#that left a bigger impact on me than anything else in the entire show

[spaceygemini]

sometimes i randomly remember amie and elias pretending to date for no reason at all in the first season of eagles svt

#that left a bigger impact on me than anything else in the entire show #like yes let's just fake date for an episode and then never bring it up again #even when they got together they never mentioned it #elias x amie #elias kroon #eagles svt #eagles #amie samuelsson #amie condé

[sluttyshima]

In Excelsis

Content / Trigger Warnings: body image issues, mention of fatphobia and bullying, unprotected sex, oral sex, fingering, super soft dom, body worship, lots of praise, slight marking, light impact play, hint of overstimulation - overall it is very soft and loving sex

Characters: Tadashi Yamaguchi x chubby female reader

Words: ~3.4k

AN: Repost from my old account.

Tadashi has never once said anything to make you doubt his attraction for you. He has done nothing but sing your praises, even before the two of you started dating. Everything about you is perfect to him, and he reminds you of it often.

But that doesn’t stop you from staring at your own reflection with a critical eye.

You stand in front of the full-length mirror in your bedroom, clothed only in your undergarments. Pinching and poking at the softer parts of you, you frown with dissatisfaction.  It’s no secret that you look nothing like the women you see in magazines or on television. You’re bigger than them, plush in places where society tells you that you should be trim.

Clothes don’t fit you the way that they fit the mannequins. Even garments that are tailored for people your size, are almost always modeled by a woman who is ‘acceptably’ plus-sized. The same dress that had smoothly accentuated the curves of the model on the website where you had bought it, clung to you in ways that caused your already fragile self esteem to plummet. You had been so excited to wear it, but now it lay discarded on the floor in front of you as tears wet your lashes.

“Hey, sweetheart, are you almost ready?” Even after over two years of dating, and three months of living together, Tadashi still maintained a few of his shy habits. He knocked on the door to your shared bedroom, politely warning you that he was coming in before doing so. “Wait, why aren’t you dressed?”

His eyes moved from you, to the dress at your feet. Expression softening, he sighed as he reached for you. His face joined yours in the mirror as his arms wrapped around your middle.

The way that his arms pressed into your plump stomach left you feeling embarrassed and exposed. Wasn’t he disgusted by the way your flesh squished beneath his hold? Even if he wasn’t, you certainly were.

You untangled yourself from his grasp and turned to face him. Tadashi was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide the hurt that he felt at your rejection. He seemed conflicted, wanting to help you but unsure of exactly how to do so. As always, he was overthinking, worrying about all of the ways that he could accidentally make the situation worse.

“The dress doesn’t fit right.”

It was a pitiful attempt at an explanation, but he understood. He knew. You had struggled with low self esteem long before ever meeting him. When the two of you had started getting closer, you had opened up to him about your experiences as a larger woman.

He had been stunned. Obviously he was no stranger to bullying, having gone through it himself. But what you went through on a daily basis was something else entirely. Fatphobia went so much deeper than mere taunting. It was a struggle simply for you to be taken seriously. No matter how active you are, people assume that you are lazy. Medical professionals ignore your symptoms, always wanting to try to blame everything on your weight.

Your past has taught you that the way you looked was wrong. Society made it clear that you were not going to be accepted, that you were not good enough. After years of this treatment, it was no wonder that you had such a warped opinion of yourself.

“We can find you something else to wear.” Tadashi reached for you, one hand slowly tracing the curve of your hip. “Or we can stay in, and I can spend the whole night showing you how stunning you are.”

Rolling your eyes, you try to ignore the involuntary reaction your body has to him. “You don’t have to lie to me. I have eyes, I know how I look.”

“I’m not lying, sweetheart.” His voice is small, sad. “You know that I think you’re perfect, right?”

“You didn’t find bigger women to be attractive before me,” you argued as you averted your eyes. “You’re seeing me through rose-colored glasses. If I were just a random person on the street, you wouldn’t spare me a second glance.”

He frowns. “What do you mean? I did spare you a second glance - and a third, and a fourth, and so on. Ever since I first saw you, I haven’t wanted to take my eyes off of you.” Pulling you in by your waist, he uses his free hand to cup your chin and gently tilt your face up to look him in the eye. “You were the most gorgeous woman that I had ever seen, and you’ve only become more beautiful since then.”

“Do you- do you really mean that?” You desperately want to believe him. But the doubts that are constantly swirling around in your mind make it difficult, near impossible. “You’re not just saying it to make me feel better?”

Tadashi leans close enough to rest his forehead against yours. “Of course I mean it, baby.” The hand at your waist squeezes slightly. “Let me show you. Please?”

The word ‘yes’ barely leaves your lips before they are covered by his. There’s a tenderness in the way that his mouth slots against yours. One hand guides your head to deepen the kiss while the other settles on your lower back to push your body flush against his. Your fingers tangle in his soft hair, tugging lightly the way that he likes.

A single kiss leaves both of you breathless, and you gasp when he pulls away for air. His face is already flushed, pink coloring the skin beneath his freckles. It’s never taken much to fluster him. You wonder if he’s just easily flustered, or if you have that effect on him.

You barely have a chance to catch your breath before Tadashi is on you again. This time, his lips stray from yours. He teasingly nibbles the chub of your cheek before trailing kisses down your jaw to your neck. His hands wander down to your ass, squeezing and kneading the supple flesh as he sucks and bites on your skin.

His mouth returns to yours as you begin fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. The way that he sucks your tongue into his mouth makes it difficult for you to concentrate, and the task takes much longer than it usually would. When you finally finish with the last button, he pulls away just long enough for you to push the shirt off his shoulders. He discards it quickly before returning to you with even more fervor.

Lost in the kiss, you don’t notice right away when he begins carefully walking you backwards towards the bed. You’re caught off guard when you feel the back of your legs press against the mattress. A yelp escapes you as you begin to fall backwards.

Tadashi simply laughs, following you down. He assists you in climbing further back onto the bed before he comes to hover over you. He keeps his weight off of you with a knee in between your legs and a hand on the side of your head. The other hand smoothes across the skin of your stomach, caressing you tenderly.

“I wish you could see how beautiful you look like this,” he mumbles as he pulls back to look at you. “God, you have no idea what you do to me.”

His touches become a bit rougher as his eyes darken with lust. He massages one breast through the cup of your bra. When you lift your upper body and unclasp the garment, he wastes no time in removing it, tossing it aside without care.

“You’ve got such perfect tits.”

Balancing on his knees now, he cups your breasts in his hands. His thumbs ghost over your nipples, which pebble beneath his touch. He groans at the sight. Ducking his head, he takes one perky bud between his lips and suckles. His tongue alternates between tracing circles around and flicking rapidly against it. He catches the other between thumb and forefinger, pinching lightly, and smiling at your resulting gasp.

The attention he lavishes upon your breasts is akin to worship. Mouth alternating from one to the other, he leaves your nipples sensitive and saliva slicked. Eventually his fingers take over, while his lips kiss, bite, and suck their way across your chest. Bruises color your skin, leaving a possessive display of blossoming purple.

“Dashi!” you squeal as he nips at one of the marks that has just been formed. Your fingers tangle in his hair, tugging lightly to get his attention.

“Sorry, gorgeous.” He apologizes with a soothing kiss to the sore spot. “You just look so good, it makes me go a little feral.”

Slowly, his attention begins to travel lower. His hands grasp at your plush stomach. The feeling of his warm, wet tongue traversing the soft rolls has you squirming. He is quick to hold you still with a hand on your hip, admonishing you with a gentle swat to your thigh. “Stay still baby, and let me enjoy you the way I want to.”

His command has liquid pooling between your thighs. But it’s more than just the physical sensation, or the display of dominance. What really turns you on is the way he truly seems to be enjoying himself. He appears to have already forgotten his original intention of proving something to you, as he instead becomes drunk off of your body. The proof of his own pleasure is in the small moans and grunts that leave his lips, and the way that he grinds his hips down against the mattress.

“Gotta taste you.” Tadashi’s voice takes on a slightly whiny tone as he slips his fingers beneath the elastic of your underwear. “Lemme take these off?”

You nod and lift your hips, allowing him to pull your panties down your legs. He stares at your exposed cunt reverently as he settles on his stomach. Squeezing the fat of your thighs, he brings your legs over his shoulders and turns his head to scatter kisses up and down your skin. Each time his mouth nears the spot where you need it most, he pulls away.

Patience wearing thin, you huff. “Stop teasing! Please!”

“Shh, baby,” he coos. His thumbs part your lower lips and he leans forward to sweetly kiss your clit. “I’m gonna make you feel so good, give this pretty pussy the attention it deserves. Promise.”

Flattening his tongue, he licks a stripe from your hole to your clit. Your eyes roll back as he buries his face between your legs. He’s sloppy, too captivated by the smell and taste of you to worry about the way the mixture of your juices and his saliva drips down the curve of your ass and soaks the sheets below.

The noises are obscene. Your cunt squelches as he begins to fuck you open with two fingers, lips smacking messily against your folds. While his moans are muffled, sending tingling vibrations straight to your core, yours are loud, unrestrained and desperate.

“Gonna cum!” You’re panting now, chest heaving as you lift your hips to grind against his face. “Fuck, Dashi, gonna- I’m- cumming!”

Your thighs clench tight around his head while you ride the waves of pleasure that are coursing through your body. His tongue slowly laps at your clit, fingers leisurely pumping in and out of you as he works you through your orgasm. When you finally manage to open your eyes, you watch as he pops the appendages in his mouth, eyes closed as one by one he sucks them clean and releases them with a small pop.

Tadashi takes his time kissing his way up your body. When his lips finally land on yours, his tongue immediately bullies its way into your mouth, allowing you to taste yourself on him. “See how sweet you are?” he mumbles into the kiss.

You’ve only just come down from your high, but he’s impatient. Hands smoothing up and down your trembling thighs, he pushes them apart so that he can settle his body between them. You can feel him pressing against you through his slacks, hard and ready. His eyes are glazed with pleasure and he whimpers softly with each needy roll of his hips.

“Fuck,” he groans against your lips before pulling back. He seems to tower over you as he sits back on his heels, gaze roving up and down your body. “Look at you, pretty girl. Jus’ seeing you laid out for me like this makes me so hard.”

He unbuttons his pants and shoves them down, kicking them off somewhere behind him. The sizable tent in his boxers is a temptation that you simply can’t resist. He hisses and throws his head back when you squeeze him through the fabric, slowly stroking from base to tip. Your eyes lock onto the slowly growing wet patch, unmistakable against the light colored underwear.

It’s not enough for you to feel his warmth through the clothing though. You pull them down, watching as his hardened cock slaps against his stomach. He’s a little above average length, but thicker than one would expect given his thinner frame. The tip is blushed pink and leaking, and you salivate at the sight.

Your grip tightens as you begin to pump his length more vigorously. Tadashi bites his lip, barely restraining his moans. His hips buck in time with your movements as you use his own pre as lubricant, hastening the rhythm at which you jerk him off.

“S-slow down, sweetheart,” he begs. “Gonna make me cum too quick if you keep doin’ that.”

But you have no intention of slowing. His expression, the little sounds he makes - all of it only encourages you to keep going. You want to see him come undone, lose himself to the pleasure.

“I said. Slow. Down.”

Hands grip your hips tightly enough to bruise. You instinctively let go of his cock in order to clutch at his wrists. It’s too late to stop him, though. He’s already moving, repositioning you so that you are now on your knees, ass in the air.

There’s a sudden, sharp, stinging pain as Tadashi brings his hand down on one of your cheeks and then the other. He’s quick to soothe the pain though, gently rubbing the heated skin and even bending down to press a kiss to the affected area.

“You gonna be good for me, now?” he asks. While one hand keeps a tight grip of your hip, the other smoothes down your back. His long, thin fingers wrap around the back of your neck and push you down so that your face is smushed into the pillows beneath you. He parts your legs with one of his, putting you in the perfect position for him.

For a moment he keeps you like that. You can practically feel his eyes boring into you. You’re sure that if you were able to look back at him, you would see him staring at the way your back is arched for him, your plump ass raised and on display, your glistening cunt just waiting for him.

Finally, you feel his hips come to meet yours. His hard cock grinds against your ass for a few seconds. He begins to glide through your slick, lubricating himself. When the blunt head catches against your clit, you keen and push back against him. He delivers another harsh slap to your ass, eyes narrowing as he watches the resulting jiggle.

“Gonna fuck this pretty little hole,” he says as he begins to prod against your entrance. “You want that, don’t you, baby?”

The feeling of his thick cock slowly pushing inside of you makes it nearly impossible to speak. You’re barely able to whimper out your approval as he begins to stretch you out. The feeling is indescribable, every vein rubbing deliciously against your gummy walls as he dregs in and out of you at a pace that leaves you desperate for more.

“God, sweetheart, you take me so well.” His body leans over yours, allowing him to leave sloppy kisses along your shoulders and the back of your neck. “Feel so good, squeezin’ me just right.”

As Tadashi begins to pick up speed, his hands roam over the expanse of your body. He reaches below you with one, greedily grabbing at your stomach and breasts. The other rests on your ass as he enjoys the way the fat ripples with each thrust.

“‘s too good!” His breath is hot against your ear as he presses his weight into you. “I’m not gonna last. You’re so good, so goddamn sexy, fuck!”

The noise of flesh against flesh is almost loud enough to drown out the sound of your joined moans as he sets a relentless pace. His balls slap against your clit as he pounds into you furiously. He’s lost in pleasure now, unable to think about anything but chasing his own release.

Suddenly he changes the angle, allowing him to hit a spot inside of you that has you seeing stars. You reach back, desperate for something to hold onto as you feel your second orgasm rapidly approaching. His fingers twine with yours, lips ghosting over the lobe of your ear as he whispers praises.

“So gorgeous like this,” he croons. “My perfect girl, with a perfect fuckin’ pussy. Just for me, all mine, right baby?”

His thrusts became sloppy. Free hand snaking between your legs, he rubs frantic circles on your clit. “Wan’ you to cum with me, can you do that? Come on, sweetheart, let go for me.”

At his command, the coil in your stomach tightens and then snaps. You chant his name over and over again like a prayer. Your whole body shakes from the intensity of your pleasure.

The feeling of your already tight walls clamping down on him is just what Tadashi needs to send him over the edge with you. His body practically collapses on top of yours as you feel his warm seed fill your spasming cunt. But he continues moving even after he’s been milked dry, humping into you and overstimulating himself until tears gather in his lashes.

“I don’t wanna stop,” he confesses. “Wanna keep fuckin’ you, pretty girl.”

“Dashi, s’too sensitive!” You whine in protest. “Please, I need a break!”

Reluctantly, he pulls his softening cock out of you and falls beside you on the bed. You can feel his release dribbling out of you and clench your thighs together in an attempt to keep from making more of a mess than you already have. Rolling over, you seek out the warmth of the man beside you.

Tadashi pulls you close, wrapping his arms around you and guiding your head to his chest. You can hear the rapid thudding of his heart, and listen as it begins to slow. Nuzzling close, you sigh happily at the contented feeling of being in your lover’s embrace.

“I don’t ever want you to doubt how beautiful you are,” he murmurs. Cupping your face in one hand, he gently pulls you up so that he can brush his lips against yours. “Every part of you is perfect, and it affects me in a way that no one else ever has, that no one else ever could. I want you, all of you.”

“But-”

“No buts.” He interrupts you before you even get the chance to argue. “Sweetheart, I love everything about you. I love the way that your eyes light up when you look at me.” He kisses your forehead. “I love how soft and warm your body feels against mine.” He kisses one cheek, and then the other. “And I love how much of you there is for me to love. Just wanna grab you and kiss you all over, all the time.” He finishes with a tender kiss to your lips.

You bury your face in his neck, hiding how emotional his sincere words have made you. He chuckles, playfully tickling your sides. “Don’t get all shy on me now, baby.”

A sudden pinch to your rear causes you to squeal and try to jerk away. But he catches you by the waist, pulling you so that you’re seated on top of him. To your surprise, he’s already hard again. He grasps your hips and guides you to grind against his length, pupils blown with desire.

“I’m not done showing you just how much your body turns me on.”

#tadashi yamaguchi #yamaguchi x reader #yamaguchi smut #haikyuu #chubby reader #haikyuu smut #haikyuu comfort #yamaguchi comfort #impact play tw #overstimulation tw #body image tw

[anyon-else]

Let the Games Begin (The Hunger Games pt. 5) | The games begin, and the tributes begin to realize that the arena may take them out before they can reach the Cornucopia. Kurogiri clearly wanted to put on a good show when he planned this year’s games. – spotify playlist | read on ao3

Pairings | Hawks | Keigo Takami x Reader + Dabi | Touya Todoroki, Shouto Todoroki, Aizawa Shouta, Ibara Shiozaki, Mei Hatsume, Itsuka Kendo

Warnings | angst, hurt/comfort, descriptions of violence, descriptions of injuries, weapons, suicidal ideation, religious themes, minor character death, discussion of themes present in The Hunger Games trilogy

Word count | 4k

Author’s note | Let me know if you guys like this chapter! I wasn’t too sure how to end it, but we’re getting some confrontations in the next chapter! I’m excited for the next few chapters. Please leave feedback if you’d like, I always love getting y’all’s comments!

(previous chapter) | (next chapter) | (series masterlist)

You were thirteen the first time you met Dabi. You had accidentally run into Shouto in your distraction to get home before curfew, knocking both of you to the ground. Shouto hit his head against the pavement below from the impact, and at eight years old, that was enough of an injury to warrant tears. His cries were soft, and almost too quiet to hear, but Dabi knew his brother’s crying well enough by then that he saw past Shouto’s attempt to duck behind his bangs and stay as quiet as possible. Dabi crouched behind his brother and felt where his head had hit the concrete, staring at his hand when it came back coated in a thin layer of bright red blood. At the sight of it, Shouto’s eyes widened, and his cries became quieter, replaced with quick, deep gasps that left little room for any air intake. 

Dabi was bigger than you, and one year older, and the most important thing you learned after meeting him was that he cared more about his brother than he did about anyone or anything else.

He grabbed your shirt with one hand and pulled you to your feet, glaring down at you with more contempt than you’d ever seen in a fourteen-year-old. His burn scars stretched with the muscles of his face, morphing around his furious features. You flinched away from the intensity of his stare. 

“Did you do that on purpose?” he asked, and you shook your head.

“It’s okay, Touya. It was an accident,” Shouto insisted, but Dabi still threw you over his shoulder and carried you past his brother and into an alley lined with trash bins. He peeked into one of the fuller ones, then dumped you into it and closed the lid before you could jump out. You struggled to open it for almost ten minutes until you realized that he was sitting on it, and it was only when you’d stopped pleading with him to let you out that something above you shifted and you were able to open the lid. Both Dabi and Shouto were gone when you peeked over the edge, so you rolled out of the bin, picked bits of trash off of your clothes, and walked home. 

Two months later, you and Keigo were caught outside of District Eight’s perimeters after curfew. The peacekeepers were more watchful that year following the incident with Toga. They chased after you when you started racing towards the abandoned market, shouting and cursing at you as you sprinted between tables and pillars. You ended up hiding in a small bathroom stall meant for venders, chest-to-chest as you heaved and shushed one another between giggles while listening for the peacekeepers.

Small spaces had never bothered you. Confinement was usually just an inconvenience.

Now, it meant something else entirely.

You and Aizawa were watching one another carefully, him for signs of distress, and you for something to distract yourself. The glass tube that would take you into the arena was open in the front, and it had only been a few seconds since you’d stepped into it. Your fists were clenched around the loose, thick fabric of your pants, and you knew you looked just as worried as you felt. 

“Don’t panic now,” Aizawa ordered, startling you from your thoughts, “you haven’t even started yet. You need to clear your head before you get up there.” 

“Right,” you exhaled slowly, “okay. Talk to me about something, then.” 

Aizawa looked slightly less inconvenienced than he usually would at a request like this, and it only took a moment for him to take a step closer. He leaned against the glass next to you and rapped his knuckles against it.

“When I had my games, these were metal.” 

“What?” 

“Mhm. They closed us in before we went up, and it was pitch black for about five minutes before we started moving. It was supposed to give the audience a look at our genuine reaction to the arena.”

You pictured a younger Aizawa, trapped in a metal tube with no sense of what was happening outside of the suffocating space. It sounded like torture. 

“If Keigo dies in the arena, you can’t let it break you.”

You stared at Aizawa. His eyes were concrete, solid and sure and resolved. You wished people would stop saying that to you. You felt like they were anticipating Keigo’s death. Like it was inevitable. Even Dabi had asked you not to give up. Of all people, you wished Dabi put more faith in Keigo. 

“I’ll get him out.”

“Anything can happen in there,” Aizawa bit back. “Anything, Y/N. There is every possibility that he will not make it. There’s every possibility that you won’t either. But whatever happens, you have to fight. Do you really think he would want you to die with him?”

“Don’t tell me what he would want,” you spit, “and don’t tell me that I won’t be able to save him from this.”

“I’m your mentor. My job is to tell you things that you don’t want to hear.” 

His voice was kind, kinder than you’d ever heard it, and it made you pause. You gave him a small nod of acknowledgement.

“It’ll be alright. Just keep your head up.”

“You make it seem easy,” you muttered. Don’t lie to me, you wanted to say.

Aizawa took a step back when the door shifted. You fought the urge to pound against the glass once it closed you in. The space wasn’t big enough for you to spread your arms. You shut your eyes, picturing yourself in a big, open field. When you opened them, Aizawa had stepped back. He gave you one final nod before you started to move.

You were rising fast –– faster than you’d anticipated. Your hands involuntarily pressed against the glass as Aizawa disappeared from your view. You wanted to go back. You wanted to go home. You didn’t want to die. Fuck. Fuck.

Your chest was heaving when you entered the arena. You took in a deep breath, watching with wide eyes as the thirty second countdown began. Between you and the Cornucopia was a sheet of ice, spanning the entirety of the space between the platforms and the center of the arena.

“Oh, shit,” you muttered, breath catching in your throat as you took in the landscape.

It was a city of ruins. Everything was covered in a thick layer of snow, and towering over the rest of the arena were half-destroyed buildings covered in muddy ice. They looked like they had been sitting like this for years. You wondered if it had even been a week since the Capitol completed it. 

You jumped when a loud crack sounded from the opposite end of the arena. One of the still-standing buildings began to crumble, and you watched with wide eyes as it came crashing to the ground. The other tributes were all looking around with similar expressions of shock; this wasn’t what any of you had expected. You’d seen the city arena a few years ago, and Aizawa had warned you that it might be a colder climate, but combining two already difficult arenas was rare. This was Kurogiri’s debut as gamemaker, and he was already making a name for himself. 

You couldn’t see Keigo. He must have been on the opposite side of the Cornucopia. Numbly, you remembered one of Aizawa’s insights.

Everything that they do is purposeful. Never assume that anything is a coincidence.

“Three. Two. One.”

Day one of the 74th Annual Hunger Games

The cannon sounded, a crack in the silence of the arena, and then everything went quiet. Your head was pounding, ears closed off from the chaos breaking out the moment the countdown ended. You watched as the tributes raced across the ice, grabbing the first weapon they could get their hands on and turning on whoever was closest. You backed away from the bloodshed, stepping on the ice carefully. The shoes you’d been given were cleated at the bottom; short metal spicks dug into the ice and kept you from slipping. You winced when the blonde –– Bakugo, your spinning mind supplied –– kicked his spiked shoe into someone’s face, knocking them over with a snarl. 

Your feet began moving on their own. Someone to your right threw a knife into the back of a retreating tribute. They fell to their knees, slumping onto their stomach almost in slow motion.

You broke into a sprint, pushing yourself off of the platform and racing towards the now still body. You slid across the ice on your knees to reach the knife before its previous owner did. You didn’t have time to think, not with Hatsume racing towards you, another knife clutched in her hand. You grasped the handle of the first knife, finally recognizing Kendo as the now dead body beneath you. Bile rose in your throat as you pulled the knife from the body easily. You turned away from the open wound and hunched over your weapon, ignoring the sick feeling in your stomach as blood stained the ice. Hatsume was almost on you now, knife raised high over her head. 

You used Kendo’s body as leverage, spinning yourself on the ice and using the momentum to launch the knife towards her. It hit its mark just before she could  bring her own down. She howled as it lodged into her shoulder, dropping her knife and collapsing to her knees. 

There was no time to think. No time to feel guilty. No time to wonder if the wound would get infected and kill her. No time to do anything but grab her discarded knife, pull the other from her shoulder, and scramble to your feet. Your hand slipped, and you barely caught yourself with the hand holding the knives. Your knuckles burned as they hit the solid sheet of ice, but you dug your cleats into it and launched yourself from the Cornucopia. Ahead, the ice dissolved into slush and eventually became a layer of snow covering the rubble of the city. You stumbled over the watery ice, the cold shocking you as your feet sank into the freezing water.

“Y/N!”

Your brain was muddled. You felt like something inside you had deflated, leaving you breathless and full of nothing but empty space. The voice was faint, and your ears were still ringing, but you lifted your head and one of the two knives you’d collected towards the new voice.

Keigo. 

He was right in front of you. He was right there, wide eyed and ushering you towards him from behind one of the crumbling buildings. You glanced behind you at Hatsume, who hadn’t looked up at Keigo’s call of your name, before pulling yourself from the lake and racing over the snow. Keigo’s arms were held in front of him, smile wide despite the chaos surrounding you. 

“I found you,” he laughed, holding your face between his palms, already frozen from the cold. 

“Yeah,” you nodded, gripping his hands, “you found me.”

By the time the sun set, you and Keigo had settled into a building that had at least some protection from the snow. The roof was half-collapsed, and only one corner of the small space was dry.

“We can’t start a fire,” Keigo sighed, pacing between the two still-standing walls of the structure. “Tomorrow, we can go back to the Cornucopia. There should be some kind of pack with a blanket. At least something we can use to warm up.”

“Right,” you wondered if Aizawa was doing what he said he’d do and helping and Keigo get sponsors. If he was successful, you might be receiving something like that sooner rather than later.

You leaned your head back against the concrete, eyes skyward. There were plenty of stars, too many to be possible in the light-polluted Capitol. 

“Have you ever seen stars like that?”

Keigo glanced up through the small opening in the roof. It seemed almost unimaginable. The sky looked like something out of a painting, splattered with the bright, white lights. You’d heard stories of nights where the stars lit up the sky, but you’d only seen scattered stars in your district, and your days in the Capitol had only shown you a darkened sky.

“No,” he muttered. You wondered if these stars only existed in the arena. It felt darkly humorous. Kurogiri was either attempting a small kindness, or he was crueler than you’d given him credit for.

“Stars can only be seen in the lower districts.”

The voice came from the opposite corner of the small space, and the speaker was hidden in the shadows cast by the broken walls. You stood from your position against the highest wall of the structure, reaching behind you for your blood-crusted knife.

“Who are you?” Keigo raised his voice. In his hand was the knife that you’d used against Hatsume, clutched at his side as he approached the stranger carefully. You caught as glimpse of green hair, long and spread out into the faint glow of moonlight. You wanted to kick yourself for not noticing it before.

