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fallingintoyourlilaceyes · 7 months

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"A trip down memory lane"- The kissing booth AU Chapter three

part 4 of 4 || series masterlist || previous part

pairing: modern!Aegon II Targaryen x Reader, side modern!Aemond Targaryen x modern!Floris Baratheon

summary: After beginning your secret relationship on a high note, it can only get worse. Or can it?

word count: 3.9k

warnings: kissing/making out, verbal and physical fighting, love confession, angst with a happy ending

Taglist: @fan-goddess

(If you want to be tagged in this fic or any specif character taglists, send me an ask)

“We´re supposed to figure out how not to get caught.” You try to stay focused on the discussion.

“No one thinks I have a girlfriend. It´s cool.” His tone is laid back. Almost irritatingly so.

“Yeah, because gods forbid anyone thinks you have a girlfriend.” You shoot back sarcastically.

“I have my reputation to think of.” He defensively holds up his hands.

“Really?” A huffed laugh escapes you, despite wanting to stay stern.

In the end you end up making out again any way. He is just too good to resist. Your lips move against each other passionately and your hips grind down against his. Small moans and groans escape both of you, but just as he is about to pull your shirt over your head, someone knocks at the door. Loudly and unrelenting. You trip as you try to get off the mattress, tripping over the rug floor and rolling underneath the bed to hide, just a millisecond, before Alicent comes into the room. You see her shoes dangerously close the bed multiple times as she walks around. You clamp a hand over your mouth and squeeze your eyes shut. The suspense is killing you. Eventually she stands still only a couple centimeters from the two of you. None the wiser to your existence

“Oh, don´t forget were going out on Saturday to celebrate your big news.” Aegon gives a begrudging sound of approval prompting his mother to remind him to be nice to you. “She has a crush on you.”

“Oh really? I didn´t know.” The smug laughter in his voice makes you roll your eyes in order to not give up your position.

“Yeah, you boys never do.” Alicent replies in a calm tone and finally leaves.

The moment the door closes behind her you are up on the bed. Jokingly hitting Aegon´s arm as the two of you share a laugh. If only she knew.

You spend every remaining free minute together after that. Wanting to make as many happy memories as possible before he went off to uni. He takes you out on dates to the cinema, the beach, the arcade and on long drives on the motorcycle with no particular destination in mind. You also visit that spot outside the city that he had shown you multiple times. It was the only safe spot you knew off. More than once you went out only to encounter one of your school mates or Aemond or one of your parents, who you were pretty sure were onto you already anyway. Ending up in having to hide behind corners or putting an empty popcorn bucket over your head multiple times. Your favorite was when you made your way back from the beach when you saw the guy that grabbed you at the beginning of the school year. Aegon noticed him before you and so he hastily put the motorcycle helmet over you and kissed you as passionately as he normally only ever did when you two were alone. Naturally it ended up with sneaking you into his room for some more private fun afterwards.

One afternoon when you spend some time with Aemond at the arcade, he suddenly turns to you with a serious look pulling down his features.

“What´s going on with you? You´ve been kinda weird these past weeks.”

“What do you mean weird?” You feign ignorance to his accusation.

“You tell me. Is it because you have no date for prom still? Cause if it is you can go with Floris and me. I bet she would love having you with us.” He threads his eyebrows together, trying to get a read on you.

Seeing this as good as any situation to finally confess what had been going on. You open your mouth to say something, struggling with the words, just as Floris joins the two of you. Leaning into Aemond´s side, they share a greeting kiss.

“Hey, it´s okay if we all go to prom together, right?” He asks her.

“Yeah, sure. The more the merrier, you know?” The smile she gives when she looks at you is so innocent you can´t help yourself.

Taking a deep breath, you close your mouth again.

“Yeah, it was about that. Thank you. That´s really nice of you.” You thank her quietly, deciding then that it just wasn´t the moment.

Still, it wears you down for the rest of the day. Eating away at you, that you still couldn´t tell your best friend about something that had initially made you so happy.

Days later you sit in the Targaryen´s garage. A small radio plays quiet music and you sit to the side, watching Aegon working on his motorcycle.

“Can you give me the toolbox on top of the shelf, please?” He asks as calm as you have barely ever seen him.

“Yeah, sure.” You go to get what he has asked for, but the metal box slips from your hand and comes down on your face.

It leaves a pretty nasty cut, which Aegon is quick to clean out. Just as he is about to grab a band aid though Aemond bursts through the door. The two of you whirl around, alarmed by the sound of the door. The younger sibling takes a closer look at your face and immediately starts to question if his brother was the cause for the damage. Saying things like he wouldn´t put it past him. His accusations work Aegon up quickly. The only thing that can prevent the situation from escalating then and there is you putting yourself in between them.

“Aegon, look at me! Look at me!” You call the older one back to reality.

Waiting until he physically relaxes, before pulling Aemond away. It is a shock that takes a while to stomach. However, once you do it gets just so much worse than you ever thought it could.

Aemond is onto you from that day on. Yet somehow, Aegon and you had managed to lure yourself into a false sense of security.

It is a day much like when you had hurt yourself. Aegon and you sat together closely, feeling safe in being the only two people in the house, talking about how best to tell Aemond about the two of you. Aegon leans in to kiss you. The door to the large living room space swings open and there your best friend stands before you. Catching you in an unmistakable situation.

He runs away before you get the chance to explain yourslelf and so you run after him. Of course, Aegon runs after you, competely dismissing your plea for him to stay inside.

“Aemond, wait. You weren´t supposed to find out that way.” You asseverate over and over again. Feeling the sting of tears on your lower lash line.

”From what it seems like I wasn´t supposed to find out at all.” He points an accusing finger at you.

“What?” You ask exasperatedly.

”Hey! It´s not her fault.” Aegon now puts himself into the conversation.

”Don´t get me started on you. Telling other guys to stay away from her to protect her and then you treat her like… Like that.” Aemond’s words become louder as his rage grows with every passing second.

”Alright, you may be smart, but you’re not all knowing.” Aegons fists tighten at his sides.

”So you two have not slept together.” Aemond turns now looking you in the eyes. The burning look in them rendering you speechless. “I knew it.”

”Aemond, that’s enough!”

”No! She has no clue what she´s gotten herself into with you and she deserve to know!” Their screaming match continues.

”That´s complete bull.”

His words seem to do the final trick, because in the next moment, Aemonds face lands quare across Aegons jaw. You yelp at the scene. Pleading with them to stop only to be ignored by both of them. Aegon tackles his brother with a running start. The thumb that the action results in pulls a gasp from your lips. Aemond struggle against him heavily. Still Aegon manages to hold him down for a while.

Once he frees himself from his brother´s grasp, he runs away again. You are not willing to give up on your friend yet though.

“So much for rule number 9.” He scoffs as he slams the door of his car shut behind him.

“I didn´t mean for this to happen. I promise.” Your tears fall freely, while he still fights his

“My whole life Aegon has gotten everything he ever wanted. The only thing that I had and he didn´t… was you. And now he has that too. You two really deserve each other.”

He pulls out of the driveway and drives away at a pace that makes you scared for him. He shouldn´t be driving in this state at all. You wince when Aegon comes up behind you and lays his hands on your shoulders.

“He´ll get over it. And now that he knows we can go to prom together. There is no need for secrets anymore.” He sounds hopeful, but that just aggravates you even more.

“I told you to stay inside. What is wrong with you?” You hit his chest.

“Hey, this is not all my fault.” He defends himself by holding your wrists still in the air

“Just leave me alone.” You pull yourself free from his grasp.

“No problem.” As Aegon leaves too, your thoughts are with Aemond. A little voice telling you that you lost him forever.

What follows the dispute are the loneliest weeks of your entire life. Aemond completely ignores you and Aegon has basically gone missing. It gets bad to a point where Alicent, in one of your talks, tells you that he might not be able to graduate if this continued. She also helps you though. Telling you that in her many years of friendship with your mother they had fought many times and now she couldn´t even remember what any of those fights were about.

So, reminded of rule number 7, you make a detour to the Ice cream place on your way to school the next day. Buying a cone of Aemonds favorite ice cream. No matter how mad you are at your best friend; you must forgive them if they bring you ice cream. Holding it out to him with the best puppy eyes you can muster, you are surprised when he wordlessly takes it. Only to get any bit of hope crushed immediately after when he throws it away on his way to class.

So you get used to doing everything from then on. Or at least you try to, but it just isn´t as much fun as it was with Aemond.

Only for it to change one gloomy evening. You had gone to the arcade alone as so often. Sipping on a slushy and just sitting around thinking how all of this could go so wrong, that you couldn´t even tell your best friend about this really good thing, that made you really happy and that he should have been happy with you about.

And as you are so lost in your thoughts, he walks in. Heading directly for the machine you usually spend all your time at. You hear the coins clatter once and let out a deep sigh debating if you should just walk over there and join him in another attempt to make up. Then you hear the clatter if the coins a second time. Realizing he had paid for you as well, you make your way over hesitantly. He doesn´t look at you or speak to you at all, but you see it as an olive branch.

By the end of the game, it´s like nothing had ever happened. The two of you laugh and hug and apologize for how everything went.

However even with the friendship restored and seemingly stronger than ever, Aegon was still missing. You try not to think about it too much, but that was a virtually impossible task. Everything somehow reminds you of him. No trips to the cinema or beach or library or whatever that Aemond and Floris took you on either alone or together remedied that ache. On the contrary. Whenever you see them, as happy as they were, you couldn´t fight that drowning sensation overcome you.

Now, prom should have given the perfect opportunity for that.

After taking the mandatory pictures at home and driving up the building that hosts the event in a limousine, you get some drinks and start to dance the night away. Rarely stopping for a drink. The planning committee had truly outdone themselves.

After a while the strobe light becomes too much and the music too loud, so you step outside for a break. Leaving your friends to dance alone for a while. The fresh night air offers a perfect opposite to the stuffy atmosphere inside and you use the quiet outside to calm down well.

You get back inside just inside for them to open the memory lane that has been constructed with candids and pictures from the previous year. It´s fun to reminisce in the memories and laugh again at the particularly funny moments captured. If there wouldn´t be so many pictures with Aegon in them, that work their hardest to force the tears back into your eyes. At the end of the long corridor the hall opens to another smaller area.

As the crowd in front of you parts, you recognize the kissing booth from the fundraiser. Before you get the chance to really react, Aemond jogs up to it and puts the blindfold over his eyes. Reaching one of his hands out for Floris to join him, which she does instantly, to reenact their first kiss.

The people around you start clapping and cheering and for the first time you can feel yourself feel truly okay. Finally, there is not one thought of Aegon or anybody occupying your mind. And as a sense of serenity fills you, whatever deity may exist up there or rather down there decides to have a laugh at you for the pure chaos of it.

“I think your next” An all too known voice calls out to you over the cheers that erupt once more.

“No.” You whisper as your eyes meet his.

Much like his words before he left the apologetic look in his eyes now, does nothing to console you.

“No. I can´t do this.” You turn on your heels and start to walk towards the exit at a fast pace. In the end you barely make it past the people around and get a hand on the doorhandle.

“Princess, wait.” He calls out. His voice raised almost an entire octave in desperation to stop you from running.

“Why should I wait? Hm? You left me alone, for weeks! Without a single sign that you are still alive. Jeopardizing your fucking graduation as if it is nothing! And now all of a sudden you just show up out of the blue and expect me to what? Fall around your neck and accept that you are back without any lasting feelings?” You air out all the frustration that had built up and collected in the depths of your gut. Your eyebrows knitting together tightly, tears blurring your vision and frozen to the spot you stopped in.

“Okay, I´ll give you a reason to wait. How about, wait, because standing here, in front of everyone I am telling you that I love you.“ In any movie you would have swooned at his proclamation of love, but this was no movie and no pretty words could erase the hurt the both of you had caused.

“I just can´t keep hurting people that I care about because of you. In case you couldn´t tell, nobody wants us to be together.” You stand your ground.

“But what do you want?” Aegon takes a step towards you and holds out his hands for you.

“I want to go.” Released from the state of shock, you run away.

In the days following that disaster, you kind off go off the grid. Locking yourself up in your room and only replying to Aemond´s texts when it is necessary to plan your joined birthday party. Which is also the first time you emerge from your cavern of gloominess.

Going over to the Targaryen's house to get into your costumes together, Aemond fills you in on the decision his brother had made the night prior. To not attend the party and instead leave for uni a week early, to settle in. The news puts a damper on the party mood you had gotten yourself into. Putting on a mask of indifference, you proceed with the party as planned. Blowing out the candles on your cakes and dancing with as much enthusiasm as you can muster with all the kissing couples around. You feel the all too familiar sting in your eyes and quickly get away from your friends as to not have to answer any questions.

“What happened?” Aemond catches you by the shoulder. Looking as worried as ever.

“I love you.” Your voice wavers. “I always want to be close to you but being my best friend doesn´t give you the right to tell me who I can love. What if I didn´t want Floris around?”

“Then I´d break up with her.” He provides a simple enough sounding solution.

“See, that´s what´s wrong. You shouldn´t have to, just because I say so.” You helplessly throw your arms in the air helplessly.

“This isn´t the same thing and you know it.” He refers to the friendship rules.

“Listen, we made up our rules when we were six, okay?”

“So? What are you trying to say.” He takes a cautious step back.

“I´m saying that love Aegon. I want him and I´m sorry if that hurts you and I´m so sorry that I lied to you before. But I would be lying again if I told you I didn´t. And if you can´t... accept that, then maybe you can´t be part of my life.” You speak slowly. Trying to put this as nicely as possible.

“You´re making a mistake” Aemond warns you.

Then that´s my mistake to make.”

“I know. I just want you to be happy.” He hugs you tightly to his strong chest. “Meet me outside in five. I´ll help you find him.”

You tell your father and Alicent where the two of you are going and then head outside to the car.

Aemond is already waiting and with the `mission´ on your mind, you completely forget to ask why he is wearing the mask to his costume. Instead, as you pull out of the driveway and onto the street, you thank him profusely for his support, rambling on and on about how hard it was seeing Aegon again after such a long period of radio silence. So caught up in it, that you don´t even notice the much deeper voice than usual, when he agrees with something you say.

“I just regret not telling him that I love him, you know?” You look over at him when you are finished speaking.

“You just did.” The person beside you pulls the mask off. Revealing Aegon´s choppy head of hair and a humble, but satisfied smile that crinkles the corners of his baby blue eyes.

“What?!” the wave of happiness and shock that crashes over you leads your attention away from the street, almost causing the two of you to crash into the oncoming traffic.

You barely manage to turn the steering wheel around and park at the side of the road. “I thought you were already gone.”

“Yeah, I was planning to, but I had to see you one last time. And then Aemond came and told me everything. He also said something about rule number 18 or whatever.” He waves his confusion about his brother´s words away with the wave of his hand.

Looking at the sky you thank the god or gods or whatever for rule number 18. Always be happy for your besties successes.

”Wait... So, what about Harvard?” You ask with a still unbelieving chuckle.

“Forget about that for a second. I´d rather wanna know what it was that you wanted to tell me so urgently.”

“Oh... Um, nothing important...” You try to deflect as nerves get the better of you.

“No no. No excuses or deflections. I wanna hear it. And it can´t be that unimportant if you left your party in a rush to tell me.” His smile tells you how much he enjoys seeing you squirm.

”Okay.” You sigh and take a deep breath before speaking again with the words he had used back at the prom. “Sitting here in front of… no one in particular, I´m saying I love you.”

“And I love you.” He concedes.

The two of you lean over the center console at the same time. Your hand on his cheek and his on the back of your neck. The first touch of your lips makes you come alive again. As if your body had been on standby ever since he left and was only now getting turned back on. You taste nicotine on his lips and your hand slides into his hair. Needily tugging at the tresses. You are almost scared to think how happy he makes you, but it´s something that just happens whenever you are in his proximity

When the time comes you drive him to the airport. Of course, only after one last goodbye brunch with both of your families.

“Don´t turn around for a final wave, because that would be way too cheesy and romantic.” You put up a warning finger.

“Even for you?” He feigns surprise. Laying a hand over his chest and leaning his upper body away from you. Yet he never takes his other hand of your shoulder.

“Yes. Even for me.” You nudge him with your shoulder as you walk the last couple steps together.

“I was right. You are cute when you´re being bossy.” He relishes the way you roll your eyes at him. You don´t contradict him though. You are smart enough to know that it would be of no use.

Walking together as far as you are allowed to accompany him, Aegon pulls you in for one last goodbye kiss. To the two of you it´s so much more than just the last kiss you will share for a while. It´s a manifest to how much you love each other. A promise that this would last even if he would be a distance away now. And that you would be able to hold each other like this again soon. It´s a beacon of hope. Aegon picks up his bag from the ground and wordlessly makes his way up the stairs to his gate. Once he reaches the top of it, he pauses. For a moment it looks like he is going to disobey your warning words, but he continues his way without looking back.

You stand there long until he rounds the corner, before you get back to the motorcycle that he has gifted you. Despite your protest. Starting it up you have one peaceful thought occupying your mind.

Even if things wouldn´t work out there was always gonna be a part of you that belonged to Aegon Targaryen.

#aegon targaryen x reader #aegon ii targaryen x reader #aegon ii #aegon ii targaryen #aegon ii x reader #aegon x reader #hotd modern au #modern house of the dragon au #house of the dragon fic #hotd fic #hotd x reader #hotd #house of the dragon

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stargirlforevah · 1 year

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*•.¸♡ MAN OF THE HOUR♡¸.•*

𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐊𝐈 𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐈 𝐗 𝐅𝐄𝐌!𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: smut, unprotected sex (wrap it before u tap it folks) piv sex, oral(male!receiving), tit play, grinding/dry humping

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: MDNI! DENKI AND READER ARE IN 2nd YEAR OF COLLEGE!! Also this is one of my first longer “fics” so if you like, please interact so I can write more. Also PRETTY PLEASEE send in requests, I wanna write what ya’ll wanna see! Okay enjoy ya nasties!

★·.·´¯`·.·★ ★·.·´¯`·.·★ ★·.·´¯`·.·★ ★·.·´¯`·.·★ ★·.·´¯`·.·

You stood in the mirror, holding up two mini skirts to your body. Red or black? You tossed your head back in frustration. Fashion was full of trails and tribulations.

“Minaaa!” You yelled. “Red or black mini skirt?”

“Black,” Mina called back, standing in your bathroom mirror trying desperately to shove a second pair of earrings through her piercing that closed months ago.

“Mins, lets just get it re-pierced,” you winced.

“NO! I literally got this!”

