#(& for those who read the others YES this was a sister story to tow all the jealousy... i wanted to write neanderthal clarke too😅) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fruitcoops · 3 years

Note

Hi!! I was wondering if you could do another fic involving jules and coops together? Just like sweet moments between the three? I loved the baby sitting series you did and could not stop thinking about it❤️❤️ Thank you!!

Yeah, of course! I love writing my boy at any opportunity. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove, but the relatives are my ocs!

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sirius asked under his breath as Remus finally—finally—appeared from the mass of people.

“It’s fine,” Remus said around a forced smile to a middle-aged man across the yard.

Sirius hid his mouth by pretending to look down at the nearest casserole dish. He didn’t even know what was in it; nobody had bothered with labels, and everyone’s dishes were the same basic florals in different colors. “I love you, Re, and I totally get the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing, but this is a bit much if I’m being honest.”

“Honey.” Remus’ shoulder pressed against his own. “I’m sorry you’re not having a good time, but my Aunt Jen would skin me alive if I didn’t bring the man I’m marrying to the family reunion. We can leave tomorrow if you really hate—oh, no.”

“Remus!” a shrill, excited voice called. Sirius felt his fiancé straighten up as a tall, redheaded woman in star-painted jeans hurried across the grass with three other women in tow. She reached up and gave Remus’ cheeks a squish, then leaned in a planted a lipstick-stamped kiss to his forehead. “How are you, my duckling? Was your flight alright? Make sure you stay away from the salt or else your feet will swell.”

“Hi, Aunt Jen,” Remus said, grimacing a little at her rib-crushing hug. “I’m doing well, and our flight was fine. How are you?”

“Peachy keen,” she assured him. Dark brown eyes lasered in on Sirius half a second later and he felt his fight or flight kick in. “And who are you?”

“Aunt Jen, this is—”

“It was rhetorical, honey,” Jen interrupted with a pat to Remus’ arm as she stepped closer to Sirius and immediately hauled him in for a hug. She was as tall as Remus, but broader in the shoulders and hips; he had never felt so engulfed by someone. It was a strangely enjoyable feeling.

“Aren’t you a handsome one?” the shortest of the group cooed, as if she was talking to a particularly small dog in a purse. “Our Remus always knew how to pick them.”

Remus furrowed his brows. “Aunt Lisa, this is the first boyfriend I’ve—”

“But he’s not just a boyfriend!” Jen trilled, giving Sirius’ cheek a pat. “He’s a fiancé, something I learned from your mother. Not from your father—oh, I gave him a talking-to about that—and not from you, duck.”

Sirius bit back a laugh at the nickname and spared a glance to his left, where Remus had gone pink all the way to his ears. “Sorry.”

“Introduce us!” the shortest insisted, taking the other two by the hands as pulling them forward with an eager smile.

“Everyone, this is Sirius Black, my fiancé.” Remus gestured between them, and the four women beamed at him. “Sirius, this is Aunt Jen, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Allison, and Aunt Mary, my dad’s sisters.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Sirius said, holding a hand out.

“No need to be so formal,” the brunette grumbled with a teasing grin. “We have heard so much about you from Lyall. After those damned pictures—”

“Allison,” Jen hissed.

“—after the damned pictures,” Allison repeated with a pointed look. “I was about ready to drive up to Gryffindor myself and give that lousy son of a bitch a piece of my mind—”

“Allison!”

“—but Lyall talked me down and I have been waiting to meet you ever since.” She finished with a soft huff and gave his arm a quick squeeze. “Remus is a lucky boy to have you. It’s very exciting to see you in person at last.”

Sirius’ heart gave a happy little ka-thump and he smiled. “I’m glad to be here. Thank you for having me.”

“He is so polite,” Lisa said to Remus out of the corner of her mouth with a wink and a thumbs-up. “Good choice.”

“You know what I just realized? We haven’t said hello to Jules yet. We’ll see you in a few, yeah?” Without waiting for an official answer, Remus wrapped an arm around Sirius’ waist and practically carried him away from the table. Once they were out of earshot—and the aunts had busied themselves with one of the younger Lupins—Remus relaxed with a slow exhale. “I am…so sorry.”

“For what?”

“I had no idea they were going to corner you like that. I mean, I did, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be for another few hours. They tend to move in a pack at reunions, like sharks. Or wolves.”

“They’re really sweet.”

“They are,” Remus said grudgingly, though Sirius could read the affection dripping off him like his favorite book. “My dad’s the youngest of five, and I was the first nephew. You can imagine how that went.”

“Baby of the baby?”

“Exactly.”

“Can I ask one thing?” Remus nodded, visibly confused, and Sirius found he couldn’t keep his grin down any longer. “Duckling?”

“I hoped you didn’t hear that,” he groaned as they headed toward the kids’ play area beneath a large oak. “Long story short, it involved five-year-old me, a pond, and a sinus infection that made me sound like a duck when I sneezed.”

“Oh my god,” Sirius laughed, earning himself a light elbow to the ribs. “And the name stuck?”

“Considering she was the one that had to stay with me while my folks were working, she could call me whatever the hell she wanted. Please don’t ask her about it unless you want a thirty-minute TED talk about the ins and outs of my sinuses.”

“She’s a doctor?”

“No, she just overshares.”

“Sirius!”

Sirius looked up and saw a herd of small children racing toward them, led by his favorite person under the age of eighteen; Jules crashed into his legs and squeezed him tight around the waist. “Hey, I missed you!”

Jules propped his chin below Sirius’ sternum and stared up at him with the classic hazel-gold eyes that were far more common than Sirius believed before they arrived in the Lupins’ backyard. “I missed you, too! How’s the team? How’s Harry? Is he still super small or did he do that weird thing that babies do where their legs grow and the rest of them still looks normal? How was your flight? Did you have turbulence?”

Sirius thought for a moment. “Good, also good, growing normally, and yes.”

“Sweet! Come play cornhole with us!” Jules grabbed his hand and dragged him along the grass at the closest thing he could manage to a sprint with Sirius’ added weight—the pre-teen years had lent him gangly legs, though he didn’t seem quite sure how to use them yet. He looked more like a foal than a sixth-grader.

“What the hell is cornhole?” Sirius muttered as the flock of kids ran ahead to grab armfuls of beanbags.

Remus grinned. “Something I’m about to kick your ass at.”

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

By the time the sun set, Sirius was exhausted. He had been introduced to dozens of people who looked just enough like Remus to be eerie, as well as plenty who seemed to have been acquired by one Lupin or another over the course of their life. Jules fluctuated between laminating himself to Sirius’ side and disappearing for an hour at a time, only to return more grass-stained and rumpled than ever as he begged Remus to swing him around by the ankles again. His ass had been thoroughly kicked at cornhole and freeze tag; it was a true miracle he hadn’t already passed out into a food coma. For all of his earlier griping, Sirius couldn’t think of a time in recent months when he had been more content.

“You’re a brave soul,” Remus remarked as they sat in the grass together and watched the fireflies wake. Though it was a warm night, it seemed the citronella candles littering the tables were doing their job of chasing off mosquitoes.

Sirius leaned his head on Remus’ shoulder. He smelled like grass and summertime and sunbaked warmth. “Am I?”

“Mhmm. I’m sure most people would have run screaming by now.”

“I like your family.”

A beat of silence passed; Remus rested his temple against the top of Sirius’ head. “I’m really glad to hear that. They’re weird and loud, but I love them.”

“And I love you.”

“Are you saying I’m weird and loud?”

“On occasion.”

“Asshole,” Remus laughed, giving him a nudge that hardly qualified as more than a gentle sway.

“Language, there are eight million kids around.”

“They’re busy.”

Sirius watched as small group run by in a wave of giggles, all clutching mason jars of fireflies with their names written on masking tape. “Thank you again for asking me to come with you.”

“Like I said, Aunt Jen would—”

“Remus.” He fell quiet. Sirius didn’t remember the last time he said Remus’ full name aloud. “Your family loves you so much. They’re everything I ever wanted growing up, and it means the world that you wanted to share them with me. All they want is to see you happy. It was amazing to finally meet them.”

“They really, really love you,” Remus said softly, his voice a little thick. “I had about twenty people tell me how wonderful you are. They all thanked me for bringing you, and not a single one mentioned the celebrity thing. Even my Uncle Jay didn’t say a word about hockey.”

“He was the one in the jersey?”

“I’ve known him for my entire life and I’ve never seen him without one.”

“Huh.” Sirius tucked his face closer to Remus’ neck and let the sound of the bullfrogs in a distant marsh lull him. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven. The adults will be up for a while, but the kids will start crashing soon.”

Footsteps on the cool grass rustled to their right and Sirius looked up. “Who wants pie?” Aunt Allison singsonged, breaking their quiet bubble with paper plates and utensils. “This one is blackberry, but we have peach, pumpkin, and a few others on the table if you’re still hungry.”

“Just a small piece, please,” Sirius said.

Allison paused and cocked her head, then burst out laughing. “Oh, you’re funny!”

“I am?”

“Don’t fight it,” Remus whispered.

“You are a growing boy,” Allison said as she cut a thick slice and plonked it onto his plate. “And there’s no such thing as too much pie.”

I’m 26, Sirius wanted to say, though he held it in. “Just a small one for me, as well,” Remus said.

“Ha!” Allison snorted. “You’re already too skinny. Eat your pie or you’ll end up a string bean like your father. The NHL might have given you muscle, but it’s useless if you don’t enjoy some of your favorite aunt’s—”

“—woah, hey now—”

“—pie once in a while.” Allison kissed the tops of their heads once both plates were secure and bowing in the middle. “I’m going to make sure the kids aren’t poking around in the river again. Sleep well, you two.”

Sirius stared down at his plate as she wandered away. “I’m honestly going to die if I eat this.”

“Yeah, please don’t make yourself sick on pie. You really don’t have to eat all of that. The aunts and uncles are convinced that none of us are eating properly once we turn eighteen.”

“Really?”

“I wish I was kidding. You’re going to sleep so well tonight, though.”

As if on cue, Sirius stifled a yawn with the back of his hand and cuddled under Remus’ arm again. A familiar shadow bounded over not two seconds later and he barely held down a groan. “Hey, can I join you?”

Remus shrugged. “ ‘course.”

“Sweet.” Jules settled himself across their laps, staring at the sky with his head pillowed on Sirius’ thigh. “Did you have fun? I’m really glad you could come.”

“I had a great time,” Sirius answered honestly. Now please move on so I can take a nap.

“Mom and dad and me got here yesterday, and Aunt Jen kept checking the door for you guys even though she knew you weren’t coming until today. She was worried you wouldn’t like us, I think.”

“That was never an option, Jules.”

“Yeah, I know.” A devilish grin flickered over his face. “Remus is the weirdest of all of us, and if you want to marry him—”

“Get off,” Remus grumbled, shoving Jules’ legs onto the picnic blanket. “You know, you were a lot nicer before you turned eleven. Can I return you and get a new one? I have the receipt somewhere.”

“Nope.”

“That’s all a birth certificate is, right?” Sirius raised his eyebrows. “If you bring it back in good condition, I hear they give you a ten percent discount.”

Jules scowled. “That’s so not true.”

“How do you think I got Regulus?”

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Remus asked with a pointed look. “Run along, problem child.”

“Of the two of us, I’m the least problematic.” Despite his words, Jules clambered to his feet and dusted his hands off over Remus’ head. “I’m not the one that got a secret boyfriend and got engaged in a year. I’m so easy. Mom and dad want two of me.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Remus sighed as he stretched out on the blanket. “They had a second kid because they wanted two of me.”

“You’re adopted.”

Remus cracked one eye open in disbelief. “No, I’m not.”

“How do you know?”

“Because—y’know what, go to bed. Or go find the stampede, I think they’re by the river.”

Sirius whistled lowly as Jules scampered off again. “That was impressive. Isn’t your aunt over there?”

“Yep.”

Realization clicked into place. “She’s going to make him go to bed.”

“Yep.”

“You’re brilliant.”

Remus smiled without opening his eyes, and tugged Sirius down by the sleeve to lay next to him. “You’re just figuring that out now?”

The stars were brighter than anywhere Sirius had ever seen; for a moment, he was struck speechless by the endless rivers of sparkling white overhead. He stared until his eyes burned from dryness, then put his head on Remus’ chest and kept on looking. There was no way he could tear his gaze from it. A few shooting stars streaked across the clear sky and he felt his heart skip a beat in pure amazement when he realized there was nothing else he would wish for in that moment. He could listen to Remus’ heartbeat and the sound of his new family talking against a backdrop of the night, relishing in a full belly and cool wind, and simply stay there for as long as he liked.

#sirius black #remus lupin #julian lupin #coops #lupin family #sweater weather #lumosinlove #my fic #fanfic #family reunion

211 notes · View notes

rosyfingereddawnn · 3 years

Text

That’s The Way

Pairing: Jimmy Page x Reader

Word count: 3.6k

Warnings: none, this is kind of an introductory/fluff chapter if you will :)

Story summary: Y/N Y/L/N, an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl, gets pulled into the world of rock and roll on a fateful night at the Marquee Club in London when she experiences the musical phenomenon of the Five Live Yardbirds. She grows up fast, navigating her way through the downfall of The Yardbirds, the legendary skyrocket of Led Zeppelin, era-defining decadence instigated by the ‘60s and ‘70s mindset of free love and personal gratification, and finding the courage to express how she fell deeply in love with one of modern music’s greatest guitarists.

Author’s notes (from Molly of rebel-without-a-zeppelin): Hi everyone! A little disclaimer on my part: this is the first story I’ve ever shared for public consumption. I’ve been toying with this idea in my mind for a very long time now, and I’ve finally mustered up the courage to share it with you all. I hope you like it. I am incredibly honored to collaborate with Syd on this project; this is truly our baby, as it has a very long, detailed, intricate plot, so saddle up for lots (and lots) of drama! This is also a sloooowwwww burn, like really, really slow lol. Over the course of the story, please feel free to send me your theories and comments; I would absolutely love to read them. Please enjoy, and happy reading!

---------

3 May 1965

The sound of a car horn beeped incessantly from the front of Y/N’s house. Dropping her backpack down on her bedroom floor with an annoyed huff, she sprinted down the steps. She never did get enough time to prepare, and it was no different today. With her friend Carolyn in tow, Y/N made a beeline for the front door, the click-clack of her Oxford shoes pounding across the hardwood floor. Y/N’s mum, who nonchalantly strolled out of the laundry room with an armful of freshly washed and folded bath towels, leant against the doorframe.

“Now remember Y/N: no drinking, no drugs, no sex. No going home with strange musician guys, nor are you allowed to go to their hotel,” her mum instructed calmly, knowing she’d receive an eye roll from the girl. Her stern expression at home on her gracefully-aged face, the girls receive the speech they get every time they go out. “You too, C. Even though I’m not your mother, I still worry about your safety.”

Both Y/N’s mum and dad had a very protective instinct over their eldest daughter, just like their other three children. Even at Y/N’s healthy age of seventeen, she longed for the freedom and trust that her older brother had gained at her age.

“Thank you, Mrs. Y/L/N,” Carolyn replied with a little laugh.

“Mum! This is literally the fourth time I’ve been to a Yardbirds gig, and nothing bad has happened,” Y/N huffed. Her mum raised her eyebrows.

Lillian, Y/N’s little sister, walked into the foyer and surprised Y/N with a big, tight hug around her waist. Y/N gasped at the sudden contact, but chuckled when she realized it was her younger sister, and reciprocated the hug.

“I don’t want you getting hurt, Y/N. Boys are icky. And stupid!” Lillian said in a whiny voice, her face muffled by being buried in Y/N’s stomach.

Y/N ruffled her sister’s muss of dirty blonde waves affectionately, rubbing her back to soothe her worries. “I promise, I will come back perfectly fine! I won’t let any boys mess with me, Lil,” Y/N said with a smile, “And when I come back, I’ll tell you everything that happened.”

Lillian gazed up at Y/N with a similar smile, her small teeth shining a bright, pearly white and her chin resting on the taller girl’s stomach. “Okay,” she said, content, before releasing from Y/N with a stuffed animal tucked under her arm.

“Where’s Charlie?” Y/N asked, hoping she could say goodbye to her younger brother before she left.

“I think he’s riding around the neighborhood on his bike with his friends,” Y/N’s mum replied with a shrug. Y/N felt a little disappointed, but she figured she’d talk to him tomorrow at breakfast about her night out.

Thomas, Y/N’s older brother, continued to honk the horn rather obnoxiously, growing quite impatient. It’s a wonder the neighbors weren’t at arms, knocking on their door. He was forced by his parents to be Y/N and Carolyn’s chauffeur to the Marquee Club in London.

“We have to go, or else Tommy will have my head,” Y/N said as she started to open the front door.

“Wait!” her mum said, sloppily placing the towels down on a nearby counter to dash to the door and give Y/N a hug and a kiss on the head goodbye. Finally pulling away her weathered hands flew to Y/N’s shoulders, and gripping them firmly, she continued, “Be good. Love you.”

“I know, I will. Love you too,” Y/N smiled, before dashing down the steps and to the passenger seat of the car. Carolyn was in quick pursuit, following her to the car and taking a seat in the back.

“It’s about time,” Tommy huffed impatiently, tapping his fingertips on the top of the steering wheel as he put the transmission into drive.

“Sorry. Mum was giving me and C a safety brief,” Y/N replied apologetically.

“Why are you two still in school uniforms?” he snorted, shifting to look over at the girls; their studious appearance of white oxford shirts, sweater vests, plaid kilts, white knee socks, and smart oxford shoes would be quite out of place among the audience at the show.

“No time to change, just like usual,” she replied, turning on the radio, soft melodies pouring out at a low volume.

The three drove in silence, except for the sound of the radio playing, until Carolyn had dozed off on the somewhat lengthy car ride. Occasional small talk between Y/N and her brother permeated the quiet that fell over the group, but it picked up when they were only a few blocks away from the venue.

“You gotta stay safe in there, Y/N,” Tommy said, looking straight ahead. His teeth clamped down sharply on his bottom lip: a dead giveaway to the nerves he must have been feeling.

“I know, Dad,” Y/N joked, punching him lightly across the shoulder. Her bright smile wavered and fell when she saw his grim expression.

“I’m serious, you know. I don’t want my sister being pestered by some wankers in a blues band.”

Y/N smirked at her brother’s sudden defensive behavior. “I can take care of myself. Trust me. This isn’t my first rodeo. You should’ve seen the first Yardbirds gig we went to. Utter chaos...” The tilt of her lips signalled that she was joking, and Tommy huffed out a laugh.

Carolyn, stretching with a grunt, had miraculously woken up just as Tommy pulled up to the front door of the Marquee. Glancing at the venue with awe dancing in their eyes, Y/N and Carolyn disembarked from the car, walking closer with the façade of calmness and competency.

“I’ll be back later to pick you girls up. Have fun, but not too much fun,” Tommy rolled his window down as he said this, winking playfully.

Y/N waved to her brother as Carolyn thanked him graciously for the ride. Arms linked, Y/N and Carolyn entered the famous Marquee. Nervousness and anticipation began to pool Y/N’s stomach as she was greeted by the decadent atmosphere of the club: the smell of smoke, alcohol, and sweat hung in the air as her eyes were flashed by many people mingling about, dressed in typical mod clothing. Y/N and her friend looked at each other, feeling like aliens in their intelligent dress. They tactfully made their way through the crowd as they found their way to their usual spot, a small leather-upholstered booth set against the wall near the stage.

“Today might be the day, Y/N,” Carolyn said as they settled into their seats.

“I don’t know,” she replied, smoothing out her skirt, “the idea of that is both scary and exciting to me at the same time. We’ll just roll with the punches, I guess.”

“Which Yardbird do you have your eye on?”

Y/N smirked as she thought for a moment. “Hmm...I’m not sure. I guess they’re all pretty cute in their own way. What about you?”

“Yes, I agree. But I must admit, I do have a very soft spot for Chris Dreja.”

“I’ll pray for ya, C,” Y/N chuckled.

~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, backstage, five live Yardbirds were performing some pre-show rituals in the hopes of easing the preliminary anxiousness. Jeff, Keith, and Jim were peeking out the little sliver of curtain that allowed them to see their gathering audience.

“Look! It’s those two schoolgirls again!” Jeff pointed to the two teenage girls in school uniforms, chatting in their booth waiting for the show to begin. They were huddled together in conversation, legs daintily crossed as their faint giggles floated over to them. Jim couldn’t help but smile at the sound, though he recovered quickly, not wanting his bandmates to get any ideas.

“What’s wrong with that? They must like us,” Keith replied.

“I think they’re both really pretty, especially the one with the Y/H/C hair,” Jim pointed out, trying to be as subtle as possible.

“Yeah, maybe we should invite them backstage after the show… have a nice little chat,” Jeff winked at the singer and the drummer cheekily.

After taking a final glance at the two conversing girls, the three returned to the backstage area where Paul and Chris were. Jeff immediately enlisted Giorgio, their manager, to complete the agreed-upon mission. Jeff loosely draped an arm around Giorgio’s shoulder before bestowing the request as politely as possible. Not trying to be suspiciously polite, of course, because everyone in the band and its entourage were firsthand witnesses of Jeff’s temper and stubbornness. Yikes.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to do me a favor,” Jeff said to Giorgio with a mischievous smile.

Giorgio rolled his eyes, knowing this “favor” would have to do with scouting girls from the audience. “What d’ya need, Jeff?” he sighed exhaustedly.

“Don’t complain, please,” Jeff deadpanned. “There are two pretty birds in the audience, wearing their school uniforms. They’ve been coming to our shows for a little bit now, and they seem nice—”

“You want me to bring them backstage after the show?” Giorgio interrupted, somehow telepathically knowing, by routine, what the guitarist’s request would be.

“You finish that sentence like you know what I’m about to say.”

“That’s because I do, Mr. Beck,” Giorgio retorted sarcastically, “this happens a lot more often than you think it does.”

“Whatever,” Jeff grumbled moodily, knowing he was right, before walking back to the group of musicians in preparation.

~~~~~~~~

Y/N and Carolyn continued to gossip happily about what was happening at school, not a care in the world. They felt the stares of older men in the club, who silently disapproved of their knee socks being scrunched by their ankles, because that wasn’t the “proper” thing to do. But they didn’t care. Who are they to judge?

Every teacher scolded girls at school who did the same thing, because they didn’t want their long legs to be “tempting” or “distracting” any boys. A bloody nuisance, is what it is.

The girls were snapped from their thoughts by the sound of a heavy guitar tone being blasted through the speakers in an opening riff. Their eyes were stapled, almost transfixed to the stage as they took in the five sharply-dressed men in front of them, singing their songs and playing their instruments.

As much as Carolyn enjoyed The Yardbirds and music in general, Y/N had a rather deep connection to it, odd enough as it was. She could play the piano fairly well, so she understood where these musicians were coming from cognitively and creatively. From what she’d read in magazines about current popular musicians, like The Yardbirds for example, she liked the same music they did. Y/N understood dynamics, tempo, tone, key, and musical notation, just like they did. Perhaps she’d be able to get into an intelligent musical conversation with at least one of them one day.

Two straight hours of hits, obscure songs, and blues covers from The Yardbirds’ catalogue were played for the Marquee Club patrons, hypnotizing its drunk and high onlookers with polished musicality and instrumentation.

As the final song concluded, both Y/N and Carolyn, unbeknownst to the other, felt a sinking feeling of disappointment that fell like a pit in their stomachs. They wouldn’t have the chance to meet the band. No one from the entity had approached them yet, and momentarily the five live Yardbirds would be exiting the stage for the night.

After they said their goodbyes and thanks to the crowd, they disappeared behind the curtain. The main lights of the club brightened to signal that the show was over, as the voices of all the patrons raised in rave of the spectacular show they had just witnessed.

Discouraged, but still in light spirits at what they had just seen, Y/N and Carolyn stood up from their seat and headed for the front door. Y/N expected her brother to be waiting in front; it was late, so might as well not make him wait longer than he needs to.

Y/N and Carolyn were merely a few feet from the door when Y/N felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Turning around to see a man with a dark beard already baring a jovial tight-lipped grin at her, the girl was quite surprised, maybe a little weirded out, but she reciprocated the gesture as genuinely as she could.

“Hello sir, what can we do for you?” Y/N greeted, discreetly nudging Carolyn to help her out and become a united front with her in front of this stranger.

“Good evening ladies, I was sent by Mr. Jeff Beck to offer you an invitation backstage to hang out with the band.”

Y/N’s stomach dropped and her face broke out into an obvious mad blush, much to her dismay. She was internally screaming. The Jeff Beck had spotted them in the crowd?! This had to be a dream. Wait, this could be a complete drunken buffoon trying to trick them. Y/N remembered what her mother had said, and took the proper precautionary measure.

Y/N smiled in the most composed way she could. “Thank you for such a gracious invitation! Could I ask your name, if you don’t mind?”

“Giorgio Gomelsky, manager of The Yardbirds,” he replied, in a seemingly proud manner.

Okay, this was real. Y/N knew that Giorgio was definitely the manager’s name. She turned to Carolyn, who looked just as excited as she was.

“What are your names, dears?” Giorgio asked, pulling them out of their daze of what seemed like a fake reality.

“I’m Carolyn, and this is my friend Y/N,” Carolyn piped up, excited that she finally got an opportunity to speak to someone close to The Yardbirds.

She internally agreed to let Y/N handle the “diplomacy” part of the introduction, knowing that she was best at that. Carolyn knew her friend was quite shy, so she knew to step in when Y/N was starting to feel anxious. She noticed Y/N starting to fiddle with her fingers while talking to Giorgio in the most collected way she could muster; as excited as Y/N was, Carolyn knew she was growing very nervous.

“Well, it is certainly lovely to meet you both. So, what do you say? Would you like to meet the lads?”

After one final glance of excited mutual agreement, Carolyn replied, “Yes, we’d love to.”

Giorgio led the pair of girls back the way they came, through a sea of inebriated people, but this time through the backstage door. Y/N made an appoint to walk behind Carolyn, in an attempt to collect and relax herself. She was starting to sweat a little, her stomach doing flips and her hands becoming cold and clammy.

~~~~~~~~

“Our guests should be arriving any minute now,” Jeff said as he was placing his guitar back in its case.

Chris was standing and chatting with Paul in a corner when he turned around in surprise at the news. “Guests? What guests?”

“We had Giorgio invite two girls from the audience to come back here,” Jim replied, walking over to sit down in a metal folding chair.

“And why weren't we made aware of this?” Paul asked, as he walked to get another metal folding chair to place near Jim.

“It was their idea,” Keith replied, pointing two fingers between Jeff and Jim. Paul and Chris just nodded in recognition.

