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uponrightful · 3 years

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Welcome Company pt.8 "Slow Hands"

Author's Note: My first time writing Smut... please be kind. <3

WARNING: +18 Only! I won't hesitate to block if I find minors interacting.

***

The shakiest inhale ever marked the adrenaline and fast-pumping blood flowing through her body. Her hands -tangled in each other- had settled themselves between her thighs, with a downturned gaze at Wolffe’s perfect reiteration of her. Oxygen felt scarce, and the air circulation had somehow turned up fifteen degrees, bathing her in a heat unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She stole the quickest glance at the man to blame for her reaction; standing patiently with an unforgivingly hot stare branding itself into. Deathly calm, and ever-patient Wolffe readjusted himself for the second time. Possibly a show of his own nervousness. But she couldn’t be sure with such a quick look.

It was an inevitable question, yet she’d hoped that Wolffe wouldn’t bring it up so forcefully. He was always so timid, only around company did he hold up the strong attitude he presented as a Commander. But she was all out of luck.

“Something wrong pup?” His dark, teasing voice broke her out of the mental fog hindering her ability to form a response. It wasn’t a relief to hear such a dominant sound from him, but all at the same time, her thighs tightened together of their own accord.

“N-no.” It was all she could muster.

“You said you always know what you’re talking about… All you have to do is tell me what you want.” Wolffe made it sound so simple.

As if saying how she felt wasn’t hard enough with his presence overwhelming every last bit of her common sense. The girl hardly understood what she wanted as is, let alone making the most intimidating man she’d ever met aware of it. Wolffe knew what he was doing… or at least made good enough show in acting like he did. But she couldn’t find a thin sliver of confidence to look him in the eyes and say it.

“Please don’t make me.” She practically whimpered, keeping her head down as low as she could to avoid his eyesight.

Heavy boots crossed the floor so quickly she couldn’t even protest Wolffe’s quick action of pulling her chin up. His hand making flush contact against her throat, no doubt feeling the thundering heartbeat beneath the delicate skin. He wasn’t harsh, but a firm touch gave no allowance for denial. If she wouldn’t look at him on her own, then he’d make her. Calloused fingers flexed against her throat and jaw, reminding her just how important it was she look at him.

“Tell me what you want.” It wasn’t a request anymore. Wolffe was full of impatience in the most desperate of ways, already stooped onto a knee to make certain that she couldn’t avoid the question any longer. She couldn’t avoid him. He wasn’t satisfied there; “I’ll give it you.” It was so quiet, she couldn’t be sure she’d heard truly heard him. The epitome of weakness from Wolffe and she recognized it instantaneously.

Her mind pulled in all directions, memories of inadequacies and failures suddenly finding themselves at the forefront of her mind. Flashes of days where the best she could offer was getting out of bed for a drink of water, and nothing more. Recalling how often she looked in the mirror, seeing all of the ugly things other women didn’t possesses. All of it on display in her eyes, playing like a life-long movie for Wolffe who’s intense focus hadn’t left her.

Only Wolffe wasn’t privy to what drove her to not pull away from his hold. He couldn’t see the way she loved when he walked through the door to her home, pretending for just a moment that neither of them lived the lives that they did. The Commander couldn’t detail his own idiosyncrasies like she’d tried to memories, or describe the scent that lingered in the hallways before he left. Only she could see those things. She knew more about him than he cared to show. His stiff posture and hard jaw spoke volumes more than Wolffe would ever admit vocally, but that was what the girl noticed about him. He just didn’t see what she could.

The possibility of having all of Wolffe meant more to the girl than all the things she saw flawed in herself.

“I want you.” She said, half disbelieving with her own change of mindset. Peace of the simplest kind had settled in her spirit. A kind of respite that cooled the searing bite of hesitation. Soft water poured over burnt skin, or a kiss so soft she couldn’t be sure it was real.

But it was real. And Wolffe’s tentative kiss had been the only thing saving her from falling. Indulgent, and unhurried ministrations of a man who finally understood that he didn’t have to fight to the death for something worth having. She let herself fall into it, undefended to her own attachments and just simply letting the man before her show her how willing her was to do just what he’d said.

Give her what she wanted.

She didn’t think a second about him searching out her thighs, wrapping adept hands around them or even the worry or how much she weighed when he lifted her out of the chair. Wolffe was graceful, slipping through doorways like he’d always lived here; Making absolute certain that she wasn’t without attention for more than a second. All-encompassing trust radiated from her, and she could tell that he sensed it. Each whispered breath was aimed towards her, focusing his energy entirely on her long after he’d found the door to her bedroom.

As carefully as he’d picked her up, she was released back to the floor on shaky legs with a lingering kiss pressed to her forehead. He was still in control; helping her remining nerves calm, but nothing in Wolffe presented urgency. Not his eyes, not his unintelligible whispers and certainly not his touch. She was finally seeing what it meant to be wanted… but someone who desired it to.

“Can I?” Gentle hands touched at the sleeves of her shirt, sweet kisses finding every last inch of skin at her throat and lips. Wolffe was hardly doing anything, but it felt like he was everywhere.

She nodded, looking up at him for the first time in what felt like minutes. He smiled, but quickly pressed another kiss to her forehead.

“I need words, pretty girl.” It was teasing of him, but there was meaning to it. One that she understood meant just as much to him as it did to her. Something told her that Wolffe was more perceptive to just how out of her depth she really was in that moment.

“Yes. You can.”

His soft smile reassured her as he began pulling the cuffs of the shirt off her hands, helping her pull the oversized shirt over her head. Instinctually she covered her arms over her chest -still covered by a band- but bare enough that her still-working mind reminded her to do so. Wolffe stepped back, and kept his eyes high. Ever presnt of how every move he made was being processed by her. She tried not to think about what she was wearing, and instead keep rapt attention of Wolffe.

“I’ll go next.” It wasn’t until he reached for his own shirt, that she found her voice to protest.

“C-can I help?”

Wolffe looked surprised, seeing her advance with both hands already reaching to stop him. If he was willing to go slow for her, then she wanted to do everything she could to make him feel just as safe despite his lack of visible unease. Reclaiming just enough conviction to keep moving, she grasped the edge of his shirt, lifting it up until her Wolffe’s height became more advantageous to remove it the rest of the way. Brazenly, she pressed a kiss to his chest feeling the gravely sound of his groan vibrating against her lips. The sound of his shirt falling from his hand down to the floor gave her the sense that he liked that.

“You don’t know what that…” Wolffe fell short of finishing when she rose high on her tip-toes pressing another kiss to his collarbone, just over a deep scar traversing the width of the prominently displayed bone. “Ohh, pretty girl. You gotta stop.” He pleaded under the collecting number of kisses and tempting nips she trailed over his skin.

She retreated away, growing confident enough to step back and let him see her for what she was without that baggy shirt. It took a few moments for the hazy look covering Wolffe’s expression to fade before a shiver encompassed all of the bare muscles exposed to her. She wanted more time to map out the scars she hadn’t given attention to, assure Wolffe that they hadn’t been earned without recognition. Maybe to give him something else to remember about the hundreds of scars littering his body.

He kept distance, waiting for another ‘yes.’ Which she gave all too willingly. Her band fell away to the floor, and instead of reaching to cover herself again she simply trusted Wolffe. His patience extended itself again, following the same pattern of kisses she’d given him. He could’ve pushed further -something she did have experience with- yet he didn’t. Staying close to her throat, and only letting his hands come up high enough for his fingers to brush against the swell of her breasts. It was careful, but kept her wanting more. She was slowly coming to understand that he was doing it purposefully, leaving her wanting more instead of moving too quickly for her.

“So beautiful.” He mouthed against her skin, reverently taking his time to indulge her just as she had him. “Soft skin, such a good girl.” A soft bite against her collarbone. “I don’t deserve it.” His attentions faded just long enough for her to realize that it was his turn again.

Her hands, less practiced this time pulled hesitantly at the top of his blacks. Heavy against her hands sat his cock, tucked tightly against the band. Her fingers twitched, uncertain as to what he wanted to her do. She wasn’t afraid, but with the finality of it, Wolffe again covered her hands with his own, pausing for her to look up at him.

“You don’t have to do anything.” He shook his head, and kissed her. Only pushing down after she’d made the first move. “This is about you pretty girl.”

Once free from his blacks, her she couldn’t help but go wide-eyed. He was well-endowed to say the least. No doubt both hands wouldn’t cover the entire length of his cock. She couldn’t really be sure that her hand would wrap around it fully. Feeling Wolffe wait for her response, she glance back up, lip between her teeth. She smiled gently, still unsure of where to start. If she should say that she hadn’t ever been further than fingers… Maybe Wolffe could already tell by her reaction.

Her opportunity faded as Wolffe silently sank down to his knees before her. The girl felt a power trip like none other seeing him in such a subservient position. Wolffe bent his head back, looking at her expectantly, completely ignoring his swollen head and the precum beading down the underside of his shaft. It was too much for her to not take a chance and soak in the sight of Commander Wolffe on his knees in front of her. She licked her lips, earning a small smirk from Wolffe who had begun rubbing the backs of her thighs.

She swallowed thickly, “Yes.”

It was all he needed to reach for both bands of material at her hips. There wasn’t the same slowness as before, but Wolffe was true to his silent word; kissing her bare hipbones and whispering quietly against the swell of her hip.

“A kriffing angel.” His hands squeezed her thighs, pulling her ever closer. His constant eye contact only worsening the desire pooling at her core. It was a wonder he couldn’t see the slick she could feel against her thighs. “Let me take care of you.” He mouthed against her, slowly rising back to his intimidating height.

“Please.”

She moaned out, aching her back up into Wolffe trying to keep still against his tongue laving over her hardened nipples. It was surreal. No one had ever made her feel like this. His teeth grazed over the tip, teasing her higher into his grip. She whined again when he sucked it between his lips, working his tongue over her until she was almost shaking.

“That’s it beautiful… let go for me. I love those sounds.” He praised, rolling her other nipple between his fingers before giving it the same achingly slow attention.

“Please Wolffe… I n-need m-more.” She stuttered helplessly, lifting her hips to his with nothing to help the pressure subside. Wolffe only hummed a groan against her skin, another shockwave of pleasure going right to her clit.

“Oh I know, pretty girl.” He cooed, deceptively softly, trailing one hand down her side. It was all teasing in the nicest way. And the girl was barely holding on to every word he said. He teased her thighs, dipping just far enough between them to discover the embarrassingly wet slick there. A filth growl ripped through Wolffe, devastating her with how visceral his reaction had been. “You’re so fucking wet…” he mused, rubbing soft circles against her glossed skin. Wolffe finally reached where she needed him most, bumping his fingers against her clit. She screamed out, burying her face into his propped arm, biting just hard enough to suppress another moan as he ran his finger over her slit, covering his fingers.

“Is this what you needed, pup? D’you need my fingers?” Wolffe’s word making her clench around nothing, feeling the tight circles his thumb pressed against her clit. The stimulation was overwhelming, already pushing her to the precipice of her first orgasm after just the slightest rhythm of strokes. “Ohh, you’re so close...” He praised darkly, pressing a kiss to her sweaty temple. “Such a sensitive little clit, I can’t wait to see how many times I can make you come.”

The girl moaned loudly, sensing the familiar feeling of heat rising quickly in her body. Spurred by the sounds she made Wolffe only steadied himself, keeping at a painfully pleasurable rate that had her legs quivering long after her high had ended. Wolffe’s soft praise floated through her glowing mind, reminding her of his weight pressed against her.

“I- I haven’t ever…” She tired quickly, finding it hard to speak through the shakes and infrequent spasms racking her body.

Above her, Wolffe gave a devilishly knowing smile. “I know.” He dipped down, nuzzling into the space above her shoulder, kissing and nipping at her softly. “We can stop.”

“N-no. I just wanted you to know.” She sighed, feeling his cock twitch against her thigh. It was almost painful to think about stopping. She didn’t want Wolffe to stop.

“Do you trust me?” He asked quietly, again letting one hand fall between her spread legs, running her fingers through her wetness.

“Yes. Please Wolffe.”

Her lips felt chapped as his pressed against them again, making a trail of wet sloppy kisses between her breasts and pausing as he moved to settle himself between her thighs. She propped up on her elbows, flushing with heat when a wicked grin settled on Wolffe’s lips. She’d never been eaten-out. Really, the only time she’d ever seen it was on a low-quality holovid once when she was younger. Regardless of the video, she assumed it was only for her pleasure, which was why she’d never had any experience with it.

“Y-you don’t have to-” She cut herself off, coming eye to eye with Wolffe who was quick to disagree.

“No one’s ever…?” He trailed, watching her shake her head ‘no’. A vulgar groan ripped from his chest and he pressed a kiss to her inner thigh. “I don’t do this you.” He smiled, beautifully white teeth glinting in the moonlight filtering in through the curtains. “I do it for me.” She bit her lip nervously, whimpering when he blew a breath against her clit; shocking her system with the cold air. “I’m going to make you beg me to stop, and you’re going soak my face.”

Her mouth opened in a silent moan as Wolffe licked a hot stripe up her slit, doing something with his tongue that felt absolutely shattering. A wolfish-sigh from him attacked her clit, and she clenched again, feeling her wetness dripping from his constant attention. He pushed two long fingers into her heat, pressing against that irresistibly soft spot that had always eluded her. The only thing she could think was Wolffe.

Wolffe.

She repeated it over and over until a hard suck against her clit and a hearty chuckle from in between her thighs resonated over her heavy panting. “I love you saying my name like that.” His thick fingers dipped back into her arousal, just teasing her clit enough to make her twitch in sensitivity. “Sounds just as sweet as you taste.” He grinned, chin glistening with her juices; dripping slick falling from his chin onto her thighs. His pace didn’t falter after that. Wolffe’s consistent speed and the way he sucked against her clit was ripping another orgasm from her. With the added pressure of his fingers curling in and out her, devastating her entire body in convulsions with no time to prepare for the precipice she felt approaching.

“I’m gonna, oh- Wolffe…” She could hardly get anything coherent to form, feeling words just fall from her lips with no real meaning.

“Give it to me, now.” He commanded, and she listened. Aftershocks wrecked her body long after Wolffe had resituated himself over her again. He kissed her fully, slipping his tongue in her mouth.

“Taste yourself.” He growled against her open mouth. The taste of them combined in the most sickly sweet way, clung to her mouth in a heady mix of something she could only describe as addictive. Knowing that her taste was in his mouth had her squirming again, already impatient for another release. She moaned into his mouth, Wolffe hungrily swallowing her needy mewls with soft rocks of his neglected cock against her hip. “Do you want this?” He asked again, patiently pushing the sweaty hair off her forehead. “I’ll stop right now if you’re not ready.”

“No. I want you Wolffe.” He nodded, and pecked her lips again.

“I won’t hurt you mesh’la.” Wolffe pressed his head against her forehead before leaning back; slicking himself with a few pumps of his hand palm. Her eyes widened, remembering just how big he’d looked earlier, but seeing his hand wrapped around it was gut-wrenchingly intimidating. Wolffe hitched himself at her entrance slowly, testing her gently, lightly teasing at her swollen bud.

“Breathe for me pretty girl. “ He gritted his teeth, pressing just the first inch. She squeaked out a whimper, gripping hard onto his arms and trying to calm herself. He stilled immediately, soothing her though the uncomfortable pinch that was already subsiding. “Such a good girl. Taking me so well...” He praised hoarsely, paying extra close attention to the tight hold she had on his shaft. The girl didn’t feel anything painful; Just the eye-rollingly incredible stretch of her walls as he pushed further into her. By the time she felt Wolffe’s quivering hips against hers, she was already rolling her against him, mewling for him to continue.

“Wolffe. Please move.” She kissed his shoulder, releasing the tight grip on his arms and seeing the half-moon’s from her nails imprinted in his tanned skin. His first thrust was short, hardly enough to make much of a difference to her fluttering pussy. That didn’t last long. Giving her mere inches on each thrust eliciting a heady moan, Wolffe finally gave one full thrust.

“Feel s’good wrapped around my cock. Wanna stay here forever.” He mumbled gruffly, visible concentration pulling his brows tighter with a sheen on sweat covering his face. “I’m the only one who’s ever going to feel this pussy.” With each word Wolffe spoke, she clenched around him. Feeling her pussy flood with every bite against her throbbing pulse .

“Oh fuck, Wolffe.” She cried against him, nails scratching down his back; truing her best to pull him tighter against her. “It’s yours. All yours.” She repeated his syrupy sweet words, relishing in every ridge of his cock rubbing against that same spot. Lowering down to his forearms, he captured her lips in his, brutally bruising her sore lips with a force that stole whatever breath she’d been able to hold onto. She could tell Wolffe was struggling, his hips faltering from their fierce pace stuttering, his hip-flexors twitching against the back of her thighs.

“Need you to come again.” He smiled devilishly, reaching between them to roll her clit between his fingers. She clenched around him again, moaning his name and sounding like a holovid stuck on the same frame. “Ooh, you like that pup?” Wolffe growled breathlessly, continuing his assault, and with an expert tempo. A third cliff overwhelmed her, feeling Wolffe’s final thrusts pitch her over the edge in a disciplined sacrifice of all her senses. She couldn’t tell if she screamed, or what she said; only thinking of Wolffe. He yelled loudly, burying his face into her shoulder sinking his teeth into the meat of her shoulder; Another deep groan reverberating through him.

“Fuck, pretty girl...” He gritted, pulling out to fist himself through a few final strokes; Deep spasms wracking Wolffe’s entire body as hot ropes of release flooded over her stomach, constant moans falling lazily from his parted lips. The girl reached out shakily, rubbing his hips with breathless murmurs. Defined muscles in his stomach flexed erratically, forcing him to double over in the aftershocks of a long-denied release. Sweat dripped off his forehead onto the girl’s, running into her damp hairline. She smiled in the afterglow, adjusting herself closer to Wolffe, who was quick to follow.

“So fucking beautiful.” He sighed against her temple, sidling himself up against her. Muscled arms wrapped around her middle, helping her roll towards him without the slightest care of the cum covering her belly. Wolffe wouldn’t allow for an inch of space between them -something she was grateful for.

“How d-did I do?” She could sense her own terror, but the question came out before she could do anything to stop it.

***

Wolffe couldn’t believe what he heard. After everything, she was worried she’d done something wrong. He should have been the one to ask if she was okay, or at least clean his mess off of her. But he’d been too desperate to get her close.

“You are perfect.” He watched those vast, beautiful eyes gleam. It was still amazing to see how something as simple as the truth was so unnoticeable to her. Whatever it was that kept her from seeing what he did, his personal mission immediately became figuring out a way to show her.

“Thank you… for being- you know.” Her voice trembled as she ducked her head under his chin, protecting herself from showing the wobbling bottom lip and the tears that began falling against his chest. “Did you mean what you said?”

He lifted her chin, pressing a kiss to her nose and the wet streaks that shined on her cheeks. Wolffe didn’t like seeing her cry. It made his skin prickle with chills, feeling guilty for not making her feel more secure. He’d tried desperately to keep her comfortable, but it was hard to say anything with his attention focused on not finishing early. It’d been a long time for him but making certain she wouldn’t hurt took precedent.

“Did I mean what, pup?” He asked between more kisses, littering every inch of skin. Fully intent on covering every freckle on her face before the night was over.

“That you want t-to be the only one.” Her hiccups faltering the strong-willed tone she’d mustered. Wolffe’s pride swelled at the sound, he loved hearing that fight in her. But she was so tired. Her lose grip on his biceps, and the steady decrease of her heartrate meant sleep was approaching quickly.

“You’re the only woman in the galaxy for me.” He smiled, incapable of the wide grin crossing his face at the thought of having such an enigma of a person willing to share her heart with him. “You have my entire heart and soul.” It was his way of saying those three words he’d heard in the darkness of a barracks, whispered in futility from vod who didn’t mean it. I love you had no meaning to Wolffe. She needed to know how fully she’d possessed him. How every thought had somehow morphed into a motive of making her smile, or seeing the morning sunlight shine on her face.

And true to how flawlessly she understood his unvoiced thoughts, her small arms wrapped around him. She pressed a kiss over his heart, lingering there like she had her own short poem of devotion right at the tips of her lips.

“You have my entire heart and soul Wolffe.”

READ PART 9

#commander wolffe #clone trooper wolffe #wolffe x reader #wolffe #ofc x commander wolffe #commander wolffe x ofc #commander wolffe x you #commander wolffe x reader #reader x commander wolffe #104th attack battalion #`104th x reader #the clone wars #the clones #clone x reader #reader x clone #tcw #star wars #swtcw

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artbymavy · 3 years

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@dickpuncher420‘s art is just so delicious, I couldn’t help but write another fic inspired by this post...

Rumors start easily in the Fire Nation Palace.

The origin of this particular rumor would be nearly impossible to trace.

Perhaps it was the cooks, stumbling on the young Firelord and his ambassador late one night, conspicuously close, his majesty fitted squarely between his ambassador’s knees, who was seated so casually on one of their long tables as he was fed by the Firelord’s own hand, that one would be forgiven for mistaking the palace as belonging to him. Perhaps it was the chambermaids, who so often found themselves picking up an assortment of both red and blue silks for washing from the floor of the Firelord’s chambers. Or perhaps it was even the gardeners, who may have happened upon the two under the shade of an old tree near the pond, the ambassador’s head in his Firelord’s lap, but certainly noticed, at least, their sovereign cutting an armful of their lilies one particularly fine spring morning, to later find their carefully tended blooms perched smugly on the windowsill of the ambassador’s chambers. Very likely it was the royal hair combers, who so often found themselves with very little work to do. Someone else had been attending to that sacred duty, and they were left to guess who might be committing such an egregious breach of etiquette by only the thin strip of dyed blue hide they had used to secure his majesty’s royal top knot. Such indecency would certainly been enough to spark a scandal, if one had not been already.

Regardless of who was to blame, once a rumor had been started in the palace, it tended to spread much like wildfire. And when word reached his majesty’s advisors that the young Firelord and his Water Tribe ambassador were in cahoots, they began to take more notice. They certainly did spend a great deal of time together – indeed, while each of them found themselves eager to avoid any and all confrontation with foreign dignitaries outside what was strictly necessary, Firelord Zuko seemed to have quite the opposite inclination.

The third time soft laughter could be overheard from just beyond the Firelord’s outer chambers at much too late an hour to be considered professional, they had to admit to themselves that there must indeed be some unsavory dealings being made between the Fire Nation and Southern Water Tribe - without their permission, nor their supervision.

There was nothing else to be done. They would have to intervene.

And so it came to be that the old advisors burst through the Firelord’s door without warning, bowing low in apology. It was shameful to commit such a violation of privacy, but what could be done?

“Forgive us our intrusion, your majesty, but would it not be advisable to conduct any business the Fire Nation has with the Southern Water Tribe in a more… official capacity? We mean no offense, but you must realize how this looks.”

It was only then that they raised their eyes to take in the severity of the situation, expecting to see their charge conspiring over any number of private, sensitive documents.

But the paperwork on his normally cluttered desk had been cleared away to make room for something much less dry, though perhaps more incriminating – a bottle of plum wine, a fruit tart, two half empty cups. Though ambassador Sokka had straightened to attention on their intrusion, he still had one hand at the Firelord’s shoulder, several strands of thick, dark hair wound between his fingers.

It was the advisers’ turn to realize how this looked. Not a one of them could meet the eyes of any other, nor make themselves look at the two young men they had clearly caught in the midst of an intimate moment.

“Indeed? Well, I will be sure to call for you, when I have something that requires your input.”

Mortified, the advisers, their faces now stained as many shades of red as their clothing, stammered out a chorus of broken excuses and apologies.

“I might remind you that my personal matters are my own affair.”

Ambassador Sokka snickered. “Interesting choice of words there, Zuko.”

Firelord Zuko shot him a stern glare, though the playful smile he still wore undercut its point somewhat.

“Of – of course, your majesty. A thousand apologies. We only thought – that is, we heard…”

“Yes?”

“It’s just… there were rumors, your majesty. The way the palace staff has been speaking of you… they have been saying you are… in cahoots.”

This was too much for ambassador Sokka, who had to bite his lip and turn away to keep from laughing.

“I see. Well, perhaps you might consider learning the facts of a matter, before letting your actions be swayed by rumor.” Clearly, Firelord Zuko was enjoying teasing his advisers for their transgression, just a little.

With that, he dismissed the lot, who clambered over one another to be gone, leaving almost as suddenly as they came.

Perhaps it was a good thing, that they were not there to see ambassador Sokka as he stooped to wind his arms about his Firelord’s shoulders once more upon their exit.

“In cahoots,” he chuckled, “I like that,” and gave the Firelord a suggestive wink.

It was certainly a good thing that they could not see beneath the Firelord’s desk, where his ambassador pulled his seat up beside him once more, and slung one leg over his as he sat, to rest between his knees.

“Well, when you’re starting an extremely delightful rumor, discretion is key, I suppose.” Zuko supplied sagely.

“Oh, I see. Well, in the interest of discretion then, might I just say that I am very much in cahoots with you, dear.”

#zukka #atla #sokka #zuko #my writing #once again I did not edit this much so don't point out the typos that I'm sure are there...#I do NOT vibe with the info from lok that the fire nation is homophobic but I DO vibe with the lore from rise of Kyoshi about hair...#and can thus imagine the fire nation having almost vulcan levels of aversion to PDA asdkjflsg #also @ambre let me know if i do another one of these if you'd rather i tag ur other blog

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vegalocity · 3 years

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Secret kisses and Touching 2, 14, 22, 23, and 44. Secret Silktea relationship, except both spider fam and Monkey fam actually know! Half of them don’t care enough to say anything (Pigsy,Tang,Spider Queen,Wukong,Syntax) while the other half wants them to reveal it when they’re ready (Min Yi,MK,Mei,Goliath,Sis) - Pixel Anon

Affection meme

49. secret kisses

2. running fingers through hair

14.putting an arm around the other’s waist

22.falling asleep on the other’s shoulder

23. carrying the other one in their arms

44.sitting on the other’s lap

this took me forever to put together because for some ungodly reason i couldn't figure out the scenario

so i decided on a little vignette compilation of sorts

They knew what they were doing.

Of course they knew what they were doing. It was in either of their best interests to keep this a secret. Just because the clan had stopped their crusade to take over the city and their queen had dialed down the ‘revenge’ ideas, didn’t mean there wasn’t still bad blood between his clan and Sandy’s family.

And it wasn’t too difficult, it just meant that when they were all working together for some greater threat or whatever that they’d have to be sneaky. It was easy stealth was one of Huntsman’s greatest Attributes and suspecting Blue of anything was like suspecting a small dog of knocking over a bulldozer.

It wasn’t too hard to simply keep their hands to themselves. Or at least, it wasn’t hard for Sandy, Huntsman was quickly finding his self control lacking in regard to being in such a situation with his… well, with him. But could anyone blame him? Blue was more or less the hottest guy he’d ever ran into before and he was kinda-sorta DATING him! How could he not want to climb that like a tree at all times?

Especially when he was always being so stupidly fucking charming. Sure the ‘needlessly nice’ stuff wasn’t something he particularly appreciated, but it was starting to grow on him, if only on the amount of restraint he must have to keep it up all the time.

Soooo yeah maybe he was purposefully pushing their luck a little, but in his defense he wanted to see how much desire based frustration it would take before ol’ Blue would just pin him against a wall and make him regret wondering.

Syntax had shooed him away from being a nuisance at his worktable, so naturally, Huntsman had to go be a nuisance at someone else’s worktable. Thankfully Sandy was far more agreeable to the company, and thankfully the bid of ‘Bugging Syntax first’ kept his alibi solid. He wasn’t just going over to see Blue he just wanted to be a louse and his normal target had already locked him out of his room. And so nobody really suspected anything when he started to peer over Sandy’s side to watch him tighten this or that thing on this or that device.

And it was pretty damn fun to see just how much of a ‘nuisance’ he could be. This particular bout resulting ih Huntsman being pressed against the car engine Blue had been working on, feeling the orange hair slide between his claws and messing up the stylized mohawk and shuddering when he felt those huge hands almost entirely encompass either of his thighs while keeping him aloft. He hissed through his teeth as he felt Blue give one of his legs a testing squeeze and rolled his hips forward a bit-

“Fish Demon? I need to get another set of eyes on these schematics or I'll actually go insane.” By the time Syntax looked up from his clipboard Sandy was working on the engine again and Huntsman was leaning against his work area and had barely had the opening to whip out one of his knives and his portable sharpener.

Though Sandy’s hair was unable to be fixed and fell to a side as he smiled at Syntax and took the offered blueprints from him.

He wasn’t a big fan of those domestic snatches of time, he wasn’t.

It was mostly an instinctual response, Spiders were pack bonders, so of course when his internal senses started categorizing Sandy as ‘pack’ then he’d relax without intending to while being pulled in with a hand on his waist.

Which was definitely the reason why he was curled up to Sandy’s side, the cool slick feeling of his scales strange against his more leather-like skin. That stupid instinct was the only real reason why he felt so comfortable and like he could practically fall asleep like this.

He felt Blue’s hand gently start running up and down his side and dammit that wasn’t playing fair, it wasn’t his fault that he had been having sleeping problems lately and was rapidly getting drowsy.

He could feel Blue’s hum as the world started to drift away-

“Hey Sandy what do you think- Uhhhh”

“Oh, hello Xiaotian.”

“You know you’ve got a spider on you, right?”

“Oh yeah, Looked like he was having some paranoia problems, took a bit of wheedling to get out but Huntsman here was up for like four days straight ‘till now!”

“Did… Did you slip him your sleepy tea?”

“Of course not! That would be super unethical! Also I'm pretty sure he’s still semi conscious and passively listening without any critical thought right now since he only just dozed off and would probably wake up angry if he overheard anything like that!”

“....right… so anyway-”

The brat knew.

