#trying to color this gave me hives so this is only like half of the movie

[entities-of-posts]

I had a dream that I was at a military base of some sort that was trying to contain a few hundred moths in a somewhat elaborate safe system. Someone who had either somehow made contact with the moths or was just really desperate to free them released them into the facility. There was a specialized task force of about 30 people who were supposed to be trained to stop the moths if they got out, but they weren't actually trained on it so they weren't sure what to do, and about half of them were "corrupted" by the moths - the moths would land on or in the person, and the person would suddenly be extremely loyal to the moths and seemingly understand their goals and desires, taking those goals and desires on as their own.

I was with one of the head scientists who told me that there was a certain substance (a gas? silly string? air horns? it was unclear, but it was in small cans) that would get rid of the moths and their effect, but that the main stash had mysteriously disappeared, probably because of whoever released the moths. However, there was a small secret stash under a crate somewhere that we were able to get to, and I was able to pass out the cans to the folks who weren't corrupted.

By the time things seemed like they'd died down, I had one can left. I didn't think anyone else was corrupted anymore (because it was usually fairly obvious when they were), so I gave it to someone who had been asking for cans the whole time but didn't have the experience to get into the fray of things since they weren't on that specialized task force. The look she had once the can was in her hands made me realize that not only was she likely corrupted, but I was suddenly certain that she had been the one to release the moths in the first place. And for a split second before I woke up, the perspective of the dream changed and I was her, and I was going to help the moths get to everyone in that facility then let them out into the world, because they were beautiful and because they loved me so deeply and unconditionally that I couldn't think of anything else.

I still have a very clear image of the moths in my head, a huge swarm of hundreds of fuzzy white wings. I also remember what it looked like when someone else was corrupted by them - their skin would immediately turn much paler, trying to imitate the coloring of the moths. The moths would be all over the person, usually just crawling over them and whatnot, but sometimes I'd see one climb out of a mouth or something. The corrupted folks had a certain euphoric look in their eyes, and their movements were more erratic than normal.

And from that split second, I remember very clearly how it felt to be part of that hive as well.

The Corruption, of course - don’t you long for that love again? That connection?

#oneiric studies #the corruption

[sparklyslug]

tiiiiiiiime ago we talked about eddie finally graduating and not having much money, therefore not having anything nice to wear for the ceremony and he pretends not to care bc fuck school but steve knows that he really does care and takes it upon himself to finally spend the money he’s been saving up on buying eddie something to wear for graduation and giving it to him as a surprise the night before. so u should write that and u should make me cry. thank u. (bonus points if this is pre them actually getting together bc that’ll make me cry even more)

Eddie rests his hips back against the porch railing, crossing his arms over his chest and hoping to shit he looks cool doing it. Wishes he had his leather jacket, but it’s fucking June and that thing has been put all the way through “cool” and right into “post-apocalyptic.” 

He’s kept it, though. Because it’s one of the few things he has that are really his– most of his clothes were casualties of half his fucking house getting ripped through an evil alternate universe. What he’s got now is a loose assembly of things that have been borrowed, or picked up from bins at the high school, or foisted on him by some teenager. He’s never worn so many shades of pastel in his life, and he’s pretty sure they’re giving him actual hives. 

Anyway. He doesn’t feel cool. In this borrowed shirt with stripes and the kind of collar he’d never fucking choose to wear, standing in front of Steve Harrington. King of Cool. Who wears everything that's ever touched his body like it was meant to be there. Even, most memorably, most frustratingly, most deliciously, Eddie’s own battle vest. Steve gave it back to him, but swear to god Eddie doesn’t think it even fits him anymore. Like it had permanently and lovingly reshaped itself around Steve’s back and shoulders.

Eddie kind of gets it. 

“I’ll let you get back to your party in a second,” Steve is saying, while Eddie tries not to look too obviously at his back and shoulders. “I just wanted to, you know. Give you something.”

That brings Eddie back to Earth. “You didn’t have to do that,” he mutters, ducking his head and hoping Steve can’t see anything as mortifying as a blush. 

“Hey, you only graduate from high school once,” Steve says with a grin, stepping close to knock his elbow against Eddie’s. And then steps back again, sorrow of sorrows. 

“Well, that’s what they say about senior year too, and look what happened,” Eddie says. And steps close to knock his elbow against Steve’s in return, because he can’t help himself. But then also steps back, because he’s actually trying to. 

“Right, fine, so if you have another graduation, I’m not getting you shit for that one,” Steve huffs in annoyance, rolling his eyes. “Get over here, man.”

And he pulls a small, flat box out of his back pocket, offers it to Eddie with a grin. 

Eddie makes a goofy ooh hoo hoo eager noise and rips into it with a grin. He’s not expecting–well, he doesn’t know what he was expecting. But the grin falls off his face a little, when he tosses the lid to the side and sees–

“I know you think it’s probably some like. Corporate bullshit, or whatever,” Steve is saying, suddenly at Eddie’s elbow, an unaccountably nervous quiver in his voice. “But tomorrow’s a big day, and there’s nothing wrong with something a little uh. A little special. Right?”

It’s a tie. It’s a deep burgundy tie, shiny and silky in the light of the porch. It’s dotted with small black shapes, and when Eddie brings it close to his face, trying to make it out in the dim light, he can see they’re little flowers. Like, daisies or something. Black ones. 

Eddie’s throat, weirdly, closes up. And all at once he’s trying not to cry, as he slowly traces a fingertip over the soft (so soft!) weave of the tie, lifting it to wind it between his fingers. 

So he doesn’t immediately register that Steve, next to him, is absolutely freaking out. 

“--color could be all wrong, Wayne just said you were wearing a white button down and I thought, uh, figured that would match,” Steve is saying, when Eddie finally tunes back in. “And the flowers were just– I thought they were nice, not like, I wasn’t trying to say anything weird with it, I just kind of thought like. Black flowers, that’s funny. That’s Eddie. Not! Not like you’re funny. I mean. You are funny, but I didn’t–”

“Whoa now,” Eddie says with a laugh, somehow dares to put a hand out to rest on Steve’s shoulder. “Don’t pull a muscle there Harrington. It’s great”

“Oh,” Steve says. Grimacing, like maybe he did actually pull something. “Shit. I was worried.”

“Wow, really?” Eddie says, deadpan. “Never would have guessed.”

“Fuck you,” Steve says easily, with a small smile. Shakes his head, and steps back, away from Eddie’s touch. “So, anyway. Congratulations, Eddie. That’s all I wanted to say.”

The hand that had just been on Steve’s shoulder is cold, where it’s dropped back down to his side. And the one with the tie wrapped around it feels like the fabric is warming in his hand, picking up his heartbeat. 

“I don’t, uh,” Eddie clears his throat. “I’ve never tied one of these before. Can you show me?” And then he has to take a second to reflect on how, wow. He’s fucking brave huh?

Steve steps back in, looking kind of relieved, and slides the tie out of his hand. “Sure, man. No problem.”

Eddie is suddenly so very happy with this weird, loser polo shirt that used to belong to someone at least a size and a half bigger than he is. Because it’s got the kind of collar Eddie would never wear, the kind of collar Steve is currently threading a tie through. Eddie bows his head a little, so Steve can get it across the back of his neck, and also so Steve doesn’t see the way his eyes flutter closed at the brush of fingertips against his hair. 

He looks up when Steve’s hands are in front of him again, Steve’s gaze intent as he starts working his way through some bizarre series of loops and knots, making tiny noises of triumph or annoyance, based on progress or setbacks that Eddie can’t really understand. But then, he’s not even remotely paying attention. 

He loves to see Steve like this. Focused. Eyes on the prize. Man on a mission. But to see Steve like this, and in any way even remotely focused on Eddie? Shit, man. Fuck the tie, Steve doesn’t even know the kind of gift he’s giving him right now. 

“I normally do this on myself,” Steve admits with a self-deprecating chuckle. “Kind of hard from this angle. I keep thinking of how to do it like. Backwards and reverse.”

Eddie clears his throat. “I’ve been thinking about it,” he says. “And this is actually, pretty sure, the only thing I own that’s really mine.”

Steve doesn’t look at him, but his hands slow down, resting for a second high on Eddie’s chest. 

“I’ve got shit from the donation bin, I’ve got hand me downs. I’ve got clothes from dead people which is, uhh. You’d think it would be kind of metal? Actually mostly it’s. Not. But this–”

He brings up his hand, presses it over both of Steve’s, and the tie beneath it. Silky and smooth, still a little cool to the touch under Steve’s warm hands. 

“This is all mine,” Eddie says, quietly. “And it’s from you.”

Steve’s hands go still. And then press flat, slowly, over Eddie’s chest. 

“I could,” Steve swallows, brings his eyes up at last to meet Eddie’s. “I could tie it on myself, then loosen it so you can put it on over your head.”

Eddie lifts a hand, slides it gently through Steve’s hair. “Sure,” he says distantly. “Sounds good.”

Steve’s hands tighten around the tie and reel him in. And makes an incredible noise of surprise right against Eddie’s lips, like he wasn’t the one who pulled Eddie close, who’s sliding his tongue into Eddie’s mouth, as Eddie gets both hands around that perfect denim-wrapped ass and pulls Steve in, staggering back a little against the wall. 

If Eddie gets another graduation, yeah. The bar for congratulatory presents just officially got impossibly high.

#YESSSSS TY FOR THE PROMPT #steddie as she goes boys #my fic #asks #prompts #stranger things fic #mop

[ashleyfableblack]

A little more Happy Hearts N Hooves Day love for my favourite interspecies royal couple in Equestria. Big Love to all y'all out there.

Twilight removed her hooves from Chrysalis's tightly-shut eyes. With a bounce of her wings the alicorn hopped down from her perch on her Changeling wife's shell. Twilight had been so excited. Her joy was infectious and Chrysalis had been helpless but to indulge her precious little queen. She had blindly carried the giggling little lavender object of her affection through their castle on a playful lark. The couple had awkwardly trekked under Twilight's blind navigation for the last hour or so. Though she recognized the familiar scent of the Hive-tunnels beneath the castle something else tinged the air, another less familiar scent. It was faint and heavily masked under the overpowering taste of her wife's excitement. "Can I look now, Lilac?" "No peeking!" Twilight clambered over the side of the gilded box and positioned herself with a playful wiggle of her plot and a coy smile. She fluffed her mane and giggled gleefully. One last minute adjustment to the golden band around her neck, a little puffing-up of her chest floof and... perfect. "Okay, now." Chrysalis opened her emerald snake's eyes to behold the 'surprise' she'd been listening to her alicorn wife titter about for the last hour or so. There she sat, perched with a million-watt ear-to-ear grin and reeking of enough joyful anticipation to choke a colossal-scaled molerat in what the Changeling Queen could only describe as a vulgar pink monstrosity. She blinked, taking it all in. A new minecart. Twilight did love her minecarts. Clearly not designed for functionality, the bright pink thing was trimmed in soft lavender and cerise gemstones with gold lining and solid amethyst accents. The wheels even had a smokey bronze finish to them, trimmed in platinum. Somepony had put a fair amount of bits into the gaudy catastrophe. She liked the "LUVWAGON" license plate. The cheeky little lesbian-flag love-heart bumpersticker suited her sensibilities as well. The color scheme almost seemed tailored to Twilight's own coat but still, something seemed off. With a flick of her forked tongue to taste the air she confirmed her suspicions. It smelled like Cadence. Twilight's smile beamed expectantly to her from the nightmarish thing. "Isn't it GREAT?" "Great...?" Chrysalis struggled for the words, trying her best to focus on her pony partner's joy and contain her revulsion. Twilight ran a proud hoof along the gold trim. "It's a gift from Cadence. I think it's her way of saying she's sorry for upsetting you at tea the other day." "Oh. How nice..." Though she bared her fangs in a congratulatory smile, the venom dripped from every word. "She insults me- our children- and buys you a new minecart." She gave a half-sneer. "Hurrah." Twilight leaned forward to rest on her elbows. She gave an empathetic smile for her wife. "She's trying, honeybug. She just doesn't understand you... or Changelings... or our relationship in general for that matter."

Chrysalis grumbled and rubbed at her temple. "Beloved, I know she's your friend and your brother's wife and mother to our royal niece- booger-picking little goblin that she is." Twilight chuckled as Chrysalis rolled her eyes, her tone relaxed slightly. "I try to tolerate her for your sake -and then some- but you know how I feel about her antics and why."

"I know, Chryssi." Twilight's eyes softened. She knew her wife was trying to be accommodating. "She doesn't understand, though, baby. She just wants to be your friend." Chrysalis muttered under her breath and looked away. Twilight clapped a hoof on the side of the cart like she was an excited Applejack showing off a new wagon. "Besides, I thought you might want to help me take it for a spin and break it in." Chrysalis looked to her wife askance as she picked at a bit of moss on the passageway wall. "Thank you, for the offer, beloved but you know how that went the last time we went on one of your cart joyrides together. The things hardly seem to be designed with my body in mind." She clicked a fang at her chitinous lip, recalling the unpleasant event. "I know you had a ball but I spent most of the trip banging about on my shell. I was picking dust and pebbles out of my tarsomeres for days." She gave her hoof a disgruntled waggle, displaying the broken-heart shape of their underside. "Weeeeell..." Twilight's voice took on a sing-song mischievous, honeyed tone as she tapped her hooves against the rim and took a silent measurement of her bughorse wife's proportions. " I was thinking there's more than one way to break in a minecart, you know..." Chrysalis looked up. Her serpentine eyes now wide as serving trays at rapt attention. Twilight lay back and spread her wings over the sides of the cart. Her mane began to flow and coil as the unfathomable power within her rose. The navy mass with it's single band of cerise and mallow grew into an inky cloud as tendrils came alive and lapped about at the air. They beckoned to Chrysalis as charming serpents. The starlight sparkles glittering from her wife's deep indigo tresses danced and teased for all the world like nighttime stars reflected across waves of the ocean. At the center of it all, Twilight's violet eyes narrowed, suddenly heavy-lidded in sweet seduction, calling to her wife. Summoning her closer. Commanding. "Honeybug...?" she purred.

Chrysalis's smile returned in a long, slow, hungry smirk as all thoughts of past events and in-laws vanished. Her tongue flickered at the air with the rumbling growl building in her barrel.

"My queen."

Everything else drifted into the ether. She considered the thought- Maybe she might like minecarts after all.

#my art #mlp g4 #mlpfim #hearts and hooves day #twisalis #twilight sparkle #queen chrysalis #love #romance #lgbtq #lesbian #marriage #eternal courtship #ashleyfableblack #valentines

[peachygifs]

kiana  madeira  in  fear  street,  part  one:  1994     /     by  clicking  here,  using  my  directory,  or  following  the  source  link,  you  will  find  one  hundred  and  seventy  six  (  176  )  gifs  from  this  movie.  all  gifs  are  made  from  scratch  and  should  not  be  edited  without  asking  first.  please  like  and  reblog  if  you  found  these  helpful  or  plan  to  use  them.

#kiana madeira gif hunt #kiana madeira gif pack #gif hunt #gif pack #rph #rpc #gifsociety #kiana madeira gifs #* mine. #* gif hunt. #trying to color this gave me hives so this is only like half of the movie #but i may come back to finish the other half eventually

[arvandus]

The Sound of Silence (18+ Aizawa x Fem!Reader)

Pairing: Aizawa x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: After once again being stood up for a date at your favorite jazz club, you decide to give up dating entirely in favor of watching and fantasizing about your favorite jazz musician, Aizawa Shouta.  You had assumed you’d never meet him face to face.  You had assumed that he didn’t even know you existed.  You’re about to learn that your assumptions are wrong.

Warnings: 18+ ONLY/NSFW; reader wears a sexy black dress (minimally described); minor sexual harassment; slow build; praise kink (if you squint); hand kink (probably); fingering; ‘baby’ petname.

Special Note:  A few days late, but here’s my contribution to the BNHarem January Collab ‘Making Beautiful Music’ posted by @kingexpl0sionmurder​​. It was supposed to be a oneshot, but this particular piece got a mind of its own and will at least have a sequel. If we’re all really lucky, it may become a multichapter series in the far and distant future, when my life is less crazy (I have ideas, ok??).  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this fic!

Word Count: 9486

Recommended Song: No specific song at the moment, but this was what I listened to while writing this.

Lesson 1

It was crowded tonight, the air of the small club Midnight hot and heavy with the scent of cigar smoke and booze. The noise of conversations and laughing voices filled the air like the buzzing of a hive, as bodies mingled about like busy bees, each looking for their own bit of nectar.  Some looking to win romance.  Some looking to win money.  While others were simply winning by enjoying the company of friends.  Their movements were carried on the music that filled the space, upbeat jazz played by a three-person band.  It was comforting in its familiarity, developed over multiple visits – some with friends, some with coworkers, and some with potential love interests.

You sat at the bar, a drink held protectively in your hand as your eyes searched.  You checked your phone for messages but found none.  It’d been a full twenty minutes and you were pretty sure by this point that your date wasn’t going to show up.  It was supposed to be your first date in over a month, and you’d had high hopes for it - you’d clicked well with the person on your dating app (or so you thought), talking over the course of a couple of weeks before finally deciding to meet. So tonight, you’d put in a little extra effort into your appearance, donning a black dress that showed off your curves and putting careful attention into your makeup.

Damn. You were genuinely interested in this one.

You sent them a quick text in the hopes that you’d get a response.  Give them an extra ten minutes… You thought. Maybe they were caught in traffic or something.

But by the time you hit the 45-minute mark with no messages, you’d officially given up.  A half-hearted sigh fell past your painted lips. You weren’t really too surprised by this point.  You’d been having terrible luck in the dating scene for a while now.  Sometimes it was them.  Sometimes it was you.  But for whatever reason, each attempt ended in failure.

Oh well. It was likely for the best.  At least you would be able to enjoy the rest of your evening in solitude instead of enduring a potentially disastrous date.  And as for your attire, it certainly didn’t hurt to feel sexy, even if you had no one to share it with.

You loved this place. The atmosphere, the music… you’d even managed to make friends with the bartender Hizashi to the point that he’d walk you to your car on the nights that you stayed until closing.

Your eyes scanned around the room, observing.  Wooden tables littered the main floor, where small lit candles cast yellow light on observing faces, eyes trained on the musicians.  Booths lined along the far wall, filled mostly with men who puffed cigars over a game of cards, their raucous laughter carrying through the din.  Closer to the bar was an arrangement of tall, round tables with matching bar height chairs. A group of women, likely on a ladies’ night out, filled the table closest to you, taking shots and laughing, their heels perched on the rungs.  Waiters zigzagged their way through the crowd with expert precision, platters held high with drinks and snacks, while patrons milled about, waiting for an open table.

And, of course, there was the stage itself, where the jazz band finished their final piece before collecting their instruments and leaving the small stage.  All that was left from their departure was a black baby grand piano, property of the club.  Your pulse quickened as you checked your watch.  Was it that time already?

Not a moment later, there he was.  Long, black, wavy hair pulled back into a half ponytail, the hint of a 5 o’ clock shadow dusting his jawline and framing his lips.  He was dressed in simple clothes, as always… a black v-neck shirt with the sleeves pushed halfway up his forearms and dark jeans.  He entered the stage without so much a glance towards the busy room, instead making his way to the piano with his hands in his pockets. He sat down and from your position at the bar, you could barely see his long fingers arrange themselves at the keys, gently curled.

As soon as he began to play, the mood in the club shifted slightly from buzzing to relaxing.  The flow of his fingers across the keys drew a lazy melody reminiscent of rainy days and hot coffee; of snuggling under warm blankets, feet intertwined with a lover who danced their fingers across your skin, gently tickling your flesh the way his fingers tickled those keys.

Aizawa Shouta.

Of course you knew his name. The first time you’d heard him play, you’d felt weightless, your body going numb as every sensation coalesced into your chest like the forming of a star.  The question of his identity had fallen from your lips before you’d even realized it, and it had been Hizashi who’d answered you, a chuckle on his lips.

Fuck.  It felt like he was making love to you through the notes, each key meticulously selected like a carefully-worded love letter. It made your palms sweat against your glass, your breath hitching in your throat as that familiar sensation took you over, holding you hostage.

This.  This was probably why none of the people you dated ever seemed to work out.  You’d tried… God, you’d tried… some of them were nice, good people.  But you couldn’t help but search for that feeling – this feeling – each time you met someone new.  And every single time it fell short. It was an impossible standard, an invisible bar that no one was able to jump.  Deep down you knew this, yet you couldn’t figure out how to let it go. It was just music, right? Played by a handsome man who didn’t even know you existed.  But you didn’t want to let go of this feeling, to settle for someone that made you feel only an inkling of what he made you feel.  Or worse, to let it go and be left with emptiness.

You had no solutions. You were trapped in Aizawa’s maze of music, unwilling to find your way out as his notes weaved a cage around your heart.

You lost yourself to his melody, the club around you fading away.  Time lost its meaning as you watched his hands dance along the keys, his fingers nimble.  His half-lidded eyes were fixed on the instrument before him, his expression neutral.  To anyone else watching, he would look almost bored; but you’d seen him play often enough that you’d grown accustomed to reading the nuances of his body language, even across the smoky haze.  You knew his look of boredom was really a look of focus as he submerged himself in his art, his hands playing on instinct, a direct link between what he felt and what he expressed.

He loved what he did.

And you loved watching.

Hizashi’s voice interrupted your hypnosis.  “Another night solo, huh?”

You took a look at the bartender as he prepped some cocktails for some waiting patrons.  He had his wire-framed spectacles on again, the orange tinted ones, the color visible from the white backlight of the bar. His long blonde hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and he wore a pinstriped shirt adorned with a black waistcoat.

You chuckled and took a sip of your drink. “It wasn’t supposed to be.”

“You got stood up again?” You shrugged and Hizashi shook his head slightly.  “If they ain’t willing to show up, then they ain’t worth your time.”

“Probably more like the other way around, don’t ya think?” you replied wryly.

Hizashi scoffed. “Don’t let them get to you. They don’t know what they’re missing.”

You grinned and set your glass down.  “Are you flirting with me, Hizashi?”

He grinned back and winked at you through his spectacles.  “Always, darlin’.”

You chuckled and returned your eyes to the stage. “It’s okay…” you said thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s time I stopped trying.”

“Mhm…” Hizashi watched you stare at Aizawa and he raised an eyebrow.  “Y’know, I can get you an introduction if you’d like…”

“What??”

“Don’t play coy with me, darlin’.  You know who I’m talking about.  If you want to meet him, I can introduce you to him. We’re good friends, he and I. Known each other for years.” He commented.

You weren’t surprised by this news… you’d seen Aizawa join Hizashi at the bar on rare occasions after his performance was done.  But you’d always been occupied at a table with company when it happened. 

Watching him from a distance was one thing.  But actually meeting him?  Up close? Where you couldn’t hide your girlish infatuation?

You felt your pulse quicken with dread, heat flooding your body.  “No, it’s okay.  I wouldn’t want to inconvenience him.”

Hizashi gave you a skeptical look over the rim of his glasses before he shrugged. “Suit yourself, darlin’.”

The blonde stepped away, a new group of customers hollering for his attention.  You took a large gulp of your drink hoping it would quell your nerves at the thought of meeting the man on stage.  No. You definitely didn’t want to meet him.  The last thing you needed was for your interaction with him to be a dud just like it was with all the others, destroying your own secret little fantasy. He was handsome to look at.  And you fantasized about his skilled hands when you were in the quiet of your bedroom. But that was all it was; just harmless daydreams over someone you didn’t really know or plan to get to know. Besides, if you’d ever thought you had a chance with him, you certainly wouldn’t be trying to meet people through a dating app.

Gradually the time ticked by as you enjoyed watching the dark-haired man play, Hizashi stopping in to check on you from time to time and place fresh drinks in front of you.  You were content for the time being, enjoying the steady buzz you were maintaining as you enjoyed the ambiance.  Occasionally you people watched or engaged in conversation with Hizashi when he wasn’t busy… but for the most part, you relaxed as you observed the raven-haired pianist, letting his music ease the tension in your shoulders as the alcohol warmed your bones.

A few hours later, as you were busy talking with Hizashi, the final note on the piano rang out, signaling the end of Aizawa’s shift.  The sudden silence hit you like a bucket of ice water, and your eyes darted towards the stage, your heart pumping panic through your veins.  You had planned to leave just before his shift ended, just to make sure you didn’t run into him.  Maybe it was the daydreaming, or the conversations with Hizashi, or the alcohol... but you’d lost track of time.  Now you could only watch and wait to see where he’d end up, hoping beyond hope that he’d disappear like he usually did.  Only rarely did he linger for a drink.  What were the odds, right?

Tonight was one of those rarities, and you held your breath, your posture going rigid, as he sat himself a mere two seats away from you.  He never once looked at you, instead, addressing Hizashi.

“Old Fashioned.” He requested, his voice deep.  It sent a shiver down your spine as the blood in your veins turned molten.  You knew instantly that that sound was now committed to memory.

“Do you even need to ask?” Hizashi replied with a grin as he slid the drink to him.

You disciplined your eyes to stare at your own drink as if it’d open up a portal for you to escape through. But as much as you struggled to control yourself, the simple gesture of Aizawa reaching for his drink made you break eye contact with your own. Your eyes caught how his fingers circled around his glass, long and surprisingly manicured.  You couldn’t help but watch as he brought the drink up to his lips to take a sip, and from there your gaze followed the curve of his mouth, the stubble that framed it, his jawline, his eyes…

Your eyes made contact with his briefly and you quickly looked back down at your drink, your heart pounding in your chest.

Shit.  He caught you staring.

You took a couple of deep swigs, forcing the alcohol down your tight throat, letting the burn of it act as a punishment for your violation. This. This was why you didn’t want to meet him.  No words had even been shared yet and you were already making a fool of yourself.

“Long night?” Hizashi asked him.  In the background, the next performer entered the stage and began to play, and you couldn’t help but strain your ears over the music to listen for Aizawa’s answer.

“I’ve had worse…” Aizawa replied.  “You?”

“Busy, but I’m in good company at least.” Hizashi replied.  Your heart pounded in your chest as your fingers tightened around your glass.  Your eyes darted up to lock with the bartender’s and you caught him smirking at you, his small, pointed mustache following the curve of his upper lip. 

He wouldn’t…

Suddenly another customer called for him from the other end of the bar.  “Duty calls, friend.  Be back in a sec.”

And just like that, you were left alone with him.  Aizawa. Your mind froze as it warred with itself between actually talking with him or grabbing your things and running away. Surely Hizashi would understand, right? And you could always pay back your tab later.   You took another deep gulp of alcohol in the hopes that it’d burn away some of your cowardice. 

Before you could so much as open your mouth, the unwelcome sensation of an unfamiliar hand on the curve of your back made your body go rigid, every muscle poised to fight.  A second later, the scent of hot breath laced in the stench of alcohol choked the air around you as an unfamiliar man slid into the open seat between you and the object of your affection.

“Hey there beautiful…” he slurred.  “You’ve been by yourself all night… you in need of some company?”

You covered your hand over your glass and shifted away from him slightly, your demeanor cold.  “No.”

“Aw, c’mon doll… don’t be like that…” he grinned.  “You don’t come here dressed like that for no good reason…”

The man’s hand was still on your back, its presence making your skin crawl.  It made the fog of your buzz lifting slightly, your senses suddenly heightened in the presence of a potential threat.  Your eyes searched frantically for Hizashi.  He had a way of handling drunken idiots.  But he was stuck at the other end of the bar still, a drunk woman trying desperately hard to flirt with him. 

You were on your own, and this creep clearly wasn’t taking no for an answer. Your brain started to fabricate worst-case scenarios and planning for them, a million options running through your mind.  Screaming. Throwing your drink in his face.  A well-placed kick to his shin.  Your pepper spray.

Your free hand slipped into your purse, fingers closing around you’re the plastic cylinder.  The feel of it gave you a sense of security, even if it might be a last resort.  You didn’t really want to use it, especially with Aizawa sitting behind him… you never had to use it before, and you couldn’t guarantee your accuracy, especially in such a tight space.

You watched from the corner of your eye as the man’s free hand reached forward to grasp your own that covered your drink, and your grip around the cylinder tightened, a warning beginning to fall from your lips.  But your words were cut short as the man’s hand was suddenly grabbed by familiar, long fingers and bent back at an uncomfortable angle that made the drunk cry out.

“Hey! What the hell?!” the man demanded.

Aizawa took a casual sip of his drink with his free hand while maintaining his grip on the offender, before pinning him with a dangerous glare.  “She said no.”

The man’s hand left your back as he struggled to free himself from Aizawa’s grip. “Let go!”

“First you will apologize to her.” Aizawa ordered.

The man sputtered.  “For what?!”

You watched in shock as Aizawa’s eyes narrowed.  His thumb positioned itself on a digit and began pushing it slowly backward.

“For touching her without permission.  For insinuating that her attire makes it acceptable for you to ignore her boundaries. For being a disgusting pig.”

With each statement, he pushed the finger back farther and farther, until the man was buckling to his knees under the pressure in an attempt to alleviate the pain and prevent the digit from breaking.

“Ow ow ow! Okay!  I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” The man begged.

Aizawa held him for a moment longer before finally releasing him. “Good.  Now get out.”

The man scurried away until he was out of reach before turning around to glare daggers at him.  “Hey, fuck you man!”  He shouted.  But for all of his drunken bravado, he stormed out of the club clutching his sore hand to his chest, as heads turned to watch him leave.

The hum of voices within the club fell silent for a moment, with only the band continuing their music. After the front door closed, the noise of people chattering slowly returned, countless sets of eyes turning back to their tables.  Aizawa turned his gaze back to you, the lethal look gone from his dark eyes.

“You okay?”

You nodded mutely, swallowing the dryness in your throat as your sweaty hand released the pepper spray in your purse.  Sensations warred within you, momentarily leaving you a confused mess.  The speed at which he came to your defense and his willingness to resort to violence on your behalf fueled a carnal need you didn’t even realize you had.  But even as hot arousal pooled deep in your gut, your heart still raced from the threat that had been quickly neutralized.

His eyes caught the movement of something over your shoulder and he cursed. “Shit.”

“SHOuTA!” Scolded a feminine voice.

He turned back to his drink, hunching his shoulders. “I told her not to call me that in public.” Aizawa muttered under his breath.

You spun on your stool to see the owner of the bar, Nemuri Kayama approaching, clad in a deep purple business suit with a dangerously low-cut black blouse. She was next to you in a matter of seconds, a cloud of strong perfume enveloping you as she snatched Aizawa’s drink from his hand as he began to raise it to his lips.

“What the hell was that?!” She demanded.  “What makes you think you can attack my customers like that?”

“Your customer was harassing this customer.” Aizawa pointed out.

Nemuri looked at you with her lavender eyes as if seeing you for this first time and paused in her verbal assault.

“Is this true?” She asked you.

She had a presence about her that instantly made you find your voice again.

“He was being handsy and wasn’t taking no for an answer.” You confirmed.

“Can I have my drink back now?” Aizawa asked.

She stared back and forth between the two of you for a moment before slamming the glass down in front of him, half of the contents spilling over the side. “Ugh. Fine.  But next time ask for one of my bouncers.  Or Hizashi.  Or me. Anyone but you.”

