#she just dragged her out into the hallway and we could finally leave to eat. and eating was a disaster bc my great-aunt accidentally | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cherienymphe · 1 year

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Basic Training (Peter Parker x Reader)

Warnings: NON-CON, DUB-CON, MURDER, violence, minor character deaths, kidnapping, captivity, public sex, degradation, forced pregnancy, forced marriage, stockholm syndrome, ptsd, housewife kink, cop!Peter

➥ banner by @vase-of-lilies | divider by @whimsicalrogers

➥ series masterlist

summary: A pit stop during a road trip ends tragically when a small town cop sets his sights on you. You’re the newest addition in a long standing fucked up family tradition.

You browsed the shelves with a deep frown, the sounds of your friends’ laughter in your ears as they searched for their favorite snacks too. You guys were halfway to Florida, the excitement in the air contagious as you embarked on the road trip that had been in the works for almost a year. You could hear Wanda telling you to hurry up, something about making the process rocket science.

“Sorry,” you dragged out, joining her at the counter. “…but I think what snacks you choose for an hours long car ride is pretty important.”

“We’re literally going to eat right after this,” a familiar voice said from over your shoulder as MJ pulled up beside you. “…and shopping too.”

She grumbled that last part, and Wanda chuckled.

“The whole point of this trip is to have fun,” the redhead reminded her.

“In some small rinky dink backwoods town?” Michelle murmured. “They don’t even have a mall.”

The man working the counter gave her a look at that, and you nudged her with a look of your own. You definitely had similar thoughts of your own when Pietro stopped here, Wanda’s brother voicing his desire for something to eat. It certainly wouldn’t be your first choice, but it had its charm you could admit. Everyone seemed nice so far, and you were quick to scold Michelle when you made your way out of the gas station.

“Don’t be so snobby,” you told her. “Besides, we’ll be leaving in a few hours anyway.”

“Finally,” you heard Pietro groan as the three of you approached the car. “I was about to leave you.”

Wanda lightly pushed his head as she slid into the passenger seat, you and Michelle settling into the back. Driving from Maine to Washington to Florida sounded like an insane thing to do when it was first suggested, but the more you and Wanda had laughed about it, the less funny it became. Michelle pretended to need her arm twisted into going, but it was obvious that she was into it. Once Pietro offered to be the main driver, the plans were set.

“I was googling restaurants here while you three were taking your sweet time,” he said, pulling onto the road.

You watched Wanda snatch his phone, scrolling through what he’d pulled up.

“We should see the Statue of Athena when we get to Tennessee,” Michelle suggested, looking out of the window.

Pietro mumbled something unintelligible, but Wanda voiced her agreement. You were mostly quiet on the way to the restaurant, but it wasn’t a long drive. Michelle was right when she said the town was small, and the restaurant that was decided on took no time to get to.

It was a quaint place, nothing too extraordinary or even huge. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot, and the only notable vehicles were two police cars near the building. Wanda and Pietro were going back and forth about what the restaurant may or may not serve while Michelle slid some shades onto her eyes to block out the sun.

There was a bell above the door that rang when it opened, and you looked around the establishment as Wanda talked to one of the waitresses. As the woman led the four of you to a table, your gaze passed over four cops seated in the corner of the restaurant. You didn’t know if they were on break or officially done for the day, but if their table was anything to go by, they’d been eating here for a while.

When the waitress came back with menus and glasses of water, you asked her if there was a bathroom.

“Oh, sure, honey,” she sweetly told you, pointing towards a hallway over her shoulder. “Just through there.”

“Why didn’t you go at the gas station?” Wanda wondered as you stood.

“…because it was probably ten times more disgusting than this one could be.”

You told Michelle what you wanted to order just in case you weren’t back by the time the waitress returned to get orders. You hurried into the hallway, finding the bathroom with ease. There was only one, and you were relieved when your knock on the door was met with silence. Like you predicted, this bathroom was cleaner than you expected the one at the gas station to be.

You’d drank a lot of water since the last stop, and you didn’t even try to hold in your sigh of relief as you peed. Just as you were pulling your pants up, you heard a knock on the door, and you hurried to button them and wash your hands.

“I’ll be out in a second,” you called.

With one last look in the mirror, noting that car ride sleep was doing more wonders than sleeping in your own bed, you opened the door.

You were startled by the sight of one of the cops you’d seen earlier. You blinked at the sight of him, noting how boyish he looked up close. He seemed just as taken aback by you, although why, you didn’t know. You had the stray thought of wondering if he was even old enough to be a cop, and you shook it away. You knew guys from back who started making moves to be one the second they turned eighteen.

“Sorry,” you apologized for almost running into him. “It’s all yours.”

You sent him a polite smile, the smile dropping some when he didn’t really…move. A few seconds passed of him just looking at you, and after some time, he finally blinked himself, shaking his head. You noticed some strands of his dark hair move with the action.

“Sorry.”

Now, it was his turn to apologize.

“I shouldn’t have been standing that close,” he said, finally moving out of your way so you could walk out. “Enjoy your food.”

You sent him another polite smile at that, returning to the table. Pietro told you that they’d ordered when you sat back down, Michelle confirming that she’d ordered for you. When you made yourself comfortable in your seat, you glanced around again, your gaze catching an unfamiliar blue one. It was one of the cops at the table, a blond man with an intimidating build, and you quickly looked away.

“I kind of don’t want to skip North Carolina,” Wanda said, and both MJ and Pietro sighed.

You chuckled, already knowing why she wanted to go there.

“Outer Banks is just so far out of the way, Wanda,” you told her.

“Yes, but it’s a road trip,” she quietly whined. “The whole point is to see things and have fun. Besides, it’s not like we have a set date on when this is supposed to come to an end. It can end whenever we want, right?”

None of you had an argument for that, and she smiled, almost triumphantly.

“Okay, don’t get ahead of yourself. We all still have to agree,” Michelle said, but she couldn’t fight back her small smile.

“…but I’m driving,” the only man of the bunch spoke up, and Wanda flicked his arm.

“There are three of us and one of you. Hush before we put you in the trunk,” Wanda teased.

The waitress brought your food over before another word could get in, and you glanced up to thank her. As you did, your eyes passed over that same cop from earlier, the one you’d ran into outside of the bathroom. Your gazes briefly connected, and you had an odd reaction to it, a shudder traveling down your spine.

You frowned a bit as you gave your attention to your food. It wasn’t that weird, you guessed. It was a small restaurant after all, and aside from them and your friends, there were only about three other people in the building. It was probably your own bias to be honest. Men in positions of authority never bode well with you, and policemen were at the top of the list for a multitude of reasons.

You guys discussed the rest of your trip over your lunch, making a list of things you wanted to see. Pietro huffed at every third suggestion. When there came a point where you could feel yourself getting full, you peered around for the waitress. With no sign of her, you decided to just go to the counter and ask for some takeout boxes. What you presumed was the owner nodded at you.

“Yeah, give me one moment…”

When he walked away, you pulled out your phone to see if there actually was any place decent in town to shop at. Worst case scenario, you guys would wind up at a Walmart or something. Google was just pulling up some results when you felt a shift in the air, a shift at your side. You glanced over and was shocked to see that same cop from before next to you.

You didn’t acknowledge it outside of that, facing forward again just as he spoke.

“Hey, Nick! Bring some out for us too,” he called.

Your attention was drawn to your fingers on the counter, tapping them and drawing circles into the wood. You could feel the heat of a gaze on your face, and you thought that maybe you were imagining it until the man next to you spoke up.

“Are you and your friends new in town?”

You were startled by the question, by the act of him talking to you, and you looked at him just as he spoke again.

“…or just passing through?”

There was a small smile on his lips as he said that, the corners curving upwards ever so slightly.

“Just passing through,” you finally answered. “Road trip.”

He hummed with a nod, gaze passing over you.

“My buddies and I went on a small road trip a few years back. It was pretty fun.”

You gave a tight lipped chuckle at that, looking towards the kitchen and wondering what was taking the owner so long. You both felt and heard the cop move closer, and you glanced at him out of the corner of your eye just as he spoke again.

“Our town isn’t much, but there’s a few nice shops and boutiques around here,” he said, making you look at him in wonder.

“Oh?’

“Yeah,” he said, pulling out a pen and paper. “I’d hate for you to leave here with a bad impression.”

He chuckled, and you eventually joined in.

“We need you to come back. How else will we make any money?”

“Right,” you lightly said with a smile.

You took the list from him with a thanks, and he held it for a few seconds longer than necessary before finally letting go. You folded it up as he introduced himself.

“Peter,” he said, holding out his hand.

You hesitated, eyeing the appendage for some reason.

Peter seemed nice enough, maybe overly so, but again. That was probably just your own bias. Besides, even if he was a little strange to you, you would never see him again. You guys would be leaving in a few hours and heading further south. On the off chance that you did ever come back to visit, the chances of running into this same cop were low.

You gently shook his hand, introducing yourself too.

The owner finally returned then, bringing a bunch of carryout boxes with extra to keep at the counter. You took a few, thanking him and leaving the man Peter without another word. Your friends were in a discussion about Pietro’s ex-girlfriend when you returned. You told them about a list of shops in town as they packed up their food.

“That cop told me,” you told Wanda once she asked, walking outside. “The youngest one.”

You didn’t think of him again once you were in the car and driving down the street. Wanda was happy with the suggestions, finding at least two things at every shop. You and Michelle stopped for ice cream while Wanda went into some mom-and-pop pharmacy. Pietro was by the car and on his phone. While Michelle complimented the chocolate mint she got, you glanced up and caught sight of a cop car slowly passing by.

You only gave it a second glance when you recognized the cop in the passenger seat as the same blond from the restaurant. You frowned a bit, Michelle’s words fading to the background. You reminded yourself that it was a small town, and while the police department back home had hundreds of cops, the one here maybe had a total of fifteen. It was probably normal here to see the same cop several times in the same day.

You and Michelle met Wanda back in the car, Pietro telling you guys to get a move on. You were texting your mom, telling her you guys were on the road again as Pietro started the car. You loved her, but she worried too much, and while you didn’t mind placating her and keeping her up to date on where you were, it still made you roll your eyes.

After eating and walking around for a bit, you could feel yourself getting sleepy. It was to be expected. All of that combined with the smooth drive was really doing you in. Wanda and Michelle’s conversation became nothing more than a soft hum, and you were drifting more and more, but you knew Pietro hadn’t been driving long when you felt him starting to slow down.

You didn’t think a thing of it at first, not until you heard him curse anyway.

“What’s wrong?” Michelle wondered.

“The engine is cutting out,” you heard him say. “There’s…the gas. It’s gone.”

You opened your eyes at that, peeling them open just as the car came to a complete stop on the side of the road. You blinked, rubbing them and sitting up.

“What?” you heard Wanda say.

“Didn’t you just get gas?” you wondered.

“Yeah,” Pietro scoffed. “What the hell…?”

He tried to start the car a few more times with no luck, and only then was that when you started to get worried. When the twins got out of the car, you followed with a frown. Michelle poked her head out of the window as Pietro popped the hood.

“We had a full tank and then suddenly it just dropped,” he said from under the hood. “It has to be the fuel line…”

Wanda leaned against the car, and you pulled out your phone. You started texting your mom, and after a while of it not going through, you realized you must be on a bad stretch of road. You were holding your phone high as Pietro tried to figure out what was going on with the car. Wanda was trying to make a call too, and you’d just dropped your arm in frustration when the sound of a car reached your ears.

“Someone’s coming. Maybe we can get them to call someone or bring us some gas,” you suggested.

As the car appeared at the top of the hill, you realized it was a cop car. You weren’t sure if you should feel relieved about that, and you sank your teeth into your lip. Without even needing to flag them down, it started to slow, and you moved closer to the rental as it stopped right behind it.

You didn’t really know how to feel when a familiar face rose out of the passenger seat.

It was the same cop from the restaurant.

Peter.

The one who rose out of the driver’s seat was at the restaurant too. You remembered him, skin dark and hair cut low, and you wrung your hands together, frown deepening. You wondered how many coincidences became weird, became something that was no longer a coincidence.

“Hey,” Peter waved to you, that friendly smile on his pink lips.

You could feel your friends’ eyes on you, and you sent the cop a tight smile.

“Hi,” you nervously breathed.

“Car trouble?” he wondered, moving closer.

His partner lingered by the cop car…watching. You crossed your arms over your chest, feeling weird all of a sudden, and you glanced over your shoulder. Pietro was peering from around the hood, and Michelle had gotten out of the car, now.

“Yeah,” you finally answered. “We think it’s the engine or…something. One minute we had a near full tank of gas and then nothing.”

You shrugged as he neared the front of the car, peering under the hood. You glanced back at the other cop nervously, unable to help feeling like something was off. Peter didn’t remain under the hood for long, straightening and sending a nod to his partner. You heard the other man speak into his radio, and Wanda spoke up.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re just going to give you guys a ride back to town,” Peter said, and that didn’t relieve you.

“What about the car?” Michelle wondered.

“We’ll get someone to come and get and take it to a shop,” the other cop finally spoke up.

All four of you looked at each other. You still didn’t know what exactly was wrong with it, so it made sense to have it looked at, but this was definitely putting a dent in your plans. Not to mention how off this all still felt to you.

“There’s four of us,” you commented. “Honestly, if you could just call for a tow…”

“Well, that’s why I called for backup. That way we can give everyone a ride,” the other cop replied.

You looked to your friends, trying to gage how they felt about this. This just didn’t feel right to you, but you guys were stuck practically in the middle of nowhere with no gas and a faulty car with unknown reasons as to why. You didn’t want to be the one to disagree if everyone else was okay with it, but Wanda spoke before you could.

“Actually, I think we’ll just keep trying to call a tow.”

You could see another cop car coming over the hill, now, and you moved closer to Michelle. Peter, the only cop whose name you knew, was near you again, and he sent you what was meant to be a comforting smile, you were sure.

“It’s no trouble. Just let us drive you back to town and-.”

“Thanks, but we’re just going to decline,” you told him. “That’s nice of you though…”

You made to get back in the car when Peter stopped you. You were startled by the feel of his hand on your wrist, looking at him with wide eyes, and Pietro’s voice reached your ears.

“Hey,” he called, nearing you both. “We appreciate the offer, but we’d rather just call a tow truck, alright?”

He grabbed Peter’s arm, the action drawing his attention to Pietro, and you used the opportunity to stumble away. Peter looked at your friend with a gaze in his eye you couldn’t name, but it unnerved you, cementing that odd feeling you’d felt since they’d arrived. Peter didn’t look so boyish, now, so…nice. His dark eyes studied Pietro’s hand on him, and the other cop car had slowed to a stop, now.

“I could arrest you on assaulting an officer,” he quietly said, and your heart skipped a beat.

“You grabbed our friend first,” Michelle argued, the concern that you’d been feeling all along now reflected on her face.

“Pietro,” you said, reaching for him and trying to get him to back up.

He did, but you had a feeling that the offense was already done.

“He shouldn’t touch you like that,” he spat, and Wanda was now standing with you three.

You didn’t like the way Peter was looking at Wanda’s brother, and you looked over as the other officers got out of their car too. Your lips parted, chest clenching painfully as your eyes landed on that same blond-haired, blue-eyed cop from the restaurant. The brunette at his side had been there too, and you sharply inhaled.

Something was very wrong.

The blond was quickly approaching, speaking to Peter as if the four of you weren’t even there.

“What’s the problem?”

Peter spoke before any of you could.

“Car trouble. We tried to offer them a ride back to town, but their friend here thought it was okay to assault an officer.”

The way Peter spoke to the blond, it made it clear who was the higher up of the two, and you scoffed at the words leaving his mouth.

“That’s not true. You grabbed her and Pietro-.”

“Pietro, is it?” the blond cut Wanda off, approaching her brother. “You have the right to remain silent...”

“Wait,” Wanda cried. “This is insane, he barely touched him. Your buddy-.”

“Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney.”

You blinked in disbelief, unable to understand how some simple car trouble had escalated into Pietro getting arrested. While Wanda was trying to argue with the cop currently putting Pietro in handcuffs, you didn’t notice Peter moving closer to you until his hand was on your arm.

“We’ll drive the rest of you back to town…”

“No!” you pulled against his hand, shocked when he didn’t let go. “I don’t want to go anywhere. You can’t arrest him, he didn’t do anything!”

Panic filled you when Peter appeared to be stronger than he looked, practically dragging you away, and Michelle called out. It had gotten Wanda’s attention too, and they both ran over.

“Let go of her,” Michelle cried.

In all the commotion, you didn’t realize the other two cops had come over too. There was too much going on, and in the chaos, you found yourself tripping over your feet and out of Peter’s grip. Your chin knocked against the pavement, and you winced. You pushed yourself to your hands and knees, glancing up just in time to see that blond cop reach for his gun.

Your lips parted at the sight of Pietro pushing against him, unaware of what was about to happen.

You screamed his name just as the sound of the gunshot rang through the air, and you felt your skin grow cold at the sight of your best friend’s brother going…limp. Blood had never bothered you before, but in this context, it was the worst thing you’d ever seen. Wanda’s scream brought tears to your eyes, and you heard Peter curse.

“What the hell, Steve?” one of the other cops said, and their cavalier attitude about it had you stumbling to your feet.

The blond cop, Steve, finally spoke up.

“It was going to happen now or later, right?”

You looked at him, horrified, and you mindlessly reached for Michelle’s hand, but she batted it away. You looked at her, meeting her dark eyes as she seemed to have come to some conclusion you hadn’t yet. She looked disturbed, and she wouldn’t take her eyes off of you.

“Run,” she whispered.

Obviously, you guys were going to run, but her hand was pushing on your arm, pushing you away. Wanda was a screaming and crying mess, detained by the brunette who’d come with Steve, and more than you wanted to run, you wanted to hold her. What had just happened didn’t quite feel real, and you had a hard time convincing yourself that this wasn’t some awful nightmare you’d conjured up while falling asleep in the car.

Pietro was dead…and your eyes studied the way his blood crawled away from him. It made your stomach turn, and Steve’s next words took what little breath you had left.

“Peter…are you taking her or not?”

He sounded irritated, frustrated, and you slowly looked from him to Peter. His eyes met yours, and you took a step back as several things happened at once, too fast for you to comprehend, but just slow enough for you to witness.

The other cop, the brunette with hair that brushed his chin, took out his gun, and suddenly Wanda was just as dead as her brother. Steve was grabbing Pietro like he was nothing, the fourth cop was reaching for Michelle, and Peter was taking a step towards you. You didn’t even have time to react to it, Michelle grabbing your hand and taking off.

You couldn’t quite register that you were running, feet moving so fast and clumsily that it was a wonder you didn’t fall. Grass and twigs were scratching at your ankles and branches were snagging on your clothes. Witnessing the death of two of your friends wasn’t something you were able to process, too in disbelief, too in denial.

Michelle’s hand was tight in yours, and then it wasn’t.

You stumbled to a stop as she collapsed, your wide eyes falling to her frame. She was gasping and clutching her chest, a horrifying gurgling sound leaving her lips. Blood was soaking her shirt in a terrifying capacity, and when you fell to her knees beside her, her bloody hand pushed at you. Against your better judgement, you pressed your hand against her chest, but you knew it wouldn’t do any good.

Every cough coated her lips in more red, and you could hear the hurried footsteps approaching.

You felt like you couldn’t breathe, and even though Michelle couldn’t speak, her dying action was to harshly shove you away. You glanced between her and the approaching cops, and feeling like your body was working on autopilot, you struggled to stand. It took you too long to take your eyes off of her, breaking out into a confused run.

You didn’t want to die, and you didn’t know why this was happening.

Michelle’s blood was on you, all of your friends were dead, and you were being chased through the woods by cops you had never even seen before today. Your vision blurred from your tears, and you felt like you weren’t getting air fast enough. You couldn’t hear anything else outside of your breathing, ears deaf to all other sounds.

You had never been particularly athletic, but the adrenaline coursing through your veins had your legs pushing farther than they ever had. Your mind couldn’t focus on anything beyond the sight of your dead friends, fear tightening your chest at the thought of ending up just like them. You thought you were running fast enough, but maybe it was silly to think you could outrun a cop who’d trained for things like this.

You hit the ground hard.

Truthfully, you didn’t even understand why you’d fallen at first. You’d just started flailing and screaming, and in the commotion, sometimes your hands or feet would connect with something. Or better yet, someone. Your nails broke skin, and you couldn’t tell what blood was MJ’s and what blood was…Peter’s.

“Hey, hey,” he gently said, trying to shush you, pressing his body against yours and trying to get his hand over your mouth. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

You didn’t believe him. Why would you believe him? You couldn’t stop crying, couldn’t swallow down the heavy sobs that kept climbing out of your throat. Every swipe of your hand got more of Michelle’s blood on his face, and the visual made your stomach churn. You were pushing your arm against his throat as he reached down, and so sure that you were going to die, you were shocked by the feeling of being shocked.

The taser made you jerk, halting your movements long enough to allow Peter to grab your arms. Your body was still shaking some when he turned you on your stomach, and you squeezed your eyes shut, your breath moving dirt. You couldn’t stop crying even if you tried, and you wailed at both the feel and the sound of the handcuffs clicking into place.

“Sam,” you heard him call, his breathing just as heavy as yours.

Peter was sitting on your lower back, knees pressed into the dirt on either side of your waist. You felt him pull the back of your shirt down, a pinch making you wince, and you didn’t miss the way the hand that held your head down was massaging your scalp with its fingers. It was almost soothing, or maybe that was just from whatever was in the syringe.

Your body felt weighed down by more than just the grown man holding you down, and when he moved, starting to lift you, you confirmed that. You stumbled, vision tilting and spinning, and Peter leaned you against him. You could feel his arms holding you as your knees buckled, and you blinked up at him, your breathing shaky. The corners of your vision were going dark, and a few more tears escaped.

“I don’t want to die,” you heard yourself whisper.

You could make out his frown, the way his dark eyes ran over you. You shuddered at the feel of his fingers on your cheek, brushing a tear away, and you swallowed when he shook his head.

“You’re not going to.”

The stench of blood was the last thing any of your senses registered.

#peter parker x reader #peter parker #dark!peter parker #dark!peter Parker x reader #peter parker fic #peter parker fanfiction #marvel #marvel fic #cop!au

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cloudrumble23 · 7 months

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Evan woke up gasping, his shirt plastered to his back and his hair stuck to his face. He rubbed the tears from his eyes quickly to focus on the clock. 5:48 a.m. An ominous feeling spread through his entire body, but he took comfort in reminding himself that nothing bad could happen while Fredbear was watching over him.

The fabric of his plushie was worn and stuffing was sticking out between some of his joints, but Evan couldn’t bear to part with him long enough for proper repairs to be done. Father always said it would take a few days to fix the plushie if he wanted it done properly, and Evan would never accept a poor repair job, so instead of giving up the bear for repairs, he just kept Fredbear as he slowly deteriorated more and more each day.

He didn’t feel too bad about it though; Michael had done the exact same thing to his Foxy plushie, and he’d had his toy much less time than Evan had. Evan swapped out the destroyed plushie with his own, but Michael hadn’t seemed to notice, even as the original plushie’s head fell off somewhere, making it impossible to repair the poor fox.

The vest was coming a bit loose, but Evan ignored that. Fredbear didn’t need the vest anyway. It wasn’t his identity any more than Foxy’s hat was, and besides, no one remembered that Foxy even normally came with a hat. He squeezed the small bear, humming softly to himself as he waited for 6 a.m. to arrive.

Evan walked cautiously down the hallway to the kitchen, his guard still up from his unpleasant night’s rest.

“You stink,” Elizabeth complained. She was already in the kitchen eating her cereal while Michael was pouring his own bowl.

Michael rolled his eyes. “Welcome to reality Lizzie. People sweat and have body odor.”

“You never stink in the morning,” she retorted as Evan set Fredbear on the counter before climbing on it to reach the cabinet.

“I put on deodorant. Ev, get off the counter. I can get that for you.” Michael grabbed another bowl from the cabinet and filled it with cereal as well. “I’ll get Evan some when I go to the store, okay?”

“You better,” Elizabeth grumbled into her cereal.

“Plus, it’ll be fine. He’s probably going to shower before we leave for school anyway.”

Elizabeth scowled at that. “But then I won’t have time to do my hair.”

“Then I’ll do it.” Michael rolled his eyes again. “You talk like you have a terrible life, Liz.”

“Maybe I do!” Elizabeth snapped, shoveling more cereal into her mouth.

“Good morning to you too,” Mother said, yawning as she walked into the kitchen. “Are we having cereal for breakfast today?”

“Yes Ma’am,” Michael said, grabbing Evan around the waist to drag him from his spot on the counter. “I was planning to go to the grocery store today to pick up a few things.”

“No nonsensical things we don’t need now, Michael. You know how your father hates that sort of thing.”

“Of course,” Michael’s voice sounded stiff, but he maintained his politeness. “Do you want some cereal as well?”

“That’d be lovely, darling.” She sat down beside Elizabeth. “You children are so wonderful.”

Evan felt himself finally starting to calm down. Today was a good day. Mother and Michael were both in a good mood, a rare occurrence, if he was being honest with himself. Elizabeth’s mood was always sour, depending on who she decided to blame for her problems, but she was manageable. He just hoped they didn’t see his Father before school. That was the one thing that could ruin the peaceful moods of his mother and brother before they left for school.

“Do you want to go to the store with me, Evan?” Michael said abruptly after they’d all finished eating. “So you know where to look for deodorant next time?”

“I guess so,” Evan replied quietly, hoping that was the right answer.

It must’ve been, because Michael smiled faintly and ruffled his hair. His expression faltered, and he made a face though. Michael wiped his hand on his pants. “You really need to shower before we leave though, Little Man. Lizzie was right, no offense. You are kind of gross this morning.”

Evan shrugged. He didn’t want to explain the nightmares, assuming it would put Michael in a sour mood. He didn’t want to ruin the moment.

“Fredbear’s not looking too good lately either,” Michael mused. “Want me to stitch him up for you?”

“Huh?” Evan blinked up at his brother. “Fredbear’s fine.”

“His stuffing’s going everywhere-“

“He doesn’t need anything. He’s fine!” Evan scooped the little bear into his arms, and Michael raised his hands in surrender.

“Fine, fine. If you change your mind, let me know. It would only take, like, 30 minutes, tops.”

Evan didn’t reply to that. Instead, he changed the subject. “I’m going to go shower.”

“Okay.” Michael almost sounded disappointed. But that didn’t make sense. Normally he was happy to be rid of him. Especially so near his birthday, when his friends would be coming over all the time.

On the walk to school, Elizabeth wouldn’t stop gushing about how wonderful her hair was. She practically begged Michael to make it a more regular occurrence, but Michael just shrugged. Evan could see the smile on his face though. He knew it was only a matter of time before Elizabeth got her way.

“Mike!” one of Michael’s friends tried to call him over, but Michael ignored him.

“Come on, you two gotta get to class,” he said softly, putting his hand on Evan’s shoulder to direct him away from the other kid. With a startle of surprise, Evan saw a faint frown on Michael’s face. Maybe he’d had some kind of fight with his friends? Evan couldn’t ask about it, just in case.

“You can’t ignore us forever!” one of the boys shouted angrily while Michael guided Evan in the direction of the store after school.

“Just keep walking,” Michael muttered. He seemed very tense, and Evan wasn’t sure he could do anything to reassure his brother. He just did as Michael asked, hurrying along so they could get out of range.

A few short minutes later, they were walking into the store. Evan felt odd. He’d never been to the store without his parents before. Normally, he and Elizabeth only came when Mother was looking for something specific, or when Michael was sick, and Father was going to the store instead. Being here with Michael was… different.

“They don’t get it,” Michael whispered, seeming to forget who he was talking to.

Evan blinked at him, but Michael didn’t elaborate until after they’d filled the basket with necessary groceries and Evan’s deodorant.

“Everyone expects so much from me,” he mused. “My friends seem to think I have to give them every second of my attention. Mother thinks I have to be responsible all the time. Father…” Michael shook his head. “Even Uncle Henry assumes things. It’s awful, Ev.”

“Maybe it’s just because they like you so much,” Evan said quietly, hoping not to upset him.

“Nah. They expect me to disappoint them. Aside from my friends, anyway. It’s just so stupid. All this shit I have to put up with.” Michael froze. “I mean- Just forget I said that.”

Evan giggled involuntarily, surprising them both. “You’re not seriously apologizing for saying ‘shit,’ are you?” Evan asked. “Kids say that all the time at school.”

“Yeah, but if Mother or Father catches you saying that-“

“Who’s going to tell them?” Evan blinked innocently up at Michael.

He groaned. “I forgot how insufferable you are.”

“Only when I can be.” Evan grinned, feeling secure in his behavior. “Let’s get home. I have homework to do.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Michael shook his head, but the faint smile Evan had seen that morning returned.

“Want to watch T.V. with me?” Michael said when he walked into the kitchen.