“Whatever you say,” you said with a sigh.

The soccer team at your Uni had won Regionals and was hosting a celebration at the frat. The star player who scored the winning goal, Denki Kaminari, was apart of the frat, so of course the party would be go big or go home.

You were mutual friends with Denki, although not as close as you’d like to be. Though he was incredibly attractive, a star soccer player and had a charming personality, you heard enough talk to believe he has yet to touch a woman. How interesting.

“Okay slut,” Mina said, grinning as she stepped out of your bathroom. “Let’s go.”

Giggling as you walked up the frat steps to the pounding base of Heartless by The Weeknd, you inhaled the party scene. Alcohol, sweat and cheap cologne. Lovely.

Mina quickly went off to find Momo Yaoyorozu, who she had been crushing on for weeks and who was unlikely to be found at a scene as vulgar as this. You can’t blame a girl for trying though.

You refrained from ingesting the punch bowl mix some random boy had told you was “jungle juice.” Sounded more like a trip to the emergency room to get your stomach pumped. You settled with a coke and rum instead.

Scanning the room for someone you could talk to, you saw a flash of blond hair with a lightning strike streak. Denki! He was leaning against the doorframe of his room, completely alone. Odd.

“Hey!” You called out. “If it isn’t the man of the hour!”

“Hey Y/N!” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Glad you could make it.”

“Me too,” you smirked at him. He was nervous. How cute. “How’s the star player life treating you?”

“Oh same as always,” he laughed nervously.

“Oh don’t be modest, Kami. You put our soccer team on the map. You have to have a whole fanclub by now.”

“Nope,” he sighed.

“More for me, I guess,” you sipped your drink and looked up at him.

Denki nearly choked on air. A girl like you? Coming onto him? It seemed unfathomable. Sure, girls had hit on him before, but he had never had the courage to take it past harmless flirting. Maybe a kiss if he was feeling bold.

You stepped closer to him, smirking. “It’s a shame you aren’t getting the star treatment you deserve.”

“Y-yeah,” he felt his dick stir. “A real shame.”

“I can fix that,” you whispered, running your hand along his v-line.

“R-really?”

“Yes, Kami. Let me take care of you.”

You pushed him into his room and kicked the door shut. Shoving him on his bed, you straddled his lap.

“Y-you’re so beautiful Y/N,” he said breathlessly.

“And you’re adorable, Kami.”

You began to slowly grind your hips onto his half hard dick. He whimpered softly and squeezed his eyes shut, causing you to smirk.

“Has anyone ever touched your dick before?”

“N-no one but me.”

You began to play with the zipper of his jeans, continuing to ride his thigh. You began to moan softly at the pressure on your clit.

“F-fuck, do you like grinding on me?” Denki said nervously.

“Mhm..” you nodded slowly. Unsure of how to help, Denki began to bounce his thigh slowly to meet your movements.

“Shit Denki, that feels so fucking good.”

“Y-yeah?”

“Mhm, I’m close pretty, but I wanna cum on your cock.”

Denki moaned at your words.

“But first, I wanna suck you off. Can I Kami, pretty please?” You batted your eyelashes at him.

“Fuck, okay.” He whined.

You unzipped his pants, pulling down his boxers. His cock sprung free, leaking pre all the way down his tip. Your eyes widened, and Denki covered his face in embarrassment.

“Uncover your face, Denki. Wanna see the faces you make when I suck your cock.”

Denki looked down at you as you began to lick around his tip, eliciting whimpers from the blonde boy. Licking up the pre and moaning at the salty taste, you began your ministrations.

“Oh shit, Y/N. I-I fuck..I can’t…” Denki whined.

You took his whole cock in your mouth and began bobbing your head. His moans grew louder as you began to play with his balls.

“N-not gonna last long,” Denki choked out. “M, sorry.”

You batted your eyelashes at him, eager to please and continued the bobbing of your head. Denki’s legs began to shake and his cock began to twitch, signaling he was close to his release. His hands found purchase in your hair, grabbing at anything he could grasp.

“F-FUCK,” he moaned out. “C-cumming, CUMMING!”

You popped his dick out of your mouth and hastily threw off your shirt.

“On my tits,” you moaned. “Please Kami.”

That elicited an incredibly loud whine from Denki as he spilled his hot seed all over you perky tits. Breathless and starstruck, he just stared. How did he get this lucky? As if scoring the winning goal wasn’t lucky enough.

You straddled him once more, and held up a tit to his face.

“Suck.” You commanded.

“Y-yes, anything,” he said eager to please. He took your tit into his mouth and began to suck on your pert nipple.

Moaning, you began grinding yourself on his leg once more.

“Fuck Kami baby, so good to me.”

He began to swirl his tongue around your nipple, producing more and more moans and whines from your lips. Suddenly, he unleashed your nipple with a loud POP!

“P-please,” he whined. “Can’t take it anymore. Please ride me.”

You smirked and grabbed his dick, which was hard again.

“Anything for my star player,” you grinned and sank down onto him, eliciting loud whines from you AND him.

“So big, Kami,” you whined. “Why have you been hiding this from me?”

You began to bounce slowly up and down, as his cock began to ram into your G-spot.

“F-fuck Y/N..you feel so good.. such a pretty pussy.”

You began to go harder, eager to please him and draw more whimpers from his mouth. The lewd squelch of you pussy and skin slapping sounds filled the room.

“So good, Kami..So wet for you and only you.”

“Y-yeah.. you don’t know how long I’ve thought about this.”

His cock repeatedly rammed your G-spot, making your vision blurry and speech slurred.

“M close Kami,” you slurred.

“M-me too.”

“Cum inside, please. Make me yours.”

Denki couldn’t hold on much longer. You came with an obscene moan, the one’s in the adult films that seem fake. But yours was so, incredibly real.

“F-fuck..F-uck..shit.. cumming…” Denki stuttered as he desperately thrusted his hips up into you.

“Please Kami,” you begged. “Make me yours. Fill me up please!!”

“FUCK!” Denki screamed as he filled you with his hot load.

Laughing and giddy from the pleasure, you laid next to him, his cum seeping in between your legs.

“Next time,” he stated. “You’re riding my face.”

#bnha smut #mha #bnha headcannons #bnha x reader #denki imagine #bnha denki #denki kaminari #denki smut #mha smut #denki headcanons #denki x you #denki x reader

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beybuniki · 5 months

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saw you answering an ask abt how you nail the dynamics of the characters you draw and then immediately got your art on my dash and its bakugo one and taking one look at it i went "oh yeah that's bakugo" in a 'the way he stands and looks at the 'camera' rather than the appearance alone'

you truly do capture the characters the way the are! my favourite one to date is the one with todo, baku and deku on trip to Europe it's so chaotic but also seems so real if it makes sense

if i pursued art instead of writing more than just a random thing i do once a month your style would be something i would learn a lot from!!

if i can ask-

what would be the character you love to draw the most? maybe based on how they feel rather than on how 'easy' it comes to draw them? (sorry for the random chaotic (probably badly worded) ask- I'm in the middle of grinding through uni work and am taking a break to look at pretty mha art)

THANK YOU SO MUCH and yes drawing bakugo staring directly at the viewer was a choice he’s all about eye contact ❗️❗️❗️

hmmmm, i enjoy every character that I draw, I wouldn’t draw them if it wasn’t fun I don’t want art to feel like a chore. that being said, I’ve grown very fond of drawing bakugo, I’ve come to enjoy drawing spiky hair and his sense of fashion

dabi is still my fav to draw I love thinking about ways to make him look a bit sleazy and not put together with bed head also I love how much texture and color variation is possible for his skin grafts :-)

I also Love drawing toga she’s so round and her hair style is my fav, I just never know what clothes to give her lol

#with deku i love his freckles #otherwise ii love drawing judai atp drawing him is pure muscle memoryyyy #asks

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ofburningskies · 1 year

Text

good times amongst the pines (pt. 1)

Authors note: Hi everyone! Carnelian here. Long time no see :) Hope everyone enjoys this Sammy fic! It's been brewing in my mind for quite some time - I actually began to write it towards the end of summer, but just now finished it. So, when you read it, imagine that it's taking place in the summer lol. This will also be a multi-part fic. I envision there being three parts (?), but we'll see. I'm also on fall break from uni quarantining with covid right now, so send in any Sam asks you might have! Thanks guys! :)

Pairing: Sammy x F!Reader

Content warnings: 18+ NSFW MINORS DNI, unprotected sex, very very slightly tense situations, language, Sam in linen pants 👍

Word count: 7.4k

Summary: Y/N and Sam go to Y/N’s family cabin to make some new sweet and spicy memories up there :)

“Hey honey, can you come in here a sec?” Sam cooed from your bedroom, just down the hall from where you were sitting in your home office. You were currently finishing up your last task on the agenda that day for your work on the computer while your boyfriend Sam was diligently packing up everything that you two could possibly need before you left on your annual cabin trip.

Your family’s cabin was nestled in the pine forest a ways up the mountain, far from civilization, just how you both liked it. It was your parent’s cabin, but seeing as they now live out of state, they let Sam and you stay there as much as you want and take care of the grounds, as well as your other family members from time to time. You were thrilled for this specific trip though, as this would be yours and Sam’s first time up there alone. You were always joined by other family members in the past, but this time you were able to score it completely for yourselves.

Your childhood was filled with trips up to the cabin, and you look back on these memories fondly. There were many summer nights where you and your friends were all huddled up outside, surrounding the campfire and roasting s’mores, singing as many camp songs as you guys could remember.

The forest that your cabin was settled in was so beautiful and lush, just brimmed to the edge with gorgeous, tall pines and colorful wildflowers that always swayed in the fragrant summer breeze. One of your favorite things to do when you went up was to find a large granite boulder, already slightly warmed up from the sun, and lay yourself out on it with your face up to the sky, listening to the wind rustling through the pine needles. It was definitely one of your most favorite sounds on the planet.

Your other most favorite sound called from down the hall again, snapping you out of your daydream as you scrambled to your feet, eyes groggy from all the screen-time you’ve consumed today. Gosh, you were really looking forward to having no service the next few days. “Yes, coming Sammy!” you returned, padding down the hall to see what the lanky man needed.

As you entered the doorway, he was holding up two different pairs of swim trunks, one with a loud flamingo pattern and the other with no pattern at all, just a cherry red color. “I am in dire need of your help deciding which ones I sh-“

“Cherry red,” you blurted out before Sam could even finish his sentence.

He smirked to himself before replying, “Now how did I know you were gonna choose these?”

You stepped closer to him, snatching the red trunks out of his hands and folding them for him. “Because, Sammy, you know red is my favorite color on you.”

“Hm, yeah, maybe I did know…” he trailed off, reaching for your waist as you placed the trunks in his suitcase. He pulled you in close, wrapping his arms tightly around your back. This caused your head to become nestled right in the crook of his neck and shoulder, so you took a deep inhale, relishing in his presence and scent. “‘M really looking forward to spending these next few days with you, sweet girl. No distractions, no work, no phones. Just you and me, Y/N,” he said while leaning back a little bit to look you in the eyes, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh god, that sounds like heaven, babe,” you exclaim before continuing, “this week has been so long already, with work and family, and - I just really need a few days with you. And you only, that’s it.” You let out a deep exhale before looking back up into his eyes, which were shining with so much love and adoration. He took such good care of you, and you were forever grateful for that.

“Of course, honey, vice versa. Alright, let me finish packing our stuff while you email your boss, and then let’s hit the road, baby! I don’t wanna make you wait any longer than you have to!” Sam stated, reaching his right hand up to ruffle your hair up with his fingers while laughing. You giggled in response, instantly reaching up to smooth down the mess he made as much as you could.

“M’kay, let’s try to be out of here in the next half hour, yeah?” you asked him while leaning in for a kiss. He returns your kiss before replying, deepening it immediately. It takes you by surprise, causing you to gasp into his mouth while you grip onto his thin t-shirt. He takes this opportunity to slip his tongue inside with yours, tangling the two around for a few moments before you pull away, panting for breath. “Samuel Francis… wait until we get there!” you laugh out, meeting his eyes once more, which were crinkled at the end due to his dorky smile he had plastered on his face.

“Okay, okay! Sorry, it’s just hard for me to keep my hands off, sometimes,” he responded, finally turning around to finish packing. You take this as a sign that he’s finally settled down, so you turn on your heel and make your way out of the bedroom to finish your work and start taking stuff out to the car, but not before you felt a sharp smack against your ass and that oh-so-familiar laughter.

“Kiszka, I swear to God -“

“I’m done, I promise, just had to get that in there. I swear,” Sam said through his laughter. You finally turn back towards him once you reach the door frame to see him standing there with both his hands raised by his head, signifying no more funny business until you got to the cabin. He smiles at you sweetly before whispering, “I love you,” and turning around to finish his packing.

“I love you too, crazy, and I’ll see you in the kitchen in just a little bit!” you reply before finally walking back to the office, more than ready to finish your task at hand so you two can make your way up to the cabin.

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After around 3 hours of Sam driving you guys through dense forests and having multiple pee stops because Sam insisted on getting the Big Gulp from the gas station, you found yourselves finally pulling into your cabin’s driveway, completely overgrown with vegetation from last year.

“Well, there’s something for us to work on if we get bored!” Sam claimed, always looking at the positives. Meanwhile, you couldn’t believe your family let it get to this state. You knew the driveway was long and that it was hard work to take care of, but it had to be done, especially with the wildfire hazards in the area.

“Yeah, no kidding…” you trailed off, Sam noticing your sour mood instantly.

“Hey, hun, don’t let your family’s lack of responsibility damper your mood already! Like I said, it’ll give us something to do if we run out of other things to busy ourselves with this week. Keep your chin up, babe,” he said sweetly while reaching over and grabbing your knee, thumb lightly tracing over your exposed skin.

“Thank you, Sammy, gosh, sometimes it’s just so hard to not let it get to my head. I mean, if this is just what the driveway looks like, I’m kind of nervous to see what the cabin’s state is,” you stated while looking out the window, trying to get a glimpse of it through the trees up above you. “I’m sure it’s fine though. As long as I have you here, that’s all I care about this week. Just you and me, baby,” you say before turning back to him and leaning over the center console, planting a big, wet kiss on his cheek.

“Ewwwww!” Sam jokingly yelled in response to the saliva you left on his right cheek, smile growing wide despite his reaction.

“Oh yeah? Ew? What about this?” you asked him as you left more wet kisses all over his cheek, giggling as he tried to crane his neck away from your loving attack of sloppy kisses. You eventually relented, deciding you’d teased him enough, and as soon as you landed back into your seat and turned to look through the windshield, your family’s cabin came into view.

“Oh, baby! Here we are!” Sam excitedly yelled, pulling the car all the way up to the front porch that way you wouldn’t have far to walk while carrying your bags.

You were pleasantly surprised, to say the least. With how awful the driveway was pulling in, you expected the cabin to have hanging shutters, maybe a few broken windows, or even some fallen trees in your yard. As soon as you laid eyes on the building, you couldn’t believe just how perfect it was. Your family must’ve come down recently to paint it, as the color was completely refreshed, glimmering brightly in the afternoon sun. All the shutters were closed, nice and tight as they should be. The porch and yard were completely clear of unwanted vegetation, branches, and logs.

You couldn’t be happier.

Sam put the car in park and grabbed the keys from the ignition once the car was shut off, making a beeline for the front door of the cabin, the cabin keys jingling from his fingers.

“Man, I REALLY shouldn’t have picked the Big Gulp at the gas station. I’ve been going like a racehorse this entire time,” Sam laughed, making a mental note to himself to only pick up smaller drinks on your long drives to and from the cabin. You made your way towards the front door, towing your suitcase behind you.

“Yeah, babe, I think next time the child’s size would be perfect for someone like you,” you giggle, walking up the stairs besides the tall, lanky man as he fumbled with the keys, trying to get the door unlocked so you could take your items upstairs, meanwhile he could get the water and electricity turned on to use the restroom.

“Cowabunga,” he murmured, inserting the correct key and wobbling the knob just right to unlock the old, heavy redwood door that’s been protecting the interior of your family’s cabin from the outside world for generations. You dragged your heavy suitcase across the threshold of the cabin, slowly making your way towards the upstairs bedroom. “Alright, honey, while you get settled, I’m gonna run around out back and get the water running and that electricity going through the place! Don’t get lost,” he says with a wink, and with that, he’s running down the front steps, padding around to where the breaker’s located and to turn the water on.

You didn’t really get to take a look at the inside of the cabin when you stepped in because Sam had almost dropped his keys through the floorboards of the deck as you were making your way in, drawing your complete and full attention to his clumsiness. Once he left to run around the property to check on everything, you were able to actually turn around and take in the sight before you. To the right of you was the living room area, complete with a green wooden couch, a few plush armchairs that you loved to curl up in on a stormy day with a hot cup of tea, bookcases filled to the brim with nature literature, and your absolute favorite, the large fireplace that adorned the right wall, making those chilly nights much more comfortable.

To the left was the kitchen, one of the few places in the cabin that you don’t find yourself in that often because you don’t necessarily consider yourself to be the most amazing chef OR baker. That’s definitely where Sammy comes in, as he makes most of your homemade meals for the two of you. He loves to try and show you once or twice a week how to make one of his favorite recipes, but most often than not, it ends in disaster. One time, back at home, you guys ended up outside talking with the county fire department because your neighbor saw so much smoke coming from your kitchen window that they called 911 immediately. The cabin’s kitchen was full of dishware, gadgets, rags, pots and pans, cleaning supplies, you name it. It was Sam’s little slice of heaven up here. Attached to the kitchen was the small dining area, which just had a little breakfast table, a few chairs, and maps of the national forest that your cabin was located in tacked to the wall for viewing while eating.

Finally, right in front of you from where you were standing in the doorway and across the walkway was the stairway to the loft, which is where any guests were allowed to stay. You figured Sam would grab his suitcase and toiletry bag from the car before making his way back inside, so you didn’t worry about it before deciding to make your way on up the wooden staircase. Once you were up the stairs, creaking with every step, your heart was filled with joy at the scene in front of you. The afternoon sun was casting its rays through the windows, creating a golden hue amongst the green and brown furniture. The entire loft area was decorated with kitschy cabin decor, one of your guilty pleasures when it came to home decorations. You were so excited for Sam to come in to get started on making even more treasured memories.

