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edith-moonshadow · 2 years

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Unquiet Graves Part Two

Ao3

Part One (With Full Tags)

Peter takes Steve home but something follows them from the shadows.

That familiar feeling of affection rose within him and he pulled Steve close, shivering at the chill from his body. Steve wrapped his arms around him and he pulled him into a passionate kiss delighted when he melted against him. He pulled back and Steve smiled before it morphed into confusion.

"Why are we here so late?"

"You fell asleep but we were on our anniversary."

Steve's face flushed and he ducked his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm so tired."

Bitterness ran through his mind but he ruthlessly pushed it away. Steve ran his hands over the front of his suit before he glanced back at Peter.

"Maybe it's because I put in so much more effort than you today."

He looked down at his rumpled and dirty clothes. His appearance hadn't been at the forefront of his mind for a while. He laughed and pulled Steve close again.

"We could go somewhere where clothes aren't an issue."

Steve laughed and squeezed him close.

"Sounds like the perfect end to any day."

He took his cold hand and led him back to the car. He decided that tomorrow they'd go for a walk in the forest and enjoy the scenery. He imagined them in that little clearing but this time Steve would only have eyes for him. The drive home was quiet but Steve smiled at him every time he placed a soft kiss on his skin. He didn't seem distracted. He was finally here with him.

When they arrived home Steve looked around in confusion. He'd always kept the house neat and clean but Peter had other things occupying his mind. He ran his finger over the table and stared at it for a long time.

"Steve?"

"How long have I been asleep?"

Panic coursed through him but Steve shook his head.

"Are you hungry?"

"When did I last eat?"

"This morning."

Steve bit his lip.

"Strange, I don't feel hungry."

He walked around the bottom part of the house taking it in as though it were the first time. Finally returning with a confused smile.

"Maybe I should eat something but I think I'll go get changed."

Peter nodded and Steve headed towards the stairs. He searched the kitchen but he had mostly been living off takeout as the taste of Steve's home cooking faded. He dug through the take-out menus when he heard Steve yell and ran up the stairs.

When he reached the room Steve was cowering by the bed pointing towards the window. He moved quickly towards it and on the outskirts of their garden he could see a shadowy figure with eyes that reflected the light like a curious cat in the moonlight. He jumped when Steve gripped his arm.

"Peter?"

He pulled them away from the window.

"Stay away from the windows and I'll sort this out."

Steve's eyes widened in fear.

"No…"

"Don't worry it'll be fine."

"Peter there's a demon at the bottom of the garden and you want to investigate?"

"I know who it is…"

"Who?"

"No one you need to care about. Why don't you have a nice bath I'll be back in no time and we can eat."

Steve opened his mouth to speak but he pulled him into a lingering kiss.

"It'll be ok."

He moved over beside the bed and stuffed the items he needed into his pocket. He knew it was probably better to start with the largest but Steve would ask too many questions so he left it for now. He walked briskly through the house and back out into the chilly night air. Standing at the bottom of the garden was Billy Hargrove. Peter had stared at that basketball photograph so much in the past year that his hungry stare was burned into his brain. He had once been an attractive man with defined muscles, wavy blonde hair, and tanned skin. Now he was a shadow of his former self. He looked like he'd stepped out of that black-and-white photograph in the yearbook but had taken something from him to do so.

His skin was grey tinged, his eyes haunted with an unearthly glow and his limbs twisted and broken. He snarled at Peter who smiled in return.

"Not so pretty now huh Billy?"

Billy growled at him.

"Steve belongs with me."

"He never belonged with you. It was just a little excitement but I've learned from this experience and he'll never be bored again."

"He can't stay with you "

"You think he'll want to be with a broken thing like you?"

"Better than a murderer."

Billy took a menacing step forward and Peter pulled the ticket stubs from his pocket. He held it up watching Billy's eyes widen before he pulled the lighter from his pocket and lit them on fire. He screamed in frustration as they burned away and he with them. The book had taught him everything he needed to know. Destroy all the little tokens of their love and it would cease to be. Death was strong but he was smarter. He returned to the house and found Steve staring transfixed by the water. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He stiffened for a moment before he relaxed under his hand.

"You take a nice relaxing bath and I'll order us some food. It's too late to cook now."

Steve nodded and started to undress. As the suit came away from his body he remembered the day he'd pulled it onto his unresponsive broken limbs and he had to quickly leave the room. He quickly tidied up the living room and lit a warming fire before ordering food. Steve appeared by his side a short while later his hair was damp and he'd pulled on sweats and a soft sweater. He sat by the fire warming his hands. Peter clenched his fists when he realised he'd left his ring upstairs. He walked over to run his fingers over the back of his neck when a loud bang from outside made them both jump. Steve turned to him with wide eyes. He squeezed his shoulders and ran outside.

Billy stood by his car with a bat as he destroyed the windows gleefully. He turned towards him holding up the bat in a threatening manner, his arms bent at an unnatural angle. He smiled at him with blackened teeth.

"Just making sure we're all nice and cosy. Steve asked for me yet?"

"No."

"He will. He can't live without me. You know all about that."

"He won't be able to look at you "

"Beauty's only skin deep. You'll find that out one day."

Peter pulled out the note, the one where Billy had professed his undying love in the way only a pathetic self-centred teenager could. Billy grinned at him as he turned it into ash. He walked back into the house where Steve was frantic. He pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back.

"What's happening?"

"Nothing for you to worry about."

"Don't lie to me."

"It'll all be over by tonight and we can live our lives peacefully."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to."

Suddenly there was a banging at the door. Loud thunderous raps made Peter's skin break out in gooseflesh. Steve's skin had turned pale as he rubbed over his throat.

"Billy…"

The name seemed to startle him as it fell from his lips and he quickly covered his mouth with his hand. Peter's heart sunk into the pit of his stomach. He had hoped that Billy would always remain dead but he knew returning was a possibility now he needed to banish him back to the grave. He ran quickly up the stairs and grabbed the letterman jacket. It looked almost new except for the name on the front which looked as though someone had run their fingers over it again and again making it fade. He balled it up in his hands not wanting to see it anymore. He ran downstairs and without a second thought threw it into the flames of the fire. Steve let out an anguished cry and moved towards it as though he wanted to save it from destruction. Peter pulled him close.

"Shhhh just let it go. Everything will be better."

The banging at the door intensified until the door seemed destined to come completely off its hinges. Billy's angry voice echoed through the house until there was nothing but silence. Steve slipped through his arms and landed on the cold floor. When he looked up it was with tears in his eyes.

"You knew."

He wanted to deny it. Wanted things to return to before Billy walked back into their lives but that was impossible now. They just had to make it until morning and they'd be together like nothing had ever happened. Billy wasn't a threat to them anymore. He slid down onto his knees in front of him.

"How long?"

Steve's face flushed as tears ran down his face.

"I'm sorry Peter, I never wanted to hurt you."

"How long?"

Steve laughed. A sad sound.

"He was the second person I ever fell in love with and the first that was real but life intervened and we couldn't be together. I was happy here with you but when I returned home Billy was there and…"

"You decided to throw away everything we had for him?"

Steve's eyes hardened.

"I realised I'd forgotten what real love was."

A burning started in his chest and he wrapped his fingers around Steve's shoulders forcing him to look him in the eye.

"What was I then huh?"

Steve averted his gaze.

"I'm sorry. I am. I should have told you when I returned but at first, I fought against the truth but Billy refused to. He followed me home and I had to accept the truth…I was going to tell you but something happened…"

"And now?"

Steve took a deep breath.

"Nothing has changed."

"Everything's changed. You decided to stay with me, remember?"

Steve's eyes clouded over with confusion. He didn't speak for a few moments before he slowly nodded his head. Peter let out the breath he'd been holding and pulled him close. A banging on the door made him freeze. They both sat on the floor staring at the door, one in trepidation and one in anticipation. Peter didn't have anything left to burn but he grabbed a knife from the kitchen. He slowly pulled open the door to find a bewildered pizza delivery man. He laughed in relief.

"Is everything ok?"

"It's perfect."

"Someone broke all the windows in your car."

"Don't worry it's all taken care of."

He didn't look convinced but after a decent tip, he handed over the food and left.

They ate their pizza in silence. Only the crackling of the fire and the burnt smell of the jacket kept them company. When the clock struck midnight Steve yawned and asked to go to bed. He agreed, pulling him close once they were under the covers. Steve melted against him but didn't seem interested in anything else. He wanted more but knew it could wait until the morning. They had the rest of their lives together after all. He fell into a dreamless sleep.

He shivered as the chill in the room finally seeped into his skin. He slowly returned to consciousness and looked at the clock. It was 3:03 am. The room was in darkness and he sat up realising that Steve wasn't beside him. He pulled himself from the bed, wincing at how cold the room was. He walked into the bathroom but Steve wasn't there. He headed downstairs and found him sitting by an open window looking out into the darkness. An open book across his lap.

"Steve?"

He jumped and moved around quickly dropping the book to the floor where it landed with a dull thud.

"Why is the window open? It's freezing."

Steve bit his lip but before he could speak a growly voice came from the darkness.

"I'm here Princess."

Relief flooded Steve's face before he turned towards the window. Pale broken limbs came through the shadows reaching for him but Peter pulled him back. Steve cried out and struggled against him. Billy came in through the window moving quickly towards Steve. Peter continued to move backwards out of his reach. Steve gasped.

"Billy, what happened to you?"

"It's ok Sweetheart everything will go back to normal once we touch."

"Are you in pain?"

"I’m ok Baby.”

"No, he's staying here with me. Why should he go with you just so he can rot in the ground and not get to live his life."

Billy laughed.

"You think there's nothing after this? You're in for a rude awakening. Steve does live with me. We were happy until you pulled this little stunt."

Steve stiffened in his arms and then elbowed him in the stomach. In his pain, he let go of him for a moment and Steve ran closer to Billy.

"I remember."

"Steve, stay here with me…"

Billy moved closer to Steve. His face softened as he looked at him then his broken twisted fingers reached out and stroked his cheek. Steve's eyes closed as a blissful expression passed over his face. A strong wind blew in through the window making it hit the wall and causing it to shatter. Candlesticks fell off the mantle, ashes in the fire spread across the room making it foggy, and take-out menus blew across his vision. The ashes burned his eyes making them water. Steve took Billy's hand in his own and they flickered like a candle flame until they flickered out of existence.

Peter’s throat burned in anger and frustration. He stood on shaky legs and walked over to the window. Laying on the ground covered in glass was the Hawkins high yearbook. He lifted it ignoring the pain in his fingers as they were sliced by the broken glass. The spine of the book broke so it fell easily to that page. Steve's smiling face. Billy's hungry stare. A moment in time captured for all eternity.

#harringrove #my writing #unquiet graves #harroween

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hot-daga · 3 years

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transparent pngs of some hot daga characters for all ur hot daga needs

#these were part of hot daga valentines i was making #you'll see those in february I'm queuing them up rn #gene was hardest to do I had to repaint his fries #ok there's a LITTLE bit of a white tinge around them but they look fine if u put them anywhere I promise lol #hot daga #buzzfeed unsolved

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dilftaroooo · 3 years

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𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: female reader, race/ethnicity is not mentioned.

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 2.2k+ (IM TRYING TO KEEP THESE POSTS SHORT AND SWEET BUT APPARENTLY I CANT FUCKING DO THAT NOW CAN I???? >:((()

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒: senpai loves to tease.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒/𝐓𝐖: public sex, school au, fingering, gojo being a dickhead as per usual, orgasm denial, characters are at least 18, dirty talk.

tagging: @lilyzbeeeee

𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐁𝐄 𝟏𝟔 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓.

“y/n-chaaaan~!” the white wolf yells loudly across the classroom, stressing out each syllable of your name. “come sit next to me!”

the fox that kept gojo company massages his temples. he was already feeling a migraine kicking in.

“shut the fuck up, satoru. it’s a small class, y/n can hear you just fine if you speak in your normal tone.”

satoru ignored his friend. his aggressive approach wasn’t new to him, suguru gets irritated by everything satoru does. it always made him wonder why he still hung out with him if he couldn’t pass the day without taking anti-pain medication.

you jump when you hear your name being called, looking over to see satoru flailing his arms around trying to get your attention and suguru miserably sliding his palm over his face.

a sweat drop forms on your forehead. it wasn’t uncommon for prey to sit next to predators. the world was slowly innovating into something more tolerable and every community was becoming more comfortable with being around various hybrids.

but a tinge of caution still lingered within you. it was only the second week of school and gojo was already so fond of you (geto too!). you were a bit high strung on the idea of sitting next to the wolf but after getting a sneak peek of his dorky personality, you suppose it wouldn’t you do any harm.

“g-good morning geto-senpai. and gojo-senpai.” you show them a gesture of deference to the upperclassmen, softly bowing to the two.

“gee, y/n-chan. you’re so formal. loosen up a bit will ya’? i don’t bite... unless you want me to?” gojo bares his fangs and he leans towards you as he bites at the air, hearing the loud clank of his jaws snapping together, you flinch as you took a step back.

geto slaps the back of gojo’s head to which the boy massages the spot where he was hit, muttering multiple ouches at the growing pain.

the corner of geto’s eyes creases as he smiles. “don’t mind him. after a week of seeing him you should know how much of an idiot he is.” gojo’s exaggerated gasp causes your classmates to turn their heads and quirk an eyebrow.

“i’m not an idiot!”

“oh yeah? prove it.”

“ok then. guess who got a hundred on their test yesterday?”

“gojo, that was a class survey. there was no score at the end.”

“well i made up one and that’s what i got so shut up!”

geto lets out an annoyed huff, not planning to further indulge in an argument he can never win (at least when’s its with someone as stubborn as gojo). he just hopes he brought his pills with him today.

he pats the empty seat to his right. “whatever. come sit down next to me, y/n. gojo would only bother you for the rest of class if you sit next to him.” unable to muster up the courage to refuse his offer, you make your way over to the empty chair, getting ready to set your backpack down and get ready for class.

“nuh uh,” not even a second later you feel arms wrap around your waist and tug you away from geto. the fox perked up from the unpredicted action and gojo clenched his eyes and stuck his tongue out at his friend.

“y/n-chan wants to sit next to me. isn’t that right, little bunny?~” you feel your body tingle as gojo smothers his face in your neck. his pointed ears flick against your cheek as he nearly suffocates you with his unwanted affection.

“um... yes?”

“yay! she agreed with meee.”

“barely.”

unpacking your common daily materials out of your bag, yaga-sensei walks into the doors of the classroom, carrying multiple documents and what you assume to be assignments under his arm. he bids his students a quick ‘morning’ and everyone replies exhaustingly.

fifteen minutes in yaga’s teaching session, your notebook is filled with important notes and paragraphs that uttered out of your teacher’s mouth. you looked forward to hear all of the wise words yaga presented you with.

gojo sighed beside you — bored out of his mind as he skillfully twirls the mechanical pencil between his fingers.

he looks to his right to see geto paying attention to board at the front of the class, occasionally looking down to copy what was displayed. he looks to his left and finds you doing the same thing.

ugh. was anybody here not a total nerd? just where the hell did they plan to use the pythagorean theorem? all of them were just wasting their time (unless they plan on being a mathematician but thats very uncool in gojo’s standards).

since no one can cure his boredom, he guess he has to do it himself.

gojo takes a closer look at you. your hair was out and decorated with purple hair clips. your brows furrowed cutely when you try to understand whatever it was yaga was saying, nibbling the top of your pen in deep thought — he mentally notes to remember not to touch the pink pen whenever it was near.

your black thigh highs squeezed your thighs beautifully and the skirt that came with your uniform laid delicately around the swerve of your hips. though your jacket didn’t leave much to the imagination he was able to tell that you had decent sized rack.

gojo purred at the thought of wrapping his palms around them, gushing at its tenderness and bounce whenever he’d slap them, consuming in your short yip when the pain spreads across your breasts.

then it started to dawn on gojo: just how innocent were you? it all had to be an act. there’s no way you can genuinely be as gullible as you are. there has to be a catch to it — maybe if gojo juuuust...

moving his fingers in a walking motion toward your legs, he feathers his touch across them, azure eyes gazing at how your body stiffens when he slides his finger in the enclosed space of your thigh highs.

you try to move away from him but gojo just dragged you closer by pulling your leg.

“g-gojo-senpai,” your voice was hushed. you didn’t turn to face the wolf as you spoke. “what are you doing?”

“i’m just messin’ around. your socks look so cute on you, y/n-chaaan~” he lifts the hem up and releases and a smack erupts from the contact of the fabric hitting your skin.

“ah! gojo-” he squeezes your leg as a small warning and brings a finger to his lips.

“keep it down. we’re in class remember?” thankfully, nobody seemed to notice the sound you made — looking around and still seeing everyone doing their own thing (geto was too focused on the phone he had hidden under the table, not looking forward to hearing his teacher yelling out his name and confiscating his device).

you nod your head. perhaps you can ignore it and go back to writing your notes. you glance at the clock above the door — class was almost over. what can go wrong?

“nngh-”

gojo’s smooth hand trails further up your thigh and eventually makes it to the spot gojo craved for, rubbing his middle and ring finger against your covered pussy. he grins from ear to ear when he felt how wet you were through the material. what a surprise coming from the timid, little bunny.

you gripped your pencil so tightly you were sure it was going to snap into two. you felt as he circled his finger around your sensitive bud. you could sense the fluids emerging from your pussy with each enticing swirl.

“hmm, let’s see what going on under these filthy panties...”

he dove his hand inside, looking forward at the teacher, pretending to listen as he forms his fingers into a ‘v’ shape and strokes the space besides your clitoral hood. you clench your legs together to try and stop him but that did absolutely nothing.

he teases his fingers at the edge of your entrance for a little while until your bottom lip juts out to pout, needy for more of his touch. he quietly chuckles before dipping inside your wet cavern. you suppress your moan by leaning down on your desk to cover your head — savoring how your senpai’s digits glided across the ridges in your needy cunt. you were so immersed on what going on in your undergarments that you barely heard yaga say your name.

“-y/n.” his blunt tone shoots through your ear canal and you abruptly sit up.

“y-yes sir?” you question, fighting the moan that rendered at the back of your throat.

“were you paying attention or were you too busy sleeping?” he awaits your response for the imposing question. even with those shades on, you knew there was a hard stare that was directed at you. geto turns to what was going on besides him, pondering at the way you stutter in embarrassment and how you let out soft squeaks in almost every sentence.

“n-n-no sir. i’m sorry. my head was just- ugh.” oooh that spot. that spot gojo hit just now. it felt so good. so heavenly. but you can’t get distracted. not now. stop gojo. please please please stop.

“ms. y/n? are you ok? do you need to go to the nurse’s office?” gojo’s pace quickens and you feel the pressure stifling your core. you bite your lip.