“I didn’t hear you disagree, Relf,” Jeff clapped back. He then told Chris and Keith to get some chairs for themselves and the two girls that would be walking through the door at any second.

Before Keith could respond, a couple knocks resounded in the room, signalling the arrival of the guests. Jacket lapels and ties were quickly straightened, even though each person was still glazed with quickly-drying sweat from the show they had just played, before the room fell unnaturally quiet as Giorgio opened the rather squeaky door.

The initial tension in the room that lasted a split second could be cut with a knife. Y/N felt her heart pounding in her chest, a cold sweat already running down her back, as five pairs of eyes landed on her, Carolyn, and Giorgio, warm smiles following suit.

She felt like internally combusting.

“Boys, this is Y/N,” Giorgio broke the momentary silence by introducing her, “and Carolyn.” Y/N smiled shyly and sent them a little wave, a dusty shade of pink seeping its way to her cheeks. Carolyn’s greeting was much more exuberant than Y/N’s, as she took the initiative to go over and shake all of their hands amiably. Y/N realized she had to follow her friend in order to make a good first impression.

Knowing that the boys wanted to spend time with the girls without being chaperoned, Giorgio left the room to attend to other business affairs.

Upon first glance, Y/N was the most beautiful girl that four of the five Yardbirds had ever seen. Perfect features, long legs, a calm, gentle, sweet demeanor… Just an absolutely angelic young woman; a vision.

Jeff had obviously recognized her beauty, from seeing her at multiple shows, but he thought she was way out of his league. He decided to focus on getting her to laugh and relax around them, because he noticed just how nervous she looked. She was turning pale right in front of his very eyes! Paul and Chris began to internally question themselves, how have I not seen this girl before? She is so gorgeous! Jim had been glancing at her sporadically throughout the show, soaking up her faraway presence. He noticed how her eyes glistened in childlike wonder as she watched them do what they did best: perform the Chicago blues.

“Well, it is very nice to meet you both,” Keith replied enthusiastically. “I’m Keith,” he alluded to himself, then pointing to the other members of the group while giving their names, “and this is Chris, Paul, Jeff, and Jim.”

“I mean, we know who you guys are, but it’s so lovely to finally meet you,” Carolyn replied. Y/N nodded in agreement.

“Come and sit down! Make yourselves comfortable. We don’t bite,” Jeff joked, motioning to the open chairs. The girls smiled and accepted his invitation, Y/N taking a seat between Jeff Beck and Jim McCarty, while Carolyn took a seat between Keith Relf and Chris Dreja. The chairs were arranged in a circular formation, so each person could talk to the other with ease.

“Tell us about yourselves!” Paul initiated, “I think Y/N should go first though, because you haven’t said too much yet,” he laughed at the last part. Y/N giggled (a little too idiotically for her own liking), but she felt herself become starstruck at how her name sounded coming from one of their voices.

Y/N clenched her cold, clammy hands in her lap as a method to ease her anxiety before starting with a smile. “Well, I’m from Saint Albans. This is our fourth time, I believe, coming to see a Yardbirds gig. Carolyn and I came to see you with Eric Clapton once, and then this is the third time with Jeff.”

“Oh, that’s fantastic! I guess I see where your favor lies in terms of guitarists,” Jeff responded playfully.

“I guess you’re right,” Y/N laughed, “I will admit that I love what you’ve done with the body of work. Clapton was a blues purist, which I respect, and he’s great, but I think your playing is much more interesting and unorthodox.”

Paul, Jim, and Jeff all raised their eyebrows at Y/N’s comment. They were impressed with how she understood their musicality.

“Are you a musician?” Jim asked Y/N.

“Not in your sense of the word,” Y/N chuckled, “But I’ve been playing the piano for most of my life, so I understand music. Probably more than your average female audience member,” she added with a grin.

“That’s so cool! Are you classically trained, or is it just a hobby?”

“Classically trained,” Y/N admitted to Jim shyly.

“Oh wow, so you’re the real deal,” Jeff added.

“I’m not a professional, so I’d say no,” Y/N laughed.

“You probably know more about music than all five of us combined!” Paul said.

“Well, I know that you know much more about the blues than me!” Y/N answered playfully.

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” Paul smiled at Y/N. She cursed herself in her mind for feeling weak at Paul’s simple sentiment, but tried to keep her composure as best she could.

The four of them, especially Jeff and Y/N, began to bond over their love for different musicians. Y/N expressed her love for Chet Atkins and his fingerpicking style, Scotty Moore’s lively soloing style, and Robert Johnson’s slide technique and open tunings, rendering the three men shocked at her knowledge on the subject. Y/N loved how easily Jeff could make her laugh, and how interested Paul and Jim were at whatever she had to say, significant or insignificant. Chris Dreja, who was in a little group with Keith and Carolyn, occasionally spaced out of his conversation to hear what Y/N had to say.

They bonded for about an hour and a half about everything and nothing, until Y/N abruptly realized that Tommy was probably waiting for a while outside for her and her friend. She apologized to the band profusely for such a sudden departure as she and Carolyn walked towards the door.

“Say you’ll come visit us again after the show?” Jeff called to Y/N as she turned towards him in the doorframe.

“Absolutely,” she smiled brightly.

---------

Thanks so much, hope you enjoy!!

Taglist: @y0uth--anasia @reincarnated70sbaby

#jimmy page #led zeppelin #that’s the way #jimmy page fanfic #jimmy page fanfiction #jimmy page x reader #led zeppelin fanfic #classic rock fanfic

59 notes · View notes

teawaffles · 3 years

Text

There’s No Business Like Show Business: Chapter 7 / End

Edit: It seems Maya did appear in the manga at one point — see the footnote at the end!

Some time after that day.

As Bond strolled down a West End street with jaunty steps, he saw a familiar face on the other side of the road.

“Miss Maya.”

As he called out to her, she also seemed to notice him.

“Oh, M-Mr Bond.”

“It’s Mister Bond!”

With her little sister Mae in tow, Maya was dressed in more luxurious clothes than she normally wore. But the person wearing them remained the same: as if her performance that day had been a lie, her gloomy personality was back in full force.

“What brings you here?”

“Ah, um, the nobleman who’d originally commissioned us, watched our play that day, and he asked if we’d like to perform it again, at his theatre. That’s why, today, I came here to discuss the matter with him.”

Hearing that, Bond knit his brows in dismay.

“……Are you sure? Wasn’t he the same man who mocked all of you for being poor?”

Knowing full well that his doubt was justified, Maya explained the situation in a fluster.

“T-That’s true, he still holds prejudice against us, and I’m sure it hasn’t fully been dispelled. But the passion he has for theatre — on that point alone, we are the same. So from there, bit by bit, I want us to come to an understanding.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Bond agreed with her view.

Although the nobleman’s discriminatory attitude had yet to be resolved, as long as they had a mutual goal, they would be able to reach an understanding. At this relationship that transcended social class, Bond was a tiny bit happy.

“……Fufu”

Maya suddenly let out a small laugh, and Bond was somewhat taken aback.

“What’s the matter?”

“Now that I think about it…… Mr Bond, back then, when you proposed that we fight back with ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, I remembered the occasion that led me to fall in love with children’s literature, back when I was a child.”

“What was it?”

“Right; I was an orphan, so I stayed at an orphanage in Whitechapel. But because I couldn’t read, there was another boy who read books aloud for me.”

When she mentioned a Whitechapel orphanage, a strange sense of foreboding welled up within Bond.

“The way he spoke, was very similar to the way you think, Mr Bond…… He always gathered us behind the adults’ backs, and explained to us the distortions caused by this country’s class system. ”

“………!”

In direct contrast to Maya, who was recounting the matter with nostalgia, Bond had broken out in goosebumps at this unexpected revelation.

“It all happened a long time ago, so I’ve forgotten most of it; but when you came up with the idea to compete with the West End theatres, the images from back then sprang to mind…… I-Is something wrong?”

Seeing how Bond had dropped his gaze and grown deep in thought, Maya enquired after him in a worried tone.

He forced himself to suppress the smile that had suddenly bubbled up within him.

“No, it’s nothing.”

——Could it be, that those children were……

Having received these scraps of information, the figures of the children Maya had talked about, as he imagined them, rose in his mind. They overlapped perfectly with the brothers he knew so well.

However, in the end, this was just a possibility. Bond cut off his train of thought, and promptly regained his composure as he turned to face Maya once again.

“Anyway, Miss Maya: congratulations on your new commission.”

“N-No, no, it was really all thanks to you and your colleagues, Mr Bond.”

“All thanks to you~”

Maya shook her head in haste, and Mae copied her.

“Not at all, I just suggested the idea. What made it possible were the abilities of you and your company.”

“S—Still…… Even so, thank you so much. Well, when the show is confirmed, please do come and watch.”

“Of course. I’m really excited for it. When the dates are settled, I’ll be sure to buy tickets——”

At that moment, a little idea popped into his head. He held up an index finger, and smiled at Maya.

“Miss Maya. I won’t be collecting any coaching fees for that time, but could you do me just one favour?”

“U-Um…… What would it be?”

She tilted her head to the side, and Bond leaned in just a little.

“Regarding the tickets for the performance: on top of mine, I would like you to add just one more ticket, and deliver it anonymously to 221B Baker Street—— Sherlock Holmes’ flat.”

“Well, if it’s just that, then it would be alright……”

Though she still found it curious, Maya agreed to his strange request. Satisfied, Bond stood back upright, and imagined the scene that would unfold when the ticket was delivered.

Surely, that man would be puzzled to receive a ticket he didn’t remember purchasing. Then the mystery of its anonymous sender would stoke his curiosity, and he would head down to the theatre to watch Maya’s company perform.

——If he sat next to the detective, in disguise and with an innocent demeanour, would he notice?

Having thought of an absolutely thrilling prank, the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a faint, alluring smile. But that expression immediately changed into the refreshing smile of an agreeable young man.

“Thank you. Well then, I look forward to your performance.”

“Yes, and it is I who should be thanking you. I look forward to seeing you there too.”

Bidding farewell to the two sisters, Bond walked through the theatre district once again.

The streets were lined with elegant buildings — a sight which contrasted directly with the East End.

However, Bond knew that the people living in that completely opposite world had left an indelible mark here.

Now, the former actress who had conquered the dazzling world of theatre — James Bond, was on his way back to his original stage: as a special agent working in the shadows.

T/N: Things really came full circle… (tears of joy)

Edit: I was looking through the early chapters when I found this page in Chapter 1 (”The Scarlet Eyes”):

This little girl is most likely Maya! Notice that she’s holding a volume of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Her hair colour in greyscale is also similar to Albert’s — we know from Story 2 Chapter 1 that she has chestnut-coloured hair, which is pretty much Albert’s hair colour too.

Here’s a close-up of the panel showing the book title:

This was really one of those blink-and-you’d-miss-it details, and I really appreciate the attention paid to them!

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #yuumori #english translation #forbidden games

82 notes · View notes

crossdressingdeath · 3 years

Note

Every so often I’ll come across a fic that has a summary that essentially reads: “after JFM brings WWX to Lotus Pier YZY takes JC to MeishanYu where he becomes the sect heir” and it always acts like this situation is a fix-it for the entire plot of the novel. And I was thinking about this premise over the past few days and realising just how little it makes sense. (I would like to clarify that I have not read any of the fics with this premise but that is because they all look to be written by JC stans and I decided a while ago that I wasn’t interested in anything like that. I would also like to say that I have only the vaguest understanding of Chinese culture so if something is glaring wrong in here I accept corrections.)

So. The logistics of the events coming to pass. The summaries imply that YZY left Lotus Pier with JC in tow, marched into her natal sect and without question JC was named sect heir and never had any problems ever.

Firstly: if YZY is such an amazing mother to take her son away from the ‘awful’ environment of Lotus Pier under JFM, why does she leave her daughter there? There never seems to be any mention of JYL also going to Meishan so this really just feels like YZY doesn’t actually care about anyone other than JC (in a similar way to the author not caring about anyone other than JC).

Secondly: the actual inheritance thing. As far as I can tell YZY and therefore JC are so far down the line of inheritance for the MeishanYu sect that it doesn’t actually matter. JFM calls YZY ‘Third Lady’ which based on my understanding means that she has two older sisters who would be the First and Second Ladies. In the line of succession her eldest sister would be first, then her children, then her second sister, that sister’s children, and then YZY and JC behind them (this isn’t even taking into account any older brothers she might have). I think I read somewhere that marriage order is based at least partially on age so we can assume that the two older sisters got married before YZY, and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that the eldest child of the eldest daughter could be fifteen when JC is nine, so at the very least the eldest sister could have a child who is close to being of age (though I freely admit that I have little idea as to what is classed as ‘of age’ within this world) while the son YZY brings is a child who throws a tantrum over having his pets sent away for someone else’s mental health and being told he’s going to share a room.

(Sidenote: I know JFM has JC’s dogs sent away but for all we know they’re just taken out of Lotus Pier itself (as in the bit where the cultivators live). We know there’s a market area where non-cultivators live literally right outside so rather than sending three puppies miles away to other cities, couldn’t JFM have just found someone living outside of the cultivator’s part of Lotus Pier to give the dogs to? Wouldn’t that have been the easiest option? And one that could potentially allow JC to visit the dogs he was so upset about? Did he just not ask to see them so JFM decided that he didn’t actually care about them? Did JC go see them every week until they died and was just angry that he wasn’t allowed to own them anymore? What proof do we have that JC never saw those dogs ever again?)

Anyway, back on track. Thirdly: YZY married out of the MeishanYu sect and into the YunmengJiang sect. She was very insistent on this. She wanted this a great deal even though we know that JFM didn’t particularly want to marry her. I believe that by the culture of the time marrying out of a family meant you were no longer part of that family. Like you might visit or write and introduce your children to them but you weren’t part of the family in the sense that you weren’t in the line of inheritance for anything of that family. So YZY marching into her natal sect with her bratty son behind her, declaring that he would be the sect heir to MeishanYu honestly reads to me as YZY flat out not understanding anything about how family inheritance works. She married into YunmengJiang. By the rules of the time, she should be devoted to building up the YunmengJiang sect, not leaving and returning to her natal sect because she doesn’t like the mother of the child her husband brought in off the streets. JC especially isn’t in line for inheriting MeishanYu because he is a member of the Jiang clan. Honestly the best equivalent I can think of is if people expected Jin Ling, heir (and sect leader and the end of the novel) to LanlingJin to also take over the running of YunmengJiang even though nowhere is it implied that he’s in any way in line of that — JYL married out, any children of hers were part of the Jin clan with no inheritance in the Jiang clan (it’s also for this reason that I am firmly of the belief that Jin Ling was mostly raised at Koi Tower rather than Lotus Pier, who lets the heir to a sect be entirely raised by another sect? For all we know Jin Ling spends a couple of months a year with JC and the novel just happened to take place during those months, and it’s saying something if Jin Ling spends the entire time he has per year with JC running away on night hunts without JC there). So, to put a long point short: YZY married out of the MeishanYu sect and has literally no inheritance there and neither do her children.

Also, at this point hasn’t she essentially kidnapped the heir to YunmengJiang? I doubt JFM is going to say “oh you don’t like my best friends’ son so you want to take our son away. Of course you can do that I have no problem at all with losing my sect heir due to your petty dislike of someone who has been dead for years now. Goodbye.” JFM may not really stand up to YZY, but there’s some things even he isn’t going to tolerate from her. So YZY is causing a political disaster between her natal sect and the sect she married into by kidnapping the sect heir of one and attempting to make him the sect heir of the other. At the very least I feel like JFM could divorce her on the grounds of kidnapping his son and trying to depose the sect heir of her natal sect in favour of a child who by law cannot inherit that sect.

From what I can tell these fics look like they’re set up to be fix-its. Again, I haven’t read them, but I can feel just by reading the summaries and glancing over the tags that they’re intended to be stories about how without the father who ‘hates him so much’ and ‘that awful WWX who always held him back from his true potential’ that JC is so much happier and more skilled and also absolutely going to be the best person in their generation at everything and in at least one of these it looks like he ends up marrying LXC (which is just. No). Honestly it could be a fix-it for JYL and WWX who would no longer be being berated for their general existence (WWX) and hobbies (JYL, specifically how she likes to cook). Them growing up without YZY constantly breathing down their necks and having better mental health as a consequence? Yes please.

Honestly I wouldn’t mind seeing something where the concept was written by someone who didn’t think that ‘actually all the positive traits of other characters are JC’s character traits and also JC should have been the main character’. Something where it’s set up as YZY taking JC with her to Meishan, expecting everything to obviously work out the way she wants, only to be shot down. Her eldest sister is potentially sect leader if their parents have stepped down and has a fifteen-year-old child who everyone in the sect is pleased with as their sect heir. YZY and her expectations get shot down, it’s made clear that she and JC aren’t even in the line of succession since they’re officially part of YunmengJiang and not MeishanYu, and she’s told to leave. She returns to Lotus Pier, angry but still convinced everything there will go her way because JFM has never stood up to her before, only to get back and find JFM in the process of organising their divorce. This isn’t an internal matter due to her not doing the duties expected of the mistress of Lotus Pier anymore, this is a political matter where she kidnapped the sect heir and tried to depose the sect heir of MeishanYu. She’s legally part of YunmengJiang, her actions reflect on the sect as a whole and could be taken as hostile intent. Really the only way to keep this from potentially escalating is to divorce her so that everyone knows her actions aren’t condoned by JFM individually and YunmengJiang as a whole. The end result is that instead of JC somehow fixing everything as a result of having less political influence/lower status than before (sect heir of MeishanYu which is a minor sect compared to the sect heir of YunmengJiang which is a great sect) and without an extremely loyal WWX supporting him, YZY instead undergoes some consequences for once in her life and the family dynamic of the Jiangs + WWX might even manage to be healthier without her constantly being around to antagonise everyone.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure YZY’s children would be so far down the line of succession that they’d have to murder a bunch of people to stand a chance of ruling Meishan, and her taking JC, the heir to the Jiang sect, to another sect without his father’s permission and with the intention of deposing the rightful heir of that sect would be... just a bit of a problem, yeah. Also like. I suspect the reason YZY doesn’t canonically do that is because not even she is that stupid. That goes beyond being a bitch and straight into Actual Crimes. Also love the idea that JC, the most useless of all the great sect leaders, would be less useless in a position of infinitely less power. ...To be fair he would certainly do a lot less damage.

#lotus mom #grapehate #anon #asks

58 notes · View notes

jekde04 · 4 years

Text

Fifth

Pairing: Gruvia (Gray Fullbuster & Juvia Lockser)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Genre: Romance/Family

Word Count: 1,987 words

Summary: Spending quality time with each other may not be so easy when you have two kids in tow.

You may also read it on FanFiction.net and AO3!

A/N: This is a response to a couple of Tumblr prompts from @gruviafan-forever: "They're so cute when they're asleep" (fluff 14) & and exhausted parents' kiss (situation kiss 7). It might not be what you had in mind, but I hope you enjoy it! 😘

And okay, it wasn't how I initially thought this would go, but one thing led to another and here we are... LEMON ALERT!

Consider yourself warned, hihi.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The moment Juvia's fingers touched his tense, bare shoulders after a particularly difficult mission, kneading his muscles expertly like she had done countless times in the past, he knew he couldn't say no to her.

And so when she whispered her request in his ear and followed it up with butterfly kisses down his nape, he couldn't help but nod and grunt a short, "Fine," even though he knew it would mess up his carefully planned weekend getaway.

"Juvia is so lucky Gray-sama is so understanding," she whispered thickly in his ear as she nipped it lightly, continuing to massage his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. But I don't want to hear any complaints from you," he said, eyes closed and reveling in the feel of his wife's soothing hands.

"Juvia will enjoy it as long as she's with her three favorite people in the world."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Remind me again what you said about enjoying this trip with these brats?" Gray snickered as he placed his sleeping four-year-old son on the bed and tucked him in.

Juvia rolled her eyes. "Go on, rub it in," she answered, careful not to wake up the two-year-old toddler who had been the source of both their delight and frustration the whole day.

When Gray told her that he got them a two-night reservation at Akane Resort for their five-year wedding anniversary, Juvia jumped to her husband's arms and clung to him in excitement, kissing his face repeatedly. It had been ages since they went on a vacation together, most of their days now filled with taking care of the kids, going to missions, and hanging out with their friends at the guild.

But Juvia's mood dampened when Gray told her that it was going to be just the two of them, proposing to leave both Greige and Azure to Natsu and Lucy for the meantime. As much as she wanted to spend quality time with her husband, she just couldn't bear the thought of leaving the kids behind. She already had difficulty taking overnight missions; why must she subject herself to more torture when they could just bring the children along?

It took a while for Juvia to convince Gray to make it a family getaway instead of a couple's retreat, but after a soothing massage followed by other stuff she knew her husband loved, Gray finally gave in and agreed to bring the kids with them.

And now, just after the first day of traveling and chasing the kids non-stop at the beach, Juvia kind of regretted it. Not that she would admit it to her gloating husband, though.

"Don't say I didn't warn ya," Gray said after kissing his son's forehead. He then walked towards his wife and sleeping daughter. "They're so cute when they're asleep. If only they just slept the whole day."

"Oh, shut up, Gray-sama," Juvia muttered, still slightly irritated at him. She brushed off her daughter's light blue bangs, leaned in and whispered, "Goodnight, my baby," and kissed her forehead. Gray did the same, kissing his daughter on her chubby cheek.

Juvia walked over to Greige's bed and planted a kiss on his forehead as well, smiling as she did so. Both her children are sweet and well-behaved, but ever since she told them that they were going on a beach vacation for three days, their excitement had been through the roof.

Greige told his wide-eyed sister what he could remember from their last time at the beach ("You were still inside Mommy's belly Azure, so you won't remember," he had said to her) – the sandcastles he and Daddy made, the sea monsters Mommy created with her water magic, the giant sun setting over the horizon as he sat on Mommy's lap, Daddy's arms wrapped around them both. All these stories made little Azure look forward to the day when she would finally see the beach with her own cobalt eyes.

The minute they stepped foot on the fine white sand, Juvia's usually calm children rushed to the shore like a couple of ignited firecrackers. They could hardly stay still on the blanket Juvia laid out for them, preferring to run around and play on the shallow waters. Gray even had to use his stern Daddy voice so that Greige and Azure would stop squirming as their mother finished applying sunscreen on their pale skin.

The family spent most of the afternoon at the beach – Juvia teaching Greige how to swim and Gray playfully chasing his giggling daughter as she ran as fast as her plump little legs could carry her. And as the stars started appearing in the darkening sky, it took the couple quite some time before they were able to tear a wailing Azure away from the water, pacifying her with promises that yes, she could play again tomorrow.

Juvia turned off the lights at her children's bedroom, leaving a dim lamp running. She took Gray's outstretched hand and followed him to the door connecting the kids' room to theirs before finally slumping on their queen-sized bed, exhaustion taking over her body.

"Juvia is so tired," she mumbled, eyes closed. She heard the bed creak, feeling her husband crawl on top of her. Slowly opening her eyes, she came face to face with Gray, already half-naked, a smirk on his face.

"Just what I'm afraid of," he said, leaning down and giving her a light peck on the lips. "C'mon Juvs, lie down properly so we can sleep."

"Okay." Juvia crawled to her side of the bed and tucked herself beneath the covers, closing her eyes as she waited for Gray. She heard him turn off their bedroom light and settle beside her, his arm snaking underneath her so she can rest her head on his bare chest.

"Juvia's sorry, Gray-sama," she said as she looked up at him, the light of the bedside lamp illuminating her husband's tired but handsome face. "She knows you really wanted to spend quality time with Juvia, but she insisted on bringing the kids."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing." Gray kissed her forehead. "It's fine. It's hard for me to leave the kids back home, too. Especially with Flame Brain."

Juvia smiled. Gray might say those things, but she knew he trusted Natsu with his life.

"Still, Juvia knows Gray-sama wants Juvia all to himself," she whispered as she reached out to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She closed the distance between them and kissed him gently.

Gray could feel how tired Juvia was in his arms, but that wouldn't stop him from enjoying her soft lips slowly moving against his. It wasn't as heated as their usual kisses were, but he loved the languid way that Juvia's lips sought his, nipping them as if they had all the time in the world. He brushed his tongue against her lips and Juvia opened her mouth a little more, granting him entry. He deepened the kiss as she leaned back on her pillow, Gray settling on top of her.

"You sure you're tired, love?" Gray asked her between kisses, her soft moans awakening what was inside his boxers.

"A little, but if Gray-sama takes the lead, then Juvia doesn't mind." She tilted her head to the side as Gray left butterfly kisses on the side of her neck.

"But I'm exhausted, too."

"Doesn't seem like it," Juvia said in a low voice as her hand traveled to the growing bulge in his boxers, rubbing it slowly. Gray groaned.

"What can I say? You wash away my tiredness," he answered, one of his hands raising her nightgown to her hips and settling over the wetness between her thighs. Gray smirked as his mouth continued to travel down her collarbone, leaving wet kisses in its wake. "So wet already, Juvia?"

"Ah, Gray-sama... Stop teasing Juvia," she said between purrs, her other hand pulling his boxers off and allowing her to stroke his growing manhood.

Gray gently slipped the straps of Juvia's nightgown from her shoulders, his lips trailing kisses down the valley of her now exposed breasts. His tongue caressed one firm nipple as his hand shoved her panties to the side and rubbed her throbbing center. Feeling her wet enough, he inserted a finger inside her and Juvia cupped a hand on her mouth to keep herself from crying and waking up the kids.

"You taste so good, Juvia," Gray's husky voice echoed in her ears as he sucked Juvia's breasts, his curled fingers pumping inside her. He could feel how close Juvia was to the edge as he felt her walls contract – but he couldn't let her have all the fun. All of a sudden, he withdrew his hand and smirked, earning a groan from a frustrated Juvia.

"Not too fast, love."

In one quick movement, Gray slid Juvia's panties down, leaving it hanging on one of her ankles. He shook off his boxers and threw it to the floor, then positioned himself right at Juvia's entrance, rubbing his tip at her wetness.

"Gray-sama, please," Juvia begged him, and Gray took a moment to take her all in: half-lidded gaze, flushed cheeks, swollen lips, heaving bosom, nightgown pooled at her tummy, creamy thighs spread on either side of his hips, knickers discarded at her foot, essence dripping with want for him. Despite being married for years and having two babies together, Juvia's beauty never failed to mesmerize him – and obviously, make his length stand at attention.

He entered her, slowly easing in as Juvia's legs wrapped around his hips and pushed him deeper. She pulled him down and crashed their lips together, the kisses no longer lazy but full of passion and hunger. Gray started to pump and find his rhythm while Juvia ran her hands through his hair, clasping his locks every time he hit her spot.