Before you knew it, dinnertime had rolled around. The sun was finally making its slow journey past the horizon, slipping through the tall pines. The air began to get chilly as the sun was setting, and of course, how could you forget, this was when the mosquitos made their appearance as well. Thankfully, before you guys made your trip up to the cabin, you remembered to pack what Sammy called an “industrial sized can of mosquito spray that could kill all of the mosquitoes living in the Amazon Rainforest.” You knew it was necessary, though. The both of you ran around the house, trying to shut the windows as fast as possible as soon as you began to see a few of the bothersome mosquitoes fly into the kitchen through the window above the sink.

Once the windows were shut and latched, Sam began to grab the necessary ingredients for your dinner that evening out of the fridge and cupboards lining the kitchen. “Sammy, baby, can I do anything to help?” you asked while coming up behind him, lacing your arms around his front torso as he read the recipe from the cookbook he brought along. He looked so beautiful this evening - he had on one of your favorite black button ups (but he was only using the three bottom buttons to keep it draped around his lanky frame) and some white linen pants. His silky hair that he put up in a bun earlier in the day was falling out, leaving strands of hair to cascade down around his face and neck, framing his features perfectly. You leaned your head into the middle of his back, right where his shoulder blades rested, and took a deep breath in, trying to remember this moment forever.

“Aw, hun, y’know, if you wanna make us something to drink and maybe put some music on, that would be great,” he responded, adding, “I can’t use my magic touch on these bitchin’ tostadas unless we have some music to sing along to.”

He started to shimmy in your embrace at this, causing you to giggle and press a light kiss to the back of his neck, heading off to make your drinks and put on a record. One thing you were thankful for when it came to your family and throwing parties was that they loved alcohol. With that being said, anywhere that your family stays, there’s always alcohol around, whether it be a full bar, a mini bar, or just a bottle of vodka. You started making one of Sam’s favorite drinks, which coincidentally was one of yours, too. Once you were all done with the tequila and triple-sec, you left the mini bar to put some music on, but first you stopped to give Sam his margarita.

“Oooooo, for me?” Sam asked, raising his eyebrows as you walked closer to where he was standing in the kitchen, handing him the salt-rimmed glass in his out-reached hand. He immediately brought the glass up to his lips and closed his eyes while taking a sip. “Babe, I don’t know if it’s the mountain air or what, but I think this is the best goddamn margarita you’ve ever made.”

You were taken aback, as Sam was a huge cocktail snob. He’s had drinks all around the world made with the finest liquors and tastiest mixers. “Seriously?!” you squeal. He nods his head vigorously, going in for another sip before turning around to continue his craft. “Well, if you want another one, you know who to ask,” you mention while sauntering out of the kitchen, quietly laughing to yourself.

You made your way back into the living room where the record player was located, on the hunt for a very, very specific vinyl. You crouched down on your knees to pull out the storage crates that held your family’s ever-growing collection of vinyls, especially now since you were with Sammy. You swear he could smell a record in a music store that he’d been wanting from miles away. After a few minutes of looking, you finally found it. The Papas and The Mamas by The Mamas and The Papas. Reading the cover always made you giggle to yourself.

When you and Sam first moved into your apartment together, there was a time when you both had an extremely stressful, frustrating day. Basically, everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong for the both of you that one day. Josh and Jake were bitching at each other in the studio all day over some miniscule lyrics, causing Sam to want to pull his hair out and light both their cars on fire after leaving the building that evening. That day at your old job at the local cafe, you managed to spill an entire jug of iced tea all over yourself, and it seemed as if Satan himself was sending you his finest Karens for you to take orders from all day long.

After high tension at work, you two were sitting in complete silence on the couch next to each other that evening, both lost in your own thoughts from the day. The TV was on, but neither of you were paying any attention to the sitcom that was playing on the screen. Wordlessly, he grabbed the remote and shut the TV off, and made his way towards your record player in the living room. After some moments of flipping through the album covers, he must’ve found what he was looking for, cracking a small smile. He grabbed this very specific vinyl out of his collection and gently placed it down, turning the volume up slightly while you were watching his every move, eyes trained on his figure like a hawk.

He turned around to face you with that gentle smile on his face, and you couldn’t help but return it. Sam slowly made his way towards you as the music played softly in the background, reaching his hand out towards you, gesturing for you to grab it and join him. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you off the couch and into the living room with him, beginning to sway the both of you back and forth to the rhythm of the music. With every step you took, Sam holding you close within his arms, you could feel the tension draining from your body. You took your hands that were clasped together at the back of his neck and began to thread them through his hair, scratching his scalp lightly when you pulled away from his chest to take a look at his beautiful face.

“Feeling better, sweetheart?” he asked gently, staring into your eyes with his own golden brown ones.

You nod lightly. “Mhm. I’m sorry we both had rough days. Thank you for always knowing how to make it a little sweeter,” you respond, leaning up to give him a tender kiss on the lips.

You both continued to dance around your living room for the rest of the evening until you were too exhausted to stand, wholly at ease from the stressful day. The two of you curled up close in bed that night, holding on to one another as if the other would accidentally slip away.

You reminisced about this memory while carefully pulling the record out of the sleeve, already excited for how Sammy would react once he heard those first few notes of “Safe in My Garden” ring out through the cabin. Once you got the record placed on the player, you slowly let the needle fall down. You began to sway to the music, letting it fill your mind and body, feeling the surges of bliss course from your fingers to your toes as the familiar notes rang throughout the living room.

You had a few seconds of enjoying the song to yourself before you heard him call for you from the kitchen. “Y/N… come here, love,” he beckoned to you, beginning to sing the song while you made your way to the kitchen. As soon as you made your way around the corner and into the warm scene in front of you, the savory smells overtook your senses. Sam was standing in front of the stove, fully donned in your family’s shared apron that said “Kiss the Cook!” covered in puckered lips. “Okay, hun, I need you to try this sauce that I whipped up for us,” Sam said, dipping the wooden spoon into the saucepan on the stove. He scooped up a small amount for you to taste and made his way over to where you were situated leaning against the kitchen countertop, blowing on the liquid before he made it all the way towards you to help cool it off some. “Alright, open up…” he murmured, directing the spoon towards your mouth. You opened your mouth, letting him slide the wooden utensil past your lips, depositing the warm liquid on your tongue. You tucked your hair behind your ear as you swallowed the sauce, eyes flitting up to meet his as you fully tasted it.

You eyed him carefully as you were letting the flavor sit on your tongue - the way his pupils expanded once he put the spoon in your mouth, how his mouth slightly gaped open, his tongue darting out to wet his full bottom lip. The flush that was apparent on his cheeks when you wrapped your lips around the spoon, careful not to let any drip out of your mouth as he pulled it away.

His eyes were zeroed in on your lips once you were finished with tasting the sauce. You knew exactly what was going through his mind, but you wanted to work him up a little more. See what would really make him snap.

You snapped him out of his trance by finally speaking up, “Baby, that’s so good, what all did you put in it?” You smirked at him before pushing yourself off the counter as he coughed, attempting to recover himself. You draped your arms around his neck, pulling you two closer. He set the wooden spoon down on the counter behind you before finally replying, “Uhm, just the usual and what I could find in your spice drawer. Oregano, salt, jalapenos, garlic…” he trailed off, captivated by your hands that were now moving through his hair, scratching his scalp ever-so-slightly. If you weren’t paying as much attention as you already were, you would’ve missed it when he started to practically purr, his head leaning into your fingers as they ran through his locks.

“You are such a good cook, Sammy, you always make me the best meals. You know that?” He hummed in response, nodding his head. “Mhmm, yes. You take good, good care of me. Always make sure I’m satisfied.” You lean into him at this, just as he inhaled a deep breath of air at your suggestive words. You let your lips wander along the expanse of his neck, leaving small kisses here and there. At this point, his breathing was becoming rather uneven and he was forgetting completely about the sauce on the stove. You abruptly pulled away, letting your hands fall from his hair. He practically whined at the loss of contact, but you knew you weren’t quite done yet.

One of your favorite things to do was to tease Sammy. Whether you two were at home and you weren’t wearing anything underneath one of his old t-shirts while he was on a Zoom meeting, or you were both out with friends for dinner and you kept accidentally brushing your hand against his bulge at the table, you knew just how to get him worked up past the point of no return.

You walked away from him, making your way towards the freezer at the other end of the kitchen to grab a new bottle of vodka for the bar in the living room. You could feel his eyes on you, burning holes in the back of your dress. It was completely silent except for the record in the living room and the sauce on the stove, so you knew he was transfixed on your figure, in a complete daze after your teasing. You slowly leaned down, letting him get a good view of your ass while opening the freezer drawer, asking him, “Tito’s or Grey Goo-?”

Before you could even get the question fully out of your mouth, he was right there behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you back towards the counters. He hastily shut the freezer with his foot while pressing himself against you completely. You immediately felt his erection rub against you, hot and heavy. “You’re such a fucking tease, y’know that, right?” Sam questioned you, his hot breath fanning over your neck.

“Yes, but only for you, Sammy,” you whined. He turned you around to face him when hearing his nickname. He loved it when you called him that in times like these - the most innocent of names in the filthiest of situations.

The sauce was still simmering on the stove, you could hear it fizzle and splatter in the pot as Sam pushed you against the counter top, strong hands gripping your waist through the thin material. This caused your dress to ride up your thighs, giving him an almost clear view of what he wanted, what he needed, but nonetheless, he attached his mouth to the side of your neck, beginning to tease you in return. He was biting and sucking every inch of skin that he could get his mouth on, making the most obscene sounds, but he wasn’t embarrassed at all. He only had one goal on his mind, which was to make his girl feel good, and oh boy, was he succeeding. Once his tongue trailed from your collarbone up to the bottom of your ear, he pulled away, moving his hands to the backs of your thighs. He gave you a little tap on your soft skin, signaling for you to jump in his arms, and he swiftly grabbed and deposited you on the kitchen counter.

“My god, every single day I wonder how I got so lucky…” he whispers out loud as he drinks you in. Your legs were wrapped around his waist now, your hands tangled in his hair, pulling on his tresses ever so slightly just to get a reaction out of him. He lets out a low groan, letting his head slip back, exposing his neck to you. You practically moan at the sight. He looked like the embodiment of sex before you.

Without any hesitation, you lean forward, letting your mouth trail all over his burning skin. Since he was going to be away from the public eye for a few days, you began to nip and suck at the smooth skin, gently lapping over the blooming marks once you were pleased with your work.

“Mmmm, fuck, honey, love how you mark me up,” he hisses out, gripping your hair and tugging your head back. Once you were able to look Sam in the eyes again, you could see how much they had darkened just in the past few minutes. Normally they were a soft, rich brown, but now they were dark, full of passion and hunger. His hands moved from your hair to the straps of your sundress, toying with the light material between his slender digits while his eyes trailed down your form.

“Sammy, I have a confession,” you whisper, and his gaze snaps from your breasts to your eyes, becoming curious at once.

“Do tell, baby.” Sam begins to delicately trace shapes along your arms and collarbones, causing you to take a sharp inhale. Any form of touch from the man standing in front of you always caused you to squirm in your seat in the best way possible. You lock your ankles together behind the small of his back, feeling the warmth of his skin radiate off of him and onto your bare legs, traveling all the way up to your core.

You pull him in closer in the process, muttering directly into his ear, “Y’know, I kind of always wanted to be fucked in this cabin. Right here, actually, on the counter.”

His hands that were once trailing along your chest halted their movements, stilling for just a moment before returning to their position at your shoulders. He hummed at your sinful confession, you could practically see the gears turning in his head, the steam billowing out of his ears.

“My sweet, sweet Y/N, daydreaming about being fucked in her family’s cabin. And right here, too?” he questions you sweetly, dipping his head down to ghost his lips over yours, feeling his hot breath fan over your swollen lips. You nod your head fervently, ready for him to touch you again, feel his fingers drag across your scorching skin. You were wanton with need at this point, inching your hips closer and closer to his growing erection. “Let me get this straight, while you and your family were sitting over there, eating dinner and chatting away, my vixen was sitting there, probably dripping at the thought of being bent over this counter and getting fucked so hard she couldn’t remember her own name? Hm?”

You squeaked at this, bucking your hips up into his, desperate for any type of friction at this point. The way Sam could get you so worked up just off of his words would always bewilder you.

“My naughty girl,” he tsks at you before closing the gap in between the both of you and latching his plump lips onto yours. The kiss sent you into the stars, searing your lips and sending sparks down to your toes. You moaned into his mouth, letting him lick into you. The overwhelming taste of tequila mixed with the chocolate he was snacking on earlier washed over you. You planted your hands on his chest, digging your nails into the soft flesh that was located there. This pulled a deep groan out of him, making you want him even more.

His hands moved from their position on your shoulders and grabbed at the flimsy hem of your dress, moving it in between his fingers while deliberately tracing his hand up and down your thigh to tease you. You whined immediately at this, wanting him inside of you as soon as possible, ready to live out your shameful daydream. He eventually detached his lips from yours, a trail of saliva connecting the two of you as he hesitantly pulled away. You reached up to wipe your mouth as he asked you lowly, “Now, I guess the last question is this; who were you thinking about while you were getting bent over nice and pretty in this kitchen?”

“God, you, Sammy, you!” you whined, fed up with his slow, deliberate movements and taunting.”Now will you please get on with it and just fuck me already before you burn our dinner?” you huffed out, getting more impatient by the second as you felt his fingers trace over your knee, his warm erection nudging against your clothed core.

“Anything for my girl,” he obliged, instantly pulling the hem of your dress over your head once you lifted your arms up high above you. You shimmied out of the soft material, leaving you in your matching set that you might’ve knowingly put on that morning before you left the house. It was one of Sam’s favorites - it was a creamy white two-piece, practically all see-through and as soft as butter. His eyes practically popped out of his head once he saw that you were wearing his favorite set, mindlessly throwing your dress into the corner of the kitchen behind him. His hands found their way to your hips, pulling you back in nice and tight while his mouth went straight for your clothed breasts. He slowly licked at the material, humming lowly in the back of his throat, leaving little nips here and there where he thought necessary.

You decided that you had had enough teasing, reaching your right hand down in between your two bodies and began working pushing down his linen pants. Your hand briefly brushed against his length, making his hips chase the friction, searching for more. “Okay, okay…” Sammy said, pulling away to shrug his pants down, freeing his erection completely. He was what you would expect of most skinny, lanky guys - long and hits the right spot every time. You moaned at the sight of him, so desperate for you that he was going to take you right there on the kitchen counter. “God, need to see you,” he said, voice getting rough with desire. He grabbed the waistband of your panties and tried pulling them off of you in one go, which ultimately led to him ripping them in half in his haste.

“Sam?! Those - those were your favorite,” you exclaimed. He picked up the two pieces and threw the material behind his head, making you laugh.

“S’alright, we’ll just get you another pair, as long as I get to come along and see you try them on,” he trailed off, finally leaning in for another soul-searing kiss. He caught your lips in his full ones as soon as you opened your mouth in rebuttal, catching you off guard. This caused you to lean back a little, making you move both of your hands behind you to support your weight. Sam reached down, and grabbing both your legs underneath your knees, he pulled them up, hooking them around his waist. “Honey, spread ‘em for me. Show me how much you’ve thought about this,” Sam breathed out, directing his gaze down to your dripping core. You immediately spread your legs at the knees, baring yourself to him completely. He groaned at the sight and swallowed deeply, keeping his eyes fixated on your throbbing center while he reached down to grab his hardened length.

“Sammy, please,” you beg, raising yourself up a little higher on your arms so you could see him begin to stroke his leaking cock. You just wanted him to ravage you at this moment. Everything about him was so incredibly sexy - the hair falling out of his bun and caressing his toned shoulders, the way his moldavite necklace hung gently against his rising chest, the tight grip he had on your hip, the way he was already biting his lip hard enough to draw blood and he wasn’t even inside of you yet. “Baby, just give it to me already,” you whine out, hoping he would listen to you, “I’ve been wanting you all day.”

He looked up at you then, his big brown eyes meeting yours. He parted his lips and gave you a wink before responding, “Alright, only cause you’re so worried about our dinner burning, and, quite frankly, I just wanna feel you around my cock.” You moan quietly in reply, giving him a small smile and a quick nod.

You brace yourself as he takes his length in his hand, lining himself up perfectly before looking you in the eyes. You watch him slowly, the way he runs his thumb over his dick, how he’s locked you in against him with one hand on your hip in a death grip. It’s at this moment that he sinks into you, groaning out at the sensation of your fluttering warmth. His mouth immediately dropped open, the inner corners of his eyebrows turned upwards - he looked like heaven and hell combined.

“Oh - oh, fuck, Y/N,” he rasped, already overcome with pleasure. His other hand that wasn’t previously on you shot up to grab your opposite hip, clutching you against him. You looked down to where you two connected, whimpering out, beginning to grind against his cock to get some sort of friction while he was standing there motionless. He took notice of your neediness and began to slowly draw himself back, making sure you were able to feel every single inch, every vein and curve along his length. You reached your hands up, now that he had a firm grip on your hips, and tangled them within his velvet locks.

He finally met your eyes once your fingers found his scalp. He began pumping himself in and out of you at a slow pace, watching the way you would squirm on the countertop, feeling you pull on his hair when he reached a particularly deep spot within you.

Sammy listened to your body so well whenever you two were intimate. He would wait and listen for the smallest amounts of praise, or even just a breathy sigh to pass your lips to let him know that he was doing his job (very well at that). One of the perks about Sam was that he was a fast learner - it didn’t take long for the two of you to start having mind-blowing, forget-your-own-name sex. He learned your ins and outs, what you loved and, just as important, what you didn’t care for so much. It wasn’t long into your relationship before he had his head in between your thighs, your toes curling, leaving you gasping for air and clutching the sheets.

“God, sweetheart, you feel amazing,” he whimpered. He ducked his head down to watch where you two met and increased his pace, making him grab onto your hips even tighter. You cried out as he did this, as it caused him to angle his hips upwards, hitting your most cherished spot within your walls.

You could hear the sauce bubbling on the stove, threatening to spill over the pan’s edge with every passing minute. Sam didn’t pay any mind to it, though. His mind was focused on one thing and one thing only - fucking you until you made a mess on the counter.

“Shit, Sammy! More, more, more,” you managed to mumble out of your trembling lips, the feeling of his cock slipping in and out of you making you see stars. “God, you’re so deep…” you moaned, squinting your eyes shut from the delicious pressure the head of his cock was creating, almost practically hitting your cervix. This was your favorite, and he knew it - the mix between pain and pleasure. You’d do anything for Sam to fuck you like this all day long. He grunted in response, slapping his hips harder against yours. “Fuck!” you cried, throwing your head back, “Sammy, please baby, don’t stop.”