“Shiozaki?” you asked, careful as you stepped up to Keigo’s side. You’d studied the twenty-two other tributes carefully, and with a clear head you probably would have been able to recognize her voice from the number of times you’d watched the interviews. The girl’s long green hair certainly made a statement, but it contrasted her toned-down demeanor and advocation of peace rather than violence.

“The stars were once very beautiful,” she continued. Your eyes began to adjust to the darkness of the far corner the farther you moved into it, and the outline of the girl became clearer. She was sitting with her legs spread tucked under her. Snow dusted her hair, but the cold didn’t seem to bother her. She was twisting a piece of grass between her fingers where it was peeking through the snow, careful not to pull it from the ground. Wrapped around her right palm was a Kyoketsu-shoge. The knife was thrown to the side, but she was gripping the rope like a lifeline, body tense despite her distraction from you and Keigo.

“When I was young, my grandparents told me of a time when they could see stars like that in District Eleven. Now, there are days when we barely see stars at all. The Capitol polluted everything, and now all of that natural beauty has disappeared.”

The hand that was twisting the grass between her fingers froze, and she suddenly glared at you and Keigo fiercely. Gone was the girl from the interviews who clutched a bundle of flowers to her chest, asking the audience to think about their bloodlust and look to God. Gone was the girl whose character you thought you’d understood to be simple. This was someone entirely different. Beneath those words was a girl ready to break.

Before you could react, the knife at the end of Shiozaki’s weapon shot towards Keigo’s hand, knocking the knife into the snow. She pulled you into the shadows in your distraction and pressed you against the wall she’d been leaning on. She tugged the rope forward and caught the knife with remarkable coordination, then held it to your throat. Her movement quieted Keigo, whose knife was covered by the thick layer of snow that it had fallen into. He had clenched his bleeding hand into a fist, but you still saw blood staining the white powder.

“What do you believe in?” she muttered, digging the knife into the skin of your neck. You felt a trickle of blood come from the split she’d created, and fought not to shrink away from it, “do you believe in God?”

“What?” you grit, wincing when the knife shifted. She inched it away from the wound, giving you the space to take in a deep breath. 

“You’re lost,” she shook her head, “you won’t survive this. The faithless never survive.”

“If there was a god, we wouldn’t be here,” you breathed, still wary of the knife just inches from your neck, “and if there’s a Heaven, we’re not going to get there.”

“You can still get there,” the smile that spread over her lips unsettled you. “You don’t have to take any lives. Let the Heavens take you before your soul is poisoned.” 

It seemed hypocritical, considering the knife she was still threatening you with.

“You’re asking me to die?” you smiled, “are you going to finish the job?” 

She scowled, pushing you away with unexpected force and dropping the knife with a shaking hand. Her face broke into something agonized, and she turned away from you towards the concrete wall. 

“Are you okay?” Keigo grabbed your face, and you felt the sticky blood on his palm where Shiozaki had cut him.

“I’m fine,” you shook your head, bringing a hand to your throat. The cut was shallow, but the bleeding likely wouldn’t stop until you were able to put pressure on it and wrap it with something. This wasn’t the ideal opportunity to start dressing wounds.

“Our father, may your name be sanctified; and may your kingdom be blessed. May your will be done in Heaven and on Earth, and give our bread always.”

Shiozaki had fallen to her knees, hands clasped together as she muttered to herself. You began to approach her with Keigo at your side, but froze when you heard a familiar crack in the ground below you. It was the same sound you’d heard just before the building had come crashing to the ground during the countdown, but now it was much louder. It was coming from right under your feet. 

“Run,” you looked back at Keigo with wide eyes. “The building is coming down. Run! Shiozaki!” 

The girl hadn’t stirred at the noise, nor had she moved when the already crumbling building began to shake. You looked up as a large slab of concrete hit the ground just behind her. Still, she didn’t move. 

The sounds of destruction ceased just as the Capitol’s symbol was projected over the stars. Music surrounded you as faces and districts flashed across the screen one by one, showing the tributes who had fallen on the first day. You looked back at Shiozaki with wide eyes, stepping forward behind Keigo as the building seemed to momentarily stabilize. Shiozaki had her head bowed to the floor now, listening as the last of ten canons sounded. 

“Shiozaki,” Keigo called, looking between her and the rubble, “what are you doing?”

“Praying,” her voice was quiet, “for my fallen brothers and sisters.” 

When the building began to fall again, you saw the second that Keigo made the decision to run back in. You remembered all of the people he’d taken care of in your district. All of the people that he watched over and kept safe. He had always been kind to a fault, sometimes at his own expense.

But he wasn’t going to make it. Not this time.

The wall came down in front of him just as you knocked him to the side, wrapping your arms around his torso and pulling him away from the destruction. Shiozaki could decide her own fate. You wouldn’t let her decide Keigo’s too. 

He landed on top of you with a grunt, sitting up and looking back with wide eyes. You met them for a split second before you heard Shiozaki raise raise her voice so that you could hear her over the sound of the building collapsing. She was standing now, hands lifted and and face tilted towards the sky. You could see the light of the moon reflecting off of the tears on her cheeks. 

When she looked towards you and Keigo, you felt frozen with the snow. 

“May God watch over you both,” she smiled, “and may you escape with your lives.”

The building collapsed, one final canon sounded, and all that it left behind was dust and silence.

You watched as the debris settled over the rubble. Blood was still leaking from the cut in your neck, feeling like cold water on your skin, but you felt a million miles from your body. You shivered, bringing a hand to the wound to feel the damage. 

“We need to find somewhere else to sleep,” you finally turned to Keigo. He stared at you, brows pulling together as his eyes fell to your neck. 

“You’re hurt,” he took a step forward, reaching towards you with his injured hand. You smiled, stopping it before it could reach your neck. You turned it over to display the long, still-bleeding cut on his palm. 

“You too,” you shook your head.

You glanced back at the building once more, briefly wondering if she could be alive under there. You turned with finality, trudging through the snow with a loose grip on Keigo’s uninjured hand.

Part of you wished you were in that building with her. Part of you didn’t want to wake up in the morning. The games generally lasted a little over two weeks. It had been one day, and you felt like all the fight you thought you would have had left you. Watching the games on a screen really didn’t do them justice; back home, you were able to convince yourself that it wasn’t real. That it was just a sick joke that the Capitol orchestrated.

You wondered if you would ever get the image of her final moments out of your head.

You and Keigo didn’t talk much as you continued on through the maze of the buildings. He seemed just as shocked as you felt, but you were reassured by his hand holding tight to yours that he was still with you. That he didn’t blame you for interfering. 

But you knew that wouldn’t stop him from blaming himself. 

You’d settled in another, more stable looking structure for the night. You both knew you’d need to sleep to be able to defend yourself against the twelve tributes left in the arena, but every time you closed your eyes, you saw Shiozaki letting herself die. You saw her eyes, wide and crazed and terrified as she asked you to die with her. Instead, she died alone and terrified, her death decided by people who used her as a spectacle.

You kept thinking about what more you could have done. If things went the way you wanted them to, she would have died anyways. Really, you should’ve been relieved.

That’s why they do this, you shook your head, trying to rid yourself of those thoughts, to turn us against one another. To isolate us and make us believe that we’re enemies.

Keigo was working mechanically, ripping the sleeve of his undershirt and tying it around your neck. It had taken long enough for you to find a semi-stable shelter for the night that the blood had crusted over the wound, but you felt it open again when Keigo cleaned it. He murmured out apologies as he worked, quick and efficient with practiced hands.

When he finished, you took his hand and repeated his actions. He watched you work with heavy eyelids, resting his chin on the arm he had draped over his knees.

“I wasn’t looking at the tributes who died today,” you leaned into Keigo’s side shivering against the cold wind blowing through the cracks in the wall. “Do you think–”

“No,” Keigo’s voice was firm. “Shouto’s strong. He’s okay.”

Neither of you wanted to acknowledge that your survival meant Shouto’s death. You didn’t want to think about coming home to Dabi with the weight of his brother’s death on your shoulders.

You drifted off plagued with thoughts of Shouto, possibly already dead and abandoned in the Cornucopia. Once asleep, you dreamed of Keigo being crushed with Shiozaki, leaving you alone in this Hell.

#hawks #hawks x reader #hawks x you #hawks x y/n #hawks imagine #keigo takami #keigo takami x reader #keigo takami x you #keigo takami x y/n #keigo takami imagine #mha #mha x reader #mha x you #mha x y/n #mha imagine #my hero academia #thg #emwrites

[lemon-inferno]

MAMA Day 2

So it’s been almost full 24 hours since MAMA Day 2. Where to begin? I’ll start with the good things and finish with the “bad”.

Note: Is anyone else annoyed that they call it MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards) Awards? Awards twice? Not only did they call it that, they also wrote it in their banners. 😭

First, it was expected that Day 2 would be more eventful, that’s how it’s always been. As you know Day 1 was spent giving out the Fans Choice Awards, so all other main categories were left for Day 2.

We had legends such as Tiger Jk and Jaurim, who just celebrated their 25th anniversary in August. It made it that much sweeter to see them perform their hit song Twenty Five, Twenty One. The opening performance by 3RACHA (Bang Chan, Han and Changbin from Stray Kids), Tiger Jk and Jung Jae Il is also worth noting. It was a powerful and meaningful message, fitting for a “new beginning” aka post-covid era. A reminder and gratitude towards the music and artists that got us through it. A promise from them to keep doing it for the music.

Overall, all performances were more exciting on Day 2, at least to me. I wouldn’t say there was anything that really surprised me. I’m not gonna lie, IVE’s stage felt a little bare, but I credit that due to the fact that maybe Starship could not afford a big stage with more props, more intrigue. At the same time, they did the best with what they could and the grils’ stage presence made up for it. One thing I really liked was the collaboration stage between INI and NiziU. It probably won’t look incredible or jaw dropping to most people, it didn’t to me, but there’s something about it that made me sit back, relax and enjoy it and I felt some sort of stress, that I didn’t know I had, just completely disappear.         

My favorite stages were Jaurim’s collaboration with G(I)-DLE and j-hope’s, but I expected as much. I wasn’t nervous for him performing alone. I was really happy to see this new, fresh j-hope who was not at all sunshine. He was more like the asteroid that hits second after you think it’s the sun. TREASURE also had a good stage, they brought up the energy and the audience really enjoyed it. I watched both days of MAMA with my mama, and the stages she enjoyed the most were Stray Kids, IVE, ENHYPEN and j-hope. She’s a big fan of all of them. I can’t cay I’m a big ENHYPEN enthusiast, but I do listen to some of their songs.

Side note: I love that when 3RACHA was performing the rest of Stray Kids' brain cells held up self-made signs for them, lol.

ITZY’s comeback stage….. Hm, let’s see. I did enjoy it,  I liked the song. However my personal opinion is that they made a mistake performing Cheshire first, followed up by their previous hits. I think they should’ve followed Kara’s example and performed their older songs first and then the comeback stage. It would’ve built up more anticipation and had bigger impact. Between Cheshire and Sneakers something felt disconnected. But If I look at each song performance separately, then they were all good.

Awards wise, again, no surprises there. Even with IVE winning SOTY. I don’t mean to brag, but I did predict it a few seconds before it happened. When they were showing the nominees my mom said something in the lines of BTS probably winning all awards again (mind you my mom is all new to this), and I said “I don’t know, watch SOTY go to Love Dive”.  It did. So yeah, that’s my mini moment for the Day 2, lol. My mom was very happy and I think it was well deserved, so congratulations to IVE. I myself love that song a lot.

Oh, I almost forgot about ZICO! I loved Zico’s stage, I was looking forward to him performing Freak more than anything. I love that song so much, the entire “Grown Ass Kid” album is so f*cking good. Yeah. If you haven’t heard it I recommend it, even if you’re not a hiphop fan, just…. You don’t have to, but I encourage you to try it.

I do have some complaints however. First, the camerawork was a notch better, but still bad. For such an important day, that they already spent millions for, you could’ve have put a little bit more effort into good video coverage. MAMA was not only awards show this year. It is arguably the biggest awards show in Asia and the fact that for the first time since covid it was in-person attendance, overseas as is tradition, it also served as a signal for a new beginning. Not only in music, but in entertainment in general.

My second dissatisfaction is with Lim Young Woong and Monika Shin’s stage. I know that Monika Shin is a big, established and well-respected name in various fields. Most notably in dance. I don’t mean to throw shade on her, but that dance choreography felt so distant and separate from Young Woong’s singing. It was like trying to watch two different performances at the same time. It was distracting and unattractive. Also, correct me if I’m wrong but I didn’t think she majored in contemporary dance? Her movements felt a little too sharp. With Young Woong’s powerful voice, I would’ve much preferred to just see him stand still with a mic stand, maybe raised on a not too high pedestal, with some simple CGI for the dome screens and home viewers. It would’ve been so much more powerful to me.

Last thing, I’m aware of the situation with (G)I-DLE and the criticism they’ve been getting over speaking against award shows, but I chose not to address that issue here as it requires a post of its own. A post I’m not sure I’m willing to make at this point in time, so if anyone is curious what I think about it, feel free to message me or consult with Remon. Quite frankly, I don’t see why anyone would care what I have to say about anything, but there’s that.

That’s pretty much all I had to say, I hope I’m not forgetting anything. If I haven’t talked about certain groups or artists, I’ve done so on purpose. It means I either have some sort of unresolved personal feelings towards them, or they simply didn’t stand out to me enough to mention.

#jhope #itzy #enhypen #gidle #ive #treasure #newjeans #zico #niziu #lim young woong #ini #tempest #jung jae il #tiger jk #3racha #jaurim #street man fighter #mama 2022 #mama2022 #mama awards #mama awards 2022

[fragileizywriting]

WAITWAIWTWAITWAITWAIT OH STICK WITH ME HOLD ON

DL ADRIEN BEING KITTY'S GREATEST FAN

dl x sas

i've always headcanoned dl adrien to absolutely lose his mind at how cool and fun the fights against akumas are, even getting on his metaphorical bleacher and cheering as if it's a movie (to the point where he gets so caught up he ends up joining at the last moment to save kitty from getting bapped with a steel pipe)

the first fight he watches there are going to be so many stars and galaxies in this man's eyes. and the sas crew love putting on a show and entertaining, cause they do this so often that it's just a circus and they know how to party.

bad guy has an idea. he's a jokester, through and through, and decides to challenge kitty to a game.

"i like games!" kitty grins after drop kicking another guy into oblivion. fine. this'll be fine. no one's scared.

the rules of the game are simple. kitty and the bad guy can only use one body part throughout the entire fight to use against each other. weapons are allowed, but none of her claws or his teeth can touch each other if that isn't what they picked.

mister bug immediately regrets this idea of letting her play.

"i'll give you an example," the bad guys says. "i can only use my right paw on you."

nevermind the fact that the bad guy is a giant pig man, huh? his hand is bigger than her entire upper half. one swipe of that paw will send her flying, through elysium's roof and across paris. not good. kitty and viperion have been riling him up, talking about all the gold they have for him— something, something, words like "piglin trading farm" were introduced, concepts that adrien doesn't understand but can infer has to do with a video game— only at some point the pig man roars out for them to shut up.

"okay," kitty agrees, and mister bug is face-palming into a hand and complaining about her general health. she ignores him, pointing to the back of her ankle. "if that's the case, then i'll only use my left ankle against you."

the bad guy stops grinning. "that's it?"

"i don't need anything else." there's something shimmering in her eyes, something smart and something playful, and adrien is just enraptured. she's in total control of this circus performance, all cool, all collected, all kitty— all silly, too, talking to him and marinette and luka who's off to the side as if they're the fourth wall in this situation. "you don't think he's scared, do you?"

bad guy doesn't let her talk much more, though. he's charging from across the club, on all fours, readying his right hand to swing her into the metaphorical bleachers, when kitty

kitty just

she catches him with the back of her ankle at his neck at the last second, spinning and chambering her leg so quickly it's a blur. her kick is so perfect that it severs off a tusk just on impact, and the pig man makes almost a cartoonish noise when hitting the cemented back walls of elysium.

adrien cannot stop screaming about how cool it was, cheering up and down, eyes wide and delighted to see such a small girl do something out of a movie. even kitty looks excited from all his cheering, ears up and wiggling as she beams back.

he may be foaming at the mouth from how much fun he's having.

#izycrossover #demon lovin #sharks and sugar #super hero movies have NOTHING on this afterwards #he's going to be living this high for the rest of his life

[kotonoba]

ISYT (Jushiro/Fem!Reader) Christmas Chapter

Christmas Special, late, but I still wrote it, sorry.

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

You recall spending Christmas with your mother before anything happened, but you two spent it with minimum effort. She always said spending Christmas doesn’t necessarily revolve around receiving gifts, so the two of you spent time cooking together and watching a movie together. Those were simpler times when you were younger and didn’t need to worry about the world and what people thought of you two. Now that you’re part of a community, not knowing how to celebrate Christmas might bite you in the ass. You’re putting your face and Jushiro’s reputation on the line. You might be making this out of a bigger deal than anything because Jushiro told you the night before not to worry; just to be you is enough. 

But is that enough?

As you fuss about everything and nothing all at once, you don’t hear Jushiro walk into the room until you feel his arms around your waist, “don’t worry, everything is planned, just like our wedding, don’t worry about a thing, y/n.” 

His reassurance helped a lot. You nodded a bit, leaning into his hold, “do I have to–”

“No, you don’t have to prepare anything. I’ve prepared everything already; now stop worrying.” 

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good, now I must prepare something real quick, so relax; I’ll be back soon, y/n.” he kissed your forehead before leaving your mind to wander about in the Ugendo.

If you learned anything from your years in the material world, you know that all your friends always bragged to you about what Christmas present they thought they’ll get compared to what they got. And knowing Jushiro, he might just as well dress up as Santa Claus for you and everyone else in Seireitei to see; what a dork. You might as well do some late Christmas shopping in that case, then.

Wandering around the Ugendo, you noticed that it wasn’t very festive looking on the estate; the least you could do was make it festive since Jushiro always preferred festivities. You spent your mornings to your afternoons redecorating the Ugendo. Although the maids and servants the family hired weren’t particularly pleased by your presence, and you redecorated everything, you ignored their whispers and continued redecorating. It was just a Christmas tree well decorated and some banners and lights here and there to show spirit.

You managed to procure some Christmas presents for your lover. Although you’re not sure he’d love it, you made an effort, and you’ll know better next year. 

You wouldn’t count yourself as the best cook in the world, but, in your opinion, your food is entirely… edible. That’s what you made. With the spare time you had left before Jushiro’s return, you focused on decorating the tree. It took a while to find a ladder to climb up so you could put the ornaments and the star at the top. 

A misstep, your heart dropped as you braced for impact, but you fell into someone’s arms; your eyes peeked open to be greeted by a confident white-haired man dressed up like Santa Claus, go figures. 

“If you wanted me to carry you, you could have just told me, y/n,” Jushiro chuckled a little, and your eyes rolled at his playfulness. 

“Welcome home, ‘Shiro,” your arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him close enough for you to give him a quick peck on the lips. 

He quickly took that as a cue to chase after your lips and kiss back before eyeing the decorations, “hos festive. I’m surprised you managed to get a Christmas tree and all,” he hums, letting you back down after a bit. 

“Well, it’s not hard, just a quick trip to the shopping district. And ask for a tree,” you giggled. Despite him being in full get-up, you had to admit it was well thought out, “I’m guessing you played the role of Santa Claus and handed out presents to everyone?”

“Yes, I did,” he followed you along to the table, where you set up an entire feast for him. He took his hat off to sit beside you to eat, “I did save a present for you.” 

“Is it you? Cause you’re the best part of the year for me,” you smiled when you saw a darkened complexion form on his face, “I’m not lying.”

“I know you aren’t – you know what?” Your eyes glimmered in curiosity as he grabbed his hat before picking you up like his bride – though, soon-to-be bride, of course, “dinner can wait, I can’t.” 

“What do you mea–” before you got time to ask, you were met with a kiss on the lips before being rushed into you and his shared room.

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

Up to interpretation. (: Tomorrow is New Year’s chapter.

Cloudy's AO3

#bleach fanfiction #bleach fandom #bleach ukitake #bleach jushiro #ukitake jushiro x reader #jushiro ukitake #jushiro ukitake x reader #ukitake x reader #isyt #i'll see you tomorrow #it's also on ao3

[luimagines]

Perhaps them being protective over you(the reader)? Mostly platonic but hints of romantic(if you get what I mean?) Like, the relationship between them has been platonic and they’ve only really seen it has platonic, but someone(the Heroes) might be catching feelings. Also if it isn’t too much trouble do you think you could keep this in the same timeline? Like, your other scenarios had the same reader and felt like these all happened at some point, can you do the same for this one? I hope this isn’t too much trouble, really love your blog!💖💖💖

Masterlist

Ok, I think I get what you mean. The Hero is protective with a hint of feelings they haven't come to terms with. They're crushing but they don't know it yet.

I don't know what you mean by the same timeline though. It wasn't supposed to be the same reader for all of them but hey! It be like that sometimes, I guess! Especially if they're just friends.

The Reader is also set to be the same age as Wind for his scenario.

Warrior's got longer than intended and there is some catcalling in that one. FYI

Scenario under the cut!

Legend

"You can be seriously going out in that." Legend couldn't help but snap. The group had been dropped into a snowcapped mountain in the middle of a blizzard. The only luck they had on their side was a nearby cave where they all but ran to in an attempt to weather the storm and get their bearings.

But someone still had to scout and you were planning to take Wild and Twilight with you since they were the only ones who could both brace the cold and most likely find their way back.

He, however, didn't like the idea of you going out there period.

Even less so when he found you severely underdressed compared to your companions.

It seemed however, that you saw no problem with it, even going as far as to tilt your head and look down at what you were wearing at his comment. It sparked something in Legend's chest that he wasn't willing to decipher at the moment.

"What's wrong with it?" You asked.

"Are you serious right now?" Legend scowled. The top you wore was tight around your chest and the cloak that clasped at the front billowed around you ever so slightly from the wind at the front of the cave. There were thin layers of furs under your linen over shirts that matched the fur lining your boots outlining your figure and silhouette in a way he found irritating.

The light that barely peaked through the clouds lit up your form gave you a halo of light over your head and made you look more of a hero than he ever would have pictured you.

It didn't sit well with him.

"That doesn't nearly look warm enough. If you plan on going out in that then you'll freeze within the first ten minutes." He crossed his arms and stared you down, willing you to disagree, to challenge him, keep you here longer so one of the others can pick up the lack and go instead.

"It's bear fur Legend." You reply instead with an easy grin your face. He elected to ignore it because he was trying to stay mad and irritated at the lack of care you seemed to have for your own safety. Why weren't the others backing him up?! Wouldn't Twilight have said something by now?! Or Time?!

Why was it just him?

How dare you smile like that? And at him no less! He's trying to make a point, darn it! It's hard to concentrate when you look so... innocent and bright and happy and-

Focus Link.

"I actually have four layers on as well." You continue and peel back what you can to show him what your clothing looks like. Unknowingly giving him a great look at your figure beneath said layers. "Two layers of wool and two of fur and I still have my clothes under here as well. Without enchantments like Wild, it's probably the warmest thing here. I'll be alright."

He can't bring himself to believe it.

He grits his teeth and continues to look at you, not bothering to spare a glance at Wild or Twilight when they eventually join your side, both now ready to head out.

"Honestly Legend. I know it doesn't look like much but I grew up around snow and ice and mountainous storms. If anyone knows what they're doing here, it's me."

He knows this. You told him. He knows that he knows this.

Why can't he believe it?

His hand forms a fist with a tight grip and he gets an idea.

Before he can fully think it through, he's marching up to you and snatches up your hand before you can protest.

You haven't put on your gloves yet so it's skin on skin.

He can't think much of it or he'll lose his nerve and he's already gone too far to go back now or he'll only be making a fool of himself.

Legend all but rips the most powerful ring he has on his person and shoves it onto your own. It's a protection ring, it'll shield you if anything tries to hurt you.

He's not entirely sure why he cares so much, just that he does, and this is all he can do if no one is going to back him up and stop you from going.

"I want this back." He says. He knows it sounds meaner than he's intending but then you let him put it on, take your hand back and marvel at it for a moment.

"I'll protect this with my life." You flex your hand, testing out how it feels and wonder what magic it must posses for Legend to not only give it up but deem it worth for the storm outside.

"Thanks Vet." You grin brighter and Legend finds himself floundering for a moment at the intensity of it.

The tips of his turn red, he knows this and he forces himself to distance himself or else the others would notice.

Your trio disappears into the white and he sits down by the fire made for the smaller ones of the group. He hasn't made eye contact with anyone since you left and he makes the mistake of trying to casually play it off by looking up.

Time is watching him with a knowing smile on his face.

"What?" Legend barks and scowls at the attention.

The older man just laughs a bit to himself and shakes his head but he doesn't say anything.

Legend thinks back on his actions a little sooner than he thinks he should and glances at his hand. The hand that grabbed yours.

Despite the journey, your hands were so soft.

He can't help but smile.

Time

Time was watching the over the group for the morning shift, his hand over his sword and his eyes watching... well you.

You intrigued Time.

Out all the heroes of courage on this journey, you weren't one of them. You weren't a Link and yet you seemed to fill a gap the group didn't know it had.

He couldn't figure out why or how but he found himself wanting to know what made you tick, why did you work so well with the others, what your world was like, and how did it mold you to be so....

He had trouble finding a word for it.

As the boys rough housed and played around, he found himself relaxing. It was a quiet morning and he had the added support of Wolfie on look out for any monsters.

He put his sword down and and walked over to where you were.

You were sitting with a book in your lap, something he found you doing often. But this time you were ignoring the book, laughing at Wind's and Wild's antics as they blasted each other with their Deku leaves. Wind continuously knocked the Champion around but neither of them seemed to mind.

If anything, it appeared the were doing on purpose and were trying to see how far he'd go.

Boys.

He could feel the smile on his face as he made his way toward you.

"Enjoying the theatrics?" He spoke up.

You jumped with a small yelp, something he found endlessly entertaining.

"You're the biggest guy here! How are you so quiet?!" You yelled in his face with a pointed finger and hand on your chest.

Time chuckles and sits down next to you, sitting just close enough for your knees to brush. "Sorry. It's not always intentional, I promise."

"So you admit you do it on purpose!!" You turn to face him fully. Book absolutely forgotten.

Time finds himself pleased by the change.

"Occasionally." He grinned.

"Oh, and I so happen to be your favorite victim then?" You crossed you arms and leaned closer to him. Your words were biting but the smile on your face was teasing and the glint in your eye was knowing.

"Of course."

"You're impossible." You shove him away. "You're only like this because no one will ever suspect you."

"Is that so- LOOK OUT!" Time had noticed a second too late but in the seconds Time stopped paying attention to them, Wind and Wild had stopped launching each other and started launching objects.

Such objects like coconuts and hard wooden barrels.

Like the ones heading in your direction.

With no time to act, he grabs you and rolled out of the way, pressing you into his chest. The huddling objects bounced off of your spot, some exploding on impact while the rest crashed into the nearby trees and bushes.

It looked like a war zone.

Time held onto you for a second after the damage passed, waiting for any else to come your way. When nothing appeared, he began to let you go, looking down on you to see your reactions. "You ok?"