Dammit he knew the brat knew. She definitely fucking knew.

He should have known better than to try anything with that Professional Snoop underfoot. But He’d had plans with Blue before having to get stuck with the brat tonight because the Queen needed Syntax’s expertise and the Sister was on shift at work and Goliath already had plans doing who knows what, and he was stuck with Minyi since he ‘didn’t have any plans’

He’d dragged his feet on the idea of cancelling with Blue, but he’d fucking done it so nobody could say he didn’t contribute to the upkeep of their clan’s youngest. It was just his luck that Sandy had been fine with coming over instead, and the brat had overheard some of the conversation and got excited about ‘Mr Sandy’ coming over to visit. The brat had insisted on stringing some of her fake flowers into his hair before he arrived, after dubbing him ‘suitably pretty’ (her words) she’d done up her own hair as similarly as she could because he certainly wasn’t helping her with her weird pre-’company is coming’ rituals.

And… Blue was a hit with the brat. He had an infinite amount of patience for the inane childish babbling, stooped low so she could string the remaining fake flowers in her possession (why did she have so many fake flowers?) into his beard, and offered to fix dinner for the lot of them (which was for the best since the brat was such a picky eater she could barely stomach some of his specialties)

And… he was not jealous of a six year old for how she was able to crawl into Blue’s lap while the lot of them watched some inane mystery show for the character drama alone since the brat called and explained the mystery within the first three minutes.

Blue was a bit awkward on the sofa, it made sense, Goliath would normally sit on the floor for how the height and width of the couch was not designed with bigger demons in mind, and Blue was considerably bigger than Goliath. So while the brat was cozy as could be in the place of honor, Huntsman was stuck perched on the arm of the couch as to not be crushed into it trying to squeeze in beside Blue.

Not that that would be a wholly unpleasant experience, but the presence of the brat made it go from tempting to awkward. Nonetheless, part of Sandy trying to get comfortable had included one of his arms resting on the back of the couch, and while it seemed the brat wasn’t paying attention, it slid down to wrap around his shoulders.

When the time came Minyi didn’t need to be told it was bed time for her, she loudly announced it herself, changed into her pajamas, and after saying goodnight to the both of them went on with a

“I am going to sleep now! And I will not be out of my room until morning so if anything were to be happening I certainly won’t know it, because I will be asleep.”

She smiled widely at Huntsman and closed her door.

Nosey little brat.

Tang huffed a quiet laugh as Sandy gingerly began to lift Huntsman into the air, his broken leg not quite able to be splinted just yet, let alone looked at properly. It seemed the lot of them had suffered some pretty nasty injuries from this last threat (and no doubt it would have been worse if their team and the Spider Clan hadn’t joined forces) including Tang himself despite being on the sidelines for most of it, he was pretty sure his shoulder was dislocated, and the cut on his forehead was still sluggishly bleeding all over the right side of his face, but compared to some of the others he was basically fine.

So once He was able to pop his arm back into place (Ouch) he took to handling cleanup with the only other ‘perfectly normal person’ here, a woman maybe a few years his junior, he’d seen her every so often with the Spider Clan (or rather, with Syntax) but he didn’t know her name.

“Do you think they actually think they’re being subtle?” Her words caught his attention and he turned to glance at the woman. She was in the middle of splinting Xiaojiao’s broken wrist and at Tang’s questioning glance, she nodded at Sandy and Huntsman. Oh!

“I’m sure Sandy thinks he’s the pinnacle of subtlety” Tang responded. He was pretty sure the ‘thing’ that had developed between their friend and the most brutal of the Spider Clan was the worst kept secret on the team since Red Son had started hanging out with Xiaotian and Xiaojiao on the weekends.

“They are so cute when you just walk in on them.” Xiaojiao said around a snicker. “Like how they jump apart like when you flip a magnet over to the matching side.”

“Does your team have a betting pool? My brother organized one for the clan, and if they do anything damning within the next month i win the pot.”

“No! Ohh man we should get one started up! Hey Pigsy! You wanna make a betting Pool for Sandy and Huntsman’s secret romance?”

“Why the hell would i want to do that?”

“Finally have dirt on Sandy after decades of him never being embarrassed about anything ever?” Tang offered with a shrug.

Pigsy thought for a moment and shrugged back before going back to fussing over Xiaotian. “Sure. Who’s bettin’ what?”

send me stuff!

#Silktea #Silkteashipping #Affection meme #vega writes stories too #letters to vega #Spider Queen wins the Spider Clan pot though she denies ever betting anything #but Minyi put in three sticker packs and a yoyo for her bet and she could have SWORN she saw them in the lair by Spider Queen's stuff

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royallyprincesslilly · 3 years

Text

Title: Rumor Has It {21}*

Chris Evans x Famous Reader Uriah “Riah” Tyler

Warning: Cursing, ANGST, Plot, Fluff, Mildly NSFW, Violence, Blood, Death, Verbal mention of Rape, Potentially Triggering Discussion

Words: 6.2k

Summary: You and Chris have been married for four years after a whirlwind romance. You are both happy and trying to navigate marriage in the public eye while balancing your successful careers. In the entertainment industry, not everything is as it seems, the flash of a camera lens impairs vision. As scandal and flashing lights put a strain on your once fairytale marriage is it possible your Hollywood marriage can stand the test of the rumor mill?

**Inspired by a video seen of Chris and his co-star Ana De Armas on their press tour for Knives Out at TIFF where she kept touching his chest and face standing about five inches apart.

NOTE: DO NOT COME FOR ME. THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION.

**Loosely Edited/Proofread**

Thank you guys for reading!!!! If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG. 😊❤️❤️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Uriah-

You pushed off of him to an upright position, not sure you’d heard him right. “Say what!?”

Chris sat up as well and leaned on the headboard.

“Yeah. Abel, the detective, found that the video was doctored. It was spliced together using so many different audio clips dating back to when Knives Out was announced. She had someone doctor it to make it seem like it was me, or recent and current me.”

You were ready to claw her eyes out. “That bitch!”

Chris sighed. “That’s not it,” he began. He reached for your hand and brought you closer. You swung your leg over his lap and sat on his thighs, giving him your undivided attention.

“Remember the picture of her in the sweater?”

Clenching your jaw, you nodded. “The one from your room?”

He nodded. “You’re right—it was from my room.”

You gaped at him, ready to lunge at him, but you stopped yourself.

“She snuck in, stripped down, and posted it. Abel was able to get security footage from the hotel. She bribed one of the housekeeping staff. They let her in, and it was at the same time I was on call for press. The timestamp shows it. I’m thinking she knew it would set you off and create problems between us.”

You couldn’t believe what he was saying. This was insane. Why would someone go to these lengths?

“Wow.” You rubbed your forehead, trying to wrap your head around everything. Not only were you still grappling with everything that happened since the accident, including things with Christiano, but the babies and Chris’s downward spiral, but now this. “Oh my god.”

“The investigator uncovered a video from the hotel—and so much more.” Chris released a heavy breath then took your hand. “It all points to her, Riah.”

His fingers traced imaginary patterns on my hand and along the length of my fingers.

“And the text messages?” You couldn’t help yourself. Chris looked up from your hand and to your waiting eyes. The look on his face was an inquisitive one. “The ones between you and her about us,” you finished.

There was no look of shock; he just looked resolved, as if he somehow knew that you knew.

“How do you know about that?”

“I did something crazy,” you began before pausing to find the right way to explain.

It only took a few moments to forego any strategic plan and lay it out. So that is what you did. You explained your mission impossible operation with Kizzy and Zora a few weeks ago at Chris’s press junket. You explained being in the elevator to witness Ana’s blatant flirting. You explained, taking her purse and going through her phone to find out how devious she was. By the time you finished, the silence in the room was deafening. Chris hadn’t moved or spoken since you began. The look on his face was so masked and neutral that you couldn’t tell if he was on the brink of an angry outburst or a disappointed one.

Suddenly Chris snorted loudly then laughed obnoxiously, clapping his free hand across his chest. The laugh went on so long to the same caliber that you couldn’t help but join in. So the two of you sat there laughing together for several long minutes. Once both of you were laughed out, you just stared at each other.

“I can’t say that I’m surprised,” Chris started first, continuing to rub your hand. “I knew who I married.”

He sighed and shook his head. That was when you saw the remorse in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have told you about it all, but I didn’t want to hurt you or have you doubt me.”

Chris clenched his jaw then crinkled his brow. “In hindsight, I know it looked really suspicious. There are so many things I see now that I didn’t then. I shouldn’t have even had those text exchanges. It’s not her place to know anything small or not about our marriage. Jesus.” Chris took his hand away then raked it through his hair before locking his hands behind his neck—one of his frustrated ticks. His eyes were dropped to your thighs, and that’s where they remained.

“I’m sorry, Riah.”

His voice sounded clouded, and that was the only indication you needed to know his emotions were getting the better of him.

“I’ve been so stupid. So stupid,” he choked out.

“Baby.” You slid closer to him, grabbing his elbows to pull them down to rest on top of your thighs. “Look at me.”

You raised his chin so he was looking into your eyes. His tears stained his cheeks and welled his eyes. You’d wanted him to see the error of his ways so many times. You’d wished he could see it your way and understand, and now that he did, you should have felt vindicated, but you didn’t. There really were no winners when the family feuds.

Dropping your face into the crook of his neck, you inhaled his scent.

“I’m sorry, dragonfly,” Chris whispered, wrapping his arms around you holding you close. “So sorry.”

“Baby—look at me.”

He pulled back enough for you to peer into his eyes. As you caressed his cheek, you spoke.

“It’s okay. I—you--,” you sighed, then traced your thumb across his bottom lip. “I understand. There has been so much—pain, so much sorries and--.” Again you stopped for a few seconds.

“No more,” you finished.

Chris slowly nodded his head, grasping your meaning. He then kissed your thumb and nuzzled his bearded jaw into your palm. Though you wanted to move on, there was one more burning question, one more thing you had to know. Nibbling your bottom lip, you found your courage.

“Were—were you tempted?”

You couldn't look at him, so you kept your head down.

“What? Tempted? To do what?”

Meeting his eyes, you swallowed, then continued.

“Cheat,” you whispered.

Chris sat up straight, and he cupped your face within his large hands. His eyebrows were crooked with the intense, take me serious look he always got when he was about to say something important.

“Look at me. Never.”

You tried to look away, but he wouldn’t let you.

“Listen and hear me, Uriah, never, ever. I would never. I told you I married you for a reason. I had a plan. Forever and a day, Uriah. You promised me forever and a day, and I won’t stand for anything less. I’m collecting all of it. Forever and a day.”

Fighting the tears, you scoffed. “You were a jackass. When I tell you a woman wants you, don’t doubt me.”

Chris smiled and nodded. “I was. Never again. We don’t be here again. I’m going to be Pence from now on. You must be present at all times, or I’m not alone with any women.”

You busted out laughing, and for the first time, you didn’t feel the heaviness of the last few weeks. It felt almost normal, like the two of you were on your way. Chris kissed you once, then twice before resting his forehead to yours.

“We have to nail her ass to the wall,” you declared, staring into his eyes.

“Oh, definitely. What did you have in mind, Mrs. Evans?”

“You didn’t file the papers?”

Chris scoffed, then rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know who you think I am, but you’re gonna have to try harder than divorce papers to get rid of me, Dragonfly.”

Again you smiled. “So whatever I want, you won’t be the voice of sympathy?”

“Whatever you want, kitten,” Chris replied, kissing the tip of your nose, making your belly flutter in the process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m so happy that you’re okay, sweetheart,” your mother said as she pulled you into a group hug with your father.

“I’ll be okay, mom.”

Your father cupped your cheek, taking the time to inspect your face. You knew he wasn’t looking for physical harm. He was realizing how close he’d come to losing you, how he’d failed you. You could tell. When Chris had called them to update them, they instantly wanted to hear your voice. When they did, they broke, and that breaking turned to shattered when everything came out.

You’d spent two hours on the phone with them, listening to them apologize and blame themselves for putting so much trust in Christiano. They felt horrible for never suspecting that he would stoop so low. They begged you not to hate them, begged you to forgive them. It was easy to promise them you weren't angry because you understood. You didn’t blame them or hold a grudge for them not doing more. They had no idea who Christiano really was—you didn’t either. The only one who ever saw him for who he was, was Chris.

“I’m so sorry, Uriah. As your father, I should have done more to keep you away from him.”

“Daddy, don’t. There is nothing you could have done. You did the best with what the information you had—you all did,” you assured, looking around at the faces of everyone you loved, both your family and Chris’s.

Lisa approached and pulled you into another hug. You could feel her tears.

“I’m okay, I promise.”

“I am so happy that you are.” Her hand dropped to your bump, and she smiled. “That you all are.”

Just like that, the waterworks started again, and everyone huddled around you, everyone but Chris, who was standing back most likely watching with a cheesy smile on his face. When they released you, your guess was correct. Chris smiled, then winked at you.

“So how are we getting those sons of bitches?”

All eyes snapped to Zora, who looked as if she was ready to rip out a heart and eat it.

“Down girl—Chris has already laid the groundwork,” you said.

“And it was easy, just play into that colossal ego of his,” Chris finished, kissing my temple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Chris-

MSG Love Of My Life: Remember, don’t let him goad you. He’s going to try.

He scoffed; it was an understatement.

MSG: I’m good. He can’t get me to because I have what he doesn’t, and I know something he doesn’t.

MSG Love Of My Life: You do have me. Forever and a day, my love. <Kiss emoji, heart emoji>

MSG: You should have let me go with you. I don’t like you’re alone.

MSG Love Of My Life: I’m not alone. I have my parents, Kizzy, Zora, your sisters, your mom, our lawyers. I am far from alone.

MSG: You know what I mean.

MSG Love Of My Life: I don’t think I could relive it all with you next to me anyway. It’s better this way. I’ll see you soon. Remember what I said. <Kiss>

He sighed and tried to push aside the guilt he felt. He wanted to be with you, holding your hand. You’d gone through too much alone, and all he wanted to do now was protect you.

MSG Scott: Need me to come up?

MSG: Nah, I can handle this.

MSG Scott: Okay.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and stared out over the canyons and LA down below. It was a beautiful sight, one he liked a lot but not better than the changing leaves of Autumn in Massachusetts. He would never choose LA over them. It was, however, a good change of pace, but it staled quickly. Standing here, it was easy to forget the chaos of the last few months. Easy to forget that merely days ago, he’d thought his life was over, and it would never be the same.

“I can’t believe you suggested this. What, you’re a glutton for punishment? That’s cool; I don’t mind helping you with that.”

The sound of his voice was enough to make him want to turn around swinging, then drag him to the edge and kick him off Sparta style. He didn’t deserve to live, not after what he’d done to you. He clenched his jaw and tightened his fist, and slowly released a breath. Once he was sure he had some sort of control over his reflexes, he turned. Christiano looked as smug as ever. He’d never wanted to take a life, but right now, right here, he thought of at least ten ways in under one minute. They all involved pain.

“So, what air is there to clear?”

He clenched his jaw before he spoke.

“She’s still my wife.”

“Ah, ah, ah, according to those divorce papers she sent over, even that is limited time. Face it man; you’ve lost. I’ve won. I always win. I always get what I want, no matter what. It’s hilarious to me that you thought swooping into her life like that and marrying her on a whim would have changed things. Uriah has always been mine. She was always meant to be mine.”

His hatred for the man in front of him was already at toxic levels. He had no idea how it was possible for it to increase. Staring at him and hearing the venom he just spewed did the trick.

“So, this is just a game to you? This is her life—this is our life. All of this is for what?”

“To win what’s rightfully mine. I’m Christiano White. I get what I want when I want it, and that includes women. No one takes what’s mine. No one, and she’s mine!”

The smugness on his face was the most upsetting thing. He didn’t care hearing him profess fake ownership. He didn’t even care that Christiano thought he had so much privilege that he would get away with his insane plane. Even the thought that him being Christiano White meant jack shit. What really got to him was the fact he’d done this to prove some stupid, sick point. He’d played with his life, your life, and the life of his children for the sake of winning. He stepped to Christiano, ready to push his ass off the cliff, but before he touched him, the thought of you and those innocent babies flashed into his mind. There was no way he’d do this to you guys, he thought.

Gathering some calm, he stepped back. Christiano chuckled.

“Thay’s right. Recognize when you’ve lost, and oh, have you lost. Let me tell you how bad you’ve lost. She was in my bed, letting me touch her, kiss her, please her. She shouted my name, over and over. Not yours.”

He scoffed. “You sure? My name’s Chris. Did she say, Christiano?”

The smirk on Christiano’s face slipped, and rage replaced it. It was a small piece of satisfaction, but it was worth it, especially since he knew for a fact you’d called his name—Chris and not the latter. Though your brain didn’t remember him, your subconscious did, your heart did, your soul did. There was no room for anyone else. He nearly laughed in Christiano’s face because it had taken him this long to grasp that fully. There had only ever been you and him.

“You only have yourself to blame. Who would dare cheat on Uriah? Who would think to replace a diamond with a pebble? You’re an idiot,” Christiano jabbed before he laughed out. “Don’t worry, once we’re married, things will be better for her.”

“How do you plan on getting married if we’re still legally married?”

For the second time, the smile Christiano wore slipped. He looked around as if he expected someone to come out.

“For now,” Christiano scoffed, rolling his eyes.

He couldn’t help but smile when he saw you walking up behind Christiano. Catching on, he spun around.

“Babe, what’re—what’re you doing here? I thought we were meeting tonight.”

Christiano approached you with his arms out, but you walked past him to his waiting arms instead. Once he wrapped his arm around your waist, you kissed his lips, then turned to Christiano, who looked confused, angry, and a few other emotions he most likely hadn’t put together yet.

“For always,” you said.

“What the fuck!”

“Surprise,” he said, slipping his hand down to your hip. Christiano’s eyes dropped to his hand before he clenched his jaw. The annoyance from minutes ago was worth it.

“What was the plan, Christiano? It’s bigamy to be married to two people at once. Our marriage would have been null in void. What was the goal!?”

Christiano took a step to you, making him grip your hip tighter, ready to get in between you.

“I’m better than him. I’m richer, I look better, and I’m better in bed. Admit it, Riah. I don’t lose to men like him. I wasn’t done with you,” Christiano confessed with bitterness in his voice.

You pulled from him, taking a step to Christiano. “So you decided to turn me into a pawn! You decided to lie to me, manipulate me and—rape me?!”

“Shut up, I didn’t--,” he began before you cut him off.

“Yes, you did! I was not of sound mind. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t even know who I was. You knew. You fucking knew, and you used that and stole from me. Admit it!”

Sensing things were about to go south, he stepped between the two of you, pulling back to a safe distance.

“That’s right, fuck it! Yes, I did all of that. I’ll admit it. Yes, I manipulated you to get what I wanted. I couldn’t lose to this dick. I couldn’t let you go. I wouldn’t. I did what was necessary. I took what was mine, and I don’t regret it. I’d do it again.”

That was all he could stomach before he turned and decked him with all the force he possessed. Christiano dropped to the dirt and writhed for a few moments before he slowly stood laughing like a lunatic with the blood dripping from his nose.

“You’re insane. You tried to kill my children because I ended things and found better?”

“There is no better than me!”

He spread his arms out, not caring where the blood that spewed from him went. “Uriah, you know you love me. You loved the feel of a real man between your legs. Just tell him.”

Glancing at you, he realized you were crying now.

“I can’t believe you’d do this to me. I can’t believe you’d hurt me this way.”

He wrapped his arms around you, hoping to comfort you in some way. Looking back at Christiano, he was in time to see him charging toward him. He quickly moved you out of the way and threw a punch that connected with Christiano’s jaw. Instead of going down, Christiano lunged at him, gripping him around his waist, trying to bring him down to the ground. He almost laughed. Sending his knee into his gut, he spun and put Christiano in a chokehold keeping him there.

It was then a group of police officers came running toward them.

“Look at that. You lost, not just once, but twice and now—a third.”

He wanted to snap his neck, and thinking of everything he’d put them through, he almost did. Two officers ran up to him, both of them taking Christiano by his arms.

“We’ve got it from here.”

Reluctantly he let Christiano go and allowed the law to take the wheel. Going to you, he cupped your cheeks and wiped your tears.

“I’m here.”

You hugged him, and he just held you. There was no need for words.

-That Night-

“I love you.”

Those words were like music to his ears. There was a time he didn’t think he’d ever hear them again. Gently pulling your head back, he peered into your eyes while caressing your cheek. He loved seeing you like this with your hair free, hovered over him, with the moon as your backdrop.

“I love you more,” he whispered.

“Forever and a day?”

He smiled, remembering your promises, and pressed his forehead to yours. “Forever and a day, dragonfly.”

You kissed him softly, taking the time to tease his lips, nibbling his bottom one before burying your face in the crook of his neck as you rocked against him, sending him higher and higher until he felt as if his soul left his body.

“Uriah!”

It felt like he was no longer in his body but instead hovering overhead like a fly watching your bodies entangled together. There was no other sight he loved as much. You rolled off of him and found your place beside him, resting your head on his chest, right over his heart. You both sighed.

“After this is done, let’s go back to Massachusetts full time,” you quietly said after a few minutes.

“What?” he turned to look at you, needing to see if you meant it.

“Do you mean that?”

“Yeah. I never wanted to raise kids in LA, and you know I love Massachusetts. Let’s have these babies in the house you built for us,” you added.

He couldn’t believe his ears. It wasn’t that you’d ever expressed not wanting to live in Massachusetts full time; it was that he knew how much of your career was still in LA. With him, he was spending less and less time here, but you, it seemed it was more and more.

“How is that going to work with your career?”

You rolled slightly onto your side, then trailed your hand across his chest down his stomach to rest nonchalantly atop his manhood. Groaning, he wrapped one of his arms under his head.

“I’m taking a few years off.”

The shock had his junk jumping in your hand, making a wide smile spread across your face. “Wow, talk about talent,” you teased.

He rolled you onto your back and climbed on top of you, nestling himself between your spread thighs.

“Don’t play with me, Mrs. Evans.”

You smiled widely as you fondled him with one hand. Not being strong enough to have this conversation while you did that, he grabbed your hand and pressed it over your head, gripping you at your wrist.

“No fair,” you pouted.

“Say that again.”

You smiled, clearly loving that fact he was hanging by a flimsy piece of thread.

“I said I’m taking a few years off.”

He couldn’t stop his grin. “Really?”

“Yeah. What do you think? Would you want that?”

“You’re kidding. Of course, yes! It would be just the two of us day in, day out. No movie sets, no studio time, no photoshoots.”

“Eh-em, excuse you. You mean just the five of us,” you corrected.

It didn’t take him long to get it. You, him, babies, and Dodger.

“I love you, Mrs. Evans.”

“I love you, Mr. Evans.”

You kissed him once, then twice before your hands roamed down his back to grip his ass, making him moan and chuckle at the same time. He’d missed this and you.

“Hang on, baby; I gotta--,” he began.

“Ah, that after nut pee calls, huh. Fine. Go ahead. I'll just be here, pregnant and horny.”

He snorted and rolled off of you before hurrying to the bathroom.

“Oh, I’m coming back, cause—that sounds like a very pressing situation that needs my undivided attention.”

You giggled as he dipped into the bathroom. He hurried to the toilet and tried his best to aim properly but an erection and peeing straight made for a tricky situation. Once he’d gotten the hang of it and the common sense to curve his body a little, he was good and groaned long and loud as he relieved himself. The silence in the bathroom gave him the time to fully react to the prospect of moving back to Massachusetts full time for the next few years. He couldn’t wait. Life was about to change for the better.

Once finished, he flushed and washed his hands before stepping back into the room. He expected you to be lying on the bed, waiting for him, but the bed was empty. Thinking you might have found your way to the kitchen for a snack, he pulled his pajama pants off the floor and pulled them on before he walked out of the bedroom. He’d recently discovered that after sex, you craved something from the fridge. He walked down the hall leading to the staircase, but before he got there, a chill ran down his spine. It was this chill and almost like a psychic feeling that had him stop.

When he turned, there you stood in your pale pink kimono robe with Christiano behind you. His hand was around your neck, clasping it.

“What the--.” He made a move toward them, but Christiano pulled out a gun and pointed it to your stomach.

“I wouldn’t,” he began before he cocked the weapon. “Or I will pull this trigger, and there goes Evan Jr.”

Terror as he’d never felt before gripped his heart. “You wouldn’t risk her life.”

Christiano shoved the barrel of the gun more forcefully into your stomach, making you whimper loudly.

“Wouldn’t I? what’s the point of keeping her safe now? For her to end up with you? I think the fuck not!” Again he shoved the gun into you.

“Okay, hey, hey, stop. Don’t do this. Please.”

“Please?” Christiano snorted and pulled you more firmly against him. “Are you begging me finally? You’ve always been underneath me. I couldn’t understand why she would choose you over me. I’m better in every category.”

He nodded, with his hands raised.

“You’re right. You’re the better man, the better choice,” he agreed, deciding to play along and say whatever he wanted if it meant Uriah had a chance of getting away from him. He quickly tried to formulate a plan while he used his words to buy himself as much time as possible.

“I know! So why him, Uriah!?”

You remained quiet, tears streaming down your cheeks.

“Answer me! You better answer me with the truth, or I swear I’ll pull this trigger.”

“Answer hi, Dragonfly. It’s okay. Forever and a day.”

You scrunched your face and watched fresh heartbreak wash over you. “I—I fell in love with him, Tino. My soul recognized his as my home. It could only ever be him,” you replied. He signaled to you using his eyes and slight movements of his head, and he hoped you understood them.

He watched Christiano squeeze your neck tighter and press the gun more persistently into you, and he said a silent prayer.

“Fine,” Christiano began. He saw the moment when it all changed for him, and his threats no longer were empty words. “If I can’t have you. No one can.”

“Now, Riah!”

You threw your head back, colliding yours with his in a vicious headbutt that sent Christiano staggering backward a few steps and you stumbling before falling to the floor. In the chaos, Christiano dropped the gun allowing him to leap forward for the gun. In seconds Christiano was on him, fighting him for it. He tried to pull it from his clutches while turning it away from him or Uriah, but there was no fury like a man who’d lost everything.

Christiano managed to wrangle the gun from his grasp and pointed it to Uriah. In the blink of an eye, he knew what had to be done—the only thing he could do. Locking eyes with you, he said the only thing that mattered.

“I love you.”

He then dove for Christiano tracking him into the banister railing with enough force that broke it, sending both of them over the edge and down two and a half stories to the hard marble floor beneath. He could hear your piercing scream right before they collided with the floor, but once they made impact, the gun went off, and again Uriah screamed.