“Yeah, take it, baby, take it,” Sam breathed out, leaning down to take one of your nipples into his mouth. You moaned at the sudden contact, the warmth from his mouth, only spurring him on even more. He switched to the other nipple, and lapped at it while making you open your mouth in a silent scream as the pleasure began to rear its beautiful, magnificent head deep down in your abdomen.

He pulled back from your breasts and made eye contact with you, sending sparks down to your core. “Come on honey, don’t want our sauce to be ruined, hm?” he teased you as he pounded into you relentlessly at this point. You could’ve sworn that your vision was beginning to blur around the edges, especially when he reached his nimble fingers up to your face and practically shoved them in your mouth, knowing just what you needed to do. You sucked on the digits like it was your last duty before he pulled them from your lips, snaking them down in between your bodies to make contact with your throbbing clit.

“Mmmmm, Sammy, touch me, please,” you begged him, pleading with him to make you cum.

To say you were a mess at this point was a complete understatement. As soon as his fingers began to rub fast, erratic circles around your clit, you were hurtled face first into your orgasm. You practically screamed Sam’s name as he felt you clench around him, sending him into his own waves of pleasure and ultimately causing him to cum deep inside of you.

“God, oh fuck, honey, so good. So good,” he moaned out, slowing his thrusts down as he rode both of you through your climaxes together.

You lifted your head up from where it was resting on his chest from when you came, making eye contact with him once again. His eyes were heavy with a slight gleam to them. “Hey there, pretty girl,” he whispered to you. He lifted his hand up from where it was on your hip, moving some of your hair out of your face that had fallen when you were moving your head.

“Hi, handsome,” you whispered right back, failing to hold back a giggle.

“Ah, ah, ah, no laughing yet,” Sammy replied, bracing himself to pull out of you by gripping your hips one last time. He slowly pulled out of you, watching his cum drip down and out of your core. “Jesus Christ, that is so hot,” he says out loud, mainly to himself.

“Help me clean up before we go for round two and really ruin our dinner,” you respond, watching Sam saunter to the sink to grab a clean towel and wet it with some warm water. He pads back over to you where you’re sitting on the cool countertop, langs dangling down over the edge, waiting for him to help clean up both of your messes. As you watch him, your heart soars - this side of Sammy was one of your favorites. He was always so kind and attentive towards you, but even more so when you two were done fucking. It could be after an extremely passionate night, where you haven’t seen each other for three months because of tour. He’s grabbing you everywhere, teasing you, making sure you know just how much he missed you while he was away. It could also be after an intense night out, leading to the two of you stumbling into the living room and having him bend you over the couch right there. Those were the nights where you were sure that your entire street knew Sam’s name by the end of your little sessions.

After he was down wiping you down, he gave your inner thighs two light kisses before rising off of his haunches to come face-to-face with you. “So, how was that for kitchen sex? Huh?” he teased you, giving you his million-dollar smirk.

“Better than I could have ever imagined,” you hopped down off the counter, looking for your dress, “but I must say, I don’t think I’ll be able to eat another meal in here with the family now, babe.”

Sam chuckled while pulling on his own boxers and pants. “Oh, you just wait missy, by the end of this, you won’t be able to walk into any of these rooms without being reminded of our little vacation.” With that, he walked back over to the stove and removed the sauce that had been screaming for his attention all this time. You pulled your dress over your head haphazardly, all while staring at the back of his head in shock.

He couldn’t be serious.

#sam kiszka smut #sammy kiszka smut #gvf smut #greta van fleet smut #carnelian fics

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sarcasticscribbles · 21 days

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Artschool Dropout

I made a thread about how and why I became an artschool dropout, and want to share it here too. Storytime! It's mainly a highlight of parts I despite in the art worlds; capitalism and superiority. My experience was affected by the environment, and hell was a bad environment

Back in the distance year of 2019 I went to an(community) art college in like the *fancy* part of my area. I lived across the lake on the countryside, so I was not prepared for this environment. Rich people cosplaying poor is the best description. Fancy clothing made to look dirty and no-one wore shoes. It was very networking-vibe, with "omg we HAVE to talk more later" but never doing so. Like nurses energy. To be fair I became more and more non-approachable as time went on.

A good note is that Swedish education is normally free, even uni degrees, but this one cost money. It was that was never addressed or mentioned when I applied; that's on me maybe, but the few friends I had didn't know either. A lot was beaten around the bush when it came to expenses. A big draw for the school was a trip they made to Berlin during a film festival. Once the time came around they mentioned the cost for the trip (which was not mentioned before, I thought it was included) and kinda of shamed people if they wouldn't pay and go. Saying how its a highlight of the education and the few staying behind just watch movies for a week. In addition, the film festival wasn't included in the price, and we would have to pay extra to go. It was supposed to be a week, but two days was for travelling by train.

The price was something I would rather use for a private Berlin trip. It wasn't a lot, but I refused to do it, mainly for how indirect they were with everything. A friend and I said we wouldn't go and a staff complained how they would have to keep the school open just for us.

My classmates weren't an issue, it was the teachers and system, which all just felt like a money laundering scheme. One day we travelled to Stockholm, and we were tasked to go four hours alone, sit and stare at an object and think what it made is feel. Those were the instructions.

Four hours. Alone. Then home.

I and one other instead went to grab a coffee and trash talk. Once the time was up, I just made up on the spot "what it made me feel" and he gave me a job well done. I understand the assignment, but the execution from the teacher was all wrong.

It wasn't my crowd tho, I came from a gaming development High school while these people were like, social studies. I'm used to a nerdy crowd, is what I'm trying to say.

I have two funny examples:

I was talking to some guy during a break the ice get together with the whole school (very small school) and I explained I studied video game development before, and he said "omg that's so cool!!" And I answered, "yeah! Do you play?" And he said "yes, the piano :)"

And other time we were talking about painters, and when they asked me who my favourite was, I thought I would joke and said "oh, donatello :) because I love purple" and NO ONE got my tmnt ref and instead thought some Italian Renaissance was my favourite artist.

But back to the main issue, it was the school: First day our teacher handed us supplies from a closet and I was like "wow! Thank you! When these run out (BECAUSE WE'RE FKN ARTISTS) can we grab new ones in the closet?" And she said "no :) this is for the two years you are here" Like eight different hardness pens and a block of paper.

My worse experience was that every Tuesday was lecture day (although we didn't have grades nor exams) and all students gathered in a dark room to look at a PowerPoint about culture and people.

Fun in theory, but again executed so badly. My last lecture one teacher said "oh, and we gotten complaint not everyone can take notes during the presentation, so we thought one from each class could take notes and share with everyone else later :)! Any volunteer?"

Like ??? What? I raised my hand and said "you have a PowerPoint there? Why can't just share the presentation with everyone if they want to go back later?" AND SHE ANSWERED "that is a great idea, but unfortunately that would take weeks. So this is a better alternative:)"

TO THIS DAY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE MEANT BY THAT

Smaller details ; expensive lunch, creepy teacher keeping images of women's privates on screen (and I'm an artist I don't mind nudity) pointless activities and little progression. I can't give it a fair judgement, I only lasted three weeks but jumped in the opportunity to leave.

Cherry on top was I had communicated in private with my mentor about quitting and the day it was decided I had to go back to get my stuff and have one last day and the teacher (not my mentor) exclaimed in the shadiest way "Sophie? I thought you quit" I hadn't told my friends yet.

Last day I replaced all my supplies with new from the fancy closet, and me and my friends stole coffee from the cafeteria during lunch (it was only included if you bought food) to celebrate my time. We all hated the system of the school, but all of us loved art.

My experience is mainly the environment the school was located in; upper-class pretending not to be. The people were alright and i got a few friends before quitting. It was also traditional, general art when I prefer digital art. The school, system, and teacher were hell, which is a shame because it took something I loved and turned it into all the things I hate. i don't regret going and I don't regret quitting when I did. Best thing to come out of it was my literal label Artschool Dropout

#artschool dropout

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subbe93 · 11 months

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It Has Always Been You, Chapter 1

A/N: Finally, here we are! Here is the start for @starmia ‘s request! I tried to reread and publish this around Easter, but I couldn’t make it, so I decided that as soon as I’m free from school and start my summer holiday, I’m going to do it. And here we are!

Though this time I’m working differently with this fic. Usually, I have drafted the whole story before I have started to reread and publish chapters. I like to do that because this way I make sure that any of my long fics wouldn’t be left unfinished, and I also can promise when the next chapter comes out. But to be honest, I started to feel like I have promised to work on this fic so long and still hadn’t had a chance to start publishing. So I promised myself that as soon as I start my summer holiday, I finished this first chapter and publish it. But the thing is when I’m writing this (it’s Friday, 16.6.), I have nothing written for chapter two. Yeah, you read right: I have nothing for chapter 2, not even a word ^^’ But I start to work on it, and I promise to publish the next chapters as soon as I got them ready! And I’m really sorry about that because I can’t even guess when I got the next chapter ready ^^’

But back to the fic! The request was that Shinichi and Ran tried to date in uni but it didn’t work so they decided to be friends, Shinichi went away and years later after he comes back he is engaged but he realizes that he is still in love with Ran.

So here is a start, I hope you like it ^^

Chapter 1: Back in Tokyo

Shinichi didn’t remember how beautiful Tokyo was. Or maybe he hadn’t appreciated it back then when it was part of his everyday life scenario. But now, after five years in America…

Probably it would have been many years more before he would have even planned to make a visit to Japan if he wouldn’t have got a call from Nakamichi. After catching up, he told him that they were planning a class reunion with their group from high school. So, of course, Kudo Shinichi needs to be there too!

To be honest, part of him wasn’t a big fan of an idea, but people around him started to be excited about it. His mother started almost immediately planning the flight to Tokyo. And when Shinichi tried to get help from his fiancee to find any good excuse not to go, she had just looked as excited as his mother and told him that they really, really need to make that trip!

Well, he could understand why Julia was so eager to make a visit to Japan. That light-haired woman had lived all her life in America and hadn’t traveled anywhere. She had dreamed about traveling around the world and seeing so many different places, but because of school and everything, her dreams hadn’t come true - at least not yet. So it was only understandable that when Shinichi’s parents promised to pay for her tickets to Tokyo and back and also a hotel room - even though Shinichi had said they don’t have to! - she was so eager to go. Well, Shinichi was pretty sure that Julia would have come even though his mother wouldn’t have promised to pay anything.

But yeah. After that, he hadn’t had any chance to say no anymore.

But maybe deep done, he was happy that others were eager to make this trip. Because after stepping on Japan’s land, he felt at home. It was weird, because he had a home in America, but Japan had still a special place in his heart. He had grown up in here, learned much from here… And truthfully, he really missed his old friends. After high school, they went their different ways and didn’t see each other as often as before. He can admit that he hadn’t been very good at keeping in touch with them, but then again, they haven’t with him.

So walking those streets and seeing those familiar places - though some of them had gotten little different looks during the years - brought back so many good memories. All those adventures he had as a child, his first day at kindergarten, his first day at school, all those soccer games he played with his friends, he remembered all cases…

With all those fond memories, he realized how much he had missed it all. Though some things had changed, including his childhood home, which made him feel a little bit sad. But his parents had sold it after Shinichi was sure that he would like to stay in America, so it was only understandable that there were new owners who wanted to make that house look like theirs.

And here he was, being emotional.

“It’s so beautiful”, he heard Julia say as they walked to the park. She looked around dreamily, but that’s how she had walked after yesterday when they had landed. Everything she saw was awesome and beautiful. She had even forgotten her urge to learn Japanese as soon as she had gotten off the plane. Some of the greetings she knew and she knew how to thank, but since she had been too busy to look around while his parents had taken care of everything else, she had lost all possibilities to learn more. But Shinichi hadn’t mind, and to be honest, he was sure that it would be more exciting for her to concentrate to see everything around her instead of trying to learn a new language. At least she could do it when they would be back in America, but views? Well, of course, she could always check pictures from the internet, but to be honest, it wouldn’t be the same as experiencing them now, right here.

“Right?” Yukiko answered excitedly. “So much different than New York.”

“So much”, Julia laughed happily, and from the corner of his eyes, he noticed how she turned to look at him. “You’re so lucky that you got to live both of them.”

That’s what his classmates had said when his parents moved to America. First, they had thought that Shinichi had been a fool because he hadn’t moved with them, and later they had claimed how lucky Shinichi was, to have an easy way to make a visit to America. But he hadn’t seen anything interesting in it. Besides, it just meant packing and all if he had wanted to visit his parents, which he had considered just troublesome.

“I don’t think it’s really anything special”, he said finally and looked at Julia, but those amber-colored eyes were looking around, trying to see everything. “If you want to live or visit somewhere, you just have to do it, right?”

Yet she turned to look at him, giving him that certain smile while rolling her eyes. “It’s not that easy for everyone, you know?”

“But you can always work for it”, he answered.

She shook her head. “You don’t understand, do you?”

He shrugged. “It seems I don’t” he admitted.

Julia laughed and nudged him with her weight. “Don’t ever chance, okay?”

He grinned in answer.

“Alright, lovebirds”, he heard Yukiko say, making Shinichi look at his mother. “Should we grab something to eat? I’m starting to feel hungry.”

“Oh, yes!” Julia answered, as energetic as always. She took a few run steps to walk beside Yukiko, looking at her excitedly, wrapping her arms around Yukiko’s arm. “What do you recommend? I want something new! Actually, Shinichi mentioned…”

Shinichi shook his head mostly himself before following those two and his father. Yet, those cute, pink Sakura flowers stole his attention and his eyes went back to them. He had to admit that he hadn’t remembered how beautiful they were. And they brought back memories that he had kind of forgotten. Well, not necessarily forgotten, but dealt with them and moved forward, leaving them behind when there hasn’t been anything to remind him of them.

And those memories, they were still dear to him. Painful, but dear. But he still pushed them a little further, because now wasn’t a time for them. Right now, he needed to…

“Shinichi?”

And he stopped right there.

That voice…

His name, with that voice, was enough to make him forget everything else around him. For a moment he thought that his mind is doing tricks, because what were the odds to hear that voice just when those memories were coming back to him, but when he turned around, he saw her. That long, dark-haired woman standing there, those orchid-colored eyes looking like there were tears and lips… Those lips turned slowly into that smile. Into that certain smile that had always made his heart race in his chest.

The same smile he had fallen in love with in the first place.

She looked almost the same as five years ago, yet maybe… more like a woman.

“Ran.” It was the only word that came out of his mouth, and for him, it sounded more like a whisper, but seeing how her smile widened even more, he knew it had been much more. Or maybe she had just read it from his lips?

She let out a laugh and ran towards him. Shinichi smiled while opening his arms, taking only a few steps toward her before she jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He laughed with her, closing her into his embrace as he had done so many times years ago. He felt how she pressed against him, and he smelled that same, familiar scent that had always made him a little bit nervous, and yet, when he closed his eyes, he wanted to drown in it. That scent and warmth were so comfortable and caring, making him feel like… home.

And all those memories that he had pushed away, came back to him. He remembered that little girl, tears in her eyes when she had made him a Sakura badge. He remembered all the adventures they had had as a child and how afterward Ran’s mother had scolded them about it. He remembered years in elementary school, he remembered all events from the teen years, all the things they have laughed at, many places where they have visited, many crime scenes that he had wanted to keep her away, many tears she had shed… He remembered every time when she had grabbed his arm, he remembered every time they had held each other’s hands, remembered every kiss…

He remembered the night when he had decided to follow those men in black. He remembered how they had made him take the name Edogawa Conan, and he remembered all the lies he had to tell Ran to keep her safe. He remembered her disappointed and betrayed look when he had finally taken down the Organisation and became back to Kudo Shinichi without fearing to lose her or anyone else close to him. He remembered how after some time they had decided to date again and… and…

“I can’t trust you, Shinichi. Not like… before.”

Without realizing it, he tightened his grip around her.

“It’s been years”, he said finally and opened his eyes, ripping himself out of those memories. Even though he still held them as important and dear memories, everything was connected to everything he had done wrong. He hadn’t lost only the love of his life for that stupid mistake, but he had also lost his closest and dearest friend too. And even though he had made peace with it, learned to live with it, he had to admit that it hurt. Knowing that he had hurt the one he cared about the most…

The fact that she never could trust him as before. The fact that there were always hints of doubt.

Scars that he made, but what he couldn’t heal.

But that all was in the past. He couldn’t chance it. And even though getting over her was painful, seeing her now, looking healthy and fine, he was happy. That had been all he had wished for, that she would be safe and sound, and happy.

“It really had”, he heard her say and sniff while her grip tightened. “Where have you been, Shinichi? I have been so worried…”

It made him let out a soft laugh.

You have still been worried?

“God, Ran, how many times do I have to tell you that you don’t have to worry about me”, he said, feeling somehow nostalgic. Finally, he made her move a little farther so that he could see her face, examined them, and…

She was still beautiful. She looked exactly the same woman that he had loved, the same woman that he had left behind.

The same woman that moved on, while he couldn’t.

He observed how Ran opened her mouth, like planning to say something, but then she shut her mouth, looking down with a sad smile. And even though Shinichi couldn’t know for sure, he got some kind of feeling that he knew what she would have wanted to say.

“You haven’t called.”

The same phrase he had heard so many times during his being Conan. And now that he thought about it, he could have called her more often back then. But at this point, it didn’t matter.

But while living in America? How in the world he should have known that Ran still wanted to be in touch with him? In the ens…

“You left without saying anything”, Ran said finally, getting him out of his thoughts. She raised her head, orchid-colored eyes meeting his. “I thought…. I thought something terrible happened to you.”

Like in Tropical Land, many years ago…

It surprised him a little bit. After their break-up, Ran was the one who was okay with it. While Shinichi himself tried to patch his broken heart, Ran had been the one who continued her life without a problem and started to go on dates with others.

She had been the one who moved on.

Shinichi had just been stuck in his sorrow, feeling jealous, angry, and sad when he had seen how Ran dated others. Of course, they had greeted each other, talked if being the same group, or met somewhere and had time, but to be honest, for Shinichi, it had looked like they couldn’t even patch their relationship back to the same level as it had been before their dating. And it hadn’t been a surprise, because she had lost her trust in him. She didn’t talk to him as before, they weren’t in touch as often…

For him, it had looked like she didn’t need him in her life anymore. That she hadn’t been interested anymore to know what he was doing, how he was doing. And maybe it was only understandable.

It had been the reason why he went to America. Well, honestly he hadn’t planned to stay there long, only enough to get his thoughts in order without seeing Ran or getting depressed to see her with others. It had been a trip that was meant to give him enough space to heal his wound. But then he got a chance to continue his studies in New York. And after some thinking, he had stayed.