You had curled yourself into his chest, continuing to press yourself close to him even after he let go.

Time finds himself pleased by this as well.

"Well..." You took a deep breath and slowly looked up and around. "That was exciting."

"Are you hurt?" He asked again. You looked fine, if only a little shaken, but he wanted to hear you say it.

"I think my leg got scratched in the chaos."

Time forces himself to stay calm and to not show any reaction. A scratch is better than getting hit head on. You'll be fine.

"What about you?" You look up to him again, eyes wide and bigger than he remembers and they were such a lovely color-

"I'm more concerned about you." He says, cutting his own thought process off. Time proceeds to get up, being as gentle as he can with you still in his arms. "I did just happen to grab you."

"Well, I'm sure it would have been worse if you hadn't." You grin at him and push yourself away.

Time now finds that he misses the feeling of you there but isn't able to focus on why when the two culprits are running up to you at break neck speeds.

"Are you two ok?!" Wind reaches you first.

"We're so sorry, we miscalculated the angle and it went wildly off our target." Wild continues and helps you to your feet.

Wind hovers near Time, unsure of what to do or how to help.

Time looks over to where you are, breathless but smiling dazzlingly. "We're ok." You tell Wild. "Just thrown around is all, we're fine."

Time sighs and stands up, putting his serious face on. "You boys better have a good explanation for this."

They could have hurt someone. They almost hurt you. His only consolation is how they squirm under his gaze.

Good.

Wind

"What the hell? What the hell? What the hell? What is this place?!"

Wind looked over his shoulder from the fight over to where you were, the monster he was fighting falling before him. It was a great thing in his eyes to no longer be the youngest of the group. Not only for there to be someone of his age to talk to but also get the group off of his back for some of their more dramatic attempts at keeping him safe.

Wind was having a blast.

Everyone had found a dungeon in the sense that they fell into it against their knowledge and will and had happened to land with partners.

He hopes so anyway.

But on his end, he's with you!

And he's loving it!

You've never judged him and you've always thought that his stories were great and this was a great opportunity to show you how cool he is in a fight without the others trying to stop him from doing all his cool stuff.

And as an added bonus, he loves spending time with you!

Wind was close to wishing on stars for more time to spend alone with you. The others were always around and always in his business. How lucky that it seems he got his wish without doing that little kid stuff, like star wishing.

He didn't take into account that this might be your first dungeon though.

...Guess you didn't have those in your world...

But that's fine! He'll just walk you through it. They're easy once you get a groove going, and as dungeons go, this one is old hat for him.

The enemies around you fall within minutes and you're a little more shaken up than he likes.

"You ok?" He puts his sword on his back and walks toward you. You're staring at the fallen enemy in front of you with your own sword still raised. There's a slight cut on your arm, a red line going across and down, but Wind is almost certain that the cut is across...the blood is just going down your arm.

Wind takes a moment to quiet the sudden and unexpected rage. The monsters are lucky, he thinks, that they're already dead.

He grips his wrist tightly at the sight and places his other hand on your own. You gulp slightly and look at him tearfully. "Wind, where are we?"

You're scared, he realizes.

Scared, and alone and you don't know what kind of place this is.

There's another cut just above your eye and there more blood going down your face.

Wind feels himself fill with determination. He has the experience you lack to make it through here. He has been in more fights than you have. He knows what he's doing.

He's going to make sure you get out of here without being afraid anymore.

"Come on." Wind lets himself go and places his hand on top of yours, gently pushing the sword down and make a small effort to lace your fingers together. His other hand grips his sleeve and he begins to swipe it across your face, trying to clean the blood the best he can. "We're going to find the others, ok? We just have to keep going and if we're lucky we'll find a map, maybe a compass and it'll help us get out of here. We'll be back with the others in no time!"

You gulp and nod, tightening your grip on his hand and let him lead you through the unknown. Your voice is quiet and soft and Wind finds that he wants to hear it more often like this...just not laced with fear. "Ok. I trust you."

Wind nearly preens at your words, a large smile overtaking his face.

He'll protect you and you won't have to be afraid, not while he's here.

"Just leave it to me. I got this."

Warrior

"Whatup, Captain?" Warrior feels a weight be thrown on his shoulder at the call of the voice.

He looks to the side where it is and throws an easy smile on his face.

It's you! And you're grinning fabulously in his direction.

"Nothing in particular. Just checking our supplies, we might need to make a supply run in the nearest town for potions if we're lucky enough to find one but..." He looks at the bag in front of him with slight distain.

Truthfully, the group is low on a lot of stuff. Food, medical and magic supplies, someone is going to have to buy the Veteran more sewing supplies as well with how much battery all your clothes have taken on.

It would have to be a big buy....

A small town probably won't have half the stuff they need. And he doesn't know what kind of budget he's working with either.

But he's dealt with worse with less.

The group will hold on for a little longer if nothing drastic happens.

But Warrior doesn't want you to know that. If he had things his way, he'd let you think that everything was ok. That everything was fine and under control.

He's used to having to keep dire news from the troops so that they can keep fighting the good fight.

Lying to you though feel wrong. Dirty.

He finds your complete trust in him endearing and your willingness to help him with any and all loads on his shoulders means more to him than he'd ever be willing to tell you to your face.

You brighten and throw a thumb in the direction behind you. "We're in luck then. There's a town, that-a way according to Wild's weird telescope from his slate. I was planning to go check it out regardless but was in need of a partner. Wild can't because Twilight benched him after last fights stunt. Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone?"

That idea sounds fantastic.

"I'd love to." He says easily. "Got anything to do before we head out?"

"Nope. Ready to leave immediately." You get off of him and he follows after you without missing a beat, quickly falling into sync with your steps. It's a habit he has trouble breaking, but if he can focus on matching your stride instead, he can stay by your side for the walk.

"We're getting supplies from the town. Be back soon!" He calls out to Time and the group as you walk by.

Time raises his hand in acknowledgement and goes back to pinning Wild down with his stare alone. Warrior doesn't feel sorry for him.

With that taken care of, you both pick up your speed and quickly leave the range of your little camp. Jokes are traded easily between you two and Warrior finds himself relaxing.

It's a strange feeling but one he knows that he can share with you.

You put him at ease and there's something about you that calls for his attention.

Maybe it's your attitude. Maybe it's your determination. Maybe it's the way you fight and the grace you carry yourself with.

You're a good fighter, a good team mate, and a good person.

You take care of the others. You take care of him.

He doesn't know how to thank you.

Warrior notices that you both reach the town in record time, the conversation seeming making time a useless way measure distance.

You both walk in and begin with Warrior's shopping list since it has a higher priority than simply exploring.

Warrior makes a promise to himself to find something for you.

A small gift, if you will.

He's not entirely sure what you like just yet but he thinks you deserve something nice and if he's here to buy nice things, then why shouldn't you get something as well.

The trouble is getting it without you seeing him buy it, or figure out his plan.

You were always able to read him like a book.

"Lookin' good sweetheart!" A voice calls from the side. A loud and obnoxious voice followed quickly by multiple cheers and whistles.

Warrior instantly has a spike in irritation and he forces himself to not shout back. He's used to this. It happens sometimes back home. He's not surprised it can carry elsewhere. There's pigs everywhere.

He ignores them.

"Why don't you leave your boy toy and come find out how a real man can treat you darlin'?!" Another one comments. More cheers and howls.

Boy toy?

That's new.

Warrior looks in their direction and comes to a startling discovery.

They're not looking at him. THEY'RE LOOKING AT YOU.

Now... Warrior likes to think he's a rational man. He's good at keeping his head on straight in tough situations. He's good under peer pressure and under stress.

He takes one look at you and sees your smile gone, your head is down and your face is red in shame, anger and embarrassment.

But you don't say anything in reply and only shuffle closer to him, trying to get in front of him so he'll shield you from their gaze.

Warrior is a rational man.

Many would agree with that.

He wants to tear their heads off.

"Come on baby, don't be that way! As easy as your back is to watch, we want to get a good look at your pretty little face!"

Warrior turns suddenly and faces them all head on. "Thank you for the compliment doll face! I'm new in town and just passing through but maybe-"

He starts walking towards them as sultry as he can manage, pulling on every acting cell he has in his body.

Which is a lot if you ask him.

The tactic works as he wants it to. Warrior knows he wasn't their target and the idea of him responding instead throws them off their rhythm.

"No, no, wait-" One of them holds a hand up and takes a step back. "Not you."

"Who else darlin'?" He mimics their drawl and smirks at their instant discomfort. "You want a good time?"

"I'm leaving." One of them says after a second of horror shows on his face and not so subtlety turns on his heel and leaves. The third follows without saying anything and it just leaves Warrior and the first caller.

Warrior likes these odds.

He drops the act and lets his murderous intent shine on his face. "Got anything else to say?"

Warrior reaches for his sword and the idea finally gets through the guy's head. Leave us alone or else.

"...No." He says and finally leaves as well, not looking back at either of you.

Warrior nods at his retreating form and returns to you, a little ashamed by how long it took him to react. For your sake.

His head is low when he reaches you and he scratches the back of his neck instead of making eye contact.

"Um... What do you want to do now?" He asks lamely. By Hylia, he wants to kick himself into oblivion.

A small snort catches his attention and he snaps his head up.

You're looking at him, hand over your mouth and crinkled eyes giving away your not so hidden smile. Your shoulders are shaking and it only grows as he stares at you.

You're not mad? He has trouble believing it because he's still furious.

A small bark of laughter escapes without your consent and it's the last wall to break as the dam flows out. You're laughing hysterically and it's beginning to scare him a little.

"D-Did you see their faces?!" You nearly scream. "Oh my god, Warrior, I love you. That was amazing."

Warrior shakes off the shock and feels himself blush. "It wasn't that special..."

"Wasn't that-? Oh boy, I wish Wild was here. I would have loved to get a picture! Warrior that was awesome. I'm so glad that you agreed to come with me." You walk beside him and grab his hand, beginning to drag him through the town. "You know what? I owe you. I have some rupees and we're not expected to come back to camp yet. You want something? I'll get it for you. My treat. Anything you want."

Warrior begins to flounder, and he's uselessly dragged behind you while your grin grows with every second that you talk.

While this all happens and you talk about the ways you plan to treat him, Warrior starts to think that he might just do anything for you.

Hyrule

Hyrule was busy enjoying the scenery of their most recent trip. He had managed to sneak away from the group and walk around the area without having to worry about the others for a moment.

The quiet was nice and familiar. The place was new and begging for him to explore what it had to offer.

Hyrule... found himself wishing for companionship, weirdly.

Well, as long as his travel companion is you.

He supposed Wild would have been just the same....but he found himself wanting to be with you instead.

He just... he doesn't know why. It doesn't bother him.

There's just.... He has trouble finding the words.

You're warm and gentle and it reminds him of casting his Life spell on himself before he met the others. There's a sense of safety, of calm.

A cool breeze on a warm summer's day.

A smile creeps on his face at the thought of you. Hyrule knows that he does it often but he still can't bring himself to care about it.

"Oh my- NO! HEY!" He hears your voice. Panicked, frantic and shrill.

And it gets cut off.

It's a bucket of ice water dumped over him. His heart launches into his throat and his stomach drops to his feet. His feet are moving in the direction towards you before he even realizes it.

Hyrule has reached a full on sprint and has to continue to run when he fails to find you. He takes a moment to be grateful for his stamina and how he's used to running but you're not.

At least he doesn't think so.

But he hopes this isn't where he finds out.

He trips over something. A sharp pain cuts across his shin as he falls to the ground, palms barely sustaining damaged thanks to his armor.

Hyrule gets up and sees something even worse than what he thought.

It's your sword.

You don't have your sword.

You're unarmed and alone.

Hyrule picks himself up and your sword and continues running at an even quicker pace.

He reaches you eventually and feels unadulterated rage flood through his system.

There's a pig monster over you, cheering and dancing in victory. There's only one. He thinks it's one of Wild's bokoblins but he calls on his magic and sends his sword straight through the monsters beating heart.

There's no black blood as it falls.

He sprints even more in your direction and begins to cradle your head, gently checking for blood any injuries.

He lets the healing spell move through his fingers to catch whatever he might be missing, whatever he can't see or get to without hurting you further.

He can feel what areas need the attention the most and can almost reconstruct the attack.

There's a large bump on your head, most likely the hit that knocked you unconscious.

Your arm is scratched and multiple pieces of skin have been torn off but it's a graze more than anything, it's not bleeding and doesn't goa any deeper than that.

Probably the hit that knocked your sword out of your hand.

There's a bruise blossoming on your knee and on your stomach and he has trouble figuring out what came first. They could have come from your fall or the beast could have simply hit you again.

The magic works its way through your system and subsequently heals him as well from his own minor injuries.

There's no way you can wake up fast enough and it leaves his heart pounding in his chest.

Hyrule knows when there's nothing left to heal and has to force himself to stop before he overexerts himself. The uncertainty is killing him. Just when he was hoping to spend time with you alone, this happens.

You groan and begin to sit up, your hand going to your head before realizing that it doesn't hurt and that you're not alone.

"Hyrule...Hey." Your voice is soft and a smile overtakes your face. You looks around and sit up straighter when you catch the dead body of the monster not two feet from you. "Guess that's your doing?"

Hyrule nods and moves to give you space, reaching his hand out for you to take. "How are you?"

"Good, all things considered...." You shrug and pick up your sword. Hyrule didn't even notice that he dropped it. "I was looking for you."

A mix of emotions fills his heart. Guilt at being the cause of it. Relief that at least you're together again. Happiness, strangely, at the thought of you thinking about him.

"Well I'm not lost, just..." He nervously looks up to you, his hand coming to scratch the back of his neck. "Got left behind."

"We noticed." Your smile fills with mirth and it's borderline a smirk.

Hyrule is not prepared by the realization that he finds that incredibly attractive.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue." You say, wrapping your arm with his. "The rest of the group is over here by the way."

"Yeah... Yeah ok." He grins and tightens his grip around your arm. "Let's meet up with our friends."

Yeah....friends...That's just what friends do.

Why does he feel weird about it?

Twilight

"On a scale of one to ten, how hard is it to learn how to ride a horse?"

Twilight looked around Epona's form, pausing his motion in brushing her to see you leaning up against her, a hand on her neck and brushing ever so slightly.

"Some people are more natural than others I suppose..." Twilight responded, an idea forming in his mind. "But it's not difficult."

You nodded in response and continued to pet the best girl around.

"I can show you how... If you want that is." Twilight grins to himself, leaning closer to Epona so you don't notice. The thought makes him giddy in a childlike way and he doesn't want you to be put off by his overexcitement.

You snap your head in his direction, a bright and excited smile on your face. "Really? I've always wanted to learn but I didn't want to impose."

Oh.

Out of everyone who could easily show you how to ride a horse, you came to him.

Well... doesn't that do something to his heart.

I mean, he is the only one with the horse but -DETAILS!!

He doesn't care for them.

"Here. Get on." He walks around and holds the reins, gesturing for you to get on Epona's back.

"Right now?" You're surprised, but delighted.

Twilight thinks it a good look on you.

"Sure. We're not going anywhere just yet and Epona can use a walk to stretch her legs." He says and helps you get up. Twilight is quick to follow after you and sit behind you, your back pressed up upon his chest.

"Ok, here's what you're going to do." He gives you the reins and places his hands over yours, leading you and Epona to where he thinks is a good place to go for a small trot.

It's effortless for him to lead you both through the trail.

Your trio actually pass by the group who are resting for lunch and wave to them as you go. Twilight catches the smile Time has on his face and is quick to put together that he knows something he doesn't. He'll ask Time about it later.

Twilight talks to you about how to hold the reigns, how to kick the horse into gear, how to steer and anything that he can think of that means safety for both you and the animal.

"Hey Twilight-" You mention suddenly and point just beyond the distance. "-Should we be concerned about that?"

Monsters, also on horses.

An arrow wizzes by suddenly, imbedding itself in Epona's side.

Shocked by the pain and scared by the suddenness of it, Epona takes off in a sudden sprint. Encouraged by the reaction, the monsters give chase.

Twilight notices that they don't have as much control over their chosen transportation.

He has the advantage.

Epona's first instinct is to run back to the group, back to the numbers and safety. Twilight knows better though, he can't lead the monsters to the group, even if he has a sizeable lead on them. He quickly turns her away, a plan forming in his mind.

You don't have weapons or back up, so this is going to get interesting.

"TWILIGHT!" You scream and throw yourself against him, covering your eyes with one and and gripping him tightly with the other. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Trust me!" He yells over the rushing wind. "I think I have a plan!"

"YOU THINK? You're crazy!" You reply, directly into his ear. "But I trust you... so I guess I am too!"

"That's the spirit!" He grins. Twilight knows Epona won't be able to do much more without injuring herself further and he doesn't want to make any reckless decisions with you right next to him.

He'd hate for you to no longer want to ride a horse over this bad experience.

"Hang on tight!" He finds himself yelling, adrenaline in his veins and he pushes Epona to go a little bit faster.

There's a cliff nearby, a ledge that if he can Epona to go fast enough, she can jump it.

The monsters may try to follow but Twilight is riding heavily on their lack on control and the horses will to stay safe.

Epona reaches it and jumps.

There's a moment of weightlessness and Twilight's heart floats up to his throat. You gasp, and fling yourself around to press your face into the crook of his neck.

Twilight takes one arm off of the reigns and wraps it around you, pressing you tightly into his chest.

Epona makes the jump, landing on the other side with a little more turbulence than Twilight is used to, but he'll blame her shot.

He slows her down and looks to the other side of the ledge.

The monsters do in fact try to follow but Twilight's gamble and intuition pays off. The horses stop just by the edge and several monsters fly off of their backs and down below. The other monsters who can't get by, stop in anger and scream from the other side.

But it appears they lost their archer to the abyss.

So you're safe.

"Oh my goodness..." You gulp and remove yourself from him. "Holy cow... You did it. You mad lad, you did it."

Twilight chuckles nervously and begins to lead Epona back to the camp, gentler and a little more aware now of how she's moving, how much she's been hurt.

"Is Epona ok?" You try to look around him and spot the injury, but there's not a lot of space on the saddle to manage that. He does it for you and sees that it's mostly blocked by the saddle itself, the arrow imbedded deep into the side, just missing the both of you.

Epona most likely only has a scratch and was more startled if anything.

Twilight's not happy about his girl getting hurt but knows that she's taken worse hits. He'll tend to her later, he's worried about you too.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, but Epona?" You insist.

"She's fine. It mostly hit the equipment. They were terrible shots." Twilight grins easily, taking the lead in steering Epona and leans into your back.

You laugh breathlessly and turn your head directly into his. It gives him a great view of your eyes and how they seem to glow in the light. He finds himself entranced and almost misses what you say completely.

"You're incredible, you know that?"

He nearly preens and he pulls himself back. "You think so?"

"Incredibly reckless." You snort. "You've lost your privileges' for yelling at Wild. You're just as bad as him."

"I-..." Twilight starts but can't finish.

"But hey, at least we're ok." You lean back and make yourself comfortable against him. "That could have been worse."

Twilight doesn't move a muscle while you're there, if you're comfy against him, then he'll keep you comfy. "Yeah. Sorry about freaking you out back there."

You go quiet for a moment and he wonders if he's ruined something. Twilight doesn't know if there's something to ruin actually, and he doesn't understand the thought now that he's had it. He doubts you'll stop being friends because of this, so that's not at threat. Monster attacks are not something new. But...

He wants to do this with you, for you.

He doesn't like the idea of you turning him down.

"I don't know..." You say eventually. "Maybe you can make it up to me by continuing these horse riding lessons. Maybe I'll forgive you then."

Twilight doesn't look at your face, he doesn't turn to look at you. He's afraid he'll give too much away on his face if he does.

"If you're still up for it?" It's question. It wasn't supposed to be a question.

You nod and fully relax, your heartbeat gently beating against his own. "Maybe less monsters next time?"

"Agreed." Twilight grins. "Not until after you learn to go out on your own."

"How about... No."

Wild

"Wild. I. Have a question." Wild looks up to your approaching form, tensing up in anticipation.

"Yeah, what's up?" He tries to grin naturally. Wild feels his heart start to beat faster and his face heat up. He gets nervous around you even if he wants to be by your side, but he doesn't know why.

He knows you're friendly and sweet and nice and incredibly smart and there should be no reason that you do this to him and yet he wants to impress you so bad....

But he doesn't know how.

"Your slate has that crazy inventory right? So you carry a whole bunch of stuff on you at all times?" You try to stand tall but you dip your head and thread your fingers through your hair.

You're nervous.

Now you really have his attention.

"Yeah. I might have enough stuff to rival the Veteran and he's known as the Collector as well." Wild sits back and tilts his head at you. "What's up?"

"I..." You start and bite your lip. Wild's eyes land on it and he focuses there for longer than he thinks is appropriate. "I just wanted to ask if I could borrow a sword if you had extra... Mine's about to break and I don't want Smithy on my case about it, since I don't have what I need to fix it. But....um...You know what, nevermind. It's not a big deal, I'll manage, I'll-"

"No! It's fine!" He shoots up to his feet and grabs your hand to keep you from leaving. "Got anything in mind? I've got claymores and short swords, elemental weapons and sheikah blades. I've got some cool boomerangs or clubs from monsters if you want those."

While he's talking, he brings up his slate and begins sliding through the pages and icons, bringing it up to your faces so you can get a better look at what he had to offer. He's quick to point out what weapon can do what and how he has one story for each of them.

He takes a look over to your face and is overjoyed when he sees that you're looking through the screen with as much fervor and excitement as he did when he first came into contact with his world's weapons.

"..." He sees your eyes lock on one of them and voice comes out in a giddy giggle. "This one."

"Which one?" He leans over and places a hand on your shoulder. You let him, or you don't notice but the fact that you don't shove him away makes in happy in a way.

You point to it and he has a brief moment of panic when he sees the one you want. It's one of Robby's creations, a sheikah chainsaw so to speak. It's one of the biggest weapons he has.

"OK." He gulps and takes it out. He presses the activation button and watches your face when it lights up the blade.

A large grin over takes your face when you see it and stare at it for a moment. The light is bright in your eyes and you let out a giggle that's borderline hysterical.

"This is awesome!" You make grabby hands at it and he hesitates to give it to you.

He likes that you like it....but he's suddenly not all to convinced that he should. Wild knows that he's reckless and that he gets hurt a little more than anyone appreciates but... What if you get hurt? With his weapon, no less?

The thoughts scares him a little more than he'll admit.

Maybe you should have that one.... Maybe a more... normal weapon would have been better?

You step away and give it a few experimental swings and his heart launches into his throat.

"Ho-ok!" Wild frantically opens his slate again and takes out a another weapon, a normal iron sword. "Take this one as well actually."

"One is enough Wild. Thank you but-"

"We don't want the others to get jealous, now do we?" He lies. "This way it'll be easier to explain...so maybe save that one for emergencies?"

"Alright." You press the button and stash the weapon away, taking the other sword from his hand. Your fingers brush and he tries to not jerk his hand back and make it awkward.

"For the others sake." You grin, and there's a glint in your eyes that makes him think that you're on to him.

But you don't mention it.

He won't plan to mention it either.

He'll gladly share anything else with you though. You just have to ask.

Four

"RUN! WE HAVE TO RUN!"

Four's head snaps up and he doesn't have the time to register why before you run past him and grab his hand, dragging him behind you.

"WHAT?!" Four yells next to you and matches his stride to your easily. "WHY ARE WE RUNNING?!"

"THEY'RE AFTER ME!" You cry and continue running, taking a sharp turn. "NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!"

Four isn't prepared for the level of rage and concern for your behalf as he begin to reach for his sword and turns around to fight whatever has you in a panic.

"Don't!" You pull his hand harder and nearly throw him off of his feet. "It's not worth it. Just run, maybe we can find a place to hide."

"What's after you?" He asks instead. How bad did it have to be that you didn't even want to fight back? Was it monsters? Did they have numbers on their side? Was it the weapons they had? Were they infected?

He'd gladly fight them for you.

But if it's bad... it's bad and he knows that infected monsters take more effort then they should and they're not something he can do alone.

"Here!" A smile appears on your face and with another sharp turn to press him close to your body and squeeze into a small space. There's no space between you two, it's chest to chest, completely up against each other and Four suddenly has a hard time concentrating.

Four says your name in an attempt to distract himself from your body and eyes the hand you press against his mouth in response.

"Shh..." You look outside the hidey hole and snap back in.

Familiar voices ring with mirth and exhaustion but they are not dangerous. Four finds it in himself to be a little miffed at there not actually being any danger but he keeps quiet at your request.

"Where do you think they went?" Wind has a grin in his voice.

"I don't know. I think they actually lost us." Wild replies in kind. "But they can't be far. It's not like they can out run us."

"You take the right and I'll take the left?" Wind offers and Four has to wonder what they want with you.

You keep your hand over his mouth for a moment longer before slowly retreating.

Four gulps and takes a breath. He's immediately assaulted by how you smell. It's weirdly not just sweat, but apple blossoms and some kind of herb that he's having trouble pin pointing.

It's intoxicating and despite the lack of personal space, Four thinks that this is the most comfortable place he's been in a while.

"Ok. I think they're gone." You turn and begin to shimmy out of the hole. "Sorry about that. They want me to do something dumb with... an item of mine and I don't have the heart to tell them no. So I ran... Which didn't really work because they followed."

Four follows out of the hole and brushes the front of him off. He places his hands on his hips and fixes you with a stare.

"And then I ran into you and I didn't want to explain everything but you're a good guy and you'd just tell them where I went because you wouldn't know and I didn't want to risk leaving you behind-"

A good guy?

"So you kidnapped me?" Four raises an eyebrow. "That was your solution?"

"Well... How else do I get your attention?" You mimic his position and look him in the eye.

Four's about to retort with something that you could do before he stops himself. It's... not something one would just say to a friend. But he finds the idea very appealing for a moment before being disgusted with himself for thinking that about you.

He rolls his eyes to change the conversation outwardly but he continues thinking about it. "There are easier ways to get my attention. One of them, for example, say my name."

"Hard to do, if all of you have the same name." You grin.

He smiles back.

Truthfully, now that he's thinking about it, a lot things that you do catch his attention.

The way you move your hands when you talk. The way you move when you fight. The sound of your laugh. The color of your hair and your eyes.

"Um..." You laugh nervously and scratch the back of your neck. "Would you mind staying with me for a moment longer? I uh- Don't know the way back and I don't want to risk running into either of them just yet But.. I did kidnap you, so if you have something better to do-."

Oh yeah, he'll stay with for for longer. He doesn't mind one bit.

Sky

Sky yawns and rubs at his eyes for a moment before turning his gaze back into the fire.

It's early.... like, stupid early. He hates getting up before the sun and would have gladly stayed in his bedroll... but it's his shift.

Admittedly, he doesn't mind being on watch.

But it's the whole concept of being up before the very time keeper in the sky that miffs him. His body wants to fight it and he typically has to put his whole bed roll away when it's his turn or else he'll be tempted to go back to it and sleep the rest of the night time away.

The only bonus, he supposes, is the chance to watch the sunrise.