“Chris!”

~~~~~~~~~

-Uriah-

It all had happened in such a way that it was in slow motion but sped up. You couldn’t register anything until it was all said and done. You scurried to the banister and looked down. Neither of them moved, and your heart stopped. Gasping, you tried to remind your brain to send the signal for you to breathe. After a few seconds, you coughed while trying to hurry down the stairs. The tears in your eyes made it difficult to see what was in front of you, so you stumbled down the stairs. If it weren’t for your gripping the railing as you descended, you were sure you would have tumbled.

Once down to them, you dropped to your knees beside them and pulled at Chris’s body. He wasn’t moving.

“Oh god, Chris!”

He didn’t respond, and his body felt like dead weight. Your tears flowed more freely as you managed to roll him off. Once you had, you were able to see that it was Christiano who was shot and not Chris. Relief filled you, and you shook him more forcefully.

“Chris! Wake up, please. Please don’t leave me. Chris!”

Suddenly he erupted into a fit of choughs before they died down.

“Why are you always shouting at me, woman!?”

You gasped again. “Oh my god! You scared the shit out of me.”

“I’m okay. I think,” he informed while trying to sit up. He then began examining you.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

He then gripped his head as he groaned out, but it wasn’t long before he was moving toward you to pull you into his arms, not caring that he was covered in blood.

“Is he—is he dead?”

Chris leaned back to check Christiano’s pulse, then lowered his head. “Very dead.”

You clasped your hands over your mouth. “Oh my god. He—he tried--.”

Chris pulled you into him and hugged you tightly. “Come here. It’s okay.”

Somehow he managed to slide both of you from the body on the floor toward the wall. He held you tightly, then spoke.

“I don’t think I’ll call you crazy again after this.”

It was probably inappropriate, but you snorted then laughed, a laugh he joined in on. As suddenly as the laughter began, it ended.

“They’re crazy.”

“Bat shit,” Chris replied.

Any humor to be found in the situation was gone, and it turned into you crying in his shoulder, going through all the emotions from the entire night. There had been so much pain, so much destruction. You’d come close to losing everything more than once, and the culprit was lying dead on the floor before you. It was overwhelming, but somehow, you felt steeled to the fact that you’d just watched someone die.

You glanced over to Chris at the same moment he looked at you. He wiped the tears from your cheeks then spoke.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” He then lowered his lips to your forehead and held you close.

Ten minutes later, the sirens of the police, ambulance, and fire trucks could be heard as they surrounded your property. The officers instantly took yours and Chris’s statements and any evidence lying around to prove what the two of you were professing, including the security footage. The EMS workers quickly covered Christiano’s body with a sheet as they rolled him into a body bag then pushed the gurney out of the house. You barely registered anything. Chris did most of the talking, not leaving one thing out. When they asked you about the events of the night, you stuttered and quickly became frazzled as everything finally caught up to you. That was when the detective Chris hired suggested meeting at the police station to continue, which would allow him to reveal his findings in his investigation.

After a quick change, you were sitting in the passenger side of Chris’s car as he drove you to the precinct. Your mind raced a mile a minute, but your lips remained zipped. The feel of Chris’s hand on your thigh was your tangible evidence that this was reality and not some soap opera plot. When you arrived at the precinct, the detective in charge of the case questioned you from the very beginning to the night's events. You did your best to remain calm and emotionless and were surprised that you didn’t feel the shame you’d felt about the entire situation prior to this night.

When the detective revealed new information divulged to him, from the detective Chris hired, about Christiano and what he’d truly been up to and how deep his plans really went, you could hardly stomach it. He’d secured another property in Russia and planned to bring you there. The way the information was revealed, it seemed like he planned on keeping you captive there. Hearing that, you almost passed out. Chris, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to kill Christiano again.

The questioning took a full hour, and at the end of it, you were exhausted and ready to put this entire thing behind you after dealing with Ana. With Chris’s arm around your waist, you walked out of the detective’s office onto the precinct's open floor. A loud scream brought your attention to several officers pulling Ana through with her hands cuffed behind her back.

“I demand you let me go. Do you know who I am!? I swear to god, I will have your badge, and you’ll never be a fucking cop again!”

“Wow, the mouth on her,” one of the officers teased.

“To think we found her hot in that Bond movie,” another piped up.

“Fuck you!”

You and Chris approached, curious as to what was going on. You hadn’t expected to see her until tomorrow when you and Chris executed the second part of your plan of confronting her while recording it to release it to the world, showing everyone who and what she really was. It would have been a one-two hit that she wouldn’t recover from. Her career would have been over.

“It’s been a big night,” the detective who’d just interviewed you said, standing beside you.

“I don’t understand. What’s going on? Why’s she here?”

“Your detective gave us plenty of information. By the way, impressive man, you should think about keeping him on your payroll. Anyway, we followed his leads, and it led right to her and her assistant, specifically her assistant’s car. This one took her assistant’s car and was the one behind the wheel when she ran into you. The traffic cams show it was an intentional hit.”

You saw red.

“What!”

“She tried to kill you,” Abel, the private detective, added, coming up beside Chris.

“What’s more, there were messages between her and Christiano White.”

Both yours and Chris’s heads spun to him to the police detective this time to find him nodding with a look on his face that said even he hadn’t encountered anything this bizarre before.

“They concocted this whole scheme together, beginning with the pictures of her in that eat shit sweater. This was set up with them. there is even evidence Christiano was poisoning you, Mrs. Evans.”

“Jesus,” Chris hissed.

You remained utterly silent and still letting Abel’s words fully process. It was a lot of information, but it was also vindication that you were in no shape or form crazy.

“Wh—what does all this mean?”

“It means she’s going to face a judge on a slew of charges that are quite serious. I can assure you both; there is no easy way of her getting out of any of this. No amount of money or connections will fix it. Her career is over,” the detective finished.

You both were speechless, and looking at Chris, he was too. You and Chris were led to somewhere you could sit for a few minutes to receive the paperwork for the night’s incident and the new information. While sitting, you used the time to catch your breath and wrap your head around everything. Neither of you could believe all you’d gone through. The more you thought about it, the more your confusion increased. One burning questioned remained. Why?

About ten minutes later, you and Chris were led toward the exit, but you caught sight of Ana to your right. You would have walked on, but the way she glared at you had you changing your mind in seconds. You let go of Chris’s hand and walked over to her.

“I have to know. Why? What was the point!?”

Ana bolted to her feet as if she planned to do something, but the officer behind her grabbed her arm, holding her to ensure she didn’t try anything. You weren’t worried.

“You don’t deserve anything you have. The fame, the popularity, and opportunities you don’t deserve any of it, especially Chris. He was supposed to be mine. That baby was supposed to be mine!”

You could hear the poison in her voice and see the sheer hatred for you shining brightly in her eyes. She truly meant this though she didn’t know one thing about you.

“You’re crazy as fuck. I hope it was worth it.” You reached back for Chris’s hand, knowing he was behind you. Lacing your fingers with his, you showed her all that her efforts had produced, then turned and began walking away.

“You low-grade black bitch!

In your head, you heard blaring sirens. The sound became so loud in a matter of seconds it had somewhat of a mind-altering effect. Chris released your hand as if he knew what was going to happen. You turned back to her and saw red.

“Oh I’ll show you how low grade this black bitch is!”

You ran to her, then tackled her to the floor. Once on top of her, you swung punch after punch, each slamming into her face. You didn’t care where they landed, didn’t care how hard you were hitting her either. There was a lesson she needed to learn, and the only way to learn it was getting her ass beat the right way—the black way. You felt hands trying to pull you off of her, but you were not having it. You held on to her hair, so when they tried to move you, they really helped you bald the bitch.

“See, I never learned to share when I was young! I’m—an—only—child!” With each enunciated word, you emphasized it with a punch. Ana’s screams were loud, but they weren’t louder than those alarms still sounding off in your head. Though she tried to fight back, it was futile, though.

“Learn this bitch! Don’t,” you dropped a punch to her nose. “Touch,” you slapped her with your open hand. “What,” you slapped her again, this time with the back of your hand. “is mine!”

From then, no one else tried to pull you off of her. You suspected it was Chris warning them. You managed to get off a few more punches when you were finally pulled off.

“Let me go!”

“Okay, calm down, Adonis Creed, that’s enough,” Chris shouted, trying to break through to you. You still struggled trying to get back to her, but Chris refused to let you go until you calmed down. You looked at Ana on the floor. She was barely moving, and her face was a bloody mess with several patches of her dark hair sprinkled around her. Satisfaction filled you. Raising your hand, you assured Chris you were good. Slowly he let you go, and you stooped down to her.

“Look at me.”

You waited for her writhing to stop and for her bloody, swollen eyes to land on you.

“Remember my name for the rest of your pathetic life. Remember that I’m that bitch!”

You grabbed her hair and held her head. “Try this shit again; you gonna lose your life.”

With that, you punched her one more time, knocking her clear out. Everyone around the precinct shouted out a collective “ooh.” You stood and walked away as they all cleared your path, most likely thinking you were crazy. Chris came beside you, took your hand, and walked back to the car with you. Once inside, you both sat there, silently processing everything. Five minutes passed in silence until you spoke.

“She did all this over dick, Chris. Dick,” you said in disbelief as you shook your head.

“I mean—my dick is A1.”

Your head spun to him. “Christopher!”

He laughed out loud while holding his hands up in defeat.

“Hey, don’t beat my ass too, I don’t want none,” Chris joked, making you laugh a little.

“Wow, remind me not to piss you off again. I don’t want any of what she got.”

You fake lunged at him with your still bloodied fists. “Don’t start none, won’t be none.”

Both of you erupted with laughter before you embraced, relishing in the feeling of togetherness and your love. It was finally over; you thought as Chris pressed a soft kiss to your neck.

“Let’s get the fuck out of this town,” Chris suggested. You snorted and nodded.

“Let’s go home.”

Knowing where you meant, Chris smiled and kissed you once, then twice.

“Let’s,” he whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag List:

@chaneajoyyy @sonjashuterbugjohnson @caramara3 @southerngracela @cyntgefel01 @vannahvannahhh @lorainnebabyy @patzammit @yourwonderbelle @pennywisesmistress @theblulife @kelbabyblue @bugngiz @kikimiyazaki @toniilaney @areubeingserved @chaos-crusader @thinkxlovexloud @cocothewriter @periodtcevans @bellaamor88 @mack-jay @titty-teetee @pananegra @wellthirsted @sup3rn0va13 @nova3312 @hello-therree @valkyriesnymph @squeackygee @niyashell @allmonstersxarehuman @zsuzstyina @peggy-potts @amelatonin @lvlyab @sullyosully @taylorveebee @renesmeeharelds @capslut2014 @ilovehatembj @thelittlemoistcarrot @sarcastic-sunshines @a-dizzle777 @taylorveebee @jesseswartzwelder @90sinspiredgirl @allnamesicouldthinkofweretaken @choices97 @jd-now-jq @actorinfluence @chrisgalore @rynabarnesrogers @ab-baybay @motivation-idontknowher @lo-cheu @builtalongthewaysi @momobaby227@drsunshine97 @cleothegoldfish

@thatrandomhetaliachick @missdeerstalker15 @queenbetter @ilovehatembj @briellableu @zaddysqueen7 @melaninhawtie @simplyyamberr @ashanti-notthesinger @chezdricks @euh-say-what-now @afraiddreamingandloving @ajspencer1892 @wakanda-inspired @chillavesss @theunsweetenedtruth @geeksareunique @aykanna @hanasamara @profilia @ollieveracity @autumn242 @missyperle @forbeautyandlife @kreolemami @songtoyou @designerwriterchic @firedolphin04 @academic-glowup @periodtcevans @nova3312 @naturalthrone22 @squeackygeecapslut2014 @queen-audsalena

@unknownmystery22 @thatcrazymarvelfan @mizcaptainwidow @angrybirdcr @cherrystainedlipsbaby @marvelfansworld @fanfictionaffair @kemkem101 @blowmymbackout @almostpurelysmut @blackgurlkillinit @simply-heaven @impossiblegiantrebelbasketball @renfrewscorner @choices97 @phreshouttherunwaaayy @heladoom @alyxkbrl @evemej @queensevansackles @rosey1981 @laketaj24 @munteanhore @minton131 @trillistb @night-of-the-living-shred @chrisevansfanfic @scoop93535 @miss-jackson500 @purplehairgawdess @ollieveracity @maddeningmayhem @what-is-your-plan-today @tantricevans @evermcfearless @richonne4life @dumbchick @toni9 @briellableu @amennariee @rynabarnesrogers-reading @chrissbabybunny @brwnsugababe @queenshikongo3 @sadishdelray @what-is-your-plan-today @islanddgal @reignandrain @liquorlaughslove @thefuckingluxury @surmya1907 @maeleeme @queenoftheworldisdead @coolbakeryprunetoad @naturalthrone22 @wonderlandfandomkingdom @starlite-starbrite @offrostandstarlight @zeedaye @partypoison00 @thejeneralvicinity @littlepreciousangel @doublesidedscoobysnacks

@imthatbitchsworld @soul–notforsale @toni9 @someone-really-bored @venustrap04 @chrisevansdaddycap @kittykatlow @live-laugh-love-ki @asiaaisa77 @melanicia @fistmetonystark @livinglifeformemyselfandi @crowngold @allnamesicouldthinkofweretaken @lost- ssoull @give-me-a-million-dollars-pls @shar74nett @cltex84 @badbitchhtown @petty-bitch-akira @unknownmystery22 @raveviolet @madixii @almosttherebutnot @rainbowkisses31 @smediumsmeatbae @bernie-k @nina1800 @nervousninjatheorist @lo-cheu @creole-mami @acciolove724 @shipatheart @captainchrisstan @ramp-it-up @bforbbgirl @brownskinafro @jhayes6984 @badbo1-evans @msblkfire84 @jovanaprime @poshgirl2 @marvelatthis30 @littlepreciousangel @youremysuperstar @alookintohersoul @cleopatra-knowles @xsweetdellzx @cxmfort @i-just-like-fanfics @storiestoldbyjazz @jennmurawski13 @imthewarmpenguininthemiddle @ak329

@koko-michelle @sophiasotherdaughter @maeleeme @mauvecherie @jbrizzywrites

***There are a few that are bold that I tried to tag but your @ wasn’t coming up. I’m not sure why. Please check that you are taggable. I’m sorry.***

#rumor has it fic #Chris Evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x black reader #chris evans x black ofc #chris evans x ofc uriah #black fanfiction #angst fanfic

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justsomefluff · 4 years

Note

OMG, I love all your works, it's so fluffy xD, can you do a ateez reaction where their SO walks down the aisle??

sorry I kept you waiting so long!!! thank you sm for being patient, I hope you like it!

Hongjoong:

While he’s waiting for you, he’s so nervous and wringing his hands and everything

Kinda sweaty but whatever he’ll blame the tux

When the doors open he isn’t even smiling bc he low-key feels nauseous

And it’s not that he isn’t excited

Its that he’s TOO excited

Like those dogs that pee whenever they’re happy

But anyway, I digress

He’s gulping after every member of the procession passes him

And when he finally sees you?

Straight up almost passes out

But now he’s smiling

Like HUGE

It’s almost creepy that his mouth can stretch that wide

His eyes might water a little bit, but he’s not gonna let any tears fall

And when you get to him he wants to hug you so bad but he knows that he should probably just…

Let the officiant do their thing so you can finally be married

Seonghwa:

Now, he will cry okay

Big, fat tears that obscure his vision

He’s so cute like he’ll even get hiccups

And he’ll rub his eyes to make sure he can see every bit of you

Wants to internalize this moment and just keep it forever

You have to grab his hands to stop him from rubbing his skin raw

And he’ll kinda smile sheepishly at you

You two literally don’t even notice that the ceremony has officially begun

Too lost in each other

The officiant will deadass have to tap you guys on the shoulder like “…hello?”

And all the witnesses will laugh good-naturedly at the two absolute love-struck idiots in front of them

You guys have the kind of ceremony that all the little kids in attendance will remember and want for themselves

And the way Seonghwa looks at you totally brings comments from your friends afterwards like

“If my fiance doesn’t look at me like that, we’re divorcing”

Overall the sweetest wedding you could’ve imagined

Yunho:

Tall boy that totally bangs his head on the gazebo lmao sorry

Happy puppy that bounces on his toes so much that he puts a crease in his perfect shoes

He will smile and wave to each of the couples that come before you in the bridal procession

Will even stoop to give the flower girl a kiss on the cheek which draws a chorus of drawn out “aws” from the audience

When you finally enter and step gingerly up the steps to the gazebo he’s almost clapping

He’s like “this. is. Art!!”

Staring at you with the biggest eyes

Whispers “hi” when you’re comfortably in front of him

When I say his eyes are sparkling? I’m being literal

His energy is so contagious

Stealing glances at your shared friends as if to ask if this was real

They giggle at him and wave their hands to redirect his attention to you

So adorable though and he will definitely ask you to pinch him at some point because he’s cheesy

Also rubs your hands gently as he’s holding them to reassure you throughout the entire ceremony (but also to calm himself down a little)

Yeosang:

So serious and stony faced at first

Like people are almost worried about him

But when those doors open, he’s grinning ear-to-ear

Doesn’t even see you yet, but the anticipation is killing him

He’s been waiting for this so long and it’s finally happening? He can hardly contain himself

He doesn’t even watch the entire procession because he’s too busy trying to weave his head around the other people to see if he can catch a glimpse of you

Has zero patience

You finally appear and that nearly takes him to his knees, I swear

He’s getting a lil wobbly

Highkey wants to run and meet you mid-aisle and just drag you the rest of the way

Wants the actual ceremony to be over with so you can be officially married

He’s been saying you're married this whole time but he wants it in writing

When you reach him, he takes your hands and you can tell he’s nervous because his hands are sweating

He recoils really quick to wipe his hands on the pants of his suit before grabbing you again

This prompts laughter from the entire audience

It amazed everyone that you two could still fluster each other, even on your wedding day

San:

TEARS

Ever since he woke up he’s been on and off crying

Happy tears, of course

He’s just so thrilled that it’s finally happening and he barely slept

Doesn’t even care about the ceremony anymore

Just wants to be married to you

Ready to live as a family and everything

Even if its just you two and Shiber for a while

When he first sees you, he chokes on his tears and starts coughing and he’s waving and making the “okay” symbol to the audience

You get to him and rub his arm to soothe him

Halfway through, its time for vows

Remember how I said he didn’t sleep?

He yawns right in the middle of his vows and you almost fall over you’re laughing so hard

Even the officiant, who has tried so hard to be serious up until this point, is trying to hold back a giggle or two

And San is totally worried that he’s made a mess of everything but when he sees your smile?

He knows that this wedding couldn’t have possibly gone any better

Mingi:

He’s gonna trip going up the stairs to meet the officiant

He’s so nervous about messing things up he almost seriously injures himself like fifty times getting ready

Like almost impales himself with the boutonniere, trips, almost slips in the shower, gets shampoo in his eyes, etc.

But everything is okay once he sees you

Couldn’t care less about anything else that had happened or gone wrong that day

Honestly wouldnt even care if the venue burned down, as long as he got to marry you

The boys are totally gonna tell you every detail and mishap from the morning later though

But for now? Peace

He’s smiling that crooked grin of his and his eyes are all twinkly with love

Gives you a big hug when you get close enough and holds you for a solid 20 seconds before the officiant is like “…can we get this going now?”

Awkwardly and reluctantly pulls away from you, kind of pouting but whatever lol

Just happy to be doing this with you and so excited for the future

Wooyoung:

Giggly and loud

Damn near screams when he first sees you

But it comes out as a quiet “oh wow”

Makes the officiant smile because they were the only one who could hear him say it

When you’re standing in front of him he’ll just kind of gasp

And then a single tear rolls down his cheek before he even knows he’s crying

When you wipe it away the witnesses are all cooing at you two

And he chuckles awkwardly and he’ll whisper that he’s not crying his eyes are just sweating

Whatever you say, kiddo

Once the ceremony starts, he never takes his eyes off of you

He doesn’t even know what the officiant looks like lmao

So laser focused on you and he just cant break away

You’re so hypnotizing

And he gets choked up reading his vows, but takes a few breaths and finishes with ease

And when the ceremony is finally over he’s practically racing you down the aisle, excited to get the party on with his new spouse

Jongho:

Strong boy not feeling so strong

He feels small while he’s alone and just waiting for you in front of all these people

The boys are whispering encouraging words next to him

But that doesn’t stop the violent shaking of his hands

When he sees you though? That’s when he stops shaking

He feels strong again

He draws all his strength from you, and that sounds cheesy until you remember you are literally the person he is dedicating his entire life to

Smiling that beautiful gummy smile of his

Holds your hands so gently throughout the entire ceremony and winks at you a couple times to make you blush

Basically, all his nerves dissipated when he saw you walking towards him

Mouths “I love you” to you a million times during the ceremony

When you ask him how many times he thinks he must have said it, he just tells you he lost track

“The officiant was boring me, I just wanted to be married to you. Finally!!”

Scoops you up at the end and carries you out that door

Maintains the strong image until you’re alone when he can bask in the softness of your long awaited marriage

#ateez #Ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho #ateez fanfic #fanfic #kpop #fluff #ateez fluff #ateez reactions #reactions #ateez scenarios #scenarios

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tchallasbabymama · 3 years

Text

Gone

Hey y’all, here’s Chapter 6 of Playlist. Check out my masterlist HERE to read the other chapters if you haven’t already, and check out my other stories too!

CW: alcoholism

Word count: 4894

Two months had passed and T’Challa was still not taking it well. He was still internalizing the guilt he felt for putting Ashanti in harm's way, and it was all he could think about. He felt numb most days, and when he felt anything at all it was grief over losing his love. Whenever he wasn’t working he hid away in his chambers, staring at the walls and playing sad music. Today his favorite song to wallow to was “Gone” by N*Sync. He laid across his bed sipping from a bottle of whiskey with the song playing on repeat as tears ran down his face.

There's a thousand words that I could say

To make you come home

Oh, seems so long ago you walked away

Left me alone

I remember what you said to me

You were acting so strange

and maybe I was too blind to see

That you needed a change

Was it something I said

To make you turn away?

To make you walk out and leave me cold

If I could just find a way

To make it so that you were right here

But right now..

I've been sitting here

Can't get you off my mind

I've tried my best to be a man and be strong

I've drove myself insane

Wishing I could touch your face

But the truth remains..

You're gone..

Baby you're gone

Girl you're gone, baby girl, you're gone..

You're gone..

You're…

He barely spoke to his family anymore. Not even N’Jadaka could get anything out of him on their occasional walks when he would visit from Oakland. The king was a steel trap of emotions, and nobody could get in. His cousin could tell something was off, and began to worry about his health so he and Shuri decided to confront him about it. They knew it wouldn’t go well, but they never expected him to insult their intelligence.

T’Challa had been able to hide his drinking from Queen Mother, but it was hard to get anything past the other two. N’Jadaka had seen friends go down a similar route and he knew the signs, and Shuri had overheard the kitchen staff talking about sending three bottles a night to the king’s chambers. When he was scheduled to leave for a mission with the Avengers she was scared out of her mind that he would get hurt, so right before he left she and her cousin confronted him. He lied to them, for the first time ever, and straight up denied the accusations. Shuri was hurt to her core knowing her brother was in such a bad way that he would stoop so low, but N’Jadaka expected his response. When he left they saw him off as usual, but Shuri broke down in her cousin’s arms after the Talon took off. Ramonda quickly became worried for both of her children when Shuri told her of the burden she had been carrying for her brother. They both internalized too much, and Ramonda had Shuri start therapy immediately. She also had a grief therapist and an addiction counselor on standby for T'Challa's return. She would be damned if she lost her son to his depression.

The Avengers had also noticed a change in T’Challa’s behavior, so much so that even Sam of all people was concerned for him. Thor had tried to lighten the king’s mood with their usual banter, but nothing changed. Wanda tried to regale him with her physics-defying powers to no avail, and Natasha couldn’t get anything out of him in their sparring sessions. Eventually Steve and Sam took it upon themselves to do something, Steve as a friend and Sam as a former counselor.

“Catman, let me holler at you real quick,” Sam interrupted T’Challa’s brooding on the couch. He rolled his eyes, but reluctantly got up anyway. Sam led him into the kitchen, where Steve was already seated at the large table. Sam pulled out a chair and turned it around before sitting and resting his forearms on the back.

“Ok, talk. You’ve been moping around the entire time you’ve been here and you’re bringing the energy down-”

“I think what Sam is trying to say is that we’re your friends and we can tell something is wrong... come on, man, you really think I haven’t picked up on your new drinking habit?” he asked in all honesty before trying to lighten the mood a little. “You know, for a cat, you’re not that sneaky.”

T’Challa closed his eyes and sighed. He had hoped nobody else would notice before he could get it together. When Shuri and N’Jadaka confronted him before he left he lied to their faces. He had never done that before, and as soon as the words left his mouth he was filled with shame and had to leave quickly to avoid them prying any more into it. When he looked out the window of the Talon after taking off he saw his baby sister break down in tears, and his heart broke. He decided then and there that he would stop drinking, but it didn’t exactly work out that way. Here he was, a month later and still no improvement. He was doing his best to keep it under wraps, but for once his best wasn’t good enough.

“Problems at home?...Is it about Ashanti? I haven't heard you mention her in awhile.” Steve continued, trying to get something out of him.

A lump formed in the king’s throat and he nodded before averting his eyes to the table.

“She left me.”

He proceeded to tell them the whole story and watched their faces twist in disbelief.

“Wow, that’s...wow,” Steve couldn’t believe it and his heart went out to both of them for what they went through and for what T’Challa is putting himself through now. “You know, for the longest time I blamed myself for what happened to Bucky. It ate me up inside, but you gotta let that stuff go, man. If not, you’re gonna start spiraling out of control, and nobody needs that.”

“He’s right, T.”

T’Challa and Steve looked at Sam in shock, he never referred to him by his name or anything close to it. It was always “Catman” or whatever cat joke he could come up with at the moment.

“You need to talk to someone before this gets worse,” Sam said in earnest.

He thought back to his mother’s words shortly before he left Wakanda, “I’m worried about you, unyana wam. You have not been your usual bright self.”

T’Challa sat forward, placing his elbows on the table. He decided then and there that he couldn't keep doing this to himself. He was a king, he was a warrior, he was a superhero for Bast’s sake. He couldn’t afford to be a drunken shell of himself anymore, it was going to start catching up to him. He couldn’t keep blaming himself.

“You’re right.”

-------

After the incident, Ashanti moved back in with her parents so they could care for her. Kwame and Binta were over all the time, and Shuri even made a visit to bring her the new pinky she made for her. It took some getting used to how it felt on her hand, but she eventually got the hang of it.

At first, Ashanti was scared to leave her parents’ home, so they found a therapist that made house-calls. It took some time for Ashanti to trust her, but eventually she did and Jamila was able to convince her to go outside for the first time in two months. They stayed in her parents backyard for a few sessions, before Jamila gradually got her to move further and further from the home. After about 6 months, she was able to go to the bazaar on her own. She still wasn’t up for running Taj’s, so she let her new employees Zina and Jafari handle it. So far they had been doing a great job and she wasn’t too worried about getting back to it just yet. She took some time to find herself again, painting for the first time in almost a year and spinning clay at her pottery wheel whenever she felt the need. She caught up on the books she had been meaning to read, and she slowly got back into the habit of running in the mornings.

Ashanti surprisingly had no problem with moving back into the house with Binta and Kwame. She missed the twins more than she could verbalize, but really did need her time away. Eventually, things went back to normal and it was almost as if the chapter of her life that included T’Challa never happened at all.

After a few months the twins pushed her to get back out there and she started dating a River tribe guy she met on her run one morning. She had tripped over a root and ended up falling flat on her face, but luckily another runner saw her fall and came over to help. He was a hot doctor named Zane. After he checked her ankle, he looked up and was captured by her beauty. He asked her out then and there, and three months later they’re still going strong. He was sweet, and smart, and funny, and all the things she wanted in a partner...but he didn't automatically know her favorite flower, and she didn't feel electricity from his touch. His kisses didn’t ignite a flame, just a little spark. He was a great lover, but the passion wasn’t there.

In short, Ashanti was faking it, but she was too scared to break his poor little heart.

Even her parents and roommates could tell she wasn’t really feeling Zane, so they sat her down to talk some sense into her.

“Why does this look like an intervention?” Ashanti joked when she walked into her kitchen and saw her family seated around the table, all looking up at her.

“Because it is, girl. Sit down.” Kwame pulled out the chair next to him and she tentatively took a seat.

“Sithandwa,” Bisa started , “you know we love you-“

“What’s this about?” she cut her off, nervous and ready to cut to the chase.

“Zane.” Binta and Kwame stated, matter of factly.

Ashanti knew what was coming. Each one of them had pulled her aside at some point to have what was sure to be the exact same conversation.

“Honey, you’re playing with that poor man’s heart. We can all see you don’t want him, he’s the only one who can’t.” Kwame reached out and grabbed her hand in his.

Ashanti sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. She hated being called out on her bullshit, especially since it didn't happen often. She knew they were right though, she was wrong for stringing him along.

“He’s a good man, I know, but you both deserve to be with people who want you the way you want them,” Bisa added,

“I know,” Ashanti let out a sigh before hanging her head and collecting herself. “I know, I just- he’s a great guy so I just keep hoping he’ll grow on me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Everyone seemed to look at each other out of the corners of their eyes without Ashanti noticing. They knew exactly what the problem was.

“Nothing is wrong with you, intyatyambo. You are just still in love,” Chidi cupped her face with his hand and she stared at him in shock.

“No, it’s been over a year. I’m past that now,” she tried to dead the conversation before it went somewhere she really wanted to avoid.

“Are you?” Binta asked. “Because everytime you see his hologram on the news you smile a little without even realizing it.”

“And don't forget when you ducked into a random bathroom and texted me panicking because you saw Dora Milaje in the bazaar and thought he might be there.” Kwame added.

“I-I just didn’t want to see him, that’s all.”

“Mhm, then how come when I called you were you primping in the mirror?”

“I was not!”

“Sis…” he gave her the look.

Ashanti hung her head again.

“Fine,” she gave in. She knew why she wasn’t feeling Zane and why her palms still started to sweat when she saw pictures or holograms of him and why her heart almost beat out of her chest that day in the bazaar. She still dreamed of him. Her body still responded to the thought of him. Hearing his voice still sent chills down her spine. She still loved him, but she never wanted to admit it.

“Fine?” Chidi asked as he and his wife shared a hopeful glance.

“Yes, fine, you’re right. Happy?” tears came to her eyes, and as hard as she tried to keep them from falling she eventually lost the battle. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel the loss after the breakup, and it was all catching up to her right there in front of her family.

She sobbed on Bisa's shoulder and Chidi wrapped them both in an embrace while Binta rubbed circles on Ashanti’s back and Kwame held her hand. All four of them were relieved to see her finally come to terms with her emotions. They had been concerned that she seemingly blocked out that whole chapter of her life, not sure if it was due to the trauma or the heartbreak or both. Her time in therapy had focused on getting her through the trauma of what happened to her, and barely even touched her breakup. All she had done was lock her feelings in the basement and throw away the key, but they were still there and just as strong as ever.