Soon she was moaning his name again and again as he pounded into her fast and deep, and it only took a whisper of, "I love you, Juvia," for her to reach her peak, her walls contracting around him and causing him to follow shortly after. Totally spent, Gray slumped over Juvia, their breaths heavy with pleasure and exhaustion.

"Now I'm really tired," Gray declared a couple of minutes later as he rolled off her to his side of the bed. His eyes remained closed while he continued to catch his breath.

"Juvia would not have guessed," she said as she giggled and kissed his cheek. She slipped on her nightgown and panties before getting under the covers.

"You started it," he said in a mocking tone.

"Admit it, Gray-sama. You liked it."

He grinned. "Yeah, yeah. No complaints here." Gray gathered Juvia in his arms and kissed her temple, letting her curl up beside him.

"Happy anniversary, Gray-sama," Juvia whispered as she pressed her lips on his cheek.

He smiled. "Happy anniversary, Juvia."

"You should at least put on some boxers, you know."

"Nah, all the easier for you to grab me in the morning."

A small hand slapped him on the chest before they drifted off to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N again: It’s my first time writing a lemon! Reviews are super welcome because I kinda wanna write more lemony stuff but I don’t know if it reads cringe-y or whatever. 🙄

Tag list: @shampooneko (Lemme know if you wanna be included 💙)

#gruvia #gruvia fanfic #gruvia fanfiction #Gray X Juvia #gray fullbuster #Juvia Lockser #fairy tail

189 notes · View notes

cloudaura93 · 3 years

Text

Fall for You - Cindy/Alice Fanfiction (SPOILERS)

Preface - I read all of the Fear Street books when I was younger. My fiancé and I really loved the new trilogy on Netflix so I’m starting to pick up my fanfiction writing hobby again. It’s a great series adaptation to the source material and I hope it does well enough to expand the universe further in the future with more stories. Also the cast is amazing and their on-screen chemistry is fantastic.

Story idea came after I watched an interview with actress Ryan Simpkins that her character had feelings for Emily Rudd’s character. So this explores their blossoming romance. The title and song inspiration is Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade since I heard it on my shuffle playlist yesterday and it reminded me of the Cindy & Alice dynamic. I hope all of you enjoy my little short story as much as I enjoyed writing it. For now it’s a one-shot but might make a second chapter if it is well received. I have a couple ideas on how to tweak the ending of Part 2. Thanks and let me know what you think! :)

Prompt: What if Alice wasn’t murdered immediately at the end of her speech in the cabin? What if she was able to finish it while they were all near each other around the table instead of Alice being alone by the door to be ambushed. Then when Tommy finds them a few moments later, she sacrifices herself defending her two favorite girls? What if the ladies did more than reconcile their friendship in the cave beneath the camp before Cindy rushes off to save Ziggy? Follows canon mostly, but definitely has AU elements.

Cindy’s POV:

“For Shadyside.” Alice announces as she ends her inspiring speech. My heart swells with pride at her admission. It took a lot of courage and strength to come out and say that and still want to fight despite her injury.

I do wish she would stay behind though for her protection. If I lost her tonight after I just got her back, I don’t know what I’d do. But she is just as stubborn as I am, if not more so which means I begrudgingly go along with her idea to join us.

And besides if we are going to die, I would rather us die together than apart if we do inevitably fail to stop the curse.

I want her to stay safe but I understand her reasoning, so I echo her sentiment. “For Shadyside.” I slightly glance at my baby sister who smirks and repeats, “For Shadyside.” Alice and I share Ziggy’s smirk, enjoying this moment of peace, confident in our plan and relishing in the fact that the two most important people in my life have forgiven me for my behavior and vice versa.

I just wish my happiness wasn’t at the expense of all the dread, pain, and loss leading up to this moment that was caused by my possessed and murderous axe-wheeling ex-boyfriend. But I won’t let those feelings distract from the love I feel radiating off Ziggy and Alice right now. They are my strength and I won’t let them down. I’ll be better this time. I have to be better or the consequences will be monumental.

Before I can reminisce any further there’s a loud crack on the front door of the cabin as Tommy bursts through preparing to swing the blunt side of his axe down onto my girlfriend’s head.

“ALICE!” Me and Ziggy scream. Luckily she reacted immediately to our warning and instinctively dodged the blow at the last second as she spins around to face her assailant.

“Why won’t you die!” Alice shouts as she tackles Tommy to the ground and begins wrestling for control of the axe.

“Cindy! GO! You need to finish this to save Ziggy and everyone else! I’ll buy you some time and see you on the other side one way or another…” She blurts out and I don’t like the finality in her tone. She’s struggling to overpower Tommy, but she’s holding her own against who was once a sweet boy I used to date.

“NO! We do this together, remember?!” I beg in protest. Ziggy is at my side, tugging on my stupid polo shirt urging me to go with her.

“Sis, I don’t want to leave either but we are running out of time.” The younger girl exclaims.

“She’s right Cindy. Please go. I’ll catch up. I promise.” She says and I believe her.

“Just like last time?” I ask. I want to make sure she understands how hard it is to run away from her despite the gravity of the situation.

“Yes.” She states matter of factly as I stand there in continued hesitation, still not wanting to leave Alice again, but knowing that both she and Ziggy are right. I have to go. I need to go if I want a chance to end this horror once and for all.

Alice swivels her head slightly to make eye contact with me and we share a nod of understanding as I relinquish control, and allow my baby sister to pull me away to the back door of the cabin to escape.

I hear loud violent noises fading into the background as we are sprinting away toward the tree. And I’m praying to whatever higher power is out there to watch over my wonderful girlfriend and protect her until we can be reunited again as survivors.

So we can’t fail because I WON’T fail them. Not again. I refuse to let some curse fuck up my life more than it has already. There’s too much at stake, more than saving my sister and girlfriend. The whole town is depending on us to end this horror once and for all and we are going to do it or die trying.

Ziggy and I continue running toward our destination with Sarah’s hand in tow hoping with all my heart that Alice is still alive, and that Sarah’s body is buried under the tree.

The End?

#fear street #fear street 1978 #cindy berman #fanfic #netflix #ryan simpkins #emily rudd #f/f #lady love #otp #cindyalice #alice fear street #fiction #lgbtq #fanfiction

17 notes · View notes

thisnoodlewritesao3 · 3 years

Text

The Girl Who Radiated The Sun - Part 1 | Sugawara Koushi/Reader

Characters: Sugawara Koushi, Reader (Sunshine), mentioned: Azumane Asahi, Shimizu Kiyoko, Sawamura Daichi. Original Characters: Previous!Reader(Moonlight), Kado, Joji, Etsu

Pairings: Sugawara Koushi/Reader

Warnings: jealousy, drinking (Suga, Reader, and Moonlight are all 22-23), implied/referenced depression

Word Count: 4165

Summary: Working at a café had been your dream come true, so was meeting Sugawara Koushi. Things were so perfect that you didn't notice the tides shifting until it was too late, and the moon had already piqued her way over the horizon.

A/N: This took me far too long to finish, and I am so sorry for that for those of you who have been waiting for this. If you haven't read this series before, then check out the other two parts for Moonlight and the start of her story, as well as Angel too. A big thank you to @pies-writes-and-more and @satan-ruler-of-hells for keeping my head in place while I wrote this. I could not have done this without you my loves.

Previous | Series Masterlist | Next

--------

People have always intrigued you; their stories and the worlds around them that you’d get to glimpse into if you really paid attention (and you paid attention). There wasn’t anything more exciting to you.

That was why you loved your job at a café, you could observe the people around you with such ease. Some you only got to see for that day, some maybe a few more, but others would come weekly - maybe more. You had a few favourite characters in this little story.

The first was a tall, skinny man with brown hair. He always wore a suit and adored a black coffee every day - to go, obviously. Most of the time he was on the phone, grumbling to some poor human about a task they failed to complete, but the few times he wasn’t were more intriguing. He had a very calm air about him then. Very charming (especially when he tried to flirt with you, to no avail). He always tipped 200 Yen, telling you to treat yourself to something nice - you always wanted to pour his coffee over the expensive suit.

Next was the tired mother and her daughter. Every Friday, 3:35 on the dot, that’s when they showed up. The daughter would squish her cheeks together and gasp at the array of cakes before picking a cheesecake. The mother would smile almost sadly before getting herself whichever tea you’d recommend that day - normally a green tea, but you’d change things up sometimes. They were always a relieving sight. You knew the mother was single, listening as the daughter bragged about what she’d be doing with her dad this weekend. You watched the twinkle in her eye dwindle at the mention of her father, but the mother smiled through it all and smiled so sweetly. Such a brave woman.

And finally, one woman who had held your intrigue for the entire two years she’d been coming. Every single Saturday she’d enter, always ordering a tea and daifuku with anko filling. For the first year, she seemed so hopeful as she nervously rubbed her hands together; the few times you’d actually talked to her, she told you about her boyfriend, how she was waiting for him to call. And for a while, he did. Then slowly, she stopped getting that call.

She only ever missed one week - when you asked her about it the next week, tears pricked in her eyes and she broke down. You took her into the back quickly, ushering away the peering eyes of your co-workers so she could feel secure. You learnt her name, but you’d come to call her Moonlight (something about her just reminded you of the moon), and in turn, she’d call you Sunshine (because something about you reminded her of the sun).

You never talked outside of the café, but she seemed to open up just a little more with each passing week, discovering new things about her that you hadn’t expected. Things that exceeded your expectations. Only once did she show up with three small children in tow (Kado, Joji, and Etsu), and it was absolute hell - but the best day you’d ever worked.

Kado and Joji were truly little demons, just turned 5 and already forces to be reckoned with. Etsu was about to be 3, a beauty already. Despite being their sister, Moonlight acted more like a mother. It was almost sad to see.

Moonlight was somehow so open and yet so closed off at the same time; every inch closer you’d step towards her, she was pushing back. Always at arms reach. You could try and slip past her barriers (if you could figure out which ones actually led to her).

One week, you awaited her arrival with bated breath; something in the air today had you more nervous than usual and you couldn’t quite figure out what it was. You’d just gotten back off of your break when she arrived, smiling so beautifully. “Same as usual?” You chirped, already writing down her typical.

“For me, yes,” she chimed. Something about her was glowing more today - subconsciously, your brows twitched upwards, trying to figure it out what she meant. Your confusion seemed to click with her because she elaborated, “oh, I brought someone with me again. He’s just… I don’t know what he’s doing.”

Almost as if on command, the door to the café opened and in walked a man, a cheeky smile plastered on his lips. Something about him made it impossible for you to not look at him; then his eyes landed on her and you knew you never stood a chance. “What’re you ordering, bitch face?” He asked, snorting as she rolled her eyes.

“Make your own decision, Suga tits.” There’s a chemistry between them that you can’t quite figure out; enough space between them to leave it up to the imagination. Either old friends or lovers, now was the task of figuring out which it was? She glanced down at her phone, brows furrowing - he must have seen in the corner of his eyes because he immediately looked worried.

After he figured out his order, they sat down at a table and kept up their light chatter.

You hadn’t expected her to move on so quickly since whatever heartbreak she’d faced just over a year ago, but you were happy for her. With this boy - Suga, you guessed - she was able to open up and smile so freely. There was nothing forcing it.

You were happy for her, you told yourself.

----

The next week, Moonlight returned by herself, holding her hands in front of her and smiling ever so sweetly. “Hey.” You smiled so brightly, and she returned the gesture (you noted the emptiness in her eyes now that Suga wasn’t here). “Your usual?” You asked, and she nodded. “So, where’s that boy you were with?” You hummed, looking up at her.

“Oh, Suga?” She asked, and you could only nod because you didn’t really know who he was. “He’s got some work to do today; tough life being a university student, I suppose.”

“I wouldn’t know.” You laugh. There’s a questioning look in her eyes, but she slowly manages to piece things together and nods.

“Same. I only know what I know because of Suga and-” there’s a moment of hesitation and her expression falls to a sadness you recognise. You know exactly who she is thinking about in that moment and are quick to distract her.

“So is Suga, like, your boyfriend…?” That works and she looks up at you cackling with laughter, her head tossed back as she clutches her stomach. Her laughter is infectious in the nicest way and you giggle with her.

“God, no!” She calls out, brushing away tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. A mixture of disgust on her face answers your first question, but it raises so many more in its place. Like a ‘one door closes and twelve more open’ sort of situation. Before you had a chance to ask, she had a chance to explain, “he’s just, I guess, my best friend.”

You nodded slowly and she glanced up at you as you mused, “I see.”

The smirk that tugged at her lips spoke a thousand words. “Why? Do you think he’s cute?” She asked, resting her head on her hand. The warmth that spread to your cheeks was a tell tale sign, but you denied it anyway. She only laughed and brushed you off.

You hoped that that would be the end of that conversation. That you wouldn’t have to face up to these feelings any time soon (because they weren’t really feelings). Of course, Moonlight had other plans.

You were cleaning off the table she’d sat at after she left when you noticed a piece of paper on it. All you could think was oh no.

Carefully, you unfolded the paper, and you were greeted with a little message - obviously from Moonlight. It read:

So, ya like Suga? Perfect, because he told me he thinks you’re cute.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

Go get ‘em :D

You hid the squeal of excitement at the words on the paper, but your co-workers would be sure to question why it was suddenly like you were floating for the rest of the day.

----

Had there ever been someone more perfect than Sugawara Koushi? No!

That was what you thought, of course, because Sugawara Koushi was an angel disguised as a devil. Sure, he liked to play little tricks and tease, and sometimes he could get a little too aggressive with his ways of love. But underneath all that was a soft interior that made your heart melt.

Every interaction with him left you on a high - which meant you were like this on, basically, a daily basis. Who knew that just a few months of dating and a month of officially being together could make your world so full of life of joy.

And the best part? He felt the exact same way.

You’d be sure to thank Moonlight for this opportunity to be with him until the day that you’d die. Without her, you never would have gotten this far; you would have passed up the greatest opportunity for love that you’d known. And for what? You didn’t even know.

“You know, I think you’re pretty cool.” You hummed one afternoon, curled up next to him on his couch, the film you’d been watching not long ago forgotten so you could trace the shapes on his face. Something so soft in his features as he looked at you. God, you just wanted to kiss him, and hold him, so much for so long.

“I think I’m pretty cool, too.” He chuckled, brushing a strand of hair out of your face.

You only laughed and pushed yourself away from him - a small defiance - but he was quick to grab your wrist and pull you back.

“I guess you’re okay, too.” He planted a soft kiss on your forehead and you rolled your eyes.

That was the thing about Sugawara Koushi: his heart was so open and warm to the world around him. To the people who he held near and dear to him. You just happened to be lucky enough to be one of those people.

“I’m more than okay and you know it.” You said, resting your head against his chest and listening to his even heart rate pick up ever so slightly.

You wouldn’t call it love, not yet, not when it’s still so early into it. But you do know that you both care for each other so deeply, more than anyone will ever care about you, and more than anyone will ever care about him.

For a little while, it feels like the whole world only revolves around the two of you.

So much that you can’t see something rising over the horizon.

----

Of course, good things always seemed to get interrupted for you.

Sugawara was your world, but that was the thing about worlds, they’d normally bring along a little something else with them that you might not notice until it’s too late.

For you, that something would be the very thing that brought you together. Moonlight was great - you knew that - and she had no intentions of ever dating Sugawara - or trying to steal him from you. But when they interacted, you couldn’t help but feel inferior. Like you were the third wheel in their world. Like they had a bond that you could never be a part of.

“Are you sure nothing ever happened between you and her?” You’d tease, trying to keep the air lighthearted as he looked at her with a content sigh - his expression switched to that of disgust, and you knew your fears were unwarranted.

Honestly, you don’t really know what you were expecting, you knew they were close when you started dating him. Yet you couldn’t stop the sickening feeling of jealousy twisting your stomach, making your skin crawl. Those feelings only got worse when they’d laugh together about something that happened so many years ago. Moonlight was snorting, clutching her stomach like her life depended on it.

It only made it harder when she depended on him. You knew why - she just simply didn’t have anyone else other than Suga - and you didn’t mind, not at first, not until he’d answer her calls in the middle of your date and leave you wishing you’d never texted him that evening after Moonlight had given you his number. Wishing you’d never met him. Wishing it was just as easy as giving up.

And the more you looked at her, the more you knew you could never compare. Though she looks slightly older for her age, slightly more tired, the beauty she radiates is far more than you have. Her laugh is so contagious; humour perfectly matching his in every way that yours can’t.

You speculated that it was because they’d been together so long - that thought would be correct - but you couldn’t help it. You wanted to be close to him. You wanted what they had. How were you meant to do that?

And so what if you end up reading more into their relationship than you should, a little jealousy is healthy, right? Watching the way they interact and wishing it was you is normal, right? Begging that she’d find someone more captivating and leave him alone for good isn’t a horrible idea, right? That you’d finally get to have some time with him and not feel alone. God, that would be nice.

You resist the urge to cry as she leans into him while they exchange their laughter; Suga glances at you and you offer him a smile. Sure, it was nice they’d invite you on their weekly excursions (you’d pretend that the fact you got a bi-weekly date didn’t affect you), but you were like an awkward piece to the puzzle. You fit, but something was missing.

Or maybe you didn’t fit as much as you thought you did.

----

So maybe you invited her to a night out, just the two of you.

And maybe you started drinking just a little more than you normally would because you were nervous.

And maybe you ended up getting into an argument with her that went something along the lines of you telling her that you hate her because she is always with Suga. And her telling you… something?

Once again, these were all just maybe’s, you couldn’t remember what happened last night at all. Not with the pounding in your head. You felt light and heavy at the same time, and the water Suga kept offering you wasn’t doing you any good.

He ran his hands through your hair and looked down at you sadly as you mumbled into your pillow.

You really wish you could remember what you’d said last night (at least, not exactly). The only thing you can visibly remember was the sickening look of sorrow in her eyes. A look you recognised from some time after she’d ended things with her ex; had your words really hurt her that much? You doubted it, she was probably just putting on some sort of act to try and make you feel bad. You couldn’t feel bad.

Maybe you should have felt bad because Suga kept looking at his phone with worried eyes. Normally, she would have been messaging him so much, checking up on you and making sure that you hadn’t died in the night. Today: nothing.

You wanted to tell him that she’d message soon, but you weren’t sure. “How are you feeling?” He asks, putting his phone to one side and gently cupping your cheek.

“Like shit.” You mumble, nuzzling closer into his warmth, tossing an arm over his body. Suga lets out a soft chuckle as you smile. “How’s Moonlight?” You ask, but it’s half-hearted and you don’t know why.

“I’m sure she’s fine.” He assures you, but there’s hesitation in his voice and it makes your stomach sink. “Did something happen last night?” You can feel his eyes on you, trying to work out why she wasn’t checking up on you. If only you remembered.

“I don’t know.” You admit even though you are aware of something happening. “I can’t really remember anything.” You say. His face shifts, but he looks away before you can fully understand the expression. God, if only there were an easy answer for everything.

That night you manage to distract him from his sadness with snacks and a movie.

If only snacks and a movie could fix everything.

----

It isn’t until he comes home late from work a week later, crying and completely drenched head to toe that you understand something is not right. Something more not right than what you thought.

He tries to avoid your hugs, but gives in and eventually melts into you. He grips the back of your shirt tightly, like he’d fall apart if he let go. Like he’d fall apart if you let him go.

You choose not to care about the fact his tears are soaking through your shirt, or that he’s created a wet spot on the carpet from his drenched clothes, or the light pain as he holds you closer. Right now, he needs you.

It takes some time, but you manage to get it out of him; he’d gone to visit Moonlight after he’d finished work to try and see what was up with her (because she’d stopped calling and messaging him entirely). Apparently, she hadn’t even let him in the door, refused to talk to him about the problem - because you were the problem - and told him to leave her alone.

Even as he tried to get her to open up and talk about it she just refused. Of course, the conversation lasted longer than he thought, but only because Kado and Joji had forced the man inside. Moonlight tried to tell them no, but they weren’t listening to a thing she said (though that wasn’t exactly a new situation).

You tried not to think about how this was most definitely your fault. The fact that his current problems were because of you.

God, you should have just sucked it up, dealt with it. She made him happy - but not as happy as you - she hadn’t done anything wrong. And yet… you were jealous. Why?

Thinking about it made your head hurt, so you focused on rubbing slow circles on his back, humming a soft tune to try and distract both of you from the thoughts that wracked your brain. Maybe it all hurt more because Suga had always been so much stronger than anyone you’d known, and yet, here he was, broken in your arms.

You helped him strip off his clothes, saying, “you wouldn’t want to catch a cold, would you?” And he agreed, letting you whisk him upstairs, running him a bath. His eyes were dull as he looked to the side, barely keeping up any conversation with you.

It hurt. More than you ever thought it would.

----

You really regretted ever thinking that things would be better if Moonlight wasn’t here. If she’d left your life.

The moment she’d left, she seemed to take a part of Suga with her; sure, he was still Suga, he’d tease and and make fun, and you’d end up in laughing fits, but there was something missing in how he works.

You’d watch his eyes light up when his phone buzzed, only to die immediately.

You winced inside with each night that he’d ask you if you’d heard something, anything, because he was worried.

It was like something inside of Suga was programmed to protect Moonlight, but he would never tell you why. Like it was some sort of trade secret between the two of them. Another thing you’d never get a chance to be a part of.

Things became just a little harder after she’d stopped visiting the café. It was abrupt. After almost four years of knowing each other, it was over. She’d taken herself out of your life as well as Suga’s. Did you even have any right to be upset with her?

No.

Every time you watched him jump at the sound of the door, you knew it was your fault, because the disappointment that would follow was more than enough to break your heart a thousand times over. Maybe even more. Definitely more.

You wished you could make this pain go away, you just didn't know how to. If Moonlight was in the picture, then it might end up destroying your relationship with Suga; but if she wasn’t in the picture, then Suga was… well, he was depressed.

He’d smile at you weakly from his end of the couch before he looked away, eyes void of emotion.

You ran your hands through your hair, sighing to yourself as you poured the coffee for a customer, feigning a smile.

----

You wished things weren’t like this.

You wished feelings weren’t messy.

You wished that you knew how to make things better.

Even when Suga told you he’d be okay, you couldn’t help but not believe him.

You bit back the tears in front of him, gave him the sweet kisses that he needed at the moment; when you were alone, it was a different story. You could only feel guilt.

God, you felt stupid. Time didn’t make things better, they made things so much more worse. A few months had passed since your maybe-argument with Moonlight and nothing had changed (though Suga did cling to you considerably more now).

When you were at work one weekend, Suga had found an old box of memories from his high school years. You returned just in time, catching him holding onto an old picture of the third years from his volleyball club.

“What’s that?” You called out from the door frame. He looked up at you, a little surprised, but his face softened and he motioned for you to join him. You did, not even hesitating.

“I found this box,” you glanced around as he explained, humming a little at the small memories that were spread across the floor, “and this is a picture from our last year in high school.” He passed you the picture.

There were two faces you didn’t recognise (another face you knew to be Azumane Asahi. You’d only met him once or twice, but he was very nice - though rather timid).

One belonged to a girl with black hair and glasses, a small smile on her lips, but her eyes were shining with such joy in this moment.

The other face was a boy. He had short brown hair and the most charming smile you’d ever seen. Stood just a little in front of this boy was Moonlight, looking barely younger than she did now, but her eyes were glowing with so much happiness. Next to her was Suga, so relaxed and awash with content that it was almost strange.

“Is that Moonlight?” You asked, checking your facts.

“Yep,” Suga nodded, looking at her with a sigh.

“I didn’t know she was part of the volleyball team…” you hummed, resting your head on his shoulder.

You can’t see his face, but his tone of voice is enough to tell you what you need to know. “She wasn’t.” A question lingers on the tip of your tongue; you don’t need to ask it, he’s already explaining, “she, um…” he pointed to the boy with the short brown hair. “This is Sawamura Daichi, he was… her boyfriend.”

“Oh…” you were smart enough to fill in some gaps, but Moonlight had never told you what had actually happened between them.

“You know,” Suga sniffed, starting to pack away the things back into the box, “I know things get hard sometimes. And that I’m really close to Moonlight, but I hope you know you never had anything to worry about. I knew that girl for almost six years. I’ve seen her at her worst, never at her best though.” You nod, not really sure how to respond. “Before I met you, we were the only people who really understood each other; I’m in love with you, though.”

You feel your heart warm at the sound of that; yet something in his eyes kept you from feeling so elated.

“You’re my everything, but…” he paused. Of all places to pause, he paused there. And why?

You knew why.

Like how every world needed a sun, Suga needed you. You provided him warmth; helped him to thrive; you brought light into his life that he could never describe. But worlds need more than just a sun to thrive. Worlds need moons to hold back the tides; to light up the darkness; to reflect your love further and deeper.

And right now, your world needed his moon.

--------

General Taglist:

@pies-writes-and-more @satan-ruler-of-hells @dekuspet @samkysnks @tobi-momo @kaleidoscopekai @elektrosonix @realcube

The Girls Touched By Space Taglist:

@dekuspet @pies-writes-and-more @satan-ruler-of-hells @realcube @samkysnks

If you want to be added to the taglist, send a DM or an ask :D

#sugawara x reader #hq sugawara #haikyuu sugawara #sugawara koushi #hq fluff #hq angst #thisnoodlewrites #the.girls.touched.by.space #my writing

16 notes · View notes

fandom-necromancer · 3 years

Text

Obscured by Shadows

Now to the last Halloween short! This was prompted by the wonderful @spacalicious and let me tell you you gave me so much I could have written a full on 60k story about it. I didn’t have as much fun writing a story in a long time. That said, this got long, i’ts a bit over 5k and I’m sorry to those who haven’t got something as long, I hope that’s okay. So enjoy this one!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 | AU: Eldritch being?

Nines had always been determined to figure things out for himself. Maybe it was something he valued because he had never been given a real base programming. He knew his model would eventually be used for the military. But Cyberlife hadn’t been able to do more than basic hardware tests on him before the revolution changed the world. He had been informed his prior series had been finished and given a purpose: The RK200 was a caretaker and the RK800 was working for the police. With nothing much to go off of, RK900 had chosen to keep these purposes in mind while finding his own.

He had applied at the police academy immediately after making this decision. He didn’t want to just download a program from someone. He wanted to build his own unique one. And during his time at the academy, he quickly found he liked the challenge of uncovering mysteries. He enjoyed gathering evidence, puzzling together what had happened based on it and uncovering the truth in between sowed lies. It only took him a few years to make it detective and was proud to be accepted at the fifth precinct of the Detroit police department. The Captain had assigned him to Lieutenant Anderson, the officer that had been there the longest, and Connor, the RK800. He was supposed to learn the ropes from them, and Connor was more than glad to show him around.