It's so different on the surface than on Skyloft, there's more colors and it's not as blinding. He can't to experience more when he reaches his own time again.

The other bonus, he supposes, now that he's thinking about it, if the chance to watch over his new friends and that includes you.

You... Are just as mesmerizing as the sunrise, he thinks.

There's something about you that he finds completely captivating. Your endless colors and arrays of simplistic beauty keep his attention in ways he wouldn't have thought possible. Bringing peace and tranquility to the group when they need and being a signal to start the next leg of the adventure.

And yet, he can admit that it's nothing extraordinary.

You're not trying to impress anyone. It comes naturally to you.

Like the sunrise.

Sky smiles to himself and....he's mature to admit that he's glad he met you, and he think he'll miss you the most when this is all over.

When Sky comes back to the present instead of being trapped in his own head, he realizes that he's been staring at you for a while.

You're still sleeping.

He takes a breath. That wouldn't have been awkward. He prides himself on not being a creep, thank you very much.

You turn in your sleep and a sound escapes you.

Sky sits up a little straighter and watches you again. He knows that everyone has their fair share of demon to fight even when they're asleep. It wouldn't be all that surprising to learn that you had your own battles beyond daytime.

You move again, lifting your arm to fight whatever your brain says is in front of you and a gasp comes through.

Sky shoots up again begins to make his way over to you. He's careful not to wake the others but if he kicks Wind's on the way over, he won't mention it... It's not like that woke him up anyway.

When he finally reaches your side, you're shaking and moving side to side without knowledge of what is happening outside your own mind.

Sky nearly growls and kneels next to you.

"I wish I can fight those things for you..." He says out loud as he begins to gently shake your shoulder. "How dare they still plague you. They're not even here. Who gave them the right?"

You give out a small scream, something in your mind terrorizing you and it prompts Sky to shake you by both your shoulders until you wake up.

Your eyes shoot open with a gasp. You're covered in a cold sweat and breathing heavily. It takes you a while to realize where you are and who's in front of you but in the meantime you try fighting Sky off, still not fully aware that you're awake.

"Hey, hey, it's me." Sky takes a step back in hopes of calming you, even if it's the last thing he wants to actually do. "You're safe now. It's ok."

You finally stop and look at him, staring for a moment until he can see the moment when you see him. "...Oh..."

"You ok?" Sky takes the step forward. "That seemed rough."

"I... Um..."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." He takes another step forward and places his hands on your shoulders. You're still shacking but instead of answering him you launch yourself into his arms.

Sky doesn't hesitate to hold you and lets you cry into his shoulder for as long as you need. He makes a vow to himself right then and there.

He's going to do his best to protect you... and the others. So that even if things get hard, maybe you'll have less nightmares to deal with.

If you'll let him, that is.

For now, he's going to hold you and be there for you when you need him.

It's... really all he can do.

#linked universe #linked universe x reader #linkeduniverse #IT'S DONE!! #I'm not so proud of Sky's and Wild's but feedback is always welcome #Hopefully the mess of posting it unfinished is the first and last time I do that #Will it happen again? #most likely but ehh...

[unhealthyfanobsession]

Do you think you’ll continue with the lawyer Nessian fic. It was so amazingly written I’d love to read more! I love all your writing anyways I’ll be happy with anything❤️

Ok not *technically* a Drabble request BUT I’m not ready to commit to a full lawyer AU that happens in order however I did just drum up a part 2 that we’ll say is several years before the previous lawyer AU. Nessian teasing in a bar and Rhys being a dumbass.

FYI the lawyer Drabble I’m talking about can be found HERE.

“I’m in love,” Rhys slurred. Cassian, a decent bit bigger than his brother and two drinks behind him, had a gentle buzz so he could only surmise that his brother was well passed sober.

“Congratulations,” Cassian grinned, clapping his hand on Rhys’ shoulder. “May I lay eyes upon the future Mrs. Dumbass.”

Rhys stared at him flatly. Blew a laugh out of his nose. “She’s not marrying you, brother.”

Cassian snorted, casting his eyes around the elegantly decorated little lounge they’d stepped into for the night. Lounge, not bar. Because they were mature adults now looking to take the edge off after a long day of work, not college students looking to get fucked up.

It was different.

It was different because the cocktails cost $20 and were served in actual stemware instead of red solo cups. They were evolving. Growing. Cassian was a lawyer now and Rhys was supposed to be doing actual work for his dad’s company so… no more dive bars.

Now they frequented little lounges where accountants and lawyers and bankers sat in tailored suits and discussed… adult things.

It was all very civilized.

And yet here was his brother. Every bit the horny college student they were trying not to be. Oh well, old dogs and all that.

“End of the bar.” Rhys jerked his head to the left and Cassian grinned.

“Might be a little old for you, champ.”

Rhys wrinkled his brow and turned to look at the grandmother doing a crossword puzzle on the far left side of the bar. A martini glass in front of her. Good for grandma.

“Other end of the bar!”

Cassian smirked. He didn’t need to turn his head, since he’s noticed her the second she walked in, but he still did. Just so he could look some more.

“Ah, you mean the deliciously dishevelled leggy brunette with her suit jacket on the chair beside her who just ripped the pins out of her hair like they personally offended her and then laid them in a neat little pile beside her Kobo?

“Mmm,” Rhys grinned, “I’d like her to rip those fingers through my hair.”

Cassian rolled his eyes. “Go for it, brother.”

Rhys grinned wider. “I think I will.” He straightened up, ran a hair through his artfully mussed hair, and pulled on the lapels of his Gucci suit jacket until they were even again.

Cassian snickered into his Old Fashioned. Rhys could straighten his jacket all he wanted. He could pretend he wasn’t drunk all he wanted. It wouldn’t matter one bit.

Not with Nesta Archeron.

Nesta Archeron who hated men that stunk of trust funds and privilege more than anything else in this world.

This would be fun to watch.

Watch her try to ignore him at first. Eyes glued to the page of her book, hand reaching up to wave through the air like Rhys was an annoying fly she could swat away.

Rhys, to his credit, was a clever little bastard. He asked the bartender for a refill of her drink and set it down in front of her then sat himself one stool down from her.

He didn’t move her jacket to sit next to her, which would have had her going feral. He just sat there, waiting.

After a few moments Nesta let out an exacerbated sigh that Cassian could hear from across the room. There was his girl.

Well, not his girl. Not even a little bit his girl, but… someday.

Cassian decided that he was going to Marry Nesta Archeron the first time she kicked his ass up and down a negotiation meeting. It was a couple years ago now. He’d been young and new at his firm. She was young and new too, but the words learning curve were not in Nesta’s vocabulary. Everything she did, she did with perfection.

Including getting rid of men she didn’t want hitting on her.

She said something to his brother that made Rhys’ half drunk, cocky, smile fall halfway down his face.

Cassian would’ve given his left eye to know what she said in that moment. She had a knack for jumping at the jugular and Rhys… oh Rhys. So obvious.

After a few moments and the continual fall of Rhys’ face, Cassian decided it was time to intervene. He knocked his drink back and straightened out his own suit jacket. Armani, still overpriced and designer but not so obvious or try hard as Mr. Up On The Trends with his Gucci. Nesta appreciated classics.

Simple. Clean lines, solid colours, classic. Which was why it was so fun just how attracted she was to his half wild self.

Unlike Rhys, Cassian plucked Nesta’s light grey suit jacket up off the stool beside her and reached over her head to hang it on a coat hook at the end of the bar. Settling himself into the chair beside her like it was exactly where he belonged. Which it was.

She turned around with an indignant shriek and a fire-breathing snarl that narrowed into just a hard glare when she realized it was him. Touching.

“This guy giving you trouble, Nes?”

Rhys choked on his whiskey and Cassian fought his hardest to keep a straight face.

“I so don’t need your saviour complex right now, Cassian.” Nesta scoffed.

“No,” Rhys rolled his eyes. “She was doing perfectly well scaring off everyone in a 10 mile radius all on her own.”

Nesta smiled sweetly, “I was just playing your game.”

Rhys sputtered again. Looked up at his brother. “This devil woman that you apparently already know,” he glared, “is all yours. I’m going home.”

“Be sure to drink plenty of water!” Nesta sing songed after him. Rhys flipped them both off on his way out.

“What’d you say to him?”

Nesta smiled. A pretty, feline little thing. “He said he wanted to chat. Suggested 20 question, which is the lamest, oldest, crustiest line in the book. So I went first. Asked just how small his dick was that he felt the need to overcompensate with the swagger and the gratuitous displays of wealth. He thought he was quite clever to use his question to ask if I wanted to check for myself how not small his dick was and then I asked if his daddy never loved him and that’s where all of that machismo masking painfully obvious and deep seeded feelings of inadequacy and insecurity came from. I was going to offer him my friend’s number before you showed up. She’s an excellent therapist.”

Cassian laughed. Hard. For a very long time. He loved Rhys, but sometimes the kid could use a nice set down. It was always sweeter when delivered by a beautiful woman. Not to mention, Cassian himself had gotten the same ice cold rejection the first time he met Nesta. When he asked if she wanted to get a coffee and she looked at him like something she’d scraped off the bottom of her shoe. That Rhys was chased off so easily just proved he couldn’t take the heat.

“You know the walking trust fund, I presume?” Nesta boredly sipped the drink Rhys had bought her. And even that was somehow amusing.

“Only for the last couple decades or so,” Cassian grinned. “He’s like a brother to me.”

“Explains a lot.”

“Your insults are more impactful when you clarify which person is being insulted.”

“I was going for the two birds one stone method.”

“In that case, consider me wounded, sweetheart.”

Nesta scoffed, “Unfortunately not mortally.”

“Oh Nesta, if I weren’t here you’d die of boredom and you know it. No one else can run you up and down the courtroom like I can.” Now. Cassian grinned as he watched the word flash across her eyes. He’d never live that first blunder down.

Nesta rose an eyebrow. “Bold of you to assume you present any challenge whatsoever.”

Cassian signalled for another drink and leaned forward. “Alright, I’ll bite. Who in this entire city can give you more of a run for your money?”

“Vanserra.” Nesta looked him dead in the eye. And managed to keep a straight face. As if that wasn’t the funniest fucking thing he’d heard all day.

“Oh yes, Nepotism and Nepotism LLP certainly has us all shaking in our boots,” Cassian blew out a breath. “What are you working on now?”

“I’m working on upholding attorney-client privilege.”

“So, the Suncurser merger.”

Nesta looked up. “How did you-”

“Helion and I are old friends. I checked the zoning on the lots he was buying before the merger went ahead to make sure the expansion was even feasible. But, as you know, M&A isn’t my thing. So I may have… given him a referral.”

“Are there any rich playboys in this city that you aren’t friends with?” Nesta finished off her drink and pointedly didn’t signal for another. “And if you think I’m going to be grateful to you for sending this my way you’ve got another thing-“

“Helion is my friend.” Cassian repeated, cutting her off. “He believes in this merger and he wants it done right. You’re the best, Nesta. Why wouldn’t I send him to you?”

“It’s not just to get in my pants?” She narrowed her eyes.

Cassian laughed again. “Oh no, sweetheart. When you invite me into your bed it will have nothing to do with work. It’ll be because you’re tired of denying how much you want me.” Cassian leaned in closer, one hand resting on the back of her chair. “Tired of denying the thrill that shoots through your whole body when we lay into each other. In the court room or out.” His nose brushed against hers, just a little, and Cassian felt Nesta tense up. He smirked, mouth just inches away from hers. “Tired of denying how right this is.”

Nesta’s voice was rough, husky. “So your plan is to wear me down?”

Cassian smirked. “My plan,” his hand came up to stroke the silk covered expanse of her upper arm, “is to marry you, Nesta Archeron. But sure, we can start with wearing you down.”

***Feyre and Nesta look physically similar so you can’t tell me drunk Rhys wouldn’t hit on Nesta in a bar before realizing he’d made a terrible mistake and running away thank you***

Also tags yourself, I’m the grandma doing the crossword puzzle with a martini. She’s an icon and she is the moment.

#nessian #nessian fanfiction #drabbles open #nesta archeron #acosf #cassian #nesta and cassian #a court of thorns and roses #sarah j maas #a court of silver flames #a court of mist and fury #acotar

[90stvshowgoth]

—BREAKING & ENTERING

—ch.1 —ch.2

summary: after dabi was seen leaving your apartment complex last week, the commission has sent a lesser known hero to help guard the building until new cameras are installed. however, no security measures in the world could keep dabi out.

w/c: 5064

tags: dubcon, cuckolding, creampie, voyeurism, humiliation, exhibitionism, arson

a/n: this is the final chapter to this little duology, and the reason why its so much shorter is because the first one was really supposed to stand on its own, but i got so many requests for a sequel i couldn’t help it. so i just took the kinks i didn’t get to use last time and pay off some setup and voila. however, just ‘cause this is the last chapter of this story doesn’t mean i’m not gonna write a fuck ton of other stuff for him. ily burn man. plus i’m working on a huge, multi-chapter fic for him while i post smaller one-shots >:) that being said, enjoy.

The impact Dabi left on your life was far bigger than you thought it would’ve been on the night you snuck him away from the law. As he was running from the cops someone saw him climb through your window, and a different person also saw him climb down the fire escape. With witnesses like that, the other tenants were downright furious.

You almost felt bad for the landlord, it wasn’t his fault you were insane enough to willingly let a villain come inside both you and your apartment.

Your landlord and the police department came up with a solution. The apartment complex would be installing new state-of-the-art locks on all fire-escape adjacent windows free of charge. This wasn’t exactly an issue with seeing Dabi again, since all you had to do was purposefully leave yours unlocked.

It would take two weeks to install all the cameras, but until then, a community-assigned hero would be stationed to guard the complex.

His name was Kao, a middle-ranked hero with bright orange hair and a winning smile framed with dimples. At first you thought he might’ve been one of the better heroes, waving you off to work and walking you there the other day, but recently he’d begun to creep you out. The friendly conversations about a tv show you both enjoyed began to turn into invasive questions about your love life.

A week of lingering glances and uncomfortable prying culminated that Friday as he had flat out asked you to dinner moments prior.

“C’mon, I just— I said that wrong, lemme try again,” He stuttered, keeping pace with you as you marched towards the building.

“No, Kao, look, you’re cool and all, but I’m really not looking to date anyone right now.” You huffed, striding into the doorway and towards the elevator. That might not’ve been the whole truth but you obviously couldn’t tell him that you had the hots for a terrorist.

He groaned, rubbing the back of his neck, “Well you just got off work, right? I remember which room you stay in, maybe I can swing by tonight?”

You whirled on him, your jaw slack in shock at the insensitivity of his words. The reminder that he knew where you lived sending a shiver down your spine, “Kao, this conversation is done. I don’t want you following me around anymore, hero,”

Deep down, your words sounded familiar. If they were raspier and said behind a thin veil of indifference, you might’ve realized that you were talking like Dabi.

“What is that supposed to mean? We’re the good guys!” You slammed your fist down on the close-door button, your mouth a thin line, daring Kao to make a move and stop the doors. He didn’t, and soon the reassuring pull of the elevator set your shaking body at ease.

‘Who does he think he is?’ You were bitter, rightfully so, you think.

You were so frustrated that you had difficulty inserting your keys into the lock, twisting it with a growl and throwing open the door, ready to collapse onto your pillow and vent to whoever was online about your heroic stalker.

When you noticed the scent of cigarettes in the air.

“Hey, doll,” Warmth surged through your chest at the sight of him, the villain’s feet kicked up onto the coffee table.

You were hanging your coat on the hook before moving beside him to the couch, “What took you so long?”

“Not happy to see me? You seem a lot bitchier than I remember,” The crude edge of his humor was a breath of fresh air compared to the stifling niceties of work, and you smiled for what felt like the first time that day.

Shaking your head, you toed out of your boots and made your way to the frayed couch, “I’ll tell you all about him,”

That got his attention, “Him?”

“A hero,” Dabi’s frown worsened, an accusatory look in his eyes, “before you ask, no, you idiot, I hate this guy, there’s not a chance I’d sleep with him.”

The tensity in his shoulders relaxed, bring the half-finished Newport to his lips as you continued, “Since you broke in last week all my neighbors lost their shit. They threatened to sue if my landlord didn’t assign a hero to watch the building for a bit. I thought he was cool, but I’ve just decided that he’s a total prick.”

He hummed, nodding understandingly, “Want me to kill him?”

You gaped, hitting him on the chest, “Wha—No, Dabi, what the hell?”

He just shrugged, the intensity of his words almost funny to you, and as you recounted the last twenty minutes the ashes of Dabi’s cigarette fell to the floor. The dying lights of the sun streamed through your window, the smoke oddly beautiful in the glow as he handed you the last hit of his cheap cigar.

“You know why heroes are like that?” You shook your head, enjoying the numbing calm of tobacco, “It’s cause they’re spoiled. They go their entire lives being praised for everything they do so they don’t know how to take no for a fuckin’ answer,”

Apparently your smoking buddy was feeling talkative, much to your delight. His words made you pause, remembering the relieved faces of your neighbors whenever they’d see the gaudy costume Kao wore as he strode by.

“Shit... guess you’re right,” You mumbled into his side, not minding the ever-present aroma of burnt skin and smoke that clung to Dabi’s coat.

He scoffed, “I’m always right, baby,” His words earning him a pinch on the arm.

“No, you ass, just about the hero stuff,” He grinned, the staples on his dimples taut against his skin as he pulled you closer, his breath hot against your ear.

“Careful, doll, you’re starting to sound like a villain,” The drop in your stomach sent heat down your skin, yet somehow you were still shivering under his predatory gaze.

You shook your head, trying to will away the red that dusted your cheeks, “No way, my quirk isn’t strong enough to be a villain,”

He raised his eyebrow expectantly, broadly gesturing for you to go on.

“Well...” God, why is this embarrassing? “I can give people headaches.”

You didn’t know if he would laugh at you or belittle you for your meaningless quirk, but he did neither.

“Think you could practice it more? Get better at it?” He was serious, staring at you and expecting an answer.

You looked away, unable to hold his gaze, “I mean, maybe? It’s not hard to do, I guess,”

Dabi smirked, pulling you onto his lap. It felt as if the week hadn’t happened at all and you were right back where you started, your face flushing at the memories of that night. He dragged you close, eyes dark as he whispered something into your ear...

“Think you could split someone’s head open with a migraine?”

Your gut wrenched, flinching at the gory idea and making you sit up in Dabi’s lap. The atmosphere in the room hadn’t changed, his stare as menacing as before.

That is, until he started to crack up. Louder than you’d ever heard before, his fit filled the apartment until he had to cup his stomach from laughing too hard; the wheeze in his rough throat echoing around the room as your blush spread all the way down your neck.

“Oh, you asshole!” If anything, your shove against his chest only made him more giddy. The panic-fueled adrenaline was still surging through your body, unwillingly making the wetness between your thighs spread, even as you tried to wrap your head around the fact that Dabi had been fucking with you.

Your legs shook as he held on to you for balance, his cackling dying down but the shit-eating grin never leaving his face, “You were so freaked out, huh?”

“Yeah, no shit!”

He hummed, running a hand through your hair and suddenly yanking you forward, basking in the sharp yelp it brought from you, “You’re cute when you’re scared,”

You’d missed the way his scabbed lips felt on yours more than you’d ever admit. There was something about him that left you breathless, eager and questioning your life choices. Groaning into his mouth before pulling back and laving your slick tongue along his disfigured lower lip, you rolled your aching heat against him to force a truly pornographic moan from his mouth.

“Oh, fuck—” One of his hands slid down your back, grabbing your ass through your jeans, “Fucking hell, you missed me that much?”

You nodded dumbly into his shoulder, pressing chaste kisses along the ragged skin as he slid his finger past the band of your jeans, cupping your dripping sex with wide eyes.

“Goddamn, s’no way you’re this wet for me already,” His eyes were scrutinizing, trying to figure out why you were hiding into his neck, “What’s got you so worked up, doll?”

You couldn’t come up with a good excuse in time, Dabi thinking back to how your thighs had tightened up when he asked if you could kill someone, your eyes were frightened back then, yes, but there was something else. Something you wouldn’t tell him.

When the realization hit him, it hit hard.

“Holy shit, you get off on being scared?” He couldn’t believe his luck, the embarrassed groan you buried into his shoulder confirming his suspicions.

Dabi ran a hand through his hair, a childish wonder over his features, “Aren’t I fuckin’ lucky?” He sneered, pulling you back til you were at eye-level again.

“I’m gonna try something, baby,” there was an edge to his voice as he settled one hand on the small of your back, pressing your tits against his chest as he held your bra strap back with the other.

“What are you… Dabi, what are you doing?” The scent of fire and burning fabric filled the air, the ends of your bralette smoking between his fingertips, embers turning to ash and sprinkling down the couch until it was flimsy enough for Dabi to rip free, teeth sinking into your neck as he held you still to keep your skin safe.

It was jarring and a bit terrifying to be restrained against someone like Dabi without knowing his intentions. But nothing in you could deny the blinding rush of pleasure it ripped down your spine.

“It’s all starting to make sense, doll-face, I guess I was right the first time,” His hands tossed the smoking bra into hallway, reaching between you and torturously pinching and pulling on the rosy blush of your tits, “you do have a thing for villains,”

“Can’t wait to fuck that tight pussy again, doll,” Without warning he shoved your torso forward, your body bouncing against the couch, his hands flying to the button of your jeans.

“—Didn’t have time to take you right last time, didn’t get to taste you,” his words made you whimper in his grasp, keeping your legs somewhat raised as tugged down the tight denim.

You fully expected him to take you rough like before, make you choke on his cock before having his fill, but as he tugged off your black panties he crawled down the trembling body beneath him, slowly moving over your ribs, your stomach, and finally your drooling cunt.

He never broke eye contact with you as he pulled your thighs closer, keeping them spread wide as the hot fan of his breath on your pussy sent a thrill through your neglected nerves.

“I want you to scream my name,” It was an order, not a request. The unhinged tremor in his hands was unsettling, an unspoken threat hanging in the air.

Dabi’s tongue immediately found your clit, mouth wrapping around the glistening bead and sucking all at once, the moan it drew from your lips unholy. He moaned at the taste, hiking up your hips onto his shoulders.

“Christ, you’re sweet, doll, like fuckin’ candy...” He muttered in disbelief, more to himself that to you, licking a wide stripe along your drenched lips, diving into you deep enough to have your limbs spasming around him.

On instinct your hand flew to your mouth to muffle the sharp cry that the villain drew. He didn’t warn you before bringing his hand up high and slapping it into the bare skin of your thigh, a scream echoing through the living room. Distantly, you wondered if your neighbors could hear...

“Don’t you dare hide a single sound from me, slut, or this ends now,” his ultimatum was scary but the insult felt heavy in a way you’d never felt before, and you nodded without a second thought, breathlessly bunching one hand into the arm of the couch above you and the other into the ashy black of his hair.

You nodded down to him, silently saying to continue; the villain fixed on watching as your chest swelled in time with your breathing, a rush of blood going to the heat of his cock.

His pace was hungry, nipping at your thighs whenever he thought you were too comfortable, spinning circles into your clit with his tongue and chuckling at the noises it brought, “You gonna cum, princess?” You could only respond with a scream of his name, the plea music to his ears, but he needed you to be louder if he was to get what he wanted.

“Louder,” Dabi called your name like a prayer, moaning into your cunt as you practically suffocated him between your thighs, “Fuck—Louder, baby, scream it,”

“Dabi!!” Your orgasm was hot against his tongue and he drank in every last drop of your climax until you were wrenching away his greedy mouth, your pussy swollen and red from his care.

Just as you started to compose yourself, a frantic banging sounded on the door. Someone from the hallway was slamming down their fist, screaming your name.

“Hey! Did you just say Dabi?! Are you okay in there?” It was Kao.

Horror clawed away any kind of afterglow as you cupped your hand to your mouth, leaning up on your elbow and whispering, “What do I say?”

Dabi’s voice was just low enough to hide behind the pounding of Kao’s fists, “Do you trust me?”

Before you could answer the hero behind the wall called your name again.

“If you don’t answer me in five seconds I’m breaking this door down!”

Your gaze flickered from the front door to the villain that was wiping your slick from his chin.

“Yes,”

Dabi grinned, grabbing your wrists and holding you against his shirt, one hand wrapped painfully around your tits and the other erupting with blue fire in his palm.

“Come and get her, hero!” You made a confused squeal, thrashing around in his grasp, eyes wide and afraid as Dabi shushed into your ear, trying to calm you down.

‘Like hell if you’d calm down, he’d practically just signed your death sentence!’ you heaved against the fugitive, trying to shake yourself free to no avail.

All you could do was squeeze your eyes shut and imagine you were somewhere else as door was jolted in its hinges, the doorknob falling with a distant clang, and before you could beg Dabi to stop whatever stupid game he was playing, Kao ran into the room, eyes furrowed and fists raised as the door squeaked on the loose hinges behind him, blissfully unaware.

“Where are y—“ Kao’s voice paused mid-sentence, you flinched in Dabi’s hold, the heat of the redhead’s stare washing over you, naked and wet, making you tilt your head down, trying to hide yourself from the world.

“Isn’t she cute, hero?” Dabi rasped against you, the heat of his fire illuminated against the sweaty sheen of your trembling body. Kao didn’t know what to do, flustered and struggling to hide the tent in his latex costume.

You knew fighting back against the villain was pointless, falling limp in the strength of his arms as he chuckled into your neck, looking over at the bump in his pants, “You were right, babe, I think he likes you,”

“Get your filthy hands off of her!” Kao screamed, diving towards the couch with his fist raised back.

Dabi simply grinned, carefully hovering his flame ever closer to your now bare tits, you couldn’t help but scream at the proximity, and whatever plan Kao had in his mind died before his fist could make impact.

His novocaine laced voice spoke calmly beside your ear, “Any closer and she’s dead,” The hot rush down your legs wasn’t due to his flames, as one hand took to rubbing your sensitive sex, the sounds it elicited from you unintentional and mortifying under the presence of Kao in the room.

“What... what do you want, you bastard?” Dabi laughed at that one, tweaking your clit between his fingers and conducting the most beautiful notes from your pillowy lips.

“I think It’s pretty obvious what I want, don’t you think?” Your name on his lips sent you keening against him despite the inferno roaring inches away from your skin. He couldn’t move without Dabi’s flames hovering ever closer to your heaving chest, and to Kao, you were very clearly about to die. Although you didn’t believe Dabi would hurt you, he had asked you to trust him before he got Kao’s attention, after all, the line between foreplay and conflagration was becoming blurry.

Kao backed up into the half wall that separated the living room from the kitchen, barely making an effort to try and hide his erection anymore, “I’ll send you to fucking Tartarus for this, Dabi.”

“Oooo, scary,” His unlit hand trailed down your jawline, tilting you to his side until he could slide his tongue into your open lips, humming into your mouth, “What do you think, doll?

“Dabi, please... wait,“ The strength in your voice wasn’t as heated as before, and even you had to admit it sounded half-assed.

Kao’s quirk must be no good for long range because all he could do was stand there, trying to avert his eyes from your drooling cunt in favor of glaring daggers at the coy villain pulling soft mewls from your lips, “I swear... I’ll see you rot in prison for this. You’ll be fucking executed, you rapist—“

“—woah, woah, that stings, hero. Doll, is that really what I’m doin’?” You groaned, not exactly answering because you couldn’t hear the question, your eyes still shut tight in embarrassment.