Evan guessed he was finished with his own homework, considering his confidence in the way he sat beside Evan at the counter.

“What are we watching?” Evan replied, continuing his notes while Fredbear observed them both.

“The Immortal and the Restless,” Michael said with confidence. “And, it’s not even scary, so you won’t wet yourself when we watch.”

Evan shook his head disparagingly. “I got scared watching a movie with you one time-“

“It gave you nightmares, Ev! I got in so much trouble for that, you know.”

“Then why offer to watch something with me again?” Evan asked before realizing what he was implying.

“I-“ Michael sputtered. “C’mon, man.”

Evan put his pencil down and stared at his brother. He wasn’t getting angry, which meant Evan could actually ask serious questions without fearing consequences for it. “You spend all your time making fun of me, and teasing me, and scaring me, and making me miserable. Why should I trust that you actually want to watch something with me?”

Evan expected a lot of potential reactions to his comments. Yelling, maybe. What he didn’t expect was for Michael to crumple in on himself. “I… Look, it’s not…” Michael swallowed harshly. “I can’t say anything to justify my past actions. You have every reason to be weary. But maybe I’ve changed, Ev. I want to spend time with you. I’m tired of pretending all the time, and I-“

“You’re not kidding,” Evan said softly. “Were you exaggerating this morning, then? When you said it would only take 30 minutes to fix Fredbear?”

“What? No. It’s a bunch of little fixes. You just gotta have the right thread. And if we hurry,” Michael glanced at the clock nervously, “I know Father has thread in his office.”

“You…” Evan blinked. “You’d do that for me?”

“I gotta prove my point somehow, don’t I?” Michael jumped up from his seat. “I’ll be right back.”

Evan turned back to his homework, no longer able to fully comprehend what was happening here. Was Michael genuine? Was he really trying to be a better brother? Evan honestly had no idea, but the best way to find out was to wait until the summer, when Michael was always really nasty usually. For now, though, he’d settle for help repairing Fredbear.

Michael returned, out of breath and a little bit shaky. “We only have a few hours before Father is supposed to be home.”

“Lucky you said it wouldn’t take very long,” Evan said softly, expecting a contradiction.

“Still frightening to think about,” Michael replied. “Okay, I got this.” He threaded the needle and looked at Evan expectantly. Reluctantly, Evan handed his brother the battered gold bear.

Michael set him up gently on the kitchen counter, tucking the stuffing back where it belonged as he started his row of stitching. Evan knew the seams had been originally on the inside of Fredbear, but Michael had tried explaining that he couldn’t fix Fredbear like that. He’d rolled his eyes actually, saying that doing it that way would take a sewing machine and a trip to the workshop, something Michael was not willing to do without permission.

So Evan had to accept that the repairs would be visible, but at least Fredbear would be ready to fight off another night of terrors.

Evan didn’t mean to fall asleep against Michael’s shoulder while watching the show. In his defense, he didn’t have a clue what was going on, and Michael was too busy watching to explain it to him. Evan ended up giving up on the show to study his brother’s face. It surprised him how energetic Michael seemed while watching the screen, but then, Evan guessed this was one of his rare moments where there weren’t expectations dragging him down.

He stirred as Michael carried him upstairs. Confused, Evan blinked sleepily at his brother. “What-“

“Shhh, go back to sleep,” Michael said softly. “I just want to make sure you’re not going to have nightmares.”

Evan always had nightmares. That was the general idea of everything going on. He hated the idea of disappointing Michael, especially after how nice the day had been, but he couldn’t control his dreams. Not now and certainly not ever. He couldn’t even remember a time when he didn’t have nightmares every night. But he had a feeling Michael wouldn’t be swayed in this, so he just nodded against his brother’s chest and closed his eyes again.

Evan didn’t have any nightmares that night. Or at least, they weren’t nightmares he remembered. He woke up that morning with Michael curled protectively around him, like Michael was afraid of something happening. Evan wasn’t particularly worried about that, though.

For the first time in years, he felt content and safe.

#cloud writes #hiiiii #I should really be asleep rn #but I wanted to get this done today #well #tonight anyway #since it's past midnight here #but yeah #afton family #evan afton #michael afton

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heavyhitterheaux · 9 months

Text

Teenage Woes Part 2

First Babies of Private Garden Fic

AN: Here we gooo

Synopsis: A certain person finds out what the triplets have done and takes matter into her own hands to set them straight while Jack it at his wits end with Axel's antics

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader

Read Part 1 first

First Babies of Private Garden Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

You had just gotten back from Aruba and it was around four in the morning. Attempting to walk into the house quietly, you took to the steps while dragging your huge suitcase behind you and silently cursed to yourself about how much you bought since your bedroom was in the middle of the hallway and you were doing your best to not have to take breaks.

Once you were finally in your room, Jack was sound asleep as you ventured over to the closet to begin to put your clothes away and peel off the clothes that you had on so you could hop in the shower and quickly get in bed in order to sleep. The goal was to sleep in for as long as you could before waking up your youngest three to help them get ready for the day while the oldest three were on their own. You meant what you had said before you left for your girls trip, that you wouldn’t bend over backwards for them anymore like you had been doing since they acted nothing but ungrateful towards you.

They had to learn the hard way and Jack was also in the same boat right along with them because he had gone behind your back and given them the okay to have their phones as well as their car keys and it wasn’t until you confronted him about it that he quickly took them back.

Once moisturized and in a clean set of pajamas, you looked at your phone to see that it was around 5:30 in the morning and decided to sleep in the guest room not even wanting to be bothered with Jack. All of them had a lot of making up to do in order to get back in your good graces.

It was now close to 8 in the morning when you finally got up and made your way downstairs to see that Jack was packing lunch for Cash and Camden who were sitting at the table fascinated by something on their tablet and eating their breakfast. Once they saw you, they immediately hopped out of their seats in order to greet you.

“Mommy! You’re back.” Jack looked over at you and simply smiled at you which you didn’t bother to return. He would talk to you about it after he dropped the kids off at school.

“We missed you. Daddy can’t cook.” Camden whispered the last part in your ear and all you did was laugh.

“I missed you too. And he’s gotten a little better. Go and finish your food so that I can take you to school.”

“I’ll take them, babe. I know you only got here a few hours ago and you can go back to sleep.”

This caused you to do a double take as you looked over at your husband in disbelief before crossing your arms.

“Worry about your oldest three, not them. I don’t mind.”

“Just let me do this, okay? I took them already and they’ve been on their best behavior since you left..” Jack pleaded with you and you finally agreed.

“Well of course, they’ll always be on their best behavior for their favorite parent. Anyway, where’s Nova?”

“PRESENT! Mommy, you’re back! Can you help me with my hair?” Nova asked you as she came into the kitchen and you immediately nodded.

“Of course, how did you want it?”

“Two French braids please.”

She sat down at the end of the table and handed you the comb in order to part her hair and you quickly braided it. Once finished, you handed her back the comb to put back upstairs in her room and looked over at the clock on the wall to see that everyone needed to leave in the next ten minutes in order to not be late.

Cash got down from the table first taking his bowl with him before going over to Jack so he could put it in the sink while Camden soon followed after he took his last bite.

"Come on, let's wash your hands so we can get in the car and leave." Jack told the two of them and they each moved their step stool in front of the sink to do so while Nova was putting the last of her things in her backpack and you were deciding on what you wanted to eat.

"Say bye to mommy so we can go."

Cash was the first one to hop up into your lap and you proceeded to kiss his cheek as he gave you a hug.

"Love you, mommy."

"Love you too, bubs."

Camden quickly followed suit and soon you were put into a bone crushing hug by Nova. You swore that she grew two inches in the two weeks that you had been gone.

Jack leaned down to kiss the top of your head and bring you into a hug after she had finally let go.

"I'm still mad at you." Was all you said to him and he sighed.

"Babe…."

"No. And I was serious about you using your hand for a month because you are not putting your hands anywhere near me."

"I… let me drop them off and we'll talk about it when I come back."

"There really isn't any to talk about because I made myself clear before I left how this was going to go. As for now I'm hungry and about to make myself food and then go back to sleep."

When Jack had gotten back, he found you in the kitchen making what looked to be brownies and he went to grab one as you quickly slapped his hand away.

"OW!"

"Don't touch that. They aren't for you."

"Baby, can you please tell me what I can do to fix this?" One thing that he hated was the two of you being at odds and he was really feeling it now because he was caught in the middle of what his triplets did.

"I'm just so over the situation that it doesn't even matter."

"Yes it does because my wife is walking around our house upset and all I want to do is make it better."

"You already know the answer so I shouldn't have to tell you. I am literally three seconds away from giving the triplets and you the silent treatment but I'm not going to. I should have stayed away longer."

"We need to make a decision and stick to it no matter what regarding them."

"I told you that you already knew the answer and if Autumn steps another toe out of line, hair out of place…."

"She's not going to. I'll make sure of it."

"If she doesn't like me now, she seriously is not going to like me then." You answered thinking of possible consequences in your head. You had absolutely no problem sending her away until she learned how to respect you as well as the rules that you had set into place.

"She does love you, just…"

"No. You always take up for her and I'm sick and tired of it. You have done that ever since she was little and I distinctly remember you thinking that it was going to be me who let her get away with everything, but look how the tables have turned. I don’t even recognize my once sweet little girl."

The two of you used to be partners in crime until she turned fifteen and then you had no idea what happened. Something had shifted and it wasn’t a good shift.

"Because she literally acts like you. I know you've noticed. She actually came to me and asked what she could do for you to accept her apology."

"But the disrespect towards me? I never did that to my mother or father because I knew better. And it seems like ever since they turned 16, they don't know how to fucking act but for her it started last year. But remember she's not apologizing if she doesn't mean it. I'm not taking care of anyone who is not grateful for all that I do towards them. I love them with everything in me and I do not take for granted the opportunity to be a mother, but they are seriously testing my patience." You answered while placing another batch in the oven.

"I agree that it was uncalled for and she should have never spoken to you like that."

"My patience is gone so…" You said while shrugging and Jack ran a hand through his curls.

"We'll get through this, babe."

"The only way we'll get through it is if we do this as a team."

“I know. So do you want to tell me why you slept in the guest room when you came back this morning?”

“Simple, I didn’t want to look at you.”

“BABY!”

“I’m just being honest. I needed a moment to myself and I really don’t get that anymore. You really made me feel as if what I say doesn’t hold any weight and doesn’t matter. I know you didn’t see it that way and apologized for it but still.”

“We have a surprise for you a little later this week and I think it will help ease some of the tension. But we’re all going to do better moving forward.”

“I’m not going to believe you until someone shows me.”

A few days later, it was Tuesday morning and Jack happened to be driving through Louisville in order to go to your favorite bakery to pick up the blueberry muffins that you like when he spotted Axel standing outside of Carmichael’s with a bunch of his friends and quickly turned around and pulled up outside of the store.

“AXEL WYATT HARLOW GET YOUR ASS IN THIS CAR NOW!”

Axel was startled at the sound of his father’s voice and he turned around to see him red in the face and fuming.

“Fuck.” He muttered under his breath and sighed before walking to the passenger side of the car and getting in.

Jack started driving and was silent for the entire time they rode to the bakery. Once he parked is when he finally turned to Axel.

“I’m convinced you want your mother to kill both of us.” Jack said while pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Dad…”

“I didn’t ask you to speak. So now we’re skipping school after me and your mother are paying that expensive ass tuition for all THREE of you to go there?”

“Please don’t tell her.”

“HOW CAN I NOT? SO I DROPPED YOU OFF AT SCHOOL THIS MORNING AND YOU DECIDED TO LEAVE AND WASTE MY MONEY IN THE PROCESS.”

“You have more than enough of it.” Axel muttered and Jack did a double take.

“Forget this gentle parenting. What the actual fuck is wrong with you? So you think money grows on trees now?”

“No…”

“Do you not know how hard me and your mother have worked for all six of you to live comfortably and not have a care in the world? I cannot believe that actually came out of your mouth. What happened to my little quiet innocent Axel who used to never talk back, never got an attitude, would always offer to help when you see that me, your mother, or siblings needed it? And you’ve been smoking because I smell it. So, once again you aren’t listening to the rules we’ve set in place.”

All Axel did was stay quiet.

“Being quiet now isn’t an answer. You had so much to say before so speak up. Since you want to step to me like you’re a grown ass man, stand on it. Obviously that means you can provide for yourself now, right?”

“I’m sorry.” Axel quietly said and Jack just shook his head at him.

“Yeah, I bet you are. Go in the bakery and get your mom’s favorite muffins. That will be your peace offering after you tell her what you did and I will be standing there the entire time so try and lie to her if you want.”

Axel took Jack’s credit card and did what he was told and actually came back with two containers of them knowing that one probably wasn’t going to be enough.

Once the two of them reached the house, it was around 12 PM and you were caught off guard as you saw Jack with Axel and he was holding two containers of muffins.

“Jack…” You started to say, but all he did was cross his arms to look at Axel.

“Tell her what you did.”

“Umm…”

“What is going on? Ax, are you okay? Are you hurt?” You asked now, becoming nervous and checking him out for bumps and bruises.

“5….4…3…” Jack began to say, but Axel immediately blurted it out.

“Skipped school and dad caught me in front of Carmichael’s and I was smoking. I got your favorite muffins as a peace offering.” Axel hesitantly said as he placed the muffins on the counter and all you were doing was looking at him.

Nothing was said for a few minutes as you were trying to regulate your breathing and this made both of them become nervous.

You calmly walked past both of them in the direction of the stairs and they were calling out to you in order to get your attention.

“MOM!”

“Babe!”

All you did was go up the steps and proceed to slam your bedroom door and lock it before either of them could get to you.

“Mom! I’m sorry! It won’t happen again, I promise!” Axel said while knocking on your bedroom door while Jack was simply behind him pacing back and forth.

You didn’t give him a response.

“Mom, I know you’re mad, pissed even but…..”

That was when he suddenly heard your voice.

“Axel Wyatt get away from my bedroom door NOW.”

Axel sighed in response before going into his own bedroom and once you heard his footsteps move away from the door, you opened it and was met with Jack who saw your eyes full of tears and you being red in the face from anger.

“Baby girl….”

“I don’t even know what to say anymore. I’m taking the golden girls for a walk.”

Once Ivy and Autumn were picked up by Jack and brought home, Autumn said she had a gift for you and for you to sit in the living room and she would bring it.

As Autumn handed you the box, you immediately knew it was a Birkin and for the first time in your life you weren’t impressed.

Opening it, you saw that it was a shade of baby blue outlining the black material and knew she did this and definitely asked Jack to buy it since this is one of the only colors that you didn’t have.

“Do you like it? I know you don’t have this one so I picked it out for you.” She quietly said and all you did was look at her before placing it back in the box.

“Am I supposed to be impressed by this because I’m not.” Was all you said and she started to look nervous while Ivy and Axel exchanged looks with each other.

“Well… I…. I figured that this was a part of my apology to you. Well all of us really.”

All you did was slide the box back towards her while Jack’s eyes went wide.

The fact that you didn’t even want the Birkin spoke volumes and then he knew that he as well as his three oldest children were in deep shit.

“Hmm, no thanks.”

“But… you love Birkins and have been obsessed with him since forever.” Axel offered and all you did was stare at him.

“Your point?”

“Mommy, we’re really sorry for how we acted. We know that you’re so hard on us because you care about us and only want the best for us.” Ivy finally spoke up, but you weren’t budging.

“Spend time with your favorite parent. I have a nail appointment and then I have to go and get Nova, Cash, and Camden. Oh, and don’t forget that Maggie wants all of you over for dinner later, but just you four are going.”

“Wait, babe. What? Why?” Jack asked and all you did was stare at him before responding.

“You know why. I have things to do so I need to get a move on.”

“But mom…” Axel started to say, but all you did was get up from the table and make your way to your bedroom in order to get dressed.

Once you had left, the triplets looked at their father who immediately sighed.

“I definitely thought the Birkin would work.” Axel said and all of them agreed.

“So, what now?” Ivy asked and for the first time Jack didn’t have an answer.

“This usually always worked so now I don’t have any idea what to do. I swear the three of you better not pull any more shit because she’s going to become unhinged and none of you have truly seen your mother when she’s pissed off.”

Later that evening, once everyone had settled at the dinner table at Maggie and Brian’s house, she was confused on why you as well as her other grandchildren were missing and thought that you would have shown up by now.

“Where’s Y/N and my other babies?” The table was quiet and the triplets didn’t dare make eye contact with her. Jack started to speak, but was immediately cut off by Clay.

“Well, you didn’t hear it from me, but you’re three oldest grandchildren as in Ivy, Axel, and Autumn have been extremely disrespectful towards her and talking back as well as getting suspended for cursing teachers out, fighting, smoking, and also skipping school so she told Jack to deal with them until they can learn to respect her and respect the rules that they set in place for them. Did I get it all, you three?” Clay asked while turning to look at all three of them before looking back at his mother and the look on her face had her ready to body slam them.

“EXCUSE ME? YOU THREE ARE DOING WHAT?”

“Grammy…..”

“Autumn, do NOT. Brian hand me my phone to call Y/N on facetime. One thing I will not tolerate is you disrespecting your parents. Especially my daughter who gave birth to all three of you.”

“Oh, and Autumn also said that they were cut out and not pushed out to her face. Forgot Jack told me that.” Clay added while patting him on the back and all he did was sigh.

You answered on the second ring on facetime when you saw that it was Maggie.

“Hi mom! Are you okay? Why are you making that face?�� You asked and she sighed before answering you.

“Clay has told me that those oldest children of yours have been disrespectful towards both you and my oldest child and I had to call you to confirm.”

“Hmm that sounds about right, but your oldest child isn’t innocent either.”

“Oh shit.” Clay muttered while looking down at his plate.

“Oh, really? Tell me more.”

“I took Ivy and Axel’s phones away after they got suspended and told Ax he couldn’t play in his soccer game all for Jackman to turn around and do the complete opposite. They had the nerve to buy me a Birkin like that was going to be a peace offering for the way that they had been acting.”

“If it was me and Y/N…” Clay started to say, but Maggie cut him off.

“Clayborn, SHUT IT.”

Clay simply held up his hands in defense as Jack was simply being interested in his mashed potatoes.

“Where are you right now?”

“Me and the babies are at Vincezo’s having a date night. We got dressed up and everything. Until the four of them act like they have sense, they aren’t allowed to go with me anywhere and yes Jack is included in that. I’m sick and tired of how they’ve been acting and since I don’t want to deal with it, I’m not going to. Oh and Autumn did say Jack was her favorite parent and how people in prison get treated better than they do and she’s not going to apologize because she doesn’t mean it. So they can stay there with their favorite parent while me and the babies go to Six Flags this weekend. All I try to do is the absolute best for them, but if they don’t want me too, that’s fine. Cam, baby let me help you cut that. It’s too big and I don't want you to choke.”

“Okay, sweetheart. That’s all I needed to know. Just make sure the four of you stay safe while I deal with your triplets and my oldest child.”

“Love you mom! Have fun because I think it’ll fall on deaf ears. Tell dad I said hi!”

“Will do, love you too.”

Once Maggie hung up, the room was silent.

“Mom…” Jack started to say and she immediately held up her hand while Brian was scratching the back of his neck looking nervous.

“The three of you have some nerve. Some serious nerve to be acting like this when you all were literally born with a silver spoon in your mouths. I get that you’re teenagers and want a little bit more independence but how is that going to happen when you show your entire ass and show that none of you can conduct yourselves? Autumn, you are the exact replica of your mother, but she never acted as horribly as you are. Yes, she fought, but the fact that you are also having secret boyfriends and going behind your parents backs? And Ivy, I assume you’re the one who cussed out your teacher. When were you taught to do that? And Axel, the quietest of my grandchildren is now smoking and trying to go through the rest of his life without a lung and skipping school and getting caught by your father. And how dare you say that you were cut out. So that makes it easier? Having to visit the three of you in the NICU everyday made it easier? Having postpartum depression from having the three of you made it easier? Putting her career on hold for the three of you so she could be a full time mother made it easier? At one point, we didn’t even know if Axel would still be here! And the fact that you opened your mouth to say it to her face.”

“Um, grandma, Autumn said it, not us.” Axel quietly said, but all she did was glare at him.

“Do you honestly think I care who said what at this point? That doesn’t take away how disrespectful you three were.”

No one spoke for a few minutes as Maggie began massaging her temples.

“You three don’t even know the half of what your mother has gone through to have you as well as keep you. So many times I thought that she would break, but never did and I’m proud to see how far she’s come from that shy little fourteen year old to a grown woman and I will be damned if her own offspring are disrespectful towards her. All three of you be quiet and eat your food and after this conversation tonight, if any of you do the slightest thing that is out of line of what their rules are, I will come and get you and you will be enrolled in Grandma’s boot camp for the rest of the year and you will not like it. Do not try me. And none of you are getting birthday and Christmas gifts this year so don’t bother asking.”

“Yes ma’am.” All three of them said as they continued to eat. Ivy didn’t really have an appetite, but knew that she should eat since you hadn’t been cooking lately and would probably have to eat a frozen burrito.

“Jackman, living room. NOW.”

The two of them were now sitting next to each other and Maggie had her arms crossed while staring at him.

“Mom, I know.”

“Then why did you do that?! The two of you have to be on the same page because they are going to think that they can get away with anything and that’s not the case!”

“It was only the first time for them. Not like Autumn who has been suspended multiple times.”

“There is no reason for them to get a shorter punishment just because it was their first time. You’ve become so lenient with them and Y/N isn’t and I thought when they were born that it would be the opposite. You are not their friend, you are their PARENT. You two need to get on the same page and also text Y/N to bring me and Brian a slice of cheesecake. All four of you have stressed me the hell out tonight and when I call Y/N for an update, this better not happen again.”

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#jack harlow #jack harlow fic #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow x black reader #jack harlow concepts #jack harlow fanfic #jack harlow imagines #jack harlow fanfiction #first babies of pg #jackman thomas #jackman thomas harlow

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whxre-bxby · 1 year

Text

“Colonel’s Orders” Version 2.0

(smut with Ja/Alexander and Prager) continuation and a different version of the first chapter.

WARNINGS: SMUT, FLUFF, predator-prey, hunting, bad language

Click here for Masterlist

"Colonel's Orders" 1 (Mansk, Lyle, Quaritch)

Word count: 9332

(Re-pasted first part of story)

I was in the break room, getting a drink from the fridge when Lopez walked past, greeting me.

“Outside in 10. We have training.” he says, about to leave.

“What? But we finished for today.” I reply and he turns back.

“Colonel’s orders. Outside in 10, dressed appropriately for training.” he repeated before walking away. I just stare into nothingness for a while, wondering why we suddenly have to gather again when we just ended less than 2 hours ago. It’s not like I could do anything about it so I put the cold drink back and went to my room to go get dressed in Cammie pants and a tank top.

While leaving my room and walking down the hallway, I met Zdinarsk. She smiled, nodding to me.

“Do you know what this is about?” I ask and she shakes her head no, shrugging.

“Maybe the Colonel has some announcement.”

“Why outside though?” I say, asking myself more than her. She scoffs, wearing the same things I’m wearing and we walk out onto the large concrete jet runway. The sun is beaming down strongly and the warmth of Pandora hits our skin.

Quite a bit away, we see most of the recom-team already gathered. The Colonel, Lyle, Mansk, Prager, Lopez, and Fike are outside, all standing around each other, talking.

Walker is busy with testing tools in the lab along with, Brown, Warren, Zhang, and Alexander.

We walk next to each other and I squint, having to look at the ground because the sun was too bright. The wind caressed my face and made my hair flow. It made my hair flow… I forgot to tie it up. Oh no.

Quaritch got angry about that once, I hoped he wouldn’t mind me running back before we started.

“Finally, the ladies have decided to show up.” Quaritch loudly announces, grinning while his hands rest on his vest.

I tilt my head confused.

“Are we late?” I ask Z-Dog confused, who is already checking her watch. She shakes her head.

“We’re two minutes early.” she replies in a sassy tone but still keeping it respectful with our superior.

“Could have been another two minutes earlier.” he says, before fully turning around to face us. We choose wisely to not reply or fire any comment back. It could cause problems. He seems to be pleased with our silence.

“Y/N, hope that ponytail ain’t too tight.” Lyle chuckles, noticing my open hair. I glare at him, fully aware of my mistake. I almost always have to have my hair tied back, so it's rare anyone sees me like this.

I glance at Quaritch who is looking at my hair.

“I can run back and get it, sir.” I say, taking a step back to be ready to go.

“That won’t be necessary.” He calmly states, looking from my hair to my eyes, before speaking to the group.

“You won’t be needing it now. In fact, I think I prefer it like that.” he smirks, and I hear a few chuckles from the men. Z-Dog is just as confused as me.

“Alright squad, today’s… second session will be a bit different from what we did this mornin’. “ the Colonel starts announcing and everyone quiets down. I quickly scan the team, and notice Lyle grinning to himself. As if he knew about something. Maybe this was some sort of surprise.

“I discussed this matter with, Corporal Wainfleet here. We decided that this team needs less training as humans and more training as Na’vi. “ he continues. So Lyle does know what’s going on. I glance between him and the Colonel, wondering what they had planned. Maybe we would finally get to train our banshees today.

Lyle looks up at me and Z-Dog with a shit-eating grin on his face. I exchange judgemental looks with her. We wanted to know why we were dragged out here.

“If we want to find Sully, we need to be able to hunt Na’vi. I mean hunt like them and hunt them.” he says, his eyes roaming over all his soldiers, to make sure we understand and are listening.

“Which is exactly what we are going to do today.”

I raise my eyebrows. We were going to look for and hunt down Na’vi people? I didn’t know whether I was excited or terrified. Lyle is grinning again and looking at his buddies. They don’t seem to know all he knows and he signals to them that they’ll know in a second. Mansk is nodding along to what Quaritch says, staying serious while Lyle is acting like a teenager about to do something stupid. Maybe that is an exaggeration. He is standing still, keeping quiet and listening, but his grin is irritating me.

It doesn’t seem like a good sign.

“We’re just gonna go into the jungle and find some more blue freaks?” Fike asks, and Quaritch is now grinning too.

“Not exactly.” Lyle intervenes. “We’re going to practise that here, between us. We’re the only Na’vi for miles.”

“How?” I blurt out. To be fair, it what his fault for not saying all the information at once.

“Glad you asked, buttercup.” he smiles, turning to me. I frown at the nickname, straining my ears back. He does that often, to embarrass me in front of others I think, but it’s getting old.

“We’re gonna need two people to be the so-called prey.” he explains, while walking towards me. “The rest of the team will hunt them. As simple as that.”

“Who’s gonna be the prey? I don’t think anyone wants to volunteer for that one.” Prager announces after a minute and Lyle chuckles.

“We’ve already got our prey.” Lyle says, returning his gaze to me and looking me deep in the eyes.

Finally, I catch on to what he’s saying. I’m about to fire some comments back when Lyle is pulled away by Quaritch.

“Prey, my ass.” I snap at him, not angry just pissed off.

I glance between them and I hear Zdinrask huff beside me in disbelief.

“No fucking way.” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

Mansk and the others understand now too. I hear a few chuckles from them, while I just stare at Lyle and Miles in disbelief.

“We’re not doing that.” I say, backing up Z-Dog.

“That’s an order.” Quaritch says, smirking amusedly.

“Why us? Why can’t one of them go?” I complain.

“That’s an order.” he repeats himself, underlining every word. I frown, letting my ears droop as my tail flicks behind me in irritation.

My silence is an answer to him and he returns to explaining.

“Now, our lovely ladies will get a five-minute head start. Then-”

“Five?!” I accidentally interrupt and he looks at me annoyed.

“I can make that three.” he threatens and I look down, not saying a word again. He turns back.

“Using the stronger senses we have in our bodies, it shouldn’t be too hard.” the Colonel continues to explain. The recom-men exchange glances and smirks, some nodding while others nudge each other’s arms. They seem happy.

Z-Dog and I exchange the hundredth glance for today, not seeming to believe what is happening.

“Pfft… stronger senses.” I mutter under my breath. I’ll make sure they won’t find me.

“That’s right Y/N,” the Colonel said. How did he even hear that?

“Some scientists told me that Na’vi get cycles. So-called ‘heat cycles’...”

My eyes widen. I just keep hearing more and more bad news.

“And apparently we are approaching our one soon…” Quaritch continues. Wainfleet is still grinning like the bitch he is.

Everyone is surprised and listening.

“Durin’ these times, it’s easier for us…” he points at the recom-men who are all gathered together, “to be able to pick up your pretty scent.” he turns to Z-Dog and me, smirking. Zdinarsk is very clearly not impressed, yet she seems almost unfazed by his words.

On the other hand, I am mindblown and I don’t know whether I’m pissed at Lyle, Miles or the scientists who summoned me into this body. I still can’t decide whether this experience is a curse or a blessing.