His predecessor had decided getting to know his co-workers was the best course of action and one after the next pointed out the different persons to him. ‘Okay, as you came in you must have seen the receptionists. The android is a ST300, she calls herself Steph, and the human one is Elisabeth, but everyone calls her Elly. Then we’ve got Officer Collins over there, this is Hank’s desk and mine and there is Officer Willson’s. On the other side we have Officer Person, Officer Chen and Officer Miller. And you already met the Captain. We are a small group, but that’s because SWAT is right there, if you head out this side. Another RK800 is working there, but I’m not on best terms with him. We tend to evade each other. Doesn’t mean you have to though. I can show you around there tomorrow, for now I’ll show you the cells, interrogation room and the meeting room. Then we can-‘ ‘Excuse me?’ Nines felt bad for interrupting, but his eye had fallen on… on what again? ‘Yes? Sorry, I tend to monologue. How can I help you?’ Connor politely smiled at him, while Nines thought about what he had meant to ask about. Connor had showed him all his co-workers and had went on with- right. He looked around again and kept his eyes on the person Connor missed. ‘Who is he?’, he asked, pointing Connor at the man. ‘Hm? Oh. Oh, that’s just Gavin’, the other android waved him off. ‘Detective Reed I believe. He’s an asshole. I met him briefly before the revolution. That was enough to get a clear picture of him. File him under unimportant and go on with it. It’s not really worth knowing the guy, trust me.’ ‘But I introduced myself to everyone personally after the initial briefing’, Nines argued. ‘I believe I must have forgotten him. I at least want to do that.’ Connor shrugged. ‘Fine, knock yourself out. I’ll wait here for you. I doubt you’ll be long.’

Nines made his way over to the man’s desk and read the plague first. Connor had been right: Detective Gavin Reed. ‘Hello! My name is Nines. I’m a RK900 unit and the new Detective. I’m looking forward to work with you!’ He held out his hand and every other person had accepted it and had some niceties left for him. The human in front of him just stared him up and down and grumbled. ‘Phck off.’ Nines recoiled. ‘Excuse me, I just wanted to be nice. I-‘ ‘And I don’t. Mind your own business and piss off!’ Nines knit his brows but remembered Connor’s words. Maybe this one time he could have relied on someone else’s knowledge.

He had returned to Connor that day and the other RK had shown him the rest of the precinct. After that the days seemed to rush past: Nines helped Hank and Connor with their cases and quickly afterwards he had his first very own case. The other two had helped him solve it, but it still was one he had led and found most of the clues to. After work he was driving from one place to the next looking for a small affordable flat, but so far, he stayed in the mostly unused stasis-booths at the precinct or simply continued working. In his breaks he had chatted with his co-workers and learned quite a lot about them. Collins had a sweet tooth, Wilson was almost religiously obsessed with football, Person was spending a large amount of his pay checks on his sister’s hospital fees but according to him she is getting better, Chen loved tea way too much and Miller could talk on for hours about his daughter and wife. Nines was quite content with his life and his choice to join the DPD. He liked the challenge actual cases brought to the table and was in general well-liked. So why was something constantly nagging at his systems, directing his attention to empty spaces on the opposite wall or just letting him stare into the nothing somewhere in the precinct? Maybe something was just wrong with his systems.

No, there wasn’t anything wrong with his systems. Nines had checked as he had entered stasis that night. But that would mean something in the precinct actually let his sensors misfire. And apparently, he was the only one to notice that strange phenomenon. The RK900 still doubted himself as he stepped down from the platform that morning. All his co-workers were competent and attentive people. They should have noticed it if something weird was going on in the bullpen. And there was still the minimal possibility of his diagnostic routines failing him. He would keep this to himself for now and keep his eyes open.

It took him almost a month to lose his patience. The errors and inconsistencies piled up and so far, almost all of them could be chalked up to the one person no one seemed to care about or even notice. Gavin Reed. The strangest thing was that Nines himself didn’t care much about the human. In fact, he only ended up focussing on the man as the number of things he didn’t know about him became suspicious. He had made a point of knowing as much as possible and appropriate about his co-workers. He had learned that helped a lot with work climate and integration. The occasional donut for Collins, a signed picture of a famous footballer for Wilson’s birthday, spending his break with Tina once to check out a local tea shop: That all was something that had made him likeable and made working a pleasant experience. But with how much he knew of them, how little he knew of Gavin was worrying.

Sure, the man was an asshole. But even assholes had personalities. There had to be at least rumours about him. But whenever he had asked someone, he had been given the same answers: ‘Reed? Yeah, he worked here for some time.’ ‘He’s an asshole, it seems to be worse with androids.’ ‘Pfft… Nah, he keeps to himself, don’t know anything about him.’ So he wasn’t alone with not knowing, he just was alone with worrying about that fact.

One quiet day, he decided to do some personal research into that mystery. Every human was known to the world in some way or another. Date of birth. Date of graduation. Date of Employment. Criminal record. Won some small prize in the lottery. An Address. Anything. And that was when things got truly confusing. He looked over at the man and felt how his eyes suddenly darted away to movement that he had thought to see at the edge of his vision. He never managed to look at the human for longer than a few minutes. Something was seriously wrong.

‘Connor? Can I speak with you for a moment? In private?’ Connor looked up from his work, then to the clock. He shrugged. ‘Sure. I can take my break early. What can I help you with?’ They left the precinct through the back entrance to have some privacy and Nines began with a sigh. ‘It’s about Gavin.’ ‘Did he do anything to you? Did he harm you?’ ‘No!’, Nines quickly said. ‘No, he didn’t do anything. But he is weird. I… I did some research and…’ ‘Wait. You “did some research”? What are you talking about?’ Nines held his hands up to calm him. ‘Connor, please listen to me, it will all make sense in a minute. How much do you know about Reed?’ ‘Nothing much, he’s an asshole. Otherwise he keeps to himself. Worked here for a long time.’ ‘How long?’ ‘How should I know?’ ‘How long did Person work here?’ ‘For twelve years, exactly a month from now.’ Nines stared at him triumphantly.

‘Hey, I haven’t looked into his file, okay? Never even talked to him. That doesn’t mean anything.’ ‘Well, I looked into it’, Nines picked up where Connor left off. ‘He doesn’t even work here. Officially. There is no file in the systems for his person, his name is only listed as being employed by the city. There is a birth year at least, but no school. No educational record, no graduation paper. Nothing. There is an address, but the place had been towed down ages ago.’ ‘Maybe he forgot to update it. Or Fowler knows and hadn’t updated his new address yet.’ ‘And the missing documents?’, Nines tried to convince him. ‘What about those?’ ‘Humans can be sloppy sometimes. Especially with bureaucracy.’ ‘May I remind you the entire HR department is run by androids by now?’, Nines threw his final punch. ‘It’s quite funny when you think about it.’ Connor held his head as if he had forgotten he couldn’t get headaches. ‘Nines, you are paranoid. The guy really isn’t that important.’

But Nines didn’t let himself be shut down. ‘There is more actually. Chris complained about the coffee being empty, right? That was yesterday, a Thursday. Correct?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘And I personally restocked Monday the week before! Tina drinks tea, Chris can’t drink too much or his stomach acts up. With the regular caffeine intake of the rest of them, it shouldn’t be depleted yet.’ ‘So?’ ‘Someone drinks an unhealthy amount of coffee, I would even dare say it would kill a human or at least leave them with serious health issues. And only Gavin is left if you keep an eye out.’ Connor sighed: ‘Or someone dropped the package, spilled half of it and cleaned up the mess into the bin.’ ‘Okay, then how do you explain this: Reed is always here when someone arrives. No matter how early I rise from stasis, he is already there. As if he never left. And then sometimes he spends entire days away and no one bothers!’ ‘Vacations and overtime are a thing.’ Nines shook his head. ‘There is no car standing in the parking lot that belongs to him, I looked after everyone was gone. Yet, there is a key to a car on his desk.’ ‘Maybe he parks somewhere else, because he likes to go on a walk after a long day of sitting around.’ ‘Connor!’ ‘No, Nines, you are paranoid. That’s all. You should slow down maybe. Or take some days off. The man is just your regular asshole who is decent enough to be professional and do his job. And that’s all.’

Nines was desperate. He had thought that at least if pointed to it, the other RK would notice. ‘Then what about the fact that I have never seen him eat something once? And he keeps framed pictures of his cats, but he has no cat hairs on himself!’ ‘Nines, please, you need to calm down. If I didn’t know it any better, I’d say you are stalking him. Please stop. Believe me when I say Reed is as unimportant as someone could be. You are certain of the way things seem to be and now you search for evidence to prove your point. But we are detectives. We find evidence and conclude.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I worry for you. Please, take a break from work. How is your house-hunting?’ ‘Haven’t found a flat yet.’ ‘Do you want to live with Hank and me? We could make room for you for a few days. You need to get out of here.’ Nines deflated as he saw he couldn’t win. ‘That’s nice of you, Connor. But I guess I’ll just think about what you said and try to get back to work.’

In truth Nines didn’t think about anything Connor had told him. If anything, his words had only made it clearer to him that something is wrong. He had to take matters into his own hands.

Gavin startled as a coffee cup was put on his desk with an audible thump. He looked up. ‘Hello, I’m Nines. I already introduced myself but we never really talked.’ Gavin stared at the nosey android and frowned. ‘And I already told you to phck off. Nothing has changed since then.’ ‘No need to be so aggressive, Detective. I always see you working. I believe I never actually saw you taking a break.’ ‘Well, I like work and I’d like to get back to it, tin-can.’ ‘Tin-can? Oh, that’s a new one’, the android answered and smiled at him. Goddamnit. ‘Listen, I don’t know what you are on about, but I don’t want to talk. I’ll say it one last time: Phck off!’ This… Nines… pouted at him. ‘Come on, I got you a coffee, the least you could do is answer me one question!’ Gavin sighed and leaned back. ‘Fine. One question. And then you’ll go!’ He hoped his form didn’t show how nervous he was.

‘What do you like?’ Compared to everything he had expected that was quite harmless and caught him off-guard. ‘What?’ The android continued to grin at him. ‘What do you like? Food, hobbies, doesn’t matter.’ ‘Oh, okay, err… I like cats. And… Coffee.’ ‘Are those yours?’, the android asked pointing at the framed pictures. ‘Hey, you said one question, then you’d be leaving me alone!’ The android lifted his hands. ‘Alright, fine. I’m leaving. Was nice talking to you!’

Gavin couldn’t help looking after the machine that was leaving now. Damn nosy androids would be his downfall someday. He turned back to his work, the smell of coffee distracting him. He glanced over to it and finally succumbed to taking and drinking it. He wasn’t ashamed by the fact that he was addicted to it ever since he first tried it in the 15th century. It was one of the pleasant experiences of his existence. He had lived on this world for eons now, maybe he had been around right from the start. But you could only spend so many billion years until you got bored and wanted to try something new. He had lived among humans ever since a massive migration to a continent a large part of the world never even knew about. It was easy to fit in when no one asked where you came from and everyone was eager to start a new life. And Gavin fit in nicely. He sowed enough information to saturate most and those who wanted more he used his powers on to become totally ordinary. So ordinary that most didn’t even notice him. He was living a peaceful life, working on farms, later with railroads and the industry. He liked the concept of lifetimes to justify changing from one job to another and discovering new interesting ways to fake being human. This lifetime he had decided to spend just relaxing. He played the average human that made it Detective and since then worked away solving mysteries and cuddling with cats when coming home.

He couldn’t have known this would be the time humanity decided to change once again. They decided to design machines, androids. They looked human but were designed to obey. Why exactly was it that humanity wished for some kind of slavery every few hundred years? He didn’t care for it too much as they were just machines. Sure, his powers didn’t work on them like they did with humans, but as he was seen as one of them, he could just order the androids to go away and leave him alone. And then deviancy happened. Humans had tried perfecting them so much, they accidentally created life. Gavin knowing humans had decided to wait it out. Too easy he could fake his death and return to his normal existence. But he had been living within them in peace successfully so far. He really didn’t want to change that. So, he waited. Waited until the revolution happened. And too his distress, the androids won.

Ever since he had tried to move on the streets as little as necessary. He spent almost all of his days in the precinct where he was safe from them minus Connor. And the bot he could easily get rid of by changing his attitude to grumpy and abrasive. He thought it might work out. But this new android was a pain in the ass. Nosey as hell and apparently determined to get to know him. Well, someday his luck had to run out and it seemed the time had come.

He spent his remaining day at his terminal, until he felt eyes on him again. He tried to subtly look up and met the damned android’s cheeky grin as he entered the stasis booth. The machine even gave him a little wave. Gavin felt his powers bristling underneath his skin, warning him he had been spotted, but with grit teeth he forced them down. Phck, he needed to relax. He switched off his terminal and headed outside. He hurried through the streets until he finally found an empty back alley without CCTV. It really had been easier in the olden times. Quietly he let go of the charade and got rid of his fake skin. Finally, he could stretch and brush against corners, making natural shadows more refined and let them stretch to take him. Oh, he had missed that feeling. Excitement bubbled inside him as he scaled the city, slithering from one shadow to the next through the narrow spaces in brickwork and underground where there was no connecting darkness to act as a convenient passageway. More than once androids looked towards him, but he just hurried away before they could investigate. Damn machines.

He finally made it home, faster than any car or train could and let himself inside through the letter box. Only then he reformed his human appearance and got to his knees, greeting his cats with maybe one or two arms too many. Not that they would care, they just wanted their pets. Gavin sighed, the fluffy fur under his hands just the perfect way to destress from a long day. He fed them and switched on his stereo to blast music as loud as the cats would allow. He had more than enough time to settle everything with the nosey android. He would be fine.

‘You forgot your keys yesterday!’, he was greeted as he walked into the bullpen. He could only frown at the android standing beside his desk, dangling them from one finger. Gavin saw red and pulled them from the man, maybe having moved a little too fast for a human. ‘Give them back!’ He looked down on them and carefully put them down in their usual spot. ‘How did you come home then? You couldn’t drive with your car.’ ‘I don’t have one, phck off!’, Gavin shouted. ‘Then why do you have keys?’

Phck. He felt his powers acting up, but it only managed to avert the human gazes from the disturbance. The android didn’t bulge. Shit. A human explanation, quick. Oh, right, parents were a thing! ‘They are my dad’s, he… He died in a car crash. They are the only thing I’ve got left of him.’ It technically wasn’t even a lie. Nowadays he often faked his death so he could inherit his own belongings and one of them had indeed been a car crash. ‘Oh. I’m sorry.’ The android really looked like he meant it. ‘I didn’t mean to pry.’ ‘Well then go and-‘ ‘Can I make it up to you?’ Oh phck no… ‘There is a cat café that just recently opened up. I thought-‘ ‘What is a cat café?’, Gavin asked, momentarily forgetting he wanted the android gone. ‘Oh, it’s a regular café, but cats are roaming around. I thought you’d like it.’ ‘I… That does sound interesting.’ ‘It’s a deal then! I’m looking forward to it!’ ‘No, I-‘ But the android had already left. Gavin let his shoulders fall. It wouldn’t hurt playing human for a break, right? He had done so before. Sure, it broke his rule of never mingling too close with humanity, but it couldn’t really go wrong, right?’

It was awkward at first. They had entered and sat down on two comfy chairs and didn’t manage to speak a word until the waiter came. They ordered their drinks and it returned to the uncomfortable silence. Until one of the cats decided to jump onto Gavin’s lap. The android had laughed at his surprised face and Gavin had begun to pet her. ‘You are good with cats’, he commented. ‘Yeah, I love them’, Gavin answered. ‘Just… calms you down I guess.’ ‘I never got to pet one.’ ‘Really?’ Gavin could understand that human lives were short and that not everyone had the pleasure of strolling along the streets of early civilisations and pet every fluffy beast in existence, but it did surprise him. ‘You really have to!’

The android looked around and tried to get the attention of one of the cats wandering about. The look of pure wonder on the android’s face as the cat headbutted his hand for the first time touched something in Gavin and he chuckled. The android looked back up while still petting the cat and smiled back. Only as the cat decided they had enough did the android return to the table. ‘I really wonder why everyone was so sure about you being an asshole’, Nines began talking. ‘I mean, I don’t really know you yet, but you are nice company.’ ‘I tend to keep to myself’, Gavin muttered, looking down on the cat that still hadn’t moved and curled herself up on his legs. ‘Made some bad experiences I guess.’ ‘I think we should do this more often’, the android said. As much as Gavin wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to truly disagree.

They met a few times afterwards. They often spent their breaks together in the café and with time Gavin thought that maybe he didn’t have to isolate himself all the time. But he always shut these thoughts down and thought of the android as an exception. One evening Nines had insisted to come over and see Gavin’s cats, what had brought Gavin into the zugzwang to explain some of the by now ancient things he had collected over the years. ‘I’m interested in history’, he bluffed. ‘Archaeology is a pet peeve of mine. So I tend to collect.’ Surprisingly, the android had bought it and instead admired his “collection”. It had ended in multiple visits to museums and exhibitions. Not that Gavin really minded. It was a fun distraction and his lie about being a history enthusiast wasn’t that far fetched when he could tell a few first-hand stories from when he had been there himself.

It was about a month later that they had come back from one of these exhibition trips and the android had dropped him off at his apartment. The android had hugged him goodbye, something he would never get tired of, and was about to go. ‘Are you going back to the precinct?’, he blurted out out of nowhere. ‘Yes’, Nines had answered. ‘Detroit’s housing market is awful. Haven’t got a flat yet.’ ‘Do you want to… I mean you could stay here if you want to.’ The android had stared at him wide eyed and Gavin started to regret his impromptu decision until Nines threw him a smile and nodded politely. That evening Gavin ended up on the couch next to Nines watching TV until the android appeared to have entered stasis. In the silence that followed, he began to think about his life choices. What was he doing? He was an eldritch shadow being from the dawn of time. Nines was an android he had no power over. And something was clearly growing between them. It was evident in the way Nines had snuggled up next to him, the cats all over them. This couldn’t work. What if Nines found out? What if he would rat him out to anyone? Humans he could fool, but androids would be able to follow him to the end of the world. He had made a huge mistake.

And still: listening to the hum of the android’s thirium pump he couldn’t find to regret it. Quite the opposite was the case.

The next morning was filled with more excuses. Why didn’t he have a kitchen? Why didn’t he have any food at home? Gavin had mumbled something about always getting something at the food trucks and stressed they would be late. Apparently, Nines took that information with only a sigh, too. One Catastrophe evaded.

Off to face the next one: As they entered the precinct together, Gavin froze as he found his desk occupied. By Connor. And the other android was staring at them with determination. ‘You two. Interrogation room. Now.’ Gavin was about to protest, so did Nines, but the other RK stopped them: ‘I said now!’ So, they trotted over, and Gavin knew he had phcked up. He had set up these rules for a reason. How could he think he could start a relationship with an android would somehow work out?

‘Nines, I believe you now.’ Nines frowned in return as they entered and exchanged a look with Gavin. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘What you told me about him. It’s true! It’s like he isn’t even existing! And everything you told me was true! There are so many discrepancies with him that something has to be wrong.’ Gavin felt panic creeping in. What? What had these two androids talked about? What had he missed? ‘No, Connor, you were right’, Nines disagreed. ‘There is a logical explanation for everything. I was just paranoid, as you said. I just knew nothing about him because I never even spoke with him.’ ‘Oh and now suddenly everything is perfect? What are these explanations then?’ Nines sighed. ‘What do you want to hear from me?’ ‘The keys?’ ‘Memorabilia of his deceased father.’ ‘The cat hairs?’ ‘Either I must have missed something or he had just washed his clothes. Scan Gavin now and you’ll see a bunch of cat hairs.’ ‘What the hell are you two talking about?’, Gavin asked. ‘You are hiding something!’, Connor growled his way. ‘And I won’t rest until I know what it is!’ Gavin took an instinctive step back. Oh no… ‘Connor’, Nines directed the other RK’s attention back to him. ‘I spent the last months with him. He really isn’t as bad as you think and he clearly isn’t hiding anything.’ ‘Oh, is that so? Have you seen his home then?’

Nines puffed out his chest. ‘I have, actually. In great detail.’ He challenged Connor by staring him in the eyes. ‘Wait what?’ That had caught Connor off-guard at least. ‘You two… You aren’t… No.’ ‘Yes’, Nines grinned. ‘And you should trust the android with the more advanced analysis tools that he is as normal as a human can be.’ Connor was left just standing there, staring. ‘I… I’m not convinced, just so you know. But I trust you. Just know that I’ll be keeping an eye on you!’ ‘That’s only fair’, Nines commented, but Connor was already storming out of the room.

For a while no one moved. ‘Should we go back to the-‘, Gavin started, but was interrupted: ‘No.’ Nines pushed himself off the table and leaned against it. ‘The cams are deactivated, and the observation room is empty. No one else can hear us. I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier.’ ‘What should you have told me earlier?’, Gavin asked carefully. ‘I had suspicions about you. That’s why I initially wanted to get to know you better. I pretended everything was alright so you could tell me once you were ready. But I guess now is a good a time as ever: What are you, Gavin? Who are you? The things you own are legitimately old. A collection like this would be priceless, you could sell it for millions. Most of it belongs in a museum. And you don’t even really exist on paper. I couldn’t find your name in any hospital archives from the day you were supposed to be born and you never went to a school. Please, I need to know.’

Gavin sighed deeply and sat down. Should he tell him? Well, he had to. But what then? He guessed a prison to hold him would have yet to be built. And he could always move to another city after faking yet another death. But he didn’t want to lose this. This lifetime was meant to be relaxing and hell, with Nines he had been the most relaxed he had been for centuries. Well, he had to hope for the best. ‘No one can see us?’ ‘No one.’ ‘And no one can hear us?’ ‘Everything said here will remain between us.’ ‘You have to promise not to tell anyone.’ ‘I will as long as my duty as a police officer doesn’t call for it.’

Gavin took a deep breath. So far so good. But promises could be empty and who knew what the duty of a police officer entailed these days. But he knew he was only buying time. And so he began: ‘I am a being that has been around since the dawn of time. I am made of shadows, some worshipped me as the shadows themselves. I don’t even know if that’s true. I’ve been around for a while until I finally decided to try living as a human for a while. And it worked! I was a peaceful part of society since… Well, I took a few breaks but more or less since the 600s? It is hard pretending to be a human if you are immortal, so I travelled a lot and faked papers as much as I could. I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, I like coffee and cats. The keys are from my first ever car, but I hate driving, so I got rid of it by crashing it one day.’ Nines stared at him dumbfounded. ‘I think I need proof, I can’t believe this.’ Gavin sighed and looked at the table. ‘Please, don’t freak out’, he warned, before transforming into his true form. Suddenly half the room was swallowed by darkness and Gavin showed off a bit by extending a few tendrils of shadow towards Nines. The android looked shocked at first, then bewildered and then fascinated. Nines even stepped closer. ‘You won’t hurt me, right?’ ‘I never hurt anyone’, Gavin answered, his voice coming somewhere from his centre that was still hovering over the chair. Nines extended an arm and tried to touch Gavin, who chuckled. His only feature was to consume light, he literally was the personification of the absence of light. What a dork, trying to touch that. For some reason that seemed to disappoint the android and Gavin made an effort reforming his body partially while still keeping his real self exposed.

‘And?’, Gavin asked. ‘What does this mean now?’ Nines was still staring at him. ‘You are beautiful.’ Gavin laughed, but took the android’s hand lovingly. ‘If you say so.’ ‘How did you keep this a secret for so long? Is that why you aren’t noticeable by most? I have so many questions, I-‘ ‘I would say, I explain everything to you at my home where we are safe’, Gavin offered. ‘I want to know what it means first. For us. Does it change anything?’

Nines smiled and came closer. ‘Only that I don’t have to worry about your human lifespan’, he smirked. ‘And that we can spend an eternity forever.’ Gavin sighed in relief and relaxed completely. ‘You don’t know how much that means to me.’ ‘I think I get the gist of it’, Nines shrugged and dove in for a kiss that left Gavin completely unprepared. But he had always been quick to adapt.

It took them a while to get out of that interrogation room, but thanks to Gavin’s powers no one but Connor noticed. Nines just threw him a cocky smile while making a point of sitting down on the free table opposite of Gavin’s.

Maybe Gavin Reed was a man made of shadows. It didn’t change the fact that Nines was completely engulfed in his gloom.

#detroit become human #dbh #Reed900 #RK900 #Gavin Reed #eldritch being!Gavin Reed #Gavin Reed is a shadow person #Holy shit I had fun with this #I had so much more I could have written but it is already far too long for this blog #wonderful idea #I'm a fan #sorry for taking this long #Also holy shit that last sentence of yours was so damn poetic I had to steal it!

47 notes · View notes

bykio · 3 years

Text

A/N: So.... I didn’t mean to not write for a while but school and other things have happened since then, so I hope that this is good. Also my friend @ih8people gave me an idea for one of the parts in this little part of the story, so, just wanted to give her some credit too... Anyways, Lets start the 3rd part of this Karma x reader x Nagisa (also I know that it’s not the greatest thing, but I’m going to try TvT )

Hope you like it~ See ya when you finish reading~

Recap: Keiko then walked somewhere off the regular path to get her sister, as the two realizing what Keiko just said. Since she just left, they shuffled to get back to her. Once they got to her, they just started talking, until Keiko realized something.

“Oh, and just so you know, my sister will probably freak out when you two get to my house. Just a warning.” Keiko said, calmly.

At that second, Nagisa and Karma stopped their walking and looked at each other in confusion.“Wait what?”

While the two had paused in their steps, Keiko had continued walking not bothering to stop for them, just continued to walk and ignore how the red and blue hared kids had stopped, what was now 10 feet away without realizing their guide had left them in the dust.

After a second of realization, the two hurried back to Keiko. They wanted to know what the heck she had meant, but she didn’t answer any of their questions, instead she just walked up to where her sister would exit her class in a few seconds.

“Ok, listen up you idiots! I need you to stay at least 10 feet away from me and my sister at all times till you follow me to my house. Now, when you see me enter, you better wait a few minutes at least for me to tell her what is going on, ok.” she finished. Her eyes were shone with anger, force, and intimidation. For the first time in a while (lets just say) the two boys were very much scared at her words and how stern she was when it came to being serious. They both realized that this girl had many different blades when it comes to assassination or anything when she puts her mind to something she was serious about.

And even before they could realize, Keiko was gone, and had gotten her sister to walk her home.

“Hey Hero! How was your day?” Keiko asked her little sister, who had totally switched personalities from a few seconds ago. “Oh hey Key! It was fine, but, I may have uh... to talk to you about something... when we get home, is that ok?” Hero said to her older sister, with a faint blush on her cheeks, that didn’t go unnoticed by her sister. “Sure~ Now, lets get home, I have a few things to do after you tell me~” Keiko said with a sly smirk on her face, wondering what her sister was going to tell her. But on the inside, she really hoped that the two a few feet away didn’t hear the nickname her sister had just called her.