After a few minutes Ashanti pulled herself together and looked at the people around her.

“I love you all so much,” she was able to get out through her tears and snot. Chidi grabbed some tissue and wiped her face.

“We love you too,” they all responded.

_______

After that day, Ashanti found herself thinking about T’Challa a little more than usual...ok a lot more than usual. Everything she saw reminded her of him, and it was starting to weigh on her. She still felt the same way about being with him, but she missed him more than she could say. Eventually she got the idea to give him a call. She talked herself out of and back into the idea for several weeks, and one day just said “Fuck it” and pressed his contact on her beads. She never got around to deleting it.

The trilling sound that followed filled her with dread. What if he didn’t pick up? What if she’s blocked or he changed his beads?

She didn’t have time to go too far down that rabbit hole because the trilling stopped and her ex boyfriend appeared in the palm of her hand. They both stared at each other in silence before T’Challa spoke.

“Miss Ashanti, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

She was saddened by his formality but stunned by the smoky timbre of his voice. She had missed it so much.

“H-hi, how are you?”

“I am well, how are you?”

“I’m doing ok.”

“Just ok?”

“Yeah, just ok…” Ashanti trailed off, leading to a long silence between the two.

“Ashanti, is there something you need?”

“Oh, um, no not really. I just-,” she sighed, “You crossed my mind a couple times and something told me to reach out so I did.”

A small smile appeared on the king’s face.

“Just a couple times? I’m disappointed.”

She laughed, a sound he hadn’t had the pleasure of hearing in over a year, forcing his crooked smile to grow larger.

“Ok maybe a few times,” she said, while smiling back.

“But seriously,” her voice softened, “how are you T’Challa?”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up when she said his name, but he wasn’t surprised she still had that effect on him since it happened every time he thought of her. He wanted to answer her honestly, he really did, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her about his drinking problem and stint in rehab a few months ago. He went back and forth on the decision for a few moments before making up his mind.

“I am well now, it has been an uphill battle.”

“I know what you mean,” Ashanti replied before they both just stared at each other in silence for a moment. “Well, I um, I know you're busy, and I didn’t really want anything so I don’t want to keep y-”

“We’re going to be late, baby,” Ashanti was cut off by a gorgeous woman in a red dress entering the room behind T’Challa. She hadn’t even noticed that he was talking to anyone, barely looking up from her beads as she walked back out of the room. T’Challa cleared his throat.

“Unfortunately you caught me at a bad time, tonight-”

“That’s ok! Uh, have fun!” she panicked and ended the call.

“Why would you just hang up like that?” she asked herself out loud before flopping back onto her bed.

After that embarrassment, she doesn't know if she’ll ever be able to talk to him again. Of all the different ways she imagined that conversation going she never accounted for the fact that he could have already moved on to someone else. She knew it was selfish and hypocritical since she had been with Zane, but something about the idea of him with anyone else made her blood boil and tears come to her eyes. She let a couple fall before getting up and going on about her day.

Late that night as she laid in bed scrolling through her social media she came across an article about the king’s 30th birthday celebration on the 9th. It was open to the public, and for a moment she considered going, but then she remembered the silky, high pitched voice emanating from behind T’Challa and decided against it. She’d rather not have to feel that embarrassment in public. Ashanti shut off her beads and closed her eyes, letting sleep take her for the night.

-------

The drummers were extra hype today, playing their hearts out as all of Wakanda danced and celebrated their king’s birthday. As they partied into the early morning T’Challa spent the whole time glued to his girlfriend Tamala, the Mining tribe princess. She had a habit of being clingy and wouldn’t allow anyone else to steal a dance. Around 1 in the morning, he had finally had enough and excused himself to go to the restroom. Making his way out of the venue, he caught the eye of someone he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Kwame?”

“My king,” he saluted T’Challa, but he waved him off.

“Please, you know me.”

“Better safe than sorry. Happy birthday man!”

“Thank you, thank you. Are you here alone?” T’Challa’s eyes scanned the crowd.

“No, I'm here with the usual people,” Kwame said, smirking in the king’s direction.

“So Ashanti is…”

“Over in the back corner avoiding you and the aggressive supermodel on your arm,” he took a sip of his rum punch.

“I can understand that,” the king and Kwame stood there awkwardly, not knowing how to continue the conversation. “It was good seeing you Kwame.”

“You too!”

The two quickly parted ways and Kwame ran straight to his friends at the table they had commandeered in the back. He sat down on Omar’s lap and told Ashanti of his interaction with the king, leaving out that he told him where to find her. Ashanti noticed Omar’s hands make their way around Kwame’s waist and she wished she could feel the king’s arms around her like that one more time.

“I knew I shouldn't have come here, why did I let you two talk me into this? He has a girlfriend already.”

“Because your man knows how to throw a damn party!” Binta slurred a little, very obviously teetering between tipsy and drunk. Ashanti rolled her eyes at her ‘your man’ comment but agreed, looking around at all the happy partygoers. She sighed, wishing she could enjoy herself like they were.

On his way to the restroom T’Challa was stopped by not one, not two, but three separate elders commenting on how good he and Tamala looked together and asking about marriage plans. T’Challa knew the council was anxious for him to get married and produce heirs, but no matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn’t see it with Tamala. She had everything he was looking for, but she was missing a special something. More like she’s not that special someone. She’s not her.

For the rest of the night, T’Challa avoided the elders and slyly kept his eye on Ashanti and her friends. He was mesmerized by her colorful curve-hugging jumpsuit and her natural hair that had grown much longer in the year they’d been apart. Her shoulders seemed to glow and her deep purple lipstick drew his eyes to her lips. His eyes travelled down her body, noticing that she had kicked off her shoes and he smiled fondly, remembering her disdain for heels. She looked up and caught him staring more than once, but he just couldn't stop. Everytime she caught him she’d quickly look away, too embarrassed to hold his gaze. His staring angered Tamala who also caught him staring more than once.

“Do you know her?” Tamala asked with an attitude, standing in his line of vision. T’Challa rolled his eyes because he sensed another argument coming. Tamala was a lot of wonderful things, but jealousy was her worst quality, hands down. He had never been one to have a wandering eye when he was with a woman, so normally her jealousy annoyed him to no end. However, this time he understood where she was coming from.

“Yes, I do. She’s an old friend.”

“A ‘friend’ huh? Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Tamala, please, not here. This is a celebration, try to be happy. For me, please.”

The Mining tribe princess rolled her eyes and stormed off, shoulder checking Prince N’Jadaka on the way.

“Yo, me and your girl are gonna fight fight one of these days. Like, for real,” he said as he walked up to his cousin.

T’Challa chuckled as he sipped some more of his non-alcoholic ginger beer.

“Let's go for a walk in the gardens,” he requested and the prince obliged. N’Jadaka pulled out a pre-roll and lit the tip, passing it to his cousin. “She’s upset because Ashanti is here.”

“Oh! She is, huh? Interesting...I’m surprised she showed.”

“I’m not,” he handed the blunt back to the prince, “she called me the other day. It was a very short conversation but...I still felt something and I think she did too. She looks good, really good. She asked how I had been but I couldn't really tell her the truth... She seems like she’s gotten so much better since the last time I saw her.”

The two walked in silence for a couple minutes passing the blunt back and forth before N’Jadaka broke the silence.

“So you still love her?”

T’Challa didn’t even have to hesitate.

“Of course, I never stopped.”

---------

The next day, Ashanti and her roommates were all laying in the living room nursing hangovers while they half watched an old classic Wakandan movie. Ashanti was sick to her stomach, but she couldn't tell if it was from the alcohol or the sappy love story she was forced to watch. After it was over, Binta pulled up the news and right as the meteorologist finished explaining the upcoming weather patterns, a huge picture of T’Challa and Tamala kissing took over the screen. Bile rose in her stomach as Binta scrambled to change the channel. Before she could, Ashanti heard the anchor say the very words she dreaded hearing, “Could there be a royal engagement on the horizon?”

Binta turned the hologram off altogether, and the three of them sat in silence for a while until Kwame couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are you ok?”

“I will be, it’s just rough right now. I’m happy he found somebody though, they look happy.”

Neither twin wanted to pry so they left it at that and changed the subject to food.

“I’m hungry, but I don’t feel like cooking.” Binta said in a huff, throwing herself back into the couch..

“Mood,” Kwame and Ashanti replied.

“Ooh how about I grab some food from my parents? They’ve been wanting me to stop by,” Ashanti offered.

“Bast bless you, my child.” Binta grabbed her hand and kissed it.

Ashanti threw her shoes on and was out the door in no time flat. She needed to get out of the house and clear her head. They looked so happy…

She was on autopilot when she reached the restaurant, barely even shooting a glance towards Taj’s before immediately heading back home. Chidi and Bisa could tell there was something bothering her, but chose not to pry.

Almost a week passed by with her being forced to see the new “it” couple everywhere she turned. It was starting to get to her so she called Jamila for a session, which turned into Ashanti seeing her on the regular. After a couple more months she no longer felt weighed down by her seemingly unrequited feelings for T’Challa and was genuinely ready to move on. She even downloaded a dating app on her beads and started meeting new people. Nothing really came of it, but she enjoyed herself nonetheless. Ashanti threw herself back into work, mostly focusing on her commissions while her employees handled Taj’s. Princess Shuri had spread the word about the artist after she received her necklace and since then Ashanti’s business had been booming. Everybody from farmers to nobility was knocking down her door for a custom piece. She even made a necklace for Shani, Chieftess of the Jabari. thAll was going well in Ashanti’s life and her therapy sessions were working, so when she saw the news of the royal engagement she allowed the grief to wash over her before shaking it off and going on about her day. On the other side of Birnin Zana, King T’Challa sighed as he watched the media coverage. He knew she was out there somewhere having to see it and he pushed back against the feeling of guilt that often tried to overcome him. He had to do it, though. He had been pushing the council to allow immigration into Wakanda and they just wouldn’t budge, just like he hadn’t budged on the issue of betrothal. It wasn’t until he announced to them that he had plans to marry Tamala that the council started to see things his way. This way everybody would be happy. He would be able to open up Wakanda more to the Lost Tribe, and they would have a queen and hopefully, soon after, an heir to the throne. A week later the news leaked to the press somehow and it quickly became all anyone could talk about.

During his weekly visits to the Merchant tribe T’Challa tended to avoid the Bazaar for fear of running into Ashanti, but this time he decided to venture in. People greeted him as he walked through, perusing the merchandise, and stopping periodically to chat. This is why he loved coming there, everyone was always so cheerful and bright. He had crouched down to talk to a nine year old girl who wanted his attention, and on his way back up he saw a woman in a purple headwrap walking out of a storefront, going in the opposite direction. He would’ve recognized that walk anywhere. T’Challa wanted to call out to her, but didn’t want to embarrass her or start a scandal. He watched her turn the corner and disappear from his sight. The king said goodbye to the little girl and her baba before heading off in the same direction she went, almost leaving his Doras in the dust. When he rounded the corner he stopped abruptly at the absolute vision staring right back at him. She was in shock, obviously not expecting to run into her newly engaged ex.

“T’Challa, h-hi.”

“Hi,” he said back, wanting to kick himself for not being more articulate.

“Um, congratulations on your engagement. I saw the news, well, everywhere.”

“Oh, uh, Thank you.”

“What brings you down here?”

“Just my usual weekly rounds.”

“Oh yeah, I remember those.” She smiled at the memory and his heart thumped a little louder in his chest at the sight. “You always looked forward to Mondays just for that…”

“I still do.”

They both awkwardly stood there, neither one of them saying what’s on their mind.

“Well, I uh, I have to go open up the store. I’ll see you around T’Challa.”

There was so much that he wanted to say, but he just couldn’t get it out. Being in her presence again after so long had him freezing up, something he never did.

She saluted him and winked before turning around and heading towards Taj’s. He couldn’t help but watch her hips twitch as she walked away and something told him she knew he was watching. She did.

Next Chapter

Taglist:

@maddeningmayhem, @theblulife

#cecewritessometimes #black panther fic #t'challa x oc #t'challa #playlist #black!oc

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asian-hero · 4 years

Text

Too Impatient to Wait Another Lifetime (2/3)

A/N: I’m not going to lie, but the reason I didn't post this for a while is because the last one did so poorly compared to my other fics, so I figured that no one would want to read this anymore :(

But I truly love this story, and this is probably my favorite part that I wrote for this, so I wanted to share it anyways :) Welcome to the medieval/fantasy era

Pairing: Prince!Todoroki/Bard!Reader

Summary: The idea of soulmates is often one that’s heavily debated over. Some believe in the idea that there’s one special person out there for everyone, whereas others believe that it’s near impossible for just one person to be your “perfect match.” While you can’t necessarily see if someone is your soulmate, when you finally find that person, you get a feeling of euphoria that you’ve never experienced before. Unfortunately for you, someone must find it hilarious to constantly separate you from your soulmate every single time, in every single lifetime. So, what happens when you realize that you don’t want to wait any longer for your happily ever after?

Words: 8,367

If there was one thing that Prince Todoroki Shouto hated, more than the weighty title at the beginning of his name, more than the isolation he felt from being the heir to the throne, it would be the seemingly pointless balls his father would insist upon.

In all honesty, he knew why his father would put on these lavish events. Since Shouto was the crown prince, only due to a falling out between his father and his two eldest brothers, the fate of the Todoroki lineage had also rested upon his shoulders, and in order to keep their family tree growing, he needed a wife. However, since he was never allowed outside the walls of the castle, these balls were put in place in order to find the most “suitable” wife for Shouto.

Suitable for his father, of course.

So, Shouto would hold his tongue, not daring to argue with his father’s wishes, though he wished nothing more than to just lay low for one night, to at least pretend that he was a normal person, one who wouldn’t be forced into a loveless marriage. Instead, he’d quietly submit to the demands of the King, sitting on a throne next to his mother, watching as lord’s and lady’s danced around, mingling with one another. He did his best to keep in the disgust whenever a prominent lord would step up, their daughter standing behind them, and attempt to sell the royal family on one of their own, as if their daughters were simply tools used to gain an entry into a world they desperately wanted to be apart of. Every single time he’d come face to face with a desperate lord, he wished that he could just give them his status, with no charge. After all, they seemed to want it more than he did.

It was safe to say that Todoroki Shouto hated balls. He found them to be tedious and repetitive.

However, tonight was different.

Not fundamentally, no. Shouto still sat upon his throne, doing his best to look somewhat interested as his father droned on and on about some girl from a dukedom not too far from them. As his eyes drifted from person to person on the dance floor, he found himself pausing when his eyes land upon a woman dancing around while playing the lute, singing a lovely tune that carried throughout the entire ballroom. She was accompanied by a few other musicians, who seemed almost as jolly as she was. Shouto wasn’t quite sure what drew him to her. Perhaps it was her melodic voice, or maybe it was the semblance of freedom that her entire person exuded. She both irritated him and intrigued him, and that mix of emotions was what made his feet move towards you, seemingly not caring to hear what his father had to say for his sudden movement. He wasn’t able to make it far, though, for as soon as he entered the dance floor, he was met with a few women, some of which he recognized belonged to powerful dukedoms, who begged him for a dance. Even as he tried to step away politely, trying to get over towards the bard who captured his attention, they still persisted. He did his best to try and escape them without seeming like an asshole, but it was becoming more and more difficult.

Across the dance floor, singing the last note of the last song before intermission, stood you, a slightly goofy smile etched across your face. Coming down from the high of your latest performance, you quickly gave a bow, though you doubted that anyone noticed, and walked over to your group, giving out words of encouragement and praise, as most of them had never preformed at such a large gathering before, let alone a ball for the King. You laughed along with your group, listening to the newer ones ramble on about how grand the ball looks, how lucky you all were to be in the presence of such high ranking people.

As you continued to converse with those around you, you found yourself looking over towards the sea of people, who had now taken a pause in their dancing, opting to talk amongst themselves. Though they never spared even a glance at you or your friends, nor would they ever stoop as low as to talk to the likes of you, you couldn’t help but feel a sense of warmth at the thought that they all had danced to your music. Not some fancy, uptown musicians that the King could’ve easily hired, but you and your traveling group of musicians. Though you tried not to get a big head about it, you found yourself welling up with pride.

You were so absorbed into your own world that you didn’t notice the group of women hounding a man behind you, slowing inching closer and closer to your group. By the time you finally noticed you were just moving to grab your lute, moving to get back into position, but it was too late. As you straightened up, putting on your smiling persona, you felt someone collide with you, pushing you forward and nearly causing you to trip over yourself. The sound of your lute crashing against the floor was drowned out by the chattering of the crowd, but you could practically feel the anger rolling off of you. Whipping around, you were fully prepared to give whoever bumped into you a piece of your mind, telling them that they owed you a new instrument. However, as soon as you eyes locked with the cold, heterochromatic gaze of the Prince, you found your words catching in your throat.

Rather than giving the long lecture you’d mentally prepared, you instead bowed slightly, doing your best to remember what to do in the event of meeting a royal. “Your Highness, I apologize—“

As you looked up, you found yourself staring at a rather harsh glare from the Prince, one that made shivers go down your spine. Standing back up, you met his gaze, not backing down. In that moment, you could’ve sworn that you saw a hint of surprise flicker in his eyes, but as soon as one of the lady’s beside him spoke, the hint of emotion was gone, and was replaced by the usual cold aura he exuded.

“Oh my goodness, Prince Shouto, are you okay?” One of the women asked, sending you an unamused stare before going back to her mock fretting, “Did she hurt you?”

At the subtle shake of his head, you wanted to snort in response. After all, how the hell could you hurt him? He was the one who bumped into you. Just as you were about to excuse yourself, to escape to your friends who had suddenly disappeared at the sight of the Prince, you heard him clear his throat, signaling that he wanted your attention. Turning back to face him, you gave him a questioning look.

Strutting up to you, he watched you with detached, emotionless eyes, and, for a moment, you felt your normally bubbly and carefree persona disappear. Now, all you felt like was a child who was getting scolded.

“Make sure you watch where you’re going, next time.” With that, he turned away from you, but you weren’t about to let that sit.

“Watch where I’m going?” You asked, making sure that you heard him right.

When he didn’t respond, you felt yourself growing livid. How dare he blame you when he was the one who bumped into you? Even if that wasn’t the case, in the end he was fine, and you were without your lute. Stomping over to him, you pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“I’ll have you know that you were the one who bumped into me,” You hissed, making sure to keep your voice quiet enough to not cause a scene, “Just because you’re some ‘high and mighty’ Prince doesn’t mean that you’re not above an apology.”

Shoving your broken lute into his face, you gave a mocking smile, doing your best to keep your anger at bay. “You owe me a new lute, and I expect that on top of my pay for tonight,”

Huffing, you stormed off to where the rest of your band were, realization of what you just said not quite hitting you. As you went off, your back turned towards the Prince, you didn’t get to see the absolute shock on his face, nor did you see the way he held off the women beside him, telling them that it was fine, and there was no need to cause a fuss over your outburst. Once you were over to your group, you were greeted with the shocked faces of your friends, some of them were focused on the broken lute in your hand, while the others were more focused on you.

“Are you,” One of them started, reaching out a hand towards you, “Are you alright?”

You gave a hum of affirmation, easing some of their worries. “Don’t worry about me, my lute broke my fall,”

Once you were able to calm them down, another one piped up. “What did you say to the Prince? You looked pretty agitated,”

You waved your hand, trying to dispel their worries once more. “It wasn’t that bad, all I said was that just because he’s royalty doesn’t mean that he’s absolved from a simple apology. I mean, he’s the one who bumped into me.”

While your friends continued to stare at you incredulously, you couldn’t help but wonder just what they were thinking.

It took you exactly two minutes to realize what you had just said, and to whom.

Gasping, you put a hand up to your mouth, ducking your head as if that would hide you from the royals. You honestly don’t know what overcame you, all you know is that you were angry because he had the nerve to say that you were the one in the wrong, and that didn’t sit right with you. But now, oh god, you were surprised that he even let you walk away from him, after that outburst you had. While there weren’t stories about any sort of cruelness the Crown Prince had, there certainly were tales of how cold and dismissive he could be, and you certainly didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that.

Moving to whisper to one of your friends, you told them that you needed to leave, preferably at that moment. Having seen what just occurred, they ushered you to the door, telling you that it was probably for the best. So, as you made through the shadows of the magnificent ballroom, you made sure to stay hidden away from any prying eyes, just in case anyone saw their entertainment run away like prey from predator. Thankfully for you, your group seemed to distract all the nobility, playing another song as you left.

Turning around one last time, you found yourself locking eyes with the Prince once more, and, if you were a betting woman, you’d say that he was looking at you with both curiosity and, a bit of regret? It was a bit unnerving, to be stared down like that. However, remembering all of the times you’ve incorrectly guessed when gambling, you immediately crush that idea. There was no way he was looking at you with anything but contempt. Exiting the room, you made your way out of the castle and into the chilly air of the night, praying that you’d never have to see that Prince again.

Unfortunately for you, fate seemed to enjoy toying with you.

A few days after the royal ball, you found yourself in one of the dingiest taverns in the kingdom. While, of course, it wasn’t necessarily the best looking, you had to admit that both the patrons and the drinks were what kept you coming back for more. The unassuming tavern had become a home of sorts for you, somewhere that you could walk in to and be recognized immediately, greeted with a warm welcome. It was quite possibly your favorite place to preform, if not for the company, then because of the tips you’d receive.

Though you still mourned your dearly departed lute, the instrument that had been with you since you first started out, you were thankful to have backup options in case something awful happened. So, as you moved around the bar, singing some tune that lifted the mood of all the patrons, your fingers danced across your lyre, playing a melodic song that captivated all those around you. It was nice to have a change in pace, and although you would’ve much preferred the instrument you were most comfortable with, it was a pleasant change to hear the soft and angelic plucks of your lyre.

Dancing around the tavern, you gave flirtatious looks at the patrons who seemed to have the most money, giving them a wink as they tucked a few coins into the small bag at your side. Continuing to move around, you could vaguely hear the soft click of the front doors opening, indicating that yet another person had entered. Though you paid no mind, as you were wrapped up in your song, with your voice carrying an alluring tune, one that both put life into the bar, and seemingly had every person in there wrapped around your finger. As you turned around, your fingers still moving across the strings, you found yourself eyeing up a person you’d never seen here before.

Their figure was cladded in a black cloak, with the hood pulled up, covering most of their face. The clothes they wore beneath were hard to depict, but from what you could make out, it seemed as though this person was either a thief or a well off worker, as they seemed too nice for the typical patron. Eyes trailing up to their face, you couldn’t really see anything above their nose, but one thing that stuck out to you was the marking on the left side of their face, the scarred flesh stopping mid-cheek. For a brief moment, your mind wondered if the person was actually the prince, though the rational side of your brain told you that the idea was ridiculous, it’d be stupid of the prince to come here, of all places. He’d certainly have a death wish coming here, if not for the thieves who would want to either hold him for ransom, then the common folk who’d want to kill him due to their hatred of his father. However, as your song ended, your eyes finally connected with the mysterious stranger.

A mixed match of steel gray and a cool blue eyes had locked with yours.

Feeling your heart freeze in your chest, you quickly gave a bow to the audience, quickly glancing from side to side to see if anyone else had noticed the dumb prince. When you realized that no one had noticed, you quickly walked over to the hooded man, slamming your hand down onto counter beside him. He seemed startled at your sudden aggression, but as you smiled sweetly to the bartender nearby, he allowed himself to relax, though you could tell that he was still on edge.

“Can I get two pints of ale?” You asked, though it was more of a statement as you threw your coins onto the counter, nodding your head as the bartender went to pour your drinks.

Once you had the two mugs, you looked over at your new companion, nodding your head over to the most secluded area, telling him to follow. Walking towards the table in the corner, you found yourself blocking the prince’s body with your own, making sure that no one else figured out who he was. As you two slid into your seats, you pushed one of the mugs towards him, taking a long sip from yours.

Letting out a long sigh, you put your drink down, crossing your arms across your chest. “What are you doing here?”

He simply looked down at the drink set in front of him, his fingers tapping on the sides of the mug. When he didn’t give you an answer, you leaned in closer, your face certainly too close to be comfortable, especially knowing that the man sat in front of you was royalty. “Not going to answer me? Should I just assume that you were just wandering around town and you happened to stumble into any tavern you could find?”

He shook his head, his eyes finally meeting yours once more. As you continued to look at him with confusion swirling in your eyes, he bit his cheek, figuring out what exactly he should say.

“You said that just because I’m a ‘high and mighty’ prince, it doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t apologize for my actions,”

At that, you could feel your cheeks heating up, the mortification of what you’d said coming back full force. Taking a deep breath, you attempted to calm yourself, putting on a look of pure neutrality.

“So, you’re here to berate me for it? Have me arrested?” You truly shouldn’t have this much confidence, but you couldn’t help yourself. Being in your second home made you feel more comfortable, and you knew that those around you would help you out in a heartbeat.

However, it didn’t seem to be necessary, as the prince shook his head, and it was then you realized that he seemed to have a rather awkward look on his face.

“No, that’s not it at all,” He started, his hands gripping onto his drink tighter, “I wanted to say that you were right,”

You blinked, not quite sure if you heard him correctly. “Pardon?”

“No one has ever been as straightforward as you. I know that I come off as cold and abrasive, and there are times when I truly mean to be. However, I shouldn’t have been so rude to you that night when I was the one at fault,” Staring at you with an all too sincere look, he continued, “So, I’d like to apologize for my actions,”

You continued to look at him with a blank look on your face. It was still baffling to you that, firstly, the prince came to perhaps one of the shadiest taverns in the kingdom, just to apologize to you, and secondly, the fact that he seemed to be an entirely different person that the last time you saw him, even though it hadn’t been long. The prince you saw at the ball was stuck up and rude, but the man you saw before you looked uncomfortable and unsure of himself.

Clearing your throat, you averted your eyes from his, taking in the lively seen before you. “How did you even know I’d be here?”

“I asked your bandmates,” He said simply, as if it were the easiest answer in the world.

Your lips quirked downwards, and you made a mental note to scold them afterwards. After all, what would’ve happened if he wasn’t as kind as he was, then they’d be responsible for ether your banishment or your arrest.

Leaning back into your chair, your eyes flickered across his form, still unable to truly process the person in front of you. While you thought it was sweet of him to come all this way to formally apologize to you, you couldn’t help but think of how stupid he was, wandering around town all by himself. What would’ve happened if someone else were to have recognized him?

Deciding to voice your worries, you spoke, “So, what in the world made you think that coming to the shadiest part of the kingdom all by yourself was a good idea?”

He tilted his head, and it took all of your self restraint to not sigh once more. “I’m not alone,” Pointing towards another cloaked figure hanging by the door, he smiled, “I had one of my trusted knights come with me,”

Before you could even breathe, he glanced over to his side, “Besides, I figured that I should give you this in person,”

Eyes following to where the prince had looked, you finally noticed the rather fancy looking lute sitting by his side, and you felt your jaw drop. Snapping back up to look at him, you gasped.

“Your Highness, I can’t—“

“Shouto.”

When you gave him the most incredulous look, he simply shrugged, taking a sip of his beverage, “We’re far from the castle, there’s no need to call me ‘Your Highness,’ and besides,” he started, a small smirk playing on his lips, “Weren’t you the one who said I shouldn’t bring attention to myself?”

You bit your tongue, doing your best to hold in a smart remark. While it may be true that the two of you are far away from his castle walls, it didn’t mean that you were safe from punishment should he see fit. So, you approached the situation cautiously, making sure that you were clear in your response.

“Shouto,” You started, and you were fairly certain that you could see his eyes light up, “You cannot just show up to give me an expensive lute just because your conscious caught up with you. In fact, you shouldn’t even be here at all,”

You could see his face fall for a second, but before you could even try to soften your original statement, his blank mask was put back on, his lips forming a thin line.

“I came here out of my own volition, only to fulfill a request that you made that night,” Leaning in a bit closer, he raised a brow, “Or do you not remember demanding me to give you a new one?”

Though you usually prided yourself on being able to keep calm in some of the most stressful situations, you couldn’t help the nervous feeling situating itself in the pit of your stomach. After all, it wasn’t every day that you were inches away from the prince’s face.

Taking a deep breath to calm yourself, you spoke once more, “I said many things out of anger, but I didn’t expect you to take that part seriously.”

He didn’t answer you with words, instead bringing the instrument over the table and setting it beside you, to which you immediately pushed it back towards him, your eyes unrelenting. For a few more seconds, the two of you found yourselves pushing the lute back and forth, neither of you wanting to give in.

After what had to have been the fifth or sixth time, the prince sighed, pushing it back towards you for the final time. “I don’t understand why you’re so adamant about not taking it, but you may as well just accept it. After all, you’ll be needing it for the next ball,”

Your head jolted up, eyes boring into his, “Can you repeat that?”

The prince’s eyes lit up once again in mischief, though he did his best to mute his facial expressions. “There’s a ball next month, and I’ve already told my father that you’ll be playing once more.”

“Are you serious—“

“So I suggest that you take the lute and start practicing, perhaps learn a few new songs before the ball,” Standing up, he threw one last smirk in your direction, “Oh, and if I see that you don’t have that lute, I’ll be sure to get you an even more costly one.”