“To make it a tad easier for us, no shirts allowed.” Lyle added and Quaritch didn’t seem to disagree. That was it, that was my final straw. I couldn’t believe it. I snort, clutching my face in my palms while Z-Dog just chews her gum and watches my reaction.

“This is bullshit.” I say, letting my hands slide from my face. The entire team’s attention is focused on me and I don’t know how to feel about it.

Quaritch raises his eyebrow at me as if challenging me to continue my petty behaviour. I fall in line under his gaze.

Z-Dog sighs beside me before peeling her tank top off. I sigh as well. If she’s doing it, I must too. I turn away a little, facing the open runway and pull my tank top over my head, leaving me in a sports bra and cammies, like Z.

I turn around, arms crossed in front of my chest, holding the shirt. The team was oddly silent.

It wasn’t the first time we’d been in a sports bra in front of them. During the hot days or really intense training lessons, we would just wear them while the others didn’t even wear a shirt. But it still seemed different because this time it had a different meaning. But training is training, what can one do?

“Drink before you go.” Quaritch ordered, his own arms crossed over his chest, seeming pleased that we followed orders without complaining too much anymore.

After all, he was our superior, and responsible for us, so making us drink was not uncommon.

Lyle handed us each a water bottle, from which we took a few gulps. Some water trickled down the side of my mouth and on my chest but I didn’t care. It was too warm to mind that.

I handed it back to him, sending him a glare just to let him know that I was pissed.

“Alright, you’re ready.” Quaritch said, but I wasn’t finished just yet.

“What if I just don’t run?” I ask, more out of curiosity than sass.

He takes an intimidating step forward. “Then I’ll deal with you right here, in front of everyone.” He stated firmly, staring me down. I looked away again, nodding a little before turning away and standing next to Z-Dog again who was already facing where we have to go.

I didn’t quite know what he meant by that, I could only assume. And I assumed that he would do something I would not want others to see.

“Alright, you see the entry in the fence there? That’s where the forest starts. You go through there and then wherever you want after that. We’ll find you.” Quaritch says, pointing to the gate with the opening, separating the forest from the concrete. I huff annoyed facing the direction we were supposed to run in after throwing my shirt at Lyle’s face. It wasn’t far until the fence. I wondered if I would encounter any native creatures, thinking that perhaps I should be armed but then again, none of them ever get close to here.

“Happy runnin’ ladies. Time starts…now.” Quaritch says and once he finishes Z-Dog is walking away already. I jog up to her and we walk more or less side by side for a while. Then we hear someone yell that if we don’t start running now they will shorten the time. I groan out in frustration, letting my head fall back before picking up my pace and running to the fence, close behind Zdinarsk.

Before we know it we reach the fence where we slow down and look around before walking into the forest.

“Is it smart to stick together?” she asks me and I think about it.

“Probably not. If we’re working as a team here, it makes sense for us to split. That way if they all find one of us, the other is still fine.” I reply, not quite knowing what to expect.

“Let’s kick their ass. I say we continue for an hour, then we return home.” she says and smiles to herself.

“Heh- imagine if we just ditch the mission while they are still out here.” I chuckle and she joins.

Silence.

“We’d get in so much tr-”

“Yeah, Colonel would kill us.” She agrees.

We walk in silence again, thinking about what he would be yelling. Then I check my watch.

“They’ll come after us in a minute. We should split now.” I say and she nods in agreement.

“Aight. See ya’.” we bump our fists together before I take a right turn and she goes left. The next time I look over my shoulder, I don’t see her anymore.

I look at the time again. They must have already left the base. Probably just arrived in the forest right now.

I push my way through leaves, my ears flicking around, picking up small noises. The forest felt very abandoned. There was almost no noise.

I went deeper. If they would really follow my scent, I couldn’t have it going in a straight line. I let my feet carry me faster again and I made occasional turns while making sure I was putting enough distance between the base and me. With the new body came a new and better sense of coordination. If I would continue wandering for the next few hours, I still wouldn’t get lost.

What feels like at least 2 hours have passed and my legs were getting a little tired. The sun was still up, it was only afternoon. I gave up on running. It seemed to me as though they had overestimated their capabilities and would not find me. Maybe I should start turning back?

I stop for a while, standing completely still, trying to pick up anything. Any noise, sight or smell. But there was nothing. While standing I became aware of an odd feeling in my groin.

I curse myself. The fucking heat cycle. It didn’t hit me, it slowly developed. I had felt something similar this morning, but it was growing now.

………………………………….……… (new part now)

I huff out in annoyance. This was usually the time I would be doing my self-care routine. I could have been running a bath right now, or reading a book in peace. But instead, I’m out in the godforsaken deadly forest, pretending to be prey.

I might even become actual prey to some pandorian creature because I wasn’t allowed to take any weapons with me. I’m all alone, in my pants and a sports bra.

That thought makes me roll my eyes again. Like taking my shirt off would actually help them find me.

Then I remembered the look on some soldiers' faces. Quaritch was normal, always managing to keep his professional stance. Lyle on the other hand didn’t even try hiding his shit-eating grin. The man was happy that he got to tell us what to do. Especially when it came to removing clothes.

Before turning away from Lyle, I had noticed Prager and Ja’s eyes lingering on me. It surprised me that they were looking at me and not Z-Dog. I always thought of her as being the hottie in our squad.

I shouldn’t read too deeply into it though. It was probably because she wears it more often. Zdinarsk happens to be more confident about herself. Confident as in not caring what she has on. Not confident like Lyle as in stripping at every opportunity he gets.

I look behind me and nothing is unusual. Time goes quickly and the next time I look at my watch, they have been ‘hunting’ for almost 45 minutes. I scoff. Soon I get to go back.

I’m getting tired too. My legs were already dead from this morning’s training and now this. I was going to need to go back soon otherwise I would get lost. Luckily the sun was still shining through the crowns of the leaves in the trees.

While walking I started noticing a weird warmth building up in my abdomen and soon it spread to between my legs. Usually, I would have said I was horny but this felt almost too intense for that. Still, I tried ignoring it. Hopefully, it would go away.

After another ten minutes, I started feeling tired and was no longer paying attention to my surroundings. That was a mistake because not far from me I heard a noise similar to someone reloading their gun.

I freeze and my ears perk up. My body stills and I hold my breath. Nothing happens.

Then, I hear it again. This time, it seems even closer. I turn around and notice my heartbeat pounding in my chest, neck and ears. It sounds mechanical and no doubt belongs to a soldier.

That’s all it takes for me to turn back around in the direction I was originally going in and take off. My tired legs no longer felt tired and my rational thoughts were muffled by the instinct to run and escape.

I sprint through the forest, occasionally looking behind me while pushing large leaves out of my way.

A fallen tree nears and I think nothing of it, planning to jump over it the way I leapt over the past 2 logs. However, between a branch, there was a long rope it stretched around. I in the heat of the moment didn’t see it. When I jumped, I didn’t jump high enough and my left ankle got caught.

The rope tangled and trapped my foot to the log. I screamed as I fell to the ground and tried getting up but the more I pulled against the rope the more it tightened.

I cried out and panicked, knowing damn well this wasn’t some native creature's trap. My hands were clawing at the rope trying to undo it or push it down but it was wrapped too tight already and I was stuck.

My ears tipped back and my tail stilled as I tried not to make any more noise. Maybe they wouldn’t know I’ve been caught.

Then, I froze. Examining the knots on the trap I realised who must have done it. One specific recom soldier had once shown me how to set up traps and one looked just like this.

Before I can come to a conclusion, I hear leaves rustling behind me and then someone chuckles. I whip my upper body around and meet Ja’s eyes. Fuck. I scramble to my feet and try to run, hoping it would tear, but the rope tightens even more and I’m back on the ground. I turn around, leaning on my elbows as I look up at Ja.

He’s just standing there, examining me. The man seems pleased.

“Come back, I got her.” he says while pressing the call on his throat.

“Noo.” I whine and complain, still trying to tug my ankle away from the rope. He watches me with amusement as I try to figure out his trap.

Seconds later, the leaves on the other side rustle and Prager emerges, almost instantly noticing me stretched out on the grass.

“Nice catch.” He grins at Ja and they high-five each other before turning to me. Prager must have purposefully made the noise that caused me to run. Damn, they had it planned out.

I have given up. I glare up at them and huff. The exaggerated exhale moves the hair in my face out of my way. My tail thuds against the ground, showing them my annoyance.

“That’s not fair. Colonel didn’t say you can use traps.” I complain and Ja’s smirk intensifies.

“He didn’t say we can’t use ‘em either.” he replied, walking over to me and removing the trap from the log, holding the rope attached to my foot in his hand.

“Are you not going to undo it? It’s starting to fuckin’ hurt.” I say, giving him attitude. I didn’t want to be caught. I wanted to return to base victorious.

Little did I know, that was never on the menu. Once Prager and Ja heard the rules of the ‘game’, they exchanged looks and made up their minds. They weren’t going home until they caught you. Only they could catch you and they had to find you first.

“How about you stop runnin’ your dirty mouth and ask me nicely.” Ja says, stopping his actions and looking at me. His words surprise me. He was usually polite and sweet. Can’t say it didn’t start stirring excitement in me though.

I raise an eyebrow while Prager chuckles. He can’t be serious.

“You better listen, princess. Or do you want the others to find you like this?” Prager adds and I glance up at him before returning my gaze to my slowly becoming strangled ankle. The rope is digging into my skin and it’s starting to really hurt.

And I really didn’t want the entire team to see me fall for such a small trap.

I sigh, accepting defeat again. “Can you please help me?” I ask nicely, adding an innocent tone to it and looking at Ja pleadingly. His ears perk up at my words and he just stares at me in silence for a few seconds before snapping out of it.

“Damn baby, you do that again and we’ll both be done for.” He chuckles, looking away quickly. I tilt my head to the side, pretending to wonder what he meant. I could think of one meaning and it worsened the heat between my legs.

He pulls out a pocket knife and starts to cut open the ropes. I notice how he fully concentrates on the blade as if he really doesn’t want to accidentally cut my skin.

Zdinarsk would slice through it once and not look again if she accidentally cut me. We were good friends, but minor wounds meant nothing to her. A scratch really wasn’t anything big anyway.

I decide to play with him. My leg has been still this entire time, so when I think the time is right I suddenly flinch.

Ja is startled and pulls the knife away looking up at me with wide eyes before checking for a wound. I lean back, fully laying on the ground and laughing.

“Cut it out.” he snarls, getting back to it. This time, he firmly holds my leg in place. “I could have hurt you.”

“So what?” I chuckle, looking back at him. He doesn’t answer me, instead, Ja just shoots me a glare.

I sigh, laying back down and throwing my hands over my face. Finally, I got to relax.

“Ugh, you guys I’m so tired. That took longer than expected.” I say, smiling to myself.

Prager scoffs. “We found you first. And you fell right into the trap.” he mocks me. I unfold my arms and glare up at him.

“Great, mission accomplished. Let’s go back.” I say but they don’t answer. I notice their tails acting up, showing forms of excitement. What had them feeling so happy?

Ja finally finishes opening the ropes and sees the red marks on my skin. I sit up, pulling my leg to me and rubbing the area. He’s putting his knife back into his holster and I suddenly realise I’m not being held down anymore. I know I won’t get far unless I’m really lucky. But there is still a chance of me making it back alone before they do. It’s not over yet.

The next second, I scramble to my feet and start running in the opposite direction.

Little did I know, Prager was eyeing me while Ja was busy. He was expecting that from me and he got it. I didn’t get far at all. After three long strides, I was tackled back to the ground. I yelped, falling into the grass again. Prager held me down and reached for my hands. He pulled them behind my back and held them there with one of his hands while his knee rested on my lower back, keeping me firmly pressed down.

“Dammit.” I mumble, lifting my head and looking back at Prager.

“Nice try, sweetheart. Unfortunately, we’re not gonna let that happen.” Prager spoke, looking up at Ja who was now holding the ropes. “Not with you lookin’ this good.” he joked and Ja smirked, exhaling through his nose.

I frown because they were confusing me. The team never paid as much attention to me as they did to Z-Dog or Walker. Why suddenly now?

“Yeah right. I’m covered in dirt.” I snarl, getting annoyed again.

Prager lets out a small ‘mhm’ while Ja comes around and kneels beside me. I start to struggle beneath Prager and manage to pull one arm from his grasp. I try to lift myself off the ground with my free hand but I can’t compete with the weight on my back.

Ja chuckles and I want to slap myself when I feel how his noise makes my stomach twist in excitement. This isn’t fair. My body is broken.

“If you keep strugglin’ we’re gonna have to tie you down.” Ja says, his voice seeming more positive than the threat of words he just let out.

I whine out in frustration, letting myself drop and rest on the ground. My ears are strained back and my tail is flicking in irritation, occasionally caressing Prager’s thigh.

Suddenly, to my relief, Prager stands up and I’m helped up by Ja. He’s holding my upper arm, just to make sure I don’t bolt again. I look down and see the dirt on my sports bra and some loose grass stuck to my skin. Prager stands next to me and then without hesitation, Ja starts brushing the dirt off. All of it. Meaning he started with my stomach before pushing some hair over my shoulder and swiping away the dirt on my sports bra with two quick movements.

I freeze and my body tenses when he does this. I watched his hand and flinched a little. The sensitivity of my nipples surprised me and I was scared they would see them through the fabric if I stood in front of them for too long.

Ja retreated his hand and looked up at me.

“That hurt?” Prager asks, probably wondering if I’m injured.

I swallow nervously, looking down and shaking my head no. They keep looking at me without saying a word and I feel my cheeks start to burn. I’m afraid they will notice my state.

“Let’s go back.” I mumble before stepping away from both of them and leading the way. Ja lets his hand fall from my arm. They were going to keep a close eye on me, but I didn’t have the strength to attempt to run away again.

Prager and Ja exchanged looks before following after me, holding their weapons ready because they knew I didn’t have one for protection.

Let’s just say, the walk didn’t last long at all.

After a few minutes, I felt the warm heat between my legs become an almost burning sensation. I noticed my skin became warm and my cheeks never stopped blushing. A sweat bead formed on my forehead which I swiped away. My breathing got heavier too and I had to concentrate on not breaking out in a pant. What the fuck was this? Nothing like this ever happened before. I knew it was because of my new body and I assumed this is what going into a type of heat felt like. But my cycle wasn’t meant to start yet. Maybe it was Ja and Prager’s presence that had me so worked up.

Eventually, I started to slow down and they overtook me. Both men lead the way now and I was thanking whoever was watching over us that they didn’t stop and check on me. My behaviour was embarrassing. We worked together. Why couldn’t I just stay professional like them? They were acting normal.

That my friends was a lie I didn’t know about. I looked up to see Prager and Ja walking with guns in their hands, looking around and making sure there is no danger. This is how they acted on a normal mission. What I hadn’t noticed due to my current desperate state was how their eyes would linger on me a little too long and how they had to fight off the need to touch and be close to me.

Being human made it easier for everyone to work with each other and never have to go through this. The human body was different to the Na’vi body, not just by looks but by nature and senses.

Since the Deja blue team woke up as recoms, needs started building up and they were much more difficult to deal with than regular horniness. It became almost painful.

I cursed myself and wished I could feel normal again. But it was too much. Usually, I could resist and fight off anything including headaches, period cramps, injuries like scratches etc. I could even hold back tears for as long as a few days. But this was a whole new level of intensity.

I stopped walking, bending over and leaning my arms on my knees. One of my arms wrapped itself around my waist for some sense of comfort while I closed my eyes, panting and concentrated on pushing this feeling away. My body felt like I had just been laying in the sun for a few hours and my knees felt weak.

I knew they would notice that I wasn’t behind them and they would see me like this, but with the way I was feeling now, I couldn’t care less. Sure, I would prefer to be alone to hide but I just needed to focus on feeling okay again.

After a few seconds, Ja didn’t hear your uneven, lazy footsteps anymore. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure you were still there but he noticed your figure much further away than anticipated. His body came to a halt and turned around to face you.

Prager saw Ja turning around from the corner of his eye and stopped, following his eyes to you.

They just watched you for a while, seeing the way your chest was heaving as if you had been running and the way you struggled to stand on one spot without tipping to one side. The way your tail flicked uncontrollably didn’t go unnoticed either.

I kept slowly falling over to one side, unable to keep still. I felt oddly dizzy.

Quickly, I glanced up, hoping both soldiers had gone past the leaves but no. Their eyes were already fixed on me.

I scoffed, in an attempt to suppress what was happening and took a few unbalanced steps back. I waved my arm in the air as if I were pushing myself away from them and looked back down, clutching my face in my hands.

I let my palms slide down my hot face and almost tumbled backwards again. Covering my eyes was not a good idea.

“What the fuck.” I whisper to myself, wanting to scream and oddly even cry? I didn’t understand anything.

Prager and Ja exchanged eye contact again, questioning their hypothesis. Prager had a smirk on his lips while Ja tried at least suppressing his grin by biting his lip. Ja let his head drop and he shook it still smiling, not believing this was happening to him and his friend.

Then he took a breath and started making his way over to you. Prager followed, neither of their eyes leaving you. They were analysing every single movement. That included the way your ears twitched in their direction when you picked up their footsteps.

I hear them approaching me and it makes me nervous. Suddenly, their presence intimidates me. Usually, I would joke around with them and often make fun of them. Now, I felt like they had the authority of someone even higher than fucking Quaritch.

“No.” I breathe out, the noise barely audible. I press the back of my hand against my mouth, to stop them from seeing my bared fangs. Somehow, my mouth started salivating intensely and my hot breath was condensing against the skin of my hand. I pull it away, turning away from them but they see the thin string of saliva snap, that connected my lips and hand.

“What’s wrong, babygirl?” Ja asks in a teasing manner. I can fucking hear the grin on his face with the way he says those words. I want to glare at him but I know it won’t work.

“I would roll my eyes so hard right now.” I mumble, refusing to face them.

They scoff behind me while I try to release the tension in my jaw by opening my mouth and biting down on my teeth.

I feel a hand creep up on my shoulder and I’m not sure who it belongs to but it really doesn’t matter. I slap it away before returning both hands to cover my face.

“How do you feel?” Prager asks. I consider answering his question because I can tell he isn’t holding back laughter like Ja was.

“Too much…” I mumble, groaning into my palms and letting my head drop back in frustration.

“Too much of what?” he continues to push it while I try to stumble away from them. As soon as I stretch my leg to take a step and start tilting forward, a hand from behind me tugs me right back by my pants. I look back, seeing the arm lead to Ja and he pulled me even closer than I was before. His finger held me by one of my belt loops and I huffed out a sigh.

“Of everything!” I whine, feeling my eyes become all glossy. “It fucking- hurts…” I add, letting my hands fall from my face again while focusing on taking deep, steady breaths.

Suddenly, someone grabs my shoulder and I’ve spun around swiftly. I almost lose balance but the hand steadies me. Prager has me facing both of them now and I see their ears perk in interest and their tails stop moving when they see how flushed I must look.

“Aww, look at how flustered she is.” Ja coos, moving towards me and cupping my cheek while running his thumb over my burning skin. My eyes flutter closed at the contact. I don’t even notice my reaction because I can’t think staright, but they sure do.

I feel a little ridiculed so I avert my gaze away from them and onto the forest floor. My hands are holding eachother, my knuckles almost going white and one of my feet is placed on top of the other.

“So pretty…” he mumbles, moving his hand so that his thumb is under my chin and he is pushing my head up again.

My eyes shoot to his, going wide and my ears focus forwards. I wasn’t used to being called that and by the way it made butterflies erupt in my stomach, I knew the aftermath of this won’t be good.

Prager chuckles. “I think she liked that.” he says. Once again, I feel small. They’re talking about me while I’m there as if I meant less than them. But for whatever fucked up reason, my body responded positively to the treatment.

“That right? You like being called that, baby?” Ja asks, standing fully in front of me now. I can’t respond, I just stare into his eyes. He’s pretty.

I press my lips together when he calls me baby and then my eyes flicker between him and Prager.

I feel the heat between my legs again and try to discreetly rub my thighs together but both of their eyes shoot down to see the desperate action.

“It hurts, huh?” Prager asks, then looking up and smiling at me.

“I can’t- deal…” I start saying with a whine which is about to break out into a sob. My voice cracks a little and I’m breathing even heavier.

“Shhh.” Ja coos softly again, pressing his thumb over my closed lips. “Do you want us to help you, pretty girl?” he then asks and my lips part while I exhale a shaky breath as a reaction to the name. Ja smirks, tilting his head to the side and admiring how I look.

“You can’t.” I whimper. “I don’t even know what’s happening I-”

I’m cut off when Ja takes a step even closer, his face just inches from mine.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, baby. We know how to help you.” he says, and this time he isn’t smiling. He isn’t angry or anything either. He’s genuine.

My hot breath fans against the side of his hand as I stare at them.

“That okay with you?” Ja asks, gazing deep into my eyes.

“You can trust us, angel. We promise to make you feel good.” Prager added. He was right, I could trust them. And feeling good sounded like the best thing in the world right now. Definitely compared to the dreadful frustration I was filled with.

You are a close friend of theirs, they care a lot about you. Well, we’ll see about friends after this. It was their priority to ensure that you were comfortable with this. Not just this, but comfortable with them. They needed to know that you trusted them enough and wanted them to be the ones to see you in such a vulnerable state.

Neither one of the soldiers was expecting you to say yes. If they had to be honest, you would only say yes in their wildest most unrealistic dreams.

Ja and Prager were awaiting an answer that would set their minds straight again and that would have them return to going back to base.

I swallow nervously, my tail wrapping around me as I consider their offer. Then I look at both of them and slowly nod my head in Ja’s hand.

“Okay.” I whisper, releasing another shaky breath. Prager had already looked back, expecting to turn around but once his ears captured my words, his attention was all mine.

Ja just stared at me, repeating the words in his head.

They looked at each other and grinned before their gaze returned to me.

“Let us take care of it, baby.” Ja said, before moving his hand to the back of my neck and pulling me to him while he took a step forward. I was pressed up against his chest, my skin tingling at the contact.

He pulled my face to him and I closed my eyes once his lips were softly pressed against mine.

The softness and gentleness were gone too quickly. He deepened the kiss, wrapping one arm around my waist and pressing his abdomen to mine. I gasped at his large hand holding my hip and he used the opportunity to press his tongue past the boundary of my lips. I accepted, feeling only needier for his touch the more he gave to me.

Finally, he pulled away and I gasped for air. Prager had removed his vest and weapons already, standing upright again in just his tank top and cammies. And his headband of course.

His muscles flexed and shone in the golden sun of the late afternoon and I just stared at his torso. He saw my eyes checking him out and smiled.

Ja was quickly removing his accessories and peeled his tank top off as well. I watch him and then notice Prager does the same.

I realised I was standing and watching like an idiot. The feeling of burning skin returned and suddenly, everything I had on felt like it was too much.

All three of us were quickly stripping until we were only in underwear. I struggled with my belt but finally managed to push my pants down and kick my shoes off. When I looked up, they were both staring.

“Fuck, baby. You look gorgeous.” Ja almost whimpers, kicking his cammies to the side.

“Angel from fuckin’ heaven.” Prager adds, taking me by the hand and pulling me flush against his chest. I yelp a little but almost instantly being silenced when he has his turn kissing. He’s a little more impatient than Ja and holds me to him tighter. I kiss him back, mirroring his frustration and twirling my hands around his neck and in his bandana.

I felt him smile into the kiss. The bandana was something I would always tease him about and here I was, twirling it around my fingers while kissing him.

I felt another hot body press up against me, from behind this time. I knew it was Ja and I relaxed a little. As much as I could relax with the tension I felt.

Both his arms hugged my waist and I felt him press his hard-on against my ass. I feel his hot breath fan over my craned-up neck as I try and reach Prager’s lips without having to stand on my toes.

His hot, wet lips come in contact with the skin on my neck and kiss it softly before nipping at it.

I let out a soft moan which is muffled by Prager but he felt it and it drives him wild.

Ja presses his face into the crook of my neck and inhales deeply, sighing and relaxing against me.

“You smell so good.” he mumbles into me.

Prager pulls away, gently caressing my cheek before leaning down and doing the same. I freeze as both men bury their faces in each side of my neck.

Ja groans and Prager curses beneath his breath.

“I can’t wait much longer.” Prager mumbles, his face still leaning against my skin. I assume his words are directed at Ja.

The other soldier nods, pulling away.

“You still okay with this?” Ja asks me, patiently waiting for my answer as I turn around and nod.

“Yes.” I breathe out. My glossy eyes and flustered state confirm my words and he doesn’t have to ask again.

He smiles, giving me a small nod. He pulls me to him, pecking my cheek before his hands wander along my body. Prager stands behind me now, and I feel him fumble with the material of my sports bra.

It needs to go, I feel to warm. I feel his fingers slip underneath it and I raise my arms. He gently pulls it over my head, making sure not to nudge my face in the process. When I lower my arms I could swear that Ja’s pupils just doubled in size.

His lips were slightly parted and he stared at my bare chest.

“Look at how pretty you are.” Prager praised me, peering down at my breasts from over my shoulder. I smile to myself, blushing. One can’t see the blush from how rosy my cheeks have been this entire time.

This new amount of attention has me feeling fuzzy and I try to cover myself a little, feeling shy which was completely unlike me.

Ja’s eyes snap up from my chest to my face.

“Don’t hide, baby, you’re so beautiful. C’mon. Let’s see ‘em.” Ja encourages me, gently nudging my hands down, still giving me the option to resist. I let them fall to my sides and he smiles.

“See. You’re too pretty to hide.”

His hands caress my chest before he starts groping my breasts. I arch my back into his touch when he plays with my nipples and bite my lip. It’s so sensitive that it feels so much better than when I do it.

Prager is grinding himself into my ass, groaning lowly while watching the action on my body.

His fingers than curl around the waistband of my panties and when I don’t protest, he pulls them down, letting them drop down my legs. I step out of them and kick them to the side.

“Holy fuck…” Ja groans out, seeing how shiny my wetness made my pussy.

“Please…” I whine, begging them to touch me. My words dress Ja’s face in a proud smirk while Prager has a shit-eating grin on his face.

Then, their characters seem to switch.

“What do you want, baby?” Ja asks me, knowing the answer.

“You know what I mean, Alex.” I reply, purposefully not calling him Ja, just to get him a little irritated.

“Come on, don’t tease.” Prager says, but Ja shrugs it off.

“I just want to hear the words come out of your pretty mouth. Then, we’ll give you what you want.”

“You need it just as much as me.” I state, not wanting to seem like the only desperate bitch here. I glance down at his piercing erection and his ears flatten in slight defeat.

“Just say it.” Ja growls and I smirk.

“I want you both to fuck me until I feel better.” I reply and Ja is happy again.

“That’s fuckin’ right.” he snarls, kissing my neck and slapping my thigh before turning me around.

Ja presses his clothed erection against my bare heat and pushes my upper body forward, while we’re standing. I lean down, obeying and Prager holds me.

Behind me, Ja gently taps the insides of my ankles, nudging my legs further apart.

I raise my tail, arching my back and presenting my pussy on full display. An audible groan is heard behind me before I feel his fingers glide through my folds.

I grip Prager’s arm to keep me grounded as Ja covers the tips of his fingers in my slick and shows it to Prager.

“Good thing we got her first.” he said and Prager agreed. Then Ja removed his underwear and glided the head of his dick between my folds.

I shiver in anticipation, biting down on my lip as I glance over my shoulder.

Slowly, Ja starts entering me, pushing past my lips and all the way in until he bottoms out.

“Oh- fuck.” I curse, not expecting everything to be so sensitive and reactive.

He stills behind me, relishing in the moment. He hasn’t felt so good in a long time and the way you were squeezing him had him over the moon.

After a few moments, he started to pull out and when he thrust back in I cried out, feeling overly sensitive inside.

I clutched onto Prager, who had one hand under my arm and one resting on my head while I leaned my face into his middle. His touch was comforting.

Soon enough, Ja couldn’t hold back. He started thrusting at a specific pace with long, aimed strokes.

“God damn, babygirl. Ya feel so good.” he moaned, clenching his teeth together and occasionally letting his head fall back. Ja had his ears tipped back and fangs bared while gritting his teeth. The building-up tension needed to be released.

I became a whimpering mess, the oversensitivity making me feel close already.

“You’re doing so well, angel.” Prager praised me and I quieted down.

“Take it.” Ja growled and soon, I started pressing my hips against his with rhythm. Both of Ja’s hands were now digging into the skin of my hips as he fucked himself into me.

“I’m gonna- shit I’m gonna cum.” I moan, crying out when he almost knocks the air out of me with an extra harsh thrust.

“Go ahead.” Ja answers, sounding breathless. His thighs slapped against the back of mine as he started to relentlessly rut into me from behind.

Prager adjusted his stance so he was able to stably support me while I was being tugged back and forth by his friend.