Aizawa’s mouth curled with a sly grin as he wiped at the spill with a napkin.  “And why is that?”

“Because you scare away customers.” She growled.

Aizawa stared into his drink, swirling its remaining contents.  “Well maybe you need better customers.” He took a sip.

“I’ll take whoever is willing to pay.  Unfortunately for you, this club doesn’t survive off of chivalry.”  She crossed her arms.  “Besides… it’s less about losing that drunken idiot and more about losing those who saw you almost break his hand.”

“I wasn’t going to break his hand.  I was going to break his finger.” Aizawa said.

You stifled a chuckle with a bite of your lip.

Nemuri rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.  “Don’t try to make it sound like that makes it any better.  And you!” She pointed at Hizashi, who had conveniently shown up not a minute before.  “You know better than to leave him alone like this!”

“I can either be a bartender or a babysitter, love.  I can’t do both.” Hizashi replied as he polished a glass.

 Nemuri grumbled under her breath before turning her gaze back to you. “I apologize for Aizawa’s violent behavior.” “Oh I didn’t mind…” you confessed with a small smile, and you could feel Aizawa’s eyes flicker to you briefly.

 “And I apologize for the inappropriate customer. Alcohol is no excuse for harassment.  I guarantee he won’t be returning to this club any time soon.” She looked at Hizashi.  “Get her a fresh drink.”  

 “Already on it…” He replied, sliding a new glass to you and removing your old one.

 She looked back at you. “And your drinks are on the house tonight.”

 “Thank you.” You replied.

 Nemuri gave a satisfied nod. “Now I need to go schmooze the rest of our frightened patrons, which is exactly how I didn’t want to spend my evening.” With a final glare at the two men, she stormed off, her pointed heels clicking on the hard floor.

 You stared at your new drink for a moment, the desire for it lost now.  “Hizashi, can I have a glass of water?”

 “Sure thing, darlin’.” Hizashi replied and placed a chilled glass in front of you.

You thanked him and took a sip followed by a long, deep breath.  Aizawa moved into the now-vacant seat next to you, and you welcomed the closeness. The gesture felt protective, a warning to anyone else who was dumb enough to try their luck with you after that display.  Noticing the closer proximity between the two of you, Hizashi quickly made himself scarce again.

“Thank you…” you said to Aizawa as your finger traced patterns into the condensation on the glass.

“It was nothing…” he replied.  There was a long silence before he spoke again.  “I hope I didn’t scare you.”

You looked at him with surprise then.  Scared? No. Aroused? Definitely.  The dampness of your panties were evidence enough of that, but he certainly didn’t need to know that.

“Not at all.” You confessed. “I actually really appreciate it.”

Aizawa’s shoulders relaxed slightly, as if a weight had been lifted.

“Where’d you learn to do that?” you asked.  “You were so fast…”

Aizawa gave a small grin. “Piano isn’t the only thing I’m good at…”

You had no difficulty believing that…

“Were you a bouncer or something at one point?” you asked curiously.

Aizawa chuckled. “Yeah, something like that…” he took a swig of his drink, the ice in it clinking.  The amber colored liquid was nearly gone now.

His response only gave you more questions, but you forced them down. There was a fine line between being curious and nosey, and you were too worried of crossing it, thus ending your conversation with him.

“You’re a regular here.” He commented.  

It wasn’t a question – it was a statement. He recognized you. You averted your eyes away in embarrassment, feeling suddenly exposed, your anonymity blown.  How long had he noticed you’d been coming here?  Did he know how closely you watched him?

“Yeah.” You confessed, as you took another sip of water. The alcohol next to it was calling to you, promising to ease your anxiety, but you refrained for the moment.  You wanted to keep your wits about you while you talked to him.

“No company tonight?” he asked.

Oh.  He watched you more closely than you ever realized. You weren’t sure whether you were feeling embarrassed or aroused.  Was it possible to feel both?

“Not this time.  I got stood up.” You replied.

“Sounds like you dodged a bullet there.” He said, looking into his empty glass.

You gave a dry laugh. “True.  I’ve dodged lots of bullets lately.”

Aizawa chuckled. “I believe it…”

Contrary to his outward aloof demeanor, he was nice.  You could feel the tension in your body start to dissipate as words came easier.

“If you ever think you want to try a dating app, don’t.” you commented. “It makes for good stories, but sometimes it really makes you want to give up on humanity.”

That earned an honest laugh as he looked at you with a grin.  “Well now you’ve piqued my curiosity.”

You couldn’t help but smile back.  This actually wasn’t so bad…

With amusement, you began to recount some of your more outlandish dating disasters with him, letting him in on the world of online dating from a woman’s perspective.  Aizawa listened with quiet interest, making the occasional wry joke or, for the more serious cases, wearing a deep frown of disapproval.  He was a good listener, and the conversation flowed easier than you had expected, words falling from your mouth without a second thought.  It felt natural.  Comfortable. And for the first time in a while, you felt like yourself.  After you ran out of stories, Aizawa offered a couple of his own, and you found yourself laughing at his own tales of dating woes. As Aizawa talked, Hizashi stopped by to quietly replace his empty drink before disappearing again, a pleased smile on his face.  His brief presence reminded you of your own glass pooling condensation on the paper coaster beneath it, and you returned to sipping its contents, once again finding the buzz you had been enjoying as you listened to Aizawa.

The time passed by as the two of you talked about the stress of dating and relationships. You’d learned that Aizawa rarely dated, but would occasionally have to endure awkward matchups thanks to Hizashi and Nemuri.  You learned how much of a private person he was, how he generally avoided dating culture entirely in favor of letting life play out on its own.  Everything about him exuded a man of experience and maturity, a man comfortable in his own skin and content with his life.  You couldn’t help but admire him as you soaked in every little detail that you’d wanted to know, committing every little bit of information he offered up to memory.  He was everything you’d imagined; kind, respectful, and serious with a sly sense of humor that he only shared once he was feeling comfortable.

Once the topic was exhausted, you sighed.  “I think I’m done with dating.” You confessed.  “I’ll just resign myself to my singlehood.”

Aizawa pinned you with a pensive look.  “Is that what you want?”

Something about the tone of his voice made your pulse race with excitement.

“Well… It’s better than being repeatedly disappointed.” You gave him a side glance as you took sip of your drink.  “But if the right guy comes along, I wouldn’t say no…”

“Hm… the right guy…” Aizawa muttered as he returned his gaze to his glass.

Your statement was a bold one, filled with invitation.  You hadn’t exactly planned for it to come out that way, but it was too late to take those words back now.  You quickly tried to turn the topic back to him.  “How about you?  Any special someone for you?”

He chuckled. “No.  No special someone.  Not yet, at least.”

The words fell from his mouth like breadcrumbs leading to a secret as he eyed you over the rim of his glass. You felt lightheaded and warm, the tips of your fingers buzzing with numbness. Maybe it was the half-finished drink in your hand.  Or maybe it was the look in Aizawa’s eyes that made you feel drunk, the Earth spinning under your feet as you mentally struggled to find some sort of purchase to keep from falling.  

Was he…?

Hope held you captive and you suddenly became acutely aware of how close you were to him.  Your eyes traced the scruff on his jawline, the stitching of his shirt, the slope of his neck as his Adam’s apple bobbed with a swallow. A stray strand of hair had come loose from his half-ponytail and was hanging over his forehead, begging to be touched. Your fingers twitched.  If you reached out to tuck it back into place, would he let you?

You couldn’t muster the courage and averted your eyes. You were filled with alcohol and infatuation, you reasoned.  Your defenses were down, your judgment potentially impaired… what if you were reading into something that wasn’t there?  What if you were wrong?  

You watched Hizashi close out a tab for an older couple as you took a sip of your water.

Warmth pressed against your forearm and looked down to see Aizawa’s arm resting against yours. All of your attention honed in on the softness of his shirtsleeve and the warmth of his skin as his hand fiddled with a paper coaster, flipping it over and over with each tap on the counter.  The contact was intentional, calculated in its subtle intimacy.  It was a silent question… a tentative invitation, absent of assumptions or expectations.  Your doubt evaporated like mist and you understood.  

He was interested.  In you.

Your heart did a somersault in your chest as you sat there, stunned.  Time froze as everything that’d transpired throughout the evening flitted through your mind.  It was a perfect amalgamation of circumstances, leading to this single moment, giving you the one thing you wanted most.  You held your breath as you stood on the precipice, uncertain if your next step would make you fall or let you fly.  

You stared at the contact and carefully… slowly… brushed your pinky along the back of his hand. It traced the vein that stood out there, following it to the knuckle. His own hand let go of the coaster his was holding, his own pinky linking with yours in affirmation.

You couldn’t help the elated smile that spread across your face in that moment and when you looked up at him with a shy glance, he had a smile of his own, small and secretive as he stared at your linked fingers.  Slowly the rest of his fingers followed, twining themselves into yours until he held your hand, his thumb brushing sensually against your skin.  That single action alone was enough to reignite the fire in your loins, your blood racing through your veins from the epicenter of his touch.

Hizashi’s voice crashed through your private, titillating moment.  “We’re closing up, lovebirds…”

Your hand pulled away from Aizawa’s on instinct as you looked around the now empty club.  Only staff remained, finalizing the last bit of cleanup and arranging the furniture for the next day.  How had it gotten so late so fast?

“You want me to walk you to your car?” Hizashi asked, a knowing grin on his face.

In all that had happened that evening, you’d forgotten about that little arrangement.  But you weren’t ready to leave just yet…

Aizawa’s voice answered before yours could.  “Leave me the keys to the place.  I’ll walk her tonight and lock up when we leave.”

“Suit yourself.” Hizashi replied with a shrug.  He placed a set of keys on the counter.  “Don’t tell Nemuri, though.  She’ll kill me.”

“Your secret’s safe with me, friend.” Aizawa replied.

With that, Hizashi gave a small salute, grabbed his coat, and left.  You watched, your heart pounding as the door closed behind him, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.

You were alone with Aizawa. Completely and utterly alone.

Your turned back to face him and froze.  Aizawa still sat on his stool, but he faced you now with an elbow propped against the counter, and that simple distinction made his presence fill your space.  He stared at you, the look in his eyes unfettered now, deep and hungry. “You really do look beautiful tonight.” He complimented.

With the way the words fell from his mouth and curled warmly into your chest like a cat, you believed him. You felt beautiful.

“Thank you.” You said with a soft smile.  “You look handsome yourself, Aizawa.”

He took your hand again and slowly began to lean forward, closing the small distance between you.  “Call me Shouta.”

You swallowed. “Shouta.” You whispered, feeling the name on your lips.

His dark pupils dilated and you felt his other hand on your jawline, warm, long fingers wrapping towards the back of your neck to pull you into a kiss.

His lips were warm and soft as his stubble tickled your skin, and you leaned into it fervently, your hands finding their home on his chest. You could feel his toned muscles beneath the black cotton and a purr found its way to the back of your throat. Shouta took it as an invitation, coming off of his barstool to stand between your now parted legs, his arm wrapping itself around your waist as his tongue slid along your lips.  You opened your mouth eagerly to taste the bourbon there, to feel the wet muscle dance and slide against your own.  Every touch, every taste, every smell enveloped you further and further in the essence that was Shouta until your entire body was singing, teetering on the edge.

Oh God… you were not going to let yourself cum just by kissing him.

You pulled out of the kiss slightly as your hands pressed gently against his chest, and he retreated from you just enough for his eyes to search your face, a silent question in them.

“I-I’m sorry, I just…” your words fell pitifully from your flushed, wet mouth, your voice shaky with pent-up arousal.

One second longer. One second longer is all it would have taken…

Shouta’s hand on your back began to rub soft, slow circles. “Would you like some water?” he asked, a small smile on his lips.

You nodded, and he kissed your forehead before handing you your glass.  You drank greedily before handing it back to him, half-empty.

“Have you ever been kissed like that?” he asked curiously, as he placed the glass back down onto the counter.

You gave a small laugh and shook your head.  “No… not like that.”

Your confession left you feeling embarrassed, even as your chest felt it would burst from this latest turn of events.

You kissed Aizawa Shouta.

Actually, he kissed you.

You needed a moment to collect yourself, to process everything you were feeling.

So, you completely changed the subject.

“How long have you been playing piano?” you asked.

Shouta didn’t miss a beat, returning to sit on his stool to give you the space you silently needed. But his hand still held yours, resting on the counter as his fingers twined with yours. It gave you a sense of reassurance, that everything was okay, despite your awkward hesitation.

“My grandpa had one when I was a kid.  Used to mess around on it.” He explained.  “He finally got me lessons from a guy he knew, and I’ve loved it ever since.”

You smiled as you watched his thumb trace across each of your fingernails.  You returned the gesture, tracing the details of his own hand. It was like living a dream, to see them up close and feel them, every fingernail, every vein, even the pads of his fingertips. The number of times you’d fantasized about these hands…

“I always wanted to learn how to play, but my family could never afford lessons.” You confessed. “But my mom used to have all of these old jazz albums, and I used to sit in my room and listen to them for hours.”

“I can teach you.”

Your fingers stopped their tracing.  “What?”

“I can teach you.” He repeated.

You shook your head.  “Um, no it’s okay… I’d probably be a terrible student anyway.”

“A student can only be as bad as the person teaching them.  Follow me.”

Before you could protest further, Shouta’s hand closed around yours and pulled you from your seat.  He led you up the steps of the stage and across it until you reached the black piano sitting forlornly in the empty space.

It felt strange being up on the stage, especially with the club being completely empty.  The stage light was bright and warm on your shoulders, and the silence sounded different there, affected by the difference in acoustics.

Shouta sat at one end of the black bench and pulled you down by your hand until you were sitting next to him.  The bench was small, meant for only one person, so you had to press yourself against him to be able to sit without feeling like you were going to fall off. Even then, it wasn’t the most comfortable arrangement, but you endured, if only to be close to him.

He released your hand and began his instruction.

“First thing you should know is how to find middle C.  Everything else will center around this.”  He pressed the white key with the thumb of his right hand, the note singing out into the empty space.  “Then, it’s D, E, F, G, A, B, which brings you back to C. That creates an octave, also known as a scale.” He played each note as he spoke.

“What about the black keys?” you asked curiously.

“Those are the half notes. Don’t worry about those right now.” He arranged his hand back how he initially had it, his thumb on the middle C key.

“Now,” he continued, “First, you must learn how to move your fingers along the keys.  Like this.”  Shouta demonstrated the motion again, his fingers playing each note slowly in a steady rhythm.  “The switch of the fingers is important. It will help you flow quickly and easily without having to watch where your hands are, which will be important for reading sheet music.”  He repeated the motion again, the sounds once again ringing out.  Then, he removed his hand.  “Your turn.”

You bit your lip and placed your hand how you’d seen his arranged and tried.  The notes were clumsy, lacking in rhythm and falling together as you forgot in your nervous haze where the switch of the fingers happened. Embarrassment flooded you and you withdrew your hand.

“Don’t expect to get it right on the first try.” He reassured.  “Let’s try it again.  Try to keep your fingers loose, curved like a bowl.”

Shouta modeled it again. You watched, but your focus was muddled with anxiety, attraction, and likely alcohol.  It was a poor recipe for learning, but you knew he was trying to make you feel comfortable, and you didn’t want to turn down his kindness.  You arranged your hand back on the keys again and tried again, with little improvement.

“I’m sorry, I…” you stuttered as you clutched your hand in your lap protectively.

His hand covered yours and you looked up at him to see him staring at you with warm patience.  “It’s okay.  If you don’t want to do this, we can stop.”

You stared at him, mouth slightly open as you thought about it.  You knew he wouldn’t hold it against you if you wanted to quit.  And sure, you felt silly being so poor at it when sitting next to someone who’s skills you idolized.

But did you really want to stop?  How often would you get an opportunity like this?

“No, it’s okay.  Keep going, I want to learn.” You replied.

Shouta watched you for a moment longer before he placed his hand back on the keys.  “Place your hand over mine.”

You followed his instructions, your hand looking small compared to his.  His skin was warm, and it calmed the shaking in your fingers.

“Watch where the fingers land.  Feel how they move.” He played the notes, and you could feel the tendons of his hand tense and shift, his fingers rising and falling like a wave.

“It’s like they’re dancing.” You said.  “You switch to your thumb on this key… E?”

“Yes.” Shouta replied in approval.  “Your turn.”

This time you focused, remembering the feel of how his hand had moved under yours as you played the keys, switching your fingers at the right time.  The improvement was noticeable.

He smiled.  “Good.  Now, for the other hand.  You’ll start one octave lower.  Can you find it?”

Your arm crossed Aizawa’s chest to press the white key, letting the sound ring out.

“Perfect.  Only this time, your pinky will sit on this key, with the others following after.”

You placed your fingers across the white keys.  “Like this?”

Shouta nodded.  “Now you’ll try the same progression with your left hand.  The middle finger will follow after the thumb plays the G note.”

You removed your hand so he could place his own and demonstrate it for you.  You followed after him, imitating his actions, but this time your attempt was worse than your first, your hand angled awkwardly due to limited space as you pressed yourself against him.

“That was terrible.” You laughed. “I can’t reach very easily.”

A small mischievous smile formed on Shouta’s lips and he slipped his hand around your waist.

“Come here.” He said.

You didn’t fight him as he pulled you into his lap.  His right hand settled itself against your stomach as his legs parted slightly to make room for yours, your knees drawn together between his.  The heat of his touch seeped through the fabric of your dress, weaving a tight knot of desire deep in your core that made your body go rigid as you tried to keep yourself from melting against him.

“Is this okay?” He asked, leaning slightly to see your face from his position behind you.

You licked your lips and swallowed, giving a nod.  “Y-Yes…” you answered shakily.  “Are you okay…? I’m not too heavy?”

Shouta gave a soft laugh. “No.  Not at all.” His breath was hot against your skin and you could feel the scratch of his stubble as he spoke, sending goosebumps over your body. “Let’s continue.”

He placed his left hand on the keys again with ease, regardless of how poor his view of the piano was with you in front of him.  He knew this instrument like the back of his hand; could probably play it with his eyes closed and never miss a note.

He played the simple notes again, C through B, fingers tip-toeing across the keys as he said their names out loud, helping you to remember them.  You watched carefully for where the shift in finger arrangement happened, the middle finger following after the thumb just as he’d described.

“You try.” He instructed, his right arm still wrapped around your waist, holding you close against him. You could feel the warmth of his chest against your back now, feel the strength of his body beneath you.

You loved this.  The lap-sitting, the lesson, the praise. Each time Shouta praised your improvements it sent a thrill through you from your head down to your toes.  To be complimented by him, even for something as simple as pressing a few keys… it only made you want to please him more.

You played the progression of notes with renewed motivation, once again showing improvement from your first attempt.

“Good.”

Your spine straightened against him slightly.  The thumb of his hand caressed your abdomen where he held you.

“Now you need to learn to do the same but in reverse, until you’re back where your fingers started.”

You moved your hand away to let him demonstrate and his right hand left your stomach, leaving an ache in its wake.  You watched both of his hands play the simple notes up and down, working together with ease. But you knew it was all a ruse… he made it look easy, but if you tried to do the same, you’d fumble clumsily.

“I don’t know about this…” you chuckled.

“It takes practice,” he replied, “until it becomes muscle memory.”

Shouta demonstrated it again, up and down.  And again.

You placed your hands over his, wanting to feel the touch of his hands under yours more than the actual pressing of the keys.  All you wanted was his arm around your waist again, his hand on your lower abdomen.  His touch was tantalizing, and you wanted more of it.  

He completed the simple scale progression two more times with your hands on top of his.

“Do you want to try?” he offered.

His hands left the keys to hold you again, his arms wrapped more tightly around you this time. You leaned against him, reveling in being held in his arms.

“I’m going to mess up.” You warned.

“Just take it slow.”

You shook your head a little and let out a small breath, shifting your position in his lap slightly as you leaned forward to focus on the keys.  His arms loosened around you, his hands shifting to your thighs.

It was likely an innocent action, intended to give you the freedom to move as you made yourself comfortable.  But as soon as the tips of his fingers touched the bare skin below the hem of your dress, that sharp zap of arousal tingled the ends of your nerves, causing you to suck in air and part your knees slightly, your walls throbbing in hopeful anticipation.

It wasn’t intentional. Your body just… reacted.  But Shouta noticed instantly.

There was silence at first, his hands still on your thighs, waiting.  Finally, he spoke.  “Y/N….” his voice was huskier now.  “How long has it been since you’ve been cared for?”

Embarrassment flooded through you.  Embarrassment at your sensitivity to his touch, embarrassment at the answer to his question... You hesitated a moment before words fell clumsily from your mouth. “I, um… a long time.”

A low hum rumbled from Shouta’s chest as his fingers brushing gently along the inside of your thighs until they dipped just beneath the black fabric. The action was experimental, a testing of the waters, and it brought immediate results.  Your thighs widened the slightest bit more as you failed to fight back a whimper, your hands grasping his arms in need.  Not a moment later you could feel the growing firmness of his cock begin to press against your backside, despite the restriction of Shouta’s jeans. Shouta’s hands halted again their movement, waiting. He was miraculously under control despite his obvious arousal, and you envied him.

“Do you want me to touch you?” he asked, his voice low.

Of course you did.  It was obvious you did.  Why else would your legs be parting like the red sea as if he were Moses?

But for some reason, your body language wasn’t enough for him.  He needed to hear it.  A sense of urgency filled you, desperate need driving you.  At this point, you’d give him whatever he wanted…

“Yes.” you begged. “Please, Shouta... Please touch me.” You leaned back against him, allowing the angle of your hips to tilt as your hands guided him further beneath the skirt of your dress.

With you draped onto him, your head tilted back, Shouta kissed the curve of your neck as his hands gently gripped the insides of your knees, pulling your legs apart until they were draped over his own.  You were open for him now, your skirt hiked halfway up by the spread of your legs.  

Your heart pounded in your chest with so much excitement that you could feel your own pulse in your neck and between your legs.  This was happening… This was really happening… How many times had you fantasized about this very thing?  How many times had you longed for this man, whispered his name on your tongue only to be met by the empty silence?  And now here he was, freeing you from the shackles of your loneliness in the best way possible.

Shouta’s hands pushed the fabric up the rest of the way until it was pooled around your hips, exposing your panties.  The thin cotton fabric did little to protect your aching cunt from the cold air, and you sucked air through your teeth at the sensation.  His fingers traced invisible lines up the inside of your thighs, leaving nothing but singing nerves in their wake that cascaded into a shiver that rolled over your flesh, leaving goosebumps.  Your body was already moving of its own volition, hips rolling, eager for Shouta’s fingers yet simultaneously attempting to grind down onto his restrained cock.  Your breaths were already coming in hot and ragged, every inch of you frantic for the release that it had been denied all evening.

Shouta gave a low growl, his left hand holding down your hip, halting your movements.  “You better stop that…” he warned.  

No doubt your girating was making things difficult for him on his end.  But you didn’t care.  You were an unfettered, horny mess now.

A whine escaped your lips at his restriction.  In response, Shouta’s left hand trailed up the length of your body, caressing over your breast before finding its home on your neck.  His palm was against your voice box now, his fingers long enough to wrap around your throat and reach your jaw.  There was no force in his hold, but it still held power over you, ushering your body into stillness while your chest heaved with heavy breaths.

“Patience.” He whispered. “Let me take care of you.”

Shouta followed up his words with more gentle kisses along your neck, your shoulder… wherever his lips could reach with you on his lap.  The feel of his hand on your throat was a reminder of who was in control.  But it was also a promise - a promise to ensure your needs would be met.

Once Shouta was sure he had your compliance, his right hand travelled the remaining distance of your inner thigh to arrive at your panties, where moist heat greeted him.

A low hum of approval rumbled in his chest, vibrating against your back.  “You’re so wet.”

A pitiful “yes” was all you could muster before the tips of his fingers brushed gently against your clothed sex, stealing your voice and replacing it with a gasp.

Slowly Shouta pet you, his fingers stroking gentle circles over the wet cotton, teasing the sensitive flesh beneath.  With his hand still on your neck, you kept your body torturously motionless as he gradually increased the pressure of his digits, reducing his speed as he passed over your clit to drag the pads of his fingers over the bundle of nerves.

You swallowed the pooling saliva in your mouth, the action causing your throat to press against his hand. “Please…” you begged. “I can’t…”

Shouta was strict, but not cruel.  He obliged, slipping his fingers beneath the cotton to swim his digits into your juices, never breaking his circular, rhythmic motion over your slick entrance.  The scent of your arousal surrounded both of you, thick and heavy.

“Fuck, Y/N…” he growled against your skin.

Two of his fingers dipped into you then, slow at first, allowing you to stretch around him as your walls quivered.  Your thighs tensed at the intrusion, welcoming the stinging pressure as your core burned with fire. He withdrew his fingers slowly and you lifted your head to watch in carnal fascination to see his fingers shining wet down to the knuckles. He pushed them into you again, curling his fingers towards the sensitive, spongey tissue along the top of your walls, his thumb pressing down on your wet clit.  A zap of stimulation fired from your core before fizzling away, a teasing warning of what was to come.

“Oh-Oh fuck…” you gasped as one hand reached back and grabbed a fistful of Shouta’s thick, dark hair.

He picked up his pace then, his thumb driving firm circles around your swollen pearl as the sounds of your wet hole being finger-fucked filled the silence of the empty stage.  With each pass of his thumb, with each curl of his fingers, the heat grew hotter, your cunt swollen and burning with the need for release.  Your thighs were tensed so tightly now that it made your legs lift and you had to brace your feet against the piano, discordant notes ringing out to join the sounds of your heavy pants and wet squelching in a lewd song. Shouta’s hand left your throat to hold you under your thigh to keep you steady as his other hand worked fast and hard to unravel you.  With the absence of his touch on your neck, you were free to move your hips, grinding hard into his hand, his lap, whatever part of him you were touching.  Your grip on his hair tightened, mirroring the tension building within you, clinging to him like the boughs of a tree knowing that any second the flood would come.

Shouta was your lifeline, your rock, your destroyer.  You were the waves and he was the shore, and your body tensed to prepare itself to crash against him.

“Come on, baby…” Shouta whispered gruffly.  “I’ve got you. Cum for me.”

You came with a cry, loud and frantic as your walls clamped down on his fingers.  The ball of heat that you had been carrying like a stone exploded within you, incinerating every nerve from the inside out, leaving nothing but sweet, sharp, euphoria in its wake.  Your walls spasmed repeatedly, sucking greedily on Shouta’s drenched fingers, as you cried and moaned, bucked and arched.  Shouta’s arm was around your waist, holding you against him to keep you from sliding off of his lap as you rode the high of your orgasm, tumbling like a waterfall over and over again to finally become a puddle in his strong arms.  

Shouta held you silently against him as your body twitched with aftershocks of pleasure.  Once your spasms subsided and he was sure you wouldn’t fall from your perch, Shouta released his hold around your waist to draw his fingers up and down your arm, creating goosebumps under his gentle touch.  His fingers were still in you, his hand cupped between your legs.  The warmth of his touch on your tired cunt was comforting, and it brought forth a content moan from your parted lips.  Shouta smiled as he planted another kiss on your shoulder.

You weren’t sure how long you stayed like that with him.  But you finally made yourself sit up when you felt sleep starting to drag you down into its murky depths, your limbs feeling heavy.

Finally, Shouta spoke. “Better?” he asked.

You gave a laugh.  “Much.”  You looked down at yourself in amusement. “You made a mess of me, though…”

Shouta gave a satisfied hum and stared at his hand that held you.  “I like you messy.” He stated.

“So, you’re just gonna leave me like this?” you teased.

He laughed and withdrew his fingers, wiping the slick coating them onto his jeans.  “As much as I like that idea, no.”  He adjusted your ruined underwear and the hem of your dress back into place before turning you around in his lap.  His hands were planted on your rear, keeping you securely and comfortably in place.  “It’s late. We should get you home.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him.  “What about you?” you asked, your eyes glancing down to his lap. Your hands began to trail down his chest to reach the button of his pants, eager to reciprocate.

Shouta smiled at you and grabbed your hands, bringing them back up to plant kisses on your palms.  “Tonight was about you. There’ll be more opportunities for both of us later.”  You pouted and he chuckled. “Don’t give me that face.”

“It hardly seems fair…” you muttered.  You were looking forward to enjoying more of him… you didn’t want tonight to end.

He hummed as he began to trail kisses along your jawline and you arched your neck to allow him better access.  “We both… need sleep.”

Sleep? With his mouth on your skin, sleep was the last thing on your mind.  Shouta pulled his lips away to look into your eyes again and you could see the fatigue there, dark circles framing bloodshot eyes.  He really did look incredibly tired, and you couldn’t help but wonder how late it really was.  You brushed the errant strand of hair off of his forehead, tucking it behind his ear.

“Okay...” you softly agreed.

“You should come back tomorrow night.” He mused, the mischief back in his eyes. “We can continue our piano lessons.”

“I’d like that.” you smiled.

 You couldn’t wait.

#aizawa shouta #Shouta Aizawa #Aizawa x reader #Aizawa x you #shouta x reader #Shouta x you #bnha smut #mha smut #aizawa smut #bnharem collab #Jazz Aizawa #Jazz AU #Music AU #BNHA music AU

[evienyx]

DSMP Citizens POV 7: The Lonesome Vessel

DSMPsona created by anon

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DSMP Citizen POV Masterlist

DSMPsona Submission Rules

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Before the L'Manburg Revolution, Iris had never really bothered with combat. She'd taken her physical education classes at school as a kid, had done a few extra sword-training classes as a teenager when her mother put her into them, but other than that, there wasn't really anything.

When the Revolution happened, though, Iris, who had already joined up with the rebellion when it was just starting out, took up arms at General Wilbur Soot's call and went out to the battle field, her heart pounding and blade sharp.

As she stepped onto the battlefield, entering into her first bout of combat with one of Dream's soldiers, something within her changed. Voices chanted in her head, screaming their desire to be appeased, one that could only be fulfilled by the spilling of blood.

Death, Death, Death!

Blood, Blood, Blood!

Blood for the Blood God!

Iris roared and slashed wildly at whoever she saw. Power thrummed in her veins, blood splashing across her armor and voices screaming in her ears as it did.

A soldier in L'Manburg colors ran past her. The voices screamed even louder, and Iris thrust her sword forward.

A moment later, she was lying in the medical tent that had been set up at the edge of the battlefield. Curtains shielded her from the rest of the tent. Her mind was deafeningly silent.

Iris realized that her limbs were restrained, her armor and weapons gone. Her throat was dry and her head pounded.

After a few minutes, the curtain pulled back, and a man in a medical coat peeked inside.

"You're awake?"

Iris locked gazes with him and nodded.

The doctor glanced outside before giving her a nod of his own and closing the curtain. She was alone again.

About ten more minutes passed before the curtain opened again and General Soot stepped inside.

"Sir," Iris said, trying to sit up before remembering the restraints.

"Iris," Soot replied, sounding even more exhausted than he looked. "How are you feeling?"