The growl in his voice sent another soaking rush towards your pussy, as his hand grabbed you jaw, pulling you up, “Look at me,” Your eyes widened at the sight of Dabi so close to you, his chest warm against your back, the aches of your last orgasm fading into something new.

“Tell me to stop, princess, your call,” Time stood still as Dabi kissed a soft pathway along your neck, weirdly gentle as he listened for your response, his clothed hard-on pressed firmly against your ass.

Too flustered to speak, you merely wrenched your arm free from his grasp, carding you hand through his hair and pulling him to your desperate lips. You could feel him tug into a smirk against you as your hips eagerly ground themselves on him despite the audience.

Kao choked on his own spit, stepping backwards, but stopped when Dabi aimed his ignited hand towards the hero who was having difficulty piecing together your actions in his head. “What,” His voice cracked when he called out your name, “are you...?”

Dabi pulled away, a feral glint in the blue hidden beneath his hair as he licked a disgustingly wet stripe along your cheek, chest rumbling behind you as you squirmed at the gross feeling, “I’m still gonna need you to beg, sweetheart.”

Your dignity was hanging by a thread, hinging on whether or not you followed his lead, but the insane buzz your anxiety had stirred up under Kao’s confused stare and Dabi’s aching cock was impossible to ignore. He rut himself into the dripping curve of your ass, his jeans soaked with your slick as you found the courage to speak.

“Fuh...” Carefully, Dabi pressed a loving kiss to your temple, his stare fixated on Kao’s as you strung the syllables together, “Fuck me, Dabi,”

The hero couldn’t believe his ears. She’d turned him down countless times despite his pursuits, yet she was somehow fine with this? Kao briefly thought that perhaps his crush was a villain this whole time, but that couldn’t make sense with her weak quirk.

You felt Dabi twitch beneath you, the shameless way you showed yourself off was as humiliating as it was hot, and he laughed in lightheaded disbelief against the back of your neck, taking your ass in one hand and slipping the other down his pants, tugging off the painful metal zipper until his boxers were pulled down just enough for his cock to finally be met with the soft warmth of your cunt.

“As the lady commands,” Dabi grinned, reaching around your waist to take his pierced dick in his hand, rubbing and tapping his swollen head deliberately against your clit, pre-cum drenching your pussy as you felt boneless in his arms.

“Ah-! St..S-top tea-sing, Dabi!” You babbled, squirming to try and find an escape from his grasp or maybe trying to force him inside you, but all your struggling did was make him harder. But before you could beg, you froze at the sight of Kao a few feet away, his legs bending into a sprinter’s pose. He was going to run?

Dabi was having none of it, a controlled jet of flame grazing Kao’s knee, scalding the skin beneath the latex. The hero cried out into the bite of his fist, collapsing into the wall a few feet away.

“Nah, hero. You’re not leaving just yet,” The villain rearranged you on his lap, “See, the thought of you jerking off to my girl? It kinda pisses me off, actually,”

The color in Kao’s face drained as he had no choice but to sit and watch as Dabi slowly sunk you down on top of him, one hand drawing soft circles into your stomach as you reveled in the feeling of his piercings hot against every part of you.

“Though, I’m wondering, what did you think about, huh?” Kao sputtered, unable to form words just like you, formless noises falling from your lips.

His scarred hands grasped at the flesh of your thighs, raising you up only to shove you back onto his cock, the flames that still extended to threaten Kao suddenly flared up in time with his thrusts, the weight of him felt so much deeper at this angle and it was hard to breathe, let alone speak.

“I... nothing! I didn’t—“ Another whip of fire cut through the room from Dabi’s fingertips, a cast of blue leaving bubbling skin in its wake, pain flashing across Kao’s face.

“Fuckin’ liar,” You yelped as Dabi shoved you down, moaning into your ear as you squeezed against him, sobbing his name into his chest as he picked up a steady pace in your guts.

Kao cried out, stuttering and gripping along the inflamed line of skin, “I-I thought— thought about her... fuck— I just wanted her to suck me off, alright? There, I said it! Are you happy now?”

He must’ve realized the mistake in his words as soon as he said them, squeezing your eyes shut but having no choice but to smell the stench of burning flesh and hear the sound of muffled screaming as it filled your apartment, “Can’t blame you though, her mouth is God,”

Your hands scrambled for balance against Dabi as the screaming of his victim made him downright feral, filling your tight heat so well it had you crying.

“Damn, you’re soaked for me, doll, I just knew you were a kinky fuck deep down. You’re a slutty little girl for me, aren’t ya?”

As much as it hurt to admit it, he was right. He was painfully right, and you told him so. The unhinged, unstoppable force that was Dabi ignited a passion in you that’d never been fed before. He was torturing the hero you hated all while taking your cunt in deep, harsh thrusts, the metal imbedded into his cock and his chest behind you were blisteringly hot against your skin.

“Tell him, baby,” His question fell on deaf ears, your tongue lolling from your mouth a bit at the pleasure.

It caught you off guard when he drew his hand back and slapped you across the cheek, a blistering red handprint in its wake, saying your name so softly, turning off his quirk to run his hands through your hair, he whispered, “Tell that fucking hero who you belong to,”

The world tipped over as Dabi gripped your shoulders, pushing you onto the wooden coffee table so your ass stuck in the air. In an instant he was on you again, pounding into your cunt with a glazed fervor, your words downright biblical in his ears.

“On-ly... Dabi ca—Ngh, Only Dabi can fuck me this good,” You forced the words from your throat, thankful for the table serving as an impartial shoulder to cry on as Dabi lined himself up with your cunt.

“More, princess,” The snap of his hips had you drooling onto the table, catching sight of Kao’s slumped body in the corner as Dabi’s breath sounded much louder than before.

“Fuck, baby—” You cried, craning your neck back to look at him. Sweat glistened at the crown of his dark hair, steam shading his breath as he took you hard, “Your cock is— shit its so deep in me,”

Your nerves were spent from exhaustion as he railed you, being more vocal than before as he choked at the feeling of your walls tightening around him, his fingernails digging future bruises into your hip dips, “Wanna feel you cum in me, want you to fill me up— Dabi, wanna make you feel good,”

“Fuck, doll, I can’t...” He ground his teeth together, making you squeal as he mounted you from behind, spreading your legs out wide so you had no way to hide yourself, “Gonna fuck’n cum-gonna cum in you- fuck, fuck, fuck—!“

You both hit your highs at the same time, Dabi accidentally digging your face into the wood as he held you as tightly to him as possible, his cum running hot due to his quirk as he pumped you full, that broken cry of yours like music to his ears, humping you a few times to ride out his climax.

You felt warm and safe, Dabi’s weight a comfortable blanket even with your shivering skin pressed naked into the coffee table. However, the quietly groaning hero in the corner made you quickly come back down to earth.

“Dabi... did you kill him?” Your voice was small beneath him, but he just shrugged.

“Nah, not yet, don’t worry,” He kissed your neck one more time, his thumb rubbing circles into your indented stomach, pulling you off the table and back into his arms.

He pulled out of you and grinned at the sight of his release spilling down your thighs, “Damn...” he whispered, taking in the sight with a satisfied whistle, “C’mon Doll, forget about him.”

You were grateful he carried you bridal style to your bedroom, your legs gelatin at this point, and as he laid you down to rest he grabbed one of your discarded shirts that hadn’t made it to the hamper and wiped down the remains of sex from your twitching cunt before leaving the cum-stained top ignored on the ground.

“You doing good, baby? Didn’t go too hard, did I?” His concern was diminished somewhat by the grin on his face, satisfied with the mumbling, love-drunk form he’d reduced you to.

Shaking your head, you burrowed into the warm blankets, peeking your eyes out from beyond the covers in a way that even Dabi couldn’t deny was pretty cute, “No, just... what are you gonna do with Kao?”

His face was unreadable as he leaned closer, “Do you really want to know?”

Truth be told, no, you didn’t, you were just a civilian, far removed from the complex fight between heroes and villains. You were only in this situation because you’d grown to care about Dabi. In some small, sarcastic way, he��d wormed his way into your life, and he hadn’t hurt you so far, only going as close as possible to bring you over the edge again and again.

“No...”

“Good answer,” he stood up, tucking himself back into his jeans as he went back into the living room. You heard a muffled thud and what sounded like Dabi cursing before he reappeared in your bedroom, Kao’s unconscious body slung over his shoulder. For such a wiry guy, Dabi was pretty strong. Moving to the open window he basically threw Kao’s body onto the outside metal grating, his lungs uneven after carrying him.

Just as he swung his leg onto the windowsill you shot up in your bed, hand outstretched, “Wait!”

He turned back to look at you, genuinely confused as to what you could want.

“Kiss me before you go?”

He froze, then grinned, scoffing at the innocent gesture you gave so openly to a murderer like him. There had to be something wrong with his little villain-in-training to make her okay with it, just like him. Dabi ignored that thought for another day, striding forward and finally giving you the goodbye kiss you’d been denied last time, his tongue trying to map out every detail in case he could ever forget before pulling away with a warm softness to his ocean eyes.

“I think I might be starting to like you, Doll,” A feint rush of color fell on his unmarred skin and you’re sure your heart stopped beating for a good three seconds.

His words were a worn record being played over and over in your head long after he crawled down your fire escape, the teasing, sated haze in his voice hidden beneath a rasp of smoke. You weren’t sure how much he meant what he said, but you’re sure that the first thing you said in return was exactly what he wanted to hear; at least judging from the boyish smile that lit up his face when you said it.

“Come back soon, okay?”

“Okay,”

@effmigentlywithachainsaw @touyasfatcock @thicchaikyuuboys @awritersometimes @chey-the-simp

#dabi x reader #dabi #dabi x reader smut #dubcon #murder #mha #my hero academia #dabi smut #touya x reader #touya todoroki

[loki-hargreeves]

Loki x Reader - Thanos controls You

Warnings: angst, mentions of torture, mind-control, fighting, choking, blood and gore, more angst (it's a lot ok)

Word Count: 5,8K

Summary: After failing to deliver the Tesseract, Loki has been living in fear that Thanos will one day find him again and seek revenge. You have been missing ever since Loki was imprisoned after what he did in New York. Little did Loki know that you were with Thanos all along. During the events of Infinity War, Thanos makes you battle Loki in order to obtain the Tesseract

Author’s Note: I know Thanos doesn’t have the mind stone at the beginning of Infinity War but it’s fiction and I’m gonna do what Marvel does best, ignore canon. Let’s blame the Other’s powers, okay? Please enjoy this angsty little thing! :)

YOUR POV

“There’s room for more!” Loki yelled over the cries of scared children and their crying families. There was no way he would send a half-empty escape pod on its way to Midgard. That’s when he saw a child all by herself a little further away. She was clinging onto the wall for dear life and the ship trembled due to the impact of getting shot at. Her parents were nowhere to be seen. Dead. Loki felt sick to his stomach when he knew they were most likely dead. Thanos’ children were slaying kids and their parents heartlessly and they had the audacity to say they were being rescued. That their deaths were part of something bigger than life itself.

They viewed Thanos as a god who was being merciful even when he ripped a beating heart out of someone's chest.

Loki’s heart clenched in his chest painfully. Before it would be too late, he made his way to the tiny child and picked her up carefully. She seemed to recognize the prince but she wasn’t afraid of him. Instead, she hugged Loki so she wouldn’t fall out of his grasp.

“Where’s mommy?” The girl sounded absolutely petrified.

Loki didn’t know what to say as he made his way to the pod. Once he reached it, he saw a woman by the entrance.

“You’ll be safe here,” Loki promised the child as he handed her over to the lady. That’s all he had time for as he returned to the corridor. A particularly loud blast made him stumble over his feet and he had to catch his balance by taking support from the metal wall. The lights flickered, which meant the electronics of the ship were injured. There was a strange smokey smell in the air, which lingered with the irony stench of blood.

Loki couldn’t believe this was happening. Had Thanos finally come for him? Or did Thanos somehow know of the tesseract? Either way, if Thanos succeeded, he would kill two birds with one stone. The thought of this being all his fault made Loki nauseous. Guilt was nibbling at his skin and he knew it would eat him alive in the end. He never wished for this to happen!

As he ran down the corridors frantically searching for Asgardians that needed help, he heard different kinds of cries. People were letting out guttural screams. Others were pleading for their lives. Listening to the massacre that was taking place was worse than any nightmare Loki ever recalled having. They were all drained after Ragnarok and now Thanos had found them. It was haunting how ruthless fate could be.

Footsteps began to approach Loki and they were awfully close. Too close for his liking. He was quick to grab his daggers and turn to face whoever dared try to sneak up on him. When he saw a familiar figure, he nearly dropped the blades from his hands. Seeing you there was like shock itself punched him in the face.

You were there, real and clear as day.

How long had it been since the last time he saw you?

Ever since Loki had found out about his true nature, his life had gone downhill. After he ended up with Thanos and went through pure hell with him, he had changed. During his time away from Asgard, he had only missed one person truly - you. You, who had been by his side through everything. You, who hadn’t loved him any less when you saw his deep blue skin and those crimson red eyes that in Loki’s mind resembled blood. You, who had seen him as the rightful king of Asgard when everyone else betrayed him. The light of his life, the angel that had cared for him even when he felt like a monster.

You, who hadn’t been on Asgard when Thor brought him back to face Odin in trial. Loki had spent a lot of time in his cell, alone. He waited for you to appear but you never did and no one ever told him why. They rather left him to drown in his own vicious thoughts. It wasn’t until Loki pretended to be Odin that he began to learn what had happened on Asgard during his exile.

The people at the palace loved to gossip. Some claimed you had stolen a ship and left Asgard behind for good, that living as Loki’s widow had been too hard for you. In Loki’s darkest hours, he wondered if you truly felt ashamed for being associated with him. So ashamed in fact, that you had left it all behind and started anew. Sometimes, he believed that, but it never stopped him from trying to find you. He had searched night and day but it seemed like you had vanished into thin air. It had killed him more every day living in the unknown. His only wish had been that you were okay.

Now there you were, looking like you had never left. In a moment of pure shock, Loki couldn’t even begin to comprehend how you appeared on the ship - seemingly out of nowhere. He was happy to see you, despite how appalling everything else was at that moment.

“Y/N,” Loki spoke your name softly and dared to blink. When you were still there as he opened his eyes, he felt goosebumps all over his skin.

You looked at him so innocently, but then he noticed that something was off. The look in your eyes was cold. You weren’t in your typical Asgardian gear. Instead, you were dressed in dark armour that Loki could’ve sworn he had seen before, but he didn’t know where. Nevertheless, it made him feel uneasy.

“It’s been a while, Loki,” You attempted a smile as you walked closer to him, your husband. It still counted since he had never truly died, right?

Loki didn’t stop you as you walked right up to him. His eyes never left yours. Part of him wanted to kiss you, to hold you and feel you were real, but the shrieks in the background reminded him of how dangerous everything was. The daggers disappeared from his hands and Loki held you by your shoulders. He needed to see that his hands wouldn't go right through you, that he hadn't lost it.

“You need to get off this ship, Y/N!” He told you seriously. There was profound fear in his voice.

Instead of being worried at all, you just smiled back at him.

That was so unlike you.

“Y/N, do you hear me?”

“Oh, I do,” You confirmed nonchalantly, “I’m not going anywhere. Not yet.”

A bloodcurdling cry startled Loki. They were coming closer and closer. The two of you wouldn’t be safe in that passageway for long. By now, his heart was racing with his thoughts. He felt panic settling into his bones.

Before Loki could say another word, you cupped his face rather gently. The fact that you didn’t seem disturbed by what was happening was eerie to Loki. He knew that you had a heart much bigger than anyone else he knew of. The version of you he remembered wouldn’t have been so calm. Something was terribly wrong.

“I need something,” You admitted and batted your eyelashes. Before, Loki would’ve found that quite adorable, but at that moment it was so wrong. He had been so ecstatic to see you and know you were alive, but now he almost wanted to run the other way.

“What?” Loki barely found his voice at that point. He felt sick and heartbroken. This had to be a nightmare, the worst kind.

“The Tesseract, Loki. I really need it,” You blurted it out.

Shivers ran down his spine. How did you know about it? Why did you even care? He was unsure if he could even trust you with the knowledge that he had it in his possession. Usually, he would’ve trusted you with his life without any hesitation, but you had been gone for years and returned like this, with bizarre motives.

You returned at the same time as Thanos and you were looking for the tesseract. Loki wasn’t a fool. He finally put two and two together and the realization was too arduous to believe. The idea of you and Thanos even meeting was something Loki could only see happening in his worst nightmares, but he was afraid it had already occurred. If so, he needed to hear it from you,

“Is Thanos making you do this?”

The tone of his voice seemed to offend you as you sent him a nasty glare. Your softness turned harsh and you pushed Loki against the metal wall with a loud thud. Before he could get out of the way, you grabbed your own dagger and pressed it against his neck so it was ever so slightly pressing against his exposed skin.

“He is not making me do anything. I am glad to serve the all-mighty Thanos. I won’t fail him, unlike you,” You snarled at Loki spitefully.

Never in a million years had Loki imagined this moment to happen. One where you would be fighting against each other. It was supposed to the two of you against the nine realms. Being held like that by the one person he loved more than anything was tearing his heart to shreds, but he tried not to show it.

Deep down, he knew it wasn’t truly you. He knew exactly what Thanos had done to you so you would act like this, and it only made it hurt so much more. It felt like someone was pouring salt into an open wound, and his entire body, heart and soul were wounded.

“Now give me the tesseract and we will be on our merry way,” You tried to obtain it again. This time you seemed more serious. Was it the tone of your voice or your weapon pressed against his pulse? Loki didn’t know.

“I don’t have it,” Loki lied as smoothly as he could because even thinking straight at that moment felt impossible. The world was caving in around him at supersonic speed.

You pressed the sharp edge of the blade closer to him, feeling how just a little bit more pressure would've broken his skin “You’re a great liar, my dear, but I know that’s not the truth.”

Loki didn’t want to fight you, but he didn’t see another way out. And it was good for him that you had learned most of the tricks from him. Your every move would be more easily predictable for Loki. He had to find a way to distract you.

“Why do you need it?” That was a foolish question. He knew damn well what Thanos would do if he got his dirty hands on the infinity stones.

“Why do you care?” You didn’t answer his silly question.

Suddenly, Loki grabbed your wrist tightly and yanked your arm to the side. He tried to be as gentle as he could, but Loki knew you wouldn’t go down without a fight.

At least your weapon fell out of your hand, but you knew how to defend yourself without it. So did Loki.

Loki tried to turn things around so he would have you pinned down against the wall, but you didn’t let him get that far. As he turned you around so your back was pressed firmly against his chest, you kicked your legs against the wall hard, pushing both of you back. Loki took the biggest impact as he fell on the floor, with you on top of him. Quickly, you rolled out of his grasp, turning around in one swift movement so that you were now sat on top of him, with your legs tightly against both his sides.

A powerful orb of magic grew above your fingertips and you brought it closer to Loki’s face - so close that he could feel the heat of your burning powers. The magic created an electric sensation on your skin. It felt like you pushed your fingers deep into warm sand. Toying with it was exhilarating, and seeing the astonished look on Loki’s face made it so much better. The green light of your powers cast light in his eyes, only deepening the look of disbelief that was painted all over him.

“It’s sweet that you’re trying not to hurt me,” You taunted him at that point, “but that doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you.”

“This isn’t you, Y/N,” Loki groaned. He was so sure of himself.

You tilted your head and smirked, looking at him like a cat would at a mouse. “I don’t know, Loki. It’s been a while,” You explained casually and leaned closer and closer to his face, stopping when your noses brushed against one another. By now, Loki was frozen on the spot. He was trying to come up with a plan and he felt hopeless.

“I’ve changed,” You whispered to him and felt tempted to kiss him, to taste him. Would you taste his fear? His heartbreak? You were sure it would taste sweet.

“The torture must’ve been painful,” Loki pushed his feelings aside. Yes, he felt like his heart had been ripped to shreds, but he had to do something. He had to surprise you, even if it would hurt. Words could hurt more than actions, and if Loki wanted to survive and to help you, he needed to reach the real you even if the only way to do so was cruel.

How did he know? You narrowed your eyes and surprisingly, found yourself waiting for him to continue.

"I was trained well."

"Trained?" Loki spat out harshly, "I know you're afraid. He has promised you something worse than the pain he has inflicted on you already. It won't happen. If you let Thanos continue his reign, he will not care about your loyalty!"

"Shut up!" That was too much for you. With tears brimming your eyes from anger, you put your hand over his mouth to silence him. He didn't budge and you didn't know why.

You pushed the memories aside. The painful memories of the time Thanos first found you. It was wrong to think of it as torture. No, he had shown you what you're truly capable of. It was training. Training to become a stronger person after the hell you endured on Asgard.

But now that you found yourself thinking about it, it seemed like the memories were all blurred as if you were looking into the past through a broken lens. Someone had spilt oil all over it and the pictures were warped.

"I know you have it," You needed the tesseract. "Give it to me and then this will all be over," you removed your hand from his mouth because it looked like he wanted to speak.

Loki knew that if he’d push you, your magic could burn him, but at the moment he couldn’t come up with another plan. He couldn’t just stay on the ground as people were being killed on the other side of the wall!

"Okay," Loki blurted out. Okay?

For a moment, he had you surprised which was the perfect distraction.

Loki grabbed your wrists tightly and pushed you to the side, but not quickly enough. You released your magic and it graced the side of his face, making him growl out either in pain or frustration - or both. The two of you rolled over and this time Loki was on top, holding your arms pinned above your head. You were trapped because of one mistake. You couldn't believe Loki had used the element of surprise to turn the situation upside down.

Furiously, you tried to kick your legs free, but he had you pinned down beneath him and Loki was strong. There was no point in squirming, you had to come up with another idea.

The two of you faced each other and Loki revealed his face and the damage you had done. Your magic had burned his skin and left a bloody cut on his eyebrow. It had just barely missed his eye. If he lived, it would surely leave a scar.

You flinched when a drop of his blood hit your cheek and it rolled down the side of your face.

"What are you going to do, kill me?"

Loki could never bring himself to kill you. He wouldn't be able to live with himself with your blood on his hands. No. He had other ideas. Loki remembered what it was like to be under Thanos' control. He remembered how much it hurt to even think about the torture. He had to remind you, he had to make you see that this wasn't the real you.

"This version of you, or I certainly hope so," Loki replied mysteriously. Before you could ask him to elaborate, Loki released your wrist and slammed the palm of his hand against your forehead. In a split second, you were in a different place - in your head. You could've sworn you heard him mutter "I'm sorry," before everything turned black.

It was hot, burning hot. Metal chains were attached to you and they were glowing red. Torching. You could only scream in pain as the metal sunk into your skin, your bones, your nerves. It felt like he had chained your mind and with the tiniest movement of his finger, he could make you do his dirty work.

He, Thanos, was sitting on his throne. He was the puppet master and you the puppet. He didn't look at you fondly. No. He was smiling as he watched you cry your lungs out, letting out animalistic growls as the pain got worse. It was so overwhelming that every once in a while, you would scream until you passed out. But every time, one of his children would be there to wake you up.

It was time for another round. And another. And yet another. Would it ever end?

Each time you tried to resist the chains, the strings that were sewn onto you and connected to his fingertips, it hurt more. Eventually, you learned that allowing the strings to tighten around you made it hurt less. It almost felt good, like a long embrace after a long day.

"I don't want to hurt you, my child."

Lies. You knew that all he said were nasty lies, but sometimes it was easier to believe lies than the truth.

"Make it stop!" You would beg him. How long had you been there?

You could remember Thanos touching your face gently, which was so comforting after everything you had endured. At the same time, it made you sick. You couldn't believe that the one who had caused you distress could have such a gentle touch.

"You're ready," Thanos had realized. The Other had appeared right before you and his fingertips were pressed against one another, making him look like he was deep in thought. You had no idea what they were doing, but the next thing you knew was that you no longer felt pain.

The chains, the strings, they were all invisible. It looked like you were free, but the weight of the metal was still pressed against your skin. Had you imagined it?

No,

Deep down you knew that the strings were still attached to you, but they had only made it seem like you had a choice.

"Excellent," The Other's voice surprised you. You merely blinked and you had returned to the vessel. Loki was above you and the Other was standing right there, "You found him."

The Other used his powers to push Loki off you. Shock had made your entire body numb and you couldn't scramble up to your feet. It felt like your limbs had been turned to stone and you were anchored to the floor.

Loki got up slowly with his arms raised in surrender. He was well aware of the powers the Other had and Loki wasn't going to fight him now. If he followed you for long enough, then maybe just maybe he could come up with a plan. Loki looked at you as you finally got up. As you stood next to the Other, you couldn't believe your legs carried you. Something was so wrong. You felt sick and you couldn't shake it off. It felt like something had snapped within you, but you didn't know what.

"He is waiting for you," The Other explained as he turned to walk away, most likely to wherever Thanos was waiting.

Loki had no choice but to follow, and you walked behind, making sure he didn't try to escape.

Why did Loki make you remember that? What did he think he would obtain with making you relive something so awful? It hadn't worked, right?

There he was. Thanos was standing by a hole that had been ripped into the side of the ship. Magic was keeping it sealed so the vacuum of space wouldn't suck everyone into it. But still, the emptiness of space wasn't frightening at all compared to the titan who was standing right there.

Loki swallowed thickly as he saw him again. It had been years but he remembered everything like it had happened yesterday. Seeing Thanos standing in the middle of the piles of bodies, in the room that smelled like smoke and blood, was sickening. Thanos hadn't just killed a part of Loki. He had just slaughtered these innocent Asgardians with the help of his so-called children. He had taken you.

He will make you long for something as sweet as pain

Loki closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. They had stayed true to their threats.

"I know what it’s like to lose," Thanos turned around now that he knew Loki was there. At long last. Thanos had not forgotten what Loki had failed to do, and Thanos was a man of his words.

"To feel so desperately that you’re right yet to fail, nonetheless," Thanos continued dramatically and slowly made his way closer to Loki. He saw Thor on the ground, bloodied and weak. The brother of Loki. As tempting as the idea was to torture Thor right in front of the god of mischief, Thanos had different plans. If there was only one way Loki would ever give him the tesseract, it was going to be in order to save you. You were Loki's true weakness.

"It’s frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. I ask you, to what end?" Thanos looked Loki right in the eye. He could see that Loki was afraid, yet Loki never looked away from him. He was either too proud or fearless. Thanos had liked that about Loki initially. But he had failed Thanos greatly. It had cost him infinity stones.

"Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now, it’s here. Or should I say I am," Thanos finished his dramatics because it was time for action, to turn the wheels and see the bigger picture. This was the end of an era and a new beginning for a different universe. In Thanos' mind, only he could bring balance and order. He gestured for you to walk up to his side.

Too afraid of the idea of what would happen if you disobeyed, you walked right up to Thanos, feeling like a fly that was willingly flying into cobwebs. When you were close enough, you kneeled and dipped your head so he wouldn't see the worry in your eyes. It wasn't there before.