So he hadn’t even thought that Ran would be interested to know what he was doing and whatnot, which had been the biggest reason why he hadn’t been in touch. And if she really had been that interested, she could have just asked. Even though he had changed his number, there were still ways to make contact. God, if Nakamichi had found his number, why Ran hadn’t had?

But he didn’t blame her. Almost six years ago, he had known that woman better than anyone else. And if she hadn’t changed, he was pretty sure that the only reason why Ran hadn’t been in touch with him, is because she hadn’t had enough courage to do so.

That’s Ran. Always overthinking even the simplest things. Or at least she had used to.

“To be fair, I didn’t know either that I would stay in America”, he answered finally. “I just planned a visit to my parents like a few weeks or something, but…” He chuckled. “Well, I got a chance to transfer my studies and continue in New York, so I stayed.”

In the end, you were the reason why I stayed in Japan in the first place…

“Oh”, Ran said and frowned. “You should have… I would… I…” Then she shut her mouth and looked away.

She genuinely looked melancholic, and it made Shinichi think that maybe…

“Shinichi? Who is she?”

Shinichi snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look beside him. Julia stood there, looking curiously at him, then Ran…

Oh, he had totally forgotten Julia and his parents!

“Oh”, Shinichi let out, dropping his arms around Ran and taking a step away from her. He wondered how bad it had looked in Julia’s eyes! He hadn’t thought, not at all… “Oh, she…” He stopped and reminded himself to use English again, so Julia could understand him. “She is Mouri Ran, my childhood friend, and… my ex-girlfriend.”

Julia's expression brightened. “Oh, so this is that Ran you had told me so much?” she asked and sounded excited - a little too excited if someone would ask Shinichi. He followed how she went closer to Ran and offered her hand. “My name is Julia Williams, Shinichi’s fiancee.”

Nothing happened. Shinichi turned to look at Ran, who just stared at Julia. Her smile had faded a little bit like there was something wrong. Shinichi frowned. But Ran had been good at English back then, why she…

“Julia, darling, not like that”, Shinichi heard his mother's voice, but he still couldn’t get his eyes away from Ran, who still stared at Julia with some weird expression. He tried to read it so he could do something to help, but… “In Japan, when we met a new person, we introduce ourselves, and after that, we bow a little”, he heard his mother explain, and finally Shinichi turned to look at them when Yukiko put her hand on Julia’s arm, making her lower it. “And it would be more polite to call her Mouri-san or Ran-san.”

“Oh!” Julia shouted out and turned to look at Yukiko confused. “But you always talk about Ran…”

“Because she is our dear family friend”, she explained gently before turning to Ran. Then Yukiko went to her and grab her into a tight hug, continuing in Japanese. “It has been years, Ran-chan! How have you been? You look as beautiful as always!”

“I’m fine, I’m fine”, Ran laughed and hugged Yukiko back, but Shinichi still could see that something was bothering her, even though she tried to hide it.

“Oh, come on, Ran-chan!”, Yukiko laughed and get away from her enough to face her. “You have to tell me more! What you have done during these years? Do you still live in Beika? Do you have a job? Fiancee? Children?”

“Mom!”

Well, it wasn’t like this should have been a surprise: His mother had always been curious, and when she opened her mouth, there could come out anything! But Shinichi couldn’t help but feel so embarrassed. Why did she need to bluntly ask everything that came to her mind? Wasn’t she the one who just a moment ago told Julia to be more polite?

If he would still be on good terms with Ran, this wouldn’t be so awkward, but now?

So when Yukiko turned to look at her, like she had done nothing wrong, Shinichi continued: “Don’t harass her like that! It’s not your concern…”

“Mou, Shin-chan!” Yukiko said. “But I want to know…”

Shinichi rolled his eyes. This wasn’t fine! “Maybe Ran tells you if she feels like it”, he answered.

“It’s okay, Shinichi”, Ran interrupted, taking his attention. He met her eyes and he knew that she meant it. She had always been kind, it seemed that she still was.

And she had been used to his mother’s curiosity, so that was probably the reason that she didn’t mind.

But honestly, the difference from the past was that he wasn’t as close to Ran as he used to be. And he didn’t want her to bother Ran too much.

But Ran smiled gently when turned back to look at Yukiko. “Yes, I still live in Beika and I’m working the closest kindergarten, and… I… I live alone.”

“Oh, but that sounds good”, Yukiko said, yet not as energetic as usual. “Though I’m sad that you are still single…”

“Mom, no”, Shinichi interrupted before she would have time start to pry anything more. Again Yukiko turned to look at him and opened her mouth.

“What about we continue our way to eat something?” Yusaku interrupted smoothly, making only then Shinichi remember that his father was also there. He glanced at him and saw how looked at Ran, smiling gently. “You can join us, if you want, Ran-chan. We offer.”

“Oh, that would be amazing!” Yukiko shouted out happily, hitting her hands together. “We offer and meanwhile you can tell us everything…”

“Mom…” Shinichi sighed. Why did his mother need to be like that?

“I’m grateful for the offer, but sadly, I need to be somewhere else soon”, Ran answered and raised her hand to glance at her wristwatch. And even though it made him happy that his mother wouldn’t have a chance to pry anything else, he still felt a little bit disappointed. It would have been nice to catch up with her, after all these years.

Well, maybe he would get that chance at the class reunion.

“Oh, that’s a shame”, Yukiko muttered. “But it can’t be helped…” Then she started to smile again. “Is it a date?”

Shinichi rolled his eyes.

“Ah, no”, Ran laughed. “I’m just seeing Sonoko.”

“Ah”, Shinichi let out, remembering that annoyed woman… “She’s still here?”

Ran laughed again. “Yes, she still lives here too”, she answered, looking at him with that big smile. “She would be so happy to hear that you’re ba-... in Tokyo. Do I tell your regards to her?”

“Please, don’t”, Shinichi answered and grinned. “Somehow my sanity has been so much better when she isn’t around.”

God, and now he missed Sonoko too. He had never guessed that there would be a day when he would have been ready to drop everything else just to see Suzuki Sonoko and hear her irritating voice. God, he would have liked to… But she probably didn’t want to see him. They haven’t been in touch either, not after his and Ran’s breakup. Shinichi was pretty sure that Sonoko was on Ran’s side and hated him for breaking Ran’s heart.

Well, he wanted to say that he was the one who got that broken heart, but it wouldn’t probably matter. He was the one who had done wrong. But maybe he would get a chance to see her at the class reunion and see how much she would hate him.

But he would never admit to anyone that he missed her. Not even for Ran.

Ran giggled. “Well, that would make her sad, just saying”, she said.

Shinichi shrugged. “I doubt that.”

Then there was a silence. Shinichi looked at Ran’s eyes before she dropped them on the ground, looking nervous. And even after years, even though he had been over her, and moved on, seeing that gesture made him feel a little sad. Somehow this moment only proved to him how much he had lost. It had never been this hard for them to say goodbyes.

“Well”, he started and moved his eyes to Julia, who was observing him. “I think we planned to go to eat?”

“Oh”, Ran let out, making Shinichi look back at her. “Oh, yeah, sorry for keeping you! And I believe Sonoko is waiting too…”

Shinichi nodded. He hated how awkward this was between them.

“It was so good to see you again, Ran-chan”, Yukiko said and gave a fast hug to Ran before moving away. “Maybe we should meet before we got back to New York?”

“It… sounds like a good idea”, Ran answered with that sweet smile.

“It was nice to meet you, Ran-san”, Julia interrupted in English. “And I’m sorry about earlier…”

“No, don’t worry about it, it’s okay”, Ran answered now, smiling apologetically. “I just… I just was surprised… Sorry about that!”

It seemed just to make Julia happy. “Don’t worry!” she answered. “And… I would also love to see you again! Shinichi’s friends are mine too!”

“Yeah”, Ran answered, but somehow it wasn’t as bright as the answer for Yukiko. “I would like that.”

Julia’s smile just widened.

“Okay, maybe we should continue”, Shinichi said because even though he hadn’t seen Ran in years, he still got some kind of feeling that she was a little bit uneasy. “I’m starting to be so hungry.” Then he looked at Ran and smiled. “See you at the class reunion, right?”

Ran smiled at him, but somehow it seemed sad. “Yeah, see you.”

Shinichi nodded before turning. He put his hand on Julia’s back to push her to move with him.

But even though meeting with Ran had gone well - much better than had thought, and honestly, he hadn’t even thought of chatting with Ran even in the class reunion -, something still bothered him. Why Ran had looked a little bit sad? If she hadn’t wanted to chat with him, she probably wouldn’t have stopped him. But he hadn’t blamed her for anything either, right? Or maybe she was just uneasy because it was their first meeting after five years and there were also others…

“You have to continue teaching me more Japanese, Shinichi”, Julia said, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked at her and saw how those amber-colored eyes looked at him. “I have forgotten the whole thing when we arrived yesterday, and I’m kind of sad that I couldn’t greet your childhood friend correctly!”

“I don’t think Ran minds about that”, he comforted her. “Besides, I thought you would like to concentrate more on views,” he said and nudged her a little bit. “In the end, you don’t see these every day, but making me teach Japanese to you can happen whenever you want to.”

She pouted. “I know, but…”

“Shinichi!”

Shinichi stopped and turned around. Ran was still standing where they had left her, still looking at him. But now she looked a little bit shy. There was a hint of insecurity in her.

“I… I wonder… Would you like to meet before the class reunion?” she asked before letting out a nervous laugh and looking away. “If you have time at some point? I…” Then she met his eyes again. “There are things I would… like to clear up between us. If… if you want give me a chance, of course.”

And even when she smiled, there was glimmering in her eyes. Like…

Like he could say no to her. Has he ever? Besides, that is what he would like to do. If it would mean that they could get back even part of the relationship that they had before the Tropical Land, he would do it. Even though they wouldn’t love each other as they had, she was still dear to him, and he would give pretty much if she would still be part of his life.

“Fine by me”, he answered finally. “If you have the same number as before, we can settle where and when, okay?”

Her smile widened a little bit. “Okay.”

Chapter 2

#ShinRan #It Has Always Been You #I don't know how to tag this!#Meeting after break-up #Getting back together #Shinichi/OC #Post-canon #Kudo Shinichi #Mouri Ran #Detective Conan #Fanfiction #Chapter 1

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retiredtothebriars · 4 months

Text

Looking back on my 2023. I really said it's time to stop waiting !!! Honestly though, I feel like I was in crisis a lot of the time

i went to iceland which has been a dream of mine since i was like 16!! we drove around the whole island!! holy shit i still cannot believe this. i'm really proud of this bc i planned this so hard I had to make a 2 part google map because it wouldn't allow me to fit it all in one map

i also got to show angus some of london and we also visited helsinki!! (actually this trip was very stressful because i uhhh was not meant to be away. many breakdowns. many psychologist apts.)

i made so many new friends at uni! who knows if they'll stick around but it made me feel more confident in my social abilities lol

I made i think a true long time friend with someone at work. mostly by sending him gore

i showed a painting in my first exhibition and won a prize (thanks to my friends who voted like 200 times lmao)!!! oh yeah AND I SOLD IT??? This is another life to me now.

i performed in some routines with my jazz troupe. I learnt a lot about dancing and performing and improvising (so.... uncomfortable...). I'll be leaving the troupe tho because i want to focus on aerials and bc it doesn't really fit my vision for myself

Aerials went slow and steady because of all the shit I had going on. I'm still proud that I kept it up and I feel like I'm a lot stronger.

we got a puppy <3 <3 We love him so much and we work so hard to look after him

as usual I got really really depressed over the ember months. really really depressed, resentful, lonely

TBH I looked so good this year. Learning to style my make up and clothes with my black and white hair was fun. I feel like I learnt a lot about how to move my body. I had to go to the physio for my back so I've been working on my posture. I know it's kind of fucked but I'm always watching myself. I also got my dream selkie dress secondhand

passed year 1 of dental school that was so fucked and i was warned but holy shit it was fucked. here's a diamond knife that rotates at 100,000 rpm and no instructions on how to use it have fun! you have an exam on it next week! but honestly i had so much fun and I love being challenged and next year will be even harder but bring it on!!!!!

#i don't normally do this but i kinda wish i had in the past #bc i am actually really surprised by all the stuff that i did like go me??

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avariceaside · 21 days

Note

SPACE VAST OC GANG!!!! please share more about Gracie I'd love to compare :3

Yeah!! Another Vast Oc for the pile!!

Hoo boy where do I start with Gracie. I think she'd have always been a bit obsessed with the space and the ocean as a kid, and become an avatar after nearly drowning on a open ocean diving trip with her parents. She went a bit too deep (fell into a Vast area) and ran out of oxygen, but was just like "eh, worse ways to die. I'll admire the ocean in my final moments" and kinda just, accepted the Vast. Idk how to really put it. It kinda filled a longing in her, a void in her soul that yearned for the endless expanses and infinite blues I think is the best way to say it.

Overall she's pretty carefree, and just uses her powers to chill in the void and/or infinite sky, while occasionally throwing some poor dude into the Vast. I think her favorite would be scaring divers by just chilling underwater in normal clothes way deeper than people should be, or doing the same thing to astronauts but that doesn't really get to happen that often. One time Simon Fairchild got to a victim before her and she still holds a grudge. (She uses his money to pay for uni and other assorted things as 'payback')

Physically when she's not using her powers her hair moves in the air slightly more than normal, almost floating, and her eyes are a very light blue. She also usually wears hoodies/ comfy clothes. When she is using her powers her eyes can shift from an almost glowing bright blue to an endlessly deep blue, like deep space or the depths, and her hair whips around like its in intense wind. Being around her kinda feels like when you're in between sleeping and awake and youre just starting to dream, but then it feels like you trip and you jerk awake, but constantly.

She also has a girlfriend! Her name is Jackie and she's an avatar of the web. They met in high school after Gracie came back from her trip. Jackie was already an avatar and decided to help show her the ropes. They started dating after they started university, which is coincidentally how they got involved with the archives. They needed to get some statements for a project (and bother Elias) and it snowballed into them hanging around and being cryptic at Jon and the others.

Jackie usually keeps her hair up, with one side of her head shaved, and a pink streak in the other. Her eyes are a really deep brown, and when she uses her powers they shift to a bright red. She can also open 6 other eyes, or form more arms, as well as being able to create/ see the threads that connect others and manipulate them. While Gracie is a bit ambivalent towards feeding her fear, seeing it more as a necessity to keep the powers that make her 'whole", Jackie enjoys creating fear and toying with others, even when she doesn't really need to.

Overall I'd say they're rather attached to humanity, and were pretty disturbed by the whole Eyepocalypse, and they definitely tried to help Jon and Martin undo everything. (Although I will say Jackie probably had a little more fun with the whole thing, and Gracie probably didn't hate every part of it soooo).

After the Eyepocalypse they lost their powers and kept a low profile during what I'd imagine would be avatar hunts (if the Simon Fairchild comment was anything to go by), before starting a YouTube channel to boost their image. Jackie is the face and Gracie is the camera and nothing ever goes wrong. They for sure never try and film at a place suuuper connected to the Fears like, say, Hilltop Road, and they for sure don't get pulled into an alternate dimension. No siree!

There's probably a lot more rattling around in my brain about those two, but I think those are the broad strokes. I also realized I've done a shockingly small amount of digital art of the two, so I guess I'll just put what I can scrounge around under the read more because this post is pretty long already :p

ALSO! Thank you so much for sending the ask! If you can't tell I love to talk about my little guys lol

them <3

#sorry for the late response! school is trying to kill me :)#that video is also on my youtube! its the name name as my url and has some videos of my other ocs #I have so much art of these two in my irl sketchbook but my camera is broken so I cant take pictures T-T #long post #tma oc #tma ocs #avarice art #the vast #the eye

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slothgiirl · 2 years

Text

a rose by any other name part xiii

11k. druig x reincarnating reader.

prev. /// next.

London 2024

Nathan frowns as Sprite takes on an adult form. “Seriously?”

“I’m trying to get laid.”

“Oh yeah,” he rolls his eyes, “because that’ll work.” She kicks his shin.

Your brother filled out during the past year, no longer lanky limbs. He has your dad’s high cheekbones though he’s pasty from having spent all of last year in New Asgard and his long hair proves he went native.

You check your messages for the millionth time.

“Happy birthday Dane,” Nathan gives Sersi’s long time boyfriend a loaf of gross healthy Norwegian bread that the Asgardians also like making. His obsession with alien archeology paid off.

“Thank you! How was your trip?”

After the snap, a car swerved into your parents' honda civic. A freak accident. You were all Nathan had even as you spent days sitting under the showerhead remembering so many lives. You scratched at your skin, trying to peel away the layers and get back to you. You. Whoever that even was. What were you?

At least Sersi and Sprite had the excuse of being aliens. You were just a freak. You weren’t Thor.

“Great. The salmon up there really gives Hawai’i a run for its money.”

“No way.”

Sprite doesn’t even flirt with anyone, just holds her glass and watches Dane and Nathan and you can see her getting angrier by the second.

You make your way to her as Sersi does the rounds with Dane’s friends. She was always careful to not get too close.

You were like two thousand years old. It was just your body that wasn’t. Fuck. Trying to rationalize your past always gives you a migraine.

Sersi has a black and white photograph, the ones people had to stay still for minutes for it to work right, of you and her in Paris during the 70s. The 1870s. Nathan had it as his lock screen.

“You wanna go get nando’s instead?” Your brother had told you he wanted to go when he was back in the UK. Everyone here thought it was adorable that Sersi brought her kid sister everywhere. But when it was just the four of you, Sprite didn’t have to pretend she was a teenager when she was older than the English language.

“Naw,” she shakes her head, the movement odd when carried out by the illusion she was wearing, “I kinda wanna see Dane’s stupid face when she shoots him down again.”

“We can kick Sersi out and give her no choice?”

Sprite snorts. “You’d never.”

“Maybe I’m not as nice as I look.” You brush imaginary dirt from your shoulder.

One of Dane’s friends from uni, also your alma mater, hits on Nathan and you gag. It was so weird to think of anyone finding your brother who you’d seen eating his own boogers when he was five as attractive, let alone flirting with him.

Sprite frowns. “Obviously or you’d have told Druig.”

You wince.

She had you there.

There was a letter in your sock drawer. You’d written out a lot. Then crossed it all out and instead wrote something much more to the point, then thrown that away. Finally, you’d settled on a picture of you and Sersi on a river cruise for new years. Sprite had photobombed. Nathan’s finger was in the bottom corner. But you had struggled for the words so you never sent it.