She swallowed. Her throat hurt, and when she spoke, it was hoarse, as if she had screamed at a concert all night. "Tired." She scrunched her nose. "My arms hurt."

Soot's lips formed into a thinner line and he nodded. "Yes, well, you were swinging that sword quite a bit."

Iris furrowed her brow. "What're you talking about?"

The general sighed. "I was afraid of that." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before meeting her gaze. "What do you remember about the battle?"

"Uh, nothing, really. I... fought a few people, I think, and then I guess I must've been knocked unconscious."

Soot's eyes were hard, but sad. "You were not. You lasted through the whole battle."

"What happened, then?"

Soot was silent.

Iris narrowed her eyes and pressed on. "What happened?"

"You were like a machine, Iris," Soot explained. "No one... No one could quite describe it. You cut down every person in your path, whether they were enemy or ally." Iris's heart sank and her blood ran cold. "Can you remember anything else? I need to know."

"Uh..." Iris wracked her brain for answers, but her head was still pounding, aching from the screams of the voices in her mind. "I mean... There were... voices. Voices, in my head? They... They wanted me to kill people."

Soot, as if his attention hadn't already been completely on her, leaned in, his eyes widening just a bit. "Voices?" She nodded. He grabbed her by the forearms, turning her toward him a bit more, despite the restraints digging into her flesh as he did so. "What did they say? Do you remember what they said?"

"Uh..." Iris nodded shakily, her heart pounding in her chest. "Yeah. They... They talked about the, er, the Blood God? Like what people always call Technoblade, you know, the famous warrior?"

Soot's eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment before he leaned back and nodded. "Yes, I know." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Iris... I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you. I think that we have every reason to believe that you are a vessel of the Blood God."

A chill ran down her spine. "What... What does that-"

"People often believe that Technoblade is a vessel of the Blood God, as well. He is not. He is the chosen of the Blood God. Those voices you heard while you were fighting? He hears those all the time, screaming for blood, and apparently being rather annoying as well."

Despite the bombshell being dropped on her, Iris managed to focus on his words and ask, "How do you know all this stuff about Technoblade?"

"Lived with him for years," Soot said, waving his hand around. "Not important. What is important is this: Controlling the desires of the Blood God that are within you is going to be difficult. Many go mad trying to fight against them. As you are simply a vessel, those voices will only come out when you are actively in combat, but they will never go away. If you plan to continue to fight, you must learn to live with them. We cannot have a repeat of the last battle, where you kill many of our own troops, as well."

Iris swallowed and nodded. "I'll do better next time, sir."

Soot cracked a smile, the bags more apparent than ever. "I'm sure of it."

During the next battle, Iris held her weapon in her hand, slashed at the first enemy soldier that she encountered, and then found herself restrained in the medical tent once more, President Soot standing over her with eyes even more sunken than the day before.

Iris felt tears spring to her eyes and shoved her head back into the pillow beneath her.

"You'll always have a home here," General President Soot told her after the Revolution ended, L'Manburg gained independence, and Iris had decided to pack up and leave. "Regardless of what happened on the battlefield, you still fought for this country. No one blames you for what happened." He paused and released a sigh. "The Blood God is as ruthless with its Vessels as it is with us mortals."

Iris huffed. "You don't need to tell me twice." Her thoughts fell to the voices, screaming in her mind.

Death, Death, Death!

Blood, Blood, Blood!

Blood for the Blood God!

She shuddered and glanced up at President Soot. "I need to leave. As long as I am here, people are in danger. The voices showed up the moment I picked up a weapon. If something were to happen, there would be nothing I could do, nothing anyone could do." She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "It's better this way."

President Soot was silent for a moment before nodding solemnly. "That's what I thought you'd say. Still, should you ever wish to return, the gates of L'Manburg will open wide to those who fought for them to stay standing."

Iris cracked a smile and nodded. President Soot returned the gesture before stepping out of the tent that she had been staying in. Iris tied the sack that held all the things she couldn't fit in her inventory and set off. She made a quick pit stop at the Pet Sanctuary, an underground bunker that had held the pets of all L'Manburg soldiers during the war, keeping them safe and protected from both battle and Sapnap, who was both their enemy and infamous for killing pets.

Iris grabbed her cat, Tabi, and pulled an empty beehive from her inventory to allow her bee, Honeycomb, to travel in safety and comfort. Finally, she set off, her fingers tightly wound in a lead attached to Tabi's collar, Honeycomb's hive tucked into her inventory. Iris gave a final wave to the soldiers standing guard at the L'Manburg walls and began to walk.

After fifteen minutes, she was at the top of a hill, looking down over the independent land of L'Manburg. Already, there were more people than had been during the Revolution, people from the Greater SMP and other servers having begun to move in.

After another half-hour, L'Manburg was barely visible in the distance.

Fifteen more minutes after that, and it was gone completely.

Reaching the edge of the charted land on her map, Iris pulled a boat from her inventory, setting it up while Tabi investigated a small patch of wildflowers growing nearby. Iris picked up her cat and plopped the animal between her legs as she sat down in the boat. Making sure she had everything, Iris used a stick to push off from the shore and set off into the ocean.

She followed the coast, mostly. Eventually, she reached a grassy plain that seemed to stretch on for as far as her eye could see. As the sun began to set, she finally pulled up onto a small beach just outside of a coastal village. She stored her boat, held Tabi's lead in her hand, and set off into the village.

The town was small enough that they didn't have an inn, but a farmer and his wife were nice enough to allow her to bunk in the barn for the night to avoid the monsters, and Iris fell asleep to the sound of an Iron Golem guard pummeling a zombie into dust.

Another day of boating passed before Iris settled on a small clearing a little ways into a spruce forest island to call her new home. Tabi's lead tied around a tree, she quickly set to work making a small tent to stay in while she worked on a more permanent home. A few weeks passed, but she was rather satisfied with her work as she took down the tent and spent her first official night in her new cottage. Tabi curled up on her chest, Honeycomb resting in her hive in the small garden she had made, Iris fell asleep to the sounds of rustling leaves, flickering torches, and distant waves crashing against a rocky shore.

Iris would spend a lot of her time exploring, after that, hopping across nearby islands. She constructed an Iron Golem to guard her clearing after a hoard of mobs appeared during the first night and she had been forced to hide under the floorboards and be as silent as possible until day arrived and they burned in the light of the sun. She refused to pick up a weapon again. The voices still stung in her mind (Blood for the Blood God!), and she didn't know what would happen if they took over again. She didn't want to know what would happen if the only thing for them to hurt were Tabi and Honeycomb.

The islands nearby varied in terms of what they had on them. Some were barren, others sported lush forests. One had a ravine so long and deep it almost cut the island itself in half. At one point, she arrived at a point that she had thought was an island, but was actually large enough to be considered mainland, stretching so far that she had to spend the night at a village after she realized that she didn't have enough time to get home before dark.

Iris mapped out the nearby islands, as well as the mainland, and explored them enough that she eventually didn't even need a map to explore them anymore. She knew them like the back of her hand.

That was why, when a small hut popped up in the stretch of plains on the coast of the mainland, she was confused. It was night, then, and she was making her way to the nearby village to stay in the inn. This was too interesting to pass up investigating, though, and Iris snuck over and leaned against one of the hut walls, straining to hear what was happening inside.

"-and I have no idea why he did it, because wasn't the whole point that there's-"

"Someone's listening."

"...What?"

"Someone's listening."

"What are you talking about?"

"Through the wall. Right here. Someone's listening." There was a beat of silence, and then a rush of cold air that made the hairs on the back of Iris's neck stand up, and then she was face-to-face with eyes void of anything but inky darkness, set into the grayed-out version of a familiar face. Bright blue teartracks seemed stained on the colorless skin.

"Hello," an echoed voice that almost exactly matched President Soot's said. "Who are you?"

Iris yelped and fell back, barely catching herself against the hut before she hit the ground.

"Ghostbur? Who is it?"

TommyInnit (VP Tommy, she remembered people had started to call him) asked, stepping around the corner of the hut to join the two of them.

"VP Tommy?" She blurted out. "What are you doing here?"

VP Tommy furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about? I was exiled. What are you doing here?"

"I...I live around here! And, what do you mean you were exiled? And why does President Soot look like that? And why did you call him Ghostbur?"

"That's who I am!" The spectral form of the leader of L'Manburg said cheerily. He reached out a translucent hand. "Ghostbur, nice to meet you!"

"We've met," Iris said, still reaching out to shake his hand anyway. His skin was freezing cold, and she though that if she pressed a bit more, her hand would simply slide right through his own.

"He has memory loss," VP Tommy said. "Only remembers the happy things from when he was alive. None of the bad stuff."

"What happened to him? When did he die?"

"A while ago," VP Tommy said, looking rather confused at her lack of knowledge but still managing to glare at her throughout. "How is it you know who both of us are but not what happened to..." His throat bobbed and he glanced away, falling silent.

"I fought in the L'Manburg Revolution," Iris explained. "At least, I did for a bit until President Soot-" She gestured at the grinning ghost- "and I realized that I was a Vessel for the Blood God. I can't control myself whenever I pick up a weapon, and so I moved out here to keep from hurting anyone."

VP Tommy leaned back a bit, his eyes widening. "You're a Vessel of the Blood God?" He asked, his voice sounding a bit hoarse. She nodded. His eyes flicked over her. "You're... You don't have any weapons on you, do you?"

Iris ignored the fact that she had already said that she didn't in favor of shaking her head and raising her hands a bit. "Nope. Nothing. I haven't touched a weapon since the Revolution."

"How do you defend from mobs then?" He asked, his brow scrunching as he crossed his arms.

"I'm normally home before night. If not, I make sure I'm close enough to a village to stay there. At home, everything's lit up, and I even have an Iron Golem to make sure that any stray monsters can be taken down without me having to do anything." She offered the gentlest smile she could. "You don't need to worry about me."

VP Tommy was quiet for a moment before releasing a forced laugh. "Ha, I wasn't worried! I'm never worried! I'm Big Man TommyInnit, I don't get worried about anything!"

Iris raised an eyebrow but she nodded. "Of course. I never would've thought otherwise."

VP Tommy wrinkled his nose and looked to the ground. A moment later, she heard him muffling a yawn.

"Well," Iris said loudly, stretching her arms toward the sky, "I think it's about time that I head off to the village and get settled in for the night. I'm exhausted." She saluted lazily. "Good night, VP Tommy."

"Uh, yeah. 'Night." He didn't return the gesture, but he glanced at Ghostbur, who was fiddling with what looked like a handful of blue and clearly not paying attention to the conversation whatsoever. "C'mon, Ghostbur."

The spirit of the president looked up abruptly, turning from VP Tommy to Iris. "Oh, are you leaving already?" She nodded. He gave her a smile. "Good night, then! I hope next time I get to find out your name!"

Before she could say anything, he had slid through the hut's wall and was gone. VP Tommy stood there for a moment more before disappearing inside as well. Iris hitched up the straps of her bag on her shoulders, checked her inventory, and set off for the village at the edge of the plains. She didn't want to be out in the dark for too long.

The next morning, Iris left the village inn an hour before noon, her bag and inventory stuffed full of ore that she had purchased from the blacksmith.

As she walked through the plains, she stumbled across a figure riding by on a horse. The two of them stopped and stared at one another.

"Uh, hello," Iris said, raising a hand in greeting. "Haven't seen you around here before."

"I'm not from around here," the figure, a piglin hybrid, from the look of it, said gruffly. "Was just visiting an... old friend."

Iris nodded. "Cool. Well, if you're ever in the area again, the village back by the forest edge has incredible potato bread."

The hybrid's eyes lit up a bit. "Really?" She nodded. "I'll have to check it out, then." He observed her for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

She cracked a smile. "Just a lonesome wanderer, trying to live a peaceful life."

He nodded. "I can respect that. As long as you're not with any sort of government."

She shook her head. "I used to be a part of L'Manburg, but I left right after the Revolution. I... didn't want to be a part of that anymore. Now, it's just me and my pets."

The hybrid hummed, his gaze flicking over her and seeming to notice that she had no weapons. "All right, then." He gave her a nod. "Stay safe, fellow wanderer."

She grinned and returned the gesture. "And you as well." He patted the horse on its flank, and a moment later, they were gone.

Continuing across the plains, Iris came back across the hut that VP Tommy was living in. She thought the ore in her bag and wondered if the teenager, who was apparently exiled (though she didn't know why) would want it.

Iris knocked on the door. There was a beat of silence. Then, the door swung open, and she was met with the face of VP Tommy, eyes red and face blotchy. He sniffed, rubbed at his nose, and scowled at her. "What do you want, bitch?"

Ignoring his aggression, Iris offered a smile and said, "I come bearing gifts."

Though he complained, VP Tommy did agree to take the ores from her, shoving them into his furnace along with some coal that he had apparently gotten that morning. Then, with his eyes narrowed and mouth twisted into a frown, he offered her a porkchop.

Iris started to visit him more and more, after that. She brought Tabi to the village's healer when the cat got sick one day, and that evening showed her pet to VP Tommy on the way home.

"This is Tabi," she said, holding out the cat to the teenager. VP Tommy stared at the cat with raised eyebrows. "Go on, take her. She loves being pet behind the ears."

VP Tommy took the cat in his arms, holding it with a surprising amount of caution. He reached forward and scratched slowly behind Tabi's ear. The cat purred and leaned into the touch. VP Tommy's eyes flew up to meet Iris's as his jaw dropped, and she couldn't help but let out a laugh at his reaction.

Over the time that she visited him, Iris watched as VP Tommy (My name is Tommy, shithead, he insisted after she called him by his old title to his face) deteriorated. His laughs were more forced. His face was more sunken, his hair grew limp, and his the light in his eyes dimmed, the bright blue seeming to fade into a cool gray. Still, he would grin every time she showed up, and would bounce on the balls of his feet as he told her about what he had done since her last visit.

"Ranboo came to visit me," he said one day. "He showed up after Schlatt and Wilbur died and L'Manburg was rebuilt. He's cool, even though he's kind of a pussy."

"Does anyone else come to visit?" She asked, poking at the fire that he had made when the sun began to set.

"Well, Dream is here all the time," he said, but she already knew that. About a week after she started visiting regularly, he had all-but-demanded that she only visit at night, because Dream was there in the daylight and didn't really like when he had other visitors there. "Mexican Dream came here one time, too, but..." Tommy sniffed. "He, uh, he died."

"Oh," Iris said. "I'm sorry."

On certain days, she would let Tommy ramble to her about his problems. He would complain about the 16th of November, about the election from months ago, about his exile from weeks prior. Other days, he would tour her around the things he was building.

"This is Logstedshire," he said, spreading his arms wide. "Ghostbur helped me build it, before he..." His smile faltered. "Before he... left."

She said nothing more, simply pointed at a random building and asked about it. Tommy took the change of topic gratefully and began to ramble on about the mining expedition he had gone on to get the materials.

One day, when Iris was on the way to the village past Logshedshire to trade before she visited Tommy that evening, she looked up from storing away her boat to see the Nether portal just outside of Tommy's home glimmering with particles, the distinct look of a portal that someone had just used.

Iris was confused for a moment, because she was sure that Tommy didn't use his portal anymore, not after the failed beach party (which he had requested she didn't attend, since he didn't think that Dream would like knowing that Tommy was talking with someone he didn't know. Iris still felt bad, though, after hearing about the disaster that befell the party that her teenager friend had been so very excited about).

Then, she looked up and her eyes fell on a tower of mismatched materials, stretching toward the sky. Her stomach dropped, and, ignoring her previous plans, she scrambled up the beach and sprinted toward Logstedshire.

The area was completely destroyed, decimated by what had to be TNT. The tower she had seen started near the pit, reaching to brush against low-hanging clouds in the expanse of sky above. Tommy was nowhere to be seen.

Nearby, Iris abruptly noticed, President Tubbo stood looking up at the tower, shaking his head desperately with tears streaking down his face. "Surely not, surely not," he said lowly, his voice hoarse.

Iris's heart skipped a beat. For the first time since the Revolution, her mind was flooded with voices, screaming, roaring in her ears. She didn't care what they were saying, though, instead covering her mouth with her hands, taking in a painful breath, and beginning to sob.

President Tubbo turned to look at her, just now noticing her presence. He reached a hand out and opened his mouth to speak, but she didn't give him a chance to, instead choosing to turn on her heel and run back to the coastline, tears streaming from her eyes and all plans of heading to the village forgotten. She hopped in her boat and set off in the direction of her home island, her salty tears falling from her cheeks and joining the ocean waters below.

Iris stumbled into her cottage, Tabi moving toward her and rubbing against her leg as she collapsed into a chair, shoving her face into her hands. Her cat's fur stopped brushing against her skin, and a few moments later, a buzzing sound met her ears. She opened her eyes to see Tabi hopping from the windowsill as Honeycomb flew inside, the window wide open behind the two pets. The bee settled on her shoulder, snuggling against Iris's neck and buzzing gently, while Tabi leaped to her lap and curled up there.

Iris pet her cat with a shaking hand and tried to ignore the screaming voices growing louder and louder in her mind.

That evening, she grabbed a pack that she knew had two twin blades stored away inside of it and set off for a nearby island, one covered in a forest so dense that inside of it, you couldn't see the sky. Mobs were there even in the day time, and at night, it was more stuffed with monsters than a dungeon was.

On the edge of the island, Iris watched as a zombie lumbered toward her.

Blood! Blood!

Blood for the Blood God!

Kill it! Kill it!

Finally! Blood!

Everyone shut up, she's gonna do it!

She better!

Blood! Blood! Blood for the Blood God!

Ignoring the 'banter' going on between the voices in her head, the Vessel of the Blood God dropped the pack on the ground, pulled the twin blades from within, and let the voices take over, jumping forward and slashing at the monster in front of her. The voices cheered as blood splashed across her skin, and as her gaze fell on a skeleton near the tree line, she leaped toward it and felt her control over her body fall away.

She woke to the daylight, her cheek pressed against the warm sand of the beach. She heard the waves lapping at the shore. The twin blades she had used rested nearby. Her mind was silent, though the elation of the voices as she sliced through monsters was still very apparent. Iris sat up, grabbed the bag she had abandoned the night before, and scooped the blades inside, careful not to touch it. She then slipped into the boat and set off, leaving the island behind as she headed home.

Halfway there, she felt an alert on her communicator. Glancing down at it, she choked on a breath as her eyes landed on 'TommyInnit' in her messages lighting up. Taking in a deep breath, she clicked on the name and was greeted by a new chat message from her friend.

TommyInnit: Hey, bitch. I realized that Dream is an even Bigger Bitch Boy than I thought. He blew up Logstedshire and I ran away after he left. I'm with Technoblade, now.

TommyInnit: you were real poggers. I'll pay you back for that ore eventually.

Iris sniffed and wiped at her eyes, which were beginning to sting. She swallowed, her throat aching, and grabbed the oars resting on the sides of the boat, starting to paddle back home.

(Later that day, she would return to Logstedshire and root through the rubble for three days straight, searching for any remaining things of Tommy's that she could find.

She found a few photos buried under rocks, at one point. After the first one she touched crumbled to dust immediately, she took pictures of any she found before trying to pick them up. She found a few books that Tommy must have bought from the village. Nothing else really seemed like it would be valuable. Then, though, on her last day of searching, she broke apart a collapsed wall and saw a piece of fabric lying underneath.

She reached forward and carefully picked up the beanie lying on the ground, so covered in dust that it looked gray rather than maroon.

"This was his beanie," Tommy had said. "He had two of these. Phil has the one that he was wearing when he died. He gave this one to me right before we went to fight Manburg."

Iris's fingers tightened around the beanie, and she tucked it safely into a spare spot in her inventory before immediately heading off to the village to use their public Ender chest to put the beanie inside of.

The next time she saw TommyInnit, she would give it back to him. Afterall, he deserved to have the beanie. It was his brother's, wasn't it?

The sun was beginning to set, then.

Iris swallowed down a lump in her throat as phantom voices whispered in her mind and moved faster over the plains, focusing on making her way to the inn before nightfall and trying to ignore the murmurs in her ear asking for blood.)

#dream smp #dsmp #dsmp citizen pov #dsmpov #reina came up with that one #instead of 'dsmpsona' #she has been calling them 'dsmpov' #i think its hilarious #dsmpsona #dsmp citizens memes #the lonesome vessel #tommyinnit #technoblade #tubbo #wilbur soot #ghostbur #dreamwastaken #im having a great time writing these if you couldnt tell #this one took a lot longer and that is mostly because of the fact of i kept adding lore #yep this shit has lore now #i have to make lore that works both with canon as it is currently and with like the fics im writing here #i hope it is working

[gruvia4ever0910]

BE MY DATE

*I am having doubts to post this because I’m not really sure if someone will like it, but here I am trying my luck. 😊

Oh my, T.T I’m sooooo nervous...! 😳

*Disclaimer: Fairy Tail, and the characters are owned by Hiro Mashima.

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"How about the girl yesterday?", Natsu asked his raven-haired friend.

Natsu and Lucy are getting married in two months, and they are very excited for that day to come. However, they don't want their friend to be alone in their special day. Yes, all their friends will be there, but it is different for Gray. So, they've been suggesting some girls for him that he can bring as his date for their wedding day.

The wedding they wanted was just a simple ceremony, where only their family and friends are the only ones who will join them. Lucy invited some of her close friends at work and Natsu did the same.

Gray rolled his eyes, "Can both of you stop it already? I told you. I'm fine going there by myself, and I don't have a plan to see that girl from yesterday again.". Gray grabbed his glass then gulped the beer in one go.

Natsu and Lucy looked at each other for a few seconds then back to Gray. "Why? What happened?', Natsu curiously asked.

"Nothing. We just don’t get along so well.", Gray coldly responded.

"Again?", Lucy said annoyingly with her arms crossed. "You are always giving us the same reason over and over again with the girls that we introduced to you, or to the other girls you just met.". She sighed, "Don't tell me you haven't moved on with ---."

Natsu suddenly held Lucy's hand and she looked at him. Natsu stopped Lucy from continuing her words because he noticed that Gray was now getting irritated. Lucy looked back at Gray and she realized why her fiancé did that.

Last year, Gray broke up with his ex-girlfriend after being in a relationship for two years because she just decided to end their relationship without talking to him. Then, two months after he saw her being intimate with someone else. He was so furious, and about to confront them, but Natsu stopped him for making a scene in public.

Gray knew that it was his faults that their relationship ended, but she should've talk to him and fix everything, or maybe end it in a good way.

He moved on alright, but he just don't want to bring up that topic anymore or talk about it.

Lucy rested her arms on the table. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Gray gave Lucy a half-smile then nodded. "It's fine. Let's drop it already. And ---", raised his hand. "For the last time, I'll be fine."

"We know that, but of course, we want you to enjoy life. You are always working, always busy. We had to drag you here for you to hang out with us. And maybe… just maybe it is time for you to be in a relationship again. You know?", Lucy worriedly told it to her friend in front of her.

Gray lowered his head as a sign of surrendering. He knew that Lucy will not stop bugging him unless he will bring a date on their wedding. They've been having this conversation since the couple announced their plan of getting married to all of their friends five months ago.

Natsu laughed while looking at his defeated friend that was being pestered by his fiancé.

"Let him breath, Luce. He'll find someone.", Natsu said while softly patting Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy gave up for now. She leaned her back on her chair backrest then once again crossed her arms, "Okay, I'll let it slide this time."

"Oh mavis, thank you!", Gray threw his fist in the air celebrating his freedom, but he knew that Lucy will continue bugging him about it. His friends meant well when they were introducing some girls to him, but he got tired for doing the same process. Telling their names, work, hobby, and sometimes he had to make some excuses so he can't go to that date they planned for him.

He is freaking Gray Fullbuster. A handsome man, smart, wealthy, a heartthrob since high school until now. Girls easily falls for him, but he is not a type of a guy who uses those traits to get a girl. Okay, maybe sometimes when he feels like it. But he can meet and date someone without a help from his friends. He was only agreeing so they can stop annoying him, and to be honest, he's not thinking of being in a relationship again. Not now.

>>><<< 

A week after, Gray was sitting in a private room at the bar with Natsu and Lucy again with their other friends to celebrate the birthday of Loke. As usual, they had to force him again to come out from his hive. He's satisfied enough with a beer on his hand and maybe after an hour or two he'll drive back home. But he then noticed that one of their friends haven't arrived yet.

"Where is Cana?", he asked while looking between Natsu and Lucy.

"She's on her way here with Juvia.", Lucy responded. "Oh! I invited her Loke. Is that okay? You all have met her 2 weeks ago in our company retreat, right? And she is also invited in our wedding."

"The beautiful blue-haired sexy-as hell-shy girl?", Lucy frowned on how Loke describe her friend from work. "Uhm, yeah… that is her." Lucy glared at Loke. "Do you really need to describe her like that?"

"Why? I'm just telling the truth, and FYI, I'm not the one who came up with that words.", Loke defensively explained.

"Who did?", Erza joined the conversation. Loke gulped when he heard Erza's voice then he nervously turned his head to Gray's direction. Erza and Lucy frowned staring at Gray while Natsu was laughing his heart out.

"Gray?", Lucy questionably looked at her black-haired friend, but he averted his eyes to somewhere else.

Juvia. A very familiar name that he heard for so many times in one day, and when Lucy mentioned the name, a beautiful blue-haired sexy-as hell-shy girl appeared in his mind. She became the topic of Natsu, Loke, and Gray the day after the retreat when they were in the bar. He really did describe her like that, and both Natsu and Loke teased him about it. Saying that he likes her. Gray didn't deny, but he told to his two friends to keep it a secret, but thanks to Loke who ruined it.

The moment his eyes laid on Juvia at the retreat, he was already captivated by her. He liked the color of her hair, her pale skin that shines under the sun, and the shy smile that she was showing to anyone that talked to her. He tried to focus on something else or someone else, but his gaze kept on going back to the beautiful blue-haired girl.

He wanted and tried to talk to her, but never got a chance because she was always being pulled by her co-workers, especially men. They were flirting with her, and it was obvious that she was uncomfortable. She had to excuse herself, and sometimes Lucy had to drag her away from them.

He'd noticed that some guys were checking her out and were trying to get her attention. He even saw Loke naughtily staring at her too. What a player. He then realized that he was not different with those guys and Loke because he was doing the same thing. Hey, he is a guy and it is normal to be attracted with a woman with a nice body and she totally has one. She was not wearing revealing clothes, but it was still showing her perfect curves.

When she finally joined Lucy on the table, the blonde girl introduced Juvia to her friends. And Gray had a chance to look at her up-close. Damn! She is really beautiful. The very first words he said in his mind. Their eyes met a few times, but she was always the first one to look away while showing a pink tint on her cheeks. He found her cute and interesting.

He didn't understand himself why he chickened out to talk to her that day. He got his own ways to get a girl; easy and fast. But he can't find any reason why he wasn't able to do it with Juvia.

"Why is she with Cana?", Loke asked after taking a sip on his beer.

"Those two.", Lucy chuckled. "They've gotten closer after the retreat. I can't believe they did because we all know that Cana is wild and free, unlike Juvia who is quiet and shy. They are really opposite, but Cana said she really likes her."

"I like her too.", all eyes stared at Erza, and she frowned in confusion. "What? She's sweet, she has a funny side that I found cute, and the way she talks, it's adorable. She is a unique girl, and I want her to be my friend too."

The way she talks… Gray secretly smiled remembering the woman who speaks in third person. Erza is right. She really is a unique girl. She's the only person he heard talking like that. It was weird at first, but when he kept on hearing her sweet voice. It didn't matter anymore. He liked it and can't wait to hear her voice again.

>>><<< 

"Hello bitches!", the door swung open revealing the person they've been waiting for. Cana excitedly entered the room then greeting each of her friends with a tight hug.

"What took you so long?", Natsu asked while receiving the hug from Cana.

"Oh… I went shopping, and it was really hard to find this perfect dress.", she proudly turned around to show off her tight black sexy dress.

"We are celebrating my birthday though, unless you forgot.", Loke handed her a glass of wine.

Cana took the wine then sat beside Lucy, "I didn’t honey, but I have a date later, so ---", winked sexily at Loke.

Loke rolled his eyes, Natsu and Lucy smiled, Erza just shook her head, but the other person inside the room couldn’t care less. He was so happy deep inside when Cana showed up, and immediately looked at the door expecting other person to appear, but no one came in until the door shut closed. He wanted to ask Cana, but he didn't want to receive any teasing from his friends tonight, so he chose to stay quiet.

"Where is Juvia?", at last! Thank you, Lucy. Gray thanked his blonde friend secretly for finally asking. He looked at Cana and anxiously waiting for an answer.

Cana sipped on her glass before answer, "She run into someone on our way here, and told me to go first, but she'll be here soon."

Gray finally relaxed knowing that she was really here, but he was getting impatient because he really wanted to see her now.

"Someone I know too?", Lucy curiously asked. "Nope, I don't think so. It was a girl. Although, guys are probably lining themselves right now at her for what she is wearing tonight.", she laughed.

Gray abruptly stood up making his friends confusingly looked at him. He cleared his throat and finding an excuse to tell them. "Uhm, restroom…", he simply said then began walking towards the door.

Gray stretched his hand to open the door, but someone already did it for him. He froze from where he was standing staring at the woman he's been itching to see and can't even stop himself for checking her out. She was looking so damn hot with the light blue short dress she was wearing; different from the last time he saw her. The dress was embracing her curves, his eyes trailed down on her revealing cleavage that was popping up and down as she breaths. Why is she panting? And her legs that also didn’t prevent him to examine. Those nice long legs.

"Juvia!", Gray got lost in his thoughts when Cana and Lucy shouted her name. He looked at her, meeting her midnight blue eyes. "Gray! Let her in!", he stepped away when he heard Erza quietly shouted at him. "My bad. Uhm, excuse me.", he passed by Juvia and left the room.

"Damn Juvia babe, you are looking good today."

"See I told you. She is stunning…"

"You really are Juvia…"

Gray heard all the compliments his friends was saying to the girl who just arrived.

"Juvia is a bit uncomfortable though ---"

He had heard her sweet voice again, but when the door finally closes, he took a last look at the door before walking to the restroom.

Inside the private room, Juvia was sitting between Lucy and Loke, and they were having a conversation. But she kept on looking at the door, thinking about the raven-haired man who hadn't returned yet.

Gray-sama. She blushed when she said his name inside her mind. Then the memory of the retreat went back recalling the moment her eyes landed on him. He was wearing a plain black long sleeve shirt, demin pants, and a white rubber shoes. Simple, but so handsome. He was just quietly sitting on the table with Lucy and their friends, busy drinking his beer.

She was in-demand that day, praising her for doing a great job organizing the retreat with two of her co-workers, but Juvia mostly did the job. It was well-planned and done professionally. She was really tired but didn't want to be rude when her co-workers or even the bosses were talking to her. Yet, her eyes were still taking some quick peek to the most handsome man she found in the event.

She was getting uncomfortable when some of the guys from her work were asking her out. She knew them being a womanizers', so she was avoiding them as much as possible. She doesn’t want her name to be put in their lists, and she is not that type of a girl. They have looks, but not her type.