Karma- “Did I hear that right? Did her sis just call her Key?~

Nagisa- “I don’t think we should pester her too much about it right now...” he said sweat-dropping ‘But knowing you, you will tease her about it’

Karma- ‘Imma tease her about it’

~Time skip cause I’m lazy~

Once Keiko and her sister were in their house, Keiko started to ask her sister first about what had happened at school first before the two could come and ruin a moment she could have with her sister.

“Soooo~ what is it you want to tell me?~” Keiko started, wiggling her eyebrows a little towards her sister, making her sister remember and start to blush a bit more then she had when she had brought it up before.

“W-well, so you know u-uh, LGBTQ+ right?” Hirako started, stuttering a little bit. “Sis, who do you take me for? Yea I know what it is. What about it?” Keiko said. “Well, I- uh, I- I THINK I’M LESBIAN!” Hirako blurted out. Keiko, stopped what she was doing at that second then yelled at the top of her lungs, “I KNEW IT! Now spill who do you have a crush on in you class~” (I really wanted some tie between this, please don’t hate me) Keiko said, sitting down on the couch that was close to the chair Hirako was sitting in.

“I- What!? What do you mean you know?” Hirako asked slightly bewildered and kinda confused that her sister took it so well, but thankful at the same time that her sister took it so well.

“Never mind that, who do you have a crush on? I want to know!!!” Keiko said excitedly, waiting anxiously for the answer from her sister. “I- I mean, i like this girl, she, she is in my class, her name is Alex...” Hirako started, “She- she is really nice and kind to me, unlike some of the other kids in my class, she also helped me a few times get out of some situations that could have ended up bad, so I, yea I kinda like her...” Hirako finished, her eyes covered by a shadow, and a heavy blush on her face.

Hirako mumbled something incoherent to Keiko’s ears, so with a smirk (and ways to get the two together,) Keiko asked, “What was that~ I couldn’t hear you~” Keiko said with a teasing matter of tone in her voice.

Hirako rolled her eyes, and tilted her head towards her sister, “You are as sadistic and sinister as Karma, and sneaky and smart as Nagisa, making you three the perfect pair~” Keiko widened her eyes, remembering the little situation she was in...

~Outside the front door of Keiko and Hirako’s house~

Karma: “Did you hear that just now?”

Nagisa: “I knew it was a bad idea to eavesdrop when we are saposed to wait for her to come get us...” Nagisa said, sweatdroping

~Back in the house~

“I- I” Keiko started blushing a bit knowing that the two were most likely hearing what they were talking about. “Whatever, you still didn’t answer my question, what was it you said under your breath?” Keiko shot back

“I- I said I think that I saw a lesbian pin on her backpack...” Hirako answered

There was silence.

for a few seconds...

then

“YES!!!!!! HA! HELL YES! MY SHIP WILL SAIL I KNOW IT! IT WILL IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!-” Keiko rambled on and on while yelling. Keiko didn’t always curse, so it was mainly a special ocation when she did, or she stubbed her tow really hard, but other then those moments, she rarely did.

Hirako had barely heard what she said after her huge ‘YES!!!!!!’ While the two behind the front door literally jumped back when they herd the outburst. They first had jumped back a few feet, Nagisa on the floor scared out of his mind, and Karma ready with useless knife in hand. They got over their shock eventually, but then got tired of waiting for Keiko to eventually explain their situation. Well mainly Karma, but we don’t talk about how impatient this sadistic boy is.

~After a few mintues of the rant final being over~

“Ok, so like I said before, I have a little, well situation going on...” Keiko started, with Hirako’s full attention on her, with wide and wondering eyes focused on Key.

“Ok, so um, in my class there are-”

She wasn’t able to finish her sentience when the door was kicked down by Mr. Impatient himself, with a worried light blue haired boy trying to pull him back. Obviously, that didn’t work.

You and Hirako were just staring, you with a deadpan + angry look on your face, while Hirako, a face of utter anger, and surprise noting who the two boys look identical to.

“HA!” was all that the redhead said when you went over to the two. He said this while he looked like he just accomplished something great. (In his opinion of course) They weren't even able to comprehend that you had come up behind them, and hit both of the back of their heads with a bit of force, more then they were thinking would actually come from you. (Not to be rude to you reader-chan)

“You idiots” you breathed out, making a shiver go down the two’s spine, not expecting your tone of voice either. “I didn’t finish explaining.” you finished, and dragged the two into the kitchen by their ears, and closed the door behind you. You scolded them a bit more, but not in the same tone, then you came out, and explained everything to your sister, and she took it surprisingly well.

“So, let me get this strait, they came from Assassination Classroom, and are now stuck so far to what we know? Ok, just tell me one thing~” Hiro said with a glint of misgif in her eyes. “Ugh, what?” you said, smiling slightly sadly because she knew a little of what it was going to be. “Are you glad that they are finally real? I mean, you are a huge simp for he both of them nfuhtalbweercklgbs psegjsegkjrrhfansegbfj” Hiro was muffled at the end by Keiko’s hand, and said, “Ok, I will give you 10 dollars you won’t tell them that, no shortcuts, no loop holes, no NOTHING when it comes to that, got it?” you said, she agreed and you held up with your part of the deal.

When that whole situation was done with, you took the two into your room. (i just want to describe what it would like, you can add stuff to it if you want but this is just the layout for it in my head) Your room was a decent size, you had a good sized bed, when if you sat in the middle with your back to the wall, and your door to your left. it had your closet in a seprite room connected to it, with a nightstand a few feet away from you. there was lots of space for your figurines, posters, manga, *cough*cough* weapons *cough*, and much more collections you have from a number of anime’s you have watched. You also had a mini couch in your room with a desk in the corner, but you piled it up with random stuff so you used you couch more with your computer as your mini TV. Though the ones that were in a separate and more collected spot was the one with you Assassination Classroom poster above your bed, and entire manga series aide it. Your room did have a designated bookshelf for the different manga you read, but the whole series of A.C. was (again) designated, since it was you favorite.

When you entered, you looked bored, and were kinda tired. The while need to explain everything that had happened, was exhausting, so you plopped down on your bed, but started looking up Assassination Classroom for watching and information purposes, to help Nagisa and Karma remember what the last things that happened. The only thing, you didn’t want to happen was have them be transported back to their anime, like you have read in other fan fictions. sure it was silly, but you kinda liked having them around though you’d never admit it. (tsundere much reader-chan?~)

“So, what’s the last thing you remember when you were home...” Keiko started, it was almost hard for her to say the word “home” since it hurt you a little bit. “Oh, we were just getting back from our vacation-” “Yea when Nagisa showed our last P.E. Teacher that he could take on any fight!” Karma interrupted Nagisa, while you thought to yourself, ‘we shouldn’t go past that part, I don’t want to ruin anything.’ as you finished pulling up the first episode.

All three gathered on you bed, Nagisa on your left, Karma at your right. You blushed at first as they each laid their head on either of your shoulders, but continued.

It was about the 13th episode, till you were rudely interrupted by your brother surprising you in your hallway walking past, getting the wrong idea when he saw the two boys laying on either side of you.

From his point of view, he saw two boys laying on either side of you, literally hanging off you, and it seemed like they were pretty comfortable. He just smirked, and leaned his back against the door way and said, “Oh~ looks like my lil sis didn’t find one but two boys all of a sudden that can deal with her huh?~” he finished, startling you, witch caused the other two to realize that a new stranger was in the house they weren't told about.

Your cheeks started to burn from embarrassment, and right when you were excited for the upcoming episode. You got up, placing the computer down in the spot you used to be in, and took your brother by his elbow and went down stairs.

“Hey where are you going?” Nagisa said after you, he had liked being in your room in peace watching all their past experiences with him and Karma.

“I- Uh, I’m going to go talk to my brother for a moment and make him food, since he’s really bad at cooking.” Keiko said with a smirk at the end while walking down the stairs. “Don’t worry it shouldn’t take more then 5 minutes” she finished.

~In the Kitchen~

“So, who are they?~ Are you in a poly relationship or something?~” He said, wondering if he was correct. You, on the other hand, were zoned out seeing you put ketchup on your butcher knife to originally cut tomatoes, wondering if you could get away with fatality injuring your brother and not being noticed.

“I swear, if you say one more word about that, I will hurt you with this...” you said, holding up the knife. “Don’t worry, I won’t, unless I’m correct and you are trying to get out of the subject~” he said. That was the last straw.

~In your room still~

“Its almost been 10 minutes, I think we should go check on her.” karma started, getting up from his seat. He was finished going through your search history. “I don’t know Karma, maybe we should stay and wait for her...” Nagisa said, hoping to stay instead and not get lost in your house.

“C’mon Nagisa, lets just go, it’ll be ok.” Karma said finally convincing his friend to come.

when they got down stairs, they were at the foot of the stairs when they saw what you were doing.

You were holding the butcher knife in one hand, the other on your brother’s shoulder, about to, what it looked like, at least cut his arm almost clean off.

The two of you heard the stairs creak, topping what you were doing. In truth, you only going to cut a little of his arm, not all of it. But the scene was kinda weird you have to admit. They didn’t know the already redened knife was ketchup that you didn’t pay attention to, but hey, we all make mistakes.

After a few moments of sorting things out, you, Nagisa, and Karma went to your room again about to start the episode up again, but when you opened your laptop, holding your phone, the Computer screen lit up in a bright light, not regular to the glare it would give if it was lat at night when you look at your phone for the first time in a while.

“Ah! Is- Is this supposed to happen?” Karma yelled to you. “No! I’ve watched this series often, and this has never happened!” you yelled back, holding your hands in front of you, simaler to what the two boys were doing on either side of you.

Soon enough, the three of you were being dragged into the screen soon transported to a different, unknown location to you.

When your eyesite cleared, you were with Karma, at your side, and Nagisa walking up to their old psychotic P.E. Teacher that tried to take Kurasuma’s job.

“Wait is Nagisa going up there alone!? Why?! No! He wi- I mean could get hurt!!” you said balancing, standing up with your phone in hand.

Then it hit you

‘No no no no no no no no. NO! Please no... I can’t be here, as amazing as it is, please no...’ you thought to yourself.

“Don’t worry young lady” a new voice came into your earshot. You knew that voice... Koro-Sensei!!

“Nagisa can handle this, and thank you for taking care of my students while they disappeared for a short amount of time.” Koro-sensei said with his ever lasting smile still on his face.

“Thanks Koro-Sensei, but I still don’t like watching this over and over again” you said more to yourself then anything

Oh you shure hoped that everything would work out in the end, I mean you knew it would but that also included you getting back hope too...

The End

#tired #korosensei #writing #sorry this took so long #assassination classroom #karma akabane #nagisa shiota #nagisa #karma #reader #karma x reader x nagisa #I haven't been on tumblr for 2 months #portal #anime world

15 notes · View notes

joezworld · 3 years

Text

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Next from the mind of Joe - a Sudrian tale about The Most Wonderful Time of The Year, Past and Present.

Ghosts of the Past

Wendell the works diesel was a very happy engine most of the time, but around Christmas, he always seemed... well, quite unhappy, for lack of a better term.

Because he lived in the Crovan’s Gate Works, which shut down for the last two weeks of December except in emergencies, most engines never saw this side of the otherwise cheerful blue diesel, and those that did assumed that it was due to him being shut up in the works over the holidays, away from his friends.

December 24, 2019

Gordon sighed as the workmen rolled the door shut behind them. Of all the days to fail! He thought to himself with irritation. Christmas Eve! Damn that replacement fireman and his improper training! I shall miss Christmas and New Year’s!

A quiet snore behind him brought him out of his ruminations. Wendell was fast asleep behind him, lifted into the air on jackstands in one of the maintenance bays, with one of his traction motors in pieces around him.

Gordon was surprised. Wendell had the same excitable temperament as Thomas and James, and Gordon would have assumed that the works diesel would be up until the crack of dawn, waiting for Father Christmas. To see him asleep before eight at night was out of character, to say the least.

Although, the express engine thought as he settled in for the night, he might be onto something.

The works were warm - almost toasty when compared to the biting December winds outside, and the excess holiday traffic had meant that all the engines on the Island were feeling exhausted by the 25th.

Furthermore, with no other engines to keep him awake by asking inane questions about ‘what Father Christmas might bring’, Gordon might actually wake up decently rested on Christmas morning, and wouldn’t that be a miracle?

Electing to follow Wendell’s lead, Gordon shut his eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

Have yourself, a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light. From now on, all our troubles will be out of sight...

Gordon stumbled back to wakefulness to the sounds of singing. As he blinked the sleep from his eyes, he looked around the works in confusion.

It was still dark outside, and a digital time clock by the break room showed 23:38 on its face. He hadn’t been asleep for more than a few hours.

Searching for the source of the singing, his eyes eventually landed on Wendell, who was slowly singing an old carol to himself.

“It’s a bit early for singing, isn’t it?” He called across the room jovially - there was no need to be rude so close to Christmas. “We’ve still got half an hour!”

Wendell started, clearly unaware that Gordon was awake. “What?”

“It’s a bit early to be singing, Christmas isn’t for a half hour!”

“Oh.” The diesel said morosely. “I suppose it is.”

That was not the reaction Gordon expected. “You suppose it is? Wendell, it’s Christmas Eve - a time for good cheer and goodwill among us all! How can you be so glum?”

“I don’t like Christmas.” The class 47 said simply.

“What?” Gordon said with faux outrage. "What did the holiday ever do to you? Did you get coal in your stocking?”

“I have bad memories of Christmases past, okay?” Wendell snapped, sucking the levity out of the room.

Gordon’s face fell. “My apologies.” He’d thought that the diesel was being difficult, not having an actual emotional event. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“No,” Wendell looked pained. “But staying silent hasn’t helped either.”

Without waiting for Gordon to respond, he began his story:

December 24, 1981.

They retired the Deltics at the end of ‘81. All through December and November, they’d run them ‘til they failed, then sent them off to Doncaster to be cut up. I think the ones that survived were retired in January or something - I wasn’t around to find out.

I was waiting, at York, I think it was? - No, it was actually Doncaster, I remember now.

Anyways, I was waiting - I’d brought in a fast goods up to this yard from London, and I was going to take a rake of old coaches that were being transferred to a new Depot to the west.

The coaches were coming in on the night express, and it was getting later and later and still the train didn’t come. The men were readying me to go out and rescue the train when it finally limped into sight. It was a Deltic, being towed along by a Class 37. The poor thing had failed halfway out of London, and they’d just hauled it along with the train, because they sent the 55s to Doncaster anyway when the end came.

And they just dumped the train there on a bay platform - backed the consist in so the 37 could be taken off, and then just left it there.

“That’s terrible,” Gordon said. “To be left like that. Especially on Christmas Eve.”

Oh yes. And it managed to get worse: it was so late by the time that they got in that my crew had gone home! So I was just left there on a siding until boxing day, right across from the Deltic - who had blocked in my coaches too!

And,

and,

And she doesn’t say a word for almost the entire day after her crew left her. She said goodbye to them, wished them a Merry Christmas - which I am still shocked by to this day - that she was able to do that without crying, and then said nothing all night or the next day - Christmas day.

Wendell paused to collect himself. Gordon noticed, but didn’t say anything about the tears beading up in the diesel engine’s eyes.

She was totally silent, until maybe a bit after eleven that night? Probably right about what time it is now, actually. And, there was a family, who was walking home from some party - and they had a radio on as they were walking by the station, and all you could hear in the bleak, snow-covered station was the Sinatra version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

And then, the Deltic - who hasn’t said a word to me all day, just slowly opens her eyes and says “I love that song”, and then just closes her eyes again.

*sniff*

The next day, my driver had me pull the Deltic to the out of use line before we took the coaches.

I pushed her in between three rows of her sisters and brothers, all covered with snow and ready to be cut up, and then backed away. Just before I’m out of sight, she opens her eyes, and starts singing that damn song to me.

*sniff*

It echoed through the yard, and I could hear it until we left. I think a few of the other Deltics started too.

They had beautiful singing voices.

2019

“It wasn’t your fault, Wendell.” Gordon wished that he could offer more comfort than that.

“I know.” Wendell said after a moment. “That’s not why I hate this time of year.”

Gordon raised an eyebrow. “Then what is?”

“It’s that I could have done more.” Wendell said, tears streaming silently down his face. “We - we were running late as it is - my engine was cold and wouldn’t turn over. My second man and the signalman just wanted me to take the Deltic with me so I wouldn’t miss my path - and then stick her on the back of the next goods train to Doncaster when I got to wherever I was going.”

He paused, his voice thick with guilt. “But, I had just spent two days next to this - this- this living corpse, and I didn’t want to be that close to her for that long. And I didn’t know any better - I was fourteen years old at that point - BR could do no wrong in my eyes, and if they wanted me to shunt that engine to the out of use lines, then shunt her I would. So when my driver said that my second man was daft, and the signalman was dafter - I - i - I didn’t argue.”

“Wendell -” Gordon began.

“I’m not finished.” The diesel cut him off. “Don’t offer me sympathy just yet.”

He continued. “And I didn’t want her with me, because I didn’t know where I was going! It was some obscure coach depot that I’d never heard of before - what kind of a name is Tidmouth, anyways?.”

The penny dropped in Gordon’s mind. “You didn’t come to Sodor in January of ‘82, did you?”

“December 31, 1981.” Wendell said sadly. “I came here on an empty stock move and got asked to stay forever, because The Fat Controller thought I looked like a useful engine. Imagine what he would have done if I’d dragged a wounded Deltic along with me?”

He would have kept the both of you and told BR to go hang. Gordon didn’t need to vocalize that thought - he could see in Wendell’s eyes that he was thinking the same thing.

There was a small *chime* from the digital clock on the wall - it’s red numerals now read 00:00.

“Would you look at that,” Said Wendell bitterly. “Happy Christmas, Gordon. Did you ask Father Christmas for anything?”

“Not this year, no.”

“Maybe it’s for the best - he never gives me anything either.”

“What do you ask for?”

“The chance to do it all over again. To agree with my second man and the signalman.”

“Wendell, as crass as this may sound, but perhaps you need to move-”

“Don’t. Just don’t.” Wendell looked pained. “For most of the year, my troubles are miles away, and my heart is light.

But for right now Gordon, please don’t ask me to have myself a merry little Christmas night.” With that, the Works Diesel closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Gordon - more than a little stunned by the night’s developments, took quite a bit longer to fall asleep - the digits on the clock reading 02:10 before he began to nod off.

His last thoughts before he finally went to sleep were directed at Father Christmas:

I don’t know if you’re real, and I don’t know if you can do what the children claim that you can - but please help Wendell.

-------

December 26, 1981

55 010 was barely conscious. There didn’t seem much point to it now - she’d meet her end whether she was awake or asleep, wouldn’t she?

The 47 had shoved her into the sidings between Ballymoss and Highlander, but they were long gone mentally. A few of her family had been able to join in the singing, but most were nothing more than cold, dead metal.

She supposed that she might have had a name once, but she'd forgotten it - BR had taken away everything else, so it was only fair that she got to take something as well.

The yard was silent for a few hours, until an engine approached from the end of the line. It looked like the same 47.

Wendell was having the dream again. He was back in the dead lines at Doncaster, rolling among the silent locomotives like a spectre. He knew where he would eventually end up, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it - right in front of 55 010.

If he was lucky, she wouldn’t start singing again.

If he wasn’t, well, Gordon had already seen him cry once tonight.

He rolled over the points at the end of the siding, his wheels screeching against the old rails as he trundled down the long line of dead Deltics - somehow there had been two long rows with an empty line in the middle - perfect for a long and heart-wrenching approach to a diesel that he’d condemned to death.

The engine’s eyes opened slightly as he drew near.

“Weren’t you just here?” She said dreamily.

“Probably.” He whispered - she’d never spoken to him before.

“Why have you come back?” Her voice drove into him like a cutter’s torch. That she didn’t even seem accusatory made it all the worse.

“Because I’m sorry.” He said, voice barely audible.

“Whatever for?”

“For putting you here.” He didn’t stop rolling until his buffers were fractions of an inch away from hers.

“You didn’t do that. I failed. I know why I’m here.”

“But I did. I could have taken you - taken you away from here. To Sodor. They would have saved you.” He was openly sobbing now.

The Deltic had opened her eyes fully, and was looking at him not with anger, hatred, or even pity, but instead downright bafflement. “What do you mean ‘would have’? I’m not going anywhere.”

Wendell tried to explain - to tell her that she was a figment of his imagination, that she should hate him, or be angry, or something...Anything...

But instead he broke down crying, his sobs echoing across the works yard.

010 stared at the 47 in total confusion. Nothing about the last few minutes made any sense, least of all the grief(?)-stricken engine in front of her.

At a total loss for what to do, she remembered something that Alycidon would do when someone in the shed needed to be calmed down.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Alycidon might have used Vera Lynn, but had always stressed that the emotion of the song was more important than the lyrics. 010 sang the song low and slow like a lullaby - cribbed from seeing hundreds of mothers calming their babies on station platforms. Each verse took much longer than normal, but it was very soothing.

Let your heart be light

The 47 began mumbling the lyrics of the songs through his tears

From now on, all our troubles will be out of sight

Neither engine noticed the sparkling white mist pooling around their wheels

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

The 47 stopped openly weeping, but kept singing with his eyes shut.

Make the yule-tide gay

The sparkling mist was now encircling both engines completely.

From now on, our troubles will be miles away...

The mist covered both engines entirely. As the word ‘away’ faded in the wind, the mist dissipated. Neither engine remained.

Silence fell over Doncaster once more.

-----

December 25, 2019

Here were are as in olden days

Gordon awoke to more singing. He mentally groaned and cracked an eye open, assuming that Wendell would once again need a friendly ear in the middle of the night.

Happy golden days of yore

Sunlight was streaming in through the windows. Perhaps Wendell had managed to sleep through the night.

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gordon’s other eye slammed open as he realized that the singer was female.

“Gather near to us onc-What on earth?!” The singer abruptly stopped singing.

Gordon looked around wildly for the source of the voice, his eyes practically spinning around in their sockets before landing on -

on-

on- a Deltic.

A Deltic who had been singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

“Excuse me,” he said in what he hoped was a calm tone. “But who are you?”

The Deltic opened her mouth to speak, and was cut off by Wendell, who had opened both of his eyes, realized that he was back in the works, discovered who was in the works with him, and began screaming so loudly that he fell off of the jack stands and crashed to the floor.

The resulting clamour brought the Works’ security officer, who saw the engine that hadn’t been there last night, and called The Fat Controller.

Stephen Hatt was experiencing many different emotions, most of them at the same time.

The baffling appearance of previously-scrapped Deltic in his works - in factory fresh condition no less! - with no sign of how she got there, was not how he wanted to spend Christmas morning.

Even more baffling was the story that Wendell, Gordon and the Deltic told him - none of which made any sense whatsoever.

“Maybe it’s a Christmas Miracle?” His wife suggested over the phone.

“Yes, and maybe I’m secretly the Easter Bunny.” He said back to her. “I’m not looking forward to finding out who this engine belongs to.”

“You can do that after Christmas dinner, dear.” Helen said in a tone that meant there would be repercussions if he wasn’t home ASAP.

Hanging up the phone, he took another look towards the Deltic. Something was wrapped around its buffer...

Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be an elegant piece of red silk, tied into a bow, and a note.

The note was done on heavy, cream coloured paper, and the text seemed to have been done with an old fashioned dip pen.

Dear Wendell,

I apologize for the late delivery of your present, but I hope you understand that some presents require more work than others. Hopefully this will ease your slumber.

Santa Claus.

Stephen goggled at the note for a moment, before reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone so he could take a picture. His fingers didn’t close around his phone, instead grasping a small round object.

Pulling it out of his pocket, he was shocked to see that he was holding a small, but beautifully decorated Easter Egg.

#long #sodor #story #fic #fanfic #ttte #ttte headcanon #this is totally headcanon #sodor headcanon #ttte gordon #ttte wendell #ttte fat controller #merry christmas #christmas special #deltic #oc: daphne

37 notes · View notes

buckysgoldenheart · 4 years

Text

Unexpected: Bucky x Reader oneshot

Notes: I can 100% guarantee that this is poorly edited despite my efforts, but I hope you guys like it anyway. I wrote the bones of this story a couple years ago, but decided to edit and finish it while I work on the series fics I have yet to finish.

Summary: A guest (Y/N) shows up at the tower with a suitcase and a letter looking for the world’s favorite captain. What she didn’t expect, was two super soldiers at the end of her journey instead of one.

Unexpected:

Bucky had just changed into his black tee and sweatpants, ready to head down to the gym to work out with Steve. He went straight to the kitchen for one of his early morning breakfast protein shakes to find Steve already there speaking with Tony about the last mission.

“I’m just telling you it could have gone a bit better if we kept the twins more organized.” Steve spoke in his demanding tone.

Tony replied “They’re twins, capsicle, aren’t they always organized with their magical twin telepathy or whatever?”

“You know, you could do without the sarcasm for one day.”

“Well then you wouldn’t be nearly as in love with me, now would you, Cap?” Steve only scoffed and pushed himself back from the counter. “Don’t worry” Tony winked “I won’t tell Sharon.”

Bucky had had enough. “Can’t you too cool it with the flirting for just one day? Its 7 am. I haven’t even eaten yet.”

Steve turned to reply to his friend but was interrupted by the sound of the elevator opening. The three men turned their heads to the doors pulling back revealing a young woman. She had to be in her early twenties. She stepped forward and pulled her suitcase behind her, observing her surroundings before finally seeing the men before her.

“Oh, Hello.” She spoke. Steve, Tony, and Bucky just stared. When they all remained silent, she said, “Does one of you speak, possibly?”

Tony was the first to come to his senses and walked around the counter to the girl. “And who are you?”

“Um, I’m here to speak to your captain over there. I have this…” she said, before rummaging through her purse. She pulled out a small folded piece of paper and handed it to Tony, who unfolded it and read it twice over before walking back over to Steve and Bucky.

“Do you, by chance, have a sister?” He asked Steve.

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

Steve sat on the couch with the Bucky, Tony, and the girl around him in awkward silence, waiting for him to speak. Tony was the first to put a crack in the dead air. “Are you sure you had a sister?”

Steve turned his head to Tony to give him a look that could only question his idiocy, yet Tony remained unfazed. “Yes, Tony I’m pretty sure. However, ‘had’ is the operative word…” Steve turned his gaze back to the girl whose eyes were locked with Bucky’s “…but that was back in the forties. She was five when I went into the ice, and if she had a daughter later, that kid would certainly be much older than twenty-years-old by now.

“Twenty-three.” The girl piped up, finally tearing her eyes away from the dark, moody super soldier.