It was a lot.

Reuniting with Druig would force you to confront the reality of your situation, the big M question you’ve been avoiding. How would the use of your magic this go-a-round impact your ability to reincarnate? You didn’t want to tell Druig. You didn’t want him to think that you didn’t want this, you and him in whatever space you were able to carve out for yourselves. You didn’t want to burden him with the knowledge of some freak spell, but you knew you would have to talk about it.

“Drink,” Nathan offers Sprite his cocktail. Your brother loved a good margarita.

“I can get my own drink,” she snaps. “I’m not five.” Then stalks away before Nathan can reply.

She was always touchy about her unchanging appearance.

You check your messages again. Lizzy still hadn’t responded. She was living in a mental health residential clinic Nathan was paying for. Tracking down alien relics paid the big bucks.

The transition from being ash to being alive, the world having moved on for five long years, had been rough for your sister.

You were the same age as her.

Her things had been thrown out in the chaos.

It was weird.

You didn’t know how to make her understand you were just happy to have her back. You’d outlived everyone, always.

Somewhere you probably had descendants.

“Have you ever heard about the golden apples,” Nathan asks you.

“Like from Percy Jackson?”

Nathan grins, and you know he’s about to make fun of you, “didn’t you live through the trojan war.”

“Fuck off.”

“And you have magic! If anyone should know this stuff it’s you.”

You grumble, “say that a little louder I don’t think they heard you in Tokyo.”

***

You glared jealousy at Sprite and Nathan sharing headphones to watch some in-flight movie while you were suffering sitting between Sersi and Ikaris. You couldn’t even watch a Mission Impossible movie because your headphones were bluetooth and the plane only had the aux plug in. So there you were, while Ikaris kept stealing looks at Sersi like he was a Youtuber about to launch into a ten minute apology video and Sersi scrolled through her eBooks. Her seatbelt was already on.

Why couldn’t your seat be with Sprite and your brother?

“Should’ve flown there and saved us these last minute flight prices,” you try to joke, looking at Ikaris who had never warmed up to you in nearly two thousand years.

Sersi blushes. “It wasn’t too bad. Nothing I can’t afford,” glancing at Ikaris before adding. “I had a lot of time off saved up.”

“Maybe if you’d gone with us to Spain,” you point out, “Barcelona was great. Ate way too much ice cream.”

“The V&A-”

You snort. Classic Sersi, turning down a vacation to spend a week going through a new exhibition. What a nerd. “So,” you address Ikaris, “what have you been up to in the last five hundred years?”

“Um.” He swallows, clearly not expecting the question though given the circumstances, he really fucking should. Maybe he doesn’t owe you an explanation but he does owe Sersi one.

Fuck, you should’ve sent this in to The Cut. Ask Polly.

“I’ll go first,” you start, “Travelled around Europe with Sersi. Surprisingly didn’t die from all the lead around then but apparently missed out on the Radium craze. Stayed with Thena and Gilgamesh for a bit. Was a nurse in World War 2, not that anyone ever remember’s India’s part or that front. What about you?”

Ikaris rolls his eyes. “I have continued my mission.” His gaze flickers to Sersi, “our mission.”

“How many thousand years and you haven’t changed, haven’t grown.”

Sersi puts her hand on your arm. Let it go.

“There are deviants. I have a duty to Arishem.”

“But not to humanity?” You scoff, “call the Avengers. Let Antman or the Wasp handle it.”

Ikaris scowls.

Sersi sighs.

“Miss,” the flight attendant asks Sprite, “I need you to have your seat upright at the moment.”

Sprite glances at Nathan with a pointed look, “I’m eight thousand years old.”

“All the same,” the woman doesn’t even blink, “your seat needs to be upright.”

“Told you,” Nathan snipes back.

Sersi rests her head in her hands.

It was only a nine hour plane ride, a two hour connection, followed by a three hour drive, until you reached Ajak. Fuck.

***

Ikaris digs the grave by himself. Twin rivers of tears run down his cheeks.

Sprite and Sersi sit on the steps of Ajak’s house, comforting each other. You feel like an outsider. You didn’t know Eternals could die. For so long she has been a constant. No matter how much the face of the world changed, the Eternals remained the same.

Only they haven’t. So many cracks have shown behind their alien facade since they split. Thena had become ill. Ikaris had all but disappeared, and inside of everything Sersi had grown.

They could change just like humans did, just like you did. And they could die.

You bite your lip, thinking of Ajak.

It had been in Mexico when you had last seen her, lived with her. Her dark eyes reflected the awful human sacrifices that the Aztecs had carried out like many other cultures throughout history. Ajak’s unblinking gaze: you wondered how such a sweet woman could be so cold to an entire planet.

And here you were.

You look up at the scenery. It was peaceful here in rural Montana, far from any city.

Your eyes were wet with tears for a woman who’d let you die before.

“Did you know here,” Nathan asks, shadowing you, giving the others space to mourn.

“Not very well,” you chuckle, “I mean, we lived together, but no, I didn’t really know her.” It sounded shitty.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you,” your brother looks at the horizon, “I’m going to move Lizzy to New Asgard.”

Oh.

You feel blindsided.

Your sister wouldn’t even talk to you.

“Is that a good idea?” She was not the only person to live in a residential facility for those affected by the Snap. It was traumatic enough for you, and you didn’t even get Snapped.

People had collected the ashes and taken them to doctors, hoping. . .

“Her therapist thinks so. And Lizzy doesn’t want to stag in Canada.” Nathan rubs the back of his neck.

“Are you okay with that,” you have to ask. “You're young. It doesn’t have to be your responsibility. You should be able to date and move in and not have to look after Lizzy-”

“I want to. . .and I’m not,” Nathan does air quotes, “building a family.”

“You never know.”

“I do know,” he tells you, meeting your gaze. “I’m not interested in the nuclear family thing.”

You blink.

“I’m ace. Look it’s not a big deal but I wanted to let you know, and that you can always move to New Asgard with us.”

You swallow. The idea of your siblings living in New Asgard, would they be in the path of would-be Thanos’? There seemed to be a new catastrophe everyday and now Deviants too. Maybe you should call the Government. They could get in touch with Captain Marvel, right?

“I have a job.” It sounds weak even to your ears.

“I know. No pressure. Seriously. Just, visit, call, zoom?”

“Yeah. I will.” You remember all the voicemails you’ve left Lizzy.

Did she even want to see you?

Before you leave, you run your fingers over the freshly dug grave, soil upturned, and watch as flowers bloom over Ajak’s grave. Blue and yellow wildflowers.

****

You say goodbye to Nathan at the airport, dreading the three separate flights you need to take to reach Kingo. It’s Sprite that hugs him the hardest, punching his arm, and grinning, “two for flinching,” like a particularly annoying aunt to her favorite nephew.

You hadn’t told him about the possibility of the world ending, again. What good would that do? Everyone on the planet lived with existential PTSD, Spiderman destroying the London Eye didn’t help.

You sit next to Ikaris in business class and spring for purchasing headphones. Best ten pounds you’ve ever spent. Sersi hadn’t thought twice about sitting with Sprite.

Neither Ikaris nor you make another attempt at small talk.

It’s not until your layover in Doha that you stretch your legs.

“You didn’t tell him about the whole new Celestial did you,” Sprite asks you while you wait for a McDonald’s meal. Your internal clock is messed up. It could be breakfast or dinner.

“No,” you sigh. “I feel like-okay telling someone would freak them out but maybe telling New Asgard? They have ships? People could be saved, they could call in backup. We, you don’t have to do this alone.”

Sprite sighs. “I-I thought one day we’d finish and I could, maybe back on Olympia there might be a way for me to change. . .and now-we can’t just,” she looks down at her shoes, “I spent nearly ten thousand years protecting this planet and now we’re just supposed to let it die. That’s not what I signed up for.” She laughs darkly, “not that I signed up for anything apparently.”

You wrap an arm around her shoulder, “You’ll have time to talk this through with a therapist after.”

She looks up at you, “someone’s counting their chickens before they hatched.”

“Very punny.”

“Thanks.” Sprite adds, “I told my D&D group I’d be gone. They were worried.”

“That's what friends do.”

“I’ve never been able to stick around in one place for long,” she muses, “not after. . .I’d tried and people got really burn the witch quick.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. You didn’t make me like this.”

You grab food for Sersi and Ikaris too.

***

Kingo introduces yet another Auntie he’s older than. You’ve lost track, looking through your messages: trying to get work off your back, replying to your brother, seeing your sister still hasn’t responded. The world’s going to end in days. You should be with them? What were you even going to do to stop this?

Not for the first time you want to call the Wakandan Embassy. Maybe their technology could help?

But even Sersi was on board with bearing the responsibility on her own.

And Kingo-

He’s supposed to be saying goodbye, but that involves introducing everyone in Karun’s family. They keep spawning. You think they must’ve called people over. One of the old men is definitely the neighbor. Karun’s wife quickly gets food going: wanting to send her husband and Kingo off with snacks. It’s a lot.

You doubt Arishem had this in mind when he created Kingo.

“Ah and that is Kush,” Karun excitedly gabs, “he is studying for his entrance exams. We are very proud of him!”

“I miss when you could just make things up and people believed them,” Kingo sighs, “now you need accreditation.”

Sersi frowns, “well, yes-otherwise you get quack doctors and pseudoscience. There’s enough of that within academia to start with.”

“We can’t all inherit our father’s media company,” you point out. Karun had signed pictures with Kingo Sr. It was a photograph of the entire cast for some folk tale musical.

“Hit me up for a job. Make nepotism work for you,” Kingo grabs you by the hand. “What’ve you been up to? Wait-do you know,” he narrows his eyes, scrutinizing you.

“Too late for that,” Sprite says bitterly. Being around Kingo was putting her in a mood.

“Oh. Thank god. Keeping secrets, smh. Am I right?”

“Well you obviously told Karun,” Sersi says.

“And apparently the whole family,” Ikaris adds, holding up a photograph of a teenage Karun and Kingo. “Do they all know?”

“Eh. It’s not a big deal. Once we got over the vampire and evil jinn theories we really bonded. You should watch 30 hours in Mumbai. A real tear jerker. Almost as good as Dangal,” Kingo explains, before calling out to someone in Marathi.

You barely retained any Hindi.

Some memories, some lives, were clearer than others. You could still picture the waterways of Tenochtitlan, but India was a blur.

“So they know,” Sprite finishes.

Karun’s wife, Seema, comes out with lunch boxes, all filled with freshly made food. They’re all labeled. There’s more than enough to get you all through the plane ride to Australia: to Thena and Gilgamesh.

And then there’s more goodbyes all over again as she fixes Karun’s lapels.

Kingo puts the food in the car.

“I don’t think we can all fit,” Sprite frowns.

“We can split a cab,” you offer.

“We fit, don’t worry,” Kingo says before squishing four people into the back of his car. It was an absurdly tight fit. Sprite sat on the edge of the seat, your knees jammed against Sersi.

“We should’ve split a cab,” Sprite grumbles.

***

Sersi breaks the news again. And again.

No Olympia.

Their entire life was a lie.

You wonder how this kind of world altering news will impact Thena’s mental health. Her grasp on reality was fucked. This couldn’t help.

You understood, looking up at the night sky.

Time had stood still at Thena and Gilgamesh’s homestead. There were stars you had not seen since Airdrie. The London smog was not nearly as bad as it had been at the turn of the last century, the tail end of the Victorian era. But here even the Milky way was visible to the naked eye like it had been centuries past.

Learning the truth of Arishem’s mission was watching Tony Stark fall out of the wormhole all over again. It was learning about aliens, that there were empires grander and more powerful with their eyes on Earth. The Hulk, Thor: it had never stopped after New York. The attacks, the threats had kept coming from people and the stars.

Nothing had ever been the same.

There was Alien insurance that could be added to houses like Volcano Insurance.

Mutants went viral on Tiktok.

But everytime a Thanos level event happened, you and the rest of humanity remembered how vulnerable the little blue dot called Earth really was.

This was their wormhole.

“Can I join you,” Sprite asks, sitting down on the packed earth with you.

“Yeah.”

“It’s nice out here.”

“Relaxing.”

Sprite laughs, “we should’ve taken a quiet country vacation instead.” She inhales deeply. “There’s dolphin’s off Scotland.”

“Next time,” you lay your head on her shoulder.

“You sound so sure,” your old friend mutters, “a celestial. A fucking Celestial.”

“They can’t be that bad-”

“What did Druig tell you about Arishem?”

“Honestly,” you offer, pulling away, “not much.”

“To call them gods isn’t an exaggeration. It’s not like with us, people worshiping something they don’t understand. They’re gods. The whole life, death and universe shabang.” Sprite closes her eyes, the tired expression on her pixie features at odds with her age. The trepidation in her eyes reminded you of the British Indian soldiers on leave. Eyes that contained all the horrors of war; Sprite who had seen more horrors than had ever been put to historical record.

You’d been sacrificed once.

“I should’ve-I should have tried more, built-I could’ve had what Kingo does! Family. Real family. Not a bunch of losers Arishem stuck on the same ship.”

You try to comfort her. “Family, are people you love not necessarily always get along with. Or even like all the time.”

Sprite intertwines her fingers with you. “I’m glad you shot an arrow at me.”

“I was shooting a deer.”

“Way to ruin the moment,” she snipes, both of you bursting into laughter.

***

Kingo’s private plane was a game changer.

“Please tell me this is some green lofty Stark tech so I don’t have to feel bad about the CO2 emissions,” you ask the Southeast Asian in appearance Eternal.

“Yeah! Nothing but the best for Kingo Jr. or Is it Kingo the fourth now?”

Sprite rolls her eyes.

“Guys,” Kingo points out, jumping from topic to topic, “should Thena have a knife on the plane?”

“It’s fine,” Thena doesn’t look up from her wood whittling.

“She said it’s fine,” Gilgamesh echoes, sitting down next to you and leaning his seat back.

You trust Gilgamesh’s judgement on this.

“Um,” Kingo continues to look worried.

Karun hands him a drink.

You were used to Kingo being surrounded by friends. He’d always known merchants and butchers, haggling with a smile and actually managing to get fresher produce. Haggling is an art. Karun and his kin were just the latest in a long line of people that Kingo had built friendships with.

It was Kingo more than any of them that had taken to being human like a fish to water.

“You mentioned the deviants could speak now,” Gilgamesh asks Sersi, looking pensive.

“What does it matter,” Ikaris cuts in, “They’re deviants. We have a job to do.”

“Oh right,” Sprite says sourly, “our mission. Because that’s going well.”

“Sprite,” Ikaris chidded as if he had any authority.

You busied yourself with the contents of Kingo’s mini fridge. There were masala lays and bottles of beer. You play with the inflight tv, wondering if Kingo had anything other than his own movies.

“Sersi,” Gilgamesh recenters the conversation.

“Yes, um,” she nods, “He-they,” cleary she wasn’t sure what pronouns to use and only Sersi would be worrying about pronouns when dealing with deviants for the first time in milena, “tried to speak before attacking.” She purses her lips, “about Arishem. I don’t know.”

“Then they have the capacity for higher thought,” Gilgamesh ponders, “are more than predators following their nature.”

“What are you saying,” Kingo asks carefully.

You frown, “that still means they chose to attack us in London. They could’ve remained in hiding.”

“Do you think,” Sersi says slowly, “that they sense Tiamut’s birth?”

“If we are all children of Arishem,” Thena trails off, her pencil stilling. What must she feel now, learning that the illness in her mind wasn’t delusional hallucinations but memories of other worlds? She was holding herself together admirably. You thought this must be hardest for her.

Learning the truth did not stop her flashbacks from occuring like a glitch in the matrix.

“Does it matter.” Ikaris clicks his jaw.

“Yes,” Gilgamesh argues, “if they are sentient beings then we should try to. . .we shoukd hear them out. Everything we thought we knew was wrong. What if we are wrong about them. Clearly, they evolved.”

Sprite stands, “did you forget they killed Ajak!” Tears shine in her eyes. The wound still fresh.

You wonder what Ajak woukd have done if she lived. Would she have told them about Tiamut? Would the Eternal leader have let the Earth die? You hoped not. But you had never been close, you could not guess at her feelings for humanity, her loyalty to the mission might have won out.

It didn’t matter.

Ajak was gone.

You’d never know what she would have done if she had lived:

“Sersi,” Gilgamesh says, “perhaps they can be reasoned with. From their point of view, we have hunted them to near extinction. Should we not try to do things differently-better than we have? We can’t afford to fight the deviants and stop Tiamut at the same time.” His arguement was well put.

You’d never faced deviants before.

“Arishem created the deviants for a reason,” Ikaris states, “just as we have a purpose.”

“Oh and I suppose that makes it right,” you point out, “and if Arishem told you to let Thanos kill half the universe that makes it alright!”

“You’re human. I don’t expect you to understand.”

Kingo defends you, “hey! It’s her planet we’re talking about here.”

“And billions of people,” Sersi collapses into the seat, her expression that of a deep rooted depression.

Thena places her hand over Karun’s camera lens.

“They. Killed. Ajak.” Sprite slams a steak knife into the coffee table you were all gathered around.

“Ajak knew,” Thena adds quietly.

The woman had left behind so many questions.

You think of the iridescent alien creatures that had smacked Ikaris aside with ease. Sersi’s abilites had only bought seconds. They had made you feel so small. What were a few magic tricks against alien creatures that could take on an Eternal?

The images of the Battle of New York fill your thoughts again. Everything had changed after that.

“And she knew it was the right path,” Ikaris again argues, “that’s why she was the leader.”

“You’re talking about the destruction of an entire planet,” Sersi points out, hurt in her eyes as she regards her former lover.

“And billions of new worlds.”

“He has a point,” Kingo points out, “I don’t like it, but who are we to decide which lives matter more?”

You roll your eyes, “um, the lives currently existing obviously! Those new worlds are theoretical, they don’t even exist yet. If Tiamut has waited 5 billions years already, can’t they wait another 5 billion for the sun to die? You can have planet earth then.”

“It’s the way of things,” Ikaris once again argues, “destruction so that new life may begin.”

Kingo shakes his head, but says nothing, looking tormented at having to bear the responsability of Earth, of Tiamut.

“You haven’t seen worlds die,” Thena notes, her gaze lost to her memories.

Gilgamesh squeezes her shoulder in sympathy.

It was the same arguement, recycled, as time ran out for your planet.

***

Mexico was both exactly how you remembered it and incredibly changed.