My legs started to shake and with a few more thrusts, I came around Ja’s dick. I moaned incoherent words into Prager’s abs, my nails dug into his arms and waist while my back arched back into Ja, making my pussy more accessible to him.

He rode out my high and soon after me, Ja was cumming. He delivered a harsh slap to my ass and I flinched. Then his hips stilled with his cock as deep inside me as possible and I felt him release into me. The warmth filled my tummy and I was gasping for air.

Ja had his hands leaning on my back while he regained his composure. Breathlessly, he pulled his slowly softening dick out and watched as my overflowed pussy started leaking his cum down my thighs.

“Well ain’t that a pretty sight.” he mumbled, swiping his hand over his forehead.

Prager gently let go of my head and I stood up straight while holding onto him. I felt his cum dribble out of me. Both Prager and I looked between my legs while Ja was smirking, seeming very proud of his work.

I turn around to Ja while Prager bends me over to examine me from behind.

“Fuckin’ hell. You’re right.” he agreed with Ja’s previous comment. His fingertips slid through the slick and he groped my ass.

Ja came up to the front of me and gently wrapped his hand around my braid.

“You clean me up and I promise to make it up to you on another day.” he said and my eyes widened. I accepted, leaning down while holding on to his hips and licking him clean. I was gentle, knowing he was just as sensitive as I was now.

When I licked his tip he flinched a little and I grinned up at him.

“God I can’t get enough of you.” he returned the grin, looking down at me and seeing I licked him clean. “Such a good girl.”

Prager pulled my waist up and I stood straight again. He grabbed my hand and guided me down on the ground with him. I happily agreed because my wobbly knees were no longer trustworthy.

I noticed his underwear was already gone and licked my lips, smiling devilishly at him when I saw how hard he was.

“Come on baby, I need this just as much as you did.” he says, almost pleading so that I don’t leave him like that.

“I’m not done yet.” I whisper and his eyes widen. I straddle his waist and his hands immediately rest on my hips.

Letting myself sink down a little, I grind my hips down against his, covering his throbbing cock in Ja’s and my cum.

He shivers, his grip on my hips tightening and a moan escapes his throat.

I smirk, feeling a little more confident now.

To help the poor soldier out, I reach down in between our bodies and line him up with my entrance. He lets out a shaky breath before I steadily start to sink down on him.

Prager’s eyes close and his mouth hangs open a little. He mutters another curse under his breath as I press our foreheads together.

I feel like I’m a little more in control of my body again, so I set the pace, rolling my hips back and forth on him.

He bites his lip, opening his eyes to see my movements.

“Feel good?” I ask and he looks up at me, almost desperately.

“Fuck yeah.” he breathes out heavily and I smirk. One of his hands comes up to massage my breasts while the other steadily supports my movements on my hip.

I speed up a little, holding on to his broad shoulders and running my palms along his strong back. Prager is in bliss, his eyes half-lidded and ears drooped. I glance up at Ja, grinning while he is watching and he returns my gaze with a smirk. He was getting dressed but got seemingly distracted.

It feels good and I start to feel a pressure in my lower stomach build-up, but for it to ever be released I need to change it up.

I pause and move up so that Prager’s dick just barely stays inside me. He looks up, seeming worried I would stop. I chuckle at his reaction, giving him a reassuring kiss as I place my feet on either side of his hips and lower myself down again.

Prager whimpers, his head lolling back while I clutch onto his shoulders again.

I look between us and notice a small bulge in my stomach every time I sink down. I take one of his hands and place it on my abdomen.

He follows my hands with his gaze.

“Do you feel how deep you are inside me?” I ask and he nods, seeming unable to form a proper answer.

“Shit, feels so good.” he groans, starting to push my hips down with force.

Soon enough, my legs got tired but that didn’t stop shit from happening. Prager took over, lifting my waist and pounding it back down on him with his hands as if I weighed nothing. I watched his muscles flex and I arched my back, letting him use me to his liking.

He became more sloppy and uneven with his movements and I could tell he was close when his dick twitched.

“Y/N, I’m close…” he breathed out and I nodded, closing my eyes.

“Me too.” I whisper, trying to breathe while being fucked mercilessly by his hands and dick. “Just keep going.” I encourage him and he nods, a few beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

With the next few thrusts, I’m surprised I’m cumming again just through penetration. Maybe the Na’vi body really was something else, perhaps even better than the human body.

This time, my legs were a trembling mess, my eyes rolled to the back of my head and my nails dug into Prager’s back. He continued fucking me and then came aswell. He tried to ride out his orgasm but soon stiled like Ja, to ensure he could fill me up with enough of his cum. Prager bit down on my neck, not too harshly but enough to make my eyes open widely.

Another bonus of the Na’vi body. No protected sex. I couldn’t get pregnant as long as we didn’t form tsaheylu so it was great.

My pussy throbbed and I was completely fucked out. My legs gave out and I fell forwards on my knees, my chest pressing against Prager’s bare chest. I wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder and he did the same as we regained our breath.

“Well ain’t that sweet.” I heard Ja tease from my right. I look up at him, sending him a playful glare which made him laugh.

Prager wrapped his hands around my waist, genuinely holding me to him for a while until he felt my heartbeat calm down.

“You’re amazing.” he whispers and I giggle, kissing his cheek before slowly getting off of his lap. Ja helps me to my feet while Prager stands up and gets dressed.

“Where’s my underwear?” I ask, looking around when Ja only hands me my cammies. When I look back up at him, he’s grinning. That answers my question. I look down and see it hanging from his pocket. He pulls it out and cleans my thighs with it before tucking it back into his pants.

“Really?” I ask and he nods.

“Yeah, I’ll give ‘em back in a week in exchange for some new ones.” he smirks and I chuckle.

I’m helped back into my clothes by Ja who is preventing me from tipping over to one side again and once Prager is done he helps me put my sports bra on again.

“Thanks.” I say to them and they smile.

“Anythin’ for you, angel.” Ja grins, picking up his weapons and throwing some over to Prager. Once they are geared up we start to return back to base. The sun was starting to set.

Both men walk on either side of me, supporting me when I needed it. It was really sweet actually. I was significantly less angry at Quaritch for making us do this exercise.

Tag list:

@drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed

@lovekeeho

(there will be no version 3 or anything else to this specific fic. I'm gonna write part 2 for "this is what you came for soon".)

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megantheestallion-ismypresident · 10 months

Text

She Part 2.

Ethan landry x Black! Bimbo reader

"You're gonna be a slut for me." Ethan whispered in Y/n's ear as he kisses up on Y/n's neck proably leaving her hickeys that are noticeable, Y/n moans and gasps as she wraps her hands around the back of Ethan's neck.

Y/n didn't say anything as she feels Ethan's clothed boner throbbing.

"How about we take this to my bedroom, to release the tension in your pants, buttercup." Y/n said seductively as she straddles on Ethan.

Ethan looks at her in awe, he finally gets to sleep with the girl of his dreams.

Y/n gets off of Ethan as she grabs his hands leading him to the hallway of her room.

As they made it inside of Y/n's room Ethan pushes her on the bed making Y/n giggle.

"How long have you been stalking me?" Y/n questions Ethan.

" For a very long time, I couldn't get enough of you." Ethan said as he takes off his black robe from his Ghostface costume.

Ethan tries to widen Y/n's legs but she strongly closes them teasing him.

" God, your such a tease." Ethan chuckles.

Ethan opened Y/n's legs as he comes closer in between her legs as he kisses her clit.

Y/n moans as she tugs on his curly hair, moaning as she tugs on her bed sheets.

" God, Ethan your so fucking good at this!" Y/n shouts as she praises Ethan.

Ethan eats Y/n like a starved man, Y/n was about to cum but Ethan stops, making Y/n look at him confusingly.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Y/n crawls to Ethan and tames off his blue collar shirt, and starts kissing him from his neck to his chest to his abs.

Y/n starts sitting on the edge of the bed as Ethan stand as he looks down watching Y/n unbundled his pants. Ethan groans as his pants fall down to his ankles.

"Your such a sweet little dumb thing, aren't you?" Ethan gently grabs Y/n chin making her look at him.

"You don't know how long I've waited for this, you've been on my mind for the longest, your cute slutty outfits, I even had to kill you douche of a boyfriend out of the picture." Ethan said.

"Wait, you killed my boyfriend, that was you?" Y/n said looking at Ethan fearfully.

"Shhh, princess, he wasn't good for you, and you know it. I'm the only one that can have you." Ethan says as he smiles psychotically.

Y/n was going to say something, But Ethan shoves his dick in y/n's mouth.

Y/n starts bobbling her head up and down as Ethan grabs her hair to go deeper. Ethan starts grunting as he says sweet things to Y/n.

"God, Y/n where did you learn to that with your mouth?" Ethan whispers as he said in pleasure.

"A Magician never tells her secrets, Mr. Ghostface." Y/n said.

Ethan cums in Y/n's mouth, making her look up at him as she swallow his cum.

Y/n drags Ethan to bed as she climbs up on top of him straddling him.

Y/n wanted to hate Ethan, he stalked her, killed her boyfriend, but there's another part of her that forgives him. And didn't care about the bad things he has done to people. She just wanted him and only him but there's a part of her that fells guilty that she's fucking Ghostface who is her roommate.

Ethan inserts himself in Y/n, Y/n makes the loudest moan as she feels Ethan's dick inside of her.

"God, baby your so big." Y/n shouts as she rides Ethan's dick as she's on top of his resting her hands on his chest for leverage. Ethan smacks Y/n's ass, as he hold onto her hips.

"Did your boyfriend ever fuck you like this, slut?" Ethan questions Y/n but Y/n didn't answer as she closed her eyes loving the pleasure.

"Answer me, Slut." Ethan demanded as she slaps Y/n's ass hard making her Yell out in pain and pleasure.

"No." Y/N said through her moans as much as Y/n didn't wanted to say that about her dead boyfriend, he didn't pleasure her that much she had to fake her moans just to make him think he was good at sex but he wasn't. Y/n may not be smart at school but she was smart at sex and one thing she could say was her boyfriend was not good at it, but that didn't mean he deserved to die by the hands of Ethan Landry.

Ethan comes closer to Y/n tits kissing her breast he rubs her nipples making y/n moan.

"Your so fucking perfect." Ethan whispers in y/n's ear kissing her neck down to her tits.

Y/n starts bouncing on Ethan's dick making the bed shake, Y/n moans and Ethan starts softly moaning as he holds onto y/n's hips.

Y/n cums as she and Ethan heavily starts panting she got off of Ethan as she lays on the other side of her bed.

"That was amazing." Ethan pants through his words looking at Y/n.

"That was fucking amazing, Ethan." Y/n looks back at Ethan as she kisses him on the lips.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone about me being Ghostface." Ethan said looking at y/n deeply in her eyes.

"Your secret is safe with me." Y/n holding out her pinky as Ethan wraps his pinky around Y/n's.

"I promise you I would never hurt you." Ethan told y/n, Y/n didn't know if she believed him but by the look on his face he genuinely meant every word he say, Y/n believed him even though he stalked her and is a killer.

"Yeah, I believe you." Y/n nods hear head as she looks at Ethan, Ethan passionately kisses y/n cupping her face.

Ethan finally has Y/n all to himself he will never let her go, Ethan knew it was easy and he has Y/n wrapped about his pinky finger, Ethan meant what he said he truly love and will never kill Y/n. But he never said he won't kill any of Y/n's friends

All he had to do was pretend he was shy, dorky guy from his Dad's plan to get revenge on Sam and the rest of them for killing Richie.

Ethan's plan was working once he kills the group he will take Y/n far away to have her for himself.

What can Ethan say he was a Romantic in his own special, crazy, psychotic way.

SHE belonged to him and only him.

(Here is part 2 of She. It seems short idk if I like it, tell me what you guys think.)

#Ethan landry #Scream 6 #ethan landry x black!reader #Ethan landry x fem reader #Ethan landry x bimbo reader #Spotify #Black!fem reader #Ethan landry x reader

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ssaeri · 1 year

Text

the taste of home

☆ tags: harvey & gn!reader, harvey tells everyone to eat home-cooked meals because they're better for you (dialogue line), you find out that he mostly eats microwave meals, gift-giving is this farmer's love language, can be read ROMANTICALLY ☆

Maru startles when you enter the clinic, her galaxy-themed pen pausing over a stack of paperwork. Once she realizes that it's just you, her shoulders drop, a half-smile blossoming on her lips.

"Scared me," she says with a huff of a laugh. She closes the manila folder and tucks it away, the motion smooth with practiced efficiency. "I thought I forgot about an appointment or something."

"That's nonsense, Mar. Nothing could ever get past you. I swear you eat organizational tabs for breakfast," you say, waving off her concern. Leaning over the counter, you drop your chin into a palm. "Is the doctor in?"

Her amused expression turns into an eye roll, and she jabs a thumb over her shoulder. "In the private examination room, I think, but make sure you knock first. Last I saw, he was cleaning out the cabinet, and I really don't want to help clean up another jump scare."

"I do it because it's fun to tease him, not to make your job harder," you insist. Opening up your bag, you rummage around for a few seconds before pulling out a glass jar. "But just as an apology for what happened last week, I brought you this. My best strawberry preserves for the best nurse in Pelican Town."

"I'm the only nurse in Pelican Town," she retorts, but still, she hums appreciatively as she takes it, fingers dancing over her name on the lid. You already know that she and Demetrius buy half of your stock at Pierre's, even if she says that they share with the entire family. "While you're back there, can you tell Dr. Harvey that I'm clocking out in fifteen minutes? We were supposed to discuss a patient today, but I think he forgot. I'll finish up here and touch base with him tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am."

You send her a two-fingered salute that she vaguely returns. Then you disappear into the corridor that melts into the clinic's main hallway. Other than the waiting room you were in, the hallway leads to four other places: the patient room, which holds privacy curtains, two soft beds, and a firm bed that you've grown to dislike after all your Skull Cavern emergency surgeries; the stairway up to Harvey's apartment, blocked by two metal doors; the back of the reception desk; and a private examination room, which doubles as Harvey's office.

Harvey's in there now, back to the door, hands on his hips as he surveys the mess by his feet. His green blazer is flung over the exam bed, and he has his sleeves rolled to his elbows. An end of the day vibe, for sure. You look over your shoulder and see Maru staring at you, pretending to rapt her knuckles on her desk. Fine, you mouth, a smile tugging at the corner of your lips. Satisfied, she turns back to her work.

"Knock, knock," you sing at Harvey's door. Despite your announcement, he jumps, hand over his heart as he whirls around. His brown eyes are wide behind his glasses.

"Farmer," he sighs. "You scared me."

"Not the first time I heard that today," you laugh, striding into the room. Behind you, you hear Maru's door click closed. "Your lovely nurse said that she's clocking out soon, by the way. Fifteen minutes."

He glances at his watch. "Oh dear, is it already that time? I guess I got distracted by all the supplies." He drags a hand down his face. "I ordered a new shipment of bandage wrap yesterday, only to find a brand new box in the back. Apparently I did this last time, too. I need to spend my next free day taking inventory."

"I'll just make a few more trips to Skull Cavern and use those right up," you say, but when his glare snaps to your face, you hold up your hands placatingly. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Do you need any help right now?"

He pauses, surveying the stacked boxes, but finally sighs a soft No. "I'll just leave things like this so that I remember tomorrow. Why don't you head upstairs and get settled first? I think the coffee machine is about ready to go."

Now it's your turn to shoot him a look. "How many cups have you had today?"

He flushes. "O-only one this morning! Please don't say anything. Can you just set up the table upstairs?"

You tsk, pretending to be disappointed, if only to get back at him for always giving unsolicited health advice. But he's been helping you a lot lately, so you guess you can cut him a break.

As always, the smell of coffee lingers in the air, growing stronger as you trudge up the stairs. When you first befriended him, it was the only thing you knew he liked. He made sure to always have a tumbler in hand as he walked to the river in the afternoons, and you took note of it. Twice a week, you dropped by to give him a warm cup, which he always took appreciatively, but Maru was quick to tell you what else Harvey liked. You don't want to encourage him, she said mysteriously.

You started giving him more pickles after that.

His room is bathed in orange as the sun sets, light catching on the airplane models scattered across his dining table. They look untouched, frozen in the same positions as last week. Not much to set up, then. You flick on the overhead light and make your way to the kitchen.

Though it’s more of a break room than a kitchen, now that you think about it. You’ve only been over here once or twice. Between the microwave and coffee machine, there’s barely any counter space left, and you wonder how he ever gets any cooking done without a stove. He told you once that he mostly eats food from the Stardrop Saloon, but…your eyes narrow. What about all his lectures about home-cooked meals?

You move around clumsily, unsure of where everything is. Eventually, you find two mugs in the overhead cabinet, coffee packets in the drawer, sugar cubes in a cute little jar you gifted him the other month. The machine whirs and dribbles fresh coffee into the waiting mugs. Just as they top off, you hear footsteps on the stairs.

“Hey, Harvey?” you call out. “Do you have any milk or cream?”

“I have vanilla creamer in the fridge, second shelf,” he replies, but then you hear a sharp intake. “Wait, I’ll get it—”

Too late. You’ve already opened his fridge. The bottle of creamer is there—you pull it out and set it on the counter—but it’s also the only thing there other than half a head of lettuce.

“What the hell?” You scan the empty shelves. “Do you need to go grocery shopping? Pierre’s is closed, but Joja’s open late if you need to pick anything up.”

“No need, I’ll go shopping tomorrow,” he says, hurrying over. He squeezes past you, puts a dash of cream in each mug, and pushes the coffee into your hands. “Go and sit down. I’ll put this away.”

“Oookay.” You furrow your brows. What’s going on? “I’m kind of in the mood for iced coffee, though. Can I let my cup cool in the freezer for a bit and add ice to it?”

“Yes.”

A beat of silence.

“Do you mind…opening the freezer so I can put the mug in? My hands are a little full.”

“Right! Um, why don’t I do that and you sit down first?”

“Harv, I’m already holding the mugs. You just have to open the door. What’re you hiding in there, a dead body?”

You laugh; he doesn’t. Your chuckles die out, leaving the both of you to stand there in silence. If the townspeople were to pick your worst quality, it would probably be your stubbornness—a trait that rears its head now as you stand there, watching Harvey’s flush spread down his neck.

Finally, he sputters a resigned Okay and opens his freezer.

Behind his ice trays are stacks of Joja Mart frozen meals, everything ranging from meatloaf to fries to pizza to peas to chicken parmesan. He shifts a bag of carrots to make room for your coffee. When the door is closed again, you finally find your words.

“So…I guess I found your secret,” you say, making your way to the table and setting down his cup.

“I just don’t have time to cook for myself,” he insists, trailing behind you, “and when I do have free time, I’m too tired.”

“I’m not judging.” You shrug. “I mean, I’m not one to talk. I eat algae from the river and cookies from the trash.”

His face drains. “Wait, you eat what from the—”

“If you’re ever free, though, you can always join me on the farm for dinner. Or I can drop you off some lunch once in a while. I make big portions and freeze them for the week, and I don’t mind sharing.” You wave a hand at the airplane models in front of you. “Think of it as thank you for helping me out with these.”

“That’s…very kind of you, Farmer,” he says after a pause. His fingers curl around the back of a chair. “I might take your offer some time.”

You shoot him a smile. “Great. Now keep that gratitude in mind as we start working on these again.”

#stardew x reader #stardew valley x reader #sdv x reader #sdv harvey x reader #stardew x farmer #stardew valley x farmer #sdv x farmer #sdv harvey x farmer #stardew valley scenarios #sdv scenarios #sdv harvey scenarios #stardew scenarios #saeri writes;

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teshamerkel · 9 months

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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 51]

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Tobias and Nia lead the crew of the Aqua Jet through the dungeon, fighting their way back home.

With the group's formation for the dungeon officially decided, they quickly fall into a rhythm.

Each time they reach a patch of land the riders separate from the swimmers and line up as instructed. When they reach the next patch of water, they regroup. Tobias keeps a sharp eye out for ferals and directs them the best he can, and Nia follows suit from the back of the party, making sure they don’t get attacked from behind again. Tobias trusts Beck, Nori, and Cordelia to keep an eye out underwater for anything that might be lurking there.

Tobias is just glad that he knows dragon rage, because he’s certainly getting a lot of use out of it. The move wears him out quicker than everything else in his arsenal, but it’s powerful and—most importantly—effective against the many water types they come across.

Considering how quickly everything could’ve gone sideways from the start, Tobias thinks it’s actually going pretty smoothly.

It would be going a lot smoother if Cordelia didn’t insist on attacking every feral they see and dragging the entire group into a fight. Tobias glares at the croconaw the first time she does it. The second time, he hisses for her to leave the ferals alone. After the third fight Cordelia starts for no reason, Tobias shoves past half their group to poke a finger into the croconaw’s chest.

“Would you stop attacking?!”

Cordelia crosses her arms. “This is dangerous territory—you said yourself that we need to keep moving to avoid getting ambushed. We should try to get the jump on them when we can.”

“They don’t need jumped! We need to avoid fights when we can!”

Cordelia doesn’t respond, but the set of her thick jaw and her narrowed eyes speak to how stupid she finds his argument.

Tobias throws up his arms. “Look—with a group this big, and an unknown dungeon? It’s idiotic to attack every ‘mon we see. We need to conserve energy.”

Cordelia growls. “If we don’t attack then they will. I could see that quagsire scheming!“

“He was asleep.”

“That’s what he wanted you to think!”

“Okay, okay, break it up,” Beck cuts in, physically stepping between them. He manages to look calm despite the tension in the air. “Delia? One stubborn ‘mon to another—listen to Tobias. He’s more experienced with navigating mystery dungeons. There’s no reason to go rarin’ for a fight if we don’t need to.”

Tobias shoots Cordelia a smug look under Beck’s arm. She wrinkles her snout.

“Y’know,” Nia cuts in. “I’m sure it’s not helping that we haven’t eaten. Why don’t we make a stop by the next set of stairs for a break?”

“All our food’s on the ship,” Ignatius grumbles.

“We have a few apples packed in our bag,” Tobias sighs. “We’ll have to make do with those.”

When they finally reach the next set of stairs, they make sure the room is clear of ferals before settling down by the exit for a quick getaway to the next floor.

They only have three apples packed to split between the eight of them, but Cordelia slices them into halves with her claws. Tobias gives her a look.

“I don’t need one, and the sableye doesn’t eat fruit. Right?”

The sableye jumps as everyone looks to him, then nods. “I-I’m not hungry anyways.”

Nia gives Cordelia a worried frown. “But won’t you get hungry? You need to keep your strength up.”

“She’s right, y’know,” Ignatius huffs, a cloud of smoke following the breath. “Stubborn girl.”

Cordelia pointedly ignores the torkoal and gets up with a grunt to patrol the hallways leading out of the room. Tobias is about to follow her and stuff his apple half down the stupid captain’s throat when Beck yanks him back down.

“What—“

“Save your breath. Not the first time Delia’s decided to be a martyr for the crew. If we haven’t been able to change her mind, you definitely won’t.”

Tobias wants to argue, but he glances at Cas and Nori, and even they have bitten into their apples with resigned expressions.

“That’s stupid,” Tobias growls, sitting down. He scorches his apple slice with a quick burst of fire before biting into the warmed fruit.

Beck shrugs. “Maybe. But she’s our captain for a reason. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

The apple makes the fatigue lapping at Tobias’ heels a bit less noticeable. They wrap up the snack quickly and move on to the next floor as soon as everyone is finished.

The next three floors are uneventful. Their formation works well for defending the group, and Tobias is grateful that only about half the ferals they run into are water types. His dragon rage is getting a lot more use and he feels himself draining quicker than usual, but he tries to keep moving forward at a steady pace.

They’re crossing another patch of grassy land when Tobias suddenly feels the ground underfoot shift with a distinct click. He looks down, panicked, at the faint square outline of a trap hidden beneath the grass.

Then the world spins and Tobias stumbles as he finds himself at the edge of a waterway notably different from his previous location. Beck, Ignatius, and little Cas stagger into being around him.

The back half of their group is nowhere to be seen.

“Great,” Tobias hisses.

“D-Delia?” Cas squeaks, looking around. He trips closer to Beck, looking up at the floatzel with wide eyes. “Where’d everyone else go?”

Beck looks to Tobias, brow furrowed.

Tobias sighs. “Probably a warp panel. There must be a psychic type on this floor who set it as a trap.”

“So the others..?”

“Should still be on this floor. We’ll just have to find them before moving on.”

Ignatius grumbles about his aching feet. Beck wordlessly scoops the torkoal up to carry him. Cas glues himself to the floatzel’s side.

Tobias nods, then turns to head down the grassy corridor, glad at least that they weren’t dropped into water this time. This is an annoying setback, but as long as they can reunite and keep moving, it’s nothing more.

Beck does a decent job warding off any ferals that approach from behind in Nia's absence, holding his own until Tobias can rush back to fling an ember or slash and take them out.

When they reach the next stretch of water, Beck ferries all three of them across with only a little strain. As soon as they touch shore Tobias hears something familiar.

Voices. The rustle of footsteps through grass, quiet but not as silent as most ferals tend to tread.

Tobias runs, following the noise down the hall, turning a corner and—

“Tobias!” Nia yelps, barely sidestepping him before they collide.

“Nia!” Tobias breathes, eyes flicking over her form before moving over her shoulder. He’s relieved to see her unhurt, but... “What happened to Cordelia and the sableye?”

Only Nori stands behind Nia, the golduck giving him a silent nod. Cas makes an excited chirp and runs to hug her leg.

“Cordelia ran off as soon as she noticed Cas warped somewhere else,” Nia says, giving Beck and Ignatius a strained smile over Tobias’ shoulder. “Carnelian panicked when we got attacked and bolted.”

Tobias curses under his breath. “This is why we don’t take escort missions.”

“Noted,” Nia says, voice edged with nervous laughter.

Another sound in the distance catches everyone’s attention. It sounds like…the rush of a water type move. Battle. It can’t be far.

Tobias and Nia exchange glances before heading for it. When they track down the room it’s coming from, they see Cordelia slamming into a bibarel with a powerful waterfall that knocks him hard into the wall of the dungeon. The bibarel slumps, unconscious.

Cordelia is breathing hard but turns with her formidable teeth bared when she hears footsteps. Then she falters, eyes skimming over the group before locking onto Cas. All at once, the tension outlining her body slackens.

“Oh, thank Kyogre.”

“Delia!” Cas sprints to her as fast as his little legs can carry him. Cordelia scoops him up and tucks him against her neck.

She looks back to the group, gaze skimming once more over each of them. “Just missing the sableye, then.”

Nia nods. “He got spooked. He can’t have gotten too far on his own, though.”

“Let’s hope not,” Cordelia mutters.

“Could just leave him,” Ignatius says, surprisingly casual.

Tobias and Nia both recoil from the suggestion. But where Nia looks horrified, Tobias’ face creases with anger.

“We aren’t leaving anyone!”

“We aren’t leaving the sableye,” Cordelia agrees, voice firm. She gives the torkoal a hard look. Ignatius shrugs, seemingly unbothered.

“Nori and I found the stairs back that way earlier,” Nia says, glancing over her shoulder. “So if we can find Carnelian quickly, we at least know where to go next.”

Tobias follows her gaze, trying to catalogue the general direction for later.

“I made a loop around that way,” Cordelia adds, pointing off in the opposite direction. “Didn’t see the little guy there.”

“He could be on the move,” Tobias mutters. But that still leaves a fourth hallway that no one seems to have traveled down yet. Might as well start there.

“This way. Back into formation,” Tobias says.

The group, clearly more tired than they were just a few floors ago, trudges back into order. Tobias takes a breath, then moves to lead them.

They run into two more ferals in the next few rooms—a parasect and a stunky that, luckily, don’t land any of their poison moves.

Then they hear a shrill, terrified shriek, just down the hall.

Tobias’ head snaps up. He bolts, hearing the rest of the group follow, moving loudly through the brush and puddles.

Tobias rounds the corner into a new room, and quickly takes in the picture in front of him.

They’ve found Carnelian. Unfortunately, the sableye has also found a massive crawdaunt. The large red water type is scarred, clearly an experienced fighter. It has the sableye pinned to the ground with one claw dwarfing his entire body. The other pincer is raised high, ready to finish him.

Type advantage or not, a blow like that could easily kill the frail ghost type. And they aren’t close enough to stop it.

If Nia weren’t at the back of the group, maybe she could use quick attack—

Or if Beck hadn’t frozen behind him with a choked breath—

Or if Tobias could—

If Tobias could—

Tobias wills the tired fire in his belly to burn hotter, desperation stoking it with a single quick breath. He braces himself. Molds his mouth into a whistle rather than the usual open mouthed breath of his ember.

Then he shoots a ball of flames lightning-quick across the room. It hits the crawdaunt in the back of the head and makes it flinch.

Tobias stares, panting, as the crawdaunt whips around with an angry chitter.

Did…did he just learn flame burst?