“Like it matters.” Tony murmured.

“Listen, kid. Twenty, Twenty-three. It makes zero difference. You say you’re my sister’s kid, but logic says that impossible, so you’re going to have to explain everything to me right now, from the top.” Steve ordered her like the captain he was.

“Ok, I can do that.” The girl readjusted herself in her chair and brushed her fingers through her hair. “My name is Y/N. I was born on (Y/B-Day). My mother adopted me when I was fifteen after my foster mother contacted her about my abilities. I went to live with her and she aimed to train me, but she died before she could. She wrote the note for me to give to you when I saw fit. She said that if I ever wanted extended training then you’d be the guy to go to and you wouldn’t turn me away because you are family.”

“When did she die?” Steve asked.

“Four years ago.”’

“She was alive all this time and didn’t contact me? Why? She obviously knew where I was.”

“I asked her that a million times. All she ever said was that you had a new life now and didn’t need your old one holding you back. I thought it was a stupid reason, but whatever.”

“You mentioned some abilities?” Tony asked, diverting the conversation.

“Yes.”

“Which are?”

“I can move metal with my mind.”

“Ohhh no.” Tony said, shaking his head quickly. “You better not also be able to read minds, because we’ve already got one of those freaky-deaky chicks, so you’ll have to join another super hero team.”

“Why would Ellen adopt you because of these abilities?” Steve spoke.

“For a while, Mom was kind of well-known for taking care of people with special abilities. She said that was in the early two-thousands. She went by the name Moira Katz. She ended up adopting me much later.”

Steve rose from his chair and rubbed his face, his mind clearly full of emotions warring with one another. “Look, for now you can stay, but I have to verify this information. It all has to add up. You can have a room. Bucky will show you where.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate this. You have no idea.”

“Fine, but if I find you lied then you’re out.”

“Deal!”

Moments later, Bucky stood and pulled Y/Ns suitcase toward an empty room with her in tow.

“You really believe all this?” Tony questioned.

“Normally I wouldn’t, but the note was in Ellen’s handwriting. No doubt about it.”

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

Bucky propped Y/Ns suitcase up against the wall adjacent to the bedroom door. Y/N uncrossed her arms and reached for the doorknob. “Thanks for bringing up my bag. I think I’m going to take a rest. Long day, ya know?”

Bucky stood there, eyes cast down at his shoes and grabbed her elbow before she could retreat behind the door. “Did you really think you could get away with acting like we don’t know each other?”

Y/N huffed out a deep breath and Bucky lifted his eyes to meet hers. She pulled her arm out of his grasp and crossed them in front of her chest. “C’mon Bucky, it was just a couple of nights, two months ago. I didn’t know that you were an avenger. It’s not like I knew you would be here of all places. Let’s just forget it and move on. I need Steve to help me and him knowing my past involvement with you would not do me any favors.”

She turned to leave, but Bucky grabbed her back to him by her waist and placed his lips on hers. Initially, Y/N resisted, but as Bucky’s arms tightened around her waist, her lips opened, and she melted into him. She wrapped her arms around his neck when he lifted her up, holding her firm against his body. Bucky pushed Y/N against the wall and she felt him hard against her inner thigh. Just as she quietly moaned, he pulled back from her and set her on the ground.

“What the hell was that?” She asked, her frustrated tone clearly contradicting her body’s response to him kissing her.

“We aren’t done.” Bucky said as he stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Bucky—" Y/N started, but her protest was interrupted.

“And it wasn’t a couple of nights, it was a week and a half, and I’ve thought of you every day since.” Bucky looked down and straightened his shirt out then locked eyes with Y/N once again. “Have a nice night.” Then he turned on his heel and walked down the hall without looking back.

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

THE NEXT DAY

Bucky walked out of his room and down the stairs to the kitchen with plans of making a protein shake for his morning workout, again. When he turned the corner, Steve sat at the counter with his head in his hands, staring at the piece of paper in front of him. Bucky sighed. No workout for now.

“Hey Steve.” He said as he walked up behind his friend and gave him a friendly slap on the back. “You look a little down.” He joked. Steve looked up at him with an expression that stated he clearly wasn’t amused, then slid the paper in Bucky’s general direction. As he picked it up, Bucky glanced back at Steve who resumed his previous position, then looked down at the information in front of him.

“She was telling the truth, then,” he said nonchalantly. Steve rubbed his face with his palms. He looked like shit. “Have you been up all night?”

“Wouldn’t you have been?” he responded, fully expecting Bucky not to answer. “Tony came back late last night with the results and I’ve been staring at them for…” he paused and looked at the clock. “Five hours.”

“Look Steve, I know it’s a weird day at Stark Tower when some kid comes up to you demanding training, but—”

“Buck, that happens every day with the new recruits.” He sighed.

“Still haven’t exactly caught on to the concept of sarcasm, huh?” Bucky smiled. Steve stood up, pushing the stool back at the same time.

“Bucky, do you even realize what this paper says? It says my sister was alive. If that were true, Ellen would’ve come found me, I just know it. The story this kid has is not adding up. I don’t care about the evidence; anything can be forged. She might not even have abilities, for all we know.” He said, his own words knocking him into action as he stormed around Bucky, straight for Y/N’s room.

“Steve, come on.” Bucky called before turning to go after him. When he caught up, Steve was already banging on the door hard enough that it was surprising his fist didn’t go right through it. “Steve...” he started, but he lost his breath the minute Y/N opened the door in her tiny shorts and tight tank that prominently displayed her breasts. When she saw it was Steve, she grabbed her silky robe off the hook to her right and wrapped it around her. She looked up after securing the ties and caught Bucky’s gaze for half a second before quickly moving her attention back to Steve.

“Good Morning.” She smiled lightly, which did nothing to soothe Steve’s frustration but did everything to remind Bucky even more of why he needed this girl.

“You need to prove yourself now, or you’re out!” Steve ground out harshly. “Come with me.” He grabbed Y/N’s arm and dragged her down the hall with him, not giving her any other choice but to obey. She looked to her left and locked eyes with Bucky who shot her back a wink which was returned with an eye roll.

She was pulled back into the living room where Tony and Pietro sat on opposite couches; Pietro flipping through the tv channels and Tony yelling at him to just pick one already. They stopped their argument when they saw Steve drag Y/N behind him to the center of the room before letting her go and stepping a safe distance back from her. “Go on.” He said.

“What’s happening?” Tony asked, looking from Cap to Y/N and back.

“We need to see her abilities.” Steve demanded.

Tony rolled his eyes and directed his next question only at Y/N, “Having a good morning, Sweetheart?’

“Oh, just the greatest.” She huffed back, arms crossed in front of her chest. Tony looked at Steve with a slight smile on his face.

“Capsicle, that right there, was a perfect example of sarcasm. She’s already more useful than you expected her to be.”

“Be quiet, Tony.” Steve bit back before looking again to Y/N. “Do it.”

Y/N sighed and began to lift her land when it was seized by Pietro. “Hello, I don’t believe I have had the pleasure. Pietro Maximoff.” He smiled and winked before placing his lips on the back of her hand.

Y/N retuned his smile. “It’s nice to meet you, but believe me, I already know who you are.”

“What!?” Bucky yelled. “You know who he is, but you didn’t know who I was?!” Y/N turned her head to look directly at him along with the rest of the room. Bucky nearly blushed at his outburst, realizing he might have just raised suspicion as to his relationship with her, but they all turned back around as if it didn’t happen.

“He tends to overreact when someone isn’t aware of his fame and beauty. Try not to take it personally, Y/N.” Tony joked. Bucky rolled his eyes and Y/N continued her conversation with Pietro.

“A friend of mine is originally from Sokovia. She follows your ‘career’ very carefully and is a huge fan. I think she talked about you almost every day.”

Pietro lifted the corner of his mouth. “All good things, I hope.” He said with a lustful look in his eyes that Bucky had seen directed at one too many women, and he was well aware of what it meant.

“Ok, Ok.” Bucky said as he moved between Y/N and Pietro, breaking their hands apart. “Let’s get this over with. Just do your thing or whatever it is that you do.”

Y/N shot him and angry glare. “Fine!” she snapped then closed her eyes and took one deep breath before opening them again. They had turned neon green. She lifted her right fist in front of her face and extended her index finger. The men all stared at her, waiting patiently for her to do something. In the blink of an eye, Y/N’s finger moved sharply to left and a barbell flew towards them from the gym, shattering the glass wall separating the rooms, and hitting Bucky hard, pinning him to the floor by his neck. He tried to pry it up, but it wouldn’t budge until Y/N dropped her hand and closed her eyes, returning them to her natural color.

“Another glowing-eyed chick.” Tony said. “I knew it.” He smiled as Bucky shoved the barbell off him and righted himself, brushing dust off his shirt. Y/N smirked at him and he frowned back. “Well clearly she isn’t lying about that bit.” Tony said as he rolled his eyes in Steve’s general direction. “I’ll go discuss this with Bruce. You’ll meet him later Y/N. Good job kid.” He said before turning on his heel and heading toward the stairs.

Pietro was gone before he even finished mumbling something about telling the girls, and Steve had disappeared right along with him, leaving Y/N and Bucky alone in the living room.

“So,” He started as he walked towards her. “I didn’t exactly know you could do that. You didn’t have to be so rough with me, beautiful.”

Y/N turned to face him. “How could you know? We just met last night.” She said with a hard, straight face, ignoring his second statement all together.

Bucky half-chuckled. “Oh, come on. You know I won’t ever let you forget me…or how we met.” His eyes gleamed as he reached up and cupped her cheek, stroking its soft skin with his calloused thumb.

“Get off!” she said, slapping his hand away from her.

He grinned, full and satisfied. “Fine. But there’s no need to be hostile, doll face.”

They were both silent for a moment. Her arms crossed and eyes cast down to the floor. Bucky smiling, more than happy to be looking at her beautiful face.

“Well” he said, breaking the silence and looking down at his shirt, “It seems that your little stunt got my shirt all dirty when you pinned me to the floor.” In truth, there was not a speck on it, but Bucky was never one to pass up an opportunity. He grasped his shirt from the back of the neck and slowly pulled it over his head, the muscles in his arms contorting underneath his beautifully tanned skin. “I really need to wash this.” He smirked as he watched Y/N’s eyes quickly flick to his chest before returning to the ground, but she said nothing.

Bucky reached for her chin and lifted it until they locked eyes, their faces an inch apart. “You can pretend all you want that you don’t care for me too. But, when you run out of energy keeping up with that little lie, I’ll still be here.” He took a last lingering look at her plump lips, slightly parted, before letting go of her and withdrawing. He turned and walked away from her without looking back. “I’m very patient man, Y/N,” he called back as he climbed the stairs.

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

ONE WEEK LATER

She dodged one arrow, then another, then spread her fingers of her right hand before quickly making a fist, shattering the third one a foot from her face.

“Good.” Tony said. “Again.”

They continued this exercise four more times until Clint shot six arrows at her at once. Y/N slowly closed her eyes and snapped her fingers sending out a strong force that sent Clint flying back and hitting the wall while forcing Tony to step back a few paces to steady himself. Clint groaned and moved to get up. “Alright, ok, that was good. You’re getting good at that.” He cracked his neck and brushed himself off. “That one was good. That one hurt.”

Tony looked his direction and crossed his arms in front of him. “What, did you break a hip? Getting too old for this?”

“No older than you.” He said as he bent back to crack his back.

“Ouch. You know, I’m not completely made of stone.” Tony replied sarcastically.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Clint said as he stretched out his arms.

Y/N chucked to herself. “I’m sorry, Clint.”

“Nope, No problem. I’m just gonna go take a rest.”

“Walk it off, Grandpa” Tony yelled after him, receiving a mumbled ‘Fuck you’ in return. He turned to Y/N. “You still up for some more, kid?”

Y/N shrugged her shoulders. “Sure.”

“Ok, good.” Tony looked at his watch. “Alright, give me a minute. I have to go meet Pepper in ten. I’ll send someone down, OK?”

“Yep.”

“Good. You did good today, sweetheart. In a few days, we are gonna have Wanda down here to help out.” He replied before smiling and exiting the room.

Y/N slowly paced around for a few minutes before she moved to the back wall to get a drink of water, bending down to grab the bottle from her bag. Then, she heard the door shut and footsteps come in her direction.

“What a view.”

Y/N shot up and turned in time to see Bucky starring at her ass before he quickly looked up, met her eyes, and smiled, his arms folded in front of his chest. She groaned. “Of all the Avengers, he had to send you?”

Bucky chuckled and gave his shoulders a light shrug. “I volunteered.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “Of course you did.” Then she stepped around him to grab her bag and head out the door as quickly as possible. “I’m not in the mood for this.” She mumbled.

“If you leave because of me, it’ll look weird to the others. Tony said another hour and if you stomp up there all pissed in front of them, they’ll know somethings up between us.” He said as she reached for the door handle. Y/N dropped her hand and turned to face him.

“There isn’t anything ‘up’ between us.” She replied angrily.

“Yes, there is.” He quickly returned with a huge smile across his face.

“No there--ughh!” Y/N balled her hands into fists. “Why are you like this!”

“I thought you would have figured that out already.”

Y/N huffed. “Bucky, I’m not getting into this right now. If Tony says I have to train for another hour and I’m stuck with you, then lets just get it over with.”

“Anything you want, doll face, but don’t think I won’t enjoy myself.” He said as she dropped her bag back against the wall.

They faced each other ten paces apart.

“Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t plan to go easy on you in any way.” Y/N started.

“Like you ever do.” Bucky smirked.

She ignored him completely and tightened her ponytail. “Are you ready?’

“Are you flirting with me, Y/N?”

“How was that flirting?”

“Oh, I just figured you had your own way of doing it.”

“I do, but you’ll never see it.”

“Pretty sure I already did see it. Don’t you remember?” Y/N let out an annoyed groan and shot her hand out towards him, sending her metal water bottle in the direction of Bucky’s head, but his arm snatched it out of the air before it could reach him. “Aww, c’mon, doll,” Bucky mumbled in disappointed as he got into place. He threw the bottle to the side and ran a hand through his hair before looking back at her. “Ready when you are.” He smirked.

They readied themselves and before Y/N knew it, Bucky was charging for her. She quickly closed and opened her eyes to her green neon orbs, and put her hands up above her head, fingers spread, then tightened them in a fist before quickly throwing them down in front of her, one crossing over the other. Within half a second, two ceiling beams slammed into the ground in front of her in the form of an X, shielding her from Bucky. He smirked and reached his metal arm up to one of the beams, pulled it from the ground and threw it to the side before advancing toward her. Y/N stepped back as he neared her, searching around for something to throw at him. There wasn’t enough metal. She threw the water bottle again only for him to side step and watch it fly past his face. “C’mon doll face, give it up.” He smiled, looking back to her.

She continued to look around until it dawned on her. Bucky’s metal arm wasn’t flesh. How was that not the first thing she thought of? Y/N reached her hand straight out in front of her and felt her power latch on to his arm. Slowly, she seeped it through the individual joints of the metal and stretched them apart, creating gaps between each panel. Bucky tried to regain control, but Y/N only got stronger and it was as if his arm was no longer his own. He saw her huff out a breath and before he knew it, he was flying, lifted solely by the metal attached to his body.

Y/N held him there, dangling in the air for a second before she moved her arm to the left in one sharp motion, sending Bucky in the same direction, but it was more powerful than either of them expected.

As he hit the wall, Bucky’s head slammed against the concrete with a sickening crack and he felt his vision go dark. Immediately, Y/N closed her eyes and snapped them back open to their natural color just in time to see Bucky fall hard to the ground. “Bucky!?”

She ran over to him and got on her knees beside him. “Bucky? She shook him hard by the shoulders, but he didn’t budge. “Bucky wake up! Bucky, please!”

When he refused to move, Y/N ran to the intercom on the wall and screamed for Steve or Tony or Pietro. Anyone. Then, she ran back to Bucky’s side and rested his head on her knees. She only noticed she was crying when her tears began to fall into his hair as she brushed the locks back from his face. She was so distracted that she didn’t even notice Tony and Steve slide up next to her. Steve looked down at her, a mixture of emotions on his handsome face. “What did you do?”

“Steve…” Tony said, knowing the sight of the captain’s best friend knocked out would spike his temper.

“Steve, I’m sorry. I—I didn’t mean to. I couldn’t control it.” Y/N sobbed, moving her eyes from Steve’s face back to Bucky’s unconscious one. “I’m so sorry.”

“Just leave,” he groaned.

“Steve. I—I didn’t…” she tried, before Tony spoke up.

“Best to just listen to him right now, kid. We’ll take care of Barnes.” He lightly smiled. “Go on.”

Y/N stood as tears continued to fall down her cheeks and took one long look at Bucky before turning and heading for the door. When she was out of sight, she ran to her room, slammed the door behind her, and began to sob again.

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

THE NEXT DAY

Y/N’s eyes were unbelievably red after crying through the night. She couldn’t believe what she had done. She didn’t mean to, but for a split second she lost control of it. And now this man, a man that for whatever reason cared about her and never gave up after she repeatedly brushed him off, was hurt.

She was distracted from her thoughts at the sudden knock. Slowly, miserably, she rose from her bed, wiped the tears from her cheeks and walked to the door. When she opened it, Wanda was on the other side.

“Hello.” The witch spoke.

“Hi, Wanda. How are you?” Y/N replied and felt bad that her tone lacked any sincerity.

“I’m ok, but I’m more worried about you. Are you ok?”

Instantly, the tears returned. They were uncontrollable and Wanda pulled Y/N into a hug before leading her over to the bed and sitting down next to her.

“I don’t know how it happened. I hurt him.” Y/N explained through her sobs.

Wanda rubbed her back in return. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I know you didn’t mean to.”

“What if he never wakes up?”

“Believe me, that man will wake up. He never seems to die.” Y/N was silent. There was nothing else to say. She had never felt so bad in her entire life. “I think you should go see him. He’s in the lab. Dr. Cho is fixing him up, monitoring his vitals. You being there, it may help.”

“How could me being there possibly help?”

Wanda smiled softly. “Y/N, I’ve seen his thoughts. I know his feelings. I promise you, it would help.”

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

Y/N gasped when she saw him lying there. If he wasn’t barely breathing and the sound of the heart rate monitor was not beeping incessantly, he would’ve looked dead, and the tears started back up. She couldn’t take her eyes off him and didn’t even hear Dr. Cho tell her she would give the two of them a minute before leaving the room.

Tentatively, Y/N neared him and reached out a hand to stoke his cheek, her thumb moving back 'and forth in soft motions along the cheekbone. “Oh God.” She whispered to herself. “Bucky.” she softly sobbed. “I am so sorry. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I never wanted to hurt you.” Y/N moved her hand to brush a lock of hair from his forehead. “Please, wake up. I just…I can’t imagine not seeing you again.” She inhaled a quick breath and sniffled. “I’m sorry I acted like I don’t care about you too.” She muttered and then made the decision to lean down and kiss his forehead. She closed her eyes as she felt his warm skin against her lips. Then, she moved her kiss down to his cheek, to the tip of his nose, before placing them fully on his plump lips. He didn’t kiss back. She knew he wouldn’t, but it didn’t surprise her one bit to realize how much she wished he would. When she rose, she looked down to his hand and touched it with her own before slowly stepping away and turning to go back to her room.

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

LATER…

Y/N was in the kitchen getting some water when Bucky Barnes walked into the room. She looked up at the sound of footsteps and turned to see who it was. Her eyes went wide at the man before her and her hand stopped in the middle of bringing the glass to her lips. She said nothing; there was nothing she could think of to say, so he was the one to do it first.

“So, I hear you like me.” He smirked, rather arrogantly.

“What? Who told you something like that?” Who could have known? She never told anyone. She never planned to. Sure, she told Wanda she felt bad about hurting him, but that didn’t necessarily mean she liked him.

He looked back at her, causally walking towards her before stopping a few feet away. “You did.”

“No, I most certainly did not!”

“Yes, you did. But in all fairness, you didn’t think I would hear you.”

Shock took over her face as she realized what he was talking about and she panicked to find the right words. “You were unconscious!”

His faced scrunched a bit, knowing she wouldn’t like the truth. “Not exactly.”

“What!”

He raised his hands in defense. “It was Wanda’s idea, not mine. I mean, you did knock me out, but I woke up a couple hours before you came to talk to me. Wanda suggested the idea, and I was game for anything that would get you to let your guard down.”

“WANDA!!!” Y/N screamed. The rest of the tower could probably hear her, but in that moment, she didn’t care one bit. “I am going to kill that witch!”

Wanda rounded the corner ten seconds later but stopped in her tracks at the sight of the couple before her and the anger on Y/N’s face.

Her eyes moved to Bucky, her face full of annoyance. “You weren’t supposed to tell her!”

“Should I have lied to her instead?”

“YES!”

“Oh yea, because that’s a strong foundation for a good relationship.”

Y/N interrupted their banter. “Shut up!” She said before turning to her ‘friend.’ “Wanda, you tricked me!”

“Only a little bit, but what was I supposed to do, Y/N? You’re too stubborn for your own good. He”, She said, pointing to Bucky, “would pine over you for the rest of his life and you would be too scared to admit that you want him too. I told you I read his thoughts and I did, but I also read yours. They are one and the same. So, just get over it and be happy, damn it! You both need it, you both deserve it. Life is too fucking short, for fucks sake.” Y/N slowly exhaled the breath she had been holding after the witch’s quick outburst. “Talk! And if I see either of you leave, I’ll start throwing things.” Then Wanda left, leaving them alone.

Y/N turned to Bucky and he smiled at her with a triumphant grin. “This changes nothing.” She said and began to walk away. Let Wanda throw things. Y/N could move things with her mind too!

As she brushed by him, Bucky grabbed Y/N’s arm, spinning her around and making eye contact. “Yes, it does.”.

“And what makes you think so?”

“Are you kidding? Y/N, Wanda just laid it out for you. You like me just as much and I think you have since we slept together. I was on that mission for a reason and, apart from infiltrating one lousy building, I think that reason was you.”

She chuckled, highly annoyed. “So, Bucky Barnes believes in fate.”

“You bet your cute ass I do.”

“Ridiculous.” She mumbled.

Bucky groaned. “Just shut your mouth and let me kiss you.”

Before she knew it, his lips were on hers with his hands on her cheeks. His lips were soft, and Y/N couldn’t stand it. If he never kissed her again, she could have easily lived her life in blissful denial, but now that he had, she was fucked.

She placed her hands on his chest before sliding them up into his hair and pulling him closer. He moaned and slipped his arms around her waist before lifting her off her feet entirely.

“I told you we weren’t done,” He whispered between their lips as he supported her ass so her legs could wrap fully around him.

“I know,” Y/N whispered back, slightly irritated at how right he had been. But this was inevitable, she knew. He was inevitable.

And so, moments later, when her eyes turned softer and truly shown with the lust and honesty inside them, Bucky smiled, nudged his nose with hers and connected their lips again.

tags: @dugan365 @moonlightimagination @pietrotheavenger @marvel-fanfiction @hawkeyeharrington @dani-si @alyssiamking @wintersoldier98 @then-there-was-me-emily @prxttybirdz @tessvillegas @xceafh @jazzwoman897 @fandoms-who @meganwinchester1999 @ufffg @debra77 @rebelliouscat @anise-d-castle6 @projectxhappiness @buckybarnesappreciationsociety @lowkeysebby @stringgeek13 @notmyfault404 @quotemeow @jjamesbbarness @stangirl4eva @guera31 @sophiatomlinson23 @youreahandsomedevil @thisismysecrethappyplace @hiddles-rose @vibhati123 @mywinterwolf @stevesaidabadlanguageword @picapicapicassobaby @lokilvrr @private-bucky-barnes

366 notes · View notes

nokas-meme-den · 3 years

Text

Shit heard in Ghost Stories meme

"When this bitch kicks, I'm moving to Vegas."

"Have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?"

"I don't care about your cat, he's probably dead."

"Principals always look like lesbians."

"When a stronger spirit appears, the weaker spirit cowers. But all evil spirits cower before Jesus!"

"Oh my, what a gifted seamstress. I hope you're not a homosexual."

"If you want something to happen, you just need to pray! And not be a Muslim. Or Jewish."

"What the fizzityuck was that?"

"Where's the damn cat?"

"These pajamas are gay."

"Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you come to the scary, isolated pay phone on the bad side of town, alone?"

"Maybe you have a hidden talent you don't know about! Like Paris Hilton being an actress! Oh, scratch that."

"THINK OF A BIG BLACK MAN CHASING YOU!"

"A car accident... must have been hit by an old Chinamen. I don't mean to be racist, but those people CANNOT drive."

"You'd be surprised just how many transgressions a filthy little sinner like you can rack up in just a day."

"Look, a little Jew boy."

"Come rub my nipples."

"Drop the Krispy Kreme, Serpiko! We need your help here!"

"My BS detector is going DING!"

"I can read. Not well, but I can read. And those letters... are BACKWARDS!"

"The weird part is, I'm not even high. Not a bit. Totally sober!"

"The internet was a blessing from the Lord Jesus to spread the word of God throughout the world, but then Muslims and pedophiles stole it and used it to lure out and seduce children like you."

"Hey, want some candy little boy?"

"You can use it if you promise not to be on the phone too long. I know how you Pagans take advantage of others."

"A bunch of somber, quiet people against a red nuclear sky near a river of blood. Wow, that doesn't look threatening at all."

"Why? Because Jewish people rock!"

"That's so sweet... in a 'you scare the crap out of me in an Emily Rose' kind of way!"

"Here, you can take pooky-poo. He used to be my man, but we broke up."

"The V on my sweater stands for 'Very Big Deal', but that's beside the point."

"Come on, jump... I SAID JUMP!"

"Yes, the animal cemetery. Hear the plot point bells going off?"

"I hope Stephen King never sees this."

"She's looking straight at us, I don't think we hid very well."

"Those 3 to 4 cardboard boxes aren't going to hold them for long!"

"Lord reveal your salvation, for I am your favorite among these heathens."

"Yo sensei Dave, what's haps on the snaps with the craps?"

"You two-timing son of a bitch! Who's gonna take care of these little bastards!?"

"Oh splinter ohhhhh!"

"Shut up. You're here, and you're an idiot."

"Years ago, people went in there but they didn't come out. Not unlike your sister."

"2.2 Celsius... Metric system. Who thought this was a good idea again? I'm just gonna put 100. No one's gonna know."

"Oh perfect, it's in Japanese. Ching chong nong ding tow! Wait, that's Chinese."

"God, can you go bomb an abortion clinic or something?"

"Creepy Japanese men can be cabbies too y'know. But women should never be allowed to drive."

"Obeying horror movie rules, I'm going to go out alone. You stay here while I go look for help."

