico thinks he softens a little further into the embrace. He’s pulling in sharp, quick breaths, his shoulders heaving.

“Hey. Breathe with me, okay?” Will nods against his head and Nico closes his eyes, counting, doing his best to calm his own breathing the way Will taught him to do back when he first arrived at camp three years ago. It’s pure relief when he finally feels Will match his breaths, and they spend the longest time wrapped together in the dark under the falling water. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Finally Will’s hold relaxes the tiniest bit and Nico pulls back enough to kiss him, desperate, again and again. It’s not heat, not passion, just love. Wrenching, bone-deep sadness for the other boy. He cradles Will’s face tenderly and Will kisses back just as hard, melting into it. They finally part, foreheads pressed together.

“I love you,” Nico tells the other boy. It’s not the first time he’s said it, but he tries to pour his whole heart into the words, this time.

“I love you too,” Will whispers. “You - I - I’m such a fucking mess. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to see me like this. I’m too much, I know I am, you shouldn’t have to deal with this, I just don’t want to lose you -”

Nico’s stomach twists. “Will, what?” He pulls back enough to look Will in the eye, though it’s really too dark to see anything but the vaguest silhouette.

“I don’t - I can’t -” Will’s voice breaks again.

“You are not gonna lose me, okay? Is - is that what you’re saying? You think I’ll leave when I realize what - how fucked up you are?” he asks, incredulous.

Will doesn’t answer.

“Will.” He pulls the other boy closer again, rubbing his back, his shoulders, anywhere he can reach. “Will I already know who you are. You’re not - I already love you. I know who you are and I love who you are, okay? All of you.”

“Are you sure?” Will gasps out between hiccuping sobs.

“Yes, you idiot,” Nico half-laughs. “I can’t believe you thought you were hiding anything from me.”

Will laughs too, a short, relieved sound.

“Idiot,” Nico repeats softly, sliding his hand into Will’s wet hair, stroking. He rocks them back and forth as best as he can until Will’s breath starts to settle again.

“I’m sorry I made you get in the shower,” Will murmurs.

“You didn’t make me do anything,” Nico says. “Now. Just hold on. Don’t move.”

He rises carefully, cautiously feeling around on the shelves in the shower stall until his fingers encounter what he’s looking for.

“Here.” Nico sits back down. “Give me your hand.”

Will does, and Nico takes the other boy’s hand between both of his, soaping carefully over each of his fingers, then reaching for the nail brush, gently, methodically scrubbing around Will’s nails.

“Nico.” The other boy’s voice is soft, sorry. “You - you don’t have to. I know there wasn’t really blood, I just -”

“I know you know,” Nico says, continuing his gentle scrubbing. He sets down the nail brush after a moment, turning Will’s hand to the spray of the water, carefully washing off the soap. “Give me your other hand,” he instructs, quiet, and Will does. Nico thinks he can feel some of the tension drain from Will’s body along with the water and soap. He carefully washes Will’s arms, up to his elbows, soaping, rinsing. He can’t see what he’s doing, but he imagines he can, running his fingers tenderly over freckled skin, soft blond hair. Firm muscle, familiar scars.

Will sighs. Nico finally brings Will’s hands to his face, pressing kisses to the back of his hands, then his palms. He leans in to press his lips to Will’s forehead.

“It’s okay,” he murmurs. Will nods, taking a shaky breath.

“I’m gonna get the shampoo,” Nico tells him. He’s not sure how much cleaning Will managed to do before Nico entered the shower, but Will doesn’t protest, just sits there quiet and compliant as Nico carefully shampoos his hair and rinses, then reaches for the conditioner. He touches the other boy with all the care and love he deserves, hoping Will can somehow soak it up in these moments, that maybe it will help him in harder moments tomorrow. Nico massages the conditioner through Will’s wet curls, fingers careful on his scalp, finishing with a wet kiss to each cheek before leaning back, guiding Will into the spray of the water.

They hold each other afterwards, still sitting on the floor of the shower, until the water starts to cool. Will is quiet, his breath slow and even. He must be exhausted, Nico thinks.

“I’ll grab towels,” Nico says, standing and pulling the door open. “I’m gonna turn the light on, okay?”

He quickly dries off, wrapping a towel around his waist. The shower door opens and Will’s hand reaches out. Nico pushes a towel into his grasp and Will emerges a moment later, similarly wrapped. His gaze flickers to Nico and then back to his bare feet, his eyes puffy and red.

Nico can’t imagine he looks much better himself. He steps forward, winds his arms around Will’s neck. Will lets out a long sigh as he returns the embrace, his hands warm on Nico’s bare skin.

Nico pulls back after a long moment, reaching for another towel to rub over Will’s shoulders, his chest. He lets his fingers linger over Will's tattoo, then carefully presses his hand to the other boy's chest. Warm, damp skin, steady heartbeat. He glances up to meet Will’s eyes. The intensity in the taller boy’s gaze makes Nico want to cower a little, but instead he rises on his toes, pressing a soft kiss to Will’s lips.

“Hair,” Nico instructs, raising the towel to Will’s head, and Will ducks his head so Nico can reach. “You’re so fucking tall,” he complains under his breath, hoping for a smile.

He gets a half-one at least, Will’s eyes welling a bit with the action.

“Thanks,” Will says, his voice hoarse.

Nico shrugs. “Any time. How many times have you put me back together, Solace?”

Will swallows, nodding mutely.

Nico gazes at him. He looks particularly vulnerable, barefoot and towel-clad in the little bathroom. Tired. Defeated. It makes Nico's heart ache.

“I’m glad you came here,” Nico says.

Will nods. “Me too,” he whispers.

“You’re staying, right?”

It’s weirdly not awkward at all, both of them standing here in this tiny room in only towels. Nico can feel an echo of warmth - Will’s bare skin pressed to his own. It’s just comfort. It’s just them. He wants them both to curl up inside the feeling and forget everything else.

Will glances away. “I don’t know.”

Nico’s heart drops.

“I should - I should probably… I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have nightmares. I don’t want to bother you with that.”

Nico scoffs. “Don’t be an idiot.”

Will won’t quite meet his eye.

“Hey.” He grabs Will’s hand. “Do you really need some space? Because I get it if you do. But if you want to stay - I want you here. I don’t need any space from you right now, nightmares or not. I’m gonna wrap around you like velcro and cuddle you all night,” he threatens.

Will smiles, a real one this time. “Okay. That sounds nice.”

Minutes later Will joins him in bed and Nico tucks them both in, cozy under pajamas and blankets. Will curls into him, tucking his head under Nico’s chin the way he only does when he’s feeling particularly broken. Nico holds tighter.

“Do you… do you wanna talk about it?” Nico asks after a long moment.

There’s a pause and then Will shakes his head.

“Okay. That’s okay,” Nico murmurs. At least he’s here.

“Hey,” Nico says after a long silence, nervous. The thought has been lingering on the edges of his mind, and he suddenly realizes he wants to get the words out before they both succumb to sleep. “You, um. You remember when I went to see Reyna last week?”

“Yeah?”

Nico presses his face into Will’s damp curls. “She um. She started seeing like… a therapist. In New Rome.”

Will doesn’t answer, but there’s a certain tension in his body that tells Nico he’s listening.

“She said it was really helping her, and she thought - well. She thought it might be good for me to try that. Too.”

Nico hasn’t allowed himself to think about it too deeply. The prospect is terrifying, honestly. But maybe something does need to change. Maybe he and Will can do a bit better than spending the rest of their lives patching each other up.

“And what do you think?” Will asks. Nico can feel the words breathed out against his sternum, the movement of Will’s jaw.

Nico lets out a soft laugh. “I - I dunno. It sounds… kind of awful, actually. But I was thinking maybe… maybe I should… look into it.”

There’s a long moment of quiet.

“If you go…” Will says eventually, soft, “maybe… maybe you could tell me how it is.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

Well, I guess I’m going to therapy, Nico thinks to himself.

Nico shifts a bit, tries to make them both a bit more comfortable. He tucks his nose against the crown of Will’s head.

“Look,” he murmurs, because he wants to make sure he made himself clear, earlier, “it’s always cool if you need space, okay? But don’t stay away because you think you’re too much for me. You’re not. We can be fucked up together. Or we can take turns. Whatever. I just wanna love you.”

Will nods. “Okay,” he says, his voice breaking just a little.

Will falls asleep almost immediately, his breath slow and steady against Nico’s chest. Nico’s mind spins for a while longer before it finally settles into the now-familiar comfort of the boy in his arms, their shared breath, the smell of Will’s hair.

He wishes he could do more for Will. None of this is easy. But they’re here. And they’re together. And maybe that’s enough for tonight.

___

Thanks for reading! Reblogs are always appreciated and I love reading the accompanying tags - I never know how to respond to comments in tags, but I do read them & appreciate you taking the time to write them <3

#nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo #my writing #angst #hurt/comfort #pjo fic #rated teen for trauma I guess #technical nudity but definitely no smut

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thek1ngtalks · 2 years

Text

Meeting...

Percy Jackson

Youre a bit of an oddball in camp. You were 15 when you were found, completely by accident. A saytr protecting another kid ran into you and that's the only reason he noticed you were a demigod.

You're,,, painfully normal, actually. Which, in a world of demigods and monsters, is in itself weird.

Being normal isn't a bad thing though. It's kept you and your parent safe, which is why they didn't put you on an immediate evac out to camp.

Sadly, your no monster streak was ruined as a frizzy red headed girl and a boy who looked like he tried to skate as a job while graffiting walls on the weekend broke into the band room you were trying to practice in

Great way to start off your highschool years, I assure you.

The redhead gives you a once over but deems you unimportant and starts trying to wedge herself between the wall and a bass drum.

The skater glanced between you and the red head before reluctantly joining her, hiding behind a bunch of bongos. They start whispering to each other, though it fails since you're pretty sure the red head's never whispered before

Your face pinches as you listen to them talk and like any normal person, you assume they're both crazy. Greek myths, what a joke.

Then, as the skater boy is about to reveal whatever big secret he's keeping, two cheerleaders step into the room. You vaguely remember them welcoming you in, although they called you a fish and stared at you funny.

Blah blah, they attack you, the skater boy– who the evil vampire ladies conveniently tell you the name of, Percy saves you both and then the school is on fire. Whoops?

Anyways, Percy brings you with him to camp, very shortly shows you around before things start getting crazy. Some centaur dude is on trial, Percy leaves for a quest and is dead for a little before he crashes his own funeral, overall a weird couple weeks.

After hiding in the Apollo cabin during the fight, handing things to the healers as they work, things seem to settle for a little.

He does come to see you to apologize for not being a very good guide and offers to show you a more detailed, and far more fun, intro to camp

That's when you start getting to know Percy more. His quirks, his skills, even his odd love of blue food.

He seems to seek you out often, answering only once that it's because you make everything so average.

You realize that with Percy's luck, everything is in extremes. When you're around though, he gets a break. If you can give him even a few minutes of peace, you don't really mind him calling you average (okay you still kinda do)

When you both inevitably start dating, no one's surprised. A few seemed disappointed they lost the apparent bet on Percy's love life, but no one was shocked considering how much Percy doted on you when you were around.

He also called you his good luck charm more than a few times, especially when you weren't around

Nico Di Angelo

You were a young mortal, emphasis on were. You had been a follower of the Chthonic Gods and with a life devoted to them, you got a bit of a cushy death.

You became a servant to Persephone, who had only needed a few extra hands temporarily and didn't care to dismiss you when things calmed down again. Obviously you don't remember much of your life but you were living a good death, so you weren't upset.

You had become an almost right-hand to her majesty, still a strong devote to her husband gave you a bit of a leg up in that regard.

And as her right-hand, she often gave you tasks she knew you could handle, you just weren't expecting to have to take care of a dandelion.

It definitely isn't one of the harder tasks she's had you do but it is more confusing. She had expressed that if one petal were to fall from it, Hades himself would send you to Tartarus, which is definitely NOT on your To Do List, so you've wisely took them to heart

You made sure to take it with you everywhere, taking care to keep the soil moist and talking to it often. You're not sure if it's helping but not a single petal has fallen yet, so you're positive that you're doing something right.

It's only after two weeks of this schedule that Persephone calls you to her room and tells you to bring the plant. Of course you listen

You're more than a little embarrassed when she turned the dandelion back into a broody teen, one who refuses to look back at you as he begins arguing with Persephone

Persephone dismisses you and the brooding boy takes that as his cue to leave with you, still avoiding your face

He thanks you for taking such good care of him and offers his name —Nico— but nothing else before he shadowtravels away

Over the next few weeks you find small trinkets from the overworld left in your room, in the spot you had left Nico's dandelion form.

After a month of this, you are walking with Persephone as she heads to her garden and are faced with 3 demigods

Your eyes meet Nico's and he seems embarrassed again before he begins arguing with Persephone again

You are ordered to help them navigate the underworld in search for Hades's newest symbol of power and Nico actually starts looking at you, talking to you, and being normal

He's quite nice and he doesn't seem to hold anything against you, which is nice. You get along a lot better when he can actually respond and after retrieving the sword, you ask Nico to drop his gifts off in person so that you can actually see him more.

It's barely a few years later when Nico leads you out of the Underworld in the midst of Thanatos being missing, apparently having already gotten Persephone's permission but oddly tight-lipped about how (he coughs up petals for a week)

As a human you begin aging again with small parts of your past coming back. Nico is delighted when you remember your name and makes sure to say it to you at least once a day in case you ever forget it again.