“i’m... fine, yaga-sensei. please continue teaching. i’m sorry for disrupting you.” yaga kept his gaze on you and you attempt to make the most normal face as possible. you felt his eyes skim over your features in search of spasms and irritations — after what felt like an eternity, he finally bought it, turning back around to resume where he left off.

your apprehension left your body once his attention was no longer on you and you trained your mind back to the matters at hand. gojo felt your pussy clasp around him harder — a sign that you were close to coming.

“you’re going to come while you’re in class? surrounded by all of your fellow classmates?” he mockingly questions. his perverse eyes lingered on your panting lips — legs quivering whenever you felt yourself getting closer to your approaching release.

“what if someone sees you?-” a vision of multiple eyes staring at your flustered body, heating up and shaking as gojo finger fucks the inside your leaky cunt to oblivion entered your mind.

“-nanami?” gojo’s whisper fans across your cheek as he leans closer to your side. you could hear the indistinct squelching coming from your pussy.

“-shoko?” it felt so good when his thumb kneaded at your pulsing clit. it beats at every stroke and flick — maintaining the build up that tickled your abdomen and kissed your g-spot.

“-geto?” fuck fuck fuck. you were there. it was coming. you were going to come right on this seat and stain it with your scent.

“do you even care?” gripping his wrists as you neared the end your nails pierced his skin.

“goo- gojoo, im coming. oh my god im going to come-”

he goes faster. faster than you can possibly imagine and you just know some people already noticed what gojo was doing to you under this desk. so dirty and libidinous and you didn’t do anything but spread your legs like a whore and give it to him. to let him do whatever he wished.

“you can do it, yes, good girl, come on. come all over my fingers. let everyone know how much of a slut you are that you’d even let a classmate finger you during the middle of class.”

you were getting there. just a little more, gojo. just... right... the-

RIIING RIIING

gojo retracts himself from the sound of the school bell and you bang your hand on the desk when you were denied of your orgasm. students started to pack their things to prepare for their next class.

“ok class, we’ll be reviewing this stuff tomorrow. class dismissed. have a good day.”

you try to catch your breath. you were irritated. so so irritated. orgasm denial wasn’t the best feeling in the world. you glared up at gojo but your eyes widen once he puts his fingers in his mouth — keeping eye contact as he seductively licked your sticky fluids off the base of his fingers.

he leans down to your ear once he finishes. “you taste so good, y/n. i could just eat. you. up.”

geto pushed him aside to helped you up (which you appreciated). “are you ok, y/n.”

“y-yeah, im ok. just a little headache is all.” geto’s eyes widens in realization once he remembers the bottle of pills in his bag and struggles to get them out.

“i have some pain relievers if you’d like to take some.”

“no it’s fine-”

“she’ll be fine, you worrywart.” the loud wolf slings his arm around your shoulder as you all walk out the classroom, cheesing at the fox behind him. his glare was harsh.

“i’m just being the better friend.” gojo waves him off, scratching the itch under his nose.

“yeah yeah, whatever.”

shoko shows up with nanami to her right and you all start to converse with one another as you make your way to your next class. shoko even pointed out what happened during class when yaga called on you but you just laugh it off.

during the whole time you were together, gojo didn’t let you go.

©𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 @dilftaroooo. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

#satoru gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru x you #satoru gojo x you #gojo satoru smut #gojo smut #gojo x reader #satoru jjk #jjk fic #jjk smut #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen #gojo x y/n #satoru gojo smut #☏ — requests #𓂺 — you perv!#dilftaroooo’s 150 follower event!

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eliemo · 3 years

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Permafrost: Chapter 2

Summary: After Virgil agrees to follow Roman into the Imagination, a shift in the weather and an unfortunate misstep sends Virgil plummeting into uncharted waters. If only it didn’t take a matter of life or death and a race against time to realize the Prince might not hate him after all.

TW: Drowning, effects of severe cold, steps of CPR

Notes: Romantic Prinxiety (pre relationship) I tried to make the effects in this chapter as realistic as possible but if some things are inaccurate no they aren’t

Permafrost taglist: @im-an-anxious-wreck @snowyfires @the-sympathetic-villain @my-life-is-an-artistic-mess @itsjust-la-me @ray-does-stuff @brokaw22 @johnlaurensintheplacetobe @teamplutoforlife @myrandomfandoms12 @riverdoesbadart

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4

Roman knew his role, and he played it well. He was the hero, charging into battle and adventures without a second thought, smiling in the face of bloodthirsty beasts with his sword at his side. Princes weren’t cowards.

But when Virgil lost his grip and went under, Roman had never been so scared in his entire life.

“Virgil!”

He’d been so close, finally dropping to his knees on the unsteady ice and desperately reaching out, fingers just brushing freezing cold skin when the current took advantage of Virgil’s rapidly waning strength and pulled him under.

Roman’s own scream, hollow and empty and terrified, echoed right back at him, thrown in his face to remind him that he’d been too slow-

He pushed his own thoughts aside (he could blame himself later. God why hadn’t he been faster?) and plunged his arm into the water until he was shoulder deep, hissing against the sudden sting of the cold.

But Roman didn’t have the place to complain, not when Virgil had just been completely submerged right in front of him.

It had all happened so fast, Roman reaching into the violent river less than a second after Virgil disappeared, so maybe- maybe there was still enough time. Please please please let him be fast enough-

His fingers found something soft and solid, just barely managing to grab onto what he was almost positive was Virgil’s hoodie (please please let it be Virgil’s hoodie) before it was swept away completely.

He was almost yanked into the water himself by the force of the current, the river fighting relentlessly to pry Virgil away, and Roman felt a sudden rush of irrational anger.

He wasn’t sure where it came from, something defiant and protective that wrapped around his chest- something that went deeper than his desire to be someone’s hero. Because he was Creativity, and this was his realm. It didn’t get to take anything from him.

It didn’t get to take Virgil.

Roman reared back, mind almost blank as he fought against the water and pulled Virgil back towards the surface, heart skipping a beat when he finally caught a glimpse of purple hair floating in the freezing water.

He hadn’t lost him. He was ok, he would be ok, Roman would make sure of it. Virgil was not going to die because Roman had been a little too eager to spend time with the recently accepted side.

He moved closer to the edge, forcing himself to ignore the way the already unstable ice creaked dangerously, letting out a sky breath when he was able to get two hands hooked under Virgil's shoulders.

It was only then, pulling against the weight of the water trying to drag them both down, that he realized Virgil wasn’t fighting back. He was perfectly still, no more kicking or struggling as the current kept him under.

No. No no no. He wasn’t too late. He wasn’t too late. Virgil would be fine.

Roman honestly wasn’t sure how he managed to gain the upper hand in his fight with the current. It was strength he doubted he could have harnessed under any other circumstance, a sudden rush of adrenaline he imagined Thomas got from Virgil sometimes right before rushing on stage and pouring his heart out in front of an audience.

Maybe it was the last of Virgil’s strength bleeding into Roman’s determination, a last desperate attempt to help save his own life. The two of them had always been a good team, even if they hadn’t realized it sooner.

Virgil finally broke the surface, Romans’s arms wrapped firmly around his chest as he dragged him onto the ice, terrified he would lose his grip and let Virgil slip through his hands when they were so close to being safe.

There was no gasp for air, no coughing or sputtering as he choked and spat out water. Virgil was out of the river, but he was still unmoving and silent, lips and fingertips tinged an alarming shade of blue.

But that was ok. It was ok! (It wasn’t ok- it was the farthest thing from ok.) The ice creaked again, shifting a bit under the added weight, and Roman forced himself to move before he got them both killed.

“You’re ok,” Roman said, despite Virgil remaining limp and unresponsive as he carefully scooped the anxious side up off the ground. He had to do something to fill the suffocating silence. “You’re ok, you’re fine. I’ve got you. You’re ok.”

The ice was definitely unsteady as Roman brought them back to the surrounding snow, but it thankfully didn’t crack or give way any further. Apparently Virgil had managed to find the most unstable chunk in what could easily be the deepest part of the lake.

And Roman had kept walking. Roman had teased and waved off his panic. And then when he realized what had happened, when he’d heard the genuine terror in Virgil’s voice, it had already been too late. He’d been too far away.

But Virgil was in his arms now. Virgil was...he was limp against Roman’s chest, river water leaking from his mouth, and he wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t breathing.

He pushed down his panic, even as his head spun and his hands shook from more than just the cold, carefully setting Virgil down in the snow against the nearest tree trunk, the bare twisted branches offering a bit of shelter from the snowfall.

Virgil was horribly pale, even more than usual, and Roman hated how he blended in with the ground, everything a startling shade of white save for the heavy tint of blue his lips had gained.

Roman reached forward with shaking hands, holding his breath as he pressed two fingers against the ice cold skin below Virgil’s jaw, searching frantically for a pulse while his eyes welled up with tears.

There was nothing there. There was nothing, Virgil didn’t have a pulse, and Roman wanted to sob. “Hang on,” he whispered to no one, because he wasn’t sure what to say when his friend looked like a corpse. “Just hang on, Virge.”

Before he could stare too long and spiral into worry, because Virgil’s face should never look so lifeless, Roman squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to try and recall what Logan taught them to do in a situation like this.

It had been years ago, and Roman had decided the lesson was boring, unnecessary, and not worth his attention. And of course, now it was a matter of life and death, and he was struggling to remember a word Logan had said.

It had been Virgil’s idea for Logan to teach them all how to perform CPR. “You never know what could happen. It’s just better to be prepared.” He’d insisted.

Back then, Roman had chalked it up to Anxiety just trying to ruin their fun and keep everyone paranoid for his own twisted amusement. He really made himself sick sometimes.

If Virgil was awake right now, he would be rolling his eyes and teasing him for being such a stubborn idiot. Virgil had always just been trying to help. To keep them all safe. And Roman had always responded with suspicion and hostility.

But he wasn’t awake, and if Roman didn’t remember this stupid lecture Logan had given, he might never wake up again.

Roman racked his brain as hard as he could, his eyes squeezed shut as he fought to picture Logan’s voice. After pulling someone from the water you have to…you have to move them…on their back!

Roman rushed to move Virgil so he was laying down, working quickly yet handling the anxious side as if he were made of glass. He slowly and carefully placed him flat on his back, making sure he didn’t hit his head on the ground.

Ok, first step finished. Roman closed his eyes again as he reached into his memory for what to do next. He had to put his hands- no, his palms- on Virgil’s stomach. His stomach? No, it was...it was...his chest? His chest!

Roman wished more than anything Virgil was over his shoulder, gently poking fun at the Prince’s scrambled thoughts.

But he wasn’t, and Roman unzipped the soaking wet hoodie to place his hands on Virgil’s chest, one hand crossed over the other, mirroring the way he remembered Logan had positioned his own hands on the practice dummy he’d made Roman conjure.

Now, all he had to do was push down to the beat of ‘Stayin’ Alive’, just like The Office taught him, and then move to tilt Virgil’s head back, pinch his nose closed, and breathe for him until the anxious side’s chest could rise on its own.

Roman wasted no time starting the motions. He hummed the tune under his breath to keep the rhythm, quickly deciding that once this was over he would never be able to hear that song again.

But that didn’t matter right now. Right now he just needed Virgil to breathe.

But...but he wasn’t. Roman lost track of how many times he pressed down on Virgil’s chest, how many times he repeated that song over and over in his head, the compressions getting a little bit more desperate every time.

He lost count of how many times he leaned over his friend to send a breath rattling down his throat, trembling and lightheaded as he touched Virgil’s frigid skin, only able to silently hope his lungs would get the message and bring him back.

“Come on, Virgil,” he found himself pleading, vision obscured by gathering tears. “Come on, wake up! You can do it, I know you can do it. Just come back, ok? You’re gonna be ok, just breathe! Please, Virgil please. We...I can’t lose you! You have to wake up!”

Was he doing something wrong? Had he just been too late? Too slow? Too stupid? If it was anyone else, Vigil would have already been awake by now, conscious and breathing.

...If it were anyone else, Virgil wouldn’t have fallen in the lake at all. Virgil wouldn’t even be here. He’d be warm and safe in someone else’s arms and Roman wouldn’t be kneeling in the snow, begging him to open his eyes.

He needed Virgil to wake up. He needed him. It had taken him so long to see it, pushing it down and covering it up with insults and nicknames and denial, but now...now Roman didn’t think he could handle losing Virgil.

He couldn’t lose Virgil’s voice, his smile, the way the whole world seemed brighter when Roman got the anxious side to laugh. Virgil was kind and sharp and funny, and he cared so much. He was...he was perfect, and Roman--

Virgil suddenly jolted under his hands, making a horrible sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a cough, eyes flying open in panic as he fought and struggled for air he couldn’t get.

Roman’s cry of relief came out as something closer to a sob, but he couldn’t find it in him to care, scrambling off of Virgil and not bothering to wipe the tears from his face.

Prince thankfully had the sense to turn Virgil on his side to keep him from choking, wincing at the string of wet coughs and hacking coming from the soaked figure in the snow.

It sounded horrible, Virgil’s breaths coming in strangled wheezes as he coughed and spewed up what looked like half the river, but right now it was the most beautiful noise Roman had ever heard.

He couldn’t imagine how much pain the other side was in right now, every breath an agonized and confused fight for air, but it at least meant Virgil was alive.

“You’re ok,” Roman said, voice still unsteady and raw from crying. “Hey, you’re ok, you’re alright. Just let it out, you’re doing great.”

Virgil was obviously too busy throwing up water to respond, and Roman suddenly had no idea what he was supposed to do.

“I’m here,” he offered, tentatively scooting closer, terrified he would just make everything worse. “You’re ok, Virgil. It’s ok.”

He carefully placed a hand on Virgil’s back, rubbing small circles in between his shoulder blades. The hoodie was just as soaked as the rest of him, heavy and cold and probably clinging to his skin. It was impossible not to notice how hard Virgil was shaking, teeth chattering so much Roman could hear it over the wind.

Gosh, Virgil must be freezing.

“R- Ro...R-Roman.” He coughed again, and Roman wrapped an arm around him to keep Virgil from falling flat on his face. “R-Roman--”

“Shh, I’ve got you.” He pulled Virgil back to lean against his chest, frowning at how the hoodie still dripped with icy water. “I’m gonna help you, ok? We’re gonna get you warmed up.”

Roman moved to take the lapels of the hoodie, gently trying to slide it off the shivering side, tearing up again when Virgil made a noise of protest, scared and small. He tried to cling onto the garment, but his hands were too unsteady to get a good grip.

“I know,” Roman said. “But the hoodie’s soaked, Virge. It’s just making things worse, I need to get it off.”

Either Virgil understood and stopped fighting, or he didn’t have the strength to struggle anymore, but he dropped his arms and leaned even more into the Prince’s side. He just hoped Virgil recognized Roman was trying to help.

The hoodie wasn’t easy to get off, the cloth clinging to Virgil’s bare arms, the anxious side whimpering when the wind hit his skin. “P-please, please d-don’t...Roman--”

“I know.” God, Virgil was barely able to get his words out through his own chattering teeth. “I know it’s cold, but just hang in there. Please.”

Roman wasted no time once the hoodie was off. He quickly laid it out beside them on the snow, hoping the wind would at least do something to dry it off, and repositioned himself slightly, one hand still wrapped carefully around Virgil’s chest.

He detached his red sash first, tossing it carelessly into the snow and vowing not to leave it, or the hoodie, behind. It took a few seconds, Virgil still leaned heavily up against him, but Roman managed to shrug off his white jacket, shuddering when that left him in just a black t-shirt.

It was freezing, the ruthless wind like a flurry of knives against his skin, but Roman forced himself to grit his teeth and ignore it. If he was cold, he couldn’t imagine how it must feel to be soaking wet.

And Virgil was probably aching and bruised from the compressions…

“Here,” Roman said, heart dropping at the fear and confusion in Virgil’s cloudy eyes. “Put this on, alright? You’re gonna be ok.”

Virgil made another quiet, indecipherable noise but didn’t protest when Roman draped the jacket over his shoulders, and the prince was able to help guide his hands through the slightly too big sleeves.

Any other time, under any other circumstances, Roman imagined seeing the anxious side wearing the prince’s jacket would be something that would leave them both smiling like idiots, Roman left trying in vain to hide his rising blush.

Now, it was just a desperate act to keep Virgil alive.

Roman wrapped his arms around him and pulled Virgil close to his chest, desperate to offer as much warmth as he could, the shivering from the other side still beyond alarming. At least his lips and fingertips no longer held that terrifying shade of blue.

He shut his eyes for a moment, dropping his forehead to rest against Virgil’s soaking wet hair, trying to figure out what on earth he was supposed to do. They needed to move, to get Virgil back home safe as soon as possible, but it was still another forty minutes or so to the Imagination door.

He never should have brought Virgil so far out, not with how unpredictable his realm could be. Roman had just...wanted an excuse to spend more time with the anxious side.

He’d wanted Virgil to see him be the hero. For once, he’d wanted to be the hero in Virgil’s eyes, not just Thomas’s. He’d been so stupid.

They couldn’t stay here, not while the snow continued to fall and the wind showed no sign of stopping.

He’d carry Virgil the entire way if he had to, he knew that for sure. But the longer the storm kept up, the temperature slowly but surely dropping further, the more it was looking like he’d have to. They couldn’t afford to move slowly.

He didn’t know what he’d been silently hoping for. Maybe for the weather to become warm again, or for Virgil to magically get better, to sit up with his skin back to its normal paleness and make a snarky comment about Roman worrying too much.

“Jeez, are you trying to steal my job, Princey?” he’d ask, smirking when Roman sputtered and blushed under the accusation. God, he’d give anything to have Virgil back to normal.

But the sky wasn't clear, Virgil’s declining health only seemed to be getting worse, and Roman knew that the longer he waited, the worse it would only get.

“Hey, we need to keep moving,” Roman said, hoping Virgil could understand him. “You still with me? I’m gonna pick you up, alright?”

He felt Virgil cough again, still a broken rattling sound that sent dread clawing up Roman’s throat, and he watched the anxious side reach up to grab at the material of the jacket wrapped around him.

“M’ here,” he said, and he was clearly trying so hard to speak clearly. “I- I can...I c-can walk.”

“Let me help you,” Roman insisted, even as his heart swelled with pride. He wondered if Virgil recognized his own bravery. “We’ll be home soon.”

He carefully maneuvered one of Virgil’s arms over his shoulder and counted to three under his breath before slowly lifting the anxious side off the ground.

He froze immediately when Virgil let out a strangled gasp, broken up immediately by ragged coughs, his shivering body going tense as his free hand flew to his stomach, trying to wrap his arm around himself.

“F-fuck,” Virgil hissed when he had his breath back, and Roman eased them both back into the snow when his knees started to buckle. “Ow, ow, ow, what...Ro-Roman--”

“I’m here,” Roman said. “I’m right here, Virgil. What hurts?”

“R-r-ribs, and- and I...I don’t...what’re we--?”