"I didn't obtain the tesseract from him, but I am sure that he has it, father," You muttered quietly. Why did you say that? There was a pounding headache growing within your skull. You didn't know what was right or wrong anymore and you couldn't fight it either.

Father

Loki clenched his jaw as he followed the situation closely. Hearing that made his blood boil. He wanted to rip Thanos apart after this. Never in a million years had he imagined this, to see you pledge your alliance to Thanos, kneeling before him and respecting him. Thanos didn't deserve that. Hell, Thanos didn't even deserve to look at you. It was wrong.

At that moment, Loki worried that his trick hadn't worked. That the memories hadn't awakened anything within you. That it was all too late now. This was the end, the one thing in life that was inevitable.

"I know, my child," Thanos let out a sigh. Then he grabbed you by your jaw like he had done before, forcing you to face him. "I know he has it," He repeated and suddenly his touch turned violent. He closed his hand around your neck tightly and you gasped for air helplessly. Your hands - tiny compared to his - grabbed his fingers and you tried to pry them apart, but he was tougher than you. Panic shot through your entire body when you realized you couldn't breathe. It turned your blood to ice and your poor heart was beating so hard you were afraid it would explode.

What was he doing?

The moment he pulled you to your feet, so high that you had to stand on the tips of your toes, he spoke, "The tesseract or her life," Thanos smiled devilishly, showing no remorse. He didn't care about you. You were a pawn in his game and if you would die at his feet, he would just walk over you and carry on.

"You choose," Thanos put the weight of the world on Loki's shoulders.

Loki wanted to rescue you from that monster, but he wasn't stupid. With all of Thanos' children surrounding him, he knew that he would be dead before he could reach you. Nonetheless, it didn't mean he wouldn't try. Seeing you clawing at Thanos' hand, fighting for something as simple as air and not getting it was heartbreaking. Loki's body was trembling with hatred and hurt. Tears blurred his vision and he struggled to keep his composure.

How had it all come to this?

The thought of Thanos with the tesseract was haunting. Soon he would have all the stones and he would destroy reality as they knew it. But Loki could live with that. He couldn't live knowing you had died when he had a chance to save you. Perhaps he was selfish for choosing you over the entire galaxy, but Loki didn't care. Nothing mattered if he would lose you again.

"Alright, stop!" Loki made up his mind. "I choose her," Finally, Thanos released his grip on you and let you fall on the cold ground. Your hands wrapped around your throat gently and you coughed painfully. It took you a while to finally breathe again, which was a huge relief for both Loki and you.

And now Loki was holding the tesseract. It was so bright that it painted the space blue. It was almost too bright to look at. The power within the stone was so strong, you could sense it like heat from the sun in spring after a long and cold winter. Loki was tempted to use the tesseract to grab you and escape, but he quickly shut those thoughts away. Thanos would follow him for the end of all days.

"You...you really are the worst, brother," Thor was following the situation to the best of his abilities. He spat out blood as he watched Loki holding the cube. It made him sad. Everything they ever knew was destroyed in the name of power, pure and raw power that the tesseract could offer. Was it worth it?

Loki glanced at Thor who was too weak to even get up. He didn't care too much about what he had to say. Then he looked at you. There you were, on the ground struggling to breathe after Thanos had crushed your windpipe. There was bruising on your skin that would only deepen with time. Time that you possibly wouldn't have after this.

He saw the tears running down your face, but you didn't sob and whimper. It seemed like you were as still as stone. You couldn't bring yourself to face Loki.

"I assure you," Loki found his voice and he addressed both you and Thor with his words, "the sun will shine on us again."

What did he mean by that?

You were ashamed to tilt your gaze to see him, to see the tesseract. The damn infinity stone had ruined it all! It was why Thanos had wrecked Loki, why he had destroyed you too. Why so many people were now dead. If you had one wish that could come true, you would wish for the tesseract to be destroyed forever.

Thanos had his back turned to you. Loki was slowly but surely making his way closer to the titan, almost like he was afraid to move but he forced his body to comply. Why? Why would he trade the tesseract for your life? It seemed like whatever spell you had been under had worn off. You were free, but it was more terrifying than being under Thanos' control under these circumstances. He didn't need you, and soon enough the vessel would be blown to bits. All of you, even Loki.

Would you be able to tell him how sorry you were?

"Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian," Thanos wasn't fond of Loki's strange choice of words.

"Well for one thing I'm not Asgardian," Loki replied quickly. It sounded a little bit witty, which was confusing. Where did the boost of confidence come from? Was he up to something?

"And for another," He continued dramatically. This time it was Thanos' turn to be confused.

"We have a Hulk."

Everything that happened after that happened so fast that you could hardly keep up with it. Loki dropped the tesseract and he leapt toward you. Thanos barely had time to turn around when a huge, green beast appeared out of nowhere and it seemed angry. It was eager to fight the titan.

Loki had you up on your feet in no time and the two of you ran away from the immediate danger. He led you to one of the many corridors on the vessel until no one could possibly see you. They were too distracted by the Hulk to even think about Loki and you. It wasn't until he was right in front of you that you could comprehend what was going on. He was kneeling on the floor and you were sat against the wall for support. Your hands were trembling so hard, it seemed like you were freezing up and you couldn't make it stop.

Loki had tricked Thanos.

He was relieved when you didn't fight him, yet he was unsure if it meant you were no longer under Thanos' control, or if you were simply too tired to fight.

He cupped your face gently and searched for answers in your expression. Back in the day, he had been able to read you like an open book.

You put your hands around his wrists and pulled him closer. You were desperate for the comfort he could bring in the midst of the living hell you were stuck in. How did he not hate you?

"I'm s- I'm sorry," You whimpered, finally cracking like a plate that had fallen on the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Shh, it's okay," Loki couldn't possibly let you apologize for what had happened. He was possibly the one person who understood exactly what you had gone through and what it was like to follow orders from that monster. There was not an ounce of judgement to be found in his heart.

What mattered now was that you were together again. You could come up with a plan, but you had to work fast. As much as Loki wanted to hold you and comfort you, to feel that you were real, he knew there wasn't enough time for that.

"We need to get off this thing," Loki's mind was running a marathon as he tried to come up with an escape plan.

"They're gonna blow it up," You explained, feeling how bad your lips were quivering as you spoke. The moment Thanos had what he came for, they would leave and destroy everything they'd leave behind.

Shivers ran down Loki's spine as he heard that. It only confirmed that you had to act quickly. Loki wasn't sure how long the Hulk could fight Thanos. Would they be able to rescue Thor? How much time did they have?

The blood in the wound you had caused on his face was beginning to dry. It looked gnarly and all you wanted was to make it all better. Knowing that you had hurt him made you sick with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Loki. I didn't w-want to fight you," You sniffled, breaking Loki's train of thought. For the first time, he felt lost. He didn't really know what to do. Were there any escape pods left?

"I know," Loki assured you. "I know that. I was in your shoes when I was on Midgard," He explained briefly, unaware whether or not you knew of it. Had Thanos talked about him to you?

A sense of impending doom weighed you two down. If this was the end, then at least you were together, right? You and Loki against the nine realms, you would face the end together if there wasn't another way out. Whenever you had pictured your final day, you had imagined something entirely different than this. You would be old together, with hundreds of stories of your shared life. You would be surrounded by people you cared about. It would be calm, the exact opposite of this.

"I love you," You needed to tell him that. Any moment could be your last. The world would cave in and you would be gone forever.

Loki hated how much that sounded like a farewell, but at the same time, it had been so long since he had last heard those three words, let alone from you. Perhaps it was sick and twisted, but it made him smile.

"I love you too," Loki was sure of it. He had never stopped loving you and he didn't think he was even capable of that.

It seemed like you acted on instinct. You found enough strength to push yourself right against Loki. There was no hesitation in your actions as you kissed him. Loki closed his eyes when he felt your trembling lips pressed against his. Your scent, still sweet and familiar despite it all, punched its way into his lungs. He held your face gently but the kiss was passionate, almost despairing.

You wanted to scream out in agony because at last, you were reunited with Loki but not in the way you imagined. You felt like the shell of the person you were before, and now you knew for a fact that Thanos had done the exact same things to Loki. That titan had killed your souls beyond repair. But all you could do was kiss Loki and hold him and hope that he could feel how sorry you were. You didn't want to let go, afraid that if you did, it would all end. Just like that.

Loki broke the kiss, and for a moment you rested your foreheads against one another like you had done so many times before. It was comforting. You both wanted to stay close like that, but you recognised that you couldn't. Letting go of each other and getting up on your weary feet was so incredibly difficult, but it had to be done.

The world around you began to glow brighter. You quickly held onto Loki, startled as the mysterious light surrounded the two of you.

Loki held his breath as he studied the warm glimmering magic that had swallowed you. In between the bright rays of light, he saw all the colours of the rainbow. Shimmering. He saw reds and blues, yellows and greens, shining brighter than the other and it changed smoothly.

The Bifrost

He didn't know how or why, but he knew for a fact that you were in the magical portal. He couldn't see beyond it anymore. He couldn't feel the floor beneath his feet. It was like he was levitating mid-air, with you tightly in his arms.

Heimdall must've conjured the forefathers, letting their powers flow through him one last time. Where to? Loki assumed that anywhere would be better than where they had been mere seconds ago.

And it was a miracle.

A/N: I think it would've made more sense for Heimdall to send Thor or Loki to earth rather than the Hulk. So that's why I ended it like that

I'd absolutely love to hear your feedback! <3

TAGS:

Loki: @yuna-belikova @ornella0910 @castiels-majestic-wings @lucywrites02 @myraiswack @prettysbliss @weirdfangirl2416

Forever Taglist: @iraniq  @embrycallsgirl  @blackroseyaz @badass-psycho @r-alexandra01 @p3aches13 @your-pixels-are-showing @disasterren @iamsuperjenna @yuna-belikova @ornella0910 @optimisticpeacecollector5 @thehumanistsdiary @your-pixels-are-showing @klanceiscannon14 @i-have-arrived-bitch

#Loki #Loki fic #Loki fanfiction #Loki oneshot #Loki x You #Loki x Reader #Loki x Y/N #Loki Odinson #Loki Laufeyson #tw angst #Loki angst #Loki/You

[bookwyrminspiration]

is it still council-hating hours? even if not, this is something that's been bothering me for....so long. and i am going to explode if i don't say it right now. (In fact i actually have a doc titled "council incompetence rant" that is. getting a little long.)

One of the things that annoys me the most in Keeper is how utterly incompetent the Council is. They are shit at their jobs! They don't make sense! And that would be fine if that was something that was explored and talked about in the story, but it's not?

Like, sure, it's brushed on a little, but Keeper never goes in-depth in order to explain just how flawed and corrupt the system is! We have no idea how far the rot goes because we haven't been given a chance to see how far it goes, and despite the earlier books being really great setup for all kinds of plots and discussions surrounding the Council, it feels like Messenger is completely dropping that in favor of..."Neverseen Bad, Council + Black Swan Good". Which I call fucking bullshit on, by the way, because this series has gone to pretty decent lengths before to show that it's not the case! So WHY are we getting to that now?

Well, I think all of this is the symptom of a bigger problem.

Note: I don't want to be mean, and please tell me if I'm being too critical here, but this series has some serious problems actually delivering on what it's saying.

Like, it's trying to tell us that Sophie shouldn't be doing all this because she's a kid, but then it treats her very own existence as a project as background information when that should absolutely be at the forefront (like it was in earlier books)!

It's trying to tell us that discrimination against the Talentless is bad, but then every single member of it's cast has an ability, has a strong ability, and regularly uses their ability! Even Dex, who could have easily been talentless and good with tech, gets to be a Super Good Gadget Person thanks to his ability as opposed to his own creativity and ingenuity.

It's trying to tell us that maybe banishing children is bad, but also tells us that Exillium is now """fixed""" because Oralie gave them...better tents? Food? And never touches on the fact that children are still. getting. banished. It doesn't explore Tam's anger in detail, Linh is only there to be the token asian girl, it does nothing to fully dispel any thought of the Council being alright.

And it's trying to tell us that the Council fucks up, it's showing us that Councillors have no problem being incredibly selfish and violent and so many other terrible things, but that never changes. Nothing in Keeper is changing. It is only maintaining the status quo!

I'm confused as to what Messenger is trying to tell her readers! Are the Council good or bad? Is working with the Council good or bad? Are the Black Swan and Neverseen actually morally grey? Should I be angry at what's happening in these books? Am I meant to look at all the rot and shrug because "that's just how it is"?

And like...I wouldn't be mad if Keeper was just...bad! I mean, I would, but I wouldn't be as distraught! What really grinds my gears is that Keeper has the chance to be good. It has the chance to do great things - and at times it absolutely does! - but it keeps reinforcing belief in a deeply flawed and broken system that is regularly hurting people. And those examples were just off the top of my head!

And again, if this was explored within the series, that would be amazing, but the problem is that it's...not. And that's just...a real fuckin' shame, honestly.

- pyro

(sorry if this was like...too angry? i started and then kinda just...couldn't stop. i should probably get a hobby that's not tearing a middle grade series apart. oops.)

it may have been over a week since you sent this (thank you for being patient with me!!), but fuck yes it is still council hating hours. it is always council hating hours in this household that is not actually a house. (also that incompetence rant sounds intriguing)

yes! you are right! they are so bad at what they're supposed to be doing it's like they're just figures for people to look to and say "yea they'll take care of it" to keep everyone else from acting out! but it's really interesting to see a government so awful and incompetent be such an integral and influential part of the story...without acknowledging that they're actually really bad? I know in Unlocked there's a line where Shannon says something like "Sophie had to figure out who the bad guys were: the black swan? the council? someone else entirely?" but then it's never touched on again that I can remember. Thinking through the series, I honestly can't think of a situation that the council, of their own volition, saw was an issue and corrected in a way that was beneficial to those who needed it. Like yea, Oralie gave money to Exillium, but that was after Sophie chewed her out about it. I think i've said it before but in case not: it feels like they've taken the "for the good of the many over the good of the few" ideology too far in a society that doesn't work for. If someone threatens the majority (and often that's just in appearance only) they get rid of them to preserve the image of the rest. It doesn't care about their people, it cares about the majority of people feeling undisturbed.

considering Sophie is part of a huge organization created literally because their society, led by that system, isn't working for a lot of people, they (the Black Swan) sure do go along with the council a whole lot. I think one of the linked posts in one of my masterposts is specifically about how making the Black Swan work so closely with the council screwed them over and completely undermined everything they were working towards. I'm going to make a very vague comparison here, but the Black Swan feel like "we need to fix the system" while the Neverseen are "the system is broken lets start over" (except the Neverseen added a lot more violence into the mix). It's absolutely infuriating to have them working side by side: one, because the Black Swan aren't accomplishing any of their goals and should cut their losses and go back to being mysterious underground groups with more freedom to move (in my opinion), but two, because it makes the council seem like it's trying to fix things when really it feels like a publicity thing to make the public think they're addressing the rebel issue while they're really just showing up in places and causing problems. And!! that's another thing! it feels like their collaboration with the Black Swan is to address the problem of having rebels, not the problems these rebels have identified and are trying to fix. Unfortunately, it seems the council is getting their way more than the Black Swan, getting them to act more legally and work closer with less room for working outside the system. if that makes sense.

considering it's literally stated in unlocked that there is no "good" and "bad," there does seem to be a lot of focus on associating the Black Swan with being Right, and the Neverseen with being Wrong. I can hope that it's the outward reactions to the Black Swan realizing they've done some fucked up stuff (Sophie) and are now overcompensating and trying to make sure their every move is the correct one. But I do think it will be interesting to see if Sophie makes the connection in canon (as she's already started to) that there isn't always a right option, there's just the best you can do with a situation and the Black Swan's insistence that she was "in the wrong" (a summary) helps her realize her own values and think through their decisions with her own perspective instead of just trusting them

response to your note: you're fine! you bring up a good point that this book sounds like it wanted to be a unique perspective (by having the "good guys" also be questionable and give the "bad guys" reasonable motives) but the execution misses the mark for a lot of us. so you're qualms and observations are entirely valid and I don't think you're being mean at all! I think you're expressing a frustration you have with something, which I support and encourage.

at times it feels like Shannon bit off more than she could chew in terms of all the complicated things she could get into when it comes to this series. not saying she's doing a bad job or a horrible author or anything, just that there are some things she introduced that kind of get left behind or unexplored because there's so much else going on. I think we can see that in the whole being experiment part of Sophie life. we saw sophie was uncomfortable with it in the first few books and would sometimes bring it up, but I personally would've been more satisfied if she'd either taken the time to process it (opposed to her think about that later strategy) or come to the realization that no, she isn't okay with it and she deserves to have her thoughts on the matter heard. she was literally created to serve someone elses purpose, and brought into the fight too early at that. and yet it's treated like an "oopsie, guess we just gotta go with it" thing, like this minor part of her story when I bet her thinking about it for more than a minute at a time would absolutely wreck her. but I'm getting caught up in this, so moving on!

I think we can see it in the talentless too, as it's treated like a "that doesn't affect me" thing for Sophie. because she doesn't have any friends that are talentless right now--the closest she's got is Marella, who I think is still legally considered talentless with her pyrokinesis. it's been acknowledged that she doesn't think the way talentless are treated is right, but it doesn't impact her right now so she's not really doing anything about it. maybe if this was brought back later with someone like Jensi, then that would be a satisfying conclusion to this issue (not a conclusion, but it wouldn't be left hanging, if that makes sense). And I can understand the benefit of leaving things open to go back and explore later from a writers perspective, but at a certain point it becomes more of a hindrance to the story than anything else.

and exillium! I have so many thoughts on Exillium that I actually started talking about it earlier in this post. They're not doing anything unless prompted and what they do is the bare minimum. With the tents and the food, they aren't fixing Exillium, they're making it into what it should've been at the very least were they going to actually go down that route. So I can't praise them for it when it's just basic decency to provide literal children with food and shelter when you force them to be somewhere they don't want to. But all this doesn't fix Exillium, because the problem is that it exists in the first place. The problem is that the council saw children who were struggling, and decided the best thing to do with them was to just get them out of the way for everyone else. Three coaches total for leadership? yeah, there's no way that place was ever supposed to be "alternate learning" or however Oralie phrased it, that was just so you could say you hadn't completely abandoned them in the middle of nowhere.

you're so right about the council fucks up bit--I think the most obvious example of this is with Sophie's ability restrictor. Yea, she's not wearing it anymore, but that's not because the council changed their minds. It's because she broke the law and the didn't punish her for it. this is a great example of how things keep trying to move forward, but the council isn't doing anything to stay up with it. "they are selfish and violent[...] but that never changes." yes!! this!! you put it so well! the council is still the same old council that we saw in book one, concerned with their own interests and their own views, just trying to mitigate the damage Sophie and her friends are capable of doing to their system. Note: the fact that a handful of teenagers who haven't even graduated can do this much damage might be telling of the structural integrity of their system. Bronte and Terik did a little flip, and Alina replaced the Now Crispy Kenric, but aside from that nothing has changed.

I will say, I personally don't want it to be clear who the good guys and bad guys are. (not saying that's what you're asking for! just piggybacking off your comment on the confusion). I'm glad that the characters make me think and I'm grateful there isn't just the "we're good and they're bad" element you see in other stories. not that that's bad, i just think realistically they'd be more complex and their simplicity grows repetitive after a while. But like I said, at times it feels like there's too much going on for there to be a clear message, which in and of itself could be the message. i could be seeing something where there's nothing, though. I think part of it might be Shannon trying to take on all these complex narratives and perspectives with a limited perspective (as in she only has Sophie to tell the story through), while also needing to make it enjoyable and palletable to a young audience.

and I agree with you! I think it's a lot of the potential we see not being used that makes us so infuriated (or me at least). Because there are some stories yo uread where you're like "ah. it's just one of those stories. cool." and you move past it. Because you know it's going to have a set perspective and you know it's going to accomplish what it wants, but Keeper seems to have so many possibilities and Shannon's getting stuck in this rut of good and bad after so long. maybe we'll get out of it in the next book with sophie thinking the Black Swan was in the wrong, but I also wouldn't be surprised if that Didn't Happen.

it's just like what i was saying about Ro! There's all these opportunities for these characters and this world to be really explored and fleshed out and complex, but we've gotten stuck in this romance drama and loosing fights again and again with little progress. All their actions are undoing the Neverseen's actions and counting it a victory because no one is dead. I just think there could be so much more that we're not getting because the story tried to go too broad when it wasn't ready for it.

this response got very long but in essence: I agree with your assessment of the story. is frustrating to see so many of the details and paths we'd like to see explored that often aren't in fiction just pass us by.

there is a special place for keeper in my heart and I will always appreciate it for that, but I also mourn what it could've been.

(also: you are not too angry! you have genuine thoughts about this series and they deserve to be heard! we are allowed to have complaints, even about the things we like. we don't have to appreciate every single aspect and we're allowed to be mad at the things we don't like.)

#we are a week into october and I have several asks from september still #how many can i answer in one day is the question #but back to what you were saying pyro #I don't want to just completely rewrite the entire series myself #but I do think there are things that could've been approached better and the council is one of them #If the Black Swan and Sophie both acknowledge their faults #i don't fully understand why they work so closely together #but that's a whole other thing so I should probably stop #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc character analysis #kotlc council #the black swan #quil's queries #pyrokinetic-loser #long post

[grimmywrites]

So, about Infinite Darkness...

I’m gonna try to be as succinct as I can (I failed) about all the problems I had with it, but my list is pretty long... Yes, this has spoilers. Let me state upfront: if you’re not a hardcore RE fan, you can skip the show. Below I’ll tell you why.

Story: What a mess. Honestly, they turned me off right at the beginning with all the military stuff. It’s the same reason people didn’t like Chris’ campaign in 6; didn’t they learn anything from that? So, the story wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever seen. Honestly, it had more plot holes than anything and so many points where I went: “I don’t care about this.” Again, it was a jumbled mess. Capcom, hire me and I’ll do better, I swear. Let’s just sum it up by saying it’s a rehash of things we’ve seen SEVERAL times in the series before. If you’re gonna do it AGAIN let’s make the story unique and interesting. Oh, there are shady people in the military that want to use bioweapons in war? Okay, we’ve known that since the first game. We’ve seen it time and time again. Look to re8′s ending for example: the BSAA are now starting to use engineered soldiers - THAT was a reveal that was far more interesting. The way it was addressed and overcome in this show was just... so lackluster. Ultimately, it just felt like this entire thing didn’t need to happen. It changed nothing, it impacted nothing, and I’m aware that it really couldn’t since it was after re4 and before re5. There was just no lasting point and all the ‘themes’ (if you can call them that) made absolutely no sense, but I guess I’ll get into that with the characters? Pacing: Absolutely god awful. One minute we’re in the White House fighting zombies then I blink and it’s over and I’m like: Oh, we’re done? Another we’re in a sub and then I blink. Oh, that’s over, too. Also, the creators must’ve taken a page from the last couple of seasons of Game of Thrones (which is an abysmal idea, don’t fucking do that) because with a few cuts here and there we went from Guam to China back to DC. Guess everybody learned how to teleport so they got exactly where we needed them to for the “climax”. Let’s talk about that climax: There was none. Let’s look at Degeneration and Damnation (no I won’t talk about Vendetta). Both had their weaknesses but Leon and the climaxes were BADASS. Leon doing parkour in Degeneration? Leon going against Lickers and the huge Tyrants in Damnation? Those were amazing scenes. He did a few cool things here and there but nothing that got more of a laugh out of me. My man is coming off re4 where he rampaged through a village, a castle, and an island of mutated creatures to save one girl. C’mon now. Characters: By now (if anybody is even reading this rant), you’ve noticed that I’ve talked a lot about Leon. But what about Claire? Yeah, they lied to us about them working together. She got sidelined again. A lot of people are upset about this -- and yeah, it sucks because I do love Claire. Leon has just happened to be my favorite since 1998 so I wasn’t as heartbroken. That doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed, I’m just not very surprised. Leon - My main problem with Leon is Nick, his voice actor. I’m so sorry for all those who like him, but he just isn’t good enough for me. Paul Mercier (re4, Degeneration, Darkside Chronicles) and Matt Mercer (Damnation, Re6, Vendetta) would have been more appropriate. Nick tries his best, but he’s just too soft sounding to be post-re4 Leon. This is a man who is quipping one-liners left and right a couple of years ago. Now he’s barely smiling and doesn’t feel confident at all, and I think a lot of that is because of his portrayal. There are times where the lines hit, but more often than not they fall flat. I never felt that way with Paul who is my favorite Leon or Matt who gave emotional performances every time. Also, his decision at the end? I can understand it, but explain to Claire! Claire - I like Stephanie as Claire, I have no problems with her. She makes her sound tough and ready to do what she thinks is right. Unfortunately, the story completely sidelines her and makes her role obsolete. Everything she uncovers (because that’s her role apparently, just there to Nancy Drew) is already told to us through flashbacks and other characters. Why even have her? Was it just to show us WHY her and Leon don’t talk often? A waste. Shen Mei - I don’t care. I felt nothing for her. They tried really hard, but they just failed to flesh these new characters out and when her time was up I once again went: Oh? That’s it, then. ‘Kay. I think I laughed a bit, sorry girl. Her whole plotline was to get that chip in Leon’s hand, nothing more. Jason -  I don’t care. A character I thought I felt sorry for with his ptsd but nope. Once his story unfolded - messily, I might add (I hate the REPEATED flashback shit. Tell me once and stop teasing me.) I just went... okay, what the hell is your plan? To spread fear? ‘Kay. It was dumb and made no sense. What, he wants everyone to feel terror so they know? It needed to be clarified. It’s like they couldn’t figure out more synonyms for fear and terror. So, what? It helps keep Leon from going public with the chip and that information? Because he knows it’ll just cause mass hysteria? And then you’ve got Claire’s side - she’s not an agent and she believes the people have a right to know. They’re both right, but there’s no goddamn communication between ANYONE in this show. I just felt exhausted by it, nothing else. Not to mention it’s useless angst because of the plot of Degeneration. Wilson - Our bad guy. Let’s just sum up really quickly in case people were confused by the plot: He was putting infected soldiers into war zones so that even after they died they’d kill anybody involved, then he’d bomb the area and clean up the evidence. These soldiers didn’t show any symptoms because they had inhibitors that kept the virus at bay until they died, so they had to take regular shots to stay human. He’s the one who gets the zombies into the white house so that he could blame it on China and get the US into a war with them. That way he could send in his soldiers and infect the populace. From there, he’s the only one with the cure so he could rake in LOTS of money selling it to the world. AKA: he wants to use the US military to infect everyone so he can make a profit. He gets infected by Jason and gets away... then meets up with someone who gives him an inhibitor. This someone is working for Tricell, the big bads of re5 who work under Wesker. So it leads right into the fifth game. That’s all he is, a tie in and yet another example of someone in power trying to profit off the viruses of the RE world. Honestly, nobody else is worth mentioning. Animation: They’re getting better at it. Leon and Claire looked especially pretty, but there’s still a stiffness here and an issue with everyone’s mouths while they talk. I want to praise how different SOME of the characters look - the president and his aides all look appropriately aged and grizzled and distinct. Same with Jason. Other characters (side characters mainly) kinda look generic. Shen Mei for example isn’t very distinct. I mean, her grandpa and brother (both one scene wonders) were more realistic looking than she was. Even Claire - they gave her a bigger nose and made her look more in line with her Revelations 2 model (thank god I love that model). Movement was pretty fluid, I wish we’d seen more fighting and cool action -- though not to the extent of Vendetta. Maybe that’s what they were trying to avoid, but it didn’t make it any fun to watch. Enemies: This is the last thing I’ll comment on. The zombies were fine - they always are. I heard a ton of reused sounds from remake2, as well, but I thought of it as an Easter Egg more than anything. They looked good, their gore was good, all set there. Problem was, they were basically the only bad guys. That’s a huge fucking disappointment. I know people recognize this series as ‘the one with the zombies’ but that’s not true. Every game (save 7) had MULTIPLE enemy types all created through bio engineering. In this show we see three types. THREE. Zombies. Zombie rats - a one-scene wonder that Leon dispatches fast and easy. I’ll admit, they looked cool but there was nothing else to them. “They’re a bioweapon” and then Leon fries them all with some electricity and we’re done. Jason’s mutated form. Okay, I have to admit, I really loved his design. He was cool, I liked that he could talk and emote. But, other than that? He didn’t DO anything cool. He mutated once and hopped around a lot. That’s it. I mean, a bioweapon that keeps his mental capacities? C’MON! We could’ve done so much more with him. Again, this goes back to why the climax was so bad -- he and Leon didn’t fight. One jumped, the other ran around to catch up and fired a few bullets and a rocket at him. Then he used an acid bath to finish the job. (Also, explain to me WHY he mutated into a tyrant-like creature while everyone else with that specific virus was another form of zombie? We see Jun (Shen’s brother) mutating almost crystal-like at one point but... what? You leave them off for a while and they turn into crystal zombies? Make it make sense.) I’m sure there’s more to say, but honestly, unless you’re a hardcore RE fan like me, I’d say you can skip it. It wasn’t a fun ride, there weren’t any stakes, it wasn’t emotional... it just... was. I will end on one good note that made me smile, though: I loved seeing the Ashley Easter Egg.