Kingo’s plane landed in Mexico City, the sprawling metropolis was akin to most cities in the world. But once you left the city behind, you saw traces of what life had been like at the turn of the century. People still hung their laundry up to dry and the closer you got to the mountains Druig had made his home in, the less development there was. You wondered how much was Druig’s doing and how much of it was just a result of how remote this cerro still was with its dirt road.

“You two have been here before,” Kingo asks you and Sersi. “Right?” You’ve made a stop at an Oxxo to grab snacks and refuel.

“In the 1800s,” Sersi answers. You split some pecan pies with her.

You look up at the mountains surrounding you. It was hot and humid in the worst of ways. “I was buried here last time, no,” you scrunch your nose, “the time before that with Sersi.” You were pretty sure it had been in the 1800s. “I died somewhere in Bangladesh I think?” There was so much to remember.

Humans lacked the capacity to live as long as you have. You didn’t have space to remember everything.

“That’s ghoulish,” Kingo frowns in that humorous way of his. He’s always been charismatic.

“I don’t really think about it. . .” It was rare for you to come across your grave. Different places, centuries later, this was the only one you knew the location of. Now you weren’t sure how to feel about your bones rotting in the earth. Was there even anything left?

Sersi squeezes your hand.

“Why haven’t you talked to Druig,” Sprite asks, nosy as always as she nicks your drink without thought. You were used to Sprite and Sersi. You’d missed Kingo in your past lives.

You shrug, biting into the thin pastry. It was always fun to try snacks in different countries. You just wish all this travel wasn’t done under the cloud of another impending apocalypse.

Sprite jabs her elbow into your side, “Come on. Spit it out.”

“Fuck, that hurt,” you complain, covering your mouth with your hand.

“So?”

Kingo also leans in.

You roll your eyes, “seriously?”

“Well now I wanna know,” Kingo nods.

“Eh,” you look down at your shoes. It was a bit weird where you did want to vent but also didn’t want to tell them because it would get back to Druig in the form of Kingo saying shit. They were your family. “I don’t know. I guess I wanted to finish Uni and then there was the whole Snap and. . .it honestly seems a little fake even though I can remember everything.” You couldn’t have dragged your baby brother to your husband’s commune.

Kingo pats your shoulder, “that’s. . .”

Karun shoves the camera in your face.

“Really,” you take a step back.

“It makes for good drama.”

“Karun worked on Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro.”

“So why are you working for this one,” you ask Karun. There was no way being a valet was this man’s dream.

“There is so many places and things to learn when working with Kingo,” Karun smiles kindly, “like all of you! What do you see when you die?”

You cringe.

“Don’t answer that,” Sprite pulls you away.

Back to the car.

“Give me my soda back,” you tell her even as you grab it. It was hot and already sweat ran down your back.

“You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” you nod. It had never been that you didn’t want to see Druig. . .you just wanted to take care of some other stuff first. Sort the mess of memories in your head as much as you could. Time, you had wanted time to figure yourself out first.

It wasn’t fair.

To either of you.

It never had been.

Shakespeare couldn’t have imagined a better tragedy.

***

You’d honestly forgotten how creepy this place could be. You didn’t want to sound judgemental, or dimish each villagers life and their autonomy, only you couldn’t let go of the idea that they couldn’t consent to Druig’s whole mind control as a deus ex machina when it was all they had ever known. Over two hundred years later, and you still hadn’t come around on this.

Neither had anyone else.

“Can I film you sir,” Karun asks someone.

You search the man’s face for familiar features. You’d likely known this man’s ancestors. He might even be Cualtzin’s great something.

You swallow, suddenly wishing you had talked to Druig before. You wanted to do this in private, to have a change to see him before everyone by yourself, and maybe guilt also wormed its way into your thoughts. Would he be hurt you didn’t seek him out? You’d known for years.

You wanted a proper reunion without the impending birth of a celestial hanging over everything.

Sersi intertwines her finger with yours.

You only hoped your sister would come around. You needed to talk to her before-

Sprite asks a man, “Hey, estamos buscando a Druig. Donde esta?”

“De que conoces a Druig?”

“Somos,” Sprite thinks on it, “amigos de la universidad.”

Their eyes grow gold.

Definitely creepy.

Druig steps out of the community center. Though the way this place ran, everything was communal. That was one thing you’d liked about this place, how close knot everyone was. And the food.

Your heart lurches in your chest when you see him, the same dark hair, cheeky smile with those mischievous eyes. Any doubt of the validity of your feelings, of your memories, faded away because this was real, he was here in the flesh. Like learning to ride a bike, you slipped back into the habit of being in love.

“I miss you all,” are Druig’s first words to the Eternals after centuries in a warm tone that was a complete turn from his schism from the rest of his companions.

Your fingers tighten around Sersi’s hand.

It’s obvious when he spots you.

Caught off guard as his eyes widen, whatever he was about to say is forgotten. “My lady-” Druig always has the brightest smile.

“Druig,” you rush forward.

It’s without throught. You just need him at that moment.

And he needs you.

Druig cups your face in his hand, resting his forehead against yours.

You stare into his eyes, feeling amazed that you were able to spend another lifetime with the man you loved. The only man for you. In his gaze, the history and love shared between you echoed back.

“You’re getting this? Please tell me you're getting this,” Kingo’s terrible stage whisper breaks your trance.

“I am Sir. Do not worry.”

And you remember why you were here with the rest of the Eternals.

“What’s wrong,” Druig frowns.

You didn’t want to tell him any of it. You wish you could shield him from the news of Ajak and Tiamut, from learning that his entire existence was a farce, but you couldn’t. The Eternals needed him. Earth needed him.

Pepper Potts would understand how you felt at this moment.

“You should sit down.”

***

Sersi explains the finer details, filling in the truth with the astral projects she’s had with Arishem shince Ajak died.

You observe how he takes the news, sitting next to him. The muscles of his arm shift under your hand. There’s no easy way to break the news of the Emergence.

Nothing would matter if the Earth was destroyed.

You knew he’d help.

But it was easy for you to read the vitriol in his face. You could practically hear him think back on every event they had watched impassively as innocents died, trusting Ajak’s judgement that they were doing the right thing to ensure humanity entered an age of enlightenment, only to learn it had been a lie.

Druig had a temper.

When he’d finally snapped, the Eternals had disbanded, because of him they’d gone their separate ways.

“You’ve given me a lot of bad news in one go, Sersi,” he finally states, bitterness lacing his light tone.

This was not going to go well.

“Will you help us,” Sersi asks, barely finishing before her phone rings.

Druig clenches his jaw.

You squeeze his arm in support. You were here for him, for however long that was. Again, you think of your siblings; of Sarah who sent you something off your amazon wishlist on your birthday even though you guys barely talked anymore; the Indian place that gave you two orders of rice for your curry order for free. All these people. . .

Druig stands. “Do you all remember Tenochtitlan? Beautiful. The canals. Tlatelolco.” He pauses in front of Gilgamesh and Thena, looking genuinely happy to see them again, “It was the last place we all lived together.” For them alone he had left this place for a decade.

“I protected these people for twenty generations now. From the outside world and from themselves,” he saunters over to Kingo and Karun, bitter in his gloating. “Your kind my friend, you will be responsible for your own extinction one day. Don’t you think.”

You sigh when Karun earnestly answers Druig’s rhetorical question.

This was not going to end well.

Druig possess Karun.

Kingo immediately surges to protect his friend, “Oh no you didn’t.”

Covering your face with your hand, you sigh, letting your head fall as they talk about streaming views when the world is about to end.

It gets worse when Ikaris tries to leave.

“Druig this is serious,” Sersi tries.

“I’ll tell you what’s serious. I’ve just been told I’ve been sent on a suicide mission for the past 7,000 years and that my entire existance was a lie. So excuse me for not giving a shit about your plan right now.”

Yeah, he was not taking this well.

You knew from the moments of travel where no one could do anything but stew in the truth that everyone was feeling torn, but Sersi and the rest were trudging through to fix the situation before they had their existential crisis.

Druig slams the door when he leaves.

Thena gives you a long look.

You’d never been able to read her.

“I’ll. . .go talk to him,” you tell them, feeling incredibly awkward.

Spite, being her usual self, asks you like she had hundreds of years ago, “him? Really?”

You roll your eyes and chase after him.

“How long have you known,” Druig says coldly.

He stands on the edge of the treeline. You know where this pathway leads. The graveyard.

Kingo was right, it was strange to think you were both here and buried here.

“Not long after Thanos,” you answer honestly. You didn’t want to do this now. Not about the magic, not about the time, or Thanos or any of it. Not when-

You’d seen people turn to ash.

Running into the flat corridor and people just. . .gone.

He turns to you. “You didn’t come,” his voice was small.

You reach for his hands, “I had to take care of my brother,” you explain, “and then. . .my head was a mess. I remembered bits and pieces but not in the right order.”

“I’m not mad. . “ he says softly, looking up through his fringe at you.

“I didn’t think you would be. . .I just needed time and was psyching myself out and now this-”

Druig’s fingers tighten around yours, “The Emergence.”

“You have to try,” you plead with him, “isn’t it what you’ve always wanted. To do something instead of sitting by?” Here you were, begging for the future of humanity. You’d never felt that difference between you and your husband more.

“My love,” he sighs, “even if I could. . .this is not just any mind I would have to control.”

“So you won’t,” you frown, voice wavering. Your eyes burn with unshed tears.

Ikaris you’d expect.

Even Kingo and Sprite’s hesitance made sense.

But Druig-

“That’s not what I said,” Druig says slowly. “We could take the Domo-”

“You once told me,” you say as you gaze into his eyes, “that you wanted to be buried here. On Earth. That you were as much of this Earth as I am.” Your lips tremble, your words hanging in the air.

“And I do,” he utters with a turbulent sea of emotions on his face, “But I am a selfish man, my lady. I want more time. For us.”

Tears fall from your eyes. “There might be more,” your smile is small, “we might pull this off. And if not, I wouldn’t change a thing. How lucky are we to have had lifetimes?”

Druig smiles, looking as handsome as he had in Australia, before leaning in to kiss you.

You meet him halfway.

There’s no rush.

A steady passion that never wavered, Druig kissed you like he had a thousand times before, like he might a thousand times more.

You wouldn’t give into the anxiety.

This was not the last time: they’d pull it off. You trusted that your patchwork family would save the world.

Just look at what the Avengers had managed to do.

You wrap your hands around his neck, placing a kiss against his cheek, “I missed you.”

Druig hugs you against his chest, “Sure, as if Sersi hasn’t replaced me,” he jokes and you know it’ll be okay.

You hope.

“Speaking of Sersi,” you say, “I should go let her know to get going, while you take care of things here.”

“One last thing,” he tells you.

“Yeah?”

Druig kisses you again.

You laugh against his plush lips.

“Sersi,” you spot her and Ikaris talking. Like any best friend, you immediately want to plant yourself as a shield between her and her ex.

They look alright, for the moment.

But you saw first hand how lonely she was when you found each other.

And you’d never liked Ikaris.

“Hey,” she waves you over.

Ikaris sulks, and you know he’s going to say something annoying once more.

A metallic screech fills the air.

You look up, instinctively trying to find the source. In the blink of an eye, a deviant snatches Ikaris into the air.

Sersi screams. “IKARIS!”

Fuck.

You look around wildly. There was nothing sturdy to hide in. Just huts and trees that they could rip to shreds. Your heart pounds in your ears.

For once you wish you knew fancy spells like Doctor Strange.

“Señora, esta bien,” a voice calls from the fog as you hover around Sersi.

What were you supposed to do?

“Watch out! Clear the camp!” Sersi yells.

It’s chaos as more deviants appear. Their bodies are exposed muscle, vines wrapped around to form animalistic creatures. In one you saw sabertooth tigers.

Fuck.

You clench your fists.

“Sersi,” you scream when a deviant lunges at her.

It’s too late.

A deviant comes barreling towards her.

“Get back,” Kingo yells, shooting fireballs at the thing, “it’s an ambush.”

Sprite grabs you, “come on!”

It’s chaos as people run into the forest. You’re not even sure it’s safe with these deviants popping up everywhere.

“Sprite, get Karun to safety!”

You don’t even see what happens, running with Sersi, running amongst the crowd.

Your eyes scan but there’s nowhere to hide.

“This way,”’she takes over, showing the streak of leadership Ajak must have seen in her, “quickly,” her first priority was ensuring the safety of these people.

It’s world war 2 all over again.

People running, attacks coming randomly. All you could do was hope your luck held out. (You hadn’t been snaped.)

“Get inside,” Sersi urges you.

“I’m not leaving you.”

She wants to argue but she also knows there’s no time. Her hands press against the wood, transforming it into metal.

She doesn't finish.

“Sersi!” The scream dies in your throat when the deviant tosses her body aside like she’s a paper doll.

You don’t have time to see if she’s okay. Your scream attracts the deviant’s attention. Blue and green and awful you hold up your hands, praying for something to happen. You didn’t understand magic.

Maybe you didn’t have to.

Without knowing, you’d made yourself reincarnate.

You act, raising your hands, aiming at the deviant and knowing something would happen. It would.

It does.

Light flares out of your hands. You feel the pull of magic from you, your teeth aching like you’ve got a brain freeze. The light blinds the deviant for seconds, sending it reeling back.

It shakes its head, disoriented.

You don’t know what else to do.

Sersi clambers out of the remains of a hut.

There’s nothing around you to use as a weapon, not really.

You scramble back, wanting to put distance between the creature and you. They certainly didn’t seem sentient. You cannot blame a predator for its nature.

Shots ring out.

You flinch.

The villagers line up, controlled, aiming their guns at the deviant. Buckshots ring out as they surround the deviant.

Your eyes widen in concert.

While the bullets ripped into the deviant’s iridescent hide, the alien creature grew annoyed. They weren’t putting it down.

It’s tail throws people aside.

You inhale sharply.

Unlike Sersi, they didn’t get back up.

Druig runs in, engaging the creature, weaving around and shooting it at close range.

It rears, angered.

Sersi spurs into action. She weaponizes a tree, her ability slowly turning a ring of bark into water, as Druig and his villagers keep the creature in place.

The magic is there, at your fingertips, it just needed a form to take, a spell to wield it properly. You flex your fingers.

Your breaths were sharp and shallow, adrenaline racing.

The tree, frozen into ice, traps the creature, and in a classical dysfunctional family way, Sersi and Druig argue as the deviant begins to shake the tree off himself.

Fuck.

You act, planting your foot forward, knees bent. Muscle memory took over, hundreds of years of experience, you see the ice. While Sersi and Druig argue about the villagers, your hands once more glow softly, a color between sunset and rust.

The ice moves with your will. The motion is fluid even as the weight of the branch slams into you. You grit your teeth. Your knees bend with the effort, more weight lifting than wand waving.

A branch breaks off and spears the deviant through the eye.

It happens in seconds.

You pant with exertion.

“How did you-”

The shock breaks Druig’s hold over their minds.

“Is that really important right now,” you run over to Sersi, looking her over.

“I’m okay,” she says quickly. “The others-” She looks further into the village where Kingo’s ability blasts through trees and the deviant: she doesn’t hesitate to run over.

“Head to the river,” Druig commands the villagers. They listen, trusting the man who had led them peacefully for generations. In some ways, they were better off than Wakanda, the front of Thanos’ war on earth, better off than London when Spiderman decided to go rogue.

You take a deep breath, concentrating.

“Right,” you run after her, stumbling after a step.

Druig catches you. “Careful,” he says, sounding grave.

Maybe it had taken more out of you than you’d thought. You think back to what Hoa had told you. What effect would using magic in this cycle have? Would you even reincarnate? Did it matter if they couldn’t stop the Emergence?

“I need to,” your legs shake.

“You’ve done enough,” Druig says gently.

It’s lucky timing. Ikaris flies in, slamming into the final deviant attacking the village.

This one proves its sentient intelligence, cleverly pinning Ikris face down.

Sersi runs at it with a spear.

Your husband tries to take aim but it’s too close to Sersi. It’s the same problem Kingo runs into.

You watch as Sersi and the deviant both fall into the well, disappearing beneath the surface.

“Sersi!” Ikaris runs, ready to play the white knight, tortured by duty.

The surface explodes.

An ungly mangled tree grows, the bark merged with the deviant in a disturbing form of mummification. You’d seen this on an episode of Hannibal.

But Sersi is alright.

“Sersi,” Ikaris hugs the stunned woman.

“Where’s Thena,” you look around. Gilgamesh was missing too.

Ikaris pulls away from Sersi, looking into the treeline.

You have a bad feeling.

***

You watch the pyre burn.

For hundreds of years you believed them to be invincible. Now you sat watching as Gilgamesh’s body burned to ashes. You hadn’t wiped the tears away. They’d dried on your cheeks long ago.

Exhaustion clung to your body. The magic trick had taken so much out of you. It was like running a marathon with no training, you were surprised to be awake. How could you sleep when Gilgamesh was-

Sprite rests her head against your shoulder.

You sit with her in the dirt.

Thena cuts a lonely figure, stark white in the dark of the night. A pale ghost. It had always been Thena and Gilgamesh.

In a small voice, Sprite mutters, “what if Arishem kills us all for trying to. . .”

You have no answers for her.

***

A Ramada Inn was the closest place near Phastos.

Sprite lays on your bed as you call your brother, “she said she doesn’t want to talk to you,” Nathan sighs.

You close your eyes, swallowing back the tide of emotion. Gilgamesh was dead. It still felt surreal. How could he die? How could any of them die? “Tell her I love her.”

Nathan pauses, static crackling over the phone call. “How serious is it? Tell me the truth?”

He’d been alone in Canada to identify your parents' bodies. An unlucky casualty of the snap. A car’s driver blew away into ashes and veered into their car.

“Just,” you clench your jaw. What was the point in telling them when they couldn’t stop this? Should you tell them? Try and save a little of humanity so that even if Sersi’s plan failed someone would survive. “tell her I love her, and to call me. Please.”

“So it’s bad.”

“Yeah.”

Sprite leans next to you, “don’t worry kid, we got this.”

Your brother replies, “tell her I’m taller.”

“Tell him-”

You laugh, “yeah. Sure,” they were such siblings. The way Sprite looked at him. . .having family outside the Eternals for once. It was good for her. Being accepted as the unaging crotchety old woman she really was. “I love you too.”

“Me too,” Spite adds, wrapping her arms around your shoulders. She hadn’t left your side since the funeral. Which was annoying because you could see Druig and Sersi discussing whatever plan she’d hatched and didn’t even know. . .you wanted more time with him, to settle back into being Druig&You.

On the plant things had been. . .it was the shittiest of reunions. Terrible timing.