The crawdaunt abandons the cowering sableye and charges across the room. Tobias runs to meet it, opening up the entrance to the hall so Nia can step in to help.

The crawdaunt lunges, and Tobias rolls out of the way of its pincer. The crater it leaves in the dirt makes his heart skip a beat. They can't let themselves get hit by that.

Tobias darts in to try slashing at the feral. His claws barely scratch the crawdaunt’s tough carapace, almost bouncing off of it.

Tobias curses and steps back. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Beck hurrying over to scoop up Carnelian and carry the sableye out of harm’s way. Good.

The crawdaunt takes a breath and shoots out a jet of scalding water. It clips Tobias on the arm, and he hisses as he darts forward to roll under the crawdaunt’s tan underbelly and out the other side.

He has to use his dragon rage—it’s the only move in his arsenal that will even hurt this thing. But he can feel his dragon type energy running dangerously low, and knows he only has a few shots left. He was hoping to conserve them.

Guess he doesn’t have much of a choice.

Tobias inhales deep and releases a plume of purple flames that—finally—make the crawdaunt falter.

Right after, a blur of blue and black slams into the crawdaunt, right near the golden star topping its head. The force of the quick attack nearly manages to topple the water type, Nia rolling past it and clumsily back to her paws.

“About time,” he huffs.

“Sorry,” she pants. “Was dealing with something else.”

Tobias nods, eyeing the crawdaunt as it steadies itself. The quick attack seemed to do as little as his slash. Its hide must be tough—probably a higher defense than special defense.

“Water type?” Nia calls, dodging a heavy claw.

“Something else, too. Fighting, maybe? Or dark. Can’t remember.”

The crawdaunt is taking turns lunging at one of them and then the other. Tobias dodges and lashes out with a lick of purple flames that makes it stumble.

“It might be weaker to special attacks,” Tobias calls, cashing in on his guess.

Nia grunts as she deflects a claw with her aura staff. “Got it!”

Tobias knocks one of the crawdaunt’s legs out from under it with a swing of his tail, then skips back as it shoots another jet of water his way.

While it’s distracted, Nia forms a ball of aura in her paws and flings it into the crawdaunt’s side. It garbles something angrily and takes another swing at Nia that she barely dodges.

“Tough,” Nia huffs.

“No kidding.”

The two of them dart in and out to fight the water type. Tobias hears battling behind him too, where the rest of the group is, and hopes that Beck, Nori, and Cordelia can handle whatever attacked them. He and Nia have their hands full as is.

Nia finally gets knocked aside by one of the pincers. She wasn’t hit head-on, thankfully, but still hard enough to send her rolling across the grass.

“You all right?” Tobias shouts. He shoots another dragon rage at the crawdaunt, but his flames sputter. He’s almost out. Exhaustion drags heavy at his limbs.

Nia shakes her head, but it’s more of a grounding gesture than a no. She stumbles back to her paws, then braces herself. Tobias can see a glint of something in her eyes, and that makes him nervous.

Before he can worry about it too much, Nia darts forward with another quick attack, slamming hard into the crawdaunt. This time, the crawdaunt is sent skidding back. It’s a notable difference from the first time she hit it.

Tobias pauses, panting, and looks at Nia. The riolu is grinning with a victorious expression. Looks like she figured something out.

When the crawdaunt lumbers back to its feet, it’s visibly unsteady. Finally slowing down.

Nia and Tobias move forward to attack again. They both focus on quick, weaker moves to chip away at it while staying out of range.

Nia is the one to finish it, forming a much larger than usual sphere of bright blue aura in her paws. She shoots it at the crawdaunt, and it explodes against the water type with a flash of light.

The crawdaunt goes down, landing with a heavy rustle in the lush grass.

Tobias takes a moment to be sure it’s knocked out. Then, he slumps to the ground to catch his breath. Nia stumbles over and flops down beside him.

“What,” he gasps. “Was that about?”

Nia laughs. “I figured out work up!”

Tobias blinks. “Really? From Cas?”

Nia nods, grinning.

Tobias snorts. “Cool. I think I learned flame burst.”

“New move buddies!” Nia cheers, falling over completely, clearly exhausted and half-loopy with adrenaline.

Tobias barks a laugh, weakly raising a fist. “New move buddies. Sure.”

Tobias finally remembers that they aren’t alone, and looks over to find the rest of their group. Luckily, they all seem to be in one piece, even if Cordelia is limping a bit and Beck is scuffed and muddy.

“Everyone all right?” Tobias asks.

“This one would be better if she would’ve eaten something,” Beck snorts, giving Cordelia an unimpressed look.

The croconaw curls her lip and gives him a glare in return.

“Carnelian?” Nia asks.

Tobias finally notices the sableye huddled up against the floatzel’s belly and shivering with fear. The ghost type jumps at the question, visibly shaking, but nods.

Cordelia whistles. She’s looking past them, at the crawdaunt they’d downed. “Nice work.”

“Thanks,” Nia huffs, struggling to her feet. She holds out a paw to help Tobias up after her.

He feels exhausted. Utterly drained. What he wouldn’t give to make a nest in the corner of the room and go to sleep right now.

“We’d better keep moving,” he says instead.

Everyone nods, clearly equally fatigued. They get back into order, and Tobias turns their group around to head back the way they came, to where Nia and Nori said they’d seen the stairs.

Tobias tries to avoid battles entirely on the following floors. They’re all tired and they can’t afford any real injuries. All conversation has petered out by this point, everyone just trying to conserve their breath.

They’re on the 19th floor—or maybe the 20th—when Tobias hears a barely-there rustle ahead, and freezes. The line stops behind him.

A little Pokemon stumbles out of the grass, squeaking a hiss when it notices their group. It’s a blue nidoran. A tiny one, no more than a baby. Its eyes are white and mindless, tiny barbs raised with poison.

Tobias can’t look away from the scratch across its side, bleeding sluggishly against pale blue skin. He doesn’t know if it was attacked or just injured by the environment. It wouldn’t take much to hurt something so fragile.

Tobias swallows against a lump in his throat. He has a soft spot for kids, so of course his first instinct is to help. But he can guess how it’ll react in its feral state. How it’ll spit and bite and poison anyone that comes near until it can wriggle free and flee in blind fear.

Could they take the nidoran kit along? Everything in him recoils at the thought of having to knock out a child, and he doesn’t even know when they’ll be able to get to the guild. What if he just makes it worse trying to relocate her?

A louder rustle of brush and a single heavy stomp is their only warning before a much larger, darker blue Pokemon emerges from the brush, towering over even Beck and Nori.

A nidoqueen.

Tobias tenses up now for an entirely different reason. He throws out an arm, hearing everyone behind him hold their breath. The silence is heavy.

The nidoqueen rumbles a low growl that Tobias can feel in his chest. She steps forward to plant herself between them and her child.

They’re at a standstill. Tobias is torn between anxiety that she’ll attack their already weakened group, and relief that the nidoran has anyone to defend her at all. Even relatively mindless, at least feral Pokemon seem to protect their young.

Slowly, the nidoqueen lowers her body. For a heart-stopping moment, Tobias thinks she’s preparing to charge. But then he hears the scratch of tiny claws on hard armor and sees the nidoran climb atop the nidoqueen’s back to settle between her plates. Now that she’s hunched over, Tobias spots a second purple lump already clinging to her: another nidoran.

Tobias wonders if any other kids got lost in this chaos. His chest squeezes.

The nidoqueen rises and turns as if to leave. Tobias steps forward, panicked.

That scratch on the nidoran, it…it’s nothing that would kill the kit on its own, but it’s only been an hour or two since the dungeon started. It could be weeks until their minds clear. What if it gets infected? What if she gets hurt more?

The nidoqueen’s head snaps back to him, thick teeth bared and accompanied by a warning growl.

“Tobias!” He hears Nia whisper-yell.

Tobias lowers his eyes and reaches slowly into their satchel. He feels around until he finds what he’s looking for. Then he crouches, slow. Slow. And gently rolls the oran berry forward so it stops just in front of the nidoqueen.

The nidoqueen hisses, hunching lower and flexing her claws. But then she pauses, sniffing the air. Her blank white gaze flicks down to the blue fruit and back up.

Tobias doesn’t dare move.

The nidoqueen reaches out to snatch the oran berry. She gives it one more sniff before gently biting into it to hold it in her mouth.

She glances at Tobias one more time. Her eyes are still blank, and there isn’t a shred of anything like gratitude or confusion present. Just primal wariness.

But she has the oran berry. Even at a baser level, she probably knows to feed it to her injured kit. It’s the best they can do.

The nidoqueen huffs and continues on through the grass. Her heavy steps quickly fade, and Tobias can feel the tension of the group follow.

Nia, who had apparently snuck closer to stand as Tobias’ backup, sighs. “I was really hoping we wouldn’t have to fight them.”

Tobias nods, trying to put the nidoran kit out of mind. “…Let’s keep moving.”

Nia must be able to tell where his mind is, because she reaches out to squeeze his hand before moving back to the tail of the group.

Tobias is just grateful his partner is enough of a bleeding heart to not get upset about his poor decision to waste their second-last oran berry. She probably would’ve done the same.

Or maybe she’s thinking about the same thing Tobias is. Thinking about how all of these Pokemon are only endangered because of the weakening dimensional border. How it’s only going to get worse from here. If that nidoran survives her time in the dungeon, she’ll die all the same if the border breaks entirely.

Tobias blows out a breath. Then, he forces his feet forward. He doesn’t have time to think about this right now.

Tobias enters an exhausted haze after that encounter. He still tries to pay attention as he leads the group through the dungeon, but he knows he isn’t as alert as usual, and they’re only 20 or so floors in. He tries not to think about what they’ll do if this dungeon is a freak incident and is a hundred floors deep. How they’ll survive. He tries not to think much at all, to conserve mental energy.

Once or twice, Beck and Nori step in when they run into another feral. Tobias knows he must look dead on his feet for them to do so, but he can’t find it in himself to be upset about the help. He’s stubborn, but not a total idiot.

He is enough of an idiot to not even realize they’re out of the dungeon at first.

He just starts walking after they warp, picking a direction. It takes a solid ten steps before he realizes he isn’t in a room, or a corridor. Half-convinced he’s hallucinating, Tobias blinks and looks behind him.

Everyone else seems similarly baffled, looking around with wide eyes. But no, the forest around them is open and unstructured. Natural. Tobias can hear the dull roar of the river nearby.

“Are…are we out?” Cas asks.

There’s a heavy silence before Nori nods.

Nearly all of them slump to the leaf-littered ground, a collective breath of tension leaving them. Tobias tilts his head back against the closest tree and just. Takes a moment.

They made it. He and Nia got the group through the dungeon safely. He didn’t realize how much pressure he’d felt to do so until it was lifted.

After what seems like barely a minute but is likely longer, Cordelia suggests they head back to the river.

“It’ll be the best way to navigate our way north,” she adds once she sees Tobias’ doubtful look. “We follow the river upstream, and we find civilization.”

Tobias, unfortunately, can’t argue with that. With a groan, he drags himself to his feet and trudges through the greenery of the forest beside Nia. Cordelia, even hungry and sporting a limp, can take charge out here. He’s too tired to fight her for the leadership position.

When they get to the river itself, all of the water types relax at the sight of the familiar waterway. As they take another moment to recharge, Cordelia crosses her arms with a thoughtful sound.

“What?” Nia asks.

“Just thinking.” The croconaw turns her head to scan Nori and Beck. “How’re you two feeling?”

Beck straightens. “All right. Little tired.”

Nori just gives her a nod.

Cordelia looks back out over the water. “The river is still high here, but it’s a bit calmer. How do we feel about swimming it?”

Tobias feels his face pale. “Swimming it?”

Cordelia snorts. “Not you, of course. We’d carry you, like we did in the dungeon.”

Tobias doesn’t feel very comfortable with the idea. Or comfortable at all. Whereas the water in the dungeon was relatively calm, this river is still surging quick and frothy and strong. He falls into that and he’s almost definitely dead unless one of the water types rescue him.

“We trusted you to cover us in the dungeon,” Cordelia says, voice confident but not antagonistic for once. “Trust us to get you back north.”

Tobias swallows. “Why can’t we just walk?”

“We could,” Cordelia snorts. “But we’d be moving twice as slow. And using more energy to boot, walking up and down the slopes and around brambles.”

“What about the boat?” Cas asks, voice small.

Cordelia sighs, ruffling the quaxly’s blue head feathers. “We’ll have to wait for the dungeon to pass and hope it makes it out in one piece. Nothing we can do about it as is.”

“Delia has a point,” Beck cuts in. “Water travel would be easier and quicker.”

“Really?” Nia asks. “Even if you have to swim with us on your back?”

“Yup,” Beck says with a wink. “We’re made for the water. We’ll just have to take breaks every few hours.”

“Nori?” Cordelia checks.

“I’m fine with that,” Nori says, quiet as usual.

Nia glances at Tobias, as if to question if he’s all right with this plan. He isn’t, and he knows that if he insisted on walking Nia would stick with him. The whole crew probably would, honestly, but it’s objectively the worse decision.

“Fine,” he mutters. “You’d better not drop me, though.”

“Or me,” Ignatius huffs.

Oh, right. Tobias is perversely glad that there’s at least one other fire type dealing with this less-than-ideal situation.

They move back into a similar formation as the one they used in the dungeon. Cas, of course, hops on Cordelia’s shoulder. Nia, Tobias, and Carnelian go with Beck. Ignatius, heavier than the three of them combined, crawls onto Nori’s back.

Then, with one last look around and an instruction to call for a break as soon as needed, they’re ready to go.

Cordelia leads the way, slipping silently into the dull roar of the river. Nori follows, Ignatius crouched low against her blue feathers.

Beck slinks into the water after them, cutting easily through the current. His tails spin and his body weaves gently side-to-side, and if Tobias didn’t feel so on-edge he’d admire how smoothly Beck is navigating such rough waters.

As is, Tobias scoots closer to the middle of Beck’s back, tail curled tightly around his middle. The water is so close, barely below the level he’s sitting on. Every few seconds, the river sprays high enough to mist painfully against Tobias’ skin.

“Here,” Nia says, offering Tobias his poncho from their satchel. He didn’t even hear her rustling through it.

“Thanks,” Tobias murmurs, pulling the leafy green garment over his head. While his heart slams against his chest still at the closeness of the water, he’s relieved to have the burning cool spray of the river gone.

Nia settles in, pressed against his side. Carnelian sits closer to Beck’s tails, curled around his backpack and dead silent.

“All right?” Nia whispers.

Tobias jerks a nod. He’s as all right as he’s going to get. At least it’s getting close to evening, so they probably won’t be able to travel too long before stopping for the night.

Nia reluctantly leaves Tobias alone to check on Carnelian. The sableye jumps when Nia addresses him, but nods as she asks if he’s all right.

“You didn’t get hurt earlier?”

Carnelian hesitates.

Nia frowns. “What hurts?”

Carnelian shakes his head. “I-I’m okay, I just—just a bit bruised. When I breathe.”

Nia glances at Tobias, concern clear on her face.

Tobias sighs but reaches into their satchel and pulls out the last oran berry to hand over.

“Will this help?” Nia asks, voice soft. “Or can you not eat it?”

Carnelian is surprised enough to actually meet Nia’s eyes with his own creepy gemstone ones. “I-I can eat it, but…I couldn’t take your berry—“

“We want you to have it,” Nia presses. “If it hurts to breathe, that means something’s wrong. Please?”

Carnelian crumbles under the riolu’s sad expression. Not that Tobias can blame him.

The sableye reaches out to take the oran berry with shaky claws, glancing at Nia and then Tobias once more before eating it in two large bites. Immediately after, Tobias can see a bit of the wire-sharp tension loosen from the ghost type’s posture.

“Thank you,” Carnelian says.

“No problem,” Nia returns, smiling warmly. “So it did help, right?”

“Y-Yes. Berries don’t have all the daily nutrients sableye need, since minerals are the main part of our diet. But the healing properties still work.”

“Cool!” Nia says, smiling earnestly. Tobias could guess that she has a hundred follow-up questions that she’s only holding back for the sake of Carnelian’s nervous nature.

The sableye gives her a shaky smile in return before looking away.

Tobias snorts and looks back out over the river. If he wasn’t so terrified of falling into the swift current, he could see how traveling upstream like this could actually be…relaxing. In the late afternoon sun, between the white currents, the river shimmers with reflected bits of light. The trees on either side of the river cast long shadows, a warped mirror of the forest landscape. The dull roar of the water is constant enough to fade to something almost soothing.

Tobias can’t fully relax, but his tense muscles do loosen to something less stiff. As he starts to check back into the Pokemon around him, he notices Nia casting Beck hesitant looks. Every minute or so, her gaze moves back to his head, where his snout is half-submerged in the water. Her mouth opens then closes, as if to say something.

Finally, she speaks aloud. “Hey, Beck?”

The floatzel lifts his head to look back at them over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Don’t see why not! We certainly have the time.”

Nia smiles at the comment, but she’s clearly distracted. She takes a few moments to gather her thoughts, dipping her paw into the water. “Earlier, when you got hit in the dungeon, you called me Hazel.”

Beck looks surprised at that, his smooth swimming stalling before picking up again. “Oh. Well, apologies for that! Hazel’s my mate, y’see. And you…remind me of her quite a bit.”

“I’m not upset or anything,” Nia says, waving her paws in front of her. “If anything I’m flattered. But I just…” Nia trails off, frowning. She’s clearly weighing a question in her mind.

“You said you live up north, closer to the guild,” Nia finally blurts. “Would you happen to live in Afon’s Cap?”

For the second time, Beck’s swimming falters as he blinks back at Nia, clearly surprised. “…That I do.”

That seems to be all the confirmation Nia needs. She beams, leaning forward into Beck’s space. “Then that means—are you Hazel’s husband? The raichu? Your daughter’s a pikachu named Margot, right? A-And your grandkids are Tommy and Theo?”

Beck grins back, equally delighted. “You know my family? How wonderful! How did you meet them?!”

Tobias would like to know, too, giving Nia a perplexed look. She said Afon’s Cap, right? When they went there, it was before they really restarted their team, when he was still being a major jerk.

Funny, how that feels like so long ago now.

Nia wanted to go there so bad to look for someone, a former human, and—

Hazel. Her name was Hazel. The psychic type raichu that Nia mailed a letter to asking for a human bed! Of course!

“Yeah! I went looking for her because—“

Tobias elbows Nia, and gives a pointed nod behind them at Carnelian’s quiet presence.

Nia falters, but then says, “W-Well, I wanted to ask her some questions. Advice, really. I’m from the same place she is!”

Beck’s eyes widen as he catches her meaning. “I had a feeling that was the case after you shook my paw so quickly! Picked up that fun little habit from Hazel.”

Nia giggles. Tobias vaguely recalls staring stupidly at Beck’s outstretched paw when they first met.

“She mentioned meeting a—“ Beck glances past them, at Carnelian. “A sweet young Pokemon looking for advice, but I never thought it would be you. What a coincidence! I can’t wait to tell her—she’ll be thrilled to know you’re out saving wayward crews like ours.”

“Tell her I said hi! Oh, and that Tobias and I worked out our issues!”

Tobias flushes at that comment, especially when Beck raises a wry brow in his direction.

“Ah, the troublemaking partner. You put Hazel in quite the mood for days, according to Mar.”

“Sorry,” Tobias huffs, sounding more petulant than repentant. He looks away, embarrassed.

Thankfully, Beck just chuckles and looks back to Nia. “You all come down and visit when you find the time, all right? The girls and my grandkids could always use more friends from outside the Cap.”

Nia, of course, seems thrilled at the thought, already chattering away about it. Tobias doesn’t say anything, instead turning his head to watch the river and the forested shoreline drift by in the approaching dusk.

It’s getting too dark for the water Pokemon to see properly in the water when they decide to pull off to shore. Beck drags himself onto the sandy riverside and collapses there.

Nia scrambles off his back to crouch by his head. “Are you okay?”

“Just tired,” he soothes, yawning.

Nia sits back, relieved, and watches Cordelia and Nori pull themselves onto land with equally fatigued movements.

“We’ll go look for food and wood to start a fire while you three catch your breath,” Tobias says.

Beck raises a paw to give her a thumbs-up. Nia laughs at the gesture and moves towards the treeline, beckoning Tobias after her.

“Can I come too?“ Cas asks, fluttering on their heels.

“Sure!”

“Well I’m stayin’ here,” Ignatius says, settling into the sand.

Tobias rolls his eyes, but grabs their satchel from where it had slipped off his shoulder. A few of their items spill out, and Tobias groans, probably more dramatically than he needs to.

Nia snickers. “Calm down. I’ve got it.”

She crouches to scoop up their wayward items, but pauses once she grabs one of their badges.

“What?” Tobias asks.

Nia doesn’t answer, but she does click their badge on. Tobias bends to see what’s caught her attention.

Oh. They’re in range of the guild now.

“Does that mean..?” Nia starts.

Tobias grins, feeling a relieved sort of exhaustion fall over him. He snatches the badge to look closer. Just to make sure.

They must’ve traveled farther north through that dungeon than they’d thought. They’re finally close enough to the guild for the psychics’ range to reach them.

“Hey!” Tobias calls, looking over at Cordelia’s crew.

The croconaw lifts her head, annoyed. “I thought you were going to find food.”

Tobias wiggles the badge in his hand. “We’ll do you one better. Anyone want a lift to the guild?”

That catches everyone’s attention.

“We’re close enough?” Nori asks.

Nia nods.

“Then what are you waiting for?!” Cordelia says. “Get over here!”

Even Tobias can’t find it in himself to get irritated with the croconaw. Not after the day they’ve had. Everyone gathers close together on the beach as Tobias and Nia prepare their badges to send out a pick-up request.

“All right. Ready?” Tobias asks.

"Make sure you’re touching one of us,” Nia adds. “Or each other. As long as there’s some connection, you should be fine.”

Tobias feels Nori’s cool, webbed hand land on his shoulder and Cas’ feathers against his leg. On three, Tobias and Nia send out their pickup request. The badge in Tobias’ hand glows, and he tightens his grip.

Then, in a flash of golden light, Tobias feels the familiar vertigo of psychic warping.

In an instant they’re back in a familiar room lit by the blue crystals from below the guild. The uneven wooden flooring underfoot is familiar, and the treelike architecture around them even more so.

A pair of abra look surprised to see them, staring at the extra six Pokemon they’ve brought along.

The left abra slumps, voice dry. “That explains the extra weight.”

The right one sighs. “Next time, please alert us if you’re bringing tagalongs.”

“Sorry,” Nia says, sheepish. “Actually, can you, um…show me how to do that?”

While the right abra does so, pointing at Nia’s badge with a claw, Tobias scans their party to make sure everyone made the journey. They did, and the other abra is already going through the usual guest spiel of marking down everyone’s names and species for the records, as well as telling Cordelia where to find the cafeteria and guest quarters.

For the first time since this morning, Tobias feels himself truly relax. Almost immediately, a wave of exhaustion follows. He cannot wait to go to sleep. And in their own soft nest! They haven’t been home in over a week, and there’s nothing like sleeping in your own nest.

When their group finally departs from the psychics’ quarters, they’re in high spirits. Cordelia is running her maw about food and Beck is laughing in response. Cas is looking around with wide eyes, and even Nori and Ignatius, the quietest of the crew, seem at ease.

“So,” Cordelia says, hands on her hips. “Riolu. Charmander. We don’t exactly have much to give you in thanks, considering the Aqua Jet is stranded at the moment. What say we waive your travel fee and let your guildmaster know you two deserve a heap of Seeker points or whatever your reward system is?”

Tobias snorts. Not a great deal, but better than nothing, he supposes. “Fine.”

“Are you heading out right away?” Nia asks, ears lowering.

Beck smiles and reaches out to put a paw on her head. “We’ll stay the night, but then we’ll probably head south. If we’ve gotta stick around somewhere for a few weeks to wait for the dungeon to pass, I want to see my family.”

“And we can at least take odd jobs around Afon’s Cap to earn some cash,” Cordelia adds.

“You’re welcome to join us if you’d like,” Beck offers.

Tobias can see that Nia wants to accept, but she shakes her head. “I…we have somewhere we need to be, unfortunately. Say hi to Hazel and everyone for me?”

Beck’s smile droops, but he doesn’t argue. “Will do. Just make sure you come visit in the future, all right? Hazel would love to talk to you again.”

Nia nods, brightening. “Of course! As soon as we can.”

“Good kid,” Beck says, pulling Nia into a hug. She goes willingly, burying her face in the floatzel’s fluffy chest.

When they part, Nia wipes at her eyes. “Are you sure you’ll be able to make it to Afon’s Cap all right on your own?”

Cordelia snorts. “We ain’t helpless, believe it or not. We’ll get directions and be just fine. It’s not far from here.”

“Thank you again,” Nori says, quiet voice commanding everyone’s attention. She offers them the barest hint of a smile. “For guiding us through the dungeon, and for the company.”

Cas gives them each a hug as well before the crew of the Aqua Jet heads off down the hall, waving their goodbyes and thanks.

“Come find us if you’re ever dying to get back on the water, Charmander!” Cordelia shouts.

Tobias rolls his eyes and turns back to Nia—

Only to realize that there’s still someone here, waiting for them to notice him.

“Oh!” Nia sniffs, wiping the last of tears out of her eyes. “Hey, Carnelian. Do you need something?”

Carnelian shuffles his feet and tugs at his backpack straps. Finally, he says, “Th-Thank you. For protecting me back in the dungeon.”

Nia exchanges a surprised look with Tobias. “Of course! It was no problem.”

“All part of the job,” Tobias adds.

Tobias is surprised when Carnelian shakes his head, voice adamant enough to lose its constant tremor. “No. To many, it’s not. Not for a ghost. I didn’t even hire you.”

Oh. Tobias gets what he means now, and suddenly he feels a hot bloom of shame in his chest for how suspicious and annoyed he’d felt about sableye for the first half of their trip. Ignatius’ lackadaisical suggestion to ditch the sableye in the dungeon comes back to him.

Nia’s ears pin, her eyes wide. “…I’m sorry. That you’ve, um…dealt with that before.”

Carnelian shakes his head, but his voice is back to its usual shaky warble. “I-I just wanted to thank you. And say that I don’t have much to offer, b-but if you ever need anything you think I can assist with, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Nia smiles. “Well, thank you. We appreciate it. Beck mentioned you’re working up north?”

Carnelian nods, something almost like excitement lifting his head. “Yes! I-I’m something of a researcher of rocks and minerals. I was called in to analyze unusual crystal formations found under the Silenfroar Mountains. I should be there for at least a few months.”

“If we ever need to, uh…learn about rocks? Then we’ll keep you in mind,” Tobias says.

Nia elbows him for his awkward statement, and he gives her a pointed shrug. He wasn’t even trying to be snarky!

Nia gives Carnelian a smile. “We appreciate it, really. Safe travels north!”

Carnelian nods, a weak smile flickering across his face. Then he scurries off towards the guest quarters after the crew.

“He’s sweet,” Nia coos.

Tobias rolls his eyes. “He’s fine. A little nerdy.”

“I’m a little nerdy,” Nia counters, giving him a playful glare.

“Yeah, you are. Now. What first? Food? Sleep?”

Nia looks thoughtful. “…Maggie?”

Tobias stops. Thinks of his adoptive mother’s warm smile and relaxing scent. “Maggie. Definitely Maggie.”

The two of them move to take the stairs up to the medicinal floor, slowly for the sake of their exhausted bodies.

“You think she’d let us crash in her room tonight? Oh, but I guess Sage has our alcove now…”

Tobias scoffs. “Forget the alcove. Maggie would be thrilled if we camped out right next to her.”

Nia beams, picking up her pace for the next few steps and bouncing ahead. “Sleepover!”

“Only if she has food. No way am I going all the way down to the cafeteria and back up again.”

“When doesn’t Maggie have food?”

Tobias’ mouth twitches with a smile. “Fair point.”

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon #floatzel #riolu #pmd seekers of soul #tesha writes #tesha draws

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autistook · 1 month

Text

DAISIES - pt 2

Merry Brandybuck x fem!hobbit!reader/soft oc

Previous chapter

Words: 3.1k

Summary: Merry drags you and Pippin on an adventure as an apology for the panic attack their dare caused you days before. Halfway there, Pippin decides to turn back, leaving you and Merry alone. After smoking some pipe-weed, the conversation turns a little bit deeper, when you discuss things you have never talked about before, and getting more close to each other.

I want to say something before you start reading the second chapter of this fanfic. I hope you can still feel like you're a part of the story, even thought it is a soft oc. I prefer giving characters some qualities (reader's height, fears and personality traits for example) and backstories when writing, and personally I prefer when I can escape to a story, where I am a little bit different from my usual self.

I also want to point out that this story obviously has and will have some differences to canon events, and I will be mixing up some things from the books and movies, and other stuff from my own head.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this next part of 'daisies'!