With that, the prince made his way over to his knight, and the two of them exited the tavern, leaving you to wonder just what the hell happened.

So, after a month had passed, and, though you detested it, you learned a few more songs, you found yourself coming in contact with Shouto Todoroki once more. Only this time, rather than being able to blend into the crowd, simply singing and dancing your heart out, you felt a pair of mismatched eyes watching your every move, and, if you were lucky, you could make out the slightest hint of a smile on his features whenever you met his eyes.

Similarly to the last ball, Shouto refused to dance with anyone, choosing to sit upon his throne as he watched the lords and lady’s dance to their heart’s content, and, just like last time, he sat through the multitudes of lords offering their daughters to his father with the promises of alliances that he truly didn’t care for, nor did he need.

However, instead of simply going through the motions, wanting nothing more for the ball to end, Shouto instead focused his sights on you, watching with a small smile on his face as you danced around from person to person. Instead of feeling a sense of resentment towards you like last time, he instead found great joy and entertainment in watching you preform, and he especially enjoyed it whenever the two of you made eye contact, only for you to turn your head, your entire body screaming with embarrassment. Though he wasn’t quite sure why, he could feel his heart speed up whenever you’d give him a subtle wave, a small enough gesture that no one else but him caught. He didn’t know why his face would flush at the sight of you smiling and laughing, or why he wished that he could be the one who made you look like that.

While the prince continued to watch you intently, you found yourself playing your last few songs, your fingers plucking the strings of the lute gifted to you by the stubborn prince. You did have to admit, the instrument he had made for you seemed to be made out of the finest materials, and it had a lovely sound.

As the night grew longer, and you were on your final song, you found yourself growing more bold in your movements, singing even louder and even dancing alongside some of the nobles in the room, whom seem to have enjoyed the show you put on for them. Singing the last few bars of the song, you twisted your body to face the prince, and, with an unfounded surge of confidence filling your body, you gave him a sly wink before bowing to the crowd, taking your leave.

Since you promptly turned around and walked over to your bandmates, you didn’t notice the surprised look developing on the prince’s face. If you’d waited for just a moment longer, you would’ve seen the dramatic shift in color from his usually pale face to a red that could rival the shade of his hair. You would’ve also noticed, had you waited, that Shouto promptly excused himself, an action that wasn’t too unusual for the party hating prince, walking quickly down the steps and out the door in order to reach you.

Just before you could head back into the carriage the King had sent for you, you felt a hand tug at your wrist, preventing you from moving further. Whipping your head around, you made eye contact with Shouto, who also seemed to be just as shocked as you due to his actions. Raising a brow, you stepped closer to the man, giving him a quizzical look.

“Your Highness,” You started, glancing down at where his hand held you, “Is there something wrong?”

At the sound of your voice, Shouto released you from his grip, moving to rest his hands by his sides, “Ah, no, everything’s fine,”

Nodding your head slowly, you took a cautious step towards the carriage, not quite sure if you were dismissed. When you noticed the downcast look upon the prince’s face, you bit your lip, weighing your options carefully. Deciding that you may as well gamble with fate, you spoke up:

“It was nice to see you again, Shouto,” You started, giggling as the prince looked up at you with shock, “Even though it was entirely your fault for this,”

With that, you stepped one step further, grabbing one of his hands in yours and pressing a soft kiss to the back of his hand before waving goodbye, entering your carriage. As you entered, you watched the prince’s face turn from one of shock to one you couldn’t quite read. Just as the carriage was about to take off, with you wondering if you’d insulted him just now, you watched in surprise as he clambered into the seat beside you, shutting the door quickly behind him.

“What are you doing?” You hissed, looking out the window to see if anyone had seen him.

Luckily for you, the only person who had seen the prince enter in with you was your coachman, and you supposed you could pay him off to keep his mouth shut. However, that still left you with the confusion as to why the prince jumped in beside you. As you continued to stare at him for an answer, he began to stumble over his words, something so uncharacteristically charming.

“I—“ He started, immediately cutting himself off as he tried to better answer your question, “Well, I’m not really sure what to say. My body was moving on its own,”

You gave him the most dry look you could’ve mustered, though you couldn’t find it in you to be irritated. Sighing, you leaned back into your seat, raising an eyebrow at the man. “You do know that I could be in serious trouble if you come with me, they’d think that I kidnapped you,”

He giggled at that, a sound that you wanted to hear more of. “Ah yes, the bard and serial kidnapper, (Y/N),”

You weren’t sure why, but the way he said your name made your heart flutter. However, you pushed that feeling down immediately, staring at him with a serious look in your eye. He seemed to understand the situation, opting to speak once more.

“I’m truly not sure why I jumped in, all I know is that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet,” He smiled at you, taking your hand into his, “You make me feel so many different emotions that I have yet to feel,”

You scoffed, yet you still let him hold your hand, “Oh really? Like what?”

“Envy,” He stated simply, before his face grew into an even bigger grin, “Amusement, happiness, and perhaps a few more that I can’t quite describe,”

He leaned in closer, and you felt your throat dry, watching as he simply stared at you. You wanted both to kick him out of the carriage to save face, and to pull him even closer, though you weren’t quite sure which urge was stronger. In all honesty, you hoped that he couldn’t hear how quickly your heart was beating, not wanting him to get an even bigger ego boost than before.

The two of you continued to stare at one another, neither of you making a move until the coachman coughed awkwardly.

“Miss,” He started, his voice catching both of you off guard, “Should we be heading off?”

Looking to the source of the voice, then back at the prince in front of you, you watched as he leaned in closer to your ear, whispering, “I’ve already told my guard to cover for me, I’ll be fine,”

Pursing your lips, you didn’t take your eyes off of the man in front of you as you called out, “Yes, let’s go.”

Rather than having him take you back to your home, you instead had the coachman take you to the center of the city, where the festivities never ended and the two of you could blend in without a trace. Before the two of you exited the vehicle, you quickly shoved off any symbols of royalty that cladded Shouto’s figure. He watched in amusement as you hastily took off his cloak and royal broaches, not bothering to help you one bit. As you sat back a bit, trying to see how he looked, you shrugged your shoulders, figuring that it was as good as it was going to get.

“You just look like a wealthier man,” You sighed, tugging his hand as you exited the carriage, “I suppose that’ll have to do,”

“I am a wealthier man,” He pointed out, waiting for you as you paid a hefty amount to the coachman, hoping that it would buy his silence.

You simply waved your hand, as if dismissing him. Pulling him into the center, you began to show him the many attractions and foods that were in the city. You wanted to show him more of what he never got to see, wanted him to experience more than he ever got to do. Watching him stare in awe of the sheer amount of stalls that were open for the night market made your heart soar, and you couldn’t help but giggle whenever he’d ask you what something was. You allowed yourself to be pulled in every direction, letting him choose where he wanted to go, and what he wanted to try. There was one moment when you lost him in the crowd, being pulled away from his side. You were panicked at first, worrying that someone would’ve recognized him, and then the two of you would be in trouble. However, when you felt a hand intertwine with yours, you felt yourself let out a huge sigh, scolding him gently for leaving your side. He apologized with a cheeky smile, telling you that he got distracted by something.

For the rest of your time in the city, the two of you never disconnected your hands.

As the night began to wind down, you pulled him towards a clearing in the park, finding some space where no one could bother the two of you. Sitting down on the grass, you motioned for him to join you, staring out to watch the river’s current. You could feel his presence beside you, his body emanating a comforting warmth that almost had you leaning into him. Staring out into the horizon, neither of you spoke, instead opting to simply enjoy the moment with one another.

It was surprising to you, just how well you seemed to get along with the prince. Though your first impressions of one another weren’t exactly something to marvel over, you were surprised by just how well your personalities went together. It felt as though you had known each other in another life, as if you grew to care for one another then, and it was flowing over to the present. Though you weren’t one to believe in myths such as that, you couldn’t help but smile at the idea of having known the prince in a past life, and you wondered what you’d done to be lucky enough to meet him once more.

Turning your head to the side, you made eye contact with Shouto, whom, once caught, whipped his head to the other side, a steady blush rising from his neck. Throwing your head back, you let out a laugh at his actions, amused with how he responded. Scooting just a bit closer, you bumped his shoulder with your own.

“Enjoying the view?” You teased, giggling harder when his face became a bright red.

Glancing at you from the corner of his eye, he smiled. “If I was?”

You playfully rolled your eyes, doing your best to keep the heat from rising to your own face. “Can’t blame you, really,”

Shouto let a laugh out at that, tilting his head back at the sound. Once more, the two of you grew silent, with nothing but the far away chatter from the townsfolk filling the night air. As the night grew colder, and the sky turned from a violet shade to a pitch black void, you turned your head to look at Shouto, giving him a sad smile.

“Well, you should probably head back now, wouldn’t want the King to start a war looking for you,”

He scoffed, but nonetheless stood up, extending a hand for you to take. Once the two of you stood up, with you brushing off your lap for any excess debris, Shouto continued to hold your hand in his, not ready to let you go just yet. When you noticed that he was making no effort in leaving, you gave him a quizzical look.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, before deciding to tease him a little, “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to get home,”

Rather than feeding into your teasing like normal, he instead fished for something in his pocket with his free hand, fumbling for a bit before finally pulling out a simple locket, one that you’d been not so secretly eyeing since the two of you got there.

It was by no means an extravagant necklace, it was just a simple gold locket, the shape of a small oval and a chain that went down to your collarbone. You looked from the necklace in his hand back to his face, confusion taking over your features.

“Didn’t I tell you last time that I didn’t want you to go and buy me things?” You questioned.

He nodded, taking his hand out of yours and putting the necklace on you, his hands brushing the back of your neck for a moment longer than they needed to. “If there’s something you should know about me, it’s that I usually don’t comply,”

You huffed out a laugh, doing your best to disguise your flustered state, though you were sure he could read you like a book. “You know, if you keep buying me things, I’m going to get used to it,”

“Maybe you should,”

Before you could even protest, he moved in closer, pressing a kiss to your cheek. It was so soft and his movements were so unsure that you weren’t quite sure that you hadn’t imagined it. Touching the spot where his lips had rested, you looked up at him in shock, though he refused to make eye contact with you once more.

“I hope to see you again, (Y/N),” He spoke, clearing his throat as he began to walk away.

You didn’t let him get far, however, as you quickly tug on his wrist, and as he turned to ask what you needed, you pressed your lips onto his, giving him a sweet kiss. At first, you felt him stiffen beneath you, and just as you were about to move away, to apologize immediately, he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you in closer.

For a few minutes, the two of you simply stood in the darkness, pressing soft kisses to each other’s faces, basking in the glow of your reciprocated feelings. However, you knew that he needed to be back soon, if not for fear of being found out, then because the night was much too dangerous for a royal like him. Reluctantly, you pulled away from his embrace, giggling at his pout.

“You really need to get going now,” You said, brushing his hair away from his face, “You’re sure to be in trouble if they find you missing,”

He sighed, not wanting to move away, but knew you were right. Resting his forehead on yours, he gave you one last kiss, smiling hopefully at you. “So, can I see you again?”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re the prince, you could send your knights to come and collect me at any time,”

When he gave you a flat look you grinned, nuzzling your nose into his neck. “Of course you can, just say the word and I’ll be there,”

Giving you one last bright smile, he finally detached himself from you, his face lit up in pure excitement.

“Then, how about tomorrow?”

Just like that, the two of you ended up spending as much time as you possibly could together, whether it be due to his father hiring you for the balls he hosted, or when Shouto snuck out of the castle to you. Though you couldn’t see each other every day, on the days that you could see each other, it felt as though you’d never even left the others side.

You’d spend your days together mostly exploring more of the city, as Shouto had mentioned to you that, being the heir to the throne, he wasn’t allowed to be outside much. You made sure to give him all of the experiences he wanted, even the simple, mundane ones like going to the local bakery to buy some desserts. Other times, the two of you would simply lounge around outside, with Shouto’s head resting against your back as you strummed your lute, softly singing a ballad you had learned on the road.

Of course, the two of you never really defined your relationship, and, in all honesty, you were afraid to even try to. You knew what you were getting yourself into, you knew that you shouldn’t hold such affection for the Crown Prince, but you couldn’t help it. You couldn’t help the way your heart fluttered whenever he looked at you, how you felt as though you were soaring whenever he touched you, or how you felt as though you were unstoppable whenever he kissed you. Deep in your heart, you knew that this wouldn’t last forever, that he’d eventually have his duties to attend, and you’d simply be a distant memory for him. However, you couldn’t bring yourself to worry about that now. Instead, you simply worried about the smaller things, such as making sure Shouto didn’t hurt himself, or making sure that no one would recognize him.

You didn’t realize just how short your time with him would be.

On a bright, warm, summer day, you waited outside of the castle walls, hidden away from any of the guards patrolling the outside. Today you were supposed to be going on a picnic with Shouto, perhaps just bask in the sun’s rays. It had been a few days since you’d last seen him, since an old friend of the King was coming to visit, and Shouto was to help entertain them. Of course, you’d been understanding of the situation, simply telling him that you’d wait. So, when the day finally came that one of his most trusted knights had shown up at your door to personally deliver a letter from the prince, asking if you’d join him for a picnic, you were quick to agree.

Resting on the wall, you let out a small sigh. He was running a bit late, but you figured that he was probably just trying to find an excuse to leave his father. As you turned around to face the entrance to the castle, you noticed a carriage coming in at the front. You watched as a familiar head of red and white hair popped out of the carriage, making a small smile cross your lips. However, before you could even breathe, you noticed another figure come out beside him:

A rather regal looking woman had stepped out of the carriage beside him, linking her arm in his as she whispered something to him, giggling. As the two were making their way towards the castle, you watched the mysterious woman stare up at him with a look that you knew very well, holding your breath as you saw her pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. You watched as he didn’t push her away, instead allowing her to latch onto him. Humming to yourself, you watched as his eyes wandered around, finally locking with yours, his eyes going comically wide. But you didn’t bother waiting around to see what he’d do. Instead, you simply frowned, making your way back towards the city, deciding that it’d be a lovely day to go and busk in the park.

For the rest of the day, you found yourself seated on the grassy ground, strumming the lyre that you’d exchanged for your lute at home, singing to your hearts content. You ended up making good tips, and you ended up having an audience by the end of your final song. Once you had finished, you bowed slightly towards the crowd, before moving to head back into town, hoping that you could get a drink before heading home.

However, fate seemed to enjoy playing with your emotions.

Just as you were nearing your favorite tavern, you heard a voice call out to you, followed by a hand catching your wrist. Turning around, you found yourself facing a green haired knight, who looked to be out of breath.

“Sir Midoriya,” You started, turning so you could better face him, “How can I help you?”

He took in a deep gulp of air before shuffling through his belongings, eventually settling on a folded piece of paper, handing it to you. Curiously, you slowly opened the piece of parchment, scoffing as you looked at the location Shouto had wanted you to meet up. Folding the note back up, you handed it back to Midoriya, giving him a smile full of venom.

“Sir Midoriya, please do me a favor and tell His Royal Highness that he can go and fuck himself for all I care,” Giving the man a bow, you entered the tavern, only to quickly turn back and add, “Word for word, please.”

As you slammed the door shut, you thought that would be the end of it, though you supposed that was just wishful thinking. Once the beautiful blue sky of the afternoon had turned into a rosy pink color, you found yourself sitting in one of the more seclusive parts of the tavern, watching the patrons of the bar as you slowly sipped on your drink. You weren’t drunk by any stretch of the word, having not really been in the mood to be throwing up your guts the next day, though as soon as you heard the door open, and your eyes landed on a familiar looking figure, you wished that you had been.

You watched as mismatched eyes scanned the crowd, eyebrows raising just a hair when his eyes met yours. Figuring that leaving was no longer an option, you waited for the prince to make his way over to you, wanting nothing more than to get this conversation over with. As he finally sat down in front of you, his eyes boring into yours, you took a long swig of your drink, letting out a sigh as you swallowed.

Setting the mug down, you crossed your arms. “Long way away from home, Your Highness,”

At the sound of his title, he flinched, but he didn’t let that deter him, “(Y/N), let me explain—“

“What’s there to explain?” You questioned, your head tilting in almost a mocking manner, “I get it, you’re a prince. You were going to marry some rich girl eventually, there’s nothing to talk about.”

“(Y/N)—“

“It’s not like we had a chance anyways, it was all just supposed to be fun, right?” You asked, putting on a guarded smile.

He sighed, and you could tell you were getting under his skin. “Would you let me explain?”

When you didn’t say anything, he took it as his chance to go. “I didn’t even know of her until a few days ago. She’s the daughter of one of the most influential Lord’s in the kingdom, and apparently my father made a deal with him, that’s why I’ve been with her,” He reached out to hold your hand, inwardly letting out a breath of relief when you didn’t pull away, “I never wanted this to just be ‘fun,’ and you know that,”

You let out a laugh, though it’s devoid of any humor. “I didn’t think that you were hiding some secret wife, Your Highness, but her being here just reminds me of how different we are. I’m not royalty, and there’s certainly no way that your father would let you be with some random commoner, so is it really worth it to prolong something that’s bound to break?”

“You don’t have to be royalty, I could always,” He trailed off, but you knew what he was getting at.

“Do you really think he’d let you get away that easily?” You asked, and when he didn’t respond you continued, “Besides, you shouldn’t throw away the rest of your life for some random bard, Your Highness. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,”

Pulling your hand away from his, you stood from your seat, giving him a small bow as you walked towards the front door, but not before whispering to his knight to take him back. As you opened the entrance of the tavern, you looked back at the prince you left behind, your heart cracking slightly as you touched the locket on your neck. Smiling, you let the door shut behind you, closing that chapter of your life.

About four months after the last time you saw the Prince, you heard news that he was to marry one of the Lady’s from a dukedom not too far away from the kingdom, one that had a monopoly over some profitable trade routes. Though the King insisted it was a marriage of love, word quickly spread amongst the townsfolk that the Prince was not particularly fond of his bride-to-be, but none of them dared to speak it.

A year later, the Prince had married his “sweetheart,” and you had found another. While you loved them dearly, you still couldn’t deny the hole in your heart, one that longed to be filled, yet would never be completely whole.

One night, when your lover had long since gone to bed, you sat out in the night, letting the cool breeze wash over you. As you looked up to the stars, you could faintly make out a constellation of two lovers, and, as your hand went to touch the locket sitting above your heart, you prayed to any deity that would listen to you, pleading with them to bring you back to your prince in the next life, and that next time, the two of you could finally be happy.

Little did you know, that in a castle not too far away from you, a certain prince was looking at the very same stars in the sky, praying for the same thing.

#bnha #mha #bnha imagines #mha imagines #bnha x reader #mha x reader #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #todoroki shouto #todoroki shoto #shoto todoroki #todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki shoto x reader

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danger-xylophones · 4 years

Text

Family Reunion Chapter 9

{masterlist}

Words: 3653

Notes: Notes: Sorry this took so damn long, I got hung up on writing a particular oneshot that is still kicking my ass. Also, I watched Jojo Rabbit and...I was getting Reader and Wild vibes from Rosie and Jojo’s dynamics. Let’s hope I can keep my melodramatic monkey brain in check so I don’t permanently scar both myself and all of you.

Warnings: Angst time bby get your tissues because I hurt myself writing this, family dynamics are tricky and often problematic especially when one part of said family is clinically insane. PSA: Don’t do this to kids.

In all seriousness, there is some seriously fucked up shit that happens near the end of this installment that, while not abusive in and of itself, may act as a trigger for those who have suffered from abuse or are currently in an abusive situation. I am not condoning this behavior and I am very aware of the nature of what I have written. I repeat, I do not condone this behavior and I promise it will be resolved.

Taglist: @and-claudia // @tararuthven // @aberionart // @noiralei // @pinkiemme // @darthsmol // @zabrak-show // @obi-wan-kanbonemi

<- Previous

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The grip you had on the back of the pilot’s chair was almost alarmingly tight as wave after wave of nausea assaulted your stomach. And your already unpleasant feelings were amplified by the guilty look plastered over Wild’s face as he stood at your side with your other hand in a death grip. You didn’t blame him for the turbulence the three (technically four) of you had encountered upon entering Dathomir’s atmosphere but it was hard to reassure him. In a cruelly ironic twist, your inability to stomach landings and takeoffs was his fault-the effect of having a hybrid child, you supposed. For now, you could just pull him into your side with an arm wrapped around his shoulders as Savage guided the ship.

The turbulence had also disturbed Maul who had chosen to express his discontent in ear-piercing wails. For as much as you loved Maul, you were eager to have him capable of articulating his feelings again if only to make him stop screaming. It seemed that Savage felt much the same way, “Patience, brother.” The yellow zabrak muttered quietly, “We’re almost home.”

You closed your eyes as Savage brought the ship lower and lower, not wanting to see the rust-colored ground that was rapidly approaching. Wild pressed further into your side, his small arms wrapping below your ribs in silent sympathy and you squeezed his shoulder back- a completely wordless conversation. The ship jostled slightly as it landed on the soil of Savage’s home planet. You had to quickly clasp the hand previously on Wild’s shoulder over your mouth to keep the bile from rising. Savage, not taking note of your current crisis, stood from the pilot’s chair to stalk towards the cargo bay. “Should we go with him?” Wild peeped from your side after you regained some control over your stomach. With a shaky nod, you turned around to follow Savage with Wild in tow, stuck to your side like glue. Savage was barely past the threshold before he stopped to observe his deranged brother who was crouched amongst the crates, clawing at the air wildly like he did when you and Savage first found him.

“Brother,” Savage spoke first to which the only reply was ‘Kenobi’ muttered over and over again. “Brother, we have to go.”

Once again, “Kenobi.” and the creaking of crates as Maul moved them using the force to form a barrier between himself and the three of you. You sighed, already able to guess what your next task would be at the same time Savage rolled his eyes.

“Fine.” Savage scoffed with an eye roll, “Stay here.” Briefly closing his eyes with a shake of his horned head, Savage turned his attention to you and Wild. “I’ll speak with Mother Talzin if you two work on that-” The yellow zabrak gestured to the wall of crates Maul had formed prompting you to nod in resignation. Savage clasped a hand on both of your shoulders, stooping down rather awkwardly to do so, before opening the bay-ramp and stalking out of the ship. That left you two with Maul.

“You up for some practice, Wild?” You grumbled as you could tell that you would have your work cut out for both of you. Wild didn’t answer as you scanned for an opening in the barricade. After another beat of quiet from your hybrid child, you spoke again and turned to where you had left the boy. “Wild?” But he had moved away, silently slipping towards the ramp to lean out of the ship. “Wild, what are you doing?” You called and trailed after him before stopping at his side to look out into the murky, red-choked planet.

The young boy was quiet for a little longer as he stared out at his father’s home planet. “I didn’t think Dathomir would feel this...” He finally whispered. His grip tightened on the ramp frame as he leaned out just a little further. “It’s...I dunno, it feels weird.” His saffron eyes which still managed to glimmer in the low lighting flicked to the left and to the right like he was watching something that you couldn’t see.

Slowly, as not to startle him, you lowered yourself to be eye level with Wild and gently placed a hand on his back, between his shoulder blades. “Wild, what is it?” You asked softly, allowing your own force sensitivity to take over.

“Mom, something’s different here I-I can’t pinpoint it.” He was right, something was different. The dark side was strong here and it felt like it was pouring into the ship to culminate around something-presumably Maul. Wild must be picking up on it. You knew he was familiar with what the dark side felt like when in the presence of someone who had aligned themselves with it-he had to be by now given he shared a ship with Savage and Darth Maul. It had to be that this was his first exposure to a planet that was aligned with the dark side.

“Wild, that’s the dark side. Dathomir is strong in it-that’s where the witches get their magicks from, well sort of, at lea-” Wild cut you off, turning so sharply that you were knocked off balance.

“No! It’s not that...it’s...it’s something much worse.” You were struck silent as Wild’s panicked gaze flickered over your features before glancing over at Maul. “We shouldn’t be here, mom.” He shook his head and backed into the ship, his gaze didn’t leave Maul who had gone quiet. “He shouldn’t be here.” You followed Wild’s stare as your brows began to furrow until your own eyes landed on Maul who was watching both of you like a loth-wolf.

“Wild, what are you talking about?” Your voice shook despite your efforts to keep it steady.

“I don’t know.” Wild’s tone was strained, fragile, and fearful. Your son was terrified of something and that just made your distress grow. “I don’t know what I’m sensing but it isn’t good. It’s angry, it’s controlling, and it’s so possessive. Mom…” He turned to you then, latching his arms around your middle to bury his face against your stomach. “I’m scared.” Your heart shattered and you fought the sob that threatened to tear itself from your throat. Your hand flew to the back of your son’s head as you sank to your knees to wrap your other arm around the tiny red boy. He trembled as you held him, trying to will whatever was plaguing your son away.

“My darling boy,...” You whispered and held your son tighter, “My precious son,...” Wild pressed his forehead to the juncture of your neck and shoulder, one of his tiny horns threatening to break the thin skin there. “Gift of all gifts, my baby, and sweetpea,” You ran through all of the names you’d ever given him in the softest voice you could muster, the one you would always use to soothe his numerous nightmares and cries that always robbed him of peaceful nights when he was much younger. “I promise, I won’t let anything hurt you.” You swore in a thin voice, carefully maneuvering to press a kiss to your son’s temple. He responded by curling into you further. “Not here, not out there, not on some distant backwater planet, either. You’re my son, my one constant and I will do anything in my power to protect you.” You placed another kiss on his temple, slowly rocking the two of you back and forth as your words began to seep past the young boy’s fog of fear. Eventually, Wild pulled away from you to sit back on his heels with a sniffle.

“Thanks, mom. I-I’m sorry.” The little boy began in a tiny voice as he, rather roughly, scrubbed at the tear tracks clinging to his face.

“Wild, starshine, you have nothing to apologize for.” You soothed gently as you wrapped your hand around his wrist to pull his hand away from his face so you could delicately wipe away the stubborn droplets of water. “You’re scared, it happens to us all. If you can still find the strength to face that fear, what harm do a few tears do?” A small chuckle slipped from you as you recalled your own journey with crying and emotions in general, my how far you’ve come.

Wild said nothing regarding the wisdom provided in favor of answering with a watery smile and shaky breath. It was still for a moment as your son went about collecting himself and you were more than happy to offer him the silence he clearly wanted. But, where you were willing, the only other person in the ship beside you two was not. Maul, who had previously been watching the exchange soundlessly, was poking his head out from between the crates surrounding him to peer curiously at your son.

Wild sniffled once more and looked up at the unmistakable click-click of his strange spider legs against the durasteel of the cargo hold. The young boy was reacting before you could do anything. “What are you looking at?” Wild roared as he sprung to his feet, startling Maul who growled back and ducked back between the crates.

You were baffled by your son’s reaction. Wild didn’t raise his voice often and in his eleven almost twelve years of life, you had never seen him yell at someone he didn’t know. Thankfully, you regained your composure quickly enough to lay a firm hand on Wild’s forearm. “Be gentle, Wild. He doesn’t quite understand what’s going on.” You rebuked, careful not to upset the carmine boy. He deflated just slightly.

“That doesn’t give him a right to stare,” Wild muttered and turned away from you as you rose to your feet.

“No,” you hummed contemplatively as you brushed some imaginary dust off your legs, “No, it doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean he is in the wrong.” Wild sent you a deadpan look. “Maul…isn’t of sound mind so he’s lacking in decorum. We must act with patience and grace.” You reaffirmed before tiptoeing over to the crates and beginning to move them out of the way.

“You make it sound so easy.” Wild muttered again, raising a hand to try and push one of the boxes using the force. It screeched against the durasteel as he scooted it, making the young half-zabrak cringe.

An airy, nervous chuckle tittered past your lips before you could stop it. “Believe me, Wild, it wasn’t easy to learn.” You paused, two crates hovering just off the floor as you regarded your son. “I am not patient by nature.”

“You’re not?”

“Kriff no.” You snorted, making Wild grin. “But, for better or worse, your father helped me learn.” Your mind briefly flashed through every single argument you had ever had with Maul: from the petty to the severe. Each one, no matter how consequential felt like training for what was to come. Now, after you had raised the boy without his father and were now facing the possibility of getting the love of your life back, every fight felt like a test to build the patience you would desperately need later on in life. Especially now as you gazed down at the pitiful creature your love had become. “We both had to learn or else I don’t think we could’ve worked.” You mumbled under your breath, e/c eyes boring into the crazed gold and vermillion of the former sith lord before you.

The air shifted much like your son as he adjusted his weight on his feet. “What...what do you mean?” He eventually asked in a small, tentative voice.

You sobered up quickly and reached a hand out to Maul who latched onto the appendage, clasping it between both of his hands. “I often went months without seeing your father-our paths kept us separated for so long.” They’d kept you separated even after you left the order and he had been abandoned by his master. “It’s a miracle we stayed together.” You were separated even now. Maul lost to his madness and you tied to his son by an oath you swore the day he was born. “...he didn’t even know I was pregnant with you.”