When she finally had time to breath, Lucy pulled her into their table and introduced her to the people surrounding the table. Staring at Gray from a far was enough for her, but her being in the same table with him was too much. Her heart was beating so fast, and she can feel her cheeks getting warmer every time she and Gray were meeting each other's eyes.

She was having the same feeling now that she was in the same place with Gray again. Although, he's not returning yet. She quite missed his presence.

>>><<< 

The small room was filled with laughter's, stories being shared, and just enjoying the birthday celebration of Loke. The first time Juvia spent her time with Lucy's friend she felt really comfortable and she was glad she came along. She was engaged in a conversation with Lucy, Erza, and Cana. She was really having a great time, and really enjoying the company of the people inside the room.

All of them were laughing with the jokes that Loke had been telling them, but they stopped when the door suddenly opened then all eyes were looking at Gray who just came back.

"What took you so long ice prick?!", Natsu asked.

"It is nothing that you need to know.", Gray responded coldly.

"Being grumpy again, aren't we Mr. Fullbuster?", Cana said in a teasing way.

Gray rolled his eyes and about to sat on the chair near him, but Loke stopped him and pulled him to sit beside him. That made him settle between Loke and Juvia. His arm brushed against Juvia's, but he didn’t forget to apologize which she shyly accepted.

"You don't have that with you earlier.", Erza pointing the blazer he was holding.

"It's chilly in here.", he said while putting the blazer on and being careful not to bump Juvia again.

Natsu smirked, "That's new. What happened to "cold never bother you anyway", huh?"

"Just shut up.", Gray leaned forward to get his glass of beer then made himself comfortable on his chair.

The celebration continued, Loke and Natsu started their battle in a drinking game. Lucy was cheering her fiancé while Cana was doing the same with Loke, and Erza was busy talking to someone on the phone.

Gray shook his head, didn't want to know why he was in the same room with his idiotic friends doing some silly game, but he didn't miss a single chance to take a glance at the blue-haired girl beside him. She was smiling and giggling while watching Natsu and Loke having their best time of the night.

They haven't said a single word to each other since Gray got back from the "restroom" beside from saying sorry when he accidentally bumped her shoulder earlier, and that was an hour ago, but Gray kept noticing something about her. Like, she doesn't like drinking much because she barely touched her drink, but he can tell that she was already intoxicated; she is a lightweight drinker. She probably likes Nachos because that's the only snacks she's been eating. She smiles a lot and can really handle a conversation so well for someone who is a shy person like her, maybe because she's already used of dealing with people. Lastly, she was uncomfortable with the dress she's wearing because she kept on fixing her dress from top to bottom.

That's the reason why he had his blazer when he got back. When he heard her saying she was uncomfortable, he just walked out from the bar then went straight where he parked his car. It was like his subconscious spoke in his behalf.  

Erza had joined the drinking game, and she was playing it with Cana. Juvia leaned forward to get another piece of Nachos, but she was not the only one who is doing the same thing. Gray reached for a piece as well, both stopped and looked at each other, but Juvia back away immediately.

"Juvia is sorry. Gray-sama can have some first."

Gray frowned after hearing the way she called him. What did she just call me? Juvia was staring him, waiting for him to get a nacho, but he was just stuck in his position.

"Gray-sama?", Juvia called him while looking at him with her big midnight blue eyes.

He cleared his throat then leaned back and fixed himself. "No, it’s okay. You go first."

She nodded, "Thank you." She reached for the nachos then happily ate it.

Gray was watching her enjoying the piece on her hand and he can't help himself from smiling.

"You really like that, huh?", Juvia quickly turned her head at Gray, thinking if he was really talking to her. But her thoughts vanished when she realized that Gray's eyes were secured on her while wearing a smile. So handsome.

Juvia slightly shook her head, removing the thoughts of melting in front of Gray because of his attractive, and sexy smile.

"It's one of Juvia's favorite...", took another piece of nachos and dipped it into its sauce. Gray watched her taking satisfaction in the snacks she's been eating.

"I can tell.", he smirked. Juvia looked at him with confusion. He then realized what he said. She must be thinking that I've been watching her. Well, that was really what he was doing, but he didn't want her to get a wrong idea.

He cleared his throat then looked at Juvia, "It's just --- it isn’t hard not to notice."

"Gray-sama was watching Juvia?", she said with a disgusting look.

"What? No, no, not like that. I'm not --- I'm not watching you…", Juvia giggled by Gray being all defensive.

"Juvia is just kidding Gray-sama." Her laughter continued, so natural when talking to him. Maybe the alcohol helped, or maybe she was just really feeling comfortable with the people surrounding her. Gray's lips curved into smile, and their conversation grew. They didn’t even notice that their friends were watching them.

Their friends looked at each other then back to the two persons who seemed busy with each other's company. Lucy who kept on pushing Gray to have a date on her wedding day stared at her fiancé and gave him a mischievous smile which Natsu already understands.

Erza gestured to her friends to leave the two alone and have their time to get to know each other which they all nodded and go on with what they were doing.

>>><<<

It was getting late, but the birthday celebration was far from over. What happened of going home in an hour or two, Gray?

Being in their own world and still not minding the other people inside the room, Gray and Juvia already shared a lot of things to each other. Gray is not usually the one who talk much. His friends know that, and if he was in a blind date, the girl was mostly doing the talking, yet with Juvia; it’s different. Good different.

"Is that Gray-sama's favorite? Juvia haven't tried it yet, but Juvia would like too if Gray-sama will be the one taking her." she shyly smiled, but her smile vanished seconds after she realized what she said. Gray-sama must be thinking that Juvia is flirting with him. What an idiot! Juvia internally smacked her head for saying those words.

Meanwhile, Gray was caught off guard after hearing her invitation. He blinked for a second, wasn't expecting from a shy girl like her to casually ask him out. But he smiled right away, liking the idea of him spending a day with Juvia.

"Uhm, Juvia… Juvia doesn't…doesn't mean it like that. What she meant was, Gray-sama can… can tell Juvia where to buy one, and… and she will try it. Yeah, that's what she meant.", she exhaled then smile awkwardly, trying to sound convincing, but Gray was just smiling at her for getting flustered.

Gray sat properly then loosened his tie, returning his gaze to Juvia. "What is the point of telling it to you if I can take you there by myself?", his sexy voice gave Juvia chills. Her cheeks became crimson red, eyes widen while looking at the handsome man beside her.

She wanted to say something, but no words are coming out. She was stuck and just having an eye contact with Gray whose smile didn't went away.

Their little time of staring at each other got interrupted when they both heard someone cleared their throat and when they both turned their head, Loke and Natsu were standing in front of them with their arms crossed.

"We are not ruining something in here, are we?", Loke said while smiling playfully and looking at Gray.

Gray wanted to punch Loke and Natsu in their stomach right now for disturbing his pleasant moment with Juvia. He quickly went back to his old self the moment he looked at his "good-for-nothing" friends.

"What do you want?", his voice changed as well. Natsu and Loke knew that he was pissed, but of course, they didn't care. They even liked it.

"We're going to change location.", Loke said.

Then Natsu glanced at Juvia then back to Gray. "You two still like to join us, or ---?", the pink-haired man mischievously smiled at Gray that seemed like he was telling something to him which the raven-haired man understands immediately.

Juvia checked the time using her phone, and Gray averted his attention back to her. Then Juvia looked up meeting his eyes, immediately knew that something was troubling her by her wearing a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?", he worriedly asked.

Juvia gave everyone an apologetic smile then put his phone back inside her bag. "Juvia is sorry everyone, but she can't no longer join, and she needs to go now."

Disappointment showed in their faces, especially the man beside her. Gray was really having a good time talking to her and wanted to spend more time with her, but of course she must have a valid reason why she needed to go.

"Oh right!", everyone looked at Lucy. "You need to go the airport early in the morning tomorrow to see your brother."

Juvia nodded with a smile, "That is right, but Juvia still wanted to join you guys. If isn't because of her ---."

"It's alright Juvia. We can still hang out next time. No worries.". Erza winked then sweetly smiling at her. Juvia nodded with a same smile she received from Erza. She stood up, placing the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "Juvia had a great time. Thank you so much for inviting her." She then faced Loke, "Happy Birthday Loke-san."

Loke happily gave her a grin and waved at her, the other did the same as well, except one. Juvia said her final goodbye to her newfound friends, but before exiting the room she looked at Gray, but he just gave her half smile.

>>><<< 

Juvia was standing outside the bar, waiting for a taxi. She left 10 minutes ago, but she was still at the place where she had spent a great time with her new friends, and with a certain someone.

She kept on looking back at the entrance of the bar. Arguing with herself whether to go back inside or not. She even gave Gray hint, hoping he can drive her back to her apartment, but she guesses her hint was not that obvious. Or he was just so dense to notice it.

She didn't want to leave because she still wanted to get to know Gray a bit more, but she also doesn’t want to disappoint his brother because she made a promise. A promise that she will pick him up at the airport from his business trip. Nothing special really, but she and her brother are really close even though they are really not related to each other.

It is already late, but people kept on going in and out from the bar, and it was hard to get a taxi as well. Busy night.

She was hugging herself because of the cold that was touching her skin. It was Cana's fault for forcing her to wear a dress that she's not used to, it was quite revealing. She can feel some eyes ogling her and also some cars honking their horns at her, and she can't help but feel uncomfortable, worried, and alarmed.

"What's taking it so long?", she mumbled. Now getting frustrated because she's been waiting for too long. After a few minutes, she finally saw a taxi coming. She raised her hand and started waving at the taxi, but it just drove passed her.

She sighed and her shoulders dropped down. Suddenly, someone stood behind her and put a blazer on top of her shoulder, covering her skin from the cold. She nervously jumped and quickly turned around with her eyes wide open. When she saw the person behind her, her eyes soften and exhaled deeply. Feeling relaxed and safe.

"Gray-sama."

Earlier, when Juvia left the room, Gray was really disappointed. He wanted her to stay, but when he heard her reason for leaving, he had no reason to stop her. He grabbed his glass of beer and drunk what's left then placed it back on the table when he was done.

Then he leaned lazily on his seat followed by furiously rubbing his hair. He already missed her presence, longing for her company, and he didn't get to feel this feeling with other women he had met. He doesn't even remember some of their names.

His heart aches, but he was sure that if Juvia by his side, it will heal. She really did something to him, even if she's not aware of it. Damn, he's not sure what was it either. But she was driving him crazy and had a strong desire to see her more in the future.

While he was sulking like a heartbroken teenager, he was not aware of his friend’s eyes staring at him. No one was talking until Erza broke the silence.

"What are you doing?", Erza's firm voice made Gray sat up straight. When he realized that the red-haired girl was talking to him, he confusingly frowned and felt the eyes fixed on him.

"What?", he responded coldly.

"Are you just going to let her go home by herself?", Cana asked with her arms crossed.

"You are stupid if you let that amazing woman slip out of your hand.", Erza plainly added.

Gray gave his friends a confused look, but honestly, he had an idea of what they were talking about. There is no doubt that he likes her, and there was enough sign that him and Juvia were on the same page.

"Go after her Gray.", Lucy said while smiling at her friend.

Gray nodded, immediately understand Lucy's words. "Yeah, I should."

Why didn't he think about it earlier? Instead of moping in his seat like an idiot. He had to smile at himself for losing focus because of the blue-haired girl. He smiled at his friends, "Thanks guys."

After that, he immediately stood up, grabbed his blazer and left the room. He was not sure if he can still catch up with Juvia, but he was hoping he can. When he got outside, he smiled and thanking the whole world because she was still there. He noticed her for feeling uncomfortable in where she was standing, he saw guys looking at her, he heard cars honking their horns at her, and because of the cold touching her pale, delicate, soft skin.

He watched her raising her hand for calling a taxi, he was about to call her name, but when the taxi didn’t stop in front of her, he noticed her shoulders dropped and that was when he began his move.

>>><<< 

"Gray-sama."

"I'm glad you're still here."

They looked at each other, but Juvia was still in the process if Gray was really standing in front of her. She touched his cheek then when she felt a warm skin, she smiled happily. "Gray-sama is really here."

He smirked, and can't stop himself from laughing quietly, "Of course I'm here."

"What is Gray-sama doing here?", she asked. "Juvia thought ---"

She wasn't able to finish her words when Gray cupped her right cheek with his palm. "I can't just let a beautiful woman like you go home by herself. Especially, wearing like that."

He examined her from top to bottom for the second time, but he did not do it maliciously. However, despite of the cold she was feeling, her cheeks were blushing so badly that she felt some warmth sensation from what Gray just said.

Rather than responding with words, she placed her hand on top of his hand where he was cupping her cheek and smiled sweetly.

"Please allow me to take you home Juvia. So, I can spend more time with you."

Gray took her hand and he put them down together. Their hands were now intertwined, and no one was planning to let go.

"It was just a 40-minute drive Gray-sama.", she giggled. "But Juvia doesn't mind if Gray-sama will take a longer route."

How bold. She kept on surprising him. Where is the shy girl a few hours ago? And the girl who wanted to get away from the crowd at the retreat? Who cares? He doesn’t even think it as a bad thing, instead he was craving for more.

"Sounds like a deal." Soon after, Gray pulled her gently so they can cross the road and guide her where he parked his car.

As they were walking away from the bar, their friends were watching them crossing the road with a full smile on their faces.

"It looks like Gray have a date already in our wedding babe." Natsu winked at Lucy and she giggled.

"Do you think Gray will ask her? They are looking so good together." Lucy worriedly asked his fiancé. "I can't believe I didn't think of setting them up!"

"Maybe we can stop annoying him to go on a blind dates Luce. He already found someone he likes."

"You are right…"

"I'll date Juvia if he didn’t ask her." Loke received a smack on his head from Erza. "Aww!", He was rubbing his hair because the pain might disappear, but Erza really gave him a strong one.

"Find someone else. Juvia is a sweet girl and doesn't deserve to be a plaything. Plus, I know Gray will not do that to her." Erza confidently told it to her friends.

Then they left the bar with all smiles on their faces.

>>><<< 

"The retreat was amazing. I can’t believe you managed to do that by yourself.", Gray praised Juvia for doing a great job organizing a big event.

Juvia blushed, didn’t expect a sudden compliment from Gray. "Juvia had some help Gray-sama. She didn’t do it alone.", she responded shyly.

"I heard a different case from Lucy though." Gray told her while focusing on the road.

Juvia frowned in confusion. "What did Lucy-san say?". She slightly tilted her head looking at Gray while waiting for his answer.

Gray looked at her and can’t help but adore her beautiful azure eyes that were staring at him like a puppy. But he had to focus with his driving, so he immediately turned his attention back on the road.

He cleared his throat and began thinking about what to say. "Uhm well… Lucy said that you did all the work, and you didn’t even complain about your co-workers who were supposed to do the job with you. That's what she said."

She slowly nodded then sweetly smiled at him. "Juvia was still grateful… because they appreciate what she did, they recognized her talent, and Juvia was just so happy. And about the people who didn’t do their job are now being punished with a pack of paper works for the whole month. So, it is a win-win for Juvia.", she giggled.

Gray chuckled, liking her honesty and enthusiasm. This girl is really interesting, one of a kind, and definitely worth it.

Gray really did take a longer route, and Juvia didn’t complain about it, but sadly, even though they still don't want to leave each other's side. They had to say their goodbyes because they already reached their destination. Juvia's apartment.

The gloominess of her eyes was shown, but she still managed to give Gray her sweetest smile. "Thank you for giving Juvia a ride home, Gray-sama."

"The least I can do.", he simply said.

"Juvia had fun"

Gray nodded, "Me too."

They were staring at each other, no one was saying some words, and didn’t know what was running inside each other's minds. The silence stopped when Juvia deeply exhales, bit her lower lip, smiled at Gray for the last time then she opened the car door and got out from the car.

But before she closed it, Gray called her name and stepped out from his car. Juvia shut the passenger door while watching Gray walking his way to the other side of the car where she was standing. Their eyes were locked at the each other until Gray was already standing in front of her.

"Gray-sa ---"

He had to do it. He wanted to do it. Juvia's words was cut short because her lips were now being sealed by Gray's lips. She was surprised, but immediately melted by his gentle kiss. He really knows how to make a woman surrender, but it was different for Juvia.

He was kissing her with respect. Soft. Delicate. Slow. Passionate.  

No one wanted to let go and didn’t care about the few people walking at the side of road. However, they needed air and Gray was the first one to pull away, but their foreheads were resting against each other.

Their breathing was sync and they stayed like that for a few seconds before standing straight and locking their eyes at each other, but her hand was still being held by him.

"Go out with me." Gray whispered, but still loud enough for Juvia to hear.

Juvia's eye widen, wasn't expecting to hear those words from him, "G-Gray-sama…"

He smiled. Even though the dark was surrounding them he can still the red tint from Juvia's cheeks. "You don’t need to answer me right away. I'm sorry for surprising you, but I, uhm… I meant that." Cleared his throat. He was starting to sweat. He was nervous, and Juvia was the only woman who made him feel that way. He was only good at hiding it.

Juvia suddenly giggled. His brows drawn together while confusingly staring at the beautiful woman in front of him.

"You are so cute Gray-sama." Juvia actually noticed his cold sweat, his worry, and hesitation, and it was so pleasing for her eyes. With her sudden compliment, it was Gray's turn to feel flustered. He scratched the back of his head, landed his eyes at Juvia who was looking lovely with her giggling then his lips curved into a shy smile.

"Yes."

Gray's smile disappeared, confusingly looking at Juvia, and thinking if he heard her right. "What did you say?"

Juvia bit her lower lip then exhaled deeply. "Juvia said yes with what Gray-sama said earlier. She will go out with you."

Gray's face brightened like a kid who received a lollipop, but in a manly way (if that makes sense).

"You can't turn back now. I'm warning you." he said in a flirty tone.

Juvia nodded, "Juvia is serious and has no plan of turning back."

"That also means, you'll be my date at Natsu and Lucy's wedding."

She chuckled, "Juvia loves that."

He was very satisfied with her answer and smiled even more. That moment, he was so happy and can’t wait to see the future that awaits for him and with the "sexy-as hell-shy girl" in front of him.

#Gruvia #GrayFullbuster #JuviaLockser #OneShot #BeMyDate

[zuffer-weird-girl]

Soulmate AU

Before you meet your soulmate you have to deal with a chibi version of them before actually meeting them. So can he handle it?

Kai's point of view since you guys wanted

Reader's view

Soulmates... a mere distraction and useless thing that appeared on the humanity. Seing thise with disgusting little versions of other persons on their shoulder or just howering over their head just gave him the nerves.

Ever since he turned 18, he tried to not think about it much... his chibi didn't appeared, and probably never would... Pops and Kurono always gave him as younger the bullshit of "be patient" or "Those things take time."

He didn't believed that neither want it. He didn't needed a stupid sick person to distract him from his mission... that's what he told himself.

One day, working he heard a crash and immediately sighed in annoyance. It wasn't a good day for him and he wasn't on the mood to atture anyone. Almost throwing his pen down, he got up with a grunt and went in search of where the noise went only to find the living room in complete chaos as Mimic, Nemoto and Setsuno holded weapons while looking at the ground.

"What the hell..?" He muttered before Setsuno shouted an "THERE! KILL IT!" before the three man started to stab, shot the ground as little squeak's echoed in the room.

He was about to scold everyone on that room before he almost shouted when he felt the reason of their misbehaviour bump into his leg. Looking down, glove already discarded, he saw a what was supposed to be a tiny creature, eyes shinning a vibrant (E/c) color while looking up at him while adjusting their (H/c) hair.

"What the-?" He cringed and hissed when the creature hugged his ankle and went to kill it before a elder hand grabbed on his wrist. The owner demanding that everyone excluding Chisaki left the room.

"Pops with all due respect-"

"My boy, after years you're really going to kill your soulmate?" The elder spoke with a frown as Chisaki tried to not widen his eyes. Pops crouched down and gently cupped the chibi in his hands and brought up for him and Kai to see more closely.

"My, isn't that one of prettiest chibis I saw?" The elder chuckled as the chibi blushed and squeaked happily at the man's commentary as Kai narrowed his eyes at the little thing. "Don't you agree my boy?" The elder asked as Kai glared one more time at the chibi before scoffing and storming out of the room.

The chibi tilted their head as Pops chuckled, letting the pretty thing down on the ground to follow Kai.

He sighed before widening his amber eyes at hearing the squeaking following him. He turned around and send a dark glare at the chibi who only smiled lovingly at him.

"Shoo. Be gone." He tried to shove them with his foot by all in vain since the chibi attached to his ankle and squeaked happily as he cringed. "GET OFF!"

Kurono appeared on the halls before snorting at the scene before commenting.

"Found your soulmate?"

"Shut up and help me get rid of this!" Kai glared at his friend who made a thoughtful expression before smirking and denying, hlgetting out and leaving Kai with the lovely chibi on his ankle.

.

.

.

He groaned as he tried to work and the chibi continued walking, playing or even squeaking to get his attention. The chibi wouldn't just leave him alone and always followed or tried to cuddle one part of his body and was getting already on his nerves.

His pacience broke when the chibi accidentally let a bit of his pen fall and he slammed his hands on his desk. Making the chibi squeak, but this time in fear.

"Get. Out. Of my office." He growled the words between his teeth, glaring at the chibi as hives slowly started to appear on his skin "I don't want to even hear your stupid squeaking or see your disgusting face again. Out."

The chibi stayed silent as Kai continued glaring at it before he let out a confused and quite shock noise when tears started to roll down their round cheeks as the chibi jumped from his desk and ran out of his office.

"Well... at least some peace." He sighed before taking his seat again. Getting back to work despite a feeling of guilt starting to grow on the back of his head.

It had been more than six hours since he last saw his chibi soulmate ever since he... blow off. Walking around the halls he couldn't help but sometimes look behind him sometimes to check if the chibi was following him... but it wasn't.

Frowning a bit he shook his head before an idea popped into his mind. Getting his phone out and start his research about the chibis.

Reading more and more about them he saw that his soulmate was actually a quite patient one... normally chibis when ignored by only half an hour they ran away from the person and never heard of again.... but it has been days since he had tried to ignore their existence, and his soulmate was still there, happily following him like a puppy.

Reading ore and more his heart dropped subconsciously when he saw that chibis were extremely fragile creatures. One hit and they might end up the actual person on a very bad and dangerous way. His worry and guilt were too overbearing as he got up and decided to look for the chibi around the house... just to prevent a death.

Yeah... it was only because of that. Je didn't wanted the yakusa to have a bad reputation if one person died becaus of a chibi.... because he was an asshole to them.

Although it reached around the night hours. And still hadn't found the damn chibi. Kurono noticed his distress and he admited the whole story so he could help him.

Kai was almost losing his mind, already admitting that he missed his chibi soulmate, not hearing their annoying squeak was torture now.

"Relax dude, we're going to find-"

"Is my fault. I shouldn't have growled at it." He admited begrudgingly, as Kurono tried his best to not just nod in agreement to not make his friend more stressed than he was.

The two walked towards the kitchen to get a drink before Kai almost felt his breath being ripped out of his chest when he saw the damn brat, sitting on the kitchen counter nibbling on a fruit, not aware of the presence of the two males on the room.

"There it is." Hati smirked as Kai let out a relieved sigh, hesitantly walking towards the chibi as Kurono went to bed.

"You brat, where were you?" He hadn't meant for his tone to be harsh, but immediately cringed when the chibi let out a terrified squeak and hidded behind the basquet of fruitsm

He did deserve that.

Sighing, he got a chair to sit down as he watched like a hawks the shaken chibi as he frowned.

"Apologies." He said nonchantly bit noticed it wasn't enough for the chibi to even poke their head out to look at him. "... I never expected to have a soulmate. I was always barely on my own... and as you cam see I am not the best person to be around of." He looked at the door frame a bit, the corner of his eyes spotting the chibi slowly getting out "Whenever I'm around, the fun ends. That's how always has been since the old man took me in. I... guess that I just think that I'm not suitable to have someone... I would just let them down anyway." He flinched and tensed at feeling something on his hand, only to look down at the chibi hugging his hand and looking up at him before squeaking a smile.

"... even despite of what I did to you, you forgive me that easy?" He arched one eyebrow at the another squeak. His smirk was hidded thanks by his mask as he awkwardly rubbed their chubby cheek with his thumb.

"Brat." He whispered as the chibi squeaked again as he allowed himself to finally be relieved on that day.

.

.

.

Ever since them, he put the brat, as he decided to call, on his shoulder since they seemed like to enjoy snuggle up on the purple feathers of his jacket. Everyone who dared to aproach or even try to touch it, Chisaki immediatly would overhaul them on the spot.

The brat, when the both were alone would always squeak loudly whenever he was wearing his mask. Grumpily he would take it off just to stop hearing the squeaking only for the chibi to kiss his cheek or even lips and ran away from him.

"Why you little-"

Rappa almost stepped on the chibi once, and no one believed that Kai actually shouted and cursed the man... no one even knew that Chisaki knew much cursed words as Kendo himself.

One day, opening the door of Eri's room he called the girl who shakily stood up before both of them widened their eyes when hearing a squeak and the chibi just popping out of Chisaki's jacket and waving at Eri.

"....u-uh...."

"Don't comment and just go Eri."

He really didn't know whether he should ignore it or just want the floor to swallow him after that.

.

.

.

Loosening his tie around is neck he found the chibi on the middle of his bed crying. Anger and concern immediately ran up to his veins as he looked around for any signs fro someone else that could have hitted you or other thing.

Then he remember something, chibis usually reflected what their actual versions were feeling at the moment and for the first time he felt empathy... slowly taking a seat he saw the tiny drops of water espace their eyes.

His gloved hand grabbed them, making them squeak as he apologised. Lowering his mask he glared at the chibi a bit before hesitantly and awkwardly peeking them.

Immediatly the humor of the chibi changed as they let out inumerous squeaks amd hugged his bare face and peppered it with tiny smooches as he grunted.

"I regret my decision already..." he growled as the chibi squeaked even more.

.

.

.

"They sound like they hadn't sleep in ages." Kurono commented with a laugh at seing Kai's soulmate almost drooling on his shoulder as Kai stared blankly at them.

"They're just a lazy brat." He murmured nonchantly before returning his gaze at his front as the chibi let out a cute yawn. "You know the deal, give them the product and leave, or else shoot."

"Got it." They went to turn on a alleyway before Kai let out a grunt when his chibi yanked on his pierced ear and started to squeak loudly and jump on his shoulder.

"What the hell?" Kurono commented as Kai grabbed the chibi on his gloved hand and glared at them.

"What's wrong with-" the chibi bited on his gloved hand and jumped on the floor and stomped out as Kai stared in horror as Kurono was froze in shock "they never did this before."

"Go after them. I will slow down the business." Kai nodded ass he ran after his chibi, ready to give them an hour of lecture for daring to pinch their small teeth on his hand.

"Get THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME-!" he shoved past the people as he ran after his soulmate that despite being little it was fast."GET BACK HERE YOU BRAT!"

The chibi stopped amd looked at him with a smile, poiting at the entrance of a market, squeaking and jumping before entering the place.

"You want to get killed you little-?!" He groaned and stormed in the market looking at the ground desperatly... he was already panicking again before he spotted the little shit turning on a aisle.

"For God's sake brat dont you-?!" He stopped on his tracks when he saw his chibi on the arms of another one. A small version of himself as it hugged lovingly his brat while he could even feel hearts emitting out of them.

"I see..." he muttered in shock to himself before gasping quietly when he heard another's voice, something like "goldie" before they stopped behind his chibi self.

He locked gaze with the familiar (E/c) beautiful eyes. His actual soulmate... was standing there, right in front of him...

They started to slowly take steps towards him and he subsconciously did the same...

He could feel his brat smilling up at him... as his own and only future love of his life giggled when he arched an eyebrow at then before laughing.

Exactly like he suspected...

He couldn't help but smile at the angel in front of him, knowing that for the first time on his life. Soulmates were actually a blessing since he finally found his brat.

#bnha villains #bnha #bnha characters #bnha x reader #bnha imagine #chisaki kai #chisaki kai x reader #overhaul x reader #overhaul #fanfic overhaul #my writing #zuffer writings

[thiswasinevitableid]

10 tattoos/piercing, Danbrey, sfw, please!

Here you go! I based Dani's design on an arowana because I liked the color.

“Remember, non-scented soap, nice to meet you, byeee!” Aubrey waves to her client as they head down the boardwalk. She has thirty minutes until her next appointment, so it’s time to stretch her legs and check the little ‘doggy cam” she set up on Dr. Harris Bonkers cage to make sure the giant rabbit hasn’t finally managed to chew his way through the bars.

“Hi doctor” She coos into the phone. One white ear pivots towards the camera, but the bunny remains otherwise unmoved.

She leans on the railing, Pacfic sparkling like a postcard before her.

“Excuse me?”

“YEEEEP!” She jumps back, not expecting a woman to pop out of the water, let alone pop out and talk to her.

“Oops, sorry.” The other woman smiles, golden hair fanning out around her. There are two types of blondes in Long Beach; the ones hoping to be the next influencer sensation and the kind who are excited to tell you about GOOP and crystals.

Whichever kind this woman is, she’s the most gorgeous girl Aubrey’s ever seen.

“Um, can I help you?”

“Yeah! Can you tattoo me? A piercing would be okay too, but I really like how pretty the tattoos are.”

“Thanks. Um, you’re gonna need an appointment.” She pulls out her phone again, since it’s synced to the calendar Joseph makes them all keep, “lemme see....I have a big slot of time on Friday afternoon.”

The girl cocks her head, “That’s two days from now, right?”

“Yep.We can start at one if that works for you?”

“Sure, see you then!” She waves and then disappears under the water. A few moments later, a shimmering golden tail breaks the swell, seeming to wave once before submerging. Aubrey blinks, switches back to the bun cam.

“How do I tell Joseph I have to move my stuff outside to tattoo a mermaid?”

Dr. Harris Bonkers snuffles, but offers no further commentary.

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

“Joseph, for the last time, you are not gonna hang around just to ask my client questions while I’m trying to work.”

“I don’t plan to, but we need to make sure everything, and I mean everything, is as sterile as we can manage. Doing this outside gives me hives as it is.” Joseph finishes setting up the pop-tent, the kind sun-phobic families take to the beach.

“C’mon, people gave each other traditional tattoos out in the open for centuries. It should be fine.”

Joseph makes an unsure noise, but leaves her in peace all the same. Before long a golden tail flashes out of the water as the mermaid swims towards the beach, the closest spot to the pier where they could actually set the tent and generator up. It’s right on the tide line, Duck having used his almanac to tell them whether Aubrey would be chasing the tide or fleeing from it if the appointment turns out to be long.

“Um, hi again.” She waves.

“Hello!” The mermaid slides up into the surf. When she sits up, Aubrey turns pink.

“Uh, do you, uh, want a swimsuit or something?” Her voice is embarrassingly high.

The mermaid looks down, then at Aubrey studiously looking elsewhere, and laughs, “Oh, right, I forgot humans don’t like it when we’re bare-chested.”

“I mean it’s not that we don’t like it-” Aubrey mumbles.

“Be right back.” She pushes back into the sea, returning a minute later wearing a bright green bikini top, “is that better?”