You lean into her, “did you hear her?”

“Yeah. I heard,” your brother chuckles. “You two should stop by. It’s nice out here.”

“We will.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” You wait for him to hang up. How much time was left?

You’d never wanted to be a superhero. The Earth came too close to the brink of destruction: so many close calls, one of these days it wouldn't be saved. Right?

“Hello Sprite,” Druig walks in still clad in linen, “goodbye Sprite.”

“Have you ever tried not being a dickhead.” She’d been pricklier than usual since Ajak’s death.

“That’s childish,” he replies, sinking down to her level.

You roll your eyes, laying back on the bed. All you could do was sit and wait around for Sersi to convince Phastos. You didn’t think sending Ikaris was the right idea.

“At least I don’t have to possess people to have friends!” She storms off.

“Really,” you ask him pointedly.

“She started it,” he shrugs, dumping out a bag on the bed.

You turn onto your stomach: looking the clothes over. Denim, a black shirt, a worn leather jacket, and boots that were not handmade. He’d gone thrifting. You found the thought amusing.

“How are you?” Druig takes a seat on the bed, looking you over.

“Fine. I was fine by the time we took off. A bottle of coke does wonders.” The sugar had helped. And so had the nap while Kingo drove back to Mexico City.

“You’re using magic?”

“Before I remembered. . .it just came to me. Not that I know anything,” you close your eyes, trying to remember what exactly you’d told him. “It’s not like-I’m not trying to be the Scarlet Witch here, I just wanted to help.”

“I know.” He rubs your back gently.

You bite your lip. “I don’t know what this means for,” you gesture at yourself, “but can we just handle one thing at a time?”

“Do you want to know magic?”

You sit up. “Technically I have been using magic,” you wink at him, wishing things could be lighter. Gilgamesh was dead. You’d never run into the kitchen and see him covered in flour again.

He chuckles, blue eyes sparkling.

You take his hands. “I don’t hate it. But I’d rather see you again.” They’d save the world. You were manifesting it.

“You shouldn’t have to choose.”

“Don’t be stupid,” you tell him, running your thumb over his knuckles. He had changed. 7,000 years on earth had affected him. How could it not. Druig had lived through so much. You’d changed too. You were greater than the sum of your parts, no longer the simple slave girl in Athens, or the textile worker from Ghana. You’d grown. “I love you. The rest is just stuff to figure out.”

He smiles, “my beautiful lady, you have a way with words.”

You blush. “Shut up. I’ve been a lot of things but never a poet.”

Druig laughs, toppling you over into the bed. He presses his body against yours. Hand on your side, he kisses your mouth with his soft lips. “Is this okay?”

You dig your fingers into his shoulder blades. This wonderful man. You’d missed this. Missed him. You could not have imagined him in all your youthful fantasies. Druig was so much more. Hard headed with an empathetic soul: how could you not want him? Love was waking up everyday and choosing him, always and forever.

“Come here,” you kiss his jaw tenderly.

There was nothing sweeter than reuniting with your lover.

***

“So this is The Domo,” you gaze around, trying to take everything in. Makkari has become an even worse horder in the past few centuries. Living as long as they did meant a lot of keepsakes. And Makkari is of a sentimental nature, attaching past memories to emerald tablets and gold incan figurines.

Her collection in The Domo is priceless, a complete record of the last 7,000 years of humanity’s history. Her love letter to humanity.

Karun is having a similar wow moment, as he films the interior of the ship.

Druig nudges your shoulder with his own, “my beautiful, beautiful lady,” he offers you a simple beaded necklace. Each bead is hand carved and strung on a gold cord.

It takes a second for the memory to come, but you remember. Thebes.

He’s never asked your age in any life. You’ve only now noticed his simple joy at being able to spend however many years you could together.

You’d freeze yourself in this moment if you could and spare Druig another death, another cycle.

“You kept it,” you say in amazement.

“There’s more around here,” amusement in his features. Who could find anything in Makkari’s clutter?

“Druig.” You melt. More than two thousand years later and he could still surprise you in the ways he loved you.

He slips his hand into the back pocket of your jeans, squeezing your ass.

Heat rises to your cheeks as you fumble to wrap the necklace around your neck, the ancient clasp easier to work than modern ones. It was only hours ago that Druig had squeezed your bare ass, urging you to ride him harder.

“Really,” Phastos groans, “in my lab?”

“Yeah,” Kingo piles on, “was the plane not enough?”

Considering the world might end, you don’t really care. Neither does Druig.

Shamelessly, he ignores their comments. “Phastos, I need to be able to control the mind of a celestial.”

“Okay. Get ready for it.” Phastos turns on his lab, holographic blueprints detailing the mechanics of the plan to stop the Emergence.

“Bracelets? You made us bracelets?”

You take in the image of a celestial for the first time. There was always more to the universe. Why couldn’t it be something good? Like the Asgardians.

Druig presses a kiss to your shoulder.

You push away the negative thoughts.

Manifesting. Right. You could do that. Think positively. Manifest a million more days. Had Druig tried Greggs? The world would be saved and you’d take him to Ireland again. He’d meet your siblings. You’d fix things with Lizzy.

“So here’s a little Celestial 101,” Phastos says, and proceeds to speak absolute gibberish. It flies right over your head.

Druig shifts. He rests an arm around your shoulders as Phastos finishes with his bracelet machine energy thing. The Unimind.

Ignoring Kingo’s late capitalist desire to turn everything into a profitable brand, she asks, So suppose Druig can, say put Tiamut to sleep-then what? Her hand remains in the air, asking her question, curious as to what the next part of the plan was. Tiamut wouldn’t sleep forever. Druig was going to buy time.

“We find humans a new home on another planet,” Sersi says cryptically. Which yeah. Was not a solution.

Your people had only built a long distance spacecraft once, for five people.

“Are we building them a big ship too? Take a pair of each animal,” Sprite pokes holes into her non plan.

“You know what’s never saved the world,” Phastos says annoyed, “your sarcasm.”

“Space colonization could take decades.”

“It could happen quickly with our help.”

“Do we have that time,” you point out. “How long would Tiamut remain asleep for?”

“I don’t-” Phastos looks at Druig for an answer which your lover doesn’t have. It wasn’t like he’d put a celestial to sleep before.

“What if we accidentally end up killing Tiamut,” Kingo brings up. “We could be responsible for billions of lives not being created across the universe. Not to mention the death of a Celestial. All bad.”

You shake your head in disbelief, “how could you value potential lives over people alive right now! Who’d die. Remember. We have to take that chance.” Tiamut’s life was worth the billions of people, the billions of lifeforms on your planet.

“Who are we to decide that!” Kingo rubs his forehead in agitation, “what if by stopping the natural cycle of the universe we cause something worse? Throwing nature out of balance always ends badly. Global warming anyone?”

You frown.

“Can we not work with nature sir,” Karun asks, camera rolling, “ask Mr. Tiamut to wait until we can live somewhere else?”

“Both of you are too close to the situation to think objectively,” Sprite cuts in, “we have to do what's right for the universe.”

You arch a brow, “seriously? This is all any of you know! That makes you biased too.”

“How would we even know what’s right,” Phastos says dejectedly. “We barely found out what we are? Not a great track record here.”

“Ajak chose Sersi to be the leader. Sersi should decide,” Ikaris puts in his two cents.

You look at your old friend, heart lodged in your throat. You already knew Druig would risk it. It was just a matter of getting everyone on board.

Phastos' plan requires everyone to wear a bracelet.

There’s an anime friendship joke there somewhere.

“I-”

“So even you’re having doubts,” Sprite throws her hands up in the air. “This wouldn’t happen if Ajak was here.” She stalks off.

“Sprite,” Ikaris calls after her. When she doesn’t come back, he follows.

“Let her blow off some steam,” Kingo follows Ikaris out of The Domo.

“Great,” Phastos utters, powering down the holograms, “glad to see we can still work together.”

“Make the bracelets,” Sersi nods. “Just in case.”

“How many,” Druig pauses, “of us would we need to power your,” he gestures at Phastos futuristic printer.

“I don’t know.” Phastos admits. “A lot of this is guesswork and approximation. I don’t know the limits of your ability, or how that translates to a Celestial. There’s no time to measure averages of built up cosmic energy.”

You swallow, pulling away to let them talk it out while Sersi chases after the others. Whatever was decided, it would be together.

It would be okay.

You knew them well.

Karun asks you shyly, “Kingo tells me you reincarnate.”

“It’s a party trick.” You felt as stressed as everyone else.

“So karma and-”

“Magic.” You answer the question he was about to ask. “I don’t, it’s not the Hindu gods. It’s some spell I accidentally cast and now,” you shrug.

“Oh.” He nods. “Well, the answer lies not in aliens or magic.” Karun smiles kindly. “That is why we aim for moksha. Though I think this could only be my second or third life at most.”

You can’t help but smile. “How is your family?”

“Good. They know I do important work with Kingo. Cinema, movies, it is now how we pass things on. I remember the first time I saw Kuch Lich Hota Hai!”

“I’ll have to watch it some time.”

It was easy to see why someone as easy going as Kingo had hit it off with Karun.

“I’m close to figuring it out,” Phastos calls out.

You look up just in time to see Ikaris shoot lasers at the inventor.

Everyone stands in stunned silence.

“Ikaris,” Kingo calls out, “what are you doing?” He looks at Phastos’ prone body.

“I’ve let this go on long enough,” Ikaris stalks further into the room. He reminds you of a sleek predator, of facing the deviant back in Mexico. And now you’re stuck in close quarters with him.

You weren’t stupid.

You couldn’t hold out against Ikaris.

You were all going to die.

“Don’t hurt him,” Sersi rushes to Phastos’ side, helping him up.

His shoulder smokes where the lasers made contact. The fabric is blacked. But Ikaris hadn’t hit him for long enough to truly hurt him. It was lucky they were built so durably.

“He lied to us,” Sersi stares Ikaris down, tears in her eyes. “He already knew about the emergence.” She’d made her peace with being abandoned, but to be betrayed by someone she once loved, someone who remained as dear as family to her-

“No he didn’t,” Kingo denies.

“Ajak told me everything when we left Babylon.”

“What?”

You suck in a breath. “That long.”

They’d all changed, grown to love humanity because they’d thought they were here to protect the Earth. But Ikaris, your heart hurts for him. He’d always been distant and remote. No wonder.

He’d purposely kept his distance. It would be easier to carry out his mission, Arishem’s mission, that way, without attachment.

“You were never going to let her stop the Emergence.”

“No.” Ikaris looks around at his team, “I only wanted to protect you from the deviants.”

“If Ajak wanted you to take her place, why did she choose me?” There’s a hard edge to Sersi’s voice. “

Ikaris says nothing.

Druig puts it together first. “He killed her.”

Spite turns away from Ikaris, unable to stand the sight of him.

You can’t believe it. Ajak and Ikaris. He’d trusted her above all others. For so long, Ikaris was the faithful follower. The Eternal Ajak relied on.

For him to kill her-

He’d always been a good soldier.

“I had to.”

“She loved you.”

Ikaris flinches. “Did she?” His eyes fill with tears. “Do you think it was easy to know the truth? To know that one day all this would end.” He glances at you. Meets everyone's eyes, searching, beseeching. He was so far gone. “To keep on lying to you.”

“If we gave humanity the choice, how many of them would be willing to die so that billions more could be born?”

“I suppose that’s easy to say when you’re not the one dying,” you retort coldly.

You’d never wished Ajak dead.

“Is this why you’re willing to kill,” Phastos asks furiously, “You are so pathetic.”

“I’m an Eternal Phastos. I exist for Arishem. As do you. That’s who you are.”

Phastos steps forward, unafraid to confront Ikaris. “I wouldn’t change a single thing about who I am, born or made. But I do not exist for Arishem. I exist for my family.”

“You are making the same mistake Ajak did.”

Makkarish wooshes in, rapidly motioning while she beamed with pride, I found Tiamut. The fastest Eternal was apparently the last one to find things out.

Ikaris’ eyes glow.

“No,” Kingo knocks the speedster out of the way. Blood seeps out of his shoulder, more viscous than human blood. He clutches his shoulder, “get out of here.”

Makkaris flees.

Ikaris stalks forward.

Kingo powers up. “You. Do. Not. Turn. Against. Your. Family.” His fireball grows, “Gilgamesh died because of you.”

“You will not succeed against me. And I will kill every one of you if I have to.” Having made his threat clear, he leaves.

Spite wails, collapsing onto her knees.

“What is this,” Thena glances around the wreckage of their family. Of your family.

Ikaris had once saved your life.

You didn’t understand the man. You never would.

“I-” Sprite looks at everyone. “I can’t. I know he killed,” she sobs then, “Ajak, but I can’t hurt-I can’t hurt my family.” A sheen passes over her fingers and she disappears.

“Sprite-” Sersi reaches out to the spot where she had been just seconds before.

Makkari runs in. She holds her hands up, before turning her palms down into fists. What happened? Where did Sprite go?

“I don’t know,” Kingo shakes his head. “Away. I-we’re no match for Ikaris.”

“Don’t say that Sir.”

“He really fooled us didn’t he,” he says sadly. Kingo looks over at Karun, “you should go be with your family.”

“Sir.”

“They need you. Whatever happens.”

“Kingo,” Sersi says carefully.

He shakes his head, “even with my help. . .we need a plan B.” He looks over at you. “I love the people of this planet, and even if I can’t save everyone, I can still save a few.”

New Asgard.

The Avengers.

This was bigger than you.

You nod, understanding him. “Okay.”

“We need you,” Sersi pleads.

“And fight my brother,” Kingo recoils.

“My lady,” Druig says carefully.

“Don’t-” you shake your head. No goodbyes. This wasn’t a goodbye. “It doesn’t matter because you’ll stop the Emergence.” You’ve never been more scared.

Serving as an army nurse had been a cakewalk compared to the end of everything.

He lifts his chin playfully, “anything for you my lady.”

You stifle tears. Instead you smile.

And leave with Kingo and Karun.

***

You cry saying goodbye to Karun.

“It has been an honor Sir,” he bows to Kingo.

Tears wet the Eternal’s cheeks. “No, it has been my honor. Not everyone would try to kill a vampire. Twice.”

They share a laugh.

In 3 hours he would be home. In 3 hours, there might not even be a planet left.

You call your brother from the plane, unable to stop crying. Ajak. Ikaris. Everything was falling apart and you could only hope the rest of them made it, that they could put Tiamut to sleep.

You wonder where Sprite is.

He doesn’t answer.

You call again.

And again.

You feel time slipping through your fingers. “How long do you think we have,” you ask Kingo. It was such a nice day outside. The skies were clear as you flew over Eurasia.

You wipe tears from your eyes, dialling your sister instead.

Please pick up, you begged the universe.

“I don’t know,” Kingo sighs, resting his head against the seat. “Really wish I’d kept in touch with Thor now. . .” He cracks a smile. “Maybe I should’ve gone with Karun too.”

“You don’t think-” Lizzy picks up. Her voice changed from the last time you had properly talked to her, a uni student, your older sister, full of life and bad advice.

“Hello,” her voice is groggy, “is that? Why are you calling?” Your sister sounds exhausted and monotone. The Snap had taken its toll on her. She’d missed out on years.

“Lizzy,” your voice is fragile. She’d actually answered you. She never did. You didn’t know why. Maybe there wasn’t a reason. But she’d pulled away so much. “How are you?”

“It��s four in the morning.”

“Oh. Did I wake you?”

“No.”

“Rough night?”

“No,” she sighs. “Can’t sleep.”

“Have you tried melatonin gummies?”

“Yes. They don’t help.”

“I’m sorry,” you apologize. For everything, that the world was ending, for whatever you’d done to her. You were tremendously sorry it had been her and not you. You should’ve been Snapped away.

“You didn’t do anything.”

“How’s New Asgard,” you ask instead.

“Cold.”

“Colder than Canada?”

“About the same,” her voice drifts. “Not that it matters.” Your childhood house had long ago been sold.

“Do you like it there at least?”

“Does it matter?”

You bite your lip, “of course it does.”

Lizzy doesn’t respond.

Kingo motions with his hand to get on with it, but you can’t. You can’t tell your sister who turned to ashes that the world is about to crack open, killing everyone. You can’t force her to live through another doomsday. You won’t be the one to put that on her shoulders.

It’s static.

Neither of you speak.

“Hey,” Lizzy says worriedly, “do you know if Norway gets earthquakes?”

“Why,” your heart sinks.

“Because the earth won’t stop shaking.”

“What!” Oh no.

“I have to go.”

“Lizzy, wait-”

“B-”

“Iloveyou,” you manage before the line goes dead. The world was ending and you were on a private plane.

Kingo takes your hand. “They never really leave you, do they?”

“No.”

“I’ve been lucky to meet so many cool and amazing people. I think of them, from time to time.”

You look over at Kingo, “you love this planet.”

“It’s my home.” He smiles, thinking back fondly of the milena he’d spent here, eyes wet.

“We’re lucky to have you-and all your bollywood dance scenes.”

He laughs as the plane shakes with turbulence and you don’t know if it’s the wind or the Emergence. It wasn’t a terrible way to die, here with a friend.

Squeezing your hand, Kingo adds, “you think you’ll be reincarnated as a Lumia?”

You roll your eyes as the plane shakes.

“Or Kree? Can’t forget about-”

“Not helping.” You frown. "Do you think there's more out there? More wolrds with Eternals and deviants?" More eternals who didn't know the truth?

Space had become so much more tangible since The Avengers. Since the Guardians. You looked up at the stars and wondered.

"Probably," Kingo nods, unconcerned.

But you were concerned. You'd had choice taken from you before due to societal norms, due to your position as a slave, as a woman. Didn't those worlds deserve the truth too? Didn't the Eternals deserve more than to carry out Arishem's wishes for millions of years, their minds wiped away like they were nothing better than a phone defaulted to factory settings? Wasn't Thena proof that more lingered inspite of Arishem's meddling?

"Let's survive this first."

You nod, "can't exactly weather this storm in a bunker." There had been no safe place from Thanos' Snap.

Kingo chuckles. “Thank you.”

“Yeah well,” you smile softly, “it’s not so bad, being your friend.”

notes: there will be an epilogue bc this chapter got SO long. sprite is so jealous of nathan growing up its insane but also its like the first time shes had humans who know what she is and accept her. reader going w kingo was really an excuse to bow out of the fight ngl. it might've gone the same was as the movie, mb not.

#a rose by any other name #druig x y/n #druig x reader #druig x you #me trying to finish all my wips challenge #rewatched the movie and ah i love eternals sm

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