You follow him wherever he goes, even to Tartarus, and all of his friends are surprised when you announce your dating, only because they thought you already were

Nico has apparently been horribly obvious in his adoration of you and you're much the same

{《☆》}

[I was supposed to write a platonic soulmate shortfic with like 10 characters and accidentally wrote this instead. Congrats, I guess. (I'm still gonna write the other one, you can't stop me)]

[L0v3, k1ng]

#k1ng writes #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson x male reader #percy jackson x gn reader #percy x reader #nico di angelo x reader #nico di angelo x male reader #nico di angelo x gn reader #nico x reader #nico di angelo

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ladylooch · 11 months

Note

a fic where nico fucks the reader in the shower?

A/N: Omg… I thought you would never ask 😉 Enjoy!!!! Also, Idk what it is about a man washing hair, but it gets me every time. Like it’s so sweet… and innocent.. and mundane.. but so romantic. AH!

Word Count: 2.3k

P.S. How do we like this banner 👇🏻? Is it clear to you what you’re getting into? I’m thinking of adding this to all my smut fics, but was curious on how it would be received.

My second time in Switzerland with Nico is going swimmingly. We have indulged in amazing food, done some sight seeing, and explored a couple hiking trails through easy, lower elevation spots. I’m even starting to recognize my way around Bern when Nico and I visit the local cafe for espresso’s each morning.

But the Hischier family reunion is proving to be much deeper water than I anticipated. Nico told me it was a family party, but as we were walking in to the hotel event space, Luca explained it was a reunion. Nico had looked at me with concern, but I shrugged it off, wondering how hard this was actually going to be.

The problem? Not many of them speak fluent English and I don’t know more than a few words in Swiss German. I don’t think spewing swearwords at his extended family members is a good first impression.

Nico was instantly pulled in so many different directions, as per usual. At first, we tried to stay together, but it became impossible with the size of the crowd and attention. I’ve had so many family members come up and try to speak to me. We sputter through the little English they know before they move along to someone else they can communicate with. The noise in the room is loud with laughter and animated talking. A throb is beginning to pulse through my brain. I try to ignore it, but know with my history, this will be a long night if I don’t find some quiet. Luckily, we have a room booked upstairs for the night to avoid any sort of traveling after the consumption of numerous adult beverages.

I scan the room for my husband. Nico is with his parents and a few cousins I’ve met before. I sneak up next to Nico, but the way Rino is standing, I can’t get completely into the circle. I awkwardly reach out and lace my fingers with Nico’s left hand, catching my finger prints on his ring. He looks over his shoulder at my touch and smiles, turning sideways to pull me in.

“Oh I’m sorry, y/n.” Rino says when he sees me, making even more room for me. Shit. I just wanted to let Nico know I was heading upstairs, not be consumed in another conversation.

“It’s okay.” I give him a sweet smile and then drop my gaze to the floor. The group laughs at something Nico’s cousin is saying in Swiss German. I tilt my lips in acknowledgement, but it’s all I can muster right now. I turn to look into Nico’s face. He looks so happy and at ease. I feel shamefully guilty for wanting to leave, but I know if I stay here and continue to socialize, I’m going to start shutting down in overwhelm.

“Babe.” I whisper to him, hoping to only get his attention. It works. His brown eyes slide to me and his hand on my lower back pulls me tight as he leans his ear closer to me. “I’m going to go back to our room.” My voice stays at whisper level; he nods in acknowledgement.

“Are you okay?” He whispers against my ear after brushing our cheeks together.

“Yeah, I’m just… tired.” I say because I can’t think of what else to describe meeting every family member of your husband’s extended family in one night in which you can only communicate well with about four of them. Nico pulls slightly away and looks into my eyes. I know he can see what I mean. He gives me a reassuring, sweet kiss.

“Okay.” He turns so his back is blocking me from the group and he places a hand on my hip to nudge back. Then, he ushers me to leave without making a scene. My eyes flutter gratefully at him and I make a dash to leave without any more interruptions. As I leave, I can feel Nico’s eyes on me. Something about it feels possessive and my skin breaks out into goosebumps.

When I get to our room, I immediately begin to shed my clothes. Since leaving the loud space, my head has begun to pound in sync with my heartbeat at my temples. I know a nasty tension headache is coming for me. Despite cold showers being generally better for headaches, a warm one always helps ease mine away. I place my hands on the cool, porcelain sink and suck in a deep breath. The relief I feel at finally being alone consumes me. I am so tried and weirdly sore? The tension in my neck and shoulders needs to be rubbed away. I’m hopeful this shower will do the trick.

I reach for the stainless steel knobs and turn the glass shower to a soothing heat. The water is hot, but not so hot that it will scald my skin. Instead, it will wrap around me like a warm blanket with the steam. I don’t bother to close the door to the bathroom, knowing there is no risk to unwanted eyes on me here. The Swiss sure know how to create an air of privacy and seclusion.

When I step into the shower, I sigh in happiness as the warm water begins to tap along my neck and shoulders. I dip my chin to rest almost against my chest and feel the releasing of my muscles. The steam swirls around my legs, wrapping them in it’s warmth. I close my eyes to allow the water to cascade over my face, taking my make up off with each drop. I already feel a little better.

I grab my face wash and scrub at my eyes to get the remaining mascara off of them. The rest of my makeup washes away effortlessly with the soap. I hold my fingers to my temples and press into them for a count of ten, then release and feel the next edge of pain wash away with the water. I suck in another deep breath, holding it and then releasing it. I’m feeling better with each passing second.

I turn around, letting my brown hair fall down my back and soak in the stream of the shower head. My eyes are closed to avoid the water spray but I step slightly forward so I can open them to grab my shampoo. My gaze immediately lands on Nico. Despite his sudden appearance, I am not shocked to see him. He leans just inside the door of the bathroom by the light switches. His brown eyes are molten black and I can see his erection straining his gray shorts from here.

“You just going to watch from there?” I ask him as I squirt shampoo into my hand. A sexy, smug grin tilts his lips apart. I watch as his hands come to the buttons on his navy shirt as he pushes off from the wall.

“I only came up here to check on you. But then you lifted your arms to run through your hair and your tits bounced in a way that wouldn’t let me leave.” He says while he steps out of his pants and boxer briefs.

“If you weren’t so sexy, that might be a little creepy.”

“There’s nothing creepy about my eyes on you.” Nico says as he steps into the shower with me. His hands come to my waist and he pulls my wet body to his. I’m slippery from the dripping trails of my shampoo. His hands glide across my sides, then up to soap up my breasts. His fingers thumb at my glistening nipples and a breathy gasp drops from my mouth when he twists.

Nico walks me back carefully so I’m back in the shower stream. His fingers come to my hair so he can massage the soap out of it. The act is intimate- a pleasurable and practical motion that has my pussy throbbing for him. I can feel his erection bouncing against my stomach with each one of his movements. It’s a teasing gesture that builds the passion between us. I reach my hand out to give him a firm squeeze at the base. He’s rock hard and his skin barely gives to my grip.

“Usually, I’m not a shower sex kind of girl.” I murmur. He knows this and we both agree that it messes with natural lubrication, but right now, the ache is so great between us, that it shouldn’t be an issue. “But that looks painful, so I’ll make an exception.” I turn, placing my palms flat against the shower wall. I extend my arms fully, walking Nico back so that I’m out of the shower stream and my hips press eagerly outwards, begging for him to fill me. He sighs happily, bringing his middle finger to my opening, testing me. What he finds there is warm and thick readiness.

“On your toes.” He requests and I do so. Now, I’m at the perfect height for him to plunge into me. He refused to wait longer, thrusting inside of me in one steady push. My head immediately curls back between my shoulder blades. My mouth opens for a moment before I grit my teeth at how damn good he feels inside of me.

“I’m going to need your help to stay up.” I wheeze out as he starts to move. The pleasure is so intense right off the bat that my muscles keep melting into mush, making it hard to stay on my toes like he asked. His hands come to my hips and his grip is tight as he keeps me in place. I’m quivering already. I hear Nico laugh from behind me when he feels my muscles shaking. “Shut up.” I snap, causing him to snicker louder as I reach back and slap his forearm. I dig my nails in pointedly, “If you can laugh, you can fuck me harder.”

“Baby!” He chokes out in surprise then lets out a groan. “Keep that up.”

His hips move faster. I press back hard against him so my face doesn’t go too far into the water. Nico took my challenge to heart. His thrusts are deep and my inner walls are clenching at him with each movement, begging him to stay inside of me. I tighten around him and he releases a deep, desperate moan. I can feel his abdomen tightening and I know we are ending this round together. I reach back to hold onto his hip, keeping us smashed together with each thrust. I pull my upper body a little further up and that creates the perfect angle for us both. I can feel my orgasm pulsing deep within me, pounding at my walls to be released. Nico removes his right hand from my hip and dances his fingers along my wet clit.

“Yes!” I scream as I come crashing down. I dig my fingers into his hip and my entire body convulses. My muscles tug at him inside of me. Nico releases into me with the same fierceness, an extended moan falling from his plumped lips. When the last wave has rippled out of me, I dip my head forward into the shower stream, sucking in quick breaths to try and settle myself. My legs are shaking. My calves are screaming at me to get off my toes, but I can’t until Nico slips from me. “Babe, out. My legs… are cramping.”

“Sorry.” He murmurs, wrapping an arm around my stomach and pulling from me. His arm stays as I go back down onto flat feet. I lean back into his solid chest, the water from my hair dripping all over us. His other arm wraps around me to hold me tight, massaging my heavy breast. I run my fingers up the outsides of his arms and grip his large biceps to hang onto him. “I’m so glad I came up here.” He chuckles against the top of my head.

“Me too. My headache is gone.” I note. The afterglow has assaulted us in the shower and we are both lazily rubbing our fingers against each other’s wet skin. “Do they think you’re coming back?”

“I don’t know. And I really don’t care. I’m not leaving this room now.” I nod in understanding. “Did something happen down there?” He wonders. “You seemed fine and then you weren’t.”

“No.. I was just overwhelmed by meeting so many people.” I say to him, watching as flecks of water patter our reflection on the glass shower door. “Ended up getting a bad headache.”

“Yeah, I didn’t realize it was going to be a family reunion.” He mutters, shaking his head. “I would have prepared you for it if I knew.”

“It’s okay. This helped.” I grin, tilting my head back to look up at him. His lips find my temple and we stay like that for a moment, eyes closed in contentment. “Wanna wash my body?” I ask him, feeling that he has softened completely against my butt cheeks.

“You know where that is going to lead.”

“Yeah, kinda why I asked.” I turn to face him, tossing my arms around his neck. I bring his face down to mine, walking us back into the shower stream. The trails of water fly down our faces, melding in our mouths with each lap of our tongues against each other. Nico’s hands slide down to my ass, gripping tightly and smashing me to his chest.

“You taste so fucking good. Wonder how you taste here.” He slides down my body, settling on his knees in the wet shower and shoving his tongue between my legs. My head knocks back, being sprayed by the warm shower head. My leg hooks over his shoulder and I settle my hand on top of his head for balance.

“Oh my god.” I moan to our hotel room.

Of all the Hischiers downstairs right now, I’m glad this one is mine.

#nico hischier x reader #nico hischier smut #nico hischier fic #hockey writing #my writing #nhl fan fiction #new jersey devils #writing request

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pigfacedbitch · 9 months

Text

Let's Break Up (II)

summary : you try to do the break up prank on your boyfriend.

word count : 0.5k

type : headcanons

pairing/s involved : Leo Valdez / Frank Zhang / Will Solace x Reader

warning/s : none

here is my masterlist! Part I is composed of Jason, Percy, and Nico.

Leo Valdez

"I don't love you anymore. I want to end this."

He will think it's joke but when the 'I'm kidding!' never comes, he tries not to make a big deal out of it.

Just chill and shrug like he was expecting it to happen.

"Oh well, if that's what you want."

He will overthink every situation where you acted suspicious; rejecting his affections, flirting with other guys— you know... signs of possible cheating or interest in other people?

Not that he doubts your loyalty but Leo's sense of inferiority can cloud his judgement; it's himself he is unsure of.

I'm not enough for her. There are better guys out there. I'm supposed to understand. Thoughts like that.

You better say it's a prank right away! Because once you let him go, he will probably cry and lock himself in Bunker 9.

You had to knock continuously on the metal door and sing like Anna in "Do You Wanna Buid A Snowman?" for Leo to get out.

"It's just a prank, love. I'm sorry."

He lets out quiet sobs when your eyes meet, but he's obviously relieved.

COMFORT HIM AND NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

Frank Zhang

"Listen, this relationship is not working out anymore. I want to break up."

Now, if you've watched the part in American Psycho where Patrick Batman breaks up with his fiancee then you'll be able to picture this.

Frank will cry, loudly at that. It will catch the attention of anyone nearby, embarassing you.

He won't hold back. No, no, no, my friend. There will be whining and any other loud noises any human in pain is possible of letting out.

Did you instantly think you are an idiot for doing this? Yes, sir! 😊😙

"Frank, quiet down!"

"Oh gods, (Y/N) doesn't love me anymore!"

"I do, it's just a prank!"

Stops immediately, dramatically wiping his tears with a smug look on his face. With your mouth agape, he walks away from you like an action star in a explosion movie scene.

"Next time you try to prank me, don't tell anyone beforehand!"

"...Damn it, Hazel!"

Will Solace

This lovely son of Apollo is always busy due to his medical duties in Camp Half Blood so he truly cherishes the short moments he gets to spend with you.

In other words? Don't fucking waste his time.

"Will, I think we should break up."

He had encountered many campers pretend sickness for various of reasons— wanting to escape cleaning duties, skip training, and many more.

He will see through your lie. He always does.

If you decided to pull this prank AFTER he got to rest from the infirmary, he will just give you the don't-try-me-bitch look.

If you picked BEFORE he got to rest, you're dead. Expect him to throw medical tools at you.

Don't worry, not sharp ones. Just the scabs, cotton balls, and such.

It can be annoying though, not mention the scolding Chiron will give you later for wasting inventory materials.

"Will, stop it!"

"Take it back!"