“Yep!” She replies too quickly, “Sorry, I, um, I’ve never worked on a mermaid before, kinda figured you guys wore seashells or sea stars or something?”

“You...you realize where that would put the seastar mouths, right?” The mermaid scoots up onto the beach, tail in the water and back on the inflatable recliner they borrowed from Kirbys apartment.

“Ooohouch, you’re right, fuck, sorry.” She grabs her flash binder, brought in case the mermaid didn’t have a design in mind.

The mermaid glances over her shoulder, smiling, “You’re cute when you blush.”

She maintains her professionalism, but only just, as the mermaid chooses her preferred design; a brightly colored swirl of planets and stars. For a newbie, she barely seems to register the needle, focused instead on studying Aubrey’s face and hands as she works. She learns that her name is Dani, that she’s one of several merfolk living near the pier, and that she’s observed Aubrey and her handiwork courtesy of a rock and a pair of salvaged binoculars.

“Oooh” Dani wiggles her tail happily when she sees the finished product, “it’s perfect, thank you so much Aubrey.”

“Glad you like it-oh, okay.” She stiffens as Dani rubs their cheeks together twice before pulling back.

“I’m supposed to keep it clean right?”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure how well saran wrap will hold up to sea water.”

A formerly empty Rose bottle thunks onto the sand. Dani grabs it, popping the make-shift cork off with her teeth.

“Ooh, Indrid sent me a special covering to keep it safe. And these must be for you.” She holds out two pearls.”

“Thanks” She’s more interested in watching the kissable lips covering razor sharp than the gems the mermaid gives her.

“Can I see you again?” Dani is halfway back in the water.

“Whenever you want. You’re a great client; you, um, you’re really nice to touch. Wait, um, I mean you take it really welllARGH, um, yes please come back.” Aubrey replies, tucking the second most valuable thing on the beach into her pocket and continuing to blush well after Dani has returned to the waves.

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

“AHFUCK!”

“Sorry!” Dani gives a sheepish wave to Duck before turning to Aubrey, who got used to her popping out of the water five times ago, “are you free tomorrow?”

“Sure” even if she isn’t, she’ll happily reschedule another client for Dani’s sake, “do want to pick something from my flash?”

“Nope, this time Indrid designed something. It’s about the same size as this” she holds up the watercolor hermit crab on her right arm, “see you then?”

“Of course.” Aubrey waves goodbye, blows a kiss when Dani is out of sight.

She forgot Duck was still here.

“You got it bad, Lady Flame.”

“Shush, I saw you chatting to Indrid by the coffee shop yesterday.”

“....you can’t prove anythin.”

She holds up her phone, smirking, “Oh yes I can.”

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

“Aubrey!”

She looks up, wondering who’s calling her name on the deserted beach. She brings Dr. Harris Bonkers down here on a leash late at night for enrichment for him and a break from the summer heat for her.

“Aubrey, over here!” Dani leaps through the surf until she;s only able to slide, “I thought it was you. Ohhhhhh” she squeals, “this must be Dr. Harris Bonkers. Hello cutie pie, aren’t you just so lovelyOH, oh he feels like an otter.” She rubs the rabbits head, causing him to creep towards the water, “you’re the second cutest thing on this beach, doctor.” She winks at Aubrey, then sits up, “can I introduce him to Ferdinand?”

Aubrey nods, excited to finally meet Dani’s pet; she only his name, but she’s expecting a seal, or maybe a crab.

What she gets is an octopus. The cephalopod winds a tentacle around her arm, investigating her.

“Aww, he likes you.” Dani sets the octopus down in shallow water, where it proceeds to stretch multiple limbs out to poke Dr. Harris Bonkers.

“Guess they’re having a playdate?” Dani scoots closer, resting her head on Aubrey’s shoulder.

Aubrey sets a hand on her tail, running her fingers up and down the scales as the mermaid sighs happily.

“As long as he doesn’t carry Dr. Harris Bonkers into the tidepools, they can hang out as long as you like.”

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

“Dani? How many tattoos are you planning to get?” Aubrey looks up from where she’s outlining an octopus on Dani’s side.

“I haven’t decided yet. It’s really common for mers to have lots of piercings and tattoos. That’s why Indrid can leave Duck so many expensive tokens; he’s the most in-demand tattoo artist on the coast.”

“Neat! Wait-” she sits up, shutting off the gun, “your friend is a tattoo artist, but you kept coming here?”

“Yes.” Dani is still, save for the end of her tail, which vibrates nervously.

“Why?”

“Um, well, I, I really liked your style. Then I really liked you, and I wanted to keep seeing you…”

“Holy crap, do you keep getting tattoos because you think that’s the only way you’re able to see me?”

“Uhhuh.” Dani is bright pink from her cheeks to her waist as Aubrey scrambles to sit in front of her, “I mean, when you want to date someone, you’re only allowed to see them at their work until they say they want to date you too. Even us meeting on the beach a few weeks ago was pushing it, and I didn’t want you thinking I was pushy.”

“....Huh?”

“Do humans not have that rule?” Dani’s honey-colored eyes widen.

“Nope. It’s actually kinda rude to ask people out at work, because they can’t get away BUT” she hurriedly sets the gun aside, “but I make exceptions for super cute wonderful mermaids.”

“Oh. In that case-” Dani knocks her backwards with her tail and climbs atop her, kissing her so hard she wonders if you can die from a really good make-out session. When the salty kiss ends the mermaid continues peppering her face with kisses and flicking her tongue along her neck.

“Dani I, I’m loving all of this but if you mess up my ink I’m gonna be as annoyed as I can possibly be with a gorgeous mermaid feeling me up.”

“Crap, you’re right.” Dani sits back up, glancing at the half-done tattoo, "I really don't want to ruin your work. Desperate need to see you aside, I do love your style." She folds her hands back into her lap and readjusts onto the inflatable chair.

Aubrey crawls forward, kissing her sweetly, "Once we're done and you're all wrapped up, wanna join me on the beach for a little, um, late night picnic."

A teasing kiss, first to her nose and then to her lips, "I'd love to."

#danbrey #aubrey little/dani #taz amnesty #mermay #mermay fills

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “Insurrection.”

Hope ou guys like this one and how it turned out. I am super excited to write the aftermath of all of this tomorrow, so stick around for that obviously :)

Have a great day. 

“Adam, Damnit Adam, wake up!” The man lay on the floor of the shuttle head tilted back mouth open, fast asleep. Krill didn’t mind him sleeping, but there was one problem.

The life support.

This shuttle was clearly only meant for short detours in space, probably to one of those passing space stations or satellites. Krill would have flown the ship himself, but it turned out that his armspan wasn’t wide enough to break both beams of light at the same time. Either way he could only move the ship forward, away from any help, or in useless circles.

Overhead, a low rumbling was the siren for the ship.

“Commander, please wake up.”

The man didn’t move, his chest and stomach moving up and down slowly in his sleep, an unnatural sleep.

Krill turned to look around the shuttle, trying to find anything he could use to wake the man, but no luck, he could find nothing. The ship was a wasteland of useful tools, and he was suffering.

He had just moved to the front of the ship, and was trying to reach the two beams of light, without any luck, when there was a bright flash of light before him in the darkness. With a yelp, he staggered back and tripped onto the floor holding his arms out to block the horrifically burning light before him. When the light did not abate, he rolled onto his side and hid his face against the floor.

He wasn’t sure what was happening.

Had someone found them? Was there an explosion of some sort?

What was going on.

Finally the light subsided and he was able to lift his arms, still reeling from the blast of luminance that had poured down on him.

Looking out the window.

He froze in awe, surprise, and shock.

The Space dragon stared back at him, its massive head arching up into infinity, its great solar-sale wings spread around it.

Behind him, Commander Vir moaned, and krill turned to look as the man pushed himself to his hands and knees and then lifted his head. 

***

“Deus”

Commander Vir sat on the floor of the shuttle in astonishment.

“I….. its… you.”

The dragon dipped it’s head just slightly curling through the air like a massive ribbon spun through the air.

“What are you doing here.” HE asked taking to his feet and walking over to the viewing window.”

The dragon did not answer, but spun in a tight circle.

“Well…. I. I don't know how you got here, but look, we are running out of air and desperately need to get back home. I would owe you forever if you helped us.”

Adam couldn’t hear anything of course, and even the inside of his head was quiet, but, somehow, he got the sense that the creature was laughing. He wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing, but he definitely hoped that it was laughing with him and not at him.

“You will need to hold on.” 

IT was the last thing the dragon said before racing out with the end of it’s tail, wrapping tightly around the ship, and then spinning in a tight circle.

Krill and Adam ended up plastered together against the far wall with the sudden acceleration.

And then came a bright flash of light, and they were gone.

***

They had been found out.

Of course, Sunny had expected as much. She didn’t imagine that a bunch of brightly colored butterfly burg, imprisoned for 400 years would go unnoticed by the rest of the hive, but there it was.

They knew that something was going on, and had begun pulling back towards the throne room to protect the queen. Luckily for her and her people, the shock troopers had managed to surround most of the large pockets of Burg fighters and were holding them off OF course, that did not stop everyone from making it back, and Sunny and the others were forced to dewal with an increased flux of burg as they retreated back down the tunnels.

She tried her best not to kill too many of them, but there was really no other choice when they got in her way.

On any other day she would have been happy to run them all through with great prejudice, but she was keenly aware of the burg king lurking at the back of their group, and didn’t want to ruin diplomatic relations before they even started.

Hijan was somewhere on the other side of the throne room, with the egg, waiting for her cue.

Sunny and the others were almost there, and ready for whatever was to come.

Behind her, Cannon Ramirez and Thomas covered the burg king, Thomas having all the luck of his brother and being covered in a thick layer of blue icor from the Burg he had helped to Kill. 

THe man wasn’t as good as the marines, but he had enthusiasm.

She still couldn’t stand how much he looked like Adam, and his death brought bitter emotions rising into her throat.

She choked them back down spinning her spear behind her back as she crouched on the floor, one knee planted and waiting.

They were there for a good half hour before she gave the signal, and the group of them began to move forward.

The doors to the throne room were well protected, but, sending Ramirez around to one side as a second distraction, she watched as they were drawn away by his yelling voice and the gunfire. He would be fine seeing that the king had given them inside information on the layout of the palace, not that she would call this place much of a palace (more like a cesspool) but to each their own.

But together, the remaining group of them hurried forward towards the open door, cracking it open with only a slight rumble, and sneaking into the shadows behind a tall line of stalagmites rising from the floor in front of them.

Cannon and Thomas stacked up behind her as she pressed herself against the wall.

Looking around the room, sunny made a face of absolute disgust.

She could see, by way of delicate beams of light trickling form vents high above, and in that way she could see the throne room, covered in slimy moss, gelatinous ooze of a creamy white substance.

Some of it, held what she could only assume to be eggs, though that confused her considering the burg king told her the egg room was down the hall in the other direction.

“What has she done.” The king whispered in disgust.

Sunny was glad to hear it because she wasn’t entirely sure what she would have to think of him if this was the normal state of things.

It wasn’t just the slime and the thin beams of wan yellow light, but the floor was covered in refuse, mostly molted skin in great slippery sheats, and discarded food. From the edges of the room, the floor roze up into a sort of high hillock where the queen sat now.

Adam came unbidden to her mind again as she thought about what he might say of the sight.

Either: Jabba the Hutt called, he wants his body back, or something along those lines.

“Jeez.” Thomas whispered form her left, “Jabba the HUtt called, and he wants his girlfriend back.”

Sunny glowered down at him, and he went silent. Only Adam was allowed to make horrible star wars references.

Granted she had no doubt that Thomas had been forced into watching them with his little brother, but still it was Adam’s thing, no one else cared enough for it to count.

“What is happening.” THe queen demanded, and Sunny cringed again at the gelatinous way her voice spilled from her open mouth.

She only hoped the king was right when he said that the queen wasn’t supposed to look like that because if he was lying than they had the ugliest empress on the face of the universe. And just below her, there stood ranks of the royal guard. The biggest baddest, ugliest burg to go right along with her, with their massive mandibles and thick trunk-like legs.

“In position.” She whispered over her line 

And Hijan came back with a slow on and off of her mic, so she wouldn’t have to speak.

Sunny motioned the others off, and together they spread out in a wide circle keeping to the shadow and slowly surrounding the room.

That was Sunny’s cue.

With a deep breath, she stepped out into the light of the cave, hoping that everyone else was in position.

As soon as she appeared there was a sharp hiss as the burg drew up. The queen gurgled, “What are you doing here!” She demanded 

Sunny watched all the eyes turn to her, and planned on keeping them there as long as she could, “I am here to offer you terms of surrender. Either you step down peacefully as queen of the burg, or we remove you.” She lifted her spear, “The hard way.”

The queen gurgled some more, “You will not threaten me! Not when you are alone, and my guards still stand.”

There was a sharp hiss as the burg drew forward their weapons held ready.

“I am warning you now.” Sunny said, “One last time. You cannot win this fight. Better to live than to die in your own juices.”

That only made the queen more angry and she screeched, “Kill her!”

Sunny dove to the side just as sever projectiles of light energy shot through the spot where she had been.

The burg guards charged her, but not all of them made it more than a few steps before they were taken from behind.

Cannon appeared from the darkness spearing one through the back and caving in the skull of another with a brutal backhand to the face.

Hijan’s soldiers did the same, appearing out of the darkness and taking the distracted burg by storm.

Sunny continued rolling until she was behind a rock, and then unpredictably came out from above slamming into two of the guards with her spear. They hit the ground and she dispatched one before rolling away.

Someone screamed from the other side of the room, and she turned to watch as Thomas charged down from the top of the cave and straight towards the Burg, he shot one in the face before slipping on the slime and ending up on his back. A burg tried crawling over him, its weapon raised, but then thomas spat straight into its open mouth.

The reaction was immediate and grotesque as it fell to the ground clutching at its face.

Thomas stood, and with a huge grin, he ran around the room chasing after burg, and if he wasn’t shooting at them, he had turned himself into a spitting cobra.

Hijan appeared from behind a rock, the new egg cradled in one of her lower arms like a football.

Sunny ran a burg through with her spear.

Atop her pedestal the queen was screaming for her guards.

They tried to get close, but the burg were fighting ferociously, and more of them seemed to be appearing by the second, spilling from holes in the ground and up onto the surface.

Sunny yelled orders from where she stood.

They weren’t getting any closer.

Hijan was overrun for a moment but managed to break out, holding the egg up and away from grasping hands.

“Over here!” Someone shouted, and Hijan turned her head to find Ramirez not too far away, his hands raised.

She lobbed the egg underhand without a second thought, and Ramirez dived forward to catch it hitting the stone hard and then rolling behind a rock with the egg tucked to his chest.

The burg chased after him, but Hijan took out a few of their number.

Sunny hissed in pain as a blade cut her along the upper right arm, spinning her spear back and thrusting it forward into the chest of her attacker.

They were being pushed back towards the doors as more and more of them filtered up from the ground. Thomas stood on a rock and was spitting down onto the crowd indiscriminately as he had no need to aim.

Sunny snarled in frustration, still they were losing.

And then there came a plaintive cry of pain. It wasn’t very loud, but it made the room turn and look up to where the queen sat covered in blue as her own lifeblood trickled down her front, and over her stood the burg King, his magnificent kaleidoscope wings glittering like stained glass in a single shaft of sun. In one hand he held a sharpened blade, and as they watched he drew it even more forcibly across the queen’s throat.

Or at least the part below her face.

She flailed for a moment and then wriggled and then flopped wetly to the ground at his feet.

The room was silent.

And then an uproar.

“QUICK, THE EGG.” He bellowed. Ramirez had rolled out from behind a rock and raised his hand trying to figure out where to place it, a sea of burg between him and the burg king.

***

The orbital ring of the Burg home planet was awash with chaos. Debris was littered everywhere and it was taking all the maneuvering skill of the pilots not to destroy their ships on a ton of stell rocketing around the planet at thousands of miles an hour.

The burg fleet and the combined GA fleet were locked in combat. The GA fleet bigger and more powerful, the burg smaller but more nimble.

One of the Celzex light cruisers had been separated from the main body of the GA fleet and was being harried from all sides by diveboming burg ships. Their weapons were to slow to manuver and fire at the burg. And each beam took minutes to charge.

Outside their shields were being slowly worn down, the once glowing blue energy a patchwork of holes and tears frayed and fuzzy at the edges where the energy was attempting to seal them back up.

But it was no use.

The ship rocked as an incoming burg attack hit them broadside.

“Left deck compromised.”

The Celzex leader cursed.

They weren’t gong to win this one, and he knew it. Their weapons were, ironically, too powerful to be used on such small opponents.

The ship rocked again and another deck decompressed, leaving more and more of the Celzex to die a painful death.

It was almost over now.

And then all blackness was lit by a bright beam of white light. The rocking in theis ship stopped suddenly as everyone within visible radius was blinded.

When the fleet looked up, and the light abated, they stopped in awe as the massive space dragon uncurled itself from it’s tight ring.

WIth one sharp flick, its tial lashed out sending a projectile roring onto the battlefield.

The Celzex stopped in awe as the alien ship roared from the darkness and (using powerful unknown energy weapons) Sliced straight through one of the burg cruisers. IT made a tight turn flying with the skill and dexterity of a complete madman as it made quick work of the remaining burg which surrounded the Celzex ship.

The great dragon flicked it’s tial once again.

There was a flash of light, and one of the burg ships went spinning off into blackness, shedding metal and material in all directions.

The alien ship cut around dodging through the debris, and though it was smaller than any ship there, it made quick work of what was left.

Behind it, the great beast spread its wings wide as the shuttle hurtled towards the surface of the planet.

***

The Egg left Ramirez's hand spinning up into the air in a great slow arc. But at the last moment his foot slipped on a slime pile and the tips of his fingers brushed over the surface, minutely changing the course of the ball to go spinning high and away from its intended target.

Sunny watched in despair and shock, but then, the roaring of an engine, and a burst of light, maverick came plowing through one of the holes in the ceiling with her jetpack, grabbing the egg from the air and spinning in a tight circle to deposit it in the hands of the burg ing who was slowly being advanced on by the burg royal guard

As soon as the egg came in contact with his hands, he raised it high over his head, and with a sharp crack, broke the outer shell.

Two halves of the egg fall to the ground, and he was left holding a small wriggling maggot with large dark eyes.

“Behold, your new queen!” The room grew very still and ver silent for a moment. For a second, Sunny thought that they had failed and the burg were going to pick up where they had left off, but suddenly a burg in the first row lowered to her knees bowing her head, and slowly, with her demonstration, came the others, dropping to the ground and bowing their heads.

“And as caretaker of our new queen, it is my duty to stand in for her until she is old enough to speak for herself, and with that I order you to call off the attack.”

There was a pause among the ranks before one of them lifted her head, “We cannot.”

“And why is that.” “We are the queens guard and loyal to her in all forms, but the others are loyal to the ideals she place upon them.”

“Then you will help us in our fight. If you cannot convince them then they must be destroyed.”

They bowed again and took to their feet.

Their leader began to give orders, and Sunny was surprised to find herself in the center of a tide of burg as they spill their way out through the cavern.

Those who did not surrender were destroyed as the Burg kin had promised.

Those who did not wish to fight the army spilling out around them fled outward from the caves and onto the open battlefield of grass and stone.

Sunny came with them her spear flashing in the light overhead as she cut through those who would not yield.

Their numbers were dwindling.

Shock troopers spilled in from all directions to help.

Sunny ran her spear through the chest of one of the burg and turned searching for another target.

A radio went off to her side.

“Shock 1, come in! Do you copy!”

The human shock trooper lifted his hand and keyed the radio, “Yeah go ahead.”

“We have an alien ship inbound to your position. Sir there is a dragon and a-”

“Slow down what is this about a dragon.”

Just then a dark spot appeared up above in the sky with little trails of exhaust streaming out beom behind it.

The last burg were falling on the field before them.

Sunny finished off one last body, letting it fall to the ground at her feet.

There was one more shape now, a black dot on the horizon retreating into the distance.

Sunny drew back hr spear.

And that is when the shape plunged from the sky and slammed right into the retreating burg.

ITs body vanished and a spray of blue engulfed the front of the alien ship, which now covered the moldering body underneath.

The battleground went silent.

There was a sharp hiss and a billow of smoke as the door popped open.

A silhouette stepped down onto the dirt.

“Is it just me, or do I have perfect timing.”

Sunny’s spear clattered from her hands onto the stone. The smoke billowed away, and a figure came stumbling from the smoke coughing and waving a hand.

“Damnit, i think I might have pushed her a little too hard.” Said Commander Adam Vir

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.” 

***

The stone was nice and warm beneath his feet, great mountains of stone and grass rising up on either side of him. He took  breath of deep fresh air as Krill stumbled out behind him looking as sick as a Vrul could look.

A soft breeze tugged at his bare chest and arms.

Before him, an entier army stood in shock and awe.

He scanned over the crowd falling on familiar faces as he went. He was surprised at some of them. Hijan and the Sentinel, Ramirez, Maverick, Cannon. 

His eyes passed down the line meeting finally with familiar orbs of gold. They stood there for a second, staring at each other from across the smoking field of corpses, and then a shout. HE turned his head just in time to be plowed into by another figure, dirty and covered in blue sludge.

“ADAM!” “Thomas!” he could hardly believe his eyes, as his older brother squeezed him tight and picked him up off the ground in his enthusiasm, arms pinned to his side.

The two of them spun in a circle as Thomas laughed and pitched into the grass.

“You’re alive! I can’t believe it! You’re alive!”

IT was his cue that broke the silence, and an uproar followed them as other feet pounded across the open plane. He was hauled to his feet by Ramirez and crushed in a hug so tight it may well have broken his spine.

Maverick punched him in the arm so hard it should have left a bruise, and Hijan and the other Drev chanted and raised their spears for him.

But his eyes still searched for another figure, one he found lurking at the back of the crowd

She stood there spear in hand held held high.

Silent.

He managed to slip out of someone’s arms and  duck over to where she was, slipping out of the crowd unnoticed while they tried to figure out where he was.

HE stopped before her suddenly not sure of what to say.

She looked at him.

And he stared back.

“It’s good to see you.” he finally said lamely.

She was quiet for a moment, her golden eyes boring into his face. She raised hr spear, and for a moment he thought she was going to run him through, but the blade stopped inches from his neck, “If you ever do that to me again, I WILL kill you.”

He raised his hands going cross eyed as he stared down at the spearhead, “Sunny, if it means saving your life, I would do it again.” The speartip winked in the light between them.

And then he smiled, pushed it aside and moved forward quickly.

She seemed surprised as he quickly and discreetly stretched up on his toes and pulled her closer.

Their foreheads touched for a second before he drew back hand still on her shoulder, “Though, this does mean I at least owe you dinner.”

She snorted, “Oh you owe me a lot more than that.”

“Maybe I do.”

[gayleftistlukeskywalker]

the stars pale beside your might ch1

ch1

words: 2k

a/n: can i offer you some nice bobin fic in this trying time? this will be a multi-chapter fic with angst, mandalorian diaspora, and lots of slow-burn. upates will most likely be sporadic, but let me know if you would like to be tagged!

cw: drunk din, spoilers for season 2 finale

ao3 link

The whir of the ship shifting into hyperdrive barely registered on Din’s mind, and neither did the ache of bruises forming underneath his beskar armor. A ghost of a feeling, a soft hand on his cheek, and a deep wrenching in his chest, rolled over and over again in his mind. He had not asked Shand or Fett where the Slave I was going before they departed, and with Shand co-piloting in the cockpit, Din was left alone in the cabin with only his thoughts to keep him occupied. Bounty hunters were not usually the type to understand companionship, or the loss of it; but Mando’ade were more than just mere bounty hunters.

------

When Boba’s ship had docked at the star cruiser, he had been surprised to see the sordid looks on the faces of the ragtag group that Din had assembled. When Boba looked to Din, he saw no child in his arms, nor clinging to his leg.

“The child?” He asked, addressing no one in particular.

Din merely shook his head, as his companions looked on, their eyes shining with compassion. Boba gave a somber nod in response, not prodding for details, but assuming things had taken a turn for the worst.

------

A bump on the shoulder startled Din, and he breathed in sharply, as if the sheer pressure of his thoughts had threatened to drown him. He hadn’t noticed the ship’s landing, or the cabin doors opening. Boba Fett, in full armor, stood on the ground below, and Din noted the bright light of harsh sun, and the dry heat now sweeping into the hold, palpable even through layers of armor.

“Fennec, with me,” Boba directed, gesturing to his side. Fennec nodded, and stepped off the ramp and onto the ochre-colored sand, her signature sniper rifle in tow.

“Shand and I have some unfinished business to attend to. You can either stay with the ship or we can part ways, but as far as I’m concerned, my debt to you is now paid.”

Din’s mind flicked through the events of the past few days; his foundling gone, his ship destroyed, his face. It felt as if his boots were welded to the metal of the ship's cargo ramp, and in the end all he could manage was a nod to Fett. Boba returned the gesture, and their heavy footfalls in the sand slowly faded into nothingness, leaving Din alone with his thoughts once again. He sank slowly back into the seating of the cabin, and let the door close, leaving him with only the glow of the overhead light.

It was over half a rotation by the time the door opened again, flooding the hold with fresh air, scented with dry earth. Fennec stood in the doorway, her eyes widening slightly with surprise at seeing the Mandalorian, his armor reflecting the glow of the moonlight on the sand.

“So, you’re still here after all, huh? Looks like I owe Boba some credits” she mused. When all she received was a blank stare from Din, she shrugged. “I’m here to move the ship, Boba wants to speak with you when we land.”

The first thing Din saw upon stepping out onto the desert was the warmth of lights shining out from a large, regal looking tower. Din breathed in the dry air, and glanced overhead at the sky, its moonlight casting long shadows onto the sand. He recognized the triple moons of Tatooine, though the structure perched on the cliff before him, it’s towers stretching overhead, was not familiar to him. As Din stepped into the throne room, trailing along Shand, he noticed how punctuated their footsteps were in the silence.

Jabba’s palace, usually a hive of activity, bounty hunters blowing off steam with their newly earned credits, or else getting into scuffs and negotiations ending in blaster fire, now lay quiet. There was only one figure Din saw upon entering the vacant throne room. Boba’s moss green armor decorated the sand-colored throne he now sat upon, like a jewel beset in a royal crown. Boba stood to greet the bounty hunters, his arms outstretched in welcome.

“Ah, you’re just in time for the celebrations,” he bellowed, casually walking over to the bar and removing his helmet, which he set down next to the various bottles of liquid.

“Spotchka?” he asked, offering a small glass of glowing liquid to Din. The mandalorian was quick to accept, raising his helmet just enough to down the liquid in one go. Boba nodded with approval before seating himself at the bar, and gestured to the space next to him. Din obliged, straddling the stool and propping his elbows up on the counter.

“I thought you said your debt to me was paid,” Din questioned, his head turning towards Boba, who was reaching across the bar to grab the spotchka bottle.

Boba chuckled, “I’m simply celebrating a victory with a fellow warrior.” He downed another shot of the glowing liquid, and promptly poured another for his drinking companion. It was only now that Din noticed the absence of Shand, who had apparently vacated the throne room without Din noticing. He and Fett were completely alone. Had Boba requested to speak with Din alone?

“This little hideout is going to be the base of my operations. Soon I will have work for every bounty hunter from here to the Inner Rim,” he mused, the throaty rasp in his voice giving a sharp edge to his words. “Plenty of high-paying jobs for a man of your skillset.”

Din considered this for a moment. Years of experience in this line of work had made him accustomed to people with ulterior motives, although he could not think of an angle that Fett might be trying to work from him.

“Thank you, Fett.” Boba reached to fill up both their glasses with his gloved hands. The air was comfortably still as they both drank.

“I expect you’ll be needing a new ship. Some weaponry,” Fett began, casually swirling the leftover liquid in his glass. “As it happens, I’ve recently come into some assets that would be of use to you.”

“I can’t accept charity like that,” Din responded. Truthfully, he was quite low on credits, having not been able to take many paying jobs the past few weeks. He could get a ship, he thought, but scraping up the credits planet-side on Tatooine would be quite an undertaking.

“Don’t think of it as charity, think of it as an advance. I get you up and running, you do some work for me until it’s paid off.”

Din exhaled, fixing his attention to his empty spotchka glass.

“It’ll be hard work,” Boba continued. “I’m not in the business of giving anything away for free.” He let his words hang in Din’s mind while the helmeted man worked his jaw, considering his options. Bounty hunting was a solitary occupation, it was every man for himself, and if you slipped up, the consequences were yours alone to deal with. But here Fett was offering him a hand, an easy way out. Fett had no real reason to put trust in Din, and for that matter, Din had no reason to trust Fett, so why take such a risk?

“Ok,” Din grunted, “I accept.”

“There’s a good lad. You’ll be richer than you ever were taking jobs from the Guild,” Boba exclaimed, clinking his glass to Din’s.

There was an easy silence as both men drank their fill, the cool night air was sweet against the scent of dank earth and booze.

“Fennec told me what happened on the star cruiser,” Boba said, breaking the silence, his voice suddenly low, and almost gentle. Though perhaps that was just the spotchka addling Din’s perception.

Din swallowed, Shand must have told him everything.

Boba continued, “It’s no easy thing, to defeat an imperial commander like that in single combat. You should be proud.” He turned to Din now, fixing his gaze into the dark eyesight of Din’s helmet.

“I don’t feel proud,” Din blurted out, almost taken aback by his sudden honesty. The spotchka was settling in his blood quicker than he realized.

“That sword you’re carrying is no mere battle trophy, as I’m sure you realize. What I would have given to see the look on the princess’s face when you strode in wielding that,” he chuckled darkly.

“I have a feeling she’ll be back for it sooner or later. Probably sooner.” Din paused, licked his lips. “I just- I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he muttered, averting his gaze from Fett’s bare eyes, which now felt as though they were piercing through his armor.

Boba poured Din another generous glass of the glowing liquid in response, and Din was quick to toss it back.

“Perhaps not, but such is the way of the galaxy, Mand’alor,” Boba teased. Din swung his head to face Boba, the lines of Din’s face creasing with exasperation underneath his helmet. Fett only shot him a sly smirk in response, shifting himself in his seat, his arms coming to rest casually on his thighs.

“I’m not-” Din started, but his sentence only ended in a groan. All he had ever known was his covert, his bounties, his ship; that was all that had mattered, until the kid.

Din shook his head, suddenly feeling as though his body was made of lead. “The foundling,” he started, his lips struggling to form the proper words, “He was… reunited with his own kind, with the jedi.”

Boba’s stomach twisted at the mention of the jedi, his blood suddenly running hot in his veins. If Din noticed the quick flash of anger on Boba’s face, it was gone just as suddenly as it had come, and Din did not give it any thought.

The bald man nodded, exhaling through his nose. “I see.” He grabbed for the spotchka bottle once again, filling up both of their glasses to the brim. Boba raised his glass above his head. “Then, may he grow strong, and make his father proud,” he pronounced, and drank deeply from his glass. Din quickly followed suit, and the two men sat for a moment in silence, letting the effects of the drink wash over them like a fog.