“What?” Wild breathed out in shock. You closed your eyes, begging for your mind to direct itself elsewhere.

“Hey, wait for me!”

“Anakin, stay where you are. You’ll be safe there.” Qui-Gon’s voice was firm, indicating he was not to be trifled with. And justly so, you were in the middle of a battle. Why they had let a nine-year-old stay with Qui-Gon was beyond you. The boy was just going to get in the way. Though, in all fairness, the council also let a pregnant woman go back to Naboo whilst dealing with a blockade that was apparently engineered by your husband’s master. Force, what a messed up time you were having.

“But I-” Anakin, the little boy from Tatooine that was currently causing you to rethink your whole strategy for hiding your baby’s father’s identity, tried to protest. But one pointed index finger from Qui-Gon and his opposition died on his tongue.

“Stay in that cockpit.” Qui-Gon ordered as you marched past the fighter the boy found himself ‘hidden’ in. You and Obi Wan shared a look that spoke volumes despite how standoff-ish your fellow padawan had been since that damned meeting that had prevented you from explaining your situation to your lover. You had, of course, immediately tried to contact Maul again and again and again to beg him to do something that would give you the chance to slip away and into his arms but every time you were interrupted. It would have been funny if not for the fact that all three of your lives would be jeopardized if anyone found out who had fathered your baby. The final time had been entirely Queen Amidala’s fault as she decided that it would be a grand old idea to go back to her home planet. The star-cherry on top? She had requested you to accompany her. However, you considered yourself clever. You could make this work for you if you played your cards right. You knew Maul was on Naboo, you could sense him-the dark side was unusually powerful on Naboo. The trick was slipping away from the two Jedi accompanying you to go find him. For now, you were stuck marching behind roughly two dozen Nubian pilots, the queen herself, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi Wan Kenobi. You would just have to be patient; wait for the perfect opportunity to slip from their grasps. Maybe you’d take a little tumble over the edge of a balcony or maybe you’d find yourself ‘cut down’ by one of those battle droids? Either way, you’d just have to wait till you could fly to your love...wherever he was on this infernal, though very beautiful, planet.

“Yeah….” You sighed unsteadily as Maul toyed with your fingers. “I was...a little over three months pregnant when I last saw him again...on Naboo.”

“Quickly, Y/n!” Obi Wan yelled over his shoulder as you both raced to catch up with Qui-Gon and the Sith, your Sith. They were rather evenly matched and you could see Maul’s strategy clear as day. If he could separate Obi Wan and Qui-Gon, he could easily take the latter down. The struggle for Maul was being able to land a finishing blow on one without the other moving in to intercept and continue the fight. You did what you could to stay out of Maul’s way while also trying not to make it look like you were running. If you ran and Maul...lost...that wouldn’t look too good for you. You could only blame your ‘slow reactions’ on your pregnancy brain for so long.

To accomplish his plan, Maul was trying to draw Qui-Gon to the reactor shaft where he could use the ray shields to further divide Obi Wan, Qui-Gon, and you. And it worked for as soon as you and Obi Wan caught up, the ray shields went up too; cutting off you and your fellow padawan and Qui-Gon from Darth Maul...alright, admittedly that part probably wasn’t in his plan. You skidded to a halt and just barely managed to grab Obi Wan by the collar before the older padawan accidentally smacked into the ray shield. The four of you fell deathly quiet at the interruption-the only noise to be heard was the deceivingly gentle hum of the harmful shields and the thrum of the five lightsabers currently ignited.

You jumped suddenly as Maul tapped the ray shield with the tip of his lightsaber as though he was trying to taunt Qui-Gon who was just on the other side and Obi Wan sent you a look, laying his free hand on your shoulder. A quiet thank you slipped from your mouth as you bowed your head to him and sheathed the heated blades of your dual lightsabers for a moment, Obi Wan following soon after when Maul did the same.

Carefully, Qui-Gon took a seat on his side of the shield and promptly began to meditate which afforded you the opportunity to meet Maul’s gaze for the first time. He was indescribable. A deep, foreign fury clouded his eyes choking the shining gold with vermillion. His brow was furrowed, a sneer marred his face, and for the second time since your very first meeting, you could clearly see the hatred he held for the Jedi before him. At that moment, he wasn’t your husband. He was Darth Maul. A completely separate being from the zabrak you had come to know and love. You just hoped that he would return to you when the time came.

“Naboo?” Wild asked, slowly approaching. You didn’t look away from Maul as he clung to your hand a little tighter.

“Kenobi, Kenobi!” Maul suddenly started to growl and his nails began to dig into the back of your hand. “Far above, far above, we don’t know where we’ll fall!” The zabrak’s eyes stayed trained on your feet as he started to pull on your arm as if trying to climb up it. “Far above, far above, what once was great is rendered small!” He then proceeded to burst into tears.

“What is he talking about?” Wild sighed in agitation and stepped up to stand right next to you. Maul’s crying ceased for a moment as he turned his head towards Wild.

“Not a clue-ow!” You were cut off as Maul’s grip grew exponentially tighter.

“Kenobi, Kenobi!” Maul pressed in a growl.

With an exasperated sigh of your own you nodded and began trying to loosen the zabrak’s grip. “I know, Maul, I know. Kenobi. It’s his fault-will you let go?” The words hissed through your teeth before you were aware of them.

“Wait, you know the ‘Kenobi’ he keeps talking about?” Wild snapped his attention to the side of your face as you continued to try and pry Maul’s hands off of your arm.

“Yeah...he’s the padawan that went with me to Naboo and the reason Maul was...y’know, thought dead.”

“As in...Obi Wan? You told me that he was the one that killed my dad...on Corellia during a riot that dad was trying to suppress.” You froze. Wild continued. “You told me that Corellia was the last place you saw him. Not Naboo.”

“Corellia, Naboo. What difference does it make if he’s supposed to be dead?” You muttered under your breath. Your free hand came up to pinch the bridge of your nose as the other flexed into a fist.

“A lot!” Wild yelled and you jumped. Slowly, beyond startled by his outburst, you turned your attention away from Maul and to the little boy at your side. “It makes a lot of difference.” He hissed, small red hands clenched into fists at his side. You could only stare at him with wide eyes. “Mom…” He took a steadying sigh and flexed out his hands. “Mom, what’s going on?” Wild asked with wide, sad eyes as he reached out to grab your arm.

Maul roared and leaped at him, his unoccupied hand reaching to claw at the young boy who gasped in shock and stepped back as you barely had enough time to maneuver between Wild and Maul. He pulled up short. You finally wrenched your arm free from his grasp.

“What the kriff is wrong with you!” Wild growled back from behind you as you both backed away from Maul. Said zabrak growled again and began to puff up.

“Stop it!” You commanded. Maul took a step closer. “Stop.” Another step, you two backed up. “I said stop!” You raised your voice at Maul as he took another step. Dreading what you knew you might have to do, you raised your hands. “Maul,” another step, the dathomirian’s gaze zeroed in on Wild, “I told you to stop!” You summoned your strength and sent a hard shove through the force to Maul that sent him skidding backwards:not enough to topple him but definitely enough to get the message. His real legs collided with the crates he had previously hidden behind and the former Sith toppled end over end over them before landing with a startled cry. You collapsed, curling in on yourself at the guilt that already gnawed at you. Trembling, you turned to Wild who had watched on with wide eyes and clung to the back of your tunic and pulled him into a hard hug. “I’m sorry.”

“Well,” a new voice unlike anything you’d heard before echoed all around you and seemed to penetrate your body to go straight to your heart, carving a cold and fearful path wherever it went. You looked up and before you, at the end of the ramp to the cargo hold was Savage, “What do we have here?” and Mother Talzin.

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#darth maul #clone wars #tcw #star wars

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messiisgodibeliveinhim · 3 years

Text

Just Another Rant

Okay, so why do NCTzens have a hate boner for Taeyong??? It's so f*cking weird, it doesn't make sense.

Taeyong has been under NCTzens' microscope since his debut. Everything he does is dissected and twisted into something its not. No other member of NCT or any group (except maybe Jennie from Blackpink) is treated this way by the group's fans. NCTzens want Taeyong to be the villain so bad, that they're willing to stoop as low as dehumanizing, body shaming and wishing d3ath on him. NCTzens dislike him, some even hate him and they're not very subtle about it.

Now, I'm not saying all NCTzens are TY antis. I have moots on Twitter who dont stan him, but are incredibly respectful towards him and acknowledge his talents and hardwork. If you're one of them, then this rant is not about you. But i will say this, if it isnt all NCTzens who anti Taeyong, it's most of them.

It started with Lines and Screentime distribution for NCT songs and mvs. Now, i agree that Taeyong used to get a little more lines and screentime than the others at first. But instead of calling out SM, most of you targeted Taeyong saying he deliberately stole the said lines and screentime from his members so that he'd get to shine more..... Really???

Next, when he was announced as a member of SuperM, NCTzens were clearly upset it wasn't Johhny or Jaehyun. Do you wanna know why??? No, they didnt talk about talent. Instead, they wanted Jaehyun/Johhny instead of Taeyong because SuperM is a group targeted at the western audience and Jn & Jh knew to speak English better than TY..... Okay.

And it keeps getting worse.

-NCTzens saying that TY goes into the recording studio to record his solo songs, by LOCKING OUT the rest of NCT, so that they wont get to record their solo stuff.

-That TY is SM's Golden Boy cuz he 'gETs a LoT of SoLO pRoMos anD cENter TiMe', completely refusing to understand what 'SOLO PROMO' means or see how overworked and mistreated he is by his own company.

-When TyongFs praise TY about anything, NCTzens always, ALWAYS insert their faves in the post. Like, go make your own post maybe???

/Trigger Content

-NCTzens saying that TY dances like he has a sq*irrel in his pants, raps like d*g, looks like a skeleton etc etc. And these are just mild stuff i mentioned here. NCTzens are so much worse when it comes to body shaming and dehumanizing him. And when we call them out for it, thay have the audacity to say that its a JOKE and we're STUPID for not having 'A Sense of Humor'....

/End of Trigger Content

-NCTzens saying that TY's main dancer/main rapper/main visual/leader/center positions should go to their faves cuz their fave 'iS So mUcH beTTeR aT TheSe pOsiTIOns'. Yeah.... sure..... NCTzens rarely talk about the positions other members have , but are really obsessed with Taeyong's.

-NCTzens still denying that Taeyong is NCT's leader and that he's really good at it. Just yesterday, a Wayzennie (also a TY anti) started spewing sh*t about Taeyong's leadership. And their arguement??? That they have 'lEAdeRsHiP eXpEriEncE iN UnI, WoRk aND ouTsIDe wOrK' and that makes them an expert about leading a 23 member global kpop group, who had a rough start what with their controversial 'unlimited' concept and experimental songs. Sure, Jan.

(Also, the thing where some Wayzennies are still not accepting that TY is the leader of whole of NCT, cuz Kun is WayV's leader..... Seriously, though its not that hard to understand. Kun IS and WILL remain the leader of WayV, a 7 member group. That's a fact. But when the subunits (127, Dream and WayV) come together for projects (ex: NCT 2018 and NCT 2020), Taeyong becomes the overall leader. But since these Wayzennies are still on their WayV not being part of NCT agenda, they're simply ignore this. Go figure.)

- Oh, but when some other member in NCT messes up, it suddenly becomes Taeyong's responsibility cuz 'HE'S THE LEADER'. Funny, how NCTzens change narratives quickly. Also, weird how, according to NCTzens, NCT members suddenly can't think for themselves even though they're grown adults and need Taeyong to take the blame for them. Haha.....

-Also, NCTzens guilt tripping TyongFs from canceling NCT Beyond Live tickets when they got to know that he was injured and wont be participating in the concert a little too late, cuz "Taeyong, as a leader, would be sooo upseeet that his group wont be getting TyongFs' money and he'd feel sooo guiltyyy that y'all are getting refunds of your OWN money that YOU CHOSE to spent and its not my business at all. But damn, y'all are sooo selfish!!!!"

-NCTzens posting about how overjoyed they are that TY is injured cuz that means their faves get to shine..... "Look how MY FAVE killed TY's part" "MY FAVE ate Taeyong up" "Should've put MY FAVE in the OG line up instead of Taeyong" "MY FAVE made TY's part as his own" "Thank god, MY FAVE got to show off his talents, now that Taeyong isnt here". God, if i were one of the Neos whose fans say sh*t like this, it would've felt like a slap to my face. Honestly, tell me, do y'all really think so low of your faves? Do you really think they cant shine even with TY being on stage? They absolutely can, but you're focus is not on them, is it? Way to embarrass yourself.

-NCTzens blaming Taeyong for NCT's slow rise to fame because of the false rumors/allegations pinned on him by nasty people. They say Taeyong was the sole reason for NCT not being liked by many, not because of their confusing/complicated concept or the music. Yeah, you heard me. NCTzens are not above victim blaming and pointing fingers, cuz they are not ready to accept the fact that Taeyong was the one who carried the group on his back all the way.

-And how they can't stand the fact that TY gets praised by proffesionals or non-fans or locals. A dance analyzer analyzed 127's Kick It and at the end stated that Taeyong was the best dancer in 127. And what did NCTzens do. They bullied the analyzer to the point that they deleted the video, just cuz their fave was not named the best. A reactor reacts to Taeyong's Long Flight and the comments on the videos are along the lines of 'Hey, MY FAVE'S also has a solo song too. You should definitely react to that' or when they're tryna be subtle (but not really), they go 'Taeyong is soo good but you should also check out MY FAVE'S blah blah blah'

Hell, even when TyongFs say 'Taeyong is very so creative, by coming up with BDLI Jungle Gym concept and the MAW chandelier thing. He's literally an Idea Bank', and NCTzens go 'All the Neos are idea banks' in the same post.

When TyongFs say 'Taeyong is the really so handsome. NCT's main visual', they go 'All the Neos are main visuals'

Lmao, just 3 days ago, someone commented 'Taeyong is cute' under a tiktok video and an NCTzen just couldn't help but fume about it and went 'All Neos are cute'🙄

Like seriously, this is sooo annoying. Make your own goddamn post about the rest of NCT, ffs! Why do you to insert anyone else in a Taeyong tweet? Literally, can't let Taeyong have a moment for himself.

-Recently, Taeyong released 2 solo demo tracks on SoundCloud- Dark Clouds and Dark Clouds Remix (check it out here: https://soundcloud.com/eh_ovo_taeyong). And NCTzens being NCTzens started those who never even promoted Kun's SoundCloud before started promoting it under every TY tweet on the same day. Now, i don't have a problem with them promoting Kun's SC. But they could've done it any other day or made their own tweet about it. But doing it under every TY promo tweet and on the very same day? Really??? And some of them had the audacity to say that TY was getting free clout from Kun cuz Kun followed him on SC.....😑😑😑

-NCTzens have this weird belief that TY is getting solo promos and is being pushed by SM. What on earth are they talking about? Taeyong being center, main rapper and main dancer of the group is not solo promo. Him being in SuperM is not solo promo. Him opening Instagram and SoundCloud is not solo promo, but self promo- which means HE'S promoting himself, not SM. Solo promo is usually provided to the artist by the company in the form of photoshoots, accepting brand deals, releasing the artist's solo music etc and SM isnt doing sh*t for Taeyong. All they're doing is overworking him and milking him for money. That's it. And i want NCTzens to understand that.

And the list goes on and on and on. This weird hate boner NCTzens have for Taeyong is so bizarre to me. All Taeyong does is sing, rap, dance, talk cutely, take care of his fishes and play games with Baekhyun. And this somehow gets NCTzens mad. They constantly discredit him, try to make him seem less than what he actually is, insert everyone else when someone is talking just about him, make him seem like a villain by twisting his words or actions and making it into a big deal.... *sigh* Its so unbelievable how low NCTzens can stoop. And it gets tiring real quick.

N E Ways, this is everything i wanted to rant about and damn, this turned out to be too lengthy. Now, if you havent followed Taeyong on his Instagram, please do @eh_evo_nct. Stream Long Flight, his one and only solo station. And please look forward to BaekhyunxTaeyong collab on Taeyong's SoundCloud.

Ciao!

#lee taeyong #taeyong #nct 127 #nct

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chickensarentcheap · 4 years

Text

Best Part of Me -Chapter 67

WARNING: Profanity

Tagging: @innerpaperexpertcloud, @c-a-v-a-l-r-y, @alievans007

“I think you’re reading too much into this.”

They sit in Anil’s home office; away from the distraction of chattering and giggling children and the curious ears and eyes of the team of staff that linger in the halls and busy themselves with numerous daily tasks. Rage and disgust overrule any existing emotion, and Tyler finds himself with a powerful, all consuming need to hunt every last one of Mahjan’s men down himself and then kill them as slowly and painfully as possible. His stomach still churns and bile still burns the back of his throat, and he’s unable to get the images of the previous night’s horror show out of his head; brought back by the confirmation of his worst possible fears. Even though he’d suspected what Mahajan’s men would do to both him and his family, it’s still a difficult pill to swallow, And he’s having a difficult time both controlling his temper and wrapping his head around just how sick and twisted some humans can actually be. That someone would ever harm a little girl and a baby in such fashion. And not just any little girl and baby, but HIS,

“I think I’m reading into it just fine,” he retorts, as he drops into the chair in front of Anil’s desk. Grunting and grimacing as he removes his arm from the sling; brief reprieve from the tight, secure confines.

He frowns at the pins and needles that hamper his hand; attempting to clear them away by repeatedly opening and closing his fist. It’s far more than just a simple separation or even a partially torn ligament or tendon. The overall weakness from his wrist to the tips of his fingers is a near permanent fixture and the pain and discomfort extends far beyond anything he’s ever felt before in that shoulder. And the constant agony he’d been living for years prior to being jumped four nights ago had been bad enough.

“If anything,” he continues “you’re not reading into it enough.”

“Nathan? You think it's Nathan?” There’s a smirk tugging at the corner of Nik’s mouth and an almost amused glitter in her eyes. It doesn’t help with his current mood; adding more fuel to the already raging fire that threatens to consume him.

“You said there was a mole. That there’s someone feeding Mahajan information. That…”

“What I said…” she interjects. “...is that I was worried there was a mile And if the information that came back was what I needed to prove it, I’d let you know.”

“Been over a week. Where is this information?”

“It’s forthcoming.”

“Pretty fucking slowly, don’t you think?”

“These things take time, Tyler. They don’t happen overnight.”

“Seven days,” he points out. “You’ve had seven goddamn days. I’m not asking for a miracle here. Do you have something for me or not? I don’t have time to fuck around.”

That smirk again. Playing on her mouth as she looks him up and down, eyes taking in the bad shoulder and fucked up knee and the multitude of bruises that cover his neck. “Seems like you have a lot of time on your hands right now.”

His jaw clenches. “Where we at, Nik? This isn’t a fucking game. I’ve got a lot on the line here. I have EVERYTHING on the line. So quit screwing around and wasting my time. You have information or not?”

“Nothing concrete. More hearsay than anything.”

“Is there anything you CAN tell me? Because this isn't a joke and I don’t have time to fuck around. Look at me…” he nods down at the arm that he rests across his chest and the brace on his knee. ‘...look what they managed to do to me. You think anyone else stands a chance against them? They fucked me up. And they’ll do worse to anyone else that gets in their way.”

“I can tell you that it’s NOT Nathan.”

“You got proof? That it’s not him?”

“You have proof it is?”

“Why are you so quick to defend him? You haven’t even bothered to listen to the proof I have.”

“What’s in your head is hardly proof, Tyler. What evidence do you have? And I’m talking about solid evidence, not just you trying to fit round pegs into square holes so it fits your agenda.”

“My agenda? I don’t have a fucking agenda. Mahajan’s people know where my family is, and now that I’ve dropped completely off their radar? It isn’t going to take them long to put two and two together. They’ll show up here.”

“So let them. They won’t get far. Not with the amount of firepower we have. Where does Nathan come into this? What does he have to do with any of it? He’s missing. Did you forget that? He’s dropped off the face of the earth. No one’s heard from him.”

“And you don’t find that weird? That he went missing the night everything went to hell? You don’t see anything strange about that? That he vanished into thin air? AFTER things went to shit?”

“You mean after he got the job done for you?”

“Oh I’m sorry,” Tyler scoffs. “I’m sorry I had a hard time getting shit done while someone was choking me and drugging me and planning on taking me somewhere to torture me and eventually kill me. I am so fucking sorry that all of that got in the way. Why are you so quick to defend this guy?”

“Why are YOU so quick to condemn him?”

“Maybe because the little bastard was supposed to have my back that night. He was supposed to be watching my ass. And look what happened. Look how close someone got to me. Way too goddamn close and now they’re really pissed because their plan didn’t work and they’re going to come for me and they’re going to come for my family. Do you know what was said? What one of the guys told Anil? About Esme and the kids?”

��Tyler...” Nik sighs heavily as she takes a seat behind Anil’s desk. “...those are nothing but empty threats meant to scare you. To get you off your game.”

“Empty threats my ass,” he snarls. “Look at me. Look at what one guy managed to do. You know what they would have done to me; it would have lasted for days, weeks, maybe even months. And now I hear...for sure...what they have planned for my family? You know what they’ll do to my wife? And my girls? Millie is six. Addie’s a baby. And they’re going to do some sick and twisted shit to them. So don’t sit there and try and convince me that the threats are empty when I damn well know they’re not.”

“And you think Nathan is somehow involved because…”

“Did you know he told Anil and his guys that I said to stand down?”

“Did YOU not tell them to...and I quote…’get off my ass’?”

“I told them to stay out of my way. I said that right to Anil. But I said shit to Nathan. Why would I? He means fuck all to me. I’m not telling him to tell Anil and his people shit. But that’s what said; that I said for them to stand down and that he had my back and that’s all I needed. You know me, Nik. You know how I work. How I am. If I’ve got something to say, I say it to someone’s face. I don’t need a messenger.”

“I’ll give you that much,” she concedes. “But maybe it was something you said to Nathan. Or around him. Something he took out context and ran with.”

“Holy fuck…” Tyler gives a dry, incredulous laugh. “...you’re blaming this on me? You’re his fuck up on me? You’re saying I somehow caused that asshole to get a hold of me? You’re putting that on me? You’ve got to be shitting me right now.”

“This is personal to you. VERY personal,” she reasons. “I’m just thinking that maybe it’s so personal that you acted out of character. That you’re not in your right frame of mind and that you could have said something to Nathan that he misunderstood or…”

“I didn’t say shit to Nathan. And you’re right; this is very personal. Which is exactly the reason why I WOULDN’T fuck up. Because of everything I have to lose. I’m not going to screw up when it’s my entire life...my entire world...that could be taken from me. You really think I’m going to fuck when it’s my wife and my kids being threatened? Get your head out of your ass, Nik. Or should I say get your head out of Nathan’s,”

She frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re so quick to defend him. I can’t help but wonder why. Something you’re not telling me? I thought he quit working for you ‘cause he said things were going to shit and and that you were running the operation into the ground. Weird that you’re sticking up someone that said all of that. Unless….” a smirk slowly spreads across his face. “....holy shit...none of that was true, was it? That wasn’t the real reason he quit. You fucked him. Literally.”

“Tyler...I never…”

“You just can’t stop dipping into the company ink, can you. You got a merc kink or something? Me? Him? Gaspar, even? Who knows how many others. We’re good enough to fuck but that’s about it, huh? We can’t give you the fancy shit or all the toys your rich old men friends can give you. You like fucking the hired help.”

“You’re a real class act, you know that? Stay classy, Tyler. Once in the gutter, always in the gutter when it comes to you.”

“That’s rich. Considering you spent how many years trying to ruin my marriage so I’d come running to you? What? I guess I was the only you were willing to permanently slum for.”

“In the end I let Esme have my sloppy seconds, didn’t I?”

He smirks. “Nik, you don’t even come close to being anything like her. You can have all the money, all the class, all the rich, high profile friends and she’s still a hundred times better in every way. And she’s still my wife and that still burns you ass, doesn’t it.”

“That’s how low you’re willing to stoop? That’s how far into the gutter you want to go? You asked me to come here; to help keep an eye on YOUR family. A family you put in this goddamn mess in the first place. Had you not been so selfish seven years ago and kept your dick in your pants…”

“You may be banging Nathan, but he fucked me. Royally. I know it was him. It all adds up whether you want to admit it or not. He just disappears after what happened to me? Vanishes into thin air? If he was dead...if Mahajan had him killed...we’d hear about it. In the same way we’d know if they had him. Do you know where he is? Has your little friend kept in contact with you?”

“Of course not,” she snorts. “I’d never keep that a secret.”

“Naww, you’re just keeping the fact he’s dicking you down a secret. You don’t want people to know you’re banging a low life merc, yeah? Where is he Nik?”

“I have no idea.”

“I don’t believe you. I think you know exactly where he is. And I think you know he fucked up the other night and you’re wanting to keep that quiet. Because you know if I find out it’s true, I will rip his head off and shove it up his ass. I will fucking torture him in ways that will make Mahajan look like a rookie. Where is he?

“How the hell should I know? I’m just as concerned as everyone else. He’s gone; vanished into thin air just like you said. No one has heard from him, no one has seen, no one can get a hold of him, Yaz is having no luck tracing his cell or his SAT. And you know what? You know what you haven’t given me? You haven’t given me one ounce of proof that he’s the mole. So if you’re not going to give me anything…” she pushes her chair away from the desk and stands. ‘“...we’re done here.”

“Sit down,” he firmly orders.

“I’ve got better things to do than fight with someone who is making absolutely zero sense. When you calm down and you get your shit together, come find me.”

“Sit down , Nik.”

“You can’t boss me around, Tyler. Esme may get off on your being like that, but…”

“I said sit down!” he snarls, with enough ferocity in his voice and rage in his eyes that it takes her by surprise and deflates her ego. Lips set in a thin, stern line as she returns to her seat.

“Nathan told Anil and his people to stand down so I’d be vulnerable,” Tyler says. “He knew what was going to happen; he knew Mahajan had sent someone to try and grab me. He’s probably the one who told them where I’d be.”

“It could be anyone who knew you were there.”

“It all adds up,” he insists. “Him taking off after the job was done and then dropping off the grid, him telling Anil that I didn’t need anyone else watching my ass. You don’t think this all comes together and that I haven’t given you the answers you need? You don’t think it’s pretty fucking obvious?”

“The only thing that’s obvious is that your head isn’t on straight. I get it; this is extremely personal and you want someone to blame. You want someone to go after. You’re pissed and you’re hurting and you’re…”

“I am way beyond pissed. I am so far PAST pissed. He told them where I’d be. Told them the weak spots to go after. You can’t tell me that this is all a coincidence.”

“I can, actually.”

He gives a derisive snort and shakes his head. “Wow. Must be some dicking down he’s giving you if you can’t see it. You’ve had one week to come up with something when it comes to this mole bullshit. Yet you have nothing and you still won’t acknowledge what’s right in front of you. All because you’re fucking the guy? Are you kidding me right now?”

“Everything I’VE discovered, does NOT lead to Nathan.”

“So you have found something out. And you weren’t going to tell me because…”

“Because I told you that you’d be the first to know if I had solid proof. I don’t have that yet.”

“You know what, Nik? I don’t have time to wait. My family is in danger. They will take my wife and my kids and they will do fucked up things to them. They will torture them and they’ll make sure I know all about it. I don’t have a single fucking minute to waste. What do you know? Who is it? Who you THINK it is?”

“Tyler, I don’t want to put this on you until I have it. IF I have to. I want clear cut proof before I bring this to you. You have enough going on without adding this to it. You need to get back on your feet; spend time with Esme and the kids. Try and relax.”

“Try and relax?” He laughs. “How am I supposed to do that? How am I supposed to relax with my family when all I can think about is what Mahajan and his people will do to them. My wife, my kids. Especially my girls? How the hell am I supposed to kick back and relax knowing what they’re going to do to my family if they get the chance.”

“You don’t need this on your plate,” Nik insists. “You don’t…”

“How about let me decide what I can and can’t handle. Tell me. Tell me who it is. Because I’ll kill the bastard with my bare hands.”

“Ovi,” she says simply.

Tyler shrugs. “What about him?”

“Ovi,” she firmly repeats. “The mole. It’s Ovi.”

“Bullshit,” he growls.

“All signs point to me. I am so sorry. Tyler. I’m…”

“What signs? What the hell signs could possibly point towards him?”

“He’s been in contact with his father,” she begins. “That’s how this all started.”

“Yeah, Mahajan wanted him to take over the family business. Ovi refused to and the old man couldn’t take no for an answer and he’s been hounding him since and stepped up his game. I already know all of that. It’s why Ovi wanted into the game; he thought it would protect him. And us.”

“I don’t mean what you already know. I mean that he’s been in contact with him since coming to Mumbai.”

“No,” Tyler shakes his head. “I don’t believe that. There’s no way. No way in hell. He wants nothing to do with his old man; he’s wanted nothing to with him since he was fifteen and Mahajan let us take him. He doesn’t even want any ties to his old life or even India itself. I had to practically drag him onto the plane to get him here. There’s no way he’s going to go and see his old man.”

“I have the prison logs,” Nik says. “For the past week. Ovi’s signed in over a dozen times since he got here.”

“There is no way, Nik,” Tyler vehemently argues. “There’s no way he’s gone there. He has no reason to go there. I don’t give a fuck what those logs say; he wouldn’t do it. And he definitely isn’t a mole.”

“Tyler, I know what the logs say and they say he’s been there. A couple of hours at a time. And Yaz said he disappears for while after dinner and...”

“He’s been hittin’ the gym. I set up a workout schedule for him. To keep him sharp and to get him stronger and bulkier. He has not been to the prison. And I can’t believe you even think that about him.”

“What I think is that this hits close to home and that the kid means a lot to you. And I get it. I do. The two of you are very close. You’ve been taking care of him for six years now. But…”

“It goes beyond that. It hasn’t been just taking care of him. We’ve given him what he wanted. What he deserved. A family and people who actually gives a shit about him. I love that kid like he’s my own. But I’m not defending him just because of that. I KNOW him. I know what he’s like and how he thinks and how he acts. And I know how much he loves Esme and the kids and he would never do anything to hurt them. Yeah, he does some dumb shit and makes some stupid ass decisions and I could have fucking killed him over wanting to get into the job. But when that kid loves, he loves huge and deep. And he wouldn’t do anything to put Esme and the kids in danger. That’s not him. That’s now who he is.”

“The evidence speaks for itself, Tyler.”

He smirks. “Evidence? You call THAT evidence? That’s way less than what I have on Nathan and you were quick to dismiss me. You have anything to back those logs up? What about videos? Pictures of some kind? Prison has security cameras right? Did you check those?”

“Security cameras in the visitors area, the office, and the hall that connects the two haven’t worked for years.”

“How fucking convenient, huh?”

“It’s a very poor prison,” she attempts to reason. “It's rundown and it’s over crowded and it gets little to no funding from the government.”

“So you have nothing but his name written down in a visitor’s log a few times?”

“More than a dozen times,” she corrects.

“A few, a dozen, I don’t give a shit. That’s all you have on him?”

“I know how upset he got when Anil mentioned killing his father. That he was very emotional and overly defensive.”

“Do you really blame him? Yeah, his dad...his REAL dad…is a first class dick. But that doesn’t mean the kid wants to hear someone come right and talk about killing him. I mean, my old man is a complete prick and there’s many times I’ve wanted to beat the shit out of him myself. But it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be upset if someone else said it.”

Nik says. “Tyler, I know the two of you are close. Way too close to look at this objectively.”

“It’s not Ovi. I know right to my very soul that it’s not him. He would never do something like this to me. And he especially wouldn’t put Esme and the kids in harm’s way. You don’t know him like I do.”