"Sorry, it was just a joke."

The man very tired, okay? Stop with the nonsense and just cuddle with him. The gods know he desperately needs it.

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forestmossling · 24 days

Text

okay, time for some serious caleo bashing (i’ve been gearing up for it for a while).

so we have leo valdez - admittedly the loneliest and saddest character in pjo (fuck people who think it’s nico because it’s not, and i can elaborate on that in another post if anybody wants me to). his entire character arc is formed by his loneliness - he loses his mother at a very young age, so he’s left without any real, loving family or any kind of safe, stable home for the majority of his adolescence, because foster care throws him around (or he himself is forced to run away) he doesn’t get an opportunity to form any real connections. and then, finally, he gets piper and jason. except he doesn’t, really, because they mostly ignore him in favor of dealing with their rocky relationship. he seemingly gets a family - the hephaestus cabin - but he quickly becomes a social pariah there too because of his abilities and general demeanor (which is, in fact, a coping mechanism). and yes, later on we see him getting on better with his siblings, but that doesn’t happen for a good long while.

his loneliness becomes even more glaringly obvious on argo II. i don’t think i have to remind you of the whole narcissus and echo ordeal. and the way absolutely everyone is paired off, except for him. so he’s basically abandoned by everyone throughout all of hoo - by his family (godly and otherwise) and by his friends and those he tries to befriend.

so how to fix that? how to rid leo of this staggering loneliness he carries around like a suffocating cloak three sizes too big? well, i would say, let’s improve platonic relationships on argo II and let these kids be friends with each other instead of just getting tangled up in all possible variations of romantic affairs. let leo visibly (ON SCREEN (or well, on page)) get closer to his godly siblings and find a family he longed for since he lost his mother. let him find out from reliable people who love him, that his powers and what happened to his mother don’t make him a monster. let him thrive in a safe environment where he isn’t pressured to play an entertainer just to be kept around, for once.

but what did rick decide? LET’S GIVE HIM A GIRLFRIEND!! let’s throw a cute girl at leo, blatantly ignoring the fact that most of his issues stem from lacking a loving family and genuine platonic companionship, none of which will be solved by a romantic relationship. and not just throw a girl at him - let’s dump him on a cursed island which magically forces the girl in question to automatically fall in love with anybody who lands on it. let’s leave caleo no other choice but to fall in love with each other, because calypso has no other way of getting off the ogygia and leo feels guilty about leaving her there alone and also she’s his only chance of survival. sure, why the fuck not.

and i understand why caleo would be attracted to each other. when they first met and when i first saw them slowly warming up to each other, i genuinely could see them becoming a badass power couple and had pretty high hopes for them.

but then they get off the island. and well. everything goes to shit. calypso resents leo for losing her immortality, and leo somehow? feels guilty about it??? (if memory serves me right. if it doesn’t, well, i have a lot more points i’m completely confident in). every time we see them talk to each other, it’s calypso throwing jabs at leo which aren’t returned in kind. and, i hate to break it to you guys, but if it’s one person just talking shit at another without another doing the same (very likely because leo’s afraid she will dump him just like everyone else did the moment he steps a foot out of line, which, again - is a VERY BAD FUCKING SIGN), that’s not flirty banter, that’s just straight-up bullying. and let’s not forget the great hits by calypso such as “oh my gods, he doesn’t experience empathy in all the same situations and the same way i do, he’s a heartless fucking monster. hey, leo, you’re a heartless fucking monster for not empathizing with people exactly the same way i do!”, when leo was explicitly shown to struggle with empathy and social interactions in general in canon, because it’s easier to deal with machines. again, largely because he had little to none healthy socialization growing up and he does feel empathy, but just expresses it differently. and i would hope that his actual girlfriend would know that about him and, instead of judging him for it, would learn how to work around it or at least understand that people can be different and that’s not a bad thing, especially when it comes to a person you (are supposed to) love. and even if it was an actual faux pas on leo’s side, i can let it slide because he’s a teenage boy with adhd. calypso, however, is not, and i really feel like a shit ton years old immortal sorceress should know better (and yes, the huge fucking age gap in a relationship with a minor, which is another can of worms entirely, but i will skim over it for now, because there are actually ways for it to be handled better, it just wasn’t).

and, however it looks like, i genuinely don’t have any particularly strong feelings about calypso outside of the way she treats leo. she was admittedly dealt an incredibly shit hand and all the continuously-getting-her-heart-broken-because-of-the-fucking-gods deal is a lot to get over. but that doesn’t excuse how she treats leo. it’s not even a question of “does she really love him?” for me, because i find myself wondering if she even likes him in general, just as a person. and that’s another giant fucking red flag.

their whole relationship just feels like rick incredibly carelessly tied his loose ends, like “oh! there are two characters i don’t know what to do with. well, let’s just smush them together. that will surely solve everything and let me get on with the rest of the story!” (and maybe not even carelessly but, dare i say, uncaringly)

but, okay, let’s say they’re both severely traumatized and just get off to a rocky start. alright. well, how will rick work on improving their relationship and finally resolving the issue of leo’s deep-seated loneliness? oh. he won’t. he will make them leave camp half-blood indefinitely. the place where leo found his first real family, where all of his friends are. where he was, for the first time in the series, shown some actual recognition, respect and care by the other campers (which they did by… hitting him. but considering all the demigods are weird with affection, i will let that one slide), just as he finally got close with his siblings. rick will make them stay at waystation and get a “normal teenage experience” by… going to high school. and i don’t think i’m wrong in assuming leo’s average high school experience prior to this was getting bullied and isolated. which will probably not change just because he goes to a new school in a city he doesn’t know with his girlfriend who hates him.

i’m sorry, but - WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK???

and i understand that letting himself believe that leo dating calypso and changing scenery would magically solve all of his problems was a lot easier for rick than laying huge groundwork for leo finally finding his place in chb and building a bunch of close interpersonal relationships with other campers that would let him feel at home somewhere at last and also breaking his problematic tendency of just pairing teenagers off with each other instead of letting them bond platonically. and i’m also not saying there aren’t A LOT of great platonic relationships written by rick (percy’s family and his friendship with grover, basically all of nico’s immediate circle, all of will’s immediate circle, i really was mostly talking about the argo II debacle there). but this feels a little bit too much like carelessly tying loose ends again for my comfort.

and it’s not like rick just doesn’t realize leo’s motivations and biggest struggles. he doesn’t just make leo a flat comic relief character: he encourages us to empathize with his loneliness and pain all throughout the journey on argo II, he forces us to notice how hard he takes being the seventh, always forgotten wheel. he just… doesn’t really do anything about it.

i am a firm believer in the fact that leo just didn’t need a romantic relationship at all throughout the series. it wouldn’t solve any of his issues (and romantic relationships shouldn’t be founded on the goal of solving anybody’s issues, that’s just a disaster waiting to happen), it would most likely distract him from building a wide and stable support system he actually needs and throw him headfirst into something he, in his current state, would not be equipped to properly deal with. but even if he did enter a romantic relationship at some point, it definitely shouldn’t have been the main point and the grand finale of his story, and it definitely shouldn’t have been with calypso. i can see him with frank (i genuinely remember reading their interactions in books and thinking that they would make a very interesting and fun couple with their dynamic, and the conflict of a guy whose literal survival depends on staying as far away from the fire/a guy who spontaneously ignites all the time would be really tasty and fun to explore, you could throw a good ol’ icarus and sun metaphor in there, but maybe that’s just me), hell, make it leo/frank/hazel (even though dating a guy you only seem to be attracted to because he’s a many-times-grandson of a boy you loved in the past doesn’t seem like a very good basis for a relationship, but at least she wouldn’t treat him the way calypso did). hell, i started really warming up to the idea of valgrace, because, even though their relationship wouldn’t have the time and space it needed to properly develop in canon (rip jason, i love you), they would have a really fucking cool and sweet dynamic. who if not jason grace can understand feeling lonely in a room full of people? who if not jason grace can appreciate leo for all the great things that he is while making him feel genuinely loved, instead of belittled? who if not leo can get jason to loosen up, make him realize he doesn’t have to carry the world of the whole world on his shoulders alone, become the ride-or-die jason never really got to have? but well, that’s me veering a little bit too much towards speculations, and i tried to work mostly with what canon had given us.

anyway. (i promise i’m almost done.) all of this doesn’t mean that i hate rick riordan - i admire his work on pjo, i really want to read the other series in riordanverse, and the sole fact that i had so much material to go through speaks for the immense work he does on giving depth to his characters. and i know he can write good romance: percabeth is one of the very few straight pairings i can not only stomach, but actually love immensely, solangelo is genuinely one of the best things to ever happen to this god-forsaken planet, in my humble opinion, and apollo’s entire history of past relationships has me obsessed (especially the commodus part. i cannot stress enough just how much feelings i have about their story). this is caleo bashing, not rick riordan bashing. but i just feel like he didn’t care enough to give the same carefully thought-out beautiful relationship to leo, and that, regretfully just happens sometimes, especially if there are as many important characters as in pjo, and we can’t really do anything about it. but as an unhinged leo valdez enjoyer and appreciator i’m very sad to see his story go that way, because he really deserves better.

and that’s about it!

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maccreadysbaby · 3 months

Text

A Hundred Ways to Become a Wayne

batfamily + oc insert

tw: angst

wanna read more? here’s the table of contents!

want to read the first fic in the hundred days series so you understand what’s going on here? here it is!

jaybird :,( I’m breaking my own heart over here

part twenty-three

❝ BOILING ❞

FRIDAY — AUGUST 14 — 9:17AM

TIM WAS SICK.

Like, really sick.

He was the first of the downed three to wake, four hours after he collapsed, just to catapult directly into another hour-thirty-three minute anxiety attack that no amount of consoling could stop. Bentley simply sat with Dick while Bruce tried everything in the book to help him. Jason’s periodic screaming only seemed to make it worse and worse until Alfred decided it would be best to give Tim some sedatives.

When he woke up three hours after that, he threw up all over Bruce.

Now, on Friday morning, Tim had been bedridden and sporting a fever over one-hundred for nearly three days. Dick, Bruce, and Alfred had been going in and out of the cave, taking turns, but never leaving the trio in the medbay without a caretaker.

Jason, who was hooked up to a myriad of drips and machines, was still fighting like hell. He had been for the entire three days — screaming, thrashing, throwing himself around so violently the hospital bed had to be moved back to it's original spot a couple of times. The noise didn’t seem to bother Tim or Damian, who were both unresponsive and varying degrees of out of it. Damian was more or less catatonic, completely unresponsive to outside sound or touch, while Tim was… sort of delirious. The Secret Keeper hadn’t seemed to take hold of him, at least not for very long, but an absolutely raging fever had. Dick already had to talk him out of trying to patrol as Robin. Not Red Robin, but Robin, Batman’s sidekick, and the conversation ended with tears on Tim’s part. But at least he could wake up, even if he was just living in a fever-dream.

Bentley, for the past three days, had just sort of been… floating around. Bruce and Cass had to clear the Manor three more times before he as much as thought about going upstairs. And even then, he refused to be alone when he went. He’d slept with Dick the first night back upstairs, and Duke the second. Most of his time was spent in the cave, since there was always guaranteed to be someone down there. He hadn’t as much as checked his phone since this all started — which probably meant Asten and Nico thought he was dead. Not that he cared enough to go find the device anyways.

Instead, he abandoned Duke’s room on Friday morning and went down to the cave instead, where he knew he’d find Dick. Just last night, he and Alfred had manhandled Bruce into getting some rest, and the Butler was on babysitting duty to make sure he actually did. As far as Bentley could assume, Dick was the only (conscious) one that was down there.

As soon as he started down the stairs that led to the cave in Tim’s old Wonder Woman pajamas, he could hear Jason screaming. A sound he’d become accustomed to, as twisted as that sounded.

It was different this time, though. As opposed to the undistinguishable wails that had been erupting out of him for three days straight, now, there were words. Screamed with such a rage, a desperation, a terror that Bentley very nearly hauled himself straight back up the stairs at the sound of it.

“Get away! Get away! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

There was the clacking of the bed again, that signaled that he was thrashing.

And then a second voice came, laced with something thick, like they were speaking through molasses: “It’s okay, Little Wing. You’re in the cave. You’re okay.”

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

Bentley’s socked feet padded onto the hard floor of the cave, and he peered inside, just far enough to see Dick close at Jason’s bedside in the medbay.

Jason was trying his hardest to wrench himself out of the leather straps, throwing himself around, eyes still closed. The drips and tubes that were attached to him kept getting carefully moved by Dick when he would get them tangled or almost knock them over. Based on what Bentley could see, the thrashing wasn’t as violent as it had been — he was probably wearing himself out.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you…”

“I’m right here, Jay. You’re okay,”

Tim and Damian were both just… laying there. Damian, stiff as a board, not doing anything but breathing. Tim shifted around to get more comfortable every so often. There was a bowl of water and a rag on his bedside table, as well as a strategically placed red bucket in the floor that looked like where he was supposed to aim if he puked again.

Bentley wasn’t sure how long Jason had been screaming empty threats across the cave, but he assumed he was arriving at the tail end of it. Because just as quickly as Jason had thrashed and screamed, now, he was starting to cry.

Bentley had never seen Jason Todd cry.

He just stood, watching in silence as the thrashing died down and Jason futilely tried to tug his limbs free from the restraints, trying his hardest to curl into himself even though he couldn’t. “B! Batman! Batman!” He sobbed.

Bentley took a deep breath at the same time Dick did. The sound of his shouting changed again, this one more like a child in terror.

Dick dared to reach forward and brush Jason’s white streak away from his face. “Hey, hey, hey, Jaybird, you’re okay-“

“Batman! Bat- Bat- Bruce! Bruce!”

Bentley inched farther into the room. What was Jason seeing? What was he seeing that scared him so much he was screaming for Bruce?