“I don’t know if.... If I did the right thing,” Din breathed. With his defenses down, there was nothing to stop the grief from bubbling up from deep within his chest. A strange feeling seemed to grip Din from the inside, as if he might confess all his sins to this man he barely knew. He felt so alone without his covert, adrift in the vast galaxy without hands to guide him. Caring for the child had all but consumed his waking thoughts. What had once been “return the foundling”, had unwittingly become, “care for the foundling”. Din had not thought about any kind of after.

Boba chewed over his words for a moment. He was not accustomed to people seeking sage wisdom from him, unless it was about the most effective way to fire a blaster through someone’s heart from half a klick away.

“You followed the path that was set for you, that’s all there is to it,” the scarred man said quietly.

Din looked deeply into his glass. “What would you have done?”

Boba exhaled through his nose, “My path is different from yours.”

Another glass deep and Din found himself suddenly choking on nothing but thin air, the events from the past few days suddenly catching up to him all at once, crowding his lungs. Images of his early childhood flashed through his mind, his birth father, looking down at him, silhouetted by the sky. His buir, lifting him above the rising flames and smoke. Din hardly even glanced at the glass being offered to him before he downed it. His head was swimming, and he lacked feeling in his face. Heat pricked the corner of his eyes, and hot tears began trailing down his cheeks completely unwillingly. He was far too drunk to consider being ashamed.

#bobin #bobadin #the mandalorian #the mandalorian fanfic #my stuff #tspbym

[willowbird]

Prompts open? Bet maybe foxes(and Andrew) slowly finding out how fucked up Neil’s mom was to him?(I get it was to survive but it was still abuse)

Since this one got kinda... Uh... Long... And answered both of these prompts I decided to combine them!! I didn't include a separate one for Andrew because he's present for a couple of them and by the time I reached the end it was like 6600 words and an Andrew POV would probably add another 2000 because I'm me and I always get carried away with Andrew POV.

If you’d rather read this on AO3 you can do so here.

4 times the Foxes found out how fucked up Mary was to Neil, and the 1 time Neil actually admitted it

ONE - ALLISON

Allison had been taking Neil shopping, which in itself wasn't really a weird occurrence. Allison would take any of her teammates shopping if that's what needed to happen to get them to stop looking like a dirty hobo. As it happened, Neil was just the worst offender and so she pestered him about it more often than not. It was remarkable how the guy could be dating the Monster and still look like that. Not that Andrew Minyard was a fashion icon or anything, but the miniature psychopath at least understood the concept of aesthetic and made sure the people around him wore things that actually fit. 

Well, most of the people around him. 

Point being, Neil needed a bit of extra help, and Allison was more than happy to supply it. So she'd taken to dragging him out shopping with her once a week. It was basically therapy - and fuck if that boy didn't need some of that.

(But Allison wasn't going to say that in front of Neil or he'd probably get hives…)

Usually, the shopping trips all went about the same. Allison would drag Neil along, Neil would acquiesce until he got hungry, then he'd get bitchy and after Allison fed him he'd calm the fuck down enough to try on more things before refusing to get anything. On a very rare occasion she would get him to accept a shirt or a new pair of pants. His weakness was shoes, but she tries not to exploit that too often.

Today, however, was different - because today Allison caught Neil's eyes catching on a particular hoodie. If it had been just once she would have passed it off, but this was at least the fourth time Neil had sought it out in the whole ten minutes they'd been in the narrow clothing store and his eyes didn't just catch, they lingered. Which meant that Neil was interested, that he liked something. This was a breakthrough! Especially since the hoodie was new and had color, rather than the drab shit he was always wearing. It was a very pretty cerulean blue with black stitching and was of a less bulky design than the other two Neil owned (one of which was the Foxes one she'd never seen him wear off-campus). In the proper size it would fit his frame nicely, she could tell just by looking at it, and she was low-key impressed that something with general style had been the thing to catch his eye. 

Allison grinned and nudged him. "Hey, just grab it. You could use a new hoodie."

Neil's attention snapped to her and Allison wasn't prepared for the flash of instinctive panic that raked through his eyes. "No, I didn't- I don't-" He raised his hands apologetically, which was weird, then seemed to catch himself and dropped them immediately. Allison could see him struggling not to look over at the sweatshirt and for the life of her she didn't understand why. But now she needed to know.

She gave him a look. "Uh, yes you did, and you do. What's the big deal? So what, you like it. Get it." She shrugged, hoping nonchalance would encourage him to stop being a weirdo about it.

"Nah," Neil said with a shrug. "It's fine. I've got hoodies."

Allison thought about letting it go, she really did, but she was too curious. But she also knew that the more she seemed to care about the answer she was prodding for, the less likely Neil was going to give it. So she pretended to look at some of the surrounding clothing without really registering what she was shuffling through. "You act like you've never bought something just because you wanted it before," she said with her usual level of scathing judgement.

"It was too dangerous," came Neil's distracted response. When Allison peaked over at him, her hand freezing on the shoulder of a sweater, about to slide it down the rack, she saw that he was looking at the hoodie again, studying it with a too-careful blankness she was beginning to recognize as Neil-in-memory.

"Getting something you wanted was too dangerous?" It was harder this time to keep her tone casual but she managed it well enough that Neil didn't fully snap out of his thoughts, wherever they were.

He shrugged. "It was distracting. If you had things you cared about you'd lose sight of survival, or make stupid mistakes."

Allison just stared at him. "You weren't allowed to have things you wanted… because they'd be distracting? Neil that's really fucked up." 

Neil looked over at her and grimaced, pulling away from the hoodie. "Whatever, it's not a big deal. Come on, are you done shopping yet?"

For another moment Allison stared, then she stalked forward and violently grabbed the hoodie from the rack, ignoring Neil's startled protests. 

"No," she said, pointing at him with her free hand. "You aren't some kid on the run anymore and you don't have to follow your mom's fucked up rules. If you want something, you're going to get it, damn it." If Neil tried to protest again she didn't see it because she'd already whirled around to head up toward the checkout.

Fuck you, Mary.

TWO - DAN

Team Night was something Dan instated right after finals last year. One night a week they all got dinner after practice. The whole team had to be there for at least part of the time. Sometimes they got along, sometimes they fought like half-crazed rabbis raccoons, but they were all together in a situation that wasn't about exy (no matter how many times Kevin or Neil brought it up). If there was anything Dan had learned over her years as Team Captain, it was that they would always operate better on the court if they could also work together off of it.

Tonight they'd gone out to dinner with the whole team before splitting off into various groups back at the dorms. Renee had gone off with Allison and Nicky while Aaron had left right from the restaurant to meet up with Katelyn. The freshmen had split into their own groups - they were still working out their hierarchy among themselves and Dan knew by now that she just had to let it happen - which had left her and Matt and, surprisingly enough, Neil and Andrew. She hadn't really expected the other two to accept her invitation to join them in Matt's room for a movie, but when she's offered Neil had easily agreed and Andrew hadn't protested. 

A part of her had still expected Andrew to peel off and go back to his own dorm once they'd returned to Fox Tower, but the reticent goalkeeper had followed them all into the room with no complaint.

"All right!" Matt announced with a grin once the door was shut and locked behind them, crossing to where he kept the booze. "Power Couple Movie Night! Whatcha guys want? Babe?"

Dan chuckled and rolled her eyes affectionately. "You're ridiculous and I love you. I'll have a whisky sour." She looked to Andrew and Neil. "What about you guys? He just stocked up so there's a bit of everything."

"Babe, you're making me sound like an alcoholic." 

Dan dismissed the complaint with a wave of her hand and smiled over at the other two. 

"Whisky straight." That was Andrew.

Neil just shrugged. "I don't need anything," he said.

"Do you have Dr. Pepper?" Andrew asked, apparently not done.

Matt nodded, lifting a mostly-full two-liter for him to see and setting it on the surface of the cabinet. 

"He'll have that with amaretto."

"Andrew."

"Neil."

Dan tried not to be too obvious about how closely she was watching them. It wasn't even a 'how could they be together?' thing. It was just that… Neil was this big mystery, and Andrew was also a big mystery. And now they were together and that just made the mystery balloon exponentially. The two of them fit together in a way that was somehow both surprising and like nothing in the world could make more sense. They had a whole language together of looks and gestures, of silent understandings that the rest of them couldn't even begin to interpret. In a way, this was just like any other couple. Even now, Dan shot a glance over at Matt and they shared a look of their own before resuming their subtle observations of the other couple. Somehow it was different with Andrew and Neil though. Somehow it seemed… heavier. It was fascinating and also kinda unsettling, which only made Dan want to figure it out even more.

After an extended silence where Neil and Andrew had some indecipherable conversation with their eyes alone, Neil sighed, apparently conceding defeat, and nodded agreement to his boyfriend's drink order. 

"All right! Neilio is drinking with us tonight!" Matt pumped a fist into the air, shattering the residual tension with his enthusiasm. Dan had probably never loved anyone so much in her life.

Neil smirked his own affection for the big lug and flopped onto the couch, Andrew following with less flourish but a level of relaxed comfort that made Dan's heart soar. It was really happening. Andrew was letting himself trust them, letting himself be a part of the team, letting himself be… one of their friends.

Matt finished making their drinks and brought them over on a serving tray he had been a little bit too excited to buy.

Neil took his drink and cautiously sniffed it, wrinkling his nose. "It smells sweet," he complained.

"You have two choices when it comes to liquor, Josten. It either tastes sweet or it tastes like alcohol." Andrew was entirely unsympathetic, though his gaze remained focused on Neil even as he sipped his whisky. Apparently, this was some either-or that Neil was willing to concede to because he sighed and sipped the drink. After a moment he hummed and took another sip. Another sip turned into a second drink as the four of them collectively decided to skip the movie and instead hang out and talk about the worst movies they'd ever seen. Andrew, surprisingly, had a lot to contribute - as he had apparently seen a lot of movies and had Opinions about all of them. It was very weird and kinda surreal, but also made Dan feel almost giddy.

"Well shit, Neil, if it was just a matter of you not liking the taste of alcohol we'd have stocked up on wine coolers ages ago," Matt said as he handed Neil his third glass later on in the night. He grinned and perched on the armrest of her chair. Dan smiled up at him when he put his arm around her, leaning against him and sipping her own drink as she turned her attention back to the other couple.

The other couple. Well, that was weird.

"Nah, I still wouldn't have had anything," Neil said after another, fuller drink. He leaned back, comfortable. Dan noticed that he and Andrew weren't touching but there was still a weird intimacy with their proximity. It hurt her brain to think about so she didn't focus on it overmuch. Then Neil said, "Mom only brought out the alcohol when I needed to be stitched up," and Dan froze with her drink halfway back up to her mouth. Neil didn't seem to notice, looking into his cup as he continued. "No hospitals, you know, and when I was a kid I always cried a lot and was really loud about it unless I was too drunk to feel anything at all."

And when I was a kid I always cried a lot and was really loud unless I was too drunk to feel anything at all.

When I was a kid…

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Dan peripherally noticed that she wasn't the only one who had gone still. It was so rare for Neil to say anything about his time before he joined the Foxes. It was even more rare for him to bring up his mother - especially in such a… disturbingly revealing way. 

Matt was the one to break the silence. "When you say you were a kid you mean…?" There was a false lightness in his voice, like he was trying not to alert Neil to how much he was revealing. Andrew cut him a glare but then looked to Neil without interrupting.

Neil shrugged, swirling his glass lightly, apparently fascinated with the ice as it clinked gently against the sides of the glass. He poked at them with his mixing straw. "Mm, Lola scared me, y'know? I didn't want her to stitch me up. So I begged mum. Dad would hurt her too if she couldn't keep me quiet. I tried, but being noisy was always a problem for me. 's how I usually got in trouble anyhow. Or by not being still enough. Or dropping knives." Neil shivered, his free hand rubbing against a spot on his abdomen like he was worrying away at a memory, some phantom ache from a past that he could never quiet escape from.

Andrew, apparently, had decided this was enough. He reached forward and pulled the glass from Neil's hand with a gentleness that shouldn't surprise Dan anymore. He set the glass on the table and stood, then tugged Neil up with him. He didn't let go of the striker's hand even when he got the other man standing. Once he was sure the other would be steady he glanced over at them with a dark, steady threat in his eyes. "We are leaving now."

A sound beside her alerted Dan to the beginning of Matt's protest and she elbowed him before he could complete it. In its place, she gave a strained smile and nodded. "Of course. You guys are probably tired. See you tomorrow!"

Neil raised his hand in a small wave but he still seemed a little lost, his expression closed, his mind somewhere else. 

When the door closed behind them, Matt stood up and walked over to lock it, then he stood there for a moment before turning to face her. His expression was dark and angry and echoed the storm stirring in his own heart.

"Neil went on the run when he was ten."

It might have seemed a random statement, but Dan was following the same line of thought and she nodded. They'd known that Neil's dad was a bastard, knew he'd been hurt by him and his people when they'd been on the run and it wasn't a far toss to infer that he'd been hurt earlier too. But this confirmation was blood-chilling. Mary's part in it was not comforting.

"She did nothing, Dan. She did nothing. She let him get hurt and then she got him drunk as a little fucking kid to stitch him up again. I know it was a fucked up situation, and I'm sure it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for her but fuck Dan. Fuck."

Dan nodded, setting down her drink and rising from the chair so she could go to Matt. She knew that she only had a surface understanding of the situation. She couldn't imagine what Mary might have gone through herself, but she couldn't find enough compassion in her heart to make excuses for her. Maybe that made her heartless, she didn't fucking care. What she cared about was that Mary let her own son be hurt badly enough that he needed to get drunk and get stitched up over and over again, before and after they went on the run. What she cared about was that Mary hurt her son over and over herself in order to control him, to keep him under her thumb. Maybe she did it because that's how she thought she was protecting him but intentions meant shit.

Lesser evils were still evil.

There are always choices, always options, and Mary's choices had traumatized Neil just as much as the Butcher's had. Maybe Neil had complicated feelings about his mother but Dan didn't. She had a very clear opinion, actually.

Fuck you, Mary.

THREE - MATT

"Okay so, but why Andrew?" Matt didn't mean anything negative with the question, but he flipped a hand in apology when Neil glared over at him. "I didn't mean it that way. I mean like -- is your type short, blond, and stabby or…?"

"I don't have a type. I don't swing."

Well that made no sense.

"Except for Andrew," Matt clarified, reminding Neil that he was self-admittedly committed to the Monster.

Neil nodded without hesitation. "Except for Andrew," he agreed.

"Right… but… why? Why only Andrew? Didn't you ever like… like other guys, or girls?" Matt studied his best friend, desperate to understand him. He wasn't even being anti-Andrew about this, he was just trying to learn more about Neil and this integral part of him. Neil said he didn't swing, and then of all people to fall for - he falls for Andrew. Matt had thought that maybe Neil had been shy about admitting he was gay or something, but Neil was pretty confident about the whole not-swinging thing. Matt got that there were other sexualities out there, but the idea of just… not wanting anything just didn't make sense to him.

He was surprised when Neil actually said -- "Sure, yeah, when I was like, fourteen or whatever. I wouldn't say I liked anyone, but I noticed girls."

Matt blinked and looked over at him, letting the game controller rest on his lap. "Wait, you did?"

Neil shrugged. "Yeah, but it wasn't allowed so…"

"It wasn't… allowed?" Matt frowned, lost.

"My mom knew they'd be a distraction, that it was too dangerous for me to fall for someone. I don't think it occurred to her that I might like a guy, so when she realized I was noticing girls she made sure I didn't anymore."

Matt was silent for a long moment, letting the implication of that sink in. "When you said she 'made sure' you didn't notice girls…?"

Neil shrugged. "I was stupid. Just telling me wasn't going to do anything." But his friend's casual nonchalance was gone and Matt watched as the other man withdrew into himself. His expression closed down and he scratched his nails through his hair, against his scalp in an anxious tick Matt was pretty sure Neil didn't even realize he did.

A flare of rage heated his lungs and it took concentrated effort to swallow it down. He could imagine what Mary might have done to her son to drill the lesson home. 

"That's really fucked up, Neil."

Neil just shrugged, then nodded at the tv. "Are you gonna play or what?" Matt could see that his friend didn't want to talk about it so he let it go, but he wasn't going to forget it.

"Yeah. How about you order some pizza or something? I'm getting fucking hungry." A bit of the tension broke and Neil flashed him a small smile before pushing off the couch to go get his phone to make the order. Matt watched him go and took another breath to make sure his anger was packed away for later.

Fuck you, Mary.

FOUR - NICKY

Christmas! Nicky was so fucking excited about Christmas this year. Not only would Erik be coming into town, but the whole family would be there! Well, the family that mattered anyway. Aaron was bringing Katelyn, Andrew would be there and participating, and Neil was staying with them for the entirety of winter break. It was going to be amazing!!

Already, in the few days since school had let out, Nicky had set about Christmas-ifying the whole house and it was looking amazing if he did say so himself, which he did.

Today was going to be particularly exciting because he had managed to get Neil to agree to go Christmas shopping with him. Erik would be arriving tomorrow morning and Nicky still hadn't gotten his present. Or Aaron's. Or Andrew's. Or Neil's… He'd gotten Katelyn's though! He'd seen an absolutely gorgeous sweater at the mall the other week in just her color so he'd swiped it up. Point being, he had some catching up to do and he suspected that Neil was also behind on his Christmas shopping.

This was confirmed shortly after they arrived at the mall and Nicky asked Neil what he'd gotten for Andrew.

Neil blinked at him, like he was caught off guard by the question. 

"I don't think we're getting each other anything," he said, looking downright confused.

"Oh. Oh Neil. Oh Neil no. No, you are definitely getting gifts for each other. You're a couple!"

Neil looked vaguely uncomfortable as he shrugged, but he didn't deny the label and Nicky counted that as progress. "I don't think we're the gift-giving kind…"

Clearly, Neil hadn't been paying attention to the fact that Andrew had been gifting Neil at every fucking opportunity since they'd met. Clothes, keys, food, drinks, more clothes, a phone. At first, Nicky had just thought it was Andrew being possessive in the way he was possessive of all the people he'd decided we're his. It wasn't until after the two had come clean about their relationship (relationship!!!) that Nicky had thought back and realized that Andrew wasn't half as generous with the rest of them. Honestly, Nicky was a bit embarrassed for not noticing it all sooner. This whole time, Nicky thought he was being cryptic when he was just being really, really gay. For shame.

"Mm, well," Nicky hedged, feeling pity for the poor blind idiot. At least he was cute. "You're wrong, but we won't get into it. Just trust me when I say that Andrew has definitely gotten you something." Probably multiple things, actually, but Nicky didn't want to shock the poor cute dummy. "And you can't tell me that you don't want to give him a gift." Nicky stopped, frowning at Neil in disapproval.

"It's not that," Neil admitted, and Nicky wasn't sure he'd ever seen the younger man look more awkward. 

"Then what is it. Come on, kid, tell Uncle Nicky."

Neil made a face. "Only if you never say that again."

Nicky laughed, though he realized Neil had a point. That might have been a bit much. "Deal. So what is it?"

Neil shrugged, fidgeting in a restless way that Nicky recognized as one of Neil's tells when he was uncertain or nervous. Neil was someone who needed to be in motion, someone who needed to do things. Nicky related to that, heavily, so he linked his arm through Neil's and tugged him into walking again. The motion seemed to help, and after a few minutes, Neil finally spoke up.

"I've never really done the whole Christmas or birthday thing. Especially not since me and my mom, you know…" He drifted off vaguely, gesturing with one hand like that's was supposed to indicate all the time he and his mom were running from his psycho dad and his evil butcher-buddy minions. Nicky nodded like it had and Neil continued. "It just feels… weird, you know. Like it's a thing that real people do. They go to school and they have holidays with families that don't want to kill them or each other. They buy each other presents that they don't need and that's… normal. But it just doesn't make sense to me."

There was a lot to unpack there, but Nicky's mind caught on the first thing Neil had said and it kept replaying over and over on his head like a skipping record.

Like it's a thing that real people do.

Like Neil wasn't… real.

Nicky stopped walking again, his heart clenching suddenly in his chest. "Wait, hold on. Rewind. Neil, you realize that you are a real person, right?"

Tension wiped Neil's face into an awful blankness and normally Nicky would let it go. He'd make a joke and try and get them back to something lighter, but this was… something was just so wrong about that and he couldn't ignore it.

"Neil," he implored, hands on both the younger man's shoulders, gripping tightly, willing him to open up to him.

Maybe it was a testament to the season of sharing, or maybe it was proof that he and Neil had come a long way since those first few months over a year ago, but for whatever reason, Neil didn't brush him off and he didn't pull away. Instead, he sighed and gave a small shrug, shuffling his feet as he apparently searched for the right words like they were hidden between his shoelaces.

"I didn't feel real for a long time, you know. I couldn't be. Mom was the one who made all the identities for me, the one who chose the names and the covers. She was the one who created everything about the boys I was supposed to be, down to their interests in school and outside of it, just in case someone asked me when she wasn't around. She'd test me on them. I studied those boys with more dedication than I studied for my classes when I was actually in school."

Nicky frowned, confused. "What about your interests and what you were like."

Neil shrugged. "I didn't have any. I wasn't like anything, unless you can count fear as a personality trait."

That… didn't make sense. Neil was saying words, and individually, Nicky knew what they meant, but his brain was struggling to comprehend exactly what they meant when put together in that order. 

"But… that's not possible. What about when you saw something you liked, or wanted, or did something that you just… enjoyed. A tv show or, fuck, math. You like math right? That's a part of your personality." He heard the desperation in his own voice but he was too distracted by the conundrum of Neil's 'I wasn't a real person's reveal that he didn't even care to attempt to rein it in.

"Not until I got to Palmetto," Neil admitted. "I didn't have to take a math class my senior year because my forged transcripts already had the required number of classes to graduate and it seemed conspicuous to take more than that. Your average teenager doesn't like math."

"But you thought about it, right? When you were signing up for classes, you thought about adding math, then actively chose not to." A picture of understanding was beginning to form and Nicky felt a little bit sick with what it showed.

Neil frowned, like he was thinking about it, then gave a small nod of reluctant agreement.

"So… there was something you liked, something that was you and you just, what, instinctively went 'No, bad idea'. Why?"

"It's what my mom would have done," was Neil's instant, confident reply. He hadn't even had to think about that one. Then, to Nicky's horror, he elaborated with, "Mom was a stickler on that kind of stuff. If I liked something, if I felt pulled to anything, it was dangerous and bad. I learned quickly enough to avoid anything that interested me so it wouldn't distract me. Surviving was what was important."

Yeah. Yeah Nicky definitely felt a bit sick now. 

"When you say that you 'learned quickly enough'...?" Nicky wasn't sure he actually wanted to know, but that didn't stop him from asking the question.

"Mom--" Neil actively stopped himself this time. "It isn't important. Look… are we going to go shopping or what?"

Nicky wasn't willing to let it go. "Neil. Did she… like, hurt you? For having interests?"

Now Neil looked more than just a little uncomfortable, and the way he didn't meet Nicky's eyes was all the answer he needed. Nicky wanted to hug Neil just then, but he managed, at the last second, to hold himself back. He'd probably pushed harder than he should have already and he was trying to be better about boundaries. Instead he squeezes his shoulders and then pulled his hands away.

"Well, come on. Let's finish shopping. I'll help you pick out something for Andrew if you aren't sure what to get him." 

Neil looked so visibly relieved that Nicky's heart broke. "Ah, yeah… thanks Nicky." The small smile he shot him was enough that Nicky forgot the boundary thing and just hugged him. Ugh, that poor kid. No wonder he was so confused whenever anyone was kind to him if his own mother had treated him like he wasn't even a real person to the point where Neil had legitimately started to believe it. Nicky had his issues with his parents, all the Foxes did -- it was part of what made them Foxes -- but this was kind of another level.

Nicky kept his arm around Neil's shoulders as he lead the younger man off to shop, now determined to make this the best fucking Christmas ever. Because Neil was a real fucking person and he deserved that frivolous normalcy. He deserved to like things and to want things.

Fuck you, Mary.

+1 - AARON

Aaron didn't usually care about whatever was happening in Josten's weird little brain. It wasn't a place he was eager to explore, to be perfectly fucking honest, and he was unfortunate enough to be subjected with the assshole's proximity often enough as it was. However, it was hard to ignore the man when he was having a literal mental breakdown right in front of him. He wished he could. He wished he could turn around and walk away, shut the door, and go back to not caring. Unfortunately, parallels had just been drawn that he couldn't unsee and now turning his back on Neil almost felt personal. It was incredibly uncomfortable and for a long moment Aaron just sat there, silent, in the wake of what just happened.

It had gone like this:

Andrew and Neil had been on separate ends of the couch doing homework. Nicky and Kevin were still sleeping off the trip to Eden's Twilight last night, and Aaron was slowly letting himself wake up to a hot cup of coffee and some random show on tv. Then that random show had transitioned into some kind of true crime show that had dragged everyone's attention to the screen with a single word.

Wesninski.

As it turned out, the show wasn't actually about the Wesninskis, but rather about crime in Europe. The Wesninski mention was due to the current segment on the Hatfords, a British crime syndicate -- the one Neil's mother hailed from. It was her picture on the screen when their collective attention all snapped to the screen, and the tension in the room suddenly increased tenfold.

Mothers were a bit of a complicated topic for everyone in the room. It was also probably the one thing that Andrew was unwilling to touch with a ten-foot pole, not even for Neil - and Aaron was long since past denying that those two had something going on far deeper than sexual tension and a disdain for ninety percent of humanity. 

So the room had frozen, holding a breath with a shared lung. Then Andrew had stood, moving to snatch up the remote so he could turn off the TV when Neil said, "No."

Aaron had never seen Andrew stop so fast in his life. His twin's face remained blank, but there was a darkness in his eyes that Aaron was queasily familiar with. It was a cruel, angry darkness and he didn't envy Neil for being the subject of it as Andrew turned his gaze on the striker. 

"If you want to cry over that bitch I am not going to stick around to suffer it." The words came out low and hissed and even Aaron could hear the sharp rage beneath the forced facade of indifference Andrew was attempting to keep in place.

Neil looked like he wanted to hit Andrew but he managed to keep his response to a sharp, venomous, "Fuck you." 

Andrew held the remote up to eye level then dropped it. It landed hard enough on the table that it bounced off, the back popping off and the batteries scattering. Then he was striding out the front door. Aaron expected it to slam, but somehow the gentle click of it just under the murmur of the crime show was just as finite.

It was like getting to watch a moment he'd lived over and over again over the course of years from the outside for the first time. In fact, it wasn't like that - that's what it was. Something anxious and sick curled in the pit of his stomach as Aaron looked from the closed door to Neil's tense, shaken form. He hated this. He hated sympathising with Neil. He hated understanding Andrew's anger. He hated not being able to pick a side. Aaron had heard enough about Mary Hatford to know that she was just as fucked up as Nathan Wesninski, dragging her son around, forcing him into isolation, beating him, fucking him over socially for his whole damn life when she probably could have just saved them both by either going straight to the FBI or calling up her own crime family. He knew that Neil didn't blame his mom when he probably should. He knew he made excuses, that he grieved for her. He knew he missed her and he also knew that it was really, supremely fucked up.

He also knew that he was just as guilty for the unworthy idolization of an abuser. It had taken him years to get to the point where he was willing to admit that, though. It was meeting Katelyn that had him finally looking at his past with a sobering dose of reality. It was only after months of wrestling with himself that he'd finally been able to accept the truth. Months of Katelyn's steadfast support, months of sessions with Bee beyond the joint sessions with Andrew, months of introspection that left him mentally and emotionally wrung dry -- and Tilda hadn't had half the physical and emotional ammo that Mary Hatford had probably levied against her young son.

Aaron watched Neil vibrate in place, watched his hands curl and his throat work, watched the pain and the rage and the grief flash through his eyes even as he tried to swallow it all down. He watched Neil, but he saw himself, and it was more than disconcerting.

He didn't make the conscious decision to speak before he said, "I get it." In fact, he almost didn't realize he had spoken until Neil snapped his attention over to him like he'd forgotten he was still in the room at all.

Neil didn't respond, probably too caught up with the war in his own head to form words -- a rarity for the loud-mouthed striker.

"She was all you had," Aaron said, and he wasn't sure if he was actually talking to Neil, or talking to the version of himself that still clung to the corner of his memories, desperate to validate the only person that might have loved him, the one person that should have loved him, when he needed it the most. "She was all you had, and that's what kept you going. Not her rules and not whatever it was that she did to make sure you survived. That it was her and you, that you had each other, and that that meant something. She'd do whatever it took to protect you, she was the only one who would do that, and it was everything, right?"

He could tell by the widening of Neil's eyes that he'd hit the nail on the head. He didn't look away as he continued with his truths, knowing he was probably the only person that had ever vocalized an understanding -- that he was probably the only person who could understand. 

"And then she was gone. And it wasn't only her that died. It was everything that she was supposed to be. She died, and all you had left were the 'almost's and 'not enough's and the 'never again's. And if you let yourself believe that she was just as bad then everything was for nothing. All the times you cared. All the times you tried. All the times you did everything you could to be what she expected of you. None of it would matter, because she was gone, and she could never redeem herself, and it was all pointless." Aaron heard his voice like someone else was speaking. It was too calm, too quiet, too knowing. It didn't feel the desert in his chest, scorching and dry and far too exposed. He saw Neil's reaction like he was looking in a mirror and it was more than a little bit unsettling. He understood the flash of anger in his eyes, the stubborn refusal in the set of his jaw, then the reluctant acceptance when his shoulders dropped. Aaron hated understanding anything about Neil Josten. He hated even more that it was this that they had to share. Something so raw, so close to home it had a permanent home inside his chest, nestled between his lungs. It wasn't fair.

Then again, he was a Fox for a reason he guessed. Life just wasn't fucking fair to a Fox.

Neil looked away, then deflated against his corner of the couch. He tilted his head back and Aaron saw his throat work as he fought emotions neither of them wanted Aaron to be a witness to. Aaron averted his eyes. He only looked up again when Neil spoke. The other man's voice was quiet but steady.

"The one thing she harped on most, more than anything else, was how attachments to anyone or anything other than my own survival were going to get me killed. Even to her. She told me so many times to run, leave her behind, but I… I never could. She never left me behind, even when there were times when I wanted her to. She'd probably be rolling in her grave if she could see me now…" Neil's voice drifted off as his gaze locked on the front door over Aaron's shoulder. Aaron didn't need to be psychic to know that he was thinking specifically about Andrew, about how much he'd risked for Andrew - not just to be with him, but also to protect him. Going to Evermore, allowing Nathan's men to take him quietly… yeah, Mary probably wouldn't be too happy about that, and not in the caring, not wanting Neil hurt way. She'd be pissed that Neil cared about something so much to take that risk, after all she'd done to try and beat that ability out of him.

"She was trying to make me soulless," Neil said without taking his eyes away from the door. "She hated it so much whenever I showed any glimmer of a personality. Whenever I was anything other than a possession she kept and controlled. My mother loved me, in her own way…" His mouth tensed, pursed, then he looked at Aaron.

For a moment, the two of them just looked at each other, a shared understanding between them.