“Shoot, uh...I think I did that.” Oh god, he’d hurt Virgil. He’d really messed up everything today, hadn’t he? “I had to give you CPR.”

“You...I- I don’t- why?”

“You fell in the river,” Roman explained, trying not to panic at Virgil’s sudden memory loss. That was normal, right? He was just a little confused, no reason to freak out yet. “Remember? I think the cold really got to you and- and I’m...I’m really sorry. God, I’m so sorry Virgil. I tried to get to you but--”

“Y-you-” Another cough, just as terrifying as all the others. “-you pulled m-me up?”

Roman frowned, hating the bewildered confusion in Virgil’s voice. “I did. Of course I did. But you...you weren’t breathing and I couldn’t find a pulse and I...I thought you were...I thought--”

“Well I- I’m f-fine,” Virgil rasped, dangerously pale and shivering and the farthest thing from fine. “Y-you...you really are my hero huh, P-Princey?”

It was like something curled around Roman’s chest, squeezing at his heart so suddenly he felt a little lightheaded. Virgil’s hero. He wanted so badly to believe that.

But he couldn’t- not when Virgil was trembling in his arms and struggling to form a single sentence.

“I’m getting you home,” Roman vowed, holding the anxious side just a little bit tighter. “I promise you that. Just...let me carry you. Please.”

Virgil slumped, his shaky grip growing almost desperate- despite still being painfully weak- but he nodded against Roman’s chest. “It’s...it’ s-so cold.”

Roman didn’t know how much time had passed since he had put his own jacket on Virgil, but while it hadn’t seemed to do much to improve Virgil’s condition, the lack of protection was definitely getting to Roman.

He found he didn’t mind though, not when Virgil was awake and breathing, aware enough to talk just a little. But he knew it was only a matter of time until their luck ran out.

Roman carefully repositioned the anxious side still curled in his arms so he could better hold him in a bridal carry, shushing him gently when Virgil made a pained sound as the Prince stood, stumbling slightly in the thick snow.

“I know,” Roman said, barely audible over the howling wind. “Just hang in there, Stormcloud. We’ll be home before you know it. We’re so close, Virgil.”

He started forward again, hoping Virgil wasn’t aware enough to catch on to Roman’s own rising anxiety.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #prinxiety #virgil sanders #roman sanders #ts virgil #ts roman #hypothermia #hurt/comfort #writing #fanfiction

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helnjk · 3 years

Text

Crazier - F.W.

Fred Weasley x fem!reader

This was written for @vivianweasley ‘s 400 writing challenge! I used the song Crazier (by Taylor Swift) from the Hannah Montana movie hihi. Congrats on the milestone lovely ❤️ I hope you enjoy 🧚🏼‍♀️

Word count: 2.6k

Warnings: just fluff! and wedding vibes 💗

A/N: ok but this song is ADORABLE ! it makes me so giddy when I listen to it (& i did, A LOT, especially in the process of writing this)

Flashbacks are italicized

---

Feels like I'm falling and I'm lost in your eyes

There was something special about a war time wedding.

The atmosphere surrounding the Burrow seemed to glow in the morning light. The gentle breeze rustled the surrounding fields and the sun was just peaking across the horizon. Champagne colored rays burst from between the clouds littered in the sky, providing warmth for anyone who found themselves outside. Despite the early hour, the residents (and guests) of the Weasley household were already up, busying themselves with tasks that Molly had assigned them.

You found yourself still wrapped in your fluffy dressing gown, nursing a warm cup of tea in your hands as you directed Fred and George. You three were in charge of making sure the flowers, arches, and chairs were all ready for the upcoming ceremony. A smile couldn’t help but inch its way onto your face as you watched Fred jokingly shove George and cause him to lose his footing for a moment.

The soft laugh that escaped your lips caught his attention and your eyes locked. Brown eyes glimmered with mischief and adoration met yours and you couldn’t help the fluttering of butterflies in your stomach.

“Oi! Be nice to your brother, Fred!” You called out as George once again lost his balance, “We don’t want him losing any other body part!”

“Don’t be silly, Y/N.” He retorted, pretending to look like he wasn’t about to send a jelly-legs jinx his brother’s way, “He’s a big boy, he can handle it!”

You made your way towards the boys who couldn’t stop roughhousing with each other now, “Well regardless, we’ve got to get the flowers and arches up and perfect before your mother comes and has a right fit!”

Slightly amused at how much you reminded them of their mother in that moment, the twins stopped horsing around and actually got their wands out to be as efficient as possible. You were able to get back to peacefully sipping on your tea and telling them where they should put certain flowers and which arch belonged where.

The sun was fully risen when the three of you finished, standing side by side admiring your handiwork.

“Great job team!” George announces, patting both you and Fred on the shoulder before turning on his heel, “I’m gonna go check and see if mom’s made some food! I’m starving!”

Before you could follow him, Fred’s arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you from behind. Your back connected with his chest in a huff, and he placed his head on your shoulder, “Yes, Freddie?” You giggled.

“Nothing love,” He kissed the side of your neck, “Just love you, is all.”

Your heart fluttered at the simple words and you practically melted in his arms, “Where’d that come from?”

“The whole atmosphere of today, of the wedding, I dunno” He hummed, “It just made me think of seeing you walk down the aisle in a white dress in the future.”

Turning around in his grasp and wrapping your arms around his neck, your eyes met and it was the most genuine and sincere you had ever seen Fred look. It made your heart stutter and butterflies fill your stomach.

“You’re such a sap, Fred Weasley,” There was no malice in your voice, just adoration for the wonderful man in front of you.

“Only for you darling.”

Bill and Fleur’s wedding was nothing short of magical.

The moment the blushing bride walked down the aisle, the crowd seemed to freeze in awe of her beauty. But nothing could compare to how she glowed the moment she reached the arms of her loving husband.

As the newlyweds shared a loving kiss, your eyes locked with Fred’s and you were struck with the image of him in his best dress robes, pulling you in for a sweet kiss just like the one happening in front of you. When the redhead sent you a cheeky wink from across the room, you had no doubt in your mind that you wanted to marry him one day.

You couldn’t help but reminisce on the years past and how your relationship with the cheeky mischief maker developed.

I watched from a distance as you made life your own

Laughs rang through the crowded hallway as the Weasley twins rushed to get away from Filch. You rolled your eyes at their antics, but a small smirk graced your lips. Being yearmates and housemates with the rambunctious pair for four years now had allowed you to grow used to their mischievous pranks and their witty ideas.

“Oi, watch it Weasley!” You teased, turning to face the boys who nearly knocked you over in their rush to get away from the cranky caretaker.

“Sorry, Y/L/N!” One of them yelled over his shoulder, before the pair of them rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

Despite being in the same year and house as the twins, that was usually the most interaction you would have with them. Nothing against them, but you had your own group of friends and they had theirs. As much as you admired their mischief and wit, that wasn’t really your thing. You preferred to keep to yourself or your little group of friends, not fading into the shadows but not exactly stepping into the spotlight either.

When you were accidentally on the receiving end of their pranks meant for Snape, though, the twins forced themselves into your life.

You were sat on one of the beds in the hospital wing, waiting while Madam Pomfrey puttered around looking for some bruise cream and muttering under her breath about how dangerous the twins could be. You hid your smile behind your hand, it honestly wasn’t all that bad, you just had a bruise on your cheek and one on your shoulder. They were both sore and aching, but you knew it could be fixed in no time.

Before the mediwitch could apply any salve to your exposed shoulder, the twins burst into the hospital wing.

“Y/N!” One of them, you thought maybe George, yelled.

“Oh Merlin, we’re so sorry!” The other twin said as they reached you.

Madam Pomfrey began to protest the twins’ presence, but you were quick to reply, “It’s fine you guys. Madam Pomfrey’s just about to fix me up and I’ll be good as new!”

The rest of the week, the twins didn’t leave you alone. Constantly opening doors and pulling out chairs for you, the pair of them weaseled their way into your daily routine. You could feel them wriggling their way into your heart too, and you knew that there was no going back now.

Every sky was your own kind of blue

And I wanted to know how that would feel

“Y/N?” You turned around to the source of the voice only to be face to face with none other than Fred Weasley.

“Fred,” You breathed, hitching the books in your arms a little higher and tighter, “What’s up? Do you need something?”

The castle was decorated beautifully for the Christmas hols, and more importantly to impress the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang guests you were hosting that year, but you were in a bit of a rush and you couldn’t really stop and chat. The professors had made sure to assign as much schoolwork as possible before the break began, which meant you were scrambling to finish everything on time.

You noticed Fred rock back on his heels and shove his hands in the pockets of his robes, “Are you alright?” You asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m brilliant really,” He muttered, his eyes shifting around and his ears tinging pink ever so slightly.

“O-kay,” You said, “Sorry, Fred but I’m rushing to get some coursework finished. I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course.” He mumbled as you turned on your heel and rushed away. His shoulders slumped slightly, “Bloody idiot, couldn’t get a word out of your mouth…”

Unknown to you, Fred walked all the way back to the common room muttering under his breath. The Yule Ball was coming up and the only person he wanted to take was you, he just needed to buck up enough courage to actually ask you. Every time he tried, though, he clammed up and nothing could come out of his mouth.

When you climbed through the portrait hole a while later, he was still sat on one of the couches, staring at the fireplace and brainstorming ideas of how he could gather up some of his Gryffindor courage and ask you a simple question. He actually made it a point to write down a few of them on some parchment, but most of them were crossed out.

Sonorus charm during breakfast

Sending her a letter (? possible)

Ask Hermione to ask her for me

He hadn’t noticed that you came in, so when you plopped down on the couch beside him, he almost jumped out of his seat. He looked right suspicious to you, trying to shove the piece of parchment he was holding back into the pocket of his robes. Knowing the kind of mischief he could cause you, you did what any other sane person would do.

“Accio parchment.” You said, pointing your wand at his robes. The paper flew out and into your open palm.

“No, Y/N-” He protested, but you stood up quickly and got out of his grabbing reach.

“What’s this Fred? Haven’t gotten any good ideas to ask someone to the Yule Ball?” You teased after skimming over his messy notes.

At that moment he thanked Merlin and Morgana that he hadn’t actually written down your name. Still, his ears and neck were pink and he could feel his face grow hot as you read over the dumb ideas he wrote down.

“That’s none of your business, don’t you think?” He mumbled, taking the parchment out of your hands and sticking it back safely in his pocket.

“Oh alright,” You smiled, “Just teasing!”

He nodded quickly then proceeded to make his way to the staircase, wanting to just curl up in bed and scream into his pillow. Something stopped him, though. He paused right at the doorway and turned to face you slowly.

“Y/N?” He said.

“Yeah, Fred?” You asked, busy trying to smooth down the disheveled uniform and hair that came from running away from him so quickly a few minutes before. You weren’t paying as much attention to the redhead as you should’ve, adjusting the strap of your bag on your shoulder.

“Do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?”

His question rang through the empty common room and made you pause what you were doing.

“Sorry, what?” You asked, turning to look at him.

“Erm, I asked if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me,” He mumbled, rocking back on his heels.

A slow smile spread across your face, “Of course! I’d love to.”

“Great!” He nearly yelled, “Great, yeah. I can’t wait!”

You stood at the top of the staircase, your gown swishing gently as you made your way to where the rest of the students were waiting. Fred’s hair could easily be spotted above the crowd, so you weaved your way through to him.

When his eyes found yours the world seemed to stop. Blood rushed to his ears and his breath came out in short puffs. His vision seemed to tunnel and the only thing he could see was you. You looked absolutely stunning.

“Wow,” He breathed once you reached him, “I think I’ve just died and gone to heaven. You look phenomenal, Y/N.”

Your heart stuttered at the compliment, “Thanks, Fred. You look great too.”

Fred was nothing short of the perfect date. He held your waist as the two of you entered the Great Hall, held your seat out for you as you reached your table, and took your hand to lead you to the dance floor when it was time for the waltz. The both of you weren’t great dancers, but you stumbled and giggled through the whole thing with smiles on your faces.

When the two of you grew tired of dancing, he gently whispered in your ear, “D’you wanna get out of here?”

“Sure,” You smiled.

In a moment of bravery, you took his hand in yours as the two of you walked leisurely through the snow filled grounds. Heart still beating in your chest, you stole a glance in his direction. To your surprise, he wore a goofy smile on his face and his ears were slightly tinged pink. Instead of letting go, he squeezed your hand and led you to an empty bench.

You sat in peaceful silence for a few minutes, taking in the gorgeous decorations made for the ball, but after a while you asked “Knut for your thoughts?”

Fred turned to face you slightly and let out a small puff of breath, “I’ve actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

Your brows furrowed in concern, “What’s up?”

“I fancy the hell out of you, Y/N.” He breathed nervously, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear and staring at the ground.

“Oh Fred, I really fancy you too.” You grinned giddily, a small laugh leaving your lips.

His eyes widened at your statement and his grin seemed to match yours, “What’s so funny then?”

“Nothing,” You shrugged, snaking your arms around his neck, “I’ve just fancied you for so long, I just didn’t think you’d actually feel the same for me.”

Instead of replying, Fred swooped down and pressed a searing kiss on your lips. You gasped slightly, not expecting his lips to be on yours, but soon you melted into his touch. His arms wrapped around your waist before the two of you broke apart.

“That answer your question?” He breathed, going back in to peck your lips again and again until you were giggling and playfully slapping him on the chest.

“You’re really something else, Weasley.”

You lift my feet off the ground

You spin me around

You make me crazier crazier

“D’you wanna get out of here?” A familiar voice asked in your ear as strong arms wrapped around your waist.

“Now where have I heard that before?” You teased, placing a soft peck on Fred’s lips.

The wedding reception was in full swing now, a crowd of redheads filling the tent. You were standing to the side, taking in just how much happiness this event sparked in your life and in so many others’. It was as if the world stopped to celebrate the love that Bill and Fleur clearly felt for each other.

Without answering you, Fred merely took your hand in his and led you out into the dusk. The breeze cooling down your slightly warm skin.

“Care for a dance?” He grinned at you, holding out his hand when you two had reached a relatively empty area in the surrounding field.

“I thought you’d never ask,” You joked, taking his hand and putting your other one on his shoulder.

Gently, the two of you swayed together as the sun finally set beyond the horizon and as the first few stars appeared above you. No music was playing, nor was it needed, as you were wrapped around the love of your life.

He sighed contentedly, “When all this is over and we’ve won the war, I’m going to marry you.”

“Good,” You said confidently, “Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Fred Weasley.”

#vivianweasley400wc #Fred Weasley #Fred Weasley imagine #Fred Weasley imagines #Fred Weasley fic #Fred Weasley fics #Fred Weasley x reader #Fred Weasley x y/n

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 10: You’re My Mission

Summary: The Asgardian Staff case is wrapped up but before Katie and Steve can be re-united, the Super Soldier has a mission of his own to complete. Their reunion doesn’t disappoint, and as she weighs up the events of the past few months, Katie reaches a conclusion about her future with SHIELD

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Smut (NSFW) over 18s only thanks. Bit of bad language….

A/N: Another lovely edit from @angrybirdcr of Katie in action.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 9

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Tarim. Yemen. The hottest place Steve had ever been. Ever. And a place he had no desire to go back to. Ever.

As far as he was concerned, this whole mission had been a cluster fuck of epic proportions. The Mercs they had been sent in to deal with were slightly more ruthless than they had anticipated, taking a group of school kids from the square hostage. Evans and Rollins (in Katie’s absence) managed to contain most of them, taking them down with non-fatal injuries, as was the agreement with the Government, but one of them wasn’t going quietly and had snatched up a kid as he made a break for it.

The Yemeni Special Forces were on their way, and Steve knew that if they arrived permission to execute a kill shot would be given. But even that was dangerous, as the guy had the kid held in such a position, his back to a wall, her held across his chest, that the angle would have been impossible. Steve ordered the team to lower their weapons, and stepped forward, hoping to talk the man down. And then Rumlow had taken a shot, off-loading a bullet straight between the Merc’s eyes.

And Steve was mad, mad as a wasp.

“I gave you a direct order…” He stood, hands on his belt in the jet as he looked at Rumlow, the nerve in his jaw twitching.

“I made a call.” Rumlow shrugged “If I hadn’t they would have gotten away…”

“You put those civilians lives in danger.”

“That’s a little dramatic…”

“Yeah, come on Cap.” Rollins spoke.“The kid was fine, we got the weapons Government were ok…no harm done.”

Steve rounded on him, his blasé tone set his teeth on edge.

“That isn’t the point.” he blazed “I wouldn’t have asked Barton to take a shot like that. I wasn’t, and never will be, willing to risk anyone’s life like that, not to mention that of a child, for collateral damage, just to get what we need. It makes us no better than the people we’re trying to stop.”

“It worked didn’t it?” Rumlow shrugged

“Sheer luck.” Steve retorted.

“Well sometimes you just get lucky.” The STRIKE leader shrugged.

Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn’t need this shit.

“Look Cap, with all due respect, I’ve been running this team for years. You don’t get to do our job without taking a bit of risk.” Rumlow looked at him. “Now I’m sorry if you feel I was challenging your authority…”

“It has nothing to do with my authority.” Steve blazed at him.

“Really? Because that’s what it looks like from my position.” Rumlow shook his head “I’m sorry you feel this way. But it isn’t as simple as that. Life isn’t split into good guys and bad guys, it ain’t black and white… more shades of grey.”

Steve didn’t reply, he simply stared at Rumlow, his eyes raging before he moved away to a seat for take-off next to Natasha.

“Let it go Rogers.” She drawled softly to him. “You’ve chewed him out…you want my advice, leave it there.”

Steve didn’t reply. He was pissed and didn’t trust himself to say anything. He hadn’t heard from Katie so far today, but he wasn’t expecting to as he’d fired her a message last night, or this morning (he had no idea what time-zone he was in anymore) to tell her he was off on an urgent mission.

It was pathetic, he knew, but being away from her was really setting him on edge. Not just because he found jerking off in the shower was far less satisfactory now than before he’d actually started sleeping with her, but more so he was missing the stupid things, like her draping her legs over his on the couch whilst she was reading, her singing when she was cooking, the way she laughed till she cried at Brooklyn Nine-Nine, even demanding he make her a grilled cheese at 02:50 am…

Steve watched with amusement as the girls walked out of the bar, a little shaky, Katie leaning on Natasha laughing at something. He’d dropped them both off earlier in the evening and said he would pick her up later, even though they said they would get a cab. He had insisted, he loved looking after her and that was what boyfriends did right? Picked their dames up. However, as they teetered over to Katie’s car, it looked like he was about to inherit a pair of drunken, giggling idiots to look after, and the thought made him smile with fondness.

“Hi baby!” Katie greeted him as she climbed into the seat. She leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek and he smiled.

“You had fun? You look like you have.”