“Which is why I can look at this objectively and you can’t.”

“And you fucking Nathan means you can’t look at him objectively,” Tyler counters. I am telling you, Nik. It is NOT Ovi.”

“And I’M telling you it’s not Nathan.”

“Because you know so much about the guy, yeah? Everything you need to know about him is based on how well he fucks. I’ve raised that kid for almost six full years now and I gave him a family and a decent life and he felt loved for the first time in probably...I don’t know...EVER. He babysits my kids; he kept them safe during the whole Michael McMann bullshit. I trust him with their lives. And I don’t trust many people and you know that.”

“You’re putting too much faith into him. He can’t help how his life was before or who he was born to. And if seven years ago you’d left him like I told you to…”

“We’re done,” Tyler says, wincing as he stands. The pain is especially bad since the rain; the dampness aggravating the arthritis and causing every inch of damage to his body -both new and old- to throb and tighten. “He’s a good kid, Nik. A damn good kid. And it’s not him. He’s the last person who would fuck me over like that.”

“But the logs..”

“Fuck the logs!” he snaps, a hand on the door knob. “Fuck the logs and fuck you for throwing that kid...MY kid...under the bus like this.;”

“I should say the same to you about Nathan,” she shoots back.

“Don’t even compare the two. One of them is a kid that I’ve been raising and loving for six years. The other one just has the dick you’ve been sucking for months.”

“I’ll find proof,” she says, as he throws the door open. “That it’s him. Ovi.”

“Yeah, and I’ll believe it when I see. You find Nathan, Nik. Or I’ll find him myself and the end result won’t be pretty. Because if I find out for sure that it IS him, I will kill him with my bare hands and I’ll throw his body at your feet. Don’t fuck with me, Nik. I find out that you know where he is and that you’ve been protecting him? You’ll regret the day you ever met me.”

****

She wakes to an empty bed; stirred by both Addie’s soft yet persistent whimpering from the nearby cradle and incessant nausea. It’s been on and off all day; smells and tastes she normally enjoys instigating it and the mere sight of food causing the queasiness to settle in and the burn of bile to find the back of her throat.

One hand blindly reaches for that thick, strong body alongside her, eyes snapping open when she finds nothing to cool, empty sheets; barely wrinkled or disturbed. After his meeting with Nik, he’d spent the remainder of the evening doting and loving on the kids; even more affectionate and attentive than usual. It had taken some getting used to on his behalf; growing comfortable with both giving and receiving affection; a lifetime spent with an abusive father that viewed things as even the smallest of hugs or a ruffle of the hair as weak and pathetic. The last time anyone had shown him love and allowed him to give it in return had been his mother; letting him be the sweet and sensitive but often overcompensating for her husband’s neglect and behaviour. Even his ex wife had viewed it as ‘less manly’; a husband that showed emotion or expressed his feelings or showed even the smallest and most innocent form of intimacy. It’s a hard thing to get past; always expected to be the strong, stoic one and often ridicule for showing even the smallest crack or chink in his armour.

It had been a powerful struggle of sorts between them. A husband not used to being tender and patient and affectionate finding himself with a wife that desperately needed -and craved- all three of those things. But he’d come around; each little one brought into the world softening him and breaking down the walls he’d long ago built around his heart. Afraid to love too much; knowing the immense sense of love and grief that comes when you lose someone that had been such an enormous part of your life.

Through one of the bedroom windows she sees him sitting in one of the lounge chairs; hair messy from sleep -or his attempt at it-, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and hands tightly clasped together. His eyes are downcast; both shoulders tense and his jaw tightly set. Despite the good front he’d put on with the kids following his chat with Nik, she had easily seen through it. Recognizing the way his eyes would darken and his face would harden when the littles weren’t paying attention. And it would quickly pass; all tension and fear and worry fading -yet tears shimmering in his eyes- when he’d hug them as tightly as their bodies would allow. The hurt is deep. All consuming. His already weary and bruised and battered mind plagued by so many worries and fears.

She obliges Addie with a diaper change and then scoops her out of the cradle; loving the warmth that radiates from that little body, the soft smell that clings to her hair and skin and her sleeper, and the she settles her little face in her chest and immediately begins rooting for the breast. Growing angry and agitated when comfort and sustenance isn’t provided right away.

“Okay Little Miss Impatient,” Esme coos, and then drops a kiss on the top of Addie’s head as she pads across the room. “You’re not going to starve. Mommy won’t let that happen, I promise. You just have to learn to wait. You were only fed two hours ago.”

She shoves her feet into a pair of sandals that sit at the end of the door, and then with hand holding Addie tightly to her chest, opens the balcony door with the other.

“What are you doing out there?” she asks, and he doesn’t look up and in her direction until she speaks. “You okay?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Didn’t want to keep you with my tossing and turning. How come you’re awake?”

“Someone decided she needed to eat again. She definitely has your appetite. And I’m nauseous as hell. Why do they call it morning sickness when it lasts all damn day? And what is up with your spawn that they’ve all made so sick? I haven't had one pregnancy where I haven’t felt like I was dying.”

Tyler pulls over one of the extra chairs; setting it beside him and then lightly curling his fingers -instinctively and protectively- around her upper arm and guiding her into the seat. “I’m sorry, babe. I would have taken care of her. I didn’t hear her with the door closed.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to always be the nighttime person. You’re allowed a shift off every now and then,” she teases, then presses a kiss to his scruffy cheek before unfastening the first four buttons on one of his old dress shirts; boasting many holes and frayed cuffs but serving as a decent nursing top. “She’s getting very demanding. A little diva already. And so dramatic. Like her big sister.”

“We knew that was going to happen.” he says, then shrugs out of his hoodie and drapes it over her shoulders. Pulling it around her slender body, effectively covering Addie in an effort to keep her secure and warm despite the cool breeze that the earlier rain showers had brought along with it. “Want me to get you something? Something to eat? A drink?”

“I’m okay. But I do appreciate you always wanting to spoil me.”

“Gotta take care of my girls, yeah? Well two out of three, anyway.” He lays a palm on the side of her head, gently pulling it towards him and then pressing a kiss to her temple; hand dropping to her shoulder.

“You couldn’t sleep?”

He shakes his head.

“Bad dream again?”

“Can’t even get to sleep,” he admits. “Spent two hours just lying there. Thinking about shit.”

“What kind of shit?”

“Shit you don’t need to know about, trust me.”

“But it’s about the dream, right? It’s not that you can’t sleep. You don’t want to. You don’t want to have that dream again.”

“You really DO know me well.”

“I know what your worst fears are. And how your brain likes to exploit them and torture you. This isn’t the first time something’s affected you like this. Probably won’t be the last, unfortunately.”

“It was way worse this time. That shit that went on it. About you. About the kids. Especially about Millie and Addie.” The breath he exhales is tormented and shaky. “I can’t get it out of my head. The shit they would do to the three of you.”

“I know it’s easy for me to say, but try not to think about it. Don’t let it take up space in your head. We’re safe here. With you. Nothing like that’s going to happen. You won’t let it.”

“What if I can’t stop them? What if they come here and there’s nothing I can do? Look how just one of them fucked me up. How the hell would I stop half a dozen? A dozen? More?”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” Esme reminds him. “There’s a lot of people here that have your back. And stop doubting yourself. What happened the other night has no bearing on the things you can do. I know what you’re capable of. And even all banged up and bruised, I’d still trust you to protect us over anyone else.”

He shakes his head. “You have way too much faith in me.”

“Faith. Confidence. Trust. I have all those. And they’re always there. Because I know you won’t back down when it comes to protecting us. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do and no limits or boundaries you won’t push. Do you think any of the people here actually care about us? We’re just money to them. A paycheck. We’re way more than that to you.”

“You guys are everything to me. My entire life. My entire world. There’s nothing I won’t do to keep from losing that.”

“I know. When you love, you love huge and deep. And you’re fierce and you’re strong in that love and that’s how I know everything is going to be okay. As long as you’re here. I’m not worried about a goddamn thing. Other than you of course.”

He grins. “I knew that was coming.”

“You need sleep, Tyler. You can’t keep pushing your body’s limits like this. Especially when you’re not healthy. You need sleep and you need to eat better and you need to stop beating yourself up mentally. Because I hate seeing you go through this. I hate not being able to help you.”

“You DO help me,” he assures her. “More than you realize. It’s the only place...you’re the only person...I feel safe with. You’re the only that I can trust. You’re the one constant in my life; I know you’re going to be there even if I’m a fucking mess and I’m falling apart. I just know you’ll be there. That I can count on you and that you won’t think I’m weak or pathetic even if I do feel that way.”

“Baby…” she places a hand on the back of his head, nails lightly scratching at his scalp. “...you’re far from being weak and pathetic. The FARTHEST from it. You’re so strong and you’re brave and you’re resilient and you’ll stop at nothing to keep us safe. What happened that night was just a setback. That could have happened to anyone.”

“I’m not just anyone.”

“You’re not invincible, Tyler. You’re a human being. Let yourself be one. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t screw up. You’re not slowing down and you’re not slipping. These things just happen. And you’re here and that’s all that matters. That you’re okay. Anyone else would have given up. But you don’t know what it is to give up.”

“I couldn’t give up. I didn’t want to leave you. Or the kids. If it was seven years...before you...before US...I probably wouldn’t have fought it. I wouldn’t have given a shit. But all I could think about the other night was you and my kids and how I wasn’t ready to let that all go. I especially wasn’t ready to let US go.”

She gives a teary smile, then kisses his cheek and the corner of his mouth. It takes her breath away. How a man that is so big and so powerful...intimidating even…can be so gentle in both his words and actions. That someone who is capable of inflicting brutal punishment and immense pain, can love so deeply. She doesn’t know what to say in response; if he even wants or expects her to say anything. Instead she leans into him; his arm tightening around her as she rests the side of her head against his chest. And neither of them speak for several long minutes. Enjoying the breeze and listening to the rustle of the trees and the soft, happy noises that Addie makes as she feeds.

“She keeps eating like she is, she’s going to start packing on the weight,” Esme remarks, as she moves the baby to the other breast. “Not that that’s a bad thing. She needs to. She is way too small.”

“You’re just used to them being bigger,” Tyler reasons. “So she’s tiny; nothing wrong with that. You’re tiny. I could pick you up and put you in my pocket and carry you around. Like one of those yappy dogs rich women put in their purses.”

“Excuse you! Did you seriously just compare me to a yappy little dog?”

“Well you ARE very chatty.”

“I’m a social being. I like people. You knew that when we met; you knew I was chatty. And you...Mister Anti Social...put up with it. Not only did you put up with it for five days, you’ve put it with it for almost seven years. You married me. You’ve put five babies in me. Now six! So either you’re a glutton for punishment or you secretly enjoy the way I am.”

“Nothing secret about it. I love everything about you. Even when you’re talking my ear off first thing in the morning and I haven’t had coffee yet.”

“You can be such a grumpy bastard in the morning.” she declares. “But you’re MY grumpy bastard. And I have to confess; sometimes I’m extra chatty just to annoy because your snoring pissed me off so bad during the night.”

“That’s okay. I purposefully annoy you sometimes just because you’re so cute when you’re annoyed.”

“Baby, you’re such a sweet talker. And people say romance is dead.”

He grins, then moves his hand up to the side of her head and presses a kiss to her temple.

“And you’ve been very sappy the last couple of days,” she adds. “Not that I’m complaining. You’re just not usually so ‘out there’ with things.”

“The other night scared the shit out of,” he admits. “Made me think about how if I do die, I don’t want you wondering how I really felt about you. About us. I’d rather you know all of that. Just in case.” His eyes are downcast one again; jaw tightly clenched. And he places a palm flat against the bottom of one Addie’s bare feet and then lightly tickles her heel and each toe.

“I already know,” Esme assures him. "I see in your eyes all the time. I hear it in your voice. You say enough without words, believe me. And nothing is going to happen. We’re going to be fine. All this is going to get settled and we’re going to go home and go on with our lives. And I’m going to get fat and gross. Thanks very much for that, by the way.”

“You’re beautiful when you’re pregnant. I mean, you’re beautiful ALL the time. But when you’re having a baby? MY baby? You’re incredible.”

“Goddamn you are so biased.”

Tyler grins. “Maybe. Doesn’t mean it’s less true,”

She smiles, then turns her face into his and presses a kiss to his mouth; long and soft and sweet. Eyes remaining closed when his fingers gently knead the back of her head and his lips find her brow; lingering there for several seconds. It’s pure and so beautiful...so loving...that once against tears fill her eyes. The thought of how she’d close she’d come to never again experiencing these small moments of intimacy just too much to bear.

“What are you doing under there, little peanut?” He peels back the edge of the hoodie and peers underneath. “You tell mommy that’s okay to be tiny as long as you’re healthy. That’s all daddy cares about.”

“Look at the way she looks at you,” Esme says, as Addie immediately stops feeding and flashes a broad smile. “Daddy is definitely your favorite, isn’t he? Not that I blame you, he’s my favorite too. You and your sister are going to have so much power over him. Millie with her blue eyes and you with your big brown ones. He doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Daddy is sitting right there,” he speaks up. “Daddy can hear you.”

“Even she thinks rainbows shoot out of your ass,” Esme scoffs, then removes Addie from the breast and readjusts her shirt and the hoodie. “Look at her. It’s like she thinks you shit glitter and unicorns.”

“I remember when YOU used to look at me like that.”

“I still do. I still think you’re the sexiest man on the face of the earth. How can I not? Eyes like that and an ass like that? No one comes close to you, honey.”

“And here I was thinking you fell in love with me because of my boyish charm and sparkling personality.”

“Yeah...no...sorry. It was definitely the eyes and the muscles and the ass. And your face didn’t hurt either.”

“Mommy only wants me for my body.” he says to Addie, then takes her from Esme’s arms; a hand on the middle of her back as he settles her against his chest.

“You’re so good with her,” Esme praises, then lays a hand on his stomach and her head on his shoulder. “I’m glad it was you that knocked me up all those years ago, just so you know.”

“Yeah, I’m glad it was me too. Things have turned out pretty good for us.”

“They definitely have. She’s so beautiful. They all are. I certainly picked the perfect baby daddy. I think I’ll keep you for the long haul.”

“Good. ‘Cause I sort of want to stick around for...I don’t know...the next forty, fifty years.” He squeezes her hip as his hand rests upon it, then kisses the tip of her nose. “Thank you. For her. For all of them. For us. I know it hasn’t been easy.”

“No. It hasn’t. But it’s been worth it. Every single second and every single hard and shitty time. It’s been worth it. YOU’VE been worth it.”

“Now you’re going to make ME cry.”

“That’s okay. You’re beautiful when you cry. You’re beautiful all the time. But you’re extra pretty when you cry.”

Tyler frowns. “I’m going to let you have those only because I have my little peanut with me and she doesn’t need to hear the language that’s ready to come out of me.”

She laughs at that, then places a kiss on his shoulder and rubs his stomach. “What’s going on in that beautiful mind of yours?”

“You really want to know?”

Esme nods.

“Nik’s a cunt.”

“Jesus!” Her eyes widen as she looks up at him. “That escalated quickly.”

“Sorry. I know you hate that word. But that’s what she is. I told her about Nathan. About being pretty sure he’s the mole. She said it was all in my head. That I was reading too much into things. That my brain is just fucked and making me think that there’s shit going on.”

Esme snorts. “Nice to see it didn’t take her long to get back on her bullshit. Why do you even involve her in anything? It always ends up like this. Her trying to manipulate you and make you think you’re crazy. She’s never going to change, Tyler. And I regret ever thinking she could.”

“I think she knows more than she’s letting on. I think she might even know where he is. That she’s trying to protect him because she knows I’ll fucking kill him.”

“I knew it. I knew she was fucking him.”

He chuckles. “How’d you know that?”

“Women know these things about other women. She knew I was fucking you. In Dhaka.”

“In all fairness, the entire team knew we were fucking in Dhaka. We were staying in the same room for five days. It probably would have surprised them more if we DIDN’T fuck.”

“She really loves banging the hired help, doesn’t she. She’s got a thing for mercs?”

“Apparently. Her old rich friends can’t get it up so she relies on one of us to get the job done. She basically laughed it all off. Said I was imagining things. That I’m ‘reaching’ because I’m looking for someone to punish.”

“Well for what it’s worth, I thought your argument for Nathan as the mole was pretty sound. It makes sense. You’re not a stupid man, Tyler. Far from it. What’s your gut telling you?”

“That he’s either the mole or he’s playing some part in all of this.”

“Is there any way to prove it? Some way you can find out for sure?”

“Do you have any contacts with the Corps still?”

“Maybe...why?”

“Think you could pull some strings? Dig into his past?”

“I think I could try.”

“Would you? Try? For me? Please?”

She nods.

“Thank you.” He presses a kiss to her forehead. “You won’t believe who she does think is the mole.”

“Right about now, it wouldn’t be a surprise if she said it was me.”

“I honestly would have lost my shit if she even suggested it. Ovi. She thinks it’s Ovi.”

“Ovi?” Esme can’t help but laugh. “Ovi as in OUR Ovi?”

Tyler nods.

“What the hell? Why would she suspect him? Of all goddamn people.”

“She thinks he’s been in contact with his old man.”

“We already know he is. Mahajan’s been trying to get him to take over the family biz. But that doesn’t mean he’s a mole. That’s ridiculous.”

“She says there’s proof he’s been to the prison a dozen or so times.”

“Proof? What kind of proof?”

“Visitor logs, apparently.”

“Anyone can sign someone’s name. It probably happens all the time. Is there actual confirmation of this? Security cameras, witnesses that saw him?”

“I didn’t ask about witnesses. But she said most of the prison doesn’t have working cameras.”

Esme snorts. “How fucking convenient.”

“That’s exactly what I said.”

“I can’t believe she suspects him. Of all people. Ovi is not a mole. He’s a good kid. Well, young man now. But he’s a good person with a good heart. He’d never do anything like that to me or the kids. Look at what he did for us; during the whole McMann thing. He took our kids...all four...and kept them safe. He wouldn’t do that and then turn around and do something like this. She’s way off bases. You don’t believe her, do you?”

“What? No. I don’t. She doesn’t know him like we do.”

“Because you have that look on your face. The one that says you’re questioning something. Don’t do it, Tyler. Don’t let her in your head. We both know that Ovi wouldn’t do something like this. He loves you. He idolizes you. And he’d never...ever...betray you like that.”

“I wish I could get a hold of him. Talk to him. But I don’t want to draw any attention to him either. It’s better if I just lay low right now. Stay off their radar.”

“Do you want me to call him?” Esme suggests. “Because I don’t mind getting to the bottom of all this and proving Nik wrong. I know you have to fly under the radar, but it doesn’t mean I have to. I’ll do it. You know I will.”

“I think it’s better if we BOTH fly under the radar for now. At least until I’m back about eighty percent. Just in case.”

“Okay,” she reluctantly agrees, then shrugs out of the hoodie and drapes it over Addie. “But I don’t mind stirring the shit pot.”

Tyler grins. “Oh I know you don’t.”

“Like, fuck her for throwing him under the bus. Ovi would never do something like this. We’re his family. We’re his parents. He’s always said that. That we didn’t make him, but we’re still his mom and dad. He loves you way too much to ever hurt you. You know that, right?”

He nods.

“Don’t let her in, Tyler. She’s done it too many times before. Don’t let it happen. Okay?”

He nods and manages a small smile. “Okay.”

“Now come to bed.” she encourages as she stands. “It’s really late and I hate sleeping alone.”

“I can’t sleep. I just can’t.”

“At least close your eyes and try and rest. Even just a little? Please?” She pushes her hair off his forehead. “You can’t go on like this. Not sleeping. Your body will give up on you eventually. We need you better and back on your feet. And that won’t happen if you don’t get some rest.”

“I don’t want to close my eyes,” he admits. “ As soon as I close them, all I can see is the shit from that dream. What those fucking asshole do to you and Addie and Millie.”

“Okay...no...stop…” She stands behind his thighs and takes his face in her hands. “...stop that, Tyler. Stop torturing yourself like this. Because I’m right here and your baby girl is in your arms and Millie is asleep and safe in her room. Don’t do this yourself. Please don’t.”

“I’ll try.”

“Come to bed,” Esme insists, and pecks the bridge of his nose.

“I’ll be in a little while. “I’ll…”

“I said come...to...bed…” she speaks in between kisses to his lips, then captures the bottom one between her teeth. “...now.”

“Oh…” he grins. “...you mean come to bed in THAT way.”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” she confirms, then takes Addie from him. “I’m going to put her in the nursery and then I’m going to wait for you. I’ll give you ten minutes. You’re not inside by then, I’m staring without you.”

“I might want to see THAT.”

“I’ll indulge you if you don’t keep me waiting,” she promises, then disappears inside.

#tyler rake #tyler rake fan fiction #tyler rake fan fic #extraction #extraction 2020 #best part of me #chris hemsworth character

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one-leaf-grimoire · 4 years

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“a deer in the crosshairs” (1/??)

Welcome! I love pain! That’s why I’m publishing the first two chapters of my long-awaited Grey Deer fic right now. Enjoy, and please give me some feedback through inbox/comments, I really need it so I know what I need to improve. Thanks!

Synopsis: After a traumatic attack, a member of the Grey Deer realizes that someone on her own squad is out to get her. Out of all the people she considers her friends and comrades, two of them committed a brutal crime, leaving her in a paranoid, frightened state. Why would they do this? Why her? What is going to happen now? Among all the fear, she knows there's at least one person she can trust: her very own Vice Captain, Julius.

The Clover Kingdom is known for its balmy summers, temperate falls, and forgiving winters. I just so happened to be born in the dead center of one of those winters, on the coldest, most unforgiving night of that year. It wasn't like that made a difference, though. My mother was warm and well-cared for within our large house, heated by mountains of blankets and a crackling fireplace. She was the daughter of a wealthy landlord, and my father was born into nobility. We had it about as good as it could get.

When I was five years old, my parents took me to visit the castle for the first time. I had no idea what was going on, but it was fun to dress up in a frilly dress and be doted on by servants. We met an important-looking man and his family, which included a boy maybe 4 or 5 years older than I am. He had dark hair slicked back into a little bun, and two cold grey eyes that I could never bring myself to look into very deeply.

"So, did you like Prince Lawrence?" my mother asked me on the way home, palpable excitement in her voice. I just nodded a little as I sucked on a lollipop my father gave me to keep me occupied. The truth was, I had said maybe 2 words to the boy before avoiding him the entire time. However, my mother was pleased. "Good! It's very important that the two of you get along."

I didn't know it at the time, but as far as nobles went, we were on thin ice. My mother's once-wealthy father went out of business shortly before his death, and my father's family told him he was a disgrace for marrying into an unstable financial situation. I don't blame them for choosing the one viable way out of their situation... even if that solution ended up being none other than little ol' me.

What was the solution, you ask?

I was to marry into the Kira family.

Lawrence Kira was a distant cousin of the king, but he was close enough to royalty that it would have us set for life. Back then, I didn't really care. It was decided long before I started to care. I was supposed to marry him when I turned 18, but that plan was postponed when I let my friend Alice convince me to take the Magic Knights Exam. I didn't really know what to expect, but my magic is as potent as it gets, despite being a "cut-rate noble," as some people called us. Lucky for me, a few captains raised their hands, and I chose the one I knew was the best.

And so, seven years later, here I am, celebrating the coming of the new year with the Grey Deer.

"Hey, you, refill my mug, will'ya!?"

I quickly push away the empty mug that's shoved into my face. "Ah, no, I'm not your servant, Nigel," I tell the boy. "I'm older than you, anyway!"

Nigel sticks out his tongue but doesn't push the subject, mostly because he's barely conscious right now as it is. Everyone's been drinking all night, but Nigel obviously doesn't hold his beer so well.

"Aww, we got a little baby, don't we!" Two of the older knights, Margery and Wren, walk over to flank the boy, who looks between them a few times. "You're 20 aren't you? I could down 20 beers in a row when I was 16!" Margery cackles cruelly. She's a beautiful woman who's usually nicer than this, but tonight seems to be making her rowdy.

"Margery, be nice," I scold lightly, being careful not to sound impertinent. She's several ranks above me, after all. However, the liquid courage is going straight to my head. "Not everyone was an alcoholic at 16!"

Wren's bloodshot eyes widen while Margery's face contorts into an over-exaggerated expression of rage. "Are you trying to insult me?!" she screeches, grabbing the collar of my cloak. I know better than to resist as she pulls me so close that she practically spits on me. "Another word, and I'll shove a thousand pearls up your little-"

"Ooh, you're gonna fight?" a booming voice calls. We both look over to see none other than Captain Hervey himself addressing us from the head of the table, sipping wine from a goblet. He's a tall man with blonde hair that spirals up in three big spikes, and a goatee that he never stops toying with. He's got a rather boorish personality, and can be accidentally mean without realizing it. It's not his fault; he's just really good an unintentionally hurting people's feelings. "Everyone, the showdown is finally happening!"

A few people hoot and holler at the announcement. We're a squad of sixteen people, yet we make this room feel like it's thronged with a huge crowd. The Grey Deer are known for their efficiency and elegance in battle, but when we're drunk we resemble the Crimson Lion Kings very closely. Sixteen people, yet not everyone is here. My friend Alice is off on patrol by herself tonight and visiting her elderly mother, so she isn't here to join in with the festivities. So, we're fifteen members tonight...

Wait. There's only 14 people here. Who's missing, other than Alice?

"Are you even listening to me?!"

I'm shaken (literally) from my thoughts by Margery and snap back to attention. "I'm your senior, and I'll fight you right now to prove it!"

"Ah! Actually, I'd rather not!" I hold up my hands to plead with her. "I don't want to use my magic inside!"

Margery practically growls like a feral animal. "Then... let's go outside!"

"Are you crazy? It's snowing cats and dogs out there," Giles, a knight who's my age and joined at the same time as me, observes. Out of the trio of me, Alice, and Giles, he's usually the more logical one. "Just settle it some other time."

It's not worth pursuing any longer, so Margery finally lets me go. "You're on thin fucking ice-" she warns me before returning to her seat. I sigh and shake my head. She's not going to remember any of this tomorrow morning anyway.

Giles sighs and takes another bite of his food. There's more than usual tonight, since it's a rare holiday and all. "How much longer until midnight?"

"Another hour." Elia, my roommate, yawns a little, gazing over at me from across the table with tired eyes. "I don't think I'm going to last that long."

"You have to! It's New Years!" Nigel insists, giggling as if he just told us the funniest joke the world has ever heard (news flash: he has not done such a thing). "It's the only time of year we can slack off like this."

"Ooh, that reminds me..." I wince before looking back up at the head of the table. The seven senior knights and the captain reserve that section for themselves, then the intermediate knights like myself get the middle section. At the opposite end is the "kids area," for all the junior knights. We have four of them right now, two of them being brand new recruits. "Captain, do we have to work tomorrow?"

"Ah... I guess you have to." There's a loud groan from all parts of the table at this news, and Hervey slams his goblet on the table loudly. "BUT! You didn't let me finish!" he roars. "You don't have to get up until 10, how's that?!" He smirks to himself as we all agree, of course.

"Hey... let's do a game..." Nigel slurs, resting his chin on his elbow. "I'm bored."

"Fine. What game?" Giles actually looks pretty excited for once, and catches the attention of me and Elia.

Nigel grins and straightens up, holding up his hand with all five fingers up. "Never have I ever... made eyes at Vice Captain Malota."

"Oh, ewww!" We look over to see Wren wrinkling his nose. "No offense, but she has a stick up her butt all the time." Malota is a little older, but she's still pretty, with long blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Her face is very angular like a vulture, but... a sexy vulture. But Wren is right; she's a very capable woman, but she has a weird personality.

"... you got me." Giles blushes behind his glasses and puts a finger down. Both Nigel and Wren giggle at him. "Stop it! I'm sure you're crushing on someone here!"

"Me? I would never stoop that low," Wren shoots back. "Okay, okay, I got one... never have I ever broken a bone!"

Everyone whines at the question, because of course that's happened to everyone. Everyone but Wren, apparently. He gloats to himself as we're all forced to lower a finger. "Who's next?"

"I'll go!" Elia pipes up, which is a little surprising because she's never the one to put herself out there. "Never have I ever..." She grins evilly. "Had SEX."

"oh, EW!" All the boys chorus at once, going red in the face at the sheer audacity. "Of ALL the immature things you could have said!" Wren objects, but puts a finger down anyway (not gonna lie... I'm kind of surprised to hear that he isn't still a virgin at 25 years old). Elia just giggles and looks pointedly at the rest of us. Nigel shrugs and puts a finger down, Giles blushes and keeps his up, and I, too, am forced to put it down, which throws Wren into outrage once again. "WHAT?! YOU? Y-You had, you did the-"

"Yes, obviously," I snap, wishing we could just get to the next question already. "What's the big deal?"

"Aren't you engaged?" Giles asks curiously.

"First of all, that's none of your business, second of all..." I cross my arms. "Yes, I'm engaged... who do you think I did it with, dummy?"

A collective "oh" moves through our group. "That makes sense, I guess..." Wren shakes his head and sticks his tongue out at me. "Whore!"

"Shut up."

"OI! I just realized something!" Our attentions are pulled back to the head of the table, where Hervey is scowling at the empty seat to his right. "Julius... he went out for air two hours ago and still hasn't come back!!"

"What, you think he died or something?" Wren asks, shaking his head. "He's probably just got tired of us."

"Unacceptable! It's almost midnight, and my new vice captain isn't even here!?" Hervey growls. "Someone go out and get him... YOU!" I jump with fear as he points a hairy finger right at me. "Go get him! Actually, lure him in with a warm drink! It can't be fun being out in the blizzard all alone!"

I want to ask why me, but when the captain tells you to do something, you do it. So, reluctantly, I stand up and walk off into the kitchen, letting the sounds of the party get muffled by the door. The counters are strewn with empty bottles and kegs, with only a few full ones left. The only warm drink available right now are the dregs of the mulled wine from the pot, so I carefully scoop some out into a mug. It feels good as I clutch it in my hands and steel myself for the trip outside.

Julius was made vice captain just a couple days ago, chosen to serve next to Hervey and Malota. His personality is 100 times more bearable than either of them, but there's no denying that everyone in the squad is just a tad bit... scared of him. He's been around since I first joined, but we never really talked or ended up doing missions together until recently. In terms of ability, he's leaps and bounds ahead of everyone. But at the same time, he's not really close to anyone. Julius is the type of guy who gets along with everyone on the squad, no matter how volatile their personalities seem to be, but his only real friend seems to be the senior knight Elger, who keeps to himself as well. Sometimes, it feels like he just... operates on a completely different plane of reality than the rest of us.

Giles was right, it is snowing like it's never snowed before. I think briefly about the stories my parents told me about my own birth, how the wind rattled the windows and blanketed the earth in snow. I wonder if there's a baby being born somewhere tonight, under those same conditions.