"That's not enough," Aaron finally said.

Neil looked down, then up, meeting his eyes. "No," he agreed, "it's not."

On the tv, the show was still talking about the Hatfords. Not all that much time had actually passed since the segment started. Neil looked at the tv, then stood and gathered up the scattered pieces of the remote. He put it back together and spared one more glance at the screen, which now showed a picture of the Hatford family at some event when Mary and her brothers were teenagers. Then he lifted the remote and resolutely changed the channel.

"I'm going to take the car to pick up some food, you want anything?" Neil asked as he moved to get his shoes, then take his keys from the hook near the door.

Aaron snorted. "No. I'll order something if I get hungry." There was still some time until he'd want lunch, but he knew this dance by now. Neil and Andrew would drive off together. If he wanted food he was better off taking it into his own hands. It was entirely likely the other two wouldn't be back until closer to dinner.

Neil nodded once, then was out the door. Aaron watched him go, then sighed and turned back to his coffee, considering it.

He didn't like sharing something with Neil fucking Josten. It was annoying and uncomfortable. But all the same… he understood. And like it or not, they were tied together now. Maybe he wasn't ready to say 'fuck you' to the memory of his own mother, and Neil definitely wasn't ready to do the same regarding Mary Hatford, but they could acknowledge the similarities in their stories and that was a start -- for both of them.

Aaron sighed and closed his eyes. He pointedly didn't think about his own mother and instead let himself eagerly latch onto the other man's sympathetic demon as he thought, with vehemence, 'Fuck you, Mary.'

#asks #anon #aftg #aftg fic #ao3 link #100 followers #neil talks about mary #neil talks about his past #neil josten #the foxes react #i wrote this whole thing on my phone #none of the formatting copied over though #so go read it on ao3 for the full effect #i just dont have the energy to go through it and add it all in again #sorry guys #hope you like it though! #my writing #andreil 5ever #aaron is swiftly becoming one of my favorite characters #im thirsty for neil-aaron parallel fics #can you tell? #they have mommy issues #like - SERIOUS mommy issues #they should bond over that

[haiky-u-lously]

King Kuroo and the Red Knights (13)

Summary: A Camelot AU where King Arthur is Kuroo Tetsuro, and the Knights of the Roundtable of characters from seasons 1-4 of the HQ anime. Eventual Kuroo X Reader.

Themes: Fluff, Angst, Humor, Eventual Romance

Warnings: Mentions of stalking and abuse of power, Language, Angst in feelings, Eventual gore and fighting

Word Count: For Chapter: ~4000words

Questions/Comments/Concerns/Ideas welcome as always. Enjoy! –Admin Red

Chapter 13: Round 1C

“Do you have many tournaments in your home?” The King questioned you as he took his seat while the arena was cleared of the fallen trash from the stands surrounding it.

Shaking your head in the negative, you also moved to take a seat.

“Generally we hold them in celebrations, or as contests for some big prize.” He said, smiling while you presumed he reminisced about past memories. “When my father got sick and I had more responsibilities placed on me, I ended up planning almost one a month to give me a reason to expel some of my stress. The men, they just went right along with my whims.” His eyes took a fond look over them as he paused in his spiel, “But the month he died, I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. It took much effort on all of their parts to get me to do regular duties, let alone plan and prepare tournaments. Yuurei too had more burdens to bear from my lack of control over my own state. She had to do a lot more that one month than any Queen in Camelot’s history.” Kuroo shook his head, before bringing a small smile back to his face. “Sorry about that, kind of went off there for a bit didn’t I?” He seemed to try and laugh away the serious atmosphere he’d created, but you knew there was more in his head.

Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to press him further, but let him get away with shaking off his own concerns.

He faced you with a wide grin, “So, is Sugawara a good fighter?”

You nodded, thinking to yourself about memories past. Your cousin was one of the youngest men to be granted the title of Red Knight. He was exceptional when it came to forming strategies, and using things and those around him to win battles. His fighting skill, while not being the top of the order, was nothing to laugh at.

“Have you fought him yourself?” Kuroo asked you, and you thought you heard a teasing tone in his questioning, but you just smiled to yourself before nodding. “Interesting, interesting. I’d ask deeper questions,” He laughed and then added, “But I know you won’t answer out loud, so I won’t press the matters. But, just know I do want to ask more than simple yes and no questions.”

Nodding once more, you accepted the King’s explanation for what it was, as just a way for him to express himself.

“Hey, hey hey!” Bokuto called from behind your sitting pair, approaching the side of Kuroo’s chair happily, “Did you see my win? Pretty great, wasn’t it!” He shouted, excitedly pumping his fists in the air before taking what had been Suga’s seat. “Sorry I missed your fight, Red Knight. But, now we get to face one another, that’ll be great!” He smiled to you, leaning far forward to see you around the other side of the King’s sitting form.

Bobbing your head in response, you grinned behind your mask. This knight in particular was overly excitable, and that was something you could use as a tactic in your fight against him.

Your vision was caught by movement from the tunnels into the heart of the stadium. Two knights walked in, side-by-side from either entrance. By the lack of marks on his borrowed uniform, you could tell which was your cousin, and noted that he walked in next to a knight marked in dark teal. By the way the two seemed to interact, you pieced together that he was entering the field with Futakuchi. Which meant the pair of knights entering the arena opposite were Semi and Yamagata, both marked with purple boxes. They were distinguished by one box having a vertical white stripe on the left half and the other bearing a horizontal white stripe on the top half.

Though in the moment it was hard to tell which knight was which, you knew you’d find out as soon as they split up for their fight.

Seeing Suga being friendly with the magician of Camelot made you happy that you’d switched places with him, and though not for the first time that you found more pleasure in it than just as a selfish reason.

You watched as the two men high-hived before your friend continued forward to his side of the makeshift battlefield. And despite yourself, you wondered what they’d been discussing.

Shaking your head to rid yourself the thoughts swirling in your mind, and ultimately deciding that you should trust Suga’s words that he’d win his fight and that you should watch Futakuchi’s.

Before Kuroo could begin the bout, you were finally able to distinguish between the two knights marked in purple and white. The horizontal striped one apparently was Yamagata as he stood with Suga, while the vertical striped one still approached Futakuchi’s side.

____________________________

Suga spun your blades against his palms, flashing the pristine shine against the sunlight to catch his opponent’s eyes. The pause in his spinning wrist, told the makeshift squire that he’d achieved the desired effect.

“These blades belong to the royal family of the Order. Passed down from generations since they are made from what is now an extinct substance.” He smiled behind the chainmail sticking out from under his borrowed helmet.

The giant metal ball hanging from the chain of Yamagata’s flail swung back and forth with the after force from the swing coming to a succinct halt.

“Are those really an alexandrite and painite pair of blades?” While unable to see the knight’s face, the heavy tone of shock and awe in his voice told the visiting fighter that the knight in front of him was primed for their battle.

When the King of Camelot shouted for the bout to begin, Suga took the brief time of his opponent's confusion to lung forward. 

He elbowed Yamagata in his vambrace, knocking the fighter’s shield out of the way, and let the flail wrap itself around the alexandrite stiletto. However, to his surprise, pulling back on the blade didn’t pull the weapon from Semi’s hand. 

The knight of Camelot must have regained his focus as he gritted his teeth, tightened his hold on his weapon of choice and twisted his shield wielding arm around to Suga’s breast plate and pushed him away.

Suga managed to untwist his blade from Yamagata’s flail before being shoved back, but had to quickly adjust to defending as his opponent went on the attack.

Spinning, the ball of metal kept Suga’s focus and he was forced to think solely on defense instead of how to attack. It was definitely a well practiced tactic, and in his mind, the silver-haired fighter applauded his counterpart. Unfortunately, he couldn’t break his word to the Princess of his home, he couldn’t break his promise to his cousin, his best friend. He had to find a way to counter the attack, not only defend.

Busy with his thoughts, the unmarked knight lost his footing and fell back against the hard ground.

Yamagata took note and moved fast as his flail flung over his shoulder , into the air and began rushing towards the cuirass protecting Suga’s upper chest. In the brief time that the resistance of the air between them gave him, your friend rolled to his side and the metal round hit the near solid earth. 

Without really thinking, Sugawara rolled back to his original fell position--trapping his opponent’s weapon between the earth and the rear of his pauldron. The purple marked knight struggled as the chain attached to his wooden stick resisted his pull. Behind his helmet, his face contorted as he tried to manipulate the angle of the pull as the unmarked knight furthered the trap by squeezing his arm against his side, keeping the chain locked and the ball stuck where it fell.

Suga took the moment to try and think of an attack strategy. He realized that his opposite had at some point let go of his shield, and that he was using both hands in an attempt to tear back his weapon. Blinking slowly, he recalled a move he’d seen you do against some of the others back when you were still allowed to train and not sneaking behind the King’s orders to do so.

______________________

“(Y/N)!” he’d yelled out as he helplessly watched your body be flung into the ground. Your opponent was much larger than most of the knights in training. He knew the King had the instructors set this line-up to try and convince you to make the decision yourself to withdraw from this line of work.

You had barely caught your breath before the towering, older trainee hovered above you. Your lying form pulled up by the collar of your shirts, you were swinging at the forearm of your current sparring partner. A tight frown took over your features and your cousin watched as the man sneered at you, “Stupid royals, thinking you’re such tough pits. This ought to teach you why those idiots died so easily.” 

He pulled back his dominant arm, preparing a full fledged power punch. And Suga saw as you half attitude-half fearful demeanor turned into pure rage. Your eye color flashed between a myriad of hues before settling on your natural shade, your lower half swung through the air, trapping your opponent’s arm and neck between your thighs right before you started to squeeze. The fighter’s shoulder blade must have been pressured against his airways as his face began to darken and everyone watching saw as his group loosened on your clothes. Your legs tighten their hold further as you cross your ankles and swing the lower half of your body to replicate a handstand before continuing the flip. Forcing the opposer to his backside and screaming through clenched teeth until he passed out and the adults in charge rushed to try and pry you off the other trainee.

________________________

The memories of other times you’d accomplished similar feets rushed through his mind and Suga’s mind locked onto one path to victory.

His legs spun over Yamagata’s head, his upper body keeping the flail trapped in its place as he brought his opponent face first into the dirt beneath him. His legs hooked under the dark haired knight’s arms as he practically sat on his backside. 

With the weapon no longer in anyone’s hands, it fell limp between Suga’s arm and side. Grabbing it with three fingers while holding the painite sai with the other two, he flung it across the field and out of reach.

Yamagata’s head sat on its side, as he huffed in anger about how easily he’d been caught and disarmed. He knew he shouldn’t have changed weapons with Satori, but his friend just had to match Terushima for his fight. Guiding his breath back to a normal pace, the dark haired fighted thought about what his next play could be. Knowing his opponent helf two blades, even small ones like a sai and stiletto, was a troubling factor as he had nothing left but his armour. If he could only get the flail back...bucking his hips, he caused Suga to slightly waver in his solid position, Yamagata dropped to a lying flat position before lifting his upper body up by his arms and sliding Suga so far down his backside he could pull his legs up to his chest and bounce to a standing position. Spinning as soon as he did to face the visiting fighter for hand to hand combat.

Suga saw the stance and thought how he wished to proceed, to showcase your blades or disarm himself to fight with his body alone. 

“COME ON THEN!” He heard Camelot’s King shouting, and a quick glance over his shoulder allowed him to see that King Kuroo was watching his fight with a look of pure joy across his features. While he couldn’t see your face, your body language told him you weren’t even watching his battle. Taking this to mean you expected a proper outcome from him, he held the painite sai such that all three tips stuck between the fingers of his gloves. The stiletto held by his fist.

Yamagate rushed Suga’s form, your cousin slightly jumping as the Camelot knight went low for a better hold of his missed target. Swimming the stiletto back, the tip rested against the chainmail beneath the purple marked knight’s helmet.

“Yield.” Suga warned, putting enough force into the blade that it could not be further ignored.

To his favor, the dark haired knight could sense the bloodlust in that single word. His fist slammed into the ground in anger as he realized he was out of options. Mentally he tallied that it's two losses for his team within the knights, making half of them out of the tournament. He felt like he’d let everyone down by becoming the fiftieth percent.

The unmarked knight pulled back the alexandrite stiletto enough for Yamagata to rest back on his greaves. 

“Good fight Sugawara,” He commented, taking his helmet off before resting his hands on his knees, leveling out his breath before trying to move.

Taking off his own head protector, your friend smiled down at the man he’d just faced. “You as well Hayato, but I’m guessing you don’t regularly use a flail as your main weapon.” He laughed out at the face flung towards his sneer of a comment. “Gotta admit, had I not accidentally trapped it beneath my shoulder, not sure I would have figured out a quick way out.”

“Don’t try sugar-coating it, it's not helpful having the person who’d just made a complete fool of you tell you it was just luck.” The brown haired knight scowled, looking at his tightly held fists in annoyance.

Suga scoffed before taking a seat next to him, “Every fight has a shred of luck in it, and despite the attitude I believe you know that to be true. It's not that I won solely because of luck, it was that luck allowed me the slight chance to utilize skills I’ve developed through training and hard work. Just as past battles have allowed you. I am sorry if you feel I was...what did she always call it...badgering you about your loss, truly.”

Yamagata looked at him fully, recognizing the honesty and sincerity in his voice. “Badgering, huh? Guess that is as good a way to say you were picking on me as any. Can’t say I’ve heard it before. Who exactly said it always?” Half joking, half really wondering, Hayato pushed his thought forward, “Your princess cousin?”

“Yes.” Suga answered bluntly, spinning the stiletto against his open palm and watching the light alexandrite blade sparkle in the sun’s rays.

“Oh.” Was all he could respond with before glancing away from the man beside him. Thinking it must be hard to be away from someone you were so close with, without knowing when you’d see them again. 

The pair stood at the same time, shook hands and then walked off the field.

_________________________

“Are you not watching your friend fight?” The King sat beside you had asked at the very beginning.

Shaking your head in the negative, you fully turned your body away from the pair in question facing the King’s magician.

“Ouch, guess he must have upset you in some manner. Well, as he is the only one to speak with you I am sure you’ll have to talk to him soon enough. But if you ever need an escape I am sure any of the knights would be willing to tour you around the main city.”

Smiling to yourself at his kindness, you considered using your powers to send him your thoughts as you did with Suga. However, you thought better of it before taking action. It had only been a week, these people couldn’t even tell what your cousin could do, let alone yourself. If you shared too much too soon, it could spell disastrous. Closing your eyes and taking a deep breath you focused on watching the match before you.

__________________________

It seemed odd that Futakuchi held a two pronged weapon to you. One end matching Aone’s mace while the other looked to be a bill. The hook coming off the sharp tip protruding in a way that made you tilt your head in wonder of what his power play would be.

The attendant held the weapon with both hands, either end facing the sides rather than forward towards his opponent.

Semi however stood in front of the magician, head free from the protection offered by a helmet, nor chainmail set against his cranium hiding his hair. The dark-gray strands cadging his face in a light that reminded you of Suga whenever he scowled at you as teens. Attached to his back was the sheath for a machete, which he seemed to be reaching for as he seemingly moved in slow motion. You noted a couple other sheaths attached to his armour with other weapons ready to be drawn.

In an instant, you nearly missed as his hand wrapped around the handle of his main blade and he flung it straight at Futakuchi before it was completely pulled from its carrying place. The opponent also barely catching on to the fighter’s plan as his magic, or a very dulled down version of it in any case stopped the thick piece from hitting his own protective headgear right between the eye slits.

Before you could blink, Semi was in front of Futakuchi’s barely balanced form with a tanto fisted with the thumb on the flat rear. The sharp tip of the blade striking from its hold against the magician as he tried to put space between his attacker and self to utilize his own choice weapon. 

He must have determined the big thing as obstructive as his grip loosened enough to pull Semi’s attention slightly, allowing the attendant a split brief in which he pulled a miniature dagger from seemingly nowhere. Pushing it against the tanto and forcing both weapons a safe distance away from the weaker points of his armour.

Semi smiled, as his arm swung back to its original position from a lower angle then how it was ushered away. The magician sneering to himself behind his helmet as he realized Semi had been practicing for such an occasion to face him.

“You can’t beat me every time, Futa.” He whispered into the side of his opponent’s obstructed face. “I’m a knight of Camelot, and as respected and appreciated as you are, to the people you are still meant to be a servant.”

The call from Kuroo towards the fight on the other side of the arena caused you a slip in focus and you weren’t sure how but suddenly Futakuchi was without his large weapon, barely fending off from Semi’s swings of his tanto and a dirk that had made an appearance.

The men battled it out and you were sure that Futakuchi was only using his powers to make a protective layer of energy around himself so as to not feel the brunt of force from the swings connecting with his armour. It stood to reason with his power hold that he should be defeating the knight without issue, and you wondered to yourself if he held similar standards as your troupe. If he did not want to utilize his powers if unnecessary or if he was more inclined to follow your own beliefs. It was a toss up as either would have fit the bill of not using powers against a friend in a mock-battle or training match, but it left a lot of room for questions as well.

Dooking it out some more, you felt a draw to look over at Suga, turning your head, you saw him jump aside from Yamagata’s rush and figured it was your imagination playing tricks on you. Focusing back on the pair you were determined to watch, you saw a glint of gold flash from behind Futakuchi’s helmet. Semi’s tanto swinging arm stopped midair, Futakuchi ducked beneath it and rushed to get behind his opponent before releasing the appendage and letting the swing complete its path.

Unfortunately, the short lived victory was...short lived. The gray-haired knight spun a one-eighty and right-hooked Futakuchi’s chin into the air. Knocking his helmet off and sending it flying as well as forcing the magician to shoot enough inches into the air that his own body flung back.

Thumbing his chin, still practically lying on the ground, the attendant grumbled to the knight, “Nutting toff! I give, happy?”

Smiling down at the brown haired man, Semi smiled with a killer grin, “Seeing me win does indeed make me happy.” He winked at Camelot’s magician, and you heard as many of the girls in the stands screamed at his apparent beauty. 

Holding a hand out to help him up, the knight relinquished whatever pride he’d been fighting with. Taking it, Futakuchi showed he held no malice towards his counter. The two made way to pick up their discarded weapons and left the battlefield without another word spoken in front of any prying eyes.

“Good fight?” The King asked you, seeing as both battles were now finished.

Nodding your head, you thought about what could have been the reason behind such an easy defeat on the magician’s part. Recalling that he was pressed to beat the men, and that many thought Camelot’s magician would face your own in Suga. Now with that not as an option, you couldn’t help but question yourself as to why.

“Can I overshare again?” Kuroo seemed hesitant to ask. Nodding simply, you turned to face him, giving the King the full attention he seemed to desire at the moment. “I can’t remember the last time I fought with someone sitting in this box. Yuurei always seems to be caught up or sick or not around, Daishou either is fighting or not around. The knights never feel like they can be here long--even Bokuto does as before where he drops in, says his piece and leaves without saying a word. I’ve always felt like if I am here, everyone can feel me watching them and they can get a sense of strength from that, but whenever I really think about how this box is empty when I fight...it’s not a good feeling to say the least.” 

You caught yourself from pitying him, he was a King, and while yes he was currently spilling a deep thought of his to you, you knew it was more because you wouldn’t be able to tell anyone more so than him wanting to actually talk to you. This was something he as a person needed to get off his chest so that he could continue being the royal his people needed, and being a royal yourself you understood that better than anyone else.So, you would let him get it out.

“I like the tournaments despite that though, because it brings such joy to the citizens and the men. I’d go through it every day if it could help even one more person. And I’m sure you’d agree to that sentiment since you seem to have such a strong sense of justice.”

Wait, what? His comment caught you off guard.

“It’s not so much as I think we are kindred spirits, but I am pretty sure you are the offspring of the Order’s King as your friend stated that first night. And, should that case be truth, I feel you would understand where I am coming from.” He smiled at you directly, and it took more willpower than you would ever admit to not move under the blinding features. “Thanks again for participating in the tourney, and for the heavy assist last week during the raid on the castle. From one royal to another, I truly appreciate having been able to meet your acquaintance.”

With his comments apparent to be done, the King strode out of the viewing box without another word.

You sat back, dumbstruck and frozen in the time it took Suga to return and lose his mind at your unresponsiveness. Staying mostly ignorant of your surroundings until Futakuchi came into the large stall and said something you didn’t really catch. 

_______________________________________________

Author’s message: So, anyone shocked? No? Hmmm... Guess I’ll have to try harder on ROUND 1D.

_______________________________________________ Table of contents:

Chapter 12                                                  Chapter 14

#kuroo x y/n #kuroo x reader #kuroo tetsurou #reader insert #haikyuu #haikyuu!! #futakuchi kenji #sugawara koushi #bokuto koutaro #camelot au #KKATRK #admin red #daichi sawamura #terushima yuuji #tendou satori #miya osamu #miya atsumu #semi eita #aone takanobu #ushijima wakatoshi #azumane asahi #yamagata hayato #iwaizumi hajime #oikawa tooru #daishou suguru

[subtlereferencetomyinterests]

I Taste Honey but I Haven’t Seen the Hive - Chapter Eight

Ao3,  Masterpost,  C.1   C.2   C.3   C.4   C.5   C.6   C.7

Relationships: queer-platonic intruality, mentioned platonic relationships.

Second chapter of the night, babe! I’m really going for it with finishing this story!! mostly no italics as is my usual, because tumblr Sucks <3 

Warnings: cursing, brief true-crime talk, sexual innuendo, depressive episodes, crying, LOTS of h/c, mentions of past neglect (ok neglect is a really strong word it isn’t that bad, but, idk what to call it), touch-starvation, honestly though this is a ridiculously fluffy chapter guys. 

Word count: 5,618

In three weeks, Patton and Remus had gone from borderline insomnia to a sleep schedule that could’ve impressed even Logan. 

And in three weeks, neither had spent a single night alone.

The talk they’d had after their first sleepover ended up leaving more of an impact than either had realized. Maybe it should’ve been expected: they were both accustomed to saying exactly what they meant, exactly how they meant it, and any sort of vow to ‘never let go’ couldn’t be used lightly for two creatures like that. 

So, independently, they both decided to be as literal as they could about it. God, were they clingy.

But it worked better than anything. There was less aching, more talking, and if they were feeling better, the whole Mindpalace improved. Something something, the delicate ecosystem of the human mind, blah blah. 

And then it worked too well. 

Neither of them really knew what had happened, or how to feel about it (it might have been sad or strange that neither had ever had anything to compare it to, but if asked, they’d both say that’s what made it so special. They’d be right to say so, of course). It was what they had, together.

It wasn’t romantic- they’d seen romantic, knew it as well as they could, didn’t care for it. But in the end who cared about semantics? It didn’t matter, the reasons why Patton stared after his friend for a little too long, or what was making it so hard for Remus not to kiss his pal smack on the lips every time he smiled. Another thing that didn’t matter was the why in response to how they still hadn’t talked about it, but… Patton and Remus had resolved that as a problem for another time.

What mattered was that it just was.

(And another thing that mattered, a little bit, was the how it had happened, and both of them understood that perfectly well.)

Remus lounged on the floor at the foot of his bed, Patton behind and above him. Patton’s fingers were working steadily through his mess of hair, while the pair half-watched TV. They didn’t agree on most shows, and neither of them were especially crazy about arguing, which meant it was twenty minutes of roundabout conversation until they stumbled across something they could mutually zone out to. Whatever. The system worked.

Remus typically preoccupied himself with drawing, painting, or carving some material into something or other (said something-or-other was almost always a knife or a dildo. Occasionally, it was both). 

Patton seemed to favor being distracted by Remus’ hair, though it wasn’t clear why. Remus hadn’t asked; it felt nice, and he was surprised that anyone would actually want to thread their fingers through those oily strings, so why question a good thing? 

Actually, a better question was why not. The thought had stuck in his mind, and he had nothing better to do- art block and all- so. Remus tossed his sketchbook to the side and twisted up to look at Patton.

“Why do you do that?”

Patton glanced down at him. “Do what?”

Remus reached up, prying Patton’s hands out of his hair and holding them up like evidence. Patton blinked at them, and okay, cute- but he looked genuinely surprised by the question. 

“Oh, playing with your hair? I mean, there’s no real reason, I guess it’s just mindless. Something to fidget with, y’know? It’s always all tangled up, too, so it’s like a little puzzle- a puzzle I probably won’t solve all the way ever, but that’s most puzzles with me to be honest,” he smiled brightly, creasing all his laugh lines just right. “Also, um, it feels nice that I get to stay touching you, even if it’s just something small,” he shrugged, sort of sheepishly. “Is that weird?”

But Remus was beaming up at him, definitely looking all sorts of stupid for it, and definitely not caring. He dropped Patton’s hands, letting them find their way back into his coils and matts of hair. 

“You’re asking the wrong guy, Sugar Cookie, but you can keep messing with my hair all you want. It probably is weird, in that case, because I like that you have your hands on me so much-” Jesus Christ it was so hard not to make a sex joke, Remus had to stifle several from breaking his train of thought. Ugh, the things he did for this man. “-And if I like something, it’s 100% freaky!”

Patton just laughed, his nose scrunching up while he ruffled Remus’ hair. 

“That’s- that’s good to know,” an index finger coiled around silver strands, and Patton’s eyes sparkled in the most literal sense, “Hey, Remus?”

Remus let his head rest on the side’s thigh, humming attentively. 

“When you say I can mess with it…”

He looked up with a delightful anticipation, grinning before Patton had even finished his sentence. 

“Can I braid your hair?” The question accompanied by a faint tug at Remus’ scalp, and the feeling of several tangles coming undone, “I’m pretty good at it. Virgil used to let me do his- not so much anymore, but, um. Anyway, yours would be long enough- or maybe longer, if I got these knots out,” he smiled, kindly, “But I know you like having it knotty, so it’s okay if you don’t want me to.”

Remus thought it over, because yeah, he was very proud of his rat’s nest. Besides, he was sure that even if it got straightened out, it’d still be just as greasy as ever- ohh, but that could be a look all on its own, couldn’t it? Maybe he could even weave some garbage into the plait! 

“Sure!” Remus assented, “The rest of me’s naughty enough to make up for the hairdo, so have at ‘er.”

Patton snorted at the pun, obviously excited to get started. When he ushered Remus to turn around, his hands easily undoing clumps of hair with surprising focus, humming to himself all the while, Remus was absolutely certain he’d made the right choice.

It was done in an hour- Patton was slow and careful about every movement. Remus didn’t really mind, though he’d try to assure Patton that it was fine to do it in a hurry, that he wasn’t so sensitive. (Patton didn’t, obviously, ignoring Remus’ comments about how it didn’t even matter because they weren’t real, and pain was a construct. Patton was stubbornly gentle, to the point that Remus couldn’t be annoyed by it. He might even say it was sweet, if he was feeling particularly sappy.)

It had also taken such time because of the decorations Patton had woven into his hair, which he insisted would be surprises. So Remus was bouncing with excitement all the way to the mirror- cuz even though he was sure it wouldn’t be anything like the live bugs, weeds, and dead flowers that he’d had in mind to thread in there himself, he knew it’d at least be pretty. Pretty wasn’t really his thing, sure, but Patton’s brand of pretty? It had grown on him.

The mirror in Remus’ room was chipped, slick with grime, and filled with silhouettes that vanished as soon as you turned around, but it worked just fine. Remus hauled himself over to it, peered in, and okay, he definitely didn’t mind a little bit of pretty.

“You weren’t fucking around when you said you were good at this, Morey!”

In their reflections, Remus saw Patton smile, going a bit pink around the ears. He glanced back to himself, eyes trailing appreciatively down the shoulder-length braid of dark, greasy hair. His grey streak wasn’t twisted in with the rest of the locks, instead it had been left out in front, springy and curly and giving the whole look a messier vibe. The braid itself seemed inky-slick, shot through with glittering hair clips and pins. At first, they looked like plain plastic jewels, but with closer inspection the shapes of tiny beetles, bugs, and moths were unmistakable. They were gorgeous, and probably a better call than putting actual live bugs in his hair; he was less likely to end up eating the sparkly clips, at any rate.

But if all that wasn’t enough, then there were the ribbons. Whip-thin and several in number, they sparkled with enough course glitter to impress a Las Vegas body paint artist. Some were a pukey neon green, and the rest a light, bright-

“Blue?”

Patton met Remus’ eyes, through the mirror again, and the pink slowly traveled from his ears down to his face. He shrugged, grazing the blue-and-green bow where the braid was tied off with the tips of his fingers. 

“I guess I got a little carried away,” he smiled lightly, “I thought it looked nice, with the green.”

Remus looked away from the glass, “You’re not wrong about that,” he muttered.

Patton shrugged, not quite making his eyes. 

“You can take those ones out, if you want to.”

That- the way Patton went flustered and shy and he’d put his colors on Remus- it gave the Duke a very strong urge to do something. The urge pulled at his chest, feeling like cracked ribs in the best way, and it really wasn’t fucking around when it wrapped around his heart and squeezed so tight it felt like it was forcing all the blood right out of him. 

Remus was used to impulses, and the powerful, mind-halting swells of emotion, but this was new and fun and it had jumped out of nowhere even for him. He was staring at Patton, and he had the urge to do something. He would’ve done it, too, if only he knew what the fuck it was that he wanted. 

It had to do with Patton. He should start there, probably.

“I’m gonna keep them in, duh,” Remus replied, finally, and his voice was way louder than it needed to be, “Wouldn’t wanna fuck up the look.” 

Patton glanced at him, smiling self-consciously, and his hand lowered from Remus’ hair to rest on his shoulder. For a moment Remus felt blind, vision white-out and trouble breathing, from whatever the fuck he was feeling, and he just didn’t know what to do.

Then Patton laughed, his ocean eyes squinted, and the burning impulse plummeted to an ache. A giddy, unfamiliar kind of ache. A manageable ache. 

Remus resolved to forget it. He had lots of instincts, and urges, and God knew that not even half of them made sense. It had left, that was what mattered, and he could enjoy the rest of his day with his friend.

He’d never been the type to worry, anyway.

There were days that Patton just… couldn’t make it out of bed. He tried, he really did, but he could only go for so long before it all started crumbling. He’d wake up, and something would just feel wrong, and he’d know that it was a doomed day, but he still made the stubborn effort to save it. Because each time he thought, maybe he’d beat it, maybe he’d make the best of it- and sometimes he did, but most of the time he made it as far as breakfast, and then he was right back in his room by noon to let the depressive episode take over.

So yeah. It was one of Those Days. 

Patton laid in bed, propped up on pillows and stuffed animals with his unfocused eyes staring just above the television. Bad days had been getting rare, and naively, Patton had thought that meant it was over for good. When he woke up that morning, Remus barely stirring beside him, the empty feeling inside was almost ignorable. 

He’d stayed above it for all of two-and-a-half hours before retreating to his room again, this time on his own.

Patton was always alone when he got in one of his moods, and he knew it was better that way. He was no fun at all, just a sad sack of blah, and he knew just how intolerable he ended up being. He couldn’t even tolerate himself.