“Fun is my middle name Rogers.” Nat winked and Katie sniggered in the seat next to him as he pulled the car off from the curb.

“Nat’s gonna stay at mine.” Katie turned to look at him, her cheeks tinged pink with the alcohol “Afterparty!”

“Don’t you think you’ve both had enough?” He teased and. Katie put her fingers to her lips and told him to shush whilst Nat leaned forward.

“Just because you can’t get drunk.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Whatever, your funeral Romanoff.” He smirked, eyes on the road.

“God he’s so sensible, how do you cope?” Nat looked at Katie. Through the corner of his eye he saw a wicked smile cross his girls face.

“He has hidden talents” She quipped, before the two women descended into fits of giggles.

Steve let out an exasperated noise through his nose, but secretly he didn’t mind. He loved that she’d had a good time, even if he had the sneaking suspicion he’d been the butt of a few jokes, probably even a few risqué girl chats too.

“Hey, yoooo wanted to come get us..” Katie picked up on the noise he had made and looked at him. “Can’t stand the heat stay the fuck out the…” she paused “erm…”

“Kitchen?” Steve supplied, looking at her, left hand on the wheel, amused grin on his face

“Yeah, that.” She pointed.

“Kitchen is very much your domain sweetheart”

“Not what I heard” Nat chipped in. “She says you make a mean grilled cheese….”

“Oh my god.” Katie said suddenly “can you make us one?”

“What, now?” he frowned.

“Well obviously not right now as this is a carrrr” She rolled her eyes, gesturing around her “But when we get home. I’m hungry.”

He looked at her “Doll, it’s almost three in the morning.”

“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeese Stevie.” She pouted, batting her eyelashes at him in a ridiculously over the top manner, which he couldn’t do anything but laugh at.

“Alright I’ll make you both a grilled cheese” He nodded, unable to stop the smile creeping across his face, even when he heard Natasha burp the word “bitchwhipped” from the back seat.

Emerging from his memories, Steve lay his head back against his seat, shooting a glance over at Rumlow. The man was still being deliberately obtuse about the fact he was going out with Katie and he knew full well that the disobeying of order was a direct ‘fuck you’ aimed at him. But, as he thought about it whilst they flew home, he knew Natasha was right. The more he kept going on about it, the more likely it was to cause a bigger rift. With that in mind, during the debrief with Fury, Steve remained calm and when the time came he nodded at the STRIKE leader, giving him the floor when needed, both sticking to the facts- the operation had worked (Steve didn’t go as far as to use the word success), they had managed to seize the weapons and capture the main cartel leader who was now in custody of the Yemeni Services.

“What I wanna know is why are there so many of these weapons turning up?” Evans asked. “The DODC ran an extensive clean-up operation.”

“They were littered all over the New York, spreading the entire Manhatten area.” Steve said, answering as he looked at the Texan. “The DODC did as much as it could as fast as it could but people were already out there taking bits for themselves before the Chitauri had even been stopped. Katie says they’re still tracking through any leads, sifting out those who took them for souvenirs and those who took them for less scrupulous reasons…it could take years.”

“It was always going to happen.” Natasha shrugged “Terrorists are always looking for the next big thing.”

“Which is why we will always be looking for them.” Fury drew the meeting to an end as he stood up. “Alright, written reports to me no later than forty-eight hours. Other than that, you can head home.”

“Sir” Steve nodded as everyone started to file out. Steve noticed Natasha was hanging back.

“You ok?” She asked.

“Tired, fed up…” he sighed.

“Missing your girl?”

“A little” He admitted, before deciding to ask Nat what was on his mind because he could trust her honesty “Am I being old fashioned here, you know, with not wanting people to die?”

“No.” Natasha shook her head after a pause and he could tell she was picking her words carefully “I just think sometimes…well, we have to accept that we have to take risks.”

“You think Rumlow was right?” He sighed.

“Not as such.” she shrugged, “But I understand why he did it. I don’t necessarily agree with his methods shall we say but…”

Steve ran his hands over his face and couldn’t help thinking to himself how much simpler it had been in the war. They shot at them, they shot back. He let out a deep breath.

“You still taking some time off?“ She looked at him.

Steve shrugged and then looked at his fit bit for a second, thinking to himself the stats would make interesting reading. It was 5 in the morning. He hadn’t slept now for almost twenty-two hours bar the quick nap he had gotten on the jet. At that point his phone sounded with a message from Katie. A photo taken of Galway Bay in Ireland. Smiling at the simple message “Wish you were here.” he looked back at Natasha and nodded.

“Yeah. I think I am.”

****

“Are you sure he’s okay to go out into the field?” Katie asked Coulson, one eye on Ward’s back. The man had just slammed a case shut, making everyone jump in the hanger and he was growing increasingly broody. Despite herself, she was feeling a pang of sympathy for him. She knew how hard it had been for him to open up about his past, and holding part of the staff had really shaken him. “He’s not exactly acting like himself.” she concluded.

“But he knows it. He’ll be fine.” Coulson replied as they walked to the SUVs. It was a short ride to the Monastary which was located just outside of Galway and Katie spent the time watching the scenery. She loved Ireland, she’d been a few times when at University in the UK. Her mind wandered to her soldier, who himself had Irish roots, his mother and father hailing from Limerick. Smiling, she pulled out her phone. She knew it would be late back in the US, it was barely touching ten am where the where and the time difference would make it the middle of the night. That is if he was back from the mission yet. Still, she took a photo of the coast road they were on skirting the edge of Galway Bay which in the November sun looked stunning, the light bouncing off the calm blue sea reminding her of those deep ocean pools she loved to look into. She sent it to Steve with a simple message ‘wish you were here’ and then shoved it back into her jacket pocket.

The monastery itself was a beautiful gothic building set into the side of a green hill. They all climbed out and checked their weapons, Coulson once more going over the plan of action before they headed to the large front door.

“Well, it’s been a while.” Elliot said quietly as they walked into the building, Katie taking a moment to appreciate the architecture, another thing Steve would love. “I wonder – ah, yes. There it is. Still here”.

He walked to the front of the room where a book lay set up on a stand.

“Well, the nose isn’t quite right, but…”

Katie and Coulson walked up behind him, followed by the rest of the group to see that he was looking at a drawing of a man wearing long robes and holding the staff.

“That’s you?” Katie asked, looking at him.

“Yeah, they venerated me a bit as a saint.”

“They’re idiots” Ward spat viciously. They all spun round to look at him, where he was stood a few feet behind them all. “Where’s the staff?”

“It’s upstairs.”

Elliot led the way, the team following up a set of spiralled staircase. Katie and Coulson were directly behind him, taking the lead with May and Ward shortly behind them as deputies.

“It’s quiet.” May said softly

“ Why do you think I trusted them with my secret?” Elliot shrugged, still walking on ahead. He Elliot stopped in front of some sort of cabinet and ran his hand down the side before he reached for the handle. “They take a vow of silence.”

“But when you get them talking, they squeal.” A low male voice said, it’s owner appearing from behind one of the walls to the left of the cabinet, holding two pieces of the staff, one in each hand. It was the man whose mugshot Katie had seen on the tablet earlier that day, Jakob. Suddenly he held one piece up high and stabbed Elliot in the chest with it, he fell to the floor.

He turned and advanced on the rest of them, and Katie reached for her gun, readying herself. To her left she felt someone bend down to Elliot, presumably to try and treat him.

“No one else wants to get hurt.” Coulson spoke to Jakob, his gun raised. Jakob cocked his head to one side, looking at it before he stared back at Coulson.

“If you want to defeat a God, you must become one”

Suddenly there was a loud yell and a scream. Katie spun round to see Ward had bent to Elliot, only it wasn’t to treat him, it was to retrieve the piece of the staff stuck in the Asgardian man’s chest. He held it in his hand and then suddenly threw himself at Jakob, knocking Katie and May out of the way as he went. The two men fell over the banister railing to the floor below.

Katie scrambled to her feet and looked down to see Jakob recovering from the fall first. She aimed with her gun but couldn’t get a clear shot in, as he picked Ward up like he weighed nothing and slammed him back down to the ground.

“We need to help him!” Skye said, looking at Ward before she ran off.

“Skye!” Coulson called, he was now bent over Elliot and speaking furiously into his coms for Jemma Simmons to come help. “She can’t fight, she’s not trained…”

May nodded, “We’ll get her. Stark, with me.”

Katie nodded and ran after May, the pair of them practically jumping down the stair. Ward was now on his feet and as Jakob lunged at him, he flung himself to the right out of the way.

“Skye.” May instructed as they caught up with the dark hared girl who was watching Ward now ducking and diving the swipes from Jakob “Stay outta this…”

Both Katie and May stepped forward, but as they did so, Ward paused what he was doing and bent to grasp the part of the staff that was on the floor next to him. His face contorted in rage and when Jakob came at him again, Ward punched him hard in the face, enough to cause him to fly back against the wall where he slumped to the ground before Ward rammed him straight in the chest with the staff in a fit of rage like nothing anyone could comprehend. Ward’s chest was heaving and he spun round to see the other three agents watching him cautiously. His eyes were blazing with a fire Katie had never seen before.

“Ward.” May approached, tentatively stopping when Ward held his hand up.

“Get away from me.” His face was contorted in rage.

“Grant.” Katie tried gently, stepping forward so she was level with May. “They’re right, that thing, this isn’t you.”

Something clearly registered in his brain and his face softened slightly but then suddenly the door was kicked open and they whirled round to see the rest of Jakob’s group enter the monastery. The three agents regrouped and Katie took her fighting stance, weighing up their opponents. It had been a while since she had been in a full force hand to hand combat, but she was pleased to find that her training with Natasha and Steve had kept her prepared. She dodged, ducked, punched, kicked, flipped up and over people, taking them down with her using her legs as the room filled with rowdy men and women, all yelling. May was working through them almost 2 at a time and Ward, now holding two of the staff pieces from somewhere, was easily fighting off a group of them, the power he was gaining from the staff clearly visible.

Katie grabbed one man in a choke hold just as he was trying to get up, and as he stopped struggling she threw him to the ground, and looked round at the now quiet room. May nodded at her, taking a deep breath and Katie turned to see Ward who was shaking drop both pieces of the staff he was holding and collapse to his knees. Skye hurried over and knelt in front of him.

“Are you alright?” May looked round Katie. She nodded looking giving her a small grin, reaching up to tenderly brush at her cheekbone. One of them had landed a good shot.

“Been a long time since I had a full on fight like that, not using my guns.” she said, and May’s mouth curled up at one side before she made her way over to help Skye get Ward to his feet. Just as Katie was about to join them, the door opened again. She spun round to see another face she recognised from the photos, Jakob’s girlfriend, Petra stood there, the third piece of Staff in her hand.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me” Skye said from behind Katie.

Katie looked around glanced at May who also turned her attention to Petra as she was now circling the room. Which a quick flick of her gun, Katie aimed a shot at her, but she simply whipped the piece of staff out in front of her and it tinged the bullet off to one side.

“We’re no match for her whilst she has that” May said and instinctively Katie glanced down at the two pieces of staff on the floor near them. Grant wearily sighed and went to pick it up but Katie dropped down on one knee and grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“You’re not in any state to do that.” she said not unkindly as she looked at him, “Let me help.”

“Kay…” he started to argue, the use of his nickname for her registered but now wasn’t the time to chastise him, nor did she really find she cared enough to do so. It was then that May cut in.

“She’s right. We can’t beat them unless we’re on a level playing field.” She shot him a look and he nodded.

“Okay.”

Skye helped Ward away as May and Katie watched Petra as two men from the group they had taken down earlier got to their feet. Petra looked round the room and let out an audible gasp as she saw Jakob’s body for the first time. Katie slowly and apprehensively reached out for a piece of the staff, hesitating for a moment as she had no idea what was going to happen when she did pick it up. May looked at her nodding and then the pair of them reached out, each gripping a piece. Katie gasped as a warm sensation flooded up through her arm and then her head was like it was somewhere else. Which it was, she was back in what, according to Professor Randall, should be the worst moment of her life, only it wasn’t the moment she had initially thought of when he’d told them that…

Rhodey was on the doorstep of her Chelsea apartment at three am local time. She knew instantly that something was wrong. Without a word he entered, and told her that Tony’s ARV had been attacked and they had no idea where he was. She almost collapsed and he helped her over to the sofa where she sat still, tears falling as she listened. The room fell silent, and with a shaking hand she reached for the remote and turned the TV on to the News Channel, to see her Brother’s face plastered all over the screen.

“I’m sorry Kiddo…” Rhodey’s voice was choked and she turned to look at him “I should have been with him but he insisted on riding in the other ARV, the FunVee…” he shook his head, snorting angrily.

“Who’s taken him?” She asked, swallowing.

“We’re think it was an Ambush by the Ten Rings.” Rhodey swallowed. “We’ve not had a ransom note yet but we expect it’s a matter of time. We’ll find him.”

“It’s finding him alive that’s the issue, Rhodey” She wiped away the tears from her face, the sick feeling in her stomach threatening to overwhelm her and it felt like someone had a band over her chest that they were constricting, hard…and then it was to much, and she bolted to the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet…

Gasping Katie took a deep breath and looked up sharply as one of the men flew at her. Letting out a yell of rage, pent up anger and hurt she launched forward as Petra did the same. Their pieces of staff blew against one another and soon they were battling, fiercely. Katie was fighting to kill, and she instantly understand what had made Ward run Jakob through with the staff.

It felt good.

She could hear and see in the corner of her eye that May was also tackling a few more members of the group, easily keeping them at bay but Katie was focussed on one thing, the woman in front of her. She was good, matching Katie blow for blow but eventually Katie’s tenacity and training started to win out and she began to get the edge. She swung forward with a huge swipe and knocked Petra to the ground causing the woman to drop her part of the staff. Automatically it joined with the piece Katie was holding in her right hand, glowing orange again.

“It’s been a month, Katie…” Obediah said “A month…I hate to say this but the chances of him coming back…”

“I don’t wanna hear it, Obi!” Katie wheeled round “Tony is alive, and until someone shows me any kind of evidence to the contrary…then things stay as they are, I don’t give a shit what the board say.”

She watched him out of the room before she dropped her head to the desk and began to cry. She didn’t stop, even when Pepper walked into the room and dropped an arm round her shoulder, the pair of them lost…

A crash caught Katie’s attention and she saw May had dispatched the remaining fighters. She glanced up, and saw what Katie was doing and instinctively threw her piece of staff over to her. Katie grabbed it, joining it with the other combined pieces completing the staff.

Katie gave a yell as once more that warm feeling spread up her arm to her chest and her memories swallowed her.

“Your government has for far too long sold weapons, manufactured by Mr Tony Stark, to our oppressors, to our enemies. This is blood in exchange for blood, death in exchange for death, meet our demands or within 48 hours the great Tony Stark is no more…”

The room came back into a bleary focus, just as Petra staggered to her feet, swaying slightly.

“I am not afraid of you.” She spoke, her accent thick.

“You should be…” Katie snarled, as she advanced towards her. Quick as a flash she let out a loud cry and struck Petra with the staff, hard in the face. She fell backwards to the floor, deadly still.

And then a different voice spoke in Katie’s mind a clear voice. Her own voice.

“He escaped, though. And he was fine, well as fine as Tony ever is. So there’s really no need to fear this memory because that’s all it is, a memory. It all worked out in the end…”

Katie dropped the staff and fell to her knees, her entire body shaking with the exertion of wielding the Asgardian weapon. Her head was pounding with those memories, the voices, everything. Her hands flew into her hair as she bent over, trying to focus on anything but her thoughts.

“Hey…” Two hands were on either side of her face, and Katie looked up into May’s eyes. “Focus on me, Stark.” Katie took a deep breath as May’s hands slid gently down to the side of her shoulders. “Can you stand?” She asked. Katie nodded and then looked over at Petra.

“Is she…” She managed to croak out. Had she killed someone? In blind rage?

“Don’t worry about her” May shook her head, “I’ll take care of it.”

Katie got to her feet with May’s help, glancing over at Ward and Skye. Ward gave her a small nod of his head, which she acknowledged with a small incline of her own as May helped her out of the smaller Vestibule room they’d been fighting in and through to the entrance hall of the Monastery, the sun streaming through the stained glass windows.

“That thing…” Katie took a deep breath “Ward wasn’t wrong…it…”

“Tell me about it.” May’s voice was quiet, and Katie realised the normally stoic woman was shaking, although not quite as violently as her. The two of them settled on a large slab of stone. They were shortly joined by Ward as he sat besides them, the three of them didn’t talk for a while, merely lost in their own thoughts, Katie wanting nothing more than to get home to see Steve.

“When you held it…” Ward said eventually, breaking the silence. “Did you see anything?”

May nodded, and so did Katie.

“Then how, Kay? How did you hold all three?” Ward looked at her

She paused, thinking about it for a moment.

No need to fear this memory

“Because it’s a memory that I don’t need to be afraid of.” she shrugged eventually. “And I see the reason why every time I look at Tony.”

*****

Steve packed a bag. There was, sadly, one last mission standing between him and his girl. And he no idea how long this particular mission was going to take. It was completely rogue, way off SHIELD’s official radar anyway, only Fury and Natasha knew what he was doing.

Oh, and Tony. He’d enlisted the Billionaire’s help because had a somewhat personal interest in this case. So much so he’d leant him the Stark Jet, because he couldn’t use the Quinjet, and the fact that like everything Tony owned, his jet was faster and better than anything else, it had shaved a good 2 hours off what the journey would have taken had he flown full commercial, not to mention saved him a load of messing about in the meantime with bookings and check ins.

The jet was comfortable, he had flown on it a few times with Katie before back to NYC when they didn’t drive that was. As soon as he was airborne he face timed Katie using the connection on the plane and had hissed at the bruise on her cheek. She had batted off his concern and instead went on a rant about how cheap Fury was. He had to laugh at her indignant tone, apparently they had arrived at a Premier Inn a few hours ago and she had refused point blank to get out of the SUV and after a battle of wills with Coulson had upgraded the entire team to the Sheraton just outside of Galway within ten minutes. Apparently overnighters weren’t standard for the team she was working in as they had the Bus but Coulson had decided they all needed some down time after what sounded like a gruelling mission.

“And what better way to do that in a 5 star hotel with a spa, right?”

They talked for the longest time they had in the three, almost four days she had been gone and Steve loved it. She didn’t go into much detail about the mission itself, bar to say it had ended in a pretty ruthless fight and that she was mentally and physically exhausted, promising to tell him all about it when she saw him. He told her in no uncertain terms that they were both going to take some time out, Fury had cleared it and her face had lit up, but then fallen when he sadly told her he had one last mission to sort. After assuring her it wouldn’t take long, and it really wouldn’t, she had smiled and told him she couldn’t wait to see him.

“Me either Doll, me either.”