“B! Bruce! Bruce!” He kept on and on like a broken record, moving his head from side to side, expression heavy with something like hopelessness. He seemed to be losing his energy, his words becoming slurred and quieter, his movements slowing. “Bruce! Bruce… please… Dad…”

Dick kept on brushing Jason’s hair back, even though Bentley could nearly see how tense he was becoming. “You’re not alone, Jason.”

“I don’t want to die… Dad… I don’t want to die…”

Bentley’s heart sank into his toes. Was this how Jason died when he was just a teenager? Screaming for Bruce by name? Screaming for his dad?

Was the Secret Keeper making him relive his death?

“Dad!” The last shout before Jason fell limp was loud, desperate, nearly inhuman. Like a war cry at the end of a battle he knew he was losing.

The loud scream jostled Tim out of his not-so-peaceful slumber, which he announced his exit from with a loud groan: “M’ gonna hurl.”

Bentley decided that he should probably stop just standing there and make himself useful. So he pitter-pattered into the medbay as quickly as he could, fetching the red barf bucket off the floor (ew.) and bringing it up to the edge of the bed. Tim promptly retched into it, and Bentley busied himself by glancing back at Dick, praying Tim wouldn’t throw up on his hands.

Dick’s chair was empty.

Which was fine. He couldn’t have gone far, all Bentley had done was grab a barf bucket off the floor. Surely he’d be back soon.

Bentley looked back at Tim when he heard him flop back down on the bed with another groan. At least he seemed… here, Bentley guessed.

“Are you okay?” He asked. Stupid question, considering that Tim, who already didn’t eat enough, had just barfed his organs out into a bucket that Bentley was just standing there holding. He scrunched his face up at the realization and put it back on the floor. Tim’s heart monitor was beeping quickly, but not too fast, he guessed. The temperature gauge screen off to the side read 104.8.

Tim’s red, icy eyes landed on Bentley, and sweat gleamed on his skin as he turned his head toward him. His black hair was hanging down in his eyes, but he didn’t seem to care. He looked at him with a strange blankness. “Of course I’m okay, kid. I’m Robin, I have to be okay.”

Oh. So this was how it was going to go. Maybe Tim wasn’t as here as Bentley thought.

Tim’s eyes widened for a split second. “I shouldn’t have said that out loud.”

Bentley blinked. Where was Dick when he needed him? A quick glance back revealed that his chair was still vacant.

Bentley startled when Tim brought his hands up, whacking himself in the face. “B’s gonna kill me for telling you that!”

“Uh… I… you’re… Red Robin, Tim. Not Robin,”

Tim uncovered his eyes, and they narrowed into slits as he glared coldly at Bentley. “I am Robin.” He said, like he hadn’t just hit himself for saying that three seconds ago.

Okay, don’t argue with someone who’s delirious, Bentley reminded himself. “I… I know you’re Robin. It’s okay. Bruce told me.”

Tim scoured Bentley’s face for a solid ten seconds with his eyes, but then seemed satisfied with that answer, turning over to shove his face in his pillow. “I feel like death.”

“Yeah… your fevers really high,” Bentley replied, glancing at the numbers on the screen.

“I have to go to school. I have a seminar,” Said Tim Drake, who graduated, like, two years ago.

“You’re.. really sick. I think you should stay home,” Bentley suggested.

“You’re kicking me off of patrol?!” Okay, so we’re back to being Robin. “I can patrol with a fever, I’ve done it plenty!”

Bentley glanced around, desperately wishing Dick would come back from wherever he was. “You should sleep, Tim.”

“I can’t sleep,” He murmured into the pillow. “Dying instead.”

Tim was very… dramatic… when he was delirious.

Bentley sighed deeply. “You’re just sick. Not dying.”

“I am dying, I have no spleen,” He murmured. Bentley wasn’t even sure what a spleen was, nor how it contributed to him dying.

“You’re not dying,” He replied. “Bruce and Alfred are taking good care of you.”

Tim groaned again, and after a few minutes of quiet, moved around and then went still, his eyes fluttering closed. Bentley sighed. At least he hadn’t had to physically put Tim back in the bed like Dick had.

Bruce had said the sickness was caused by the extreme stress and anxiety Tim was in, and that it had happened once before, when Tim was Robin. Bentley hadn’t known that stress and anxiety could make someone sick. But he guessed it made sense, since he used to throw up sometimes when his dad would scare him really bad.

With a soft sigh, he pulled the blankets back up over Tim’s shivering frame, sending a glance behind him to Jason. He was just laying there, limp. His heart monitor kept speeding up and slowing down ever so slightly, like he was dreaming. Damian still hadn’t moved.

And someone was crying.

Bentley whirled around and looked down at Tim, whose eyes were still closed and features were still peaceful. It wasn’t coming from the medbay, it was outside of the medbay, somewhere else in the cave.

Bentley pushed himself forward slowly, pausing when he came to the medbay door to scan the rest of the cave.

Dick was at the Batcomputer, but the screen wasn’t on. He was just kind of standing there, one hand firmly planted on the desk to support his weight, the other hand clasped over his eyes.

He was the one crying.

The Secret Keeper really knew how to tear a family apart, didn’t she?

Bentley moved forward, out of the medbay, but Dick didn’t seem to notice. He didn’t seem to notice Bentley’s presence in the slightest until the child plastered himself against his back, hugging tightly around his waist with no reproach.

And Dick lost it.

He sobbed and choked and gasped for air until he couldn’t as much as stand anymore, and he had to crouch down to avoid falling over. Bentley moved, then, from his back to his front, synching his arms around his neck with a grip he didn’t even think Batman could break. And they stayed like that for at least ten minutes before Dick had the willpower to hug him back, shoving his face into the shoulder of Tim’s old Wonder Woman pajamas and letting out a lifetime of tears there. Bentley didn’t mind, although it was getting increasingly difficult for him to fight away the burn behind his own eyes. He just did what he knew best, what always helped him — he moved his fingers through the black waves on the back of Dick’s head.

“I hate this,” Dick admitted quietly. “I can’t handle it, Babybird.”

Bentley was so preoccupied that he didn’t even notice that the hopelessness he felt only a few days prior was slowly bubbling into rage.

—

“-herself on every point exactly as she might have foreseen. She wrote cheerfully, seemed surrounded with comforts, and mentioned nothing which she could not praise. The house, furniture, neighborhood, and roads, were all to her taste, and Lady Catherine's behavior was most friendly and ob… obli… oblig-“

“Obliging,” Alfred corrected softly.

“Obliging,” Bentley repeated, sending a glance up to Jason, like his unconscious form would mind that Bentley messed up the words to his favorite book.

Dick had been officially banned from the cave for a while after Alfred found he and Bentley in a heap on the floor. Now, the oldest Wayne son was upstairs with Bruce, who was probably doing a way better job at comforting him than Bentley ever could.

In order to not be useless, Bentley had taken it upon himself to fill the quiet in the medbay that Dick had left in his absence. The solution — read Jason’s favorite book to him (and everyone else, because they didn’t really have a choice.)

Pride and Prejudice was a weird book. Bentley really wasn’t sure why Jason liked it so much — he’d been reading for about an hour and understood a solid none. Everyone talked weird (including the narrator) and there was an abundance of big and strange words that Bentley had to struggle through until Alfred realized what he was trying to say.

Jason and Damian hadn’t moved since Dick had left. Damian hadn’t moved at all, actually, since he stopped curling his fists a few days prior. Jason seemed to have tired himself out, because he, too, had fallen unresponsive, covered with a thick layer of sweat. His heart rate spiked every now and then, but he didn’t move or make sounds like he had been.

Tim had thrown up twice more and was now sporting a fever of a hundred and five, which seemed concerning, but Alfred had it handled (or was playing it very cool). Tim had gone from kind of funny and delirious to terrifyingly bedridden and unable to hold any kind of conversation. He, too, was pouring sweat from his entire body. It seemed like he was trying hard to fight off the sickness — and Bentley wasn’t sure if he was winning or not.

“Are they going to be okay?” Were the next words that came out of Bentley’s mouth, definitely not from the pages of Jason’s old book.

Alfred looked up from what he was doing on the other end of the room. He seemed to be preparing a new drip for someone. “All in due time, my boy.”

Bentley’s eyes traveled across the trio of beds he was sitting between, bouncing from one incapacitated Wayne’s face to the next. “And Tim?”

Alfred’s gray irises followed Bentley’s gaze to Tim’s fever-flushed face. “Master Tim is as resilient as they come; they will all be on the road to recovery before you know it.”

Bentley said nothing, just looked down at the pages of the book in his hand.

After a few moments of silence, a pair of footsteps from the other end of the cave caught Bentley’s attention. He looked up, at the door, and Bruce was standing in it.

“Hey there, chum,” He said, his dull gray eyes flicking between the trio of beds, then drifting to the book in Bentley’s hands. “Hosting a book club?”

Bentley shrugged. “Well, they can't really say no.”

They fell into a stiff silence that was only broken when Bruce beckoned Bentley with his hand. “C’mere. I want to get your opinion on something.”

Bentley glanced back at Jason, laying Pride and Prejudice on the bedside table next to him. Then he followed Bruce out of the room.

He was escorted across the cave into a room he’d never been in before. It seemed to hold all of the vigilantes' extra suits and weapons. The most notable of which were Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian’s old Robin suits displayed in glass cases, (maybe not the original things, since Jason had been killed in his, and there’s no good way to get bomb out of a suit.) as well as a Batman suit that looked the slightest bit different from Bruce’s. Maybe from when Dick was Batman?

Bruce, instead of heading for those, strolled over to a large table with a myriad of folded suits on top, including his and Damian’s current suits, and a few ones Bentley didn’t recognize. The child watched in silence as Bruce grabbed a neatly folded black suit from the surface. He carefully unfolded it and held it up, and Bentley might’ve been confused if it weren’t for the large, unmistakable R on the shoulder.

It was a new Robin suit. Instead of bright primary colors, the base suit was black and dark gray, with minimal, tastefully-done blood-red detailing. The cape was black on the outside, but the classic Robin yellow on the inside.

“I’ve been working on something that better suits Damian, but I’m stumped on the cape. I have several more—“ Bentley watched as Bruce pulled out a solid yellow cape (like Dick and Jason’s old ones.) from one of the desk drawers, along with a black one with red on the inside. “— which do you think?”

Bentley glanced between the trio of capes. He wasn’t exactly sure what was going on — maybe Bruce was trying to distract him? He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t really mind, either. He had been reading Pride and Prejudice for way too long anyways.

Bentley hummed lightly. Damian would probably like a black one, just because they were discreet and not as easily noticed. And the nod to the previous Robins seemed like something he would appreciate.

Bentley pointed subtly at the black and yellow one. “I think that one.”

Not that he knew Damian that well anymore.

Bruce nodded, folding everything back up and setting it down neatly. For a few moments, they just stood in silence, neither speaking, neither moving to leave.

“Bentley,” Bruce started, eyes trailing across the table. “I have a question to ask. If you don’t have an answer for me, that’s okay… you don’t have to.”

Bentley breathed in deep, fiddling with the hem of one of his sleeves. “Okay…”

“Your father… has requested to see you,” Bruce said slowly, with a soft sigh and a wipe to his brow. He looked up at Bentley, and his blue-gray eyes stayed trained on the child, calculating.

It suddenly got very, very hot in the cave.

Bentley’s dad wanted to see him? To talk to him? To take him back? Tim and Damian already didn’t want him there, had they told Bruce that? Would Bruce really just give him back? Was it even legal for his dad to see him after he tried to kill him?!

Bentley shook his head so quickly he got kind of dizzy. “No. No, please, Bruce, please don’t make me…”

Bruce was reaching for him. “Bentley-“

Bentley flinched away from his hands. “Please. Please, please, please, don’t make me. I don’t want him to take me away, I-I want to stay with you, Bruce, please-“

“Bentley, Bentley, hey-” The child flinched when Bruce’s hand landed on the side of his head. “-you don’t have to. You don’t have to do anything.”

Bentley sniffled. When had he started crying? He was a wreck. An absolute wreck. How was he going to destroy the Secret Keeper when he was constantly one statement, one memory, one thought away from breaking down?

“I wanna stay with you…” He trailed off, wiping at his eyes. Bruce ran a hand over Bentley’s head with a look somewhat reminiscent of Dick. “Please don’t get rid of me, Bruce, I’ll be better. I promise-“

“Hey, hey,” He said softly, bending down just far enough to pick Bentley up off the floor. The child didn’t argue, merely slinking his arms up and around Bruce’s neck in return. “I would never, ever get rid of you, Bentley. Never.”

Bentley clung ever-tighter to him, batting away the tears in his eyes and resting his head on his shoulder.

Bruce rested a hand on the back of Bentley’s head. “I love you, chum.”

Bentley’s eyes went wide, and he was sure his breathing stopped. The only person that’d ever said that to him was Dick.

Bentley cried.

—

dedicated to @sassenashsworld 💚

—

tag list! (If you want me to remove or add you, ask in comments!)