So each time Patton would tell the other sides that he needed some space alone, and of course they respected that. Roman always hugged him before he left. Virgil checked on him every now and then. Logan, without fail, sent him extra plushies (and sweet snacks, however much he disapproved of unhealthy eating, because he knew how much sugar cheered Patton up). It didn’t fix the ache, but it helped, knowing that people were worried about him. 

But, back to that particular day; the day that left Patton huddled up at the head of his bed with blank, glazed-over eyes; the first day of its kind since Remus had been staying with him. 

It had gotten… harder, somehow. The fact that it had been gone for so long, and he’d been so optimistic, but now it was all back… 

Patton buried his face in the soft fabric of a teddy bear, shaking and crying and feeling so, so, cold.

It went on for a few horrible, horrible minutes, and then there were noises that definitely weren’t sobs. Down the hall; the slamming of a door, followed by distant muttering, and then excited footsteps. Heavy, clunky footsteps. Sounds that brought back acute deja vu, and had Patton glancing up just in time to realize what was about to happen. 

His door swung open, and Remus was grinning at him from the entrance. Patton struggled to put on a smile in time, scrubbing frantically at his eyes. 

“Hey! It’s, like, two o’clock, are you ready?”

Patton blinked up at him, partially in confusion, partially to try and stop the flow of tears. “Ready…?” 

Remus’ face fell a little, and he came forwards into the room. 

“Yeah…” Remus shut the door behind him- with less force than usual- and sat cross-legged on the foot of the bed. He stared intently at Patton, frown deepening all the while, pupils flitting around as he seemed to take in every detail of his friend’s condition. Patton wanted to squirm. “We were gonna- are you okay?” 

He stared dumbly at Remus for a second more, and then it clicked: they had plans today. He could barely remember what they were supposed to do- they’d been talking so quick, so excited, so happy- but Patton was pretty sure it had to do with a new creation of Remus’. 

Which was… something he definitely, definitely didn’t have the energy for. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Patton sat up straight, trying desperately to stop trembling, “I completely forgot, I just- um- I don’t know if I can make it today.”

That sounded bad, didn’t it? Wouldn’t that be the icing on top of the cake, if he hurt Remus’ feelings just because he was wallowing for basically no reason. It probably wouldn’t even be that bad if he sucked it up and went along with it anyway- except Janus kept insisting how bad self-sacrifice was, but- what else was he supposed to do!?

“Oh, it’s okay,” Remus said, not sounding hurt at all. “I’d be more pissed if I thought you were just bailing, and I know you don’t do that, Pat. Plus, you’re obviously upset, so don’t worry about it.”

  Patton glanced up to find him still staring, somehow more intense than before, and much closer than before. He looked- he looked worried. Not upset. Worried. 

“Oh,” Patton looked away again, unable to stand the scrutiny, “Okay.” 

A hand slipped into his, prying open his clenched fist, and he had to stifle a gasp at the touch. Temperature shock, that was the best word for it. Patton shivered. 

“Can I help you?”

Patton’s eyes went wide at the sweet sincerity in Remus’ voice, the way he said it as plainly and openly as he’d say anything else. Even if it wasn’t a big deal, really, with Patton’s emotions in the state that they were, while he was in his room of all places, anything could send him breaking down again.

“I- I don’t, um-” he blinked furiously, had done that a lot since Remus found him; it was beginning to make him feel dizzy. “Nothing’s really wrong…” 

Remus squeezed his hand. 

“Well, what isn’t really wrong?” 

“What?”

“You said nothing’s ‘really’ wrong, so, what’s wrong-but-not-really?”

Patton tipped his head to the side, for a moment more confused than he was aching. “How do you mean?”

But Remus just rolled his eyes- not unkindly- and shrugged. 

“So, you don’t know why you’re all… sad,” the emphasis made Patton wince, “But I figure that being sad at all usually makes other things wrong, too, and I can help with those things! For example-” he pitched forwards suddenly, ruby-reds wide and searching. He sniffed at Patton (probably not for any kind of actual inspection, but it made him laugh, and judging from Remus’ proud little smirk that had been on purpose.) “You had anything to eat? Or, uh, water? Those are supposed to be important.”

Oh, right. That. 

Patton leaned away, pulling his hand out of Remus’ grasp as he flushed abashedly. But he didn’t- well, he wasn’t going to lie to Remus.

“I guess I haven’t, no,” he tried to laugh it off- this didn’t have to be a thing, it didn’t have to be serious, if he kept laughing. If he got Remus to laugh.

But Remus was already standing, and that brought up another very effective solution; if Patton was being depressing, maybe he would just get sick of it and go. 

“Okay, we’ll start there! Wait here, I’ll be back in- ten minutes? Sure, that’s how long it takes to make food,” Remus was muttering half to himself, but it sure as heck didn’t sound like leaving.

“Oh, you don’t have to get me anything!” Patton insisted, because if Remus wasn’t escaping yet, then he wasn’t going to mooch off of his generosity. “Thanks for the reminder, I’ll- I’ll make sure to grab something soon.”

Remus stopped by the door, tipped his head from one side to the other, pretending to think it over.

“Hm. Nah.”

Patton tried to stand, and found that he was somehow too weak for even that much.

“Remus, please, I- I can’t even eat the same stuff as you, anyway! Don’t go through all that trouble for little old me,” he was edging on frantic, and he didn’t know why he was fighting so hard against receiving needed help, but it probably had something to do with Catholicism. 

Remus looked completely bewildered- a funny look, for him- and said:

“I mean, I wasn’t about to feed you hygiene products, or ceramic, or whatever. I know that I eat weird shit, Pat, that’s kind of the point- but I still know how to make a sandwich? And I know how to hold a cup under the sink so that water goes in it?” 

His voice took on a gently mocking tone. Patton glanced away, sheepish, and couldn’t find a response to that beyond a short nod.

Which was all Remus needed as the go-ahead, darting out of the room and down the stairs before Patton could argue any further. 

Patton stared after him, listened to him bustling around downstairs, and tried to feel comforted. He fell back against his pillows, breathing slow and concentrated. He was still shaking, with his previous exhaustion coming back full force. Some of the light-headedness, certainly, had to be due to the lack of eating, but he was unfortunately sure that it wasn’t even the half of it.

Patton was conflicted: He had to tell Remus that he was okay, as soon as he returned. Say thanks for the food, that it had helped, and they could spend time together tomorrow, Patton would promise. Get Remus away before it got bad, before the dam he’d built so carefully behind his eyes fell and the blue of them spilled out for hours. 

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t lie about his feelings- he knew it was bad for him, and he couldn’t keep doing it, not to someone’s face. Not somebody he cared about so much.

He wanted to let Remus stay, beg him to stay if he had to, just so he didn’t have to dig up all his long-buried emotions on his own. He wanted to pull him in and beg for help, even though he knew nothing had managed to help him before, and it was so futile. 

When the door opened some ten minutes later, Patton didn’t sit up. He didn’t even look up, scared he’d cry if he so much as moved his eyes in his own skull. 

“Hey.”

The sound of the door shutting, followed by those heavy footsteps. A soft thunk, presumably the plate of food being placed on his bedside table. Then the mattress dipped beside him, springs creaking. 

“Hey,” Remus said again, “Look at me.”

Patton rolled his head tentatively to the side. Remus was sitting with him, looking at him, his expression twisted up and solemn in all the worst ways. Patton felt the dam begin to crumble. 

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered, “I know, I know that I’m no fun when I’m like this, and we were supposed to have fun today, and I just can’t do it. I can’t, I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, but if you stay here when I’m-” he broke, clamping a hand around his mouth as a sob wracked his body.. “When I’m like this, I’m just gonna ruin your day more.”

That sad look, the one that had no place being in Remus’ expression, sharpened and widened until he looked almost angry. He crawled over to Patton, prying the side’s hand away from his face and cupping his cheek, gently, all the while that scowl was in place. 

“Do you want me to go?”

Patton could barely speak, knowing that he’d just blubber and blubber, but Remus was holding him up by the shoulders and peering down at him so patiently, so carefully.

“I- I-”

“Do you want to be alone?”

He couldn’t- he couldn’t keep lying.

Patton sucked in a breath.

“No.”

Remus grinned at him proudly, pulling back until he was kneeling. He spread his arms out, an offering that Patton had become intimately familiar with. Patton pulled himself up, shaking, incredulous despite the familiarity of the situation.

“Then you don’t have to be.”

And Patton pitched forward, right into Remus’ arms, clutching and crying and trembling like a leaf.

Distantly, he knew that he was still babbling apologies. Insisting that the Duke could leave as soon as he wanted, that Patton felt this way so often and he knew he couldn’t possibly expect comfort every time, a million other sentences that ran over and into each other which only seemed to make Remus clutch him tighter. 

“It’s okay,” Remus told him.

“It’s- It’s not, I don’t even have a- a reason to be so-” a hiccup, “- upset. It’s not like last time, when you found me- I don’t even have a bad excuse, I’m just- just-”

“Shut the fuck up,” somehow, even that sounded caring. “Somebody as Hello Kitty Wholesome as you’s got no business saying such bad shit about himself.”

Patton tried to apologize again. 

“Easy, Sugar, I’ve got you.”

Patton shuddered.

“When it gets bad like this, just tell me, alright?” Remus’ hands traced up and down his spine, across his shoulder blades, down his sides, warm and full and adoring. The smile in his voice was audible, “I’m gonna take care of you.”

And when Patton heard that, it was like a broken bone being set. Not fully mended, but held together enough that it could begin to heal the right way, of its own hard work, and come back twice as strong still. Remus held him so strong and it felt like a cast. 

Patton’s breakdowns were blurred memories at best, but he couldn’t have gotten that promise out of his head even if he wanted to. 

It was an achingly uneventful afternoon. Everything in the Mindpalace felt just a little out of focus, a little gray, and nothing much was going to change that except the day ending. Plain and simple, Thomas was Out Of It- and so, of course, were his sides.

On the whole it wasn’t a big deal, but it did make it downright impossible to finish any substantial work beyond menial, autopilot tasks. And creativity? Particularly for Remus, who more-or-less needed his human at full attention in order to have any creative power, it was totally hopeless. 

He wasn’t the kind of guy to work on half-power, to put it mildly. 

So, what did Remus do, when he had even less of an outlet than usual? It shouldn’t surprise you that the answer is literally anything, if it got people to pay attention to him and make him feel real again (which he wasn’t, actually, but let’s leave the semantics to Logan). What that usually amounted to- these days, at least- was talking, and talking, and more talking, and eventually somebody would probably react to something he said. Ideally. 

So on that particular gray-day, Remus sprawled himself out on the couch and waited for the first person who came by to trap in a very one-sided conversation. 

Said first person was Patton, as it happened, which was just Remus’ luck. He didn’t bother hiding how excited he was about it; Patton had always been his favorite target- of course, it was for a very, very different reason nowadays. 

Patton sat down with him as soon as he was waved over, propping a coloring book open on his knee and smiling warmly. His unoccupied hand went to wind through Remus’ hair, though, to make it abundantly obvious that despite his distraction he wasn’t ignoring the other.

Remus grinned at him, and started rambling immediately. 

And he- well, he wouldn’t really call it talking to himself, because he didn’t have a fucking clue what he was saying. But he wasn’t talking to Patton either, because that kinda defeats the purpose of a one-sided conversation. 

Which he didn’t mind. He wasn’t even listening to himself, he just needed to talk, and Patton wasn’t complaining. Remus was probably saying something unsavory, and still, there wasn’t any kind of flinching or interrupting. Patton even mhm’d and yeah’d every now and then, which was an entirely unnecessary reassurance. But Remus thought it was adorably considerate, and briefly entertained the idea of replacing that sweet little coloring book in Patton’s lap with his own self, to get some proper attention. 

(He would have, too, if he wasn’t so sure that he’d blurt out something very lewd in his stream-of-consciousness kind of mood, with a position like that, and he wasn’t sure if Patton could handle it at the moment. Morality always got a little out of whack on gray-days, too, so- loathe as Remus was to say it- better safe than sorry). 

Remus fell into the rhythm of it for, what, twenty minutes? He was bad with time, but- all he knew was he was thinking about Albert Fish, and talking about an entirely different serial killer out loud (Gacy? Bundy? It was definitely someone infamous), when the hand in his hair suddenly stilled. Patton wasn’t looking at him, either.

Remus glanced around, still talking, to find Logan standing in the kitchen doorway, staring expectantly at Patton. 

“I need you to accompany me outside for a moment. There’s something important that we-”

Patton cut him off with a wave, “Hang on for a second, Teach.” 

Logan obliged, looking bemused, and Patton turned his attention back to the still-tangenting Remus. Who was totally checked out, for the record. 

“Hey,” Patton rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling warmly, “Pause?”

And Remus, surprised, did as asked. He didn’t care about what was going on around him, but he liked that smile, and the eyes focused in on him, so he sat up properly and tried to be quiet. Especially considering those were the first actual words Patton had said to him since he’d sat down. 

“I’m gonna go see what they need real quick,” Patton went on, “I’ll be back in a few minutes, and you can finish telling me about Dennis Rader then-” So that was who! “Kay?” 

Remus stared mutely at him for an embarrassing number of seconds. He eventually managed a short nod, some vague utterances of yeah, sure, go ahead, before Patton was out the door with Logan, and he was left reeling on the couch. 

Remus felt a little bit like worms had eaten holes in his brain like swiss cheese, leaving him airy-headed and dizzy. All his organs felt wormy, in fact- squirming and sick and excited about something that really shouldn’t have been a big deal- but! It was!!!

Cuz Patton had been listening? Remus wasn’t even listening! He was probably barely coherent, and he’d been at it for twenty fucking minutes, and- and-

God! He just wanted to grab that stupid adorable head of Patton’s and! He didn’t even know! Do Something, something disgusting in the nice way, something deplorably PG and lovey-dovey and- Ugh! 

Remus buried his face in his hands and groaned. He felt like a goddamn schoolgirl- and not the hentai kind, for a change, but the hopelessly infatuated, cutesy type. Feelings that were gushy, giddy, affectionately bloody. 

It was the straw that broke the camel's spine. Urges and instincts and wants that Remus hadn’t been able to name coalesced into a neon sign in his mind, flaring the answer like it’d been obvious the whole time:

Was it a crush? Remus didn’t know a better word for it, even if it wasn’t- he just knew that he was pining, and for somebody he was happy to call his friend either way. And, huh. Weird. He didn’t know he could do that. 

“I’m back, I’m back!” Patton came scrambling back into the room, jolting Remus out of his thoughts, “Sorry about that, it was- well, it’s not a big deal, something happened with The Memories and- it’s fine now- anyway, what were you saying?”

He was chattering fast, even by Remus’ Standards, an apologetic smile on his face as he sat down and settled all his attention on the Duke. 

Remus said: “It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” and wondered if he’d always been that shrill? Or was he being too quiet? What did his voice sound like again?? “I, uh, I don’t remember what I was talking about.”

Patton frowned at him, and looked about ready to apologize again, and he couldn’t very well have that. So, he babbled:

“Right, it was Rader? Um. Yeah,” but that was so far out of his mind by that point, and how did people ever talk while saying things and thinking other things! “Not much to say, ya know. Killed some people, got arrested, the usual.”

“Since when don’t you give me the graphic details?” Patton complained, “That’s your favorite part!” 

“I think I’ll spare you the nightmares this time, Morey! It’s, uhm, it’s your turn to talk.” 

“Oh, hush,” and Patton laughed, shooting Remus an encouraging, coaxing smile that made him just want to debone himself. “Those serial killer stories you like so much aren’t the nightmare fuel they used to be. You know why?”

Remus felt like the inside of his skin was full of spikes. Not in a bad way. 

“...Why?” 

“Because,” Patton said, like he was all too eager to explain himself, “I can’t really be scared of them when the scariest thing is what’s in bed with me.”

Remus flushed. Like, actually-  heat crawled across his face and over his ears, and he honestly had no clue the last time something or someone had made him blush. But Patton, acknowledging his scare-factor while somehow making it obvious he felt only safe with him, was apparently what ticked that box. 

“Right,” chirped Remus, “That’s- me!”

“Of course it is, Silly,” Patton bumped their shoulders together, smiling like he had no idea what he was doing- and to be honest, he probably didn’t.

Remus drank in the contact, happily using it as an excuse to wrap his arms around Patton and pull him closer. He buried his face in Patton’s shoulder, because as far as his impulses told him, he should either get the fuck away A.S.A.P. or drag Patton in as close as possible and not let go. Obviously, Remus had a preference. 

“You- uh- I was being serious though,” ugh, God, stuttering was so goddamn annoying- how did Virgil cope? “You should talk. I’m- I’m sorta overwhelmed.”

That was the truth, or part of it. Admitting it out loud at least managed to take some of the power out of it.

Patton immediately cooed at him- it should have been annoying; it wasn’t- and wrapped him up in his arms properly, muttering little of courses and do you need anything?s. Remus melted into him, finally claiming that spot in his lap (and any jokes his mind might have had about that were long gone, by then), shaking his head and glowing under the attention. 

Of course Patton was happy- after making sure that Remus was alright- to do some of the talking. He talked about his day, what he wanted to do later, or tomorrow, and of cute things that he’d seen, and a hundred other inconsequential Patton-isms. 

Remus was unused to sitting and listening, but with him… it wasn’t as bad as the Duke remembered it being. 

Oh, he was so fucking fucked. 

Chapter Nine

Taglist: @shrimp-crockpot @donnieluvsthings @glitter-skeleton-uwu @intruxiety @gayformlessblob @did-he-just-hiss-at-me @thefivecalls

#sanders sides #ts #intruality #qpr intruality #patton sanders #remus sanders #my writing #fanfiction #fanfic #ts fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction

[fakeoldmanfucker]

Five times HIVE really like food Daisy and/or Lincoln gave/made for him and one time he really, really didn't

Anon I don’t know if you’re the same anon from a day or two ago, but if so I give you ALL the props for sending me these wonderful questions!! And if you’re not, I still Very Much love this question. I legitimately gasped aloud in excitement when I read it :) 

1. After Lincoln and Hive get back to Earth post-season 3, and are trying to lie low while looking for Daisy, they have to get used to living in close quarters real quick. In the winters in Cincinnati when he was growing up, Lincoln would always get hot chocolate with his parents; it’s a fond memory, before he and his parents grew apart. Anyway, Lincoln gets the bright idea to have Hive try some hot cocoa, and Hive...doesn’t hate it. He doesn’t really love it, he prefers the Maya way of making hot chocolate, but that’s more a relic of his own childhood. But then something happens that they didn’t really factor in: Lincoln starts having nightmares. Hive has always had nightmares (it turns out when you have hundreds of memories in your head, these bleed into your sleeping hours and tend to take dark twists), but Lincoln’s are relatively new. Hive tries to ignore it, but Lincoln’s screaming isn’t letting him sleep (or at least that’s the excuse he gives himself) and he shuffles into Lincoln’s room with a mug of hot chocolate. Lincoln, half-asleep, accepts the drink with greedy fingers. After that, for some reason, Hive finds himself liking this version of hot chocolate a lot more than he did before. 

 2. Literally anything with spices. There wasn’t much in the way of tasty food on Maveth, so when Daisy makes him some curry on a rare break from the insanity of SHIELD, he resolves to learn the recipe as soon as he can because it is delicious. (Al’s attempts, however, are not. Daisy and Lincoln have many silent conversations about the edibility (or lack of) of Al’s trials. These often include not-quite-contained laughter.) 

 3. Okay okay but can you imagine this guy who hasn’t been on Earth in a thousand years and he comes back and there’s this cold, sweet, creamy dessert that comes in dozens of flavors? I would die. I personally cannot remember trying ice cream for the first time, so I don’t know what my reaction was, but Al? Does Not Shut Up about it for days. The team’s in a briefing and Al walks in just holding a carton of ice cream, and when Coulson pauses cause ya know...wtf is he doing here and why is he eating ice cream??? Al just waves at him to continue, and Coulson looks, very wearily, at Lincoln and, more specifically, Daisy, because he’s very aware that she was the one that introduced Al to ice cream; the two of them share a sweet tooth. 

 4. Look, I know this one is basic. But think about it: the concept of a cheeseburger didn’t even exist around 1000 AD. Wasn’t even a twinkle in anyone’s eye. But nowadays? Sure, he has the memories of people who have experienced these foods. He has the memories of people who have experienced warm water and grassy meadows, but that doesn’t stop him from almost breaking the first time he experiences those things. Knowing something logically is not the same thing as knowing it emotionally. Anyway, I imagine the three of them just going out on the town, so to speak, acting like normal people. (Like sure, technically they might be kinda-sorta fugitives maybe, depending on where this takes place in the timeline, but they’ve all been in situations where they’ve needed to lie low so it’s not too much of an issue) I just have this really strong image of the three of them sitting around like, some table at an outside restaurant. And the traffic from the road is loud and the restaurant’s busy and entirely too crowded and they have to get back to HQ in half an hour cause Coulson doesn’t like Al to be out for too long, (despite Coulson repeating that Al’s a part of the team, Al is very aware he’s on thin ice and he doesn’t want to rock the boat too much, even if it’s only for Daisy and Lincoln) but for now the three of them are together and everything seems...normal, for once, which none of them have ever experienced. 

 5. To me, the ultimate group food is pizza. And this time I’m not just talking about the three of them, I’m talking about the whole team. There’s something ancient and sacred about sharing a meal with people, especially when you’re literally tearing bread (or, in this case, bread covered in tomatoes and cheese at the very least). What usually happens is this: once a week, barring any imminent disaster, the team will gather and break bread, literally. It’s a relic of bygone days really, when doom wasn’t lingering near-constant on the horizon, but it’s a tradition they cling to with fierce resilience. On these nights, Al stays in his room, sensing without ever having to be told that he is Not Welcome (caps included) at these dinners. But one night, Daisy knocks on his door, body stiff as she tries (and fails) to feign being casual, and says that he’s invited to dinner. To say that he’s shocked would be an understatement, but he goes, of course, walking in close step with Daisy. He isn’t nervous, obviously, because he’s been through too much to be unsettled by anything as small as pizza. (He is, however, apprehensive.) But it’s not just pizza, really. It’s about what it represents. Food, in my mind, and especially in literature and film, is never about food. It’s about connection, relationships, why are characters choosing to eat together and what are they eating? 

 +1. Mac n cheese. I mean do I even have to explain this one? It’s squishy and no food should be that color of yellow, Daisy. Why are you laughing, I’m right! It’s not my fault your childhoods were filled with weird shapeless blobs of food!! (This just makes them laugh harder)

Thank you again for the ask! I had a lot of fun answering it

#anon #send me asks #food as a love language #StaticHiveQuake #agents of shield #daisy johnson #lincoln campbell #hive #for the uninitiated: Hive = Al #marvel #aos #mcu

[zuffer-weird-girl]

What about a fluff scenario when kai and his s/o both were out on the street when they were kids and pops took kai in and not his s/o so kai helped her out while she was still on the street until one day she stop coming to their spot. Kai in his early 20s and going to a meeting with pops and saw his s/o. She is the same but she's an highly skilled assassin and could kill you in an blink of an eye. (I can't figure out an ending😢😡)

"I found some food!" He flinched at your scream before seing you, upside down... hanging from a tree on the park you two usually met.

"You dont even know if that's safe to eat." He mumbled with a stoic face as you giggled, jumping perfectly back down.

"Bla bla bla you always need to make sure not to get sick, bla bla bla-!" You tried to mimicked his voice, smiling widely at the annoyed look he gave to you before snatching the fruit out of your hand.

"You're such a pain.." he mumbled whiel rubbing the fruit on the cleanest parts of his shirt... he knew it wouldn't clean although he could at least fool his pickup stomach enough.

"Oi!" You exclaimed with a mouthful "I am the pain who got yourself some food okay?!"

"Forgot about that part since it isn't always necessary." He smirked at the extremely offended look you had on as he took one careful bite out of the fruit-

He gasped as you tackled him on the ground with some screams as you two fought to at least mantain some balance... yet both of you rolled on the ground like cats playing on the mud. And just when he fought he won you pinned him on the ground as he let out a "oof" when his head hitted the grass.

"You're the worst on fights Chisaki~" you playfull teased him as he pushed you away from him with a huff as you laughed.

"I rather much prefer the nicknames you gave me than this stupid surname." He mumbled while patting himself as you got up with a frow but smiled.

"So I am THAT close to you to call you by your first name? Kai?" You singed his name and muffled your laugh as the pale cheeks of Chisaki started to flush.

"You are most like my only company. Unfortunately..." you scoffed as you got up with crossed arms.

"Since is such a pain to be my side then why do you follow me around huh?"

"Experience on the streets. You have those while I am still... learning." He muttered as you scoffed again. Such a lame excuse to being around you... Kai couldn't lie even he wanted to...

"Yeah yeah right. I'm going to search some food since after that play fight we pretty much lost it..."

"And whose fault is that?" He arche done of his eyebrows up as you poked your tongue at him.

"I will be back soon."

He nodded as you trailed off... although the least he could have expected it was to appear a man to offer him a home... a place to stay...

He was so shocked that for one moment he fprgoted about you... The old man said he was going to get the car just when he was about to ask if you could come along as well...

"So you got the locks now." He widened hsi golden eyes and turned around to see you smiling sadly at him.

"I will ask him if you-" you lifted your hand up with a shake of your head.

"No Kai. The man choosed you. So only you will go."

He furrowed his eyebrows before hearing the man calling for him. He turned his gaze back at you to see you were already walking away.

"I will help (Y/n)!" You stopped on your track and turned to him, with a determined look on his golden eyes "Just meet me on our usual spot and I will help! Just like you did for me, I own you!"

You frowned and smiled, before letting out one of the sweetest laughs he ever heard.

"You dont own me anything. But I will accept that!"

With that you walked away as he felt the man's hand on his shoulder to call him.

.

..

.

.

.

He sighed as he stared at the streets pacing by as he and Pops were sitted on the car. The last time he saw (Y/n) was only a few weeks after Pops took him in... it passed more than ten years since he searched that damn city for you...

It's funny how you never seemed to dissapear from his mind... ever time he passes by your meeting spot, he feels a ache on his chest yet a hidden feeling of hope to just see you back... waiting for him.

He blamed himself for it... he should had been more persistent on taking you back with him to the yakusa... you would have a better life than that oen you had.

"We're here." Pops voice broke out of his thoughts as the old man patted his shoulders "Try to not kill anyone, for our sake yeah?" It was meant as a joke but it came out as a scolding.

Pops would never leave it down his... outbursts on fights for the Shie Hassaikai.

They entered the underground ring and he cringed at how dirty it was that place... blood, sweat, tears, drool, food you name it. All sprawled out on the floor.

Pops sitted down on a table as he mentioned for Kai to stay back as the elders talked and he traveled his gaze around the place in judgement...

"So what about that my fella?"

"I dont rhink is a good idea. My son can be quite... harsh when it comes to these things." Pops muttered while eyeing Kai with a scowl.

"Dont worry buddy. My jewel can pretty much face your kiddo." The man with a cigarette spoke between chuckles as Pops made a thoughtful face before looking at Kai whose only sighed and nodded, already taking his jacket off.

"If your man there defeat then you will have our partnership."

"For sure. But this will happen on a secluded place. We're not animals." Pops spoke on a harsh tone as the other man laughed but nodded.

Kai only scowled at the audacity of the other male as he followed them and listened to Pops instructions on to NOT use his quirk to kill his opponent.

He was tired of listening to those rules.

He entered the place and it was quiet as Pops took his seat and the other elder took his. For a moment he was sure that it wasn't going to happen anything before he dodged with a grunt a chain that came on his way.

A woman with a metal mask covering half of her glace appeared as she dropped from the ceiling and glared at him through her hair.

He mantained on guard yet was eyeing her like she was no other than a piece of dirt.

She came at him running before he grabbed the chains on his gloved hands and twisted them around to cage her and throw his opponent in the air.

"Not so smug now huh?" He muttered to himself before tsking at how easily she freed herself from hsi grasp and landed on the ground on a crouched position.

E blocked her punchs and kicks easily despite from how fast she was being. It didn't even sounded like she even needed sto take a breath.

He used his quirk on the ground to push her all the way and cage her on the wall by the construction. For one second he thought it was all over before a explosion happened and his barrier of concret were broken as she took a knife out of her pocket.

"What's is the meaning of this?!" Pops shouted at his partner whose only laughed.

"Everything is fair on the wat my friend!"

Chisaki only scoffed and dodged all the attacks she made, wincing at when she actually manage to cut his cheeks as he lost his patient and grabbed on her wrist, already preparing to use the overhaul. Although on a moment of distraction when he pinned her down she kicked him so hard on the guts that he coughed as she was pinning him on the ground now, his head hitting teh concret with a grunt... her weapon discarded far away since he kicked.

Only one person would be able to do all of this and not provoke any hives to break out from his skin...

And staring with wide eyes better, he noticed the color of her eyes... (E/c) bright ones...

"(Y/n)?" He panted as he noticed her surprise on her feautures as she unthighten her grip on him and slowly got a bit away from him.

She arched one eyebrow at him, her face was only readable because of her eyes and the way her eyebrows moved.

Still on the ground. He got half of his body up, eyes still wide as the elders asked what was happening.

She slowly took off her mask and thoughts were confirmed. The one he was fighting was (Y/n)...

"Do I... know you? No one calls me that unless..." she slowly got up from him and maintained a safe distance as he grunted while getting up.

"Can't recognize me I see." He sighed, regret could come later as he slowly took his mask off and looked at her features widening in shock. "Kai Chisaki, ring any bells to you?"

It was silence for a bit before you gasped with a laugh and almost tackled him on the ground again if it wasn't from him being prepared this time.

"Oh my GOD! Is that really you?!" You shouted while hugging him as he awkwardly lowered his arms down to give you a proper hug.

"I could ask the same? What happened? You look so different than I remember!" He chuckled wearily as you gave out a hearted laugh, one he missed to hear.

"I could say the same thing to you! Look at how you got! The bony boy I met didn't had those muscles!" You circles around him before stopping and muttering "and such a nice package..."

He scoffed, ignoring the forming blush before twirling around to meet your gaze.

"More impulsive than you used to be, I see." You laughed before noticing the two elders entering, Pops with a confused as heck face as teh other opened his arm in confusion.

"The hell is going on here?"

"Chisaki my boy, you know this lady?"

"The girl I searched for years." He showed his palm at you "Is her, (Y/n)"

"Ah, lovely reunion between two killers. How adorable." You two let out confused noises before looking at eachother.

"You killed someone? You? Whose is scared of cockroaches?" He asked in disbelief and arrogance as you furrowed your eyebrows with crossed arms.

"(Y/n) happens to be one of my favorite and best assassins." The man spoke as Pops furrowed his eyebrows.

"So that's why we couldn't find her. You never reveal your assassins names to anyone, not even bussines neither of partners." Pops spoke as the man nodded.

As the elders talked they stopped to see you two, Pops smilling as the other furrowed his eyebrows at the way Chisaki looked at you and you looked back...

Oh, they can tell how this is going to end by only seing the two old friends reuniting...

#overhaul imagine #overhaul scenario #overhaul x reader #overhaul #overhaul chisaki kai #chisaki kai x reader #chisaki kai #bnha villains x reader #bnha villains #bnha fanfiction #zuffer writings