He took the opportunity to get some sleep, and was awoken by one of the stewardesses a few hours later who informed him they were an hour out. Thanking her he headed off to change out of his comfy sweats and into his specially selected outfit, one that would make him blend in a lot more than the stealth suit. Once he had arrived, cleared customs at the private airfield they had landed at, he climbed straight into the arranged official looking blacked out SUV and the driver set off, not a word spoken. The driver already knew their destination, Fury had already patched that information through before he had taken off.

It was easy to blag his way in to the building he needed to be in. Dressed in a black suit, all he had to do was quickly flash his SHIELD ID badge and the woman at the desk was only too happy to provide him the information about where he could find his target, and access to the required area. He didn’t take the elevator, it was too easy to be spotted. Instead he snuck round and found the service stairs and bolted up them two at a time to the seventh floor, his kit bag containing his shield slung over his shoulder.

****

After they had checked in to the decent hotel, not that Premier Inn (which she was sure was clean and perfectly comfortable, but she wanted fucking luxury after three nights of being in that pokey room) and she’d spoken to Steve for at least an hour, Katie showered, changed and headed off out to explore the area with Skye. The two had chatted, Katie really did like the girl, and they’d done a bit of shopping, had a late lunch, before they had headed back to the hotel and made use of the Spa. Then, she’d sat and eaten with the team, before bidding them all goodnight and retiring to her room with a bottle of Krug (because, why not?) and a long assed hot bath.

She tried to face time Steve again, but this time he didn’t answer. Probably elbow deep in whatever mission he was on this time, he’d been very vague about this one, saying it was hush hush but he would explain all in person, including what had gone down in Yemen which sounded like an utter shit-storm.

Changing for bed, Katie dropped onto the comfortable couch of the suite (ok, so she’d upgraded herself a teensy bit more than everyone else), poured herself another glass of Krug, slightly disgruntled to see the bottle was empty. So she rang down for another, fuck it.

Just as she had put the phone down, her cell called.

“Hey baby.” Steve spoke and Katie could hear the smile in his voice. “Sorry, the phone won’t let me face time for some reason.”

“Well that’s a shame because I’m naked.”

Steve groaned and Katie felt herself grin. “Don’t do that to me.”

“Sorry.” She giggled “I’m not really, just wish you were here.”

“I know.” He sighed “Me too”

“I’m taking it that seeing as you can talk your super-secret spy shit mission is done.”

“It was surprisingly easy” He mused, “Target didn’t suspect a thing and thanks to a very helpful lady I met, I got in with no fuss.”

“Helpful lady?” Katie narrowed her eyes. “How helpful?”

Steve let out a chuckle “All I had to do was flash my ID and smile”

“Coz you’re a regular charmer, aint you?” Katie laughed, and then there was a knock on the door. “Oh hang on… room service.”

She got up off the couch, made her way to the door, phone still in her hand and she pulled it open.

“Hey Doll.” Steve grinned at her and her mouth dropped open, the phone slipping out of her hand to the floor. “Surprise.”

She was a sight for sore eyes. Silk cami top and shorts, her hair falling in damp waves around her face. God he’d missed her.

“What…you…” She stammered, taking him in, the black fitted suit and tie he was wearing looked far better than it would have on anyone else and he laughed at the look of utter shock on her face “The mission, I thought…”

“You’re my mission, Sweetheart” He grinned, stepping into the room, dropping his kit bag, picking his phone up as he did so. And, no sooner had he straightened up, Katie gave a little shriek and threw herself into his arms.

“I can’t believe it.” She whispered, her hands straying to his face “You are here right? This isn’t just some weird trick my mind is playing?”

“I’m here, promise.” He placed a soft kiss to her lips. There was a clearing of a throat and Katie peeked over Steve’s shoulder to see a rather embarrassed looking hotel worker clutching the bottle of Krug she had ordered along with a fresh glass and an ice bucket. She tapped Steve’s arms and he reluctantly set her down so she could sign the receipt with a flourish. Steve smiled at the man, taking the ice bucket before closing the door. He followed Katie into the large hotel suite, and dropped the ice bucket and her phone onto the coffee table before sinking onto the couch and Katie climbed onto his lap, winding his tie around her hand.

“For the record,” she murmured as she looked him up and down, “this is a good look.”

“Glad you approve, Darlin’” He grinned as she tugged on his tie, pulling him closer to her, and she pressed her lips to his in a deep kiss.

He responded eagerly, hands creeping into her hair to hold her head in place as his tongue slid against hers, his hips rocking up before his lips dropped to her collarbone

“I missed you.” He purred as she let out a small groan, her hand sliding into his hair.

“I missed you too” She muttered, his hands gently fell to her hips, giving them a squeeze. “Take me to bed.”

Steve didn’t need asking twice. Standing easily, drawing a giggle from her as she wrapped her legs around his waist, he paused and looked around.

“Trust you to get a suite that’s bigger then my apartment.”

“I have very high standards.” She shot back. “Door to the right.”

He gave a quick laugh and strode over to the door, pulling it open and stepping into the plush bedroom which was softly illuminated by the bedside lamp. Dropping her onto the huge bed he crawled over her as she once more grabbed his tie and pulled him down.

“You really do like this huh?” He arched his eyebrow, ooking down at her as she gently slipped his jacket down his shoulders and he shrugged it off, tossing it to the floor.

“What can I say, I’m a sucker for a suit. Although I still think the Stealth one is better.”

“Maybe I should bring that home one night.” He muttered as his lips slid against her neck and she groaned.

“Please do. Your ass looks great in it.” She moved, pushing on his shoulders. Steve sat back on his heels and she locked her eyes on his, undoing his tie gently, a move she managed to make incredibly arousing and Steve let out a groan and he kissed her.

“Fuck, I missed you.” He whispered into her mouth

“Save it, you’re wearing too many clothes.” She replied, undoing the button on his collar and then her soft fingers made their way down his chest, her eyes following as it fell open. He shrugged it down before he fell back down on top of her and moved to pull her vest top over her head. As he tossed it aside somewhere he let out a gentle moan at the sight of her in front of him, and he wrapped his arm around her back and tugged her up slightly as his head bent to take a nipple into his mouth. He used both his hands and his mouth in a nearly coordinated attack that left her all but dying, and completely desperate for his touch elsewhere. He could read her body signals like a book and happy to oblige, one of his hands slid down, dipping into her bed shorts, finding him hot and wet for him. He groaned into her chest his fingers playing with her.

“Baby you’re soaked.”

She managed to moan in response, and then it was a race for the pair of them to get out of their remaining clothes as fast as they could. Once there was no barrier between them he kissed her hard, Katie shifting so that her legs went around his waist, pulling him flush against her, wanting to touch every inch of him possible. Steve repositioned himself slightly, gently working into her, the pair of them letting out a satisfied sigh as he bottomed out, stilling slightly just to savour the moment.

“Stevie…” Katie whispered into his ears “Please…” At her plea, he began to thrust, slowly, deeply, running his hand down Katie’s leg until his hand stopped at her knee. Katie looked at him as he seemed to hesitate for a split second before he directed her leg up, casually resting it over his shoulder so that he could go even deeper. She moaned loudly, he’d never done that before and it felt so unbelievably good, like nothing ever had before. Her fingers dug into his arm as he starting pushing a little harder, a little faster, then faster, until he had reached a relentless pace. Katie could do nothing but reach up, bracing herself on the headboard of the large bed as he continued, making her curse and leaving her short of breath, eyes closed in utter pleasure.

He slowed for a moment, making her look at him, letting out a noise of protest. “Don’t stop.” she begged, “Fuck, Stevie…”

He grinned, and it was a wicked grin, coupled with the mischievous flash in his eyes and it made her gulp slightly. She’d never seen him like this before, it was as if something had snapped and he was finally letting himself go fully, realising that after almost six months of sleeping together he didn’t have to be a gentleman all the time as she wasn’t going to break. As she stared into those baby blues, his pupils blown with desire he slowly pushed himself up so he could put her other leg over his other shoulder.

“Oh, holy fuck-” Her voice cut off and turned into a loud wail as he picked up the pace once again, pounding into her over and over and it wasn’t long before his name and another plethora of curses tumbled from her lips as her orgasm ripped through her like nothing she’d felt before. Her back arched, fingers dug into his back as he coaxed her through it before dropping her legs from his shoulders, laying atop her and chasing after his own end furiously. Katie held him close as she came down, gently encouraging him into his ear, his rhythm eventually stuttering and changing as he came with a frantic gasp of her name.

The pair of them were slick with sweat and absolutely spent as they laid still, no sounds coming bar the ragged gasps for air from them both. Steve buried his head in the crook of his girl’s neck and she ran her fingers through his hair, his forehead still clammy and he let out a loud hmmm of contentment.

A moment or so later, Katie broke the silence.

“Baby.” She said softly, a playful thought rising in her mind. His response was simply another hmmm because he was still utterly blissed out. This caused Katie to smile a little as she spoke again. “Did Cap just come out to play?”

She felt him grin into her neck, “I think he may have done, yeah.”

“Well you can tell him from me that was amazing?”

“I’ll be sure to let him know…” Steve mumbled, still not moving.

“In fact, I’d go so far as to say that’s probably the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Just probably?” Steve lazily raised his head to look at her and she made a show of looking upwards as if she was thinking about it.

“Ok definitely” She grinned, kissing him gently.

*****

Katie bid goodbye to Coulson’s team the next morning, Steve remained in the hotel room as he’d been under instructions from Fury not to speak to Coulson or draw attention to him in any way. Then they’d taken 3 glorious days break in Ireland, hiring a car and driving to Limerick.

As they drove, Katie told him all about the mission, what the staff had made her see, and how it had surprised her slightly what her worst memory was.

“I always thought it would be the time Tony told me mom and dad were dead” she said, softly a Steve cruised their hired Audi Q3 down the motorway. “Guess I fear losing Tony more.”

“It kinda makes sense.” Steve said, his hand straying to her knee “you were very young when the crash happened. Tony’s been your dad for, what, 22 years now? Far longer than Howard was I suppose.”

“Yeah.” she said gently, looking out of the window “I mean, I don’t remember a lot about my parents to be fair. I have memories, but sometimes I wonder how many of them are mine and how many of them are what people told me.”

Reminiscing seemed to be the theme of their brief trip away. They spent a day visiting the places Steve’s Ma had told him all about, then the next day, after a lazy morning they drove up to Dublin where they had both drunk a fair amount of Guinness after Katie dragged Steve to Temple Bar, showing him the places she had spent a fair few weekends in on trips over from the UK. They forgot all about SHIELD, all about Fury, all about missions. They were just a normal couple enjoying a break, and Steve had frankly never had as much fun in his life.

It was on their last night, just after they were curled up in post coital bliss after their 3rd round that evening when Steve mentioned about how it was back to reality the day after that Katie propped herself up on her elbow and looked at him, biting her lip.

“What if I don’t want to?” She asked quietly.

“Don’t want to what, Honey?” Steve asked, kissing her head.

“Go back. To SHIELD I mean.”

Steve’s hand paused its journey up and down her spine as he turned his head to look at her, frowning. “You want to leave?”

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the last 3 days.” she said, her fingers gently tracing over the dark blonde hair on his chest. “I can’t do it anymore Steve, I’m tired.”

“What’s brought this on?” he asked, turning so he was on his side facing her, pushing her hair back off her face.

“I can’t pin point one thing.” she said, looking down. “But…”

Steve paused, waiting for her to continue, and after a deep breath she did, her words coming almost as a jumble as she poured her heart out to him in the darkness of their hotel room.

“If I’m honest I’ve been thinking about it since we found out that they hadn’t been destroying the Chitauri weapons. Look what happened when Fury started fucking about with the Tesseract… I mean how do we know they’re not making more weapons just like they were before New York?”

Steve remained silent, that had been bubbling away in his mind too. He wasn’t best pleased about the situation but knew that Katie, who had headed up the DODC clean- up had taken it personally. She’d flipped out when Tony had told her what his latest hack into SHIELD had discovered and Steve had had to stop her marching into Fury’s office and calling him a liar there and then. He understood completely, she felt betrayed after having being told she was heading up a clean-up operation when in actual fact it turns out to be a goddamed technology harvesting operation.

“You now when Coulson died, I blamed myself. I made a decision to try to free Thor not help Coulson and I know I’d probably do it all over again because it was the right call, but the point is I blamed myself, for the past what, 18 months or so and Fury…he let me do that, he let me think he was dead…”

She was getting worked up, Steve could hear it and sense it, even if he couldn’t see her properly.

“Hey…” he said, his hand gently moving to her arm, rubbing softly as she continued her ramblings.

“And then there I get to The Bus and there’s more secrets there, not being told Ward was on the team, which to be fair wasn’t as bad as I thought but still, it’s more lies…”

She was crying now and Steve sighed, wrapping his arms round her and pulling her to him. She pressed her face into his chest “This isn’t me Steve, it’s not who I am.”

He held her close, hand wandering up into her hair as he chewed over what she was saying. From a selfish point of view the thought of her leaving SHIELD worried him. She’d been his linchpin, his rock at the agency, and he relied on her more than she would know. He loved working with her, seeing every day and he was scared if that changed, so would their relationship. But there was a small part of him that also worried when she was on missions, and there was no doubt if she did quit she’d be a hell of a lot safer. And not all couples worked together, right?

He pulled back slightly, his large hand cupping her cheek “Hey, you know I got your 6 right? I’ll support you no matter what you decide.”

“I know.” She sniffed softly. I just feel like if I do quit, then I’m taking the easy way out, you know, I mean SHIELD is dad’s legacy.”

“Maybe once.” Steve popped his shoulder. “Times have moved on, SHIELD has changed. I doubt your dad, Peggy or Colonel Phillips would have ever imagined in a million years how it would evolve.”

“You’re telling me times have changed?” She quipped and he chuckled.

“Guess I am, but I learned pretty fast when I got that serum that you can’t live your life being who people want you to be or think you should be. You need to be true to yourself”

She nodded and stifled a yawn.

“Sleep on it.” He urged, his thumb stroking her cheek. “And then if it’s still what you want tomorrow, ’ll even write your resignation letter.”

“I got it planned” She yawned. “Dear Fury. Fuck you. Love Nova.”

Steve laughed and pulled her to him, kissing her head. “Maybe drop the Love Nova.”

****

“You sure you wanna do this?” Steve asked as they stopped outside Fury’s office. Katie nodded, taking a deep breath.

“Okay, I’ll be right here.” He said, both his hands on her face. She gave him a smile and then turned and opened the door.

“Agent Stark.” Fury swivelled in his chair “Take a seat.”

“It’s okay Sir, this won’t take long.” She declined his offer, taking a deep breath.

“Do I need to borrow Captain Rogers SHIELD?” He looked at her, raising an eyebrow. “I’m assuming this is the bit where you’ve come to tell me exactly how pissed at me you are.”

“I’m not pissed” She shook her head, “I was, but not now. I’m just disappointed.”

He eyed her, and gestured for her to continue.

“I expected better from you Sir. You lied to me. You let me believe Coulson was dead. You know I blamed myself for that for months, and then if that wasn’t bad enough you sent me to a team containing my ex boyfriend…and don’t even get me started on the fact you’re secretly hiding Chitauri technology instead of destroying it.”

At that Fury’s face slipped and his face grew dark. “How do you…”

She arched an eyebrow and Fury gave a groan.

“Son of a…your brother is a liability.”

“Maybe, but at least he isn’t a liar.” She shot back. “And neither am I. I pride myself on being honest, doing the best I can and I don’t like being used or manipulated.”

“Agent Stark…”

“I can’t do it anymore.” She hook her head. “I’m tired of it all, the lies, the secrecy. This isn’t…it isn’t me.” she finished, shrugging.

“So what are you saying Nova?”

“That you can consider this my formal resignation.” She looked at him, eyes not moving from his and for a moment she was sure she saw a flicker of something that looked like regret flash across the Director’s face. But it disappeared as fast as it had arrived and she took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders back. “I will, of course, work any formal notice period.”

“I don’t suppose there’s any point in me trying to change your mind?”

“No, don’t suppose there is.” She shook her head.

“In that case, there’s no notice period necessary.” Fury spoke calmly, his posture returning to normal. He took a deep breath and strode round his desk, holding out his hand. “I’m sorry it’s come to this. You’re one of the best agents I’ve had. Coulson said you worked wonders on the Staff case.”

“Thank you, Sir.” She swalloed, fighting to keep her voice from cracking. “This hasn’t been an easy decision. For the most part, it’s been an honour to serve.”

She gently reached into her pocket, pulling out her official ID and ran her fingers over the silver badge before she handed it to him. Fury took it from her, and with one last smile she took a deep breath and turned, to leave, the tears brewing in her eyes.

This had to be one of the hardest decisions she’d ever made in her life but she wasn’t backing down. She’d talked it over with Steve extensively over the last two days and Tony too for that matter, her brother telling her that he, and their father would be proud of her no matter what. Undeniably her role at SHIELD had given her everything. A purpose, a new outlook on life, Steve. But now it was time to channel that energy in a new way.

“I would like you to remain on our books, in an advisory role.” Fury’s voice stopped her in her tracks and she grinned to herself, suddenly transported back to when he had said the same thing to Tony a few years ago.

She turned back and winked. “You can’t afford me.”

**** Chapter 11

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #Katie Stark #steve rogers smut #steve rogers fanfiction #chris evans #chris evans characters

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 4 years

Text

Humans are Space Orcs, “The Pack.”

Apparently, I have been informed that I have been doing too much angst lately, and the crowd demands that I give the crew a rest. Fluff has been requested and fluff is what I shall give you. This is based on an few ideas I have been given, so I hope this is what you were looking for.

It was warm.

She lay half asleep in the darkness with the familiar sound of mechanical humming that dominated her life these days. Familiar and unchanging scents filled the air painting a unique landscape known only to her.

Despite there being no sun, her body told her when it was time to wake up, and she lifted her head, stepping onto the cold metal floor and stretching dangerously, yawning wide. The air was thick with one of her favorite smells, locked up here for hours.

She padded over to the other bed gearing up with a spring to jump onto the bed.

The covers were squishy and awkward to walk across, but the made it up to the head of the bed, where the source of her favorite scent was still lying asleep on his back, one arm behind his head, the other resting on his chest.

She stuck her snout into his face and began licking his cheek.

His sturred groaning before cracking open his single eye.

She did her best to lick it.

He made a snorting sound pushing against her with his hands. He grumbled at her, “Mumble mumble, Waffles, mumble mumble good girl!” She continued to lick at his face running her pink tongue over any patch of exposed skin she could fine until her pack alpha was desperately trying to cover his face.

“Waffles! Mumble mumble lay down!”

She did flopping down beside him and resting her head on his stomach. He rubbed her ears, and she closed her eyes happily, his warm heavy hand resting on her head. The smell of him filled her nose making her tail beat softly against the blankets.

He stroked a hand down her back and she sighed deeply.