@fleur-alise @sarcopterygiian @cademygod @skylathescholar

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wild-flowerhoney · 5 months

Text

okay well. here's my version of the percico hunger games au:

nico's meant to be part of the careers, being reaped in district one (luxury) when he's sixteen/seventeen - except, well, he didn't actually receive training. bianca had and tried to pass on what she knew but it was clear which child hades was interested in keeping alive (or is it). she died in an accident exactly a week before the reaping. and it was decidedly too late to fix his mistake and teach nico what he'd passed onto bianca. the other careers know this and to be frank, nico's just been abandoned and considered useless by pretty much everyone, mentor included. (the di angelo aren't even from district one. hades and maria met during his victory tour - and the capitol turned a blind eye when he kept visiting district twelve and eventually brought the kids back with him after her death.)

percy's the one to volunteer from district twelve, in his last year being reaped too (eighteen), in place of estelle (12, in her first year being reaped) - and he knows he's doing everything to get home. he has a sister and a mother and paul, the only father he's ever known. percy has something to go back to (in the same way nico doesn't), he has no training but he's strong enough from physical work that it's not impossible and that's what matters (percy would be from district four, conceived from poseidon's own victory tour. except he'd really had no interest in the child, not like hades had).

here's how it starts:

day one: nico, the supposed career, is shunned by his group. percy hears them say it'd be mercy, to send him back to his sister and mother (he doesn't like it. not a bit. percy's an older brother, values his family more than anything. they couldn't have said anything worse than that in his mind) and witnesses the fight that ensues - nico is fast, skilled enough with knives but not nearly on their level. it's the anger that fuels him enough to come out of it bruised but whole (after that, they get even more ruthless). the anger and percy, who's quite eager to put them in their places too (if he breaks one of their arms, will the capitol be able to heal it before they get into the arena? he's more than willing to find out). that's their first real interaction - and nico comes out of it angry at percy for getting involved, asking if he really thought nico was this defenceless. percy's just as mad and yells back that they both are, when everyone thinks they're easy pickings.

day two: day after, nico doesn't apologize but he trains near percy and gives him what little information he has on the other careers and from what bianca taught him. they're not friends, they bicker and pretty much bring out each other's most sarcastic self (and maybe that's the closest thing to friendship they've got so. you know).

day two, evening: training scores - percy gets an 8, incredibly high for someone with this little training but not overly so ("don't become a priority for them"). nico gets the full 11, to percy's concern. when asked how he achieved that score and if he knows that he just put a massive target on his back, nico seems decidedly unbothered.

day three: the interviews. they're both dressed up obviously but they joke (kind of) backstage about missing the cuts and bruises they'd given each other ("oh, you don't have my gift anymore? well that's ungrateful of you."). and here's the moment we've been waiting for: nico is asked about girlfriends and shrugs it off, it moves onto boyfriends. other tributes are mentioned, nico looks uncomfortable and blushes but doesn't reveal anything. at this point the interviewer is convinced it's another tribute, though, and brings it up with every other male in the other districts. it gets to percy who, having been "taught" to keep the public's attention by his mentor, runs with it (the blush is real, it's embarrassing, but he spins his little alliance with nico into a full blown friendship, not revealing anything truly incriminating but giving them hints of what they want). nico's mad, again. percy is also mad at him for reacting with anger - didn't percy just ensure them a better shot at victory? what exactly has him so pissed off?

night before the games start: percy doesn't want to go into the arena mad at his only ally, nico agrees. percy tells him about his family, his reasons to go home - when asked about his own, nico says he has nothing (hades and his stepmother didn't even visit after the reaping). percy is uncomfortable, asks him what he means by that, surely there must be a single reason. nico doesn't answer. percy understands what he's not saying, nico has no intention of going home and he never did. probably got an 11 just to make it easier and got mad when percy ensured them at least a couple sponsors for the same reason. nico leaves, giving him a last goodbye. this is when his safety becomes another priority for percy (mirroring canon percy with his search for nico), if percy himself can't win he wants it to be nico - he'll drag him kicking and screaming to the end if he has to. when the thought of having to kill nico pops up he pushes it down, unwilling to entertain it. no need to be worried about it, just yet (literally going "that's future percy's problem").

stopping here bc i might actually write this and im not giving the whole plot JUST YET (suggest mentors/tributes btw just be aware most of them WILL die, the only ones that are 100% going to live are percico).

#pjo #hoo #nico di angelo #percico #percy jackson #pjo hoo toa #pernico #nicercy #hunger games au #pjo fic #pjo huger games au #percico hunger games au

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theearlgreymage · 2 years

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Okay, but, Snow for Christmas was a fucking TREAT!

Can we please discuss how precious it was? And how I need MORE after reading it.

I'm dropping spoilers below because I've reread this 5 times while at work today and need to let my emotions out.

Baz and Simon having regular lunches with Fiona? Please give me those dialougues. Gimme a fucking screen play of nothing but their lunches

Simon regularly practicing his sword skills AND distracting Baz? You cannot convince me this isn't a flirting tactic doe Simon. Let me read about Simon seducing Baz via a sword 😏

ALWAYS KISSING GOODBYE? MY HEART CANNOT.

Okay, but I also want more family drama from the Grimms and Pitches. Uncle Cyril? Tell me what this man has done to find himself on the wrong side of Malcom Grimm and Simon Snow. Spill that tea. (I will always map Baz's entire family tree if you let me.)

The sofa is PINK!! Need I say more?

Wing Flap Shirts!! I'm so glad our dragon baby finally has clothes he can wear without needing magic. NOW. Which one of you lovelies is drawing this?

"He reaches up and carefully starts to loosen my tie. He's become very skilled at this over the last few months." 😏😏😏

Baz internally swooning at EVERY thought of Simon being his boyfriend.

Simon being a GOOD boyfriend and immediately being up for another dinner with Baz's family. For Baz. Because he's so GOOD

Baz referring to Lady Salisbury as Simon's grandmother? ADORABLE. Lady Salisbury being cool with Simon and Baz bring "as gay we want. We can be extra gay, as a treat." YES. GIVE THESE BOYS A KIND FAMILY FIGURE WHO ACCEPTS THEM WITH NOTHING BUT LOVE. Please give me more visits with the Salisbury family. I need the wholesomeness.

WHERE CAN I READ ABOUT FIONA AND NICOS WEDDING!?!?!?

"We could be married with children --" "Could we?" PLEASE GIVE THEM A FAMILY

Can I get more fanart of Baz with his siblings. Because they are precious little things. And I need more of Petra and Sophie climbing Baz like he's their personal jungle gym. I need more pre-teen Mordelia spending wholesome time with her brother. I need to see Swithin climbing this fucking Tibetan mastiff. Thank you very much.

Can we please give Rainbow Rowell a massive thanks for giving us a more detailed description of Malcom Grimm finally??

I will foot the entire fucking production crew to have that dinner recreated for the screen. I would sell my soul to a Demon like Shepard if it means I can have a quality holiday special of that dinner. Fucking. Hell. Baz IMMEDIATELY grabbing Simon to ground him. Simon SUPPORTING HIS MAN and holding his hand. SIMON BELIEVING IN BAZ THAT HE'S GOT THIS DINNER IN THE BAG AND JUST SERVING BAZ FOOD. Malcom and Daphne crying and pouring drinks over Baz finally finally finally getting to eat dinner with him. Sophie getting gravy in her hair.

And can we also discuss the fact that this scene proves that these little girls know their big brother is a vampire? And they still adore him? They still climb all over him and practically beg for his attention? That these girls just want to spend time with their brother and aren't afraid in the slightest of him?

FANG BACKSTORY BREAKING MY FUCKING HEART. Baby Baz fucking hiding in the barn. Terrified. And Fiona just fucking supporting her nephew. I 100% cried during this scene.

Edit Add cause I somehow forgot to mention : Simon's fucking obsession with Baz's fangs. Like. Honey. No, his family does not want to watch him drain a deer. That's just you.

"I think I got drunk with Baz's dad at dinner." Had me rolling.

Backtracking. WE HAVE CAREER OPTIONS FOR SIMON. And so help me. I would refuse to talk to this man too if he tried to join the RAF or police force. Like. He really needs to address this hero-savior complex with his fucking therapist. For fucks sake. Stop trying to save people Simon. Just get your fucking fork lift license and RELAX.

Really. Die Hard? Are we shocked?

THE. FOREHEAD. KISS.

End of discussion. (But really. Discuss. Because I am feral right now. And I cannot focus on writing lesson plans in this state.)

#snowbaz #carry on #sfc #simon snow #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #basilton pitch #baz pitch #simon salisbury #rainbow rowell #scattered shower #snow for christmas #spoilers

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heavenlyhischier · 4 months

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misunderstanding - nico and hailey

in which nico and hailey don't seem to see it from anyone's point of view but their own

Nico pushed his way into his apartment, Hailey trailing behind him with tired eyes. He drags their suitcases down the hall and into his room as she follows him with their smaller bags in hand. The air in his apartment is still and stagnant from the lack of circulation over the last several days, so Hailey makes a small stop by the thermostat and kicks his heater on.

She steps into his room, lightly smiling as she notices the way he’d fallen back onto his bed. She shakes her head in amusement as she drops his backpack next to his suitcase, carefully grasping the handle of her own as she turns to him. “I’m gonna go stay at my place for a few nights, okay?”

Nico instantly lifted his head up off the bed, giving his girlfriend a look of confusion mixed with a subtle hint of hurt. His brows are furrowed together, his eyes darting from her face to her hand. “Why?”

“Because I was barely over there before we left for vacation, and we’ve been gone for a week. I just want to sleep in my own bed for a bit,” She tries to explain, doing her best not to get frustrated. She’s a little overwhelmed from all of the socializing and traveling they’d done and she just wanted to sleep in her own apartment for a couple of days.

“What? So you just don’t want to see each other for a few days,” Nico snaps, his voice defensive and clipped as he sits up all the way.

“Of course not,” Hailey slightly raises her voice, going on the offensive side as he put words into her mouth, “That isn’t what I said, Nico. My social battery is just drained right now and I want to sleep in my own bed. I still want to see you.”

“I don’t understand. How can you not want to sleep here because your “social battery is drained”, but still want to see me? What are you going to do if we move in together,” He scoffed, shaking his head in disdain.

Hailey’s eyes widen in shock as she straightens her back, “We’ve only been dating three months, Nico. I love spending time with you, but I value my own personal space as well. I don’t understand why that’s an issue.”

“It’s only an issue when it seems like you don’t value me. I’m going to be very busy this next week with hockey and my girlfriend is basically saying she doesn’t want to spend time with me.”

Hailey’s trying to remind herself that he’s just stressed, he’s just as tired as she was, but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling angry. He was making implications that we were so far from the truth that she wasn’t even sure where he got them from, but he was also making it sound like she wasn’t allowed to have her own space.

“I do value you! It seems like it’s you who doesn’t value me. I’m allowed to spend my time how I want to, Nico! I was just saying I wanted to sleep in my apartment, not fucking stay in there by myself forever, but whatever. I’m going home. We can talk when you pull your head out of your ass.”

With that, Hailey is turning on her heels and walking out of his apartment, slamming the door shut behind her. Nico half expected her to turn around and come back, and she expected him to at least follow her out, but neither of them did that. Hailey went home, frustrated and now fearful that Nico was going to want to break up with her. While Nico was still sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in hands wondering if he ruined the best thing in his life over a simple misunderstanding.

#nico hischier blurb #nico x hailey #hailey hischier

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nerdthatsiriuslylovesteaxx · 3 months

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Helpless part 31

Hazel and Reyna ran into the infirmary,

"Where is he?" right after she said that Will stepped outside the room,

"Well if you're looking for Nico he's here. Also one at a time, normally these conversations go better with one person." Will walked back inside, Hazel following closely behind him.

"So are you going to tell me what happened or....?"

"Didn't Percy?"

"He just told us it was to do with Nico and that he was in the infirmary and we might want to try and get here."

"Well... you'll see..."

"The fuck happened Will?! Do I need to kill someone?"

"No... umm..." Hazel stepped into the room, not waiting for Will to finish his sentence.

"Nico!"

"Oh.. Hey Hazel."

"What happened?"

"Ah... well... I mean." He tried to keep his voice stable but couldn't finish the sentence.

"Do you want to tell her or should I?"

"I'll do it just can we-?"

"Yeah sure." Hazel sat on the bed next to him as Will left the room,

"Nico what happened?"

"Well, I- I tried to...unalive... myself" He said unable to hold back the single tear that fell from his eye. Hazel pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him, letting him fall onto her.

"You're going to be okay; Nico why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't want you worrying, I'm used to struggling." Hazel messed up his black hair,

"Talk to me, please Nico. If you need help tell someone."

"I'm sorry."

"Shh... You don't need to apologise." Hazel held him as he sobbed into her chest,

"Why did you travel half way across America on such short notice?"

"Well, Percy didn't actually tell me what had happened when he called but from what we heard from him and Jason now is that there was a very high chance of you dying. We needed to know what happened."

"Sorr-"

"-don't apologise."

"Oh Haze, what did everyone think when I killed the bitch that hurt you?"

"Well, let's just say no one will be trying that again, especially after I punched a guy after he said you were insane. Now they think we're both crazy but they don't give me any shit."

"I proud of you for punching the guy." Nico said running his hands through Hazel's curly hair, she smiled in appreciation.

"Nico, you'll tell me when somethings happening right? Or just anyone."

"I'm trying, it's just- everything... everything feels like it's out to break me."

"Dying isn't much better, you spend every second there wishing to be away from it, it's worse than it seems Nico. It's like re-living your life until you become numb to it, until you can't stand anything anymore. Believe me, you wouldn't want to go there." Nico kissed her on the cheek, unable to finding the right words to say to his younger sister so they sat there in silence for a few minutes until she eventually got up. "Reyna wanted to talk to you, she was worried sick on the way." She said walking walking out the door.

***

______

Who's still here?

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crowniko · 9 months

Text

Will of the Heart

Chapter 2

Word Count: 8.7k

Content: Gender neutral Reader, Angst, Injury, Memory loss, swearing, canon-typical violence, trauma, anxiety

Note: Hi!!! I'm sorry that this took me so long! I got writer's block:( but it's here now!:D This is pretty long, just to warn y'all. Maybe grab a snack or something. Also, I promise that it's gonna get really fluffy here soon, okay? Just hang in there, we gotta get through the angst to get to the fluff>:) I'm so excited to write Chapter 3! I hope you all enjoy though, thanks for waiting! -Nico

After over 20 years of misery and torment, you had the idea that fate wasn’t too kind to you. That you weren’t lucky.