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

For the few days following the incident at the river, you mostly stayed in your own bedroom, every now and then getting something to eat from the kitchen. Frodo showed some concern, but knowing your need for space, he decided to let it slide. You were still shaken up by the panic attack, trying to avoid anything that could trigger one again.

Pippin and Merry did not take long to realize that you had been distancing yourself at home for more than a day. Normally you would already be at least on a walk, where one of them would run into you. They decided to visit Bag End to drag you out of the bed by force.

"No! You're not allowed to stay indoors any longer!" Pippin exclaimed and started to pull you out of bed. Merry was biting his nails. You groaned and made your body limp, so it would be harder to pull you away from under the comfort of your blanket. "You have been indoors for over a day already, and we all know how easily you distance yourself. Get up, Baggins!"

"We promised you some pipe-weed, didn't we?" Merry says, his arms crossed, looking at you. His eyes revealed just how guilty he was feeling about pushing your boundaries at the river. Pippin tended to feel more guilty, but never showed it to anyone but Merry.

"Is there any way you would just let me have some space for one more day?" you asked, already knowing their answer. Merry shook his head and bluntly declined your request. Finally, the two managed to pull you out of bed, and you rushed them out of your bedroom for some privacy.

You went through your closet for quite some time, trying to decide between a few different dresses, your fingers gently rubbing the different kinds of fabrics to see if any of them would make you feel slightly more comfortable in your skin. You settled on a sage green dress, made of a material so soft and light that you could barely feel it on. You slipped the dress on, and unlike usual, decided to skip a corset, just to make sure no piece of clothing made you feel any more uncomfortable.

You made your way down the hall, where Merry and Pippin had made themselves at home and were chatting up with your brother, laughing about some private joke of their own. You passed the small mirror that was hanging on the wall in the hallway, glancing at it and smiling to yourself. You thought about the small gesture of comfort Merry had provided you by putting your favorite flower sneakily behind your ear.

You entered the kitchen, fidgeting with the hem of your dress, nervous about leaving the house, while knowing it was the best decision for you.

"Glad to see you up on your feet again!" Frodo said cheerfully, his smile gentle and wide. Merry put his arm around you, squeezing you firmly.

"We couldn't let her stay in any longer. Who knows how long she would've stayed indoors!" Merry said. "It was the pipe-weed that finally got her out of the bed. I fear our friend has an addiction," he continued teasingly. You gave Merry a soft, playful smack on his shoulder, making him chuckle.

"We actually got something better for you, as an apology," Pippin said and handed you a small leather pouch. "It's Old Toby. We know you prefer it."

Smiling, you accepted the apology, immediately inhaling some of the sweet smell of the leaves through the leather. Frodo shook his head at this sight, taking a sip of his tea.

"So, do you want to smoke it now?" Merry said, hoping you would share some of it with him and Pippin. You gave him a nod, trying not to act too enthusiastic about getting to taste some of the sweetness of the pipe-weed soon. You then saw Merry's eyes shift slightly to the left from your eyes. One corner of his mouth curled up a little, making you turn around to see what he was grinning at. There seemed to be nothing amusing behind you, so you figured he had to be happy about your agreement to go have a smoke.

It was a cold day in the Shire. You were wrapped up in your long coat, arms crossed, slightly shivering. Merry seemed to be in his element, enjoying the cold spring breeze. Pippin on the other hand, was shaking and whimpering, not wearing enough layers. You were walking on the damp ground, wet grass getting between your toes. Merry was leading the way to a place, that in his words, was 'something very special indeed.'

"How much further?" you asked, wrapping your coat more firmly around your figure. Pippin lifted his head up, lips quivering as he looked at his best friend, hoping for an answer that would be no less than ten minutes.

"An hour," Merry said calmly, looking over his shoulder at the two of you. Pippin stopped in his tracks, shaking his head.

"No, I will not," Pippin said determined, his voice trembling from the cold. He turned around and lifted his hand up to wave goodbye, without even looking back. "Too far. No. I need to get something warm around me. Maybe ten thousand blankets. Enjoy your trip to whatever he thinks this suffering is worth!" Pippin cried, and as he walked he kept muttering to himself, long after he was no longer in the hearing distance.

"Well, more Old Toby for us," you smirked, slightly shaking from the wind. Merry smiled softly at your comment, turning his face back forward to where you two were walking. "I do feel cold though, Merry."

"Trust me, it's going to be worth it," Merry reassured you, giving you a confident look. Your eyes narrowed slightly, trying to decide whether to believe him or not. Merry took notice of your analyzing look. "I am not lying, and you're going to thank me when we arrive there, I assure you."

It took you and Merry less than an hour of walking, when he suddenly came to a halt. There was a cornfield opening in front of you. The stalks of them were a faint green, their length tall, forcing you to tilt your head all the way back if you wanted to see their highest points. Their growth was dense, making it seem like a too narrow path to pass. You lifted your eyebrow at Merry, your arms crossed as you were trying to wrap the thick coat tighter around you. Your coat covered you almost all the way to your ankles, as you were shorter than an average hobbit.

"Merry, why are we standing in front of a cornfield?" you asked. Merry looked at you, amused at your puzzled expression. His answer was a simple nod towards the cornfield. He started making his way through the first rows of the green stalks, his right side first and arms spread wide. With a loud exhale, you followed him.

It was so densely grown, you could not move without at least one cornstalk touching your clothes, or messing up your hair. Every now and then Merry would tell you to duck, as there were some badly grown stalks bending downward. You followed his path for five minutes without saying anything out loud. Then Merry stopped walking, and you followed his example, stopping immediately.

"Just a few rows forward," he said, smiling confidently, clearly trying to act all mysterious. He took one step, before you grabbed his shoulder to stop him from going any further.

"Would you just please explain to me why we are in the middle of a cornfield?" you asked, feeling slightly frustrated from the cold, your feet irritated by the dirt you were standing on.

"Look, just trust me," Merry said and gestured to you to walk first. "M'lady," he snickered in a teasing tone. You decided to oblige, making your way through the last few thick rows of corn.

The bright daylight hit your face the second you had gone through where Merry guided you, making you squint your eyes. Your eyes had gotten used to the dimness of the field and the sudden exposure startled you. When you got used to the sudden flash of light, you could see that you were standing in a small opening. There was a large rock in the middle. It was rough and firm on the ground, and it was even taller than the corns were at their highest. The grey sky was solid behind it, as you gazed up, trying so hard to see the top of the large stone.

"Now we climb," Merry said as he appeared from behind you. He went up to the rock, placing his grassy feet on some of the rough edges of it. His hands gripped confidently on the solid stone under him, as he turned his gaze to you, questioning why you were not following him yet. "Well, come on!" he rushed.

"I don't think I can climb, Merry," you responded, still shivering under your coat. "My hands are so cold. I can't feel a thing."

Merry hopped back down on the ground, walking towards you. He took your freezing, pale and delicate hands in his. He placed them firmly between the palms of his hands, rubbing them to provide some warmth. He lifted them to the same level as his face, placing his lips close to your skin, breathing some warm air from his lungs on your hands. Soon the feeling started to return to your hands, but Merry kept going, wanting to make sure they would not freeze back up.

"Is that better, my lady?" Merry said teasingly, still some tenderness in his tone.

You chuckled softly, giving him a thankful smile. "Yes, thank you."

"Now, are you ready to climb?" he asked, already walking towards the rock.

You followed his every step, trusting he knew his way up there better than you ever could. You truly did not want to slip down, even though a part of you was even suspicious it might have been a part of a long term prank that Merry had planned. The rock was cold beneath the bottom of your feet, and the air was more chilly the higher you got.

It was a fast climb, and Merry soon offered his hand to pull you up. You took his hand, and he pulled you up with a firm grip. And the second you got to the top of the rock, you realized why Merry had wanted to come to this spot for a smoke.

The field opened up all around you, seeming like there were endless rows of beautiful greenery growing. The wind was cold, but beautifully it was softly blowing and making the corn, which was in its early stage of growth, dance like waves. It made you forget all about the temperature. The sky was grey, yet despite the seemingly melancholy weather, it looked beautiful. The contrast between the earth and the sky looked stunning from up there, providing a calming atmosphere.

"I've never told anyone about this place," Merry said, taking his wooden pipe from his pocket, preparing to smoke some Old Toby. "Except Frodo. I think he comes down here to read sometimes, and so do I. I believed it was time to show this to Pippin and you. Well, mostly you."

"What do you mean mostly me?" you asked, handing him the small pouch of pipe-weed. Merry filled the bowl of the pipe, pressing the leaf down gently. He lit it up, inhaling the first round of Old Toby.

"I know you like to have some time to yourself," he answered sincerely, taking another puff. He looked somewhere to the distance, admiring the surroundings. "I figured that after what happened at the river, I owed you a proper apology. I thought showing a place where you can cool down your overactive mind would do the trick."

"Well, apology accepted," you smiled, gently taking the pipe from his hands. You took a puff, the pipe lingering on your lips for a moment. It took almost no time at all for the calming effects of it to hit both of you. You passed the pipe to each other for some time in total silence. The wind was calming down, and the sky looked like it could rain soon.

"You seem troubled," you said, looking at Merry, who was deep in his thoughts. His eyes were fixated on the horizon, as he took a deep breath. He passed you the pipe, leaning backwards to lay down on his back, as the top of the rock was wide enough for a Hobbit to rest down almost comfortably. "Merry?"

"I broke it off with Estella," Merry muttered under his breath. He had been dating his friend's sister for several months now. This information was almost jaw dropping to you, but you tried to keep your composure and not pressure your friend too much.

"What happened?" you asked carefully and concerned, extinguishing the remaining pipe-weed. You put the pipe down and placed your palm on his shoulder, trying to make sure he knew that he was in a safe space with you. This was not an area of expertise for you when it came to Merry. The two of you talked about many things, but relationships or their difficulties, were not one of those things. Merry exhaled loudly.

"I don't know. Something about it did not feel right from the start, which I don't completely understand," he said, almost puzzled about his own decision. He placed his palms behind his head, gently resting on them. "If you wrote down her qualities next to mine, it would be perfect. Perfect, but only on paper. Whenever I held her close, or even kissed her... It just felt odd."

You felt compassion towards your best friend, still shocked that he was opening up about the troubles of his romantic life to you. You stayed quiet, still holding his shoulder gently. Merry did not seem to have anything more to say on the matter, but you had plenty of questions and could not keep totally silent.

"When did this happen?" you asked. It had to not have been more than a few days. He had not acted any way differently since the last time you saw him at the river.

"A month ago," Merry answered, your face showing all the possible signs of confusion at once. Nothing had seemed different, yet he was going through a massive change in his life.

"A month! How on earth did I miss that?" you cried, looking at him with pure shock. Merry shifted his eyes on you, a calm expression on his face.

"Well, we don't really talk about this stuff," he responded, softly chuckling at the whole reality of the situation. "Besides, I felt bad."

"I get it," you said. "Whenever a relationship ends, it's just always hard to-"

Merry interrupted you, lifting his other hand in the air. "That's not what I meant," he said, his body twisting a little from feeling uncomfortable. "I felt bad, because I didn't feel bad. She was crying, and all I could do was just stare at her. I felt so relieved. Seeing her cry made me feel like the worst being in all of Middle-Earth. I tried to comfort her, but she just ran off. We haven't said a word to each other since, nor has Fatty talked to me either."

You stared at Merry in confusion. You thought he had been happy, and you had no clue he had stirred the pot in his personal life so roughly. You gave him an understanding smile.

"Look, you tried to comfort her. That's all I'm saying," you responded, trying to cheer Merry up. "It did not feel right and you did the correct thing by ending it, before it escalated."

"I just wish I didn't make her feel so heartbroken, that his brother decided to not talk to me," Merry said quietly. "Fatty and I have always been friends. So have Estella and I. I might have ruined good friendships by trying to force something, when it wasn't there."

"Hey," you said, firmly grabbing his shoulder and giving him a supportive shake. "You did not ruin anything. Yes, sure, she might be mad at you for a while, but I'm positive she will eventually get over it. Both of them will. He's just very protective over his younger sister. You didn't force anything. You gave it a try, and it wasn't a match."

"The thing is," Merry said, sitting up, a slightly sad expression on his face, his eyes glued to his feet. "So far all of my relationships have been like this. At this point, I fear something is wrong with me!"

You shuffled closer, placing your arm around him. He leaned his head on top of yours, as you always had done when providing comfort to each other.

"Nothing is wrong with you, Merry. You just haven't met the right girl yet," you said, squeezing your arm around him tightly. Merry sighed, appearing to not believe a word from your mouth, as he dwelled deep in his guilt. "I mean it. Someone will come along. You'll be at the Green Dragon, and your eyes meet, and you'll know."

"It's just weird, that's all," Merry sighed. "I've had plenty of crushes, all around Buckland too, but when it came to actually something happening, it came to a halt from my side. There's always this empty feeling. It feels like it's wrong, and I can't quite explain it."

Merry's words made you quiet. As you thought of what he said, you related to it more than you had before realized. Most of the Hobbits you had dated were perfect on paper, but when it came down to actually feeling something real with them - it was never there.

"I get it," you finally said after some time, Merry snickering at your response. "No, I mean it, Merry. I hadn't really thought about it like that before, but I think I was miserable because of that exact reason in my previous relationships. Even the latest relationship ended with her crying, and me feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders."

Merry looked at you, eyes widening with surprisement.

"My dear friend, you have just made me feel so much better," he smiled, hugging you tightly. His arms around you were always a source of comfort, and in that moment you felt like you really needed it as well. You wrapped your other arm around him too, squeezing him tightly. You were enjoying the calming effect of the hug, as always. His face was nuzzled comfortably in your neck, his smile pressing against your skin.

"I think you are sometimes too hard on yourself," you said to him as you pulled away from the hug. "There are plenty of Hobbits out there for you. You just have to find the right one."

"I am not as sure about it as I used to be, but I am definitely feeling more confident now!" he stated, voice full of sudden happiness. "Maybe it's the pipe-weed, maybe it's you, or maybe it's both."

You giggled at his joke, realizing then just how calm the smoking had made both of you. Talking about all this stuff with your best friend felt new, refreshing and like it should have happened a long time ago.

You both talked about your past relationships for over an hour, in tears of laughter at the disasters they had all been. Neither of you noticed the passage of time or the cold air anymore, until the effects of Old Toby started to wear off. After that you both agreed that it would be time for both of you to go back for some late luncheon.

On your way back, you were both slightly more quiet and in your thoughts, but relieved as some weight got lifted off your shoulders, knowing you weren't alone with your catastrophic relationship history.

"Did you know that suits you?" Merry suddenly asked, as the two of you were making your way through the Shire, Bag End slowly approaching in the distance.

"What suits me?" you responded, confused. Merry chuckled and picked up a piece of dirt that had somehow clumped its way to your curls on your journey. He flicked it to the ground with his fingers, looking at you with a mischievous grin. "How long has that been there?" you asked him, slightly annoyed.

"Since we got through the cornfield for the first time," Merry said, smirking. "I noticed it, but I thought it would be funny to not say a thing."

"I had dirt in my hair for hours and you said nothing?" you shouted in a playfully furious tone. "Meriadoc Brandybuck!"

"Calm down!" he chuckled and lifted his hands up, as if to surrender. "I just figured you might have thought it suited your style better than a flower behind your ear, but I suppose I was wrong."

"What, the daisy you snuck in my hair when you were calming me down?" you said, eyes narrowing as you looked at him in his blue eyes, which were glowing with mischief and self-satisfaction.

"Ah, you noticed!" Merry laughed whole-heartedly. "I thought it might frame your face nicely. I did not know it would make you upset. My sincerest apologies," he continued with a sarcastic manner, making you giggle.

"What a nice thought," you smirked, scrunching your nose at him. You crossed your arms, now again shivering from the cold spring wind. "When I have a panic attack again, I'll make sure we are surrounded by daisies."

Merry laughed. "Well, let's hope you don't have another panic attack. What if I don't have a daisy on me? More than that, what if you are so smothered by anxiety that I have to whip up a flower crown for you in a matter of seconds?" he exclaimed dramatically, making your giggles louder. His gaze traveled around your face as he talked, clearly looking for signs that his jokes about the dramatic need of flowers at all times were still funny to you.

"In all seriousness," you started, clearing your throat and changing your tone from playful to a more serious one. "It was a nice gesture. I saw it in the mirror later and it cheered me up."

"I figured it might," Merry said, smiling softly, looking at the ground as you walked through the gate of Bag End. "I know it's your favorite flower."

You gave him a tender smile "I am amazed how well you actually know me," you said, entering through the green front door with him.

NEXT CHAPTER

#daisies #merry x reader #merry brandybuck #meriadoc brandybuck #lotr fanfic #lotr fic #the lord of the rings #lord of the rings #pippin took #lotr merry #meriadoc x reader #tolkien #jrrt

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mirrorsblogs · 1 year

Text

𝐁𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐀𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐮

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙩, 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨

Nights were usually cold and unforgiving to you but the heat in your cheeks negated that entirely. There was a loud ringing in your ears preventing you from hearing anything or anyone, that was until a hand shook your shoulder.

“Are you listening?” Atsumu looked worried for a moment.

“Y-yes sorry. What were you saying?” You blinked in surprise at him and moved to grab his hand on your shoulder.

“Would you like to go out with me?” Ah, that was why you were shocked in the first place. What was Atsumu Miya to ask you to go out with him? Not after he jested with you in the hallway not after he ruined the relationship of your best friend and his brother.

“You are arrogant to not realize that I have no interest in you!”

“What are you-” His shocked voice was cut off by your angry one.

“Because of your prejudice, you ruined the happiness of my best friend, and even if you were the last man on Earth I still would never be with you!” With a huff, you walked away from him, leaving him at the back of your mind.

Hell would freeze over the day you ever went out with that chauvinistic bastard.

School the next day was just as it was, your best friend was down in the dumps a bit and avoided both Miya brothers.

“It’s not your fault.” You rubbed your best friend’s, Sakura, back, trying to get her to eat the salad in front of the table. “He’s blind to not see how good of a person you are.”

“I know it’s just that he was so nice to me and got me flowers and did all these things-”

“And none of that means anything if he rejected you. It’s his loss anyways.”

“I hate when you’re right.”

“Then you must hate your life.” You both laughed and she finally started to eat her food while you ate yours quietly.

From across the cafeteria, Atsumu looked longingly at your form until his attention was taken by something Aran was saying. He could fix this or he would die trying. Not literally of course.

“What’re you looking at ‘sumu?” Osamu nudged his brother’s shoulder before taking a bite of his food.

“Nothing. Hey, can I ask why’d you reject Sakura?” Atsumu turned his head to see his brother staring at him quizzically.

“You told me she was only interested because I was in Volleyball Monthly.”

“Maybe I was wrong.” Atsumu shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his food, pushing pieces of lettuce around.

“Oh the great Atsumu Miya admitting to being wrong, will the universe stay intact?”

“Forget it.”

The bell rang loudly signaling the end of lunch, next was chemistry a class you shared with Atsumu, Sakura, and Osamu.

“Today we will be continuing with finishing our lab reports. Continue with the partners you had yesterday.” Everyone nodded but you realized that your lab partner was absent.

“Miss, my partner is absent.”

“So is mine.” You turned behind you to see Atsumu sitting a few tables over and alone at the two-person partner tables.

“Pair up and make sure to cite which sections you did with your original partner and with your new partner.”

You nodded diligently, trying your hardest to keep your inner resentment to yourself. It was not as if you did not just reject and yell at this guy last night.

“My partner and I left off at the reflection questions.”

“Same.”

Both of you kept it professional, only talking if the question required it. Though you declined to address it, the tension between the both of you was thick and anyone around you could sense it. Sakura sat with her partner and gave you pitiful eyes.

Help me, you mouthed towards her. She looked thoughtful for a moment before dragging her finger across some papers and forcing a paper cut on her finger.

“Miss, I got a paper cut. Could I go to the nurse’s office?”

“Yes, pick someone to accompany you.” You thanked whatever higher being for your teacher being a little laid back in times like this.

“Hey, could you escort me to the nurse’s office?”

“Yeah sure. We can finish the rest with our original partners.” You nodded amicably at Atsumu who kept his head on his paper and waved you off.

When you got into the hallway you thanked Sakura endlessly who just laughed at your groveling.

“I thought I was the only one who had a problem with the Miya twins. What happened with you?” Sakura put pressure on the paper cut on her finger causing her to wince slightly. You paused in your step only now realizing you never told her about Atsumu’s confession.

“I yelled at Atsumu last night after he confessed his feelings for me.” Sakura’s eyes widened to saucers and her jaw dropped open.

“You what?!” Her hands dropped and she began shaking your shoulders lightly. “Just because I have a problem with them doesn’t mean you have to!”

“Atsumu was the one who advised Osamu to reject you. If I accepted his feelings that would be some violation of the girl code!”

“Oh my god! Go back to him and accept his proposal!”

“No! I told him he compromised your happiness and that I would never date him!”

“Think about yourself for once! He could have made you happy!”

You ignored her notion and continued to walk towards the nurse’s office. Sakura continued to chatter mindlessly about your stupidity among other things until you arrived at the location.

Sitting outside the office you pondered the basis on which you rejected Atsumu. It had only been a day and yet you were already questioning the validity of your decision. Were you a fool? No, you could never be a fool, especially when rejecting the awful Atsumu Miya.

Sakura emerged from the nurse’s office just as the bell rang and you both made your way back to the class to confirm with your teacher about your absence.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you girls about a volunteering opportunity. As you know I am the advisor for the volleyball team and we are in dire need of help in practice.”

“Volleyball?” Sakura’s voice was small and you could sense the hope of dating Osamu light up in her again.

“I don’t think we could, the practices are long aren’t they?”

“I’ll do it!” Sakura had a wide smile on her face that made you nearly facepalm.

“I know you’re hesitant but if it would help I could offer a recommendation for college in return?” This woman was good at convincing you, she was a nationally recognized chemistry teacher. It would look amazing to get a letter of recommendation from her on your application.

“Thank you. I’ll do it.” You said it with a tight-lipped smile.

You quickly sent a text to your mom about being home late and continued on to your last class of the day, English. Today was a silent work day to finish up any last-minute details on your literary analysis essays.

Silent thanking yourself for finishing and submitting it digitally last night you worked on finishing some of your other homework. You worked diligently until you heard the teacher call your name.

“Could you help Mr. Miya with formatting his works cited page?”

“Yes, I can.” You smiled dutifully and quickly walked to the front of the classroom. Curious eyes followed your figure but you paid them no mind as you leaned over slightly to see what the issue was.

“The indentation keeps getting messed up.”

“I would not recommend doing it by hand, try using a citation generator.” You turned the computer slightly towards you and began to pull up a citation generator.

“Thank you. Sorry for-”

“No problem.” You cut him off before he could finish, knowing full well he was going to apologize for his actions the prior day. You walked away before he could get in another word and walked back to your seat.

Some in the classroom glanced at Atsumu’s regretful face and your face of indifference in wonder. What had transpired between the two of you?

When you showed up to the volleyball practice after school the whispers had spread to teammates of Atsumu. They glanced at you more than once and slowly it started to make you uncomfortable.

“Hey Sakura, do I have anything on my face?”

“No why?”

“Everyone keeps looking at me.” You wiped the side of your face somewhat aggressively.

“That’s because everyone thinks something happened between you and Atsumu.”

Your hand stopped and you rolled your eyes in annoyance. Sakura giggled at your expression and went back to helping to set up cones for a drill.

The players had started their laps which caused you and Sakura to lounge around on the sides. Everything had been set up already so there was no work that needed to be done, now it was the waiting game.

“Who do you think is going to be done first?” Sakura said, while not diverting her attention from the shooter game on her phone.

“My bet’s on Suna. What about you?” Your bored tone seeped through your words as you mindlessly played snake on your phone.

“I’m betting on Atsumu.”

“Don’t feed his ego. He’s got enough arrogance as it is.”

“Girls, can you help pass out towels?” Your teacher called out to you and you both got up and picked up the towel baskets.

In the distance, you could hear heavy footfalls so you prepared to start handing out towels rapid fire. The first person who entered was Osamu.

“Here.” You shoved a towel towards his chest before Sakura could, knowing full well she would use it as an excuse to start chatting with him. He’s not good for her. Not in the slightest.

Sakura stared glumly at your attempt and began to playfully glare at you. Then the next person came, it was Suna. She handed him the towel with a smile and a nod, he thanked her and made his way into the gym.

The third person entered, Atsumu was sweaty and panting but had a large smile on his face. This time Sakura beat you to the punch and shoved a towel into his chest.

“Here.” She took the same tone you had with Osamu and wore an indifferent face. Atsumu nodded in thanks and quickly rushed into the gym to avoid the glares from both you and Sakura.

One by one players trickled in and you both were soon finished handing out towels. The coach had asked you to start the washing process so you both headed toward the laundry room.

“I didn’t think you would get angry at Atsumu.” You glanced at Sakura who was staring straight forward.

“I may disagree with your decision but I’ll always have your back.” She nudged your shoulder and smiled widely at you.

“He’s not good for you, you know?”

“He is, it’s just his brother got in the way that’s all.” Sakura shook her head and pushed open the laundry room door with her back.

“Any man who places someone else’s judgment above his own is a coward.” You plunked down the basket on top of the dryer.

“Who says he’s a man?” Sakura wiggled her eyebrows at you in amusement and you laughed.

“Fine then boys or men.”

“He just trusts his brother like I trust you.” You paused your motions of dumping the towels in the washer.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m always right.” Sakura had a smug smile on her face.

“We both know that’s a lie.”

You both continued the conversation until you made your way back to the gym.

There was a lightness in the air as they just finished up a mock match. Shouts of victory and groans of defeat rang out as you and Sakura helped to clean up the cones from the finished drills on the side.

Atsumu paused his victorious shouts to look at you. Was his judgment of your friend, Sakura, really wrong? He shook his head and got his mind back into practice, now was not the time to be considering this possibility. Osamu stole a quickie glance at Sakura before his head was pulled into a noogie by Aran who ruffled his head.

When practice ended you walked quietly home only to hear loud talking behind you. Just your luck, Atsumu, and Osamu were walking right behind you. Picking up your pace you were unavailable to escape the both of them as Osamu shouted out to you.

“It’s dangerous to walk alone at night!”

“I’m perfectly content.” You gave him the cold shoulder and continued to walk silently.

“We’re going in the same direction anyways, what harm could it do?” Atsumu glanced down at your figure as he walked alongside you.

“Fine.” You were already too tired to fight them and what harm could it do?

All three of you walked silently, a car would pass by every now and then but other than that it was quiet.

“Thank you for helping out at practice.” Osamu smiled lightly at you.

“Your advisor offered volunteer hours who was I to pass it up.” Your cold shoulder made both twins shudder slightly. They shared a look and knowingly they both decided to be silent. Their words could only harm the already fragile relationship they had with you.

Your house came into view and you bid them goodbye quickly. Jamming your key into the front door lock the cries of your mother came into earshot.

“Mom, what happened?”

“Moonshine!” She sobbed. “The window was open. She got out!” Your mother descended into hysterical sobbing and you comforted her the best you could.

“I’ll put up lost and found signs tomorrow. Yeah?”

“Thank you!” Your mother had been emotionally attached to this cat ever since you adopted Moonshine from the shelter. Her reaction, though dramatic, was sincere in every right.

You pulled your computer from your bag and began to format a lost and found poster. Some details, a phone number, and the last thing to decide on was the photo.

“What photo do you want to use?” Your mother attempted to show you but each time she found a picture of Moonshine in the camera roll she descended into tears again. At some point, you gently grabbed the phone and chose a picture that best captured Moonshine.

“There, all done.” The next step was getting your mom to bed as she would be no help in this state. “You should go to bed, Mom.”

“Alright.” She pulled you in for a hug and her arms squeezed you uncomfortably. “Don’t disappear on me too.”

“You know I won’t.” You chuckled lightly at her antics and brought up her up to her bed. The posters were soon printed with whatever was left in the printer and you rushed out the door to start putting up posters.

It was 1 AM when you finished and you drudged back to your home and collapsed into bed. When you woke the next morning not one person had seen the cat so you got ready for school.

School was tiresome as usual but the lack of sleep you had gotten really to you. You found yourself dozing off during lunch which Sakura quickly reprimanded you for.

“Sorry.” You muttered into your wrist as Sakura tried pushing some of your hair back to get a better look at your eyes.

“What happened?” There was a knowing look in her eyes that made you sigh.

“Moonshine went missing.”

“Do you need help looking for her?”

“No, she’ll turn up eventually I just hope it's soon.”

“Yeah so do I.”

Unbeknownst to you behind both of you were the Miya twins who were working towards their table. The wheels in Atsumu’s head started turning as he made one realization: he had to find that cat.

When the bell rang you were grateful to find your lab partner back and you both quickly finished the lab report. Using the time to check your phone for any messages about the cat you failed to notice the occasional glance Atsumu threw your way.