"I'm not giving you a reach around."

"You're such a bitch."

"First we do a geographic montage to show we traveled a long way from your house. There, that should be enough."

"I'm gonna beat you retarded."

"Jesus saved my ass."

"And what a lovely little ass it is, too."

"¡NO CORRAN EN EL HOSPITAL, CABRONES!"

"Now that is some really nice animation."

"Nice rack. Mind if I make 'em a little bigger? Ahahaehehahhha boobies. Loooove boobies. Nice lips too. I USED TO HAVE LIPS!"

"Lunchtime BJ?"

"Let's see... purple, for your hair. Can't tell this was a goddamn anime."

"Okay. Stop trying to look up my skirt. IT'S A CARTOON!"

"Holy time machine, Batman, it's 1973!"

"Holy pre-Parkinson's Michael J Fox Christopher Lloyd Back To The Future plot ripoff device! Where's my DeLorean?"

"I'll grab her ass!"

"Oh damn anime, look what's happened to my eyes."

"Leo! Leo! Leo! Leo! Goddamnit! Goddamnit! Goddamnit! Goddamnit!"

"It's the chick from The Ring! I mean, The Grudge! What movie are we ripping off again?"

"Oh my god, did that spell work? You know, like the one where you write your name in an eraser? I hear the head cheerleader's having an abortion."

"Such a bitch! Stop being such a friggin' skank and give it back!"

"Sometimes yes means no!"

"Moshi moshi! I mean, hello."

"Tomomi? Ain't no Tomomi girl living here, so what?"

"Get your cracker ass into some rehab, I ain't got time for this bullshit."

"MOTHAFUCKA."

"Run! She's a ghost and a bitch!"

"I'm goin' fuckin' crazy."

"HEY! Maybe if they paid their fuckin' phone bill, you could call again!"

"Nobody's talking to you. Just drive the bus, bus driver. Fuckin' nosy."

"Oh, sorry. All you little yellow people look alike to me. And African Americans, but not the Mexicans. Why do you think that is? I mean, don't you find that just the weirdest thing?"

"Romans 1:26, God gave them over to shameful lusts!"

"A view of the blood-stained lake. AHHHHHHH"

"Oh it may be blue now, but soon it will be redder than Republican Texas."

"No, I'm serious, bitch. I swear to god. Blue."

"Maybe this vase isn't nailed down."

"We go with the snow but not the snow that is yellow!"

"Alright everybody, it's 4:30. School is finally over. Time to go home, load up that bong, and watch Pokemon!"

"Leave me alone, I'm doing my standard anime 'elbows up' pose."

"Oh wow. I can't even comprehend how inappropriate this is."

"GOD YOU'RE MAKING ME SICK."

"God you are four of the ugliest fucking kids I've ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on. I can't wait for this bitch to kill you."

"NANIIIIIII?"

"Oh my, definitely a 10."

"If you do, I'll suck you all for a Scooby Snack."

"Any closer and there'd be insertion."

"I may be a successful doctor, but first and foremost I'm a Jew."

"You know what I hear? I hear the sound of you shuttin' the fuck up."

"Let's see... 7?"

"What the FUCK are you talking about!?"

#roleplay meme #sentence starters #crack meme

18 notes · View notes

schnoogles · 4 years

Photo

Curiouser and Curiouser written for the @jonsa-halloween event! Day 2: Drink Me/Colors Read on Ao3

Theon began lining empty whisky tumblers, “how about everyone here try my newest concoction? I call it ‘The Kraken.’” He poured the brightest color of electric blue liquid in each glass and gestured for everyone to pick one up. Jon eyed it warily, “Where’d the name come from?” He lifted it to his mouth. Theon smiled as he watched everyone down it. “Eight legs, eight ingredients! Most of which are alcohol.” Robb immediately slapped Theon across the face after he drank his. Everyone else went into either a coughing fit or started gagging.

Theon had the best idea for a drink. Unfortunately, he wasn't anticipating Sansa being a lightweight.

“What up bitches! It’s time for SHOTS.”

Everyone groaned. Arya was having way too much fun at this party.

“Gods, was I like this when I became legal drinking age?” Sansa looked at her little sister across the room, horrified at the bubbly young woman in a Cheshire cat costume. She’ll be first to admit though, Arya was absolutely adorable, even with what looked like a drink in each hand.

Jon snorted. “No, but you were like this when Robb took you to your first college party and Theon gave you an AMF.”

“Not my finest hour.” Sansa grimaced at the memory. “On the plus side, that was my one and only time ever getting that wasted. Even now at legal drinking age I stay away from hard liquors. All thanks to Theon’s peer pressuring.”

“Hey!” Theon protested from behind the counter, “That drink gave you the fucking courage to kiss Jon! You should be thanking me!” Jon and Sansa shifted uncomfortably. Nearly four years later and still only one drunken kiss between them. Robb had seen what they were doing and put a stop to it. He didn’t care if they wanted to date but he didn’t want his best friend and little sister to do anything they’d regret. Unfortunately, they were both too embarrassed and didn’t bring it up the next day. Which led to both parties assuming the other did, in fact, regret it.

“How ‘bout we don’t humiliate Jon and Sansa tonight, Theon?” Robb walked up to the group, Arya in tow looking decidedly put out.

Theon laughed and pointed an empty shaker at her, “Why the pout, Cheshire?”

“Robb won’t let me have anymore shots.”

Everyone in the group snickered at her. Leave it to Responsible Robb to reign in his little sister.

“Tell you what shorty,” Theon began lining empty whisky tumblers, “how about everyone here try my newest concoction? I call it ‘The Kraken.’” He poured the brightest color of electric blue liquid in each glass and gestured for everyone to pick one up.

Jon eyed it warily, “Where’d the name come from?” He lifted it to his mouth.

Theon smiled as he watched everyone down it. “Eight legs, eight ingredients! Most of which are alcohol.” Robb immediately slapped Theon across the face after he drank his. Everyone else went into either a coughing fit or started gagging.

“That,” he wagged a finger at Theon, “is absolutely disgusting.”

“Noted.” Theon shook his head, slightly disoriented from Robb’s slap.

Arya slammed her glass down in front of Theon. “Another!”

“No!” Everyone but Theon shouted.

“Spoil sports, all of you.” Arya grumbled.

The group of friends chatted some more, with Theon occasionally coming in and out of the conversation as he was making drinks for his guests. They were all having a good time. Talking, laughing, having some more drinks. No one thought they needed to stop until suddenly-

“Jesus Christ,” Sansa giggled, “Does everyone else see the pretty dancing colors?” Sansa looked around them in wonderment. She noticed a slight change in her vision earlier but thought she was imagining it. Now though, with another cocktail under her belt, she knew she definitely wasn’t imagining the pretty lights and bright swirling colors.

“Sansa?” Robb looked at his sister in disbelief. “Are you drunk already? Theon what the fuck was in that drink?”

Jon placed a steady hand on Sansa’s lower back. “Well, I think she had maybe one drink earlier, but I dunno what it was. Might not have been agreeable with Theon’s catastrophe-”

“It’s called Kraken, thank you very much.” He was affronted by Jon’s misnaming. “And how was I supposed to know that Queen of Hearts over here is a lightweight? She’s usually the DD!” He wasn’t wrong. Sansa always volunteered to stop drinking early at parties to make sure her older brother and his friends were safe. For good reason.

“First of all, Mad Hatter,” she scoffed at the name of Theon’s costume, “I’m the Red Queen! Pick up a book, learn the difference, get it right.” When drunk, apparently Sansa Stark became Sassy Snark. She hiccupped before gleefully announcing, “Second of all: I’m a one shot wonder babeyy!!” The boys tried to smother their laughter at the dancey redhead. Sansa wasn’t finished though. It was Theon’s idea to throw an Alice in Wonderland themed Halloween party so how dare he not know the different characters. During her long winded explanation of the various different queens in the story, Arya managed to sneak a drink from over the counter. She didn’t, however, manage to sneak it into her mouth.

“Freeze, Underfoot.” Robb gestured at the drink in her hand. “You’re cut off for the next hour. Pace yourself or you’ll end up like-” he stuck a thumb at Sansa, “-over there.” Arya looked over his shoulder and saw her older sister attempting to put braids in Jon’s curly hair. She snorted. “It’s water for you for the time being.” He went to grab two bottles from the fridge. One he gave Arya and the other he tossed to Jon.

“Here we go Sansa,” Jon moved her hands off his hair and handed the water bottle to her, “I have some water for you.”

Sansa smacked his hand away. “The only thing you have is the audacity!”

Jon chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry?”

“You should be! How dare you have such nice soft hair! It’s not fair! You don’t even do anything with it!” Sansa suddenly squealed with delight and reached behind Jon. “Thanks Theon!”

“Wh- Hey!” Theon stood flabbergasted as she swooped over and stole his drink from his hands.

“What?” she asked curiously, unaware that anything was wrong. Instead of waiting for a response, she took the shot.

Theon spluttered, “What do you mean ‘what?’ That wasn’t for you!”

Lies. Clearly the shot was meant for Sansa. “But it was practically begging for me to drink it!”

That gave Jon an idea. He uncapped the bottle of water and lifted it in front of Sansa’s face. In an unnaturally high pitched voice, he said, “Drink me, Sansa, drink me!” while waving the water in front of her face. Perhaps he was a bit tipsy too.

“Oh! Well okay, sure!” Jon’s jaw dropped at how easily and happily she took the water and drank. He blinked several times before calling out to her brother. “Uh… Robb?”

“Sup?”

“We can’t leave Sansa alone all night.”

“Um, sure…? But why?”

“She is a far too agreeable drunk.” Jon replied, eyes still not off of the pretty lady in front of him who was dancing to the music, water still in hand.

Before Robb could open that can of worms, he saw in the corner of his eye his other little sister running off with what looked suspiciously like a bottle in her arms. “HEY! ARYA COME BACK HERE!”

At the sound of her brother screaming, Sansa looked over, then enthusiastically started waving at the back of her sister’s head. “Bye Arya! See you later!”

Robb groaned and started banging his head on the counter. Sansa looked at her brother with the utmost concern. That surely must hurt him!

“Don’t worry man, she’s fine,” Theon chuckled. When Robb glared at him, he explained. “She’s newly 21, remember?”

“Yeah, and?”

“And she just ran off with a bottle of grenadine,” Theon snorted, “Something tells me the only thing she'll get is a sugar crash.”

Robb sagged his shoulders in relief. He really didn’t want to deal with another drunk little sister. Those two are going to be the death of him. At least he only has to worry about a sugar crash tonight coming from Arya tonight.

Suddenly though, it was like Sansa sobered up out of nowhere. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“What’s wrong San?”

She pointed at something passed her brother. When the boys all turned, they immediately frowned. A pompous ass, thy name is Joffrey. Robb swore. This is what he gets for letting Theon be in charge of everything, including the guest list.

Jon turned to Theon. “Bro.”

Theon scratched his head. “Look I didn’t invite him. I’m guessing Renly did? He’s usually forced to take his nephew to outings.”

Robb scrunched his face. “And since when were you friends with Renly Baratheon?”

Sansa, still not taking her eyes off the blonde asshole, answered, “Since the only way Margaery Tyrell would accept Theon’s invitation was if she was allowed to bring her brother Loras. And where Loras goes, so does Renly.” Sansa looked away from her source of disdain and lifted a brow at a very sheepish looking Theon. “Girls talk.”

“Of fucking course this is about a girl.” Robb sighed and looked to Jon. “I’m gonna handle this. Do you mind?” He jerked his head at Sansa and Jon understood the underlying request. Take my sister away from here while I kick out her ex, who would most definitely make a scene.

“Hey, Red Queen?” Jon grabbed her hands and started backing up, pulling her along.

Sansa perked up. “Yes Jon?” She let him guide her, Joffrey already forgotten. Jon stumbled just a bit. Something about that Yes Jon that excited him.

“Remember how you were curious about where Ghost is during the party?”

Sansa instantly smiled brightly. She loved Jon’s dog. “Yeah?”

And her smile must be contagious because Jon returned it tenfold. “You wanna go see him?”

Sansa gasped enthusiastically, “Oh my gods! Yes pleeeeease!”

Jon coughed. Something in his chest grumbled approvingly at her words. “Perfect,” his voice came out a little rougher than he intended. “He’s upstairs in my room.” And suddenly he was no longer leading Sansa, she was leading him. Tugging Jon along, she ran through the crowd of partiers to make her way towards the stairs when suddenly she stopped. Jon, not expecting the abrupt interruption in their journey, collided into her.

“Oooof! Sorry, Sansa, you okay?”

She didn’t even notice, too busy looking around the room. “Isn’t it so pretty?”

Jon laughed quietly at how she was admiring some fancy color-changing LED lights and, in his opinion, a rather tacky disco ball. Sure, the luminescence of the atmosphere was pretty cool, but it didn’t compare to one admiring it. What was in that drink Theon? “It’s gorgeous. Come on pretty girl, Ghost is waiting.” At the mention of the dog, Sansa squealed and grabbed Jon again, dragging him along.

When they opened the door to his room, she rushed over and started giving Ghost all the love. He was the best boy that ever was and deserved so many pets.

Jon closed the door and with the loud music now a muffled noise, he could properly appreciate her company. And he couldn’t help but admire her affections for his dog. When he sat on the edge of his bed, she looked up at him.

“Jon, are you uncomfortable when I’m around?” That caught him off guard.

“What? No, not at all. Where is this coming from?”

Sansa bit her lip. “Well, I can’t help but remember the last time Theon plied me with alcohol.”

Jon turned his attention to Ghost instead and swallowed. “And?”

“And you sort of ignored me for a week. Sometimes I think we’re okay, but then you pull back again. And I’m not stupid. It always happens when I try flirting with you.”

Jon did a double take. “I’m sorry, you flirt with me?”

Sansa grimaced. “Oh god, was I not? Dammit Arya was right.” She started mumbling to herself as Jon watched, shocked at this new information. “Am I really just too nice to everyone? Is that why my flirting game is so off? My god is that why Arya thought I was flirting with the mailman when I told him it was so good to see him? Fucking hell.”

At the mention of Sansa flirting with someone who was not him, he snapped back to attention. “Wait wait wait. Sansa, you like me? Like… like me, like me?” Jon, channeling his inner Cheshire, slowly began to grin very, very widely.

“Aw you’re making fun, I don’t want to look at you anymore.” She turned her back to him, sticking her face in Ghost’s soft fur. Jon laughed at the woman with her face buried in his dog’s fur. But oh no, Jon couldn’t let that happen, no sir. He slid off the bed and joined her on the floor with Ghost. Gently pulling her and making her face him, Jon stared into those vibrant blue eyes of hers. They were as blue as Theon’s drink. At the memory of Theon’s drink, which had delightfully led to this conversation, Jon chuckled.

“Sansa, I’m going to need you to remember this conversation tomorrow morning, alright?”

“Of course I’ll remember!” She squinted her eyes at Jon. “Why do I need to remember?”

“Because I like you too and you’re drunk.”

“Oh!” Sansa nodded. Jon made perfect sense. She is drunk and he does like her. With that confirmation, she went back to petting Ghost. And Jon went back to watching her fondly.

Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, trapping Ghost in her arms. Jon’s eyes darted back and forth from her to his bed, debating. Nope, Jon had some decency left in him. He lifted her up and took her to Robb’s room. His friend can sleep on the couch for a night.

As he was tucking her in, Sansa grabbed at his arms. “Hey Jon?”

“Yeah?”

“Did I ever tell you? When I was dating Joffrey back in high school, it always felt like the light was drained out of me. It was kinda awful.” Jon furrowed his brows. He knew Joffrey Baratheon was an ass, but never knew to what extent. Before he could say anything though, Sansa continued. “But when I got to really know you and when we kissed a few years ago, it was like everything got inexplicably brighter. My life suddenly went from black and white to technicolor and I've never wanted to look back.”

Jon couldn’t stop smiling. “Alright pretty girl, it’s time for bed.”

She smiled mischievously at him. “You could always join me.”

Suddenly they heard a gagging noise coming from the inside room with them. Arya popped up from the floor on the other side of the bed. She pointed a bottle at them and glared. “I swear to all that is holy and good, if you join her Jon, I will vomit. And I’m not even drunk!”

Jon laughed as he backed up towards the door. “No worries, Underfoot, I’m going.” With one final wave at a giggling Sansa, he went out and closed the door behind him. Jon prayed to the gods that Sansa would remember tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow Morning

Sansa opened the door and peeked through to see a snoring Jon. She went in and shut the door behind her. After some light contemplation, she thought ah fuck it and launched herself on his unsuspecting body.

“Oh my god!”

“Good morning Jon!” she said sweetly to him.

“Hi?” Bleary eyed Jon was not a morning person.

“Hey Jon. I remember.”

His eyes snapped open. Suddenly Jon, and all parts of Jon really, became a morning person.

Arya heard giggling come from Jon’s room while coming back from the bathroom and scoffed. “Filthy animals.��

#actuallyjonsa #jonsa fic #jonsaff #jonsa halloween #jonsa #jonsaaaaaa #my writing #excuse the silly edit lmao

24 notes · View notes

swimyghost · 3 years

Text

Possum Chemistry

A backstory about Martha and Steve nobody asked for yet here we are. Rubi and Marie belong to @self-insert-nonsense so fuck yeah.

---

Rubi grunted as she tossed the garbage bag into the bin. She rolled his shoulder a few times before making her way back to the painting awaiting her in her studio.

He can work with dead bodies but garbage? Noooo, that's too 'unhygienic'.

She sighed. Rubi genuinely loved her husband despite all the crimes against humanity that took place in their shed on a daily basis and the aura of superiority he always liked to exude, but his lack of care for basic household chores was starting to get on her nerves.

She opened the backdoor to get back inside when he heard a pair of happy squeaks. Rubi turned her gaze behind her. In the distance was a pair of opossums happily walking side by side. One of them was considerably larger than the other and had a tired gaze while the other one had a tuft of hair in front of their eyes. The larger one suddenly ran ahead, leaving the tuff-haired possum by her lonesome. The possum disappeared into the bushes and reappeared with a fresh daisy in their mouth. A series of happy trills exploded from the other possum as they happily accepted their gift. The two briefly touched noses, causing a bashful stare between them, before they continued their walk into the forest, this time with the flower in tow.

Oh my fucking God, that's the cutest thing I've ever seen. Rubi thought, her mind growing fuzzy at the idea of her husband Herbert doing something similar.

"It is, isn't it?"

Startled, Rubi leaped to the side, afraid someone had broken into her yard. Instead, she saw that a dirty blonde-haired teen was leaning over her fence, their arms crossed with their head resting between them. Several possum joeys scurried all over their worn red sweatshirt, eagerly looking at their surroundings. Rubi sighed before glaring at the teenager.

"It's not nice to scare people, Neighbor... Or read minds for that matter," Rubi said, hesitantly adding the last part of that sentence.

"I'm sorry and I can't read minds," Neighbor corrected, "I only knew what you were thinking because your face was like an open book."

Rubi blushed but Neighbor continued, "Though I have to agree with you, Martha and Steve are adorable. Yeah, they're adorable all year round but they get extra adorable on this day."

"What's today?" Rubi asked.

Carefully hopping the fence, Neighbor answered her question, "It's their anniversary. That's why I'm watching the joeys."

The aforementioned baby possums eagerly reached out to grab Rubi's black locks as she blinked in surprise. "It's their anniversary? Why didn't they tell me? I could've drawn something for them!"

If you would've told me three years ago I would be upset that I didn't know the anniversary of a pair of possums, I would've called you crazy. Rubi said internally, slowly realizing how weird the situation was. She was brought back to reality as one of the joeys yanked on her hair.

"They probably forgot and it's not my place to share their personal business so I didn't say anything," Neighbor explained.

Rubi nodded, glancing back at the forest. She wished she would have taken a picture of that moment so she could shove it in Herbert's face. Was it so wrong that she wanted her husband to be just as romantic as Steve?

"Wanna know how they got together?"

"There's a story behind that?" Rubi questioned.

"Yes, but it's long so I think you should sit down." Neighbor said.

Rubi did just that, letting herself be overwhelmed with baby possums. Neighbor took their place beside her and let out a smile.

"It took place a couple of years ago..."

---

Martha knew she wasn't young anymore. That was not implying she was ancient, but her younger sisters from an even younger litter already had begun courting some jacks while she barely found any man tolerable. Her mother had told her that she was too picky but she couldn't help it; she wanted a real man, not a scoundrel. It also didn't help that human television had ruined her idea of love. She wanted a jack to sweep her off her paws and be there to tend to her every whim. Martha knew she was being too demanding, but seeing Mr. Darcy fall deeply in love with Elizabeth after spending so long trying to be the type of snobbish man both she and Elizabeth loathed filled her heart with joy and a desire to have that type of romance.

Her mother had called her a cotton-headed fool, but Martha thought of herself as a hopeless romantic.

The jill had already made a home for herself in an old badger set, filling her home with human trinkets and flowers. Every day was the same routine: wake up either when the sun was high or when it had set and began to forage or hunt, bring the meal back home and get, go back out and forge some more, stop by the nearby creek and get a drink, see if any of the nearby humans are watching something interesting on the television, then go home. It was a simple routine, but it made her happy. The only part of her day that she dreaded was drinking from the creek.

The creek was often the gathering spot from hotheaded jacks. As most possums her age and younger were burdened with the task of single-handedly raising the joeys, she was often the lone female in a cloud of raging testosterone. She felt appalled by the sort of things they would discuss, such as having slept with multiple jills, attacking humans for the fun of it, and purposely starting fights with the possum's rivals, the raccoons. All that talk reminded her of her brother, who was single like her but it was his own decision.

That all changed one day when she met a special jack.

It was a warmer night and the sun was still barely peeking out from beyond the horizon, but Martha was rather thirsty. The heat was getting to all of the animals of the forest, including her. She decided to make a quick detour to the creek to simply drink and wash up before going to forage for grubs. Martha was careful not to be out in the open as it was dangerous for any marsupial to be seen by a predator such as a coyote or a fox. Once she reached the stream, the peaceful lull of the swift waters slapping against the rocks were shattered the high-pitched, crude laughter of nearby jacks. They situated themselves atop a nearby hill and were acting like hooligans, shoving each other and daring one another to leap into the waters below. They would occasionally tear into a vole or squirrel, letting bits of meat and blood drip from their jaws and onto the floor. Martha viewed them as savages.

The jill quickly began her descent into the creek and let the water rest on the bottom of her stomach. The chill was relaxing and even though she had to tune out the immature calls from the males above, Martha was still enjoying the refreshing sensation. As she was trying to quickly finish up her bath, she saw him.

He was an older jack, probably only a moon or two older then she was. He was much larger than the other jacks, both in size and in weight, and held a sleepy gaze the entire time he padded towards the shore across from Martha. Although he held a tired demeanor, once he plunged his muzzle into the waters, Martha could see the kindness and intellect behind his brown eyes. His lovely gray and white fur was well groomed, not like the jacks that were sneering at both him and her above the pair and other males Martha had met. He seemed so gentle, carefully sitting himself down to get the best drink he could. Martha was instantly smitten.

She kept her eyes on him longer than she intended to as he lifted his head to meet her gaze. Embarrassed, the jill dove out of the water and raced away. She could faintly hear the taunts of the other males, but the look the larger male had given her set Martha's heart ablaze. She had done it, she finally met the one she was destined to be with. Her Mr. Darcy. Her Jack Dawson. Her Rick Blaine.

But she knew she couldn't just rush these things. Human television had taught her she had to be slow, but affirmative. That's why she arrived at the same time the next day, eagerly to meet her potential suitor. She ignored the calls of the jacks who happened to appear as well and only waited for her beloved. However, despite the fact she waited almost an entire evening, he never showed up. Martha was puzzled. Perhaps he was busy doing something else? The forest was a large place after all so it wouldn't be surprising if he got caught up in other affairs. So, after having a quick bite to eat, Martha returned home hoping tomorrow would give her something different. But it was the same thing that day too. Same as the next day, and the day after that, and then the next. Five sunrises had passed and Martha still hadn't met her soulmate again. Her mother's words rang in her head: a cotton-headed fool. Perhaps she had invented the jack to fill the void in her heart. Martha was even more lonely than she started out with. On the sixth day, she decided to start her regular routine up again, although she was much more somber. When she finally reached the creek, she was surprised to see that the subject of her affections was laying across the creek nibbling on a circular human food item. It looked like bread but the jill wasn't too sure. Whatever he was eating didn't matter to her, the jack was here and she was going to make a good first impression. Well, a good second impression, Martha remembered had awkwardly fled the first time they met. She groomed herself to perfection behind a tree before stepping out. Martha tried her best to seem nonchalant yet interested at the same time, like a human jill in one of those human television programs where everyone wore fancy suits and dresses (Martha hoped to one day wear a dress as pretty as those jills wore). Martha made her way to the creek, one eye on the jack, and started to drink. Although she tried to appear uncaring, she couldn't help but grow flustered every time he laid eyes on her. It was like her body was set ablaze by the fires of passion.

This went on for several days. The jack's odd schedule never made any sense to Martha, but she loved the days when the two would sneak looks at each other from across the creek. While the forbidden love aspect was romantic at first, the invisible border between them was growing larger and larger every day. Martha was confused about the next course of action. All of the human stories told her that their relationship would form naturally but it just felt stagnant. Martha didn't wanna lose this jack. She barely knew him, yes, but that's why she wanted to get together with him, to know everything about the lovely man she had fallen in love with. That's why she had decided to turn to The Old Ways. In the Deep Forest was said to house a being older than time itself. It heard all and had the answers. All it asked for was one thing: a vegetable.

Martha, desperate for answers, found herself a wild radish and began the trek into the deep part of the forest, deeper than most animals dared to venture. The sun began to rise and she knew that predators would rise as well. The forest grew thick with ancient trees and plants twice the size of her. Every noise set her heart racing again. The scent of a fox, coyote, and other strange creatures filled her nostrils once she padded over a log that was a natural bridge over a stream. Mud caked her body and she could feel herself heaving. A cotton-headed fool was the only type of animal who would do something like this, search for a being that might not even exist. Martha thought about turning around for the several hundredth time that whole journey but she couldn't. Not after all this time.

A crack of a twig shot her back to the present. Martha dropped the radish from her jaws and let out a long hiss, but it felt fake; the exhaustion was too strong. Martha was afraid because if she needed to run, she'd be dead.

Instead of a fox or coyote, a long-legged deer with the largest antlers Martha had ever seen stepped out. He looked young, but he had an aura of wisdom that radiated off him. He was bulky, but not overly muscular. His green eyes were teeming with hidden knowledge. He lowered him to Martha's level, offering her to climb on his back. Martha eagerly scrambled onto him, making sure to grab to radish before they took off. The deer didn't run, more liked glided across the forest floor. Leaves were kicked up in the air and floated around them like dancers. Martha was amazed by how bright everything suddenly became once they reached a circular pond surrounded by mossy trees and stones. The deer lowered itself, letting Martha slide off his back. Her body moved on autopilot. She walked towards to edge of the bottomless pool of water, dropped the radish in, and waited.