“Sleep.” He ordered

She was pretty sure it was well past when they usually woke up, but he was the boss, so she closed her eyes, her head still resting on his stomach feeling the calming movement of his breath, and listening to the calm beating of his heart. Waffles knew what her job was, and as a German Shepherd, she lived to work.

Her job?

Keeping this human happy and calm..

It had been a while since she had actually had to work hard for it, but she wasn’t unhappy about that. In fact, she saw it as a testament to her good work that this human was mostly calm and happy.

She napped there on his chest for a little while before another, familiar scent reached her nose. She lifted her head and sniffed a little. The smell was, not like something she had experienced for most of her life. It was a smell familiar to the rumbly metal box they spent most of their time in. It was a smell she recognized from strange places that sometimes looked like home but sure didn’t smell like it.

This smell was…. Hard to describe.

It was metallic, just a bit, kind of floral, but not really, and often tinged with a hint of something….toxic, but not really. The smell made her think of the color yellow, while simultaneously thinking of the smell of blood. Her tail thudded against the bed as the door slowly slid open.

The source of the smell walked across the intervening space turning its head down to make eye contact with her.

Waffles liked this smell too.

It was a smell that commonly lingered on Adam these days.

She liked this strange creature for a multitude of reasons, she made Adam happy, she was willing to sneak food to waffles, and best part: waffles rolled onto her back paws up in the air as the alien used all four hands, two to give her a belly rub and the other two to rub hands through the scruff about her neck.

She grumbled happily.

Above her Adam had sat up and was looking at her, she could see it based on the whites of his eyes.

“Spoiled dog.” He grumbled, turning his head to look up at Sunny.

Waffles sneezed and rolled back onto her stomach looking up at the two of them. The scents on the air had changed a bit. ONe of them was familiar, a sort of smell than both humans and dogs get when humans pet dogs, or hold babies, but there were some other scents too.

Waffles rested her head on her paws.

She was pretty sure that Sunny wasn’t a human based on smell, so her human’s interest was rather strange, but then again, she had once known a chihuahua infatuated with a great dane, so she supposed it wasnt THAT weird.

She listened to them talk to each other, closing her eyes again and allowing their voices to lull her back into sleep. She liked listening to them talk, it was nice. She liked being close.

Adam eventually moved, forcing her off the bed and back onto the floor where she lay by the door.

She could hear the sound of running water in the other room, and the caustic tang of chemicals.

She wasn’t the biggest fan of them, they washed away his natural smell and covered it up with smells that were wrong, but she could forgive him for that, it was ok.

When he came back out smelling of chemicals and dressed in new clothes, she dropped into step at his heels as he walked out the door. Sunny was waiting for them and together they walked up the hallway. SHe lifted her head as they talked smelling the smells and listening to the distant clatter of engines and voices.

Adam did not go up today, so that must mean today was a relaxing day, not as much movement as usual. She liked days like that because they usually involved popcorn or pancakes. Speaking of pancakes, she could smell them now wafting up from two floors down.

She wagged her tail and moved on ahead of Adam turnin to look over her shoulder at him.

He showed his teeth at her, in a good way, “I think she can smell the pancakes.”

Her tail began to wag furiously.

“Maybe you should have named her pancake.”

“Maybe I should have.”

Waffles didn’t know what ninety percent of that meant, all she heard was pancakes, and that gave her even more o a reason to hurry into the box that took them down to the pancake room.

Smells wafted into her face as the door opened, and she hurried inside. There were so many good smells, so many familiar people and faces and voices her tail wagged happily from side to side and she pranced around Adam’s feet looking up at him with an expectant expression.

When he finally hurried up and got food, and they sat down, he was joined by a group of others.

She recognized the smells of the different humans.

Ramirez

Dr. Katie.

Maverick.

She sat under the table and rested her head on Ramirez’s knee. He was a sucker, and she could usually get something out of him. He looked down at her, to where her head was resting on his knee, and he saw the muscles in his face move upwards. The eyes were very important in humans. She watched his brows move up, and he looked over to where Adam was sitting, “I’m assuming she’s not working?”

Adam shook his head, “No, go ahead.”

He reached his hands down and began rubbing the side of her face and ears. Her tail beat against Adam’s legs. Granted this wasn’t a pancake, but it was almost as good.

Ramirez glanced over at Adam and then quickly look down at her.

Ah, there it was.

She opened her mouth wide, catching the pancake in her mouth before retreating under the table to eat it.

Overhead she heard Adam talking, “I saw that.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You are such a sucker.”

Sigh, “I know.

Waffles would move back to Ramirez in a minute, but for now, she moved over to where Dr. Katie was sitting. Dr katie looked down at patted her head, “Good morning pretty girl.” Waffle’s tail thumped.

Maverick reached over to stroke her ears as well, “Best girl.”

She locked Maverick’s hand

Then she returned to Ramirez sitting on his feet and looking up at him with a pleading expression.

She was interrupted a moment later as another smell moved into the room. It was a sort of burning smell, almost like charred plastic with a hint of charcoal. She recognized that smell and poked her head out from under the table to watch the strange floating human move towards them.

Conn had scared her at first, but they understood each other quite well now.

Conn greeted her with images and feelings. Inside her head she remembered the scent of warm grass, and the sun on her back. She sighed softly at the memory and wagged her tail as he approached.

She crawled out from under the table and walked over to the strange human greeting him with a nose touch to his cold-hard skin. He reached down and patted her head with his overly long fingers, like being petted by a block of wood in the shape of a hand.

She received the image of Ramirez giving her another pancake if she tried again, and with pleasure she returned to him.

The strange floating human was never wrong about that sort of thing.

And accurately, not minutes later she was handed another one.

The new ship was full of smells, and she was happy to go around greeting them all day.

Everyone wanted to pet her, and she was happy to let them.

She went to see the marines first. They were rolling around on the ground trying to choak each other. The play fighting looked fun and she ran over to join in, barking and waiting her tail.

They broke apart making that revving noise humans tended to make when happy. She liked happy human noises and rolled onto her back so they could pet her.

Eventually she had at least six people petting her at once, and she was happy.

After saying hi to the marines, they went to go see the fluffy creatures that smelled like dear. To be honest, they sort of smelled like something she could eat, though she never would. She had smelled a Kangaroo once, and that seemed about accurate.

They looked a little bit like it too, though they never allowed her to get close enough to get a better look. She Could smell the fear on them which was a surprisingly similar smell to human fear. There were a few humans on the ship that were afraid of her too, or if not afraid nervous.

The new human, the one that smelled like chemicals and graphite, who spent a lot of time with Adam was one of those people. Waffles didn’t really like her much either if she was honest. She always smelled nervous and that made waffles nervous, Nervous and high strung people made her want to help them, but Simon didn’t like her getting too close,

It was sort of sad, she was pretty sure she could help.

After that, they went to go see the other things like Sunny. She liked being petted by them the most because each of them had four hands. She didn’t like when they fought each other though, because that didn’t look like play fighting. Adam had to put her away sometimes when he played with them because she didn’t like it when he got hit.

She could forgive the big creatures though, they were nice and gave her lots of belly rubs.

She wasn’t so sure about the new creature that spent time with Maverick. It smelled wrong, like a bug. And at home she at bugs out of the air like flies and wasps, but this bug was huge, taller than maverick, and it had wings like a butterfly. It was so different from the other creatures, that she had trouble smelling what it’s smells meant. She thought it was nervous around her, but not too nervous.

She had even allowed it to pet her once. It was strange, but she had decided it was no threat.

And then of course they went to the place that smelled very very heavily of chemicals. She had been in these places a lot. And they met one of her other favorite aliens. Adam had been very worried about her the first time she met this creature, though he shouldn’t have, he smelled like a flying cabbage, and waffles didn’t like cabbage.

The floating cabbage, Krill, floated over to them.

He looked down at her and she sniffed at him.

He was a vet, but mostly for humans, but also sometimes for her.

Waffles tentatively stepped forward and nosed the floating cabbage. Instead of backing away like he usually might, he pitted her with his thin stick arms.

“You better not be feeding her breakfast today after Ramirez slipped her pancakes. We want her to live as long as possible.”

“Yeah don’t worry, I am keeping track.”

“Good.” he patted her again and let them go.

They ran into another vet down a ways, though this one just liked to talk a lot. He had dark skin for a human and smelled pleasantly musky like damp forest bark. He reached down and rubbed her ears, “Always good to see a fellow therapy professional.” She wagged her tail.

She liked his voice, it was very deep and calming.

“Dr Adric.” Adam said.

He stood back up and the two humans looked at each other, “Haven't seen her wearing a vest in a few months now.”

Adam shrugged, “haven't needed her to work in a few months. I’ve been feeling really good, and if I have a bad day, she will be around.

Dr. Adric nodded and they were let go.

She was led back down the hall and into the popcorn room. She called it that because that's where the humans sat in the dark and watched the box with pictures on it. They liked to eat popcorn when they did that.

“What are you making us watch tonight?” Sunny said as Waffles sniffed under a pool table.

“That is for me to know and for you to find out.”

He sat down and waffles moved around the room sniffing at everything.

It was when she smelled the smell of something small and furry that she turned around glancing over to where the very strange creatures were waiting her. They were very small, smaller than her and very fluffy. They had very large eyes, and she hadn’t met them yet.

But she had smelled them.

She took a tentative step forward sniffing at them. They didn’t run away like she would expect of something that small, but eyed her. She took another step forward, her tail up and interested. They hopped forward close enough for her to smell. They smelled fluffy and sweet, but…. weird .

They moved closer, right at her feet now, and she stood surrounded by a small pack of the fluffies. They had tiny ears and little noses, kind of like puppies. She sniffed at the top of one’s head and licked it with her long pink tongue. Its hair rasped against her mouth.

I jumped back, but she followed it.

The others crowded at her feet.

She stood there confused for a moment and then lay down slowly with a grunt. Immediately one of them climbed onto her back like puppies or kittens might. She beat her tail against the ground, looking down at the one between her paws.

She licked it again, and when it didn’t move, she adjusted her paws and began to clean it, running her tongue up its brightly colored fur.

Two of them were on her back now, one of them resting against her side, and another one between her paws.

She was busy cleaning it when Adam walked over, a look on his face that he sometimes gave her, eyes wide and smiling.

“What is going on here.”

“We have tamed your predator and are now integrating it into our clan.”

“I see…. She likes you.”

Her tial moved back and forth.

She liked the small fuzzies. Other humans began slowly to trickle in and Adam was busy with the other deciding what to see on the picture box. She was resting her chin against her paws face pressed up against one of the little fuzzy balls. The humans took their seats, and Ramirez vaulted over the couch to land on the floor where a stack of pillows had already been set up.

Adam turned around and frowned, “Marine what do you think you are doing in my spot.”

Ramirez nestled down further in the pillows, “What do you mean your spot, I don’t see your name on it.”

“I always sit there.”

“Well there is a first time for everything.”

He walked over and crossed his arms over his chest in a dominant pose to his inferior pack member, “You will move from my spot.”

“No, I don’t think I will.”

“I am not going to be ousted from my spot.”

The marine just grinned, “Ok.”

“I swear marine I am not afraid to spoon you.”

The marine just grinned at him, “Would you like to be big spoon, or little spoon.”

“Bitch, I have a licence to cuddle and I’m not afraid to use it.”

“My evil plan comes together.”

Waffles watched from her distance. She wasn’t sure if this was dominance or just a social pack thing, but whatever threat Adam had made, he seemed more than willing to make good on.

“I hope you're comfortable, Ramirez.”

“Very comfortable, thank you for asking. You’re nice and warm.”

It wasn’t long after that Sunny showed up, stopping to stand over the two humans with her head cocked.

“Sorry Sunny, you cannot stop our love.” Ramirez announced

She shook her head and stepped over them, “I wouldn't dream of it, just dont be startled when you learn about the marvin the martian tattoo on his left hip.”

Rmirez turned to look at Adam with a raised eyebrow.

Adam Pointed at him aggressively, “Do NOT read too much into that. Everyone has seen my tattoo. Do you want to see it, because I can show it to you!”

Ramirez laughed and then made a big show of resting his head back on Adam’s shoulder.

“Are you trying to get me to move by making this awkward, because you definitely can’t”

“Nope, just making myself comfortable.”

Waffles didn’t know what was happening, but got to her feet, two of the Celzex still on her back and made herself comfortable by lying down between the humans two pairs of legs.

Adam and Ramirez both laughed.

More humans walked onto the ship.

The human named Jackie grinned, “Cuddle puddle?”

Ramirez motioned hre over, “Come join us.”

“Sweet!”

IT wasn’t long before waffles found herself lying amidst a pile of humans and at least two Drev on the floor.

Sunny had slid down on Adam’s other side, two of the Celzex were still on her back, and the other one had come to rest between her paws again. Jackie was to the other side of Ramirez Narobie was at their feet her head resting on Cannon’s chest, while McCaster was on his other side.

Maverick sat on the couch shaking her head at them, but with her teeth bared in a good way.

Simon sat awkwardly at the back of the room eyes wide.

A few of the new smelling humans walked in. A few of them just stared in shock and confusion. One of them in uncomfortable disgust, but one of the new humans shrugged and walked over.

“Is this like, just for old Harbinger crew members or is it open for anyone.”

The humans reached their hands up looking like a strange alien creature with many arms, “Come, Join us.”

The pile grew increasingly larger, until they lay as a carpet of humans, aliens and one dog.

Waffles thumped her tail against the ground. It was good to have the whole pack together.

It just felt right.

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sexyglances · 3 years

Text

Here's Tian's birthday fic, ok! You can either read it on ao3 or the full ~2k words are under the cut.

-----

Tian woke up on his back as a ray of sunshine slipped through the gap between slats of bamboo and struck his eyes. He rarely put his eye mask on at night these days, preferring to wake up earlier in the mornings so he could spend the first part of the day with Phupha rather than staying in bed alone. This change in habit, however, didn't automatically turn him into a morning person by nature, so Tian kept his eyes shut, as if keeping them closed meant he could preserve that sleepy sweet feeling for a bit longer. His effort was futile though, as he could feel more than just the sun trained on his face. "Chief," Tian smiled, eyes still closed, "I know you're looking at me."

Tian heard a small chuckle to his right and felt Phupha's breath tease his ear. "Good morning." Phupha said, voice filled with endearment, "and happy birthday, Tian." Then he leaned in and pecked Tian's cheek and whispered, "I'm so happy you're here."

Tian turned his head towards Phupha and opened his eyes. Phupha was lying on his side facing Tian, head resting in the cradle of his elbow. "Chief--" Tian said. Tian wanted to tell Phupha to stop, that he didn't need to say these things to him anymore, that it's been long enough that the gratitude should have worn off by now, that their devotion could remain unspoken. But Tian couldn't say those things because his chest still got heavy and his heart still swelled every morning when he could look over and see Phupha looking back at him with so much tenderness in his eyes. Instead, he settled with a, "Me too," and returned the peck on Phupha's cheek. He went to pull away, but before he could do so, Phupha had turned his head just enough so that their lips met so they could properly kiss. Phupha nudged closer, trying to deepen the kiss, but Tian pulled back and placed his hand softly on Phupha's chest to stop him. "Hey. We haven't even brushed our teeth yet this morning." Judging by the way he raised his eyebrows, Phupha did not think this was a good enough excuse to stop. They gazed at each other for a few seconds, the atmosphere charging up between them, on the brink of something unstoppable, until Tian popped the bubble and said, "And I have class this morning in a little bit."

That declaration worked and Phupha dropped his eyes. "Right," Phupha said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice, "You have school today." Before Tian could say anything else about continuing this quote-unquote discussion later, Phupha changed the topic and asked, "Are you thirsty?" Without waiting for an answer, he got up, went to the sink, and brought back two ceramic cups of water. Tian pushed himself up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed into a sitting position. Phupha handed him a cup and sat down on the bed next to Tian.

These cups were new to Tian, different from the dented tin cups they usually used in the bedroom for utility. The cup Tian held was thick and rounded with a glossy finish and felt hefty in Tian's hand. Beneath the shiny glaze was an intricate, colorful design of green tea leaves and stems intertwining alongside cream-colored depictions of blooming oolong tea flowers flowers with bright yellow centers. Tian turned the cup around in his hand, studying its design until he saw the design break to encircle an inscription written with delicate writing in a burgundy color. "Oh, what's this?" Tian asked as his fingers traced the wording that read "for the colorful philosopher."

Phupha responded, "It's my present for you. It's not much but--"

Before Phupha could finish his sentence Tian said, "Chief, I told you I didn't need any presents this year." He leaned his head on Phupha's shoulder. "Just being here is enough."

Phupha leaned his head on top of Tian's and breathed in. Phupha was still not sure how he got so lucky. How his life changed so fantastically and dynamically from a life that he never disliked, but was one he now realized was fine--but just fine, nothing more than fine. His old life felt rote and mundane and empty compared to his new life with Tian. And a new life is what it was. How could it not feel new when everything felt effervescent and full and colorful in a way he had never experienced before. Phupha had always been prone to noticing the tiniest details of things, but what surprised him in the most unexpected way was how much joy he could get out of those tiny details. How love had transformed those tiny details into something that encapsulated his entire existence with warmth and vigor and gratification to be alive. "I know," Phupha responded, "but I still wanted to get you something. It's not much, but it represents us." Phupha held up his own cup to show Tian. "Look, I have one, too."

Tian switched the cups in their hands. He read Phupha's cup aloud, "For the giant green mountain." A tear pricked the corner of Tian's eye. It was too early for such sentimentality. He had just woken up and Phupha was already flooding Tian with feelings of affection. And he hadn't even stood up for the damn day yet. Tian had been given plenty of birthday gifts in the past, but never anything where someone spent more on the care and personal details involved than they spent with their money. Tian stared at the cups some more. "Where did you get these?" Tian asked.

"I went to a ceramic shop a few months ago in Chiang Mai and special ordered them," Phupha answered matter-of-factly, as if planning and designing and ordering a gift months in advance was an ordinary, everyday gesture and not a remarkable act of romanticism at all.

Tian set the cup he was holding down on the floor. "Chief," Tian said with a slight tremble in his voice. He pulled Phupha into a hug, "Thank you." Tian didn't have the words to convey everything he meant, all the gratitude he had for his life in Pha Pun Dao, for his chief, for this love they shared, but he hoped that the hug could relay a fraction of what he was feeling. Phupha hugged back tightly as if he was trying to reciprocate all his feelings back to Tian.

They pulled apart and Phupha exhaled before placing a hand on Tian's knee. "Come on, we have to get you to school."

-----

As Tian and Phupha walked into the school, it was already bustling. The kids were there, uncharacteristically early and they were busy hanging up homemade decorations with Yod and Rang's help.

"Ah, what's all this?" Tian asked with surprise in his voice.