But surprisingly, that changed.

As life did.

You let out a sigh, head craned up to look at the motionless blue sky. Rocks and boulders surrounded you as a still heat brushed your skin. Something buzzed ahead of you.

Your heart raced as a nervous bead of sweat trailed down your neck. You gripped the cane in your hand tighter, feeling the comforting presence of your zanpakuto within.

Everything was different now. You could laugh, a smile of disbelief twisting your lips.

After everything that happened for the past 20 years, you now had the audacity to think that you were pretty lucky.

Insanely lucky, in fact.

Maybe the universe decided to give you a break.

You welcomed it.

Since, a few months ago when you woke up after escaping Hueco Mundo, you weren’t left to face the World of the Living by yourself. After passing out, you thought that you would wake up starved and by yourself. Maybe Aizen would find you and bring you back. Maybe you wouldn’t wake up at all.

But instead you found yourself in a bed, with two old friends sitting ahead of you.

They saved you.

Urahara Kisuke and Shihoin Yoruichi.

You couldn’t believe it, but even so they continued to help you without question.

They couldn’t believe it either, they told you many times.

So instead of the neverending solitude you thought you were confined to, you were broken free.

Your physical health was still abysmal, but your spirits were turning around for the better. Connecting with Kisuke and Yoruichi was a dream.

And meeting an unlikely friend.

He was only a human soul– a young one.

Yet he wasn’t immune to the Soul Society’s grasp.

Just a day after you woke up in Kisuke’s home, Kisuke and Yoruichi left suddenly– only to bring back Kurosaki Ichigo. He was injured from battle, and you learned the overall situation pretty quickly after Tessai brought you up to speed.

Tessai was also a great surprise to see again.

He told you about Kuchiki Rukia and how Ichigo became a Substitute Soul Reaper. An odd situation for sure.

But what caught you by surprise was the fact that the Soul Society brought a Captain and Lieutenant to take care of the human boy.

It was overkill, barbaric– and smelled of Aizen.

You didn’t tell Ichigo that though.

And you could tell that Kisuke and Yoruichi thought the same, but they too, didn’t say anything. Ichigo wouldn’t get it.

Kurosaki Ichigo did get you though. When Kisuke was training him, you tried to stay out of the way, watching from afar. But you couldn’t help but feel inspired and intrigued by him. So you did something that surprised even yourself. You helped train him with Kisuke.

For the first time in 20 years, fighting was… fun again. It reminded you of why you were a Soul Reaper in the first place. Your Zanpakuto burned in your grasp, a fire sparked again.

You could live again. You could fight again.

Even though you and Ichigo didn’t talk too much, you didn’t have to. Training was enough. Sure, he would talk to you about his family and friends during the breaks, but you didn’t talk too much.

He did teach you about the modern world though.

You snickered at a fond memory.

“That’s an apple? How the hell are you supposed to eat that?” You cocked an eyebrow, leaning down to see the odd device in his hands.

Ichigo looked taken aback, “What… this is an iphone, an “apple” product. Have you never seen a phone before?”

You blinked, “I gotta say kid, half of that flew right over my head.” But you hummed as the word “phone” brought back a dusty memory, “The phones I remember are big, have those curly wires, and… well they aren’t that tiny.”

“When was the last time you saw a phone?”

“The 1970s.”

“Well that explains a lot.”

After that, Ichigo showed you the wonders of technology. Who knew that a tiny little brick could hold so much? It wasn’t at all the phones you remembered. Sure, they could still place calls, but there was music too.

Even now, you stood with headphones around your neck and a wire connecting to a phone in your backpocket. You were exploring the different genres. Everything was amazing.

The World of the Living changed for the better.

The music brought a sense of calm into you… but a bittersweet taste in your mouth.

Your head fell, glaring at the rocky ground as your mind ran amok.

What music did Shinji listen to now? Maybe you were listening to music constantly just to… feel connected to him.

You could barely bring yourself to listen to jazz, all it did was bring tears down your face. It brought you back to the nights where you and Shinji would sit on a random rooftop with the sound of jazz below. He always thought that some of the best jazz shows were best experienced above, on the roof, so that you could watch the stars (and not pay the money to get in, since the Vizards were broke for awhile)

He would sit close, his shoulder brushing yours. His shorter hair fell to his shoulders, but his bangs still hung above his eyes. He was always pretty, but you didn’t say that.

“We otta’ dance.” He would break the silence, smiling over his shoulder as he stood up.

“I don’t feel like breaking my neck tonight by falling off the roof, Shinji.” You said, teasing.

“Oh please,” He rolled his eyes, suddenly grabbing your hand and tugging you up against his chest. Your eyes widened as you met his gaze. His eyes softened against yours, “You know I’d catch ya.”

You closed your eyes, shutting off the memory as your heart twisted. Your knuckles turned white as you lifted your head, staring at two adjacent pillars ahead. For the past months, you were building yourself back up so that you could see Shinji again.

A month ago Yoruichi approached you, and asked if you wanted to see them. She wasn’t one to hold her tongue, and that day you flinched at her question. You wanted to see them all, the Vizards, but at that moment you couldn’t.

You were still a mess back then, healing and trying to learn how to live again. So you shook your head, not wanting to know anything, because you knew that the moment you knew their location, you would take off in a heartbeat.

But now? You breathed in the warm air and shook off any nerves. You stood strong as someone flashed nearby. Kisuke stood atop one of the pillars.

“Thanks for waiting,” He mumbled, “Got everything ready, how about you?” His eyes peered at you below his hat, “You sure you’re ready for this? To see them all again?”

You met his gaze and nodded, no hesitation. You didn’t have the time for that anymore. You were ready for what laid ahead, and you were ready to move forward.

“I am.”

He smiled, and turned his focus to the pillars. Kisuke brought his hands together and spoke the incantation needed, and seconds later the buzzing ahead of you sparked as a portal cut through the sky in Kisuke’s basement.

“Good luck.”

You nodded once more before flashing into the portal.

You were taking life by the reins now.

You would bring the change that needed to come.

The Soul Society was just as bright as always, you thought as you pulled your hood up to shield your eyes.

It was also really big too, and you were still getting lost after centuries of your life being spent there.

But your skin prickled as waves of spiritual pressure crashed through the air. Different souls were fighting all over the Gotei 13, and many were familiar.

A few almost choked you up as the familiarity was almost too much.

Even so, you flashed up onto the next roof, running atop the many walls within the maze that is the Gotei 13. Soon you were under the shadow of Sokyoku Hill. The air twisted as the battle ahead brought dozens of powerful souls into one place.

The Sokyoku.

You grinned, truly you were going in head first back into the fray.

But maybe that was for the best.

Giving your legs a quick stretch as you squatted down, you closed your eyes, focusing on where you wanted to go. Picturing the Sokyoku, you suddenly flashed up leaving a cloud of dust whirling around you. The air ripped around you as the pressure grew tighter. You shot out of the shadow and looked at the situation ahead of you.

Menos Grande clouded the skies above as they sent down three beacons of light, which surrounded Aizen, Gin, and Tosen. They were nearly at the Garganta above.

“Goodbye, Soul Reapers.” Aizen said, looking at Ichigo, who laid on the ground, “And goodbye, Ryoka Boy. For a human, you were quite amusing.” Just as the Garganta began to close, his eyes fell on you. His gaze darkened with a venomous glare, and not a second later, the Garganta closed.

You glared up at the now blue sky, feeling chills rake across your skin. Memories ran through your mind at the sight of Aizen. Memories of when… when you considered the man your friend. Memories of when he betrayed you. Memories of when he tortured you.

But you smiled. He had no power over you now. Previously you thought that seeing him again would break you, and yet, here you were.

Aizen was the least of your concerns now. You had a reason to be here, a reason to reunite with those who once abandoned you, and a reason to help your new allies.

You averted your gaze and found Ichigo. He was still laying on the ground. Only seconds had passed since Aizen left, and Ichigo looked to be a mess, so you flashed over to him and gave him a smile.

“Ichigo, long time no see.” A presence flashed next to you as you stopped walking. A captain charged her hand at you, a pointed claw aiming for your heart. You caught it in time, cocking your eyebrow.

“Soi Fon!” Yoruichi shouted, “Stop!”

With your free hand, you took your hood off, “Sad to think that I’m an intruder here now.”

You gripped her hand tightly and shoved her back, her eyes widening. You looked back towards Ichigo and shoved your hands in your pockets. “I see that you attained Bankai, Ichigo. You just keep surprising me, kid.”

He stared up at you, but smiled, “I should say the same thing to you… you did just shove a Captain.”

“Not my first time,” You shrugged, looking back to see the other Captains looking at you. You could feel the questions burning on your tongue. Some were new, but many were familiar. “Listen kid, you did a good job. I gotta deal with some things now, but I just wanted to check in.” You looked over to Orihime, who seemed to be okay, “You’re in good hands.”

You turned around and started to walk towards Head Captain Yamamoto, Captain Jushiro, and Captain Kyoraku. Your skin burned as Kyoraku stared you down as if he’d seen a ghost. It was hard to keep your cool during that moment, since Kyoraku was a dear friend and mentor to you in the past. But that had to wait. The air stilled as you stood ahead of them, their hands on the hilts of their zanpakutos’. You mirrored them, expression guarded.

The Head Captain cut to the chase, “Are you an enemy as well?”

An almost cynical smile lifted your lips as you cocked an eyebrow, “I guess I have to paint everything out to you all. It’s why I came here though.” You sighed, your smile bleeding away, “After the betrayal of Aizen, Gin, and Tosen, you all should be thinking about the reports they’ve made, the missions they’ve gone on and interactions they’ve had with Central 46. Think about whether or not their work is now legitimate. That’s including the work that all three of them did over 100 years ago when they declared that myself and my friends were traitors to the Soul Society— as we’ve just seen, it’s quite the opposite. Unlike those traitors, I’m here to help Ichigo who just saved the Soul Society, and if you accept this, then I can help you too.”

The Head Captain never broke your gaze, but you saw as his hand fell from his hilt. He nodded. “I see. There’s still much explaining that needs to be done.” His voice raised as he suddenly addressed those around, “All available Captains that aren’t injured or aiding with the injured, report to a Captain’s Meeting in 10 minutes.”

Your eyes widened, but you remained composed. The beating in your chest almost made you dizzy, but this was good. Looking back, Yoruichi gave you a nod before flash stepping away. You joined her and the others until you all stood at Squad 1.

The large doors were already open, and the Head Captain was already walking towards his chair. Yoruichi leaned against a far wall, her glare pinning down the other Captains present.

Captain Kyoraku, Ukitake, and the one named Soifon were there. It was quite empty.

But it was enough.

Yoruichi’s presence seemed to calm you as your shoulders relaxed. You walked towards the center of the line and crossed your arms. After everything, the Captain’s Meetings that used to be intimidating, were now a piece of cake.

So you whistled, “Looks like those Ryoka did a number on y’all.” You couldn't help it.

“Get on with it.” The Head Captain said.

So you did.

You explained everything. You started at the beginning and explained the night from over 100 years ago. How Aizen experimented with Hollowfication and made Kisuke take the downfall for it, even though it was Kisuke who saved you all that night.

However, you spared them the details of the past 100 years. You didn’t explain what the Head Captain didn’t need to hear. So you skipped ahead to the important information: Aizen’s army.

Weeks ago you decided to return to the Soul Society for this exact reason, to give the Soul Reapers the strongest weapon that could help them win this war: information. Knowledge is power. So you told them everything about Aizen’s Army in Los Noches. They needed to know about the Arrancars, their rankings, and the extent of their powers. However you didn’t specify the individual Espada’s and their numbers, since their rankings change often. It was guaranteed that the Espada you remembered from a year ago were quite different now. So in order to lessen future confusion, you only warned the Captains about the Espada.

“Don’t even bother sending an Officer to deal with an Espada, or even a Numeros. Anyone less than a Captain, Lieutenant, or a highly ranked Seated Officer will die.”

The meeting went on for over an hour as the Captains asked you questions about the Kingdom, Los Noches, and Aizen himself. You were able to answer most of them, you were even able to give them an accurate layout of Los Noches.

But there was one question that made you fall silent.

“How do you know all of this?” It was Soifon. She looked confused, and you understood. You were waiting for this question.

You opened your mouth, trying to figure out how to explain. How could you? Your eyes flickered over to Yoruichi. She raised her chin, her face impenetrable. But it sparked a fire in you. She remained strong, so would you.

“I’ll keep it short, but I do owe you all an explanation, since I understand that me knowing this might look suspicious.” Looking at the Head Captain you explained, “Aizen kidnapped me from the others over 20 years ago, wiped me of my memories, and kept me in his Kingdom. It’s why I know so much. I was there, among their ranks, walking in the corridors. At least it’s paying off now because I can give this information to you all. So don’t waste it. Use it. Going into this war on strength alone will get you all killed, and Aizen will succeed. Knowledge will be your greatest weapon.” The Head Captain nodded, but looking at the other Captains, you could see the questions behind their eyes, so you added quickly, “A year ago I regained my memories and escaped. I’m here now to help. Not even for a second was I ever on his side. Never.” A reaping glare painted your face as venom pooled in your mouth, “I promise I’m going to do whatever it takes to stop him.”

The meeting ended shortly thereafter, and the Captains all went their own ways. Dealing with the aftermath after the battle in the Soul Society was their current priority, so you let them be. Even Yoruichi had to leave to take care of her own matters.

You served your purpose though.

Now it was up to them, but that was for the near future. Now, walking around the many corridors of the Gotei-13, everything was a mess. Rubble littered the streets, and buildings crumbled on the ground. You grinned.

The human kids kept surprising you.