What is your question, marsupial? A voice erupted from the ground.

Martha leaped back in terror. Was it a monster? After a few moments, the rumbling stopped and carefully crept back to the edge and asked her question.

Your love will blossom only if the boundaries are shattered and words are spoken. Gazes hold little to the power of speech. That is all.

The voice disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Martha was left with more questions than answers but the strange deer already has lowered back down, signaling it was time to go. Martha more hesitantly crept back on and the deer took off once more. The possum watched the unusual pond until it disappeared from sight. Martha noticed it had become dark and was surprised to see the moon and the stars. She wanted to ask the deer if time had really passed so fast but felt like she was already messing with something beyond her understanding.

The deer stopped at a certain point in the forest as if it were blocked by an invisible force. The jill thanked the deer, stepped off, and made her way home. It was midnight when she finally reached her den. Too exhausted to bother with appearances, Martha collapsed in her nest of moss and ferns. The only thing on the jill's mind was going to see the jack of her dreams. She would go to the creek once she did two things: make herself look presentable and find him a gift. Once she awoke to the sun high in the sky, only then did she notice a faint glow around her. Martha was worried, but not worried enough to miss her chance. She didn't care if she was a cotton-headed fool or blinded by love, Martha was going to make him her's and become his jill. After savaging around, she found a strange human food item by their silver cans of waste. A folded-over piece of flatbread with cheese, meats, and other cut vegetables. The scent made her mouth water, but she grabbed it and rushed over to the creek. She was ready to cross when someone strange was standing by her usual spot.

It was the jack, equally as well-groomed as she was and holding a gift, a branch covered it ripe wild berries. He too had the odd glow around him as well.

The two stared at each other. Martha's heart was pounding. Everything was perfect; the sounds of the creek, the sunlight cutting through the tree branches, the lack of anyone else, animal or human. It was perfect, all of it was. She just needed to step forward. However, the jack moved up first, setting the branch down and nosing it toward her. Martha nearly fainted on the spot.

The two began to talk. Well, Martha spent most of the time talking. The jack, who she learned was named Steve (a wonderful name for such a handsome man), was a quiet soul but every time he spoke it was with purpose and he always added something to the conversation. Martha learned that his strange schedule was due to his strange sleep affliction in which he often found himself unable to sleep but when he could, would sleep for a long time. Steve had asked if she disliked him now. Martha was surprised as she had no reason to dislike him, he was perfect in her eyes. After their several hours-long chat, they simply sat pressed against each other, watching the water run by.

This became a common occurrence as the days slipped into weeks and into months. The time spent together was wonderful and Martha wanted it to last forever. However, spring had come after fall and winter became almost like a distant memory when she learned of her pregnancy. jills always knew when they were expecting, Martha's mother told her, and Martha was no different. All the signs had been there. The only problem she had was with Steve. It wasn't technically Steve, but males of the possum species had little to do with their babies. The jacks on creek's hill had all had babies but did nothing for them. Instead, they chase the next pretty face they saw. Martha knew it was selfish, but she wanted to stay with Steve. She didn't want him to leave her. So, despite wanting to see him, she decided to stay home and prepare a nest. Although her babies would go into her pouch and stay there for two and a half moons, she felt it necessary to be ready for anything. Besides, she needed to keep her mind off of Steve.

But the day soon came where she needed to visit him. She knew it wasn't fair for Steve to be left in the dark, especially since none of this was entirely his fault. So, on a calm spring morning, Martha nervously made the trek to the creek. Of course, Steve was waiting for her. He had been waiting for her all this time. The usually rational and collected Steve began to fret over the expecting mother, worried that something had happened to her. Martha's heart broke when she saw the worry in his eyes. Finally, once both of them all calmed down, Martha began to speak. She told him about the pregnancy, how far along she was, and her fears. She told him how she dreamed of meeting a man just like him and how she was so afraid to lose him. However, Martha told him that she couldn't make him stay and that, if he wanted to leave, he could and that she wouldn't hold it against him. Silence filled the clearing. All Martha could feel was his gaze on her. Her breathing grew louder but she tried to remain calm.

Suddenly, Steve pressed himself against Martha. Although he didn't say anything, the message was clear. Steve was going to stay, no matter what. Martha let out several happy squeaks and trills and buried her muzzle in his fur. Even Steve let out a couple of excited chirps. Once the two pulled away, the pair touched their noses together, excitedly waiting to see what the future held for the both of them.

---

"Wait, why was their love forbidden? And I never thought you'd be so... Detailed." Rubi said once the story came to a close.

"Well, blame Martha," Neighbor explained. "She's the one who always said it was forbidden because of the symbolism of them being split by the creek or whatever. Personally, I'm just happy Steve stayed. Martha is such a happy possum and I'd be sad to see her sad."

"Me too." Rubi agreed, stroking the back of a black-tufted joey.

As if it was their cue, Steve and Martha slipped under the fence with Martha calling out to her babies. The joeys let go of Rubi and Neighbor and eagerly rushed towards their parents. Steve didn't make any noise as his children began to climb all over him. Martha chirped at Rubi and Neighbor, seemingly smiling at them.

"What did she say?" The older woman asked.

"Martha says thank you for watching her babies and that it was a wonderful anniversary. They have to go home though, it's growing late for the joeys." Neighbor translated.

The possums said their goodbyes (according to Neighbor) and left the yard. Neighbor stood up and stretched.

"I need to go home too. Mom's making a pot roast tonight. Don't you have to take care of Marie?"

"Marie's with her grandmother," Rubi said, waving to Neighbor. "Have a good dinner! Thank you for the story."

"It’s no big deal. Later."

With a quick hop over the fence, Neighbor was gone. Rubi took this time to enter the shed. It was covered with science equipment and tools such as hammers and bone saws, but Rubi already knew how to maneuver around the well-lit area. Her black-haired husband didn't look up from his work, but already knew who it was.

"Hello, dear. What did you do today?"

"Painted mostly," Rubi said, wrapping her arms around Herbert's neck in a loose hug. "With Marie gone, it's easier to work without having to worry about her eating something."

"Well, that's certainly a plus," Herbert said, glancing up at Rubi before looking back down at the dull gray-skinned body in front of him.

"It was also Steve and Martha's anniversary today. Neighbor told me the story of how they met."

"Martha?" Herbert quickly looked up after hearing the name of his favorite possum. "Is she upset with me?"

"No, she and Steve didn't tell us and they weren't upset when I saw them. They looked very happy, actually."

"That's good. I was afraid I needed to whip up a hastily made gift for them." Herbert sighed in relief.

Rubi made a noncommittal hum, making circles with her finger around her husband's collar bone. "Herbert."

"Yes, dear?"

"I wanna have another baby."

"Well, I think that can certainly be arran- Wait, what?"

#oc x canon #fanfic

4 notes · View notes

lo-55 · 3 years

Text

Shattered Chains of Fate Ch. 3

The Rift

Ichigo wonders, more often than not, why it is that even though he can see ghosts, he never sees the ones he wants to. His mother, and now his friends from Chaldea. He can’t see them anymore. The singularities are gone, and humanity has returned to the way it always was. But it’s missing so many people, from his own point of view. Olga Marie isn’t bound to him anymore. She’s moved on. And the rest…

Ichigo sits in front of his mother's grave with his dad at his side. Karin and Yuzu have gone for drinks, leaving them alone for the time being. Rukia, and Kon too, sit on a hill, watching over them and waiting for trouble. He doesn’t want to admit it. He’s carried the guilt in his heart for so long, but now… it’s possible that Rukia is right. That the reason his mother is dead is because…

“Hey, old man,” Ichigo looks towards his dad, who’s been acting weird since he’s come back. More than once he’s caught him just staring. Like he’s trying to figure out what changed his kid so much. As if they were ever that close in the first place. Ichigo let’s him. There’s no way for him to understand what’s changed Ichigo into the person he is now. It’s not something that can be easily explained, and in any case the Mage's Association was pretty clear. No one is supposed to know that magic exists. Including his own family. Anyone who finds out must be killed.

“Yeah?” Isshin looks his way, away from the grave that reads his mother's name.

“About mom. Could she ever see ghosts, do you know?” he looked right at him. Testing Isshin, watching his eyes. He’d never noticed before…

That his dad was hiding behind a dozen walls. And they all started to come up when Ichigo asked his question. Ichigo has spent years with master assassins and traitorous knights. He can see clearly now, for the first time ever. His dad isn’t such a colossal goof off after all.

“Why are you asking this all of a sudden?” he asks and it hurts . It hurts more than Ichigo thought, to know that he was keeping this secret for so long. To know that he could have told him, that both of them could have told him when he was young and he couldn't tell who was alive and who was dead, that he wasn’t alone in it. Karin had always had him, and they’d learned together after their mom had died, who was real and who was not.

Why? Why had they hid these things from him? And could he trust their dad to tell them the truth now?

“... No reason. I was just thinking about her.”

No, he decides, looking back at the headstone. He can’t trust his old man to tell him the truth. So, he’ll have to learn it some other way.

Sometimes, Isshin looks as his son and he sees a complete stranger.

He’s still brash and angry, and he would die for Yuzu and Karin, might have while Isshin wasn’t looking, but he’s not himself. He isn’t the same son that had climbed onto a plane for what should have been a simple job months ago. He’d only been gone for a week. How could he have changed so much?

He was taller, for one thing, and yeah teenagers have growth spurts but they don’t grow three inches in seven days. Their hair doesn’t grow out in a week either, and they don’t get so strong or so self assured that fast.

More than that, his son has this look in his eyes…

A terrible age, even though he’s only fifteen. He looks at them like he’s afraid they’ll disappear. He looks like he’s always waiting for something. For something to go wrong, for the other shoe to drop.

Even before Rukia had shown up and given her powers over to him, and then started living in his son’s closet of all places, he’d been the same. On edge. And the way he’d greeted them…

Ichigo did a lot of things when Isshin attacked him. Hugging him wasn’t one of them.

On top of all that, he’d gone to see Kisuke, to ask what was going on in the spirit world, where he could no longer see, and it turns out that Kisuke agrees. There’s something strange about Ichigo. He’s stronger than he should be, and stronger than he ever was, even without Rukia. And he doesn’t know what exactly happened between Kisuke and Ichigo, but it’s enough that now the old captain is interested in him.

It’s not nearly as comforting as Isshin wishes it was. When Kisuke got involved, things rarely went well. No matter how good his intentions were.

Then he asked about Masaki, and Isshin had faltered.

It was time, it was the perfect time for him to tell him the truth. To sit him down and explain what had happened all those years ago, and tell him about the kind of heritage he had, and what it might mean. He’s wondered, whose power did he get? Isshin, or Masaki. Shinigami, or Quincy? Or both? Or hollow? It’s hard to tell.

But he chickened out. The words got stuck and the world closed off and Ichigo turned away from him. The moment was lost, and now Isshin doesn’t know what to do. It’s so much easier raising daughters than sons.

* *

By the time his ridiculous duel with Uryu is over, Ichigo is willing to bet money that his mother was a Quincy.

Ichigo ends up sitting on a bench, breathing fast but he’s not so exhausted nor so beat up as Ishida, who sits patiently while Ichigo carefully stitches up his arm. It’s easy enough to pass this particular skill off as one he learned from his father and not knee deep in a war, trying to help Roman with the dozens of injured Chaldea staff.

“Isn’t your dad a doctor? Wouldn’t it be better to have him do than let me?” Ichigo finds himself asking They’re lucky Uryu had a needle and thread on his person, even if they did have to bend the needle in an awkward, sloppy approximation of the ones used for real stitches.

It’ll do for now.

“It’s best if my father doesn’t know about this,” he says simply.

“Oh yeah?” Ichigo grins at him. “I take it that means he doesn’t want you doing this kind of stuff then.”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Uryu sniffed at him stubbornly. Ichigo glowers at him, and pulls the next stitch harder until Uryu yelps. “Hey! Watch it!”

“Of course it’s my business. This whole stunt that you pulled was insanely dangerous.”

“Are you admitting that you’re weaker than I am,” Uryu lifts his chin, his nose in the air, and Ichigo has to stop himself from karate chopping him in his throat.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m weaker or not! What matters is that we’re not the only people in town that you could have gotten killed with this stunt! Didn’t you notice? There’s hollows that disappeared that neither one of us took out.”

He snaps the thread and grabs Uryu by the front of his shirt, watching his blue eyes go wide and realization dawn for what is apparently the first time. “That means other people are fighting. Other people might be dying. My sister has high spirit levels too you know?! When you pull shit like this you’re putting the lives of everyone around you into the same danger, without even telling them about it! How can someone with top grades be so damn stupid?!”

Ichigo forces himself to lean back, anger still bubbling under his skin. All this trouble because Uryu hates shinigami, and Ichigo isn’t even a real one.

“ Listen ,” he leans in , forcing Uryu to bend backwards over the back of the bench, “I’ll fight you one on one any time you want. But this hollow fighting isn’t a game. And if you ever put other people in danger unnecessarily again, I’ll beat your goddamn face in.”

“Y-you!” Uryu pushes against his chest but Ichigo is immobile, stone and still.

“Do you understand, Uryu Ishida?”

“I. Yes,” he says at last, looking down and away. Only then does Ichigo let him go, leaning back and letting out a grunt when it pulls at his shoulders. He’d over strained himself, just a little bit.

“Hey, Kon!” Ichigo waves his body snatcher over to the pair. “Gimme my body back already, huh?”

“Ah, you’re no fun,” Kon whines, but he sits on the bench and lets Ichigo slide back in without a fuss. Ichigo pulls Uryu up off of the bench and gives him a shove.

“C’mon. I’ll walk you home.”

“I don’t need you to do that!”

“Well I’m doing it anyways. You’re injured, what if there’s still a few more hollows lingering around, huh? Just shut up and start walking.”

Uryu scowls, but starts walking forwards anyhow, with Ichigo in his shadow. During his whole trauma speech and background story Ichigo’s mind had been turning over and over. His dad was a quincy too, even if he didn’t want to admit it, and if Uryu was to be believed, they were the last of them.

Goat-face isn’t going to answer his questions, so Ichigo follows Uryu home, to a house that far too big for just two men alone. He feels old, walking into it. It’s fanciful, but he’s seen the theatres of Rome and the courts of King Arthur.

Ichigo will never be a sensor, but he’s gotten used to trusting the sense inside him that says when someone else is around, and even though it took him a while he’s good enough to be able to follow it if he has to. He didn’t know about the spirit ribbons. Ichigo is used to being clueless, but he’s not stupid. He files the information away for later, and quietly memorizes that feeling of Uryu. It’s more like a taste, clean and sharp, and vaguely like citrus.

His father is much the same. And he is utterly unimpressed by Ichigo arriving on his doorstep with his son in tow.

His eyes are colder than ice, not exactly something Ichigo would want in any doctor he has.

“Hey, old man,” Ichigo raised a hand and, with his usual level of tact, asked ever-so-discreetly, “Did you know my mom?”

* * *

“Do you know where you are?”

The scent of roses and daffodils and the feeling of soft worn wool brushing against his cheek. A ribbon made of magic brushing his nose.

Ichigo opens his eyes and looks into a pale blue sky, wisps of cotton candy clouds stretching across from one horizon to the next.

“I am in a dream,” he says dutifully.

“Very good Dolores.”

Ichigo punches him in the stomach, sending the mage doubled over in a fit of coughing and laughing together. A smile that’s far too mischevious to be soft is aimed at him.

“You have an amazon prime subscription out here?” Ichigo asked, sitting up slowly. The tower still floats, through the sky at the end of the world.

“Well yes. I do run a blog, you know?” though it’s said with a straight face he can see a smile tucked into the corner of his mouth, where even eternal youth hasn’t been able to curb laugh lines. He’s good humor, and a good company.

“Seriously?!”

That gets a laugh out of the mage of all mages. He lays back in the flowers that climb and bloom, thriving in his very presence. He is life and light and mischief, a watcher and a strange sort of guardian.

“Well yes. I can’t spend all of my time merely watching people. The internet made things much more fun! Humans are such innovative creatures, even without magic to help them along.”

Ichigo nodded along with him. “Does that mean that you can email me instead of hijacking my beauty sleep?”

“Oh, you mean you don’t enjoy my company, oh great Master of Humanity?”

Ichigo scowls at him, but there’s a smile trying to pull at his mouth. He struggles to squash it, and he can tell from the glint in his companions eyes that he fails.

“Stop calling me that,” he says for a millionth time.

A firm hand pushes him back into the flowers, under the warmth of the sun in the soft crush of fragrant petals. There’s no perfume that could ever compare. This is a strange place, a beautiful cage, and Ichigo doesn’t fully understand how he can be here and home at the same time. Not that that’s new. He’s been in two places at once more times than he cares to count, and he still only vaguely understands how it’s possible.

“I understand that your life is interesting once more.” The mage stretches out beside him, taller than he and cloaked elegantly in his same old robes. He’s showy and modest at once and it hurts Ichigo’s eyes to look at him for long.

Ichigo groans. “If you mean my entire existence is one giant clusterfuck then yeah. It’s real ‘interesting’ again. But I’m not time travelling again yet so…”

“Poor little master. Your life is so very hard…”

“I’ll hit you,” Ichigo threatened. “Master mage, but a shit fighter. I can take you.”

The laugh that he is granted is bells on the wind.

“True, true. But I believe that things will get worse before they get better. Perhaps you should begin your mage craft training once more.”

“You know I always sucked at that. I could only use real magic if I had a mystic code. Every other time, it exploded in my face. I’m a secondrate mage, that’s how it’s always been,” he says it all simply.

“That is true… Isn’t it funny how that works out? A boy who cannot cast a single spell without assistance ends up defeating the most powerful mage in history. You really are a remarkable human, Ichigo.”

“And you’re trying to get me to do something for you, aren’t you?”

“Aha! You do know me! Yes, I need you to mail something very important to me…”

“You get mail here?!”

* * * *

It’s the tenth time he’s been thrown into the dirt today.

A normal person would have given up and packed it in. A normal person would have humbly accepted that the strength of these titans was beyond their abilities to keep up with.

Instead, Ichigo stands again.

He picks up his borrowed practice sword, dulled so no one can get hurt, and faces his opponent once more.

Mash, Cu, and Medusa, his constant companions, watch him narrow his eyes and plant his feet again.

“One more time, Nero!”

“He’s stubborn, if nothing else,” Medusa mused, not quite out of his earshot. Cu nods his agreement, his eyes never wavering.

“Tha’ll help him,” he said simply. Ichigo didn’t know why but his accent seemed to change just a little each time he opened his mouth. Sometimes he was barely understandable. Sometimes it is perfect english. Or whatever language the magic was auto-translating it to. Japanese for Ichigo, english for Mash, and probably latin for Nero and the surrounding soldiers.

“ ‘He’ can still hear you!” He glared halfheartedly at the pair of Servants, who looked perfectly innocent. The longer he was around them, the more familiar he was with the small changes in disposition and expression, their likes and dislikes. And, to his eternal surprise, the feeling of them.

Cu Cullain felt like trees. Like thick moss on a stone, and early morning mist rolling through thick, ageless trees. His presence was as familiar as an old, trusted hound. They’d only been together for a few months, but his spellwork and the steady draw of his mana felt as natural as breathing to him.

Medusa was the deep ocean, power beneath every surface but beautiful to behold. A crash of waves against the stony shore, her every touch fleeting and feather light while her chains lashed with horror and the chthonic strength born in the age of gods. She was the smooth brush of scales against his wrist, the flash of teeth behind a sweet smile, and gold eyes in the darkness that Ichigo alone did not flinch from.

Theirs was a tenuous relationship. She kept looking for him to stab her back, to cut her head and use it as his weapon. Ichigo was still half expecting to wake up as a statue one day. They only had the barest trust between them but…

She hasn’t let him down yet, and Ichigo endeavours to repay that much if he can.

He raises his sword and barely blocks a vicious strike from Nero. She was shorter than him by far, but he had no chance matching her for raw strength. Or speed. Or her damn near perfect swordplay.

“Focus on the performance at hand,” she orders, her mouth curved in a strange smile. Ichigo didn’t totally understand her. They’d been travelling with her for over a month now, on the way to reach what would one day be london.

“Right,” Ichigo lunges for her, his strikes quick and hard. He’s not worried about hurting her since he can’t even hit her.

It’s graceful, elegant, and nearly effortless for her to knock him flat on his ass again, smacking the flat of her blade against his chest so hard he sees spots. He’s left sucking desperately. His nails bite into the dirt and his grip on his sword tightens until the leather wrapped around the hilt creaks.

“That’s enough for today, I think,” Nero decides. Ichigo wants to argue, but he doesn’t have any breath for it. So he groans like a dying whale and lays in the dirt, his hands shaking, his body refusing to move at all.

Nero lowers herself to the ground, on her knees beside him and how strange is that? A goddamn emperor kneeling with him in the dirt. A demi-goddess, and a druid, and a demi-servant. And Ichigo, just human. But Nero is human too. She’s as alive as he is and she is wiping the fucking floor with him.

“You’re a - fuck,” he wheezes and finally gets his elbows under him so he can sit up.

“Now that’s very rude to say, considering that I’ve been training you out of the goodness of my own heart,” Nero sniffs at him, tilting her chin to the sky.

Why did Ichigo always get stuck with these kinds of bewildering people? Everyone he knew was so weird…

“Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Nero.” A perfectionist and slave driver, but Ichigo was getting better every day. By the time they reached their destination, maybe he’d even be able to land a single blow per bout. Ichigo had never expected to get along with a roman emperor of all people, but even outside of fighting Ichigo has always been, if only mildly, interested in the arts, and Nero only stokes those embers.

Nero smiles beatifically at him. “You have the makings of a fine performer. Even without an Imperial Privilege. I enjoy teaching you.”

Her smile is interrupted by a pinch of her brows and purse of her lips.

Ah, another headache.

It’s very strange, trying to reconcile the young woman in front of Ichigo with the tyrant from history. She’s put her people ahead of her at every turn, and helped Ichigo and his friends. She’s under no obligation to teach Ichigo swordplay but she does, even after long days on the march.

At the same time, there’s a reason Boudica is only her reluctant ally. Nero cared for her people but she was, in another word, a merciless bitch when she put her mind to it. But she was on their side, for now, and Ichigo is learning not to look gift horses in the mouth. So he gets up and goes to her side, and shows her how to press her fingers into pressure points on the back of her neck, and hold it for a few seconds until the headache goes away.

He’s made an archduke for that one.

* * * * *

A rift forms in the Kurosaki household.

It’s always been there, a cut stitches tenuously together by blood and loyalty, and reinforced by love, but now it’s split.

A gaping chasm, and Ichigo doesn’t know what to do with it.

It feels like it’s not something he can bridge. Like this is one obstacle that even he cannot conquer. Master of Chaldea, Final Beacon for Humanity. Commander of Heroes, Beloved, the First Guardian.

He is a hundred things but at the end of the day he is still.

A teenager.

Fifteen and eighteen and four thousand at once.

His dad had lied to him. If not directly, then by omission. For years, for so very long he’d let Ichigo hold the responsibility of Masaki’s life in his hands, had kept quiet when he grew frightened and dark and closed off from the living, so preoccupied was he with the dead.

Never once did he offer reason. Never once did he show his care or cradle his son, or tell him that the monsters were real and it wasn’t his fault .

Not once, in six, seven, eight, nine years did he tell Ichigo that he was not alone. That he and Karin were merely Masaki’s children. That they were born of quincy blood, even if that never put a bow in their hands.

Half the blood means half the power,” That was what Ryuuken had said. And how sad is it that Ichigo had had to hunt down a veritable stranger, once who’s son had spent the entire day bickering and competing and hating his guts, to get answers from?

“ Does my old man know all of this?” Ichigo had asked.

Ryuuken was honest, even if he didn’t want to get into the tangled web of family drama. “Yes,” He’d said, “ But it’s more complicated than that. Isshin has the entire story.”

And he wouldn’t tell Ichigo.

He didn’t tell him on the bloody banks of the river, when a child wandered in desperate hope of finding a phantom of his mother.

He did not tell a ten year old at the foot of a grave marker. He kept silent at eleven, at twelve, thirteen, fourteen.

Fifteen. Under the watching grave of his mother Ichigo had asked. And Isshin had not told.

The house is tense like it hasn’t been since Ichigo got back. It’s tense like a storm, cracking along the edges of the walls and windows. Tense like there’s no coming back from this and Ichigo cannot take the building static in his veins or the hissing of betrayal in his ears, like snakes.

He misses Medusa, suddenly. She would take his pound of flesh for him and then some.

Ichigo go knows, for certain, that if he stays in this house he’ll go mad. Yuzu and Karin, they know something is up. Ichigo’s pretty sure Karin saw the hollow, Grand Fisher, at the grave site. Dead now by his blade, but the vengeance tastes like ash on his tongue. His mother is still dead. His father is still a liar.

His sisters still love them both.

Ichigo loves them, too. More than anything in the world, he fought gods and demons for their sake. For them to be born for them to have a future.

But he can’t spend all of his time at home, and Chad is starting to ask questions that Ichigo has a difficult time answering.

Not ‘was that a demon ghost you just punched in the face’ hard. That answer is ease. ‘Yes’.

But ‘is everything alright at home’ hard. Chad had asked the first time he saw Isshin launch himself at his son in a surprise attack and he’s about to ask it again, Ichigo can feel it in his bones.

So he makes a phone call.

The rest of the world will never know what they did.

The world will not know about him or Mash or Roman or Olga Marie, or the countless others that built Chealdea and kept her running. They’ll never know how much they fought, how much they bled, how much they sacrificed for the sake of the future.

It’s fine with him.

But there are some who know. The Mage's Association, and the United Nations. And a select few people from the Clock Tower in London, where Ichigo has already been offered schooling and job. They know that he stopped the incineration of humanity.

And they owe him.

Three years of pay for working in Chaldeas, and even more for everything else he’d done.

He finds a backpack while he waits for a familiar voice to answer.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” There's a shuffle of sheets and a groan in the background and Ichigo barely pays it any mind as he stuffs a hoodie into his bag and goes looking for his running shoes.

“Not a clue,” he said blandly. “But listen, Waver. I need a favor.”

* * * * * *

#Ichigo Kurosaki #BAMF!Ichigo Kurosaki #Ichigo Kurosaki is Ritsuka Fujimaru #well sorta #bleach #bleach fanfiction #bleach/fate grand order #olga marie animusphere

8 notes · View notes