Everyone turned around and in an out-of-unison cacophony of voices yelled different variations of happy birthday, addressing him by "Tian," "teacher," and "P'Seetian" accordingly. Khounueng and Kalae ran up to him and pointed at a cake on the table.

"Look what we made!" exclaimed Khounueng, and then he stuck a party blower in his mouth and blew it in Tian's face.

"Yeah!" Ayi yelled from across the room, "we picked the strawberries ourselves and decorated with them and everything!"

"We'll get to eat it soon, right?" Kalae asked as he shoved an extra strawberry into his mouth.

Before Tian could answer, Inta and Meejoo grabbed each of Tian's hands and pulled him to the front of the classroom. We made you a birthday crown, too!" said lnta as she picked up and waved a crown of tea leaves woven together in a circle studded with pink and yellow frangipani flowers and white jasmine buds.

"Put it on," Meejoo begged. "it's so pretty. She held up a second matching crown, "We made one for Torfun's birthday, too."

Tian looked at Phupha and they shared a meaningful look. Torfun was still a part of Pha Pun Dao, and even though she was gone, she was unforgettable. It was only because of her that Tian could experience all this joyfulness that surrounded him. Tian couldn't say that out loud of course, it would be too much for today, so instead he said, "Ooh, you're right, they are pretty. Let's take this to her memorial place in the afternoon." He patted Meejoo's hair. "Now who wants to help me cut the cake?"

But before Tian could move to the cake, Phupha cut in and asked, "Aren't you forgetting something?" He grinned fully as he took one of the flower crowns from Inta and placed it on Tian's head. "How could we celebrate the prince's birthday without his special crown?" Tian rolled his eyes. Of course Phupha would call him a prince on today of all days. But there was no bite behind Phupha's words, the words were just playful teasing and Tian knew that.

Tian had many birthday parties in his life. They were usually lavish and full of expensive decorations and even more expensive gifts. People dressed up and schmoozed at his parties, using them as a time to network and one-up each other, caught up in a lifestyle where status trumped everything else. The parties were simply an excuse for people--himself included--to show off. His mom would call him a prince for the day and Tian would go with it, letting himself give into the fantasy. And even though he had always made sure to have fun, indulging in alcohol and whatever wild dares the night brought him, looking back on them now, the memories felt hollow. As if he had been living in a bizarre lucid dream that he's woken up from and it was only now that everything actually felt real.

Tian challenged Phupha back with a smile of his own, "If I'm a prince, then what does that make you, Chief?"

Nam's voice came from the doorway, "Why, that makes him your chief prince of course." Tian and Phupha turned toward him as he walked into the building with Longtae trailing just behind.

"Sorry we're late," Longtae said, and gestured towards Nam, "he had to pick me up from the train station and it didn't come on time."

"You're here, too?" Tian asked.

"Of course I am, P'" Longtae said. "It's a special day." He looked up at Tian's crown and smiled. "I had to come take pictures." As Longtae said that, he held up his camera and snapped a photo.

"Oh, oh, oh," Nam cut in, "Don't you think you should get a picture of the prince and the chief prince together?" He took the other flower crown from Meejoo, and as he placed it on Phupha's head, he winked and said, "I'm sure Torfun wouldn't mind if you borrowed this for a few minutes."

Before Phupha had a chance to object, Tian interlocked his arm with Phupha's and looked at him with soft eyes. "We should get a picture together today, don't you think?" And with that, Tian turned to pose for the camera.

-----

Two weeks later an envelope addressed from Longtae back at school showed up in the mail for Tian. Inside was a packet of pictures from Tian's birthday. The first photo on top of the stack was a shot of Tian and Phupha, both wearing the flower crowns, and their arms interlocked, smiling for the camera.

The second picture in the stack was a more candid shot and was taken from closer up. The half-eaten birthday cake peeking in at the edge of the frame indicated it was a photo taken later in the celebration. Tian and Phupha were sitting down at the long school table, Tian's hand on Phupha's shoulder, Phupha's arm slung around Tian's waist. They were still wearing the flower crowns, but this time they were looking at each other, heads bent together, eyes sparkling, and laughing, as if they were unified in their own private world.

It was that second photograph that Tian had plucked from the stack to save. He had stuck it onto the corner of the bulletin board in their room so he could see it everyday before he left for the day. The photo represented something intangible. All he knew was that he couldn't look at it without feeling warmth radiate from within himself. It was a feeling so precious, he resolved to never let it go.

#a tale of a thousand stars #1000 stars #fic #my fic #i made this dumb thing #i can't believe i made it to 2k words #i almost gave up at 650 words tbh #anyway i hope my audience of 4 (generous) enjoys the agony i put into writing this! 🙃#and hey! i finally set up an ao3 account so that's something

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lyranova · 3 years

Text

Children of the Future:

Chapter 7: Alistar

Hi guys! Here’s chapter 7 I hope you all enjoy it, i’m sorry it took a little longer than previous chapters 😅! There really isn’t much ship content in this chapter but I hope thats ok I’ll try and have more of that in the next chapter~! Anyway I hope you all enjoy!

Taglist: @eme-eleff @crazyclownthanos @jovialnoise @talpup (if anyone else wants to be added please let me know!)

Word Count: 2,911

Warnings: None

———

Julius looked up as William walked into the office, Alistar was currently standing off to the side and was leaning against the wall. Julius could see the slight confusion in William's face as he approached the desk; he did wonder how the masked Captain would take such news, especially since he was the only one called, unlike the other children whose fathers and mothers had been called up here.

“ Is everything ok Julius? Marx said it was urgent that I come up here at once.” Willam asked as he saluted before he frowned as the Wizard King let out a small sigh, but the blonde smiled nonetheless.

“ Yes, well, sort of. It isn’t anything pertaining to the Kingdom's safety if that’s what you’re worried about.” ‘Or at least not that we know of at the moment.’ Julius added the last part silently, he hadn’t the faintest clue as to why the children are suddenly arriving, and so far it had been everyday a child would show up. He saw William visibly relax at his words.

“ That’s good to hear, but if that’s the case, then why was I summoned?” He asked in confusion before Alistar stepped away from the wall and stood next to the desk, that same warm calm smile on his face. William looked the young man up and down for a moment before turning back to Julius.

“ Julius? Who is this?” He asked, he recognized his Golden Dawn uniform and cloak, but he didn’t recognize the man wearing them. William knew every person in his squad, or at the very least knew their faces if not their names and this man was not part of his squad.

“ Well-.” Julius started with a sheepish laugh before Alistar held up a hand to silence him, Julius frowned slightly before the young man's smile widened and he held out a hand towards William.

“ Hello Captain, it’s nice to meet you! My name’s Alistar Vangeance and I’m your son from the future!” He announced brightly, taking both William and Julius back a bit. Julius had been partially hoping Alistar would gently break the news to William as the other children had done, but instead he just blurted it out. Julius almost wanted to laugh at the shocked expression on Williams face, he only turned to look at Julius again.

“ It’s true. Marx verified his memories before he summoned you here, he’s the fourth child to be brought here in the last 3 days. I was going to bring all the Captains here tomorrow and brief you all on what information we have so far, but then this young man showed up in my office.” Julius explained and Alistar nodded.

“ It wasn’t that hard to sneak in here, you might want to tighten security a bit Wizard King.” Alistar said with a small laugh, Julius nodded, that was something that would have to be worked on. But how were all the security guards supposed to know he wasn’t a part of the current Golden Dawn, especially since he was wearing their robes and uniform.

William stood there silently as his brain tried to process this information. This young man was his son? How was that possible? William wasn’t seeing anyone at the moment, and he wasn’t really looking since he was busy being Captain. So, how? William looked at Alistar again; he looked a lot like him, there was no denying that, but he also looked different. His eyes were the main giveaway. They were the same shape and size of William’s, but the color was different; instead of purple like his they were blue, an almost icy blue. He silently wondered if they came from his mother? That would be the only logical explanation.

“ I think I broke him.” Alistar said in concern as he leaned down to look William in the face, slightly startling the masked Captain. Julius chuckled softly.

“ No you didn’t break him, he’s just lost in thought.” Julius said before standing up and walking over to clap William on the shoulder, making him jump slightly. “ You alright?”

“ Y-Yes, just a little shocked.” He said softly, Julius nodded.

“ It would be a little shocking, Yami was the same way too when his and Charlotte’s daughter arrived.” William turned at that, Yami had a child from the future as well? And with Captain Charlotte Roselei?! That was surprising! He never imagined the man settling down and having a family, especially not with her!

“ Do you need a minute da-i mean, Captain?” Alistar asked, his eyes full of genuine concern. Maybe he should have eased him into the news, but it was a little too late for that now. Alistar rubbed the back of his neck nervously as his face tinged pink in embarrassment. He hadn’t thought his father would take the news this hard.

“ No, I’m fine. The shock is wearing off a bit now I believe.” William replied warmly and with a shake of his head, he saw the relief pass across Alistar’s face.

“ That’s good. I was worried there for a minute.” He said with a nervous laugh, before Julius chuckled and walked back around to his desk and sat down.

“ Maybe you two will get to know each other better on your way to the Hideout.” Julius said before looking over some papers again, William and Alistar both frowned. “ We have a special house for all the parents and children to stay in, just until we know what’s going on.” He added before he frowned a bit at Alistar.

A strange look passed across the white haired man’s face at his last comment, and that made Julius curious. Did he know something? If so, why didn’t the other children know as well? And why didn’t Marx find anything in Alistar’s memories? Was it because Marx wasn’t looking for that so the information was allowed to stay hidden? Hm, very interesting. Julius would have to keep an eye on this one.

“ So, where is this house Lord Julius?” William asked curiously, it was starting to get dark outside so they would have to hurry if the house was very far. Julius gave him directions to the house and both William and Alistar saluted him with a nod before walking out of the room.

“ So, I’m not the only one who’s made it here yet?” Alistar asked his ‘father’, who nodded.

“ It appears that way, from what Julius said Yami and Charlotte’s daughter is here as well.” William said as they walked down the hall.

Alistar had caught that as well, he hoped beyond hope that it was her. But a small piece of him worried that if he got his hopes up too high that he would be disappointed if it wasn’t. There were two Sukehiro daughters, so it could easily be either one that had arrived. His stomach suddenly began to twist itself into knots at the thought of it not being her. He wanted to hurry to the house now more than ever before, if it was in fact her he needed to make sure she was ok and that she was safe. He made a promise, not only to himself, but to her as well. Even though he was feeling all these emotions on the inside, he didn’t dare let it show on the outside, his face remained calm and warm like it had the entire time in the office.

“ Do you have a broom to use?” William asked as they stepped outside, Alistar laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“ Ah no, I walked here. I didn’t think about looking for a broom. But it’s ok!” He said warmly before suddenly conjuring up a small broom with his plant magic, causing William’s eyes to widen at the sight.

“ You can use plant magic?”

“ Actually World Plant Magic. It’s similar to yours except, well, plants.” Alistar confirmed with a laugh before stepping onto his makeshift broom and lifting it up into the air with his mana. William did the same and he tilted his head curiously.

“ I take it you inherited your affinity from your mother?” William asked curiously, he watched as the young man’s face suddenly looked downcast at the mention of his mother. But it disappeared as quickly as it came as he looked over at William.

“ That’s spoilers Captain.” He said with a laugh. “ C’mon before it gets too dark.” Alistar added before quickly flying away.

———

Yami and the others listened intently as William finished the story, it was quite different to how they met their children. Yami glanced over at the table and watched as the children ate and spoke amongst each other, he turned back to William.

“ So he doesn’t know why he was sent here either?” He asked curiously, William nodded.

“ Apparently not, Julius said he would be informing the other Captains tomorrow to inform their squads to be on the lookout for any children who seemed to be lost and/or confused.” William explained softly, Charlotte frowned a bit.

“ Out of all these kids not one knows what’s going on? What are the odds of that?” She asked as she glanced over at the children as well, they were speaking in hushed tones at the table now, they didn’t want the adults to hear their conversation apparently.

“ I guess not, but I don’t think these are all the kids.” Zora said suddenly, causing all the adults to look at him curiously. “ The Wizard King is alerting all the Captains to tell their squads to be on the lookout for more kids right? Which means he suspects more are coming.”

The others looked at Zora in surprise, they hadn’t thought about the Wizard King's words, and now that they thought about it it did sound like he was anticipating more kids to be arriving, and if so, how did he know that? They all sat in collective silence for a moment when Nebra decided to break it.

“ Wow so you really do have a brain!” She told Zora in a mock surprise tone, the red head growled at her and opened his mouth to argue before Charlotte quickly intervened.

“ Don’t you two start up again! I already have a headache from earlier.” She said with a sigh as she rubbed her temple, the blonde quickly stood. “ It’s getting late anyhow, I think it’s time for everyone to get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a big and busy day.” She added looking around the room, and everyone sighed but stood along with her, she was right; all the Captains would have a busy day tomorrow giving their squads their new orders after meeting with Julius.

The kids and Nebra, Zora, and Charlotte all went to their respective rooms except for Yami, William, and Alistar. Who all stood looking at each other for a moment.

“ So, where will I be staying?” Alistar asked politely as he looked between the two men, William was wondering the same thing as he didn’t have a room either.

“ You’ll be bunking with the little red head,” Yami pointed at Alistar and then down the hall. “ and I’ll show you to yours since it’s near mine.” He added to William before walking away, William nodded and followed behind Yami.

“ Goodnight Alistar.”

“ Goodnight fath-i mean, Captain.” Alistar said softly before quickly turning and walking in the opposite direction of the two older men.

Alistar sighed, it was going to be difficult having to call his father ‘Captain’ again. It had been a while since he had to do that, but even when his father was Captain of the Golden Dawn he rarely used the title unless he had too. He wondered if Hikari and the others were having the same trouble with their parents as well. Alistar jumped as someone grabbed his upper arm and yanked him into their room with so much force that he actually tripped and landed onto their bed. He rolled over and saw the person that had pulled him into their room was Hikari.

“ My how very forceful of you Hikari.” He teased with a slightly mischievous smirk. He may have been playing it cool on the outside, but on the inside his heart was pounding and he had butterflies in his stomach.

“ Oh stop it you’re almost as bad as Ezio.” Hikari rolled her eyes and playfully hit Alistar on the shoulder as he stood up.

“ I don’t know, from what I hear Ezio is actually worse than I am.” He chuckled as Hikari herself laughed a bit before the two fell in a comfortable silence. They tended to do this a lot; just sit and enjoy each other's company without saying a word. The two hadn’t always been like this, their silence used to be very awkward when they were younger, but as they got older and closer, it gradually became more comfortable.

“ Alistar,” she started softly, he ‘hmed’ in response she continued. “ what’s going on? Why were we sent back?” She watched as the white haired man instantly tensed at the question, that wasn’t normal for him, usually he kept a close eye on his emotions and body movements. He looked away shyly and rubbed the back of his head.

“ I don’t know Hikari.” He told her with a sigh, the black haired girl’s eyes narrowed instantly.

“ Somehow I find it hard to believe that the Captain of the Golden Dawn doesn’t know what’s going on with serious matters related to the kingdom!” She said in a slightly raised tone, he quickly shushed her before looking behind her, as though expecting someone to come rushing through the door at her words. He let out a small sigh of relief before his ice blue eyes narrowed at her.

“ And I find it hard to believe that the Vice Captain of the Black Bulls doesn’t know anything either.” He countered, Hikari crossed her arms as she looked at him.

“ You and I both know the Vice-Captain doesn’t know about anything important like this unless the Captain tells them.” She smirked as she saw his eyes widen slightly; he seemed to forget who he was talking to.

Alistar sighed in defeat before looking away from her, she watched as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. She almost laughed at his nervous habit, he had done that ever since he was a kid, although she wasn’t quite sure where he picked it up since his father didn’t seem to have that habit. Her eyes softened as she could see the struggle in his eyes.

“ I...I can’t tell you Hikari, not yet.” He said softly when he finally looked back up at her. “ I have to wait until everyone else has arrived.”

“ So there are more of us coming?” Hikari asked and he nodded in confirmation. “ How many?”

“ I don’t know. All of our strongest people I’d imagine, especially since you, I, and Josslyn are here.” He said with a shrug. Hikari glared slightly at him, she could see in his eyes that there was more he wasn’t telling her.

“ Why won’t you just tell me what’s going on?” She asked him in a slightly angry and raised tone. “ What, do you think I can’t handle it? Do you think I’m that fragile that I can’t handle the truth about why we were sent back?” Alistar shook his head and placed both hands on her upper arms and gave them a gentle squeeze.

“ No, I don’t believe any of those things. Especially about you being too fragile to handle the truth.” He told her softly and somewhat apologetically, yet his eyes were cold and serious, the complete opposite of his tone. “ But I can’t tell you just yet, so please,” he gently shook her shoulders.

“ Trust me.”

Hikari looked away, she had always trusted him, for as long as they had been friends she had trusted him and vice versa, that’s why they were a great team even though they were in two different squads. He trusted her with his deepest secrets and she did the same in return. She sighed and nodded.

“ I trust you.”

Alistar smiled at that and he nodded firmly before giving her shoulders one last squeeze before he walked around her and placed a hand on the door knob.

“ Goodnight Hikari, sleep well.” He told her warmly before opening the door and walking out of the room. He closed the door softly behind him and sighed, he hated keeping this from her, he walked away with his head hung low and his heart broken into a million pieces. Soon, he would be able to tell her what happened soon, but for now this information had to stay between him and himself. He found his and Ace’s shared room and walked inside, gently closing the door behind him.

“ Well, well, well, pretty boy is hiding something. He’s a chip off the old block if I say so myself.” Zora chuckled as he came out of the shadows and looked at Ace’s bedroom door. “ Just how much do you actually know hm?”

———

Sorry there isn’t much ship content but I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

#children of the future #oc; alistar #oc; hikari #hikari is not my oc #yami sukehiro #william vangeance #julius novachrono #charlotte roselei #zora ideale #nebra silva #black clover fanfiction

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little-mad · 3 years

Text

Little Jackpot Pt. 11

~ Last Part ~ Next Part ~

The first thing Ambry noticed when she began to regain consciousness was the fact that she very much was not on solid ground. In addition to a slight but persistent up and down movement, she could also feel a strong heartbeat that was not her own pulsing through her body. It was then that she noticed the spongy texture of the surface she was lying on.

With her senses finally together enough to finally fully wake up, Ambry’s eyes flew open. The moment they did, memories of the past couple hours began to flood in. She’d been abducted by Kole, stuck in his grasp, and then...then she’d done something drastic, something that explained why the surface she was resting on was so absurdly big.

Ambry swallowed down a wave of intimidation as she shifted into a sitting position atop Sebastian’s palm. She had been in the human’s hand before, but she had been quite a bit bigger then. Now her entire body easily fit into the cup of his palm.