There was one place, however, that wasn’t touched, and it didn’t surprise you. Afterall, Aizen plans for everything.

With the sun sinking below the horizon, your face was painted in a golden light as you stared at the Squad 5 barracks. Your heart twisted. After walking with no place in mind for over an hour, you ended up taking the same route you always used to take back home. The same route from over 100 years ago, it was muscle memory. So it shouldn’t come as a shock that you now walked along the Squad 5 corridors. The walls, the floors, everything brought you back to the endless chasm of your memories.

You shoved your hands in your pockets, looking around at the place with a frown. Even though it wasn’t harmed from the battle, it still looked different. Aizen. It always came back to him. Knowing him, he probably planned the whole battle ahead of time, and made sure that his Squad would be spared. Afterall, he was already so busy with his plans of deception that he had no time to deal with a Ryoka. You bit your cheek, trying to remove him from your mind.

It was hard to though, because everywhere you looked you saw him. You saw the way he changed the Squad 5 barracks. How he removed the art from the walls, and changed the management. Your eyes followed the young Soul Reapers who ran with their Seated Officer. They were thin, each carrying a book of Kido on their belts.

Passing by the training grounds, your stomach dropped as you saw the lines of targets and dummies spread about the stage. It was different. You could already see why.

Back when Aizen was a Lieutenant, you remembered how he spoke to Shinji about changing the Training grounds to focus on Kido instead of sparring sessions. You disagreed. You thought that there should be a good balance between Kido skills and physical strength. When you were a 5th Seat, you trained your squad in physical spars, focusing on hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship. Sure, Kido was also something you found important and excelled at too. But if an opponent could easily evade and slip by your Kido, then you needed to be able to protect yourself. So you focused on both. It was something you and Aizen would bicker about for hours on end. Shinji never cared for Aizen’s opinion though, so nothing happened.

At least, not until Aizen betrayed you both.

You let out a breath, trying to calm down. A repeated thump echoed in your ears as you heard your heart race. Your footsteps grew quicker as you walked down the hallway, trying to get away from the memory.

Yet you walked right into another one.

A deeply painful one.

Your eyes widened as your heart nearly stopped as you walked in front of the Captain’s Barracks.

The old one, you should say.

Shinji’s old Barracks.

Your hand clenched your chest as you stared at the large white doors, now closed off with a tiny sign on it that said “Storage”.

Of course Aizen made Shinji’s old room Storage, the ungrateful prick.

Slowly walking forward, you sucked in a breath when you realized the old railing was gone. The deck was open, facing the green yard that looked the same as before. Your eyes burned.

You came to a stop, letting out a long breath. Closing your eyes, you calmed yourself. Walking forward, you slowly let yourself sit down, legs dangling off the deck. Your head fell.

It was this spot, you thought, this exact spot that you and Shinji would sit at. He would sometimes sit atop the railing, his long hair draping down. Sometimes you would join him.

Most times you two would sit on the deck, legs poking out the railing as your heads leaned against the bars. His hair would pool on the floor, and you would laugh whenever someone got close to walking on it. He would yelp as you cried with laughter. He was a mess.

He truly was.

It was why, for the first 70 years of you being his 5th Seat, that you didn’t get along.

Not at all.

But that all changed when you were sent on a mission.

Your hands balled into fists at the thought of it. That mission…

“Thought I would find you here.” You jumped as someone sat down beside you, your head twisting to your left only to find Kyoraku Shunsui smiling at you. “Long time no see.”

You smiled, “I know, an hour is quite a while.”

“You know what I mean.” He laughed, but his smile fell as his eyes grew serious, “110 years.” He shook his head, your name falling from his lips, “I couldn’t believe it, still can’t.”

Your lips tightened into a straight line, your chest aching, “I know.” A palpable silence fell between you two. You both looked forward to the grass, the sky above now dark. Clouds blanketed the sky. Yet you felt warm with his eyes on your face.

“Nanao, my Lieutenant, won’t be happy with me, but I had to find you. I couldn’t just see you leave again without saying anything.” Your eyes widened.

“How did you know I’m leaving again?”

He smiled, “I know you. It’s why I knew to come here, you’re going back to him, right?”

Your eyes fell to your lap, “I have to find him first.”

Kyoraku raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? I thought you would’ve stuck together.”

You looked at him, frowning, “We did. For decades we stuck together, learning how to control our hollows together, but 20 years ago was the last time I saw them.”

“When Aizen…”

“Yeah.”

“Then,” Kyoraku mumbled, “Why isn’t Kisuke with them?”

Your eyes screwed up in thought, “I don’t know. Kisuke would sometimes go off somewhere else during our travels, since we could never stay at one place for too long. But this time is different.” Since it was just the two of you, you let your guard down and explained more, “When I got back into the World of the Living a few months ago, Kisuke and Yoruichi found me. It was just them, and Tessai-”

“-Tessai! I hope he’s doing okay.”

You smiled, “He is! But the others weren’t there. Yoruichi offered to tell me where they were, so it seems like they’re still in contact, but I declined.”

“Why?”

You stayed silent for a moment, trying to find the right words, “I wasn’t ready. When I didn’t have my memories, it was like… I was a different person. Getting them back, I had to acquaint myself with… myself? Combining those two individuals, those two worlds, it took time.” You looked at the palm of your hand, stretching your fingers, “I was angry, confused, and… lost. Meeting Ichigo and his friends honestly helped a lot. Seeing someone outside of that darkness helped me see the light again. He reminded me of myself, and finally I feel like me again. And I feel ready to see the others.”

Kyoraku was silent, his gaze falling to the grass. His eyes darkened with a glare, “For years I couldn’t accept the fact that you were a part of that incident. That you and my Lieutenant, and my friends, were experimenting with hollowfication. I couldn’t.” He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath, “And I can’t believe that the one responsible for all of this was Aizen this whole time. That bastard.”

You hummed with a nod, “Yeah, we couldn’t either.”

Kyoraku shook his head, “To think that he had you trapped for 20 years too… I’m glad you’re back now. Even if it’s just for a little while.”

You gave him a smile, “I’m not going away forever. I’m not even going away for a century again. I’m fighting alongside you guys in this battle, so you’re not getting rid of me anytime soon.”

He smiled, “Good, I know we’ll need your strength. I’m sure you’re 10 times as strong as you were when I first found you… how long ago was that now?”

You let out a sigh, thinking back with a smile, “I think over 300 years ago? I can’t believe it. You know, I’m so happy that I met you all those years ago. When I was lost in Hueco Mundo, before Aizen took me, I thought a lot about what I would say to everyone. Including you.” You swallowed a lump in your throat as you said, “If I hadn’t met you, I never would’ve become a Soul Reaper. I never would’ve met all of the amazing people in my life right now. I never would’ve… I never would’ve met Shinji– and the others.” You smiled, “I learned so much from you, and I’m so happy that you were my first Captain. Thank you for sticking with me, Kyoraku.”

Looking over to him, your eyes widened when you saw his eyes glossed over. Your mouth opened as you were about to apologize, but only a gasp left your throat as he pulled you into a big hug. His arms wrapped tightly around you.

He mumbled, “Makin’ me cry, you’re something else.”

You were shocked, so you did what you usually do when you were shocked or nervous, you joked, “I’m amazing, that’s what.”

He laughed, pulling back from the hug with a smile, “You know, all of those years ago when I sent you over to Squad 5, I was nervous, but I shouldn’t have been. I’m happy you and Shinji became close, you even sound like him.”

Your face grew warm, but you couldn’t help but ask, “What were you nervous about?”

He cocked an eyebrow, looking at you as if you were dumb, “You two hated each other! For years! Decades! I thought I screwed up, but then that changed and boy I was relieved. In fact, you two got started to get along so well that… well I’m shocked that you haven’t found him already.”

“I…” You were left speechless. Your face flushed over as you stumbled over your words. “I never hated him. He was just– frustrating.”

Kyoraku must’ve decided to punish you more, because he pushed your shoulder lightly as he teased, “I mean, you two at the Soul Ball? Come on.”

“Ah!” You glared at him, “You come on!” You felt on fire as you turned away, biting your cheek. “We’re best friends.” You said, but for whatever reason, you felt pretty stupid. Your heart raced as you thought of him, and you knew deep down that what you had just said was a lie.

Shinji was so much more than that.

Your smile fell. He was so much more, and yet you haven't seen him in over 20 years. You forgot him. You couldn’t say what his life was like right now, you couldn’t say what his feelings were, and you had no right assuming things would be like they were decades ago.

Time had passed.

So you ignored the burning ache in your heart and said, “We’re best friends, and I’m going to find him and the others again.”

Kyoraku sighed, but still smiled, “I know you will. Just remember to pay me a visit, okay?”

“Okay.” You smiled back.

Once again, you were standing before two grand pillars, waiting for the door ahead of you to be opened. Your mind was running amok as usual. You were thinking about Kyoraku and the conversation you just had just a few hours ago. He had walked you over to the Senkaimon before saying goodbye. The sky was pitch black with the darkened clouds, but you knew that morning was just around the corner. The others would be waking up soon, and would realize you left early. Ichigo wouldn’t be happy, but you couldn’t wait around.

Especially after that talk.

All you could think about was how Kyoraku thought you hated Shinji in the beginning.

You didn’t.

He was frustrating.

That’s what you thought almost 200 years ago when you first joined his Squad.

When you first met him, Shinji had long hair that fell well below his shoulders. He had a constant frown that showed his large teeth, yet a face that was almost unreadable. Maybe that’s what irked you in the first place, the fact that you couldn’t predict him.

Everything that you thought he would do, he would do the opposite. With a smile he’d say something so rude that you were rendered speechless, yet in the same day, he would frown and look away, looking like he wanted to kill someone, but instead you would be left speechless again as he’d say the nicest words.

You couldn’t read him.

And that really bothered you, especially during one of your first missions with him.

Shinji, Aizen, and several others in your Squad were sent on a mission to escort an important figure to their home after a meeting in the Gotei-13. It was supposed to be a simple mission, one that you were used to, especially since you used to be a guard before a Soul Reaper.

However, you should’ve expected the opposite.

A large hollow appeared, strong enough to take out several officers. Immediately you jumped into action. Flash stepping forward, you unsheathed your Zanpakuto and aimed it towards the Hollow’s mask. Yet the air was ripped out of your lungs as an arm wrapped around your waist, tugging you back. You gasped, looking back only to see blonde hair falling around you. You were met with Shinji’s frown, his arm letting go of you.

“Arentcha’ a fast one? Nearly sliced my hair tryin’ t’catch ya.” He brought his hair back behind his shoulders, “Don’t ya worry about that. Sosuke will handle it. You just look over your Officers, my fast 5th Seat.” He grinned at you before walking back towards Aizen, jutting his thumb back towards the Hollow. That next second, Aizen killed it.

You didn’t understand.

Maybe it was your previous Squad, or maybe it was before that from when you were a guard. But you were always under the idea that those of a higher rank let their subordinates do the work. That you would handle everything before they so much as touch their sword.

When you became Lisa’s assistant in Squad 8, you always did everything. She didn’t care too much about it, but she never said otherwise.

But this?

This was different.

The thought of it all unfolding in front of you, and you just standing there– watching. Your mouth curled into a frown. You didn’t like it. You felt useless. Why didn’t he tell you beforehand? Questions ran through your head, and that night you found yourself in his barracks, ready to voice your concerns.

“Captain, I was more than capable of handling the situation, you didn’t have to send Lieutenant Aizen.”

Shinji looked up at you from his paperwork, frowning. He stood up with a sigh, looking as if he could hardly care about anything. It pissed you off.

“I haven’t seen ya’ fight yet, I don’t know that.” He was blunt. Your heart dropped to your stomach as you glared at him.

“I can promise you that I’m strong enough to defeat a hollow like that. If you don’t believe in me, then why did you accept me as your 5th Seat?” You said, your heart hammering in your chest as he looked at you, indifferent. He tilted his head slightly, a long strand of his hair falling from his shoulder and swaying against his chest.

“Because I believe in Captain Kyoraku.” He stepped closer to you, placing his hand on his desk right beside you, “And let’s say thatcha’ do fight that Hollow. Ya’ have your officers t’look after, can’t have ya all tired after a fight. Aizen just has himself to look after. It would’ve been more of a burden on ya to defeat that thing, so I let Aizen handle it. That’s all.”

Your mouth opened as you tried to find something to say. Anything. Your chest burned with anger as his eyes looked down into yours. It was unnerving. He was looking after you? What the hell.

You didn’t understand him.

“It would’ve been a burden? I would’ve been fine. You don’t have to worry about that.” You said, furrowing your eyebrows in frustration.

Shinji sighed again and leaned down closer, “I’m your Captain. I’ll decide who I worry about. Got that?”

You left that night confused and angry. It was like that for years, but it slowly bled into annoyance rather than anger. Shinji mirrored you. There were missions where you would go out of your way to help your team, and Shinji would get on your case. Your Officers even joked about how there was never a moment where the two of you weren’t at odds.

“I told ya to let Squad 10 handle it!” Shinji once snapped, throwing his report of the mission on his desk as he stood up, “Look at ya!” You glared at him, sitting in the desk across his desk, bandaged with your arm in a cast.

“I’m fine!” You tried to get up to prove your point but cringed in pain and fell back into the chair with a huff. “Just ignore that!”

Shinji glared at you, “Ya really aren’t making this easy, arentcha’?”

You scoffed, “As if you are.”

That was just one incident. There were many. Many arguments. Many weeks when the two of you wouldn’t talk. Times where Shinji would call you into his office begrudgingly only for the two of you to bicker the whole time.

“Enough.” Aizen once interrupted, “Captain, this is getting old.”

“Like him.” You snickered.

Shinji glared at you, “We’re the same age, idiot.”

“Oh please.” You scoffed, looking at Aizen, “See what I have to deal with? I’m sure you get it”

“I’m right here.”