#resident evil infinite darkness #resident evil: infinite darkness #resident evil #my opinion #Leon S. Kennedy #leon kenney #claire redfield

[mourntheantagonist]

“You’ve never been bowling?”

Steve is looking at Billy like he just said the worst thing in the whole world.

“No?”

Billy was standing in Steve’s room inspecting the bowling pin that sat on his desk, the one that Steve had stolen one night when he and Tommy had broken into the alley after homecoming. Steve remembers crawling down the slick lane and reaching for the center pin because he didn’t intend to end up like Tommy who had taken just two steps passed the line before he wound up flat on his back with his head hitting hard enough against the wood floor that he would have a headache for the next couple of days.

Teenagers in Hawkins had their pick of only four places in town to hang out unless they were willing to take the hour long drive into the city for some real entertainment. Those four options included the junkyard, the quarry, The Hawk, and of course, the bowling alley. More often than not it would be far too cold for the quarry or junkyard, and The Hawk was only ever good for taking girls to sit in the secluded back row while they didn’t bother to even pay attention to the movie on screen. So Steve, Tommy, and Carol all found themselves at the lanes fairly often.

It was one of the few little things he had where he felt like he was genuinely having a good time with friends. When people came over to his house he could never escape the thought that they were only there for the free booze and his pool and his parents who didn’t give a fuck and not for Steve himself. Drinking out of a flask Carol snuck from her mom while they sent multiple balls down the lane at a time giving the staff a never ending headache when they fucked up the ball return was an entirely different atmosphere.

So Steve had a nice relationship with bowling. It was such a stupid little activity he did drunk or high with friends, but those were some of the best times of his life.

And to find out that Billy had never been bowling before? He was beyond offended.

“How have you never been bowling before?”

Billy just shrugged his shoulders like Steve was being entirely ridiculous with his shock. “I don’t know, maybe cause San Diego has more than five things to do? Why would I waste my time throwing a ball into a gutter?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” Steve says, taking the pin from Billy’s hand because he simply lacks the proper respect to wield it. “We’re going bowling, right now.”

Before Billy could even begin to protest, Steve was dragging Billy down the stairs and out through the front door, and Billy was just too curious and too preoccupied enjoying Steve’s assertiveness over something as trivial as a heavy ball and ten pins.

Since the alley was only four blocks away from Steve’s house, they were in and out of the car in no time at all. It was late at night on a Wednesday so the alley was mostly empty save for the actual bowlers who weren’t just there to wreak havoc.

Just as you walk through the glass double doors, directly to the left was the most pathetic arcade you could ever see. It was really bold to even call it that with the flickering neon sign that hung above the entryway. All they had was a mostly empty claw machine, pinball, and the only actual arcade game worth playing, Pac-Man, had a piece of white printer paper taped to the screen with ‘out of order’ written in black sharpie. Billy was already having trouble reasoning why Steve would choose this run-down place with the loudest carpet flooring he’d ever seen as his main hangout space.

While Steve paid for their shoe rentals and their game, Billy wandered around aimlessly, staring at the rainbow of neon that decorated the place that seemingly had no rhyme or reason for its pattern. Most of the other bowlers were all together at the far right of the building, so of course Steve reserved the far left for the two of them. Steve hands Billy his pair of size elevens and together they walk over to their own personal lane, secluded from everyone else in a way that almost felt entirely private.

Steve has had a fucking attitude since the moment Billy mentioned how he’d never been bowling before. Even with the close proximity of the alley to his house, Steve insisted on driving ten over the speed limit, something he constantly was on Billy’s ass about whenever Billy drove the two of them in the Camaro. He just stared forward mumbling “I know the chief of police” whenever Billy opened his mouth to say anything about it. But, with all of the anger in that little body of his, there was also enough excitement clear in the way he walked from point a to point b that calmed Billy’s lingering thought that Steve might just take the two bowling balls he had in his hands and smash his head in if he even dared to say a word about all of his huffing.

So Billy kept his distance and let Steve set it all up for the two of them, setting the balls into the return and entering their names into the system. It was then, while Steve was sitting in front of the little monitor punching away at the keypad that Billy finally saw Steve’s look of anger change to a smile... but not a happy smile. A fucking evil smile. Steve looked up at Billy with the most heinous eyes before darting his eyes over to the screen above the lane before he broke out into a fit of laughter. Billy looks up to the screen and sure enough, printed in bold digital lettering read two names.

1. Steve

2. SugarTits

“Real mature.” Billy said, barely having his voice heard over Steve’s own laughter, “You finally out of your pissy mood?”

“Just put on the shoes sugar tits.”

The two of them slipped on those absolutely ridiculous looking bowling shoes and what was originally all fun and games to Billy had quickly turned on its head.

Steve was up first. And yeah, Steve did spend a lot of his time at the alley just goofing off, but occasionally he would actually try to knock down some pins.

And he was fucking good at it.

Billy watched as the ball traveled fast down the lane with the perfect spin, knocking over all ten pins right on impact. The ‘X’ appeared on the screen and Steve turned around with the most smug look on his face that Billy had ever seen.

“And that’s called a strike.”

Billy just scoffed. Sure, Billy hasn’t ever held a bowling ball in his life, but he schooled people at skeeball and isn’t bowling just like skeeball but... bigger? Additionally, Billy is anything if not competitive.

Steve is stifling his giggles while Billy stands there trying to just figure out how to hold the ball, eventually figuring it out and setting himself straight in front of the lane, mailing one swing of the arm only for the ball to refuse to come unreleased from his fingers. He’s lucky he didn’t break any. Steve can’t help but laugh as he watches the display from the comfort of his seat and his strike on the scoreboard.

“You need help over there baby?” Steve asks.

“Fuck off I’m fine”

Steve puts his hands up and backs off and continues to enjoy the free entertainment that Billy is giving him.

On his second attempt, Billy actually manages to throw the ball... directly into the gutter.

“I can ask them to put the bumpers up for you babe.”

Billy just turns around and gives Steve a pinching gesture signifying he is “this close” to breaking his fucking neck.

Instead of letting Billy embarrass himself once more, and after the novelty had kind of worn off, Steve gets up to where Billy is standing waiting for the machine to cough the blue eleven pounder back up.

“Let me show you how to do it.” Steve says, picking up the ball as soon as it comes in and wrapping his arms around Billy’s waist. He shows Billy how to position his fingers and lines him up about eight feet back. “Okay, so you’re going to want to aim just to the side of the center pin, and you’re gonna want to throw it so it goes fast.”

It’s good, solid advice, but it went directly in one ear and out the other with the way Steve is touching him. Arms tenderly wrapped around his waist, hands gently wrapped around his wrists to guide his hands all while in a public place, and not a single person bats an eye. It’s just a guy teaching another guy how to bowl properly. There’s nobody close enough to see how Steve plants a kiss to his neck or grabs at his ass and it’s just so thrilling.

Steve guides him through the throw, and it’s definitely far from perfect especially considering Steve isn’t left handed like Billy is, but it actually knocks down some pins instead of finding a home in the gutter. The echo of the pins toppling over is fucking music to his ears and Steve’s arms are still wrapped around him, practically hugging him at this point and Billy just leans into it. Loving the feeling of being public about their relationship without being public about it.

They stand there for as long as they can without it seeming suspicious and Steve goes to take his second turn. Billy watched again from the same seat Steve was sitting in and watched Steve bowl a double.

Except he doesn’t actually watch the strike happen, too focused on staring at Steve’s ass through his jeans as he bends over. The way they tighten makes his own jeans tighten for an entirely different reason.

“Your turn.” Steve says.

But Billy has another idea, walking up to Steve and taking him by the wrist, moving his hand so it’s palming his dick.

“I think I’ve had enough bowling for the day.”

And usually Steve would never walk out on a streak like that, but this trip was all about the fun that could be had at the Hawkins bowling alley.

And fucking in the parking lot was certainly fun.

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #stranger things #mandi writes tresh #fanfic #this was supposed to be short but at this point that’s just me lying to myself #also thanks magniloquent-raven for ‘sugartits’ you’re a real one 😭

[cloudninetonine]

Follow the light

Chapter 1

Synopsis: A Genshin impact/Avatar x fem!reader

A/N: INSTANT SECOND CHAPTER. Also, some stuff from my previous post about this crossover is probs gonna change

I do not own the Genshin Impact or Avatar franchise

Warnings

“Let’s try it again”

Nodding, you took a deep breath, focusing yourself on your actions as you began to move. 

Light on your feet, just like the leaf, if you meet resistance, you must be able to spiral away at a moment’s notice, move like the wind, move like you’re free.

Tsering had practically drilled that into you when you began to learn airbending. ‘It was a must’, she had told you, sending a blast of wind into the the spinning death trap- I mean, into the spinning gates, ‘if you are to be the Avatar you must know how to air bend, even if your power is just that of an average bender as of now’

She was right, of course, but the thought of helping restore Raava’s power and find your brother itched at your mind constantly, kept you awake at night as you practiced your moves, occupied your thoughts when you ate, never had you been so desperate to leave the temple.

Despite that, the thought of leaving these people caused your chest to burn, like you had been stabbed right in the heart with the intent to kill. These people had become family to you, on level with your brother, they cared for you and you cared for them, so you knew when it finally came time to leave, which if you were correct, would be a few days from now, you would shed tears.

You would be alone and it scared you.

“Much better” Tsering clapped, as did the other four nuns, the leading nuns, when you finally ceased, bright smile on your face “You’re improving every day, I’d say you could become a master in just a few more years”

You placed your hands behind you back, rocking on your heels “Would I be able to get my tattoos if I did?”

She smiled back “Of course, you’re considered a nomad after all”

A familiar squeaky voice piped up from your left “Paimon thinks you could improve in your stance”

You sent Paimon the stink eye “You can’t even bend, elf”

“Excuse you! Paimon doesn’t need to bend to know you’re stance stinks-”

“Alright you two, no need to fight” Another nun, Nun Palmo laughed, “(Name), you are dismissed, remember to keep training and if you need help, you only need to ask”

With a ‘thank you!’ and quick bow, you headed off with Paimon for your daily walk around the temple.

“Paimon was only joking earlier, you’ve really improved, your bending was pretty flawless! Though, Paimon noticed that you looked a bit distracted, is everything okay?”

Paimon, the ever so observant, when food wasn’t involved, or when she wasn’t talking, or when she was just...herself. The spirit seemed to know you well enough to notice the shift in your attitude as you bent, mind fogged up over other matters that you didn’t need to think about at that moment.

“Yes, Pai, I’m fine, it’s just…” You searched for the words “I’m starting my journey in a few days and I know Raava is here with me but...I’m going to be alone when I travel so I’m nervous. I’ve never travelled by myself before, my brother’s always been with me so….”

A sigh fell from your lips. “It’s stupid-”

“No it isn’t!” Paimon leaned in close, shaking her fists in exaggeration “Being alone is a big deal! Paimon knows from experience that it sucks being by yourself, so, Paimon’s decided to accompany you on your journey! She am a spirit of guidance after all!”

Your head snapped towards her “Wait...seriously?”

“Seriously!”

The grin that spread across your face was contagious, the spirit mirroring your expression as you hugged her tightly, both of you laughing. “Thank you, Paimon, thank you!”

“No need for thanks!....Actually, keep it coming”

Your heart filled with warmth.

You wouldn’t be alone.

The day came faster than you had expected. As cheesy as it sounded, it had only felt like yesterday when Raava had first spoken with you and the two of you had merged, but it had been just over four months with air bending training being a subject for every single day. A mix of grueling and fun, because learning how to fly using a glider brought you back to earlier days with your wings, but getting your arse kicked by spinning gates, falling from far heights when you mess up your bending- not as fun.

A sort of leaving party had been held the night before, a great buffet for you hard work and just fun games to play with your newly aquired airbending skills. (Tsering had beaten you 5 against 1 in Airball and even then, you were sure she had given you the last one out of pity)

You were changed in your older clothes this time, pulling on your gloves and boots, looking yourself in the mirror in your room the last time. It was weird, seeing yourself in your travelling attire when for the past few years you had been dressed in the familiar orange, yellow and reds of air culture, it only further settled as a reminder that you were leaving today.

You had successfully held back the tears till this point.

“(Name)” Glancing towards your door, Tsering stood with her hands clasped together, a small smile on her beautiful features “Are you ready?”

“Uh, yes!” Fumbling for your bag, you made your way over “I’m- I’m ready”

“Good, but before that” Pulling something from behind her back, she presented it to you “You earned this”

Sat within her palms was an airbending staff, accompanied by your familiar red sash that you supported on your clothes previous. You stood in awe as the elder airbender tied the sash around you, tightening it gently before grasping your cheek, stroking it softly with her thumb. “I will miss you, (Name)”

Tears finally pushed through, eyes glazing over as you engulfed the woman in a tight hug, face shoved into her chest. “I’ll miss you too, Tsering”

Ten minutes later, you were heading towards the bison, specifically your bison, one you had befriended by accident and now considered one of your lifelong pals. You hadn’t meant to bond with him, only airbenders received bison, but you had stumbled upon the ordeal when exploring and he just didn’t seem to care about anyone else. Tsering had let you have him without much argument and smiled when you named him Viator, something she didn’t quite understand back then but now was a completely different story.

“Food has been packed for you, along with water, spare clothes and other necessities” Paimon was already sitting upon Viator’s back, munching on what you guessed was something from breakfast, when you jumped onto the bison’s head, stroking through his fur with love. “Be safe, (Name) and please know, you may return whenever you wish”

“Thank you, Tsering. Thank you everyone, you showed me kindness for all these years and treated me as one of your own. I’ll miss you all so much but I promise I will come back” With a commanding ‘Yip, yip’ Viator had pushed himself off the ground “Farewell everyone!”

The younger airbender girls screamed their goodbyes, waving their hands wildly while the older nuns bowed, sending waves once you began to disappear West, towards the mainland of Teyvat.

Finally, your journey began.

-----

“Look, there it is!”

It had taken an entire day, much faster than you had originally expected and you couldn’t have been more grateful for the existence of sky bison. 

From your point, you could see giant cliffs, a small, sandy bay sat beneath them with a path that led deeper into the mainland, your bison following it when you finally hit the shoreline.

“Did Raava say anything about the statues, like, how to even get the power in the first place?”

You shook your head “No, so I’ll just have to see once we find one- woah”

It had taken only five minute to reach a clearing and boy, was it a sight to behold. Cliffs surrounded the area in a crescent shape, the valley holding a plethora of beautiful trees ranging from the famous forest green to autumn time orange. Beyond it stood a city of stone, laid within a sparkling blue lake, Mondstadt you believed. Dead center sat a small isle within the valley, containing just the thing you were looking for.

“That was quick”

Viator grew closer, groaning when you called ‘Yip, yip!’ to drop the lot of you onto the tiny piece of land, Paimon clapping her hands excitedly.

“Oh!” She cried in delight “That’s the statue of the Anemo Archon, Barbatos! He’s the spirit of Air!”

Floating down, you jogged up the statue with your companion following behind, eyeing the tall structure with intrigued eyes when you finally stood before it, glancing around it briefly before Paimon spoke up.

“What now?”

You shrugged “I...touch it?”

“Paimon..agrees?”

Delicate hands reached out, brushing against the golden plaque molded into the botton of the monument when a beautiful glow was produced from the carved diamond patterns, both you and Paimon gasping in surprise as a heavenly sounded resonated through the area, the glow winding up the statue and forming into a beautiful light orb within the hands of the figure head. Slowly, the ball floated down towards you, like a leaf in the wind, then flew into your chest, a feeling of weightlessness flowing through your entire being.

You glanced over yourself.

“Was...that it?”

Paimon huffed “You know, that’s kind of rude to say about the power the Archon just gave you!”

“I didn’t mean it like that-”

A brilliant light flashed before your eyes, blinding you, the whole surrounding scene blurring away. You threw your hands over your face, protecting yourself from the harsh brightness when it faded as soon as it came, the sound of nature that once encircled you now replaced with a deafening silence.

“(Name)”

You turned towards the voice, smiling “Raava”

The spirit flew towards you, you once again lending your hand out only to notice the slight difference within the being.

“You’re bigger” You noted in excitement, watching her wind up your arm “Have I already restored some of your power that fast? If so, this’ll be easy-peasy”

“You mustn't underestimate this journey, (Name)” She spoke with a wisdom that you hadn’t experienced for what felt like lifetimes, your body straightening up in response to her tone “We have only just begun and the road will only grow more treacherous as we push forward. Not everyone will be so supporting in our quest”

A sigh escaped you “Yeah, you’re right, nothing is ever that easy. I wish we had more help though”

“You are not alone in this, (Name)”

“I know, I’ve got you, Pai, Viator-”

“That is not what I meant”

The noise of confusion you made was cut short at the sound of….wind? It grew louder with it second, until the whisper because a magnificent howl, collecting around the two of you before bursting outwards, forms of multiple figures appearing from the darkness.

“Air nomads?” You glanced around at them all “Wait, not just air nomads”

“No, each is an air nomad in their own right” The multiple air nomads eyes snapped opening, revealing a familiar white glow “Not every nomad is in touch with their culture, some fade away, whether that be from their own choice or anothers, while others stick with air custom”

It hit you.

“Past air nation Avatars….” There were so many, you couldn’t keep count! They even faded into the far distance of this mind space! You had known there had been plenty of Avatars but seeing this much was just...wow “But, I don’t get it, the Avatar cycle was destroyed. Wouldn’t the Avatars have vanished? Like in that Water tribe….Korra, like in Korra’s era”

But then again, Tsering had told you that the following Avatar, an Earth Kingdom boy named Genji you believed, had somehow restored the previous Avatars despite the new cycle. No one ever found out how, but no one really cared, they were just grateful for the Avatar.

“I, as well, am not sure why they are returning” The spirit glanced around before facing you once again, sliding further up to reach eye level “Perhaps it is our connection? Your own spirit? Or maybe it is just luck that they return, but they will help you in your journey, they will be your guides alongside me”

You grinned “Good to know I have more backup”

“(Name)!!!!”

The voice of Paimon echoed around you, concern evident in her voice and you glanced around, trying to find her.

“It is time for you to return, but you can always find us again”

The world around you began to fade, the past avatars disappearing within the darkness along with the spirit.

Paimon sighed in relief when the glow finally dissipated from your eyes, you blinking a few times then glanced towards her with an apologetic smile.

“You can’t just go all Avatar on Paimon like that!” She chided like a mother, waggling her finger at you “Paimon wasn’t sure if what happened was worrying or not!”

“Sorry, Pai, didn’t mean to worry you”

She huffed, floating back to Viator “Let’s just continue on, Paimon thinks we should head over into Mondstadt!”

You hopped onto your bison, patting his head “Why, Mondstadt?”

“It’s the city of Wind of course! Poetry and language flow like the wind, so there must be someone who knows about your brother! At least that what’s Paimon thinks”

“Sounds like a good start, yip- huh?!”

A large shadow cast over you, a bellious roar sounding through the valley, deep, thunderous and strong. Glancing upwards, you both watched as a giant creature, with beautiful blue fathers flew overhead, aimed towards the heart of the forest that laid ahead.

“What was that?!” You cried as Viator groaned in alarm, Paimon looking as spooked as you felt “Paimon!?”

“A dragon! We’ve gotta be careful!”

Dragon? What a weird dragon indeed. You had seen quite a few in your lifetime, exploring different worlds with your brother meant you got to experience a whole lot of different things, dragons were no exception. They differed in different worlds, some violent, some passive, some young and naive some old and wise, but one thing that tended to stay the same was that their appetite was a meaty one and when you glanced down at Viator, you decided to take a cautious step for your furry companion.

“Paimon, stay here with Viator” Opening up your staff, you hopped off your animal and flew in the direction of the forest. Your friend called after you, voice high with panic as she begged you to come back, but you weren’t listening, no, you were focused on keeping the people close to you safe, even if that meant fighting a dragon, which you knew for certain you weren’t ready for.

The forest was practically silent compared to the valley. The sound of life that played within the sun had dimmed with the looming trees of oak, muffling the wind that blew through the perfect path that had been carved through the nature with perfect precision, it’s goal on leading to Mondstadt clear with each tentative step you took that lead to where you had seen the great beast land.

‘I wish I had my sword’ Such words shouldn’t come to a nomad, you knew that to be true, but you had lived through battle after battle with your brother for so long, the weight of the blade, the leather of it’s handle, it had been burned into the skin of your hand many times ago. Guilt boiled within you during your years with the nuns, how could you think of fighting while surrounded by such peaceful people? But then again, you could take a warrior from war, but not war from a warrior.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s alright now, I’m back”

You pushed your back against the nearest tree, glancing around it’s wide trunk at the scene.

The dragon was great, indeed. Coloured in an array of blues, from aquatic to deep ocean, feathers and furs adorned it’s body, tipping the tail, decorating it’s wings, lining it’s belly but ended at it’s claws, replaced with silvery scales that reflected the light of the day. From it’s back, however, protruded two tainted purple crystals, that you could sense, all the way from your hidden spot, held nothing but a dark energy that made your skin crawl. The creature’s sheer size was intimidating enough, especially compared to the boy who stood before it, but those crystals- wait.

Only then did you finally notice, too focused on the dragon to see the small male who held his hands out towards it. Sure, you had heard the voice earlier, but the blue beast’s appearance had overshadowed it, though now, you saw him, clear as day and your thoughts screamed about how such a small, fragile looking human could stand tall before such an intimidating animal-

A shout echoed through the forest, a familiar high shout that made you groan inwardly when the dragon let out an ear piercing shriek, swiping towards the boy only for him to jump back to your relief, snapping his head towards you direction, then disappear in a flashing light, the dragon leaving along with him into the sky with a final roar for extra effect.

You glared back at Paimon, panicked stricken face frozen in terror atop Viator’s head, who had tucked into himself at the appearance of the other animal.

“Really, Paimon?!” Running over, you soothed your bison softly “I told you to stay put! What if that dragon attacked?!”

“Paimon- uh- Paimon….” The spirit stumbled over her words for a few moments, when she noticed something within the short distance of where the dragon had been perched “What’s that?”

On closer inspection, it appeared to be a floating crystal, shaped eerily similar to a teardrop which glowed a crimson red, screaming an aura of negativity and…

“Sorrow” You hesitated when you reached out, but ultimately grasped it between your fingers gently “You can feel it right? That sorrow from it?”

“Yeah, almost like spiritual energy but just...sad, really sad” Frowning, Paimon turned towards you “Paimon feels kinda sad now too”

“Yeah, me too”

A cloth emerged from your pocket with a tug, the crimson glow disappearing under the raggedy brown of the material as you wrapped it carefully before stuffing it a bag on Viator’s back.

“Take care of this, will you bud?”

The animal groaned.

“Thanks”

Hopping down, you grasped Viator’s reins and continued down the dirt path.

“So, Mondstadt?”

It didn’t take long to reach the end of the woodland’s winding path. The once dense forestry parting way to a clear road to that great city that stood proud a few acres away, towering cliffs decorating your left for quite a way while to your right laid the beautiful crystal blue waves of what Paimon called Lake Cider.

A strange name, you had to admit, but your spirit friend’s explanation of the city’s famous winery industry only seemed to make it fit.

“-If we ask around, we’ll find some information! Oh, this city is famous for bards! So we can definitely-”

“Hey, you! Stop right there!”

Another threat?

Caution was thrown into the wind and you raced into action, pulling forth your staff in a defensive stance and ready to protect your companions with every last inch of you. Viator seemed to feel the same, as his large frame grew closer to you, towering in size with a guttural growl that even shook you slightly, bearing giant teeth.

Paimon merely fell behind, cowering away nervously.

‘Wow, thanks a lot Pai-’

A figure flew overhead, leaping off one of the shorter cliff sides and descending down to the dirt before you, rolling for safety then bouncing back up on their feet.

Long, dark brown hair, lively golden eyes, fair skin and covered head to toe in red.

Fire nation perhaps? Nun Tsering did say that descendants were fond of the colour.

“May the Anemo archon protect your stanger-...” She started, face kind but guarded until she fell upon your sash and bison “Ah! You’re an Air nomad! I am so sorry!”

Then she bowed, deep and apologetic and you sent Paimon a side eyed glance when she floated back to your side.

“Mondstadt is the city of wind and considered air nation territory” She whispered, “Monks and Nuns are highly respected, well, everywhere, but much higher here. You’re basically considered royalty”

You nodded in understanding before approaching the girl “Hey, it’s okay! It was an honest mistake! What’s your name? Mine’s (Name). This is my spirit guide, Paimon and my bison, Viator”

The younger woman bounced back up, narrowingly missing your head with her own while she stumbled over herself, finally findinger her words as she saluted (?) towards you all, forming a fist on her chest then being thrown outside, hand flattening by her side “Yes, of course! I am Amber, Outrider for the Knights of Favonius. I would like to personally welcome you to Mondstadt, dear Nun and once again apologise for my rude approach”

“Like I said, it was just a mistake!” Laughing, you bowed “It’s nice to meet you, Amber”

Amber paused for a moment, eyes wide then bowed in return “Likewise, Nun (Name)”

“You don’t need to call me that! I’m only a...nun-in-training, really, so, (Name) is just fine”

“Are you sure? It seems impolite to call you that, even if you’re only in training!”