“What are you staring at?” Atsumu coughed a bit in shock at his lab partner catching him.

“N-Nothing.”

“Yeah right.”

He quickly changed the conversation back to the lab report which they were able to finish just before class ended. There was tension in the next class as you realized that seating arrangements had been changed. Everyone stood at the back of the class awaiting instructions.

“Today we will be reviewing an adaption of Pride and Prejudice whilst reading the book. For our next unit, you will write an essay comparing and contrasting the two works.”

Some cheered, many groaned.

“Minato here.” Your teacher points to a desk in the front row. They continued until the table in the very back was the only one left. You dared not look to your side as you realized there was only one person left; Atsumu. “And finally, you both here.”

While you nodded in understanding, your inner consciousness cursed out the teacher for pairing you up with him. The teacher continued the instructions but it seemed Atsumu was more focused on your hand moving gracefully across the page.

“Weirdo.” You whispered under your breath as you caught him staring. He quickly snapped out of it but a small part of you blushed at the fact he was paying you attention so intently.

“The person you are sitting next to you will be your discussion partner so get to know them well.” The bell rang soon after and you rushed to meet with Sakura before volleyball practice.

“You’ll never guess what happened?” You cried into your hands.

“What?” Sakura sat down next to you.

“I got paired up with Atsumu for the next English unit!”

“Oh, I thought it was something more life-changing.” She shoved your head slightly in an effort to get you to understand your dramatics.

“It is life-changing! He is awful and I am going to go to jail for murdering him!”

“He’s not that annoying, get over it and suck it up.” She pulled you up to drag you away to the gym.

“For someone who is supposed to be my best friend you sure are rude.”

“That’s the only way it’ll get through your thick skull.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know this skull is very nimble!”

“Oh yeah let me check.” You tried pushing away Sakura’s hands which were knocking against your head. Eventually, you both dissolved into giggles and finally made your way into the gym.

At this point, you realized that no one told you about the polishing work done on the floor and you promptly fell to the ground.

“Ouch!” Just as Sakura was about to offer her hand, another hand emerged in your line of vision. You grabbed the closest one and it just so happened to be Atsumu’s.

When you got up your eyes connected with his and there was a small moment where you thought of how his hand felt. It was rough but warm, warmer than you thought possible.

Atsumu did the same and indulged himself just for a moment and thought of how your hand felt in his. Your hand was softer but firm, your hold on his hand was strong.

A throat clearing nearby alerted you both to drop your hands and you stepped away, returning to Sakura’s side. The coach called you over to set up some drill and while your back was turned Atsumu stared at his hand.

He turned away and flexed it outward at his side before shaking his head and focusing his mind on the game at hand.

“Start your laps!” Everyone began to run outside, putting on their outside shoes.

You and Sakura took the same positions as last time but instead of Sakura handing Atsumu the towel you did.

“Here.” There was no force or aggression in your voice, it sounded like a small whisper.

“Thanks.” Atsumu bowed his head slightly and went on into the gym.

On the other side, you vaguely watched Sakura bashfully smile at Osamu who was returning it with a smile of his own.

The practice ended a few hours later and you walked home, reluctantly accompanied by the Miya twins. It was silent as before but while your head was turned down towards the sidewalk the twins exchanged glances over your head.

Osamu gestured slightly for Atsumu to make some kind of move but he resigned and looked away. You turned to your street just before Atsumu could say one last thing and waved bye at them.

The door opened with the usual creak but what you found shocked you slightly.

“Oh, honey! Someone came by with Moonshine!” Your mother proceeded to kiss the cat on its back again.

“I didn’t get any messages about the cat. How did-” You put your bag down near the door and walked slowly towards your mother on the couch.

“It was a boy, wanted to remain anonymous he said.” Your mother was too engulfed with Moonshine to fully question the situation but you sure did.

“Who Mom?”

“I don’t know. Oh but he had yellow hair, isn’t that strange?” She giggled slightly before again playing with Moonshine.

“Strange indeed.” You spaced out for a moment. Why did Atsumu Miya of all people have to find this cat? Furthermore, why did he want to be anonymous?

“Dinner’s in the fridge but I promised that boy I would give him some food. You wouldn’t mind dropping it off right?” You smiled at your mother who was cradling Moonshine like a baby. How could you say no to that?

“Fine, but we’re getting a tracker on Moonshine’s collar alright?”

Your mother laughed at your overprotectiveness but nodded. She sat back for a moment before putting Moonshine next to her and continuing some work. You, meanwhile, walked into the kitchen to find freshly cooked lasagna with a sticky note on top with an address.

“Pemberly Street it is.” You sighed at the sticky note before picking the lasagna up and quickly grabbing your bag. A walk would do you good and for returning the cat you did not mind making a small walk.

The wind began to pick up as you walked closer and closer to the address but you paid it no mind. Almost like the universe had it out for you just as you arrived at Pemberley Street rain began to fall hard onto the pavement.

“Son of a-” You ran to the stoop trying your best to shield the lasagna from the rain. Incessantly ringing the doorbell, you waited till someone answered the door.

“Coming!” The voice of Atsumu Miya made your heart pick up in speed more than you would like to admit. “Sorry about the wait…” He trailed off seeing your slightly damp figure.

“My mom sent me to give you this.” You held the lasagna up to him and he looked down at it confusingly. “Thanks for finding my cat.”

Just as you turned to walk away lightning sounded off in the distance and Atsumu grabbed your hand to stop you. You turned and found him looking worriedly at you.

“It’s raining, you can’t walk back.”

“And who are you to decide that?” You dryly replied, eyes glaring directly at him.

“Listen I know-”

“No you don’t-”

“I do!” His shout startled you. “I was wrong. I was wrong to judge you and your friend when I didn’t know anything about the two of you. Ok?” His voice got quieter towards the end as he let the emotions consume him.

“I-” He sighed somewhat annoyed at your lack of response before motioning you to join him inside. You obediently followed him and looked around at his home.

“My parents are out for the night and ‘Samu is at your friend’s house, apologizing profusely.”

“Why? Why is he apologizing now?” You said it quietly while making your way from the main entryway to the living room and then the kitchen.

“I told him to.” You scoffed at him.

“So what he listens to everything you say?” You shook your head and laughed slightly.

“He trusts me. Don’t you have people you trust too?” Atsumu bumped past you to open someone in a nearby cabinet. His words made you truly pause for a long moment.

He was trying to protect his brother right? Just as you would Sakura in any instance.

“You did what you thought was best.” You muttered it so he could not hear it.

“What?” Atsumu turned from the cabinets to you with his eyebrows laced in confusion.

“Nothing. I need to call my mom. Let her know.” You brushed him off quickly to step into another room. Dialing the phone quickly you waited till your mother answered.

“Honey, where are you?”

“I’m at the Miya's, the rain got too bad so I’m staying here for the time being.”

“I’ll pick you up in the morning, I don’t feel comfortable driving in the rain.” You understood her reasoning but it nonetheless infuriated you.

“Fine. Bye.” Your clipped words made your mother sigh on the other end.

“Bye, dear.”

You sighed tiredly and rubbed the bridge between your eyes. Great now this.

“You always talk to your mom like that?” You turned to find Atsumu leaning on the doorway.

“Rarely, only when I’m annoyed.” You crossed your arms over your chest and looked anywhere but at him.

“Good to know.” Atsumu laughed cheekily before he walked towards you and forced your chin gently up with two of his fingers to stare directly into his eyes. It was only now that you fully process the actions of the past few days.

I should hate him. I know I should but I can’t find it within myself to actually hate him.

“What’re you thinking?” Atsumu leaned closer to you, whispering in your eyes. Your cheeks were inflamed just as they were just a few days ago.

“You’re a decent person.” He paused waiting expectantly for your next words. “You did a horrible thing but I was mean too wasn’t I?”

“You cared about your friend like I did my idiot brother.” He pushed a strand of your hair from your face. “Besides, their probably confessing their feelings right now.”

“Oh.” You stepped back slightly and pushed him slightly away. Somehow this all felt very sudden, so soon, so now?

“What?” Atsumu’s eyes darted around you as you stepped back.

“This is all very sudden with everything. And I don’t think I like you.” That was a blatant lie that even Atsumu can read.

“That’s a lie and you and I both know it. Why can’t you just admit your feelings for me?”

“That is mighty presumptuous of you!” You gulped and took a step back making contact with a wall.

“It’s not. Not when I see you blush anytime I’m near you. Or when I hold hands with you and you lean in. So why can’t you just admit you have feelings for me?”

“I can’t! Because admitting that I like you means that I was wrong!”

“Why? Why can’t you be wrong? Just this once?”

“I don’t- I don’t know. I just can’t explain how my heart beats faster when I think about you or when my stomach feels like it's about to explode when I make eye contact with you. I don’t know!”

“You have consumed my every thought, you have bewitched my mind and I like you for god's sake!” The conviction in his voice made everything fit together, the feelings, the sensations, the everything!

“I like you.” You whispered it before taking a few steps forwards toward Atsumu. “I like you.” You grabbed his face in your hands. “I like you.”

“I like you.” He laughed slightly before finally pulling you into a kiss. The yelling beforehand faded into the past as the both of you became consumed with one another. Eventually breaking apart you stared, dazed, up at Atsumu.

“Wanna go on a date?” He scoffed slightly and laughed.

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

#atsumu miya x reader #atsumu miya #miya #atsumu #atsumu miya x you #atsumu miya x yn #atsumu x reader #atsumu x you #atsumu x yn #haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu x yn #hq #hq x reader #hq x you #hq x yn #inspired by pride and prejudice #written in one night

63 notes · View notes

invisibleraven · 11 months

Note

Friday!! ❤️❤️❤️

"You're unbelievably cute when you're tired" for Rulie?

Reggie dragged himself into the apartment, feeling bone tired and worn down beyond belief. It had been a long, soul sucking day at the office, and he frankly didn't think tomorrow would be much better.

But he passed the family portrait in the hallway, touching it reverently, smiling at his girls. "It's worth it for you," he whispered.

Speaking of his girls, where were they? The house was eerily quiet. "Julie? Luna boo?"

Nothing.

He searched around, finally finding a note on the counter: Mi amor, we're gone out for a playdate with Isla, be back by dinnertime, there's spaghetti in the fridge if you get too hungry. xo J

Reggie groaned a little, knowing that a play date with Isla meant Alex and Willie would definitely ask Julie to stay for dinner, leaving Reggie quite alone. But maybe it was for the best, he was so exhausted, he knew he wouldn't be good company. Even if he really wanted a kiss from is wife and a big hug from their daughter more than anything right now.

He stripped out of his uncomfortable suit, sighing as he slipped into his jammie pants, and grabbed Julie's favourite yellow sweatshirt, inhaling the last remnants of her flowery perfume from it. It wasn't a hug, but it would have to do. He warmed up the food, eating it while some mindless home improvement show played n the television.

But as Reggie put his dishes away, he could feel his eyelids drooping. He leaned back on the couch, finding some action movie or another with lots of car chases and explosions in an effort to stay awake.

He was asleep before the opening credits even finished.

Julie hummed as she slipped into the house, smiling at Luna in her arms. "Do you think daddy is home yet?"

"Daddy?" the girl questioned, looking around, as if it would make Reggie magically appear. Then she spotted him, fast asleep on the couch. "Daddy!"

Luna wiggled out of Julie's arms, taking off and leaping onto Reggie who awoke with a blown out grunt, but smiled up at his precious treasure. "Hey baby girl, you have fun with Isla?"

"Yesh!" Luna said, bouncing on his stomach. "And we had grilled cheeses with Unca Lex and Willie!"

"Sounds delicious," Reggie replied, trying not to grimace as Luna narrowly avoided landing her knees in a delicate area of his anatomy.

"All right you menace," Julie said, scooping the girl up. "It's almost bedtime, so why don't you go get your jammers on and pick out a story? We'll be up soon."

"Okay mami!" Luna called, racing up the stairs.

Julie sat on the edge of the couch, running her fingers through Reggie's hair. "Long day?"

"Mmmhmm," he purred, nuzzling into Julie's palm. "Better now that you're home." He punctuated this with a yawn, blinking up at her sleepily.

"You're unbelievably cute when you're tired," she said with a smile.

"You are," he retorted, then puckered his lips. "Kiss?"

"Always," Julie replied, leaning down and giving him a saucy kiss that woke him right up, and made him really want to pull her down onto the couch with him.

"Daddy!" Luna bellowed. "Story!"

Reggie and Julie broke their kiss, grinning at one another as Reggie shook his head. "Duty calls I suppose."

"Go get her to bed and then we can crawl into ours. I feel like an early night too," Julie said.

"To sleep?" Reggie clarified.

"Nope," Julie said, popping the p. "But I bet I can find a way to tire you out even further. I'll even do all the work."

Reggie growled and rushed off up the stairs, praying Luna would fall asleep fast. Because he suddenly wasn't tired anymore, and knew just what to do with that second wind.

Of course, an hour later, sprawling out under Julie's sweaty, sated body, that was another case entirely. And that night? Reggie slept like a baby.

#filled prompts #ficlet #rulie #julie and the phantoms

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beantothemax · 8 months

Note

Everyone was shocked that Argus' parents had accepted him again, even them. After he saved Galatea from the horrible fate of being a semi aquatic goat forever, they decided he was worth giving a second chance. That second chance was the best decision they'd ever made and he started visiting regularly.

During another stop in Saintsbridge, Argus and Galatea left to see their parents. Claudia knew not what to do. Instinctively, she started looking for the library but felt a hand on her arm.

"Why don't you come with us to see our parents? I think they'd love to meet you after you helped Galatea," Argus smiled.

Claudia's brows furrowed as she thought.

"But it's family dinner, I wouldn't want to intrude," she replied.

"You're my best friend and again, you helped Galatea, you're basically family," he insisted.

She wanted to argue but gave in, smiling as he dragged her to his childhood home.

When they knocked on the door, a gray haired woman answered. A smile lit up her face as she ushered them all inside.

"You must be Claudia! Argus and Galatea have said wonderful things about you!" she beamed, "I'm Helen, but you can just call me Mrs. Xiphias."

As she removed her capelet, Claudia cocked and eyebrow at Mrs. Xiphias' words, "Argus and Galatea talk about me?"

"Oh yes, all the time! They say you're an amazing apothecary, always helpful and funny," Mrs. Xiphias smiled.

"Ma, I told you not to say that!" Argus hissed, his cheeks turning red.

"Why not?"

Argus only sighed, deciding to give it a rest. Now was not the time for an argument.

They all sat on the living room couches as Mr. Xiphias worked on dinner. They talked and laughed over tea. Everything but that conversation melted away and Claudia laughed with them.

Argus had begun recounting the story of a difficult crossword. Between his talent for misreading and Claudia's lack of experience with the Osterran alphabet, neither of them could figure it out. For longer than necessary they pored over it, until they finally showed it to Galatea.

"You couldn't figure it out either, don't act you're better than us!" Claudia laughed.

"Ok fine, we had to get help for that one," Galatea admitted.

Mr. Xiphias came to say dinner was done and they all sat to eat. Argus and Galatea all but drooled at the platters and bowls on the table. Roasted potatoes, souvlaki, pita bread, all sorts of things Argus and Galatea had adored as kids.

"I thought I'd make something special, since you don't visit everyday," Mr. Xiphias smiled.

"This is awesome, thanks dad!" Galatea smiled as she sat.

Claudia sat beside Argus and only muttered a thanks when he piled food on her plate. She silently listened as they all talked.

Galatea spoke fondly of her childhood while Argus made dark jokes about his own. What his parents had done hurt him almost beyond repair, but it was in the past. They'd apologized and been forgiven and could laugh about it now.

"What about you, Claudia? What was your childhood like?" Mr. Xiphias prompted.

That dreaded question. Of everything he could ask, why that? Her childhood was by no means bad, but being forced to recount it when everyone in it was so far away....

She shook her head and spoke just louder than a whisper, "I don't wanna talk about it."

After some moments of awkward silence, they returned to their previous conversation. Argus would occasionally spare her a glance. She stared at the table, eyes becoming watery. He put a careful hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want to leave?" he whispered.

And she nodded.

"I'm just gonna show Claudia where the guest room is," he stood.

Claudia followed close behind as he lead her up a set of stairs to the last room down the hallway.

Opening the door, she saw how barren it was. It had none of the personal decor one would expect from a bedroom, but still felt distinctly Xiphias. The furniture was clearly made by Mr. Xiphias or his parents, as he happily spoke of his family's wood working techniques.

Still, it was nice. She set her travel bags down on the floor. Argus stayed, his eyes following her hands as she unlaced her boots and set them aside.

"Do you wanna talk about before?" he asked.

"There's not much to say," Claudia muttered, "I just miss my parents."

He wracked his brain for any idea of what could be wrong with them. If they were dead, ill, had gone missing... But he turned up a blank. She'd never once spoken of them beyond "my mother taught me this," or "I look more like my dad"

"Can I ask why?"

Claudia finally looked up at him, directly in the eyes. She looked like she'd cry any second now.

"They're five thousand kilometers east in a continent that Osterrans hardly know of," she mumbled.

"...Solistia?" Argus questioned.

"Yes. I haven't seen them in two and a half years and I'll lose my mind if I have to go another day without them."

The tears had been trickling down her face and she made fruitless attempts to wipe them away. They poured as her crying turned to sobbing.

All Argus knew to do was hug her. He'd never been good with emotions, especially not others'.

"I'm sorry, Dee," he whispered.

"It's fine, it's not like you can do anything about it," she cried.

"I can!" he said cheerfully, "you're my friend, I'm sure Julian's crew would be more than happy to take you home."

"But there's a monster that capsizes ships," she argued.

"We'll kill it. Julian knows his way around magic and can command and entire crew, not to mention that you yourself saw what Galatea and I did to that shapeshifting bastard," he laughed.

She couldn't help but smile at his words. He really was one of the sweetest people she knew.

He held her for several more minutes till she'd stopped crying.

"I'll check on you again after dinner, and we can talk about how to kill that monster," he smiled.

"Of course, sounds good," Claudia agreed.

He left, shutting the door behind him.

Only some seconds passed before the tears returned. She sobbed into the pillow, thinking only of her parents. For over two years, they had to worry because she was too arrogant and wanted to see what remained of Frigit Isle.

It was possible they didn't even think she was alive. She just wanted to hug them. Tell them she was okay and had grown up.

pie. pie where do I even start with this

claudia tearing up at dinner table after argus and galatea’s parents ask about her childhood… argus not knowing what else to do to comfort her besides hugging her…

I’m not sure why but. there’s just something about your oc fics. they get to me. I wish I could word this in a better way but. they just… really resonate with me. Claudia’s story with her just wanting to see her parents again really just hits me right in the heart. you just do a really good job of making me sympathize with her… she needs so many hugs. the part where she just breaks down after argus leaves the room hurt my heart a little.

this is really really good and I hope you make more of these! claudia is very important to me and I love her story so far

#asks #pie-knight #inbox fic

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whats-wild-to-you · 1 year

Text

Abandoned (Jay Park AU)

- Escape Route -

“And this is the kitchen. If you want something to eat just request the chef to prepare you something. He can make literally anything!”

“Jay mentioned 30 people live here, but we didn’t come across a single soul.”

“They’re all busy most of the time.”

Jun-Seo stated, but didn’t convince Sophia. While it was his idea to bring Sophia here, the thought of one woman among 30 men now left him feeling queasy. He figured Jay would protect her, like Jinyoung wanted, but Jay wouldn’t always be around.

“On second thought, maybe you could text him and he could bring you your food up to your room. Have you set up your new phone yet?”

Sophia nodded, showing him the phone in her hand.

“Great. I’ll give you the chef’s number so whatever request you have, you can just text him.”

Jun-Seo continued the tour and then accompanied Sophia back to her room. She frowned when Jun-Seo told her to text him if she needed something.

“Yes! I need some human interaction!”

Sophia cried out when Jun-Seo closed the door. She felt like a prisoner, trapped and unable to go anywhere. Then it dawned on her. 30 people lived here, presumably all male. And it was strange how the staff, from the cleaning crew all the way to the in-house chef were all male as well. Surely this was no coincidence. Sophia wanted to ask Jun-Seo about it but chose to wait until she saw him rather than texting him.

“And where the fuck is Jay?”

She continued lamenting to the empty room. He had promised her answers, but so far all he did was avoiding her. She checked the time. It was close to midnight. She wondered how much longer Jay would be gone. Even though she knew nothing about him, she instinctively wanted to stick by him. She also deserved answers and she wouldn’t sit still until she got them. Deciding to wait by the door, she left it ajar, peeking through the small crack, ready to pounce at him the minute he emerged.

But Jay was nowhere to be seen. Sophia checked the time again. Now it was close to 2am and she could barely keep her eyes open. The next thing she remembered is how a loud noise jolted her out of her sleep. She was still leaning against the door and pushed herself off, waddling towards Jay’s room.

Knocking on his door she waited for him to open, and knocked louder when he didn’t.

“I know you’re in there! Open the door, I need to talk to you!”

“Go to your room!”

Jay shouted, but the impact of his voice was muffled by the thick door. Sophia officially had enough. She sat back and waited for much longer than she would in any other situation. Finally she decided to take matters into her own hands. She would treat Jay like she treated those uncooperative patients in the hospital. She would simply barge in and get her way.

“You know I’ve been patient, but I’m starting to think you’re taking advantage of that and are intentionally keeping me in the dark!”

She snapped as she forced her entry into Jay’s room. Too late she realized he stood there in nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Sorry.”

She quickly turned around, but refused to leave. She deserved answers and she was going to get them.

“Put on some clothes so we can talk.”

“I don’t want to! I want to sleep!”

Sophia scoffed. Jay sounded like a huge baby.

“I did not let you drag me halfway across the globe for you to act like this and treat me like a nuisance. I have questions. You have the answers. Now put on some goddamn pants!”

There was a knock on the door and Jun-Seo entered Jay’s room, driven by the commotion that was audible even in the hallway.

“Is there a problem?”

“Did he put his pants on?”

Sophia asked Jun-Seo, since she had her back still turned towards Jay. Jun-Seo peeked past her, catching a glimpse of Jay who was huffing and puffing. So, he was the new boss for a hot minute but still Sophia should know better and show some respect.

“Why don’t I answer your questions! Jay had a really tough day. I don’t think he’d be of much help.”

He cautiously reached out his hand, guiding Sophia out of Jay’s room, shooting Jay a pleading look as he closed the door.

Back in her room, he sat down on the couch, fiddling with his hands on his lap. Sophia had seen him do this before and wondered why he was so jumpy in front of her. After exhaling a strained breath, he began talking.

“I don’t know how to say this so bear with me. Since Jinyoung is dead, there has to be a new boss. Jinyoung specifically asked Jay to take over, so he’s the boss now. And while you’re Jinyoung’s daughter, no one besides Jay and myself know about it, so in people's minds you’re committing a cardinal sin talking to Jay like this.”

“What people? I’ve been here for hours and I haven’t seen anyone!”

“I heard you, and I was in a different part of the mansion. All I’m saying is you should try to fit in a little better.”

“Listen to me, I’m not trying to fit in anywhere. I was brought here for one specific reason. I’d like to know what the reason is, how I can be of assistance, help out, and then get the fuck out of here!”

“It takes time, we can’t rush this.”

“How long?”

“I can’t tell. But in the meantime, while you’re here, you need to adhere to certain rules.”

“What’s your plan?”

“Jay could prob-”

“You saw him, he doesn’t talk to me. It’ll have to be you.”

“No one knows you exist. We can’t just introduce you as Jinyoung’s daughter. No one would believe us.”

“Who are these people you have to introduce me to?”

“Other families. Jay needs their support.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s not Jinyoung’s son, and he’s having a hard time getting accepted as his successor. Jinyoung knew this would happen all along, so he was preparing for it.”

“How?”

“Well, he kept track of where you were, he compiled all the information for Jay and once he passed away Jay accessed it and came to find you.”

“Because he needs me to be accepted as the new boss. I’m his connection to Jinyoung.”

“Yes!”

Jun-Seo said enthusiastically, thinking Sophia accepted the situation.

“No!”

“What?”

“I’m sorry! I can’t do it. I don’t want to.”

“Jay will be by your side, you don’t have to worry!”

Sophia took a deep breath, slumping down on the couch.

“When I first met Jay, he said he knew my father, to which I replied that I didn’t have a father. That’s nonsense, right? Everyone has a father. Jay used these exact same words. The truth is I was never really curious about my father, I never craved to meet him, talk to him. As a teenager, whenever Jinyoung would visit my mom, I would have this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I somehow knew my mom was lying about his identity, and that he very well could be my father. And that thought scared me, because Jinyoung to me was a scary man. He would come with two men, but they always waited outside, no matter the season. I often asked myself why he needed escorts, and I often tried to ask my mom about him but she always changed the subject.”

“I’m sorry. I know its a lot to ask bu-”

“So he just assumed I would play along? Like he was that sure about it? How? He didn’t know me!”

“He was hoping Jay could persuade you.”

“Yeah … that’s not going to happen! If you brought me here for this, I suggest you get me a ticket back home ASAP!”

Defeated, Jun-Seo searched for words to change Sophia’s mind, but knew it was a lost cause. At least for tonight he would let her be, and revisit the topic tomorrow.

“Okay. I’ll talk to Jay tomorrow. But please stay here for the night. You must be exhausted.”

Jun-Seo lied through his teeth, and knew he needed to talk to Jay immediately.

“Fine, but I want results in the morning!”

Jun-Seo nodded and bid her goodnight. But he didn’t go far. When he turned the corner, he pulled his phone out, sending Jay a text.

Meet me in the garden in 15. Very important.

He made his way to the garden, waiting for Jay, trying to come up with a solution for their current predicament. Jay appeared 15 minutes later, visibly irritated.

“What?”

“We have a problem. Sophia wants to leave.”

“What?!”

“I told her why she was here and she refused to play along.”

“Why did you do this?”

“Because you wouldn’t. You kept brushing her off!”

Jun-Seo stated to his defense, and watched as Jay rubbed the back of his neck.

“I know, we’re unprepared for this, Jinyoung clearly didn’t think this through. He just assumed you could persuade Sophia. But it turns out it might be tougher than expected.”

“And what do we do now? What are our options?”

“No one knows about her, so getting her out of the country would be no problem, BUT since people started snooping around in Seattle she might have unwanted visitors should she go back alone.”

“So it would be best to keep her here. For her own safety!”

“Looks like it. Do you want me to go talk to her?”

“No, I’ll do it!”

Jay shook his head, leaving the older male behind. But he was right. Jinyoung didn’t think this through. And neither did Jay. Desperate to fulfill a dying man’s last wish, he agreed to everything without weighing the consequences. Sophia probably wouldn’t accept her fate but at this point she had no other choice. With a sorrowful demeanor he knocked at her door, waiting for her okay to enter.

When she didn’t respond, he assumed she might have fallen asleep and knocked at her door a little louder. Still nothing. Pushing the handle down, he slowly opened the door, peeking in. He couldn’t see anything at first so he opened the door a little wider. Suddenly a cold gust of wind hit him and he yanked the door wide open, finding the window by the bed open.

“Oh hell no!”

***

- Family Dinner -

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hijack711 · 3 months

Text

CHAPTER 4:

Tag(s): fluff, story building, daily life, wholesome moments

Another new day came, and the rays of sunlight gradually crept into every corner they could. Even though he wasn't bothered by the alarm, Rehn still woke up relatively early, stretched his arms to pick up the phone, and the time displayed was 05:50. Rehn himself was surprised by this. Looking to the side, Rehn smiled and stroked the hair of the girl he loved. Her lips were somewhat pursed for sleeping sideways, making Rehn always feel like she was a little child. Getting out of bed, Rehn pulled the blanket over Rosé before heading to the kitchen to conduct his morning ritual.

All 6 members of Unity loved the scent and bitter taste of coffee, and 3 of them had a certain level of passion for this drink, so on the long marble kitchen countertop placed several tools and machines for coffee making such as a moka pot, an espresso machine, a manual espresso maker, and Rehn's personal favorite, the phin filter, his homeland signature coffee brewing tool.

Rehn put the coffee in the filter and poured in a little bit of boiling water just enough for the coffee to bloom, expand, and set, then added another round of it. Feeling craving for a breakfast dish with eggs, Rehn decided to make scrambled eggs, served with tater tots made from last night's grated potatoes.

It was 6:50 a.m., and Rehn heard something coming from upstairs, where the door to the room at the end of the hallway opened and closed. Rehn immediately knew that Rosé was awake. Walking towards her boyfriend, Rosé instantly hugged him.

“Jesus Christ, don't bite me! Go over there and clean your mouth, babe.” - Rehn

“Okayyyy.” - Rosé dragged her feet lazily toward the sink

“I wonder what dish you would like to eat?” - Rehn

“A bowl of pho with a glass of iced milk coffee, honey.” - Rosé

“Sorry, babe. Remember? Drink less caffeinated drinks, babe, or I can make you a glass of fruit punch.” - Rehn

“Oh okay.” - Rosé

While waiting for her boyfriend to make breakfast, Rosé kept staring at Rehn with her eyes half open while sitting at the kitchen island.