With the massive black clad wall that was Sebastian’s chest blocking one side, and his right hand blocking the other, Ambry couldn’t see much of the world around them. From the glimpses she got though, she could tell they were outside, walking down a street in the city. Normally she would have considered Sebastian’s behavior to be smothering, but at that moment she was honestly grateful. She didn’t think she could handle experiencing the whole world at an increased scale right now.

“Ambry?” A voice softly called from above. Ambry had to tilt her head back quite far in order to see Sebastian’s vast facing staring down at her in concern.

The up and down movement she’d been experiencing, which she now realized had been Sebastian’s gait, came to stop, indicating he had halted his journey.

“H-hey.” Ambry greeted with an awkward wave. “I can’t believe how huge he is!” She thought to herself incredulously. Any natural, instinctual fear she’d had of creatures of human size now seemed to be on overdrive. Despite knowing the human holding her was a friend that would look out for her, Ambry’s increased heart rate and the nervous sweat developing on her brow told her that her body didn’t buy it.

“She’s awake?” Ambry jumped slightly at the sound of Adrien’s voice coming from somewhere out of her view.

“How are you feeling? Are you hurt?” Sebastian questioned, managing to keep his voice low and steady despite the urgency in his tone.

Ambry shook her head. “I’m fine, just a little lightheaded is all.” She called up to the witch, being sure to raise her voice so it would reach his faraway ears.

A small yelp slipped out from the pixie’s mouth when the hand she was sitting on suddenly began to move upwards. The movement was slow and careful, but still jarring for the tiny passenger. When Sebastian’s palm stopped its ascent in front of his face, Ambry hurriedly tried to compose herself.

Rather than saying something immediately as she had expected, Sebastian remained silent while his deep green eyes carefully inspected the pixie resting in the palm of his hand.

While Ambry liked being the center of attention at times, she did not like being an object of close examination. Having such a massive being drink in every detail of her much smaller form gave her a swirly feeling in her stomach.

A touch of red began to tinge Ambry’s cheeks. “Wh-what are you doing?” She asked, shifting uncomfortably.

There was a pause, in which Sebastian didn’t respond and instead continued to look Ambry over. Just when she was about to snap at him to knock it off, he moved the hand containing Ambry slightly down and away from his face. “Physically you look alright.” He noted, some of the tension in his face easing up. “Let’s just get you home, then we can discuss things.” Ambry gave a small nod of agreement.

With that, Sebastian returned his hands to the position they had been in when Ambry woke up before setting off again. While she still wasn’t able to catch sight of him, she could hear Adrien’s footsteps following behind Sebastian. She was once again appreciative of Adrien’s ability to know what a person needed without having to ask. Rather than get close to Sebastian and crowd Ambry, he had elected to stay back and out of view so as to not overwhelm her. She’d have to find a way to thank him for his consideration later.

The rest of the trip from there was brief. It was only a couple of minutes before they reached home. Once inside the house, Sebastian made his way to the kitchen. He pulled up a stool at the peninsula before very slowly lowering the hand holding Ambry down to the surface of the counter. Taking the cue, she rose to her feet and stepped off of the soft palm.

It was at this moment that Ambry finally started to take in the larger environment. As expected, everything looked even bigger and heftier than it used to. The countertop she stood on now was like a vast expanse of endless sleek white marble. Needless to say, she felt positively minuscule.

With cautious and measured movements, Adrien took a seat at the stool beside Sebastian. This left Ambry standing on the countertop with two absolute titans looking down at her. She gulped heavily.

“Your wings, are they ok?” Adrien asked gently. At their mention, Ambry’s wings gave an involuntary twitch. She realized Adrien’s question must have been brought on by the fact that she had opted to continue riding in Sebastian’s hand rather than fly herself. It was true that normally Ambry would have flown by now. And while her wings weren’t injured, they did feel heavy behind her back. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling, she’d experienced it before after flying excessively and overworking herself. This time she wasn’t exhausted from flying, but rather from the size reduction process she had undergone.

“Yeah, I’m just exhausted.” Ambry admitted. “Which is why I passed out earlier.” She tacked on. She supposed it must have been alarming for the two humans to find her not only a couple inches smaller, but also inexplicably unconscious.

“Why--Ambry, what happened to you?” The intensity of Sebastian’s question drew her eyes to meet his. She could see the concern still tugging at his brows, and his pale lips were pressed together in that way they always did when he was fretting over something.

Ambry blew out a sigh. It was time to unveil the pixie secret. While there were no rules or laws in place restricting pixies from revealing their hidden ability to humans, it was something of an unspoken rule that it not be brought up unless necessary. Given that Sebastian had just witnessed Ambry shrink before his very eyes, she figured it was pretty necessary at this point.

“Every pixie has the natural ability to decrease their size at will.” She started, instantly earning wide eyed stares from both of the witches sitting in front of her. “But, because of how draining it is, on top of how fickle and unpredictable it can be, we rarely ever use it.”

“Fickle how?” Sebastian pressed.

Ambry shrugged. “In various ways. For one, it's easy for a pixie to end up shrinking more or less than they meant to.” She explained. “It’s also completely impossible to control how long we remain at our reduced size.” This was the bit that most nagged at the back of Ambry’s mind.

“You won’t stay this size forever, will you?” Adrien inquired.

“As far as I know, a pixie will always return back to their original form eventually. It could take a couple minutes, or a couple weeks.” Ambry had only personally known one pixie who had ever used their shrinking ability. He had done it just to test to see if it would actually work. It had taken four days for him to go back to normal. Apparently there were stories of pixies who had been stuck at their reduced size for nearly a month. There were even some legends that claimed it was possible to stay reduced forever, but those were mostly dismissed as old wives tales.

“So it’s essentially a waiting game.” Adrien concluded.

There were worse things than having to be so small for an indeterminate amount of time, still being in Kole’s hands came to mind. Yet Ambry couldn’t help but be filled with dread at the prospect of potentially being stuck this way for weeks on end. It would be like starting her adjustment to the human world all over again. Not to mention how much more vulnerable she was at this size.

Ambry was forced out of her worrying when she noticed something large steadily approaching her. She instinctively cringed back when Sebastian’s finger got near to her. However, when the fingertip big enough to cover her whole face gently touched her cheek, she found herself surprisingly not pulling away.

His skin was warm, and she could feel the ridges of his fingerprint on her cheek. It was an overwhelming comparison between their individual sizes, and while there was that part of her that was completely intimidated, it was quieter than usual. As Ambry locked eyes with Sebastian, she, in a strange way, actually kind of found his gesture comforting. Sebastian wasn’t particularly good with physical displays of affection or consolation, so for him to even attempt this was shocking in and of itself. But the fact that it was actually sort of working was even more shocking.

“If we have to wait, we have to wait. We’ll do it together.” The white haired witch assured her.

“Yeah, we’ll do whatever we need to make you more comfortable.” Adrien put in, a soft smile on his lips.

Were Ambry one prone to cheesy emotional displays, she would have teared up then and there. But as it was, she opted to choke out a quiet “thank you” instead.

#g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #g/t story #g/t community #sebastian altalune #ambry #my writing #ocs #trahb

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bl1ndbraavosi · 3 years

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White violet or huckleberry for kakasaku 🥺

eeeeep this was soooo much fun THANK YOU

ok tbh i wanted to do smth for each of these prompts but my brain is EMPTY so i offer u this piece for huckleberry - simple pleasures

send me a prompt!!

“We’re celebrating,” she said as she walked into his office, uninvited, unexpected, and unwarranted.

“I don’t have anything to celebrate,” he said shortly, sending her one of his patented Very Tired looks before returning to his mind-numbing paperwork.

“Well, I do,” she insisted, circling his desk and planting herself very inconveniently on top of his paperwork, the sound of paper and scrolls crunching beneath her weight. “Do you know how much work it takes to keep you alive and well? I’m celebrating another year I’ve kept you around,” she teased, swinging her legs out and kicking him in the shin far more viciously than he thought the situation called for.

“Maybe you should quit,” he muttered under his breath. She let out a deeply unhappy tut-tut.

“We’re going to unpack that some other time. Today, it’s your birthday, and I am determined to make sure you have fun,” she said with a triumphant grin. “Even if it makes you miserable.” He thought that sounded a little counterintuitive, but he knew from years of experience that there was no deterring Sakura once she was on a mission. She was the embodiment of do or die.

He had begrudgingly let her tear him away from his desk, which he could admit was a gift in and of itself, and now they were wandering aimlessly around the village. She had made it a point to teasingly parade him by the Hokage monument, where his big head was staring down at him, immortalized in stone.

“How incredible that it’s life-sized,” she teased. He nearly cracked a smile before he remembered that he was meant to be there with her against his will. He had a feeling she knew he’d nearly cracked, because then she’d taken her torture one step further and announced—loudly—that she was so pleased to be celebrating his birthday with him.

The villagers flocked unrepentantly. He was shocked her face didn’t split in half under the force of her shit-eating grin.

“I thought birthdays were supposed to be fun,” he complained once they’d made a daring escape from all the bowing well-wishers.

“I was under the impression that torture and melancholy was your idea of a good time,” she said, pouting in thought and looking up at him with mockingly wide, innocent eyes.

“Cute,” he said, not hiding how unimpressed he was with her. She giggled and held herself to his arm.

“Okay, fine. So what do you want to do?” she asked, smiling up at him with so much warmth he nearly burnt up from the inside out. He just shrugged. He had never really thought about it. “Well, what do you usually do?”

“Nothing,” he said plainly. She frowned.

“What about when you were a kid?” she asked, her lip jutting out in a genuine pout as her frown deepened. He shifted uncomfortably beside her as they ambled down a quiet road. Truthfully, there was really only one person in the village that ever acknowledged his birthday since the death of Minato-sensei. Gai was always available for a “celebratory competition”, and that was all he ever really needed.

“I don’t know, Sakura,” he said tiredly. “I was probably on missions most of the time,” he admitted with a shrug. He remembered Rin always bringing him dog-shaped onigiri on his birthdays. Minato-sensei had always been disgruntled when Kakashi’s one birthday request was a lesson in fuinjutsu, but he always complied. Obito…

Kakashi sighed and when he looked down at Sakura, who was uncharacteristically quiet, he was horrified to see her big green eyes filled to the brim with unshed tears. He flinched away from her at the sight, which thankfully dispelled the tears, but her tears had made way for annoyance, which she relieved by roughly punching his arm.

Physical violence was far less terrifying than being confronted with such an outward display of emotion, though, so he would accept this as a victory.

“I have an idea,” she said once she’d finished terrorizing him with her brute strength. He wasn’t sure what he found more daunting; her fists or her mind. He went along with her to spare himself the trouble for the time being.

Not long after, he found himself laid on a blanket at a park, staring up at the stars while Sakura snickered into the basket of goods she’d procured. He hadn’t argued when she’d pulled him around town, ducking into a couple of storefronts until she had gathered all her necessities. Now, they were sharing an itchy blanket in the middle of a park while she concocted some beverage in a couple of embarrassingly festive cups.

From where he lay, he couldn’t see much beyond her hunched back, shaking with her quiet snickers. Whenever he asked her what exactly she was doing, she told him to kindly shut up and let her surprise him. And so, he was staring at the stars. Not a bad end to the day, he supposed. Even if there was a madwoman at his feet, brewing up a surefire shit-storm.

When she finally decided to re-enter the realm of normal, human behaviour, she was brandishing two plastic cups, filled to the brim with some heinously green liquid that she said was guaranteed to get him “Kaka-shitfaced”. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’d also presented him with a massive sparkler sat atop the saddest baked good he’d ever laid eyes on.

“What is this?” he asked in distaste.

“A bran muffin; you need to watch out for your digestive tract at your age,” she teased. “Also, it was late and that was all the bakery had left in stock.” It was the thought that counted, he supposed. Still, he made her share half of it “for good luck”.

She was right about one thing, though. That drink was going straight to his head. He knew he was in trouble when the stars starting dancing above him. Sakura was lying beside him, her head resting against his shoulder and her arms tightly hugging one of his. She gasped, untangling one of her arms to point overhead to a star shooting clear across the sky.

“Make a birthday wish,” she said through her giggles. He peered down at her, pink-cheeked and gazing up at the sky, the silliest grin plastered across her face. He felt so lighthearted he thought he might just float away. His mind was shockingly blank as the star and its tail disappeared from the night sky. “Did you do it?” she whispered.

He hummed vaguely, and that seemed to be enough to appease her. He was grateful for that tight hold she had on his arm, because right now, he felt like that was all that was keeping him tethered to this world. He could have blamed the drinks, but honestly, it was a combination of things.

“You know, I had planned on making you play a drinking game with me, but I think we are both better off without it,” she said, giggling to herself. “But, just so you know, that is quintessential birthday behaviour.”

“For sixteen year olds, maybe,” he mocked.

“What do you know? You went straight from five to fifty,” she chided lightly. Then, her head was tilted back and she was gazing at him with the same intrigue with which she had been watching the stars.

“And is stargazing quintessential birthday behaviour?” he asked. She pouted in thought.

“Could be. It’s all very individual, you know,” she said with the confidence of a bonafide birthday expert.

“Except the drinking games. Those are non-negotiable,” he said.

“Exactly. You’re a quick learner,” she playfully praised him. “They really are essential.”

“How about one round, then? For the sake of tradition, of course.”

“Of course,” she repeated, a mischievous smile playing at her lips. “Truth or drink,” she proposed, and he agreed because he had absolutely no basis for refusal. He was entirely unsure of why he’d proposed this to begin with. She turned so she was curled up to his side instead of on her back, and it felt only natural for him to move his arm from her grasp to drape it around her. He didn’t dwell much on just how natural it felt to have her tucked under his arm that way.

“What was your best birthday?” he asked. She snorted, delicate as ever. He couldn’t help but smile at that.

“That’s a terrible question, Kakashi. You’re supposed to pick something that would be hard to answer so that I’d be tempted to drink,” she said, rolling her eyes as she laid her chin on his chest to peer up at him judgmentally and drunkenly. He thought that was a strange combination, but it worked for her. When he shrugged and made no effort to rectify his drinking game blunder, she sighed. “Fine, I’ll tell you, and then you have to recreate it with me. If you refuse, you have to down another birthday beverage,” she proposed with a wicked smile.

“I feel like you are taking advantage of my trusting nature,” he complained.

“You are the least trusting being in existence,” she said, waving him off. He didn’t argue; instead he agreed to her terms, curious to see where it would take them. So far, leaning into her ideas had landed him in a decent position. He couldn’t deny that this was the best night he’d had in a long time, birthday or not. “My favourite birthday memory is from when I was seven. Ino and I ate our weight in dango and birthday cake, and then we played on a swing set until we both threw up,” she said, giggling through the story as she recalled it.

“I’m not eating my weight in dango,” he warned. Her giggles intensified.

“I’ll concede on that,” she agreed.

“And I’ve never been on a swing set,” he admitted softly, sorry to see her giggles give way to a wide-eyed disbelief, tinged the faintest bit with sadness. So quick it made him dizzy, she was up on her feet and tugging on his arms until he was standing with her.

“That is unacceptable, Hokage-sama,” she said seriously, slipping her hand into his and towing him toward a children’s playground, her blanket and basket forgotten behind them. She presented the swing set to him with a flourish, pushing him until the swing was behind his legs, and then she was shoving him until he was uncomfortably sat on its band, his feet dragging sadly through the woodchips beneath him.

“I feel that I may have missed my window of opportunity,” he said as he stared down at his legs, seemingly too long for this endeavour to truly work out in his favour. She ignored him, sitting herself on the swing beside him and wasting no time in launching herself into a languid swing. Cautiously, he did the same. She laughed at him every time he miscalculated and kicked up a burst of woodchips mid-swing.

“You’re a natural,” she teased, leaning back and enjoying the breeze as she flew back to front, her hair billowing behind her, shining in the moonlight. “Isn’t this nice?” she called out as they swung in opposing directions. He had to admit, silly as it felt, it was nice. It felt good to finally have this small, seemingly inconsequential experience; even if it was coming a few decades late.

He wasn’t sure how long they did that, just swinging back and forth, higher and higher, mostly in silence, but for Sakura’s delighted giggles every now and then. A few times, he even laughed with her. Eventually, though, their swinging slowed until they were simply hanging side-by-side.

“I don’t see how that made you puke,” he said after awhile. He should have known nothing good would come of this when her mischievous snicker hit his ears. She hopped off her swing and grabbed each of the chains that hung on either side of him.

“Do you trust me?”

“In general, or right this moment?”

She didn’t bother elaborating, nor waiting for his final answer. Instead, she gripped those chains and twisted, link over link, until the chains were tangled and taut and he was deeply nervous of where this would lead him.

“Ready?” she asked, her voice lilting with palpable amusement.

“No,” he answered, but just as he did, she gripped his shoulders and pushed—he suspected with a hint of chakra strength—and sent him spinning furiously. The world around him was a total blur. He felt the chains untangle and re-tangle in the opposite direction, the force of his spinning too strong to stop. He felt her arms on his shoulders again, and he stared up at her to meet her green eyes, even though she had six of them.

He couldn’t get a word out before he was spinning again. Her uncontrollable laugher taunted him as he turned without end. Finally, just when he thought his head might fly off like a spinning top, he stopped.

“You feeling okay?” she asked softly, her laughter subdued but not departed.

“Never better,” he responded, as strongly as he could. He was pleased that his voice managed to sound deceptively even, but the effect of that was entirely ruined by his sliding off the seat and flat on his back into the woodchips, his legs dangling on the swing above him. “Ow.”

“Oh, gods,” she giggled out, falling to her hands and knees above him, peering down at him in concern, but her shoulders still quaking with silent laughter. His head was still spinning, and he was seeing stars, but this time, they appeared to be dancing in Sakura’s eyes instead of the night sky. He thought they seemed to belong there.

“I think it’s your turn,” he rasped out.

“I think our game of truth or drink has ended,” she said with a light laugh, pressing cool fingertips to his forehead. He shook his head and demanded she take her turn. “Well, we’ve already thrown the rules out the door,” she considered with a soft smile, her soft hands still sitting at the side of his face. “Would you show me your face?” she asked, her cheeks going pink.

He would blame the alcohol and the light-headedness, but he didn’t even hesitate before curling a finger into his mask and pulling it down. She stared down at him in surprise, her cheeks transitioning from pink to red.

“Does that mean you have to drink?” he asked stupidly.

“You have woodchips in your hair,” she responded, equally stupidly.

And then his hand was at the back of her head and he was leaning up to meet her halfway in a kiss that made him dizzier than all the swing-spinning in the world. She tasted like that vile green drink and bran muffin. With a contented sigh, he fell back down to the woodchips, leaving his hand lingering in her hair. She smiled down at him.

“Birthday kisses are also essential,” she offered. He hummed, agreeing wholeheartedly.

And then he was curled on his side, throwing up into the woodchips, Sakura’s laughter ringing loudly in his ears.

#alholland #prompt

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