The wind blows my cape around, and my uniform does little to shelter my body from the freezing fingers of the cold. My teeth are chattering and the only warmth comes from the mug in my hands. If I don't see him in five minutes, I'm drinking this myself! I think bitterly to myself, trudging around the perimeter of our base. It's not even easy to see, with the dim light of the moon shadowed by gales of snow. Maybe Julius didn't even go outside? Maybe he went back to his room because he was tired? That's what I would have done.

In one last attempt to find him, I call out his name. "Julius! Julius!?"

There's no way he can hear me, I think, shaking my head a little. Admittedly, I'm pretty eager to get back inside. If he's actually out here, he can take care of himself-

"Hello? Who's there?"

Shit. I let out a sigh before turning back around, and finally spot a figure walking towards me in the dark. Tall, blonde, handsome, with a smile that puts everyone around him at ease. Sure enough, it's Julius, who looks largely unaffected by the blizzard around him, albeit confused as to why I ventured out to find him. "What brings you out here on this lovely evening?"

"Ha ha, very funny." I'm not really in the mood for a cheeky joke right now. "We noticed you were gone, so I brought something out to warm you up." I hold out the mug, a look of pleasant surprise crossing his face. "Why're you out here all alone, anyway?"

"Oh? Thank you! I was feeling a bit chilly, anyway," Julius thanks me with a kind smile as he takes the mug. A bit chilly!? It's freezing! "I was... I don't know. I guess I just felt like taking a walk, and forgot about the party." He takes a sip of the drink, his eyes glancing over at the warm light pouring from the base's windows.

"You forgot?" I repeat, wondering what he was really thinking. "Well, I was told to bring you back inside, it's almost midnight, you know. I don't really feel like going back empty-handed."

"Is it?" Julius peers down at me and lets out a soft laugh, which I don't really appreciate. "I'm sorry to disappoint... but I think I'll stay out a bit longer. Don't worry about me..." For the first time, his smile fades, and something pools in his eyes as he looks away into the darkness.

"I have... a lot to think about."

I like to think that I'm a very observant person. My magic is illusion magic, which gives me the power to conjure images and scenes within the minds of others. But to effectively fight an enemy, I have to be able to glean information about them just from the surface. The way they move, the way they fight, the way they talk... but most importantly, I have to look into their eyes. Only then can I see their souls, and then I know how I can beat them.

Julius, a powerful, dependable man, is still just like everyone else. And the moment I search him for the first time, I can tell that something is wrong. Not only that, but he has the distinct look of someone in mourning. A lot to think about? I wonder if it was a family member... or maybe a friend. Either way, it's probably best to leave him alone. I'm sure he'll find peace somehow.

"You don't have to stay out here, you know." I snap out of my thoughts to see that he's talking to me again, his smile returned. "I'll be okay."

"...are you sure?" I know it's not my place to push the subject, but for some reason I feel a bit worried about him. Me? Worried about him? It was strange, but true. I know I should leave, but part of me feels like I need to stay. "I-I mean, I don't know, I wasn't having much fun anyways," I correct myself, looking away and crossing my arms. "And I told you, I'm not going back empty handed. If you're out here because something's troubling you... then maybe you should get it off your chest, feel better, then come back inside!"

...

Did those words really just come out of my mouth?! I'm talking to the vice captain! Jeez, and I sounded so demanding too, of all the insensitive things I could have said! What should I do? Run back inside? No... I'll run into the forest. Maybe I'll even freeze to death, or get eaten by a wild animal! It would be better than this embarrassment. Oh god, now what-

"My, you could really tell all that from just looking at me? It's amazing how magic can hone other skills... alright then. If you're fine with the cold, let's walk."

... oh? I'm not in trouble? Miraculously, Julius even looks slightly amused as he gestures at me, frozen in place in the snow. "Come on! I'm not going to bite."

"...alright." I shake my head a little before trudging up to his side. Maybe I should have just gone inside when I had the chance. Now I'm stuck out here... I glance over at Julius to see that he has a more neutral expression as we walk, his eyes fixed on the snowy path ahead. "So... what's been going on?"

Julius lets out one breath, letting it fog in the air in front of him. "A friend of mine died... to put it simply."

That's what I thought, I think to myself. "I'm sorry to hear that. It was recent?"

"Yeah... well, about a month ago." Julius shakes his head a little, the wound obviously still fresh in his heart. "He was a magic knight, too, in the Purple Orcas."

I didn't know anyone from the other squads, so it's surprising to hear that Julius had a friend from the Purple Orcas. "... I'm sure he was a great magic knight, if you were friends with him."

That catches Julius's attention for a split second, and I notice his lips try to twitch back into a smile. "Oh? That's quite the compliment." He gives me a pointed look which I quickly avoid. "But yeah, he was probably the best magic knight I've ever met."

He slows to a stop, letting out another long sigh. "Look, the storm is clearing a little."

Indeed, the snow wasn't swirling around as violently as before, and the wind doesn't sting at my skin. In fact, we could see a couple stars in the sky, their light piercing through.

"...I guess life is just cruel. It takes away the best people and leaves the rest of us to kill each other."

The sentiment is startling to hear, especially from such a mild-mannered man. It's a sign that, for the past month, Julius has been silently suffering, waiting for his peace to come.

Life is cruel... but our fates aren't absolute. I know that better than anyone. I'm in the process of destroying my fate, after all.

I don't really know what to say to that, and Julius quickly picks up on the growing awkwardness. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off as angry at you-" He looks over at me and cuts himself off. "You okay? You're practically turning blue!"

"H-Huh?" To my horror, I barely feel my lips as I talk. I look down to see that the hands I've been hugging close to my body are shaking violently, and going numb as well. Shit! I didn't realize how cold I was getting, maybe I should-

"Here." I look up to see Julius starting to pull his cloak over his head. "Put this on, it's still warm from my body."

Still warm from my body.

I draw in a startled gasp and step away three times quickly, stuttering out something incomprehensible. "Ah- uh- n-no thanks! It's ab-bout time I g-g-go inside anyway!"

At least my face is warm now. Julius realizes his mistake and opens his mouth awkwardly, retracting his offer. "Oh... sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, no, it's fine!" I manage to compose myself and give him a shaky thumbs up. "Are you coming in or not?"

"I think I'll stay out a little longer." He relaxes and even gives me a smile after he pulls the cloak back on. "You were right... I feel a little better."

Well, at least this trip into the blizzard wasn't all for nothing. "I'm glad to hear it... See you later."

With that, I turn away and head back inside to join the others as they countdown into the new year, while Julius stays out to weather the storm just a little bit longer.

...

Read chapter two on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26319412/chapters/64089274#workskin

#julius novachrono #julius novachrono x reader #grey deer fic #black clover #writing #fic #uh oh here we go #why do I keep starting these fics #I have no self control #Enjoy it

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ourkarlanicoleuniverse · 3 years

Text

Sweet Nothing (MHA Staff AU Fanfiction)

Chapter 18

Warnings: None, swf. Implied history of abuse.

Pairing: Shouta Aizawa x OC (Mai Montoya, Pro Hero Zion)

If you want to read of the events before this chapter here is the Master List 😊

I was sitting on the ground while Midoriya was struggling with the exercises I gave him to do. They weren't extensive exercises by any means. They were just exercises that allowed him to put less strain on his arms and focus on other body parts, so he learned to utilize other fighting strategies that didn't involve his arms.

"Are you sure this is helpful? Shouldn't I just be focusing on ways not to break my arms when I use them?" Midoriya breathed out, irritation laced in his soft voice.

"You wanted me to train you. This is what you get." I shrugged. He huffed. It's been a few weeks since we've been at this, and he doesn't seem to understand that I want him to realize not to copy All Might's fighting style and find his own because copying isn't helping him. He needed to connect better with his quirk and his body before coming into his own fighting style. "Look, just because you are All Might's successor doesn't mean you have to fight like him. Look at me for an example. I know you have done your research on me, so tell me what I usually do when I am fighting villains." I leaned back on my palms while I waited for the boy to respond.

"Well, it's like a mix between Gran Torino and Mr. Aizawa's way of fighting. But it heavily depends on who you are up against. And then you also try your best not to have to use your full power because you don't feel like it's fair to anyone if you use it. It's very rare when you do." He continued thinking a little more. "You are a quick strategizer. And use your surroundings to your advantage."

"Do you know why?" I raised an eyebrow at the hero to be. He simply shook his head. I patted the spot next to me on my left, "Sit down and take a break." The boy sat beside me, grabbed a bottle of water, and looked over to me, waiting for me to talk more. "So I learned to distribute the energy from my quirk throughout my body so that way, I wouldn't overexert myself in the same way you end up doing. That's what you need to learn how to do. Another problem I had was that I didn't have trust in my own control over my quirk." I paused for a moment, looking across the sun setting on the campus and then at my hands. "I mentioned this to Todoroki. He told me that you knew about his family issues." I looked over at him, and he nodded with a grim look on his freckled face. "Well, for him to get more comfortable with me, I told him about my upbringing, which I don't mention to most people."

My lips tightened as I started to reminisce about my childhood. "Did you have a father like Endeavor?"

I let out a dry laugh, "I don't know if I wish that I did over what I had, or thank the universe that I didn't have a father like that around." I looked over to Midoriya, the sunset giving a darker forestry look to his eyes. "It was my grandfather, actually. I never knew my father. The most my mom told me about him was that he was a foreign exchange student in her program when she studied abroad in Japan for two years before moving back to the U.S. for medical school."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry. I've never been curious about him. Especially since he doesn't know, I exist." I sighed and went back, looking at the view of the campus. "I'm kind of the opposite of you. I was born with a quirk to a quirkless family, including my father, from what my mom told me at least. And my family wasn't so keen on the idea of quirks either. My grandparents grew up during a time where quirks were still new. So when the first grandchild ended up having one, it was horrifying to them." Midoriya listened intently to me as I continued to speak about my family.

My mom was a little naive and got in bed with a fellow student, that was only in Japan for three months. After the fling ended, she realized she was pregnant. She wasn't against terminating the pregnancy by any means. But something in her told her not to. She always said it was because when you grew up with the parents she did, you look at bringing up a baby that will automatically need you and unconditionally love you as a blessing. She decided to go with the pregnancy and stay in Japan for the rest of her abroad program. She got a little help here and there from my uncle and godfather Dave and his wife and her twin brother. She really didn't want to deal with her parents the whole time. Eventually, when it came to medical school, she decided it would've been best to go back to California and have my grandparents help her out, as they insisted from the beginning.

She regretted that after they all found out about what my quirk could do.

My grandfather was in charge of engineering weapons for the military in the United States. Part of the government's concern was the potential for people with powerful quirks creating an uprising and the country not having a way to defend themselves. He was a talented biomechanical engineer but struggled to find something that would help solve this problem that didn't exist. So, seeing his five-year-old granddaughter accidentally take the quirk of a maid while she was playing with her, it was like a sign from the universe telling him that he would have the answer.

"You're not telling me that..." Midoriya looked mortified. I didn't even get to tell him, and he already knew what my grandfather did. "How was any of that allowed? What about your grandmother? Your mom?"

"My grandmother was the type to just let my grandfather do whatever he liked because it made him happy. And my mom was in medical school, so it was hard to pay attention to what my grandfather was doing. But once she caught on, we both ended up being held in captivity." I shrugged. "My mom doesn't forgive herself for putting so much trust in him. She also feels like I have something against her because of her mistake, but I never blamed her."

"So, he used his granddaughter. He used you to build quirk erasing weapons. How did you get out?"

"I can't remember, actually. I just remember passing out in a hospital bed in a dark room and then waking up in a large bed with my uncle Dave holding a tray of food and water waiting for me to wake up." I remembered the worried but relieved look in his ocean eyes. He almost dropped the tray once he saw me open my eyes and sitting up, "I remember him telling me to slow down when I was sitting up, and he patted my head, nearly crying, telling me that I was okay and safe. Then he gave me the biggest bear hug filled with so much desperation and love it made me cry. I was eight, but I was so small and fragile and barely knew how to speak. But I was able to understand what he meant in his embrace."

"Where was your mom?" He bit his cheek.

"In another room with Dave's wife. She wasn't in a good state either. She was actually more traumatized than me, to be very honest with you."

Her parents always mistreated my mom. But after what we went through, it was a level so low that she was shocked to see them stoop that low. She became distant with me, but at the same time overprotective and refused to leave my side. It was confusing growing up with her; she would be cold one minute and then loving the next. I never knew what to do to help. We stayed with Dave and his wife Pamela for a while. Pamela loved having me around. She actually gave me a lot of the love and nurturing I needed that I wasn't getting from my mother. She didn't have a quirk, so for me, it was easy to get close with her without the fear of taking something away from her. She helped me catch up to my age when it came to my development and helped me learn to be a kid. Same with Dave, he saw my early interest in science and let me hang around in his lab and 'help' him out. He also spoiled me with all sorts of toys. But once I got too comfortable, my mom thought it was best to move us. And so the cycle began, where whenever I got too comfortable, we moved. She said it was because my grandfather was trying to find us. But I never truly believed it. Not until we moved to Japan.

"I begged my mom to let me go to school, and I don't know how, but she had some connection to UA, so she got me in, much to her dismay. She was paranoid about my grandfather, and I didn't take it seriously. So, one day, he found us, and I almost got locked back in that dark room." I paused to let the whole story sink in. Once I got a hint that I could continue, I finished talking, "I didn't want to be a hero, but Nezu and my mom talked about our situation, and he knew that I needed to train my quirk. I was mortified at the idea of using it or being around people that would want me to use it, so the hero course was a nightmare for me. But just like you, I got thrust into my quirk without prior training, and I had to learn how to use it to the best of my ability not to hurt myself or others."

"Did you keep your quirk a secret from everyone too?"

"I did, but it was my choice. I was too stubborn to use it. But one day, this dumb kid with fluffy blue hair told me his friend had a quirk erasing quirk, and I felt comfortable enough to ask him how he used it, and then the rest was history." I laughed a little, my shoulders bouncing lightly.

"So Mr. Aizawa knew about your quirk first? That would explain the similar fighting styles..." Midoriya mumbled.

"Technically, it was my friend Oboro who knew first. I actually accidentally borrowed his quirk without knowing, and I had to explain to him that I didn't have his quirk much to his delight to have someone like him." I smiled, remembering the exciting crooked smile plastered on Oboro's face when he saw me with his quirk. "That's why while I am training you, we are focusing on your mind and body and how your quirk needs both."

He nodded and played with the water bottle in his hands, looking down slightly, "You've been through a lot, but you are so... gentle. It's heartbreaking that you had to live a life like that."

I motioned for him to pass me the extra bottle near him, "'Tis life. I just try to remind myself not to take my life too seriously, which is hard to do. But I appreciate the compliment. I don't meet many people describing me as gentle. Maybe stubborn, brash, and temperamental? But never gentle."

"All Might talks about you a lot. He says that you are extremely selfless but that you aren't a pushover. I guess that's your stubbornness. He says you're strong-willed and that you won't be easily swayed away from your beliefs. But he also mentioned that you could be incredibly kind and have this magnetic force that pulls people to feel safe with you. I can see that. I mean, you have only been our counselor for a semester, and the whole class trusts and adores you. You even have Class 1-B loving you too! So, I would say any negative thing said about you can be turned around to something that's actually good." He brightly smiled.

I couldn't help but ruffle his hair and pull him into a side hug, "I see all of that in you, Izuku. That's part of the reason why I think All Might chose right when he decided on having you take over One For All."

He held me tightly back, "You think you could tell me how you and All Might got so close? He practically brags about you like you were his kid."

"Maybe another time, it's getting late, and I'm sure your mom is expecting you home." Midoriya nodded and moved away to start getting ready to leave.

I walked him to the entrance gate of UA and bid him goodbye. I left out a heavy sigh. Sometimes it's good to talk about things you normally hideaway. I felt like a small weight lifted.

I began to make my way over to my apartment as I looked up in the purple clouds. They reminded me of the person I wish could be here with me. The one person who's embrace and words always made me believe that I was truly as Midoriya says.

"I miss you, Oboro. I hope you know that."

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

Tag List

@multifandoms916 @inumorph @thatgirlwithcamera @mel-sanch

#mhaoc #mha fanfiction #mha fanfic #midoriya x oc #deku x oc #canon x oc #oc x canon #oc x mha #oc x bnha #oc x aizawa #shouta aizawa x oc #bnha fanfiction #bnha oc

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audiblesmirking · 3 years

Text

erratic heartbeats ~chapter 2: you got a friend in me~

⚠Minor Swearing⚠

Legend: "English unless stated otherwise" --- 'Thoughts' --- "Telepathically speaking" --- [Authors' Note]

==========

'Japan's quiet,' Azumi commented, her gait slow in order to appreciate the peace and observe her new neighborhood. A bag containing PK uniforms hangs on her fingers. There would be light breezes from time to time, blowing through her hair and rustling the leaves of the trees around. Compared to London, there were less cars driving by, despite the day being a weekend. 'School starts tomorrow and yet I still haven't finished the last level of "Dynasty and Descent". Seriously, what was wrong with homeschooling?' Azumi's mind wanders, stopping herself once she reached a tall metal gate that stood out from the rest of the houses. The meticulously twists, turns, and engravements of the metal is able to have anyone gawk.

She stood in front of her new home, raising a brow at the lock that secures the gate shut 'They both left?' Azumi questioned herself before fishing out her keys in the bag she held, unlocking the padlock and a few gate latches that pegs the metals to the ground and to each other. She made sure to secure the latches back, before proceeding to unlock the front door 'They probably went to greet the neighbors'

The walk to Azumi's room is tiring. The grandiose house's entirety was what her flamboyant mother envisioned, Akina was the one who took charge in the renovation of their new property since the beginning stages of planning. The conglomerate CEO is often one who basks in her success, hence the lavish abode. Azumi passed a few flights of stairs before freezing, slapping a palm on her forehead, 'I could just fucking teleport' Azumi cursed at her forgetfulness, having been used to the life before her powers came. Within no time, she arrived in the comforts of her own room. Placing the uniforms in the wardrobe, she lay plump on the bed.

——————————

"What the fUCK, YOU DICKHEADS," Azumi was seething with rage as her brother and his friend ran as fast as they could away from the infuriated, soaking wet girl, stifling their laughter as they dashed. Her reaction was more than what they had expected, and turned out to be funnier than they thought. They sprinted around the campus of the boys' college, running through stairs and empty hallways, desperate to arrive at their laboratory to successfully separate themselves from Azumi until she could either burn out from exhaustion or cool down from her anger "COME BACK HERE. I WILL FUCKING OBLITERATE YOUR FACES, DASTARDLY HEIFERS"

Atsuhiro huffed a breath of annoyance, the sound not going undetected by his companion despite the wind whipping at their faces as they ran as fast as they could "I fucking told you so, Kusuke"

"Well, wouldn't you know it, she's mad. Who's idea was this again?" Kusuke panted, sounding quite proud of Azumi's reaction despite the consequences they were facing.

"This was all your idea, jackass"

Kusuke simply laughed as they ran out of the building and are now crossing the field to their laboratory "Have you seen your face when she looked at us? It was a mixture of repressed laughter and instant regret"

"I swear, I WILL trip you if you won't shut up" Atsuhiro threatened, now was not the time to be distracted when the she-devil was chasing them. His friends' laughter immediately was cut short when a shiver went up their spines at the voice that whispered behind them "You both run like hookers"

——————————

The memory was when Azumi first met her brother's friend. The girl blinked a few times, confused at why she thought of the memory, before her hand reached up to her ear and fidgets her ear cuff. Gradually, voices start to flood in her mind. She laid unmoving, concentrated on trying to locate thoughts involving her family or their recent moving. She succeeded. The Saiki's, what a coincidence, were hosting Azumi's parents. 'Kusuke's family. They would likely talk for another hour or two, seeing as Kusuke' s mother is just as chatty as mine'

Azumi sat up, her beautiful hair swaying at the sudden movement. Whilst fidgeting her ear cuff, the girl walked over to her monitor. The screen lit up after she plugged it in and pushed the button, the fantasy game "Dynasty and Descent" placed in to be played. 'I'd probably finish this before they come back' Azumi challenged herself.

•°●•°●•°●

‘Saiki Kusuo, huh?' Azumi laid on her belly as she eavesdrops on his thoughts regarding her parents. She finished the game and cleaned up the room twice before she thought of listening in on her neighbors. 'A curious one, aren't you? But I can't blame him, he must have been lonely growing up being the only psychic he knows' She empathized with the boy, swinging her legs absentmindedly.

After some time, Azumi sighed, before teleporting to their kitchen. She opened and closed cabinets and cupboards in search of something to appeal to her boredom-driven hunger. She grabbed her favorite snack and a drink, immediately digging in. Because her teleportation required some time before she can use it again, she walked back to her room. Azumi had most of her attention on her phone while her food levitated around her, following as she walks. Her mind flitted to the topic of cellphones in Japan, 'I haven't seen anyone with their phones since we arrived. Is it some kind of unspoken rule or something?' The girl contemplated over whether or not she should use her device in public so as to fit in.

Azumi walks through one of the hallways that overlook the front yard, the sun’s setting rays casting an orange tinge on everything not under a shadow. She took a moment away from her phone and glanced at the road in front of their residence, there she saw her parents and the rest of the Saiki family. Akina and Aiken pushed open the gates lavishly for the guests, earning a sigh from their daughter as she continued her walk 'They'll likely call on me as soon as they enter', Azumi groaned as nervousness bubbled in her at the thought of greeting their guests 'I don't want to though'

She arrived in her room, throwing away her litter in the trash can at the corner, before proceeding to clean her room for the third time. Aiken knocked on the door the moment she laid down her bed after sweeping the area under it, "Come on down, Zumi, meet Kusuke's family" She walked next to her father in silence until they arrived in the living room.

==========

Azumi secured the gate latch, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. She was surprised to see Kusuo standing in front of his house, seemingly waiting for her. Azumi tried to make sense of the situation, she walked to him and gave a small wave, before continuing passed him 'Maybe he's waiting for his dad' She thought, before shooting down the idea the moment Saiki moved to walk with her. The familiar feeling of nervousness rose from within her, her thoughts crowding her mind 'Should I say something? Or is the silence okay for him? It's certainly okay for me. Why is he walking with me though, I thought we agreed—' She cut her own thought when she remembered the events of last night 'Nevermind, he didn't say anything then. Is this about what my mother said? Did she bribe him without my knowledge? But, mom won't stoop that low. Maybe if I look into his mind—no, he'll suspect my fidgeting and he'll know I'm uncomfortable or he'll think something's wrong with my ear and ask about it, and I would not want to be in either situations'

"... So," Azumi started—at the protest of her brain—dragging out the 'o' "You don't need to walk me to school, you know, I can do it on my own. I appreciate the thought though" She gave a tight-lipped smile, hoping she did not sound too rude. Kusuo just looked at her and then back in front, Azumi felt awkward at the lack of response and returned her gaze to the road as well.

Just as he expected, at the reaction of his companion, he deduced that Azumi could not hear his voice when he was speaking telepathically. He mentally took note "It's fine" Kusuo spoke, not only mildly surprising the girl beside him because of how late he responded, but also confusing her.

' 'It's fine'? How do I respond to that?' She just nodded her head, mentally facepalming at her response. 'I guess I have to get used to this'

•°●•°●•°●

'This is some next level coincidence shit' Azumi thought, sitting next to her assigned seatmate, Saiki 'I was just fine with how we were classmates, but seatmates? You have got to be joking'

"Open your textbooks to page 3. An introduction for our lesson this week" The teacher started, writing on the chalkboard the lesson title "Kindly answer the practice questions, 'What You Know', numbers 1-5. I will give you ten minutes to answer"

'This seems easy enough,' Azumi searched for her writing tool in her bag. Confused, she knit her eyebrows 'I left it at home? Great, first day and I'm already failing this'

The boy in front of her took notice of her furrowed brows when he turned to get his pencil case. He stretched a bandaged arm at her, offering to lend his pencil "H-Here, " He said, "you can borrow mine" Azumi blinked at him, then at his outstretched arm, before smiling softly at him.

"Thank you, I'll make sure to give it back to you after class," Azumi wrapped her fingers on the writing tool, watching as her classmate withdrew his hand meekly "May I know your name?"

"Ka-Kaidou Shun" His stuttering reminded Azumi of herself before. Kaidou awkwardly lets out his hand again, seemingly to shake with hers. Azumi's soft smile turned tight at how she responded with stretching the wrong hand to shake. She shuffled to replace her hand, clasping it with his.

"Um, Kanasawa Azumi" She mentally kicked herself, he already knows her name because she just introduced herself to the class. "Nice to meet you, Kaidou-san" They shook hands shortly before the teacher reprimanded the two to start with the activity.

•°●•°●•°●

A slow and pitched tune, that reminded Azumi of the announcements in a mall, rang through the hallways, signaling the end of the first class and break for their class. Some students leapt out of their classrooms, their friends in tow, ready to be the firsts to arrive in the cafeteria, while the rest took their time in arranging their things. "Thanks again, for, you know, lending your pencil" Azumi had stood up in unison with Saiki, her wrist in view as she gave back the pencil she borrowed.

Kaidou added the pencil in his case, placing it in his bag. "Are you sure? I, uh, mean, we still have classes after break"

Azumi let the corners of her lips tilt up a bit at the thoughtfulness of the boy "Yeah, I'll go buy my own"

"I don't mind if you borrow my pencil for the rest of the day," Kaidou lightly frowned, not wanting his classmate to spend money when he was fine with lending. He went to dig through his bag for the pencil case, but Azumi stopped him with a hand on his.

"It's okay, really-" She was cut off with a booming voice next to her, in her peripherals, a tall blonde hooks an arm around Saiki's shoulders. "Hey pal, the nurse wanted to ask about the thermano-something that the guy used this morning" He wasn't yelling, but his voice was loud enough to resonate around the half-empty classroom. Azumi turned her head at the two beside her, attention fading from Kaidou as she withdrew her hand. During the intensively long speech of their principal, one of their classmates fainted and a teacher ordered Nendou and Saiki to assist the student to the nurse's office. When they've been gone too long, the same teacher instructed Azumi to check on the two, and just before Nendou witnessed Saiki burn a thermometer to ashes, she came in and distracted the brute, feigning confusion on the dust on Saiki's palm. It was a coincidence, and if she weren't there Nendou would most likely find out about Saiki's powers. Is what Azumi initially thought, but looking back, her first impression with the blonde was idiotic, so maybe it would have gone differently.

Azumi grabbed her wallet and turned back to Kaidou "I'll be going first" She went to walk out the door but felt a presence following her, before the voice of Nendou reached her again.

"Where're you going, pal?" Azumi turned and, as she thought, Saiki will be following her around school. She resisted a sigh when the aforementioned raised a hand, moved his finger and pointed at her twice. "You're gonna show her around? I wanna come with!" He strode towards the two, and Azumi swore she saw the facial expression of the boy beside her contort into that of displeasure.

"I-I-I w-wanna come too" She barely heard Kaidou as he stood up and trailed behind Nendou, fiddling with his finger as he do.

Azumi just wanted to buy a pencil, alone, and now she felt awkward as she walked next to Saiki, Kaidou and Nendou following right behind them. She slowly reached a hand to her ear, but laid her arm back on her side after a while. Perplexed at the silence from Nendou, she turned back to look at him. He was teasing Kaidou, bickering as they filled the hallway with noise. Azumi tried to look for answers in Saiki's mind, staring at the boy before turning her head back in front. 'Never thought that being too dumb would be a reason for a silent mind, but okay'

'WhatshouldIsaywhatshouldIsay [What should I say what should I say]. Hello-no, that's too formal. Would "hi" be fine? Let's go with "hi". Hi, I'm Teruha-wait, no, she would see me as too eager if I introduce myself that quickly. Hi, you must be the new transfer student-OH MY GOD SHE'S HERE' The frantic thoughts of a blue-haired girl filled Azumi's mind. She was standing beside a vending machine outside of the cafeteria as the four walked passed her. Being too engrossed in her mental rehearsal, she did not notice the group since they appeared from the corner of the hallway. Teruhashi sulked when Azumi entered the cafeteria, but immediately fixed her façade when she remembered there may be people watching her.

'It must be tough to be that popular' Susurrus reached Azumi's ears and the students in the room turned to look at the people who recently came in. She felt self-conscious and turned to walk to the first stall in the row, the stall that sells school materials. After she purchased her pencil, she tried to convince her companions to spend their recess with what they want to do instead of following her around. She failed, and so they ended up touring the whole campus, conversations being held up by Nendou as he told story after story about anything that relates to whatever Azumi said.

"Kanasawa-san, you're from London, right?" Kaidou asked, they were sitting under one of the trees after the latter announced a break from the walking. At his words, the other two turned to look at Azumi, and now she was on the spotlight. "What was it like? Do you miss your friends?"

"Ah, that... I was homeschooled, so... I didn't have any friends until recently," Azumi paused "I have a brother, he's in London right now, and he was my only playmate until he left for college... My tutors change every year, and they mostly just teach me then leave after our sessions... Add into that how unapproachable they are, and they're just like robots, stiff and straightforward"

"Homeschooled?" Confused, Nendou asked, and Kaidou silently answered him. Azumi waited until all was clarified, fidgeting with her thumbs.

"Although, now that I think about it. I... think I had a friend around my age...? But he was just visiting London at that time... a few years ago... so I don't think we're close anymore." Azumi caught the short time when Saiki knit his brows, before remaining stoic. She knew from reading his mind that he wanted to know more about her connection with Kusuke and his involvement with her family. Azumi was about to open her mouth, when a nagging voice in her mind scolded at her for having already talked too much.

When Azumi looked like she was to stay silent, Kaidou spoke up "Th-then... I'll be your friend" His voice gradually softened, but she heard him nevertheless.

Nendou hooked his arm around Saiki's shoulder, to the surprise of the psychic "We'll be your friends too, right pal?" Kusuo looked annoyed at the arm pushing him closer to Nendou, but he didn't deny what he said. Azumi gave them a soft smile, her eyebrows low.

'I guess it won't hurt to have friends'

#saiki kusuo no psi nan #saiki kusuo no psi nan cast #original character #fluff...?#reverse harem

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