“Don't stare at me like that, I can't concentrate, hahaha.” - Rehn burst out laughing when he heard Rosé said

“How did you know that? Oh, and the last few times too.” - Rosé

“Rosie, babe, it's been two months since we went on a date night, guess where I'll take you to eat tonight.” - Rehn

“Hmmm, is it the bulgogi restaurant where we took your parents to?” - Rosé

“Okay, it's decided, thank you.” - Rehn

“Huhhh? What was that? Confused unga.” - Rosé

“Learning from my own experience every time I ask you where to eat, I finally came to a conclusion that I'll just let you decide, it'll be quicker.” - Rehn

…

About an hour later, Ivy and Damian arrived at the kitchen area.

“Seriously, do you intend to live here rent-free?” - Ivy

“You've only been here three days but you've almost demolished all the food in our refrigerator, Chaeyoung noona. Every damn time we suffer from food shortages, it is mainly because of you.” - Damian

“Why is everyone in this house so mean to me? Okay, if that's the case then I'll call your parents so they can lecture you again, honey." - Rosé

“Da fuq? They called you that and now I'm at fault. What in the f*cking logic is this?” - Rehn

“That's because you're the leader of the group and also considered the head of the family, so you better be prepared for your parents to give you another whoop in your pretty bum, honey. By the way, I do like your butt.” - Rosé winked

“Eww, gross, go show your feelings elsewhere, go back to your room.” - Ivy and Damian

A few minutes passed, and the four people's conversation gradually became more lively. Due to the loudness of the conversation, and the volume of the chat still showed no signs of decreasing, it woke up the remaining three members of Unity and they undeniably displayed signs of dissatisfaction.

“Why is it so noisy? I was having a great sleep!” - Sirene

“Oh, you're not leaving yet, unnie, why are you here for so long?” - Yuki

“Watch your mouth, you little shit … There, your coffee.” - Ivy

“Thank you.”- Baekgi

“So, what have you been talking about just now? I vaguely heard you guys say something about food.” - Sirene

“Well, I was going to invite my girls to come here for a feast or we could go to a restaurant this weekend, it's been a while since our two groups went out together.” - Rosé

“So noona, what are we going to eat?” - Baekgi

“It could be seafood or grilled food, I'm still wondering which one to choose.” - Rosé

“Or we can go eat yakitori, I know a place.” - Rehn

“Ah, I remember that restaurant.” - Ivy

“By the way, unnie, how was the checkup?” - Yuki

“It was good, the doctor just told me to pay attention to my diet and get more rest.” - Rosé

While Rosé was chatting with the four members of Unity, Rehn stood at the side and smiled, watching his girlfriend have fun and relaxing moments after a long period of tiring work, which was nothing good for Rosé's health, especially for her current physical and mental condition. Noticing that her younger brother was dumbfounded looking at someone she knew, Ivy nudged his shoulder slightly, she smiled proudly at Rehn.

“It was a bit risky, little brother, but you managed to pull it off, such a man you are.” - Ivy

“I just did everything I could, we didn't even plan for it, even if we did it would have been much later in our lives. Thank you for backing me up, sis!” - Rehn

“When you told me the news, I was so worried, but then I remembered that you spent most of your childhood in America with the guys from the hood, you even beat them at their own game, so I was relieved, glad that I was right.” - Ivy

…

It was a quarter to eleven, a black coupé was speeding towards a designated place, the car took one last turn and then drove straight into the parking lot. The suicide doors opened and stepped out of the car were Rehn and Rosé. The two then held hands and walked into the elevator to go to Rosé's apartment which she shared with Lisa. Walking up to the door, Rosé had to do what she always found a bit annoying which was unlock it and it had two layers of security.

“Lisa, I brought food home.” - Rosé

“Oh, you're back. Ah, oppa, hiiii. You go girl, you have a boyfriend so there is no need to care about your sisters, right? Well, it is obvious when you are in love. Back then, she always said "Single life is so fun, it's just the four of us.", but now she mercilessly pushes us aside." - Lisa

“Honey, let's go, leave her be.” - Rosé

“No no no, I'm sorry, it was just a joke, did you have to take it the hard way.” - Lisa

“I've always been curious why you're always single but now I know, it seems like your communication skills are not on par with your dancing ones, Lisa.” - Rosé

“Ouch, sis, that's hurt. Oppa, did you hear what your girlfriend said? Being in a relationship with oppa, your sarcasm is getting better and better.” - Lisa

“Okay, stop teasing each other. No offense, Lily, you are good with your words, you have a sexy brain and a great sense of humor, but you often carry your jokes too far. You have your own beauty, Lily, just continue to nurture your beauty and improve what needs to be improved.” - Rehn

Because Rehn was in the kitchen and was busy arranging the food containers neatly, he didn't know that Lisa's eyes were wide open and surprised by what he said.

“Ah… uhmm… thank you oppa.” - Lisa shyly answered with a blush on her cheeks

“Awww, Hank, sweetie, are you doing good with Aunty Lisa? Come to mommy.” - Rosé

Upon hearing noises in his territory, Hank woke up and had a look around the apartment. Hank heard his mother call his name but decided to do a feint and rushed towards his dad.

“What the???” - Rosé

“Hahahaha, kekeke.” - Lisa and Rehn burst out laughing at the expression on Rosé's face

“Hank, you love your daddy more than me?” - Rosé was in disbelief

Suddenly the doorbell rang, attracting everyone's attention. Looking at the indoor monitor screen, Rosé saw that it was Jisoo so she quickly opened the door for her sister.

“Hi unnie.” - Rosé

“Oh, you're back, I thought you were still at oppa's place.” Jisoo

“Oh oppa, hiiiii, do you need any help?” Jisoo was in a great mood today and it was even better when she saw the jokester of Unity.

“Hi Chichi, ah, thank you but I'm okay. We brought you girls’ favorite dishes.” - Rehn

“Thanks, oppa!” - Jisoo

“Well, that's a bummer.” - Lisa

“What is it?” - Rosé

“Jennie just finished her pottery class but couldn't find a cab due to the traffic jam.” - Lisa

“Was it the pottery class you girls told us when our two groups went to the pizza place near it?” - Rehn

“Yeah yeah, that’s the one, oppa.” Lisa

“Honey, can you go pick her up? How long will it take, 20 minutes?” Rosé

“Are you underestimating my driving skills, you amateur?” - Rehn asked in a playful tone while doing the pointing pose of Jotaro

“Pfftttt, hahaha, what the heck, oppa?” The girls laughed

“Hahaha, stop fooling around, you comedian.” - Rosé

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” - Rehn

…

Standing on the sidewalk watching countless vehicles jostling and competing to move forward, Jennie felt unlucky to have chosen today to go to the pottery class. KakaoTalk's notification bell rang, it was a message from Rosé telling Jennie that Rehn was on his way to pick her up. The displayed time showed that Rosé's message was sent 10 minutes ago. Before Jennie could reply, she heard someone calling.

“Yen-ah. Hop in.” - Rehn

Jennie did not respond but just smiled exposing her mandu cheeks and hopped in the car.

“Pfftt, heeheehee, oppa, what’s up with your hair? It's a mess.” - Jennie

“Well, apparently, Jisoo can handle the spiciness better than my jokes, and because of that, she gave me one hell of a smash.” - Rehn

“Hahahaha, wait, she “smashed” you?” - Jennie teasingly asked

“Yeah, ……, wait, no, not that kind of smash.” - Rehn tried to save his life after realizing what he just said

“Ohhh, someone doesn’t think before they talk, yet you dared to tell me to mind my words, hmmm.” - Jennie

“Ok, thanks for reminding me, and let me clarify, Jisoo only gave me a few blows to the head.” - Rehn

“Huhh? She gave you head? Hahahaha.” - Jennie

“Wait, fuck, NO, Kim fucking Jennie, you seem to love wordplay, huh? What got into you today?” - Rehn

“Hahahaha.” - Jennie

Rehn couldn’t help but laugh with Jennie at his own mistakes. The jokester was in disbelief that Jennie had given him a taste of his own medicine. Rehn wasn’t even mad but joyful at Jennie’s friendly retaliation, he was relieved that Jennie was back to her happy self after all the drama.

“You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?” Rehn

“Hahaha, and also, oppa, I know you have a good sense of fashion but THESE?!!” - Jennie

“You are specialized in roasted foods, right, because you are doing a very good job at roasting me.” - Rehn

I was kinda out of words to describe the sound of Jennie’s laugh at this point so the best I could come up with was Jennie laughed out loud and then wheezed as she started to slide out of her seat.

“Whoa whoa whoa, girl, get a hold of yourself.” - Rehn

“One thing for sure is you’re starting to adopt some of mine antics.” - Rehn

“I think I’m kinda becoming more like you, oppa.” - Jennie smilingly said

“Yeah, you’re becoming more like me.” - Rehn

The laughter of the two was gradually replaced by a pause of silence as Rehn needed to concentrate to weave through the traffic. Noticing that they were no longer caught in a traffic jam, Jennie asked.

“Oppa, are you free tonight?” - Jennie

“Oh, sorry Yen, Imma take Rosé out for a date tonight.” - Rehn

“Oh, you don’t have to be sorry, oppa. It’s just that our group is about to get back to work so I was kinda hoping to hang out with you … anddd your group.” - Jennie breathed a sigh of relief

“Well, no need to worry about that, we still have many opportunities, you just need to set the date.” - Rehn assured her

��Okay, oppa.” - Jennie

…

Returning to the apartment she shared with Jisoo, Jennie left her belongings there and accompanied Rehn to the apartment of Lisa and Rosé which was right next to theirs.

"Hi, Girls." - Jennie

"Wow, that was fast, oppa." - Lisa

"Next time, when we need to order deliver, I'll call you, oppa" Jisoo

"Then I'll make sure to charge you triple." Rehn

“Honey, come, have some lunch. Jennie unnie, here’s the plate, come on, dig in, oppa made a lot. ” - Rosé

After the lunch ended, Lisa and Jisoo went to the room leaving a poor Jennie to clean the table while Rosé and Rehn had to wash the dishes. Jennie looked towards the two of them and then shifted her eyes to Rehn.

"Wish I could have more opportunities like you said, oppa." - Jennie thought to herself

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#fluff #kpop #character building #blackpink #blackpink rosé

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ourmotherthemountainfic · 9 months

Text

3. Records

RE8 | Wintersberg | Romance | Action, Sci-Fi

This is the third book in the series. Book One | Book Two

Full Chapter List

Ethan’s plan to drag Eva along to the castle was thwarted by the large number of people that had arrived. In the ballroom, chairs and tables were hastily dragged out to make an eating space for everyone. The autumn sun set quickly these days, and before he knew it, the sky was grey. He apologetically exited the lively room while the others entertained; Ethan half-dragged both of the children toward their bedroom. They were still excited about the party and had no desire to leave. Fully entering Dad mode, Ethan chided them down the hallway. Both girls were in a now-shared suite on the first floor that he’d effectively child-proofed.

After toothbrushing and pajamas, they continued to prolong the inevitable by asking for a story. Ethan obliged; the favorite part of his evening was now laying in the large bed intended for Eveline (but Rose more or less always ended up there too) and sharing one of the classic storybooks from Karl’s family library. The children’s books were mostly in German, but they were beautifully illustrated, and Ethan could fumble his way through the tales, more or less. Tonight’s story was Hansel and Grethel.

A story about a witch who ate children lulled Rosemary to sleep without a hitch, but Evie looked perturbed after the book was closed. Ethan glanced at her with raised eyebrows. She exhaled, and then pulled the blanket up to her chin.

“Do you ever feel like just a piece of a person? Like the rest of you is lost and you’re gonna get lost again and again. Like them, in the forest, without the breadcrumb trail.”

“All the time,” Ethan said casually, and then he frowned at how dark the conversation was. He turned toward the child and propped himself up on one elbow, his temple pressed against his palm. “What’s on your mind?”

“I just hate…remembering what happened. I still feel like I am a fake at having a family. I wonder if you hate me. I feel like a freak.”

He paused to consider this. “It takes a long time to feel like other people are family. I definitely don’t hate you, Evie. I’ve been thinking about all of this for years now. You were not taken care of like you should have been, that’s not your fault. We both went through a horrible time, so did the Bakers, and other people. It should have never happened, but that doesn’t make it the fault of a child.” He shrugged.

“Now we just have to work on rebuilding, because we were lucky enough to get the chance. I know it’ll take lots of time, but I think those sad feelings will fade when you have more time spent in a safe place. Things like that, adjusting–even when it’s a good adjustment, it takes a long time.”

“Do you feel safe?”

Another pause. “Mostly. When I don’t, that’s okay too. I’m sure I’ll feel safer after time goes by…and after we deal with Miranda.” They shared a rather macabre smirk, with hers hidden under the blanket. “As far as feeling like a freak…well, we’re all freaks here, I guess.” He tried not to chuckle, but her unimpressed stare caused him to slip.

“I thought you brought me back just for my powers.”

“Absolutely not,” Ethan almost cut her off, shaking his head from his awkward position. “I appreciate that you helped us when you came back. That was kind of you. We really needed the help. But I meant what I told you before–I don’t intend to use you like a weapon any more than I would use Rose as a weapon. Rose has helped before too, but I want you two to stay out of it as much as possible.”

This seemed to soothe her, and she drew the blanket up even further, her eyes trailing around the room, lids finally flickering heavily. So much like Mia’s. Ethan watched her silently. She had one more burning question, apparently. “So, it takes time to feel safe….If that’s true, why are you so mad at Heisenberg for not talking about things with you?”

“You uh, heard that, huh?” he said, his ears reddening.

She shook her head. “No, I can sense things, sometimes, like feelings. The more I’m here, the less it happens. But I noticed it today. You feel mad at him and he feels scared, really scared.”

“That’s surprising. He never really acts scared.”

“He learned not to. The same way I learned not to. Sometimes it’s not safe to act scared.” With this, her eyes finally closed, and Ethan realized he’d been stroking her hair without realizing it.

—--------------

Ethan felt strange as he crossed where the river passed in front of the castle. Since Karl’s re-routing of the river earlier in the year, the once-rapid and rocky creek had turned into a shallow pond, inches deep and perhaps ten feet wide. It made a beautiful, if eerie, reflection of the large gate in its mirror-like surface, and Ethan frowned as he crossed it on foot, splashing with each step, disturbing the peaceful reflection.

He felt strange for multiple reasons. Firstly, he seemed to be almost nocturnal now. Ethan’s body perked up at night, responded to it viscerally. Perhaps that’s why Karl was such a night owl as well. Ethan craved to be outdoors during this time, to leap and run and smell things exactly as an animal would. So the night called to him.

Instead of simply disappearing from the manor and re-appearing here at the castle, he’d drank in the sight of the cold valley before him, and the Black God urged another transformation into will. The same flock of birds, bright Kingfishers in the moonlight.. Ethan didn’t protest this time; he was too swept up in his newfound passion for darkness. He didn’t like anything that reminded him of Miranda, but the sensation was unlike anything he’d ever felt. Flying, dispersed, over the rolling hills, craggy cliff sides of the valley was a sensation he could only ever dream of before this. It was thrilling, a glance at what a heaven might feel like if one existed.

He also felt strange to be approaching the castle at night, walking up the familiar marble steps in the entryway, and openly shouting, “Hello? Lady D?” Given his previous horrifying time spent trying to dodge her in every direction, his soul was screaming at him to leave, and at the very least, to shut up.

A voice filtered from the Great Hall, and as he moved into that room he saw her standing, staring at a painting on the wall. She had lit the fireplace, and Ethan sauntered into the room feeling extremely awkward. He was relieved at seeing the wine she gestured toward, until he remembered, and she scoffed, “It’s imported, have no fear.”

His weak smile made her roll her eyes, and then they moved back toward the same chairs where they had their first non-violent conversation. He poured far too much wine for himself, and sat back in the chair. After it became clear that she would sit in stony silence for an indeterminate period of time, he tried, “How are you feeling?”

“Quite awful, actually,” she said with an almost sad chuckle, and glanced around the hall as if looking for someone. “I had hoped coming here, I might…feel, something. A spark. A memory of home. Be comforted, have second thoughts. I feel nothing of the sort. I no longer know, Mister Winters, what part of my existence was really me, and what part was…” she gestured to her head, and he took that to signify the cadou.

“For what it’s worth, I know you know I was just trying to protect myself, but I’m still…sorry about your daughters.” There. He’d said it. He exhaled as if dropping a weight from his shoulders. Her eyebrows rose in surprise, and she clutched at her own arm with the opposite hand, as if embracing herself.

“Well…thank you, but, no need to apologize.” An awkward silence ensued, in which Ethan tried to drink as much wine as possible.

The fire crackled. “They were not the first experiment I helped with. I was, at one point, a very proficient lab assistant. Miranda seemed pleased with me. But…do you know what she did, after their creation you might say, was complete, and I…embraced them?”

He shrugged and shook his head. Alcina’s smile was icy, but he almost saw the hint of pain cross between her brows. She looked past him, toward the dining room.

“She forbade me from going to the laboratory. She was…angered, I could tell. There were others for me to pay attention to, not just her, and perhaps I had gained something she had lost. Daughters. I was ecstatic in this moment of finally not being alone, finally having someone in this place with me. Miranda would not let me leave, but she was….” Alcina seemed to need to drink more to say the next part aloud.

“She was not interested in me, at all, after that.”

Ethan’s eyebrows raised. “That’s pretty fucked up.” The wine appeared to be doing its job.

Alcina glared at him, and then said in a monotone, “Yes.”

He had no tact. Alcohol wasn’t helping. “I’m guessing that after that, she had a new favorite Lord to focus on…and it was–”

“Heisenberg, yes.” She scoffed. Alcina fished on the table for a cigarette for her cigarette holder; he noticed that her hands were shaking. “She made it quite cear that she found my… emotional attachment unwanted. Heisenberg was not only a…a man,” she struggled on the word, as though she saw Karl as a boy, “He was a scientist as she was. Fascinated by the world. She sought to make him a biologist. I suppose that did not work out as planned.”

He could only stare, trying to imagine a younger Karl and Alcina tiptoeing around Miranda. It seemed crazy now, but it had been their reality for decades. He realized that the change–the change of the village’s fate–felt quick to him, but was probably still new to the former Lords.

Alcina got the cigarette where she wanted it, and as her shaking hands fumbled with a match, he obliged, striking it, then lighting the end of the cigarette for her. She nodded in thanks, and then tossed her hair back.

“I could see right through his displeasure from the start. I urged him to speak to me of it, but he never did, which was probably a wise choice on his part. I could see that he loathed her. He cringed at her orders, writhed during every church service, spat out the words of any prayer she might have us chant. I was so confused why I had been cast aside for someone with barely contained hatred, until it slowly dawned on me….that Miranda could not believe someone hated her. Oh, she questioned Heisenberg’s loyalty eventually, she even questioned mine as years dragged on. But I never forgave him for the sin of….fooling her, even for a moment. I had true feelings, true hope, that she and I were a family, that we could….well, it doesn’t matter now.”

“Are you really sure this is what you want to do?” he pressed, in a softer tone than he’d used with anyone other than Evie recently. “It’s….”

“I’m certain you think me a coward now.”

“Not at all,” he argued, shaking his head slowly, watching the room blur.

“I had a dream, the night I was brought back into this world. When I slept in the manor. I saw my mother-my real mother-by a cliffside, begging me to come back to her. She wanted to embrace me, that’s all. A hug. Something so simple…and yet it was not something she ever did to me, and I regret to say it was not something I ever did for my daughters. Too prideful, foolish, frightened.”

Ethan almost felt as if he could read, or touch, her energy in this moment. Maybe it was the alcohol; his intuition told him it was the Black God, surveying her form. Perhaps her suitability? He wondered why the presence in his mind would assess, otherwise. Alcina was very stony. Heavy. She felt almost like marble. She seemed shut down, closed off, almost impossible to crack, much less break. Strong, but inflexible? Ethan almost felt pity for her, but stopped short, knowing how she would respond to that.

“Anyway,” she sighed, “In the dream, she was there, telling me to come toward her. I heard another voice over hers, telling me to do what it was I truly wanted instead. I wasn’t sure whose other voice it was in the dream, but I think I know now. I believe it was my own. Telling me to do what I wanted. For once. Do you know what I chose, in the dream?”

Another clueless head shake from the blond, who was enraptured.

“I crumbled, turned into dust. All these years being the tall, impenetrable tower. Not just the damsel in it, but the tower itself… I fell into dust and caught the wind, and that was the best part. Being taken away. No more being told what to do. For once, not stone, not broken. Just the wind.”

Ethan mused in silence. After a pause, he said weakly, “But, if you try to enter the Megamycete, you won’t be going away. You’ll be…trapped.”

“I see it as a realm where there are more possibilities than ever seen in this world. True freedom, a chance to begin again. Am I wrong?”

“Probably not. It seems like that’s what it was before Miranda. At least in some parts of history.”

“Exactly. It could be this again. It needs nurturing, like a mind, does it not? It requires structure. Models of behavior. Empathy, perhaps. I feel this deeply, almost with my instinct. Besides.” She shrugged, and a sly smile finally crept onto her porcelain features. “If I am made to have the power Eva had before….I may be able to have my revenge on the last person to take my life away from me. It will do. Trust me, Ethan, I would not be so keen on this if my daughters were here. And I do not wish to separate any of you from your family.”

He was finished with his wine, and reached for more, his hand unsteady. Both Ethan and Alcina’s cheeks were deeply flushed. She watched him pour intently.

“The girls will be sad to see you leave,” he offered.

“Is it leaving? Or is it changing?”

“Good point. You sound like–” he winced. “Like Karl.”

“Oh please, do not insult me in my home.” She laughed, then Ethan laughed.

Just then a trail of voices poured into the room adjacent, and Alcina raised an eyebrow. Ethan stood, realizing that he was very drunk, and also that he’d intended to stand up to defend Lady D–a ludicrous idea, even when she was without her mutant powers. However, the voices turned the corner and suddenly were not voices, but heads and bodies–Karl, Donna, and Moreau. Ethan stared, stupefied.

Alcina stood and turned, looking at them with a mixture of contempt and confusion. Donna began, timidly, by holding out a platter. “We thought you would like some dinner.”

“And-and this,” Moreau added, brandishing the patera. “Ethan told us what was said in the other realm…if you still want to…”

“We’re just here to support you, whatever you decide. We wanted to spend time with you,” Donna continued, walking toward the fireplace, setting down the food on the coffee table and surprising everyone by hugging Alcina. The castellan’s eyes almost popped out of her head, but she accepted the hug in stride.

Karl hovered near the entryway, looking out of place. Moreau placed the patera on the table and then sauntered near what looked like a cabinet, but when he opened the top of it, Ethan realized it was a phonograph. The fisherman propped up the stand, and Alcina interrupted him.

“Moreau! The bottom cabinet. You’ve reminded me of something.” She was smiling. Donna moved forward, staring curiously.

“Are these the infamous–”

“None other!” Her wine was working its magic as well, Ethan realized. Despite her angst, Alcina was having a moment of happiness.

When she saw Ethan’s rather blank smile, Alcina supplied, “Miranda increased her bans of outside media as the years wore on and technology increased. Particularly notorious was a set of books and records–ah, there they are, Salvatore!”

Karl strode forward suddenly, leaning over the shorter man, and Ethan found himself drawn to the box as well. Alcina paced, finally sitting on the chair behind them, and reaching for food. Moreau took a record from the box. “Oh, these were the collection of inspired by’s!” His rather mad chuckle was almost endearing.

“The what now?” Ethan couldn’t keep up with the plot. Karl’s eyes were wide. He turned to look over his shoulder at Alcina with something of disbelief.

“No way you have those. She gave them to YOU?”

“Of course she did, I’m the responsible one,” Alcina shot back, but she was smiling the entire time. She bit into a carrot as if to punctuate her sentence, and Karl grabbed the box of records, fishing through them.

Moreau began winding the old gramophone. Ethan wasn’t sure what the ‘inspired by’ comment meant until Karl bark-laughed at one of the records. “Oh shit, yeah, these are them! Ho-lee-shit!”

“Can someone explain?” Ethan said testily, moving from the phonograph back toward the table, where he opened a new bottle of wine. Alcina hesitated, but then began with her continued smile, “Over the years, before everything was so isolated, others made their way to the village, artists or other sightseeing folk. Tourists. Miranda ate up anything created about her…”

“Never was about science,” Karl interrupted, “Was always about her ego. She fed into it for years, the LORE…..”

“She used to allow some of these stories, songs to be played or read in the village. There were artworks as well, those she adored. There were children’s stories about her as well. As time went on, I believe…"

Karl laughed again. “The stories became...not so nice. She couldn’t decide if she loved or hated bein’ a villain.”

“But Karl quite absolutely loved it,” Alcina interrupted with another dazzling smile, and now all of the Lords were giggling. Giggling. Ethan had to hide his own smile behind a wine glass. “He created a collection of the more…well, disparaging songwritten material, and used his powers to blast them in a simply ghastly-loud manner, out of the factory. Always one could guarantee it, when he was being punished.”

Ethan remembered the loudspeakers surrounding the gates, where Karl had taunted him to enter months before. He was giggling too.

Donna was collapsing with laughter. “I could hear the sound over the waterfall. Uh oh…Heisenberg did it again!”

“She finally got sick of it and demanded all of his music gone,” Moreau finished with a wide, amphibious smile. “Then he just started with the sirens.”

“Oh, that’s nothing, Mother, just working on things!” Alcina pantomimed, flinging her arms out. Donna cackled, hiding her face in her hands.

“Okay, I’ve gotta see these,” Ethan interjected, and he sat the wine glass down, unsteadily crossing the hall to sit between Donna and Karl, thumbing through mostly foreign records. Some were very old, others were newer. He did a double-take at a recognizable name.

“Townes Van Zandt?” One of his cherished, only memories of his father was hearing the old vinyl Pancho and Lefty coming from the garage, where Ethan was eventually allowed to help restore the old t bucket.

And now you wear your skin like iron, and your breath as hard as kerosene

Karl took the record and opened it. “Ah, yeah. Travelin’ student, rich. Got lost. She had a thing for Americans–” he wagged his eyebrows at Ethan, who instantly interjected, “No.”

“Anyway, he took the wrong train in. I remember him. She did her savior thing that she always did, showed him around, gave him the old cult special tour. Wild that she used to do that. Man, how it all went downhill.”

Alcina and Moreau were nodding. The tall woman chewed her food thoughtfully and then said eagerly, holding up a finger, “I had a thought…could it be that she was looking for a…eugh, a husband? at any of those times? It always seemed to be men that she brought in.”

“She said men were dumber,” Salvatore supplied, and he and Alcina laughed at this. “I don’t know about a husband, but she…you know how he was.” Salvatore’s laugh was nervous as he put on the record that he’d opened. Despite the jovial mood, a very melancholy song began to play. It was haunting, almost a folk-style ballad, Ethan mused. It reminded him of Scarborough Fair , which Karl was always whistling to Rose.

“He was one of the last outsiders that she allowed to leave, if I recall.” Donna’s eyes were wide. “I remember reading years later that he had a rather difficult life. But I don’t suppose he ever forgot Miranda, he sent this album back to us years later.”

“To ME,” Karl interjected, “I was the one that shacked him up on his way out.” To Ethan, he explained, “He was terrified of whatever she done to him–you can pretty much figure it out by the song, but maybe he changed some things to make for a better story, I don’t know. Anyway, he showed up at the factory in a craze, bangin’ on the door….I let him in, told him he better slip out an’ go east on foot when the sun came up. She didn’t like bein’ in the sun much.”

Well, that answered at least one question of Ethan’s.

“So he slept there, scared outta his skin, an boy he shot out at dawn like a bullet. Found his way out. I had to play dumb when she asked if anybody saw him leavin’.”

“I KNEW you did something!” Alcina bellowed, and everyone laughed again. “Oh!! I KNEW it. She told me to drop it, but I–augh, I knew .”

Karl’s laugh was sincere, as if he truly was pleased with himself.

The conversation continued, the siblings truly becoming comfortable speaking about their lives-their trauma-for the first time, and Ethan’s smile stayed as he sat by the fire and listened to the many tales they exchanged. He should have felt incredibly warm, both from the fire and from the eager conversation, but the folk song Moreau chose filled him with a cold, empty dread.

But I know I hear my baby crying ‘mama’

You'll never hear your baby cry again

Oh where have all the people gone?

Won't you tell me, where have all the people gone?

Don’t you worry about those people anymore

Take me for a walk in the morning dew

Please take me for a walk in the morning dew, my love

You can’t go walking in the morning dew today

#four lords #resident evil village #ethan winters #karl heisenberg #salvatore moreau #alcina dimitrescu #donna beneviento

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