“He can be testy.” Aizen nodded, “But we’re here to talk about the report.”

“Testy?!”

“I put it on your desk yesterday.” You said.

“Oh!” Aizen brightened up, “Thank you Officer.” Shinji was sitting at his desk across from you, still grumbling to himself about being testy, when Aizen kicked his chair. Shinji looked at Aizen before letting out a sigh.

“Thank you.”

“Oh wow!” You clapped your hands together, “Did I hear that right? Was that a thank you?”

“Don’tcha get used to it. You're dismissed.” Shinji waved you away while you laughed, nearly skipping out of the room.

Most of your fights were harmless though. There was just always… something. A tension whenever you walked into the room. For many decades, he was just your pesky Captain. That was it.

But around 70 years in, the two of you had your first full blown fight that left the both in a fit of anger. True anger. Not just annoyance.

It was all because of that mission.

The mission that you, Shinji, Captain of Squad 12 Urahara Kisuke, and Lieutenant of Squad 12 Sarugaki Hiyori, were assigned to.

But it was that fight that changed everything.

Because you nearly died right after it.

The Senkaimon was opened as you dwelled in your own thoughts, and just as soon as it opened, you shot forward and walked towards the World of the Living. Kyoraku’s words were stuck in your head. They made you think about the past, and how so much changed.

How you and Shinji became best friends.

How the two of you became Vizards together.

How you were separated before you could say anything about your new feelings.

And how you now needed to find him.

So you shot forward until you saw a bright light. You felt a warm air brush your face as you fell down, the city lights dotting your vision. They grew closer as you let yourself fall into Karakuta town. Landing on top of a building, you centered yourself and looked ahead.

Flash stepping immediately, you headed towards Kisuke’s candy shack. In your agreement to go to the Soul Society, you told him that you would come back early, so that he would know everything that happened before everyone came back.

But he probably already knew, since he was just like Aizen. Always guessing everything beforehand.

Kisuke wasn’t shocked when you told him everything that happened. The two of you sat in his room, sipping some tea as Tessai leaned against the wall listening.

Kisuke was actually pleased. Though he did look worried when you told him about Aizen and Ichigo. How Aizen got the Hogyoku and how he told Ichigo about Kisuke. You were a bit ticked off about that too, honestly, but you always gave Kisuke a chance to explain himself. Because for his crazy actions, he usually had a good reason behind them.

You were used to his antics.

He explained himself, but you didn’t want him to explain himself to you– no, he needed to explain that to Rukia. You knew that he would though.

Ichigo told him the same thing. Days had passed, and once Ichigo finally returned, he told Kisuke the same thing when Kisuke tried to apologize. You smiled. You had a few hundred years under your belt, but the kid only had 15 and yet was a wise dude.

You were happy to support him in the upcoming war, because he truly didn’t need to fight in it, yet he was roped in like the rest of you.

You felt bad. He was just a kid. He didn’t deserve to have his whole life uprooted because of Aizen and the Soul Society. He was alive. He deserved to live and be a kid. Along with his friends. They all deserved that.

But life was taking Ichigo down a different path. One that concerned you.

Just a few days after Ichigo’s arrival, and just a few days into your search for Shinji and the others, you dropped everything once you felt a new change in Ichigo’s spiritual pressure.

Ichigo’s hollow.

It struck you in the heart like poison. You felt it across town, its strength. Its anger. Chills raked down your spine as you immediately flash stepped in his direction. You felt it before, way before Ichigo even went to the Soul Society. You could feel something deep down, something sinister. It reminded you of your own hollow.

But now?

You knew this feeling. It was out of control.

So in the middle of the night in Karakuta, you ran along the streets towards Ichigo. Something akin to fear gripped your soul as the feeling brought you back to your hollowfication. The loss of control. The overwhelming thoughts. The pain.

He was just a kid.

You swallowed your fear and ran closer, feeling his energy buzzing through the air. Looking around, you felt it swell as something else clashed with him.

You were in a dark neighborhood, and Ichigo wasn’t in your sight. Not until you looked up.

You looked up and saw him.

Your heart froze. Your mouth fell open as your heart twisted, tears burning in your eyes. Trembling, you cupped your mouth as your knees buckled.

Ichigo was there, but across from him was someone you didn’t expect nor sense.

Hirako Shinji.

You were frozen in time. The moon shined against his now short blonde hair. He was smiling.

That smile.

Tears flowed down your cheeks as you begged your legs to move. You tried to summon your strength to get up. Just get up!

But you couldn’t.

The weight of everything chained you to the ground. You saw as they spoke, his sword sparkling under the moonlight. They were arguing.

Your ears rang.

He was thinner. His eyes were darker… Shinji he was– you hadn’t seen him since–

You bit your lip, body trembling as you fell into a memory you tried so hard to repress.

You were on a street like this, in a suburban town in the World of the Living. It was at the height of the day, the summer sun beaming down on your skin. Sweat pooled on your forehead as you smiled. Lisa laughed beside you as the other Vizards walked ahead.

“I think I might go for it, it couldn’t hurt to get some more money for us.” She scratched her neck, her braid swaying behind her. You nodded along.

“I think you just wanna shove your nose in magazines without us shouting at you, and get paid for it.” You snickered.

“Hey!” She pointed a finger at you, “Magazines are really becoming popular right now. Selling them will be a breeze! I won’t be reading… that much.”

“No judgment here.” You raised your hands in defense, “Those women are pretty, I get it.” You didn’t have a preference when it comes to people, though you found that at that moment you preferred blonde dudes.

Specifically the blonde up ahead who leaned his head back and smiled at you, “Lisa, dontcha’ go ropin’ them into your addiction.”

“Shinji! You!--” Lisa was cut off when a massive spiritual pressure appeared. You all froze, skin trembling as something roared in the distance. With no hesitation, most of the Vizards shot towards it. Usually you all ignored hollows because there was always a Soul Reaper nearby– but this was different. You were right behind them, until you felt another pressure.

It was smaller, but looking back, you saw that it was near the park you all walked by just a few minutes ago.

A park that had the ghost of a small girl playing in it.

You spun around and shot towards that pressure, leaving the other hollow to them. You swallowed a tiny pill, and shot out of your Gigai. Grabbing your Zanpakuto, you flashed into the park. Surrounded by trees now, you saw the girl trembling in the center as a skinnier hollow with a bug-like mask and wings towered over her. It had claws like a praying mantis, and one was coming down for the girl’s head. You dashed forward, and blocked it with your Zanpakuto right before it hit her. She screamed.

“Get back! Run! You’ll be okay!” You panted, shoving the hollow back. It roared in pain as a cut appeared on its arm. But something turned in your gut– something was wrong. Its glowing red eyes burned in hatred at you.

Opening its mouth, a red beam started to form. Your eyes opened in shock.

A cero? At this range?

Hollows couldn’t produce ceros! Only Menos could!

You braced yourself in front of the girl as the red beam shot towards you. Closing your eyes, you sucked in a breath.

Nothing came.

Your eyes opened, but you were only met with a green robe. Kisuke stood ahead of you, his Zanpakuto released and a red barrier protecting you.

“Kisuke! How– that doesn’t matter, thank you!” You smiled.

“Where are the others?”

“They went towards the other hollow!” You explained, guarding yourself as the hollow roared again. “Why is this hollow able to use a cero?”

“I don’t know.” Kisuke muttered, glaring at the hollow, “It looks like it's been strengthened. That would need outside interference though, from a Soul Reaper.”

Your stomach dropped at the connotation. You had no time to think about it though, because the hollow flew forward, buzzing with its powerful spiritual pressure. Kisuke blocked its attack as you dashed forward, but suddenly two more arms came from its back and sliced your arm. You gritted your teeth as it flew back. Kisuke rushed forward and cut one of its arms off, you tore your shirt and wrapped your arm before joining in again. You ran forward, Zanpakuto screeching as you were ready to cut off its head. But just as you were, the Hollow opened its mouth and its tongue shot out. It wrapped around Kisuke, moving Kisuke in front of it. Its eyes glimmered, almost pleased.

You heard Kisuke’s statement from before echoing in your head. Outside interference. Soul Reaper interference.

Your stomach lurched as you clenched your teeth. You shot forward and slashed the tongue from around Kisuke within a second. Kisuke’s eyes widened as you kicked him out of the way. You didn’t know what was happening, but you knew that this hollow was dangerous.

And you couldn’t lose Kisuke.

If what you thought was true, if Aizen was involved, then it would make sense that he would target Kisuke.

The Vizards couldn’t lose Kisuke. Kisuke had his research and his brilliance. You couldn’t let anything happen to him.

So you stabbed the hollow in the chest, glaring at it. Its eyes flickered in panic.

Your eyes widened when something crashed around you, dust whirling in the air. Looking up, you saw a yellow film surrounding you. Your heart froze as you saw a black hole torn in the sky above you.

It was a Negacion.

You learned about it in the academy. It was a rare method that Gillians use to retrieve their own and send them to Hueco Mundo.

It’s impossible to break.

Your mouth trembled as you slowly looked back down at the hollow, glaring at you. Your body quivered as the realization dawned– you were captured.

They wanted Kisuke, but got you.

You heard your name screamed from behind you. Clenching your teeth, you sliced the hollow in half with a frustrated yell. Whipping your head back, you saw Kisuke stare at you, his eyes widened. The ground below you started to rumble as it was pulled from the ground. It was hard to breathe. You looked around the small space, desperate for anything. It was hard to breathe. Your trembling hand came up to your aching chest as the ground started to float up.

It was hard to breathe.

“Kisuke!” You screamed in a panic. You heard him muttering something below until suddenly he yelled out a Hado. A brilliant light crashed against the Negacion. Your eyes closed as you braced yourself again, your arms covering your face.

But nothing came again.

Opening your glossed over eyes, you still saw the yellow film. You felt your throat close as you looked over and saw the ground retreating below you. Kisuke looked up, his eyes widened in a panic as well.

Tears began to pool in your eyes, until you felt a presence. Many.

The vizards suddenly flashed around Kisuke, staring up at you. You felt your heart freeze as your eyes met Shinji’s.

Your hand pressed against the yellow film as you fell to your knees. It burned against your hand, but it didn’t compare at all to the pain of seeing his face.

Dread. Panic. Fear.

Horror.

Shinji screamed your name as he shot up towards you. The Negacion sparked as Shinji tried slashing it. Nothing happened. He banged his fist on it, but he only yelled out in pain. When he finally made it up to you, tears flowed down your face. He was breathing heavily, his eyes darting around as he mumbled your name. You knew that he was trying to figure out how to get you out.

You knew Shinji. You knew that he would do anything. You learned that a long time ago. That was Shinji.

He would put himself in front of his Squad as a Captain, and it drove you insane for years since you were so used to the opposite being done. He would do anything for those he cared for.

And you would do the same thing.

“Shinji.” You said, trying to calm your breathing, “Look at me.” Shinji was in a daze, still flying up with you as he tried to figure something out. Your heart twisted in a panic, “Look at me!” You yelled.

Shinji snapped out of it, his eyes finally finding yours.

“There you are.” You gave him a quivering smile, “Listen to me, I’ll be okay. I’ll find my way back to you all, okay? Just promise me that you’ll stay here. Stay here and stay safe, okay?”

His mouth opened as his eyes glossed over. Your heart twisted painfully as you saw him break, his lip quivering.

“Shinji, I need to hear you. Please.” You choked out.

He blinked, a tear rolling down his cheek as he brought a hand up. He placed it against the Negacion, where your hand was. “I promise.” He whispered.

The Negacion sparked between your hands, and a blast sent Shinji flying back.

“Shinji!” You screamed. He fell back, to where the others were, but got back up right away to look up at you. You saw the others also looking up. Their faces were hardly recognizable now as you flew into the sky. You didn’t look up. You didn’t know how much time you had. Heart racing, you yelled out, “I promise I’ll find you all again!”

Then it all went dark.

Now you kneeled in the darkness of the night, a flickering lamp post bringing you back to your senses. You were panting, sweat dripping down your face. You felt like you were going to be sick.

You swallowed your emotions and looked up again to see Shinji alone now, talking on his phone. He looked different from 20 years ago, his hair was shorter, and he was leaner.

But he was still– he was still Shinji. He was beautiful against the moonlight, and his smile captured your soul again.

You could only stare, frozen against time, as Shinji started to move away from you once again. Just like before, you couldn’t do anything but watch his retreating figure.

You wanted to move, to run after him, to do anything!

“Pathetic.” You heard a familiar voice murmur in your ear. Your hollow glared down at you, “Chaining yourself again?”

You bit your lip, glaring back up at them, “Fuck off.”

Yet another voice entered your mind, a deeper one from years ago. Your Zanpakuto. They repeated something they once said to you, “Can you become strong enough to break the chains binding you?”

This question rang in your mind as you glared at your hollow. You bit your cheek, the taste of iron pooling in your mouth, as you stood up. Your hollow’s smile fell as it faded away.

“Fine then.” It muttered before retreating back into your mind. You were left alone again, on the street with nobody in sight.

Shinji was gone.

But you smiled.

With the moon shining against your face you walked forward. Shinji was alive. You saw him, and that was enough to light that fire in you again.

Because you knew that come tomorrow, you would face him with nothing holding you back.

You have a promise to keep afterall.

Author's note: I know I know! lots of angst! and i've possibly added in some enemies to friends to lovers>:) also sorry if the later part of the chapter is a bit off or something, i'm pretty tired so I'll look at it in the morning to see if I missed any mistakes:) thanks for reading! <333

#bleach #shinji hirako #shinji hirako x reader #bleach x reader #fanfiction #writing #will of the heart #shinji hirako fic #shinji hirako fluff #bleach angst #bleach fanfiction #shunsui kyoraku #bleach fandom #<33333

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