From the sidelines, Paimon smiled.

The spirit had been informed by Nun Tsering of your inner conflict when you had first stumbled into this world. How hard it had been to open up, how you had struggled to interact with the others nuns, always so closed off and scared, the festering feeling of abandonment brewing a deep rooted fear of interaction, lest any person you may come across would be the next to leave you in the dust, by their own will or not.

When Paimon had first arrived, you had still struggled with that fear, even now if was still visible, if you looked close enough, but she knew she didn’t have to worry as much now, you were doing so much better and seeing you grow more confident made pride bloom in her chest, where her heart would be if she were human.

“Please-” Amber gestured over to Mondstadt, “Allow me to escort you to our city”

“Are you sure? If you’re a knight, you’re probably out here for a reason and I don’t want to get in the way of that”

“Not to worry, my duties have been fulfilled for today, so taking you to Mondstadt wouldn’t be much trouble”

With a smile, you nodded and off your little group ventured.

The walk to the city wasn’t long, no, only 5 minutes at least, filled with friendly chit chatter between you, Amber and Paimon, your bison huffing for your attention like he usually loved to do when your focus shifted. The knight looked ecstatic when you offered her a ride some time, bouncing up and down excitedly then engulfing the beast in a hug.

You liked her attitude, her excitement. It reminded you of simpler times and on a more somber note, of Aether. He always was kinda like the sun, even when you two bickered like normal siblings did, he kept on that lightened aura that just kept you from staying mad at him, a smile surfacing on your face while he cheered in accomplishment, a small tease of ‘You know you love me!’ before you smacked him right around the head and your famous fist fights ensued, the ones you always won.

You missed your squabbles, you his light, you missed him, but you had to remind yourself that this was the start of your journey to finding your brother and you would be reunited one day.

The guards bowed when you finally entered the city, as did the seemingly grumpy blacksmith you passed, the flower girl, the adventure guild receptionist, the jeweller- everyone and you did the polite thing of bowing back.

“You’re attracting quite the crowd already!” Amber laughed, the many citizens watching your group with wide gazes “It’s only natural though, I’m sure Paimon’s already told you that Nun and Monks are regarded highly in the city of wind!”

“Yup! Paimon made sure it was the first thing she knew!” You were positive the spirit ignored your stink eye, “So, who do we speak with about missing person posters?”

“Well, it’s best to speak with Master Jean, if you come with me I’ll show you the way! Here, I’ll give you a little tour around too!”

“That sounds great!” You glanced back to Viator, who stood patiently beyond the gates and watched you with soft eyes. “Stay here, bud! I’ll come back soon- and with some hay!”

The great beast groaned, waddling off somewhere beyond the gate and leaving the three of you to wander deeper into the city.

With each step you took, you felt as though you were being watched with the familiar sensation of eyes pinpointed onto you, though, it seemed... unwelcoming, their stare burning holes into your form. For a moment you glanced around, Amber and Paimon too distracted with talking to notice your focus shift. It didn’t take long to find the perpetrator, a man with long red locks, a few yards away, glaring at you with arms crossed.

You noted to yourself to look for the man later.

“Hey, isn’t that Barbatos?” Gaze shifting once again, your look upon the grande statue before Mondstadt’s church, a figure akin to an angel with long robes, wings and hands out, cupped towards the sky “You know, Paimon remembers him wearing less clothes”

The knight shared a disturbed look with you.

You didn’t really need that mental image.

“The headquarters is right over here-”

There was an instant shift in the air. 

The sky darkened with malicious grey clouds, hiding away the bright summer’s sun and replacing it with only a layer of doom, the wind picking up harsher undertones.

“The sky…”

There it was again. 

The dragon from the Whispering Woods.

It raced towards the city, circling it’s borders ominously while growling a thunderous and threatening growl before erupting into a blood curdling screech, the noise bringing forth a miniature cyclone along with powerful tornadoes. 

The people of the city screamed in fear, rushing around to escape the attack, parents crying for children, knights ordering for citizens to take cover, animals yowling out their own grievances, utter chaos reigned and you felt panic at the thought of Viator alone, waiting for you patiently where you left him.

“I have to go get Viator!” You were already sprinting back to the gates “I can’t leave him alone like this!”

Amber raced after you.

How had this happened so fast? And why when you had just arrived? What was going!? Only moments ago you were touring the city towards the Knights of Favonius headquarters and now this!

“Paimon thinks that the tornado is getting too close!” She was right, it was practically on your heels! “Hurry! Or we’ll get caught up!”

If only it had been that easy.

Amber had tried, you had seen her panic as you felt the pull of the powerful wind current begin to drag you closer, she had reached out, grabbing your staff with strength only adrenaline could cause, trying hard to keep you grounded but you could see it was for naught, as her feet slipped against the stone and the fear she would also get sucked in plagued you.

You made a rash, last minute decision.

“Get Viator!” Her eyes met yours “And take care of my staff!”

You let go and watched her horrified face as you were sucked into the winding wind.

It was terrifying, you had no idea what way was up and what way was down, left was right and right was left. Paimon was screaming, something you couldn’t hear in your throat crushing fear, curled into a ball and eyes shut tightly, hoping for it to end soon. If only you had your wings, if only Aether was here, if only...

“Ravaa” Your own whimpering could not be heard beyond the screaming of the wind, but you begged that the spirit still heard you. “Please, I’m scared”

A beat passed.

The wind still roared.

Another beat passed.

The screams of citizens still echoed through Mondstadt.

Then another.

And your eyes snapped open, glowing a brilliant white.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact imagine #genshin impact paimon #genshin impact amber #traveler!reader

[passionate-hedgehog]

Banana

m.list

Shayne Topp x Reader (gender neutral)

Warnings: none

Word Count: 3041

AN: This is my first Shayne x Reader fic. AND it’s now gender neutral! Thank you to @rustyisdead for helping me change up all of the pronouns!

Summary: Helping out a friend ends in a way Shayne wasn’t expecting.

   When Shayne offered to help one of his buddies out that went on a week long vacation, he did not think it would require him to interrupt his own schedule as much as it did. He didn’t mind it, honestly. The actor just had to reconfigure his own morning routine to fit his very current yet very temporary situation. 

   Banana was a golden-doodle. A little more golden than doodle, but a very wonderful dog. She seemed to know that the current human taking care of her wasn’t as...savvy...to how she worked. At least, that’s what Shayne thought. The look in her eyes always spoke of mischief to him. She wasn’t naughty...but she liked to see how far she could push him. She also had very shady moments that made him think she knew more than she was letting on.

   Day three out of seven and he was at the point where he remembered he was supposed to drop her off at doggy daycare without forgetting and leaving for his work commute without her. On the first day, he just forgot about her entirely. On the second day, he made it to the doggy day care but without the doggy part. He had to drive all of the way back to his apartment, load her up (but she LOVES car rides, Shayne. It won’t be hard to get her to go! I promise), drive the fifteen minutes to the care center and then to work. He wasn’t going to make that mistake a third time. He was better than that, he told himself.

   When he did eventually get to his destination, without forgetting the passenger, he took in the sights. Cute Critters Pet Sitters was a simple brick building but he could tell how much maintenance went into the yard area. He couldn’t see a lot but the fencing seemed to go on forever. The actor leashed up his current canine companion and walked her into the building, following the very well placed directions. Banana got signed in and the attendant at the front desk took her to where Shayne assumed the other dogs were. He wasn’t sure. This whole thing was new to him. 

   “Mr. Williams? Are you still able to help out this week for the renovation?” One of the front desk attendants asked.

   Shayne paused and looked around, because out of all of the things he had been forgetting that week, his name wasn’t one of them. But when he realized that she was looking directly at him, he realized there must have been a misconception.

  “Oh, I’m not...I’m not him. I’m just dropping off his dog this week.” The actor replied .

   The woman pursed her lips. “Oh, I apologize. Banana’s owner was slated to help out with our indoor renovation project this week. I’ll have to tell Mx. L/n that he’s no longer available. Which is an honest shame.

   Shayne looked abashed. 

   “I see Banana is here! Is her human still here, too?” A different voice called from the gymnasium Banana had been walked into.

   “I’m afraid not, Y/n.” The receptionist replied as the worker from the gymnasium walked into the foyer. “He was dropped off by someone else today. And will be for the rest of this week, correct?”

   Shayne only nodded in reply. The receptionist seemed to think her job was done and walked off somewhere Shayne couldn’t see, not that he was bothering to look. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the person standing before him. They were wearing a leopard cat ear headband that had distracted him.

   The worker began to wring their hands together. “He won’t be here today? At all? Or this week? We were really looking forward to his help.” 

   “I’m sorry,” Shayne shrugged. “He’s on vacation. I’m dog-sitting Banana for him. That’s why she wasn’t here the last two days. Was it something monetarily? I can shoot him a quick text…”

   “Oh, no! Nothing like that! Please, don’t interrupt his vacation! It just kinda...sucks. He promised to help with renovating our playroom-slash-gymnasium. He was our first volunteer for it so we were hoping it was showing us his excitement and so we got excited...not too many of the pet parents volunteered…”The worker then sighed deeply while rubbing their forehead with both hands. 

   The actor noticed how distressed and let down they seemed. They must have been really looking forward to someone willing to come in on their own time and help out. Shayne didn’t like the idea that his friend promised to give time to help out and then just didn’t. He almost felt...responsible for the current situation. Not that he felt like he caused it...but that he had the opportunity to amend it. So he did what any responsible person would do.

   “Do you...I could help?”

   “Really?!” L/n clasped their hands together and looked like they could start jumping up and down at any point. Shayne offhandedly wondered if they learned any traits from the dogs they played with all day.

   “Yeah, I mean, I pick Banana up after work anyway. I could stop in and see if you guys still needed help? I don’t know what all I could do. But I could probably do something.” Shayne nodded as if trying to convince himself more than L/n.

   “Sweet home Alabama. That would be PERFECT.” They then pulled him into a big hug and then released him with a smile that seemed larger than what should be possible. “Awesome! AHHH!!! Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!”

   After solidifying what time he would be back to pick up Banana and check in on what they needed, the actor left for his work commute. He started up his car and texted his best friend. 

   Shayne: I just had a crazy time bringing Banana to daycare. I’ll be to        set... soon.

   Damien: You mean “late”?

   Shayne: Tomato tomahto.

   Filming half a month's worth of content in one day would always be exhausting to Shayne. No matter how long he had been doing his job, he was always exhausted after the long days of filming. The last thing Shayne wanted to do was put in more physical labor but he made a promise and breaking a promise was not something he did. So, when he made his way back into the care center, he made sure L/n knew he was there to do what they needed to get done. 

   “I’m so grateful you still came to help.” They mentioned while they moved the enrichment items from the big gym to a storage closet. “I know that the last thing anyone wants to do after a long work day is renovation work. But I’m very thankful, Shayne.”

   The man squinted. “You know, now that I think about it, I don’t think I told any of you my name.”

   Y/n seemed to be too busy, conveniently, to look him in the face. “Hm...yeah? Huh…”

   When he didn’t say anything after a minute the worker groaned. They turned back to face him and scratched at the back of their head and scrunched their face up. “I...might be a fan. Of YouTube. A few different things...SMOSH things…”

   “Oh, well I’m honored.” He gave them a smile as if to placate their worry. “I don’t really run into too many fans here in L.A. Not that I’m complaining. But it’s nice to hear every so often.”

   “My niece got me into it with one of your sketches and I’ve been hooked since. You guys do good work. She watches them on days when being a teenager is too hard and they make her feel better. So, thank you, I guess.” L/n giggled as they resumed putting things on shelves.

  Shayne followed suit and the two kept busy organizing the storage room while talking about everyday things. At some point, when Shayne called them “Miss/Mr L/n”, they corrected him.

  “You can just call me ‘Y/n’. We’re not in a terribly professional relationship, right? You’re just helping out in the storage room for a few hours.” They said as they climbed up the shelf to reach the top of another. “Plus, I’d really just like to hear you say my name.”

   Shayne wasn’t sure he heard them right until he noticed that they stopped moving altogether. 

   “Please tell me that I said that on the inside and not on the outside…”

   The man gave a small chuckle. “I can’t do that. I’m not good at lying.”

   Y/n threw their head back, gave a big sigh, and began to climb down the shelving unit. At some point though, their foot had somehow slipped on something and they felt their body not going where they wanted it to. They then braced themself for the impact of their back meeting the floor but it never came. There was the feeling of two hands on their back gently pressing them in the direction of the shelving unit. One of the two hands moved from the middle of their back to their lower back and they were helped down. 

   “Jesus, Y/n. Do you have a ladder so you don’t do that again?” Shayne asked as they turned towards him.

   The worker didn’t answer, but instead hugged him. “I’m so freaking scared of heights and that was terrifying. Oh my God, thank you.”

   “Yeah, of course.” Shayne gently patted them on the back. “I’m glad I was here to make sure you didn’t get hurt.”

   “My heart literally fell. I know it wasn’t that far off of the ground but I don’t even like step ladders like I just really don’t…” They finally looked up into his eyes and they locked. “Uh…”

   After realizing they had stopped communicating for a moment, they pulled apart awkwardly. Shayne took a step back and shoved his hands into his coat pockets and looked anywhere that wasn’t at them. “Right. Well…”

   Y/n blushed but smiled in a humored way. “Shall we work on moving in the bigger items? The tunnels that are back in the gym need to be broken down and put against that wall. It should only take a few minutes. We won’t need anything else done tonight.”

   Shayne nodded and the two began the last bit of work before Y/n could begin painting. This time the two didn’t talk as much as they stole glances at each other. Sometimes they’d look at the same time and end up smiling like teenagers seeing their class crush. The rest of the evening went on like that until the playroom was emptied. Y/n dusted their hands off together and stretched. 

   “So, you’re painting this whole gym alone? Or are the other workers helping?”Shayne looked around trying to figure out what their plans were.

   “Oh, heavens no. There are some small decorative details that need to be painted and then we’re going to have the floor deep cleaned. I’m going to go through the storage rooms, all of them, and see if there’s anything that needs to be tossed out or what needs to be fixed. It’ll help us plan our budget for next year. I’m super stoked. I want to get some new activities for the pups. OH!” They then jogged to where their phone was sitting on a chair and started swiping through it.

   Shayne watched as they bit her lip and quickly searched for something. They had then made their way back to him and was angling the phone almost in his. They began to share with him their thoughts on what to get to improve on the indoor activities and he observed as they got enthralled with what they were talking about. He didn’t really understand all of it but he noted how excited they got when explaining the puppy teeter totter on their pinterest board. The picture captured a pit bull that was basically smiling as he was mid climb. They also gushed about how they were suckered into the item because of the smile. 

  “I’m a sucker for smiling pitties. It’s a curse, really. I can’t stand it.”

  “I think it’s pretty neat how excited you’re getting over this. I can’t wait to see how it ends up. These dogs are so lucky to be here with you looking after them.” The blonde actor had somehow ended up with one of his arms on the workers waist. “They’re going to love it.”

 “Yeah?” They turned into him.

  “Oh, absolutely.” He brought his other arm up to meet them together.

   They bit their lip as she kept their gazes locked. “You promise?”

   He just nodded.

   “I think Banana is very ready to go home!” A voice called from the other end of the gymnasium.

   The two broke apart and Shayne gave a self conscious cough. “Right..uh...I’ll see you tomorrow when I drop off Banana, Y/n?”

   The worker just nodded in response, watching the man leave the care center with the leashed dog.

   After Shayne got Banana in the car and he himself was buckled in, he grasped the wheel and sighed with an emotion he wasn’t sure he could identify. He ran his hand through his blonde hair and started the car. Before he put the car in reverse, he looked into the mirror and noticed Banana looking at him from the backseat.

   “I know, Banana. I shouldn’t. I don’t have the time for a relationship or the energy most days.”

   The dog blinked.

   “Blink one more time if you think this is a bad idea. Blink two more times if you think it’s a good idea.

   Banana responded by laying down, not blinking at all. She seemed to be too tired for Shayne’s love life drama.

   “Same, girl. Same.” He put the car in reverse and made his way out of the parking lot.

   The next day started off in a hurry. Shayne was late to dropping off Banana, so he didn’t see Y/n at drop-off. Somehow, though, he was still late to work even though he didn’t have any distractions, pleasant or unpleasant. He wasn’t quite sure which category Y/n fell into.

   When he eventually arrived at work (Late two days in a row, Shayne? You can’t opt out of Eat It or Yeet It if you’re not here to put your vote in.), he went straight to set for a SMOSHcast recording. He knew he’d be clowned for being any amount of late so he didn’t let it bother him. He just put on the headphones and jumped right into it.

   Advicecasts had become something he really enjoyed doing. He didn’t fully understand why people kept asking them for help but he loved doing it. He felt like it was a time he could truly give back to fans in a different way. Different questions and situations went through the conversation and Shayne was proud of himself for not letting his thoughts drift off too far.

   “Alright, this next one is one a few of us could relate to.” Ian, his boss, began. “It reads ‘I have this amazing job that I can’t believe I have, it’s a dream come true. But lately I’ve been thinking about dating and having a partner, I know it’s something I want in the end. I try looking but time and energy isn’t something my job offers. What would you guys do in this position?’”

   Sarah and Damien both gave “ooooh’s”. 

   “Well,” the producer seemed to take a second to collect her thoughts. “I think it really has a lot to do with where do you want to put your energy? Where do you want it going? In the end, what would you rather have in your hands? Your dream job or your dream partner? It’s a hard question to ask and answer, but you’re truly the only person that can make that decision. Maybe you can balance the both of them and make it work. That’s the ideal situation. But it might not workout that way. Honestly you’ll never know until you try. You have to actually get out there to try to figure out what it is you want more.”

   Shayne hoped it wasn’t obvious, but it probably was, that he slightly checked out after Sarah’s input. He had disregarded dating in its entirety because of his job. He was constantly on set, or traveling, or working on other projects that he was blessed to book.There wasn’t a point where he thought he’d be able to enjoy a relationship fully. But maybe if he put in the effort...now that SMOSH was running smoother since his most recent relationship...maybe it’d be ok? 

   Shayne walked up to the receptionist during pick-up to let them know he was there. When no one was at the desk, he walked himself to the playroom where he didn’t expect to see what was before him. Some of the dogs were laying on their backs just hanging out, and Y/n was there with them. They were laying on their back, also, staring at the ceiling. The whole thing looked super chill and Shayne wanted to join in.

   Y/n turned their head in his direction as he laid next to them. Their arms almost touching, They gave a gentle smile and the actor returned it. He was very surprised that none of the dogs jumped up to meet him when he walked in. Wasn’t that what dogs did?

   “It’s nap time.” Y/n explained as if they could read his mind. “We’re promoting a calm environment after the excitement of finding a mouse in the courtyard earlier today. Things got a little cray, but now we’re enjoying some quiet time.”

   After a moment, Shayne just barely felt something touch his hand closest to Y/n. Once he recognized it as their fingers, he closed the distance and just held their hand. Sarah was right. Shayne needed to put his energy towards the things he wanted the most. And what he wanted the most was to see what he and Y/n could become. He just had to go for it.

#shayne topp x reader #shayne topp #smosh fanfic #smosh #smosh shayne #fluff #fluffierthanapillow #shaynetoppxreader #readerinsert #stressedshayne #workstress #gender neutral reader #gender neutral pronouns

[uponrightful]

Hi! I’ve just finished Welcome Company-it was so good, your writing is amazing! I have a question about one of the last scenes if that’s OK? Partly about Pups point of view, because a lot of what happened to her post Order 66 is clearly in her mind, but seems to read differently emotionally later if that makes sense? I’d also like to know why you decided to include the scene of Pup having to fight one last time. -RebelMedic99

“Wolffe! Please!” She sobbed through the pain and fear, whimpering when the kid pulled her own arm around her throat, locking in a chokehold she was unable to break from. He laughed dryly in her ear, yanking on her broken wrist to elicit another scream.

“He’s not coming back you little slut.” He fell into another fit of laughter, “And even if he did you’ll be so used he won’t even want to look at you.” His evil words cut right through her. She was already broken, and yet another piece was about to be taken, and smashed on the floor right in front of her. She felt the pain of his remarks, feeling just as useless as he’d appraised.

She wanted to fight anyways.

The pain in her wrist didn’t subside, but it wasn’t going to stop until she got his filthy hands off her. And without that blaster, she really didn’t have a chance at getting off the ship, or keeping the ship safe until Wolffe got back. She struggled to keep her breath even, fighting to pull her broken wrist out of his grasp so she could get free.

Think fast…

Get him off guard…

“You really want me?” She choked out, wincing from the abrasive words cutting at her tongue. If he was that young, there was a chance he’d fall for it and drop the -hopefully- act long enough for her to grab the upper hand.

“You’re a fucking slut! Already turning towards the closest man you can get in your pants!” He snarled, yanking her wrist again. The girl held back her cry, again repeating the question for him, praying it would make a bigger impact this time.

“I’ll behave. I promise.” She faked convincingly enough through her tears. The kid’s grip faltered just for a second before retaining its unflinching need to inflict pain again. Yet, by miracle, he released her wrist and stepped back with the blaster dropped down at his side. Miraculously, his anger suddenly disappeared, and a look of disbelief came over him.

“Pick me.” He ordered harshly, as she turned to face him.

Everything moved so quickly.

Commentary Track for Welcome Company

Copy 500 words -or more- of any of my fics and I’ll give my thoughts/rambles on what was going through my head -or the character’s- when I wrote it!

*send one in here*

This one is challenging, but we'll see if I can explain it without sounding like a complete dumbass... 😅

***

We'll start with addressing her emotional shift towards Order 66 first, and that will help set up the reasoning why she had this "last stand" at the end. (This won't be from her POV, it'll make things a little simpler.)

Pup's true knowledge of what Order 66 is comes in small bits and pieces after she flees Coruscant. It's obvious right away that something changed, but it's not for a really long time that she finds out that there might be something "unwilling" about the whole situation. In this time frame -of a couple years- she's actually left to her own devices and thought-process to make sense of it all. And a couple of years can really take a toll on someone's perception of what is really going on.

There is talk of manipulation, and how 'robotic' the clones are. All of it culminating in a bunch of half-assed theories as to why they suddenly have this unbending will for the Empire when they fought for the Republic for so long. (The bar fight Wolffe was in, is where I tried to explore this a little bit with the Cerean.) But Pup only hears rumors, and those weak excuses aren't enough to dissuade her fear of seeing troopers again. Because ultimatley, there are hundreds of them who'd been to her home, and in her mind, it's possible that they could come after her and punish her for that. It's not a realistic fear, but if you combine it with her last experience with a clone, it's one that would easily create a serious emotional trigger.

I meant for it to be a tad bit confusing when reading her emotions. Pup wants to love the clones -and she still does- but seeing one of them in real life would be fucking terrifying. Their sweet memories are always there, and she does her best to only think of those. However it's easy to be reminded of why she can't still see them, when she's living on a backwater planet to try and reassure herself that she'll never have to risk seeing a clone again. Because all of the love that they'd given her -in her mind- is completely gone the second she's shot by one.

And her entire being is damaged assuming that Wolffe is no different than the rest of them. Pup knows all the clones are acting this way, and Wolffe is really no exception. So even though she loves him dearly it's really scary when she sees him for the first time after all these years. Is he safe? Is there something still wrong with him? Does he want to take her with him, back to the Empire? These are all questions she has, because she's never seen a clone after Order 66 without a functioning chip.

The reason her change of heart is so sudden, is because Pup didn't let go of the good memories she had of her troopers. That integral part of her character is to forgive and be patient -even if she's been damaged by something or someone. Yes, she keeps it bottled up. But that was because she couldn't get rid of her base traits. You can't wholly change your personality very easily, and Pup never really wanted to in the first place. She was just forced to create this harder persona so she could survive. Then after Wolffe comes back, and he's painstakingly careful in trying to prove that he's not under influence any longer, it makes that desire to care for him -like she's always had- come back much smoother.

(It's a continuity error that I never gave a proper scene dedication to it; But I did have a draft that included an Order 66 conversation with Rex and Pup during that scene in Chapter 14.)

I chose not to include it because I wanted someone to focus on Pup's traumas faced during the transition period of planet-hopping. It might sound cruel of me to not include his struggles, but they've been covered so many times in other fics, that I gave the assumption my "Initial Implementation" scene and "Chip Removal Scene" would be emotionally sympathetic and exploratory enough of how Wolffe felt during and after, without needing to express it to you directly. Not to mention, after Pup and Wolffe are reunited, she's not stupid enough to not infer that it was against his will. She quite frequently notes throughout that his guilty looks and hesitancy to make physical contact with her are very noticeable and telling of how he feels about his time with the Empire.

All of this said, now her fight scene:

Right before they leave the cabin, she's feeling a little loss of home. But really, Pup never had too much of an attachment to her house on Takodana in the first place. What's really getting her emotional at this point is the realization that she finally has Wolffe back. It's security she's wanted this whole time, and although the boys aren't letting her help with the bounty, she's willing to do whatever they want because she understands that they've got the experience here. Plus, she's really not physically able to do a whole lot after her slight hypothermia exposure.

I wanted her weak for this: Emotionally, physically, mentally. It had to be that way for a reason.

Until this point, Pup hasn't ever shown a real motivation to fight for anything, other than making the trip to the outpost to save her friend. BUT. That's risking herself to save someone else. Pup has never done anything for her own benefit, without it being equally helpful for someone else. Even when she got Wolf, it wasn't just for herself. Iahcen was getting something out of it as well.

I know it's cliche, but her last moments alone on that ship waiting was where her character development needed to reach and end. Because I made the overarching plot of fighting for love, but I needed that same lesson to be learned in-story, as well to round it out. It had to be Pup, because she's been running this whole time. Wolffe can't learn it, because he's been fighting the entire time.

The kid is a symbol of kindness not being returned. This is key, because Pup has always been nice -even when she didn't need to be. And he attacks her for that. He comes in as the tool to show her that being kind doesn't always work; And sometimes you have to stand against something, instead of running or letting someone run over her. I also made certain to have the kid attack Wolffe's character. This was essential, because Pup has nothing else she wants to fight for. Wolffe has always been her one essential thing, and he was what made her realize that being a little selfish and desiring something isn't a bad thing. This kid is a product of her sympathetic nature, and he's willingly insulting and threatening her chance at having the one thing Pup has always wanted.

Pup needed fight or flight, and the only time her 'fight mode' kicks in, is when she realizes there's something she wants. On Coruscant, she had nothing, so she ran. Pup wanted to live for Wolffe, in the hopes that he might still be alive, and that was the first time her fight response kicked in. Then her friend was in danger of dying, that was the second time she chose to fight.

Her love and security in Wolffe was being threatened, and that was Pup's final character development, and why she needed this fight scene without Wolffe -or anyone else's assistance- in the matter.

***

I hope this wasn't garbage 😅 and I explained it decently... If not, please let me know. I'll do anything I can to answer your questions!

Much Love, Rightful 🤍

#commentary track #welcome company #commander wolffe #Pup #uponrightful #uponrightfulwrites